EV: Interlude: Meanwhile, On Abydos II

Colonel Jack O'Neill had had better days. That was a bit of an understatement, of course, but what else could you say when ET decided to show up with a freaking battleship and totally ruin everyone's day? There wasn't an expression for that sort of thing, for crying out loud! Unfortunately, that was exactly what had happened. The worst part about it all was that even if they managed to survive this whole thing, he was gonna have to write condolence letters to Porro and Freeman's families and he wouldn't even be able to tell them why they'd died.

Of course, it'd been Freeman's death that'd allowed Jack to figure out that while the armor the alien grunts wore was able to stand up to the standard nine-millimeter rounds of their MP-Fives, grenades were another matter. Freeman had decided to take the bastards with him after being hit by one of those staff-like rayguns that blew his right arm off. He pulled the pin on one of his grenades and leaped at the Hawk-helmeted Guy who'd shot him, blowing them both to kingdom come.

Unfortunately, there were a lot more of those Alien Grunts. Everyone had been captured, all except Kawalsky and Ferretti, who'd managed to hide out with the locals. Jack'd been tossed into some kind of pit that was filled with water and was trying to figure out how to regroup with Brown and Reilly and find out where the Head Honcho had taken Daniel. They couldn't get back to Earth without him, since he was the only one who knew the last symbol they needed to dial. If he could do that, grab Brown and Reilly, find Daniel, and get to wherever Kawalsky and Ferretti were holed up, they might be able to figure out a way out of this.

Unfortunately, this pit was more like a hole in the ground than anything else. The fact that it seemed to be filled with water so that anyone tossed down here had to wade through it like some kind of bizarro swimming pool didn't help either. Jack was an Air Force Parajumper, for crying out loud, not a Navy Seal! Why couldn't they have tossed Brown in here instead? Of course, it didn't help that all the moisture made getting a handhold on any of the various decorations on the wall so he could climb up to the grate in the ceiling impossible.

Aside from that grate, there looked like only one other exit, a part of the wall that Jack hadn't figured out was a door because it was so seamlessly blended into the wall until he'd tried to climb out the third time. Some kind of access hatch about six inches above the waterline. Unfortunately, Jack couldn't pry it open with his bare hands. He'd have to resort to something he'd rather not have done to get out of here. See, this Ra Guy wasn't exactly the most benevolent of rulers, go figure. He'd tossed a couple people down here before, and they'd been down here long enough to be skeletons.

Frowning, Jack dove down into the water, grabbing hold of a femur from one of the skeletons, and coming back up with the bone in hand. He waded leg bone in hand, over toward the access hatch before pausing. He looked over at the spot the skeleton had been resting at and gave a little nod of acknowledgment.

"Sorry about this, Buddy. If it helps, we're gonna kick Ra's Ass as soon as I can figure out a plan." He opined.

The Skeleton didn't say anything, because of course it didn't. Jack just shrugged at that and turned back to the access hatch. Then, using the skeleton's femur as a prybar, he began working at the access hatch, trying to pry it loose from the wall. It took a few minutes, but he managed it, the metal of the hatch popping loose from the wall to reveal not the door he'd expected, but a row of odd-looking crystals set up in a circuit of some kind. Jack frowned at that.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" He questioned, grumbling.

There was nothing for it, though. Maybe if he futzed with the crystals a way out would open up? It was worth a shot, anyway. Jack began moving crystals around in their slots at random, hoping something would happen. Of course, the first time something did happen, the meager light in the pit flickered out, threatening to plunge Jack into complete darkness instead of mostly darkness until he replaced the crystal back where it was.

After another few minutes, however, Jack managed to somehow luck his way into a maintenance hatch opening nearby. He crawled his way through the hatch and found himself out in a corridor full of cells. Force-Fields kept the cells shut, and Jack could see Reilly and Brown unconscious and slumped against the walls of two of their respective cells. He had to figure out a way to get them out of there. Maybe he could futz with another of those crystal circuit doohickeys? He didn't have time to look for one, unfortunately, before one of those armored Alien Grunts rounded the corner and entered the corridor. This one wasn't wearing the full getup, leaving his tan face and bald head bare for everyone to see.

"Kree!" Shouted the Guard.

He leveled his raygun staff at Jack. Jack dove to the floor as a bolt of orange plasma shot out at him, tucking himself into a shoulder roll that carried him under the bolt which splashed against the wall next to Reilly's cell, causing sparks to fly and Reilly's forcefield to shut off. Jack got to his feet and charged the Alien Grunt, tackling him to the ground. Jack slammed the back of his opponent's head against the floor a couple times, ensuring he was out, before standing. Grabbing the Staff, Jack frowned at it, before looking at another, smaller, doohickey secured to the Guard's waist.

"What's this do?" Jack queried.

The alien doohickey unfolded into a sort of pistol shape when Jack grabbed hold of it, and his fingers found a button that seemed to act as some kind of trigger. He didn't have time to test it before another alien guard came running around the corridor, alerted by the commotion. Jack turned and tested the Pistol Doohickey on the Second Guard, a bolt of bright blue light spitting out at the Second Guard as the Alien leveled his staff gun at Jack. The bolt struck the Guard and he collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut.

"Huh. Neat." Grinned Jack.

Then he noticed that the Force Field keeping Reilly in his cell had shut off, along with the blasted section of wall. His grin spread as he turned to do the same with Brown's Cell, blasting the wall and causing a shower of sparks to fly out from the hidden crystal circuitry there. The Force Field keeping Brown in his cell powered off too and Jack could only let out a chuckle. It seemed he was gonna pull this jailbreak off after all. Then Jack moved to wake up Brown and Reilly. He explained the situation briefly, then shoved the other Alien Pistol into Reilly's hand while Brown got a Staff Weapon. The three of them were now armed and free, ready to raise Hell on Ra's Flagship.

ET wouldn't even know what hit him. . .

XXXX

Daniel Jackson couldn't believe it! The Military had sent a nuke with them to Abydos in case whatever was here wasn't friendly! And they hadn't told him! If that wasn't bad enough, Ra, who Daniel now understood to be a member of an Alien race called the Goa'uld, had found the Bomb and was now planning to send it back through the gate once he'd done some unspecified modifications to it! Daniel didn't know what sort of modifications the Alien meant, but he doubted it meant anything good for Earth.

The worst part was that Daniel wasn't even able to do anything about it! He'd been effectively captured by Ra and turned into a prisoner. Oh sure, Ra had taken him to what passed for a luxury suite, but a Gilded Cage was still a Cage. If he was being honest with himself, Daniel wasn't even sure that this would remain the state of affairs for very long. Ra didn't seem to be the sort of Alien Overlord who was keen on treating people like honored guests, after all. He saw humanity as little more than a captive, enslaved, workforce. Daniel had to believe that extended to him too. As he was about to find out, however, the reality was far, far, worse.

"Do you understand why I have brought you here?" Asked Ra.

"No. I can guess it had something to do with the pendant I'm wearing, though." Guessed Daniel.

"Indeed. You bear my mark without even knowing the truth. Such faith for one from such a lost world is admirable. It has inspired me. When the time comes for me to be reborn anew, you will be my vessel." Intoned Ra.

"I don't understand." Frowned Daniel.

"In time, you will." Insisted Ra.

That was ominous, but for the time being, Daniel at least wasn't being kept in a Cell. He had to press for information here. It might be the only thing that could save himself, the team, and even the entire Earth. Who knew? Ra might be prone to the megalomaniacal flaw of needing to explain his plans. It worked on TV so you never knew.

"Forgive me, but what is all this for? Why go through the trouble of attacking Earth after so many millennia away?" Questioned Daniel.

"Your Earth is more important than you might realize. You were not always alone on your world, and if there are any remnants left of the Ancients there, then claiming your world will be worth even more than all the slaves there." Informed Ra.

"Slaves? You would enslave nine billion people?" Queried Daniel.

"The population would need to be managed, of course, but I would. The power of the Atom that you so helpfully brought me will aid in doing so. It will be but the first strike of hundreds, as I call System Lords from all over the Galaxy to join in the campaign." Explained Ra.

"We would fight." Retorted Daniel.

"You would. And you would only hasten your doom. I have hundreds of worlds in my Empire to draw troops and ships from along with technology that you cannot compete with. Would it not be simpler to kneel?" Asked Ra.

"I don't follow." Frowned Daniel.

"I will give you the chance to speak to your leaders and convince them to surrender to me. In so doing, they can escape the worst of a culling. I will give you a single day to decide whether or not you wish to help spare your people the destruction of my wrath." Intoned Ra.

Then, the Alien pretending to be a god swept out of the room, leaving Daniel alone with his thoughts amidst the various silks and pillows of what had to be some kind of repurposed Harem Room. He tried not to think about that too hard and instead focused on trying to figure out a way out of this. He wasn't about to just lie down for Ra and he doubted the leaders of Earth would either. That only left one option, figuring out a way to foil Ra's plan.

Fortunately, he wasn't alone in all this, as events were about to prove. . .

XXXX

Major Charles Kawalsky was worried. Sure, he and Ferretti had escaped ET by hiding among Skaara's People, but they didn't have a whole lot in the way of ability to fight back. They had a couple of MP-Fives, One Stinger Missile Launcher, his own M-Two-Forty-Nine SAW, and a few grenades. Against guys with Ray Guns and armor that seemed impervious to the standard Nine Millimeter Rounds of the MP-Fives, he wasn't sure that even trying to stage a rescue of Jack and the others would work. They had to try through.

Fortunately, Skaara had been able to get the entirety of the youth of Nagada to rise up against ET. They'd staged a couple of ambushes on patrolling guards with spears that'd distracted the Guards long enough for Charlie and Ferretti to take them out with Charlie's SAW, whose rounds had greater stopping power than the MP-Fives and could punch through the weak points in the Armor if using some of the very few depleted uranium rounds they'd salvaged from the camp before they'd had to bug out ahead of ET.

Now, they had a small collection of Alien Weapons and were preparing to launch their attack on the Temple from within the city, only for the giant Pyramid Ship to spit out a pair of open-cockpit fighter planes. The two Fighters began to hone in on Nagada, launching torrents of deadly plasma as they began their strafing run on the currently-in-rebellion City. Fortunately, Charlie and Ferretti had salvaged a pair of Stinger Missile Launchers. Even if the missiles didn't destroy the fighters, the open cockpit would ensure the pilots were killed.

Charlie breathed in deep as he hefted his Stinger Missile Launcher. His position on the roof of one of Nagada's Mud Brick houses was tenuous and he knew that if he missed, he'd have to jump down to street level fast or he'd be lit up like a Christmas Tree with orange pulses of plasma. He aimed, waiting for the Stinger to beep and tell him he had a target lock. As he sighted down on one of the Fighters, waiting for the beep, however, the Other Fighter banked, turning toward him. The Pilot must've seen him and was moving to get into position for a strafing run.

"Come on." Muttered Charlie as he kept his eye on the ball all while the Second Fighter climbed into position.

"Come on!" Demanded Charlie, keeping his stinger steady on his target as the Other Fighter reached the optimal starting point for a strafing run on his position.

Just as the Other Fighter was about to rocket forward, guns blazing for his position, however, Charlie's Stinger beeped, indicating he had a target lock. He fired the missile at his target before dropping his launcher and throwing himself bodily off the rooftop, crashing into a purple-dyed linen awning above some sort of food stall that broke his fall, even as the rooftop he'd been standing on had been lit up in orange fire from the Second Fighter's Plasma weapons. The Second Fighter Streaked by, pulling up just as Ferretti's missile struck out at it. Two explosions bloomed above the City of Nagada, both taking down the Fighters by dint of killing the pilots. Both fighters crashed down in the desert on the other side of the City.

"Took you long enough, Ferreti!" Griped Charlie to no one.

Now, however, they could finally mount their rescue mission. Once Charlie gathered himself from his stupid stunt of throwing himself off the roof of a building, he moved to collect Ferretti, Skaara, and the Kids that had been given spare MP-Fives and Alien Weapons. It was at least a Company's worth of rag-tag troops. It would have to be enough.

They'd begin their counterattack on the Temple shortly. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here's the next part of what's going down on Abydos. Jack, Reilly, and Brown manage to Escape the Dungeon, Kawalsky and Ferretti are getting Nagada to rebel thanks to having Skaara to help them out, and Daniel is fishing for information about Ra's Plans and the Goa'uld Empire in General. By the time everything is said and done, Earth is going to be a lot better warned about the Goa'uld than they were in canon, that's for sure. Unfortunately, if I finished the Abydos Mission in one interlude, it would have been close to five thousand words, so I've decided to split up the Abydos Stuff into three chapters instead of two.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the conclusion of the Abydos Mission and the Death of Ra, then we'll be back with Erlang Shen.

Stay tuned. . .