Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate SG1 or any of it's characters, I post this strictly for entertainment purposes.

Chapter 17

Sam and Daniel appeared before Teal'c on the bridge of the Tel'tak. Sam wasted no time in sharing their plan with Teal'c and within the span of a heartbeat they were flying towards the large alien ship in orbit. Fire erupted around the ship as Teal'c deftly maneuvered the vessel past the Jaffa death gliders and bombers engaged in furious battle with the alien vessels and fighter spacecraft. Through the forward windows, Daniel shielded his eyes from the flashed of energy weapons and explosions as ships dipped and swerved before them. The ship shook as a fireball flew past them, barely missing them as it blew up.

"That was really close!" Sam called out from the console behind Daniel. "Our shields our down twenty percent. The cloak is holding, but any more close calls like that and we might lose it."

"I shall endeavor to steer us clear of any further explosions." Teal'c replied calmly as he pulled the nose of the ship up sharply.

Feeling rather useless at the moment, Daniel ran back to Sam. "What can I do?" he asked.

"There should be some C-4 in the crates in the back. We're gonna need as much as we can carry."

"Right." He ran to the back, only to be thrown to the floor as Teal'c banked heavily, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with more fiery debris. They must have hit some of it however, as the ship was violently rocked . Daniel threw his arms over his head, shielding his head from sparks that spewed from the ceiling.

"Shields down forty percent now!" Sam shouted as the lights flickered. "I'm transferring power from life support to the cloak and shields, hopefully that should keep us undetected until we get to the ship."

Daniel fought his way back to his feet and found the crates holding the explosives. He grabbed a pack, loading it full of the clay-like blocks and remote detonators. He flung open the crate next to it and found it loaded with ammo, Zats, P-90's and several 9mm's. He grabbed a handgun and loaded it with a practiced ease. He also loaded a P-90 for Sam and took a Zat for Teal'c, before heading back to the bridge with his booty.

"Whoa!" He exclaimed, stopping short when he caught sight of the impossibly enormous ship looming before them. It easily dwarfed the numerous Ha'tak currently attempting to break through it's defenses."I had no idea the ship was that big. How are we supposed to find the mainframe in that thing?"

"Vala said it was on the third level. I assume that a computer mainframe that controls no only every action of the systems on board all of their ships, but even the minds of the aliens themselves would require an enormous amount of energy. I'm scanning that level for any kind of massive energy signatures." Sam was intensely studying the readouts on the console in front of her. Daniel came to stand next to her, he wouldn't be much of a help, but he could lend some moral support as she searched the gigantic vessel. Another burst hit the ship and He and Sam grabbed the console as the Tel'tak shook and pitched.

"Shields are down to thirty percent now, Teal'c." Daniel called out, reading the screen. "I hope we're getting close."

"We should be to the ship at any moment now, DanielJackson." Daniel risked a look down at the planet below, he was devastated to see bright orange-red flashes from beneath the cloud cover that had to be massive explosions if they could be be viewed from this far up in orbit. He could only pray that they were successful enough that they still had a world to return to when this was finished.

"I think I found it!" Sam called out, her eyes still glued to the computer viewscreen. "Take us aft and starboard, Teal'c. I should be able to get the Asgard beam to transport us inside or at least near what I'm really hoping is the computer."

"We trust your judgment, Sam."

"Indeed. I am attempting to get us as close to that location as possible." Teal'c whipped the Tel'tak sideways, dodging more incoming fire and steering it towards the rear of the Sorlish behemoth. Within moments, he had them positioned as close as the he could, nearly touching the outer hull of the enemy ship.

As soon as they came to a halt, all three teammates bounded into action. Daniel swooped down and grabbed the pack full of C-4, tossing the P-90 to Sam and the Zat to Teal'c. Sam grabbed a remote that could activate the Asgard beam and checked once more that she had the coordinates right before pressing the button that would dematerialize the trio's atoms and reconstruct them in a flash aboard the Sorlish vessel.

OOOOO

"Holy Crap!" Sam exclaimed. She stood with her mouth hanging open at the incredible sight in front of her eyes.

"Wow." Daniel added.

"Indeed." Teal'c agreed.

"This place is gigantic" She added, stupefied

"I believe that to be an understatement" Teal'c said, turning to her.

At the very least, Sam felt some measure of satisfaction in knowing that she had hit the mark and they had materialized in the right spot, but one look at the massive computer system stored in the football stadium sized bay with row upon row of machines reaching hundreds of feet up into the air and she prayed that Daniel had packed enough C-4 to bring this place down.

"I don't think I brought enough explosives." Daniel stated, mirroring her thoughts.

"There's got to be a core." She turned around in circles, looking in all directions. "Or a power source that we can disable that might disrupt these computers." Sam started to walk forward, but Teal'c pulled her against a machine and she flattened her back against it, hefting her weapon, joined by Daniel half a second later. Teal'c hand signaled that he had spotted some of the aliens. Sam saw them too. They were armed, and appeared to be searching amongst the rows of machines. Their presence here must have been detected. Silently Teal'c moved towards them, like a cat stalking its prey until he reached the end of the row and aimed his Zat towards them and fired off a lightning fast series of shots and she watched the Sorlish fall to the floor. Teal'c raced back to his teammates and whispered. "I do not see anymore for now, but we must be vigilant." Sam and Daniel nodded.

"Let's find the power source." Sam suggested. "I have a feeling that may be our best chance at causing as much damage as possible."

"Good idea." They sneeked around the corner of the row and cautiously moved from bank of computers to bank of computers. The amount of technology in the space left Sam awestruck, but she had to put her feelings of scientific wonder on the back burner and focus on destroying the machines rather than studying them. The endless rows of machinery soon became daunting as they were running out of time, the battle raging outside would take many Jaffa and human lives in short order if they couldn't take down this mainframe and Sam feared they would fail.

"Sam!" Daniel whispered as loudly as he dared to get her attention. "Could that be it?" He pointed to a throbbing, red and collossal cylindrical tower nearly a hundred yards away.

"Whoa. How'd I miss that?" She wondered. "It very well could be the power source. Let's check it out." She nodded to Teal'c and they maneuvered their way to it, keeping a lookout for more aliens. The tower hummed louder and louder the closer they came to it, vibrating the floor under their feet. Reaching the tower, Sam pulled out the portable scanning device she was grateful for remembering to bring along. The energy readings she took were off the scale, confirming that it was the power source.

"Let's set up the C-4, quickly. This thing is giving off a ton of radiation, we should be alright for a few minutes, but any longer and we risk a lethal dose." She warned. Daniel sloughed off his pack and tossed Teal'c and Sam several bricks of C-4 each along with detonators that could be remotely set off and they got to work setting the explosives up. Nearly finished with her charges, Sam set the last of her detonators into the grey substance when Daniel's voice suddenly called out to her.

"Sam behind you!" Before she could turn around and face her opponent, she felt a searing pain explode through the back of her shoulder and she fell forward. "No!" Daniel shouted and fired madly at her attacker, the Sorlish falling to the ground, dead. Teal'c moved in as well and took out several more that were behind the first.

Daniel ran to Sam, continuing to fire at the enemy and attempted to shield her as he dragged her for cover behind a bank of machinery. Despite her injury, Sam was determined to help with the fight. She rolled to her good side, ignoring the pain and firing her P-90 into the advancing enemy. Ten more aliens appeared for every one they took out and it was only a matter of seconds before they would be overtaken by them. Daniel and Teal'c fired furiously, but they were barely making a dent.

"I think we're going to have to get out of her now, Sam!" Daniel yelled over the cacophony. Dropping her weapon, Sam dug her remote for the transport beam out of her pocket and reset it for the Tel'tak before she depressed the activator. Reappearing aboard the cargo ship, she shouted to Daniel "Blow it now!" He grabbed the remote detonator for the charges set up near the power source and pounded it. Teal'c rushed to the controls and they took off, once again flying out into the fray and the frantic fighting going on around earth's orbit.

Nothing occurred for several moments and Sam was afraid that they had failed to destroy the power source, that they failed Earth. Just as Daniel knelt down to the floor where Sam lay, she watched through the window as the enormous Sorlish vessel began to tilt to the side, fire erupting and blowing out from the outer hull from the side of the ship they had escaped from moments ago. Spreading across the vessel's surface from the inside out, a cascade of fire flashed outward and the ship was soon engulfed in a blinding and violent explosion, sending a shockwave out in all directions.

The wave knocked the Tel'tak to side, and Teal'c fought to control the ship. Daniel held onto Sam as they shook and slid across the floor, the shaking becoming so severe that she thought for sure the vessel would be torn apart. Her heart pounded and she clenched her eyes shut, waiting for the impending destruction of their ship.

Venturing to open her eyes moments later when the shaking stopped, Sam came to the conclusion that they were indeed still alive and the ship had in fact, survived the explosion intact. Outside, the battle took on a new and different direction. Sorlish fighters that had once been overpowering the Jaffa death gliders, now flew out of control, as though their pilots had suddenly jumped ship. The swift gliders made short work of them, picking them off easily and quickly eliminating their presence in orbit. Those that were not destroyed by the Jaffa, fell to the planet, flaring up into balls of fire as they entered the atmosphere. All across the planet, the Sorlish vessels ceased their constant barrage of fire against the human cities, falling silent and ending the terror they had reigned over the people of Earth.

"We did it" Daniel whispered to her.

Sam leaned back into his arms, exhausted and spent. It was finished.

"Sam?" He asked. She opened her eyes, not sure when she had closed them. She looked up into his eyes, they were filled with concern as he returned her gaze. Her shoulder and back burned and she could feel the warm wetness spreading from her back down to her pants. It occurred to her rather distantly that she might be losing a lot of blood and she was finding it hard to keep him in focus, wanting only to sleep.

"Stay with me, Sam. We're almost home." He pleaded, his face growing fuzzier.

"Teal'c!" He called out anxiously "Are we close enough for me to use the Asgard beam yet? We need to Sam back to the infirmary right now!"

"You may engage the transport at anytime now, DanielJackson." Daniel reached for the remote activator that she had left on the floor and in a flash they appeared in the SGC infirmary and she promptly gave in to unconsciousness.

Whew! I feel like I just ran a marathon writing this chapter, anyway, hope you like it :)