Gateway
Chapter 2 New Beginnings Part 2
18th June 2558
Galandria system, Planet Galandria
Song removed her helmet and dropped it to the ground. She kneeled and felt all-around dizzy and a little frightened. She was trying to piece together everything. The flashback and First Lieutenant Kirtman. Those frightening moments was a complete blur to her. The massacre was over and the Spartans had been instrumental in cleaning up the remaining Advent troops that hadn't withdrawn through the gate. Out of a Platoon of forty-eight twelve had survived. Terrorist bastards left no wounded in their wake.
Song looked up when she saw a Pelican flying overhead. They were transporting wounded civvies to a medical facility they had built on the planet.
"Ma'am," she heard a voice behind her. Song turned her head to look over her shoulder and found a Spartan there. "Are you okay?"
Song turned her head back to look at the stream of cold water in front of her.
"Yeah. I…I was dizzy, is all," she assured. "This bloodbath."
"Yes ma'am," he said. "I have the casualty numbers if you want them."
"Shouldn't you give them to Colonel Milligan?"
"He already saw them. Thought you should see them since you're the surviving senior office," he explained. When Song nodded he gave her the numbers verbally. "Twelve survivors marines, eight minor wounded, one seriously. Twenty-seven civvies KIA and fifteen wounded. Enemy casualties are seventy-seven Unggoy KIA and eighteen shock troopers. Two wounded was captured."
"I doubt they'll give us any useful Intel," Song sighed. "These foot soldiers we captured in the past have never known anything useful. Advent is too compartmentalized. We won't get anything from them. I know Oni has their ways, but you can make people tell you what they don't know."
"Yes ma'am," was the Spartans only response to her depressive rant.
Song had no idea which of the Spartans she was conversing with, or rather trying to converse with. She hadn't met a lot of them but they were all pretty cold. At least the Spartan IIs and IIIs, the IVs different.
"Dismissed," she told the Spartan. She splashed her face with water. "Come on Kimberly, get your head in the game. Your fine, your fine. Focus." What would dad say? She thought to herself. She imagined the admiral would berate her or something. She mentally cursed herself for thinking about her dad and tried her best to push him from her mind. She put her helmet back on and marched back to the village milling with drop troopers. She saw that the gate was active and columns of army troopers marched through. She assumed they were part of the reinforced garrison.
For six months Galandria had been a protectorate and it had mostly been the Marine Corps job to garrison much of it since it laid outside UNSC space, but before she was transferred here she had heard that within six months the marines would be replaced with the army. It seemed it had already started. Perhaps Advent had convinced somebody or more likely they needed marines elsewhere. She made her way to locate Lieutenant Colonel Pelle Milligan, an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. He gave orders to his subordinates.
She halted and snapped a salute.
"Colonel."
"Staff Sergeant Song," he acknowledged. "Good you joined me, saved me to hail you. I got orders for the surviving marines."
"What's our orders, sir?" She asked.
"You will be absorbed into the 509th Battalion, your CO is Lt. Colonel Hargrove. Battalion goes by the nickname Bloodravens. Heard of it?"
Her eyes widened under her visor and she was happy he couldn't see her expression right now. The Bloodraven marines was involved in some of the bloodiest fighting in the Covies Civil War. She didn't pretend to understand the strategical reason and political reasoning behind this but it meant she was going back into the fighting, and maybe even worse than before.
"So Grunts and Advent, working together?" He inquired bemused.
"Eh, I don't know if working together is the right word, sir. The Unggoy came through first. They clearly used them as cannon fodder. Why some Unggoy and Advent is working together, we…"
"Leave that to the eggheads back home Staff," he chuckled.
18th June 2020
Tau'ri Space, Sol system, Planet Earth
Cheyanne Mountain Complex aka Stargate Command
General Jack O'Neill was sipping from his coffee in a well-deserved break after speaking with ONI Representative Lynchester about the first Earth Carrier coming off the production line. The Dragon class Carrier Achilles. The IOA argued for a vessel that would act as IOA's offworld command post. With a ZPM Achilles was the most powerful warship produced by Earth and the Military Coalition Council had already refused to give the IOA control over it.
As far as O'Neill was concerned anyone deserved a break after being in the same building as Mr Lynchester. His mood brightened at a report from the Joint Task Force. It read that the Carrier pack they had chased had been destroyed, which was great news. Though he expected some Advent terrorist counterattack. Something to kill a bunch of soldiers or civilians, or both.
There was a knock on the door and O'Neill looked up.
"Enter."
The wooden door slid open and a man in a green jumpsuit entered. He saluted.
"Sir, SG-23 is preparing to embark," he informed him in a Vietnamese accent.
O'Neill looked at the man's name and rank on his jumpsuit.
"Thank you Staff Sergeant…" yeah there was no way he could pronounce that right. "…Staff Sergeant, thank you."
The man bobbed his head and left. O'Neill sipped from his coffee and got up. His eyes glanced at a report sticking out of the pile. The title of it was UN something, and he groaned and walked out into the briefing room and down to the control room and into the embarkation room.
Major June Cooper was awaiting for the gate to spin up. Her four teammates seemed eager to have her back. After thirteen months they were probably beyond eager to have their CO back in action. He remembered the mission. Standard diplomatic mission really. Her team acted security for an ambassador sent to a Free Jaffa world to mediate a conflict between two minor Free Jaffa Pritarchs-or governors-and it ended with a firefight where Cooper was severely wounded.
"General," the olive skinned woman said when she saw him on approach.
"Major!" He said with a smile on his face and cup in his hand. The sixth chevron was in place. "I'll see you in forty-eight hours."
"Yes, sir. Can't wait," she stated.
He smirked. He knew she wasn't fond on this mission, but somebody had to do it. actually he thought she took it better then he would have back when he led SG-1. To their side the Stargate activated with its usual 'whoosh'.
"Mind the curfew and tell Colonel Gate to double time it back here. I have a new boring mission for him lined up."
Cooper grinned, "I'll tell him."
He looked to the Stargate and started turning.
"Just in case, I order you to come back in one piece this time," he said, giving her a stern look.
She pushed her grin away for a moment.
"You bet, sir." She turned to face her team. "Alright, let's move out!"
As the gate closed he sighed. Guessed he had to get back to the paperwork now. First he looked around for a distraction, but there was none to find. As he exited the embarkation room the gate spun into life. he looked at his watch.
"SG-4 should be back about now." He trotted into the embarkation room again. "This'll do."
As the Stargate activated Walter informed him SG-4s IDC was coming through and the Iris deactivated. With that four soldiers marched through the gate. The CO was a short Chinese man.
"General, I didn't think you would greet us in person," the major said, a little surprised.
"Yes, well," O'Neill started. "I have paperwork to avoid, speaking of which…I want a debrief as soon as you get out of your gear."
18th June 2558
Dari'm system, Planet Dari'm
Cooper took a deep breath of fresh offworld air.
"God I have missed this," she admitted.
"Same," her XO, Roark, agreed.
"You still went on missions," Cooper reminded him.
"Yeah. Wasn't the same without you though," the large dark skinned man stated.
Cooper smiled a little.
"Alright, let's go." Over her earpiece she said, "SG-18, this is Major Cooper of SG-23."
As they started walking through the forest surrounded field a friendly and familiar voice answered.
"Hey Coop. General sent you to relieve us from this utterly…exciting…assignment?" Colonel Benjamin Gate answered.
"That's right. We'll be there in…oh ten minutes or so," Cooper announced.
"Copy that. we'll go over the details when you get here, Gate's out."
"Well, he's excited to see you," Roark noted.
"Course he is, we've been friends for years," Cooper replied plainly.
"Uh-huh." Roark didn't say anything else, but he left it hanging there.
Cooper rolled her eyes. She eyed the two final members of her team. Staff Sergeants Abbigail Hall and Robbie Flannigan. Hall had been new to the team when she was shot in the back, though, Flannigan had been part of the team for a few years prior.
"Sergeant Hall," said Cooper. She looked to Hall, walking slightly behind her to the left.
"Ma'am."
"Have you ever met a Sangheili?"
"No, I haven't. The only aliens I've ever met are those Kig-yar on PR4…something," Hall stated. She didn't count the Jaffa since they were almost human.
"Hmm, yeah. I remember that," Roark mused, his head titled left as they walked. "The pirates."
"Well, Hall, you're about to have your first Sangheili encounter so…you know, brace3 yourself," Cooper steered the conversation back on track. "Think triple the strength of a Jaffa and a portion of the superiority complex of a Goa'uld. Minus the god complex off course."
Hall frowned, "Sounds…interesting, I think."
Cooper thought about the mission. A Sangheili archeologist had come to them and claimed he had found some Ancient ruins and asked for the SGC to provide equipment and extra security. He had hired some Kig-yar but he didn't trust them not to rob him blind when he breached the buried building. The local Jaffa Pritarch offered some manpower to unearth the facility.
The encampment laid in the center of an old ruined town. Ruins of what had once been tall spiraling buildings and stone laid streets was only a memory. A dozen tents was set up around a hole leading down into the earth, Cooper assumed that was where the facility was located. She noted three Kig-yar drinking and laughing and three sleeping with bottles around them, no doubt drunk. Definitely top notch security he had found. There was two dozen Free Jaffa in the camp, she assumed it was the labor force provided by the Pritarch. Her eyes landed on two young women in SGC uniform. She sat and played a game of cards, until the one with a ponytail spotted her and got up. she snapped of a salute and the other followed.
"Major," the first greeted her.
"Fox, Wolf," Cooper nodded in a greeting in return. "Where's Gate?"
"He's down in the tunnels with Yun Jhelum," the younger, Fox, answered.
"Thank you," Cooper said and turned to her team. "Get settled in, we'll be here for forty-eight hours."
Roark, Hall and Flannigan all nodded.
Cooper walked over to the hole and climbed down a ladder. She found herself in a square room of Ancient design with four pillars and two corridors, one of them had collapsed and there was steel beams supporting the roof of the chamber and the opposite corridor. She made her way down the stabilized and rounded a corner to find a junction. One corridor was being dug out and stabilized and the other was stabilized and cleaned from debris. It led into a small control room where she found Gate's and the Sangheili archeologist in question.
"Benjamin," Cooper caught his attention.
He turned around with a big smile on his face.
"Hey, Coop. Was wondering when you'd get here." He gave over and gripped her by the shoulders. "Damn it's good to see you."
"Yeah, same. I'd love to spent an hour talking but General O'Neill want you back for a new mission," Cooper said, a wide smile across her face.
Benjamin Gate was a muscular man with a regular built and a dark complexion. He lightly shook Cooper affectionately.
"How's that?" He asked.
"Yeah, he had a big boring mission lined up for you."
"Off course he has," he sighed, still smirking. He rubbed his neck. "We've had a quiet time since we arrived." He nodded to the archeologist. "Yun Jhelum determined that the there is something behind the closed down door and he's trying to open it somehow. Explosives would open the door but would bring the whole place down over us."
Cooper nodded with a professional expression.
"Alright."
He gave her a pad on the shoulder as he walked past her.
"I'll catch you back at the SGC in a few days, Coop."
"Definitely," she said and nodded. She turned to face the robed Sangheili as he was working on a datapad connected to a console.
"So you're my new security?" He broke to look up at her.
"Major Cooper, SG-23," she introduced herself. She was certain Gate's had informed him that she would relieve him.
He studied her with his cold eyes, then scoffed and shook his head.
Cooper frowned.
"What is that supposed to mean?" She led her weapon hang over her shoulder as she crossed her arms over her chest.
He shook his head and proceeded to look at the datapad.
"I was a Zealot in the days of the Covenant, five years prior," he said, and Cooper wondered what this had to do with it. "Say what you will of the Covenant-and there is much to say-they did not allow females in its warrior ranks." He finished by scoffing.
"And how did that go?" A smug smirk rising on her olive complexion features.
It earn a look of ire from the Sangheili when he quickly raised his gaze to star at her. He straightened his back and clicked his mandibles viciously.
"You dare human!" He growled loudly.
She was taken aback slightly by how angry he became, but she wouldn't back down. She had only met some and they had all been arrogant and with a since of superior in every way. Even after a war of genocide they thought themselves superior in every way.
"Major," Roark said over the earpiece.
"Report."
"I got a good look at the camp. It's got some good defensive positions should it come to it," he reported.
"Copy that. Good work, Roark."
Jhelum snorted and got back to work. Cooper left him alone and made her way out the corridors again.
18th June 2558
Free Jaffa Planet
The large black furred Jiralhanae swept his hands across each other and wiped them from some small amount of blood soaking them. It was impossible to recognize that the corpse he walked over had been a young Jaffa woman moments ago. Half the stone houses around the gate had been destroyed in the slaughter and corpses of men, women and children littered the ground.
He spit at a dead Jiralhanae. A warrior that fell to these worthless beings with barely a handful of weapons between them deserved death.
The first slaves would soon be led through the gate. The unlucky ones that was carried into slavery, mostly women and children. Before the enslaved would be led back to his planet they were forced to pile up their dead siblings, fathers, mothers and children in front of the gate. The His men oversaw it with glee, as did he as he heard their pained screams and crying of the children dragging their butchered parents. His men took everything of value in the area. He knew that soon enough the galaxy would fear the name Primikeus.
Primikeus addressed his second in command, "Hurry this up or I'll add your corpse to the pile."
"Yes Primal One!" His Beta complied.
He wanted to get back to his base and check the progress of the raids led by his subordinates and if any of them would fail they would join the heads lining the walls of his great hall. Heads of opponents and failed subordinates filled the walls. It was a truly beautiful sight to him, a reminder to everyone that entered that he was in charge.