Chapter 6
It was 0800 in the morning when the God's Mouth spoke.
The Inner Wheel spun clockwise. The first chevron engaged
The sentinels alerted any that were unaware of the activity of the Stargate with a series of whoops.
The Inner wheel spun counter clockwise. Chevron Two engaged.
The men already posted on the canyon walls stood excitedly, adding their voices to that of the Sentries.
The Inner wheel reversed itself and revolved into its next position. Chevron Three engaged.
Men further off continued the alarm with wooden whistles echoing down the canyon walls.
The Naquada circle rotated to the left. Chevron Four engaged.
Drummers at the furthest end, who relayed it by pulse beats to the village proper, picked up the shrilling and announced the occurrence to its remaining occupants.
The Sun glinted off the beveled triangular embellishments of the ring. Chevron Five engaged.
SG1 was on battlefield alert. They were poised on the edge of the canyon wall, Col O'Neill holding his Rifle easily in his arms, comfortable with an old friend. Teal'c stood next to his commander supporting his staff weapon at the horizontal in its firing position, its head flared and glowing. Major Carter had her M50 at the shoulder ready position, safety off.
The circle revolved again. Chevron Six engaged.
A lone warrior, name unknown to O'Neill, chosen either by draw or willing to risk death for a coup count, stepped forward to the base of the God's Mouth. His fate was to be the welcome voice of The People, or the legendary hero of a future round of Cycle Myths, depending upon who came through the God's Mouth, friend or False God.
The Sacred Circle spun full course and ground to a halt. Chevron Seven engaged. A virtual explosion of water poured itself out then sucked itself back into its wormhole void. A Golden Figure wearing the mailed armor and helmed headgear of Anubis the Jackal God emerged from the God's Mouth and halted for a moment in time. The First Prime surveyed the single warrior facing him. He spoke in the old language of the False Gods commanding the man to bow down to his God. The warrior shouted his war cry and charged, his war club held high in his hand. The Jaffa struck him down with a Zat Gun.
Then, All Hell broke loose!
On the Signal of their First Prime, Jaffa Warriors charged through the Stargate. They too were wearing full armor and in ranks of four wide. The Indians started their counter attack. The first circle of warriors stationed on Ground Zero charged forward with spears and war clubs. SG1 started firing their automatic and power weapons. The hefty rocks that had been so carefully sized and stacked on the edge of the steep cliffs were thrown down on the enemy by the largest, most powerful of the warriors. They crashed down upon the continuing stream of Jaffa as they arrived unaware through the wormhole. This caused some disruption in the ranks and managed to incapacitate fighters and damaged some of the plate armor of the attacking enemy making them more vulnerable to the stone tipped weapons of the Indians.
The hundreds of leather sacks that the adolescent boys had doggedly carried up the cliff walls were also pitched down into the melee below. They burst open upon impact, splattering a black viscous liquid and the burning wood of the bonfires followed after, igniting the crude oil that the sacks had contained. This developed into an inferno of some substance, causing the charging Goa'uld warriors to be partially incapacitated and dampen their enthusiasm. Teal'c also discovered, accidentally, that his Staff weapon blast would cause ignition of the liquid. This added payoff was cashed in quickly and efficiently. The automatic weapons fire from the earth style projectile rifles and pistols were wielded successfully. The armor-piercing bullets performed in a manner worthy of the marksmanship skill of two Air Force Officers. Jaffa fell by the score, but more continued to arrive through the portal.
The problem was going to be, O'Neill noted to himself as he continued his support fire from his rocky aerie, was that whatever system lord this was, unless he was uncharacteristically stingy with the lives of his Jaffa's, the Good Guys would run out of men and ammo long before they ran out of enemies. He could see Grey Badger further down on the Canyon's edge, the old Chief exhorting his younger braves to continue to volley with their arrows and spears. These ranks, closer and more within range of the power weapons of the false god's army were beginning to take hits from below. O'Neill could see Teal'c, making his way over to them, trying to back the Chief up and fire support for the closest group, giving them a better defensive field. O'Neill had sent Carter down to the youngest warriors, further along the wall, covering a wider area of the Indian army with her M50 and the two 9mm pistols. There, under less pressure from the power weapons, she could use her superior marksmanship to pick off the survivors that had made it out of the upper canyon, just as the adolescent braves were using their bow and arrows.
O'Neill decided that once the initial crush had passed, he would try to get to the floor and retrieve as many of the power weapons as he could from the fallen enemy. These he could supply to the defenders with little or no instructions and provide the Indians with equal firepower to turn on their enemies. He considered any salvageable weapons spoils of war and to be put to their advantage. The problem however was that there were more Jackal heads coming than Indians left with rock, oil and arrows. To prevent a rout, he was going to have to start his plan before the encroaching tide of Jaffa had reached its possible crest.
After he emptied his M50's final clip he made his move. Listening to the battle with half an ear, he started his descent on to the floor. He tucked in behind some of the large boulders descending into the canyon floor and slipped down through the crevasses. Grey Badger had noticed his change of position and was watching, trying to see what Chief Gray Wolf could be up to. By now O'Neill had reached the canyon floor, and he hung back in the shadows of the man-sized boulders that littered the ground at its edge. Less than six feet away lay the body of a Jaffa, helmet still attached. Jack had the irrational thought that the empty golden eyes of the helmet could still see him, even though he knew the solder inside was dead. He could see the zatniketel lying by the deceased owner's gauntleted glove. He holstered his 9MM pistol and checked his surroundings for incoming bad guys, then dashed out into the arena, rolling across the dirt and coming up with the zat gun. He popped up and made a break back for the shelter of the rocks. Jack noticed the old chief watching him from above when he made it back to safety. He rose up to wave Grey Badger, then motioned him to send someone down.
Within seconds a young warrior was at O'Neill's side. He put the power weapon in the warrior's hand. At the brave's non-comprehending look, He took the zat back and pointed it into the crush of Jaffa's in front of their place of concealment. He pressed the lever trigger and fired at an oncoming Jackal guard. The resulting blast of the weapon while in O'Neill's hand was an emotional catharsis for the warrior. He looked at O'Neill again, his question apparent, 'Show me how!' Jack grinned wolfishly and shoved the gun in his hand and pointed at the triggering mechanism. He put the warrior's hand on the zat's gun butt and cupped it in his own. Together they fired and the first Jaffa fell to an Amerindian with a power weapon. Two times O'Neill fired. Twice he said, wordlessly. Twice is dead.
The other men in the canyon who was witness to the action whooped their approval. As they began to run out of their own stockpiles of ammo, they descended onto the floor in search of more of the discarded power guns.
Farther over in the Canyon, Teal'c had witnessed the actions of his Colonel and had not only followed suit with the cast off weapons of the guards but had taken the lead in the forays into the fighting itself. With the Indians' supply of traditional weapons now depleted, he and his band of the older, larger men had also started to pick up the staff weapons as well as the zest. The fighting was rapidly deteriorating into hand-to-hand now with some of the power weapons charges already expended. New ones arrived with the continuously incoming Jaffas, but the defenders were taking them from their attackers with their determined and highly superior unarmed combat experience.
Farther down the canyon, Carter and her group was also spending their accumulation of ammunition. The actual fighting was more sparse down this far so she had deployed her band of twenty or so adolescent warriors across the valley to stop any escaping or encroaching jackal heads from making it into the village proper. Only a few had picked up on the Colonel's new arms trade agreement with the incoming enemy, meaning 'there are new arms and we'll take them'. Some of her young warriors were still fairly well armed with the powerful short bows and flint headed arrows. These could actually pierce the leather junctures of the armor, injuring and sometimes killing the man inside. And as always, a Jaffa down was pretty much a Jaffa out, the armors weight a definite hindrance to an injured man.
Several miles away, Painted Face sat up straight on his claybank pony's back. The trip in from the prairie was taking longer than they had anticipated. The big humps were slow and not inclined to move fast nor did they want to be taken away from their pasturage. The other braves were also unsatisfied with their progress. He looked back at his new clan brother, Coyote. The pale-skinned shaman had continued to press the beasts on just as hard as anyone. Two Spears had wondered earlier how the other man could endure much hardship, as it had been obvious that he was not used to riding a spirit horse for such a long distance.
Daniel Jackson saw the Shaman looking back at him, and he urged the mare he was riding up alongside the other man. "How much longer till we reach the village?"
"Maybe another hour at this speed." Painted Face shook his head.
Daniel took a look at the huge herd of beasts that plodded along. "Painted Face, this is too slow."
The Shaman frowned. The young archeologist pressed his advantage. "I think we must stampede them now."
Two Spears rode along side of them. "I hear you speak Coyote, but too soon and we will lose many beasts."
Painted Face took Daniels's side in the argument. "I would rather lose the whole herd than be too late for our village." Two Spears opened his mouth to speak when they saw a warrior rapidly riding back towards them from the front of the herd, scattering buffalo as he came.
"Two Spears," he shouted. "We are hearing loud noises on the wind coming from the Canyon of the God's Mouth."
The Daniel kneed his horse forward at a trot and shouted back. "What kind of noise?"
"Like a log breaking in the fire." Came the answer. "And there is black smoke in the air."
Jackson turned to look over his shoulder. "War sounds." He yelled back at the Chief. "They are here! We must go now!"
Two Spears and Painted Face saw his truth and nodded. The Chief whooped at the rest of the warriors. "Now...Now we must go." He spun his horse around and galloped back to the rear of the herd. The other Indians on their wiry mustangs started pushing and yelling at the great herd of buffalo to get them excited enough to run.
While Daniel Jackson knew little or nothing about driving Buffalo, much less tired, hungry and thirsty ones, he did know what the alternative would be for the village if they arrived too late. He guided Shefox to the edge of the herd and pulled her to a stop by a stand of sapling trees. He reached down with the survival knife that Sam had talked him into carrying and cut off several of the slender trunks making them about five feet long. He collected a score of these and returned to the other men. The little mare skittered across the floor with him as they carried this odd burden to the other riders. Daniel insisted that each man take one of the leafy poles. When all but the last one was delivered, he pushed the game little horse back into the herd. Then he began flailing around about himself and his mount with the lash and yelling as loudly as he could. This immediately panicked the big humps into a faster trot then finally a gallop. Two Spears and his warriors saw and picked up the actions and the whole herd started to move forward at a much greater rate of speed. Finally Daniel waved at two other men and pushed their horses to the side of the herd and put pressure on the outside animals as well. As the herd's speed increased on the outside, the interior became more fluid and the whole mass of living power took off into a headlong stampede.
Painted Face had understood Coyote's sense of urgency when Two Spears had not. Daniel had spoken to him fully of his old tribe's tragedy and the loss of his beloved wife. So when the young man had joined the leading edge of riders guiding and forcing the beasts into greater speed; the shaman knew why his clan brother would do anything to prevent this from happening to their village.
Within the canyon walls, the battle had been reduced to one-on-one combat and struggle over the possession of the Jaffa's weapons. When the Warriors of the village found out that they could make the magic work by pushing/pulling the levers of the weapons of the False Gods they lost what superstitious fears they had and went for the guns. O'Neill could see Teal'c marshalling his troops and keeping them from falling foul of Jaffa battle tactics. He'd lost sight of Carter, but knew she was further up the Canyon refusing the enemy the Line of March into the village itself. He could still hear sounds of gunfire from her direction. The group that had gathered under his command was holding the middle ground and engaged in direct personal fighting with fresh Jaffa who continued to pour through the Stargate. It had closed its wormhole twice but had reopened to continually supply the invading Goa'uld forces. He desperately wished he could see the other group fighting under Grey Badger. He had lost about half his own men and knew that Teal'c had also taken high losses and sustained some injuries to his own person. It was becoming just a matter of time and numbers of how many more jackal-heads came through the gate until the Canyons' defenses fell. He wiped the sweat and blood from his eyes; he had taken a glancing blow to the forehead from a spent staff; its owner had been so surprised when it had failed to fire the Jaffa had just swung it at him in frustration. As O'Neill had been rocked back on his heels by the blow, one of the Indians fighting with his group had plunged a spear into his assailant from the rear, grinned at him then turned and ran back into the melee of battle.
There had been victory and tragedy. The Jaffa warriors were taking terrible losses, but every advantage the Indian warriors had gained, the timing was such that inevitably the Stargate reopened to feed the war-zone more fresh combatants. Now again, as Jack had feared, he heard the Chevrons start to activate and lock. This was the fourth wave. They were out of ammunition, they were running out of men and he was out of ideas. He looked around for Grey Badger's group. He thought he could see them through the dust. Maybe it would be better to join the two bands of fighting men to try to delay the new army about to arrive on the field.
As the Stargate surged into life, O'Neill hollered at his surviving men. As they looked to him, he indicated the activity and they prepared to cross the field of battle to join their forces with the other band. Then something strange started to happen. The ground started to vibrate, more than just from the wormhole activation. Jack thought he heard the high pitched shrilling of the bone whistles in the background, but while he couldn't be certain of what it was, he was sure of the effect that this new sound was having on the Indians. They were jubilant, whooping the war cry and looking for unspent zat-guns. Hell, they were picking up their stone-headed spears and pressing back into the attack. He didn't know what it was, or why it was happening but he'd use it. He picked up a second zat and stuck it in his belt. Then, when he turned to look down the canyon he saw them.
At first, it was just a dark brown wave of dust in the air, not clear or defined. Then as it got closer, individual animals began to take shape. Buffalo, big buffalo, lots of big buffalo were pouring into the battlefield, taking down everything trees, boulders, and Jaffa warriors. They came like a flood from a broken dam, a river out of its banks, a miracle from heaven. Flanking this mass movement of muscle and hair were Indians on Horseback with war paint, slender rod whips and some even with the powerful short hunting bows. And there in the big middle of it all was Daniel Jackson, Archeologist and Miracle Maker! The Secret Weapon had arrived with authority.
O'Neill started yelling at his men, at Teal'c and at the other band of warriors he could just see through the dust across the battlefield. Once he'd gotten their attention and they understood what was about to happen the good guys headed back to the edge of the Canyon's floor. By the time the stampeding herd had passed most of the men had reached safety. The Jaffa, however, didn't have a clue or a chance in Hades.
The Jaffa reinforcements that had been sent through the wormhole were totally disoriented by the Gate travel. They had probably assumed that they would emerge on a battlefield where only a mopping up action would be required. Instead they walked out into a maelstrom of flesh, muscle and bone and were being run over. But to their credit, the enemy was still fighting.
From his vantage point on top of a boulder, Teal'c could see the great beasts as they stampeded down the canyon towards them. He now understood what had defended these people for the centuries. No creature, Taur'i, Jaffa or Goa'uld could withstand such a charge. He hoped that his teammates were safely out of harms way, as the herd would not differentiate from friend or foe. He saw the Jaffa Prime for this attack group split his forces at the end and attempt to guide them to a more defensible position headed away from the Chappa'i'. Then he saw O'Neill mount an offensive action from his direction. Leading the charge of Indians on foot from their rock fortress, they were firing the confiscated zatniketel and one or two staff weapons. The Colonel turned to encourage and direct his troops when Teal'c saw the Prime identify him as the leader and direct his own weapon's fire at O'Neill. Teal'c tried to fire his own staff weapon at the Jaffa, but it had been spent and when he took the zat from the warrior next to him it also failed. All he could do was roar his dismay as he saw O'Neill take the Staff blast full on the back and fall.
Daniel was clinging to the mane of the red mare with all his remaining strength. Once they entered the funnel walls of the canyon and the animals got the smell of blood in their nostrils there was no more controlling them than the wormhole effect itself. Shefox was living up to her reputation of surefootedness. If the little horse hadn't been so agile they would have long ago been run into the ground by the great stampeding herd. But she held her feet and stayed in the flow of animals. He thought he had caught sight of Sam with a group of young men halfway up on the cliffs as they had passed under them farther down the canyon. Then Shefox and the leading edge of the herd passed Teal'c and some other Indian braves fighting against Jaffa warriors on the canyon floor. He knew that he had to try to work his way to the edge of the stampeding herd or they would be running right down into the Stargate itself. Daniel was not sure what would happen to flesh and blood when it tried to enter a wormhole the wrong way but he didn't want to be the first human test subject. The mare was trying to force her way to the outside at his insistence when Jackson caught a glimpse of O'Neill and a group of about twenty or so warriors engaging a group of Jaffa in hand to hand fighting. Before he could get to the edge, he was swept past the small engagement not yet able to break free of the buffalo herd.
When Chief Grey Wolf fell to the magic weapons of the enemy, the warriors who had followed him went berserk. Foregoing the evil medicine of the False Gods, they literally fell upon the foes with knives, spears and bare hands. The few Jaffa warriors that had made it out of the mad crush fell beneath them without another major blow being struck. Helmets ripped off and bodies disemboweled the forces of the False Gods fell yet again in the canyon of desert winds, high granite spires and mighty buffalo.
Teal'c had started towards his fallen leader as soon as the great herd had passed. He saw Daniel Jackson on his fiery colored horse galloping back in their direction. He paused a moment holding back some of the warriors to allow the young man to get to the side of his fallen friend. As Jackson rode up, the warriors parted and allowed the Coyote to approach where his chief lay. Then Daniel leaped/fell from his mount and ran to O'Neill's side, crouching in the dirt beside him.
"Jack! God, Jack!" Daniel knelt over him, hesitating a second, afraid to touch, to confirm his worst fears. O'Neill lay where he had fallen; crumpled on his side facing upwards, blood pooling under his neck and shoulders. But when he laid his hand on O'Neill's forehead. Jack managed to open his eyes to look up at him. "Jack, can you hear me?"
Teal'c had also arrived almost immediately and pushed his way through the crowd of silent warriors. "Danieljackson, is he alive?"
"Hey." Jack's voice was breathless, gasping. "Made it back." A statement of confidence barely heard by his friend.
Daniel leaned down to hear him better. "Yeah. We made it back. Jack, can you feel anything?"
O'Neill gasped for a breath, and then coughed painfully. "Peachy... what happened? Don' member."
Teal'c knelt next to his commander. "O'Neill, you were struck by a staff blast." He grasped the injured man's arm. "Can you feel this?"
"Sorda, feel numb." Jack could see by the look in Danny's eyes that it was serious. "Bad?"
Jackson tried unsuccessfully to keep his voice calm. "Bad enough, Jack." He hated what must come next. "Jack, we have to move you to look at the wound, to see how bad it is."
"Know that." It was occurring to O'Neill just how much this was going to hurt, or maybe not. He wasn't sure which he preferred at this time, the extreme pain he should be feeling or the numbness that seemed to be moving over him. "Can't breath."
Teal'c nodded. "The weapons blast may have damaged your nerves. It is a common result." He grasped the Colonel's shoulders. "I am going to lift you as carefully as I can. We must look at the wound to determine its severity."
O'Neill's eyes met his, and he nodded, understanding. He knew what had to be done. He spoke breathlessly. "Tell Carter, in charge." The big warrior nodded at his friend. He did not mention that he hadn't seen the Major since the end of the battle. They would find her later.
Painted Face had come to the small group of men, in his search for Coyote. When he realized the situation, the Shaman had sent one of the mounted braves back to the village to get assistance for Grey Wolf. Chief Grey Badger had already been escorted back. The elder statesman had been exhausted by the battle, though he had not been wounded. Many warriors of the tribe had taken the long journey to their final hunt while counting coup from their great battle. Many more were carrying Honor Marks from their enemies. He was not sure how these new clan brothers viewed their honorable wounds, but their new brave Fire Stories were many and worth much loud telling.
As came to his friends, Painted Face could see the anguish in Coyote's eyes. He knew from their long talks that the young Shaman had been alone most of his life and when he had found someone he could honor they had always been taken from him. Great Bear was there with the younger man, but Mountain Lion Woman; his sister was not there. The tribe's medicine man knelt down with the three clan brothers. Great Bear was gently turning Grey Wolf onto his side so they could see his body's wound. It was indeed severe; for a hand span all the cloth was burned away as if by a lightening strike. The skin underneath was burned away also and the flesh itself blackened. The chief had not lost much blood for the wound had been sealed shut by the very thing that injured him, the great power of the False Gods weapons. Painted Face looked at Wise Coyote and Great Bear. "We must carry him to my lodge. There, he can rest and I will try to heal him."
Coyote looked at him with his wise sky eyes. "No offense, my friend, but this is too great a wound. I think we must go back through the God's Mouth to let our own medicine treat him."
"There is no offense, clan brother." The young Shaman spoke. "But can he live through the great journey?" He shook his head. "Our legends say it is not an easy thing to walk in the God's Mouth. Can one of you not go back and bring the medicine here. We will shelter him while you go."
Coyote nodded in understanding. "You speak truth." He turned to Great Bear and spoke in their language. "Teal'c, Jack may not survive the trip through the Stargate like this. Let's get him to camp and one of us can go back and get Medical assistance for him."
"Agreed. Now that the Chappa'i is secured, that would be wise." The Jaffa nodded. "Also, whoever stays can locate Major Carter." At Daniel's surprised look he explained. "We were separated during the battle. I have not seen her since."
Some of the women appeared from the village carrying long poles and blankets. They immediately set about putting together a litter with these that would allow Grey Wolf to be carried in greater comfort than that of men's hands. Within minutes it was ready and Teal'c and Daniel carefully lifted their commander onto the stretcher. Once he was secured, two of the warriors took their places and lifted it starting off towards the distant village as carefully and smoothly as they could.
The remaining two members of SG1stopped for a moment to discuss the trip back. Teal'c spoke first. "I will go to SCG, Danieljackson. I will brief Generalhammond and bring the medical staff back to assist O'Neill." He raised his hand to silence Daniel. "You will be able to locate Majorcarter while I am gone. Go with O'Neill now and care for him. I will bring assistance."
Daniel nodded, unable to speak. Teal'c clasped his hand then turned and walked towards the DHD and home.