THE THERMOPYLAE
By TIPPER
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CHAPTER FOUR: UNDER ATTACK
"Bugger, bugger, bugger, bugger..." Beckett tucked himself into a ball behind one of the stone walls lining the small village, listening to the rattle of gunfire and trying to remain as small as possible. With shaking fingers, he put his radio earpiece back on—remembering to do so for the first time since he'd taken it off to listen to that child's heartbeat when he first got to this planet. No wonder he'd lost Lorne and the others! That, and the fact that he'd already screwed up his orders from the major to "stay hidden or get out of the village" twice—first when he rescued that little girl out of the street before she was swept up by a culling beam, and second when he emptied his 9MM into a Wraith bearing down on the village's apprentice healer, giving the young man enough time to get away. Now he was trapped in the village with and empty gun and bugger all chance for survival unless Lorne found him soon...
Thing was, though he'd lost the major and his men in the melee, he could at least hear them. He had no idea if any of the darts screaming overhead had actually succeeded in culling anyone yet, but he could guess that they probably had. The darts had also dropped Wraith on the ground—at least three males and a healthy bunch of drones from what he'd seen—and they were currently in a ferocious firefight with Lorne.
At least one dart was down—he'd seen the fireball as the ship lost control, exploding beautifully on the other side of the mountain they were on. It was the first to come through the gate, so, thankfully, didn't have any humans on board. The other three however...
As if hearing his thoughts, the whine of a dart had him cowering again, the terrifying looking ship speeding overhead and banking downwards, disappearing from view behind the tall pine trees as it careened towards the valley floor. It caused the sharp, cold mountain breeze to increase in ferocity, and Beckett shivered as the trees undulated around him.
"Beckett!" Lorne's voice over the radio was crisp and urgent. "Damn it, Beckett! Respond!"
"Um, hi?" he replied.
"Oh thank God! Where the hell have you been? No, don't answer...just tell me where you are!"
"Behind a rock wall on the east...is it east? I mean, the right...the right side of the village. I'm near the healer's hut, I, uh, I think."
"You think?"
"Well, um..." he bit his lip, looking around at the pine filled landscape, the ground dropping away pretty steeply on this side of the wall. "At least, I think I am...I might have gotten a wee bit turned around..." He looked up, and saw the edge of a thatched roof, and caught side of a weathervane. "There's a weathervane above me," he added weakly. "I...I think it's a dog. Might be a horse. Or a goat...Sheep? Definitely something fuzzy with four legs..."
"I thought I told you to get...never mind. We're coming for you. Just hang tight."
"Aye, hanging tight," Beckett whispered, tucking his head against his legs again as the flash of two stunner beams shot overhead, followed by another round of gunfire.
Another whine—a different dart burst overhead from nowhere. It seemed so close! He jumped when he saw the streaming white light spill from the underneath, but it didn't cascade close to him. He heard at least two screams cut off abruptly, however...someone else wasn't so lucky.
He felt momentary guilt as he prayed it wasn't Lorne or any of his marines.
Feet pelting on the ground and the sudden appearance of another body vaulting over the wall had Beckett scrambling backwards in fear, until he saw Lorne's smiling face looking down at him. The Major grabbed his arm, gripping it warmly as if to prove he was really there. Beckett was embarrassed to know that he had needed that.
"Hang on, Doc," Lorne whispered to him, still smiling, though it looked forced now. "We're going to get out of this. Sheppard's team's on its way. We're going to be okay."
"What...when...?"
"They're running back here. By my guess," Lorne glanced down at his watch, "they should be here within minutes."
"But...but you just called them," Beckett said, eyes showing his confusion. "I was there when you—"
"It's been almost twenty minutes, Doc. Hard to believe, I know. The darts have been chasing the villagers down and around this mountain for a while. With the cliffs, caves and other natural covers, they're giving them a really good run for their money." Lorne was holding him down now, keeping him low as the major risked a peek over the top of the rock wall. The smile on his face abruptly disappeared and he swore softly. Ducking down, the major checked the magazine on his P90, then fixed Beckett with a sharp look. "Just hold on."
Beckett tried not to whimper, but it was hard to hold back the noise.
Suddenly, Lorne was up, pointing his P-90 over the wall and firing. Beckett just watched him, waiting. Flashes of white light impacted the wall around him, but Lorne kept firing...until he was hit.
"Major!" Beckett screamed, watching as Lorne was flung backwards several feet by the force of the stun weapon, the white light rippling into nothingness as the major hit the ground and slid backwards down the hill, out cold. "No!"
Scrambling over to the man, Beckett checked his pulse, then grabbed for the P90. It unclipped fairly quickly—thank goodness for small favors—and Beckett had just enough time to turn around and start firing as a huge Wraith drone suddenly loomed over the low wall, pointing his stunner at them.
Beckett was only aware of the backlash from the P90 firing in his arms and watching the drone fall backwards, staggering like a puppet. He didn't hear the second set of gunfire joining his, or even the presence of the second body next to his until a hand suddenly shoved the weapon in his hands down.
"Sir," Corporal Johnson...no...now he was Sergeant Johnson, was looking at him in the eye, "Stop. You'll draw more. You got him."
Beckett just opened his mouth and shut it a couple of times, then dropped the P90 to turn around and check on Lorne again. Pulling back the man's collar, he checked again for the steady pulse and then looked over at the burly black sergeant.
"We gotta find somewhere else to hide," Johnson told him, sliding over and getting an arm under Lorne's right shoulder to lift him up. "Pick up his P90 again and help me with him. I saw a grouping of large boulders down that way," he pointed to his right down the hill. Beckett just nodded, his voice leaving him as he got his hands under Lorne's left shoulder...and the two of them dragged the unconscious major through the trees and away from the village.
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Sheppard was panting, his lungs burning, watching as the two younger members of his team disappeared into the trees at the base of the trail leading up to the village. They were a good quarter-mile ahead of him, as were Innis and Fallen. The two tall and young Cutsarkian siblings were even faster than Teyla and Ronon—they had already disappeared, their own old-fashioned pistols in hand, clearly planning on protecting their home. He had never seen anyone run that fast except on TV...when watching the Olympics.
His feet pelted the ground, and he should have kept his head down to watch for roots and holes, but his eyes were drawn upwards. They'd seen that first dart explode and crash into the side of the mountain—good boy, Lorne—but the other three were still buzzing up and down the low-lying mountain, their culling beams cutting through the thick tree cover.
Damn it!
His legs seemed to grow stronger as the anger burned in him, and he found himself picking up speed, jumping over branches...and Teyla and Ronon didn't seem so far off anymore.
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Johnson left Beckett with Lorne and the P90, telling him to stay hid and protect the major...then he was gone. He had two other men out there to take care of.
The doctor tried not to shake as he worked to make sure Lorne was comfortable inside the protection of the boulders, then found himself a place where he could peer through a crack between the massive stones without being spotted. He couldn't see much—just trees, leaves and more rocks, but he could see the shadows of the darts every time they flew overhead. And, oh yes, he could hear them.
He understood, now, the need for these villages to be inside tree cover. They were the best protection from the darts. The ships couldn't fly low enough to cull from this height, so they had to drop the Wraith on the ground to herd people into the open. But the Cutsarkians were too adept at hiding, using the mountainous landscape to their advantage. As Lorne said, they were giving the Wraith a run for their money. Plus, having the added firepower of the Atlantian guns didn't hurt...
He checked his watch, trying to guess when it was that Sheppard and his team would get here. Not that Rodney would be much help...but, hell, he could use his P90 as well as Beckett and extra firepower never hurt.
An odd thought came to him then, trying to imagine Rodney running...At least three miles to the place where Innis has said she and her brother were taking them. How was he going to keep up with the others? Could he? Uphill? Surely, the Colonel wouldn't—
A twig snapped nearby, and Beckett instantly tensed, his entire body tingling with the onrush of fear. Gripping the P90 tighter in his hands, he tried to pinpoint the sound...and realized he could hear at least two sets of feet churning up leaves as they traipsed down the hill towards the boulders.
Whoever it was wasn't running...they were stomping. Which only meant one thing.
Oh crap...
His radio came alive in his ear, as he heard Johnson talking to someone...Teyla, from the sounds of it, the woman sounding breathless...but he couldn't focus on the conversation. He just wanted her to hurry! Ignoring the chatter, he slid around one of the boulders in the direction of the noise as quietly as he could.
Holding his breath, he peeked out from behind the boulder...and saw two drones making their way unerringly towards the stones. They could obviously guess it was a good hiding place.
Oh no. "Nonononononono..." he whispered, checking the P90 in his hands. His palms felt slick, and they shook as he took off the safety. How many bullets? He tried to count the rounds through the transparent magazine...and blinked as they blurred. How many rounds? Did he have enough?
Christ, he was a doctor! What was he doing here?
Closing his eyes, he drummed up all the courage he could, held the P90 close, and counted to ten...
Then screamed at the top of his lungs as he broke cover, rolling on the ground and firing up at the two drones practically in his lap.
They both fell back, but his one weapon wasn't enough to stop both at the same time. He couldn't concentrate his fire enough. He continued to yell even as his eyes started to scrunch shut in fear as one of the drones raised the stunner...
Suddenly, the Wraith's chest exploded in red light, sending him flying backwards.
Beckett didn't question, just put all his strength into taking down the other one, not stopping until the drone was flat on his back.
Taking his finger off the trigger and still shaking something fierce, he watched as Ronon leapt into view and fired another round from his own weapon at the two drones...making sure they stayed down.
The Satedan spun around then, gave a feral smile to the still prone physician, then took off uphill away from Beckett, towards other gunfire. The doctor just watched him go, dumbfounded.
Part of him wanted to scream after him not to leave!
Then he felt the hand on his arm, and Teyla was smiling down at him, on her knees by his side.
"Are you all right, Doctor?" she asked, sweat pouring down her face. She was obviously breathing hard from her run.
"I...no," he said, lowering his head and trying to still the trembling.
"It will be okay," she promised, rubbing at his shoulder. "We will get you out of here. Is Major Lorne in there?" she gestured to the stand of stones behind him.
"Aye," Beckett said, swallowing as he gathered the strength to push himself up onto his knees, not too proud to accept Teyla's hand under his arm as he did so. "He's unconscious. Hit by a stunner."
Teyla just nodded, getting to her feet in a smooth motion. "Think you can carry him?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.
"Where?" he asked, not quite up to speed.
"To the gate. Our best bet right now is to get you and everyone else we can through the gate and back to Atlantis, before the Wraith send any more darts through to find out what is taking these ones so long to cull this little village." She tapped her radio, "Colonel Sheppard."
"Yeah?" Sheppard sounded breathless over the connection in Beckett's ear.
"I am with Doctor Beckett. Major Lorne is unconscious, just as Sergeant Johnson described. We are going to head towards the gate."
"Be careful. I'll meet you there with the others."
"Roger that," she said. "What about Rodney?"
"He's as safe as he can be, right now. We'll come back with jumpers for him and the rest of the villagers the second we're through."
She just nodded, ignoring the puzzled expression on Beckett's face. Where was Rodney?
Teyla paused a moment, meeting Beckett's eyes for a second, then licking her lips and asking one more question over the connection.
"Colonel, what about the ship?"
"It's not going anywhere. I'm sorry, Teyla, but—"
"I know," she interrupted, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice, but Beckett saw it clearly on her face. Now he was more puzzled than ever. What ship? And since when did Teyla care about that sort of thing? "I understand. We will meet you at the gate. Teyla out." She clicked the radio, then reached a hand out to Beckett to help him the rest of the way up. He took the hand, but, before he could ask her about what she'd said to Sheppard, she was climbing over the boulders to get to Lorne.
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"There's a lot of them, sir!" Johnson yelled into his radio as he ran from the combined stunner fire of at least three drones chasing him, Corporal Dunne and Sergeant Meriwether down a hill. "I'm not sure we...shit!" The large sergeant skidded to a halt as a Wraith male appeared from nowhere in front of them, grinning its vampiric smile. The handheld stunner in its hand fired, clipping Dunne as the boy threw himself to the side...and then kept rolling, unconscious, down the hill until he hit a tree. Young Meriwether skidded down the hillside after him, the blond medic in training firing back at the drones still chasing them. Johnson fired at the Wraith male and got behind cover, "Sir! We need help, sir!"
"Get down!" Sheppard yelled, appearing about fifteen yards away to Johnson's right, firing his P90 at the Wraith male. The Wraith staggered and slipped sideways, but didn't go all the way down. He fired at Sheppard, and the colonel ducked behind a tree.
Just then, a dart whined overhead, and Johnson barely had time to yell a warning before the culling beam swept down and swept up him, the Wraith male, Meriwether and Dunne...
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"NO!" Sheppard yelled, breaking cover to fire up at the dart as it disappeared from view... and missing it completely. "Damn it!" he growled, lowering the weapon.
"Sheppard!" Ronon shouted, "Get down!"
The colonel didn't even look, just dove sideways as stunner beams impacted the trees behind where he'd been standing. The three drones that had been chasing Johnson now stood their ground twenty feet away, firing in his direction. Sheppard was pinned down behind a large fir, swearing bloody murder as the world sparked blue around him. Still, if Ronon had yelled for him to get down, that meant the Satedan...
There he was!
Ronon appeared behind the drones, the blood red light from his weapon hitting each one almost point blank as he took the first two down. The third twisted, managing to get a shot off (and missing the wiry Satedan), but that was all Sheppard needed to come out from behind his own cover and kill the bastard.
Then he was ducking into the trees again as another dart burst overhead, strafing the ground with the culling beam.
"We have to take those darts down!" Sheppard yelled to Ronon over the whine. "We won't make it to the gate with those up there! Plus, they have our people! Dunne, Meriwether and Johnson are on one of them!"
"Colonel," Teyla's voice sounded winded over the radio. "Doctor Beckett and I are at the gate with Major Lorne. There are at least six Wraith guarding the DHD. I can not take them on my own without a distraction."
"Stay down, Teyla," Sheppard growled into the radio, emerging from the trees as the omnipresent whine from overhead faded. "One of the darts has managed to capture all of Lorne's men. We need to stop it from going through the gate. Ronon and I are on our way there."
"Three darts?" Ronon said, looking at Sheppard as he pounded up next to him. "Sheppard, I'm all for fighting bad odds, but you, me and Teyla can't take down three darts by ourselves and take out the guards on the gate."
Sheppard didn't answer, just pulled a fresh clip for his P90 from his belt and slotted it into the weapon in his hands.
"We don't have a choice," he snarled, turning and sprinting into the trees.
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TBC...
A/N - What do you think, hell in a handbasket? LOL!