Ares Rise

Body Swapping

May 1996

It was a boring, same old, sunny day for James Evans as he drove home in the early hours of the evening from his job at the local Member of Parliament's surgery. He'd been working with the MP for a few years now in the constituency office dealing with local issues and constituents' problems while relaying anything major to the office in Westminster. He'd come reasonably far now for a 25 year old. He had been to university and studied politics gaining a 2:1 degree and he had had average grades for A-Levels and GCSEs. As he was driving home in Norwich, watching the road and occasionally looking up at the various signs and advertisements boards, he notice a bright light in the sky to the north. He knew it wasn't the moon as it wasn't up yet and it was the wrong shape and size. He also knew it wasn't a star as it appeared to be moving. In fact it looked to be getting closer. As he drove down the road, he thankfully spotted a lay-by and pulled over, getting out of the car to see the increasingly bright object appearing to traverse the sky coming from the north east. It was then he noticed that it was also lower, as in within the atmosphere like a plane lower, and getting closer to the ground. Wondering what it could be, as the bright object now seemed to be trailing flames or smoke, he saw bright red or orange appear around the front of the object and could now make out that it seemed to be a silvery grey metallic object or a ship he thought with wonder. It came closer now, increasingly fast and he could now discern a shape as the flames and glowing red and orange faded. It appeared sort of turtle shaped but more humped and narrower, shaped more like a small pyramid now that he thought about it. A small ship then perhaps a shuttle considering its size.

It was lower now and he could hear a noise sounding like the humming of an engine though not any hum he recognised. He could see it now careering down trailing smoke and he knew that it was going to crash nearby. It was now lower than any other aircraft, approaching the height a helicopter would normally fly at and getting lower. Taking note of the direction he decided, in a fit of childish curiosity and a bit of sci-fi nerd interest, to follow that shuttle.

Following it precisely proved tricky to some degree as roads never go exactly where you want and you just have to hope it leads the right way, so after some driving and having to double back he was now on a road heading away from the town and out into the countryside and rural areas trailing after the now definitely confirmed shuttle as he could see it was small as it came lower and lower. Finally in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere after 20 minutes of driving he heard an almighty crash and screech along with a bellow of smoke. Knowing it had finally come down he drove as close as he could, coming to a field nearby where a long line of mud and dirt lay behind the shuttle while at the front was a mound of more mud and grass which was now piled there from where the shuttle had hit the ground and dug a shallow trench. There was no sound now as it was a quiet night, the faint sound of traffic could be heard in the distance while the smoke seemed to have stopped and was slowly clearing revealing the shuttle. It was pyramid shaped now he could see it close up, made of some silvery grey metal with gold accents. It had a sort of graceful look to it as the sides sloped down and a cockpit stood out at the front pointed like an elongated nose. A doorway appeared folding out from the side near the cockpit on the right side of it. Walking around he looked in to see more smoke inside, making it hazy and unclear but there appeared to be a lot of gold coloured walls from what he could see and some sort of red ball? at the front where a joystick or control would be. Moving carefully to the door he examined it. He thought it looked like some kind of airlock, like you'd find on a submarine or in one of those sci-fi films he'd seen. The accents, now he looked at them, and the presumed control panel on the door gave him a distinctly Egyptian vibe for some reason, his knowledge of Egypt extending to the little he'd learnt at primary school and some casual reading. The panel itself lent further credence to that idea as the symbols on the green buttons, arranged three down by two across, were Egyptian; an eye, a cross with circle and a beetle being some of what he could make out. Deciding to press some buttons because that usually solves anything he pressed three at random but got nothing in return. He pressed a different three and again got nothing other than a ploing as each button was pressed. On the third try of another three buttons the door opened up, but before he could do a mental dance of success a man in ancient looking clothing fell forward. Realizing that perhaps he hadn't actually opened it made him slump in disappointment, before he then approached the man who had fallen to the ground seemingly injured, if the blood that was coating his head and chest was anything to go by. Another thing that got him was how human the man looked. Given the advanced shuttle he expected, well, a little grey alien or something...else. Turning the man over he saw he was white, middle aged and powerfully built similar to how one would call a man a greek adonis or like the terminator from that film. The clothing the man wore was also ancient greek or roman in appearance with the toga, sandals and light chest armour that was more leather than metal. Clearly someone who cared more for appearance than anything practical James thought as he tore some of the clothes while attempting to make a bandage. Putting the man into a recovery position James then opened the man's mouth to give CPR but just as he did so James then jerked away as something entered his own mouth and he felt pain at the back of his throat. He staggered away from the man falling on his rear, gripping his head as it seemed to spilt open. He then suddenly found himself in an ancient greco-roman style villa with the man he had been attempting to save before him.

"Bow and serve your god human, I am Ares and you will be my new vessel!"

"Wwha-what are you? Wh-where are we? Serve you? It's bad enough working for politicians most of the time, why would I serve you too" James replied with a scoff and some confusion.

"This is your pitiful mind and your resistance is useless human I WILL be served and you WILL be my new host. It is only a matter of moments as you fail and I win" the being gloated.

"Clearly seen one too many evil villain cliches" James muttered the headache started increasing. Deciding to go down fighting with this parasite and maybe take the being with him he charged the man, thing?, in front of him. Clearly this Ares person too was surprised as his eyes widened and he stood still as James ran straight into him knocking them to the ground as he then landed punch after punch on the being. However that seemed to do little more than annoy the creature as he was throw onto his back as the being, Ares?, stood up and looked down on him.

"Impressive for a human to resist so much but I will win, you cannot stop me. Once I have this body I will take this world too and then return to my territories and get revenge on that Tok'ra shol'va who attacked my shuttle forcing me into Ra's domain and onto this primitive ball of dirt. Now submit human so I may have this body, this amuses me no longer." The being then approached raising his hand which had some gold bracelet and palm device on. Wishing he had some weapon, even a lightsaber of all things, when, with a slight flash of white light, he suddenly felt a weight in his hand. Glancing down while Ares approached he saw the hilt of a lightsaber exactly as he wished. Exactly as I wished, I'm in my mind! he realized with a start. Flicking the sabre on and picturing what he'd seen in the Star Wars films he swiped at the being causing it to gasp in pain and jump back with a cut across the stomach from the tip of James' blue blade. "What is this magic?! I AM the god here! Surrender and I will spare you to watch as I conquer the galaxy" the being screamed as James took another swipe this time at the hand with the jewellery and palm device that had glowed as Ares approached. The blade cut through flesh with ease just like in Empire and the being screamed in pain stumbling back before anger covered its features. "You will suffer greatly for this now human, DIE!" It charged towards him, no training or strategy just a full charge by an angry being injured and lacking a hand. Not knowing exactly what to do James took a pose holding the sabre close before swinging quickly and the creature blinked in confusion, stuttered, then looked down blinking owlishly and grimacing in pain before he slumped to the ground now separated from his legs.

The headaches that had been hounding James slowly cleared up afterwards and he found himself on his back next to the now whole body of Ares and next to that shuttle sitting in the dirt out in the cool english air. Was that all in my head?

-Yes it was young one. You have a chance now to carry on as you were or become something better and do something greater. I intervened only in the sense of giving you what you already had and giving you a chance. Thus the others won't come for me or for you. Good luck young one, and may the light guide you- said a female voice in his head and he could of sworn he saw a bright white ghostly object in the corner of his eye disappear. Turning back to the shuttle, a Tel'tak, he went inside the open door and took a look around. The cockpit sat two pilots from what he could tell, one human with a golden tattoo, a Jaffa, lay on the ground by one seat, his neck at an odd angle. The room was covered in gold with hieroglyphics and along the back wall of he saw four silver coffin like objects, escape pods. He then saw another control panel and this time getting the code in one he opened the door, now knowing now it required five button presses. Wait how did I know that? And I knew that was a Jaffa and this is a Tel'tak. He then thought about how to make this ship fly and he suddenly knew how to fly the shuttle with the controls. "Oh my god I know what he knows!" he called out in surprise before putting a hand over his mouth. He then heard a commotion to the rear of the ship and saw two men, more Jaffa, come out from a rear segment of the ship wearing silver metal armour, one of whom held a large staff, a staff weapon. They stopped in surprise seeing him.

"Kree, who goes there? Where is our god Ares human?" James stood there as startled as them thinking quickly he thought on that deep bass voice Ares spoke to him in and replied.

"I am Ares, my host was damaged and I took this body as my new one. Fix this ship quickly for I do not wish to be on this primitive dirt-ball any longer" he answered as imperiously as he could.

"As you command my lord" they replied without even a blink. Huh, gullible lot aren't they James thought with silent thanks to above that it worked.

"I will be up front meditating and regaining control of this host. Do not disturb me unless it is important."

"Yes my lord" answered one Jaffa as they returned to the rear compartment, the engine room. I really need to sort through all this properly and organise my thoughts James pondered as he took a meditative pose on the ground near the pilots' seat before then realising he best call home on his mobile to let his family know he was going to be late back deciding to not yet to explain about the alien ship especially since he was now posing as a god who was posing as a god? No an alien posing as a god, so he was a human posing as an alien posing as a god. Wow that's complicated. Once done he resumed his seat on the ground in the front area and began to think upon and organise what he could from Ares.

What struck him was how basic yet advanced these people were as he sorted through everything. The shields and weapons were advanced but they hadn't changed in hundreds if not thousands of years. Next were the sarcophagus' which seemed to heal but also slowly derange the person using it if used more than 3 times. Searching the memories of Ares he realized that it was a bad copy of some ancient civilisations healing device. Maybe if I found the original I could make a better one he pondered. Next were Ares' memories of the Jaffa and their tactics. Line formations not seen since Napoleon, great I will have to update that if I take charge too. Their armour is also rubbish against their own weapons who they mainly fight against, the staff weapon is also slow to fire. These people are rubbish at war, AND I'm suppose to be the god of it he thought with a sigh of exasperation. So many problems he realised sadly concluding that he would have to deal with them if he took over as Ares. He also realised that he was now in Ra's territory though with the shuttle he could get back to his own in days. Earth is in Ra's territory hmm. He knew then that he would have to do something about that. Protect home he thought. That was when he came up with his plan.

Rebuild his existing forces and develop new armour and weapons for Jaffa, probably his ships too. next he would build more ships and increase the population of his worlds so as to man them and make his army bigger. Something else would be to improve the living conditions of his people and make them happier and more loyal. Fourth he would train and educate the Jaffa so they were experienced in ship-to-ship and land combat plus educate the people to improve his technology base. And finally he would work to secure territory around Earth to ensure its protection.

Yes that should do, after that make it up as I go, maybe try liberate more of the humans and Jaffa in the galaxy or set up a tech company on Earth he thought as he came out of his 'meditation' if you could call it that. God, and wasn't that ironic, this creature was sick and despotic. Some of the things he did, ugh, and James shivered as if something cold went down his spine. He looked around the room again and sitting in the pilots seat he thought on the sensors. The holographic display lit up in front of him showing the current location of the craft, just in land in the south east of England. He then thought of Naquadah, a key component of their technology. According to Ares, the Goa'uld used to rule Earth thousands of years ago so maybe they left something behind. Scanning for Naquadah he found some surprising things. Firstly there was a dialling device for the Chappa'ai located in Russia of all places. Secondly there were a few signals coming from Egypt including what may possibly be a ship though it would need a closer scan to confirm it. But thirdly, and most importantly, there was a Chappa'ai in the United States, great the Americans have it thought James morosely. Coming to his senses he noticed the two Jaffa had returned. "Yes, what is it?" he asked impatiently and still trying to get used to changing his voice as needed.

"My lord we believe we have fixed the damage the Tok'ra inflicted upon us" they replied nervously.

"Excellent work, you have done well for your god. Are we ready then to leave this accursed world and return to my domain?"

"Yes my lord, at your command."

"Do so, but first scan these points, I have searched for Naquadah and found only them. Take us into high orbit, cloak us and conduct a full scan, find out what they are and report if anything else comes up." At least this ship has a cloak, a rarity but commanded to be so by Ra, regrettably, James realises. It took a few tries before the engines started and they took off unsteadily as the two Jaffa piloted the ship up into space. James took a moment to view Earth from orbit for the first time, realising just how blue it really was and how small.

"My lord scans confirm the dialling device for the Chappa'ai is located here to the east of our crash site in this northern continent in a barren snow area. To the south where the pyramids of the gods are, there is one ship, possibly an old style version of this ship my lord. We can also confirm there are two chappa'ai on the planet."

"Two?! Where are they located? The ship, is it recoverable?" James asked curious at knowing there were two portals on the planet not one as he'd thought.

"Yes my lord, one is under a mountain on this continent here across the water to the west. The second is on the southern most continent under ice. For the ship we would have to board it and determine its status my lord."

"We can not recover either doorway it seems, no matter since the dialling device is separate they will not likely be able to work it, I will grant them this boon. As for the ship we must recover it as I will not allow them the chance to study the magic of the Goa'uld. Set course for the ship. Engage" he finished with a point of his hand, channelling his inner Picard, and the two Jaffa guided the vessel towards the ship, and Egypt.

The journey took very little time, barely half an hour, where they arrived at a half buried temple next to which was a large mound of sand probably burying the old ship they'd detected. "There is no one around my lord. We should not be disturbed while we are here" reported the main pilot.

"Good, Jaffa Kree, with me. My first prime, where is he? Should he not be with his god?"

"My lord, Karrik is the one over there who died for you my lord. I would be honoured to be your new prime" answered the pilot indicating the body laying on the ground to the rear of the compartment.

"Insolence, you will prove yourself first before I grant you such a title. When we return I may grant you that, but I will find the best first before I decide" James replied putting on the voice again and hamming up the act. To be fair it was a bit presumptuous to ask your boss for the newly empty job. Before leaving knowing he needed the hand device, he took it off Ares' body and put it on his own right hand. Heading outside they were immediately hit by the heat though it was cooling rapidly being night and with a clear sky and they walked towards the temple. It was Egyptian, obviously, and dedicated to Osiris but he could pick up nothing in this ante-chamber that would interest him though James did take a moment to enjoy being in Egypt, a place he'd always wanted to visit and now here he was looking for spaceships instead of mummies. Moving into the main inner area with his Jaffa beside him he saw a statue to Osiris, pretentious fellow isn't he, and then he felt something coming from the large base of the statue. Feeling the plinth the statue was on he felt the switch that was located there but he couldn't activate it. Pondering what to do he tried holding his own Kara Kesh over it while he pictured the plinth opening up and after a minute or two of thought it eventually opened up as imagined revealing another hand device. Grabbing the device and taking note of the rings in the temple he instructed the guard to stand by him and pressed the button on the newly acquired hand device. A little curiosity never hurt he thought as the rings came down whirring and whumping before transporting him in to a cargo hold not unlike the Tel'tak he had just been on. "Yes it seems this is an older model, but still functional by the looks of it. Jaffa begin engine start up. We will take this with us and return to my domain. Begin" he ordered the Jaffa who saluted and went into the forward section. Taking the moment alone James realised he would have to go with them with little chance to go home first. So, hoping to prevent too many problems at home, he called home and left a message on the answering machine informing his family he was going on a field trip or break for a while but would return when he could. He then left a message on his work answering machine saying he was resigning so as to go travelling and hoped everyone was well. He noticed that the lights had brightened and there was now a steady humming sound coming from the ship's rear. Heading to the cockpit he saw the Jaffa was beginning various start up sequences. "The ship, will it fly?"

"Yes my lord, it is fully functioning despite being very old. We can take off now my lord" the Jaffa said as he sat at the plot seat holding the red orb in his hands.

"Inform the other ship to lift off and we shall do the same." This was it, no going back, guess its time to boldly go where no one has gone before; Kirk and Picard, eat your hearts out he thought with a small nervous smile. "Take us home" he commanded and they slowly lifted up, dislodging centuries of sand from the roof. He watched as they gained altitude and speed, he saw the curve of the planet before loosing sight and then only seeing the darkness of space and the stars before him. And then a purple rupture in space appeared and they leapt forward.

AN: So what do people think? Good idea/premise? Want a bit more before you decide? Or was it too cliched and something Jack wouldn't like? ;)

Please review and I'll see what happens, J signing off.