AN: Uh, apologies in advance for any mangling of characterisation in the next bit... I'm not too worried about characters, but I could probably do with brushing up on all the G'ould bits n pieces *blinks* so if anyone feels like listing all the problems they can find in this chapter (within reason obviously – gimme ~some~ artistic licence) please, please, please do :) I promise, changes will be made if it's pointed out where they're needed
Rating: R maybe PG-13 (R in standing with ff.net's policy of picking the highest rating)
Disclaimer: SG characters are (c) MGM (thankie to Morrigan for that :p). FF8 characters are (c) Squaresoft, original characters are mine – ask nicely and I might let you play with them, s'long's you don't break them...
Warnings: SxS Maybe angst (I do like to torture my characters sometimes :p), language (prob nothin u ain't heard b4, but still...)
~Chapter Thirty-Seven: A Losing Battle~
"Sir!" The shout came at the same instant as the slow grinding of the stargate became audible. Jack O'Neill looked up from the ground that he had been absently studying as they waited for this moment.
"Alright. Positions everyone, and remember, stick to the plan." There were a smattering of affirmative nods and salutes, and then the eight marines Daniel had brought back split into pairs and moved into position.
***
Potions – like legends come to life – that would restore your health, and heal wounds as you watched. It was like some giant fantasy...sure, they'd all heard the rumours about SG1 – that they'd died and then been resurrected – but even the G'ould sarcophagus couldn't 'heal' death. They couldn't really, unless the person inside was Tokra, G'ould or Jaffa – or had some other means of accelerated healing – heal anything too critical. The mercenaries here though, had already demonstrated – after an encounter with the local fauna – that whilst there was still a spark of life in a living creature, they could restore it to full health.
Christian glanced at his partner, who was too intent on the stargate's movements to notice. David wouldn't have been crouched next to him if it hadn't been for the SeeD's near-miraculous abilities. A strange creature had attacked them on the way back from viewing the fighting outside. A globe with four tube-like 'legs' that hovered about a foot off the ground. Of course, David being David, he'd also been the gallant gentleman, pushing the teenage girl – Sara – out of the way. So he'd been hit by the laser the thing had fired. A powerful weapon, that had, with almost surgical precision, carved a deep wound across both abdomen and chest. They had all seen what happened next. Rien had calmly cloven the creature/machine in two with one blow of his long sword. Joachim, on the other hand, had knelt next to the still form of David, calmly assessing the damage that had been done.
On Earth, or any other planet – with perhaps the exception of an Asgard world – the prognosis would have been bleak. The chest cavity was visible, one lung collapsed, intestines were visible, burnt and mangled, and even the spine was visible through the gaping wound. David himself was mercifully unconscious. Another blessing was that the laser had cauterised the flesh as it passed, and there was little blood, even from the major arteries and veins. Joachim had hummed to himself, and then decided, to everyone's shock, that something could be done. He had risen to his feet, chanting something under his breath, and then had thrown his hand towards the body at his feet. A shaft of white light had enveloped David's body, ethereal feathers drifting down from the ceiling to vanish into the wounds. They had watched, enraptured, until a shower of red sparks fled upwards, taking the light with them. David had sat up then, somewhat confused, willing to believe it had all been an illusion, until he found his clothes rent in a clean line that matched the long scar on his body.
Of course, once he had decided the experience had been real, he flatly refused to comment on the healing process from his point of view. The SeeDs had seemed slightly amused, and also slightly offended at the question when it was applied to them. The only comment they condescended to make was that it was 'a highly personal moment', but they also pointed out that whilst able to cure people on the threshold of death's domain, there was nothing they could do for those whose souls had already fled.
Still, their near miraculous potions and spells were only fair considering the lives they seemed to lead. There were so many ways to die here – most of them through fighting...
The train of thought was shattered as the familiar rush of 'water' came from the stargate, and it was suddenly too easy to give in to the temptation to hide behind the familiar. Too easy to imagine that this ~was~ the second Earth stargate...
Then the first Jaffa were stepping through into the harsh glare of the artificial lights. Controlled bursts of machine-gun fire cut them down where they knelt, still searching for their enemy. One fell partially through the stargate, and remained there for a moment, until somebody pulled the corpse through to the other side. Christian thought of the moment between, when half the Jaffa had been here, half there, and who knew how much spread across the distance between the wormhole's two event horizons. Immediately he tried ~not~ to think of it, nausea making his knees feel weak. Instead he concentrated on the Jaffa now moving down the ramp of the stargate. Were they too wondering if this was Earth? Had they been told that they were attacking a world of powerful monsters, and fighters who were – most likely – the match of a G'ould.
Another burst of fire, and they were no longer alive. With a sense of detachment Christian noted the faint wisp of smoke from the muzzle of his gun, realised that the shots still ringing in his ears were his own. Then the feeling was gone. The world snapped into focus like a wet cloth in the face, bringing with it the acrid smell of gun smoke. Across the room another marine stiffened as if under scrutiny, his eyes glazed. A second later, and with a sharp shake of his head, it was as if the moment had never happened.
The invasive presence moved on, testing each marine, but passing over the members of SG1. All were blissfully unaware of both its presence, and its nature and motives.
***
Of course, the marines could have held out indefinitely, if it wasn't for two reasons. Firstly, they had limited ammunition – the ammunition of this world being neither plentiful nor compatible with their weapons – and secondly, bullets just couldn't penetrate the personal shields of the G'ould. So when the distinctively armoured figure of a G'ould stepped through, the retreat began.
AN: Uh, yeah, two kinda short chapters there, but it's deliberate cause of what I wanna do with the next chpt :) see, it's actually planned from this point! ;p
Hmm, well, probably about time I caught up with review responses ;)
Lady Yuskreven: hehe, yeah, just a little while *grimaces* gomen for the whole lack of updates ~and~ lack of comment replies *looks sheepish* I've been trusting the ff.net review system to alert me when someone reviews, but apparently it's not been doing a very good job *glares at it* anyway, glad you're still onboard :)
Myeerah: *grins* actually Teal'c isn't my favourite... to be honest, I'd have to go for a tie with my favourites, and they are O'Neill (surprise surprise!!) and Maybourne ;) I tried to go a bit more in-depth with the whole 'differences' thing but this chapter at least doesn't really lend itself to much introspection. Look out for a few deep thoughts from various characters after the fighting's settled down tho... Oh yeah, and on the whole personality shift of Seifer/Squall...that's because of the whole mental link they now have. I'm trying to make Seifer a bit more like Squall, and vice versa, hence some of the slightly OOC moments. I don't think the changes have really dawned on the rest of the orphanage gang...yet ;) what with all the other pressing concerns atm, but it'll be interesting when/if they do... To be honest, I'm at the stage where I just want to get this monster finished so I've got one less WIP to take to uni with me o.O
