CHAPTER 78

EPISODE…………………ETHON

The alarms on the base were going off and the security personal were standing by with weapons at ready. The Iris was closed, but the gate was active. Walter and Mitchell were sitting at the computer watching the small screen. Ford was keeping watch on the Iris as Daniel walked in, finally. Ford figured he was still talking to his parents and such again.

"What's up?" Daniel asked.

"Incoming wormhole from Tagalus." Walter said.

"Remember Jared Kane? He wants to talk." Ford said.

"To you specifically Doctor Jackson." Mitchell said. "Says it's urgent."

"He still there Walter?" Ford asked.

"Yes General." he said touching a few buttons.

"Jared, this is Daniel. What's wrong?"

"Doctor Jackson, I have very little time. I gained access to the Stargate without my governments authorization. Please let me through, I am alone and unarmed."

"Sounds okay." Ford muttered. "Go ahead Walter."

"Okay Jared, it's safe to come through." Daniel said after the Iris opened.

"Let's go see what's up Daniel." Ford said walking down the stairs.

Jared came through in a dark brown leather jacket with a white shirt and black pants. The shoes were just black shoes with no laces. He had a bag and some container that looked to hold large scrolls, or rolled up maps.

"Stand down." Ford ordered as they approached the ramp.

"Doctor Jackson. Um…Major Carter was it?"

"General now."

"Jared, this is Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell." Daniel said pointing at him as he walked up.

"Tagalus. Post apocalyptic, warring superpowers with deep seated political differences, that Jared Kane. Nice to meet you."

"We lost contact with you guys…." Ford said then looked up as he thought. "Um…."

"Many months ago." Daniel said. "We assumed that you….."

"Destroyed each other? Not quite yet."

"I was going to say no longer wanted our help, but that will do." Daniel said.

"So Jared, what is it you're here for? You look like you're in a hurry." Ford asked.

"Five months ago, a man came through the Stargate……"

"Hold it. Let me guess." Ford said describing what a Prior looked like and the promises they talked about.

"Yes." Jared said.

"We know about them all to well." Daniel said. "What they do and preach, all that stuff."

"They are a pain in the ass is what they are." Ford muttered. "What did they do? Give you all a plague or something worse?"

"There was a plague, but it's gone now. Now, we have something worse. He offered us power. In exchange for embracing the Ori, he gave us designs for launching a weapon into orbit. A satellite that would give us total domination of the Caledonians."

Mitchell shook his head while Daniel did almost the same. His was more of an eye rolling action. Ford was surprised.

"Damn. They are branching out. No offense, but with your worlds history, you're all more than likely going to blow your planet apart with it." Ford said shaking a finger.

"Assuming you're people are intending on building this weapon, how long before it's completed?" Daniel asked.

"It already is, isn't it? You wouldn't have came for help if it wasn't." Ford said as Jared nodded.

"24 hours ago, a Caledonian military outpost was completely destroyed in a demonstration. The weapon is already operational."

"Take him to the infirmary Daniel, then we'll all meet in the briefing room to talk. Tell him what we know about the Ori and such."

Ford was sitting as usual in his modified chair with Carter on his right and then Mitchell next to her, Daniel and Teal'c were on his left, but a seat down. Jared was standing next to a large flat monitor on a rolling table that showed the two continents and some information about them. The screen and rolling table were near the flags in the corner by the door to his office. On the table was his bag and the unopened tube.

"How long until your government makes its next move?" Mitchell asked as they sat around the table.

"Our president has given their leader, Minister Chaska, a deadline of five days. After that, if the Caledonians don't surrender to Rand Occupation, they will be destroyed."

"And the Prior instructed you to do this?" Daniel asked.

"Rand has been in disarray since the missile attacks last year. Intelligence reports were filtering in that said the Caledonians were preparing a full scale ground assault. They were going to invade and attempt to topple what was left of the Rand once and for all."

"Caledonian wasn't interested in hearing from this Prior?" Mitchell asked.

"The Prior asked our leaders if he could spread his word to the Caledonians as well."

"Of course they would never accept anything that Rand was already embracing." Daniel stated.

"President Nadal explained that to the Prior. He said anyone who didn't accept Origin, must be destroyed."

"Man, these guys got a bottomless bag of tricks, don't they." Mitchell muttered.

"I'm guessing it was also the Prior that convinced you that having a relationship with us was no longer necessary?" Daniel asked.

"It was already clear that your government wasn't going to offer us the weapons and technology this Prior was offering us. You see, we weren't just on the verge of suffering defeat at the hands of the Caledonians, we were on the verge of collapsing as a nation." he said sitting in the chair on Ford's left. "But now after what you told me about these Ori and the Priors, I fear that may have been a better way to go."

"We appreciate your situation. But what do you exactly want from us?" Carter asked.

"These are the earliest schematics for the weapon." he said sliding the tube toward her. "Unfortunately, they are not complete. The Prior gave us step by step instructions in stages."

She opened it, but didn't pull the papers out yet.

"Making sure he kept you under his thumb." Mitchell said.

"He said it was so he could make sure that each stage was completed properly before moving onto the next one. It's the best I could do under the circumstances. Access became restricted soon after some of us voiced our disapproval about building the weapon."

"You wish us to destroy the weapon." Teal'c stated.

"It's the only chance we have to stop things before they go to far."

"Just to be clear, you're doing this to save Caledonians?" Mitchell asked. "You don't hate them for bombing your country and killing some of your people?"

"I do." he said with some anger. "But I refuse to see any more lives, be they Rand or Caledonian, senselessly lost, due to archaic prejudices or religious extremist. This has to stop."

"Would you excuse us for the moment?" Mitchell asked before looking at Ford to see if it was okay.

Ford nodded and they all went to his office. He sat on an empty part of the desk while the other's filed in. Mitchell closed the door as Teal'c came through last. Daniel leaned against the metal file cabinet. Mitchell leaned against the window while Teal'c stood by one of the chairs near Ford. After giving Ford a look, he nodded and she sat in his chair, which was much more comfortable than the chairs out there.

"Well?" Ford asked as she placed her feet on the desk.

"I have to say, this is mostly our fault." Daniel said. "There wouldn't have been a war on Tagalus if we hadn't gone there in the first place."

"Probably would have happened sooner or later anyway. They still hate each other even after all of this." Ford said crossing his arms. "I compare them to aged dynamite ready to explode."

"Good comparison considering how things turned out. Though we did offer to help them rebuild." Carter said.

"A offer they eventually declined." Teal'c said.

"Weapons and better technology please. We could care less about medical supplies and food for the people who really need it." Ford said in a mocking tone. "We prefer to let hate run our lives."

"They are being influenced by a Prior now." Daniel said.

"Which makes things worse. They could become a base of operations for the Ori in this galaxy."

"Right. This satellite takes things to a whole new level. The Ori are now arming their followers." Mitchell said.

"Probably because they haven't found a way to make a super gate again. Easier to make another group of followers here do what they wanted to do with whoever or whatever was going to come through on whatever ships they were trying to send."

"Yeah, next thing we'll see is ships being built to attack us on other planets." Carter said. "Like you just mentioned."

"We need to nip this thing squarely in the bud." Mitchell said. "I say we send the Prometheus and have them destroy it General."

"I agree. As much as it would be easier to ask the Jaffa to send a few ships and do it, they might try and take if for themselves. Though Gerak is gone, he still has some devote followers and there is still some Jaffa still loyal to Ba'al, who would definitely want to take that satellite for himself."

"We should tell the Rand and Caledonians the truth. If we tell them what we know and what the Ori really are, maybe we can convince them to dismantle the weapon themselves." Daniel said.

"You think they'll listen?" Mitchell asked.

"Let's propose it to Kane and see if the Rand will hear us out." Daniel said.

"We'll go with that for the moment, despite how much I think it's a bad idea. But you have a rather good record with fixing things between people Daniel. I'll have the Prometheus on standby, just in case." Ford said turning to his intercom.

"I'm going to look at those plans in my lab." Carter said getting up.

"I'll be along shortly." Ford said.

Daniel was talking to Jared while the other's were in her lab looking over the plans she had spread out on her lab table.

"Hey, can we use these plans to build ourselves a satellite weapon?" Mitchell asked from the side of the table he stood with Teal'c. Carter and Ford were on the other.

"That would be worth it. We'd just have to make sure the right people had control of it." Ford said. "Namely this facility. There's a few problems with the idea though."

"For one thing, these plans are incomplete. It's not even clear what's powering the weapon." she said looking the blueprints over.

"Kane did say they were early schematics." Teal'c said also looking it over.

"Can't K-9 here come up with something?" Mitchell asked.

"Data inconclusive to finish satellite Colonel." K-9 said from where he was at her feet.

"Okay, never mind." Mitchell muttered.

"There's also the problem that these plans show that it is not very efficient either." she said lifting one section too look at the other underneath. "For example here, these capacitors take several minutes to store enough power to fire the weapon, and then again before it can repeat."

"Wow, you think a Ori weapon would be more advanced." Mitchell said.

"From the devastation that Jared told us about the demonstration, I can see where it would take time to get that much power ready to be fired." Ford said. "But maybe these plans were made with what the Rand had for materials. If it was us they gave the plans to, it would probably be more efficient and probably a hell of a lot more powerful because we do have technology the Rand don't."

"These capacitors they have here are rather low tech in some ways compared to us." she said.

"Then it can be easily destroyed." Teal'c said.

"If these plans are an accurate indication." she said.

"Right. Well just take the Prometheus there instead of using the gate like you suggested General."

Ford nodded. "Besides, how else could we possibly destroy it anyway? Certainly can't build a missile or anything in time to try."

"According to these schematics, this is purely an offensive weapon." she said.

"No defenses?" Mitchell asked.

"Stands to reason. Rand knows that the Caledonians having nothing close to anything capable of reaching orbit. Although, there do appear to be sensor nodes built into the targeting system." she said pointing at a part on the blueprints. "So our approach may be detected."

"The Prometheus is protected by Asguard shield technology." Teal'c stated.

"True. That does give us an advantage. With the time it takes to charge its capacitors, we can pop out of hyperspace, fire a few rounds or whatever it will be off, and have it destroyed before it can reach full power and fire back. Being purely offensive by design, it's more than likely able to defend itself from any ships that show up too, if they are in range. Unless the weapon has a long range ability, but it's hard to tell with these blueprints." Ford said flipping through the schematics.

"If the plan doesn't go well, we should be able to entered back into hyperspace to escape." she said.

The mess hall was rather empty at the moment. Only a guard was there with a few other people eating in the corner. Near one of the walls closest to the door, Jared sat drinking coffee. Daniel came in and he looked up.

"Anything yet?" Jared asked.

"Give them some time. They seemed shocked that you were here." Daniel said leaning with both hands on the back of a chair.

"I'm sure they were." he said sadly.

Jared didn't say anything else but looked down at the table. Daniel sat down and looked around for a second wondering where everyone was. Usually the place was almost packed all the time. Then again, he didn't leave his office to come here much unless he was hungry.

"You don't think they'll listen to us?"

"Our people suffered greatly after the war. They needed to believe there was a reason for what was happening to them."

"The Prior provided that."

"He said our suffering was a test, to see who was worthy."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, your planet is not alone." Daniel said with sympathy.

Jared nodded lightly.

"Kane, I….I have to ask. Leda?"

"Five months ago, while Rand was deciding to accept Origin or not," he said after deciding whether to talk about it or not. "A disease swept through the country. Thousands became deathly ill. The Prior said that those who believed and embraced the Ori would be cured."

Daniel closed his eyes and nodded in understanding.

"That's when people began accepting them as gods. We watched so many….barter away their beliefs in exchange for their lives." he said sadly. Daniel could see that the memories Jared was going through hurt.

"But Leda……she, she refused to accept it."

"I am sorry."

Walter walked in and up to the table.

"Doctor Jackson, we just received a communiqué from the Rand government."

Daniel took the paper and read it quickly.

"They want to talk."

In what was left of the Rand Protectorate Capital City, Daniel and Jared were in separate prison cells. Despite how much Ford thought it was a bad idea, he let Daniel go. Even Daniel's parents didn't think it a great idea. And Ford told him to call back ever hour or so. Very shortly after the two came there, they were striped of their belongings, except clothes and stuck in jail cells.

"This isn't what I actually had in mind." Daniel said sitting on the stone bench against the wall.
"What happens if your people don't hear from us?" Jared asked sitting on the same sort of bench in his cell.

"Oh, I told them to proceed with destroying the weapon. But that's the problem really. Ford is, let's say, a little overprotective in some ways. Seeing as getting a team through the gate probably wouldn't happen without casualties, he'll probably try to beam down here and rescue me, or us, as soon as the ship drops out of hyperspace."

"He…." Jared started saying when they heard the noise of a squeaky metal door open. They both got up as a few people walked in.

"President Nadal." Jared said as he stared out through the bars at the balding man.

"Senator Kane." Nadal said mostly acknowledging him.

"This is Doctor Daniel Jackson."

"I know who he is."

"I'm here from Earth representing a diplomatic mission." Daniel said.

"I'm here to officially inform you, Jared Kane, you are under arrest for treason."

"Excuse me? You allowed us to come here under false pretenses?" Daniel said with an upset tone.

"Doctor Daniel Jackson, your government has knowingly harbored a felon, as well as it seems they are in possession of top secret documents vital to the security of this country. As of now, you are both considered enemies of the state. And will be detained until a trail can be set."

He turned away and walked out with the two guards. Jared walked away from the bars and sat back down again.

"You know, it's times like this that I wish Ford was here to bust me out of trouble." Daniel muttered as he went to sit back down. He then glanced at his boots. "Maybe I should ask him about hiding things too. You know what, this figures. I get my parents back and now I may never see them again."

"God….argh!!!!" Ford growled as he kept himself from hitting the wall. "I should have known, hell I did know!!!"

"General. Yelling about it isn't….well, maybe it does feel better. Better than you punching holes in the wall of throwing something." Mitchell said as they were in the locker room getting ready.

"Better than him shooting something either." Carter said.

"Do you intend to…beam down to the planet General Carter and mount a personal rescue?" Teal'c asked.

"Seriously thinking about it." Ford muttered as leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed.

"I'm ready." Carter said standing behind him. "And what are you thinking about seriously doing?"

"Getting Daniel, what else?"

"We can beam him out, possibly." she said.

"We better be able to." Ford muttered as the other two walked up. "Let's go."

They had been in hyperdrive on the Prometheus for almost two days. SG-1 was currently on the bridge since they were suppose to be there soon. Ford kept pacing back and forth, and though it drove a few people crazy, they left him alone, mostly because of his rank. At least he paced back and forth behind the command chair.

"We're coming up on the planet sir." the man manning the console on the left of the Colonel said.

"Prepare to lock onto Doctor Jackson's locator beacon the minute we drop out of hyperspace." the Colonel said.

"About time." Ford muttered as he walked over and stood with the rest of the team near the entrance to the bridge.

"About time you quit pacing. Driving me and a few other's nuts." she said.

"Why didn't anyone say anything?"

"Rank." most of everyone except Teal'c said.

"Oh. Sorry. Tell me next time."

"Better you pacing than in the gym." she said.

"Why?"

"You break or bend equipment. For some people, that's frightening."

Daniel was leaning against the cell bars, holding one with one hand. Jared was still sitting down leaning against the wall.

"I guess I can assume that any kind of trial will be rigged?"

"Honestly, we'll be lucky to get that far."

Daniel turned around.

"President Nadal has been paranoid of Caledonian spies for some time now. Because I betrayed him this way, he may assume I'm also part of that network."

"Well, I guess your country doesn't have any laws against torture?"

"No."

They looked up as the door opened again and another man with two guards walked up. He was a tall black man in a high ranking uniform.

"I applaud your courage Kane." the man said as he entered the jail cell that the guard opened.

"Commander Pernaux, Doctor Jackson, Doctor Jackson…." Jared said not getting up.

"Yeah, I got it." Daniel said.

"What I don't understand is why you came back." the commander said.

"Doctor Jackson and I thought there was some things the Rand people needed to know."

"The only thing I need to know is the names of the people amongst us who work for the Caledonians." the commander asked stepping closer.

"Just because I went to Earth for help doesn't mean I also gave information to the Caledonians or know who might have."

"Earth is responsible for our current state of affairs. Turning to them is an act of a desperate man."

"Kane turned to us in the hopes of preventing you from making a catastrophic mistake." Daniel said leaning against the cell bars. "The Priors are not telling you everything about the Ori. You need to hear me out before you use that weapon to wipe out the Caledonians."

"You admit, you sympathize with Caledonian." the commander stated as he looked sternly at Daniel.

"That's not what he's saying."

"How the next few days unfold is entirely up to you. But until I find out who else is working with you, I guarantee neither of you will know a moments peace."

He walked out leaving them alone again.

The Prometheus dropped out of hyperspace and from the bridge, they could see the weapon floating in space without any problems.

"I have a signal from Doctor Jackson's….."

"Get him out of there, now." Ford ordered. "Beam him onto the bridge."

The women hit a few buttons and they watched a beam of light appear on the bridge, but only heard something hit the floor. Ford groaned as he closed his eyes and held his tongue. Though everyone heard his knuckles pop as he clenched his fist. Mitchell picked up the locator beacon.

"I take it things aren't going so well then."

"Couple with the fact that we haven't heard from him since two days ago…." Carter said as Teal'c looked at the device that Mitchell handed over.

"We have located the satellite." the man said on the right.

"Lock on target." the Colonel said.

"This will be perceived as an act of aggression against Rand." Teal'c stated.

"I don't really care. We sent Daniel on a diplomatic mission and haven't heard a word of anything. For all we know, they could have shot both of them as soon as they stepped through the gate." Ford said then pointed out the window. "That weapon is a danger to us. I say blow it to hell."

"Wait." Carter said as it looked like the buttons were about to be pushed. "If we do that, we loose an ability to negotiate Daniel's release. Do you seriously think he's dead?"

"No."

On the planet, in a bunker that also served as the command center for the Rand government, Nadal and a few guards walked into the command center that also held the controls for the Ori weapon. The alarms were going off as they entered the room.

"Commander."

"Mr. President. The satellites systems have detected a ship closing in on its position." Pernaux said looking at the monitor with Nadal.

"The target is in our sights sir." the female at the console on the Colonel's right said.

"We've got the satellite dead to rights. We can hail them and ask for Doctor Jackson in exchange. It's your call General."

"That would not accomplish the goal of this mission." Teal'c stated.

"Jackson knew that it would possibly come to this. He told us to go ahead if he was captured General." Mitchell said.

"You know what Daniel would want Ford. His life for millions and…" Carter said trailing off as she didn't want to finish the sentence.

"Sir, we're detecting a power buildup within the satellite."

"Well, they know we are here. Do you detect any shields around it?" Ford asked looking at her screen. "Uh oh."

"Its attitude is changing." Carter said.

"Colonel." Ford said quickly. "They are going to shoot us."

"Confirmed sir." the other man said.

"Sound general quarters. Full power to forward shields."

The alarms went off as the ship went into full battle mode. The lights dimmed around them.

"Blow it up now before it can do anything." Ford ordered.

"Firing missiles." the lady said.

Two large missiles came off the front of the ship and sped toward the target. They impacted on a shield that had a yellow color to it.

"It has a shield system. Colonel, back the ship off, now."

"They must have put the defenses in on other plans that Kane couldn't bring." Carter said as the helm responded and backed the ship up slowly.

"Shields are holding." a man said from the massive computer that controlled the satellite.

"Recommend firing a warning shot." the commander asked.

"We have been attacked commander, we must respond in kind." Nadal stated sternly. "Target the ship."

The commander nodded and the man activated the controls.

"The vessel has been primed and targeted. We are able to fire when ready."

"Fire." the commander said.

They watched from the bridge as a beam of energy poured out from the satellite. It hit the shields and less than two seconds later punched through them and through the front of the ship.

"Evasive maneuvers! Full military thrust! Return fire, full forward rail guns!" the Colonel ordered as the ship shook almost like a baby playing with a rattle.

Fires and smoke poured from damaged consoles and computers in the wall. Reports of injured, dead and severe damage poured in over a few com lines.

"Carter, take over!" Ford said pointing at the seat the lady occupied. She gladly gave it up and handed her ear piece to Carter.

"Sublight engines aren't responding!"

"Weapons are down!" the man of the Colonel left said. "We've lost life support and hull integrity on decks three thru seven."

"Carter, divert whatever power you can to whatever is left of the shields." Ford said as the ship rocked again.

"Our shields were at full strength!" Mitchell said as he ran over and grabbed the back of Carter's chair.

"Sensors are detecting that the weapon is recharging!" a woman in the back yelled from another console.

"We've only got minutes!" Mitchell exclaimed.

"Hyperdrive status?!" the Colonel yelled.

"Hyperdrive is offline!"

"Hull integrity is too unstable." Carter said.

The man on the Colonel left reported the casualties and other damages.

"That thing can only fire at one target at a time." Mitchell said to the Colonel.

"Go, assemble blue squadron." the Colonel said.

"Mitchell, take everyone that is a pilot and has a 302! Every shot could count!" Ford yelled.

He nodded and ran off quickly. People continued to run around them and do whatever they could to stabilize the bridge and everything else that was not working right. Less than five minutes later, the whole squadron of 302's went out of the ship and headed for the satellite.

"Tracking multiple smaller ships attacking the satellite." the commander said then looked at another screen. "The shield is holding."

"By the grace of the gods." Nadal said.

"Thirty seconds until the weapons is primed and ready."

"Target the large vessel again." Nadal ordered.

The 302's kept firing with everything they had. Circling away as they fired. Nothing they did seemed to do anything other than make the shield show up upon impacts.

"Lieutenant, I need sublight engines now!" the Colonel yelled.

"Auxiliary systems aren't kicking in!" she yelled.

"They can't." Carter exclaimed as parts of the wall near them sparked. "The two main power relays have been damaged."

"Can it be repaired?" the Colonel asked as she walked behind him going to the ship schematics on the wall.

"We need to reroute power through the bypass conduit, here." she said pointing at the screen that came up. "We should get limited sublight capability back."

"General, are you going to stay here or help Colonel Carter?"

"Her."

They took off down the corridor quickly. Fires were burning in different sections of the ships corridors.

"We need to get up two levels."

"What's in here?" he asked looking up at the ceiling.

"Why?"

"I can cut us a way up."

"Right. We'll have to climb." she said as they walked off quickly. "I can't remember at this moment what is in that floor."

"Better safe than sorry huh." he said following.

"Shields?" the Colonel asked as the female Lieutenant took over the place Carter left.

"Forward shields at 48 percent."

"Divert all shield generators to the front."

"Sir, sensors indicate that the weapon is reaching maximum limit!"

The Colonel quickly hit a button on his arm rest.

"All hands, brace for impact!!!"

"This things damn shield is not weakening." Mitchell said as they started another approach.

Teal'c was in the back seat. They veered away quickly as the weapon fired again and took the shields out going into the front and part of the neck of the ship, causing even more severe damage than before. Ford and Carter were heading up the ladder when the entire ship shook violently. Sparks and smoke erupted in the confined space. Sam screamed lightly as she lost her hold and fell.

"I got you!" Ford yelled as he was twisted while still holding on with one hand. His other had grabbed her around the waist and managed to pull her close to him quickly. "Grab the ring please."

"You okay?" she asked grabbing it while still shaking slightly. "That was close."

"Yeah, never better." he said through clenched teeth. "Move your cute butt. Sooner we get this mission gone wrong over, the sooner I can see it again."

"Flirting in the middle of danger. That's a new one." she said as she had started climbing while he was talking.

They climbed out and onto a very badly damaged deck. Ford leaned against the wall and then slammed his shoulder into it hard, making himself cry out in pain as it returned to its socket.

"We're running…"

"Out of time. I know." she said grabbing her com link. "Bridge, can you beam us both to the auxiliary control room two?"

"Negative Colonel. The auxiliary control room no longer has life support." the Lieutenant reported back.

The Colonel left the command chair and took of the console on his left.

"The large ship appears to be disabled. Shall I broadcast a call for surrender?" the commander asked.

"The book of Origin tells us that enemies of the Ori show no mercy in their attempts to draw us away from the path." Nadal said. "We must face this attack with all the strength we have been given. Finish them."

"Prometheus, this is Blue Leader, request status report."

"Not too good right now blue leader." the Colonel said.

"Can we assist?"

"Negative Blue Leader, negative. Docking bays are too unstable for a safe return. Stand by for orders."

"Roger that."

"Bridge, this is Carter. We need deck fif…" she began saying when the bridge heard a very loud sound of metal bending, and hitting something. "Never mind."

The door, which came down from inside the wall, also had a smaller door built into it that was in the middle, normally used to get into the room. It wasn't there anymore. Somehow, someway, Ford kicked it hard enough it fell into the room.

"How…"

"I don't know." Ford growled entering the room with her in tow. "It was in my way and needed to vent."

They started pulling panels off the wall quickly.

"If the aft power relay is still intact, we…."

"Hook up the naquada generator and we can fly again." he said pulling off the panels with no tact.

"Yeah."

"You've got about two minutes Colonel." the Colonel said from the bridge.

"That's not going to be enough time!" she reported back.

"Then we make the time Sam. We ain't got a choice." he said getting to work quickly.

"Open a channel, broadcast on all frequencies." the Colonel said.

"Open sir."

"This is Colonel Lionel Pendergast of the Earth ship Prometheus calling the Rand Protectorate. Your attack on our vessel has severely damaged our engines and rendered our weapon systems inoperable." he said then took a breath. "We are willing to negotiate the terms of our surrender."

This got a lot of people on the bridge to look at him, but they got back to work quickly.

"Rand Protectorate, this is the Earth ship Prometheus. We wish to negotiate our surrender."

All of them in the control center heard it as Nadal smiled while pacing slightly.

Ford quickly activated the generator after she pointed at it. Outside, Mitchell got impatient.

"This is getting us nowhere. This is Blue Leader to all squadrons, break off the attack and scramble formation between the weapon and the Prometheus." Mitchell ordered. "Maybe one of us will get lucky and take a portion of the next shot."

"I would not consider that lucky Colonel Mitchell." Teal'c stated.

"Well, it could be for anybody aboard Prometheus."

"This is President Nadal addressing the Earth ship Prometheus."

The bridge was in shambles, but they continued to work as they listened to the man over the com.

"Please explain your brazen act of aggression against our nation."

Down in the bunker, Jared and Daniel were lead into the room under guard as Nadal was talking to the Prometheus.

"Our actions have been misconstrued as hostile." the Colonel said. "We are here to investigate why an emissary we sent to your planet, Doctor Daniel Jackson, hasn't had any communication with us."

"And yet, on your first act of entering our space, was to fire on our defense satellite." Nadal replied back sternly.

"But we detected that your satellite was powering up and aiming at us. We took that as a first act of aggression. We merely responded in kind."

Nadal nodded with a small laugh that had a dark meaning behind it.

"We are no longer a threat to you. I have people aboard this vessel in need of medical attention and we are venting atmosphere. Please, consider our request for surrender."

The line was cut and he looked at the Lieutenant.

"Keep your fingers crossed."

Nadal turned and walked up to Daniel.

"Your planet, sent this ship to attack us." he said forcefully. "I have no desire to take more lives. You tell us what we want to know, I will accept their surrender."

"Who else was involved with this? What other actions are the Caledonians involved in?" the commander asked.

"We are not spies." Daniel said as he saw Jared's jaw clench. "I came here to convince your people to dismantle the weapon before any of this became necessary. I have tried to explain."

"Who helped you gain access to the Stargate?" the commander asked Jared.

"I acted alone." Jared said.

"You are lying!" Nadal said getting in his face. "You are part of a spy network helping to supply the Caledonians with classified information."

"Don't you think it is possible that the Caledonians are being leaked information because not everyone in your country agrees with what you're doing?" Daniel said receiving a hard glare from the man.

"The weapon is charged."

Nadal turned away and started back to the computer.

"Wait please! Just listen to me before you go murdering defenseless people!" Daniel said begging.

"We are the ones defending ourselves! Your ship attacked us!" Nadal said as he spun to face Daniel.

"Sensors detect the weapon is fully charged." the Lieutenant said.

"Carter's, I need good news now."

"You have limited sub light capability." Ford said. "Get us out of here now!"

"Engage the engines Lieutenant. Get us out of the path of that weapon."

"We don't have enough speed or time sir." she said. "They'll be able to hit us again…."

"Fine. It's over then. Give me as much power as you two can. Re-route it from the shields and get me all internal functioning Asguard beaming sensors. We are abandoning ship." he said then walked away from the controls. "Give the evacuation order Lieutenant. I want all personal to beam down to the surface. I want a nice open field, anywhere in Caledonia."

"Yes sir."

"And broadcast the locations of all the active sensor sites." he said hitting a control on the arm of the chair. "This is Colonel Pendergast to the F-302's. We are beginning the evacuation, I advise you to get clear of the ship and meet us at the rendezvous coordinates."

"Affirmative Prometheus." Mitchell said then had the squadrons move.

"I'll handle all the final transport commands." the Colonel said making the Lieutenant leave the chair. "Everyone else is to report to the beam out site."

He looked back to see no one leaving.

"Let's go people, that's an order! Move!" he yelled.

"Sir…"

"Go Lieutenant!"

The two watched as people ran by quickly.

"Sam, get out of here…"

"Hell no." she stated even after he shoved her away from the laptop.

"If this fails….." he said typing away fast.

"I am not leaving. I sure as hell miss Sally and want her to grow up with a mom like I never got a chance to, but I can't go on without you." she said not budging.

"Fine. I don't know how I'd go on either. I'd do it because of Sally, but it would be hard." he muttered typing faster.

"General, Colonel!" a couple of people said behind them that were lined up.

"Get out of here!" they both yelled.

They heard the transporter beam take effect, but never saw it as the people were beamed away.

"I only need about a minute and then we leave."

"We must not fail the gods, we must embrace our destiny." Nadal said turning away from Daniel. "Fire the weapon!"

"Wait!" Daniel yelled trying to stop the man only to be held back.

"No!" Jared yelled also being held back.

"Those two are complete idiots." Colonel Pendergast muttered before hitting a button. "It was an honor to serve with you two."

"Col…" Carter began when they were engulfed in a bright light.

Pendergast looked up as he saw the beam of light head at them. It struck the middle of the ship, just in front of the tall section that made up the neck and bridge. The ship shook violently and broke in half slowly. Eruptions ripped through the rest of the neck before stopping at the front. She slowly tilted on her axis as smoke and other parts flew away from explosions. The front of the ship came off and floated away at a tilt. The last thing that Colonel Lionel Pendergast saw was the bright light of the bridge exploding as the end section went first and the shockwave taking out the front section. Mitchell and the other squadrons all watched in horror as they saw the once great ship end up as flying debris.

"Ah hell." Mitchell said after taking his mask off.

Teal'c removed his slowly and also mourned silently.

Down in the bunker, they watched on the screen as the blip that showed Prometheus once disappeared.

"The Earth vessel has been destroyed."

"Take them back to their holding cells." Nadal said with a smile of extreme happiness.

Down at the beam site, the other's were looking around and trying to find out who was still with them and all. Two more beams of light appeared and everyone instantly noticed who they were. Carter was about to have them stand down when she saw most of them started to look up. She turned to see Ford was looking up and then he pointed. They all saw a bright explosion after seeing a beam of light cross the sky.

"Everyone stand at attention!" Ford yelled doing it himself.

Carter did so mostly out of habit as she also heard and saw what people in front of her do the same.

"Present arms!" he yelled bringing his hand up in salute form.

They watched until they saw the explosion of the ship and knew for a fact that it was no more. Ford saluted and everyone else did the same, some more slow than others.

"Someone remind me to do something for Pendergast's family and for the crew that didn't make it when we get back home." he said in a choked voice.

Jared and Daniel were back in their jail cells, both still separate. Daniel was leaning against the bars, and it wasn't hard to see he was extremely saddened by the loss of lives and possible friends. He wasn't crying, but was close. The door opened and the Commander came back in with two guards.

"The loss of your people is regrettable. But your planet and the Caledonians must know our resolve."

"You know full well that the Caledonians would rather sacrifice themselves than submit." Jared said.

The commander walked over to Jared cell and leaned against the bars.

"You'll be forced to commit genocide and destroy them."

"A year ago, they launch a first strike and against us. They obviously had no problem doing the same."

"When does it stop?" Jared asked forcefully. He got up and approached the bars. "When do we stop killing each over wars that was started by our fathers and their fathers before them?"

"This is no longer about Rand or Caledonian."

"It is. We need to set aside our differences and fight the threat of the Ori together." he said then paused a moment. "Goran, how long have we known each other? Please, believe what Doctor Jackson has told you about them."

He thought a moment about what Jared said before speaking.

"With my own eyes, I saw the Prior bring the satellite to life merely by touching his staff. Neither Rand nor Caledonian have the technology capable of resisting such power."

Daniel got up slowly and came over to the bars next to Jared.

"What choice do we have?"

"Ah, look." Daniel said. "I can't make you any promises, but we have developed a machine that neutralizes a Prior's powers. Now, as far as we know, they have only been able to travel within our galaxy by use of the Stargate, and you can either bury your gate or we could teach you to build a Iris system like ours."

"Nadal has lost all sense of reason. The book of Origin is just one big lie meant to seduce us into meaningless worship. The Ori just want to use us." Jared said as he voice began to rise. "And killing in their name is not self-defense. It's murder."

In what was left of the Caledonian Capital City, which was trashed as badly as the Rand's, in a office building with little protection was were the headquarters was. They had little choice to have one anywhere else because of the wide spread destruction. People were manning phone like units and other computer things while the lady in charge gave out orders occasionally. Teal'c and Mitchell were following her into the large room that was mostly a collection of desk in no arrangement at all.

"We've been monitoring the entire exchange. To our knowledge, 76 crew members were recovered in Caledonian territory." she said walking up to a desk and was handed a paper.

"There was over a 115 people on that ship." Mitchell said.

"Do you have any sort of a manifest, a list of names we can compare to those recovered?" she asked.

"Not on me, no. So, where are our people?" he asked upset.

"The transport arrived moments ago." she said then looked at the door as one of the guards looked at it as two people walked in.

"Teal'c, Cameron." Carter said.

"Glad to see you guys made it." Ford said.

"Sam, Ford, you two are a site for sore eyes." he said hugging her then him.

"That's the first time you've called me by my first name."

Mitchell shrugged as Teal'c also hugged them, in one embrace.

"Nice to see you two big guy, we need to breath though." Ford said patting him on the back.

"Thanks." she said as he let her go with a nod.

"Where's Pendergast?"

"He stayed on the bridge beaming everyone he could off before the ship was hit again." Ford said sadly.

"We saw it happen." Mitchell muttered also saddened by the news.

"Our security forces did a sensors sweep of the area where the others were found. There was no other survivors." the lady said.

"This is Minister Chaska, leader of the Caledonian Federation." Mitchell said pointing at her.

"I am thankfully you were able to survive such a tragic event General, Colonel." she said shaking their hands. "I hope we can offer you and your crew some comfort here."

"She's' pretty much up to speed on what's going on." Mitchell said.

"We were, of course, praying for your success, but I fear with the destruction of your vessel, I fear that any peaceful solution to this crisis has been lost."

"And you will not surrender?" Teal'c asked.

"Our people rather die than live under Rand rule." she stated sternly.

"Can't blame you." Ford said.

"We will retaliate against any attack, with the full forces at our disposal." she said then turned away from them.

"Mitchell, status of all the 302 weapons."

He looked ready to possibly object to the idea, but the look Ford gave him changed his mind.

"I think there is one missile left, maybe two, otherwise we still have the guns."

"Get whoever you need from what's left of the crew and get one of the 302's fully prepped for combat. Then work on the rest the best they can. I want it ready ASAP."

"I'll get right on it." he said then left.

"You're willing to help us?" the Minister asked.

"I want to go home and that satellite still needs to come down." Ford said pointing at the sky. "If the satellite can't be destroyed personally, taking down the command center that has to have a computer system controlling it is just another way to get at it."

"Wouldn't do much good to try an air strike though. They have a new system in place and anti-missile systems."

The Minister took them to another room, that was mostly used for storing records. Filing cabinets lined the walls and were in stacks in the middle of the room like library shelves. Sam and Ford were at the back by a couple large windows that was providing light for them as they looked at some papers and map on a table. Other people worked around them at a few other tables or in the filing systems.

"Any word?" Carter asked as Teal'c and Mitchell along with the Minister walked in.

"The Rand Government continues to deny any knowledge of Daniel Jackson's existence." Teal'c asked.

"Figures. Tracker indicates he's still there, but that's all." Ford muttered.

"Our contacts tell us that he was seen alive in the Rand's Command Bunker during the exchange with your ship." the Minister said. "He's not been seen since."

Ford and Carter both shook their heads and sighed tiredly. Mitchell thought it was a little weird when the two did that occasionally. It wasn't often, just when they worked together for awhile on the same project or something.

"Any progress here?" Mitchell asked.

"Well, as we thought, the shield system came in toward the end of the building process." Ford said leaning on the table with both hands. "As for the power source, hell if we know. Probably a Prior doing. Kinda like that shield around the planet thing we saw, but couldn't find out what was generating it."

"Any good news?" Mitchell asked.

"Yes." Carter said. "According to these schematics, all commands for the satellite come from Rand's main control facility."

"You were indeed correct General Carter." Teal'c stated.

"About what?" Mitchell asked.

"I assumed that the satellite was controlled by the Rand government. That it wasn't controlled by anything or anyone else."

"Oh. Well, that makes sense." Mitchell said crossing his arms. "Anything else?"

"The shield system is a major power sucker." Ford said. "Had we kept firing, and had brought help, like a few mother ships or a Asguard ship, it wouldn't have lasted long."

"The power drain is so great, they only activate it when there is a threat." Carter said. "Otherwise, it just stays where it is and scans for those threats."

"Are you saying that the Prometheus was destroyed because we hesitated to fire when we dropped out of hyperspace?" Mitchell asked.

"We hesitated out of concern for the safety of Daniel Jackson." Teal'c stated.

"I should have pushed the damned button myself. Then we could have stormed the city without much trouble because we would have had transporters still. And with our 302's flying overhead, they might have been panicked enough to surrender." Ford grumbled out.

"But…." Carter began.

"They are Ori worshippers Carter. It's quite obvious Daniel wasn't able to get through to them and maybe a show of force on our part, like having taken out the satellite and us storming their city, with the 302's and the Prometheus right above the city might have made them realize that the Ori are not the gods they say they are." Ford stated.

"As nice as that plans sounds, it's not possible to even try implementing now." Mitchell said.

"The idea has merit, but since our last missile attack, they had developed a early warning system as I stated to you before. The bunker didn't even get damaged much the last time." the Minister said. "And with the anti-missile system, you wouldn't be able to get near the bunker anyway."

"Wait up." Mitchell said as she started to leave. "What about sabotage? You said you had people on the inside."

"Our agents have already made several attempts." she said as Teal'c walked over to them. "But security is too tight for them to mount any sort of effective strike."

"Actually, we don't have to hit the bunker itself to knock out satellite control." Carter said.

"You're right. Severe the radio link or whatever sort of link between the computer and the satellite…."

"Just longer enough for the shields to go down…."

"And bang. No more satellite." Ford said smiling at the idea. "Nice. How would we….."

"E.M.P." she said. "If we can detonate a small one above the city, it should…."

"Buy just enough time to have a 302 take out the problem." Ford said then turned to Mitchell.

"What's an E.M.P.?" the Minister asked.

"Electro Magnetic Pulse. It take out electronic devices." Mitchell said. "Question though, were are we going to get such a device?"

"A 302." both Carter's said.

"Run that by me again." he said confused.

"Not enough time and to technical to explain." Ford said interrupting Carter. "Just trust us on this."

"That won't be a problem. Next question then, how do we fly a F-302 over there and blow it up, or are you going to volunteer…."

"Hell no." Ford said. "A anti missile defense system is capable of blowing a ejected pilot out of the sky if aimed right. I can't survive that."

"We just have to remove the inertial dampener from one of the 302's and rig it to a Caledonian missile." Carter said.

"What about the anti missile defense system?" the Minister asked.

"We use that same 302's radar technology to make your missile invisible." Carter said.

"Mitchell, take the fully functioning 302 and whoever you want with. And let us know which 302 is the worst off. We'll scavenge it for the things we need."

"On it General." he said walking out.

"If this plan fails, President Nadal will see this as a offensive attack on our part and will surely step up the deadline on our surrender. Possibly even use the satellite on us." the Minister said.

"This will work." Carter said.

"Try and trust us."

"I don't know what to say." Jared said leaning against the cell bars he was standing by with his back to Daniel's cell.

Daniel was pacing back and forth with his arms crossed and head down.

"How to take it all back. I shouldn't have come to you."

"Look, right now, we just have to believe there are survivors."

"You think that's really possible?"

"The Prometheus has beaming technology."

"Had." Jared said emphasizing the word. "Beaming technology, whatever that is."

"Look," Daniel said as Jared walked back over and sat down. "The bottom line is we can't loose focus on why we came here in the first place. There has to be a way out of this and I have a got a feeling that Pernaux was listening to us."

"Daniel…."

"Look, I know the history between the Caledonians and the Rand makes things seem impossible. But, sometimes an outside perspective helps. In the past, I've found the key to these types of problems is get both parties on equal footing. Just to get the process of both parties talking again." he said urgently.

"You never give up do you?"

"Not until I'm dead." he said a little to hastily. "And sometimes not even then."

"Intelligence is reporting visual confirmation of a missile launch from Caledonian." Nadal stated forcefully as he entered the control room quickly.

He and the commander walked up to the screen and looked at it, seeing nothing on the map.

"Early warning systems detect no missile entering our airspace." the same man that was controlling the satellite reported.

"One missile?" the commander asked.

"So it seems." Nadal said still nervous.

"Possibly a test then?" the commander suggested.

"They're not going to surrender." Nadal said with anger and extreme paranoia. "They are preparing to launch a pre-emptive first strike given the Earth's attack on our satellite failed."

"You don't know that." the commander stated urgently. "They still have two days until the deadline."

"Get me Minister Chaska!"

Carter and Ford were standing by a table watching the map that the Caledonians had up that showed the territories and such. The Minister was behind them at another table looking at some papers when a man walked up and said that the Rand President wanted to talk to her.

"It doesn't look like they've deployed countermeasures." Carter said.

"They can't detect it." Ford said. "But whatever spies they have here must have reported the launch."

"That would have to be the case." the Minister said walking up next to them.

"You have to stall, or else they'll activate the shield out of sheer paranoia." Carter said.

She took a deep breath and then ordered another person to patch the line through. She picked up a CB unit that had a coiled wire attaching it to the radio system.

"President Nadal, this is Minister Chaska. Mr. President, if you're calling about the recent missile launch, please forgive me, we should have called you immediately. The launch was entirely accidental. It seems there was some confusion when the new launch protocols distributed recently. Obviously, the payload was detonated as soon as we realized what had happened. Needless to say, everyone here is a little on edge lately. But thankfully, we have ample precautions in place to prevent such an occurrence from such a serious threat."

"Indeed. Minister Chaska, while your militaries incompetence does concern me, the reason I am calling is to discuss the impending deadline."

"I see. Our government is still in the process of debating its options. As promised, we will give you an answer by the designated deadline."

"I'm sorry that the decision has not been easier for you." he said with falseness. "We shall talk again soon."

She set the CB back down and took another deep breath.

"I guess his spies don't know that there was survivors." Ford muttered. "Or he knows but doesn't care."

Mitchell and Teal'c were up in orbit slowly coming up on the satellite.

"Air Command, this is Blue Leader. We are wheels up." Mitchell reported back to them.

"Air Command?" Ford asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Mitchell's idea." Carter said leaning over to the small mike. "Roger that. Package is on its way. We are thirty seconds until detonation over target."

She stood back up and then turned to the Minister who was fidgeting.

"Nice job with all that…."

"He didn't believe a word of it." she said.

"Air Command? Mitchell is getting as bad as Colonel Sheppard." Ford muttered shaking his head.

"We are getting a report from Coastal Monitoring Base 4." the commander said as he held a phone to his ear. "Maybe visual of an incoming missile."

Nadal and the others in the room looked at the map to see the radar said still nothing.

"Why isn't it showing up on our radar?" Nadal asked looking over the map frantically.

"Sir, we are detecting a single small ship on approach. Possibly on of the Earth fighters that landed in Caledonian."

"Activate the missile shields!" Nadal ordered.

As the man was pushing the buttons, everything around them went black as the power failed. Daniel and Jared looked up as everything went black around them too.

"What just happened?" the commander yelled as he looked around with a flashlight.

"I don't know. We just lost power." the man that controlled the satellite said as he flicked switches. "All systems are down."

"Back up power is suppose to be isolated!" the commander yelled.

"The systems that activate it are down."

"We can't control the satellite." the commander said as he tried another phone.

"Get it back!" Nadal yelled.

"Someone get me a radio or phone that works!" the commander yelled.

"Blue Leader, this is base, the package has been delivered." Carter said through the mike. "Your window of opportunity is now open."

"Roger that. We have cleared the atmosphere. Two minutes until weapons range."

"Mitchell, I want you to make sure that not one piece of that damned thing can even make it through the planets atmosphere, understand?" Ford asked.

"Got it General. Total destruction of the satellite."

They had a couple functioning phone working, barely, and both the commander and Nadal were getting a report about some blast taking the power out over a certain range, but otherwise there was no damage anywhere. They both hung up as Jared and Daniel were brought into the room. The commander sat down on the table edge next to him. Nadal practically stomped over to them as the guard backed away.

"To our knowledge, the Caledonians do not possess the kind of technology required to do this. Such a weapon must have been given to them by your people!"

"I hope so." Daniel said.

"How can we undo this? You tell me now or I will have you executed!"

They all looked as the man who controlled the board for the satellite walked up to the commander who was still sitting.

"Based on it's speed and trajectory, the Earth ship will reach the satellite in less than one minute."

"Do you think that if the Ori were true gods, that they would allow the Caledonians to do this?" Jared asked loudly.

Daniel shook his head while keeping it looking at his hands.

"Look, I understand why you feel you have to fear the Prior and why you feel you have no choice, but there is another way out of this." he said then looked up.

"What would you have me do?" Nadal asked.

"Let me use the radio. I can contact the ship that's about to destroy the satellite and get them to call it off." he said quickly.

"Why would you do this?" the commander asked.

"Because I still believe a peaceful compromise can be reached out of all of this." Daniel stated forcefully.

"I'm listening." Nadal said.

"This is Daniel Jackson, come in please."

Mitchell and Teal'c both looked at their radio units.

"Whoever is flying the 302, if you can hear me, this is Daniel Jackson, please respond."

"Jackson, go ahead." Mitchell said.

"Mitchell?"

"Yeah. You okay?"

"Yeah, for the moment, you?" Daniel said as he saw that Nadal was monitoring the line with a headset.

At the Caledonian base, they also heard what was being said.

"Yeah, well, all things considered, listen, me and Teal'c are about to bag us a evil Ori satellite."

"Yeah, so glad I caught you." he said with a tone that made Ford groan.

"Please Daniel, don't….." Ford began saying.

"Listen, the Rand want to offer the Caledonians a deal."

"Really?" Mitchell said already sure about where this was headed and his voice betrayed the fact.

"Can I?" Carter asked.

"Please." the Minister said.

"Daniel, this is Sam."

"Hi Sam, it's good to hear your voice. Ford there too?"

"Good to hear you to. He's here." she said seeing Ford was shaking his head and muttered something about the fact he now understood why Jack got fed up with Daniel sometimes. "We're here with Minister Chaska. What is it that the Rand is offering?"

"In exchange for leaving the satellite intact, Rand is offering the Caledonians the Stargate."

"It's a trap." Ford muttered.

"Rand if offering the gate and a limited cease fire so all those in Caledonian that do not want to follow Origin and want to seek refuge on another planet can do so."

"They want us to leave our home? Our planet?" the Minister said obviously offended. Her tone suggested she thought the notion absurd.

"Jackson, are you sure about this?" Mitchell asked. "I've got a clean shot at this thing, and I am in favor of taking it."

"Rand built that satellite in less than a year, and I can tell you their resolve is very steady. If we blow this one up, they're just going to build another, and as far as the Caledonians go….Sam, Ford, you'll have to explain to them that the Prior's aren't going to give them much of a choice, regardless of what Rand decides to do."

"We've seen the Priors wipe out entire planets for refusing to follow the Ori." Carter said.

"You will not fight them with us?" Chaska asked.

"We'd try, but there is little else we can do." Carter stated.

"Will the Prior not follow us where ever we go?"

"Eventually, unless they get stopped pretty soon, it won't matter were anyone goes." Ford said.

"Look guys, this offer is not going to be on the table long and I realize there is a lot to be worked out," Daniel said as he was still being watch. "But at least it's a start."

"At least, at this moment, the Rand now believe you have the ability to disable the satellite any time you want." Carter said as the Minister thought.

"Which they will surely counter, in time." she stated angrily as she spun away from them and started to pace.

"The Minister is thinking, give her a moment." Ford said as Carter started tapping her fingers and looked at the CB unit that the Minister put down, which Ford just picked up.

"She doesn't have a lot of time." Daniel said.

"Tell your man to back off General."

"Mitchell?"

"General?"

Ford hesitated a moment.

"Mission aborted. Come on back."

"You sure General?" Mitchell asked hearing the hesitation and doubt.

"Yes Cam, break off and come back."

"Alright Jackson. We'll play it your way, but you all better be damned sure about this!" he said removing his mask angrily.

As Mitchell turned the F-302 away and headed back for the planet, power came back on as the systems finally reset around them in the bunker.

"Backup power is online." the man said looking at the report on the screen. "Satellite control has been re-established and sensors detect the Earth ship is veering away from the target."

"Activate the shields." Nadal said after looking around, mostly at Daniel.

"The ship is no longer a threat." the commander stated.

"Power the weapon. Target the Caledonian Capital building!"

"What?!" Daniel exclaimed as he was forcefully grabbed.

"Sir, perhaps we should take a moment….."

"You will abide by my authority!" he said angrily at the commander then spun back to the man at the controls. "Power the weapon now!"

"Yes sir."

"Our sensors have detected the weapons shields have become active." Teal'c stated looking at his screen.

"Jackson, what is going on down there? The satellite is powering up its weapon and targeting the planet."

"We had….." Carter began as the Minister went for her CB.

"That ass had no intention of keeping the deal." Ford said then turned to one of the pilots from Prometheus. "Get those F-302's in the air, now. Unless we say otherwise, I want that bunker destroyed. Do whatever it takes including slamming the plane into the bunker."

The man started to ask about Daniel, but thought better and left.

"President Nadal, explain your actions immediately! President Nadal?!" the Minister asked.

"You gave your word!" Jared yelled as Nadal spun on him with fury.

"I gave my soul to the Ori who offered us all salvation!" Nadal cried out as he walked up to Jared and yelled in his face before turning back around. "Anyone who rejects that is a fool! They are all Caledonians for god's sake! They all deserve to die long before the Ori showed us the path to enlightenment!"

"Power down the satellite." the commander ordered.

"Don't listen to him!" Nadal yelled.

"Now!" the commander said pointing at the man.

"Arrest the commander!"

"Stand down! Now!" the commander ordered as two armed men started to come at him with guns aimed. They backed off. "I will not let you do this Nadal!"

"Do as I say!" Nadal ordered.

The commander pulled his pistol and fired a round before he was shot by the two armed men a few times. He dropped to the ground as everyone else took cover, including the man that was controlling the board for the satellite. Nadal fell to the ground near Daniel's feet as he held his bleeding chest. Jared quickly took charge.

"Put your weapons down! Now!" Jared yelled as he broke free from the man holding him.

He rushed over and grabbed one of the officers that shot the commander and pushed him toward the door telling him to get a medical team. Jared went to the commander while Daniel was checking on Nadal.

"Shut down the satellite." the commander ordered to the man that controlled it. He was also kneeling on the ground next to Jared who had picked up the commander.

"He's dead." Daniel reported.

"You heard him, the President is dead. Commander Pernaux is next in command." Jared said to the man.

"He's also the one who killed the President." the man stated.

"The President violated a international treaty!" Jared exclaimed. "Do you want to be the one that is responsible for destroying a city full of people when this goes to Tribunal?! Shut it down now!"

The man got up quickly and turned to the computer.

"Hang on. Help is coming." Jared said.

"The deal……will stand." Pernaux said weakly.

"President Nadal? Doctor Jackson?" the Minister asked.

"We're getting a message from the Caledonians." the man said. "They are asking for the President or Doctor Jackson."

"Go ahead Doctor." Jared said.

"This is Daniel."

"Daniel, I need to know what's going on?" a voice said through the speakers.

"President Nadal is dead. The attack is being called off."

"We got reports that satellite was shutting down. I need to know if the attack is really called off or if this is a ruse?"

"It's really called off. Jared and Commander Pernaux, a close friend of his are in charge now."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, what's going on? What did you order?"
"Nothing that I can't countermand at the moment. Here's the Minister." Ford said handing the CB unit over.

It was late at night and they were finishing up work at the SGC after coming home a couple days ago. Daniel's parents were happy he was home and safe again. Daniel didn't go home but was in his office working late after the short memorial service they did. Mitchell did a lot of the speaking since he knew Pendergast the most on the base.

"Hey. Haven't seen you since the memorial service." Daniel said as Mitchell walked in, in his normal clothes and some bag on his shoulder that he set on the floor.

"It was a rough day." Mitchell said opening a beer and setting next to Daniel. He opened his own and sat on a table by the wall.

"So, where have you been?"

"I um, hand delivered a letter that General Carter wrote to Pendergast's wife and kids. They needed to know, that he didn't die in vain. That his death mattered. Didn't know the General was good at writing a letter that said so much, but skirted the edge of crossing the classified line without doing so."

"Yeah. Ford's pretty good at that, so Sam says. Pendergast was a good man and a better leader, so Ford also said, though I didn't know much about him. Saving 76 people is a testament to his leadership."

"And yours. We never would have gotten off that planet if you hadn't brokered that deal."

Mitchell saluted him with the beer and took a drink as Daniel sat back.

"Ford hasn't told you then."

"Told me what?"

"Soon after we left, the talks broke down."

"And?"

"And, we've been unable to make contact with them. Ford appraised the Daedalus of the situation, informed them also of what happened to the Prometheus and wants to them drop by and take a look on there way back from Atlantis. It seems that the Caledonians weren't content with leaving their fair planet."

"They launched a attack."

"And Rand responded. The Stargate is presumed buried in the rubble."

"Rough day." Mitchell said sadly as he took enough drink.

"Rough day." Daniel said in agreement as he picked up the beer, saw it was a Coors, and took a drink as well.

The next day, and thankfully not a lot of people being in the mess hall, though those that were looked up as General Carter brought a large oak cabinet into the room, on a large dolly. He put it just near the corner wall that was close to the door out of the room. It was in a out of the way place, but visible for all to see. The large open oak cabinet had no shelves, was seven feet high by seven feet wide and two feet deep. He moved a few tables out of the way and some chairs before setting it in its location and taking the dolly away. On either side of the outside walls of the cabinet was a rolled up wooden object that served as door. He rolled them out and when they came together, there was a lock at the top, middle and bottom. He rolled them back and everyone could see an empty inside. They didn't ask or say anything, mostly because of the expression on his face that showed sadness and pride as he walked back out and then came in with a big box he set on the table. No one got close either as he used a drill gun and placed a couple objects inside. After they were up, and a quick salute to what was inside, he took the box and dolly then left, giving the airmen that guarded the doorway a set of keys and some orders. The man nodded and put them in his pocket. Once General Carter left, they walked up to see what he had put up. The cabinet was now attached to the wall, on the inside. On the wall, on the left, was a inch thick oak wooden panel, nicely carved by a router, that went from the top to the bottom of the cabinet. There was a lot of empty spaces, but up near the top, is where it all started. A small gold plate was on the top under the large 3d metal fixture of the SGC symbol. And it read…..

"This plague is dedicated to the lives of the people who were lost in the line of duty so that their sacrifice will never be forgotten. They gave their lives to protect the planet and everyone on it. May they forever be remember with honor and respect."

Under the metal plate was the year that the Stargate program started and small gold metal plates with the names of the people who died that year, their full name and rank and the year they were born. This continued down until the current year they were in, listing all the friends and family lost. A lot of space with areas for more gold plates were still absent of names, signifying that those spots were for the unfortunate future losses.

On the right side of the cabinet, hanging on the wall as well was a very well detailed, one foot long model of the Prometheus that was on a special stand attached to a delicately carved oak board. Under the ship was a gold metal plague that also had words and under the words were small gold plates that told the lives lost in the unfortunate recent incident, the information on them the same as the gold plates on the left. This plague read……….

"Dedicated to the first Earth Starship, the Prometheus. She went before her time, as did her captain, Colonel Lionel Pendergast, who stayed behind on the ships final minutes in order to save his crew. This model and plague is dedicated to the crew who survived and to the crew who did not make it home. Their sacrifice shall not be forgotten, and they shall be remember with honor and respect. May their souls rest in peace, and we pray that same peace eventually comes to their family and friends."

They all realized it was a memorial that the General had set up. When people who couldn't know the true nature of the SGC came down, the doors would be locked until they left. Then it would be open for everyone to see again, and to see the names of those they had lost. For many, it helped give closure and a better sense of pride in the SGC.