"So these assholes are the Genii?" Max asked as she tried to keep up with Ronon. Teyla and Rodney were at the puddlejumper and John was taking the rear. As she and Ronon burst over a low ridge of volcanic sand they spotted the jumper and put on an extra burst of speed. Ronon gestured for her to keep going as he took a knee and peered behind them, waiting for John to emerge from the low thick alpine forest they had been ambushed in.
Max nodded, didn't wait for Ronon to acknowledge and sprinted to the jumper. She slid to a halt in the loose sand at the ramp and shouted for Rodney to get the jumper started.
"We may need to pick them up hot!"
"What the hell happened back there!" Rodney snapped as he hurriedly went over the controls and started the jumper, Teyla joined him in the copilot seat as Max went through the jumper storage, she could not remember if this specific jumper had been issued heavy small arms, with luck it had and she could cover John and Ronon with some heavy duty fire power.
"Genii!" She shouted and scowled as the most likely compartment for the heavy machine gun revealed food and medical supplies. She sighed and closed it. The plan was for a humanitarian mission after all. She cursed and checked her clips then braced herself as the jumper fully powered up.
Before she or Teyla could order Rodney to do a low fly over to retrieve John and Ronon the two men appeared on the ridge and plunged down toward them. John wasn't moving well and Ronon had one arm around him as he fired behind them.
Max clicked the safety off on her weapon and ran to them pausing every few steps to fire careful bursts at the ridgeline to keep the pursuing Genii from getting a clear shot at her people. As Ronon drew level with her she glanced at the men then moved to put herself between them and the line of sight from the ridge and kept up suppression fire.
Once she heard Ronon's heavy boots on the jumper's ramp she turned on her heel and hauled ass to join them. Her boot hit the ramp as it started to close up, she steadied her footing then slid down the increasing incline still firing as the jumper took off.
As the door sealed she took a knee to replace her spent clips then looked past John and Ronon to the cockpit where Teyla was entering the last of the address to the intermediary planet before they would head to Atlantis, she had started to dial as Rodney powered up the jumper. The intermediary was a precaution similar to never directly dialing the alpha site from Earth.
"How bad is he?" Max asked Ronon as she stowed her weapon and pulled out a first aid kit. Ronon was removing John's vest and tearing his shirt open.
"I'll live." John said but he sounded hoarse and was pale.
Ronon scowled and glanced at Max, she could see what looked like a bullet entry wound in John's chest toward his left shoulder.
"How's your breathing?" She asked as Ronon expertly applied a pressure bandage and used his weight o press it home, momentarily pinning John against the bulkhead and earning a gasp from the Colonel.
"Ow." John said between clenched teeth but the gasping breath he managed as the pain crested was deep and clean. Max relaxed slightly; the lung didn't seem to be impacted.
"We have a penetrating chest wound; breathing is good." She called up to Teyla and Rodney. Rodney made an upset noise and Teyla said something soft to him that Max couldn't catch.
They arrived through the intermediary location's Stargate and Teyla immediately started entering the address for Atlantis while Max checked John for other injuries and Ronon finished tying off the pressure bandage and applied a portable monitor to capture, ox sat, pulse, respiration and heart rate.
"Monitors on board." He said and sat back on his heels studying John. Max finished checking his limbs and also relaxed slightly and glanced at Ronon.
Her friend looked furious.
"I'll be okay." John said hoarsely as he idly examined the pressure bandage. He was proud of them. From the moment the Genii sprang the trap to the moment they entered the outgoing wormhole less than three minutes had passed. They had him patched up before the second gate address locked in.
Max nodded tightly at the men and moved closer to the cockpit.
"Good flying Rodney." She said as the new wormhole steadied. Teyla rested her hand on Rodney's and squeezed, Rodney made a noise and nodded to her.
Max tapped her headset. "We're coming in hot, mission was a Genii trap, Colonel Sheppard has been hit but he's stable, bleeding is controlled and he's on the monitor, requesting medical."
"Any other casualties?" Carter's voice crackled.
"No ma'am, thanks to my team." John said, voice still strained.