Outpost Zeta Twelve

AR-1 Reborn... Again.
Full episode can be found here

Several weeks have past since the incident at Magna Secundus, and Samantha Carter is finally well enough to negotiate with the Olim, Dusty watches as the Olim finally leave after fruitless negotiation. Their bigotry remains and it seems only Aulus will give them the time of day for some reason. She oddly muses that it took samantha nearly dying in order to gain their respect, and Dusty isn't willing to go that far for these people. She has a final little talk with Ronon, and their break up is official. She hides her pain at it which Drake easily sees through. They have a funny little chat, and it's quite clear they're good friends.

Later on, Alicia, Dan, Dusty, Rafaela and Reyna are all called down to the briefing room. They learn that because of the potential trade with teh Olim, they're going to be forming a new team to head up exploration in the galaxy now that thing are realtively "normal" Alicia will be leader, and Dan as Second in Command after a promotion to Lieutenant. Dusty is also "promoted" to Lieutenant while the others are scientific backup.

Their first mission is to head to a planet the Olim have mentioned having an Ancient Outpost. The name is long and uninteresting, so John renames it Outpost Zeta Twelve just to spice it up. Samantha is amused, but annoyed, they've mended their bridges and now they're back to being good friends.

Outpost Zeta Twelve
Immediately upon arriving, its quick to see that no one has been here in hundreds of years. The Jungle has grown to thick and lush size, so much that they have to cut their way to the outpost. It's a wonderfully natural place, almost like the Amazon with no pollution. The team are easy going and their friendship that has developed over the last 6 months is obvious, although they pick on Dan a little since he's the only man in the group and obviously enjoying the eyecandy. It doesn't take long for the team to realize something is wrong when they start to become giddy and lightheaded. They soon reach the Outpost as they start to become sick.

Reyna does a more thorough scan of the atmosphere and realizes the problem. The Oxygen concentration on the planet is twice that of a normal human sustaining one, and they were getting high off the overdose. it also explains the heavy plant life. Alicia and Dan move out inside the shielded outpost with normal oxygen quickly realizing that they may not be along given the odd footprints in the dust. They split up to cover more ground, and just as Alicia hears something, Reyna calls out over the radio that they need to get off the planet as soon as possible. Emphasizing the point, Alicia encounters a three foot spider that's more than a little interested in taking a bite out of her. Her particle magnum does alot of damage, but with Drake's timely assistance, they're able to put the Spider down before it can attack them.

Drake found a nest of the spiders and had to remain silent lest he be detecetd, and now as the group gets back together in teh outposts control room, Reyna and Rafaela explain that the higher than normal oxygen concentration gave insects the growth potential to become "super sized". Dusty finds it hard to believe, but it's true and the reason they didn't run into any bugs on the way into the outposts is that the Stargate is connected to a repulsor field which scares off the bugs for a time. but activating the outpost has emptied its reserves of solar energy and they'll be exposed before Atlantis can dial in to inadvertandly give them cover with the repulsor field. Rafaela rigs teh field to use the last bit of power, and teh team sets off back towards the gate weapons at the ready.

During their conversation though, it's clear that despite their friendship, Dan is the outsider in that he's unashamed of his behavior including attitude to Alciia. This attitude is unexplained, but quite clear. Alicia puts him in line especially after he teases Rafaela for her foot in mouth comments. Dusty also snarks at him about thinking with the wrong head.

On the way back, the team is attacked by the bugs, and Alicia and Dan have to fight back to back against giant beetles, mosquitos, and other nasties. Reyna seems to be able to hold her own, but then she is attacked by a spider that yanks on her leg with a thick cord of webbing. Just as she's about to shoot it though, it pulls away seemingly recognizing the weapon. She's helped up by Drake, and soon teh team evacuates back to Atlantis where John and Sam are surprised at their condition, but overall glaf they're alright. It's decided that a Traveler ship will head to OZ12 in order to harvest the rich abundance of fruits and animals for food.

Atlantis
On Atlantis, John and Sam rekindle their friendship with some friendly teasing. They're still not trying for a relationship but everyone is much happier seeing them be friends than the awkward tension they had. John continues to train the Travelers in Air Force techniques, and also on potential combat with the Shade.

So it's a bit of a surprise to him when Larrin comes to his office, and basically forces herself on him. Afterwards he's quite confused and turns to a bottle, as well as Nevas to explain a little more on Traveler Culture. It's a bit awkward later when Samantha and he are playing Chess over lunch, and she easily defeats him prompting her to realize something is wrong. She exacerbates John's guilt when she gives him a hug thinking he misses Rodney, and tells him about Rodney's appearance during her near death experience. John is surprisingly calm about it, and he simply accepts it.

Later on, after dealing with the issue of OZ12, John, Samantha, Daniel and Teyla have a friendly get together where they try and explain Futurama to Teyla. She has a few odd yet comical quips about the show, and they all have a nice time. When Daniel and Teyla leave to head back to the mainland and Teyla's settlment, John and Samantha have a small personal chat where John tucks Samantha in as she's still unable to walk on her own without crutches. John feels terrible about the incident with Larrin, but there's little he can do now.