Re: Mission: Mousetrap (Invite)

[Mouse]

Mouse didn't know what the words meant, but she instinctively calmed down, her breathing slowing, and with it, her heart rate.

She didn't want to think about what the other woman had been through. She knew all too well what other people were capable of, and she didn't want to think of what kind of cruelty Sarah could have gone through.

The two of them dried off, Mouse pulling her dirty clothes back on. No, it didn't make a lot of sense to clean off only to put dirty things back on, but it was the best she could do right then.

Mouse led the way back to the cave silently. But this time, the trek wasn't a lonely one. She had a friend. A friend who understood, even without words.

[Sarah Yadin]

Sarah followed Mouse, putting on her old clothes. The first person to eye her wet shirt was going to die. They were going to have to steal clothes in town, if they ended up going.

She had half a mind to go on her own, but she'd never be allowed on another mission if she did that.

Not being in charge was annoying.

She made it back to the cave with minimal limping and with a sense of satisfaction. No, not many words were exchanged with Mouse, but Sarah didn't need words.

She went over to the commander and sat close enough to be heard but far enough to be distant. Sarah combed her long wet hair while she spoke.

"Mouse is the only native we can trust. This doesn't seem to be a society based on any kind of equality. There are slaves. Nearby there is a group of either traders or a hostile force, they cannot be trusted either. Most people look Asian, but with the influx of Goa'uld slaves and others, it is possible we could blend in--or that one of us could. Someone needs to make contact with the operative on the ground."

She struggled with a knot, making her hair fall to one side off her neck.

[Daniel Blackburne]

"And how exactly do the locals look on the traders or hostile force or whatever they are, and/or the Goa'uld and their slaves? Would we be welcome, just walking in, loaded for bear or what?" Dan rumbled, absently spinning his knife in his hand as he looked Yadin and Mouse over top to bottom (he didn't know or care what they'd been up to, he was curious about whether it had taken anything out of them, or drawn any attention), before adding, "You two don't clean up half-badly."

[Sarah Yadin]

Sarah yanked her jacket closed over her damp shirt with a burning glare at Dan. He'd been there. He'd seen. What was he kidding? She'd been a bloody mess when he'd rescued her, barely looking human. She didn't need or want his pity.

"Slavery is an accepted institution here, if Mouse's life is any indication. The townspeople either support it or don't question it. Anyone outside the borders of the towns are fair game. Our best bet is to make contact with our operative and get off this rock."

She huddled over the small fire the others had made where it couldn't be seen from the outside of the cave. The sun was setting already, turning the rocks an uncomfortable shade of crimson.

She pieced Mouse's life together largely by inference, but from the look in the other woman;s eyes she wasn't off by much. It was better to assume the worst about the natives than to walk into danger.

[Daniel Blackburne]

"What good does knowing about slavery do us, exactly?" Dan queried, making a point of ignoring the glare and angry jacket-closing (though if Yadin had been born of a different gender with this attitude, a slap on the back of the neck wouldn't go amiss), "Unless you're suggesting we try to buy our operative from the Goa'uld. In which case I counter-propose just shooting ourselves."

Dan rose slowly from the stone he'd been sitting on and crossed the cave to the wall Crichton and Yadin occupied, so he could see the entrance to the cave. He stayed standing, watching for movement in the forest below, occasionally casting his eye back into the cave to make sure smoke wasn't getting trapped in with them.

"Whatever we do, we'd better get a move on it ASAP. Every minute we spend here lowers our odds of getting back at all, never mind in one piece," Dan rumbled.

[Sandy Howards]

"Some of us might be able to blend in with the natives," Sandy made a sweeping gesture of the darker members of their team before continuing, "But others of us are a little too... translucent... to ever be able to pass as Asian without some serious makeup." She gestured at herself with that one.

"Call me crazy, but I don't think that only getting one of us in isn't really going to be a big help. We need to get all of us back to the Gate so we can get home. Our mission was to see what kind of people were here and to see if they'd embrace the fact that the Goa'uld aren't gods and if they would help us fight. From what our little native has said, it doesn't sound like either of those are likely. Which means that, unless I'm wrong, our mission goal just changed to 'get home without dying'."

[Jonathan O'Loughlan]

Jonathan had a decent vantage point from his spot at the mouth of the cave. He could see clear to the treeline and little glimpses of the river where the two women went to wash up. What was it with women and wanting to always be clean. No wonder women weren't allowed in special forces. They probably would be able to be sniffed out by a man who couldn't smell from a mile away. At least that was Jonathan's line of thought that he kept to himself lest he bring the Commander's wrath down on his head.

As he watched through the scope of his rifle, he made sure not to move it to were he could see the two bathing ladies but to where he could get shots off at anyone who tried to intrude on the spa treatment. He took careful watch on the area below them as they waiting. Even after the alien and the non-military team member came back he kept up his watch. That was until everyone started arguing about what to do.

He carefully set the stock down on the cave floor before sitting up and looking at the officers carefully. The brit definitely had the makings of special forces with the way he kept his hair. The commander he couldn't quite place. He knew he was Navy with his rank but he couldn't really place his unit. The red-head was definitely a Marine. He could tell from the MEU(SOC) she carried. The Middle-Easterner was definitely civilian. He could tell with the way she carried herself and her attitude with everyone in the group. Probably CIA or some British Military Intelligence.

"With all do respect sirs...and ma'ams," He nodded to both Sandy and Yadin, "But don't you think you guys are over complicating things, except for the Lieutenant-Colonel over there. We could wait until its time to reconnect with our operative, if he hasn't been discovered, and make our way back to the gate. Split into two teams. One to retrieve the operative and the other to secure the gate for the arrival. If the enemy starts mobilizing on the gate, we can still secure it and get the hell out of Dodge. That way we can rearm, get dry, and come back and get the operative when everything cools off." With that he rolled back over and assumed his overwatch position. What was it his old Platoon Sergeant said once, 'Get too many officers in a foxhole and wait for the enemy to kill you while you wait for a plan.'

[Sandy Howards]

Sandy turned to the other Marine with a raised eyebrow. Her voice came out unintentionally clipped and dry. "'Get home without dying' is over-complicating things? Huh. Here I was, thinking that simplified things down as much as possible." Sandy kept the argumentative thoughts in her head. Like, the fact that she was pretty sure he was seeing her statements as overcomplication simply because she didn't have a penis, a conclusion come to because he had respect for Blackburne.

Yeah. She wasn't all that thrilled right then. She'd run into that attitude far more often than she'd care to admit, and normally, she was a lot better at not rising to the bait. She'd expected more from the SGC, though. She'd been chosen for this job because of her capability. If she hadn't been good enough, she wouldn't have been chosen, and she wouldn't have been chosen over men.

[Eric Crichton]

"Enough!" Crichton boomed in a stern voice.

He glanced around the cave at everyone, "Everyone here has a valid point but sitting here with our fingers up our collective asses is not going to accomplish anything."

"We are going to split up into two teams. Team one will consist of myself and Colonel Blackburn. Team two will be everyone else with Colonel Howards in charge."

Crichton tapped his throat mic, "Harlequin, SG-1. We will be departing this world ASAP. Rendezvous two klicks east of the Stargate for extraction."

"Blackburn and I will be going to get Harlequin. The rest of you get back to the gate and take up firing positions around the gate. Pick your targets but do not engage until we get back with Harlequin."

[Sarah Yadin]

Sandy may not have voiced it, but Sarah did. She was tired of being ignored and she was tired of being treated like a no-nothing civilian. She was a Major, dammit. She may be technically a civilian now--but that was only a technicality. Fine, she'd made a mistake with her ankle--it didn't make her incompetent.

"Keep your babysitter." She spat with military grade ire.

Sarah grabbed her gear and angled Mouse over to where Sandy stood--the three women more than a match for the men. Sure, one of them wasn't military, but from the look of how Mouse handled herself and the length of time she had survived on her own, she'd take Mouse by her side over a chauvinist jar-head any day.

Any repercussion from her mouthing off was ignored with practiced ease. What was he going to make her do, clean the Gate Room with a toothbrush? There were perks to being a civilian.

"Alright, Howards. How do you want to play this? A slave culture means there's going to be diverse mixture of people. It also means that most of them will either be suspicious of us, or trying to sell us. Neither of which we want. I have a feeling that the area around the Gate will be teeming with people now, so we're going to need new clothes to at least try and blend in until we can make a break for it. The good news is, if people think you're a slave doing a job they're less likely to question you. The bad news is you have no rights if they do. Mouse is our guide."

She paused, looking the redhead over with assessing eyes.

"I say we let her guide us and see if we can get close to the Gate."

[Richard Hale]

Richard continued his gruelling slave labor for the day, not having heard back within a few seconds of the last transmission. Not wanting to raise suspicion of being late to his daily labor, he left his "quarters" for the day.

19 hours later and a few whippings later, Richard had finished for the day and proceeded back to his tent for some much needed rest. The sun was setting and darkness was coming quickly. Pulling open the tent flap he immediately went to check the radio recordings for any transmissions to find the following:

[/quote]"Harlequin, SG-1. We will be departing this world ASAP. Rendezvous two klicks east of the Stargate for extraction."[/quote]

Richard immediately jumped back on the radio, sending out a transmission.

"SG-1, Harlequin - Just returned back to comm - 19 hours has passed since last comm. Is rendevous current?"

Richard quickly began to grab his gear in order to move out rapidly if the mission were to proceed.

((OOC: Sorry for speeding it up. I did the math and with the bathing scene there was no way my character would have been standing by for that long - feel free to ignore my post until the 19 hours is up.))

[Daniel Blackburne]

((OOC: Bouncing on to after the SG Team splits into the smaller fire teams. ))

"This is Half-Colonel Blackburne, SG-1," Dan answered - it was a reflex from being in command for so long, but he shrugged off the potential insubordination risks; they could deal with that when they were home, "Rendezvous is live, Harlequin. Extraction point unchanged, we are available to provide fire support if necessary. Pack your bags, soldier. We're bringing you in."

Dan removed his hand from his radio and shifted his PDW to his shoulder again, pushing the fire control from Safe to Semi. He shifted his weight to his left and spat (for whatever reason, he tended to drool a lot in anticipation of a fight - nerves were strange things) before clearing his throat loudly. Nerves were part of the job, even for Type-A's; the guys who didn't get a little nervy tended to be maniacs who couldn't hack the job. Last no-nerves Dan knew ate a shotgun barrel in Berlin after an op.

"You one of the Brass who's allowed talk about why he's here?" Dan grunted to Crichton, looking the SEAL top-to-toe.

[Richard Hale]

"Rendezvous is live, Harlequin. Extraction point unchanged, we are available to provide fire support if necessary. Pack your bags, soldier. We're bringing you in."

Hearing the exchange over the radio, Richard quickly gathers the few belongings he has, holstering his pistol on his ankle under his pant leg. The rest slide into a small bag he had, sliding in a loop over his shoulder.

Peeling away a corner of his tent flap to survey the scene, no guards were currently visible. Richard sneaks through the camp, sliding between tent after tent making his way through the camp to the outskirts. Near the edge Richard searches for an empty tent of a slave that had died earlier in the week. Grabbing a tent flap, he lights it on fire, letting it slowly burn upwards to the main part of the tent. He quickly sneaks away to watch the tent become a bonfire, catching some tents next to it on fire. As the alarm is sounded for a camp fire, slaves pour out their tents in confusion and dissaray, making the camp into a loud disorganized mess - guards begin converging on the scene ordering slaves to do various acts in an attempt to quelm the fire. Richard takes note of the guard positions - even with the confusion the well trained Jafaa continue to maintain a perimeter to dissuade any attempts at escape.

Richard sneaks through the camp, looking for any chance of escape and finding none. Another plan would have to be devised. With that, Richard grabs a stick of C4 and gets to work.

[Eric Crichton]

Crichton paid it no mind when Dan quickly responded to Harlequin, in fact he rather liked it when people on his team knew what they were doing and how to do it. Made for a smooth and easy operation in his opinion. On this thought his mind shifted to the Mossad agent, he had to do something about that situation and fast. If Sarah could not stow her personal problems on mission she would be a liability to the team.

"You one of the Brass who's allowed to talk about why he's here?" The Lieutenant Colonel asked, causing the Commander to slightly turn his head towards him to respond.

"You mean the Stargate program? Just did my job, got recommended to the Chief of Naval Operations by my commanding officer. Nothing too fancy." Crichton stopped for a moment and squinted his eyes towards a bush he saw shuffle a bit off in the distance and spotted a type of local furry critter of some kind then continued, "Granted the op did not go completely as planned but the fact that my team and I got out with no signs that the US had any involvement piqued the interest of my superiors."

Eric took a quick sip from his CamelBak tube before darting his eyes towards Dan, "How about yourself?"

[Daniel Blackburne]

"The spooks and squaddies like to call it the Kashmir Incident. I call it a Mongolian Charlie Fox with added alien hardware. Broken Arrows, Danger Close air support, the whole lot. Then I got a nice little interrogation from Six and got packed off to Cheyenne," Dan responded, stopping on high ground to watch the camp that had swollen in the time it took the SG Team to regroup, "Well. Yu really has been a busy little bug..."

Dan took a knee first, despite the trees at their back protecting them from being silhouetted against the clear night sky, "Short distance but it's exposed. Harlequin's probably gonna spot that gully down there though... should cover him most of the way up. If I gambled I'd say most of the fire's gonna come from down there where they got some shelter from the weather if it kicks off," Dan suggested, gesturing toward a brightly-lit section of the camp without much movement going on.

"You got anything that reaches further than that big sidearm?" he went on - he wasn't trying to be disparaging but MP5s were still pistol calibre firearms and well, this was rifle country.

Dan shrugged off his pack and pulled his bolt rifle from the long compartment, laying it on the ground carefully before producing its suppressor from within the pack. He engaged his PDW's safety and set the short rifle down on the pack before he turned his hands to setting up his rifle, "If you find y'need a little more kick, you know how to drive that thing."

That said, he settled down in a prone position and disengaged his rifle's tang safety, "And now we just wait until Harlequin goes loud."

[Jonathan O'Loughlan]

"No ma'am." He was talking to the female Marine as he watched the base of the hill with the marksman rifle. "I actually think your idea is the best idea I've heard all day." After hearing that they would be splitting into two teams, Jonathan raised up and began packing up his DMR. It wouldn't be much use on the move and probably not much use outside of an elevated firing position. Once the M16 was removed from the gunslinger and the M110 was safely stowed away inside, Jonathan slid the straps of the back over his shoulders before sliding the combat sling over his neck and his right arm. He was now ready to send the pain to the enemy.

As he waited for the Marine Lieutenant Colonel to start giving orders, he pulled his MEU(SOC) .45 from the chest holster. He released the magazine, counted the rounds, and slid it back into the gun before putting a round into the barrel with quick pull on the slide. He decocked the hammer before sliding it back into the holster. He didn't want it going off prematurely and putting a forty-five caliber round through his left breast now did he.

[Sarah Yadin]

Sarah switched into silent observation mode while they made their way out of the cave and back into the forest. Once they got to the edge of the tree a few things were plain.

1. Mouse was too well known to the locals to go any further.
2. The Snakes had brought their own slaves to add to the fray so blending into the population was now completely possible.

With that change of playing field it was decided.

Sarah listened to Sandy's orders, further breaking up their little team. Sandy would take Mouse as close to the Gate as possible while still under the tree cover. This left it to her and O'loughlan to clear the way.

Sarah observed through her binoculars the bustling slave camp and their Jaffa guards. They wouldn't stand a chance if they went in shooting.

On first glance the scene looked chaotic--slaves and merchants and overseers hurrying about with no particular reason to their movements. But on closer inspection it was clear that regular shipments were being loaded and sent through the Stargate.

The Jaffa only observed, probably feeling lucky that today it wasn't their back breaking labor which sustained the Goa'uld's power. It was the slaves that ran the show as long as there were no disturbances.

A slave operated the Gate while other slaves took the cargo through.

Sarah let a slight smile creep over her features and rolled to talk to her companion.

"There's an opening. If we time it just right, I think we can get off this planet without firing a single shot. It is too heavily guarded down there, but if we blend into the slaves, replace the ones making the shipments and the one manning the DHD, we might have a chance. Do you agree?"

((Sorry this took so long, Joey--trip and all that. ))

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