Kanyto stared down at the prone body, worried momentarily for the hoplite she had to stun with her phason-electrifier, the bizarre offspring between the Goa'uld Zat'nik'tel and ClanTech phasonic physics, the once curving serpent now being stretched at three sheer angles, the 'head' of bronze, stretching back straight before the middle of its body is wrenched forward at a downward angle, large enough to provide a grip and finger trigger below the 'neck' of the weapon, where the hind quarters of the gun-creature again stretches backwards, its 'tail' laying itself comfortably and securely on the underside of Kanyto's arm. While the hoplites guarding the area had Apex armor, the 'phaz'el' as jaffa had begun to dub them, had to silently and carefully scan its quarry for several moments, adjust its emitters for the prey's shields, before quickly shooting its stunning beam forth, not only shocking the woman inside of the armor; but locking down her own protective sheathing for maybe longer then she will remain unconscious, forcing her to remove it to be mobile at all and have it repaired or reset later.

The Godslayer forced herself to leave the guard to her fate, whether she slew her or not, and looked back to the two others that had accepted her invitation to this severe breach in discipline. "Figa, take this." Taking out a triangular Command-Key, as she crouched down, "It should activate the airlock and allow you access to the ship, get it ready, we'll cover you." The absence of their power armor, after months of knowing its safety and convenience, invigorated the trio of infiltrators to be extraordinarily cautious, as those other jaffa guarding the orbiting dry-dock still wielded their own, and would certainly capitalize on this advantage if they were ever discovered.

"How long do you think it will take?" Ya'tal asked as she crouched next to the other access corridor, while the two were able to adequately cover two of the three, specifically those flanking the airlock, the center was likely going to be of the gravest concern, and the two were able to see it over between the both of them.

Figa retracted her phaz'el into its more compact shape, holstering it and saying, "Three, maybe four, minutes." No matter how much access the Command Key might have given her, the Explorer had a minimum crew of twelve for very good reasons, "I need to activate the reactor, then run back up to the bridge to pilot us out." Before sprinting out of sight down the gangway.

"Gods be good…" Ya'Tal sighed despairingly. "These weapons would be superior if they had the computational assistance of our armour."

"Then we would have been detected more easily." Kanyto countered, reminding her that they were not contending with goa'uld, or their slaves, but the jaffa's own countrymen who had the same abilities of counter-detection and more importantly, negating it in turn given enough time. Rolling her jaw, "We will accomplish this mission with our bare hands if need be, my friend."

Ya'Tal looked at her lead briefly and Kanyto's resolve had reinforced her own, "Apologies, my recent courses of Quickening were in the operating functions of Apex armour."

"You will use that knowledge soon, I promise."

Whether this statement was directed on the current situation or using it some down in the unseen future, Ya'Tal wasn't sure. The thought was pressed aside as they both heard the rapid, heavy steps of the remaining guards. "Kree!" Ya'Tal yelled out to the hall, only for the small, hovering, brass cylinder that Figa took with her zooming past both of them down the hall of the oncoming adversaries. Kanyto could see in her minds eye the single glowing white 'eye' staring at the jaffa coming to apprehend them, and before the bewildered guards began even shooting, their phaz'el hummed, digesting sent data to them as the machine gave a prolonged scan as it weaved serpentine back through the hall, and as the small patrol rounded the corners, the apparently treasonous pair locked targets with their new weapons and stilled those oncoming in their own suits of protection. However, knowing weaknesses for exploitation could only do so much against a superior enemy with larger numbers, and by the time four jaffa were stunned, six more were quickly running forward, with even the cylinder machine Figa crafted quickly fleeing back down the hall of where its maker ran down to meet the ship.

"Fallback!" Kanyto yelled out to her companion as she fired a pulse, unaligned to the shields of those before her, the effort only phasing the woman, her energy shields flickering briefly orange before she repaid the attack with her own and very nearly succeeding where Kanyto failed, the green bolt of plasma singing her off-duty uniform's left shoulder, the small armour interface pauldron almost vaporized and burning hot against her skin. Ignoring the pain with invigoration at seeing Ya'Tal covering behind the airlock aperture and claiming the same target that was focusing on her plus sheer adrenaline, Kanyto roared as she forced her legs to run as fast as they could. Kanyto was certain that if she was just a moment's moment too slow, she would have been killed, the skill of those women that now man the Hierarchy was immense through years of fighting, plus the augmentation of the various new Clan technologies insured a skilled shooter to be reckoned with, but if she learned anything from Hassir; better to run really hard now and fight harder later then be just another member of the dead.

Ya'Tal smiled widely as she saw Kanyto passed her, deep red eyebrows shooting up in giddy joy, locks like snakes the color of clay rustling lightly as she snapped her gaze back to her adversaries and fired once more as her recruiter regained herself. "Was certain you would be dead!" Both her and Kanyto's weapons hummed as the strange hovering, mechanical 'bird' sent more data to their guns, far enough to avoid clear shots while the two rogue jaffa had formed their chokepoint at the mouth of the explorer.

"Purpose gives life!" Kanyto yelled out as she retrained her Phaz'el on those oncoming jaffa.

After the next series of exchanges, Figa's wingless, metal-bird loosed out in a haphazard song, "Kree! It is time!"

"Go!" Kanyto yelled out, Ya'Tal began her mad dash for the airlock before she herself joined her comrade, slamming the seal sigil on the opposite side, the ship's umbilical ripping itself as it retracted both itself and the rebel pair to the Explorer, Figa, while far from familiar with piloting a ship of such tonnage, pointed it to the empty void and punched in the code for a Hyperspace Window and let fate deal with the rest.

"Alright," Kanyto nodded to Figa, coated in a sheen of sweat as she laid back in the command chair, out of breath, "You are unwell?"

"Unfortunately, I've been neglecting personal fitness since I left Hassir's employ." Rubbing her forehead lightly.

Ya'Tal looked dubiously at the woman, a stranger to her eyes, "She is jaffa, yet is out of breath like a human."

Kanyto was more than a little tempted to smack the woman, challenge her for such an insult, but Hassir's voice nagged this impulse fiercely, "She is the one responsible for our success thus far. Do not mock my friend like this again."

Ya'Tal looked surprised at what was undoubtedly a warning from her superior, knowing Kanyto only as a friend and close companion from before the Crone Wars when they were growing up, she saw not only what said conflicts had hammered into her bones, but knew that she formed bonds as strong or perhaps even greater than their own, and it sobered her mind quickly as Kanyto walked past the command chair and to navigation, "Kree!" Inputting several keys, "This is our mission." The screen-display showed a system in the near-galactic-east, seventy light-years away from Ix'Zary. "This is where we will deploy, it was a world once owned by the Crone, and now whats left of her children have begun to bicker for what remains of her domain. It has a chappa'ai, one we will repossess from the hands of the worms."

"What about the Asgard? We were told that hyperspace activity could cause discovery?" Figa asked, now fully recovered her vigor.

"It is a risk, one I will accept full punishment for if we succeed, but the Hierarchy needs a Stargate, we cannot sit idly by while our sister and brother jaffa suffer in bondage." Kanyto chopped her hand sharply to the side with the last word.

Ya'Tal crossed her arms, a wry line formed with her lips, uncertainty crawling across her brows and forehead, "How will we get it? Take the ship to orbit and use the rings?" While the cargo-transportation ring were certainly large enough to accommodate them, they had to make certain no one was around them as they beamed them up, plus if they were in orbit, the chappa'ai could still be used and all the enemy would need to do is ask for reinforcements, bringing more of said enemy to the ship and practically handing the vessel to them.

"That is the last phase of it, but we must first secure it and make certain no one can send their troops while we are in orbit. The planet is a warzone and one would undoubtedly secure the ring for ease of access to warriors." Kanyto explained. "We will clear and secure the area while Figa remains aboard ship, a two-woman team will be able to secure the area and provide enough resistance to hold it until we are picked up. Further questions?"

Neither of them responded.

"It will take two days to arrive, furnish whatever arms and armour you can that's aboard, prepare however you wish until then." Kanyto looked to Ya'Tal, "May you ascertain what material we have available in the armoury?"

"Yes." Ya'Tol gave a bow of the head before departing, where Figa watched her closely and waited until the door was fully closed.

"You expect to be punished for this act of defiance? What outcome?" Figa demanded.

"Death, clean and simple hopefully. A longer one if I prove to be unlucky."

Figa's jaffa discipline momentarily faulted and she nearly screamed, "You convince me to come on this mission only for me to see you die at the end of it?!"

Kanyto was expecting such an outburst, grimacing in turn, "One last duty, to ensure our people's future. No one can get in the way of that, not Hassir, not Fenrir and not me." She looked to her comrade, who had managed to, briefly, lay her arms down and rest. Figa. Or as many other Jaffa call her now, Figa-Once-Dead. Seems one or two members of their old party from Hijin spoke of her momentary case of death before being revived by Fenrir. It was almost sad, Figa had done her duties above and beyond what was expected, even a jaffa had a threshold of tolerance for conflict and Kanyto knew her companion's was far shallower than one would expect among her kind. "I assure you, if treachery is to be demanded, I shall bear the brunt of its expectations." She lifted herself from the command chair and as she departed the bridge looked over to Figa, "It may run in the family, afterall." Thinking back sourly to her half-sister.

[]

Kabil, former Lord-Marshal of Ix-Chel, stared at his prison cell's wall, noting the last set of tallies he made… ninety-four days. He stopped keeping track long enough that he lost track of when he wasn't keeping track. "Closer to bashing my brains out by the day." Kabil scoffed quietly to himself but was apparently just loud enough to be heard by the jaffa that guarded his cell, smacking the end of her staff-weapon against his cage.

Kabil gave a grunt of acknowledgement to the guard, understanding very well the distaste of her job. He wouldn't want to look over his cell either. Kabil sighed, rubbing the platinum crest of the crone on his forehead. Despite his training, it was always a habit he could never really find the will to shake off, and his mind constantly drifted back to those days, now that he had less legions to command and barely any room enough to simply stand up. It was a… blurry mess, so chalked full of adrenaline, panic and fear that it blended together in an awful chimera, one he was barely able to tell head from toe with. But he remembered his father, his mother, both chosen to breed Kabil himself to eventually replace the Lord-Marshall when he died or became too old. Which was much sooner than even a god could have expected, and she had the platinum carved into his forehead before his father's body was cold.

Then campaign after campaign. Kabil knew he killed many, by order's given to him by his goddess. How many executions? Purges? Cities razed? Divinity was indeed demanding.

Kabil was startled awake by the guard's armored footsteps, concluding it was his next meal.

"Ah," A new, male voice spoke coyly, "an exceptionally long time coming this encounter."

Kabil shook his head for a moment, looking out. The guard was gone, and in her place stood a man unlike any he's seen before, his traits strange, even amidst the various worlds the gods plucked their hosts from. He wore strange robes, coloured a deep crimson, and made from many layers of embroidered silk which were lazily draped over his shoulders, fine to the eye, lazily coming over his arms but had one out far enough out for Kabil to see a hand peeking out. He crossed his arms at Kabil, noting his long silence to the visitor, and asked, "Comfortable?"

Kabil didn't respond to his useless inquiry, noticing the stance of the man and able to recognize it, "You were the one who visited the palace. Who are you?"

"I am Fenrir, I killed your gods, imprisoned you and convinced the jaffa and humans in the system to follow my leadership." He lifted a hand and gave a small shrug with it, "All else beyond that is merely history."

Kabil sighed, "Are you here to kill me?" The former lord-marshal knew all too well of the gods terrible pleasures, how they drew out the deaths of others merely for the sound of the condemned's screams.

"That remains to be seen." Fenrir hovered his hand over his cage a moment, the lock to it making a harsh click as his prison gently rolled open. "Many of your fellows have been judged; condemned or freed upon what information we have. You are among the last to fall under this judgement."

Kabil refused to make a single sound of pain or satisfaction as he crawled out of the cage, such weakness would undoubtedly be witnessed poorly, not that it mattered in this situation. Fenrir gestured to the end of the hold, a pile of simple clothing beneath a pitcher ontop of a table. "You will need these, I think."

Kabil dressed quickly, displacing the pitcher in order to do so, and didn't smell the tone of water, but the gentle bite of alcohol in the beverage. As he looked into it, he noted it wasn't ale, and was too dark, almost black, to be wine. "What is this?"

"Ha'Gael's attempt at recreating zhangrahi with local materials, a common spirit in my old Hierarchy, some jaffa enjoy the fruity bitterness of it."

Kabil sipped, fighting back his own thirst to gulp it. The beverage was bittersweet, having the clear impression of figs and berries, and as the liquid finally left his mouth left an almost woody smack like a footprint on his tongue. "Why did you come here?"

"As I said, you are to be judged."

"I meant in terms of this system, this planet, why did you assist the jaffa here in defeating the Crone?"

"I needed soldiers, they needed freedom. It was a relatively easy exchange at first." Fenrir smiled.

Kabil resumed his stoic stance, there was no point in conversation, his death was assured, why prolong the inevitable?

Fenrir scoffed, "Your silence is unentertaining, and from what Kanyto told me of you, I'd expected more complexity than a sullen mute locked in a cage."

"There is nothing else to be said." Taking a mouthful of the 'zhangrahi', "I am going to die."

"Aren't we all?" Fenrir chuckled, "But depending on how things turn, you might die later. A year, a decade, maybe two, a century. Why are you so confident in your immediate doom?"

"It's what I would decide in your place. In any jaffa's place. I am the Crone's commander, I failed, lost and my goddess is now dead, there is nothing left now."

Fenrir smiled mischievously at him. "Your worm-queen is alive. She will be the last to meet her fate at the Hierarchy's judgment, and between you and I; it isn't a gentle end." He expected to sense anger from Kabil, Fenrir's telepathic surface scans only feeling weariness, acceptance, certainty and abject revulsion, but not at Fenrir himself nor his inability to attain victory.

"Good…" Kabil stated plainly, "May we skip the long parts and simply get to you shooting me."

"No foreplay? What's the point of a climax then?" Fenrir rolled his eyes, taking the pitcher out of Kabil's hands and mouthing a swig of his own before handing it back. "Indulge me."

"Do I even have a choice?"

Fenrir smiled, "Of course not."

"Seems your extending freedom to the jaffa only reach so many then?"

Fenrir sensed Kabil was trying to provoke him, even without the telepathic reading. "Maybe I have to find out if you're jaffa at all before giving such power over yourself?"

Then Fenrir saw his face shift, briefly in outrage. "Come!" Fenrir offered as he paced to the brig's hall, the door being opened by the guard that looked over Kabil. "Take a walk with me."

The fact they were aboard the star vessel that escaped Hijin's surface was bizarre, that behemoth that ruined the face of the planet and crashed through motherships in its escape and how he was seemingly one of its inhabitants seemed dreamlike. Kabil saw the crew on about its business, with only a few staring as both he and Fenrir walked deep into the bowls of the ship, but they didn't seem to be performing notable duties, whereas he saw many thin-boned metal men walking about, with one sweeping a broom near one of the deck's entrances, "How long have you been in the Crone's service?"

"Ten years, five months, twenty-six days." Kabil replied quickly. "As a commander."

"Interesting, so you're fairly recent in this little campaign of your god's? I've been told it was a long, drawn-out conquest of fifty years or more."

"Yes."

Fenrir rose an eyebrow at him, "I had been informed you carried few words, but this…" the man gave a frustrated lift of his hand. "Valuable as it is to be, dealing with stoics is frustrating."

"What do you want?" Kabil asked.

"The usual: hundreds of thousands of grandchildren, unquestioning dominion of the galaxy, and the knowledge that all of my enemies died quick, painful deaths that will in no way lead to retribution from their friends and allies." Fenrir replied without a second thought. "And you?"

Kabil gave a humored breath from the response, "Some decent food would be nice, then a swift, painless execution."

Fenrir sipped the zhangrahi pitcher, "Pick one."

Kabil was silent in thought for a long pause before simply stating. "Food."

"Good choice." Fenrir laughed. The man guided Kabil to a lift, taking them to a higher point in one of the ship's towers until it was at the very top. "It only now occurs to me that you are the first man I've entertained in several thousand years that I hadn't been related to."

'Several thousand what?' Kabil's eyes bulged a moment before he regained himself, and simply stared at the man.

"It'll be an enjoyable change of pace." Fenrir nodded to the jaffa. "You must be famished; do you have a meal preference? Not much of a cook myself, but Ha'Gael certainly is when she's in the mood."

Kabil tried to stay afloat with the conversation, "Meat. Lots of meat." 'The amount of porridge I've been fed assures good bowl movements from here until I see grandchildren.' He thought.

Fenrir nodded and smiled. "It will be arranged shortly, but until then you may have to hold over with only drink."

Kabil slightly stirred the clay pitcher, "I will manage."

Fenrir laughed, but as the lift stopped at its destination, one of those skinny, metal boned creatures bowed slightly at the pair, as a woman's voice echoed out, "Crimson-King, I apologize for the interruption, but we've had an incident in Ix-Zary's orbital dry-dock."

"I'm quite confident that Lord Hamshut of Security will find out-"

"It involves the Godslayer."

Fenrir's gaze briefly froze into that of surprise, then apprehension, not turning to Kabil as he said; "I'll contact those needed in my quarters, see to my guest in the meantime." Looking to Kabil, "Please forgive my departure, I shall return as soon as I can." Quickly escaping the room which only now dawned on Kabil that he was meant to leave the lift as well. He saw the dining table, long and narrow with twelve seats arrayed at its sides with a thirteenth at its head. Not wanting to be uncouth, the jaffa took the closest one to him and sat down, downing the rest of the pitcher and placing it on the table. He sighed happily as he allowed himself a moment to lazily relax against the cozy seat, stretching limbs before letting them fall across its arms and edge, laying his head and back fully against it.

It was so comfortable that he was dancing on the thin line between relaxed completely and just asleep.

Then just when Kabil thought he might just succumb to the desire, to finally yield to those small, nagging backslides and misconducts he's been denying himself for so long; his eyes snapped open when he heard the chair next to his creak under newly applied weight.

"Jaffa?" The little girl, no more then five, asked. She had plopped herself sideways on the the adjacent seat and leant in inquisitively, her deep, unnatural orange eyes peered through the man.

"Yes." Kabil answered on reflex before he thought himself, "Who are you?"

"Adria." She looked over the still lazily sitting Kabil, before he quickly regained himself, sat straight and inquired as she stared at his belly. "You have a goa'uld larva."

Phrased less like a statement and more a matter of fact, "Such is what it means to be jaffa, yes."

"Strange. The other jaffa had other's… muter, more calm minds." Continuing to stare at what Kabil concluded to be his symbiote pouch, turned slightly away, discomforted of it being observed.

Kabil refused to speak further, even after Adria inquired, "How long have you had yours?"

'Too long.' Kabil sighed internally, before he felt a strange creep on the back of his neck like goosebumps.

"Long long?" Adria smiled through uneven, missing and misshaped teeth.

However, before the interrogation could continue further, a series of metal-men, carrying large, steaming trays of roasted btork, a vast array of cattle cutlets then finally, the shelled-sea dwelling crustaceans that inhabit the few places with large bodies of water on Ix-Zary.

Kabil was nearly undone by the sight, the overabundance nearly overwhelming his discipline. But he waited nevertheless, the machines carefully setting the table. In the tense silence, he looked over to the once over inquisitive child, now fully seated, back straight up and, 'Wait-' Kabil considered, raising an eyebrow, 'is this child mocking me?' Sitting up exactly as Kabil was, even her hands were folded in her lap the way his were.

"Would you like anything Adria?" One of the machines inquired as it finished filling glasses with water.

She looked over the banquet, nearly it being, but then shook her head, "No, thank you!" She chirped before the machine nodded and rejoined the two others of its kind in the small transport fixture at the back of the large room.

Kabil practically imagined that he was alone in that room when the machines left, he didn't carve the btork, nor use the utensils to properly pry at the cutlets. He tore one of the legs of the cooked, well fried beast off its body, chomping a mouthful before grabbing a clump of cutlets, and the veggies that cooled around them and smacking them on his plate.

Kabil tried his damndest to ignore the child's laughter as he gorged himself.

"Oh-ho-ho!" Kabil turned to the voice, and saw Fenrir reenter the room, smiling from ear to ear and hands on his hips as he asked Adria, "What are you doing here?"

Adria smiled back, "Talking to hungry-jaffa!"

"At this rate, you'll have talked to every jaffa in the galaxy by the time you're B'ari's age!" Fenrir scooped up and hugged Adria as she giggled, sitting in the seat she was just in. "How's your meal so far?"

"Not eaten." She responded.

"Why?" Fenrir asked with an exaggerated flare before looking to Kabil, "He didn't growl or bite at you, did he?"

Kabil detested the comparison between him and a dog. Whether it was just so base, or if it felt too close to home for most jaffa, the former Lord-Marshal wasn't sure.

"No, but he was hungrier than I was! And jaffa give to those to those warriors in greatest need." Adria stated proudly. "Besides, I already ate."

"Good! How are you doing, Kabil?" Fenrir inquired, turning his attentuin fully to him. "Food is palatable, I take it?"

"Quite." Kabil nodded, "So, about that execution…"

"You still want it?"

"Yes, but I'd like a jaffa to do it."

Adria looked between the two of them, "What's an 'eggsa-cution'?"

Kabil didn't answer her, and to the jaffa's own surprise, neither did Fenrir. The child didn't inquire further, and the silence provided too much curiosity for Kabil, looking over to the pair and saw their eyes were locked, subtle twitches of the face being expressed before Adria's eyebrows shot up, looking at the jaffa with terror, "YOU WANT TO BE DEAD?!"

"Now now, he has his own reasonings for that desire, and I do hope to change his mind, but he'll find a way to make himself dead in the chance I fail and try to keep him from doing so anyways." Fenrir grimaced, explaining slowly, before looking over to the jaffa, "Correct?"

Kabil gave a long sigh, a breath he didn't think he was holding and nodded, "Quite." Sipping at a cup of water, "But there is no convincing, I must die. My fellow jaffa would demand it anyways, and I would have this last choice of mine, be mine."

Fenrir looked on him, bewildered but not confused before the man smiled.

"So, my mission today is to convince you otherwise." Fenrir smiled, "Maybe we should see if B'ari and Son'Tza are able to keep you company?"

"They said they'll be training at Hija… Haji…" Adria tried her best to pronounce the world's name.

"Hijin, yes. Still, we can't have you growing bored here all by yourself, now can we?" He picked Adria up but she gave a frustrated cry, pushing against her father's chest, "Want to walk with me to the gate?" She nodded and smiled, "Use your words, alright? Ha'Gael?" A machine popped out of the alcove, "Have the gentleman here escorted to Ix-Zary when he is prepared, take him to the Lord of the Army. She will wish to have any words with him before she hands him back to my loving care."

"Yes, Crimson-King." The machine bowed slightly.

"Until we meet again, goodbye." Fenrir smiled as he put Adria down, held her hand and left the room.

The machine turned towards Kabil, nodding slightly towarss him, "Refreshments?"

The jaffa was inclined to ask a number of questions, 'What in the hell are you?', 'What's happened to the forces I led here?' 'Where is the Crone's corpse so that I may offer it a final goodbye?' Being the foremost in his mind, but he ignored the urge, shook his head to both. "I will see to this 'lord of the army' immediately, where are we going?"

The machine pointed at the alcove it and its siblings arrived and departed in, "It will take several minutes to relay this node to one on Ix-Zary that is not in use, please wait, I will notify you when it's ready."

Kabil scoffed to himself, 'If anything, the last few months proved I excel in waiting.'

[][]

Ngoml looked down at himself and cursed, "Why can't I just stop sweating?!" While he had barely any clothes on as is, and he was only walking, he was already soaked in a sheen that could very well leave a puddle if someone were to push him on the ground.

"And I thought you were the smart one." Jah smiled down at his brother, "You know how this planet is incredibly hot, due to the planet being not like our old one and closer to the sun, but we're also on this planet's equator. Hot, hot, hot, all day, day, day." Smiling more broadly with every cringe his brother made from 'planet'. While they were used to be clothed in heavy materials all day and all night, their new enviorens had forced them to be nearly naked, the heat deadening any desire for activity, as Ngoml had draped himself over the wooden couch in their quarters, flipping himself every so often to cool his body.

"And night, night, night. I swear if you say planet one more time; I'm sending you back to Ria-Zar!" Flopping a hand over his face to escape the midday light.

"You'd be doing me a favor!" Jah laughed, "That dusky goddess Kanyto was in the medical ward, you remember her?"

Ngoml didn't reply. He did remember, but the path of thought led quickly to the city, the attack and didn't want to think about those last scant hours leading up to the Oskirk hitting the city. "Did you… do you think uncle is okay?"

Jah's smile dropped instantly, and despite knowing his brother couldn't see him, he shrugged on impulse. "I hope so."

Both brothers knew, deep down, they were considered dead by what little was left of their family. Even if they somehow convinced the man that saved them to bring them back, what could they do? They were commoners, if their uncle had died in the attack, his property would have gone to one of his closest companions if family weren't around. Turns out, his family was on a whole different planet.

"I'm going to go for a walk, want to come?" Jah asked, giving a strained smile.

"No thanks." Ngoml stated plainly, flopping to his side and facing the inside of the couch.

Jah grimaced, disappointed at his brother's sloth but understanding not wanting to get out. The elder brother left their room and sighed deeply, the cross breeze provided by their room's windows suddenly stopping and making him feel the heat that was only held barely at bay where he now resided. The palace still felt foreign, utterly alien to the Bninan. He put aside his dread of it, walking down the corridor of sleek metal, finding another one to walk down, then a set of stairs, walked down those a flight or two, before he heard some commotion nearby. Not the usual kind either.

"Jaffa! Kree!" The locals yelled out, a series of orders and words Jah couldn't recognize but piqued his attention enough to derail his boredom induced wanderings. He had to stop himself from offering help when he saw a gaggle of these 'jaffa' as they call themselves usher equipment into one room. Jah initially thought they were bringing it all in from those 'lift' things Fenrir had spoken briefly of, but was confused to see a large, glowing, red spot on a wall where the jaffa ran back and forth from.

"Lo'tar!" One of the jaffa spotted him at the mouth of the stair access and yelled, and the rest of the jaffa paused and stared at him, holding boxes, large quarterstaffs and two holding a set of armor by its shoulders and feet on their way to the room.

Jah really started to get concerned when one of them pulled out a knife. "Whoa!" He held up his hands, "I'm going, jeez!" Before heading back up where he came from. He ran down a hall to try and lose them just in case they were following, but didn't hear any foot steps besides his own.

Jah sighed in relief, fearing he might've provoked more excitement than he wanted.

As he turned a corner he yelped as one of those jaffa he thought he evaded waited to greet him with stern glares before the closest woman grabbed him by the back of the neck and nearly threw him into the opposing wall (by the ancestors, they were strong) and they spoke between themselves as they pinned him with a sharp, well-practiced elbow pressed against his throat.

The one with the knife approached and Jah began to panic, and as one of the jaffa motioned and yelled something to get her to stop, the one that held Jah truly underestimated how sweaty he was, as her elbow slipped to the side. Jah acted on instinct, brute strength, and while these jaffa were stronger than he expected, they certainly didn't expect the sheer brawn the human they entrapped had to rival their own. When his fist swept up and under, colliding with her chin, the jaffa momentarily was lifted barely a fraction of an inch off the ground, but as she met the floor once more, seemed to have lost every one of her bones and flopped on the surface like an eel meeting dry land.

The attack and immediate loss of one of their own to the human was bewildering enough that Jah was able to reach the next of the trio, scooped an arm under her crotch, held her by her throat with his opposing hand, picked her up and torpedoed her into the metallic floor face first, and in that second where he had his back exposed to the last jaffa, he felt a sharp, wet, mind rending pain, and he turned to the attacker, seeing her hands slick with blood, he grabbed her head with both hands and slammed the center of his forehead against her nose. He would be screaming in pain if the blow she delivered didn't instantly strip him of breath. When he pulled back, not only was her snout flattened but she spat blood and out a couple teeth fell out of her mouth as she joined her comrades on the floor.

Jah was running back, managing to regain some semblance of air into his body, yelling out for his brother in terror for what they will do to Ngmol when they come for him, fighting the pain in his side as best he could, he made a frightful back track to their shared quarters, Ngmol heard the screaming long before he arrived and waited outside the door frightfully, and stared a moment as Jah approached him with a knife sticking in his flank, blood following his hasty return, and eyes suddenly met with exhaustion as he saw his brother. "What happened?!"

Running over to his brother who barely looked like he was able to stand up as he leant against the wall. "We gotta go! I… I don't know if they're dead or not after they attacked me!"

While Ngmol was far from familiar with his quarters machinery but pressed every and which button, rune and object on the mirror-panel on their wall until someone chimed in. "Beg your pardon, is everything alright?" Ria-Zar toned in.

"Help my brother! He's bleeding!"

[][

Kanyto slid the curiass of her Apex-Armour closed against her side, hearing the sigh of mechanisms slide shut and secure against her flank, before picking her helm from the counter and holding it under an arm as she approached the bridge, Figa at the controls while Ya'tal sat at one of the control chairs, donned in similar armor as her. Figa was meant to stay on the ship, remaining out of her armor, lounging in the helm's seat, watching the bloom of hyperspace. Kanyto placed a hand on Figa's shoulder, "How close are we?"

"We will arrive within a minute." Figa confirmed, "Should I bring weapons online?"

Kanyto shook her head, "This should be a simple raid, we arrive, we get what we need, and we leave." She leant on the chair slightly, pondering, 'Although, we might want to-'

As the hyperspace window threw the ship back into realspace, Kanyto and Figa gasped as they bore witness to a massive invasion fleet hovering near the orbit of their target.

"The Crone's throne is filled by another worm?!" Figa demanded.

"Cloaking! Now!" Kanyto ordered, quickly running to the command chair and activating battle-alert for the ship. "Ya'Tal to command deck!"

The three managed to hide the ship in time, even after their hyperspace window was investigated, the Goa'uld Ha'taks found no trace of the Hierarchy vessel as it inched closer to the planet, performing the search for a cloaked Goa'uld cargo vessel.

Kanyto sighed a bitter, relieved breath, looking upon the siege taking place over the planet. She placed a command for Bokal to run a quick, subtle scan to avoid being detected, and the ship found nearly fifty Ha'Tak's present within the scan's range facing the planet.

"Can we detect any communication activity? Something to tell us who's attacking who?" Kanyto asked Figa, who quickly began screening for transmissions.

The bridge was filled with orders and requests, while they were undoubtedly panicked and touched with fear, there were no screams and every word was carefully spoken, like any jaffa's would in war. The names of several officers, officials and eventually the names of Goa'uld she recognized that served under the Crone. Then they heard a declaration, "Surrender! Lest you suffer the wrath of Morrigan, Goddess of War!"

The trio were unfamiliar with the Goa'uld mentioned, concluding that she must have come from beyond the nebulae that plague the west.

"It's been generations since they have visited, why bother with the difficulties? Even with the Crone's demise, any would suffer crippling navigational hindrances, something that would only invite invasion from neighboring worms." Figa asked aloud.

"Something else must have happened to spur them into our territory. Perhaps a great war spills over to us, a pretender having gathered enough strength to challenge Ra himself?" Ya'Told added, but all, even she herself, doubted the possibility of any able to contend with the Supreme System Lord.

Kanyto stared at the war a moment more before she nodded. "Our plans haven't changed, merely the execution."

"This ship won't be able to withstand that kind of combined firepower." Figa stared at her comrade incredulously, "Even if we could challenge them, we should let our enemies fight amongst themselves, weaken them for later conflict."

Kanyto grimaced, "Our cloak will allow us entry to the world below, but the ship will not be able to survive without shielding. If we time this correctly, we dive in, clear the area around ring, using the ship as cover as we do so, and leave as soon as we ring it up."

"But our position would be compromised, they'd surround and destroy us as we departed."

Kanyto rubbed her chin in thought, "We can open up a hyperspace window as soon as we are aboard."

Figa stared ahead, "We've only been taught the theories with the Quickening, and what it taught is that it would be extremely costly. The explosion would destroy vast amounts of the surrounding area, radiation will make farther reaches poisonous, uninhabitable."

Kanyto felt the sudden weight of the decision before her, and instantly understood how Hassir had aged so ungracefully as she executed her wars, in command for decades longer before she led their campaign against the Crone.

Kanyto nodded, "If this is the price of prosperity and safety of the Hierarchy, so be it."

Figa looked to the side, uncertain and hesitant. Kanyto walked towards her, "You… do not have to do this. The metal-mind will be able to-"

"Rin-nok!" Figa nearly screamed. "Even I know that Bokal would be a fatal risk if allowed control of this mission…" she sighed deeply, "I will do this for you, old friend, but after this-"

"You need not even see me again, if that is your wish." Kanyto quickly said, feeling her composure almost rip apart from her friends words, but kept steady as hard she could. "It would be my last request to Fenrir. Nothing more will be asked of you in the future, I promise."

Figa slowly shook her head, her anger and fear of not only the mission ahead, but Kanyto's death after it was written upon her face with such clarity it made Kanyto truly, if but the briefest of moments, consider retreat as she advised. "Very well." Turning her seat back to her station. "I will wait in orbit as close to your coordinates as I can without alerting them. Give me the command when you are ready."

Kanyto gestured for Ya'Tal to accompany her as they head to depart.

After several moments of upmost silence, Ya'Tal said, "Figa had no right to speak to you that way."

Without wasting a beat, "She has the only right." Kanyto replied. "No more of this." Kanyto nearly growled. "Save your ire for the enemy."

Ya'tal nodded shallowly before they arrived in the Cargo Bay, "We are ready." Kanyto spoke over their ship's com's.

"Brace yourselves, this shall not be a smooth path we will tread."

Kanyto and Ya'Tal donned their helms before finding seats to secure themselves against, locking their armour's magnetic boots against the deck and stowing their weapons.

The ship's introduction to the world's atmosphere was subtle at first, and as the shields were activated, disengaging the cloak, the klaxon warning of sensor lock echoed throughout the nearly empty vessel.

The shield smothered the atmospheric friction, but the impact of weapon's fire on the protective barrier was unmistakable, rocking the vessel slightly with every impact.

"We're in! Once we arrive at our destination, I'll allocate all available power to shielding and keeping the hyperdrive ready for immediate deployment once you return. With the fire we have on us currently, I estimate maybe five minutes of survivability, less if they bring in more motherships."

"Keep us updated." Kanyto looked to Ya'Tal, "Ready your weapon."

The jaffa were gated down after the godslayer sent the command, the rings being sent to the midst of the housing of that protected the chappa'ai. The troops, from both sides of the ongoing war, immediately began to open fire on the armoured pair as the rings lifted, their shielding taking a handful of volleys before they ran from their arrival point and searched for cover.

"Their weapons-!" Ya'Tal yelled out as they ducked behind fallen stone pillars of the now ruined temple. "They are weaker Va'Toks?"

"Hassir has told me of them, they are 'Ma'Tok', readily mass-produced and uncaring of the energy they waste for quicker fire!" Kanyto unholstered her plasma-lance and began to return fire. "Kill everyone in the area!"

One of the new enemies belonging to this War God, strode inside the engagement area, his head; protected by the helmed mask of his patron goddess; a red eyed crow, its armoured ridges and plates like feathers until it reached a long, featureless beak. Pointing towards the new pair, ignoring the scant few numbers of the local jaffa, ordering them to be destroyed immediately.

Kanyto repaid his attention by quickly firing her lance at the Crow Guard, his armoured head disintegrating after a brief explosion.

"You take care of our Crone worshipping neighbors. I will give these outsiders a warm welcome to our lands!" Kanyto ordered before she vaulted over her cover, shooting a volley of green plasma to push their firing lines back outside, and as Kanyto met them as they descended the steps, their fellows coming to join them at the foot of the temple, the godslayer levied her plasma lance's recharge port, at the middle of its length, against the crest of her armour's outer arm, the plasma lance humming with new found energy as her shields steadily drained and her whole body felt heavier from the muscle fibers laying their full weight onto her shoulders. Steadily, she lifted the lance underhandedly and let forth a stinging rain of death, a massive plethora of fire that either pinned those few jaffa to cover and the vast majority struck dead where they stood.

Kanyto kept the fire up for near a minute, killing those jaffa who dared try and reform a firing line and trying to keep the scant number of others who stayed in cover and tried making safe shots at her.

However, with this increase in firepower, came a grim weakness in her defence. An enemy jaffa, by skill or luck, managed to fire his weapon, where it struck the shieldless Kanyto, the force behind it making her steady aim fire wildly off course, hitting the nearby buildings before she finally relented and took her finger off the trigger. The small moment was all that was required, for both parties; as the jaffa began to storm towards Kanyto, firing at shielding barely activated in time to absorb it, Ya'tal chimed over their comms, "Area Secured!"

Kanyto quickly abandoned her position at the top of the steps, sprinting with all her might back towards the Stargate, ordering to Figa, "Rings! Now!" Just managing to step inside the threshold of the transportation rings, fitted to wrap around the chappa'ai itself alongside its new owners before it sent them all back up inside the Contender-class vessel.

The ship a second later opened the hyperspace window.

The jaffa, warring in the temple, first saw light, iridescent, shifting, and infinitely bright. Then, they felt nothing. The exotic matter that hissed out of hyperspace as the Hierarchy vessel fled, burned the native materials of the universe with such terrible intensity that stone was melted, air turned to plasma for the briefest moment, and all other states of natural matter vaporized. The explosion leveled the city, hundreds, maybe thousands of lives perishing. Whether for good or ill, neither goa'uld faction would have the Stargate and the fighting would stall as both sides of the warring worms investigated the new element that dared intrude on their plans for the world.

Kanyto considered how terrible it was, the vicious toll of death to the undeserving, the innocent, how once they were embroiled in war, but the next, to simply not be. She closed her eyes inside her helm, "Estimated arrival time for Ix-Zary?"

"Fourty-Five hours." Figa replied after a lengthy pause, her own regrets eclipsing Kanyto's own, leaking clearly into her voice, sounding as if she were near tears.

Kanyto didn't say anything more to her. She couldn't. "Bokal." Kanyto called out quietly for the ship's computer, who chimed back in response. "Is the medical bay functional?"

"Affirmative." It replied curtly.

"Ready one of the automata to attend my injuries." Looking to the Stargate at her back, then down to Ya'Tal, who was silent for the scant minute they've returned and left into hyperspace. "Are you hurt?"

She gave a turn of her head, barely a shake for no, "The jaffa inside underestimated our new strengths. Easily defeated."

'Jaffa. How many jaffa died in our departure?' Kanyto thought to herself. She looked away from Ya'Tal. "Thank you for coming with us."

"Duties unstated are still duties to uphold, it was an honour to serve in the quest for freedom." Ya'Tal lifted a fist and placed it against Kanyto's chest, "Live or die, our people can now begin to be liberated from the goa'uld. Our sacrifices are small, but glorious in this contribution."

Kanyto wished to sulk, to ignore her teachings and simply bathe in the comforting sloth of regret but forced the urge down. She placed her hand over the one Ya'Tal placed upon her, "Yes, you are right."

"It's been known to happen from time to time." Kanyto could somehow see the jaffa grinning, even under helm.

"Perhaps." Kanyto nodded back and tried to smile. She failed.

[]

Fenrir sighed deeply as he ran his hand over the incubation tube, its surface frosty and caked with condensation from the freezing temperatures of the chamber they were housed in. The clansman looked to his right, and asked the newly minted, human scientist, "The simulations were successful?"

The man bowed at the neck, "They are, my king." He lifted a data-recording pad for him to take. "Less than two-percent chance of reversion or mutation when they enter the wider population, that's including both jaffa and human."

Fenrir nodded, "Any sign of rejection to hypnopedic education?"

"Four cases have appeared; do you wish them to begin trials again or-?"

"Triage your efforts to those you believe hold the most hope in overcoming rejection, dispose of those you believe have a minimal chance." Fenrir quickly ordered.

"A-as you command, my king." The scientist bowed his head again. "But why not let them go? The hypnopia methods may be ineffective, but why not have have them being apprenticed once they are released, allow them to gestate like the others?"

Fenrir considered it, lifting a hand up to his chin, "Test them to see if they developed correctly, then seek volunteers among the jaffa to tutor them if mentally viable."

"Thank you." The scientist gave a relieved sigh, "This project has been a great endeavor, and I yearn to see these progenies released. Every single one if I can help it."

Fenrir looked to the man and nodded, "I understand, but prepare for worst. Fate is scarcely generous." Handing the pad back, and retrieving his com unit from a pocket in his loose robes, a flat, almost bean shaped utensil that fit neatly into his palm, clicking the central trigger, a dull orange glow filled the circle in the center, "Hassir, status of the prisoner?"

"He waits for me presently, I have been derailed from dealing with him due to an incident in Toha-Ra. A Lo'Tar has killed three of my warriors." The com unit relayed. "In the palace, of all places."

'One issue rises atop another.' Fenrir scoffed internally. "Under what conditions? A human sneak into an armoury and saw a few familiar jaffa?"

"No. In fact, this is one of the humans you retrieved from the icy backwater you visited with Kanyto."

Fenrir's thoughts paused in confusion. "Why… which brother? Jah or Ngoml?"

"The bigger one." Hassir replied quickly. "Weren't even weapons in the exchange past a knife, the meager human managed to kill two jaffa with his bare hands."

"I guess you can't call humans meager anymore then." Fenrir's brow raised at the description of the event. "It's so strange how the various kindreds of mankind have changed to the environments of their worlds over the thousands of years, the folk of his world seemed hardy, but I didn't think them capable of challenging a jaffa in brawn. Perhaps Jah is simply an abnormality."

While Fenrir's statement was more explanative, Hassir's tone sounded like she took it as mockery, anger clearly held in her voice as she continued the subject-matter. "The human is imprisoned. I've requested a quick trial but many of the law department's staff is still over occupied with sifting the Crone's remaining stranded stragglers." She continued after a moment, "This human's brother has requested that you attend to the incarcerated individual. If you wish to indulge such audacity, as soon as possible is recommended. Take care, I must leave." Hassir quickly ended the conversation.

Fenrir stretched his bottom lip momentarily in realizing his mistake, before looking back at the communication unit in his palm and calling for expedient transport back to the palace, the labs he now resided being far removed from the rest of the solar system. The shuttle arrived in due course, and while in transit, between the massive gaps between worlds, Fenrir's instincts felt a flutter of danger, the strange, internal gasp as the sub-conscious read incoming hazard. He dreaded what may lay in the not too distant future, fearing it may be something even he could not expect. Fenrir felt a twinge of doubt of giving Kanyto her mission, whether it may have been wise to push the advantage. That maybe the Asgard had come back to the area for the wreckage of Tyr's ship. Perhaps Asgard are speeding to Ix'Zary now. Perhaps Kanyto was killed, or worse, captured by the stunted, pale bastards.

"No." Fenrir spoke to himself out loud, "There's nothing I can do about that now." Shaking his head lightly and sighing. "What comes next is simply consequence."

And he'd find a way to victory, no matter what came.

The rest of the trip home was, refreshingly, boring to the man. The shuttle taking him to the palace without further issue nor bother, Fenrir returned to his great tower-home before Ha'Gael contacted him. "Have you authorized any distribution of mobile short-range Gate emitters?"

He blinked, "No. To where in particular?"

"I have detected their use in the palace, a military outpost and several districts of the city."

Fenrir stared down for a moment, "Send out warriors to retrieve all units back to your armories, something strange is afoot." He sighed, "Can you arrange accommodations for Adria and her friends to return to the palace? Recall them from Hijin. Just for a little while, until I know what's going on."

Ha'Gael thought a moment, "I understand. What do you think is happening?"

Fenrir tapped his finger against the com unit. "Not over the communication network, I do not know who may be listening."

Ha'Gael toned almost humorously, "Paranoia starting to creep back into your mind?"

"Paranoia is considered wisdom to those who suffered misfortune and lived to tell the tale." Fenrir scoffed lightly but had a small grin. "If there is something to my sudden distress; at least it won't be as terrible as the Great Enemy."

Ha'Gael paused for a remarkably long time in her response, and Fenrir felt a wave of regret bringing them up and having her lose her train of thought so harshly from it. "That's a very hard mark to surpass." She finally managed to say.

"So whatever happens, I'm sure it'll be a simple matter compared to what we've overcome before."

Ha'Gael didn't reply, cutting the call. Fenrir was trying to play the optimist in the conversation. Something tells him he may have failed in that regard.

[]

"Too much has already fallen into the hands of possible traitors that will stay on the side of the damned Red Beast, we must act now!"

"No! We have too few numbers!"

"Enough!" Brishin delcared, the small hidden den of her fellow god-following loyalistis hid their expressions from her sight from how dark it was but could feel their gaze on her, waiting. "The chance of discovery is now a certainty, we strike now or face damnation, in this life and the next. We will split our forces as we planned but I need ten good women at my flanks to attack the palace within the hour."

"Too what end? Fenrir isn't on the world."

Brishin smiled and stood, "The Red Beast's spawn. I will take her head." She shrugged, "When you begin your attacks, I shall be a welcome sight, I fought on the Red fool's side afterall. The child's cries shall call father home, unarmed and without means of protection, that is when we will have won."

Silent agreement followed, with Brishin declaring, "Honour the gods!"

"Honour the gods!" They returned.

[]

Well. I have absolutely no excuse as to why this one took so long to write.

I'll be re-writing the first couple chapters of this fic soon-ish (then again the cringe is simply wondrous so I may just keep it around) because I feel I was trying to change too much on the SG's side of things. I was planning to introduce certain characters and elements from the other Stargate shows, namely John Sheppard from Atlantis and Nicolas Rush from Universe, but also trying to new stuff, add other side SG teams to the story plus adding other human 'home-worlds' which may or may not have evolved their own particular off-shoots of the human genome has over-inflated the story on the Tauri side of things and makes writing stuff for them way too difficult to be fun. Not Elden Ring fun or Ultrakill fun, I'm talking about how it feels to have an extra shift of work at the end of the week fun (otherwise known as 'un' fun). Besides, having SG-1 being directly related to Fenrir's release and return to power places a great deal of moral ambiguity into what they should do about this particular element, in terms of how their duty and curiosity making them proxy to the good and the bad of what bringing the most 'successful' product of Loki's engineering back from purgatory would mean. Especially when they learn what more Fenrir/Kaennin actually is in the history of Earth. Besides, that chapter REALLY needs a few modifications. It'd be a more orange-blue morality tale then when the Atlantis team released the fuckin' Wraith in the Pegasus galaxy.

So, I'll be adding that to the grocery list but in the meantime, the Hierarchy is going to be thrown a yorker or ten by fate as a welcoming gift to the galaxy.

I can't wait :D