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Chapter 13 - Problem

Cam woke up slowly. He had a vague recollection of where he was and who he was with. He remembered taking his team, the new Lup-3, to the planet of Ardena where the ship people of Talthus had been reunited with the other Talthun survivors. The team had exited the Stargate and surveyed the surroundings, when a goa'uld shock grenade rolled in their midst.

"Crap," he said aloud.

"Oh, good. You're awake," an overly cheery voice said a few feet away.

"Vala?" Cam asked.

"The one and only," she answered, happily.

Cam opened his eyes and was happy to note that he could see. That was one side effect from the shock grenade that he was glad to do without. He noted that Daniel as also awake, but groggy, Sloan and Torkel, his remaining team mates, were present, but still unconscious.

"Well, at least we are all here," he said. He turned to Vala, "Have you learned anything about our captors?"

"You mean the lovely people that knocked us unconscious and threw us all in this cell? No, I have not. I have not been awake that long. I did notice that all my pockets have been gone through, and my tools are gone," Vala updated him while stroking Danial's hair in a gesture that seemed to sooth them both.

Torkel groaned to wakefulness. "What happened?" He asked.

"Goa'uld shock grenade. That little round thing we noticed just before we went unconscious," Cam supplied to the Cimmerian.

"At least we are not blind," Vala added helpfully.

"Blind?" Torkel asked.

"Temporary. Old side effect of the grenade," Cam added. "Benefit of our improvements."

Cam held up a hand. The others went silent instantly. He could hear footsteps coming down the hallway.

A greasy, fat man in stained leathers came around the corner to their cell and looked them over with a possessive eye. The man was joined by several others with zats that had the look of muscle. "I'm glad you are awake. I'm Finton, your new owner." The man started to march before the cell in a parade to make sure that they got a good look at him. "I own your lives. You fight for me. I can tell that you are fighters. You came here armed. Good. Your deaths should be entertaining."

Vala eyed him with distaste, "I can see that you are well defended. But how do you expect us to fight for you without weapons?"

Finton laughed, "These men are just to make sure you know your place. When you move from your cell to the arena, they will watch you. But just before the arena, you will arm up. In the arena, you will fight to the death. The winner will get to disarm before leaving the arena to receive medical treatment before returning to their cell to rest before the next fight."

"Okay. What happens if we don't disarm in the arena?" Cam asked.

"They will kill you," Finton supplied easily with a vicious smile.

Daniel sighed, "You will kill us on the way to the arena if we act up, we could die in the arena, we could be killed if we win but don't disarm in the arena afterwards, and we could be killed on the way back from the arena if we act up again. Does that about cover it?"

"I knew you were smart ones," Finton smirked. "First fight, who goes?"

"I'll go," Cam replied quickly, before the others could. He stood up and put his hands on his head. "Stay here till I get back," he said.

Finton gave a harsh laugh, "What makes you think you are coming back?"

Cam gave him narrowed look, "Because I will win and you don't want to think about not bringing me back to this cell." He gave just enough menace and threat in his voice and posture for Finton to pick up on it.

"Fine. If you win, you can come back here," Finton said slowly. "The rest of you, move away from the door." Finton had an evil, cunning look in his eye.

The rest of Lup-3 moved to the back of the cell while Cam stood in the front with his hands on his head. The cell opened and he was quickly taken out of the cell and it was resecured. He was then marched down the hallways through a maze of tunnels and cells with other prisoners until he finally reached a steel door.

The group stopped in front of the steel door and Finton explained, "The other side of this door is the armory. It has armor and weapons. When you are armed, you go out the far door to a waiting room. It is big enough to stretch out in. The armory door will lock behind you. When the other door in the waiting room opens, it is time for your fight. Go through to the arena. Your opponent will be waiting for you. When you hear the bell, start to fight. It is over when one of you is dead."

With that explanation, the steel door was opened and Cam was shoved inside. The door was slammed shut behind him. He took a moment to look around the room and he could see every variety of armor and weapon on the shelves and racks around him. All except guns. This was serious gladiator stuff.

He perused the armor first and finally decided to protect himself against other blades without compromising his agility. Bracers, shoulder pads, shin guard, thigh pads, chest and back plates that were narrow and flexible and a helmet that would not block his visibility. He tucked in a long knife in each shin guard before finding a halberd. It was close to a staff weapon in balance but had a blade at one end. It would give him reach over a sword. He finally chose a small buckler shield to help deflect any sword strikes or similar edged weapon strikes without sacrificing his mobility.

Armed and armored up, he moved to the only other exit and walked through. The room was long and airy. It was a good place to stretch out a give a few practice swings to get used to his new weapons and armor. He moved through a staff weapon exercise that Teal'c had shown him before he stopped and felt that his armor and weapons would work for him.

Stretching done, he sat down and meditated like he had seen Teal'c do before a fight. It helped to ground and center him. He was actually surprised when the arena door opened. But he was ready.

He strode to the center of the arena and waited while the other fighter slowly made his way to the center. Looking around the arena he noticed the floating cameras. Each bobbing in the air to take in the action of the fight. The fight was going to be recorded to capture his gory death.

"Great. A snuff film," Cam remarked.

He then turned his attention to his opponent. Finton had apparently been intimidated by his words, so he had chosen to pit him against a monster of a man. The other fighter easily made Teal'c look small. He made Cam look positively tiny. The man's arms were easily bigger than Cam's head. He carried a sword and no shield. But the sword could easily double as an axe, it was so big. The man's arms and legs were riddled with scars where blades had cut his flesh but failed to make a dent in the behemoth.

It was obvious that Finton wanted Cam dead and was way to cowardly to do it himself. Cam smiled, "Time to change the paradigm."

When the fighter finally reached the center of the arena, Cam gave him a cocky salute with his halberd and sent his shifting ability to his tendons and ligaments to increase his flexibility. The bell rang and out Cam focused on the fight.

He smiled grimly and began a lope to the right, away from the fighters sword arm, then swung back quickly from behind the fighter with his halberd and hamstrung him on one leg. He loped away as the behemoth screamed and dropped to one knee, his sword rising slightly. He sprinted back in and with his Halberd again he sliced the sword arm at the crook of the elbow, slicing the tendons and ligaments that held the sword upright. The behemoth screamed again as the sword dropped, point first to the ground.

Cam knew that the fighter would be doubly dangerous now that an arm and leg were useless. But speed and agility was Cam's friend. Cam pressed his attack and took out the second leg, before the behemoth swung the sword in a wild arc with his off arm at Cam's running figure. Only Cam's speed had kept him safe from being decapitated by that throw. But now the fighter was unarmed. Cam dropped his halberd and pulled out his knives. He sprinted at the behemoth's back and planted on knife in each ear with his full strength before sprinting free of the body.

The body of the behemoth fell slowly to the ground. It was obviously dead. Cam circled the body just to be sure, before he began stripping off his armor near the center of the ring. Free of weapons and armor he was directed to a door at one end of the arena. He place his hands back on his head and walked back to the cell.

SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG

The next few days, each member of Lup-3 was taken to fight in the arena and each returned. They had each been able to win the fight without resorting to the change. At night, they changed as required by their new physiology. Cam's fights all seemed to be one-sided with the intent to kill him off, but the others were merely for entertainment value.

It was on the fourth day, when Torkel was returned that Lup-3 knew something was very wrong. The guards were nervous, edgy, and practically ran away from the cell.

"I screwed up," Torkel stated, first. As soon as the nervous guards had left.

Lup-3 took in Torkel's blood stained shirt with significant cuts in it. "What happened?" Cam asked, gesturing to the shirt.

"I was supposed to lose my fight. The fighter I was against was very skilled. I was stabbed many times and I bled. But I didn't die. I eventually killed him because he fell down and offered his life to me. He asked me to forgive him. I didn't know what to do, so I said yes. At least he died happy." Torkel looked morose.

"It was a very hard thing you did," Vala said. "His beliefs likely had something like you in them. He felt that he had betrayed his gods. You gave him peace."

"I did?" Torkel asked.

"Yes, you did," Vala reassured him.

Cam looked at him, "So they know that you can heal. Do they know how?"

"No. They were very afraid of me afterwards. Their doctor just asked if I needed anything. He seemed relieved when I said 'no'," Torkel continued.

"They will likely think that we can all heal, because none of us has needed the doctor once since being here," Cam continued. "We can't wait any longer for backup. Tonight."

Daniel spoke up, "But not the ones in the cells."

"Where will they go?" Cam asked.

"I don't know," Daniel said.

"Cimmeria," Torkel piped up. "Gairwyn trades with other worlds that they can move to once they are free. They can spread the word about the Gen'Lup."

Cam nodded, "That could work. I want to find out who they send their films to though. That snuff film crap has to stop."

"Agreed," Daniel and Vala added in agreement.

Later that night after lights dimmed down, Lup-3 shifted to snakes and slithered out of the cell. Then they shifted to wolves and prowled silently down the maze of hallways following the scents of the guards that always took them to the arena.

One by one they killed the guards left in the halls to guard the prisoners and took their weapons. The zats were effective in destroying the evidence from existence. The guard room was mostly empty and they quickly killed the two guards who half slept in the room. From there they prowled to the previously unknown parts of the complex where Finton's smell went.

The film editing room was the easiest to find. They saved as much data from the computer as they could take from the hard drive. Then they continued to follow Finton's scent. They finally found Finton in a room asleep. He died without waking. He didn't deserve the dignity.

They then began to clear the complex of the remaining guards and the doctor.

SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG