Author's note: Well, it took me a LOT longer to write this chapter than I had expected. I had hoped to have it done in a little over a week, and it's been more like a month. However, my muse finaly came back yesterday enough to finish the final little bit of editing.
On a side note, I watched the SG:Universe pilot episode. I didn't think two much of it. Most of the characters were semi-borrowed from other stories, and the plot really lacked any real strength. A lot of it was clearly borrowed from the new Battlestar Galactica, rather than doing their own thing.
SG-20
Episode 1: Chapter 2
"Flash Drive"
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The great ring of the Stargate spun, releasing a wave of energy. Only seconds after the wave had vanished, returning into the calm ripples of the event horizon, SG-20 stepped through.
The first person through the Stargate was Major Jason Terrell, the team leader. He was a young Marine who had been on the Stargate program almost since the beginning. He had been promoted only a few weeks ago, and been assigned to command SG-20.
Immediately behind him was the massive form of Ka'cha'nay, the team's "Weapons Expert". He was a Unas tribal warrior, a member of a race of primitive reptilian aliens. The huge alien had been kicked out of his tribe several years ago, and, after wandering through the galaxy for a time, he had joined the SGC. He was, despite his primitive looks, an intelligent and deadly warrior with a near-photographic memory. His name was somewhat difficult for humans to pronounce, so most of his friends referred to him as " 'Nay ".
The third person to step through the gate was Christine Ralston, the team's civilian scientist. She was a kind, attractive girl of about twenty-five, and a brilliant astrophysicist. Although she was carrying a P-90, she was not much of a warrior.
"Look clear." Ka'cha'nay, for all his ability as a warrior, still wasn't good with the English language. He could remember exact rifle calibers and ammunition specifics, but he routinely forgot 'unimportant' words like "it", "and", and "was".
"I agree," Jason said. "What was SG-13's last reported position?"
"Them were investing a village on a mountain near the stargate last time they call." The alien stated.
"Um...'Nay, the word he used was 'investigating', not 'investing'." Christine said.
"We've got an SG team to find, people! Let's get moving!" Jason barked, " 'Nay, you take point, I'll bring up the rear."
"Aye." Ka'cha'nay stated, unslinging his grenade launcher and plunging off into the brush.
The trek to the village turned out to be far more difficult than they had anticipated. At first, they were traveling through dense thickets, where branches did their best to slap them, clobber them, trip them, or (on more than one occasion) snatch items right out of their hands. After retrieving Christine's portable scanner from a surprisingly tall branch for the twentieth time, Ka'cha'nay handed her the scanner and informed her "Next time, tree can keep!"
Then, suddenly, the thickets cleared, the trees came to an abrupt end, and they found themselves walking through a forest of dead tree trunks, all around which patches of corn, sunflowers, beans, and various other crops grew.
A huge mountain loomed in front of them, marking edge of the river valley. Clinging to a shoulder of the mountain was a massive, navho-like cliff city, which seemed to sparkle silver in the sunlight.
However, it was another hour's hard travel across muddy fields and them climbing a steep, rocky path up the mountainside before they reached the reached the foot of the crude drawbridge that lead into the city. It was there the trouble began.
The bridge was a set of simple wooden planks, roped together and slung across a hundred-foot deep chasm in the mountainside. The rough-hewn and half-rotten boards showed the promise of giving way if anyone were to step the wrong place.
Christine and Jason managed to cross with little trouble, but the aged decking began making ominous noises the instant Ka'cha'nay set foot on it. He proceeded carefully, but, halfway across, a board gave out under his feet. Fortunately, the alien had a quick reaction speed, and was able to pull himself to safety. He traversed the rest of the bridge far more carefully, and managed to reach the far end without further indecent.
"Bridge dangerous." he stated simply.
"Did anyone else notice that it smells like someone just set off a firework?" Jason asked.
"I smell it," Christine said. "Smells more like gunpowder."
"Maybe it's that strange dust SG-13 reported?"
"Possibly, but I don't think-"
"Who said 'help'?" Ka'cha'nay asked.
Christine and Jason exchanged a startled glance. "Nether of us said it." Jason stated.
"What did it sound like?" Christine asked. She had learned long ago that the Unas's sense of hearing was extremely acute- to the point of being able to warn them of an impending ambush by the Lucan Alliance forces because he heard the slight hum produced by an armed staff weapon.
"A human said 'help' like it was hurt."
"Where?"
Ka'cha'nay turned and pointed towards the main bulk of the city. "Somewhere in there."
The shout came again, this time just loud enough for the humans to hear.
Which was all the motivation Jason needed. If the SG team they were sent to find was in trouble, he wasn't going to waste time moseying around. He was up the ladder to the first level of city and running toward the sound in a matter of seconds. Christine and 'Nay followed at an only slightly slower pace.
Thus it was that they rushed into the scene of SG-13's disaster only a little less than three hours after it had happened.
"What the -" Jason said, too startled even to even finish the exclamation.
The patio was strewn with still-open containers of scientific equipment. Spent cartridge casings seemed to be scattered all over the floor, mingling with the silver dust that seemed to be coating everything. The rough mud-brick floor was torn up where bullets had plowed into it.
"NATO five point seven millimeter cartage. P-90." Ka'cha'nay said, stooping down to pick up one of the casings.
"Over here!" Christine yelled. Jason spun to see her kneeling beside the crumpled form of a man in SGC uniform."It's Colonel Sherwin." she said, recognizing the current leader of SG-13.
"Is he-" Jason asked, rushing over.
"His pulse is weak, but he's still alive." Christine responded, un-clipping her pack and rooting through it for the first aid kit.
"What happened to him?" Jason asked.
"Gould use ribbon device to make him bonk wall." Ka'cha'nay put in.
Christine located the first aid kit and pulled out of her pack, quickly locating the medical scanner- an experimental device, created with a combination of human and Goa'ould healing device technology. While it lacked the power to heal anyone, the scanners could be used to quickly get an good picture of someone's injuries. Unfortunately, they were still an experimental design, and still had many bugs that needed to be worked out.
"How bad is he?" Jason asked.
"I'm not sure." she replied, staring at the little 'Scanning. Please wait.' bar as it crept across the screen. The machine took it's own antagonizing time about finishing the scan, then another two seconds to process the information before coming up with it's report.
"It says he has a concussion, broken bones, and a lot of other injuries." Christine finally reported. "But these machines aren't completely accurate, so I really can't be sure."
She dug through the medical kit again. "I'll risk giving him some morphine, but he needs a proper medical team with a stretcher to get him back to the 'gate." She said, pulling out a small syringe and twisting the cap off the needle.
Jason looked down at his watch. "Alright, I'm going to head down to the 'gate and get a medical team."
"I come with you." Ka'cha'nay offered.
"No, you stick around here. See if you can find out anything about what happened to them." Jason ordered, spinning and heading back toward the stargate.
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Jason strode as quickly as he could across the fields, moving at an almost-run. He knew that he had run longer distances in basic training, but two miles across rocky, treacherous terrain and unstable bridges seemed a lot longer than the five miles to the rifle range and back. Also, the two months stuck behind a desk before he was transferred to SG-20 hadn't done anything good for his physical condition.
Then he heard something.
Somewhere behind him, a deep throbbing sound began, rising in volume until it overcame almost every other sound.
Jason had only been aboard a starship twice, but he recognized the sound instantly- that of a starship's sub-light engine. He looked back just in time to see it rise out of the trees a few hundred yards away.
It clearly wasn't a Goa'ould ship- it lacked the pyramidal, archaic lines that that race so loved to use in their starships. Instead, this ship was a sleek, graceful machine with needle-like main hull, from which two short wings smoothly extended. The sleek lines spoke of a purpose-built battleship, a vessel built to destroy.
Slowly, gracefully, it spun to face the village - and opened fire.
Pulse after pulse of cannon fire spat from the ship's nose, battering the cliff-face. The drawbridge took a direct hit and fell, flaming, into the chasm, pulling its supports in after it. Fires leaped up around the city, burning fiercely.
Seemingly finished with the village, the ship spun to face toward the stargate, angling slightly forward to point straight at Jason.
He dove for cover just as the ship's cannons opened fire. Brilliant red energy sliced through the air, straight toward the unfortunate Marine.
Author's note: Yep, another cliffhanger. The more reviews I receive, the sooner the next chapter will be posted!
Also, I would like to note that the farming method I described the natives using was used by the woodlands Indians, not the Navaho. However, I figured they would adapt to the wetter environment of the planet by adopting different farming methods.