Last Desperate act
FOIP for the Events of early Sunday morning of Event 19 Providence Rising. Contains Strong language and some violence.
**************************************
It was just the two of them in the Gateroom when it happened. A stench of ozone, a brief haze in the air, and the Ashrak assasin decloaked. He was holding the miniaturised Ark of the Covenant in his hands, poised to open it if either Gabriel or Laura even blinked funny. Gabe held his hands wide, frantically thinking through his options.
"Sir, my name is Captain Gabriel Valentine. I'm a serving officer in the Stargate Expeditionary force. Are you here to negotiate?"
The Ashrak, clad all in black, turned to face him. The assassin's faceplate moved as he spoke.
"Fetch your commanding officer. Not the peon I spoke with before."
"I'm not sure he's awake. Let me find out." Gabe pushed the PTT switch on his radio. "Ghost, Ghost, Calling all points. The Ashrak has appeared in Gate Room, Gate room, requesting a negotiator of command rank. Please advise, over."
"Ghost, Ghost, this is Munroe, Munroe, recieved, working on it, Over."
Gabe took another deep breath.
"Sir, listen to me. I don't wish to try and harm you. I'm aware that you have a hostage in the Ark, and I'm sure we can reach an agreement. I'm going to disarm myself, and I'm prepared to listen to everything you have to say."
The Ashrak doesn't take his eyes from Gabriel. "Remove your weapon. Slowly."
Gabe lifts his pistol from his holster using two fingers, keeping it at arms length and placing it on a chair. He then stepped away from it. The Ashrak nodded, satisfied.
"The woman can leave. She has no place here." Gabe breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever happened next, his fiancee would be safe.
"Laura. Go. Now. That's an order."
Laura looked at him, a long moment that told him everything he need to know. How much she loved him, how much she didn't want him to do anything stupid. He sighed as he sat down in the chair Laura had just vacated, watched her leave. After she had done so, the Ashrak pointed his control rod at the door, sealing it shut.
"Now we wait."
Minutes passed. The Ashrak stood impassive, as Gabe unstrapped his ruined body armour and laid it down in front of him. As they waited, Gabe thought through everything he knew about the box the Ashrak was holding. The SEF had used the ship's replicator to create it, in order to capture the Dark Ascended, Matthius. If the Ashrak opened it, everything in front of the box would be sucked in. Gabe had already been trapped in it once tonight, when he, Lucky and Johns had tried to use it on Matthius. How Lucky had said that the SEF would never re-open it and risk leting the evil creature out, and the suprise when it became clear that after they had trapped Matthius, the cloaked Ashrak had stolen the box.
As he sat in silence, he contemplated just how powerful the artifact they had created was. How dangerous it would be in the hands of the Goa'uld. He considered the positioning of the Ashrak in the room, compared to the door. Considered the standard room clearance tactics, and realised that even if they came in firing, the Ashrak would have time to open the box and suck in all the heavy hitters. Considered that if he let in the Major General, or Mr Daniels, all he had to do was open the box to have a very high value hostage.
As he thought, it became increasingly clear that there was no winning gambit here. At the moment, all the Ashrak had in front of him was one well trained combatant, not of command rank. In every scenario where someone came through the door, the Ashrak gained. Either he gained a high value hostage who knew everything about the SEF, or he took out all the combat troops. Either way it drastically increased the Goa'uld chances of taking control of the gate seeding ship.
That wasn't something he could allow to happen. Not if he could help it.
"I grow impatient." The Asharak's voice broke his reverie.
Gabe keyed his radio again. "Ghost, Ghost, all points, where's my fucking negotiator, over?"
"Ghost, this is Daniels. Does he want me to come in?"
"Daniels, did you negotiate with him before?"
"Ghost, that's affirmative"
"Daniels, he called you a peon. he won't talk to you. Is Kincaid or Bryant availiable?"
"Trying to find them now, Ghost. Munroe says to ask if you need anything?"
"Tell him I could murder a coffee."
Gabe never drank coffee - it was an agreed duress SOS code with Munroe. He had to keep the Ashrak talking.
"Sir, we are still trying to find an appropriate negotiatior. I can at least begin deliberations with you. Would you tell me your Mistress's demands?"
The Ashrak removed his faceplate, revealing an angular face with a neat goatee. "My mistress knows that the man in the box is your chief scientist. Without him you cannot repair the ship to get home. Allow her control of the ship, and we will release all of you safely through the gate to a neutral planet. Including your chief scientist."
Gabe knew this was unaccetable. Allowing the Goa'uld access to the seeding ship had already been given a rousing 'fuck no' in the midday briefing earlier that day.
"One moment." He keyed about his radio again. "Ghost to Munroe, where's my coffee at?"
"Munroe to Ghost. The milk and sugar are in the Gate Room, over."
Looking out of the corner of his eye, Gabe checked were he and Munroe had stashed their gear. Sure enough, there was the satchel of C4. Without that, there was no way they were coming through that door in time to do anything. He had no weapons, no distraction devices, and the Ashrak was ten feet away, well out of punching distance. As Gabe considered the futility of his situation, his brain floated up a conversation he had had a few weeks ago with another member of his team. Mike was an ex-spook, and he could make a lethal weapon from pretty much anything. He imagined Mike leaning back, his customary pair of cigarettetes dangling between his knuckles.
"Everything is a weapon, you just have to look at it right."
Lying in front of him was his body armour. 12lbs of Kevlar and another 8lbs of steel trauma plating. Heavy, with some momentum if he swung it right.
"Coffee? That sounded like a code." The Ashrak was looking at him suspiciously.
"Not at all." Gabe looked at his body armour, lying in front of him. Judged the distance. Took a calming breath.
"You know, you could join us. Matthius thinks highly of you. Your teammates obviously don't care about you, they have not coming storming in here to save you. They try my patience, knowing I can place you in this artifact for eternity. What loyatly do you owe them?"
Gabe smiled. "You know, there is something you have failed to take into account."
"Oh?"
Gabe smiled once more. "This." In one motion he scooped up his body armour by one shoulder strap and spun it like a frisbee into the Ashrak's face. As the Goa'uld assasin staggered back, Gabe bodychecked him to the ground and began punching, as hard as he could, smashing his fist into the Ashrak's face, over and over again.
Somehow, unbelivably, the Ashrak got his arms up and shoved Gabe. The superhuman strength of the alien being sent him flying backward, landing on his back, skittering backward on the polished floor of the gateroom. The Ashrak stood, picking up the box from the floor, moving to stand over Valentine.
"Not bad. For a human."
He began to open the box, but Gabe kicked out, sending it flying straight up into the air. As the Ashrak instinctively looked to follow the box's trajectory, Gabe scissored the Ashrak's legs.
"I have better."
A twist of the hips and the Ashrak was brought crashing to the floor. As Gabe rolled to his feet, he took a second to catch the box and lay it safe on the floor before diving on the stunned assassin once more, locking his hands around the Ashrak's throat.
"Just. Fucking. Die." Gabe gasped out, as the assassin struggled beneath him. The Ashrak's hand began to glow as he pressed it to Gabe's chest, and Gabe could feel his life slipping away into the Goa'uld's hand device. His vision began to blur as he summoned up the last of his reserves.
"Game Over." he twisted, and with a sickening crack he snapped the Ashrak's neck. The hand device stopped glowing as the Ashrak went limp. As he sucked in ragged breaths, Gabe grabbed the box and pointed it at the body, knowing that to get Merryweather out, he had to have a still living entity to swap out. He dropped to on knee, coughing, as the golden glow engulfed the Ashrak. There was a flash of light, and Merryweather appeared where the dying Ashrak had been.
"Thank fuck for that." Gabe took another ragged breath, and fell over. As he stared at the ceiling and his vision began to fade, there was a thunk as the techies finally overrode the doorlocks. The security team came in hard and fast, taking in the scene before them.
"Room Clear!" The call came, and Laura rushed in behind them, moving to cradle Gabe's head in her lap.
"Gabe! Gabe, stay with me! MEDIC!"
As Gordon moved to kneel by his side, Gabe could see Mr Daniels, the head of Intel, standing above him. Daniels held the box in both hands where Gabe could see, and Gabe locked eye contact with him.
"Get her home for me, Mr Daniels. Promise me!"
Daniels nodded wordlessly as Gordon looked up from his examinations and slowly shook his head.
"Sorry, Laura. Guess I...I don't get to..." Gabe's voice trailed off, as the light faded from his eyes. The room fell silent, broken only by Laura quietly crying.
"Get him into stasis. Now." Laura gasped out between sobs.
"Laura, it won't make any....."
"I DON'T CARE!"
Gordon flinched, then picked Gabe's body up and began the run to the medical chamber. The SEF personnel in the corridors parted like the red sea as he ran, barging the door open with a shoulder, knowing all the while it would make no difference.
He place Gabe's body into stasis pod one, and activated the field. The computer's soft voice spoke.
"Memory Engram Not Found. Memory Engram Not Found." it repeated. Gordon sighed. Brain death. No coming back.
"Rest in peace, Gabe." he muttered. "Least you went out swinging."
**************************************
It was just the two of them in the Gateroom when it happened. A stench of ozone, a brief haze in the air, and the Ashrak assasin decloaked. He was holding the miniaturised Ark of the Covenant in his hands, poised to open it if either Gabriel or Laura even blinked funny. Gabe held his hands wide, frantically thinking through his options.
"Sir, my name is Captain Gabriel Valentine. I'm a serving officer in the Stargate Expeditionary force. Are you here to negotiate?"
The Ashrak, clad all in black, turned to face him. The assassin's faceplate moved as he spoke.
"Fetch your commanding officer. Not the peon I spoke with before."
"I'm not sure he's awake. Let me find out." Gabe pushed the PTT switch on his radio. "Ghost, Ghost, Calling all points. The Ashrak has appeared in Gate Room, Gate room, requesting a negotiator of command rank. Please advise, over."
"Ghost, Ghost, this is Munroe, Munroe, recieved, working on it, Over."
Gabe took another deep breath.
"Sir, listen to me. I don't wish to try and harm you. I'm aware that you have a hostage in the Ark, and I'm sure we can reach an agreement. I'm going to disarm myself, and I'm prepared to listen to everything you have to say."
The Ashrak doesn't take his eyes from Gabriel. "Remove your weapon. Slowly."
Gabe lifts his pistol from his holster using two fingers, keeping it at arms length and placing it on a chair. He then stepped away from it. The Ashrak nodded, satisfied.
"The woman can leave. She has no place here." Gabe breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever happened next, his fiancee would be safe.
"Laura. Go. Now. That's an order."
Laura looked at him, a long moment that told him everything he need to know. How much she loved him, how much she didn't want him to do anything stupid. He sighed as he sat down in the chair Laura had just vacated, watched her leave. After she had done so, the Ashrak pointed his control rod at the door, sealing it shut.
"Now we wait."
Minutes passed. The Ashrak stood impassive, as Gabe unstrapped his ruined body armour and laid it down in front of him. As they waited, Gabe thought through everything he knew about the box the Ashrak was holding. The SEF had used the ship's replicator to create it, in order to capture the Dark Ascended, Matthius. If the Ashrak opened it, everything in front of the box would be sucked in. Gabe had already been trapped in it once tonight, when he, Lucky and Johns had tried to use it on Matthius. How Lucky had said that the SEF would never re-open it and risk leting the evil creature out, and the suprise when it became clear that after they had trapped Matthius, the cloaked Ashrak had stolen the box.
As he sat in silence, he contemplated just how powerful the artifact they had created was. How dangerous it would be in the hands of the Goa'uld. He considered the positioning of the Ashrak in the room, compared to the door. Considered the standard room clearance tactics, and realised that even if they came in firing, the Ashrak would have time to open the box and suck in all the heavy hitters. Considered that if he let in the Major General, or Mr Daniels, all he had to do was open the box to have a very high value hostage.
As he thought, it became increasingly clear that there was no winning gambit here. At the moment, all the Ashrak had in front of him was one well trained combatant, not of command rank. In every scenario where someone came through the door, the Ashrak gained. Either he gained a high value hostage who knew everything about the SEF, or he took out all the combat troops. Either way it drastically increased the Goa'uld chances of taking control of the gate seeding ship.
That wasn't something he could allow to happen. Not if he could help it.
"I grow impatient." The Asharak's voice broke his reverie.
Gabe keyed his radio again. "Ghost, Ghost, all points, where's my fucking negotiator, over?"
"Ghost, this is Daniels. Does he want me to come in?"
"Daniels, did you negotiate with him before?"
"Ghost, that's affirmative"
"Daniels, he called you a peon. he won't talk to you. Is Kincaid or Bryant availiable?"
"Trying to find them now, Ghost. Munroe says to ask if you need anything?"
"Tell him I could murder a coffee."
Gabe never drank coffee - it was an agreed duress SOS code with Munroe. He had to keep the Ashrak talking.
"Sir, we are still trying to find an appropriate negotiatior. I can at least begin deliberations with you. Would you tell me your Mistress's demands?"
The Ashrak removed his faceplate, revealing an angular face with a neat goatee. "My mistress knows that the man in the box is your chief scientist. Without him you cannot repair the ship to get home. Allow her control of the ship, and we will release all of you safely through the gate to a neutral planet. Including your chief scientist."
Gabe knew this was unaccetable. Allowing the Goa'uld access to the seeding ship had already been given a rousing 'fuck no' in the midday briefing earlier that day.
"One moment." He keyed about his radio again. "Ghost to Munroe, where's my coffee at?"
"Munroe to Ghost. The milk and sugar are in the Gate Room, over."
Looking out of the corner of his eye, Gabe checked were he and Munroe had stashed their gear. Sure enough, there was the satchel of C4. Without that, there was no way they were coming through that door in time to do anything. He had no weapons, no distraction devices, and the Ashrak was ten feet away, well out of punching distance. As Gabe considered the futility of his situation, his brain floated up a conversation he had had a few weeks ago with another member of his team. Mike was an ex-spook, and he could make a lethal weapon from pretty much anything. He imagined Mike leaning back, his customary pair of cigarettetes dangling between his knuckles.
"Everything is a weapon, you just have to look at it right."
Lying in front of him was his body armour. 12lbs of Kevlar and another 8lbs of steel trauma plating. Heavy, with some momentum if he swung it right.
"Coffee? That sounded like a code." The Ashrak was looking at him suspiciously.
"Not at all." Gabe looked at his body armour, lying in front of him. Judged the distance. Took a calming breath.
"You know, you could join us. Matthius thinks highly of you. Your teammates obviously don't care about you, they have not coming storming in here to save you. They try my patience, knowing I can place you in this artifact for eternity. What loyatly do you owe them?"
Gabe smiled. "You know, there is something you have failed to take into account."
"Oh?"
Gabe smiled once more. "This." In one motion he scooped up his body armour by one shoulder strap and spun it like a frisbee into the Ashrak's face. As the Goa'uld assasin staggered back, Gabe bodychecked him to the ground and began punching, as hard as he could, smashing his fist into the Ashrak's face, over and over again.
Somehow, unbelivably, the Ashrak got his arms up and shoved Gabe. The superhuman strength of the alien being sent him flying backward, landing on his back, skittering backward on the polished floor of the gateroom. The Ashrak stood, picking up the box from the floor, moving to stand over Valentine.
"Not bad. For a human."
He began to open the box, but Gabe kicked out, sending it flying straight up into the air. As the Ashrak instinctively looked to follow the box's trajectory, Gabe scissored the Ashrak's legs.
"I have better."
A twist of the hips and the Ashrak was brought crashing to the floor. As Gabe rolled to his feet, he took a second to catch the box and lay it safe on the floor before diving on the stunned assassin once more, locking his hands around the Ashrak's throat.
"Just. Fucking. Die." Gabe gasped out, as the assassin struggled beneath him. The Ashrak's hand began to glow as he pressed it to Gabe's chest, and Gabe could feel his life slipping away into the Goa'uld's hand device. His vision began to blur as he summoned up the last of his reserves.
"Game Over." he twisted, and with a sickening crack he snapped the Ashrak's neck. The hand device stopped glowing as the Ashrak went limp. As he sucked in ragged breaths, Gabe grabbed the box and pointed it at the body, knowing that to get Merryweather out, he had to have a still living entity to swap out. He dropped to on knee, coughing, as the golden glow engulfed the Ashrak. There was a flash of light, and Merryweather appeared where the dying Ashrak had been.
"Thank fuck for that." Gabe took another ragged breath, and fell over. As he stared at the ceiling and his vision began to fade, there was a thunk as the techies finally overrode the doorlocks. The security team came in hard and fast, taking in the scene before them.
"Room Clear!" The call came, and Laura rushed in behind them, moving to cradle Gabe's head in her lap.
"Gabe! Gabe, stay with me! MEDIC!"
As Gordon moved to kneel by his side, Gabe could see Mr Daniels, the head of Intel, standing above him. Daniels held the box in both hands where Gabe could see, and Gabe locked eye contact with him.
"Get her home for me, Mr Daniels. Promise me!"
Daniels nodded wordlessly as Gordon looked up from his examinations and slowly shook his head.
"Sorry, Laura. Guess I...I don't get to..." Gabe's voice trailed off, as the light faded from his eyes. The room fell silent, broken only by Laura quietly crying.
"Get him into stasis. Now." Laura gasped out between sobs.
"Laura, it won't make any....."
"I DON'T CARE!"
Gordon flinched, then picked Gabe's body up and began the run to the medical chamber. The SEF personnel in the corridors parted like the red sea as he ran, barging the door open with a shoulder, knowing all the while it would make no difference.
He place Gabe's body into stasis pod one, and activated the field. The computer's soft voice spoke.
"Memory Engram Not Found. Memory Engram Not Found." it repeated. Gordon sighed. Brain death. No coming back.
"Rest in peace, Gabe." he muttered. "Least you went out swinging."