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-SGA-

The first indication he had that something was wrong was the sharp crack of gunfire from somewhere below, coming from the direction of the gate.

The second was Lieutenant Ford's worried voice crackling over the radio.

"Major, we're under attack, I repeat, we are under attack".

Breaking into a run, Major Sheppard hastily thumbed his own radio. "Fall back and take cover. Hold your position."

Pausing only briefly to glance behind him, Sheppard saw that Dr Probst had abandoned his equipment, as had Captain Janssen, who was reaching for his P-90. Both were breaking into a jog as they moved to keep up. Good, he thought.

"Right, Dr Probst, stay in the middle and do what I tell you. Especially if I say duck." Probst nodded. "Janssen, cover our sixes. No way of knowing what we're dealing with here. Your priority is to keep Probst safe, understand?"

"Yes sir!" responded Janssen, dodging a long-collapsed section of wall.

With a sharp nod, Sheppard increased their pace further, his mind whirring as he sped past boulders and loose scree. Who could be attacking them, and why? Why had there been no lifesigns? Could the time between the MALP recon that morning and their departure from Atlantis only a short time afterwards have really been enough for an ambush to be set up? And if so, then why wait this long, why not strike when they had first arrived and the gate had just been shut down?

Sporadic bursts of gunfire fuelled his speed, as did the answering retort of P-90 fire, which was both reassuring and worrying at the same time. As they neared the general location of the stargate, he slowed slightly, dodging into the cover of the ruins.

"Ford, update," he commanded in a soft voice.

"We're about 50 yards due east of the Gate, behind a partially collapsed section of wall. Kinda looks like a hide-out, walls on three sides." More gunfire. "I'm counting ten bandits. Teyla already got one. Think I winged another guy on the arm."

"Affirmative. Cover our approach. Sheppard out."

Altering their course, Sheppard led Janssen and Probst towards Ford's 'hide out'. The slightly non-textbook description had been necessary though, as the mess of stone made the area as a whole rather labyrinthine. Sighting the telltale flash of a P-90 muzzle from behind a stone wall, Sheppard laid down a few rounds of covering fire as he watched Probst and Janssen slip between the walls to relative safety. As soon as they were inside, he followed.

-SGA-

Ford couldn't help but be relieved by the sight of his CO slipping stealthily, calmly through the faux-doorway. Their position was still not good, their cover fairly mediocre and the odds definitely not in their favour. But having even the temporary burden of command over the scientists removed - and Teyla too, to an extent - was welcome.

Darting up again to lay down more fire, Ford scanned the lumps of stone stretching in front of them. Still no clear visual. A flash of pale skin, of clothing or a gleam of a weapon so far, but nothing more. It was, however, enough to determine that their attackers were not wraith. I guess that's the silver lining to this storm cloud?

Returning to a crouch, he swivelled to face his CO as Janssen moved forwards to join Teyla in holding back the as yet unidentified hostiles.

"What's the plan, sir?"

Ford waited. Major Sheppard's face did not betray any emotions at all, save for intense concentration. Not even breathing hard, his face was furrowed in thought, and his eyes steeling over. Ford had only been waiting barely a moment when the Major spoke.

It occurred to Ford, suddenly, that Sheppard hadn't really been tested in out and out combat, yet. Sure, there had been darts, and the stunt with the Genii. And the iratus bug. But no firearms, no ambushes without puddle jumpers.

He wished that there was a majestic Lantean puddle jumper hovering above them right now. More specifically, he momentarily hoped for the jumper which he and the major had souped up with a few extra offensive capabilities. Yeah, that'd sure come in handy today...

-SGA-

"Ok. Teyla, Janssen, duck down for a sec." They did so. "We need to run distraction, get to the gate and get the scientists through. Janssen, you're with me. Under covering fire, we'll break for cover closer to the DHD. While we try to pick off as many hostiles as possible, Teyla and Ford will cover Drs. McKay, Probst and Paver."

Sheppard caught Teyla's eye and together they darted up to take aim once again at the hostiles. Returning to cover, Sheppard turned to the scientists.

"Focus on running. If you feel comfortable using your handguns, feel free to do so, but that's not your priority. McKay, you dial the gate."

"I, um, well-- I've had firearms training, I could maybe-".

"No buts, McKay. Dial the gate, get your ass through. End of discussion." He caught Janssen's eye. "At that point, we all cover each other and make for the gate. We can't afford to be caught up in a firefight, we're not packing enough ordnance. Everybody clear?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Yes, Major."

A whispered, "Ja," came from Dr. Probst just a beat afterwards. Sheppard flashed him what he hoped was a confident grin. He might know that from the sound of the guns, they were facing a pretty advanced enemy – advanced as in post- arrows and slingshots but pre- nukes and RPG's - and that there were definitely more than the ten which had so far been confirmed, but it wouldn't help for everyone to start falling apart. He just hoped that it wasn't the Genii; he'd had enough of them to last him for a good long while. If it was though, then their strategy was a bit lax, not to have taken advantage of them by now.

In fact, they were practically pinned down in this ramshackle 'hide-out', Sheppard reminded himself. So why…?

"Let's go, Captain." A mutual nod, and then the two soldiers emerged simultaneously from behind their cover, P-90's roaring away. Sprinting forwards to a conveniently placed boulder a short distance from the DHD, Sheppard sprayed the tree line, where he figured the ten confirmed hostiles would probably have reinforcements waiting.

He then focussed on the flashes of movement in the rubble. An arm, a leg. A flash of hair. Janssen got two, he got three. That made five, plus Teyla's one. Six, then. Enough to drive them back, he figured.

"Teyla, Ford, move it!"

Switching from pinpoint aim to cover fire, he and Janssen kept the path clear for the others. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see McKay bent double at the DHD, the symbols lighting up one by one as the stargate began to dial. Ford and Teyla had Probst and Paver covered, both of whom were looking a little scared but as yet – thankfully – uninjured.

Sheppard was beginning to wonder at their good luck.

It seemed like hours before he heard the whoosh of the wormhole initialising, minutes while he punched in his IDC, precious seconds while he confirmed it over the radio.

"Atlantis, this is Sheppard. We're coming in hot, I repeat, coming in hot."

There was a sudden increase in the crescendo of enemy gunfire. Teyla and Ford had joined he and Janssen, but covering fire would only ever work for so long.

"McKay, get your ass through the gate!" he bellowed, knowing that the physicist would take the other scientists with him. Rodney's self-preservation streak didn't just cover himself, despite what he often professed to anyone who'd listen.

-SGA-

Elizabeth Weir rushed out of her office when she heard the stargate begin to activate. She knew that Sheppard's team was due back in about thirty minutes, but – call her paranoid – so far in the Pegasus galaxy, unexpected dial-ins had not usually presaged anything good. Not that they ever had back at the SGC in the Milky Way either, for that matter. Before she could get the question out of her mouth, she was informed that it was Major Sheppard's IDC, and before she could ask for an explanation, the Major's steady voice had come over the radio.

Hot. Coming in hot.

She never liked the sound of those words. They could never bode well.

So it was with some relief that she saw Drs McKay, Probst and Paver come sprinting through the gate, looking tired but whole and healthy- no screaming, no red bandages.

"Keep the shield down!" called Rodney. "The others are coming, they're right behind us." He paused for breath, allowing Dr Paver a chance to jump in.

"We were ambushed, Doctor Weir. Don't know who, but they've got guns. Probably destroying the texts engraved on the ruins, but," she gave a nervous laugh, "no real injuries so far."

Dr Probst nodded emphatically. "Ja. They be here in just one minute more. Ich bin ganz sicher…"

Still, they weren't through yet. She tapped her radio decisively.

"Medical team to the gate room."

Better safe than sorry.

-SGA-

Once the scientists were through, Sheppard felt a modicum of relief. The innocents had been removed from the equation, and he could now focus completely on the military angle to this situation.

"Captain, fall back to the DHD, I repeat, fall back."

He and Janssen had been forced to fan out. It wasn't impossible that Ford's original count of ten had been correct, but it had since become clear that in all likelihood, Ford had underestimated their numbers. It was likely, after all, that there had been others hiding in the woods, probably still were. But whatever the truth, Sheppard's team was now becoming severely outnumbered. It was time to high tail it out of there.

Major Sheppard began to move backwards, towards the DHD where Teyla and Ford were pinned down. As he did so, he felt a sharp, searing burst of pain in his left arm, the force of the bullet pushing him down.

"Sir?!" came Ford's voice, tense over the radio.

Mentally focussing on the pain relief and sheer drive provided by the adrenaline that he knew was coursing through his system, he rolled back onto his feet, running once again towards his two team mates. He could see Janssen not much further away than him, approaching from an opposite angle.

"Tripped," lied Sheppard unconvincingly, hoping that the wound wouldn't bleed too much before he could get a dressing on it.

And then there was the DHD, and there was Ford, and Teyla, who was wearing her "I am about to kick butt" expression. Sheppard grinned, despite the situation at hand. The stargate was glowing a cheery blue over her left shoulder. Janssen was just feet away.

"Ford, Teyla, through the gate! I'll cover you."

The young lieutenant looked as though he wanted to protest, Teyla too, and Sheppard understood, but now wasn't the time.

"Move it!" he ordered, steadfastly ignoring his throbbing arm. The retort of his P-90 seemed to dig the bullet a fraction deeper with each action.

Running the last few feet flat out, both Teyla and then Ford made it through. Just Janssen, and then they'd all be safe.

But suddenly Janssen wasn't running anymore; he was on the ground, red pooling on the stones he'd fallen onto, trickling along the grooves in the carved rock.

"Damnit!" yelled Sheppard to no one in particular, leaping to his feet.