Author's Note #1: A big thank you to all my reviewers. I don't have time to reply to you all, but I read all your messages, and they are very encouraging.
Author's Note #2: This chapter kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger so I split into three chunks. The second part is done and waiting to be edited. Part 3 is mostly done. I'll try to get Part 2 up next Monday (the 17th).
Vlopa, 6545 A.S. (Late April 1999)
Milky-Way Galaxy
The Furlings were nothing if not efficient. After capturing five of Apophis' most important worlds in less than a day, Sujanha and Anarr spent the next fortnight leading their forces through the rest of Apophis' domain, cutting a swath through the territories of his squabbling underlings and cleaning house. On every world they captured, they let a handful of Jaffa escape, spreading rumors about the nameless dread that was relentlessly bringing down the Goa'uld one by one. So many more ships were captured that Sujanha was forced to rescind her previous order about saving captured vessels because the engineers had as many ships as they could handle and repair for the moment. Thousands more Jaffa were captured as world after world fell to the relentless wave that was the Furling advance. Any Rebel Jaffa that Bra'tac identified among the ranks of the prisoners were immediately released, while the remaining Jaffa and any captured Goa'uld were returned to Asteria to be imprisoned. Assisted by Tok'ra information, the Furlings healers were still researching the best way to free hosts with the least chance of death and failure. Daniel was troubled by the delay, though he knew it was unavoidable, and just wanted to the chance to hold his wife again after so long and have her free of her demon.
Concurrent with the Furling advance, Sujanha's ships kept a close watch upon Saqqara and their new-found prize. Within two days of its discovery, Furling engineers had determined that it was safe to beam personnel onto the buried ship. The ship's power supply had long been depleted, but that was a problem the Furlings easily dealt with. Once the power was restored and the engineers and their guards could move about without difficulty, a detailed examination of the ship revealed that it was relatively undamaged even after crashing into the planet's surface and remaining unrepaired for ages. Even though a number of control crystals were missing, hindering examinations of the ship's logs and repairs of critical systems, the engineers joined by several of the most skilled of the Dovahkiin and by several Asgard engineers, were hopeful to have the ship, whose hull was still sound, totally repaired and ready for flight within six months. The problem then would be extracting the Ancient battleship, named Azrea (a Furling word or name which referenced Daniel knew not what), from the ground without destroying the Goa'uld pyramid built on top of it.
In the temporary lull after the sweep through Apophis' territory, Sujanha with Daniel accompanying her visited the ship. The Ancient warship was more alien in a way than Furling ships with its strange control panels, strange layout, strange walls, and…well…strange everything. Sujanha, Daniel was interested to find out, had the specific gene in her DNA necessary for operating Ancient technology. She had noted in passing that her family was one of the very oldest among the Furlings and could trace its lineage back before the Furlings ever met the Asgard or the Ancients. Sujanha was quite sure, she had continued, that she was probably a very small part Asgard and Nox, as well, since her family had intermarried, at one time or another, with all of the other members of the Alliance.
Daniel learned a lot more about the Ancients on that trip. The Ancients had originally left the Milky-Way millions of years before after a plague (a different plague than the one that had forced the Furlings to flee the Milky-Way). With the aid of a Furling holographic star-map (the inter-galactic version of planetarium + phonebook + MapQuest), Daniel also learned that the Ancients had then gone to the Pegasus Galaxy. After being defeated some 8,800 Furlings year ago by an enemy of theirs that dwelt there, the Ancients fled Pegasus back to the Milky-Way before eventually ascending to a higher plane of existence. For a number of reasons, Sujanha had little positive to say about the Ancient's choice to ascend. With the withdrawal of the Nox, the ascension of the Ancients had dumped all the responsibilities of the entire Alliance first just on the shoulders of the Asgard and then, with the return of the Furlings, on the shoulders of the Furlings and Asgard alone, who were still fighting galactic-wide wars at the same time. Even taciturn Ragnar had inserted his two cents, caustically comparing ascension to a living death and describing ascension as a violation of the natural order. Despite this, Daniel was very intrigued by ascension and decided to look it up in the Library the next time he returned to Uslisgas and had some spare time.
On the afternoon of the 19th day after the capture of Chulak, Sujanha's flagship, the Valhalla, was in orbit around Ushuotis, the Furling's base inside Lord Yu's territory. The ship was taking the chance to restock on supplies, and Sujanha was taking the opportunity to receive briefs from their off-world allies and send reports back to Asteria to the High King and the High Council.
Sujanha and Daniel were in her private office. The Commander was reading through several new reports from Bra'tac and the Rebel Jaffa on the impact of their attack on Apophis' domains and on the responses of the other System Lords. Daniel had just returned from eating a late midday meal after picking up the reports from the Rebel Jaffa. He often volunteered to go with the guard to pick up the reports, since if Bra'tac was there, Daniel could sometimes get news about all of his friends back at the SGC.
A chime sounded, signaling that a messenger was requesting entrance. The chimes sounded different depending on who was requesting entrance: one of her staff, one of the bridge crew, a messenger, etc. When the door opened, it was Asi, the young errand boy, who was standing in the hallway. Sujanha motioned him in.
"You have a message for me?" She asked.
"Yes, commander," Asi said, with a little bob that was a half a bow, half Daniel knew not what, "A message from the base. One of the Tok'ra just arrived through the Stargate and is requesting to see you."
"Have him sent up at once." Sujanha replied, and Asi ran out, moving quickly with all the energy of youth.
"I wonder who it will be," Daniel mused when Asi had left and the door had slid shut behind him. Ever since the Furlings had allied themselves with the Tok'ra, the Tok'ra had periodically sent an operative with the latest intelligence and news about the Goa'uld. Sujanha always made sure any operative had a real bed for the night (if necessary) and a decent meal (the food at the Tok'ra base was apparently not very good from what one operative had said). However, there had been a revolving door on which operative was sent. Daniel didn't think that even one had come twice. Initially, meeting with the Tok'ra had been rather uncomfortable, after his previous interactions with the Goa'uld, but he had gotten much more used to them as the months passed, and Daniel had had pleasant conversations with several over meals and liked most, though not all, of the operatives that he had met. Sujanha herself had similar thoughts about the operatives themselves but disliked the revolving door.
Within a few minutes, the chime sounded, this time a different chime that signaled one of Sujanha's aids was requesting entrance. When the door opened, Jaax appeared, his raspy breathing loud in the quiet room, leading a Tok'ra dressed in the usual tan uniform. He was an older man, tall, with short cropped grey hair, dark eyes, and a commanding presence.
"Commander," Jaax said, "May I present to you Selmak of the Tok'ra, and his host Jacob Carter." Jacob Carter, Daniel thought, that's an American name. If the Furlings had been a betting people, Daniel would have bet his next pay check that Jacob Carter was from earth, though Daniel never remembered seeing him around the SGC.
"Thank you, Jaax," Sujanha replied, with a nod of thanks to her aid, "If you would bring us some refreshments, then you may return to your duties."
"Of course," Jaax bowed and withdrew.
"Please sit," Sujanha said to Jacob-Selmak, gesturing to the other seat in front of her desk. Since the man hadn't spoken, it wasn't clear who was in control: the host or the symbiote.
"Thank you, Commander," the Tok'ra spoke with the dual-flanged voice common to the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra, as he took his seat, "I bring greetings to you from the Tok'ra High Council. They send congratulations on your recent successes."
"By the grace of the Creator, our first strikes have gone well, and few have been lost, but Apophis has fallen, and few strong ones remained to oppose us. Future battles might not be so easy," replied Sujanha modestly and cautiously, "Were any of your operatives lost?"
"No," Selmak replied, "And for that we thank you, we had only a few operatives embedded in what remained of Apophis' ranks, and your warning gave us time to pull them out."
At that moment, Jaax returned with a tray of drinks: three mugs of the spiced tea that Daniel and Sujanha drank religiously and a tall mug of cool water. When the drinks had been passed around and Jaax had retired, Sujanha asked, "Tell me: why have you come this day? What news do you bring?"
"Rumors of your attacks have spread throughout the galaxy," said Selmak, "and the System Lords are greatly troubled. Some have even made accusations against each other, but so far the flames of accusation have not progressed to open war."
Sujanha gave a laugh that was almost a scoff, "My people look nothing like any of the races in this galaxy that have survived to this day. To accuse each other of this attack is nonsensical and folly."
"They're Goa'uld: it doesn't have to make sense," was the dry retort of the host.
"Very true," replied the Commander with a smirk that was all teeth, "Please continue."
"Some of our operatives have also heard whispers that, if these attacks continue, some of the System Lords might consider a temporary truce to form an alliance against you," Selmak was back in control. He pulled a data crystal from a hidden pouch and handing it to Sujanha, "This is the latest data that we have from our operatives."
Sujanha took the crystal and then handed it to Daniel who took it over to a crystal reader that sat on a table on the other side of the room. As soon as the reader engaged, holograms depicting the info appeared over her desk. She swiped through the screens quickly.
"This will be of great use, I thank you," Sujanha always spoke more formally around the Tok'ra, then she did around Bra'tac or the other Rebel Jaffa. Daniel had always wondered why; maybe it had to do with the revolving door of messengers, since he knew she liked the Tok'ra.
Sujanha then pulled out a differently colored and shaped crystal from a desk drawer and passed it to Selmak. "With our ongoing attacks against the System Lords, your operatives might come under greater risk of exposure. Thus, this crystal holds the addresses to twelve worlds not within the Goa'uld Stargate network. They have all been confirmed to be uninhabited within the last week. As I made clear to the operative who came last, any Tok'ra are welcome to flee to one of our bases if they are exposed and cannot escape to your homeworld. Our bases are heavily guarded, and they would be assured of aid and medical care there without the risk of capture."
"We thank you," replied Selmak formally, taking the crystal and returning it to a hidden pouch within his uniform. He bowed his head, and then his host spoke, "The High Council is also interested in knowing which System Lord is your next target. We need time to warn our operatives."
Sujanha leaned back, shifting in her chair, "My brother and I along with our lieutenants have been in conference in recent days, discussing that very issue. We have not yet come to a final decision, though multiple possibilities have been raised."
"Who, if I might ask?" Jacob asked.
"Heru'ur, the Rebel Jaffa tell me that he has been growing in power since Apophis' disappearance. Cronus, perhaps. Nirrti is also a possibility, or perhaps Yu."
Jacob was quiet for a long moment, long enough that Sujanha spoke again, "As the Tau'ri say, we are willing to entertain suggestions if there is one System Lord that you feel is more of a threat."
"Sokar."
Sujanha looked over to Daniel, inviting his usual mythological explanations for each of the Goa'uld.
"We never encountered Sokar while I was SG1, but in Egyptian mythology, Sokar, also known as Seker, Sokare, Seger, Socharis, etc., was a god of death who presided over a necropolis, a city of the dead, near Memphis in lower Egypt. He was one of the most feared gods in the Egyptian pantheon and represented the eternal death of the soul: no afterlife, just oblivion," Daniel replied, pulling a notebook and pen out of a pocket in his pants so that he could make some notes.
Jacob continued, "Sokar is a nasty piece of work, one of the most feared and one of the most evil among all the Goa'uld since the First Goa'uld Dynasty. He took on the persona of the Devil from earth. He's one of the oldest of the Goa'uld and once ruled the System Lords before being defeated by Apophis and Ra and believed destroyed, but the rumors of his death were greatly exaggerated. Lately, he's been at war with Heru'ur, but our intelligence indicates that he has been building his forces up, probably for an attack against the System Lords. Unfortunately, the last two operatives the Tok'ra sent in disappeared before they could send back intel to confirm."
"Before we continue," Sujanha asked, "please explain what this 'devil' is, since you thought it a significant enough detail to mention?"
"Uh," Daniel gulped. He was usually it to explain strange English terms and references to the Furling commander, but how to explain Satan to an alien, "The devil, also known as Satan, is believed in certain religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God, the equivalent to the figure you call the 'Creator,' and humankind."[1]
"Thank you," Sujanha replied, before turning her attention back to Jacob, "You said your operatives disappeared. You believe they were captured by Sokar?"
"We do. They would have been brutally tortured for information," Jacob's face twisted with horror as he spoke, "Sokar is known for being one of the most cruel and sadistic of the System Lords, and our operatives would have been sent to Netu, to Hell, after he was finished with them. Sokar prefers to torture his prisoners for as long as possible rather than just kill them."
Sujanha glanced back at Daniel, who explained, "Hell is a place of suffering and eternal damnation, the opposite in your belief's to the Creator's Halls."
"Sokar uses Netu, which he terraformed until it barely can support life, as a penal colony for his prisoners. We believe that the prisoners live in a network of tunnels or caves beneath the surface since the surface is uninhabitable. Our hope is that our two missing operatives might be on Netu."
"One major goal of a campaign against Sok'ar, then, would be to free those prisoners. What is Sokar's homeworld?" Sujanha asked.
"Delmak. Netu is one of its moons," Jacob replied.
"Can you give me the Stargate address for Delmak and any other of Sokar's important worlds?"
Jacob nodded. Sujanha opened a hologram that Daniel recognized as one of the entry pages into the 2D version of the Furling star map. She pushed the hologram across to Jacob, who started entering a long list of addresses into blank boxes. When he had finished, that holographic window vanished, and a star map appeared over Sujanha's desk. The worlds newly identified as belonging to Sokar were highlighted in red, and a rough approximation of his domain was transparently shaded in orange.
"Sokar's gaining power. He might not be the most powerful System Lord, but he is definitely one of the most dangerous. If he is expanding his fleet as we suspect, he will prove a major threat, and the continuing atrocities that he commits must be stopped," said Jacob.
Sujanha was quite for several minutes, starring at the map. Finally, she spoke again, "You said before that Netu's atmosphere can barely support life, can you explain further?" To Daniel, she seemed fairly convinced to make Sokar's domain the Furling's next target. If she was convinced, it was unlikely that Anarr would disagree.
Jacob bowed his head, and Selmak retook control to explain, "Netu was once an industrialized world, but when Delmak was captured by Sokar, it was bombarded from orbit by his ships, allowing molten lava and toxic fumes to pervade the surface. The prisoners condemned to Netu are believed to live in tunnels below the surface."
"Such an atmosphere will not hinder us; we have men who can survive in such atmospheres or worse with no difficulty," Sujanha replied. Daniel wondered to what race Sujanha was referring. He was quite sure it wasn't the Furlings themselves since he had seen them struggle in bad air, though not to the same degree as humans.
Signaling that the interview was at an end, Sujanha rose to her feet, a motion that was almost smooth, except for a small catch when she put too much weight on her right leg too suddenly. It was her right side, Daniel had noticed over time, that gave her the most trouble: tremors in her arm and a leg that gave out on her sometimes when she was getting up or sitting down. Except for her limp, walking she was fine with, though not for extremely long distances.
Selmak rose, "Thank you for your time, Commander. I will pass your news to the High Council. Please keep us informed as to your decision of your next offensive."
"Of course," Sujanha replied with a regal nod, "I will speak with my brother soon. Jaax will show you out."
Selmak departed, and Sujanha's office door closed with a low woosh. Daniel decided that he liked Jacob-Selmak, perhaps the most of all the Tok'ra operatives that he had met, and hoped to have a chance to chat with him soon. Sujanha sat down with a sigh.
"If you would take notes, Daniel," she said. Sujanha usually called him 'Dr. Jackson' in public as a form of respect but had begun to address him more informally as time progressed, "I have several messages I need to send."
"Sure," replied Daniel, pulling his pencil from behind his ear where he had stuck it a few minutes before.
"I need to speak with my brother at his earliest convenience, but I have no idea where he is at the moment, save that he has not returned to Asteria. I also need a message sent to the Iprysh, Mekoxe knows whom I want the message sent to, and to Zinjotnax. We will presently need a company from each for the assault on Netu."
"Do you want to wait until you have spoken with Commander Anarr?" Daniel asked cautiously. Granted he was quite sure of what Anarr's answer would be, but … better to be safe than sorry.
Sujanha glanced up from her perusal of the data Selmak had brought—she was quite good at multitasking, "No, it's fine. I know what my brother will say. Sokar is a much better candidate for our next offensive than all the other System Lords we had discussed. If he is truly as evil as the Tok'ra say, and I have no reason to doubt Selmak's words, and is gaining power, he needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. If I or one of the other commanders were to commit half the atrocities Selmak mentioned," she broke off with a grimace and a shake of her head, "we would be executed for high crimes in peacetime or war crimes in war." Daniel filed the reference to 'war crimes' away for future thought.
He rose, "I'll take these messages up to Mekoxe. Do you want me to wait for responses?"
"No," Sujanha replied with a shake of her head, "He'll send the replies down when they come. Go eat—it's time for the midday meal anyway—and then come back."
"I ate after returning from meeting Bra'tac," Daniel replied, "but I can bring you some food."
"I'm not hungry. Take the messages and then just come back."
Daniel nodded and turned for the door. "Why the Iprysh and the Dovahkiin?" He asked.
"I'll explain when you get back."
Jaax has not returned by the time Daniel gets back from the bridge fifteen minutes later, which probably meant Selmak had taken him up on the offer of lunch or he had gotten sidetracked.
"I gave Mexoke the messages," Daniel said, retaking his seat, "He'll send down the replies as soon as they come."
"I thank you," replied Sujanha, "And as to your earlier question, Anarr will want soldiers from the Iprysh and the Dovahkiin for the attack on Netu because of the atmosphere and the terrain. We—the Furlings as a race—are not primarily close-quarters fighters. We can fight hand-to-hand, but our staff weapons make us best suited for long-range combat, and our staffs are too long to be properly utilized in tunnels. We are also susceptible to toxic atmospheres, though not too the same degree as humans. Due to the extremely inhospitable conditions of their homeworlds, both the Iprysh and the Dovahkiin live underground and are especially skilled at close quarter combats. The armor of the Iprysh is able to filter out toxic atmospheres, and the Dovahkiin lungs naturally filter out the toxic gasses and harmful particles found on fire worlds."
[1] wiki/Devil
