Everything seemed perfectly normal in the gate room on the Atlantis station. John Sheppard was browsing around the control room, observing everyone as they were hard at work, doing their assigned maintenance chores for the day and making sure everything was running to top efficiency. He could tell some of the crew on the station had been getting a little restless as things had been very quiet on the front. The wraith has been fighting each other too much to care about them and with the Replicators out of the picture, there wasn't much for them to do at the moment, but they had to make sure the station and the people running it were tip top and ready for anything. It was something that he was strict about and Woolsey didn't fight him on it. Everyone had to be ready for anything because the next threat could come from anywhere. Sheppard was walking up to a station where McKay and Zelenka were actively working on, and having a fierce debate about how it should be done while they were at it. Normally such aggressive and negative talk like this wouldn't be tolerated in the military but Sheppard knew better not to step in because these debates kept their minds sharp and ready for anything. It was like the sparing Ronan did all the time but in more of a mental capacity. Yet Sheppard also knew that sometimes they needed a little shove to get them back to work or nothing would ever get done.

"I told you everything is all right, how many times do I have to check this?" McKay said with a shard and very annoyed tone. "I'm a very busy guy. I have a lot of other projects and experiments that demand my attention."

This is when Sheppard stepped in to let his presence be known. "It was my idea. We need to make sure today's power surge didn't effect the Zed PM, because right now it's the only one we have."

"Like I need to be reminded of that little fact." McKay said with sharp sarcasm.

Sheppard folded his arms and gave them both a hard stare.

Zelenka knew what that meant and quickly backed down. "Calm down Rodney, we just need to be cautious with…"

Before he could finish the sentence, the gate began to lit up and dial without warning. This startled everyone in the control room, especially Zelenka and Rodney who were at the desk that controlled the Gate. They both stopped whatever it was they were quibbling about and started to work on the gate controls to find out what was going on.

Sheppard quickly walked over to their station and leaned over to speak with them. "What the hell is going on?"

Zelenka looked at the board and then back at Sheppard with a confused look on his face. "Unscheduled off world activation."

"I didn't think we had anyone out there right now." Sheppard quickly responded. He was painfully aware of the downtime everyone was currently experiencing.

"We don't." McKay quickly confirmed. "We have no teams off world."

"Then who's dialing in?" Sheppard quickly asked.

Before either of them could answer Sheppard, the gate completed dialing and the wormhole opened before them. McKay quickly made sure the shield was turned on to make sure no one could come through. A few seconds after he did that, a small beeping sound came from the console. McKay looked at it in absolute horror. "This isn't possible."

Sheppard was losing his patience. "What's going on?"

"It's a genuine code from the other side." Zelenka answered, "It's Atlantis Four asking for permission to come through."

"But we don't have anyone off world!" McKay suddenly yelped back at Zelenka.

"I know that Rodney!" Zelenka squeaked back, "but this is a legitimate SG code! It's authentic!"

Sheppard started to rub his two day old scruff, thinking it over. "There's only one way to get to the bottom of this. Open a channel to the other side of the gate." McKay hit a few buttons and then gestured to Sheppard to let him know the channel was open. "This is Lt. Col. John Sheppard. Identify yourself!"

They paused for a moment and then seconds later a fuzzy but semi-clear message came back to speak with them. "Sheppard, this is Atlantis four requesting immediate evac! We are coming in hot! I repeat we are coming in hot!" As they were listening to the message, there was a fury of weapons firing in the background. There was no doubt to Sheppard and everyone listening, whoever it was they were fighting for their lives.

"This can't be happening." McKay said clearly confused.

"That's real weapons fire, Rodney." Sheppard replied as he took time to think about what was going on.

"But Rodney's right." Zelenka said as he came to Rodney's defense. "We don't have any teams off world.

"Right now we're splitting hairs." Sheppard mused as he tried to think through it. "These people out there regardless if they happen to come from Atlantis or not are calling for help. At the moment they appear to have a legitimate code and are being fired at by hostiles. I say we let them through and then interrogate them about how they got our code."

"Are you insane?" McKay said.

"It makes sense." Zelenka said as he changed sides. "If there are Atlantis codes floating around out there, it's in our best interests to find out where these guys got it from. The only way we can do that is to let them through."

"We can always take precautions." Sheppard tapped a button on the console that he knew activated the intercom. "This is Sheppard, security to the Gate Room! Code Red! This is not a drill! I repeat… Code Red, this is not a drill!"

Within thirty seconds, close to a dozen heavily armed guards in full body armor came screaming into the Gate room and took a strategic position around the Gate. Even Ronan had run up from his sparring room with his gun drawn to back up the guards.

"Lower the shield." Sheppard said, and then he signaled Rodney to reopen communication off world. "Atlantis Four, this is Sheppard. The shield is down, evan approved. Get over here!"

"We hear you Atlantis…" the voice on the other end replied, "The shield is down! GO! GO! GO!"

Right after the shield went down a few laser shots came through the gate and hit the staircase in front of it. Seconds later, two marines dressed in legit Atlantis gear came jumping through the gate. Just after them another came through along with a few more shots. One through, he looked up at Rodney at the controls. "That's all of us, raise the shield!"

Rodney did as he was told since he didn't want anymore laser fire to come through and raised the shield. A few more beams hit the shield before the wormhole finally disintegrated and was gone. The three soldiers were tired, dirty and looked like they had been in one hell of a fire fight.

One of the troops was starting to get to his feet when he suddenly realized that none of the twelve troops watching the gate had lowered their weapons. They were all still pointing at them. "Hey guys." The first marine said. "We're all on the same side here."

Sheppard was the first from the other side to speak. "Lower your weapons and put your hands over your heads."

"Is this a joke?" the second marine asked.

"Does he sound like he's joking?" their commander finally said as he put down his gun. "Do as the Col. says and drop your guns."

The first marine was very confused. "But we…"

"Would you prefer to go back?" the commander than snapped as his soldier.

"Well, if you put it that way." The first marine didn't hesitate to drop his guns and raise his hands as requested.

After all of the soldiers were disarmed, Sheppard and McKay came down to the gate and meet their unwelcome guests, "Who are you guys?" McKay quickly asked.

"That's awfully weird coming from you Rodney. You were here in the Gate room when we left for this mission." The commander answered. "What the hell is going on?"

"How do we really know you're with the military?" McKay retorted.

"Calm down, Rodney." Sheppard said as he stepped in. "We actually have a protocol for this kind of situation. Attention!" The three soldiers all snapped into perfect posture upon being ordered to attention. So far so good, Sheppard though to himself. "Name, rank and serial numbers, soldiers!"

The first marine on the far left went first. "Smith, Roger. Sergeant. Serial number: 1752214, Sir!"

The second beside him went next. "Sanchos, Miguel. Lt. Serial number: 1856784, Sir!"

Their commanding officer finally went last. "O'Neill, Charlie. Lt. Com. Serial number: 1997715, Sir!"

Sheppard walked over to Commander O'Neill first as the name stuck out in the room like a sore thumb. "Wait one second. O'Neill? Any relation to one Jack O'Neill?"

The other two soldiers looked at each other and then back at Col. Sheppard. The Commander was also very confused. "I don't know why I need to remind you of this, Sir." it was clear to everyone that he was confused to what was going on as much as they were.

McKay finally stepped back in. "Indulge us, please."

Lt. Rogers then chipped in. "We've been stationed here for two years. You should all know who we are."

Sheppard was taken back by this but quickly recovers. "Lt. Rogers, step back in line!" the marine did as he was told and Sheppard focused back on his commanding officer. "Answer the question."

Lt. Com O'Neill paused for a moment and then finally did as he was told. "Yes, there is a relation. He's my father."