12: Dawn

Dorvask hummed a low tune as he fitted on his uniform, admiring himself in the mirror upon the wall ahead of him. He was the peak of Calsharan fitness, and as a veteran he had his share of scars. The staff blasts he had taken to his back many months ago had left patches of scar tissue, and every so often he caught sight of them in the mirror. Seeing them only reminded him of his failure, for having let his guard down at a crucial moment. That would not happen again, he was sure of it.

His room was sparse, one of many sizeable accommodations within the temple. He had few personal effects, save for the odd antique gun that he had proudly hung upon the far wall. As for the girl, she was another trophy of sorts, and he saw her stirring amongst the bedclothes behind him in the mirror's reflection. The Jaffa girl who had spent the last few weeks as one of the labourers working about the temple had proven herself useful for something a little more involved than scrubbing floors.

"I'll have the tretonin delivered to your mother's house within the hour," Dorvask stated, and he turned around to face the still half-asleep young woman. She sat up, her long dark hair splaying down across her chest and back. There were visible bruises about her neck, and she winced as she tilted her head and rubbed at one of them.

"Such a thing is in short supply," Dorvask added. He approached the end of the bed, noticing the way in which the woman slinked back slightly amongst the sheets. He stopped, picked up her gown which had been left on the floor by the bed and threw it at her. "You should be grateful, you know." He took a moment to admire her further, doing his best to ignore the visible cross of the symbiote pouch at her stomach. That was one trait of these people he did not much like, but he was willing to look past it, especially if a pretty young Jaffa girl was in his bed.

The woman said nothing, she simply slid off of the bed and slipped on the gown. She kept her eyes down, away from the Calsharan who watched her with a smug smile. She knew if her family discovered this liaison, they would likely disown her. Even so, her parents were falling ill without their tretonin injections, and this Captain had promised her enough to last them weeks to come.

Dorvask strode towards her and put a hand to her chin, grabbing it tightly and forcing her to look up into his eyes.

"I'll expect you here again tomorrow night," he told her. He got the feeling that this may not eventuate, if only because the insurgents were preparing their attack. He knew it, as did everyone under his command. The General, on the other hand, remained convinced it was not coming. He still considered the insurgents a disorganized rabble. Dorvask knew better, and he also knew that the General had lost the plot. Dorvask had had his demolitions team plant whatever explosive charges they had left in certain parts of the city, although they had neither the time nor the resources to blanket the entire city. The General might have been hoping to destroy the city instead of give it up, but on this note he would be disappointed.

"Now go on, girl," Dorvask said, and he released the woman's face from his grip. "Go on home."

She nodded in acknowledgement, before she hurried for the door. She left the room quickly, desperate to put as much distance between her and the Captain.

Dorvask was a man of his word, and that girl would get the tretonin supplies she wanted. It would be the first thing he would organize this morning, right before he reported to the General. Recently, the General had been unwilling to have breakfast with him and the other officers stationed in the Great Temple, no doubt a sign of the man's increasing paranoia. It hardly mattered to Dorvask, who was more than content to take his breakfast with the rank-and-file troopers down in the barracks. At least they respected him, unlike the General, who only respected himself. The time was nearing that Dorvask would have to do something about General Valinno, and if the Jaffa did launch their all-out attack then that time would come very soon indeed.

Another dream troubled Aithris' sleep. He had been having them with increased frequency as of late, and they nearly always managed to disturb him. This time around, he woke up a mere hour from dawn, the chill of the early morning air enough to keep him from sweating in response to the eerie dream. The interior of the tent was warm enough, the blankets over him even warmer, yet as soon as he was up he felt the cold draught and shivered involuntarily.

Natalia remained asleep amongst the brown and beige mix of blankets and furs. Aithris stretched his aching limbs before he turned to regard the woman still cosied up in the sheets. As was often the case, she appeared so peaceful in her slumber, and one would not suspect she had any troubles on her mind at all if they gazed upon her now. Aithris sometimes found himself watching her sleep when he awoke like this, during the early hours of the morning with troubled thoughts.

It was still dark outside. Dawn was sometimes a sudden thing here on Chulak, especially during the colder months. Little could be heard from outside save the whistle of the wind and the odd set of footsteps, boots crunching upon gravel from those guards who patrolled the compound. Aithris snatched up his canteen from where his vest was hanging from a simple wooden pole at one corner of the tent. Unscrewing the cap, he gulped down some of the water within, eyes still set upon Natalia's sprawled, naked form.

They had made the most of the night. It had only made sense to do so. Aithris put away the canteen before he knelt down amongst the blankets. His movements caused the Sergeant to stir and she rolled over, looking up at him through half-lidded eyes. A smile lit up her face and Aithris, seeing her awake, leaned forwards and delivered a light kiss upon her lips.

"I didn't mean to wake you," he told her.

"Another bad dream?" Natalia reached up and put a hand to his face, trailing her fingers along his cheekbone. Aithris reached up and took that hand in his own, intertwining his fingers with hers. At least for now, he could pretend all was right in the world.

"I'm fine, Natalia." Aithris was not sure if he was, really. Natalia could read him more so than most, and given the Nomad's often stoic countenance this was testament to how well she had come to know him. "You should rest. We still have a little while until dawn."

"You're troubled," Natalia insisted. "You know you can talk to me, Aith."

Aithris knew this all too well, but there were still some things even he did not wish to tell her. Specifically, what his mother, Livona, had said as to what would become of him. She was blessed, even cursed, with abnormal precognitive abilities. Every so often, she would be struck with a vision of the future and, as she had observed throughout her life, those visions always came to pass. They might lack context, but in the end what she saw happen did indeed happen. She had foreseen the destruction of Atlantis, and that had occurred months before, when the city-ship had intercepted a Void Demon vessel above Earth. It had destroyed the enemy ship, but it had in turn been destroyed in the process. One of Earth's greatest assets had been obliterated, as had much of their fleet of starships. More would be built, eventually, but it was unlikely they would be finished before they were actually needed.

Livona had told him last year that she had foreseen his death many years ago. She had not specified exactly how it would occur, just that it would happen sometime after he had become involved with Natalia. Livona had seen the woman in her visions and had seen how she would become connected with her son, and as a result she had been cold, even hostile, towards Natalia when they had first met. It was not until sometime later that she had told Aithris as to why, for her presence only further guaranteed the future she had seen for her son would come to pass. She had wept in his arms the morning she had told him all of this, and Aithris could do little else but try and console her, even though he was now more aware of his own mortality than anyone else ought to be.

He could not tell Natalia about this. So, he kept it from her, and he often felt guilty for doing so. She would want to break things off if she knew, yet doing so would break her heart as it would his own. Whether telling her or not was more for his benefit than for hers, Aithris could not be certain. There were no good answers to the situation, and so he did his best to push it out of his mind.

"I'm simply worried about today," Aithris replied. This was partly true, of course. Fear was natural, and even for an experienced warrior such as him he was not immune to it.

"So am I," Natalia said. "But we'll win. I'm sure of it."

Aithris smiled. He admired her confidence, among other things. He sensed that dawn was near, and the attack would begin in turn. It seemed an age-old tactic, for an army to launch its attack at dawn. Aithris suspected they may be called out of their tents soon enough, as to prepare for the battle ahead.

"We should get ready, then," Aithris said. Before he could say anything else, Natalia wrapped an arm around him and pulled him in close. He fell forwards with his elbows either side of her, and she smirked up at him as she trailed her hands hungrily along his muscular torso.

"We will," she said, her voice taking on something sultry. In turn, her Russian accent became more pronounced. Aithris found that this particular trait of hers only added to her allure. "But not just yet, yes?"

Aithris returned her smirk and leaned forwards, his lips meeting hers. His normally sensitive and slightly pointed ears were usually very good at picking out individual sounds, yet this time around his current distraction was enough to put him behind the curve a little more than usual. The tent flap was open before he had a chance to do much of anything to Natalia, and he turned his head around to see a very stunned looking Elsie Rhodes standing in the opening.

"Oh, wow. Okay." Elsie, fully uniformed with her Barrett rifle slung over one shoulder, looked positively red-faced when her eyes fell upon the very naked pair. "I'd tell you two to get a room, but you already have, huh?"

Aithris rolled off of Natalia and quickly drew the blankets over the both of them. Natalia bit her lower lip, her sultry mood having dissipated suddenly. Nonetheless, whatever embarrassment she felt quickly gave way to amusement, and she let out a short laugh when she saw Elsie's bemused expression.

"I was looking for you two," Elsie said. "Someone told me you'd be around here."

"You could have warned us you were coming in," Aithris remarked, his voice laced with annoyance.

"Okay, so maybe I was a little rash. But this is urgent." She attempted to compose herself then, stifling the laugh she felt coming on. "We've got to meet out on the northern ridge. It's time we went to our stations."

"It's not dawn…"

"Not quite, but it's close. Maybe half an hour until sunrise?" Elsie gave a quick shrug of the shoulders. "Regardless, the Colonel wants you two out there with the rest of us. As soon as possible." She added this last part with a slightly firmer voice, before she took a few steps back so that she was over the tent's threshold and out in the dim light of the morning's early hours. "Also, I have to add, Aithris, you do have a nice ass." She smiled again, before she pulled the tent flap closed and left the pair alone once again.

Aithris turned to Natalia, who met his gaze and emitted a giggle that might have been more expected from a schoolgirl than a grown woman.

"Lieutenant Rhodes did that on purpose, I suspect," Aithris remarked. "She knew we were in here, she just wanted to catch us…" He trailed off, the sour note in his voice fading when he saw Natalia's beaming smile. "That doesn't bother you?"

Natalia gave Aithris a light and playful hit below the shoulder.

"There are more important things to be bothered about," Natalia answered. She rose out of the sheets, taking a moment to stretch her limbs before she strode over to where her clothes had been neatly folded and put aside. Aithris watched her closely, always impressed by the Sergeant's athletic figure. Natalia began to get dressed in earnest, and Aithris rose to his feet and began to do the same. Outside, footsteps and voices could be heard all around as the Jaffa encampment slowly became fully active. It would be all hands-on deck for this one, and both Aithris and Natalia would be on the frontlines, for better or worse.

The Jaffa were gathering upon a ridge that overlooked the sizeable cluster of forested land before the capital city's outskirts. It was an uphill stretch, broken by a few winding dirt roads that were currently filled with various vehicles. The Jaffa utilised a number of Goa'uld-built land craft, mainly sleek, copper-coloured hovering three-seaters with an oversized staff weapon mounted at the back. There were several of these, mingled in with more utilitarian transports of the typical Calsharan drab-grey design that had been commandeered from the enemy forces. Such makeshift convoys waited upon the roads for the go-ahead.

High above in orbit, Jaffa vessels began to move in and engage the Calsharan taskforce. This would keep those ships from firing on the ground forces at the very least. As the Jaffa intended to recapture the city intact, air support would be minimal at best. Their death gliders would work to keep the Calsharan aircraft off of the ground troops, but there would be little in the way of airborne ground strikes.

Daniel stood amongst a group of Jaffa near the top of the ridge. One of the Jaffa hover attack craft was parked up here, and a number of the Jaffa commanders waited around it. There had to be hundreds of warriors in the vicinity alone, with more and more gathering across the forest for the offensive. The sky above was the deep orange-purple of dawn, with the first of the system's suns slowly creeping up from the horizon.

Amongst the warriors, the atmosphere was tense and uncertainty reigned. The fight to reach this point had been long and arduous, and many had died for the Calsharans to have been beaten back to the capital. Victory was not assured, despite the confidence of the likes of Bra'tac and other Jaffa warriors.

It was a cold morning, and the overcast sky far off in the distance suggested that it would only get colder within the next few hours as the rains moved over the region.

John stood nearby, Teal'c a few paces from him. It seemed that the veteran Jaffa had lurked about the camp last night incognito, a means to get a better gauge on the opinions of those under his command. Now, Teal'c was dressed in a rugged grey combat vest that had been lifted off of a dead Calsharan. The rest of his outfit was a mix of traditional Jaffa warrior garb and Earth-made equipment. He carried a staff weapon in one hand but wore an MP7 submachine gun on a strap that situated it across his stomach. Other Jaffa were dressed in their old chainmail outfits, whereas the irregular volunteers simply wore whatever they had on hand, leaving them looking little more than farmers and labourers, albeit visibly armed.

"Are we waiting for something?" John asked, and he leaned a little closer to Daniel as he asked this. Nearby, Elsie had appeared, and she worked her way through the gathered warriors to close the distance between her and John.

"Lieutenant," John said, and he turned to offer her a nod. "Are the Staff Sergeant and Aithris on their way?"

"Yeah, they were right behind me, sir." Elsie appeared to stifle a smirk as she said this. Daniel caught sight of the aforementioned pair further back down the slope behind them, both in full kit. Some of the Jaffa eyed the alien Nomad warily, clearing out of his path.

It seemed they were all waiting for something, as for what Daniel had to assume it was the go-ahead from whoever was in charge. Nearby, an older Jaffa with grey, scraggly hair and a beard that was in a similar state spoke to his younger companion who stood to his left:

"I hear the lizards have three soldiers to our every warrior," he remarked, his voice coming out a little louder than he probably intended. "And many have fought little these past few weeks; they will be fresh, far more so than any of us."

"Those are fearful odds," the younger warrior replied. It was then, from somewhere by the stationary vehicle, that Bra'tac appeared. He had changed his robe out for his old warrior's armour, and he emerged from the cluster of Jaffa masters who had gathered about the vehicle. He looked across the hundreds gathered, the faces of the young and the old, of the seasoned veterans and of the civilians who had rarely, if ever, used a weapon in anger.

"There are many Jaffa within the Free Nation who do no fighting today," another Jaffa amongst the crowd said aloud. "How I wish if even one-tenth of those were here with us."

"Who is it that utters such things?" Bra'tac's voice came out loud and clear, echoing down the slope. "Who is it that would go into battle with such doubts in his heart? To do so would be to invite the very misfortunes you fear, would it not?"

He motioned to one of the warriors standing by the parked vehicle. He held out a hand and Bra'tac took it, accepting his assistance in climbing upon the vehicle's rear platform. Up there, Bra'tac could look across all of those gathered, and they in turn could see him standing against the slowly brightening dawn sky.

"Is that you, Jer'vauc? You old dog, why harbor such doubts?" Bra'tac motioned towards the old, scraggly-haired Jaffa. The old man said nothing, presumably ill-at-ease with being singled out from amongst the crowd. "No, my old friend, if fate were to decree us to die in the battle ahead, then it would do us well to fight with all our heart in the moments leading up to it, would it not?" He returned his attention towards the crowd as a whole, his eyes lighting up. The stoicism vanished and was in turn replaced with a vibrancy that suggested a level of youthful vigour one would not expect from the old Jaffa.

"Would you not say that the fewer of us there are, the greater the share of honour?" He directed the question towards the crowd, and several nodding heads provided the answer. "I tell all those gathered here today, if you have not the stomach for this fight then by all means turn and depart. We shall not think any lesser of you, and we would rather not die in the company of such a man. Begone, I say, if you have not the courage to face battle."

Daniel had to hand it to Bra'tac, he was certainly an attention-getter. Everyone was watching him now, enraptured, and the old Jaffa's stentorian tones carried well down the slope of the ridge.

"Some of you may recall that today is the anniversary of the day upon which the false god, Apophis, was finally forced off of Chulak. It was the beginning of the end of the reign of the System Lords, the false gods who kept us enslaved and used us as incubators for their young. Today is not just any normal day, my brothers. Today is a day that marked the first in centuries in which Chulak was free. And so, we will honour this day by freeing this world once again. Not from the clutches of the Goa'uld, but from the tyranny of the Calsharan invaders.

"And he who outlives this day can, on the eve of this anniversary, bear his scars and proclaim to his children and to his grandchildren that I was here, on this day, on the dawn of the end of tyranny, and that I fought alongside my brothers to guarantee a future for all Jaffa. This day will not simply be remembered for the dawn of the end of Goa'uld rule, but as the beginning of the end of the Calsharan oppression. The day upon which we once again take control of our own destinies, no longer submitting to the will of some outside oppressor."

He looked upon the gathered warriors, his eyes wide and vibrant, his mouth a proud smile. Daniel sensed a similar upbeat attitude from those warriors around him. Somewhere distant, a death glider screamed high over the valley. The air battle was just beginning.

"For the Jaffa, for Chulak and for freedom, we shall take the battle to our foes and cast them off of this world for good!" Bra'tac lifted his staff weapon and pointed it in the direction of the city. "To battle, my brothers!"

There followed a cheer from the crowd. High above, a trio of death gliders roared by, headed for the city. Plasma fire shot out from the gun emplacements along the city walls. The dawn sky was suddenly alight with blistering blue bolts of energy, and they were quickly joined with the yellow bolts so common to Jaffa weaponry. More cheering sounded, and even Daniel could not keep himself from becoming caught up in the furore.

Another trio of death gliders raced on by, and many of the Jaffa present turned their heads to follow the passing flight as they raced on towards the capital city.

Bra'tac climbed down from the Jaffa mobile gun, but as he did so all heads turned to another new arrival: a single Calsharan in the black uniform of an officer had appeared, escorted by a handful of wary Jaffa. They all had their weapons trained on him, but otherwise the Calsharan was unarmed, and he had his arms raised over his head. He appeared to be young, some lowly Lieutenant sent on a dangerous errand. There was an audible murmur amongst the crowd of warriors, and their contempt for this enemy officer was made clear. Nonetheless, the Calsharan Lieutenant closed in on Bra'tac and the other high-ranking warriors before he stopped several paces from them. More warriors swooped in then, holding staff weapons and Earth-made submachine guns that they pointed his way.

"Master Bra'tac," the young Calsharan officer called. The old Jaffa took a few steps towards him, eyes narrowed, yet he showed no disdain nor hatred. Rather, Bra'tac was the very measure of calm as he regarded this unexpected visitor.

"The General and Governor, Lorvoss Valinno, sends his regards," the Lieutenant declared. "He also offers you the chance to surrender. Turn your soldiers away from the city. None shall be harmed. If you press this attack, many civilians will be killed."

"By your hands or by ours?" Bra'tac countered, his voice cutting sharply through the air between them. "Your people come here and lay waste to our farms, to our homes and to our freedom. And now, when your defeat is all but certain, you come here seeking terms of our surrender?" Now the old warrior's eyes lit up with a fury not often seen from him, and he pointed a threatening finger towards the Lieutenant. "You go and tell your General that he is more than welcome to give himself up to us. Perhaps, if he were to beg upon his knees before me I would give some thought to leniency?" A jeer erupted from the warriors nearby, directed to the Lieutenant and, by extension, his commanding officer. "Otherwise, I shall flay the General with my blade. One cut for every Jaffa citizen slain during this occupation. There will be little left of him by the time I am done." This last statement escaped Bra'tac's mouth in a tone that was both low and menacing.

"Reinforcements come from the home world," the Lieutenant said. Further hollering sounded from the Jaffa, jeers that made their disbelief of this claim clear. "Even if you take the city, the war will not be over."

"And yet, it will be one step closer to finishing," Bra'tac countered. "Your General is a liar and has been since he first set foot upon this world. Tell him that if he values his life, he should leave this world and never return. The same goes for his close associates, Jaffa traitors as well." There had been a handful of Jaffa collaborators, although not from the warrior class. Daniel had noticed over his many interactions with the Jaffa that even they had their problems with corrupt bureaucrats and politicians.

The Calsharan Lieutenant, clearly uncomfortable by the task given to him, simply nodded his head in understanding. The General had sent him out here to attempt to talk reason into the Jaffa, yet even the young and inexperienced Lieutenant knew such an action was futile. In a way, the Jaffa fought for a more righteous cause and even the Lieutenant could see that.

"Leave, now, lizard. Before my warriors here fall too deeply into the heat of battle. If that happens, I may not be able to control them." Bra'tac glared at the Calsharan Lieutenant, and after a brief pause the young alien nodded before he turned away. He walked away briskly, eager to put as much distance between him and the enemy. Somewhere far off, closer to the city, the booms of heavy guns echoed across the forested hills. The air battle had started, and so the ground battle was set to follow. The Lieutenant was quick to climb back onto his four-wheeled Calsharan all-terrain vehicle that he had parked at the base of the hill. Starting the engine as soon as he was upon it, he sped away before any of the Jaffa could make a move on him.

"To your positions, warriors!" Bra'tac called, his voice echoing loud and clear down the hillside. Jaffa cheered and all started to run, turning about for their assigned places. Daniel looked to John, who had turned to him and had, in turn, motioned for Aithris and the others to close in.

"We stick with the old man," John said, and he nodded towards Bra'tac. "And we play this smart. Hopefully our air cover lasts."

"It will, Colonel Sheppard," Bra'tac said, and with that he strode past the group and started after the scattering warriors. Teal'c followed, as did several of the higher-ranking Jaffa. Daniel regarded John, who appeared calm as ever, before he looked over Aithris and the rest. The Nomad had turned stoicism into an art-form, whereas Elsie appeared uneasy. Natalia was doing well hiding her own fears, yet they all felt the same thing. It was the same fear of impending death Daniel felt going into any battle, yet over the years he had become very good at burying it and hiding it away.

John adjusted racked the charging handle on his M4 carbine.

"Let's go to work," he said.