Teal'c stalked through the halls of the palace. He rapidly made his way to Daro's quarters.
"Come with me."
"Yes master. Where are we going?"
"I have something to teach you, something that my master taught me many years ago. It is time for you to learn of it."
Teal'c turned and left the chamber. Daro followed him, neither one speaking. They soon exited the palace, and started down the path towards the stargate. Once there Teal'c bade the guards disappear for a few minutes, then he dialed the gate. Once it was active, he and Daro stepped through.
"Do you know this place?"
Daro looked around. The sky was reddish orange, matching the blighted landscape of sand and rock that he saw. Immediately before them lay an open plaza lined with pillars and tumbled down stone structures. On the opposite side was a temple carved into the face of a cliff.
"No, my master."
"This is Dakara. All jaffa are expected to visit it."
"I have never had the honor of coming here."
"This place has been set aside by the gods as a place of eternal peace between jaffa. No violence is allowed to occur here. Do you know why?"
"No." Daro looked anxious. He had long suspected that there was some deep mystery to this place. Now, it seemed, he would finally uncover it.
"Follow me."
Teal'c led him down the steps and across the plaza. He paused at the entrance to the temple.
Opening the doors he said, "Be quiet in this place. Though few come at any one time, when they do, it is for mediation."
"I understand," whispered Daro.
Teal'c began to walk slowly into the temple. The doors led into a large foyer bounded by steps on the far side. Past them lay a long hall arrayed with yet more pillars. On either side of the hall were rooms and passages. On the walls and carved into the pillars were thousands of words and hundreds of images.
"In this hall is recorded all the greatest moments in our history. The story of great battles and legendary jaffa resides in these walls."
Daro gazed in wonder at what he saw. Teal'c walked slowly so that Daro could drink in his surrounding, but he did not stop walking. They eventually came to the end of the hall. On the back wall were double doors thrown wide. Inside was a large, round room ringed with tiers of seats. In the center of the chamber lay an object that Daro had never seen before. It appeared to be an altar. Rather than being red or yellow or orange stone, like all else in the hall, this object was a dark grey. Before he could enter the room Teal'c stopped.
"Do not enter there. We are going elsewhere."
With that Teal'c turned off the main hall and entered a side passage. They walked past some doors and through others, following a twisting, winding path. They often walked down a sloped hallway or down a flight of steps, but rarely up and never as much as they traveled down. They made one last turn and went through a small door.
They were outside once more. The passages they had come through had grown increasingly less ornate. The walls had long since stopped being inscribed with words, and had taken on a rough hewn look. The final door they went through was a simple, if stout, wooden door.
Looking up Daro could see a great cliff stretching above them, looking down he could see much the same, before him lay a parched valley. In the distance stretched a line of mountains. They were on a ledge in the cliff which soon disappeared around a curve in the wall. Teal'c stood staring into the distance before continuing on.
As they walked Teal'c spoke.
"Few have come this way. The caretakers of this temple live down here. They do not guard the door. They have no reason to. Those few who do venture into their domain are usually lost, and are quickly guided back into the main hall. Some find their way to the door and pass through it. Few follow this path until its end, and fewer still would understand what they found there.
"What I will show is the deepest secrets of both jaffa and goa'uld. You will soon know where we come from."
Teal'c lapsed into silence. The pair continued to walk along the ledge. The wind whipped at them. In the sky a bird circled. Daro was nearly dying with anticipation, but he kept his calm was he walked beside his master. After several minutes the path ended. They faced a pair of metal doors covered in ornate decoration. A lintel was carved directly into the stone. Teal'c opened the door and entered, followed shortly by Daro.
Once inside Teal'c lit the torches that were placed around the room. On the walls were carved unfamiliar words. Along the back wall was a fresco depicting a goa'uld, arms spread wide in seeming benevolence. In the center of the room stood a table. Teal'c lead Daro to the table.
"In this room the first jaffa was created. Created, not born."
Daro stood agape. "How were we made?"
"Many thousands of years ago the goa'uld found a race of beings that they could control. These beings were easily healed, quick to breed, and soon to die. They were called the Tau'ri. They were also rebellious, disdainful of their masters. That is why a small number of them were brought here. The goa'uld manipulated their physiology. They made them stronger, more obedient. They made these beings into the incubators of the gods. They made the Tau'ri into jaffa."
Daro could hardly breathe. What were these creatures? Where had they come from?
"The goa'uld possess these creatures. What you see when you look upon the face of your lord is not the lords true face. You look only upon the face of the Tau'ri that the goa'uld inhabits. Have you never wondered at the similarities between goa'uld and jaffa? Or between the jaffa and the slaves? You have known the Tau'ri all your life, for they are our slaves."
"You mean that we are descended from slaves?" Daro was breathless with the enormity of the idea.
"We ARE slaves."
Daro staggered back, turned to face away from Teal'c. His breathing was ragged, his heart was pounding. He could not understand. He had come here hoping to learn some great secret, and now he had, and he no longer knew himself. He felt as though all his life, all his devotion to the gods, his very essence, had been taken from him. He could cling to just one thought.
"WE ARE NOT SLAVES!"
"We are, and you must recognize this. All that the goa'uld have, all that they are, all that we are, comes from the Tau'ri. We are slaves to the gods as surely as the humans are, indeed, we are more so, for we cannot even live without them. We are slaves."
"NO!"
Daro could hardly see for the tears in his eyes. He did not know what he had to do, he just knew that he had to do something. He staggered over to the wall. He pounded on it with his fist. A great wailing came from his throat. He stumbled back to the table. He leaned on it, as though its solidity was the only reality he knew. Daro sobbed.
His back was still turned towards Teal'c. He had watched Daros misery with patience. But there was yet one more thing that Teal'c had to say. He lay his hand upon the knife at his waist. He pulled the knife out, and held it in his hand.
"Face me! There is one last thing you must hear."
"No, please, leave me be."
"You must hear me. I must tell you this, and then I shall leave. Jaffa, hear me!"
Daro, shaking and weeping, turned to face his master. In an instant the knife slashed out, slicing cleanly through Daro's throat. Shock and betrayal filled his eyes. His hands grasped at his wound. Teal'c grabbed the collar of his robes, and pulled him close. The knife stabbed forward once again, this time entering the abdomen. It went into the pouch that contained the larval goa'uld that all jaffa carried. It ripped the flesh of both man and god, mingling their blood. It pierced the back wall of the pouch, allowing the blood to mix with the internal organs, to fill the body cavity of the man named Daro Mok. Teal'c leaned in close, and whispered into the ear of his apprentice.
"The goa'uld are not gods."
He stepped back. He watched as his comrade scrabbled backwards and bumped into the table. He watched as he slid down onto the floor. He watched the blood pool around his student. Daro leaned forward, trying to crawl away in a desperate attempt to escape. Teal'c placed his foot against him and pushed him back down. Daro felt the strength draining from him. He would never understand why his master had betrayed him. The last thing he saw was Teal'c staring at him, imperious and terrible.
Once satisfied that Daro was dead, Teal'c strode around to the other side of the table. He took the knife, still covered in blood, and began to inscribe words into the surface.
"I AM THE FIRST JAFFA TO KNOW FREEDOM. IN THIS PLACE WHERE OUR ENSLAVEMENT BEGAN IS WHERE I BEGIN MY REBELLION. I AM TEAL'C. I AM THE SHOL'VA."
Teal'c left Dakara.
/ / /
When he returned to Chulak he swifty made his way to his quarters. He put on his armor and grabbed the pack which contained all that he wished to bring with him. He took up his weapons, the staff, short staff, and hand held weapon. He strapped the knife he used to murder Daro to his waist. Finally, he grabbed his letter and exited the palace.
Within a few minutes he was at his home. Making sure that no one was there he took the few personal possessions he would keep. He left the letter in a place where his son would find it. He left his home.
Teal'c went to the stargate. The guards were alert, but they knew Teal'c. They gave him no trouble when he dialed. He stepped through. Once through he spread his arms wide, staff weapon held out but not threatening.
"I am Teal'c. I have come to offer what knowledge I have to help in your fight against the Goa'uld."
Teal'c had come to Earth.