Teal'c settled into the seat and allowed the airmen to strap him in. Once the safety measures had been put into place and he was ready to take off, Colonel O'Neill climbed onto the step ladder and leaned into the cockpit. He scanned the control panel, obviously jealous that he wasn't getting to test-fly the X301-Intercept. He put a hand on Teal'c's shoulder and said, "You good, T?"
"I am prepared," Teal'c said.
"Because if you're feeling tense or sick or..."
Teal'c merely raised an eyebrow.
"Right. Well... the General will be here soon. We just wanna be able to show him the thing is operational. He paid a pretty penny for this thing."
"I believe the estimated cost was--"
"A pretty penny," O'Neill interrupted. "Take her out, kick the wheels, work out the kinks." He hesitated and then added, "And try to make an entrance. These Pentagon folks don't get out too often. We like to make things memorable for them."
Teal'c bowed his head forward. "As you wish, O'Neill." He placed the helmet on his head, fastened the mask over the lower half of his face and raised his fist with the thumb extended as he had been instructed. O'Neill backed out of the cockpit and headed down the ladder as the cockpit was moved into place.
He watched O'Neill hurry across the tarmac to where the rest of SG-1 was waiting with Major Davis. The man from the tower spoke into his earpiece and Teal'c responded with the pre-flight check. Everything was in order, so he powered up the engines. He saw O'Neill lift a radio to his mouth and, a moment later, heard the man's voice crackle into his helmet. "Let's see what this bad boy can do, eh, Teal'c?"
"As you wish, O'Neill." He powered the thrusters and the ship barreled down the runway. An instant after pushing forward, the base and his teammates were far behind. He took the ship into a steep climb, ordered to stay above cloud cover as much as possible lest the unusual ship be spotted by nosy civilians. The clouds washed over the cockpit cover like lace curtains, pulling back to reveal a clear, crisp blue sky.
Teal'c leveled out and turned the ship slightly to take a new trajectory. In the distance, he could see mountains rising through the clouds. The Rocky Mountains, or Rockies, the chain which crossed the whole of the United States, from the country known as Canada to Mexico. Majestic peaks, yes, but he had seen taller mountains on most every planet he had ever set foot on. However, there was something to be said for beauty, he thought.
He added a touch of speed and turned to follow the mountain range for a few hundred miles. He realized this was his first chance to see the planet beyond Cheyenne Mountain without someone tagging along. If he was not required to have an escort, then he required someone - Daniel Jackson or Colonel O'Neill, usually - to drive him. It was particularly freeing to be out, soaring, free to see whatever he wished.
The cloud cover cleared out and he angled the ship so that he could look down at the world below him. He was unaware of which country - no, these were states - was below him at the moment. Perhaps still Colorado, or perhaps he had passed into... Woming? He could not remember, despite Major Carter's attempts to study the map with him.
Green farmland, bisected by a latticework of roads, passed by below him. He couldn't make out cars or people from this height, but he knew they were there. Human beings, completely unaware of the war going on right outside their doorstep. A world of people who didn't seem ready to acknowledge there <i>was</i> a world outside their doorstep. They looked, they hoped, they believed, but they were wholly unprepared to be confronted by the reality of it all.
He turned the ship to the west and gained altitude to clear the mountains. There was a brief tug of the controls just before he leveled out, but he checked the gauges and everything came up clear. He made a note of it and focused on flying again. He cleared the mountains, pulled a tight circle and looked down. Farmland had transformed into a desert. This "Vegas" place O'Neill kept threatening to take him was down there somewhere, but Teal'c doubted he could find it. He continued on until the continent suddenly vanished, replaced by a clear expanse of beautiful blue water.
Teal'c had seen oceans before, naturally. He had seen planets with vast expanses of water, planets where the water overwhelmed the land. But Earth had truly glorious seas. He dropped below the cloud cover, since there was less chance of being spotted, and skimmed above the waves. Far to his right, he saw something rise from the water and turned to intercept it. By the time he reached the area, the creature had moved to the southwest. It was large, marked black and white, and expelled a spout of crystal clear water from the middle of its back.
Teal'c wagged the wings back and forth and, an instant later, the sea creature rose completely from the water. It twisted in the sky, flicked its tail at the ship and disappeared under the waves once more. Teal'c could see several identical creatures just below the surface of the water, moving together like a family or a school of fish.
He checked the console and saw it was nearly time to rendezvous back at the base. He gave the creatures one more wave with his wings, rose above the clouds and turned back to the east. The sun was above him, turning the top of the X301 gold. He saw several airliners now, moving slowly - compared to him, anyway - across the sky. Taking people from one place to another.
He was unsure how many people each vessel could hold. One hundred? Two? He counted four airplanes at various distances to him. Figuring one hundred and fifty people per ship, that was six hundred humans in the air with him at the moment. This world was his hope, the world that had somehow, against all odds, grown warriors that could rival the Goa'uld.
When he had turned his back on his false god and joined forces with Colonel Jack O'Neill, his sole purpose had been freedom for his people. He had wanted to overthrow the Goa'uld and these people were the best chance he had at achieving it. But now, after four years of fighting alongside these people - his colleagues, his friends - he now found he was just as invested in saving this particular planet. Earth was now his home.
The console indicated he was nearing Colorado, so he lowered his speed and dropped altitude. As the clouds began to tear across his windscreen once more, he heard O'Neill's voice in his helmet. "Teal'c? Ya there, buddy?"
Teal'c smiled and checked to make sure the direction from which he was approaching. O'Neill had told him to make an entrance... he would do what he could to make it memorable. "Look immediately to the southwest, O'Neill."
The clouds broke apart and Teal'c flew directly at the group of people standing on the runway. The rest of SG-1, along with Major Davis, but General Hammond and General Vidrine had also arrived. The group stood next to their vehicles, and Teal'c pulled up at the very last second. As he passed, he saw the five people below him duck and cover. He pulled up and smiled as he turned the craft for another pass.
"Looking good, Teal'c!" O'Neill reported. He sounded pleased, so Teal'c's smile widened. "Give us another fly-by. Low and slow."
"As you wish."
Teal'c passed over the group again, following alongside the runway. He cut to the right and passed over the airport as the new General - the only observer he had never met - stared up at him with awe. <i>I believe I have made the impression you wished, O'Neill,</i> Teal'c thought. He came back for another pass and, in a moment of uncharacteristic playfulness, turned the ship in a barrel roll.
He knew it was time to come in for a landing, so he began putting the ship to sleep. He began cutting power and turned the ship in a wide radius so he could come in for a landing on the runway. He moved with practiced ease and the ship came in for an easy, quick landing at the end of the runway. As it taxied forward, he angled it to one side and came to rest mostly on the grass to the side of the runway. There was a chance of aircraft needing to come in for a landing, so he had been asked to keep the way as clear as possible.
The ship finally stopped and he unhooked the mask, letting it dangle in front of his face. The cockpit cover pulled back and he began unlatching the straps that held him in his seat. To his right, he could see the rest of SG-1 speaking with Generals Vidrine and Hammond.
The Jaffa were still, and always would remain, his sole concern. But for the moment, for the duration of the battle to come, he had no doubt that this was his planet, and these were his people.