O'Neill had been monitoring every one of Kyyato's moves from his hidden spot. As soon as he punched the first key, he launched the attack.
Kyyato's men were quickly and definitively taken care of by Hai-Ri-Ki's men, while SG1 had their guns trained on Kyyato himself. With a haunted look, the latter finally surrendered. Teal'c quickly tied him up while Daniel inspected the book Kyyato had been holding. They remained vigilant until Hai-Ri-Ki's main guard finally reached the Stargate.
Sam realized they had very little prisoners and didn't want to think of where their comrades were. She was getting tired of all this violence, and it was actually a striking contrast between the refinement they had experienced in both Kyyato's and Hai-Ri-Ki's fortresses. It was all black and white, no gray in that civilization.
As Hai-Ri-Ki approached Kyyato, SG1 opened the circle they had formed around him. Kyyato was kneeling, his head bowed.
Daniel started translating for his team.
"Your treacherous ways did not lead you to victory, Kyyato!" Hai-Ri-Ki stated, looking down on him in the position of the winner over the defeated.
"You received help from the strangers, what kind of honorable victory is that!" Kyyato spat back in anger.
"How can you accuse me like that when you wanted to trick them into your sly plans lying to them! They are quite honorable! They did not help us in actual battles, only to locate your troops of ronans and nonjeis! Few Shomureis would accept to do combat for you!"
"And who caused the destruction of the digging my scouts had found!"
"Kyyato, your honor is so low that you wouldn't even tell us what this digging was about! They destroyed it because they knew you would find powerful weapons that would destroy all that our ancestors worked for when they revolted against those who had enslaved them!"
"Ask them why they took the book I was carrying!" Kyyato's attempts at saving his life were getting more desperate by the second.
"Even if they take the book with them, they have proved to be trustworthy and honorable enough in my opinion! Now prepare for your death!" Hai-Ri-Ki said, drawing his saber.
"Hold on a minute!" O'Neill said, interrupting Hai-Ri-Ki and causing looks and growls of anger.
Daniel turned to Jack with a warning look. "Jack, don't!"
"Daniel, he's probably going to cut his head, you of all people--"
"It's their culture, Jack. I don't like it anymore than you do, but that's the way they are."
"Can you at least talk to him?"
Daniel sighed. "I'll try, but you may not like his response."
"Just-- try, okay?"
Daniel cleared his throat and looked at Hai-Ri-Ki. "Hai-Ri-Ki-sohn, O'Neill-sohn asks what you are going to do with Lord Kyyato."
Hai-Ri-Ki frowned. "He shall receive the punishment we give traitors!"
"Can we at least give him the choice of his death?" Daniel asked.
Hai-Ri-Ki thought for a few minutes, then sheathed his saber. "You are the ones who captured him and brought him to me, it's only fair you should choose his death." He stepped back.
Daniel explained the situation to his team.
"Isn't there any other solution than kill him?" Sam asked.
"No, Sam. That's the way they are. It's a violent way, I agree with you a hundred percent, but we've already interfered enough, we have to abide by their rules."
"Then what to we do? Shoot him?" Jack quipped.
"I will suggest seppuku."
"What's that?" O'Neill asked.
"It's a way of dying with honor for them. He will basically commit suicide."
"Not much of an alternate solution," Sam snorted.
"No, but it's a far more honorable way to die."
"Oh, for crying out loud, I'm so sick of their honor code!"
"Jack!" Daniel warned.
"All right, Daniel. You go and try to suggest that, we're outta here."
Daniel sighed, resigned, then turned to Hai-Ri-Ki. "Hai-Ri-Ki-sohn, we think Kyyato should be given a chance to redeem himself by committing seppuku." He stated.
"Sippukho!" Hai-Ri-Ki exclaimed in anger.
Daniel bowed. "Hai-Ri-Ki-sohn, you said we could choose. We choose to offer him a way to get his honor back. If he refuses, then we will relinquish our right to choose, and you can do whatever pleases you."
Hai-Ri-Ki frowned, deep in thought once again. Then he nodded cautiously. "You are wise people, and magnanimous."
"Thank you, Hai-Ri-Ki-sohn."
Daniel turned to Kyyato. "Lord Kyyato, as the ones who captured you, we offer you to redeem yourself by committing Sippukho. Do you accept?"
Kyyato was obviously surprised and stared at Daniel with fierce eyes. "I underestimated you, strangers, but since the only way for me is death, then I accept your offer. I will die honorably."
Daniel turned to Hai-Ri-Ki, but Kyyato continued. "I want Hai-Ri-Ki-sohn to assist me."
Daniel looked at Hai-Ri-Ki with questioning eyes.
Hai-Ri-Ki nodded his assent.
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The ceremony was ready.
Only SG1 - who had and obligation to be there, much to Sam's dismay - Hai-Ri-Ki and his best men were assembled around Kyyato who was naked from the waist up and sat on his heels.
A dagger had been set before him, the blade turned to his right.
Hai-Ri-Ki positioned himself behind him, his saber drawn, as one of his soldiers came to rinse the blade carefully with a small ladle full of water, on one side, then the other.
Kyyato took a piece of his discarded upper garment, and rubbed the blade with it, before rolling it around the handle and part of the blade. He took a deep breath and nodded to Hai-Ri-Ki who raised his arms, holding his saber, and ready to finish the ritual, as Daniel explained to his teammates. Once Kyyato had driven the dagger twice into his abdomen, Hai-Ri-Ki would end his sufferings.
Sam wanted to retch. O'Neill also looked particularly disgusted, and Teal'c, well Teal'c looked as impassible as always.
Kyyato took the handle of the dagger and pointed it to his abdomen.
Like in slow motion, Jack observed the man's hands contracting around the handle.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and in a swift movement, brought the weapon close to his skin, but at the last moment, he changed directions and stabbed Hai-Ri-Ki instead.
Acting purely on reflex, Hai-Ri-Ki's arms lowered his saber in a swift gesture and Kyyato was no more a problem.
Everyone gathered over the fallen Hai-Ri-Ki, but Daniel pushed them away.
Sam felt his pulse: still strong but fading. She looked straight in the eyes of her Commanding Officer who nodded, understanding. "Daniel, tell them we have to bring him home with us, we have the medical supplies we need to save him there."
Too stunned to argue, Hai-Ri-Ki's men opened the circle as Jack and Teal'c grabbed the fallen man and carried him to the Stargate, where Sam had already dialed and was punching the code of her GDO.
As they were about to leave, two if Hai-Ri-Ki's men grabbed Daniel and Sam.
"You stay here!" one of them said.
O'Neill turned to Sam with a haunted look.
"No, sir!" she said, understanding he was going to offer to stay instead of her. "You go, we'll be fine!"
O'Neill nodded imperceptibly.
"Damn well you will be!" he shouted. "And that's a direct order!" he said before disappearing through the shimmering pool.
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On the other side, Hammond welcomed them.
"Medical emergency!" O'Neill shouted. "Doctor, you don't leave the infirmary until that man is saved!" he barked at the medical team.
"Yes, sir!" The new CMO replied. "What's the damage?"
"Nasty stab in the abdomen, don't know much more," O'Neill replied as Hai-Ri-Ki was wheeled away.
"Surgery!" The CMO shouted to the orderlies as he followed them down the hallway.
"Colonel?" Hammond finally asked.
"Sir, they'd better sew that man up because Carter and Daniel are still on the other side!"
"What happened?" the General asked calmly.
"We won, but they—they're slaughterers, General!" O'Neill exclaimed, unable to quench the churning of his stomach. "I have seen horrors in my life, but nothing reached that!"
"We managed to defeat the enemy, General Hammond," Teal'c chimed in, "our ally was about to kill him, but Daniel Jackson suggested we do it their way and allow him to redeem himself. Lord Hai-Ri-Ki accepted and that is when the treacherous man stabbed him instead of stabbing himself."
"Stabbing himself? Like in those cheap Japanese movies?" Hammond asked, clearly shocked.
"According to Daniel, that's the way they lived and the way those people are now." O'Neill resumed.
"I see. Go and clean up yourselves, we will await what we hope will be good news from Doctor Stevenson."
"Yes, sir."
A while later, Teal'c, Jack and General Hammond were gathered behind the screen glass as the doctors operated Hai-Ri-Ki.
After what seemed hours, the CMO finally joined them and explained the situation. "You brought him here in time, Colonel. But he would definitely have not survived if you had waited another hour. His condition is stable. He lost a lot of blood, but since his physical characteristics are human, we managed to make a transfusion and his body accepted it well. We had a lot of sewing to do mostly, but the cuts were sharp with no extensive tissue damage, so all in all, the prognosis is good. He should awake in a couple of hours."
"Thank you, doctor," Hammond simply said.
"General, permission to go back to the planet and inform his men, along with checking on Carter and Daniel? We'll check with you regularly."
"Granted."
O'Neill and Teal'c quickly picked their gear back up and returned to the planet, where they explained the situation both to Hai-Ri-Ki's men and their teammates.
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The night was falling and SG1 had been assigned a tent.
Sam was sitting alone next to the DHD, observing the sky distractedly. She heard a familiar voice.
"I was wondering where you'd gone." He came to sit next to her.
"I needed to be alone for a while. These last days have been pretty intense, and I needed to calm my insides a little bit," She replied calmly.
"Ha!" he snorted. "Tell me about it!"
A comfortable silence ensued.
"Where are Teal'c and Daniel?" she asked, looking at him.
"Teal'c's meditating, and Daniel's already sleeping. His 'encounter' with Shimikko apparently drew all his physical strength away," he smirked.
"At least he got a little satisfaction," she said bitterly.
She jumped as she felt his hand on her arm.
"Sam," He spoke softly. "I haven't forgotten and nothing's changed."
"That's just it, sir; 'nothing's changed'. In either way," she replied.
"Let's not go back on that track, shall we?" he warned.
"What if I want to?"
"Carter?"
"You're not willing to risk it?"
"No. Not with your career in the balance."
"Damn my career! I'm also a woman!" she said, standing up, her anger rising.
"Sam!" he warned, standing up in turn.
"Why do we have to choose one over the other?" she asked defiantly.
"Because that's what we are, soldiers!" he replied, looking her up and down.
"Then I don't want to be a damn soldier anymore if it prevents me from having the life I want!"
"Carter, that's nonsense! You're tired, I'd rather not remember what you've just said!"
"What? That I love you?" she said defiantly.
As they realized what she'd just said, their anger dissipated in an instant and he crushed her to his chest, his mouth seeking hers in a searing kiss. They kneeled together and started tugging at various items of clothing, until O'Neill stopped, panting and sat, taking his head in both his hands.
"God, Sam, you're intoxicating!" he murmured, trying to slow his breathing.
Sam said nothing, just tried to keep a semblance of decency and put her uniform back in place.
"Sam, I don't want to fight anymore than you do on this issue." He paused. "I have to contact Hammond in about an hour, let's hope Hai-Ri-Ki will be fit enough for gate travel, and we're through, I'll let SG-12 deal with them if Hammond thinks it's worth it. Then we'll sort this mess. One way or another, we'll sort this mess, I promise, Sam. I too am tired of that job where a man can't express his feelings to the woman he loves," he said in a tired voice.
He stood up and looked at the now dark sky. "The first stars are starting to show. It's going to be a cold night." He sighed. "Goodnight, Carter, don't stay up too late." And he headed to the tents.
With one last glance to the stars, Sam also stood up and walked to the camp.
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O'Neill punched in his code and waited for the connection to be made.
"Colonel O'Neill, is that you?"
"Yes, sir. How's our guest doing?" he asked a bit impatiently.
"Doctor Stevenson just gave him the green light for gate travel. Doctor Jackson will have to relay his instructions though, but as soon as you dial out, we'll send him through.
"All right, sir. O'Neill over and out."
The shimmering pool disappeared, only to be replaced a few minutes later by the familiar kawoosh. Two SFs carrying a stretcher, on which Hai-Ri-Ki was lying, came through a few moments later, and Jack led them to the camp.
Once Hai-Ri-Ki's personnel were assured of his welfare, the two SFs were sent back to the SGC and SG1 prepared to depart, too.
Hai-Ri-Ki called for their presence by his resting 'cot' - for lack of a better word. "You were loyal to the end and saved my life, strangers. Whatever alliance you are seeking is granted and I hope we shall meet again for I will be forever indebted to you."
"Err-- Hai-Ri-Ki-sohn," Daniel started. "Actually, another group of people like us might come through the stone ring and talk to you about this, but I'm afraid we will have to depart shortly."
Hai-Ri-Ki frowned. "Why is it so?"
"Like we said, we are merely explorers. We are the ones who seek out new allies, not the ones who actually establish treaties. Our lord back where we're from is the one who decides all that and we must abide by his will."
"I see. Know that your people will always be welcome though, and that one day I would like to thank that lord of yours."
"Oh, but I believe you have met him." Daniel said. "He was the man who authorized your return through the great stone circle."
"Ah! The bald man!" Hai-Ri-Ki exclaimed, causing Daniel to smile involuntarily.
"Yes, that would be him."
"I should have known he was your Shōgonate, he looked like a fair ruler."
Daniel nodded then showed the book they had taken from Kyyato. "Hai-Ri-Ki-sohn, we have one request."
"What is it?"
"We took this book from Kyyato. He probably found it when he investigated the cave we destroyed, but from what I already read, it is in a language unfamiliar to you. Kyyato probably didn't understand much himself, and only based his desperate attempt to use the great stone circle from a few drawings that are in the book. We would like to take it with us for it would help us fight the same enemy who enslaved your ancestors a long time ago."
Hai-Ri-Ki nodded thoughtfully, then looked Daniel in the eyes. "You may take the book. We will remember this day, and the help you and O'Neill-sohn provided us. You are a strange people, who draw your women at war, but we are indebted to O'Neill-sohn's wife as well as any of you."
Daniel bowed, imitated by his friends. "Thank you, Hai-Ri-Ki-sohn, we shall leave now."
"Farewell, strangers, may Amaretasu watch over your lives." Hai-Ri-Ki said, making Daniel shut his eyes briefly.