Stargate Through the Looking Glass and into Heaven.

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

All credit to @Spartan303 for finding a piece of art that resembled the DNA spirals on the floor of the library.

…………..

Rajate!






Bakhu
............

“I’ve got to admire how fast everyone moves around here”. O’Neill commented, gazing around the hall, the only source of noise or movement besides the blaring of alarms were the footfalls his group made as they ran. It had been almost mechanized how swiftly every “Jaffa” in the mountain castle (O’Neill was still having trouble believing such a thing existed even when he was standing in it). “Whole place seems locked down, where are you taking us.”

“I’ve trained them well” Teal’c Remarked. “Perhaps too well, I meant for them to think on their own a bit more.”

“Usually reserved for special operations that.” O’Neill offered sympathetically. Daniel and Skara were looking at each other as if Teal’c had grown a third head, being disappointed that his warriors hadn’t figured out this was BS. “Were you born on Chulak?” Skara asked, finding it hard to hate the man who had saved their lives and had volunteered to remain behind to be massacred. Though he found his loyalty to the Empire that had betrayed and lied to the sons of Abydos infuriating, he also understood it. Then again, had Ra been less of a fickle, distant, tyrannical monarch and more like Sobek, Skara had a feeling they would have chained O’Neill and the others and presented them to Ra with pride in their hearts. It was easy to understand the devotion, even if he didn’t like it.

“No, I was born on Kretai, the Crown World of the Titan.”

“Cronus.” Whispered Skara. “In the lies of the imperial cult they said he was a mad Titan.”

“The Imperial cult does not lie” Teal’c corrected.

“They’re not gods” Jackson said in a matter of fact tone.

Teal’c stopped and turned, his eyes narrowing on Jackson. A look of amusement mixed with annoyance. “No, they are not Gods as you; Tau’Ri no doubt mean the word, nor in the mystical sense the average Lotar or ungoverned savage believes them to be. Indeed, many sub species of Goa’uld are barely as intelligent as their hosts. But the Peers? The System Lords? I tell you now boy, after having witnessed Ra’s power to call them anything less than power personified is not the act of a learned man.”

Jackson fidgeting under the glare, refused to be dissuaded from his rage. “I saw a being who had incredible, even miraculous powers, ancient and mighty and had technology to enhance those powers, a being who could have made miracles mundane. But I saw him frightened of a bunch of people with crude iron tools.”

“Frightened!?” Teal’c nodded his head slightly, chuckling as he did so. “Frightened? Perhaps of something you may yet be but as you are now? As Abydos is? Let me tell you boy, the youngest System Lord is six hundred years old, he is the only system lord under thirty eight thousand years old.” Daniel opened his mouth to say something in response and Teal’c raised a hand, silencing the youth. “The System lords were once as you are now. And a race of beings, beings so powerful they could create worlds from dust in a matter of hours, enslaved them. Mangled them, sought to suppress their intelligence, and make a commodity of them. These, giants who walked the stars as divinities failed and the parents of Ra began a revolt, others who shared their desire to be free joined. Though they died in the process their sons and daughters carried on. These giants were joined by a coalition of the mightiest races in all of creation and they devoted all their power and fury to destroying their rebellious slaves. It failed, sixty thousand years of relentless war against an overwhelmingly superior foe culminated in the fall of the great races. Even the wars did not stop our growth, merely halted it, you may be correct that Ra was afraid at the end, but it was not of the Abydonians.”

Us? Jackson thought, us? But why? And the story Teal’c told, dismissively he wondered how much of that was real and how much of it was propaganda he was taught to believe. “Jaffa aren’t forced to worship the System Lords as gods?”

“Why would we be? The Jaffa were created from your kind, made to be champions of the Empire, the warriors of the Lords. No, we are not commanded to worship them though many do revere the System lords and some do deify them.” Teal’c turned, increasing his pace as they neared the end of the hall and came face to face with a pair of immense doors that were as red as the floors above. “It is the vast population of Lotar…..Humans as you would call them and the other races, even some of the lesser breeds of Goa’uld who are adherents of the Imperial cult.”

“The System Lords enslave their own kind?” Carter asked, somewhat surprised. That was an unusually human thing to do, and she wondered if that was why they had focused so much on her kind. -If we’re more similar than different, are these guys a reflection of where we’re headed?- Or where they would be headed, she thought. If humanity was ever pushed as violently as the System Lords have. She remembered the term “Goa’uld” from Jackson’s story on Abydos and from what Shau’re had told her of Ra.

“Enslave? Slavery does exist within imperial space, you saw it on Abydos, but it is rare to see a world that primitive, that enraptured. Most worlds are at most several centuries behind what I gather you are. They are not slaves, but subjects of the empire.” Teal’c responded. Though Teal’c had to grudgingly concede the way the lowest sub species of Goa’uld was treated by the peers was objectively worse than slavery. -Slaves are not hunted for sport- Teal’c thought. But he couldn’t bring himself to voice this, he shared the imperial prejudices, what was a Hassak but less even than the lowest lotar criminal, a mockery of the peers and at best to be used to create the lobotomized Prim’tah that never matured and sustained a Jaffa from his fifth year of life to his death centuries later.

“But why make them worship a fake religion?!” Jackson asked, surprised by how free the information was. Teal’c may have been loyal, but it was clear he wasn’t going to hold anything back either. Fascinating, everything about him alternated between pissing Jackson off and capturing his attention. He was a walking contradiction, something to unravel and someone he was forced to admit he was starting to like. -There’s a nobility to him that reminds me of all the Saxon legends- he thought. Raw, savage but with a sort of pride and solid sense of marshal tradition and honor that fascinated the archaeologist and linguist turned xeno-anthropologist.

“Seems to me like, if you’re looking to build a unifying culture, the easiest way to do it is to make your tentpole religion” Jack remarked with a roll of his eyes, even he understood what the old, dead bastard was trying to pull and if they really fought a war that long and that brutal then it would have needed to have been a holy war or else even the craziest motherfuckers would have asked to come to the peace table. “Any way, how do you figure most planets in your empire are a couple hundred years behind us?”

“There has been nearly twenty-two thousand years of uninterrupted peace, with the exception of the Titan’s rebellion, I believe. I may be off by a millennium. And an invasion two and a half centuries ago” Teal’c conceded. Doors opened, they stepped through into a large room that was filled with statues of Crocodiles or what looked like them and gigantic brooding reptilians who looked like something out of a pulp novel. “Most Jaffa are less soldiers and more keepers of the peace across the Empire. In my youth, after the Rebellion I did my fair share of tours on many worlds, and I frequently had to put an end to drunken brawls involving projectile weaponry. Though most were little more than crude metal pipes encased in wood. They used powdered cartridges wrapped in paper. Terribly imprecise, but I admit I found some pleasure in hunting with them.”

“Flintlocks and muskets, swords too I imagine?” O’Neill asked. “Yeah, that’s about two hundred years behind us, maybe four hundred depending on the kind of gun.” O’Neill watched the Giant touch a panel on the wall, the doors swung open and there rested their guns and ammo and Jack grinned as he saw the O’Neill family nineteen eleven. “Thought I’d lost you, every generation of my family that served has carried this into battle for the last hundred years. Good luck charm.”

Teal’c merely smiled at that and tapped the knife at his side. “For the last twelve thousand. A warrior is entitled to his superstitions after all.”

“Damn right.” O’Neill said, tossing Skara a rifle. Who’d been listening with interest, many of his own suspicions had been confirmed for him but as always with revelations came more questions. “Why Abydos? Why was Ra so obsessed with Abydos?” Skara asked in the Abydonian brand of Imperial standard. Teal’c responded with a shrug “We know not” he admitted. “Apophis mocked him for it when he was drunk, which has been more and more frequent of late. He couldn’t understand it. Conceal your projectiles, let them only see our weaponry.” He turned towards Carter who was tracing her fingers over the teeth of one of the statues. “You! Technologist, tug on those teeth.”

“Aha! Thought so!” Carter said her gray eyes flashed as she gave them a yank and at the base of the statue a drawer containing numerous crystals opened. “Pick up the green and blue ones that are shaped like a pentagon, the long, narrow one shaped like a dagger that is.”

“Clear! Yeah, got it.” Carter said, walking towards Teal’c who had depressed one of the spikes on a small statue of a bipedal reptilian wrestling with Apophis. “Sarabus, the Unas wrestler who fought Apophis for twenty hours before his heart gave out.” Teal’c explained. “Lord Apophis insists that his consoles reflect our marshal history.”

“His marshal history you mean?” Skara asked.

“They are one in the same boy.” A second spike was pushed, and a hologram appeared filled with schematics. And then a sequence of incredibly large font that blared angrily at them and when O’Neill and Carter looked to Jackson and Skara they both answered, “Access denied per emergency protocols”. Teal’c nodded and then kicked the wall below the projected screen and a panel opened violently. Soft plastic material that seemed to move in a pattern that suggested it was breathing could be seen and at the center were a series of nodules holding crystals. “Organic tech?” Carter asked.

Teal’c shook his head. “Before I was born, my former mentor and commander Bra’tac crushed an invasion of life stealers from a Galaxy near our own, their vessels were organic in nature and could heal from damage inflicted. It has its advantages, but armor grown of a living being no matter how sturdy is a poor substitute for our alloys. I also believe energy shields are not able to work optimally on living ships and living buildings even the most sophisticated have limits to size. No, this may be cultivated and grown but it is hardly organic. What you’re seeing is a cooling effect.”

“Yo, did this guy say his sensei killed space vampires?” Someone asked and O’Neill rolled his eyes “Leave the commentary to the funny, Capaldi.” The story was awesome though, Jack wanted to hear more but what struck him the most was how casual Teal’c was with it, relating the story as to why his people didn’t use that kind of tech like it was the most mundane thing in the stars. To Jack it was like hearing a pair of guys discuss cars and why one of them wanted nothing to do with Tesla’s. Things that stupefied his listeners were as normal as a conversation about fishing reels and what rifle was best to use against real heavy game (Jack was a Holland and Holland man).

“Technologist!” Teal’c called and Carter snapped to attention as if she had been addressed by O’Neill and the Colonel had to admire that. Command came so naturally to the big bastard that even people who were an enemy an hour ago just nodded their heads without thought. -He’s served a long time, that’s for damn sure-. It was funny seeing a man who looked roughly the same age as Jackson call him boy, but like with that priestess, one look in his eyes and it was obvious this wasn’t a young man. “Replace the pink crystal with the clear one and the blue one adjacent to it with a green.”

Once Carter did so, she pocketed the extra crystals, deciding to take those back to area fifty-one for study. Once done, the alarm notification on the projection ceased and a second door opened, narrow but from what Jack could tell it led to a large room, one large enough for their group of nearly fifty people to fit through easily. The group moved, with O’Neill taking point and Teal’c following, gesturing to a series of large ring like patterns on the floor. “Oh, we’re using these?”

“We are several miles into the base of the palace O’Neill, we are underwater as well. We cannot fight our way through all of this and leave through the main entrance.”

“Fair enough.” Jack groused. He hated the ring devices, they felt weird, but he wasn’t going to let that show. Instead, he watched Teal’c direct Carter to use the remaining crystal on a panel to make the reverse change from inside, pink to clear, blue to green. “Alright everyone get in the circles, we’re out of here.”

“Home” Skara remarked a forlorn look in his eyes, home to tell father that Shau’re’s soul was dead yet her body still walked. How did one mourn the dead when the dead still walked? As the energies enveloped them Skara prayed to something, anything for the strength to find the answer.

………..

“Shouldn’t we go over there?” One of the marines asked, he was leaning on a tree that looked like some primordial pine crossed with a palm tree in terms of the sheer size of its leaves, the tree itself towered into the heavens, absorbing the odd colored light that a world whose solar rays were filtered by a dozen moons and a gas giant that loomed in the skies. He was gesturing towards a series of tents clustered around an immense pavilion that had set up near the path that led to the immense gate.

Kowalski was squatting over a fire, several goat sized animals were being cooked, animals the Abydonians caught that looked like tiny prehistoric horses to Kowalski. Deciding with the cold it was better to get a fire going and encourage the men to spend as much time near heat sources as possible. The temperature had dropped several degrees as the sun or suns (Kowalski could never tell which) began to sink below the horizon and the great gas giant replaced the light in the sky. Even the merchants who were ignoring the cold prior began to bundle up and settle in for the evening that came.

Kowalski wondered, they weren’t human, not totally so. Not if they were able to handle the cold so well and that mixed with the looks they got on the road made Kowalski shake his head. “No, if you notice the patrols, the merchants, even the laborers, they’re all taller than us, more muscular, stronger looking.”

“They all look like models.” Another marine sneered.

“As did Ra’s Jaffa” an Abydonian said, using the word he remembered from the old religion to describe the warriors of the gods.

“Exactly.” Kowalski said. “Better we stay away, I haven’t seen a normal person on this planet. We’ll stand out like a sore thumb.” Normal, he found himself laughing as he stared at the rising smoke. Normal, he was saying this surrounded by humans who weren’t quite human from another planet, on yet another planet staring at supermen. “I suppose normal can be relative.” He thought aloud. “I just hope Colonel O’Neill is having more fun than I am.”

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

Next up, O'Neill compounds the "terrorism" image by running armed through a Jaffa shopping mall, hijacking a train and unleashing an irate beastman/construction worker on the warriors of the stars!
.............

Crazy Train


Chulak


“You guys love your huge ass pyramids” O’Neill remarked once the group emerged on the other side of the ring transportation system. They were walking through a hallway of gray marble with a crimson carpet that stretched onward towards an exit that was an arch made of some kind of fine crystal that must have been as hard as steel. There were gardens and fountains and clear ponds on either side of the carpet, above their heads was the interior of the pyramid-colored gold and scarlet.



Turns out the outside was lined with some kind of glass like material because the pyramid became a prism. Hundreds of rainbows danced in each “block” and there was a courtyard filled with Jaffa watching projection, holographic screens that discussed the events of the day and the emergency lockdown of Bakhu. Apophis, it was said was making his return to Waset and would take his new consort and prince Klorel with him. “Waset?” Jackson asked curiously. “The Crown world of Apophis’ domain. The capitol.” Teal’c answered quietly, praying no one turned and noticed him as the news had likely either related that he’d been killed during the escape attempt or injured.



“Shako is now the interim Fist Prime until Teal’c is found or confirmed deceased.” The voice on the projections said and people began to murmur. Teal’c felt a slight swell of pride at that, Shako of the Winter Hills was a Prime who served as Teal’c’s master of logistics, he who handled the economic and material aspect of war. Many called him the pantry chief for he was eternally concerned about either food production, or the production of weaponry and vehicles. When O’Neill asked what was being said the man nodded “Ah, bean counter.”



“Indeed” Teal’c answered sensing the man’s implication. Shako was excellent at his job and personally he was an astounding master at the quick draw and a gifted knife fighter, but he was no battlefield commander. Appointing a scribe to lead a war effort was a mistake, appointing him to begin preparation for one on the other hand. “Either Apophis has errored.”



“Or he’s preparing for war.” Skara answered causing both men and Carter to nod in agreement.



“You said there hadn’t been an invasion of your nation for two and a half centuries, yet you said your mentor crushed an invasion from another Galaxy?” Jackson asked, still determined to try and poke holes in his story, both as a coping mechanism and because he didn’t want to believe what Ra had boasted to him and what he was seeing was real.



“Indeed” Teal’c answered.



“How can that be? Humans don’t live more than a hundred years at a maximum.”



“We are Jaffa, we were formed from the genetic material of the greatest specimens of your world and of a pair of Ori and of the flesh of Anubis and Apophis themselves. We were enhanced, selectively bred for health, vitality and strength..”



Jackson nodded mouthing oh, but a fascinated Carter cut in “Well, even then wouldn’t your body not last more than twice the optimal for a human?” they were entering a private tram station and then towards an automated vehicle that Teal’c accessed with a series of clicks and whistles. Once inside, Teal’c uttered a command and then turned to Carter. “In exchange for our service, the System lord’s bound themselves to us as we are to them.” He moved towards the armor on his torso, unfastening a clip and pressing one of the green gems the segmented armor melded away and then the fabric itself retreated, revealing a muscular midsection with those X shaped slits. Teal’c reached in and everyone groaned or backed up except Carter and Jackson who stared with fascination.



Teal’c pulled out a white, snake like thing with four sets of eyes that glowed faintly with that pink they saw in Amunet and Apophis eyes. Fang like pincers snapped but the creature lulled in his hand, dully, devoid of any sense of self. After a second Teal’c eased it back into the pouch and closed up the uniform. “That is a Prim’tah, the larval form of one of the lesser breeds of Goa’uld, even the lower ones can keep a body alive for centuries, enhance its strength and senses, repair the most grotesque of injuries and defeat all disease. The peers are merciless, forcing their parents to lobotomize them, leave them without personalities, blank slates that exist solely to service us and keep us alive. I am one hundred and seventy-seven years old, as is my wife. Our lifespans are quite long, four hundred years used to be the average. In times of peace…however, Jaffa have begun to live longer.”



They’d also begun to grow fat and go native. Something Teal’c never liked, even if they were more officers of the peace than warriors now, they were still Jaffa. Too many sleepy frontier worlds were filled with indolent wastrels enjoying confections and involving themselves in local affairs far beyond their duty. Obesity among the Jaffa was a literal impossibility, their organs were far too efficient, symbiotes made them more so, yet he’d seen his fair share of chubby Jaffa, and this was a thing he would not tolerate. Odd that adult Goa’uld and even the Peers and System lords could grow obese, yet it was unheard of for Jaffa. “The greatest among us are given the sacred privilege of incubating one of the offspring of the System Lords, an even rarer few are fortunate enough to incubate peers. The children, they are bound to us subconsciously.”

“Oh! I see!” Carter grinned. “Sir, basically they entrust the psychological development of their children to the Jaffa and their personal safety.”



It wasn’t slavery like she and Daniel thought, but a mutual bond that wasn’t exactly a bastion of morality either, but it held them together. -Loyalty bought with an exchange of blood, like in the bronze age I guess-. The tram began to move, many of the others were trying to communicate with Jackson and Skara and the other Abydonians, it grew easier as they each grew accustomed to their unique accents. All but the troll remained silent, seated and contemplative.



And then he disappeared, it didn’t happen before their very eyes, not exactly, not quite. One moment he was sitting there, the next, he was there, or they all swore he was, but he wasn’t and now no one had any idea where the hell he was or what he was. “This day is filled with twists.” Jackson said running his fingers through his hair.



“Indeed.”



Neither man could continue the conversation, the sky was a lit with roars even as they neared the stop for the gate station. “We have been discovered!” Skara called out.



“O’Neill they will fire on us.”



Jack nodded, turning he smashed one of the windows, the air howled and despite the velocity he managed to get his torso out and open fire with one of the staff’s. The blast impacted onto the tip of a crimson-colored wing, a vessel far sleeker in appearance than Ra’s gliders veered off and moved towards the other side. Purple bolts of energy lanced out and smashed into the ground along the side of the barreling train car, the energy blasts deflected by the electromagnetic field around the tram. Two others broke glass and began to open fire, but there were posts on the rails on that side and both men were cut in half by the suddenness, blood spraying into the cabin.



Again, there was a discharge of bolts and again they were deflected, though less so this time and the tram shook violently. “We’re getting rattled here! Teal’c! How do we strike back?”



“This tram does not contain defensive weaponry. However, those craft are atmospheric in nature. They’re mostly used to pursue criminals, drunken pilots and wastrels. Fire upon them, on the nose and between at the folds of the wings.”





“You want us to stick out heads out at this speed? We already lost two guys to that!”



Teal’c nodded grimly. ‘Indeed, but eventually they’ll disrupt the” the Tram shook, and Jack cursed, directing Skara and Carter to grab staff weapons while he longed for a rocket launcher. “Carter, you heard the man, continuous fire!”



“I get the energy musket? Hoooyeeaahh!” She’d dashed half her torso out the window, before Skara realized the Craft was flying almost beside the tram and the cockpit was open, a Jaffa who looked to be barely in his teens was sneering at her.



“Nanei!” If she fired this close to the Tram.



Carter didn’t hesitate (Something that disturbed O’Neill), she just opened fire and watched as the energy bolt smashed into what looked like a forcefield. The youth cursed and jerked the fighter to the side, trying to bank away but the wing dove too low and it dug into grass. There was a violent hiccup and Carter heard a wing splinter and something exploded, and she was hurtled into the tram laughing as she patted down an arm that was on fire.



“Carter! That was a kid for Christ’s sakes!”



“We don’t know that sir, given how long they live, that could be a twenty-year-old. Besides, you saw what one of their adolescents did on earth.” She added defensively, her hand reaching for the staff in case he ordered her back to the window.



“She is correct O’Neill even our children can disembowel an adult human with not but their hands. Your compassion is appreciated but dangerous, any Jaffa of any age in uniform will kill you and any around you if ordered too.”



O’Neill nodded, though he made a mental note to rip Carter a new one later over the risk she put herself and others by firing so close to the tram. “How close are we to the gate.”



“Another moment” Teal’c answered as the roar of two more aircraft filled the air.



“What are our odds.”



“Poor odds for you against two, but one will land when we disembark. Let me face that one, I shall defeat it easily enough.”



“No, we’ll handle that, you help handle those fighters. We’ve, killed Jaffa before.” Except, O’Neill didn’t realize he’d be shooting up teenagers this time around. -I really fucking these snake bastards. - Teenagers, that could apparently tear him limb from limb if the incident report at the mountain was anything to go by. There was another reason, O’Neill didn’t doubt his loyalty both to this “Imperium” and to himself. He knew Teal’c would follow, he wasn’t sure why, beyond a marine’s intuition. But that didn’t mean O’Neill wanted Teal’c to kill any more of his own men, at least not up close.



The giant seemed to sense what O’Neill intended and gave an appreciative nod. “Then I shall not fail you O’Neill.”



A sly smile crept across Jack’s face for a second, he kind of liked this space equivalent of General MacArthur taking orders from a lowly colonel. Turning he eyed Carter “you and Jackson go with Teal’c, rendezvous with Kowalski and rain hell on ‘em.” He paused, for a second wondering if telling Carter to unleash hell was a good idea. But shrugged, either she was going to kill them all, or kill the Jaffa, either way they needed to get the hell out of here.



Thankfully, backup didn’t take anymore potshots until the tram stopped at the gate station. Which was evacuated except for four Jaffa who looked to be in their teens. This particular group didn’t wait for the doors to open before they began raking the tram with fire as the roar of the Glider overhead was joined by a third, two landed, joining the fray while a third took off towards the gate and the tree line.



“Damn! They’re headed for our guys!” Jack roared and then cursed as the metallic looking alloy of the tram’s walls began to dent and then explode. O’Neill rolled across the floor hiding behind a rail angrily patting the fire that was burning on his jacket. “This is the second fucking time these assholes have set me on fire!”



Jackson rolled and grabbed a staff, O’Neill was about to yell at him to give it to Skara (Who was wisely hiding behind Carter), but Jackson was in a rage again and rose firing wildly through the windows, managing to hit everything except the Jaffa… Walls erupted in smoke, debris rained down on the youths who looked as though they were out of uniform and ordered out of their bunks. They were young, wide eyed and luckily enough inexperienced because they had no idea how to deal with an idiot with terrible aim who was spraying and praying with an energy staff. One was buried under flaming rubble, his legs pinned and a piece of stained glass like material the length of a construction rebar impaled itself in his shoulder. He let out a flurry of curses and pushed his weapon towards his companion who grabbed it and began dual firing to give the other cover while he pulled himself out of the rubble.



One of his legs was torn open down the calf and O’Neill could see the knee bones as well, a human would have gone into shock or bled to death, but this kid was limping with his mangled leg and howling obscenities and throwing out what Jack assumed were profane gestures. The little shit then proceeded to yank the glass out of his shoulder, a torrent of blood gushed and with the last ounce of his adrenaline he flung the shard like a makeshift spear, with it catching an abydonian in the chest, launching him forward into the wall.



Carter muttered something…under her breath and Skara fired the side arm he’d taken from a fallen Jaffa and finally brought the boy down.



He and Teal’c leaped into action, joined by Carter who was grinning maniacally as they charged a group of fully armored Jaffa that got close. Teal’c tossed what Jack assumed was an energy grenade and pulled the other two down, he didn’t really have time to contemplate the wisdom of being that close to a detonation because the world turned white and Jack felt every sinew, every nerve contort and howl in simultaneous agony. The world seemed to slow and Jack staggered and was overcome with a wave of nausea and what he thought was exploding rainbow that slowly turned into a fist and he realized someone was taking a swing at him.



He reached for his colt.



He opened fire, someone staggered back, and O’Neill realized it was another Jaffa whose armor was torn from the hell Daniel was raining down on everyone. He managed to get a shot off into the dude’s eye, which put most of the back of his head against the “cheek” of the serpent helm of another Jaffa. Colt would be useless against someone fully armored, so he took aim with one of those nifty next gen weapons with the doorknob looking suppressor thing at the end of the barrel. The armor held up long enough for the Jaffa to reach and draw but not long enough for him to fire. He fell at Jack’s feet and O’Neill was quickly firing at the others who were overcome by a mix of shock, despair and confusion at the sight of Teal’c leading the charge against them.



Many questioned why and Teal’c asked them something that made them abandon their post, most were overcome with a despair induced rage and rushed at their former leading howling something that sounded like “Shoval!” or some variant of shovel, Jack popped a couple with his rifle, then abandoned it and returned to using the staff weapon.



Beside him the red skinned alien chicks with peacock feather hair and this hulking giant, cave man looking dude were laying into the Jaffa with amazing savagery. One of the females even managing to impale a female Jaffa through her left hip and stick her to a wall where she was left cursing and grasping at the staff weapon to try and fire it.



O’Neill blew her torso open with four quick shots.



The giant was the only one who seemed able to legitimately overpower the Jaffa, hefting one over his massive fur cloaked shoulders and bending the poor woman until he heard a snap, followed by a sick shredding sound as the beast man literally ripped her in half. The sight of the man, covered in entrails, dead snake and blood was a grizzly thing to behold and he threw an immense rock at several Jaffa and took a shot to the spine and kept on going.



It took nine, nine blasts with a staff weapon before he died and by then he’d killed some thirty Jaffa single handedly. Most of which were utterly bewildered by the sight even as they themselves were cut down.



“Tarneans” Teal’c remarked. “They were the first attempt at Jaffa, but they’re naturally quite gentle and prefer building things, so Ra spared them the fate of war. They function as construction workers, the great movers of our industry…it is..considered an act of blood treason for a Jaffa to harm one.”



“Explains why he lost it” Jack said as they ran, a bloodied mess through the fields.



“Did you capture him as well?” Skara asked.



Teal’c shook his head “It is a crime punishable by death to abduct a Tarnean from a Lord’s domain for the average Goa’uld, even a System would be forced to pay a considerable indemnity to the Tarneans clan and Lord of the world he or she was abducted from. Had Lord Apophis commanded me to abduct him, I would have been within my rights to refuse.”



“I spoke with him.” Skara admitted “his dialect was crude, but he said he knew of my world, that his forefathers helped erect the pyramid complex.”



Stealing from the house of Ra was bad enough, to do it both to Abydos and to a Tarnean was absurdity. “We must go.”



Tau’Ri it was found out, were not expected to have blasphemed Chulak with their presence alone, many of the Jaffa in the air and on the ground assumed that they received aid and comfort from the Jaffa traders and merchants who were part of the camp in the forest near the grand gate. In response, they had flown over Kowalski’s camp and had begun ruthlessly bombarding the largest pavilions, grain, alcohol, fuel cells, a myriad of chemicals erupted into the heavens, the skies ahead of O’Neill and his band of escaped prisoners and exiles.



The Colonel had no way of knowing this and so ordered his group to pick up the space. All he could hear was the roar of the Jaffa jets and the oddly blue-green flames that reached into the night.



Until a good’ol American rocket ripped through the heavens and smashed into the side of one of the fighter’s, a dark blood red plume of fire joined the other colors as Jack ordered his team to begin the dialing process for Abydos.



Caught between two fires and a damn frying pan, just like old times!

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

In the mean time!

Enjoy some Kowalski delivered ass beat'n and Carter going crazy to the music of Basil Poulidorus!

Space Marines

The Flight to the Gate.

When the Gliders came Kowalski had one of those “Ah crap, here we go again!” moments, recalling the battle of the Pyramids as the Abydonians called it, right down to the stench of burning plastic and the thunderous roar of those damned energy cannons. He barked orders, telling his men to take over and to grab the rocket launchers, the tension evident in his set jaw. And then they’d completely passed over him and began blasting the larger camp a quarter mile from his position. Kowalski’s eyes widened in shock at such a naked and thoughtless action by a people who had otherwise shown themselves to be a model of discipline. “The hell are they doing?!”

“The Colonel must have escaped!” someone called out enthusiastically.

“But why shoot them?!”

“Maybe they’re rivals or something or else think they’re helping us?” Offered another. Kowalski liked this weekend warrior; he was an older heavy-set man who was an anthropology professor at a community college who’d taken to reserve enlistment in the Space Force’s marine division for the extra cash. In the eighties he was in Grenada and apparently had been in Desert Storm. The Admiral often lamented that the pool of manpower he had to tap into wasn’t the best even after the Abydos mission. Kowalski didn’t think so, oh sure pops was in terrible physical shape, but he’d kept pace with the youngsters easily enough and he’d apparently lost forty pounds since reenlistment. Plus, his insights into the alien stuff had been a godsend and Kowalski planned to recommend him for some kind of consulting position once they got back. “So, they’re willing to start the space equivalent of an international incident over conjecture?”

“Be fair Sir, what happened when the Mountain was breached.”

All hell broke loose, the more disciplined Jaffa had run roughshod over the base until old man Hammond was able to get down into the bowels of “his” mountain and rally the troops as it were. “Yeah, our kids were a mess for the first minute or two, weren’t they?”

He nodded, having read the report. “Which means we don’t have long Sir. Sooner or later all those proper soldiers and recruits at the training grounds or doing those runs are going to get geared up and they’ll be way calmer. These guys were probably all in their bunks or hanging around a bar when it went down.”

“And whoever is in charge is going to knock sense into them and we’ll be slaughtered.”

“On the plus side, if they really did cause a diplomatic FUBAR, then they likely won’t be able to fully chase us through the gate Sir. We can still fight our way out of here, for now…So long as we take advantage of the chaos.”

An idea came to Kowalski in that moment an idea that was probably a bad one, but he didn’t care. He opened one of the large black suitcases and began assembling one of their missile launchers. MK’s were old friends by this point, and he was quite sure that most of his men could set them up blind folded.

“Sir, what are you doing?”

“These guys look like atmospheric craft, I remember them being about as armored as a Cessna, I figured that was due to Ra not really expecting to fight anyone serious. These guys look better built, but I don’t know, they look less like military aircraft and more like a police cruiser, maybe I can shoot it down, or maybe just annoy the pilot. Either way.”

“More chaos” said the marine turned academic, turned space marine.

“Hoorah!”

Into the air streaked the missile, what followed was an oddly blood red colored fire and a very startled pilot bailing from a burning vessel. The other two were still engaging the merchant pavilions and those guys were shouting something that sounded like a final warning and a lot of expletives. And a second later, they brought their own energy cannon out and he heard a sound that came off like a cross between an elephant with a bad case of hemorrhoids and the jet engine he’d ever heard.

In an instant one of the fighters was gone and in another instant energy bolts from staff weapons whizzed out of tree lines and Kowalski saw another group of warriors converging from the forest. Luckily, they were still being ignored and so Kowalski ordered his group to make a break for the gate and to hold any incoming fire off long enough to spot O’Neill and run. “Shoot anything that isn’t one of ours, we can’t waste…”

Ahead of him he saw the long blond hair of Carter billowing in the breeze as she grimaced keeping pace with a giant of a man with bald hair who was hauling ass ahead of Skara and the rag tag group, both were waving their hands at Kowalski. “Huh? One of those snake dudes joined us?!” Good, Colonel Kowalski thought. Any help dealing with what was out there, would be a blessing. “Doctor Carter!” he yelled out.

She nodded “Colonel O’Neill is heading to the gate; we’re going to Abydos…Hells two steps behind us.”

“Two steps behind you huh?!” Kowalski asked, as machine gun fire joined energy blasts and they were able to take out two of the stragglers from the tree line that had finally taken notice of the Marines and began to advance towards them. Their deaths prompted others to turn and shout, calling out something in their filtered voices that sounded like shovel and the silent giant beside Carter clenched his fists. “They know not what they say.” He spoke, his English was surprisingly decent, and it reminded him of how fast the Abydonians took to new languages. It sounded as if he wasn’t defending himself though, but reassuring. “What are they saying?” Kowalski asked.

“They call me traitor.” His voice was numb when he responded and when he brought up his staff weapon to fire Kowalski was reminded of the look in O’Neill’s eyes on the first mission. “They looked up to you huh?”

“Indeed.”

He wasn’t sure why the man defected and so he saddled his urge to hate a soldier who turned on his own men, especially one who felt so busted up about it. Jack’s group broke any contemplative silence that might have formed up by blasts of gun fire mixed with staff weaponry and Teal’c gestured to Kowalski “You see the woman leading the group fighting the Jaffa of Haqet?”

Kowalski had no idea who the hell Haqet was, but he assumed the giant meant the merchant Jaffa and could tell from the tone of his voice, the big guy was mightily frustrated at the platoon for doing it even if it did suit his purposes. All in all, the big guy seemed completely embarrassed by the conduct of his flustered troops, which only made Kowalski like him more and more suspicious. -He isn’t defecting, he’s using us just like we’ll probably use him-, the Polish American thought ruefully. Then again, in a fucked-up way that was how the Colonel’s friendship with Statterfield started and it had lasted decades. “Yeah, what about her?”

“She retired from the field some seventy years ago, we hired her to train the extra sons of Jaffa in our farmer class. You were very fortune, most of the dedicated soldiers were likely retiring for the night to their barracks on other continents or else engaged in hostile climate training in our southern pole, unreachable. Several million of our best…Apophis must have ordered it of Shaka while I was still on prisoner duty.” There was a deep sense of outrage in his voice, but Kowalski didn’t have time to contemplate it because he was busy trying to keep from pissing himself at the concept of an entire fucking planet dedicated solely to the business of war. -Jackson said as much, but damnit, seeing is believing and I wish I was blind-

“We do not have much time, at most in three minutes one of the Prime’s will arrive on scene to restore order.”

“Yeah, one of my guy’s said the same thing.”

Carter had gone ahead, throwing grenades at several Jaffa that were rushing towards them from the road. Most of them were boys no older than sixteen, or so they appeared. One fired an energy blast at a grenade, attempting to shoot it out of the sky. It exploded, raining shrapnel and fire down on everyone around him, eliciting a string of profanity from one of the Jaffa. Teal’c roared into action, firing several energy blasts and laying two down with head shots while a third with a look of utter shock threw his weapon down and bolted unwilling to face their legendary War Master. Two remained and charged for Carter who was able to kill one with a shot to the face, before the other was on her, Kowalski lunged at the boy who had Carter pinned to the floor, a field knife was drawn and had been plunged into her shoulder. The pair rolled off Carter who was on her feet and yanking out the blade, to Teal’c’s surprise the maniac technologist examined it in her hand before rushing back into action. The Jaffa had Kowalski pinned, he was hurling what were likely obscenities at him and didn’t notice Carter until she had jammed the blade right into his throat.

There were gun blasts, several to the torso, several more, finally armor gave and the youth slumped over. Though he wasn’t dead, and Kowalski wasn’t going to finish the job, they simply advanced, nearing the Gate, nearing O’Neill. “Doc keep the fucking crazy to a minimum clock’s running out on our asses” he hissed under his breath. Then felt a wave of guilt because she was bleeding pretty bad, and he should have asked the kid if she was alright. For her part Carter didn’t seem to take offense, merely grinning at him. “Sorry sir, I underestimated them…that was really stupid.” She muttered. He nodded his head “We did the same on Abydos, hard to really understand it during the first engagement.”

They had made it to the gate ahead of O’Neill’s group and just in time to catch Jackson sliding down the road after taking a fall. “Daniel! You alright?” “ooohh yeaah!” he called out rising, he didn’t look alright, but not from the fall. Ahead of them, he could see the large retinue of refugees and O’Neill telling a particularly persistent Jaffa that was on fire to know when to quit as he tried to rush the Colonel, only to be killed by the two red colored girls at the Colonel’s side. It always amused Kowalski how Jack essentially picked up stray young people, especially screwed up ones, Skara being the exception. He always had a way with runaways, though he wondered how many of those were prisoners who belonged behind bars and how many were innocent. It wasn’t the nicest thought, especially with the way Ra enslaved the Abydonians being the only thing he had to go on, but Kowalski was fighting Beast men on another planet again and he’d long ago learned not to take anything for granted.

Shouts accompanied by energy blasts told the pair that the pursuers finally realized what was happening and had rushed forward. Jack made it along with Skara and the others, who were throwing rocks, firing staff weapons, doing everything they could to buy time as Daniel frantically searched for the symbols to the combination for Abydos. “umm Jack…this thing has four rows of keys…”

“Well hurry it up Jackson! We’re getting killed out here!” Jack roared as orange and purple bolts roared passed their heads. Skara had taken one of those electrical blasts from their side arms and crumpled onto the floor. One of the red women shielded him with her body, while her sister picked up Skara’s weapon and charged into the fray, standing beside Teal’c and Kowalski who were ahead on the black steps of the immense Gate, with Jack standing above them issuing orders and directing fire.

No one on either side of the conflict could ignore the scene playing out before them. Their legendary General, the dreaded Tau’Ri and a contentious Langaran were arrayed in a wedge, defying their power, and feeding any upstart who dared approach them to the very jaws of death. Some of the younger Jaffa stood awestruck, while others abandoned their weapons and decided to wait for the main army. Others muttered in a mix of reverence and rage and charged into the maw of massacre that awaited them.

Teal’c broke rank only once, when the mad technologist of the Tau’Ri threw an improved explosive at a group some hundred feet ahead. She’d rigged a grenade to a power cell from a broken staff weapon and the explosion vaporized two Jaffa and maimed dozens of others. Teal’c had dove into the madness to protect Carter who had passed out from a mix of the exertion and blood loss and rolled down the stairs. He used the bladed end of his staff weapon to cleave a Jaffa from throat to crotch and another was run through by the pouch. Someone shouted something that sounded like “Arah’sterik!” which Teal’c later explained translated to “Demoness”, they apparently thought Carter was some primordial mad bomber, crawling out of the jungles of Tau’Ri to wreak havoc on rookie Jaffa. The seconds it took Daniel to figure out the more complex dialing device ticked by like as though they were lifetimes and to the fallen, they had been. But soon the largest vortex Jack O’Neill had ever seen roared out of the massive black gate and they wasted no time hurling themselves into the gate. The refugees urging everyone to fall in line and jump low (Which Jack and Kowalski would later find out was due to the fact that not all gates were as massive as the Chulak gate and when you didn’t know the size of the one on the other side, single file and condensed was the “safe before sorry” method).

The group could not have entered at a better time, seeing as the last thing Kowalski witnesses as he jumped into the gate was the arrival of a far more coordinated and disciplined group, which hadn’t wasted much time discharging weaponry into the gate, precise enough that when Kowalski rolled out onto the floor in the Abydos Gate room, he saw several dead Abydonians and one downed airman. Someone grabbed his shoulder and he looked up to see one of the red skinned girls yanking him up. She asked something in what he would later know was called Imperial Standard, he understood enough of the language of Abydos to figure she was likely asking if he was okay and so he took a gamble and nodded.

Behind him, to his surprise what closed the gate wasn’t a metal iris but a bright green-blue energy shield that was projected by two struts holding the gate up. He blinked, then rounded to see Jackson and O’Neill standing protectively in front of Teal’c while Skara shouted something at the militia, likely an order for them to stand down. “He’s with us!” Kowalski called back.

“Oh, is he now?!” it may as well have been a deafening roar from some ancient big cat for how quickly everyone went silent and turned to the bald-headed figure of the Texian Admiral. Who honestly walked through the hallway towards the Gate Room as if he was some kind of ancient king. Someone laughed, he realized it was the anthropologist. “Presence doesn’t need a translation sir” The man remarked. Hammond certainly didn’t need a translator, the fact that Kasuf walked beside him and not in front said it all. “This is the same man who led the raid on my mountain and shot up my marines, you tell’n me he’s not a threat?!” There was less menace in his tone than there was curiosity, Hammond was a good judge of character and if he’d gotten a glimpse of the look of shame in the big guy’s eyes at any point during that skirmish, he probably knew all he needed to know about the alien.

“I am sir.” O’Neill said without missing a beat, standing firm in front of Teal’c with his eyes narrowed in challenge at Hammond, something that only Jack O’Neill could pull off. “Listen sir, the guy turned on his own men to save us from a stone-cold execution, to save these people! He then helped us escape and was willing to stay behind to face judgment for doing the right thing and to delay them. Yeah, I’m pretty damn sure he’s safe.”

“Sir, I was a soldier obeying an order I had questions over when we raided Tau’Ri” Teal’c began, no dishonesty in that deep, stoic voice. Teal’c hoped “sir” was the appropriate title and this world’s military didn’t have a “M’lord” or some other prefix for higher ranking officers. “But to raid Abydos, this world? I unquestioningly knew was an order I should never have obeyed, I made plans to leave Lord Apophis and his service, to leave my wife, my children and my home behind. I would have gone to serve another System Lord, but when I saw the valor of your men, their willingness to fight for those not even their own. I chose to come here and if you wish my death for the assault on your base, I will not resist. But I would serve you, offer my knowledge instead.”

Hammond took a breath. His eyes unflinching, none in the room failed to notice he was the only man that approached Teal’c in height, nor that he walked toward the Jaffa without fear. “And would you fight for me out there, in the field if I asked it of you. Against your own?”

“If the Serpent legions continue to conduct themselves like thugs. I will cut through them without hesitation. But I will not indiscriminately butcher Jaffa solely on your or anyone’s say so..”

The beginnings of a smile tugged at the corners of Hammond’s mouth, and he extended a meaty hand towards Teal’c. “What’s your name son.”

“I am Teal’c son of Ray’nar of Chulak, First Prime to Apophis and Second War Master of the Empire.”. There was pride in his voice, the self-loathing had only been at what he’d done of late and not at the whole of his being and Hammond seemed to appreciate that for he nodded reaching out for Teal’c hand. “War Master Teal’c, on behalf of the United State’s Government, I Vice Admiral George Samuel Hammond, son of James Allan Hammond, of Texas do accept your request for asylum.”

When the two clasped hands Jack O’Neill felt a weight lift from his shoulders and the sudden realization that they now had the means by which to build an effective fighting force against these damn body stealing bastards.

This was a bad day, as the Abydonian sun set, it ended on a bittersweet note.

Colonel Jack O’Neill could live with that.

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

Episode 2: The enemy beyond.

July 16th Cheyenne Mountain Complex

To say the weeks following the return of the Stargate Teams to Abydos were bewildering would have been the mother of all understatements. General Landry and Admiral Hammond officially switched positions with the former Airforce, turned Space Force “Spatial combat” General taking command of the base that was set up in the abandoned settlement outside the Pyramid complex. That was something Admiral Ellis and the President had insisted on almost immediately and with great vehemence. After the discovery of the gate shield and some insight from Teal’c on how to build rudimentary Naquadah enhanced generators, a sort of Alpha Site had been set up to house all the “biologicals” Stargate teams were ordered to bring back.

A makeshift airstrip was also going to be set up, as Landry had received approval for his little Blackbird program. Mining for Naquadah by the locals in exchange for tech and help rediscovering their lost technology and compensation in certain rare earth minerals they didn’t seem to possess (The planet was oddly devoid of Gold despite the abundance of it in the pyramid and architecture of the settlements). Or all of this would happen once the negotiations with Abydonians were completed. Originally Kensey’s faction spearheaded by Samuels had sent an old CIA hack by the name of Walter Draven (Hammond remembered him well, having had to clean up one of the messes he made in Zaire after the death of Mobutu). Old age hadn’t made him any smarter and when he tried to treat with the shrewd Kasuf and the other masters of Abydos like they were a bunch of dumb savages, they ate his lunch and ran circles around him until he was sent packing back through the gate in disgrace. For a brief second, Hammond contemplated asking Sasha O’Neill to ensure an accident happened with the Iris, but his better judgment won out.

After that fiasco, the Secretary of State herself showed up, with Richard Woolsey one of the US Government’s better clandestine negotiators in tow. Hammond didn’t exactly like Elizabeth Weir, or that was to say he absolutely detested her parents, who had been radical activists in Vietnam and turned U.N envoys in the nineteen eighties. They had frustrated so many projects both good and bad for everyone on all sides of the cold war that Hammond wondered if they weren’t just well-meaning idiots. Weir had fallen far from that tree; in her college years she found Libertarianism and penned a few papers on the abolition of law enforcement and its replacement with private militias that Hammond remembered getting a chuckle out of, such programs sounded great on paper, but he’d been in enough of the third world to realize how the reality of that went. Time had a funny way of tempering people though and she became affiliated with the Langford family in her mid-twenties and through them became somewhat of an antiquities broker and used the minor fortune she made from that to set up an unholy fusion between a PR firm and a “Diplomat for hire” company. They had some success, a lot of her negotiations with Native American tribal councils led to a mini boom in the energy sector (And had arrested the poverty plaguing certain reservations). He never figured out why the America First Crowd picked her, why the President nominated her, but she had been the only one aside from Hayes who had survived all four years.

His personal feelings aside, he was glad for her presence on Abydos. She had mitigated an interplanetary incident and Kasuf and the others seemed to enjoy haggling with her immensely. Of course, that was Landry’s problem, Hammond’s was in the after-action reports, the chatter with Washington DC and the interminable discussion over what to do with Teal’c. And of course, how to maintain their mission of Stargate reconnaissance while avoiding this hostile Empire of snake men. Some wanted him tried and executed for his assault on the base (Most of them were reassigned or encouraged to retire early). Others wanted to hire him out as a mercenary and use him to train the Stargate Command personnel that would be going through the gate, others wanted to use him as leverage, trade him to these space pharaohs in exchange for peace, most saw the value in the man as an intelligence asset and Hammond agreed with that take and the mercenary part but that wasn’t the issue at hand. The attack on the Cobra alien’s planet had proven just how outgunned and outmanned and out of their depth even his best was. Hammond needed more men, Hammond needed to know what the hell was out there, and Hammond needed to see if he could bring in the army, he needed more guys. Vice President Henry Hayes, bless his ambitious, cynical soul remained his loudest champion.

He’d also been the one to point out that they had a prime intelligence asset sitting in a room on base watching TV all day. Teal’c had taken his confinement in stride, of course and the more time Hammond spent with him the more he liked the stoic alien. This Jaffa war leader, this General of the armies of space was a man of pride and conviction, someone whose DNA was infused with martial tradition and a sense of history, a weight about himself that Hammond respected. Respected enough that he decided to force the issue, they had been doing nothing for Teal,’c for a sizable chunk of a month and so while Secretary Weir and Richard “That’s just powdered sugar on my tie!” Woolsey did battle in the war of words and concessions and greed with Kasuf (a man Hammond had come to call friend.) Admiral George Samuel Hammond took it upon himself to invite the Vice President to speak with their “guest.” Something that was highly irregular and caused the Secret Service and the military to panic. But when Henry Hayes accepts something, nothing ever seemed to be able to stop him.

The first time the pair met Teal’c had been chained almost like an animal (Hammond hated this, but Teal’c bore it in stride, assuring him that he’d ordered similar protocols at least a dozen times in his career and that it was logical and not a denigration.), they met over pizza and the look on Teal’c’s face when he tried a Pepsi was akin to a religious revelation. He reacted to the pizza in a similar fashion, astounded at its taste (Teal’c explained that most Lotar made similar foods but the ingredients on earth were entirely alien to him.) When Hayes joked that there might be a serious market for stimulants like sugar and caffeine in the universe, without hesitation Teal’c remarked that he knew of a System Lord who would likely give them a planet in exchange for an eternal supply of Pepsi. It wouldn’t be the first time Pepsi ended up becoming a minor power overnight. Hayes and Teal’c then proceeded to spend the next three hours talking about anything, everything except the System Lord’s military. The two men simply feeling each other out and it was clear Hayes was getting the measure of the man who had risked so much to help a bunch of “Hoodlums who hopped through the gate” as Hayes put it. The two struck up a friendship and Hayes gifted him with some reading material (The US constitution and a book on the American Revolution and had recommended the Civil war documentary Ken Burns did some thirty years ago.), wanting Teal’c to “know” what he sacrificed to protect. These briefings that weren’t briefings came with occasional explanations (such as why one of the red skinned women tried to stab Teal’c. Langarans apparently were among the few non-Jaffa granted citizenship, they also were prone to rioting at the drop of a hat and Teal’c had apparently needed to suppress a planet wide riot after a dispute over mining wages broke out into a planet wide brawl.) for various things, but the stoic giant seemed content to hold his tongue until a proper debriefing could begin and there was some discussion about how to do that. With Jack wanting to take Teal’c to the Pentagon (Mostly because he wanted to shout “TOLD YOU SO! MOTHER FUCKERS!” at the top of his lungs). Others were still fearful of the security risks this man whose loyalty was untested could prove; Hammond wanted it done in the SGC because he felt he could better protect the big man here than he could off site.

Which was why, Vice President Henry Hayes, Acting Sec-Dec Mark Esper, NID Director Robert Statterfield, Colonel Bartholamew Samuels, Colonel Martin Kennedy, Captain Herald Maybourne and Admiral Abraham Ellis sat in a conference room with Jack O’Neill, Daniel Jackson and Admiral Hammond, who was flanked by Petty Officer O’Neill with a stack of papers and Colonel John Shepherd, an army Ranger who was to be in charge of the batch of Rangers who would become the core of the Space Force’s “Stellar Rangers.” Who had the look of a man who didn’t believe a damn thing in the brief he was given until he saw the near seven foot humanoid with the golden brand enter the room. Teal’c had been given rather fine country cloth by Kasuf once it was revealed he was the War Master and had taken up arms against Apophis (Kasuf even offered him a place of honor on Abydos should he chose not to serve the SGC.) looking every bit the warrior, General and leader of men that he was in a prior life and when Hayes to meet him with a shake of the legion of secret service people tensed.

“War Master Teal’c! Welcome” Hayes said with an appraising smile. Teal’c nodded “Vice President Hayes, I am glad to see you here. Though is this not highly irregular?”

“You’re the former military leader of a space kingdom Teal’c, damn protocol this is a first for our world and I aim to be here. Besides, I need to hear this.”

Teal’c nodded with his usual gravity and when the Vice President sat down, Director Statterfield cleared his throat and leaned forward. “For the record, this is the debriefing of the Jaffa named Teal’c First Prime and War Master, which he tells us are ranks similar to a four star General and the chairman of the Joint Chief’s respectively. A former enemy combatant who defected from the…umm what was the name you used? Empire of the System Lords?”

“Indeed.”

“Empire of the System Lords. The Hostile power first encountered on Abydos five years ago by Colonel O’Neill.” He continued. “To start, I would ask for some general information on the Empire, its geo..err..spatial territories, its economy, its demographics and its leaders.”

“Y’know, nothing big! Just the basics.” O’Neill mused in a tone dripping with sarcasm. Causing a few laughs disguised as coughs and glares. Hammond allowed himself a slight smile, O’Neill was fiercely protective of his daughters and of his teammates and Teal’c was clearly a member of Jacks’ crew in his eyes. Maybourne and Samuels had managed to piss him off on all three fronts. Teal’c for his part leaned back into the chair and brought his hands up to rest on the table, they hadn’t been cuffed. That was something he and Ellis insisted on, after it was clear that Teal’c could tear out of any restraint he was put in and kill half the people in this room with his hands before he was put down. They simply had to trust him, and they had to likewise earn his trust and this was one of the steps that would need to be taken.

He closed his eyes. “I will attempt to translate my knowledge into terms you can understand without too much alteration; The Imperium of the Second Dynasty, the realm of the Children of Light. Or if you wish, as it is commonly known; the Empire of the System Lords has existed in its current extent for forty thousand years, it has known nearly twenty-two thousand years of peace and prosperity. But it has existed nearly one hundred thousand years and the Empire spent much of its first half embroiled in a relentless war of survival against an alliance of the elder races.”

“I see.” Statterfield almost whispered, Kim wasn’t wrong, Teal’c was going to be a hair-raising interview. Beside him, Secretary Esper paled and Maybourne’s eyes narrowed as he focused intensely on the guest speaker. “And what are its current borders?”

“Sixty-eight thousand lightyears in the Milky Way Galaxy, some four hundred in the Andromeda Galaxy as you call them and a vassal kingdom that spans much of the Triangulum Galaxy. Half of this land is run by the imperial bureaucracy; the rest is ruled by the System lords.” Teal’c paused, craning his neck slightly at the sound of something dropping. Secretary Esper had dropped a pen and it was only then that Hammond realized, the room had gone as silent as a tomb.

“Shit.” Shepherd muttered. “What the hell did we get ourselves into.”

“I, I see, what are the System Lords and their personal holdings like?” Statterfield asked, trying to bring the interview back on track. Totally not because he wanted to hear something other than the pounding of his own heartbeat.

“Some, like Ba’al rule relatively small domains, six hundred lightyears or smaller yet are great Captains of industry and trade. Ba’al’s domain is only four hundred lightyears across, but it contains the richest reserves of Naquadah and Trinium in the known universe, Ba’al’s personal yield yearly is comparable to….Hmm the term you might use is “GDP. The GDP of entire stellar civilizations, he is the wealthiest sentient in the known universe. Though he has a well provisioned militia, he is plagued by piracy, and he is no conqueror. Others like my former master Apophis rule a domain that spans seventeen thousand systems spread out over eleven thousand lightyears in our Galaxy and another four hundred in what you call the Andromeda Galaxy. Most of those worlds are host to populations the size of Abydos, but others? Wasset, Chulak and Erjet contain populations in the billions. The industrial world of Karnak houses eleven billion souls whose soul function is the creation of machines dedicated to war.”

No one in the room said anything, some received the news with looks of horror, others incredulity, Hayes, Ellis and Hammond had looks of resolute defiance on their face while Shepherd and O’Neill took turns seeing who could out glare the other. The silence was broken this time by the Secretary of Defense drinking water, loudly.

“And the, are there other?” Statterfield went on.

“To my knowledge, the Empire is the largest extant political body in the known universe.”

“Ah…and..it’s makeup?” This question was fielded by Maybourne.

“Forty seven species make up the population of the empire, including the nine sub species of Goa’uld, though they are often not counted in Imperial census’s” Teal’c was tempted to explain the militant factions of Tok’Ra, specifically the children of Egeria and the still loyal to the Empire equalist movement, comprised of members of four of the lesser Goa’uld breeds who simply wanted to be treated equally with Lotar, as opposed to being hunted for sport and treated like untouchable filth. But he would wait until they asked for specifics. “The largest majority are humans and their off-shoot species. Of which the Jaffa are a member, I do not know the exact number but your kind breeds swiftly and can intermarry with almost anything and live almost anywhere. I would not be surprised if there are tens of trillions of you, but I cannot give you an honest answer. Most of the population of the Empire, including most humans are of the Lotar class, I believe they are a cross between your ancient Spartan Helots and the peasants of your medieval Europe.” Teal’c smile at their confusion, and he laughed lightly. “I was given much reading material to pass the time and Jaffa are bred to retain information swiftly. My Prim’tah also enhances my mental faculties.”

They nodded.

Doctor Fraser, who had been in the back spoke up, clearing her throat. “What can you tell us about the different types of Goa’uld? The System lords specifically.”

“The System Lords are the oldest and most powerful Goa’uld of the sub species that are called Peers, with the exception of one who is only six hundred years old. The oldest, Saqet, Yu, Cronus, Hathor, Ra, Thoth, Garek who is just a peer but not a system lord and Apophis are all over one hundred thousand years old. Their true forms are ageless, my understanding is that they are biologically immortal and all of them are psychics, yet they cannot survive easily without a host and can be killed. I do mean psychic.” Teal’c paused giving Samuel’s a glare “Some of you may be skeptical but ask Colonels Kowalski and O’Neill or Daniel Jackson. They can read minds and manipulate thought and others possess far more potent abilities. Some like Ra could heal wounds instantly, vaporize people by summoning storms of energy. Ba’al can manipulate gravity with his mind, Yu the golden is said to possess the ability to manipulate electromagnetic fields and Hathor and Amaterasu are both oracles.”

“They can predict the future?” Ellis asked.

“I have not witnessed this myself, Empress Hathor once spoke of it to Chanyu, the former wife of Apophis. She seemed to believe that her prescience was overrated, that time was too unpredictable to fully manipulate. But her prophetic abilities have served the Empire well” Teal’c said. “Cronus was a telekinetic of considerable power, Egeria was said to be able keep her host eternally young without the need of a resurrection chamber as her mother Hathor can. Klorel, the son of Apophis once revived a dead Jaffa with the power of his mind, among..other..capabilities I would not speak of.”

And then there was Amunet whom, Teal’c was certain had orchestrated the assassinations of numerous offspring of her lover even while she was still an infant Goa’uld.

“Now when you say, resurrection chamber you mean the technology that Doctor Jackson described as bringing him back to life?” This came from Esper who was looking through papers as he asked. There was a slight tone of incredulity to his voice that died when Vice President Hayes tossed him a hard look.

“Indeed.” Teal’c affirmed. “While a peer may live forever with the exception of Hathor none are able to keep their hosts alive indefinitely under their own power. While they can extend a host’s lifespan far longer than any other Goa’uld without a resurrection chamber their bodies would eventually fail and expire. The resurrection chamber was an invention of Thoth and Yu, it is perhaps the closest Goa’uld get to being truly divine or possessing the mystical powers ascribed to them by the more primitive worlds within the Imperium.” There had been another who participated in the creation of the sarcophagus, but Teal’c refused to speak his name. He was long dead any way. “The Peers have many children; most are gifted with incredible long life but very few are born possessing the abilities that would make them Peers themselves. The resurrection technology is thus strictly controlled, ensuring only the System Lords and a chosen few, honored for their valor or brilliance or devotion are granted the gift of eternal life.”

“So, they can resurrect the dead and grant eternal life of a sort. What is the extent of the injuries these machines can repair?” Asked Admiral Ellis despite his age the Dark-skinned sea devil’s voice came through the conference room strong and clear. Teal’c seemed to regard him with deference as if recognizing that he was the man in this room whom even the mighty Jack O’Neill and Hammond of Texas looked up too. “Raijin the First Prime of Amaterasu was laid low by Typhon, the first prime of Cronus whom Bra’tac later slew. I witnessed him lose ninety percent of the skin on his body, all of his fur, all four of his limbs and half his face, most of his internal organs and what I believe was his manhood.”

Several chairs shuffled and Colonel Shepherd resisted the urge to cross his legs.

“Raijin was fully reconstituted within two days of being placed into the chamber. The regenerative abilities of the Goa'uld on their own depend greatly on the breed, but they can all repair most damage you would consider fatal if given sufficient time.”

“Interesting and they don’t widely use this on their own troops? Granted, we’re not a stellar power by any means but if my hospital ships came equipped with those things, I could have saved who knows how many lives during some of the wars I’ve fought in.” Ellis muttered, causing a few nods.

Teal’c seemed to consider for a moment before the giant raised an eyebrow “I too have asked this question, both of Bra’tac and some of the older First Prime’s in the empire. I’m afraid I can offer only conjecture on that-“

Jack cut him off with a wave of his hand. “Teal’c buddy, you ran their military, I think it’s safe to say any guessing on your part is something these guy’s will be interested in.”

“Very well O’Neill. I believe, the peers and their descendants are the only Goa’uld robust enough to handle a resurrection chamber without going mad or becoming dependent upon it.” Teal’c immense shoulders moved, perhaps the closest such a man could come to an apologetic shrug. “It is the only reason I can imagine; with some exceptions, System Lords are not cruel for the sake of cruelty.”

“Except Amunet” Daniel Jackson hissed with a venomous bitterness in his tone.

Teal’c raised an eyebrow “Amunet is no System lord, her heritage prevents her from even marrying Apophis and even if he were to become Emperor their children could never inherit his domains.” His tone held a hint of reproachment that made O’Neill almost smirk, even now stripped of all his authority there was no denying what Teal’c was. Someone born to lead.

“Why is that?” Shepherd asked curiously. “You mention the different kinds of these body snatchers, you do a lot of distinguishing. Is there some kind of apartheid amongst their kind as well?”

“Indeed” Teal’c said then took a long reluctant breath, from what he’d read of this nation’s history many had died needlessly over ethnic differences and once over the question of slavery in a rather violent war by their standards. He was about to make a defense of policies that would disgust them, but they hadn’t seen Klorel. “I questioned why for the longest time, I thought it particularly odd that the System Lords would keep entire solar systems filled with serfs, exalt their own subspecies beyond all others and make Imperial citizenship something almost exclusive to Jaffa and bonded sentients. Yet denigrate their lesser brothers and sisters, every child knows the tale of the murder of Ouranos the father of Ra by primitive Goa’uld, how they mortally wounded his mother out of fear of being unable to resist their power. But I am unsure if there is truth in that tale, if it is, to hold such a hatred for so long. Yes, there is a divide among the various species of Goa’uld, with the Rarest of the breeds, the Peers being at the top, their non-empowered children are the second class and treated as well as the Jaffa. The lowest race of symbiote is often hunted for sport, they’re barely sentient and often only develop sentience when they merge their minds with their hosts. It is a true symbiosis in that case. From two beings, one emerges.”

“The weird voice thingy the snakes do, can they all do that? Y’know where they speak with like a whole chorus in their throats and it does funny things to your brain?” O’Neill cut in; he’d been looking quite bored until Teal’c began to discuss the serpents wherein he listened with the attentiveness of a man trying to learn how best to kill an enemy.

“Ah we call that the compelling voice Teal’c clarified “Yes, to varying degrees, my wife believed it was an evolutionary defense mechanism, they can manipulate your emotions. Make you fearful, or courageous, drive you mad or submissive or more aggressive. Though it varies in strength depending on the race and they can turn off the effects. Some Goa’uld who exist outside the law and share bodies with their hosts and do not fuse minds merely use a variant of it as a differentiator. A manner of announcing who is speaking, the host or the Goa’uld. But its psionic effects? It’s use in general is prohibited only to the System Lords, even the lesser peers are forbidden from it.”

“Makes sense, when Amunet spoke to me she just sounded like a sadistic version of my wife, until she decided to mess with our minds and then she got glared at. I take it these social differences are rigidly enforced?” Jackson asked.

“Indeed” Responded Teal’c gravely. “Intermarriage between the peers and the lower half of the Goa’uld races and the upper half is often punished by death. The offspring of System Lords and the rest of the peers who do not manifest their gifts are prohibited from advancing so far and even peers born of a lesser breed that is not among the lower half of the species can be killed at Birth or barred from ruling as a System Lord. Most of them serve the imperial bureaucracy as planetary governors and make up the bulk of the minor aristocracy. Klorel, the son of Apophis by one of the lowest breeds of Goa’uld was born one of thirty-five offspring in a birth that tore the mother’s host apart and killed them both. Ra came with an armada to Chulak and forced Apophis to present himself and to execute his own children with his own hands leaving the weakest, most deformed of them alive as a punishment to Apophis.”

Jack couldn’t help himself, he felt sorry for Apophis in that moment and despite the potential threat these snakes represented, he was glad he killed Ra. To make a man murder his own newborn children. “I’m glad I killed his ass then.” Jack sneered.

Returning the conversation to the subject at hand they asked more questions about Goa’uld anatomy and then the topic eventually moved to military capability and the political situation of the universe, if there was anyone they could ally with, if so who and why and what they were like.

“You mentioned the rank War Master, it’s distinct from First Prime? Can you elaborate on the differences?” This was asked by Hayes, who had been taking his own notes with a fountain pen that must have belonged to his great grandfather or something for how it looked.

“A Prime is a Jaffa equivalent of your four-star Generals, their counterpart in rank would be Captain of the Fleet. My wife was one of nine that Apophis possessed and first among equals, each first prime acts as the chief of the militias of the System Lord whom they serve. It is a post I have been at for eighty standard years, eighty-four of your years if my math is correct.” Admittedly Teal’c was terrible at math, unlike his wife and sons. “I was First Prime to Apophis, as such I commanded the backbone of the Imperial military, its largest armada and greatest armies. The Jaffa of Apophis are professional soldiers, trained much as yours are whereas other System Lords command forces that are more akin to your militias of the American Revolution. Well trained and equipped but not on the same level as my former brothers and sisters in arms. Even though we are at peace, Chulak remains the heart of the imperial military and all Jaffa who live there are trained as though we were in a state of war.” There was pride in his voice, even if he was ashamed of what he had done and what Apophis had become, he still felt pride in his people and his ways.

Few could find fault in that. “Sounds like Chulak is a mix of our Pentagon and all our army bases then.”

“I believe that analogy is correct from what reading material has been provided to me Vice President.”

“I see, and what would be your West Point?” A whole planet with billions of professional soldiers, Hayes tried to wrap his mind around that, he couldn’t.

“Dakkara, it the cradle world of the Jaffa. The place of our creation, it is the first off world colony taken by Ra when the rebellion spread beyond its world of origin. It is where War Master Bra’tac trains the most elite and gifted of Jaffa from all across the Empire. All those who receive training on Dakkara are destined to be Primes and First Primes. The Hall of glory is the heart of our warrior culture. Dakkara also doubles as the Capitol of the Empire, the Crown world of the House of Ra and home of the imperial court and the bureaucracy. It is the heart of the Stargate Network and the center of all Goa’uld power. It is said to be among the most beautiful worlds in the known universe.” To Teal’c Dakkara had always been daunting, august, so big and grandiose that it made it feel too fantastical and remote to ever really feel like home. Chulak was his, it had been where he earned his respect, freedom and prestige even if he had been trained on Dakkara.

“Which brings us to the rank of War Master, a Prime and a First Prime may retire. The academy on Dakkara is filled with instructors who are former primes and first Primes. It’s current instructor of logistics is Tolok, he was first prime to Horus for two hundred and seventy years before he retired. A war Master? It is a lifetime appointment, and my former mentor was the youngest in the history of my race” Teal’c remarked with a sensor of wonder. Bra’tac had been made First Prime at the age of thirty-two, physically he was still a teenager and was declared War Master by Ra himself at the age of fifty. It had been unheard of, no one was likely ever to break his record, for Bra’tac was unique. “Two there are, only two. The younger of the pair leads the combined military of the System Lords in war, serving under Apophis the master of war and taking part in all plans and decisions. It is the closest a Jaffa can come to being an equal with a God I suppose…The other trains the future leaders of the Jaffa people and the imperial armies and navies. He is the head of the Academy on Dakkara in this era it is Bra’tac who was first prime to Apophis before me. He is the greatest living Jaffa, they say the spirit of Anubis is in his bones. He was my mentor, he remains so in a sense for it was Bra’tac who set me on the path that led me here.”

“So, we have potential allies within this Empire?” It was Esper who asked this question, and the stoic giant gave a slight nod. “Possibly, the death of Ra and the assault on Chulak and the history of your world mark you as extremists, terrorists and deviants. But the reasons behind both, provide you with a justification. I cannot say it will be enough to prevent war, but my advice would be to pursue friendship not rancor.”

As the conversation progressed, more and more and of the steam that had been in the blood of the Americans faded and the full weight of what they were dealing with was hammered home.

“Sixty-eight thousand light years, tens of thousands of world…” Hammond muttered to himself. Well, no one would ever say the United States played it safe that was for damn sure.

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

Ummm....
😒
😏
Did I miss it?

You did not!

The Whitehouse – July 18th.

“Sixty eight thousand light years..Sixty eight thousand light years.” He repeated, his voice raspier than usual, tired which was odd because his beady eyes were doing the thing he always did was when he was calculating the odds and sniffing out opportunity. “You mean to tell me, that in twenty fifteen we picked a fight, with a government that could take one graduating class of one backwater retard school in one province or state or whatever the fuck, and god damn drown us in space invalids…LITERALLY!?” The President fumed, stalking the Oval office much like a junk yard dog who’d been idle for too long. “It’s bad enough I had to find this out two and a half damn years in! Don’t get me wrong Hank, I’m grateful you managed that little Pentagon coup for me…But damnit…The other guy sent a hit squad to another planet?!”

Two generals shifted uncomfortably but despite the absurdity of the metaphor Harold Maybourne had to laugh. Because the mental image was too obscene and probably apt. They likely could toss a handful of their version of school districts at the planet and their loping toddlers would number the combined military of the earth by a factor of a thousand. And because the President’s continued fury at being lied too and being the outside guy amused him. His subsequent reaction was rather convenient for Hayes the Statterfield's and Ellis and West before he died. Their little faction suddenly shooting like rockets into the halls of power after the President went on a mad firing spree. Not that Maybourne minded either, it had benefitted his side as well.

It had been surprisingly brilliant for people who were supposed to be old dotards and a hyper dense wrecking ball.

Kensey’s reaction was, to be expected, dismissive. The Senator had demanded they ignore the “Jabba” and continue making raids on these evil colonizers, to bring home tech. She couched her blind ambition in some spiel about needing to fight climate change, which Maybourne could agree with if that had been her real position and not just a front for her real goal. Which Maybourne suspected was to profit off the illegal sale and distribution of alien artifacts and weaponry to the Chinese. Maybourne wanted to care, one way or the other but he’d been cynical for too long. “Representative Kensey wants us to continue antagonizing these people.”

“Yeah, she’d like that, wouldn’t she? A damn interstellar war she could blame on me.” The man shook his head, tapping the paper on the resolute desk. How many monumental decisions had been made from behind this desk made from remains of a vessel that had chased dead men into the dark and cold. “Some of this is fantastical, these snakes even the stupid ones can make people stronger and live longer and immune to disease? I guess even the “lesser breeds” or however he said it possess you too, it would almost be worth it.” Someone, some aid looked like she was going to open her mouth and he dismissed her. “The parts that are relevant to me was how he said we were like terrorists to them and that we had pulled off the equivalent of their nine eleven, but he also thinks we can maybe make peace or establish trade with them? What? If I were them and someone killed my Space King, I don’t think I’d make peace, we sure he isn’t trying to fuck us?”

“Absolutely Mister President.” Hayes said without question. Beside him on the couch Abraham Ellis finished a glass of Pepsi and turned towards the President. “George thinks he’s alluding to the fact that this Apophis might make a go at the throne and that the others may feel like that’s too much power concentrated in one snake.”

“Bigger fish to fry?” He asked.

“Yes, Mister President, with their kind who knows how long a civil war might last. It gives us time; we can always continue the mission and avoid their territories and just hope they calm down enough that we can negotiate with them.” A general Maybourne didn’t recognize (some brush headed asshole who was part of the joint chief’s apparatus, Milus or Mili or something.)

“Teal’c seemed to think we could make quite a profit selling our junk food and plants and music and other things out in the stars. At the very least, we could cover our operating expenses and if we’re lucky turn a real profit and make some friends.” Hayes offered, hell maybe more than that he thought, trade for some tech.

“From what I’m reading here, the other governments out there are all chicken shit compared to the snakes. Some of the strong ones are even crazier, you read the chapter on the Ashen? My God those guys were worse than the Nazi’s and the coalition that fought them? Even worse!”

Ellis had to admit, reading about Macello and Lenea made his stomach turn, when a species of immortal serpent men who fought wars that devastated whole solar systems called you names like “The great Deceiver” and “the destroyer of souls” and “the butcher of worlds.” Or “The living plague.” Their war had been over twenty years now Teal’c had said, and it left dozens of planets devastated, billions scarred, and God knew how many dead. They had been exhausted, the Ashen wiped out and the coalition had overthrown both Macello and Lenea when they turned their attention to the Empire. No one knew where they were, two fugitive monsters, but the idea of trying to establish commerce with what Teal’c described as “an anarchy” seemed like it would be more costly than beneficial.

“I like the Tollan though, minus the poetry any way” The President said. Though, from what Teal’c said no one had any idea what their technological level was. Only that they were a society of wealthy poets who appeared to be human, but no one could tell exactly where they came from. They existed on the fringe of Zeus’ domain between his border and the start of Izanami’s realm. Or so he thought, no one really knew. Rax-Tolla as they called that planet was little more than a trade outpost, the Tollan were independent, isolationists and stayed out of trouble. Everything he wanted the United States to be, except the poetry, that was nonsense.

“We don’t even know if they’d accept trade with us or what they have, still worth pursuing. But the impression I got from Teal’c Sir, is that we should be”

“Carry a big stick and try and smooth things over with the snakes?” The President asked wryly cutting the old Admiral off.

“Yes sir.”

“I don’t like it, the idea that the guy before me might have started some galaxy wide civil war, that we’ll have to involve ourselves. That billions could be killed because of him. We should just be out there doing business with these people not making enemies that can squash us like bugs…” The man at the center of the oval office seemed to pause then looked back to Ellis. “Abe, how long before Constellation can be ready?”

“Another year sir, maybe half a year if we work a miracle.”

Sitting down he nodded. “Get George Hammond here..Ask him if he likes KFC. In the meantime, what do you think about his take on these “Great races.” The Nox sound like bullshit, I agree with him a race of fairies right out that Disney show with the gargoyles…But these Asgard?”

Ellis had remained decidedly silent whenever the issue of the Asgard came up, something Maybourne had noticed, and it made his eyes narrow. The old man leaned back in his chair; his eyes shut in thought. “Just because these people oppose the System Lords, doesn’t necessarily mean they’re friendly. The Nox may not even exist, Maybourne is right about how absurd they sound and if the Asgard are as militaristic as the War Master says? We should tread carefully sir.”

“Hey! Hey! I like careful, I’m all about careful! Still, whadda we got lose eh?”

“Fair point mister President.”

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

We goin back to base now boys.

July 16th Cheyenne Mountain Complex

“Maaann that was good.” Colonel Shepherd muttered patting his ribs. He didn’t usually like on base food but the cooks for the SGC were some of the best in the damn military and it seemed like nearly all the ingredients were fresh. So he took the opportunity to feast on some quality chow. The luxury of serving in what was swiftly becoming the most important facility in the Space Force if not the most important facility in the whole military if half of what the big guy was saying was true.

“Indeed” Teal’c remarked immensely satisfied. “The Sirloin and baked potato were most excellent though I am partial to the tater tots myself.”

“Ah! A man of taste!” O’Neill remarked “See, Shepherd here’s the heir of a big defense firm and he grew up with butlers and fancy cooks, so when you hand him fried food, he looks like you’ve just tossed him a plate full of insects or something.”

Shepherd rolled his eyes “You’re talking to a guy who probably had a whole planet or something.” He protested in a droll voice. “Besides, I get heartburn from potatoes is all, onions rings though. Heellll yeah.”

“I did not rule a planet.” Teal’c remarked. “But I was given ownership of a small moon and a percentage of the harvest and the rental income of half a million farmers on Chulak.” Catching the look on Jack’s face a bemused smile came over his face. “I spent the first ten years of my life in a slum, my father desired a better life for his son and I for my own. Though admittedly my wife was more of the earner. I lost everything, but she has likely not.”

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to leave his family in squalor, and Jack would be very much dead, O’Neill nodded in understanding. “We do what we can for our kids.”

“Indeed.”

“One question if you don’t mind.” Captain Maybourne joined the conversation at that moment. “Should we not wait for the interview resume Captain Maybourne?” Teal’c asked.

Maybourne gave an indifferent shrug, if Teal’c wanted to continue playing twenty questions, erratically with confused bureaucrats until his ass fused with the chair that was his prerogative, but Maybourne wanted to be out of here by dinner time. “It isn’t important enough to wait for the hot seat but you mentioned that the average world in your empire is three hundred years behind us. Minus the Crown worlds and the worlds where your kind and others that are “citizens” inhabit, but why is Abydos so?”

“Backwards?” O’Neill asked with a bit of a sneer.

“Well put! That’s exactly it!” Maybourne responded with a playful smugness that caused O’Neill to twitch slightly.

“I could never ascertain the answer to that, nor why Ra insisted upon returning to that world as often as he did. I know that it vexed his primes and first Prime terribly, but the emperor would never deviate from his visitations there. Even after the rebellion at Lantesh.” Teal’c answered with the exasperation of a commander who was forced to deal with things he knew were dangerous but had no way of correcting.

“Did you have a standard protocol for rebellions?” Maybourne asked curiously. When Teal’c raised his eyebrow, the Captain shook his head dismissively. “They won’t ask.”

“He’s right” O’Neill muttered grudgingly. “Half these people have spent too much time with their ass fused to a desk, they know more about donuts and thinktanks than they do about warfare.”

Teal’c nodded gravely, not a small amount of sympathy in those eyes of his. “That is a problem I and my predecessors have spent the last ten millennia trying to prevent. When the universe is still, and victory is assured.”

“You’re at your most vulnerable when you’re at strongest. This is a disease that has blighted the United States for the last half century. And it’s cost us wars we should have won.” Maybourne’s bitterness surprised O’Neill but Teal’c seemed to understand it all too well. “Yes, in any case there was a protocol for dealing with Lotar rebellions laid down some thirty thousand years ago, but in all that time I believe it has come into effect perhaps four times. Ra did not obey it when he smashed Lantesh. It is to return in force and deliver a merciless defeat and then we help them up, an easy, restorative peace. Though, I’ve not seen this in practice, when the Titan rebelled, his Lotar populated worlds were never touched by our forces, beyond the destruction of Cyphos, his primary industrial world.”

A Sherman doctrine in space huh? Jack didn’t have time to really to ponder on it because big man had just casually laid out the fact that he’d blown up a planet or been had known guys who had. “A whole planet huh? Kind of excessive, isn’t it?”

“That is what Apophis believed at the time, though that may seem surprising. It was a Captain in the fleet, Se’tak who swayed our lord. Se’tak now serves as an instructor in stellar combat at Dakkara..he is..a formidable mind. But he is prone to excessiveness in war at times.”

“Thank you Teal’c.” Maybourne had vanished down the hallway to the conference room, which in turned prompted Shepherd to remark on something that Teal’c seemed to leave unsaid. “Most of these Lotar worlds are loyal huh?” If they averaged between a century and five centuries behind mainline humanity, he couldn’t imagine that kind of squalor, then again, the reports he’d read on Abydos implied they had access to plumbing and bathing was commonplace, that did a lot to mitigate disease and with many of the medicinal herbs? He wondered. “The tech levels, is that by law?”

Teal’c shook his head. “In Truth, I believe most System Lords would not mind it if every Lotar world in their domains reached a level a century or even a millennium above your world. Perhaps it would be different if the Goa’uld were petty tyrants who used religion to enslave rather than unite. But I do not believe many worlds would wish to break away or rebel, there are some advanced Lotar worlds that are a century or two ahead of you and they seem content.”

“Right, when there’s peace and commerce why bother rocking the boat right?” Shepherd asked and Teal’c nodded.

“It all sounds good, until you realize you guys have created an era of peace that’s too quiet. Sounds like people don’t advance because they don’t want too, stagnation can kill a civilization as easy as war can.”

Teal’c remained silent the rest of the way, considering O’Neill’s words. Had things been too tranquil? The decay of the Titan and the atrophy of Apophis seemed to suggest that they had indeed lived too long and become too complacent. Though, the Empire continued to advance technologically, the cultural glories and the heights of personal growth reached in the dark times of the empire were unmatched in peace time. Teal’c wondered…

Once they sat back down, Admiral Ellis began this round of questions, and it began with a discussion on Hosts.

This was not a topic Teal’c wanted to discuss given that Daniel Jackson was seated next to him.

“I would like to know, precisely how a Goa’uld takes over a host, what the process is. Or more specifically, if anything of the host remains and if so, how do they manage to suppress it? I am assuming they don’t unify minds like the lower species do?” The old Admiral asked with a tone that implied the discussion made his skin crawl as much as it had O’Neill’s.

Teal’c leaned back in his chair, his eyes shifting to Daniel, hesitation born out of a desire to spare his new friend a harsh and bitter truth. After a few moments, he folded hands that could fit only in frying pans on the table in front of him. “The average Goa’uld learns how to suppress minds as they grow older as their own minds strengthen. They can suppress a mind almost completely, but some admit that the personalities of their stronger hosts do seep into their own at times. I believe they achieve this by merging with the human brain and central nervous system, though I am not an expert on their part of the process. I know that it can be dangerous for a Goa’uld who is not accounted among the peers to take their first host. That they can be overwhelmed by older, stronger personalities and that it can often be fatal for both host and serpent. I believe most of the lower species of Goa’uld even those who make up parts of the aristocracy use brain dead hosts, or clones. Some will use criminals. A peer can simply…” Teal’c paused, looking to Daniel before continuing. “Erase the personality of the individual in question if it so chooses.”

Jackson got up, excusing himself with Fraser nearly rising to go after him. “Damn kid, hold it together.” She muttered.

“I see, do you know of any instance of a Goa’uld shedding a host solely to infiltrate a planet on the border of your empire?” Ellis continued.

“Once, long ago, at the dawn of their war of rebellion against the Ori. When they were outnumbered and outgunned, they sent many a Goa’uld into the ranks of the Ori’s protectorate races, to steal their technology and secrets. A grand reverse engineering project had commenced, and infiltration occurred, but the peers dislike the practice and view it as shameful. No System Lord would ever take a host for mere survival unless they had no other option and for other Goa’uld it can be dangerous.”

“So, you don’t think we should screen for possession in our returning soldiers then?” Hammond queried.

“My belief is not. But I believe you humans have a maxim for such things.”

“Better safe than sorry.” Hayes nodded his head.

“Indeed.”

“And that brings me to my question” Doctor Fraser piped in. “you mention that the System Lords have genders themselves and aren’t merely assuming the gender of the host? If so, explain to me how they reproduce and why you’ve mentioned they have queens before.”

Teal’c put on a face that seemed to imply this was an area he knew little of and what he did know made him wish he knew nothing at all. “It is possible for male and female Goa’uld to repurpose the reproductive organs of their host, usually by the blending of genetic material and the merging of tissue to create offspring, but successful pregnancies are rare. They seldom have more than one offspring. Goa’uld Queens, perhaps an artifact of their ancient ancestors however can via using the same methods, carry and deliver many dozens and in some cases hundreds. Though creating a new queen is dangerous for them.”

“Larger symbiotes? Higher risk pregnancy? I can’t imagine a human body handling hundreds of”

“They’re born small no larger than one of your quarters, they grow exponentially for the first six hours of life. A queen is, an exception beyond the size there tends to be a great deal of mental energy involved in conception, gestation and delivery I know little of the process. Hathor is the only Queen I know of to have survived birthing six, only two were ever peers however. One was a system Lord.”

“How many queens are currently alive and how many are peers?” Fraser asked.

“There are ten thousand queens that we know of, though nearly all of them exist solely to provide Prim’tah for the Jaffa. There are only, to my knowledge five living Queens among the peers.”

“And…” Fraser was cut off by O’Neill who slammed down a paper and had a look of exasperation. “Look as fascinating as the topic of how snakes fuck might be, shouldn’t we all be concerned about the fact that these bastards’ rule most of our…GALAXY?!” O’Neill shouted the last part out causing the room to go silent. “Look this whole interview has been a meandering clusterfuck and I’m not policy expert but I bet ya dollars to donuts it’s because you guys are refusing to stop and think on what the military capabilities of a government that fucking large is!”

“You’re out of line Colonel! And Teal’c out of line for such a blatant exaggeration! Sixty eight thousand light years, whole galaxy…fuck on with that nonsense!”

The tantrum came from Esper who was silenced by Vice President Hayes setting a hand on his wrist. “Mark, you’ve got that NATO thing?”

“That’s not til”

“Then you should probably go..”

“Mister Vice President!?”

“Mark please, it’s Henry. And don’t worry, I’ve got this.”

“Mister Vice President…I…Insi”

“I’ve got this..Mark.” There was a finality in his voice that utterly deflated the acting Secretary of defense, who after insisting a copy be presented to him turned and left the room with all due haste.

Hayes grinned and then turned to Petty Officer Sandra O’Neill, beaming a smile at the young woman. “Admiral Hammond, would you mind terribly, if I asked your aid here to go bring in the cart with the boxes.”

“Cubans?” Hammond asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You’re damn right!”

Turning back to the conference room Hayes grinned at Teal’c with an easy-going smile. “Alright War Master, why don’t you tell us exactly how screwed we are.”

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

Abydos July 16th.

The Carter – O’Neill communications bridge or the “Doc Carter’s mail service” as Kowalski called it was a hastily rigged up system of wireless receivers and antennas used on desktops, some cable lines. USB cables and lots of adhesive and a jury-rigged plug for an alien power outlet that allowed for wireless communication and the exchange of data between the communication networks and net that they had just managed to set up on Abydos (Again via tapping into something that Carter and Sasha O’Neill had guessed correctly was some kind of communication system.), and Stargate Command on earth. The pyramid had begun to light up in ways that Skara had assured them he’d never seen before, as though the ancient technology that created the mountain range sized complex had begun detecting their technology and responding in kind.

Of course, there were concerns, such as power drainage and the like but with the help of Daniel Jackson they were able to determine that the power systems damaged during the original battle five years ago had mostly repaired themselves by now and were drawing enough energy from geothermal and solar power to run most of the systems. It seemed that the only two things which were energy hogs that did stress the system beyond its capacity was excessive use of the teleportation mirror and the energy shield that was projected over the gate. Both couldn’t be run at the same time and if the shield ran for more than an hour it would cause a twenty minute long black out. Ever since then, Carter had been looking for a way to make the advice Teal’c gave her on assembling a rudimentary Naquadah generation into managing some of the power issues.

Which was a good thing because Secretary Weir had a feeling the research labs here at what was becoming known as “The A-site” (short for Forward Base Alpha.) was going to be almost as important as stargate Command itself. She’d been seated with Kasuf and General Landry, Colonel Kowalski having left with Richard Woolsey and Kadra along the river to help settle a trade dispute between the farming masters and a city master. Woolsey seemed to enjoy playing the role of a medieval style councilor, really enjoy it. Which was odd, because Woolsey always struck her like a creature of comfort, yet he had quickly won respect amongst the leaders of Abydos and had no problem playing the rustic when needed. His reputation for it was eclipsed only by her own, which was totally not a problem for her ego! She had enjoyed working with the SG teams and with Kasuf immensely, finding the collection of characters to be a fascinating departure from her grinding routine in D.C.

Normally the “data bursts” brought good news back and forth but they had just received a copy from the first part of Teal’c briefing and she suddenly found herself wishing none of this was real. “We need to begin setting up our own infrastructure here, the weird internet in this pyramid could be compromised.” Weir muttered.

“Remotely?” The man who asked was a tall, grim faced army ranger by the name Evan Lorne. He’d been new, having come with Weir and being placed in charge of base security by the newly minted Stargate Command.

“These transcripts say they run most of the Galaxy Captain Lorne, if they can’t communicate across those distances, how are they gonna run it?” General Landry asked. Landry was an interesting fellow, Weir thought. He was an aeronautical engineer first and foremost, a friend of Jacob Carter who had shared the man’s obsession with getting his kids and grandkids into NASA. The friction between him and his daughter Lahm seemed to arise from there (Or so Weir thought.), yet the two worked amicably together and despite being somewhat of a stuffy, studious man with a “Soccer Dad’s” approach to diplomacy, the people of Abydos had taken a liking to him rather quickly, as had his own people. His explanation seemed to make sense to Lorne who nodded.

“It would sure suck if we got compromised by some alien IT guy a billion miles away.” The captain muttered causing Landry to laugh. “Maybe jurisdiction will buy us time.” Lorne said suddenly causing Landry to raise an eyebrow.

“He might be right!” Weir answered pleasantly surprised, for most of her life she had certain preconceptions about what military men were like and so far, everyone here had been proving that she was so far off base as to be almost crazy. She also knew, other members of the President’s cabinet wouldn’t be caught dead lounging at a table between a base commander and a regular soldier, but Elizabeth Weir long ago learned that you could achieve more by making small gestures than acting aloof. “It seems like while they have a centralized Government there are still a lot of feudal elements to their culture and system. Maybe who ever rules this sector for Ra might get really angry if it’s found out this Apophis raided their area? So, the reason that we haven’t noticed anything might be due to the fact that he broke some law, or because their people may need to obtain permission..Either way, we should prioritize trying to get…something..set up.”

“That’s one thing I’ve noticed, they aren’t asking him for any detail on the major players! And we need to know this, I mean aren’t we technically operating a base behind enemy lines?” Lorne’s point caused both Landry and Weir to glance in his direction, and he wanted to excuse himself only for Weir to nod. “You’re absolutely right Captain Lorne.” She sighed. “Maybe I should return and participate in this, to make sure things are on the right track. I can always come back for the signing.”

Landry nodded before rising and walking towards a coffee pot resting on a table that seemed to grow out of the wall. “The technology on display here worries me, a lot of this seems to be stuff we’ve been theorizing over, other stuff looks to be things we’ve begun developing in its infancy but taken to such a sophisticated degree we’re thousands of years behind at least.” Reaching out with his left hand he felt the cool stone, stone that coursed with energy, stone he was convinced was synthetic and perhaps partially alive.

“Did you read the commentary by Teal’c on the Titan’s rebellion? Specifically, the number of troops that participated?”

…..

Washington D.C July 18th.

“Of the billions of Jaffa, only a comparative handful participated in the Titan’s rebellion” She left out of course, that the “handful” in question was likely millions and her sneering tone of voice made it abundantly clear she believed this Empire should be opposed, militantly and at all costs. Especially considering the multinationals and Governments willing to pay her and her people fortunes for any technology “Liberated” from these oppressors.

Roberta “Bobby” Kensey Ne; Mangano was a congresswoman from Philadelphia minority speaker and chair of the powerful appropriations committee. Gray haired, brown eyed and ambitious as hell, she had overtaken Nancy Pelosi in 2006, during her initial showdown with President Bush, a move that might have cemented the older representative. She’d spent the last fifteen years using a mix of insider knowledge, the murky connections of her family and the strategic dissemination of information to topple all of her rivals. Many viewed her as a harsh, manipulative woman, the dregs of the party would vote for a ham sandwich if she told them too and she didn’t really care about anything except building a financial and political empire for her grandchildren. One thing that was true about her was that she trusted nothing and no one and her habitual dismissal of what she called alarmist nonsense had ensured her a comfortable and meteoric rise to the top.

This nonsense about these Goa’uld was no different. Trusting a former supreme commander of their military to deliver anything but propaganda was the kind of idiocy she expected from the current administration, and she was half tempted to leak the entirety of Project Constellation and the Stargate Program when everyone refused categorically to turn over Teal’c for “examination” and a permanent stint in a blacksite for crimes against humanity. It had been a power play admittedly, but she was hoping to extort some concession out of them, remove Hammond or something. Not outright refusal and support for that refusal from the rest of the committee (even those of her own party). That had pissed her off and she’d been in a foul mood ever since then and determined to make the lives of Stargate Command a living hell for as long as she could get away with it.

“Maybourne seems to think this is credible.” Some pissant junior representative who ended up on her committee due to her last name mooed out. The fat cow that she was. Kensey again had to force herself to not say the next words that were about to come out of her mouth -It’s too bad your grandfather wasn’t shot before your father was born-. Damn Irish, they’d been a thorn in her family’s side for centuries.

“Maybourne never met a panic he didn’t like.”

“The Statterfield’s take it seriously as well ma’am”

Kensey sneered at her. “O’Neill is probably fucking Kim, her husband is a moron and that whole family is overrated as yours.” Whoops, she was going to have to make some lame ass apology at the next party dinner over that one.

“So what? We’re going to obstruct the SGC? Try and starve them to force them to bury the gate? The Senate’s committee won’t-“

She was silenced by Kensey with a dismissive wave of the older woman’s hand. “You drunk? Of course, you would be, don’t answer that. Any way we’re not going to stop them, according to my research we’re sitting pretty on a slush fund of some, three billion that was approved during the cold war and has been sitting in some Caribbean bank accruing interest. Money that was never used and thanks to some clever phrasing in the rule book, has never been disclosed.”

The younger woman blinked, her features a mix of outrage and confusion and then, the slow heifer finally realized what she was getting at. “Wait... you are going to try bribe people in the SGC to commit theft!?”

Oh, no, swing and a miss, never mind.

Of course, it was probably better that she believed it. Kensey was going to pressure her people in the NID to do that any way. “Patriotism is never theft.”

“I thought patriotism was problematic”

“Say it’s five in the evening, aren’t you people usually on your eleventh hangover and thirtieth pregnancy by now?” Damn Irish…The only reason she bothered to take her husband’s name happened to be the connections that came with it.

All this stupid little girl could think about were the wild exaggerations by this Jaffa, fearful and wanting to bow and scrape but Roberta Kensey saw only opportunity.

A golden opportunity.

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

For those who love the world building and Goa'uld culture.

We get some of Ba'al and since I know @Spartan303 is such a fan, I hope I didn't botch his intro.

Conniving, manic and charming!

Nineveh – The Month of Ouranos (Sixth month of the imperial Calendar)/July Tau’Ri reckoning

The Crown world of Ba’al has been unlike anything she’d ever known (Which made her mentally slap herself for declining his invitations prior to this.), in the last few weeks she’d seen more wealth than she’d seen in her entire life. Apophis ruled a truly enormous fiefdom, one that was remarkably well developed, and she’d traveled extensively through the domains of the House of Ra and the fallen Emperor during the Titans rebellion, the most densely populated of all the domains but Drey’ac was certain Ba’al’s personal wealth eclipsed both. She’d been given an island chain in the Southeastern waters of Nineveh, a land that was cool and filled with deep and ancient forests. But whose seat was in the sub tropics (Which she was sure was a joke by Ba’al given how cold Chulak always was.). A Jaffa fleet Captain ordinarily didn’t dwell on the Crown World of the fiefdom they served, like the first primes they were often given lands on their military hubs. It was even more unusual in that her own lands contained a few Naquadah mines, (small though they might have been) Drey’ac realized she was probably worth three times what she had been several weeks ago. While Jaffa were never neglected, this was a level of generosity that bordered on socially perverse. Ba’al was very clearly different, very clearly valued her and was very clearly unperturbed by what she viewed as her husband’s idiocy.

Defecting to another System Lord to deal a blow to Apophis was one thing, siding with the men who murdered the greatest leader the universe had ever known. Again, she sighed thanking the weird affection the House of Tartarus bore for her family. Because had it been any one but that lunatic Apophis, Drey’ac was certain she’d have been arrested and interrogated to determine her involvement with Teal’cs treason. Instead, Apophis sent her a holographic transmission where he frantically inquired after her safety, assured her that should Ba’al grow suspicious he would protect her. -The man didn’t even suspect that I had given Teal’c the idea to weaken him- she thought ruefully. Lines were being drawn in the sand, the Ohnes and Salish were evidently conducting raids through the gate network on the fringes of imperial space. Stupid singing aliens and their fishmen allies had provoked a war with the System Lords some thirty-two thousand years ago and lost their home worlds and nearly half their population for their trouble. A pointless war if she remembered the historical texts correctly well. They had picked up what was left of their race and crawled out into the lawless lands beyond imperial space to rebuild their ruined civilizations amongst outlaws, warlords and failed Jaffa prototypes.

Which was another thing, there were at least two of those prototype races that had built petty kingdoms in the shadows of the imperium. One of them, at least tried to honor the Sodan, the code of mighty Anubis. As with the Titan’s rebellion, these mercenaries, these nomadic keepers of the peace had taken the actions of her husband as a sign to begin asserting their “influence” on Imperial space. Their High Command had worked out some sort of deal with Haqet to deal with marauding bandits that plagued the minor nations on the fringe of her lonely domain. An insult to her Jaffa, an insult to the whole of the Empire and one of many missteps that could potentially escalate the tensions building on the march to the great convocation. None of these things, combined or alone would put her people in danger, she knew that. The Imperium had only one true threat to its existence in the Asgard and even the Aesir the mightiest of the Asgardian kingdoms knew a total war with them may not end in victory. The Asgard seemed to be, preoccupied any way. No, the trouble would always be within, all great civilizations fell from an internal error that spiraled into a cascade, sure as the operating system on one of her ships suffering a similar failure. And right now, she couldn’t tell if the no doubt devastating nature of Teal’c's actions would quell Apophis and check the violence she knew he wanted to unleash, or if it would make the great serpent far more dangerous and blood thirsty. She pondered these things and stressed, wondering how Bra’tac reacted to news other than his deafening silence. For some reason, the thought of disappointing the old sage terrified her more than having to face the potential wrath of Apophis did.

His silence hurt; it made her feel even more guilty. -Had we just waited-. Something brushed against her psyche, a gentle breeze and she smiled, her “son” attempting to comfort her, to remind her that she was a master and a commander and to dwell on what if’s was unbecoming of such a woman. Beside her, two of Ba’al’s Jaffa escorted her, adorned in ocean blue tunics that she had learned were just as durable as most Jaffa armor. Ba’al’s Jaffa were tall, lithe, and marble skinned, with aquiline faces and orange-colored eyes. They were, an incredibly unique breed Tiamat had created shortly after the legendary battle of Chulak. They were primarily a special forces sub species, useless in the place of infantry but as scouts, skirmishers, raiders and assassins they were the most lethal beings in the known universe. They were rare with maybe half a billion existing in the whole of the imperium, Ba’al preferred to use Llempiri (a green blooded race of near humans who were immune to being taken as hosts) as his main infantry. She liked the Llempiri, Egeria had conquered them with Amaterasu some two centuries before her death. They had surrendered out of respect for her martial prowess and when she rose in rebellion, they joined her. Ra had their home worlds destroyed and killed some thirty billion of them, the surviving billion or so had dispersed amongst the empire, becoming mercenaries, engineers, artisans and wanderers. They were a vivacious people, having a healthy appreciation for life due to the horrors of their ancient past. While they weren’t a match for a Jaffa, they came close, and she could appreciate their loyalty to Ba’al who was content to allow his domain to become their new cradle so long as they made him loads of money and kept the noise of to a minimum.

A Langaran sauntered its way passed her as her boots treaded across a silver-synthetic granite hybrid composed bridge towards the entrance of Ba’al’s palace. That particular Langaran mostly human stock and levied a hostile glare at her. Drey’ac responded with her most passive aggressive sneer. It would never cease to amuse her how Teal’c and herself would be remembered as the greatest tyrants their world had ever known for the crime of stopping a planet wide riot.

Crossing the bridge, she felt the cool breeze carried by the rivers current which brought mist and water falls that formed a sort of moat. The entrance to palace of Assur below a tree that grew some thousand feet in height. Ba’al’s personal palace being a marvel of terraforming. An underground cave system that spanned four miles, filled with vaults and marble colored Jaffa with their orange eyes and weird dialect. Boats ferried people about on the interior and tree roots and an underground garden that was a wonder in and of itself merged with incredibly advanced technology. Twelve Jaffa guarded the entrance, the black scythe of Ba’al wreathed in lightning on a dark blue field emblazoned on their chests. With their tunics and Dragon shaped helmets and marble skin they looked like statues. Farther in was the throne of the System Lord, which was a large, elevated wood seat grown out of flowering vines that spawned rose like flowers which glowed faintly.

There was a story, Drey’ac recalled about the flowered throne. She learned it from Ray’ac about some assassin, a Tok’Ra of the Children of Egeria that managed to slaughter its way into Ba’al’s throne room and the flowers fired energy blasts that incinerated the fanatic before he got so much as ten feet near Ba’al. It was partially true; the flowers had fired energy blasts at the Tok’Ra’s confederate but the criminal himself was wrapped in vines that erupted from the throne grabbed the attacker and essentially drank his blood and bodily fluids then ripped his dying form apart. She remembered reviewing the security drone footage, what she remembered the most was the mildly amused look on Ba’al’s face. She didn’t know why that had been the catalyst for her choice to throw in with him, but it had been. There was something oddly honest in his ruthlessness and more besides, he was as loyal to his Jaffa as they were to him.

Ba’al was seated on that throne that was really an organic weapons platform, his host looked rather amusingly ordinary compared to many of the human resident of the Galaxies. Or Jaffa for that matter, resembling more the Tau’Ri than anything. He was a man with tanned skinned who appeared in his early thirties, with flint gray hair neatly and shortly cut. He was of average height, also rare for a System Lord who often towered above even the tallest Jaffa. Totally unassuming until you got to the blood red eyes and the fact that the simple looking robes he wore contained rare jewels that were so exotic and in such high demand you could probably buy, crew and equip twelve Hatak’s and their escorts or a Chiron Class Dreadnaught with it. Below the Throne a tall Goa’uld with slightly lemon tinted skin and dark black hair and magenta-colored eyes looked up at Lord Ba’al, adorned in jade colored armor and a fur lined cape. Leaning on the base of the throne was a tall, broad shouldered Llempiri with reddish hair and a sarcastic smirk on his scarred face.

Aris Boch

Drey’ac hadn’t seen him since the Titan’s rebellion. He was a rather famous mercenary and bounty hunter, someone who had made a vast fortune and gained nearly legendary status over the two and a half centuries he’d spent galivanting around the known universe. From Othalla to the Milky Way and everywhere in between Aris had relentlessly hounded nearly a hundred thousand crooks. He looked slightly older than he was and she frowned when she saw the green tint to his lips -So the rumors are true, he’s a Roshna junky?-. Drey’ac wanted to shake her head, she’d grown up with stories of his acclaim and then fought with him during the siege of Medas. He nodded in acknowledgement to her then craned his neck gesturing with his chin towards the Goa’uld.

The Goa’uld wearing a symbol of a cracked mirror -Yamasu- she thought, a minor noble that governed some hundred worlds in Amaterasu’s domain. He was a descendant of Gerek and one of Ouranos sisters (allegedly), making him distant kin to Horus and Osiris and a cousin to Amaterasu. -And he invites me to his throne room when this one is here?- No one of Amaterasu’s domain stomached anything affiliated with Apophis for long, much less a Jaffa carrying a son of Apophis -And a great grandson of Amaterasu and King Yu- she thought bitterly, Chanyu had been disowned by Amaterasu when she married Apophis. Family counted for nothing solely because of the cobra banner. She understood why, but it was fundamentally cruel, especially given how harsh Aqet and Chanyu’s deaths were. She would not balk; she was not responsible for Apophis’s crimes, and she would not hide like a weakling from a sycophantic duke.

“Ah! Fleet Captain!” It was Ba’al’s voice, which sounded like a stir of echoes, hundreds of voices were customary for a System Lord, yet where Apophis rumbled with the chorus of the mad, of carnage and war. Ba’al had a melody to it that was remarkably carefree, as though a million lay bouts spoke as one.

Yamasu turned and raised an eyebrow regarding Drey’ac less like the famed pirate hunter and Admiral and more as if she were some Roshna addicted Hassak “It seems your schedule was rather, over burdened majesty.” Yamasu remarked towards Ba’al, a hint of indignation in his voice. “Your secretaries must be overburdened.”

Ba’al smiled slowly. “We shall convene tomorrow to finish negotiations and for a live fire demonstration perhaps.”

Yamasu bowed his head lightly. “As his majesty Lord Ba’al decrees.” Yamasu scurried out of the room faster then Drey’ac thought possible without some kind of conveyance. Causing Drey’ac to shake her head, long green braids swaying as she did so. Ba’al had certainly planned this, but to make an envoy of Amaterasu uncomfortable for no particular reason didn’t seem to be his style, so why? The marble skinned Jaffa turned and made their way towards their posts dismissed by Ba’al with a gesture. Drey’ac turning to him and lowering herself to one knee, the customary gesture most System Lords seemed to enjoy. “Great Lord, what might this humble sailor do for you?” She asked, a slight sense of flippantness in her tone of voice that caused Ba’al to laugh.

“For starters she can get off her knees, I was carried by one of you. Raised by Jaffa and spent my early years in this body working closely with Jaffa.” Ba’al rose and when he began to step off the Throne, she noticed to her surprise that he seemed to be walking on transparent bubbles? -Forcefields? No! Gravity bubbles!- astounding. Ba’al seemed to read her thoughts from the expressions on her face and let out a slight laugh. “That’s why I accepted you and not Se’tak when he made the same offer to me fifty years ago. Because you’re brilliant.” To her surprise he extended a hand to help her up and gripped her with a firm grip. -He’s warm- She thought, almost overly friendly with a Jaffa as Apophis often was and yet where there was always a hint of mockery in Apophis here? She sensed nothing, the humility threw her off balance and she suspected that was the primary reason for it other than his own disdain for social norms. “Your artificial gravity technology must be..a generation ahead of the rest of the Empire’s.”

Ba’al cast her an amused smirk.

More, she realized. “I..am grateful that you accepted me” She tried her hardest to keep her voice form sounding like that of an overexcited child. Oh, the things she could do in his design labs, the vessels she could craft, the combat and commerce applications, the ships she could design. She was so energized she hadn’t even noticed the youngest System Lord hooked an arm around her own and had begun to lead her towards the deeper parts of his palace. “I do find it amusing, the rigidity of our society that we are to be separate yet equal in all things. But I end up finding a kindred Spirit in you! And with no other Goa’uld save Thoth.”

Thoth hadn’t made a public appearance in nearly a thousand years. He was always buried in his laboratories, or engaged in deep space explorations, or tinkering away at the immense Gate Network. “Mind, I haven’t asked you here to discuss our projects quite yet. I wanted to ask you something, something regarding your husband.”

Ja’mah.

“Anything you wish majesty.”

He slapped at her shoulder gently as they walked. “You’re too formal Captain Drey’ac. Relax! I would have you tell me all you knew about the Tau’Ri and why it is you believe your husband joined them and why you would help them infiltrate Bakhu “

Drey’ac paused and slid her arm out from his, her heart pounding in her chest, the infant peer in her pouch wriggling up a storm as he tried desperately to shield her mind from Ba’al’s mental intrusion. The question, followed by a stealth accusation was your standard by the book practice to elicit an emotional reaction that would make mental perusing easier. She wanted to slap herself for falling for such an easy ruse, needing to remind herself that she technically hadn’t. Instead she got indignant over the blatantly false accusation which was just as bad. A feint within a feint? No, to her shock the look in Ba’als eyes suggested she didn’t care at all that she had and was merely curious. “With…respect. Majestic Lord, had I been involved in my husband’s defection the Tau’Ri would have been executed for terrorism and my husband would be on his way to Hathor’s palace.” There was a tension in her voice that belied fear, not for herself but her for “son”. “Nor did I have any idea that they were aided..” Which was true and it would have thrown her off if she wasn’t busy worrying about the boy.

Hrakar as the peer she was incubating chose to call himself was powerful for one so young, but Ba’al was uncommonly strong even for a System Lord. His mental energies were practically flooding the room, it was power only the most ancient and arcane of the System Lords commanded. Beings like Ra, Hathor, Cronus, Yu and the…

Ba’al smiled slowly easing the psychic pressure off the pair, even going so far as to create a sort of telepathic “cushion” so the poor youth didn’t just crash as his defenses now entirely free of the assault crumbled. “That boy of yours is quite skilled for an infant. No doubt he’s been shielding you from Apophis and his dysfunctional family. I believe you though!” Ba’al seemed to beam with amusement, as though he had just learned a secret or found the answer to a riddle no one knew existed except himself.

Drey’ac wasn’t amused at all. Ba’al had just told her that someone within the imperium was acting in concert with the Tau’Ri and that was beyond alarming. “My lord, should we not.”

“Expose this? To what end? It would only serve to drive the conspirators deeper underground besides, who can we expose to it too? The Imperial family? What makes you think they aren’t the ones doing it?!” Ba'al queried, his eyes glowing a faint purple.

She blinked, looking at Ba’al as if he had grown a second head. “They would never conspire with the men who murdered Ra, no one System Lord would dare but them?! Prince Horus idolizes his father, Osiris is too noble..and Isis has never shown ambition has she?”

He gave a shrug “We’re only five centuries apart in age my dear, to us that may be a lot but to the others? I couldn’t weigh in on her mind with any accuracy, how would one even profile someone who is nearly forty thousand years old? Or nearly a hundred thousand in the case of Horus. It could also be the mother.” Ba’al gave a dismissive shrug “Or Zeus, I wouldn’t have been alarmed had it been you, but this? This is concerning. It means there’s another player in our game and he or she is willing to use the Tau’Ri as a wildcard.”

Drey’ac felt a cold chill run down her spine. “We’re on the verge of a true civil war, aren’t we? Like the one from Egeria’s rebellion?”

“I certainly hope not, it would be wonderful for business, until the whole of the known universe descended into anarchy as our empire collapses. I believe our entire civilization was founded on a promise to never allow such a thing to happen again.”

He laughed then, a sort of casual, dismissive laugh as if this merely was a new puzzle for him to solve, it was a laugh far too close to Apophis, but she didn’t feel any of the concern nor sense any of the madness.

She couldn’t tell if this entire conversation made Ba’al a naïve, rank amateur or one of the most dangerous minds in all creation.

“Teal’c, husband, when we meet again, I will beat you severely for this madness”

After she hugged him and kissed him and tried furiously to produce another child of course.

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

Alrighty then ladies and gents a few incoming chapters! The first of which...a present for @Spartan303 because he asked for this and I figured @Harlock and @bullethead Might like this as well.

While The United States Government is briefed on the sheer scale of the threat they face and Drey'ac begins her journey through the intrigues of the Court of Ba'al the former Empress of the known Universe begins to make moves of her own!

Othalla – Dwarf Galaxy orbiting the supergiant Galaxy Ida

The Month of Ouranos (Sixth month of the imperial Calendar)/July Tau’Ri reckoning

By all accounts this planet was a graveyard. Cold, windswept marshlands extended as far as her eyes could make out ending at what her combat helmet told her was a mountain range that had been broken. Broken by the fall of an immense vessel larger than anything that the Goa’uld had ever built (Or so she believed). She’d dispatched scouts to visit the great ruin, a vessel shaped like a city that reminded her all too much of the fabled Atlantis, the massive wonder created by the Alliance of the four Ancient Powers. Combining the technologies of the Asgard, the Fyryns, the Ori and even the arcane knowledge of the Nox. It was said to be both an ark for the survival of the remaining Ori and Fyryns and the means to defeat the revolution that was quickly evolving into an empire all its own. Allegedly it had the capability to match the industrial power of the Imperium in its early days and was so well defended it was said to be unassailable, with hybrid weapon systems that would have torn through their fleets.

So much for that, the mythical Atlantis was such a threat Anubis martialed the entire armada of the System Lords and stormed the world where it was supposedly being built. Oh sure, there were evidence of a construction facility, but little else. A myth, one that seemed to have been murdered in its cradle by the brother of her mistress. A cold wind passed through her platinum blond hair, causing even her Jaffa physiology to shiver. In the distance, the clear crystalline Asgardian Stargate shimmered in the rising of this planet’s second sun. Ten locks, ten! While travel through the gates in their local Galactic cluster was achievable (The Goa’uld had long ago invested heavily in energy efficiency and power generation, a necessity when you were outgunned and industry and manpower were your only salvation.), sometimes expensive, but it was commonplace given their empire was spread out over three galaxies. But this? The power packs and generations used to ferry them between gates in a totally different Galactic cluster, had taken nine days to recharge and she was concerned that they might overload on the return trip (And so convinced her mistress to allow them to be left here, after all building more wasn’t an issue.) but they were here, nearly a half billion lightyears away, where no imperial subject, noble or Lotar had gone before.

The power of her mistress had made that possible. Her mistress, Sekhmet-Hathor, Imperial chamberlain and former Empress of the greatest civilization that ever was or ever will be. Mother to the first Prim’tah gifted to the Jaffa, the mother of the Horus and Osiris and even treacherous Egeria, some of their greatest and most tragic Gods. Sister to Apophis and the butcher of the Set’yim; Hathor who burned an entire species into oblivion due to her husband’s infidelity with feline humanoids leader. It was hard for Ishta to reconcile the brutal destroyer of the Set’yim with the woman who pulled her from a grotesque mass grave, ignored the brand of Cronus on her forehead and cleaned her wounds. Who raised her up from a half dead adolescent into a ferocious warrior and master of her personal guard. Twenty-four they were in total, all female Jaffa of varying ages (the youngest being roughly in Jaffa adolescence.), all cast offs, undesirables, and children of renegades. Ishta was two hundred and seventy four years old, physically approaching the end of her youth had risen through the ranks and replaced Horem who had been slain in the same assassination attempt that nearly killed Hathor some two years ago. -Amunet- she thought, she couldn’t prove it, and most would think her mad for thinking a Goa’uld even a peer who was still a Prim’tah could organize such a thing and yet. She was wandering again, but her thoughts were often given to wandering in this cold, primeval place.

“Prime Ishta.” The voice of Ru’hak came to her. She was a young thing, physically she would appear as a thirteen-year-old girl by Lotar standards, yet she was close to twenty-five. Her dark hair and orange tinted skin suggested descent in part from the Jaffa who served the nameless one. Dark brown eyes and her near six feet in height at her age implied she was ancestrally mixed, born in the Jaffa slums across Lotar worlds who use Prim’tah from the lowest races of the Goa’uld. Or had, until Hathor took her and gifted her with a proper Prim’tah and gifted her with a second life. Ru’hak was a language specialist, she’d shown remarkable aptitude in deciphering codes and cyphers as well and that had made her integral to this trip. “The natives have been spotted at the edge of our camp again.”

Ah the natives, grey skinned with long snouts, reptile like features and yet genetically unequivocally similar to the Vanir and Aesir or at least their current forms or so her mistress said. The story of the Asgard was one the Chamberlain knew well courtesy of Ra’s tenure inside Odin, but Ishta still had trouble understanding it. They were incredibly primitive, very clearly new to sentience, fashioning crude wood and stone tools. They had shown no outward signs of aggression, merely gazing curiously and Ru’hak passed her time listening to their language hidden from them and trying to learn it. Small vessels could be seen in the shadows of the mountains, Gate hopping transports that looked like large cans of the variety some of the more advanced Lotar worlds used. They were allegedly based upon a design Thoth found in a Lantean ruin some eighty thousand years ago, but where they had created a basic transport. His were shielded and able to engage in combat with vessels ten times their size so long as they weren’t too advanced. “Remain aloof from them, do not engage unless they engage us. If they attempt to seek contact, inform them that we won’t be long and apologize for any trespasses against their kind.”

One of them had gone up to examine wreckage in the atmosphere and the other to investigate the ruins in the mountains. Both had been gone for a week, both crews were likely returning with a treasure trove of data that would answer many of the riddles their mistress felt eluded her. Lanteans, Alterans and Ori. The three branches of the ancient race, the three sons of Asuras who had broken off with their respective followers to found new races. Races that, eventually ended up in a bitter civil war that culminated in the extinction of two of the three and the great hubris of the Ori who in their desperate need to survive dared to enslave the forefathers of the Gods. Or so the story went, according to her mistress, all these events occurred several million years ago and only the Ori endured until “recent” history when her mistress and the rest of “Gods” finally put those arrogant demons out of the universe’s misery. Could it be that the Asgardians played their part in that ancient civilization destroying war? Or were they witnessing something else? Either way she was not encouraged, nor did she like the idea. Here, so far from the events that mattered, war loomed, Apophis grew madder and more brazen each passing month. Amunet…all

Something touched her mind, the bemused laughter of her mistress. -Are I not a God? Where is your faith child?- The facetiousness in the “inflection” on the word God always made her smile. The System Lords referred to themselves as Gods amongst the Lotar, but seldom with the Jaffa (Who regarded them as semi divine regardless.) but to her, Hathor was the closest thing to being an actual God that she’d ever seen. With the exception of Ra any way, Apophis as well, he embodied the primitive’s concept of a war god, but the sheer power and arcane knowledge her mistress possessed. Her mistress…

Ishta turned towards the source of the psychic intrusion, a tall slender statue made of silver and platinum that stood motionless at the center of their camp. Her hands intertwined and folded in front her lap, blue and purple fabric fluttering in the cold wind. Hair that was a mix of a blackness that seemed to steal the light and gold and silver streaks fluttered in the wind and obscured a face that even when covered in armor looked to belong to a woman in her early thirties. But she was as old as Ra, for over a hundred thousand years Hathor had relentlessly pursued the goal of keeping the flames of civilization burning as bright as a cannonade of stars.

Here, in a wasteland a universe away she stood motionless, a living statue. She’d taken no food, no water, she barely even breathed. Three weeks, three long, exhausting weeks, a lesser Goa’uld, even a younger peer might be dead now and yet, she endured. From the readings Ishta occasionally took, she hadn’t even weakened at all. -Even a Jaffa would on deaths door after three weeks with no food and water- and that was without getting into what she’d done. Using the gate to amplify her psychic powers, everyone felt it, even the natives here, the near mindless lizard people. Her presence was overwhelming, and her echo was likely felt by much of the Galaxy.

It was insanely dangerous, in the Asgardians backyard, no Goa’uld had ever reached their home territories and they had no idea how the Aesir would react. Yet her mistress had insisted that this was of vital importance to preventing the storm that was to come from turning into an apocalypse. How, Prime Ishta of Olympias had no idea, but she trusted the Goddess more than she trusted her own sense. -Idolatry?- came the playful mental retort, it was rare that she was externally so friendly with her Jaffa, maintaining the social barriers her and her former husband had erected so long ago. But in the confines of their mentalscapes, Ishta had shared decades of laughter, insights and even on a rare occasion’s arguments with her mistress. It had always confused her, how she could be so stringent on the outside and not within. Perhaps it had been remorse over the annihilation of the Set’yim or perhaps it was merely a self-indulgence, as was being here. “It took, one hundred thousand of our vessels to stop ten thousand of theirs.” Ishta turned, to find her mistress had moved from the spot she’d remained anchored like a galaxy around singularity, and she’d done so without any of her Jaffa noticing.

Ishta was accustomed to it but some of her younger guards looked up in surprise, still easily startled. “We are close to them technologically now, only mere centuries behind when in the past the gulf was as wide as a great canyon. Yet, we still do not understand their instantaneous stellar drives. Though. Thoth, Ba’al and Nerus are locked in one of their technologists competitions to see who can unravel that mystery first” Her voice was smooth, reassuring and like Ra one didn’t just hear it from the near motionless mouth, but the chorus of voices, of women, girls, crones and nymphs echoed all around them. Her mistress canted her head ever so slightly, hair billowing in the wind almost as if it were a secondary banner. “Your sisters in blood return with one part of the answer as to why they didn’t simply annihilate us after the death of Freya.”

Ishta could see the cylindrical vessels pick up pace, accelerating to where one caused waves as its wake, they were running frantically. Only to slow when Hathor sent out a mental command, what ever moved them to alarm evidently wasn’t something her mistress considered a threat (Much to Ishta’s annoyance.) It soon became apparent what they were rallying to protect the former Empress from, as there was a loud roaring of something that sounded almost like the turbines the primitive Lotar on more “developed” worlds used to maneuver their supersonic craft. Something shifted and that which had been invisible before appeared -Not so advanced that our sensors couldn’t detect that they were at least in the area- Ishta mused.

What appeared before them was a long, blocky, ugly starship with what looked like different “modules” and generally looked like three bricks tied to a trio of staff blasters. Shining and bronze colored, it looked primitive, yet it was anything but if it could fool their sensors even a tiny bit. The ship itself was rather impressive, roughly the size of their medium sized cruisers, the all-purpose “platform ships” called the Hatak Class. Some eight hundred meters long and looming above them yet not menacingly.

“They heard your call majesty.” Ishta immediately felt like a fool for stating the obvious. A series of lights flickered and Hathor reciprocated, generating a series of lights that blinked in a counter sequence by drawing on the energies the Gate tapped into and using the focusing variant of the ribbon device lesser Goa’uld used to simulate a fraction of the power of the peers.

A beam of light shot down appearing some two meters from Ishta and her liege. The Jaffa circling their mistress, whose eyes glowed a vibrant pink as figures began to take shape within the beam. Slowly, forming six figures, four males, two females, one with red hair and features not unlike Ishta’s own…she blinked.

Lotar?!

No, impossible. If they were associated with that ruined city ship then they couldn’t possibly be Lotar, that vessel predated the speculated age of the human species. The female turned and caught her eye and smiled at the taller and blonder version of herself in Ishta and then brought her fists together in greeting. “Avelin! Soradelfius!” “Hello sister” in Ori so mangled that Ishta could hear the mental flailing of Ru’hak without needing telepathy. “Eio’sum Melora!”

Now this was surreal “Averas! Ei’Sun’mai Primas Ishta” she replied, gently correcting her “counterpart”. Who smiled and nodded eagerly. The rest of the group gazed in wonder at Hathor, muttering in a language that while similar to Ori was not. She caught a few words “Machine?” in a questioning tone, “I thought they were serpents not meks”.

Her lady merely smiled and replied that she was merely wearing armor. They seemed to register this and nod.

Their leader stepped forward, he was a rather ordinary looking man with blond hair, appearing in his middle years by Lotar standards. He too brought his fists together and bowed slightly “Averas! Sifo Ureium Megalias! Nec’Lingiaria Orelus Se’Polias Tempus”

She assumed they were trying to say, “We haven’t spoken Ori in a long time” but what came out was “Language of Orelus, not easily accessible in long time, forgiveness please”. It was pidgin of a dead language and Ishta wished to weep at the assault to her ears. Hathor seemed to understand and Ru’hak announced her as “Imperial Consort, mother of Gods, mistress of the known universe, Royal Chamberlain and high prelate of the Imperial Religion! Sekhmet-Hathor daughter of Tartarus and mother of the House of Ra! Regent of the Imperium of the System Lords!” Hathor’s eyes flashed slightly at that last bit, she was no Regent. No vote had been cast upon that and she did not like false titles.

Still, pleased Ishta immensely to see them bow at that, realizing only now that they were meeting not with some mere official on behalf of the power who organized this clandestine meeting, but the rightful sovereign of the great civilization the stars had ever known. -Even here, they see you for what you are mistress-. More whispers in their language, enough that Ru’Haks eyes widened, and she cried out “Alteran!”

Not Ori then, her mistress wouldn’t debase herself by meeting with such remnant vermin nor would any exist but Alteran? Their monstrous sibling race?! Ishta’s eyes narrowed in suspicion but “Melora” spoke now in her own language.

“Negatus! Questrum! Soumos Asuras!” she’d crossed the threshold and taken Ishta’s hands and the woman’s eyes widened at their texture…skin that wasn’t quite skin. There was a pulse, but it wasn’t, it didn’t feel, and a mix of emotions assaulted her. Concern, surprise (and not in a bad way.), wonder and curiosity. -They’re artificial!-

“Nej Ri’hu Goa’uld!”

An exchange of language of names chosen by them to name their race, an exchange of a word of power, perhaps the start of negotiations to something grander.

A universe away.

The greatest of the Goa’uld met speakers of the Asurans.

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

Aannnd speaking of the Asgard.

Teal'c sheds some light on them and the technology they possess...Everyone has gotten their party on and we inch to a conclusion to this episode.

Next up Yu the Golden and Teal'c profiling the Gods!

July 16th: Cheyenne Mountain Complex

“Tell us about the Asgard, you’ve alluded to them before but haven’t gone into detail?” Hammond asked the question, the hours were wearing thin now and everyone was ready to complete the briefing, wrapping it up for the day. Others seemed rivetted to everything Teal’c was saying, either way Federal Law and even formalities had eroded by this point and Teal’c the SEAL from Texas had fostered a far more relaxed atmosphere. Perhaps it was just that he and Ellis were two cold war relics who invoke “old school rules” or the fact that the subject of their briefing was a nearly two-hundred-year-old soldier who had been doing his people’s version of their job as a one man show for longer than any of them had been alive. It was easy to revert back to being just boys in uniform when face to face with the kind of men whose characters drove them to enlist in the first place.

Hayes and O’Neill didn’t make it any easier either, both were basically delinquents who drew Federal Paychecks, but it was hard not to let oneself go. The four cases of Blanton’s Bourbon and two cases of Dalmore (and Cigars) Hayes revealed that he had the Secret Service detail assigned to him mule in was also probably why everyone was currently jackets off, sleeves rolled up, speech slurred and the room looked like the interior of a well-used chimney. It might also have been why everyone wanted to wrap up, most of the Generals and Admirals present wanted to at least retain the dignity of not being carried out by their men when the affair was over.

“The Asgard” Teal’c began, his features obscured by smoke and lighting, casting the visage of a campfire storyteller rather than an intelligence source giving a clinical summation. “Are a very ancient race, one of the four oldest in the known universe if I am recalling correctly my schooling.” And he didn’t have to struggle much, in his youth Teal’c had loved attending classes with Prime Husnok, the old master of the Dakkara academy’s “History and lore” school. Husnok was one of the oldest Jaffa Teal’c had ever seen, some said he was over five hundred years old, Teal’c never asked. But he was indeed ancient, so ancient he was the only Jaffa Teal’c had ever seen with a slightly bent back. He was bald, with scars on his head (and most of his body) and an immense snow colored beard that was immaculately groomed and plated. He also had more abdominal muscles than Teal’c and even after old age had atrophied them biceps that were as large as his were now.

One did not speak out of term in Husnok’s class, if one did not wish to have to spend the weekend regenerating a pulverized jaw. But his lecture style was fascinating, and he knew a great deal about the Asgard.

“One of these four great races?” Ellis asked, gently nudging Doctor Fraser awake beside him.

“Indeed, they were older than the great division of the Ancients into Ori, Lanteans and Alterans. But not older than the Nox. Though I do not know if they were three distinct sentient species that evolved on the same planet or had formed a united culture after encountering each other. Or if they were offshoots of a parent race. The distinction seems to have been lost over the millions of years.”

“At that length of time does the distinction even matter?” Someone slurred out, probably one of Kensey’s cronies and Maybourne wanted to throttle them. Distinctions always mattered in diplomacy, even when they didn’t, especially when they didn’t.

Continuing Teal’c begged pardon because the sheer immensity of the timescale of their civilization meant he was likely going to be repeating Asgardian myth or assumptions and fairy tales made by their enemies or subjects and couldn’t be sure even from an academic stand point.

Jackson immediately sobered up and his eyes were locked on Teal’c. “The Asgard were once humanoid, massive in size and pale gray and blue skinned. They were mighty warrior poets who brought civilization to their far-off corner of the universe. We are unsure of why they became diminutive grey skinned creatures, but they have engineered themselves greatly over the eons. Set and Amaterasu believe they degenerated genetically due to mongrelizing with different species, but it is hard to tell if that is prejudice or not. They were divided into three Kingdoms as I have said. The Empire of the Aesir, the Kingdom of the Vanir and Confederacy of the Jotunn. Though all acknowledged Odin, the lord of the Aesir as their high King..As Ra was acknowledged as such by most of the known universe.”

“Fascinating.” Jackson muttered

“Doctor Jackson do you think the Viking culture is evidence of your “cultural copycat theory?” This from the Vice President.

“Or outright contact, I mean, Egyptian mythology and the imperial Religion are similar on the surface but incredibly disparate below that surface to where its clear the Ancient Egyptians were just copying scrolls they could barely understand and replicating engineering they didn’t quite know and then their adaptations took on a life of their own. But Jotunn’s and Vanir? That seems far closer to the source than with Egypt.” Taking off his glasses Jackson turned and offered an apologetic smile to Teal’c. “Sorry, it’s just..There are several cultures in our past that believed in a version of these Asgardians as gods. The two most prominent being warrior societies, the Saxons and the Norsemen…umm Vikings.”

Teal’c hadn’t been given much literature on them, but he nodded not wanting to risk Jackson derailing the entire briefing with one of his admittedly amusing sidetracks on history and language. “It would not surprise me, in the early days of the conquest of your kind it wasn’t uncommon for Lotar to escape and congregate on worlds outside imperial borders. The Asgardians established a zone of protected planets that the Empire is prohibited from penetrating under pain of all-out war.” War with an enemy that could appear and disappear at will and was the only one out of the four ancients that had the sheer will to try and fight the Gods to the bitter end. In imperial mythology the Asgard were portrayed as incredibly formidable, good natured warriors that would fight until their very being shattered if the cause was just. The narrative had always been that Ra sought to make with them a great friendship, yet they stubbornly continued to fight. In the fables, there was none of the hatred for the Ori or contempt for the Fyryns or outright weariness of the Nox. The Asgard were to be respected, lamented and opposed, fought but always respected.

-A worthy enemy, one that we could not ever truly defeat, nor could they defeat us- Teal’c recalled what Prince Horus once said at a banquet.

“So, the Empire and the Asgardians are enemies?”

“Indeed, the Asgard intervened militarily in the early days of the rebellion against the Ori. Apophis went behind enemy lines and destroyed an Ori hermitage that had massacred all of its Goa’uld rather than face the potential for rebellion.” He paused to take a sip of alcohol then continued, correcting himself in that the Goa’uld had no intention of rebelling. So moved were they by the Ori’s fate that they sought communion, but the Ori massacred them any way or, so it was believed. That had been the turning point in the war, when it became a holy crusade and a war of vengeance as much as liberation, that and the murder of Ra’s parents ensured there was never going to be peace with the Ori and their allies. Not then any way.

“Freya the wife of their High King Odin was on that world, attempting to prevent the massacre of the Goa’uld. Apophis killed everyone without any discrimination, not realizing that she had been present until well after the deed was done. The Asgard, who had no love for the Ori but were allies due to ancient cause. They swore revenge and involved themselves fully in the war. A war that then lasted almost seventy thousand years.”

The table grew quiet at that, everyone knew the sheer size of the Empire and knew they were a powerful military but to be building your civilization and fighting for your life and to flourish after?

“I see, are they allies to the Empire now?” Admiral Ellis asked, his voice a smooth cascade through the room.

“Not allies, the Asgard are incredibly advanced. In the darkest part of the war with the Asgard, after the Ori were vanquished as a military threat..Things grew dire, the Asgard possess a type of Faster than Light travel that allows for almost instant travel between any two points in space.”

“Impossible!” Samuels growled, sneering at Sandra O’Neill who straightened her uniform out and tried to hide the fact that she was glaring at the man. “Instant FTL violates everything we know about physics.”

“Jaffa children in their first year of education are more well educated in what you call physics than your worlds foremost expert. I was a terrible student when it came to how our technology works, and I am quite certain I have forgotten more than your entire planet has discovered. I have witnessed firsthand Vanir science vessels bend the very fabric of reality to repair a dying star. I have seen Asgardian ambassadors exist in two places at once, I’ve seen the ruins of Chulak’s ninth moon where Asgardians deployed temporal weaponry in a desperate attempt to stop Apophis and I’ve seen the devastation that responded from our counterattack. Do not tell me that which is possible, and which is not Earth man. You know nothing!” Teal’cs tone was iron, and Samuels was quickly silenced.

The silence caused O’Neill to laugh. “Nice one big guy! Though really more than we know.”

“The Demoness impresses me” Teal’c conceded, the demoness being Doctor Samantha Carter.

“Doc Carter’ll do that…HEY WAIT A MINUTE!” O’Neill paused, his brain finally catching up on what Teal’c had said and why everyone stopped talking. “Temporal weapons?! As in..you fuckers weaponized time?!”

“The technology to create and defend against such attacks exists, but no civilized race in their right mind would ever willingly utilize time travel in a tactical or strategic manner in war. It is banned by cosmic treaty all of the great powers of the universe have signed. It is why the Jotunns gradually faded into extinction, or obscurity. When they crossed that line against my former Lord…Even their own people withdrew aid.”

“What about time travel for educational purposes?” Jackson asked, trying to contain his excitement. The potential of going back in time and observing Caesar or the building of the pyramids, or the aqueducts or even seeing dinosaurs.

“Punishable by death and very often the planet who engages in the deed is bombarded back to a primitive state. Since all the advanced races can defend against temporal incursion and it is a technology we give freely to a race once it reaches a certain threshold even if it is potentially hostile.” Teal’c spoke his tone of voice on edge. As with O’Neill the Jaffa warrior detested time travel of time foolishness or any sort.

“Then everyone has counter measures and there’s no real advantage to it, unless you were using to destabilize more primitive species.” Hayes continued for Teal’c.

“And you never know what the collateral from that could be. Sort of like what happened with the herbicides in Vietnam” an air force General who’d arrived after lunch muttered bitterly.

Teal’c nodded, enthusiastically “Or the fallout damage from Chernobyl from what I have read of your world. Whether done deliberately or by accident the damage done and the effort to repair it after the fact make it an unwanted affair.”

“So, we don’t have to worry about that then?” Maybourne asked.

Teal’c flashed him a look that seemed to suggest Maybourne needed to be reassess the threat his own species posed. “No.”

“Is there a state of active hostility in existence between your kind now?” Hayes asked bringing this back on topic for the fiftieth time.

“The Vanir are known to do business with Ba’al and it is not uncommon for Heimdal to appear at grand banquets at Dakkara. There was never any formal peace treaty, nor armistice. Hostilities merely deescalated and we seem to be more at what your kind would call a cold war.” Teal’c leaned back again and took a breath, the smells and tastes on this world were amazing. -The Tau’Ri sit upon the means to make themselves as wealthy Ba’al himself and they do not realize it yet. What a marvelous world our ancestral home is.-

“But apart from diplomatic appearances, the Aesir do not involve themselves much in our affairs except to enforce the protected planets zones and to guard their interests in the Andromeda Galaxy. They have a dozen colonies there which are close to the stellar systems Lord Apophis rules.” A cold war that Apophis wanton violence could spark hot at any moment, another reason he had to defect. “It is my belief that no one has seen anything of the Jotunns in twelve thousand years.”

“Do you think the Empire could defeat them in a protracted war? And do you think they would be willing to make an alliance with us?” Hayes moved, delicately with these questions. What he’d heard about these guys interested him, Teal’c spoke of them honestly and there was an undercurrent of honor and respect that he appreciated. -Funny how I’ve come to trust his assessment more than I trust a room full of intelligence officers and we’ve only known each other for a few weeks.- Good men were hard to find, trustworthy ones even harder to come by.

“With the Vanir, yes, with the Aesir no. I believe we would lose that war, but I would imagine the cost of the war may be more then the Aesir could bear. Neither of us wish for conflict, in truth I suspect many of the older System Lords hold a great deal of respect for Prince Thor and Yarl Heimdal, perhaps fondness even. A war with a detestable enemy is far easier is it not? As for alliances? It would depend on the manner in which you approach them, they are a very sophisticated people, but they are at their heart warriors, not soldiers. Honor and reputation are of immense value in their society. I would not come to them as beggars for you are not as primitive as to warrant their charity, nor advanced enough to merit their attention or accord without first earning both.”

“Well, that sounds like the ideal ally!” Hayes grinned optimistically.

“Indeed” Teal’c said, not failing to notice what Jack and Shepherd pointed out earlier. That Director Statterfield, like Doctor Carter was oddly silent during any discussion of the Asgard.

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

Aight gents, a pair of updates.

Isis makes her play and Ba'al further brings his agenda to Drey'ac.

In honor of @Spartan303 a certain..faction makes an overt cameo.

The Month of Ouranos (Sixth month of the imperial Calendar)/July Tau’Ri reckoning

Triangulum Galaxy- Wuji Capitol of the Heavenly Kingdom of Yu the Golden; Vassal State to the Empire of the System Lords

…..

Castle Pengu

Wuji had been an irradiated death world when her uncle conquered the future Capitol of his kingdom. She wasn’t old enough to have known it then, but she had seen the holoimages. Yu the heavenly Sovereign, the youngest brother of Ra (After Set and the long dead Aten), Yu the Golden certainly earned his moniker, born Akere he changed his name after discovering the Eastern continent of the Tau’Ri was populated by an ancient people called Khitai. Unlike Ra who had brought order to mostly primitives Yu had been fortunate. Conquering through science and lore a settled, people. Knowing her uncle there was probably an immense amount of joy for above all else Yu was an engineer and architect. But where some technologists-built starships and orbital stations, mining facilities and cities, her uncle built entire worlds. It was said that even the star Wuji orbited was dying when he came. She hadn’t seen him resurrect and rejuvenate a dead star nor had he ever claimed too, but if he one day boasted about it she wouldn’t doubt it.

Yu was like Thoth, Loki, Nerus or Ba’al. One of the greatest minds in all the cosmos, like them he was rather eccentric as well. Though, in the case of Yu it was more that he wished to be master of his own worlds and free from the shadow of his elder brother and to the surprise of everyone Ra not only wished him luck but even sent military aid to his brother in the early days of the Heavenly Kingdom. Yu had submitted his crown to Ra and swore an oath of vassalage to the Imperium grudgingly perhaps. but it was a thing Ra had never asked for. No one quite knew why Ra allowed Yu to do what he did, or what prompted Yu to submit in the end, their relationship was incredibly complicated, but Isis suspected the answer was simple.

Ra loved his baby brother, cruel, vain, and arrogant as her father could be. He had a soft spot for his own family and while Egeria’s treachery had hardened that soft spot, Ra could never bring himself to forcefully integrate Yu into the Empire as the high lord of a dominion and not as a semi-independent King. Much to the everlasting rage of Apophis. Of course, whoever sat on the Throne had little to fear from her uncle, with the exception of a rather extensive trade with the Empire through Ba’al and Set the Heavenly Kingdom was an isolationist state. Massive, it comprised much of the Galaxy, yet fewest ships and its armies were all police forces rather than outright military.

This had something to do with hyperspace, she remembered Nerus and Thoth discussing it once. Millions of years ago the cursed Fyryns had deployed a weapon of some sort that destabilized hyperspace across this Galaxy, making faster than Light travel without Hyperspace relays (Stargate like devices several miles in diameter that flung ships along “stable points” between safe routes) or Stargates themselves was impossible beyond certain points. Though, her uncle said this was gradually changing and that perhaps in a hundred thousand years the Galaxy would be free of this web of damage. Hyperspace healing itself was an interesting concept, it was a concept that prompted the religion of those aborted Jaffa. Stupid Sebaceans, it had been Isis that convinced her father and the War Gods Apophis and Anubis to exile them from the empire once it became clear their weakness to heat was too much of a defect to tolerate. -Before the Prim’tah’s whose clever idea was that again? Oh right, Prometheus, though he gave credit to mother-.

They thought Hyperspace was some well of souls, whereas most scientifically literate species believed it was more like an ocean calming from a great storm. The Jaffa who flanked her looked up at the walkway from the Gate pavilion and her Prime Ateus let out a soft curse. “Peacekeepers, here.” He muttered. “Genetic defectives should know their place.”

Isis let out a merry laugh as she espied the delegation, their black and red leather armor, their dull uninspired symbols and the tall woman with exotic features that implied she may have been more Langaran than Sebecean who must have been their leader. “They’ve grown arrogant since they triumphed over those infernal lizards.” The Skurrrians or some such, she couldn’t recall the name, but they were a petty empire of some four hundred worlds and an incredibly dense population, partially descended from Unas who were lost on an exploration mission some hundred thousand years ago. They were vicious, aggressive, and stupid and naturally the abortive Jaffa who fancied themselves a mercenary race of peacekeepers attempted to subjugate them. Failing repeatedly, both sides were locked in a five thousand yearlong cold war until their idiot “emperor” (If such a title could apply to a backwater chief of up jumped garden dwelling bug eaters.) decided to raid a trade convoy from Ba’al to Apophis. Fleet Captain Drey’ac had been ordered to retaliate. She took a fleet of six hundred vessels into their territory and leveled every shipyard, orbital defense, and fleet she could find, took a few parting shots at their capitol world and went home to conceive her son (Isis liked Drey’ac as much was allowable, her cousin Aqet always had good taste in protégé’s.) Apparently, this damage was enough for the Peace Makers or whatever the name they chose for themselves was and they rolled up their ancient enemies. Between that and Saqet hiring them to hunt pirates, they were becoming far too arrogant for her liking. -Maybe we should feed them to Apophis, then again Apophis has a thing for defective children. - She thought amusedly. “Come Ateus, we shall visit them.” A smooth, somewhat cruel smile on her face.

“Majesty, is that not…would that not be beneath you?”

“Ooohhh I suppose you’re right” she sighed tiredly, Pengu castle loomed ahead of them, done in a style that was very different from the immense palaces at Dakkara and Wasset or her biological father’s floating island palace. Pengu was more of a home, a cottage that was the size of a mountain. Much of it was made a special kind of stone that existed literally only on Wujia and only in this palace. Something Yu created; a rare mineral of his own invention that was said to be as durable as starship armor. Grown a mountain and surrounded by a valley that was itself flanked by mountains, the city that rested in the shadows of Pengu was fortified against invasion by infantry and the point defense systems scattered around the snow-covered mountains made it rather challenging. Apophis mockingly called it the Secret City and as a result it stuck, for Yu took it as a badge of honor.

They crossed a road of jade woven with some sort of metal of her uncle’s creation and Isis did her best to refrain from telekinetically lashing out at the Sebacean detail when they scowled at her and muttered in hushed whispers. -It’s unbecoming of me to rub it in- She thought, but she couldn’t help but enjoy the fact that every single one of those genetic defectives knew her face and still muttered curses about their abandonment and exile. She enjoyed the schadenfreude, even if she did feel a twinge of shame at how petty she was being. -I’m better than this, but there’s something in their eyes I mislike and mistrust. A sense of murderous arrogance that should be broken- Saqet demeaning her Jaffa by hiring their abortive predecessors had made them too confident, too sneering. She stopped for a moment, turning slightly to gaze upon the woman in the center, flanked by guards, the halfbreed with bluish skin and drab, militant wardrobe. “You’re far from home, Commandant.” Isis sneered out the word as if it was a term to be used to describe prison wardens or something.

“We do business with those whom we can Princess Isis.” Her voice, to the genetic failure’s credit was neutral, refined, there was an elegance to it, but it was filled with malice, ambition and hostility. Her inflection at the word Princess implied denigration and Isis allowed a slight smirk as her hair changed into a darker shade of red and her eyes glowed a soft white. “Ah yes, I had forgotten I enforced an embargo on you last millennium. Such a shame as well, what with Ba’al choosing to use Llempiri to augment his Jaffa. But I didn’t make the rules.”

“No, you only passed the edict Princess.” With absolutely no regard for the ramifications thereof, she’d destroyed the economy of the Peacekeepers with a mere flick of a wrist and probably went off to partake in an orgy after the fact.

“Are you entitled to some form of consideration from me?” The woman asked, raising a gloved hand to touch her chin, one adorned with the metallic threads and gem that suggested it was one of their ribbon devices. Isis allowed a soft laugh of amusement when the woman’s guards in all their armor stepped back unconsciously, even they knew what a Peer who wasn’t caught off guard could do . The contrast might have been amusing, the Sebacean showed off her features and embraced the autumn winds, Isis wore a fur lined cloak over a suit of armor that shimmered with the fabrics and plating used by the Jaffa in times of war. The Symbol of the house of Ra was on each of her pauldrons and her midsection bore her personal seal a blue giant star, encircled by a golden ring with twelve wings each one a different color, representing different territories within her domains. She ordinarily would be as nearly naked as her counterpart, but Isis knew it bothered Yu when she walked around like that, and she wanted to hint at the urgency of their meeting. The woman from a warrior society looking like a harlot and the harlot born into obscene luxury looking like a warrior might have made Bra’tac or Garek chuckle. The female stepped forward, Isis could sense the fury and indignation now and she laughed, giggling. “Oh, forgive me Commandant, I’m being rude and you’re a guest in my uncle’s domain. Forgive me…I shall simply have to do something to make up for such base conduct hmm..hmm..Ah yes!” She snapped her fingers. “I’ll have the embargo lifted!”

The woman seemed to come close to stammering. Her eyes narrowed, a look of pure fury on her face.

Isis shrugged, she knew the fact that the very thing that had been ravaging their economy had been put in place in a fit of pique and now was removed for the very same reason and it had to have insulted her warrior’s pride. -If I can do something compassionate while humiliating them, then I’m not so petty! - She thought. “I can’t even remember why the Embargo was in place any way. And you’ve certainly acquitted yourselves well! Why you even decimated those atrocious…Scullery…scuryin? “

“Scarrans, Princess Isis.” The female responded doing her best to keep the hatred from her voice, the truth was that an end to the embargo would do a lot to help their kind recover from the final push into the now fallen Scarran Empire. The losses they had taken then, coupled with several wars with tiny potentates out in the areas beyond imperial space had left them in a spot where they were always one bad decade away from an economic catastrophe. Much as she hated the sheer, capriciousness of this woman. -Ra just ignored our existence, Horus seems content to follow his example. If she gains the Throne, she’s liable to see us exterminated just because she’s bored one particular afternoon. She hates us for trying to be what they made us to be, because the System Lords made us incorrectly. - It bothered her that, more than it should have, but half of her was Sebacean and they had fought to carve out something resembling the Empire of their creators out in the wastelands their Gods, for that is what they were. Gods that had rejected them, but Gods no less. Out in the sectors and systems, their Gods ignored.

“Ah yes, Scarrens. I hear they were a bunch of lust driven brutes who conquered worlds populated by the descendants of Lotar explorers solely to ravage them. Mindless beasts, yet they still managed to achieve a level of superiority over you?”

The woman nodded; the bitterness evident in her eyes.

Isis paused, as if considering for a moment, she knew what a struggle like that was like. What it was to face a superior foe who wanted you dead. She spent most of her life looking at the Asgard like that, she still remembered the sheer terror she felt when she’d see their silver ships prowling nebulas or at the extremity of their senses, lurking in the dark…waiting. -We never truly overtook them, but in the end we overcame them and forced them to the table. - Perhaps that was why she disliked these broken creatures so much? Their shame mirrored her own. No, of course that couldn’t be it. She gave a curt nod seemingly in acknowledgement, waited until she could sense the emotions of some of those present reach a sort of state of hopefulness and then allowed herself a cold smile. “How fortunate then, that a single Jaffa Fleet Captain and a small battlegroup achieved in five standard days what you couldn’t in five thousand..what is..it your quaint little people call them? Ah yes, five thousand standard cycles. Nevertheless, a victory of opportunity is still a victory, I shall have to adjust I suppose to seeing Sebacean merchants come through my Stargates. May you celebrate long, the grand trespass!”

She departed them then, leaving them humiliated and enraged and promised herself she’d get horribly drunk later to erase from her memory how shameful that entire display was. -Father was better than that, once upon a time. I should be as well…- They brought out the worst in her, yet she had a sinking suspicion all they ever wanted was a chance to earn her respect.

Broken toy soldiers were useless, yet they elicited the strongest emotions.

-Why they seek it from the woman who ordered their exile and not my brother or uncles I’ll never understand, stupid toy soldiers! -

The entire conversation was unbecoming, she had to meet her uncle to prevent another from potentially bathing the Empire in blood and she was out here picking fights with abandoned children. -Well, the embargos removal will at least make it up to them even if it tastes like salt-
……..

Nineveh- The Month of Ouranos (Sixth month of the imperial Calendar)/July Tau’Ri reckoning

They had walked in silence after Ba’al revealed his suspicions, though in truth it was more because she was busy admiring the unnatural ways water flowed against gravity, the bioluminescent plants and the veins of precious ore that wound along the inner caves that made up the underground palace of the wealthiest of the System Lords. -He doesn’t even use artificial lighting, its all generated by plant life or these bizarre birds that seem to fly everywhere within- Some of which were as large as a Death Glider, she realized. -Remarkable- He was definitely scheming something with King Yu, there was no way even a scientist as talented as Ba’al could work such wonders in genetic engineering without help from the master of the science. But, then again, no one knew anything about Lord Ba’al. That was perhaps the most disturbing aspect of it all, the only peers to exist had all come from the original System Lords, they were their children or grand children and there were precious few. Another mystery that put her on edge, as much as she wondered if he might have been the first of his kind, a thing that intrigued her. -He’s dangerous, but not because he’s mad like Apophis but because I enjoy his company, he puts me at ease while filling my thoughts with items that should concern me-. There was nothing more dangerous than someone who was naturally good at getting people to drop their guard.

The beauty helped her put order to her thoughts though and she cleared her throat. “With respect, majesty. I am curious why you think someone has allied with the Tau’Ri?”

Ba’al raised an eyebrow. “Did I say ally with the Tau’Ri? No I said someone assisted in their escape before encountering War Master Teal’c. something I suspect you also believe.” He paused, catching the raised eyebrow and Ba’al chuckled and waved a placating hand. “Peace Fleet Captain, your husband more than earned the title and there is no procedure to revoke it. He shall remain it until death, even in treason. The Jaffa are our champions, but also our protectors and the carriers of our children in some cases. It just isn’t proper for a God to forsake one of his own even if he has strayed from the path.”

There was a flippancy in use of the word God, but a sincerity there as well, Ba’al wasn’t going to disrespect Teal’c even if he had become a criminal. “Thank you, majesty.”

Ba’al nodded. “Though I personally wished there was an exception for such cases, so that he could retain his title and I could raise you up as one as well. From what I’ve read of your career, you are worthy.”

She wanted to blush, damn him. “Majesty, I thank you, but a career fighting pirates and designing ships hardly compares to my husband’s winning a war!”

“Because you had nothing to do with his victory, eh? I remember well! The battle of the Asuran nebula? Hah! Face it Cap’n the only reason you didn’t make the cut is because these Gods over here fancy uniqueness to a degree that borders on idolatry!” Aris Boch had appeared, almost out of nowhere, a reed from one of the banks of the many rivers flowing through the palace in his mouth. His eyes flickering and his lips a vibrant shade of green suggesting he was likely fresh off a swig of Roshna in whatever liquor he kept in his side pouch.

Ba’al surprisingly tolerated Boch’s own irreverence (Mostly because it was clear Boch did worship the System Lords, albeit more in the hero cult vein than the reverence to a supernatural being sense.). “Hmm I wonder, can Gods commit the sin of idolatry? Or are we exempt from our own proscriptions on materialism.”

“Phah! Ya better be, majesty or else all this ostentation is going to get you in deep trouble some day!” Boch remarked falling in line beside Ba’al opposite to Drey’ac. Ba’al’s laughter rising through the hall. “I guess I will have to call on Lore Master Shaun’ac and ask her and her scholars about that. Or Lady Hathor, whenever she decides to return.”

“The Chamberlain is still missing huh?” Boch queried, though the conversation seemed rehearsed to Drey’ac and by the looks in their eyes she suspected they knew exactly where she was. -But not because they’re involved in her own schemes, not after what he said earlier- plans within plans. The one thing she was grateful for in the service of Apophis, in that none dared to scheme like that around him, for he detested it. -Give me a weapon and point me in the direction of my enemy or ask one of my wives to do the thinking, leave me out of it or die! - He would always declare. “She had better return soon though, in a month we’re due to vote on whether or not to install her as Imperial Regent until a successor to her husband can be appointed.” Ba’al shrugged. “In any case, yes to the question you’re asking with your glare Drey’ac, I do believe the Tau’Ri discovered the gate and by sheer luck made it to Abydos and not a singularity or a buried Gate or another world within the Empire as has happened before a dozen times in the past. Our Empire is old and immense, sometimes worlds are forgotten and left to grow on their own. But I do find it rather, odd that the first world they encountered would be Abydos. A forgotten backwater that only Ra cared about.”

“Sek’Het and my husband complained often about Ra’s willingness to allow so many worlds on his borders to atrophy to such a sorry state when so much of his domains and that of his children were so densely populated and developed.”

“About security concerns as well I’d imagine” Boch muttered. “Tracked a bounty there some sixty years ago, Sobek was the only one in that region that cared, he scrambled his prime and a detachment of Jaffa to help. Consort-Chamberlain grew rather detached from the domains she ruled in the emperor’s name over the last century or so.” It had always been weird to Boch, because she continued to fervently update the imperial religion and remained a deft administrator of the imperial bureaucracy, but she had disengaged from her own personal holdings. The action always confused Boch and by the glint he saw in the Jaffa’s eyes, he wasn’t the only one. -Maybe she won’t be as useless as I thought then-, he could see the gears turning in her head.

They entered a large hall that seemed to have been crown into the earth of shimmering artificial crystals, by the smell of the air, likely within the last several hours. -Is this not technology wielded by certain Tok’Ra factions? - She’d led a raid on one of their warrens during the titan’s rebellion, an act of impetuousness given the fact that she was a starship commander and starfighter pilot and not a marine or a infantry Jaffa. But the oil pattern coloration in the walls looked similar. Why had they raided that faction again? Ah yes! Because they were selling Roshna to a Llempiri colony within the borders of the Titan’s space, it was a publicity stunt. A goodwill mission to mash up some drug dealing space trash to begin subverting the Lotar and other subjects of the Titan’s dominion. The striations glimmered in the semi dark as Ba’al tapped a pin on his chest and the room suddenly lit up with a hologram, depicting the vastness of the Empire, all its holdings and vassal states, client kingdoms and even the hidden personal sanctuary worlds every System Lord maintained should the worst-case scenario occur but for which they vigorously denied and mocked all others for. Her eyes scanned the various colors representing the different holdings and the imperial domains and lines? Her eyes narrowed were the pirate raids truly this bad. They intersected the map, beleaguering Ba’al’s realm, ignoring Apophis almost entirely but rampaging through the Domains of Athena, Isis and Zeus, even Amaterasu and Raijin weren’t safe and Haqet’s realm looked to almost completely covered in the crimson that represented the alliance, until the lighter red of the Peaceleepers joined with her magenta in pushing them back. -These piratical raids, this is strategic, this is…- “The Lucian Alliance isn’t capable of something like this.” She whispered.

Then her eyes narrowed. “Alone.” Something came unbidden to her mind, and she felt a sense of outrage follow it. I should be flattered if I wasn’t so insulted! She turned, taking care to remember that as jovial as Ba’al was. The being was still a System Lord, and she didn’t need any reminding. A hand settled on her midsection as Hraka twitched violently, seemingly in protest at needing to raise psychic defenses to confront someone so soon after nearly being overwhelmed. But she reassured her surrogate boy, his powers weren’t needed here. Ba’al wasn’t accusing her of this, once her emotions settled, she realized that. He was too clever and if he truly suspected her, he never would have confronted her. He’d have simply allowed her to continue, only to allow her to weaken certain rivals of his then he’d quietly have Martouf kill her off. -Besides, Apophis is too mad for such an ambitious scheme and if it had been Apophis, I would have savaged both Set and Ba’al enough to get them both to crawl to us for aid. Set’s bleeding but nowhere near what he should, for the second wealthiest being in the stars- But he is letting me know that he knows I could, he’s putting me on edge hoping to bait me into revealing things about Lord Apophis, while I give insight into this.

He suspects the extent of my Lord's madness…

“Majesty, Lord Ba’al the great.” She began, calming herself and easing her voice into neutrality, the calm monotone she used when briefing Apophis, or a room full of Starship commanders. “You were right to seek my insight, I’m probably the only Fleet Captain of repute who could organize something this expansive and this duplicitous without the personal signature of Se’tak and with Aqet dead, I may be the only one. But I assure you, while this benefits Apophis immensely this was not my doing and he has no patience for such things. Besides” Here she allowed herself a smile. “If my goal was to destabilize the imperial shipping lanes to give my Great King a Pretext to seize power, I would have made sure to command the Lucian pirates to do more than just steal from your frontier foundries and convoys, no I would have had them raid your mining worlds and other assets as well.”

Ba’al smiled, a genuine grin beamed across his face, and he laughed. “Ah, perfect, you see Martouf? Aris was right to recommend her to me.”

Drey’ac’s eyes narrowed as the blond man walked out of seemingly nowhere, the Chamberlain’s calm, smiling, warm demeanor at odds with how frighteningly easy it was for him to sneak into the room (Or remain hidden even as she entered.) and beyond her guard. -Once an Ashrak, always an Ashrak I suppose-. The fact that Aris had been her advocate made something young within her stir, she felt alive for the first time in a century when discharging her duties. -Dangerous as they are, I enjoy this. I am not just keeping myself one step ahead of Apophis madness and beating up pirates, but truly exercising my skills.- The only thing missing was Teal’c, if he was here it would have been paradise.

But she banished the thoughts from her mind as the puzzle pieces fell into place. His beliefs about the Tau’Ri being aided, of these raids and their mysterious puppet master and it all began paint a horrifying picture that her features must have betrayed because Boch let out a low, deep laugh.

“Now Y’see, why Lord Ba’al is so concerned? Why he agreed to your presence even though its obvious yer here so Apophis can manipulate us into joining his little bid for the throne.”

-I do, may the stars help me. -

“Apophis cannot be allowed to initiate a civil war…Even if it means we have to put a maniac on the Throne or go to war with our neighbors to satiate his blood lust” Drey’ac breathed. “To do anything less, would play into the hands of whoever is behind this.” She paused and turned again to eye Ba’al “And I don’t mean Lord Set.”

“Hah!” Ba’al’s voice echoed through the room, the chorus of a thousand vagabonds chuckling into the wind. “She’s good! You and Teal’c should have been born Peers, what System Lords you would have made! Ah well, yes I do suspect Set is bankrolling these raids, but he isn’t equipping them…No someone else is moving behind even him.”

The question was who and Drey’ac had a sinking feeling Ba’al believed it wasn’t a system Lord…Who then? The Vanir? The Aesir? No one had seen hide nor hair of the Jotunns in ten thousand or more years and the Nox would never do something like this, it wasn’t nearly elaborate enough for their deceptions.

“That’s what we aimed to find out” Martouf said, seemingly sensing her question. “Prince Horus has summoned every major lord to a great feast on Dakkara to honor Ra in a month’s time. He’s likely going to use the feast for the obvious pretext it is. My master shall be attending, as will I. As shall you.”

More like Isis and Osiris, she thought. Horus was a great warrior and noble prince but his ability to politic was on par with Apophis, they both thought “subterfuge” involved using a staff gun instead of orbital bombardment. “You wish me to feel out the other Fleet Captains? The state of the militias?”

“Oh, your insights and that of your husband are worth more than that, no Jaffa has worked closer with as many Peers as you two have with exception of Bra’tac. And he seems to be determined to honor his oath as a The First War Master and remain entirely apolitical.” Ba’al remarked in that flippant tone that she had begun to see usually meant he was engaged in some scheme or another. She was going to age miserably serving Ba’al, yet the thought made her smile -Try as I might, I can’t help it, I like him. – “I did not think it was possible to read beings so ancient?” Queried Drey’ac using his words from earlier against him.

Ba’al smirked. “Perhaps it is a failed endeavor, but it will be a place to set lines in the sand. More besides.” Here he did something Drey’ac had never seen a System Lord do, walking towards a table set against the far wall, a decanter filled with a rare luminescent brandy and six glasses. Pouring four, he handed the first to Drey’ac, the second to Aris, the third to Martouf and he took for himself.

The gesture bordered on the obscene, yet Lord Ba’al’s countenance made it seem more like the gesture of trust that it was. A gesture Drey’ac knew could easily be a trap as much as it was sincere. “I wish to see which way the wind is blowing before I finalize my decision.” Ba’al turned to Drey’ac his eyes glowing that unique color that should not have been possible. “And I intend for you to play a central role in that my dear Fleet Captain.”

-So, I’m to be an intelligence minister, engineer and Admiral? He’s right, I will deserve the War Master rank after this Mik’ta-

Aris grinned, catching the look of consternation on her face. “Majesty, I think the lady needs something stronger than this.”

Ba’al adopted a mock frown of reproachment. “Truly Aris, you must stop trying to poison my Jaffa. It’s unseemly for a man in your position!”

Serving this lord, was never going to be boring Drey’ac thought. Nor entirely safe either…And yet, she still found herself incapable of disliking him.

Ah well, let it not be said that Drey'ac of the Kordai planes, famed huntress of pirates and brigands and bandits is timid.

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

Aannnd Ep 2 of Stargate SG-1 is officially concluded...Yu makes his grand entrance, a bit of the history of the rebellion against the Ori is discussed since I know @Harlock and @Spartan303 enjoy the world building and the President makes a fateful call that..hopefully was as bad ass on the screen as it was in my head.

……

Castle Pengu

Wooden floors Isis thought with an amused smile, he still uses wooden floors. It was adorable quaint for a palace this enormous even if it did look like one gigantic personal retreat. The columns that flanked her rose like mighty trees into the mountain, holding up the Pengu castle, the fortress that was said to be impregnable save for obliterating the continent in which it sat in. All about her, green and gold banners fluttered in an artificial breeze that kept the place cold enough that most Lotars dressed warmly while within its walls.

She noticed several now, their long flowing robes and hats and bowed heads on bent necks. Lotar’s that bore the seal of minor lords of the imperium, likely here on business for their masters who were among Goa’uld of the lowest of the accepted subspecies who were not allowed to command servants who were bonded. Others were proxies of more prestigious nobles, minor and mid-level clans descended from an illegitimate child of a peer. An envoy of Zipachna, the Chamberlain of Set’s domain. Isis canted her head slightly in that one’s direction as Set would likely be an ally should the worst occur; she could extend an appropriate amount of courtesy to that one.

Yu’s Kingdom was a place where a Jaffa or a minor Goa’uld of lesser breeds might rise high, as the Golden sovereign was slightly more concerned with merit than he was blood purity. Still, Isis was relieved to see there weren’t any mongrels like Amunet prancing about, an offense to all decency and sense. Eventually columns and wood paneling gave way to a great jadestone “road” leading towards a series of immense golden arches, each containing engravings that depicted Ra, Yu, Hathor, Anubis and Apophis rising against the accursed Ori, the children of the rebellion, the legendary orphans who became Gods and established the Imperium of the Second Dynasty. -Uncle Yu was there when grandfather was killed, he was there when..Adria..-

The story, which was depicted on a set of remarkably painted frescoes and murals on Dakkara depicted an Ori by the name of Adria, allegedly the name meant “sunset” or something in an ancient dialect for she was the last Ori born, the youngest and the only known being in half a billion years to reach that state where energy and thought merge. She had been young, barely in her twenties when it happened but the power, she wielded was a terror. She could have cured her race of the plague ravaging them, perhaps even resurrected it in its entirety. Instead, she struck out, unleashing a psychic wave that decimated the rebel fleet over the primeval homeworld of the Goa’uld races. The images on Dakkara depicted her as a massive radiant wind tunnel of pure crimson fire with heartless black eyes, but Isis suspected she was just a traumatized youngster who threw her entire being away on a gamble to protect the last of her race. Either way, a Primordial God stood before the whole of the cosmos and had every intention of humbling her forefathers and forcing them into subjugation.

It was in that moment that the Lords of the Children of Light showed the mistress of the immaterial just how powerful a slave’s will to be free truly was.

United, Ouranos, Tartarus and their wives, Nu and Neith struck this incorporeal monster with everything they had. A God of the ethereal facing down masters of the material realm in an assault that produced shockwaves that killed half a billion Unas, broke the minds of millions of primitive Goa’uld. Queens in their ancient swamps burst into flames, consumed in the fury of an indignant and immature progenitor. The battle was relentless, Tartarus was incinerated by a stray thought from Adria who then was forced to endure the psychic self-immolation of Neith who in madness and grief turned her very being into a bomb that ripped at the threads of the ascended being. Nu and Ouranos remained, Nu who was heavy with child struggled to shelter the next generation of the house of Ouranos (Her biological father amongst them.) but the pair held firm.

Until some primitive Goa’uld chieftain who had allied with the Peers stabbed Ouranos through the heart with a lance, the sudden wound to his host was enough to distract him and Adria was able to shift from holding them off to assaulting him entirely. Isis’s grandfather was atomized shortly thereafter, and it looked like the rebellion was doomed.

Then a light from the heavens struck Adria, a telepathic bolt fired by Anubis into the tear his mother had made caused her to reel in agony soon after, mother unleashed an attack of her own and Hathor’s fury at the loss of her parents was such she briefly split Adria nearly in half. Her essence disorganized, Ra, Yu and one other stood.

The sons of Ouranos, would not be denied their vengeance.

Adria was torn apart psychically, slowly. Even her soul was shredded and discorporate, cast into the planes between realities as Ra burned like a beacon of wrath.

The battle was over, but it had evidently been broadcast throughout the known universe, every civilization that had flourished into the great races and fallen into decay as their shepherds declined had seen it, felt it. Even those who had descended into utter anarchy and barbarism. After that, many of their future subjects took them as Gods and it was far easier to govern and heal a cosmic wasteland when a good percentage of the surviving population believed you were divine. At least that was the excuse her father always used, that happenstance provided the pretext and through it, a rite of conquest became a spiritual mandate. Rebellion became crusade and soon races ignorant of the “war in the heavens” were indoctrinated into the Imperial religion.

Though when Ra recounted the story, the glint in his eye suggested father hadn’t been fortuitous but deliberate. -Uncle Yu and mother are the last of those who participated in the battle left- The others, were all gone.

Of the two of them, Yu had always been Isis’s favorite. Hathor had always been relentless on her girls and the fact that she favored Egeria over her always bothered Isis. Granted, she was a dutiful daughter and always did her best and when her best wasn’t good enough? Well, by that time she was a mother herself, married and with domains of her own to rule and there was no point in pettiness. -Still, it would be nice-, maybe that was why she hated the Peacekeepers so much? Such thoughts were pointless. The Court of Yu the Golden loomed ahead of her and when the members of said court parted ways, some (the lower ranked) bowing to one knee, others bowing in the distinctive style of the realm (A partial bow with hands steepled in prayer). Others, her cousins, the myriad children of Yu smiled, sneered, or would wave.

-Mei’lyn has a new host, I wonder what happened to the old one? - Isis realized, absent mindedly looking at the tall, slightly blue skinned Peer whose new host was a mix between Lotar and who knew what else. Mei had always been smitten with Horus, she knew the two were lovers and that several of Horus’s minor lords and planetary Governors were the product of their affair. Sensing her thoughts, her cousin mouthed -Lucian pirates-

Ah, mentally she promised to speak to her fleet Captains about that.

Even if it was just a host, an attack on a member of the house of Yu was an attack on the House of Ra. -Besides, Mei was unnaturally close to her host-, she suspected there was even a degree of personality merging, though Horus remained totally oblivious of this fact. Otherwise, she suspected their relationship would have ended abruptly. Her jingoistic elder sibling being consumed with protocol and decorum.

A tall spindly Goa’uld in a host with an impressive long and white beard stood at the base of a ascending steps that lead to a massive throne carved gold (likely one gigantic “block” taken from the same vein), twisted and woven into the form of a great maned feline with fangs that were taller than the average backwater dwelling Lotar, eyes of a gem of Yu’s own making that shifted colors depending on the angle one looked at it and in its immense open maw sat a bald man with features that Tau’Ri might call Mongolian, or Manchurian or Russian (In truth Yu’s host likely belonged to a breed that was the father of all three races.), he was immense, fat but not in an unhealthy sense, a great thick black goatee that turned into long chin and nose whiskers fell from a proud chin and the same black hair was done in a long braid that trailed down his shoulder to rest on his immense stomach. Adorned in the furs of large lions that hunted the great tusked, long nosed beasts that saturated the planets in his realms and the finest silks, gnarled large hands contrasted keen eyes on a somewhat bear like face.

The man, who tried to look a warrior (And indeed was a great one when need called for it.) But would always appear as a scribe, or technologist.

“Princess Isis, daughter of Set, daughter of Ra, Daughter of Hathor, Wife of Osiris, mother of Mithras, Dionysus, Nepit, Maat and Hesat. Goddess of Agriculture and civil administration. Great Lord of the Systems!”

-Funny how my little bastards with Zeus are System Lords in all but name but the children I’ve had with Osiris are all drunken lay abouts who are incongruous with the others- she loved all her children equally, but sometimes she wished she’d beaten her legitimate offspring more. Isis was great at having children, terrible at raising them. Just so with her divine roles, genuinely a great cultivator of land but a terrible governess. -My subjects and my children still love me though...-

“Mistress of the outer imperial core and Princess of the Gods. You stand in the presence of the Heavenly Sovereign, the Golden King, Yu Han’shi, Yu the great, Yu the builder, Yu of the house of Ouranos, Yu of the founding pillars, of the battle of Cimmeria. Yu! Lion of the Night! Yu the master of this Galaxy!”

“And all the nebula and dust that orbit it.” A deep, slow, deliberate chorus of voices assaulted her ears, a tight baritone of roar that belonged to her eternally exasperated, wise uncle. White fire glowed in the hosts eyes and illuminated the semi dark of the great Throne (Which itself was inspired by the Drakar Throne of Ra, which was fashioned from a ruby like stone block some three hundred feet long.) Those immense, scribe’s hands clenched the great teeth behind the sabered fangs, and he leaned forward, a shadow casting across the hall. “Silence you withered old bird, my niece knows who I am, and she made herself known to me when she picked a fight with those mercenaries out there!” His chiding belied mild amusement, yet Isis still felt a twinge of regret. -He taught me how to make worlds- She felt scolded and not so, as if he understood why and she let out a breath and stepped forward.

“In all respect Great King, they were asking for it.”

That caused Yu to let out something that might have been a laugh and he rose from his throne and at once Jaffa had snapped to attention at either side, sharp eyed and adorned in the golden armor of his palace guards. -Oshu isn’t present- Isis realized, The First Prime of King Yu had become one of the few Jaffa in history to earn a place of honor within a court outside the capacity of a master of some form of military arts. Like Teal’c and his wife, he was young, ambitious, and beloved by the militaries of much of the known universe. Yet, he was more akin to Bra’tac, wise in all things, but deadly in war. Isis often wondered, why Oshu was passed over for Teal’c not that either man was inferior to the other. Why was he not present for this? He was almost never far from his master when any System Lord came calling.

“Hmm; of course, they were.” Yu walked down the great jade steps and embraced his niece to the tone of the crier dismissing all in the hall. Now was the time for family, not for interlopers. Dismissing even their guards the two proceeded to walk towards back exit, towards a garden with some of the most state of the art anti surveillance technology in the empire. After all, did not his niece come here specifically to ask for his help in supporting the next Emperor?

“I must admit, I’ve missed your mist covered forests, your vast oceans with their immense whales and those tusked monstrosities that trumpet like thunder.” Isis sighed wistfully, she’d been a youth by the standards of the peers, only about three hundred when Ra ordered Tau’Ri to be abandoned after the antics of her sister and that old bastard Prometheus. But she had a clear image of the old world, she missed the home of her childhood. That its children, her spiritual cousins stormed through the gate and murdered her father hadn’t dampened her desire to see home again. -Why would they do that? When we ignored them for so long? - Her elder brother and husband thought only of revenge, but Isis shared Ba’al and Hathor’s view that there was more to the event Apophis had declared an act of Tau’Ri vengeance. Vengeance? Perhaps, Lotar even so far removed from the primeval cultural forces of their ancestral planet had a capacity for revenge that rivaled her own species, but she wasn’t sure. The thought of the Tau’Ri made her remember the howling creatures that the fathers of the Lotar domesticated.

“Remember the amicable four-legged beasts? The pack hunters who had forged an alliance with the Tau’Ri” she asked, looping her arm through her uncles.

Yu laughed. “I could never convince your father to let me take some off-world, I kept telling him they were a mighty species, worthy of being made into an animal type of Jaffa. One that could fight beside our warriors like brothers and guard our children alongside our Jaffa. But Ra would hear none of it. Foolish, Zeus and his children would pay a planet’s worth of precious gems for even a single genetically diverse pack. He’s ever sought companions outside of our kind..” not to mention they had a great sense of smell, the Golden King hadn’t forgotten that. -With the increased bombings by the Children of Egeria, it might help to have an organic sensor suite to lean on-Yu shook his head never really trusting machinery for security, his whiskers blowing in the wind as the mountain air and the scent of a dozen flowering plants filled the air. Isis broke from Yu and walked towards a particularly beautiful rose that was almost translucent and yet held a vibrant crimson. She cupped it in her palm “I recognize this from a banquet at Babylos. Tell me, are you and Ba’al engaging in one of your fits of mad science again?” she asked with a wry grin that concealed the second question she’d asked.

Yu nodded “A century ago, regrettably neither of us have the time we would like, for he submitted an idea for a breed of soil restoring plant I found most, compelling.” He turned to Isis now and narrowed his eyes. “Let us set aside our reunion for the time being, you know how I despise pleasantry as a pretext.”

Isis laughed loudly ending down to scent the flower, feeling her cheeks warm -And it can produce intoxication! Remarkable!!- She turned back to Yu and gave him an apologetic nod. “I did miss you is all, but yes, I would have you come to the memorial feast and..we would have you and yours participate in the vote.”

Yu raised an eyebrow; they were truly going with Ra’s asinine idea to allow his successorship to be decided in part by a vote?! Governments could be elected, but those who ruled, the spiritual and literal heads of state must always be born to it. That was something even the maniac progressive Prometheus agreed with. “I would have thought the decision a foregone conclusion even without my help. Tell me? Who else will stand beside Horus?”

Much as you hate our politics, much as you isolate yourselves, dear uncle, you know the answer and merely search for conclusions. Isis reached up to tap her chin, earning a nod of approval in Yu for her choice in gloves. She didn’t know why his approval of her fashion meant so much, perhaps lingering silliness from the memories of her host or her own love of family. “Zeus will likely end up with his name put forward by one of his sons or daughters. He will likely decline; his votes will go to either Osiris or Horus. Izanami will put himself forward as a candidate.”

Yu shook his head. The descendants of Ame-No-Manakushi had no place on the throne. They were far too close to Prometheus and Yu had always suspected Amaterasu’s involvement in the rebellion. “Impermissible.”

“Agreed, besides, he hates us for what Ra allowed to happen to his sister. Haqet and Appollo will likely forward their names, and none shall support them. But that brings us to our next candidate...”

“Apophis.” Yu hissed; she could almost see the flowers wilt at her uncles change in tone. There was no love between either God, with Apophis viewing Yu as a irrelevant eccentric who got whatever he wanted by bleating to his brother and Yu viewing Apophis as a resentful madman forever trapped in the shadow of his elder brother Anubis. “The wrong warrior was murdered by…”

Isis waved him off, she didn’t want to hear that name even after tens of thousands of years, the memory of the dark one froze her blood. “It is done, Apophis and Horus are who this will likely come down too…And I believe Apophis may have sufficient support.”

Yu growled slightly, the air growing damp as his psionic energies flared. “To think, Amaterasu and your mother will be on the same page for once since the unfortunate business with her cuckolding Apophis.”

Isis couldn’t help but laugh at the memory. To threaten civil war because her older sister stepped out on him. Egeria was a fool but no one alive could blame her for wanting nothing to do with that blood drunken maniac. Apophis choice in females always a perversity and she knew her sister well enough to know that Egeria wasn’t going to share her bed with mindless primitives, nor bare offspring for that deviant. What a fool, Anubis had offered to depose his brother and take his holdings, yet Ra stayed his hand. -How many more mistakes did father make? -

“Apophis and Horus will both likely use the Tau’Ri’s actions as a rallying cry, one to call for vengeance and the other to point out how ineffectual our leadership of the Empire has been.”

“Hah!” Yu walked ahead, beckoning Isis. “The Tau’Ri, ripping through the stars with vengeance on their lips is the most preposterous notion to come out of your fool brother’s mouth.”

She smiled sweetly. “I knew I was correct in thinking that made no sense!”

“You are the smart one dearest. Vengeance, phah! It’s doubtful the Tau’Ri even remember we existed until they ran right into Sek’Het’s over eager posterior!”

Now that surprised Isis and sensing that surprise he laughed softly. “Little girl, I have walked this universe for as long as your father did, a hundred and five thousand years. In all that time I have witnessed much, with the exception of the four great races, most civilizations barely last a few centuries, for star faring races the average was five thousand years before we came along. It was only when the Empire was established after the battle of Dakkara that things began to change. Cut off from the Gate Network and ourselves? And very clearly have not found any of the equipment we abandoned in that massive continent to the south of where Ra landed. The one with the jungles and the diseases and the Lotar with the dark skin? The name escapes me, in any case. It is not without precedent.”

“Yes, I grant you uncle, but even the Kobolans worshipped Egeria and Prometheus, traces of us remained. In the other cases I know of, enough that reintegration to the Empire is peaceful.”

Yu nodded. “Yes, but Ra was..adamant about all traces of our presence there being removed. It was only by error of Anubis that the one installation remained hidden..we never looked back. It was almost as if..your father feared them..or what they could become.”

While hard to digest, it didn’t surprise her. Copper eyes suddenly glowed bright and white and she clenched her fists. “They were….are..in some ways a kindred spirit aren’t they?”

Yu nodded slowly. “We are their Gods, yet they are closer to brothers than inferiors, our union with their race I believe benefitted us both and yet…”

“Could be the doom of both our species if we aren’t careful.” Isis gave a nod and took a calming breath. “Was father right to fear them?”

“In over forty thousand years of rule over their descendants, how many rebellions have we faced? And don’t mention the Kelowna, they don’t rebel they merely indulge in overzealous displays of emotion.” Yu warned a playful glint in his eyes that caused her to nod and suppress a laugh. “With the exception of the Tau’Ri and Lantesh..few.”

“They are loyal because we don’t treat them like cattle, they may be subjects of the empire rather than citizens but they’ve rights, enjoy our peace and possess a level of prosperity few outside our realms enjoy. A hard conquest, but a fair and just rule as Anubis would say, Ra looked at the face of every Tau’Ri and said he saw only Ori and so he was cruel to them as he became cruel to his own kind in the end. His madness and yes, he was mad. Your father lost himself after the rebellion, not because of Egeria but because when he looked in the eyes of those she died for, he saw himself looking back.”

Isis was struck into silence by this, horrified almost. -perhaps they’re right and the Tau’Ri should be destroyed? - No, she thought. Such an action would only bring about a repeat of history… “I must calm my brother’s rage then. And..And Apophis.”

“Cannot be allowed to rule because he wouldn’t just make war upon the Tau’Ri but all of creation.”

A thought entered her mind that likely should have never existed in that moment.

“Perhaps, we can use the Tau’Ri to solve one of our problems.”

“My dearest, what makes you think someone isn’t doing that already?”

Civil war never felt closer and once again Isis began to empathize with the stupid Sebaceans and she hated herself even more for it.

…………..

The white House-July 18th.

When Admiral George S Hammond stepped out of the car, he found Abe Ellis and Captain Maybourne outside talking to a few secret service personnel. Seeing Ellis out of uniform (Or even the clothing he had tailored to look like the Stellar navy variant of the space force uniform). Would always be odd to Hammond who came up under the wing of the old sea eagle when they were younger men. -A lifetime ago, before I knew about what was out there-. The two old friends shook hands and by the smile on Ellis’ face it looked like their debriefing paid dividends in excess. “I take it New York bought it?”

“Oh, he’s enthusiastic old friend, he’s already asking Kim to set up a Caribbean bank for all the Gold Kasuf thinks he and the other city masters can extract from the mines, his eyes lit up when he realized we could virtually self-fund.” The trio rounded a corner as Hammond nodded at that little bit, evidently the snakes didn’t quite prize gold and silver the way they did, or else could extract enough of it from other sources that they liked to keep their more primitive planets like some kind of ghoulish nature preserve, then again given the size of their empire they didn’t need to mine every single world and Skara had shown them a mine with what one of the army corps of engineer volunteers said was the largest vein he’d ever heard of existing. “He realizes we could employ a lot of out of work machinists, welders and other trade people simply refining all the precious metals we can bring back alone. That being said, his enthusiasm has complicated things a bit.”

Hammond raised an eyebrow at the comment and Maybourne cut in. “Sir, he wants us to scout for potential planet’s outside of Imperial space that could be identified for colonization in phase four.”

Is he serious? Hammond thought, the security for that alone..No, well, he supposed if they were out of work tradesmen, people from the rust belt who lost everything due to the recession and the changing times, families. Maybe, maybe some might just be desperate enough. “They’d have to be made to understand it’s a one way trip, they could never go back and that things like medical supplies and the like they’d be dependent on being supplied through the gate for at least five years. If the president insists, we could probably move say four thousand people through the gate but I would insist on families, especially with young people. If he’s going to do this, he needs to establish something profitable and sustainable. None of those thirty-year-old professionals who just want to wait until the right time to have a single kid. They’d be in the wilderness, we’d need farmers, tradesmen, people willing to have large families…because they’ll be burying kids even with a consistent supply.”

Maybourne chuckled dryly “I’m a descendant of Christopher Newport y’know?”

Hammond suppressed a twitch of annoyance at the implication. “Since when did the Space Force become an outfit of privateers?”

“Since we realized our enemy runs most of this Galaxy George. Face it, we could be smashed by a fleet, invaded or cut off, we need to get some of us out there and fast, we need to start turning over tech and resources soon. That’s what Constellation was always about.”

“Fair enough old friend.” Approaching the Oval office, Hammond felt something akin to a chill. The weight of history once again pressing upon his chest. Doors opened and Hammond knew the world would change forever soon after they closed.

To his credit, the president was as energized as ever and seemed excited at the prospect of fighting the whole damn universe. Then again, the potential windfall and how it would impact the average America. There were plates of fried chicken, and a bunch of sides and Hammond resisted the urge to shake his head, it was going to be hard to resist temptation to eat garbage something Doctor Fraser would tear his head off over. -High blood pressure, please, that’s a healthy Texan read!-

“George! Welcome back!” The President reached out and Hammond shook his hand, it was easy to forget how dangerously slick the guy was when he adopted his salesmen face. He was so easy to dismiss until you got a look in his eyes and realized he might not talk like it, but he was almost always the smartest bastard in the room. “Hungry?”

“Starving mister President”

Yeah, Fraser was going to kill him.

He liked to talk while eating this President, it reminded him of President’s Reagan and Clinton who were fond of making briefings social calls. Hammond had a perfect excuse to indulge in junk food while also working with the President who asked him assessment on various points in the debrief. How reliable he thought Teal’c’s assessment of their FTL issues in much of the Galaxy due to this weird weapon deployed against them or against some other ancient enemy. Teal’c seemed to think it unlikely for anyone to invest the energy and manpower in invading Earth because they would likely have to go outside of imperial space, then outside neutral space, avoid the protected planet’s zone then strike the earth, as coming at the planet directly would either result in fried hyperdrives or a two-year voyage as opposed to a two day voyage. Teal’c even seemed to think they’d have to occupy a planet to use as staging ground. Hammond didn’t think the Snakes would do that yet, they had their own internal problems.

Then again, he remembered Apophis and those crazy eyes.

“Mister President, I think his advice is based off a military tradition older than civilization as we know it. I believe he’d be right under normal circumstances.”

“Yeah, but times aren’t normal, their space Emperor is dead and they could be pissed off at us enough to go through all that bullshit just to step on us. Alright, I’m going to have the budget for Constellation increased by about twelve billion. We can mask that through a bunch of the damn relief bills they want me to pass, that should hold you over until you start bringing home the goods.” That still surprised the President, that they estimated they could bring back a trillion dollars in precious metals and gems over the next two years. He planned to hot shot most of that into the economy but Hammond and Ellis would get whatever they needed. Need to be careful there too, bring enough treasure back and it’ll devalue everything. Don’t want to end up like those Ming bastards.

He rose and walked to the windows behind the resolute desk, looking out across the green. “Everyone thought my campaign was a publicity stunt, as if anyone with a brain would want to jump into this fucking sewer. Politicians are the most disgusting fucking people on the planet…Y’know I’m the only guy in D.C right now who doesn’t even drink? Pretty sure Henry here is the only guy in DC ‘sides me who isn’t face first into a mountain of blow in the morning with these fucking people.”

Despite himself Hammond laughed as the Vice President mouthed ‘not since Medellin 86’ any way’.

“They want me to take this out of the hands of the Space Force and the NID as if I’d trust Bobbie fucking Kensey to touch any of this without selling off the planet.” He shook his head. “We’re in trouble, these guys are seriously hardcore, they’re everything the US used to be on earth before twenty years of bullshit weakened us. They’re us but on a scale, I can’t even imagine…We can go out there all day long, peaceful exploration, make bank bringing home goodies, revolutionize medicine with all the pharmacological stuff out there, or bury our heads in the sand and ignore it all and withdraw but it won’t make a damn difference if those body thieving cocksuckers park in orbit and start shooting.” The President finally ended his rant long enough to take a breath then he turned. “George, tell me, you still want the losers, psychos and conspiracy nuts as the big brains of Stargate Command? Fraser, is a great doctor but I could replace her and others.”

Hammond shook his head emphatically. A sense of excitement filling his head, Ellis whose jaw was still on the floor with the budget increase, hastened to add that he thought it was best if they kept as many “outside the box” thinkers on the roster as possible.

“Maybe hire more Mister President” Maybourne added, much to Hammond’s surprise. Maybourne gave him an indifferent shrug, they needed all the help they could get, now wasn’t the time for elitism or partisanship.

“That must have hurt to say.” The President said with a grin before turning his attention to Ellis and Hammond, eyes narrowing. “The enemy is out there gentlemen and while I’m a noninterventionist by nature this isn’t something we can ignore. The enemy is out there and a solution to our problem is likewise out there. If we can make peace and do business, great but I won’t have it said that I presided over the destruction of our planet and the end of the United States. To that end, I want us to walk tall, speak softly, smile and carry a big fucking stick.”

Hammond’s jaw set, this was it. The moment everyone in this room was waiting for since the remnants of the Stargate Reconnaissance Team Zero took those first steps back on earth half a decade ago. “Sir…”

“Ellis, Project Constellation has whatever it needs to get into full production, I want that big bitch off ground and into the skies by Christmas. I want four additional prototypes laid down by this time next year and Admiral Hammond..I want you to create twenty specialized teams. Teams of four, two military guys, two specialists. Their job will be to explore these worlds, establish peaceful contact and if possible trade, scout out potential colonies and if necessary wage a covert war against an overwhelmingly superior enemy. I want them supported by best scientists and smooth talkers out there, I want permission from Kasuf to lease the pyramid complex to establish a permanent military base on Abydos. Your idea of screening all the organic matter and tech there will form the foundations for what I hope one day becomes our embassy to the System Lords and a commercial outpost. I want these teams supported by an elite brigade made up of two thousand of the baddest motherfuckers this military has ever created. I want them brought up from the ground up, no nepotism, no army political shit. No clerk generals and minimal transfers, bring them up from raw recruits as many as you can. Reactivate whoever you think you need to train these boys, I want half of them on Abydos and the other half in ‘Rado ready to head to the mountain to back your boys up at a moments notice. I want you, Admiral George Hammond to give me the force of the future, I want you to lay down the foundations for a power capable of fighting these snake bastards harder than they’ve ever been fought before. I don’t just want us to survive, I wanna humble these pricks and bring them to the damn table if it comes to that.” The President paused for a breath and eyed the former SEAL with the harshest gaze Hammond had ever seen the former real estate baron give anyone.

“These Snake bastards think they’re Gods, I want you to raise a legion of God slayers, think you can do that George?”

There was no response from George Hammond, none was really needed.

The slow, crescent moon like, damn near demonic smile that spread across his face, nearly bisecting bald head at the jawline said it all.

A handshake sealed a deal

And the tides of history rushed forward once again.

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

Episode Three: Fairy Tale

Month of Nu imperial calendar(Seventh month by Tau’Ri reckoning): Triangulum Galaxy - Wuji

Castle Pengu

The last month had been one of debate, something Isis rarely indulged in for she didn’t quite have the patience to talk with inferiors the way her husband did, or Horus for that matter. Yu was the exception, she valued his mind even if she couldn’t understand why he would occasionally consult with everyone within eyeshot of him on a matter, including sometimes even his own Lotar. The Heavenly Kingdom was a strange place to her, for it possessed a clear and well-defined social order as the Empire did and yet, it seemed at times to be order from the chaos.

Everyone knows their place in the Heavenly Kingdom Princess, and each has dedicated long centuries to a craft or a discipline or a set of observations that in turn makes them an integral part of the center. Bra’tac once told her. Utility she supposed meant that social lines could be crossed, but the concept of seeking council even from the rudest of society on even rude matters seemed almost to be a breach of the order that kept their universe together. It at once fascinated her and concerned her, but she was not her brother and she would never turn a blind eye to the value of her uncle’s council solely because he did things differently, not when she owed so much to the being, not when she admired him so.

“To the Lotar and to many sentients outside the Empire we Gods, our religion spreads across the stars and yet, the closest of us to true Godhood since father’s death, one is missing still and the other refuses to call himself as such.”

“Even if I am worshipped against my will!”

Isis turned to the tired bear like scribe that was King Yu, and her eyes glowed a bright white in welcome. Any other Goa’uld stupid enough to enter her apartments without her leave even a System Lord on his own Crown world would be met with retaliation for that (she might have been remarkably promiscuous, but she was no common street walker) “I see that I still haven’t fully swayed you, Great King.” She teased lightly, Yu had been supportive of the idea since she arrived but his reluctance was abundant all the same, or perhaps he merely wanted to debate her, to get her to go through the rigors of her request.

“Not since we abandoned Tau’Ri have I involved myself in imperial affairs in a…What is the term those Peacekeepers use? Domestic policy…Ah yes there we are. In the sense of your internal affairs. I have fought every battle commanded of me by my elder brother, my realm as often acted as a shield to yours from invaders that come from the lawless galaxies. I have never complained, but Dakkara is a temple built on a sewer much like half my wives and I endure enough of that nonsense in the bed chambers I am required to visit once a century. You ask me to endure such inanity without even pleasure...”

“Careful uncle that septic temple is the center of all civilization in the known universe!”

“Precisely”

Isis laughed. “And it’s my home!”

“Bah you are Tau’Ri Isis, as with your sister and Amaterasu that pretty little backwater is in your blood, not just that of your host. You may reside in Dakkara, but your home will forever be a world we abandoned.”

From anyone else, that would have been an insult. Yu was especially grouchy this morning, which made sense. Two of his queens had announced they were pregnant and Mei’lyn was pushing him to allow her to expand her domains into the last remnants of her corner of the Galaxy that were untouched. This was the Yu she remembered and adored, the eternally grouchy, stressed old Goa’uld who doted on her. “You’re right, but I’ll settle for a Dakkara that is not an irradiated wasteland because my uncle got delusions of grandeur.”

“Hn! Your brother remains an idiot though.”

“Be nice to Horus, he means well, and he is an honorable being.”

“He is a naïve fool. Tell me why I cannot ignore your entire family feud again?”

“Because dear uncle.” Isis began with the patient tone she’d occasionally used on her children when she could be bothered to pay attention to them, crossing the room she slid her arms between his left limb and leaned against him as she often did as a child. “Because if he starts a war with all creation, think of all the refugees that will flood the stable parts of it? Think of all the protestations and banditry and what happens when the Asgard inevitably get involved?”

“hmm..it’s almost worth it.”

“Uncle!!” Came the indignant cry.

“Flailing child, I was merely lamenting. Very well, but I want assurances that you and your husband will be guiding him to make sure he doesn’t ruin the empire financially or go on a damned idealistic crusade against The Ashen Confederacy or some other minor powers for no other reason than that they offend his sense of honor.”

“Well, we won’t have to worry about The Ashen at least. Macello and Lenea destroyed them.”

“Really? Ah! That explains the influx of refugees through the Galaxy Gates..” Galaxy Gates being Yu’s term for the immense industrial scale Stargates on Crown Worlds like Chulak and Dakkara that were designed to move large numbers of people and commodities across not only the main Galaxy but others as well, their power sources were incredibly sophisticated, the latest generation of Naquadria using power plants no larger than a staff weapon yet they could power a hundred Gates. Of course, given how energy intensive they were, every hub for the gate system in known space received an alert, Dakkara contained a detailed record of almost everyone’s travel through such gates. “I should have figured, my Jaffa physicians spent the better part of a year restoring the genetic damage and sterility issues of some four million humans…Though I should call them Lotars now, most are sworn to Mei’lyn and Oshu now, many had plagues that even my technologists were hard pressed to eliminate… “

Which meant Yu was alerted, yet he didn’t care enough investigate why. It surprised her, that only four million got out, the Ashen themselves had a population of twelve billion and they ruled over another fifty billion. That was no doubt the work of Lenea, who was arguably the greatest bioweapons expert since the elder days. Macello was all technology, radiation burns and obscure nanite weaponry were his handy work. “There’s a bounty on Macello’s head uncle, his nanite gel weaponry went rogue and began absorbing entire worlds. We did kill the machines and were able to put a stop to it, but not before two worlds on our fringe needed to be reengineered. They went fugitive after the war ended and Aris Boch has made it his personal mission to hunt down those two.”

“Ahhh Aris Boch, I should invite him to feast with me sometime soon.” Llempiri were a long-lived race, it wasn’t uncommon for Goa’uld to forge odd friendships with them, as they were among the few species for whom lifetimes weren’t measured in decades and it was nice having company you didn’t have to mourn in a short amount of time. Yet the honor with which the legendary lawman was treated bordered on the perverse in her mind. “He helped me track down a Child of Egeria who placed one of Macello’s weapons in the water supply of a city on Xian’ken”

“Truly?” Isis breathed, that was disturbing news. That was an unforgivable and incredibly dangerous crime…”He died slowly I take it?”

Yu nodded his jaw set. “I do not like this, it’s as if our enemies are growing more and more bold all at once. As if there’s a hand guiding it that we cannot see.”

“Martouf seems to think so.” Isis remarked, which of course meant Ba’al had already suspected it and was investigating it. “Martouf being a chamberlain, another reason why you should involve yourself in our affairs more often. A former Ashrak, uncle, a chamberlain to a System Lord.”

Yu grunted; Ra had been very clear on that from the start. It was an idea put forward by Anubis, one of the few Yu disagreed with. Any peer who dedicates his or her life to intelligence forfeits any inheritance that would put him within striking distance of Governance. No one who worked the dark side of imperial defense, the arts of espionage, assassination and the dirtiest aspects of intrigue was ever allowed to wield executive authority. It was why Goa’uld who became Ashraks were seen to be super patriots, for they took on the role of assassin and sullied their names and hands and forever barred themselves from ascent to governance and yet they served none the less. Yu didn’t particularly have an issue with Ashrak’s ruling worlds or managing holdings, but many viewed Ra capitulating to Ba’al on this front to be an unprecedented move and one that sullied the honor and integrity of the Imperium. -Have we merely been forestalling civil war in an era of peace?- some of their rigidity may have fanned the flames that Apophis currently gorged himself on. Banishing the thoughts from her mind knowing Yu would disagree there she bowed. “I must return to my temple built on a sewer, but I must ask.”

Yu gave a reluctant growl. “We stand at a crossroads, something is wrong. I do not like it, I like involving myself in your realm even less, but I believe ignoring things will only serve to bring it to my doorstep.”

“Mother and Ba’al continue to say this, even Garak, if you also believe it then it must be accurate, but the question is what? Who would gain from our downfall?”

Yu wanted to laugh, in his youth he’d have been tempted to reprimand her harshly for such arrogance, yet he remembered the horrific state the galaxies were in prior to the Empire’s ascent. -One does not easily topple the column of civilization without a heavy price- Ruling over the ashes was something he had done and Ra’s absolute refusal to even consider doing so again was something he fully endorsed.

“The Peacekeepers may not be a threat to us today or tomorrow, ten thousand years from now? Who knows..The Tau’Ri’s return to the Galaxies may also herald their move…both are incredibly young nations, there are others as well out there in the dark who likely believe being king of the ruins puts them and their progeny in a unique position. They are correct, more so than they can imagine. But they’ve no idea the true extent of how horrible such a kingdom is. There was a Tau’Ri phrase to describe it, but I have forgotten it. Perhaps the Jotunn have returned and gone mad…”

“I know the one you’re thinking of uncle, but this is a mystery worth unraveling. Come, walk me to the gate..that is, unless his majesty would rather breakfast with my aunts?”

The thought of being anywhere near his legion of nagging wives made the old king pale and he was all too quick to extend an arm to Isis.

……………..

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

Alright gents we're back and ready to rumble.

Major thanks to @bullethead who managed to get my depictions of the characters perfectly (Because he's a better writer than me. ) but who also did the painstaking research and monumental effort to create a post essentially giving us a crash course on the Next Gen weaponry used by the SGC.

He also wanted me to mention that the disassembly of the RM-277 is purely conjectural because there's no data available on how that works. As per usual, he still does an immaculate job.

So with much thanks, eternal gratitude and praise for his skill.

Episode 3 heats up.

Cheyenne Mountain complex: August 14th

“Man, it’s good to have the whole team back under one roof.” O’Neill muttered between sips of coffee that Hammond was convinced was half Skara’s moonshine. Not that he could object, the boy had fashioned for himself one hell of a distillery over the last half decade and for someone who grew up near the border between Louisiana and Texas, well the Admiral wasn’t a stranger to half mad swamp runners and the nitroglycerine they passed off as booze.

Carter was the last to come through the gate, the blonde was seated on the first of what would be many carts filled with gold, Naquadah and diamonds that came back from Abydos. Her arm injury having healed long ago and the Abydonian sun leaving her with a healthy tan. She’d spent the bulk of the summer helping them set up the communication systems and doing what she could to study and quantify and reactivate as much technology within the pyramid complex as possible. With her was Daniel Jackson, who looked like he’d finally gotten used to sleeping alone again as the dark bags under his eyes were lessened of late.

“Speaking of that, Admiral I was wondering if I could accompany Teal’c next month to that” Kowalski who was standing next to Jack began his pleading and Hammond cut him off with a gruff, “No.”

“But... it’s in Vegas sir.”

“Son, you suck at cards, you suck at craps and you still owe me for that time in the DR.”

Kowalski grumbled something about how Teal’c got to have all the fun. Which was somewhat true, the man was treated less like an alien defector and more like a visiting dignitary, one that happened to also be assigned to an SG team. That had been a sticking point for Teal’c, he understood how valuable his knowledge was and was more than happy to also assist in training SG teams and he seemed content to agree to pretty much all the demands the President had for him but his one sticking point that he wanted to fight alongside Colonel O’Neill. There was some flailing in the Pentagon of course, such a valuable asset at risk but there was no way they wouldn’t agree. Carter, Jackson. Teal’c, Hammond would have preferred more soldiers on the flagship team but then again, Teal’c and O’Neill were sufficient and he doubted the team would be in many dangerous areas on their own.

Between Carter’s legs was a duffle bag that he realized she was partially sitting on, and he nearly threw his own coffee. “Damnit girl! Is that the Naquadah generator?!”

“Yep!” Carter grinned tapping the bag in a way that caused something to light up. “Don’t worry sir its quite safe, Teal’c gave me specs for something that’s powerful enough to light up a small town or two, just something to test out and reverse engineer.”

Area 51 would be producing the damn things for military use in a year or so and soon after, “leaking” the new mineral and schematics to small defense companies and family-owned mining operations. That had been a smart move. Too many cartels in places of power for the United States to easily survive an enemy like this. He noticed the other thing that came through the gate was cart filled with seeds of various plants that after having passed Doctors Fraser and Lahm’s quarantine procedures were to be transported to a facility in Tennessee for study, evidently one produced a substance that sped up and enhanced tissue regeneration (Which they saw work on Carter and one of the Abydonians) and another that produced ten times the oxygen normal plants did. So far, this venture was paying off, though Kasuf was a hell of a businessman. The Army corps of engineers had sent a group of their best to help them improve their agriculture and there were a few experts in age of sail era ships being hired to be send to Abydos as well. The Abydonians were an ambitious people, they realized Ra had stolen much of their future and they wanted it back but they were also smart enough to avoid being dependent on their allies in the long term.

“You learn faster than Abydonians do Doc, you’ll get that thing working in no time” O’Neill remarked, Carter was a little bit crazy but there was no denying how smart she and Daniel were. How fast the two worked and how quickly they implemented what they worked out. “Thanks sir!” Carter smiled proudly before hopping off the cart. “Means a lot considering they’re genengineered to learn fast.”

“Have we proven that yet?” O’Neill asked, that had been a hunch of his since the first mission. Teal’c further alluded to it when he mentioned the Goa’uld were very skilled with genetic engineering and selective breeding. His comments about the snakes themselves having a sort of genetic memory that allowed their youngsters to learn skills their parents knew from muscle memory and use instinct to learn newer skills faster made him think the best response to a hostile snake was a quick bullet to its head within a head. Jaffa had a slightly less comprehensive variant of that written into genetic code by the snakes and it explained just how fast Teal’c learned new skills or how quickly he picked up sports.

“Not yet, Fraser and Lahm think they see evidence in blood samples, but they lack the equipment to do a proper study of it for now. So, they’re sending a bunch of samples over with the next shipment.”

O’Neill nodded -Guess Doc Fraser is going to come back here soon then and Lahm is going to send her with a request for more equipment. - He would have to suggest allowing SG-2 to be based out of Abydos, so Kowalski could be close to his wife. Given how often there’d be movement between Abydos and Earth it wouldn’t hurt to put him there, both to help Skara continue his build up the Abydonian militia and Lorne could only do so much.

“Briefing in ten and then you’ve until seventeen hundred for downtime.” Hammond cut in with a glint in his eye.

O’Neill perked up. “We’re finally going out huh?”

“Don’t get too excited Colonel, you’ll be chasing after Teal’c’s mushroom.” Hammond warned “And escorting a few biologists.”

“I’ll bring the beer!” Carter offered. “You even old enough to drink?” O’Neill quipped eyebrow raising.

“Ppfft even if I wasn’t, if the Government had an objection to my underage drinking, they probably shouldn’t have let me go up into space.” Carter chirped back with that look in her eyes that made O’Neill wonder if he should have that generator inspected to make sure it didn’t come with a loony toons style dynamite lever.

“I’m kind of curious, we’ve only been to two different planets’ using the gate. This will be the first time we’ve gone elsewhere.” Jackson cut in. “And it’ll be the first time we’ve gone to a world outside of Goa’uld space. It’ll be fascinating to see what the areas outside the Empire are really like and if we can make any friends.”

“Big guy says the world’s uninhabited.” O’Neill reminded him. Jackson nodded enthusiastically and seemed to regain a measure of himself after the horrors of Chulak. “As far as he knows Colonel, I mean by our calendar the last time Teal’c visited that world Warren G Harding was still President.”

“You think someone could have settled that planet since then?” Hammond asked skeptically.

Carter interrupted here, hopping down from the cart, and rubbing her shoulder slightly. Abydonian drugs may have done wonders to speed up the healing process but there was something truly nasty about Jaffa knives. Carter thought it was the ionized particles on the edges of the blade that almost made them lightsabers. “Well, I’ve been thinking about that sir, Teal’c says there are ancient Ori drone ships flying around the cosmos dumping gates anywhere they think there’s a chance for that world to support life, he says the System Lords and the Asgard do the same with modern sophisticated gates”

Hammond could see where this was going, the System Lords maintained the Gate Network itself across the local galactic cluster, it seemed ludicrously easy to access. “You think “developing” worlds like ours might use the gate system to deal with issues like population and food?”

“Trade in General Admiral, Teal’c mentioned that the Tollan’s have trade outposts, but no one really knows where they come from, and he said they’re about a century to fifty years behind us. I wonder if there aren’t other groups of people that wander the galaxy as middlemen, maybe like Bedouins in space?” Carter looked to Daniel for confirmation on her theory and the man was nodding animatedly. “In truth sir we could be running into anything, but it would be good for us to make contact with some semi advanced worlds at some point.”

Teal’c had provided a few gate addresses for worlds that were either ten to forty years ahead of Earth or twenty to a hundred behind them (with the exception of two that he believed were several centuries behind them.) that he thought would be open to some form of economic ties as they were fond of doing business with everyone they met, which at times did include minor nobles in the Imperium. but Hammond wanted to do a little more discrete exploring before moving to any major world, the area of cosmic diplomacy was still in its infancy and Secretary Weir and Woolsey couldn’t be everywhere much as they both clearly enjoyed it (To the eternal dismay of the secret service agents who had to do off world security detail).

“Sir, if SG1 is finally going out on a mission, then I think giving Teal’c a refresher course on our weapons might be a good idea. I know he’ll be bringing his Zat gun and staff but it never hurts to be ready, just in case.” Kowalski stood in front of Hammond’s desk, at ease, but with just enough formality to show he was serious.

Hammond raised an eyebrow. “I thought you gave him high marks when you ran him through weapons training a few weeks back, during all the downtime.”

“He’s a fast learner, sir. Better than a lot of the boys and girls I was training before Stargate Command reactivated. But it’s clear the most advanced automatic weapon he’s handled prior to the ’48 would have been something analogous to an old west Gattling gun. He admitted that in his Jaffa days, most of what he went up against were cap and ball or flintlocks – black powder stuff, sir. He said he had one firefight against some bank robbers on a planet when he was still a junior officer where he encountered what sounded like a space alien version of a Tommy Gun. So, I’d rather spend an hour or so going through everything again now, getting him used to how to deal with our weapons, than risk him being in a situation where we need him to man an LMG or grab a rifle and not have any idea how to work the thing.”

Not that the big guy would mind. It was refreshing to see the equivalent of a four-or-five star general (Was that the American equivalent to a War Master?) admit that it’d been ages since he’d fought on the frontlines or mastered any weapon more dangerous than a pencil as anything more than a hobby. The rest was pure muscle memory, and the big guy enjoyed the “tactile aesthetics of discharging kinetic weaponry” as he put it.

“Indeed.” Hammond said playfully copying Teal’c’s distinctive tone. “Planning to get Sheppard’s people and the new recruits involved?”

“I’ve already got a training session on the new guns scheduled for them in…” Kowalski checked his watch, “and hour and a half, sir. It won’t be a problem to add one more person.”

“Alright Kowalski, you’ve got the go-ahead. After that, you’re off for the night. Go see your wife for lunch or something and bring me back some of Skara’s moonshine.”

“Yessir!”

Kowalski snapped a sharp salute and headed off to the armory. When it came to the newest hardware, the major headache was that there was never enough to go around, especially when it was a hands on training session. He shook his head, glad that today’s session was just confined to going over controls and disassembly/re-assembly procedure.

Using his authorization card, he stepped inside the main area of base armory, the room full of racks of weapons, loaded magazines, radios, and several large cabinets that undoubtedly held untold numbers of small parts necessary for maintaining and repairing the dozens of firearms in the room. He spied a few M4 carbines that somehow hadn’t been transferred upstairs to the armory for the guards, along with several new weapons, fresh out of the box. A half dozen enlisted were crammed into the room, unpacking and handling paperwork, and it took a good half minute before anyone came to attention, which he waved off.

“Checking in on things before your big show and tell session, sir?” Sergeant Amanda Walensky was a fellow Marine transplant into the Space Force, and one with a reputation for being somewhat of a jokester. Kowalski didn’t mind that – she kept the guns in good working order, and if her people responded positively to her manner, he wasn’t going to get in the way of their esprit de corps.

“Caught me, Sarge.” Kowalski gave her a quick smile. “We good to go?”

“As long as you aren’t shooting all those guns,” she replied with a smile that promised mischief. “We still haven’t gotten the 6.8mm barrels for half the Mk. 48s we’ve got, but the…” She looked at the box for one of the new rifles. “RM-277-Rs are all in. We also got in a few of those KAC LAMGs, but we’ve only got two or three 6.8mm barrels for those. Don’t worry, they’re already installed, and we made a bunch of dummy rounds too.” She pulled open a drawer and handed him a pair of black plastic pieces.

Running his thumb over them, he could feel subtle ridges on the outside. “What, you guys make these on a 3D printer?”

“Got it in one, sir.” Walensky gave him another quick smile. “We got the True Velocity guys to give us a basic CAD model, and Watson over there—“ she tilted her head at a lance corporal filling out paperwork “—learned how to use a 3D printer in school. We’ve got a half dozen doing nothing but making dummies all day, so you’ll have about a hundred for any clearing drills you might want to run.” She looked at them again. “I don’t know how they’ll hold up though. We’re using cheaper feedstock, so they might all get torn up by the time you’re done.”

“Well, Sarge, if you can make replacements on demand on the cheap, I don’t think any of the brass hats will complain.” He gave her significant look. “How’s the ammo supply looking? I know they managed to get two of those fancy ammo making machines out of TV.”

The armory manager grimaced. “It only took us a day to get the thing running to spec – get everything adjusted to running in a bunker under a mountain, that sort of thing. We’ve been pumping out good quality rounds day in and day out, but honestly sir…” She hesitated a second. “Could you not get in a firefight for a few missions? Because Lake City has to do another custom run for these bullets, and they weren’t expecting to make this many for at least a year, not until the NGSW trials finish. We’re almost out of the ones they sent us.”

“You let the Admiral know?” If there was anyone who could bully the US military’s primary ammo production facility into meeting his demands, Kowalski knew it was George Hammond.

“Absolutely, sir, a few days ago. Haven’t heard anything on that front yet, but I’m hoping they’ll get us some bullets in the next few weeks.” Walensky snapped her fingers. “That reminds me, we’re not getting any of the NGFC scopes or the smuzzles until the middle of next month either.”

Kowalski sighed and shrugged. “Yeah, well, that’s the downside of working with prototypes. They need to exist before you can use them. Don’t worry, Sarge, we’ll try not to break your babies out in the field.” He paused a moment, and looked back at the table. “Think I can get one of those M4s for my training session? Don’t need ammo or anything, I just need it for a size comparison.”

“No problem sir, they’re not going upstairs until tomorrow anyway.”

“Alright, I’ll get out of your way. Keep up the good work, Walensky.”

With that, he stepped out into corridors and checked his watch. He’d burned a half hour chatting with the sergeant, so he quickened his pace to find Teal’c before the training session started. Thankfully, it wasn’t too hard to find the Jaffa – his stature and build made him pretty easy to spot in a crowd, never mind the emblem on his forehead. He was in a break room with O’Neill, watching Jerry Springer. With a start, he realized that it was an episode made within the last few years, based on the styles and Jerry’s age. Damn, it’s been forever since I thought about this guy.

“Who’s Jerry got on?” he asked, earning quick glances of acknowledgment from both men.

“This “hillbilly kung fu master” guy,” O’Neill commented, gesturing at the screen. “Then some chick who had a threesome with her friend and a male stripper, and some couple where the guy cheated on her right after their kid was born.”

Kowalski shook his head in disbelief. “Why are you showing Teal’c this?”

“Because he’s going to get bombarded by trash the moment he sets foot off the base, so we might as well prepare him in a safe environment, among friends,” O’Neill replied.

That made a good amount of sense, Kowalski had to admit.

“Colonel Kowalski,” Teal’c spoke in his deep, distinctive tone, “I have a question.”

Oh boy, he thought. “Sure, what is it?”

“Why do these people submit themselves to this treatment?”

“Jack tell you about how they get paid?”

The Jaffa inclined his head. “I am aware of that. However… it does not seem sufficient recompense for the dishonor they accrue by appearing before the people in such a manner.”

Kowalski and O’Neill managed to keep straight faces at that brutal assessment.

“Well, they might be thinking that this is the closest thing to fame… or infamy, that they’ll ever achieve in their lives.” Sighing, Kowalski looked at the screen again. “There’s seven billion people on this planet alone. The odds most people ever getting a slice of fame are super slim, even with all the new media with got these days.”

“So, Kowalski, what brings you here?” O’Neill asked.

“Just wanted to invite Teal’c to the training session for the new guys so he can get some more reps on our weapons. You’re welcome to come too, Jack.”

“Are Sheppard’s boys going to be there?”

“A few,” Kowalski admitted.

“I’m in,” O’Neill said. “Gotta get them introduced to the SGC the right way.”

Forty minutes later, the trio arrived in the mess hall, where the weapons and gear had been laid out on a half-dozen tables in a corner of the room. About 30 newcomers were there, some finishing up a meal, others simply conversing amongst themselves. They snapped to their feet upon noticing the colonels entering the room, which O’Neill waved off.

“Finish your meals, you’re gonna work up an appetite,” he said.

“I’m Colonel Kowalski, this is Colonel O’Neill, and this is Teal’c,” Kowalski said by way of introduction. “Teal’c is the former Jaffa War Master of Apophis, one of the Goa’uld System Lords, and your fellow student for this training session. He’ll be part of SG-1, so he might be saving your ass one day.”

Several of the men eyed Teal’c cautiously, but said nothing. Kowalski was grateful that the secret nature of the SGC prevented animosity towards Jaffa existing, outside of the survivors of Apophis’ raid on the mountain. Teal’c would at least get a fair shake from these men, and Kowalski was certain he’d earn their respect, if not friendship, without much trouble.

Once the men were finished eating, they crowded around the tables covered in guns and assorted parts.

“Alright,” Kowalski began, “I don’t know what they told you about the opposition’s gear when you signed up, and I’m sure someone will brief you if you haven’t gotten that info already. But here’s what we’re going to be using, at least for the foreseeable future.” He gestured toward the rifles. “Now, I don’t know how closely you guys have been following the news, but the Army is running the Next Generation Squad Weapon trials, and we’re running with some of the guns and ammo from that program, due to how good Jaffa armor is.”

“How good is that?” one of the men in the back asked.

“Level 4 equivalent.” Kowalski nodded somberly as the men in front of him made small expressions of displeasure. “Now, between the first Stargate mission and the SGC getting into full gear, I was training Space Force operators, and got hands on time with all the NGSW competitors. And I can firmly say, what we have here is the second best option, and a hell of a lot better than Sig’s sorry ass bid.”

“Second best doesn’t sound like ringing praise to me, sir.” That was one of Sheppard’s men, a dour looking fellow by the name of Montez.

“Well, look at it this way, Montez.” Kowalski patted one of the rifles. “Big Army dumped a ton of money into Textron’s bids, starting back when the program was known as LSAT. They’re better than what General Dynamics and True Velocity cooked up, but to be honest, their rifle was initially total dogshit, and I’m not entirely happy with their new version either. You think they’d let Space Force get their hands on a large supply of their golden boy’s goods?”

There was a united shaking of heads from everyone, except Teal’c (naturally).

“Alright, now that that’s out of the way, let me introduce you to your new best friend.” He lifted a rectangular rifle, with a nearly 45 degree slant just behind the muzzle, which was hidden under what looked like a squat mason jar. A rectangular magazine jutted straight down from the rear of the rifle, behind a standard, black M4 pistol grip and in front of a triangular, skeletonized support for the buttpad. The rifle’s shades of flat dark earth were broken only by the long length of sight rail on the top, the various control close to the pistol grip, the grip itself, and the light gray contraption over the ejection port, with various cutouts leading into the chamber. “This is the RM-277-R. This baby fires a 6.8 by 51 millimeter round at 3000 feet per second. This is one hell of a hot round, so every one of these is intended to be used with one of these,” he patted the muzzle device, “a fancy suppressor/muzzle break combo someone decided to call a ‘smuzzle’. It’s only an extra 3 inches to end of your rifle, which is fine, because this rifle is shorter than your bog standard M4.”

O’Neill helpfully held up the M4, stock collapsed, next to the RM-277-R. “Now, let me tell you, I’ve shot one these babies without that fancy smuzzle, and I don’t recommend it.”

“How bad is it when the smuzzle is on?” One of the new recruits asked.

“Not that bad,” O’Neill replied. “Somewhere between 5.56 and 7.62 NATO. Whatever science magic the R&D boys put in this thing works.”

Kowalski nodded in agreement. “Now, for all you eagle eyed observers, this is a bullpup – the mag and action are behind the grip. 20 round mags, like any 7.62 NATO rifle. Totally new design, but polymer… Ammo’s also polymer case, with a steel base, so it’s a lot lighter than the same amount of 7.62 ammo.”

There was enthusiasm in the newbies faces, but it was leavened by the fact that they’d all been on the receiving end of the military’s need to saddle soldiers with more gear, which meant more weight.

Kowalski put down the RM-277-R and picked up the version with a bipod mounted to the front. “This here’s the RM-277-AR. Basically the same gun, with a bipod and a longer, heavier barrel. The boys from GD say this thing is supposed to be used like the IAR some of you used with the Marines, so it’ll be more of a designated marksman rifle than an LMG. Now, both versions of this gun have an aluminum extrusion upper receiver, the same lower, a freefloated barrel, and the same combo short recoil/gas piston operating system. The barrel recoils on every shot – even with the bipod on, because the bipod has just enough clearance around the barrel for it to move.”

“That’s going to fuck with the accuracy though,” one soldier pointed out.

“True, but these guns are meant to be paired with these fancy smart scopes,” he gestured towards the table, “so they’re supposed to make up for that. Now, this gun has some fancy features to help us ground pounders live easier. First, there’s this fancy ejection chute that kicks the rounds forward. It can swapped to left side eject with just a simple field strip, so need for you lefties to bug the armory guys over getting special parts for that. There’s a slot up here,” he tapped the front end of the chute, where a rectangular opening was, “that lets you check the chamber, and in a worst case scenario, you can run the rifle without the chute, but that increases the odds of gunk getting in there, so only do it in an emergency.”

He shifted his grip on the rifle and used one hand to point at the controls above the pistol grip. “The fire control group on this rifle is way different than your M4… or most other rifles out there. At the back, we’ve got a safety, which just makes the rifle safe or ready to fire. In front of that, we’ve got a fire mode selector – semi or full auto. If you know your history, you may recall a few rifles, including the FG42, had that kind of system. And in front of that, we’ve got our mag release. You push against the top of the lever and the mag drops free.”

Kowalski then ran his finger a long a long, black plastic block above all three controls. “This is your bolt release. Just push forward and it does all the work for you.” He flipped the rifle. “This baby is fully ambidextrous, so you can do everything you need to, regardless of which hand you’re using.”

He put down the rifle and picked up one of the machine guns, which looked like a long rectangle with triangle cutouts on the front and triangular bracing on the side, along with an AR-15 style collapsing stock on it. “You’ll be getting some hands on time with the RM-277-R shortly, but before that, let’s look at our selection of LMGs. What we’ve got here is the Knights Armament Light Assault Machine Gun, rebarreled in 6.8mm. It’s going to be issued to our recon and diplomatic teams, to give them enough firepower to take and hold a position, but not look too scary.” There were some chuckles from the assorted military men. “This thing is 13.25 pounds, so it’s lighter than an M60, thanks to an aluminum extrusion receiver. There’s a quick change barrel, but no carry handle on the barrel, so do not do mag dumps with this thing. Restrict fire to controlled bursts, and you won’t overheat it.”

Kowalski patted the side of the machine gun. “What makes this baby special is that it’s got a constant recoil system, which means that you can actually shoot this from the shoulder and hit something, because the recoil is smoothed out.” There were some more chuckles. “Runs on an open bolt at a firing rate of about 600 rounds per minute, so there’s no semi-auto on this gun, just a push-button safety. Takes 200 round belts with pouches, regular links, so no need to worry about proprietary BS there.”

He set the LAMG down and picked up a much more complicated looking machine gun. He grunted a bit as he lifted the three foot long weapon, which was familiar to anyone who’d served in the military in the past forty years… or played enough modern military shooters. “Some of you may have used one of these, but some of you might mistake this for an M249.” Kowalski smiled and shook his head. “This is the SAW’s big brother – the Mk. 48 Mod 1. Normally, these are chambered in 7.62 NATO, but again, we’re getting these rebarreled in 6.8 x 51. We’ll be issuing these on assault missions or for search and rescue, because one of these is 18.26 pounds, before optics, attachments, and whatever else you’re going to be carrying on your person.”

There were exasperated groans from the men, for they had all experienced the US military’s habit of loading as much hardware on the infantry as possible.

“We’ve got a hot swappable barrel – each of these comes with a spare, which means it takes a lot longer to get these things delivered – plus a hand guard with plenty of rail space, rail on the feed cover, and a hydraulic buffer in the stock.” Kowalski put the supposedly “light” machine gun down, shrugging his shoulders. “Right now, all of ours have these fixed stocks, but if telescoped ones are more your style, talk to Sergeant Walensky down in the armory. She’ll put in the paperwork to get you hooked up.”

He picked up one of the smart scopes. “Now these are pretty slick, but also heavy and expensive as shit. What we’ve got here are two different smart scopes. 1 to 6 variable power, with laser range finders, built-in bullet drop and wind compensation, and whole bunch of other stuff that’s covered in the manuals you should read before going offworld with one of these. They’ve got internal batteries and can be powered by an RM-277’s smart rail, but if the batteries die or we find some kind of weird planet where electronics don’t work, you’ll still be able to shoot the bad guys at up to 900 meters or so away.”

“And for all that, you get to carry 2.5 pounds of heavy scope on your rifle,” O’Neill chipped in. “Just wait until they add the night vision gear too.”

Again, the men groaned.

“Not much more to say about these things, besides the fact that they’re tuned for Earth’s atmosphere and gravity, so no guarantees about performance. And we’ll probably have to make a long range training range on Abydos and any other planet so you can get the most out of the optics.” Kowalski looked at O’Neill. “I know we’re supposed to write reports on the performance of the optics, but how detailed can we get with gravity related problems?”

“Well, we are the Space Force,” O’Neill said slowly, rolling the problem over in his mind. “So I guess we can complain all we want about issues on planets with less gravity. For all the manufacturers would know, we’re secretly working on a moon base or something.”

Everybody but Teal’c chuckled, but that was to be expected – the Jaffa hadn’t had the time to learn the long and absurd history of the moon base idea.

“Anyway, since the NGSW trials only ordered about 150 each of the competing designs, Space Force had to put in a supplemental order. We’re only getting them in small batches, so for now, we’re assigning them to people on designated marksman duty. Everybody else gets ACOGs until we have enough to outfit an entire team.”

“Don’t drop the scope, got it,” one man joked.

“Smart man,” O’Neill said with a broad smile, as the rest chuckled.

Kowalski smiled as he began loading dummy rounds into the rifle mags. “Alright, we’re gonna start off with some practice drills on the RM-277s. Loading, unloading, that sort of thing. You’re gonna give me 4 reps, then you’re going to hand the rifle off to the next guy in line.”

He and O’Neill handed out rifles and mags to the men, then ran them through the drills, correcting their mistakes and showing them how to clear malfunctions. While the actual steps of clearing an issue were familiar to all the Americans, the mechanics of clearing a jam or double-feed took some getting used to, due to the rifle’s action being located so far back. However, each man sped up through each repetition, and by the time the last men finished, Kowalski felt they all reached a sufficient level of proficiency.

“Alright, that’s enough for today. I expect you all to put in some reps on your own time, because the last thing we need is somebody who can’t clear a jam on another planet.” He and O’Neill collected the rifles and began handing out the LAMGs. After cycling everyone through the drills to his satisfaction, he moved them to the Mk. 48s.

Now, Kowaski walked them through the disassembly procedure, mostly for Teal’c’s benefit, but allowed him to point out subtle differences in procedure from the M249’s disassembly. Each man ran through the process, twice, before he moved them to the LAMGs, which were much simpler to disassemble. Once again, each man ran through two repetitions, before proceeding to the rifles.

“Alright, gentlemen, here’s a world exclusive,” Kowalski announced with a lopsided grin. “Dunno why, but the guys working on this refuse to show the guts of this thing unless they have to. Not sure if they're afraid of someone stealing their ideas or they're just scared.” Grabbing an RM-277-R, he squeezed his fingers into the grooves that held the buttpad of the rifle on. “First, you’ve gotta press down here and pull off the butt…”

The black plastic piece slid off the rifle and went on the table, with Kowalski grabbing a dummy round in the same motion. “Then you pop these two pins from the left side with the tip of your bullet…”

He let out small grunts as he pushed the pins half way through, put down the dummy bullet, then flipped the rifle on its side and pulled on the other side of the pins, which had large, knurled heads. “These things are pretty tight out of the box… but luckily, these are all captive pins, so they’ll lock in place once you get them far enough.” Kowalski grinned as the pins hit their stopping point. “Of course, if you use too much muscle, you can pop them out, and then you’ve got problems.”

There were a few uneasy chuckles over that.

Pivoting the lower receiver, which contained the grip, fire controls, and magazine well, before pulling it off, Kowalski separated the rifle into its two main assemblies. He set the lower on the table, then held up the upper. “Okay, this is where you have to be careful, because if you do it wrong, you’re going to blast your bolt carrier and bolt into the next zip code. You’re gonna grab the charging handle and pull, just enough to pull the barrel back enough so it locks in place and releases the bolt.”

Kowalski demonstrated the technique, working with a slowness that might have seemed exaggerated, if it weren’t for the sheen of sweat on his forehead.

When the tip of the bolt carrier’s rear popped out of the upper, he gently released the charging handle and pulled out the bolt carrier. “Pretty normal bolt carrier, aside from these bits that help this thing stay locked until the barrel’s back far enough.” He pointed out the pieces in question. “Now, what’s nifty about this is that when you take apart the bolt, you can swap it between left and right hand eject just by flipping over the bolt and the cam pin, but that’s something that’s going to be done at the armory.”

Kowalski put the parts down on the table. “Technically, you can remove the barrel, but I wouldn’t recommend it for a regular strip and clean, because you’d have to remove the smuzzle first. Not worth the trouble, in my opinion, when we’re planning to have the armory folks do detailed maintenance at the end of every month to keep track of wear and things like that. I’d let the boys and girls with torque wrenches deal with the smuzzle.”

There were appreciative nods at this wisdom.

“Alright, now the trick to reassembling this is getting the bolt carrier back in, with the bolt assembled properly, then slapping the hell out of it to shove the barrel forward so you can reassemble it.” He put down the upper and picked up the lower. “Nothing much here, just your fire controls, trigger pack, and a lot of transfer bars. Keep an eye on those bars, people – that’s where gunk can accumulate and fuck things up. Trigger pack itself is a self-contained unit, just like most ones in military service.”

He quickly reassembled the rifle, then handed it off to one of the men before picking up and passing another, while O’Neill handed one to Teal’c and one of Sheppard’s men. Unlike the previous weapons, the RM-277s gave the special operations soldiers a hard time, mostly when it came to removing the bolt carrier group. Many curses were uttered as men pulled back on the charging handle, then felt the sudden release of tension and scrambled to let go before they hurled the guts of the rifle across the room. That led to near drops and many fumbles, which meant multiple tries before anyone got the required two reps done.

By the end of it, everyone was tired and annoyed, and Kowalski knew when to provide a smooth exit to his classes. “Alright, that’s enough for today. We’ll be scheduling live fire drills in within the next week or so, but as your duty rosters are drawn up, you’ll be given plenty of hands-on time with the new guns. Get as many reps as you can before you get sent off-world, and you’ll be good to go.”

As the group slowly dispersed and Kowalski called Walensky to let her know to retrieve the assorted arms and accessories, he noticed O’Neill and Teal’c heading off together. “Hey Jack, where’re you guys going?”

“Gotta give Teal’c here a palette cleanser after that Springer episode. Daniel and I are gonna sit him down with some good ole Star Trek, get him to see the better side of humanity and all that.” O’Neill paused and clarified, “None of that Discovery shit. Maybe Picard or Lower Decks, if those wind up being decent.”

“You didn’t invite me?” he asked in mock pain.

“I’m not going to get you in trouble with your wife,” O’Neill replied, “especially when you could pass the buck to me, and I’m not willing see if she’ll rope Carter into whatever she does to get back at me.”

“Good point, hell hath no fury and all that,” Kowalski replied with a chuckle. “Alright, I’ll see you two tomorrow. Try not to have too much fun, you nerds.”

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

Up next, a little bit of History, some trees and some sight seeing. Also terraforming hijinks are illuminated on.

Gate Room: Departure time

“Actually Sir, it’s called P3X-7-”

“Neerrd”

The researcher, a man named Doctor Wayland Marshal reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose cursing himself for walking into the obvious trap O’Neill had laid out for him. -Twenty years I’ve known the man, twenty years and he still gets me-. The two had first met when O’Neill was a much younger soldier, doing off the book missions in Central America. Botanists, biologists, a linguistic expert and twelve soldiers including one eternally bored Jack O’Neill. Wayland couldn’t remember the rank he held at the time, but he remembered the cavalier attitude and the sarcasm that held a rather keen mind. He really didn’t like soldiers on average, but he struck up an odd friendship with the Space Force Marine Colonel who had consistently surprised the researcher. Over the years that relationship had been rather lucrative for both men and it had also resulted in each one saving the other’s life more than once.

“And it’s Jack none of this Colonel crap.”

“You’re in command of the mission Sir, I feel a degree of formality is in order.” Marshal was tall, six eight, lanky and bookish with glasses thicker than Daniel Jackson’s and hair that had once been blond which was graying now as he edged north of fifty. If this quest for these mushrooms panned out, he’d be heading to Abydos with some samples and then he’d return in a few hours with a group of twenty members of the Abydonian militia and five of Lorne’s men and enough supplies to spend some five days in the field gathering samples and making a study of the local wildlife. Something he knew Daniel was looking forward to and Carter was probably hoping wouldn’t happen because she’d be all but useless unless they found a crashed spaceship or something.

Which was why he was hoping they would find what Teal’c was on about. The prospect of seeing his new favorite egghead twisting around in boredom was too good to pass up.

The room filled with the whirring sound of the Gate and Jack elbowed his friend “Wayland, watch.” When the vortex opened for the first time Jack had been awestruck, he still was though he knew the dangers the Gate could bring. Marshal merely gazed in awe and nearly dove into the Stargate when the deep voice of Admiral Hammond echoed over the intercom giving them the go ahead.

Jack was always going to be the first to enter a Gate and the last to leave a world they were departing though and so made the move first.

Exiting the gate was easier than it had been the last two times and he could already hear Carter babbling with Teal’c about how long it would take someone’s senses to adjust to gate travel. For someone who had been using the Gate network since he was a small child, Jack wondered what kind of an answer she expected to get other than “I am sure Doctor Carter…I recall my first time through the gate but not when I grew accustomed to it, that was many decades ago.”

Right, the guy who looked barely thirty was nearly two hundred years old. Still hard to process that but any thought evaporated into surprise. The gate was in a meadow, there was a remnant of an ancient road. Teal’c knelt down to inspect, one that looked like the kind of synthetic granite the System Lords loved using, yet older and more rudimentary, far less ornate. When he turned, he saw a Gate that was roughly the size of the Earth Gate, yet it was almost more barebones than the Abydos Gate. Lacking all of the ostentation and art of the Earth Gate, the hallmark of the Snake man pride at their overachievements.

“This is very old.” Teal’c said “That Gate is of Ori make.” There was a mix of reverence and scorn in his voice. The Ori had been one of the greatest peoples to ever live, yet they had tried to enslave the Goa’uld and in doing so, unleashed the System Lords upon the universe and in doing so, doomed themselves.

“So, this planet was likely terraformed a million years ago?” Carter asked curiously.

“More.” Teal’c said. “Thoth believed the Ori stopped their own period of expansion some three million years ago by your measurement of time. When the war against them ended, the System Lords had to invest heavily in not only repairing much of the damage both to the Galaxies themselves but the Gate Network as well.”

“So, their expanding of the Gate Network learning how to build Stargates, improve on it. All of that came from the ecological damage done during the slave rebellion?” Marshal piped in, he’d read some of Teal’c’s interview, it seemed the man had been telling a story, not just relaying historical fact. -I’ll concede, time muddies all memory though. Especially eyewitness memory. - That had been the hardest part of the briefing. That there were beings out there who were a hundred thousand years old, it had defied everything humanity knew about how life worked.

“But if it had been millions of years, wouldn’t this area have changed? Why is the Stargate untouched…”

“The Ori engineered their worlds to remain largely unchanged, long ago in their history, long before they came to this Galaxy, they invented a method of self-renewal for planetary resources.”

“That’s impossible” Carter, Jackson and Marshal said in an almost synchronized fashion that made Teal’c raise his eyebrow. “Have you not seen Chulak? It was technology they forgot..Though they knew how to duplicate it, they knew not the mechanisms or how it was created. With each generation, their terraformed as you call them, world’s grew less and less perpetual. Same for their stars, it has created an ecological nightmare that our technologists have been able to manage and repair but it is a costly affair none the less.”

“Jeez, you make it sound like a war.” Jackson muttered.

O’Neill shrugged before interrupting. “If you eggheads stopped to think you realize it is a war.” Jack remarked derisively. “These ancient dumbasses created a method of beating the ravages of time but then they up and forget how. How long before you forget how to copy something? Cheap Knock offs ain’t exactly known for their safety.”

Teal’c nodded. “I sometimes believe Ba’al’s attempts to recreate that lost technology is born out of a desire cut down on our expansion. The Imperium had to grow or conquer so many more worlds and settle Lotar of all kinds so far because one never knew when the world below one’s feet would begin to have..complications.”

Carter digested what he was saying then her eyes widened “World Cancer?! Planetary Tumors?!”

“I believe that is a good analogy yes. The last ten thousand years has seen the ability to correct those damages, though perhaps this world is unspoiled.” This was another area Drey’ac knew much more about than he did, as part of her duty of a fleet Captain was dispatching scouts to knew worlds and haggling with the planetary engineering guilds. Something Teal’c was rather grateful over: Most of the technologists in those guilds were Goa’uld who held descent from the peers but were still closer to the average “lesser breeds” in some areas. They thus walked around with what Tau’Ri would call a boulder upon one’s shoulder. Easily offended and prone to striking nearly as often as the Kelownans rioted.

“Now you’ve said you’ve been here. You didn’t notice any of this before?” Marshal asked curiously.

Teal’c shook his head. “I came here for survival training with a division of Jaffa. I knew the Gate Address, for that is required of us for our reports but we were deposited on a southern continent. We were retrieved a year later, and it was all done by shuttle. There is Hyperspace bypass seventeen lightyears from here. It makes arrival safe, the travel to the Bypass is still long.”

There was something in the former First Prime’s tone that implied they had deliberately sabotaged the shuttle’s own FTL systems to ensure that journey took much longer than was necessary. He’d read the big guy’s briefing on how he knew about this planet and why he thought mushrooms would be here though, so he merely gave Marshal a glare for asking dumb questions.

Ahead was a vast meadow, that spanned several miles and to the south and west were a series of trees, deep and green and gold and tall, taller than any Redwood Jack had seen, to the East was a smaller patch of forest that seemed to turn into prairie if what Teal’c said he recalled of the orbital view. -We need to get some solar powered drones out here- Jack thought.

The forest itself looked like something out of the Lord of the Rings, it was an almost impenetrable mass of trees that seemed to swallow the light. “We’re going towards the forest, right?” O’Neill asked.

“Indeed.”

O’Neill nodded. Teal’c had described some of the wildlife he knew to exist that was standard across many worlds. Some of which were clearly descended from earth life, such as the wooly Rhinoceros species with three horns and Armadillos that could supposedly range from normal size to the size of an SUV with armor resistant to staff weaponry and venomous spurs on their mace like tails. Hawks that ranged from blood drinkers to normal and an offshoot of the Golden Eagle with a fifty-foot Wingspan (Jack wanted to see that for himself.), no dogs or wolves or foxes or Jackals or Dholes though, as if Ra really wasn’t a dog person, despite his best friend being a dude associated with Jackals.

They hadn’t walked more than ten minutes when they heard the call of an Elk that was about twelve feet at the shoulder. “We gotta take the Admiral hunting out here on his next Birthday.” O’Neill remarked.

“Indeed…”

Carter laughed. “Supposedly we’re not allowed to use the gate for recreational purposes, but I doubt that reg will last long. Especially with how popular Abydonian tobacco and booze is.”

And Gambling, Jack thought. The Abydonians were huge enthusiasts of games of chance it turned out. Something they supposedly inherited from Hathor through Sobek. – A mind reading space Queen who can supposedly see the future, the ultimate card shark…Fuuccckk that-.

Once they reached the edge of the forest the temperature dropped from temperature to cool, the huge trees nearly blocking out the sun, yet they seemed to allow wind to pass through for the Colonel could smell the alien fragrances of a dozen new plants.

It was like they were walking into another region almost entirely and for a moment The Colonel could have sworn he saw the old troll from the Chulak prison break with the healing hands out of the corner of his eye, leaning on a staff, an odd smile across his troll face.

But the second Jack passed between two trees, the figure was gone, if he’d ever been there to begin with. “Damn.”

“Colonel?” Daniel asked.

“Noth’n. I just thought I saw the troll guy from Chulak.” O’Neill reached for a chest pocket and not feeling a pack of smokes sighed, right. His girls had convinced him to give that up, reflexes be damned for reminding him.

As they headed deeper into his ancient place, a small part of Colonel O'Neill wondered if the forest wasn't playing tricks on his mind or if they weren't truly alone.

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

Their little excursion continues, albeit foggier and more dazed.

Jack gets the mind wammy again...And a guest shows up.

“Oh, that guy? Benin was his name I think” Jackson said helpfully, looking around nervously which caused the Colonel to roll his eyes. If he actually believed he saw what he saw, he’d have stopped the damn march and asked the troll how he was doin’ and what the hell he was doing here. “I get the feeling he was part of the court or something because he wasn’t really a prisoner and wore one of those tunics, we saw the Jaffa scribes wear. He might have been there to take testimony? He didn’t have to heal us. I hope he didn’t get caught helping us either.”

“Teal’c didn’t know him.” Jack pointed out, but then felt stupid for saying that out loud to refute that point (For some reason it bothered him that a random employee of the enemy would stop and show kindness, or maybe not for some reason. Jack didn’t like the idea of shooting people who were just doing a job and he knew that was going to be inevitable if the beef between the SGC and Apophis heated up..) There were probably hundreds of thousands of people working for Apophis that Teal’c would have possibly been able to know. Even though he had a feeling they all knew the big guy’s name by they reacted to him fighting beside SG’s 1 and 2.

“Do you know Maury from accounting?”

“We got a Maury?!”

“No, but you get my point.”

Jackson nodded. Conceding the point.

“So, these mushrooms can be refined into a substance that cures cancer?” Marsal asked, the taller man. His head was buzzing with the possibilities.

“Alone, it is more a preventative of cancer, however if consumed it filters radiation and toxins from the body and stimulates cell renewal. On many Lotar worlds that are behind you, the men and women who work the factories and the more hazardous careers consume it regularly and in conjunction with other substances eliminates much of the health problems I’ve read of in regards to the early days of your industrial revolution. Though I will admit it must be consumed regularly for that and from an early age. Though with your technological level perhaps you can synthesize a medication that can achieve those effects without long term exposure.” Teal’c had said something similar about a few spices that were used to slow heart disease and helped the body produce insulin without a pancreas, which SG’s-7 and 8 were off on some neutral world that seemed to have a tech level comparable to renaissance Italy searching for.

It was interesting to hear him estimate their technological levels and to be able to guess accurately as often as he did. Marshal had made the mistake in assuming the Jaffa would be just as backwards and uninformed as he thought the Abydonians were. Lied to about the technology and merely taught how to use it.

“Do you think it was designed?” asked Marshal, they were on a world with trees and flowers that looked line pines yet were clearly alien, but he had also recognized many flowers that were clearly of Earth origin. Grasses that were common all-over North America, dandelions and he was pretty sure he saw something descended from weasels resting lazily in a tree branch. “Either by the System Lords or by these ancients?” Which was an odd term to use to describe the Ori and their kin seeing as the Goa’uld had a civilization over a hundred thousand years old.

Teal’c seemed to give it some thought. “It is hard to tell with many of these worlds, though I am certain if you consulted a technologist that specialized in planetary engineering and ecology, he or she could give a more satisfactory answer.”

“I’ve seen a lot of tracks and animal sign that ain’t earth based and other stuff that might be.” O’Neill added into the conversation. Though nothing beat the sight that he’d caught on Chulak, tiny horses roughly the size of a German Shepherd grazing lazily near the train station. He remembered something about how small horses were before the human hand got involved but that small? “Seems like what happened with rats and other species on earth happened out here.”

Jackson explained to Teal’c what he’d meant which made the Jaffa nod and utter one of his trademark indeeds. Carter observed that some of the flowers that were emerging from vines on the larger trees were glowing faintly and took a few samples. The rest of the trek passed largely in silence; everyone was too busy taking in this almost magical forest.

The sun was setting when they found Teal’c’s mushrooms at last. At the base mound of what looked like a ruined shack or stone dwelling that had been abandoned hundreds of years ago, they snaked up one half. A grove of medicinal wonders and as the sun had begun to set by that point O’Neill ordered them to set up camp in and around the mound and old building. Teal’c mentioned that on the other continent there weren’t very many large predators, except for something he said resembled their Komodo Dragon but was roughly the size of a Siberian Tiger that tended to hunt in packs of nine. He admitted to having no idea what awaited on this continent but both of them and Sam had seen evidence of large carnivores.

Jack didn’t like the idea of facing something like that, without his back pressed to a wall and a bunch of claymores, tripwires and an assortment of other traps. Amusingly Teal’c and Daniel had come back with a bunch of potato like roots he’d recognized from the underground farms on Abydos and with a few, well he wasn’t sure if they were weasels or reptilians with fur slung over the big guy’s back. So, no MRE’s tonight, rat-lizard and space tater stew. Not that he could complain, for a major recon outing this wasn’t too bad.

The feast all in all wasn’t too bad (He still had no idea how the damn caldron inside the hovel was in proper order and part of him thought that should have raised red flags, he was ignoring it and knew he was ignoring it but didn’t care to act on it. Maddening.)

Teal’c had offered to take first watch, but Jack shook his head, he wanted a chance to enjoy a night sky unspoiled by civilization. The air was cold, but there was no fog, and two of the four moons were full and shining like lanterns in the sky. His mind wandered to his daughters, the last camping trip they’d had as a family on an island an hour by boat from the family lake house. In some ways, the Colonel was still furious at them for getting enveloped in this mess, in others? Jack O’Neill realized they both were exactly where they belonged, and he was able to share experiences with his surviving kids that very few humans from Earth would for a long time.

Leaning back slightly into the incline of grass he let out a laugh “Chasing magic mushrooms through a forest right out of one of those books with elves and dragons, on planet dork..I need to petition Command to rename this place planet Rivendell or something.” His eyes wandered to the flames dancing in the makeshift firepit.

Why the hell did I let them make a fucking stew again?! Hell, why did I set up shop here when I saw the cookware.

This stupid forest was messing with his head.

“Are you sure it’s the forest Jack?”

“Can’t be the damn mushrooms, I didn’t eat any-“ O’Neill reared up from the spot he’d been sitting, rifle at the ready pointed at a shape he was only now seeing in the dark. Hunched, bent and poking at the fire with a long stick. -How the hell could I not have recog- then he remembered that some of the damn snakes were mindreaders and a sense of alarm filled him. “Stand up slowly, put your hands on your” he blinked, the shadow, the figure, whatever it was seemed to be revealed in the firelight. His guard dropped when he realized it was little more than the weird troll dude from Chulak, that he thought he saw earlier. His guard dropped…His guard.

That didn’t make any damn sense. -The fuck’s he doing to my head?!-

“Language Jack O’Neill. Mind your language.”

-He’s in my head and he’s admonishing me for cursing?!- I don’t use the word admonish! Waaiiittaminute.

“Colonel?!” The sense of urgency in Carter’s voice snapped him from his, wait. He’d been standing up, gun pointed at the weird troll dude, but he was asleep? “The hell” he muttered. He’d never dozed off on watch before, it was downright embarrassing and a gross dereliction of duty. “Sorry…Carter, I fell asleep…”

Carter blinked. “Well, yessir, but I was just coming to wake you up, it’s your watch. I’m going to bed.”

“What are you talk’n about Doc, I took first watch.”

“N-no sir, you said you were tired…” Carter paused, a look of concern her grey eyes narrowing in concern. “Sir…You want we should check the perimeter.’

“Doctor Carter, O’Neill is all not well?” Teal’c’ stoic voice made for a decent anchor as O’Neill shook out the mental cobwebs. “Was I awake? Did you guys see the little troll dude?”

“I know not of which you speak O’Neill. You have been asleep since after dinner.” Teal’c did his best to keep himself steady but the symbiote had been trashing around inside his sack for the last hour or so, as if it was trying to wake itself up from a stupor. It was then that it seemed to Teal’c that he was looking at the stone shack on the mound and the mound itself for the first time since they’d arrived. “This is not of Ori make.” He muttered, nor did it really resemble anything he’d seen before, except.

The trip to Hammond’s ranch by the sea, the old, abandoned cottage that had been made of coral that was said to have been there for several centuries in what he called “a bayou”. Teal’c gripped his staff, massive hands like vices. “We must leave this place O 'Neill!”

“Now?!” Jackson asked, he was waking from his slumber some five feet from them farther down the mound near its base. His tone was groggy, but his alert eyes scanned the area and he frowned. “We have the samples we need; I think we can go but should we risk a night run back to the gate?”

Marshal was slowly stirring now but his body went from half asleep to shooting out of his bed pointing towards a figure in the doorway of the ramshackle building that was seeming more and more out of place (They couldn’t even remember how they found it now, or when they set up a fire, or when Teal’c and Jackson left to go hunting. Nothing about the day before was clear now!). The figure was hunched over, squatting almost like a chimpanzee. It was small whatever it was, lithe and it hadn’t made a sound.

Teal’c called to it in Imperial Standard, ordering the figure to reveal itself.

O’Neill bellowed the same in English as if that was going to help, but as usual it was Jackson who stepped forward, speaking in the Abydonian variant of Imperial Standard. Which provoked a raised eyebrow from Teal’c and other looks of skepticism from Carter and O’Neill.

Much to their surprise, the figure stepped forward, whether moved by his tone or understanding the Abydonian dialect better.

Doctor Carter was the first to get a look at him, he was a small child some nine or ten years old or so he looked. He was dressed in a tunic that was a dark blue and his breaches were a dark, almost olive green. He looked like something out of a medieval story, slightly long, leaf like ears, hair that was neatly braided and a vibrant green. Skin that seemed to be either turquoise in color or a very light green. His eyes, well Carter couldn’t tell what color his eyes were as they seemed to shift in the mix of firelight and their flashlights. He smiled at Carter, and she noticed how unnaturally disarming the smile was and didn’t lower her weapon until O’Neill cursed at himself for pointing a gun at a kid and lowered his piece.

The youth showed no fear, though Teal’c was bewildered both by his sudden appearance and how his symbiote had reacted prior. For this, the boy (?) gave him an apologetic smile then walking towards O’Neill tapped his chest indicating himself. “No…mmhmm..umm..Not harm..you.” the boy remarked, as if he was trying to pull the English language out of thin air (Something Jackson and O’Neill recognized from their brushes with Ra and Amunet.) He tapped his chest again and then beamed at O’Neill.

“Nefreyu!” again he tapped his chest. “Nefreyu!”

here we go again.

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

Alright, quick addition so you guys know I won't be going dark for a long time again.

Well, that and shit's about to hit the fan.

Fireside Chats

They must have looked ridiculous, O’Neill realized, the four of them seated across the fire watching a ten-year-old boy, with Doctor Carter being the only one willing to sit next to him and O’Neill wasn’t sure if he liked the implications of that, given her hand was resting near her field knife.

Carter was young, driven, beautiful and there were moments where he found himself enjoying her company more than he should and moments like this where she made his skin crawl.

Though, not more than the boy who flashed a reassuring smile. “Not worry, O-N..O’Neill. She’s just protecting her.” The youth, if it could be called that paused and moved his tongue around in his mouth as if mulling over the proper word. “Pack? Cadre? Ah, Unit. She won’t hurt me, because I won’t hurt you.”

That wasn’t as reassuring as the alien boy intended it to be. But it raised an interesting question. If the boy meant them harm, could any of them really stop it? Afterall, the Admiral’s ruin was in front of them and he was messing with their minds well before that given O’Neill was now realizing he had no idea how they even found this area.

“So” Daniel began. “Is Nefreyu your name? Or the name of your people?”

“Nefreyu means misstep or blunder in Ori.” Teal’c remarked. “That is not the boy’s name, I believe he was apologizing for startling us.” Teal’c had slept through most of the ancient languages courses when he was an academy student, as most self-respecting Jaffa youth did, but what little he did recall stayed with him even now nearly a hundred and sixty years later.

The boy nodded. “Yes, but you may call me that. Names have power, or so grandfather says.”

“Do you live with your grandfather?” Carter asked, with an odd curiosity in her eyes.

The boy shook his head. “No, I live with mother, this is her place, but Grandfather teaches me things, when he can spare the time.”

She nodded. “My parents died when I was a child, I was raised by my grandfather.” Saying that made her flinch, why the hell had she divulged that information to him? The boy for his part didn’t seem to acknowledge it, the look in his eyes suggested it was out of respect for what she saw as a mental intrusion.

“Are you..doing all this..Little blunder?” Jackson asked curiously, the firelight glinting off his glasses.

“No” Nefreyu answered, his eyes shifting to Marshal. “Mother is..I don’t go into the minds of Lotar. Grandfather says it’s not respectful.” The boy answered sheepishly. Cleary, there was some sort of familial debate and Daniel wanted to query more. To try and figure out, just what this boy was but Teal’c spoke up again clarifying that these humans were not Lotar but Tau’Ri. Something that O’Neill to glare.

Not that it mattered, secrecy was moot when you shot up a God’s house and absconded with his universe famous war chief. The boy looked surprise at the mention of them being Tau’Ri and looked to Teal’c “But you are a First Prime! A war Master if my learning is true…Why are you with the defiant ones?”

Teal’c raised an eyebrow, his features grim in the firelight. “In truth, I grew disgusted with what Apophis had become and wished to deal a blow to him and in doing so rid myself of a madman as a liege. I had not anticipated I would find more with the people of Tau’Ri.”

The boy seemed to take the answer for what it was and let out a small yawn. “Don’t be mad at my mother Colonel! She just wanted you to find what you were looking for and not get hurt.” It was surreal how he could sound wise one second and all innocent the next and it took Carter a second to realize that he had called his mother the owner of this place (Did he mean the planet or?). “Nefreyu, you’re messing with our heads without meaning too.” Carter said, a slight amount of force in her tone, as if she was chiding a pet and not a boy.

“I’m sorry” he muttered before pointing at Teal’c. “I am trying to protect him, his symbiote doesn’t like the way we read minds, something about our telepathy being different than the telepathy of the Peers..One of them must have given birth to your Prim’tah.”

“Indeed” Teal’c remarked.

“I guess, I focused too hard or something, I’m sorry” He again added with a facial expression that looked oddly like something out of an old little Rascals skit.

“You should, also thank your mother on our behalf” Marshal put in helpfully, as surreal as the experience was, as daunting as confronting a mindreading alien had been. It was also fascinating from a scientific perspective, and he didn’t get the impression that either the boy or his mother was a threat. Which, he admitted could have been because of their power and not because he was making an accurate guess.

O’Neill gave a nod and then asked the question that seemed to hang in the air. “Nefrey…err... Nefrechu... Listen kid, you said your mom wanted to protect us. Do you mean there are a lot of dangerous predators out there?”

The boy went silent, quirking his head lightly as if weighing his words. Before finally shrugging and shaking his head. “No, not a lot…Just two...."

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

Alright gents, new "chapter" out. The plans of patriots attempting to arrest a looming civil war are slightly revealed and we get a glimpse into the size of the Imperium's military.

Plus more Bra'tac.

Dakkara Imperial Capitol/ Crown World of the House of Ra/ Main hub of the Stargate Network: Month of Nu (Seventh Month of the Imperial Calendar) August by Tau’Ri reckoning.

Red Continent:

He liked the red wastes, the one continent the Godhead, Amun-Ra had left as it was when the world was wrested from Ori control in the ancient past, before the dawn of his race. They were hard lands, brutal lands and due to the abundance of an odd variant of Naquadah the gravity was slightly higher than normal. Not enough to crush bone, but enough to make the Jaffa sweat a little more. He’d taken up residence in the Clerical palace on the edge of the southern most tip. There, where the frigid ocean currents carried polar winds against desert heat and created a beautiful if deadly coastal oasis. He enjoyed the Hurricanes and the cold weather reminded him of Chulak, the world of his birth and the world where events and the passing of time shaped him into a legend.

Ayyyeeee, kree, Rehu nej’yai!

The Clerics of the imperial faith and their rhythmic chants carried on desert winds swept down the walls and dunes towards the vast ocean of Jaffa youth that stood at parade.

One million in total, all of them representing the best and brightest of their respective territories. One million comprising the domains of every System Lord and their offspring who made up the middle of the nobility of the Empire. Those who aren’t System Lords in title but granted the right command their own standard in battle and to raise and equip and train Jaffa and to grant the minor nobles under their rule the rights to do the same. A class of one million that would have been one and a half, had Apophis not recalled all the Jaffa who qualified for training on Dakkara.

Half a million students, the second largest continent came from the realm of the house of Zeus, who had the third largest militia in the imperium. The third largest contingent that made up his graduating classes were always from the combined domains of the House of Ra (They outnumbered Zeus in total manpower, but the realm of the Olympians seemed to produce better soldiers even if they weren’t as well equipped or armed.), still the largest contingent always came from Cobra King. Nearly a quarter of the retired Primes who instructed here were also of the Domain of the Apophis. Perhaps the most alarming was that the academies on Chulak and other worlds within his former Lords domains produced graduating classes that averaged Dakkara in number on bad years.

Recalling those classes was bad enough, Ja’ma! Below him, drill instructors who had been primes before they retired roared into the poor ears of individual soldiers who were a microsecond slow at the call for attention, while the instructors who had been First Primes looked from the parade ground’s raised gallery with disdain. -I am preparing them for war, even though we are dedicated to the cause of peace within the Imperium-.

“They are magnificent this year-old friend.” The voice came from Se’tak somewhat short (By Jaffa standards, being nearly six six.) man of perfectly cut, short blond hair with dark eyes. Physically, he looked to be in his fifties, but he was pushing three hundred and thirty years old. A former Fleet Captain in the armada of Apophis, Se’tak retired some forty years ago and after a fifteen-year rest and time with his great grandchildren he had taken up a post as the instructor of stellar combat. The man Se’tak addressed as old friend was a seven-foot tall tanned skinned, grizzled lion of a Jaffa, whose long ashy gray hair and impressively long whisker like mustache blew in the warm wind. The black cloak he wore fluttered around his shoulders. Se’tak had known Bra’tac since he was a child and Bra’tac was a lowly common soldier. Even now, old as he was, Se’tak doubted there was anyone in the universe who could best the old War Master in a fight.

“They are indeed.” Bra’tac responded, his voice gruff as the Clerics continued their chant, blessing the legions of the Gods in their names and the names of their forebears, the Elder Gods now long dead. The Gods for whom the months of the Imperial calendar were named. “One million Jaffa who will in turn return to their domains and enrich the militias of their respective lords. We create leaders here, yet sometimes I feel like we should be preparing legions.”

Se’tak nodded. Gazing down at the parade, absorbing the chants and prayers, the benedictions heaped on the youths and remembered his own ceremony long ago. “I spent a lovely afternoon in the bank of Erjet old friend. I intend to build a retreat for myself on one of the moons orbiting Malkshor.” He waited for Bra’tac to smile and crack a joke about how his wife was going to enjoy the shops along the sea and Se’tak smiled thanked Apophis for the size of his pension and grew somewhat silent.

Small talk, two old men, great men but old none the less and friends discussing inanity was not going to be of interest to any gossip or any of the hundreds of prying eyes. “I hear the hunting on Ses’tah the sister moon of your vacation home is quite glorious” Certain words carried certain inflection, subtle changes in tone.

The stealth language of First Primes and in the case of Bra’tac one he invented all his own and shared only with the academy teachers and with Teal’c. report old friend.

“There are Ravanan Bulls that exceed eight tons in the wild, to say nothing of the lizards.” A dozen new accounts were created with various accountant guilds, the factors are concerned.

“Ja'ma! Do you still hunt those beasts with slug throwers?” How much? And where?!

“Ahh, I do enjoy the sensation of crude projectile weapons but no, a true Ravanan Bull can only be hunted with Hawks and slain with spears. Though, at my age I shall admit to using plasmic spears.” Apophis has moved some eighty billion in nine separate currencies from his personal accounts to the technologist guilds on Karnak. Enough to build fifteen thousand ground vehicles and eight hundred starships. No currency for capital ships yet, however.

Bra’tac nearly cursed out loud, instead what left his mouth was laughter and a shaking of his head. “Better plasma than shattered bones, you’ve more than acquitted yourself on great hunts in the past in any case old friend. I still recall the chase we led on Enkido” he’s adding to his already existing fleet?! He hasn’t even begun to prepare his existent forces yet; he cannot be serious…. Does he mean war irrespective of the vote a long one?!

“A hunt worthy of song that one, Herakles still speaks of it.” Unknown, his movements have become erratic and shaka wishes to meet us to discuss assemblage.”

“I seem to recall him being drunk and sleeping through most of it” He would have too, we’re the only ones left who have the experience.

Se’tak nodded. His eyes shifting from the parade ground to the dusty skies rapidly turning various shades of red as night approached. “I believe he slept through all of it old friend.” Any word from Shaun’ac?

Bra’tac shook his mighty head, laughing slightly before he threw an arm around Se’tak “Come Se’tak they are expecting a speech from both of us, and I’ve forgotten to write mine.” No, nor Aris Boch and that worries me. I will reach out to Drey’ac soon however, I..owe the girl a dialog.

The two men stepped towards the chanting clerics and the service elevator that would lower them to the parade grounds. They passed the rest of the way in silence, contemplating an uncertain future and where the chains of duty would carry them in such times.

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

Up next. Jack makes an unpleasant discovery, Teal'c shits a brick and everyone gets creeped out by the ten year old alien with the weird powers.

Also, they make a fateful decision that may not go exactly as planned, but still might turn out for the better.

…………

Hunters moon.

“So that’s their camp huh?” O’Neill asked the youth who insisted on calling himself Nefreyu even though that just meant “whoops” in ancient dumbass. The Colonel’s breath rose in the midnight air, steam that filled the air like an intrusive plume of smoke. Teal’c had left with Marshal, escorting him back to the gate on a path laid out by the little kid who Jack was starting to think wasn’t entirely a kid at all. At least not in the way he understood it, there was something unnatural about the eyes that reminded him a bit of Ra and Apophis, the feeling that you were dealing with a mind that was similar enough to yours to grasp the basics but made utterly alien by the gulf of time and experiences. Though for some reason Jack had no doubt the youth was in fact a youth, it was just.

“Yes!” Nefreyu answered, crouching beside Colonel O’Neill, in the roots of an immense tree whose roots seemed to spread out for several hundred feet around it. Doc Carter and Jackson were both lurking in different roots which rose above the ground. Hiding almost like rabbits, both of them with binoculars trained on the great tents and banners that seemed to spring up in yet another meadowed clearing in the forest. O’Neill could make out some fifty or so people, mostly Jaffa dressed in what Jack assumed were the attire of various camp attendants. Not good, given the volume of Jaffa present but luckily, he could only make out six armed warriors, three wearing the bird man get up he remembered from Abydos and three which were adorned in a dark orange and red armor with lion heads instead of birds. Each group stood sentry over the mouths of the two huge ass tents that looked like something out of a historical drama about the hundred years war or something.

The banners flowing in the wind were troubling, he recognized one from Ra’s botched execution attempt on Abydos. The symbol of a Falcon -Horus- he thought, but the other. Jack had never seen that before, two pillars and between them aliens that vaguely resembled a lion and a big ass pig locked in mortal combat.

“Aslan’s a System Lord?” Jack asked bemused as Daniel and Doc Carter moved towards the duo. Jackson giving him a quizzical look causing O’Neill to roll his eyes “My kids liked Narnia Alright?”.

“Thankfully, no” Jackson said cutting off Carter’s attempts to prod O’Neill a little bit more. “But it is bad news Sir. The flag up there matches the description Teal’c gave us of the personal standard of Herakles.”

“Who?!” O’Neill asked.

“Herakles, a Demigod born to a mortal woman by Zeus the King of the Olympians and Lord of thunder. Cursed by his vengeful stepmother Hera, he was said to have killed his wife and children in a fit of madness and was.” Jack cut Daniel off as it dawned on him Herakles must have been the ancient Greek version of Hercules.

“Hercules?! That’s freak’n Hercules out there?” O’Neill asked with a mix of concern and amusement. -The mythology Geeks on the tenth floor won’t believe this! – “Wait, isn’t he supposed to be a hero?”

“Well, yes sir.” Jackson remarked.

“Then what’s he doing with ol’bird man out there?!” Jack asked annoyed.

“Well, Sir hero by the standards of bronze age Greeks wasn’t exactly hero by our standards. At least not in the case of men like Achilles or Herc himself.” Carter put in helpfully. While Nefreyu sat perched on a root in a birdlike fashion, observing them with keen interest. “And if we apply the Ballard-Jackson theory, then the ancient Greeks were really just copying the legends and fables, of a culture long dead.”

“Right…So the Greeks got a bunch of stuff wrong.” He opened a pocket flap on his vest and pulled out an earpiece which he turned on and set on his ear. “Teal’c big guy, you read?”

The voice came over the line, far clearer than he remembered communications devices being at any point prior to his return to duty. -Working for the SGC has some perks after all- “Indeed Colonel O’Neill, I have just finished escorting Doctor Marshal to the Stargate. Abydos has received him”

“Good, listen we might have a problem here. Apparently, some snakes are on safari on this planet.”

Silence, followed by an Indeed? That made O’Neill swear he could see an image of Teal’c raising his eyebrow in surprise.

“We think they’re Herakles and Horus Teal’c.” Carter put in. “Daniel says their banners match.”

“We must flee” came Teal’c reply with an urgency that surprised him.

“That bad huh?” O’Neill asked in a tone dripping with vexation.

“I once witnessed Herakles face War master Bra’tac in a sixteen-hour sparring match. This was after both men personally slew scores of renegade Jaffa during the Titan’s rebellion. Horus is nearly as skilled, and both are almost as deadly as Apophis in personal combat.”

FUCK!

O’Neill took a slow breath. -One-man armies, like out of a damn heroic epic. Amazing, just amazing- And yet, as he gazed upon Nefreyu, something compelled him to remain. Something in him couldn’t just abandon these, whatever they were.

“Teal’c if they discover Nefreyu’s people will they harm them?”

“Ordinarily no, Prince Horus is a being of honor as is Herakles and I do not believe they would slaughter a random settlement solely for being in his way. However, they are clearly psychic and given my how symbiote reacted, it’s possible the two will at least investigate them. That may go peacefully, or it may end in violence should they mistake the sensations for an attack.”

“Sir! We can’t”

“Save it Carter..” O’Neill ordered in a stoic that brokered no further discussion. His eyes shifted to Jackson. The blond was looking between Nefreyu and Jack, as concerned for their safety as he was but also somewhat reluctant to go up against two guys who could probably take turns taking several SG teams apart much less one. “Us being there, may also make them look bad..you..know..since we blew his father up.” Daniel pointed out.

“You killed his father?” Nefreyu asked, a tone that was filled with a mix of shock, concern and maybe even a little fear?

For the first time O’Neill felt a little pang of guilt for what he did to Ra. Which was rather weird because the guy was willing to blow up a mountain in a rage and potentially poison hundreds of thousands of people with radioactive debris. “He, tried to hurt my people, put a bomb near the Stargate and was going to send it home. We tried to disarm it, but.”

“Oh! He rigged it to go off?” Nefreyu asked, using terms and a tone of voice no child should. He nodded vigorously. “I understand then, I would have killed him too then.”

Jack blinked and Daniel cleared his throat clearly put off by hearing a child speak of death so easily. “It’s not that easy, we didn’t want to kill him even then. But when he gave us no choice, we did what needed to be done.”

The boy nodded, with those big innocent eyes of his that seemed to shift color, while not really having any color. But his nod was almost that of a child agreeing with something without really understanding what he was agreeing with. “I see, your people are different than mine, mother says that all life is sacred, but not all life is equal.”

Jack nodded, slowly ignoring the gnawing feeling in the back of his head that was warning him that this boy was less like a peaceful little elf and more like a fairy out of the old story books. The kind that could be warm and loving one moment and callous in their savagery the next. The sort that stole children just as easily as they protected them. “Is it, possible to meet your mother?”

“Why?” the boy asked.

“We just want to make sure you guys are safe is all” Daniel offered. “And to maybe meet her to make friends.”

“After that we’ll head back to the gate.” Colonel O’Neill added before glaring at Daniel -The Geek wants to make friends with the weird space fairies while there are two champion bros out there? This kids gonna be the death of me- “So we don’t attract any trouble.”

The boy seemed to consider it for a time before he smiled brightly. “We will bring Teal’c too, yes?”

“Of course, soon as we meet him at the…” O’Neill’s words ceased as the air five feet from him began to warp and bend, as if some sort of bubble was forming just on the periphery of what the human senses could detect and then a technicolored flash later and Teal’c was standing near them looking incredibly confused. “Colonel O’Neill! Are you well?!”

“I was about to ask you the same thing big guy…You kinda just.”

Carter’s jaw may as well have been on the floor, and she whirred on Nefreyu with excited eyes. “Did you just teleport him?”

“Yes, but that was tiring, I’m not used to doing it to people so heavy.” He smiled apologetically at Teal’c who understood the implications of this and was turning green and frantically patting himself down to make sure his clothes hadn’t merged with his skin or something. Then he stepped back in shock, regarding the boy with an alarmed look. He seemed about to ask something only to fall silent at the last moment. “You could have killed me boy.”

“Yes” Nefreyu conceded, with the look of a chastised youth. “That was very foolish and rude, do you forgive me?”

Despite himself Teal’c laughed. “I do boy….Though I would ask that you not do that again, save for when you’ve mastered this particular ability .”

Nefreyu smiled brightly “Agreed! I do not want harm to come to any of you either.”

There was an odd moment of silence as SG-1 stood around the odd ten-year-old who had just bent time and space to hurry along Teal’c as though he were a cornered tiger roaring and hissing at him and not a child. If they could things like this? Was there a point in checking in on them? They could easily dispatch the dynamic duo and their retinue if they could and worse, if the Peer subspecies of Goa’uld could protect itself against such…abilities then it made the prospect of trying to protect Nefreyu’s village even more absurd. Still, they all felt like they at least owed Nefreyu for helping them find the mushrooms and for the help they had received along the way for which Jack was certain they would have blundered around the woods until they ran into those two without their assistance.

There was another possibility, that these people could assist them against the System Lords.

Ultimately it was Carter who broke the silence with one of her chipper smiles she reached out for Nefreyu’s hand. “Well kid klutz, lead the way!”

So once again, Colonel O’Neill walked out of the frying pan and did a cannon ball right into the fire.

-Serpent men, space fairies and a fucking enchanted forest.

My life is an eighties adventure movie-

 

[The Immortal Watch Dog]

Alright, so O'Neill sees a big bird, Teal'c speculates, Carter befriends the weird kid and Jackson is mulling over Celtic mythology in a big hurry on this episode of Stargate: Through the Looking Glass and into Heaven!



Because @Spartan303 @UberIguana and @Harlock seemed to catch how creepy the Nox are...here it kinda goes up to eleven.

Ballard-Jackson theory in play, but also possibly some tourism? Oh and a shoutout to a 90's Bruce Willis vehicle that I guess wasn't popular?

It wasn’t often Jack O’Neill was stupefied into not really paying attention to his surroundings, or even if he was. To losing so much time he couldn’t determine how much time he’d spent walking around any given area. But he genuinely couldn’t tell how long they’d been walking, in what direction (Beyond North of the Gate.), the forest around them grew in size and variety. Trees that looked like redwoods on steroids (And Nefreyu seemed to agree that they likely were kin to the Redwoods of his homeworld though how the boy knew that Jack couldn’t say.) to small fruit plants, flowering groves and those glowing rose-like vines mixing in with trees that were the color of copper, or bronze or silver with almost glass like leaves.

The planet’s sun or suns Jack wasn’t even sure about that anymore, beamed through and he could hear the chirping of animals that were a mix of Earth descended life and alien creatures. A great example of such a weird combination was the tree Octopus that was trumpeting like a trombone only to be tackled by a rust-colored badger like creature some eight feet long, that seemed to run through the trees more like a lizard than a mammal. Above them he saw silver and blue colored birds that looked like they could have been descended from falcons, yet they were oddly more mythical in their looks. Large, crowned and Jack half wondered if they were slightly more intelligent than any bird minus a crow because they flew in patterns that were akin to search patterns. Though, they obviously weren’t searching for SG-1 or the boy’s settlement.

“I get the feeling the farther we go into these woods, the more under his mother’s power we are.” Daniel observed somewhat concerned but there was so much curiosity in his tone. He’d spoken with Nefreyu in a few different languages and the boy either knew them or learned them as he spoke (similar to how rapidly the humans classified as Lotar seemed to learn albeit faster by several orders of magnitude.) Or he was reading Daniel’s mind. It wasn’t until Jackson began speaking ancient Gaelic that the boy seemed to shift into a conversational tone that suggested he wasn’t keeping up but speaking in a language similar to his own. O’Neill was surprised Carter knew Gaelic (Or at least the more modern version) and she was doing her best to keep pace. O’Neill understood some of it, his grandfather was a militant for Irish culture and his father had allegedly traded American guns for Irish whiskey during prohibition (Part of Enoch Johnston and the Kennedy family operations..allegedly. Though Jack always doubted that story. If anything, Silas O’Neill the World War One hero was likely affiliated with Dean O’Bannon out of Chicago.) but it had been years since he’d spoken Gaelic (Minus that one time in the late 90’s when he and a very young Kim Statterfield helped FBI Director Carter Presten and that Commie chick hunt down a legendary assassin any way. Fuck’n Declan still owed him a bottle of bourbon wherever he was.)

Daniel had fallen back to interact with O’Neill and Teal’c, they botch watched Carter who had an arm around the boy and was chattering away with him in Gaelic as if she hadn’t been planning to slit his throat a mere dozen hours before. -What am I gonna do with her- He thought exasperated. “Dollars to donuts his mom’s been screw’n with us since we got out of the gate” O’Neill muttered.

“Indeed.” Teal’c remarked. “My Prim’tah has been unusually active.”

“I thought they were lobotomized minus certain exceptions?” Jackson asked.

“Indeed, however Daniel Jackson. Conceiving them without self-awareness does not strip them of their instincts...”

“Any idea who these guys are?” Daniel asked Teal’c “I mean if they can provoke such a reaction in your Prim’tah then surely they must be known to you?”

“The Galaxy is an immense place Daniel Jackson, even though I served an empire that ruled most of it. And I have been to several and could not tell you all the races that dwelled within each.” Teal’c responded with a raised eyebrow in almost chiding tone and Daniel laughed nervously. “I guess you’re right..The Universe is a big place, even when you have explored it extensively..”

“What about those guys, the ones who were part of that alliance of old guys. The ones you described as fairy like..the Knot or the…Nox there we go!” O’Neill offered enthusiastically, part of him hopeful, part of him ready to bug out the moment it was confirmed.

“I had thought the same O’Neill.” Teal’c responded in a tone that suggested he was trying to suppress how close to crapping his pants the thought brought him. “But I cannot be certain, the Nox are thought by our Lore masters to be eldest of the ancient races. Consider, that the Ori were successor to a half billion-year legacy and if our scholars are correct, it is possible they were the first sapient life in the universe.” Jackson looked up with a sense of awe, wondering if the Nox were the beings the Imperial religion referred to as the misguided Elder Gods who sided with the treacherous Ori or if that was in reference to another sub species kin to the Ori.

“You’re point?” O’Neill quipped as he stepped over a foot tall root that was sticking out of the ground, trying to ignore the fact that several flowers had just turned and eyeballed him in a manner that came too close to awareness for his liking.

“My point, Colonel O’Neill” Teal’c continued in the voice of an old man, patiently dealing with the impertinence of a particularly hyperactive child. “Is that there are several races in the Galaxies that I know of who share their physical characteristics. One of them, the Pangarans was on my list of recommendations for trade.”

“Oh right, the guys who you said reminded you of the books you read on the Napoleonic wars.” O’Neill nodded. Pangara, Teal’c said, was the capitol world of a four-planet spanning nation made up of a people who were “elf like” in appearance and had through gradual conquest of their own world and judicious use of the Stargate to build trade outposts, over the last thousand years created a mini kingdom on the edge of Izanagi’s domain. While they were a vassal of the System Lord, they weren’t fully a part of his domain and thus were willing to do business with almost anyone.

“But how many of these races are psychic or, whatever this is?” Daniel asked. He’d taken off his hat to scratch the back of his head and looking up was the first to see it.

An animal that was likely descended from or related to the Golden Eagles so common to Europe, Asia and North America soared above even the gigantic trees, its cry akin to thunder and given the height of the trees and how far above them it was, it was a testament to its size. “Jesus that’s a big bird.”

“The hunting Eagles of the house of Aether. They have a twenty-five-foot wingspan on average, but I once saw Lord Zeus field birds with a hundred- and ninety-foot wingspan when he was hunting a species of large lizards that inhabit Thyra a planet within the domain of Ra. We should be safe, the bird is not searching for us..Though I suggest we accelerate our pace.”

Carter who’d been listening turned with a look of shock “Teal’c how can a bird that large even fly?”

“Genetic engineering, extensive genetic engineering. The largest of his eagles were bred to carry neutron bombs over troops in suborbital altitudes. It was said their bone structure was also partially, artificial. I believe their intelligence is enhanced as well.”

“Great, giant flying cybirds.” O’Neill groused.

“Hera modified a primitive queen to produce a line of Goa’uld that could bond with animals. My belief is that the Eagles of Zeus are a result of that.” The way Teal’c spoke of it told Carter and Daniel how low an opinion Teal’c had of that.

“Cyborg birds with snakes in their brains..lovely” Jack sighed and once again sorely missed his cigarettes. “I take it you aren’t a fan?”

“When his father rebelled Lord Zeus sided with the Empire, but he was slow in sending military aid. Not enough to imply treachery, but the passive aggression against Ra and the nobility cost Apophis half a million Jaffa…” His jaw set tight as he looked out over the forest, catching Nefreyu’s perceptive eyes.

“He also, refused to take my father and us in when Cronus exiled us. I had a sister who needed a Prim’tah, we could not get one save for the larva of the lowest of breeds. It did not have the strength to repair her ravaged body. Lord Zeus had no reason to do this, save for mislike of my father who I believe exposed a Roshna running scheme the Lucian alliance organized. They were using the House of Aether to, legitimize their ill-gotten earnings.” Teal’c muttered venomously.

“Money laundering in space. Ol’Ra must have been mad as hell.” O’Neill asked with an amused grin.

“He was most displeased.” Teal’c replied in something that resembled smugness.

“We’re quite safe from the hunters.” Nefreyu interrupted gesturing forward with his little arms. “Look! We’ve arrived!” He smiled brightly.

Jack wasn’t sure how, because they’d all stopped walking, or so he thought. But the forest around them had changed, from vast trees to smaller ferns and pines and they sloped down a great ridge of hills where several rivers flowed into a lake.

At the center of the Lake.

“Is that...”

“Yes, Colonel O’Neill.” Nefreyu smiled and reached up to grab the Colonel’s hand. “My home, I think your people called it the Island of Apple trees, I don’t know why.” Nefreyu laughed seemingly innocently. “I’ve never seen an apple in my life, outside of the juice you gave me for lunch!”

It was beautiful, a grove of a bunch of thousand-foot-tall and taller trees that couldn’t have been trees, roughly the size of Manhattan, on an island three times that size. They were all silver and gold and he could see dozens of stairways winding between them and buildings that were seemingly grown out of the trees themselves. None of this was very far from the gate, maybe fifteen or twenty miles…. More than close enough for the solar powered drone to cover the distance, take some pictures and fly back inside of an hour at top speed.

Hell, we should have seen trees that size from the damn Gate.

“Wait, isle of apple trees?!” Daniel blinked. “Jesus, this is Avalon?!”

Nefreyu nodded. “Grandfather moved it here when he decided mother should take this planet for herself and her colony. Though I suppose great-grandfather is the proper term?”

“I… he moved it?” Carter muttered. “The same way you teleported Teal’c? From where?” She could feel her heart pounding as she tried to do the mental calculations on the distance and what it amounts of energy or what sort of control this grandfather would have to have to move an entire Island across space and to deposit it on a planet without disrupting anything. None of it made sense, the psychic powers of the Goa’uld at least had some science behind them but everything that Nefreyu’s people did seemed to make sport of mocking her concept of how the laws that governed the universe work.

Nefreyu smiled sheepishly. “Sam, I like you. You were willing to protect your people at all costs, that’s admirable. But I don’t know you well enough yet to tell you that!”

Carter ruffled the boy’s hair “So I guess that settles it huh? You're the Nox!"

Nefreyu nodded eagerly. “You didn’t ask, I would have told you that. It isn’t even our real name any way, just something the forefathers of the Alterans and Ori called us. The Asgard call us elves, mother says your people call us the fair folk. I like that name better than Nox.”

“What does Nox mean in the original language of those ancient peoples?” Daniel asked curiously.

Nefreyu tapped his chin in thought, as if trying to remember a name from something he probably only overhead adults in his tribe talking about. “umm…hmm..umm”

“Translated into your vernacular it means “Those weirdos over there” I can see why my son likes the fair folk label so much…its..fancier and its implications more apt.” a lyrical voice spoke to them though none of them had any idea where it came from until a moment after O’Neill stopped looking around and settled his eyes for a shape that seemed to appear out of nowhere behind Nefreyu.

Behind the boy stood a woman roughly six feet tall, she had long black hair that seemed to absorb the light creating an odd, absence of it around slender shoulders that were hidden behind a black tunic that was fastened almost like a Starfleet Captain from the Wrath of Khan or something. Her skin was a deep shade of blue minus waves of gold here and there and her ears were long and pushed out between her hair. She was beautiful, she looked young but also middle aged and her beauty didnt seem entirely natural to Jack who was laughing to himself. -you're in it now Jack. Freaking fairies- The Colonel's brain was caught between wanting to admire her and wanting to bolt out the there at top speed. The fact that she spoke English as if she’d been speaking it for years and not as if she had lifted it from his mind, also bothered the hell out of him.

-Thor is going to like this one..Hathor too, if she can stop running around the ass end of the universe playing Empress of the softpower- the creature thought eying Colonel O’Neill.

“So, you’re the kid’s mom huh?” O’Neill asked. Daniel sputtered out something in Gaelic, an apology and addressed her as Medb which caused the woman to laugh. “Relax Danny boy, I speak English just fine. And I’m not her, she’s my aunt. I am Leanan Sith’ie daughter of Morrigan, granddaughter of Oberon and Titania, governess of Avalon and well, ruler of this solar system I guess..oh and Ra knew me as Lya, a certain adventurer by the name of Langford knew me as Kiera and yes Excalibur is an awesome movie, but no we don’t fuck our brothers…Colonel. That’s a bad stereotype and from the wrong setting. I don’t ride Dragons thank you very much!”

Teal’c had fallen to one knee. “Forgive me, Princess, I had not.”

She waved him off. “Oh, for goodness sakes Teal’c, you’re a War Master not a grunt. Anubis never liked Jaffa of your rank kneeling and neither do I.” she beckoned for him to rise then turned to Daniel Jackson giving him a rather sweet smile. “You and I need to have a more private conversation later.” Then that adorable smile turned into a frown. “But I didn’t lure you here for more mushrooms and healing plants, well I did but that wasn’t my chief concern. Prince Horus is hunting near the Gate, and I believe his party will move off in two days. I would ask that you sojourn with me for those two days. We just moved here a few years ago and I’ve been able to keep the peace, I’d rather not have bloodshed sully that record.”

“Uhh..Right” O’Neill responded. There was a playfulness and kindness in her voice that was endearing, and Jack found himself liking it. But he detected something else as well, a sort of manic intensity that hinted at her being far more dangerous than her playful exterior let on. “After you then…”

As the group led off, Daniel’s eyes narrowed, she was too pleasing, too friendly and daughter of the Morrigan?

Didn’t that make her death’s daughter?

We need to be very careful with these people Jack. They’ll either be wonderful allies or the end of us all.