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  • Michael's invasion of Atlantis
Assault on Earth
800px-BattleOfTheZPMPoweredHiveShip
Conflict:
Date:
  • 2009
Place:
Outcome:
  • Atlantean victory
  • Destruction of Khan's superhive and the vast majority of Todd's faction
  • Temporary incapacitation of the Atlantus Outpost and minor planetary damage
  • Atlantis returns to Earth
Combatants
  • Khan's faction
Commanders
Strength
  • Todd's superhive
    • Thousands of Darts
  • 13 Hive ships
    • Many thousands of darts
  • ~20 Wraith cruisers
    • Many hundreds of Darts
  • Numerous other Wraith craft
Casualties
  • Pegasus
    • Several Puddle Jumpers
  • 1 Traveler generational ship
  • Atlantus Outpost (temporarily)
  • Many hundreds of F-302s and atmospheric fighters
  • Unknown civilian and ground-based military casualties

All forces

  [Source]
"Inbound contacts! They're... wait, this can't be right!"
—Walter Harriman, reporting the enemy armada's arrival in the Sol system

The Assault on Earth was a series of battles between the Atlantis Expedition and the rogue Wraith known as "Khan," culminating in a massive orbital battle above Earth. This marked the first time that the Wraith had successfully managed to locate and travel to the Milky Way Galaxy, overcoming their technological handicap, if only briefly. It was also the first time in over ten-thousand years that superhives had been active, demonstrating their tremendous ability to crush even the most-sophisticated warships with terrifying ease. Although the humans would ultimately go on to win the conflict, it would have major ramifications for both inhabited galaxies, as, at the end of the day, Atlantis was forced to remain on Earth pending a United Nations investigation into the Expedition's future mandate.

Prelude[]

Main article: Superhive

I may have acquired a few more [ZPMs] than I let on...let's not get caught up in unnecessary details.-Todd Enemy at the Gate

At the Battle of Asuras, Todd was able to steal a number of Asuran Zero Point Modules before Asuras was destroyed. He used some of them to power his massive cloning facility, and set his underling to work on devising a way to integrate the ZPMs into a Hive ship.

The retrofit took well over a year to complete due to the incompatibility between Ancient technology and the organic nature of a Hive ship. However, when the Wraith underling was finally able to make it work, he mutinied, chasing Todd from the Hive. Todd crash landed on an unknown planet with a Stargate and dialed Atlantis. He apprised the Atlantis expedition of the situation and was permitted back into the city, to yet again ally against the Wraith, though with his track record of duplicity, the expedition remained suspicious, notably Lt. Colonel John Sheppard. He revealed that the Super-hive was still in the process of upgrading its systems, and if the process is allowed to complete, the Hive would be unstoppable.

Order of battle[]

Daedalus v. the superhive[]

Todd urged Richard Woolsey to attack and destroy the Super-hive before it became a threat to Atlantis. On board the Daedalus, Colonel Steven Caldwell, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and the rest of the team rushed to engage the new Hive ship. A good distance away, Sheppard's team proposed to Caldwell that they scout forward in a cloaked Puddle Jumper, just to make sure they were not walking into another one of Todd's deceptions. Keeping in constant contact with the Daedalus, they set off and after cloaking, Dr. Rodney McKay almost immediately began receiving readings confirming Todd's assertion that there was indeed a Hive, however, it had a significantly higher than normal energy output. McKay quickly realized the Hive was using the surplus energy from the Zero Point Module to grow. He stated that if the Hive is able to complete its growth, the hull of the ship will be all but impenetrable. Sheppard and his team were about to send in the Daedalus when the Hive powered its weapons and fired a massive blast that just barely missed the cloaked Puddle Jumper. Sheppard realized they could be seen and decided to decloak and take evasive maneuvers so he could fire Drone weapons in retaliation. However, one of the Wraith blasts grazed the right side of the ship and Sheppard lost control.

Fortunately, the Daedalus arrived and took position to cover the Jumper's escape. The Daedalus returned fire with their Asgard plasma beam weapon, causing only minimal damage to the Hive's new, dense hull. The Hive fired back, completely depleting the Daedalus' shields and causing heavy damage. Suddenly though, rather than destroy the Daedalus, the Hive jumped into hyperspace. McKay repaired the Jumper's engines and the team rejoined the Daedalus. Aboard, McKay was able to decipher a Wraith transmission that was found by Dr. Peter Kavanagh. The transmission came from alternate reality, and it contained the coordinates to Earth.

Old allies and a new strategy[]

Into the Milky Way[]

Now on Earth, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard was briefed on the situation by Colonel Samantha Carter and Major Paul Davis; the Super-hive had arrived weeks ahead of schedule and had taken orbit around the Moon. For the moment, it was inactive and this was probably because it was still in the process of upgrading its systems. Sheppard proposed taking the fight to the Hive and launch a full squadron of F-302 fighter-interceptors armed with Nuclear warheads. The plan went ahead, however, it took too long. The Hive was still in orbit, but had launched an inbound wave of Wraith Darts. The initial transmission that included the coordinates to Earth, also detailed Earth's defensive systems, namely the Control chair, which had been moved to Area 51. Unfortunately, in this reality, the Control chair had also been moved to Area 51, and was the Darts' target. Sheppard led the squad of 302s, outnumbered, to intercept the squad of Darts. During the battle, two Darts broke formation and headed directly at Area 51. Sheppard pursued, but his wingman, Riggs, was killed and his own 302 was clipped by enemy fire. As Sheppard struggled to regain control of his ship, the two Darts rammed themselves into the Nevada base, destroying the control chair. Upon learning of this, the Hive left its orbit around the moon and set a course for Earth. Sheppard pulled his ship into a steep incline; his plan was to fly the 302 in stealth mode until close enough to the Hive to blast through the Dart bay doors and detonate the nuke that had been retrofitted to his ship from inside the Hive. He was volunteering for a suicide mission.

Showdown over Earth[]

Aftermath[]

Everyone at Stargate Command erupted into celebration when Atlantis radioed that they had successfully reentered the atmosphere, shields intact. With little power left, the city successfully landed over water. They were able to cloak just before their approach, and the area in which they landed was placed under quarantine by the United States Navy, so for now at least, Earth's population is still in the dark.

Lt. Colonel John Sheppard was discussing with Ronon Dex, who was in the infirmary recovering from his knife wound, whether or not, now that Atlantis has returned to Earth, they'd ever let the city return to the Pegasus galaxy. Ronon was then visited by Amelia Banks, and Sheppard left the two alone. He went to see Todd, who was still locked in a holding room. Todd boasted about his help in saving Earth because of his Zero Point Modules and asked if Sheppard had come to kill him, Sheppard did not respond. Amelia asked Ronon if he would like to take a walk, as there was something he should see. The two joined the rest of the senior Atlantis staff on a balcony overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.

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