Sticks and Stones – Chapter 27 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)
Upon exiting the wormhole on Chamaka, the SGC personnel immediately came under fire. The two Jaffa guarding the gate were quickly eliminated, as were the two who came running when they heard weapons fire. They were completely unprepared for the vast number of Tau'ri who came through the gate and as such, only managed to inflict injury to one marine. A lucky shot to the leg of Sergeant Marshall was all the Jaffa managed before being slain.
The uninjured SGC members fanned out around the clearing while Sam dialled the gate back to Earth. It was decided that Sergeant Marshall would be sent back to the SGC now the gate was secure. One team of marines would then stay in the clearing to guard the gate, while SG's 2 and 3 went ahead with the remaining marines, to inspect the burning village in the distance.
As the wormhole was established Sam punched SG-2's IDC code into her GDO. She then used her radio to advise the General that the gate was secure for deployment of the UAVs and asked that the iris be opened for the injured marine to step back through for treatment.
Once she got confirmation that the iris was indeed open, she ushered Sergeant Marshall through the event horizon. The General confirmed that he'd arrived on Earth and closed down the wormhole to enable the SGC to dial back for the launch of the UAVs.
Sam stepped away from the DHD and pulled a scanner out of her pack. Switching it on, she turned slowly round until she picked up the signal from a radio transmitter inside the wooded area. She motioned to Ferretti and the teams moved in the direction of the signal.
Once they were under the cover of the trees, Sam soon located the transmitter that Khyoni had dropped earlier. She switched it off and placed it in her pack for safe keeping before turning around to watch the launch of the UAVs.
The teams all ducked down into the undergrowth as the gate burst into life. The four marines guarding the gate crouched beside it, two on either side of the huge stone ring. All sixteen members of the SGC were on the look out for the remaining two Jaffa that Teal'c had advised were almost definitely in the vicinity.
The first UAV flew through the gate and shot upwards into the air. The teams watched as it climbed to it's cruising height and disappeared off in the direction of the village. The second machine left the gate and mimicked it's predecessor before disappearing off in the opposite direction.
This happened twice more, each time with the little plane setting off on a different course. With any luck the UAVs would send back enough data to enable the SGC to locate the missing Chamakan people and maybe shed some light on what Ba'al was up to at the same time.
Ferretti and Reynolds had a brief discussion before Lou advised the marines guarding the gate that the teams were ready to move out.
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Slowly and quietly the teams made their way through the woods towards the village. Long before they reached the edge of the wooded area they could smell the smoke from the fires that the Jaffa had started. The wind was gently blowing the smoke in their direction and it was difficult to remain silent as their throats were aggravated by the particles carried in the breeze.
Once they reached the edge of the trees they spread out to observe the village. Approximately half the houses were either burning or had burned out and they were dismayed to see bodies lying in the main street. There were three bodies, all once strong, young men and all showed obvious signs of being killed by staff weapons fire.
As they watched, an armoured Jaffa warrior appeared from inside one of the still standing houses. He'd obviously been raiding the pantry of this particular building as he was holding a large slab of cooked meat. He moved out onto the street and called to one of his comrades who emerged from another building carrying some gold jewellery which he held it up to show the first warrior. He voiced his approval and held up his slab of meat, motioning with it toward the building he'd retrieved it from.
'Jewellery Jaffa' moved into the house with the pantry and the Jaffa with the meat moved down the street to see what other loot was to be had.
Teal'c came up close behind Ferretti and whispered to him, pointing towards the house containing the pantry. Lou answered with a grim nod of his head and ducked down low again as Teal'c moved stealthily into the village.
He silently drew his knife and followed the Jaffa into the small building. With the element of surprise on his side Teal'c managed to dispatch the warrior before he'd realised that anyone was inside with him. He then dragged the body into a back room and hid it, in case the other Jaffa came looking for his comrade.
He checked the open doorway and slipped back outside. Crouched in the shadow of the small building Teal'c listened intently and was able to ascertain that there were two more Jaffa in one of the nearby buildings. He could hear muted conversation going on inside and observed that the Jaffa seemed at ease, they were obviously assuming that there was no one left to attack them.
He assumed that the other two warriors must be either patrolling or looting the village. He'd have rather known their exact whereabouts before moving further into the village but that wasn't to be.
Just as Teal'c moved out of the buildings shadow his radio sprung to life. The marines at the gate had encountered the two remaining Jaffa and had eradicated them quickly, sustaining no injuries.
Unfortunately for Teal'c, the Jaffa in the nearby building heard the transmission and came running outside, bellowing for their comrades to join them.
Teal'c threw the knife he was carrying at the leading Jaffa. It was a perfect shot and caught the warrior in his neck killing him instantly. The second Jaffa readied his staff weapon and Teal'c dived behind the building to avoid the shot.
The warrior roared his dismay at missing his prey and swung round the building in pursuit of Teal'c. As he did so he was met by a barrage of weapons fire from the P-90's of Stargate Command. He fell backwards as he died and his armour made a satisfying 'thunk' as he hit the floor.
The noise alerted the two patrolling Jaffa and they came running down the tree-line on the outside of the village. The meat-eating Jaffa emerged from the house further down the street and ran at them from the other direction.
The SGC members were effectively divided into two groups, fighting in opposite directions. Major Peterson, of SG-3, took a staff blast on his shoulder and one of the marines, Corporal Emmett was clubbed around the head with a staff weapon before the short fight was over.
The two wounded men were taken inside one of the buildings and patched up by Lieutenant Sands of SG-2. The others thoroughly checked through the village but as Teal'c suspected there were no more Jaffa to be found. SG-3 carefully lifted the bodies of the three young men from where they were lying in the street. They carried them into the underground storage area of one of the buildings and covered them in tarpaulins, hoping that a decent burial could be arranged for them soon. They covered the trap door with rubble from one of the burnt out houses and left the dead to lie in peace.
Teal'c collected the weapons from the dead Jaffa, then went round with a zat and disposed of the warriors remains.
From here on in stealth would be essential but if that failed, then it was all too possible they would need to evacuate an area at a moments notice should they be located by enemy troops. The two wounded men slowing them down could mean the difference between life and death for the whole group.
Ferretti and Reynolds decided that it would be too dangerous to have anyone not completely fit with them, so once the injuries were cared for Ferretti ordered Corporal Franks to take the wounded men back to the gate.
When he delivered the wounded men to the infirmary Corporal Franks was to advise the SGC of the fire-fight in the village and tell General Hammond that they presently hadn't located any survivors. Ferretti also requested that, once they set out, radio silence needed to be maintained if at all possible. If the Jaffa hadn't been alerted to their presence when they had been, then the injuries that Peterson and Emmett sustained may have been avoided.
Franks, Peterson and Emmett set off back to the gate while Reynolds radioed the marines to let them know to expect the three soldiers. He also needed to find out if the UAVs had reported anything. In hushed tones the marines on the gate told the Colonel that there was a massing of people in a north-easterly direction, about ten klicks from the gate. It looked like construction had been started on a defensive base and that most of the people were being held near to this structure.
The eight remaining members of the search and rescue team left the security of the buildings and re-entered the tree covered area on the far side of the village. They purposely set out in a north-easterly direction towards the construction area where they hoped to find the main populace of the Chamakan people.