While the Marines were arriving on top of the Mountain, down below:
"Unscheduled Off World Activation! Security Teams to the Gate room," blared from the PA as the klaxon sounded.
Stepping in to the control room, General Hammond saw Colonel O'Neill was already present.
"Tok'ra IDC," announced the Gate tech on duty.
"Open the Iris," O'Neill ordered.
Jack headed immediately for the Gate room, Carter, Teal'c and Daniel arriving on his heels. "Tok'ra," Jack said to them.
"Maybe it's Dad," Sam said.
It had been several months since they had heard from the Tok'ra directly. They all wondered what this could be. A figure stepped through the Gate: Jacob/Selmak and then the Gate closed down.
"Stand down," Jack ordered the security team. "Welcome back Jacob."
"Thanks,Jack" he said and looked around. "Sam!" he smiled then walked over and hugged her. "I've missed you," he whispered in her ear.
"I missed you too, Dad."
"Let's go up to the briefing room."
"How's it been going Jacob?" Hammond asked.
"Well, between me and Selmak and Shol'val'a, the Tok'ra have been pretty shook up. I don't think they ever imagined a Tau'ri could be so..." His head bowed and his eyes glowed briefly "Aggressive," Selmak said.
"Jacob has breathed a new life in to the Tok'ra," she told them. Bowing her head, she gave Jacob back control.
"I'm still getting used to that," he smiled. "But, yeah. I guess aggressive is the best word. Between us, we've pretty much shook them up and now they are going out and aggressively taking on more Goa'uld."
"I'm glad it is working well. But what prompted the visit?" Hammond said.
"We came to ask for some help. The Tok'ra are good at slipping in among the Goa'uld and acting like one – just bluffing their way around. But they suck at any real clandestine ops. Reconnaissance missions specifically. They don't have experience or training.
"I'd like to borrow SG1 to recon a planet. We know there is a Goa'uld there, but haven't been able to get any information so we can't make a plan for attack. We, Selmak and I would also like to borrow another team to do training with the Tok'ra. The Jaffa also want to take part in the operations. But again, it is something they have no training for."
Turning to Jack, "Any thoughts Colonel?" Hammond asked him.
"If they aren't using anything to check the planet out before going through the gate, I'd recommend some Doras and B-Balls."
"Doras? B-Balls?" Jacob asked looking confused.
"We've build some mini-MALPs, Dad. One is based on a child's Dora the Explorer Jeep and the other looks like a metal basket ball with rubber stripes. They've worked really well. They can send back audio and video images and are inexpensive enough we don't have to worry about getting them back."
"We have nothing like that. We either go in blind or fly there which can take months," Jacob told them.
Looking at Sam, Jack started, "Let's do this General. We can check out the lay of the land and then decide how to proceed. Worse case scenario, we don't go to the planet but we give the Jaffa and Tok'ra some training."
"Sounds good. Okay, I'll have SG3 go along for training the Tok'ra and Free Jaffa. Take along a supply of mini-MALPs and what ever else you need so the Tok'ra will have some to use. You'll leave at 0800 tomorrow."
"Thanks, George."
The next morning Jacob was surprised to see SG1 come in to the Gate Room with Sam driving a Mule loaded with gear. "Where the hell did you guys find that?" he asked Jack.
"Oh, there were a couple just lying around and we found a good use for them. Actually this one was built here," Jack told him.
Shaking his head, Jacob had to admit, the Mules had served their purpose for many years. Not a bad idea as he saw SG3 come in with another mule loaded down with gear.
Arriving planet side, SG1 saw that the Tok'ra were no longer living in the crystal tunnels.
"Shol'val'a persuaded them that living underground in the tunnels was not the best choice," Jacob told them. "And I pretty much convinced them that everyone would believe they were hiding as opposed to being 'stealthy'. It has gone a long way in their interacting with the Free Jaffa."
After setting up and showing the Jaffa and Tok'ra how Dora and B-Ball worked, they dialed up the planet in question and sent one of each through. The Dora got killed pretty quickly by the Jaffa guarding the gate, but B-Ball lasted a good five minutes before a shot finally hit it. Receiving the video feeds they quickly saw that coming in the front door was not practical.
"Why hasn't Shol'val'a just gone and taken care of the Goa'uld?" Daniel asked.
"The Shol'val'a can not do everything for us. We must learn to do for ourselves," one of the Jaffa said.
"Our planet here with the Jaffa is a long ways from where Shol'val'a normally operates," answered Garshaw, having watched the demonstration and performance of the mini-MALPs. "We must be able to take on the Goa'uld in this area while Shol'val'a fights them in other areas. I believe Jacob used the term multiple front battle?"
"Correct," replied Jacob.
"By attacking on different fronts and areas, the Goa'uld have a harder time consolidating their forces, or even attempting to work together," Teal'c told him.
"Oh," Daniel said.
Jack looks at Teal'c, "Ambassador Calan has loaned me a number of written accounts where this tactic has been successfully employed by the Tau'ri throughout your history." Teal'c explains.
"Shol'val'a's tactics to take the Goa'uld and free the Jaffa relies on the Goa'uld landing his Ha'tak on the surface of the planet where it could be trapped. It doesn't happen all that often and they are constantly searching for it. A space battle almost always ends in the loss of all the Goa'uld's Jaffa," Selmak tells them.
"Okay, so we can't go in the front door. How far away is this planet?" Jack asked.
"One week by ship."
"Time to start planning then," Jack stated.
The time had come to leave the Goa'uld planet. AG1 had been here for a week and had the intel needed for a plan to be made. They approached the Stargate from the rear. Anyone approaching from the front could be seen in plenty of time to attack them. Anyone coming through the Gate would be at a distinct disadvantage. From the rear, at least they had some cover.
To the front of the Gate was a wide, open plain which stretched for at least a mile. SG1 were dropped off by a cloaked Tok'ra ship with the intention of returning through the Stargate. The ship had used its rings to put them on the planet surface a good distance from the Gate and Goa'uld and then quickly retreated from the area. They hoped with this plan, the Goa'uld would not be aware of their presence until they departed. So far, so good.
It was only a few hours until sunrise as SG1, in black BDUs, was making its way to the Stargate. Jack had chosen this time as the Jaffa guards would be nearing the end of their shift and be more tired and the darkness would help hide SG1 until it was too late.
They only had another 50 yards or so and two Jaffa guards to deal with. SG1 had sound suppressors on their weapons. They were right at the edge of the tree line when Jack hissed "Freeze!" his hand held up.
They all instinctively froze in place. Overhead, a partially cloaked ship with its bottom exposed had silently appeared over the two Jaffa standing guard at the Gate. In a moment they had disappeared. Being replaced by over a dozen different Jaffa.
'Crap,' Jack thought. 'Almost made it back without anything happening'. Using hand signals he motioned the rest of the team to move back in to the tree line and lay low for now. If they had to wait, the Tok'ra would return in another week.
The Jaffa now at the Gate spread out. Four pairs of Jaffa, each carrying a very heavy device between them moved away from the Gate. As soon as two of the pairs reached the tree-line at the rear of the Gate they set the devices down about 50 yards apart and a soft hum was heard as they activated them. The Jaffa then returned to the Gate and took up defensive positions. They were quickly joined by the other pairs that had placed their devices a short distance forward of the Gate.
After a few minutes the Gate became active as someone was dialing in.
O'Neill looked back to say something to his team mates there in the trees and his mouth fell open. The rest of SG1 looking at him, he pointed to their rear. As one they turned their heads and were shocked at what they didn't see. Both Daniel and Sam's lower legs were missing.
Sam jerked her legs up in surprise. Only to find them intact. Daniel brought his up also, though a bit slower.
"What the heck?" Sam whispered. Reaching out with her hand, everyone watched as it and her arm disappeared then reappeared as she drew it back to her..
Turning his attention forward, Teal'c spoke softly, "O'Neill."
Looking Jack saw more Jaffa coming through the Gate and carrying what appeared to be heavy equipment. They also noticed that the original Jaffa had a more relaxed posture. Sam slipped over and stuck her head through where her arm and leg disappeared. After only a second, she felt someone yank her back.
Nearly falling on her butt, she just managed to catch herself.
"Are you crazy?" Jack hissed.
"No Sir." she whispered. "Give give me a few seconds this time."
Jack stared at her "Ten seconds Colonel, then you can pull me back. It's important."
"Okay, Teal'c grab hold of her." he said.
Keeping one foot where it could be seen, and with Teal'c grabbing a hold of the back of her vest, Sam placed one foot out of sight and then leaned out until only part of her leg was visible and half of Teal'c arm. Taking a quick look around, she passed back in to view in less than the 10 seconds she'd asked for.
"It's an cloak of some kind. While I can pass back and forth with no problem, and I can see the Gate and all the natural features, I can't see you guys or any of the Jaffa around the Gate." she told them.
"Teal'c, have you ever heard of any Goa'uld using technology like this?" Jack asked.
"I have not, O'Neill. And I do not believe it is within their power to create it either." Teal'c replied softly.
"Um, guys!" Daniel said a bit louder, looking towards the Gate.
They looked up seeing a group of Jaffa pointing staff weapons at them only a few yards away.
Shortly they stood outside the tree line, surrounded by Jaffa aiming weapons at them. The lead Jaffa came walking over, looking at them very closely.
"We found them at the perimeter. They were what was setting off the alarm." one Jaffa told him.
Looking at them, he said "You are not of this world. Who are you."
"Oh, just passing through," Jack said lightly. "We were about to leave when you guys showed up. So, if you don't mind, we'll go now."
Expecting the normal beat down after lipping off to a Jaffa, Jack and the others were surprised when it didn't happen. The Jaffa stood there studying them for a few minutes before speaking.
"You are the Tau'ri that we have heard about. Which must make this Teal'c of Chulak," he stated.
"Um, yeah, that's us. I'm Daniel Jackson, that's Colonel O'Neill, Captain Carter and Teal'c. We're explorers and..."
"Daniel!" Jack exclaimed cutting him off.
Laughing, the Jaffa says "Yes, you are the Tau'ri SG1 we've heard of. You can not leave now, it is too late. But you will come to no harm. Just don't do anything foolish."
Walking away the Jaffa leader called "Jaffa Kree!"
"What just happened?" Carter questioned.
"I am not sure. But they don't seem to act like normal Jaffa. Teal'c did you recognize his tattoo?" Jack asks.
"I have never seen that mark among any of the Goa'uld. It is the symbol for the First World and something I did not recognize."
"That is the ancient earth symbol for infinity, or eternity." Daniel says.
"You are, however, correct O'Neill. They do not act like normal Jaffa. And, I sensed no Goa'uld symbiotes." Teal'c replied.
"Now that you mention it, Teal'c, I haven't sensed any either. Strange." Carter says.
A group of ten Jaffa come over to them. "I and my men are charged with your safety since you are here." the guard leader said as the other Jaffa took up positions around SG-1, only one facing towards SG1 and fairly relaxed; the others facing out.
"O'Neill of the Tau'ri, Teal'c of Chulak, you have a look of surprise on your face." the guard leader spoke.
"Um, we're not exactly used to treatment like this from Jaffa or Goa'uld." Jack quips.
"We are not like other Jaffa and you will find no Goa'uld with us." the leader states. The word 'Goa'uld' coming from his mouth as though a curse.
"We mean you no harm as you battle the Goa'uld as do we. Do as my men tell you, though. Teal'c has his staff weapon and I see you have Zat'nik'tels. Do you have any other weapons – can you use staff weapons?"
"What? A... no, we don't need any staff weapons." Jack says confused. Now the Jaffa are really acting strange.
Speaking up Teal'c tells the Jaffa about the P-90s the team has.
"Very good. We may wish to trade for some after we have finished here." the Jaffa tells them. "Relax for now, we have some time before the attack against the Goa'uld begins." he says walking away.
With the Jaffa somewhat ignoring them for now, SG1 talked among themselves. This was a really strange situation. Friendly Jaffa, talk of attacking the Goa'uld. A weird kind of force cloak and being not only left with their weapons but being asked if they needed more.
Watching the Jaffa working around the Gate, they started to see something taking shape. It looked almost like another Gate. And they were working on a number of other pieces that were starting to take shape like more Gates.
Again the Stargate activated and a larger group of Jaffa came through. Some headed straight for the perimeter of the shield and disappeared from view. The others joined in the construction efforts. Now, what was obviously five Gate looking devices being assembled.
Shortly, the two devices which were in front of the gate when the Jaffa first arrived, were picked up by teams of eight Jaffa with poles between them to lift the heavy devices. Taking off at a fast trot, the two teams carried the devices out on to the open plain. Increasing the field of the cloak to an enormous distance. The Gate looking devices also seemed complete as the Jaffa that had worked on them now all assembled to the side of the Stargate.
The Stargate flared once again and a single person emerged. By the way he carried himself Jack knew this had to be the guy in charge. The man stepped away from the Stargate, took a look around and started speaking to the Jaffa leader.
After a minute, Jaffa warriors started pouring through the Stargate. Five minutes after the Stargate activated, the first of the added Gate looking devices opened. And more Jaffa warriors started pouring through the Gates as each of them activated.
'Okay,' thought Jack. 'We've seen this before.'
"Sir," Carter says. "At the rate they are coming through those gates, and if they stay open for 38 minutes... They are coming through five abreast, every second, that's 300 per minute, nearly 10,000 per gate in 30 minutes. They could put well over 50,000 Jaffa here on this planet before the Gates shuts down!"
They watched as the Jaffa warriors coming through the Gates never slowed but ran down through the open plain and started assembling and forming ranks at the farthest point.
Daniel overhears one of the Jaffa speaking softly. "Jack," Daniel says pointing. "That Jaffa is quoting Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War'."
"What?" Jack and the others listen and hear the Jaffa saying: "Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected." The Jaffa stops when he notices SG1 listening to them.
Sam speaks up: "All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive;"
Jack then picks it up: "When we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near."
"You know The Sun Tzu?" The Jaffa that had spoken said with surprise. "No wonder you have been so successful fighting the Goa'uld."
"You guys wouldn't happen to be friends of Shol'val'a, would you?" asked Jack.
The Jaffa then smiled brightly. "You have heard of her?"
"We have met her." Daniel states.
"Then we are truly on the same side," the Jaffa states.
The man that is obviously the leader walks over to them. "We were surprised to find the Tau'ri here on this world," he tells SG1. "I am Vejovis."
"Daniel?" Jack looks at the young man.
"Vejovis, or Vejove, Vēiovis, Vēdiovis, Vēive, or Vēdius. The guardian angel in charge of slaves and fighters refusing to lose. God of deceivers, he is called to protect right causes and to give pain and deception to enemies.
"I am no god," Vejovis declares.
The one Jaffa spoke up. "They know of The Sun Tzu, and say that they have met The Shol'val'a."
"Really." he said. "That explains a lot."
"Sun Tzu was a great leader in battle in ancient times on earth." Daniel volunteered. "Many of the people of earth still study his writings."
"Yes, he is a great leader. He is a great man and I sorely miss him. I'm glad that his teaching continues."
"You... you knew him?" Daniel asks.
"Yes. He is a great teacher and my brother. I was once his student. 'The commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness.' Without these one can not win. The Goa'uld have never learned this and do not understand tactics. As we have learned these lessons, we will win this war against them." he said looking Jack in the eye.
Turning, "Teal'c, I know that the Goa'uld call you a Shol'va. Wear that title with honor." Seeing the guards that had turned to stare at Teal'c when he said that. He said, "Yes, Teal'c of Chulak is Shol'va. On his own he came to that decision."
As one the guards faced Teal'c, saluting him by hitting their fists in to their breast plates and bowing their heads to him. An obvious gesture of honor. Teal'c returned the gesture and the guards resumed their positions.
"What was that Teal'c?" Daniel asked after Vejovis walked away.
"I believe all of these warriors are Shol'va. They and Vejovis are allied with Shol'val'a in the fight against the Goa'uld," states Teal'c.
"It also explains why neither Teal'c and I haven't felt the presence of a Goa'uld among them," Sam told them.
"Colonel, remember what Calan said in the briefing on our return from being captured on P2A-107?" Sam asked him. "That he also had a brother somewhere out here fighting the Goa'uld? This may be him."
As SG1 continue to watch the Jaffa warriors pouring through the Gates and assembling down on the plain, they also observed the leader Vejovis as he talked with them. Finally the Gates had all shut down and 50,000 Free Jaffa Warriors were assembled on the plain before the gate. The time for battle drew near as the dawn broke.
Vejovis could be seen by SG1 as he walked to the front of the warriors position. They could see him greet and talk with the Jaffa along the way. Large projection devices appeared at the front of the formation. Although far way, they easily heard him speak when he reached the front of the assembled troops:
"In war, it is best to take your enemies as a whole. Not to destroy them unless necessary. To break our enemies resistance without battle is most honorable and desirable. The highest form of battle is to win without fighting. To destroy the enemy's plan to fight. The worst is to engage in long and protracted battle without a clear victory. To subdue our enemy without battle is our goal. But if battle is what is necessary, we are ready," Vejovis quoted from Sun Tzu.
He continued, "Our forces vastly out numbers our enemy. We will go forward victoriously today. This planet shall be free of the Goa'uld once again. The Jaffa will be cleansed and welcomed among us. Our numbers will grow, and the Goa'uld will die. Our families and theirs will rejoice in freedom. Prepare yourselves!" he finished.
SG1 followed Vejovis' as he walked far forward of the front line of Jaffa. SG1's attention was drawn back to the main force. They heard chanting rise up from the Jaffa: "Shol'va." Repeated over and over, almost reverently as it started out. Growing and growing in volume. Suddenly, they saw several Jaffa run out to the devices that had shielded them from the Goa'uld and his Jaffa.
The devices were shut off and the chanting grew even louder. They saw in the distance death gliders exiting the Ha'tak the Goa'uld had landed on the planet. The Jaffa didn't move or flinch as the gliders made their way to the force. Suddenly a Ha'tak appeared directly over the one on the surface. Others also appeared and the Goa'uld's Ha'tak was surrounded, unable to escape.
As the gliders approached the warriors, Daniel saw a change in the way the Jaffa stood. "What are they doing Teal'c?" he asked.
"Do not worry," one of the warriors spoke. "All is prepared."
As SG1 and the Jaffa with them watched the death gliders approach, the warriors all aimed their staff weapons at them.
"Massed weapons fire." Teal'c stated. "The Goa'uld would never consider this. They do not train their Jaffa to work together."
As one, the Jaffa of Vejovis fired as the death gliders came in to range. The death gliders exploded in to oblivion when hit simultaneously by tens of thousands of staff blasts.
In the end, it was much like on Cimmeria. The Goa'uld was dead and the Jaffa freed. O'Neill and SG-1 talked with Vejovis afterward. He was pleased that they knew his brother. "Yes, I am most happy that Sun Tzu is with you battling the Goa'uld."
"No, his name is Calan," countered Daniel.
"Do you not recall Daniel Jackson, that in our first encounter with Calan he informed us that he had once been known as Sun Tzu?" asked Teal'c.
"Oh, yeah." Looking at Vejovis sheepishly, "he uses the name Calan now."
They told him about how Calan had come to be at the SGC and about the Tok'ra. They understood that under the treaty with the Goa'uld, the three could not work in concert.
Sam had all kinds of questions about the 'portable' gates, but he would not answer them. "When you are ready, Calan will tell you."
Jack asked him about how Shol'val'a had 'beamed' the Gates on to Cimmeria. He informed them that he did not have that technology.
Surprised, Sam asked "why not?"
"That would be pushing the boundary of the treaty trading tactics. While the Goa'uld are to ignorant to recognize the same basic tactics, even they could not be so dumb as to not recognize we were trading technology if she and I used the exact same methods all the time converting planets. But now, you have informed me I can have it spread that the Tau'ri told me of this. Then I can freely develop it and start using the same tactic when appropriate," he smiled.
After stopping off at the Tok'ra home world and letting them know what had happened on the planet and Goa'uld was no longer a threat, they returned to Earth.
SG1 were debriefing General Hammond and Calan on the mission. "So, you have met Vejovis. Good," said Calan.
"I have a question," Daniel said. "We all saw how many Free Jaffa Shol'val'a and Vejovis can field. How many do they have available? Shol'val'a said she had over 100 worlds..."
"Ah, they 'hold' several hundred populated worlds between them. Thousands of Free Jaffa on all of them."
"But from what I gathered speaking with Vejovis, , they are on the fringes of the galaxy," stated Sam.
"Yes. We needed to contain the the Goa'uld to this galaxy to keep them from expanding or escaping from us," Calan tells them.
"What!?" said Jack.
"You thought the Stargates only went to this Galaxy?"
"They don't?" asked Sam.
"No, the Gate builders thought big, really big," Calan told them as everyone stared at him with a shocked look on their face.