Disclaimer: Don't own Stargate or Fallout, obviously.
I wasn't particularly blocked with this chapter, but rather I just had a pressing writing obligation fill up a slot before this one, for my writing schedule. It's a long and boring story. Regardless, on with the chapter.
Just because a character draws a conclusion does not mean I believe that conclusion to be correct.
Wasteland Gate
By Kylia
Chapter 10: Catch, No Release
January 13, 2283
So'tal Fortress, Viluntia
The atrium of the fortress was, much like the tunnels of Heru'ur's base, lined with gold and covered in more goa'uld script. It was probably just more gold leaf or whatever, like before, but Victoria really had to wonder why it was that Goa'uld structures, on the inside, had to look like they were vomited on by a...
Thing that vomited gold.
Okay, that started better than it ended.
"More praise of Apophis and So'tal?" Victoria turned to Arcade, gesturing at the writings.
"Looks like it. Also something that claims to be the history of the planet, I think," Arcade said, as he stopped to look closely at a section of wall. He snapped several pictures, "Note to self, bring more film next time." He muttered.
"Where's the welcoming party?" Sheppard asked, looking around. There was no one there. The room had three other ways out, apart from the door they'd blasted open. One, large archway at the far end, and a smaller door on either side. The room had several pillars, and even as he spoke, Sheppard got behind one, peeking around for any sign the enemy Jaffa were coming.
"Probably on their way. Or setting up somewhere further inside." Victoria suggested.
"Could be planning a big surprise party for us." Jack suggested, stepping close to one of the side doors and quickly peeking around it, then pulling back and shaking his head. Victoria moved to the other side door, standing on one side of the doorway. She was about to peek around it when she hesitated.
No. Better idea. Victoria took one of the Tok'kal knockout grenades they'd taken and rolled it down the hallway, without turning it on. But as it rolled, there was the sudden sound of footsteps running away from it... only for them to stop when it didn't go off at all.
"Yep, there they are. Cover me." Victoria pulled out her revolvers again, and charged into the hallway. Jaffa - no covering serpent helmets on these ones - were indeed taking up positions at the intersection ahead, but as they fired from their staff weapons, Victoria dropped to one knee and fired at one, getting him in the head. The other Jaffa started to reposition, but before he could pull it off, a hail of bullets connected with his torso armor, throwing him off, and then another spray got him again, and this time he fell back, enough of the bullets getting through the armor to take him down.
Victoria spared a quick glance behind her. Carter and O'Neill were both there. She nodded, and approached the two downed Jaffa, grabbing their staff weapons and the Zat'nik'tel that one of them had, quickly taking them back into the throne room with her. Without bothering to consult with the others - there really wasn't time for debate now. Two down, twelve to go, but there would be reinforcements from the rest of the planet on their way. From what Teal'c said, it would take time for them to get here, spread out as they were, and they might come piecemeal, but even if they could hole up and defend this fortress, sooner or later, they'd run out of ammo and besides which, they needed to get back to the Stargate, ideally with a prisoner, once they were done here.
So they couldn't get pinned down.
If Victoria knew anything about egotistical, arrogant would-be gods, then just beyond this grand entrance hall would be an even grander throne room. So'tal may rule on behalf of Apophis, but he still pretended to be a god, even if one in service to another god.
Given how well-appointed Caesar's tent had been compared to the rest of Fortification Hill, Victoria had always figured that his palace in Flagstaff would be even more grand.
Probably had nothing on this. In both glamour and tackiness.
The larger doorway at the far end of the entrance hall actually had doors in it, rather than standing free and open like the others. The doors, like the walls, looked like they were made of gold, and there didn't appear to be any lock on them.
Without knowing what to look for, Victoria couldn't see any signs of any traps on the door, but it did seem unlikely this door would have some sort of mine attached to it or whatever. She pushed at both doors, and they slid easily inward, swinging open under their own momentum after a few moments.
Sure enough, in the next room was a throne room, just as golden, with braziers burning all along the walls, and stone statues of snake-headed people, with gemstones in their eye sockets flanking a pathway from the door to a raised dais, where a throne did in fact sit.
The throne, gold-seeming like the rest of the room, had dark red cloth and cushions on it, and seated on those cushions was a man in long, white flowing robes, a golden circlet on his head, and some sort of fancy bracelet on one hand, that had weird rings attached to both
Is that... Teal'c had mentioned the kara kesh, a device worn on the hand that Goa'uld used to inflict pain, or raise personal shields or send out blasts of energy. Victoria couldn't remember his exact description, but the bracelet looked like her vague memory of his details on the device's appearance.
The man had tanned, no, olive skin, surprisingly close to her own skin tone, and his head had been shaved bald. He sat, perched on the throne like a predator eying his prey.
Kneeling on either side of the throne were two women - young, pretty, wearing what Victoria could only say looked like underwear made of gold, jewels and maybe a bit of cloth to hold it all together.
Oh for fucks sake. Even Caesar didn't go so far as to have pet concubines by his throne.
"Humans," the man said, his voice deep, unnaturally so. His eyes glowed for a moment as the other five formed up behind her. "I would ask what god you serve, but you do not use the weapons of the Goa'uld."
"No, no we don't. Though I do have to say they're pretty nifty weapons." O'Neill commented. "Though your staff weapons have pretty terrible aim and rate of fire." He pointed his service rifle at So'tal. "I don't suppose telling you to surrender would get anywhere?"
"And who would I be surrendering to?" So'tal asked, chuckling darkly. "You invade my world, and my home, and yet you have yet to name yourselves." well, someone is trying a pretty obvious stall tactic.
Victoria started to walk into the throne room, gesturing for the others to follow her. O'Neill caught her eye, and jerked his head towards the entrance hall, raising an eyebrow.
Hoping she was guessing his implication correctly, Victoria nodded. If she was So'tal, she'd be stalling for her Jaffa to come in behind. Especially if that bracelet really could raise some sort of personal shield he could use to defend himself. But if they got fully inside the throne room, they'd have a better position, then standing in the doorway, exposed.
"Last I checked, this was Apophis's world, you just ran it for him," Victoria pointed out, smirking.
"I hold this world in service to a God greater than myself, yes," So'tal acknowledged, and it almost looked like it pained him to acknowledge it, though acknowledge it he did. "Apophis, Rightful Supreme System Lord and Rightful Lord of the Goa'uld Domain. I ask again - who are you and why do you tread on his world?"
"We were thinking of coming in, stealing a few things, ransacking the place." O'Neill suggested, stepping forward. He lifted the Zat'nik'tel Victoria from the two earlier Jaffa and fired it at So'tal. Unsurprisingly, even as the Ranger fired, So'tal held his bare hand over the bracelet, and a shimmering field of golden energy formed around him, blocking the energy of the Zat.
"Well, had to try it," O'Neill shrugged.
"You dare attack a god?!" So'tal demanded, eyes glowing again. He brandished his braceleted hand, and Victoria grabbed O'Neill and dove aside, pulling him down with her.
A wave of energy blasted right where they had just been, the edge catching one of the statues and knocking it's arms clean off.
"You're not the first self-proclaimed god I've run into. He didn't end very well either," Victoria said, pulling herself to her feet. "As for who I am, you can call me Courier." That was the name everyone back home knew her by, might as well stick with it out here.
"Colonel Jack O'Neill, NCR Ranger," Jack introduced himself. "Howdy,"
"Your insolence will not be long for the world. Jaffa! Kree!" Stepping into view on the Entrance hall were indeed a dozen Jaffa. So'tal sat back down on his throne. The two concubines had stayed almost perfectly still during thole whole exchange, but it was hard to say if they were just brave, or afraid of what would happen if they moved from their positions.
"Kill these interlopers!" He ordered his Jaffa.
Victoria had been avoiding using VATS, but now was one of those times to make use of it. Once more, time seemed to slow as her Pipboy accelerated her reactions, her brain processing everything faster for a few split seconds, which was all she needed. She lined up three shots, one after another, fired, aiming for the heads of the Jaffa. With the fractions of time left, Victoria dove to the right again, and then the world started moving once more. The sound of bullets and staff blasts as everyone took up positions behind cover. Even the Jaffa quickly ducked behind pillars and corners, and the firefight was on.
For a minute, there was only one more casualty on the Jaffa side, as well as a grazing shot by a staff blast that got Sheppard in the side. The soldier fell back, staggering, hand on his side, which came away with blood, but he didn't look that bad, all things said and done. Victoria saw him pull out a stimpack and inject it, but she didn't - couldn't - pay too much attention, because that's when So'tal decided to join the fight again. He sent out another wave of energy - and Victoria caught the blast, which sent her flying into the wall. She had just barely enough time to tuck her head under her arm so she didn't hit that into the wall, but nonetheless, pain bloomed through as she hit the wall, dropping to the ground.
"Fuck," She muttered, groaning. Nothing felt broken, but there was only so much her armor could do against that much force, however blunt.
But more importantly, it had taken her entirely out cover, and several staff blasts came her way - one landing just above her head, and another where she was had she not rolled to the side, the gesture barely enough, and the heat from the blast felt like standing too close to a fire. She bit her lip to stop from crying out in pain, then rolled again, with a bit more force, getting out of angle from the doorway.
But So'tal wasn't done. He sent out another blast that caught Arcade and Veronica and sent them sprawling, but at least her own fate had given them enough warning to evade worst of it and not fly into a wall.
Groaning, Victoria pulled herself to her feet. Frustrated, she fired off three more shots from her .357 at So'tal, each one completely failing to connect with the man, his shielding proving to be far too effective.
So'tal turned back to face her as she shot, and then fired off another blast of energy, but she was already moving, running to Veronica's side. She helped her up, then pulled Arade to his feet, and the three of them took cover behind a pillar.
"Either of you two have any idea how we get past that shield?" Victoria had to raise her voice just to be heard over the sounds of the shooting. "As long as he's there blasting us, it'll be hard to finish off the Jaffa."
"It doesn't work like any repulsion device I've ever heard of," Arcade said first.
"No, it doesn't," Veronica agreed. "But it's alien, so that's not surprising." Victoria nodded, then she pulled her .44, turned around and fired off three quick shots at the Jaffa, hitting one in the shoulder once, sending him spinning back a bit and then watched him take blasts from Carter and Sheppard.
So'tal sent out another blast, but O'Neill was on the move before it hit him, and instead a statue broke in half and the top half went flying into the entrance hall.
"Yeah, well, short of shooting him a lot, I don't really have a solution, so...?"
"Well, I don't think any amount of shooting will get past that," Veronica said quickly. "I'm going to try punching him. Cover me."
"Veronica wait-" Victoria started, but Veronica was already on the move - and thus exposing herself to fire from the Jaffa and blasts from So'tal. Veronica, if bullets don't work, why would punching work any better!?
"Keep shooting at the Jaffa. I'll run interference!" Victoria said quickly, pulling out her .45s again and jumping back out of cover, firing at So'tal again, catching his attention, She ran towards him, diving to the left and rolling as the gem in the bracelet glowed and sent out another blast, then getting back up and shooting again.
"If you want to know who we are," She shouted at So'tal, "Think Phantom Godslayers!" So'tal's eyes widened at that for a moment - just a moment - and Victoria kept firing.
"No! You are not them. You do not use their weapons, nor their armor!" So'tal shouted, sounding almost afraid.
"No, but I'm not sure we need them," Veronica said, charging the short distance to So'tal and driving her fist towards him - Victoria watched, stunned as her power-fisted hand actually passed through his shield and got him right in the side, sending him reeling. He staggered, tried to grab at Veronica's wrist, but Victoria started shooting again, catching his attention as Veronica pulled her hand back, then punched again, this time getting him in the stomach. He doubled over, wheezing, and Veronica grabbed his arm, ripping the kara kesh off his hand quickly. And in the process, breaking at least one finger.
Victoria couldn't bring herself to care, somehow.
The two women that had been managing to bravely - or perhaps not - stay by So'tal's throne through the firefight both reacted to Veronica's arrival. The one further from the former scribe fell back, flat on her ass, and then she half-crawled backwards, pulling away from her. The one closer to Veronica just dropped away from the throne and started pleading for her life. Or at least, that's what Victoria presumed she was saying - between her fearful sobs and soft screams of terror and the sound of the ongoing fighting behind Victoria, it was hard to make out words.
But the tears and her posture suggested pleas, at the very least.
"YOU DARE?!" So'tal snarled, and he lashed out at Veronica with his free hand, catching her in the chest - the combat armor actually dented a little under the force, just a touch, and it sent Veronica reeling backwards a pace - but Veronica didn't let go of the arm she'd had a grip on, and she punched his side again, letting him go and watching him fall back. So'tal snarled.
"I am your god, human!" So'tal intoned, eyes flashing and his voice even deeper than before. "You should be kneeling!"
"You know, it's a lot less impressive after hearing that from so many legionaries," Veronica quipped, then punched him again - or tried to. So'tal proved to be a tougher customer, dodging the blow that should have broken his nose and knocked a few teeth out, catching it on his shoulder as he tried to punch at Veronica again.
But Veronica dodged that punch this time around, and just punched again - and again. The second one managed to land a blow, hitting his chest, and probably fracturing a few ribs from the way. But she left herself open to another punch from him, and this time he managed to get her in the arm, sending her staggering back even as she sent him sprawling to the floor.
"Veronica!" Victoria started to run to the scribe, but the delay in focusing on her let So'tal start to climb to his feet and kick Victoria off her own, sending her sprawling on the ground. "Oh, fuck you, pedejo!" Victoria pointed her gun at him and fired twice, getting him in the shoulder with one and missing with the other. That seemed to be enough to take him down for the count for the moment, as he fell back.
Victoria clambered to her feet, wincing in pain as her calves screamed in protest. Fuck. He really hit her legs hard, but at least they weren't broken. She didn't quite limp, but it was close as she hurried as much as she could over to Veronica.
"I think he might have actually fractured my upper arm," Veronica said in wonderment as she cradled her injured arm with her power-fisted one. "He could he punch like that? Without a power fist?" She looked down at the dentin her combat armor.
"He's an alien. I'm sure it makes sense." Victoria dismissed. She pulled out a stimpack - it wouldn't handle the fracture immediately, but it would speed the process up and handle the worst of the pain, probably. Without being as bad for the body as other options.
"So how did you know that punching him through the shield would work?" Victoria asked went on as she injected the stimpack into the muscle around the fractured bones. The shooting continued, but it was slower, less intense, and it sounded like the Jaffa might be firing Zats instead of staff weapons now. Better chance to aim, easier to shoot from cover.
What do you know, some Jaffa have brains. Well, that had been established already, but it did seem like a lot of these incubator-soldier-slaves didn't really have the tactical sense that god gave a legionary. I mean, the Legion may have had "throw men at the problem because we have reserves" as a strategy, but at least that was a conscious choice. I'm not sure that's what's going on with these guys.
"I didn't," Veronica admitted with some hesitation. "I just... figured it was worth a try."
Victoria blinked, "So... you charged in. To punch the guy with the energy shield. On a whim?" Despite the sarcastic words, she couldn't help but smile a little as she shook her head.
"Shooting him wasn't working, and - well, the shield wasn't drawing on a full sized power source. Alien technology or not, there's only so much power you can put into a shield you fit into a bracelet." Veronica explained. "I didn't think it would get right through his shield entirely, just weaken it faster."
Victoria raised an eyebrow as she stepped back from Veronica and walked over to So'tal. The man was bleeding from the injury in his shoulder, and taking shallow breaths, trying to get up. Victoria put a foot on his chest, pointing her gun at his head.
"Next one goes in your skull," She explained, smiling. "Go ahead. Try me." She looked over at Veronica for a moment. "So why did you think the punch would do more?" She was curious about Veronica's thought process, but also, she wanted to see Veronica geek out a bit over technology and science. It was always adorable.
Veronica shrugged, "When it comes to a repulsion field blocking incoming solid objects, it doesn't really matter how fast the object comes in, in a lot of ways. Once you're blocking incoming solid objects, you're blocking incoming solid objects. It's more complicated than that, but..." she shook her head, "what matters more is the area impacted. The more energy the barrier needs to expend to hold a larger area, the faster it's sapped." Veronica shrugged, "It doesn't usually matter in the case of standard repulsion fields because they have normal generators to keep them going for extended periods of time."
So'tal, despite his injuries, laughed, "Fools of the Tau'ri, to think you understand the higher magics of the Goa'uld so easily."
"Magic, schmagic, this is technology, and if it's technology, sooner or later, we can reproduce it," Victoria said blithely. Which was theoretically true, but not actually true in practice. Not yet. Not with the limited industrial base Cheyenne had, and even with the NCR's resources and capacity.
Still. Bravado worked in a pinch. She reached down and grabbed So'tal's injured hand, ignoring his cry of pain as she 'accidentally' grabbed his broken finger as well, and pulled him to his feet, holding her gun to his head. "Tell your Jaffa to stand down." She took this opportunity to look at the fight.
Carter, Arcade, Sheppard and O'Neill had all taken a few grazing shots from the staff weapons, it looked like, but no one was down for the count, and no one seemed as though they'd been hit by the Zats.
So'tal inhaled sharply, then hesitated for a moment. Victoria pushed the gun against his temple harder, finger squeezing on the trigger. "You're strong, you're fast," she told him. "Are you faster than my trigger finger? We might not be the Phantom Godslayers, but we can slay a god just as well as they can."
"You are meddling in matters far beyond your ability to understand, human," So'tal muttered, then he raised his voice, "Jaffa! Kree!" The Jaffa that were left - all three of them - lowered their weapons.
"Tell them to put their weapons down, and leave." She added. Hopefully, O'Neill at least wouldn't be stupid enough to let them walk away, surrendered or not. Rangers had no qualms about attacking the enemy from behind.
Arcade wouldn't. But these Jaffa couldn't be allowed to just walk away.
"And what happens to me when they leave?" So'tal asked. "Slay me now, if you will." There was no waver in his tone, but there was something about the grand way he told her to kill him that made Victoria think he was being less than genuine about his desire to be killed.
Bravado, in other words.
"You're our prisoner, as long as you don't try to escape and as long as you cooperate. You'll be coming back through the Stargate with us." Victoria made a note to make sure that his eyes were covered when they dialed Earth. It might be a futile gesture - Teal'c hadn't suggested that anyone knew the origin of the Phantom Godslayers, but still.
So'tal chuckled, "I will tell you nothing of the secrets of the Goa'uld, human. But take me prisoner, if you think you can hold me."
"I'm sure we can," Victoria said with certainty. "Give the order," she squeezed the trigger just shy of firing again.
So'tal barked orders in Goa'uld, and as the Jaffa, reluctantly lowered their weapons to the ground slowly, Victoria turned to Arcade, raising an eyebrow.
"He told them to leave, and return with their fellows. I think." Arcade said after a moment. "A lot of the words he used have multiple meanings."
Victoria rolled her eyes. "So much for you walking back to the Stargate." Victoria pulled her pistol from his head, flipped it around in her hand so she was holding the barrel, and smashed the handle against his head, watching his eyes roll back into his head moments later as he slumped in her grip. She let go of his hand and let him fall to the ground. O'Neill took that as a sign to shoot the Jaffa walking away in the back, and after he started shooting, Carter followed his lead, though she didn't look totally thrilled about it.
Arcade, on the other hand, looked furious! "What the hell was that?!"
O'Neill turned around, lowering his service rifle. "Damage control. You heard what he said - hell, you translated what he said. He was sending them to bring more Jaffa here."
"They were unarmed! They were walking away! They'd surrendered!" Arcade countered, walking up to the Colonel, glaring at him.
"Which just made it easier to shoot them. This isn't a bar fight, Arcade. It's war. You know, the thing people die in? You think the Jaffa would have cared if we walking away?" All humor was gone from O'Neill's voice - just deadly flatness. A man who'd fought countless skirmishes and battles, killed dozens and hundreds as a Ranger of the NCR.
"That doesn't make it -" Arcade cut himself off, clearly realizing he was going to get nowhere with him. "This is why the Followers broke with the NCR."
"And here I was thinking it was because you just didn't like our hats." O'Neill drawled, quipping once more.
"Sir, the Articles of War-" Carter started to protest.
"Don't exactly apply here, Carter. If we'd taken them prisoner, or they had actually surrendered, you might have a point. But they certainly had every intention of fighting us again when they came back around." O'Neill countered. Carter slowly nodded, then snapped off a salute that seemed to be falling back on formality as a means of registering just how much she disagreed with his orders, while staying respectful.
"What did I say about saluting me, Captain?"
"Not to do it, sir," Carter replied.
"And yet you are. It's like I'm not the Colonel or something."
"Technically sir, you're not." Carter pointed out. "Or rather, you're only a Colonel technically, I suppose would be more accurate."
"The point is, Captain Carter, I'm supposed to be in charge. So if I tell you not to salute me, don't. Bad enough you're calling me sir."
"Yes sir," Carter said, smiling a little. O'Neill just grumbled, muttering something under his breath.
Arcade walked over to her and Veronica. "Are we just going to let -"
"Well, it already happened," Victoria pointed out. "And I get that you don't like it, but the fact is-"
"Are you defending what he did?" Arcade glared at her now.
"Sometimes you have to kill someone, unarmed or not. I killed an unarmed and defenseless man when I shot Caesar in the head!" Victoria pointed out.
"That's hardly the same thing!" Arcade countered. "And you still shouldn't have done that, you know. All it did was deify him. The Legion's fragments worship him even harder than they did before. If you'd just let him die naturally - or let him take the blame for Second Hoover Dam-"
"The Legion would still be intact." Victoria countered. "Weakened, maybe he'd have to fight some rebellions or even a few mutinies, but he'd have blamed it all on Lanius the way he blamed the first one on Graham."
"That's -" Arcade started, then he shook his head. "Maybe you're right, but just... casually murdering unarmed enemies isn't okay!"
"If they'd actually surrendered, yeah, but like O'Neill said - you heard what So'tal ordered them to do."
"Then they'd have come back and we could have killed them then. Just doing the expedient thing is exactly the sort of logic that led to the Enclave and... everything they did." He shook his head. "Victoria, he who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster."
"Who's that from?" Victoria asked, curious which pre-war thinker he was quoting there.
"Nietzsche. Not his biggest fan, really, but he makes more than a few good points anyway. The Goa'uld might be worse than the Legion, and larger, but the Jaffa are still just slaves. Once you start getting into the habit of thinking that these Jaffa are the enemy as much as... he is," he gestured to So'tal, "well, you shouldn't."
"I hate to break up this conversation, but how much time do you think we have until we need to head back to the Stargate?" Sheppard asked, reloading and then lowering his weapon.
"Not enough. But we need to keep moving. I'll stay here with So Tall," O'Neill observed. "Sheppard too. Ganon, Santangelo, Courier - you go with Carter. See what we can find in here that's useful."
Sending Carter, Arcade and Veronica together made sense - the three people that would have the best idea what was useful, between Carter and Veronica's technical knowledge and Arcade's translating - limited though it might be.
"You're not in charge of this little expedition, you know." Victoria felt compelled to add, but that didn't stop her from nodding to Arcade and Veronica - not in charge or not, O'Neill had made a good suggestion.
"Doesn't make you in charge either, Vicky. We really should figure that out at some point. But I suppose now just isn't the time."
"No, probably not." Victoria nodded, then she looked at So'tal's throne. "If I was a megalomaniacal wannabe god, I wouldn't keep all the best stuff out in the open." She started feeling along the edge of the throne, ignoring the panicked whimpers from So'tal's slave girls. She would have preferred to liberate them and bring them with her, but she didn't really have time. But while she was bothering with the throne, trying to find a hidden switch or compartment or something, Victoria heard Veronica walk over to the girls, and try to talk to them. They both gasped in fear, and Victoria heard them scramble away.
"Arcade, can you give me some help here?" Veronica asked, and Victoria kept searching.
"Trying to find a hidden switch?" Carter asked, crouching next to the throne on the opposite side from her.
"Yep," Victoria nodded. "I figure the guy hid the best stuff, and he doesn't seem like the kind of guy to stray far from his throne."
"Point. But I think you're thinking too hard. Look at these," she stood up and gestured at the arms of the throne, the stylized symbols carved into it. "They're raised a bit more on the left side than the right." Victoria raised an eyebrow, then felt both arms, and sure enough, the left arm's carvings did seem a bit more... there. She pushed down on the symbol that looked a bit like a sun, and it pushed into the throne, and she heard a clicking sound from inside the throne.
"A combination lock." And she didn't know the combination or how to read the relevant numbers. She looked over, about to ask Arcade to lend his help, but he was busy trying to help Veronica calm the slave girls down. And together they seemed to be getting somewhere. She looked back at the arm, then at Carter. "Any ideas?"
"A few," Carter examined the symbols. "It would help if -" Carter furrowed her brow, then chuckled. "I don't think it is a combination lock." She walked over to where Veronica had tossed So'tal's bracelet and picked it up. "Help me get this back on his hand."
"After all Veronica did to get it off him in the first place?"
"We can take it back off him before he wakes up, but if I'm right, we need him to be wearing it when we press anything on this arm. Goa'uld are arrogant, but they're not suicidal, right?"
"Probably not," Victoria nodded.
Carter fitted the device onto his hand, then started to drag him a little so his arm could reach the chair. "He's not going to put a bomb in his throne, and if he's arrogant, is he really going to plan for him being beaten like this? If he laid his hand on the throne's left arm a bit too hard, he could start pushing buttons. If there was a booby trap, he'd risk it going off if he got too angry and slammed a fist."
"But he wears the Kara Kesh on his right hand. So it wouldn't be something he could do accidentally." Victoria followed her logic.
"Exactly! It's probably something he never takes off either." Carter lifted up his right hand, and held it over the left arm of the throne. She set the hand down, and the gem at the center glowed for a moment, and then the wall behind the throne slowly ground open.
"Good call," Victoria nodded at Carter, acknowledging her correct guess.
"Simple design logic," Carter walked over to the opening wall. It revealed an opulent bedroom, complete with a large bed covered in fancy-looking sheets. The room was filled with what looked like art of various kinds, statuettes and jewels and gold and all sorts of other things. Victoria started at it all, hearing the clink of bottle caps in her mind. Good god, this had to be worth - fuck, she had no idea. Assuming anyone could buy it all.
And forget what I could buy with all this - the Stargate Project could be funded pretty well for quite a while on all this.
"Look at all this," Veronica grinned, walking up beside her. "Just hiding all these here." She picked up a bracelet with her good arm and examined it. It was solid gold, wide-band, with a green stone of some sort set into it. "Pretty." She observed, then set it down. "But that's not what we're here for." She turned around, and Victoria saw the two slave girls walking towards them.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" She asked them.
"N-No. We want to go - we just want to go home." One of them said, her voice shaky. "Thank you for - for -" she stopped talking, closed her eyes and started shaking a bit, but Veronica put her hand on the girl's shoulder. Veronica was possessed with a powerful urge to shoot So'tal in the crotch a few dozen times. But at least the girls didn't seem broken entirely. Small favors.
Maybe.
"You don't need to say it. Or even thank me. I promise you - that bastard can never hurt you again. And if he was a god, I wouldn't have been able to hurt him, now would I?"
"N... No." the girl said after a moment. "But - " she bit her lip and said nothing for a moment. "Apophis will send more Jaffa. They will punish our people for allowing this to happen."
"If we could stay long enough to help your family escape - help all your family's escape, we would," Veronica promised. "I meant what I said - you can come with us."
"Is there an armory in this fortress? Somewhere where the weapons are stored?" Victoria asked. The former slave nodded after a moment's hesitation. "Take Veronica to it. Take weapons with you, to your people. Many of your people have fled into the hill country before, right? Do some still live there?"
"So... so they say." She nodded.
"Convince your family - as many of your people as possible - to flee into the hills." Victoria let out a sigh. "I wish we could do more to free your people." This planet would be perfect for settlement. Or even a place to trade for food. But stealing an entire planet from Apophis was well outside what they could do, without ships of their own, or at least some sort of weapons capable of destroying the warships Teal'c said Apophis could bring to bear.
"Perhaps we can do more in the future." It would be possible, maybe. But they couldn't launch too many raids through the Stargate on any one planet. But if they did get ships, even small ones.
Victoria knew it was perhaps thinking too far ahead, but the idea of supplying rebels certainly had a merit to it, in her mind. If a world like Viluntia could be shaken free from the Goa'uld, it would be very useful - and it would help the people there.
"I hope so," the girl said. "But thank you... Thank you for letting us free."
"One last question, Teana," Veronica asked softly. "In So'tal's chambers... where did he hide his most valuable possessions? His greatest 'magics'?"
The girl - Teana - hesitated for a moment, then she inhaled and steeled herself as best she could. "I saw him open it once - he did not know I was still conscious... that statue, there, by the mirror. A switch is underneath it, opening a concealed compartment in the wall."
"Thank you," Victoria said. She nodded to Veronica and then the girls, and the three went to the armory. They'd have plenty more chances for weapons, here and on other worlds, but those weapons might - might - give anyone who tried to run a fighting chance.
She turned back around to see Arcade and Carter examining some sort of device. It looked like a large watch, but instead of a clock, it had some sort of screen displaying a string of goa'uld characters, constantly changing.
"What is that?"
"We think it might be a Goa'uld version of a pipboy, or something like it. Sort of wrist computer, anyway." Carter said.
"Right now, it's asking us for a password, so..." Arcade shook his head.
"If we can get it back to the base, maybe Arcade and I can figure out some way to crack device, get past the password. But I'm sure it'll be a lot harder than hacking old world computers." Carter shrugged, "It's a guess - god only knows if our computers will be able to make any sense out of this technology at all."
"Maybe we can get So'tal to hand over his password." Not that she knew how. The man seemed to arrogant to just hand over information. They couldn't offer him freedom for information. Execution seemed possible, but that was a threat you could only deploy once. "We'll figure it out. Right now, I want to see what So'tal hid inside his secret compartment." She walked over to the statue Teana had mentioned and moved it aside, finding a small switch, as promised. It wasn't exactly well hidden, but then, it was hidden inside his own private room.
And who would steal from a god?
A panel opened in the wall, as promised, revealing a long compartment, not very deep, maybe a foot tall and five feet long, revealing an array of items. Several large crystals - long and thin, with pentagonal bases, some sort of tablet covered in goa'uld script and a small oval-shaped, translucent stone next to it. A device that looked somewhat like a Kara Kesh, but without the finger-attachments, and a much larger red gem at the center of it.
But what drew her eye the most was a small orb. It looked like it was made of steel. It rested inside of a small pink-cloth lined box. It was perfectly smooth. She reached for the box and looked at it. She searched for some sign of a way to open the orb, thinking it was a container of some sort, but she couldn't find a hinge or latch.
"What the hell is this?" She picked it up, examine it carefully, when the device started to vibrate in her hand.
SHIT! She set it back in the box, about to drop the box, when an image appeared on it. A woman, gorgeous in appearance, from the shoulders up, wearing a bewjewled headdress and a bird-shaped pendant around her neck. Her long black hair was curly and her dark, almost black skin.
"So'tal, I do not like being interrupted -" the woman started, then she cut herself off when she realized the person speaking to her wasn't So'tal. Her eyes glowed and her voice deepened, "Who are you!? Where is So'tal?!"
"He's a bit incapacitated at the moment." She looked at the bird-shaped pendant. It looked an awful lot like the symbol on the forehead of Heru'ur's Jaffa.
Well, well. Was So'tal trying to play both sides?
"Who are you! One of Apophis's lieutenants!?" The woman smirked, "Did So'tal get caught in his treachery?"
"So little regard for one of your own?" Victoria asked. The woman seemed to think she was a Goa'uld - probably didn't expect that she was dealing with a human, holding something So'tal kept secure.
"So'tal was never one of ours. Heru'ur has little use for traitors."
"But enough use to use one against his enemies, clearly," Victoria chuckled. Sounded like Caesar and the Legion even more. She was reminded of what had happened in Nipton, how the Legion had used the Mayor to get their hands on NCR and Powder Gangers, then turned on him as well. The Legion only had contempt for men so willing to sell people out for mere material gain.
"You are no servant of Apophis," the woman said, narrowing her eyes. "Was So'tal dealing with another System Lord?" Then she shook her head, "No. Not even he would be so foolish. You are Tok'ra!" She growled out the word, as if it was a curse. "Your misbegotten kind will not survive long when Heru'ur has taken his rightful place as Supreme System Lord."
Tok'ra? The name meant nothing to her, but from the way she said it, the sheer revulsion - it sounded personal.
"Well, I wouldn't count on it. He has his hands full with Apophis right now. I hear one of his listening posts went silent a while back too." She set the orb down and closed the box, hopefully shutting off the transmission.
"So we know they have long range visual communication." Carter said. "I'd love to see if I could figure out how that device works. If we could repurpose it, or get more, we might be able to use it to keep in touch with the NCR directly. Speed up the process of requesting additional resources."
"All yours," She handed it to Carter. "I wonder what these are. And why these crystals are so important?" She picked one up. "It doesn't look as fine a quality as the gemstones in all this jewelry."
"I think they're data storage devices," Arcade said, turning away from the Goa'uld computer-thing. "Teal'c mentioned something about Goa'uld using crystals to hold data."
"Think it could hold information on whatever the Goa'uld use to increase the agricultural yield?" That was the most important thing to get here - food wasn't exactly short in Cheyenne, but in the Wasteland, a community could rarely have too much food. And if they did, it could be used for export, for trade. For gifting, even.
"Could be. Would be better if we could get an actual sample of whatever they use. There should be some somewhere inside this place."
"Yeah, but we don't have time to look everywhere." Victoria looked at her Pipboy. "By now, assuming So'tal sent word for more people from the rest of the planet to come to the Fortress, we probably only have another half hour until we start to see larger groups attacking, or at least getting ready to. So we don't have long to look. Take what you can, and we'll look for anything that might be... I don't know, a fertilizer plant."
January 13, 2283
Dr. Frasier's Officer, Cheyenne Mountain Sublevel 5
"I'm not sure why you're bringing this to me," Dr. Frasier asked as she looked at the jar of dark brown, thick powder. "I'm a doctor, not a botanist, or agricultural specialist or anything like that."
"True, but Cheyenne doesn't really have any of those. You're the closest thing we've got to someone who can analyze how this works, what it does, and if we can make more." Victoria pointed out. "If it really does make crops grow faster, better, bigger, then Cheyenne and any neighboring communities might not want for food for a long time."
"We'd do better if we asked the NCR to help out more and send one of their biologists, but I'll see what I can do." Frasier put the jar down next to her computer. "Don't expect any miracles."
"I've long since given up on those, Doctor," Victoria shrugged. "Hammond doesn't expect any either. But he's the one who recommended I bring this to you."
"I'm flattered at his confidence." Frasier said, sounding genuine. "Your friend Veronica's arm will be fine in a day or two. Well, fine enough for her to use the arm, but she shouldn't go on any missions or go around punching anything for a week."
"I'm sure she'll be unhappy about that," Victoria smiled a little. "I talked to Teal'c. He said this was some sort of healing device," she handed Frasier the other wrist device that they'd found. "Carter and Arcade can't figure out how to make it work, but maybe you can. Though I'm sure they'll be by soon enough."
"Right, I'll add it to my ever-growing list of duties." Frasier commented, dryly.
"Sorry. I'd do more if I could. And if there's anything you need from me -"
"Broc Flower and Xandar Root." Frasier interrupted.
"The key ingredients in one form of new-world Stimpacks, yeah? And?" Victoria raised an eyebrow.
"Well, with all the NCR soldiers here, our stock of Stimpacks is going to fall faster than we can replace them. But I've heard from a few that served in the Mojave that both can be found in Zion Canyon in great numbers. And that you had an adventure there. Made some friends." Frasier shrugged. "It's a long way to go, but we're going to need additional supplies of both plants if we want to keep in stimpacks."
"I can send word the next time the NCR sends a team back with reports and stuff. I do know some people in Zion, and some people who can trade with those people." Victoria shrugged. Best place to start would be Cass, and her new caravan project, partially funded by Victoria's own resources. and the Happy Trails caravan - sure, their leader had died on the trip to Zion, but the locals and the New Cannanites had reached out to them after the White Legs had been driven out.
"I'd appreciate it." Frasier nodded. "Is there anything else?"
"Not at the moment. I'll leave you to your ever-growing list of duties." Victoria gave the doctor a smile, then turned around and headed out of Frasier's office. She wanted to talk to Veronica, and then she had to talk to Hammond and O'Neill about what was next for the Project. What planets next, what team would go where. Viluntia had been a success, but they couldn't rest on their laurels.
And then of course, at some point, she'd have to try to take a stab at interrogating So'tal. See if she could outsmart him into spilling something.