Rebirth of Ares

Survival

February 2005

Chaos reigned across the former Goa'uld territories following the Battle of Daakra and Anubis' failed attack. With final confirmation that Anubis was dead and Ba'al was in the wind the Jaffa rebellion had blown up massively with galaxy wide uprisings against the remaining Goa'uld governors or minor lords beginning to take place. Ares, the last true System Lord given Ba'als flight, sat on his command ship licking his wounds from the Dakara battle having taken a beating at the hands of Ba'al and the Replicators. Fortunately they had recovered a dozen of his ships before he had retreated from Dakara and so he had a reasonably sized fleet with him as they headed south to his homeworld. However that was not all. He'd received reports of uprisings on many of his own worlds, nearly all focused in Apophis' or Heru'ur's former domains and even some in Nirrti's former territory. "My lord the only areas still remaining loyal appear to be your core domain and Cronus' former domain" reported his still loyal First Prime Honeric. There had been a few scuffles on his own ship though thankfully only a handful had tried anything. James hummed non-committally before looking over the various reports on ships turning traitor and planets rebelling on a scale like none before as well as the galaxy map on his quarter's wall indicating the various territories.

James took a stroll around his ship, pondering the situation before him. He then had an idea and began thinking of some words he could say to maintain control of his domain or even reclaim lost worlds. Thanks to his political background and following politics in the US and his home country of Britain he had a few thoughts on the subject. He returned to the Pel'tak of his flagship and spoke to his Prime ordering a communication channel be opened to all of his worlds, those rebelling and those still loyal. "My loyal and confused subjects. Much had occurred over the past week or so that has led to chaos and destruction across much of the galaxy" he started calmly and warmly. "Jaffa in many places have thrown off the shackles that had kept them bound to their Goa'uld masters and some human worlds have followed but their rebellion is descending in to chaos, anarchy and argument. The people are uncared for and forgotten while their worlds are destroyed as the various factions begin to take shape and start to fight amongst themselves for power in this so-called Free Jaffa Nation" he said sneeringly. "Here, in my domain, we have strong and stable governance. Clear leadership is provided by me and your representatives in my grand council. I hear your pleas and answer them. The people are educated and better fed than before, their living conditions improved by so much. Do you really believe that this Jaffa nation will care for you all as I have since my rebirth? Stay with me under my banner and we will do great things together my children. Together we can build a greater society than these chaotic Jaffa. Together we will survive and thrive where others will fall into dust and memory. Stay with me and you will be protected. Stay with me and you shall be fed. Stay with me and help me build a society of which we can all be proud of. Think carefully my people."

He then gave everyone a day or two to think on what he said before acting to crush the rebellion within his territory, he was posing as a Goa'uld after all. It turned out his speech had actually done some good. His core worlds were now more loyal than ever, the domain of Cronus had fallen in line behind him as well and some of Nirrti's and Ra's worlds had returned too thus bringing him control of much of the galactic south and west. It left the north, the east and some of the south to the Free Jaffa Nation or what would become Wild Space which no one claimed and where lawlessness reigned. "Do we know which ships are still loyal and which are not?" he asked of his Prime who checked his console before nodding as they stood on the Pel'tak of his flagship. "Then have all loyalist ships withdraw to my core worlds and my lord grandfathers former domain as well as those had that declared for me. We shall set up a new defensive perimeter and shore up our holdings. I will not let the traitors have access to their captured ships for long. Therefore I want you to open a channel to all rebel ships."

"By your command my lord." Honeric bowed and returned to his console to carry out his orders. Once done he opened a channel to all rebel ships for his lord to speak. Instead James shook his head and brought up his command console by the throne. He typed in a series of codes before finally stating "Scorpion." With the signal sent the fleet began moving into formation to jump to hyperspace and continue their return to the homeworld of Areya.

Bac'rit sat on the command chair surveying all before him. He had successfully rebelled against the false god Ares and had a number of ships at his command now with which to pledge to the fledgling Free Jaffa Nation. The speech of Ares had made him think more carefully it was true but the false god must be playing them, surely? "Sir we are receiving a signal, it seems to have come from the command ship of Ares" called out one Jaffa before him.

"What does it say?" he asked expecting some rubbish about god hood and betrayal and begging them to return.

"Just one word sir; scorpion" the man answered. Bac'rit frowned, why would Ares send one word? He had little time to ponder as suddenly the ship stopped, ceasing all movement and he noticed the other ships in his fleet had done the same. Then the lights went out, followed by an alarm blaring. Then over the ship announcer came a voice. "You have betrayed me and you shall suffer for your insolence. Now die with honour, if you can, oath breakers."

"Sir the self destruct has activated!" came the alarmed voice of the third Jaffa on the Pel'tac. "We have only three minutes!" It was then that panic took hold and a mad scramble for the escape pods and shuttles and gliders began as Jaffa trampled over each other, pushing and shoving even punching and fighting, as discipline was lost to the frantic need to survive. Calls of frustration were heard across numerous decks as escape pods refuse to launch and the hanger doors never budged. Many cursed their betrayal of the gods while others cursed the Goa'uld for their trickery and harshness. It made no difference.

Across the galaxy, on hundreds of ships, crews panicked and shortly after died almost simultaneously as their ships' Naquadah cores overloaded and exploded, destroying the ships into the tiniest of pieces and vaporising the crews. Ares' fleet, once numbering over 2,000 Ha'taks and over 400 frigates was reduced to a fraction of that. With the losses from the Replicators and the conflict with Ba'al taking him down to just over a 1,600 Ha'taks and 250 frigates, he lost another chunk to the rebellion. His once mighty fleet now stood at almost 900 Ha'taks and 190 frigates. His territories, once making him the Supreme System Lord, now barely included his core worlds and the domains of Cronus and Nirrti.

"My lord a transmission from Jarunda, it is the governor, Malak."

"Report Malak."

"My lord the Jaffa are rebelling, I do not have the numbers to put it down and reports indicate the Chappa'ai is active bring in more shol'va. I need-" he was cut off as the sounds of staff weapons rang out behind him as the door to the room he was in burst open and Jaffa could be seen striking each other with their staffs while others shot out with Zats. Malak turned in horror, "Ares please send hel-" he was cut off again as a Jaffa managed to aim his staff at Malak and shoot him in the back. Malak's eyes glowed briefly and his body shook as he was shot twice more. "We bow to no false gods" declared the surviving Jaffa on the screen before it cut off. It seemed that despite dealing with the fleet rebellion a number of ground forces attempted to rise up resulting in a number of Goa'uld governors calling Ares to report uprisings only to be cut off mid-transmission as they were killed by their Jaffa.

Aphrodite and Athena had both informed him of minor attempts in their territories as well though none had yet succeeded in part thanks to the speech of Ares becoming so popular and thus allowing Athena to retain some control over the former domain of Nirrti although it was somewhat shrunken now compared to what it had been as she had lost control of the northern stretches to the rebellion. Meanwhile Aphrodite now governed much of Cronus' former territory since James was returning to his core worlds and had managed to retain much of it well. James had then called Jamila and Carol to ask about Areya and the core. "My lord all is well so far. There have been a few minor disturbances but it has all been put down. This world, and others nearby, are loyal to you still my lord" Jamila had informed him proudly.

"What she said. There were a few idiots who tried to start something but the populace here quickly showed them who's boss. Given that it's likely worse out there I would advise falling back to loyal worlds to regroup" Carol had added on.

"Then all is well, good" James replied in his normal voice as he was alone in his quarters at that point. "I have already ordered a full retreat to my core worlds and other loyal territories for my remaining ships. Rebellious ships have been eliminated and my speech has rallied some formerly rebellious worlds. We need to regroup as you say and see where we stand in relation to others. Luckily my spy probe network is mostly intact still as the Replicators largely ignored it as they were cloaked so we should be able to get some moderate intelligence on what is occurring. I might speak with the Tau'ri given what has been happening to work out an arrangement or something. Be safe and maintain order till I return." James ended the signal and privately wondered if it would be best to just pack up and leave for Earth with Carol, maybe Jamila as well if it was unsafe for her to remain.

SGC, Earth

"Jack you heard the latest?" Daniel asked as he and his friend walked down a corridor at the SGC.

"Yeah Daniel, the snakes are gone and the Jaffa are free, chalk one up for the good guys eh" Jack replied happily.

"No I meant that Ba'al is still on the loose and apparently Ares is too" he said. "He stopped the rebellion in his domain apparently. Gave a really nice speech, according to Teal'c, even though it insulted most of the Free Jaffa and basically called them a rabble. To be fair even Teal'c privately agreed that that was what they currently were as they try to sort out how to work together. Also apparently Ares somehow destroyed a chunk of his remaining fleet when it tried to rebel."

"Whoa, what? He did what?" Jack stopped and turned suddenly.

"Yeah, apparently he got wind of the ships rebelling and blew them up, hundreds of ships just gone. Can't believe he did that" Daniel said somewhat shakily.

"You do know that he still has to appear as a snake Daniel, he doesn't like doing that stuff. Also, good speech?"

"Yeah I know I just assumed he would back up and return to Earth now given the other System Lords dying and all. And yeah, great speech it seems as it kept much of his domain intact though it's reduced to his main territory, Cronus', most of Nirrti's and a portion of Ra's. I think he lost just over half of what he had?"

"Huh well sounds like he is still a player then, we'll keep an eye on him and see if we can negotiate some stuff. Anyway, the way I hear it he almost did return to Earth but because his core worlds were still loyal he remained for them, at least, according to Carol that is. Kinda nice I guess, being wanted that much. The bonus is is that it also does prevent more chaos with him leading that domain, with him there it'll stabilise and probably consolidate for a few years as they try to cope with all that's gone on. There's a reason why sometimes the US backs a warlord, because otherwise you'd have chaos. Better the devil you know and have some influence with really."

"Yeah I guess, doesn't mean I like it Jack."

"Hey you'll get no complaint from me, hell most people agree with you but sometimes you gotta put the guy there as it would be worse without them. That's what Ares is doing." Jack commented as they continued walking towards the control room. "So you got Catherine's whole collection up there in your lab? Certainly looked it."

"Yeah it is and you're right, stamps would've been easier" Daniel replied with a smile. "Thought you should know that I've found a Potentia, or ZPM as some scientists call them, actually, would've come to find you-"

"Wish you had, I had a rather tedious meeting about rocks."

"Yes, well, it turns out that the Potentia in question was found by Ares. Remember he told us he found one not long after we got the Potentia factory working?" Jack nodded. "Well that ZPM was referenced by some works recovered but later lost that called it the Heart of Light. Anyway I would have suggested attempting to find it but there's no point since we know who has it."

"Better luck next time space monkey."

"Thanks Jacks" Daniel sighed. "You heard anything about the Ancients in Atlantis yet?"

"Er, yeah, Weir sent a message back this morning saying the Asgard were about ready to begin the transfer into the new bodies. Lyrena has had a smile on her face for the last day or so apparently."

"I'm happy for her, she could use the company of those like her. Don't think we really compare to be honest"

"Gee I wonder why" Jack snarked.

"So what's the latest on the ships? Also can I go Jack, please, it's Atlantis and I'm just a call away" Daniel pleaded.

"I told you Daniel no. You don't need to go, let Weir and her gang deal with it. It's why we sent them. As for the ships, they are coming along fine I hear. The Moros is close to repair thanks to that spider repair thing. Kinda creepy if you ask me, too much like a Replicator" Daniel rolled his eyes at his friend. "And the Aurora is fully functional. Hopefully the Captain and co will crew it for us and help us understand these Wraith aliens better. Besides we have the Daedalus en route with some heavy gear we couldn't fit through the gate to show the flag. They should be about half way by now actually" Jack said as he checked his watch.

"Why you checking your watch Jack? You aren't timing it surely?"

"Who me nah just...I think I'll have some blue Jello. Cafeteria is this way right?" Jack said abruptly changing the subject and their destination as he took a left down a corridor.

"It's the other way Jack" Daniel said with a sigh.

"Doh, I knew that."

Ares' Palace, Areya

James was seated behind his desk in his office with Honeric and Jamila while Carol sat off to one side of the room to watch the meeting. "It's been two weeks since Dakara what do we have?" James asked, kicking of the meeting.

"My lord we have secured the new domain as you asked. We have around 900 Ha'taks with approximately 200 frigates. Our territory stretches from what was once Nirrti's domain minus some territory through to our worlds around Areya and out into some of Ra's former domain. We estimate some 730 worlds with a Chappa'ai, likely a similar amount without" Honeric informed them. "Lucia has rebelled again as well" he added. James sighed at that.

"Let us hope Lucia does not cause too much f a problem. Monitor them. Now we shall place our frigates along our borders with the Free Jaffa along with what Ha'tak we can. I believe a minimum of two Ha'tak per world should be sufficient. Focus on the border worlds to show the flag so to speak and keep them defended. We will build more ships to fill the gaps such as the inner worlds. What is the latest intelligence?" James asked.

"According to your probe network, the Jaffa Nation is still mostly fragmentary" Carol began. "The various fiefdoms, based on the previous System Lords, has meant that a number of power blocks based on those territories have sprung up. According to some intelligence we have received, messages from Earth that have informed us of the Free Jaffa, Teal'c and Bra'tac lead a moderate/liberal grouping of worlds and forces with great influence and wish to have representatives assigned to a grand council based population. They are in turn opposed by a large traditionalist group led by Gerak, who want military assets to decide number of votes on the council. As of yet they are at loggerheads" Carol explained.

"And what do they intend to do about us?" James asked cautiously. Carol and Honeric exchanged looks. Carol dealt with the spy probes and research while Honeric deployed the military and more traditional forms of espionage.

"We believe that they will wish to invade. They went after Anubis as soon as possible and they are actively hunting for Ba'al. Following that behaviour we believe they will likely want to attack us, or you specifically. When is the question though" Carol answered eventually. Honeric nodded in agreement. James sat back in his chair and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Begin to recruit humans who wish to serve in the fleet or ground forces, we need to boost our numbers and that will help, include any women who to serve as well. All who wish to serve may" James decided. "Next have our shipyards build more Ha'taks and At'ak frigates. We will need them to stand against the rebel Jaffa. Carol, you and I will begin designing new ships. We'll need them to differentiate ourselves from these rebels. Thus we will need something to replace the Ha'tak. Jamila, we will continue with our plans to aid the people; new homes for those in need, better food storage and the like. Let us remind the people why they chose us to remain with. Good, lets get to it then." With that the group stood and bowed before leaving the room with Carol hesitating by the door. "Yes?" James asked seeing her stand there.

"You know the SGC won't aid us against Teal'c and Bra'tac. Other than to facilitate negotiation and the like, they will most likely sit out any conflict between us. Also, why did you destroy the ships and not just vent and recall them?" she asked.

"Indeed. We will just have to prevent conflict then won't we?" he replied with a smirk. "As for the ships. Did you know that Jaffa can go so deep into Kelno'reem that they appear dead to scanners and in appearance? If I merely vented the ships, rebel Jaffa could in theory remain aboard and retake the ship once it has been recalled. That would not do. True it would likely only be a few, which we could handle, but a Ha'tak needs only a crew of four to work so I would rather see them in pieces than in the hands of rebels or pirates" he answered sternly.

Two days later someone interesting came out of the gate. He stumbled through the gate wearing slightly tattered and dirty brown patterned robes and he had short dark hair and a goatee. He was met with the raised guns of the Jaffa who guarded the gate while wearing their black, Kull warrior like, armour. "I seek the protection of Ares. Bring me to him" he said commandingly. The Jaffa merely stood there ignoring him. Eventually after much waiting, and to the annoyance of the man, Ares eventually stepped causally into the gate room, wearing his usual armour and a gold Kara Kesh, with his First Prime beside him and one of his Elite Guard. "Ares, about time you showed up. Are you going to let me pass?" the man said indignantly.

"Why?" James asked simply.

"Pardon?"

"Why should I? It is in part your fault that we, the System Lords, are almost gone. If you had remained peaceful, the war between us would not have occurred and we could have fought the Replicators more effectively. Instead you waged a war which left the Systems Lords open to those robo bugs and now we have fallen. So why should I let you through?"

"Because" and Ba'al gritted his teeth here, "I am willing to serve you as one of your underlings. I also have some knowledge of technology which would aid you as well as knowledge of where Nerus is. Together we can revive the Goa'uld Empire and bring about a new age, under your leadership, supreme one" Ba'al answered, sucking up to him and acting all smarmy. James smirked at the blatant attempt at begging without doing so. He stood there silently, looking at Ba'al and thinking over the offer and the possible repercussions of allowing him to stay. Eventually he walked up to the line of Jaffa still pointing their guns at Ba'al and looked up at him as he stood on the entry ramp looking defeated and weak. James cocked his head in thought before he suddenly raised his right hand showing a brightly glowing hand device that spat forth plasma bolts at Ba'al four times in the chest and neck. Many stood there, surprised at the actions, none more so than Ba'al himself who gaped at James in shock as his body rocked from the impact of the many plasma bolts before a flicker of anger crossed his face as he collapsed to his knees on the floor before then falling onto his back, eyes glowing and then fading as the host and symbiote died.

"He was a traitor and a backstabber. One like him can not survive in this new world. We must stand strong together, as one, or we will all hang separately. Dial Earth and send the code. Chuck his body through so the humans can pass him on to the Tok'ra or the rebels." The echo 'yes my lord' rang through the room as two Jaffa went to grab the corpse while another dialled the gate from the pedestal. With the gate active and then settled the code was transmitted and barely a minute later Ba'al's dead body was thrown through the gate. Once the body passed through, he turned on his heel and walked back to the Palace as the gate shut off behind him.

"You killed him?" Carol asked later that day, surprised at the rather direct action. They were currently sat in his office again after he had spent the afternoon dealing with local issues presented by the people.

"He betrayed me when he rose up against me and the System Lords and tried to steal most of Anubis' tech. He had to pay for that. Also he was unreliable and untrustworthy, in part due to his rebellion. I couldn't have kept him around without constantly looking over my shoulder and expecting betrayal. Plus it buys us some brownie points with the Free Jaffa, the Tok'ra and Earth" he said with a shrugged. Carol nodded slowly seeing where he was coming from. It was true they'd have had to watch Ba'al closely for the entire time he'd be here. "At least I know my upgrade works. I hadn't tried it before" he added glibly while smiling. Carol just looked at him as if he was an idiot.

"So what you going to do about new ship designs?" she eventually asked, changing the topic.

"Well we could use something from Earth's sci-fi. Why waste perfectly good designs. Given the shape of the frigates I had thought that we could use Star Destroyers?" he suggested.

"You do know how they got blown up in the films right? Destroy one dome and the shields fall" she pointed out.

"So don't build the domes then duh" James answered back with a grin.

"You could use something else instead then? Remember you've got to have something to hold a lot of fighters or bombers, perhaps a Battlestar like ship? That's a popular series currently and it looks a decent ship from what I've seen of the few episodes you've got me" Carol suggested.

"True but they don't have shields or proper computers if memory serves" he argued.

"So add them" she countered. He hummed non-committally, pondering the two designs. Both were effective and intimidatory. Either could work he supposed.

"I'll think on it. We have no rush currently since the fleet is in good condition and of better quality than what the Free Jaffa have. What's the statistic we claim? One of mine can beat two or three of theirs? For now we'll stick with what we have but I think we should draw up a possible design for both. You do a Battlestar, since you prefer that, and I'll do a Destroyer and we'll see what we come up with, deal?"

"Deal, but mine will be better than yours" she added playfully. James just harrumphed and shook his head before walking out of the room to go deal with other ruler business.

AN: So we've had the fall out from Dakara and the Jaffa Rebellion. Do people think this was right or should James have just fled back to Earth? Also, thoughts on a new ship; either of the two suggested, a Star Destroyer from Star Wars or a Battlestar from Battlestar Galactica, or go for a totally new design?