Thank you for the reviews! I'm so happy to be writing again and every review makes it all worthwhile :D I am night shift for the next couple of nights so won't be able to update until end of the week.

Chapter 33

Rodney was completely unaware of the others speaking around him. Once they managed to extract him from the bio-suit, he was laid in a bed in the corner of the barn. He'd managed to ruin most of Carson's healing work in his little excursion, requiring more stitches and dressings to patch him up again. Ronon lay just as unconscious in a bed beside Rodney's. Carson had made sure the large Satedan stayed there with a healthy dose of sedative salvaged from the retrieved remains of his medical backpack. Ronon would no doubt be furious when he woke up, but Carson didn't care. Well, he actually did care, which was why he sedated the man at all. He and Rella tended to their fallen friends as a sit down debate took place at the foot of the makeshift beds.

"I say we contact Atlantis and request more support," Stackhouse said rubbing at the dressing on the back of his hand. "We can't go up against those things here and Ignothia with just two Jumpers and a handful of us still able to fight."

"We have three Jumpers. Mine can still fly," Teldy said coolly.

"The thing can hardly stay in the sky!" Stackhouse retorted.

"That 'thing' is already being fixed and could fly circles around yours," Teldy snapped.

"I don't think we can wait the four hours it would take for support to get here," Lorne said halting the looming argument. "Not if we are to save the Goh in those tanks. If what Teyla saw is right, that downed ship will take to the skies soon and we will lose them all. We should be marching there now in as many bio-suits as we can get."

Orna, finally out of her suit and sipping on a hot beverage, shook her head. "Our supply of suits is not infinite, Fer Lorne, and many have been rendered useless in the initial battle."

"So where does that leaves us?"

"We have two... ah, three jumpers . Plus we have two of our Vipens. We can at least provide air cover for ground troops to go in and salvage as many tanks as possible."

"And do what? Drag the tanks through the forest with the Groten snapping at our heels?" Lorne scoffed.

"How many suits are available and working?" Stackhouse asked.

Orna looked to a stern-faced man who leaned against the wall sullenly with his arms folded. His name was Barna, and he was the leader of the Caronaa Warriors Southern Battalion.

"We have seven fully operational suits at our disposal. Eight if you include mine, though one of those beasts destroyed my weapons control unit. There's still no word of more coming from Central."

"We don't need them all to have weapon capability," Stackhouse said thoughtfully.

"What, you want to walk in there without protection?" Barna asked.

"We only really need the suits to move the tanks into the Jumpers for transportation. The two Vipens can cover us and the suits while we fill the Jumpers. We fly in there cloaked, land the Jumpers as close to the tanks as possible and the bio-suits can get them into the back of the ships while the Vipens cover us from the air."

"We'd only get one attempt."

"One run," Stackhouse agreed. "Take as many as we can and get out."

"One attempt would not be enough to save all of the Goh," Teyla insisted. "There is only enough room in the Jumpers for two tanks each and none at all in the Vipens. There are many more tanks, all filled with precious life."

Though Lorne looked just as unhappy about it, he agreed with Stackhouse. "One attempt would be all they would give us, Teyla. We'll be lucky to save any if the Groten ship becomes operational and blows us all to hell before it heads into space. Better to have saved some than none at all, surely?"

Just then, a commotion started at the door of the barn. Fearful cries and the occasional bio-suit blast had people in a panic and everyone to their feet in seconds. A booming roar sounded above the noise, loud and desperate.

"Tey-laar!"

Teyla ran for the doors, pleading for calm as she moved between the wounded and the scared. Outside, she saw the massive form of Second-Primus staggering into the village centre.

"It is a friend!" she cried as a suited warrior took aim on the Groten as it dropped slowly to the ground and began to pull itself past the pond.

Teyla got to her knees beside the struggling beast which heaved down breaths as red froth dribbled from its jowls. It stopped moving as Teyla stroked at the bloodied fur of its face. There were massive rents in its hide, holes sliced all over spilling blood in a trail across the village centre.

"Groten... they are leaving... I tried... to stop them..."

"Get Carson and Rella!" Teyla shouted to Lorne as he approached with gun raised. "We must save the Primus!"

"Time runs out... once they knew what I was doing... they put me down... Healer and Primus slaughtered as I escaped... Groten intend to incinerate Goh with the ship engines..."

Carson skidded to a halt beside them, a small bowl of water in his hands. "Where will the wee thing come out?"

Rella surprised them all by pushing Carson aside and grabbing the Groten pelt to pull it fully onto its stomach. She then climbed up onto the Groten and plunged her hand deep into the large wound on its shoulder. The Groten wheezed and growled as Rella pushed her hand inside its body, searching for the dying Primus.

"If you take me out... the Groten will attack..."

Rella ignored it and continued. Lorne and Stackhouse raised their guns as Barna called over a Warrior. Carson grabbed Teyla by the shoulders and dragged her from the Groten. He didn't stop until they were far behind the armed soldiers and watched as Rella carefully started to withdraw her hand from the creature's body. Almost immediately the Groten began moving and snarling as it regained control. Carson took a step forward, watching Rella carefully while whispering, "Come on, love, get away from that thing..."

The Groten suddenly heaved itself upright, sending Rella flying through the air to land with a splash into the water of the village pond. The enraged Groten roared and unsheathed its lethal claws and bounded forward, furiously angry and ready to slaughter all in the vicinity.

Lorne and Stackhouse hit it with a continual hail of gunfire as the Caronaa warrior unleashed every missile at its disposal.

Already weak from its injuries, the Groten fell before its attack really began. It pitched forward with a loud sigh and hit the ground hard. Though it was mortally wounded it still snarled and reached for those who harmed it until the burning rage in its eyes dimmed and died.

For a few moments no one moved or spoke. They just stared at deceased beast as if it might once again rear up into an attack. Then the sound of Rella thrashing in the water drew their attention and they went to help. As Carson took Rella's hands and pulled her from the pond, Teyla searched the water for any sign of Primus. The water was muddied and tainted with blood, but she drew a breath of relief when she saw a small, black body swim to the edge of the water.

"You're crazy, you that, right?!" Carson said as he pulled Rella close and hugged her close.

"We need to get the Primus into the tank with the others," she gasped, looking as though she couldn't quite believe what she just did.

"And we need to get going," Lorne said darkly, his eyes still on the dead Groten.

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Most of their plan was thrown out of the window with the report from Second-Primus. They could no longer spend time debating who or what went where and when. In order to save their limited cargo space, the decision was made to have both Jumpers head out with their respective pilots and only two bio-suit warriors. The sleek Caronaa Vipens would provide air cover while the Jumpers attempted to rescue four tanks of Goh.

Though Teldy's Jumper was deemed out of commission, Caran was adamant she could keep the thing in the air and cloaked long enough to scout ahead of the rescue. As the others got ready to fly out, Teldy's Jumper was already in the sky high above the downed Groten ship.

The mountain of dirt pushed ahead of the ship when it crashed had been excavated so that now the entire ship could be seen. Its hull had been patched up and reinforced almost perfectly. The new plates of metal blended with the original web-patterned hull so well it was difficult to see where most of the damage had been. It was clearly powered up as the lights embedded in the lines of blue metal between the plate segments were lit up and pulsing. The three cannon arrays atop the ship swivelled in identical patterns on what seemed to be a start up program.

To the rear of the ship were massive engines similar to the ones Teldy had stared into back on Ignothia as she steered her craft through the birthing valleys. Behind them stood the remaining tanks of Goh amid the remains of other shattered tanks. In their haste to move ship the Groten had been less than careful with the tank removal as they were placed haphazardly with some toppled on their sides. There had to be around thirty tanks still intact, many more than could be saved

Teyla looked down on them forlornly. "How can we ever decide which to save?" she asked no one in particular.

Teldy pulled the Jumper higher in the air with the intent of returning though the dampening field to report to Lorne and the others.

"Surely we can do something?" Dusty Mehra spoke up from the rear of the ship. "I mean, sure, we're not working to full capacity, but we could at least take one tank back with us? I mean, we're here, aren't we?"

"Yes, we are. But unless you've suddenly become the Hulk, how do you suggest we move one of those things?" Teldy replied drily. "I don't like it any better than you, but we can't go down there and-"

"Wait, look there," Teyla pointed. "One of the tanks is still on a platform!"

"Uh, and?" Dusty said as she made her way front to see for herself.

"The platforms hover; the Groten must be eager to leave and have left it behind!"

"Or it could quite easily be broken and useless," Teldy countered.

"And it could just as easily be in working order!" Teyla said exasperated.

Teldy didn't reply. She pointed the Jumper on a path back to the village in silence. Teyla folded her arms and looked away from her, utterly disgusted that Teldy would do nothing. Dusty sneaked to the rear of the Jumper where Caran sat continually monitoring the Jumper systems.

"Are we really going to do nothing?" Caran whispered.

Dusty just shrugged and blew a gum bubble until it popped.

Caran cleared her throat and said loudly, "We are though the dampening field."

At first Teldy ignored her, continuing to stare out the viewport with a scowl on her face. Caran looked to Dusty who shrugged again.

"We are through the-"

"I heard you," Teldy replied.

She slowed the Jumper to a hover just within communication range of the village. Quietly she warred with herself over the best thing to do. She was more than aware of the others staring holes in her but she ignored them as she sped through the pros and cons of attempting what Teyla requested.

It wasn't that she didn't want to go down there to save lives, she just wasn't willing to risk the lives of those around her. She had lost most of her team on a strange planet before and sure as hell didn't wish to lose another. She thought Dusty of all people would understand. But then, Dusty was clearly ready to risk her life and go down there. It wasn't that she had forgotten her long dead teammates; it was because she was alive when they were not.

"Live your best life in memory of them," Dusty had told her not long after the deaths occurred.

Teldy twisted in her seat then stared at the others in turn. They watched her expectantly. She drew a deep breath and faced front again and tapped her com.

"Major Lorne, slight change of plans..."

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... to be continued...