Firefight

TheAndromeda and the Prometheus moved together in hyperspace, bound together by the Andromeda's harpoon cables. Because of the differences in their translight propulsion systems, there was no guarantee that the two ships would be able to synchronize their arrival time at the target planet, and as a result, in order to ensure that both ships arrived simultaneously, one had to take the other in tow.. The Andromeda's slipstream system was faster than the Prometheus' hyperdrive, but had the drawback of announcing to anyone looking. that a ship had emerged from the Slipstream into normal space. ThePrometheus'system was much less obvious, and since a stealthy arrival was essential for the operation to have any chance of success, the Andromeda was, much to Dylan's chagrin, the one being towed.

The cargo bay of the Andromeda Ascendant was a beehive of activity, full of all manner of spacecraft and personnel. In the farthest reaches near the door sat the Eureka Maru, twelve X-302 fighters, and a Tel'Tac cargo shuttle. Technicians from the Prometheusand Mariabots controlled by Andromeda swarmed around the fighters, readying them for combat. A similar scene was being enacted on theAndromeda's flight deck as Andromeda's flight deck crews and Mariabots readied her slipfighters for action.

General Hammond stood on a raised platform at the other end of the cargo bay, facing the strike force. Behind him, three computer screens displayed personnel lists in English, Jaffa, and Vedran text as Hammond started the mission briefing. Rommie provided translation for Andromeda's Lancer Team.

"All right, people, listen up." began Hammond. "For this operation we will be divided into four teams. Here are the makeup and membership of each team."

Text flashed across the screens.

Team One - Andromeda Lancer Ground Team
Second Signifer Tran - commander
Andromeda Lancers - 4
Master Bra'tac
Jaffa warriors - 4
Daniel Jackson - translator/liaison
Trance Gemini - combat medic
Total - 12

"Team One, commanded by Signifer Tran, will begin the attack," continued Hammond. "The combat gear of Andromeda's Lancers looks similar to Jaffa battle dress, so we think it will fool the Magogs into believing they're being attacked by Anubis's Jaffa force. You've all been disguised to resemble actual Jaffa warriors. The force lances, when extended, look similar to Jaffa staff weapons. You are to attack the Magog encampment and kill as many of them as you can. Let a few of them escape to return to their mother ship and tell the story of who attacked them. DO NOT let yourselves be captured. If any one of you falls on the battlefield, your fellow warriors WILL retrieve the body prior to retreating. Now you all know what to do if Anubis's Jaffa actually arrive on the scene."

Master Bra'tac keyed up his radio and said "Tango! Tango! Tango!"

Each Jaffa warrior and Andromeda Lancer turned his back on the one next to him. They all reached up and simultaneously pulled down on two panels on the back of black vests that they wore over their armor. The sound of ripping Velcro filled the hangar deck, and the inside of each panel revealed itself to be a bright orange color. The warriors then faced each other, and in unison each one ripped down two corresponding panels in the front.

"Very good," said Hammond approvingly. "This will ensure that you don't mistake each other for actual Jaffa during battle. Now for Team Two."

The screens cleared and filled with different text.

Team Two - SGC Ground Team
Colonel Jack O'Neill - commander
Major Samantha Carter
SG-3 team - Colonel Reynolds, commanding - 4
SG-5 team - Major Penhall, commanding - 4
Rommie - translator/liaison
Dr. Janet Frasier - combat medic
Total – 12

Light Mortar team - 12

"Team Two accompanied by a light mortar team will remain in reserve until after the Magog assault," said Hammond, "and will reinforce Team One when the expected Jaffa response force arrives. Team Two is not to attack the Magog camp, since you are not disguised as Jaffa,, and that will compromise the mission. You are to be used as protection for the retreat of Team One."

O'Neill looked down at the ground and shook his head. Looking up at the General, he said "You mean we're not even going to get to shoot even one alien?"

Hammond glared at O'Neill.

"I mean, uh, one alien, Sir?" continued O'Neill.

"No, you may not shoot any aliens, well, at least no Magog," said Hammond. "You may of course defend yourselves against the Jaffa, as usual. Now we come to Team Three."

Once again the screens refreshed. This time they showed not only text, but ship silhouettes.

Team Three - Orbital Support Team
Captain Dylan Hunt - commander
Beka Valentine
Tyr Anasazi
Seamus Harper
Teal'c
Andromeda Ascendant
Eureka Maru
Slip fighter force - 12
Tel'Tac Cargo Shuttle

"Team Three will take up planetary orbit and support the attack on Anubis's mother ship," said Hammond. After the ground attack begins, and when word of the Jaffa attack on the Magog has reached the Magog mother ship, Teal'c will maneuver the cloaked Tel'Tac cargo shuttle into position directly beneath the Magog mother ship and open fire on Anubis's Ha'tak mother ship. Anubis will believe he is being attacked by the Magog and will respond by returning fire. We believe the battle will involve Magog fighters against Goa'uld death gliders, and Captain Hunt and our other guests may not need to participate at that time. We also believe that Anubis will emerge as the winner of the battle, and at that time the Andromeda can attack his mother ship and use slip fighters to dispose of any remaining death gliders. We are the most unsure of what will happen during this engagement, so we leave it in your capable hands, Captain, to act as you see fit to keep the situation under control."

Dylan inclined his head respectfully and smiled confidently.

"Finally," said Hammond, "this is what we call Headquarters Team."

Headquarters Team - Ground Support Team
General Hammond - supreme commander
Colonel Ronson
Major Davis
X-303 Prometheus - operations flagship
X-302 ground assault wing - 12

"I will command the overall fighting force, monitor the situation, and decide what if any changes to make in the battle plan," continued General Hammond. "Our analysis shows that most Goa'uld System Lords travel with four or more Al'kesh bombers for each Ha'tak mother ship. If things get dicey on the ground, Anubis may divert some or all of those bombers, and maybe a contingent of death gliders, to assist his Jaffa force. If that takes place, we will stand ready with twelve X-302s carried in the shuttle bay of the Prometheus. And of course, the X-302s and the slip fighters aboard the Andromeda are available to reinforce either ground or space operations, depending on where the more intense fighting is located."

General Hammond stopped speaking and looked around at the assembled strike force. He looked at each one, noting the close fit of the battle gear and the readiness and determination shown in each face.

"I have to say that you people are probably the most fearsome fighting force it has ever been my pleasure to command," he said. "I feel sorry for anyone who crosses your path with the intent to do you harm. We know how serious the situation is. If even one of those Magog escapes and makes it to a populated world, our galaxy will be faced with a danger greater even that what we face from the Goa'uld. We must succeed in this endeavor, and I believe you are the people who can do it. We come out of hyperspace in", he glanced at his wristwatch, "twenty-three minutes. You all know what to do. Dismissed."

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Fifty-seven minutes later, the Prometheus, with General Hammond now aboard, sat on the ground behind a range of low hills concealing her from the Magog and Jaffa camps. Team Two looked over the edge of the hill, watching Team One marching in Jaffa lock-step toward the Magog camp. Instead of approaching directly from the hills, they had taken the long way across, and were approaching from the direction of the Jaffa camp. On the other side of the Magog camp four Magog swarm ships stood on their spiky legs, looking for all the world like gigantic lawn darts. Several Magog stood up and looked at Team One as they approached, but the Jaffa had done them no harm in the past, and they were forbidden to attack, so they merely stared in curiosity. At the edge of the camp, the team came to a halt and spread out into a line facing the Magog, who were beginning to gather in a larger and more curious group. The Jaffa warriors leveled their staff weapons at the Magog as the Lancer team shook their force lances, knocking off the fake staff weapon heads and collapsing them into compact form. As they aimed their force lances at the Magog, O'Neill, from his position on the crest of the hill, could see Daniel Jackson and Trance Gemini standing slightly behind the others at either end of the line, with Zat'ni'katel weapons at the ready. At an unheard signal, Team One began firing.

The "WHOP" sound of the staff weapon was interspersed with the "BANG" of the force lances and the whining sound of the Zat guns, and Magog after Magog fell to the ground in instant death. As they realized what was happening, the Magogs in the rear began bounding and leaping toward the team, but that only focused the attention of the warriors upon them, and most who leaped high into the air were dead by the time they returned to the ground.

"Whoa!" exclaimed O'Neill, as scores of Magog warriors began boiling out of the tents, attracted by the sounds of battle and the death screams of dying Magog. He turned to look at Carter.

"This is not good, sir. They're in trouble," she said. "We need to do something, fast."

O'Neill keyed the microphone on his radio. "Team Two Leader to Prometheus Command. General, we've got a major Magog counter-attack in progress here. Request permission to join the battle."

"Hammond to O'Neill," came the response. "Have the Magog transport ships lifted off yet?"

"Negative," said O'Neill, "but I don't think we can wait... for... stand by, sir..."

Several Jaffa warriors had emerged from their camp, and had noticed what seemed to be a line of Jaffa being attacked by Magog. Hundreds of Magog against a mere dozen brave Jaffa. They could not stand for long. The shout went up.

"Jaffa! KREE!!!"

Dozens of Jaffa came storming out of their tents to fight at the side of their beleaguered compatriots. It was difficult to keep track through the smoke and dust, but suddenly O'Neill spied the members of Team One, orange panels shining brightly, edging their way back toward the hill. And as the battle widened, it spread out to both sides, so the Magog warriors were coming closer and closer to the undisguised but eager members of Team Two. Suddenly there was an explosion as one of the Magog swarm ships erupted in a ball of fire. Team Two watched in awe as a large swivel-mounted staff weapon took aim on the second ship and let fly with a gigantic plasma burst that enveloped the ship, causing it to explode with a deafening roar and a huge puff of toxic-looking green smoke. As the smoke cleared, the Jaffa warrior fired another plasma charge, but the charge passed harmlessly through the space the third ship had formerly occupied as it blasted off from the desert sand. Before the weapon could be trained on the fourth ship, it too rocketed upward and was lost in the cloudbank.

O'Neill keyed his radio again. "Team Two Leader to Prometheus Command. Two Magog ships destroyed, two escaped. The Jaffa are fighting the Magog and Team One is extracting themselves."

"Understood, Colonel," replied Hammond. "Keep your eyes open and your head on a swivel, and get back here as soon as you can. Hammond out."

"Sir! SIR!" shouted Carter, tugging at O'Neill's sleeve. O'Neill turned, took in the situation, and shook his head. "Oh, no," he said.

All around the camp, Magog fighters lay dead and dying. The dust was settling, and the remaining Jaffa were beginning to stand up straight from their fighting stances. Some of them were tending to their wounded comrades, but a group at one flank of the line had noticed a small group of a dozen Jaffa, running away from the battle zone in a very un-Jaffa-like manner, and sporting some extremely non-regulation colors on their Jaffa battle suits. Shouts were raised and staff weapons were leveled. As the members of Team One scrambled up the hill, the Jaffa of Anubis began laying down a withering fire of plasma bolts. At that range they could only keep firing and hope that one of the imitation Jaffa accidentally ran into one, but keep firing they did.

"FIRE!!!" shouted O'Neill.

Team Two dropped to the ground and began returning fire. At such extreme range they had no more success with their short-barreled weapons than did the Jaffa, but several of the Jaffa dropped prone on the ground in surprise as the bullets began to whine past their heads. At that moment Team One reached the top of the hill.

Because they hadn't been able to keep exact count of the members of Team One, O'Neill was concerned about friendly fire. "Cease fire!" he shouted, as the team members reached the crest of the hill.

Emboldened by the lack of return fire, more than a dozen Jaffa leveled their staff weapons and fired simultaneously at Team One, silhouetted against the sky at the top of the hill.

Daniel Jackson watched in horror as Trance was hit from behind with a staff weapon blast. The plasma enveloped her completely in fire, and then it was gone.

Rommie, seeing her friend struck down began to rise from her prone position to go to her aid. Before O'Neill could shout at her to get down, she too was struck by a Jaffa plasma bolt, and it was O'Neill's turn to watch in horror, as the plasma round blasted its way directly THROUGH Rommie's midsection, leaving a fist-sized hole.

Trance looked at Daniel with surprise. Her eyes rolled upward and she collapsed on the ground like a bag full of jelly.

Rommie looked O'Neill in the eyes, and suddenly her face was full of anguish and pain. She screamed and collapsed to her knees, shaking. He caught her as she fell forward.

Daniel turned Trance over on her back and searched the lifeless body for any sign of breathing or a pulse.

O'Neill turned Rommie over on her back and cradled her head as she went into violent convulsions.

Daniel keyed his radio microphone. "Medic! MEDIC! We've got a serious injury here!" He lifted Trance in a fireman's carry and began to run toward the Prometheus.

O'Neill looked down at Rommie, now silent as the grave. "Oh crap," he said. Then, keying his radio, "Make that two injuries!" He picked Rommie up in his arms like a baby and also began to run toward the Prometheus.

"Let's lay down some cover fire, people!" shouted Colonel Reynolds. Team Two, along with the mortar team and the remainder of Team One began to take a horrible and deadly revenge on the Jaffa.