--- --- The Price Of Victory --- ---

"Jack!"

Her voice sounded hollow, even to her own ears, as she watched his body go into convulsions under her hands. The former dull glow of the chair was now flared to brilliance and the buzzing sound of energy filled the room. Suddenly, a beam shot out from the chair, like a wave, radiating in circles around the machine. Sam was only peripherally aware of Indra behind her, letting out a fearful scream before the full impact of the wave hit her and her body disintegrated.

All of Sam's concentration was narrowed on the man in the chair. The shaking stopped slowly until his form eventually stilled. Fear rose inside of her as she watched the shallow intake of breath.

"Jack, don't leave me. Listen to me, Jack. Don't."

His head moved slightly while his lids fluttered and finally slid open, revealing weary brown eyes. The eyes focused on her and his mouth started moving.

"Sam."

It was more lip-reading than actual hearing that told her what he was saying. His voice was so weak. More shivers ran down her spine as she reached for his hand.

"I'm here, Jack."

His hand squeezed her hand slightly and she took it in both of hers, rubbing it to warm his cold fingers.

"Cold."

A tear rolled down her cheek as she lifted the hand and kissed it softly. He was so cold and all the color had drained from his face. Behind her, she heard the sound of footsteps approaching but her eyes never left the dying man on the chair. It seemed as if the chair had sucked all life out of him, leaving nothing but a hull.

There was no way to deny it. Jack was dying.

--- --- --- --- ---

A Jaffa approached Daniel's paltry hiding place with steady and fast steps. Ge're'na, the tiny Ordig'na woman, crawled deeper into the brush they had been hiding in but Daniel knew pretty well that he was too big to seek shelter in there. His steps were leading in this direction and, if he didn't distract the Jaffa, he would soon find both of them.

He took one last breath and pushed himself up to his feet. The Jaffa's steps immediately came to a stop and Daniel heard the long-forgotten sound of a staff weapon being charged. He ran as fast as his feet allowed him to and dove into shelter behind an enormous tree, some twenty yards in diameter. The shot hit directly next to him. Moving as quickly as he could, he rushed from tree to tree; each time, the shots came closer to hitting him.

After a while, he was quite positive that he had taken the Jaffa far enough from the woman's position. Now, it was just a matter of survival. The ground held fewer hiding places than he had hoped it would. Obviously, the thick leaves some hundred yards above him didn't do much to support the growth of other plants.

He had also hoped that the Jaffa would start their invasion in the city but they had split their forces. Half of them were covering the city while the other half swept the ground for survivors. He hadn't found the Stargate so far either. You would have thought that a huge metal circle wouldn't be hard to find in an area where everything else was made of wood. Surprisingly, the task turned out to be harder than he could have imagined. Fortunately, he hadn't found the broken fragments of the Gate either.

The steps of the Jaffa sounded behind him and Daniel tensed up for another sprint. He avoided the staff blast once again and leaped for breath behind one of the gigantic trees. Still the Jaffa was on his heels. But there was a slight variation in the pattern of the steps. It took Daniel some time to understand that there were now two Jaffa behind him.

Sprinting for another tree, he wasn't lucky this time. The shot hit him in the leg and pain made him stumble. Still, he tried to crawl for the next bush, trying to find shelter from the prying eyes of the Jaffa. He finally reached the shelter and buried himself under thick brush. His lungs demanded for air and small gasps took in as much as possible while his eyes searched for his hunter. He didn't notice that the steps had stopped until something hit him in the head.

Groaning, he turned around to find himself eye to eye with the business end of a staff weapon. It snapped open with a loud noise and orange energy sparkled around it. Daniel didn't doubt that this was the end. Kaput. Goodbye. Sayonara. He almost laughed. How like Jack he sounded.

His eyes were fixed on the staff weapon in a morbid fascination. Suddenly, a thunderous rushing noise rose in the background. He heard screams, thousands of screams. A wall of white engulfed his executor, who lost the grip on his staff weapon as he joined in the screams of the other Jaffa. And from one minute to the next, he was gone. Simply gone. As if his body had dissolved out of its own accord, leaving nothing but the fast retreating wall of white light that had engulfed Daniel and the Jaffa only seconds ago.

--- --- --- --- ---

A Death Glider descended over the far mountain ridge that sheltered Chulak's capital. Aiming a staff cannon, Teal'c fired at the Glider, sending it spiraling quickly towards the ground. Ishta and his daughter-in-law were trapped behind the enemy lines and there was no way to break through. Behind him, he heard Rya'c shout over the noise of the battle. His son had grown to be a great warrior and Teal'c was proud as he watched his son direct the defense lines.

Despite the pride, he had to be realistic. The Goa'uld forces were now closing in from every direction, circling them effectively and cutting off their escape. Enemy Jaffa came marching through the Stargate and mother ships, one after another, descending on the horizon. Before they had been cut off from the Gate, Rya'c had received news from some of his allies. Other planets were experiencing the same and Teal'c started wondering whether the children were really safe on Earth.

This particular Goa'uld must have planned the attack over a span of years to allow such a wide-range invasion. On Chulak alone, there were at least five thousand Jaffa and three mother ships already descending. The amount of manpower and technology involved here was amazing, to say the least.

As a warrior, Teal'c had to bow his head in appreciation of the military genius involved here, even if this genius would cause his death. Another Death Glider neared their position, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. This might be their end but, if they were to die, they would die fighting. Moreover, they would die free.

He retrieved his staff weapon to fight his last fight as he watched the line of enemy Jaffa drawing closer.

"Father!", Rya'c shouted over the turmoil and Teal'c soon saw what his son was referring to.

A white light approached them like a solid wall. They were not able to see through it and Teal'c felt a sudden fear rise inside of him. This was unlike anything he had ever seen. The wall reached high up in the sky and stretched endlessly in each direction. With a quick step, he was next to Rya'c and laid his hand on the younger man's shoulder. They braced themselves for the impact of the rapidly nearing wall.

Soon, they were engulfed by white light but Teal'c felt neither fear nor pain as the light waved over him. Only a split second later, the light faded and the wall moved away quickly. When Teal'c threw a look around, the Goa'uld ships on the horizon were gone as well as any other sign of the enemy.

"What was that?"

Rya'c's voice was steady, yet he heard fear speaking out of the young man and Teal'c squeezed the shoulder harder.

"I do not know of the origin of this light. But it seems we were just freed for a second time."

--- --- --- --- ---

"Thor, buddy, still up there? Can you beam us up?"

Tharyl stepped out of the shadow as she heard the urgency in Jack's voice. She hadn't been able to see much of what was going on in the room from her position in the corridor but the sound of the familiar voice scared her to no end.

"I cannot locate O'Neill's position. You need to apply the locator device I gave you."

She watched as Jack walked over to a mechanical instrument standing in the center of the room. Sam was sitting on the edge of a chair, tears streaming down her face. She held a hand at her cheek and Tharyl's eyes followed the line of the hand down the arm. Fear rose inside of her, as she stepped closer to the chair. She inhaled deeply as she was finally able to see the face of the man on the chair.

Barol's face was white, his eyes focused on Sam, and Tharyl was glad that she saw peace in those brown eyes. She had always been aware that Barol's heart belonged to the woman that now held his hand. But, even though she had always told herself that he was just a job and that she couldn't get too emotionally involved, she couldn't help falling for this man. She jumped as Barol's body went into sudden, heavy convulsions.

Sam tried to hold him down but he only shook harder. Jack leaped forward and placed a small device on Barol's arm, his voice nearly screaming as he gripped his communication device.

"Thor. Beam us up. Now."

Bright white engulfed them once again and they found themselves standing on the familiar bridge; neither Barol nor the little gray alien were with them. Sam was standing next to her, her face a picture of shock, fear, and pain. Tears still streamed down her face and Tharyl's heart went out to her. Tharyl could directly see the moment that Sam realized where she was and what had just happened. Her jaw dropped as a sob escaped her and Tharyl pulled the woman into a warm embrace.

"Thor?"

Jack's voice echoed through the halls, but only silence answered. He called out a few more times, but still got no answer. Tharyl pulled the woman, who was now shaking violently, closer as tears started to roll down her face as well. Barol was gone and she had no idea whether she would ever see him again.

--- --- TBC --- ---

A/N: Only two more chapters to go. Thank you for staying with me for so long and for telling me what you thought. You guys rock.