Chapter Thirteen - Vengeance
"Stay behind me until we have secured the area", Jack O'Neill instructed Saturn shortly before the wormhole established, "Understood?"
She nodded, "Understood."
Then the Stargate activated and the team stepped up the ramp. For a moment the senshi held on mistrustfully eyeing the water-like event horizon.
Sam nudged her from behind saying softly, "It ain't that bad. Except for the fact that you're being demolecularized it's even fun."
"Thanks", she took a deep breath following Jack into the wormhole.
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Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna watched the team's departure from the conference room. Haruka had her arms crossed not looking at Setsuna, who was standing some steps behind her, as she talked to her:
"I don't think letting her go on this mission was right", she stated.
"I'm not sure", Setsuna approached her a little, "Slowly I begin to think that Hotaru is right about the way Akahoshi will behave once her powers are unleashed again."
"So you mean she'll protect her?" Haruka questioned.
"I think so, yes", Setsuna affirmed.
Now Michiru, who had followed the conversation silently till now, said in a quiet voice, "If she can."
Perplexedly both Haruka and Setsuna turned to stare at her. "Mi-chan, do you know something?", Setsuna inquired searchingly as she saw the weird look in her friend's eyes.
"No", she replied, "It's just that I've got an extremely strange feeling about it..."
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Sadly Akahoshi looked to the floor. Her hands were shaking and she was no longer able to concentrate on something else than this one question:
Why was he doing this to her?
Slowly she rose from the bed she had been sitting on, starting to walk through the room. She had no idea when they would come to take her or how it would feel. All she knew was that she would lose control over her body, committing it to an evil symbiote forcing her to do nothing but uncounted cruelties with her own hands.
All these thoughts and all this knowledge were too much for her, she could no longer stand them. She fell to the ground and threw up.
Two servants came up to her almost immediately. They cleaned up the floor helping the princess back to the daybed to lie down.
One of them approached her with a wet cloth, wiping across her wet face.
"You're hot", she said to her, "What's wrong with you?"
Akahoshi did not respond her, turning her face away. Slowly a thought came up inside of her mind. It was not fear that made her feel like this, it was the awakening of something very familiar she had slowly begun to miss:
Her powers. She was wishing for them to come to life soon enough to save her from becoming a Goa'uld.
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"It is done", Sailor Saturn told Sam and Jack after she had finished the spell, "but it will take some time until her powers will be fully awoken again."
"Let's hope it'll happen quickly", Jack said, "We should find her before, though", he motioned for Sam, Teal'C and Saturn to follow him.
Slowly they sneaked through the momentarily empty corridor leaving the guards they had taken out behind them.
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Suddenly two Jaffa guards entered the room dragging Akahoshi up from the bed in a very rough way.
She felt vertiginous barely able to stand on her own feet, for now fear and exhaustion because of her slowly returning powers were weakening her all at once.
For awhile they walked through the corridors until the princess had completely lost orientation. Finally the entered a room that seemed to be Baal's private quarters.
There he stood, smiling at her icily. The Jaffa held her back by her arms and she looked up at him.
"So there you are", he noted coldly, "Time to meet your fate."
Now the princess was forced to her knees by the guards. From the corner of her eye she saw how a servant approached with a vessel that was containing a symbiote. He followed his master as he slowly walked toward her.
Baal came to a stop some inches away from her. With his one hand he bent her head forward, shoving away her hair to uncover her neck; with his other hand he took the symbiote from the servant setting it down on her bare skin.
Akahoshi could feel the parasite crawling up her back toward her neck and at the same time she sensed the scream of her awakening powers; they had come close to the surface now, ready to emerge in this situation of immediate danger.
With a screech the symbiote entered her body to join with her nerve system. She screamed under the pain of its bite, then she passed out, no longer picking up anything of the happenings around her.
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"O'Neill", Teal'C who had looked around the corner of the corridor whispered, "I think I've found the princess."
Jack walked over to the Jaffa's side, "Where is she?"
Teal'C motioned his head toward a door on the opposite side of the hallway. It was guarded by two soldiers and a servant had just left the room behind it carrying a suspicious vessel in his hands.
Jack turned around to Saturn. "Do you feel something?" he asked. She closed her eyes for a moment, then she nodded.
"Good. Let's go", they checked if the corridor was clear. Then Teal'C took out the two Jaffa with his zat before they realized what was going on.
An instant later the team stormed the quarters. To their shock they saw Akahoshi lying flat on the floor. Some steps away from her Baal was standing. Without hesitating Jack raised his weapon getting the Goa'uld at gunpoint.
That moment a wave of motion went through Princess Akahoshi's body, followed by a yellowish hue of energy, she was transforming!
Slowly she rose from the ground, her body was covered with white light forming a long dress. On her back appeared a pair of white angel's wings. As she tilted her head backwards Jack could see a familiar red star glowing on her forehead, but it was not the only thing there this time, under it shone a reddish golden crescent opened to the top.
Everybody was else surprised by this sudden transformation. Even Baal made some stunned steps backwards.
"What the...", he brought out.
Now Akahoshi spoke up, "You've dared to harm me, a Solar Princess, daughter of Empress Myouyou", she said fierily, "And for this you will be punished."
A strong blow of energy that had emerged from her hands struck the Goa'uld right into the middle part of his body sending him flying far through the big room. By the time he crashed to the floor Akahoshi passed out again returning into her human form.
Teal'C and Saturn were the first ones to get to her. Carefully Teal'C rolled her over to her side examining her neck.
Picking up his worried look the senshi asked, "What's wrong with her?" and actually she already knew what he would answer.
"A symbiote has invaded her", he stated almost dolefully for his measure.
By the time the Jaffa was about to lift the princess up into his arms Sam had checked on Baal notifying Jack that he was still alive.
Jack cocked his gun, determined to finally kill the enemy he hated the most. That moment Akahoshi opened her eyes for some seconds staring at the colonel.
"Don't", she whispered, then her eyes fell shut again.
Now Teal'C carried her motionless body over to the door telling Jack to follow her advice:
"You should so as she wishes", he said gravely, "We need to leave this place immediately. The princess is in urgent need of help."
After a moment Jack nodded, "Okay, you're right. It's time to leave this hellhole."
The team left the quarters and they returned to the Stargate where their backup had established a perimeter without further problems. Then they all returned to Earth as quick as they could.
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So, this is not the end. There's some more stuff to follow.
And btw: I didn't screw chem (got an A, nanana) but instead I did screw Latin, there I got an unfavorable B - (!) didn't get that there for ages... sniff, sad thing. But this doesn't mean that I mind it.
