Chapter Three: The Ghost of You

Jack stood inside the main building, with Canderous and Felicity standing next to him as Canderous went over the battle plan, while John and Günter were posting guard for them outside the building, armed with an M-4A1 for John and the OICW for Günter.

"Alright, General," Canderous started. "Me and my Mandalorian brothers will lead the assault here." He said, pointing his finger into the 3D image of the temple that housed a Stargate within the secondary courtyard on the opposite side of the main courtyard. Where Canderous jabbed his finger was on the western edge of the temple's wall.

"Your team, along with Bralor's and Kelborn's units will strike at opposite entrances. You, Jack, will attack the main water duct system here." He said, pointing towards a big pipe that exited into a lake near the temple. Jack nodded, while Kelborn and Bralor listened inventively as their commander spoke.

Wow, that is almost as strange as Günter listening to Jack, except these guys look like they were bred for war. Almost like the Spartans, from Ancient Greece... John thought within his head, while he watched Jack standing next to Felicity as Canderous spoke.

"Kelborn, Bralor, you will attack these pipes and enter the main hallway, linking up with Jack's unit within the hallway, and then you will attack this transport ship before it escapes. Exile, you will be with Kelborn's unit. John, you're with Bralor. Then, if we succeed, I'll help you find Mical, Exile. Ready to follow my orders?"

Bralor and Kelborn snapped to a saluting position, while Jack stood at attention. The scene was funny, before Jack realized that the Mandalorians do it different, and hen dropped to a Salute, before Canderous gave them the command to halt.

"At ease. Jack, I'm going to outfit you with better weapons that those feeble weapons you call rifles. Except for that weapon the man guarding outside, you call it the OICW I believe?"

Jack nodded, before two men with a bundle of something that resembled futuristic rifles slowly walked in, before dumping the pile on the table next to him. He looked at the rifles, before Canderous told Kelborn and Bralor off as they tried to grab one.

"I'm sorry you can't have the upgraded versions, Bralor. But, Jack, I'm giving them to your team for two reasons, and I only do two reasons. One is that the Exile requested all of the firepower she could get short of a Zabrak battle cannon, and I got her that. Second, I like you and your team Jack. You're not Mandalorians, but you make me proud that a race follows the tradition of war like we do."

Jack nodded, but when he heard the word war, he felt the Gulf screaming within him, he remembered the day he was tortured, he remembered the day that he almost escaped twice, he remembered coming home to a wife that was waiting sick for him, along with a little baby.

"Alright, I'm supplying two Mandalorian scouts to you. Trust me, they're the best short of Kelborn and he's the best the Mandalorians had ever known. Now, prepare. You'll be leaving soon."

Vala lay within her own small cell, across the hallway from Major Davis, as they slowly talked about life and the troubles they had, within the life of the Stargate and on the outside. Paul just smiled when Vala made a joke, and Vala always made a short laugh when Paul made up something funny or stupid.

"I mean, I thought Daniel, when I first saw him, he was very sexy with that short sleeve shirt, and he looked more muscular than he does nowadays, and he's certainly more moody than anyone I know, but he's...just Daniel."

"I know the feeling. I had a wife like that..." Was all that Paul said, before the goofy grin that was upon his face once now changed to one of a serious notion. Vala then looked towards Paul, and noticed eye drops of tears strolling down his cheek as he looked towards her. Vala needed him to calm down, so acting on her gut, she began to sing.

"I love you, so very very much, that I sing above the heavens, just so you can hear me...

I live within myself, every day, so that I come out and sing to you.

I want the happiness to stay, I want the love to forever stay.

I wish that I could stay with you, holding you in my arms

I forever will, if I just could break my chains..."

She stopped, and looked at Paul. He stopped crying, the red in his reds was not there anymore like it used to be, and he just smiled at her, with Vala smiling at herself.

"Vala, you have the most beautiful voice I have ever heard. That uplifted me on so many levels..." He said, wiping his eyes as Vala blushed, her face turning to a crimson shade of red (AN: LOL!).

"Shh...Do you hear that?" Paul said, getting up. Vala looked to her left, her head cocked in a way so she could see the door without really moving around. She squinted her eyes, so she could see the door. She didn't see anything, but she did hear the soft tick of a digital timer, before she ducked her head, Paul doing the same.

The door blew opened, the steel hinges of the door flew at least twenty feet into the air before the door hit a nearby wall, two men entering the room with their weapons armed up.

"General!" Yelled Paul, jiggling the door as he saw Jack enter the room. Jack showed a big smile as he took the rifle and shot the lock. A loud burst of light exploded from the tip of the rifle Canderous gave to him and hit the lock dead on, causing it to disintegrate in a shower of light, the door swinging open.

"Thanks General, I owe you one!" Paul said, with a grin upon his face. Jack smiled back, handing him a pistol.

"No need, Lieutenant Colonel, you just cover our exit. I'll get Vala out." He said, turning around and shooting Vala's lock off, herself climbing out of her cage.

"Where's the rest of SG9 and 10?" He asked, handing her an additional handgun while he asked his question.

"They're located in the Sith Main Prison, a room away. We'll cover your exit, Jack, just make sure our ride is secure." Vala said, motioning for Paul to follow her as they exited the room the way Jack and his team entered. Jack looked back at Günter, who nodded, and then towards the two Mandalorians that followed him. They gave him a thumb up; before they blasted open the door in front of them, seeing a surprised yet ready Sith Security patrol

Jack opened fire before taking cover, Günter giving him support while the two Mandalorians rushed forward, firing their repeating blasters. The Sith never had a chance. They died almost immediately as the men of SG9 and 10 screamed with war whoops as Jack and his squad set them free, getting weapons and vowing to help them go throughout the base.

"As will I, O'Neill." Said a voice behind Jack. Behind him stood the black Jaffa, Teal'c, but O'Neill gasped in horror when he saw the Jaffa. Instead of the muscle he was accustomed to be seeing, he saw skin and bone, and the area around his pouch was heavily bruised.

"Jesus, Teal'c, who did this to you?" Jack said, looking him up and down.

"Carter, O'Neill. Or, by her new name, Darth Arias." He said, grabbing his Energy Staff off a nearby weapons rack, and then walking back to O'Neill.

"T, I need to know what exactly happened to you and these men." He said, with a heavy heart as he saw down on a bench, Teal'c nodding as he sat next to O'Neill, the rest of the men taking positions so they could protect the area. Günter stood next to O'Neill, his arms folded across his chest as he listened.

"Two weeks ago, we made it to this temple. Carter and Vala went ahead of us, and then Lieutenant Colonel Paul Davis and his men and I followed in, with our weapons. We were ambushed, but we fought them and they retreated. But, then we were ambushed by DanielJackson." He said. The Jaffa always slurred 'Daniel' and 'Jackson' together, always making it sound like one word.

"He yields a energy I have never heard nor seen in my lifetime, O'Neill. He picked up Lieutenant Colonel Paul Davis with some kind of energy and threw him across the hallway. Myself and Carter were the only ones fighting, the rest were fighting their own battle with the other 'Sith Lords' as they call themselves, before Daniel knocked me unconscious. He..." For the first time in O'Neill's life, he had never seen a tear run down Teal'c's cheek, nor had a struggle with word choice.

"He raped her, O'Neill. And I was powerless to stop it. He then turned her into another Sith Lord, and I was sent here. She often came back and tortured me. Often, her masters came in and watched her torture me. The first time, O'Neill, I saw remorse and sadness in her eyes, she whispered that she did not want to do this to me. But, after that, all of the tortures, I saw death and hatred, and she laughed when I screamed in pain, O'Neill." He said, bowing his head.

Jack was stunned; he did not know Daniel was doing this. He was more confused when Teal'c mentioned Carter, but not Jonas.

"What about Jonas, T?" He asked, looking Teal'c in the eyes. He gave him this look, before he spoke.

"He is now known as Darth Akron, and he is more evil than anyone we have ever encountered before, O'Neill. He tortured everyone with an ability to make us...afraid. He made me...more afraid of nothing than I ever had before, O'Neill."

"That's enough, T. Go to Vala and Paul; secure our exit so we can escape from this hellhole..." He said, pointing towards the door. Teal'c saluted; Jack was surprised because he had never done that before in front of Jack, and walked away towards the door.

"Anyone here from SG1?" Jack yelled, turning his head. He waited for a few seconds, before a hand slowly went into the air. Jack walked forward, and parted the faces away and saw who it was, his face went into tears.

The man who raised his hand had a face that was once handsome, but now was bruised everywhere, having several gashes and cuts along the forehead. His upper lip was swollen, and his face was in a moment of pain as he tried to smile, but then winced in extreme hurt.

"Gen...General...it's good...good to see you." He said, struggling with words. Even though the face was mangled, even though his words were broken, Jack immediately recognized who he, or 'it', was.

"Mitchell?" Jack whispered, running to his side as he held onto Mitchell's hand, tightly, as he looked into Mitchell's eyes.

"Yea...sir." He said, coughing up blood as he spoke.

"He's the worse one of us, sir." Colonel Kevin Edwards, the leader of SG11 but volunteered for the mission as SG10's commanding officer, spoke up, knelling next to Jack. Jack, who trusted Kevin with the lives of every single man in the SGC, nodded with his head as he looked at Mitchell.

"Guess...Kevin's...got my...my job, huh?" He said, trying to smile again but again coughed up blood, before Jack patted Mitchell on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. Cameron Mitchell looked Jack in the eyes, before he nodded.

"Who did this to him?" He asked, looking to Kevin.

"Darth Akron...Jonas. He did this to him. But, that was the only time he did. He was trying to turn Cam here to the 'Dark Side' as he called it, Jack. We got to go get those bastards and make them pay, sir."

Jack nodded, but then realized that Cameron couldn't walk nor do anything to help Jack except slow him down. He pointed at two men, who he recognized as Airman Lewis and Airman Jones.

"You two, get him to the extraction point, and try to give him some drugs or something." He said. The two airmen, Lewis and man and Jones an man, gently picked up Mitchell, who winced in pain but did not say anything, and walked out of the room and to the extraction point.

"Good, now, let's get these bastards..."

Vividus walked across the grounds to the main courtyard, aware that a battle was being waged at this very moment. He softly lay on the grassy knoll, in a cross-legged position, and looked towards the heavens, and suddenly cried.

"Well, looks like we're taking out the trash..." Said a voice behind him, as he twirled up and pulled out his lightsaber, the double bladed purple, and stood in an attack position.

"I knew you three were power hungry, and I must warn you, I have been studying the ancient Sith Lords' holocrons on lightsaber combat, and that the parlor tricks of Darth Delak won't save you." He said, to the three people who stood before him. Akron, Lacius, and Arias were standing there with their respective lightsabers.

Suddenly, the three looked across the courtyard, and then ran the opposite direction, with Vividus smiling before he turned around and saw what they saw. It was the Exile, and two men with guns he had never seen before.

"So, Exile, it is finally time for us to engage in combat. I must say, I am quite..."

"Mical?"