Stargate Through the Looking Glass and into Heaven.

Alright boys and girls, a little update for those of you who want more info on Goa'uld culture and society and for those of you who like to see a bit more about the alien tech. Annndd for @StormEagle More about how much of a douche canoe Apophis is.

Expect a couple more chapters soon!




Interlude

Chulak









Teal’c hadn’t seen her off, he hadn’t even come home when he returned through the gate from Abydos. This had been by design of course; Apophis needed to think things between them were bad at home for when his eventual defection occurred. Something she doubted any other system lord would have really bothered to notice (Not that they were dismissive of their primes or First primes, merely that they tended to maintain an extremely formal, rigid relationship with them). But Apophis on his good days often treated Drey’ac and Teal’c as though they were a mix of prized pets and adopted children and she knew he would notice Teal’c’s conspicuous absence, and it would further shield their son.







Idly she traced her fingers along the armored fabric that covered her pouch, the young symbiote inside was writhing around inside, laughing at some mental joke it shared with Ray’ac, her other son. It was such an odd relationship to have, especially knowing that the symbiote was a peer (It was taboo enough to be borderline obscene among the System lords and those precious few who possessed their power). Yet the Symbiote loved her son as a brother and regarded Teal’c and Drey’ac as parents. She, also understood this for Apophis barely tolerated any of his children besides Klorel and neglected all of his grand-children. The boy sustaining her immune system and enhancing the already formidable strength that a Jaffa’s lineage accorded her was the grandson of Apophis’ and his last wife Chanyu. Chanyu was the bastard daughter of King Yu with a granddaughter of Amaterasu or Athena (Drey’ac was never sure which, for Chanyu never spoke of her mother). She’d been a wife forced on Apophis by Ra some twelve thousand years ago (And one of the many reasons why Amaterasu refused to attend court), done to seal a trade deal and a strengthen the bond of alliance between Apophis and Yu (Not that either System Lord or God cared for the other very much) and because Ra got tired of Apophis constantly having affairs with lesser breeds of Goa’uld. The Story (as Herakles the Goa’uld Fist prime and bastard Son of Zeus told it anyway) was that Ra told him it was either he a found himself a proper wife and “got over Egeria’s cuckoldry” or else he’d have removed Apophis’ lower half and replaced it with robotic parts so he couldn’t regenerate from the castration. Chanyu despite being a peer, was illegitimate and her relation to Amaterasu as much as her questionable birth was likely an insult to Ra as much as anything.



Drey’ac remembered Chanyu and her daughter Aqet, they were both noble women even if Chanyu was as sullen and depressed as her fabled grandmother. Aqet’s love of space flight was what motivated Drey’ac to become a pilot and eventual fleet commander. Chanyu had been killed by the Titan during the rebellion, a victim of his insane terrorist assault on Ra’s palace of light. Apophis certainly shed no tears for her nor did he mourn the death of Aqet shortly after she bore the batch of Symbiotes that included the sentient one growing inside her now. Aqet’s death occurred when it Amunet was closer to maturation and Drey’ac always wondered if one of the lesser Goa’uld who administered the Serpent Lord’s domains arranged her murder as a courtesy to Apophis and Amunet.



After all, Aqet was the best pilot Drey’ac had ever known one that wouldn’t accidentally enter hyperspace inside a blackhole because she “engaged in drunken revelry” (Aqet was a phenomenal alcoholic, Drey’ac had to grudgingly admit her mentor was rarely if ever sober but that had never impacted her skills). So of course Apophis didn’t even flinch at Martouf’s suggestion this exchange of talent included binding the Symbiote who was five years away from maturity to lord Ba’al (In exchange Ba’al would give Drey’ac a Prim’tah who would mature and be sworn to Apophis in a few decades.) even though it meant he was essentially handing over a grandson as if he were some lesser breed. Another social faux pas that would likely cost Apophis politically and make his bid for Emperor all the more difficult, with the contempt he was showing the traditions that had bound an empire of ambitious super predators together for nearly one hundred thousand years.



Beside her, Ray’ac looked gallant as ever, even though he was trying not to laugh at the mischief her other son was broadcasting into his mind. He was dressed in the colors of Apophis, black, gold and pink and carrying the ceremonial dagger he was given mere months ago for his eleventh birthday. Her son’s eyes sparkled with a rapidity she admired, the boy was clever, and he was swift and his bond with the Goa’uld inside of her had likely shaped both into the strong males they would one day become. There was a moment of nervousness though, as he understood far more than he let on. It was, also clear the boy knew what his parents were planning.



Ahead of them was the sleek, dagger shaped black variant of the Al’kesh class support vessels that were often used as force amplifiers for Fighter squadrons and as heavy bombers. The personal militias and fleets of the other System Lords were seldom as heavily militarized as those of the House of Ra or those of Lord Apophis who essentially was the Goa’uld military but Ba’al’s fleet was known for its small size, advanced weaponry and incredibly sophisticated artificial gravity technology. While the Goa’uld had possessed AG technology for the entirety of their existence and had improved on the designs they had taken from the accursed Ori, Ba’al had taken gravity manipulation to a new level. Allegedly his vessels were powered by micro-singularities and while they had the standard sub light engines, their AG fields also created a form of thrust.



To see one up close, her eyes flickered at the possibilities. Behind her, several Jaffa carried some personal effects for the journey, but only two of her closest valets would accompany them. La’tir and Olo’noc, the pair of gray-haired Jaffa were lanky and resembled the dummies of straw and old clothing her farmers used to scare away avian’s than members of a legendary race of warrior poets. Ahead, adorned in a dark blue and metallic gray tunic was a man with pale skin and thick blond hair done up in a series of braids that fell about his shoulders. She noticed the slightly pointed ears and wondered if the host wasn’t a descendent of those humans who were said to have interbred with the Nox, assuming the Nox even existed. The man’s eyes glowed a pale shade of green; the greeting all lesser Goa’uld were ordered give to anyone they met for the first time (As only the System Lords were permitted to use the voice this was done to differentiate host from Lotar). Martouf was said to have been a Tok’ra of the hedonist sect who found new purpose in service to Ba’al but seeing as he’d been the first prime of Tiamat (Who perished in an accident fifty years before Ra raised Ba’al up), she knew better than to assume he was your typical Chamberlain.

Or that any rumor in regards to Martouf and his origins was anything but rumor.

It made Drey'ac recall what Bra'tac had said about Ba'al.

Youngest system lord, yet the one everyone knew the least about and the same was true of those who served him.



“Captain Drey’ac, it is an honor.” Martouf bowed, he had such a soft, easy voice that it surprised her. The fact that he genuinely meant what he said, surprised her even more for there were only two Goa’uld first prime’s not including the ones Ra always had. And Herakles and Raijin were bitterly competitive with Jaffa (Though Raijin was far more chivalrous and respectful of Jaffa not of Chulak, his host was also a nine-foot-tall ape, so it was hard for Drey’ac to tell if he shared his master’s hatred of all things related to Apophis or if he was just broodingly silent all the time). Yet here Martouf showed no hostility, no sign of affrontery and his voice was disarmingly gentle.



She knew his eyes though, warm and friendly as they were, they were the eyes of a man who would kill her and her sons without a second thought if he felt Ba’al was threatened. -Good- She thought, if Ba’al could win the loyalty of someone so dangerous and if someone so dangerous was so well disciplined then she knew she was safer than if she had been with Apophis.



“The Honor is mine Martouf.” She bowed back, of Martouf she knew little save that he was rumored to be a master of the quick draw of the Zat’nik’til and was said to be one of the few people in the known universe skilled enough to wield a plasma whip, both skills better suited to a commander of a special operations legion than a First Prime. She knew he was an adept administrator and a bitter rival with Zipacna, who served as his counterpart in Set’s domain.



But everyone alive knew the tale of Jolinar of Governess and Lady of the Malkshur system, Martouf’s former wife and Drey’ac wondered yet dared not ask how it was that he survived her defection to the Children of Egeria terrorist sect when the husband and mistresses of Garshaw former governess of Belote were all tortured to death by Athena. “It is rare to meet a First Prime who can set aside his staff and blade and find a measure of peace.”



To her surprise he took her hand and gave it a squeeze, something that caused murmurs of disgust among the trio of Goa’uld technologists who had gathered at the palace Space port. These kind of gestures from one who came from the kind of pedigree Martouf came from (Even though he was not a peer in power). Were barely acceptable between different breeds of Goa’uld much less between a Goa’uld of his rank and a Jaffa were seen as positively scandalous. Something she thought was absurd for them to sneer at given what their Lord and “God” did.





“Peace, I find comes at too high a price, but I have found joy in my service as a steward of his majesty’s domains. They are small compared to yours, but what they lack in size they make up for in wealth and…opportunity.” He whispered out the last part and turned to depart towards the vessel.





One thing she would miss about Chulak, Drey’ac thought. Would be the underwater space port of Bakhu. Built deep under the mountain complex, a series of twelve tunnels and gravity rails ferried troops and supplies and Government personnel from within the heart of the Imperial military to the rest of Apophis’ domains. Not as enormous as the space port on the surface used for commerce and pedestrian movements, it possessed one thing the surface port lacked. And from the viewing screens of the Alkesh she could see it all in full glory.



Once the Alkesh passed the tunnels and entered the shielded launch pad, her eyes were assailed by a veritable cathedral of light as the bearded whales circled the energy bubble feasting on the immense swarms of fish that would pass over the bubbles, absorbing heat from the shielding during colder nights. The Whales’ mighty beards were in reality tendrils that emitted a sequence of energy pulses that caused minor jolts that would lure the fish up towards their maws. The bleed off from the pulses created a sequence of exploding rainbows that crashed into the shields and created a sequence of oscillating colors that filled the ocean with beauty. And when a ship breached the shield, the reaction caused a chorus of soft sighs that added to the whale’s natural song.





“Do, these come from Tau’Ri like the great ones in seas of I’Zoumo and Sakai?” Martouf asked with intense curiosity.



The leviathans on the throne world of Amaterasu and her primary harvest world were indeed the genetically modified descendants of the great blue beasts of the first world and were said to be able to exceed six hundred feet in length, but these whales, barely sixty feet in length no, they were native to Chulak.



“As far as I know, they precede even Lord Apophis on this world.”



The vessel rose from the waters then broke for orbit, vanishing into the stars and then a hyperspace window.



-Teal’c my love, survive whatever you do, come back to us one day-

Alright gents, to Chulak we go!

A bit of of the Imperial Religion is showcased and true to form Ra passive aggressively dunks on the Asgard Fyryns and Nox.

Children of the Gods Part II: Act One



Taken

..

Cheyenne Mountain Complex three hours later:





“I feel like such an asshole” Daniel muttered, seated on the same locker room bench he once sat upon while contemplating his promise to General West that he could decipher the sequences on the other side to get the first Stargate Reconnaissance team home. -I was so excited, so confident. I had no idea what I would see on the other side-



His mind wandered to Nicholas Ballard, wondering if his grandfather would curse him a fool for opening the Stargate in the first place and inflicting all this misery and horror on Shau’re and her world, her family, his family. Or if Ballard would curse him for being a moron for thinking that any bad that came out of this outweighed the good. -They’re free because of you-.



No, that wasn’t it and he knew it, regretting the past was how he avoided the fact that his closest friend was a corpse, his brother-in-law was missing and dozens of his neighbors and friends were dead and despite all of it? All he could think of was Shau’re, all he could think of was getting her back. Any lingering thoughts were disturbed by the feeling of a hand running through his golden hair and he turned around to see Sam, her hand rested atop his head as if she was scratching a dog, an inquisitive glint in her grey eyes. “For what?!”





“I dunno, it just seems wrong for me to only feel apprehension about my wife when Ferretti’s dead and the others and.”



“You’re being stupid.” Carter said tugging on his hair gently, there was something in her somewhat husky voice that brought a smile to Jackson’s face, rather than outrage at having his feelings dismissed so tactlessly. “I didn’t know Ferretti, but I think we would agree with the way you’re handling this.”



To his surprise Carter knelt down and straightened out his vest, making sure the armored plates tucked in various parts to augment the Kevlar and whatever the hell else made up the new gear Carter had brought with her from Area 51. “There you go.” She blinked looking up at Jackson who seemed ready to cry. “Don’t tell me Shau’re had to dress you too huh?”



“Of course, she did!” O’Neill’s strong voice rasped in as he walked back into the locker room fully dressed and with three cold beers. “My brother’s distillery, I kept a few in cold storage in case I ever found myself back here with the shit hitting the fan.”



“How prescient of you.” Jackson smiled taking the beer. “I guess I am being an idiot.”



“You’re a scientist, being retarded is what you do for a living.” O’Neill reasoned “Not surprising you’d be a potato when it came to grief as well.”



Daniel blinked quirking his head, he’d missed Jack’s complete lack of any sort of political correctness or tact and his amusing disdain for “big brains” as he called scientists, but more than anything he missed his calming presence. He’d had role models and idols in his life, he had his grandfather who was closer to him than a father, whose dedication to proving his theory inspired Jackson’s entire life. But O’Neill was his only true mentor in a weird way and his presence calmed him. “So, we go get them, my wife and Skara and smack around Apophis.”



“Yeah, been meaning to ask, What’s the rundown on Aposhits”



“Well, in Egyptian Mythology he’s called Apep, and he was basically Ra’s umbilical cord discarded into darkness after he was born which somehow became a gigantic light eating snack that hunted Ra through the skies every night.”



“A zombie, sun killing piece of afterbirth..man..whoever passed on the stories of these..aliens..must have really hated Apep huh?” Carter asked amused.



“Well, in the religion on Abydos, the faith erected around Ra. My understanding is that he’s a very war like god. One that dwelt far away, and the people of Abydos were protected from his fury by the will of Ra, he was the younger brother of Anubis.”



“The Death God?” Carter asked.



“Dog breath?” O’Neill asked.



“Yes and no, I think the guy we killed was wearing an Anubis mask as some sort of sign of rank…But yes, Anubis was said to be a very fair and very noble God. On earth he’s a deathgod and a sort of cross between an escort and a judge. But here, he’s more like a mix of Saint Peter and King Arthur. He guards the entrance to paradise, serving his brother in law Ra even in the other world. He was a champion, a hero who battled the..Ori..This..I dunno race of Evil Gods that Ra led his “Goa’uld” in a war with for the sake of all creation or so the propaganda went. No idea how much of that is true at all, but I can say this; Apophis was the edgier, more Rambo like version of Anubis and the religion portrays him as a defender of their material empire as his brother defends their netherworld kingdom. A champion God…It doesn’t say anything about him ordering people to raid and steal women like a Comanche or Viking war party, that was surprising..And if that truly was him and not a commander.” Again, Jackson felt himself in the old familiar territory of endlessly speculating, only this time around he had more data points and he promised not to get anyone else killed.



His mind wandered to the body, Apophis had killed Ferretti in a way that suggested he broken the Brooklyn brawler like an overeager child with a fragile toy and Apophis soldiers tore apart the others. -What kind of a champion allows stuff like this to happen- Daniel thought dejectedly.





“You air quoted Goa’uld” Carter remarked with curiosity in her eyes, half her beer already consumed, a strand of sandy blond hair falling loose as she tried to focus on the conversation and not the fact that she’d spent forty minutes in a shower scrubbing off bits of the lower intestine of some poor kid who had his torso ripped open by one of those serpent men.



“Umm yes” Daniel said trying to gather his thoughts and grateful for the attempt to offer him something to focus on “It’s not really a name more like a portmanteau; I think it means “Children of Light”. I actually did spend a year or so studying the oral stories of their cult when I had the free time and in reading what their lore masters were finally willing to put down on text. Granted, there’s a lot of drift from the original sources in the twenty or so thousand years since they suffered their first proscription against written text for history and faith umm…It was actually amazingly fleshed out. Like, the Dark, evil Ori were aided by three different races of Gods whom Ra refers too as “Good hearted, yet lazy, foolish and gullible” and the scripture says that Ra and his fellow Gods and their lesser kin had to destroy two of those four races of Gods to humble the other two. “



“You think those hammerships were Ori or part of the dumbass brigade?” O’Neill queried, the image had stuck in his head, ever since the botched execution attempt in the gardens. Something about how irate Ra was with those fuckers made Jack like them and he hoped the old bastard wasn’t able to grind them to dust. “umm coalition of dumbasses, otherwise everyone would have recognized them instead of being all confused” Daniel answered, causing Jack to nod in agreement.



“Right, he lost the audience with the hammer dudes”



Carter whose eyes were shifting everywhere around the room except anywhere near them as long as they talked about the hammer ships finally got up and motioned to the door. “T-minus ten sir and we’re back to Abydos.”





“Jack…do you think..”



“We’ll try” O’Neill promised, not liking the odds, and not liking what they were going to potentially be starting once they kicked down the next doorway, but Shau’re was family as was Skara and in truth?



O’Neill realized they were going sooner or later, and he wanted to force the conflagration on his terms and not theirs.







……….





Abydos







He didn’t like it, the idea of sending O’Neill through the gate with less than a hundred marines was something he really didn’t like. Oh sure, for the recon and contact missions that were likely coming down the pipeline that made sense, you didn’t need to arrive in force unless there was a potentially hostile settlement or species on the planet in question. But now, knowing this was going to be a rescue mission into hostile enemy territory? No, Hammond didn’t like it, not one bit.





But then again, manpower was the bane of the Space Force. Even after the return of SG-0 through the gate when it became clear there was a potential for a hostile alien incursion the battle, he, West and Ellis faced to turn the United States Space Force from a glorified retirement community slash “Special needs home for the turds of the forces” (as Jacob Carter used to derisively put it). Had been like trying to fight a walrus in a duel, buck ass naked armed only with a narwal tusk as a spear.



Hammond had to stop himself wondering where the hell that absurd metaphor came from and then he remembered that Soviet Colonel, what was his name? Chekov? Ah yes, that lunatic. -But was it a Narwal tusk we gave ‘em?-. God he missed the cold war, he missed working off the books in that era because you could get away with it and the latitude you had back then. He’d wished a return to that until a bunch of serpent men right out of the cartoons the un-enlisted and junior officers loved to watch back in the 80’s and he got exactly what he wanted. Paid a high price too, the Admiral thought bitterly.



Naturally, the USSF’s subbranches had enough people to field the two-hundred-man band he wanted to put out here. But a lot of them would be raw recruits, he’d seen what happened to those when they went against the serpent men. Damn me for letting them set up a poker table down there! Hammond thought balefully, he’d considered retiring to atone for that, but the truth was if he or Landry stepped down that would leave Ellis alone to fight Maybourne’s faction which he suspected was backed by Kensey and if not that soulless harpy, likely by General Kennedy. Zealous, opportunistic pricks that they were; would fall on Abydos like wolves and he wanted nothing to do with seeing these people exploited (As opposed to becoming business partners, like a proper American colonial endeavor) and while he knew Statterfield would do her best to contain them (Like she had when they learned what West was doing, even if it was with an ally. Bastard) but that wouldn’t stop them from doing god knows what. PMC’s on Abydos and doing SG missions, yeah the former SEAL wasn’t having any part of that.









As it stood, the United States Space Force, Marine “division” had about ten thousand “able bodied” men and women he could call on. Except that half of them were retired from other services who were closer to weekend warriors (some of them even worked primarily in the civilian part of the USSF’s projects something Hammond did not like). The other half was divided into fatasses that he was sure he could trust to hold to security clearance, he didn’t want to have to commit ritual suicide in front of Kasuf for leading a brigade of sea lions through the gate. The others? Rookies stationed throughout the USSF’s facility (most of them in either Florida or Okinawa or Houston). Rookies who were too young and too inexperienced for what he wanted for this mission and too far away.





And so, with the return of O’Neill and his team they brought fifty marines most of which were in their forties or fifties. Seasoned and more on the salt side than the pepper and briefed on the way to the space portal about the events of the last half decade. Some of them had been people O’Neill had served with before, but most were strangers, and most were wide eyed. Kasuf volunteered some one hundred members of the Abydonian militia including a man named Ardef who must have been more Caveman than man, because he almost looked like those Frazetta paintings his wife collected come to life. Ardef, Kasuf told him had been a priest for the imperial cult who was one of the last of them alive who’d known Sobek personally and served him and was taught by him.



Sobek being the only benevolent contact with alien life these people had until the original Stargate team showed up. He would serve as Daniel’s second in matters of interpretation and Hammond broke the groups down into two teams, command of Stargate Reconnaissance and action team One would be given to O’Neill with Kowalski getting the Second. Most were clothed in robes and cloaks provided by Kasuf (something Hammond didn’t like for the potential implications if they got caught.). Lahm opted to remain behind to help with a series of emergency surgeries that were likely being performed back at base.





But other than that, three of the four surviving members of the First Stargate team were present.





“Admiral…Uhh sir..”



Hammond turned to see the blond-haired archeologist whom without, he wouldn’t be standing on another world and amidst new allies. “Yes son?”



“Well, I wanted to thank you for not benching me like Landry wanted, I understand the need for a specialist to brief and train and supervise the other teams and a linguistic expert for first contacts but..My wife and..” He looked to Jack and Kowalski, Carter and the Marines all ready for war. Ready to go storm an enemy kingdom to avenge Ferretti and bring back his wife and brother-in-law.



“Not a pleasant prospect, is it? Sitting back at home while your people are out there.” Hammond’s voice made Jackson realize he wasn’t alone in that feeling. -He’s a grandfather and he still wants to be out here with his men?- “No sir.”



Hammond turned and grabbed Jackson by the elbow, with a hand that may as well have been an industrial vice for the grip strength. “Son; I’m letting you out there to get your wife back, a princess and a potential ally and because its your duty to care for your family and I won’t stand between you and her. But its not for free, it’s a two-way street. You aren’t allowed to be stupid out there Jackson, you aren’t allowed to get yourself killed, nor are you allowed to get them killed. Bring her home if you can, avenge her if you don’t have any other choice but don’t let your team down”





Daniel nodded, his eyes steeled with a mix of gratitude and respect. He should have been angry at Hammond for basically giving him a “don’t fuck it up” speech but there was something grandfatherly about it that made him want to live up to the expectation rather than take it as a slight. “Yes sir!”





The older smaller gate opened and O’Neill, carrying a staff weapon in one hand and his Next Gen rifle slung at his side nodded his head in a silent request for departure.







Forty-eight hours, forty-eight hours to get into what might be an alien fortress (Landry advised not to send drones ahead just in case it opened in the middle of an alien city, better to pass themselves off as subjects of the Space Empire than not.) forty eight hours to rescue two POW’s and maybe blow up another God.



This’ll be fun.





Hammond nodded in return.



“SG-1 you have a go.”





God speed marine, God speed.