The embarkation room was unusually full, SG-12 having been added to the mix, everywhere you looked there were people checking the clips of their M249s, adjusting ammunition belts and pulling helmet straps tight.
"Keep in touch, Colonel O'Neill," said Hammond's voice from above.
"You've got it, sir," he answered the air. "Engage MALP," it rolled slowly up the ramp and into the puddle. "Right, people, follow me."
They emerged on the other side and fanned out quickly, avoiding line of sight from the gap in the metal barrier around the gate as much as possible.
"Sir," Carter was consulting her UTD, "This fence is electrified."
Jack nodded, unsurprised. That's what he'd have done. "Fix it." She opened her mouth. "Don't tell me how, just do it!" Carter shut her mouth, looking a little annoyed, and called Kennedy and Reilly into a huddle around the MALP. Jack nodded to Liorin. "You're on."
He adjusted the ribbon device wrapped around his right hand and advanced into the fence, left hand raised palm outward in the near universal sign for peace and parley. He didn't get past the 'come' in 'we come in peace'. Bullets ricocheted off his personal shield pinging against the steel fencing or burying themselves in the ground around him. These folks were definitely not interested in talking.
Liorin raised his right hand and a red beam lanced out from the jewel in the palm Jack couldn't see what it was doing but all the yelling suggested it was having the desired effect. The Tok'ra fell back to the gate. "Heat beam," he explained briefly. "Took care of the weapons of the first row and those tanks."
"Great." Now was the time to move, while they were still in disorder. "Carter, you ready?"
"Yessir!"
"Okay, everybody, form a circle and drop," his command spread out as ordered. "Carter." She did something to the MALP's exposed engine. The fence sparked and somewhere outside it something exploded. "Liorin." He raised the ribbon device and a kinetic wave spread out, over the lowered heads of the teams to flatten the fence.
They didn't need an order. In an instant everybody - including Carter, Liorin and Jack himself - were on their feet and advancing in an expanding globe, firing a steady stream of bullets into the ground just short of the opposition's feet, which were busy fleeing. There was a lot of screaming going on - civilians? - as the green, park-like terrain rapidly emptied of everybody but themselves.
---
Kevin and Bil found a worried looking Ashptim waiting in Mrs. Unat's living room, along with a near frantic Mrs. Sunun and her boyfriend Lugal. She immediately ran to her son and started shaking him.
"Bilsham Sunun! Where have you been? You should have come straight home!"
"I did," he protested jerkily. "I've been showing Mr. Lakamar around the city."
"It's all my fault, Mrs. Sunun," Kevin put in quickly. "I had no idea how serious the situation was until we stopped in at a Newsie." He looked at Ashptim. "Why the hell did they have to fire on the MALP?"
"The what?" the Scholar said blankly.
"The machine that came through the Stargate. It's nothing but a mobile lab but it can't be coincidence that my people suddenly decide to investigate this particular planet. Somehow they've figured out that I'm here -"
"Your people?" Mr. Lugal interrupted, staring.
"Mr Lakamar is the alien," Bil said proudly.
"Don't be ridiculous -" his mother began.
"No really!" the boy interrupted. He turned to Kevin. Show her what you can do."
"I'm afraid it's true, Mrs. Sunun," Scholar Ashptim put in quickly.
"Do the thing with the eyes!" Bil insisted.
'Cue special effects.'
You really think -?
'Yes. We don't have time for complicated explanations.' His eyes flashed.
Mrs. Sunun gave a little scream and clutched her son to her. Lugal came to his feet assuming a protective stance in front of them while Ashptim stepped quickly between him and Kevin. "He's not hostile! We're the ones behaving badly, not Kevin!"
"I never meant to make all this trouble," he agreed grimly. "I'd never have come here if I'd known what I was walking into."
Lugal relaxed slightly. "I got to admit taking up residence in boarding house isn't what I'd expect of an alien invader."
"I'm not an invader, I'm a refugee." Kevin answered. "I want to put a stop to this panic before things get out of hand -" A siren wailed in the distance, answered by another and then another, the frightening sound getting closer and louder as more joined in.
Ashptim gasped. "The city is under attack!"
Kevin closed his eyes.
I think things just got out of hand.
----
SG-4 and SG-10 walked out of the puddle, Dana Sinclair of SG-4 in the lead. "How are we doing?" she asked.
"Pretty good," Jack answered. "The enemy's fallen way back and formed a new cordon around this whole park, we've got say ten or twelve acres of cover all to ourselves here."
"Not very smart tactics," she observed.
"I think we got 'em spooked. I don't want to get rough but we may have no choice. Trouble is they won't talk."
"Definitely not smart," Dana said dryly. She looked over his shoulder at a group of men in unfamiliar uniforms sitting on the ground with Daniel, Liorin and Zoey Tibbetts of SG-12 gathered round them. "Prisoners?"
"Yeah. We're having communication trouble, they don't speak Goa'uld." Jack looked beyond her at SG-4 and SG-10s language geeks. "Lee, Padre, why don't you see if you can help."
The tall Jesuit and small archaeologist descended the steps from the gate and moved to join their colleagues around the prisoners. Leah Jenner frowned pointedly at Liorin. "That," she said, meaning the ribbon device, "is mine."
"And you're welcome to it!" He stripped it off and passed it over. "Who ever heard of a right handed device?"
"Me," she said, sliding it on. "I'm a lefty. So what've we got?"
"Sounds like Akkadian," Daniel answered, "but there's been some drift."
Father Tarrant hunkered down next to him and Daniel handed over his notes. Semitic languages were the Padre's specialty.
----
Sargon Ulmesh studied the aliens surrounding him with slightly bemused interest. The variations in coloring were striking enough, ranging from much darker than Nisirian norm to eerily lighter. Two or three had pale yellow hair and several had eyes of a shockingly alien blue. Even more startling was the presence of women among them, dressed in exactly the same baggy mottled green uniforms and carrying weapons, including two who were far too small and delicately made for soldiers, at least in Ulmesh's opinion. Of course Kevin Elliot was considerably stronger than his appearance suggested, presumably that was true of all his people.
It was a decidedly undermanned invasion there didn't seem to be more then twenty of them, including the reinforcements who'd just come through the 'Stargate', which was when you thought about it a little unnerving. Especially when you remembered what Kevin Elliot had managed to accomplish all alone. Even one of these people was clearly a handful.
On the positive side they were obviously far more interested in opening communications than killing people. Ulmesh had not failed to notice the careful employment of sub-lethal force. Firing on the boy who'd offered parley had been a serious mistake, somebody had panicked. In fact, Ulmesh suspected that everybody was panicking - and that was an awfully good way to get people killed.
He cleared his throat, pulling the attention of the Tauri away from their strangely scribbled sheets of some flimsy material, and clearly enunciated a name; "Kevin Elliot."
----
"Jack!"
"Colonel O'Neill!"
Jack looked over his shoulder at Major Madison of SG-10 standing by the MALP and gave Daniel, over by the prisoners, a wait-a-minute wave before going to join her. "Yeah, Major?"
"It's the general, sir." She stood aside.
Jack leaned into the cameral pick-up. "Yessir?"
"We have to break contact, colonel," Hammond's slightly tinny voice answered. "SG-9 is due in ten minutes with the delegation from Reol. We are transferring support and control to the Alpha site. They will make contact immediately after we disengage."
"Got it, sir."
"Good luck, colonel." Behind them the puddle went out. Startled cries rose from the handful of prisoners. SGC personnel ignored it, they ignored the kawoosh when it came roaring out too - you can get used to anything.
Jack waited for the contact to stabilize before leaning into the MALP again. "Hey, Lou."
"Hey, Jack." Colonel Lou Ferretti, currently C.O. of the Alpha Site, responded. "So - what trouble are you in this time?"
"Damned if I know, we're still working on that part."
"Well, if you need anything you know who to call."
"Sure do -"
"JACK!"
"'Scuse me, gotta go talk to Daniel before he has an aneurysm," Jack strolled down to where his fuming archaeologist was waiting. "This better be pertinent."
Daniel pointed rudely at Ulmesh. "This guy's seen Elliot."
That was sure pertinent. "Great, can we talk to him yet?"
"Well, sort of."
Jack rolled his eyes.
----
"- a defensive cordon has been formed around Tumhal park and there has been no further activity from the invaders but citizens are advised to go to their shelter sites at once."
"Oh God!" said Kevin, with considerable feeling.
Lugal had his arm around Mrs. Sunun and she had both hers wrapped around Bil. Ashptim literally wrung his hands. "Is it an invasion, Kevin? Is it the Oppressors."
"Nope, it's an SGC rescue mission, which is almost as bad," he answered grimly. "Why the hell won't you people talk to them?"
"They're scared," young Bil said flatly.
Kevin let out a sigh. "Yeah, I get that. Trouble is they're doing the exact wrong thing. 'No man left behind.' that's the SGC's motto. They will keep coming until they establish my status and/or get me back, and sooner or later if they get no cooperation they will resort to lethal force - and believe you me, you do not want that!"
"What can we do?" Ashptim pleaded.
"Go ahead with my plan," Kevin answered.
"Which is?" Lugal asked.
Kevin grinned wryly. "I want to surrender."