Head Trip – Chapter 31 "Comrades in Arms"
"Damn you all to hell!"
Sam Carter continued to back out of the control room while shooting the army of replicators which were swarming in from the observation deck. Now fully aware that Jack had planted C4 throughout the citadel, Carter knew that she needed to exit the building as quickly as possible. The force of her "primitive" P90 would only deter the replicators temporarily until they regenerated themselves and began their pursuit once more.
Having cleared the room, she turned and faced the stairwell and began her descent. In a matter of seconds, hordes of replicators were mounting the staircase, with even more taking shape from the ceiling and walls surrounding her. The citadel had been composed of many replicator building blocks and now, slowly but ever so surely, the mechanical spiders were awakening and seeking out their prey.
Sam resumed firing as she stepped down, around and through the invaders; almost stumbling as she sought to fight them off from her face, arms and legs. She had just about reached the ground floor when she suddenly felt the impact of a replicator on her back. As she struggled to free herself from its deadly embrace, the attacker released a hot spray of acid onto her back and shoulders. She screamed in pain as the smell of burning flesh filled the stairwell.
Teal'c did not see Colonel Carter as he turned inside the citadel, all the while targeting the angry mass of replicators with the wave disrupter. The disrupter was the one weapon capable of destroying the replicators. Unfortunately, the entire citadel was now coming alive with so many bugs that the limited range of the disrupter could not decimate all of them at once.
Clearing a path before him, Teal'c ran to the stairwell just as he heard an agonizing scream. Looking up the stairs he saw his teammate staggering down the steps with a large replicator attached to her back and others clawing at her legs. Her tortured face told him all he needed to know. The Jaffa quickly pointed the disrupter at the buzzing nest that surrounded his besieged comrade and released the strong wave particle beam which disintegrated all the marauders.
Sam felt an immediate release from the pain and pressure and was able to regain her shaky balance as she descended the few remaining steps towards Teal'c. She prayed that the adrenaline would continue to override the stinging on her back and the throbbing in her left wrist. She needed her fear and anger to propel both her and Teal'c far and beyond the citadel before the C4 exploded.
"Colonel Carter, are you capable of continuing?"
Sam took a quick gulp of air, raised her head to the tall Jaffa, and reassured him, "I've got what we need to win this war – let's live long enough to deliver it to Thor!"
With those words, the two members of SG1 fought their way to the exit of the citadel, Teal'c using the wave disrupter to further destroy the renegade bugs now racing down the sides of the building and Sam shooting her P90 at whatever got in her way. It was not lost on the Jaffa that the replicators were intent upon reaching his teammate, so much so that they would scramble up and over his feet and legs in their march to their target. He made a cautious note of this new pattern of behavior believing that Fifth had, indeed, somehow programmed these final remnants of replicators to attack the one who had killed him.
Daniel hurried to the far end of the citadel with Jack's arm slung around his shoulders. The General continued to stumble and still seemed to be unaware of just what was happening to him and his team. Daniel was glad that he, himself, was now clear headed enough to do the thinking for both of them. Having rounded the corner of the building, the archaeologist took one last glance at the exit but Sam and Teal'c were nowhere to be seen. With a sinking heart, he knew that he had to retreat even farther to escape the heat and debris from the impending explosion. With a prayer on his lips, Daniel strode down the highway to the safety of their former encampment.
In a matter of minutes, the citadel had turned into a gigantic hive of replicator activity and now, even the outer structure of the building began to transform itself into pockets of mechanical bugs clattering and racing down the walls. By the time Carter and Teal'c had emerged from the ground level, they were confronted with more replicators which seemed to gravitate to Sam as she ran alongside her teammate. Teal'c continued to use the wave disrupter to eliminate the new swarms of bugs as Sam ran towards the outer perimeter of the fortress. The attacking replicators and Sam's injuries were slowing them down. They were not as far enough away as they'd hoped when the noise and concussion from the exploding C4 reached them. The domino effect of the internal blasts sent them flying forward. Sam could feel the heat on her back as she was lifted and tossed about 20 feet, landing and rolling in the narrow incline of grass where Jack had left the Claymore detonator. Teal'c landed near her but had managed to keep the wave disrupter in his possession. He had blood on his massive shoulders and knew that he had been hit by the flying debris. Both teammates lay silent and stunned for a few moments.
Teal'c, regaining his senses more quickly, turned and touched his comrade gently, "Colonel Carter, can you speak? Have you sustained further injuries?"
Sam Carter's body was ready to shut down … she heard her friend as if from a great distance, and soon realized that the concussion from the C4 had probably weakened her hearing. She was stunned but her mind was still thinking clearly. They were still not safe; she wouldn't breathe freely until they had put some distance between themselves and the remnants of this burnt-out fortress.
She knew that Teal'c had eliminated many of the replicators, but she also knew that the ones which she had shot with her automatic weapon were not totally "dead". They would probably regenerate and pursue SG1 once again on their way to the Gate. From what she had learned from Fifth, though, she was fairly certain that the remaining replicators were all located within the confines of the citadel. There should be no hidden threats lying ahead of them on their journey home and she had the map to get them there. The wave disrupter was still intact and would provide the ultimate defense against the replicators that survived the explosions and her P90. But every one of her team had already felt the impact of this mission. If she could gain them some valuable time, just a few hours in which they could rest and recuperate, they would be able to gather their resources and complete the mission. She knew what she had to do.
"Teal'c, I'm fine. The C4 has taken out most of the citadel. From the concussion, I'd say there's quite a crater. I see that Jack also laid these Claymores and I'm going to detonate them now to provide the final blow. Then we'll regroup with Daniel and General O'Neill. I need you to keep the wave disrupter under your control at all times. We may be pursued. It should take several hours, at least, for the remaining replicator blocks to reconfigure and take shape. I want us to pull back a few miles beyond your last position and then rest."
Seeing the blood on his shoulders, Sam sat up and touched his bloody shoulder. "Oh, T … how bad are you hit?"
The Jaffa took his comrade's hand and looked into her tired eyes, "Colonel Carter, do not concern yourself with my injuries. I believe they will prove less severe than yours. I am glad to see that you are able to remain calm and project the next steps to be taken. I fear that General O'Neill may not yet be himself and it is good to have you in command."
He raised himself to a standing position and put out his hand to pull his commander up. She was grateful for the assist, and both of them looked at the destruction in front of them. Carter was right … there was a deep hole in the ground, with smoke still rising from the crater. The Claymores were placed along the perimeter as a second line of defense and precaution … Jack probably decided to throw everything he had into assuring that the bugs were blown sky high. Sam reached for the detonator and, taking it in hand, motioned Teal'c to begin the retreat down the highway. However, as they prepared to move away from ground zero, Sam saw something that sent a chill down her spine. A replicator was slowly climbing out of the crater.
"Go, go!" Sam pushed Teal'c forward, and followed behind with the detonator as the replicator began to move from the rubble and onto the highway. Teal'c then turned and dispatched the enemy with the wave disrupter. Carter pressed the detonator and a series of explosions rocked the ground. She and Teal'c ducked and put their arms over their heads as debris rained down upon them once again. When the smoke cleared, she and her loyal comrade looked at each other with grateful hearts. They had survived.