Sam snarled angrily as one of the shimmering green figures grabbed her from behind. The crystal she'd been manipulating sparked in its housing, high voltage electrical current burning her fingers painfully as she let go of the purple gem. It danced in the socket, golden fragments of reflective metal flashing bright as it reacted violently to having been placed in the incorrect place. She should have been wearing gloves for this – but there was a rather limited supply to work with under the circumstances.
The horrifically mutilated specter's fingers smelled of rot and sickness, dripping wet and gelatinous as they snatched her into the air. She stabbed it with her k-bar knife, driving the iron blade into the creature's eye. It dropped her to the ground, pawing at the blade before the snicker-snack of a dragon's maw tore the specter in half. It hovered in confusion as its legs kicked limply along the ground before a torrent of fire dissolved the gelatinous specter into vaporous steam.
"Apologies, named one." Growled the dragon between bursts of white-hot flame. "I was too slow to stop that one."
"Just keep them busy – I nearly fried the whole system that time." Sam wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, looking at the now molten remnant of her knife. "This is harder than it looks."
"Named one," The dragon bowed its head as smashed a specter beneath it's claws, razor sharp talons rendering shimmering green flesh to ribbons.
Sam kneeled back next to the panel she'd been working on, reaching towards the still dancing crystal before pulling back her fingers as another jolt of electricity sparked painfully against her fingers. There was no way that she was going to be able to safely handle this with just her fingers. She unzipped her BDU's and grabbed the front of her shirt, tearing it just above her midriff. The soft cotton tore as she yanked off a wide strip and wrapped it around her hand to allow her to grab the errant stone.
"This is not good engineering." Sam growled as she manipulated the internal components of the Goa'uld teleportation platform. The Goa'uld had an infuriating lack of safety measures or redundant components in their design. Their crystal components were easily swapped if, and when, they broke but unless one had the proper components immediately at hand there was remarkably little in the way of back-up systems.
For an Empire in which all but a vast minority of the population were slaves, the ability to scuttle any technology with minimal effort in a situation requiring emergency destruction procedures and evacuation made perfect sense. In the event of a slave rebellion or Jaffa mutiny a Goa'uld Lord could just destroy anything important enough to make a ship remotely useful as he made his escape – knowing that when he returned it would require minimal effort to restore functionality. Given the non-linear processing capacity of the Goa'uld systems, it meant that it was a living hell to force their systems to do something when one component of a Goa'uld machine wasn't operating at full capacity.
The way that the Goa'uld programmed their systems would get someone burned as a witch if they proposed doing it with a modern processor. Rather than just having a single underlying binary language that all components operated off of, each individual component operated on a proprietary coding language that wasn't guaranteed to even operate on the same core mathematical concepts. Any ad-hoc modifications to Goa'uld systems required that the person manipulating them understand the fundamental complexities of forcing base 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, and 13 mathematical systems to operate with each other while ensuring their coding languages were even capable of speaking to each other. All of which was in addition to making sure that the physical components were capable of being forced to fit the slots designed for entirely different crystal systems and that they weren't encrypted in a way that prevented their use external to the port they'd initially been designed to use.
It was as much an art as a science. There was a certain amount of it where she felt like once she understood how an individual crystal was supposed to think, it just became a matter of trying to find a similar "idea" on the Goa'uld logic board to interpose with the idea she was trying to create. At a certain point it sort of felt like the application of theoretical math to create technological poetry. Sam was probably one of three people on Earth capable of making the changes she was making to the teleportation platform, and probably the only one crazy enough to actually use it after having made those changes.
The purple crystal wedged into the larger housing as she shoved it sideways, glowing furiously as it processed a data-load normally given to a much larger crystal. It was one of the heartier processors in the Goa'uld arsenal, while it looked dangerous she knew it would last a few centuries operating like that before it gave out. Sam yelped in shock as a specter's severed head fell in front of her, the gristly maw of a spectral child screaming in frozen horror.
She reflexively stabbed it with the large crystal she'd taken out of the machine, the large green protrusion of stone that had previously sat where the purple one now did. The sharpened stone pierced the child's face, red energy coruscating from where it penetrated the gelatinous surface of the spectral head. Angry red bolts of lightning consumed the specter from the inside, destroying the specter even as the crystal blackened and turned to dust.
Sam's face crinkled up in disgust as Daniel Jackson kneeled next to her, eying the space where the spectral face had been. "Ugh… That's just creepy."
"Extremely." Sam agreed as she fiddled with the tiny display inside the rings, trying to figure out how to get it to re-connect with the transport ship in. "I can't get us to Colorado."
"We're trapped?" Daniel groaned, firing at a specter with his Zat.
"I can get us off, but I can't get us to Colorado. The planet has rotated too much for me to connect to the transport. I've got a connection… I just don't know to what." Sam shook her head. "It could be to anywhere."
There was a horrific howl from the entrance to the ring-room as gigantic spectral figure forced themselves through the doors. Ten feet tall and bleeding thick, black blood from every orifice, horrific parodies shambling, headless Jaffa Warriors waded through dragon-fire as though it weren't an obstacle. The serpentine illusion of symbiotes made from pure shadow protruded from their bellies, lashing out at scions with purple jets of shimmering light. The dragons howled in agony as the purple beams hit them, hateful energies ripping through their flesh and bone.
"That's feeling like an increasingly more manageable problem set over time, Sam!" Daniel flinched as a purple beam shot towards the two of them, holding up his hand reflexively to ward away the deadly energy. One of Sam's draconic bodyguards leapt in front of the beam, its body crumpling into a pulpy mess of burning offal as it breathed white-hot flames into the spectral Jaffa, aiming for the black serpent. The serpent, apparently weaker than the rest of the specter, immolated entirely – killing the Jaffa host specter. The serpentine dragon's victorious grin of battle remained upon it's lips even as its eyes clouded over into death.
"Named one, the necromancer guiding these specters is approaching." The First Nameless took the position of the fallen scion, riding astride one of his subordinates in dragon form. "I can feel the wards of this place accepting him as master. If we do not depart before they accept him entirely he will be able to use the true defenses against us, and I do not have Grandfather's presence to ward off the Necromantic energies."
"Everybody ashore who's going ashore." Sam slapped the final commands into the ring transporter's control crystals as something occurred to her. "Oh no – we've got a problem."
"Just one?" Daniel joked.
Sam shook her head. "Daniel – someone has to stay behind and manually activate the rings."
Daniel winced. "Crap."
"I will stay." Spoke the second dragon who'd been guarding Sam as he reverted into human form.
"You will die." Said the First Nameless. It was not spoke as an admonition or a warning, more of a statement of fact.
"I will have a name." The nīðing Sárkány grinned, clasping the arm of the First Nameless and bowing his head.
"Farewell, named one." Replied the First Nameless, nodding to the doomed scion in apparent permission. The first nameless screeched a command to the scions in his draconic language, calling for them to retreat towards the ring platform. The dragons blacked towards the rings, spear wielding human scions riding atop their dragon-from brethren alongside SG team members, laying down a wall of Zat blasts and dragon fire towards the shambling ghostly hordes.
Sam insisted upon staying till the last wave, given that she was the only one who'd be able to troubleshoot the rings if they broke again. Colonel Makepeace grudgingly agreed with her, on the condition that he left when she did. Daniel insisted upon staying as well, and given that he was a civilian the Colonel's threat of court martial fell on deaf ears.
Sam's blood pressure rose as the spectral attackers grew bolder, the waning forces of the scions increasingly less able to fight off their attackers as groups were ferried down to the Earth's surface. It was not till the third group departed that she started to get worried. The final group would not have the wall of dragon-fire protecting them, the final ring of scions would have to revert to human form in order to fit within the rings.
The nameless dragon who'd volunteered to stay behind crooned a merry song as the moment of truth approached, his warbling cries of victory increasingly joyous as he reverted into dragon form in opposition to every other scion. Sam stepped on the platform with the human form scions, an unaccountable feeling of sadness overcoming her as the rings lifted up from the floor. The Scion's breath was brighter than any she'd yet seen, his song of glory warbling out from his nostrils as he did what he could to delay the inevitable.
The last thing she saw before the pillar of light was the scion kicking its back claw into the control crystals, shattering them so that the ghostly hordes could not follow them to the surface even as the spectral hordes began to rip the flesh from his bones. He continued to sing his warbling song even as one of the spectral Jaffa ripped the right eye from his face.
"Jesus Christ," Colonel Makepeace swore as they appeared on another ring platform. His face was ashen white, "I mean, just Jesus Christ."
"Named one." The First Nameless turned to Daniel. "You must choose."
Daniel tilted his head in interest. "Choose what, exactly."
"His name was earned. You have witnessed." Spoke the First Nameless, the surrounding scions echoing his statement with varying murmurs of "He is known," and "A name is earned" in varying degrees of difficulty with the English language.
Dr. Jackson removed his glasses, rubbing them nervously with the front of his shirt. "Am I the appropriate authority for this? It seems like naming is a big deal in your culture."
The First Nameless' voice rumbled with something bordering on anger at Daniel's hesitation. A forked tongue flickered out from his lips as he spoke again. "You have witnessed. You are named. You are known. You must choose. Do not disrespect what has been earned."
Sam put her hand on Daniel's shoulder, cautioning him not to speak as she addressed the First Nameless. "He's not trying to disrespect your fallen, he wants to make sure that we give the full respect and dignity to the honored dead. Is there a specific convention to what kind of name he gives? Names are important."
The First Nameless seemed appeased by that reasoning as he said. "A name is earned by action. One must witness and speak it."
"So, we name him based off of what he did to get the name?" Daniel nodded, considering the matter.
"He died fighting with a song on his lips. Give him a singer's name." Colonel Makepeace replied, a grudging respect in his tone. "The tough bastard can have my last name if he needs one."
"Plácido Makepeace?" Daniel suggested. "He seemed pretty calm about it all at the end."
"The calm one, peace bringer! Yes… it is sufficient." The Nameless one crowed with delight. "He is known!"
"He is known!" Cried the scions in victorious reply, crooning out the same draconic song that Plácido had sung as he died.
"Where are we?" Sam asked, looking at the area surrounding the platform. They were in tall, crumbling ruins at the heart of a wild forest. Birds sung a cheery song that, while pleasant, didn't resemble anything Sam could recall having heard in person. A centipede scuttled along the wall. It was large enough that deserved its own postal address, if not a social security number.
Daniel squinted at the carvings along the wall, chewing his lip in thought. "Uh… we're in China, unless I'm very much mistaken. I'm pretty sure that this is a guardhouse along the Great Wall."
"China?" Sam blinked, "I thought the great wall was made after the Goa'uld left Egypt."
"It was…" Daniel replied, rubbing at his chin. "We've been operating on the assumption that all the Goa'uld left Earth at the same time – when Ra did. We know that they've been raiding Earth periodically for slaves, but this is the first indication of Goa'uld building infrastructure in recent history. If I'm right about the part of wall we're in, this is as recent as 200 B.C. That's 1800 years after when the gate got buried at Giza."
"The Old Gods did not just leave after Thoth's Folly and the Terms." The First Nameless laughed. "They were made to leave."
Sam turned to the First Nameless, a horrifying thought occurring to her. "Are… are there still Goa'uld on Earth? More like Setesh?
"Not many, only those without the resources, willpower, or connections to get safe passage." The First Nameless chuckled. "Few, weak, nameless even among their kin."
"So – what happens now?" Colonel Makepeace shook the Zat in his hand. "Because I'm not going to disarm myself willingly."
The First Nameless rolled his eyes exaggeratedly and hissed a single word in the draconic language, tearing the Zat from the Colonel's grip along with all the other Zats to fall beneath the growling bulk of dragon form scions. Human form scions recovered the pistols, holstering them on leather harnesses that shimmered into place as part of their illusionary form. "You are without choice."
"So - what? We're your prisoners again? This is getting really boring." Makepeace shook his head. "Why do you even want to take us prisoner? You know who we are. You clearly know that we're not affiliated with the Goa'uld. What is the end game here?"
The first Nameless paused for a moment before saying, "An answer for an answer? The knowledge you seek is not without value."
"Fine." Makepeace sighed. "Why are you taking us prisoner? You don't seem to care that we killed your man. You don't seem to want us dead. Why are you bothering with this pretense?"
"You are of value. Grandfather would exchange you for one of greater value." The First Nameless shrugged. "Even as nameless her value is without compare. The heir of Siriothrax must be recovered."
"The girl." Sam blinked. "You want her. She's a scion."
The dragons burst into raucous laugher as the First Nameless grinned toothily, "No, Named One. She is nameless, but she is no Scion. She is if the pure strain, an heir apparent to Ferrovax himself."
"You're trading us for royalty?" Daniel whistled. "No wonder you came in guns blazing. You realize that we probably would just have given her back if you had asked nicely?"
"Grandfather does not ask, he commands." The First Nameless nodded. "Now I will ask my question, and you will give me an answer."
"Fine." The Colonel Replied, his posture relaxing. Sam couldn't blame him – it wasn't as though the SGC would deny the child's right to return to her family and the SGC was generally willing to grant alien powers substantial latitude providing that the hadn't done any actual harm to US citizens.
The First Nameless pointed at Sam. "I did not smell the magic while the vessels wards were there to distract me, but I fear that now recognize the scent of a claim of the true blood. Has my cousin bound herself by blood to the land and people? Has she claimed the mountain's heart?"
"Do you mean when she drank my blood?" Sam queried, blinking in surprise as the Scions let out collected sounds of horror and amazement. The jabbered animatedly in the draconic speech, eagerly gossiping at this development.
The First Nameless let out a crooning sound of amusement as he turned to Colonel Makepeace. "I apologize, named one. I must correct my answer, for it was spoken in ignorance. You are no longer our prisoners. We were in error to claim you the first time. Your weapons will be returned, and I will arrange an appropriate wergild with my cousin for having wronged you."
"What?" Colonel Makepeace blinked.
"He's going to pay us for having taken us hostage." Daniel responded. "What I can't understand is why?"
"You are citizens of my cousin's dominion. We would not have attacked knowing a blood claimed priestess had already taken claim of the ship." He nodded to Sam. "We have overstepped our duty, Named One. I beg your forgiveness. With your permission we will return you to my cousin. I would not knowingly offend one of the true blood by named ones in her service."
"Does anyone want to tell me what the hell is happening?" Colonel Makepeace groaned exasperatedly as his weapon was returned for the second time that day.
"Apparently the Dragon back at the SGC drinking my blood marked me as being important within Dragon culture and the SGC as being under her protection. Because they came here to rescue her and because I'm already protected by her, they can't take us as prisoners of war for a prisoner exchange." She turned to the First Nameless. "So, they're just going to… take us home? Just like that?"
"Of course, named one." The dragon nodded, waving its hand to open up a wide tear in the open air. "Now, if you would do me the honor of riding on my back. I will take you home."
"Wait – what about the people we left on the ship?" Sam shook her head. "We can't abandon them."
"Named one." The First Nameless tutted in a wounded tone. "Don't tell me that you think Grandfather is so crass as to leave his own family's property in disarray. One does not steal from a Dragon."
