GATE CRASHER'S – CHAPTER 5
It surprised Ian how closely the two teams meshed in such a short time. But after only two days of sims, everyone could reasonably predict everyone else's reaction to just about any scenario. The Vatican agents had also instinctively assumed unique niches on the team; Ian as a scout and Dawn as a medic. These identities had helped everyone feel more comfortable with the set up.
Sam and Dawn had formed a tight bond over the two days. Ian wasn't really surprised at this. Dawn hadn't really been able to spend time with someone who could understand her status as a woman excelling in a man's job in a man's world. Dawn had spent her early life around powerful women, but at the Vatican she was considered something of an interloper, that was a situation that Sam could relate to. The two women had initially come together over that, but as they spent time together, this bond grew and tightened as they discovered each others souls.
Over all, Ian realized that he already considered the SG-1 team to be his friends, people that he knew he could rely on. That was pretty quick work for two days.
Now they were outfitted and ready to go. Ian felt a little strange, realizing that soon he would be literally walking on another world. Different dimensions were something in his experience, but a different world was something he never thought he would experience. He smiled at Dawn. His wife looked excited and he had to admit that she also looked pretty darn cute in her fatigues and web gear. General Hammond had been very firm on not allowing them to wear their leather jackets and other biker gear. 'Ah well' Ian thought, the price we pay to fit in. The two had altered the gear that they had been given though, now it accommodated swords and daggers and holy water and their revolvers as well as the gear they had been issued. They even had a book or two that both the Cardinal and Giles had thought might be useful. They gave each other a brief kiss, and then at a signal from Colonel O'Neill, they were moving up the ramp. Ian's nervousness grew as they approached the watery demarcation between two worlds. Soon he was there, and with a deep breath he took a step and crossed hundreds of light years. He felt a moment of darkness and swirling chaos, then he felt himself walking down a ramp in the sunlight. He was on another world.
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"Daniel, you and Dawn check the DHD and see about deciphering the writing on the base there" he pointed at some tablets that had been arranged around the base of the DHD. "Ian, you and Major Carter patrol 180 degrees from here on over" he indicated the area he wanted patrolled. "Teal'C and I will take the other half", he looked around at his team "the General's only given us 48 hours people, so time is critical".
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"Do you recognize the language Doctor Jackson" Dawn asked.
"It looks to be some sort of derivative of Hebrew, so piecing it together shouldn't be too bad, I just hope we get it done in time to help. Can you read any of this?"
"Actually yeah I can, although I'm better in Sumerian than Hebrew."
"You can read Sumerian?"
"Yeah, and I can speak it too, but my accent sucks."
"Can I ask why you would have to speak Sumerian?"
"The Sumerians were very into magic, so there are loads of spells in Sumerian and its derivatives. So reading it and speaking it were kind of essentials for growing up in Sunnydale."
"If you don't mind me saying so, you've had a very strange life up to now."
"What do you mean 'up to now' Doctor Jackson. Here I am, on a totally different planet, trying to translate some tablets that appear to be written in a derivative of Hebrew, hoping that they'll tell us where the Ark of the Covenant is hidden. Does any of this sound vaguely normal to you?"
"No, I suppose not; but for me this is just a day at the job."
"And that's pretty much what it was for me. It's just that when I was growing up the notion of 'high school as hell' was a bit more literal than usual."
Daniel shrugged at the notion and went back to work translating the tablets.
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"It's pretty darn quiet here Teal'C" Jack said.
"Indeed O'Neill, I do not believe that we have encountered a Goauld controlled world where the Stargate terminus was lacking in guards. It is most strange."
"You think the 'trinket' has anything to do with it?"
"Unlikely, I believe however that the creatures that are attracted to may be the reason for this under-populated state."
"So you think that 'demons' are keeping the local population down, and have actually scared the Goauld into leaving this area unguarded?"
"I do, and if they are as fierce as has been described, the Goauld may actually be using them to guard against interlopers."
"So you think we ought to be very watchful tonight."
"I do indeed O'Neill."
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"You're a bit of an enigma Major."
"Oh, how is that?"
"It's just tough for me to reconcile someone as scientifically gifted as yourself, I even read your paper on wormhole physics; with the special forces bad ass that I'm patrolling with."
Sam chuckled a bit "that's the first time someone called me a 'bad ass' Ian, I'm not sure if it's a compliment or not."
"It was definitely a compliment Major; I guess I expected you to be too cerebral to be effective in the field, I must say I'm happy that you're proving me wrong."
"What, you didn't think a girl could be good at this?"
Ian laughed at that "you're kidding right, working with Dawn on a constant basis for the last few years and with slayers off and on, I have no prejudices about women being able to handle anything this kind of life would throw at them."
"I do my best" Sam agreed, but Ian noticed an uneasy look, like a shadow flit across her face.
He probably would have said more, but just then he detected someone, or something. He signaled Sam to take up a support position, and he went ahead just a bit. He had expected a Goauld or a Jaffa or whatever the heck they were, what he didn't expect was a Malzek demon armed with Goauld weapons. Knowing that silver was required to kill the thing, he hefted his sword and flung it like a javelin. Apparently he made some kind of noise, because the demon spun around to face him. Unfortunately for it, that just meant that he got to watch the sword come at his face instead of having it hit the back of his head. The demon collapsed without making any noise. Ian signaled to Sam and together they approached the thing.
"What the heck is it Ian" Sam asked.
"A Malzek demon" Ian answered "only silver will affect them, so I had to use the sword."
"What the heck was it doing here is the question we need an answer to."
"I'm not sure what it's doing here" Ian answered "but my guess is it's not good. Plus it was coming from somewhere, why don't we follow the back-trail and see what it was up to."
"You really think we should interrupt the patrol to figure out where it was coming from?"
"Yeah I do, I hate surprises."
"I can agree with that one" Sam said. "Let's get a move on."
They followed the demon's tracks and found fairly quickly that it lead to a weapons bunker. "What do you say major, loot it or blow it the heck up?"
"How about we booby-trap the entrance, that way we can use the stuff if we need it, but no one else can."
"Ian's eyebrows shot up "capital idea Major, let's get this done and then finish our sweep."
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"So what do we have Daniel?"
"Basically this tells us that we're on a planet controlled by Apophis, and that they seem to use demons to take care of anyone coming through the Stargate. Apparently the demons originally were confined to a small island off the coast near here, but they started settling here on the mainland."
"Any mention of what we're here for?"
"Just obliquely, the tablets talk about an object that none can touch, and that the demons were set to keep anyone who would use it away."
"Does it give directions to the island, I mean that's where the Ark is, right?"
"It sounds right, and yes, there are directions. I'm just not sure how we're going to get there."
"Steal a boat I guess" Dawn answered."
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"This is just too darned quiet" Jack said out loud "isn't there anything dangerous out here"? The two were nearing the end of their patrol and the quiet had finally gotten to Jack O'Neill.
He was answered when an eight foot being covered in grey fur jumped out at them and knocked Teal'C to the ground. "I had to ask" Jack said as he tried to raise his M-4. The demon (at least Jack assumed it was a demon) moved faster than Jack thought possible and knocked the gun out of his hand. Jack took the opportunity of this distraction to launch a flurry of kicks and punches at the demon's midsection. He might as well have been attacking the cornerstone of the Empire State building for all the effect it had. The demon made a few guttural noises that Jack figured was laughter and picked the human up by his forearms. The demon flexed his shoulders a bit, and Jack felt like his arms were being ripped off his body. He arched his spine in agony, then he heard the sound of a Zat being fired. The demon's spasming hands released Jack and the man collapsed in a heap. The demon recovered after a moment and looked around for what had attacked it, roaring all the while. Teal'C took careful aim and fired four more times in rapid succession. Screaming in agony, the demon lost its cohesion, and disintegrated where it stood, only a bad smell left to mark where it had died.
"Are you all right O'Neill" the Jaffa asked.
"A little banged up, but yeah, I'm OK".
"We should then head back to the others and tell them of what has occurred."
O'Neill could only nod his head weakly and the two of them headed back for the Stargate. Jack hoped they didn't run into anything else.
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Ian and Sam walked into the clearing after finishing their sweep of the perimeter. They had taken out one more demon, Sam had shot it with her Zat, but otherwise hadn't had any encounters. They saw Jack lying at the base of the Stargate and Sam ran forward to see what was the matter.
Dawn stopped the blond woman before she got to him "he was in a fight and I made him rest so he could heal better. Just calm down Major, he'll be fine. Dawn shot a grin at Ian as the major relaxed in the younger woman's arms. Dawn had known almost from the first the feelings that the blond woman kept bottled up. "Why don't we go over what Daniel and I have found and then we'll wake up the Colonel and decide what to do."
"OK" Daniel said "according to these tablets, there's an island about thirty miles off the coast and almost directly west of here. The island is almost definitely where the Ark is; it is also populated by demons. The demons have migrated over to the mainland. It looks like the Goauld are using the demons to keep intruders clear of the Stargate, so the Goauld presence here is minimal, although I'm sure they could be here quickly if they were called."
"That's probably the purpose of the bunker Sam and I found" Ian said.
"That and a weapons cache for the demons if they need them" Sam added.
"So our biggest problem is getting over to the island" Daniel said "I don't imagine that they've got transports just sitting around waiting to be stolen."
"We should wake up O'Neill" Teal'C said "he is gifted in such operations."
"I'm on it" Dawn said and she knelt over Jack and placed her hands on either side of his head. There was a brief glow, and the man was immediately awake.
"We need to come up with a plan" Daniel said to the question in Jack's eyes.
Ten minutes later they still had nothing. Sam noticed Ian and Dawn exchanging some significant glances and asked "what's up you two?"
"Well" Ian said "there may be a way to get someone to land here, whether they want to or not."
"So what's the problem, let's do it" Jack exclaimed
"It's damned risky" Dawn said.
"What is it" Sam asked.
"Basically I fly up there and find someone flying around, then I teleport into the ship and 'persuade' them to land where I want them to."
"Sounds easy enough, why the worries?"
"Well, if my aim is off, then I teleport into the middle of a wall or something, and that doesn't work too well."
"That's an understatement" Dawn muttered.
"Do we have any other options" Sam pressed.
"Not that I can see" Dawn said "that doesn't mean I have to be happy about this one."
Her husband came over to her while taking his shirt off "don't worry, I'll be back calling you 'Dawn Giovanni' before you even know I'm gone."
This elicited the smile he was after and as he hugged Dawn he whispered "I'll be back Bella Alba, count on it."
"Be safe Mi Cuore" she whispered back.
Extending his wings, he took to the sky, his mind already searching for someone else flying in the area.
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Vresleth, a Jaffa of middle rank, was flying a patrol over the unclean lands. He shuddered at the thought of what was on the ground below him. He had often questioned the wisdom of alliance with such creatures, but Apophis had declared that it would be so, so it was. Yet despite the word of his God, Vresleth still didn't like the idea of such creatures even existing. His thoughts were interrupted by a rush of air that came from behind him. Wondering what could have caused such a thing he began to turn in his seat, only to find himself staring down the barrel of a primitive weapon. Primitive, but highly effective he reminded himself. The weapon was in the hand of a smallish being that appeared to be one of the Tau'ri. He was in the same type of garments as those Tau'ri groups that came through the Chappa'ai. Vresleth was wondering what to do when a voice was in his head 'please take the controls again so we don't crash'. The words wee accompanied by a small gesture with the weapon. Now unsure about nearly everything he'd ever known Vresleth turned back to the glider's instruments and regained control. Had he truly heard a voice in his head he wondered or was it merely a reaction to the stress of finding a Tau'ri in his ship. 'It isn't stress' the voice replied 'please land by the Chapa'ai without signaling that you're in trouble. Behave and you may live through this day'.
"How is it possible that you are talking in my mind?"
'It is simply who I am' the voice replied.
Both Vresleth and his new companion braced themselves as the glider came in for a landing in a clearing near the Chappa'ai. As soon as motion had ceased the strange Tau'ri gestured with the weapon and Vresleth rose from the pilot's seat and moved towards the entrance. He wasn't surprised to see more of the Tau'ri, but he was surprised to see another of the Jaffa with them.
The captive froze for a moment then taking a formal stance addressed Teal'C "why are you helping the enemies of Apophis?"
"I assist the Tau'ri in freeing the Jaffa from the bondage of the Goauld; that is why I am here."
"You refuse to honor your gods?"
"The Goauld are not gods, and they are not mine" Teal'C replied with a deep dignity "I and many like me believe them to be false and evil."
"A god cannot be evil" Vresleth said hotly.
"Guys, could we debate theology another time" Jack asked, glaring at both the Jaffa. Then turning to his friend "can you fly this thing Teal'C?"
"I can O'Neill, but first we must determine what this one's disposition will be" he said gesturing to the captive.
"We could just tie him up and leave him in the bunker" Sam asked.
"Actually" Ian asked "could we camouflage the flier and rest tonight and head over when it won't be dark. Among other advantages, it'll allow me to be at full power when we need it."
"What do you mean 'full power'" Jack asked.
"I do have finite resources" Ian answered "and I've been expending a lot of power, I just want to be on top of my game if we're going to an island controlled by demons, not to mention most of them are dormant during the daytime."
Jack thought for a minute and then came to a decision. "OK, lets get this thing covered up and set up shop in that bunker Ian and Sam found."
Everyone got busy except Ian, who walked over to Dawn and asked "can you put him to sleep" he indicated the captured Jaffa.
Dawn just nodded, closed her eyes and mumbled for a moment. Ian turned to see Vresleth collapse to the ground. "Well that's one way of securing him, thanks honey" he said and carried the sleeping enemy into the bunker.
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Sam and Dawn had pulled the first watch, giving Ian a chance to sleep and get back up to full power. Dawn had been noticing the blond shooting her surreptitious glances since the mission started and decided to force whatever it was out in the open. "Did you want to ask me something Major?"
"Yes, actually there is" Sam said with a bit of a blush "I was wondering how you did it?"
"Which 'it' are we talking about?"
Sam was feeling awkward at the admissions her question would force from her "I was wondering how you managed a relationship in the middle of this insane job you do. How do the two of you survive knowing that any day could be your last? I wouldn't have the courage to face it daily, heck constantly for you two."
"Don't you get it, you already do. I know that what the two of us do insures a fairly brief life span; but everyone walking on earth is on borrowed time as it is. Tomorrow could be anyone's last day or everyone's if an apocalypse happens."
"Yeah, well that's great in theory there missy, but the practical application is a little different and you know it."
Dawn hung her head a bit "I know" she said "when Ian asked me to go with him, I had to really think about it. The way I figured there were three options: one, just blow him off and never see him again; two, live my life and enjoy the times we'd be able to spend together, when he got a break; or three, go with him, have a hard and short life but one that would have him in it constantly. Well one wasn't an option; I loved him too much for that. So it was a choice between two and three. In the end I picked three so I wouldn't end up hating him."
"What" Sam yelped "how did you figure that?"
"Well, I could see it in my mind. He'd be gone for a while and my feelings would wane a bit, then he'd show up and I'd fall madly in love all over again. All those feelings that had faded would come back just as strong as ever. But then he'd have to leave again, and it would break my heart, losing him again. Not knowing where he was going or when he'd show up again. And each time my broken heart would heal, but it wouldn't be whole, just some scar tissue replacing the hole that had formed. And it would happen again and again and again. And every time he broke my heart a little more scar tissue would form and soon my joy would turn to bitterness because I would know that whenever he showed up, he would leave again and hurt me. Then all the love I had felt for him would have been leached away and only bitterness and anger left in its place. So I went with him. I've regretted that one wasn't an option on occasion, but for a vast majority of the time I've never been happier."
"But what if he gets hurt while you're there isn't it hard keeping the mission going if someone you love is hurt."
"Of course it is, but he's going to do his job if I'm there or not. Who better to care for him, or see that the job gets done than someone who loves him?"
"Don't you need some alone time though, do you get away from each other."
"Sure, if we want. I mean I could go be with friends or family while he does what he does; and I've done it before. But I worried the whole time. We get breaks; we just go off by ourselves. One good thing is I've gotten to see some of the most romantic spots in the world. So the travel is definitely a perk."
"Romantic huh, so which was your favorite?"
"Now that's a toughie, I guess my personal one was also the coldest. We stood on the summit of Mt Everest under a full moon. There was no wind, but it was so cold that all we could do was hold on to each other, but it was magical. The entire earth spread out below us. I never want to go again because there's no way it could top the first time."
"You two climbed Mt Everest?"
"Nah, we just popped up there. Remember, husband with some serious skills."
"Right" Sam said "I guess that would make it easier."
"So why haven't you told the Colonel how you feel about him?"
"Pretty much for the same reason that you just pointed out" Sam said. "If we started going out or anything, one of us would have to quit and we'd be separated. If anything happens I want to be there. I guess I care too much to leave him to someone else." Sam took on a serious look "if something ever does happen, I want to be there, I want to be the last thing he sees and hears before he dies. I couldn't handle it if he died and I wasn't there to hold him and let him know he was loved."
Dawn looked at the older woman and realized how much they did have in common. She reached out and took Sam's hand "I know exactly how you feel."
They just sat there comfortably together, each acknowledging the other as a friend, but not having to say it out loud. They didn't speak again until their watch was over. They said goodnight. Dawn went and snuggled down with her husband. Sam shot the girl a momentary look of jealousy and then went to wake her friend and the man she loved.
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The made the coast about five minutes after they took off, and the island was visible in another twenty. Everyone was looking out the ports to see if there was anything noteworthy. Ian had already given them directions to where the Ark was, but it was still smart to get as much information as they could. The one thing everyone noticed was that there were no cities, just villages separated by as much land as possible. Dawn figured that every village was a different clan. She looked at her husband "do you think the Ark will be guarded by the strongest clan?"
"Probably" he answered "that would be a source of honor for them." He turned to the others "despite the fact that they're evil, honor does matter to them. Admittedly it matters to some clans more than others but it is important to them all."
"So you're saying we're gonna have to take on the toughest bunch of guys on this island in order to get the Ark back" Jack asked.
"Pretty much" Ian replied.
"Any idea which kind that would be" Daniel asked.
"No clue actually" Ian said "we'll have to wait till we land."
The words were no sooner out of his mouth, when the whole ship was rocked by an explosion.
"We are under attack" Teal'C told them; rather unnecessarily Dawn thought.
"No kidding" Jack replied "Teal'C, go evasive, and get on the guns Sam."
Teal'C brought the ship around erratically just as Sam got the guns unlimbered. She opened up, but the shells were exploding before they got to the demon. "I'm not having any effect" Sam said.
"He's got some sort of protective barrier" Daniel said "probably magic".
"Whatever" Jack said and he turned to the Vatican's best "anything you all can do?"
Ian just gave a crazy grin and drawing Gabriel's dagger from its sheath said "banzai" and disappeared.
Dawn heard the firing slack off and yelled at Sam "keep firing, as a distraction." Then she dashed forward to see if her reckless husband was OK."
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He wasn't. Ian had teleported down hoping to surprise the demon/mage, but apparently the mage had been anticipating something like this because he attacked Ian almost as soon as he appeared. It didn't help his cause that suddenly there was a lull in the firing, so all the enemy's attention was on Ian, and not self preservation. When you combine that with a very effective shield, well it does cause a bit of tension if you have to deal with it. Ian shielded as best he could and attacked the barrier with Gabriel's dagger. The shield resisted even that, but not perfectly. Ian, as well as his enemy, was aware that the defenses could be breached; it was only a matter of time. That was the one thing the demon was denying him. Ian was forced to cease his assault on the shield in order to defend himself from both the mage and his henchmen. Ian turned from his assault on the mage to deal with the two other beings that were threatening him. They both came at him with axes; one came at him head on, the other to his right. Ian slipped his dagger to his left hand and drew a sword with his right. He parried a cut from the demon in front of him with his dagger and brought the sword down from it's over the shoulder draw and slashed the demon's chest from the left shoulder to the right hip. He continued the motion in a pirouette and cut through the other demon's neck.
Before the head hit the ground, he was back at work attacking the shield while his own protective magics took a battering. Apparently the mage realized that the shield would be breached before Ian had succumbed so he drew his weapons and dropped the shield. As soon as he did so, Ian teleported out of range and Sam opened up with the ship's guns. Two hits would have been sufficient to kill the thing, but the mage (or what was left of it) absorbed seven before Sam stopped firing.
Ian put his weapons away and was using his senses to sweep the area. He could feel the Ark; it gave off a thrumming, like a live power line was close to your skin. It scared him, that much raw power was truly terrifying, even to an angel. He turned as the glider came in for a landing. From the less than perfect control it was evident that the ship was in trouble. Ian had no idea how much damage it had absorbed before he had distracted the mage, he just hoped it wasn't too bad. Once it had stopped and the engines shut down, he walked over to the door, he was not perfectly steady.
Dawn was the first one out and noticed his exhaustion. "You're half out of it already, aren't you" she accused.
He didn't answer, he just nodded.
"You're not gonna let me go after it, are you" she asked.
Again, he just nodded.
Meanwhile Jack was talking to his team. "How bad's the damage?"
"Quite extensive O'Neill, we will need some time to repair it."
"Quick as you can Teal'C, Daniel, you and Sam stay here and help him." He looked over at the young couple "you feel like riding shotgun for a bit there Dawn Corleone."
Dawn groaned at this new abuse of her name but replied "sure Colonel, I'll keep em safe."
"Great, so it looks like it's up to us to go play fetch" Jack said, looking at Ian.
"Ready when you are Colonel" the young man replied. He then put is arms around Dawn in a warm hug. "I'll be fine Dawn, no problems."
"Be careful Mi Cuore" she said "I want you to remember me when you get back, promise."
"I promise Bella Alba" Ian finally spoke "I could never forget you." He looked up to see Jack. "OK Jack, you ready to play Indiana Jones?"
"Sure kid" Jack replied "it's what I live for."
"No" Ian said softly, looking back at the others "they're what you live for."
"Like I'm alone in that department" Jack said with a smirk. Then taking a firm hold of his M-4 he headed out after Ian, hoping that the people he loved would be alright without him; and that he would be alright without them.