Breaking Ranks - Genesis.

"Attention all personnel. Commencement of the Atlantis expedition will proceed at zero-nine-hundred hours."

I was roused from my sleep on the top of my bunk bed in Cheyenne Mountain. I heard the other three women who I had been sharing the room with all awaken and start moving around the room, collecting their belongings and clothes and head for the showers to get ready for the expedition. I too climbed down the metal ladder and made the bed as best as I could. Grabbing my duffle bag I headed out of the room and to the showers, it was already busy so I had to wait a few minutes before one became available to me. All the talk was only about the Atlantis expedition; most of the women here were scientists, there were only a handful of military women who had been chosen.

I for one had been chosen because I carry this special sort of gene that the Ancients had. A race of people far advanced than our own, they even built the Stargates for us to use, and today, we were hoping to travel to Atlantis, their home. Once I was showered I changed into my uniform and pulled my hair into a tight bun at the back of my head, I still had two hours before we were scheduled for leaving so I decided to drop my duffle bag off at the personal wears loading and head for the commissary.

I entered and noticed that it was packed, mostly of scientists, everyone was eating and chatting animatedly about the expedition, well, I didn't blame them, it was exciting. I collected a tray and glanced around the room, trying to see if I could spot any familiar faces. I felt the corners of my mouth turn up into a smile as I spotted the familiar scientist sitting alone in the corner table. I wondered over to him as I stood before one of the empty chairs. "May I join you, Doctor?" I asked him as the brown haired doctor looked up at me through his round glasses. He smiled and quickly moved various papers.

"Lieutenant! Yes of course." I set the tray down and took the seat opposite him.

"What are you reading?" I asked him as I began eating. Daniel Jackson scattered some of his papers.

"I'm putting together a sort of guide for reading the Ancient text. Seeing as General O'Neil wont let me travel with the expedition, I've resorted to being as much help as I can without actually being there." I noticed he was pouting but I didn't say anything on it. "Would you like to learn?" he asked me as I shook my head.

"Thanks, Doctor Jackson, but I'm a military gal. I don't really find reading a different language all that exciting."

"But you have the ancient gene, it would be beneficial to learn."

"All military personnel please report to the armory for gear up." A voice sounded over the comms system.

I smiled at Daniel. "Sorry, Doc. Maybe another time." I took the tray to the bin as I dumped it and left the commissary. The armory was two levels down so I headed to the elevator. Once there I had to wait in line, as it seems all the military personnel were heading down now. I was pressed up against the wall of the elevator when we went down to level 28, once there everyone vacated and I was finally able to breath again.

I followed everyone else to the armory and waited for my turn. Everyone who emerged was geared up in tack vests and P-90's. A knife on the belt and a leg holster for a pistol. I moved in when it was my turn, there were helpers offering everyone the vests as I had one handed to me. I zipped the vest up over my black tactical jacket and then was handed the P-90 and clipped that onto the vest. Next was the leg holster as I strapped it on and placed the pistol into it. Lastly I was handed the knife as I clipped it on to the back of my belt and then finally I was ready. I nodded to the guy who handed me my gear as I spun on my heel and left the armory.

"Mia!" I heard someone shout. I stopped and looked around, trying to find whoever had yelled my name when I finally saw a familiar face.

"Ford!" Ford was already geared up as well as he ran over to me, he was grinning from ear to ear, and we clasped forearms as I smiled at him. "Who knew we'd run into each other here?" I laughed as we both let go and went down the corridor. We had been told from the men in the armory to head down to the Gate room so we could do the double and triple checks on all the equipment.

"Small world, huh?" he grinned at me. "So, how'd you get roped into all of this?" he asked me as we rounded a corner. The gate room was just a few meters away from us and it was packed so we waited outside. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Apparently I've got this gene, but I like to think of it like they wouldn't be able to cope without my amazing special skills of persuasion and reason."

"And they would be?" Ford scoffed as I smirked and held up the P-90.

"Persuasion," I let it drop and flicked out the knife. "Reason." Ford and I laughed as we heard someone clear their throat, we both turned and the smile dropped from my face and I felt my stomach drop.

"Lieutenant Ford. I'm sure there are a number of things that you should be doing right now. One of them would not be wasting time." Stood before us was Colonel Sumner, he was the military commander of the Atlantis expedition. He was a Colonel in the Marines, and was Ford's superior.

"Yes, sir." Ford saluted him as he walked off and started talking to some scientists who looked like they needed help with their equipment. I turned back to Colonel Sumner, he nodded his head ever so slightly.

"Lieutenant." He barked out as I dipped my head down.

"Colonel." He spun on his heel and marched off into the gate room as I was left standing there holding my breath. Once he was gone I let out the breath I had been holding as I sensed someone come and stand next to me. I glanced over and up at the man, he was taller than me with dark messy hair and a pair of brilliant hazel green eyes, he was geared up for the expedition as his arms were crossed over on his P-90.

"That conversation looked cheerful." He smirked at me.

I shook my head softly, "You have no idea." I grumbled to him. We both moved to enter the gate room as I finally got the chance to see the Stargate everyone had been talking about. It looked like it was made from metal; it was large, round and had hieroglyphs all around it, which I assumed were the gate chevrons, what Doctor Jackson had described to me.

"So that's the…Stargate…" the man next to me said in awe.

I nodded, "Yep." He turned to me then.

"Major John Sheppard." He smirked.

"Lieutenant Mia Sumner," I replied. I expected his reaction, his head spun from me to my dad up on the ramp leading up to the Stargate.

"Sumner?" Sheppard said wearily.

"Yeah, that's kind of the reaction I get from everyone who finds out. Colonel Marshall Sumner is my dad."

"No kidding."

Just then, Doctor Weir, who was leading the Atlantis expedition walked into the gate room, calling for everyone's attention. She went and took her place on the ramp so she could see everyone present. "We're about to try and make a connection. We have been unable to predict exactly how much power this is going to take, and we may only get the one chance at this. So if we're able to achieve a stable wormhole, we're not going to risk shutting the gate down. We'll send in the MALP probe, check for visibility, and go. Everything in one shot." She paused for everyone to catch up with what she was saying. I glanced around and noticed some weary faces of the scientists. All the military, however, had stony expressions.

"Now, everyone of you volunteered for this mission, and you represent over a dozen countries. You are the worlds best and brightest. And in the light of the adventure we are about to embark on; you're also the bravest. I hope we all return one day having discovered a whole new realm for humanity to explore. But as all of you know, we may never be able to return home. I'd like to offer you all one last chance to withdraw your participation."

She paused again, looking around the room, waiting for anyone to leave. But it seemed even all the scientists were staying. Weir smiled down at all of us, "Begin the dialing sequence." She walks off the ramp as I spot my father walking over to Sheppard who was still standing next to me. He said something in a low voice that I was unable to hear over the gate's dialing, though when my father started moving away I heard the final remark from Sheppard, "That would be Doctor Weir, right?" Dad glared at Sheppard as he turned to me, dad walked off as Sheppard shrugged his shoulders. "And you have to live with that?" he asked with a chuckle as I snorted.

"Actually, we haven't spoken in eight years."

"What?" he said in surprise. Just then the Stargate activated and for the first time I was able to see it.

It looked like a giant wave expanded out of the Stargate and then retracted back in, the surface settled and it was calm, but it was rippling. The room erupted into applause and it finally registered in my brain that there was no getting out of this now. The gate had locked with Atlantis, in another galaxy. Sure I had been told I'd be going on this expedition three weeks ago and it had time to settle in but it was still a shock for me to realize that I was about to go to a different galaxy. "If it's any consolation, I can kind of guess how you're feeling." Sheppard said to me as I raised my brows, I guess he was in the same boat I was in.

"Let's go people. We don't know how much power we've got. Security teams One and Two, you're up first. All other personnel will follow on our signal. Once on the other side, keep moving, clear the debarkation area. On my lead…" Dad shouted as he headed up the ramp and towards the Stargate.

"Hold on, Colonel!" Doctor Weir exclaimed as I watched her grab her backpack and rush up to meet him, "We go through together." She said finally as I saw dad mutter something under his breath. Even after eight years his attitude hadn't wavered to people changing his own orders…I should know. Weir and dad stepped through the gate as the security teams followed suit.

"Mia!" I heard Ford's familiar voice as I turned and he ran up to Sheppard and me on the ramp. I grinned at him as the three of us walked up to the wormhole, Sheppard was looking at the glowing blue ring nervously as Ford and I exchanged knowing glances.

"What's it feel like?" he asked either of us.

"Hurt's like hell Sir." He said seriously as I crossed my arms.

"Worst pain imaginable." I added as I watched Sheppard grimace. Ford's gaze flicked to mine, he broke out into a smile as he let out a whoop and jumped backwards into the gate. Sheppard's head turned slightly so that he could give me an annoyed look. I nudged him slightly, "Lighten up, Major." I smirked as I walked through the gate.

I stepped out and immediately felt like I wanted to puke, I had been told that first time gate travel would feel like this. I raised my gun and turned the flashlight on, Ford was a few feet ahead of me, he was also doing the same as me. I gazed around the room and it was huge! There were two levels; at the back of the room was a staircase that led up to another area, a balcony connected another room to the upper level. After I stepped further a few more steps I heard the squelching sound and glanced over my shoulder to see Sheppard appear, he looked back in shock at the gate as he readied his weapon. Ford and I stood shoulder to shoulder as we walked further into the giant room. Keeping our eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary.

"Who's doing that?" I heard Weir say as Ford and I turned around, we saw Sheppard and someone who looked like a scientist step on the stairs and they started lighting up. They continued up the stairs and over to the upper level on the right side. From here I could see machines up there that were lighting up as well. I did a full sweep of the large room with my eyes, it seemed that everyone had come through the gate; all the equipment was being pushed to all sides of the room.

"General O'Neill? Atlantis base offers greetings from the Pegasus Galaxy. You may cut the power to the gate." Weir said into her radio. A few seconds later, a large bottle of champagne rolls through the gate and then it shuts off, casting the room into darkness. Weir picked up the bottle as she read something on the tag and then smiled up at the gate. I watched as all the military personnel began to explore the rooms that were available to us as I nudged Ford who was still standing next to me. He looked down at me as I inclined my head to move backwards. He shook his head, his eyes wide as he realized that I wanted to go exploring. I grabbed the sleeve of his jacket as I pulled him through a door and out of the gate room.

"Mia! What are you doing?" Ford hissed at me once I let him go as we wondered down a corridor. I grinned over at the Lieutenant.

"Relax, it's called an 'expedition' isn't it?"

"Yes but we don't have orders to be down here." He looked like he wanted to turn around and go back to the gate room, I waved my hand in the air as I spun around on my heel and spoke.

"Fine, go be a good soldier. But don't come crying to me when I find some spectacular alien technology!" I yelled over my shoulder as I watched Ford's face, he looked torn. I smirked as I rounded a corner and stopped dead in my tracks. Before was a large window, and outside, we were under water!

"Ford!" I shouted as I heard Ford's running footsteps as he ran around the corner and stopped next to me. I could feel the awe and wonder radiating off of him.

"Mia, is that…"

"It's the ocean!" I said with a grin to Ford. We both looked down through the window and saw spires and buildings, Atlantis was huge! We were just in a tower, before us were three different sections.

"It's massive." Ford whispered as I agreed. Ford then reached up to his ear, "Colonel Sumner, this is Lieutenant Ford. I've found something that you should see, I'm three levels down from the gate room." Unfortunately I didn't have a radio so I didn't hear the reply. Ford and I waited a few minutes before we heard footsteps and my father stepped around the corner. He seemed shocked to see me with Ford but he quickly put his guard back up as Ford directed him to the window. "Sir, it seems the city is on the bottom of the ocean." My father stepped up to the window and peered out of the glass, he then touched his earpiece.

"Doctor Weir, Colonel Sumner here. Could you come down and meet me please? We're three levels down from you." Weir obviously responded as dad turned to me and Ford. "I want you two back up in the gate room, now." He ordered, a frown marred his stern features. Ford saluted him immediately and turned on his heel.

I stayed, my anger bubbling. "Why do we have to go?" I crossed my arms and glared at him.

"Because you were not authorized to be down here in the first place." He growled at me as I pointed out the glass window.

"If Ford and I hadn't come down here, you wouldn't have found out we were under water!"

"We would have eventually, now go before I have you removed." He placed his hands behind his back in his military stance and I knew that the conversation was over. But I wasn't finished yet.

"This is bullshit! You can't accept the fact that I discovered this! You still can't accept the fact that I joined the Army and not the Marines!"

"Mia." His tone was harsh and low and it made me cringe. It had been over eight years hearing my dad call me by my name. "If you do not remove yourself, I will have you detained, is that understood Lieutenant?" And there goes the block again.

I saluted him, "Understood, Colonel." I hissed as I turned on my heel and stomped passed Doctor Weir and Major Sheppard as they came through the hallway. They plastered themselves up against the doorframe as I came barreling passed, not caring at this moment in time about first impressions with the leader of the expedition. My fists were balled at my sides and I really wanted to hit something. I noticed that Ford had caught up to me and was trying to talk to me but I had tuned him out, when we were finally back at the gate room I stopped and turned to him. "What?" I barked out at him, Ford rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Some family reunion, huh?" he smirked at me as I laughed.

X

For the next twenty minutes Ford and I helped the scientists put some of their equipment away, by now they had managed to get the rooms lights up and running so we didn't have to use the giant industrial ones anymore. We would have kept going, that was until Doctor Weir, Doctor McKay, Major Sheppard, Doctor Beckett, Peter Grodin and my dad all hurried back into the room and up the stairs to the right side area. Ford and I shared a look and because of my nosey trait I wanted to be up there too. Ford and I ran up the stairs as I came and stood next to Doctor Weir, Ford next to me.

"The force field holding back the ocean has collapsed to its minimum sustainable levels." He moved over to a large hanging screen that seemed to show a map of Atlantis, and like I had said before, the place was massive. Around the outer edges it was flashing red and then it turned to orange and then green at the very center of the city. "Look, you can see here and here where the shield's already failed and the city's flooded. It could've happened years ago but…this section is likely more protected because of the Stargate." He pointed to the tower we were in on the screen,

"What if it fails completely?" Sheppard asked from the other side of Weir.

"It's a matter of 'when', not 'if'."

Weir seemed shocked by this revelation as she turned to my dad, "Colonel Sumner, you need to order your security teams to stop searching the city immediately." She said to him as dad touched his earpiece and spoke into it, telling his two teams to return to the control room.

I walked over to a small balcony and looked over the control room, I stared at the Stargate with a frown; it was then that I thought of something while McKay had been bickering with Sheppard and Beckett about how we could survive. I turned around and cleared my throat loudly, "Hey, I'm no scientist, but isn't the Stargate used for travelling to different worlds?"

"We don't have enough power to return to Earth." McKay said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I shook my head, "I didn't mean Earth. We're in another galaxy, can't we travel to another world in this galaxy?"

McKay considered this as he nodded, "Well, that's relatively easy. Fortunately, some ancient technology still uses good old-fashioned push buttons, so we've been able to access the Stargate control system and a library of known gate addresses." Peter Grodin then announced that he had found something and pressed a button, we all watched as a shield was put up in front of the Stargate. I grinned as I heard McKay's grumbling, "using power, using power…"

The shield was shut off as Weir turned to my dad, "Colonel, assemble a team. We need safe harbor, or better still, another power source." Dad turned to Ford.

"Lieutenant, gather security teams one and two. Everyone gear up." Ford saluted him as he bolted down the stairs, speaking into his radio. I heard Weir tell Major Sheppard that she wanted him to go along.

And then somehow I was left out, again. I had spent nearly half of my life being walked over by my dad, being a pushover to my superiors but right now, all I wanted was to be a part of this mission. Why else was I here? I hurried after my dad who was standing near the gate, Major Sheppard had just finished walking down the stairs as I brushed passed him and marched up to my dad. "Colonel, I'm requesting I be apart of this mission."

"Request denied, Lieutenant." He said shortly as he turned away from me, I frowned at his back.

"Is the request denied because I'm your daughter?" I let that sink in for a second as he turned his body fully around to glare at me, "Or because I'm part of the Army and not the Marines?" I raised a brow as dad walked up to me, his glare would scare even the toughest of men away, but not me. I had seen it over a dozen times when I was a child.

"Do not think for a second this it is because of any of those reasons." He said lowly to me. I stepped back, confused.

"Colonel, if I may interject." I heard Major Sheppard say as he stepped up next to me. "Lieutenant Sumner has the Ancient gene, I think it would be wise, if we were to somehow cross some Ancient technology that she be apart of the mission. Who knows, it may need one or more people to activate." I was glad that Major Sheppard was here to say that, I wouldn't have thought of it. "And I know for a fact that the good Lieutenant and I are the only ones in your squads that have the gene." He added as an after thought. I could see the wheels turning in my dads head, he knew that what Major Sheppard was saying was true.

"Fine, we leave once the MALP clears it." He said as he marched off towards his squads. Once he was out of earshot I turned to Major Sheppard and smiled.

"Thanks for that."

"Don't mention it." He smirked at me as he checked his ammunition on his gun, even though we hadn't taken a single shot it was still a habit, even I shared the same one. The gate dialed and the control room was cast into a blue-ish glow, the MALP was sent through as a technician handed us some infrared goggles, I strapped mine to my forehead as dad suddenly called out, "Let's move out!"

Sheppard and I stood side by side as we walked through the gate together, when we came out on the other side I slipped my goggles over my eyes and suddenly I was seeing everything in green. We fanned out and were all walked forwards, Sheppard was on my left and Ford on my right. Dad was ahead of the line as we all slipped quietly through the field.

I heard a twig snap off to my right as I saw Sheppard motion for Ford and I to stop walking. We heard a few more twigs snapping and then suddenly a figure ran out from the bushes. Ford pointed his gun at the figure as Sheppard and I did the same. The figure, which I could now see was a young boy, stopped in fear at the sight of us. Another figure came running out of the bushes, not noticing us and charged right into the first boy and tackles him to the ground. "Please don't hurt us!" the first boy said, the other one noticed us as he backed away in fear.

"Please! They're just playing!" another figure darts out from the forest, this time it was an adult.

"Is everything ok here?" I hear dad say from behind us.

"Yes, sir. Just a couple of kids." Sheppard replies from my side. I lift my goggles up finally and could see the three alien people ahead of me. From their clothes they didn't look like a very advanced race, and they looked like they feared us. I didn't want to give them a reason to fear us.

"Halling." The adult man said, he touched his chest as he spoke so it must have been his name.

"I don't know what that means." Sheppard glanced at me as I smirked at him.

"It's his name," I heard dad say in an annoyed tone he used with me a lot when I was a child.

"Oh. Halling, it's nice to meet you."

"Are you here to trade?" Halling asked us as Sheppard glanced to dad and then back to Halling.

"Trade. Yes. We're traders."

I watch as Halling turns to the first boy and mutters something to him, they touch foreheads as we are all left standing there awkwardly. He releases the boy and I assumed that the kid was his son, he turns back to us. "Teyla will wish to meet with you. Come." He beckoned us and I was the first one to move. Halling darted through the trees as I joined him.

"Halling was it?" I said as I pulled the goggles free from my head and tucked them into my jacket pocket. The tall man turned to look down at me.

"Yes, and your name is?" he asked me as I smiled at him.

"I'm Mia."

He looked at me confused for a second, "That is a very peculiar name." He hummed as I shrugged.

"I could say Halling is a very peculiar name too, where I come from my name is common." Halling broke out into a grin as we walked onto a dirt track. In the distance I could see fires and structures, I assumed it was Halling's village.

"You carry strange weapons." He spoke to me as I glanced down at the gun.

"They are for our protection. See, we come from a different galaxy from this one. We are explorers—traders and we don't know what's out there so we use these," I held up the gun, "to protect us from any animals or unfriendly foes."

"I do not understand this, 'galaxy' part." He admitted to me as I smiled to myself. I wasn't a bloody scientist, but I did know how to dumb things down.

"Ok, so your planet, and many others are in what we call the Pegasus Galaxy. It's like a whole group of planets in one place. My world, Earth, is in a completely different galaxy called the Milky Way. We travelled from one galaxy to another, this one in fact to search for Atlantis."

"The city of the Ancestors!" Halling exclaimed as I widened my eyes.

"Well, yes. We found it—"

"Lieutenant!" I heard a gruff voice say, I turned my head to see dad glowering at me, "I do hope you aren't disclosing any vital information." He spoke as his eyes flicked to Halling and then back to me.

"No sir!" I called back and then turned to Halling. We had almost reached the settlement.

"Is he the leader of your people?" Halling asked me as I snorted.

"He wishes…no, he's the leader of the military of our people," I saw Halling's confused face, "uh, soldiers." He then smiled in understanding. "We have two groups, the…soldiers and then the scientists. There's a woman, her name is Elizabeth Weir and she commands everyone. He just leads the soldiers."

"I see." Halling said as we reached the outskirts of the village. It seemed that people were still up at this time of night as I could hear laughter and children playing. Halling and I fell into a silence as we walked through the center of the village. People emerged from their huts to watch us. It was eerie but also calming, none of the villagers were hostile towards us. At the back of the village was a rather large tent, the laughter I had heard before was coming from that tent.

As we neared Halling called out, "It's Halling. I bring men and a woman from away." There was silence for a second, and then I heard a female voice call out.

"Enter."

Halling held open the tent door for me as I step through and glance around. There is a large table in the center of the room; each corner of the table was full of drinks and food. Every single eye was on us when we entered. Ford came and stood next to me as I watched a woman, with long auburn hair and a beautiful olive skin tone rise and frown at us, but out of curiosity. "They wish to trade," Halling said doubtfully as the woman I guessed was this Teyla raised a brow at all of us.

"It's nice to meet you." Sheppard said as he took off his infrared goggles.

"I am Teyla Emmagan, daughter of Torren."

"Colonel Marshall Sumner, Major Sheppard, Lieutenant Ford and Lieutenant Sumner." Dad said as he pointed to each one of us. Teyla's eyes lingered on me for a moment. "We have very few specific needs." Dad's voice took Teyla's eyes off me as she focused back on him.

"We do not trade with strangers." She said with a stern voice and a frown.

"Is that a fact?" I heard dad say as I shot him a glare but he didn't see it. Now was not the time for him to be a dick.

"Well then, we'll just have to get to know each other," Ford and I glanced at each other as we smirked at Sheppard's tactics. "Me, um I like Ferris wheels and college football, anything that goes over two-hundred miles per hour." Ford leaned into Sheppard and whispered something; I heard Sheppard reply with something that sounded like one of us should help him out.

"Each morning, before dawn, our people drink a stout tea to brace us for the coming day. Will you join us?" Teyla asked us. I guess that could be taken as a good sign as Sheppard announced that he liked a nice cup of tea. "Dawn is still hours away," Teyla continued, "You may rest in one of our unoccupied tents, Halling will show you where it is. We were all about to retire anyway." She said as I saw dad nod his head.

"Thank you." I heard him say gruffly. Ford, Sheppard, dad and I all thanked them again as we all readied to leave this tent and go have some well deserved rest.

I felt a hand on my arm as I turned and saw Teyla smiling at me, "You may share my room, it is no inconvenience." I felt my jaw slack slightly as I fixed my gaze to the rest of the team. I saw dad step forward.

"That wont be necessary. We wont split up." He said in his stern tone as I looked back to Teyla. A frown marred her delicate features.

"It appears you do not trust me. If you wish to become trading partners a certain degree of trust and loyalty must be shown before we can even begin the negotiations." She retorted, completely unfazed by the harshness of dads words. I could see that dad was about to argue with her on this so I stepped between their gazes.

"It's fine, these people are willing to let us stay in their village, and the least we can do is adhere to their customs." I saw dad take a deep breath and exhale through his nose.

"Fine…let's move out." He turned and left the tent, leaving Teyla and I.

I sighed as I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment. "Sorry about that," I apologized to Teyla as she smiled and waved her hand.

"It is quite alright. If the roles were reversed I would be hesitant for my daughter to be separated from me." Her words shocked me as I laughed.

"How did you know?" I asked as she gave me a knowing look as she guided me from the tent. It had gotten colder quickly as I crossed my arms over my chest, even through the long sleeves I could still feel the nippy weather.

"I can see the resemblance," she grinned at me as I rolled my eyes.

"Well I can honestly say I've never heard anyone say that before." Teyla looked at me weirdly as we stopped outside of a small tent.

"You and your father do not get along?" she asked as I sighed and shrugged.

"It's not that we don't get along. We just have a very different opinion of the way I want to live my life."

"I do not understand." Teyla said slowly. I smirked.

"It's a very long story, spans eight years in fact. Let's just say that we don't ever see eye to eye."

Teyla gave me a long smile as she held up the tent door for me, "That it very ironic." She said softly as I frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"You have his eyes."

The next day consisted of Ford and I, a few other marines watching the Stargate and reporting back to Atlantis on what we have discovered so far…and that was pretty much nothing. Dad and Major Sheppard were the ones who got to have all the fun. As it turns out there was an ancient city across the lake that we didn't know existed until this morning, dad had taken a few marines to go check it out and Teyla had taken Major Sheppard to go see some old ruins because apparently there was something we should know because we had never encountered an enemy called the Wraith before. From the brief description Halling had given me, the Wraith were disgusting creatures that culled human worlds and fed on you with their bare hands…lovely. Needless to say I skipped out on breakfast this morning.

Ford and I were sitting on the ground, of course we knew that if dad came and saw us like this he'd have our heads, but it was hot and I didn't really want to be standing around while nothing was happening. Two of the other marines were off in the distance walking around the perimeter as Ford and I chatted about our lives back home on Earth.

"So you still dating that girl, what was her name?" I asked him as Ford chuckled.

"Carly."

I grinned slyly, "Ah, the stripper." I smirked as Ford shook his head.

"Exotic dancer." He defended as I ripped up a bit of grass and threw it at him.

"That's a stripper, you moron." Ford and I laughed together.

"Nah, we broke up a few months ago. I guess dating a military guy wasn't what she thought it would be." I felt bad for Ford; relationships had never been his strong point for him growing up.

"Well, we are in a new galaxy Ford, you might meet your soul mate in alien form." I smirked again as Ford glared at me and then rolled his eyes.

"Do you think we'll go back to Earth?" Ford said suddenly, I felt the light and happy mood from before disappear as I shrugged my shoulders and leaned back on my hands.

"I don't know." I admitted, "We might not even get back to Atlantis at the rate the shields depleting. But I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my days out here in the Pegasus Galaxy." I glanced up at the orange sky. The days here on the planet were extremely short, the sun had only been up about seven hours and it was already getting dark.

"Don't you miss home though?" he asked softly. I knew whom Ford would be referring too. His grandparents, they'd raised him since he was three, and his cousin Lara.

"I don't have anything back in Arizona," I said absentmindedly. That seemed to end the conversation as Ford and I delved into a silence. It wasn't long after that, that the two other marines came back and it was Ford's and my turn to scout the perimeter. We held our guns to our chests as we walked slowly around the edge of the forest, we didn't talk the whole way and I wanted to know if I had offended Ford by saying that I didn't miss home.

It was only when we took up positions in front of the DHD that Ford spoke, "The days are short here." He commented as I nodded in agreement, by now the sun had set and the planet was thrown into darkness.

The radio buzzed in my ear as I heard my dads voice come though, "Major Sheppard, this is Colonel Sumner. Come in."

"Colonel, this is Lieutenant Ford. Major Sheppard is out of radio range at the moment." Ford replied into the radio as he cast me a worried look.

"Where the hell is he?" Dad's gruff reply came through the earpiece. Ford sent me another look as I shrugged my shoulders.

"I think Teyla wanted him to see something." He said as suddenly the Stargate activated. The chevrons locking ricocheted through the field as I gripped my gun up to my chest as I pointed it at the gate, I heard the two other Marines join me. "Defensive positions!" Ford yelled to us, I went and crouched down by the DHD as Ford yelled into his radio, "Colonel, we have gate activity here!"

The wormhole established as three aircraft came zooming out of the Stargate, they were long and pointed and looked pretty freaking alien to me. "Colonel, three bandits heading your way." Ford said into the radio, I followed the aircrafts with my eyes as I pursed my lips. The village was in trouble, I didn't want to sit around and wait for something to happen. And besides, dad was in the village, he would need all the help he could get to take down those ships.

Standing up I let the gun drop as I spun on my heel as I sprinted towards the forest. "Mia!" I heard Ford screaming my name, I didn't pay him any attention as I entered the forest and ran full sprint towards the sounds of screaming and explosions.

My breathing was coming out ragged as I reached the tree line of the village. The ships were firing on the huts as they exploded. Women and children were screaming as they were running away from the invaders. Over to my left I spotted Halling trying to help a man who had been caught under a large wooden beam, I ran over to him as he saw me and smiled at me when I reached him.

"What's happening?" I asked Halling as he glanced around worriedly.

"It's the Wraith, they've come to cull." He said ominously as I felt my eyes widen at the thought of the disgusting creatures he had told me about.

"We need to get everyone out of here." I said as Halling nodded, we both turned to the man who was unconscious, the beam was crushing his left leg, there was a deep gash on his head that was bleeding steadily and I knew that if it didn't stop he would likely die of blood loss.

I gripped the beam as Halling did the same opposite me as we both pulled the beam and rolled it away. I immediately went to the unconscious mans side as I dug in my vest and pulled out a gauze and started putting pressure on the mans forehead. I managed to tie it around his hairline and was certain that it would stop the bleeding, until I could get him to a doctor on Atlantis or something.

I could hear the ships overhead, as they seemed to be circling the village, it was then I saw how people got culled by the Wraith. A small group of Athosian's were heading to the forest when a white beam of light shone over them and then suddenly they were gone, I gasped as I registered that someone was yelling my name.

"Mia move, get out the way!" I heard someone shout. I looked and saw dad running towards me, waving his arm at something behind me. I turned and saw a ship heading straight for Halling and I. Before I knew it, I saw a white beam of light and then the next thing…darkness…

Well I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! As this was a special first chapter it was 10 pages, but from now on all other chapters are going to be 5 pages long, sorry! It's how i've set it out.

Tune in next week!