Stargate Millennium: Legacy

by StargateMillennium

Earth knows about the stargate. A plan to form a new Alliance of great races is now in motion. Tensions between allies are at an all time high and threaten to destroy what they've built. An old enemy has returned. And with Millennium reconnected with Earth, Wolf Pack will need to try to preserve the legacy of the heroes who came before them.

5. The Storm (Part I)

A/N: Hello. Next chapter up and here we are at the climax of the arc. This chapter was particularly difficult since for one I wanted to incorporate more tactics into the fighting. And I spent a good amount of time looking at the battle and wondering if there were any better ways for it to be handled, or making sure the tactics made sense. For another, this all ties into the conspiracy. I've heard some reservations about having a conspiracy be such a focus, especially one that involves allies like the jaffa and tok'ra. On my part, I have reservations now since the logistics of it all is making my head spin trying to keep track of everyone and everything's motivations and movements.

Anyways, please let me know what you think. If you do think better strategies could have been employed? Always a pleasure to see your reactions. Anyways, please enjoy. Also, I'd like to thank taleanaomi for beta reading.

-.-

"Today marks the anniversary of the reveal of the alien device called stargate. Violence continues across the country with the president declaring a state of emergency."

"Violence rips through the west coast over the weekend with another fifty found dead and several hundred thousand dollars of property damage."

"We're coming in live as UN leaders meet to discuss what to do with the SGC. Daniel Jackson takes the stand to address the members of the UN."

"Believe me I understand your frustration of the United States keeping a secret this big. But what would you have us do? Tell you about it when we started the program? What would change? We'd still be here having the same discussions. But back then, the galaxy was dominated by the System Lords who could wipe us all off the face of the planet. We couldn't afford to be divided back then."

"In spite of what has been said, it is undeniable that the SGC has not only put this planet in danger but this entire galaxy. While we have made great advances we have also come close to complete destruction. And other planets have been less fortunate. The SGC may have limited its operation but that is not enough. I propose we suspend all stargate operations until further notice."

-.-

This was not how Hailey imagined her week would end. She was exhausted but they couldn't wait any longer. They didn't know how much their enemy knew or when they'll strike again or how. Who would they target to get to her? Did they know Chen was involved? And they couldn't involve anyone else without risking their life as well.

Actually, getting ready for the mission was harder than she expected. They didn't want to give away their intention to anyone so they couldn't just gear up at the armory and walk to their destination. They were each responsible for acquiring their own equipment and meeting up at the tram station.

Hailey made it first with a radio, an M18 and her X699. She also had her wrist-mounted life signs scanner. Soren made it next, now in his black long coat. Hailey could only see him carrying his thunder rifle but she figured he had more weapons hidden on him. Next Chen arrived carrying an M18 and an MP7.

Arcturus arrived last wearing her gauntlets with her caelum and her sword at the ready.

"I fear I could not prepare as much as I wished," she said.

"None of us did," Chen said, clipping his M18 to his belt. "We'll stand out if we're caught carrying tac vests."

It wasn't just whoever this was they were hiding from. Assuming they were not one and the same, they couldn't let Mercer know either. Not only did they not know if he was in any way responsible for what was happening, even if he wasn't he might interfere with the operation.

"Assuming these guys don't already know we're coming," Soren added.

"They probably know Major Hailey and myself are coming," Arcturus said. "With any luck they will not expect you."

"Alright, so we all remember the plan?" Hailey asked. "We bust in from all sides at the same time. Steven will work from the basement up. Soren will work from the top floor down. And we'll go through the front door. The breaching team is a lot smaller than I'd like so take your time. We get this done and we might finish before morning."

"May the Allfather favor us," Soren commented.

"May Aurox guide our way," Arcturus added. Chen knew those were supposed to be positive prayers but they didn't make him feel better.

"Great," he muttered. "The two badasses are saying 'god help us'."

Soren looked up at the vent in the ceiling. With his first leap, he lunged upward and punched the vent with enough force it was smashed to pieces with a loud bang. Hailey and Chen looked around wildly, afraid someone would hear that even from this far underground. With his second leap, Soren leapt into the vent. The thin metal buckled and bent, hollow but loud drumming echoing not just through the vent shaft but through the entire tram station. It was like someone was wailing on a drum set and was not the least bit quiet. It was only after Soren disappeared from sigh did the noise stop.

"I really have trouble believing you can navigate those vents with any sort of stealth," Chen commented. "Soren, did you hear me? Soren?!"

No response.

Hailey had to snicker at this. Sure, Soren's entrance was loud enough to wake the dead, but it seems he was already gone and without a sound.

"Your turn, Steven," she said.

Chen sighed and rolled his eyes. It was his turn to go to the garbage disposal system. The way to the maintenance tunnels was through the maintenance room at the back. He walked over to the door at the far end of the tram station, pressing the control button and opening the door. The maintenance room was a barren dull gray room made of what looked like polished cement. There were machines on all sides of the room and a hatch in the floor leading down to the 'catacombs' where all city-essential systems like sewage and garbage disposal ran.

"Good luck," he said, closing the door behind him.

It was their turn.

After a few moments the tram arrived, and Hailey and Arcturus boarded. Hailey was still on edge, looking around just to make sure nothing popped out of nowhere to kill them.

She sat back in a chair to wait for them to reach their destination, letting out a sigh. They were going to confront the thing that killed her friend. Come hell or high water, it ends.

-.-

The halls of the maintenance tunnels were pentagonal though elongated to fit a human. It reminded Steven of a coffin. And the imagery of death was the last thing he needed before a mission.

The maintenance tunnel ran under Millennium to form a complex maze. The electrical system, the sewage system, the garbage disposal system, the maintenance tunnels let the proper workers reach all of them.

There wasn't much room nor much cover if he had to fight down here. As he progressed down the hall, he made it past several garbage processors. The city didn't have the population it used to but he could still see things like crumpled pieces of paper, plastic bottles, left over food, and other junk flying down the tube like it was being sucked by a vacuum.

As he moved further down he saw a sphere of brown muck rolling down a pipe. Chen knew what this was. This was part of the water treatment. The Alliance used a combination of chemical reactions and osmosis to suck out ultrapure water from sewage. Of course this left everything else behind which got processed into an orb and sent down the track.

Chen groaned in disgust. That was essentially a ball of piss and crap.

"So what type of resistance are we expecting?" Chen asked through the radio as he walked past the transparent wall the stood between him and the processors.

"Who knows," Hailey said from the tram. "I really hope it's not the Tok'ra."

"I don't think it's the Tok'ra," Chen said. "I took the data from the buffer's memory. Mercer knows about this memory and so the Tok'ra know. If the Tok'ra knew they would've cleared the memory."

"Well if it's not the Tok'ra, who could it be?" Hailey questioned. "Did you find anything that we can use?"

"No," Chen said flatly as he opened the next door.

"You will have your answer soon enough," Arcturus said. "If not the Tok'ra, could you think who could be responsible?"

"Well there are plenty of candidates," Hailey sighed. "Lucian Alliance is the most obvious. But, honestly why operate like this? If they want Millennium, they would do a hostile takeover. What would they be waiting for? And how would they know about the Tok'ra's virus? Then there's the Goa'uld." Hailey looked at Arcturus, knowing the knight would not know who they were. "They were the original dominating power in our galaxy, a conquering empire. But we get the same problem as before. Why are they waiting?"

"Probably the same reason The Trust waited," Chen said. "They don't exactly have an army so they're waiting for the chance to strike."

"But they wanted to wipe out Earth so they could either take over or at least get rid of us so we stop bothering them," Hailey pointed out. "So unless they have an army of jaffa hiding somewhere, they can't get either."

"Well we've seen ways to carry an army in your pocket," Chen pointed out. "Who's to say the Goa'uld didn't stuff an army of jaffa into a memory crystal to bring along?"

Hailey looked over at Arcturus. Her expression wasn't quite confusion. It was the look she would make when she wanted to just smile and nod and pretend she knew what people were talking about.

"We're confusing Arcturus," Hailey said.

-.-

The tram hummed to a halt. When the doors opened she and Arcturus walked off. It took a few minutes but they made it to the building they were looking for. It was the Alliance equivalent of a theatre. Hailey had seen a few in Central City as well. They made nice lounges since they couldn't really use the holographic screens. But it looked like their enemy was in there. To confirm, Hailey lifted the screen on her life signs detector and aimed it at the theater. Yup, three life signs inside. She carefully scanned the area around her. Soren and Chen were out of range so the only other life sign she detected was Arcturus's. She and Arcturus stacked up on the doors. It would be a while before Chen and Soren get into position so all they could do was wait. She closed her scanner and got ready.

Hailey looked up at the convex holographic band that ran above the doors that would probably have the titles of the movies it would show. There were windows to nothing that was assumed to hold whatever they used to promote these movies.

"I always wondered what Alliance cinema looked like," Hailey remarked her voice hushed as to not make too much noise. They were a good distance away from where they want to be so their voice shouldn't travel but it was an extra precaution. "I mean, from what we can tell it actually creates a real 3D experience for the audience. Like, you can actually spin around in your seats and watch it like a 360 youtube video."

"I've heard about this youtube from Lieutenant Martin," Arcturus said quietly from behind Hailey.

"You mean a collection of the world's garbage that people waste too much of their time with," Hailey said scornfully. Arcturus raised an eyebrow at her apparent disdain.

"He did not quite describe it as that."

"Fine, it's not all bad. Some people do put some good things. I mean, if you want to learn a new subject but don't want to pay for it, someone who knows what they're talking about will put it up. A lot of scientists like showing off their new discoveries through youtube. And…why are you smiling?"

It wasn't a big smile, but it was an honest one. Hailey glanced back at Sam to see a grin on her face.

"Not long ago Carl Grogan was the only thing that occupied your mind," Samanya said. "Just now you were able to talk about something else."

Hailey looked away. That was true. She has been thinking about Grogan a lot. If not Grogan, then his killers.

"What are you doing?" she asked Arcturus. "I mean everyone else has been coming up to me, saying they're sorry or how if I want to talk and all that or how Grogan's in a better place. But you…you've just been kinda hovering around helping me. I was expecting some sort of 'way of the warrior' speech or something."

Sam was silent for a bit like she was thinking of something painful herself.

"If this had been a few years ago, I might have," she said. "I've lost men in combat, but I always told myself they died noble deaths befitting a warrior. But in the end I was merely trying to dismiss the pain. And that fact became apparent when I lost all of them. If someone had told me to take pride with how they died warriors' deaths I would likely shot them."

Hailey had to chuckle at that.

"Sam…Thanks for…"

Hailey didn't get to finish he sentence. Arcturus lunged forward, practically tackling Hailey. She cried out in pain and shock as she hit the floor. She heard a crackle like a bolt of electricity hitting an energy shield, but she didn't see what it was since she had just landed face first on the floor.

"What the hell was that for?!" she snapped, rolling over. But she saw Arcturus swinging her sword madly. Her weapon was partially transformed, the barrel now peeking out of the blade. The knight fired madly, golden bolts flying in all directions. Hailey stayed near the floor, afraid to get hit by a stray bolt. The walls of the station exploded as the bolts hit with the force of a hand grenade. Each explosion launched a plume of fire and dust, flaming debris flying all across the floor. What was Arcturus doing?

Suddenly, one swing of her blade hit something metal. The clank echoed through the station. Immediately Arcturus lunged forward, trying to slice whatever it was in front of her. Instead, her legs were kicked out from under her. Or rather something behind her stomped on the back of her legs, forcing them to buckle and bringing her to her knees.

Arcturus threw her head back and screamed in agony but not at the kick. Hailey could see two massive gnashes form by her collar. Blood spluttered from the wound and onto the surface of what had formed them. Hailey could see the blood cling to something, a smooth surface. Staring at its Hailey realized she was staring at a pair of blades. Something invisible had just plunged a pair of swords right through Arcturus's collar.

Elliot's face flashed before her eyes.

"NO!" she screamed. Without hesitation, she switched off the safety to her X699, aimed it, and fired. Whatever it was, it ran. She heard the sound of metal being forcefully pulled out of Arcturus's body and she fell limply to the floor.

Hailey fired madly. That thing had to be there somewhere. The plasma bolts exploded more debris off the walls in plumes of smoke, but she hit nothing.

Suddenly, a bolt of blue electricity seemed to fly out of nothing. She couldn't react. The moment it hit her, her world turned white as pain seared through her body. It was as if her nerves were suddenly lit on fire.

She would say the pain subsided but that wasn't true. It just became less unbearable. But she still could feel a thousand needles stabbing into her flesh. She wanted to get up but she could barely get to her hands and knees.

That was a zat'nik'tel blast. She recognized it from the Milky Way. Considering she was still conscious meant it wasn't set on maximum. But the zat's lowest setting still hurt like hell and that was far from the lowest setting. She couldn't move.

She looked at Arcturus who still lay limp, blood still flowing out of her. The knight was still groaning, still fighting. She reached an armored gauntlet out, trying to grab her sword that lay in front of her.

But there was a clank as something put its foot right on her hand. One by one they appeared. Two figures decloaked. One stood in front of Arcturus, a black military BDU and vest and gas mask, a zat in his right hand and a boot on Arcturus's hand. The other one was next to Hailey, also in a black BDU and vest, but wearing a hood, a spear weapon in his right hand and a zat in his left.

The hooded man reached into his coat and took out a crystal orb.

"We have neutralized Hailey and Arcturus at the front entrance," he said into the orb.

"Finish her off," a voice replied from the orb. It wasn't a serious voice. In fact the person on the other side sounded rather lackadaisical. "And bring Major Hailey to me."

Finish her off…

No…

Hailey wanted to fight. Her muscles screamed to do something, anything. But they wouldn't. How did it all go so wrong?

"What of the other two?" the gas mask asked.

"Halphas has been sent to deal with Doctor Chen and his compatriot. Finish off the knight. Our master will know how to dispose of the body."

"Yes, my lord."

The hooded man put the orb away before giving the gas-masked man a nod.

Fear surged through Hailey. They were going to kill Steven and Soren. She tried to do something, anything, but rather than movement all she got was searing pain in her muscle. She was helpless as the hooded man picked her up by the collar and dragged her away.

How did this go so wrong so quickly? Hailey helplessly watched as Arcturus vanished from sight. The last thing she managed to see was the attacker putting a boot on her chest and holding a sword above her.

-.-

"Stinky, stinky, stinky," Chen muttered. No one's used these sewers for millions of years so it was actually much more sanitary than Earth sewers but that didn't make Chen feel better. And to be fair, these were nice sewers. The tunnels were made of a shiny silver metal that formed circular tunnels. He could see silver pipes running through the top of the tunnel.

And the water barely reached his shins so the boots kept his feet dry. And the splash of his footsteps was a comfort since anything else in these sewers would make just as much splashing.

Speaking of splashing…

Chen turned around, his MP7 at the ready. He would swear he heard something. He considered calling out, but he was down here to make sure he wasn't caught. Yelling was counter intuitive to that.

He didn't see anything though. The sewers weren't the best lit but he could still see and he saw nothing there. So he turned around, not noticing the small ripples in the water. He didn't notice something gently pushing its way through the water. It was moving slow enough so that it didn't make any noise, but fast enough that it was catching up with Chen.

Suddenly, Chen could hear rapid splashing coming behind him. Someone was rushing down the tunnel. He whipped around with his gun drawn.

"Soren?!" Chen exclaimed. Soren was rushing down the hall, his shotgun in hand with its axe bayonet attached. He leapt into the air, his shotgun raised high like an axe to bring down the bayonet blade. Chen instinctively raised his hand to cover his face but he could tell Soren wasn't aiming for him. The terrorist was aiming for something else…or someone else.

Soren clearly intended to hack someone in half with his axe. Instead, he misjudged his distance and landed on something. For a moment it looked like Soren was hovering midair. But Chen could tell Soren had landed on something invisible, the unseen person's body momentarily holding Soren up in the air. Soren and the invisible figure crashed into the water. Soren had landed on top and wasted no time wailing away at the figure in the water. He hit it with the stock of the gun. He hit with the axe head of the bayonet. Back and forth, he swung his weapon viciously at the target.

There was a whoosh and Soren was suddenly sent flying backwards. But he managed to land on his feet, the water splashing in all directions as he touched down. But Soren still knew where his invisible foe was from the splashing. He cocked his shotgun and fired. An ear-splitting bang echoed through the tunnel. Chen covered his ears in response. He watched as a figure, barely visible as the cloak struggled to stay active, with a watermelon-sized hole in the chest flew backwards into the water. Even from this distance, Chen could see the water turn red.

The cloaked figure was dead.

Soren's chest heaved up and down as he caught his breath.

"Alright, what the hell just happened?" Chen asked steadily. Chen knew he was just moments away from death, but he didn't know why.

"You brought me out of fear of us being watched," Soren explained. "There was one last test to determine if we were. If they were watching us, they would know our plan and plan an appropriate response."

"So, you made a counter plan," Chen concluded. "You knew they would expect me to be alone in the sewers, so you followed me."

"I apologize for not telling you, but if they were watching us then telling you my plan would also reveal it to them," Soren said, kneeling by the corpse. "After entering the ventilation, I did not leave." He took off what was left of the cloaking device off the attacker's wrist. It had been damaged in the scuffle when Soren was wailing away at it. He pressed the button a few times but nothing happened so he tossed it away. "I stayed and observed. And minutes after you left, something invisible opened the door and proceeded after you."

Chen hated the idea of thanking Soren or being indebted to him. But, he had to admit Soren saved his life.

"Well thanks… Wait a minute, if they know our plan…"

"Major Hailey and Sir Arcturus will be in trouble," Soren finished. Without another word, the two took off down the sewage pipe.

-.-

Even when Hailey came to, she was still hurting. It felt like her body had been riddled by metal poles. She had to look down just to make sure there weren't pipes sticking out of her body. She wasn't eviscerated but she could see that she was now strapped down to some sort of table, leather belts binding her arms and legs in place. She could also feel a belt over her forehead restricting her head movement. And there was a cloth between her teeth pulled back so tightly that the corners of her mouth felt raw.

She tried to look around with her limited head movement. She was in a domed room. The table she was strapped to was a massive circular stage. It reminded her of those podiums during a car show, but this one was large enough to hold a school bus. Around her she could see seats. Shiny silver seats but definitely seats. They were all facing toward the stage. The seats weren't even placed on a slope. They didn't need to be. It wasn't a holographic picture. Alliance theaters worked by feeding stimuli to the audience. But as fascinating at that technology was it didn't matter at the moment. Her eyes darted around. There was a second floor, a balcony that circled the dome.

Hailey could tell she was inside the theater.

Hailey tugged at her restraints, knowing they wouldn't come loose but trying anyways. She couldn't stay and see what was happening. She had to get out of here. But her struggles ceased when she heard a door somewhere open.

She could see two figures walking out of a back room. One was the hooded attacker that jumped her earlier. The other wore a gray long coat and massive hood that obscured his face. So large Hailey had to wonder how he could see through it.

They looked human but Hailey could tell there was more. There was something familiar in not only the way they moved but even the way they talked.

"The attacks will soon be repelled," the hooded man said. "And Halphas has been dispatched to first kill Doctor Chen in the maintenance tunnels before intercepting Stavig."

Hailey's eyes widened in horror. Not only did they know exactly what the plan was but already had a plan to counter it.

"Seems you have everything in order, Forcas," the other figure said. That must've been his master.

"How shall we dispose of the bodies?" Forcas asked. "Their arrival proves…problematic."

"You see it's quite simple," the master said casually. "Major Hailey, in her grief, sought out all three of them to investigate the cause of Captain Grogan's death. But she, in her negligence, led them to an unfortunate accident in the city's garbage disposal."

"And how will this information be delivered?" Forcas asked.

"Simple. Major Hailey will tell them." The hooded figure looked directly at her. There was something about this figure that gave Hailey pause, something familiar. "Unlike Carl Grogan, Jennifer Hailey is of a higher rank and her scientific knowledge will prove useful."

"I shall prepare the retrovirus," Forcas said. But his master stopped him.

"The serum will take too long to take effect," the master said, looking back at Hailey. "Use one of the larvae."

"As you wish, my lord," Forcas said with a deep bow.

Hailey stared at the two. What did that mean?

Focas bowed before promptly departing. Meanwhile the master turned and walked over to Hailey.

"Fear not," the master said with a slight chuckle. "Whatever fear you feel for your friends will soon be over. You will soon celebrate their deaths."

-.-

Chen carefully scanned the hall as he made his way down them. He didn't know where Soren was but it was better that way. It did mean that anyone that tried to attack him would probably get stopped. But the downside was that meant Chen was bait.

He was on the path they were supposed to be on. Now it was only a matter of finding where their last position was. Though he found it when he turned the corner and his eyes fell upon a massive splatter of blood.

"And…crap…" Chen muttered. There was enough blood for two people and there were no bodies in sight. Though, there was a clear drag-trail on the floor.

All across the room were smoking chunks of the floor and wall. Clearly a firefight took place here and sent flaming debris flying onto the floor.

Chen pressed his MP7 tight against his shoulder as he slowly advanced. He pressed himself against the corner. He let out a sigh before charging into the next room.

"Samanya?!" Chen called out in surprise. He quickly looked around to clear the room before running up to her. She sat against the wall, her head hanging and the body of a man wearing a gas mask not far from her, a sword through his chest and his head spun 180 degrees.

Chen knelt beside Arcturus. He couldn't tell what her exact injuries were but he could tell that it had taken a lot out of her. Her hair was loose and hung wildly around her face

Chen knelt forward, putting a pair of fingers on her neck. She had a pulse.

Suddenly, Arcturus's hand shot forward, seizing Chen by the throat and squeezing.

"Sam…wait!" Chen choked, letting go of his gun to grab her arm.

"Arcturus!" Soren called out, emerging from behind the corner. He rushed up to her, a firm hand on her arm and another on her shoulder.

It took a moment but she finally let go, letting her hand hit the floor.

"I am sorry, Doctor Chen," she huffed.

"Don't mention it…" Chen wheezed, still clearing his throat after the death grip. "I don't think I'll be able to anyways." He looked at her. She was beat up. Her clothes were shredded and covered in sweat. And the shoulder areas were torn away, revealing massive black marks…burn marks. There was a still smoldering piece of debris on the floor next to her.

"My sword…" Sam said weakly. Soren complied, walking over to the body to retrieve the alien weapon. When he first tried to pull it out, he nearly picked up the body with it. Soren had to put a firm boot on the body to keep it still as he pulled the sword out.

"What the hell happened here?" Chen asked as Soren returned her sword.

"We were moving into position," Arcturus said. "But we were beset upon by two cloaked attackers."

"That's just great…" Chen muttered. "So, we're dealing with more than one invisible asshole. We don't have any way to deal with cloaks."

"I was under the impression we received a shipment of transphase detectors and weaponry from Earth," Soren said.

"Yeah, we have them, but we didn't anticipate us needing them for this. We'd have to go back and grab them."

"There's no time," Arcturus said, planting her sword into the floor as she tried to stand up.

"Easy," Steven said, putting her arm of her shoulders to help her stand.

"They chose to keep Major Hailey alive and take her away."

"Why?" Soren asked suspiciously.

"I do not see how that information is relevant," Samanya said. "Regardless of the reason, we need to catch up and stop them. Their leader requested her be brought to him."

"You saw him?" Chen asked. But Arcturus shook her head.

"Their leader communicated with them through some kind of orb."

Chen smiled at this. Even someone who wasn't tech savvy would recognize that piece of technology.

"That's a telecommunication orb," he explained. "Which is good news because that would mean the guys we're after definitely aren't Tok'ra."

"Why?" Soren asked.

"Tok'ra don't use those."

"Then it is some other unknown enemy," Arcturus pointed out. And just like that, Chen's excitement died.

"Ok, maybe it's not that good news."

"What is the new plan?" Soren asked, yanking the cloaking device off the corpse of gask-masked man.

"We stick to the original plan," Arcturus said. "We enter from all directions, try to catch them in a crossfire."

"You're kidding, right?" Chen exclaimed. "Do you know how much blood you've lost? I've seen less red from the Kool-aid man."

"Two people isn't enough to complete this mission. We either commit all our resources or withdraw."

Chen stopped. He wanted to say withdraw. But with Hailey captured he didn't know what they were going to do with her. But if they commit, they were in bad shape. Especially if they were facing cloaked enemies without transphase detectors. But if they withdraw, their enemies will get the chance to get away. And in a city of this size, they might not find them again.

"Fine, commit," he sighed

"I will enter first, attempt to draw their fire. You and Soren will enter through the rear entrance. I don't know where they'll be holding Major Hailey but perhaps you will find her and free her."

"I fear we have no choice, Steven Chen," Soren said. "We clear room by room. We'll save the theater area for last. Its large size will prove the most difficult to clear so we'll do it together."

"So same plan as before," Chen sighed. "We click our ear pieces to let each other know when we're in position."

Soren and Chen headed down the hall to go through the back door of the theater while Arcturus proceeded through the front door.

It took a few minutes but Soren and Chen finally reached the back door.

"I will lead," Soren said quietly to Chen. "You will follow." Chen considered arguing. He wasn't big on taking orders from Soren. But he knew they had to work together, especially now. They were going to clear the room together.

He and Soren stacked up on the door. Soren nodded and Chen gave a firm squeeze on his shoulders. Soren pressed the button to open the door and rushed in so fast Chen could barely keep up to keep the formation tight.

Soren quickly cleared out the corner and the far end of the room while Chen went to keep his weapon trained on the corner.

"Clear," Soren hissed. The two of them continued through the room, clearing as they went. As they turned the next corner, they saw a closet on the far side. They knew it was a closet but they had to clear it none the less.

The two of them stacked up, one person on either side. They shared a nod and Steven pressed the button to open the door. Soren immediately turned the corner and aimed into the closet.

It was empty of people, but it wasn't empty. There was a stack of plastic water bottles in crates in the corner along with boxes of rations.

"It seems they've been sneaking supplies out," Soren commented. "General Mercer will not be happy about this."

"Shame, and here I thought having some mystery stowaway would make him pleased as punch," Chen said. "What the hell are you doing?"

Soren had begun taking plastic water bottles from the crate and examining them. He held them next to his belt as if he was seeing if they could fit in his pockets.

"Preparing," Soren grunted. Chen didn't even want to know what that meant. He just waited for Soren to finish. Soren opted not to stuff the bottles in his pockets.

"Let's move," he said, picking his shotgun back up.

They stacked up again before clearing another room. This room was an office. There were very earthy furniture scattered about including an office desk and chair and a coffee table at the center of the office.

"Clear," Soren reported.

"Clear," Chen agreed.

Chen was walking past the office desk when something caught his eye.

"Doctor Chen," Soren spoke up when Chen didn't join him. But Chen was too caught up by what he saw laying on the desk. It was a file folder.

Chen flipped open the folder, glancing over the documents within. He let his gun hang so he could begin flipping through the papers, his eyes widening in shock and disbelief.

"My god…" he breathed.

'Doctor Chen," Soren hissed.

"Coming," Chen said hurriedly. He quickly flipped through the papers, trying to decide which one to take with him. As he found the pages he thought were best, he removed them from the folder, folded them up, and shoved them in his pockets.

"Alright, let's go," he said, running up behind Soren.

-.-

Fear and anger bubbled inside Hailey. She had found the people responsible for killing Grogan and they were going to kill three more of her friends before doing…something to her. She looked around. She could see her pistol, life sign scanner, and X699. It was put just out of reach as if to mock her.

She looked up to see Forcas return with thermos.

"My master," he said, bowing and handing the thermos to the cloaked figure. The master took the thermos and unscrewed the lid. Hailey watched intently as the cloaked figure stuck his hand into the thermos, wondering what he could be doing. And she got her answer when his came back out and he held a massive worm in his hand, a thick black worm, three sets of webbed fins next to its head, and four webbed pincer-like jaws.

Hailey couldn't believe her eyes. It was a Goa'uld symbiote. It had to be Goa'uld. Even if Earth and the Tok'ra were at conflict, the Tok'ra wouldn't take unwilling hosts. These had to be Goa'uld.

The symbiote screeched, wriggling in the man's hand. It extended its neck as if to try to lunge at her, the man's grip being the only thing stopping it.

Hailey's mind raced to think of a way out. She was gagged so it would enter through her neck, leaving a visible scar. And anyone who's worked at the SGC has become naturally paranoid of anyone with a scar in their neck.

Or they could remove her gag. But if the symbiote tries to go in her mouth, she'll bite down before it gets the chance to burrow into her. But it probably won't work, otherwise the rate of successful Goa'uld would go way down.

Or it could enter through another part of her body and worm its way up, somewhere where the scar wouldn't be visible. Someone at the SGC once had a symbiote enter through their wrist. And just as she thought this, the master slowly lifted up the bottom of her shirt. Hailey realized they were planning on having the symbiote enter through her stomach then slither up to her neck.

He held it closer, the pincers snapping at her, just barely nicking the surface of her skin.

Not like this. This could not be how it ends.

"STOP!"

Everyone in the room looked up. Even Hailey tried to tilt her head in the direction of the voice.

It couldn't be.

It was.

It was Arcturus. She was in the doorway, her sword transformed into a rifle and aimed at the two figures.

How was she still alive? Hailey wasn't complaining. But last she saw Arcturus, the knight had taken a pair of swords straight through the collar. She was on the floor bleeding out. But now she was here.

Hailey squinted and that's when she saw it. Arcturus's clothes were a sweat-soaked mess, the shoulder areas torn away, revealing massive dark spots…burned spots. Arcturus had cauterized her own wounds probably with the flaming debris.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" the master asked, tilting his head.

"I got better," Arcturus said, clearly still in pain.

"Hm…clearly. Perhaps we should take care of that."

Forcas prepared to raise his spear weapon but Arcturus fired a warning shot at his feet. The ground next to him exploded into a plume of flaming debris and dust. This column of debris hovered in the air at head height for a moment before falling back down.

"Do…not…move…" Samanya said darkly.

"How long can you hold us?" the master asked. "You're tired and lost a lot of blood. I can't imagine you'll be on your feet for much longer."

"I'll last long enough," Samanya said. "Now drop it."

The master just chuckled at her order.

"As you wish," he said. And with that, he let go of the symbiote he was holding. The massive worm landed on Hailey's left leg and began slithering toward her bare stomach.

Arcturus immediately took action. She couldn't shoot it off without running the risk of shooting Hailey by accident. So, she ran up to the table. Forcas fired his spear weapon at Samanya but the narrow bolt simply hit her personal shield. She ignored the bolt, leaping forward and punching the master in the face before spinning and backhanding Forcas. The two Goa'uld went flying across the theater while Arcturus went for the symbiote.

Hailey's eyes widened in horror she felt four sharp barbs stab into her belly. She screamed in pain, her flesh feeling like it caught on fire as it forced its way through her flesh. But it didn't finish. It only got its head through when Arcturus grabbed the rest of its body. But that didn't end her pain. Hailey could feel the symbiote seem to latch on the inside of her, refusing to get pulled out. It might as well have become fused to her. She instinctively arched her back to ease the pressure being applied by pulling the symbiote. But she also knew she had to get it out.

Arcturus yanked on the alien worm but it would not let itself get pulled out. Arcturus had enhanced strength and this was just a space worm. How was it so strong?

But while Arcturus was dealing with the symbiote, Forcas rose up from the floor, pulling his spear back to impale her. Her shield could block a spear bolt but not a stab.

Suddenly the air was shredded as it was filled with the sound of automatic fire. Hailey looked over, seeing Chen at the far end of the room, spraying at Forcas with his MP7. Forcas roared in pain as two bullets tore through his shoulder. He let out an audible growl and his eyes glowed as his symbiote let its presence be known before whipping around to face Chen.

Forcas fired a beam from his spear weapon, one that tore through some of the chairs in the auditorium and flew past Chen. Chen took cover, letting a few bolts fly overhead before peeking out and spraying in the general direction of his attacker. Forcas was also on the move. Arcturus was busy now but the moment she finished dealing with the symbiote, he was caught in the crossfire between Chen and Arcturus. He kept low, peeking up occasionally to shoot at Chen.

Both Forcas and Chen knew they couldn't just stay in place and trade pot shots, hoping to hit their target without getting shot. They had to move, try to catch their opponent out of position. They kept low, practically crawling across the floor and occasionally peeking out to shoot.

Steven let out a shocked yell when an orange bolt tore through the wall next to him. He fell on his back, spraying at the wall from where the shot came. Someone from in the hall had just tried to shoot him with a staff weapon. Chen scrambled behind the chairs as another staff bolt flew through. Another bolt flew past, hitting the ground and launching a plume of dust and debris.

This was bad. Even if the person out in the hall couldn't see him, blind fire like that was still dangerous. And even though the wall hid him from sight, it didn't stop weapons fire. If he kept this up, he was going to get surrounded. He was going to have to either concentrate on the goa'uld in the auditorium, or the one in the hall.

He couldn't sit here and just trade fire. He kept a mental image of the auditorium in his mind as he plotted his route. He was going to sneak behind the chairs until he could sneak up to the hole in the wall. He didn't have a grenade, but he didn't need one. His bullets could tear through the wall and with any luck he could hit the shooter.

He put his plan in motion, practically crawling on all fours to make sure he was behind the chairs. Forcas had stopped shooting but Chen knew he was still out there. Finally, Chen made it past the range of sight for the hole. He set his MP7 to automatic before popping up and spraying at the wall. He could see holes punched into the solid surface as the bullets punched through the wall. He didn't know if he was hitting anything, he was only praying.

He got his answer when an orange bolt flew out of the room from a different location. The auburn bolt tore through the wall like a sledgehammer and continued. Evidently whoever was wielding the staff weapon had decided to relocate before shooting again. Chen took cover again to avoid getting shot but in his peripheral he could see something moving around. Forcas was trying to flank him.

"Sam, little help here!" Chen cried out. "I'm getting flanked!"

With a final pull from Arcturus and a final scream from Hailey, Samanya tore the symbiote from Hailey's stomach. The symbiote immediately tried to burrow into Arcturus's hand but the knight smashed the symbiote into the table. The first time made a sickening crack and the worm pulled out and screeched in pain. The second time, blue blood spurted from its body. And by the third smash it lay limp.

Arcturus prepped her sword but stayed on the stage, turning her bladed weapon into a rifle and scanning the room. She was out in the open but her shield would protect her. And this vantage point would let her have a clear line of fire on anyone in the theater. She could see Forcas trying to hide behind the chairs, fumbling with something on his arm.

Arcturus aimed her rifle, but it was too late. She watched Forcas vanish before her eyes. Forcas must've been fumbling with a cloaking device.

"Doctor Chen!" Arcturus announced. "He's cloaked. He's…" Her voice trailed off when he would swear she felt the stage gently shake beneath her feet, almost like something was walking up the stairs. She shifted her grip, forming a bayonet under her rifle and ready to use it to defend herself too. And it was just in time. She swung her weapon back and forth a few times. The third time it hit something metal with an ear-splitting clang. Not long after she was sent flying over Hailey and across the room.

"Shit!" Chen cursed. No TER's meant no way of detecting a cloaked enemy. A thermographic sensor might help but that is depending on what type of cloak they were using and if he actually brought one with him.

Whatever it was continued going after Arcturus. She transformed her weapon back into a sword, swinging it wildly left and right, hoping to catch her attacker even on accident. Her shield meant she couldn't be shot but she could still be stabbed.

She got something, her sword clanging on something. That clash was exactly what she wanted. Her strike was blocked but now she knew exactly where her assailant was. She shoved forwards, and arm outstretched and grabbing her attacker. She held tightly as she slammed her knee against whatever she could get. She let out several pained grunts and her head twisted sideways as if something had just punched her.

She nearly went flying across the room twice but her left hand held firm. But finally, her hand did come loose, and she stumbled backwards. It took a second, but she quickly recovered. She could no longer be sure of where her attacker was. All she had was the air in front of her. It could be charging at her at that moment or running away and she would not know. She needed a way to expose her invisible opponent.

Samanya aimed her weapon at the floor and fired. This was a long shot but it was the only idea she had. The ground exploded, tossing up flaming chunks of the floor and dust. She reached down and grabbed a handful of dust before flinging it out in front of her. She watched as a small section of the wall of dust suddenly parted, the air front of a rapidly moving individual pushing the airborne particles away. But most damningly was the pained and startled grunt of a person that got dust in their eyes.

She aimed her weapon in its direction, even managing to fire a shot. But the ashrak shoved the barrel of her weapon away. Arcturus quickly changed tactics, changing her weapon back to a sword and charging forward with a frenzy of swings. She didn't know where her opponent was and she knew if she gave it the chance to get away, it would. If she couldn't grab it to keep a hold of where it was, she'll bury it under a barrage of attacks, make it impossible to run without getting hit. She continued her onslaught, forcing the fight right out the door.

Chen wanted to join her but she was fighting an invisible enemy and there wasn't anything he could do that she couldn't do better. He could only stick to the plan.

He ran up to Hailey, quickly clearing the area before immediately getting to work undoing her restraints. He first undid the strap holding her right arm before working on her gag while she freed her left arm.

Hailey flexed her jaw the moment it was free of the cloth.

But the moment her arm was freed, she reached up and pulled Chen into a tight embrace. Chen was momentarily caught off guard by this before remembering that she had thought they were all dead.

"Alright, alright, we can hug this out later," he said, forcibly shoving himself away. He began working on the restaints holding her legs.

"Chen!" a voice called out from above. The two of them looked up to see Soren on the balcony. In his hand was the entire crate of water bottles they had seen earlier.

"What is your obsession with water?!" Chen demanded. But Soren didn't answer. He instead threw the crate across the theater. As it flew through the air, he raised his shotgun and fired. This wasn't an Earth-built shotgun. This was a fierri gauss gun. The pellets that flew out of the barrel were moving so fast and with so much energy that when they hit something they might as well have exploded.

The first shot shredded the crates and the water bottles inside. The second shot completely ripped apart the crate and what was left of its contents, raining melted plastic on the area along with a wall of water. Chen and Hailey covered their heads as water poured on the two of them, soaking them all the way through. The sheer quantity of water made it feel like a brick was dropped on them, a brick that froze them to the bone.

"The hell was that for?!" Chen yelled, wiping the water from his face. But as he said this, he noticed something. He could hear the water dripping off the stage, and he could hear it dripping off of him and Hailey. But he could also hear it dripping off something else. He scanned the room. He didn't see anything, and that was exactly the problem. There was something standing right next to the stage dripping. When the water soaked into the person, it entered the cloaking field and turned invisible. And once it dripped off it exited the cloaking field, becoming visible once more and hitting the floor with an audible drip.

"Down!" Soren ordered, aiming his shotgun at whatever was dripping. The invisible thing immediately took off. Chen could hear the splash of his footsteps. They didn't see the target but they did see the door at the far end of the room open then close.

Soren leapt over the balcony and landed on the stage as Chen helped Hailey to her feet, handing her her X699.

"Request permission to break formation and go after him," Soren said to Hailey. "If we lose him, we might never be able to find him again."

Hailey paused to consider this for a moment. He was right. An invisible person could run away and hide anywhere. And in a city of this size, they might never find him again until it was too late. Of course he might've already gotten away but if there was a snowball's chance in hell of finding him, every second of delay worsened that chance.

But what if it didn't flee? What if it was doubling back to pick them off?

But they were already undermanned as it was. Now she was splitting them up.

She had to make decision. She weighed the outcomes and made a decision.

"Chen will go help Arcturus," she said. "You and I will go-"

She didn't finish her sentence, stopping when she heard the unmistakable sound of zat'nik'tel fire.

Great, so that just made her job all the more complicated.

"Major Hailey," Soren spoke up. "If you wish to investigate that, I can pursue our cloaked attacker alone," he said, holding up the cloaking device on his wrist. While Hailey wanted to know where Soren got his hands on a cloak, she knew to just be glad he did. And if he could turn invisible too, he might have a fighting chance.

This whole situation sucked. Her team was now scattered and so were her opponents. She wanted to regroup but she knew that her invisible foes had a chance to escape, which she could not allow. But if she divided her team then she ran the risk of getting picked off. She was beginning to regret her decision not to involve Mercer. She was just scared that he might be involved with all this. But at least they would have the manpower.

She had to make a choice. Regroup or split up.

"Alright, me and Chen will first clear the rest of the building," she said. "After that we'll join you and Arcturus."

Hailey prepared to give Soren her life sign scanner but the fierri cut her off.

"No," he said. "I took the cloak off one of the corpses. If there are other cloaked enemies, you'll need the scanner to locate them."

Hailey considered making it an order. But she had to agree with Soren's logic. The life sign scanner would be able to reveal the cloaked enemy. But they would need it more than Soren and he already had his own cloak.

"Alright," Hailey agreed. "Go."

Without another word, Soren vanished.

"If he's cloaked, can't he see the other guy?" Chen asked.

"You're thinking of the Sodan cloak which was built using Ancient designs," she said, prepping her gun. "He might be invisible, but he'll still be fighting an invisible opponent."

They didn't have time to dawdle. They quickly stacked up on the doors that led to the bottom floor offices. They quickly cleared the next room. But as they went to secure the adjacent room, they could finally see it. It was their master, his cloak and hooded form unmistakable.

He aimed his zat at the file cabinet. The first shot blasted it with a bolt of blue electricity, or at least something that looked like electricity. Blue arcs danced across the metal surface, a few arcs even leaping into the walls. A second shot did the same. And with the third shot, the thing turned to dust.

Hailey blinked a few times. She knew three zat'nik'tel shots disintegrated but witnessing it was another thing. It all happened in a fraction of a second. The cabinet became faded, as if all the color was drained it. Then the thing collapsed as if the entire object were made of dust, collapsing as it could no longer hold its own weight. The bottom of the cabinet gave way, letting the top fall straight down and kicking up the powder it had once stood upon. And once the top of it hit the ground, it too flew up in a cloud of fine particles. And as that flew up, it turned into finer and finer particles until there was nothing left.

It seems like their master was clearing out any evidence.

They stacked up on the door again, Hailey opening her scanner to clear the area. Six life signs. Four of them were paired up. One was Chen. And one was the hooded freak inside. So this mean no cloaked attackers in the area.

Hailey nodded her head as she put away her scanner and Chen squeezed her shoulder. And they both burst into the room.

"STOP!" Hailey ordered. The moment she yelled this, the master whipped around and aimed his zat at her. And the moment he did that, Hailey and Chen fired. But all their shots fell short, instead hitting an orange energy shield.

But something caught Hailey's eye. Hailey could see the master's face. Or at least the mask that covered his face. It was a white ceramic opera mask, an expressionless face carved into its surface. Hailey recognized that mask.

"That's…that's impossible," she gawked. "There's no way." She couldn't see the mask before, but she could now. There was no doubt about it. This was The Director.

Hesitation meant death. And the shock of her revelation had caused her to hesitate.

"SHIT!" Hailey cried out, diving behind the desk as a zat bolt flew past, nearly grazing her. She was still recovering from the effects of one bolt which meant the next shot was lethal. Chen fired a burst before stepping behind the door frame. The Director continued his suppressive fire on Chen. Though suppressive fire was a poor description. Suppressive fire keeps the enemies hidden behind cover. The zat was outright disintegrating the cover Chen was trying to hide behind.

Hailey thought she was safe behind the desk. But she heard the zat shoot the desk. She inched away from the wood, afraid an arc would leap off and hit her. And another bolt hit it. And another.

At the third bolt, she watched in horror as the table turned to dust, collapsing in a similar manner to the cabinet. And as the dust cleared, she saw the Director standing with his zat aimed at her.

"NO!" Chen yelled, leaping out of cover and tackling the Director. They both fell over, a stray zat shot flying across the room. He couldn't shoot through the shield so he was just going to kill the Director the old fashioned way. Chen held the arm that held the zat against the floor, knowing the moment that arm was free they were all dead.

He put his knee on the hand and got to work trying to pry the zat from it. He finally got it away, but his worries weren't over. He looked up to see the cloaked figure hold his hand up as if to ask for help standing up. But Chen could see a ring on his middle finger.

He let out a surprised yell and threw himself backwards as a crimson beam of plasma flew out of the ring with a harsh whistle.

Chen knew distance was suicide if facing an opponent with a gun. He had to get in close, make sure he didn't get shot. But the Director didn't raise his weapon to shoot, as if the masked man anticipated Chen's move. He caught Chen's punch, pulling the man close and leaning in.

"So, you're Doctor Chen," the Director chuckled. Chen roared and shoved the Director back with his foot. He rushed in again, hoping to take advantage of the Director's loss of balance. But the hooded man spun around with a spinning back fist, forcing Chen to duck. He practically tackled the Director to the floor but the Goa'uld remained standing. The two of them grappled, trying to knock the other down. Sometimes with a throw. Sometimes with a sweep. But always failing. Finally, the Director shoved Chen away and stepped back.

"You do not disappoint," the Director chuckled, adjusting his clothes. "Still…I have the upper hand." Chen brought his hands close to his jaw and went in, bobbing and weaving. The Director threw a punch at Chen's forearms. Not one to hurt, just one to obscure Steven's view so that he could land an uppercut that flew beneath the guard and right in Chen's jaws.

Steven Chen landed on his back but immediately picked himself up. It was obvious the Director was just taking it easy. The masked Goa'uld didn't even try to use his za'tarc ring again.

Hailey got up from her hiding spot, rushing at the Director. She couldn't shoot through the shield, so she'll insert her gun through the shield and fire. But as she got close, the Director shoved the barrel of her weapon aside, the bolts of energy flying into the wall. He tried to tear the gun from her hand. But she knew she couldn't let him have it. So instead she cast the gun aside, letting it slide into the corner. With nothing but her firsts she went in, throwing punches which were easily parried away.

Chen took advantage of the situation and ran in, delivering powerful kicks. His round kick missed so he went in with a stepping sidekick. But the hooded figure parried and dodged every attack effortlessly with thousands of years of fighting experience. Chen tried to spice up his attack with superman punches, feinting a kick before transitioning into a punch. But this person had seen the trick a thousand times and was not fooled. The hooded figure raised his foot and kicked Chen with enough force he flew out of the office. One opponent down, the master turned his attention to Hailey. A swift punch to her gut had her reeling. He grabbed her throat and slammed her against the wall . She felt her nose crack after the Director put his fist right to her face, her head bouncing off the wall. Water flooded her eyes, the room spinning. It wasn't even pain that was overcoming her. It was as if the broken nose was a button to make her eyes water and her head spin.

But Chen came back again, drawing his dagger. He couldn't do it before. If he went for his knife, the masked man might see it and counter, assuming that it didn't take the knife from him completely. But the Director was distracted. With its back turned, Chen could sneak up on him. He jammed the dagger through the Director's hand, the blade cracking the gem while the cloaked man roared in pain and stumbled back. Not only was the kara'kesh destroyed, the shield generator had fallen with it.

Chen pulled out the knife from the masked man's hand before going for his pistol. He hadn't bother pulling it out before because of the shield. Now that the shield was down, he had free reign. But he never managed to pull it out. Instead Hailey watched in horror as Chen's midsection exploded.

She blinked several times, unable to believe what just happened. Coming from the Director's hand was a crimson blade of energy, crackling like a violent flame yet held together to form a vicious sword blade. That was the za'tarc ring he had used earlier. But apparently it didn't just fire beams of plasma. It could hold its plasma inside some sort of field, turning it into a blade to cut through objects with ease. The same field that held staff bolts together and prevented the heat from the superheated plasma from cooking its surroundings must've been what held the blade together. But when an object penetrated that field, it gets exposed to the superheated plasma. It was just a glancing blow, but it was enough that the heat had instantly vaporized flesh, turning solid into gas so quickly and it expanded so violently that it exploded outwards.

Hailey dove for her X699. The Director's shields were down so she could shoot him. And he realized this. Instead of pursuing, he turned and ran. Hailey didn't even get off the floor to shoot. She had expected him to come after her, so she was on her back when she began firing at him, bolts of energy hitting the wall as he disappeared.

He was gone and that was all Hailey cared about.

"No, no, no!" she yelled, rushing over to Chen. He lay on his back in a pool of steaming blood. Hailey was in a panic. "God, don't you do this. Please don't do this. Not again." She didn't know what to do. She wanted to try to put pressure to stop the bleeding, but the wound was so big she was sure it would only make it worse. Still, he was going to die if she didn't so something.

She pushed her hands against the wound. Chen looked like he had fallen unconscious from the shock but the moment she applied pressure, he awoke with a violent howl of pain.

"Stop!" he said through gritted teeth, fighting not to choke on more blood.

"I'm sorry but I need to do this," Hailey said in exasperation. "My god, you're losing so much blood."

"Jennifer," Chen said weakly. "You need to go after him."

"Steven, I'm not leaving you," Hailey argued. He must've lost more blood than she thought if he could even think about telling her to leave him like this.

"Jen," Chen said, trying to muster as much energy as he could. "If that man gets away, a lot of people are going to die."

"And what do you think will happen to you if I leave you?"

Hailey looked at Chen wide eyed. Eliot. Grogan. She couldn't let him die too. She could see the fear in Chen's eyes. He was scared of dying. She was used to seeing him annoyed, unafraid of making a wise crack to voice his frustration with something. But seeing him scared chilled her.

"Jennifer, we cannot let that guy get away."

Hailey looked at the door he vanished through, knowing every second meant he was gaining more ground on her. Then she looked at Chen. Ever since Grogan she spent nearly every waking moment wondering if she could've done something to save him. Now she could try to do something to save Chen and she might have to leave him behind. She cursed her luck.

She grabbed the earpiece from Chen and put it up to her own.

"Soren, Arcturus, can any of you read me?!" she yelled. "Soren, Arcturus, Chen is down and losing a lot of blood! But their leader is getting away. I'm going after him, but I need you to get back to the theater." She stood up, looking at Chen as she began walking backwards. She was actually leaving him to die. She asked for Soren and Arcturus to come back but she knew without immediate medical attention she'd be coming back to a corpse.

"I'm coming back for you…" she said, mostly to herself. "I'm coming back for you!"

She had to go now, or she wasn't going to go at all. She turned around and ran. Once she was outside, she attached her life signs scanner to her wrist, lifting the screen and starting a scan of her surroundings. She could see five life signs. Two of them were paired up close together. Those must've been Soren and Arcturus fighting their respective opponents. That meant the fifth isolated one was the hooded bastard she was after.

She closed the lid and immediately ran in that direction.

-.-

Arcturus found herself flying across the room again. This was getting tiring. Her shield meant her attacker couldn't shoot her but getting into a close quarters fight wasn't ideal. Spears had a distinct advantage over swords and that was when the spear wielder was visible.

Samanya fell to one knee. She was exhausted. She stopped the external bleeding, but she knew there was internal bleeding. And by this point she had lost so much blood she was fighting to stay standing.

If she didn't end this fight soon, she was dead.

But how?

She let out a scream when she felt something get plunged into her left thigh. Since her blind parries were actually succeeding, the attacker must've decided to go for a lower target. She reached down and seized the invisible spear while stabbing in the direction of her attacker. But he yanked the spear out, practically dragging Arcturus across the floor in the process.

She let out a yell of frustration, opening the blade and firing blindly. Golden bolts tore through the wall of the room, the energy bolts exploding chunks out of the wall. But it was too late, he was gone.

She fought to stand up, taking a few steps forward. She closed her eyes, trying to hear the footsteps of her attacker. She gritted her teeth in frustration when all she could hear was the crunch of the debris beneath her feet.

And that's when it struck her…

She transformed her sword into its rifle form, firing at the floor around her. The ground exploded with bubbles of flame and heat and charred debris. Plumes of fire and cement-like pieces flew up before raining back down. Finally, she stopped.

She didn't need to close her eyes. Invisible or not, this thing clearly interacted with its surroundings which meant it would make noise if walked.

She listened intently but she heard nothing. After a bit she began wondering if this invisible attacker figured out her plan. But after a moment, she heard something. It was a gentle crunch, the sound of some of the debris shifting. She closed her eyes to listen more closely. There was another crunch, just slightly forward from the last. Then another.

This thing clearly had training. It was making much less noise than she expected. But it was making noise all the same. She whipped around, spraying her weapon in the direction of the noise. The thing didn't bother concealing its noise now. It ran, making a lot of noise as it did. Samanya had an easier time tracking her and kept spraying with the noise. Finally, one object turning to two flaming objects. One of the bolts landed true and had sent two flaming halves of a body across the room.

The blast was powerful enough to disable the cloak. And Arcturus could see the two halves of the body laying on a bed of ash and in a cloud of smoke across the room.

Samanya would swear it was only because the threat was neutralized but the reality was she could no longer remain standing. She fell to her hands and knees, choking up blood. She was alive thanks to her genetic modifications and nothing more.

She raised her hand and clicked on her earpiece.

"This is Samanya Arcturus," she panted. "I've neutralized one of the attackers. Making my way back to Doctor Chen."

She planted her sword in the ground and slowly got to her feet. She had to put her weight on her weapon to remain standing but she began hobbling back.

Her insides were burning and she was fighting just to keep her eyes open. Moving down the hall she lost track of time. All she had was her stubbornness. She needed to get back to Chen and that was all she knew. It didn't matter if she couldn't tell how long or how far she walked. She had to make it back. After what could've been two seconds or two days for all she knew, she looked up and found she had made it back to the theater.

The wall to the offices had disintegrated so she could see Chen laying still on the floor. Samanya collapsed to the floor right outside the office, crawling the rest of the way to Chen.

Samanya forced herself to sit up so she could lean against the wall. And with that she closed her eyes.

-.-

A few blocks away from the theater, an ashrak was on the prowl. It stayed cloak, hunting its prey. Its every step was completely silent, It thought Soren would follow him but ever since it left he saw no trace of Soren.

If this kept up he would just go back to the theater.

Finally he turned the next corner and saw his prey. Soren was standing in the middle of an open room, spinning around, scanning the area in panic, hand axes in each hand.

The ashrak smiled. Visible and out in the open, Soren was an easy target. He reached down and pulled out a dagger. Soren's fierri biology made things tricky. Normally it could plunge the dagger into a human's neck and rip it out the front, severing every artery. But Soren's neck was nonexistent. He'll just have to insert the blade into Soren's spine.

As the invisible attacker stepped through the door, there was a click followed by a bang. The ashrak roared in pain as something tore through its left shoulder. It fell to one knee, looking over. It had stepped on some sort of metal wire stretched across the doorway and connected to what looked like Soren's pistol which was secured in place against the wall.

When the ashrak looked back up, Soren was running at it. The ashrak prepped its dagger but Soren tackled the ashrak to the ground.

It had taken Soren five minutes of wandering around to realize two invisible warriors hunting each other was futile. But if he decloaked he would be at a severe disadvantage. So, had decided to play to his strengths: invisible weapons. Even if the ashrak was invisible, it wouldn't be able to see his traps. Some trip wires were connected to guns. One was connected to a stun grenade. And there were even a few simply meant to trip the assassin and make a clatter loud enough for him to know what was coming. Then all he had to do was bait the trap.

Soren hacked at the ashrak. He still couldn't see the invisible assassin but he had a general idea of where it was. And the wound from that single shot was way more powerful than any pistol shot from the human weapons.

All of a sudden, Soren felt an invisible wall hit his face, sending him flying backwards. He hit the ground with a grunt and was sent skidding across the floor. Soren didn't have time to piece together what that was or what did that. He was sent flying to the other doorway, the one that had his shotgun. He immediately took the wire off the trigger before picking up the shotgun.

Even with only axes, he had done a number on the ashrak. Its cloak was failing, sparks flying out of its body and its image flickering in and out. Soren cocked his shotgun and took aim. But he didn't need to fire.

There was a crack and an orange bolt hit the ashrak in the back. A ball of fire exploded from the impact, some of the flames penetrating the body and bursting out of the chest. A cloud of smoke burst out of the wound, rising into the air. The ashrak reeled back, roaring like a demon. But it continued stumbling forward. Another orange bolt hit it in the back, more flames bursting out the front. The cloak failed, unveiling an armored human, a helmet completely covering its face and a visor over its eyes. Finally the ashrak collapsed.

Soren knew something finished off his attacker. But he wasn't dropping his guard just yet. Standing behind the ashrak before it collapsed was a figure. It was a beautiful burnette in the standard expedition uniform.

"Friend or foe?" Soren asked loudly, his shotgun trained. This woman had some sort of staff weapon in hand but raised it once the invisible assassin was dead.

"You can lower your weapon," the woman said, her voice deepened and distorted. "I'm of the Tok'ra."

"Tok'ra," Soren repeated. "An Earth ally if I recall."

"That is correct," the woman said. "I know there have been some tensions between our peoples as of late but you must believe me when I say the people of Earth and the Tok'ra are allies."

Soren's eyes narrowed suspiciously before finally clicking the safety on his shotgun.

"Sir Arcturus and Doctor Chen will be needing our help," Soren stated.

"Do not worry," she said, rolling up her sleeve to reveal some sort of wrist band with a blue gem in it. "Kel sha anise korro ah Soren," she said into it before rolling up her sleeve again. "I was dispatched with several other Tok'ra. They have been dispatched to render aid to Doctor Chen and Sir Arcturus."

-.-

Arcturus groaned weakly. It felt like she was waking from a deep sleep. She was still tired but she wasn't on the brink of collapse any more. But for some reason she felt something warm hovering above her chest. She cracked her eyes open, curious what this source of warmth was. What she saw was a hand hovering in front of her, an orange gem in the center glowing.

Seeing it immediately reminded her of the golden gauntlet weapon used against Hailey. And immediately, her hand shot forward, grabbing the throat of the man holding the gem. He let out a strangled cry but didn't fight back, instead holding up both his hands as if to surrender.

"Aurox, kree!" a voice to the side ordered. She titled her head and spotted another man in a leather jacket standing not too far. "Sir Arcturus, stand down. You are among allies."

Arcturus looked at the man next to her before looking at the man in front of her.

"Who are you?" she demanded, trying to sound intimidating. But she was too weak to have her words sound like anything more than wheeze.

"After Carl Grogan's death, General Mercer ordered Hailey monitored," the man in the leather jacket said. "Sir Arcturus, I assure you we are here to help."

Arcturus considered just snapping the neck of the man in front of her. If they were here to attack her, she would rather die fighting. But if they weren't, then she'd be attacking a friend.

"Your assistance is appreciated," she said, letting her arm hang loose. The man in front of her choked a bit once his neck was released but he then raised his hand again, holding the orange gem over her chest. Unlike the crimson gem, it wasn't attached to a gauntlet. In fact it was held in place on the hand with a leather strap

"I have stopped the bleeding," he said. "If you had been blended you would be able to recover from this. Perhaps your genetic enhancements will compensate."

"What of Doctor Chen?" Arcturus asked.

"Steven Chen has lost over a quarter of his blood. We've managed to slow the bleeding, but it will require the medical knowledge of the Alliance to save his life."

The man stood up, giving the other man a nod. They immediately went to work. They set two bars next to Chen, one above his head and one below his feet. An orange field extended between the two bars and extended two handles, forming a gurney. The gurney slowly levitated up off the floor. The two men took out another pair of bars, ready to make another gurney for Arcturus but she protested.

"I can make it to the infirmary on my own," she said, trying to stand using her sword as a crutch. But she nearly fell over.

"You have also suffered significant blood loss. Your pride will be your death if you do not let us help you." Arcturus let out a small growl of frustration, but she finally lay back. The two Tok'ra formed the gurney and it levitated into the air. Once that was done, it began hovering away.

-.-

It seemed that once he was satisfied Hailey was not chasing him, the Director had slowed his run to a walk. Hailey was thankful for that lapse of judgement since it let her catch up.

She wasn't going to bother with giving him the chance to surrender. He killed Carl and probably killed Steven as well. He was going to pay.

Hailey rounded the corner, raising her X699. But the sound of her running down the hall had gotten his attention. He whipped around. Realizing what was happening and with no cover, he began fumbling with his kara'kesh.

Hailey didn't care about that. She was going to make him pay. She fired her gun. Three blue blasts flew at the target. But the Director seemed to accomplish something. The orange shield flickered on for just a moment. It was just a moment but it was long enough that two of the blasts hit and was absorbed by the shield. The third shot was cut in half, the shield forming right on the bolt. It absorbed most the energy from the plasma but there was just enough that escaped. It superheated the air around it. The heated air expanded like the blast wave of an explosion, pushing air in all directions. The blast sent the Director flying backwards against the wall right next to an ark.

The Director let out a chuckle, stepping backward. Immediately behind him was an ark. He pressed the button and the doors open. The Director vanished through the ark and the doors began to close. Hailey ran at the doors, firing a few shots through them. The door sensors detected the bolts and opened up again.

Hailey ran through the door, taking only a moment to get her bearings before running off. She recognize the room. She was in the central tower of Central City. Central City's central tower was the only ark that any ark in the city had access too. And there was only one reason she could think of for why the Director was coming here. He was headed for the stargate.

She ran up two flights of stairs. This was the way to the gate room. Even from two floors down she could hear the sound of the za'tarc ring going off. It was the middle of the night so almost everyone was asleep. There were probably only a handful of people in the control room, most of them being technicians, not soldiers.

She could hear the gate being dialed, every chevron locking into place. She also recognized the sound of the gate activating.

-.-

In the control room, the Director was at the DHD, three bodies on the floor. One blast had gone through two people so he got more for less. The gate activated and the unstable vortex flooded outward before getting pulled back in.

The event horizon settled. But when he went to go through, he noticed someone standing in front of the gate.

"So the monster returns," the Director said quietly. He walked down the stairs, extending the plasma blade from his ring. Mercer stood at the front of the gate, a buzz blade in his hand. As the Director approached, Mercer's eyes glowed, Am-heh taking control.

"Stand aside, Am-heh," the Director said.

"No," Am-heh stated. "I know not how you survived but may this be the last time. Farewell, master."

The Director raised his hand to aim his ring but Am-heh slashed at him, forcing him to leap backwards. Am-heh hadn't bothered bringing a pistol. He expected the Director to come with a goa'uld shield. And even if he did bring a pistol, he didn't know the Director's shield was broken. So Am-heh continued his assault, slashing at the Director.

Unable to get a clear shot, the Director created his plasma blade, deflecting the next slash.

The buzz blade vibrated the atoms at its edge so quickly it experienced time dilation so extreme that time at its blade practically halted. It was where physics died, quantum information lost. And in some attempt to make sense of it all, it was as if the universe decides the best course of action is to shear physical objects to compensate, to remove the object in this zone.

But when this zone met with the field that held the plasma blade together, physics seemed to die once more. The field and the dead zone rejected each other. The two blades didn't just bounce off each other. They practically exploded away from one another, sparks flying in all directions.

Am-heh and the Director both stumbled backwards, Am-heh stopping himself from falling into the event horizon. Recovering, he lunged forward again.

-.-

Hailey finally made it to the control room, gasping when she saw the guard and two technicians on the floor. More innocent people the Director had to answer for…

Hailey went over to the gate controls. She could see Mercer and the Director fighting in front of the gate. Every time their weapons met, there was a massive explosion of sparks.

Hailey couldn't just stand and stare. She had to stop the Director from escaping. She began typing away at the laptop, entering her personal code that let her access the gate controls. The Director was clearly trying to make it through the gate. And one wrong move from Am-heh meant his escape. There were several close calls. The explosions from every weapon clash would knock both of them backwards, and the Director would try to take advantage of that, lunging for the gate but not making it before Mercer seized his cloak and hauled him back. But this time, the Director actually managed to reach the event horizon. Mercer just barely managed to grab his cloak. But he could not drag the masked man out.

Hailey wasn't chancing it. She couldn't let him get away. She slammed the enter key after she typed the final command: cut power to the gate. The standing puddle of water glowed for a bit before suddenly vanishing. Mercer took a step backwards as the bit of cloak he held was detached from the rest of the body.

"That was for Carl and Steven you son of a bitch," Hailey snarled. Hailey let herself plop back in a chair. She was exhausted and she still had a hole in her stomach where the symbiote nearly entered. Though when she opened her eyes she saw General Mercer standing in front of her.

"General…" she said cautiously. "I can explain…"

General Mercer held up his hand to keep her silent. His face was stern which meant he had plenty to say.

"We will discuss this in private," he said. "But first, you should go to the infirmary."

"To get checked out. Yes, sir."

"No," Mercer interrupted. "Go to the observation room."

Hailey could not imagine why Mercer would want her to go to the observation room. That would suggest someone was undergoing surgery or some other operation. But who? She had her suspicions but she didn't want to get her hopes too high.

But, when she reached the observation room, she found her hands cupped over her mouth in shock and relief when she was Steven Chen on the operating table. There were already doctors hard at work including Doctor Osborn. There were an array of tools, both Earth and Alliance, at their disposal. There were machines hanging overhead and a few pipes and tubes.

Chen lay still on the bed, a tube in his mouth. The surgeons surrounded him, working on his midsection. She watched intently as they worked on him, unable to tell what was happening. There were a few tense moments, the surgeons panicking for minutes at a time. But finally things began to calm down.

After almost six hours, Kara finally breathed out a sigh of relief and left the room. The observation room window wasn't tinted so Kara knew Hailey was up there and headed up to talk to her.

Hailey could see the worry on Kara's face when she entered. Even a little anger. The look Hailey got was 'what the hell did you do'?

"Is he going to be ok?" Hailey asked.

"He's going to need a week," Kara said in her usual British accent. "But at the very least he's out of the woods. I'm just chuffed we have all the alien technology we do."

With that, she turned and headed for the door.

"What about Arcturus?" Hailey asked before Kara could leave.

"A different team of surgeons worked on Sam," Kara said. "She got patched up just a few minutes before you came."

And Kara left. Hailey collapsed into the chair. The nightmare was finally over.

-.-

The next day Soren, Hailey, Chen, and Arcturus found themselves in Mercer's. Both of Samanya's arms were in slings. And Chen was on crutches. Hailey needed a bandage for the hole left by the symbiote and her broken nose and Soren managed to come out unscratched.

They stood before Mercer, the old man continuing to work on paperwork. Finally, he set his pen down and looked up. He reached under the table and pressed a button. The doors clicked and the window at the front became tinted.

"This office is now under lockdown," Mercer said. "What is said here will remain here unless I choose otherwise. I have brought you here so we may speak freely."

"General, I can-" Hailey said but Mercer held up his hand to silence her.

"Major Hailey, I am putting you up for a Commendation Medal," Mercer stated. Hailey blinked a couple times, not sure she heard that right. But she did crack a smile. "It was thanks to your diligence that we have apprehended a terrorist hidden within our city before he could do more harm." Hailey could tell Mercer was careful about his words. 'More harm' as opposed to 'any harm' since she knew Grogan was dead because of that man. "In the meantime, I thought we would debrief on the day's events. I have read your reports. For the purpose of conserving our power, I held off on exploring the city's arms. However after this, I have ordered the expedition to begin exploring the city arms. I have grown tired of incursions using the arms as a beachhead. Mister Stavig, you will join the reconnaissance teams. Sir Arcturus, once you are recovered you are to do the same."

"Sir," Soren and Arcturus said at the same time.

"What about what happened yesterday?" Hailey asked.

"As far as the expedition is concerned, remnants of the Stargate Council orchestrated Carl Grogan's death when he came close to uncovering their operations. But their plans were foiled thanks to your efforts."

"So, we're going to cover up the truth?" Hailey asked uncomfortably.

"What, tell them we had Goa'ulds infiltrate us?" Chen asked.

"It's not just the Goa'uld. It was the Director."

Chen looked at Hailey like she had gone nuts.

"That's not possible," he said.

"I'm telling you, it was him. He had the mask."

"He had the mask…" Chen repeated incredulously. "How does that prove anything?"

"You didn't hear him talk, Steven," Hailey sighed, putting her hand to her face. "It was him."

"Just because he wore the Director's mask doesn't mean it's the Director. You guys killed the Director. How do you know it's not some schmuck wearing his mask?"

"Alright, if that's how you want to play it," Hailey snapped. "How do you know the person we originally killed was the Director? How do you know HE wasn't just a schmuck wearing his mask?"

It was only after those words left her mouth did the two of them realize what this meant.

"Crap," they both agreed. Hailey and Chen both looked at Mercer, hoping Am-heh would have the answer. Mercer's eyes glowed, Am-heh taking over.

"There is no way to be certain if my former master had managed to survive or if this was simply an imposter," the ashrak said. "Though from what I have been told, you initially thought it was the Tok'ra."

"Hey, with all that's been going on, we're all a little on our toes with the Tok'ra," Chen said. "You say this conversation is private, but I assume they're watching us."

"No," Am-heh said. "I wanted to give you the opportunity to speak freely."

"You mean they let an ashrak alone?" Chen asked incredulously.

"They are outside the door if you want to know," Mercer said. "Their personnel are everywhere, a natural part of this expedition. They work with you. Eat with you. Celebrate with you. Mourn with you."

"And so you guys knew about the Typhon before it even arrived," Hailey said. Not asked, but stated. "You guys had communication stones all along. They wouldn't send their leaders all the way out here. They'd send proxies and communicate with them through the stones."

Am-heh's eyes glowed, letting Mercer take back over.

"I gave you permission to speak freely," Mercer said. "There is still information you are not privy to."

"Yes sir," Hailey said stiffly.

"Major Hailey," Mercer said, his eyes narrowing. "Rest assured this is William Mercer speaking, not Am-heh. Our plans have nothing to do with you. Our leaders are your leaders And we will clean up whatever messes we make. However if you discover any new or relevant information, please relay it to me."

"Understood, sir," Hailey said. Hailey didn't hate this. The military compartmentalizes information so this was all par the course. And from what Samanya and Soren said, the Tok'ra were the reason Sam and Steve were still alive so she was grateful for that.

"I do have one more piece of news to report, perhaps something more positive" Mercer said, reaching into a drawer and sliding forth a paper. Hailey and Chen leaned forward, recognizing the X699 schematic. But it didn't say X699. At the top in bold was 'Hailey-699'. "Congratulations. The H-699 is being taken from experimental to mass production, with a little token of appreciation for all your work in its design."

Hailey let out an excited laugh before recomposing herself.

"Thank you, sir."

"You are now dismissed," Mercer said, unlocking the doors. Hailey saluted before exiting. Soren and Arcturus followed her. And Chen went through last, clicking on his crutches.

They didn't say anything until they had made it to Hailey's quarters. The room was horrifyingly tidy with everything organized and labeled, even the dresser drawers.

Chen went up to Hailey's bookshelf. Why was he not surprised it had books on nearly every branch of physics from particle physics to quantum chromodynamics.

There were two framed pictures on display. One was a picture of her and Carter on their motorcycles. The other was a picture of four SG trainees. Chen didn't recognize the girl but he recognized Grogan. And that last guy fit what Hailey described Elliot.

"Please don't touch anything," Hailey said right off the bat when everyone started looking around the room.

"You think there's any truth to what he said?" Chen asked.

"Honestly I believe him," Hailey answered. "I don't believe the Tok'ra would target earth and the IOA wouldn't do anything to jeopardize it."

"They wouldn't do anything to intentionally jeopardize it," Chen corrected. "Most of the IOA leadership are just politicians more focused on looking good and lining their pockets."

"Is something the matter?" Soren asked. He could sense the tension in Chen's voice.

Chen reached into his pocket and pulled out several crumpled pieces of paper. He tossed the paper to Hailey.

"What is this?" Hailey asked as she began quickly reading.

"I'm not all that familiar with government documents," Chen admitted. "Found these when we were busting the goa'ulds. Can't be certain but those look like official presidential orders to the NID to obtain alien technology at all costs."

"In secrecy to even the SGC," Hailey said as she made it down the document. "In the event they are caught, the SGC would be ordered to hunt them down. Is this about the rogue NID operation from like a decade ago?"

"It certainly makes sense. Have the SGC be the public face while having the NID get more tech from behind the scenes. If they get caught, send the SGC after them and you get to keep appearances."

"Chen you're talking about black operations here."

"So?"

"So, you know how tightly those documents would be locked down?"

"The NID guys who were part of that operation became the Trust, and the Trust was eventually taken over by the Director. It makes sense that he would get his hands on them."

"I don't buy it," Hailey said, tossing the paper back to Chen. "When the Director leaked the Stargate Program he released plenty of fake documents along side the real one. That's just another fake document."

"It's like you said, the Director released real documents too. That could be real and given your government I'm inclined to believe it."

"MY government?" Hailey repeated.

"C'mon, it's no secret that your politicians care more about their ego and looking moral rather than being moral."

"What about YOUR government?"

"What about them? I'm not going to pretend they're good guys. They're politicians."

"Then why you are working for them?"

"I work for the paycheck. I don't have any delusions over who they are."

"No," Hailey said, shaking her head. "I refuse to believe that the president back then would order this."

"You refuse to believe it because the evidence doesn't support it?" Chen questioned. "Or because you don't want to believe it?"

While Chen and Hailey went back and forth, Samanya stood up and marched over to Chen.

"What the…Sam!" Chen yelped in surprise when she yanked the papers out of his hands. She couldn't use her hands, so she tossed the paper on the ground. She stepped on it with both her feet before sliding her legs apart, ripping the paper in the process. She adjusted her stance and did it again, tearing the document into four pieces.

"I do not know much about your planet or its governments," she said. "But from what I have heard of the Director, he has one objective and it is to turn us against each other over our beliefs. The legitimacy of this document is academic. The matter was dealt with, by your account, a decade ago. All it serves now is to divide us. Your world may be burning, but you don't have to take part in it."

Hailey and Chen looked at each other. They didn't really have a retort to any of that.

"Well, I'm off duty for a week and I need to say good bye to Corin so…" Chen said, preparing to leave.

"Steven," Hailey said, her tone significantly softened. "How're your ribs?"

"Oh, they're just fine. Ready to do a hundred crunches despite, you know, having my entire stomach explode. C'mon, how do you think they're doing?!"

Well, a hug was out of the question. So Hailey walked over to Chen, giving him a gentle peck on the cheek. Chen didn't move at first, blinking as it to make sure he didn't hallucinate.

"Right, well I should," he said. "I should go." And with that he left.

"I should also take my leave," Soren said. "General Mercer wishes me to take part in the reconnaissance efforts so I wish to rest first."

"Go ahead," Hailey said with a nod. "And Soren, you're the reason we're all alive right now so…thank you."

Soren gave a nod and left.

"Samanya," Hailey addressed last. "There's one more thing I'd like to do and I was wondering if you could join me."

-.-

Martin and Chen both looked at the open wormhole. They did all they could do. All the convincing. And the begging. But Corin remained steadfast in his decision.

Corin stood in from the gate, his back to the wormhole so he could look at his friends. He had a bag on his back and a suitcase in his hand.

"So this is it?" Martin asked.

"This is it," Corin said.

"And there's nothing any of us can say?" Chen asked. Corin looked back at the wormhole before looking at Chen.

"Sorry," Corin sighed. "I joined you guys because I believed you were the key to overthrowing the Ror'char. But if you guys aren't…"

"Mate, it's politics," Martin said. "We don't know if they'll accept the terms. They might not."

"I can't risk it," Corin sighed. "Mercer's erased most of my memories but he let me keep the ones I have with you guys so…there's that."

There was an awkward chuckle between the three.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Martin said. He walked up, giving Corin a tight embrace. "Take care, mate." Corin stepped back and looked at Chen who still was propped on his crutches.

"Still no good with the hug?" Corin asked.

"Unfortunately not," Chen said. "People tend to really forget exploding stomachs take more than one day to heal."

"Well I'll hug you in my mind," Corin said cheerfully. "That sounded less creepy in my head."

"You don't say… Just don't kiss me like Jennifer did."

"What?!" Corin and Martin gawked.

"Long story, one that I will gladly share over a late night team meal," Chen proposed. But Corin shook his head.

"Sorry Steven," he sighed. "I have to do this. Not only for my late wife but everyone under Ror'char oppression."

Steven held out a hand and Corin seized it. He stepped back, turning around and walking up to the wormhole.

"Hey," he said. "Tell Terra 'thank you for everything'. I won't forget any of this." He looked around the gate room one last time before he finally turned around and went through the wormhole. After a moment, the glittery surface vanished, and the room dimmed.

Martin and Chen were silent for a bit, still processing what happened.

"Corin's gone," Martin sighed. "The Major's gone. What's going to become of Wolf Pack now?"

"Terra's coming back," Chen said. "And even if she doesn't, we're still Wolf Pack. A couple million light years doesn't change family."

-.-

Hailey opened the hatch that lead to the roof. They were at the top of one of the towers, the golden shingles forming a gentle slope. When Grogan arrived, she took him here as part of the grand tour. It was universally agreed the sunsets here were beautiful and the roof of the towers were the best place to watch them. She set a wreath on the roof. Then she reached into her pocket and took out the picture she had on her bookshelf, the one of her, Satterfield, Grogan, and Elliot. She looked at the picture one last time before placing it in the wreath, letting the flowers hold the picture in place.

"There," she said. "Now you can look at Millennium's sunset every night," Hailey said. She looked up at the sky one last time before going back through the hatch. Arcturus waited for her at the bottom, unable to join her since both her arms were out of commission.

Hailey walked up to Samanya and gave her a hug. Samanya nested her head on Hailey's shoulder in turn.

-.-

In another part of the city, Chen leaned against the doorway, watching a beautiful burnette woman work with the different pieces of alien technology they had gathered, medical technology in this case. She was very efficient, setting some of the machines to run tests before resuming her active studies on other pieces of equipment.

Amelia Franklin. One of the best engineers in his department. Always stood out because of her performance and now he knew why.

"You join the expedition and you don't even change hosts?" Chen scoffed, hobbling in with his crutches. Amelia whipped around, gasping in surprise.

"Doctor Chen," she said. "You startled me."

"So Goa'ulds can get startled too?" Chen asked almost mockingly. "That would be a sight to see." It was subtle but Chen could see Franklin's eye twitch when he said Goa'uld. When a person gets angry or nervous, adrenaline shoots into their body. It creates a wave of anxiety that washes over them, their body demanding some form of action.

"I don't understand," Amelia said.

"Well, I went on a little mission," Chen explained. "Afterwards, I compared notes with my teammates. One of them ran into a Tok'ra. She said a lot of stuff in Goa'uld then left."

There it was again. That eye twitch. It was so small that if Chen wasn't so closely examining her face and body language he wouldn't have even noticed it let alone thought it as anything.

"He told me what she said," he continued. "But, unfortunately for me, I don't know how to speak the language of the Goa'ulds." Another twitch. "But, there was a word that stood out in that sentence. Anise." No reaction that time. Chen looked around the room, dramatically tapping his chin. "And I wondered why that word sounded familiar. And that's when I realized, it's a name!"

"Doctor, why are you telling me this?" Amelia asked, shaking her head. Chen ignored the question and continued with his story.

"Anise was a Tok'ra who worked with SG-1 over ten years ago. And I wondered, if she were to join this expedition, what would she be? She was an archaeologist so maybe in the archaeology department? But no, she was always working with alien technology which puts her in the engineering department. MY department. So I took the liberty to run a facial comparison on the ID's of everyone in the engineering department and the image we have of Anise." Chen pulled a chair from the desk, carefully sitting down and setting his crutches on his legs. He winced in pain as his stomach muscles got used.

"Doctor, I think..." Amelia began to say but Chen cut her off.

"Let me clarify. I KNOW who you are. Piece of advice? You might want to do more than just dye your hair. So we can either talk in private or I can go to Mercer and tell him your cover is blown."

Amelia lowered her head before raising it once more.

"Very well," she said, her voice now distorted. "How shall we proceed?"

-.-

On a distant planet, a pirate haven was bustling. Anyone and everyone was welcome. Deserters, criminals, vagrants, refugees, anyone could come as long as they behaved.

And it was in the local tavern Corin found himself. The Expedition did have quarium that they smelted into quarium keyes, the currency for space pirates. First thing he had to do was look for work. Probably something simple.

But as he mingled with the different races, the sireens, antenok, and icthyan, a narkoss in the corner had taken an interest in him. This narkoss was at the bar, drinking away but keeping an eye on Corin.

"That him?" the human bartender asked.

"Indeed, it is," the narkoss said.

"That twig is the person your employer wants? The bartender scoffed. "Doesn't look like much."

"Body and skill can be molded," the narkoss explained. "But he has the right…background you can say. My employers were very specific about the man they want: Professor Corin Nevec former citizen of the Ror'char Empire."

"And if he says no?"

"He won't."

"You sound damn confident. Benefits that good?"

The narkoss chuckled in amusement about this question.

"Let's just say that I should be dead," the bug-man explained. "But my employers were pleased with my service."

The narkoss reached into his pockets and dumped a bunch of coins onto the counter.

"Keep the change," the narkoss said, standing up.

"That's a hefty tip," the bartender remarked. "Thanks mister…"

"Ashr," the narkoss said. "My name's Ashr."