Chapter 1
The gate shut off with a whoosh and Jack looked around, holding his gun tightly as he scanned the horizon.
"Huh," he said. "What a surprise. There's no trees in sight. This is new." The surrounding expanse of planet P2R-987 seemed barren. Rocks and sand in every direction. Further off, the landscape took a greener tinge before it faded into mountains. However, there were no trees in sight.
Major Carter grinned slightly and scanned the area. "Air is clean, breathable, perfectly habitable, just like the MALP said."
Daniel scratched his head as he looked around. "The MALP showed no signs of anybody? Nothing at all? Not even any ruins?"
Teal'c nodded, "Indeed."
"Is P2R-987 a planet from the Abydos Cartouche or the Ancient Database?" Daniel asked.
"Abydos," Carter said without looking up from her readings.
"Ah. Well, then shouldn't there be someone here?" Daniel asked as Jack and Teal'c fanned out and scanned the area.
Jack looked back and gave him a look. "Why, Daniel? Could it be the scenic location? The beautiful view?" he asked in his most sarcastic tone gesturing at the lack of trees on either side of the gate. He hadn't been too excited about coming here in the first place. He had a bad feeling about this one. The gate was open and exposed. The mountains in the distance were not helping his nerves either. They seemed to loom ominously.
Daniel gave him a returning look and said, "Well, Jack, it's a perfectly livable planet. Most other perfectly livable planets have had descendants from Earth unless there is a perfectly unnatural natural disaster or something else that has eliminated the population. We haven't seen any signs of civilization so far, and the MALP saw no evidence of any life signs."
"Neither we nor the MALP have ventured far from the gate, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c pointed out.
Daniel rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Teal'c."
"You are welcome, Daniel Jackson."
Jack smirked as he continued to scan their surroundings. A slight movement from behind a nearby rock caught his eye, and his hand flew up, causing the rest of his team to instantly be on alert. They stopped talking and began to search to find the cause of Jack's distress. Silent as a big cat, Teal'c moved to stand next to his friend.
"Have you seen something, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked quietly.
Jack nodded, and then spoke in a loud voice. "Come out to where we can see you. Slowly please. We come in peace or some such thing. Don't be scared."
As he spoke, four figures suddenly appeared in front of them. Jack and Teal'c managed to contain their surprise, but Carter jumped, and Daniel let out a little yelp.
"I'm thinking the planet is populated, Dr. Jackson," Jack said, and grinned at Daniel, but the utterly shocked look on the archeologist's face made him turn to look at the four men in front of him.
The men were carrying large metal shields, with a shape that looked like an upside-down "V" emblazoned on the front of them. The shields covered the whole torso from the neck to the tighs, and below, the legs gleamed with silver leggings. The four men stood perfectly aligned in front of SG-1, and spears, gleaming metallically, poked out from between the shields. Above the shields were four helmeted heads with plumes stuck out of the top. All Jack could see of the faces were the men's eyes peering through the eye-holes. Jack couldn't help but feel that the men looked familiar. At that moment, Daniel cried, "I don't believe it! They're Spartans!"
At the word, the men in front of them visibly reacted and began to babble in another language. Jack sighed and looked expectantly at Daniel.
"It's ancient Greek. They're asking us who we are and whether or not we are of the race of the serpent."
"The Goa'uld?" Jack asked in surprise.
Daniel shrugged and began to babble back at the men. However, the men looked at Daniel and then they began to talk in a very threatening tone.
Jack raised an eyebrow expectantly at Daniel. Daniel was looking a bit stung. "They just called me a 'helot' and said that I had no right to speak to them."
"Then who were they asking?" Carter asked.
Daniel shrugged. "Evidently not me. Helots were the slaves of the Spartans. Well, not actually slaves, but..."
"Save the lecture, Daniel," Jack interrupted, "this isn't the time." He looked at the rest of his team, shrugged, and took a step toward the four figures. "Hello, I am Colonel Jack O'Neill, US Air Force. We have come through your stargate as explorers. We didn't come to fight with you, unless of course, threatened. Then we'll be perfectly willing to kick your trash and send you packing."
"Jack!" Daniel exclaimed looking with trepidation toward the four Spartan warriors. However, instead of growing angry, the Spartans laughed.
They spoke again, and Daniel looked a bit confused. "What did they say, Daniel?" Sam asked.
"They said something about Jack being good potential Spartan material. I'm not really sure what they meant by that."
"Can you not communicate with them, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.
"I'm afraid not, Teal'c. I don't think they're going to listen to a word I say."
"Can you tell them you're not a Helot?" Sam asked.
"I can try," Daniel said, and turned back to the Spartans. As he babbled to them, they seemed to tense up again. Then abruptly, one of them laughed. Surprised, Daniel stopped talking.
The one who laughed spoke to the other two and they all turned their gazes to Jack. One of them then addressed Daniel and spoke.
"Well?" Jack asked when he had finished. Daniel looked a little embarrassed. "They said they understand now." When Daniel hesitated, Sam prompted, "Understand what?"
"That I am Jack's slave and interpreter. They will allow me to speak to them on those premises."
Sam laughed and even Teal'c smiled a bit. Jack just gestured toward the warriors. "Well, then, Daniel, speak away."
Daniel began to speak quickly to the four warriors. They listened attentively as he explained the stargate and why they were there. He told them that they were enemies of the 'race of the serpent.'
As he spoke, Jack turned toward the others. "At least their not attacking. If they were, we might be in trouble. Spartans aren't someone we want to mess with."
Sam looked at him curiously. "What do you mean, sir?"
"Come on, Carter," he said, "haven't you seen the movie 300?"
"Actually, I haven't, sir."
"Nor have I, O'Neill," Teal'c interjected.
Jack turned back as the Spartans began to respond to Daniel. Daniel listened for a few minutes and then turned back to the rest of the team. "They welcome enemies of the race of the serpent. They have heard legends telling of the home world of their race. They say that a man from the race of the serpents came and captured many of their people, bringing them to this planet, but that their people rose up against the race of the serpent and killed him and his warriors."
"Way to be!" Jack crowed. Teal'c raised an eyebrow in his general direction, and Jack shrugged.
"They wonder about our strange group and why a warrior would bring a woman, a Helot, and warrior of the serpent with him."
Sam snorted, very unladylike.
Daniel continued, "Evidently they recognize Teal'c as a Jaffa.. I think they might have said something else, but the translation was a bit..."
"Daniel, Daniel," Jack interrupted, "enough. Ask them if they'll take us to the man in charge."
"Uh, Jack. I don't know if that's a good idea," Daniel said.
"Why not? They kicked the trash out of the Goa'uld on their planet. Why not invite them to help on other planets?'
"We should establish good relationships, Daniel," Sam said. "They might have formed new weapons or other means with which we can fight the Goa'uld in the centuries since they've been here."
Daniel sighed and turned back to the four warriors. But as he was about to speak, Jack grabbed his shoulder, his eyes staring out toward the mountains.
"Forget that," he said, "we've got to go."
"Why?" Daniel said. The four Spartans seemed relaxed and even pleased as they watched Jack scan their surroundings.
"Just apologize and let's go. We're being surrounded."
Daniel mumbled something to the Spartans, but Jack was already moving off. "Carter, dial the gate," he said. Sam ran forward to do just that. Jack kept his eyes carefully on the Spartans as they backed away. The Spartans weren't moving, just watching. Teal'c flanked him as Daniel ran toward Sam just as the wormhole whooshed open. Daniel quickly typed in the code for his GDO and waited.
Just as Jack was about to tell him to go, the seemingly empty landscape surged with darkly tanned figures. All the figures each only wore red robes and they seemed to be twenty and younger. That's all Jack noticed before they were on him. "Go, Carter, Daniel!" He yelled as he dodged a knife slash toward his face. His special-op's training kicked in at that moment and he lost himself in the flying fist and kicking legs.
He dodged a fist and caught it as he moved back swinging the fist's owner into another figure who was pivoting to kick him. Both boys were knocked off balance as Jack caught another foot flying toward his face. He dropped to a crouch and, still holding the foot up, knocked the other foot out from under the kid. He caught a glimpse of an angry face with a scar that ran along the boy's jaw before he had to move to block the next attack. He spun and planted his fist in another kid's face that was sneaking up on him as he blocked a blow from the side. He winced internally as his fist knocked a kid back who couldn't have been more than eight.
He felt a kick catch him on the side and his adrenaline which had already been coursing through his veins kicked into overdrive. He moved his head just in time to avoid another knife thrust. He managed to avoid all of the knife slashes, but several hits were getting past his defenses, and he was weakening. Daniel, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, was almost to the gate, but he was bleeding from several shallow knife cuts. Carter was doing pretty well, her military training keeping her even with most of the young men, but the superior numbers were wearing her down. Teal'c was, as always, holding his own. The men obviously saw Jack and Teal'c as the larger threat and Jack was forced to concentrate harder on his own battle as a knife caught him while he was distracted. He could feel the blood coursing down his arm, but the adrenaline kept him from feeling any pain.
He heard Daniel call out a warning and he turned around to see a kid spring toward him. He caught the lad's foot out of midair, twisted with the boy's momentum and swung him into another group of boys that was running toward him. All this time, the four original warriors sat and just watched critically. Jack could see this situation was hopeless. He couldn't stop blocking long enough to get his gun up, so he was forced to continue fighting on with hand to hand combat.
He saw Daniel go down. With a cry of rage he turned and bulldozed his way toward his downed friend, ignoring the enemies on either side and the hits he was receiving on the way. He hammered a kid out of his way and managed to reach Daniel's side. Standing over him, he turned around just in time to block a punch that might have knocked him out. Without looking he felt Teal'c come up behind him, guarding his back as they both stood over the unconscious archeologist. Sam managed to fight her way through to them and as she flanked them, there was a momentary lull in the battle. The boys stood around, stepping from foot to foot and pacing, like small wildcats. Their eyes gleamed with excitement and their bodies were tense, ready at a moment's notice to fly toward their prey.
They seemed so almost blaze as the sun caught the sweat the glistened on their young bodies. Then, like a river of fire they surged forward and the three figures went down under the overwhelming onslaught.