Colonel O'Neill leaves the Sanctuum command tent and walks across the meadow for what, he hopes, will be the last time. Almost all of the Earth equipment has been removed from Fort Carter and sent through the stargate. Only a few ATVs with trailers and a MALP mounting twin .30 caliber machine guns are left, sitting in front of the active stargate. Only a handful of SG personnel remain, most of whom stand near the stargate. The rest of the men manning the base belong to the Sanctuum military.
Halfway across the meadow he receives a call over the radio. "SG Command to O'Neill, over."
"O'Neill here."
"The O-2 has been cleared from the gate room, Colonel. You are good to send the rest through."
"Understood. Advise the general that we'll leave a small force here to guard the gate until Ambassador Estes arrives. He should be here in an hour or so. Sergeant Siler is working with Sanctuum engineers so they can transfer the stargate and DHD to their capitol as soon as we are gone. Over."
"Understood, Colonel. SG Command out."
O'Neill stays on the radio. "Lieutenant Holmann, go ahead and send the ATVs through."
"Yes, Sir."
O'Neill reaches the edge of the bluff. Looking out across the riverbed he sees the scattered and crumpled remains of twenty-three airships, the combined casualties of several fortunately unsuccessful attacks on Fort Carter. He watches as the final ATV with its trailer drives into the trench in front of the active stargate. He turns and walks toward the path down to the riverbed, checking his watch as he does so. Though eager to get back to Earth he feels a little too exposed with all of their weapons dismantled and shipped back to Earth. He gives the Sanctuum troops in the observation post a quick salute. They give him a friendly wave as he walks by. He turns around and gives the meadow one last look. A mound of sandbags and wood is all that remains of the command bunker. It had taken too much damage during the last bombardment and was in danger of collapsing. Since the airbase was going to be abandoned he didn't think the bunker was worth repairing. O'Neill asked Captain Teemurin to have one of the airships take it out with a couple of well-placed shots.
In the middle of the runway Sergeant Siler and two USAF technicians stand next to a Sanctuum heavy duty transport. They have been working with two Sanctuum engineers, helping them devise an easy and safe way to transport the stargate and the dialing device to a well-protected location in their nation's capital. The airship already has several heavy cables securely attached to the airship's interior framework. As soon as the US Ambassador has gone through the stargate the Sanctuum engineers will hook it up and take it to the capitol city. While O'Neill checks out the transport he hears the stargate deactivate.
O'Neill walks down the path and reaches the riverbed. The single MALP sits a dozen yards in front of the dialing device. One airman stands next to the MALP while two more stand next to the dialing device. O'Neill decides to enjoy the peace and quiet before he begins his final walk to the gate. Before a minute has passed he hears shouts coming from the meadow. Shortly after that he hears the transport's engines starting. He wonders what is causing the activity. He turns around and quick walks back up the path. Before he reaches the meadow the transport flies overhead, the lift cables still dangling from it. The airship passes the stargate and heads toward the river. Reaching the meadow he sees Siler walking quickly toward him.
"What's up, Siler?"
"Not sure, Colonel. They got a radio call and then sent the Nakoni up. It sounds like a couple of ships are heading this way. No idea whose they are."
"Anything from the ambassador?"
"Not since the last message. He's still on the way as far as I know."
The two other airships, both cruisers, that had been circling overhead move to join the Nakoni as it moves toward the river.
"Jeez, it must be serious if they need the machine guns on the transport."
"Agreed," He turns on his radio. "Corporal Viktor, you read?"
"Yes, Sir. What's going on?"
"No idea, but Siler heard that we may be getting company, and not the good kind. We're heading back, over."
They begin walking back to the path down the bluff. Before they've gone more than a few steps they hear machine gun fire coming from the river. They start trotting down the path as O'Neill yells into the radio, "Dial Earth, Corporal."
He doesn't wait for an acknowledgement. He and Siler run down the path. Siler yells at the two techs who had followed him to head toward the gate. They begin to run after the colonel and the sergeant. The machine gun fire gets louder. He sees the Sanctuum airships take evasive action as four airships head toward the stargate. Guns on all of the airships are firing, though fortunately at each other.
O'Neill sees the corporal pressing the symbols on the DHD and then pressing the big button in the center to activate the stargate. One of the incoming airships turns so that it points right at the stargate's event horizon. O'Neill sees something large slung underneath the airship. He doesn't like the looks of it. He waves at the men around the gate.
"Into the gate. Go!"
He sees the two technicians running down the path and toward the gate. O'Neill runs past the gate and stops at the MALP. He arms the machine guns and swings them toward the approaching airship. He yells at Siler, "through the gate, go!"
He begins firing at the approaching airship. He fires directly at the gondola, hoping to prevent them from firing whatever it is they are carrying. The Sanctuum soldiers behind him on the bluff add their fire. The airship stops its approach and begins to slide backwards.
O'Neill yells into the radio. "O'Neill to SGC. We are coming in hot. Get ready to shut the iris. Repeat get ready ONLY."
He barely hears the response while he continues firing. He takes a quick look to see where the two technicians are. He sees them scramble across the sand and clamber over the sandbags surrounding the gate. They stumble into the trench and then jump to their feet. They run as fast as they can and sprint through the event horizon.
O'Neill takes several grenades from his harness. He risks a quick look at the airship as he pulls the pins from the grenades. He sees a hint of smoke begin to appear at the tail of what obviously must be a huge missile. He places one grenade under the machine guns and the rest under the MALP. Looking up again he sees a lot of smoke and flame shooting from the rear of the object under the gondola.
"Oh hell." He turns and runs toward the gate. He can actually feel the vibrations as the rocket engine reaches full power. He looks over his shoulder as the missile drops from the gondola. He sprints to the gate.
Just before he reaches the event horizon he yells into his radio, "CLOSE THE–"
O'Neill suffers a moment of disorientation as he travels through the wormhole. He finds himself flying through the air in the gate room.
"–IRIS! CLOSE THE IRIS!" He lands hard on the metal ramp and rolls. "CLOSE IT!!"
He ducks down, waiting for the missile to slam into the opposite wall. The sound of the metal iris closing fills the room. Just as the iris closes he hears a loud thump.
YOU ARE READING
Stargate SG-1: Steampunk
Science FictionSG Command discovers that a previously inactive gate address has become active. A check by the SGC's MALP (Mobile Analytic Laboratory Probe) shows an Earth-like world with no 'obvious' signs of civilization. Once there, SG-1 quickly finds itself i...
