Wraiths
The Smallest Hive
Pt 9
The Walls Burned! The interior of Erishkigal's Personal Interrogation Chamber literally steamed. A heat haze hung in the air like a blanket. For a normal human, ore even a Jaffa, the room would be barely survivable. Erishkigal's fist slammed with such force into an ornate golden table next to her chair that she left a dent in it. The Damned Creature wasn't even Sweating! She had just broken the bone in her left pinky finger and two in her host body's hand. She massaged her sore hand as she glared at the Female thru the View Globe. It was spoiling her fun!
It had been nearly 2 hours since the Female had been shackled to the wall. Erishkigal had risen the temperature in the room 3 times. Her contempt for the wretched thing just kept growing. She wished she could fire her Crown's Eye Beams thru the View Globe at it! IT didn't even look drowsy! She reached up and felt the tip of her nose. 5 minutes in the Sarcophagus and her own ability to speed up her host body's healing process had completely repaired the damage, but the pain of the humiliation and degradation still burned! She could stand it no longer. She pushed a few buttons on the rooms control console. A force field erected in the chamber. It created a barrier around the creature, keeping the heat around it as cooler air seeped in. Up from the floor, large square tiles slowly rose, making a sound like huge gears of stone and metal struggling to raise a great weight. Under the tiles were containers decorated with skulls and motifs of human sacrifice and torture. When they reached about the height of a normal human, doors swung open like on cabinet, revealing instruments of torture. Instruments ranging from mysterious high tech to primitive barbarity. The Cabinets were angled so the prisoner had a good view of the contents. All were favorite toys of Erishkigal.
She stood up from her throne and moved towards the door to the chamber. She stopped to look at herself in a large full mirror. She had added some accoutrements to her attire. Some nice long heel stiletto boots. A belt and some shoulder additions. Wrist and shoulder attachments. All made of a polished dark gold material. Decorated with her favored Skull motif and all of it pointed and razor sharp. It was both fashionable and functional. Taking one last moment to make sure everything was on straight she turned and glided towards the door. It opened automatically as she approached, and it made a sound like cracking bone. She did love her theatrics.
As she approached the creature it didn't move but its inhuman eyes opened slightly wider and locked onto her like a targeting system. She could hear and see where the creatures clothing had started to smolder and smoke against the burning metal of the wall. She could also hear its hard skin slightly sizzling in its manacles. If It was in any discomfort It wasn't allowing any of it to show. The Beast was smiling at her! It was also sniffing, with her nose and those strange slits just above her high cheek bones.
"What are you?" She wondered out loud. The Female's ugly smile grew slightly bigger. Erishkigal was thankful the forcefield was still in place. "We are going to get to know each other very well you and I. "Erishkigal purred. "Very well indeed." She said and took the Female's personal knife out of a pocket on her suit. The Female glared at it greedily. Erishkigal ran the tip of the blade against the force field between them. It sparked and began to glow as the energy interacted with it. The Female's eyes followed it almost as if mesmerized by the slow movement. She slowly moved the tip of the blade until it was pointed right between the Female's eyes. The Female stared at it intensely. Erishkigal leaned in and put on her most sinister smile. SNAP went the Females teeth like a metal animal trap! Erishkigal flinched backwards and dropped the knife which clattered on the metal floor. The Female let out a mocking hiss and once again licked her teeth.
Out in the hallway of Erishkigal's Private Chambers, Nef-er'et and her chosen few of the Jaffa Elite Guard were standing at attention. They had been called there a few minutes ago by their Goddess. She had instructed them to wait there and to enter the chambers immediately upon her signal. The Guard were assuming it would be to "clean up the remains" of the Goddess Newest Entertainment, not an unusual occurrence. Nef-er'et had a suspicion that That was not really the reason. She had ordered them to replace their staff weapons with the zat'nik'tel weapons. She didn't want to take any chances if they had to rush in weapons ablaze. If She was honest, she was hoping just for that to happen. She wanted a piece of the ENTERTAINMENT too, but she had learned quite a few habits from the tutelage of her Dark Goddess.
Along one of the many corridors of the Mothership, a small band of custodial slaves were cleaning up as part of the routine ship duties. They were working hard and extra diligently. They knew what fate awaited them if they didn't. A Horrible Fate! So, dedicated to their tasks they paid as little attention as they could when a sole Jaffa Warrior stomped by. He rounded a corner and weas gone. One slave turned to one standing next to her. "That was the biggest Jaffa I have ever seen." She whispered conspiratorially. "His armor looked like it was going to burst off him!" She added. "That is none of our concern, we should only be worried about keeping the floors clean." The other slave said loyally. "Besides if one of the Higher Ranks sees that long white hair of his sticking out from under his helmet, that will be the end of him." He spoke in the same whispered tone. "That poor boy, and did you see that odd satchel he had on his back, I wonder what was in it?" She asked. "That is None of Our Concern!" He said pointedly. "Probably better not knowing." He said grimly. "Why?" She asked him. 'Because I could have sworn, I heard it growling!" He finished with. They both looked at the Corner the Odd Warrior had gone around. They went back to not paying attention to things that didn't concern them.
"Aaarrgghh!" Erishkigal grunted as she shoved the Rod of Anguish into the stomach of the Female with all her enhanced strength. "Grrrahhhh!" Growled the Female back at her! The end of the Pain Stick was glowing from the heavy use. They glared back at each other with pure hate in their eyes. It was hard to tell who was showing more exertion from the past few minutes. Erishkigal had lowered the force field so she could torture the beast better. The Heat had been fierce at first but had dissipated quickly. She had hoped the drastic change in temperature would affect the female, but no such luck. She had cut it several times with its own knife and even stabbed her twice in the chest and abdomen, but the wounds had healed nauseatingly fast! The thing was truly a Monster! "Raarrhh!" Bellowed Erishkigal as she once more shoved the Pain Stick into the side of the Female who let loose a glass cutting screech! She pressed as hard as she could! The Female screamed in pain and rage, in equal measure.
This went on for several second when the Pain Stick suddenly snapped in two with a loud flash and bang that sent Erishkigal staggering backwards! She looked down at the two pieces in her hands. She screamed with rage and hurled the pieces of the stick away, she then whipped up her left hand and let loose from the Kera Kesh she wore! The Shimmering Wave of Force Slammed directly into the Female! She let loose wave after wave, hammering the Female against the metal wall again and again! Erishkigal stopped her assault. She looked up. The Creature had collapsed in its restraints. Could She finally have exhausted the thing she wondered. She unleashed 2 more attacks on it. The Female slammed against the wall like a lifeless puppet. Erishkigal slowly and cautiously made her way towards it. She stopped to pick up the Female's knife off the floor. Now armed with both the Kara Kesh, The Crown, and the Knife she felt more confident. Standing right in front of it, she reached down and with the knife hand and savagely grabbed the female by her long hair and yanked her head up to be level with Hers. It looked different now. Its face looked drier than before, starting to crack like old leather. Even the hair was starting to lose its dark vibrant color. It looked like it had aged centuries in the last few minutes. She then brought up the Kara Kesh and let it surge an electrical attack into the side of the Female's head. It stiffened and its eyes slowly opened. Now they were cloudy and dull. Erishkigal smiled. "So, you do have a limit after all." She said. Suddenly, The Female's mouth opened wide and let-out a near soundless hiss. Erishkigal increased her attack with the Kara Kesh. The Female's right hand sprang open wide, talons bared. Erishkigal looked and saw the slit like mouth also open wide, its small sharp fangs now exposed. The manacle holding the hand started to bend and crack, and before Erishkigal could even blink the hand ripped free from the wall and shot towards her almost faster than her eye could follow, but to her it seemed like the hand was flying in slow motion! She watched in horror as it moved towards her, like a predator leaping upon its prey! The Hand ripped into Erishkigal's Chest! The Claws dug in; the teeth started to chew! Both the Goa'uld and The Wraith SCREAMED!
Out in the Hallway, Nef-er'et receded her helmet into her collar. She turned and looked at the Metal Door leading to the Inner Chambers. She looked at the door again, she could have sworn she heard something, but that should be impossible. The Royal Chambers were well screened and shielded, not to mention sound proofed. She almost asked the other Warriors if they had heard anything, but she stopped herself before she did. No point in asking those fools. They didn't have the will or intelligence to make their own decisions in a matter like this. So caught up in her own issues, she failed to notice that an extra Jaffa had joined their ranks. A rather larger then normal Jaffa. Making her mind up Nef-er'et stepped up to the door and punched in the security code. The door slid open and she stepped into the outer chamber. Standing in the small waiting area, Nef-er'et stepped up to the inner door and listened. She thought she could hear screaming, which was not unusual, but was she mistaken, or did she hear 2 distinct screams? One sounded more like a roar.
As she stood there trying to decide if she should disobey her Goddess and enter the inner chamber unsummoned the Extra-Large Jaffa reached behind it and tossed a Ra'Kek Grenade right into the center of the Jaffa Elite. They all recognized it at once, but all were to shock by seeing one land in front of them to be able to leap away from it. The Ra'Kek erupted in a burst of Deadly Light that shot out in almost every direction at once! Every Jaffa quickly fell under the barrage! Nef-er'et standing inside the outer chamber was fortunate enough to be shielded from its attack, but the grenade died out and a scant instant after a large shadow fell across the outer door. She looked up and saw a Large Jaffa pointing a Zat'nik'tel right at her! She leaped just fast enough to only catch a glancing stun bolt from the weapon. She rolled and crashed into a small divan and fell behind it. Darkness threatened to overwhelm her, but she fought against it.
The Warrior Drone deactivated the Jaffa Helmet he was wearing to reveal his own masked head. The Unas Child's head popped up out of the satchel on his back and looked around with excitement! This was Fun! He was having fun! He liked this! He liked it a lot! The Warrior Drone tiled his head and gave it a curious look then turned his attention back to the Inner Chamber Door. He unleashed a destructive 3 bolts from the Zat Gun, but the door held. Erishkigal was no fool and made sure her chambers were well protected. The Drone stepped back and continued to blast the door with the Zat'nik'tel but backed up out into the hall. The Unas Child jumped down and grabbed a weapon from one of the Dead Jaffa and handed up to the Warrior Drone. He took it and began a double attack on the door.
The Female dropped the husk of Erishkigal to the floor. That was Good! Excellent in fact! The Female leaned back and stretched as the energy flowed thru her and renewed her body. The Humans of this new crop that were laughable attempting to invade Her Galaxy were of a much finer quality then the home-grown kind. She almost forgot that one thing about these creatures. She knelt and looked for the that odd pouch with the slug thing in it. She ripped off the garments around the stomach, but the pouch was not there, but that made no sense. She could Taste the thing when she feed. It must be there. She noticed her knife lying near the remains. She picked it up and used it to hack into the body. She was not understanding this. When they feed on the Warrior Cast, even after feeding the worm thing was still there and alive. Getting frustrated she sheathed her knife and inhaled deeply with both sets of her nostrils. She could both smell and sense LIFE! She Wanted IT! Losing any sense of patience, she started tearing the husk apart with her claws! Suddenly from behind the head a long shape suddenly bolted away. The Female slashed at it on pure instinct, missing it by the width of the air! The Female smiled and jumped after it! It must be the worm thing, and it was Big! If she could have, she would have started salivating. The worm thing slithered away as fast as it could! It went under furniture, behind or under whatever it could, but the now super charged Wraith just knocked or kicked what ever it went under out of the way in her pursuit! If only that Blasted Noise would stop, she could concentrate on her prey!
The Chamber Door suddenly evaporated in a flash of Energy and Dust and a Massive Form burst into the room. The Female jumped up to confront this new foe before she realized it was the Warrior Drone! The Drone started gesturing at her and at the door in exaggerated arm movements while growling at her. She of course ignored him.
*Where have you been? * She asked him via telepathy, forgetting that he wasn't receptive to it. "Help me find the worm thing, now!" She ordered him. The Drone just stood there, and She guessed he glared at her from behind His Mask. "Grah, what is that thing!?" She snarled as the Utas Child, still attached to the Drone's wrist by the manacle and chain suddenly appeared next to him. The Child darted forward, pulling the chain tight, as he ran up to the husk of Erishkigal's host body. He stared down at it for a few long silent seconds before he let out a loud happy growl then started jumping up and down on it.
The Female watched this with a cross between bewilderment and impatience. That and was the Warrior Drone laughing? "Never mind this nonsense, help me find the worm thing!" She yelled and turned around to renew her search. The Warrior Drone just shook his head, reattached both Zat Guns to the now in awfully bad shape armor he wore with magnetic claps. He grabbed a very shiny metallic looking blanket off the floor and the Female with the other hand and simply turned and pulled her, the blanket and the Utas out of the room and down the empty corridor, except for all the dead bodies.
Out in the corridor, the crew of Cleaning Slaves walked around the corner and saw the devastation and carnage in front of them. Several nods of agreement were made before someone spotted some litter in another corridor some way off that needed their immediate attention.
In the Mothership's laboratories, the Techno-Vizier was engrossed in studying the data the small tablet he held in his hand was showing to him. The knowledge that the specimens they took from the alien were giving him some remarkably interesting results. Results that could bring Very Big Changes to the Goa'uld Race. He turned and looked at the "Specimen" on the examination table. It has proven to be one of the oddest subjects he had ever tortured, that is EXAMINED. It was a Wealth of Scientific and Biological Data! He couldn't wait to turn it to his advantage. Now he just had to decide just how much of the knowledge he should inform his Queen of to keep her happy and off his back.
As he was making his plans, he failed to notice some new arrivals to his lab. A Lone Jaffa Warrior of exceptional size, and a Mysterious Cloak Wrapped Figure who appeared to be Female. Not taking any chances, all the Slave Technicians quickly fell to their hands and knees and began bowing and groveling. Noticing the noise of groveling not being directed at him, he turned to see what the cause of this was. Assuming this to be Erishkigal coming to check up on him, which was not an uncommon occurrence. You could almost think she didn't trust him.
"Ah My Dear Deity of Darkness, how fortuitous for you to choose now to bless us with your…." He started to say but something was not right. He looked at the cloaked figure. Erishkigal was not one to every Hide her Form. She was far to Proud of the Host Bodies She chose. He simply smiled and nodded. The two were suddenly enveloped in force fields that shimmered around them. Here in the labs, He was the Master! The Female let the blanket fall to the floor, and she lashed out at the shield with her claws, which sparked around her hands knocking her back. The Warrior Drone had aimed a zat'nik'tel at the shimmering but didn't fire. "Ah the large one shows some intelligence." The Techno-Vizier laughed. "How fascinating." He turned and looked at the raging female. "Apparently it is not a trait they all share." The Female calmed herself and looked down at her smoking but rapidly healing claws. "I have already learned Much about your kind from your small friend, but I do yearn to learn what Wonders You hold in store for me, my ferocious beauty." He said looking at The Female. "I think the first thing in order should be a lesson for you" The Techno-Vizier said with his eyes aglow. "A Lesson in Who is The True Power Now!" He once again nodded his head, and the fields around the two Wraith started to shrink. The Warrior Drone put out his massive hands and pushed against the swirling mass with all his impressive strength but did nothing to effect the energy. The cage around the Female pressed her arms in tight around her. She turned and glared at the Techno-Vizier.
"I know you can understand me. "He said. "Do you have anything to say?" He asked her.
*Yes. * She growled. His curiosity aroused He leaned in closer. "What do you have to tell me?" He asked insatiably. *Lesson! * She hissed back at him, and her clawed hand snapped up in front of his face and she clenched her claws. The Techno-Vizier's teeth snapped together, and his face contorted in pain! He fought against it with all his will power, but it was no use. The Female squeezed her claws tighter and the pain increased. He fell to his knees, nearly passing out. She stared down at him, the look of concentration on her face looked to be almost as painful as the stress the Techno-Vizier was experiencing. His eyes started to roll back into his head, he was on the verge of losing consciousness when suddenly the force fields snapped out off! Both the Techno-Vizier, and The Female collapsed on to the floor. Rushing forward The Warrior Drone went up and kicked out with a massive foot, right into the Techno-Vizier across the lab! He flew across the lab and crashed into a wall of various technical apparatus which came crashing down on to him, burying him beneath the wreckage.
The Technical Slaves in the room who had been cowering in the corner during all this continued to do this. Having been trained since birth to be blindly obedient, just didn't have the ability to stand up for themselves. The Warrior knelt and pulled the Female back to her unsteady feet. She shook her head to try and clear it. The strain of doing what she did had taken quite a toll on her. She just hadn't learned how to effectively use her mental abilities, but she was recovering quickly.
He shoved her up against a wall, so that she could support herself, and He then turned and moved over to the examination table in the center of the room, where the Male was still strapped down. He hadn't made a sound during the whole confrontation. The Warrior drone recessed the Jaffa Helmet back into its collar and with an almost gentle concern looked down at his fellow Wraith on the table.
His clothes had been cut off him. His pale greenish blue skin still showed the signs of the results of the things the Techno-Vizier had preformed on him. He was covered in quickly healing cuts and abrasions and signs of where he had had objects injected into him.
The Techno-Vizier had been very thorough in his examination, but he still hadn't figured out how to get the goggles and head attachment off. The Warrior reached down and ripped some of the equipment and straps off the table to free him. The still cowering slaves were convinced to stay there by the Utas Child sitting on the Warriors shoulder snarling and snapping his teeth and claws at them. They were staying put.
*Hurry Up! * The Female snapped impatiently from the side of the room. The Warrior helped the still unsteady Naked Male to his feet. The Warrior gave her a slow glance before he reached out with his large feeding hand and pressed it against the Males Chest. The Male jolted as the Warrior's hand bite into him. Life flowed from the Warrior to the Male. The Male let out a long gasp as his system got the push it needed to bring him back up to speed. The Warrior withdrew his hand and the Him and the Male exchanged a silent look. * We must get back to My Hive so I can defeat these freaks! * The Female said via a telepathic flash at them. The Two other Wraith just exchanged another glance. *Yes, I would like to go home. * The Male replied. Regaining his bluer green and pale color he stood up, took a couple of wobbly steps then walked over to a computer terminal set into one of the lab's wall.
The Male stared at the screen for a few seconds, then fiddled with a few control nobs on his headpiece. His talons then started flying over the controls of the terminal. Images flashed across the screen, the security not letting him access any data, at first. A few more adjustments to the headpiece and another blur of movement across the terminal and details about the Mothership's infrastructure began to flash across the screen.
*You can work that thing? * The Female asked with a confused look on her face. *Uh? * The Male grunted. Realizing he had been asked a direct question he answered her. * Oh, uh, yes, it is a quite simple machine really. * He said distractedly while staring intently at the screen. *It appears to be operating on a very primitive Ancient dialect. * He told her while still messing with the system. *Does that mean you can understand it? * She asked again, clearly not understanding completely. *Yes, I have had a few chanced to interface with Ancient equipment over the eons, that and I am running a translation matrix thru my own system. * He further explained. The Female just nodded. *Plus, the creature clumsily trying to dissect me apparently loved the sound of his own voice and never stopped talking his abilities and the devices he was using. * The Male Added. *Does that mean you can understand it? * She asked again. The look on her face made it clear she was not understanding a lot of what he was saying most clear. *I am fairly sure I do. * He replied with a hint of hesitation. *The creature was also very inept at guarding its own thoughts and it let all kinds of things slip thru, like security passcodes. * He finished with and stepped back from the terminal.
He turned and looked directly at the Warrior Drone for a few seconds. The Warrior Drone looked up and tilted his head a few times before looking down at the Male and nodding. *We should go, Now! * He said empathically. *Go?!" She asked excitedly. *Go where? We don't know our way around this vessel! * She snarled at him. She stopped and a look of realization crossed her face. *Wait a minute, how did we find our way here, and how did the Warrior find me? * She asked as It suddenly dawned on her. Dawn apparently can rise terribly slow for some. *He followed the map. * The Male replied. He was lucky death rays couldn't shoot out of the Female's eyes. *Map? What Map!?* She psychically screamed at him. It nearly knocked him off his feet.
The Slaves of the Techno-Vizier huddled in the corner watched this silent display going on in front of them. One turned to look at another with a questioning look. The only answer she got was a I dunno shrug of the shoulders.
*Well?! * She snapped again. Steadying himself he gathered up his strength and courage to try and get thru this conversation as quickly as he could. *He used the map that was in the HUD of the Alien Helmet that he is wearing that I helped him to access. * He explained rapidly. One big benefit to telepathy is that one doesn't have to stop to take breaths. Before she could ask another question, he started explaining again. * I was communicating with him via a signal device that is installed in his Warrior Mask that is linked to my Ear Piece, which we have been doing the entire time we have been on this alien vessel, and I was able to led him to you because I can sense your location via our telepathic abilities, and once he had rescued you I led him here to this lab, and now we need to escape back to our hive because I unleashed a computer virus into this vessels systems that are going to start playing havoc with its systems in just a few minutes, do you have any questions? * He finished.
She looked at him, slowly started to raise her finger to pose another question but she stopped, thought about it. *Apparently you aren't as useless as I thought. * She said. She took in his naked form a little closer. She slowly tilted her head to once side. *Yes, I think I will keep you after, so lets go. * She said and turned and walked out of the Lab. The Male looked down, not entirely sure what that last part meant. The Warrior shook his head and took the unas child by the hand and followed her. The Male grabbed the blanket and ran after them. The Slaves watched this, gave each other a certain look then also ran out of the lab and went in the other direction. From under the pile of debris, the hand of the Techno-Vizier slowly started to claw it way out.
Stars sparkled in the darkness. One of the stars started to get closer. Light was returning to the world. Nef-er'et really hated being hit by a Zat Guns Stun Setting. She rolled over and pushed herself up to her knees. Taking a deep breath, she rose unsteadily to her feet. She looked around her, taking in the situation. She picked up a discarded zat off the floor. She strode into the inner chamber. She took in the devastation around her. She spotted the dried remains of her Goddess lying on the floor. She stared at it. Her Goddess was on the floor in front of her. Her Goddess was on the floor in front of her and dead. The Being that she had been trained for all most all her life to serve, to give herself body and soul to in total service to was dead at her feet. Her God is Dead! She did not know how she felt about that. She felt that she should be overwhelmed with grief, but that was not what she felt growing inside. All she was feeling was unfiltered hate!
A growing Hate for the Creature that did this. Hatred for herself for not having killed the thing herself already! A Hate she so wanted to let loose right now. She spun and activated her zat'nik'tel! Something moved. She scanned the chamber with her eyes. She saw nothing but she could sense it. Something moved under a pile of debris. She slowly moved forward and nudged the small pile with her foot. What is That? It was almost a foot or so long, a dark ugly grey color. It quivered slightly. She slowly knelt to take a closer look. The Thing shot up off the floor at a blindingly fast speed. It shrieked! Nef-er'et screamed! She fell into another darkness, but this time there were no stars.
To be Concluded…I hope.