Author's note: I looked the TER's up before I started the story. They can,
indeed, reveal cloaked enemies, but only the Reetou. ('A Transphase
Eradication Rod (TER) relies on the Reetou emissions that Goa'uld are
sensitive to, in order to make the Reetou visible in our phase, and to
terminate them' -I copied that from one of the episode guides-) Since the
Ashrak aren't Reetou, I decided that they didn't have the Reetou emissions
that the Goa'uld are sensitive to, and the TER's wouldn't work... Which is
why I had to go with something else. (In the episode 'Fair Game', Nirrti
was using Reetou technology to be invisible, which is why they could use
the TER's to find her and capture her.)
~*~
They fanned out across the lowest level of the SGC, all the dogs being watched carefully by the teams that had them. O'Neill was now carrying the B'kedricti, and had handed the zat he'd had off to one of the Marines, who was using it as a back up weapon. O'Neill had seen the way Shawn held the weapon when he'd handed it over to the young man, so he knew – more or less – how to fire it. Well... more less than more, but he was a quick learner, and the thing had a trigger, which was all Jack needed to know.
"Report," Jack said into his radio. He wanted constant flow of information between teams.
"S-3. We've cleared two offices and locked them down. No sign of trouble"
"S-2," Teal'c's deep voice replied. "We have met no resistance and have cleared two offices and a conference room."
"S-4. We're cleared, no sign of them in the bathrooms, but we can't lock them down." Who ever put a locking mechanism on a bathroom door? "Orders?"
"We'll have to leave them open, then. As long as the rest of the floor is cleared, we shouldn't-"
O'Neill was interrupted by barking and snarling coming from an adjoining corridor, and the sound of yelling and zat fire.
"S-1! This is S-4, we've got one! He's on our six!"
Which told O'Neill and his team which direction to run to make contact without getting shot by their own friendly fire. Jack took off at a sprint down the corridor, followed closely by the rest of his team. As he ran, he called on his radio for the other teams to stay where they were, and close ranks a bit. He didn't want all his people in the same corridor shooting zats blindly. There was way too much risk of killing someone he didn't want dead.
He turned the corner, and found chaos in the hall. The five Marines were all under cover in doorways, two in the doorway to the men's room they'd just cleared, two were under cover in the doorway to the women's room they'd just cleared, and the other was in the door way of a small office. This one had the dog, and the German shepherd made it clear where the men should be firing. Jaffer looked impressive when he'd been snarling, but it was nothing compared to the Military dog. The German shepherd looked twice as big with his hackles up, and the white fangs were clearly dangerous as he vocally warned the invisible assassin to stay back and not mess with him.
A bolt came out of thin air when Jack turned the corner, and the Colonel dove to the floor, narrowly avoiding being struck. He landed hard, but he rolled immediately, unwilling to be any more of a target than necessary.
"Watch out!" He called to his men, who were following. The Marines of S-4 had been waiting for the assassin to fire again, for an exact location, and when the bolt shot out at O'Neill, four zats answered with deadly accuracy. There was a thud, and another volley of zat fire, aimed lower, at the ground and the direction of the noise. The hall fell silent as the snarling of the German shepherd calmed into a low, confused growling. The same noise Jack and Jaffer had made after O'Neill had finished off the first assassin.
"Do you think it's dead, Sir?" One of the Marines asked as Jack scurried into the bathroom doorway to gain some cover of his own.
"Looks that way," Jack said, watching the dog. The German shepherd was calming down, even though it was still obviously alert.
"Looks?"
"Well, you know what I mean." Jack scowled, and sighed. There was really only one way to find out. "Cover me, just in case." He said, as he walked back into the hallway, and gestured for the guy with the dog to join him. Holding the B'kedricti in front of him, Jack and the dog and handler walked to the spot that Jack thought he'd heard the thud and he reached out carefully with his boot. Empty space.
"Looks like you got one, guys," Jack said, reaching for his radio once more. "S-teams, this is S-1. S-4 has downed one of the Ashrak. Look alive, though. We don't know how many more there are, and I don't want any of you to get too cocky."
Jack turned to the men. "Any injuries?"
"No, Sir," The Major who was in charge of this group shook his head. "Soon as we turned the corner, Fang started going ballistic and we all dove for cover before it could do anything. You were right, Sir; he knew exactly where the guy was, even though we couldn't see it."
"Fang?" Jack looked down at the German shepherd, who was still sniffing the area that had once held an assassin. As if aware that Jack was talking about him, the furry head rose up and intelligent brown eyes looked back at him. Jack remembered how impressed he'd been at the sight of the dog snarling, and nodded. "Fang sounds about right."
"Yes, Sir." The Major agreed. "I was thinking that myself."
"Okay, kids. If no one's hurt, let's get back to what we were doing. Three down, and how many left to go?" Jack looked at his watch, wondering how long it would be before Hammond could make it back with the Atarrii thingies. He could use all the help he could get.
"Aye, aye, Sir."
~*~
As S-4 were killing their first assassin, Hammond was just pulling onto the driveway of the Adams' house. He got out of his car and walked up to the door, but didn't need to knock. Dotty James was already waiting for him. She didn't smile, but he knew it was only because of the seriousness of the situation.
"General Hammond, it's a pleasure to see you again."
"I wish it were under different circumstances, Mrs. Adams."
"So do I." She handed him a metal case, about the size of a briefcase, and had him hold it so she could open it. Once she did, Hammond saw that it contained five objects that looked like soda cans. A little. They were glowing slightly, and held a metallic sheen that looked like nothing Hammond had ever seen before.
Dotty held up one of them, and showed it to the General. "This will disable a cloaking device of any sort. It has a radius of 15 yards, and can be safely carried by humans, although I recommend whoever does the carrying wear leather gloves for protection against a slight radiation burn." She pointed to a small button at what would be the bottom of the can if the device were the soda can it resembled. "This will turn it off and on."
"Thank you, Mrs. Adams," Hammond said, gratefully. He was worried sick about his people, and knew something like this would be of great use to them, in the future as well.
"You're welcome, General. Please, tell Jack and the others to be careful."
"I'll tell them." It wouldn't help, but he'd tell them. "You're going to Shawn?"
"Yes. I'll tell my husband and son I decided to come join them – even though I hate fishing. If Jack needs me, he knows my cell phone number."
"Are you sure you don't need me to send any men-"
"I don't need help, General." For the first time Dotty smiled, but it was a dangerous smile. "If anyone comes near Shawn with ill-intent, they will pay dearly."
Hammond had no doubt she meant it, and he nodded.
"I'd better get back to the SGC. Thank you again."
"Good luck, General Hammond."
She closed the door, but Hammond didn't see it; he was already heading for his car with the alien devices tucked safely in their case.
~*~
They fanned out across the lowest level of the SGC, all the dogs being watched carefully by the teams that had them. O'Neill was now carrying the B'kedricti, and had handed the zat he'd had off to one of the Marines, who was using it as a back up weapon. O'Neill had seen the way Shawn held the weapon when he'd handed it over to the young man, so he knew – more or less – how to fire it. Well... more less than more, but he was a quick learner, and the thing had a trigger, which was all Jack needed to know.
"Report," Jack said into his radio. He wanted constant flow of information between teams.
"S-3. We've cleared two offices and locked them down. No sign of trouble"
"S-2," Teal'c's deep voice replied. "We have met no resistance and have cleared two offices and a conference room."
"S-4. We're cleared, no sign of them in the bathrooms, but we can't lock them down." Who ever put a locking mechanism on a bathroom door? "Orders?"
"We'll have to leave them open, then. As long as the rest of the floor is cleared, we shouldn't-"
O'Neill was interrupted by barking and snarling coming from an adjoining corridor, and the sound of yelling and zat fire.
"S-1! This is S-4, we've got one! He's on our six!"
Which told O'Neill and his team which direction to run to make contact without getting shot by their own friendly fire. Jack took off at a sprint down the corridor, followed closely by the rest of his team. As he ran, he called on his radio for the other teams to stay where they were, and close ranks a bit. He didn't want all his people in the same corridor shooting zats blindly. There was way too much risk of killing someone he didn't want dead.
He turned the corner, and found chaos in the hall. The five Marines were all under cover in doorways, two in the doorway to the men's room they'd just cleared, two were under cover in the doorway to the women's room they'd just cleared, and the other was in the door way of a small office. This one had the dog, and the German shepherd made it clear where the men should be firing. Jaffer looked impressive when he'd been snarling, but it was nothing compared to the Military dog. The German shepherd looked twice as big with his hackles up, and the white fangs were clearly dangerous as he vocally warned the invisible assassin to stay back and not mess with him.
A bolt came out of thin air when Jack turned the corner, and the Colonel dove to the floor, narrowly avoiding being struck. He landed hard, but he rolled immediately, unwilling to be any more of a target than necessary.
"Watch out!" He called to his men, who were following. The Marines of S-4 had been waiting for the assassin to fire again, for an exact location, and when the bolt shot out at O'Neill, four zats answered with deadly accuracy. There was a thud, and another volley of zat fire, aimed lower, at the ground and the direction of the noise. The hall fell silent as the snarling of the German shepherd calmed into a low, confused growling. The same noise Jack and Jaffer had made after O'Neill had finished off the first assassin.
"Do you think it's dead, Sir?" One of the Marines asked as Jack scurried into the bathroom doorway to gain some cover of his own.
"Looks that way," Jack said, watching the dog. The German shepherd was calming down, even though it was still obviously alert.
"Looks?"
"Well, you know what I mean." Jack scowled, and sighed. There was really only one way to find out. "Cover me, just in case." He said, as he walked back into the hallway, and gestured for the guy with the dog to join him. Holding the B'kedricti in front of him, Jack and the dog and handler walked to the spot that Jack thought he'd heard the thud and he reached out carefully with his boot. Empty space.
"Looks like you got one, guys," Jack said, reaching for his radio once more. "S-teams, this is S-1. S-4 has downed one of the Ashrak. Look alive, though. We don't know how many more there are, and I don't want any of you to get too cocky."
Jack turned to the men. "Any injuries?"
"No, Sir," The Major who was in charge of this group shook his head. "Soon as we turned the corner, Fang started going ballistic and we all dove for cover before it could do anything. You were right, Sir; he knew exactly where the guy was, even though we couldn't see it."
"Fang?" Jack looked down at the German shepherd, who was still sniffing the area that had once held an assassin. As if aware that Jack was talking about him, the furry head rose up and intelligent brown eyes looked back at him. Jack remembered how impressed he'd been at the sight of the dog snarling, and nodded. "Fang sounds about right."
"Yes, Sir." The Major agreed. "I was thinking that myself."
"Okay, kids. If no one's hurt, let's get back to what we were doing. Three down, and how many left to go?" Jack looked at his watch, wondering how long it would be before Hammond could make it back with the Atarrii thingies. He could use all the help he could get.
"Aye, aye, Sir."
~*~
As S-4 were killing their first assassin, Hammond was just pulling onto the driveway of the Adams' house. He got out of his car and walked up to the door, but didn't need to knock. Dotty James was already waiting for him. She didn't smile, but he knew it was only because of the seriousness of the situation.
"General Hammond, it's a pleasure to see you again."
"I wish it were under different circumstances, Mrs. Adams."
"So do I." She handed him a metal case, about the size of a briefcase, and had him hold it so she could open it. Once she did, Hammond saw that it contained five objects that looked like soda cans. A little. They were glowing slightly, and held a metallic sheen that looked like nothing Hammond had ever seen before.
Dotty held up one of them, and showed it to the General. "This will disable a cloaking device of any sort. It has a radius of 15 yards, and can be safely carried by humans, although I recommend whoever does the carrying wear leather gloves for protection against a slight radiation burn." She pointed to a small button at what would be the bottom of the can if the device were the soda can it resembled. "This will turn it off and on."
"Thank you, Mrs. Adams," Hammond said, gratefully. He was worried sick about his people, and knew something like this would be of great use to them, in the future as well.
"You're welcome, General. Please, tell Jack and the others to be careful."
"I'll tell them." It wouldn't help, but he'd tell them. "You're going to Shawn?"
"Yes. I'll tell my husband and son I decided to come join them – even though I hate fishing. If Jack needs me, he knows my cell phone number."
"Are you sure you don't need me to send any men-"
"I don't need help, General." For the first time Dotty smiled, but it was a dangerous smile. "If anyone comes near Shawn with ill-intent, they will pay dearly."
Hammond had no doubt she meant it, and he nodded.
"I'd better get back to the SGC. Thank you again."
"Good luck, General Hammond."
She closed the door, but Hammond didn't see it; he was already heading for his car with the alien devices tucked safely in their case.