Writing > Alliance (Stargate SG-1)

Chapter 48

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Daen:
Tony closed his Bible and slowly looked up at the mottled blue-white of hyperspace out the windows of Alvesh’s ship.

As he stood to get a closer look, he reflected on everything he’d seen, and done, since first meeting Alvesh. Intellectually, he was horrified at some of it. He was on a secret mission, one that could seriously hamper his own government’s intentions out here, all to protect someone they wouldn’t hesitate to lock away.

Well, that’s not exactly true. He reminded himself. You’re also protecting your team.

Still, intentions and loyalty could only excuse so much. It didn’t matter that there were technically no laws preventing him from doing this. He still knew his superiors back on Earth would condemn him if they found out, and he couldn’t blame them.

Emotionally, though, he was sure of himself. He’d built the Survivors from the ground up. He’d authorized their training. He’d protected them on dangerous missions. He’d effectively given control of an army over to Hargrove, to do with as he wished! It didn’t matter that Hargrove and a few others had tricked him into it. He still knew that all of this was his fault, and it was his responsibility to fix it all.

He was just glad Suna and her son weren’t involved anymore.

David had left them behind on Axhailos, the planet they’d ‘gated to. Tony would have been concerned about anyone else, but Suna was resourceful and determined. She’d make sure they were both fine. Nelson had been worried she’d just ‘gate back to Mars and then head to Earth as soon as they’d left, but David had assured him that would be impossible. Only a handful of Tok’ra knew how to reprogram a DHD to dial that particular ‘gate, and even fewer knew the code to get past the energy shield protecting it.

Well, other than Tony and his team, now. David had seen to that.

Tony shook his head. The Tok’ra had proven their ingenuity again and again over the past few years, but he’d never thought they’d be this sneaky. To a small degree, it unnerved him that David had suddenly become so good at it as well. Back on the planet, he’d shown them to the ship and then run off to the village for a few hours, to gather intel on Plenios. Tony had taken the opportunity to send a few subspace messages of his own from the ship.

Now they were in flight, only minutes away from their destination, and Tony began to feel the old jitters he’d hated so much. The lingering question of whether or not this would be his last mission. Or if the same could be said for his people. He paced to quell the jitters, and thought back over the mission details.

David’s Tok’ra contacts had given him a wealth of information on Plenios, and on the Goa’uld queen as well. As it turned out, rather than risking her safety by hauling her from planet to planet, the new Jaffa Council had ordered people to congregate at Plenios to receive the newly spawned symbiotes instead. Jaffa of all ages were on their way, which meant crowds on the ground, and cluttered space in orbit. It would be relatively easy to slip in, with all the confusion.

Still, as he’d discussed the plan with the others, Tony had known that would make finding the assassin in time all that much harder.

Hargrove’s ‘Alliance’- Tony still had a hard time saying that in his head- had proven time and again that life meant little to it. Hargrove could just be planning to blast the whole area from orbit, Goa’uld-style. But then, he also had a personal stake in this. He might want to go down there himself, to kill the Goa’uld with his own hands. In addition, Pierson had had a working termination implant, which meant that Bokal was probably still working with them, with his now-unique Tollan technology. There were just too many variables.

The Jaffa themselves would also be a problem. According to Alvesh, the security force protecting the queen was made up of Kek’shara, or Deathguards. Veterans of many wars against humans and other Jaffa, they were known for their fanaticism as much as for their skills. Kek’shara were rumored to be the personal security to the Jaffa Council itself.

Thankfully they had a few advantages of their own that might even the odds. For one, the cargo ship’s sensors had been able to record the frequency used by the somaradios during Hargrove’s brief contact with them. It had taken some work, but Alvesh had been able to calibrate his own technology to trace the signal. Also, Hargrove wasn’t the only one who had friends out here.

It wasn’t long before the others joined him in the cargo ship’s cockpit. As with the preparations for their mission to liberate Hovak, none of them spoke a word.

The ship shuddered slightly as the blue-white tunnel of hyperspace collapsed into pinpricks of stars and a huge planet in front of them. Even at their current distance, they could see multiple ships in various orbits over the blue and green planet, including at least a dozen ha’tak motherships. It looked as though a significant portion of the Free Jaffa fleet was present.

Giving a grim look at Tony, David moved his hands on the spherical controls and their ship settled into orbit as well. A harassed-sounding voice interrogated them in Goa’uld, over the comm, but David responded to each question easily. Tony flashed back again, this time to their rescue mission to Tchosal. If I’d known then what I know now…

Dismissing the unworthy thought, Tony nodded at Nelson and Avery, and they stepped into the rear compartment rings. Tony carefully began entering the control symbols to send them down to the surface.

"Good luck down there."

Nelson gave one of his relaxed salutes. "You too, boss."

-.-

The surface rings were inside a windowless room, so they didn’t get any real look at the general area on arrival.

Not that it mattered. They were barely on the surface for five seconds before they were both surrounded. Shouts rang out from the adjoining halls, and at least two dozen Jaffa were quickly aiming staff weapons at them. He couldn’t see the faces of the Jaffa; they were wearing the distinctive, skull-shaped masks that the Kek’shara had designed for themselves.

"Kree shel norak!" One of the Jaffa shouted at them, from behind his mask.

Nelson glanced at Avery and nodded. They both raised their hands slowly and stepped away from the rings.

"Chel nok." The Jaffa ordered one of his people, who approached with a pair of intimidating-looking metal hand restraints.

They both grudgingly allowed themselves to be restrained and escorted out of the room.

-.-

Sweat beaded on David’s head as he focused all his concentration on the sensor console. One of the few things Alvesh couldn’t mitigate, it trickled its way past his eyebrows and began dripping into his eyes before he hurriedly wiped it away.

Next to him, staring out at the small fleet around them, Tony was staying silent. Still, David did occasionally note him glancing at the Tok’ra communicator they had on board. Its twin was down on the surface with Nelson.

"He’ll call when he calls, Tony. No use worrying about them." He kept as much levity in his voice as he could, given how much he was also worried. Having Alvesh around made multi-tasking much easier, but he still picked up a sense of frustration from his new friend at the interruption.

"I know. It’s just… this is my responsibility. I should never have allowed either of them to come along."

David snorted. "Easier said than done. Besides, what about me? If you didn’t need my ship, and my symbiote, would you have left me behind, too?" He spared a moment to glance over at Tony. "This is our responsibility too, just like Nelson said. Besides, you need us and you know it."

Grudgingly, Tony nodded. He looked at David’s screen. "Any luck?"

"Not yet. There were two Soma Voco signals when we arrived, one down there and one up here. The one on the surface is gone, probably because whoever was down there turned off their somaradio. It was about a klick from the rings." He sighed. "I still can’t localize the one up here, not through all this traffic."

"Pierson said Hargrove had a ship." Tony pondered aloud. "Given what we know about the Alliance, it could be any class of ship, or any size. Keep looking."

-.-

The Jaffa jail cell they were taken to wasn’t far away, and they didn’t have a chance to get to know it well. Barely five minutes after they were interred, a tall, heavily built Deathguard arrived and dismissed their two guards. Surreptitiously, Nelson glanced at the man’s bare forearm.

There was a long, pale scar running the length of it.

"You’re Siali, right?" Nelson stepped to the edge of their cage.

In one smooth motion, the Jaffa pressed a control on his wrist, and the cage opened. He removed his mask, revealing close-cut blond hair, a stern expression, and a black pentagram tattoo on his forehead. "You are Ahardt and Avery?"

"That’s right."

Siali wasted no time, quickly leading them through the corridors of what was probably a large pyramid. As they moved, Nelson gave a shrug to Avery. When Tony had told them he had a man on the inside, Nelson hadn’t believed him at first. Even now, it was hard to be sure, but at least the big Jaffa had let them out of their cell. "May I ask-"

"Be quiet!" Siali urged them in a hushed voice.

They continued winding their way for a few more minutes, before coming to an entryway looking out into the woods. Holding his hand out to stop them, Siali stepped over to a pad set on the wall. He carefully entered a combination on it, and there was a hiss as a forcefield over the entrance became visible, and then vanished again.

Bemused, Nelson stepped out, followed by Avery. Siali reactivated the field on the other side. Grabbing their arms, he led them off the dirt road and into the brush, out of sight of the pyramid entrance before releasing them. A bundle had been carefully concealed there: staff weapons and zat guns wrapped tightly together by some kind of vine.

"We can speak freely, now." Siali said softly. He pulled a wicked-looking dagger and cut the vine. "You may use these for now."

"Thanks. You’re Tony’s friend?" Nelson asked, finally getting a good look at the big man. He was built like a professional athlete, but had the inquisitive look of an academic in his eyes. Nelson could see why Siali had stood out when Tony had first met him.

Siali nodded. "Years ago, Tony Marcus saved my life, at great risk to his own. I had not thought a human capable of such… honor. When Bisalis was overrun, I was able to pretend to be one of the invaders long enough to escape. But, with Sokar dead, I had no reason to continue fighting for the Goa'uld. Eventually, I joined the rebellion against them." He smiled unexpectedly. "I was very curious about your people. When the System Lords finally fell, I made contact with the tau'ri, and spoke to Tony Marcus again. We have been… friends, ever since."

"And you just happened to be here, on Plenios, when we needed you?" Nelson found it a bit too coincidental. I’m developing a suspicious streak. He realized bitterly. Hargrove would be proud of me.

"No, I came here through the chappa’ai, at his request. You are fortunate that I rank highly enough among the Kek’shara to free you. Otherwise… the Council would see you as spies and assassins, and you would likely be tortured before being killed." He shook his head. "You are here to find one of your own, yes?"

Avery shrugged uncomfortably. "Uh, not exactly."

"We’re here to stop one of our own." Nelson explained firmly.

Nodding, Siali pulled a parchment from inside the bundle and spread it out on the ground. It showed a map of the surrounding area, including the landing pads, the Jaffa villages, the Stargate, and the pyramid structure in the middle. "The Goa’uld queen is being kept inside the pyramid, but will be most vulnerable within the hour, while everyone is focused on distributing the symbiotes. If your… friend intends to kill her, that will be the time to strike. Scanners have detected no explosives in the area, but from what Tony Marcus told me, the enemy may be able to deceive our scanners."

Nelson shook his head. "Probably, but Hargrove wouldn’t risk his life over this any more than he has to. He wouldn’t try to walk a bomb in there, and if he opened up on the pyramid from orbit, the Jaffa ships up there would take him out in a hurry. Where exactly is the queen being held?"

"Here, at the summit." Siali pointed to the uppermost room on the pyramid. "To reach it, one would be forced to fight through many rooms filled with guards, forcefields, and automated defenses."

"What about the outside? Are there shields protecting the whole pyramid?" Avery asked.

"No. Only the entrances." Siali gave him a curious look. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no." Nelson whispered.

"One well-placed RPG or TOW missile would do it." Avery agreed.

"What is an… RPG?"

After they explained the basics to him, Siali shook his head. "The pyramid has been heavily armored. I doubt even one of your… nuclear devices could destroy it."

"Actually, armor might not even be a problem for these guys." Nelson realized aloud, remembering Pierson’s termination implant. "Let’s see.. he’d need line of sight to pull this off…" He outlined a loose circle with his finger on the map, centered on the pyramid. "Where in this area could someone stay, out of sight of your patrols?"

Frowning, Siali pointed to several locations in turn. "Any one of these would work. If the summit is no longer secure, I will have the Kek’shara move the queen immediately." He retrieved a comm sphere from beneath his armor.

"No, don’t!" Nelson grabbed his arm. "I’d bet dollars to donuts that Hargrove’s been listening in on your comms. That’s the only way he could have known the queen was on this planet in the first place. No, we have to do this under the radar." Siali’s expression darkened, but he nodded, and Nelson hastily released him.

Silently, they all studied the map for a moment. Finally, Avery spoke up. "You’ve still got a symbiote, right, Siali?"

Siali’s eyes narrowed. "Yes."

"Even without one, you’d probably still be faster than either of us." He pointed at the position on the other side of the pyramid. "If you check this one place out, Nelson and I can handle these two closer ones."

"Very well. What does your friend look like?"

"He’ll probably be in disguise." Nelson predicted. "Still, he can’t hide whatever launcher he plans to use. He’ll be carrying a long, thin tube about as tall as I am. That’s how you’ll know him."

With surprising gracefulness, Siali quickly stood and started to move, before pausing and pulling out a zat gun. "Do you wish him taken alive?"

Nelson and Avery shared a somber glance. "Do whatever it takes to stop him from firing, Siali." He responded grimly. "That’s the priority here."

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