For everyone following this story as I post it, I'm sorry for not posting for ages. I started college and my life has been a complete mess. I also could not write one specific scene in this chapter for the life of me(I have no idea why). But now I've got it all written out in full, so these last few chapters will be posted in short order.

To recap: last chapter, Rhea had stayed behind to protect the Sangraal from Adria. Daniel and the team returned soon after, and Daniel finished the Sangraal, before bringing it back to Earth. They successfully used it to destroy the Ori for good, but Adria still lives, and the war drags on...

Chapter 14

Daniel ducked behind a small hut and flicked on his small flashlight. He turned it off, back on, and off again. The flickering of another pocket flashlight across the street told him that Jack, Sam, and Teal'c were in position. Daniel looked at Rhea and Daniel, who stood next to him. Rhea, wearing her usual dark mask and hood, nodded. Jonas, dressed similarly to the woman, held up his zat. Daniel looked back toward Jack's position. The colonel was the one responsible for signaling the ambush.

SG-1 was back on the field. Ever since the destruction of the Ori, the Priors had been attacking more and more often, and the members of the New Alliance were hard-pressed in protecting the worlds they had vowed to defend from the Ori's forces.

The signal came, and Daniel didn't have to tell Rhea or Jonas. All six members of the team moved as one, firing at the Priors and soldiers that strode down the dark street. All the Ori worshippers were down in moments, and Jack walked up to Daniel.

"Good job," the colonel complimented as he helped Teal'c and Rhea drag the bodies into an alleyway.

"Thanks, sir," Jonas answered, lending a hand. "But I don't think this is all of them."

"I doubt it," Sam agreed, coming to Jack's side. "We've taken out a total of sixty-three soldiers over the past week. Whoever's commanding this force probably has more soldiers with them, wherever they are."

"Someone is coming," Teal'c hissed, straightening abruptly.

Daniel darted back into the shadows, with Sam, Jack, and Rhea at his side and Jonas and Teal'c a moment later. The team concealed themselves behind crates next to the hut as another group came down the street.

Daniel knew who it was before she came into view. He swore so badly his team turned to gape at him. "It's Adria," he muttered.

Jack glared at the Orici as she sauntered down the lane, a dozen Priors at her back and two dozen soldiers behind them. "Here I was hoping we wouldn't have to see her again," he growled.

Jonas shook his head. "She's not full Ori. We knew the Sangraal probably wouldn't hurt her."

Sam pursed her lips. "That's irritating."

"Yeah."

Teal'c's dark eyes were fixed on the Orici. "If Adria is here, then it stands to reason she is here for a purpose," the Jaffa pointed out quietly. "Perhaps she has a base of operations here."

Jack sent a final glare in Adria's direction before turning to his team. "We're gonna follow her. Stick to the shadows. Rhea, get close and see if you can eavesdrop and figure out why she's here."

The red-haired woman nodded. She shimmered and vanished, and Jack signaled for them to move out.

Daniel ducked behind a small house, keeping his distance from Adria. He knew that he could sometimes sense her presence, especially if he was using his powers, but he wasn't sure if the same went for her. If she could sense him, he didn't want to get any closer than was absolutely necessary.

They followed her through the town. She gave no indication that she knew they were there, and none of her soldiers seemed to notice them, either.

I wonder why she's here, Daniel thought absently, waiting for the Orici to get a bit farther ahead so he could slip to his next hiding spot. If this is her base, or it's nearby, we might have a chance to take her out for good.

Adria reached the edge of the town, and Daniel found himself in a bit of a conundrum. There was no cover at all between the buildings and the trees, hundreds of feet away.

A finger gently prodded his shoulder. Daniel whirled, bringing his hands up, but only saw Rhea, her golden eyes wide. He relaxed and whispered, "Anything?"

Rhea shook her head. "None of them are talking. We have to stick together so I can cloak us."

Daniel nodded and scanned the shadows of the buildings. He spotted Sam's distinctive figure in one, with Jonas's slender form nearby. Jack, with Teal'c's powerful shape behind him, were close as well. He beckoned, and his team closed ranks.

"Stay close," he muttered. "Rhea, do your thing."

He'd been concealed by the device a few times before, but that didn't make it any less unnerving. He had originally created the device solely for Rhea's use, allowing her to take advantage of her body's unique physiology to make herself intangible and invisible for any period of time. At her request, he had updated the device a year or so ago, allowing her to temporarily extend the invisibility effect to a few things around her, but the intangibility could only work on her.

The air distorted around them and changed. Daniel's vision warped and then settled, his teammates vanishing before his eyes. Looking down at where his hands should have been, he found only empty air.

The sensation of knowing he should see his own body but seeing nothing at all never got old. He still found it unnerving, despite knowing that he was somewhat at fault for this.

"Let's go," Rhea's voice whispered. Daniel could feel her hand grip his and tug him along. They followed Adria's party away from the silent village and across the plain, heading for the trees ahead.

Once they were in the woods, Rhea released the effect, allowing Daniel to see his own hands again. Judging from Jack's slight sigh and slump of posture, he was more relieved about this than he let on. Jonas examined his own hands with evident fascination, and Sam and Teal'c scanned the trees surrounding them.

"Adria's still moving," Sam hissed. "We should go."

"Stay within hand signal range," Jack ordered.

They continued trailing Adria through the woods. She inadvertently led them to a large building a half mile or so in, and disappeared with her guards into the building.

Daniel stretched out his senses. There wasn't a shield over this entrance this time- either this was a trap, or Adria was overconfident enough to think this base was safe.

He really hoped it was the latter.

"What do you think?" Sam whispered.

Daniel shrugged, keeping his gaze on the entrance. "Either this base is less protected than the last one, or…"

"Or it's a trap," Jack finished. He sighed. "It's always one of those two, isn't it?"

"From what I can tell, this setup seems more like a backup, last-ditch base than a main headquarters," Rhea muttered. "The layout isn't like the base where we first saw her. If I had to guess, that was their HQ. We took that base two weeks ago, Adria must have come here after that."

"What should we do?" Jonas asked.

"This could be our best and only chance to capture or eliminate Adria for good," Teal'c pointed out.

Daniel nodded slowly. "Her defenses are down. She doesn't know I'm here, not yet, at least. That gives us an advantage."

"Alright. Rhea, can you scout ahead and not get caught?" Jack asked.

Rhea nodded. "I'll be back." She shimmered and vanished.

Daniel didn't like Rhea going alone- he'd already left her alone with Adria once, and it had been pure chance that had prevented that choice from backfiring- but he knew that, as always, she was best suited for stealth. She could handle herself- if their imprisonment hadn't proven that, nothing could have.

They waited for approximately fifteen minutes before Rhea returned. The first indication of her presence was small sections of grass being flattened by something invisible, and then she materialized. "I found out where the power core is, and I tracked Adria to a large room. I don't think she knows we're here yet, so that should give us the chance to sabotage the power, then use the chaos to get to her."

Jack nodded. "Let's move."

-*/*-

It was easier than Daniel had expected to sneak into the base. The ominous feeling he'd had the whole time grew- but he wasn't sure if it was because his gut was telling him it was a trap, or if he was simply sensing Adria's growing power. Or both.

Or could it be something else? Neither of those felt quite right.

Rhea led them through the complex, avoiding Ori soldiers where they could and dealing with the few that they encountered as quickly and quietly as possible.

The power core chamber felt like it was from Star Wars. Daniel had made that comparison several times over the past few months- a part of him that was extremely off-task wondered if Adria would like Star Wars. The power core was suspended in the middle of the room, the parts near the ceiling and floor wider than in the center of the room.

Sam knelt next to the power core and took out her computer, hooking it up to the power core, her fingers flying. The lights soon flickered and went out.

"Got it!" Sam exclaimed. "Power's down. The security systems are completely deactivated."

"Let's go," Jonas urged. "We've only got a few minutes. We have to get to Adria!"

Daniel ran for the door, but a flash of movement brought him to a halt. "Too late."

At least two dozen Ori soldiers poured from the door, firing at the team. Daniel threw up a shield, blocking the blasts for long enough to allow his team to duck behind cover, then dove behind the nearest object for cover, finding himself nearest to the door, with Rhea crouched next to him.

"Go!" Jack ordered, his voice barely discernible over the gunfire. "Get to Adria!"

Daniel wanted to protest, but Rhea caught his arm. "Daniel, we have to do as Jack says!" she yelled. "Adria could be getting away right now for all we know!"

He didn't want to leave his friends behind. But Rhea's right. Every moment we delay means Adria has that much more time to escape.

He ducked a blow from a soldier and hurled a blast of energy at him, sending the man flying back to crumple at the foot of the wall. Rhea gracefully dodged a sword strike, and planted a firm kick against the back of her opponent's knee, causing him to buckle, then finished him off with a clean knife slash to the throat.

The two fallen soldiers made a path for Daniel and Rhea to escape the melee and sprint for the door. Daniel threw the door open, willing himself to not look back.

If he looked back now, he wouldn't be able to go on.

Make sure that they don't have to die. Get to Adria and stop this.

They only encountered a few soldiers in the corridors leading to the throne chamber, none of which were any match for them. Daniel's mental homing beacon on Adria was working as well as ever- he could feel her presence without even trying, now. That was either bad or good- either she was getting more powerful, or she wasn't trying to escape. Or both. Which, now that I think about it, is just bad.

They rounded a corner to find themselves facing Adria's second-in-command, the robed old man who Daniel knew was also her most powerful Prior. Rhea moved before Daniel could, hurling a dagger at the Prior. He didn't move, perhaps intending to stop it with telekinesis, but the Anti-Prior devices that both Daniel and Rhea- as well as the rest of their team- wore around their wrists did their work.

Development had begun back at the beginning of the war, but only after the Sangraal had destroyed the Ori had they been completed. The original models had been too large to safely carry on the battlefield, but with some adjustments Daniel had come up with a version that was small enough to be worn on the wrist.

Rhea's knife plunged deeply into the Prior's shoulder, and he grunted in pain. The woman leapt forward and reclaimed her weapon, moving between Daniel and the Prior. "Daniel, I can take care of him. Stop Adria. You're the only one who can defeat her, and this has to end now!"

For a long moment that felt like seconds and a century, Daniel hesitated. To leave Rhea alone- to let her face an opponent that could kill her in a moment given the smallest opportunity-

"Daniel, go save the universe. Don't let any of us die in vain."

With every movement making him feel as though his heart was tearing in half, he turned his back on the fight and ran for the door that he knew led to Adria.

He pushed the door open without touching it and walked in, feeling the door swing shut behind him. Adria stood in front of her throne, her dark eyes holding something unreadable as she looked down at him.

Neither of them spoke for a long moment. Adria broke the silence. "One way or another, Daniel- this will end today."

Daniel nodded, taking a deep breath and calling on all the strength he possessed, as he took a step forward. "One last fight."

So begins the last fight. This is where everything will be decided- one way or another.

Yeah, that was really cliché. I promise I'll have the next chapter up very soon- maybe even tomorrow. We've got three chapters left- into the home stretch now!

Thanks to everyone who's stuck with this story from the beginning. I know it's been a long wait at times, and I apologize. My time management skills leave something to be desired. I also blame my obsession with writing anime fanfiction over the past year... I don't know if I'll ever post any of it, but if I do, it'll be Attack on Titan, Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia, or Naruto. Or any combination thereof.

On that note, this is where I'll sign off. Have a good weekend, and good luck to everyone who's in school!