Lost Tribe, part 12/13
Lost Tribe part 12
Previous parts here
There were more than fifty vampires on this planet, a lot more. It had taken them a few minutes to realize they were getting slaughtered, but once they had figured out that Slayers weren’t an easy meal, they had retreated beyond the colonnade into the woods. Hailey could hear them out there, watching and rustling in the trees. In her dream, she had hunted them down under the white flowers of the forest. Of course, in her dream, she’d had that luxury while in reality she had orders. Until they evacuated SG-13, they had to hold the plaza.
Once they’d secured the area, they had divided into teams of two, one Slayer, one soldier with a staff weapon, and prepared to defend their quadrant. In the meantime, Teal’c, Summers and her two dark-haired lieutenants handled the evacuation. It was tense, waiting to go or be attacked, and Hailey and her partner Grogan were so intent on the wood’s that they missed the approach of a woman from behind them.
“Hey,” came the husky voice. Hailey and Grogan spun, she hefting her borroowed ax and he leveling his staff. It was the older of Summer’s two lieutenants, Faith. She was smiling and she was smoking.
“You shouldn’t do that,” Hailey told the woman angrily as soon as her heart-rate had returned to normal.
“What?” Faith asked. “Sneak up on people in the dark on an alien planet?” Her smile had become a smirk, and Hailey got the feeling she wasn’t taking this seriously.
“That, and smoke,” Grogan said. He still sounded a little out of breath from the surprise and more than a little pissed off because of it.
Faith glanced down at her cigarette. “Another health nut?” She rolled her eyes. “I’m a Slayer, yo. I’ll be lucky if I live long enough to get cancer.”
And wasn’t that just an uplifting attitude. Working at the SGC probably wouldn’t do wonders for Hailey’s life-span, but Faith’s attitude about Slaying seemed distressingly bleak. Of course, the possibility of cancer wasn’t even the issue. “He means, you’re giving away our position.” Any good soldier knew that. Wasn’t she supposed to be a professional?
She actually laughed at that. It was almost obscenely loud compared to the rustling of the vampires. So much for professional. “I think they know we’re here.” Faith took a long drag off her cigarette and looked Hailey over. “You’ve got the Scythe.”
“The what?”
“The Scythe,” Faith repeated and gestured towards Hailey’s ax with her cigarette.
“I may just be a city boy,” began Grogan, “but I’m pretty sure that is in no way scythe-shaped.”
“Naw,” Faith agreed. “It’s more of an ax with a spear on the end, but it’s got some serious Slayer mojo. Plus, Scythe just sounds wicked cool.”
Hailey looked at the weapon in her hand. She wasn’t quite sure what Faith meant by “Slayer mojo,” but the Scythe-thing just felt right to her. She knew she’d have to return it sooner or later, but she hoped Faith wasn’t here to bring it back to Summers. “So, why are you here?”
“Right.” Faith took one last drag before dropping her cigarette. “Like I told Sayaka and Sergeant Fine-ass over there, we’re about ready to pull out, so heads up..” Hailey supposed she was referring to Paulson who was actually a captain but did have a nice ass. The whole thing just seemed really unprofessional, and not just because of the nickname.
“You came all the way over here to tell us that?” Grogan sounded incredulous. “You do realize that’s what the radio is for, right?”
Faith pulled her radio from her back pocket and looked at it like she’d never seen it before. “You press this to talk, right?” She pressed the transmit button. “Hey people,” she said into the mike, “we’re gonna go soon, so get ready.” She paused. “Ah, over.” Then she pocketed the radio and strolled away.
Hailey and Grogan shared a confused look. These people were the crack team that had stopped apocalypses, and they didn’t know how to use a communications radio? How did they coordinate their attacks? Yell really loudly?
Despite the Council’s apparent lack of basic military skills and training, they were ready to go less than five minutes later. The gate fired up, and Faith, with an unconscious Bosworth slung over her shoulder, led SG-13 home. Just like they had planned back on earth, the two pairs furthest from the gate followed them through while Teal’c, Summers and her other lieutenant moved to cover their retreat. The rustling in the forest picked up and Hailey tightened her grip on the Scythe. If the vampires were going to attack, now would be the time to do it.
But they didn’t. When their turn came, Hailey and Grogan met Sergeant Vasques and his Slayer in the middle of the plaza and headed together through the gate. The trip home was the same rush as always, but on the other side it was raining, or at least it seemed to be. Instead of the usual team of gun-toting SF’s, at the bottom of the ramp stood Harris with a crossbow and an unarmed redhead. The medical team had already whisked Bosworth away, but the rest of the team from PX9-3QL stood off to the side looking damp and annoyed. General O’Neill was there too looking pleased and dry.
Harris smiled at her as Hailey made her way down the ramp to join the others. Up by the gate, the decontamination shower was spewing some clear liquid on the next group to come through. The look on their faces would have been funnier if she hadn’t been wet herself. Another team came through and then the only ones left on PX9-3QL were Teal’c, Summers, the brown-haired Slayer, and a whole lot of vampires.
The three of them burst through the gate at a dead run. Teal’c yelled for them to close the iris, but two vampires managed to make it through before it slid shut and the thumping began. The vampires’ skin began to sizzle as soon as the liquid from the decontamination shower hit them. They seemed almost as confused about what was going on as Hailey was. What exactly was in the liquid? One of the vampires was shrieking hysterically and frantically rubbing his skin, but the other just snarled angrily and charged the nearest target.
Summers’ stake went flying as the vampire slammed her into the ramp. Hailey and every other Slayer in the room surged forward to help her, but the dark-haired Slayer got there first. She dragged it off Summers by the scruff his neck and swung him round to face the control room. There was a twang as Harris fired his crossbow and the vampire exploded in a cloud of dust. His formerly hysterical companion roared in rage and rounded on the girl.
“Down.” The redhead shouted to be heard over the thud of vampires against the iris. Teal’c and the Slayer hit the deck as a fireball flew from the tips of the woman’s fingers. The vampire was ash before he had a chance to scream.
“So,” said General O’Neill in a voice that sounded oddly hollow. “That’s magic.”
11 << (12) >> 13
Previous parts here
There were more than fifty vampires on this planet, a lot more. It had taken them a few minutes to realize they were getting slaughtered, but once they had figured out that Slayers weren’t an easy meal, they had retreated beyond the colonnade into the woods. Hailey could hear them out there, watching and rustling in the trees. In her dream, she had hunted them down under the white flowers of the forest. Of course, in her dream, she’d had that luxury while in reality she had orders. Until they evacuated SG-13, they had to hold the plaza.
Once they’d secured the area, they had divided into teams of two, one Slayer, one soldier with a staff weapon, and prepared to defend their quadrant. In the meantime, Teal’c, Summers and her two dark-haired lieutenants handled the evacuation. It was tense, waiting to go or be attacked, and Hailey and her partner Grogan were so intent on the wood’s that they missed the approach of a woman from behind them.
“Hey,” came the husky voice. Hailey and Grogan spun, she hefting her borroowed ax and he leveling his staff. It was the older of Summer’s two lieutenants, Faith. She was smiling and she was smoking.
“You shouldn’t do that,” Hailey told the woman angrily as soon as her heart-rate had returned to normal.
“What?” Faith asked. “Sneak up on people in the dark on an alien planet?” Her smile had become a smirk, and Hailey got the feeling she wasn’t taking this seriously.
“That, and smoke,” Grogan said. He still sounded a little out of breath from the surprise and more than a little pissed off because of it.
Faith glanced down at her cigarette. “Another health nut?” She rolled her eyes. “I’m a Slayer, yo. I’ll be lucky if I live long enough to get cancer.”
And wasn’t that just an uplifting attitude. Working at the SGC probably wouldn’t do wonders for Hailey’s life-span, but Faith’s attitude about Slaying seemed distressingly bleak. Of course, the possibility of cancer wasn’t even the issue. “He means, you’re giving away our position.” Any good soldier knew that. Wasn’t she supposed to be a professional?
She actually laughed at that. It was almost obscenely loud compared to the rustling of the vampires. So much for professional. “I think they know we’re here.” Faith took a long drag off her cigarette and looked Hailey over. “You’ve got the Scythe.”
“The what?”
“The Scythe,” Faith repeated and gestured towards Hailey’s ax with her cigarette.
“I may just be a city boy,” began Grogan, “but I’m pretty sure that is in no way scythe-shaped.”
“Naw,” Faith agreed. “It’s more of an ax with a spear on the end, but it’s got some serious Slayer mojo. Plus, Scythe just sounds wicked cool.”
Hailey looked at the weapon in her hand. She wasn’t quite sure what Faith meant by “Slayer mojo,” but the Scythe-thing just felt right to her. She knew she’d have to return it sooner or later, but she hoped Faith wasn’t here to bring it back to Summers. “So, why are you here?”
“Right.” Faith took one last drag before dropping her cigarette. “Like I told Sayaka and Sergeant Fine-ass over there, we’re about ready to pull out, so heads up..” Hailey supposed she was referring to Paulson who was actually a captain but did have a nice ass. The whole thing just seemed really unprofessional, and not just because of the nickname.
“You came all the way over here to tell us that?” Grogan sounded incredulous. “You do realize that’s what the radio is for, right?”
Faith pulled her radio from her back pocket and looked at it like she’d never seen it before. “You press this to talk, right?” She pressed the transmit button. “Hey people,” she said into the mike, “we’re gonna go soon, so get ready.” She paused. “Ah, over.” Then she pocketed the radio and strolled away.
Hailey and Grogan shared a confused look. These people were the crack team that had stopped apocalypses, and they didn’t know how to use a communications radio? How did they coordinate their attacks? Yell really loudly?
Despite the Council’s apparent lack of basic military skills and training, they were ready to go less than five minutes later. The gate fired up, and Faith, with an unconscious Bosworth slung over her shoulder, led SG-13 home. Just like they had planned back on earth, the two pairs furthest from the gate followed them through while Teal’c, Summers and her other lieutenant moved to cover their retreat. The rustling in the forest picked up and Hailey tightened her grip on the Scythe. If the vampires were going to attack, now would be the time to do it.
But they didn’t. When their turn came, Hailey and Grogan met Sergeant Vasques and his Slayer in the middle of the plaza and headed together through the gate. The trip home was the same rush as always, but on the other side it was raining, or at least it seemed to be. Instead of the usual team of gun-toting SF’s, at the bottom of the ramp stood Harris with a crossbow and an unarmed redhead. The medical team had already whisked Bosworth away, but the rest of the team from PX9-3QL stood off to the side looking damp and annoyed. General O’Neill was there too looking pleased and dry.
Harris smiled at her as Hailey made her way down the ramp to join the others. Up by the gate, the decontamination shower was spewing some clear liquid on the next group to come through. The look on their faces would have been funnier if she hadn’t been wet herself. Another team came through and then the only ones left on PX9-3QL were Teal’c, Summers, the brown-haired Slayer, and a whole lot of vampires.
The three of them burst through the gate at a dead run. Teal’c yelled for them to close the iris, but two vampires managed to make it through before it slid shut and the thumping began. The vampires’ skin began to sizzle as soon as the liquid from the decontamination shower hit them. They seemed almost as confused about what was going on as Hailey was. What exactly was in the liquid? One of the vampires was shrieking hysterically and frantically rubbing his skin, but the other just snarled angrily and charged the nearest target.
Summers’ stake went flying as the vampire slammed her into the ramp. Hailey and every other Slayer in the room surged forward to help her, but the dark-haired Slayer got there first. She dragged it off Summers by the scruff his neck and swung him round to face the control room. There was a twang as Harris fired his crossbow and the vampire exploded in a cloud of dust. His formerly hysterical companion roared in rage and rounded on the girl.
“Down.” The redhead shouted to be heard over the thud of vampires against the iris. Teal’c and the Slayer hit the deck as a fireball flew from the tips of the woman’s fingers. The vampire was ash before he had a chance to scream.
“So,” said General O’Neill in a voice that sounded oddly hollow. “That’s magic.”
11 << (12) >> 13