Woohoo! Finals are done and I now have three weeks of vacation to finish this story. So here's the next chapter. I hope y'all enjoy it. I'm not sure, but I think there are probably only a few more chapters. I hope you guys are enjoying this story. So without further ado...


Chapter 11 –

What exactly are you suggesting Jackie?"

"General," Jackie began patiently. "According to the last uplink, the Prior will be returning in a few hours to accept this planet's final answer as to whether or not they will accept Origin."

"I'm really not sure about this Jackie." Jack spoke up. "What if they decide not to? The whole planet, all of you included, will be destroyed."

"Jack, that's the point." Jackie insisted. "The last few days we've been focusing on liberating those already in the grasp of the Ori. But if we are going to make a dent in their stronghold in this galaxy, we need to stop them from destroying those who will not accept them."

Jack looked around the briefing table. He didn't want to admit it, but she was right. Meeting Hank's gaze he gave a barely perceptible nod.

"SG1," Hank said, "You have a go. You'll leave in 30 minutes."

"Yes Sir!" Cameron exclaimed almost excitedly as he and Sam stood to attention. It had been almost a week since Jackie had saved SG1's collective asses and he was itching to go offworld again.

As SG1 hurried out of the briefing room to suit up for their mission, Vala slowed to wait for Jackie. She could see that the younger woman had a lot on her mind, and she had an idea what "it" was.

"Jackie." Vala interrupted her thoughts. She waited for Jackie to look up before continuing. "About last night…"

Jackie's eyes darted around to see if anyone was around to hear. Grabbing Vala's arm she dragged her to the nearest supply closet before speaking. "Vala…" There was a warning in her voice.

Vala's hand went up to stop Jackie's next words. "I just wanted to say that…" Vala paused briefly. "If you think you can defeat her, don't waste an opportunity to do so."

With that, Vala hurried away, leaving a very bewildered Jackie in the supply closet.

Λ

30 minutes later found SG1 and Jackie in the gateroom waiting for the stargate to finish dialing. All six stood at the base of the ramp dressed in clothing native to P7J-317. The only things that would pick them out of the crowed were the zats that five of them had well concealed beneath their cloaks.

"Chevron 7…locked." Walter announced over the intercom, as the wormhole formed.

"SG1," Landry announced from the control room. "You have a go."

As the wormhole disengaged after SG1, Jack couldn't help but wonder if he had made the right call.

Λ

Two hours later, SG1 was set up around the village square awaiting the arrival of the Prior. Jackie and Teal'c stood at the south side of the square, directly across from the balcony where the Prior would appear. To the west, stood Daniel and Sam and to the east, Mitchell and Vala.

"Any idea when this Prior is going to show up?" Cam asked over the radio.

"Soon Cam, soon." Jackie responded patiently.

"That's what you said an hour ago Jackie." Cam returned.

"Quit complaining Mitchell." Daniel responded. "You were the one itching to get offworld."

"Yeah, but…"

Cameron's rebuttal was cut off by the sudden entrance of the Prior. Instantly the square became deathly silent.

"The time has come for your decision." The Prior spoke. "Will you accept the truth of Origin?"

"Jacquelyn O'Neill should you not…" Teal'c began, but was cut off by a hand motion from Jackie. Using silent hand signals she continued to give Teal'c instructions. "Colonel Mitchell, Colonel Carter, Daniel Jackson, Vala Mal Doran, Jacquelyn O'Neill desires that you fall back to our position."

"Why?" Cameron asked.

"Hallowed be the Ori." The Prior announced.

"Hallowed be the Ori." Echoed the entire population standing in the village square.

"Damn." Cam hissed. "SG1, fall back to Teal'c and Jackie's position."

Moments later all of SG1 stood at the back of the square awaiting Jackie's destruction of the Prior. When she didn't move to do so, they all became worried.

"Jackie?" Daniel questioned quietly.

Without taking her eyes from the balcony before her she spoke, "Return to the stargate, I will meet you there."

"Like hell we're going to leave you here." Cam hissed. "I am not about to report to…"

"We'll wait for you in the alley that we used to enter the square." Sam interrupted Cameron.

"Very well." Jackie responded distractedly. "Stay well concealed."

SG1 silently slipped out of the square and into a small alley that opened outside of town. They all plastered themselves against the wall, waiting for the inevitable destruction of the Prior. As the interminable seconds ticked past, each worried silently at the continued silence from the square.

"Sam…" Cameron finally broke the silence.

Nodding her head in understanding, Sam inched her way to the entrance of the alley and peaked into the square.

"Great is this day, and blessed are you who are visited by the Orisi." The Prior announced just as Sam began her scan of the square.

"Did he just say Orisi?" Daniel hissed.

Sam simply nodded in response.

All five members of SG1 went back to silently worrying about what was going to go down in the village square.

Λ

Jackie had been waiting for it. She felt a slight twinge of guilt at the fact that she had lied by omission to Jack and General Landry, but she reminded herself that if she had told them that Adria would be visiting this planet, then they would not have allowed her to come. After the events of the night before, and her jaunt on the Ori ship, Jackie was determined to see just what she could do against Adria.

As Adria began addressing the villagers crowded beneath her, Jackie focused her eyes and mind on her. Slowly everything around her faded.

Λ

"Adria."

Adria turned from addressing the crowd only to see Vala standing on the balcony between herself and the Prior.

"Mother?"

"Adria, I do not have much time. I came to warn you."

"Warn me about what?" Adria asked in puzzlement.

"I have heard things."

"What kind of things Mother?"

"There is talk of someone who may have the power to defeat you."

"That isn't possible Mother." Adria said as she touched the stone that hung around her neck. "The Ori will protect me."

"I do not know much yet, but from what I understand the Ori may not be able to stop this new power."

"The Ori are all powerful, Mother. Nothing is beyond their knowledge or power."

"Be careful." Vala said as she began to shimmer and disappear.

Λ

"Be careful." Jackie muttered, allowing the image of Vala that she had portrayed to Adria to begin to fade. Simultaneously, she tapped into the limited amount of Adria's power that she had gained access to and sent a blast toward the balcony.

Once the blast had left her, Jackie moved, knowing that Adria would be able to track the source of the blast. From her vantage point several feet away, Jackie watched as the blast threw both the Prior and Adria against the wall of the building. Moments later, the Prior burst into flames. Adria, however, stood and disappeared from the balcony, leaving the villagers in chaos.

Not one to waste an opportunity, Jackie used the chaos the slip out of the square and toward the alley where SG1 waited for her. She barely caught Sam's eye before hurrying past. Instinctively she knew that Sam had seen the whole thing.

Λ

As Jackie sat in the debriefing she waited nervously for the inevitable explosion from Jack when they came to the part about Adria being on the planet. When that particular fact was mentioned, Jackie couldn't tear her eyes away from Jack's. In almost slow motion he turned his head from looking at Mitchell and looked her directly in the eyes. Without saying a word he turned back towards Mitchell and continued to listen to his side of the story. Since Mitchell hadn't actually seen what happened in the square his side of the story after that was brief.

When Mitchell had finished, Jack looked down at his hands. After what seemed to Jackie an eternity, Jack looked up at Hank, nodded and left the room.

Jackie wanted to follow him, to explain. Deciding to do just that, she moved to stand, but was stopped by Daniel's hand on her arm. She looked up at him with a question in her eyes. He briefly shook his head and then turned his attention back to the debriefing. Accepting his silent message to stay put, Jackie once again turned her attention to General Landry, but she couldn't help wondering what was going through Jack's mind.

"Colonel Carter, you could see into the village square from where you stood?" Landry asked.

"Yes Sir."

"Did you see anything?"

"Adria stepped out onto the balcony and began to address the villagers gathered below her. In the middle of her speech, she turned and faced the Prior and seemed to be carrying on a conversation. I couldn't hear what was being said, but she seemed agitated. I turned back to answer a question posed by Vala. When I turned back, Adria and the Prior were both gone. However, there were scorch marks where the Prior had been standing and the villagers were in chaos. Not long after, Jackie joined us and we returned through the Stargate."

As Sam's tale drew to a close, six pairs of eyes turned towards Jackie in question.

"When Adria stepped out onto the balcony I managed to tap into a limited amount of her mind, I didn't want to alert her to my presence. Using the limited power I had, I projected an image to her mind. When, as Sam saw, she turned towards the Prior, she was actually looking at an image that her mind saw as Vala."

"Me?" Vala exclaimed in surprise.

Jackie nodded. "I thought that you would be the least likely for her to attack outright." Vala nodded. "We talked for a couple minutes, just long enough for me to distract her so that I could obtain a little more access to her mind. I then attacked both her and the Prior. The Prior burned and Adria escaped." All six faces looking at Jackie had expressions of surprise and worry written across them.

"You knew she was going to be there."

Seven pairs of eyes turned to the cold voice that had spoken from the door into Hank's office. Jack stood there, a mix of emotions simmering in his eyes. Although everyone in the room was watching him, he stared directly at Jackie and nowhere else.

Jackie took a deep breath and let it out slowly before nodding her head.

"Damn it!" Jack exclaimed. Setting his jaw he continued, "Hank, recall all SG teams that are currently on Ori planets. Jackie's jaunts offworld have just been suspended indefinitely."


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