Sticks and Stones - Chapter 49 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)
The once quiet clearing on the planet of Chamaka was suddenly a hive of activity. Jack immediately set two teams to scour the trees that circled the clearing to ensure they weren't walking into an ambush unprepared.
Teal'c had the unenviable task of removing the ring-transporter controls from the arm of the dead Jaffa in the centre of the area. He did this with as much respect as he could and disturbed the body as little as possible. The Goa'uld had attempted to make the Jaffa believe it was glorious that their fallen comrades had forfeit their life for the good of their Gods and that they would therefore carry an exalted position in the afterlife. Their families, so said the Goa'uld, should be proud and not saddened by the loss of their family members. Teal'c and many of the other Jaffa knew this to be absurd. Most of the Jaffa were, in many ways, just like the Tau'ri of the First World in that they greatly valued the lives of their brothers-in-arms. They realised that every fallen warrior was originally someone's son, father, husband or brother and that those left behind would mourn their passing greatly - in private, and well away from the prying eyes and ears of their 'Gods'.
Once it was established that there was no threat waiting to attack them from the trees Jack strode over to the DHD and dialled the gate back to Earth. He apprised General Hammond that the clearing appeared safe and directed the intact MALP probe back trough the gate for Siler and his 'boys' to check over and prepare for the next time it was needed. The original MALP was in a pretty poor condition. Having taken a direct hit from a staff weapon, the top of the large machine was blackened and charred. Jack gave it an experimental kick but unsurprisingly the MALP gave no response.
"I think it's dead," he announced quietly, looking at Teal'c who had wondered over to him with the Jaffa's armband.
"Indeed it would seem that way," the large man agreed. "However I believe that the assistance of your footwear will not be beneficial to the apparatus. I have seen SergeantSiler perform seemingly miraculous repairs on the equipment located inside Stargate Command and I believe there is every chance this machine will rise from the ashes like a sacred firebird."
"That'd be a phoenix, Teal'c." Jack said with a chuckle. "But yeah, if anyone can fix this mangled bucket 'o bolts it'll be Siler. I'd wager that by the time ol' Sly's through with it it'll be better, faster and more powerful than the one we've sent back home already."
"I concur," Teal'c said. "Will the mechanics be joining us shortly?"
"They'll be on their way soon enough," Jack replied. "They're gonna get the other one but to bed first and then they'll be here. We'll be long gone by then though - up, up and away and all that." Jack spun his finger round in a circle and then pointed upwards in the general direction of the Ha'tak vessel.
Teal'c's brow furrowed as he tried to place the slogan. Failing completely he gave up and focussed on the job in hand. "I have retrieved the controls for the ring-transporter as requested." Teal'c held out his hand to pass the armband to Jack. The Colonel looked blankly down at the dull metallic object for a moment until he suddenly came back to himself and took it from Teal'c's large hand.
With a grimace he clipped it around his own left arm, and pulled the sleeve of his jacket down so it was no longer visible. "I'm just gonna pretend I don't know where it's been," he told his long-time friend. "As far as I'm aware it's brand new and you've just collected it from Tiffany's for me."
Teal'c raised his eyebrows at this but remained quiet. Jack looked him in the eye and saw a glint of amusement there. Jack wondered where it had come from until he replayed the last conversation in his head.
Teal'c knew the moment that Jack realised what had amused the warrior. The Colonel suddenly flushed a dark shade of puce and coughed in embarrassment.
"Ah, anyway. That's quite enough of that," he spluttered.
Moving away from the MALP, he clambered up to stand in front of the now silent gate. He noted silently that the body of the Jaffa had been moved from it's position in the centre of the clearing and had been carefully placed near to the tree-line. Someone had had the foresight to cover the corpse with a blanket in an attempt to give the dead man the dignity that he had been so badly lacking since his death. He realised it was inevitable that the SGC would recover the body in the interests of scientific exploration but chose to omit that fact from his thinking for the time being. He had more important things to think about in the immediate future.
Jack put a finger and thumb in his mouth and whistled loudly to attract everyone's attention. "SG-15, I need you to stay and guard the gate. There's no obvious threat here at present but I want the door kept open and I don't want any nasty surprises when it comes to going home. The rest of us are going up there," he pointed to the sky, "…in two teams. Griff, I hate to do this to you but I'm gonna need to split your team up. Reynolds, Nicholson, Bell and Teal'c aren't as fresh as the rest of us and I'd want to keep the groups roughly even."
Griff nodded. "OK with me, boss," he agreed. "What's the plan of action?"
"Two teams," Jack began. "One to track down and attempt to subdue Osiris with the darts, preferably without damage to the body of Sarah Gardner. If this new and improved drug is any good then we should be able to deliver the pair of 'em to the Tok'ra for snake removal. Team two are hostage retrieval. We know that Colonels Carter and Ferretti are being held in the Jaffa quarters near the top of the ship but what we don't know is just how much resistance we're going to encounter between here and there. The Jaffa are still the unknown quantity in this equation and we're all going to have to go in with our eyes very much open."
"Understood, Colonel," Griff replied. "Who do you want where?"
"Major, you take Templeton, Peters, Nicholson and Teal'c. Summerville, Reynolds and Bell'll be with me."
"Do we need to ask who's doing what?" Templeton asked tentatively.
Jack paused for a moment as if trying to pick his words carefully. "No, Major, you do not. Much as I'd like to kick that snaky b#stard from here to kingdom come, I'm obviously leading hostage retrieval. And, from here on in I'd like it known that it's with General Hammonds full approval that I'm doing so as well. Got it?"
Templeton held his hands in front of himself in supplication to the older man. "OK, OK, I got it. It was an honest question, I didn't mean anything by it - I didn't mean no offence and I'm sorry."
Removing his cap and scrubbing his fingers through his short hair, Jack took a mental step back to review the whole conversation. Did these people not realise how difficult this situation was for him? The tension in the last couple of minutes was exactly the reason the military took such a tough stance on the anti-frat regs. Having two of his comrades held hostage and in an unknown condition was a nightmare enough for any commanding officer. If one of those people happened to be the most important person in the world to that commanding officer it just compounded the situation into one that was intolerable.
Jack knew that truthfully he really shouldn't be leading this rescue mission but he also realised that Hammond knew there would have been no way he could have kept Jack away once the Colonel knew that Sam was in danger. Hammond would have known that if he had attempted to ban Jack from joining the rescue then the younger man would have simply made his own way there through his gate on the Alpha site - pension and court martial be damned. If Sam never made it back from Chamaka then there would have been no doubt in Hammond's mind that Jack wouldn't return either. The bald-headed Texan knew Jack too well and knew how close he'd come to ending it all after his son had died. That time the grieving man had been dragged back from the brink by the young archaeologist, Daniel Jackson. Jack realised that the General also knew that Sam had been the one to keep Jack from sinking beneath the waves when the same Doctor Jackson had himself passed away. Jack realised that George knew if Sam were to cease to be then Jack would almost certainly sink without trace and that somehow, in his own way, the older man had resigned himself to that fact.