I apologize for the writing quality. My reasons have been outlined in the previous chapter.

If you have any last minute requests, please post them and I'll try to work them in. I've included even more references, callbacks and shoutouts than usual, because I want to have some fun with this before I end it.

SGD 3x11 The Quest (Part 2)

March 1, 2006
Wraith Hive-Ship

It was a strange war, Ba'al reflected. It was desperate, sure, and brutal, but above all it was simply odd.

The very same strategies used against him, he found himself using. He was experimenting with removing the need to feed, and cloning humans to be used as food or slaves. He was making hit and run strikes against the Ori. He was sending out small teams of heavily armed Wraith on missions to attack Ori strongholds.

When all else failed, though, he still wiped out entire planets from orbit.

Enemies became allies. Technically he was still aligned with the Tau'ri, but they rarely encountered each other. The Travelers had put their well-deserved hatred aside and had actually helped him in one battle. The two other Wraith factions were, grudgingly, on his side. Even the Pegasus Replicators were content to ignore him.

And yet the Ori were still winning.

He surveyed the holographic map of his territory with feigned disinterest. Inwardly, he was seething. His territory had been reduced to half, then to a quarter, then to an eighth of what it had been as the Ori systematically converted worlds and destroyed his ships as they attempted to cull. His empire had shrunk even quicker than it had grown.

Unlike the fools who had administered the Wraith armada before, however, Ba'al understood strategy. His strategically important worlds- newly established industry- were safely in the centre of his territory. That safety would not last, of course, but he could afford to lose the worlds he was losing. His fleet was ragged, but he was making the Ori pay for every Long Slither.

Of course, he had a backup plan. It would be an embarrassment, but better than losing his precious life.

P9X-749

"What the fuck?"

The first thing Melissa noticed was the bird hanging motionless in the air. The next thing she noticed was what appeared to be a few dozen people, men and women in medieval garb, rooted to the ground, frozen in place in much the same fashion.

Carter held up her hand, and they halted behind her. "I'm picking up temporal distortions. Stronger here... weaker there... huh."

"A time distortion field," Luthan explained to them. "We experimented with such devices, but found few practical application for them. Both Moros and Ganos Lal would have had access to such technology."

"Are you sure?" Vala asked. "If it's a time distortion field, why are the leaves moving in the trees?"

"It is likely an illusion, designed to reproduce the standing weather pattern," Gairwyn told her. "The time within the field is extremely decelerated. These people are in fact moving, but from our perspective, it is imperceptibly slow."

"Can't we just go around it?" Vala asked.

Carter shook her head. "The outer edge of the field extends as far as I can tell in either direction. And it has a slight curve to it. I mean, for all I know, it could form a complete circle."

"I think I may have found a way in," Gairwyn interrupted. "There is a circuitous path of real-time within the temporal field."

"It's a maze," Daniel clarified.

"Indeed it is, Doctor Jackson." Gairwyn gingerly stepped forward. "Form a line and follow my path exactly. Do not deviate for any reason, and do not alter your altitude by more than a metre."

"Major, on our six. Osric, get right behind me," Carter ordered. Then she slung her rifle and followed Gairwyn into the temporal maze, trusting the Asgard-trained Cimmerian to lead them through.

"You say that these Ori are possessed of god-like abilities, and yet they are not gods?" Osric asked as they pushed through the thick, wet brush of the forest.

"No, they're very powerful beings who would have their followers believe as much because faith is the source of their power," Daniel replied.

"We never mentioned anything about god-like abilities," Major Roberts whispered over the comm.

"Faith is something that cannot be won through intimidation and fear," Osric countered. "If their followers have faith, then they must truly believe."

Daniel shook his head. "No, they only believe because they've been mislead. See, to many less developed civilizations, certain advanced technologies would strike them as supernatural in nature."

"Merlin was not a wizard, and Morgan Le Fay was not a sorceress," Luthan told him. "They were simply people who belonged to a race with technology far beyond your own."

"Ridiculous!" Osric dismissed.

"I knew them," Luthan pressed in response. "I am one of the last of that race. I knew Merlin as Moros, a politician. The one you call Morgan Le Fay was Ganos Lal, a computer engineer. Simply because you do not understand a phenomenon does not mean it cannot be understood."

"You've never even seen the Ori," Roberts added. "Why are you defending them?"

"Hardly! I condemn the actions of their soldiers, but am in no position to judge the Ori or their message. Not yet. Truth is elusive to those who refuse to see with both eyes."

Roberts rolled her eyes and disabled her external speakers. "If this guy isn't hiding anything, then I'm not a member of the human race."

"Agreed," Carter replied. Suddenly, Vala bolted off in front of them.

"Wait, Vala! Stop!" She gave chase with the rest of the team behind her, forcing her way through the underbrush.

"I found-" Vala began, but was cut off by an orange force field materializing around them. "...treasure?"

"It's not treasure," Daniel corrected her, examining the empty chest. "It's a trap. You took the bait."

"Well, it's not my fault!" Vala argued. "I simply went for what I thought would have something to do with what we're looking for."

"What?"

"Well, it does have something to do with what we're looking for," Daniel replied.

"See?" Vala said, beaming. "I'm useful."

"Can't we just shoot our way out?" a member of the group asked.

Gairwyn shook her armoured head. "I could, but it would result in your immolation."

"Okay, let's think this through," Daniel said, deep in thought. "The Parchment of Virtues told us that we'd have to rely on five things in order to reach the Sangraal: prudence, wisdom, charity, kindness, and faith."

"We were able to make our way through the time dilation field by patiently and carefully negotiating the maze," Daniel continued. "In other words, we demonstrated prudence as opposed to recklessness, which would have stranded us."

"What does this trap exploit?" Vala asked. "Curiosity?"

"Greed," Daniel cut off. "A person approaches a chest expecting to find treasure inside but instead finds nothing and gets trapped for his trouble."

"So in order to reverse the trap, you have to reverse the impetus."

"Right. The opposite of greed is charity, one of the virtues mentioned in the parchment."

"Instead of taking something, something must be sacrificed," Teal'c concluded.

Daniel pulled a pen from his pocket, dropped it into the chest, and closed it. Nothing happened.

Vala clapped him on the back. "Well, that was an interesting theory."

Daniel shook his head. "We're all trapped, so we all have to contribute something."

"All right, everyone needs to give something up," Carter ordered. "Preferably nothing essential."

One by one, a hat, a notebook, a map, two MREs, a ring, a dagger, a pair of pens, and a handful of energy bars were dropped into the chest. Daniel shut the lid, and the field came down.

"Alright, let's get moving."

"According to the map, the Sangraal is hidden in a cave beneath a lone mountain," Osric informed, pointing. Ahead of the group was a clearing, with a large, craggy mountain visible in the distance.

"Getting anomalous energy readings," Carter said. "Looks like there's something advanced down there."

"The signature does appear to be Ancient," Luthan added.

Roberts clapped the local on the back. "Right, looks like we're getting warmer."

"This is it!" Osric said excitedly. He climbed over a log and pointed to a hole in the side of the mountain (although it felt more like a hill). "This is the cave entrance! The Sangraal is located within."

"It's too bad you won't be coming with us." Daniel raised his weapon, and the rest of the group followed suit.

"Have you lost your senses?" Osric protested, shocked.

"Truth eludes he who does not seek it with both eyes wide," Daniel quoted. "That's a quote from the Book of Origin. You paraphrased it earlier today. Now I might not have noticed, but I spent the past year studying the good book, so…"

"Surely you're not basing your suspicions on this mere coincidence?"

"And when it came time to give up a possession to free ourselves from the forcefield trap, I noticed the designs on your ring," Daniel responded. "Not Celtic as one might expect given the cultural background of this planet, but distinctly Ori."

"The ring was a gift from a traveling merchant!" Osric retorted angrily. "You're making a mistake!"

Gairwyn suddenly added, "We detected anomalous energy readings that seemed to be coming from you. My suit's microframe has been analyzing the data ever since we left the village. It has come to three conclusions- the energy signature is exceedingly well hidden, consistent with micro-scale holographics, and clearly Ori."

"It must be... a device I received as a gift!"

"Only you should not have known what I just explained," Gairwyn replied. "Your emotional response was one of defence, not perplexity as it should have been. I was of a simple people. I was uplifted. I would know."

"You're not who you say you are, now drop the act," Roberts ordered.

"It would have been so much easier if you had remained oblivious," Osric said regretfully. "But now things will be much more difficult."

With a slight shimmer, Osric disappeared, replaced by the smaller figure of a tall woman with piercing blue eyes and blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. The robes disappeared, replaced with a tight leather top with an ornate metal breastplate and pauldrons along with pants tucked into long boots and matching gloves, all in black.

"Orici," Daniel muttered.

"The hell did he just say?"

"Orici," Daniel repeated, a little louder. "We've heard rumours of a beautiful woman with extraordinary powers leading the Ori armies into battle. Guess they're true."

"Well, except for the beauty part," Vala snarked. "Bet she wished she had my beauty."

"Your powers are useless, Orici," Carter told her. "Turn back or we will execute you on the spot."

"Sam!"

"Orders, Daniel."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Colonel Carter." She smirked, producing a strange-looking pistol. "Do you think I would rely on something I know you can defeat?"

"You think that's gonna stop us?" Roberts asked.

"No, but I'm also stronger and faster than you are, and I have a personal shield. A piece of Celestis that I keep with me." She swept her pistol across the group and added, "I think it would end badly for us both if you were to try something dramatic."

As a sign of good faith, she lowered her weapon, and the others followed. She explained, "Morgan put safeguards in place to ensure the weapon could not be secured by my kind. I believe the wording she used was, 'Those possessing truth of spirit'. By the way, I prefer the name Aurelia."

"We have no idea what she's capable of," Daniel said quietly, over comms only.

"Agreed. But if we have an opening, we're taking it," Carter replied. She raised her voice. "We can work together. For now."

"We thwarted all efforts against us. Crippled your fleet. Met with little if any resistance on the worlds that we redeemed. Opposition to the Ori is clearly hopeless, but you continue to struggle against the inevitable."

Major Roberts trained her rifle and its mounted flashlight around the craggy tunnel. She replied offhand, "A great man once posed the question, 'Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, to be purchased at the price of slavery and oppression?' Do you know what his answer was?"

"Of course," Aurelia replied. "The loss of a few freedoms is a small price to pay for life and peace."

"'Give me liberty or give me death.'"

"Preposterous."

"Look, there are two things you need to know about Earth," Roberts replied, still searching the cave. "One, we're stubborn motherfuckers, but you probably knew that already. Two, we've got a quote or a saying for everything."

"And your response to my argument would be?"

"'Those who would give up liberty for a little security deserve neither liberty nor security.' Benjamin Franklin," she quoted in response. "There's a few different variants of that. One of them implies that those who give up their liberty for safety will lose both."

"Well, I wasn't sure before but I'm fairly certain she's a gun nut now," Master Sergeant Lewis whispered behind them.

"As a matter of fact, I am a life member of the NRA," Roberts replied lightly. "And I do not appreciate the term 'gun nut'."

"Right, ma'am. Sorry, ma'am." He switched channels. "No reaction. This Ori lady is good."

"Hold up," Carter ordered as they emerged into an open chamber. Ahead of them was a stone panel set into the cave wall, inscribed with Ancient writing.

Daniel began to translate. "Choose the way-"

"-that is just and true," Luthan finished.

"There are two paths," Sergeant Chazan observed, shining his rifle-mounted light down both tunnels.

"The way that is just and true. The right way." Lewis gestured to the right side of the tunnel.

Roberts groaned. "Sergeant, that is the stupidest thing I have hear all day."

"And why would that be?"

"It's written in Ancient," Vala pointed out. "The Ancient word for right as in that direction probably sounds nothing like the Ancient word for right as in correct."

"Well-" He paused. "Did you hear that?"

Carter listened, hearing a faint crying sound. She adjusted her acoustic tracker. "Sounds like a child. It's coming from the left side."

"A child in here?" Vala asked as they headed down the path. "It's obviously a trap."

"Or quite possibly a test," Daniel replied.

Spotting a small boy, perhaps five years old, Carter shouted, "Hey, wait up!"

The boy ducked behind a rock, and they chased him deeper into the cave system. Aurelia protested, "We're walking right into a trap!"

Daniel shook his head. "No, we're not. The parchment provided us with clues to reaching the Sangraal. It mentioned kindness as one of the virtues that would guide us."

"If we show kindness by helping this child it should bring us one step closer to the device," Gairwyn remarked. "Clearly, we-"

She was cut off by the clanking of metal on metal, followed by a crashing noise. The emerged into a widened area, with the child at the other end and a portcullis between them. The child appeared to be very frightened and was crying.

"Hang on, kid, we'll get you out of there," Melissa reassured him.

"Your kindness is unnecessary. It is a hologram," Luthan mentioned. "I believe you are correct, Doctor Jackson. This was indeed a test."

Aurelia shook her head. "We're wasting our time. Let's go back."

Suddenly, Gairwyn waved her armoured arm, and the gate disappeared. She looked at them, a perplexed expression hidden beneath her helmet. "I honestly did not expect that to work."

"What did you do?" Aurelia asked, hiding her shocked expression.

"I dematerialized the gate," she replied casually. "I was expecting it to be a shaped energy field, not actual matter."

"Well, that was certainly convenient."

The boy smiled before disappearing, the passage opening behind him.

"It's a dead end," Vala stated.

There was nowhere to go. They had emerged into another more open cave, this time with only one entrance. Carter shook her head. "No, it doesn't make any sense that we would have progressed this far only to come up empty."

"No, it isn't." Daniel illuminated a stone panel inset into the rock with his flashlight. "It's another riddle."

"Oh, goody!" Vala nearly bowled Carter over getting to Daniel's side, the sudden redistribution of several hundred kilograms of weight causing the cave to shake beneath them, dust dropping from the ceiling.

Daniel translated, "I'm struck and cut, shaped and cooled, then bound by rings to release what's stored."

The rumbling continued, small rocks now dropping from the ceiling. Carter shouted, "That's not seismic instability, it's part of the test! Better hurry it up, Daniel!"

"All right, well, we have to think it through," Vala said. "What's struck and cut, and shaped and cooled, and then bound by rings?"

"It's a key!" Lewis shouted. "The answer is key!"

"Uh, clavia!" Daniel shouted, and the panel disappeared. The quaking continued as they ran down the next passage. Again, their way was blocked by an engraved panel.

"I shake the earth with booming thunder, fell forests whole and homes complete! I influence ships, topple kings, sweep down swift yet remain unseen!" Daniel hurriedly translated.

"Oh wait, I've got this," Vala replied. "Uh, it's suggesting a strong yet invisible force… Uh…"

"Ventio!" Luthan shouted, and the wall disappeared, opening the passage. The shaking continued- in fact, it seemed to be getting worse.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Roberts shouted as they reached another blockage.

"Battle-scarred in time of strife-"

"Contagia!" Luthan shouted. The panel disappeared and the rumbling stopped.

They paused to take a breather. Daniel asked him, "How did you get that so quickly?"

Luthan shrugged. "Ganos Lal wrote many articles during her time on Atlantis. In preparation for this mission I read several of them and noticed she gravitated toward several distinctive turns of phrase. I'm afraid most of them do not translate well."

"We should move forward," Aurelia insisted, and they headed down the newly opened passage.

"Is that just me, or is that-"

"A wall of fire?" Vala replied, voicing what was basically the same thought everyone had. A roaring, rippling wall of flame stood in their way.

Carter replied, "I was going to say an increase in ambient temperature, but now that you mention it... yeah. This could be problematic."

"How so?" Aurelia asked them.

"I can't tell how thick it is or even the nature of those flames. If it's close to a flat plane, and it's just fire, an unprotected human could probably jump or run through it. If it's any type of liquid fuel, though, like a flamethrower, it'll stick to you and burn you to death. If it's not very thick, then we should still be okay in our suits, but everything we're carrying outside will be burnt to a crisp. If it's incredibly thick, our thermal systems fail and we burn to death."

"In other words, I hope that personal shield of yours is good," Vala prodded, leaning toward the Orici.

"So, we look for another way around." Aurelia asked, ignoring Vala's jibe and moving away from her. "A way to deactivate it, a hidden passage."

Daniel shook his head. "We made all the right choices to lead us to this point. I know the Sangraal lies beyond that wall of fire. We just have to find a way through."

"It is simple," Gairwyn said cryptically, and stepped into the flames. As soon as she made contact, they shimmered and disappeared, revealing another passage. "One must simply have faith."

"Faith," Daniel muttered. "Of course. The Parchment told us that five virtues would guide us in our quest for the Sangraal. Prudence, kindness, charity, wisdom, and faith. We displayed prudence in finding a way out of the temporal maze, charity in escaping the forcefield trap, kindness by helping the child and finding the hidden passageway, and wisdom in solving the riddles.

"The only virtue left is faith. By stepping into the fire, you demonstrated faith that you wouldn't be burned."

They continued down a short distance, emerging into a gigantic underground chamber. A thin bridge of stone connected the platform they had emerged onto to another in the middle of the chamber, a brilliant red jewel on a pedestal beckoning them forward. The ceiling was a long way up, and the floor a long way down.

They stood speechless for a moment before Daniel finally broke the silence, quietly. "There it is. The Sangraal. What we've been looking for."

He paused and turned to Carter. "I'll go."

"We both go," Aurelia insisted.

"It would be best if we all went," Luthan suggested. "Or, as I am an Ancient, I will go, if you prefer."

"No," Aurelia pressed threateningly. "I will go with Daniel. The rest of you will stay."

"Be careful," Carter cautioned. Daniel nodded and gestured Aurelia toward the stone bridge. "Ladies first."

She smirked. "I think not."

Daniel sighed and stepped forward. The craggy bridge was rough and narrow, but sturdy beneath his feet. Aurelia followed carefully two paces behind. Unlike Daniel, who had jump jets, if she fell, it would be over.

At the end of the path, beyond the glowing stone, was another pillar bearing a plaque decorated with a blue diamond-shaped jewel and Ancient text. Aurelia scanned it, and then turned to Daniel. "Take it."

Daniel glared daggers at her, and then tried to grab the jewel. His hand passed right through it. A hologram. "Well, I guess I'm not as true of spirit as you thought I was."

Before he even finished his sentence, a loud rumbling began resonating through the cavern, now shaking beneath their feet. Dust and debris fell from above, and the entrance they had came through slammed shut behind them.

"We're trapped!" Luthan shouted as Daniel and Aurelia came running across the bridge. A loud screech echoed through the chamber. "What was that?"

"We agreed there's no such thing as a dragon, right?" Vala asked as what sounded like flapping wings drew closer. A large, scaly grey beast came into view and hovered in front of them. It screeched at them as it flapped its wings hard, staying in the air.

"It's not a real dragon," Luthan insisted.

"Well it looks pretty real to me," Vala replied.

The dragon breathed in deep and exhaled, sending a roaring flame in their direction. Eleven personal shields flared as the flames engulfed the group.

"That was definitely real!" Vala shouted.

"Down!" Carter ordered. The dragon swung around, it's tail passing over their heads and slamming into the wall behind them. The door crumbled and collapsed, opening the exit. "Move out!"

They wasted no time, bolting through the now open portal and into the jagged passageway. Vala assured them, "Well, I think he's too big to fit through the opening, so I think we're safe."

A wall of flame erupted into the tunnel, moving fast toward them. "Or not!"

"Move!" Carter shouted. The group bolted up the tunnels, away from the rapidly approaching flames. They weaved around a bend, the flames moving straight and petering out rather than turning the sharp corner.

"Is that a-" Vala asked, pointing to a sliver of light visible from one of the tunnels.

"Indeed," Teal'c confirmed, his warrior senses confirming what his HUD readout indicated. "There appears to be an exit this way."

They emerged back into the grassy clearing, coming to a halt outside the wide exit they came through. Immediately, Aurelia insisted, "We have to go back inside. The dragon is the final test, the weapon must be in there!"

"That would be-" There was a loud crumbling and a series of screeches as the dragon broke through the top of the mountain and began heading down toward them.

"Get to the treeline!" Carter shouted, raising her battle rifle. "Defensive positions! Hit that thing with everything we've got!"

Taking cover behind boulders and trees, they opened fire on the dragon. Carter slung her battle rifle and brought up her M700, sending bolts of plasma toward the creature. A mixture of battle rifle and GPMG fire erupted from the treeline. Aurelia raised a pair of pistols and pulsed the triggers, blue energy bolts streaking toward the dragon.

Via the neural interface implanted into the back of her neck, Gairwyn powered her suit's combat systems. She jumped, and her antigrav units instantly reacted to her movement, propelling her into the air, level with the dragon and strafing in a circle around it. On each of her forearms was a pair of powerful plasma blasters. Deuterium gas was injected into a small chamber, compressed to the point of fusion, and ejected at extreme velocity. The appearance of the resulting plasma bolts was completely different from that of Goa'uld or Ori weapons- there was a bright flash visible as the plasma streaked through the atmosphere followed microseconds later by another on impact. Depending on the power setting, her blasters could immolate a Jaffa or obliterate an armoured vehicle in one hit.

As soon as the first bolts hit, she knew that the dragon wasn't really there. The sensor readings of the weapon impacts were consistent with plasma interacting with shaped energy fields, not a physical object or conventional shield. Seconds later, a missile hit the dragon, its explosion passing straight through. That confirmed her suspicion.

"It's a hologram!" Gairwyn told them through the linked comm system. "Conventional weapons are ineffective."

"How ineffective?" Carter shouted.

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, the microframe in Gariwyn's suit ran the calculations, coming up with estimates in under a second. At the same time, she rolled and accelerated to avoid a burst of fire. "If we continue to attack with directed energy weapons, the energy field will eventually destabilize. Perhaps seven to eight minutes of sustained firing."

"No!" Daniel shouted. "If we do that we circumvent the test and we may never be able to get the Sangraal."

"Do you have a better idea?" Carter asked, taking cover as her weapon vented heat.

"Okay, okay," Daniel replied, crouching behind a charred tree. "It is said that 'the Sangraal shall instead belong to he who speaks the guardian's name.' The guardian's name..."

"So what do we do, just start guessing?" Lewis asked.

"Darrel, the dragon," Vala suggested.

"How about Smokey?"

"Something epic sounding, like Alduin."

"Perhaps Puff?" Teal'c suggested as a burst of fire breath set tree branches and underbrush alight.

"Think quickly, I will distract it," Gairwyn told them. She slid sideways into a hover, directly in front of the dragon. Ignoring the flames that engulfed her shielded suit, she opened fire with all four blasters at once, at max power. That got the dragon's attention. She zipped upwards, and the dragon flapped its wings ferociously to follow.

"He who speaks the Guardian's name," Daniel muttered. "Who speaks the Guardian's name-"

"The Guardian is a dragon." Vala told him, unhelpfully.

"No, the Guardian is not a dragon," Daniel replied, the pieces clicking together in his head. "The Guardian is the person who set this whole thing up. The Guardian is-"

"Ganos Lal!" Luthan shouted, and as soon as he did so, the dragon disappeared.

"So, what now?" Vala asked as the group headed back into the clearing. The edge of the forest was still smouldering, but there wasn't a lot they could do about that.

"We try again," Daniel said simply, leading them back into the tunnels, the way they exited. "Since we passed the final test, we should be able to retrieve the Sangraal."

They retraced their steps, heading down the still-hot rocky passageways and back into the large chamber. Miraculously, the bridge had not collapsed, and this time they all crossed it and stood beside their goal.

"It's real this time, right?" Vala asked impatiently as they examined the Sangraal for the second time.

"I don't see why not," Daniel replied. He took a deep breath and attempted to retrieve the perfectly round gem again. Like the last time, his hand simply passed through.

"Oh, come on!"

Suddenly, the blue stone in the pedestal began to glow, and all except Aurelia disappeared.

Unknown Location

They reappeared in another cavern, this one much smaller. Automatically, several torches lit up, illuminating their surroundings. It appeared medieval, with an old chair and wooden tables, scrolls and old books. What was definitely not medieval, however, was the Ancient Repository in the wall or the console in the centre of the room.

"Okay, what just happened?" Vala asked.

"I think we were transported into another chamber," Carter said, examining the room.

"Not simply another chamber," Gairwyn told them. "This is a different world entirely."

"Hey, the Ori bitch didn't come with us," Roberts observed.

"It is likely a security measure, preventing some types of advanced humans from coming here," Luthan informed. "I do not know the specifics, but it is possible to distinguish between Ori influence and that of other higher races. That is why Gairwyn, despite her heavy augmentations, was not affected."

"Aren't you guys the same race? How do you tell between Ancient descendent and Ori descendent?" she asked.

"Millions of years of genetic drift."

"Uh, does anyone see a Sangraal around here?" Vala asked, interrupting them.

"No, I don't," Daniel replied. "Which begs the question- what was she protecting?"

"I think I know," Carter interrupted, pointing to an alcove in the wall. Encased what appeared to be ice was an old, silver-haired man.

Translating an inscription beside it, Daniel said, "Here lies Myrddin, Archmage of the Round."

"That is High Councilor Moros!" Luthan exclaimed, taken aback. He gently touched the 'ice'. "I see you have not aged well, honourable one."

"How long has he been in stasis, do you think?" Melissa asked quietly.

"Well over a thousand years," Daniel replied.

"Any idea how to get him out?"

"It's probably controlled by the Ancient Repository over there," Carter surmised. As the 'ice' began to recede and expose the Ancient, she quickly added. "Or maybe it's automatic."

"Major!" Carter called as Merlin began to stumble forward. She quickly grabbed him, supporting him under one arm.

"I've got him," she replied, taking the other. They half-walked, half-carried him to a dusty table and carefully laid him on top.

Merlin coughed, blinking, before closing his eyes once more.

"Oh, he did not just-"

"No, he's still alive, though weak," Luthan assured him. "The effects of such a period in stasis may take some time to dissipate."

"In the meantime, we should find out what's out there," Carter said. She motioned toward the exit. "Major, take your team and scout the area. See if you can find a Stargate. Don't send a subspace signal, not yet. I don't want to give away our position."

"Understood, ma'am."

"Gairwyn, do you mind joining them?"

"Of course not, Major Carter," the Cimmerian warrior said before following the other SG team out of the cave.

"Well, I can't put my finger on it, but something seems a little different."

The humour lost on her, Lieutenant Brown glared at her commander and said, "You think? It's a fucking desert!"

They emerged on a ledge a few metres above the ground, which in this case was fine desert sand. The stargate was directly ahead, a tall stone obelisk between them. Dunes rolled gently in the distance, and the sun cast a bright yellow glow on everything.

"Good news is, we know where the stargate is," Melissa said positively, carefully stepping down toward the sand. It was easier said than done with the amount of gear she was carrying. "Gairwyn, any idea where we are?"

"No," she replied. "It appears something is interfering with subspace signals."

"So, what do you think?"

"Regarding?" Gairwyn asked.

She pointed to the obelisk. "That."

"I believe it may be involved with our arrival here. Likely, the gate was activated remotely, and we were beamed through the wormhole."

"So we should be able to dial out and go home?" Melissa asked, stepping onto the sand. She sunk in up to her shins. "Damn it!"

As she struggled to remove her heavy pack and place it onto the stable rocks, she asked, "Do you think the Ori could detect the gate activating?"

"I doubt it."

"Good," she replied, firing her jumpjets briefly to pull herself out of the sand. A cloud formed around her, stirred up by the brief pulse. She trudged toward the DHD. "Then let's try it."

Melissa quickly entered the Alpha Site's address. When she attempted to enter the last glyph, the DHD lights went out. She tried again to be sure, and again nothing happened. "Crap. Gairwyn, can you try your direct dialler?"

"No success," Gairwyn replied after a moment, shaking her head. "It appears I am locked out."

"Shit. We're stuck here."

"You say the DHD's been tampered with somehow?" Carter asked for confirmation.

"Yes, ma'am. It's locked. We can't dial out." There was a pause. "Gairwyn says she thinks she can fix it."

"I'll send Luthan out to help-"

"Colonel! I believe he is waking up!" Luthan called from beside Merlin.

"Hold that thought, Major," Carter finished, striding over to the table. Daniel helped the old man slowly sit up.

"Where am I?" he asked in exactly the same voice as the holograms they had encountered briefly. There was a surge of excitement in the room, which was instantly suppressed. They had to finish the mission, then they could celebrate.

"Good question," Carter muttered offhand.

"You look familiar." The old man stared at her, gingerly stepping forward. He drew her into an awkward hug. "Guinevere! Oh my dear, it's been too long."

She coughed. "Uh, it's good to see you, too."

He turned back to Daniel. "Galahad! Oh, brave knights! Fortune indeed does smile upon me to see your faces again."

"High Councilor Moros," Luthan interrupted in Ancient. "They are not the Knights of the Round Table. A thousand or more years have passed, and the Ori have returned. I can explain later but we must leave as soon as possible."

Merlin looked perplexed, but the shock was evident in his voice. "I have not been High Councilor for a very long time."

"We need you to remember. About the Sangraal. About Ganos Lal, about the Ori and about how you got here."

"Tell me more," Merlin said simply, sitting down on a creaky chair.

"My name is Luthan. I was chief scientist aboard the Tria- a vessel thought lost during the war with the Wraith. In actuality, we were stranded between galaxies, travelling at nearly the speed of light."

"Tens of thousands of years, but to you, it would seem far shorter," Merlin replied in Ancient, slowly and unsurely but beginning to catch on.

"We were discovered by a ship built and operated by the humans of Earth. They have taken to the stars, discovered the Astria Porta, and are currently occupying Atlantis."

"Atlantis? What of the Wraith?"

"They were fighting the Wraith, but circumstances have changed. The Wraith are now allied with the humans against the Ori."

Merlin shook his head. "The Wraith, siding with us?"

"Technically, only the humans. They do not yet know of our existence. Believe it or not the machines have once again developed and they are also sided with the humans against the Ori."

"These times are strange indeed."

"We are fighting a total war- cities are being destroyed from orbit or with weapons of mass destruction, civilians are being killed indiscriminately, armies are annihilating each other. The allied fleets are decimated. You know what is at stake-"

"You need not convince me, young one," Merlin snapped. "What do you suggest we do?"

"The Ori are likely tracking us as we speak," Carter urged them, unable to understand their conversation. "We need to leave as soon as possible. Does- does he know where the weapon is?"

"I don't think it's here, Sam," Daniel told her.

"What?" Vala asked.

"I'm starting to think that maybe Morgan did destroy the Sangraal after all," Daniel explained. "I mean, she probably figured she had no choice. That if she didn't do it, the other Ancients would have just sent someone else. Instead, she preserved the one man capable of building it again."

"You would be correct," Merlin replied, standing up. "The Sangraal no longer exists. I can, however, rebuild it."

"What do you need?"

He shook his head. "No, you would never be able to recreate it. Not with your level of technology."

"We have access to Atlantis," Luthan reminded him. "There are Ancient scientists and engineers among us. With your plans and knowledge, we can build it again."

"I need at least the Repository," Merlin replied. "And the fabricator platform- what you thought was a table. They are not the same as the earlier versions on Atlantis."

"Colonel Carter, would it be possible to remove some of the larger contents of this lab?" Luthan asked.

"Yeah, if someone disabled the subspace jammers, we could send a tightbeam signal with a very low probability of intercept. One of our ships could swing by and pick us up in a matter of hours, depending on where we are."

"Then perhaps there is more than one final task," Merlin said cryptically, standing up.

P9X-749

Aurelia very quickly realized that getting away would be far harder than she realized.

She couldn't simply disguise herself again and waltz back into the village. Even if she used a different disguise, the soldiers knew she could change her appearance at will. They had set up guard posts at every entrance to the town, allowing no one in or out.

Her next thought was to sneak inside. Unfortunately, they had flying machines and sensors that could pick her up, even when cloaked. She knew that, too.

Her powers were suppressed by some kind of blanket field (no doubt created by the humans!), and even with her personal shield and two pistols there was no way she would be able to take on even the gate guard. If it was a few soldiers, maybe, but they had rolled in their crawlers and had dozens of soldiers around the gate.

So she found a quiet spot, biding her time and waiting for an opening.

Waiting was not something she was good at.

AES Odyssey

"Sir, we're receiving a message from Earth."

"What kind of message, Lieutenant?" Colonel Paul Emerson asked, feigning disinterest. He knew that with the way things were going, it was probably bad. They'd received several messages since deploying, and most of them were things like 'x planet has fallen to the Ori' or 'x army has been defeated by the Ori'.

"New orders, sir!" the Lieutenant replied. He had a noticeable accent- it was German or Swedish or Norwegian or something. He never had a good ear for accents, and wished they still had the handy flag patches. "We are to proceed to these coordinates at once and extract SG-1 as well as an HVI and some specialized equipment. Speed is critical."

"Navigator, plot a course." He keyed the comm system. "All stations, secure for hyperspace transit."

Nodding to the pilot, he told him, "Engage when ready."

Unknown Location

"It is done," Merlin told them, stepping back from the Repository. "Your starship must come quickly. We are now vulnerable."

"How so?" Daniel asked.

"The obelisk you saw outside moves this entire laboratory between planets at regular intervals. That system has now been disabled. Your ship will be able to find us, but so will the Ori."

"So, in other words, a race against time."

"No. A race against the Ori."

P9X-749

Waiting turned out to be the best option. It made sense. The humans had found what they came for and left. As suddenly as they had arrived, they packed up and headed out through the gate.

They left a few people behind, maybe a handful in the village and four guarding the stargate. No doubt they were trying to undo the damage done by their arrival. Such foolishness.

Aurelia quietly approached the stargate, crawling through the bush. As she reached the edge of the bush, she drew her pistols.

"Contact right!" She overheard one of them saying.

"Fuck, think she's still here?"

"I am," she said quietly before opening fire. Bursts of energy erupted from her pistols, streaking toward the defenders. They quickly took cover and returned fire with their crude projectile weapons, which had little effect on her shields.

Aurelia broke into a run, bolting toward the DHD and continuing to pulse the triggers on her pistols as fast as she could. Her goal wasn't to kill the soldiers guarding the gate- merely to distract them.

Holstering one pistol, she continued firing with one hand and worked the DHD with the other. In a matter of seconds, she extracted the last address from the device. It took only seven more seconds to dial out to a world entirely controlled by the Ori. She was running toward the event horizon when a sudden impact knocked her off her feet.

"Gotcha!" a deep voice shouted, one of the heavy armoured soldiers pinning her down.

"I don't think so." Pushing the man off slightly, she raised her pistol and fired point blank several times in rapid succession. It very quickly tore through his shields and blew a hole through his torso, the blast going through both sides of the armour. With a mighty heave, she pushed the corpse off and ran through the gate.

Unknown Location

"Ugh, could this get any more boring?" Vala asked nobody in particular. "We've been waiting here for hours!"

"Vala!" Daniel hissed. "That man has waited thousands of years, and you're complaining about a few hours!"

"Time is relative, isn't it?" Vala retorted. "Besides, he was asleep the whole time!"

She paused momentarily, then added, "These suits are equipped with advanced computers, correct?"

"Yes, Vala," Daniel replied, exasperated.

"Well, then why don't they put games on them? It would make this far more tolerable." Another contemplative pause. "In fact, everyone's going to have a computer they can fit in their pocket soon anyway. Whenever you're bored, you just whip it out and play some games!"

"Vala, I seriously doubt people are going to be putting computers in their pockets any time soon," Daniel chided. "At least, not on Earth."

"Why not? You have the technology."

"We have the technology to build flying cars, but you don't see those flying around everywhere," Daniel explained. "Now, it's been a dream of ours for the better part of a century, but we realized it's simply not practical. We have terrible accidents in two dimensions- think of the chaos we'd have in three. And more importantly, it's just way too expensive right now. The same goes for pocket computers."

"You can't crash a pocket computer. Well, not literally, anyway."

"I'm not saying it's a bad idea, Vala, just that nobody's going to go for it. If there's one thing I've learned it's that we're a stubborn bunch, and we only change our ways if we really, really have to."

"Come on, Daniel! Okay, picture this," Vala said, trying again. "You're on the metro, a long boring ride hours and hours long. Instead of being bored, falling asleep and ending up mugged, you pull this sleek little slate out of your pocket. You can play some games, make video calls, watch a motion picture, maybe even do some business.

"And you know what would make a great game? Flinging birds at wooden structures to kill green pigs!"

"Vala! How do you come up with something so... that doesn't even make any sense!"

"Okay, how about a game where you build in a world made up entirely out of large cubes? Or defending a house from the undead using plants? Feeding an adorable little monster by cutting ropes? Running through old ruins, jumping over obstacles? Surely you'd like that one, Daniel. It's all archaeological and stuff."

"Look, I'm all for creativity, but seriously, Vala, Earth humans don't think like that." Daniel replied, trying to let her down gently. "Those ideas are just too out there."

She pouted. "Well, fine. When is the Odyssey going to get here?"

"Shouldn't be too long now, maybe a matter of minutes-"

"Colonel, the gate just activated," Major Roberts informed over the comm system. There was little cover on the desert world- she crouched just inside the cave mouth.

"Take defensive positions," Carter ordered.

"We've got company!" Roberts shouted as the first Ori troops came through the gate. She pulled back on the trigger and felt it break, slamming the firing pin into the primer and sending a slug of lead, copper and steel through the skull of an Ori warrior.

The rest of them quickly opened fire, cutting down the stream of Ori warriors pouring through the stargate. Gruesomely, bodies began to pile up, and the newly arrived warriors had to push them out of the way to clear the event horizon.

"Yeah! You really thought it would be that fucking easy?"

"Stay focused," Roberts ordered, quickly swapping out the magazines on her battle rifle. "We don't know what tricks they have up their sleeves."

As if on queue, the flow of cannon fodder warriors stopped, and a single woman stepped through. Aurelia. A barrage of weapons fire was absorbed by her shield. "Move aside. I desire only the Sangraal."

"You shall not pass," Gairwyn stated, voice steely. She glided down between Aurelia and the cave mouth. She raised her shields to full power and activated her plasma blasters. Ori warriors began moving through under Aurelia's protection and engaging SG-114.

"You cannot oppose me, bastard child of the Asgard," Aurelia taunted, raising her pistols. "You fight against the Ori for the Asgard, yet it is the Asgard who corrupted you. It is the Asgard who you should be fighting."

"I am not corrupted. I was chosen and chose to accept the offer given to me," Gairwyn fired a few plasma blasts to test Aurelia's shields. They held strong.

"An offer to serve your gods? A bit hypocritical, is it not?" Aurelia snapped back, pulsing the triggers on her pistols.

The Valkyrie deftly dodged, a few blasts scraping her shields. "Thor showed me the truth of his race, of my race, and of the greater galaxy. I chose of my own accord, knowing exactly what it would entail."

"And then what? They bind you in a pact of service?" A few more shots of plasma, again absorbed by Aurelia's shields.

"No. I may be a weapon of war forged by the Asgard, but I am no slave," A more intense barrage of energy blasts impacted Gairwyn's shields. "If I choose, I can leave. There will be no consequence. I choose to fight for what is right, what I believe in, and the very survival of my people."

"Noble words," Aurelia noted, blocking a barrage of plasma with her own shields. "Unfortunately, they will be your last."

Before she could respond, Gairwyn and SG-114 disappeared.

AES Odyssey

"Do we have them?" Colonel Emerson asked.

"Yes, sir," the transport officer replied. "SG-1 attached beacons to the HVI and his equipment. That made beaming them out a lot easier."

"Good. Now let's make sure there's nothing left to find. Weps, four OG-9s, fire when ready."

"Missiles away, sir." Four slender cylinders erupted from VLS tubes on pillars of flame, arcing toward the planet. The engines quickly burned out, leaving gravity as the only force pulling them down. Halfway through the atmosphere, moving at hypersonic speeds, the missiles blew apart- or at least appeared to blow apart. Twenty-four tungsten rods, six per missile, continued toward their targets.

By the time they hit the ground, they had about as much energy as a nuclear bomb- but almost entirely kinetic. The effects were different, but arguably just as devastating. The artificial mountain housing Merlin's laboratory was completely obliterated, leaving only a crater in its wake.

"Target destroyed, it's-" the sensor officer paused. "Sir, picking up an Ori battleship on long-range scanners. Closing fast."

"We've got what we came here for, let's not be around to meet them. Get us out of here, Lieutenant."

"Yes, sir!"

Yes, I just had to put the Skyrim reference in.

For those of you wondering about Luthan's address of Merlin as "honourable one", it's similar in meaning to "your honour" and related to the titles of "Honourable" and "Right Honourable" - used for those in important positions of government, courts, and society.

OG-9s are kinetic impactors, similar to Rods from God. Look it up.

I had some fun writing this chapter, and I ended up with something way better than expected. I wish I could promise more awesome chapters, but I can't. One bridge chapter is coming up, then two to three ending chapters, and one epilogue chapter. All will be short and crappy.