Chief Armoury Officer Sowerby of the SG-11 unit Jack’s Angels closed his eyes against the blazing of P86-67X’s sun, how long had it been since he had watched his friends and team mates flee through the Stargate? He pulled at the shackles that locked his wrists to the wall, he could feel the rusting metal cut into flesh slightly adding to his already reddened bruised wrists. He couldn’t keep the contempt from his dark eyes as he watched the Jaffa enslaving the poor villagers of this undeveloped world. Damn snakes robbing people of their individuality, what gave them the right to rob people of who they were? He was actually surprised that the torturing of him hadn’t begun yet, snakes were losing their touch; he couldn’t hide a smirk, which resulted in a smack across the face. He ran his tongue across the slit in his mouth then spat out some blood before shaking head and glaring at the Jaffa responsible. He could feel the sweat pouring down his neck, damn that sun! He squinted against the bright flaring of the sun trying to make out three figures walking towards him.
“ This is the one?” asked a deep voice.
“ Yes My Lord!”
“ Bring him to my ship, get the information any way you have to!”
Sowerby grunted disagreement and struggled against strong hands as they clamped down around his arms and dragged him along with them.
MEANWHILE…
“ What the hell do you mean we aren’t going back for him????” shouted an outraged Mands, she ignored Viper’s gestures to calm down. Since Jack was at home laid up with a broken leg, it was her time to make the command decisions. Mands slammed her fist on the table and looked Hammond straight in the eye,“ One of JA’s people is out there probably being tortured and you are just going to leave him there to rot??”
“ Settle down Colonel.”
“ Settle down?? With all due respect General but you and some politicians have made a decision that has terminated one of JA’s men and you expect me to stay calm?”
Qadesh put a hand on Mands’ arm attempting to calm her down but she couldn’t help but feel Mands was right in her convictions. JA never left a man behind,“ What do you plan to do about it ,Sir?” asked Qadesh calmly.
“ We will have to accept that Lieutenant Colonel Sowerby is a casualty of war.” Stated the government representative.
“ Casualty of war??” exclaimed Viper before he got to his feet and snarled,“ What do you know about war? All you do is sit behind your desk all day and night, all you gotta worry about is whether your low grade tacky excuses for shoes are shiny enough!”
“ That is enough!” shouted Hammond before he looked at Mands and said,“ I regret that we can’t go back for Sowerby but it has been decided and no further discussion is required!”
Mands stormed out of the briefing room shortly followed by Viper and Qadesh, Tomcat and Ice rounded a corner and slammed into Mands,“ For Crying Out Loud!” exclaimed Mands as she rubbed her forehead, Tomcat and Ice looked apologetically at her.
“ So what did they say??”
Mands shook her head but Qadesh answered,“ It’s a no go, they are saying we have to accept that Sow is a casualty of war.”
“ What?!?!” shouted Tomcat angrily, he then looked to Mands,“ Surely you’re not going to let that happen? Mands?”
Mands looked up with determined hazel eyes,“ No I’m not! We are going through that gate to rescue Sow even if the General and the Government don’t like it!”
“ You mean disobey direct orders?” said a shocked Ice.
“ Yes I do, none of you has to come with me and I won’t think any less of you if you do but I don’t care, one of JA’s own is out there and I’m going to do all in my power to get him back.”
Qadesh placed a hand on Mands’ shoulder and smiled before Tomcat stepped forward taking his place by Mands’ side. Viper grinned and then said as he walked to join the others,“ Well, can’t think of a better way to disobey orders.”
Ice shook her head,“ You’re all crazy so you’ll need someone to cover your asses, count me in!”
Mands smiled at the loyalty shown by her fellow JA before she nodded and said,“ Alright let’s do this!”
ON P86-67X…
Sowerby bit down on his lip as he felt the pain course through his entire body, his head pounded from the various times the hand device was used on him, making it hard to see clearly. The sweat fell like rivulets down his face and back of his neck and he felt his clothes cling to his battered bruised body. He had lost count of how many times he had hit by the Jaffa, he felt warm blood trickling down both his legs from where they had cut him open with a knife. He licked his dry lips as his torturer had stopped for a minute to catch his breath before he felt a fist connect with the side of his face sending him sprawling to the ground. He spat out blood and coughed before wheezing due to broken ribs the Jaffa had inflicted at least an hour ago. He took a mad swing as a hand grabbed his shirt and he grinned in satisfaction as he felt warm skin under his knuckles and the grip on his shirt loosen slightly. Before he could make good on his hit he cried out from shock as something connected with his head and as he looked up drowsily he saw another Jaffa holding a staff weapon. He winced inwardly as warm new blood trickled down the side of his face and teased at all his bruises and cuts on his face.
“ Tau’ri! You will tell us what we want to know!!”
Sowerby struggled as the front of his shirt was grabbed and he was placed within two inches of a Jaffa’s face, he simply spat at the Jaffa and repeated what he had been doing for the last few hours,“ Lieutenant Colonel Sowerby, CAO, 11876577!” The Jaffa growled before head butting Sowerby making him stagger back from pain. Sowerby bit his lip again refusing to give the sadistic snakes any pleasure by hearing him cry out from pain. The hit to his head felt like a nail going through his head, the pain was excruciating and he could barely keep his eyes open. He would not betray his friends and the people he had come to care for, they could torture his physical self all the wanted but they would not kill his spirit. He struggled as he felt two new Jaffa grab his arms forcing him to his knees and as he looked up through the blood and sweat, his eyes widened as a goa’uld was mere inches from his face.
AT
THE SGC…
Mands handed out the various weapons they needed before pulling a dark cap over her hair and she nodded. Viper ran off to the control room while her and the others made their way to the gate room, she just hope they weren’t too late. Viper snuck up behind the control room personnel injecting them with a sedative before he began a dial out to P86-67X but he couldn’t help but wince as the klaxons sounded
* UNAUTHORISED GATE ACTIVATION *
Mands gestured for the others to hurry as the blast doors closed down, she looked around quickly and smiled as all were present. Viper’s fingers flew over the keys as he sealed down the gate room just in time as Tomcat saw a group of marines hurrying towards one of the blast door corridors. He breathed a sigh of relief as the doors sealed just before they got to them. Ice fidgeted nervously as she watched the gate dialling out and Qadesh was counting the chevrons down. She smiled as Viper announced,“ Chevron 7 locked and encoded! Wormhole established, we are good to go!”
Mands nodded before she turned to the people trusting her enough to do this,“ Okay this is the plan, Tomcat, Q and Ice stay at the gate while Viper and I go in and get Sow out. You are the ones keeping some very pissed off Jaffa off our asses if you can but if me and Viper are not back within an hour of leaving you, get through the gate and don’t look back!”
“ WHAT??” they all exclaimed at the same time.
“ We can’t do that Mands, JA doesn’t leave anyone behind!” argued Qadesh
“ Mands! How can you expect us to do that? You are disobeying direct orders to save Sowerby and now you’re telling us to do the same thing as the politicians want to you and Viper!” said a shocked Tomcat.
Viper joined them before walking to Mands side,“ Do what she says, it’s best in the long run.”
“ I am not leaving any of you behind!” shouted Ice.
Mands sighed,“ I’m sorry..” She then looked at them coldly and blankly before snapping,“ Soldiers! New orders, if Viper and I are not back within the hour of leaving you, get your asses through that gate and don’t you dare even look back. Do not disobey my orders, is that understood?”
Tomcat, Qadesh and Ice looked at one another unsurely,“ Is that understood??” asked Mands again before they all snapped to attention and shouted,“ Understood Ma’am!”
Mands nodded before running up the ramp and jumping through the gate shortly followed by Viper before the others followed slightly saddened by their new orders.
ELSEWHERE…
Sowerby pulled at the hands gripping him wanting desperately to be away from that damn snake as it coiled and hissed at him. He gasped slightly as he felt a fist connect with his already bruised stomach which made him hunch over breathing in and out shakily hacking up flem and blood. He placed his battered broken fingers on the cold ground as he struggled to breath normally but he noticed the Jaffa had stepped away but he could still tell the goau’ld was near as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He winced slightly as his hair was grabbed and his head was jerked upwards to meet the cold sadistic eyes of a Jaffa as he held the goau’ld even closer to Sowerby.
“ You will tell us all we need to know, once this is inside you Tau’ri!”
“ Lieutenant Colonel Sowerby, CAO, 11876577!” shouted Sowerby angrily but he bit his lip drawing blood as he felt something slice the flesh on the back of his neck and he barely registered the warm blood that trickled round to the front of his neck and down onto his chest. He felt the snake near his face so he used his last ounce of strength to grab the goau’ld feeling its brittle bones snap in two as he pressed down hard. The Jaffa seemed shocked so he used this to his advantage, he flung the goau’ld away before thrusting his knee into the Jaffa’s stomach then slamming his elbow into his face. He cried out as he was kicked from behind but he dropped to the ground rolling picking up one of the tools of torture used on him. He flung the knife through the air watching it spin before it caught another Jaffa in the throat knocking him to the ground gasping and choking on his own blood.
He scrambled to his feet holding his fists up protectively as one more Jaffa remained but he swore as the Jaffa opened fire on him with a staff weapon. He managed to duck and roll before thrusting both fists into the Jaffa’s stomach doubling him over before punched him across the face spinning on the ball of his foot to slam his elbow across the Jaffa’s jaw. He caught the staff weapon as the Jaffa’s grip loosened on it, he then looked the Jaffa straight in the eye before firing on him before he looked away from the dead haunted eyes that stared back at him.
The adrenaline was sill flowing through his body causing him for a minutes to savour no pain and no feelings of guilt or remorse. He looked around at the chaos around him and suddenly all the pain came rushing back to him and he gripped at his sides protectively knowing he had to get away as fast as he could. He staggered out towards the light shining at the end of a corridor.
AT THE GATE…
Mands and Viper nodded at the others before they headed out towards the Jaffa encampment present on this planet. Qadesh whispered,“ Good luck!” Ice reassured her by smiling slightly while Tomcat kept his eyes still confused and torn about Mands’ orders.
Mands and Viper moved in silence as they crouched along the tree line watching all the Jaffa patrols. Mands scanned the area with her eyes then pointed at the goau’ld mother ship to which Viper nodded.
<COMMS: Gate team, this is Mands. Viper and I are making a way to the mother ship, most likely place for Sow to be tortured at. We’ll keep you informed. Mands out!>
Tomcat couldn’t hide a frown at the coldness of Mands’
words but he shook his head and kept his eyes on the area surrounding the gate.
Mands and Viper crouched ran over to the goau’ld mother ship and as Mands
entered the door Viper covered her. Mands ducked behind a wall as another Jaffa
patrol went past before Viper hurried over to her,“ So any ideas where to
go?” asked Mands optimistically. Viper looked blank so Mands frowned then
crept out from behind the wall and headed down a corridor with Viper watching
their six.
In
another part of the ship…
Sowerby leaned against the wall heavily for support as
the pain racked his entire body and moving even two centimetres hurt like hell.
He wiped his mouth as he felt blood trickle from it, how the hell was he going
to get back to the gate in this state? He ducked behind a wall as a Jaffa patrol
past him and as he rested back against the wall he felt his eyes closing but he
shook his head. He had to stay awake, he had to get home. He sighed at the
feeling of pain that spread through his head and he was sure he was seeing
things because he thought he could see the familiar faces of Viper and Mands
coming towards him. He laughed gently to himself muttering,“ You wish Sowerby,
figments of your imagination.”
Mands gasped as she saw the battered form of Sowerby
resting against a wall so she ran over and held him while she assessed his
imagery not even hearing his muttering,“ Fucking snakes! Sons of bitches!”
Viper watched out for any sign of Jaffa as Mands checked on Sowerby, Mands
pulled out a first aid kit and plastered all the cuts she could before snapping
her fingers in front of Sowerby’s face. She whispered,“ Sow! It’s me Mands,
are you with us? Sow?” She frowned as Sowerby didn’t seem to respond so she
slung his arm over her shoulder and slipped her arm around his waist.
<COMMS: Come in gate team.> said Viper.
Ice answered it <COMMS: Gate team here, what’s
your status, over.>
<COMMS: We’ve located Sow, he’s in a bad way and
we’re heading back to your position now.>
Viper took point as Mands helped Sowerby to stagger
along.
AT THE GATE…
Qadesh watched the Jaffa through her binoculars and
shook her head as their patterns seemed to be changing, she didn’t like it and
had a feeling that this was not going to be an easy extraction. Tomcat had
sensed the change as well so he nodded at Ice and Qadesh before he moved to
higher ground watching out for Mands, Viper and Sowerby. He held his P-90 up
keeping it trained on any Jaffa as they moved before he spotted Viper heading
back out from the tree line with Mands behind him supporting Sowerby.
<COMMS: Q, Ice I see Mands and Viper and they have got Sow. I suggest
dialling of the gate.>
Qadesh nodded and watched as Ice began to hit the glyphs in sequence
watching the gate rotate to lock them all in before Ice began to transmit the
GDO code. Qadesh eyes widened as Mands, Viper and Sowerby hit the open ground
and all hell let loose. It was amazing in an odd way how all the Jaffa seemed to
all just turn and open fire on their comrades so Qadesh knelt down and gave
covering fire. Tomcat began to take out each Jaffa out one by one from his
position determined to make sure his friends and team mates made it to the gate.
Viper spun round and fired on the advancing Jaffa as well as trying to dodge
staff weapon fire, Mands was struggling to move as the ground beside her had a
staff blast impact on it. She was worried about the non responsiveness of
Sowerby, they needed to get to the SGC sooner rather than later.
BACK
AT THE SGC…
*UNSCHEDULED OFFWORLD ACTIVATION*
The Klaxons sounded before the Lieutenant sat at the
control room computer said,“ We’re receiving a GDO code, it’s JA’s
sir!” He looked to General Hammond before he nodded and ordered,
“Open the Iris!”
The Lieutenant nodded, pressing the controls and
watched as the Iris opened and the wormhole surged into life. Hammond watched
the shimmering blue horizon with a mixture of anger and anxiety, anger that his
orders had been disobeyed but anxiety to see if his people were alive and they
had succeeded in what they had set out to do.
P88-67X…
Mands handed Sowerby to Ice as they got to the gate
and said,“ Get him to the infirmary, we’ll cover you.” Ice nodded and held
Sowerby tightly as she walked through the gate back to the SGC before Mands spun
round opening fire on the Jaffa.
“MOVE OUT PEOPLE!”
Qadesh nodded, fired one last shot that hit a Jaffa in the head before she ran
back through the gate, Tomcat moved back down from the higher ground and looked
to Viper and Mands before he went back through the gate.
“ So, Vipe got any grenades or C-4?”
Viper grinned before tossing Mands some C-4 and the
pair of them ran off in separate directions placing C-4 in a line along near the
gate and grabbed the remote timer. Mands looked to Viper and said,“ Get
through the gate, I’ll be right there!”
Viper nodded and hurried through the gate while Mands
waited for the Jaffa to get closer with her finger on the remote timer button.
Qadesh and Tomcat swung to look at the gate as Viper came running through,“
Where’s Mands?”
Viper looked lost for words when suddenly Mands came diving through the gate
landing on her back grinning,“ She was just taking care of some unattended
business.”
Mands got to her feet and brushed herself off before snapping to attention as
General Hammond entered the gate room. Hammond ran his eyes over all the JA
personnel standing to attention but before he could say anything Mands spoke
up,“ I take full responsibility Sir, disobeying your orders was my idea and
therefore I place myself in your and the court martial’s hands!”
“Hey! Wait a damn minute, we all agreed to this. It wasn’t just Mands Sir,
it was all of us!” argued the other JA and he couldn’t keep a smile from his
face.
“ You’re Dismissed JA!”
He walked off before any of them could question it,
they all looked at one another before hurrying to the infirmary meeting up with
Ice as she paced outside of an operating room,“ Janet is operating on him now,
she said it will take hours. We just have to be patient.”
Mands groaned loudly, being patient was not one of her
strong points but the others took seats while Mands pulled some gum out and
chewed.
FEW
HOURS LATER…
Janet
walked out of the operating room smoothing down her hair before smiling at
Tomcat as he was sprawled uncomfortably in the small waiting chairs and Mands
and Qadesh were sat against the wall resting against each other with their eyes
closed while Viper and Ice looked distinctly uncomfortable sat with their eyes
closed. She coughed gently and stifled a laugh as they all sprung to their feet
and blinking their eyes. They all looked to her so she explained,“ Sowerby
suffered a lot of damage but nothing I couldn’t patch up, I won’t lie to
you. It’s going to take a long time for everything to recover both physically
and mentally, what he needs now is your support.”
Everyone nodded before Ice asked,“ Can we see him?”
Janet nodded and led them to a small private room and
as she opened it, a drowsy but awake Sowerby looked at them all smiling
weakly,“ Hey guys.”
Everyone smiled and said hi before pulling seats up
close to his bed, Sowerby smiled at the familiar faces that surrounded him, God
it was good to be home!
“I want to say thank you for coming back for me.”
Everyone smiled again before Mands said,“ Don’t worry about it Sow, JA
doesn’t leave anyone behind and that even includes you.” She stuck her
tongue out at him before smiling which made the others laugh slightly but she
said seriously,“ We would never leave anyone behind and we are here for you
now, so if you need anything and any kind of support you need. Just ask.”
Sowerby smiled before he closed his eyes feeling safe
and protected again as his team mates and friends chatted away around him
filling his ears with the sound of laughter and hope again.
THE END!