The First Prime rushed through the trees.
Branches clipped and snapped as the tall strong armored figure powered his way through the forest.
His heavy breathing and racing heart was nearly all he heard as he turned and aimed with the long staff weapon.
"Kree Jaffa!" he shouted, as his fellow warriors rushed past his position. He fired the weapon five times, and unerringly each orange bolt hit an enemy Jaffa with precision.
When more plasma bolts from his comrades joined the First Prime's weight of fire, he ran further on in a zig zag pattern to join up with them again.
"Kree shal hur Chappa'ai!"
His fellows understood immediately and the group of warriors divided itself into two teams. One would lay down fire on their pursuers, while the other would leapfrog them under cover of fire.
In such a way, the First Prime and his column of fifteen warriors fought a retreating evasion while their enemy…superior in numbers, tried their best to box them in the forest before they could reach the Chappa'ai.
Finally they reached the clearing where the ancient stone ring was erected. The fifteen warriors formed a horseshoe formation that secured the Dailing pedestal and the Chappa'ai itself. They began to systematically lay cover fire through the gaps in the trees. They did this to discourage their pursuers from trying to charge them, as much as to kill them.
The First Prime paused at the Dailing device and turned towards the east, where a large Goa'uld pyramid jutted out into the sky not two kilometers away. He raised his hand towards a button on his Naquadah black gauntlet and pressed a large button on it. A frequency was transmitted. He didn't even pause to look at the results of what he had done and began to immediately push the sequence that would activate the Chappa'ai to establish a portal towards their base.
He had barely pushed the fifth button when an enemy Jaffa managed to get off a shot despite the suppression barrage. It hit true and one of his warriors fell backward…dead…before he even hit the ground.
The First Prime frowned and turned his eyes to slits to shield it from the dust that the sudden explosive shockwave of air from the multiple explosions coming from the pyramid in the distance. He pressed the seventh button and pushed the large yellow orb in the center of the console. He pushed another button on his com gauntlet to send another special transmission through the Chappa'ai. He then reached into a pocket and threw what seemed to be a plastic ball onto the console. Its true nature became apparent when the ball burst apart and covered the consoles buttons in a sticky black paint.
"Kree!" shouted the First Prime, hefting his staff weapon and shooting into the treeline; which was by then literally shrouded by smoke from the multiple small fires that had started as a result of the firefight. Two warriors immediately grabbed their fallen comrade and were the first through the even horizon.
Another of the First Prime's warriors was struck by enemy fire, but it was not a fatal wound. He rushed forward and grabbed the injured warrior and pulled, all the while controlling his staff with the other hand and kept firing. He handed off the wounded to another warrior whom promptly went through the Chappa'ai.
The First Prime stayed until every last member of his column was through the Gate, he barely had time to see the first of the enemy break through the treeline…when he made that final step through.
He was abruptly disembodied and flew through the twisting nether of the Universe.
He appeared on the other side and shouted towards the men in the Control Room.
"Raise shield, cut power to the Gate!"
Within the eye of the Stargate, red energy suddenly appeared in front of the event horizon…creating a stark contrast between the blue of the 'water' and red of the shield. And just in time, as a staff blast was absorbed harmlessly that had traveled through the subspace path.
The blue of the event horizon abruptly vanished.
The First Prime turned to regard the scene of organized chaos, as the medical team got to work on the injured warrior…struggling to remove the cumbersome Jaffa armor. He grimly saw that the dead warrior was already in a black body bag and being moved out of the Gate room. He closed his eyes and abruptly his features shifted from that of the First Prime of Baal back to his normal face.
He walked down the ramp and was met by Teal'C and General Hammond.
"Were you successful?" asked Teal'C gravely.
"Olokun's pyramid was successfully destroyed," said Harry with a frown as the Medics rushed out of the Gate room with the wounded 'undercover' soldier on a gurney. "And we left our 'evidence' of Baal's culpability behind and Olokun's Jaffa definitely thought we were Baal's Jaffa."
"Let's just hope we didn't kill Olokun himself," said Hammond, frowning after he said it, as if he couldn't believe he would actually want a Goa'uld alive.
"The Pyramid we attacked was an important command hub for that sector of Olokun's domain, General," said Harry. "But not important to rate a visit from the snake himself."
"Well, that was the fourth attack we carried out for Baal, let's hope the Tok'ra can get back to us soon on whether we were successful in creating a bit of division in Anubis' ranks," said General Hammond. "Report to the Infirmary, Ambassador, debrief is at 1600."
"Yes, General," nodded Harry walking off with a nod of acknowledgement to Teal'C and handing the staff weapon to the Quartermaster sergeant.
SGC, Earth, Briefing Room 1
These days the wall screen was constantly on various News channels around the world. There wasn't an hour that went by without some or other story of an event related to the 'Great Leap'. Whether it was because someone used his or her enhanced abilities to save someone from some sort of accident, or prevent a crime, and on the other side of the scale, how crimes were reportedly perpetrated because of, or with an enhanced ability.
One report stated that a little girl had managed to escape her abusive household by phase shifting herself through the locked door and even her surprised drunk of a father. Video cameras in a prison cell showed how an apprehended suspect had done a similar escape routine by walking through the prison wall. Another man had to be apprehended by an Army Nuclear Emergency Search Team, when it was discovered that he could emit various frequencies of radiation at will…however, the man in question had very little control over it. He had accidentally irradiated his own neighborhood while he was having a nightmare as he slept…thankfully it was not a lethal dose and everyone was being treated.
Harry sighed and switched off the wall screen and stretched…thankful that he was finally back in his comfortable chromesuit and out of the bulky Jaffa armor. Generals Hammond and Thompson, Janet, Jack, Sam and Teal'C entered the Briefing Room and took their seats. Sam still wore her sunglasses as despite Harry working with her over the past few days she had yet to make any significant progress in regaining control over the frequencies in which her eyes saw at. In contrast, Jack had managed to gain a grip on his own enhanced senses.
"Thank you everyone for gathering on such short notice," said Hammond. "But Dr Frasier has finished her preliminary report on the 'Great Leap' and its consequences for this command. General Thompson is here so he can make a direct report to the STO Council on this matter. Dr Frasier…"
"Thank you, Sir," said Janet. "Now, I began with an inductive approach to this situation, since whatever caused this is something that has eluded every standard medical test we have. So I started with the effects of the 'Great Leap' and tried to catalogue the various 'abilities' we have discovered those on Base have developed." She grabbed the remote and the wall screen changed to show a pie chart diagram of the Base population. "We have, out of the now one thousand five hundred base personnel, one hundred and two with various degrees of 'Telekinesis', one hundred and sixty with Touch Healing (although this is unconfirmed), twenty have shown 'Pyrokinesis' (controlled fire), two hundred can Phase Shift themselves, thirty can seemingly manipulate electrical energies, three hundred can shift their vision into different areas of the light spectrum, the balance of everyone reports massive increases in their…IQ, for lack of a better term; they can make sense of problems ten times faster and do math, music and art on the old level of geniuses and in a few cases even savants. I even have a report here which shows that Master Sergeant Walter Harriman has developed a limited precognitive ability…"
"Walter?" said Hammond in amazement, whose eyes turned pensive; "I always wondered how he knew recently when I suddenly developed a need for coffee…for a long time I thought he could read my mind…"
"No, Sir," said Janet, her mouth twitching. "I tested him with various methods…flashcards and other cognitive tools, I had one of my staff throw a ball at the back of his head in an attempt to surprise him, he dodged it effortlessly, even though he couldn't see it. In addition, four base personnel have developed what could be called a limited 'Telepathic' ability…"
"Mind reading?" said Jack wearily.
"Nothing so cliché, Colonel," said Harry with a crooked grin.
"Due to his expertise and own abilities, the Ambassador evaluated the four men," said Janet, nodding to Harry, "Ambassador…"
"The four SGC personnel have developed a strong gift what is known as 'Legillimency'. It is the ability, under the correct conditions, to glean surface thoughts and the memories associated with those surface thought from a targeted mind."
"What are those conditions?" asked Thompson pointedly.
"They have to have eye contact with their target, in addition to general physical proximity, various people are susceptible to it in different ways, it depends on your own emotional control. A Legillimencer uses the emotions we feel as a vehicle into our minds and can see the memories attached to those emotions. Therefore…"
"No emotions, no 'mind reading'," said Sam thoughtfully.
"Yes, one can be trained to resist this, but it takes considerable time and effort," explained Harry.
"Based on this research, we have come to a few conclusions about the causes of our own sudden evolutionary leap," continued Dr Frasier. "The first is, that there is definitely an intelligence behind it, someone or something made this happen."
That stunned everyone.
"What is the evidence you have?" asked Thompson.
"When we looked at the statistics of abilities in relation to what position they held at the SGC," said Dr Frasier, pressing the remote and another graph appeared. "The four men we just mentioned with 'Legillimens' ability, are SG9."
"The diplomatic team?" said Sam in astonishment.
"Exactly," said Janet, "their ability is ideal for their very profession. What better way to negotiate when you know what the other side is actually thinking? Then we have the Special Forces personnel and to a man and woman, each one has developed an extreme ability at hearing, I wouldn't be surprised if they could outclass a bat in that department, they could hear the footfall of an enemy at extreme range. The Scientists on the base have all got the highest Brain utilization test scores, some, like Sam, also have to wear sunglasses because their vision is shifting into various spectra…now wouldn't that be handy to have when working with various devices to see what actually going on within, and most of my entire medical staff has demonstrated Touch Healing to various degrees…I can go on an on."
"I can also report that the Asgard are very interested in what's happening," said Harry evenly. "They have offered the services of Heimdall, their best geneticist, to help in mapping what is happening and perhaps discover the method with which this was done. They believe such a thing would be a key element in their own search for a cure against their own genetic degradation."
"I would have to speak to the Council on that," said Thompson. "Since we will in essence be allowing the Asgard a peak into our own genome, it must only be fair that they give something in return for it."
"The Asgard are a fair race, they will offer something of equal value in return," said Harry confidently.
"Is that all Doctor?" asked Hammond.
"For the moment," nodded Janet, "our other research is still ongoing. I must also stress that with the Asgard's help, things will go much faster."
"I will convey that to the Council," nodded Thompson.
"Dismissed."
SGC Gate Control Room, Earth
"Good morning, General, Ambassador," said Walter, standing from his station to greet his two superiors.
"Good morning Sergeant," said Hammond. Harry only nodded. "When is SG-1 due back?"
"Hour and twenty two minutes from now, sir," said Walter, but blinked and got an unfocused look as he said it. "Correction sir, they will be returning in twenty seconds."
"What makes you say that?" said Hammond automatically, but corrected himself, "ah yes, of course. A prediction, Sergeant?"
"Yes, sir," and seated himself at the Stargate controls, and sure enough, seventeen seconds later the Stargate burst to life. The Firestorm Shield went up first. "Receiving SG1's IDC. It's a code red, Sir. Looks like they're under fire."
Hammond picked up the duty officer handset on the control board, "Defense unit and medical team to the Gate room."
"Lowering Shield," reported Walter and placed his hand on the ID touch sensor. The red shield vanished from the event horizon. SG-1 burst through a moment later…Jack was being supported by Teal'C, the former was limping heavily. While Sam appeared a moment later and the fourth, new member of SG1, Captain Hagman stumbled through next to her. This was followed by of all things a crude spear that hurled itself through the event horizon and landed with a wooden 'plonk' on the concrete floor just before the Gate shut down.
General Hammond rather incredulously picked up the spear and examined it briefly before turning to his premiere team. Jack, who looked supremely disgruntled and angry, muttered an exasperated, "Next!" to his commanding officer, before disappearing with Teal'C help on the way to the Infirmary.
Harry looked in amusement to see that Captain Hagman had collapsed with his heavy pack on the Gate ramp, and pulled out what looked to be blow dart out of his arm.
"I've been shot," said Hagman in amazement, his speech becoming slurred, "some…sort of tranquilizer…" before promptly falling into unconsciousness. The Medic on scene promptly declared him to be fine, and that his pulse was still strong.
"I'd classify P2X-374 as unfriendly, sir," reported Sam with a wry grin, her sports sunglasses strapped securely around her head with a nylon headband. "Fairly primitive from the looks of it," indicating the spear and the blow dart.
"I presume Captain Hagman will need to be reassigned?" said Hammond with a weary shake of the head.
"I'd say so, sir," said Sam wryly.
"We'll debrief in one hour, dismissed."
Harry caught up with her as she was on her way out.
"Hey Major," said Harry his eyes twinkling, "what's that make now…eight?"
"Nine," she replied with a chuckle, "if you count the two hours Captain Mathison lasted."
"Are you guys ever going to find someone you can work with?" he asked in bemused exasperation.
"I don't know…" she said uncertainly. "When you've done so much together as a team, and gone through so much together…you can't just throw a stranger into that deep end and expect him to swim." She turned thoughtfully to him. "For that matter, why don't you officially join SG-1? You've gone on numerous missions with us over the past few years. We're all friends…"
"I can't afford to tie myself to just a single team," explained Harry. "SG2 all the way through 40 could need me. I go on a mission-by-mission basis through the Gate, depending on what I can contribute. Not to mention my diplomatic and teaching duties, and other obligations on Seaworld and the Asgard. I have too much on my plate…"
"All right, all right," she said wearily, "I get it."
"On the other hand there is someone who I believe you could get along with," said Harry enigmatically.
"Who?" she asked curiously.
"I'm not saying anything, you must find that out for yourself, all I will say is that he is already here and quite eager," said Harry and walked off down the corridor leaving a puzzled Sam in his wake.
SGC Gym, Earth
Harry was on his fourth set of reps on the bench press. It was set on just under one hundred kilograms, but he had surreptitiously weaved a matrix on the weights in the machine to actually double that…since the machine couldn't give the weight he normally practiced and stayed in shape with. He had developed a good sweat already with it. He lowered the weights and they settled into their normal position and he levered himself up breathing heavily. For the occasion he had donned the traditional gym gear of a tank top and shorts. His attention was drawn to the flat blue cushioned mat a few feet away where Jonas and Teal'C were sparring with boxing gloves. Obviously Jonas was nowhere near the big Jaffa's weight class, so the Kelownan had donned headgear and groin protector, whilst Teal'C obviously didn't need to bother.
"He trusts you," said Jonas, trying a few jabs which Teal'C easily deflected or blocked as they moved around each other. 'He' was Jack, and it seemed that Jonas had after three months on Base finally decided to make his move to grab the chronically empty spot on SG-1, and were trying to convince both Sam and Jack to let him join. Teal'C, was as Harry predicted, sympathetic to Jonas.
"I believe it is you, he must learn to trust," argued Teal'C, and breached the Kelownan's poor guard easily with a straight jab that left him on the floor…it didn't phase the smaller man at all and he popped up to a vertical base like a jack-in-the-box.
"How can he learn to trust me if he even won't speak to me? You know? He holds me responsible for what happened to Dr Jackson," said Jonas with heavy breathing, while he tried random hooks and jabs that again Teal'C blocked easily.
"I believe you are correct," said Teal'C sincerely and bluntly, after which landing a hook, which again knocked the Kelownan to the floor…and again, the man popped up like nothing had happened. Harry had to hand it to the man; he had tenacity.
"How can I even begin to make up for it, if he won't give me a chance?" Teal'C didn't answer but managed another hit, which landed the Kelownan on his butt a third time…and again, popped up. "Is this really a sport on this planet?" asked Jonas in bemusement. Harry snorted to himself and began a fifth set of reps.
"Are you injured Jonas Quinn?" said Teal'C in a challenging tone.
"It'll take more than that…" said Jonas confindently. "Tell you what…I knock you down…you gotta talk to Colonel O'Neill for me." Teal'C nodded his agreement. "Ok," and was promptly dropped by another jab before he could even think to launch a punch…which was followed by another Jack-in-the-Box. "I'm Ok…" and despite his words, Jonas looked a little wobbly, "I wasn't ready…I'm ready now."
Jonas again did his Marquee of Queensbury style (probably read it in a book somewhere) which had no hope to counter Teal'Cs guard.
"Stop, stop," said Harry, waving his hands and jumping up from the bench. "Jonas, that style of boxing hasn't been used in two centuries. Your punches take way too long. You have treat your arms like coiled springs." Harry came to stand at the mat and demonstrated by pulling the Kelownan's arms up so his gloves hovered near his cheeks. "Elbows tucked in to protect your ribs…and…" he pulled Jonas' fist forward in the proper jab motion, "…and pull back…you have to strike as quick as a snake with a jab…you leave yourself wide open keeping your arm extended too long."
"I see," said Jonas thoughtfully.
"And you," said Harry to Teal'C with mock-remonstration, "should've at least taught him the basics." Teal'C could find no reason to argue with that and merely bowed his head in acknowledgement. Harry got out of the way and they began again. It made a huge difference. Jonas now managed to block Teal'C's devastating hits on a 50/50 basis. Jonas even managed to land a nice one-two combination of a left jab followed by a right hook. It knocked Teal'C back a step and turned the big Jaffa's head sharply with the force of it.
"Much better," said Harry.
"Indeed," acknowledged Teal'C, rubbing his jaw. "For that I believe I will speak to O'Neill on your behalf Jonas Quinn."
"I thought I had to knock you down?" said Jonas, leaning with hands on his knees, his exhaustion clear.
"It's very unlikely using only Boxing techniques that you would be able to achieve that," said Teal'C. "I weigh considerably more than you, Jonas Quinn." The Jaffa bowed to Jonas and left for the Locker Room.
"So there are other techniques that would let me knock him down?" said Jonas with an eager smile. Harry laughed and shook his head.
"There are a great many, Jonas, most of which don't even require great strength, in fact, some of the best practitioners of what we call 'martial arts' on Earth are quite skinny, I've seen some Masters who could take someone like Teal'C and calmly knock him down and flip him over as casually as if they were taking a relaxing stroll. But of course, I'm talking about Masters with years if not decades of experience under their belt."
"Can you teach me some?"
"Of course, but the first thing you must take to heart, is that martial arts is about instinct not thought," explained Harry. "Thought takes too long, therefore the arts must be ingrained into your instincts and this is done through repetitive drills and practice…are you willing to do that? Let go of your conscious self?"
Jonas nodded firmly.
"Good," said Harry with a grin, "now the first thing you must learn and the foundation for everything…is how to move in battle…"
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"Unscheduled incoming traveler!"
Harry looked up from the Dailing Computer's tertiary workstation, where he was making improvements and refinements to the code in the largely patchwork program that governed the Earth Stargate. Mostly he was adding safety interlocks and protocols that were normally present in all Alteran DHDs and seeing if he could work out any bugs in the software that he could spot. The Tertiary workstation was made for this purpose, as it was partially isolated from the main computer and would allow simulations of any new software without impacting day-to-day operations of the Stargate.
"Receiving Bratac's IDC, sir," reported Walter.
"Lower shield, open the iris," ordered Hammond. When Bratac emerged from the event horizon it was with concern that Harry noticed the old Jaffa's grave face as he walked down the ramp and was met by the General. They walked off, but Harry reigned in his curiosity and got back to programming.
Bratac entered the Control Room soon after and approached him.
"Tek ma te, Jomo Bratac," said Harry with a bow of the head. "Everything all right?"
"No," said Bratac gravely, "Teal'C's wife Drey'auc is severely ill."
"Is there nothing that can be done?" asked Harry in concern.
"Her Prim'tah has matured fully, and she refuses to take another," explained Bratac, his lips pursing. Harry winced, if there was one unintended consequence of fomenting rebellion among the Jaffa; then it was the fact that the Goa'uld did not trust their young to Jaffa priests anymore…therefore if you were a Rebel Jaffa and your symbiote matured or was mortally injured in battle, the only way to save yourself was to steal one from another Jaffa still loyal to the Goa'uld…which meant the sacrifice of one life for another. Harry had never met Drey'auc, but if she was Teal'C's wife then it meant her personal honor was just as valuable to herself…and no Jaffa worth his salt would so selfishly deprive another Jaffa of life…even an enemy.
"A solution has to be found," said Harry strongly, "until you are free of the need of Prim'tah your rebellion will never solidify itself fully into being."
"To find such a thing has long been a dream of mine," said Bratac his eyes turning slightly wistful. "To finally cast off the shackles of oppression and slavery that hang on our very existence."
It was at this point that a harried looking Teal'C entered now dressed in the casual robes of a Jaffa. Harry stood from the workstation and placed a hand on the big Jaffa's shoulder. Teal'C's eyes widened as he felt the commune of spirit…but he settled down and merely gave a bow to the Alteran; his face growing solemn and even slightly anguished.
Harry nodded and turned to Walter, "Dial the Rebel Jaffa."
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He stared at a particularly stubborn line in the program code that just didn't want to resolve itself and work with other elements of the system. The problem was that trying to change the conflicting parts of the code would result in other conflicts and it would just spiral out from there, it was like unraveling huge length of twisted cabling; you think you have a kink worked out when you realize there is another kink further along that requires you to thread the whole thing through again.
"Arggh," said Harry, massaging his own scalp in irritation. It was getting to the point where his little side hobby of trying to improve the Dialing computer might as well become an official project and start from scratch.
"Unauthorized incoming wormhole!" announced Walter, after staring in amusement at Harry's antics. The shield and iris closed and sure enough ten seconds later the Gate sprang to life with a whoosh of blue waterlike plasma.
Sam and Hammond entered the Control Room a few moments later via the rear staircase.
"We're not receiving an IDC, sir," said Walter in confusion. "In fact, there's nothing." Harry frowned in confusion and saved his work and brought up the Gate diagnostic screen and stared at the scrolling data.
"What's up?" asked Jack, striding briskly into the room.
"Apparently…nothing," said Sam, staring over Harry's shoulder at the computer screen.
"Nothing?" said Jack in confusion.
"It appears that way," said Harry thoughtfully.
"That's a twist," said Jack lightly.
"The Gate is functioning within norms," reported Harry with a frown. "This is definitely an incoming wormhole."
"But nothing is incoming?" asked Hammond in confusion.
"As far as I can tell at the moment."
"The Goa'uld used that tactic before," said Jack in concern.
"Block our escape while they attack in ships," said Sam.
"Prometheus, Tranquility and the Asgard network report our immediate region of space is clear, sir," reported Walter after getting off the phone with the SGC Situation Room.
"That doesn't make any sense," said Sam, "in order to keep a wormhole open, you have to send something through…a radio signal, anything. We're getting…nothing."
"No, these sensors are getting nothing," qualified Harry, gesturing to the computer in front of him. "As you said, the Gate would not remain open unless it detects something is coming through. And the difference in tech between the Gate and sensors is astronomical."
"So something is coming through, just…we can't detect whatever it is," said Sam.
"Figure it out, Ambassador, use whomever or whatever you need," ordered Hammond. "I'll call the President."
"Yes, General," said Harry, as the man rushed up the stairs to his office towards the infamous Red Phone.
"So what do you think?" asked Sam.
"I think we first have to wait thirty eight minutes," said Harry, something was tickling his mind about the whole situation…it almost felt as if the door in his mind to the Alteran Legacy was left ajar…if he had to put it in words.
"To see if the wormhole shuts itself off naturally," said Sam, it was a peculiar quirk of wormhole physics that due to space-fold dynamics and its interaction with the Universe and subspace, that a wormhole couldn't be maintained for longer than thirty eight minutes…except in the presence of a black hole…where those cozy laws of physics were completely screwed up because of the intense gravitational forces that warped Time, Space and all Matter in its area of effect. "In the meantime I think I'm going to program an accelerated dial command that will establish a wormhole to the Alpha site…in case the Gate shuts down."
"You can do that, but I've a feeling it won't matter," said Harry gravely.
"What do you mean?"
"Call it a gut instinct."
Thirty-seven minutes later Hammond and Jack were back in the Control Room, waiting to see what would happen. They all watched the timer on the digital clock ticking away the seconds that represented the length of time the wormhole was engaged.
Thirty seven minutes fifty seconds…fifty one, fifty two…fifty nine…thirty eight minutes…
The wormhole was still on.
"It's still on," said Hammond unnecessarily.
"Thirty eight minutes and give or take a few seconds," reiterated Sam. They waited another ten seconds…the wormhole continued unabated.
"How many is a few?" asked Jack.
"Ok, now we have a problem," said Sam, "Ambassador?"
"Well, since we are not experiencing Time Dilation effects, I think it's safe to say that a Black Hole is not on the other side of this wormhole," said Harry, "which makes whatever is causing this definitely related to some form of Alteran technology." He stood up and walked towards the exit.
"Where are you going?" asked Jack.
"To have a chat with the Stargate," threw Harry back.
"Are you going to say 'Please'?" smirked Jack.
"Don't be an ass, Jack."
Harry left the room and entered the Gate room. He walked up the ramp and stood in front of the shimmering red energy and not three microns beyond that was the gunmetal gray trinium of the Iris, beyond which was the event horizon. He walked to the edge of the ramp and leaned over to place a hand on the Stargate itself and closed his eyes.
"What does he hope to accomplish by that?" asked Sam in bemusement.
Harry withdrew his hand a moment later as if he had stuck his finger into a power socket. His face was grave as he walked back down the ramp, shaking his hand to bleed off the power back into the ether.
"We have a serious problem," said Harry gravely as soon as he was back, "set your workstation to Gate Diagnostic Screen 4 and increase sensor sensitivity by two hundred percent." He instructed Sam, who had taken his place at the Dialing computer
"What?" said Sam, in confusion. Harry stared at her fixedly. "Ok, ok, don't bite my head off." She tapped a few keys and a high-rise graph appeared on the screen, which represented what energy the sensors registered coming through the wormhole. The graph changed scale a few moments later to indicate the increased sensitivity…and a few moments later there was a pattern that registered itself and disappeared. "Damn," said Sam with a frown, the pattern appeared again. "How did you know?"
"That doesn't matter," said Harry looking at the Stargate with worry.
"Ambassador, what is it?" asked General Hammond.
"We are technically under attack," explained Harry, "our Stargate is being targeted by an Alteran device that was meant to solve problems such as that which the SGC had when it was connected to that Black Hole a few years ago, or to easily remove a Stargate from newly desolate, uninhabitable worlds without having to send a ship into harms way. If connected to another Stargate, you can use one Gate to destroy another by keeping the wormhole open and then it begins pumping excess amounts of energy down the subspace path for the receiving Gate's capacitors to retain…and once that capacitance is exceeded the Stargate will demolish itself…with considerable force."
"How much force?" asked Jack.
"Sam?" asked Harry. She blinked and guessed what he wanted…and closer her eyes, her mouth mumbling.
"Three thousand one hundred and two, point four megaton explosion, based on the amount of Naquadah naturally present in a Stargate," she said eventually.
"That's enough to take out Colorado," said Hammond incredulously.
"The resulting environmental effects would wipe out all life on earth as well," explained Sam with a wince.
"How long?"
"Factoring in the Shield and Iris, which is only slowing down the energy transfer," said Harry thoughtfully, "three days. And it gets worse."
"How can it get worse?" said Jack in astonishment.
"Well, short of jumping in a Time Machine, which we don't have," said Harry sarcastically, "I know of no way to stop it."
SGC, Briefing Room 1, Earth
The room was packed with the assembled scientific brains of the SGC and Area 51, every scientist from straight forward physicist to structural engineer to programmer was milling about talking over the problem with each other and scratching on white boards and in general going crazy trying to come up with a solution.
Harry was standing with Sam near the window overlooking the Stargate speaking to two other female scientists also sporting military careers.
"Energy buildup in the Gate has reached eighteen percent," said the red-head called Higgins on her uniform BDUs.
"There has to be a way to drain the capacitors,…" argued Sam.
"Even if we could," said the brunette, McCullum, "it would just be buying us time, it wouldn't solve the root cause."
"Still sexy as ever, I see…nice shades," came a smug voice from behind the group. Harry gave a sigh and his shoulders drooped in weariness. Rodney Mckay strolled merrily into the room. Mckay was a man of average height, slightly overweight and had spiky thin hair that look to be in the first stages of receding. He sported a perpetual wry look on his face and walked with a confident air that broadcasted a figurative neon sign above his head 'Genius, and loving it.'
"I sincerely hope you directed that statement to my three colleagues here Mckay," said Harry wryly, "and not at me."
"What!…of course…I mean…" blubbered the arrogant Canadian scientist, and Head of R at Area 51.
"What are you doing here?" said Sam with a frown.
"Well," said Mckay, latching on to the question, "there no point in building interstellar vessels for Earth when there isn't going to be an Earth, is there? The Pentagon thought you, uh, might need some extra help."
"Not from you," argued Sam unpleasantly.
"Oh, Ok," said Mckay airily, "well, then I'll get a coffee and a doughnut and wait for the big bang." He gestured smugly with his hand towards the table where condiments had been brought for all the scientists so they didn't have to waste time walking back and forth between the Mess hall; a doughnut from the box on the table soared through the air and landed in his hand. He walked off clearly enjoying its taste.
"Just what we needed," grumbled Sam angrily.
Twenty-four hours had passed and Harry and Sam had retreated to their shared Lab. His reason was all the amount of ridiculously complicated theories and solutions that were being flung about by the scientists (and which had no hope of implementation in the time left) that was starting to really get on his nerves. Sam, well, she had a different reason.
"Hey, how come you two are not downstairs with the rest of the eggheads?" said Jack, sauntering into the room. He got pointed looks from both 'physicists'. "Not that you're…um…eggheads…"
Sam looked at him with her eyebrows raised.
"Well…you both are…actually…but in a good way."
"Thanks Jack," said Harry sarcastically, scratching out an energy equation on the white board and starting over.
"I couldn't think down there," said Sam, "they kept looking at me and Harry for the answer."
"Well, you both do have a penchant for pulling brilliant ideas out of your butts," said Jack astutely.
Sam merely gave him an incredulous look, while Harry grumbled under his breath and wiped clean the whiteboard and started again.
"Head…" said Jack wearily, "…out of your heads…when we need them."
"Not this time," said Sam heavily.
"Well, you still got two days to work on it."
"Sir, I don't think we could solve this if we had a couple of years," she said tightly.
"Carter, am I sensing fear in your voice?"
"Yes, actually," she said breathing faster, "a lot of fear."
"Well, stop it! You're making me nervous."
"What about you, Sir?" said Sam desperately. "Any ideas?" Harry chuckled inwardly, while Jack stared at her in consternation. "I mean, sometimes you have a way of seeing things at their simplest."
"Thank you," said Jack, with a pleased expression on his face, which faded into a deeply thoughtful look… "I'm gonna go eat some cake."
"I think I'll join you," said Sam with a wry grin and followed her commanding officer out. Harry glanced back at the board and chucked pen to the floor.
"Screw it," he muttered to himself and pulled out his subspace com unit. And dialed it into a special frequency and encryption. He waited a few moments until a voice came through.
"Greetings, Tyr," said Thor's voice.
"Thor, we have a situation here on Earth, I need the best Asgard physicist that's currently present in the Solar system at the SGC on the double," said Harry gravely.
"What is the situation?" said Thor immediately.
"Well, Earth's Stargate is being systematically and purposely overloaded with power from an incoming wormhole, as we speak."
"An Alteran Stargate Demolition Device," said Thor immediately. "That is grave news. Skadi is currently on Mars, I will send her to you shortly."
"Thanks buddy," said Harry gloomily and shut down the com device.
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Harry walked next to the diminutive gray figure of Skadi and they entered the Gate Room.
"How long has the Stargate been active?" asked Skadi in her characteristic cold female tone of voice.
"Almost a day," said Harry. Skadi raised a Jewel Device in her hand that glowed for a moment and flashed towards the Stargate.
"Interesting," she murmured.
But before Harry could ask her to elaborate, a deafening bang was heard against the Stargate's Iris and the Shield flashed. Alarms were tripped automatically. Another bang thundered in the room.
"What's going on?" asked Jack, hurrying into the room with Sam hot on his heels, whilst defense teams rushed in as well.
"I have no idea," shrugged Harry.
There was a flash of blue light that somehow managed to project itself through the Iris and the Firestorm shield, which coalesced into a tall shaky image. Standing there, projected larger than life, was a dark robed figure, with red trimmings on the edges and inky blackness staring out of the hood.
"I am Anubis!" said the figure in a cracking, ugly voice that grated on Harry's nerves.
"It seems he's been helping himself to Tollan holographic technology," commented Harry angrily.
"Humans of the Tau'ri," said Anubis, his arms gesturing grandly, "your end of days finally approaches. There will be no mercy."
"Oh, come on…" moaned Jack, "who talks like that?"
"You will bow to my awesome power. There is nothing that can stop the destruction I bring upon you. Prepare…to meet your doom."
The hologram vanished.
"Oh, please," said Jack, rolling his eyes in exasperation.
Sam, Mckay, Harry and Skadi walked up the stairs from the Control Room into the Briefing Room. Since the steps were too steep for the Asgard physicist, Harry gently levitated her up in front of him as they walked.
"Anubis has a real flair for the dramatic, doesn't he? Very theatrical," mused Mckay.
"Pretty much all the Goa'uld are like that," said Sam.
"But why wait? Why does this guy show up after a day and a half after all this starts to do his whole 'Prepare to meet your doom' thing?" said Mckay snarkily waving his hands mockingly.
"I don't know, maybe he wanted to make sure it was going to work," said Sam.
They emerged into the Briefing Room where numerous scientists were still arguing back and forth, but the room was considerably emptier than it was last, with numerous of them having retreated back to their offices to muse. Harry let Skadi hover to the floor and she gave a nod of thanks for the lift.
"Yeah," laughed Mckay, "that would be embarrassing wouldn't it?" he dropped his voice to a low sinister mocking rendition of Anubis "'Nothing can stop the destruction I bring upon you!' Then the Gate shuts down. 'Oops, sorry. Nevermind…'"
"Yeah, well…that didn't happen, and we only have fifty four hours left," said Sam staring at her watch.
"Skadi, you were going to say something before Anubis graced us with cliché ethereal appearance," said Harry, raising his eyebrows at Mckay. Skadi turned her large bulbous eyes to look upon the Canadian scientist in such a manner that it was enough to make Mckay frown in awkwardness at her unyielding stare. She even muttered something rather unflattering in Asgardian that Harry struggled not to burst out laughing.
"I was going to say," said Skadi coldly, "that there is little that even the Asgard could do against what the Alteran Stargate Demolition device is doing. It is warping subspace itself around the Stargate to keep the 'wormhole' open and any attempt to forcibly shut down the device from this end would result in premature detonation of the Stargate and even a partial reaction in subspace which would magnify the destruction to encompass half of this solar system."
"Urg," said Harry rubbing his head with weariness, "sometimes I wish the Alterans weren't so good at what they did."
"Wait a second," said Mckay, snapping his fingers repeatedly, "we know certain frequencies in the radio and electromagnetic spectrum can travel in both directions through a wormhole. Radio signals, for example."
"Obviously," said Skadi, her black eyes glistening.
"So what?" asked Sam in confusion, "we call Anubis and ask him to stop?" she said sarcastically.
"Yeah," said Mckay equally sarcastic, "'Hey, Anubis, this is your agent, you're playing it way over the top, can you get serious, please?'"
"You were saying?" said Sam in exasperation.
"So, since we can't send anything that would affect subspace back through, like a beam weapon," he nodded at Skadi, "we send a massive electromagnetic pulse back through the wormhole, and knock out the Alteran Demolition Device."
"Will that work?" asked Hammond suddenly, joining the conversation.
"No," said Skadi and Sam simultaneously, and they looked at each other; Sam with surprise and Skadi with astonished black eyes.
"No, sir," said Sam, hastening to explain. "I had already thought of it, and the reason I didn't mention it, is because it's too problematic."
"More so than the Gate exploding?" asked Mckay pointedly.
"The Shield and Iris would have to be retracted," argued Sam.
"Well, the Gate room's shielded now as well, isn't it?"
"Major, are you saying this absolutely won't work?" said Hammond.
"What I'm saying, Sir, is that we have no idea how much EM would be required to knock this thing out."
"That's also assuming that the Device itself is even vulnerable to such interference," said Harry with a raised eyebrow, "it could be hardened against EMP."
"So, let's just all go home then," said Mckay dryly.
"How long will it take to set up?" said Hammond.
"Four hours, tops," replied Mckay.
"That's how long you three," he pointed to Harry, Sam and Skadi, "have to come up with a better idea."
Skadi emitted a string of harmonic Asgard language and shook her head.
"Tell me about it," said Harry matter-of-factly.
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Harry watched from the Control Room as Mckay and Sergeant Siler used the overhead hoist to move a rather large cylindrical EMP generator into place. Mckay was measuring distances with a laser and bustling about.
"I find it perplexing that your leader will go ahead with a plan, even though it has little chance of succeeding," said Skadi in Asgardian.
"It's a little quality in Terrans that we refer to as 'hoping for the best'," explained Harry in Alteran.
"Ambasssador…whoa…" he turned to regard Jonas Quinn, who was standing a few feet away looking rather amazed at the sight of Skadi.
"Oh, I forgot, you haven't met an Asgard before," said Harry with a grin. "Jonas, this is Skadi. Skadi, this is Jonas Quinn, the man who brought us Naquadria."
"A pleasure," droned Skadi tilting her head and turning back to watch the Gate room.
"Nice to meet you too," said Jonas uncertainly, and he came to stand next to Harry while still casting furtive glances at the Asgard. "So I hear you are going to try an EMP?"
"No, Dr Mckay is going to try an EMP," said Harry in irritation, "at the moment its only viable idea anyone has. And how do you know what an EMP is?"
"I had Dr Lee explain it to me," said Jonas with a shrug.
"Oh."
Sam and Mckay finished their positioning of the EMP generator, and hurriedly ran out of the Gate room and into the Control Room.
"Are we ready?" asked General Hammond, coming down from the stairs.
"Almost sir," said Sam taking her seat at the Dialing computer.
"Close the blast doors and raise perimeter shields."
The heavy steel and lead reinforced Blast doors slid down from above and obscured the view of the Gate Room, they next heard a shimmering electrical sound as the shields around the perimeter of the room came to life. Everyone turned to face the plasma screens, which showed camera feeds of the Gate room.
"Retract Iris and Shield," ordered Hammond. Sam placed her hand on the print sensor, which flashed green, and on the monitors they saw the red shimmer of the shield dissipate before the Iris slid smoothly open.
"Energy transfer to the Gate is increasing…" said Sam in warning. "Seven times greater…eight…nine…ten…"
"Go, go," said Mckay, giving a shooing motion to Sergeant Siler, who immediately pressed a few remote commands at his own workstation. The generator's mechanisms began to visibly turn and a high-pitched warbling sound began to resonate everywhere. Harry noticed the Gate's event horizon began to wobble as if some was managing to shake the 'water' of the Gate. It was all they saw before the cameras shorted out due to the EM radiation.
"Energy transfer is still increasing, look if this was gonna work…"
There was the sudden sound of explosions from within the Gate room.
"Energy feedback!" shouted Siler, "shields are weakening!"
"Raise shield and Iris!" snapped Hammond. Sam complied and after two moments the sound of the Iris was heard and the explosions ceased. "Open blast doors."
Harry stared in astonishment at the EMP generator…or rather, what was left of it, barely a few tattered remains hung suspended from the crane with which it was brought down. The shields had done a good job protecting everyone from those energy discharges because there were stripes of carbonized concrete all along the floor of the Gate room.
"That can't be good, can it?" asked Jonas idly.
The command staff of the SGC, SG1, Harry, Skadi, a much-subdued Mckay, and numerous other scientists had gathered in the Briefing Room to regroup and try and Brainstorm ideas off each other.
"How much time do we have left?" asked Hammond.
"The Major was right," said Mckay absently staring out the window looking down into the Gate Room, "we've cut our available time in half with the attempt to use the EMP. Twenty five hours."
"What if we encase the Gate in trinium alloy…" suggested one scientist.
"There no time to implement that…and that's tantamount to giving up…" argued another.
And on and on it went again…Harry was surprised to see that Mckay was staying well out of the Brainstorm session and remaining near the window. Sam had noticed this and broke away from the discussion and surprisingly the two started to talk. Curious about what could such two professional rivals be talking about he headed over to them as well.
"What are you thinking?" asked Sam.
"Besides the fact that despite our sudden evolution that those guys (he gestured to the lab coated egghead scientists) are still morons," snorted Mckay contemptuously, "what do you think the guy with the wacky naquadah is doing down there?" he pointed down into the Gate Room.
Harry saw the Jonas was standing on the ramp leading up to the Stargate and pensively staring around the room and looking up occasionally to the ceiling, and then at the doors.
"I'll go find out," said Sam, and walked out the room.
"You doing ok, Mckay?" said Harry.
"Yeah, at least until the Gate explodes," said the man his usual wry wit. "You know I always wanted to be pianist."
"I can't really picture you in front of a piano," said Harry in amusement.
"Yeah, well, I had a not-so comfortable childhood. My parents hated each other, blamed me for everything. Music was…my salvation. It had this…perfect order for me."
"Well, I can't relate as to parents, being an orphan, but I was raised early on in a similar environment," said Harry, suddenly wondering why the hell he was suddenly managing to 'relate' well to Mckay.
"Then you know what it's like, anyway, when I was twelve, my teacher told me to quit playing, 'A fine clinical player' she said, 'but no sense of the art.' I then turned to science because I thought it would be different than music, but it isn't, it's just the same. It's just as much of an art as anything else."
"It's not your fault the EM didn't work, Mckay," said Harry, trying to zero in on the problem.
"You're an artist, Ambassador, and so is the Major," he said, ignoring Harry's attempted placation. "I'm just critical of you both, because I'm jealous."
"Thanks, Mckay," said Harry uncomfortably, "but as you can see, I'm stumped along with rest of the folks in this room."
"See I've realized that it's gonna be one of either your or Major Carter's typically insane ideas that you come up with at the last moment that's going to save us…so this little heart to heart is merely self-preservation."
Harry was about to reply when Sam burst into the room her face alight with a glow of triumph and excitement.
"I've got it!"
"See what I mean?" said Mckay gesturing to her.
And indeed it was a solution. A brilliant, astonishingly simple one, like all brilliant solutions are. Everyone in attendance had moved to once side of the room and Sam stood next to the wallscreen where her one hand had a remote and another a laser pointer.
"The solution is this…we move the Stargate," she said simply.
"Umm…how would moving it help us?" asked a scientist.
"I mean we move the Stargate off Earth."
"Bloody brilliant," said Harry clapping his hands together. "We move the Stargate far enough away from Earth so its Point of Origin isn't valid anymore."
"Exactly," said Sam, "once we've gotten enough distance the wormhole should disengage itself. We leave it in properly calculated orbit and allow the Gate to cool down."
"How far away?"
"For safety's sake, I think it should be left well out of our Solar System beyond Pluto, maybe even in the Oort Cloud."
"Will the Gate even lose its charge?"
"Of course," said Mckay with a frown, "if it didn't a Stargate couldn't be used more than a few dozen times."
"That's if the energy that's being used to sustain the wormhole is of a nature we know of," countered another scientist, "what if it's something exotic we haven't seen before."
"There is no possibility of that," countered Skadi, "my scan shows only normal power being retained by the Stargate."
"Ok, what about the practicality of it?" asked Hammond. "I assume you want Prometheus to beam up the Gate." The ship had just finished a refit that had added Asgard remote beaming tech to it.
"That would be a bad idea…beaming the Gate up, I mean," said Harry. "There's no way a transporter energy buffer can handle the amount of energy that's currently in the Gate. The Prometheus would have to physically come in for a hover over Cheyenne Mountain and pick it up."
"And that adds a new time limit and constraint to this plan," said Sam. "There is only four hours of night left outside the Mountain. The Prometheus would need to come in under full EMCON and Stealth to remain undetected, as there is no time to arrange for a free airspace window to allow her to remain unobserved. It'll take us two hours to get the Stargate decoupled and hoisted up the shaft…that leaves us with twenty three hours to get the Stargate away from our Solar System."
"You have me convinced," said Hammond abruptly, "all right people, move it! Get it done!" His command voice snapped over everyone like a whip and all the scientists scattered. "Well done, Major," said Hammond, approaching Sam as everyone hurried to their stations and to phones to make the plan happen.
"It wasn't all my idea, sir," said Sam modestly.
"Right," nodded Hammond.
"So what will we do about a Stargate if this works?" asked Mckay.
"Well, we can't use the Beta Gate," said Sam. "Anubis could just start this all over again."
"Which means we would need to first find out where the Alteran device is and destroy it before we could even think of resuming Stargate operations," said Harry thoughtfully.
"Well, that's good for me," said Mckay rubbing his hands together, "that means our focus will shift to starships."
Two hours later, if anyone was even awake they would've heard a strange unearthly noise descend over Cheyenne Mountain and a void of deepest black that hovered over the night sky. This noise and void would remain until it abruptly changed pitch and streaked into night, blotting out the stars as it went.
A few 'night owls' would manage to capture it on camera, but the most they could see was only a darker patch of night on the camera. And the noise would be laughed off as not having enough sleep or perhaps drinking too much.
Oort Cloud, Sol
Prometheus had made good time in getting there, at full sublight they had managed to burn their way outside the outer edges of the Solar System in less than five hours. The highly charged Stargate had ridden out the journey in one of the Cargo bays and not even a few moments after clearing Pluto's orbit…the wormhole vanished as if it had never been.
It was decided then to revise the plan of leaving the Stargate in a stable orbit. Skadi had arranged for her own Asgard Science vessel to shadow Prometheus and provide transportation for the equipment and materials to shift the Stargate's Iris slightly backwards…this in effect, buried the Stargate and wouldn't allow wormholes to connect.
And so after allowing for a further ten hours of cool down, Prometheus returned and beamed down the Stargate back within one of the SGCs larger cargo rooms.
Rebel Jaffa Cargo Ship, en route to Sol…
Ry'ac, son of Teal'C, stood behind the pilot's station, staring out the forward windows at the swirling of Hyperspace as the small ship tore its way through subspace and towards the now infamous Tau'ri home system.
He was seventeen standard years old now, and nearly stood equal his father in height, but had far to go before he could acquire his formidable father's physique. He stood with an air of satisfaction and accomplishment, yet not arrogance. For he had just been pivotal in helping his father and Master Bratac escape from Anubis's Jaffa and to destroy the Weapon of the Ancients that was being used against the Tau'ri.
Ry'ac had stolen a Death Glider from right under the noses of the enemy and after a precision strafing run, had freed his father and Bratac from their captors. He had promptly turned and did another strafing run, this time on the Weapon itself. It was rather satisfying seeing the Weapon explode with a brilliant fireball and the massive shockwave that ripped through the earth. He had little time to celebrate, as two enemy Gliders had intercepted him. And not only did he score his first two kills in a cockpit, but he also helped his two fellow Jaffa escape.
Ry'ac had stopped looking at his father since their journey to the Tau'ri homeworld began, because Teal'C's face was shining with pride in his son's abilities, and it made Ry'ac have to fight off a blush.
"We are approaching the edge of the Tau'ri system," reported Bratac.
"Drop out of Hyperspace before we cross the outermost planet's range," said Teal'C. Bratac nodded. And the Cargo ship smoothly transited into real space. Ry'ac could see the distant Tau'ri star no bigger than a thumbnail at this range.
"Why are we dropping out so soon, father?" asked Ry'ac.
"Because it would be decidedly unwise to jump directly over the Tau'ri homeworld," said Teal'C stoically. "Remember that, if you should ever need to seek shelter here. All allies of the Tau'ri know never to just appear within the inner System…if you do so, they will take immediate action to destroy you."
Before he could ask his father to elaborate further he saw beyond the cockpit window four small hyperspace windows forming and to his amazement four vessels remarkably like a Glider shot out and began to fly aggressively towards them.
"This is Mongoose Flight," came an unknown male voice over the com system, "unidentified Cargo Ship, come to a full stop and declare yourself or you will be presumed hostile and we will fire on you."
Ry'ac saw his father immediately transmit a sequence of numbers to what he assumed were Tau'ri attack fighters.
"Confirmed your IDCs," said the lead fighter over the radio, "your presence has been notified and confirmed by Tranquility, you are clear for a run to Terra, have a good day and welcome back, Teal'C."
The four fighters swooped with great maneuverability past the Cargo ship and promptly vanished into Hyperspace.
"Tau'ri fighters can go into Hyperspace?" asked Ry'ac, amazed.
"Indeed," said his father. The next amazing thing to happen was just as they passed the fourth planet. Straight out of legends, a massive Asgard cruiser passed them on its way somewhere. "Yes, that was an Asgard mothership."
And soon they orbited the gleaming blue and white jewel in the black void…the Tau'ri homeworld.
"This is Teal'C," said his father into the subspace radio, "calling Stargate Command." A few moments passed.
"Teal'C, this is Sgt Davis, SGC Control, welcome back to Sol."
"Thank you sergeant, can you please gather General Hammond, and SG1."
"Stand by…go ahead, they're all here."
"General Hammond…"
"…Teal'C!" came voices that were somewhat familiar to Ry'ac, but he couldn't place them. He had last been on the Tau'ri homeworld five years ago and he couldn't remember much, seeing that Apophis had him drugged on Rash'na to be loyal only to him at the time.
"O'Neill!" said his father in a pleased voice, "it is good to hear you are well. The weapon being used by Anubis has been destroyed but we feared it was too late for your world."
"You know us," said the voice with a laugh, "we find the simplest, brilliant and utterly dumb plan and it always works."
"Indeed," laughed Teal'C. "We require permission and coordinates to land."
"Permission granted."
"Good job!" said O'Neill.
"It is in fact," and with this his father grasped him in a proud hug, "Ry'ac who deserves the honor."
Curse this blushing, thought Ry'ac.
SGC Gate Room, Earth
Harry watched with General Hammond as Jack, Sam and Teal'C were standing at the base of the ramp and going over their gear, instead of the PR7, they now carried the PR8 AW with all its attached systems and energy weapon resistant armor. Teal'C still carried his Staff weapon, but it had been modified to work with the armor and integrated combat information system.
"Good luck, Colonel," said Hammond.
"Thank you, sir," said Jack.
The far door to the Gate room opened and the newest member of SG1 entered. As a reward for his idea that successfully led to the resolution of the latest crisis (and some pressure from the STO; who had wanted to put an International member on SG1) now Jonas Quinn stood clad in full SGC BDUs, tac vest, energy resistant armor and wearing a Colt sidearm and Zatnickatel in holsters on either leg. He jogged into the room and was fussing with a standard infantryman helmet on his head.
"How do I look?" he asked with a grin,
"Uh…you might want to loose the helmet, until you're qualified on the PR8 and its systems, it'll only get in the way," said Sam, adjusting the HUD eyepiece on her ergonomic helmet.
O'Neill who was standing behind Jonas, shook his head at her in exasperation and signaled 'No' with his hands. Clearly he wanted to make Jonas suffer with the bulky helmet. He dropped the innuendo when Jonas turned around and removed the helmet to replace it with a cap.
"Good guess on the green," said Jack, referring to the color of BDUs Jonas was wearing.
"Thanks."
"SG1, you have a go," said Hammond.
"Thank you, sir,"
"Safe journey," said Harry with a bow of his head.
Jack grinned and nodded. SG1 lined up on the ramp and faced the re-installed Stargate as its event horizon rippled with a faint wind…almost as if it was eager to do what it was meant to do, once again.
In perfect step SG1, once again four, walked forward and was flung through the Galaxy on the next stage of their journey.