Sticks and Stones - Chapter 54 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)
Teal'c's team had moved to a small storage area near the ring transporter room and remained there for a good ten minutes after Jack's SR-2 team had left them. Once he was sure that Jack's team were well on their way Teal'c motioned to Griff that they were to move out and slowly led Griff, Templeton, Peters and Nicholson out into the corridor. It had been agreed that they would walk with their weapons ready but held downwards in a non-threatening manner. Should they encounter any resistance they would be ready to defend themselves but everyone was determined to go deeper into the ship not looking like they were there to start a war.
Once they entered the second corridor they soon discovered, like Jack's team before them, that the Jaffa obviously had no intention of fighting with five very determined members of the SGC. Unlike Jack's team though, most of the warriors did not simply shrink away when the rescue team approached them and as they walked it appeared to Griff that a rather odd pattern was forming in the Jaffas behaviour.
They were all armed with their usual staff weapons and had zat's secured to their arms but not once was a weapon raised against Teal'c, Griff and the others. As they rounded each corner and entered each passageway all eyes fell on the team-mates and they found themselves under the intense scrutiny of many massive warriors.
Once the SG-team got near enough for the Jaffa to catch sight of the golden emblem on Teal'c's forehead however, all the warriors immediately pointed their staff weapons towards the ground, dropped their eyes in reverence and stood in silence until the team-mates passed by.
The first few times it happened Griff noticed a slight wrinkling of Teal'c's brow. Small furrows appeared around the outside of his first prime emblem and there was a definite deepening of the lines around the large man's eyes.
After several more corridors of this Teal'c obviously made a silent decision and he rolled his shoulders magnificently before cracking his neck and straightening to full height. The effect was stunning. From being mild mannered Teal'c, friend and comrade to the Tau'ri, he became Teal'c, the fearsome First Prime of Apophis. Teal'c in full-on warrior mode was evidently a force to be reckoned with and if the Jaffa onboard the Ha'tak vessel wanted to bow down to him then he figured it would make things all the easier for everyone concerned if he was to play the part now.
Once they had passed a little further down the passageway the warriors behind them quickly disappeared. Griff vaguely wondered if they were going to cause trouble on the way back but for now he was glad they were simply keeping out of the way. Taking another look at Teal'c he could understand why.
~#~
From his time serving Apophis Teal'c knew that Osiris's personal quarters would be off to one side of the pel'tak and lead the team towards that location. He warned the others that if Osiris's Jaffa were aware of their presence then this is where the final showdown would be likely to take place.
~#~
As expected the first real contact with unfriendly Jaffa was found as the five members of SR-1 neared the pel'tak. They rounded a corner with Teal'c still at the front and were confronted by a full squadron of six heavily armed Jaffa in guard uniform. Luckily for the members of SR-1 none of the Jaffa were wearing their helmets and they were clearly unprepared for the group that they were suddenly faced with.
As they saw the imposing bulk of Teal'c pacing towards them the Jaffa they raised their weapons. Teal'c took action instantly and had taken down the two leading warriors with his zat before the four humans behind him had the chance to react.
A small brawl ensued resulting in the incapacitation of the remaining four Jaffa warriors, a painful but not life-threatening staff wound on Major Templeton's right bicep and a mild concussion for Peters. At some point in the scuffle the unfortunate Sergeant had been sent sprawling to the ground and had knocked his forehead on one of the ornate golden walls lining the corridor as he fell.
While Griff tended to his two wounded men, Nicholson and Teal'c bound the hands and feet of the four unconscious warriors. The pair then dragged the trussed up Jaffa back the way they had come from and deposited them in a side corridor leaving it to the other Jaffa on the ship to decide on the fate of their ex-brothers-in-arms.
Once this was done Teal'c and Nicholson returned to the others. Templeton was wearing Griff's jacket and this was covering his wound and Peters' head was sporting a large and rather obvious white bandage with a large red splotch in the middle of it. It was decided that all five men were well enough to continue although Peters admitted that he'd be less than useful if it came down to a fire-fight seeing as his vision was being affected by the bump to his head.
Teal'c once again led the way, closely followed by Griff. Templeton and Peters were placed in the middle of the group and Nicholson brought up the rear.
~#~
It only took a short while to travel the rest of the way to the pel'tak and when they reached the doorway SR-1 paused. Three men stood on one side and two on the other. The door was ajar and it was obvious to everyone that their fight from minutes before had not alerted any attention from the warriors in the room.
Two Jaffa stood in front of the control panel facing towards the huge window at the front of the ship. As they were facing away from him Teal'c couldn't see which System Lord they served but suspected that they may be loyal to Osiris due to their position on the ship. Two more stood at attention beside a closed door on the far side of the room, both of these bore the mark of Ba'al and no others could be seen. The door to the corridor was blocking the rest of the room from sight so there was no way that a full recon could be carried out but the friendly forces seemed to have the element of surprise on their side which would work in their favour.
Teal'c raised his zat and signalled to the others to be ready. The zats were still primed after their scuffle earlier so there would be no prior warning before the rescue team burst into the room.
One everyone was ready Teal'c stood and kicked the door with his boot. Immediately all four Jaffa sprung into action, the two at the control panel swung round and were zatted almost instantly whereas the two guarding the door to Osiris's chamber reacted differently.
One of the two stepped forwards to cover the other who rapped sharply on the door and uttered a series of barked orders to the guards who were obviously in the other room. Instantly the door swung open and Osiris stalked out, flanked by four of his guards.
SR-1 instinctively took a step backwards and fanned out slightly, this allowed Osiris and his Jaffa to clear the door completely. The System Lord stepped forwards and looked down his nose at SR-1 with amusement on his face.
Neither the Jaffa nor the humans knew what to do with themselves. Everyone was unconsciously waiting for Osiris to make the first move.
The move, once it came was one that no-one expected. Osiris threw his head back and let out an unearthly cackle of laughter. As he brought his head forwards again the curls of Sarah's beautiful red-gold hair fell over his shoulders and settled around his neck. The System Lord's eyes glowed and he pointed at Teal'c.
"Shol'va. You disappoint me. I assume you are under the delusion that you are here to overthrow me? Or maybe you have come to offer yourself to me willingly in a hope that I will spare the life of the infamous Jack O'Neill? I had heard tales that you have become tainted by the Tau'ri during your time with them but I did not truly believe it until now. You have brought only four men with you to defeat a ship of Jaffa warriors. The first prime of Apophis would never willingly undertake a suicide mission such as this."
Teal'c shifted slightly and tightened his grip on his zat and, almost imperceptibly, he signalled the men on either side of him to ready their arms. "As you well know Apophis is a false God. A dead, false God. Had he been anything less than dead you would not have such a number of his Jaffa under your command. You, Osiris - and the others like you - are parasites, both literally and figuratively and you have spread your fear and terror in this galaxy for too many millennia. Your kind must be eradicated before peace can finally be achieved."
At this Teal'c brought his staff weapon down and blasted the nearest Jaffa straight in the middle of his chest. The warrior barely had time to gasp his last breath before he crashed to the floor. The remaining Jaffa roared their displeasure and moved to protect their Osiris. The room descended into chaos after that. Staff blasts were issued from both sides and P-90 fire ricocheted around the room.
Through all this, Osiris stood serenely in the centre of the room, safely protected from bullets and staff blasts by his personal shield and watched the proceeding with an amused expression on his face.
No-one noticed that the injured Sergeant Peters had not joined in the fire-fight and due to the fact that everyone else was occupied with the ongoing battle, Peters was able to slide his way slowly around the outside of the room unimpeded. He carefully moved until he was positioned behind Osiris and stood with his back against the doorframe to the System Lord's quarters. With Osiris intently looking the other way the somewhat wobbly Sergeant was able to extract the tiny silver gun from his pocket and loaded it with two orange feathered tranquiliser darts. He then scanned the room carefully before pushing off from the doorframe.
Inch by inch Peter sidled closer to Osiris until eventually he was standing directly just three feet behind the System Lord. Holding his breath and hoping that what he was about to do would not directly result in his being instantly killed by an irate snake he slowly raised his arm and aimed the gun between the silk covered shoulder blades of Sarah Gardner, slightly to the left of her spinal cord.
As he pressed the trigger the miniature gun let out a loud pop, clearly distinguishable from any other sound in the room. The dart hit home and imbedded itself deep into the muscle of Sarah's back.
Osiris reached a hand round in an attempt to locate the source of the pain within his host's body. Seeing the move Peters stepped back away from the blended pair, raised his gun and fired again.
The second 'pop' resounded around the room and the next dart hit the System Lord in the fleshy area by Sarah's collar bone.
Osiris gasped and tore the dart from his body before turning to confront his attacker. The remaining Jaffa, realising something was wrong with their God, ceased their battling and turned to watch the struggling System Lord. Finding their opponents suddenly ignoring the battle the Griff, Nicholson and Templeton took the opportunity to zat the warriors into unconsciousness before turning back towards Osiris.
A very wobbly Peters was standing in front of a swaying Osiris who was reaching behind himself trying to gain purchase on the bright orange dart in his back. Both individuals looked as if they might keel over at any moment but both were valiantly holding their own in their own personal face-off. While the System Lord's attentions were elsewhere the rest of SR-1 took the time to load darts into their own tranq guns in case Osiris managed to overthrow the effects of the one they could see him grabbing at.
Osiris finally managed to capture the tranquiliser dart between his fingers and pulled it free with a triumphant cry. He threw the extracted dart towards Peters and slowly turned around, clearly expecting his Jaffa warriors to have won the battle and be waiting for his next orders.
Sarah's lips curled into an ugly snarl as the Goa'uld inside her realised he was now alone with five enemy combatants. A momentary flash of panic seemed to cross her eyes as Osiris took a fumbling step away from Teal'c, towards the door of his personal quarters. The effects of the tranquiliser had been strong but not strong enough to incapacitate the Goa'uld symbiote completely.
As Osiris took another stumbling step towards the door three loud pops sounded in the quiet room. One dart bit into the top of Sarah's left arm, another in the side of her neck and a third in her left hip.
The System Lord evidently felt all three darts as they hit and wavered as he looked down at the two darts he could see. He let out a long banshee-like wail then fell silent and began a sudden descent to the floor as his legs buckled beneath him.
With a speed that seemed impossible for a man his size, Teal'c darted forwards and caught the inert form before it made contact with the ground. He quickly checked for a pulse and was pleased when he found what he was looking for - the host was still alive.
"I am sorry, SarahGardner," he muttered quietly as he bound the unconscious woman's wrists together. Moving to her ankles he gave them the same attention before removing the three darts from her body and handing them to Major Griff who retrieved the dart box from his pocket and deposited them safely inside.
Teal'c remained in a crouched position beside the body of Sarah Gardner while he kept a cautious finger on the pulse point on her delicate neck. "MajorTempleton, would you please gather together the darts utilised by SergeantPeters, I believe there should be two of them. The Goa'uld must not be allowed to gain a sample of this drug if we are to retain the advantage that it gives us over them. Please ensure no examples of it are left behind. SergeantNicholson, I believe you are going to be needed to assist SergeantPeters to expedite our exit of this vessel."
"Understood," Nicholson replied and he moved quickly past the large man. He hooked his arm under the shoulder of his younger comrade and started to direct him slowly towards the door. Templeton gathered the two spent darts from the floor and handed them to Griff.
With a roll of his eyes Griff pulled the box from his pocket again and added the two darts to the three he had placed there earlier. Carefully he snapped the lid closed, stuck the box back in his pocket and crouched down beside Teal'c.
"You need some help with her?" he asked quietly.
"I shall be fine," Teal'c replied. "However if I am to carry her in my arms I shall be unable to defend myself therefore I shall require your assistance in a covering capacity. I believe that we should make haste and retrace our steps before we attempt to contact ColonelO'Neill. I believe it is imperative that SarahGardner be delivered to the Tok'ra as soon as possible."
Looking behind him he saw that Peters and Nicholson were waiting by the door to the corridor. Templeton was hovering behind Griff, obviously unsure where to place himself now he'd handed the darts over to his CO.
"You heard the man," Griff told the men. "We're movin' out. Stay alert, the fact that we've overpowered Osiris inside his own ship is bound to cause some big reactions…and the fact that we're takin' him with us might not go down too well either."
Carefully he helped support Sarah's head and neck as Teal'c got her settled into his strong arms. Once the Jaffa had the woman arranged Griff let go of her and followed the others out of the room.
