CHAPTER FOUR

Stargate Command, Earth,
Milky Way Galaxy.

There was definitely something that had happened to SG1. It was undeniable now to General Hank Landry by the time he had severed communications with Colonel Mitchell on PJ3-176, and he had to act on this soon or risk loosing his four best people to some unknown danger off-world.

An idea was beginning to form in his head, but Hank knew a few variables he could not change had to go right for this to work. Still, he had to risk it – they had to try and make every attempt that could be made to get Teal'c, Cam, Daniel and Sam safely out of harm's way.

"Walter, is there any way to make contact with the Odyssey? It should be returning from a scouting mission against the Lucian Alliance's interests in Sector 279, correct?" the General inquired of his all-round answers man, Master Sergeant Walter Harriman.

"Ahhhh, I'm not entirely sure about that, sir… allow me a few moments to bring up its position, then I can find out if any of our deep-space relay stations can send out a communications signal to the ship." The Sergeant began typing frantically away at his keyboard set-up, working his computer terminal over like a master craftsman. His glasses were sliding precariously down his nose, to the point of almost falling off completely, but Walter didn't even notice.

General Landry left Harriman in the Control Room to do his work, retiring to his own private office until there were results to work on. He wanted the USS Odyssey, the United States' latest operational Daedalus-class battle-cruiser, to divert to support SG-1. And if they needed it, to extract them using whatever force was required to do so.

It was within his power to do so as commander of the SGC, so Landry was more than willing to exercise that ability.

# SG1 #

Planet PJ3-176,
Milky Way Galaxy.

Teal'c and Daniel were allowed out of their cells, but not Sam – as Tel'mar had said, she was to be held until the mission was completed, as 'insurance' for their cooperation. "Don't worry, Sam, we'll be back before you know it," Colonel Mitchell said with a bright, chipper smile. Lt Colonel Samantha Carter tried to return the smile, but the light of it didn't quite reach her eyes.

So SG-1, minus Carter, was able to travel up to the storage room where all their equipment was and suit up again with their gear. Denamor was there, but this time there were no armed escort. He seemed comfortable enough to be there with his zat gun, alone and unsupported. Because his people had Samantha Carter…

"Alright then, I think now is about time to inform you that one of my men will be accompanying you all on this mission," Denamor said with a broad grin. His eyes blazed with ill-disguised contempt. "He is one of the most devout of our warriors, and an expert in a wide variety of the killer arts. His name is Artan. Please extend him the same courtesy that you would to me personally, and remember this – if he fails to make even one of his regular reports, for any reason, then the deal is off and Lord Tel'mar's retribution will be swift indeed."

Cam almost physically blanched at this. The threats of death being constantly bantered about – to him at least – were getting a little too much to cope with. He was starting not to take them seriously anymore.

"We will work with whoever you give us, just as long as they defer to my command, keep up when we're operating in the field, and don't do anything to endanger my team," Mitchell said. "Beyond that, I do not guarantee your man's safety. He is not my responsibility. So as long as that is understood, it's fine, he can tag along as far as he wishes. But if he puts any one of us at risk even once, then he's as good as dead and we'll take our chances with your 'repercussions'."

Denamor nodded his assent to what the soldier was saying, and then waved a beckoning hand over the other three men's shoulders. They all turned to look back towards the open doorway, to see a short, demure looking Asian man stride purposefully around the corner and come into sight.

He was short, yes, but still quite clearly menacing in lightweight jet-black Jaffa armour, and with a samurai sword sheathed and hanging down behind his back. The man was Jaffa, too – that was clear by the tattoo branding stamped on his forehead and the overall difference of his stance. It was the first time Cameron had noticed a Jaffa warrior among Tel'mar's forces.

"Thank you for allowing me to join your team. I am honoured to have this opportunity to serve my Lord, and to fight alongside the renowned warriors of the Tau'ri." Artan said with a slightly facetious smile, bowing his head to the three members of SG-1.

Teal'c returned the gesture, dropping his head slightly in a sign of respect – though the look on his face was that of ill-disguised contempt. Daniel Jackson grinned back and nodded, but there was a wary scepticism in his eyes that pleased Mitchell. Cam himself didn't even react to Artan, but simply turned his full focus back to his superior, Denamor.

"What are our objectives?"

Denamor turned to a nearby table, for the most part clear of equipment and weapons. He reached into his pocket and put a small, Goa'uld-designed device in the centre of the table, pressed a button on the device, then stepped back. A large, three-dimensional hologram suddenly appeared in mid-air above the table, lit up in a strange yellow light.

This was technology Daniel and Teal'c had seen in the past, but which was new to Colonel Mitchell. Cameron tried not to let his amazement show too much.

"This city is called Alden, and it is deep within the Ori rebellion's heartland. There, a tribunal of six regional commanders hold sway over the entire Ori army on this world. These men were once great generals in Lord Tel'mar's legions, renowned heroes worthy of benediction and reverence. Now they have fallen from grace, and must be eliminated."

Denamor reached back over towards the holographic-projection device, and pressed another button. The hologram picture zoomed in on one of the larger buildings in the display. It was towering over most of the other structures in the represented settlement, and had incredibly ornate carvings littering all its sides. "This is the High Temple of Tel'mar, where priests once offered up sacrifices to their one true god. Now, the rebels defile the great temple with their mere presence. They have slaughtered the noble priests and have turned the building into the command headquarters of the entire rebel forces. Your mission is simple – infiltrate the temple, kill all the senior commanders, and destroy the building. The Prior will most likely not be there, but if he is then you can take him out there. If not, gather information on his location and track him down. The Prior too must die."

"Do you know the way to Alden, Artan?" Teal'c asked in his customarily flat, calmed voice.

"I do, Teal'c. It was where I was stationed, before the rebellion swept through the region. I was blessed enough to have be here in the capital city, Menphal, when the city was occupied by the blasphemous enemies of Tel'mar," Artan said. There was something strange about the way he spoke, though – somewhere, there was a difference between the way Artan spoke of his Lord and his brethren, than the way Denamor did. There was no real blind, selfless obedience there. Artan came across to Cameron Mitchell not as a zealous fanatic, but rather as a professional soldier.

The Colonel still had every intention of watching Artan like a hawk throughout the entire mission, but there was something a little more assuring about the short Jaffa warrior than any other person Mitchell had met so far on this planet. He seemed to be the less… radical.

# SG1 #

The two Jaffa, Teal'c and Artan, seemed to have a somewhat hostile relationship between each other right from the every start, though they exchanged few words. It was just in the eyes, in the way that they constantly glared at each other. Cam Mitchell didn't like it.

He turned to Dr Jackson before the two of them, the last in a long line of combatants getting into a Goa'uld Al'Kesh medium-ranged bomber, and asked him, "Hey Daniel, what the hell's going on with T-Man and the Jaffa, Artan? Will they be a problem during this mission?"

"I honestly don't know. Jaffa have a strong moral code, as I'm sure you're no doubt well aware – if they feel slighted in any way by someone else, there could be some real personal issues, and you've got to keep in mind that for a lot of Jaffa still loyal to a Goa'uld Lord, Teal'c will forever be a sho'vah." Daniel shrugged his shoulders in a 'what-ya-gonna-do' kind of way, and then stepped into the Al'Kesh after Teal'c. Mitchell followed suit.

The large Goa'uld vessel – capable of interstellar travel through subspace, and able to pack a real punch with its weapons systems – sealed its door hatches, and then began to lift up off the ground. Within moments its rear thrusters burst into life, and the craft shot forward through the air, heading straight out and away from Tel'mar's fortress compound, over the capital city of the world, and towards the lands controlled by the followers of Origin.

SG-1 was about to make its insurgency into enemy territory…

# SG1 #

The door opened up again, and the two guardians with their staff weapons came down the staircase yet again, with a companion. Lt Colonel Samantha Carter was not prepared to see a Unas amongst her captors, dressed in somewhat luxurious finery – if on the dated side. The Unas waved a hand in dismissal at the two guards as soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, and they both immediately bowed and slipped back against the far wall of the dungeon.

The large, imposing creature stepped forward, right up to the bars of Sam's cell. She had met a number of his kind before, and was not about to be intimidated… "Who are you? What do you want? And where are my three friends?"

Smiling, the Unas spoke. "Your companions are fine, at least as far as I know. They are doing a simple task for me now. That is the reason why you've been captured. In fact, that is the reason why you weren't killed upon stepping through the Chapa'i and intruding upon my domain." The creature spoke in the deep, booming, power-laced voice of a Goa'uld – the Unas was a host. "I am Tel'mar, Lord of this world and many others. Please, come join me. You are welcomed at my dining hall. Such an attractive an eating companion, I have not enjoyed in many decades."

Carter looked at the somewhat hideous creature for a few long moments, thinking over what she had just been told, and weighing up the options that were available to her. There was little she could do, at least for the time being. Getting out of her holding cell however she could… that would definitely be one positive step in the right direction.

"I would be honoured," Samantha Carter said, forcing a slightly pained smile to her lips.

Tel'mar grinned back, and said through gritted teeth, "You lie, but soon enough, you will know the bliss of my love and affection, and will take a place of worship and devotion by my side as my new Queen. Willingly or not, you will serve me, Colonel Samantha Carter." Then the Unas' grin turned into a deep, leering smirk. "And if your companions manage to succeed in their mission, then you yourself will be the one that kills them!"

Sam felt sick in her guts. She didn't know what she could do, but she knew that it was her duty to try something to resist. The Unas suddenly withdrew a key from behind his back, and put it into the lock of her cell door. He turned the key, and opened the door. Carter scurried back on her feel, slipped and fell hard onto the ground, but kept on sliding back until her back slammed into the far wall.

Tel'mar approached her menacingly, smiling, his deep pitiless eyes fixated upon her. There was no-where for Sam to run. Nothing to do against the inevitable. No hope.

# SG1 #

"We're nearing the infiltration point! Remember what I told you!" Artan said to the other three in the rear compartment they were all in.

There was a larger section of the rear area of the Al'Kesh full of a squad of Tel'mar's warriors, prepared to disembark further forward inside Ori-follower territory to act as a diversionary force. The men were all saying their last benedictions to their Lord Tel'mar, because it was expected that every last one of the dozen men would be killed.

SG-1 and their Jaffa tag-along would be transported to the surface by an Asgard beaming device built into the rear of the Al'Kesh bomber. The bomber would continue on into the enemy's region, striking at major concentrations of men and weaponry if targets presented themselves, then the second, larger strike force would beam down onto the ground and cause diversionary chaos.

The plan sounded good enough – putting it into action, however, would surely prove much more difficult.

There was a shout from one of the warriors in the forward section of the vessel – the first team's time was now! All four men had at least one hand on a large, round device sticking up out of the floor of the Al'Kesh – the Asgard transport.

Artan shouted, "Now!" and then pressed a control button underneath the rounded protrusion. There were four bright, white flashes, and the four soldiers were beamed off the Al'Kesh bomber, straight down to the ground far below…

The bomber kept on zooming across the noonday sky, onwards towards enemy territory… and the dangers that awaited them. SG-1 would be going the rest of the way on foot.

Suddenly, before the team could assemble their gear together properly and move on towards their target, they heard the sound of heavy energy-weapons discharge from nearby. The hidden gun emplacement was quite close, actually – less than half a mile away.

The Al'Kesh didn't have a chance; its pilot never even saw the incoming weapons-fire. One discharged shot striking the rear of the mid-range bomber and the vessel was blown completely apart. The explosion lit up the somewhat gloomy sky, and fiery wreckage began to barrel on down towards the forest below. No one could have survived the attack.

It was not a very pleasant way for them to start the mission. The bomber escort that was supposed to blast its way through some of the heavier pockets of rebellion forces along their path, as well as the diversionary squad that were meant to give their lives in a distracting fire-fight on the ground, were destroyed in one fell swoop. And now, they would just have to make their way alone…