Author's Note: I am saddened to report that my old and trusted Beta Reader had to step down for personal reasons. His tireless assistance with my fanfic will be missed. At the same time I would like to give a big thank you to my new Beta Readers, Flatlander and Moon Fox, for quickly stepping in to take his place. Not too many people would want to tackle a three-way crossover story of this magnitude. :-)


Chapter Twenty-Five: Custer's Last Stand

For a mere few seconds, from the planet's surface, it appeared that Tobin had gained a sudden and unexpected second sun. Then just as quick, the brilliant glow in the sky faded from existence.

"Did someone just set off the worlds biggest fireworks display in history?" Crichton asked in awe as they continued to hurry to the crashed Tok'ra shuttle. "Or was that an explosion?"

Carter nodded in agreement as she limped alongside him as fast as she could. Her eyes were firmly fixed on the crash site. "It was, a very big one… Err… An explosion I mean."

"I was afraid you would say that."

Crichton felt a sudden chill creeping down his spine, as if something horrible had just happened. The only other time he felt anything like this was when…

"No! Don't think of that!" He said muttered to himself. "If I start panicking over every bad feeling I have, then I wouldn't be any good to help anyone."

An instant later, out of the corner of his eye, Crichton noticed the puzzled look he was receiving from Carter.

"Just thinking out loud," Crichton reassured the blond Major. "Lets help our friends."

They both hurried to the downed Tok'ra shuttle. However, try as he might, he couldn't shake that awful feeling.

Something happened to her. He just knew it. Oh, God, Aeryn… Please be safe, baby.

They eventually reached the crash site. From a distance, Crichton and Carter could see figures moving about through the smoke and scattered wreckage of the Tok'ra craft's partially broken hull. It was a relief to at least know that some of them made it.

The first person Crichton clearly saw was a slightly battered D'Argo tending to an injured Lt. Hailey. A trickle of blood was running down her forehead and she was holding her left side, doubled over, grimacing in pain. The Luxan was obliviously trying to comfort her.

"Hey, D'Argo!" Crichton called out. "Is Hailey going to be alright?"

Crichton was expecting an answer but he was most surprised when D'Argo instead stood up and aimed his Qualta Blade directly at him. To top it off, Hailey sat up immediately to point a 9MM pistol that she was concealing close to her body by playing injured.

It was like a bad dream. Carter tensed up, flexing her right hand with the Ribbon device, debating what was happening.

"Whoa!" Crichton shouted, holding his hands up. "D'Argo! Hailey! It's us!!"

The Luxan warrior commanded loudly. "Drop your weapons!"

It was then they also heard movement behind them. Jack O'Neill and Freya rose from their concealing spots amongst the large rocks and stepped up from the rear with weapons at the ready.

"Both of you do as he says." O'Neill ordered calmly as he covered them both with his P-90.

"This is so not our day!" Crichton grumbled as he tossed his pulse rife away wondering if they were under the influence of some alien mind control. It wouldn't be anything new for him. Thinking about it, most of his days out here in the Uncharted Territories for the last three cycles ran like one big bad B-movie at times.

Reluctantly, Carter dropped her Ribbon device before turning to face Colonel O'Neill. "Sir, what is going on?"

"Just be patient, Carter. We have to play it safe." O'Neill said evenly. "Freya is going to check you both out."

Freya moved closer to Crichton, keeping her zat gun pointed at him. After a moment, she nodded. "He's clean. I sense no presence."

"Clean?" Crichton looked at Freya and O'Neill. "Excuse me but what the hell is going on? I thought you guys were here to rescue us?"

"They are," Jolinar said suddenly speaking through Carter. "But they are checking to be sure that you are not carrying a Goa'uld symbiont and I am not one either."

O'Neill winced when he heard the eerie inhuman voice emanating from Carter. He tried to mask his discomfort but failed.

"Oh, Hell!" He was hoping that it wasn't true but now he had seen and heard it first hand. Carter has one of those snakes back in her head… again!

"Hello, Colonel O'Neill," The Tok'ra calmly looked over to him. "Do not be concerned about Major Carter. She is safe with me."

O'Neill did his best to keep his voice civilized. "Pardon me if I don't jump up and down because you say so, considering you almost got Carter killed the first time around. If that's who you say you are, Jolinar."

Knowing that Crichton carried no symbiont, Freya now turned her full attention on Major Carter. Unbelievably, she couldn't sense anything to indicate the present of a symbiot but they all heard one speaking through Carter moments before. Regardless it was beyond her ability to determine if it was Goa'uld or a Tok'ra. It was then Freya left it to her own symbiont, Anise to handle the interrogation of 'Jolinar'.

"Jolinar of Malkshur," The Tok'ra said quietly to the blond woman standing before her. "I must say it is a surprise to see that you are alive and well."

"Anise," Jolinar replied slowly. "It is almost a pleasure to see you again."

Anise took a step closer but stayed just out of reach while keeping her weapon ready. "And why is that?"

"Because we never agreed on much of anything." Jolinar answered with a half-smile. "Warriors and scientists rarely see eye to to eye."

"Well, can't argue with her on that point." O'Neill said.

Suddenly, Anise's eyes glowed and she bellowed out in her alien tongue and Jolinar shouted back in the same language. O'Neill just stood there confused, unable to understand a word being said between them.

Luckily, Crichton could comprehend their seemingly heated exchange because of his translator microbes.

"Which false God do you serve?" Anise shouted.

"I live and die free!" Jolinar bellowed.

Watching intently, O'Neill then saw the two women suddenly smile before embracing one another. He shot a confused look at Crichton. "What just happened?"

Crichton let out a large sigh of relief. "I think Anise just asked Jolinar a password and she got it right."

"This is a joyous time for the Tok'ra." Anise pulled back, holding the blond woman at arms length and saying aloud, "Jolinar of Malkshur has returned to us!"

The two Tok'ra's were still all smiles in their reunion but out of the corner of his eye, Crichton saw O'Neill appear as if he suffered a second lost. With Jolinar apparently back from the dead, will the Tok'ra Council want to take her back? Will Carter be able to stay on at the SGC? Or will Carter want to leave to be closer with father?

It was then Crichton heard D'Argo's approach with Lt. Hailey right beside him.

"That wasn't exactly the welcome I wanted to give your return, Crichton but we had to take precautions to be sure." The Luxan apologized. "Colonel O'Neill and the others told us how easy these Goa'uld symbionts are able to take over a person and literately become them."

"None taken big D," Crichton replied. "Just glad to see you guys. Did everyone make it through the crash in one piece?"

"No," D'Argo said grimly. "Not everyone made it. Three Colonials are dead and five more are injured, some seriously but they will make it if we can get some help soon."

Crichton shook his head angrily when he heard the lost of life. "Damn it!" After a moment, he focused on Hailey. "Are you okay?"

The blond Lieutenant touched her slightly bleeding forehead and managed a half shrug. "A bit of a headache but I'll survive. I'm glad to see you both safe and sound." But Hailey cast a troubled glance towards Major Carter as Jolinar continued to speak through her to Anise. "How did that happen? When Colonel O'Neill told us… I couldn't believe it. Is she okay? I mean Major Carter."

"Considering what she went through, she's fine." Crichton tried to reassure her. "Just talk to her. She was worried about you and Teal'c. She thought you were both dead until I told her otherwise."

With a nod, Hailey moved closer to where Jolinar and Anise were talking. O'Neill just stood off to one side watching when 'Jolinar' spotted Hailey and smiled.

"One moment." Jolinar said to Anise before stepping away to approach Hailey. In an instant, Jolinar's smile grew wider as Carter's voice sprang forth.

"Hailey! You can't believe how relieved I am to see you! Where's Teal'c?"

"He's out on patrol," Hailey paused but managed a small cautious smile in return. "It's good to see you too, Ma'am."

Carter stepped closer to place a hand on Hailey's shoulder, saying. "When Scorpius shot you, I thought…" Then she stopped when the Lieutenant unexpectedly took a step back.

"Hailey, what's wrong?" Confused, Carter pointed to herself. "It's me, Sam. You know, your mentor and friend." She then added with a crooked grin, "Also, not to mention your superior officer."

"She knows that, Carter, and it is good to have you back." O'Neill finally spoke, moving closer to the pair. "I think we'll all feel a bit better once Jolinar gets a new host."

Carter shook her head. "That's not possible, sir."

O'Neill didn't like the sound of that. "What do you mean, that's not possible? She can jump into someone else who's willing to give her room and board… Am I right?"

"Her body is gone, only her conscious is present and nothing else." Carter informed him. "She can never leave my body, sir. It looks like I'll be her host until the day I die."

No, he didn't like hearing that one bit. O'Neill glared at the ground, and grumbled under his breath. "Ah, hell. Just… Perfect!"

"Sir?" Carter said softly.

O'Neill looked back up again. "Yes, Carter?"

"Jolinar can hear you," The blond Major said politely. "Don't hurt her feelings."

"Oh! She has feelings now? Well, I haven't even begun to say what's on my mind…" Suddenly, O'Neill heard Teal'c's voice breaking over his radio.

"Colonel O'Neill. I have spotted many Peacekeeper troops approaching my position."

When it rains… O'Neill thought. "I read you Teal'c. Can you tell what are the odds we are facing?"

"I am unsure," The Jaffa answered. "Perhaps one hundred, maybe even more."

"Damn! Get back here fast Teal'c, on the double." O'Neill then turned to address everyone about him. "Let's get back to the shuttle and see if we can raise the Galactica and get some help down here."

When they returned to the shuttle, Crichton saw several Colonials taking up defensive positions about the crash area, seeking protection amongst the heavy rocky terrain. He continued to move forward but he stopped when his eyes caught the sight of a tarp next to the ship covering what appeared to be an outline and shapes of three bodies. He pondered for a moment about these three souls who gave their lives to come and rescue him and Major Carter and he didn't even know their names. He made a quick promise to find out their names once they got off this planet.

Further up ahead, O'Neill was approaching a female Colonial with short croppy red hair and dressed in a sort of Peacekeeperish black body armor. Her full attention was on what appeared to be a portable field radio stored inside a backpack.

"Please tell me you have some good news Sergeant?" O'Neill said, but judging by the perplexed look on her face, she had none to give.

"I'm not getting a thing," the female Colonial warrior replied, confirming O'Neill's suspicion. "The hardware is in working order but I'm not receiving any signal… Which unfortunately means two things."

Major Carter was beside O'Neill asking. "Which is?"

The Colonial Sergeant stared at the blond woman for a second before O'Neill decided to introduce them. "This is Major Samantha Carter, one of our rescuees." Then he hesitated a little before gesturing to the redheaded Colonial. "Major Carter, this is Sgt. Hathor."

"Uh…" Carter frowned slightly, remembering her painful, very painful encounter against that Goa'uld who went by the same name. "Nice to meet you."

Hathor saw the guarded look that Carter gave her but managed a smile, saying dryly. "I'll just take your word that you mean it," Then glanced over to O'Neill with a mischievous wink. "But at least you didn't swallow your tongue like your Colonel almost did when I told him my name for the first time. Perhaps once we get back to the Galactica you can tell me about this Goa'uld who gave all Hathor's a bad name."

"Sure," O'Neill said absent-mindedly then pointed to the radio. "Uh, you were saying something about the radio not working."

"Oh," Hathor shrugged. "Well, the radio may not be picking up any signals from orbit because of interference from that explosion we saw not long ago. If it gave off a lot of radiation we won't be getting anything for a while but it will clear up eventually. Or someone might be deliberately jamming us and if that's true, then it won't clear up."

"Could the Galactica be damaged or destroyed?" O'Neill suggested but praying that it was not the cause.

"No," Hathor shook her head. "I'm betting on interference or jamming. If the Galactica was gone, I should still be picking up something. A transmission from a Viper or even a Peacekeeper signal."

"Regardless of the reason why, we have bad guys closing in on our area, maybe one hundred strong," O'Neill said. "We need to decide on a course of action."

"We have wounded who can't travel and I'm not sure if we can hold out long with only thirteen people and if the Galactica is unable to send help immediately," Hathor replied, mentally going over their list of options, which were very few…. fight or flight. "You do what you feel is necessary but I'm not going to abandon the wounded."

"Me neither," O'Neill confessed. "I say we make our stand here."

Hathor looked suddenly relieved, grateful that the Earth people were going to stay with them. They sure could use their help. "Colonel O'Neill. I lost my Lieutenant in the crash, which leaves me the ranking person in command of what is left of my squad. However, considering you are a highly experienced and ranking officer from your planet, I believe it would be proper if you take command."

O'Neill wasn't expecting that. It was agreed upon that he and the Colonials would run their own teams for simplicity sake but the current situation called for a change in plans. "Thanks for the vote in confidence, I'll try not to disappoint."

Gathering everyone around, O'Neill knelt down before Hathor. He drew a rough map in a patch of sandy soil. "Here's what I have in mind, a defensive ring about the shuttle with overlapping field of fire positions."

"No offence Colonel," Crichton interjected. "But with a crew as thin as ours, it won't be hard for the Peacekeepers to punch through it."

"Of course," O'Neill said. "That's where the claymores will come in to help plug up the gaps."

"Claymores?" Hathor looked questioningly to O'Neill.

"Anti-personnel mines," O'Neill answered. "Rig a few up with trip wires and remote detonators and the Peacekeepers will have one bad day." O'Neill then looked to Crichton concerned. "Unless the Peacekeepers can detect them. Can they?"

"Lets see, we're talking about little metal boxes filled with steel projectiles and explosives designed to hurl them through the air." Crichton then started count off on his fingers saying. "It's primitive, obsolete and laughable compared to what the PK's got…" Crichton smiled. "They're perfect! The Peacekeepers never consider anyone even trying to use something like that against them."

***

Scorpius was within a quarter of a metra away from the crashed Goa'uld craft. He carefully surveyed the area with a pair of magnigoggles. Beyond the white columns of smoke rising from the wreck, he failed to see any movement, but their portable scanners showed that there were several lifeforms in that area hiding… and most of them were Humans with only one Jaffa and Goa'uld! This was interesting. Why would the Goa'uld want to save Crichton? If he had time, this might be worth investigating to interrogate any survivors.

He turned to address a Peacekeeper Lieutenant next to him. "Order your men to attack but be sure they fully understand that if Crichton or Major Carter is amongst their rescuers they are not to be harmed regardless of the circumstance. No grenades or heavy weapons are to be used. Failure in that and you'll be the one to pay. Is that understood?"

The Lieutenant looked slightly pale hearing the menace in the Scarren hybrid's voice. "Yes, Scorpius."

"Good, as long we understand one another." Scorpius smiled viciously. "Order your men to commence the assault."

***

Cradling the P-90 in her hands, Carter couldn't believe how good it felt to be wielding the familiar assault rifle once more. She knew this weapon more intimately than some men she knew… Which wasn't saying a whole lot about the status of her current love life.

From what little weapons Hailey could salvage from the crash, she quickly armed both her and Crichton with combat carrying vests. Carter quickly filled the pockets with extra ammo clips for her rifle. Crichton still had the pulse rife but decided it might be wise to have a backup piece and settled on a zat gun.

Manpower wise, they were thin. With herself, Crichton, O'Neill, Teal'c, Hailey, Freya, D'Argo and Sgt. Hathor and her five remaining Colonial warriors, there were only thirteen of them all together. Using every piece of equipment available, they formed a protective ring around the shuttle that held all of the wounded inside.

Now all Carter and the rest of them had left to do was become one with the rocks they were all hiding behind. The situation felt a lot like 'Custer's Last Stand'. All that was missing were the attacking Indians.

Carter heard the sounds of boots crunching down on stones behind her. She turned to see Colonel O'Neill. Carter smiled as he knelt down beside her.

"Do you have good news on the radio, sir?"

"Hathor is still monitoring it but nothing yet," O'Neill answered then inquired cautiously as he kept a lookout, "So, how's Jolinar?"

"I am here, Colonel O'Neill."

"Geez!" O'Neill jumped at the sudden sound of the Tok'ra voice emanating from Carter's own lips. "Will you give a little warning before you do that?"

Jolinar nodded her head in a slight bow. "My apologies, Colonel O'Neill, but you must understand that Major Carter and I are now one. You will have to get used to that."

"Get used to that?" O'Neill studied the Tok'ra curiously. "Does that mean if we ever get out of this alive, you won't be in a hurry to leave and rejoin the Tok'ra?"

Jolinar met O'Neill's gaze. "You are wondering if I will try to take Major Carter away from you? Is that what you want to know?"

O'Neill looked away and stared out across the life rock-strewn terrain before muttering. "The thought had crossed my mind."

He waited for an answer but it was Carter's voice that responded. "We really haven't thought much about that… with the need to escape and all. I can tell you that Jolinar isn't going to do anything without my okay first."

Although Carter could not see his face clearly she could hear the relief and the softness in O'Neill's voice as his watchful eyes continued to keep a look out. "That is good to know… And I can't say it enough, its good to have you back…" With a frown, he eventual added. "…And Jolinar too."

Carter smiled as she heard Jolinar's voice whispering in her mind. Colonel O'Neill really missed you, the stubborn old romantic. He just might openly admit his love to you yet!

Sighing, Carter mentally replied to her Tok'ra companion. I only wish. That day will never come as long as they were both serving in the military.

Just then, O'Neill spotted several black armored clad figures moving and darting amongst the rocks, closing in on them. He tapped his shoulder radio, informing everyone calmly, "I've got a group of Peacekeepers moving in from Carter's position, maybe about ten in all. Look sharp everyone, they might hit us from multiple directions at the same time. Remember the plan and most of all, hold your ground and don't get yourselves killed."

Almost immediately, waves of black armored Peacekeepers wearing dark full-face helmets rushed their positions, shooting their weapons, trying to keep the defenders pinned down under a hail of suppressing fire. Braving the incoming volleys, O'Neill and Carter began to return fire.

On their right, and twenty feet over, Crichton and Hailey spotted another group of Peacekeepers moving toward them. Suddenly they heard more firing from the other side of the shuttle from Hathor's position.

"I think they're feeling us out for weak spots," Hailey observed, "gauging our strength."

"Well, I don't know about you but they won't be finding a way through us," Crichton said, levelling his pulse rifle as he readied for the attack.

"I'll second that!" Came Hailey's crisp reply as the two opened up on the attacking Peacekeepers coming at them.

In the next several minutes, the Peacekeepers made multiple probing attacks and after each assault, their attacks grew bolder. O'Neill found himself having to switch off between his zat gun and his P-90 to save ammunition for the longer range weapon.

Pushing towards them were at least a dozen more Peacekeepers. They were hugging close to the rocks for what little protection they could gather. Another group of PK's hung back covering the advance with a steady barrage of suppressing fire. O'Neill decided it was time to let them come a bit more closer.

"Ease up on the trigger finger, Major," O'Neill ordered Carter as he picked up the remote detonator switch.

Just a few more steps, O'Neill thought as the group of Peacekeepers drew nearer.

With a squeeze on the firing trigger, he exploded two claymore mines. They had placed about over two dozen of them around the shuttle for added defence. Needless to say, the mines proved to be just as fatal out here as they were on Earth. Peacekeeper bodies were literally thrown up into the air by the concussion and the hundreds of projectiles exploding from the mines, easily shredding their full body armor. Those who survived the blast, and were still able to, quickly retreated.

"They'll be back," Carter muttered as she quickly checked her weapons and counted her remaining ammo clips even as firing continued to erupt from other areas about the tiny ground that the defenders were all trying to hold on to.

"Bad guys always come back… Murphy's Law you know." O'Neill sighed before activating his radio. "Sgt. Hathor. Report your situation?"

After a moment, Hathor reported over the radio link. "Not so good, Colonel. The Peacekeepers are really getting their act together over here. We're taking casualties. I lost two men before D'Argo and Teal'c moved closer to lend their support. Our line is getting dangerously thin and just used up our claymores, sir."

"Hold on as long as you can, Sergeant," O'Neill replied. "If all else fails, we'll fall back to the shuttle as planned. That'll be our Alamo."

"Understood, sir."

When Hathor signed off, Carter leaned over to O'Neill. "We can't continue to hold our ground for much longer, or our volume of fire. We're going through ammunition like shit through a goose."

As serious as their situation was, O'Neill couldn't resist smirking at Carter's choice of words to describe their predicament. Shit through a goose? The new foul mouth Samantha Carter was quite a change from the soft-spoken Major whose dirtiest curse word used to be, 'Holy Hanna'.

"If you have an idea, then let's hear it," O'Neill said.

"I can surrender myself to buy everyone here some time."

O'Neill already hated that idea. "Negative, Major. We didn't come all this way to just hand you back over to them."

"I'm not fond of the thought of it either, sir, but we might have to keep that option open," Carter pleaded. "I don't want to see you or anyone else getting killed."

"Well, neither do I but Scorpius and his henchmen will have to go through me first before I allow them to take you back," O'Neill exclaimed. "So forget any ideas of surrendering yourself Major!"

"Sir! You're letting your personal feelings for me affect your judgement!"

This suddenly gave O'Neill a moment of pause. Were his feelings for her affecting his judgement? No! He would never allow anyone under him to make such a sacrifice, not while they still had fight left and a chance for escape.

"We'll cross that bridge later but for now I don't want to hear another word of surrendering. Got that?" He said, as he continued to keep an eye out for any more Peacekeeper attacks. Then he stole one last quick glance at Carter, adding more thoughtfully, "We're all getting out of here."

"Aye, sir," Carter said then thought quietly, stubborn as always. But she could see it in his eyes that he cared for her. More than he should and he knew it. She didn't know how this unspoken love started between them or even when but it did. For herself, Carter also cared, trusted and believed in him and when he said that they were all getting out of there, she had faith that he would find a way to make it happen.

O'Neill was continuing to eye their surroundings before spotting a new horde of Peacekeepers approaching their line again. "Damn. Here comes round four."

From amongst the rock-strewn terrain, scores of figures rose and charged headlong for their positions again.

"Colonel O'Neill!" Sgt. Hathor shouted over the radio link. "I think they're making their big push."

"Then push them back!" O'Neill snarled determined to halt the Peacekeepers' latest and most determined attack yet. Ignoring the intense saturation of pulse fire in the air, O'Neill came up on one knee behind his cover, pulling the P-90 to his shoulder. Then he started killing again.

A computerized firing control system might as well have been operating his weapon as he tried to make every bullet count. Seek target… lock on… shoot! Seek target… lock on… shoot! Seek target… lock on… shoot! Three … Four… Five… half a dozen Peacekeepers fell to the armored piercing rounds fired by O'Neill's assault rifle but they still kept coming. How much longer can this go on?

On the opposite end of the tiny ground the Tau'ri and Colonials were desperately trying to cling on. Sgt. Hathor urgently did her part to hold firm in face of the Peacekeeper onslaught.

Her blaster rifle sang with every shot as the Peacekeepers answered back in kind. The large Luxan warrior named D'Argo was just twenty feet from her as he returned fire with deadly accuracy. Hathor had to admit that having such a fierce looking fighter on your side was rather comforting.

Suddenly something smashed into Hathor's right shoulder with the impact of a sledgehammer. It hurled her backwards onto the rough stone ground, the air instantly smashed from her lungs. Stunned, she stared up into the rusty coloured sky, unable to breathe, searing heat burning into her shoulder, through her body armor. Dazed, she struggled to hold on, battling to maintain consciousness when she barely heard D'Argo shouting to her as Hathor asked a question to the Universe: Is this death?

Much to her surprise, the Universe answered… Over her radio link, a voice came. It was Colonel Tigh…

"This is the Galactica to Rescue ship, do you read?"

Answer him, damn you! You can die later! She broke the lock on her lungs and dragged in an agonizing but welcoming breath of oxygen, while she fumbled for the switch to her field radio to reply.

"This is Sgt. Hathor…" She managed to choke out, fighting to find her voice. "Our shuttle is down and we are surrounded by hostile forces… We're endangered of being overrun. Requesting immediate air support and a transport shuttle to pick us up."

"Understood. We're getting a lock on your transmission and are dispatching Vipers immediately. They'll reach you within two centars."

"Standby," Hathor replied before switching frequencies again. "Colonel O'Neill, I have regained contact with the Galactica. Vipers are on the way and they will be here in two centars… two minutes."

When O'Neill answered, she could hear the thunderous roar of Earth and Peacekeeper weapons in the background almost drowning out his voice. "We don't have that much time! We'll be down to throwing rocks in less than a minute. How about some artillery support?"

"Standby," Hathor switched back to the Galactica frequency. "Colonel Tigh. We can't on hold that long. Requesting fire support on our position."

***

On the Galactica, Colonel Tigh stood behind Omega as the Tactical officer plotted a firing solution. The Galactica at the best of times was a capable warship for planetary bombardments to support friendly ground forces, but this was not one of those times.

The destruction of the Command Carrier nearly blinded every sensor on the Battlestar from the intense radiation it released. It took nearly six centars before they could restore navigation sensors to get the Galactica back into orbit about Tobin.

Omega shook his head as he stared at his console display. "I have a solid lock on Hathor's signal and the downed shuttle but the radiation from that explosion is still seriously disrupting our scanners. I can't get a good fix on their life signs. I can't tell Sebaceans apart from Humans."

Colonel Tigh leaned down to study the monitor. Spotty as the scanner readings were, he could see their rescue party was indeed in need of immediate assistance. There were at least eighty lifeform readings in the immediate area but the computer couldn't isolate the Humans from the aliens.

Adama approached his First Officer. "Report, Colonel?"

"Our rescue party is in trouble and they're requesting immediate fire support from our turbo batteries," Tigh announced, "but our sensors are still too unreliable to risk it."

"Can our fighters reach them in time to help?"

"Negative, Commander. According to Sgt. Hathor they are running out of time."

As if to highlight the dire situation on the surface of Tobin, Hathor's pleading voice again broke over the battlestar's comm. system with deafening eruption of weapons fire being heard in the background. "Galactica! We need fire support… NOW! They have started another push and we can't hold! I say again, we can't hold! Requesting fire support! I repeat, requesting fire support on our position!!"

Adama could hear the panic in her voice and the intense sound of Peacekeeper weaponry. He turned to Colonel Tigh. "Can we do anything to help them?"

"Since we can't tell who is who, we could easily hit our own people," Tigh admitted then an idea struck him. "But we do have a precise lock on the position of their shuttle!"

***

Things were looking bad. O'Neill was down to one last clip for his P-90 and his zat-gun malfunction and ceased to fire. Major Carter wasn't doing much better. She only had her Ribbon device left and it was more of a close range weapon. O'Neill felt that odds were that the rest of their team wasn't faring much better either.

They needed a miracle.

Over the radio link, he heard Sgt. Hathor's voice giving that miracle. "Colonel O'Neill, the Galactica is prepared for a surface bombardment but we have to get inside the shuttle before they can open fire."

"Roger that," O'Neill said with great relief. Finally, things just might be turning their way. "Everyone! Back to the ship!"

***

It was a mad dash to the shuttle. All the while they were under fire from rapidly approaching Peacekeepers. O'Neill only took a moment to turn and let loose several bursts of covering fire to slow up the advance of the black armored PK commandoes.

Upon reaching the shuttle's busted open airlock, O'Neill and Carter were grateful to see that Lt. Hailey and Crichton made it there in one piece. Seconds later, Teal'c appeared, half carrying an injured Sgt. Hathor. Not far behind was D'Argo, also helping to carry another badly wounded Colonial warrior with Freya covering the rear. O'Neill waited a second, expecting to see more of their team but no more came, and he glanced questioningly to his Jaffa friend. He knew the possible answer but he had to ask it.

"Where's everyone else?"

Teal'c looked at O'Neill solemnly. "They have all fallen, O'Neill. They all fought valiantly."

O'Neill face was a storming conflict of emotions. He felt saddened for the loss of the Colonial warriors. They were indeed fine and honourable fighters. If their conduct in this battle were any indication about the rest of the Colonials, then Earth would indeed be a better place with them. Then, there was his anger at the Peacekeepers for being responsible for their deaths and what they put Carter through. However, O'Neill knew that his need for revenge would be fulfilled in the next few seconds.

The Peacekeepers were about to get their due.

"Inside!" He commanded the others. "And tell the Galactica to fire away!"

***

Just behind the advancing line of the Peacekeeper commandoes, Scorpius watched the battle unfold. Beside him, a PK Lieutenant said victoriously, "They have retreated inside the shuttle. We have them!"

Scorpius was more cautious. His time against Crichton and Carter taught him to be careful when dealing with Humans. No telling what a group of them might be capable of.

Then the heavens above answered Scorpius question. The Galactica opened fire, and on the planet below the sky rained turbo lasers. Caught out in the open, there was no place to hide for the Peacekeepers. It seemed like the end of the world, maybe because it was… For them.