Stargate Revealed: Power & Politics, Part 17
by Livi2Jack

Summary: The battle begins. Old friends and enemies meet to settle scores. Jack struggles to live. The Goa'uld strike.

Rating: All Ages

Category: Action/Adventure, Drama, Humor, Mystery, Point Of View, UST, Other

Related SG-1 Episode(s): 703 Fragile Balance, 720 Inauguration, 813 It's Good To Be King, 814 Full Alert, 817 Reckoning, Part 2, 901 Avalon, Part 1, 902 Avalon, Part 2
Related Atlantis Episode(s): 201 The Siege, Part 3

Featured Characters: Jack O'Neill, Samantha Carter, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, Hammond, Bra'tac, and Hayes.

Author's Note: Spoilers for Season 9+.

Feedback is requested.


Chapter 17: Up In The Air
"No response. Prepare the transfusion," The Doctor working on General O'Neill commanded. Jack lay dying on a biobed in the Medlab on the Commonwealth Starship 'Daniel Jackson.' Medtechs responded with the trained efficiency of seasoned professionals. Streams of data hovered exactly where the doctor could see them over the patient. The blinking lights shut down one by one until there were barely any lights left suspended over the patient. "Ma'am, he's dying. And there's not a damn thing I can do about it. I've called for the stasis chamber but it may be too late."

Lady Anna thought she would throw up. Not now, she thought. Oh please, not now, we are on the eve of battle and all the plans are coming together. He can't die. She made a decision.

"Stand aside, Doctor." He started to object and then saw her face and what she held in her hand.

"That works for minor injuries, ma'am. This is systemic." The Doctor shook his head but stepped back anyway.

"We lose nothing by trying and it worked on Colonel Carter this morning." Lady Anna closed her eyes to concentrate. A small light glowed above the body. Two more lights came back on above the patient. She tried harder. The effort began to drain her. In the background, she became aware of the arrival of other people.

"What's she doing?" One of the techs whispered to the Doctor.

"Trying, now shush." The stasis chamber came in between several technicians. "My Lady, we must act now. The chamber is here." The Doctor implored her to cease.

She kept on trying. But the act was almost too much. Lady Anna swayed and caught herself on the edge of the table extending the other hand to the body for support. At that instant, a really bright light shot out of the device toward the body. Everyone present gasped.

Daniel arrived having been paged to the Medlab by one of the nurses he befriended. She briefed him to his horror.

"Dr. Jackson, no one ever saw one of those devices react with such force. These little hand healers were found in a dig on a deserted planet a few years ago. A few of our medical labs use them to help small wounds and cuts, not edge of death kinds of situations."

Daniel watched Lady Anna hold this bright beam over Jack. The people in the room parted to let him through. Everyone knew he was the great friend of Lord O'Neill and his principal agent. Lady Anna was not even aware of him as he approached the table. Her eyes were closed and she seemed transfixed by the procedure.

"Will it work," Daniel asked the Doctor?

"I don't know anymore. We think they are what you term 'Ancient' technology. Only a few of us can use them. And no one has ever made one of these act like this." The Doctor looked over to another doctor pointing at the blinking lights coming back over the body. Murmurs of disbelief and concern echoed through the Medlab. "It seems to be having an effect."

"Maybe, it has something to do with Sarcophagus technology," suggested Daniel. "We found a device a couple of years ago that predated the Sarcophagus and was believed to be the precursor to what the Goa'uld use in both the Sarcophagus and their hand healing devices. It would make sense that the Ancients would have a hand held version too." He watched as more lights came back on. But he saw the effort was draining the Lady.

"Doctor, we know that an Ancient's ability to heal can cause them to be depleted and die. Are you sure you should let her continue? Maybe she could stop and you could get him to a real Sarcophagus." Daniel watched as she continued to be drained. The Doctor nodded and reached out to Lady Anna to get her attention to tell her to stop.

"My Lady, you shouldn't...aarrggh," the Doctor seemed to receive a shock and collapsed. Lady Anna swayed more being drained again. Daniel's eyes widened in surprise and fear. The others in the lab carried off the unconscious doctor.

"Ma'am, stop, please. You'll die if you don't." Daniel tried again. She was pure white and obviously failing. More lights and sounds appeared on the display over the body. "No! Stop, you'll die, both of you and nothing will have been achieved. He can be put in stasis now. You've done enough." Daniel bent down to look up at her face but her eyes were closed. He shook his head at the other doctors. Everyone watched in dismay.

Sirens went off. Heads swiveled toward the monitors. The Commodore announced the first arrival of the Goa'uld fleet, in advance of the main force. He called for battle stations. No one moved until the chief doctor ordered everyone to stations. Daniel remained to watch. It was obvious no one else could do anything there. Daniel just stood there fascinated and in horror.


"What are you doing?" Jack asked Lady Anna in his mind. "And why are you glowing?" He looked down at himself and found he too was in some glowy state.

"Saving your life."

"What?" Jack turned to look around. He didn't see anything and then he perceived noises from somewhere. "Where are we? Where is everyone?"

"We are in the Medlab. You were poisoned."

"Poisoned. So, Whatcha doin'?"

"I told you."

"How much longer?"

"I don't know."

"You don't seem ok."

"I know."

"So stop." Jack moved toward her. He held out his hand to touch hers. Everything went white. "What the hell is this?" It was so bright he could hardly perceive her. Slowly he could focus on her. "Anna, stop. It's ok. You can stop. I understand."

"No."

"Anna, I don't want you to do this. Don't sacrifice yourself for me. I'm not worth it." Jack tried to push her back to stop the exchange. He looked down where her gaze was fixed and saw himself lying there. "Cool. An out of body experience." She was still working at him. "Anna, maybe we are dead or ascended or something."

"No."

"Then, what?"

"I don't know." She paused to think. "I felt this way when I tried to help Colonel Carter. But I don't remember much."

"You passed out. Anna, look, if you don't stop you'll die. I don't want that. Please." She did not reply. He moved even closer to take her shoulders and push her off. And the strangest sensations took over his mind. He could hear her, thinking? No, not exactly thinking. What then?


"Look!" Daniel exclaimed. Both bodies seemed to glow and the beam between them blazed brighter. Daniel lifted his arm while he retrieved his sunglasses from his vest. The Doctor hit the alarm. Then he contacted the Captain.

"My Lord Commodore, we have a situation in the Medlab. Well maybe a miracle. Look!" He stood aside to let the Commodore see what effect surrounded O'Neill and Lady Anna. Gasps from the bridge crew punctuated the silence. The others in the Medlab gathered around and knelt before the scene.

"Broadcast this holy image to the rest of the ship and the fleet." The Commodore addressed the Communications Officer on the bridge. "Get me the base commanders." In a few moments the holograms stood on the bridge huddled in conference. The Doctor's hologram joined them to answer questions. No one knew what to do.

"My Lords," interrupted the Tactical Officer. "Tracking platforms indicate three Ha'taks just appeared near the planet they call Saturn. Our base confirms their approach. Your orders?"

The hologram of the Saturn base commander said, "initiate the first plan and let them come closer. Speed?"

The Tactical officer said, "approaching at 0.43 of lightspeed, My Lord. And decelerating. At this rate, it will take 2 hours to reach the first base's missile envelope. Passive sensors confirm the approach is from the Ort Cloud." Heads nodded. The Goa'uld could be so predictable. This was the classic entrance point used before.

"Make no moves before they are twenty minutes closer and far enough beyond the limit to easily make a hyperspace exit. They could have warning capabilities. Then send a gravity pulse to the fleet in hyperspace." The Commodore turned back to the scene in the Medlab. He could feel the fear on the bridge over the scene. "Put this image on my com screen only." The image disappeared and the bridge crew returned to their duties. The base commanders did the same. No sense in this distraction unsettling the crews.

"They are approaching right through the center of our sensor and missile pod platforms, My Lord. Our Great Lady was correct again." The Tactical officer had a note of awe in his voice. He got a distracted nod from the Commodore. The First Officer moved to look at the data.

"There. Compute the maximum distances and set the computers to execute the First Plan when 70 of the hyperdrive missiles can acquire their targets. But don't activate until we are sure they will not be able to get off a message. Send this transmission on a whisker beam to the Bases and the drones." He turned to see what the Commodore was doing. The Commodore was in conference with the Base Commanders. Bridge duties fell to him.

"My Lords, I recommend that the usual hologram communicators cease and we use only the whisker beam transmissions from this point." The Commodore checked his screen.

Heads nodded and the figures disappeared. The Commodore considered for a moment, then he said, "Commander, you have the bridge." And he strode off to go to the Medlab. There was still time. He had to see this for himself.


"Anna, please, just let me go." In his mind, O'Neill smiled at her. "It's ok. I know you did your best."

"NO! Let me finish. I can do this." Anna set herself to even more concentrated purpose. "Jack, you must finish what I started. Promise me."

"I can't do that." He smiled at her. "You have to be the one to do it. I'm just here to help."

"Then help, damn it. Do something." Anna felt frustration. She was failing. "The knowledge is in you. I never took the download of the Ancient database. Thor just suppressed it. Search your mind, that's an order, General. Try." With doubts, Jack closed his eyes to focus.

"The Chair, it's what you thought. It's more than a weapon. We have to go down there. And bring the stasis unit." He stepped back and then was gone.

The beam stopped. Lady Anna collapsed to the floor. Daniel caught her just before her head hit the floor. The Doctors rushed up to the table. The lights were blinking again but O'Neill was not conscious. Lady Anna spoke softly to Daniel.

"She says they both have to go down to the Antarctic base. Something about the chair will fix this." He looked up appealing to the Commodore. "And bring the stasis unit." No one moved. Everyone looked doubtful. "I know what this looks like. But you have to believe me. Jack's got the Ancient gene and apparently so does she. They can work the equipment there. Whatever's down there, they know what they are doing. Just trust me. Please." No one moved. "You've got to. I've seen this before. Now, you wanted to be allies. We have to learn to trust each other. We have to go down there. Look, take me with you. If anything happens, you can kill me. But it's their only chance."

The Commodore turned to the Doctor, who was back on his feet, "can we get them to the Sarcophagus in time?" The man shrugged his doubts. "I see. Even with the stasis chambers?" The Doctor thought for a moment.

"Doubtful. The Sarcophagus is not on Aretz or anywhere near the Capital anymore. We moved it for the battle to one the Medical Ships and it's not here yet. We thought we had another 24 hours and didn't want too many hyper footprints in system." The Doctor looked down at Lady Anna. "I don't think, so." He checked the readings over O'Neill. "He's already destabilizing. Look." The Doctor pointed to the readout and one of the lights went out.

"My Lords, I am the Lady's new Chief of Security as of a half hour ago." The young officer interrupted with a bow. He looked to the Doctor for confirmation, who nodded yes to the Commodore. "Our Lady's orders are to save O'Neill no exceptions, not even for herself." The Commodore's eyes narrowed in suspicion. But a replay of the order met his satisfaction. He gestured to the Captain.

"Get them warm blankets and space heaters. We are going on a field trip, people." The Captain looked around him. "MOVE!" He commed the bridge and informed them. Then the Commodore ordered the drones delivered to refill the chair. "Put her on a floater and let's go." The security and medical teams took their positions with Dr. Jackson and transported down.


A sudden raucous atonal howl took him by surprise. The Array Section Chief's instincts knew what they were doing. Suddenly, his universe changed. He was up and running from his office even before he realized he'd moved. He dashed a full five meters through the bedlam of startled exclamations, curses, and shouts. Hatches cycled madly. Feet thundered on the deck sole down passageways and towards lift shafts. And through it all bone grating, brain-piercing alarms shrieked their warnings. His paper orders last week were clear. His time to act was now. On his way down to his station, he passed more bridge personnel.

Turning a corner, the Sr. Battle Tactical Officer drew on his uniform as he careened toward the bridge of the Base. Thinking he had 24 hours left, he went for some sleep. Stepping on to the bridge, the Sr. Tac Officer reached his station in record time. Then the Sr. Tac Officer felt his eyebrows try to crawl off his brow into his hairline. The junior Tac Officer scurried out of his way. The data stream over his console could not be more clear. "Report," he barked.

"My Lord, unknown forces are in attack formation bearing down on this station." The junior Tac Officer glanced again at the holoimage. "The energy signatures do not correspond to our own. And they are not quite Goa'uld, either," she opined.

"So, what then? We are being attacked by elves," he snarled back at her? Everyone had heard the rumors of the Wannabes capabilities. But so far, none of them had engaged Commonwealth forces.

"Whoever it is, they've come loaded for bear. And, My Lord," she dropped her voice. "From the looks of things, we are screwed."

"Well if they want this station, they are going to pay cash for it." The Sr. Tac Officer replied grimly.

"Yeah, but they brought plenty of spare change," she retorted.


Suiting up in the Small Attack Craft (SAC) bay, the CO of the SAC squadron checked the readouts one last time. A foul curse crossed his breath. The enemy had brought three Ha'tak class vessels and many Al'kesh mid-range bombers. Their approach spelled doom for the station. The enemy's energy weapons meant the SACs would take heavy fire. The craft's shielding was sacrificed for swift maneuverability and the ability to launch multiple drive missiles (MDMs). If the enemy got too close to the base, most of the SACs would be torn apart as soon as they reached the force shield perimeter. Which in his book meant they were FUBAR, the Earth term for fouled up beyond all repair.

"Launch instructions coming up now, Skipper." The Lieutenant assigned to the SAC commander checked his screen again. "We're going with First Plan, Skip."

"What about missile loadout?" The CO demanded.

"Nothing yet on the screen, but we are launching with the standard package." The Lieutenant adjusted his data stream. "One hour to launch, Skipper. The Base is bringing up the energy nodes. They'll be hot by the time we get halfway to the targets."

The CO managed not to stare at him in disbelief. Any expression like that and it would kiss morale good-bye. He looked down and adjusted his vacuum suit. The standard load had some of everything and enough of nothing. It was an emergency load. They had no time to change out the package from the time the situation was announced yesterday. Standard tactical doctrine assumed there would be time to change over those items not needed for those that were according to the situation. But the early arrival of three Ha'taks was not planned. It would take another three hours to finish changing the missile packages on all the ships. The CO of the SAC squadron was offended professionally that his men would be thrown away without being able to do the maximum amount of damage before the enemy wiped them out.

"Have the flight crews finish changing as much as they can and delay launch another twenty minutes. I want more of Third Plan weapons on board. Anyone asks questions, refer them to me. Now MOVE!"

These SACs had to move out from under supporting energy weapons fire and past their own wall of battle. Third Plan's equipment was heavy on Electronic Warfare (EW) with multi-drive missiles (MDM), jammers, decoys, and some of the Lady's special electronic counter measures (ECM).

"Forty-five minutes to launch, Commander," the Flight Chief informed the COSAC. It wasn't much, but it was better than not changing anything. "It'll be tight, Skipper, but we'll make it." The Commander watched the robotic arms blurring and flashing as they reloaded the high-speed anti-energy weapon countermeasures.

"Any reaction from the Bridge," The COSAC inquired?

"No, they are not interested," he replied in a neutral tone. The COSAC knew this was going to be the most FUBAR operation to date. And absolutely nothing else he could do would change that fact.

"Okay, crews to their posts. Pre-flight checks to begin." He finished with the last of his suit's seals and stalked off.


"Base Commander, we have readings indicating that the Al'kesh have launched their Death Gliders." The Sr. Tactical Officer announced. "Our recon drones are reporting twelve million klicks or forty light seconds ahead of the screens of SACs. The enemy is now within our multi-drive missile envelope of sixty million klicks or three and two-thirds light minutes. Shall we launch the SAC MDMs?"

"No, that's too long a time. They could take evasive maneuvers. Let them close more. The SACs have been accelerating for an hour now. They were less than forty minutes to intercept. The Death Gliders are keeping close formation. Let them. It will be their funerals."

The Commander turned his attention to the screens detailing base defenses. Energy weapons were nearly online. The energy nodes were approaching minimum output. He was counting on a nice surprise for those Al'kesh.

First Plan called for SACs to close to energy range before releasing the MDMs. No one knew why, but it was said the Lady ordered it herself. As it turned out, the output from the SACs own sensors interfered with the Death Glider targeting and navigation systems. And that was the point. Add that little fact to the ECM in every ship and the SACs could cause chaos among the enemy navigators. Any minute now and the SACs would pump out massed missile fire on the Gliders and then the remaining missiles would target the Al'kesh. First Plan called for a converging attack taking out the flank guards first, to clear a path for MDM carrying SACs to execute a minimum range attack on the core of the enemy forces. However, not all the SACs were armed with enough MDMs and counter measures thanks to the enemy's hasty arrival.

The COSAC grimly told himself that at least the enemy would know something radical had hit them before they all died. At least their deaths would mean something. But apparently, the Jaffa commander didn't turn out to be the idiot everyone thought. He ordered his units to enter deeply into the atmosphere of Saturn. The radiation above the planet and the beginning layers of condensing gasses in the atmosphere combined to form an effective counter measure. The missiles chasing the pack of Gliders lost their lock on the targets. Most of the Gliders re-emerged from the upper atmosphere half a planet away. Only a few missile computers reacquired their targets and hit home. The rest wandered off until their fuel was spent. The bulk of the formation passed the SACs and went straight for the station. The SACs faced the full brunt of the bomber energy weapons while running on empty.


"My Lady, what do you want us to do with him?" The new Colonel of Security asked Lady Anna gently. They were standing in the middle of the Antarctic base strewn with Earth equipment. Two Earth scientists stood by, unhappy with the situation. But they had been warned not to interfere. Per the President's orders, they were there to observe and be helpful. Daniel nodded to them and joined the group.

"Put him in the Chair." Anna commanded softly. She motioned to Dr. Jackson to approach. "Have you seen this thing work?" He knelt down to see her face and nodded. "Dr. Jackson, I am told you can read Ancient. Is that true?" Daniel nodded. "Good, then show us the way to it." Dr. Jackson stood up and looked around to get his bearings.

"Um, this way, I think." Daniel fairly leaped over some tumbled equipment to spot the Chair. "It's over here. Watch your step." The Medtechs and security people placed Jack in the chair and arranged him. Daniel placed Jack's hands on the gel pads on the armrests. The Chair lit up and tilted backwards. Nothing else happened.

Lady Anna moved over to the Chair and examined it. She was still very weak and sat on a floater, a chair with anti-gravity propulsion. The Medtechs flitted about Jack pointing devices at him and shaking their heads. Everyone was concerned. Anna reached out to touch his arm. Data began to stream over him. Daniel tried to read it.

"Um, it's something about vessels entering the solar system. I don't know the rest." He shrugged. "Maybe you can ask it, Ma'am." Anna looked confused. "Anyone with the Ancient gene can activate Ancient devices like this chair. We've seen it give star charts and launch weapons. It can operate a whole Ancient Outpost like this one. So maybe you can ask it what we need to know." Daniel pushed his glasses up his nose and waited expectantly. With some effort, Anna raised her eyes to his and shook her head. "You just think about what you want and it tells you. It's thought activated." He swept his hands out toward her. "You have to focus." Her security people reacted by pulling out their weapons. Daniel looked alarmed and withdrew his hands. Anna closed her eyes. Data began to stream over Jack. Daniel translated.

"It says things about his condition. But I'm not a doctor so I don't know. Here, it's saying that his blood chemistry is not right and that several organs are not functioning at an acceptable level. The destruction, no the poison is adhering to his white and red blood cells preventing oxygen from entering his tissues. He's suffocating from inside." Daniel paused and let her concentrate some more.

"There, it is says what you need to do. You synthesize the antidote as follows," Daniel continued to read as the Medtechs worked their devices sending the information to the ship's Medlab.

"Jack, Jack, can you hear me?" Daniel touched his face. Jack was growing cold and grey. "You have to hang on. Don't you die on me, not now, not after everything we've been through." Daniel looked up in panic. "Can't any of you stop this from happening? With all your fancy stuff, there must be something." He looked with his appeal to Lady Anna. She was trying to concentrate. "Ma'am, can you use that thing again, the thing you used a few minutes ago?"

"Dr. Jackson, she is very weak. If she tries again, she might not survive." The Doctor put his hand on Daniels shoulder to pull him back. Daniel just shook it off. Anna pulled out the hand device and laid it on Jack. The thing began to glow and grew brighter but not like before. The Doctor made a move to snatch it away. Daniel threw his body weight to block him. Guards seized him. The Doctor tried to remove it. But he got another shock, less powerful but one nonetheless. Daniel smiled a small smile. She was trying.

The data stream changed to a view of the solar system around Saturn. Images of ships engaging in battle filled the view. The group watched in horrified fascination as Goa'uld Death Gliders made short work of Commonwealth SACs. Then gasps escaped from the group, as the Gliders broke free and went for the Commonwealth base.


The Base Sr. Tactical Officer thought his stomach would fall through the soles of his shoes. He couldn't get a count yet. The point sources were too jumbled together. But, he didn't need a count to know that there were a helluva lot more of them than there were of his task force. That thought filled his mind as his thumb came down on the big red console icon.

"We are gonna get creamed," the Lieutenant whispered to the Sr. Tac Officer. He was watching the holodisplay of the oncoming Glider task force, as it swept deeper toward the base. We're out numbered." The Tac Officer turned his head to look at the Base CO.

"Sorry, Commander, it's just overwhelming." He gestured to the display. The CO nodded grudgingly.

"It doesn't look good," he conceded quietly. Leaning toward the Sr. Tac Officer the Commander tried to keep their conversation as private as possible on the relatively small bridge. "But we have something they don't." He looked cagily up at the taller junior officer. "We've got range advantage. And we have the pods."

"Better than even odds, My Lord," asked the Sr. Tac Officer? The CO just shrugged. Their eyes remained on the display where the icons for the Gliders marched inexorably toward the Base. "They just have to get within twelve million klicks to launch the pod MDMs. The capital MDMs have a longer range at burnout, which is more than five times as great as the energy weapons on the Gliders."

But hitting a powered evading target was complex. At that kind of range hitting the target was not exactly effective. But there were so many pods with hundreds of missiles placed at strategic vectors just outside Base energy weapons range. So, some missiles had to hit. Accuracy wouldn't be anything to write home about, but at least some of them would get through. If he timed things properly, the next launch of SACs would put a strain on the Al'kesh sitting out of range.

"How good are our targeting setups?" The CO demanded of his staff ops officer.

"My Lord, they are about as good as we could hope not having completed the systems in time." The Staff Ops officer looked back at the holodisplay with a grim visage.

"Then I suppose we'd better use them before we lose them. Reprioritize the firing sequence." He waited for the junior officers to indicate they had done it. Raising his arm, the CO counted. Then the CO lowered his arm in one swoop and said, "Flush them all-now!"


"What the hell?" President Hayes tore his eyes from the holoscreen sent to the Situation Room on board Air Force One headed for Stargate Command. "If I'm understanding this, they are about to get themselves wiped out!" He turned in dismay to his generals. Each of them nodded his head without moving his eyes from the screen. "Somebody contact that idiot O'Neill. He's the one who talked us into this alliance."

"Sir, General O'Neill is down at the Antarctic Base in the Chair. Lady Anna and Dr. Jackson are with him. Dr. Jackson reports that O'Neill was poisoned on board the ship and is dying. We need to get someone with the Ancient gene over there ASAP." George Hammond reported quietly. "I just spoke with Dr. Jackson by one of the Commonwealth cell phones. He says it's dire. Commonwealth medical personnel and the Lady herself are trying to save him. He says that Lady Anna ordered the Chair refilled with drones. So I suppose that's something."

"Something. Right." General Francis Maynard, Chairman of The Joint Chiefs snorted a laugh. "Ok, send someone via the Daedalus' rings." He turned back to the screen. It was a rout.

"Any word from Thor?" The SecDef nervously picked at a scab.

"No, and that's not all," General Michael Moseley, the new Chief of the Air Force offered. "The Jaffa report that Teal'c and his delegation did not return on schedule. They are overdue by six hours."

"I can't believe I trusted those people. Has anyone got ANY information about the abductions of world leaders?" Hayes looked at each man. No one replied. Of course, the President never trusted 'those people.' He had been trying to nuke them himself. "Great. That's just great. I am presiding over the end of the world. If we survive this attack, the other powers are going to come at us."

"Sir, the Russian Vice-President is on the line for you." President Hayes' secretary Karen commed him from her desk. "He's pissed, sir." Hayes ran his fingers through the remains of his balding hairline.

"This just gets better and better."


"We can't stop them," the Base CO said quietly. He looked up to meet the eyes of his chief of staff. They were equally shocked. "Anything we send out will just give them more target practice. And the same thing is true of the pod platforms. The forts should have been upgraded to fire MDMs," he grated through his teeth.

"My Lord, how, I mean, what do we do now," the chief of staff asked almost desperately.

"There's only one thing we can do," the CO spat out. "I am not going to get my family or yours exiled for failure to do my duty. No more of my people are going to die in a battle we can't win anyway."

"But sir, you can't just abandon the Base?" The chief of staff was panicked.

"Screw the Admiralty!" The CO snarled. "If they want to exile me, they will have to find all the little pieces! But right now what matters is saving everyone and everything we can. And we can't save the base."

The chief of staff swallowed hard. He couldn't disagree. "We don't have much time to set the scuttling charges, My Lord."

"Get all the work crews available and scrub the computer systems blank. I want all the secure data wiped now. Once you've done that, set the charges and blow the entire computer core, as well. I don't want those snakehead bastards to get squat as Lord O'Neill would say. We've got a half hour window to evacuate anyone we are going to get out. Maybe we can get thirty percent of our people out. Get the priority list and get moving." The CO turned to the Tac Officers. "You set the automatic energy defenses to fire once the Gliders are in range. The nodes are fully operational. Let the firing computers handle the firing sequence. They're separated from the computer core information anyway. And set the remaining pod platforms farther out to target the Al'kesh before we can't get the whisker signal out to them."

"Yes, My Lord." The Tac Officers were glad for something to do before they died. They went to work with a vengeance.

"Now, I've got another job for you, Lieutenant. Come with me." The CO moved off to go to the auxiliary bridge several levels below. The young Lieutenant followed behind wondering what his commander was up to. Once they were out of earshot, the CO pulled the Lieutenant up close. His cadaver-like smile held no humor at all.

"We may not have enough missiles to do the job. But there is one target we can reach." He pointed to the tactical display. "We don't have time to set the demolition charges. That was said just for the crew's benefit. So I want you to lay in a fire plan from here. As we leave, I want an old-fashioned nuke on top of every building, every shipyard, and on every fabrication center. EVERYTHING! The only places you don't hit are personnel quarters. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, My Lord Commander," was all he got out. His expression was aghast at the thought of the waste of so many people and so much effort.

"Then do it." The CO turned away so the Lieutenant could not see his anger.


The Base Array Section Chief closed the hatch to the primary array unit orbiting the next moon over. His tools were there ready to go. Within moments, he had adjusted the targeting data. An unknown drone platform out past the planet activated. The Section Chief transported to a cloaked defensive pod modified for just this purpose. Three months had not been very long. And with all his other duties, modifying this pod had been tricky. He had pulled double shifts because he had to do this alone. Fortunately, he had a week's warning that this was coming. The Section Chief wondered briefly if his family would ever know what he did for his people. Then he shoved those thoughts aside and concentrated on the work to be done. The tactical display targeted the three Ha'tak vessels coming closer to the planet. Two were closer and so better suited for the task. He sent a whisker beam transmission to the drones closest to the Ha'taks he picked. Those inside the Ha'taks would never know what happened. And it was imperative the third never figured it out to relay it to the rest of the Goa'uld fleet fast approaching.
"Those poor bastards," whispered the Commodore on the 'Daniel Jackson' in the L2 position behind Earth's moon. His readouts told the whole story. Wave after wave of Death Gliders were on an approach vector to the Saturn Base. "They made it through the pod defenses. God help them now." He frowned and turned to his aide. "Contact the Asteroid Base. Let them know to begin preparations to fire up their energy canon. But tell them not to ignite the nodes before my signal. Wash the signal through two of our reconnaissance drones on a whisker beam. The Com Officer nodded and proceeded to execute the orders.

"My Lord," the Sr. Battle Tactical Officer addressed the Commodore at the 'Daniel Jackson's' command console. "Calculations indicate the Al'kesh have launched all their possible Gliders. The last wave is thirty minutes from the Base."

"Very good. Now execute Second Plan." The Commodore moved to the second holographic console. Lights indicated that passive arrays went active near the Al'kesh bomber positions. Drone platforms also lit up. The bridge crew worked at a steady professional pace with the practice of many drills. There was no excitement or raised voices. No one rushed around. There were no anxious tones. And yet the tension was palpable.

"Electronic countermeasures are active on drones closest to the Al'kesh, My Lord." The Tac Officer checked his holodisplay. "Two Ha'tak vessels are closing on the nearest Al'kesh. Seems they are in trouble, My Lord Commodore," he smirked a lethal smile.

History would record this as the day the Commonwealth came into its own. The Commodore looked around with approval. Lady Anna's plan was working. Very few personnel in this operation knew just how devious a plan she had ordered. He was certain that there was more to it than even he knew. The Commodore wondered how she was doing down on that miserable planet.


"Perimeter Security has bogeys, Commander!" The Lieutenant in auxiliary command spoke quickly to the Base Commander. "They just made the energy weapon's envelope."

"Locus and vector?" The Commander operated his own tactical display. "Any sign of anyone headed to the terminal?" The Lieutenant answered no. "Amplify quickly on my display screen." He turned back to the glittering lights coded red for the enemy fighters. There were a lot of them.

"Coming in about 0.125 of lightspeed and decelerating. They want to board us." The Lieutenant kept calm even though his heart was in his throat. "Launching the EW drones to jam their controls. Launching countermeasures for the nearest ships." The Lieutenant continued to place his nukes all over the base. "Ordnance positioned as ordered, My Lord. Detonation sequence is routed to your console.

"What happened to the MDMs we flushed in the outer pods?" The Commander was rechecking the detonation sequence.

"We took out three Al'kesh bombers and fifty Gliders. But the last wave is still coming. And the total outnumbers us three to one even if the remaining SACs could get back here in time." The Lieutenant stopped and stood back. "That's it, My Lord. The computers will work the energy canon from the programs. I suggest you take your place on the evacuation transports as soon as possible." The Commander looked at him in disgust and shook his head. He knew if he left his post his family would be the ones to suffer. The Lieutenant saw his resolve and stood taller. "It has been an honor to serve with you, My Lord." And he bowed deeply in respect. The older man gave a short bow in return and both went back to making sure the enemy never got their hands on the base intact.

In the Commander's mind's eye, he saw the forest fire of old-fashioned nukes consuming fabrication centers, orbital supply depots, reclamation units, farm pods, stores and magazines, the huge hydrogen farm, sensor platforms, and relays. The ultra-modern system controls command station went up just as the first Glider wave approached taking out the entire wave. But the ships in orbit also went up one by one. Over two dozen midsized ships unlucky enough to be caught in dry docks waiting for repairs or minor retrofits did their duties. Those ships in the repair yards became land mines waiting for the enemy. The fireballs ripped like shrapnel through the yards beginning a cascade of secondary explosions just as the second wave of Gliders careened into the perimeter. The energy canon began the firestorm of blasts directed by an inhuman mind to take out as many Gliders as survived.

That he had no choice at all gave the Commander no comfort. For he had destroyed in one act of self-inflicted devastation more damage to more fighting power and resources than anyone in the history of the Commonwealth Admiralty. One catastrophic act turned the tide for the other bases. In the end, the Commander found a low-tech solution to the enemy engagement. But he eliminated only the advance scouting party for the main Goa'uld force.


"Holy Crap!"

"Jeez...will ya look at that?" Other voices murmured and shouted on board Air Force One. The amazement at the sheer size of the explosions and the debris shooting from one of Saturn's moons took everyone's breath away. Each person stood transfixed to the holographic broadcast feed. It was mind-boggling to witness a battle of such epic proportions in outer space and know it was real. Even CNN couldn't top this, thought President Hayes.

"Someone try to raise the Commonwealth ship behind the moon, the um, 'Daniel Jackson' I think they call it." The SecDef wanted to hear for himself the outcome of the battle since this was a fifteen minute delay with edited content. General Hammond, the President's Off-world Affairs Advisor flipped open his Commonwealth cell phone and dialed.

"Sir, they refuse to take our call. There is some kind of automated answer for us saying that no one is available during the battle. Now don't that beat all?" He snorted in disbelief. Grunts of dismay were heard in the company.

"Sir, we are on final approach to Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs," the pilot announced. "Everyone please be seated and fasten seat belts." The stewardesses on board herded everyone to their seats and secured the plane for landing. No one was very happy. Because no one was sure what had really transpired. It looked like the Base had been destroyed. But what happened to the enemy, wondered everyone on board.


"Kel Shak?" Teal'c growled.

"Didn't expect to find me here, did ya Big Guy?" The young man sauntered up to Teal'c and gave him the once over. "Oh, c'mon, get over it. We've got a job to do." He half-punched Teal'c on the shoulder with a fist and looked up at him again. Teal'c turned his head to look at the place Jack, JR. had punched, then back at Jack's clone with a half serious threatening look. Grinning, Jack turned and went back to the command chair and sat down with a practiced ease. "Better than Captain Kirk, eh?" He accepted a pad and signed with his thumb through the DNA scanner. Handing it back to the pretty, young aide, with the confidence of youth on his handsome angular face, he looked over to Teal'c waiting, expectantly.

Teal'c stood there a moment more. Raised an eyebrow. Thought about it some more. And let out the biggest laugh in his life. Teal'c whole heartedly guffawed at the whole absurdity of the situation. After spending so many years on Earth, his newfound human sense of humor kicked in. The Jaffa escort thought he had lost his mind. And he just kept on laughing until tears coursed down his face. The entire bridge crew stopped in their tracks, not sure if something bad was going to happen after Teal'c stopped. The other Jaffa were getting angry and confused. Wiping his eyes on his hand, Teal'c turned to look at Rak'nor, the Jaffa with the mutilated tattoo on his head. Rak'nor stood behind him ready to draw his blade.

"Kree ho'nel, ho'nel Jaffa! Hold your fire." Teal'c walked up to look the man over. "It's O'Neill, the younger." Teal'c explained. Now the other Jaffa were really confused. Teal'c enjoyed the moment and then got back to business. "The Asgaard cloned O'Neill three years ago. This is his clone. We are in no danger, put your weapons away." The doubt in their eyes spoke volumes. "Kree, tel kol, Jaffa. Look and see!" His grin broadened at their absolute awe and confusion.

Jack gave a half-wave. "Yeah, kree… and all that stuff…he said," giving a thumb jerk over to Teal'c.

"What magic is this?" Rak'nor demanded to know.

"No magic, just the Asgaard fooling around and…getting caught." Jack coughed and smiled. "So, T?" Jack leaned back and waited for a decision. He could see Teal'c thinking it over.

"They have a child as their commander! Let me kill him and the rest of these worthless humans. We can take the ship and head back for Dakara to warn them!"

The other Jaffa drew his zat. Without looking back, Jack made a hand motion and the Jaffa with the zat was held in a beam. Teal'c surveyed the situation and gave his attention to Jack without comment. Rak'nor was coming out of his skin but shut his mouth.

"As I was saying, T-man," Jack continued unfazed. "What's your answer? We gonna blow that popsicle stand or not?"

"Why would you want to blow up a frozen candy vendor, O'Neill, the younger?" Teal'c asked deadpan. He simply raised an eyebrow as Jack thought that Teal'c-ism over. It was Jack's turn to laugh.

"Good one, T. You almost had me there for a moment." Jack looked over at Rak'nor. "Hey buddy, Rak'nor isn't it? Good to see you, man." Jack shot off a half-salute in recognition. Rak'nor returned a sick smile. "So, let's do the deed. Helm set course for those overdressed, over the top, smarmy, scum-sucking, boom-box voiced snakeheads." He looked around at the stunned faces. "What?"


"Colonel Mitchell, we approach K'tau. Are your warriors ready?" Bra'tac entered the holding room for the SG teams. Silently, with an appraising glance, Bra'tac turned and faced Cam Mitchell.

"Let's get this party started. Gear up!" Cam turned and moved over to Bra'tac to speak quietly while the men put on their combat gear. "Master Bra'tac, I think it would be a better idea for your guys not to try to enter the Asgaard Temple. Those Asgaard devices don't like Jaffa, if you know what I mean. Just lay down cover fire so we can get in there. And you might want to keep to the rear, sir. Ok?"

"We shall cross that bridge when we come to it. I was not, as you say, born an hour ago." Bra'tac snorted in disgust.

"Um, that's born yesterday," Mitchell cut himself short. "Of course you are right. Sorry." Cam knew he stuck his foot in that pile.

"Humph! As to the rear, do you think you can defeat the Former First Prime of Apophis, human?" Bra'tac wasn't going to let this go. In one movement, Mitchell was on his back down on the floor.

"Hey, I wasn't ready for that." Mitchell protested.

"There are no second chances in battle, hashak. I will lead. You will follow." Bra'tac turned, smiled to himself, and walked out saying, "Not bad for a man of 141 yrs of age."

"Did he just call me a hassock?" Mitchell spun around to ask no one in particular.


"What in God's name can I possibly do for you?" Former Vice-President Robert Kinsey wanted to know.

"I want some information from an old friend. What could be simpler?" Maybourne stood on the other side of the force field from Kinsey.

"I fail to see what information I could have anymore that would interest the likes of you." Kinsey sat down on his bunk in the brig of the 'Daniel Jackson.'

"I need to know some of the safe houses used by your friends at the Trust. And I need to know some of the players still on the planet. You see those sneaky snakeheads are running an operation that makes no sense to me. But it will. And you are going to help me figure it out." Maybourne popped a peanut in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "I suppose it's old information but you can remember back to when you had one of those things in your head. We know you can."

"This conversation is making less and less sense to me." He lay back on the bunk and stared up at the ceiling.

"Don't tell me you are not aware of the money they are funneling into your re-election campaign bid?" Maybourne ate the rest of his handful.

"If you have a problem with my campaign finances, take it up with the Federal Elections Commission." Kinsey turned his head to the wall.

"I'm not leaving until I get what I came for." Maybourne's eyes narrowed to little slits. His face hardened to granite.

"I hope you realize, Colonel, you are making the biggest mistake of your life. When this is over, I promise you will regret the day we ever met."

"Oh that day already came and went."

Kinsey rolled his head back to look at Maybourne and readjusted his pillow. "If you don't value your own life, you should think about your friends and loved ones."

"Oh, and what does that mean, to a man in your position." Maybourne waved at the confines of the Spartan cell.

"You mess with me or my wife and you will find out that those you love have a certain, vulnerability, shall we say?" Kinsey closed his eyes assuming the peaceful repose of a man with options. Maybourne considered his next response. He shrugged, turned off the force field and entered with an unusual looking device. He reached over and hauled Kinsey up by his collar, pointing the device up Kinsey's nose.

"You wouldn't dare. We both know how this works. You are playing with the fate of God's Creation. And you are playing with the wrong people." Kinsey stared belligerently at the Special Ops Colonel.

"You self-righteous sonofabitch! You didn't learn much from having a snake in your head." Maybourne threw Kinsey across the room. "What do you mean some of my loved ones have a certain vulnerability you power-hungry old hypocrite?"

Kinsey smiled a satisfied smile. He just looked up at Maybourne from his position on the floor without responding. Baring his teeth, Kinsey smirked and then chuckled. "The only thing to have anymore is power. You'll find I am not without my share. And, you'll do well to remember that if you want to see your children survive to have grandchildren, you had better end this charade and return me and my wife to Earth and never let me see you again. While I was 'compromised,' I did learn much. I learned how to play a new level of hardball, Colonel."


DISCLAIMER: "Stargate SG-1" and "Stargate Atlantis, and their characters are the property of Sony Pictures MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Film Corp., Showtime/Viacom and USA Networks, Inc. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended against this or any other story in the universe. The original characters, situations and story are the property of the author(s), and may not be republished or archived elsewhere without the author's permission.