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Stargate Babylon
Chapter 5: Taking down the Sun God.
The two Special Forces officers, lieutenants Michael and Cosby were just waking up from their short bout of unconsciousness from the aliens' staff weapons. Though their armour managed to protect them from the yellow plasma bolts, the sheer kinetic force of the impact had been enough to knock them out, and now they were out of their armour and both had slight first degree burns on their chests from where they were hit, but neither was combat ineffective. They woozily saw the guard with the weird eagle headdress drag in the unconscious ambassador and deposited him on the deck.
Michael was the first to get his senses back and the first to check over the diplomat.
"Mister Sheridan," he said, shaking him slightly. "Mister Sheridan, are you alright?"
The diplomat could only groan in pain as he tried to sit upright, Michael helped him up onto the bare slab of metal that served as a cot.
"Sir, can you hear me?" Michael asked and Sheridan cracked his eyes open. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Three," the diplomat replied weakly.
"Good, then there's no permanent damage at least," he breathed a sigh of relief. "Did you see Doctor Jackson?"
"He was with me. They brought us before someone who claimed to be the Egyptian god Ra. He interrogated us, asked us about how far our people have come, asked us if we've ever met a race known as the Asgard, then he used some sort of torture device on me, and I blacked out. I don't know what happened to Daniel."
"So that story that Doctor Jackson found in the catacombs was true," Lieutenant Cosby murmured.
"Don't worry guys, the rest of the expedition isn't about to let us rot here, I'm sure the captain is planning a jail break for us right now, and I'm sure Doctor Jackson can hold out," said Michael reassuringly, though he didn't hold out much hope for the good doctor.
((((((((((SG1-B5))))))))))
In the throne room Ra, Supreme System Lord of the Goa'uld Empire, was enjoying himself immensely in the pain being displayed by the young Doctor Jackson, yet after almost an hour of excruciating torture he just would not break, even as his guards used pain sticks and he his own kara'kesh in tandem, this simple scholar should have broken by now.
He disconnected the energy flow between his kara'kesh and the doctor, which signalled the guards to stop using the pain sticks, though they were reluctant to do so.
"This is becoming most vexing, this ha'shak should have broken long ago," said Ra in irritation, no one without training had withstood so long against his tender mercies. "Well, it will be a challenge, but one that I will most certainly enjoy," he continued then signalled the guards, who stabbed the pain sticks straight into the scholar's sides, eliciting another melodic scream from his now raw vocal cords, but mere minutes into another session he suddenly collapsed to the marble floor and moved no more.
Ra noticed something around his neck, having fallen out of the collar of the scholar's odd clothing, and moved closer to investigate. It was a necklace with a medallion worked in simple bronze and thinly plated with gold, with his symbol etched on it. These were usually given only to his most devout of followers.
'I may yet have use for this one,' the snake inside the young boy thought.
((((((((((SG1-B5))))))))))
Outside the pyramid in the scorching heat of the midday sun the rest of the expedition watched the pyramid ship from underneath specialized camouflage tarp which blended seamlessly with the desert scenery around them. On the edge of the side that faced the pyramid a pair of low signature sensor/electro-binoculars was constantly scanning the alien ship, keeping an eye on their captive colleagues. Under the tarp the Captain was weighing his choices.
"Okay folks, we've got four people trapped inside a giant flying pyramid, and we know that at least two of them are being tortured, suggestions?"
"Sir, we can't leave them in there, we should get them the hell out of there as soon as possible," said Lieutenant Carter.
"I agree lieutenant, but not without backup, and certainly not without orbital support, when is the Amundsen supposed to arrive?" Commander Kawalsky asked.
"If our estimates are correct, within ten hours, we should be able to contact them soon," replied Carter.
"That's well after dark sir. We could infiltrate the pyramid, get our people out and have the Amundsen and its escorts bombard that ship from high orbit before it can lift off," said Kawalsky enthusiastically.
"Not a good idea, that ship could have some sort of defence shields for all we know. I suggest we go in there, plant some charges in key areas and at the same time rescue our people, and when the pyramid ship lifts off we detonate them and it falls back to the ground before it can engage the Amundsen," said Carter.
Everyone smirked at that idea, though Ferretti also had to add his two cents as well. "We could also bring in more troops directly from Earth once we have control of the gate room, and take the ship before the enemy can react."
The Captain thought over the suggestions then came up with a workable plan.
"Alright, Ferretti, you'll take your squad to the gate room and secure it, while Kawalsky and I along with Carter infiltrate the ship and search it for our people, as well as plant charges where they'll do the most damage, and Ferretti make as much noise as possible as you take the gate room, you'll be our distraction, hopefully the big guy upstairs is smiling at you, because I've got a feeling these guys are not going to take to kindly at you blasting them away."
"Aye sir," said Ferretti.
O'Neill looked at the time on his HUD and saw it was almost time for their scheduled check in from Earth.
((((((((((SG1-B5))))))))))
Within the pyramid the Stargate roared to life again, span its inner circle and its chevrons lit up one by one, surprising the Horus guards in the gate room, though to their credit they quickly took up defensive positions, waited patiently for whoever was coming through the gate, but all it did was remain active, confusing the guards.
((((((((((SG1-B5))))))))))
"Stargate Expedition this is Stargate Command requesting mission status update," the voice of General West said over the radio.
"General this is Captain O'Neill, I'm sorry to report hostile contact with new alien species, they are presently holed up in a ship that landed atop the pyramid here. Be aware that we do not have control of the Stargate. They have taken four members of the expedition captive, including Dr Jackson and Sheridan. Also we have discovered the sequence for Earth and request reinforcements for assaulting the ship and rescuing our people."
"Understood, what is your confidence of success?"
"We believe we can pull it off sir, but we are going to need some support from the Amundsen Explorer Group to keep the ship on the ground, and rely on a second force with heavier weapons to take the enemy vessel."
"Is there a strong chance in taking this alien vessel?" General West asked worriedly, he hated it when things got complicated.
"Well, I'd say our chances are better than good sir," replied O'Neill.
"Very well, when do you want to commence the rescue attempt?"
"Roughly ten hours from now under the cover of local darkness, the Amundsen and its escorts can provide orbital support for us once we're onboard and rescue our people, we'll also be planting some charges to make sure the damn thing won't be able to lift off."
"Very well, commence operation at your discretion, we'll prepare an assault team for deployment and dial back in ten hours, Stargate Command out," and the channel was cut, along with the Stargate connection, leaving some very confused Horus guards. To their thinking none of the gods opened any of the Chappa'ai without a good reason.
"Well kids, I suggest that we hunker down and make sure we're not spotted before night fall, it's going to be a long day," said O'Neill, the rest settled down underneath their camouflage, with two people on the electron-binoculars keeping an eye on the pyramid. They stayed out of sight for a while, but suddenly...
"Sir, activity from the pyramid ship," Carter reported, as a set of large doors opened up at the top of the pyramid, revealing a smaller pyramid with tall and thin vertical windows.
"Reminds me of a billionaire's penthouse home," Kawalsky commented.
Seconds later two crescent shaped fighters launched from the pyramid ship, arcing lazily through the air and straight towards Nagada city.
"What the hell?" exclaimed the captain as they saw in the distance the two fighters began strafing the city with rapid fire bursts of yellow plasma wreaking death and destruction on the city's peaceful inhabitants. Angry words could be heard over powerful loudspeakers from the fighters proclaiming their god's wrath.
In the city the people were running all over the place, trying to find somewhere that would be safe, but there was no safety to be had as Ra's Death Gliders strafed at random, killing and maiming dozens of people, most were hurt by flying shrapnel, one or two took direct hits from a lucky shot by the Gliders pilots and got vaporized instantly, a far quicker death than some of the people would suffer.
The Death Gliders continued to strafe unopposed for several long minutes, then their staff cannons closed up and one last angry message was heard as they did one last flyby over the city then headed back towards the pyramid ship.
"You get a good look at those fighters?" O'Neill asked Kawalsky.
"Yes sir, they looked like Centauri Sentri fighters, only without ion thrusters," said Kawalsky.
"You think there may be a link between these aliens and the Centauri?" Carter asked her CO.
"I'm not sure, but we can ask all the questions we want after this is all over, for now we hunker down, stay out of sight and wait for nightfall," O'Neill ordered.
((((((((((SG1-B5))))))))))
They sat and waited there all day long, watching as the day went by, the sun rising high then setting. The dune they had chosen was particularly high up in relation to the desert floor, and was roughly half way in between the pyramid and the mine. The expedition members saw all that was happening out there. A hundred soldiers from the pyramid ship had come out and entered the city, forcing the locals to work in the mine, making them all work hard under the scorching sun, burning hotly at midday. No one was exempt from work, even the local chieftain Kasuf was being forced to work, and he was an older man with hair more white than grey, along with everybody else. The guards seemed to be working them as hard as possible, instituting harsh discipline upon the local populace, the application of some kind of torture device, a three pronged stick that released a potent torrent of energy that coursed through the victims and made their eyes and mouth glow yellow.
"Sir, how can we let this go on?" Lieutenant Carter asked quietly.
"If you haven't noticed we're a little short on firepower, and those guards now heavily outnumber us, and with those fighters flying top cover we'd be killed very quickly, so for now we stick to the plan," said O'Neill annoyed. He didn't mind the people under his command airing their opinions, hell he even shared her distaste for what is happening out there in the mines, but right now to step in would not be the wisest course of action.
They stayed hidden all day, and not a single enemy soldier came near them, the winds covered the camouflage tarp in sand, and all electronic equipment was either turned off or at minimal settings to reduce the threat of detection. Soon enough the scorching sun set, the workers returned tired to their city with only a small contingent of ten alien soldiers accompanying them, the rest returned to the pyramid. In the meantime the expedition members waited for total darkness. It was mostly a cloudy night with only one of the moons in the night sky, which provided some night time illumination, but it was still extremely dark.
Just an hour after dark, and roughly ten hours since they made their report back to Earth, O'Neill's link beeped, a signal was coming in.
"Stargate Expedition this is the Amundsen, Captain Michelle Ross commanding, are you receiving us?"
"This is Captain O'Neill, we read you loud and clear, what's your position?"
"We're in Hyperspace. Earth Force Command briefed us on your situation. We're just waiting on your order to join the party, plus I've got two very eager heavy cruisers just itching to let loose the dogs of war," said Captain Ross.
"Well, keep those dogs on a short leash for another thirty minutes, we're about to commence insertion."
"Roger that, we will jump to normal space in thirty minutes, mark," responded Captain Ross and started the countdown to jump.
"I'm looking forward to the fireworks, O'Neill out," he cut the channel. "Move out," he ordered quietly.
Captain O'Neill and the members of the expedition crawled out from under the tarp and quickly crossed the desert; the darkness of the night protected them from the eyes of the watchful sentries at the main entrance of the pyramid. They stayed low to the ground and moved without a sound, the soft sand muffled their footsteps as they approached, moving around the pyramid, away from the entrance and the guards. The Earthers soon approached the pyramid on the side opposite of the main entrance where there were no sentries, an oversight that the enemy soldiers would pay dearly for.
They split up into two groups, approaching from both sides of the pyramid. Kawalsky and Ferretti were on opposite sides with their own squads, approaching their destination, while O'Neill and his squad, which included Lieutenant Carter, approached from the front, crawling on their bellies up to the long stairway that lead up to the entrance. As soon as they reached the corners they poked their weapons around and saw the enemy up close for the first time through their PPRs mounted cameras. The sentries wore golden birdlike headdresses with red eyes and metallic feathers that flared every so often.
As one all three groups opened up with a barrage of red plasma bursts from their rifles, tearing through their tough armour in the chest and stomach areas in seconds, burning through into the soft tissue underneath, fusing bone and soft tissue together and incinerated their internal organs. As soon as the four sentries fell the two groups converged on the entrance and surveyed the entrance, checked for targets and found none.
"Kawalsky your squad first," said O'Neill over the link built into his helmet. "My squad second, Ferretti, rear guard and Gate guarding duty," he ordered quietly, even though the helmet insulated any sound from escaping, old habits die hard.
The three squads moved into the interior of the square building that served as the pyramid's foyer, keeping their eyes, ears and sensors pealed for any sign that they had been detected. They moved amongst the columns and were at the entrance to the gate room when a set of five obsidian rings lowered themselves from the circular hatch in the ceiling. There was a brief flash of light and a whoosh sound. The rings rose back up into the ceiling, revealing four armoured soldiers with bird heads and one with an unusual headdress that looked like some form of dog's head. The two groups were shocked to see each other at first, but the humans recovered first.
"Contact forward," yelled Kawalsky as he and his squad opened up with their rifles, spraying the four soldiers with red hot plasma bolts, which quickly penetrated their armour and left the five enemy soldiers with smoking craters centre of mass on the floor, having no time to react to the squad's sudden attack. Kawalsky moved forward to check his squad's kills.
"Clear," he said over the link.
"Ferretti secure the gate room, Kawalsky's and my squads will continue into the interior of the pyramid ship," said Jack. "Check your targets people, we've got two civvies and two of our men to rescue, I don't want them killed in a friendly fire incident. That would just be embarrassing and tons of paperwork."
The squads chuckled heartily at that then split up to their own assigned tasks. Ferretti quickly secured the gate room then Jack took a closer look at the leader, the one with the dog head. He found a button near the base of the neck of the armour and pressed it. Immediately it retracted back into the soldier's armour, revealing a very human male face. He continued his examination of the armour and found a set of controls on the gauntlet. Curios he pressed a large blue jewel-like button, and the five rings descended again, settled neatly and spaced out in midair and a whoosh of light, but nothing was transported this time, the bodies having been moved to the side for later inspection. Jack looked around at his people's gear then to the rings and the gauntlet and a very wicked idea formed in his mind.
((((((((((SG1-B5))))))))))
Several minutes earlier
Up in the large throne room on the top floor of the pyramid a large coffin-like device opened up, revealing a young man in BDUs sleeping soundly and covered in a sheer silk cloth, suddenly gasped in shock and astonishment and sat straight up, accidentally inhaling some of the silk and made him cough hard and spit it out of his mouth, then frantically threw the cloth off of himself. He looked around with a wild look in his eyes, not quite believing what he had just experienced. He knew for a fact that he had died, he had felt death's cold embrace as the pain finally vanished to be replaced by peace. Doctor Jackson quickly patted himself down, he pinched himself to make sure that this wasn't a dream, and noticed that the pendant that Catherine gave to him back on Earth was gone from around his neck.
He got out of the coffin and looked around, finding no sign of life. The coffin closed up again and Daniel took a closer look at it. Upon closer inspection the device was a sarcophagus, a very large and ornately decorated one, much like the ones found in Ancient Egyptian burial sites, though normally those contained mummified remains. He explored more of the throne room and found another room, partitioned off by thin see-through silk cloth. The young man, who had earlier identified himself as Ra the Supreme System Lord, was in a large bathing pool being washed down by a number of young female servants. Doctor Jackson also noticed that the pendant he used to have around his neck was now around Ra's neck, and Daniel wanted it back. Ra quickly noticed his captive audience.
"I see the Sarcophagus has finished repairing your body. Good! Soon we will continue your interrogation," said Ra smiling.
"Was I dead?" Doctor Jackson asked.
"Your bodies are easily repaired, that's why we chose your species, your minds are so easily subverted by the goa'uld, and once I've had my fun with you I believe I shall have you implanted with one, your knowledge and experience must not go to waste after I have broken your mind," said Ra as he gave Doctor Jackson a smirk that sent shivers down the good doctor's spine as servants dried off his body as he stepped out of the bathing pit and was robed.
Suddenly five of Ra's soldiers in full armour barged into Ra's bathing chamber then went down to their knees.
"My lord, our sentries at the entrance have gone silent, we have been unable to re-establish contact with them," said the one in charge.
"Investigate, and when you find them bring them to me so they can explain themselves," Ra commanded.
The five bounded up from their knees and moved quickly to a raised circular platform at the end of the throne room. Five obsidian rings lowered from the ceiling, surrounding the soldiers, then were consumed by a bright pulse of light and were gone, the rings retracted back into the ceiling, much to the astonishment of the good doctor. The first time he had been brought before Ra he had been barely conscious and hadn't been able to observe any details until his head cleared.
Minutes passed and nobody returned, though curiously the rings activated again, but no one appeared, the slight narrowing of the eyes on Ra was the only sign of his surprise. Another soldier appeared from a side entrance.
"My lord three unidentified vessels have been detected in orbit, they are attempting to contact us," said the soldier and activated a view screen that was also a window, displaying a silhouette of three very recognizable ships, at least to Daniel.
Two of them were Hyperion class heavy cruisers, made famous by the Dilgar war and one of the most respected classes of ships in known space. The third, and much larger one, was one of the new Explorer class ships that had been launched in the last couple of years. A massive three mile long vessel whose job it was to explore space and build jump gates in interesting new systems.
Doctor Jackson failed to suppress the look of recognition on his face and Ra noticed.
"Are these the ships of your people?" Ra asked, but received nothing but silence and a defiant look.
"Tell me," he said menacingly as he held up his ribbon device, the jewel in the palm of his hand glowing menacingly.
Doctor Jackson continued to stare defiantly back at the false god before him, when suddenly the rings activated again, this time depositing several devices on the floor of the platform that popped up to waist height and detonated with the most powerful bang and flash Daniel had ever experienced, making everyone in the throne room temporarily blind and deaf. The rings activated again, this time it was eight men in full Earth Force combat armour that were rematerialized, weapons raised and scanning the room.
Ra turned to face the intruders and let lose an energy wave from his gauntlet, which threw all of the Earth Force soldiers into the far wall, hard. Doctor Jackson saw his chance and leaped at Ra, forcing him down to the ground and wrestled for his gauntlet. Ra forcefully shook off the academic and physically threw him down onto the hard floor, but at least he got away with the pendant.
"You will pay for that with your life a thousand times, Ha'shak," said Ra with much venom with his ribbon device inching closer to Doctor Jackson's forehead, just before a trio of shots hit him in the back, the look of shock and pain clearly on the false god's face, his eyes glowed as the symbiote inside tried to take control of his host's overwhelmed nerve system, then he turned to face his attacker. It was one of the intruders, all of whom had gotten up from their short flight into the far wall.
O'Neill faced the young man in the gaudy robes and was slightly surprised by the glowing eyes.
"You dare attack a god?" he said as he lifted his gauntlet again.
"Mouthy bastard aren't you," said O'Neill as he fired his PPR again on full auto, but the bastard put up some kind of energy field around himself which stopped the plasma bolts dead.
"You cannot kill me, I am Ra, Supreme System Lord of the Goa'uld, and you will feel my wrath. Warrior, your staff!" He said the last in goa'uld, the warrior threw his staff weapon over to Ra and it passed through the energy field with ease. Ra caught the weapon and with two flicks of his thumb he primed the weapon and let loose an orange plasma bolt at the intruder.
With highly honed reflexes Jack dove for cover before the plasma bolt was fired, using his armour's strength and speed enhancing abilities to the fullest to get behind a pillar. He popped out of cover for a second and fired a quick burst, but was suppressed by both Ra and the warrior who threw the staff to his master who was firing blue pulses of coiling energy from his serpent-like sidearm.
"Did you really believe you could defeat me, a lowly Tau'ri?" he laughed cruelly at that. "Your ships are nothing, your technology is nothing in comparison to my power, and now you will see what will happen to your ships when they attack us."
Ra moved over to some kind of console as more of his guards came into the throne room, the rest of O'Neill's squad took cover and started blasting the incoming enemy soldiers.
"Kawalsky what's your status?" said Jack as he popped back into cover.
"We're several decks below you, we've planted explosives in what Lieutenant Carter says is their propulsion system and we're making our way to what we think is their brig. Standby," Kawalsky reported over the radio.
"Ferretti, report," said Jack shortly as a plasma bolt struck a little too close for comfort near his head.
"Reinforcements are arriving through the Stargate right now, there have been a small number of hostiles trying to take back the gate room, but we can hold it," reported Ferretti.
"Very good, send those reinforcements through those ring things, the situation up here is going pear shaped," O'Neill ordered as he popped out of cover and shot one of the bird heads straight in the chest and abdomen with two triple bursts, downing him instantly, then went back into cover. He opened a channel to the Amundsen in orbit.
"Captain Ross, I need you to do a scan of this ship, can you give us a proper map of the interior of this thing?"
"Confirmed, standby," said Ross
At the control console Ra was activating his ship's weapon, engines and shields. He would take the fight to the enemy in space. Those troops had to have come from those ships since they used the rings in his throne room to come here.
"O'Neill they seem to have put up a shield, its preventing us from scanning the vessel you are in. Do you want us to begin bombardment of the shield?" Captain Ross asked
"Commence bombardment as soon as you have a firing solution, bring those shields down any way you can, use the plasma cannons on your escorts if you have to," O'Neill ordered.
"Confirmed, I'll have the Lexington begin bombardment," she said.
'That's John's ship,' O'Neill thought to himself idly as he fired off another burst from his rifle. 'Good thing he's a good shot.'
Meanwhile one of Ra's Horus guards came forward.
"My lord, I regret to inform you that your First Prime is dead, and the enemy is assaulting through the Chappa'ai as well, we have been unable to retake the chamber."
"I want the Chappa'ai secured immediately, and send as many Jaffa as you can..."
He was cut off by the activation of the rings and the intensifying of weapons fire from the intruders, killing many more Jaffa and forced the rest into cover. Two of the new batch of intruders threw small pear shaped devices down the corridors where the Jaffa came from and three seconds later exploded, producing powerful pressure waves and high speed shrapnel that killed and mutilated many Jaffa.
Ra was about to use his hand device when O'Neill opened fire on him again, forcing him to put his kinetic shield up again and let his soldiers take care of the new batch of intruders. Jack fired another burst and stopped firing to replace an energy cartridge.
"Your weak weapons cannot possibly harm me, I am your god Ra, and you will either bow down before me, or die!"
"Don't you ever just shut up," said O'Neill as he took his KA-BAR combat knife out of its holster attached to his belt, felt the balance, aimed the knife and threw it straight at Ra's neck, going straight through the shield and embedded itself deeply into his neck, severing both his host's spinal column and killed the snake within. Ra's eyes glowed one final time as he fell to the ground. His guards watched as he fell, none of them believing that their god had just been slain by a mere human. They pressed their attack, and soon heard a loud boom and the deck shook as something powerful impacted the shields, causing them all to stop fighting and Jack smiled victoriously.
He looked around for Doctor Jackson and found him just getting up from the deck and stood unsteadily and put his pendant back around his neck.
"How're you doing Daniel?" Jack asked the young academic.
"Oh just peachy, nothing a trip to the infirmary can't fix," said Daniel as he mildly rubbed his aching head.
"Good, then you can be my translator, the built in translator in my suit still makes too many mistakes and I want to be as clear as possible to these people."
"I'm at your service as always," Daniel responded mockingly.
Another blast sounded, this time shaking the ship even harder as the shields weakened further.
"Now listen up," he said, with Daniel translating. "We have three powerful vessels up there which can and will destroy this ship if you do not surrender. Your god is dead, killed by my own blade, so I suggest you think real hard about your options."
Another blast from one of the ships in orbit punctuated his statement.
"Gods cannot be killed. Ra will come back stronger than before and destroy you..." said one of the enemy soldiers as another blast from above hit and destroyed what was left of the shield protecting the ship.
"You really want to risk your own neck for a god that is clearly dead, look at him, see the face of a dead false god," said Daniel.
The soldiers turned to Ra's broken body, expecting to see him rise again and smite these humans like the vermin they were, but he never did. The looks on their faces turned from disbelief to understanding, and knew that there was nothing further to be gained by continued fighting. They began to throw down their weapons and opened their armour, revealing their faces, and once they disarmed one of the older ones with a gold tattoo moved towards the command console.
"Stop, what are you doing?" O'Neill asked, raising his weapon.
"Sealing every bulkhead on this ship and shutting down the transportation rings except for this one and the one in the pyramid. I am also opening the cell doors on the prison level, your people should be free now," said the older warrior.
"What is your name?" Jack asked through Daniel.
"Jaffa Master Ta'Ror."
"Why are you helping us?"
"I have been in the service of that false god for over 125 years. I used to be his First Prime and was able to temper his actions, but I have done many things that I am not proud of in his service, and I was unable to defend my position against my replacement from taking my place, a rabid dog with not a shred of honour," he said with much shame.
"Shol'va! You dare sully our god's name," said one of the loyalists who got knocked down to the ground by another, younger, Jaffa. "I suggest you stay silent," he said as several marines pointed their rifles at him.
"Wait, do not harm him," said Ta'Ror as he stepped between the marines and the younger warrior. "This is my apprentice, Mek'Tal, a young and promising student of mine."
"Don't worry Master Ta'Ror, you're all prisoners of war and as such you will be treated fairly," said Doctor Jackson as he looked to Captain O'Neill for confirmation, who nodded, signifying his agreement.
"Does this ship have variable life support controls?" O'Neill asked.
"Yes," Ta'Ror answered.
"Then I have an idea for how we can take out the rest of the crew without killing them."
((((((((((SG1-B5))))))))))
A quick call through the Stargate to Earth later, requested medics and all available personnel began to stream though to secure their new prize.
Very quickly O'Neill received the canisters he had requested and had Ta'Ror take him to life support control where he had techs hook up the gas canisters into the life support system. Ta'Ror activated the controls and released the gas into the sealed compartments where his former comrades were imprisoned. A colourless gas began mixing in with the atmosphere and soon the Jaffa in them began dropping like flies, falling into a deep sleep. Then Earth Alliance troops with breathing masks cleared the ship section by section securing the Jaffa.
They moved quickly to put all of Ra's Jaffa soldiers and human servants onboard, all four hundred remaining of them, into high strength bindings and moved them to the barracks on-board, to keep them under lock and key.
After the prisoners were secured in their barracks, Captain O'Neill went down a few decks to the ship's brig where the diplomat and two of his men were being treated. As he travelled the corridors he started to get a very painful headache. He believed it was a combination of the mission, the rescue, being slammed into a wall and the gaudy gold and silver relief covered walls that served as decoration, though how the Jaffa managed to live aboard this ship without getting headaches was beyond him.
He soon reached the ship's brig where he saw the expedition's medic checking the three former prisoners over, to make sure there is no lasting damage, at least physically.
"How's Sheridan doing Brown?" Captain O'Neill asked.
"Physically I think he's fine, but we won't know any better until we get him back to Earth and do a full scan, whatever that torture device used on him by Ra almost killed him, according to Doctor Jackson."
O'Neill got a signal over his link.
"O'Neill," he answered.
"This is Captain Sterns of the Lexington; I understand that the diplomat David Sheridan is down there?"
"Yes Captain he's right here in front of me."
"I have his son aboard, would it be alright for him to come down in a shuttle?"
"I don't see why not, come on down."
"Thank you Captain," said Sterns, and the channel was cut.
A minute later an atmospheric shuttle launched from the Lexington, its delta shaped hull glowed from the atmospheric friction of re-entry, flying easily through the atmosphere down to the pyramid, gliding in and slowing down as the shuttle fired thrusters for a soft vertical landing, kicking up tons of sand into the air. Seconds later a man in his late twenties wearing standard Earth Force desert combat gear bounded out of the shuttle and ran up the long ramp of stairs up to the pyramid and was met at the entrance Captain O'Neill.
"Hey John, long time, no see," he said cheerily.
"Jack where's my dad?" Lieutenant Sheridan asked impatiently.
"He's alright; the medics are checking him over right now before we send him back to Earth," said Jack, ignoring the breach of protocol. "Come on let me take you to him."
"How did you get here without a jump capable ship?"
"I'll show you later, but first check this out," said Jack as they stopped underneath a circular hatch. A second later, before John could react five obsidian rings lowered and surrounded them. There was a brief flash of light and then he was inside the pyramid ship.
As the rings retracted into the floor, John was shocked and surprised by what happened.
"What the hell were those?"
"Transportation Rings, one of the best ways to get around this ship, and just one of the many technologies on-board the scientists back home would drool over and probably sell their own mothers just to get a look at."
They continued along the corridors, and already John was starting to hate the decor. They soon reached the brig where they found the ambassador more alert now than when Captain O'Neill came to check up on him and his eyes seemed to light up when he caught sight of the young lieutenant.
"Johnny," he said and all John could do was to go up to him and give him a big manly hug, which the elder Sheridan was more than happy to reciprocate.
"Hey dad, what happened?"
"Some alien parasite with a god complex roughed me up a little, I'll be fine, just need to get back home, see your mother and sister again. A little rest and I'll be right as rain."
Captain O'Neill watched on, these were the moments he lived for in this job, and he couldn't help but remember his own wife and kid back on Earth that he couldn't talk to about this, maybe in a few years, but for now he just had to keep this from his family.
The Abydos sun was rising up into the sky, blood red in colour as it began to cross the horizon, almost like an omen of the blood sacrifice that would have to be paid by the Earth Alliance before its destiny is fulfilled, to bring the humans scattered across the galaxy out of slavery and to take the place as one of the Great Races.
((((((((((SG1-B5))))))))))
AN: It's been a while since I've worked on this. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and leave a review.