Once again, I would like to give another big thank my Beta Readers: SabaceanBabe and Karen.
Chapter Seventeen: Breaking Out
The Charrids stood silently for a microt, staring at Kwenn before they finally began to laugh.
"You can barely stand, Scarran!" one of them crowed.
"A wounded Scarran is still worth more than ten Charrids," Kwenn growled menacingly.
"But is it worth risking your life for them, Scarran?" The Charrid Lieutenant gestured to Sheba and Chiana.
Kwenn looked to Sheba, meeting her eyes, seeing her determination to protect her Nebari friend. Thenshe looked over at Chiana, who stood just behind the Human, and Kwenn could see in the Nebari's eyes that she was actually more fearful for Sheba's safety than for herself.
They were true friends and comrades.
Slowly, Kwenn placed a supporting hand on Sheba's shoulder, gently gripping it before staring at the Charrids again.
"I'd rather die in their company, than live to endure yours."
Listening, Sheba wasn't sure why the Scarran was sticking her neck out to side with them, but she was grateful for it, regardless. Then she felt Kwenn's hand clap down harder on her shoulder before the powerful Scarran heaved the Colonial backwards, straight into Chiana, sending both of them to the floor. Reeling from the impact, Sheba was at first terrified that Kwenn had betrayed them, but she heard the Scarran roar, immediately followed by a fury of pulse weapon fire.
Sheba lifted her head up in time to witness Kwenn single-handedly attacking the Charrids. The towering Scarran hammered one Charrid to the deck, while the lieutenant was attempting to retreat from the cell, firing at Kwenn. Several shots missed her and whizzed close over Sheba's head. The Colonial ducked back down to cover Chiana, shielding her.
Underneath the Colonial warrior, the Nebari was still seeing stars from the impact and demanded, "What's happening?"
"Stay down!" Sheba shouted as more pulse rounds hissed above them. The last thing she wanted was to explain to Daniel and the others how Chiana died.
Kwenn kept her left arm in place to protect her chest wound as she chased after the fleeing Charrid officer. His pulse rifle was having little effect on her thick hide, but, if given enough time, he could eventually burn through her armored skin.
The Charrids outside tried to shut the cell door after their Lieutenant slipped through the opening, but Kwenn threw her shoulder hard into the closing door before they could shut it. The bone-jarring impact flung the door wide open, slamming the two Charrids to the floor.
Out in the corridor, Kwenn found herself facing the Lieutenant and another Charrid, rifles aimed directly at her. Before she could move, they opened fire and kept on shooting.
Back inside the cell, Sheba watched in amazement as the wounded Kwenn forced her way out into the corridor, but this was followed by another fury of pulse rifle fire and Kwenn's inhuman screams filling her ears. The Colonial wasn't going to sit by and let someone, especially an ally, stand-alone.
Desperate, she looked for a weapon and saw the unconscious Charrid still lying in their cell with his rifle just beside him. She bolted to her feet and went for it. As soon as Sheba got off her, Chiana hauled herself up and, without saying a word, chased after her, ready to help.
The stunned Charrid started to come around in time to witness Sheba racing by to grab his weapon. He struggled to stop her, but the Nebari girl following the Colonial planted a solid kick to his face, knocking him out again.
Hurrying, Sheba reached the open cell door and saw two Charrids unloading their pulse rifles into Kwenn. The concentrated fire was slamming the weakened Scarran to her knees. With their full attention on killing the Scarran, they didn't even notice the armed Human.
Furious, the Sheba stepped forward into the corridor, raised the rifle and snapped off two quick shots. Two Charrids went down. Sheba turned and covered the other two Charrids recovering on the ground beside the door.
"Don't move!" she warned.
From behind the Colonial, Chiana raced to Kwenn's side. The Scarran was struggling to stand again. When the Nebari got closer, she could see that Kwenn's skin was scorched in patches all across her body, but thankfully, none of her new wounds looked serious.
"You are completely fahrbot, charging into pulse fire like that," Chiana said lending her a helping hand up. "You Scarrans might be tough, but you're not invincible."
Kwenn grimaced as she rose to her feet, accepting Chiana's assistance. "It was either that or let the Charrids take you."
Chiana smiled sincerely. "Thanks."
"Don't thank me." Kwenn managed a mischievous smirk. "I enjoy hurting Charrids whenever I get the chance."
Chiana chuckled in response when she heard Sheba threatening the remaining two Charrids, one of whom was trying to reach for his rifle.
"I said, don't move!" Sheba warned again, holding her pulse rifle close with her finger tight on the trigger. "I don't know what the women are like on your world, but from where I come from, we have teeth! Care to see how long and sharp mine are?"
The two Charrids wisely determined that the Human female was indeed deadly serious and kept their hands high and visible.
"Chiana," Sheba said, seeing that the Charrids had given up. "Gather up all of their weapons, communication devices and see if you can find the code key for that cell and let's lock them inside."
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John Crichton should have been happy. He had finally gotten Harvey permanently removed from his head. He could think clearly again without the neural clone constantly adding his own two cents into everything he did or thought, like the worst backseat driver, ever.
Unfortunately, darkening this moment, was the neural clone's creator, standing just a few feet away, and the knowledge that Commander Adama was almost certainly dead. The Colonial leader had been badly wounded with less than an hour to live more than three hours ago, the two Charrids in charge under orders to dispose of him in a waste-recycling centre. It the man wasn't already dead, he would be once he arrived.
It was an unfitting end to a good and wise man. Adama was sort of a Gandalf to their group. He always knew more than you thought was possible.
Crichton told Carter, and the Tok'ra briefly grieved for their loss. Scorpius listened, but reacted little, knowing nothing of the Colonial.
After a moment, Carter stared at the Human astronaut and asked, "Crichton, do you remember the name of the System Lord that Ptah was serving?"
"Oh, yes." That was the one thing that Crichton remembered very clearly. "Bastard in a black cloak who goes by the name of Anubis."
He watched as Sam's eyes widened before Jolinar abruptly jumped in, declaring loudly.
"Anubis is dead!"
"Hey, I call 'em as I see 'em."
"If Anubis is truly alive after all this time, then we are all in great jeopardy."
Intrigued, Scorpius stepped closer. "Who is this Anubis?"
Jolinar turned her attention towards the Scarran hybrid. "Of all the System Lords that have ever existed, he was the most ruthless and feared. So muchso that the other System Lords all turned against him and after defeating his forces in battle, they placed him into exile. But a few of the System Lords decided that banishment was not enough and had him assassinated instead."
"Well, I can declare with confidence that they missed and he's planning for the big pay back." Crichton stated before removing a Scarran communicator from his belt.
"What are you doing, Crichton?" Scorpius asked.
"Ptah sent some Charrids to bring Chiana down here; I've got to call them off."
"You do not possess all of Ptah's memories. If you should say something incorrect…" Scorpius began.
"I'm willing to take that chance." Crichton opened the communicator.
"But I'm not," Scorpius said, stepping forward to stop him. "There's more at risk than one Nebari!"
Angry, Crichton glared at the approaching Scarran hybrid, ready for a fight, when Jolinar, standing next to Crichton, took a step towards Scorpius, ready to challenge him herself.
"You'll be at risk if you try to stop him from saving her," Jolinar threatened with a cold stare.
"If we are captured, then all will be lost!" Scorpius hissed.
"We'll be lost the moment we start abandoning our friends to the wolves," Crichton said.
Recalling Ptah's speech patterns when he spoke, Crichton did his best to mimic it as he called the Charrid who had been sent to retrieve Chiana.
"Squad nine, this is John Crichton, do you read?"
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Elsewhere, Sheba, Kwenn and Chiana were making their way through the winding corridors of the detention centre, trying to find the men. They briefly grilled the Charrids about their location, Kwenn using her heat projection to force them to talk. It proved to be quite an effective form of interrogation.
The group headed off in the appropriate direction, Kwenn leading, the Colonial just behind her with the Nebari guarding the rear. Theyhad stripped the Charrids of all their weapons, including six pulse rifles. In addition to the one rifle they were each carrying, they also had a spare rifle slung over a shoulder, plus a couple of pistols and communicators.
As they quietly moved forward, the 'borrowed' communicator on Chiana's belt unexpectedly hummed to life. "Squad nine, this is John Crichton, do you read?"
The three women stopped in their tracks as Chiana fumbled for the communicator. She flipped it open, speaking breathlessly into it. "Crichton, is that you?"
"Chiana?" Crichton's cautious voice grew into excitement when he realized it was indeed her. "Pip! Are you okay?"
Chiana gave a broad smile as Sheba and Kwenn stopped to listen while keeping a watchful eye out around them. "Ya, Old Man, we're fine. What're you doing, calling on the bad guys comm unit? This entire place has gone completely frelled!"
Crichton was grateful that Chiana used the word 'we' – it told him she was at least with someone else. "Listen, Pip, I'm not sure how secure this link is, so we need to make this quick. The Goa'uld are here and are using the Charrids and the Kalish to seize and maintain control of this base."
"Lovely," Chiana muttered. "Got any plans?"
"A few, but we'll be needing more helping hands."
"Way ahead of you, Old Man."
"Do you need any help?"
Chiana glanced towards Sheba and Kwenn. "Got all the muscle I need on my end."
"Good to hear, Pip. We've got someone who needs rescuing, too. Contact us once you're done. And watch your ass."
Grinning, Chiana was unable to resist the chance to flirt. "Can't do that, Old Man, but, you're always welcome to."
Chuckling, Crichton signed off with Chiana. He had almost forgotten what it was like to laugh.
He turned to face Carter and Scorpius. "Let's go find Starbuck. I know where to start."
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"What is he going to do to her?" a furious Starbuck demanded, not knowing what was happening to Sikozu, alone in her quarters with Vakali.
One Kalish replied coldly, holding his weapon trained on Starbuck. "Secretary Vakali believes that Sikozu is a traitor and she will be dealt with accordingly."
Angry, he struggled briefly against the two Kalish who were holding his arms. "Dealt with accordingly?! And what would that be? Just kill her on the spot and wash your hands of it?"
The Kalish glared at Starbuck in contempt. "Considering she would allow a weak species like you to touch her, it's clear that her mind has become corrupted."
"Weak species?" Starbuck had to laugh. "We fought the Cylons to a stand still for a thousand of your cycles and you encountered them for how long? Three weekens? And they're about to hand your asses to you!"
The six Kalish stared hatefully at the Colonial, but they stopped when two figures appeared at the end of the corridor. Starbuck couldn't believe that it was Crichton and Carter approaching.
He quickly shouted. "Crichton! Carter! Get out of here! They've overthrown their Emper..."
The Kalish holding the rifle slammed the butt of his weapon into Starbuck's stomach for a second time. The Colonial collapsed to his knees, gasping again in pain and for breath.
Expressionlessly, Crichton and Sam walked casually up to the six Kalish, without giving Starbuck a second glance.
"If he speaks again," Crichton said to the Kalish standing over the Colonial, "Don't hesitate to hit him again."
Hearing those words, Starbuck stared up at him, bewildered. Crichton turned to Carter, introducing her to the aliens.
"This is Major Samantha Carter. She is our new ally and she has technical information that she will share with you about a device called the stargate."
"What is a stargate?" one Kalish asked.
Smiling, Carter stepped towards them. "It is a wondrous and powerful device built by a race called the Ancients tens of thousands of years ago. But first, I have a question." She met their curious glazes. "Suppose you were in love with a queen, and the king found out. And suppose he set you down in an arena in front of two doors, and told you that behind one of the doors was a beautiful lady, the most beautiful in the entire kingdom… but behind the other door was a ravenous tiger. The trouble is, you don't know which door leads to which fate. Now you look up at the queen, and in a secret sign she indicates you should open the left door.
"My question is, did she indicate the door with the lady, thus handing you over into the arms of another woman? Or did she indicate the door leading to the tiger, deciding she would rather see you dead than with another?"
The six Kalish stood absolutely still, seemingly baffled by the bizarre and illogical question. Starbuck watched closely, sensing something was afoot when Crichton just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Don't look at me, I always go for what's behind door number one."
Suddenly, from behind the Kalish, a new voice erupted, startling them.
"The question she asked is rather simple," Scorpius said, having stealthily manoeuvred behind the group of Kalish from the other end of the corridor while they were all focused on Carter. "If you open the door that the queen indicated, does it lead to the woman or the tiger? For me, I would be sorely disappointed if she was not jealous enough to want me dead."
At that, Crichton, Carter and Scorpius jumped the six Kalish. By the time Starbuck got free to lend a hand, half of them where already beaten into unconsciousness. The trio hit them so fast that none of the Kalish was able to fire a weapon even once.
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"Answer my question, Kalish! Who are you spying for!!"
Sikozu clawed futilely at the hands that were slowly crushing her windpipe. Then she tried pressing her hands against his chest to push him off her. Losing patience with her pathetic struggling and useless defiance, the Goa'uld considered ending her life when one of her hands unexpectedly grabbed him by the collar, which was followed by a small object jabbing against his neck with a faint hiss.
Shocked, he released Sikozu and grabbed for her hands only to see that she held a tiny medical injector. In that moment, he felt his strength and his hold on her failing.
Smirking and taking a few needed gasps of air, Sikozu lifted her head as she watched the drug take hold of him.
"I have a question for you," she started. "How do you expect a person to answer anything while being choked?"
Vakali was steadily weakening and Sikozu pulled her arms free. Before the Goa'uld could lunge at her again, Sikozu draw her hand back into a fist and slugged him with all her strength across his jaw. Her one punch flattened him to the deck in an ungainly heap.
Sikozu slowly sat up, rubbing her bruised throat and wondering how to get out of this predicament.
The Charrids and her own people had joined together and seized control of Katratzi from the Scarrans. Something else had secretly taken control of Secretary Vakali and who knew how many others? Whatever it was, it was playing everyone here against one another.
Forgetting about that for the moment, Sikozu searched Vakali's body for a weapon, but found none on his person. She needed something to fight with because the Kalish guards outside would eventually come back in when Vakali didn't rejoin them.
Desperate, she flipped over a metal table and tried to break off one of its legs to use as a makeshift club. After working it for several microts, she managed to pry one table leg loose.
She brandished her makeshift club before approaching the door, weighing her options in dealing with the Kalish guards outside. Should she wait and ambush them when they came in? Or charge out and hope to take them by surprise? Sadly, she knew both options were probably suicidal. There had to be a third option!
Her planning came to an abrupt end when the doors suddenly opened. There she saw the blond Human female, clad in black leather, marching straight towards her. Confused, Sikozu stopped in her tracks, but before she could say a word, the woman's eyes glowed like Vakali's had under the influence of the alien force.
She was one of those things too!
The blond raised her left arm to point a golden gauntlet at her. In the palm, Sikozu saw a red glowing jewel, pulsing with power. She was aiming it like a weapon. The Kalish waited for the end to come.
What happened next shocked even her.
The woman spoke in the same heavily distorted voice as Vakali, but more feminine in tone. "Get down!"
Sikozu almost nodded, she liked that suggestion.
The female Kalish ducked to the floor, almost kissing it when she heard a whoosh of energy being released and felt the air above her literally trembling, as if some great force was punching through it. Microts later, she heard the bulkhead behind her screeching as it buckled from some powerful impact.
Carefully, she lifted her head to peek over her shoulder. Behind her, the smashed remains of Secretary Vakali were smeared against the heavily dented steel wall. Sikozu gasped in wonderment at the weaponry that could inflict such damage.
"Are you all right?"
Sikozu jerked away as the blond woman knelt down beside her, gesturing to the quite dead Vakali.
"He was about to attack you from behind. Did you not hear him?"
"I was busy looking at you!" Sikozu exclaimed, rising to her feet. "What are you?"
From behind the blond woman, Starbuck dragged in the unconscious body of a Kalish guard before approaching Sikozu, grateful that she was unharmed. "Its okay, Sikozu, she's on our side."
Sikozu stared at him doubtfully, stepping back. "I don't seem to recall that we were ever working on the same side!" She focused her attention on Jolinar again. "I demand to know what you are! Vakali had some sort of an alien parasite in him! Is that what you are?"
"Parasite?" The Tok'ra crossed her arms across her chest, murmuring sarcastically. "I'm deeply hurt."
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Six levels down, a large armed squad of Charrid and Kalish moved cautiously through the research department.
The lead Charrid peered around a corner with his rifle at the ready, but saw nothing more than empty corridors. "Why are we searching this level, again?"
"C&C detected power fluctuations and then lost contact with every DRD they sent to this tier," another Charrid replied. "They think that some Scarrans might be hiding here."
The lead Charrid laughed. "Perhaps some Kalish left one of their secret lab toys running."
Several Kalish glared silently as the other Charrids chuckled at the joke.
The group pressed on, searching room-by-room, finding nothing. The level appeared deserted. Eventually they moved on to a new section, but came to a stop when they rounded another corner and found a single DRD in the middle of the corridor.
The dark and lethal-looking robot turned its red, electronic eye on the group.
The lead Charrid snorted at the machine and started forward again, but a Kalish in the back of the group shouted, "Stop!"
Annoyed, the Charrid looked back. "What is it, Kalish?"
"Something is wrong with that DRD!" the suspicious Kalish responded. "Its sensor eye, it's supposed to be blue. Someone reprogrammed it!"
Frowning, the Charrid turned his attention towards the DRD with the red sensor eye. The small machine appeared to be guarding the corridor to prevent anyone passing. With a shrug, the Charrid lifted his weapon up and fired, instantly destroying the small robot.
"There, no more problem," the Charrid declared. He started walking forward again just before his chest exploded from a pulse blast, killing him instantly.
The surprised Charrids and Kalish raised their weapons, looking for the source of the shot. High above in the shadows were several more DRDs hiding upside down on the ceiling corridor. Their sensors eyes also glowed red and all of their weapon ports were opened.
"Everyone," one of the Kalish breathed out slowly. "Back up."
They had taken only a few steps backwards when another cluster of red-eyed DRDs appeared from behind.
Scared and surrounded, their attention was drawn to movement up the corridor. A golden Cylon centurion stepped into view, the name 'Sparky' written across his chest in Hynerian. Two more of the reprogrammed DRDs were out in front, obediently providing protective escort.
As if the situation wasn't dire enough, behind the golden Cylon more Cylons appeared, filing in behind, marching in rows of two. The Charrids and the Kalish just stared on in fright, wondering where all of those Cylons were coming from.
Sparky marched forward and stopped mere paces before the petrified aliens, who each knew full well what the machine standing before them was capable of, even bare handed.
The Cylon droned out in an emotionless tone.
"Where is Dominar Rygel?"
When Sparky didn't receive a fast enough answer from the tongue tied aliens, he sent a signal and the surrounding DRDs moved in closer with weapons pointed and armed as Sparky repeated his question more ominously.
"Where is Dominar Rygel?"
TBC…