AN: Woohoo!  Exams are over! *dances*  And of course, you know what that means ;) – more updates!! (well, in theory anyway ^_~) heh, word is Yarege's telepathy, /word/ is Harena's telepathy

Rating: R maybe PG-13 (R in standing with ff.net's policy of picking the highest rating)

Disclaimer: SG characters are (c) MGM (thankie to Morrigan for that :p).  FF8 characters are (c) Squaresoft, original characters are mine – ask nicely and I might let you play with them, s'long's you don't break them...

Warnings: SxS Maybe angst (I do like to torture my characters sometimes :p), language (prob nothin u ain't heard b4, but still...)

~Chapter Thirty-Two: Dangerous Liaisons~

"And what would I gain in return for aiding you in this matter?"  The G'ould – who had been introduced to her as Den'Tok – finally turned from staring out at the stars.  Harena had been vaguely amused by his cool reactions to her presence.  It was quite obvious that he felt safe on his mother-ship, and equally obvious that he doubted her power despite her manner of arrival.  She shrugged, casually, as if it didn't matter to her whether he aided her or not.  In truth, it didn't.  Unless the battle with her other half was more prolonged than she expected, things would all be over by the time Den'Tok arrived.

"I have the power to give you the tau'ri."  For a moment the G'ould watched her, face impassive, but his mind was reeling in shock, tempered by suspicion.

"If you have the power to defeat the tau'ri, blatantly defying the Asgard, how is it that you require my aid in subduing this...rebellion?"  It was clear that from his initial suspicion, Den'Tok had now moved to outright disbelief of her cover story.  After all, it was a fool who admitted a weakness, any weakness, to a G'ould.  Still, once she was whole, complete, and the other destroyed along with the meddling humans from through the stargate, Harena could easily 'take care' of Den'Tok when he finally arrived.  For that matter, it might be interesting to see how SeeD – the organisation that her other half seemed to be placing so much faith in – stood up to a concerted G'ould attack.  She smiled grimly to herself, allowing the merest hints of dark amusement to gleam in her eyes.  She could set up a contest, SeeD versus G'ould, sending them in, one after another, to die or live to fight once more.  Yes.  It would be like the ancient culture of the tau'ri, the Romans, throwing Christians to the lions...  O'Neill's mind had been full of ~such~ interesting scraps.

"I could deal with the rebellion myself.  But there is another, like me, and the rebels have enlisted the aid of the tau'ri."  She watched the thoughts play through the G'ould's mind, ignoring the impassive features.  "I can crush the rebellion to get to her, but I require you to prevent the tau'ri from flooding the stargate and interfering." 

"Hmm."  The G'ould studied her for a moment.  "What, exactly, do you wish me to do?"  Harena smiled, and began to explain her plans.

***

Of course, Harena was not so stupid as to believe that all she needed was G'ould assistance.  Oh no, especially when half of said assistance would not arrive until ~after~ the battle.  Really all Den'Tok's purpose in her plans was to provide a minor – and she had no illusions it would be anything other than minor – annoyance should the other win, and a source of food should she win.  For, whilst not stupid, Harena ~was~ beginning to doubt herself.

And that was why she had plans for Lunatic Pandora.  She already knew where it was – at the bottom of the ocean, very close to the Deep Sea Research Facility – and, with her powers, it would be a simple matter to recover the crystal tower.  Unfortunately, Harena knew she had very little time – if any – before the other also turned her attention to Lunatic Pandora.  Well, to destroying it so that she could not use it.

Well, well.  So you finally realised you're going to lose.

The voice in her head was so sudden, so unexpected, that for a moment Harena was utterly dumbfounded.  Then she realised, and her blank expression became a fierce snarl. 

/Finally you show yourself./  Harena gave a fierce mental snort, tossing her head violently.  /But I already know where you are.  I already know your numbers, your strengths and weaknesses.  It will not be I who loses./  There was a mental shrug, and a long moment of contemplation before the other finally replied.

I have already taken care of Lunatic Pandora...  But feel free to waste your time there if you wish.  Harena growled.

/I don't need Lunatic Pandora.  My allies are already.../  She quickly shut off the flow of thought, biting back a string of curses.  The last thing she needed was to give the other all her plans, just through sheer irritation.  Besides, she already knew the G'ould would fail, already knew that there were more than enough SeeDs to hold, if not completely destroy, the monsters that she would bring to bear against them.  No.  The information she ~had~ to protect, ~had~ to keep the other from discovering, was the information of what she would use to destroy her utterly.  And what was more delicious, it was the other's own plans that would bring about this victory, to make herself Hyne, and leave the other as 'eargarea'.  Nothing.

The other's sickening mental laughter flooded her mind, and Harena barely stopped herself from retching dryly.  Of course, she couldn't vomit physically, but that didn't mean that her body couldn't ascribe the action to a purely mental reaction.

Come when you will.  I care not.  You ~will~ lose.  You ~will~ be nothing.  With that the voice was gone, leaving Harena shaking, a mixture of loathing and rage.  She would come.  Oh how she would come.  Her army would fall upon them and they would bow before it like trees before a hurricane.  She would come.  And they would rue the day that they ever heard the name of Hyne.

AN: uh oh... nastiness approaching *runs for cover* pleeeeeeeeeeeese, RxR  *sniffles* please?