Author's Note: Sorry this has taken so long, guys! I didn't mean for it to! Cheeky.
Part Eleven:
Jack grinned at Lara. "I'll take the one's on the left." He said.
Lara flashed him a challenging grin back. "Then I'll take the ones on the right."
Jacob, standing a few steps behind them, smiled indulgently. He remembered a time when he was like that, although he liked to think he was more grown up these days.
:Just barely.: Selmac told him.
Before Jacob could reply, Lara turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Ready?" she asked.
Jacob looked back at her. "What about weapons?" he asked.
"Oh." She smiled somewhat sheepishly at him. "Sorry. I forgot."
Jacob gave her a startled look as she lifted up her skirt and drew two long knives that had been strapped to her thighs. She handed one to Jacob and the other to Jack. Jack was giving her a speculative look. "What else have you got up there?"
Lara flashed him another grin. "Maybe I'll show you later."
Jacob cleared his throat softly. "Shall we get out of here, first?"
"Okay." Jack replied.
Silently, the three of them began creeping forward, until they stood in the shadows just behind the doorway. Jack shot Lara a look and Lara nodded back. Then, almost exactly at the same time, the two of them leapt out and attacked the guarding Jaffa. Jacob was only a beat behind them.
With a quick series of slashes, learnt back when he was a Special Forces soldier, Jack dealt with two of the guards before they could alert the others. He turned to attack the third as staff fire began to whiz around them. Jacob had also dealt with one of the guards, and looked up as three more came running in.
Lara, of course, was in her element. Using her sudden appearance, she shot past the Jaffa while Jacob and Jack attacked them from behind. She stood right in front of a Jaffa, a faint smile on her face. He swung at her with his staff weapon, and with the ease of long practice, Lara ducked under the swing and brutally wrenched the weapon from his grasp.
Turning quickly, she gave him two sharp blows to the head and sides, before sweeping his feet out from under him. She finished him with another blow to the head, as three more sets of footsteps entered the room. Lara didn't hesitate, but turned, whirling the staff over her head and stuck on of the remaining Jaffa on the temple. She followed it by a sharp blow to the groin and a kick to the gut, as she swung the staff at another Jaffa.
She knocked his staff weapon out of his hands, before finishing the Jaffa off with a few sharp moves. Warily, rising from her fighter's crouch, Lara looked around and noticed that Jacob and Jack had finished off the rest of the guards. She flashed them a smile, but suddenly Jack called out. "Behind you!"
Lara cursed herself for not noticing the footsteps behind her as she felt the tip of a staff weapon press into the base of her spine. "Drop the weapon." A male voice said in Goa'uld.
Lara obliged, a disgusted look on her face. What a stupid mistake. As soon as she heard the clatter of the staff weapon hitting the floor, she moved. She spun to the side, so the staff weapon was lying flat against her back before stepping forward, just as the weapon discharged. She saw Jack and Jacob dodge the blast out the corner of her eye. Not hesitating for a second, she used her momentum and sent a fast roundhouse kick at the Jaffa's head.
The Jaffa was so surprised, he didn't even register the blow until it forced him to stagger sideways. Lara sent another roundhouse, and the Jaffa turned slightly to avoid the blow. She swung a punch at his head, but he dodged it and caught her with his arm around her throat. Lara sucked in a breath as she felt the muscular arm put pressure on her windpipe. Completely annoyed now, Lara dropped down into a crouch and twisted her body, so that her throat was facing the Jaffa's elbow.
She sucked in another breath, before slamming her elbow backwards into the Jaffa's gut. He grunted in pain as Lara slid out of his loosened grasp. Grabbing his arm, she twisted it behind him in a painful grip, before kicking out his knee. Then Jaffa gasped in pain, as he went down onto his knees. Lara gave the Jaffa's elbow a hard chop, forcing it to bend, until his arms was more securely twisted behind his back. Using her free hand, she grabbed the Jaffa's hair and slammed his head viciously into the wall. The Jaffa slummed heavily to the floor, unconscious.
"Impressive." Jacob said, admiration in his eyes as Lara looked over.
Still breathing a little heavy from the exertion, Lara merely shrugged. "I've done it before." She said.
Jack just flashed her a grin. "Nice work, Croft." He said.
At that moment, the trio heard four sets of footstep running in their direction. Grimacing, Lara turned towards the sound, as the adrenaline ebbed and she began to feel the pain running through her body. She had probably pushed it a bit too hard after the beating she had just had. She knew she would pay for it later. Lara just hoped it was a lot later.
Lara grinned in relief, rising from her fighter's crouch when she saw who it was. "Whoa." Daniel said, coming to a halt in front of them. "So much for the rescue."
"Dad!" Sam said, giving her father a quick hug. "Sir." She said to Jack.
Janet and Teal'c nodded their greetings, as Daniel looked around at the bodies around them. "Wow." Was all he said.
"I hate to cut this party short." Jack said. "But I think we need to get moving."
"I agree." Jacob said.
Everyone moved off down the corridor in silence, until they were far enough away to be bypassed by most of the patrols headed towards the cells. "So, what's the plan, sir?" Sam asked as soon as they were hidden.
"Well, we need to get off this ship." Jack said. "Any ideas how to do that?"
"The rings will be heavily guarded, O'Neill." Teal'c said. "I do not suggest we use them."
"I agree." Jacob said. "It would be too dangerous."
"Then how are we going to get off the ship?" Janet asked.
There was a moment of silence as everyone tried to think of an answer. "What about flying some gliders out?" Lara asked. "Could we get that many?"
"We could..." Jack trailed off, lost in thought. "Jacob?"
"It's definitely possible, and by now the hanger bay would be far less guarded than the rings." Jacob agreed.
"Fine." Jack said. "It's agreed then. Unless anyone has any problems?"
No one did. "Alright," Jack continued. "We'd better split up, so we're harder to find. We'll meet everyone outside the hanger bay. Sam, you, Janet, Jacob and Daniel take the quickest route. Teal'c, Lara and I will take the slower one and try and run interference."
"Yes, sir." Sam replied.
"Okay, let's move out." Jack said.
Sam, Janet, Daniel and Jacob slipped off quickly, going straight to the hanger bay – or at least as straight as they could. Jacob, knowing the layout of a mothership rather well, was in the lead, with Daniel and Janet following and Sam at the back.
It took close to half an hour to make their way to the hanger bay, and by the time they got there, Sam was nearly trembling with all the tension. Her muscles were in knots and her palms were sweaty. There had been a few close calls, where only standing absolutely still or a well placed shadow had prevented them from being detected. And by now, the general alert had been raised. Kali knew her prisoners had escaped.
Sam waited nervously near the hanger bay doors, but there was no sign of the Colonel, Lara or Teal'c. "Where are they?" she whispered, shooting her father a concerned look.
"I don't know." Jacob replied. "I'd give them five minutes, and then were going to have to try on our own."
Sam nodded, hoping Jack would get there soon. She didn't really want to leave the ship without them. Just as she was about to give up hope, she saw Teal'c round the corner before them.
"Teal'c!" she whispered.
"Major Carter." Teal'c said, coming to crouch near her. "I have orders from O'Neill." He told her, his face grave. "He and Lady Croft have been captured by Kali and have order us to leave the ship."
"Leave?" Sam asked, surprised. "We can't just leave them here!"
"O'Neill said that he and Lady Croft would find their own way off the ship."
Sam watched Teal'c serous face. It sounded like something the Colonel would say, but still, Sam was reluctant to leave. The first lesson Sam had learnt from him was never to leave a man behind. "Teal'c..." she began.
"Major Carter, I understand how you feel, but we must leave. No one knows where we are. If we manage to escape we will be able to come back with reinforcements. But if we stay, there is a strong possibility we will be captured as well."
Sam nodded. Teal'c was right. So, with a heavy heart and a guilty feeling she just couldn't shake, Sam gave the order, and they began to attack the hanger bay.