A Cylon juggernaut!
It was a towering metal beast of destruction, built to crack heavily fortified positions and create openings for the smaller Cylon centurions to break through. Starbuck had heard many stories about this Cylon machine and the damage and death it could inflict. Right now, the Colonial warrior just didn't want to get stepped on.
The ground trembled as it moved closer to their position and Starbuck's mind raced to figure a way to stop it. Its armor was too thick for blasters or any other weapon they had. He peered out from behind concealing rubble and stole a glance at the juggernaut.
It was big and powerful, but moved on two legs. Starbuck looked down to its feet and ankles, and then ducked back behind cover, looking toward Boomer and the other warriors. "I've got a plan!"
Knowing how Starbuck's plans usually worked, Boomer was naturally cautious. "Then please share."
Starbuck slipped off his backpack, pulled it open, and rummaged around inside. "The actuators on that thing are its only weak points. If we can take out its foot or knee, we can immobilize it."
Boomer shook his head. "I don't think our blasters can…"
He stopped when Starbuck pulled out several small but powerful detonator charges. They had brought several along in the event they might need the added explosive punch to knock out the Cylon base.
Boomer stared silently at Starbuck before saying rather loudly, "Is that the best you can think of? Run up and slap those on it?"
Starbuck shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Hey, Boomer, you read my mind. Care to help?""
With the juggernaut fast approaching, Boomer grabbed two of the charges, muttering, "I just want you to know that you are beyond insane!"
"Come on, Boomer, live a little," Starbuck smirked. "Okay, get ready. As soon as it walks by, we'll place the charges on its left leg just above the ankle." He looked back at the rest of his squad. "As for everyone else, stay out of sight."
The juggernaut drew closer. Starbuck and Boomer were preparing for the mad dash when they heard the thunderous roar of a heavy weapon being fired. Looking down the street, away from the juggernaut, they spotted Carter on the back of a still-functional skimmer, firing its mounted gyro-jet gun at the juggernaut repeatedly.
The concentrated fire did nothing to the juggernaut save to draw its full attention to the skimmer. The machine stopped its advance and Starbuck realized it was preparing to fire. He looked back at Carter and, for a moment, the Tok'ra appeared ready to jump and run but she hesitated, remaining on the skimmer and keeping the weapon trained on the towering Cylon.
What is she doing? Starbuck thought before he shouted, praying that she would hear and heed his advice, "Sam! RUN!"
She held her ground. Starbuck and the others thought they were about to watch the Tok'ra die. For a split second, there was the combined sound of a thunderous whoosh as the juggernaut fired a missile from its shoulder-mounted launcher and the hissing buzz saw of Sam's gyro-jet gun being discharged. This was instantly followed by a concussive explosion that rattled the entire street, causing several of the old stone walls to crack and collapse. Fortunately, the falling debris missed the surviving Luxans and Colonials.
With ears still ringing, Starbuck peered out and saw noting but a cloud of black smoke where the juggernaut had stood mere seconds before. All was quiet and for a moment he dared to believe. "SHE GOT IT!" he cheered.
A gentle breeze picked up and the smoke swirled away to reveal the juggernaut still standing, its entire left missile launcher torn away by the explosion. It moved again, but this time almost drunkenly, struggling for balance with each step. Starbuck watched, hoping it would topple over, but it continued walking, headed straight for the Tok'ra.
On the skimmer, Jolinar opened fire again, unleashing another fury of gyro-jet projectiles, zeroing in on the juggernaut's damaged left shoulder and head. As she fired, the juggernaut lifted its cannon arm to fire back with surprising speed.
The Tok'ra let go of the machine gun to jump clear, but in the back of her mind, she realized that it might be too late. Then something heavy slammed into her back and two strong arms wrapped about her body, lifting her up and forward, away from the doomed skimmer.
She was still airborne when the juggernaut fired its plasma beam and reduced half of the skimmer to a heap of molten metal. Just as she was about to hit the ground, her rescuer twisted, placing himself between her and the road to soften the landing.
The impact was jarring, even so, and she heard a painful grunt from the person holding her. When Jolinar rolled off him, the Tok'ra was not surprised to see it was a Luxan, but he looked a little small for his species. Most Luxans were, on average, about seven feet tall, but this one was no taller than Carter.
"Are you all right, sir?" the concerned Luxan asked.
The remark was a surprise, considering that she wasn't a Luxan. "I should be asking you that, warrior. Thank you."
Then there were more Luxans all around her, firing their weapons, coming to her aid. They had only their personal weapons, but their fire distracted the juggernaut from Jolinar and her short Luxan rescuer.
The juggernaut continued to advance, its cannon arm aimed at the attacking Luxans, when Jolinar screamed, "Scatter!"
Starbuck watched as the juggernaut stomped past their position. It had definitely suffered some internal damage from the explosion, judging by its sluggish movement. However, it was still functional and moving toward Carter and the Luxans, who unloaded everything they had on it.
Starbuck clutched the two chargers in his hands tightly before looking over to his friend. "Good to go, Boomer?"
"Just say when."
"When!"
The two Colonials charged, racing up behind the juggernaut as it continued its advance on the Tok'ra and the Luxans. Holding two charges in his own hands, Boomer prayed that the towering Cylon wouldn't turn and reduce them to road smears under its giant metal feet. The charges had been set to a five micron count down; they wanted the Cylon machine to have little time to react if it should detect the explosives, while allowing themselves enough time to get clear.
Jolinar was moving and issuing orders to the Luxans when she saw Starbuck and Boomer bound up behind the machine. Before she could figure out what they were doing, the two men had slapped small devices on its lower left leg, just above the ankle. Then the two bolted away and the juggernaut stopped to look down as it detected something unusual.
There was a flash followed by a piercing explosion as the charges detonated in flames, black smoke, and dirt. Jolinar watched as the juggernaut fell forward, dropping to its hands and knees with a heavy clatter of armor. Its new position afforded a perfect angle shot into its damaged shoulder.
She gestured aggressively at the Cylon, shouting to the Luxans. "The shoulder! Aim for its damaged shoulder!"
In an instant, the Luxans directed their combined firepower on that weakened point. One rather large Luxan with a bazooka proceeded to empty his clip into the Cylon. The high-explosive rockets slammed into the scorched and weakened shoulder armor, causing it to fragment into pieces like an egg. Through that opening, the rockets that followed penetrated deep inside, detonating and destroying its softer internal systems. The juggernaut sagged and collapsed face down in the ancient roadway. The mighty Cylon war machine had been reduced to a junkyard heap as smoke bellowed from jagged cracks.
Jolinar breathed a huge sigh of relief as the Luxans gathered and cheered their victory.
"That's what I call teamwork," Jolinar heard Carter's mental voice say happily.
Starbuck and his squad hurried to join with the Tok'ra and the Luxans. They carefully circled around the fallen juggernaut, making sure it was deactivated.
Jolinar heard the sound of battle from O'Neill's position; they were still under attack. "We're still not finished," the Tok'ra said aloud.
The short Luxan looked at her. "Sir?"
"Where are your leaders, warrior?" Jolinar asked.
The Luxan looked briefly around before answering, "They're all dead."
"Then who's in charge?"
"You are, sir."
A little shocked, Jolinar looked about and found the surrounding Luxans all looking toward her, seemingly for leadership.
"I guess our little one-on-one duel with the juggernaut must have impressed them," Carter whispered within her mind.
Jolinar nodded, but said to the short Luxan, "I'm not one of you."
"It doesn't matter. You think and we fight."
"Do you have a name, warrior?"
The Luxan held himself up proudly before saying his name. "I am Jothee, son of Ka D'Argo."
"Hey," Starbuck called out to Jolinar as he and his squad arrived. "Sounds like O'Neill and the Jaffa are up to their necks in Cylons. I don't want to speak for the rest of you, but I'm not planning to sit it out."
Jolinar looked at the Colonials before turning to face the nearly one hundred Luxan warriors, waiting for her command. She had worked with the Luxans on a few occasions, but she couldn't figure out what she had done to earn this. Luxans were a curious species, they were not fighters by nature but simple people, farmers mostly, and warriors if needed. Unfortunately, the nature of the universe required them to be warriors more often than not. Peacekeepers viewed them as barbarians, but they were much more than that. They were a proud people with a strong compassion and love for each other.
"Warriors," Jolinar said aloud, suddenly feeling like she was reliving her glory days as a System Lord. "Our day is not done and we have a long march before we can declare victory!"
Cylon centurions marched in straight neat columns, row by row, filling the entire street as they came. Teal'c watched them, noting their approach was slow, deliberate, and unnerving, as if there was no doubt that the Cylons would eventually kill them all. The allied forces formed a defensive line around a large and somewhat stable pile of rubble in the center of the street, which provided some needed cover as they waited for the Cylons.
"JAFFA!"
At Bra'tac's command, every Jaffa and SG team opened fire. Armor-piercing bullets from Earth could hammer through Cylon armor, as could the newly modified staff weapons, but only with a lucky hit or repeated strikes. The staff weapons could penetrate the tough chest plate with at least four solid hits. Thus, the Jaffa was formed into groups of four and each group concentrated on one Cylon until it fell before shifting to the next.
The first line of Cylons collapsed to the pounding of bullets, staff weapons, and blaster fire from Sparky's troops, but the Cylons in the next line kept on coming. Quickly, the allies concentrated on the second line of Cylons, but even as they fell, the next line was right there and moving forward, gaining ground with every step.
Colonel O'Neill crouched behind a pile of rubble and slapped a fresh clip into his rifle. "I think we might be outnumbered three to one."
"Looks like four to one to me," Colonel Green countered.
O'Neill glared at him. "You could try being more positive."
Green kept his sights on the approaching Cylons while holding down the trigger, amazed at how much punishment each machine could absorb. "I would be, except they're not taking no for an answer!"
Teal'c and three other Jaffa fired on another Cylon when its chest plate finally gave way in a shower of sparks. Teal'c was puzzled by the Cylons' behaviour — they had yet to return fire. It was as though the machines were feeling out their firepower to see what they had.
O'Neill reached up for his combat vest. "Grenades!"
Every SG member grabbed a grenade, pulling the pin to prime it.
"Let them have it!"
Upon his command, they heaved the grenades, but the Cylons didn't care. They continued their advance, stepping over the grenades dropped amongst their ranks. The grenades went off with a deafening roar that sent Cylons and pieces of Cylons flying in every direction, resulting in huge holes in their formation, but still they kept coming, walking over the smouldering remains of their destroyed counterparts.
"They're gluttons for punishment," O'Neill muttered before shouting, "Pour it on!"
Under the constant pounding of hostile fire, the Cylons finally got to within fifty feet before levelling their blaster rifles and returning fire. In seconds, several Jaffa, SG members, and even several of Sparky's Cylons fell to the Cylon blasters.
O'Neill involuntarily ducked as the air sizzled with energy from the Cylon weapons. "Fall back!" he shouted. They had to give ground before they were completely wiped out, forced to rely on plan B sooner than they had planned.
They retreated to the other side of the hill made of debris, dragging their wounded as they went. Hailey was hurrying after the others, watching her step, when she looked back and saw Sparky and his troops were still in formation, shooting it out with the approaching Cylons.
"Sparky! We're retreating and that includes you! Come on!"
The Cylon stopped firing for a moment to look at her as if to ask, Are you talking to me?
"Let's go!" Hailey urged him.
Sparky snapped his fingers and his troops began a fighting retreat.
Elsewhere, Bra'tac and O'Neill reformed their men into a new defensive line.
O'Neill gave his rifle a quick check as Green hunkered down by a partially collapsed wall.
"I have a problem with plan B," Green said.
O'Neill threw him a glance. "And what's wrong with plan B?"
"We have no plan C if B fails."
"Then lets make sure B works."
"Let's hear it for plan B," Colonel Green said, resigned for a tough fight no matter what. "Here they come."
The Cylons crested the stone rubble as Sparky and his troops reached the bottom.
O'Neill watched closely before saying to Green, "Get ready, Colonel."
At his feet, Green picked up the remote detonators. "Ready."
The Cylons reached the top and began their descent before firing upon the defenders.
"Now!" O'Neill shouted.
As quickly as he could, Colonel Green started detonating the claymore mines hidden under the ground the Cylons were now standing on. The entire hill erupted in clouds of smoke, flying rocks, and Cylon body parts. The trap was devastating and the Cylons had walked right into it. Had they been made of flesh and blood, those that remained would probably have called it a day and headed home to lick their wounds.
Unfortunately, steel bodies don't feel pain, let alone bleed.
"I don't believe! They're still coming!" an SG soldier cried out in disbelief.
A Jaffa next to Teal'c trembled in fear as the Cylons continued to swarm over the hill toward them. "They have to be demons! What other creatures could take such punishment?"
"They are no more demons than the System Lords are gods," Teal'c corrected him forcefully. "They are only machines."
O'Neill's commanding voice rang out. "Open fire!"
The Cylon column, nearly two hundred strong, continued to press forward, to attack O'Neill's forces and overwhelm them with numbers and firepower.
A trailing Cylon movement from behind. It stopped, turned, and saw a smiling blond human female standing there.
The Cylon lifted its blaster, taking the opportunity to capture a lone prisoner for interrogation. "Surrender, human."
Carter titled her head. "I think I may have invented a new sport, but what to call it?" She snapped her fingers. "I know!"
Before the Cylon could react, Carter aimed the ribbon device on her left hand and fired a wide force beam. It sent that Cylon and the entire rear column slamming and tumbling into each other in a chain reaction, leaving them flat on the ground.
"I think I'll call it 'bowling for Cylons!'" Carter said with a smirk before her eyes glowed and Jolinar shouted through her host, "Attack!"
From every alleyway and broken building poured Luxan soldiers and Colonial warriors. They quickly pounced on the Cylons before they could pick themselves up to fight back. Starbuck walked among the Cylons, blaster in hand, and took out the machines before they could recover their rifles. He wished fighting the Cylons could always be this easy.
Boomer was one step behind him, making sure that Starbuck didn't miss one. He couldn't remember ever shooting so many Cylons before.
The Luxans swept across the fallen Cylons as well, unloading their rifles into them until the machines stopped moving.
Jolinar continued to move forward, using her Ribbon device to keep the Cylons down. She could hear the fire of machine guns and staff weapons not far from their position, and so she kept plowing through Cylons while the Luxans and Colonials mopped up behind her.
O'Neill was still shooting when a Cylon unexpectedly flew over the hill and the heads of his comrades. The machine landed with a heavy metal clatter.
How did that happen?
Honestly, he didn't care at the moment, just as long as all the weird crap happened to the bad guys. Then three more Cylons came flying over the rocky hill.
"What the hell?" O'Neill muttered.
Finally, they all heard the sweet sound of Colonial blasters and Luxan pulse rifles and several Cylons on top of the hill stated taking hits from the rear. The Cylons ahead of them suddenly stopped, realizing the grave threat behind them.
Yes! It's all about timing and a bit of luck! O'Neill stood up, shouting to everyone, "Move forward and hit them hard!"
Within seconds, the few remaining Cylons had been cut apart by the highly accurate fire from the SG teams and the rebel Jaffa. O'Neill swept the area ahead of him, making sure that every Cylon was indeed dead, when several new figures appeared on top of the hill amongst the Cylon wreckage. He saw the welcome sight of Carter, Starbuck, Boomer, and many Luxans and Colonial warriors.
"Hey," Starbuck called down to the group. "Have you guys seen a Cylon base around here?"
Confusion…
The gold Cylon base commander was confused by their situation. There were enemy forces on the planet, and at the very doorstep of their base. How had they arrived undetected? Even more amazing was the presence of Cylon units fighting alongside the enemy. Also, the enemy were using some sort of force beam, knocking centurions off their feet and leaving them momentarily vulnerable to attack. The Cylon commander had many questions, but no answers.
However, the situation remained unchanged: they must hold the base.
"How many centurions do we have left inside the base?" the gold centurion asked of his silver counterpart.
"Not enough," came the reply.
"Recall the perimeter forces to defend the base."
"They will not make it in time. The enemy will reach us first."
"Order the fleet to target this base for destruction. The Humans must not be allowed to capture it."
"By your command."
The base locked itself down and two squads of Cylons were positioned to guard the main door leading in. The door was constructed of heavy alloys and resistant to energy weapons. It should delay the enemy long enough for help to arrive.
The heavy door shuddered once and then again and again with ever growing intensity.
It appeared to the Cylon defenders that the enemy would breach their defences much sooner than they had calculated.
After four staggering impacts, the huge metal door was smashed inward, broken completely from its tracks. The weight of the door impacting on the floor caused the room to tremble.
The Cylons waited patiently for the attackers to rush in and to hold to the last. Instead a lone figure leisurely strolled in.
Carter gave the Cylons a big wave of her hand. "What's up, guys?"
The Cylons immediately opened fire only to find some sort of protective forcefield was surrounding her. With their attention and weapons aimed on her, Tok'ra, Humans, green Cylons, Luxans and Jaffa charged in from behind, firing upon the distracted Cylons.
Teal'c and three other Jaffa fired repeatedly at one Cylon until it was nothing but smoking pieces on the floor. A quick look around and Teal'c saw they had succeeded in gaining a foothold inside the base without any more casualties. They immediately went about securing the room.
"Where's the command center from here?" Jolinar asked Starbuck.
"Not far. Their base layouts are all standard, just like their ships. Wait a minute. You're not planning to take the base!"
"We've gotten this far, why can't we?"
"That was not part of the plan," O'Neill said, facing the Tok'ra. "The idea was to blow this base up, not to plant our flag."
Jolinar stared at him. "Never thought you were the type to be afraid."
When the Tok'ra tried to walk by, O'Neill grabbed her by the arm and spun her about to face him again. "The only thing I'm afraid of is you getting yourself and the host killed! Now, I want to hear Sam!"
Jolinar scowled at him before jerking her arm free. "I will not be disregarded by you or anyone else. We have a mission to accomplish. Who's with me?"
O'Neill watched helplessly as the Luxans followed Jolinar closely. He looked questioningly toward Teal'c, Bra'tac, Colonel Green, and the Colonials. "Can anyone tell me what's gotten into Jolinar?"
Then he looked over to Sparky. "Anyone?"
Sparky just stood there for a second before walking away, as if he didn't want any part of this conversation.
Colonel Green didn't like the looks of things. To him, mixing forces was potentially a bad idea from the start, with each side having their own agenda. "What are we going to do, Colonel?"
O'Neill turned and started after the Tok'ra. "Keep Jolinar from getting Sam and the Luxans killed, while trying to finish the mission. Starbuck, you and your men hold here."
Jolinar, I have a confession… I love my body very much and I don't want any limbs shot off.
You don't trust me, Sam?
No, not at this moment… You're missing your glory days of commanding troops into battle and there's also her.
Her?
Do I have to spell it? A-E-R-Y-N, Aeryn! You've been imagining her face on every Cylon you've blasted apart today. Jolinar, you're scaring me.
I don't have to explain myself to you.
Oh! How thoughtless of me, considering we'll be sharing the same body for the next one hundred years! Jolinar? Jolinar, don't you dare ignore me! Jolinar? Figures!
Jolinar tuned out Carter's voice and focused on what was ahead of her. Jothee was trailing just a few paces behind, with the other Luxans.
So far, they had met little opposition other than the occasional Cylon, but with her Ribbon device, the machines were no match for her. At this rate, she'd be at the command centre in no time.
She rounded a corner and came face to face with a dozen Cylons at the end of the corridor. Several aimed their blaster rifles, but the Cylon in the center had her full attention. He aimed a huge cannon mounted on a tripod and wasted no time in pulling the trigger. In that brief moment as the cannon barrel flared, Jolinar doubted that her forcefield could stop that shot.
Her forcefield glowed and actually stopped nearly fifty percent of the blast but the remaining fifty percent broke through and struck Jolinar in her lower torso. The Tok'ra fell back, but Jothee was there instantly to drag her away and into the adjoining corridor while several Luxans provided covering fire.
The young Luxan hybrid was amazed that the Tok'ra was still conscious as she propped herself up against the wall. Scorched flesh overwhelmed his heightened sense of smell. Parts of her clothing were still burning and he quickly patted the flames out with his hands. Now, he could see her midsection and the delicate Human flesh underneath was charred black, possibly cooked all the way through by the heat of the beam.
The Tok'ra grabbed him. She struggled for every breath as her fingers dug into his shoulders.
Jothee was trembling, worried by the extent of her injuries. "Tell me what to do?" he begged.
"Get, Colonel O'Neill," Carter wheezed out. "Please hurry."
Jothee stood, prepared to run to find the Human warrior she wanted, but was relieved to see O'Neill and the others coming.
He pointed to the Tok'ra. "She's wounded!"
O'Neill became white as he raced by the Luxan and dropped down beside her. "Damn you, Jolinar! You had to be the hero."
"It's me, Jack," Carter breathed out painfully. "Jolinar is a little busy in patching up… my poor body."
Colonel Green and Lt. Hailey approached and both of their faces also went pale at the sight of Carter's condition. The young Lieutenant had to look away briefly, covering her mouth.
O'Neill moved to check her wound, but Carter grabbed his hands and simply held them. "Don't look… Nothing you can do." She coughed and tasted blood in her mouth.
When he met her eyes again, he froze. She had that very same look that many critically wounded soldiers had. Sam knew she didn't have long to live. It was something a person knows and feels when their body begins to fail. But he wasn't ready! He didn't want to lose her, not now or ever.
"Sam, I want you to hold on. Don't give up."
"Is that an order?" She gave his hands a squeeze.
"Don't joke, Sam."
Carter smiled and over O'Neill's shoulder she saw the ever-stoic face of Teal'c, but sorrow now etched his features. She managed another smile for her good Jaffa friend before wrenching coughs seized her body. A small trail of blood escaped from the corner of her mouth. O'Neill reached up and held her face between his hands, pulling her close until her forehead touched his. Carter gripped his arms tightly for dear life, as her body shook.
"Sam, just hold on," he begged her. "The Tok'ra can fix you up, just stay with…"
Her violent coughing stopped and a tiny breath left Carter's lips before her body became very still. The hands clutching at O'Neill arms loosened their grip, and Carter's arms dropped bonelessly to the floor.
O'Neill pulled away slightly and looked into her face. Her eyes were still partially open, but there was no life to be found in them.
"Sam?"
His mind reeled. He didn't move, his senses barely registering the loud fighting that was still going on. O'Neill leaned forward and pulled Carter gently into an embrace and held her. The entire world around him disappeared and all he knew now was the cold hard fact she was gone.
Notes: For every Carter and Stargate fans, all I can say is to stay calm and to trust me. I know what I am doing.
Next Chapter… Doctor Who.