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Chapter 16

- P3X-747, Goa'uld Ha'tak

When Logan woke up again, he found the three women massaging his body. They were rubbing him with some kind of lotion.

'What are you doing?' He asked dazed.
'Ssshh. This is a herbal blend. It will give you strength to endure.' One of the women replied.
'Great.' Logan answered dully.
'He has killed his master.' Another woman said after a while.
'What?' Logan asked confused.
'K'Lel. He killed his master and assumed his position. His entire fleet is here on the planet.' The woman explained.
'He calls five Al'kesh a fleet? I've seen his forces, they aren't very large.'
'That is why we are here. He wants to expand his fleet. Become powerful. Overthrow the Goa'uld.'
'Why are you telling me all this?'
'You are a member of SG-1, are you not?'
'I am.' Logan confirmed after a short hesitance.

The two other women stopped rubbing his body and went to their corner. The last woman moved in front of Logan, looking him in the eye.

'K'Lel is not a Goa'uld, but he is as evil. For him we are less then slaves. We have heard tales of Jaffa who fight the Goa'uld to be free. And we heard Teal'c of SG-1 is their leader. We want to join them.'
'He is coming!' One of the other women suddenly called.
'We shall help you escape. But you need to endure.' The first woman told Logan.

He could now hear footsteps outside. Quickly, he whispered some words into her ear.
The woman pressed her body against Logan's and gave him a passionate kiss.
The doors then opened and K'Lel entered, followed by two Jaffa-soldiers carrying something large.

When he saw the two together, his face twitched furiously.

'Take them away!' He barked to the Jaffa who had placed the object on the ground.
'You treat your prisoners well, I have to say…' Logan mischievously grinned as the doors closed.

He was now alone with K'Lel.

'Silence!' He spat, and hit him in the face with force.
'You need not give me information any more.
I have already found and killed your friends. They will no longer pose an inconvenience.'

He walked over to what appeared to be a large rectangular block made of solid gold. He slid off the lid, and it turned out to be a basin, filled with some sort of liquid.
Then he took what looked like a branding-iron. It too was made of gold, and the brand was an enlarged version of the tribal symbol K'Lel bore.

'You have had your pleasure with my women. I shall have my pleasure with torturing you.'

The Jaffa placed the brand in the liquid.

'Do you know what this is, human?' K'Lel said with air.
'Wait, let me guess… hot chocolate? Did you remember to bring the whipped cream, though?' Logan responded.

K'Lel paid no attention to him.

'This is an extremely rare acid. It eats through every metal except pure gold. It also has a very… interesting reaction to organic tissue.'

The Jaffa neared his head to Logan's so that the latter could smell his breath.

'It leaves a black burn on human skin. And it is extremely, overwhelmingly, painful. Jaffa-warriors have been known to scream out for mercy when tortured with this acid.'
'Your point?' Logan asked dryly.

K'Lel kicked him in the gut, so that Logan had the air blown out of him and could only hang by his arms in pain.

'You will soon see my point.
Unfortunately the acid will vaporize when reacting. So I might have to repeat the procedure several times…' He grinned as he pulled the golden iron out of the basin.

Logan struggled to release himself from the chain. But he knew it was useless. He couldn't possibly lift himself from the hook in the ceiling.
His attempt at escape made the Jaffa laugh even harder. He again kicked Logan in the stomach.

With Logan hanging limp, K'Lel pressed the iron sadistically across Logan's shoulder-blades.

The sensation was unlike Logan had ever experienced. It was like millions of tiny little razorblades were carving themselves slowly into his flesh, while being poured over by boiling water.
It was worse than any pain Logan had ever gone through. It made him want to welcome back the painstick.

After what felt like hours, the Jaffa lifted the branding-iron. As the pain faded, Logan could hear himself scream.

K'Lel quickly dipped the brand back into the acid, and placed it again on Logan's back. On the exact same spot.

Logan's skin was boiling. It was like he could feel his individual body-cells burning away.

More quickly then the previous time did it stop.

When he lifted his head, he could see the reason for the interruption.

A Jaffa-warrior was standing in the doorway.

'My Lord, we are under attack. They have already penetrated the Ha'tak.'
'Let me guess,' Logan said weakly, raising his head.
'My friends? You know, the ones you found and killed?'

- P3X-747, Goa'uld Ha'tak

'Teal'c, cover me!' Jack yelled over the weapon's-fire.

He ducked right as Teal'c shot his staffweapon, and moved over to the next bulkhead. He shot his zat a few times, taking down the enemy Jaffa.

'Alright, move, move.'

SG-15 advanced ahead, and the energy-blasts began to come their way again.

'Where are we going Jack?'
'I don't know Daniel. I wasn't expecting this much resistance inside the ship. I thought we'd be able to go look for him.'

Suddenly, the weapon's-fire stopped.

'What happened?' Jack yelled.
'Why isn't anyone shooting?'

'They have stopped, O'Neill.' Teal'c said calmly.

There were no more shots fired at them.

'Did we get them?' Jack asked surprised.

Then they saw a figure approaching their way.
Immediately everyone ducked back behind the bulkheads.

'Open fire!' Jack yelled.
'No, wait!' a female voice called.
'Shal kek nem ron!'

Teal'c's head jerked up.

'O'Neill!' He called, shocked.
'Wait! Don't fire, do not fire!' Jack yelled.

Cautiously, Teal'c appeared from behind the bulkhead and moved forward, his staff-weapon raised.

In front of him stood a Jaffa-woman.

'Where did you learn those words?' He asked with a growl.

The woman walked towards him slowly, her hands open.

'The prisoner said that if I spoke those words you would trust me. He learned them from-'
'Me.' Daniel said.
'Jack, I told Logan that the rebel-Jaffa use that sentence as a password.'

Jack lowered his zat and stepped in front of the woman.

'Where is he? Take us to him.'

- P3X-747, Goa'uld Ha'tak

'It's over, K'Lel. You might as well face it.'
'You don't know of what you speak.' The Jaffa replied calmly as he hit Logan again.
'Right now my forces are overwhelming your friends. Soon they will be hanging beside you.'
'Whatever makes you feel happy.'
'Silence!' K'Lel bellowed again.
'You will obey your God.'
'You are nowhere near a God.'
'You are mistaken.' The Jaffa said smugly.
'You have been branded with my mark. Wherever you go, they will know you belong to me.'
'Mark my words.' Logan hissed angrily
'I will make sure that when I walk away from here, I will be the only one bearing this mark.'

Meanwhile gunfire could be heard outside the room.
Logan watched as worry spread across K'Lel's face.

Then, the doors slid open and revealed Jack holding a pistol.
When he saw them he immediately opened fire.

The Jaffa ducked out of the way.

'The chain!' Logan yelled.

With a well-aimed shot, the chain holding Logan to the ceiling broke, and Logan fell to the floor.

Suddenly, K'Lel rose beside a control-panel and jammed it. The door shut again, and he broke the panel.

'No more interruptions.' He said calmly.

Logan was still lying on the floor, his hands bound together.

K'Lel kicked him in the gut, and Logan squirmed.

Quietly, the Jaffa waited for him to get up.

When he stood, K'Lel gave him a head-butt which caused him to drop to the ground again.

'Like I said, I will enjoy torturing you…'

Again Logan got up. This time, he avoided the large warrior when he tried to grab him.
Every time the Jaffa came near him, Logan dodged him, but he made no attempt to attack him himself.

K'Lel laughed at his pitiful escapes.

'Accept your fate. Kneel before me.'

He had Logan pinned in a corner, and came towards him slowly.

He came in for another head-butt, but this time, Logan didn't dodge.

He had lured the Jaffa near the basin with acid and the branding-iron, which he was suddenly holding.
As K'Lel came in, Logan pushed the handle of the iron into his face with force.

It came into his eye, which bursted open as the iron penetrated the socket.

Giving his enemy no time to recuperate, Logan jammed his knee onto his chin.

K'Lel fell backwards, screaming in pain.

Taking his opportunity, Logan dove on him, kicking him in the groin several times, and then against the head.

He lifted the dead weight of the Jaffa by the torso, and plunged him head-first into the basin with acid.

K'Lel started shaking and moving vigorously, trying to get Logan off him.
But he wouldn't budge and held his knee jammed between the Jaffa's shoulder-blades as the warrior desperately tried to save himself.

Logan could hear him scream through the bubbling liquid as smoky fumes filled the room.
He was screaming himself. Screaming with rage and satisfaction.

Then the screams and the movement stopped, but Logan kept pushing.

The doors opened, and Logan was still holding the dead body under, until all the acid had vaporized.
He was pulled away by Jack and Daniel.

'It's over, you got him.' Jack said.

The body was lying by the basin, with only a small piece of bone left where the head should've been.

'O'Neill!' Teal'c called.
'We have to leave. They have broken through the barricades.'

Logan looked into the now empty basin more closely, and saw something.
He groped at it, and was pulled up by Jack and Daniel.

'Come on, let's go!'

Supported by Robins and Sorez, Logan followed as the others gave cover.

They passed a lot of dead Jaffa, and Logan was shocked when he saw the body's of the three women lying among them.

'They died free.' Teal'c placed a hand on his shoulder, when he saw the expression on Logan's face.
'There's no way we'll make it out.' Captain Sorez exclaimed.

They were standing in front of the exit.
Behind them, Jaffa had them outnumbered. Outside, the rest of the entire army waited for them.

'Stop being so damned negative, Sorez!' Jack yelled.
'He has a point, you know.' Daniel commented.
'Blow one of the charges.' Logan said weakly.

Everyone turned to face him.

'Major, blow the last ship. It will at the very least distract them.'

Robins turned to Jack, who thought about it for a second.

'Do it.'

Robins blew the charge and Daniel opened the doors when he heard the explosion.
Outside, Jaffa were running towards the exploded Al'kesh, no one noticed them leave until it was too late.

'Sir?' Robins asked, her finger by the button as they were running.
'No!' Jack and Logan both yelled.
'We aren't clear yet!' Jack called.

They ran as quickly as possible as the Jaffa came behind them. Second time that day that were in that position.

'Sir?'
'Not yet, Major!'

They'd almost reached the forest when Jack yelled:

'Do it Robins, blow them!'

They didn't look back as the remaining five charges went off, one after another, each amplifying the next.

Logan collapsed when they reached safety.