Stargate: SVU 4

Chapter Fourteen

"Everybody all right?" Sam called.

"Yeah," Olivia replied. She glanced over at Daniel, who was busy removing his seat belt. "How are you?"

"Feeling a little jumbled. But ok, otherwise," he replied. He glanced at her with concern. "Why aren't you getting out of your seat?"

"My seatbelt's broken," Olivia nervously said.

"Here, Liv, wait," Grace said, as she tried to undo the latch. After several failed attempts, Grace shook her head. "You're right, this is broken. I can't get her loose."

A series of explosions could be heard outside of their downed Teltac, which unnerved Olivia, who was starting to feel like a sitting duck, trapped as she was in her seat.

"Wait a sec," Daniel muttered, as he pulled out his knife and sliced through the seat belt straps. "There."

Olivia smiled and hugged him once she was able to stand up from her seat. "My hero."

Her smile vanished when Olivia heard more explosions outside, and she now felt them as well. "It sounds like whoever's shooting at us is getting pretty close to the target."

After Jennifer was unable to open the side door electronically, Teal'c and Cam, aided by Daniel, managed to muscle it open manually. The sight that greeted them was of a battered antiaircraft cannon emplacement, which was now nothing more than ruins that spewed black smoke into the air like a volcano. A 302 fighter from the Icarus screamed right over them, and as it veered sharply off to the side, another antiaircraft battery exploded further down from them.

"The Hawks from the Icky are here," Cam reported. "They're knocking out the guns protecting the Citadel."

After trying to call the Icarus at the main console, Sam gave up and went over to the opened side door, where she peered outside. "We need to get to the prisoners and provide them with cover until Bobby and his Marines get here."

"Agreed," Cam replied. "But it's gonna be a hairy ride!"

As if to punctuate what he said, there was another explosion nearby. It rained gravel and dirt all over Sam, Cam, Teal'c and Daniel.

"It would appear that this crashed vessel has been targeted by an Ori with a shoulder-mounted weapon," Teal'c said. He abruptly raised his M60 and fired off a burst out the doorway. Then Teal'c nodded and said, "It is clear, for now."

"You get him?" Cam asked.

Teal'c just stared at him as if that were the most silly thing he'd ever heard.

"Of course you got him," Cam quickly amended. "What was I thinking?"

"All right everybody," Sam called. "Let's get moving. Cam, you're with me on point, Teal'c will bring up the rear "

Olivia pulled on Vala's arm. "You should put on your helmet."

"Oh, it's too heavy," Vala said with a wave of her hand. "And bulky."

"It might just save your life," Grace chimed in. "Put it on."

Vala reluctantly pulled her helmet from its place on back of her belt. She grimaced at it. "It's rather ugly and unfashionable, isn't it? Why don't I just forget about-"

"Vala," Cam angrily called, "stop stalling and put the damn helmet on! You're holding us up!"

"All right, all right," Vala muttered, as she put the helmet on. She made an annoyed face. "Now it feels like it's crushing my head!"

"Better that feeling than having your head be blown off," Olivia told her, as they gathered into a tight group by the doorway.

"Ok, everybody ready?" Sam asked. "Stay close behind me, and keep your eyes open."

They ran out of the downed Teltac and immediately took cover behind the shattered stone walls of the exploded antiaircraft cannons. Olivia was pleased to see the 302s were all over the skies, mowing down the slightest sight of Ori resistance.

But that did not mean that it was safe; far from it. Olivia stayed alert, her hands on her P90, as SG-1 quickly moved towards the prisoner pens. The prisoners, not having any weapons, nor cover, had all scrambled back into their pens and huddled down against the fury of the battle as best they could.

As SG-1 came up on the helpless prisoners, they came across a squad of Ori troops who were also advancing on the area.

"To the right," Sam called, "open fire!"

Olivia didn't think; she just aimed her P90 at the Ori troops and opened fire along with the others. The Ori troops were gunned down before they could even fire off a shot.

After they ceased fire, Olivia then heard something amazing.

It was cheering.

She turned and saw the prisoners, who had all just witnessed SG-1 wiping out the Ori troops, were now cheering and applauding them wildly. These poor souls, who looked sickly and malnourished, were so overjoyed to see SG-1 that many of them, both men and women, were openly crying tears of joy.

"CAM!" a woman's voice cried out. "CAM!"

"Oh, my God, Suzie!" Cam shouted back, as he tightly hugged a woman in a tattered Air Force flight uniform who had run up to him. "Sam, this is Captain Susan Donaldson. I flew with her in the Battle For The Antarctic. How are you, Suzie? You ok?"

"I am now," Suzie said, then she burst into tears. "Oh, Cam…."

"I know, darling, I know," Cam soothed her, as they embraced tightly once more. "It's over now, we're taking you home."

"We need to set up a defensive perimeter," Sam told Teal'c. "The prisoners are out in the open and completely vulnerable, here."

The Jaffa actually smiled as he glanced upwards. "That will not be necessary, Colonel Carter. Observe."

Olivia glanced upwards and saw the Rhinos were landing in a circle surrounding them. When she first saw these transports aboard the Icky, Olivia had originally thought they were squat, bulbous and ugly. But now, they were the most beautiful, gorgeous things she had ever seen.

The rear doors of the Rhinos, which faced them, opened up, and several dozen Marines all poured out.

Bobby and Gail both strode up to them and saluted Sam. "It's my pleasure to inform you that the United States Marine Corps now owns this little piece of Tyro," Bobby said.

Sam just grinned broadly at him. "Perfect timing, Bobby. Let's start getting the prisoners aboard the Rhinos."

"Good God!" Jennifer shouted, as she pointed at something in the sky.

Olivia looked up at the overcast skies and gasped sharply at the bright flashing lights that brilliantly illuminated the clouds. "What the hell is going on up there?"

SG-1: SVU

Ryle sat aboard the lead Ori vessel and watched as the leader of the Netian Empire approached his vessel in her own small shuttle, which she had referred to as a Teltac.

"The Netian Empress has landed in Docking Bay One, my Prior," a technician said.

"Excellent," Ryle replied. "Put that docking bay on the viewer."

Ryle watched as a legion of Ori troops warily surrounded the Teltac in the docking bay. The rear doors of the Netian ship opened, and the troops aimed their weapons at the Empress who was called Neith.

However, Neith was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, a large black flood of creatures emerged from the ship. It looked to Ryle like a mass of large insects. The Ori troopers, stunned, all hesitated for a moment. And Ryle realized that it was that moment of pause that was what killed them.

For the insects abruptly attacked the troopers, with some of the creatures leaping up and landing right on the face of some of the stricken Ori soldiers. Despite the fact that they fired back, the Ori troops were quickly overwhelmed by the relentless army of creatures.

"Seal off Docking Bay One," Ryle commanded. He shook his head with distain. He had figured this Neith to be nothing more than a common floozy who would resort to such back-stabbing tactics. Well, she would now pay for that. "All Ori ships, resume your attack on-"

"My Prior!" the technician called. "Look!"

Ryle was stunned at the sight before him. Each of the Netian Empire ships had begun to glow, until they were all as bright as the sun. It appeared as though they had destroyed themselves.

"Did they just commit suicide?" Ryle asked with a laugh. "So much the better! Apparently this Neith has realized that it was futile to…."

Ryle stopped when he realized the Netian ships had not exploded. Each of the vessels had fired off what looked like a large energy wave from its hull. The waves, ball-like in size, expanded and merged with each other, until they created a giant wave of energy that crackled and flashed with terrifying power.

And it was headed straight for them.

"Shields!" Ryle frantically shouted. "Raise the shields, now!"

SG-1: SVU

"Seeker Wave!" Dale shouted. "The Nets just launched a Seeker Wave, and it's the biggest goddamn one we've ever seen!"

"Damn it," Stacy muttered. They had just launched the Marines down to the surface of Tyro. "Give me an estimate, Ty."

"The surviving Netian ships, of which there were forty three, have all launched Seeker Waves, Ma'am," the ops officer reported. "The wave is now growing, with the individual waves having combined with each other. It will hit us in less than five minutes."

"We have to pull out," Dale told her. "Do what Mitchell did at the Battle of the Antarctic, and-"

"We're not going anywhere, XO," Stacy firmly told him. "We would have to retreat a hell of a distance to escape that wave, and I'm not leaving all of those people alone down there for even a second."

"But, Colonel, if we get hit by that wave…."

She waved him off as she glanced at Lt. Jason Tyrell, whom the bridge crew had good-naturedly nicknamed Data. Although he didn't have golden skin, Tyrell's slender build and mild, polite manners (as well as the fact that he manned basically the same station as the android did on Star Trek: The Next Generation) had reminded everyone of Data. "Ty, can the planet's atmosphere protect us?"

"Yes, Colonel, it will," Ty replied amiably. "Assuming we're low enough."

Stacy turned to the helmsman and said, "Get us into the atmosphere, now!"

"How far down?" he asked.

"Put us right over the damned city! I want the bottom of the hull scraping on the tops of the buildings. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am," the helmsman replied, as he pressed a series of buttons on his console. "Everybody better hold on, it's gonna get a little bumpy…."

SG-1: SVU

"How the mighty have fallen," Neith said softly. She stood watching as the Ori ships, despite their best measures, were caught within the Seeker Wave. As she had expected, the Seeker Wave had stripped the vessels completely of their power, and caused massive damage. The large glowing orbs within the center of the Ori ships had grown dim to the point where they had disappeared entirely.

But there was an unexpected bonus that not even Neith had expected. After wiping out the power of the two massive Ori ships, the Seeker Wave had continued onward to the super gate, which was still fully powered up as a third Ori ship made its way through the event horizon.

When the Seeker Wave struck the super gate, it sapped the enormous structure of its energy, which then shut down the gate while the Ori ship was only halfway through. The resulting explosion from the ship, which had been sheered neatly in half when the gate shut off, caused major damage to the super gate to the point where it began to drift uncontrollably out of its orbit above the planet Tyro.

"This is your Lord Empress Neith," she called to her remaining ships. "Finish them off! Tal shak!"

She then smiled as her Ha'tak vessels opened fire on the crippled Ori vessels. Unable to fight back, or even protect themselves, the Ori ships shuddered violently under the withering attack.

"My Lord Empress," Ba'al called. "A Tauri battleship has sought cover within the atmosphere of Tyro."

"The Tauri are here?" she asked, surprised. Then she gave him a predatory smile. "After we are done scraping these Ori from our boots, perhaps we shall check in with our good friends and allies on Tyro."

SG-1: SVU

TJ was startled when a group of Ori troopers abruptly ran into the room where she was kept tied to the bed. "Untie her!" the lead soldier commanded. "She is the mother of the Orici; we must take her with us."

TJ bided her time as the troops untied her wrists and ankles. Although she had given birth only the day before, almost all signs of her unnatural pregnancy were now gone. TJ wasn't sure if this was because the pregnancy was so abnormal or what, but she really didn't care. All that mattered was that her strength had returned, and she wasn't going to squander it.

Once she was completely free of the bed, TJ continued to act weak until one of the soldiers lifted her up in his arms. Then she promptly stuck her thumb into his eye, which caused the man to drop her as he howled in pain.

They blocked the only door, so TJ scrambled to her feet and ran towards the floor-to-ceiling windows, beyond which lay a balcony. She stood briefly on the balcony, the slate floor feeling cold beneath her feet, and desperately sought a way out, as the troops came rushing up behind her.

But her heart sank when TJ realized there was no exit off the balcony.

"No!" TJ screamed, enraged, as the troops all savagely attacked her at once. "LET GO OF ME!"

There was a loud, thunderous blast, and TJ glanced up to see what looked like the Prometheus coming in for a landing right above the building. But it couldn't have been the Prometheus, for that ship was destroyed. It had to be her sister ship, the Icarus. They were finally being rescued by the SGC.

"DOWN HERE!" she frantically screamed to the ship. "HELP ME!"

But one of the troopers hand-gagged her as his comrades dragged TJ, kicking and screaming, back inside.

SG-1: SVU

"Let's go, load them up," Gail shouted, as the Marines helped the wounded and sick prisoners aboard the Rhinos. "Keep the line moving!"

Olivia was horrified at the condition of some of the prisoners. One poor man, who was carried on board a Rhino on a stretcher, had half of his face burned. However, despite how heart-breaking it was for her to view them, Olivia stared at each and every prisoner. She was looking for someone in particular.

She flinched when a thunderous sound could be heard all around them, and Olivia was momentarily fearful that the Ori might be launching a counterattack. But a glance up at the sky immediately allayed her fears.

The Icarus hovered directly over the skyline of the Tyroian city. It was an amazing sight for Olivia to witness. But she couldn't help but wonder what were they doing down here.

"Liv!" Daniel called. He stood with the rest of SG-1 and Bobby by one of the Rhinos. "Come on!"

When she joined them, Olivia asked, "What's up?"

"Neith just had the Ori fleet for breakfast," Bobby said. "Just heard it over the radio from the Icky."

"She use the Seeker Wave?" Sam asked.

Bobby nodded. "That's why the Icky's hovering over us like this. They're trying to avoid being hit by the wave."

"Good move," Jennifer said, nodding her head.

Gail ran up to them. "We've got all the prisoners, Colonel Lyman."

"Not all of them," Olivia said, as she scanned the area. "I still haven't seen TJ."

"Liv," Sam said gravely. "I've just spoken with Lt. Matthew Scott, who was in SG-7 with TJ. He told me that she was taken away by the Ori some time ago."

Daniel gave her a downcast look. "Um, TJ hasn't been seen since, Liv. They all think she might be-"

"The SGC didn't give up on us, when we were captured by Neith," Olivia angrily said, as she kept scanning the area for any sign of the young medic. "And I'm sure as hell not gonna…."

Olivia stopped and stared at the sight of a young blond woman who was struggling with Ori troops on the balcony of the Citadel. Clad in a flowing white dress, she looked like a fairy tale princess fighting off an army of ogres. But Olivia instantly knew who it was.

"TJ!" Olivia pointed. "Up on the balcony! See her?"

"I do indeed, Olivia Benson," Teal'c said. He had his M60 slung over his shoulder. But now he brought it back down to bear. "She needs our help."

"We are leaving now," their Rhino pilot called to them.

"So are we," Olivia replied, "to rescue TJ!"

"What are we waiting for?" Vala said, her Zat in hand. "Let's go."

"Yeah," Daniel said with a nod. "Let's."

"You guys don't get it," the pilot said, "we are bugging out right now!"

"Not without Lieutenant Johansson," Teal'c said curtly.

"Yeah, count me in," Grace said. She glanced at Jennifer. "What about you, Sparky?"

"I'm coming, too," Jennifer confirmed.

"I guess the direct order from Colonel Monroe to bug out is being ignored?" Cam said with a grin.

Sam slapped him on the shoulder. "It's SG-1, Cam. What do you think?" She then glanced at Bobby and added, "We're going for her!"

Bobby nodded. "We leave no one behind. I understand perfectly, Sam. C'mon in the Rhino; we'll give you a lift."

As they entered the Rhino, which was the last one on the ground, Bobby ordered the pilot to take them up to the balcony on the side of the Citadel. He then called in their change of plans to the Icarus. Olivia was happy to hear Monroe sign off on the idea.

"But we don't have much time," the Icarus commander added. "The Net ships should be all over this position at any moment."

"Going up!" the Rhino pilot called. Then, after a short ascent, he added, "Main balcony! Everybody out!"

The rear door opened, and SG-1 stood with their weapons at the ready. But the balcony was empty. Stepping off the ramp onto the balcony (Olivia was very grateful to the Rhino pilot for putting them directly over the balcony's surface, so they would not have to step over a deep chasm), they warily entered the room beyond the windows.

Teal'c and Cam, who had gone in first, both opened fire. Olivia saw a pair of Ori Troops fall to the floor.

"They're taking her into the hallway!" Cam called over his shoulder, as he ran through the door. "Into the hallway!"

Olivia cautiously entered the room with Daniel and Grace at her side, all three of them holding up their P90s. She saw Teal'c and Cam had ran out into the hallway beyond the room, and once she stepped through the doorway, Olivia stopped short at the sound of automatic gunfire.

Two more Ori soldiers lay dead on the floor, and Olivia saw the remaining Ori soldier holding a knife to TJ's throat as he backed up with her against a wall.

Cam and Sam had both shot down the other two Ori soldiers, and when they, along with the rest of SG-1, had brought their P90s to bear on the last Ori, he shouted something in an alien language. Olivia had no idea what he said, but from the way he held the knife at TJ's throat, his meaning was brutally clear: don't come any closer.

"Easy, easy," Sam said, as she dropped her P90, letting it hang from its strap on her chest. She held out her hands. "It doesn't have to end this way. You could just let her go, and you can live."

The Ori soldier glared right at her as he said something in a sneering tone. Olivia was struck at how TJ looked numb and dazed, as if she had witnessed so much horror over the past few days that she just detached herself from this moment.

"You wouldn't have a universal translator in your bag of tricks, would you, Sparky?" Cam asked.

"No, sir," Jennifer said.

"Jackson? Satterfield?" Cam prodded. "Don't suppose either of you understand this guy?"

"No, sorry," Daniel replied.

"I've got nothing," Grace confirmed.

"That's ok," Cam said. He slowly lowered his weapon. "Because Mr. Ori and I are still gonna talk. Ain't that right, buddy?"

The Ori spat out several more words in his language in a hateful tone. He glanced at all of them, at SG-1, and laughed harshly. To Olivia, it almost looked like he was making fun of them.

"Oh, yeah, I know…we probably ain't much to look at, right?" Cam said with a slight chuckle. "But I like to think of us, of SG-1, as being sort of like a Kansas ice storm. You know what I mean, fella?"

The Ori snarled several more alien words at him as he tightened his grip on the limp TJ.

"Ok, ok, now…don't get excited," Cam said, as he held up his hands. "Let me explain. SG-1 is like a Kansas ice storm in the way that, on the surface, it just doesn't look very dangerous, you know? You see all that ice, and it almost looks very pretty, right? Hell, it'll even sparkle, just like ornaments on a Christmas tree! But you try driving in a Kansas ice storm, and you discover that it's a lot dangerous than you'd originally thought…dangerous enough to kill you."

The Ori glared right at Cam as he muttered something maliciously under his breath.

'Wait a minute,' Olivia suddenly thought, 'where the hell did Teal'c go?'

"And that's SG-1," Cam summed up. "Because, just like a Kansas ice storm, just when you least expect it, we turn out to be dangerous enough to kill you!"

Olivia was startled to see Teal'c abruptly step out from right behind her as he flung a knife.

The Ori let out a gurgling sound as the blade landed right in his throat. Sam, Cam and Teal'c all jumped forward and pried TJ from the dying Ori's hands. When the Ori began to put up a meager fight, Teal'c grabbed the handle of the knife and twisted it further in the man's throat for good measure. The Ori let out one more death rattle before he died. Teal'c pulled the blade from his throat and then cleaned off the blood by wiping it on the dead man's uniform.

"N-No! Nuh-No!" TJ screamed, when Cam tried to hold her. "LET GO OF ME! LET GO OF MEEEEE!"

"TJ!" Sam cried. "It's us! It's SG-1!"

TJ backed up against the wall, shaking her head as she glared at SG-1 like a trapped wild animal. "Y-You're never gonna touch me again! NEVER!"

TJ let out a terrified scream when all of SG-1 tried to approach her. She shrunk into a ball on the floor, holding up her hands in a defensive manner.

"Wait, guys, wait!" Olivia called to them. She strode up to Sam and whispered into her ear: "She's been raped."

When Sam stared at her in sheer, wide-eyed horror, Olivia realized that, despite all of the amazing things that her dear friend had done and seen in this universe, there was still a part of Sam that was so very innocent. And Olivia loved her all the more for it.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked in a whisper.

"I worked the Special Victims Unit long enough to know a rape victim when I see one," Olivia replied, as she removed her helmet and weapons and handed them to Daniel. "And, believe me, Sam, TJ has been raped. She's showing all the signs. Please, let me?"

When Sam nodded, Olivia approached the frightened TJ in a crouch. She kept her voice low and gentle. "Hey, TJ…hey there!"

"Nuh-no! NO!" TJ cried again, as she cowered away from Olivia.

"It's ok, sweetie," Olivia said. "It's all right. It's me, Olivia. You remember me?"

"Olivia?" TJ said, sounding as if she didn't quite believe her.

"Yes. Olivia Benson. You know me, right?"

"Olivia." TJ said her name more firmly, as if remembering. "Yes, I-I know you…did they catch you, too?"

"No, honey, I'm here to take you home. Would you like to go home, now?"

"Yes, oh, God, yes…I wanna go home," TJ said, as she nodded her head. She looked for all the world like a scared little girl.

Olivia held out her hand. "If you want to go home, TJ, then just take my hand. Come on."

TJ stared suspiciously at Olivia's hand, as if she wasn't quite sure it was really there. Then she reached out and grabbed it. And when she did, Olivia quickly pulled her into a tight hug.

"Oh, God, you're real!" TJ cried in relief, as she lay her head against Olivia's shoulder. "You're all really here, aren't you?"

"Yes we are, sweetie," Olivia assured her, as she rubbed TJ's back. "And we're taking you home, now. Come on."

When she stood up, Olivia was pleased to see that TJ also stood up with her.

Olivia glanced at the rest of SG-1, and saw that Jennifer, Grace and Vala were openly crying. Daniel had removed his glasses to wipe the tears from his eyes.

"Great job, Liv," Sam said, her voice sounding rough with emotion. "Come on, let's get her the hell out of here."

As Olivia led a weeping TJ in her arms towards the Rhino, she glanced back when she heard a loud WHUMP!

It was Teal'c. He had given the body of the Ori whom he had just killed one last kick.

Olivia really didn't blame him.

SG-1: SVU

When Janet first saw her aboard the Icarus, she forgot that she was a doctor for a moment and gave TJ a warm hug. This made the young medic cry once more, but it was tears of joy this time.

Up to this point, Sam had did her level best to keep her emotions in check. But when she saw the other medics and nurses abruptly join in by all giving TJ a loving, welcoming hug at the same time, Sam just lost it. She let the tears flow. She was pleased to see that she was not alone, for Daniel and Cam were also wiping tears from their eyes, as well. And Olivia and Vala were both blubbering so much they leaned against each other for support.

The medical cadre in the infirmary had quickly restored their professionalism so as to allow TJ to lay down in one of the beds.

When Olivia made to leave, TJ suddenly reached out and pulled her back. "Stay with me, please?" she pleaded.

"Of course, sweetheart," Olivia said, as she sat down on the side of the bed and gently rubbed the side of TJ's face. "I'm staying right here."

Daniel and Vala voted to remain with Olivia and TJ in the infirmary. Teal'c, Hailey and Satterfield were presently busy placing their weapons in the armory. Sam thought about checking in with the SGC until she was startled by an abrupt shaking of the whole ship, which was followed by a call to battlestations.

"What now?" Cam asked.

"Let's go see," Sam told him.

Yet before they could leave the infirmary, they were stopped by Dr. Lam, who insisted on giving them both check ups before they left. It was a precaution against the Ori plague that slaughtered so many innocents on Tyro. Sam still wore her gas mask on her web gear; an unpleasant reminder of just how deadly this mission was, and might be still.

She was relieved when both she and Cam had checked out ok, along with Olivia, Daniel, Vala and TJ. Teal'c, Hailey and Satterfield arrived at the infirmary and were also given the all clear. As he left the infirmary, on his way to the bridge with Sam, Cam asked, "Wonder why the Ori didn't use the plague on us?"

"Good question. Maybe we were just lucky enough to have caught them off guard this time."

"We did catch them with their pants down," Cam agreed.

But Sam still felt uneasy. Perhaps they got away with it because they did catch the Ori off guard. But the Ori wouldn't be caught so unawares the next time SG-1 dealt with them. They had proven themselves to be major players in the same league as the Netian Empire. 'And I have a feeling we're not done with them,' Sam thought, 'not by a long shot. This may yet get a lot worse for us.'

When they reached the bridge, Sam asked Stacy Monroe what had happened before, when the ship shuddered.

"An Alkesh tried to force us to land," the Icarus commander said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "They actually had the nerve to fire a warning shot across our bow. We fired a warning shot of our own, and convinced them to back the hell off."

"Gee, thought we were allies," Cam said sarcastically.

"Neith may be cranky, but I still think we made a good choice in allies," Stacy said, as she pointed out the main windows. "You see that?"

"Holy Hannah," Sam said with awe, as she and Cam gazed out at the scene before them.

Blasted fragments of Ori ships floated helter-skelter all over the darkness of space, while Ha'tak vessels of the Netian Empire continued blasting the wreckage into even smaller bits. Off in the distance, a larger portion of Neith's ships were using the Ori super gate, what was left of it, as target practice. The once mighty super gate crumpled and shuddered under the incessant fire, until it finally erupted into a massive explosion of its own. The colossal golden ring was now nothing more than scattered shards drifting in space.

"Do not piss off the evil space empress," Cam said quietly.

The darkness of space was replaced by the multicolored flashing of hyperspace as the Icarus jumped out of the Tyro system. 'And good riddance to the place,' Sam thought darkly. 'Thanks to the Ori, it's now just a vast graveyard.'

"How well did Neith handle the Ori?" Sam asked Stacy. "Was it a cakewalk for her?"

"Not at first," Stacy replied. "One Ori ship outgunned her entire fleet. It blew away seventeen of her ships without even working up a sweat. But then the firing stopped, and Neith sent over a Teltac."

"She probably called a truce, then took advantage of it to stab the Ori in the back," Cam said.

"It wasn't until she launched the Seeker Wave that the tide of the battle turned in her favor," Stacy said. "We have the whole thing recorded. You should take a look at it first chance you get."

"Thanks, Colonel, that will come in handy for evaluating the Ori tactics," Cam said.

Sam nodded. "Yes, it will."

"I don't see why we should even bother," the XO spoke up. He bore the bold enthusiasm of a man who had survived his very first battle. "I mean, after all, we beat the Ori soundly. I doubt we'll be seeing them again."

"For one thing, Major, we did not beat the Ori," Sam corrected him. "Neith did. And yes, Neith crushed the Ori beachhead at the Tyro system. But the Ori are a Hegemony who're in control of their own galaxy. What's stopping them from establishing another beachhead, with another super gate, anywhere else in this galaxy? Absolutely nothing."

"In other words, Major," Cam said, "I wouldn't get out of the storm shelter just yet, because this tornado is far from over."

To be concluded in the next, and last, chapter...