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Chapter 17: It all began on Abydos….

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Part 5

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Ra's Temple
Abydos
Milky Way Galaxy

Scorching heat flooded his lungs and bathed his flesh. His ears rang, drowning everything else out. Major Grayson blinked white spots away from his eyes and rolled on instinct. He could feel something painfully crunch under him, digging into his ribs.

Strong hands grabbed him and dragged him away. His vision cleared up a bit, and he could see the blurry form of a soldier towering above him.

The world tilted sideways before finally coming into focus. Grayson could recognize the symptoms of a nasty concussion. He still couldn't hear for shit, yet he could now see, more or less. Dancing fires, explosions, and plasma flying everywhere did his eyes no favors.

He saw Barnes nearby, trying to rally the troops. The Lieutenant was waving a hand and gesturing forward. Two glowing bolts of orange death struck him in the chest. Barnes wasn't a small man, yet the shit that hit him picked him off his feet, even as it tore his torso into chunks of cooked meat.

Grayson muttered curses and prayers as he tried to escape the soldier's grip, dragging him away. Finally, that bastard let him go after they were behind a burning tent.

A missile streaked in the air above them, and finally, the Major could hear something other than that damned ringing in his ears. He looked around for a weapon; the heavier, the better. Grayson knew he had just one job right now – slow the bastards down as much as possible… even if he didn't have a hope of buying much time. Despite their preparations, the surprise was nearly complete, and from what little he could see, their weapons weren't effective.

The one who got him this far offered a hand and helped Grayson get on his feet. Only now, he saw it was one of the Japanese who got him out of the line of fire. The man was muttering prayers or curses. The Major couldn't say either way, though both were more than appropriate for the deep shit they were in. Neither would get them out, but every little bit helped, yes?

Grayson saw one of the crates with anti-tank weapons, grinned, and then stumbled its way. He winced as the world swayed in front of him. The concussion he had was a particularly nasty bitch. Nevertheless, the Major forced his feet to move forward and reached the prize, only for his tingling fingers to struggle with the case.

The Japanese appeared beside him and helped him open the container. He pulled out an AT-4 and went away to presumably seek a better firing position. Grayson grabbed the second weapon and did the same.

That big flying tank was still hovering above the camp and systematically demolished defense positions and any heavy weapon teams that managed to break out the good stuff. Grayson saw another missile rise to hit it, only to splash harmlessly against its shield. What was this, the Independence Day?!

The Major glared at the big flying bastard and ignored it. Wasting the missile on it was going to be useless. He staggered around the burning tent, looking for the enemy infantry.

Sure enough, the bastards entered the camp in a loose line, shooting at everything that moved. Grayson could see bullets bounce off their armor, not slowing them down. He went on one knee, nearly falling, before catching himself up. Grayson ignored how at least two bastards noticed him and began aiming his way. He took aim and fired just as they did.

The last thing the Major saw was his missile hitting one of the Jaffa in the chest, before hellfire consumed him.

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Explosions sent light tremors through the stone, making dust fall from the ceiling. Automatic fire echoed throughout the pyramid, doing little to drown the screams of panicking civilians. Special Forces teams had to drag some of their charges toward the chamber with the Stargate. In contrast, others did their best to a panicky stumble in the right direction.

Kowalski had no time to deal with them. He was busy with a few engineers placing C-4 charges along the length of the corridor leading to the Stargate. The only chance any of them had to get out of this alive was if Perun could send someone to retrieve them before Hammond decided to nuke the place to cover Earth's tracks. Either way, they had to hold the Stargate, and from what he could hear, that wasn't to happen conventionally.

The pyramid began to shake, and Kowalski decided he might not have to blow up the place to bring it down. What the fuck was going on now?! The ceiling beside him crashed, making the Major jump and turn around to see the newest disaster. He stared at the set of giant rings as wide as the corridor. Light flashed in between them, briefly blinding him. More screams followed. He stumbled back, blinking away the light just in time to see the rings smoothly jump through the hole they fell into the corridor. Another blink and Kowalski's mind registered the golden spheres left behind. He managed to open his mouth to scream a warning when light washed over him, and the Major knew no more.

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Strange noises and blinding light erupted from the corridor leading away from the Stargate chamber. Two soldiers near the entrance collapsed like puppets with their strings cut.

Carter tried keeping her expression neutral as she ushered members of the science teams to the dubious cover offered by the platform holding the Stargate. The Wiesel, left behind to hold the gate in case of emergency, drove forward, followed by a squad of soldiers with SAWs and grenade launchers.

Samantha dragged a tiny red-haired woman, one of the British archeologists, towards the back of the chamber moments before the security detail opened fire. The Wiesels' autocannon was deafening in the enclosed space. The other weapons firing with controlled bursts ensured that if anyone lived past today, they would be undoubtedly deaf.

Explosions engulfed the corridor in fire and shrapnel. Smoke billowed out, and then more light erupted from the entrance.

Carter felt like a hammer struck her brain. She saw stars, could taste colors, and heard the orange of the burning plasma that tore its way through the smoke. Something nasty hit the Wiesel, and its top blew up, splashing molten armor everywhere. Ammo cooked up, cutting into the huddling civilians and the soldiers trying to hold back the enemy.

Samantha tried to claw her way to her feet. She needed a weapon! Samantha had to fight! She refused to die helpless! Yet, no matter what she did, her arms and legs refused to cooperate. They felt numb yet on fire. Instead of doing what Carter wanted, her arms twitched as if electrocuted.

Tall, armored figures emerged from the smoke. The few soldiers still on their feet let them have it with everything at their disposal. Light machine guns, grenades, and even a shotgun with slugs boomed. Their sound was distant as if it was coming from miles away instead of mere feet.

One of the aliens fell under the onslaught, but only after a grenade detonated between his legs. A second fell on one knee yet kept firing despite all the bullets sparkling off their armor.

The last one carried a damned cannon he swung at a group of Delta Force commandos. A single shot tore them asunder, even if they tried to scatter away. That was what killed the Wiesel and their only chance to hold the Stargate, Samantha's mind supplied. She could taste the scent of burning flesh and hear the burning chunks of flesh and bone.

Her precious mind was betraying her when she needed it the most.

The wounded Jaffa fell, yet that was a short-lived victory. The one with the cannon blew up another group of soldiers, and then more aliens stalked out of the smoke. Within moments, no one was left to fire back.

Beside Carter, the Stargate came to live. That had to be SGC, she knew. Samantha glared defiantly at the approaching enemies. It was a cold comfort that they were about to die with her and everyone else.

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Jack made it into the pyramid in one piece. He could see some British setting up charges in the stairway around the door.

"Blow them up as soon as you are done! The perimeter is lost!" Jack barked as he moved past the SAS operatives.

There were nasty chokepoints in the pyramid. The big halls offered a lot of cover thanks to those lovely, thick columns. Inside, they had a chance of slowing down the enemy for long enough so SGC could dial the Stargate and send the nuke through. That was all that mattered now.

Jack was barking orders to the soldiers inside, instructing them to set up the chamber for demolition, when he heard even more shots and explosions. These were coming from within the pyramid.

The Stargate. The bastards were coming through the Stargate.

"Blow the chamber as soon as you can!" Jack looked around for one of the weapon caches and ran to it. He opened crates until he found what he was looking for – a combat shotgun with slugs modified to transfer as much kinetic energy at a single target spot. "The rest of you, arm up! We have to hold the Stargate until SGC can dial in!"

O'Neill loaded the weapon, took two braces with slugs, and ran deeper into the building. Louis and Price were on his heels, dragging along SAWs they picked up.

The next chamber was still secure. However, all the soldiers were stacked at the door leading towards the Stargate. The sound of combat here was deafening.

"Give me a report!" Jack roared over the screams, gunfire, and explosions.

"The Stargate is not active! The aliens are coming through the ceiling in the corridor leading to it!" A Canadian Sergeant shouted back.

The wall between them and the corridor leading to the Stargate was feet thick. That was enough to resist even staff weapon fire for some time.

Whatever the aliens shot it with blew a large hole into the stones and mortar, pulverizing them. The explosion and shattered rock tore apart the soldiers stacked near the impact site. Shards of stone, blood, and bone splashed over Jack as the blast wave hit him and threw him on his ass.

A second blast blew another hole into the wall, killing and maiming most soldiers who survived the first explosion.

Ferretti and Price grabbed Jack under the shoulders and dragged him back into the chamber and toward the columns so they could take cover. It wasn't a moment too soon because the enemy took advantage of the devastation and charged the chokepoint. Armored Jaffa trampled or shot the crippled survivors before bursting into the larger space.

Jack came to his senses just in time to duck behind a column before a plasma bolt took a chunk of it. Even then, he felt heat wash over him as if he was in an oven.

Explosions shook the building. That should buy them time and ensure they didn't have to worry about more aliens surging from the entrance.

Smoke grenades hissed near the front chamber door, and reinforcements came through as soon as it was obscured. The Jaffa opened fire into the smoke, allowing everyone taking cover behind the columns to retaliate.

Jack leaned around his cover and put a slug in what should have been the throat of a tall, armored alien straight out of a mythological book. The solid chunk of metal struck thick armor that bulged forward from the chest plate before tinning into a helmet shaped like a bull's head. Two glowing red eyes focus on the Colonel, who ducked in just in time to avoid a plasma bolt that shaved off a chunk of his cover.

A much larger glowing ball of plasma hit the column Louis was hiding behind. Most of it shattered, throwing Ferretti away in a smoking heap. Only Jack's years of training and experience stopped him from running into the open to help his howling friend. Doing so was a suicide that would benefit no one.

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Part 6

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Slavna Zemq

Perun's Throne World

Milky Way Galaxy

By the time we got to the Stargate, my Space Wolves were already formed and ready for deployment. A messenger had left for Krepost to get Stephan up to speed on my worries so he would be prepared to send more troops as soon as we figured out what went to hell.

It was clear the Force was up to shenanigans again because as soon as I disembarked from the transport, the Stargate activated, and two people hurried out. One was a Jaffa in my service with a vaguely familiar face. It took me a few moments to place it – he was part of the Prolet garrison, which explained why he could bring someone from Earth here.

I was confident about the why – my allies had kriffed up spectacularly.

"Lord Perun, I am afraid I bring bad news…" My Jaffa trailed off and took in all the gathered troops around the Stargate. "I see you've foreseen it, my Lord!" He looked at me with awe.

"Jaffa, Report," I ordered while staring at the human. His face was somewhat familiar, though I couldn't place a name on it.

"Our allies are trespassing on one of Ra's worlds. This one has the address. They require extraction because there is no dialing device there."
Coincidences did happen all the time. But something like this, especially after my presence and actions, derailed the timeline already? The Force was involved. Either that or a few of the Ascended had something to do with this.

"The address?" I asked the human.

"Here, Lord Perun," He at least had the brains to be terribly worried about what was happening.

I used the Force to grab the sheet of paper in his hands and examined the symbols written on it. The damn place might be Abydos. I didn't know its address – it was one of the many minor worlds every Goa'uld had that were of no consequence for most other beings in the galaxy. I dialed up the Stargate with telekinesis, tapping the relevant buttons on the dialing device. It was a good thing I brought in a sensor drone, which kept floating behind me all the way here from the palace.

A gesture activated my Kara'kesh, and its neural interface snapped in place. I guided the drone through as soon as the Stargate activated. A few seconds later, it emerged on the other side. Due to my mental link with it, I could see through its sensors smell the smoke and charred flesh that were thick in the air.

A large-ish chamber on the other side held the Stargate. The place was packed with dead and dying humans and some huddling terrified behind the Alteran device.

There was no mistaking Ra's personal guards in their modified armors based on my design. I could also not mistake the uniforms, weapons from Earth, and the burning armored vehicle near the Stargate. While I hadn't seen one like it before, it was undoubtedly from Earth.

One of Ra's warriors looked up at my drone from where he was leaning towards a blond woman in military uniform. She looked unharmed, yet her body was twitching. That looked like someone without proper protection caught on the edge of a shock grenade's field of effect. The woman was glaring defiantly at the man towering above her. He had frozen, with his armored fingers about to grab her by the throat.

Kriffing wonderful. My allies had to run into Ra, didn't they?!

"Jaffa, we are going to war! Do not engage our Earth allies! Secure the building on the other side!" I ordered, letting the leash I kept on my temper slip. The Force flooded me, and I drank deeply from the Dark Side. "You," I pointed at the human, "stay put. I will deal with your masters and their idiocy later!"

A mental command had my smart-metal helmet form up in the shape of an Eagle's head, sealing my armor. That was one of the boons I got from working with Ra's scientists. It was too bad that building those things was too time-consuming in fabricator time to mass-produce them anytime soon. "Jaffa, Kree! To war!" I roared and charged into the rippling surface of the wormhole.

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Ra's Temple
Abydos
Milky Way Galaxy

When the Stargate activated, Samantha felt a profound sense of vindication and satisfaction. That Jaffa wouldn't get to drag her to his alien master for interrogation. They were going to die here together. She glared defiantly at him, expecting to die any moment now.

Any moment now…

Samantha blinked, staring at the alien soldier who was looking at something in front of the Stargate. Carter looked that way, and her heart sank. Instead of the case with the nuclear bomb, she was seeing a familiar Goa'uld drone.

Something big and yellow flew from the gate and landed on the stones below. Samantha blinked and followed the object. A man in bulky golden armor had landed on one knee. His right hand was raised. Clawed fingers pointed at the Jaffa near the entrance. His other hand moved fast, making a grabbing gesture that Samantha barely saw. The Jaffa towering above her flew away as if launched with a missile and slammed into the wall near the exit. Even over the roar of combat echoing throughout the pyramid, Carter could hear bones snapping like twigs.

The other Jaffa opened fire at the lone figure. At the same time, more armored forms charged through the Stargate. All Samantha could see was a blur of violence that seared disjointed images in her memory.

Bolts of yellow plasma froze in mid-flight before the kneeling figure. It made a pulling motion with its left hand and rose just in time to catch the Jaffa with the cannon. At the time, Carter couldn't see exactly what happened, though it wouldn't be hard to figure out later. The man who saved her used a plasma blade to stab the Jaffa in the armpit while using his body as a shield.

An armored giant tackled one of Ra's Jaffa and fell upon him with a wicked chain-axe that bit through armor, flesh, and bone. Samantha knew that the sound of metal teeth grinding through man and metal alike would feature in her nightmares for a long time.

The last thing Carter could recall from the battle had to be a hallucination. Perun, because who else could it be, was at the exit, pointing his outstretched fingers at the corridor. A wave of angry, purple lighting exploded forward, blasting smoke and dust away.

Their ally stopped pretending to be a Sith and pointed forward. His Jaffa charged down the corridor, and he soon followed.

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Jack rushed away from his nearly destroyed cover right before two plasma shots blasted the column apart. A wave of searing heat washed over him, making his clothes and hair smoke. His skin was parched and felt like it had been cooking under the high-noon sun on the beach for far too long. Even his left eye wasn't working properly anymore, feeling swollen. All O'Neill could see from it was blurry shapes.

Rage, adrenaline, and despair kept pushing him forward, even as his body protested any movement. He slid over the dusty stones, coming to a jarring stop at a pile of rubble that had fallen from the ceiling. The closest Jaffa missed him, yet the blast was enough to almost finish cooking his left side.

Jack hissed in pain, yet he managed to bring the shotgun up to bear on his target and emptied every single shot it had in its tube into the enemy. The hammer blows raining upon the Jaffa's lower chest and belly staggered him, throwing off the alien's aim. The next plasma bolt blew a crater into the column beside Jack, throwing even more dust and dirt into the air.

With a supreme effort of will, O'Neill crawled away from the rubble pile until his back was against the column. He began loading more bullets into the shotgun and only now noticed that his left hand wasn't cooperating properly. A nasty red burn was on its back, with blisters already forming. The wound pulled his fingers back, making it hard to close them around his weapon.

It didn't hurt, which wasn't a good sign, though it wouldn't matter very soon. The Jaffa shouted something that was too distorted for Jack to understand. Were they getting reinforcements? The gunfire meeting the bastards was slacking as they picked off anyone shooting at them with frightening precision.

Jack heard plasma shots and explosions from behind his cover, yet he felt nothing impacting his favorite column. No plasma bolts passed by it, doing their best to cook him.

Many warcries came from the area the enemy used to infiltrate the pyramid. Whoever was still alive opened up on the Jaffa as if bullets were going out of favor, and Jack decided to join the fun. It wasn't like he had any better option now.

O'Neill pushed himself up. His back and shoulders scrapped over the cool stone, making him scream in pain. He did his best to ignore it and stepped around his cover, aiming the shotgun with shaking hands.

Most of the Jaffa were paying no attention to him or the other Earth soldiers. Instead, they were busy firing through the holes blasted into the wall while someone was shooting at them with alien weapons. Just two of the bastards were firing at Jack's people. The closer one did notice him and twisted his torso to aim his way.

Jack fired first. His shot caught the Jaffa in the left arm, staggering him and interrupting his turn. A second slug bounced off the alien's shoulder. The third hammered him in the side, and the fourth hit the beak of his helmet, snapping his head to the side.

Multiple plasma bolts hit the Jaffa in the back, sending him stumbling to the ground. Jack grinned viciously and kept shooting at his target. When he ran out of bullets and exited his target fixation, he saw another Jaffa aiming straight at him.

There was a blur, and a plasma bolt hit the column before him. Searing heat burned his face and scorched his lungs. The shock wave shoved him backward, and he hit his head hard.

Jack collapsed, choking. Each breath was an agony he had to struggle through. Meanwhile, blurry forms fought and died mere feet away.