A thought shook Jack out of his reverie and he fingered the radio attached to his vest.

"This is General Jack O'Neill of Earth calling the Asgard ship above the planet. Please respond…"

He looked around as he waited for a reply, noticing his half finished address on the dialing device. He punched in the last few symbols but refrained from touching the activation sphere.

"Repeating…this is Jack O'Neill, personal friend of Supreme Commander Thor, calling the Asgard ship that just butt-checked the Aschen fleet. I would really like to talk to you guys if you can spare a minute…"

Jack let go of the transmit button and waited. It was possible they were already out of range and that the only ones hearing him were in the nearby harvester. He didn't like making himself a sitting duck, and was ready to jump through the gate on a moment's notice…well, two moments or he'd be vaporized by the kawoosh…but the reappearance of the Asgard was HUGE news and worth the danger, in O'Neill's opinion. The Asgard were supposed to have all died in another galaxy a few years back.

Suicide had never seemed like the little grey guys' style to begin with, and to tell the truth O'Neill had never been able to fully comprehend them giving up like that, but their being here, now felt totally right to Jack's gut.

The galaxy had gone to pieces in recent years, but just seeing that hammerhead shape streak across the sky made him feel like a Colonel again, with Thor and the other Asgard looking out for the pathetic, yet plucky Humans.

Someway, somehow the galaxy had just squared itself away, and Jack couldn't help but crack a smile.

"This is Jack O'Neill trying to reach the Asgard. Can anyone hear me?"

Jack glanced around, expecting to find the bad guys closing in on him, when his line of sight fell on the melted piled of stones in front of the gate. He frowned as his mind finally processed enough of his surroundings to wonder why they were there. He walked over to the mess of rock and took a closer look…

There were mostly melted blobs of solidified goo, but a few edges remained. Jack knelt down and ran his finger over one of them.

"Son of a…" he said as an epiphany hit him amidst a burst of white light.

"…bitch," he finished inside an empty chamber onboard the Asgard ship, but no one was around to greet him. He stood up and looked around.

"Oh yeah," he said, noticing the familiar architecture. "They're back."

Jack turned around, noticing a large viewing window behind him. Apparently this was some version of an Asgard observation deck. He walked up to the wide window and whistled…

Below the countryside, full of trees and square fields, was being rearranged by Asgard beams, plucking out the Aschen architecture with ease. Jack wondered where exactly all the stuff was going.

Small footfalls echoed in the silence of the ship's interior as a tall Asgard walked around the corner of the doorway and into view just inside the high ceiling arch.

"Greetings," it offered, looking up at O'Neill from across the room.

"Hey…nice to see you guys back from the dead," Jack said like they were best buddies. "By the way, love the work you're doing outside. A+ for butt-whipping."

"It is regrettable, but necessary," the Asgard stated evenly.

"Yeah…what planet are we on anyway? It's one of yours, isn't it?"

"Einherja is one of the oldest Asgard-protected worlds in the galaxy, second only to Earth in population. We originally relocated many human civilizations here for their mutual protection, however, the treaty we signed with the Goa'uld prevented us from continuing this practice."

"Which is why Walter thought it'd be safe…" O'Neill half said to himself. "Anyway, I'm Jack O'Neill…"

"Yes, we have met before," the Asgard said.

Jack frowned. "Oh?"

"I am Freyr."

"Freyr, huh…" Jack said evenly, remembering their last conversation. "You've grown."

"You noticed," the Asgard said sarcastically.

"Kind of hard to miss," Jack countered.

"Indeed. I and the other Asgard transferred our consciousnesses into new clone bodies that the Ancients provided for us. Thanks to our recently returned allies, our degenerative condition has been cured and the Asgard civilization is once again on the rise."

"Great to hear," Jack said, clapping his hands together once. "I don't suppose Thor is around by any chance?"

"Commander Thor is currently preoccupied on the bridge…he sent me to deal with you until he is free from his duties."

"Deal with me?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow in protest.

"We are wondering why you were on the planet's surface?" Freyr asked, ignoring his complaint. "As far as we know, Earth has no ties to this world."

"If you're accusing us of working with the Aschen, you can forget it," Jack said, slashing the air in front of him with his hand for emphasis. "They attacked Earth not too long ago. I'm here on my own, as it were."

"For what purpose?" Freyr asked, blinking.

"Running away," Jack said candidly.

Freyr didn't say anything in response.

"You know, I'd love to fill you in on everything that's been going on, but it's a rather long story and I don't want to have to repeat myself twice when I meet Thor, so…"

"Our conversation is being recorded by the ship's computer," Freyr informed him. "Whatever you tell me, Thor will also know upon review of the ship's log."

"Of course," Jack said, slightly disappointed. "Alright…don't suppose we could sit down somewhere?"

Freyr raised his hand towards the right side of the room and two heavy throne-like chairs materialized facing each other parallel to the viewport.

"Nice," Jack said, plopping down into the nearest seat.

Freyr took a bit more time and gingerly settled his still fragile body into the opposite chair. "Has something transpired on Earth?"

"Oh yeah," Jack emphasized.

"Please elaborate."

"Well, for starters the stargate has been taken out of Cheyenne Mountain and moved back to Egypt."

Freyr's eyelids raised a fraction. "Who now has possession of the stargate?"

"The I.O.A. stole it from us," Jack said bluntly. "I tried to stop them and ended up having to go rogue. Either that or end up in a prison cell for the rest of my life."

"You have been labeled a renegade?" Freyr asked, a mixture of concern and irony in his nearly emotionless voice.

"Afraid so," Jack said, without any hint of levity.

"Please tell us what has transpired, with as much detail as you can recall, starting with the beginning of the trouble on Earth."

Jack blew out a long breath. "Well, to be honest it started a few years back when…"


"…then I find myself on this planet without knowing where the hell I was," Jack continued after nearly an hour of venting. "I'd planned on gating somewhere else right away, but decided to take a nap first. Then you guys show up and here we are."

"Your news is indeed troubling, but ultimately no longer our concern," Freyr commented.

"I'm not asking you guys to fix Earth," Jack told him resolutely. "I've washed my hands of the whole mess. The whole freaking planet can blow up for all I care."

"Forgive me," Freyr said acutely, "but I doubt your sincerity. You cannot have fought the number of battles you did to save your world on many occasions and not retain some emotional ties to it."

"No…" O'Neill disagreed, nodding his head in facetious certainty, "I'm pretty sure I couldn't give a rat's ass right about now."

"As you wish," Freyr relented. "What do you wish from us?"

"Well…" O'Neill said, uncertain. "For starters I was wondering how you guys were still alive. I was told you blew your own planet up…with you on it."

"Our deaths were merely a ruse," Freyr revealed. "We couldn't take the chance of our technology falling into the wrong hands if and when we did finally succumb to our previous condition. We decided to fake our deaths, with your people as witnesses, in order to deter future scavengers. If they believed all we had was destroyed, then there would be nothing left for them to look for. This tactic allowed us to slip away unnoticed, where we hid until the Ancients returned and offered us a cure."

"How devious of you," Jack offered, mildly impressed. "So, what's the beef between you and the Aschen?"

"During our brief absence the Aschen took possession of Einherja. We demanded that they relinquish control and leave the planet…they refused."

"Was that one of Thor's hammers near the gate?"

Freyr hesitated at O'Neill's description. "Yes."

"Why'd they trash it?" he asked.

"They destroyed all Asgard technology on the planet's surface," Freyr informed him.

"But it was just an anti-Goa'uld thing, right?"

"Two thirds of the planet's population was killed when they refused to accept Aschen control. It seems they tolerate no resistance to their rule. Visible reminders of the Asgard would presumably undermine their authority in the eyes of the remaining indigenous population."

Jack cringed. "Nasty little buggars."

"Indeed," Freyr agreed.

"I assume there are at least some Aschen on the planet?"

"Yes."

"What are you going to do with them?" Jack wondered.

"They will be released through the stargate when we have finished removing their infrastructure."

"Just like that?" O'Neill said, gesturing with open hands.

"Along with subdermal transponders," Freyr added, "that will allow us to track their movements, revealing their other worlds should the conflict escalate beyond this one battle."

"Ah…well that sounds more like it," Jack said. "For a moment there I thought you were going to let them off the hook."

"Hardly," Freyr said menacingly as the sound of foot strikes grew louder from the hallway outside…except these didn't sound like the soft padding of bare Asgard feet. They sounded like bootstrikes.

"Hey," Sheppard said loudly as he appeared in the open archway, "I hear someone needs a lift?"


Vala didn't know how long she'd been left alone in the interrogation room. It must have been a few hours at least, and she was getting quite tired of looking at the drab ceiling…she was also getting quite the draft as her skin was plush with goose bumps from the slight chill in the air. Her restraints held her firmly to the table, no matter how much she tried to wiggle free…and she'd had quite a while to try.

The metal door opened with a loud clank that resounded in Vala's ears amidst what had been complete silence.

"About time you got back," Vala toyed with him. "I was beginning to get lonely."

The distinctive snap click of a pistol chambering a round brought Vala's head up. The Goa'uld had a small sidearm in his left hand as he approached the table.

"I don't really see a reason for that…" she said desperately. "Your boys did a very good job of tying me down."

When the Goa'uld was three meters away he raised his gun arm toward Vala's bound and naked body.

"No, no…" she argued quickly, "we're not done talking yet. I still have valuable secrets to give up, remember? Besides, don't you want to ride me at least once before…"

The first gunshot pierced Vala's heart with sound echoing throughout the room. Before the bang dissipated another shot was fired, hitting her sternum. A third and final shot split the distance between the first two, also impacting her heart.

The Goa'uld watched her convulse and fall silent, making sure his shots had hit the intended mark as she continued to bleed out onto the table.

"What a waste," he whispered to himself in Goa'uld, then turned around to address the guards that had stepped into the open doorway when they heard the shots.

"Kill the others, then dispose of the bodies. They were never here, understood?"

"Yes, sir," the pair said in tandem.

The Goa'uld waved them on ahead of him, then casually walked out of the chamber and down the corridor to deal with other business. He hoped Hera's impulsiveness wouldn't doom their efforts to eventual failure, and that the Queen did indeed know what she was doing…but he couldn't shake the feeling that she'd just made a grave miscalculation.