CHAPTER ELEVEN

SGC

Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, CO.

"You've got to be kidding me, right? Just when we thought the neighborhood might go quiet for a while." Jack O'Neill was not amused by the news that Jacob Carter was delivering. In O'Neill's world-view, every time the Tok'ra brought fresh intelligence, it was of the worlds-about-to-end variety. He was waiting for the moment they brought something other than bad news or a smug attitude.

"Jack, I know you wouldn't like it but it's the truth. The High Council wants nothing to do with this. They think it would be bad precedent for them to go around warning every race who might be in the Goa'uld's crosshairs."

"How nice. At some point that thinking is going to come back to bite them in the ass. Hopefully, we're not there when it does." O'Neill had had enough of the Tok'ra's political bullshit.

Seated around the conference table in the SGC's Command and Control Center was all of the top minds and directors of the SGC. Ambassador Mulhern, O'Neill, Colonel's Carter, Henson, Glyndon, McNulty and Chekov, Daniel Jackson and Teal'c all looked ashen. A single thought ran through all at the table: Can we ever catch a break? Many a person at the SGC in recent months had taken to commenting, however quietly, that working for an organization that seemed perpetually under siege was getting old and definitely getting tiring. Human beings were not meant to deal with such continual worry. But here they were, with another fire to put out and only a garden hose to fight it with. But as Lt. Col. McNulty would almost assuredly point out, the troops at the SGC were one hell of a garden hose.

The intelligence that Jacob had brought from an uncooperative Tok'ra High Council was not good. A minor Goa'uld by the name of Nimar had assembled a loyal group of 5,000-10,000 Jaffa and was attempting to become a player on the interstellar stage. In some ways it was laughable. It was the Goa'uld equivalent of Iceland trying to compete with the United States, Russia and China. But no one every accused a Goa'uld of practical, reasoned decision making. Normally, this type of power play would be shrugged at. But what had caught the attention of the Tok'ra's agents was the fact that Nimar had caught wind of the recent discoveries of naquadah on a certain planet. Nimar had also discovered that the planet in question was somewhat technologically backward and had already suffered an attack by Anubis. This made the planet an even more attractive target.

The name of the planet was Langara. Which, oh by the way, had two SG teams and a US Ambassador on it at the moment?

"The question is, what do we do about it?" O'Neill wasn't looking forward to briefing the President and Joint Chiefs on this one.

All eyes turned to one end of the table where Lt. Col. McNulty sat quietly. McNulty noticed the looks and smiled thinly. "Are you asking if the 7th is ready for a major confrontation? The answer is truthfully, probably not. We're still spinning up and we don't have our complete T, O&E yet. We can pull an extraction of Ambassador Howe and the teams along with various Langaran dignitaries. We could do a holding mission at their gate. But we're not in a position to help them repel an all-out invasion. But we're Rangers; we'll carry out whatever mission needs to be done."

O'Neill knew McNulty was speaking truthfully. The battalion had only been fully manned for a short period and was still going through SGC-related training. He turned to McNulty and Henson. "I want multiple operational concepts drafted for all scenarios, everything from extraction to defense. Carter, you, Daniel and Teal'c will head to Langara along with SG's 3, 5 and 11. Brief our people and the Langaran leadership. Don't commit us to anything until you hear from me."

"Yes sir."

A secure Langaran military facility

Lieutenant Colonel Drew Steinbach was loving life. Few people within the United States military loved their job the way he currently did. Steinbach had a rare gift for diplomacy. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, he had always been the peacemaker in the family. A West Point graduate, he had chosen artillery as his branch assignment upon graduation. After tours with the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea and the 4th Infantry at Ft. Hood, Texas, he had received what would be his hallmark job as Assistant Defense Attaché in Prague. His landmark work in helping the Czech Republic's army integrate into NATO would draw the attention of the SGC. This was Steinbach's second off-world assignment. Steinbach had become known within the insular world of the SGC as an officer who could get deals done.

Steinbach's current deal making involved convincing the Langaran's to buy US-made weapons systems. He didn't think of himself as a salesman by nature but that was what the job had thrown in front of him. He was in his office in area set aside for the US delegation when he saw the approaching figure of Commander Sy Varan, the senior officer at Langara's Stargate program.

"Commander Varan, what can I do for you?"

"Colonel, you must come quickly. Others have arrived from your planet with news."

Ten minutes later, Steinbach arrived to find Lt. Col. Samantha Carter waiting along with three SG teams. He knew immediately that something was amiss. He knew SG-1 didn't go anywhere unless there was a problem.

"Colonel Carter, what's the problem?"

"We need to meet with Ambassador Howe and the Joint Ruling Council; a small-time System Lord is moving to occupy Langara."

Steinbach suddenly didn't love his job as much…

Meanwhile…

Sergeant Patrick Joyce was sitting in a classroom with the rest of SG-19. They were reviewing the results of their latest training sessions for Langaran troops. Commander Rexford was so impressed with the results so far that he planned on submitting a proposal to allow some Langarans to return to Earth for more training. Rexford had operated on numerous FID missions since becoming a SEAL, but he thought this had been the most successful so far. Rexford and his men were lost in their discussion when a Langaran officer came running over. Rexford knew immediately that it wasn't good news.

"Sir, you and your people must come with me. You are needed in the capitol now!"

Sergeant Patrick Joyce knew almost instantaneously that fate was about to slap him hard.