19: Sniper Town Hall

The rain had stopped. John thought that maybe that suggested things would improve. Regardless, they were still trudging through a ruined town, the roads cracked and pockmarked with craters, the dirt from under the surface having been churned up and thrown around. This made just about everything muddy to some extent, with deep and sloshing mud that often threatened to suck one's entire foot right in. Slopes had formed where rubble had piled and craters had been made, resulting in some uneven going.

Kav'rak lead the way. Lieutenant Sha'Pek followed behind him, with Sergeant Hur'Par a short distance off to his left. John was content to let the birds lead, if only because they knew this town (or what was left of it). More and more, John was beginning to feel like an intruder here. They were in a warzone, with a major battle occurring only some miles north of the town itself. Occasionally one would hear the thump of a distant explosion, some artillery piece going off or payload being dropped by one of the ground attack fighters that came roaring in from up high. At least that battle gave them an easier way through, for the Calsharans who might have been patrolling Blaskane had been sent to confront the makalvari offensive.

The group were going down a main street now. The buildings here were taller, most of them damaged in some way. There was one to their left that had seen its entire front face collapse, resulting in a pile of rubble at its base. The interiors of the four floors were exposed, and some of the furniture was still in place. Even the framed photos and paintings were present, and John knew that he was looking into someone's entire life. The makalvari had lived here for so long, and now entire homes had been torn asunder, or simply levelled. He could peer in through a hole in a wall and look right into what had once been the home of an entire family, now long gone, perhaps even dead.

He had seen similar in Afghanistan. The civilians caught in the middle often got it the worst in a conflict such as this, those simply trying to get by. And here they were, outsiders marching in and adding further damage. John knew better than to consider the Calsharans as the sole aggressors here. The makalvari had done their fair share of instigating over the years, that much was apparent.

There was a much larger building up ahead. Some kind of hotel, or the makalvari equivalent of one. The group stopped at its base, as Kav'rak had put up a hand. A signal to halt, and he subsequently indicated that they be quiet. With the rain having stopped, the town was strangely quiet. They remained still for a moment, a distant thump from the far away battle sounding from the north then, echoing across the town.

"What is it?" John asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He moved up to where Kav'rak had crouched on the rubble. The makalvari Captain had perked up attentively, and his nostrils visibly flared.

"I can smell a lizard," he answered, and John could see he meant it. This was no figure of speech, for the Captain could indeed detect the scent of a Calsharan on the wind.

"They're probably inside," Sha'Pek said from where he was crouched nearby.

"We can sneak past." Natalia suggested this, and John saw Jonas nod in agreement. "Plenty of places to hide."

"We can't risk them coming up behind us later," Kav'rak said. John noticed Sha'Pek frown then, the Lieutenant's feelings on the matter plain.

"The Captain's itching for a fight?" He asked aloud, his tone dismissive. "No need to get caught up in a brawl we can avoid, Captain."

Kav'rak returned the Lieutenant's frown with one of his own. Ever since they had met up with the Lieutenant and his Sergeant, the makalvari Captain had seemed to harbor some disdain for the pair. They had spoken little, and when they had exchanged a few words there had been an apparent dislike between them. Jonas sidled over to him then, leaning in close so as to keep his voice low enough for only the Colonel to hear.

"It's a class thing," Jonas said. "I've done enough research into makalvari society to know why these two don't think too highly of each other."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that Lieutenant Sha'Pek was not born into status, unlike Captain Kav'rak. In fact, I would think that our Captain got his leadership role through money and influence, unlike Sha'Pek, who worked for it."

"So much for merit, huh?"

Jonas gave a light shrug.

"It's the way they are, Colonel. It's not our place to judge."

Sha'Pek and Kav'rak had entered into an increasingly heated discussion.

"The station is still some way's ahead, sir," Sha'Pek said. "No use getting held up fighting some lone scout."

"You can't be sure it's a scout," Kav'rak countered.

"The lizards wouldn't waste the manpower here, sir. Their forces would be concentrated around the station. I know a shortcut there, that puts us through the town hall. You go starting fights, you'll just bring more of them to us and that shortcut could fill up with lizards very quickly."

Kav'rak appeared to consider it, if reluctantly so. Suddenly, he turned to John, his yellow eyes narrowed.

"Colonel, what do you think?"

An unexpected request for input. John took a moment to answer, mulling it over.

"Look, if it makes things easier, I'll stick my head in this building here and search for the Calsharan you claim to have smelled. I'll do a sweep while you guys keep an eye out. Any trouble, I'll shout." John paused, and he watched as Kav'rak took in his suggestion. "Unless you would like to go in there yourself, Captain?"

The question appeared to make Kav'rak bristle. Sergeant Hur'Par visibly smirked, only for Kav'rak to shoot him a mean glance. John had indeed meant to rankle the Captain, if only for kicks.

"You go on in, Colonel." Kav'rak nodded for the entrance. "I'll take the Lieutenant here to sweep the ground floor. You go upstairs."

John nodded. A sound enough plan. He looked to his team, regarding the expectant faces of Aithris, Natalia and Jonas. He motioned for them to stay put and keep down. It was not the ideal option but sending them into any nearby buildings brought with it just as much risk. Calsharans could be hiding anywhere in the vicinity, yet so far none had fired on them. So, at the very least they were covered where they were. That could change any second, however. John was really beginning to hate this place.

"Like I said," he told the others, as he unslung his rifle. "Any trouble, I'll shout."

"I'll come with you." Aithris rose to his feet to follow. John put up a hand, a signal to stop.

"No, not now. I need your keen eyes out here. Keep your head on a swivel. This place is less 'Blaskane' and more like 'sniper town'."

Aithris gave a curt nod in acceptance of these instructions. Kav'rak and Sha'Pek had already headed inside the building. No gunshots sounded, so that was a good sign. John followed them, entering a musty lobby of sorts, soft carpet underfoot. The walls were painted a plain beige, with some wood-panelled sections. Several overturned tables and chairs were off to the right, near what looked to have been a bar area. The shelves there still had the odd bottle on them, although most were empty.

"Clear down here," Sha'Pek announced, as he emerged from the adjoining corridor. John went by him to the stairs, and with his rifle ready he started up them.

The next floor was comprised of several rooms, most empty, with one on the corner missing much of its external wall. This gave him a decent view of the adjoining street. John did not linger near the gaping hole, for doing so would only make him a target. He simply moved on, checking every room, some of which were still in good condition with furniture and beddings in place. This floor was clear, and so he moved up to the next one.

The process started again. There was no denying the tension he felt, as he peered into each room and swept them through the sights of his rifle. The M14 was a little awkward in the close quarters, yet there was no denying the power behind its cartridge. Ballistic weapons may have seemed a little crude compared to some of what the SGC had recovered over the years, but they worked and that was what counted. When your enemy did not go down easily from a 9mm, bring out a .45. And if that did not work, bring out the shotgun or the 5.56mm. And when you were facing a bunch of militaristic lizard people decked out in sturdy armour, get the 7.62mm or even the fifty-calibre. A cartridge for every occasion. Unlike energy weapons, one did not risk giving away their position so easily if they let fly with a conventional bullet. It was no wonder the Calsharan snipers around here used more specialised rifles.

John came to the last room. Here, part of the wall was missing again, and through he could look down the street ahead. It went straight on for some way, before turning left. It was a large opening, and so being in here would leave him exposed for anyone who might be out that way. He kept by the door, rifle raised as he swept the room. There was a large bed, a grey metal double wardrobe, a small adjoining bathroom; nothing out of the ordinary. The carpet was damp, for some of the rain had blown in through the hole earlier.

John took a few more steps inside. Nothing here. He was beginning to think that maybe Captain Kav'rak's nose was off the mark. He spun around to leave, but he realised at that moment that he had made a mistake. The wardrobe shot open then, both doors almost flying off of their hinges as the black-uniformed Calsharan soldier who had squeezed inside came barging out. He wore an armour vest and no helmet, instead with a set of tinted goggles over his eyes that no doubt carried some sort of digital heads-up display within them. John reacted just in time to spin and face this new opponent, yet he was not fast enough to bring his rifle to bear. The Calsharan swatted it aside, pouncing on him with a serrated combat knife in one hand.

John's rifle flew from his grasp, clunking onto the floor across the room. He found himself pinned, the green skinned Calsharan male atop him, the blade coming down quickly. John caught the Calsharan's forearm, mustering every ounce of his strength to keep the blade away. It glinted in the light filtering in through the gaping hole at the far wall. The Calsharan's strength was great, and John saw the tip of the knife edging closer and closer to his face, only centimetres above his right eye. The Calsharan's features were set with a grim countenance, his focus solely on the human beneath him.

Suddenly, a sharp crack sounded nearby and part of the Calsharan's head exploded. John was showered with blood and fragments of bone. Half of the alien's head had disappeared, reduced to a ragged and fleshy mess. The strength behind the knife suddenly gave way and John, seizing his chance, shoved the alien to one side. The body fell off of him, hitting the floor to his left with a dull thump. The remaining contents of the alien's head splattered out on the impact.

John scrambled to his feet quickly. He caught sight of himself in the nearby mirror, one situated over a dresser of sorts. The Calsharan's blood was all over his face and chest. He grabbed the sheets off of the nearby bed and wiped some of it away whilst he went over to where his rifle had fallen. Throwing the bloodied sheets aside, he picked up the gun and then turned to the gaping hole at the other end of the room.

He could not see who had killed his opponent. Whoever they were, they had saved his life. The shot had sounded like a ballistic weapon, and the damage done to the Calsharan certainly indicated as much. Something high calibre, perhaps makalvari in make. He had noticed the makalvari tended to use larger calibres in their ballistic firearms, likely because their enemies were often well-armoured.

Hurried footsteps sounded from the hallway. John raised his rifle, only to lower it when he saw Sha'Pek and Aithris hurry into the room. They had no doubt heard the scuffle and the shot.

"Little late, you guys," John said, taking the moment to catch his breath. Sha'Pek and Aithris looked down at the partially headless Calsharan. Sha'Pek quirked one brow-ridge, partly impressed if a little confused.

"Did you do that?" He asked the Colonel.

"No, actually." John nodded towards the hole at the far end of the room. "Someone out there did."

Aithris directed his gaze to the street visible through it, and then he looked back at the fallen Calsharan. It was as if he was calculating the trajectory of the round fired and backtracking it to its source. Somehow, John would not be surprised if the Nomad was capable of this kind of thinking.

"Might be one of ours," Sha'Pek said, although he did not sound convinced. "At least we found the lizard the Captain scented."

"Did you scent him too?"

"I've been smelling lizards ever since I got here," the makalvari Lieutenant replied. "They're hidden all over this town. The sooner you accept that, the better you learn when to not engage."

"You don't like the Captain?" John inquired, curious.

"Like him?" Sha'Pek shook his head. "It's not about liking him, Colonel. It's about how he clearly hasn't set foot into a real battlefield for a long time. I know the look. He isn't someone I'd want to trust my life with, not now."

John supposed that made sense, even if it was a little worrisome. Aithris stepped over to him, violet eyes narrowed.

"I believe that shot came from one of those buildings at the end of the street," he said. "It would not have been an easy shot to make. To the head at that range, when you two were up close. They could have just as easily have hit you."

John had figured as much himself. Whoever had fired had taken a big chance.

"Whoever they are, I'll be sure to thank them if we ever run into them." He turned to Sha'Pek. "This shortcut, could you take us through it?"

"Sure. But that station, it's heavily guarded. Even with the battle going on up north, we might meet some serious resistance."

"Well, we'll just have to scope it out." John had been thinking ever since arriving on Dalabrai that they had made a mistake coming here. That line of thought had only intensified in the past hour or so. "And this time, I think I'll give the orders."


The 'shortcut' Sha'Pek described took them through a cluster of tightly packed houses and through a narrow lane. They did not run into much trouble here, which seemed to give some credence to the effectiveness of the battle occurring further north of the town. Most of the Calsharan forces had been sent there to meet the makalvari divisions head-on. All the more of an opportunity for a small team to slip through undetected.

The 'shortcut' took them into a wrecked house among a row of similar structures. The damage was such that several walls separating these close townhouses had been wrecked, allowing the team to pass through one and another. It was in a house at the end that they came to a set of smashed-out windows, and below them was a wide open plaza strewn with debris, its surface churned up with craters. Wrecked vehicles were scattered around, some civilian and others visibly military. The town hall was off to the left, a large estate-like structure that had taken the odd bit of damage on its roof but was otherwise still standing. Sha'Pek signalled the group to stop, and he approached the window opening slowly, for there was no telling who might be outside with their weapon's sights trained in their direction.

John followed him, and Sha'Pek pointed towards the town hall. A visibly raised maglev rail was some ways beyond, surrounded by a fenced-off compound apparent some distance past the town hall itself. It had formerly been a prominent station, no doubt used by the townspeople on a daily basis until war had devastated Blaskane. And now the Calsharans had commandeered it, turning the town hall and the station beyond it into a makeshift command post.

"We can get into the town hall through there." Sha'Pek nodded towards a hallway to their left. It went to another broken down wall, where a makeshift walkway had been placed that traversed the gap between two houses. "And through it, we'll have a direct path into the station."

"We'll need to get on board one of their trains," John said.

"We can do that, but it will need to be subtle," Sha'Pek said. Kav'rak approached, and he gazed towards the town hall and station himself. The maglev rail disappeared into the distance, heading off across town and towards the outlying forests. Parts of the rail had been noticeably repaired, patched up after damage taken during the fighting. Evidently, the Calsharans considered it important enough to work to keep it intact.

"Subtle, huh?" Easier said than done. John could see no Calsharans out there now, but he was sure there were some around. The plaza below them appeared devoid of life and given how open it was this was not surprising.

"We cannot linger," Kav'rak said. "We must go. Our window of opportunity continues to shrink."

"Keen on a fight, Captain?" Sha'Pek asked him. Kav'rak did not reply. He instead started down the hall, expecting the others to follow. John glanced over at his team, exchanging looks with Natalia, who was apparently thinking much the same he was. They both knew they had been dragged into this mission for dubious reasons. It was difficult, being here and working with a bunch of aliens who did not entirely trust you. John could think of a dozen other things he would rather be doing right now.

The team moved on, passing through the neighbouring houses and across an ornately designed metal walkway that ran above a side-street. They came into the house nearest to the town hall, a large and stately affair that had since seen its interior stripped bare of anything nailed down. Looters and soldiers looking for anything useful or valuable had certainly been the cause of that, and so the room they found themselves in was practically empty. The hallway ahead went to another makeshift walkway, in which they simply had to cross above a narrow lane which in turn took them through a hole blasted in the side of the town hall. From there, they arrived inside a mostly bare, floorboarded room on the town hall's upper level. And it was here that Kav'rak signalled the group to stop, and it became clear why: voices could be heard from further inside the building. Calsharan voices, but also a human one. A woman's voice.

"SG-21?" Jonas posited, voicing the conclusion that was on the minds of the Colonel, Aithris and Natalia. John moved closer to the door ahead, pushing it open partially in order to look out into the town hall's central lobby. They were on the upper floor, and beyond this room was a landing that overlooked the ground floor below. Down there, the Calsharans had setup a forward command post of sorts, complete with computer terminals and communications equipment. There were four of them down there, three regulars and one officer. The officer stood in the middle of the command centre, standing over a human woman who was on her knees, hands bound behind her back with a tie made from a strong and flexible alien material.

John did not recognize her, but he did recognize the drab green uniform she wore. It carried the insignia of Stargate Command at the shoulder, and he saw the distinct blue of an Australian flag patch beneath it. Her combat vest was gone, leaving her in the basic green uniform. Her brown hair was wavy and cut into a bob, pushing the boundaries of regulation length. She had a visibly bruised eye, as well as a small cut across her forehead. Judging from her complexion, at least from what John could see from up here, she had to be well into her thirties, perhaps pushing forty.

The Calsharan officer spoke English, and he stood over her with a cruel look upon his grey, scaly features.

"What is your purpose here?" He asked her.

"Can't you tell?" The woman smirked up at her captor. "I'm a door-to-door salesperson. Except no one told me most of the locals around here had left. You wouldn't have had anything to do with that, would you?"

The officer said nothing. He simply punched her, hard enough to send her falling onto her side. John winced when he saw this, as he knew full well that Calsharans hit hard. That woman looked dazed now, and a trickle of blood escaped from her mouth whilst she remained on the floor, a bruise forming at her jaw.

"You loosened a tooth," she said, her voice sounded understandably strained. The officer bent down and grabbed her by the collar, lifting her back upon her knees. The other soldiers about the room barely gave the exchange a glance, with one working at a terminal whilst the other two simply stood at opposite ends of the lobby keeping guard.

"They have a prisoner," John said quietly, turning to the others. "It's someone from SG-21."

"Any sign of the others, sir?" Natalia asked him.

"No, but one's better than none. We have to save her."

Kav'rak came forwards then, his avian eyes narrowed into a disapproving scowl.

"We need stealth here, Colonel. Gunning down a bunch of Calsharans for your fellow human hardly fits into that category."

"I'm not leaving her down there," John countered. "Now, if you aren't going to help, just sit back and stay out of the way." He allowed his voice to become firmer then, making it clear to the makalvari Captain that he was not going to be dissuaded from this planned action. Kav'rak did not push the point, he simply took a few steps back and shook his head.

John turned to his team.

"I need a flashbang," he said. Jonas passed him one, for the self-made scholar had packed a couple of the non-lethal devices. John took the device and approached the door.

"Four of them below," he said. "Aithris, take the left. Sergeant Tarasovna and Jonas, you follow."

"We'll be behind you too, Colonel," Sha'Pek interjected. John gave the makalvari Lieutenant a grateful nod.

Preferably, John would have wanted to breach the room from multiple points. However, they did not have the time to scout the rest of the building without risking exposing themselves to enemies who may be lurking outside, especially those who might have been keeping watch over the plaza. The time was now, and John could only hope there were just the four Calsharans inside and not more out of sight.

"On my signal," he told the others. Aithris readied his rifle and waited by the other end of the double doors. John pushed his door open some of the way, before he pulled the pin from the flashbang and threw it. The device fell over the edge of the landing and down into the middle of the control centre, before it erupted with a deafening bang that filled the lobby with a brilliant flash. John, who had shut the door in front of him upon throwing the device, quickly threw it back open and raised his rifle. He and Aithris stormed onto the landing, weapons barking at the stunned and stumbling Calsharans below.

The SCAR-H and M14 EBR were loud within the confines of the building, each shot sounding like thunder. Aithris went along the left, letting fly with a quick volley that sent one of the Calsharan soldiers falling. This one fell against their computer terminal, knocking the device over before they slumped upon the table, blood pooling around them.

John hurried along the right. He saw the woman from SG-21 below, now lying on her side again with her eyes blinking rapidly in an effort to get rid of the blazing light that filled her vision. Blindness induced by a flashbang passed after a moment or two, not that this made it any less annoying.

The Calsharan officer fell into John's sight. He fired two shots from his rifle, one hitting the officer's armour vest, the other putting a hole through his skull. The officer fell into a heap, landing next to the woman from SG-21. John swept his aim along to one of the other soldiers, this one in the process of levelling his plasma rifle up towards him. John did not give him a chance, hitting him with a trio of bullets that sent him falling back against the wall behind him. His plasma rifle fired errantly, finger twitching on the trigger. The blue bolt of energy hit the wall a metre to John's right, blasting a scorched hole into the plaster.

Natalia and Jonas emerged onto the landing, weapons barking. The last soldier caught a handful of lead, stumbling as his armour caught some of it, blood spurting as a few of the rounds penetrated. And then he went down, jerking about, half-turning with each bloodied impact before he fell spread-eagled to the floor. In the space of about ten seconds, the enemies in the room were down and an uncertain quiet fell across them all.

John lowered his gun, the barrel trailing a thin wisp of smoke. He surveyed their surroundings, keeping an eye on the few other doors apparent on the upper level and down below. None opened, no further Calsharans appeared. However, the communications station on the level below started beeping, indicating an incoming call.

"I should get that," Jonas said. John looked at him, eyebrow cocked. "Seriously, it's probably the Calsharans at the station. They would have heard the noise."

"Do whatever you think you should," John told him. He sighted a set of stairs at the end of the hall and he hurried over, the others following. Taking them down to the ground level, John went towards the injured woman, who had since risen back upon her knees, her sight no longer afflicted by the flashbang's intense blast. She turned to him, face lighting up noticeably.

"Holy shit, a rescue." She smiled broadly. John paused by her, taking a brief moment to gauge her. She was at least in her mid-thirties, he estimated. Her skin was somewhat tanned, and her uniform displayed the insignia of a Lieutenant. She seemed a little old for a Lieutenant, but this was not necessarily unusual. The tag on the face of her uniform read 'RHODES'.

"Colonel, sir. I'm glad you're here." She adopted a somewhat firmer posture upon seeing someone of higher rank. "Lieutenant Elsie Rhodes, SG-21. Recon specialist."

John pulled his standard-issue combat knife from the sheath at his thigh. With it, he sawed through the material keeping the woman's wrists bound. It took a little work, but after some effort with his saw-like movements it gave way. Immediately, Elsie put her hands in front of her and started massaging the marks left at her wrists from the tight bindings. She rose to her feet, a little unsteady, and John grabbed her right forearm in order to help her keep her balance.

"Thanks, sir," she said. She looked to the team, and then to the three makalvari who appeared. She narrowed her eyes when she saw Sha'Pek and Hur'Par. "You two again?"

"It's a small world," Sha'Pek remarked. They had mentioned crossing paths with SG-21 earlier.

"Where's the rest of your team, Lieutenant Rhodes?" John asked her. She turned to him again and shook her head.

"As far as I know, they're dead. We were caught in an ambush about two hours ago. I got away, the others didn't." She looked down then, seemingly ashamed of being the lone survivor. "I'm sorry, sir. I did all I could."

"I don't doubt that," John replied. "You're with us now, and you know the mission same as we do. Do the Calsharans have your gear?"

She looked up again and nodded. She moved around the tables nearby, cluttered with the Calsharan computers and various devices. From behind one she retrieved her vest, packed full of spare magazines and grenades, which she quickly fitted on over her uniform. And then, much to John's surprise, she hefted a Barrett M82A1 rifle from behind that table. It was a long and heavy sniper rifle, utilising the powerful .50 calibre round. A serious weapon for one person to handle, and he felt his perception of this Lieutenant change somewhat.

"When did the enemy capture you, Lieutenant?" John asked her, a thought occurring to him upon seeing the weapon.

"About half an hour ago," she said, and she slung the rifle around a shoulder. "They were pretty rough, sir."

"Natalia, get her some first aid. Clean her up."

The Sergeant nodded, pulling out the kit she was carrying as she approached the Lieutenant. She shook her head, as if to refuse the assistance, but John frowned and the look made it clear that he would have to insist.

"Did you happen to blow away any Calsharans with that fifty-cal, Lieutenant?" John asked her. Elsie looked at him, nodded her head and he detected the trace of a smile at her bruised, bloodied lips. Natalia interrupted then, using an alcohol wipe to get rid of some of that blood.

Jonas approached the beeping terminal. With a press of a button, the beeping stopped. John looked to him, and he offered the Colonel a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, I deactivated the video feed," he told him. A guttural Calsharan voice broke out from the terminal, and from its tone John figured that they were demanding an explanation. Jonas, surprising even John, replied in what he could only believe was fluent Calsharan, or at least the common language among their people. He delivered an explanation of some sort, and the voice on the other end asked a few further questions, before shutting off the device. Jonas, looking a little satisfied, turned to John with a light-hearted smile.

"What did you say?" John asked him.

"That a makalvari strike team infiltrated the area, hit our position and fled eastwards," Jonas explained. "That our communication terminal was damaged, so the video feed wouldn't work. The commander I spoke to assured me that he would send a force out to intercept these makalvari infiltrators, diverting some of the Calsharans over at the station to somewhere well out of our path."

John was impressed. Judging from the looks on Natalia's and even Rhodes' faces, they felt much the same.

"There is no time to waste, then," Kav'rak announced, once again seemingly taking charge of the team. "We will catch our ride at the station. Hopefully we can get there without further trouble." He directed this last sentence to John, as if singling him out. John just rolled his eyes and walked past him, headed for the town hall's rear exit. To think, this whole escapade was just the start. John hoped it would all be worth it, and if not, he felt that he may get very upset with Kav'rak.