DISCLAIMER: Stargate SG-1 and all related characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, SciFi Originals, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Film Corp and MGM/UA Studios. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended and no money has changed hands. All original characters and events are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without express permission.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, this certainly is a long'un, but I didn't want to break up the action too much and I'm trying to keep the chapter count down. Fasten your seatbelts and get comfortable, 'cause here we go!
WOMAN'S WORLD
By Darrin A. Colbourne
Pete Shanahan followed close behind Penelope as she raced back to the Stargate Facility's command center. The electronic alert bells were still clanging, and every instinct told him he needed to be doing something, but he couldn't figure out what. As a police officer he'd seen his share of dangerous situations, but he suddenly found himself in the middle of a war situation, which would have been confusing enough, had he not also been on an alien planet. Desperate to keep perspective, he brought his P-90 to a ready position and held it tight, using the familiarity of the Earth weapon to keep his emotions in check.
Along the way they passed dozens of now-armored Themysciran soldiers making their way to their alert stations. Several were carrying large, black combat arms, which reminded Pete of smooth, streamlined Squad Automatic Weapons. Pete wondered fleetingly if they fired bullets or lasers or something even more alien as he and Penelope reached the command center. They went straight for the elevator to Iphigenia's office.
Penelope stepped out of the elevator as soon as the door was halfway open and walked straight over to Iphigenia's desk. "As You Command!" She said as she came to attention.
Pete went over to Jackson and pulled him aside as Iphigenia started going over base readiness with her NCO. "What the hell's going on!" He said in a low voice. "Penelope said Artemis is coming! Is that what the General said just now?"
"That's right." Jackson said. Iphigenia had made the announcement in her native language. "We've got less than an hour before Artemis and a whole bunch of her friends get here."
"Well, what do we do? Didn't General O'Neill say we had to go back if Artemis showed up?"
"Only if the Themyscirans can't handle her. We don't know what will happen yet."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Stargate going to be one of her first targets when she gets here?"
"Naturally." Jackson said as he checked his pistol.
"Well, if we need the Stargate to get home, it seems to me that it would be kinda stupid to wait around and see if she captures it before we decide to leave!"
"You're absolutely right."
"So what do we do?"
"We help them make sure Artemis doesn't take the 'Gate." When he saw the look on Pete's face, he said: "We can't leave now anyway. There's no way for us to get Sam and Sarah here."
"I wasn't saying we should leave without them, but I don't see the problem. Don't they have radios in those helmets of theirs?"
"Yes they do, and I'm sure they heard the same announcement everyone else did."
"Well, then they should be on their way here, right?"
"They can't leave. That would disturb the Congress."
"So?"
"So, nobody disturbs a Taskmasters Congress."
Pete was aghast. "The Congress is being held in the government building of the city that controls the Stargate! I think Artemis is gonna enthusiastically disturb the Congress when she gets here!"
"Artemis is not Themysciran, which is what Sam and Sarah are pretending to be, and no one on this planet would interrupt a Congress once it's started! It's just their way, Pete."
"Doctor Jackson! Enforcer Shanahan!" Iphigenia called out, interrupting their conversation. "Are you ready?"
Pete and Jackson looked at each other for a moment, then looked at Iphigenia. "As we'll ever be." Pete said with a sigh.
"Go with Penelope." Iphigenia said. "She'll put you two to work." With that, Penelope saluted and headed for the elevator. As the men followed, Iphigenia said: "I know how you feel."
They turned to look at her and she continued. "Believe me, confronting Artemis is the best way for us to protect all our loved ones."
Pete and Jackson nodded, then joined Penelope in the elevator.
"I know what you're thinking," a voice said in Carter's ear. It was Scylla. "Commander Iphigenia's announcement changes nothing. Stand your ground and allow the Congress to continue. You are in the most heavily fortified and defensible building within the city limits and we have plenty of time before Artemis's arrival. I'll tell you when it's necessary for you to move, but until then, you are guarding your Taskmaster, and that is all you should be doing." She was speaking to both Carter and Sarah simultaneously, and she said it in English so that the helmet didn't have to translate, just to drive the point home.
It didn't help Carter's nerves any. Every instinct told her that the last thing they should be doing was standing still. The 21 most important people on Themyscira were all in one spot with a Goa'uld bearing down on the planet. It would make more sense to scatter them as far across the planet as possible to guarantee that at least some would survive a devastating assault.
Sarah agreed, though obviously she couldn't share her feelings with Carter. She tried to emulate the other guardians' stoicism, but it was difficult in the extreme. They're insane! She thought. Everyone on the balcony with her had to have heard the same message, yet here they all stood like palace guards while Clytemnestra and the other Taskmasters acted like a university debating society. Arachinopolis's chief educator had been holding court since the doors closed, using her opening statement to gain early ground in the discussion.
"It is so very clear." She said in her conclusion. "This world is already ours. We've tamed the wilderness, mastered the seas, built spires to the skies, and when Artemis is defeated this day the last obstacle this world has to offer will have been overcome. We will atrophy as a people if we wait for new challenges to come to us. We have to go find them, and the place to start looking is the stars."
"Are you so certain?" Someone said. It was Daphne. Clytemnestra turned to face her.
"Is there some corner of Themyscira that has not come under our scrutiny? Is there a life form that has somehow eluded our gaze? Is there some mystery left for us to solve within the confines of our atmosphere?"
"I do not dispute what you say." Daphne said as she stood. "We have indeed made this world our comfortable home." She started down the bleachers. "I merely question whether or not that fact automatically means that, should we prevail against Artemis, we must strike out into space."
"That's where the next challenges are." Clytemnestra said as Daphne stepped onto the standard.
"You say that as if there were no such thing as robotic probes," Daphne said as she got closer.
"Wouldn't you rather feel the dirt of another world in your own hands?" Clytemnestra said. "Stand on its beaches with your own bare feet? See an alien sun? Its satellites? A robot is a poor proxy for the senses."
"Only if you put your senses ahead of your reason." Daphne said. "You may not be able to touch another world, but using a robot means it may not touch you, either. A robot means its diseases will only be able to attack lifeless metal. A robot means its hostile life forms have nothing but an automaton to prey upon."
"A robot is a useful spy. It is an adequate retriever. It is often a potent weapon, but a robot can not entertain you with tales of the people it met in its travels. It will not enthrall you with stories of its adventures. Is there no adventure in your heart at all, Taskmaster?"
"I merely state facts, as do you." Daphne and Clytemnestra were standing face-to-face. "I can't help but wonder, however, if your sudden thirst for adventure has something to do with your pets."
"My 'pets'?"
"The Earth People, of course. Or do you deny that you are still as infatuated with them now as you were when Samantha Carter first stepped from the Stargate?"
"I do not deny my interest in them," Clytemnestra said as she began to pace around Daphne. "Surely there is nothing wrong with that."
"There might be if you are using this call for adventurism simply as a disguise for allying us with them." Daphne said, letting Clytemnestra circle her. "I believe we've already agreed that aiding Earth in its war against the Star Gods would be…unproductive."
"We didn't all agree." Clytemnestra said. "I, for one, still see nothing wrong with aiding Earth."
"I agree." Cleis said, causing Clytemnestra to stop pacing and everyone to look at her. "Well, is Earth not the home of our Mothers? Are the women still there not our sisters?"
"As Defenders we agree to keep our families safe from harm." Clytemnestra said. "I see no reason not to count the People of Earth as family."
"Several reasons can be argued." Another Taskmaster piped up. This was Megara, from the equatorial City of Thetis. "And they were, the last time we met. You had your chance to argue on behalf of the Earthers, Clytemnestra."
"Megara speaks the truth." Daphne said, drawing Clytemnestra's attention back to her. "Fighting a war the Earthpeople brought on themselves will deprive us of the means to defend ourselves should the Star Gods decide to turn their full might on us."
A sharp whack on the floor drew everyone's attention to Melina and her walking stick. "Both girls are right." She said. "If we continue in this way we'll never come to a decision. Clytemnestra, we have addressed the question of Earth before and I'm sure we will again, but Daphne is right in that this is not the question before us today. We are here to decide our future after Artemis. Earth may be a part of that future, but it is not our overriding concern. Agreed?"
"Agreed." Clytemnestra and Daphne said in unison, then Clytemnestra said: "Of course, there is no conspiracy in my desire to explore the stars. It is a wish I've harbored since childhood."
"Should we task the governments with funding childhood wishes now?" Daphne said. "Is your daydream worth the expenditure of treasure, material and blood?"
"There's no way to tell without making the expenditure." Clytemnestra said.
"That is not an argument and you know it. The incentive must come first…"
Carter was tempted to turn off the audio pickup in her helmet just to tune out the debate. An hour or so of this and I'm going to drop, she thought. Artemis's attack might almost be welcome. At least Clytemnestra had tried to put in another good word for Earth, but that had gone nowhere, and it was doubtful that even her best Themysciran friend could get her people to traipse around the cosmos for no good reason. So why am I even here? She asked herself. I can't participate in the debate and Clytemnestra knows it. If she has a smoking-gun argument, why not just pull it out already so we can end the debate and get them to safety? Carter was wary. In spite of their friendship she knew from first-hand experience that Clytemnestra was a master manipulator. The only reason there was a Congress at all was because she had arranged it, but why go through the trouble if she couldn't get what she wanted? The most likely answer was that she wouldn't, but how long would it take her to steer the Taskmasters her way?
There was no way to tell, and if she couldn't speak, there was no way for Carter to tell her that she only had a limited amount of time to try.
Artemis, for her part, was just as impatient for different reasons. She had to force herself not to pace, and not to give useless orders to make the ship go faster. She couldn't change the laws of physics, and their arrival was timed so that all her remaining ships would arrive in Themyscira's system at the same time. Still, she was operating on borrowed time. There was only so long that her rear guard forces could hold off Ba'al. If she hadn't brought her treasure world to heel before he pursued her, she would have to flee to the farthest reaches of the galaxy - or beyond - to avoid death or enslavement.
Yet she couldn't appear anxious before her subjects, so she made a show of studying a holographic globe of Themyscira in her pyramid ship's war room. Even this charade only went so far, however, since the cartographic information on which it was based was a little over six centuries old, dating back to the last time she had attempted to subjugate the descendants of her chosen Amazons. Her most recent intelligence on the Themyscirans themselves dated back nearly three centuries, to what historians might say was the start of the planet's Hyperdrive Age. Once the Themyscirans became an interstellar power, their first order of business was a massive counterintelligence effort, one that Artemis had been hard-pressed to penetrate ever since. There were some successes - a few scouts captured here and there - but for the most part what they'd face when they reached the planet would be a mystery until the battle started.
There were a few things she knew she could count on. It was likely that the only thing all the city-states had in common was their desire to defeat her once and for all. The Stargate, as it had been for millennia, would be in the charge of the City of the Blasphemer (she couldn't bring herself to even think its proper name). Their society was such that it was likely that the planet's armed forces would be comprised of almost half of the adult population. And regardless of how their governments were organized, the real power on Themyscira resided in the Taskmasters.
That meant trying to take the entire planet by brute force would be untenable. There simply weren't enough Jaffa in her attack force to do it. A Stargate-borne assault would also be impossible without gaining control of their Stargate facility. That meant her main targets had to be the Stargate and its protectors, and the Taskmasters. The bulk of her forces had to be concentrated on the first two targets, while the rest deployed across the world in an effort to round up the Taskmasters. Protecting them would keep the other cities from coming to the aid of the Stargate's defenders, at least in the first moments of the battle. A few moments. That was how long she'd have to achieve victory and bring her creations into her ranks.
Iphigenia's intelligence data was much more complete and up-to-date. Not only did she know everything Artemis knew, but she knew what Artemis had to do with the information. The focus of her attack would be Arachinopolis, The Taskmasters and the Stargate. Knowing that allowed Iphigenia to predict Artemis's moves and deploy her forces accordingly.
The problem for the General Commander was timing. Once she entered the system, it wouldn't be long at all before Artemis found out that all of her targets were localized in and around the one city. The Taskmaster's Congress made the Star God's job that much easier. Even eighteen motherships didn't hold enough troops to scatter across Themyscira seeking to capture twenty-one specific people out of a hundred million, but if they were all in one room, in a building that would be among the first targets when the motherships achieved orbit, and they wouldn't leave until their business was concluded…
Iphigenia sighed. She'd learned long ago not to let things she couldn't control worry her, and no Taskmaster was controllable, not even her own personal one. But the battle was something she could control, so that's what she would concentrate on.
The first priority was dealing with Artemis's ships. Their hyperspace tracks showed that they would reenter normal space just beyond the edge of the system, in a position that would put the sun between her ships and the planet. This was most likely a feint, designed to draw defending ships out of position and whittle down their numbers before moving on to Themysciran orbit, or throw them off balance while the pyramid ships made a short, straight-path hyperjump to the target world. Iphigenia had to decide whether to take the bait and hope to do some whittling of her own, or simply wait for the Goa'uld fleet in Near Space.
She had enough ships to do either. One of the clauses in the Contract For Mutual Defense required that each city-state build and maintain a number of spaceships of battlecruiser type as a strategic reserve. That meant that Iphigenia had 84 600-foot Hyperdrive-capable warships at her disposal. Though each one had aesthetic features unique to the city-state that built it, they were all roughly the same design and had the same set of weapons: a brace of very large and fast missiles with fusion warheads, electric cannons that fired hundreds of rocket-propelled shells a minute and a massive particle beam weapon mounted under the bow. Several were already in space around the other planets in the system, acting as a quick reaction force. The rest were stationed on the surface near their home cities. The alert Iphigenia had sent out meant that they would be launching soon and would lie in orbit until given new orders. Each city was also able to field scores of fighters and medium attack craft, which would soon fill the skies like high-tech locusts. None of the craft were anywhere near as large as the mountain-sized Ha'taks, but even if every one was lost, their total defeat would cost the Goa'uld dearly.
No matter how her fleet was met, Artemis's first priority after reaching orbit would be capturing the Stargate. To do this she would most likely dedicate a large part of her forces to keeping reinforcements from other cities from reaching Arachinopolis while she attacked. She would be counting on her ability to mount an attack on the Taskmasters to help her in this, by keeping the other armies of Themyscira from straying too far from their homes. Iphigenia knew better, and could send for reinforcements immediately if she wanted, but doing so would give away the location of all the chief educators. Obviously, it wasn't a secret that could be kept forever, but revealing it too soon would allow Artemis to concentrate her forces more effectively, while waiting too long would sap the morale and concentration of her own forces, as everyone's thoughts would be more on the Taskmasters' safety than on defeating their common enemy.
So, when and where to meet Artemis's fleet, and when and where to mass Themyscira's armies in preparation for the ground assault? These were the questions Iphigenia mulled over as she stood in the Stargate Facility's control center and reviewed the Order of Battle of the planet's armed forces. Objectively, she still had plenty of time to figure out the answers. Realistically, her people would be anxious to know what was expected of them, and would certainly want their marching orders sooner rather than later.
Iphigenia felt the same way, and thus it didn't take long at all for her to decide. "Ranger", she said to the technician at the communications console, "connect me to Agaean Space Command."
First, she would take the bait.
In the cities, police departments and civil defense agencies were busy getting the general population to safety. Their efforts were greatly facilitated by laws common to every city that required public and large commercial buildings to include underground emergency shelters in their designs. Those shelters were constructed to withstand various natural disasters like tornados and planetquakes, but they were also well shielded against aerial bombardment and armed incursion. This was especially true of the shelters built under Primary and Secondary schools and day care centers.
Traffic coming from the various suburban areas was turned around and sent home as traffic into the suburbs was expedited. Emergency Alerts provided by the various electronic media advised citizens living there and monitoring the situation to retreat to shelters or make their way to local community shelters, prompting "Stay-At-Home" Themyscirans to head to their home-built shelters or, in the case of those who couldn't afford such things, to head to those of neighbors, designated safe buildings in their localities or their own basements. All the shelters were well stockpiled in preparation for long sieges.
While the populace was being sequestered police hit the streets in force, deploying by precinct and heavily armed and equipped for tactical operations. In this situation common law was clear: the onset of an invasion by Artemis meant that Martial Law was automatically in effect. Any Themysciran out in public and not operating in an official capacity was subject to immediate arrest and would be held in custody until hostilities had ceased. The intent was to keep the combat zone clear so that the planet's armed forces could do their jobs with as little chance of "Friendly Fire" casualties as possible.
The evacuation was fast and efficient, but it was unlikely to be finished before Artemis arrived. The city officials in charge of the various operations around Themyscira hoped that the Regular armed forces would buy them time to finish the job.
Ultimately, Artemis's impatience got the better of her. Minutes before her ship entered the Themysciran system she began pacing after all, stalking the war room like a caged animal, stopping at random intervals only long enough to glance at the monitor that showed Hyperspace outside the ship. She didn't stop for good until she saw that image change to a starfield, accompanied by an announcement from one of her servants. "We have entered the Themysciran system, My Queen."
Artemis turned to watch Atalanta as she went over to the holographic display and changed the projection from the Themysciran globe to a view of local space. "Well?" The Goa'uld said.
"Your ploy worked, My Queen." Atalanta said. "There are six ships lying in wait for us approximately 10 light-seconds away."
"Only six?" Artemis said. "How many in their crews?"
"Unknown." Atalanta said. "Our scans are being jammed. We can only determine the number of ships."
"I'm surprised there aren't more. If they meant to intercept us out here, why would they only send six warships?"
"These ships are much larger than most of the Themysciran ships we've captured. Perhaps these are the only ones they can spare without dangerously depleting their reserve."
"Or maybe they're simply the only ones they have?"
"It is a possibility, Lord."
Artemis was doubtful. They had six centuries and plenty of resources and could only manage to build a handful of starships? She had a hard time believing it. There had to be more waiting for her around Themyscira, or at least somewhere else in the system. Still, she couldn't ignore the ones that were sent. Left alone, they could be used to keep her from retreating if what she faced at the planet became too much to handle. "Launch a squadron of udajeet to attack them. Our ships will assist as soon as they are within range. Have the fleet form up into attack formation and prepare to jump to Themyscira."
Atalanta saluted and began issuing the necessary orders. Soon a flight of twelve Death Gliders emerged from the flagship's flight bay and sped off to confront the Themysciran ships as the eighteen motherships pulled into a tight formation for the final run to the treasure world.
All of this was seen by the six Agaean space cruisers hanging in space 10 light-seconds away, and the actions were a cue for them to mount an attack of their own.
An irony of the Agaean people was that, as an island city, they had almost single-handedly tamed Themyscira's oceans with vast fleets of warships and merchant vessels, yet when it came time to build fleets for space they had rejected the idea of putting people inside their spacecraft. It was an act of defiance for a people that was isolationist at heart, acting in accord with their Themysciran sisters only out of bare necessity, and only to a certain extent.
It was an irony Iphigenia could exploit, because that meant the flight of black, fast cruisers they contributed to the planet's mutual defense were controlled by complex battle computers, which could be controlled remotely from the planet's surface or preprogrammed to execute battle plans in distant parts of space. With the arrival and forming up of Artemis's ships, they executed the one programmed into them at Iphigenia's command. Each ship picked a target at random out of the eighteen motherships available, armed its weapon systems, then calculated intercept courses to the targets.
After that, the six ships powered up their hyperdrives…
"The ships just went into hyperspace!" Atalanta announced.
They must have been scouts! Artemis thought. "Can you track them?" She said. "Are they headed back to Themyscira?" When Atalanta didn't answer immediately, Artemis said "Well?"
The First Prime looked pale when her eyes met her god's. "No…"
The missiles and particle weapons aboard the Agaean cruisers were programmed to fire immediately after the ships emerged from hyperspace, which they did seconds later - inside each of their targets.
Six Goa'uld motherships exploded like small suns, rupturing from the combined internal detonations of enemy fusion warheads and power sources and their own reactor systems. The destroyed ships scattered hundreds of pieces of shrapnel into the battle formation, taxing the shields of the closest ships. The shockwaves of the explosions rattled the entire fleet, forcing the various helmsmen to work hard to keep their positions.
When the shaking died down, Artemis went over to the holographic display to check the disposition of the rest of her forces for herself. What she saw made her understand what had frightened Atalanta, and she turned away immediately to hide her own fear. By sacrificing six powerful ships, the Themyscirans had cut her strike force by a third in a single stroke, but what made Artemis's blood run cold was how close they came to ending the mission outright.
Two of the destroyed ships had been flanking hers.
"Artemis is in the system." Scylla's voice said in Carter's ear. "Iphigenia has begun combat operations against her, but it may be a few minutes before we have a report on her progress. All non-essential personnel in this building have been moved to the emergency shelters. The Special Guard Force is now deployed on each floor and outside around the perimeter, and reinforcements from the Guard Forces in the nearest cities are due to arrive soon. I will keep you advised of the battle's progress for as long as possible." With that, Scylla signed off.
Actually, I could do without the play-by-play, Carter thought. It was becoming almost impossible for her to stand still and just continue to listen to the debate. She wanted to get the Taskmasters to safety and join the battle, but Scylla had still not cleared her to do so, nor told her how she could interrupt the meeting to do anything without creating an interstellar incident. Hearing updates of the action only exacerbated her impatience.
"Enemy fleet emerging from hyperjump." The technician said. Iphigenia looked at the main tactical display and counted the enemy ship markers. 12 ships. It seemed as if her robot assassins had done their job. A small smile came to her lips as she checked the distance indicators. Instead of emerging close to the planet, the ships were standing off at just over 20 light-seconds.
You're not sure of how many ships we have, or of how many we'll throw at you, she thought. Her current deployments were designed to give the Star God a lot to think about. At that moment 58 Themysciran space cruisers were in close orbit around the planet, poised to run directly at the Goa'uld ships and intercept them at point blank range. Of course, these ships had crews, so another suicide attack was out of the question, but with all the ships jamming the enemy's sensors, the opposition had no way of knowing that - at least until the two fleets actually engaged. When the battle was joined, even the 12 motherships still had some advantages over the defense force. To counter it, the remainder of Themyscira's cruiser fleet was divided into groups of ten and hidden from Artemis's scans behind the planet's two small moons. They would execute short hyperjumps designed to get them behind the motherships and catch them between two fires, keeping the demons too busy to invade.
A good plan, but it was necessary for them to actually try to invade for it to work, and they were just sitting there, scanning aimlessly. Iphigenia wondered idly if the people in the ships were contemplating a retreat, but decided that if one of the destroyed ships had been carrying Artemis they'd already be gone. She wouldn't have come all this way just to give up after losing a few ships, so the fact that the fleet had come anyway meant they intended to carry on. They were just trying to decide when.
At last, the ships started launching Death Gliders. Once a hundred of them had been launched they formed up and headed toward the planet. The motherships let them get a good distance away before they followed suit.
Iphigenia watched the display intently as the enemy ships approached. Her main concern was the motherships. That was where the invasion force would be. The fighters were useful mostly for escort duty, and Themyscira's squadrons would make short work of them in the atmosphere.
"Send Force One." Iphigenia said when the motherships were where she wanted them. The technician relayed the order, and a moment later the 58 ships in orbit moved off to intercept the Goa'uld. A few minutes later she said, "Send Force Two." The ships hiding behind the moons made their jumps, emerging in two groups behind the advancing Goa'uld. On cue, Force Two reversed course and began to pursue the enemy, and seconds later the entire Themysciran fleet fired its first salvo. 78 fusion missiles streaked toward the 12 motherships. The missiles slammed into the Goa'uld shields without damaging the ships themselves, but the shields were slightly weakened, and the next salvo was already on the way.
As her fleet closed in and the enemy began to get its range and start to shoot back, Iphigenia noted that the Death Gliders were going to pass the cruisers without engaging. She could only assume they were meant to soften up the planet for the invasion, or at least exact revenge on the populace should the invasion fail. After taking a quick look at another monitor to check the positions of her own fighter forces, Iphigenia said, "When the Gliders reach the outer atmosphere send Intercepts Five, Seven and Thirteen to engage." That would give the defending force almost a two-to-one advantage in numbers over the Jaffa pilots.
Iphigenia allowed herself a moment of satisfaction. She'd wanted to stop the invasion in space and in the sky, and she was on her way to doing just that.
A company of Stargate Watch Force troops was standing watch outside the structure that housed the Stargate. Some were stationed on the roof, but most were hunkered down inside deep foxholes that had been concealed by false patches of grass in the hill the Facility was built into. The company was commanded by a Line Commander - a Themysciran Captain. She was in the largest foxhole, along with Ranger Penelope, Daniel Jackson and Pete Shanahan. Everyone was scanning the skies, looking for Artemis's troop carriers.
Movement in the Southern sky drew Pete's attention. A group of fast-moving aircraft, arranged in three V-formations and stacked at intervals, streaked overhead heading Northeast. They moved so swiftly he had to whip his neck to track them, and the sound of their passing was a half-a-second behind them.
"Were those yours?" Pete asked Penelope when the craft were out of sight.
"Pleiadan, most likely." Penelope said. "Here to give us cover. They tend to be…what's the word, Daniel?"
"'Show-offs?'" Jackson said, deadpan. Penelope smiled and nodded.
"Nice." Pete said, looking back toward where they disappeared.
"Jack said that a lot at the air show." Jackson said.
"Did your people change their minds about buying some of our weapons technology?" Penelope said.
"I'm afraid we're still too 'cash poor' at the moment." Jackson said. "We were hoping to work something else out."
"I could give you one decent weapon right now." Penelope said with a chuckle. She was looking at his pistol.
Jackson gave it a glance before he said, "Oh, this is fine. I just…"
He was interrupted by a series of explosions in the sky, off in the direction the Pleiadan fighters were heading. The fireworks drew everyone's attention.
"Artemis, I presume." Pete said.
Something was wrong. Several Themysciran ships were damaged, but all of them were still holding their own against the Goa'uld ships. All their fusion missiles were expended, but the motherships' shields were down and the Themyscirans were boring in with their particle cannons and electric guns. In the atmosphere, the fighter battle was going just as Iphigenia had predicted. The Death Glider squadrons were being decimated by superior numbers and pilots. The overall battle was going well.
Yet something was wrong, and it finally hit her what it was. The motherships hadn't attempted to launch a single landing craft since they reached the planet, nor had they attempted to ring troops down to the surface. That made no sense. Why would Artemis come all this way and let all her troops die in the fleet action without trying to get at least some of them past the blockade? Or at least mingle a few troop-filled cargo ships in with the Death Gliders and hope they could evade Themyscira's interceptors in the ensuing air battle?
Then it clicked: Who says she didn't?
"Send to the Intercept forces." She said. "'Close on all targets and visually identify! Report all sightings of Star God craft!' And have the Surface Weather tracking stations adjust their scans to pick up small atmospheric disturbances."
As the technician carried out her orders, Iphigenia chided herself for her overconfidence, but soon put it out of her mind. She had pulled off a trick, and so had Artemis. They were matched. From that moment on there would be nothing to do but fight.
Artemis seethed as she looked out over the Themysciran landscape. She was skimming low over it in a cargo ship, being piloted by Atalanta and bringing ten Jaffa along for the ride. She'd managed to prepare a hundred cargo ships in a similar fashion. All of them were equipped with stealth technology, so it was simply a matter of giving the Themyscirans other things to look at while she launched them and sent them to the planet. The Death Gliders had no chance of getting past the planet's defenses and she knew it, but they were perfect for attracting the attention of the Amazons' sensors and drawing off their forces, as were the Ha'Taks.
What angered her was that she had been forced to use her most powerful weapons as decoys just to get some kind of invasion force to the surface. A thousand Jaffa might be a noteworthy contingent on a lesser world. Here, it would be like sending a light brigade against legions. Worse, there would be no reinforcements and no useful fire support, as all of it was currently being ground away by the enemy's air- and spacecraft.
It wouldn't be long before that same enemy firepower was trained on the cargo ships. The vessels were protected from sensor scans, but they weren't invisible. Eventually, to do what Artemis needed them to do, they would have to put themselves in a position to be seen. After that, it would take little time for ground observers to guide in defending fighters. That was why the invaders dispersed once they were in the atmosphere. Artemis had altered her plans. They now had no choice but to concentrate solely on Arachinopolis and the Stargate. Half the force would be dedicated to each target, with the cargo ships converging on them from several directions at treetop level. Artemis was with the Arachinopolis force, which would engage in "Coercive Warfare" - what the Tau'Ri called "Terrorism" - in an effort to draw out the city's leaders, especially the Taskmaster. She didn't expect all the ships to reach their targets, but their flight paths guaranteed at least some would make it. The problem was she wouldn't know how many made it until the attack was underway. The Goa'uld assault force was operating under strict radio silence.
"We're almost there." Atalanta said. Artemis looked out the forward windscreen. She could see a city on the horizon, closing fast. They had just entered the Southern end of the valley the city was seated in. Artemis's eyes started scanning the sky around the valley, looking for the other ships in the attack force. A flash and a ball of fire off to the East caught her eye, then another one further North a second later.
"Faster!" She commanded, eyes flashing. The Themyscirans were no longer distracted.
"It's time." Scylla's voice said. She had just given Carter and Sarah and update on the battle. "We need to prepare the Taskmasters for evacuation. Samantha, it's up to you. Find a way to get Clytemnestra's attention. Remember: Do not speak. Just get her attention. She will take care of the rest."
Carter sighed. It's always a puzzle with them, she thought as she scanned the Senate Floor with her eyes. The sedate discussion had degenerated into a verbal free-for-all. No one was shouting and they hadn't come to blows - yet - but the arguments being exchanged were numerous and passionate. Several Taskmasters had joined Clytemnestra and Daphne on the floor, mainly taking positions in defense of one or the other of the two youngest Taskmasters. Most of the seated Taskmasters made themselves heard from the bleachers at random intervals. Only Melina was silent, content to listen to the ongoing debate and confident that should she desire to be heard, she would be.
Carter frowned when she picked Clytemnestra out of the jumble of debating educators. The City of Arachne's Taskmaster was facing the other direction and partially obscured from Carter's view by the much taller Megara. That meant Carter's first idea - a slight hand or head gesture that would catch Clytemnestra's eye - wouldn't work, at least until Clytemnestra turned around. The problem was Scylla didn't really indicate whether she had time to wait for that. She had no choice but to assume that when Scylla said it was time, she meant Right Now.
So, how could she get Clytemnestra's attention right now without calling out? She was surprised when the answer came to her after a few seconds, but also worried that taking the action would cause more harm than good. Still, there didn't seem to be any other choice.
With her mind made up, she came to attention.
As expected, Sarah and the other guardians followed suit, and the sound of 42 pairs of feet coming together above their heads was enough to end the Taskmaster's discussion and cause them to look up. Naturally, each Taskmaster looked toward her own pair of guards, and Carter was gratified when she saw Clytemnestra's eyes resting on her.
"It appears our guardians require our attention." Melina said.
"Or more accurately," Daphne said as her gaze fell on Carter as well, "Clytemnestra's guardians require our attention."
"Perhaps we should take a break…" Clytemnestra began, hoping to draw everyone's attention to herself.
Daphne wouldn't bite. "Let us at least see if a break is really needed." She said, then stepped out of the crowd so Carter could see her clearly. She then looked up into Carter's obscured face and called out: "Well, Guardian? What do you have to say for yourself?"
Carter swallowed as she noticed that now all the Taskmasters' eyes were on her. Oops…
"Speak up!" Daphne said. "You must want to say something or you would not have risked offending us this way. What is it?"
Carter closed her eyes and put out of her mind all the various ways this situation could blow up in her face while trying to figure out how to brazen her way through it. Could she fake Themysciran well enough to keep up the charade?
When she didn't answer right away, Daphne shook her head and smiled up at her. "Really, Samantha," she said in English, "you might as well just tell us. It's not as if you and your friend were fooling anybody anyway."
Carter's eyes opened and her jaw dropped as she looked at Daphne. She then shared a quick glance with Sarah, who looked just as surprised as she felt. When she turned her gaze back to the Senate Floor, all the Taskmasters were smiling up at her, including Clytemnestra.
Carter took off her helmet and spoke as she approached the railing. "You knew all along?"
Daphne nodded. A few Taskmasters chuckled. Clytemnestra offered an innocent shrug.
Carter took a moment to chide herself for forgetting the main reason these women were Taskmasters (none of them were stupid) before making her report. "Artemis is here. Your spaceships are holding hers at bay in orbit, but she managed to get several transports past your fighters. They're being tracked down and intercepted, but some may get through. Scylla thinks we should get ready to move all of you to safety."
"Then tell Scylla we're ready." Clytemnestra said. "She'll let you know what to do."
Carter nodded and put back on her helmet, then touched a contact on the side and said, "Scylla, it's Carter."
"You're talking." Scylla answered. "I take it our ruse wasn't successful?"
"It wasn't much of a ruse, apparently. We're ready to go in here. Clytemnestra said you'd tell me what to do next."
"The other Special Guards are yours to command for the duration of hostilities. Those who don't speak English have translators as well, so there will be no problem giving commands in your own language. Look along the wall to your left. See the part of the mural where the family is on a picnic?"
"Yes."
"Hidden in that part of the wall is an entrance to an emergency staircase. Take the Taskmasters all the way down to the sub-basement. There's a shelter set aside for them there. Report to me when they're safe."
"I will." Carter said, then closed the contact and turned to the Taskmasters. "We're going to the sub-basement. She told me to take charge of the Special Guards."
"That is your task as host guardian." Daphne said, still smiling. Clytemnestra nudged her, causing them both to giggle.
Carter ignored them and addressed the four Guards to her right. "You two, and you two, will take the lead."
"As you command." The Guard next to her, one of the Thetans, said.
She addressed the four Guards to Sarah's left. "You four will bring up the rear."
"As you command." The Guard next to Sarah, an Agaean, said.
Carter addressed everyone else. "We'll go out in a single line. The rest of the Guards will intersperse themselves among the Taskmasters to keep them from presenting too big a target. We'll move at a brisk march and keep spread out."
"Then let's get started." Clytemnestra said. With that, Carter and the others made their way down from the balcony. As they walked, Sarah got close.
"We're 150 flights up!" She whispered as forcefully as she could managed. "We're going to walk all of these people all the way to a sub-basement? What about the lifts? Or ring transports?"
"Elevators can lose power and ring beams can be intercepted." Carter whispered back. "Until we know where Artemis is and what she's still capable of we can't risk it." She linked to Scylla again and spoke in a normal voice. "It's Carter. Is there some kind of trick to opening the entrance?"
"It's a simple catch," Scylla said, "but it's hidden. It's under the molding under the center of the image."
"Got it." Carter said and signed off as she descended the balcony stairs. When she got to the bottom she walked straight over to the part of the mural Scylla described. It might have been Rockwellian if it weren't for the subject matter. It was a picnic scene, but it starred the Themysciran version of a nuclear family: two adult women, two adolescent girls and a baby. One woman was holding the baby in her arms while sitting with one of the girls on the picnic blanket, and they watched as the other adult threw a discus to the other girl. Carter supposed that the woman on the blanket was the Defender and the standing woman was the Conqueror, but decided she could wait to find out if her guess was right. There would be time for art appreciation later.
The molding that ran along the bottom of the mural came to just under waist-high on Carter. She ran her fingers along the bottom until she felt part of it give way a bit under pressure. She pushed that part in all the way and felt the entire section of wall give. She pushed against the mural until it opened wide and revealed a large stairwell and a wide set of stairs.
"Okay, let's g…" Carter said as she turned around. She was struck dumb by the sight of the Taskmasters taking out weapons that had been hidden in their robes. The arms ranged from small Derringer-type handguns to various blades. Clytemnestra herself was brandishing a slim dagger.
"Wait…you're all armed?" Carter said.
"All of you could die." Clytemnestra said with a shrug. "Then where would we be?"
Carter and Sarah glanced at each other, then Sarah just shook her head and smiled as Carter motioned to the guardians she wanted to take the lead. As they entered the stairwell she got the Taskmasters and the middle guardians moving. As Melina passed them Sarah and Carter noticed she wasn't carrying a gun or knife.
"No weapon for you, Mum?" Sarah said.
Melina raised her walking stick. "The core of my stick is solid iron," she said, "and the headpiece is polished steel. It will be weapon enough when the time comes."
Sarah grinned as Melina continued on her way and Carter kept everyone moving. The two Earthwomen went in with Clytemnestra, and Carter's rear guard closed the wall behind them as they entered the stairwell.
When everyone was ready, the group moved as one down the stairs.
There were several explosions in the sky around the Stargate Facility, preceded by rays of light and streaks of smoke and followed by streaks of fire streaming to the ground. Penelope had told Pete and Jackson that those were likely Artemis's cargo ships being shot down by nearby fighters. The Themyscirans all had their battle helmets on and were scanning the woods surrounding the hill with their gunsights. There was no telling how many ships would break through the air cover and deposit their cargoes of troops, but it was most likely they'd deposit the Jaffa in the thicket, from which they'd hope to catch the defenders off-guard. Jackson and Pete scanned the woods as well, but Pete couldn't help being distracted by the explosions, especially since he realized that they were getting closer.
"Some are gonna get through." He whispered to Jackson.
"Some always do." Jackson said. His answer was punctuated by a very close explosion to their front. Pete and Jackson were drawn to it in time to see parts of the Tel'tak raining into the woods.
"Ring beam!" Penelope said.
"What's that mean?" Pete said.
"That one managed to offload some troops before it blew up." Jackson said.
Several very close hits followed. Two more cargo ships were blown to smithereens, one was dealt a glancing blow and sent spiraling into the woods. The explosive crash and resultant fire drew some but not all attention away from three ships that made it almost to the treeline on different sides of the hill. They all managed to beam troops down in the seconds before they too were destroyed.
"This is it!" Jackson said as the Line Commander starting giving orders over the radio.
"They'll try to use the treeline for cover," Penelope said, "and try to reduce our numbers before they storm the temple."
As everyone began sighting in on the treeline, Pete leaned over to Jackson and said in a low voice: "You guys go through this all the time?"
"Not all the time." Jackson said. "Just more frequently than we'd like."
"I can guess Sam's salary, but how much do they pay you for this?"
"Oh, the job is its own reward."
"That much, huh?" Pete said. It was their last light moment.
Artemis couldn't help but stare wide-eyed out of the front windscreen as Atalanta's brilliant flying kept her ship from being blown out of the sky. Getting to the edge of the city meant that the fighters above them wouldn't risk raining missiles or beams down on them - stray shots would destroy a significant part of Arachinopolis - but the defenders on the ground didn't seem to have similar worries. They filled the air as best they could with beams, shoulder-fired missiles and high-explosive bullets, trying to create a wall of flak that would force the ship to either climb into the fighters' kill zone or weave madly around the city's skyscrapers and pray fate was on their side. Atalanta had apparently chosen option "B". Artemis got the closest look at the cityscape that she'd seen in centuries as each building seemed a second or two away from slamming into them.
"We're almost there!" Atalanta said. They were just a few blocks away from the center of the city and its tallest building. If the Arachinopolans had held to tradition this would be the latest version of their capital building. It was also likely to be surrounded by the greatest concentration of anti-aircraft defenses.
"We'll have to circle, try to find a less well defended spot to land and deploy the Jaffa." Artemis said as she sat down to work the optical sensors. A holographic image of the part of the building they could see came up in front of her, and she zoomed in on it. Sure enough, there were Special Guards standing in every window that could be seen, plus a host of them on the rooftop, with several carrying heavy weapons and presumably waiting for a clear shot at the Goa'uld attacker. There was no way they could…
Something was odd. She refocused the image. One other thing she knew she could count on was that the planet's Special Guards were easily identifiable, since they and their charges all wore clothing that had changed little in hundreds of years. And that was the odd thing. Though Arachinopolan Special Guards were prevalent, there seemed to be guards from Pleiados, Aegea and Thetis among them. She couldn't believe that those other guards would be deployed outside their own cities in the midst of an attack, unless their Taskmasters were in Arachinopolis, but why would they leave their cities at a time like ---
Of course!
The Goa'uld hoped the ship was close enough to the building for the electromagnetic sensors to burn through the Themyscirans' jamming. She ramped them up to full power and turned them on the structure, scanning all around the exposed area. There were still mostly guardians all over, but one set of readings deep inside the building looked promising. She'd have to break radio silence to know for sure, but if she were right, she might still salvage this operation.
Her decision made, she reached for the communications controls…
They were making better time than she expected, but secretly Carter agreed with Sarah. It just might have been more prudent to use the elevator or transport rings. Certainly it would have been faster. Still, the Themyscirans' emergency procedures existed for a reason, Carter knew them, and she was willing to trust her hosts' judgment. After all, they didn't seem to be worried about their progress. The guardians were descending the stairs at a brisk but reasonable pace, and even the oldest Taskmasters didn't seem to have much of a problem keeping up. It was just that Carter couldn't shake the feeling that the other shoe was about to fall on their heads.
And it did, a second after her foot hit the landing for the 138th floor.
The stairwell was suddenly filled with a searing white light, which forced everyone on the stairs to shield their eyes. When it receded it was replaced by the over-sized visage of a woman's head and shoulders, hovering just above the center of their line. She was bronze-skinned, with close-cropped, wavy black hair, and enough of her clothing was visible for them to see she was dressed similar to the Special Guards, only without a helmet. The whole image was ghostly and surrounded by a halo of light, but the most telling feature of all was the amber glow of her eyes.
"You are the Taskmasters?" Her Goa'uld voice boomed.
Clytemnestra stepped away from Carter and Sarah and into the clear so she could answer. "We are!"
The disembodied head turned to look directly at her. "Know this: I am ARTEMIS, your GOD! Command your forces to stand down and serve me in my war against the Usurper God Ba'al!"
"And if we should refuse, Star God?" Clytemnestra said.
"Then I shall lay waste to your cities, and you and those you love will know everlasting torment!"
"Even our children? Surely you wouldn't harm children?"
"I created this world! Everyone and everything in it is mine, to do with as I please!"
After that, Clytemnestra made a show of being thoughtful. "I see. Well, if that's true, then why do you need us to command our forces to do anything? You command them to submit to your will. Start with these guardians. Command them to kill us where we stand and then bow to you."
Artemis simply glared at Clytemnestra with glowing eyes. After a few seconds of silence, some of the other Taskmasters chuckled softly, while the body language of the Special Guards spoke volumes about where they'd tell Artemis to go if given such an order.
"It's hard for you, isn't it, watching your empire being destroyed from inside and out and being powerless to stop it." Clytemnestra said, in a tone so patronizing she couldn't hope to disguise it. She didn't really try. "I will not pretend to sympathize, but as you are attacking my city I am in a position to grant you mercy. Therefore, I make this offer: If you surrender, unconditionally, to the first Warriors of Arachne you encounter face-to-face, I will command those warriors to spare your life and take you into custody. Then, when we are finished defeating your followers, we will find a way to separate you from your host body without killing either of you, and then keep you safe from 'The Usurper God' until such time as we can contact a friendly Star God to turn you over to…assuming there are any Star Gods that fit the definition of 'Friendly'." With that she looked around. "Do you agree, sisters?"
"Agreed!" Said all the Taskmasters within earshot.
Clytemnestra turned back to Artemis. "Do you agree, God of Themyscira?"
Now Artemis's eyes glowed so brightly it seemed they would burn their way out of her head, and the Goa'uld's face was twisted in rage, as if she were barely succeeding in holding back a primal scream. Finally, Artemis simply cut the connection, making the holographic image disappear.
Clytemnestra continued to look at the spot where the image had been for a moment, then turned to Carter and said: "We should continue."
Speechless, Carter could do nothing else but signal ahead for the party to continue their descent. As they walked, Sarah found her voice.
"Forgive my impertinence, Clytemnestra, but is it actually wise to taunt an obviously desperate Goa'uld so?"
"As with any action, it depends on the circumstance." Clytemnestra said. "In this instance, I think it is very wise."
"But I'm sure she's more than willing to carry out her threats."
Clytemnestra smiled. "I'm sure she's willing to try." Then her smile faded as she turned to face Sarah. "I'm sorry if I sound unconcerned. I am concerned. We all are, but we also know that we've prepared for everything Artemis might do, because she's done it so many times before. The Star Gods are creatures of habit."
"Then do you really think she'll surrender?"
A pause. "We'll see."
Artemis was not as sanguine. "We must get into that building now!"
The shouted command startled Atalanta, distracting her and almost making her fly into a Stormbow blast. She recovered with a split-second to spare, and she spent it trying to find a large building for cover while trying to discern if her god had gone insane. The building she wanted to get into was now protected by a nearly solid wall of anti-aircraft fire. The Goa'uld's communication had apparently made the guardians protecting the building decide against waiting for a clear target and instead simply wait for the tel'tak to fly to its certain doom. "My Queen," she began, "if I may…"
"They're in there!" Artemis screamed. "The Taskmasters are all in there! We must attack now, before they can reach shelter! They must be mine!" Especially the Arachinopolan! She thought.
Atalanta tried again, doing her best to keep her tone reverent and her words measured, even as she dodged more fire. "My Queen, if we were to attempt to land on or near that building I'm afraid we would only survive by Your Good Grace. I fear my flying skills are not up to the task."
Artemis grew livid. She knew deep down she could barely guarantee her own survival, much less extend her "grace" to the entire ship. "Then use the transport rings!" She screamed. "Beam our troops in, or beam as many of them as you can aboard this ship!"
Atalanta spared a moment to look at Artemis's readings. "I'm afraid the rings will not work properly in that stairwell." She said, just before she lurched the ship out of the path of several rocket-propelled rounds.
This time Artemis did let out a primal scream, and the ribbon device she wore on her right hand glowed in time with it. The Goa'uld raised it to Atalanta's temple, but reason prevailed at the last second and she swung her hand around and unleashed her rage on one of the Jaffa behind them, killing him and throwing him into three others.
When her rage subsided, the ribbon device stopped glowing and Artemis moved her mouth to Atalanta's ear.
"Then find another way." She growled through clenched teeth. "We must have them."
"As you wish, Lord." Atalanta said.
Sporadic staff weapon fire lashed out at the hill from the tree line. The Jaffa assaulting the Stargate Facility were working double-time to surround the hill while using the trees to dodge return fire from the Stargate Watch Force. It was turning out just the way Penelope had said. They were trying to whittle down the defenders' numbers before making their final push. Pete saw that it was a long shot at best. The Themyscirans had excellent defensive positions, the high ground, and could generate a much greater volume of fire (their weapons sounded like Vulcan Cannons when fired, and the rounds they fired left the barrel so fast they scorched the air) and from what he'd been told about the Gould cargo ships the ones that managed to get troops into the forest couldn't possibly have dropped off that many. All that, and the fire that was rapidly spreading throughout the woods, meant that the bad guys were looking at a classic SNAFU. It was Custer's Last Stand, and the Amazons were the Indians.
So Pete was relatively sure that the Stargate would be safe, but that wasn't his only worry, and when both he and Penelope ducked back into the foxhole at one point to reload, he let her know what he was thinking. "I don't think they're going to get near the temple!" He called out over the din.
"I agree!" Penelope called back.
"So what if they figure it out, too? Do you think they'll try to get to the city?"
"It's a long way on foot, and they'd be hunted all the way!" With that, they both rose up and resumed firing as Jackson and the Line Commander reloaded.
When they ducked again to dodge staff blasts, Pete continued. "Suppose they get lucky? Could they get past the city's defenses on foot?"
"Nothing can get past the city's defenses!" They rose up to fire again, emptying their clips into the treeline. There was the satisfying sight of two silhouetted figures falling to the ground just behind the nearest trees just before they ducked down again.
"How can you be sure?" Pete asked.
"The city defends itself!" Penelope said.
"What the hell does that mean?"
Atalanta had to contact the other cargo ships in the invasion force to put her plan into action. That was when she found out that, aside from her own ship, only three others had made it inside the city limits. She recalled two from their assignment to assist her in the attack on the government building. The third had been damaged and could barely maneuver, but was close enough to its target that it could continue its original mission even if it crashed, so Atalanta ordered it to carry on.
The Jaffa piloting the cargo ship had little choice in the matter. His aircraft was already plummeting toward the ground, and it was all he could do to keep it on something resembling a proper landing approach. If his group survived, they would be about a block away from their goal.
"Brace yourselves!" He called out to his companions, just seconds before the ship slammed into the pavement of a suburban street. It sparked and plowed up blacktop as it skidded to a stop right in front of someone's driveway.
"Out! Out!" The Jaffa yelled, and the group - battered and bruised, but all still alive - rushed out of the tel'tak. From the outside they could see that smoke and fire were coming from the various places the ship had been hit. It hadn't blown up yet, but they didn't want to be around when it did.
"This way." The Jaffa pilot said, taking charge of the group. The ten Artemis Warriors broke into a dead run. At that speed it took little time for them to reach their destination.
Artemis's orders to all the Jaffa teams had been specific: Once inside the city limits, find the nearest school or nursery or child care facility, enter, take the people inside prisoner and await further instructions. The hope was that, since they would be attacking when it was day in Arachinopolis, there wouldn't be enough time for the facilities' masters to send all the children to their respective homes. That would mean a multitude of hostages were waiting to be taken as they sought shelter in basements. They would be used as leverage to make the city's Taskmaster surrender and turn over the Stargate. Fortunately for his team, the Jaffa leader had seen just such a facility just before their ship was hit. Unfortunately, it also meant that it wouldn't be long before Amazon Warriors would be sent to where the ship went down and they figured out where the invaders went from there.
According to the lettering on the outer walls, the Jaffa soon entered the grounds of the Thermodon River Academy for Young Women. The Jaffa headed straight for the main entrance of the modern, three-story building. A staff blast sufficed to blow the mostly-glass, locked front doors inward. The Jaffa rushed in and made their way through the halls.
"It's deserted!" One of them said.
"It is as Artemis predicted." The leader said. "We must find the entrance to the shelter. In a school such a thing will be clearly marked."
Sure enough, after a few minutes walking the halls of the main floor, they came across a door labeled "To Emergency Shelter". The sign it was written on also had the typical instructions necessary to keep children orderly in the event of an evacuation. The Jaffa leader tried the door and found it unlocked. It opened up on a dark staircase. They descended it at a quick march, and at the bottom found themselves a couple of yards away from another door. This one was solid, made of a tough alloy, and there was no obvious way to open it from the outside. A staff blast demonstrated that it was blast-shielded as well.
The Jaffa came prepared for this. One of them removed a substance from his armor, a block of putty about the size of a small book. It was derived from a Tau'Ri invention, White Phosphorous. When activated by a staff blast, the substance would burn through anything, even blast-shielded doors.
The Jaffa molded the putty around the edges of the door, then they stood as far back as they could on the landing as they fired at the corners of the door. The putty glowed white-hot and sizzled as it burned through the metal. An acrid, dark smoke filled the space as it worked. The Jaffa bent low to avoid choking on it as it rose.
When they heard the door creak and groan as it started to shift, the Jaffa leader ran up and kicked it hard again and again. On the fourth kick the door fell inward, landing with a loud thud on the floor beyond. The Jaffa ran in and found themselves in a wide hallway. There was yet another blast door at the far end, and standing in front of it were about thirty women, ranging in age from about forty to about seventeen. The Jaffa leader reasoned that the rest of the students and instructors were behind the other door, and this group of Themyscirans was meant to be some kind of guard.
He smirked as he brought his staff weapon to bear and advanced. "You are now the prisoners of the Mighty Artemis!" He called out.
His smirk disappeared as each of the women drew a handgun from her clothing.
The sight stopped the Jaffa in their tracks, giving the Themysciran teachers and senior students the opening they needed. They all opened fire, aiming for the brands of Artemis on the Jaffa's foreheads.
"Everybody in the city carries a weapon?" Pete said, astonished.
"Everyone is trained to properly handle firearms and edged weapons as adolescents," Penelope said, "and they're available to anyone who can afford them! And everyone is trained in unarmed combat from the time they can walk!" She was about to pop up and resume firing again, but Pete stopped her.
"But that would turn the whole place into an armed gauntlet!" He said. There were few things he could think of that were more frightening.
Penelope looked at him as if he were a particularly slow child. "Of course it would! What is it about being a Defender you do not yet understand, Enforcer?"
Atalanta scanned the skies as she flew. She was waiting for the two cargo ships she had summoned. They soon appeared, barreling toward the government building from different directions. Both ships were trailing smoke from anti-aircraft hits they'd suffered in transit, but they showed no signs of deviating from their course: they were headed straight at the top of the building. The guardians on the roof and the surrounding streets and rooftops saw this as well, and concentrated the bulk of their fire on the two new inbounds, taking some of the heat off Atalanta's ship.
The First Prime of Artemis wasted no time. She gunned the engines of the cargo ship and pointed it straight at the windows of the top floor. She was halfway to the building by the time the other cargo ships were destroyed. "Get ready!" She called behind her as the defenders resumed fire on her tel'tak. Crowded onto the ring platform were Artemis and six Jaffa.
Atalanta tried her best to keep the shields up and the ship flying as it started taking hits. When she got close enough to the windows to make out the individual helmets of the guards with her own eyes she hit the control for the rings. She could hear the rings going through the transport cycle just before a shoulder-fired missile hit a critical part of the ship. Atalanta's service to Artemis ended in a flash of light, accompanying an explosion she never heard.
The rings came down in the Hall of Arachne Senate Chamber, right on top of the city's standard. They deposited the Goa'uld and Jaffa and disappeared. The Jaffa immediately brought their staff weapons to bear and spread out. "The staircase starts here," Artemis said, "somewhere behind these walls!"
The Jaffa weren't going to be subtle about it. They immediately started blasting at the walls, destroying the murals but only damaging the thick building materials they were painted on. They kept firing at the damaged portions, hoping to burrow a hole into the wall that led to the stairwell.
"It's Scylla." Carter heard in her ear. "Artemis and her Jaffa are in the Senate Chamber."
"I can hear them from here!" Carter said. "How many are there?"
"Just six." Scylla said. "All the other Jaffa that made it to the planet are either dead or otherwise engaged."
"Is there any way they can ambush us on the stairs?"
"There isn't, but in any case I'm sending a platoon of warriors into the stairs from the sub-basement level to support you."
It was all Carter needed to hear. "Thank you, Scylla." She switched off and addressed Clytemnestra. "I want you and the other Taskmasters to go ahead as fast as you can. Follow the lead guardians down to the shelter. Scylla will have reinforcements waiting."
"What about you?" Sarah said.
"Artemis is going to come after us from the Senate Chamber. I'm going to take the rest of the Special Guards and stop her, for good if I can. You don't have to come, Sarah."
"I know what I said before we left Earth," Sarah said, "but, under these circumstances, I believe I'll join you." She smiled at Clytemnestra, and the young Taskmaster smiled back.
"That's the plan, then." Carter said, then got on the radio to inform the rest of the guards.
"It's here!" A Jaffa called out. He'd blown a hole straight through the picnic mural and could see a staircase through the dust. His fellow Jaffa joined him at that part of the wall. One of them attached more of the burning putty to it, then they stood back as he activated it with a staff blast. It expanded the hole as it sank down to the floor, and the Jaffa expanded it further by shooting around the hole's edges.
"I've also got a platoon moving to the Senate Chamber on that floor." Scylla said. "They'll come in through the main doors. It should drive Artemis right to you."
"That's good to hear, Scylla." Carter said, hoping she didn't sound too winded. She and her force were heading back up the stairs at a run. She didn't know how they managed not to look as tired as she felt, running up several flights of stairs in full armor. It was just one more thing to admire about them.
Just about the time the hole got big enough for people to step through the Senate Chamber's doors flew open. Artemis touched a control on her wrist gauntlet, activating her personal shield as the Arachinopolan Special Guards who'd just entered opened fire. Two of her Jaffa managed to dodge the Stormbow blasts aimed at them. The other four went down in heaps. Artemis stopped the others from returning fire. "No! Into the stairwell! After the Taskmasters!"
The Jaffa obeyed, ducking into the wall before the Amazons could get a clear shot at them. Artemis was right behind them, Stormbow blasts bouncing harmlessly off her shield. Once inside she saw that her Jaffa were already halfway down the first set of stairs. She tried to keep up with them, but they were around the first corner before she could reach them. She followed them down flight after flight of stairs, watching them as they made each turn.
Eventually it was one turn too many.
A flash of light and two Stormbow beams threw her last Jaffa back into her line of sight. They collided with one of the walls of the stairwell before coming to rest on the landing. Only when she saw them lying there did the sound of armored boots coming from both above and below register in her ears. Soon she would be boxed in.
It left a bitter taste in her mouth, but, while she had delusional followers, she knew perfectly well when a cause was lost. With that thought in mind, Artemis touched another control on her gauntlet and was transported away.
"We lost her!" Carter's voice said in Scylla's ear. She could sense the Earthwoman's frustration. "She must have used some kind of personal transporter!"
"Star Gods are creatures of habit." Scylla said. "I'm not surprised at all. Turn around and make your way down to the sub-basement level."
"What about Artemis?"
Scylla smiled. "Artemis will be dealt with."
With all her ships destroyed or being destroyed, the only way for Artemis to get off the planet was the Stargate. That was why she rematerialized inside the temple that held it. She saw the device sitting in the center of the room, just waiting to be used, but there seemed to be no dialing device. No matter. There was a control on her gauntlet, and her host was strong. If need be, she could enter the coordinates by turning the bevel herself. She hesitated a moment to listen to the sound of weapons fire coming from outside the temple and wondered idly how many of her warriors were wasting their lives trying to enter a facility she'd already breached.
When she turned her attention back to the Stargate, she was frozen in place. When she first arrived the temple had been completely empty save for the Stargate, but now, standing behind the device, were twenty-two Arachinopolan Regulars in battle armor, and several of them were carrying very large weapons. And all their weapons were aimed right at her.
It was a moment Scout Commander Hestia had been waiting for all her life. Every platoon in the SGWF's Special Weapons Command did a regular watch behind the temple's camouflaging force field, waiting to catch an enemy either emerging from the Stargate or trying to escape through it unawares. While the Special Weapons Command had been organized specifically to deal with any Star God that walked into the trap, few of its members really believed they'd see it happen.
And now here was Artemis! Hestia and her platoon would be sung about for generations!
By the time Artemis got over her surprise and reached for the Stargate control it was too late. "Ray Team, fire!"
Four of the soldiers carrying the big weapons fired. They were shooting shoulder-fired particle beams. The beams lifted Artemis off her feet and slammed her against the opposite wall. The weapons fired continuously, pouring energy into Artemis's shield in an effort to overload it. As she was pinned the platoon advanced, approaching around either side of the Stargate and regrouping in front of the ramp that led to it. Now, even if Artemis opened the gate, she'd have to go through them to it. Just to emphasize the point, all but four of the remaining soldiers opened up with combat rifles, pouring rounds into the shield and further weakening it.
Artemis knew it would only be a matter of time before her shield collapsed. Her first urge was to transport out of the temple, but there was nowhere else for her to go. If she stayed on Themyscira she'd be hunted down and destroyed, but the only way off that was readily available was the Stargate.
Soon the shield started to contract around her, meaning the device was starting to shut down. With a scream she extended her hand and willed her ribbon device to full power, then threw the soldiers with the beam weapons as far as she could.
As she watched her people fly over her head, Hestia called out "Shock Team, fire!"
The four soldiers who hadn't fired yet let loose with their weapons, grenade launchers. Four high-explosive, shaped-charge shells pounded Artemis into the temple wall so hard she left a crater. Not even her shield could completely protect her from effects of the explosions. She slumped to the floor, too dazed to operate the ribbon device, and it went dormant on her hand. As she sat there, two of the unhurt soldiers recovered beam weapons from their comrades, and the particle beam assault began anew.
Artemis came back to her senses just in time to see the shield shrink even faster while it sparkled and glowed in its efforts to deflect the assault. Now it would collapse no matter what happened. She couldn't get away, and soon she would be at these soldiers' mercy.
"No!" Artemis cried. "NO! I surrender! I surrender!"
"Hold!" Hestia called out. The soldiers stopped shooting, but kept their weapons trained on her.
"I surrender," Artemis repeated, "unconditionally." When the soldiers just looked at her, she said "Your Taskmaster said I was to be spared if I surrendered myself to you unconditionally!" Her shield picked that moment to give out completely. She now had no choice but to hope that the Arachinopolan was as good as her word. "Your Taskmaster commands it!"
"Are you hearing this, Cly?" Iphigenia said. She was monitoring the situation in the temple from the Stargate Control Center. Clytemnestra, meanwhile, was monitoring it as well, with a helmet she'd borrowed from a Special Guard.
"I certainly am." The Taskmaster said to the General Commander. "Would you pass on a message for me?"
"Hestia here." The Scout Commander said as she touched her helmet. Artemis watched as the soldier listened to someone else. After a moment the soldier addressed her.
"I have just heard from My Taskmaster, Star God." Hestia said, a huge grin on her face. "She has a message for you. I quote: 'You were supposed to surrender to the first Warriors of Arachne you faced. These soldiers'" - she indicated herself and her platoon - "'are not the first.'"
The Goa'uld's jaw dropped as she contemplated the Taskmasters words, as well as the commander's laughter. By the time she could fully grasp what they meant, her fate had been sealed.
"Shock Team," Hestia said, "Fire."
"Now that explosion definitely came from inside the building!" Pete called out as he turned to look back at the temple.
"They both did!" Penelope called out, her attention still on the treeline.
"Did they get past us?" Jackson asked. His answer would come from the Line Commander.
"Hold Fire!" She called out on the radio. "Hold Fire and stay down!"
The company surrounding the Stargate Facility quickly obeyed, ceasing fire and hunkering down. Soon there was nothing in the air but staff weapon fire, and not much of that.
This, too, would change. A second later, a booming, disembodied voice bellowed out "Jaffa, KREE!"
With that the staff weapon fire was quieted as well. At first it seemed to Jackson as if Artemis herself had called out to them, that she might have reached a cease-fire agreement with the Themyscirans, but then he realized the voice was Iphigenia's. What shocked him next was that when she continued after the lull in fighting, she was speaking in perfect Goa'uld.
"Your God Is DEAD! If you do not wish to join her in the next life you will throw your weapons out and surrender to the nearest Themysciran forces. If you do wish to join her…that can be arranged."
On cue, the sky around the Stargate Facility was suddenly filled with medium attack craft, now freed from their low-orbit guard duty with the destruction of the last of Artemis's motherships. Their weapons were trained on the forest area, ready to incinerate the woods on Iphigenia's command.
"Firing Position." The Line Commander ordered. The company popped out of its foxholes and trained its weapons on the treeline, still holding fire. The Jaffa didn't have very long to answer. Soon Iphigenia would give the order to raze the forest.
Less than a minute passed before something happened. Jackson and Pete watched with everyone else as a pair of staff weapons and a zat'n'ktel were tossed out of the trees onto the open ground. Though they couldn't see it from their position, something similar happened to their left and on the other side of the hill. In all, eight Jaffa, the only ones that survived the deployment and initial assault on the hill, walked out of the trees with their hands above their heads.
"What did she say?" Pete said.
"Short version?" Jackson said, smiling. "We win, they lose."