The next morning, Jack met with the 20 squad leaders individually in his office. Remembering his own basic training from (way too many) years ago, he taught them a number of drills to prepare their teams, how to handle their weapons, how to take cover, basic hand-to-hand drills, and the like. Then he asked them to assemble their squads in the large room where the main tunnel opened up into what looked like used to be a sort of train station. When everyone was present, Jack addressed them.

"Listen up, folks. I'm Jack O'Neill. The large man beside me is Teal'c. Thor sent us down to put together some kind of defense against the invaders upstairs, so that's what we're going to do. From now on, this is a military operation. You will refer to your squad leader as 'sir' or 'ma'am'. You will follow their orders regarding instruction or combat without question. I have showed them some basic drills to start preparing you for the fight that will be ahead. I am always available if you have questions or concerns.

What I want to do now is to meet everyone, one squad at a time, and then get a quick assessment of your hand-to-hand abilities. Squad leaders, ready your units."

Jack took the time to meet each group, assessing everything, including the squad leaders. There were several men that could probably handle themselves in a fist fight, and a few that were security officers before, so they knew how to handle a gun, but there wasn't a whole lot to work with. He had to make sure these people were drilled relentlessly until at least some of the basics came second nature to them or he would just be leading them to their slaughter in battle. He sat on a short concrete wall, eyes closed and massaging his temples with his right hand. Oh well, at least he had something to do other than sit and drink and dwell on his morbid thoughts.

The final group of the day came over see Jack, led by their squad leader, Tomas.

"Sir, squad 14 reporting as ordered."

"At ease, Tomas. I want each person to come up and spar with me for a few minutes, then I will have a chat with them individually, starting with you."

"Yes, sir."

Tomas joined Jack up front and was quickly put onto his back. They started again, and like most of the day, Jack had a counter for every move he tried and put him down quickly. He then showed Tomas a few moves and ordered him to make sure his team were drilled extensively. He repeated this with the other members of his team until the final fighter stepped up.

It was a woman, a rather stunning woman if he were honest about it. She was young, at least compared to him. Probably about Carter's age or a bit younger, he surmised before promptly shoving the thought away. She was about average height, had shoulder length brown hair with a slight curl to it, and had the greenest eyes he had ever seen, almost like emeralds looking back at him. He didn't even notice her until she stepped to the front. The entire time their group was there, she stayed in the back and didn't say a word. He also noticed that she was the first woman he had seen today. It wasn't terribly surprising that it was mostly men here; even on Earth the number of men in the military dwarfed the number of women. But he would have thought there would be more than one out of 250.

When they began to spar, he immediately recognized that she was a better fighter than anyone else in her unit. Jack dodged and blocked her until she swept his feet out from under him, landing him on his back. She helped him up, and they squared off again, this time Jack going a bit harder, trying something a little more advanced than the basic moves he'd used all day. She was ready for it though, and took him down in a wrestling hold. He quickly countered and reversed their position with him on top of her, immobilizing her, but he had been very impressed that she was able to take him down in the first place. He reached his hand down to help her up.

"What's your name, soldier?"

"Maya, sir. Maya Rincon."

"Where did you learn how to fight, Maya?"

He didn't miss the dark shadow cross her bright eyes before she schooled them.

"It's just something I picked up, sir. I haven't had any formal training if that's what you're asking, though I would definitely be willing to do that if my performance was unsatisfactory..." she rambled but Jack held up a hand to cut her off.

"Relax, Maya. Unsatisfactory? Hell, you were probably the best one of I've seen all day. I was just curious, that's all."

"Thank you, sir."

He led her a few feet away from the rest of her team.

"Maya, I have a question. Why is it that you are the only woman I've seen here?"

She looked surprised at his question.

"Being a soldier isn't a woman's job on Anteria. Do you have women serving as soldiers where you come from?"

"Yes, we do," he answered and quickly blocked any thoughts of one woman soldier in particular. "But I thought there wasn't a military here, so whose job was it to be a soldier?"

"There wasn't, but there are specific professions that are considered acceptable for a woman, and anything to do with fighting would not be among those."

"I see. Why are you here, then?"

"To fight the invaders. The resistance needs people, so I didn't think they would refuse me the opportunity. I had no desire to work in a bakery or a clothing factory while our people are dying."

Jack just nodded. It's not like he didn't see this kind of societal arrangement countless times over his years traveling the galaxy. He was just concerned that her presence was going to be a problem with the men.

"Maya, how have you been treated on your team."

He saw another unidentifiable look pass her face before the schooled neutralism again, setting off a warning in his head.

"It's been fine, sir."

"Listen, Maya. I'm not from here. Where I come from, women can do any job that men do. I don't judge people based on anything other than their abilities and contributions. I also need to maintain order down here, so if you have any problems, I want you to let me know, okay?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. You're dismissed."

...

"Do you wish to discuss what preoccupies you, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked Jack after he entered the Jaffa's quarters that evening and just sat down silently for a few minutes.

"Sorry, T. I'm just trying to figure out what the hell we're going to do here."

"Indeed. The lack of training puts these people at a severe disadvantage."

"They might be better off if we just stopped fighting on the surface and regrouped until we have people that are capable of defending themselves."

"It appears that much of the land on the surface has already been conquered, O'Neill. There may not be another option."

"Yeah, you're right. I better get to work then. Thanks, buddy. I'll see you in the morning."

Teal'c simply bowed his head and Jack left the room.

The next morning, Jack summoned Joshen to his office.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes, Joshen, it is possible to communicate with the other resistance groups around Anteria?"

"Some of them. It isn't a centralized operation."

"I need to speak to them. If the situation everywhere else is the same as here, we are just dying needlessly by attacking the Aelva when we aren't ready. I want to the resistance to lay low until we are trained and equipped well enough to actually put up a fight."

"I will get to work on it, sir."

"Thanks, Joshen."

...

"Can you really tell me you are enjoying this, Sam?" Daniel asked her.

"Daniel, I'm just following orders. That's what we do," she growled back, fed up with his complaining.

It was still dark in the early morning hours where SG-1 was hiding out around a food storage facility, awaiting another raid from the rebels. The building has been hit several times recently, but this time, the Helvecons wouldn't be caught off guard, having SG-1 stake out the building as long as it took. They have already been there for three nights, and Daniel's whining has been working on her last nerve.

"I'm thinking about resigning when we get back," Daniel informed her.

"What!? Why? You've always loved traveling through the gate."

"Yes, I did, and still do. But come on, Sam. Maybe you like this, but I didn't come back after ascending to become a mercenary for an alien military. We don't explore anything anymore, or meet new races. We kill rebels."

"Daniel, it's what we need to do. When this rebellion is put down, we'll be right back out there again."

"If you say so, Sam. I don't know. We don't know how long this will go on. We don't even know why they're rebelling."

"Yes, we do. Danwig already explained this," she spat at him.

"I wonder if Jack was on to something. Hey, have you talked to him lately?"

"No, Daniel. I've been a bit busy."

"I've been trying to get a hold of him for a week or so now. I hope he's doing okay."

"I'm sure he's fine," she grumbled, now wishing he would go back to his whining rather than talking about this.

Daniel was about to respond when she heard a crack and some rocks falling behind the building. She held up a hand to cut him off.

"Everyone in position." she whispered to her team.

There were five rebels making their way for the front entrance of the building. None of them even bothered to check the perimeter, so they had no idea that SG-1 was there waiting for them. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. Three of them were picked off by Webster and Horton from behind the building. Sam took care of the two that made their way to the front. She ordered them to stay quiet until she knew there weren't any more rebels coming. After a few minutes they all relaxed.

"I guess we can head home. Pack up your gear," she ordered.