"Previously on Stargate Atlantis..." " Where are we going?" " Atlantis." "Our intention is to destroy it." "Why?" "Retribution." "It's an Ancient warship." "The City is now under my control." "They needed to know how much time we needed to vacate the City." "I said forty-eight hours." "The Pegasus Replicators are heading back to Atlantis." "Atlantis is under attack from Replicators." "Request immediate evacuation!" "They're coming!" "General O'Neill and Woolsey may still be alive." "Now, I know the City like the back of my hand." "Just give me sixty marines and some of Colonel Carter's new..." "Anti-Replicator weapons." "Yeah, those things." "I'm sorry, Colonel." "I have standing orders." "The Daedalus will be there in a little under four days." "We need for one of us to be added to the authorised personnel list, and there's only one guy who can do that." "I gotta say, I have never met a woman this into World of Warcraft!" "Colonel Sheppard, stand down!" "I'll be damned if I'm gonna let a bunch of Replicators take our home away from us." "General?" "General?" "And if I'm a Replicator?" "Then I just exposed my position." "Again." "I'm sorry." "I'm not very good at this." "Here." "Thank God!" "I'm starving!" "Is this all you could find?" "No, actually there was a lovely buffet." "How did the recon go?" "Stargate Ops is crawling' with `em." "There's no way we're gonna get across to the Jumper Bay." "Are they looking for us?" "I plum forgot to ask." "Well... as long as the life signs detectors aren't working in these damaged areas, we should be able to hold out until they rescue us." "Richard... there's not going to be a rescue." "What?" "Landry has standing orders to nuke the City if there's any sign of a foothold situation." "What kind of a standing order is that?" "Mine." "What's happening?" "Activate the shield." "I can't." "That's confirmation." "The Gate shield has lowered." "I hope this little plan of ours works." "You and me both." "Authentication code Alpha Six Delta Charlie Niner." "General O'Neill, Woolsey, do you copy?" " Sheppard?" "Is that you?" " Yes, Sir." "I need to know if you're anywhere near Stargate Operations." " No, we're not." " That's good." "Can't talk right now, Sir." "I'll get back to you in a couple of hours." "Sheppard out." " Drop the package." " Package is... away." "Hold on." "Follow me." "That went well." "Season 3, Episode 11 The return part 2" "Transcript by Callie Sullivan" "That sounded like an explosion." "Because it was." "Is Sheppard attacking the City?" "He'd better be." "Why can't he get back to us for two hours?" "I don't know." " It's coming up on 23:00 hours, Sir." " I can see that, Chief." "Yes, Sir." "I have to assume Sheppard heard my message and chose to ignore it." "There's no way to be a hundred percent certain, Sir..." "He heard me alright." "They're already in Pegasus doing goodness knows what." "Which leaves me no choice but to lock out their IDCs and invalidate their personal authentication codes." "But Sir, if they're successful in rescuing..." "We have no way of knowing whether they've been successful or if they've been compromised." "I have my standing orders and I'm damned well gonna follow them." "Now, when you're done locking out those IDCs, have Doctor Lee report to my office." "Yes, Sir." "It's good to be back however briefly." "I feel like I'm gonna be ill." "Don't be." "Alright, just take some deep breaths, Carson." "Aye." "Should we not have informed General O'Neill of our plan?" "He knows we're here." "We'll contact him again as soon as we get closer to the City." "Well, that is gonna be easier said than done." "With all those hits we took, it's gonna be impossible for me to convert the shield back to a cloak." "And by "impossible", you mean..." "I mean "not possible"." "What do you think I mean?" "Well, hopefully we took out the sensors when we blew the tower." "Well, you said they could rebuild remarkably fast." "How long before they restore critical systems?" "A couple of hours." "Plus the painting and redecorating." "If we time this right, this could work to our advantage." "Got him!" "Right where we left him!" "That's him." "Who else would it be?" "True." "His power levels are barely registering." "It's no wonder the Replicators didn't find him." "Alright, I'll swing around and pick him up." "Watch yourselves, I'm closing the bulkhead." "Will we not be vulnerable to the same nanovirus with which Niam infected Elizabeth?" "He's been floating in space for over a month now." "Existing in such a harsh environment, direct solar radiation has severely diminished his power levels." "We're fairly certain he's almost completely incapacitated." "Is he dead?" "As in "mostly dead"." "Besides, we don't have a choice." "He's the key to our whole plan." "Alright." "But if he even twitches..." " Don't worry." " Thank you." "Got him." "Closing the rear hatch." "Take the seat." "The compartment's re-pressurised." "Alright, OK, OK." "OK." "OK, this is good." "His power levels are minimal but not too minimal." "I'm fairly sure he doesn't have the juice to regain consciousness..." "I was... fairly sure." "Just load the programme." "Repairs are under way in Stargate Operations but we have lost all main sensors." "We are trying to route all the telemetry through these terminals but they were not designed to take on so many systems." "We have stationed several observers around the City." "If the Gateship returns, we will detect it visually." "They communicated briefly with someone within the City." "We'll send search parties here and here." "All of the Ancients were killed." "Their commander attempted to conceal that fact as I probed her mind." "There may have also been a small number of humans." "We would have detected them." "They may be hiding where the sensors are inoperable." "If we want to capture the ones who attacked us, we must first capture those they came for." "Well?" "Done yet?" "I think we're good to go." "Alright." "I'll take us back." "Why don't we do this from here?" "Do what from here?" "Render the Replicators helpless, Rodney." "Remember the plan?" "Of course I remember the plan." "It's my plan." " Actually, using Niam was Elizabeth's plan." " Thank you." "It was mostly my plan." "It was..." "my freezing programme." "You said they'd be frozen in place six or seven hours." "Why not do it now?" "Because I've gotta keep Niam at nominal power levels, otherwise we risk him waking up." "Look... low power means short range." "Short range means we need to get closer." " How much closer?" " Much." " With no cloak?" " No cloak." "Good to be back home...?" "There's no place like it." "I realise I was duped, General, but... they were incredible." "It was like a scene out of "The Sting"." "Calm down, Bill." "That's not why I brought you in here." "In my defence, this was obviously something they had planned for a long time..." "Forget about it." "I'd like to know your opinion on the best way to disable the Gate Bridge between galaxies." "We just finished building that." "I'm aware of that." "OK..." "Well," "I suppose if one were to detonate a Mark Nine at the midway station, that'd pretty much do it." "I thought so." "I'd like you to supervise the preparation of a Mark Nine to keep our options open." "You know, you could always dismantle it." "Of course, it would take a bit more time..." "Which we may not have." "That is such a shame." "Doctor?" "Why are you still in my office?" "Right." "Alright, we're about a mile out." "OK, I'll start broadcasting the virus now, but, we're gonna need to get closer than that." "Drones!" "McKay!" "We're still not close enough." "Hang on!" "That sounded like another explosion." "Yes." "Yes, it did." "What does that mean?" "Something exploded." "But is it Sheppard attacking the Replicators, or the Replicators attacking Sheppard?" "We'll find out!" "How did they even get here?" "Through the Gate?" "I've been sitting next to you through the whole thing." "Why do you think I have more information?" "Look..." "I told you I wasn't good at this." "He said he'd be back in a couple of hours." "That gives him a good... eleven seconds." "What was that?" "If we keep this up, there won't be much of a City left to save." "I'll try to run the drones into your least favourite buildings." "McKay!" " It should be working!" " Well it's not working!" "Look, if I give him any more power, he'll wake up and kill us all!" "Sheppard can't keep this up forever." "Shields have been damaged." "Alright, I've had enough." "I've got a different idea." "They're overdue." "Not yet." "It's been well over eleven seconds." "Yes." "But you've been ignoring the dramatic element of... suspense." "General O'Neill." "Are you there, Sir?" " See?" " Oh, thank God!" "Yes, we're here." "You're late." "Sorry, sir." "Had to go into space and pick up some frozen goods." "Whatever." "Where are you now?" "We're not exactly inside the City yet." "We're headed toward an underwater Jumper Bay." "Well, what we think may be an underwater Jumper Bay." "Is that Doctor Weir I hear?" "Yes, General." " It's good to hear your voice too." " I didn't say it was good, Elizabeth." "Please, don't be offended as I express my surprise that Landry would send you on a mission like this." "Well, sir, General Landry didn't sanction this mission." "So, am I to assume you are not surrounded by heavily-armed" "SG teams and young strapping marines?" "You've got Colonel Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla, McKay, myself and Doctor Beckett." "Oh!" "Doctor Beckett, is it?" "Well, I'm comforted." "What's that supposed to mean?" "OK..." " ready to open the lock." " We've got a plan, Sir." "A good one." "Yes, Colonel, I'm sure you do." "But in the unlikely event you don't fail miserably, you're fired." "Yes, Sir..." "look forward to that." "They have a plan." "I heard." "Careful." "Thanks, Doc!" "OK." "Closing the outer door." "Yes." "Now, I just have to pressurise the compartment and we are..." "What?" "It's not letting me do it." " The water's not draining out." " Yeah, excellent observation, thank you." "It is, however, draining in." " Oh, not again." " Well..." "I guess we took some damage." "I just wanna point out that this was not my idea." "You said, "Get us close to the City"." "This is pretty damned close!" " And yet, no cigar!" " Alright." "Just open up the outer doors." "I'll figure something else out." "Right." "Oh... dear." "What?" "I don't think I'm gonna be able to open the outer door." "Why not?" "I think it might be jammed." ""Might"?" "OK, "is"." "Well, that's unfortunate." "Yeah, I'd have to agree with you on that." "This part of the plan isn't going so well." " There must be a manual override somewhere." " In the Bay's Control Room, yes." " OK, I'll swim to it." " Which is sealed from the other side." "Of course it is!" " Perhaps General O'Neill can reach it." " Good." "OK, give me half an hour to get Niam to the right power level so we can do this." "We've got more than one fracture." "We don't have that kind of time." "General O'Neill?" "We're gonna need a favour." "OK, there should be a hatch leading down to the next level." "Do you see it?" "Yep." "Sure do." "We see it." "The Control Room should be almost directly below." "OK, slight problem here." "What's that?" "Well, the level below is completely flooded too." "I... couldn't convince you to take a swim today, could I?" "Alright." "If you hear something, don't call out to it." "Shoot it." "Understood." "Anything that's not me is a Replicator, so don't hesitate." "You won't be gone long, will you?" "Kinda depends on the temperature of the water." "Not long." "McKay?" "What do I do once I get down there?" "It's a manual override." "It should be in the centre of the console." "It'll be obvious once you get in there." "Alright." "Good luck." "Thank you." "Alright, here we go." "Did you do it?" "Radio." " McKay." " Did you do it?" "You and I have very different ideas of what "obvious" is." "Well, I've never seen it before!" "There are dozens of controls down there I wouldn't even know how to describe." "Well, it's an emergency control." "It should be among the most prominent." "God." "God, you can hold your breath a long time!" "You almost gave me a heart attack!" "Me too." "General." "It sounded like you had the right control." "Why did you stop?" "It's a dead man's switch." "I have to hold it in place." "I had no idea." "Really?" "Oh, God." "He's doing it!" "He's almost done!" "Tell him, like, thirty more seconds and we're..." "I can do this." "Woolsey?" "Woolsey, come in." "Something's wrong." "McKay... you stay here and reprogramme Niam." "We're gonna go and meet General O'Neill and Woolsey, alright?" "We'll wait for your OK." "Yeah!" "Don't... move." "Where are the others?" "What others?" "They have been captured?" "Yeah, looks like." "Which means their minds will be probed for information any minute now." "McKay." "Fire up that virus." "I am working as fast as I can." "The Replicators have O'Neill and Woolsey." "Unfortunately, that information can't make me work any faster." "This way." "What were you doing in the flooded sections of the City?" "The backstroke..." "I think." "What are you planning?" "Well, I was planning to retire... but, man, is that overrated." "I mean, it's not like I'm a workaholic or anything, but, you know, I like to stay active with the community." "It's..." "It's a health... maintenance sort of thing... you know?" "I don't like where this is going." "What are they doing?" "What you doin'?" "Probing your mind." "Kinda roomy, ain't it?" "Your ability to resist is quite remarkable, General O'Neill." "It's not the first time I've had a hand in my head... as it were." "If you do not give me what I am looking for," "I'm sure Richard Woolsey will." "I'll tell you what, you look around and I'll tell you if you're gettin' warmer or colder, alright?" "There it is." "So... hot, I guess." " That was the worst thing I've ever experienced." " Yeah..." "It gets worse." "OK, if I..." "That should..." "Yeah." "OK, yes." "Stand by." "I've got his power levels about as high as I'm comfortable with." "I'm gonna try... to get him... to..." "You've been warned about tampering with our base code, Doctor." "You won't get a second chance." "McKay?" "Come in, McKay." "Fall back to the Jumper!" "We're gonna need a new plan." " He just came to life?" " They must have got through O'Neill and Woolsey." "O'Neill would've never given us away." "Obviously their minds were probed." "Well, they know we're here and how we got in." "Which is how they were able to reactivate Niam, which pretty much screws plan A." "Could you activate the freezing programme another way?" "No." "I need to load the programme directly into a Replicator and spread it that way." "Alright, so that plan's out the window." "We need another one." "Well, these weapons blow them apart, right?" "I say we just start killing 'em." "Well, normally I would share your run-and-gun enthusiasm, but these weapons are only gonna work for so long before they manage to identify the frequency they use to disrupt the bonds that hold the Replicators together." "What'd he say?" " They build up an immunity." " Exactly." "Look, the freezing plan would have worked because they would be unable to communicate with each other while we were blasting them, but the more we shoot, the greater the likelihood these weapons are gonna become ineffective." "OK, so what are our options?" "I just gave you one." "We'll call that... plan B." "Anyone for a Plan C?" "C-4." "How much do we have?" " A bunch." "Why?" " Well, it's desperate..." "Well, so are we." "We need to split into groups." "I was gonna suggest that anyway." "Why?" "What are you thinking?" "We far outnumber them." "If we conduct a search..." "We will be able to locate them more effectively once repairs are complete." "The damage was severe." "We had to dismantle our ship to provide the raw materials." "Once repaired..." "Atlantis will be all the ship we need." "Well, it's about time!" "Oh, thank God!" "Alright, get 'em out of here." "I'll stand guard." "Hey." "Thanks for the rescue!" " Oh, hey!" "No problem." " No!" "You should be saying, "Thanks for the rescue"!" "Oh!" "Right." "Thanks." "Should have you outta there in no time." "This won't take long at all." "Oh, my." "They've changed the codes." "But you can crack it, right?" " You need to get us out of here." " Yeah, of course I can." "Just give me about... one... two seconds." "So I guess that frozen Replicator plan didn't pan out?" " Yeah, not so much." " How's that plan B working for ya?" "Good?" "Actually, it's more like plan C." "C as in C-4, if you catch my drift." "No." "Let's just say that we're concerned the Daedalus won't be able to carry out your standing orders." "What?" "!" "To destroy Atlantis with nuclear weapons?" "I thought we were past that!" "Why are we going back to that?" "Yeah, it's the only way." "Can you do that?" "Yeah." "If we plant charges in all ten of the shield emitters before the Daedalus arrives, that way when the Replicators try to activate the shield..." "The C-4 detonates, the Daedalus beams a warhead into the City, and we all get vapourised." "It sounds more like a plan F, doesn't it?" "As in, "We are totally..."" "If we can fight our way back to the bay, then we'll be able to fly the Jumper to a safe distance." "That is, if we can get the underwater bay door open." "You can't even open this door!" " Hey, I'm workin' in it!" " Yes." "I see that." "We got company." "Sorry, Sir, we're gonna have to come back for you." "No-no-no-no-no-no, we can't leave them here." "They know too much." "What'd you tell 'em?" "I mean, they guessed most of it." "What, and you filled in the rest?" "!" "I thought I would have time to get them out of here!" "Look, just... forget what I said." "Sheppard, get out of here while you still can." "That's an order." "Sorry it has to be this way." "Yeah, I get it." "Go." "So... we're back to being vapourised." "What is it, Chief?" "We're receiving a subspace data burst via midway in the Alpha Site." "Daedalus is holding station at their failsafe point, and awaiting your order." "Reply to Colonel Caldwell that General O'Neill's order stands." "Atlantis is to be destroyed at all costs." "Yes, Sir." "Done... and done." "Good." "We are well ahead of schedule." "Perfect." "Now let's find some place out of the way and wait for this thing to be over." "Come on." "One more to go." "Almost done." "We haven't run into a single Replicator." "I know." "It's weird." "Woolsey and O'Neill said that there were hundreds of them." "Where are they?" "Let's go." "OK, that should do it." "One more to go..." " And it's all over but the crying." " Hopefully them, not us." "What the hell?" "No wonder they weren't coming after us." "They've been busy repairing the City." "What is that?" "They brought their ZedPMs to power the stardrive." " So that sound is..." " The City about to take off." "It's time to start crying." "They'll still have to activate the shield to take off, won't they?" " We got most of their emitters." " Yeah, "most" ain't gonna cut it." " For this plan to work, it is all or nothing." " What do they want to fly around for?" "Maybe they wanna fly home, back to their homeworld." "And take on the Daedalus." "Well, how are we gonna stop 'em?" "Well, I..." "Drones." "They fired drones at us." "That means the Chair is active and powered." "You wanna fire drones at the City?" "We're nowhere near the Chair!" "But Teyla and Beckett are." "You want me to do what?" "Just do what I say." "Alright, I'll give it a try." "But no apologies if I happen to destroy the entire bloody City." "Stardrive, Carson." "Concentrate on the stardrive." "Right." "And, Teyla, you may have to fight your way in." "I'm ready, Colonel." "And use your ARG sparingly." "They may build up an immunity." "You may have to go to plan..." "B." "OK..." "Which one's that, again?" "Never mind." "Just go." "Clear." "Thank you, dear." "Hurry." "They've taken out the guards in the Chair Room." "What are they doing?" "They've hit the stardrive." "A search and destroy team is on their way to the Chair Room now." "Make sure they understand... we need them alive." "Beckett!" "OK, lads, easy... easy." "And I was so sure we were gonna survive this one." "Me too." "Move." "Bring the prisoners from the other cell." "Everyone OK?" "So far." "I'll be fine." "Why aren't we dead yet?" "Probably saving us for a little recreational mind-probing." "Did everyone get the...?" "We completed our task." "So did we..." " in the nick of time." " You?" "Yeah." "Just under the wire." "Did you really think you'd be able to stop us?" "Well, of course we did." "Why else would we be here?" "Colonel?" "Am I gonna have to fire you?" "No, Sir." "I think you'll have that to look forward to when we get back." "I'm afraid your plan has been discovered, Colonel Sheppard." "It is over." "He put his hand in my forehead." "How can you resist that?" "Well, I like to close my eyes and think of England." "Mr Woolsey informed us of everything we need to know." "All of your C-4 has been removed from the emitters." "I'm afraid they won't be destroyed when the Daedalus arrives... which should be in any moment." "Your plan has failed." "Talus." " The Daedalus is approaching the planet." " As expected." "Activate the shield." "C-4." "How much do we have?" " A bunch." "Why?" " Well, it's desperate..." "Well, so are we." "We need to split into groups." "I was gonna suggest that anyway." "Why?" "What are you thinking?" "If we're gonna destroy these guys using Replicator disruptors, we have to hit them all at once." "We'll probably only get a dozen or so shots off before they manage to figure out the frequency." "So, what, you gonna get 'em all to stand in one place at the same time?" "Clever, yes... or we could figure out a way to send one massive blast through the City." "Follow me." "Atlantis has ten of these emitters with which it creates the City's shields." "So... if we can interface the crystals from the disrupter weapons... with those of the shield emitters, we should be able to trigger a massive anti-replicator wave throughout the City." "OK, that's where splitting into teams comes in." "Exactly." "Now, I need to show you how to do this, so... listen carefully." "You slide out the crystal tray, take the crystal from the Replicator weapon, you place it in the third slot from the right." "Third symbol from the left activates the crystal tray." "Clear on that?" "Great." "They are bound to find one of our groups working on the shield emitters." "I already thought of that." "That's what the C-4 is for." " We blow them up?" " No." "We feed them misinformation." "Alright." "Once you guys have made all your alterations, avoid using your shiny new toys even if that means getting caught," "OK?" "If we plant charges in all ten of the shield emitters before the Daedalus arrives, that way when the Replicators try to activate the shield..." "The C-4 detonates, the Daedalus beams a warhead into the city, and we all get vapourized." "It sounds more like a plan F, doesn't it?" "General O'Neill didn't buy it but I think Woolsey did." "Well, I did win a Sears drama festival award when I was a kid." "Could have made it a career if I wanted to." "Wish you would've." "What?" "We need to get to the shield emitter stations." "Remove the C-4 explosive you find there." "Way to resist." "I said I wasn't good at this." "Talus." " The Daedalus is approaching the planet." " As expected." "Activate the shield." "It worked!" "I can't believe it worked!" " Rodney... amazing." " Well, it was a group effort." "Good old plan D..." "works every time." " You guys stay here a sec." " Excuse me... but what just happened?" "We turned the shield into a giant Replicator weapon." "I knew that!" "You knew?" "Well, I've seen Carter crack enough codes to know that McKay was faking the door thing." "He was?" "I bought it completely." "I believe that was the point." "Wait a minute... you..." "you used me?" "You're alive..." "and you're welcome." "Hey, we're clear." "OK, we've gotta get to the control room and contact the Daedalus." "You see, Richard?" "You were good for something." "Thanks." "Sir." "I have an incoming message from Atlantis." " Atlantis?" "Is it Replicators?" " No Sir." "It has Colonel Sheppard's authentication code." "Open a channel." " Colonel, I'd like to believe this is you." " Well, it is." "Authentication code Alpha Delta Charlie Niner Six." "That code is no longer valid, Colonel." "Hey, Caldwell." "General Jack O'Neill here." "That valid enough for you?" "You may have been compromised, Sir." "We're lowering the City's shield, Steven." "You can send a team to come check us out if you need to." "We'll explain everything." "Get a team of marines ready to beam down." " Sir." " It should be an interesting explanation." "Gettin' all settled in?" "Easily... although their decorating, a little bit Spartan for my liking." "But the Replicators did do a fine job on rebuilding Stargate Operations back to its original state." "How about yourself?" "Do you check out OK?" "Apparently I don't have any little tiny robots floating in my bloodstream, which is always nice to hear." "That it is." "So what now?" "Oh, a Jumper ride home to the SGC, followed by a hot shower, followed by a hot toddy..." " followed by..." " I was thinking... a little more selfishly." "What are the chances of my team staying here in Atlantis?" " Elizabeth, if it were up to me..." " It is up to you." "Right." "You can stay." "Really?" "You're probably still gonna have to get the rubber stamp from the IOA, but since you saved Woolsey's ass, and you did a fair job on mine," "I don't think that'll be a problem." "Well, I think I speak for all of us when I say thank you very much." "Hey, you came back to rescue me." "Yes, we did." "Of course, next time, consider bringing Carter with you." "Welcome home."