I'd like to thank MiaRose 156 for her kind words. I appreciate them, as always.
Stargate: SVU 2
Chapter Eleven
Once she hit the floor, Olivia found herself in total darkness as a deep rumbling sound reverberated through everything around her. The very ground beneath her shook, as she struggled to sit up. The blackness was so total that Olivia could barely see her own hand in front of her face. When she felt someone touch her leg, Olivia reached out and grabbed a bare arm.
"Casey?" she asked.
"Olivia," Casey replied, with obvious relief in her voice.
When Olivia pulled the woman into a tight hug, she was stunned at how Casey's entire back was bare, save for the thin straps of her top. Olivia had caught a glimpse of Casey's meager outfit just before the lights had gone out, and had wondered in a panic about just what the hell these people were planning to do to her in this dungeon. She had wanted to ask Casey if she was all right; she had wanted to ask if she had been harmed; mostly, Olivia had wanted to ask if anyone had hurt Casey, so she could personally pistol-whip the bastards.
But instead of that, Olivia simply held Casey close. And, for her part, Casey didn't seem to mind. Olivia had barely noticed that the rumbling had now ceased.
A flashlight came on, as O'Neill's voice said, "Everybody all right? Sound off, folks."
Several more flashlights came on, as each SG-1 member, including Olivia, called out that they were ok. Olivia reluctantly broke her embrace with Casey and helped her to her feet.
A concerned Sam came over with her own flashlight lit up. "You ok, Liv?"
"Marvelous," she replied with a smile. "Look who I found."
Sam's eyes were comically wide as she stared with a mixture of surprise and delight at Casey. "Holy Hannah, Casey!"
"Casey?" Janet Fraiser said, as she also rushed over. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, Doctor Fraiser," Casey replied, smiling. "I'm fine."
"Oh, whoa! A real, live space princess!" Rodney excitedly exclaimed, pointing at Casey. When he ran up to her, a confused Casey took a few steps back from him. "Um, how do you do, your Highness? My name is--"
"Rodney, no!" Janet tried to explain. "This is--"
"Get away from her!" one of the Jaffa angrily shouted, as he rose to his feet with a staff weapon at the ready.
Olivia and Sam protectively shoved Casey behind them as they, along with the rest of SG-1, raised their weapons at this new threat.
"No! Stop!" Casey cried, as she ran out from behind Olivia and stood in front of the hulking Jaffa. "Char'el, it's all right. These people are my friends. They are Tauri. They're here to help us."
To Olivia's surprise, the Jaffa lowered his weapon as he gazed at Casey with concern. "You are not harmed?" he asked.
"I am fine, Char'el," Casey assured him. "It's ok."
After introducing everybody to each other, Casey then turned towards SG-1 and added, "Char'el and the other Jaffa you see are ok. They're in the service of Io'tan here. Nobody here has anything to do with Mut. Most of these people, including Io'tan, were imprisoned in Mut's name. We were all trying to get away from her by leaving Mount Tanis."
"All of you?" O'Neill asked skeptically. "You're going to need a pretty big ship."
Olivia saw what he meant. There must have been several hundred people gathered in the vast area before them, including a large group of young women and girls who were all clad in white.
"Well, we were planning on stealing a Ha'tak," Casey said.
"Really?" O'Neill asked, impressed. "Oh. Well…ok, then."
"But since you guys are here, that plan is no longer needed, now," Casey said brightly. "I mean, you have your own way off the planet, right?"
"Um, you might want to hang on to your plan, just in case," Daniel told her.
"Yeah, nothing wrong with having a plan B," O'Neill added. He gestured at the collapsed entrance behind him and added, "Say, you guys wouldn't happen to know of another way out of here? Two members of our team crash-landed nearby, and we really need to check on them."
"There is another exit on the opposite end of this storage area," Char'el told them. He then frowned at Teal'c. "You are a Jaffa."
"Indeed I am," Teal'c replied.
"You work for the Tauri?"
"No, I work with the Tauri," Teal'c corrected him. "It is our mission to overthrow the tyranny imposed on the people of the galaxy by the Goa'uld."
Olivia exchanged a puzzled look with Sam when she noticed that Io'tan stared at the both of them in amazement.
"Excuse me," Sam said to her. "But is something wrong?"
"You two," Io'tan said, as she gestured at them. "You were the ones who escaped the maze!"
"Um, yeah, we are," Olivia sheepishly admitted.
When many within the crowd began murmuring excitedly, Daniel came over to Olivia's side and whispered, "Sam, Liv, remove your caps."
With an uneasy glance at each other, Olivia and Sam both removed their caps at the same time. Once the people got a better look at them, the murmurs became joyful shouts as the crowd rejoiced at being in the presence of the two women, whom they appeared to think of as being heroes.
Sam looked just as uncomfortable with all of this intense attention as Olivia did, especially when the crowds began to chant the word 'Tauri' over and over again. Although Char'el and the other Jaffa quieted them down, the crowd's excitement was still unabated.
"If it is your mission to overthrow tyranny," Io'tan said, with an awed tone in her voice. "I must say that you have done a spectacular job of it here on Mount Tanis. Know that your escape in the maze has had the effect that you desired; the regime of Mut is on the verge of toppling. Your mission was a great success."
"Oh, uh, no," Sam quickly started to say, "we didn't really…."
"Yeah," Olivia added, "we never actually meant to--"
"You sound as if you're not too bothered by the possible fall of your empire," O'Neill said to Io'tan, cutting off both Olivia and Sam.
"The loss of life and the destruction does bother me, Colonel O'Neill," Io'tan admitted. "But, under the rule of Mut, the Netian Empire has begun to flounder, and life under the regime become as dangerous as a loose thunder lizard. I had already decided to leave Mount Tanis with my girls long before you put your plan into motion."
"Your girls?" Daniel asked.
Io'tan gestured to the women in white behind her. "The Priestesses In Waiting. I am their High Priestess--or I was, before Mut decided to pervert our sacred order by ignoring thousands of years of tradition. As Casey Novak mentioned before, we were in the process of stealing a Ha'tak. Is your presence here to deter us?"
"No," O'Neill replied. "We need to get to the vault, and deny Mut the use of the weapons inside--after we pick up our men, of course."
"It is better to simply destroy the Mount Tanis vault completely," Io'tan said with a look of dread. "It contains many horrible things, but none are worse than Inpu, the Dark One himself."
"Who?" O'Neill asked.
"She's referring to Anubis, Jack," Daniel said. "Inpu is the ancient Egyptian name for the god of the dead. Anubis is actually the name given to him by the Greeks. To the Egyptians, he was a jackal-headed god of mummification and the afterlife."
"He had the head of a jackal?" Hailey said, wide-eyed. "Maybe it's just as well he was wearing that hood!"
"You have seen him?!" Io'tan anxiously asked. "You have seen the Dark One?!"
"Relax. He was trapped within a stasis chamber," O'Neill assured her.
"Do you know if he's still alive, in suspended animation?" Daniel asked Io'tan. "Or is he dead?"
"He is still alive," Io'tan replied with a shudder. "Of all the adversaries that Neith had fought, Inpu--or, as he preferred to be called, Anubis--was one of the hardest to defeat."
"Neith finally met another master tactician, huh?" O'Neill said.
Io'tan shook her head. "No. Anubis could not be killed, no matter how hard Neith tried. Even after he was defeated and brought before Neith as a prisoner. The Dark One is…unnatural."
"The more I hear about this guy, the less I like him," Olivia said, as she rubbed the goosebumps on her arm.
"Which is all the more reason why we've got to get over there, ASAP," O'Neill said. "Look, Io'tan, we'd be willing to give you a hand with stealing the Ha'tak--provided you'd give us a lift out of here."
Io'tan looked confused. "A lift?"
"He means to give them a ride," Casey explained. "To take them off Mount Tanis, as well."
"You would help us?" Char'el said, surprised.
"Indeed," Teal'c replied. "As Casey Novak has told you, we are not your enemy. And our goals are mutually shared."
"In that case, then the answer is yes," Io'tan said. "We shall welcome your help, and help you in turn."
"Hey," Casey abruptly said, "where has Osiris gone to?"
Daniel looked shocked. "Osiris? She was here?!"
"She was in the prison cell with me, just before we busted out of there," Casey said. "She came with us down here, but now I don't see her at all."
Now it was Olivia's turn to be shocked. "You busted out of prison, Casey? You?!"
"It was Casey Novak's idea," Char'el said, with obvious pride. "She pretended to be captured so she could taken to the prison. Once inside, she freed Io'tan."
When Olivia gave her a stunned look, Casey asked, "What?"
"I'm just wondering when did you become Princess Leia," Olivia said with amazement.
"Actually, she looks more like Dejah Thoris," Rodney muttered, as he gazed at Casey with an unhealthy longing. When everybody turned and stared at him, Rodney said, "You know, Dejah Thoris…the Martian Princess from John Carter, Warlord Of Mars? Dejah Thoris also didn't wear much clothing…just like…you know, just like the very scant clothing that, um, Casey is now wearing…."
After an awkward silence, Rodney blurted out, "What, am I the only one here who has read the Warlord of Mars books?!"
"Jenny, stupid question," Satterfield spoke up.
Yet before a grinning Hailey could hit Rodney, the ground and walls rumbled once again from what sounded like a massive explosion.
"If this is an uprising, sir, it's getting pretty violent up there," Sam said, with a nervous glance at ceiling above them. "Luckily this place is pretty stable."
"That it is, Major. Hey Io'tan, what say we get moving?"
Io'tan nodded. "Yes, that would be wise, Colonel O'Neill."
"What about Osiris?" Daniel asked.
"She could not have gotten far," Teal'c said. "Not with the battle raging above us."
"If she's still around, Daniel, we'll find her," O'Neill said.
Io'tan left a sizable force of her Jaffa behind to remain with the civilians and her Priestesses In Waiting, while she left with Char'el and a smaller group of her Jaffa--along with SG-1--for the entrance on the opposite end of the storage area. As Olivia and Casey walked with everybody, Olivia asked, "Have you seen Elliot?"
"Not recently," Casey replied. "My guess is wherever Mut is, that's where you'll find Elliot, now."
Olivia nodded grimly. "I know. He was in the coliseum with Mut, cheering for Sam and me to be eaten by the raptors."
"That wasn't really Elliot, you know," Casey told her.
"Yeah, I know, Case. It's the damn snake in his head…." Olivia shook her head. "It was just sickening to see him there with her, like a loyal lapdog."
"The snake in Elliot's head appears to be trying to take control of the Netian Empire from Mut," Casey told her. "So he's not that much a of loyal lapdog."
Olivia cringed at the very scary thought of Elliot being in charge of the empire. While she was extremely grateful to have found Casey alive and safe, Olivia realized that it had been just sheer dumb luck. She hoped and prayed that there was still a chance of finding Elliot before it was too late to save him.
When they reached the exit, Olivia saw that it was a doorway that led to a small courtyard with a flight of stone steps that led up. O'Neill, Teal'c and Char'el went through first--while the rest of them waited. Then O'Neill came back down the steps and said, "We found Osiris. Fraiser, we need you out here, now!"
Janet was already opening her medical bag as she ran up the steps with O'Neill. Olivia, Sam and Casey followed with the others. The first thing Olivia noticed was the blazing battles that took place in the skies above them. At first she'd thought the Jaffa fighters were just randomly shooting in the air--but then she saw that they were shooting at each other; that they were actually dog fighting, like World War Two combat aces.
Sam noticed this, too. She shook her head and said, "Either most of the Jaffa have turned against Mut, or there's something far bigger going on here than just an uprising."
When they ascended the steps, Olivia saw Janet kneeling over Osiris, who lay on the ground. Daniel ran over and knelt down beside her. About one hundred yards away from them lay the still-smoldering wreckage that crashed to the ground.
"That's part of a Ha'tak ship?" Olivia asked Sam.
"Yeah," Sam replied, as she glanced up at the skies again with a renewed rigor. "I think we're under attack, Liv…."
"Well, uh, yeah, sweetie, we can all see that."
"No, I mean, Mount Tanis has now come under attack from an outside force, Liv," Sam, said. "That explains the death glider dog fights, and the Ha'tak ships crashing to the ground."
"You read my mind, Major," O'Neill said. "No way an uprising could have caused all this damage--no matter how well organized they were."
"Jack!" a voice called in the distance. "Sam!"
Everyone turned to see the happy sight of Jacob and Bra'tac as they strolled over to them. Jacob gave Sam a warm hug, while Bra'tac shook hands with Teal'c.
"Once again, I fight beside you in combat, my friend," Bra'tac said.
"I would not have it any other way," Teal'c replied with a pleased expression.
"Are you all right, Dad?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, I'm good, kiddo. Luckily, the inertia dampeners were just about the only thing still working aboard the ship." He glanced at O'Neill and added, "Mount Tanis has come under attack by Ba'al."
"Ball?" O'Neill said with a puzzled expression. "You're telling me the planet's under attack by a large ball?"
"Ba'al, Jack," Jacob patiently corrected. "He's one of the most powerful of the system lords. His fleet of Ha'tak ships have engaged the Netian fleet in all out combat. We got hit with debris from one of the Netian ships that exploded in the battle."
Olivia turned to Sam and said, "You were right."
"I wish I weren't," Sam said glumly. "This just makes everything more harder."
"I am fine, woman!" Osiris snarled at Janet, as she angrily sat up. "Leave me!"
"She's fine," Janet said flatly, with a look of disgust.
"You know what stopped her in her tracks?" O'Neill asked her.
"Looks like she suffered a concussion from one of the explosions," Janet answered, as she packed up her medical bag. "But, thanks to her Goa'uld, that's healing very nicely all by itself."
"As if dealing with the Netian uprising wasn't bad enough," O'Neill said, staring at Osiris. "We've got one of the system lords breathing down our necks, and now this one to deal with!"
"I am not your enemy, O'Neill," Osiris said, as she held her hands up.
"Really?" O'Neill replied. "If you felt that way, then why'd you try to run off just now?"
"I was not running," Osiris growled at him. "I never run! I was just…checking to see…if this exit was still useable."
"Oh, well, gee, that's awfully nice of you," Olivia muttered sarcastically.
"Think what you will," Osiris sneered at her. "Know that, for now, I am on your side. I shall aid you in leaving this place…before Ba'al assumes control over it."
"Don't like Ba'al much, huh?" Sam asked with a smirk.
"He and I have a…disagreement," Osiris muttered uneasily. "But you can trust me. Give me back my weapons."
"Oh, I don't think so," Daniel said, shaking his head.
"You're coming with us, Osiris, but under guard," Sam said. "Right, sir? Uh, sir?"
O'Neill was distracted as he stared at something in the distance through his binoculars. "Yeah, right, Major," he replied, putting them down. "Hailey and Satterfield, you can stop torturing Dr. McKay--"
"Oh, thank you very much!" Rodney said with relief.
"--and keep a close eye on Osiris from here on out," O'Neill finished. "Watch her carefully. If she so much as twitches wrong, zat her."
"Yes sir," the lieutenants both said in unison.
O'Neill then raised the binoculars up to his eyes again. "Meanwhile, folks, there's been a big change of plans. I was originally going to hit the vault, first. But not now."
"What do you mean?" Io'tan asked.
O'Neill removed the binoculars from his eyes. "I've just noticed that the vault has a pyramid-shaped roof on top."
"Yes," Io'tan said. "That is so Ha'tak ships can land above and use the ring transporter to bring the contents of the vault directly into the ship."
"And that's why we're going to steal the Ha'tak first," O'Neill told the group. "So we can land it right on the vault, and just ring up whatever we want from below. The shields from the stolen Ha'tak will even provide us with cover from the battle."
"Oh," Daniel said with an approving nod. "Neat!"
Sam beamed at O'Neill with pride. "Great idea, sir!"
"I may not have the same brilliant ideas that you do, Major," O'Neill humbly said. "But I do have my moments. Ok, kids, let's move!"
SG-1: SVU
"Now that is proper crowd control!" Mut said, as she nodded with approval at the carnage that raged just outside the temple. "When I give an order of genocide, my Jaffa listen to me!"
But Ke'tesh was not so sure. To his practiced eye, there appeared to be Jaffa on Jaffa violence being committed out there--particularly among the death gliders, which fought each other viciously in the skies. Either there were dissenting Jaffa pilots among the rioters, or they were--
"We are at war, my Lord Empress!" the Jaffa in charge of planetary defense cried, as he burst into the room. "Our orbital fleet has come under an all-out attack."
Mut merely stood there with a frozen look of fear on her face.
Shaking his head with disgust at her, Ke'tesh turned to the man and took control. "By whom? Who dares to attack Mount Tanis?"
"We do not know their identity," he replied. "But they have a massive fleet of Ha'tak ships, which struck ours without warning. Many of our own ships were destroyed without even firing a shot."
Ke'tesh reeled in shock. Everything was happening so fast, with major events piling right on top of each other, that it was almost too much for him to handle all at once. Yet as tempted as he was to just assume command of the Netian forces, that would be in obvious defiance to Mut.
He turned towards her, and in a respectful tone, said, "My Lord Empress, we need to rally our forces so that we may--"
Ke'tesh stopped when he realized that Mut was no longer standing there. He glanced over just in time to see her running through the doorway like a scared rabbit.
The Jaffa in charge of planetary defense stared after her with an incredulous look on his face. The two Jaffa who guarded the door that Mut just ran through gave each other a nervous look, and then they bolted themselves.
'This is it,' Ke'tesh thought with satisfaction. 'By running, Mut so much has handed me the reigns to the Empire herself.'
He turned to the Jaffa in charge of planetary defense and flared his eyes in the standard Goa'uld fashion. "I shall assume control of the fight, now. Take me to the command center."
The Jaffa looked surprised--yet he nodded and gestured for Ke'tesh to follow him.
Ke'tesh was pleased to finally be taking command of the Netian Empire. He only hoped he was not too late to save it.
SG-1: SVU
Ba'al anxiously watched the battle unfold on the screens in the peltac of his flagship. So far, it looked to be a stunning rout of the Netian ships--the majority of whom were so caught off guard by the surprise attack that they never even had a chance to return fire before they were destroyed. The Netian ships that did return fire almost appeared reluctant, as if they were uncertain of what they were doing.
'Strange, for the fleet of the mighty Neith to be taken by surprise like this,' Ba'al thought. He had held back two thirds of his own fleet in reserve behind the gaseous giant, because he wanted to see first how Neith would react--and this way, if things got too scary, Ba'al could always make a hasty retreat.
Yet the battle was going remarkably well in their favor so far--in fact, it was going almost too well. Ba'al had kept expecting Neith to pull one of her legendary tactical maneuvers at any moment now.
Qetesh, who had been nervously watching the battle from a sofa, abruptly stood up and pointed at the main screen. "They are moving!" she cried. "The rest of the Netian fleet is moving!"
Ba'al nodded as he also noticed it. From the far side of the planet, several Netian ships broke away from their planetary sphere formation and zipped into hyperspace. 'Here it comes, now,' Ba'al gravely thought, as he braced himself for the slaughter to come. 'Neith was just reeling them in, sacrificing a few of her ships in order to give our attacking forces false hope. And now comes the hammer blow….'
After several minutes passed, Ba'al realized that the ships that vanished into hyperspace had not yet reemerged to attack his forces. He stared at his peltac commander and said, "Where are they?"
"They should have attacked by now, my lord," he replied with a shrug. "Perhaps they have been sent for reinforcements?"
"But what about the rest of the Netian fleet?" Ba'al asked. He glanced back at the tactical screen. "They are just--"
Ba'al stopped when he saw several more Netian ships fly off into hyperspace--and then it hit him. "Neith is not here. Either that, or she is dead."
Ba'al turned to his peltac commander. "Order all ships to attack Mount Tanis in full force, now."
"Including the reserves, my lord?"
"Especially the reserves," Ba'al said with a smile. "All of them. I want the entire fleet engaged in battle now, all across Mount Tanis."
As the peltac commander gave the order, Qetesh came over to him. "Is that wise, my love? We will now be fully committed to this…."
"Observe the Netian ships," Ba'al said, indicating the screen with his hand. "The ones that are not engaged in battle appear to just wander listlessly, while several of them have jumped into hyperspace, never to return."
He glanced at Qetesh with a broad smile. "They are leaderless, my Queen. Which can only mean that Neith either fled, or was killed in the uprising."
"Ba'al, do you realize what this means?" Qetesh asked, stunned.
He nodded. "Mount Tanis is now ours for the taking."
SG-1-SVU
Security in the ship yard was nonexistent--granted, the death glider dogfights in the skies above, along with the flaming pieces of wreckage from crashed Ha'tak ships, would have been enough to scare off any sensible guards. But O'Neill had expected at least a few Jaffa diehards would remain behind to guard the grounded fleet…not that he was complaining at the lack of resistance to their movements.
Choosing which Ha'tak to steal was easy; they simply chose the ship that was the closest to them. O'Neill led his motley crew--which consisted of SG-1, along with Casey, Io'tan, their group of loyal Jaffa and Osiris--through a side hatch that was located along the base of the first parked Ha'tak vessel they arrived at.
Once in the corridor, O'Neill was pleased to see the lights were on, which meant that the ship was at least powered up. He and Teal'c kept an eye for any Jaffa in the corridor while their large group finished coming inside through the hatch.
When everybody was present and accounted for, O'Neill addressed the group. "We need to get up to the peltac and get this baby started."
"Actually, Jack, we also need to get to engineering," Jacob told him.
"The lights are on," O'Neill pointed out to him. "So the power's already working."
"The lights and interior power are run from generators that are separate from the engines," Jacob informed him.
"And we can only turn on the engines manually from the engineering compartment, sir," Carter added.
"All right," O'Neill said with a nod. "We'll split up into two groups. Carter, you go with Jacob to the engineering section, and gets the engines started. Take Teal'c, Dr. McKay, Fraiser and Satterfield with you. Olivia, Daniel, Hailey, and Bra'tac, you come with me to the peltac."
"I shall check the armory," Osiris spoke up. "And see if they--"
"Yeah, nice try," O'Neill said, cutting her off. "You're coming with us, under guard, to the peltac."
"Shall I join you in the peltac, as well?" Io'tan asked. "You may need my assistance, in case a security code needs to be entered."
"Yeah, I was about to suggest that, Io'tan, thank you," O'Neill said. "Could we spilt your Jaffa between the two groups?"
"Yes." Io'tan nodded at Char'el, who divided the group of eight Jaffa--including himself--in-between the two groups. Char'el chose to go with the group headed for engineering.
"What about me?" Casey asked.
"You can come with me," Rodney said, with a hopeful smile.
"You're coming with us, Casey," O'Neill told her, "so both Olivia and I can keep an eye on you, young lady. We can't have you running off and getting into a bunch of trouble again!"
Casey broke into a broad smile at his joke as she saluted him humorously. "Yes, sir!"
"Be safe, Casey Novak," Char'el called to her.
"You too, Char'el," she replied, as she gave him a hug, along with an affectionate peck on the cheek.
When O'Neill saw Olivia stare at this scene with surprise, he whispered, "Looks like our little Casey has gone native, huh?"
"I'm just very happy to have her back, safe and sound," Olivia replied. "Now I just wish we can find Elliot."
"We'll keep an eye out for him, Liv," O'Neill promised. He turned to the engineering group and added, "Stay in touch via the radio, Carter. And, to everybody: watch your back! Just because this ship looks empty doesn't mean it really is--understand?"
Carter nodded. "Understood, sir. Engineering team, with me!"
"And peltac team, with me," O'Neill called, as both groups split up.
As they made their way towards a ring transporter, O'Neill heard Olivia say to Casey: "Maybe we can find you some decent clothes for you to wear. You must be freezing in that skimpy outfit, sweetie."
"No, actually, I'm quite comfortable," Casey insisted. "If anything, you guys look like you're overdressed! Aren't you hot?"
That exchange put a smile on O'Neill's face, especially when he recalled when he first met Casey. She had been so timid and frightened of being in an alien environment back then. Now, not only had she survived her latest brush with intergalactic adventure, but Casey appeared to have been changed for the better, as well. She seemed more calm and confident. McKay actually had a point when he referred to her as being like Deja Thoris--because, in a sense, that was what she had grown into: Casey Novak: Space Princess.
They ringed up to the peltac without incident. As O'Neill, Bra'tac and the others made an armed sweep of the command deck, O'Neill was beginning to think that they may just pull this off without any trouble. The Jaffa who were with Io'tan took charge of guarding an annoyed-looking Osiris while Hailey and Bra'tac looked over the main console with Io'tan. Olivia and Daniel stood with O'Neill.
"It is as I thought," Io'tan said, as she punched in a code on a numerical keypad, "a security code is required."
"One which you know, right?" O'Neill hopefully asked.
The answer came when every console on the peltac powered up at full operational status.
"Way to go, Io'tan," O'Neill said, smiling.
Io'tan gave him a confused look. "Way to go…where?"
"That means you did very well, and Jack is happy," Daniel translated for her.
She smiled at O'Neill. "Thank you. This is just a refurbished Ha'tak, but it should serve our needs."
"I am afraid you are mistaken," Bra'tac said, as he regarded a screen on the console. "This is not a refurbished ship, but a brand new one."
Io'tan looked surprised. "New?"
Bra'tac nodded as he consulted the screen once more. "It says here that the ship was completed just a few days ago. It is fully rated, and completely loaded with all weapons, smaller ships and supplies."
"I always love it when we trade up," O'Neill said. He keyed his radio. "Carter, come in. Over."
"Carter, here, sir," she replied. "Over."
"We're in the peltac and Io'tan got the place running. How are you doing with the engines? Over."
"We're in the engineering section now, sir, and we're just about ready to get them--"
"Look out!" someone shouted, cutting Carter off.
O'Neill's eyes went wide when he heard what sounded like a staff weapon firing. "Carter? Come in, Carter! Sam?!"
But there was only static on the radio.
Before he could even react to that, Olivia frantically gestured at something out the main window. "Jack! You should see this!"
O'Neill came over and saw an alkesh making a bombing run on the parked Ha'tak ships in the ship yard. Several of the parked Ha'tak ships that surrounded them exploded from the bombs that had been expertly dropped on them. O'Neill looked up and saw the alkesh swoop around for another bombing run--this time, it would be coming directly over them.
Daniel nervously pointed at the oncoming alkesh. "Uh, Jack, he's coming--"
"Yeah, Daniel, I see that. Bra'tac," O'Neill called. "Raise the shields, now!"
"I cannot," he helplessly said from the console. "The shields are tied in to the engines, and the engines have not been turned on!"
"Can you divert the power?" Hailey asked. When Bra'tac gave her a puzzled look, she added, "I mean you can probably divert the power from the generators running the lights and--"
"Don't explain, Hailey, just do it!" O'Neill shouted.
"Right," Hailey muttered, as she ran over to the console and began working.
"Oh, for crying out loud," O'Neill said, as he, Olivia, Casey and Daniel all anxiously watched the alkesh close in on them for the kill. "Why do we always have to cut these things so damn close?!"
SG-1: SVU
"We're in the engineering section now, sir, and we're just about ready to get them--"
"Look out!" a man shouted from behind Sam.
Before she realized it, Sam had been pushed to the floor--as a bolt of energy from a staff weapon exploded just where she had been standing.
Char'el pointed at the far corner as both he and Teal'c raised their staff weapons and returned fire. The other Jaffa loyal to Char'el returned fire in that same direction, as well.
Jacob, Satterfield and Janet both came over and hunched down by Sam while a wild gunfight erupted all around them. Satterfield briefly fired her P90 at something in the shadows just beyond them, covering Janet and Jacob as they checked on Sam.
"Are you all right?" Janet asked Sam in a panic. "Are you two hit anywhere?"
"I'm fine." Sam grunted under the weight that was pressed against her. "But who's…" Then she let out a groan when she realized who had knocked her to the floor. "Oh, no…."
Sam glanced over her shoulder and saw a bug-eyed Rodney McKay fearfully staring back down at her. "Y-You ok, Sam?" he asked in a squeaky-high voice. "Y-You're not hurt?"
"Uh, yeah, Rodney, I'm fine," Sam replied. "Thank you very much for saving me."
"D-Don't mention it," Rodney said, as he shivered in fear from the hellacious gun battle that Teal'c, Char'el and the other Jaffa fought all around them.
"Um, Rodney, you mind getting off of me?"
"S-Sure," he said with a nod, "just as s-soon as the gunfire stops…."
"No, Rodney, now," Jacob said, as he pulled him off of his daughter.
But before she could even get up, he nervously reached out and wrapped his arms around Sam's waist. "Rodney, let go of me, I have to--"
And just as abruptly as it started, the gun battle had ceased.
"Looks like the party's over," Jacob said warily.
When Teal'c and Char'el came over to them, both Jaffa had satisfied looks on their faces. "The area is secure," Teal'c informed Sam. "Char'el has ordered his Jaffa to fan out through the compartment, to make certain there are no more…surprises."
Sam got up into a sitting postion with Rodney still fearfully clinging to her. "Rodney, you can let go, now!"
"Is this the Tauri custom to 'feel up' a person?" Char'el asked.
When Sam, Rodney, Jacob, Janet, Satterfield--and even Teal'c--all stared strangely at him, Char'el innocently added, "It was something that Casey Novak said."
"Wait, wait, wait," Rodney said, as he finally released Sam. "Casey Novak wanted you to feel her up? You?!"
"She asked if that was what we would do to her," Char'el said, dead serious. "Why? Is it not good for someone to feel you up?"
Shaking her head, and not wanting to be a part of this awkward conversation any longer, Sam got to her feet and went over to the main engineering console. She was stunned to see that the schematic on the console showed a massive re-route of the power from the secondary generators.
When Jacob joined her, he also scowled at the re-oriented power lines. "What caused this?"
Then the answer came when the ship suddenly rumbled all around her, as if having been struck by something. Sam saw on the console that the ship's shields held firm. Whatever struck them did no damage.
Sam smiled broadly when she realized who did this: Hailey.
Janet came over, looking alarmed. "What the hell was that?"
"Somebody took a shot at us," Sam replied. "But it's all right; the shields were up at full power. We weren't damaged."
"But the engines haven't been turned on, yet!" Rodney said.
"Hailey re-routed the power," Sam replied, as she changed everything back to the way it was. "Dad, Rodney, I'm switching on the engines, now. Double-check everything for me."
Jacob nodded after glancing at the main console. "Looks good, Sam. All in the green."
Rodney quickly scanned the secondary consoles. "Yeah, you're good to go all across the boards here, Sam."
Sam punched the main switches, and the engines roared to life all around them. It almost sounded like they were in the belly of an extremely hungry beast.
Sam keyed her radio. "Carter to O'Neill. Over."
"Sam," Jack said, his tone sounding anxious. "You all right down there? Over."
'He didn't call me Carter,' she realized, touched. 'He must have been really concerned to drop formaility like this.'
"We're fine, sir," she replied, with a glance back at Teal'c, who gave her the thumbs up sign. "Somebody didn't like having us down here, but Teal'c, Char'el and the other Jaffa took care of them. We're all fine. You've got full power on all engines. We're ready to go when you are. Over."
"Great," he said, sounding relieved. "You and your team report to the peltac. Over."
"Rodger that, sir. Over and out." Sam turned to the group. "Let's get up to the peltac."
She turned to leave when Rodney abruptly stepped in her way. "Hey," he said smugly. "I saved your life, huh?"
"Yes, you did," she said sincerely. "And thanks again...."
"You're most very welcome," Rodney said grandly. "Wait till I tell everybody back at the SGC about this!"
As Rodney walked ahead of them, Jacob stared in disapproval at him. "Real humble guy, ain't he?"
Sam just shook her head in frustration as she and her father resumed walking with the others. "Oh God," she moaned. "If he was bad before, he's gonna be really insufferable now!"
SG-1-SVU
"He's coming back around again!" Olivia called, as she stared out the window at the alkesh ship. It dove back down for another attack run.
"All right," O'Neill muttered, "everybody brace yourselves again. The shields should hold--"
"O'Neill," Bra'tac called from the main console. "Allow me…."
Olivia and Casey both let out a large laugh as they watched the attacking alkesh get blasted out of the sky by a laser shot from the Ha'tak.
"As always, Bra'tac, you speak so eloquently," O'Neill said, smiling. "Can you get this tub moving?"
"We have full power," Bra'tac told him, as he worked the controls. "I shall get this--as you call it--'tub' moving."
As the Ha'tak rumbled to life, Carter arrived in the peltac with her group. When she saw Hailey, Carter said, "Great work on re-routing the power for the shields, Lieutenant."
Hailey grinned at her. "Thank you, Major."
Satterfield walked up to Hailey, waved her fists, and said, "Yousa bomb-bad!"
Hailey just burst into laughter at this.
"What did she just say?" Io'tan asked, puzzled.
"Um, it's from a movie that's been shown on earth," Daniel said. "A movie is a filmed entertainment that we have."
"And that line was from a pretty bad filmed entertainment," O'Neill muttered. When the ship began to take off, he said, "Everybody hold on, here we go!"
"Next stop, the vault," Jacob said.
SG-1: SVU
When Mut entered the vault, she glanced around frentically for the one magical weapon that would save her empire.
The problem was, she had no idea what most of the assembled machinery were, or what they did. It was not as if they came with instruction booklets. She feared that if she simply turned one on, it might just explode, taking her with it--and that was just not acceptable.
She wandered around aimlessly, and wondered if it would be best if she could order one of the Jaffa to simply turn on the machines while she waited outside.
Then she was startled by a low rumbling sound that reverberated throughout the vault. Mut glanced up in shock at the ceiling when she realized that someone had landed a Ha'tak directly above. There was now no time left. The enemy could have troops in here within minutes.
She ran up to the stasis tube and stared at the figure within. 'Yes,' she thought, 'he might be just what I need to save my empire.'
Mut pressed the buttons on the control console and the stasis tube opened with a hiss. The figure remained inside, immobile.
"I am your Lord Empress Mut," she said, as regally as she could. "I require your assistance in the service of the Net--"
She was cut off when the dark clad figure stepped out of the stasis tube and, in one sweeping gesture, grabbed Mut by the throat and raised her struggling body up off the floor. The figure expertly and violently flicked its arms, snapping Mut's neck and killing her instantly. It released Mut's body, which dropped to the floor with a sickening thudding sound, as if it were so much garbage.
And then Lord Inpu--also known as the Dark One, and also known as Anubis--pulled back the cloak from its jackal-like face and let out a triumphant howl that echoed throughout the vault.
To Be Continued....