Book 4 - New Horizons 4
07/05/2024 – 16.07
An hour or so later as they near scene of earlier failed ambush BFF’s three scouts come flying back, clearly agitated. Dungip does best to understand what’s going on, best he can get is danger ahead. SG2 can’t pick anything up on motion/heat sensors etc or see anything wrong ahead, even when Rex climbs on Jayne’s shoulders for a better view.
Lead by BFF group circle wide through the grass to come out a few hundred yards beyond the massacre. When emerge & look back up the trail they can see into the scuffle area, they can see at least two heads impaled on pointy sticks.
Just before night falls the nervous natives, with many glances to the sky, lead them off the savannah & under the eaves of the trees. As they move further under the canopy, the ground becomes wetter & the trees denser until they enter the swamp itself. With SG2 now in comm’s range Jayne tries to contact the guards at the gate but the airwaves are dead.
07/05/2024 – 20.16
As the group eventually reach the outskirts of the summer settlement they are surrounded by the remainder of the tribe, emotions appear mixed, happiness at the warriors return but upset by something as yet unknown to SG2. Again Dungip does his best to interpret the grunts, arm waving & face pulling which translates as death above, come see.
On the edge of the rise SG2 peer into the darkness above, despite the brightness of the move it’s simply a mass of shadows. Those with IR & motion sensors see nothing but Dungip with the benefit of image enhancement & Teleoptics eventually spots several denser masses hanging from branches on the edge of the clearing.
When these are investigated further it is found to be four skinned & headless native carcasses, Irving, assisted by Rex, observes that the heads have been almost been surgically removed, the wounds being clean & cauterised & the skinning is expertly done with the flesh beneath undamaged, there is surprisingly little blood loss. There is much consternation in the settlement.
Rex does his best in the darkness & muddy waters to try to work out what has occurred, under torchlight he finds traces of blood on nearby trees confirming the dastardly deed was committed elsewhere & the mutilated carcasses then brought back to the fringe of the clearing to be hung for all to see. Dungip does his best to question their BFF as to what has done this but other than ‘the monster in the trees’ he can tell the other SG2 members jack shit.
Jayne, still unable to raise the grunts at the gate is keen to head out however SG2’s BFF clearly is to worried to guide them in the darkness whilst the monster is likely still at large.
Realising that they’re not going anywhere SG2 hunker down for the night.
Didimos, desperate for caffeine, drags his primus stove out & to the mutters of others fires it up, the flame amazes the natives & despite Didimos’ warning words there are several burnt fingers. It is observed that whilst the natives seem to have no control of fire they’ve probably seen natural fires such as caused by lighting strikes etc but the thought that it can be used/controlled is clearly beyond their understanding. Between Didimos’ use of glow sticks & the primus stove, the lights on their armour/clothing & the gunfire earlier in the day SG2’s status is now of at least minor deity’s.
SG2 briefly discuss returning to the derelict city but clearly this will have to wait to another time when they are better equipped & prepared.
The natives are obviously in a state of alert as they crouch beneath rain soaked shelters but apart from their basic melee weapons they are ill prepared for anything other than repelling similarly armed intruders.
08/05/2024 – 04.13
After a second uncomfortable night under the stars Jayne, lately back to sleep after taking his watch, is woken by a call on the vhf from the gate. Surprised that they’re still alive he quisses them to make sure they are who they say they are. Satisfied he demands an explanation of why such prolonged radio silence. The grunts advise that they had comm’s issues but these are for the moment resolved & that all is quiet at the gate. Jayne gives them a heads up on what has occurred. Rex instructs the gate grunts to update SGC & to increase the guard numbers on the gate to four & to increase their fire power.
The grunts also pass along a request from SGC chief biologist Dr John Dee for additional flora & fauna samples as those recovered thus far are simply amazing & show DNA that has no relation to that of earth, some are almost animal/plant hybrid & despite many being potentially dangerous to humans some are so full of protein that further investigation is imperative.
08/05/2024 – 06.38
Just after sun up SG2 prepare to depart, BFF gestures that he & a dozen or so of his best pointy stick boys will accompany them to the gate.
Rex is convinced they should take on of the dead natives back with them as Irving suggests they would provide ample samples for study. Without a body bag this would be messy to say the least, Didimos grins & drags out his bivvy bag.
Again benefitting from their guides knowledge of the driest routes SG2 manage to approach the gate without drowning. On route Dungip attempts to maintain a watch via his motion detectors but unfortunately the batteries have been affected by the constant damp of the swamp.
08/05/2024 – 08.49
During the march back Jayne has kept regular contact with the gate overseers however when only maybe ten minutes away from rendezvousing with the grunts SG2 are assaulted both over the comm’s & through the trees by the sound of heavy & sustained gunfire.
SG2, with safety catches definitely off, make double time as best they can through the swamp inadvertently becoming wet & muddy however when they see the natives deliberately smearing the muck over their bodies they copy their actions working on the basis that the natives know best.
The natives, scared, hang back under the trees doing there best to become invisible.
Almost back at the gate the sound of gunfire abruptly ends, as they cross the open swamp to the gate itself all is silent, even the relentless background hum from countless birds & small critters takes a while to reinstate itself.
08/05/2024 – 09.04
Stood at the gate there is no sign of anyone or anything other than the antonyms inhabitants of the swamp.
It is clear to all that the gate has been powered down from the other side, the jury-rigged VHF sits against the gate its cable link to the other side guillotined by the closing of the iris valve retro fitted onto the gate.
Taking what best cover they can they sit nervously waiting, hoping, the gate will soon be regenerised, from their best guess it was probably closed around ten minutes previous when the gunfire began so can’t be opened again for another 80 minutes.
Wanting to make the best of the forced wait Irving organises collection of additional samples, Dungip tries to explain to their BFF that they have to go soon & Rex/Jayne search for any evidence of the hostilities or survivors. Whilst this goes on Didimos & Agatha keep watch on the perimeter.
Looking around the clearing Jayne can see much evidence of outgoing fire, the canopy for a full 360° has been decimated by hundreds of shells around the foot of the gate from the pair of abandoned SG Dunarmco 12-200 auto-cannons, Jayne knows from experience that these are formidable weapons, they’re not fast firing but they throw out 25 12.00mm slugs every couple of seconds that simply obliterate anyone or anything that gets in the way in a 500m plus range. Under the watchful gaze of the natives Dungip starts stacking unused belts for the auto-cannons as he knows that they have only a limited supply back at SGC.
Shells collected & magazines topped up Dungip & Jayne almost think they see something move in the treetops, have glimpsed something seems to flow from branch to branch before they can take action it simply vanishes. There are tantalising flickers of heat on the monitors, a branch broken that previously wasn’t, maybe thinks Jayne this is the ghost the natives are so afraid of. With noting to aim at weapons are lowered but kept at the ready.
A study is made of images recorded on the cannons remote observation units, shells can be seen ripping into the trees but there is no sign of an inbound aggressor however there are flashes suggesting high intensity beam weapons.
With still around 30 minutes left to go before the gate hopefully opens Rex gives a shout from where he is wading in the muddy waters then he lifts something from beneath the watery surface. Returning to the plinth all can see it is a severed arm holding a standard issue Araska WSA SG issue sidearm. Like the severed necks of the four murdered natives the cut is clean & cauterised confirming the suspicion of those in the know that it has been caused by some form of energy blade on a larger scale than Irving’s surgical laser scalpels.
Rex also pints out several scorch/strike marks on tree stumps & the gate plinth confirming the incoming fire as high energy weapons, the strike marks suggest fire from at least two directions
Warily stood atop the plinth a voice echo’s over SG2’s mastoid units (except Agatha who refuses to have one fitted & so generally remains oblivious to group talk)
The voice, clearly of somebody in distress, begs for help, it is recognisable as that of Jacobus Sprenger of SGIS. Unhappy about this Jayne’s military training kicks in & he quizzes Private Sprenger. Jacobus continues to beg for assistance telling SG2 he doesn’t know where he is other than he’s trussed to a tree in the canopy, clearly in pain he howls for assistance. Jayne listens intently & can’t hear Sprenger’s pleas off-line suggesting he is well beyond vocal range. Still suspicious Janyne begins to make clearly phoney comments however Jacobus answers as if he knows what Jayne is talking about.
Cutting of vocal transmission Jayne broadcasts a text message over the TSM advising that whatever/whoever the voice is it’s not Jacobus Sprenger.
Behind him the gate begins to power up.
08/05/2024 – 10.27
As the gate opens a dozen heavily armoured & armed SG Opo’s storm through, seemingly unsurprised they take station around SG2 ready to repel borders.
Grabbing their kit, discarded auto-cannons, the make shift body bag & even the unfortunate Private Sprenger’s arm they begin to enter the gate but as they do so there is a shout of incoming from the rear guard.
For a moment members of SG2 consider holding back but good sense prevails & along with the rescue team throw themselves through the gate.
As Rex hits the ramp he bellows for the control team to shut the gate.
08/05/2024 – 11.14
With all personnel accounted for, except Jacobus Sprenger, the three surviving guards report to Rex, there is little to tell other than the first they new was a scream from Jacobus as he was struck by something emanating from the tree tops, unable to see the enemy they laid down suppressing fire with the pair of auto-cannons as well as small arms. There was a couple of flashes suggesting incoming fire from energy weapons as they dived for the gate hoping their bellows over the comm’s alerted SG2 to what was happening. As they yelled for back up to the command deck above the gate controller had instigated an emergency shut down. General Mahonney on hearing what had happened had readied an away team but could do nothing until the auto power down sequence ran its course.
With the gate secured all additional samples including the skinned natives carcass & Jacobus’ severed arm shipped to medical for further study, Rex reported events to Mahonney.
08/05/2024 – 14.51
With reports made & all surplus weapons returned to the armour SG2 trailed behind Doc Irving when he dropped in to see how Helen was fairing, she say she was a tad grumpy was putting it mildly. After chatting with her for a while Rex on Irving’s advise made the call that she should spend at least another 72hrs under observation in one of the isolation cells however Irving had to admit she was in perfect health. To pacify her patience they passed all details to her relating to their ongoing use of the gate in order that she could continue her study on how the gate address system operates from off world.
With all quiet on Abydos & no further investigation of Quillis planned it was agreed they should attempt a further gate however Mahoney instructed them to take some RNR for the afternoon & get a decent nights sleep.
On route back to the social quarters Rex passed by the lab’s to se if they’d been any development on the investigation into the ceramic globe extracted from Helen’s neck, disappointedly there was nothing else to tell.
Dungip & Didimos declining rest set to work with the back room boys assisting with constructing the RV Mk.2 as well as putting together a remote drone from kit salvaged from the bases redundant services & anything else that looked like it would fit in on their scrapheap challenge.
09/05/2024 – 11.14
With work still not completed on the RV Mk.2 & the drone the jump to the next address was delayed for 24hrs.
10/05/2024 – 08.17
With the RV Mk.2 up SG2 gathered in front of the gate, up above in the command chamber Joel Esposito keyed in the address selected by SG2 as their next potential destination. Ever impressively the gate powered up & made the connection. Under the watchful eye of half a dozen SGIS weapon bedecked grunts Didimos ran through the remote control handset for the RV & trundled it up the ramp. Just before it passed through the gate however Dungip realised there was no tether on it, conscious of what happened to the RV when SG1 sent it through to what turned out to be a watery world Dungip delayed the RV’s departure whilst he hooked up a 170m drum of Kevlar reinforced micro cable. With Dungip giving it the thumbs up Didimos rolled the RV through the shimmering blue haze.
23 – 16 – 16 – 4 – 17 – 2 – 25
As the RV passed through to the other side Didimos remotely fired up the camera as well as audio/digital recording units, as yet it didn’t have LI/IR abilities but they hadn’t wanted to wait another day.
As the RV came back under Didimos’ control SG2 eagerly watched the camera feed however there was some immediate slight confusion as the RV gently rolled & banked away as if in flight. The RV’s readouts advised no breathable atmosphere, in fact it was a vacuum & a gravity field of around 10% of earths. On camera the surface of the ‘planet’ was looked similar to that of earths moon however as the RV rose & rotated it was clear that the planet was actually just a chunk of dead rock from a long exploded planet. Over its horizon could be seen a planet somewhat similar yet at the same time vastly different to Saturn. Just as SG2 made ready to pull the RV back there was a gasp from those watching the screen as well as from those on the command deck (relayed from the RV) as the remain of metallic looking skeletal structure came clung to the rocks surface. With nothing else to be seen & at the RV being at the end of its tether it was hauled back through the gate.
Samples of dust on the RV were dispatched to the lab.
With nothing more to be done a second address was randomly selected however on the promise that the drone would be available for the following morning travel was put in abeyance.
11/05/2024 – 10.19
7 – 17 – 24 – 3 – 15 – 22 - 9
Outgoing protocols in place Didimos piloted the RV through the gate, all was dark & silent.
The RV was clearly on solid level ground & whilst dark it appeared they were inside a large chamber. To the left of the gate control pedestal were a couple of posts with some sort on information board mounted on them. Flicking on the RV’s twin spotlights it was clear it was a dusty chamber maybe 150m square & 30m high.
Carefully Dungip piloted the drone through the gate, with cameras transmitting he circled it around the room. On the perimeter walls were various display cases containing numerous dust covered artefacts. A feint line of light had been seen on the wall opposite the gate, with the RV’s illumination it was clear this was a double door to an illuminate room or corridor beyond. Happy that the atmosphere was breathable & with gravity noted as around three quarters of that of earth. Happy that they weren’t about to die SG2 bravely stepped through.
Wall light units were dotted around the perimeter of the room as well as hanging from the ceiling, bizarrely however they were gas lights.
Belatedly the rooms dust covered floor was inspected, old prints were just about discernable suggesting the room hadn’t been visited for some considerable time but the RV & SG2’s own passage had obliterated most of the area around the gate itself.
Dungip began taking recording details of all of what were clearly museum notice boards. He felt he was tantalisingly close to being able to read them, they had a definite hint of Egyptian about it or at least north African Arabic. Dungip recalled that Helen was fluent in Egyptian as well as its Coptic predecessor.
It was at that point that the sounds of voices were heard beyond the double door.