Stargate Hastings
Chapter Eleven: Why do you think we are here brother
In orbit above the moon of Abydos.
When they arrived at their destination, Abydos. What they found there, shocked them. There were sixty three men all almost dead and there were even more dead, that had obviously tried to cover the men. They had been left almost completely naked beneath the baking hot suns. There was a line of Jaffa ready to kill anyone else who made the attempt to aid them. Modi was not pleased but his hands were tied, they were sent to this galaxy to learn about the humans of Midgard. His race could not afford an all out war with the Gau'auld and his ship could still be overwhelmed by superior numbers, even with their technological advantage over the Gau'auld.
Magni was visibly angered by what was going on down there and Magni was not easily hangered. Modi knew that his brother longed to be an explorer and discover the secrets of the universe. The Mjolnir was meant to have been passed down to him but he did not want it, he did not even want to serve aboard the vessel or any vessel of war. He only did so because Modi deserved his own command and their father would not give him it, unless his brother joined him.
Modi had served aboard the Mjolnir for countless years, turning down the command of other vessels on many occasions. Even though she was not as large as the Bilskirnir class vessels, she was just as advanced and it was the Mjolnir. Thors hammer, the ship of legend. Magni knew what it meant to his brother and had joined a ship of war, something that he simply did not want. In order for his brother to reach his full potential and be given what he had earned.
The two brothers could not be more different. Modi did not crave war he only craved the challenge, to be given the chance to test himself. Magni did not fear war but killing another living being was not a challenge to him. He wanted to learn about them, to Magni that was the challenge. Even the Replicators were not just an enemy to him, they were something else that he did not yet understand but what he was witnessing now, made even him furious and no Asgard ever really became furious.
Even warriors such as his father and brother would never lose themselves in fury. They became extremely focused on a goal or showed annoyance, anger even but fury was beyond them now. They were not built for that any longer but what Modi was witnessing from his brother, could not be described as anything else. Modi was himself disgusted by what he saw but his brother was just staring at him, accusingly. "Why are you looking at me like that Magni?".
"If you fear losing your command enough that you would allow this to continue brother, then perhaps father is correct. If you do not put a stop to this, I will!". Magni said in disgust.
"This is not the reason we are here brother. Our orders are to...". Modi could not finish what he was saying, he was too shocked by his brothers human form appearing before him. It was now on the bridge of the Mjolnir and Modi knew, that it would also be visible to everyone on the surface of the moon.
His brother started talking and then his human avatar repeated what he said in Gau'auld. "I am Magni son of Thor, the Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet. You will leave this world and inform Ra that the Asgard high council, will be contacting the Gau'auld System Lords. Until then, they have sent their mightiest warrior. The God of war Modi. Leave this place or face his wrath". Magni looked back to his brother when he had finished.
Modi knew what he wanted and he had no choice anyway. The Asgard high council would have to contact the System Lords and arrange a summit to discuss the future of this worlds people. Modi activated his own avatar. "You have heard my brothers words Jaffa, now leave and inform the etins that Modi and Magni, the sons of Thor await their challenge! The Asgard have ignored their crimes for far too long". He then beamed all of the half dead humans, along with the dead ones off of the surface and then back down again. They were all alive and in perfect health. If they had been even a few minutes later. There would have been nothing they could have done, for those that were already deceased.
Thor was not going to be happy about this. Their galaxy was not completely overrun but the Replicators were taking more systems and the Asgard could not fight two wars. He had no choice once his brother committed them to action but his father would still not like this and would blame Modi. The Jaffa had started running for the Stargate, as soon as they saw the Abydonians be transported and miraculously healed. They would let them leave, they had a message to deliver after all.
Modi and Magni, because there was no way he was leaving this all to him, would now have to deliver a message of their own. One to the Asgard high council and not to their father. What Magni had done went beyond even Thor and would be dealt with by the true leaders of the Asgard race. Not even their father could save them now, they will be lucky to be able to serve at all after this. "I owe you my command anyway, I would never have been given the Mjolnir if it was not for you and I will forever be grateful for the time I had as her Commander brother".
"You take it as an insult that our father sent you to this galaxy and then when the Gau'auld give a good enough reason to act against them, you do not act upon it. What have you done to my brother, he would never have stayed his hand as you just did. We are the only Asgard vessel in this galaxy. Why do you think we are here brother?". Magni had not calmed down, he seemed even more angry but this time Modi was certain, that he was the target of that anger.
"Our mission in this...". Modi tried to say to his brother.
"We are Asgard! If the council do not support this action, then they no longer deserve our loyalty. I ask you again, what have you done to my brother? He would never have forced me into taking action or is it only machines that you wish to do battle with?".
"Our people can not fight two wars brother. I was insulted by our mission here Magni, if I had thought for a moment that was the reason we were sent here, then I would willingly begin the liberation of this galaxy but it is not!". Modi did not like having their roles reversed like this. He would push the limits and Magni would pull him back from the edge. Their father was no fool, they completed each other but Modi did not know how to be the sensible one.
Magni was disappointed with his brother. They had been sent for all of the reasons he had tried to list but he had missed the real reason that they were here. The humans of Midgard. Not to study them or stop them becoming worse than the Gau'auld, as their father had told them. They were here to protect the people that they put in danger. If they become a threat as Odin believes they may one day, the Asgard will do two things. First they will decide that they have no right to interfere with their natural development and then they will try to limit their expansion and nothing more. They would also try to influence them in a positive way but they would not interfere.
Asgard law prevented them from interfering, they were not truly gods and did not believe themselves to be. That was the reason for those laws, so that they never forgot that they were simply more advanced and not divine. They were here, because even though they intended to liberate their brethren. It would be those people who would suffer, even those of the Gau'auld that they did not attack. The longer the war they were going to start with the Gau'auld went on, the more innocents would suffer for it.
Magni did not answer his brother, instead he reactivated his avatar. He then said to the Abydonians on the surface. "The Gau'auld will never return to Abydos, your world and her people, are now free".
Modi then called Balthar to the bridge. Balthar was the Mjolnir's second in command and apart from Magni himself, was Modi's closest friend. He would take command while the two brothers faced the Asgard high council. They would not be leaving the vessel or using it to return to their home galaxy. They would simply send holographic representations of themselves, using the quantum coupling technology, that their species used to communicate across vast distances.
It was based on a technology that the Ancients had used for millions of years. Only instead of sending their consciences across great distances, they used it to simply send a holographic signal. It was not as advanced as the Ancient version but in many ways it was far more efficient. There was no actual signal sent via the device, it and the one that would act as the receiver. Were essentially the same machine, at least they were on a quantum level. What happens to one, happened to the other. If one was to be destroyed, the other would receive the same damage and if a person was to stand in front of its sensors, the sensors on the other would also see that person and be able to send a holographic representation of them, to the high council chamber. The same would also happen in reverse, with that person being able to see the council members.
Once Balthar transported from his usual station in the engine room of the vessel, the two brothers activated the sensors, that would send their images to the quantum linked device, that was aboard the Mjolnir. Modi and Magni were instantly in the high council chamber, which meant that they were expected. Usually they would have been told to wait, until the council was finished with its current business. If the matter effected the war effort against the Replicators, then they could get an immediate audience.
The All father himself, rarely sat at the head of the council and would only ever do so if the situation required him to do so. It was Thor that usually dealt with the Gau'auld and if not him, one of his brothers would. For Odin himself to be dealing with this matter, meant the Asgard viewed what had happened as a very serious matter indeed. It was Odin who spoke first. "Commander Modi, science officer Magni". He greeted them in turn.
When they had returned his formal greeting, he then said. "Commander Modi the weapon you have found in our fight against the Replicators, will ensure that your name will be remembered by the Asgard race, for as long as our people endure but that was not the purpose for which you were sent to that galaxy. You were sent for a far more important one, do you know what that purpose is. Son of my son?".
"To ensure that the humans of Midgard, do not become a greater threat than that of the Gau'auld. Father of my father". Modi replied, using the same informal greeting his grandfather had used. That only made him feel even more uncomfortable.
"That was the reason I gave your father and for good reason. If you were told your missions true purpose, you would have taken it as permission to begin a war with the Gau'auld, a war our race can not afford to undertake at this time. Why have the Asgard left the humans of that galaxy to suffer all these years Commander Modi, do you believe it is because of our conflict with the Replicators?". Odin asked him.
Modi did believe that and his father also shared that belief. On the rare occasions that Modi and his father, would just be father and son. They would often discuss the decisions of the high council, especially those that they did not agree with. All Asgardians were not what could be considered warriors and those who were, were not the most revered of their race. Odin had not become the leader of their people by fighting in great battles, the like his children are revered for in two galaxies.
He defeated the Asgard races greatest enemy, the threat of extinction. He did not do it with weapons or brute strength, as the human tales spoke of. He did it with his mind and all of the technology that their warrior class wielded, came from the minds of the true heroes of the Asgard race. To outsiders those heroes were Thor and Modi and the others of the warrior class but it was really Odin and Magni's ilk, that were held up as examples.
"No I have always believed it was because of our non interference laws, All father". He used his grandfather's official title, now that the greetings were over with.
"Yes indeed they are but do you understand those laws Commander Modi?". Odin asked him.
"There are many reasons for those laws All father, it would take too long to list them all". Modi knew when he was being led into a trap and refused to step into it.
Odin started talking very quietly to himself. Modi heard a few words and it seemed like he was calling the warrior class too narrow minded or something along those lines. When he did stop talking to himself, he said. "Our race were the youngest of the four great races, that came together so many years ago. When our race was even more primitive than those of Midgard, those three races were at war with each other. The Ancients first went to war with the Furling's, until a greater more ruthless enemy threatened them both. That race was the Knox and they were even more sadistic than the Gau'auld. The Ancients could have easily defeated both of those races but they would have had to have committed genocide to do so and the alliance we formed with those great and noble races, would not have been possible".
What the All father had just revealed to them was not common knowledge. Modi suspected that the time that Odin spoke of, was before the time that the Ancients had left the Milkyway galaxy. The Asgard were a species similar to the Gau'aulds first Hosts, the Unas at that time and had a vicious future ahead of themselves still. "I was not aware of this All father". Modi replied.
"It was a private matter between those three races but that knowledge was given to us in the hope that we could learn from it. The Knox chose to stay behind when the other two races ascended, as penance for their species former crimes. In time they will join them on the next plane of existence. Do you understand why I am telling you this now Modi or would you like your brother to explain it for you?". Odin asked him.
Modi was always Thor's favourite son, even if Modi could not see it himself but Magni had always been Odin's favourite. "Yes I would grandfather". He then looked over to the holographic representation of Magni.
Magni had sat quietly until spoken to. "Even the Asgard were once a barbaric race. Given enough time, the Gau'auld may become as noble as any of the great races and the people of Midgard also but now is not that time. Those two peoples are on the brink of war with one another and it may be that war that changes them, as the war with the Ancients and the Furling's did to the Knox. However there are people that currently have no say in the coming war and those people will be the ones that suffer the most. That is why I take full responsibility for the incident on Abydos All father, I know we can not commit to a campaign against the Gau'auld but what they were doing was unforgivable. They were murdering people for their love, All father". Magni said to the leader of the Asgard race.
"Precisely Magni. We could have destroyed the Gau'auld long ago but if we had, it would have denied them the opportunity to one day become better than they are. In the long term the suffering that the humans have endured, may even have a positive effect on them. The people of Midgard however change everything and in their quest to free the people of that galaxy from the Gau'auld, they may replace them as their slave masters. Before that happens, the Gau'auld will take out their frustrations on the human slaves. You and the fleet your brother will be the Supreme Commander of, will make our presence known to both sides but you will stay out of their conflict and you will not science officer Magni, offer them any more assistance". Odin did not mean the assistance rendered to the Abydonians, the All father had just given them a mandate to do just that, within reason.
He had meant the assistance Magni had given the humans of Midgard. Odin had agreed with Magni's assessment, that they were close to finding a way to represent the elements, that they had already discovered. However it was still a violation of their peoples highest law, concerning less advanced races. The humans on Asgard protected worlds were a different matter, they were being guided from a distance and that was for their own good. Midgard proved that, with her peoples need to worship defining their history.
It was their un-disprovable God and the way it had been used on Midgard, to manipulate the masses that Odin feared. They even fought about how to worship that same God. If the humans are successful and they liberate their lost kin. They will have a galaxy full of people, that would easily be converted and controlled in the same manner. Even Odin himself had become fascinated with it, not in the sense of becoming a convert. The philosophical message was a very good guide to live ones life by but it was the way it could be used to control or create fanatics, that made it dangerous to newly freed slaves.
To someone with an already evolved world view, those religions could even be a path to ascension but to those who have not, the opposite could be true. Ascension was about understanding, not just yourself but the universe around you as well. It was as if someone had given them a guide to ascension but had then intentionally added more, in order to put it all out of context. Odin suspected, that it was done to ensure only those that could see its true purpose and passed the things that were added or even left out. Would actually be able to see past the talk of a God and achieve ascension.
The Asgard were doing something similar with the humans on the worlds under their protection but they were not giving them a guide to ascension. They were trying to guide them down a path, that would eventually lead them to seek it out themselves. The constant copying of their consciences had made ascension impossible for the Asgard, although Odin suspected it could still be achieved and they were simply not ready yet. They still had a purpose on this plane of existence and that was what held them back.
They were the last of the four great races, the greatest alliance to ever exist in three galaxies. They could not leave all three of those galaxies as they are and just ascend. The Knox had not ascended with the others but they may as well have. They were complete pacifists now and with good reason. Beneath their angelic exterior, beats the heart of a vicious animal.
The Wraith, that the Asgard had fought alongside the Ancients against in the Pegasus galaxy. Were the only race that came close to the Knox's primal nature. Unlike the Wraith that drained the life force of their victims, the Knox simply ate theirs. They had been conquered by another race but they had overthrown them and used their technology to conquer other worlds. Only they had no need for slaves, only food and the more intelligent the species, the better that food tasted and they were also hunters, not cattle herders.
Because the Ancient's and the Furling's were busy fighting each other, the Knox had become a threat to even them. They had assimilated all of the different peoples technologies, whose species they had made extinct. That was the sin the Knox still believed, that they must atone for and also the reason they were pacifists. They believed that if they were to feed that part of themselves again, they could return to their savage ways. Even though it was because of an imbalance in their brains and a weapon was devised that cured them of it. They where that evolved now, that they had even greater psionic abilities than the ancients had.
Before Magni could answer the All father, Modi asked. "You are sending a fleet to support us?". He could not believe what he had heard.
Odin was not pleased with Modi's interruption. Even though he had asked Modi if he understood the council's decisions, it was Magni who needed put in his place. Modi was a warrior and would follow his orders, even if he pushed the boundaries of those orders. Magni was not built for military service and the stresses that service entailed. When something as important as what had just happened on Abydos occurred, Odin was automatically informed. He had witnessed Magni's emotional outburst and was concerned for him. "Yes Commander Modi but I am afraid you will have to promote a new second in command. It is time Balthar was given a command of his own, they should already be arriving in system. You should go deal with that but I would like to continue my conversation with your brother. Your berserker suits have made this possible Commander, we have not lost a single vessel since their introduction".
"Yes All father, thank you". Modi did not want to leave his brother but he had a fleet to inspect. He did not want to lose his first officer either but it was worth it and he would technically still be his second in command.
Odin looked at his grandson and asked. "What happened Magni, I have never seen you so angry?".
"While studying the humans of Midgard, I witnessed the best part of humanity All father and I felt hope for the first time in a very long time. It was not what the Gau'auld had done, their kind have done worse before. It was that my brother forced me into taking action, I am only aboard a vessel of war for his benefit and he forced me into making a decision, that he should have made. I am not a warrior All father". Modi answered.
"No Magni, you are not but you are needed at your brothers side more than ever now. Within two centuries our people may become extinct, we have until that time to prepare the people of Midgard. They are a barbaric race but they are capable of so much more. I have watched them come close to making the next step and they are close now but every time, it is seen as weakness by others of their kind and they must then start again. They are not ready yet Magni, soon they may be but not yet. Your brothers mission is to let them know that the Asgard are their to stop them, if they go too far and also temper the Gau'auld's cruelty. Not to advance the humans, is that understood Magni?". Odin asked him.
"Yes All father. I apologise for my lack of control. It will not happen again". Magni gave a small bow of his head, as he said this.
"It is we who should apologise Magni, you should not be placed in this situation but your brother is our best tactician, even your father does not compare to him. You are needed at his side Magni, now more than ever". Odin said to his grandson.
"I understand All father". Magni said. Then the connection was ended from the high councils side.
When Magni had finished, Modi was waiting for him. "I am sorry Magni, I forget that you do not like this. I will never put you in that position again". He said.
"I am an Asgard, I will do my duty. It is my purpose to ensure you do not go too far brother. I can not do that if you are second guessing yourself and you have done that since I helped the humans of Midgard. Orders or not, you would have not aloud that to happen before. If your command means more to you than doing what is right, then you should consider giving it up brother". Magni stated, before retaking his position at his station.
The mission Modi had been given was not the one he wanted, he wished for a return to the conflict with the Replicators. Their mission here was not one of war, they were to be a buffer between to warring peoples. Not to actually join the fight but to be a presence that would make both sides think twice, before committing atrocities. It was not the challenge he craved but his brother needed a break from all of that. For now Balthar would lead any engagements and they would handle the diplomatic side of things.
With a fleet under his command, it was his job now to deal with the Gau'auld. His first task would be calling a summit, to discuss Abydos becoming a protected planet. If a summit had already been called, Odin would have informed them. So he said to Magni. "Inform the system lords, that they have five days to prepare a delegation and that it will be Supreme Commander Modi that they will be meeting with and this time Magni, leave out the God of war part". The summit would be on Abydos, as all were held on the effected world.
With the Abydonians being as primitive has they are, that summit would be in orbit of that world. Once completed they would bring humans from one of the more advanced protected planets, to help institute a new belief system. One that had been especially developed by the Asgard, to give freed slaves a new purpose. One of intellectual growth and morale fortitude.
He then had the Mjolnir's computer core, extrapolate the leader of the Abydonians and then transport him into a holographic chamber, so that they could inform him of what would be occurring. After he had completed that conversation, he realised that he had a problem. The leader of the Abydonian people was not on Abydos or even Abydonian. He was from Midgard and they had made him their King. Things had just gotten far more complicated.
