As promised, when O'Neill and Carter stepped through the gate, Daniel Jackson was their waiting for them. O'Neill and Carter moved in from the gate, and were followed by SG-2, and then the Joes.
"Secure the perimeter", shouted O'Neill as the pool of water vanished. The officers all gathered around Dr. Jackson, while the enlisted personnel moved to the perimeter.
"There's a path over there," said Daniel pointing to one of the ridges. "I think it leads to a town."
"Nice to see you too, Danny," said O'Neill, "and have we been playing in the woods by ourselves?" he added, wondering what Hawk had sent him ahead for.
"Um, Yeah. Something like that," responded Jackson, not sure if he should lie to O'Neill. He handed a map to O'Neill. O'Neill, Carter, Jackson and Kowalski all looked at Hawk as he seemed distracted. O'Neill had seen the look before. Hawk did not like something about the surroundings. Then O'Neill realized that the ceremonial grounds were not set up for a mobile operation. He jarred Hawk back to the present when he handed Hawk Jackson's map.
"Thanks for the layout Dr. Jackson," said Hawk. "Could I speak with Dr. Jackson and Colonel O'Neill alone for a moment?" he asked, meaning he wanted Carter and Kowalski to step away, which they did wondering the significance.
"Colonel O'Neill…"
"Call me Jack. It's code name for Jack," responded O'Neill as they stepped over to the rc atv they had brought with them through the gate.
Hawk chuckled, "Okay, Jack it is. As Dr. Jackson will attest, he has not been here alone. I have an operative that came with him earlier to get the lay of the land. She has made a pass around the gate at a radius of a mile. Here is what my operative sent. She saw a fort here through her scope," said Hawk pointing to an almost blank piece of paper which showed the gate at the center, "about a mile and a half from here to the northeast. She is in the center of the triangle in the middle of the fort, a path to a settlement, which lies to the southeast and runs here. The fort houses a large company-slash-small battalion. If something happens, with your permission, I plan to hit the fort with artillery, and also line up the path that leads to the settlement with artillery rounds."
"How have you heard from her?" Hawk simply responded by pointing to an earpiece.
"So you have Snakeyes. Nobody can know his name. And now you tell me you have 'an operative' who is already here, and you're keeping her a secret, even from your own unit." O'Neill was incredulous. Hawk shrugged his shoulders.
"She' good at what she does, but she's an unknown element."
"What does that mean?"
"You'll never find her. She's a sniper. But if she can't pull the trigger, I can't allow her on the team."
"So you have a sniper who can't kill?" This is the first time O'Neill had a reason to doubt the professional Hawk.
"She's done her job so far. When the time comes, she'll do what she needs to."
"But you have your doubts," with that comment from O'Neill, Hawk changed the subject.
"Our recon did not check far enough from the gate. I would like to send Stalker out for recon at a radius of two miles after laying some explosives around the rim of this field. It's a trap in here and we'll need good cover to get out if something goes wrong.
Jackson could not hold it any longer. "Listen, I want to get Sha'uri back, badly. But no one here has been hostile yet."
"Have you met anyone yet?" asked O'Neill.
"Well, no."
"Well Daniel, don't you think it's a good idea to hope for the best, but plan for the worst? And with that in mind, go ahead. Let's plant C-4 around the rim of this bowl, then Hawk, you carry out your plan. Jackson, Carter and I with SG-2 will head toward the village."
"There's one more thing," said Hawk.
"Go ahead," sighed O'Neill.
"This arrangement, the field is not set up to bring firepower through. I'd like to redial Earth, and have them send through something to help us create some space around the gate so we can have a place for our artillery."
Dr. Jackson gasped, but O'Neill stepped in, "I don't think that's the way to win friends and influence people," he announced.
Jackson added, "This is a sacred space for them."
"You think so, Daniel?" O'Neill posed the question.
"Well, it makes sense."
"It might make sense, but it makes more sense to have cover if we need it. Hawk, let's get some good ole' fashion fireworks planted, and we'll make our way into town. Do what you need to do within some semblance of reason."
Everyone got to work. The Joes and the SGC soldiers unloaded C-4 off the atv, and then planted C-4 around the perimeter of the field. The SGC military personnel were surprised at the efficiency with which the Joes worked. Zap provided the expertise and everyone else moved with crisp precision.
Daniel dialed the gate while the military personnel finished with the explosives.
"Send through two ramps, and R & R with his Ram. We'll need some hooks and rope as well. We've got some things to move," Hawk ordered the Joes on Earth as Daniel cringed. The gate went through the necessary process of closing, and then a few minutes later the gate lit up, and the swirl of water burst through the ring. It was followed shortly by two ramps which the Joes moved into place on either side of the platform on which the gate was place. Then Rock'n'Roll came through on a green motorcycle with a machine gun mounted to its side.
O'Neill was impressed Hawk seems to almost have thought of everything, except of course, a sniper who will shoot. Soon SG-1 was on its way to the town with SG-2 and the remote control atv they had brought with them.
After the SGC teams left, Stalker and the recon teams got ready. He and Grunt had brought large covered packs. They opened them to show "Jump" flying backpacks. They carried those as they walked the area to the northwest of the gate. Scarlett and Snakeyes moved out to check the southwestern grid opposite the town.
The gate was in the center of a large field. The DHD was right in front of the gate, about fifteen yards from the ring. There were rocks in a circular formation surrounding the gate. Hawk couldn't help but think of a church sanctuary. Rock'n'Roll had brought the rope and hooks to turn over the stone benches and hopefully give the Joes enough room if they needed to bring in the big guns.
Zap went up to one of the stones and tried to push it over. "I think two of us could move these over and create a little more room," Zap said. "Of course I could simply blow a few out of the way with my bazooka."
"We'll just move them by rolling them."
Hawk, Zap and Rock'n'Roll worked on the stones in the row closest to the gate. They would take turns riding the motorcycle with the ropes hooked to the cycle, while the other two would push the stones. It took them several hours, but they moved the first row far enough away to give their vehicles some room. They then hid and rested in the cold, waiting to hear from back from everyone out exploring.
SG-1 and 2 moved out along the path toward the town. O'Neill couldn't help but wonder where the other Joe was hiding. He wouldn't have known the name "Shooter" if Daniel had not told him on a whim.
As they moved along, Kowalski pointed to a clearing off the path. "This should be a good place for us to camp tonight."
"Sounds good, Kowalski. Carter, Daniel and I will continue into town, I hope you'll be close enough to bail us out of trouble," replied O'Neill.
"Yes sir, we won't leave you behind."
"If something happens, you make for the gate. I'm counting on you to cooperate with Hawk to get us out of trouble."
"Sure, whatever you say," said Kowalski blithely. It seemed no one believed him.
SG-1 continued on.
SG-1 moved down the path. They received a call from Hawk telling them that a party was coming toward them on the path from the village. O'Neill ordered everyone out of sight. He wasn't sure how he felt knowing that Shooter was watching them. O'Neill, Carter and Jackson hid in the bushes. The party approached the hiding place, and Daniel realized they were probably priests of some kind.
O'Neill could only watch as Jackson stepped out from the hiding place to meet them. Neither O'Neill nor Carter understood the conversation that took place between the priests and Jackson, though they noticed that everyone kept repeating "chop a eye". While O'Neill snickered at his own pun, he knew it referred to the stargate.
Daniel told Carter and O'Neill that they were now invited to "choose". Apparently, their arrival was not a surprise in that the priests knew many guests of honor would be present. O'Neill responded "Choosing is good, let's go choose."
SG-1 followed the priests into town and were led to what appeared to be the residence of the local ruler. Their hosts invited them to sit down at the table with people who looked like dignitaries. Not much was said until a bell rang. O'Neill liked the idea that the dinner bell transcended cultures and languages.
Both groups of Joes reported to Hawk that there were paths that were trodden down, but that the towns, and any military support were far enough not to be seen at the two mile distance Hawk had ordered. After their recon, Hawk moved them both back. Snakeyes and Scarlett were authorized to secure local garments and move toward the settlement where O'Neill had relayed the rough coordinates to Hawk. It was now late morning at the SGC, and things were going too smoothly for Hawk. It would be some time before Scarlett and Snakeyes were in position if O'Neill and Kowalski needed them. This worried the Colonel. He checked in with the SGC with their current status.
Earlier in the evening:
At the bell, Carter and O'Neill sat wondering what was about to happen. They were wondering aloud what they might be eating when Jackson popped up and ran toward the front of the table.
Both Carter and O'Neill were too late to realize that Sha'uri stood at the end. She stood next to a man that O'Neill quickly recognized from the video as the one who had led the incursion into the "Well". He thought they might be close to finding Sgt. Weterings and Skaara as well.
Jackson ran around the table to Sha'uri, only to be met by the crushing blow of a staff. O'Neill made a quick call into his radio, "Hawk, assume command. Get your back-up through the gate. We have been attacked."
O'Neill and Carter got out of their seats to help Jackson. Carter moved to Jackson and O'Neill stared at the large man who had knocked him down, only to be knocked down from behind. Each of them noticed that Sha'uri's eyes glowed. Her mouth sneered at her husband, beaten and on the floor.
The leader, standing next to Sha'uri, pointed at SG-1 and acted offended. O'Neill recognized the tone, if not the words. Then a guard knocked O'Neill unconscious.
Things began to happen quickly. Hawk radioed the SGC for the prepared backup. Once the gate shut-down so that Earth could re-dial, Stalker radioed Hawk telling him the fort was stirring. It looked like a platoon-size unit was marching for the city. The enemy was now active.
"You and Grunt get ahead of them. Use your jet-packs and beat them to the city. Steeler and his team are already on their way in. I'll need co-ordinates for an artillery strike. Hawk out."
Hawk then radioed Kowalski, "You getting all this?"
"Yes, sir!" he responded.
"I want you to move to a position closer to the city. It sounds like SG-1 has been captured. Snakeyes and Scarlett are monitoring the situation and are almost in position to assist. They will need your cover fire to escape. Scarlett will fill you in on any plans they have."
Kowalski responded, "I'm looking for a fight." He noticed the faith that Hawk put in the young female sergeant. He turned to his SG- 2 teammates, Sgts. Casey and Warren, "Hide the atv, and grab the Stinger missile launcher, I've got a feeling we're going to need it."
The expedition had brought 2 Stinger SAM launchers. Zap had kept the other at the gate. He stood on the eastern ridge of the gate with his LR in hand, and the Stinger right next to him. Rock'n'Roll was out of sight somewhere near the path that lead into the forest. Hawk was at the gate. He had called in the reinforcements, now he was waiting for them so he could place them in the positions that would maximize their firepower.
The gate opened and first came Steeler hauling the HAL with his MoBaT. Then came a Vamp driven by Clutch hauling the FLAK. Then came another Vamp, driven by Breaker, hauling a Mobile Missile System with three rockets. Steeler in his MoBaT and Grand Slam in the HAL, were positioned to cover the ridge to the east. Clutch set up the FLAK, manned by Shortfuze, to fire on any air-craft that might attack.
Hawk ran to the MMS and put a set of co-ordinates into the MMS. He switched his radio to Shooter's channel. "Do you copy?"
Squelch, was all that came over the comm. "Let me know when any more formations are ready to leave the fort, primary radio channel," ordered Hawk. Hawk planned to bombard so that only the fewest possible number of troops could reach him from the fort.
Guards carried SG-1 one away from the dinner table and Sha'uri.
Daniel woke up in route. The guards discovered this made him walk the rest of the way to their internment. On the way, Daniel struck up a conversation with the one who seemed to be the chief guard. Jackson thought he seemed sad. Yes, he was sad, but powerful. And he was still holding a staff weapon, aiming it at him. And he was only one of about seven guards.
O'Neill managed to rouse enough to see some interaction between Daniel and the large, darkly colored guard. As they approached a large building, Jackson finally noticed O'Neill's eyes. He spoke to him, "I keep trying to warn him. More of us will come, and we will come with more and more powerful weapons. He just keeps insulting us."
"He's not insulting you, Danny boy. He's actually hoping you're right." Then O'Neill turned to the large man with the gold tattoo on his forehead, "That's right, isn't it."
Something seemed to turn in the large man at this point. O'Neill could see the look in the soldier's eyes. There was some semblance of hope in them. There were almost tears, and a new determination was forming. "Help us," Jack pleaded. Carter was now awake and watched in amazement as it seemed like the alien guard was somehow affected her commanding officer.
For his part, the alien seemed unfazed to Jackson. He only became more brutal. They entered a building with the guard, and he pushed them violently. As they reached a large holding room, the alien shoved them into the bar doors, then knocked them all down in the prison cell. The large man walked over to Jackson and quietly said, "You may get your chance soon." Then he left the prison cell. Sam was largely unhurt. O'Neill could feel all the hits he had taken. "I am too old for this."
Then he heard a sound that was sweet to his ears, "O'Near! Dani-yell!" He recognized Skaara's pronunciation of his name anywhere. Both Skaara and Carter looked at Dr. Jackson and saw blood on his forehead, and his hand reaching for his back. Skaara did not know why they were there, but only that Sha'uri had been taken from the cell earlier.
Jackson could not comprehend why his wife was so cold to his rush towards her even though he had seen her eyes glow. Carter and O'Neill kept their insight to themselves, for now. O'Neill finally and slowly stood up, and saw the room filled with humans, scattered. They were dirty, and like themselves, beaten. Some looked hungry. They were all scared.
"You can beat them, right O'Near," said Skaara. O'Neill did not respond. "You are a mighty warrior."
"We'll see Skaara." O'Neill kept the presence of Kowalski, Hawk, and the reinforcements to himself. He had to assume they would see their own action, and that SG-1 and these prisoners were on their own.
SG-1, and Skaara spent the night in the cell. They did not get much rest. Nothing happened there while the sun was down.
Each of the Joe teams and SG-2 hunkered down for the night, taking turns keeping watch. Kowalski had moved his men to within visual range of the city. Stalker and Grunt were ahead of the alien platoon size formation headed toward the city, which Hawk told them had also set up camp for the night. Shooter kept silent. Hawk knew she could see the fort and that even if she was alone, she would keep track of any troop action there. Snakeyes and Scarlett were near the city. They stopped to rest the least as they had the responsibility of going into the city to find SG-1. Hawk and the rest of the Joes set up around the gate, circling the wagons as it were, with the tank and artillery. Very few of them got any real rest as they anticipated the next day's action.
The next morning, at the base of the town, soldiers made fun of an old couple coming into the town. The old woman spoke gibberish, but they just kept walking toward the center of the city. The old man walked humped over, leading the woman and said nothing.
The wrinkled couple walked up to one shopkeeper and the old man cupped his right hand and put it to his mouth, silently asking for food. The shopkeeper gave him some, which the old man shared with the woman. They kept moving toward the city's center. The gray-haired woman looked at the palace, which stood above the city. They chose that as their destination.
"Any word from SG-1," Scarlett asked Hawk over the radio.
"Not since O'Neill told me they were under attack. Scarlett, you have a platoon on the way to the city from the fort. Stalker and Grunt are ahead of them, and have given me a target spot. SG-2 is also moving into position outside the city to assist. The enemy will reach that spot in 20 minutes. Either you are out of there, or I will hit that platoon with a rocket. You have got to find SG-1 and get them out. This mission is quickly going south."
Hawk was now feeling the tension. This mission involved his team because they were a small unit outfitted with experimental weapons and designed to carry out ops against superior numbered forces. They brought their own artillery, and the most advanced communications technology, and yet Hawk wanted more reinforcements. Reinforcements meant more people had to be aware of the stargate, and more troops at risk. He held the remote to the MMS, and waited for the radio squelch from Shooter. Once he fired a rocket, that was it.
"We're in the town now, we are going to the most likely place for prisoners to be held," responded Scarlett, jarring Hawk out of his introspection.
SG-1, Skaara, and the rest of the prisoners waited anxiously. Carter and O'Neill were trying to map the town, and the castle, from memory. Skaara was watching, noting the guard's shift patterns he had seen during his two days plus of captivity.
Jackson kept busy checking on the other prisoners. Jackson found several language groups present in addition to Skaara's variation of Egyptian. There was a Classical Greek variation that Daniel did not fully understand. He recognized a form of Mandarin and wondered if one of the Joes might be able to speak this language. Then he wondered if it was even the same language. He also heard forms of Proto-Germanic, Latin, Persian and African dialects. He wondered what it meant. How did these aliens who had visited Egypt, visit so many cultures in ancient earth? He was unable to communicate with most of the human aliens, and that frustrated the linguist. He then remembered what CS Lewis had been told, "Never trust a philologist." Jackson felt useless.
Then he heard some form of ancient Native-American being spoken. As an Egyptologist he had studied some of the Mayan ruins for similarities so he was also more familiar with that language than many of the others. He went and met the people who spoke it. Their language was much older than the known Mayan language, but the researchers he had worked with had a surprisingly accurate knowledge of the dead language. It was in fact, one of the Mayan languages, spoken almost 2000 years prior to the peak of the civilization that brought about the Mayan pyramids and the infamous long-form Mayan calendar. When Daniel had shared his theory of the pyramids as alien landing pads, one of the researchers began to wonder aloud if the Mayans knew something we didn't, because the calendar seemed to end in about fifteen years.
Jackson suspected that the prisoners knew nothing about that. He was able to gather, through effort, that they were hungry, and scared. Who wasn't? thought Jackson. Danny split a candy bar that they divided amongst themselves.
Then there was a commotion at the door. O'Neill and Carter both got up. Jackson followed, as did many in the cell. All three SG-1 members, along with Skaara went to the front.
The large guard arrived and spoke to Jackson. Danny turned to his teammates and told them the man had asked where their deliverance was? O'Neill looked the man squarely in the eye and said, "It'll be here." To Carter, it was now as if the man understood O'Neill, as if the two shared some language she, or for that matter their resident language genius, could not understand. The alien made what looked to Daniel at first like a taunting gesture, tossing them the device that Jack had been speaking into before they had beat them in the food hall. Unfortunately, the speaker was not attached to an actual radio. Jack looked at the giant guard and said "Thank you", while knowing full well the speaker was useless.
Within seconds more guards approached, followed by a procession of richly dressed individuals, including Sha'uri, and the apparent king of this fiefdom. All of the prisoners were pushed away from the cell bars. Daniel tried again to approach Sha'uri, and was again knocked down. He looked dizzy as Carter looked after him.
The man next to Sha'uri was treated regally. He was dark skinned and carried himself with a sense of arrogance. After the prisoners were pushed away from the cell, the king and his Sha'uri entered, protected by their guards. They addressed the crowd, but only a few people understood.
Several guards moved the people even further back, creating a gap. The other well-dressed individuals with Sha'uri and the king began to enter the cell and move among the people, selecting individuals from the crowd. O'Neill asked Daniel what was going on. Daniel remained silent, as if contemplating its meaning. He remembered that the priests had asked if they were there to "choose?" Skaara whispered in O'Neill's ears, "Apophis said, 'Stand for this day you may have the honor of being chosen as the children of the gods." O'Neill remembered Ra, and that he had joined, or more likely taken over the body of the boy two thousand years ago. Then he remembered Sha'uri's eyes. He put two and two together and as he was about to speak, Carter said, "This is how they choose what bodies they are going to inhabit for the next two-thousand years."
"I was just going to say that. So this guy's name is Apophis, huh?" O'Neill said.
As the dignitaries chose individuals, the guards pulled them from the crowd, and set the chosen ones in a crowd by themselves near the gate. One of the well-dressed lords came over to where SG-1 and Skaara were standing. He pointed at Skaara. O'Neill got between the guards and Skaara, then the guards hit him with their staff weapons and knocked him down. The guards grabbed Skaara and took him over to the group of chosen ones. He was fighting the whole way. Skaara hit one guard in the knee, and then used his own staff to trip him. When three other guards pointed their weapons at Skaara, O'Neill yelled, "Stop, Skaara, now is not the time." Skaara knew nothing about O'Neill's plan, but the large alien guard could see that Skaara trusted the man who calmed him.
Just then, Daniel grabbed one of the royals, fell to the floor and spoke to him in their language. O'Neill could not see Jackson's face, but he could see Daniel's body slump when the royal responded. It was Carter who had the courage to ask, "What is it Daniel?"
"He said that there is nothing left of the host. He says that Sha'uri will be one of these things until she dies." Carter and O'Neill looked at each other, and then at Skaara. Now it seemed that Daniel knew what they knew. Sha'uri was now one of them, whatever they were.
The prisoners designated to become new hosts were led away by guards as the king, now known to them as Apophis, and his queen in the body of Sha'uri were the last of the gods to leave. Apophis spoke to his guards and then departed.
The guards moved into place. Six of them lined up on a staircase in front of those remaining in the cell. O'Neill noticed two guards standing outside the cell, one left to follow the procession while the other remained. The large guard in the cell walked over to the staircase. SG-1 moved to the front of the group of people. O'Neill now urgently told Jackson to translate as he spoke to the large guard.
"Do you know Ra?" Daniel translated. The guards stood silently. The large one looked closely at O'Neill. "We killed him. Blew up his spaceship with weapons similar to the ones that are about to hit right here." The guard stood silently. The other guards looked confused.
"What go'auld do you serve: Yu, Kronos, Moloch, Sokar?" Daniel understood the large guard to say.
In the ancient language Daniel responded, "We serve no go'auld." O'Neill was anxious that he could not understand what was being said, and that Daniel did not care to translate.
With this, all of the guards were perplexed.
Then O'Neill spoke again, "I can help these people. Help me help them," he pleaded this time.
When Daniel finished, the large guard walked a few steps toward O'Neill, "Many have said what you say," Jack heard in Daniel's voice as he translated the words of the guard. Just then, off in the distance they heard a clap of thunder. The guard seemed to consider the sound. He aimed his staff weapon at O'Neill and opened the head, charging the weapon.