Rating:R for the F... word
Chapter 5 - First contact
Two days after Gulnar's interrogation, planet P3X 472
"So much for an easy mission."commented Jack with an angry expression while running to a large stone for cover. He saw the rest of his team and Jacob do the same.
Two days ago Sam's father Jacob had visited the SGC and reported that the Tok'ra have information that Cronus will be transferring a sarcophagus. The destination planet was one of the less protected of Cronus's worlds and Jacob's symbiote Selmak thought it wouldn't be difficult to capture it. Of course general Hammond agreed with the operation. To have a working sarcophagus was the dream of all lab coats in area 51 and it would enable to save countless lives. That's why SG-1 and Jacob had taken a transport ship ,landed on this planet and waited hidden near the stargate, which was situated in the end of a large valley. Anyone who chose the location definitely wasn't stupid, because the gate was surrounded from three sides by high cliffs and in case of an attack the aggressors would find themselves in a not enviable situation. Right now one of these cliffs was hiding members of SG-1 waiting for Cronus's Jaffa to bring them their present. There were only five guards near the gate and defeating them shouldn't be a problem. However when the gate activated and Jaffa started emerging from the event horizon they couldn't see any cargo. The likely reason was that those Jaffa didn't belong to Cronus. The symbol on their forehead indicated Sokar's soldiers which meant this was an attack was probably initiated by Apophis. That damned snakehead was now controlling Sokar's worlds and again becoming one of the most powerful Goa'uld.
"Looks like Cronus said something bad about Apophis's mother.", Jack noted, making sure to stay in cover, away from the sight of the coming Jaffa.
"Indeed O'Neill." Teal'c agreed, calm as usual.
"I assure you Jack the Tok'ra didn't know anything about this attack." Jacob tried to persuade the commander of SG-1.
"Oh really? You know this is the part where I'm not surprised. If I didn't know better I would think this is one of Anisse's practical jokes."
"Sir. Another regiment of Jaffa is coming to the gate.", Carter observed the other side of the cliff where the group was hidden. "Their trajectory has intersection with our current position. I think we should relocate to 24 degrees ,50 minutes and 32 seconds of eastern longitude. I recommend the maximum velocity of the reposition." she suggested, holding the map of the surrounding area.
"What?" Jack inquired with a confused expression on his face.
"We should get out of here and run to the forest.",Daniel explained.
"Why couldn't she say that?"
SG-1 and Jacob retreated to the trees and watched the battle between the two groups. Apophis's Jaffa were slowly gaining the upper hand when three Alkeshs and approximately twenty Death gliders appeared above the battlefield and opened fire. With no ships to support them Apophis's Jaffa started to retreat. They wanted to escape through stargate but it was too late. The area around stargate was now controlled by Cronus's ships. The battle was soon over with no survivors on Apophis's side.
"We have no chance to capture the sarcophagus with all those ships protecting it.", Jacob snorted.
Jack realized Jacob was right."OK kids. The mission's over. I can't wait to write the reports. We came. We saw. We escaped."
"Sir. This doesn't make any sense. Why would Apophis send hundred warriors to attack Cronus without any support? Dad. Do you have an idea what's behind this?" Sam wanted to know.
"I seriously don't. Our agents spying Apophis informed us he is still strengthening his position. To sacrifice so many Jaffa without a good reason would be lunacy." Jacob's symbiote Selmak replied."Maybe there is something on this planet we don't know about which I find very disturbing."
"We will leave the theories for debriefing and get out of here. I had enough surprises for today." Jack ordered. The group entered their cloaked transport ship and left P3X 472, ruminating about what has Apophis hidden in his sleeve.
Planet Antara
The stargate deactivated and left the Scooby Gang together with more than 30 other members of SWC (Slayers&Watchers Council) standing in front of their new base.
"And they really just obeyed and left? I mean they didn't find it at least suspicious?" Buffy asked, walking on a grassy path alongside Willow, surprised how the witch could make a hundred Jaffa abandon their posts to fight a battle they couldn't win.
"They wouldn't dare to oppose Gulnar. Their god told them to leave so they left. I sent them to attack one of Cronus's worlds. Gulnar's soldiers previously belonged to Sokar which means Cronus will think it was Apophis behind the attack. I wonder if they succeeded. One way or another the stronghold is empty. I wonder if there is a ring transport leading from the base to the gate."
"You really understand all this technology stuff?" Buffy wondered.
"I don't."Willow shook her head, a little disappointed there was a technology she couldn't understand. "Gulnar explained to me how everything works and how to use it, however most of these theories are far beyond my knowledge of physics and astronomy, not mentioning the other information about ships materials, Goa'uld cell structures or chemical compounds."
"The wormhole principle is fascinating. And the anti gravitation? I can't wait to see the ships."Fred added.
The group continued their walk with Fred and Willow discussing various Goa'uld equipment. The base they were heading to consisted of three golden pyramid shaped, over 150 meters high buildings that reminded Willow of Inca architecture and were connected by large corridors forming a equilateral triangle . The first of them contained a hangar for Alkeshs and storage rooms. The second one was the production facility itself and the third was a residential building . The whole base was surrounded by rain forest and Buffy made a mental note to take a large amount of bug spray next time. There were also eight about twenty five meters high towers standing around the base that left Buffy wondering about their purpose.
"Orbital guns."Willow pointed out.
"You know it's not proper to enter unless you are invited ? I still prefer talking to telepathy."
"Sorry Buffy but you seemed so eager to know about the towers. With concentrated fire they can take down a Ha'tak."
The gang entered the first pyramid and stared in astonishment at the nine ships inside. "This type of ship is called Alkesh.", Willow described the ship. "It's a tactical bomber. Twenty meters high, thirty meters long and fifteen meters wide. It's equipped with a hyper-drive engine, ring transport, cloaking field and can carry forty bombs and thirty soldiers."
"That's great Red. Care to explain what are we going to do with them?" Faith muttered.
"What could we possibly do with spaceships Faith. What about ... I don't know ... flying them?" Buffy replied, shaking her head.
"B. You do remember that I didn't even finish high school right?"
"You don't need to understand the molecular structure of wood to sit on a chair Faith."
"But all I need is a chair to knock you unconscious.", Faith countered. "I have a better idea why don't we contact one of these Goa'uld enemies Red was talking about?"
"We can't. "Willow shook her head, recalling the information the captured Goa'uld gave them. "Gulnar has no idea how to contact the Asguard. The Riitu have a bad habit to forget bombs in towns full of civilians and the Tauri are almost the same. They blew up a moon with hundreds of prisoners to destroy Sokar's fleet."
"So we are on our own. I REALLY didn't expect that."Buffy snorted."Usually we get SO much help!"
Three months later - December 2003, Risol
"Thank you for your trust and cooperation. And please don't forget
our agreement." Lin bowed before Farad, the king of Taksaran, the
united kingdom on Risol and accepted the Stone of Changes as well as a
purse full of diamonds.
"It is us who should be thankful. If your people didn't help us against the Goa'uld and Unas many lives would have been lost. I hope our nations will remain friends in the future and continue the trade between our worlds. Of course we will honor our agreement. None of us reveals anything about your people or where you come from. In case somebody will ask we just say you are slayers." Farad expressed his thanks.
Lin bowed again and started walking towards the entrance of the palace where Tsu joined her. She hoped Farad and his subordinates won't forget to keep theirs mouths shut. The last thing the SWC needed was a Goa'uld knowing the address to Earth. She took her staff weapon from one of the guards and they headed to the main gate of the city. Even though she was a friend of the king she still wasn't allowed to carry a weapon in his presence. In contrast to others she preferred the staff weapon to Steyr-ACR which was now the prevailing gear in off world part of SWC. It was logical - the most slayers were to short to effectively use the practically two meters long weapon. Lin was almost 180 centimeters tall and handled the staff without problems. Buffy will be definitely pleased with the result of this negotiation. Farad kept his word and lend them the Stone of Changes - a supposedly Asguard device able to reshape the structure of material and heal injuries and they also got diamonds worth 50 million pounds to finance the SWC.
In the beginning none of them realized how expensive running operations on other planets would become. Even the resources of the Council weren't enough to cover the demands. Only the reconstruction of the inner equipment of residential buildings on Antara to make it a little more comfortable then Siberian prison cost over 40 million pounds. That's why SWC originated trade relations with Risol, selling mostly accessories for agriculture and buying gold and jewelry. Giles decided against Fred's idea to sell electricity produced by a naquadah generator in England, because sooner or later somebody would wonder where all the energy came from.
A week after they annexed Antara, Buffy and Giles decided to separate the SWC into two fractions. The first remained traditional and fought demons and vampires on the Earth while the other part concentrated on Goa'uld. Giles and Rona became leaders of the Earth's fraction. Buffy wanted Kennedy to help them, but Kennedy refused because she wanted to spend more time with Willow who was their key to the Goa'uld knowledge. The new hired watchers were mostly specialists in various scientific branches and studied Goa'uld technology, while slayers learned to use their weapons and fly their ships. Lin laughed when she remembered Faith's first attempt to pilot a Death glider. Somebody had forgotten to tell her that when you fly a ship equipped with an antigravitation module than the up arrow on control panel really means going UP and not FORWARD. As soon as she touched the controls her glider hurled upwards and hit the hangar's ceiling. Lin's first flight wasn't much better and she was glad Faith wasn't there to see it. Lin was glad Faith became her superior. She liked Buffy, but Faith was much more open-minded and preferred to highlight people's strengths instead of bore them with lectures about their weakness. Unlike Faith, Buffy would also hardly spend her free time with them. Faith met Lin and Tsu in China when she was searching for new slayers and Lin's origin was the main reason she insisted on being part of the fight against the Goa'uld. The slavery system applied on Goa'uld worlds resembled the situation in her homeland. She couldn't change the circumstances in China, but this fight gave her a chance to make a difference. Lin recalled how Faith had come to her family's house in Nan-jang and had used her terrible american accent to explain that Lin can come with her to England. Their escape across the Russian border made Lin realize it might have been more safe to stay in her hometown. She got shot in her shank, the bullet partially shattering the bone. Thank god for slayer healing. Her first encounter with a vampire wasn't exactly a pleasant experience either but Lin never regretted her decision.
"Did you hear that?", Lin's thoughts were interrupted by Tsu.
"All I hear are these annoying four-winged birds. Maybe I should try to shoot one of them and see if..."
All at once Lin and Tsu found themselves surrounded by five unknown soldiers dressed in dark green clothing and armed with some kind of submachine guns.
Colonel Roberts was considering his options. Soon after his group came to Risol he realized the Stone of Changes will be much more difficult to acquire then expected. Risol used to have three kingdoms which had been fighting for superiority over the last two centuries. Meaning? Their capital was surrounded by four meters high stockade, all roads leading to the city were watched and Taksaran soldiers were not just a bunch of unprepared amateurs they usually dealt with. The stone was situated inside a temple in the middle of the city and guarded by two hundred soldiers twenty-eight hours a day. Of course they were armed only with swords and bows, but defeating them with six men would be at least hazardous. Not mentioning the palace guards would come to their aid as soon as the fight would break out. He wished his squad was equipped with some somniferous gas, but they didn't get any new supplies since SG-1 captured their gate. To be a part of NID, a civilian organization that controlled secret government and military projects, really sucked sometimes. An hour ago he almost ordered his five men to resign this mission when they noticed two dark-haired women leave the city, carrying the Stone of Changes towards the stargate. They were dressed in black combat outfit and armed with staff weapons, which left Roberts wondering who they were. He never heard about a Goa'uld that would use women as Jaffa. It didn't really matter. Their mission was to obtain the Stone, they needed alien technology to protect the Earth. He aimed at the woman closer to him and fired.
Lin saw Tsu fall to the ground, blood pouring from her neck. "Fuckers!" She shouted and fired at the nearest soldier, the blast hitting his chest and killing him. That's all she could do before her body was ripped apart by tens of bullets.
----
Faith, Willow, Xander and twenty fully armed slayers emerged from the wormhole to see fifty temple's guards awaiting them. When Lin and Tsu hadn't returned as planned Faith had waited for three hours then she put together twenty slayers and hurried to Risol.
"I want to know what's going on. Now!" Faith demanded.
"I'm afraid I bring nil reports." the man whom Faith recognized as Firon, now the leader of the temple's guards answered. "Your friends as well as ten of our men guarding the Chappa-Ai were murdered and the Stone of Changes was stolen."
Faith rushed to Farid and pinned him against the nearest tree."What happened to them?"
"It might be better if I show you.", Firon addressed the angry slayer, gasping for breath. Faith let him down and quickly followed his soldiers to a glade in the forest between the gate and the city. "We heard sounds that resembled the noise created by your weapons and rushed to the Chappa-Ai. On the way we found your friends.", Firon explained, keeping a save distance from the slayer.
Faith and the others stared in horror at the two bodies in front of them. In fact it was only one body. What used to be Lin was now just a mixture of body parts in a pool of blood. Several slayers didn't withstand the sight and ran to the trees for a quick barf.
"I assure you Taksaran had nothing to do with this massacre." Firon tried to persuade Faith, but stepped back when he saw the look she gave him. He was a soldier and he recognized the fire in her eyes. That look meant 'If you say another word I'll kill you.' .
Faith could barely control her rage. Lin and Tsu were Faith's best students and two of the few real friends she had. She considered all her students friends, but she didn't usually spend her free time with them. Lin and Tsu were an exception, she liked them from the day she met them. They both had a messed up childhood and Faith found out the three of them had a lot in common. When Lin was talking about her father who became sober only when arrested Faith was the one to listen.
Faith turned her attention to Willow who was now examining the bodies with a cold expression on her face. "Do you have something ?"
"I think I have an idea who did this. The guards, Lin and Tsu were killed by guns and I know only one civilization besides our's that uses projectile weapons and travels through Chappa-Ai."
"The Tauri did this ? I guess this is the end of 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend theory.'" Xander reacted.
"You're right." Willow agreed. "We have to warn all teams and tell them to avoid Tauri in case they encounter them."
"And what if it comes to a confrontation?" one of the slayers asked.
Faith looked back at the two corpses.
"Kill them all."
End Chapter
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