Agent Fox Mulder (i_want_2) wrote in multi_fiction, @ 2008-09-17 21:06:00 |
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Entry tags: | au, het, rated: adult, sg-1, slash |
Fic: Integrated Circuit 4/? StarGate SG-1
Integrated Circuit
By: Lopaka Tanu
Disclaimer: I do not own SG-1 or anything there in.
Category: Adult Slash Het.
Warning: Character Death, Violence, Language, Sexual Situations, Battle Scenes.
Archive: RSD, Area 52. Anyone else ask.
Feed Back: lopaka_tanu @ yahoo.com
Spoilers: Season's 2 & 3.
Pairing: Jolinar/Aldwin, Martouf/Sha're Daniel/Martouf.
Series: Daniel of Malksur trilogy, 3/3.
Summary: Pain and sorrow have marred the once hopeful staff of the SGC. With recent changes in the staff, people are questioning the security of their positions. The Tok'ra, faced with problems of their own, depend more on their allies than ever before. Fighting among the Goa'uld has them fearing it is something more. Caught in the middle, can the allies survive an all out war?
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Martouf led the team of Abydoseans through the great pyramid looking for any sign that the ship had left something behind. The great ship had come four months ago without a single word. It had left in the middle of the night the same way. On his orders, they had waited until the day to see if anything had remained. Looking through the barren chambers, he now knew nothing remained.
At last they reached the gate room. The DHD was still entact and the gate had a fine layer of dust on it from lack of use. All in all, it looked as if the entire pyramid had remained untouched during this time. On a hunch, Martouf dialed the coordinates for the Tau'ri home world.
The first six symbols locked, but when he reached the seventh, it refused. Sighing in frustraition, he glanced down at the controls. He was still staring when Kasuf came in. "They must have removed the control crystal. We can not leave the planet."
"Who would wish to? We have everything we need right here." For a moment Kasuf had forgotten that his new son was not of their world. That he was not like Daniel, he actually wanted to go off world. Feeling relief that the gate of the gods would not in fact work, he laid a heavey hand on his son's shoulder. "Come, your wife is waiting. There is nothing but ghosts here."
Glancing at the gate, Martouf wanted to stay behind. He wanted to scream and cry and shout for whatever injustice had been commited that he remain here. What he did was nod and turn with Kasuf. The gate would still be there.
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Paul traced a hand over his slightly swollen belly. The area had grown bright red and swelled over the past twelve hours. Inside him he could feel the primta growing ever more agitated and swatted it. Then he ended up cursing because his stomach was sore before the hit. Laying back against the cool crystal wall, he gasped in pain. "Uh, guys, I think something is going on in there."
Garshaw set down the data recorder she carried from the ship. Coming back to stand beside Paul, she sighed. They had been moving their supplies to the last base of operations before they reached the surface later that evening. Every step of the way had been excruciating for the Tau'ri, she knew, but they had to move if they were going to save him from infection. Pulling out the healing device, she looked him in the eyes. "So far this has failed to aid in your condition, it may not work now."
Gasping in pain, he clenched his eyes shut. "At this point I would be willing to let you cut the little bastard out! Why exactly did you put this thing inside me again?"
"At the time it was the only way to save your life. We had the tools to create a pouch and the Jaffa no longer had need of it. I have explained this to you many times." With as much care as she could muster in her exhausted state, she quickly unfastened the buttons on his shirt and pulled it open. Raising her hand to use the healing device, she gasped.
"What?" Looking down, all he could see was the same swollen area he had been suffering from for the past day. "Is it really that bad? Does this mean you will have to cut the little bastard out?" He tried to hide the excitement over that idea from her. No need to give them any ideas, like that he was a masochist.
Garshaw, ignoring his hiss of pain, ran her fingers over the swollen area. "This isn't just a case of simple infection. The primta is trying to merge with you." She traced her fingers over the former seams of the pouch and shook her head. "The pouch is being absorbed in to your body."
"What? You mean I'm going to be the fucking host to a Goa'uld? Oh, this is just perfect!" Reaching out, he tried to grab her by the throat. "I am going to kill you!" Too easily she knocked him back on his ass. "Get this fucking thing out of me!"
"I am afraid it will not be that simple. The primta is the only thing keeping you alive. Removing it at this point would simply kill you." She rubbed at the spot on her collar where he did grab hold before she hit him.
"Well what exactly do you expect me to do until we reach the surface?" Climbing to his feet, Paul glared at her. His sore belly made slow work of it.
"Lucky for you, we are almost there." Walking over, she picked up the data recorder and started off for the front of the cave. She refused to show how much the primta's actions had unnerved her.
"Cold bitch." Holding on to the wall, he followed along behind her and the others. They continued on for another couple hundred yards before they reached the end of the tunnel. When they did, Paul sagged down to the floor and heaved a put upon sigh. "All right, how do we get up to the surface?"
"Stand up and come here." Aldwin waved his hand for Paul to come closer. Looking towards Garshaw, he nodded the moment Paul was within reach.
Garshaw pressed a jewel on her wrist and from the cieling transport rings dropped down on them. "We harvested them from the ship. Probably the easiest part of this entire trip." She smirked at Paul as he scowled then they disappeared in the rings.
Upon the surface of the planet, the rings came up through the ice, breaking the surface just in front of the gate. When they landed, all five people appeared, then the rings went down again. A moment later they were surrounded by staff weapons and Jaffa.
"Son of a bitch!"
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General Vindrine walked the cooridors of the SGC content in the silence for once. Even if it didn't last for much longer, he was finally able to take a breath. The battle with Major Maybourne over command had finally ended in a stalemate. He had planned on talks over lunch to creat a DMZ on level 24. The man was completely insane, he was sure of that now.
The most recent spat had been about allowing any further Tok'ra pass pens. Already they had gone through thirty and not one had been returned to the control room lock up where they were housed. He had thought it a simple thing, make more, but Maybourne was even more a tight ass about funds and supplies than he was. God that man would have made Scrooge wince from his greed.
Coming around the bend, he had the decision of heading back towards the elevators or head to the control room. On a hunch, he turned towards the control room. It wasn't so much a hunch as an extreme feeling of dread. The morning so far had been too quiet.
Two days, he only had to survive two more days before he handed command back to Hammond. That is if he could main tain his own sanity. And damned if that wasn't a trying struggle.
Bracing himself, he walked up the slight incline towards the control room. Much to his relief, the room was silent and only Walter Davis was on duty. Taking a much needed breath, he walked in to the control room and sat down next to the Sargent. Thumping the other man on the shoulder, he grinned. "So."
"So." Walter grinned back shakily. "What can I do for you, General?"
"Nothing, son, just enjoying the peace." At Walter's expression, he felt his good mood evaporate. "What's wrong?"
"You should never say that around here, sir. Not to sound superstitious, it is just a given." As if to confirm his words, the gate suddenly sprang to life without the ring even activating.
Three figures tumbled through followed by several staff blasts and exploding debris. As one of the figures moved to sit up, it was struck by a staff blast and it's head fell from its shoulders.
General Vindrine stood up, eyes wide. "Son of a bitch!"
Several more staff blasts came through the gate before the worm hole disappated like mist. On the gate ramp the two remaining figures started to move slowly.
Walter leaned over and pressed the mic control. "Medical team to the gate room. Security to the gate room!"
Jack, who had been aimlessly wondering the halls found himself among the crush of personnel heading for the gate room as if summoned. To his right, he could see Teal'c and raised his eyebrows in question. When the big Jaffa nodded, he knew he wasn't the only one to have felt the summons. Soon they were at the gate room door, opening it.
He followed Dr. Warner through in to the large room and up the ramp to two very familiar figures. A third headless figure drew his attention from the living two for a moment and he felt sick. The cries of the living returned his attention to them. Pushing an airman out of his way, he knelt by the older's side. "Laia! What the hell happened to you guys?"
Putting a blood stained hand to her head, the Nox shook from shock. "They're gone, all of them."
"Who? Laia, who are gone?" When she looked him in the eyes, he felt something inside his mind burst and the information was suddenly there. Crying out from the pain, he fell back on the gate ramp. He waved off the medic as he sat up. "I'm all right, tend the Nox!"
"O'Niell, are you well?" Teal'c assisted Jack in standing then caught his friend as he nearly fell. "You are in need of medical assistance."
"No, I'm fine, just need a couple asprine for this head ache." Rubbing at his head, he gasped in pain. The information took a moment to register, but it came to him eventually. Glancing up at the control room, he caught General Vindrine's eyes. "Better get the JCS on the line, General. It's finally happened."
Taking the mic from Walter, Vindrine pressed the call tab. "What is happening Colonel? Who are these people?"
Jack looked down at Laia as she cradled the body of the headless Nox. "They're the first casualties." Holding on tightly to Teal'c, Jack felt if he let go the overwelmingly sinking feeling would take hold. "The entire System Lord Collective has declared war on one another and the Nox got caught in the cross fire."
It took Vindrine a moment to recall who the Nox were. "Are you telling me these people are of that race of peace loving beatnics?"
"No, sir." Jack shook his head slowly. "I'm telling you, these are all that remain of the Nox."
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"Colonel O'Niell, welcome home." General Hammond released the mic button as he stood up. The past four months had been the hardest in his career and it looked like it was only going to get worse. Glancing about him at the new equipment they had brought in to command and secure the gate made him feel out dated. So much new technology had been sunk in to this base that it hardly felt like a military establishment so much as the set of a television show.
The fiberoptics Major Carter had been bitching about had been approved along with a new gate power system that made them independant of any power grids outside the base. With the gate on its own power generators, most of the rest of the base could run off natural energy sources. Several sub-systems of the computer cores seemed to be every where, like his grand children. The entire thing was filled with so many redundancies it made his head hurt. But the good thing was that all he had to do when in pain was kick the nearest one and help would be on its way in the form of a repair team.
What all these computers did was determine a threat and shut down the gate if there was one, even if the gate had been opened from the other side. Basically, it was a kill switch. All he had to do was enter the command, press his hand to the scanner and the gate would send a fake signal to the other gate that this one had been locked and the gate would shut down automatically.
Already they had used the damned thing three times since it was installed to stave off a goa'uld attack. Already they had lost two full teams to Goa'uld attacks and various members from other teams. In total, they had lost twelve personnel from off world teams.
For the past four months since the war had started, he and the other members of the SG Command Council had been coming up with a way to protect Earth from the coming invasion. Staring at the gate through the protective glass, a cold shudder went through him. They all knew that a strike force was coming, it was only a matter of when.
So far, all attempts to secure a ship larger than a cargo vessel had failed. Earth was defenseless against an orbital attack, which was why O'Niell and his new team were out. Now, just like every other time, had failed. Even Carter's advanced weapons and Teal'c's army were useless.
That was unjustified.
Both of them had done their best. In fact, the combination of both was the only thing that had saved the colony of New Eden from Bastet's forces. Not that there was a coloney left after that siege. The planet had been abandoned and the survivors evacuated.
Since then, all resources for new colonies had gone in to beefing up security on the already existing ones. One new advancement from Carter's weapons had been a ground based anti-aircraft batteries. The Tok'ra were in the process of updating the colonies with shields. He hoped they succeded and soon.
Coming down the steps behind him from the confrence room, Major Carter and her second in command, Captain Valerie were arguing over the specs for a new weapon. "Sir, I respectfully object. These cooling rods just aren't enough, after two consecutive uses, the weapon will over heat and explode."
"Exactly! That's the point of this design." Smirking at the young man's abject horror, Sam patted him on the shoulder. "They are designed to function as last minute distractions. Their entire purpose is to provide time for the colonists to escape and take as many of the enemy with them. If they self destruct before they are destroyed, the enemy won't have time to avoid the blast. The only problem is we can't make that many of them because it is a waste of precious materials."
"Then why make them at all? If the material is that valuable, why waste it on something that can only be used twice before it goes kablooy?" In Captain Valerie's opinion, kablooy was a technical term. It meant the destruction of so much work as to be irrisponcible.
"Why did they spend so much time on the A-bomb if they were just going to blow the damn thing up?" Letting him think on that one, Sam finished walking down the steps in to the control room. Smiling at the General, she waved. "Sir, Colonel O'Niell and I found nothing on Miran that even suggest that an Alkesh, let alone a mother ship had ever been left there by Ra. It was another false lead to keep his enemies from finding his so called mythic fleet."
"I figured as much, but any lead at this point must be explored. Did you encounter any resistance from the local population?" He hoped not, the last thing they needed was another race joining in the war against them.
"No, sir. The Miran were more than happy to meet an enemy of the Goa'uld. They had been abandoned by Ra to rot and fend for themselves when a wheat harvest had failed to produce enough to feed his fleet and the Miran." Sam removed the pen she had stuck in the pocket of her uniform jacket, signed the report for the Captain, then handed it back to him. "In fact, if we can begin supplying them with metal tools and offer our protection, they are willing to start sending everything they would have given to Ra in exchange. Since the loss of New Eden, our food stores have been switched back to Earth Based Goods, which is not enough for the colonies and us."
"Understood. Have the necessary information drafted and I will review it before sending it to Washington." He was about to clap her on the shoulder when the gate suddenly sprank to life. "Close the Iris!" He turned to face the worm hole as it finished spinning and the event horizon exploded outwards.
"Sir, it's the Tok'ra!" Walter typed in the access code that over rode the Iris. When nothing came through the gate, he started scanning for any signals. "Recieving text message from the Tok'ra."
"What's it say?"
"It is from the operative Hanshu." Frowning, Walter couldn't believe what he was reading. "She reports that her target objective has come under attack and is requesting an extraction team to retrieve her and her prisoner."
"Granted." Turning back to Major Carter, he only smiled when she nodded. "Bring her home in one piece. Tell the Colonel to take SG-4 and two of Teal'c's teams."
"Will do, sir." Saluting, Carter ran from the control room.
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Hanshu fell back against the tunnel as the ground shook again. Her side ached from the staff blast wound, but it was only a minor irritation compaired to her hostage. Grabbing the Goa'uld Queen by the neck, she slammed the blubbering bitch against the wall face first. "You will be silent!"
Hathor clutched the crystals while spitting out a mouth full of blood. "How dare you touch us!"
Back handing the queen, Hanshu had to clench her fist around the ribbon device to prevent it from activating and killing the annoying Goa'uld. "I will not tolerate you for much longer, your majesty."
Around them the crystal chamber shook and shards rained down from above. More blasts from the orbiting mother ship impacted the earth as it tried to locate them. When the mother ship had suddenly come out of no where, Hanshu had thought it was another of Hathor's fleet. However, that changed when the ship opened fire and decimated her mother ship in a hellish blaze.
Most of Hathor's stolen fleet and Jaffa had died in the first few blasts. If it had not been for their proximity to a ring transport and her ability to redirect it's flow to her tunnel's, neither of them would be alive. As it was, she was starting to regret that decision.
Every time she thought the queen down, she would get up and demand something. The barrage had been going on for fifteen minutes and most of her tunnels had collapsed. The only thing remaining was the control room beneath the gate dialing device and it was only a matter of time before not even that survived.
Another explosion collapsed the tunnel behind her. Debris and dust flew through the air. Spinning fast, she used Hathor to shield herself. The earth shook a couple more times before going silent. Hanshu could hear the distant rumbling of the mother ship's weapons firing grow further away from them.
Deciding it was now or never, she stood up from where the last blast had knocked her and Hathor. When the queen didn't protest her rough treatment, Hanshu glanced down at her. She could see now why the queen had been silent for a bit. A large crystal shard had embeded itself in her chest through her lungs and she was gasping for breath.
Lifting Hathor to her feet, Hanshu smiled. "This is obviously a good look for you." Hanshu pressed the control crystal on her wrist device and activated the rings around them. When they appeared on the surface, she dragged the gasping queen towards the gate.
The gate exploded in to life just as she reached for the controls. Twenty men and women came rushing down the gate steps, Jack and Sam at the lead. Sam stopped short upon seeing who Hanshu had in her custody. "Well look what the cat drug in!"
"Hunh?" Jack glanced to where his second was looking then did a double take. "You have got to be kidding me!"
"There is no time for this, Colonel O'Niell!" Thrusting the queen at the big Jaffa guard, Hanshu reached down to start the dialing process. "Ready your gate device, mine was damaged in the attack!"
"Look out, we got incoming!" Jack dove for cover as a squad of Death Gliders began a run at them.
The blasts hit around the DHD tossing up dirt and blasting Hanshu back. Growling, she dusted herself off and crawled back to the DHD.
"Fire at will!" Jack activated his phase coil. Taking up aim, he began firing at the Death Gliders before they can swing around to make another pass at them. Two of the ships exploded under the assault before they came back down. "Take cover!"
This time the ships made a successful pass hitting the one of Teal'c's team. The remains of two members exploded on the remaining four. Raising their own staff weapons, the survivors opened fire at the Death Gliders. Their combined attacks brought down the two ships responcible for the attack.
Hanshu slapped her hand on the control crystal and the gate activated. Shouting her triumph, she ran around the DHD to Teal'c. Grabbing the queen by the arm, she started for the event horizon. "Send the signal now!"
"Sent!" Sam waited for the confirmation before nodding at the others. "We are green! Retreat through the gate!"
"You heard the Major, get your asses back home!" Jack continued to lay down cover fire at the severely reduced number of Death Gliders as he backed towards the gate. His eyes widened as several blasts from the orbiting mother ship closed on their position. The blasts were so close together they destroyed the Death Gliders in their way. "Run for it!"
The earth exploded beside him, throwing him through the gate. Before he even started on the down side of his crashing arc, the gate shut down. Seeing the gate ramp six feet below him, Jack closed his eyes and braced for impact. None too soon, he hit, bounced, and then rolled down the ramp.
Coming to a stop, Jack opened his eyes and glanced about him. At his side Carter and Teal'c lay, but there didn't appear to be anyone else. Risking the extra pain, he sat up a little. Jack ignored the sounds of the doors opening and personnel coming in to look about for the rest of his teams. Not seeing anyone else, he caught Teal'c's eye. "Did anyone else...."
"No."
At Teal'c's word, Jack let himself fall back against the floor. Seventeen of his people and a Tok'ra operative dead, there was going to be hell to pay when he found out who that Goa'uld was.
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Watching the replay of the death of Hathor, Daniel felt little joy in the fact she died so quickly. This war was far from the glorious flames of destruction he had envisioned. So far, all that had resulted was a few planets changing hands, the destruction of a few worlds, and the decimation of former alliances.
They weren't fighting!
Three months of total war and all the goa'uld had done was grand stand and hiss at each other like a couple common peacocks. Granted, Bastet and Kahli had tried to run the border between their space and his mother's. That had ended in a stalemate as neither was prepared for a war just yet.
And that was the problem. None of the Goa'uld wanted to just fight, they wanted to gain more out of this than they put in. They had forgotten the true meaning of war, grown fat with easy victories. Every time his fleets threatened on the borders of other empires, they would wave a non agression treaty in his face.
Slamming his fist through the long range conmmunications device, Daniel knocked it from the base in front of him. The orb fell to the ground sparky as the crystals inside glowed one last time, then died.
"Such anger, Jolinar." Setting down her scroll pen, Nirrti glanced over at her offspring, a cocked eyebrow her only reaction. "Does your victory over yet another enemy displease you or is there yet another reason you see fit to destroy my workings?"
"There is no pleasure. Each one I kill, I feel nothing, no satisfaction. They simply die, like pests to be exterminated." Rising from his seat, Daniel pushed the braids from over his eye long enough to rub at the brow, then let them drop back in place. The host's hair was now colored black to match statues his mother had commissioned for his victory.
Nirrti had been grateful for his work in securing borders, annexing the territories of Baal and Cronus, and stopping Kahli and Bastet's invasion attempts. That was the only reason he was still alive after letting Cronus die before she could extract her own vengence against him. That was one memory Jolinar was still smarting over, but it had to go according to plan.
Staring at her with one visible eye, Daniel moved closer to her. His own features were carefully arranged to show mere interest. "Why do you not allow me to destroy them?"
"We must rebuild after the costly war with Cronus," she snapped. This was a conversation they had had many times in the past three months. She hadn't enough Jaffa to maintain the fleet as it was, let alone to man the war ships she was building. She needed more people, more resources. Jolinar knew this, she made sure of that.
"I do not require excuses, mother! I am well aware the fact our Jaffa are few in number. We do not require many to man the Ha'tak and Alkesh." Daniel stopped directly in front of her. Their heights almost equal, he stared her directly in the eye. "I want what is mine."
"Your sire was right, you are a fire brand." Placing a hand to his face, she gently stroked his cheek. A smile spread across her features. The host was perfect, not even she could have chosen a more beautiful slave to be the vessel of her offspring. "There is little I found pleasureable of our union, but your creation was worth the discomfort. You have proven that time and again."
"If I am such a valuable tool, then why not use me?" Daniel found himself unable to remove her hand from his face, just as he was unable to kill her. She held him on the strongest tether, he would do whatever she asked of him. "Tell me what to do."
"Tell me why you find such disatisfaction in their deaths?" She held his face close, stroking the skin beneath his eye with her thumb.
"They offered no challenge. An easy victory, is no victory but a slaughter. As I do not intend to eat my enemies, there is no point in it." His anger over that fact showed as his eyes glowed. "I want to punish them for being weak. We are Goa'uld, we are supposed to be gods. Slaves are rising up against us and winning!"
"The Tau'ri." Clenching her hand in anger, she ignored the way her nails drew blood in his skin. "Soon, Jolinar, you will have your war, but not until we are ready."
"And while we wait, our enemies are marshalling their forces."
"I would think their putting up more of a fight would be what you wanted." Releasing him, she patted the sore area. "You will simply have to be content in watching the borders until then. Let them see how much it girds you to wait. Enjoy the fear it instills."
"As you wish, mother." Daniel was about to bow and leave the room when a brilliant white flash filled the far corner. He spun to face the new threat, arm raised. His actions earned him a toss across the room.
Nirrti ignored her offspring flying from the blast to focus on the enemy at hand. "What is it you seek, Asguard?"
Cocking his head to the side, Thor narrowed his eyes. "Keep tighter rein on your subjects, goa'uld. In exactly four standard days time, a summit has been called on the Tau'ri home world. You will attend as one of the three most powerful represenatives of the System Lord Collective. Failure to do so will violate the treaty of Selet as signed by the System Lord Collective and result in your immeadiet termination."
Smirking, Nirrti bent over her machine again. "I am busy, however, the treaty stipulates I may appoint someone to my stead."
"It does." Thor knew this was part of the negotiation with the goa'uld. They never directly did anything they were ordered to do, there was always a delay tactic.
"In my place shall go the commander of my fleets, Jolinar of Malksur."
"Very well."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack stared around him. He had been standing in the shower a minute ago singing to himself and now he was in the middle of a long empty cooridor looking down upon Earth. All sense of decensy gone, he stood there umabashedly looking around for the source of the new location. "Hello?"
A blinding flash of light filled the corridor and suddenly an erriely familiar being was standing there looking at him. "Greetings, O'Niell.
"Oh god." Jack hurridly covered himself after noticing the alien was also naked. "You aren't here to probe me, or anything, right? Cause, from looking at you, I don't think it would work. Not that I'm not flattered, out of five billion people, you pick me and all, just, no."
"You will prepare your world for the arrival of three Goa'uld. All the information you need is in this book." As he spoke, a metal book with paper pages appeared in front of Jack. "Comply with all the rules or your planet's future protection will be forfeit."
"Protection?" Jack stared at the alien in front of him wide eyed. This was just too weird, even for an abduction scenario.
"Take the book."
"What if I don't want to take the bo..." Jack found himself in the middle of the SGC command room. "Okay, I'll take the book." The book appeared on the floor in front of him.
Coming up behind the soaped up Colonel, General Hammond glared at his subordinate. "Colonel, just what the hell is going on?"
"Big trouble, sir." Jack pointed at the book with his big toe, refusing to turn around. "All in there. If you excuse me, I gotta go!" With that, he took off out of the control room at a dead run towards his office.
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Kahli gripped the rests of her chair as the chamber shook violently around her. Banners fell from the walls as control crystals exploded in their sockets. Her Jaffa, most already dead, tried desperately in vain to hold off the boarding enemy. In a sudden cry of rage, she rose from her chair and moved for the transport rings.
Standing over the marked spot, she activated the controls. To her horror, they didn't even hum. She stared down at them again as she pressed the control. Thinking quickly, she ran to the wall consol. She entered the right commands and still nothing happened.
The doors of her throne room exploded inwards. Strolling through the debris, the black garbed figure of a Goa'uld entered. His hand raised, he fired upon the queen.
Kahli flew back against her wall, cracking her head on the dancing figure of her own legend. As she slid down the wall, she raised her own ribbon weapon and fired upon the figure. When the blast only bounced off his shield, she cursed her lack of protection.
The man pulled out a long sword from his robes. Starting for Kahli, he raised the weapon for a downwards strike. His steps increased in speed until he was running.
Kahli waited until the last moment to roll out of the way to give her attacker less chance of anticipating the move. As it was, his swing caught the edge of her skirt and sliced it off. Rolling on her back, she kicked at his knee. Her blow missed its intended spot, but hit him in the crotch.
Eyes glowing in pain and rage, the figure slammed the blade down on her with a war cry. He quickly drew back the red stained blade and slammed it down again. Again and again he stabbed the blade through the body of the dying goa'uld.
In a last ditch effort, Kahli fired the ribbon device once more. This time the weapon had an effect upon the goa'uld attacking her.
His head snapped back with a wet crunch as the weak wave slammed in to him. Snapping his jaw back in to place, the goa'uld tore the scarf from his face. Growling, he glared upon the body of his enemy.
"You!" Then her head was cleaved from her body in a strike so hard it left the sword imbedded in the deck.
Adjusting his jaw, the goa'uld began to focus on healing the damage of a dislocated jaw bone. He quickly bent down and picked up the head. Wrapping it in the scarf, he stormed from the throne room.
A short time later the Ha'tak exploded.
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The nightly watch on the pyramid came to an abrupt end the sixth day of the eighth lunar cycle when the gate activated. For three days the pyramid was watched for any activity, for three days the pyramid stood empty. On the fourth day, it was decided that Martouf and Nebkeht would inspect the structure.
Martouf glanced about the inner chamber of the gate room. Dust had gathered since they had last been here and it would be required to be removed soon. Nervously, he stepped up to the DHD. He pressed the first symbol of the Tau'ri. It connected.
Quickly, he entered in the other six symbols. After the last one was in place, he glanced to Nebkeht.
The younger man gestured for him to continue.
Not needing any further encouragement, Martouf pressed his hand on the activation orb. The gate exploded in to life shocking them both in to jumping. Smiling, Martouf reached in to his bag and pulled out the radio. "People of the Tau'ri, please respond."
"This is General Hammond, who is speaking."
Lowering his head, Martouf let the awakening Lantash speak. "I am Lantash of the Tok'ra. It is good to hear your voice, General Hammond of the Tau'ri."
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Begining the dialing sequence for his homeworld, Apophis glanced over his shoulder at his new first prime. With the assistance of this guard and his companions, he would soon be in control of his planet once more. From there, with the ships he had stolen from Cronus during his war with Nirrti, he would launch himself once more to the glory of System Lord.
He reached forward and pressed the red activation orb. The planet of Tarnus would be his next stopping point. Tonight's scouting party had proved they were ready for the harvesting of Jaffa and suitable hosts. "Take the prisoners through the gate. After they are made in to gods, we will come back for the rest."
"That will not happen." At the words, the gate shut down.
Immeadietly Apophis and his Jaffa were on guard. With the flash of multiple staff bursts, his guard and prisoners were all dead leaving him alone in the clearing. "Who is there?"
Coming out of the shadows of the the forest, a black hooded figure glanced up at Apophis with red eyes. "You know who I am. The question you should ask is when I will let you die."
Apophis raised his ribbon device to fire upon the goa'uld but was thrown back against the dias of the gate from a reciprocating blast.
Moving to get a better look of his fallen enemy, the goa'uld tilted his head. "I make one promise, you will see your home world one last time before you die, however long that takes." Gesturing for the red jaffa to pick up the fallen goa'uld, Sokar smiled his red teeth at Apophis. "Returning the favor is the least I can do."
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Jack glared at the retreating figure of the sixth replacement member of SG-1. This guy had barely lasted a week before he was relieved of his duties and kicked back to a grunt. He was beginning to wonder just where the hell these guys were coming from. So he lied about being an academic, Jack could have lived without one less nerd about. But the fact that the guy had called the goa'uld little more than bad tempered had settled it with Jack.
If you were going to be on his team, you had better take the damn thing seriously.
They each had their own flaws that made them unreliable and down right lethal on an SG team. Now he had the unenviable task of reading through the personnel files of sixty odd canidates for the spot left open on his team for a lenguist and archiologist. So far, no one who even remotely qualified mentally, was physically capable of withstanding the training necessary to pass muster.
You had to be a soldier at times and most of these geeks were just too lazy, fat, or just friggen loose headed to handle the fact that if they didn't get their butt in gear, they could cost the lives of their team mates. This was a war, and no ordinary geek would do. He needed a super geek, a Clark Kent. Someone smart enough to out wit a goa'uld, yet brauny enough to bench press Carter.
He needed another Daniel, but that was as likely as Teal'c kissing a snake.
For weeks, the damned Tok'ra had been pressing General Hammond and himself to allow one of their people on his team. That would settle the brains and the braun, but the people skills would be right out the window. The Tok'ra were too arrogant and assholeish to be of much use. Besides that, he didn't trust them. A snake was still a snake. But judging upon the files in front of him, one of them might be his only option.
Every person represented in these files was not only incompetent, they were also completely fucking worthless as far as he was concerned. If it was up to him, they would never even be considered. Give a prime example, the top file had a guy who had been arrested by the local authorities several times for violating no entry zones because he believed the discovery was too important. Each time he had been wrong.
Tossing that file in the trash, he checked out the next one. A Full Lieutenant with an exemplry record. She was spotless. Of course, that earned her a gold star in the books of the oversite committee at the SGC. In Jack's brain, that meant one of three things: she was anal about everything, aka a control freak; Slept her way through the process, whether she was qualified was beside the point in that case; she was an implant.
"Three strikes, your out!" Jack tossed her file in the trash.
The third file was no better than the previous two. Jack caught one look at the ugly mug of the man and tossed him in the trash too. You don't glare at a personnel photo if you want to make it. Appearance was everything on a first encounter mission.
The fourth foulder held some promise. He was a two doctorate linquist. He was in his early thirties, a geneal appearance and a good temper. The man held a black belt in two forms of martial arts and was working on his third in Tai Kwan Do. Jack was about to set him aside for further consideration when he noticed a special attachement file. Upon reading it, he tossed the man in the trash. "You refuse to fight outside of a ring, what the hell is wrong with you?"
His fifth chance would be the last file for today. She was a Captain. Her record had a few commondations, but also six marks against her attitude towards her superior officers. An attitude Jack approved of, he knew each of the men in question. If not for her attitude, she would have made major by now, he noted. She had a degree in linguistics and had served as a translator in the middle east.
A female translator in the middle east, that raised his eye brow. Then he noted why she was not still there and where three of her black marks came from. So she had a problem with patronizing males, he could handle that. Carter was the same way.
The Captain held many citations for her time serving as escourt and guide in many South American exploratory missions, both DEA and Archiological. That meant she was capable with both weapons and tools of the trade. She was starting to sound like the perfect replacement.
"Captain Croft, where have you been all my life?" Upon reaching the last page of her file, Jack swore. "Apparently on the run from authorities in the jungles of South-East Asia. Tomb robbing, not a smart choice of vacation time, Captain. Next!" He tossed her file in the trash.
Well, that was the last of his work for the day. Accept for the briefing they were having in a half hour to go over the goa'uld, everything else had been cleared from his schedule. He felt a wave of gratitude to the Asguard for the interuption, nothing like a little intergalactic diplomacy to remove annoying crap like dealing with Maybourne's attempt at remodelling level twenty-four to look like a set from some sci-fi show.
Sitting back in his chair, he began to spin it from side to side. He idly wondered if Lieutenant Astor had been escourted from the base yet. His plane for Greenland was leaving in twelve hours and his place had already been packed. Jack wanted that fool far away from his command.
"Frankly, sir, I don't consider them much more than a dog with distemper. Sure, they can be dangerous, but as long as you are well armed, they aren't much of a threat," Jack mocked. "Distemper this, you ignorant fuck!"
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Persius took a nervous breath. Standing in front of the holo imager, he cleared his throat and smiled at the gathered Tok'ra and SG personnel. He cast a furtive glance towards General Hammond before starting. "The Asguard have provided us with recent images of the three Goa'uld that will be attending the confrence in two days."
He waved a hand over the imager and the glass wall of the confrence room over looking the gate turned in to a freeze. The painted wall was of a battle scene, a goa'uld in white stood over the broken bodies of discernable black shapes. Hair thrown back in a striking pose, her image was designed to convey benevolent beauty.
"This is Bastet. She is one of three powerful Goa'uld queens. Do not let the image decieve, she is more blood thirsty than your average goa'uld. Her cunning has granted her more than one victory over her stronger opponents." Ignoring the expressions of everyone in the room. He waved a hand over the image. "She is partners with another queen named Kahli the Destroyer. Kahli is revered as the eternal form of Chaos, even amongst the goa'uld. Together they intend to rule the galaxy, any one who opposes them is little more than ash.
"While here, she will most likely attempt to gather as much information as possible. She will trick even the most cunning of opponents in to revealing their plans. Do not leave anyone around her unattended, keep talkative people from her." Persius waved his hand over the imager again and the image shifted from Bastet and Kahli to an oriental man.
Jack whistled at the strong pose the man effected. He was standing on the stone wall of a pogoda style castle arms in sleeves. Behind him were thousands of kneeling women. Each one a symbol of what he considered a hot momma. The castle was bedecked in dragons, which impressed him even further, he liked dragons.
"This is Lord Yu. Founding one of the longest lasting civilizations on your planet, he was believed to be a strong ruler. His rulings were fair, but his punishments harsh. His enemies barely lived to regret coming against him." Persius focused his attention on Jack "For your sake, do not anger him deliberately."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack was affronted. He knew he would do it just to spite the snake, but it wasn't like he would admit to one.
"It means that, right now, Yu is your best hope of maintaining your existance if this treaty is to go through. Lord Yu has no interest with the Tau'ri as his forces moved out of this part of the galaxy long ago. He is more likely to favor it." Turning his attention back to the others, Persius continued. "Lord Yu is strictly adherent to custom. You will bow to him when required, you refer to him only by his title. Do not call him a snake, he prefers to be refered to as The Dragon."
"Big surprise there."
"Colonel." Hammond's voice was tired. There was no way they were going to make it through this. His people were just too much.
"Sorry, sir." For his part, Jack was contrite.
Persius waved his hand over the imager to change the wall freeze. This time he didn't even look at it. He knew the image by heart now, he had studied it long enough. Taking a heart stopping breath, he swallowed sharply. "Um, this is the represenative of the queen, Nirrti. Nirrti is the strongest of the Goa'uld at the present time.
"Her forces have recently conquered those of two System Lords, the goa'uld Cronus and the goa'uld Baal. Both were considered canidates for the title of Supreme System Lord, left vacant when you killed Ra. Their deaths have spooked the rest of the System Lord Collective, and sparked a war unlike anything we have ever seen."
Jack waved his hand to get Persius' attention.
"Yes, Colonel?" Perius just knew this would be trouble.
"What about this represenative, he got a name? Any weaknesses we can exploit?" When Persius paused, Jack glanced at the picture again. The image was of a blue skinned man with black hair wearing little to disguise the fact he was a man. In his hands were the heads of his enemies and the tools he used to sever them. "Looks kinda mean to me."
"There are no weaknesses to exploit." Persius stared Jack down, his face completely blank. "He is largely responcible for the deaths of both goa'uld. Both offered him surrender as he bombarded their worlds. Baal he had ripped apart piece by piece by ants. Cronus was torture mercilessly for a week before he died in a ship explosion. Had he not died then, he would have been handed over to Nirrti for further torture."
"And his name?"
"Our reports say the commander of her armies and represenative, is named Jolinar." Grinding his teeth, he tilted his head a little up. "You can understand why I am reluctant to reveal the name."
The room went silent.
Clearing his throat, Hammond sat forward. "Yes. That is a difficult thing to accept. When you are ready, we can continue this briefing."
"I am ready now." Waving his hand over the viewer, Persius changed the image to another freeze of Daniel. This time, the freeze showed his blue painted skin coated in blood from the severed heads. "Nirrti is most proud of her offspring. She trusts him enough to send him in her place. Do not believe that because he is not one of the System Lords, he is easier handle. Quite the contrary, Jolinar is completely loyal to his mother, nothing he can say or do will change that."
"Why's that?" This time Jack was prepared. He didn't care what the others thought, he was going to pump this snake for all information.
"That is a delicate subject..."
"I don't care. Tell me why this Jolinar is unable to think for himself."
"He is able to think, that is the damnedable problem!" Persius, surprised by his own outburst, composed himself quickly. "Jolinar, like all goa'uld, was born to a queen. It is these queens that decide the personality of the Goa'uld or Tok'ra that is born to them. They decide what memories, what thoughts, what feelings the offspring will have to start out with and base their life around. It is why we of the Tok'ra are who we are, our mother decided we would be this and nothing else. We may change our perceptions, but we are always haunted by the programming of our mother."
"Our mother held back on the memories of atrocities our ancestors committed against your people. What she gave us was the decision to respect our hosts and ourselves." Anise, who was sitting next to Major Carter, snorted at the disbelief written on Jack's face. "Believe what you wish, Colonel. If it were not true, you would most likely be dead by now."
"Enough." At the foot of the table, surrounded by body guards, Selmac glared at the bickering people with contempt. "Not all queens are as dominating as Egaria and Nirrti, who imprint their chosen personality on their children. Others, like my queen, believed in just creating as many offspring to secure her usefulness as were needed. Personality was our own to decide, that is if we lived long enough to fully mature and require a host. The point is that Nirrti's child can not be used against his mother."
"Very well." Gathering up his papers, Hammond leaned over the table. "We all know this is going to be difficult. Those of you remaining on the base study your materials, if you have any questions, see the Tok'ra. We have two days, people, don't screw this up. Dismissed."