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Chapter 12.

Plans.

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I watched the second mining operation with pride. It was different from the first mine - Mine 1. Instead of the small, simple tools used there, here they were replaced with heavy machinery. It took eight months for the second mine to become operational, but it was finally done.

There were huge drills, excavators and earthmovers that tore loose the soil and raw ore.

Unlike the small carts used in Mine 1, in Mine 2, big cargo haulers were used instead. Basically they were nothing more than huge, glorified containers fitted with a naqahdah generator, a heavy engine and a small cockpit attached to the big container. The raw ore was placed in the cargo haulers by the heavy machinery, and then they were transported to the refinery for processing.

The cargo haulers were simple, slow and easy to maneuver - perfect for their human pilots that had little knowledge of technology.

The automated refinery was bigger than the first one, to accommodate the huge influx of raw ore.

With this new mining facility, I can now set my sights to new goals. It's time to expand a little.

"My Lady," one of the twins interrupted my musings.

"Yes?"

"We have word from the ship we sent to the Tau'ri."

"Excellent," I smiled. "Call the others for a meeting in two hours. And have Ka'na attend."

"Yes, my Lady."

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I nodded at my commanders who were already in the briefing room. I sat at the head of the table and smiled at them. Besides the twins, Kyra and Eerie, there were two more attendees. The first one was Ka'na, who had impressed me with her previous work and was about to get a promotion. The second was my daughter, Erika, who sat next to me.

There are many reasons for her presence. First is that in an event of my death, she is my heir. I know it is strange for a Goa'uld to even consider events after death ... besides revenge, that is, but I am not like them. Even if I am to die, my legacy will live on.

The twins, Kyra, Eerie are my friends and family now. Maya is my other half, and Erika is my beloved daughter. I will do almost anything to ensure their safety and happiness.

There are of course other reasons for Erika's presence. One day, she will be one of my commanders, probably in the research department. This could be a great learning experience for her. Also, it would be wise to have a human as one of those who rule my people. Having Erika acknowledged as part of my inner circle will make Erika's people in particular and humans in general, very loyal. Keeping their loyalty, especially of those who posses the Gate Builder Gene is very important. Due to their superior mental and physical abilities, they are as important as my Jaffa ... perhaps even more.

"I believe we all saw the report from the Tau'ri," I said. At their nods, I looked at Ka'na. "How is the human settlement on Refuge?"

"Quite well, my Lady. The human settlement is mostly complete. They have plenty of food, they are healthy and they love their new home. The school was recently expanded." At my questioning look, Ka'na explained. "It looks like the princess's people love to learn. Much of the human adult population decided to attend and learn in special classes."

"That's a very good thing," I said. "Since your presence supervising the construction of the human settlement is no longer needed, I have a new job for you. You are now in charge of exploration. There are three main things that are needed to be done." The hologram of a small ship appeared above the table. "This is an unmanned probe. Thanks to our new mining facility, we now have resources for more than the absolutely necessary. Part of these resources will be put in the construction of these unmanned probes. They are small enough to travel through a Stargate, but they are also hyper-capable. There are two versions of this probe. The first one, is the active probe and has powerful active sensors. The second version, is the stealth probe. It has stealth capability and very good passive sensors. I want both models deployed together when exploring. If something happens with the active probe, the stealth probe will be able to record what happened and warn us. I want the area around Refuge, explored. I want you to search for naqahdah or other resources."

"Next, all known gate addresses need to be explored. The primary mission is to find Gate Builder artifacts. However, I want it done in secret. Use only stealth probes. The Daggers and Explorers have cloaking devices. Use them. Revealing ourselves is only to be done after careful consideration."

"Exploring is easier if you don't have to hide yourself," Ka'na said.

"I know," I said, "but remaining hidden is important. At the moment, we cannot afford to antagonize any System Lord."

At Ka'na's nod of understanding, I continued. "Your final and most important task has to do with the Tau'ri. A hidden, protected base must be constructed. For now, I want you to observe the planet and its system. While officially the Goa'uld retreated from the planet, it is possible that not all of them left."

"I understand," Ka'na replied. "May I ask what is our interest in the planet?"

"There are multiple reasons," I answered. "It is said that long before the rise of the Goa'uld there were four powerful Great Races. They were the Asgard, two more races that have since disappeared and the Gate Builders. Some of our technology comes from the Gate Builders directly, or indirectly via some of the races the Goa'uld conquered. Some Goa'uld thought that there is some sort of connection between humans and the Gate Builders."

"Thanks to Erika," I said glancing at the girl, "this connection has been confirmed. We now know that the Tau'ri may hold some answers to their technology. We currently have quite a bit of trouble in deciphering their alphabet. There is the chance that we will find something that will help us with this problem. Any understanding in Gate Builder technology and language would help us immensely."

After a short pause, I continued, "The other reason for my interest is the humans themselves. Even after the Goa'uld abandoned the planet, there were still some Goa'uld that visited the planet for human slaves. One such expedition was little over a thousand years ago. I believe that even at that time there were over 100 million humans. Such a huge population is a significant resource."

"Are we talking about their partial or full relocation?" Kyra asked, frowning.

"No," I answered. I do intend to transport some humans to Refuge, but not in the way you may think. After the genetic studies on Erika's people, we discovered something strange. It appears that the Gate Builder Gene is some sort of spontaneous mutation. Looks like some humans evolved towards this specific point. There are cases where the parents don't have the gene, but some of their descendents, have it."

Everybody frowned in confusion at my words.

"I do not understand, my Lady," Kyra said. "I thought that there was a common ancestor who had the gene and passed it down. Evolution doesn't work this way."

"That is true," I nodded. "But we are talking about the Gate Builders here. It looks like they somehow managed to program the human genome into evolving towards a specific path - their own. They somehow managed to ensure that at least some humans evolved differently; that somehow, some humans will become some sort of primitive Gate Builder. We are going to find some of these people and offer them the choice of joining us."

"With such a huge population, we could expand far faster," Kyra said. "Would it not be more practical to just conquer the whole planet?"

"In one way, yes it would," I admitted, "but it would be too risky. First, there is the risk of discovery. We will avoid a war with the Goa'uld until we are able to defeat their combined might. Besides that, we would have an even bigger problem. The Tau'ri have their own languages, culture, religion, rulers and political system. It would be impossible to ensure effective control over them. Taking over such a huge population could lead to our destruction. If we did, sooner or later one or more of the human leaders would decide that they are the perfect choice for the ruler of the galaxy. No," I shook my head, "moving too fast, increasing our population drastically while we are still vulnerable will only lead to our destruction."

I waited for their nods before continuing. "We will use the same strategy we use when recruiting Jaffa." The hologram of a mechanic flying insect appeared above the table. "This is a Mosquito," I explained. "They are very small and stealthy. We can use them in large numbers to collect genetic samples from humans."

"If the human population is so large, this could be difficult," Eerie said.

"Not really," I replied. "A few decades or even a century, is nothing to us. You must learn to think long term."

"Perhaps we should," Eerie said, "but we are not immortal, my Lady. A century is more than half the life of a Jaffa."

"For now."

"My Lady? I do not understand."

"I have no intention of allowing my people to live such a short life," I explained. Glancing at their faces, I continued, "Especially you."

Besides the obvious emotional loss, there is another reason I want them to have a longer lifespan. Goa'uld and Asgard live for thousands of years. In this time, they accumulate huge amounts of experience and knowledge. My people having a short lifespan would be a significant disadvantage. I must find a way of extending their life.

I could tell that the commanders were pleased by my words. Erika slipped her hand into my own and I gave the small hand a gentle squeeze.

Clearing my throat, I continued. "For now, that is all on the subject of exploration. Kyra."

"My Lady?"

"I have two jobs for you. First, you will organize a new training facility on Refuge. This one will not be for Jaffa, but for the humans. Second, I want you to find an abandoned planet that isn't in a Goa'uld's territory. I want you to supervise the building of a pyramid. This will be our first trading post. I want it well defended. For that, you will have priority on our defense satellites."

The hologram of the satellite appeared. It was in the rough shape of a trilateral pyramid. Its size was small enough to pass through a Stargate. Individually, the satellite was not much. While it had decent shields and strong weapons, it lacked the speed and maneuverability of a death glider. Also, due to its lack of a pilot, their effectiveness was lowered. However, the weapon satellites were designed to work together. Thanks to their simple design and relative low cost, they could be built in high numbers.

It would take thousands of them to even pose a threat to a Ha'tak, but their mission would not be to defeat an invading force. They could only defend against a small force or delay a strong fleet, but that was enough.

"Any questions?" I asked.

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After I arrived back at my living quarters along with Erika, I sat down at my desk to continue working while she begun to do her homework.

As I said at the meeting, the Goa'uld and the Asgard are practically immortal. Jaffa could hope to live over two hundred years, but humans rarely lived to reach one hundred.

With the use of a sarcophagus, a human could live up to a millennium and a Jaffa, double that. Unfortunately, such a heavy usage would also mean addiction.

I must find other ways to do this. Besides the obvious advantage of longevity, I cannot afford having my Jaffa serve as incubators for Goa'uld. Sooner or later, one of them will manage to possess one of my humans. I cannot allow such a thing to happen. It would be better for my Jaffa to have another way, a safe way of providing long life and health.

One possibility of helping would be to perfect the sarcophagus.

Another, would be to implant a Goa'uld symbiote. I could perhaps, clone myself. But even if I could safely do it, Jaffa, unlike humans, can not be full hosts to a Goa'uld.

I could also use nanotechnology, but I have to develop the technology first.

Finally, I can use the Goa'uld genome as a template. Instead of a symbiote that would take control of the host, I could engineer a blank, single cell symbiote that could only heal and repair the host.

Soon, I will have many competent researchers to work on these problems. It may take decades, but in the end I will find the solution.

Two hours later, I was interrupted from my work by Erika.

"Are you hungry, Princess?" I asked. At her nod, I stood up. "Me too."

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One year later, Bubastis.

"So, Marduk ... how goes the war?" I asked.

"It's almost over," Marduk answered.

"Oh?"

"Yes. Lady Bastet recently killed one of Kuro's Lieutenants. One other surrendered. Currently, there's only one of them left. In another year at most, this will be finished."

"That is good news," I said. "This war was far too brutal for my taste. We need to recover from our losses and take advantage of the new resources before one of the System Lords thinks to attack us."

"That's easier said than done. I did manage to capture three of Kuro's Ha'taks, but I also lost two and damaged three more. I've lost almost half of my death gliders, three quarters of my bombers and thousands of Jaffa."

"Perhaps I can help you," I said, hiding my pleasure. "I have a contact. There is an unaligned Goa'uld I trade with. I believe they have some significant stockpiles of equipment. At the very least they could help you with your death glider problem."

"Really?" he asked in interest.

"Yes," I nodded. "I've traded with them for a few years. They are a little secretive, but they always honor their deals. Also, they are quite flexible in the method of payment. They accept naqahdah, other raw resources, information, artifacts, (especially Gate Builder). They also buy luxury humans slaves."

"Is this why you bought those humans?" he asked.

"Yes, it was for them. And they don't buy just any kind of human. They are after quality, not quantity and they pay a lot for it."

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Author's Notes: Some clarifications:

In the TV show, it was hinted by the Asgard that they were waiting for a sufficiently advanced human to evolve. They were not searching for the descended of an Ancient ... if they were, they would have found him or her a long time before. No, they were waiting for an advanced human to evolve. I can only assume that the ancients found a way to program the human genome into evolving towards a specific path and the Asgard knew ... or suspected it. After all, they were the Ancients. There isn't much they can't do.

The iris Lilith build was not a normal one. Instead of being three micrometers away from the event horizon, it is inside of it. The result is the same as burying the Stargate.

Many asked when this is happening. The answer is sometimes around 1700-1800 AD.

One thing ... This is Lilith and her Empire centric. We will see some SG1 ... but only in how it relates to Lilith or the overall galactic situation. You won't read about SG1'ns missions ... unless they meet with an Eratan. I already have some interesting scenes planned about this: A young Teal'c going to an Eratan Trade World and his impression of it. A briefing about "Lilith the Goa'uld" by Daniel Jackson and Teal'c and of course, the obligatory first meeting between SG1 and the "evil snakehead and her minions."

Again, this chapter was more of a development chapter. I'll try to squeeze a war as soon as possible. Lilith is very careful, but Murphy will ruin some of her plans.

Next chapter will probably center around Earth.

Thank you all for reading and reviewing.

Published: July 23, 2009.

-voider-

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