Author's Note: Only three days behind my intended posting day of Thanksgiving. Sorry for the longer than usual gap since I lasted posted. Since then, I moved half-way across the United States and started an extremely busy graduate program. I'm kinda up to my eyeballs in work, and fanfiction has had to be put on the back-burner.
Daniel and Sha're and Shifu returned to Uslisgas on the 30th of Ea (early March 2000). Some things had changed at Headquarters in his absence, but much seemed exactly the same. He barely had time to get Sha're and Shifu settled at home in the space furnished by Sujanha in his absence and at her own expense before life at Headquarters drew him back in.
One of the biggest changes at Headquarters was Ruarc's gaping absence. Daniel was startled on his first day back at work to see Ragnar but not his brother and almost constant shadow for the whole day. Daniel had remembered Ruarc's struggles in the aftermath of the Diaogth disaster and had wondered on multiple occasions during his time on Abydos how his friend, who had done so much for him during his early days with the Furlings, was doing.
Ragnar explained that his brother had taken a leave of absence from his duties to get his head back on straight. That was the gist Daniel got, though Ragnar had not put it in that many words. Who exactly Ruarc had lost onboard the Diagoth was never specified, but it had been someone close. When his struggles had begun to affect his duties, he had been forced to make the hard decision to temporarily leave his position for his own good and for the good of she whom he was sworn to protect.
Vylt Arvahrel, an Iprysh warrior and member of the Imperial Guard, had been assigned as Sujanha's second bodyguard during Daniel's absence. Like Ruarc, he was quiet, but it wasn't the same kind of comfortable, natural silence. The interesting thing about Vylt, however, was his armor. Most Iprysh had heavy-duty armor that seemed fitting for front-line shock troops. Vylt's armor was different, more appropriate for a running back than an offensive lineman if one wanted an earth analogy. Daniel wondered if Vylt were a scout or something similar. The other notable thing was the small markings that dotted several spots on his armor. Clan markings? Unit insignia? Daniel was very curious and had made a mental note to talk to Vylt … after he had spoken with Ragnar to ensure that asking such questions would not be (a) offensive or (b) forbidden for some reason.
Before Daniel was able to devote much time to such scholastic pursuits, save for a quick trip to the Great Library to do a little research, disaster struck. The Replicating Ones, who had been a dagger or staff-blast in the side of the Asgard and Furlings for millennia (Sujanha's adaption of the Earth idiom), won several battles in Ida and were able to gain enough ground to pose a direct threat to Othala itself.
Then there were the heart pounding days, especially for Sujanha, when Thor and his mothership disappeared off the face of the universe, leaving his damaged and scattered fleet leaderless until Sujanha stepped up to take command. The top Asgardian commanders, who would usually have succeeded Thor, were either MIA or injured. Even two months or so after the Diagoth disaster, the Furling fleet was still not fully restored to its usual numbers, and this new push by the Replicating Ones could barely have come at a worse time.
With a little bit of creativity on Sujanha's part and the support of the Furlings and several of their allies, the Replicating Ones were expelled from the Othala system and the surrounding area. The loss of life and ships among the Asgard, Furlings, and their allies was high, but victory was won, and Thor was found, so Sujanha was able to return to keeping only one fleet running.
Vlopa, 6546 A.S. (March 2000)
Teucuria, Milky-Way
That's a lot of trees. Jack would have really complained about this planet. That had been Daniel's first thought when Sujanha and Daniel and her bodyguards had stepped through the Stargate earlier that day onto Teucuria, a Furling-controlled world. Two Furling weeks had passed since the Replicating Ones had been dealt with for a short time. With the Furling Fleet and Army currently between campaigns in the Milky-Way, Sujanha had been undertaking a lightning-fast review/check-up of the bases that she and her brother controlled.
The planet of the day was Teucuria, currently controlled by the Furling Fleet and formerly inhabited by the Ancients. This world had not been listed on the Abydos Cartouche, which was why Sujanha had chosen it, believing that it should not be known to the Goa'uld. After the disaster of the Diagoth, the world had been retrofitted from a storage world/bunker of last resort into a shipyard.
Teucuria, at least near the Stargate, was mountainous and covered in forests as far as the eye could see. The Stargate was set in a small grassy clearing, from which led a handful of mere tracks through the forests. The trick was that those paths, Daniel had been warned, would lead a man nowhere but in circles or into danger. The true paths inland, only those who served on the planet or knew it well could find.
Sujanha and the others had spent the morning on Teucuria and were now heading back to the Stargate. They had been beamed from the shipyard back part way to the Stargate and were now traversing the rest of the way on foot. Why exactly they were doing this, Daniel did not know. He had made the mistake of voicing this confusion out-loud, and for the last ten minutes Vylt had been expounding, or trying to expound, an answer that was 1/3 geological, 1/3 strategic, and 1/3 technological. Unfortunately, his answer was making as much sense to Daniel as some of Sam's tecno-babble to Jack.
I miss Ruarc. Daniel thought. His explanations always made sense. I didn't know an Iprysh could even talk this much.
Eventually Sujanha's voice broke through Vylt's monologue. "Vylt," she called from where she was walking some ways ahead, beckoning him to join her.
Daniel gave a slight sigh when silence returned.
"He means well," Ragnar said, dropping back a few feet to pace at Daniel's side, "The Iprysh have a tendency to be overly-technical in their speech, and they can miss cues when not talking to their own people."
"It's fine. I've faced worse. We were speaking the same language, but I only understood one word in three-ish."
Ragnar gave a rumbling laugh, "I'll explain when we get home. There is a point to this walking."
"I didn't doubt that," Daniel replied, "The Furlings have a point to everything that they do, or so it seems to me."
Ragnar opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the appearance of a hologram on his gauntlet. The two exchanged a few terse words, which made Ragnar snap immediately from friendly walking companion to serious bodyguard/trained soldier mode. As soon as the hologram disappeared, Ragnar snapped a few short commands in what Daniel thought was Furling. Though he understood the specific words, they made no sense in that order or in this context, making Daniel wonder if they were military field codes.
The two hulking Lapith bodyguards from the shipyard, who were escorting the group back to the gate, immediately closed ranks in front of Sujanha, their personal shields snapping up and their staff weapons, which they had been using like walking sticks, arming. Vylt's armor began to hum, as the Iprysh 'scout' began to scan the forest.
Daniel immediately raised his own personal shield. Doing so had become almost second nature with practice, though he had rarely needed it outside of practice. He looked at Ragnar, wondering what the alarm was for.
Sujanha herself had paused and turned back. She seemed unruffled, but Daniel could almost see a gleam in her eyes, see Malek peering out from the depth of her golden gaze, "Ragnar?"
"Intruders came through the Stargate during the changing of the guard. Jaffa among them. All are armed. They are between us and the gate."
"Identity?" Sujanha asked.
"Unknown. The guards coming on duty did not get a good look at them and did not want to risk alerting the intruders of their presence by getting too close."
Sujanha had that look on her face like she was running through scenarios and plans at top speed. "What are the guards doing?"
"Waiting for your orders for now, but the intruders are heading roughly in our direction. If they get to close, they will be captured for your protection."
Sujanha nodded, and then her eyes went blank-ish, like when she turned inward to speak with Malek. She was silent for less than a minute. While she thought, the Iprysh guards herded the group farther into the concealment of a thick group of trees.
"Capture them alive, even if they resist. I want to know how they learned the address for this world. I need to know if this base has been compromised," Sujanha ordered, "Ragnar, join them. We will be safe here until you return."
"It will be as you say, Commander," Ragnar said with a nod of his great head. He bowed deeply to Sujanha; turned on his heel, calling up something over his comm as he moved; and then left the copse, swiftly disappearing into the trees.
