Williams

The debrief was well underway, all they were waiting on now was the return of the Tok'ra from the Al'kesh excursion though that could wait until later. This was a far more important matter that needed attended too. He walked into the briefing room, fashionably late. With several briefings in hand. Colonel Blaze was about to speak but he raised his hand. "Your debrief can wait Colonel. There is a more urgent matter to attend to presently." He straightened his tie on his suit, identical to those he wore every other day. He put down the briefing and slid it over to Rea'c and the Captain. This drew a look from the Colonel however he ignored it. "We've lost contact with Langara, or we thought we had. Recently we received a call for aid from the planet. They have been invaded by forces of the Lucian Alliance. As per our treaty we have to protect them, not only for the people on the planet however also for our own men and women aboard the Destiny. As some of you know Langara is one of the few planets with a core of naquadah capable of powering the gate to dial the ninth chevron to the Destiny."

"We have been tasked for rescue operations as we are the closest vessel, We will have no backup as the Apollo is in drydock after a skirmish with the Alliance and the Odyssey is off fighting on another front. We do not currently know the disposition or size of the enemy forces however they will be heavily defending this planet as it is their way onto the ship they have wanted for so long." Now for the slightly unpleasant business that he had to attend to . "Colonel Blaze, after evaluation I need to have another meeting with you. Rea'c will act as your second in command and prepare your team and co-ordinate with the other Squad Leaders." He turned to the Captain.

"We have a recon probe being shipped aboard from Earth. It has a fast burning engine so if we drop out of hyperspace outside of sensor range we can deploy the probe to get sensor readings on the enemy forces. Once we are engaged in combat you will have full control over the ship and assets." He mainly mentioned that as procedure rather than the fact he actually needed to, he also felt that with the people in the room he should show who was really in command. "We leave as soon as Ariadne and the probe are aboard."

---

Tonak

So, the spy had pulled through. They were coming, and it was the Langford. Everything seemed to be going well and exactly too plan. No matter how this mission went their goals would be achieved here. He tapped his communicator. "Get ready Dey. They're coming now, the ships are yours. Use them as you see fit. Just remember what we have learned about the hostile vessels and don't expose your own weaknesses."

He walked up to the railing of the walkway watching as the gate was lowered into the power facility, it had been removed after a bit of a scuffle between the Tauri and the Langarians that had resulted in the protection treaty. They hadn't done such a good job at disassembling it though as the facility was frankly far too important. He looked as the gate was put into place. To no-one in particular he spoke. "Well, let's get started."

After dropping the Al’kesh at the nearest world with a Stargate and gating to the Langford, Ariadne quickly made her way to the briefing room. She was already late and had simply handed the bulky Tau’ri vest to a member of personnel in the gateroom rather than go and change into non combat clothing. Thus, when she arrived, just in time to hear about ‘departing when she and a probe arrived’ she was still in the typical soft brown leather Tok’ra uniform. With a slight grin she marked her entry by speaking “Well one of your criteria is fulfilled then.”

She took one of the empty seats then, and after a pause to collect herself, relayed her own part of the mission, what little there was to relay. “After I ringed onboard the ship, I eliminated the few native crew aboard and took control. Following that I took the ship to the nearest world with a stargate. It should be on its way to Earth already with a team of Tau’ri. The Tolians were familiar with their weapons but poorly co-ordinated. They were not a particularly challenging foe.” As she finished she looked to Captain Black to continue the debrief, wondering if the Tau’ri would have questions for her or want a more detailed recount.

"Well, if it didn't come from our stock, it means there is a mole on Earth with clearance good enough to steal a nuke. I'll notify SGC of the find." Black sighed. For a bunch of ragtag ambitious overlords, the alliance certainly beat them at the intelligence game. They didn't have too much success planting their own people inside LA operations. Hopefully the Tok'Ra were having a better luck, but judging from the lack of fresh reports on her desk, the alliance might be tougher than it appeared.

It was then when Mr. Williams interrupted with the rather grim news. She was disgusted he found a way to sneak powerplay into it though. "No objections." Catherine shot back, not willing to let him get away easily for that. Reading through the report quickly, she was pleased with the probe. With the R-302 not meeting her expectations, she wouldn't have sent another pilot out there, especially since now she had an idea of what would be there waiting for him. "The Hammond?" she asked, although it was more rhetorical as she could guess the answer.

None the less, seizing a planet took troops, and to transport those required ships, as a gate wouldn't have nearly enough throughput. They were heading into the fight. "Very well," Kat tapped her earpiece, "Black to C&C, set course to Langara system. Drop us out at the outskirts." she ordered and the ship sunk into an hyperspace window a few seconds after. "I believe this is concluded then. Go and get some rest people, we're heading into a volatile situation and I'll need you at your best. Dismissed. Ariadne, Mr. Williams, if you would please stay for a moment..."

Kat gathered her composure as she was to ask for something she wasn't sure wouldn't be rejected by the IOA rep right away. "If you recall," she said to Williams, "You said to tell you when I find a suitable person for the XO. I'm looking at one." she said, her eyes set on the Tok'ra. "You have more experience than anyone from Earth ever will and you're uniquely qualified for the job. During the last engagement I found your insight very helpful and frankly sending you out to the field would most of the time be a mismanagement of resources. Would you accept the position?" she said, unsure herself whether she needed to convince Ariadne or Williams more.

"Now, I realize this might cause some political stir for you," she said, turning back to the IOA rep, "And I am ready to give a Jaffa a command position provided they find a suitable person for the right job. With their tactics, I regret to say that ground forces command is out of the question, however our 302 pilots are inexperienced in space combat and seasoned commander might be just what is needed." she offered.

Ingrid Berg stared out of the viewport, pondering what to do. Though others on the ship had been busy with a mission in the nearby star system, she had not had any specific tasks. Which really meant that the military hadn't been in real trouble, because everyone knows that when the military are in trouble, they turn to the scientists to pull them out of it. It is inevitable. Even since boarding the ship, she had spent her time working on a project of her own, the development of a nanite-based system for treating fractures. Unfortunately, she had not made much progress. Writing the code from the bottom for such a complex technology would take months, if not years, and the code made available from replicator tech was just too advanced again. She had read all she could about the encounters other SG personnel had had with replicator nanites. While that could easily repair any body, there were so many other elements to replicator tech that were risky. No matter how many safety protocols and failsafes she could insert into the code, the military would never trust it outside an emergency.

The sight of the stars outside was quite breathtaking. Ingrid tried to look for recognizable constellations, only to remember that there were none. This far from Earth, all the constellations were different. Even after several days on the ship, she could hardly believe she was actually in space. She had read a lot about the sort of technology used to generate artificial gravity, so she was not at all surprised that walking about felt perfectly normal. A few years ago, she had thought such tech belonged in science fiction, but she had had no idea at the time that the tech was not only in existence, but available on earth! Or available to Earth, that is. Not much point in generating artificial gravity on Earth.

She had heard, during the few times she had left the labs, that there were a few aliens on board, but she had not quite mustered the courage to go talk to any of them. Not that they had been available during her breaks anyways. Ingrid had mostly chosen to eat in one of the labs.

One of the lab assistants, a particularly excitable woman, was already beginning to look over the data on the planetary facility as it was uploaded to the Langfords lab systems. “Ingrid come and look at this!” She said gleefully. “Isn’t it amazing? We’re looking at data gathered by humans before we had even figured out fire! Oh I wish I could’ve met one!” The woman was silent for a minute just gazing at the streams of data in ancient before eventually starting to speak again. “I wonder how far the locals got with this? Probably not much but the… What was it again? Gould? That lived here before might’ve found something… They are supposed to be really intelligent aren’t they? I wonder if the one onboard would know? Maybe we should ask it. Her. Oh I do so want to meet an alien, even if its not an ancient. Don’t you?” She looked directly at Ingrid then, obviously expecting an answer, or perhaps permission.

Ingrid looked up when the assistant spoke, distracted from her thoughts. “All i’ve read is that the Goa’uld were scavengers. That they rarely managed to invent anything that was truly their own. While meeting aliens might be interesting, I don’t know how safe it’d be. I’d rather stick mostly to humans myself. I haven’t seen any of the ones on board so far, so can’t say whether they know anything.” The girl’s expression rapidly changed to one of disappointment and she quickly turned away back to the screen, ignoring Ingrid.

Out of curiosity, Ingrid looked over the current projects, just to see what the others were working on. There were some working on the data from the planet, but only on initial analysis. It had barely been parceled up so far. In time, Ingrid knew that they would be able to figure out who should take what part of that. Some of the engineers were working on that recon fighter project, and that bioweapons specialist was working on some sort of virus. Even with her knowledge of biotechnology, the finer details of the science of virology were mostly gibberish to her. It was clear to Ingrid from what she had read from earlier project reports by this “Ylva Falk” that there was some goal in mind for them all, but she could not see what that goal was.

On one hand, knowing more about it would be useful, but on the other, Ingrid wasn’t sure she wanted to know more about weaponized diseases. To be frank, the idea of using Earth diseases against other human populations without natural resistances scared her a bit. Satisfied with the overlook over the various projects, Ingrid decided to leave the labs for a while and attempt to socialize with some others by eating in the mess hall rather than her lab. Not that she had much idea of how to do that socializing bit.

~| Meanwhile, in the Biohazard lab |~

Ylva smiled to herself. It had taken a full day of work, but she was reasonably sure she had finally stripped the entire payload from the chosen retrovirus. If used right, she thought it could perhaps even improve human physiology. Not much, but enough to make a difference. She finished up programming the assembly sequence for the raw virus, intending to put some on ice for future uses and for return to Earth. The Tau’ri high command might want to have it for their own uses, whatever they might be. If they ever got a chance to contact them again, she knew Vanja would also want to get a sample to the Tok’ra High council.

After her host set the production sequence in motion, Vanja felt just how tired her host was. Exhausted really. Even with her aid, Ylva could not remain awake forever. Not that Ylva would ever admit to being tired. Rather than argue over something Vanja would win in any case, she chose to simply assume control and march their body straight towards their quarters.

A blur of light and a familiar ceiling greeted her as she opened her eyes once more. It took a moment before she realized she was laying in a hospital bed. Her entire body was sore and her head was throbbing, although to be fair, it had turned out that she was alive which was a much better outcome than she had expected. Her gear from the mission had been taken away and she was left in the military fatigues from before. One of the medical staff, having noticed that Paige was awake, approached her. The man was quite handsome with blonde hair and appeared to be in his mid-thirties. A number of questions came to mind. "Is the data safe? What happened to Dr. Lawson? Why am I so hungover? Also, how am I not dead?"

The Doctor, whose name tag read "Clements", typed something on a tablet as he answered. "First time getting Zatted?" Paige, who was both embarrassed and dreary let out a meek "Yeah..." Dr. Clements put on his most comforting smile. "You'll be fine in a bit. Just head down to the Mess Hall and get some food in your belly." Paige nodded and raised from the bed, finding her shoes waiting on the floor next to her.

She slipped into her high-top Converse and let the laces hang loose as she made her way to the Mess Hall. Luckily she had memorized the the blueprints of the Langford and knew which way to go. It wasn't hard to get lost in a ship this size and it didn't help that most of the corridors looked exactly the same, however it didn't take her long until she reached her destination. At this point she was starting to feel less of the soreness but the headache was stubbornly holding on. After filling up her plate with the meal of the day she sat down at the first available seat that seemed relatively isolated, which she hoped meant less noise. Paige knew that she would have to apologize to Dr. Lawson for panicking and questioning him. He seemed like the kind of person who will probably give her a lengthy lecture on the subject but for now she would stuff her face and hope that it helped her headache.

Williams

"We'll try your idea, once Rea'c has set up the ground teams you can inform him off the change." He didn't say much, he actually found the choice to be a good one. She had experience fighting Ha'tak vessels the biggest adjustment would be getting used to the ship systems. Though he also wanted to keep an eye on her and he could do that from within the ship which had cameras with microphones everywhere as a security measure and he naturally had access to each and every one of them. He had to ensure that his motives would not be compromised by her presence after all.

He began walking away when he turned around. "You will also need to find a replacement for Colonel Blaze. I'm taking him off the Roster for the current missions due to complications down on the planet. You'll get your report as soon as I have a conversation with him." With that he walked out and left them too it.

Lawson

Lawson finished the debrief and then headed for the mess. He had little to do currently other than look through the data from the Ancient outpost and continue working on the R-302, or whatever they were going to call it now that the project had been scrapped. The whole "probe" thing never really appealed to him. It was a single burst rocket for relaying data, it couldn't maneuver and took forever to get the engine ready for redeployment in the future. Though there were obvious issues with the recon packet built onto the frame of a F-302. It would need to be something for him to work on later on with Paige when she was feeling up to it.

Speaking of Paige he noticed her in the mess sitting down and tucking into her meal. He himself loaded up a plate of food, grabbed a small bottle of orange juice and sat opposite her sliding the orange juice across. "The vitamins will help with the headache you've got right now. Electrolytes and the like." He took a sip of his own bottle of water. "You'll be glad to know we managed to disable the facility and got a sizable portion of the database. They're running it through translation cyphers right now so that when we get to work on it we can jump straight in. Once you're heads in the game again that is." He leaned in slightly. "I can sympathize with how you felt down there, but we're going to have to get you to do some kind of training from someone on board because we can't go through that every time we get into a scuffle. The entire next mission is going to be under fire." He took a bite of his sandwhich. "What have you read about the Icarus project?"

Kayle

Kay sat in silence, listening to the Captain's comment about a mole as the 2nd Lt. crossed one leg over the other underneath the table. Her hands folded up before her chin in deep thought, eyes stared off into blank air for several moments. Her mind adjusted to the given facts, digested the truth discovered. She didn't like what she was hearing and that much was clear from the tight frown on her face. Kay hated the fact more because it was very plausible with what she had researched with the Lucian Alliance. Even worse was if their spies had Earth connections then it could be come straining to keep SGC with foreign alliances and risk their resources. The thought lingered there until Williams adult entry caused her head to jerk upwards, her head turned to him the moment movement stirred from her eye corner. Colonel Blaze had instinctively rose from his seat only to be brushed aside by Williams's out held hand, his word cut the man's efforts short and at the knees when the IOA moved onto more pressing matters.

She watched Williams slid two folders, one to Black and the other, mysteriously, to Rea'c. Kay's eyebrow arched in question at the strangeness as did Blaze's, the IOA unfazed by the looks. Instead he continued to mention the request of aid from the planet Langara -once believed to lost contact with-due to Alliance occupation and the fact the Langford was assigned to it, without backup. Kay wasn't a big fan of that bit of information.

The final surprise was definitely one she found rather hard to believe: Rea'c placed as Blaze's second in command. Her jaw tensed, not in anger but to keep the questions from pouring out. Something felt rotten in the command chain as she thought about Lt. Brown's likely lost authority and for a brief moment, worried how the rest of the ground team might take this bit of news. Namely private Truman and other victims in the Jaffa's sparring. Kay slightly mused when she thought about all the complaints Williams was going to, she severely hoped he liked having a mile high paper pile on his desk after this.

Williams finished up with news about a probe being brought on board and Ariadne's arrive before they got underway. Mention of her name seemed to cue the woman's appearance, her uniform standard and missing her vest when she strolled into the room. She smirked as she took an empty seat, then made her debriefing. It depressed Kay slightly but she casted off the feeling, letting it disappear.

Black seemed pleased with her folder, she then contacted the bridge and made a course for the outskirts of Langara's space. Finally she dismissed everyone. Slightly aware, Kayle knew her own requests would have to wait. Now wasn't the time as she lifted upright and made her way out of the room, one of the first to obey the Captain's order.

Kay's boots echoed throughout the metal hull on her route back to her quarters. It was a short walk as she hear the door to her room hiss open and her steps took her inside. Her eyes gazed upon the pad sitting on her bed, it's screen dark and blank, making her thoughts consider just sitting down to resume her studies. After her encounter with Aeryn, she discovered she seriously lacked in the study of Goa'uld behavior. A risk should they ever encounter one.

She sighed, her hands intertwined behind her head, in thought for several moments. Part of her considered returning to sick bay and seeing if she could engage the man in conversation. However those notions were tossed away when she remembered his attitude over their last encounter, realizing unless she was Tok'ra then likely it wouldn't end any differently then before. The idea made her somewhat bitter. Slowly she picked up her pad and headed off towards the cafeteria, a slight hope she might find a distract should her passion not be enough.

Paige could barely be bothered to look up from her meal until she realized who had just sat down next to her. Dr. Lawson greeted her with a bottle of orange juice. She wasted no time downing the entire bottle and setting it back down with a slight thud. She let out a small "Thank you" and let him go on about the data they recovered. It was a shame they were interrupted during the data transfer. At least they hadn't actually lost any data, it was just trapped in the Ancient's computer system on a hostile planet.

The old Scotsman also mentioned that she would be getting training from someone on board, hopefully someone who wouldn't turn her life into Full Metal Jacket. He also mentioned that the entirety of the next mission would be under fire. Paige was still too groggy to make a fuss about it and simply nodded her head, it wasn't like she would have had a choice anyway. She finally perked up at his question. "Icarus Project? That was the mission to unlock the ninth chevron on the Stargate right? Didn't it end with some kind of catastrophic event?"

Sep & Ellri | Lawson & Ingrid Berg

That was when Lawson noticed Dr. Berg. He waved her over, she was the one assigned to deciphering the data from the Ancient Facility after all and she may find the topic of conversation rather interesting. Most people who had not been on the Icarus project often did find it interesting, he still didn't know whether he was happy or not to have been outside the base and thus beamed up to Hammond rather than inside the base and had to leave through the Stargate. There were benefits on both sides of the line, however right now he was more or less in the same situation however instead of having to use the Stones to take time off he simply had to step through the gate and be there. Not that he took a lot of time off really. "Well, technically it ended in two catastrophes. Icarus was the whole idea off dialing the ninth chevron, eight dials another galaxy however nine we never knew until we found the address in the Atlantis database. The problem was that we didn’t have enough power to dial the address.”

“There are several planets with cores of Naquadah, naturally throughout the galaxy. However some planets have been experimented on by a Goa’uld and the Naquadah has been made slightly more… unstable however vastly more powerful into an element called Naquadria. So far we have only found three planets with these properties. Icarus became unstable partially due to the equations secondly due to the fact that Alliance was attacking the planet. The second time it was pretty much the same however we were attacking the Alliance attempting to prevent them from reaching Destiny. Langara is the third planet and it is inhabited, we have a deal to protect them from the Alliance and they have taken it in an attempt to dial Destiny. We need to remove the Gate from the facility that draws power from the core, before they dial the gate.”

Ingrid listened as Dr. Lawson explained, ready to break in if he made too many mistakes, which he thankfully did not. Other than knowing of the presence of Naquadria in the core of Langara, she did not know much about the planet. They were less developed than Earth, but advanced compared to many peoples of the Milky way. Especially following their being conquered by the Ori in 2006, for though the Ori were now gone, there was no telling what technology their followers might have left behind. Whereas Tau’ri, Jaffa & Tok’ra forces have had pretty free access to most planets not directly under the Lucian Alliance (though access to a few of those too has been possible), The Langaran government have proven several times that they are capable of hiding much from those not of their world.

“I think what he’s saying is that he’d like us to figure out how to build a transmitter strong enough and portable enough to be attached to the stargate so we can move it through whatever jamming tech the Alliance has installed in the facility they’re using. Isn’t that right, Doctor?”

“Actually, not really. Though improving on the transmitter might be a good idea at some point I can’t deny that. That was something you missed actually, we’ve got a weak backpack transmitter that helped us off the planet. I was really just bringing her up to speed on what is going on, the Langford is going to have enough problems getting us down to the planet, as if the ship is under fire she needs to drop her shields to beam us down which is a risky move. We’re more likely to simply stop the dialing if it is in process, find a way to power down the facility and disconnect the gate. The real issue is the fact that we can’t use explosives on the facility due to the possibility of hostages and the fact that Langara has a very unstable core from the incident with the Naquadria bomb several years ago now.”

“Hmm… right. I skimmed that report, but now that you mention it, I do vaguely recall something about a transmitter. But if it is backpack-based, then I am sure it can be improved. Made both smaller, stronger and more reliable.” Ingrid did not think much of half-hearted solutions, so she intended to find some way to improve that transmitter no matter what. It ought to be easy enough.

Ariadne was surprised by this turn of events. So surprised, in fact that she was speechless throughout the response of the IOA representative, who, against everything she was expecting, agreed with the proposal. Between the distrust the Tok’ra showed for her and the history between the Tau’ri and both the Tok’ra and Goa’uld turncoats, she had thought herself hardly trusted simply being on the ship, much less with being the second most powerful military individual on the ship. The IOA man had already moved to another subject once she regained her composure, and turned to leave the room the moment he had finished. The room was silent for a moment, Ariadne simply looking out of the large viewport at the blue swirl of hyperspace. “That was… unexpected” She said, breaking the silence. “Thank you for the vote of confidence. I had not expected such trust so soon… perhaps too much time around other Tok’ra had an influence.” she said with a smile. Despite ‘holding no secrets from each other’ intrigue was the primary pastime of the Tok’ra and spending so long around them, that had clearly worn off on her. “Especially surprising though, is the instant agreement of your man in the IOA, I was led to believe they opposed the military almost as a matter of course. Perhaps he really is intent on the improvement of diplomatic relations, though I cannot say I am the best choice in that area.”

The brief silence was making Kat twitch a little. She had no idea what was going on in the Tok’Ra’s head. The job was pretty much tailored to Ariadne, but she didn’t pay too much consideration to the host, so if Idalia had some objections, they might not bite. Williams’ reaction was surprising as well, but she was not about to complain. Catherine would prefer cooperation over rivalry, and although in his case it wasn’t necessary, she wasn’t looking to bash heads with him.

Finally the Tok’ra spoke and apparently accepted the offer as well. Captain let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding with a hint of a smile. “It’s not trust, it’s experience. You handled yourself well and we work on the same wavelength, dare I say. I did mention this before when we were planning the attack though, something distracting you?” she jabbed, remembering Ariadne took her remark about getting her a ship seriously. “And indeed, it went perhaps too smoothly with him. Anyway, I’m glad to have you on board where we’re headed. The Alliance possesses mostly Goa’Uld ships, albeit modified. Were it some other enemy I might have hesitated a bit longer, but here and now you are the correct choice. Is Idalia all right with this?” she asked, noting to pay some more attention to the fact she is actually speaking to two people.

“I cannot say I was expecting that to happen so soon.” Ariadne began. The captain was of course correct in her statement. Ariadne was very much suited to the job, and now that she had recovered from the surprise, she was beginning to feel rather pleased with the situation. It was no empire, but it felt good to be in charge of something again. Of course, just as she began to think like that she had to relinquish a small bit of that control, namely over her host, who, after being addressed, wanted to respond directly. And keep her symbiote in line of course. She bowed her head in the traditional sign of transferring control.

And Idalia raised it again, with a softer expression and posture across her body. “Do not let her show fool you, Ariadne is ecstatic right now.” She said with a grin. The promotion did not affect her quite as much as her symbiote, but that did not mean she had no opinion. “I suppose I am happy with it. I do not get quite the same pleasure from being in charge of others as she does, but I am not unused to it. Before the blending, many people in my village looked up to me, especially when the Goa’uld... visited us. I do hope I will still get to go to the surface sometimes though, I would hate to miss out on seeing them.” Idalia’s primary focus remained her wanderlust after all, and she would certainly kick up a storm if she was stuck in space all the time. Then again, having that power might make it easier for her to get to see some of the more amazing things.

Catherine snickered at Idalia sharing what the symbiote presumably didn’t want known. Sobering up as Idalia kept talking she nodded: “It would be stupid to travel all across the galaxy and not see any of it, although it may not be possible all the time, this mission case in point. Hopefully we’ll liberate Langara and be able to stop there for a while. But We shall worry about that later, when we know what the Alliance got there. Now I believe,” she said as she looked at her watch, “is the end of my shift.” she nodded to herself and gave the bridge to the helm over the radio. “I need to stop at the infirmary, but do you feel like eating?” she said as she reached behind her head and undid the clip that held her hair tied up in a bun, letting it hang in a ponytail.

“I understand its standard practice to be checked by physicians after a mission. Given that I have not yet done that, the infirmary is also my destination.” Idalia said. “But afterwards I could join you. I do not really need to eat, but I think there are still some Tau’ri foods I have not tried. What I have tasted so far is like nothing else I have eaten in the galaxy. Or rather, nothing Ariadne has eaten. I have not actually traveled much.” Idalia was quite enjoying the casualness that Catherine was directing towards her. It made her feel less like the unusual one and more like she belonged here, far from any home she had previously known.

“Well, with all due respect to the local cooks, you oughta visit Earth then. This can not compare. There is this one festival in my homeland, now that’s a place to go to experience the planet.” Kat said, getting up from the table and opening Lt. zaken’s report to read it on the way. “Shall we?” she said as she walked out of the room and headed for the infirmary.

The file didn’t really offer anything groundbreaking, merely confirmed their ‘guest’ wasn’t a Goa’Uld and that what Tolia was frequented by the Alliance, which they already suspected. Finishing just as she reached the sickbay, Catherine decided not to bother talking to the man. Instead she headed to the office: “About our ET-patient, ship him off to Earth as soon as he’s able. There’s no need for him here intelligence wise and with his injury he’s of no other use either, not that I’d trust him with anything. SGC can deal with him.”

Idalia walked with the captain to the infirmary in silence as the other woman read a report. It was not a long walk, Tau’ri ships were quite compact after all, and when they arrived the captain seemed to have changed her mind about talking to the not Goa’uld, or at least thats what she had guessed she had intended to do. Instead she quickly gave orders for him to be sent back to Earth. Idalia did not particularly care either way, though it did mean that the captain would likely find somewhere else to pass the time while Idalia had her medical check-up. “I will see you when I am done here then.” She said by way of farewell, turning to enter the overly clean smelling infirmary.

Episode 2: Fulfilling Promises.

The officer sitting at Navigation tapped his earpiece, connecting himself with the Captain wherever she may be. "Captain, this is Lieutenant Kistanzer in C.I.C. We're approaching the planetary system and the probe launch point. Should we proceed?"

---

Elsewhere in the ship Rea'c sat in a F-302. While Colonel Blaze had in fact been removed from command of the Strike Team he as well had not been chosen to lead the strike team down on the planet. That position he knew would likely fall to either Lieutenant Zaken or Lieutenant Brown, which of them he did not know as off yet. He was working on preflight, he was appointed to this position likely in resort to the Tok'ras appointment at being the ships second in command. Something he wasn't overly thrilled at however the High Council informed him to treat his superiors here much like his own and he would do that. He was actually somewhat honored to be given a command position as such as it was. He had been trained to use these craft as the Jaffa possessed several through trade as they were superior craft to the Death Glider. Though he always managed to see the similarities.

He powered down after the checkups were complete and hopped out of the fighter for the briefing.

Despite herself, Captain was up the entire trip. Even during her downtime, when she ate, when she was supposed to sleep, the upcoming attack didn’t give her a break. Her desk filled up with notes on various approaches that were discarded over time. After hours, she finally had a sketchup of a plan that now had to be refined by the section leaders.

Packing up the final version of her notes, she made her way to the ready room. On her way there, navigation notified her that they were about to reach their first drop off point. Tapping her earpiece,s he instructed the officer to drop them out to normal space. this far out they would stay out of detection but it’ll allow them to make the necessary preparations.

Unconventional tactics worked for Catherine so far in her life and she was not about to change that. The Lucian Alliance might have seen other SGC units fight, but what she had in store for them this time was something using borderline insane fighter strike along with the chemical attack prepared in the previous engagement.

Reaching the briefing room just as the blue glow of hyperspace vanished from the viewports, she waved everyone to remain seated. Taking her own seat she blinked the mild tiredness out of her eyes and tapped a control on her computer. The screen behind her lit up, displaying the Langra system along with their position.

“As you all know, we are about to hit Langara that is presumably occupied by Alliance forces. We have a probe on the way that should give us some idea about their forces on the orbit, but beyond that, we will have no idea about what’s going on on the ground. Contact with the planet has been lost shortly after SGC received a call for help.” she summarized the little they knew so far about the situation.

She counted in her mind the seconds she assumed it’D take for the probe to travel. On cue, three blips appeared on the screen, along with fourth representing the Langaran gate facility. “Those three would be the Alliance Ha’taks. The ground target is the gate facility the Alliance is occupying. From this we can guess their objective is to attempt dialing the Destiny. That gives us several hindrances. First of all, we have to hurry. We must strike before they make this attempt. The expedition is currently in stasis and unable to fight them off even if they could. Second, the ancient ship is low on fuel and dropping out of FTL will cause it to drift part of the way, stranding the crew for thousands of years. To that end, the alliance must not even attempt the dialing. Secondly, the second we attack, I believe that attempt will be made.”

Kat paused to let the information sink in before proceeding. “That means we will have to strike everywhere at once. The ships -” she highlighted the three pyramid ships, “- the ground facility -” the ground target flashed, “And any unknown targets we will detect once we get there. This time however, we are not against innocent civilians, misguided as they might be, and I intend to treat the situation as such.” Captain said, the screen adding a stargate next to the ground target and the Langford to the orbit.

“We’ll take a few pages from the Pegasus Galaxy rulebook this time. First of all, the standard tactic of the Wraith is to dial in before the attack. If we dial in from the SGC shortly before we jump in so the Langaran gate activates instead of our own, we can prevent them from dialing the Destiny, or receiving reinforcements from the gate. That, with transit times and unforeseen troubles, gives us about thirty minutes to execute the operation. No more.” Kat hinted at how she intends to prevent the Langaran gate from operating.

That was what buggered her the most: Limited timeframe. “That means we will have to hit fast and make it count. To that end, we’ll attempt the chemical strike form before, since we have the supply at hand. Also, I intend for our fighters to pull a Sheppard maneuver to launch faster.” she said and the screen switched, displaying an image of a 302 grappled onto a Hive while in hyperspace. “I realize this is not exactly common way of travel, but it was proven on at least one occasion it can be done. Physics department, please have a look at the ship’s blueprints and pick twelve spots where our fighters can attach.” she said, looking towards the scientists.

“As far as the ground attack goes, we will first have to find out what is going on. That means establishing contact with the planet and then storm the gate facility according to what we find out. Depending on how well we fare on the orbit, either the 302s, Langford or both will be available for ground support. The last point is the new ground team commander since Col. Blaze has been recalled. Let me introduce you to the new ground commander." Catherine said and walked to Kayle. "Congratulations, Seren Kayle H. Zaken. The paperwork came from IDF comamnd a while ago. I trust you with he lives of my crewmen. Do me proud." she said, handing the Lt. her new insignia. "Now, thoughts about the plan?" she said, lookig across th table and pointing to the first person to take their turn.

Kayle

Time had passed slow in the early minutes before the debriefing, her tactic of distract had worked for the most part, as she sat within the room and waiting for Captain Black to arrive. The clock ticked by inch by inch until the sound of the room's door opened and in came the prim uniformed woman, her face fixed in a business like expression. It was pretty clear to Kay where Captain Black's mind was: upcoming mission. There was clear tiredness upon the woman's face, her hand waved all, included Kay herself, to remain seated as she took her own. After tapping a control, the screen behind came alive with dots.

In the moments to follow, Captain Black began to summarize the prior knowledge and provide the outline of their current plan to seize the Langara once more. Though Kay had little head for strategy, she could see the risk and the military sound behind it. The only thing which concerned her was the time frame. So little time and from she could see, the odds were against them in that aspect.

Kay was considering a way to increase it when Captain Black rose from her chair and approached her, delivering the most recent details from IDF. Both Col. Blaze's recall and her recent promotion were a bit of a surprise, her mind now numbed from seeking a solution to the matter of the limited timeframe turned to her newly acquired responsibility. Kay inhaled and tried to keep her reserve, her figure rose to her feet and reached out to retrieve the new insignia patch from Black's outstretched hand.

She nodded her reply then added in a softer tone. "I'll do my best to ensure that, Sir."

Slowly Kay returned to her seated posture as Black looked across the table and pointed to the first person.

She decided now was the time to voice her worries, though she hadn't enough time to determine a solution. "The time frame, isn't much and against at least 3 Ha'tak will not make it easy. Is there anyway to delay their response time in order to increase it? At least delay their reaction?"

Captain nodded at the question, giving it a few seconds of thought: “Delay, no. Both the engagement on the orbit and on the ground are separate operations. One doesn't require the other to be completed. The ground team will beam out asap, meaning after we gather intel if we can, straight away if contact is impossible. However if we can disable Langara’s gate, the time restriction is dropped altogether. How do we do that, I don’t know. If engineering can figure out how, we could attempt beaming the gate away - happened to SGC once.” she suggested, pointing a questioning gaze towards the scientists, "Alternatively, severing the power supply to the gate comes to mind as easier solution. Both require access to the gate itself though, and you still only have the limited time to reach it."

Massaging her temples, Kat sighed: "Depending on how well we fare up here I can free marines to aid you, yes, but I'm not sure attacking with a battalion is the best solution. They might have hostages. I suppose it comes down to what's more important: The Destiny or the relations with Langara?" she said, her gaze falling upon Williams.

Tonak

Tonak nodded as the distorted hologram faded away. "Dial a random planet.""Sir?""Well, we don't want cut off do we? Make sure it is one we can fall back to." He looked over to the crates full of the highly volatile variation of Naquadah known as Naquadria. "If this fails I don't want to lose everything we've worked to achieve." He walked over to a figure who was bloodied and bruised, pulling the mans hair to look him in the eye. Dried blood was all over his face, several bruises and an obvious broken nose. "Your friends among the Tauri are coming Mr.Quinn. Your little message to them was successful, isn't that exciting?""You have no idea the power they wield-" Tonak placed a finger over Jonas' mouth. "Now, now Mr.Quinn. No need for the threats or such. I simply want to benefit everyone everywhere by unlocking the secrets of Destiny. Your planet is completely safe, why do you think I was given access to this facility?""You weren't given access, you took access.""Without so much as a fight! Come now, I thought you were a quick learner?" With that he simply walked away almost chuckling to himself. He pressed a button on his communicator. "Dey, get the Motherships moving. I don't want them to be an easy target for when the Tauri vessel jumps into orbit. Have them spread out so at maximum you lose one vessel to their beam weapons."

He looked down at the people who were attempting to finish reconstructing the power facility so that it powered the Stargate. Many of them were Langaran scientists though he could see some of his own people walking amongst them, keeping them on task and several of them actually working on the project. There was no way that the Tauri were getting this planet back.

Rea'c

Rea'c sat in his fighter, they had done checks double checks and triple checks after attaching onto the hull. Everything was quiet now, they would get the alert that they were dropping out of hyperspace any second now and then they would wait for the go ahead to detach the fighters from the hull. He still didn't see the purpose in this exercise, did Tauri Vessels not launch fighters out at speed much like a Ha'tak mothership? Though that was not his concern right now.

Miller


Corporal Miller checked his rifle, looked out of the holographic sight before lowering it again. He had served a brief tour on Atlantis, very brief, so at least he wasn't completely new to the program. Though a lot of the stuff was still new to him and incredibly interesting, to be on a human spaceship was always interesting. Not as decorative as Atlantis was in flight it was still an incredible feat of technology and had a nice robust look to it. One thing he was glad off though was that he was pressed into service so quickly, he was unsure if he would given the fact that he was a combat engineer however he was happy with the post he was given. He checked the rest of his kit out as a scientist walked into the room and began gearing up. He looked over to the Israeli woman who was leading the squad. "All ready Ma'am."

Cody had stood in the back of the room staying silent. Nothing was too surprising, except maybe the change in ground team command, but he was relieved to here it wasn't him. All the work that came with it would just be a headache on top of everything else he needed to do, which reminded him he still needed to talk to Williams about the new approach he wanted to take to this mission, though the risks would be far greater for himself it would be considerably more affective, and considering the mission objective they were going to have maybe this would be a good opportunity though he still needed Williams approval.

Cody thought back to earlier in the medical bay. "It'll be fine doc, just patch me up." He had told one of the lower medical staff. Of course she was irritated at him for is lack of concern for himself, and when she was about to speak he continued to talk to keep her from doing the same. "Honestly Doc, I've gone through hell and back, a minor wound won't be too bad as long as you patch it up, so just get it done and over with so I can get back to work." She was reluctant and this went on while she patched him up off and on insisting he take time off and relax, as in don't go on a deadly save a planet mission, but here he was sitting in the briefing preparing himself to go on the mission anyway. One of these he'll probably end up pushing himself too far, but that day would not be soon.

OOC: W/ Echo

With the briefing done captain returned to the bridge, waiting for her XO to join her. It was amazing just how many people were getting swapped on board this ship when they were barely out of drydock. At least there weren’t any casualties thus far, although she had a sickening feeling the next battle won’t go over that smoothly. The best they could do is go in prepared, but if the last mission was any indicator, than even in space no plan survives first contact. Tapping the holomap, she zoomed in on the enemy ships. Unfortunately the probe was not accurate enough to tell if they had any supporting craft in the area, but she would have to assume there would be. If there were too many it’d render her fighters inert, but she had hopes not even the LA was stupid enough to have launched everything at once.

Ariadne arrived on the bridge not long after the captain, glancing quickly at the holotable to observe the situation. Three Ha’taks. The Tau’ri ship, no, her Tau’ri ship, she was well and truly a part of the crew now, should be able to make short work of a force like that. Of course that would not be all they had to deal with. “If I did not know better, I would think this was too easy.” She said, closing the short distance to stand opposite the captain with the holo table between them. “I’m sure you already know that they will have reserves to back the obvious fleet up, but I cannot stress enough the nature of the Lucian Alliance. They began as criminal force of irregulars, and for all their dreams of empire, they have not really changed. Deviousness is their hallmark.” Ariadne tried not to sound like she was lecturing the captain but still looked to the other woman for confirmation that she understood.

With a hint of a nod, Captain acknowledged. “The hyperspace trip will also leave us oblivious to the situation for a few minutes. Then there’s the question of their small craft. I am assuming glider patrols with a few Al’Kesh spaced around the motherships, but who knows what they think.” Catherine shook her head. “I hope we can use our fighters to kill or cripple one of them, I’d rather save up missiles for those reinforcements. But their military actions is not what I am afraid of. It’s the fact they have the whole planet hostage. One badly aimed blow and it all blows to smithereens.” she confessed what was causing her sleepless nights.

“I understand, but from what I have read, they may not be so careless with this world. Not for the sake of the civilians, but for the fact that they have no other worlds left with which to dial Destiny if this one is destroyed.” Ariadne fought an internal battle for a moment, part of her, influenced by Idalia, did not want to even suggest the idea in her mind, but the more ruthless aspects of both host and symbiote thought it was a good plan. After all, victory always came with the risk of great sacrifice did it not? “The advantage will quickly fall to them, even with this vessels powerful weapons. If we interpose ourselves between their fleet and the planet they may be more hesitant in their fire… but if not, well, you know what happens.”

Thinking it over, Kat eventually shook her head. It did made sense, but the risk factor was just too high. “We’ll call it a ‘last resort’. I was actually thinking about luring them out of the planet’s orbit. Fake some battle damage, limp out on sublight fast enough so we say out of their weapons range but slow enough for them to keep up, and when we’re far away enough, turn around and engage. Do you think that would work?” Captain thought out loud, unsure herself if she wouldn’t see through that ruse.

“I do not believe that would work unless we had thoroughly defeated the ground forces first, and even then it would only be if they wanted revenge and we were attempting to finish their fleet. Their objective is too important to them, and if we act as though we are driven off they will see that as victory enough and leave us.” There were very few tactical advantages they could leverage here, especially with only one ship. “It is possible this will be a holding action until our ground forces accomplish their objective. We are but one, and that limits our options significantly. We are also fighting on their battlefield by their rules.” Ariadne was finding it hard not to sound defeatist given the likelihood that the Lucians had cloaked Al’kesh waiting for them.

Kat didn't like to hear they would be playing stalling game, but saw no alternative. They had to take out as many of them in the initial attack and then dial their weapons down to keep them occupied for long enough. "I wish we had a cloakable ship right about now. Next ship we board, we keep. Least we could do is paint the targets." she noted. "All right, we'll stall them and leave it to the ground team. If push comes to shove..." Kat wanted to tell the idea, but was interrupted by the gate tech: "Ma'am, incoming from Earth. They are getting busy signal from Langara." Instantly waking up, captain nodded: "We're out of time, make the jump."

Kay

Kay had gotten her gear, uniform and equipment primed for the mission ahead. Her head swept back and tied up, the bangs removed from her eyes sight and fixed straight ahead within the ready room. Her nerves were bunched up like goats sensing an unseen wolf. She admitted to not liking the small window, despite Captain Black’s assurance their missions wouldn’t depend on each, she was still worried over the upcoming challenge. Over and over, her head ran the objectives in a lengthy list: make her team’s way to the gate facility, secure it and likely decapitate or kill all the Lucian Alliance within the appointed area. Her main anxiety didn’t come from the aspect of killing, but rather the completion of her mission. In the IDF, she was trained and exposed to death situations which had made her slightly numb to the aspect. Seeing a corpse didn’t disturb her as much as failure did, a fact her father though proudly about her. However in some, more judging eyes, she was viewed to be less compassionate.

Her hands secured her gun absentmindedly until Corporal Miller, new and currently under her command, claimed her attention with his words. Her eyes blinked then moved towards him. Absorbing the man’s appearance, she forced her head to nod and added in a softer tone. “Good, see the rest are ready. We’re currently waiting on orders from the Captain for beaming down. I want all eyes up and alert, we’re going into hostile territory and that means a high risk factor. Our goal is to make our way to the gate facility and secure it. Any opposing forces are being treated with prejudice, aim to cripple or kill. There’s also a high risk of hostages too so keep in check where you’re shooting and make sure it’s a hostile, not one of ours or the Langara’s.”

Several days ago...

Joseph was sitting in his office. His back leaned against his chair while his fingers click-clacked upon the keyboard of his computer, the sound almost humdrum and routine in its rhythm. It's soft sounds were drowned out by the violin sound which flooded from the nearby stereo. The song was a one of many of his favorites among his son's collection, made up of a mixture between original and older pieces, as it filled the small office room. It wasn't hard to sense the heart placed into the music with each note wafting through the air. For a moment Joseph paused in his paper work and straightened his form, leaning farther back.

He inhaled softly. His mind drifted toward thoughts about his family, his son Connor, his father and most of all his mother. Namely her deteriorating condition followed by the fact her care had been left in another's hands, a Dr. Jamie Lauren. The doctor specialized in patients with memory diseases and though he had made certain she was in good hands, his weary mind couldn't help but have its doubts. Doubts that seemed to jab at him every minute it got its chance. Gently he began to rub his temple, pushing away the guilt, while he drew back to his work still listening to the music playing.

Idalia entered the infirmary still feeling quite cheerful from her conversation with the captain, not to mention the emotional feedback from Ariadne, who was quite pleased with everything right now. Various Tau'ri were going about there business, largely ignoring her. She wasn't sure if she should ask someone to see her or if she should just wait, but it wasn't long before her question was answered.

Niven's eyes flickered upwards to spot the woman, his hand filled out by the clipboard and skimmed the word which were nothing more then quick scribbles. He smiled when he excused himself then made his way to his desk. He reached for the phone and dialed up his favorite doctor, a man he knew aould appreciate working with the known Tok'ra. Sadly he was blissfully unaware of the prior conflict between the pair as he sat there waiting for a pick up.

Meanwhile, Joseph's thoughts were interrupted when the phone rang. His eyes shifted to the offending equipment as he considered not answering it, his finger ceased their massaging for the moment. Taking his time, he reached out and pressed the answering button. "Yes?"

Niven's voice broke over the speaker, his voice slightly excited and sincere in his words. "Joseph...a late arrival has just reported into the infirmary. I was wondering if you could see to her? It's the Tok'ra."

Joseph was silent. His lips turned up in that tight frown, his head in deep thought for a moment. Finally, he reached for his clip board and pen before he answered Dr. Niven. "Very well. Notify her I will be there."

Niven's smile could practically be felt over the line with his quick, cheery reply. "Good And she'll be waiting."
He hung up. looking pleased with himself, the man started to approach the woman, speaking when he reached out to tap her upon the shoulder.
"Excuse me, Miss, will follow me this way." He gestured to a cot with his left hand, the clipboard in his other, while he led her to an examination office. Privacy when it came to such matters were ideal and often made the patient very comfortable. "Dr. Sterling will see you shortly."

Niven then added. "Don't be turned off by his grumpy nature. He's got a lot on his mind and I will admit his bed side manner needs work but he does care for his patients."
Idalia quickly realised that it would probably be the same doctor she had met when she had stormed in that would see her. The thought of asking Niven to get someone different crossed her mind, but Ariadne made it abundantly clear that she would not accept her host backing out of an apology like that. At least she would be saved asking around for him later though. "Yes I... think I have met him before." She said slightly awkwardly to Niven. "I will keep that in mind." With that, she sat in silence, waiting for him to arrive.

On his way out, Dr. Niven gave The Tok'ra a sympathetic look and patted her shoulder. "Get to know him a bit. Trust me, it will make a difference."
When Joseph had finished up gathering up his equipment and shut down the recording, his footsteps took him all the way to the room within a short time. His eyes down when he entered the office, he twisted towards the Tok'ra, recognizing Idalia from when she verified Aeryn wasn't a Goa'uld. He honestly wasn't expecting to encounter her again but his expression made no indication of his surprise as he moved toward her. His brown shoes tapped the tile floor until he stood in front and with last check of his board, he spoke. "So any discomfort or something feeling off since your mission?"

His voice was calm and sincere in his tone regardless of the rather bitterness in their former introduction.
"No" Idalia said. She was mostly here to see what this checkup business was all about and to apologise to the poor old man for her terrible conduct earlier. At least he did not seem to be still unhappy about it, that had to be a good sign. The odd mix of eager curiosity and awkwardness was probably showing on her face, given how much worse at hiding her emotions she was compared to her symbiote, so rather than wait for him to draw any conclusions she launched straight into her attempt at an apology. "Uh, about earlier..."

Joseph 's wiry, white eyebrow rose at her answer. Inwardly he was confused as to why the Tok'ra would subject herself to an examination when she could easily avoid it, unlike most the other crew. From his studies, he had discovered Tok'ra were quite...healthy and had an extremely effective immune system, making most diseases useless. Still, though he would never admit it out loud, he was curious about her race and their biology, a reason to use this encounter to enhance his lacking knowledge.
He interrupted his patient. "I don't know the history between you and the Goa'uld, it's none of my bussiness to what pains or problems your past had. However, some part of you were hoping he was a Goa'uld and that you make him die as you would those responsible for your own suffering. None of us has a right to play God, even to our enemies, because that's where the line, the very thing that makes us different, vanishes."

He reached down for his scope and motioned to Idalia's chest, his words explained his intentions. "I need to press this to your chest so I can hear your heart and make comparisons, likely if there a heart murmur or breathing is raspy."

In response to his request, Idalia unhooked the top few clasps of her leathers and let the material fall free a little, enough for him to get at her chest with the odd looking medical implement while retaining modesty. "Yes, and I know that... I could give you all sorts of excuses, but thats not why I am here. I wanted say that I am sorry. If Ariadne had not stopped me... No I do not want to think about that. Will this take long?" Idalia was not particularly good at this, she had not had to answer for her actions for quite some time. Usually everyone was far more interested in Ariadne. Her curiosity in this proceedure was waning as she felt more awkward with the whole thing. Still, she did not give over her body to her symbiote. Many Tok'ra swapped out to whichever being was most composed at the time, right now it felt like doing that would be running away though.

Joseph seemed unfazed by her apologetic words or possibly he couldn't find the right reply, either way he continued with his examination. His ear listened carefully for the steady beating of the Tok'ra's heart, sounding little different from that of a normal woman, while he mentally counted the seconds between. Healthy was his concusion. His hand removed the object and began to check her reflexes, the small tool tapped against her knee likely causing her leg jump suddenly in response. First one then the other as they performed perfectly, something he shouldn't find to be much of a shocker. After the last of the tests ended, nothing out of the reasonable in the health parameters given by the Tok'ra, he continued his conversation. "Humans are likely the most folly based creatures in the world. Mistakes are impossible to avoid, even for those who know better."

Taking in her show of discomfort, he then tacked on another comment. "It doesn't usually take this long but I want to ensure both of you are in the best of the health, which likely is making you uncomfortable. If it helps, you're not the only one, there's even a phobia of it among many. As much as I want to make this quick, I won't risk being sloppy and missing something."

Idalia gave a quick smile to the doctor, it helped to hear such words of wisdom. It was easy for people to forget that despite the millenia old snake she shared a body with, she was still just a human. It was nice to not be treated differently for a change, not that it bothered her when she was. "Thank you" She said not knowing whether it was for the words or the concern for her wellbeing. Her task done, she let Ariadne take control.

With a flash of her eyes, her body became slightly more rigid and tense, a minor change in posture but noticeable to those paying attention. "I assure you, we are in perfect condition. There are few ailments I cannot repair, and for those I have this" she said, holding up the healing device. "Though your concern is appreciated."
Joseph controlled his first impluse, a slight rein over his more blunt reaction which was to jump. It was odd and bizzare, drawing a primal fear about the unknown from his subconcious and into the foremind. It was unusual to see it outside video as he knew the flash in the eyes was a sign of Ariadne taking control. His body likely showed his discomfort, but was quickly pushed away and stored when he regained composured. A thing made easier when he thought he sensed pride in the symbiote's voice about her device. To steel his calm, Joseph breathed in and finished up his tests. "Many have said similiar things before, but honestly, I'm not completely comfortable leaving my patient's health in her own hands. If that was always the right thing to do, we'd still be depending on prayer to beings we can't see for healing."

He reached for the clipboard after he stood upright and wrote down what he observed, a few quick scratches which quickly faded. "You seem in order though but I'll still like to run some blood tests. Just to be certian."

With a jerk of his hand, he pulled out a cotton ball, alcohol, plastic tie, and syringe, pulling them out upon the table. With years of practice and experience, he prepared the Tok'ra as he tied off the tie to cut blood flow and swabbed the place where he inserted the needle. It pierced the skin, storing the red blood in the vial, before he pulled it free and placed a cap onto it. He undid the tie then tossed it away where he placed a single bandaid upon the point. "There, we're done now."

"Is that all?" Ariadne had been expecting it to take longer. Or perhaps have something particularly unpleasant. After all, this was supposed to be the part of coming back to the ship that everyone dreaded. The mans disregarding of the healing device was foolish though. Of course it looked like a trinket with fancy lights to him. It was technology far beyond his own. Primitives often considered technology they couldn't understand to be either magic or some kind of trick. She couldn't exactly just show it off without some kind of visible injury to heal though, so for the moment she held her tongue. "While you should not be too quick to disregard this technology, I understand your desire to continue practising your own methods. After all, only a host or ex-host can utilise this device. Still, i look forward to demonstrating its effectiveness to you." With that, she slid off the bed and did up her uniform again. "[i]Thank you. And thank you for your words to Idalia. She can only learn so much from my memories and I fear our isolation among the Tok'ra has denied her valuable experience.[/]" The sharp stabs or irritation her host gave her for that comment were quite unpleasant, but in this case Ariadne believed it worthwhile.

"Seems the Tok'ra and humans share much more in common than they will ever admit." Joseph commented as he placed down the clipboard. His hand rised the vial and his eyes strained into it, partly to see if there was any differences or possibly see the so called Naquada floating among the red, before he labeled it. Then he placed among look like samples from other ship crew's examinations. "I rather see the evidence then take another's word on it, despite my profession. People tend to lie, sickness and injury doesn't."

Joseph's free hand reached for the doorhandle and in a gentleman like fashion, opened it for the Tok'ra. He was still unsure whom was in charge but his manners won't allow him, either way, not to be polite. "I expect you to make regular appointments and if anything feels off, please notify me. I like to be kept up to date with my patient's health no matter how little the symptom is."

OOC: w/ IDFK

Deyika

Deyika had been half asleep when Tonak's call rang in. Her lithe body tilted backward and head hidden under a paper pamphlet of written instructions, fingers still blackened with grime, oil and other little nasties from rerouting what ships she could to remote control. Sadly not all of them were possible in the convergence and that left a slight bitter taste in her mouth. Namely at the thought of lives likely loss in this battle. Over and over her mind wrapped about Tonak's given details on the mission, a fact she found a bit bitter-sweet, since.

Her thoughts were jerked into the present when the communicator's soft beeping caused her to stir awake. She groaned softly in frustration. Slowly she edged the crudely written item from her face and into her lap, her long hair a slight frighten mess thanks to her odd sleeping position. Her head lazily shifted to the side, spotting the beeping thing as she sighed then rose upright. She had been busy researching the ships they had received for the fourth time only to fall asleep, her body stiff from her less then comfortable position.

With a soft flutter, she tossed the paper upon the console and pressed the button. She smirked when Tonak's voice came on, her head shook at his confidence and certainty as he relay the new orders. So it was time for the stupid Tau'ri. Dey's hand went to her console, reaching out to all the ships under her command, both to ensure they understood their task as well as were ready for it. Unlike them, she was on the sidelines for now thanks to her promise to Tonak. She braced then spoke to she was commanding.

"Alright guys, the Tau'ri are on their way and should show up within the given coordinates soon. Time to spread out so we can give them some warm company to enjoy, remember to jump in and out of hyper space to flank."

The moment the Langford came into sight, the first it would be face to face to were two Ha'tak motherships and two Al'kesh hovering in waiting. The Al'keshs were cloaked, their forms hung back behind the much two larger ships within the shadows, hidden from both sight and the PDS on board the Langford slightly as it would have trouble tracking them. Without wasting much time, Deyika signaled the first Ha'tak to release the Gliders which swarmed from their hanger bays and decended towards the Langford. At the same time, the other Ha'tak began to enter hyperspace in the opposite direction of the Tauri ship. Like Tonak said, she had ensured most the ships were spaced apart so any attacks on the Ha'tak wouldn't affect nearby ships and her losses low.

Langford

Watching the map update as they emerged form hyperspace, Catherine hissed as she saw one of the Ha'Tak missing and the other following shortly after. "Bastard in command has to be a woman with those instincts." she growled, her eyes ticking form one end of the holomap to another, analyzing the situation. "Incoming fighters!" the sensors tech caleld out and the dots highlighted on the map. It was clear. A fighter screen covering the mothership. But the absence of the other two was annoying. IT meant that this could easily turn from an offensive engagement to a defensive one.

"Target the mothership with the bow batteries, time on target. More are incoming, I want that oune out of my sky. Can we get nukes to intercept the fighters?" she looked over to the weapon's tech. "Too late." the officer shook his head. Catherine was just about to voice another idea, but the ship shook and red warnings blossomed on the tech's screen. "Ma'am we lost the forward baterries! The buffers are damaged!" he reported, his hands flying over the keyboard. "The other two?" she asked. Why did nothing of this show up on the shakedown? "They read online but we might only have those two shots!" Kat nodded, gears in her head shifting into turbo, "And try hailing the planet, see if anyone's receiving us! Ariadne, handle the ground, I'll take it up here!"



"Earth ship Catherine Langford to any Langaran official or resistance: We're answering your distress call and have a team ready to assist you, we need a safe beaming zone, over?" Static returned through the bridge officers headset. "This is.... min... Dreylock of the.... council. The .... is under hostile.... They have.... Quinn.... unable to... counter due to... forces. We have a warehouse... two blocks from... facility... ring platforms.... ready... our forces will.. assist."

Ariadne quickly took in what information she could from the garbled transmission. She couldn't decide whether to be annoyed or pleased that she was to command the ground mission. Normally she was happy to do so, but doing so from on high had never been her style. Still, she complied with the order. It was something of a rush commanding troops again, holding their lives in her hands. The obvious move was to have the ground team take the rings. It would concentrate their forces, but then if the Langarans had already been defeated once their help would probably not be very useful to the far more elite ground team the Langford had. Still, they would make a nice diversion. She opened the channel to the Langarans to give them orders. She was speaking with Idalia's voice both to avoid scaring the Langarans and make it easier to understand her over the primitive Tau'ri radios. "No. Our team will beam down nearby and enter the facility from another route. Your forces are to attack on my signal." She then switched to the channel on which she would give orders to the ground team. "Ground team, you will be beamed down at these coordinates. Enter the facility when the Alliance troops have been drawn off, do not fire unless you must. The Langaran troops will be creating a diversion to draw attention from you."

---

Deyika flinched when she spotted the Ha'tak take two hits from the Tauri's larger ship. The first beam had clearly deal the higher damage as the outside of the ship's hull blow off chucks, exposing its interior to the vacuums of space and causing some structural damage. It was fortunate Deyika had the two pilots sealed off in the bridge where life support was centered, sitting back to view the battle's chaos. She only hoped the system hadn't been depleted or the ship was completely useless. The second beam however had managed to miss anything important and merely caused mostly surface damage, slightly less concerning matter to its occupates. The Ha'tak didn't remain in position. Instead its large bulk veered to the left, making it a less easy target to hit, and targeted its weapons systems upon the Langford. About twenty or more blasts rang out from the arc around the pyramid center. Meanwhile the Al'kesh, who had been behind the larger vessel, had been shifting their position to flank the Tauri's ship at the sides where they would decloak and would set on firing at the sides while the ship was likely distracted with the Ha'tak.

Seeing the wounded prey, Kat ordered the Langford to pursue the Ha'Tak. As far as accuracy went, she couldn't complain at the range they were firing. In fact she was rather lucky, considering the condition of the weapons. "Finish them off with the missiles, there's has to be more here, let's not play all the trumps." Just as she finished saying that, the Al'Kesh popped up on sensors and commenced their attack run. Wunderbar. captain growled in her mind. With the railgunners busy with the gliders and missiles pouring towards the wounded pyramid ship, she needed a way to relieve the shields from the flankers. tapping her earpiece, she connected to the fighters: "Change of plan, Rea'C Take the fighters and head straight for the Al'Kesh. THe Gliders are busy wiht our point defenses, you should have no trouble getting through. Once the bombers are gone come around and help Langford's gunners."

Miller

Miller did a thumbs up at Kay and the two other new members of the team, a Jaffa woman and a French demolitions expert. Neither had much experience in the field with a SGC unit. True the Jaffa had experience out in the universe however that might contradict with procedures that had been developed by Homeworld Command over the years and while the French guy had been trained with Earth tactics and had spent the past months in the SGC training program he had yet to be offworld so it was anyones guess as to who would end up being the liability during the mission. At least he had experience on Atlantis and a short stint on the Daedalus even if he was new to the Langford herself.

He felt the unusual change as he was beamed to the surface, much like gate travel nothing could be felt during the journey itself. The strange part was the change in temperature and humidity as he was in the nice controlled environment of the ship one second and the next he could see his breath due to the cold conditions of the warehouse they beamed down into. Obviously it was winter on Langara. By how he felt he presumed it was below freezing, which would make some encounters interesting however it was nothing no-one had not trained for. As the beaming process finished he immediately did a 360 scan of the area before moving to take his position covering east knowing that all his other team mates were taking up their respective positions. He turned his head back to Lieutenant Zaken. "All clear this way Sir."

Rea'c

Rea'c had detached as had all the F-302s when the message came through. He thumbed the mic. "Acknowledged. Blue Wing, on me. Red Wing hold out on firing your missiles until our first salvo is away. Yellow, hold back. The Captain wants your nukes held for the Ha'tak and should not be used unless authorization is given." He pulled back on the yoke out of the dogfight he was in and headed toward the Al'kesh that had used there cloaks to sneak behind the Langford where her point defenses were not as capable. They were obviously fighting against a capable commander in the enemy forces. Though he had seen the power of the Tauri weapons. It was a hopeless gesture, he just wondered if they knew that. He activated the Tauri computer and watched as the red circle moved over the Al'kesh and then a tone indicated it had locked on. The missiles available on Tauri craft were formidable, it was clear how they were more effective than the Goa'uld designed fighters. Two missiles swept past an Al'kesh, one of them managed to compensate and hit. The second overshot and couldn't compensate drifting off into space. He cursed slightly under his breath.

The Al'kesh rocked slightly but continued on its course still continuing to fire as he watched two rockets hit the other craft, which went into an uncontrolled spin heading towards the Langford, he knew for a fact none of the 302s would be able to intercept the wreckage. "Captain. This is Rea'c, there is an Al'kesh damaged and on a collision course. We will be unable to intercept."