Author's Note: Ok... here we go. Chapter 9 for joo!


Chapter 9

There goes the Neighborhood

They were getting lucky. That much she knew. Mercury stayed close to the members of SG-3 as they made their way through back alleys of the Youma city. Colonel Reynolds held up a hand as they neared a corner, and the regular members of the team instantly went on alert. He looked back at the blunette, and motioned for her to come over to him. It was then that she saw why he had stopped. Two Youma we standing in the center of the cross street.

"Any ideas?" Reynolds asked. "I kinda want to hold off on engaging the enemy as long as possible, to avoid tipping them off that we're even here."

"I can throw up a mist," Mercury replied. "Should keep them from seeing us."

Reynolds nodded, then told his team to stay close. Taking a moment to focus, Mercury waved her hand in the direction of the aliens, and the entire area started fogging up. The two Youma were caught off guard by the sudden change in weather, but didn't notice the four humans and one Scout sneak passed them.


"Remind me to never get on your bad side," Major Altman said after Pluto motioned that it was all clear. Unlike back at Juuban High, where she ran the risk of hitting a member of SG-1, the green haired Time Guardian had no reservations about using her powers here. The marines just watched her obliterate a pair of patrolling Youma with what they could only describe as a blast of energy that totally vaporized the aliens.

"There are advantages to having powers over Time itself," she said. "But at the same time… I'm probably tied down more then the others."

"Why's that?" one of the marines asked. "I mean… if you can go through time, you can see what's coming. That would be one hell of an advantage."

"I can't risk altering the flow of time," Pluto replied. "Not without causing irreparable harm. I can't so much as check lotto numbers. Time must proceed as it is meant too. I just insure that it does."

"Damn…" another marine said. "That has got to suck."

"You have no idea…" Pluto said to herself quietly before motioning for the marines of SG-5 to follow. So far, things had been easy. A little too easy. Thanks to her vast experience over centuries of watching history unfold, she knew something was wrong.


"Another street, another patrol," Krystal growled as she ducked back behind the corner of the building SG-1 was hiding behind. "If only the Odyssey could identify where the other Scouts were, we'd be in and out in no time."

"Indeed," Teal'c replied. Mitchell just pulled a cylinder off his vest, and pulled a pin out of it. Chucking the object around the corner, Mitchell managed to land it right at the feet of the Youma. They pair had enough time to look at the foreign object in confusion before the Flashbang went off. Shortly after that, the Youma were assaulted by three P90s and one M4 on full auto. The mix of armor piercing and explosive tip rounds did the job, knocking down the aliens without wasting half a magazine to do it.

"Good call on the ammo," Mitchell said, smiling at the young redhead.

"Explosive tip on the P90s and armor piercing in my rifle," Krystal replied. "Deadly combination. And effective too from the looks of it. We shredded them."

Without another word, the members of SG-1 left the scene of the ambush and moved on. But something was bothering the resident redhead. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. Several times her hand dropped down to the pocket where her magic stick was, but each time she pulled away and focused on the task at hand. After going through several more alleys, SG-1 soon found a building that looked promising. Slinking inside, the four-member team spread out to search the place. Krystal hesitated when she found one room occupied by what appeared to be some scientists. Without alerting them, she slipped passed the lab and moved on.

"SG-3 taking fire!"

Krystal froze when the call came over the radio. The next voice she heard was Mitchell's.

"Reynolds, what's your status?"

"Pinned down in a plaza. Mercury's thrown up a mist to cover us but they started spraying the area with everything from lightning to fireballs."

"Sierra Gulf Five en route."

She tightened her grip on her rifle. Krystal wanted to go and help, but by the time she got there it might be too late. Taking a deep breath, she continued her search of the building. The best thing SG-1 could do now is find the captured Scouts. The sound of gunfire snapped her back to reality. Just as she turned around to try and regroup with the rest of the team, the scientists came out from the room she had passed. Swearing under her breath, the young redhead charged passed them, knocking one over in the process. Ignoring the shouts of alarm, she continued down the hall until she found SG-1 pinned down by several hostile Youma. Snapping her rifle up, she fired a three round burst into the nearest enemy. Daniel noticed her arrival, but didn't say anything.


With the arrival of SG-5, the tide seemed to turn in the favor of the teams from Earth. Mercury and Pluto broke away from the SG teams and assaulted the Youma from the sides while they were distracted by gunfire. One of the Youma managed to get a lucky strike in on Pluto, but soon regretted it as the Guardian of Time obliterated the offender.

"Surrender Senshi, or the humans die!"

Both Scouts turned, and found both teams held captive by easily three times their number. How they ambushed the SG teams they didn't know. For a moment, the Scouts stood their ground.

"Defiant as ever," the leader growled as she tightened her grip on Colonel Reynolds. "I don't know how you came to Kentaris, but I promise you these humans will die slowly unless you surrender."

Pluto growled, but lowered her staff.

"They win this round," she said to Mercury.

"At least they don't know about SG-1," the blunette replied. "And we'll find out where the others are."

Before they were taken into custody, Mercury activated her communicator. Hopefully, SG-1 or the Odyssey can use her signal to track them.


Gritting his teeth, Cameron Mitchell ducked behind the corner as another blast took a chunk out of the wall. They were effectively pinned down, and he didn't want to risk exposing the Odyssey just yet. Swapping his empty mag out for a fresh one, Mitchell opened up once again on the hostile aliens. Krystal was doing her best to cover them, but the Youma were not backing down.

"Jade!" Mitchell called out as a Youma tried to flank them. The warning came too late as the young redhead was grabbed and thrown through a wall. The leader of SG-1 shifted his attention to the new threat, only to discover more aliens behind her.

Krystal moaned as she pulled herself up from the debris. Getting ambushed like that was never fun. From her vantage point, she saw more Youma closing in on SG-1. She didn't have a choice now. Digging into her pocket, Krystal grabbed her magic stick and pulled it out.

The Youma charged. Mitchell ducked under the strike, slamming his P90 into the alien's stomach before popping it up into her face. He knew it was only a matter of time now, but he was gonna be damned if he didn't at least give them hell for it. Just as he was going to unload at point blank range, a green boot slammed into the Youma's face before a gloved hand flipped it over. Krystal was now in her Scout uniform, kicking ass and taking names with combat knife in hand. The sudden appearance of a Scout seemed to set off the Youma, as they now focused on her more than SG-1.

"Get out of here sir!" Krystal said over her shoulder. "I'll keep them busy."

"Not without you…"

"GO!"

Mitchell growled under his breath before ordering Teal'c and Jackson to fall back. With the aliens focused on the resident redhead, the rest of SG-1 managed to get clear. Or so they thought. As soon as they were outside, they were surrounded by Youma.

"Going somewhere human?" one of them asked seductively before striking the Air Force officer.

Krystal swore as she kicked another Youma away. This hallway was a really bad place to mix it up. Enemies were practically pouring in from both sides. Taking advantage of the lull she had, the redhead charged around the corner, and was forced in another direction. Her escape was cut off. There was only one way open to her, and that was the stairwell. Without hesitation, she went for it and made her way up.

"This might be a lot easier if I knew how to use whatever I got," she growled as she made it to the roof. "Ok… new plan…"

"Here's two for you," Someone said behind her. "Surrender or die."

Krystal spun around, and discovered a raven-haired woman wearing black armor. She held a nasty looking katana in her hand as she locked her ruby eyes on the green clad lieutenant turn Scout. Krystal's eyes widened when she saw the blade, an image from that dream forming in her mind of her looking down at her chest and seeing the tip of a blade poking through between her breasts. Gritting her teeth, Krystal took up a defensive posture. The raven-haired woman blinked as she got a good look at her.

"You?" she asked in disbelief. "Didn't I kill you?"

Krystal didn't respond. Something about this woman felt familiar to her, but she couldn't put her finger on it. The woman continued.

"I don't know how you Scouts came to Kentaris, or why there are Humans here as well, but you made my job a lot easier. I was wondering what caused the strange energy burst near that ring. When I learned about the humans and the Scouts, I ordered my forces to wait until the right moment. I should thank you for handing me Mercury and Pluto on a silver platter."

"You made a big mistake attacking Earth," Krystal retorted. The woman leveled her sword at her.

"Humans… pathetic creatures. They may be the second evolution of our form, but they are weak. We were superior to them. Why the Atlantis Council and the Lunar Queen even bothered with them… doesn't matter now anyways. The Dark Kingdom shall take its rightful place as the rulers of this Galaxy."

"You're Alti," Krystal realized, her hands balled up into fists. Something about this was seriously pissing her off.

"Unlike my predecessor, I at least have some honor," she replied, raising the katana's blade in a casual salute. "I am Alti Sheppard, Supreme Commander of the Dark Kingdom. And you are?"

"Lieutenant Krystal Jade. United States Air Force, Stargate Command," Krystal replied defiantly. Although her first reaction was to identify herself as a Scout, her military training took hold. Remembering her combat knife, Krystal reversed her grip. Alti scoffed at the redhead, saying something about her being foolish. Seeing that the redhead wasn't going to back down, Alti charged. Krystal was immediately put on the defensive as she discovered that Alti was quite skilled with her blade. Having trained for combat against more modern weapons and combat styles, the redhead was totally out of her element against a sword wielder. Several times when she thought there was an opening, Krystal ended up getting slammed in the face, the stomach, or barely avoiding Alti's blade. The fight took the pair to the edge of the roof. With the redhead backed against the edge, Alti struck. Krystal tried to catch the blade with her own, only to watch in horror as the katana sliced through the steel as though it was butter and embed itself in her gold wrist guard. Wincing from the blade's bite, which was luckily dulled by the piece of armor it had to go through, Krystal pushed back against Alti's blade.

"I guess I get to kill you again," Alti said with a smirk. "Too bad I never found out which planet you were named after, green Scout."

Withdrawing her blade, Alti threw Krystal off balance before whirling around and landing a powerful kick to the redhead's stomach. The blow was enough to send her over the edge.

Only one thought ran through Krystal's mind as she fell.

I failed.


Author's Note: *Grabs crash helmet* CLIFFHANGER! You guys weren't expecing it to be easy were you? Unfamiliar enemy for the SGC with really unknown capabilities...

And before anyone rages... Krystal identifying herself as Air Force instead of a Scout is still showing she's not accepted who she is. But... that will change soon enough. Also... is anyone really ready for a Final Boss Fight on the first encounter?

Next time on Stargate SG-1: The pieces fall into place, and our resident redhead gets some unexpected help.