Disclaimer and Warnings in part 1.
Enjoy.
SG1SG1SG1SG1
"O'Neill," Teal'c said, stopping and pointing to the right. Jack could see the faint outline of a door covered in brush.
"We beat them," he said, fighting to catch his breath.
"It appears so," Teal'c said.
"Teal'c, why don't you scout the immediate area. We need to know where the Jaffa are coming from." Teal'c nodded, and quickly followed Jacob's order.
"You know it does say 'Colonel' somewhere on my uniform," Jack panted.
"And it says 'General' somewhere on mine," Jacob retorted. "Any ideas how we're gonna stop a platoon of Jaffa?"
"Ambush," Jack replied. "And I'm thinking we can't leave any survivors. It only takes one Jaffa with a bomb to take out the generator."
"It would be easier if the other three weren't down," Jacob muttered to himself.
"How did they find out the locations of the other generators anyway?" Jack asked.
"They probably didn't. Isis probably told them to fly somewhere that hadn't been hit yet and hope they took out something. The Goa'uld just got lucky."
"We need to move the fight away from the generator, just in case any blasts go astray," Jack told him.
"Right," Jacob agreed.
"As soon as Teal'c gets back we'll know which way they're headed." As soon as Jack said the words Teal'c had emerged from the forest. "Perfect timing T."
"Indeed." Teal'c gave a slight bow of his head. "The Jaffa are approaching from a North Eastern direction."
"Find any good place to engage them?" Jack asked.
"Indeed. The forest opens up into a small plain. A tall ridge blocks one side while a large river parallels it. There is no cover for several hundred feet."
"Can we make it before the Jaffa do?"
"Indeed. They're pace is extremely cautious."
"Let's go." They followed Teal'c through the dense underbrush for a few minutes until they found the spot. Teal'c was right. It was perfect. "Try to get on the ridge and circle behind them T. We can't let any of them escape." He nodded and disappeared into the forest. Jack and Jacob took up positions in the forest, ready to fire at any moment. "And now we wait," Jack said softly. Jacob could merely nod.
It seemed like hours of waiting and still no Jaffa could be heard. Jack was worried they found another way around to the bunker. He glanced up trying to see the sky between the trees, but the cover was too thick. He was about to step out of cover when he heard the first clank of metallic armor. He gripped his weapon tightly, the unfamiliar shape not comforting him like his own firearm.
Slowly the Jaffa moved toward them. "My God," Jacob exclaimed quietly next to him.
"What?" Jack asked, wishing he had his binoculars.
"They're slow pace. They're not being cautious, they're wounded. Most of them critically." A few minutes later Jack could see what Jacob's Tok'ra enhanced eyes could make out. It was a mangled force; many of the Jaffa were using their staff weapons as crutches, some of their limbs were torn completely off as their Death Gliders crashed. Blood was freely flowing from several wounds. And yet they kept coming, one small footstep at a time.
"They never cared about the Jaffa," Jack said softly. "After they did all this, Isis was just going to let them die."
"Goa'uld aren't known for their compassion." Jacob reminded him, watching the struggling troop get closer and closer.
"Neither will we. At least not after this."
"It's us or them, Jack," Jacob said, wishing for a third option to come hurtling out of the sky but knowing there was no other way. "Isn't that why you left Daniel with Janet? So his soul remains clean why we do what we need to do?"
"Yeah," Jack said quietly. The Jaffa were in firing range now. Jack said a silent prayer asking for forgiveness before he started a massacre.
SG1SG1SG1SG1
The trip back to the courtyard was made in silence. The Illarian Security Forces met them have way. They had returned to the courtyard when they couldn't find the Jaffa, and Danu had told them what SG-1 had deduced. Jack briefly told them about their battle, but it was agreed that they would guard the shield generator until they were certain no more Jaffa were around. They did learn Danu was close to getting the Stargate working before they went their separate ways.
They heard the Stargate whoosh to life as they neared the courtyard. Assuming Danu was contacting the Tollan, they hurried they're pace to tell Danu what happened. They were unprepared to find him unconscious on the ground.
"What the…" Jack started as he saw the scene. He turned to find the Stargate and only saw a glimpse of the wormhole as it blinked out of existence. Looking around he saw everybody else was on the ground. "Daniel?" he said as he made his way to his prone friend. He quickly checked for a pulse, Daniel's eyes shooting open as he did. "What happened?"
"What happened?" Daniel parroted as Jack helped him into a sitting position.
"I asked first," he joked, surveying the scene as he knelt beside his friend. Teal'c headed for Janet, while Jacob checked Danu. There was no sign of Osiris or Sam. His stomach lurched at this revelation. All that they went through to get Sam back was for nothing. "What happened?" he asked again after giving Daniel a few more minutes to get his bearing back.
"Osiris," he said, looking around the courtyard. "She was yelling something. I was trying to get her to shut up when…" He made a vague hand motion. "Everybody else?"
"They're coming to," he told him.
"Sam?" Jack couldn't respond to that one. Instead he just looked at the now dormant Stargate. "No," Daniel said, Jack's silence telling him more than words ever could. "No. No. No," Daniel repeated as he jumped to his feet and searched the courtyard. Jack left him to his search, knowing the young man would need some time to come to grips with what happened. Danu was back at the computer and Jack headed that way. He confirmed his guess that the gate didn't dial Tollana. He quickly wrote down the gate address as Danu dialed the new Tollan homeworld. A few minutes later the Stargate activated again, this time bringing forth a slew of Tollan scientists, technicians, and security.
A few minutes later Daniel had stopped his pacing and went back toward Janet. Jack quickly followed him. "You remember anything Doc?"
"No," she said quickly. "Just Osiris yelling something before everything went black." She turned to Daniel. "Did you…"
"No. I couldn't understand what she said. Maybe if I recorded it I could translate it eventually, but I don't think they got it on tape." They watched silently as the technicians helped Danu stabilize the computer systems.
"Nuhbia," Jack said suddenly.
"What?" everyone chorused.
"He got them out so he could maintain his cover with Ba'al," Jack said as if that made perfect sense.
"If that's true, Colonel, I assure you he will be dealt with." Selmak said it with such coldness Jack made a mental note to never get on the wrong side of the symbiote. They turned and watched as the Tollan scientists finished their repairs on the Stargate. The Illarians and the Tollans were grateful for all that SG-1 was able to do for their people, but with so much work to be done thought it best if the Tau'ri team took their leave. With never ending gratitude, they dialed the SGC. The team was silent as they gated home, again without their fourth member.
