Part Two: Descent

[Elizabeth "Beth" Houghton]

3719 Hours
Lethe

It was bad enough that Beth had thrown up after going through the gate for the very first time. She attempted to be hidden by doing it behind the gate. A few chuckles suggested differently. A swig of water and spitting made her feel better. Yeah NOT! It was flippin colder than a penguin swimming in the arctic ice water. The suit worn gave some comfort, but the special agent still had number finger tips. Holding her weapon was almost impossible, but she managed it (she thought). The team had spread trying to find any signs of life. Not on this ice planet. It feels like Hoth from the Empire Strikes Back. I really need another hobby. Not only was Star Wars Elizabeth’s favorite movies (Episode 4, 5, and 6), the former homicide detective knew the words to those movies. I take that back. I need a life. Beth decided to go in a direction away from the others to also survey the possibility of inhabitants or surprises. She would find out real quick it wasn’t going well. ”I’ve got a bad feeling about this”, she muttered.

1320 Hours

Unfortunately, Houghton was about to find out. They came out of nowhere. They were heavily armed. Instinct made Beth pull the trigger at the closest one coming at her. The bullet simply bounced off. She tried again. NOTHING. ”Well this isn’t good.” Not only did they ascend down (something out of a Sci-fi movie), their weapons were powerful. Hearing through her com about aiming for the neck, Beth gave it a go. One soldier went down, but two others fired their weapons directly at the special agent. One shot grazed her shoulder. It was like having a dog shock collar. But the jolt felt ten times worse. She collapsed to the ground blacking out.

1322 Hours

Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes. Her shoulder hurt like hell. To make it worse, her hands were tied up on the back side. Groggily, Beth tried to focus. A short time later, she looked at her surroundings. Soldiers or whatever they are called kept guard. Hmmm, two of them to three of us The only problem was finding something to take whatever her hands were tied with. There’s a plan. There’s always a plan. Oh please let there be a plan.

Tag: Green and Red teams

OOC: Now there are three prisoners?

[Hades]

3722 hours (local time)
Throne room
Lethe

From a throne atop a rise in the middle of the darkened cavern, Hades listened as Eteocles the Younger described the battle with the Tau’ri invaders on the surface above. The youthful commander had underestimated the strength of the foes he faced, and with insufficient troops had succeeded only in delaying their advance and taking two of their number hostage. His failure would be addressed painfully in due course, but right now, there was more pressing matters to attend to.

“You bring shame on your family line,” Hades replied in a booming voice. “Your father, Eteocles the Elder, died with honour in battle against the Tau’ri. You would do well to follow his lead.” This unfortunate development forced Hades hand, though that would never be admitted publicly. The preparations going on deep beneath the surface of Lethe were not yet complete, but at the same time, they couldn’t risk the humans of Earth learn about what was truly going on here. Only one option remained.

“Summon the Captain-General, and have her prepare to bring the system online.” Hades orders.

“Your majesty, we are still days away from…” protested one of the advisors of the royal court.

“Serve as I command!” Hades retorted abruptly, rising from the throne and moving toward the exit. Time was short, and there was much to be done with the Tau’ri prisoners.The Vizier of the Underworld, Hades’ most trusted servant, appeared by the throne room door as Hades departed.

“Your majesty, another of the Tau’ri has been captured - a young female,” Rhadamanthus reported. “She has been put with the others.”

3724 hours (local time)
Interrogation cavern
Lethe

Flanked by Hoplite guards in their jet black armour, Hades crossed the floor of the interrogation cavern to where the captured Tau’ri were being held. While the war with the Delian Expedition had been shepherded by Zeus and the other gods of Olympia, Hades had stayed informed of events despite having no direct contact with them. From well hidden and long forgotten prison worlds, Hades had studied and observed the enemy, plotting for the day when vengeance would be carried out against them for the death of the other Olympians.

“You have trespassed onto these the Lands of the Darkness,” Hades announced in a demonic voice that was void of anything hinting at age, gender or species. From beneath a heavy dark cloak whose edges seemed to blur as if it was not completing of this world, Hades looked down through the steels bars of the prison pits at the three enemy soldiers who had been captured. “By coming here you have accepted and embraced your death as all mere mortals should. For this, I shall make your demise swift. Your friends on the surface, and those in Akrotiri and back on Earth shall receive no such good will, and will die a long and painful death.”

“But I am nothing if not a merciful Bringer of Death,” Hades continued. An Olympian communication sphere, the size of a baseball and keyed into the frequencies being used by the two Delta Site teams on the surface, was dropped down into the prison pit. “Order your friends to lay down their weapons - your lives and theirs will be spared. This offer I shall make only once.”

< Tag Task Group Green [Kimberly "Kim" McKinnon , Adam "Sly" Collier , Marah "Tonobi" Law , Elizabeth "Beth" Houghton , Erik Sorensen , Kieran "Bear" O'Shea ] & Task Group Red [Koren Telion , Nolen "Dragon" Syaria , Stephanie Martin , Victoria Ramel , Andy Buchanan , @adaheart & Justin Anderson ] >

[Kieran "Bear" O'Shea]

3724 hours (local time)
Interrogation cavern
Lethe

When Kieran finally stirred after being knocked unconscious, he found himself in an ice cavern. He blinked a few times and rubbed at the back of his head where he had been hit before sighing softly. This was his luck as of late, it seemed. First being there for the attack on the Ancient City, and now this. He pushed himself into a sitting position and he looked up when he heard a voice.

Kieran couldn't help but laugh as the 'god' spoke and he pushed himself up to stand as he kept his gaze locked on the creature that was in front of him. He couldn't tell if it was a man or woman or even if it was human. He squinted a bit and tilted his head to the side, trying to figure out the best way to react to this thing that was in front of them. 

"You really have made a mistake, mate. I don't know if you've followed the Tau'ri's track record or not but we have a knack for bringing down 'gods'. The Go'auld, the Replicators, the Ori, the Wraith...and last I checked; most of your kind as well. What makes you think your luck will be any better?" he questioned. "Even if we told our friends to do as you say, they won't listen."

Kieran had no intention of doing what this god asked of him and he knew the other members on his team would agree -- or at least he hoped so. He hadn't gotten to know the rest of his team yet but he liked to think they would never bow so easily to this 'god'. They all knew the stakes they were up against and what giving away even a little bit of information could do to not only the Ancient City but to Earth as well.

< Tag Task Group Green: [ Kimberly "Kim" McKinnon , Adam "Sly" Collier , Marah "Tonobi" Law , Elizabeth "Beth" Houghton , Erik Sorensen ] & Task Group Red: [Koren Telion , Nolen "Dragon" Syaria , Stephanie Martin , Victoria Ramel , Andy Buchanan , @adaheart & Justin Anderson ] >

[Erik Sorensen]

3715-3720
Lethe

As they moved through the snow ice and started into the remains really only their movements and the howl of the icy winds was all their could hear, apart from their conversation. It seemed they were just going to walk through it all and hope, then again the Stargate was pretty distinctive, it would be more than likely one of the few large concentrations of refined Naquadah around.

After a few minutes there was a contact call from the front. It seemed they were about to have the luck they'd historically always had, run into the bad guy on the first mission. The black Armour clad enemy started to rain their energy weapons down on them and Erik quickly readied his P90. Taking aim he waited for the soldiers to fire first. Once they opened fire he delivered short bursts to the chest area of his chosen target.

The shot's had little effect beyond giving the greek soldier something to slow him down a little. Over their radio a hint was given, shoot at the neck. Shifting his aim up he fired a long burst and the warrior at first kept moving before tumbling over in an ungainly heap.

He kept firing as it seemed some of them were making a retreat. On closer inspection it seemed they had a few of them in their grips. Switching fire to those still attacking them he kept firing.

<TAG:Task Groups Red and Green>

[Hades]

3724 hours (local time)
Interrogation chamber
Lethe

The young male of the group replied to Hades with threats and disrespect. He and the others would soon learn.

The Ruler of Darkness nodded to one of the royal guards, who knelt down next to the prison pit and entered commands into a small keypad. A energy shield shimmered the life just above the grated roof, sealing the holding cell from the outside world. A second later deafening shrieking howls filled the prison cell. Hades watched in satisfaction as the three prisoners fell to their knees clutching their hands over their ears, their faces contorted in pain. After a few painful seconds the guard silenced the sounds and turned off the energy shield.

“The defiance of the Tau’ri is well known throughout even my domain,” Hades replied, after giving the prisoners a few moments for their hearing to return. While never the receipt of the sound punishment, its creator had told of the pain it caused to human anatomy. Ringing ears and disorientation were common side effects.

“And yes,” Hades continued in the same demonic, distorted voice. “Your defeat of Zeus and the others was unexpected, and a set back to our cause. For that offence alone I should order your death!”

“However, from the Shadows a near empire will rise, one that will make even the glory of Olympia seem insignificant. Zeus’ reliance on the Ambrosia was his eventual downfall, but we will not make the same mistake.”

Reaching out a hand and pointing to a nearby cell, Hades gave a wave of the wrist and send the top of a neighbouring prison pit flying. Two panicked aliens scampered out and began to run for the exit. Taking a moment to savour their terror, Hades brought up both hands, from which shot black whips of smoke. The smoke shot across the room and caught both fleeing aliens in the back of the head - they gave out screams of pain in their native tongue before falling dead to the ground.

“I have restored to myself and my loyal Gods and Goddesses the powers the destruction of the Ambrosia robbed from us. And we have made sure that you will not rob us of them again!”

< Tag Task Group Green [Kimberly "Kim" McKinnon , Adam "Sly" Collier , Marah "Tonobi" Law , Elizabeth "Beth" Houghton , Erik Sorensen , Kieran "Bear" O'Shea ] & Task Group Red [Koren Telion , Nolen "Dragon" Syaria , Stephanie Martin , Victoria Ramel , Andy Buchanan , @adaheart & Justin Anderson ] >

[Aleksandr Kamarov]

3724 hours (local time)
Planetary surface
Lethe

The nearby Stargate activated without warning, and out of the stable wormhole shot four C-305 shuttles. Three of them - configured for transport and laden with troops - adjusted their course and approached the battle field low to the ground. The fourth - modified for ground attack - shot up into the sky above and began a slow orbit of the area, soon beginning to bombard the Hoplite's position with missiles and rail-gun fire.

"It looks like you are in need of - how you say? - 'the cavalry'!" announced Aleksandr Kamarov over the radio network from the lead shuttle, which along with the other two transports touched down and began to disembark their troops. Men and women attired in arctic camouflage and armed with machine guns stormed the Hoplites, throwing grenades and quickly overrunning their position.

As he disembarked the shuttles, Kamarov took a moment to admire the frigid environment. It reminded him on the sweeping northern regions of his homeland of Russia. Not that he'd been back there recently - they'd cut up his visa when he'd told them he was leaving the VVS to consult for Area 51 as a civilian. On the bright side, they hadn't send an ex-KGB agent after him yet, so not being able to go home was a small price to pay.

"We found reference to Hades building up forces on Lethe in Akrotiri database after you left," he explained in broken English, shaking hands with the leaders of TF Green and TF Red. "I am sorry support did not come sooner."

Alek listened as the events on the planet were recounted. A kidnapping was not good - if Hades was anything like the other Olympians, the prisoners were in for a bad time. They needed to find the prisoners fast, no easy task given they'd been dragged down into what sounded to be a series of unmapped ice caves beneath their feet. Kamarov dug into his backpack and handed the team leaders what looked like a modified tablet computer with an aerial mounted on the back - because that was exactly what it was.

"Asgard homing beacon detector," he explained, tapping the device. "Will make search much quicker." The display flickered for a second before going dark - Alek snatched back the device and bashed it on his knee, bringing back the display. "Wires little loose," he added. If Kamarov was known for one thing around the SGC, it was building tech that did the job, but just barely held together.

"We go now, rescue your friends. This cold no good for anyone."

< Tag Task Group Green [Kimberly "Kim" McKinnon , Adam "Sly" Collier , Marah "Tonobi" Law , Elizabeth "Beth" Houghton , Erik Sorensen , Kieran "Bear" O'Shea ] & Task Group Red [Koren Telion , Nolen "Dragon" Syaria , Stephanie Martin , Victoria Ramel , Andy Buchanan , @adaheart & Justin Anderson ] >

[Justin Anderson]

3715-24 Hours
Surface
Lethe

The young airman keep his rifle aimed at the upper chest of the warrior he had chosen as his target. The group fired at their targets seemingly to no avail. Sergeant O'Shea seemed to catch a break before announcing his good new over the radio. "Aim for the neck, right below the chin. They seem to have weaker armor there!" Switching his aim on his target the Airman fired a burst. It seem at first to stagger it before the warrior fell into the snow.

Firing at another target the enemy warriors got close, close enough the Royal Marine sergeant had to fight one of them hand to hand. Justin wanted to help the man, but he hadn't the opportunity. The target he was firing at now went down, a pair of the black armour clad soldiers fired at the airman. Diving to left he managed to avoid their fire. One of the two dropped before Anderson could return to his feet, one of his team mates must have got them. Raising his rifle Justin aimed at the weak spot, only to hear a click, he'd run out of ammunition.

Dropping the rifle he drew his sidearm and fired it and quickly as he could manage at the neck and head. The warrior finally dropped into the snow as he ejected the magazine and reloaded. Picking up his rifle he reloaded, with that complete he looked back to where the Sergeant had been. He was being carried away. He fired at the one taking his team mate away to no avail the bullets simply bounced off. 

The fire fight seemed to continue for far longer than it was before they were treated to sound of a thick Russian accent delivering some good news. "It looks like you are in need of - how you say? - 'the cavalry'!" Quickly with the support of the C-305s and the reinforcements the hoplites where quickly dispatched.

Regrouping on the team he await the order to go and rescue their lost team members.

<TAG: Task Group Red & Green>

[Aleksandr Kamarov]

3732 hours (local time)
Underground enemy compound
Lethe

Task Group Green and Task Group Red, supported by the special operations teams who had just arrived, hurried down into the underground forest of Hades through the entrance Lieutenant Buchanan had located. Using the flashlights on their rifles to illuminate the darkened tunnels, the armed group followed the signal of the hostages locator beacons, moving deeper and deeper into the underground maze.

As an engineer, Alek had never led a mission like this from the front. He liked to saved himself for when there was something to fix. Now he was retired and enjoying the civilian life he was even less inclined to be at the pointy end of the assault. He had a wife and child back on Earth to think about. As such he stuck to the rear of the group, checking already cleared hallways with his AK-series rifle and making sure the enemy didn’t flank them from behind.

He also grabbed what ever small pieces of enemy technology laying around that he could fit into his backpack and pockets for later examination. Old habits died hard.

The band of warriors continued deeper and deeper into the underground fortress of Hades. The further they went, the more suspicious the Russian engineer became. Since entering the base they’d encountered minimal resistance, never battling more than one or two Hoplite guards at once. For a compound that was meant to represent a major build up on forces for Hades, the place was surprisingly empty.

Following the locator beacons, the team came out into a large cavern, the floor of which was dotted with mesh covered cells built into the rock beneath their feet. The teams began to spread out, asking for the identities of the prisoners and freeing those who were from allied planets.

Alek continued to follow the locator beacon. The device held in his hand, attuned to the signal, beeped more frequently and indicated that he was getting closer and closer. After a few false start he succeeded in making the locator signal and his own signal match up on the screen, and found himself standing above a cell built into the floor. Covered by another member of the team, he yanked open the door of the cell…

And found it empty, except for three small silver objects which looked like grains of rice - the extracted locator beacons of the captured team members. Hades had gotten away, and taken the most valued prisoners.

Alek swore loudly in Russian.

< To be continued... >