TITLE: The Caduceus Circle AUTHOR: Tiv'ester E-MAIL: tivester@lycos.com CATEGORY: Angst, H/C, Drama SPOILERS: Multiple SEASON/SEQUEL: 7th-ish RATING: PG CONTENT WARNINGS: There's a big fight, lots of shooting, some military officers getting a wee bit out of line, a few swear words. SUMMARY: Inspired by the legend of the Lost Battalion in WWI, Daniel leads a group of scientists on a 'peaceful' exploratory mission that goes tragically wrong DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate SG-1. Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only. No money has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author. AUTHOR'S NOTES: This story was originally printed in the zine An Ancient's Gate Special: Tribute 1 which can be found at Ancient's Gate. Big thanks to Barb, Bri, JB, Katie, Lady Anne, Mare, Whisper and Yssy for doing a great alpha/beta job on this story. Another big thanks to everyone who’s helped me along with this story since it first started knocking around my head a couple of years ago.
This story was inspired by the legend of the Lost Battalion of World War I.
On October 2nd, 1918, units of the 77th "Liberty" Division from New York advanced into the dense terrain of the Argonne Forest in France. History was made over the next 6 days as this unit, the "Lost Battalion," refused to surrender even though they were completely surrounded, constantly attacked, low on ammunition and supplies, had no food, shelter and limited access to water. Of the over 600 men first trapped in the "pocket," only around 200 walked out.
THE CADUCEUS CIRCLE By Tiv’ester
PREFACE Green, peaceful, the planet Cyllene rotated undisturbed in the darkness of space. It was never of any strategic importance, never considered worthy of notice by the powerful beings that fought each other for galactic territories in order to expand their empires. Lost to time, it was the home of humans long overlooked by the Goa’uld. Cyllene had a slowly growing population who enjoyed a simple life without the imminent threat of enslavement or destruction. That is not to say that all was peaceful on Cyllene. There were occasional skirmishes, the times when troubles came beckoning and force was needed to restore order, but with a small population and only one continent with environmental conditions capable of sustaining a civilization under the control of a single monarch, the need for a fully trained army wasn’t there. The lack of any insurgencies or an attacking Jaffa force had allowed the people to grow and evolve on their own terms, to settle into a life where both work and comfort could be indulged. They had learned not only the value but also the worth of peace from their ancestors. According to recorded belief, the god Hermes and his brother Apollo had battled Anubis for dominion of a regime. The war was devastating. Hermes and Apollo’s combined forces could not gain any advantage over Anubis’ advanced ships. In an attempt to save some of his people, Hermes took a select population from a far off war-torn planet and settled them on Cyllene, a planet far from the war zone. He gave them gifts they would need to establish themselves on a new world and have rich, full lives: basics such as animal husbandry, literature and poetry. He taught the ancestors how to bargain fairly and established the first commerce in the small villages that were scattered around the chappa’ai. He was a benevolent, cunning god. He gave them Cyllene, built a magnificent temple that magically protected them from enemies as well as housed the treasures he had collected on his previous excursions, and then, after sealing the temple mysteriously and unexpectedly, he left them to their own devices to grow and develop on their own. According to history, Hermes never returned. He had been absent for over a millennia, after his rival god Anubis was rumored to have been defeated and then suddenly disappeared. As per their god’s will, the Cyllenians had lived in relative peace for long years. That peace was shattered when the Great Eruption buried the capitol city of Trikrena within hours, causing mass destruction and rampant loss of life. The kingdom became one of devastation and ruin. Prayers to Hermes went unanswered, and the Cyllenians faced the daunting task of rebuilding alone. One of the most lamentable items lost was the library that housed many of their historical documents. At first, the restoration of order and civilization were the priority. Some time passed before anyone realized how much of their history was lost in the Great Eruption, so the scholars mounted a quest to reclaim and record as much knowledge as possible from all corners of the land. They built a repository for their findings, calling it the Trikrenian in honor of their lost city. It sheltered all the artifacts they discovered. The scrolls documenting their research were meticulously catalogued and referenced as each new piece of their past was uncovered. Yet one bit of documentation that tempted the imagination was the story of the temple. If the legends were true, then Hermes placed many prized possessions and a protective weapon in the temple to defend Cyllene from his enemies. After the Great Eruption, the location of the temple was lost or forgotten and eventually became a bedtime story to tell children. When they found the first documents referring to the temple as an actual site, it was no longer the stuff of legend. It became the focal point of the scholars’ search. Even if it had been destroyed, the temple was the one place that the historians and scholars believed would hold all the answers. They mounted intense searches to find it, but when they discovered its location and began excavating it, all was not as the Cyllenians believed…
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