A/N: Thanks to all those who read and review! Your comments are very encouraging to me as a writer and often help me develop my world-building details.
The Furling Fleet reached the Milky-Way Galaxy on the second day of the fifth month, what otherwise would have been a cold winter's day in Colorado for Daniel or a warm summer day back on Uslisgas. He could not say that he had actually missed the cold on earth. After the heat of his dig-sites in the Middle East and, years later, the blistering heat of Abydos, the milder climate of Uslisgas and climate-controlled motherships was quite welcome.
Just over eight (earth) months had passed since he had fled earth back in March of the previous year. In some ways, being back on earth, working at the SGC, going on missions with Jack, Sam, and Teal'c through the Stargate seemed like another lifetime ago now that he had adapted to living on Uslisgas with the Furlings.
Just as much had changed for him personally in those months, much had also changed in the Milky-Way during his long absence. Apophis had fallen from power, having been captured by Sokar some months before and having disappeared into the depths of his enemy's territory—considering Sokar's reputation among the System Lords, Daniel was not sure he wanted to know what had happened to Apophis, but considering what Apophis had done to Sha're, he wasn't sure he cared. In Apophis' absence, his once-powerful 'empire' was fracturing as his underlings squabbled among themselves, fighting tooth and nail for every scrap of power and every light-year of territory, killing each other off and weakening themselves in the process.
Less for the Furlings to do, I guess.
That being said, Apophis' 'empire' had not totally fallen. Some of his Jaffa, loyal to their absent 'god' and confident that he would soon return, still controlled a number of his Hat'taks and, for the moment, several of his important worlds. That division and instability made Apophis' territory a prime first target for the Furling military, and Sujanha had jumped on the opportunity to strike a blow while their enemy was divided.
In the week that followed the arrival of the Furlings in the Milky-Way, Sujanha and Anarr, in consultation with Master Bra'tac through meetings held on a neutral world, had settled on five of Apophis' most valuable worlds to capture first, three of which—Chulak, Saqqara, and Kawawn—were still in loyalist hands. The coordinated strike, capturing all those planets in hopefully the space of a day, was designed to cripple Apophis' remaining loyalist troops, prevent those planets from ever becoming pawns in the power struggle between Apophis' former underlings, and remove the varied resources those planets provided from enemy hands. Chulak was … Chulak. Capturing Kawawn would remove a major source of naquadah from Goa'uld hands, and Saqqara contained ancient Goa'uld libraries. There were also vague and unsubstantiated rumors, Bra'tac had informed Sujanha, of hidden secrets somewhere on Saqqara, something important enough that Apophis had taken great care that his rivals would never find out what was hidden there. That had interested and concerned Sujanha enough to influence the decision of where to strike first.
Color me intrigued!
Some of Sujanha's most experienced commanders had been chosen to lead the five fleets that would attack each world and work in support of the troops on the ground.
Nothing planning-wise was being left to chance.
6rd of Ea, Summer, 6545 A.S.
(January 15, 1999)
Chulak, Avalon
On the day of the first strike against the Goa'uld, morning came very early for Daniel and most everyone else on the Valhalla, and probably in the entire fleet, or at least the part involved in this strike. It was just before the fourth hour, Uslisgas-time, when he crawled from bed, tired from only a few hours of sleep. The first strike would begin in six hours, and there was much to do before then. Sujanha had spent much of the previous two days in consultation with her brother and, though scouts, with Bra'tac, and everything that could be laid in order had been, but there were always things that could not be done until the final hours. And despite any best laid plans, there were always problems popping up at the last minute to deal with.
Sujanha was already at her desk in her office, holographic screen all around her, mug of tea within arm's reach, when Daniel entered, finishing the last bites of his breakfast that he had eaten on the walk between the mess hall and her office. She looked like she had been working for some time, and Daniel wondered if she had actually gone to bed at all.
I wouldn't put it past her to work all night. She had done it before, although she usually ended up paying for it soon after. Her strength was limited, which meant that she had to be careful in how she used what reserves she had. We'll keep an eye on her.
"Commander," Daniel greeted her and then promptly had to muffle a yawn behind one hand. "Sorry. What do you need me to do?"
Her look seemed almost … fond? Indulgent? "You'll feel more awake once the battle begins." Adrenaline is a wonderful thing. "Can you go up to the bridge and see if there are any messages from Master Bra'tac? He has not yet sent word of what world to pick him up from."
There were too many ships to keep near the Furling-controlled bases, so the Valhalla along with the rest of its battle-group were currently in a void between systems, an out-of-the-way place that would keep them hidden from detection. Since Master Bra'tac had agreed to join Sujanha for the course of the battle, for multiple reasons, Sujanha had speculated late the other night, probably anything from studying Furling tactics to seeing first-hand if they kept their word about trying to spare as many Jaffa as possible to claiming any captured fifth-column soldiers … she had a few more ideas that I forgot … but that meant that the Valhalla—or another ship—had to retrieve him before the battle began. Given the speed of the Valhalla's hyperdrive, the time for a detour would be negligible, but we need to know where we're going before we head for Chulak.
Daniel nodded, "Of course. I'll be back soon." The outer office was empty, but he expected Asik and Jaax would arrive soon—for the moment, Sujanha needed all three of her aids with her. I wonder if she's going to get a fourth to coordinate stuff back in Asteria. He had passed Ragnar and Ruarc in the mess hall while getting breakfast.
The corridors were busy but orderly as Daniel made his way up to the bridge, and he passed as many familiar faces as not. The Valhalla had a crew, whose standard size was 300 people, but from comments that Ruarc had made the past couple of days, there seemed to be extra crew members on board currently … for some reason. The bridge—a large room as advanced as something out of a movie—had the same sense of well-ordered chaos. The wall of holograms at the front of the room showed a nearly inky-black void, darkness only interrupted by the pinpricks of light from distant stars and the hulking grey forms of the other warships. Near the front of the room, Rusa (the Lapith navigator) and Chakrechi (the Iprysh weapons officer) were both at their consoles, their backs to Daniel as he stepped onto the bridge.
Mekoxe, the communication's officer and one of the few other humans in the room aside from Daniel, was at his station at the back of the room, paging through screens and doing something at an almost dizzying pace.
"Fare morning, Doctor Jackson," Mekoxe greeted him at his approach. "Can I help you with something?"
Daniel returned the greeting and then said, "The Commander sent me up to see if there were any messages from Master Bra'tac yet today."
It's going to be interesting to see them finally meet. Anarr had met Bra'tac in person, but all these months Sujanha had always communicated with Bra'tac and the Rebel Jaffa through scouts, her brother, or other underlings. The two had never met in person … until today.
Mekoxe frowned slightly, paged through several more holographic screens, and then exclaimed, "Ah, yes. Here we are. I thought I had seen a message. Yes, yes, this came in about ten minutes ago." He spun the screen so Daniel could see the brief message and Stargate address without trying to read backwards, which did not work in Goa'uld like it did in ancient Egyptian. "I ran it through our translation program. It seems to just be an address and a meeting time."
"Mmm-hmm," Daniel agreed. I don't recognize that address, but that's probably the point. Another neutral or abandoned world. Safer. "Send that down to the Commander."
Bra'tac had a Furling time-piece to aid in coordination between their forces, and the time he had suggested was in a little over three hours.
Mekoxe nodded, and Daniel left him to his work and went back downstairs to Sujanha's office. Jaax and Ragnar had appeared during his absence. Sujanha was in the midst of a call with someone, and from her cool tone, it wasn't clear whether the discussion was a discussion, a debate, or an argument. Whatever language she was speaking was not Furling, though I hear a few familiar words, and the blue hologram of the person she was speaking with was too small for Daniel to make out their species, especially with my eyes. While he thought about it, he removed his glasses long enough to clean them on his shirt.
"She received the message," Jaax said in a low voice as Daniel took a seat next to his desk to wait, "and sent a message back to the bridge. A scout ship will go pick up Master Bra'tac at the appointed time and bring him here."
Makes sense. Daniel nodded. It would be easier for a scout ship to break off from the strike force than the flagship, especially with all the work Sujanha was doing, finishing coordinating efforts and sending messages. Some communications systems did not even work in hyperspace!
Three hours passed. (About three more to go before the first strike began.) Daniel was sitting on the steps next to Sujanha's seat on the bridge, his back against the arm of her chair, when the opening of a hyperspace window splashed a blob of color across the inky blackness displayed by the holograms. The scout ship dispatched to pick up Master Bra'tac had returned.
Sujanha was in the middle of a long-running conversation with one of her commanders, who was crouched next to her in holographic-form. Being in holographic form erased many identifying features, hiding fur-colors … shades of blue didn't count … and fine details of appearances. His name seemed to be Sigurd—it was interesting how many Furlings had Asgardian names—and he looked like a Sukkim except for his pupil-less eyes, a feature no hologram could erase. Given his well-proportioned limbs, he was likely not Gaetir—determining sub-species of Furlings, another thing I've had to learn. More likely, he was Nafshi, a half-blood Etrair.
The Nafshi were the only other Furling sub-species without visible pupils, as far as he knew. Daniel's guess had been confirmed about half-way through their conversation when Sigurd had slipped on a breathing mask, the only other movement he had made during the lengthy conversation, having otherwise effortlessly held the crouched position so long that it was making Daniel's muscles hurt just looking at him! And my feet! Sigurd was the commander of the strike-force that would capture Saqqara. The conversation had started off about strategy and appropriate use of force, but the two had, seemingly unknowingly, slipped out of Furling only minutes into the conversation.
"Commander?" Mekoxe appeared at a break in the conversation.
Sujanha started and looked up, saying something in the same language that she and Sigurd had been speaking. Her eyes widened momentarily, and she laughed before almost flinching. (Daniel straightened with a frown, shifting his tablet that he had been making notes on to his off-hand.) Her expression cleared, as she shrugged off the flinch. Something about the laugh—the jolting of her muscles, perhaps—seemed to have hurt. "Yes?" She asked in Furling this time.
She must have code-switched earlier. She might not have even realized that she wasn't speaking Furling.
I've confused a lot of people doing that.
"The Alcor has returned, Commander. Master Bra'tac is on board," replied Mekoxe. "They are asking permission to beam him across."
Sujanha blinked slowly. "Of course," she replied after a moment. "Have him beamed across." She turned back to Sigurd, still crouching at her side. "Is that enough for now?"
He nodded, and even across the holographic connection, Daniel could hear the echoing, raspy breath from his mask. "It is. Thank you, Commander."
"Good fortune then, and safe journey," Sujanha bid him farewell with now familiar words. "May the stars ever light your path home."
Sigurd bowed his head. "And to you, Commander."
His hologram winked out eerily … like he had never been there. Seconds later, there was a noise and a flash of light, and Bra'tac, dressed in his usual armor, staff-weapon in his right hand, appeared a few paces in front of the consoles, a few paces away from where Sujanha was sitting. Those not in the midst of other duties bowed, and there was a chorus of polite greetings.
Expecting that he might need to make introductions, Daniel pushed himself to his feet, leaning one hand on the arm of Sujanha's chair for a moment, waiting to let the pins and needles fade from his right foot. Ow. Ow. Ow. How does that hurt so much? "Master Bra'tac."
"Daniel Jackson." The old Jaffa inclined his head slightly, his gaze sweeping the bridge before landing on Sujanha.
Now came the first test: how would Bra'tac respond to what came next. Sujanha had not risen and, apparently, had no intention of rising. Daniel had seen her walking earlier, though with a pronounced limp, and if the way she would need to stand if she rose were anything like the stiff, awkward way she was sitting, trying to find some relief for pained, cramping muscles, things would be even more obvious. Given the massive difference in rank, her not rising was not an explicit insult, though the other Furling soldiers who had greeted Bra'tac had risen where possible, but it would usually be polite.
"Master Bra'tac," Sujanha bowed her head and saluted the Jaffa master in the Furling fashion, "welcome to the Valhalla."
Bra'tac, however, seemed to know exactly which one of them Sujanha was. "Supreme Commander."
"Only 'Commander,'" Sujanha replied simply. "There is no need for such formality between us. Do you have any new intelligence for us?"
A flash of black in his peripheral vision drew Daniel's attention away as Bra'tac answered. It was Ruarc, threading his way along the outer edge of the bridge. He must have just come up. I don't remember seeing him a little while ago. Leaving the two to speak, Daniel crossed the room to Ruarc's side.
"Were you looking for me … us?" He asked, switching back into Furling.
Ruarc's eyes were flicking between him and the conversation taking place behind him. "No," he shook his head, "Mekoxe told me Master Bra'tac had arrived. I hadn't realized that time had arrived." His ears flattened to his head for a moment.
Daniel's mind cogitated on that for a moment, and he wasn't sure he liked the implication. "You don't trust him?" He asked.
"No, we do," Ruarc replied quickly, "for as much as we know him, but one of us is supposed to be with her anytime someone from outside the Empire or the former Alliance is with her. I can bend the rules a little since there are so many others nearby, but …"
"We have a saying on earth," Daniel murmured in reply, "Better to be safe than sorry." I trust Bra'tac, but after everything that happened during the Great War, I understand why they're cautious with anyone they don't know well being around her. She did have her personal shield, and both Chakrechi—despite being a veritable walking, talking suit of armor—and Rusa could move quite quickly, as Daniel had seen the other day when Sujanha had stumbled while on the bridge.
"Very true."
The time seemed to pass slowly from then on as the hours ticked by until battle would begin. Bra'tac and Sujanha seemed to get along well, and they spent much of the time talking quietly with each other when other messengers were not taking up Sujanha's attention. Daniel drifted on and off the bridge, running errands or passing messages or fetching things for the commander as needed and otherwise trying to keep himself distracted. The waiting was making him antsy.
After all this time, after so many people had been lost, after all that had happened to Sha're and Skaara, to Abydos, to the SGC, finally, finally, finally, the Goa'uld were about to get their 'divine' behinds kicked royally.
It was testament to how fast the Furling hyperdrives truly were—there were only Furling warships in Sujanha's battle-group—that no ships jumped into hyperspace to make for Chulak until less than half-an-hour before the 10th hour. The only reason, Daniel knew from overhearing conversations, that they were even leaving that early was because the ships needed time to slip into position unseen. They were not coming out of hyperspace guns blazing, and they were going to have to exit hyperspace far enough out not to be seen by any Goa'uld warships and then, cloaked, slip forward under sublight power.
Daniel was not exactly sure how many ships were in the battle-group in total. The holographic screens did not give a full 360-degree view around the Valhalla, and it was hard to keep count with ships moving and moving and moving. There were at least 4 motherships, a good handful of cruisers (scout-ships), and multiple transport ships.
The battle-group dropped out of hyperspace some distance outside of the solar system in which Chulak was. (The battle-groups dispatched to Saqqara, Kawawn, and Apophis' two other worlds would be doing the same about now.) All the ships immediately cloaked, and hidden, they slipped through the darkness of space toward Chulak.
From space, Chulak looked almost like earth except for the Hat'taks in orbit and the two suns. At first glance, Daniel only counted six Goa'uld motherships, but it was possible that there were more on the other side of the planet, out-of-view of the Valhalla. As the minutes passed, reports started coming in from the other battle-groups that opposition both in the air and on the ground (based on preliminary scans) looked to be relatively small, a fact that seemed to please Sujanha. The less opposition, the fewer lives that might need to be spent … on both sides.
A timer on one of the holographic screens toward the back of the room was counting down the minutes until the coordinated strike would begin.
The bridge was starting to get more hectic, though the scene was still one of organized chaos. Sujanha was sitting quietly at her station, eyes fixed on the holographic screens showing the planet before them, either planning or lost in thought, it seemed. The bridge crew was moving about. Rusa and Chakrechi were calling back and forth, something about the positions of the Goa'uld vessels based on scans of Chulak as compared to the positions of the ships within the battle-group. Holograms were flickering in and back out quickly, as crew members from elsewhere on the Valhalla or commanders from the ships received final instructions.
Daniel drew Bra'tac away from the center of the room toward the edge of the room. There they would be close enough to hear everything that was being said—Bra'tac had been given a translator that was now stuck to the neck-piece of his armor—and have a good view of what was going on without getting in the way of the fast-moving crew.
I'm a little surprised she decided to give him a translator. If he were translating, Daniel could cherry-pick or paraphrase translations. An actual translator meant that Bra'tac would hear everything that was said in Furling, which would be most of what was said on the bridge. They're putting a lot of faith in Bra'tac.
On the holographic screens, the cloaked Furling warships were sailing into position. Once, when the screens were shifted momentarily to show the view behind the Valhalla—the other 180 degrees—four motherships were lined up, two on either side of the Valhalla, forming a wedge-shaped formation with Sujanha's flagship at the tip of the proverbial spear. The ships also seemed to be staggered vertically, which, I guess, gives them more room to maneuver.
Working for the Furling Supreme Commander had taught Daniel a lot of things. Tactical genius by osmosis, however, was not one of them.
Everyone talks about the flagships as if they're better than the motherships, not just oversized versions of them.
I guess I'll see today!
Seven minutes were left.
Mekoxe approached Sujanha's chair from his station at the back of the bridge. (Daniel told Bra'tac his identity and position on the bridge in a low voice.) "The battle-groups above Saqqara, Kawawn, and Djedu are in position. Two more minutes for Nubt."
"Very good," Sujanha replied with a nod, her eyes flicking away from the holographic screens and back.
Those two minutes passed. (Five minutes remained. The tension level on the bridge seemed to rise. As far as Daniel knew, the Hat'taks were not any sort of credible threat to the Furling warships, but those with boots on the ground would be in much more danger. Even the dedicated personal shield the troops wore, more powerful than the gauntlets, had no hope of withstanding the weapons fire from even a Death Glider.) Mekoxe returned to Sujanha's side. "The fleet over Nubt is in position. Sigurd is asking for final confirmation of the rules of engagement."
"Sigurd is the commander of the battle-group leading the attack on Saqqara," Daniel whispered. What his rank is, I can't remember.
"And these rules of engagement?" Bra'tac asked.
Sujanha seemed to be thinking for a moment, so Daniel rushed to answer in the gap, "What you can and can't do during a battle. Who fires first. How much force. Things like that. The rules of warfare, basically, for the fleet. Reasonably consistent throughout all battles. Supreme Commander Anarr sets corresponding rules for his troops."
"Do not open fire until the call to surrender has been broadcast," Sujanha finally replied. "Only fire to disable, not destroy, unless a fleet vessel is in imminent danger," which shouldn't happen unless there's a technical malfunction. Unlikely. Not impossible, "Board any disabled ships, and capture them with as little bloodshed as possible. Do not fire at a disabled ship for any reason."
Two minutes left.
From the look on his face, Bra'tac seemed pleased by Sujanha's orders. Considering these were Apophis' ships and Jaffa, it was probable that he had students or fellow Rebel Jaffa on board the ships like he had during Apophis' attempted attack on earth two years before.
One minute left. It seemed to stretch on forever.
As the seconds ticked down and hit zero, Sujanha straightened, her gaze focusing on the holographic screens and one of the windows on Rusa's console next to her.
It was time to begin.
"Uncloak," said Sujanha, "Raise secondary shields." Not primary? Okay. "Tell the transports that they may start deploying their troops as they deem wise, but ensure Knight Commander Nang knows that he must let several Jaffa through the Stargate before he secures it. The troops will have air support within minutes."
(Nang. It was another name Daniel did not know. He recognized faces—and names—of the commanders Sujanha frequently dealt with. However, he could only recognize Anarr's two High Generals by sight or name.)
There was a chorus of acknowledgements.
It was immediately clear when the blind-sided Goa'uld vessels suddenly realized that their world was about to be invaded. On the holographic screens, the Furling warships were appearing out of nowhere, and the six Hat'taks within about a minute pulled themselves into some semblance of a formation.
Now whether that's a good formation … I don't have a clue.
"The Goa'uld vessels are raising shields and arming weapons," Chakrechi, the Weapons Officer, stated.
"Broadcast the call to surrender, but no one fires until I give the order," replied Sujanha briskly, clearly in her element. "Tell the cruisers to enter the atmosphere in support of the troops on the ground. Watch out for the Death Gliders and the Alkesh." Heavy fire from an Alkesh or from an array of Death Gliders (or even worse, the impact of a crashing vessel) would wreak havoc in the Furling lines, and such a danger had to be prevented at all costs.
Even the thought of that happening almost made Daniel cringe.
The call to surrender was dutifully broadcast.
Nothing happened.
The Hat'taks were growing closer.
I don't think they're interested.
Considering most Jaffa's almost unthinking loyalty to their 'gods,' Daniel would have been surprised, almost flabbergasted, if they had surrendered. There probably wouldn't be enough rebel forces to take control of the ship.
That guess was confirmed moments later when the lead Hat'tak opened fire with its staff-cannons, golden fire streaking across the void toward the Valhalla.
Instinctively, Daniel braced his feet, almost wanting to flinch again. He still remembered how Klorel's ship had shuddered during the failed attack on earth, when the naquadah-enhanced missile had impacted the shield.
The Valhalla's shields flared a sickly green as weapons' fire impacted them. The ship, however, did not even shudder.
"Negligible effect on the shield," Chakrechi stated, "A day, at least, until a danger level."
Not that the fighting is going to last that long … I hope?!
Sujanha gave a snort of amusement. "Tell the other ships they may fire at will. One Hat'tak for one of our ships. Any ships not defending the remaining transports should fall out of orbit to support our troops."
Remaining transports?
Probably boarding parties for disabled/captured ships.
"Confirmed," someone acknowledged the order. There was enough ambient noise and ricocheting voices to make identifying that voice difficult.
"Chakrechi, reduce weapons to one-quarter power. Target the lead vessel. Disable it. Please do not destroy it."
"Confirmed."
From the technical specifications Daniel had seen, the Furling motherships (which probably meant the flagships, as well) were protected by at least two separate layers of shields as well as a heavily armored hull that, according to Ruarc, was supposed to be able to withstand moderate weapons' fire for long enough for a ship to escape if its engines were still functioning. What do the Furlings consider moderate weapons fire, I wonder? Does a Hat'tak even rate that high? How many hits? Furling hyperdrives seemed to be much slower than their Asgardian counterpart, but the Furling motherships seemed to be, at least, as powerful as the Asgard Biliskner-class vessels. Which makes the Valhalla even more powerful? Talk about a dreadnought!
More fire impacted the Valhalla's shields. Seeing the flaring shields but not feeling any backlash was a strange disconnect in Daniel's mind.
The ship was moving, but Rusa was not even navigating evasively to attempt to evade the fire.
Blue fire streaked across the void as the Furling warships started returning fire. The ship did not jolt then, either. It was so strange.
Within minutes, one Hat'tak had unfortunately been destroyed, but thankfully the now twisted, burning hunk … hunks … of metal that had once been a ship were far enough out from the planet that there was no danger of the gravitational pull of the planet pulling the wreckage out of orbit. Within ten minutes, four more were dead in the water, and the sixth and last Hat'tak, with a crew somewhat more experienced apparently, looked like it would meet the same fate in short order.
With those remaining ships dead in the water, the more dangerous task began: boarding and securing the vessels. All the ships were connected via some sort of open channel/wireless broadcast thing—it was easiest for Daniel just to label it as 'radio chatter' whether or not it actually was—overlapping streams of words flowing from several different speakers on the bridge. Combined with the chatter of the Valhalla's own bridge crew, it was almost a tangled morass of words, blending into one blob of sound.
Or so it seems.
How do you keep track of everything!
Some minutes passed. How many Daniel wasn't sure. Time seemed different during a battle, even in the safety of the bridge of Sujanha's flagship.
The remaining transport ships in orbit were beaming soldiers over onto the five disabled Hat'taks, and updates from the squad leaders were added to the tangled mix of voices along with the periodic echo of a distant staff blast. (Daniel knew that sound all too well, could instantly pick it out even in the morass of noise. He had had one fired at him all too many times.)
More time passed. (How much Daniel still couldn't have said, forgetting to check his watch.) Resistance was heavy on the Hat'taks, with the Jaffa fighting for every corridor and room. The Furling troops were making progress, however, and prisoners were already being beamed back to the transport ships.
If you've got competent troops and leaders … there are enough halls and doorways to shoot from, you can put up a good resistance.
(He still remembered holding one of those doorways on Apophis' mothership, half-dead from the staff blast that had caught him in the gut.)
If being the operative word, perhaps. Some of the Jaffa we've encountered, Teal'c and Bra'tac being the prime examples, are quite competent, and then you've got those who shoot like Stormtroopers.
Bra'tac stepped away from the wall and approached Sujanha, moving for almost the first time since the battle had begun. Sujanha glanced up immediately as he appeared by her chair.
"Master Bra'tac?" she asked in a questioning tone.
"Until your men have control of each peltak—the bridge—any Jaffa will have an opportunity to set the self-destruct." From the lack of an answering echo in Furling, somehow Bra'tac's translator had been set on one way, only translating from Furling into English.
That got Sujanha's attention. She straightened with a jerk, and her ears went flat against her head in alarm. "They can only set off the self-district from the bridge?" She replied in unaccented English.
"Yes."
"Mekoxe! Do you know how to disable the self-destructs?"
"I do," the old warrior replied with a nod.
Mekoxe appeared seconds later. "Make sure that the men are aware," Sujanha ordered him, "that there are self-destructs on-board as we expected but that they are only controlled from the bridge. Master Bra'tac knows how to disable any that are activated."
A Peltak is so much different than this. Technology must have changed a lot since then.
(It was unlikely that any Furling troops could figure out the system, especially quickly, and especially since few if any knew Goa'uld. I think.)
"Confirmed," Mekoxe replied, already hurrying back to his station.
Sujanha relaxed back into her seat. "My thanks," she said to Bra'tac, "for the warning. If you wish to observe the course of the battles on the ground, there are maps and view-screens at the rear of the bridge. If you have concerns or warnings, please raise them at once."
With a subtle inclination of his head, Bra'tac acknowledged her statements and then withdrew to take up the Commander's offer. Daniel, who had heard about the technology that the Fleet used to oversee ground battles but had not seen it in action, joined him, threading the way through the crowd to the Jaffa master's side.
The large tables, whose purpose Daniel had wondered about before, were, in fact, high-tech 'sand tables,' though there was no sand or sand-like substance involved. Rather, large holographic maps with separate sections of Chulak highlighted were projected with friendly and enemy ships in the air also noted. (There were even streaks of fire flying as the ships exchanged fire.) The amount of detail on the 3D maps of Chulak—apparently where the fighting was the heaviest, since there were certainly more battles going on than just the four displayed on the tables—was phenomenal.
The maps displayed the terrain, the Furling troops and the opposing Jaffa, encampments, and even gun emplacements. It was only possible, Daniel was sure, because of the powerful sensors onboard the Valhalla—mentions of the sensors enter the muddle of conversation simultaneously with momentary glitches in the holographs—that were continuously transmitting data in real-time. By changing the highlighted map section on the holograph, the 3D maps would show different sections of the battlefield. A commander in the air could then see approaching ambushes before they happened and see potential obstacles before the troops met them. There were several tacticians whose job seemed to be solely to watch the boards and transmit data to the men on the ground.
The map to which Bra'tac first went showed the area around the Stargate and the edges of the hills beyond. Having first had to take control of the surrounding heights, a large squad of Furling warriors, highlighted in silver, were now moments from capturing the Stargate from a handful of remaining Jaffa, highlighted in gold. Sujanha had said earlier than a few Jaffa needed to be able to 'escape' to spread the word of the defeat of Apophis' forces so long as the Stargate swiftly came under Furling control so that no additional reinforcements could arrive to support Apophis' beleaguered Jaffa. If the Stargate was about to be captured, that goal seemed to have been fulfilled.
The second map showed Chulak, the capital city several miles from the Stargate where Daniel, Jack, and Sam had come while searching for Sha're and Skaara and the other Abydonians captured by Apophis and his guard. (Daniel had not been on Chulak in years, but the features of that city were imprinted on his mind forever, cemented in his nightmares … Sha're climbing from that carrying chair. He shuddered.) This was where he lost Sha're and Skaara. (But she's safe ... safer … now. She'll be free, and Amaunet cannot hurt anyone any longer. And we're going to find Skaara.) It almost seemed fitting that Chulak was thus the site of the first battle of a war that would rid the Milky-Way of the Goa'uld.
More time passed, and the battles continued on Chulak and above.
By the time an hour or two had passed, Furling troops had already breached the wall surrounding Chulak in several spots, and the maps showed silver warriors pouring in the gaps, opposed by far too few golden Jaffa to stem the advance for long.
More time passed.
The Furling advance continued across Chulak.
One-by-one, all the Hat'taks came under Furling control.
More time passed.
In Chulak (the city), the Furling troops were sticking to main roads for now as they moved through the city, a tactic that seemed to please Bra'tac. The previous night, Ragnar had been opining on Goa'uld army tactics or rather, in his view, the lack thereof in most cases. Discussing Chulak in particular, he had mentioned a list of ways that the Jaffa could slow the Furling advance in the city if only the Jaffa broke from the age-old tactics that served better for intimidation, rather than actual combat: lure the Furlings into smaller, side streets where the Jaffa could concentrate their fire more; bring down buildings with explosives to block major streets and force the Furlings to find alternate routes or even to trap troops in the rubble. Ragnar's discussion had been long and in depth, but it helped Daniel make a little more sense of what he was seeing.
As one group of Furling troops won their way up to Apophis' palace, Bra'tac, who had been watching the maps with a critical but approving eye, walked back across the bridge to where Sujanha was sitting. All Daniel could catch of their conservation was one reference to "hidden passageways," probably a warning as to what the Furlings might face within the palace.
If I never see the inside of that place again, it'll be too soon.
Within twelve hours of the time the first strike against the Goa'uld had begun, all of Chulak had fallen, except for a few small outlying regions that were captured within two more hours, and within three more hours after that, news came from the other strike fleets that all resistance had ceased. Within a day and with relatively low loss of life on both sides, the Furlings had captured five planets. That being said, Sujanha was quick to acknowledge that all of the planets had been comparatively undefended and that the Furlings would face much stiffer opposition in the future.
It was into the wee hours of the morning of the 7th by the time Sujanha finally left the bridge, leaving Chakrechi in charge. (Does he not sleep or something? Daniel had resolutely avoided sitting down anywhere, if at all possible, for hours lest he fall asleep. He was utterly exhausted, but not quite to the point of worrying that he might fall asleep on his feet … I hope!). With Bra'tac and Daniel, she went down to her office for what was hopefully going to be a brief discussion with Bra'tac as to the events of the day and plans for upcoming attacks.
Everyone needs some sleep, including her! Probably especially Sujanha! Sujanha, who sometimes seemed to have no sense of self-preservation, working herself to the point of, or beyond, collapse.
Within half an hour, the meeting was winding down when the door chime in Sujanha's office alerted the occupants to a visitor at the door. Sujanha made a small motion, and the door slid open. A young boy (human or near-human)—10 maybe, but I'm a terrible judge of age—entered, carrying a tablet in one hand.
"You should be in bed, child," Sujanha exclaimed in Furling, eyes widening as he entered.
"I slept this afternoon," the boy replied in a rush, "And now I can't sleep. Mama said I could carry messages until I got tired."
"Very well, then. You have a message for me, then?"
"Yes, Commander," the boy replied, going seriously as he came forward to hand her the tablets. "Casualty reports from all the strike-fleets and preliminary information about the ships and Jaffa captured."
"Thank you," Sujanha replied, "Run along then." An almost mischievous gleam entered her eyes. "Ragnar would probably chase you if you asked. That will make you tired."
Ragnar must have more energy than the rest of us!
Or for the sake of a kid, he'd find some energy, anyway.
The boy giggled and left as quickly as he had come. Sujanha glanced quickly at the tablet, noting all the information it contained with a glance, and then handed it to Daniel.
Bra'tac, who had watched the messenger depart, suddenly asked, tone clearly displeased, "You have children in your military?"
"What? Hardly!" replied Sujanha, seemingly unoffended by his question. From all their interactions that day, she seemed to appreciate Bra'tac's quite blunt manner of speech. "I would as soon have Asi near a battle as I would any children of my family. His parents serve on board, and Asi is young and energetic, and he is allowed to run messages and do other little tasks from time to time. Aboard my ship, the boy is perfectly safe, and this way he can stay with his parents and not be left to another's care on our homeworld."
Bra'tac nodded his head in acceptance of her words and then asked, "What news from your ships?"
"Of our own men, 37 have perished, and 91 were injured, mostly among those on the ground. We have captured 13 Hat'taks, 5 Al'kesh, and 4 Tel'tak. The number of Jaffa captured is in the tens of thousands. We will not know the final number for some time."
Six worlds … six major engagements … that's about 20 people per world.
It could have been much, much worse!
Though everyone who doesn't make it home is one too many lost.
"What will become of them?" Bra'tac asked, his question drawing Daniel back from his thoughts.
"The ships, or the captured Jaffa?"
"Both."
"We will tow the ships back to our bases. Our engineers and armorers will repair them, and once we have learned all we can from them, the ships will be loaned or given to our allies. We have no use for them," Sujanha replied. "Any injured Jaffa will be tended to by our healers, and all will be taken to our prison worlds in our own galaxy. They will be well-treated, but they will be confined there until this war ends unless they are those who are willing to renounce their former masters."
Like Teal'c did.
"And what of Chulak?" Bra'tac asked. "Will you leave the women and children and the aged to fend for themselves? The planting season approaches, and they must eat."
"We do not make war upon women and children and the elderly, nor do we stand for … collateral damage." That's an earth term. Is Bra'tac going to know what she means? "I will speak with my brother and others, and we will see that they are not left to fend for themselves." Her ears flicked for a moment. It was almost the Furling equivalent of a frown.
You'll have to leave some sort of guard unless you want to risk Chulak being recaptured.
If you leave enough able-bodied men to farm, would it make that much of a difference in the number of guards you have to leave? If you keep control of the Stargate, would it really matter?
Bra'tac nodded his head in assent and then rose. "I must depart. The day has been won, but there is much more work left to do."
Sujanha rose, also, leaving one paw casually on the edge of the table. "My thanks for your assistance today. We value the support of the Rebel Jaffa most greatly. If you return to the bridge, one of my crew will beam you down to the Stargate. The troops guarding the gate will let you depart to wherever you wish."
Bra'tac bowed and then departed. A minute passed quietly, and Daniel was just opening his mouth to speak as another knock sounded at the door. Sujanha made the same motion as before, and the door reopened, framing Ruarc in the doorway.
"It's late," Sujanha said as her bodyguard entered. "I thought I sent you and your brother off to get some food and then go to bed."
"We were about to," Ruarc replied, coming forward, "but a report just came in from Sigurd, and I thought you would want to see it immediately, so my brother is getting us food, and I'm bringing this to you."
Daniel felt a flutter of concern, which mostly vanished as soon as he took a longer look at Ruarc's face. The guard seemed more surprised than concerned, so whatever had happened couldn't have been an utter disaster.
Hopefully.
"Problem?"
Ruarc shook his head. "Due to the rumors that Bra'tac mentioned about Saqqara, Sigurd had his mothership do an in-depth scan of the entire planet after the battle was completed. And he found this…" Bringing forward a tablet that he had been carrying, Ruarc flicked open a large hologram. The hologram showed the Serekh, an enormous pyramid built by whatever Goa'uld had ruled Saqqara before Apophis—according to Bra'tac—and the ground deep below the structure. A long, slender mass that was very large and very thick was highlighted.
If it's a pyramid, why did they name it, "Serekh"?
"What is that?" Daniel asked curiously, getting back up and approaching the table to squint at the hologram.
"Enlarge that mass, and then rotate," ordered Sujanha, frowning.
Ruarc did, and Daniel could then make out a few more details. This thing buried in the ground—whatever it was … does Sujanha recognize it?—was several times longer than it was wide or tall. Its shape was vaguely cylindrical, with a squashed middle, and the mass seemed to be almost T-shaped at one end. When Ruarc tapped on the area, a mass of data appeared as a separate hologram off to the side, but Daniel wasn't at a good enough angle to read any of it. It might not have made any sense to him, anyway.
Between the enlarged image and the data, Sujanha seemed to instantly recognize what she was looking at. Her eyes went wide. "It can't be!" she exclaimed. "Did Sigurd double-check the scans?"
Uh … Okkkayyy.
"He had the scans run four times on his own vessel," Ruarc replied, "and also had one of his other ships scan the area. All the data is consistent."
What did they find?
Buried under the Serekh … must be quite old then.
"What is it?" Daniel asked, his curiosity growing by the second.
"It's by the grace of the Maker that we do not face an enemy more powerful than ourselves," Ruarc continued. It was utter shock in his tone, Daniel realized now, not surprise. Whatever this thing was that Sigurd had found, it was completely unexpected.
Okay … definitely, what the h**l?
"Tell Sigurd to double the ships guarding Saqqara, and have a message sent to Thor. He will want to know of this discovery"
Ruarc bowed and then withdrew. Sighing heavily, Sujanha rubbed her paw across her eyes and sank back into her seat, waving Daniel to his own seat. For a few long minutes, all was quiet. Finally, Sujanha said, "To answer your question, Daniel, that is an Ancient battleship, one of the most powerful warships created in all the known galaxies in a past age."
Daniel knew little about the Ancients, aside from the fact that they had been part of the Alliance of the Four Great Races and had built the Stargate network. It was hard for him to imagine a race more powerful than the Asgard or the Furlings, though. It's all in what you get used to. "Didn't the Ancients leave this galaxy a long time ago? That ship must be very … ancient."
No pun intended.
"That is correct," Sujanha replied. "The Ancients departed from this galaxy many ages ago when a plague swept their lands, not the plague that forced our people away, but a different one. They went to a nearby galaxy but still had dealings in these lands for ages until their final departure within the last 9000 of our years or so. Bra'tac said that Saqqara has been under Goa'uld control since the beginning of their empire. I suspect that the ship crashed on Saqqara sometime prior to the foundation of the empire, though probably not that long before. The location of the pyramid above the ship is not solely by chance, I am quite sure."
Probably not.
There was silence for a moment, and then Sujanha asked, "Are you hungry?"
"A little. I should probably eat something before I go to bed." It has been a ridiculously long day. Eating at this hour of the morning. I guess I'm harkening back to my grad school days.
"Let's go down to the food hall unless you would prefer someplace quieter to eat."
Daniel was rather surprised that Sujanha actually wanted to eat in the mess hall. After such a long day and since she seemed to be in some pain, he would have thought she would have preferred eating somewhere quiet where she didn't have to move. He shrugged, though, saying, "I don't care. Whichever you prefer."
Her preference was the mess hall for some reason. Out in the hallway on the way to dinner, Sujanha continued her explanation about the Ancient warship. "The Ancient vessel is quite old. In terms of hyperdrives and likely shields, my ships and Thor's will be far superior. The Ancient motherships typically only have intra-galactic hyperdrives. That being said, their weaponry as a whole has always been far superior to either of ours. Yes, the ion guns of the Asgard are a match for those of the Ancients, so the Asgard tell us, and we borrowed that technology from the Asgard."
No reason to reinvent the wheel, I suppose.
"You've never met the Ancients, have you?" Daniel asked, remembering how long the Furlings could live.
"No," Sujanha replied, shaking her head, "not even the oldest among us remember them. By the time we settled in Asteria, they had already long departed. All we know of them comes from our archives, the Asgard, and an Ancient Database currently in the hands of the Asgard. What made the Ancient ships far superior to our own were their … drones."
"Drones?" Asked Daniel.
"Yes. Projectile weapons and energy weapons both. They could pierce many types of shields, burrow into a ship's armor, and then explode. A few drones could cause catastrophic damage on even a powerful warship."
"And you'd like to get your hands on them?"
Sujanha nodded, leaning her weight onto the railing of the lift as they rode down. "Our engineers have long theorized that those drones might be of great value in our conflicts with the Replicating Ones, giving us a long sought for edge that would bring the Asgard some relief in their war. All previous attempts by us and by the Asgard to replicate the drones have been hitherto unsuccessful … sometimes … explosively so."
Daniel cringed.
"It's by the grace of the Maker that we do not face an enemy more powerful than ourselves."
…
That the Goa'uld didn't get these drones, that's probably what he meant.
If these ships were so powerful back then, why did the Goa'uld never copy the technology like they did the Furlings'?
He posed the question to Sujanha as they stepped off the lift. Just one short hallway was left to get to the mess hall.
"Because without a specific gene in the fabric of life of the host, the Goa'uld would be unable to power up any Ancient technology, much less comprehend how to use technology with control systems in a totally different language. The Asgard use control stones on their ships. We use control stones primarily, but also mental controls in some sections. Between the control stones and the training to use mental commands, anyone with enough training would be capable of controlling our ships unless they were locked out of the systems first. The Ancients, however, limited the use of their technology only to those with a specific gene, so you needed that gene to even power up major systems and the training to control the ship."
"But, uh, wouldn't that keep you—the Furlings, generally—from using this ship?" Daniel asked. "Unless you have an Ancient lying around somewhere."
There are enough subspecies that I'm not sure I'd put it past them.
How exactly all those subspecies work genetically … everyone seems so different … I don't have a clue, but I'm an Egyptologist, not a doctor or a geneticist.
…
And I just quoted Star Trek.
Sujanha gave a soft, rumbling laugh at the joke but shook her head. "You have met half-bloods before. We have married into other races before. There are Furlings, descended from these unions, who still hold the gene. If the ship is repairable, we can use it." The conversation then switched intentionally to pleasanter topics, Sujanha asking about how Shifu was doing.
The first battle of the war had been won.
There was more to do, but for now, they could rest and then prepare for the next step.
