CHAPTER SIXTEEN
In
space above
PJ3-176, onboard the Ha'tak mothership,
the Milky
Way Galaxy.
Things were turning for the worst now, on a more severe setting than ever. Denamor looked to Tel'mar for guidance, but the Goa'uld Lord simply stared straight back at his First Prime, grinning slightly.
When the shield generators finally failed and the Ha'tak shuddered with the impact of the Tau'ri weapons slamming into its hull and detonating, the Unas/Goa'uld finally stood up and stepped down away from his throne, off the raised podium.
"You have all served me well in these final moments," Tel'mar said, speaking loud enough so that his voice carried to everyone that was in the Pel'tak control room. "The war with the Ori followers on our world has brought us to the brink of annihilation, and now the Tau'ri are about to drive us into the abyss. But know this – your Lord Tel'mar will go on, even if you all die here today in my stead."
With that, the monstrous creature that was, in its way, both Tel'mar and something else, reached out to trigger a device on its forearm that Denamor had never really paid any attention to before, but which had been on the Goa'uld for a number of weeks now. In moments, a bright white light illuminated its entire body, and Tel'mar was teleported off the bridge of the Ha'tak – he had activated a localized teleportation, using Asgard technology that had filtered through much of the Goa'uld aristocracy over the last couple of years.
Denamor could hardly believe it. The sense of betrayal was immediate and almost completely overwhelming. What happened...? What has he done to me?
"There are two more explosive devices coming towards us!" one of the Jaffa standing in the Pel'tak with Denamor shouted out, the fear and disbelief over what had just happened quite evident in his own voice. Without shields, there was little doubt that the Ha'tak could stand two more direct hits, considering all the damage now they had already absorbed. The vessel was about to be destroyed, and none of them had anywhere to go now, on account of their Master's treachery.
Denamor knew he could do nothing to rouse anyone's hopes on that bridge, so he stayed silent and said nothing. The Goa'uld had betrayed them all at the end, and now they were all about to die. There was no way out for any of the warriors on this mothership – thousands of loyal fighters were about to lose their lives for their Lord, while Tel'mar escaped into the void and the chaos of the battle around them.
It was the way of their kind, to think only of their own survival. The Goa'uld Tel'mar had used them all to get him away from danger, and now he had thrown them all to the enemy just to save his own life. The First Prime closed his eyes tightly to stop the tears welling up in them from spilling out, then waited for the inevitable. Death, at least, would come quickly to them all now...
# SG1 #
In
space above
PJ3-176,
the Milky
Way Galaxy.
Teal'c had lined up one of the few remaining death gliders in their part up in his sights, and had squeezed the trigger to send two bolts of pure yellow plasma-energy straight into the alien space-craft when the looming Ha'tak mothership, no less than twenty miles away from their own position, was struck by the two rockets fired from the Odyssey.
The blinding light from the twin nuclear warheads detonating lit up the darkness of space, and if it wasn't for the refractive glass canopy on the X-302s, then Teal'c and Cam would both have probably lost their eyesight from the intense flare.
"Woah baby! What a sight for sore eyes!" Colonel Cameron Mitchell exclaimed, as they both took in the destruction of the massive Ha'tak mothership. The looming vessel began to break up and disintegrate almost immediately, with huges pieces of its superstructure beginning to snap away from the larger components of the ship and spin off into the darkness as they looked on.
With this, a number of the death gliders that still remained broke off from the fighting and tore away into space, heading straight for the Tau'ri warship in what Teal'c immediately realized had to be a coordinated revenge attack.
Most of the death gliders were taken out before reaching the Odyssey by X-302s that immediately switched over to pursuit mode, chasing them down and shooting them to bits before they could close in with the Tau'ri base space-craft. But a handful of the Goa'uld vessels managed to get within weapons-range of the warship, and opened fire upon it as soon as they could.
Luckily enough, Teal'c and Cam Mitchell could see that the Odyssey's shields were still holding, and most of the shots that were blasted off against the massive craft did little to no direct damage. They couldn't get any bursts of the bright yellow energy-bolts to penetrate through the protective shielding.
Then the railguns came online, and swept through space all around the ship itself, cutting through death gliders left and right; blasting them apart and chasing others through the void until they too met the same fiery fate.
"Well, that was one hell of a fight, hey T-Man?" Mitchell inquired, reaching over the gap between the front and rear cockpit compartments to give the Jaffa a hearty pat on the shoulder.
"Indeed it was, Colonel Mitchell," Teal'c replied simply. He joined a larger formation of X-302 fighters that were making their way back to the Odyssey, working their own space-craft into the larger squadron on their return back to the mothership. The Jaffa pilot was tired from the intense dogfight they had just gone through, as well as all the fighting and travelling they had gone through back on the surface of the planet. Teal'c was honestly looking forward to some rest and relaxation, back on Earth. "We are fortunate to have come through the conflict with our lives."
That was Teal'c way of saying, 'hell, that was a damn close one!' As soon as this thought raced through Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell's head, Cam had to really fight the urge not to laugh out loud. The sentiment was quite apt, and probably accurate as well, but it wasn't appropriate to voice at that moment – or, really, any moment.
Not everyone who flew out in their wing to meet the death glider menace would be returning to fight another day... there had been casualties on the Tau'ri side of things, as well, but still the battle had been pretty one-sided nonetheless.
But now it was over. Finally. And they could all get back to their homeworld, Earth, without any further incident.
# SG1 #
The teleportation was carried off flawlessly. Tel'mar had been beamed off the doomed Ha'tak mothership just moments before the vessel was destroyed by the Tau'ri missiles, and found himself instead standing in the rear compartment of a Tel'tak cargo ship. It was already cloaked, and had been for quite some time, having taken up orbit parrallel with the Ha'tak mothership just before it had left the orbit of the planet.
Onboard were Kiana, who still wore a prepetual frown after being overwhelmed by Samantha Carter in her successful escape, and Telos, one of the dungeon guardians and supposedly, a very loyal follower of the First Prime, Denamor. In fact, both of them had been a part of Lord Tel'mar's elite cadre, and owed their true and only alliegance to him. Tel'mar had used Telos, and Kern before he had been killed in the strike on their fortress, to monitor his new First Prime, and ensure that the man had his god's best interests at heart above his own.
It had been a successful way to maintain a good overview on the most powerful servant in Tel'mar's empire, but when the end had come, they proved infinitely more useful in ensuring a proper avenue of escape. The last great assault against the Tau'ri had been a long shot from the start, but even so, Tel'mar had really thought they stood to inflict far more casualties upon their enemies then they had.
It had been an utter slaughter, as far as he was concerned. The humans of Earth had obliterated the last vestiges of military might Tel'mar had left in that entire sector of space. And they had done so in under a half-hour... it was a major accomplishment, and though he had suffered incredible losses over the months due to the Ori rebellion, it still shamed the Goa'uld Lord greatly.
Despite his own egomaniacal nature, Tel'mar knew the truth – he wasn't the ruler to be feared and revered in the galaxy. He was nothing more than a shattered, humiliated leader, whose people had deserted him for a more alluring message.
Origin was the new religion of choice, and was raising far more fanatics and fielding much stronger armies than anyone in their galaxy could deal with. It was gloomy and depressing to think about, but still it was the truth and the truth couldn't be ignored. The Goa'uld knew he had to relocate, and immediately. It wasn't worth starting up again. Better to hide out in some deep, dark corner and wait for the tide to wash over him... then begin anew, when the chaos and anarchy reigned supreme again.
"Let's get out of here," Tel'mar said softly to Kiana, standing by her side at the control port of the Tel'tak. They watched as the last of the low-tech Tau'ri space-fighters returned to their mothership, victorious, and the large Earth vessel began to head out into the debris field where most of the dogfighting had been waged, to collect the canopies in which fighter crews that had ejected in time waited to be picked up.
The Goa'uld female immediately powered up the hyperdrive, and their large cargo vessel was rocketed off into subspace, leaving behind the scene of Tel'mar's final disgraceful defeat.
# SG1 #
In
space above
PJ3-176, onboard the USS Odyssey,
the Milky
Way Galaxy.
Colonel Carter sat by as the nurse carefully attended to the pumps and cables that were attached to various parts of Major Conner's body, making sure that everything was in place and operating properly before moving on to other duties. The Major was in a critical but stable condition, and the doctor that had supervised his initial treatment followed through with the rest of Frank's stabilization, holding out high hopes for a full and complete recovery.
Daniel watched on, standing by the doorway that led out of that section of the infirmary – he didn't want to sit down, and was really there for the most part because Sam needed someone to be with her. Cam and Teal'c were both back onboard the ship with the rest of the X-302 crews, but they were involved in post-operations debriefing, then would take some time off for a much-needed rest.
Dr Jackson knew that both he and Sam needed a break, as well, but also knew that this wouldn't sit with Carter. She was too concerned for Frank Conner, and Daniel knew Sam well enough to know that she still felt a great deal of guilt over what had happened to him.
"Sam, it's okay to get some rest," he said to her gently, as kind and sincere as he could be under the trying circumstances. "It's alright now, the Major's condition has stabilized, and they say he's going to be alright. You don't have to stay here, and after everything we've all been through, it'll be fine enough to go and get some rest on a real bed."
Samantha tilted her head up to look at Daniel, and gave him an understanding smile. "No, Daniel, I'm fine right where I am. You go and get that rest."
Looking back at Carter, Daniel thought for a moment about arguing the point with Sam, but in the end he decided against it. It just wasn't worth the trouble in the end. He turned and walked slowly out of the infirmary, leaving Carter hunkered down in the small, uncomfortable-looking chair beside Major Frank Conner's bed.
She let out a deep sigh as Daniel left her side, closed her eyes, and rested her head down against her knees, which were folded up against her own body. She would try and get some rest, as Daniel said... it would be tough, due to the present situation, but Carter knew that she had to try anyway.
They all had a long trip ahead of them, on the journey back to Earth.
# SG1 #
Stargate
Command, Earth,
Milky Way
Galaxy.
"So, in all, we lost four personnel in the fighting with the death glider wings over the planet, and managed to inflict serious casualties both upon Lord Tel'mar's remaining loyalist troops as well as the rebellious Ori followers," Lt Colonel Samantha Carter said in summary, closing over the file folder she had been reading briefly out of during parts of her report to General Landry.
SG-1, as well as General Hank Landry, the new head of Stargate Command, were all seated around a rectangular briefing table in a large conference room adjacent to the C.O's private office, and above the control room for the Stargate itself, as well as numerous other vital functions for the facility.
They were near the end of a very long debriefing session over the circumstances and events that occurred over the last couple of days, that saw so much carnage and destruction wrought, and had put a number of military personnel in harm's way. An adequate explanation had to be provided to the General, so he in turn could justify the decisions he had made to his own superiors.
The commander of the SGC leaned back slightly in his swivel chair, and favoured them all with a slight smile. "I'm glad that we were able to accomplish something out there, then," he replied. "And we were able to get you all out of there safely."
"How's Major Conner doing?" Mitchell asked Carter, there having been no information on his current state in Sam's briefing other than a quick mention of his being wounded in a firefight with Jaffa on the planet.
"He's going to be fine," Sam replied, and then continued on immediately, "luckily, the doctor onboard the Odyssey was able to treat his injuries straight away, and fix up much of the damage before it was too late for him. He says that the Major should make a full recovery, over the next six months."
"That's great to hear," General Landry replied, and there was sincerity in his words. Hank Landry was a somewhat detached leader, for the most part, but he did care deeply for the men and women under his command. "But tell me, is there any information to be had on the current state of affairs on the planet PJ3-176?"
"Yes, well I had Sergeant Harriman send a MALP through to the planet once we returned to the SGC, on the assumption that you would want to know if the world went Ori, as feared," Samantha Carter said. She paused for a moment, her expression grave, then continued, "And I'm afraid that, with the final conventional forces of Lord Tel'mar destroyed in the space battle against us, as well as the Goa'uld's cowardly escape, there was little stopping the Ori rebels from sweeping through the few holdout territories. The entire planet has turned Ori, and those who haven't embraced Origin have been purged."
"Ahh, well that's hardly surprising," Daniel Jackson muttered. Cam put his head in his hands and rubbed his temple forcefully, with just the thumbs of each hand. The stress was getting to him – the mission they had returned from; so much danger and death, for little gain at all other than to escape with their lives. The fight against the Ori, just like this one engagement, seemed just as hopeless as ever.
They would need a major breaththrough, if there was any chance of stopping the full-blown invasion of the Milky Way Galaxy that every one of them feared.
THE END
