"Frag that!" yells James as he switches the MP5 to burst and slams a burst at the remaining target, rushing forward at the position of the remaining target at the same time.

Os's burst catches the remaining Jaffa in the legs, the bullets ricochet and spark as they bounce ineffectually off the aliens armor.

James rolls on his shoulder at the end of his run and comes up firing, the burst slamming into the Jaffa's chest. Again, the bullet's spark and ricochet off the target's armor.

"Alive it is. Be careful where you shoot, I am going to surprise him. Anyone who want to help is welcome," Ghost Dragon says subvocally over the radio.

Ghost Dragon puts away his gun and quietly sneaks up behind the remaining Jaffa. He picks up a handful of sand while doing so.

The huge black warrior spins to his right, out of the line of fire and drops to one knee. He lowers his staff so that the front end is pointed at Torque, and the rear end is pointed at Ran. He triggers the weapon and both end light up, spewing forth a bolt of deadly orange energy.

The bullet from Torques weapon strikes the soldier in the arm. He grunts, and continues to fight. A dark red spot forms where the bullet hit.

There is a sharp exhalation of breath from Ran as the staff blast hits her. Without missing a beat, she dances to the side and slashes forward at the Jaffa's staff arm with her blade.

James moves in for a kidney punch, only his spur is out and looks like a wicked thing extending from his wrist as he uses Ran's attack for a distraction.

Torque grunts in agony from the searing energy that blasted his chest. Deciding to let the "Neanderthals" handle things without him, Torque lets the pain take over and falls backwards, transmitting only the word "Opossum" over the radio in hopes that the others will get the reference.

The Jaffa spins sideways and starts twirling his staff as the two warriors move into attack. Ran's deadly blade slips through his defenses, slicing open his armor and drawing blood on his arm. He grunts in pain, but manages to bring up the staff to block James' spur attack. He spins again, slapping one end against James. The staff discharges a energy blast as it impacts the ex-soldier.

Ghost Dragon sneaks up to the Jaffa and uses his training in zoning to find a superior position from which to attack the guy. With what he thinks is a good position, Ghost Dragon drives an uppercut toward the Jaffa's head.

Having seen his normal rounds bounce off the alien, Os ducks back into cover, ejecting the current magazine and placing a magazine of ExEx into the ammo-slot, mentally switching to full-auto as he does so.

"Ran, James, get the hell out of there," he says while reloading the Alpha. Peering out of his cover ever so slightly, Os waits for the two to get clear before he takes another shot.

James grunts and uses the close proximity to empty a burst into the Jaffa's face.

Unable to get a clear shot, Chase keeps his gun pointed in the direction of the combat and waits for an opportunity.

The chaotic swirl of melee madness continues as the Jaffa fends off the two highly skilled opponets. Suddenly his jaw is upturned ever so slightly, and he grunts, more from suprise the anything else. He swings his staff in front of him but only hits air.

Ran's face hardens with concentration, and perhaps a bit of annoyance. She lithely pulls her body back into a crouching position and springs into another attack, blade flashing.

The Jaffa, overwhelmed by the number of attacks, made a critical mistake. He spun sideways and braced himself for the blow, using his staff to block the sword. The blade, forged two hundred years before the current wielder was even born, sliced through the technologically advanced weapon like it was butter.

The sword continued on piercing the armor and drinking deep of the flesh. The Jaffa howled in pain, and collapsed.

Just as he fell, the light re-appeared from the ceiling. With it came the high pitched noise.

"Stay back, guys. If this is another bunch of aliens, they'll have a grenade to play with when they land," Os says.

Ghost Dragon thought about hiding behind the rings and ambushing the leader if he came down, but hearing Os's warning, he retreats back and off to the left toward the entrance.

From his position on the floor, Torque swings up his rifle and takes aim at the rings.

Having quietly been watching the battle from the vantage of his rock impersonation, and having witnessed the difficult his teammates had with just the two... the two --. well, whatever the heck those two guys were -- his heart nearly sank when he saw the rings and the light appear again.

There's no telling what brought the course of action to his mind; whether it was seeing his only 'friends' in danger or, more likely, the desperation at having seen what it was that caused the ruckus outside... but something clicked inside his hazy little mind. But whatever it was, little dwarf -- his consciousness still being inside his skyboard -- developed a course of action and nothing was going to stop him from doing through with it. No sir... it was only a matter of time.

The rings erupted from the ground with startling speed. The light pulsed and 6 morse soldiers materialized. Along with them however, was one in a black cloak, and black armor,

"Jaffa, kree!" He shouted as they all lowered their staff weapons and looked for targets.

Over the commlink, Cosmo's voice pipes up... but, much like earlier in the day, there's definitely something different about both his demeanor and his syntax. The sheer volume of charisma he appears to have at his command with each word is both startling and undeniable.

"The time for pacifism and bickering has come to an end. I don't care which one of you thinks you're the boss, but I'm not about to let myself get killed on this pathetic dustball... so here's what we're going to do. If you have any complaints, save them for later.

"Ran, grab my body from the corner. Chase, rip one of those control gauntlets from the body -- I don't care how you have to do it, just do it. Everyone else, get your asses rolling and take off towards the stargate with Chase and James taking up the rear and covering everyone's backs. Don't look back, just move and move as if your life is on the line, because it most certainly is. This isn't the time for sightseeing or pussyfooting around. In the meantime I'll do what I can to keep their attention focused in here for as long as I can.

"When you get to the gate, I'll jump back into my body and dial in a random address. No, I don't know where the hell it'll take us, but anywhere is better than here. Trust me. We have no hope of surviving against what I saw outside, so at least it'll buy us some time until I can decipher the address home.

"This is not open for debate and I don't want to hear any bickering. If you want to live to see tomorrow, do it and do it now." The burst of information on the radio link goes dead as his skyboard begins to descend from the temple's heaven... its floodlights powering up as if it were the halo of the angel of death. The lights focus their deadly attention on the six soldiers that just arrived, blinding them with their brilliance just before Cosmo slams on the virtual accelerator...

Ran would laugh out loud, had she the time.
Instead, she does exactly what... Cosmo? ... says. She darts into the corner and slings his little body over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and makes it for the exit like nobody's business.

Torque grimaces in pain behind his respirator as he levers himself up from the ground using his rifle as a crutch. Underneath the FFBA a layer of par-broiled skin peels off, sticking to the armor instead of the body.
Torque: "I hope you know what you're doing Cosmo. Nobody else does."
Torque heads for the exit behind Ran.

Ran subvocalizes as she runs: "Hey, you're the one limping."

James calls back over the radio, "Ten-four Cosmo. I'll play Horatius, just find me my bridge!"

Ghost Dragon says over the radio subvocally, "Two kilometers is a long way to try and make an escape. We can defend better from our positions here, though we will eventually be overwhelmed. There can only be a limited number of soldiers inside of their vehicle. I was about to sneak up on the leader if he came back down until I heard that a grenade was covering the new arrivals. I can help cover our escape. They do not seem able to see me, as I had hoped. But, Cosmo, what makes you certain the front door is still open?"

Ghost Dragon readies a defensive IPE grenade by pulling it from his belt and holding it with two fingers looped through the pin in both hands.

"$#@*&!" is the only thing the Mad Hatter can muster to think to himself at Ghost Dragon's bickering. It takes him less than a nanosecond to recover before he responds.

"There's a city on top of your heads now, and the door is open. If you want to stay, fine. Unlike the military men we brought along, I couldn't give a fig about leaving a man behind. So either do as I say or don't, but stay off the commlink so those of us wishing to see tomorrow can coordinate our retreat." The annoyance found in his digital voice is almost jarring, but that's to be expected considering the fact that he just rammed his temporary body into a squad of goons at over 150mph.

The drone plows into the first two Jaffa with a tremendous force that lifts the lead to of their feet and throws there broken, wrecked bodies into two others. In total, four Jaffa fall down leaving one, soldier and the one dressed in black.

A pop in the air like a punching bag being hit signals the launch of Os’ grenade. The 20mm projectile arcs threw the air detonating nearly perfectly on target. The detonation of the grenade engulfs all of them. A shimmering golden light can be seen threw the debris and smoke.

As the cloud clears, only the Jaffa in black is left standing. He stretches for his hand and a brilliant blue bolt of electricity arcs out and touches Os. The energy grounds itself through the older man and burns it’s way to the ground.

“Kree, tolan no viery, omnaious!” He shouts as the bolts strikes it’s target.

Ghost Dragon glares at the mage that has come down the teleporter. He says over the radio, "Begin the retreat. I will handle this."

Ghost Dragon drops his spell, making himself visible. "Was it lightning? Let me try..."

Holding the grenade in one hand, Ghost Dragon focuses his energy, drawing in as much mana as he can. He forms the mana into the spell and raises his other hand toward the figure in black.

"RRAUGH!" he roars, and his eyes glow as the spell streaks toward its target.

"Frag!" comes over the radio, James voice irate. "Everyone out now!"

James switches to suppressive fire and opens up with the MP5 and his right arm, all the while screaming "Jaffa Kree!" in a voice as intimidating as he can muster. The radio voice comes over "Lets get them confused, start shouting commands back at them."

The lightning bolt slams into the Jaffa's back, arcing around him and grounding out at his feet. The impact knocks him a step forward, but otherwise he seems intact. He start to laugh. Then a device at his belt sparks and explodes. A bright gold field shimmers around him, then vanishes. He stops laughing when the burst from James SMG rips into him.

The two remaining Jaffa on the ground divide their attention, one turns to Ghost Dragon, the other to James. Their weapons light up with the orange fire and spew forth bolts of death at each target.

Ran reaches Cosmo and hefts him on her shoulder.

Over the comm: "Rodger THAT!"

Chase explodes into motion before Cosmo's voice can fade from the radio. Using the flurry of activity to cover his movement as best as he can, Chase crosses the distance separating him and the carcasses. He slides to a crouch at one of the alien bodies and snatches what he thinks is the "control gauntlet" before scrambling after the retreating team.

Torque transmits over his Radio.
Torque: "Personally I'm with you GD, running out into the desert where we have no cover and theres 'An entire City' to shoot at us is completely nuts. Unless you can render us all invisible at once. Can you suggest any better ideas?"

Christ, they have mages too? Os thinks as the smell of ozone clears up.

Not really taking that much of a hit thanks to the eletrical insulation in his form-fitting armour, he ups and fires off a parting grenade at the alien, then quickly about-faces and piss-bolts with the rest of the team.

"Your funeral, good riddance. Everyone else, out now. I'm locking the door in ten seconds and will try to keep the controls confused for as long as I can."

Ghost Dragon grins evilly as the figure in black falls. He tries to dodge the shot from one of the Jaffa's staves.

Over the radio, he says, "I taxed myself a bit with that spell. I cannot conceal all of you. I lack the power. I can conceal myself and perhaps two others. More, and I would be likely to pass out from the strain. I think concealing those of you who are most wounded would be the wisest course of action. That would be James and Torque."

He begins running for the exit behind the others and tries to cast a spell to conceal himself, James, and Torque once they are all outside.

After casting the spell, he says, "Sorry, James. We must make this run count. That was all I had."

"Rodger Ghost" James replies, trying to keep up.

As the team retreats, Os peppers the fallen Jaffa with another grenade. Unfortunately, this one is not quite as on target as the last and detonates behind the circle. Responding energy beams lance out and explode the rock wall where ever they hit. Debris and fragments rain on the team as they make the turn to the outside. Thankfully, the door is still open.

The wounded team regroups just outside the temple. After spending three hours in the temple, the hot air is like a sledge hammer in the stomach. If it is at all possible, it has gotten hotter since you all went inside.

Stepping out onto the sand reveals the immense shadow of the pyramid. A quick glance up shows what landed. A giant spacecraft… shaped like a pyramid.

Ghost Dragon quickly casts invisibility on the wounded, and then you all start your 3 kilometer run. Darting out of the shadows of the temple follows Snoopy. The long eared dog had stayed nearly invisible during the whole engagement.

After a few minutes of running there is no apparent pursuit, though you are getting hot, and tired.

Ran shifted Cosmo on her shoulder. He looked thin, but she was beginning to suspect the ever present burritos had played a part in her growing fatigue.

That, and it's three hundred degrees out here.

A quick glance back at the pyramid made Ran's stomach do a sudden flop. The scene was so incredibly bizarre, so ridiculously unreal, even after the trip through the Stargate, that she blinked at it a couple of times before turning her head back towards her destination.

"So, Coz," Ran subvocalized. "You got our random deathtrap picked out yet?"

With his sensors heavily honed on the pyramid for any signs of trouble, Cosmo's skyboard hovers down next to Ran.

"Yes," is the voice's only response to her question. "I can take the body from here. Hop on yourself and we'll fly ahead and prepare what we can for the escape, and I'll send the board back one by one to pick up the others."

Ran gratefully hefts Cosmo's sweaty little body off her shoulder and onto the skyboard, climbing lithely up behind him.

"Useful little gadget."

Ghost Dragon continues running along with the group. With the heat being unbearable, he takes sips of water to try and keep cool.

Ghost Dragon and Torque lag behind the group, injuries and fatigue combining to slow them down. Ran and Cosmo take off on the board and hover away incredibly fast. Soon they are naught but distant specs.

@ Cosmo and Ran,

it only takes a minute to reach the gate. All is as you left it.

As his skyboard dumps his body gently onto the sand, it resumes the position it was inside the temple. His arms are still tucked over his head, which in turn is still stucked between his knees. "You're a rock, dude... just a rock..." can just barely be heard whispering from his lips.

In the meantime, the board seems to wait for Ran to hop off before heading straight back to the group to pick up the others up and ferry them back, two at a time.

The board returns to the group a few minutes after it left, this time empty.

"Torque, Ghost. On you get."

Ran crouched down beside Cosmo and squeezed his shoulder, giving him a firm shake.

"Hey, little guy." Her accent had become thicker over the last few heart-pounding minutes, and she struggled to make herself clear and reassuring while her heartrate slowed back to normal. "The worst is over." Could be. Probably wasn't. "We're all ok. Now we need you to get us the frag outta this hellhole."

She leaned back into the insufferably hot sand and removed her bandana, wiping her damp forehead ineffectually with the soggy piece of cloth.

... out of the frying pan...

Ghost Dragon waits for Torque to climb onto the board, looking at him in astral so he can keep track of him, and then he gets on afterward, noting this with, "Ready.." followed by a sigh, as the fatigue from casting too many spells at one time and the hot sun combine to make him nearly pass out.

This is one job I am beginning to wish I had not taken. To go through the gate with the wrong address could kill us. What we find on the other side could be even worse.

He steps, or rather stumbles, off the board when it reaches the gate and waits for the others to arrive.

Torque climbs onto the board alongside Ghost Dragon. As the board reaches the gate he slides off.

Torque: "Cosmo how long do you figure it'll take to punch in coordinates and activate the gate? A couple of us took some damage, if we've got a minute or two I'd like to slap a bandaid on the wounds before we go into another unknown situation."