StarGate
The past can be a real pain sometimes….
From the Harvester's Journal
Soralis shifted nervously, eyes fixated upon the Stargate. It had been more than ten years since they had last worked together. Jack probably thought she was dead. He would have no reason not to believe she dead. No normal person could survive an explosion, especially one that leveled a building with her in it.
/You all right?\ Qui Gon asked her mentally.
/Yeah. Just the guy walking through is somebody I once knew. And he's not gonna be real pleased with me being alive.\
/I thought he was your friend.\ Qui Gon said.
/He was. Only he thinks I'm dead and I kinda didn't tell him every little detail about myself. He won't appreciate that.\
Qui Gon snorted. /You were both playing black operation games. He'll understand. Hopefully.\
/You don't know Jack.\ she replied. /He can be… Difficult.\
The Stargate rumbled to life, the chevron's clicking into place and the wormhole activated with a flare of released energy.
/Here they come,\ Qui Gon said.
One at a time, the Sg1 team appeared. Soralis instantly recognized Jack; the others, she did not recognize. He was older than she remembered, more careworn, but still much the same.
Jack O'Neil cautiously moved forward, the rest of his team fanning out behind him. His eyes swept the Stargate chamber, noting the Jaffa warriors placed in strategic positions around the area as well as the small group of individuals guarding the regal Ga'ould in full ceremonial robes.
On the left of the Ga'ould lord was a tall woman in the full ceremonial robes of a high priestess. A platinum coronet etched with the symbols of Maat gleamed under white hair.
On the right of the Ga'ould was an even taller man with graying black hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He was dressed in a white tunic, tan trousers, boots and a black cloak. An odd cylindrical object swung from his belt. Beside him was a boy of about fifteen or sixteen; dressed in much the same way, only instead of a black cloak, he wore a brown one. The rest of the people conformed to the dress of minor Ga'ould nobility.
As he came closer, he got a better look at the woman at Isis' left hand. In shock, he recognized the priestess. "Soralis?!" he blurted out.
"Hi Jack, long time no see huh?" she said dryly.
"Yeah, 'specially since you're supposed to be dead." He replied just as dryly.
"Never found a body did you?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Couldn't. The whole building you 'died' in was blown to bits. Convenient, huh?" he said.
"Very." She smiled lightly.
"So are you a Ga'ould?" he asked bluntly.
Isis smiled, interrupting the dialogue. "No. The Isisethren is not a Ga'ould. I have acknowledged her as my daughter, nonetheless. She bears the memory and spirit of Tahmin, and will be respected as such." She said, the warning clear in her voice. "She is the reason why you are here Colonel. We have much to discuss before she returns home."
Jack sighed. "Alright my lady." He was here to listen to Isis' proposition after all. But then, he wasn't there to necessarily agree to whatever he heard.
***
Jack looked at Soralis intently. They were all seated around a marble table in one of the great conference halls. "So, how did you get here?" he asked.
"I took a major wrong turn underground." She said.
He scowled. "Right. Tell it to me straight Soralis, I'm serious."
"Ok. Base line is we got two hell gods preparing to hit earth with everything they got. Once they've strip-mined it of all its resources and destroyed what they can't use, they're gonna start really lowering the real-estate value of the surrounding area."
Jack nodded, almost pleasantly. "So where do you come into that equation?"
Soralis lips twitched. "Those two hell gods are my grandfather and uncle respectively. And they both hate my guts. That's why I'm here. Around six months ago I was kidnapped by a powerful sorcerer called Quan Chi and taken to a remote world in this sector of space. There, his apprentice Xanatos subjected me too both physical and mental torture with the help of his partner, a renegade scientist called Morgan Leigh. During that time, I was caged with another prisoner, Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn," she nodded to the man in the black cloak.
"Qui Gon was investigating Morgan for suspicion of murder, unsanctioned use of bio-hazards and illegal experimentation on intelligent beings, when he too was kidnapped by Morgan." She paused for breath and Qui Gon took the thread of her narrative.
"During the course of our captivity, we formed a mind-bond that Xanatos used to his advantage. Alone, we would have done everything in our power to escape, but with the mind-bond in place, all he had to do was torture one of us a bit in order to make the other behave. More insidious still, Xanatos' ultimate goal was to enslave us to the dark-side of the force." He said. Beside him, the boy, Obi-Wan paled at this calmly delivered statement.
"Ok… That's real clear. What's the force and why is Soralis so important and who is Xanatos?"
Soralis sighed and began explaining. In more detail.
***
Shao Kahn paced, fuming. Twice. She had escaped twice. This single, half-breed bitch had eluded him and his creatures. It could not, would not be tolerated. He snarled as someone laughed softly behind him.
"With a face like that, it's any wonder why no female will have anything to do with you." Shinnok said calmly.
Shao Kahn turned, snarling. "She escaped! Again! Why does this one female always get away?"
"Because you constantly underestimate her and the quality of mortals she tends to attract. This time, we will have both her and her father, if you exercise a little patience." Shinnok replied, smiling grimly. "And now we have two bonuses if we count both her mind-mate and his apprentice"
"There is that." Shao Kahn conceded. He smiled slightly. "And after we have all of them in chains, we can have ourselves a proper family reunion."
"Indeed," Shinnok replied.
***
It was finally over. She had told Jack almost everything about herself. It was unavoidable. Now the Sg1 team was comfortably asleep, in rooms Isis had graciously provided for them. Jack had agreed to take her home; to help her defeat Shao Kahn. She gazed at the star-strewn sky pensively. Soralis knew quite well the real battle lay ahead and there was a very good chance that they might lose, despite all of their planning. She heard movement behind her and she smiled slightly. It was Qui Gon.
"Can't sleep?" she asked him softly as he joined her.
"No," he replied.
"Bad dreams?" she queried, seeing how tired he looked.
"Yeah." He looked at her. "How much of it do you think was drug-hallucinations?" he asked, referring to the tortures they endured during their captivity.
Soralis turned away, throat moving as she swallowed dryly. "I… I don't know Qui Gon." She told him honestly. "Qui Gon, Morgan had us drugged most of the time. I don't think we will ever know what was real or not real."
He hugged her tightly. "What's happening to us?" he asked her softly. "The mind-link isn't fading. Is it?"
Soralis shook her head. "No. I don't think it is." She turned and touched his face. "I can still feel your emotions, hear your thoughts as if you shouted them out to me. It's hard to block them."
"Why?" he asked.
"I don't know." She said. "I'm afraid," she confessed.
"Me too." He replied.