A/N: Word of warning, my beta KisaragiKei is out of the country right now. So expect this one to not have the usual level of polish.
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"My ancestors were slaves." Blake repeated flatly, frowning at what the talkative and noncommittal men respectively had told her.
"Common Goa'uld practice." Dr. Jackson elaborated, waving his hands around as he spoke. "Its equally common for them to abandon their slaves on planets they're no longer interested in, leaving the people there on their own. In some cases they stay at the same level of culture and technology, in others they end up advancing in both spheres. Unfortunately, not many of them reach a level of development to fight off the Goa'uld if or when they eventually return." he half rambled, reminding the faunus of a professor. Their current location of the briefing room helped support the feeling.
"Very few worlds are able to reach technological parity before they are conquered or destroyed." the rumbling monotone of Teal'c added, interrupting the man's excellent impression of a statue. His own emotionless gaze stayed on her.
Blake nodded uneasily, processing what they explained to her. At the same time she was quietly irritated, since they broke her concentration.
"So, from what you know of Remnant." she appeared to hesitate on her wording.
"You and the others are now officially removed from your current positions, to be reorganized into a new team. We don't have a lot of direct information on your world. But there is enough here from your friends to piece together a decent picture." Jackson spoke, perhaps guessing her thoughts. He was on the right track, but it wasn't the reason she was taking so long.
Once he ended the briefing Hammond took O'Neill and Jaune into his office the next room over then shut the door, a move which would give them a large degree of privacy. While the rest of her friends scattered to every corner of the mountain base, she stayed behind, ostensibly to talk with the two men about the wider galaxy. If Blake Belladonna were human, she would have been left in the dark concerning what the General was going to discuss with the pair. But Blake wasn't human.
Faunus had superior senses compared to humans, a well established fact known by virtually everyone on Remnant. What few realized were the implications of those superior senses; every faunus grew up learning how to tune out frivolous information in order to function normally, ignoring things such as a conversation in the next room. There were an unlucky few who could never fully adjust to a human style civilization, forced to stay away to spare themselves a lifetime of pain. Most learned how to live as others did though, and Blake was no exception. It had never been a problem until now.
Because now the dark haired girl was fighting through years of natural conditioning in order to overhear what was being said, while also paying attention to the explanation the two men were providing. It was a trying task to sort the conversations apart, but thus far she was handling it well. Even if she wasn't, whatever they were discussing was too important to ignore.
"I am placing you in charge of the provisional team, designated SG-25. Congratulations Sergeant Arc." Blake quietly cleared her throat, hiding her surprise.
"From enlisted to an en-see-oh in three hours. Not bad for a monday kid. Your planet is in what Sam, um, Major Carter, calls an Anti-Goldilocks zone. I personally dislike the term, since its a reference to an old fairytale on Earth which has a less than happy ending. Anti of course means the opposite, T-thank you sir so it should mean a good status." Jackson half rambled. She nodded automatically, noting the blond's tone of voice. Jaune's unseen reply sounded both grateful and nervous at the same time.
"Is it good?" Blake replied quickly, hoping the two men would mistake the source of her haste as eagerness.
"Your orders Well, are to accompany SG-1 no. Back to your homeworld to make contact The original fairytale had the titular with your government character get devoured by bears in order to facilitate relations with Earth for trespassing. Colonel O'Neill So being a goldilocks is not good at all will be in command." Silently she cursed the Earthers for deciding to talk at the same time.
"What's this mean for us?" she left hanging, feigning interest. Internally she mused on what Hammond was telling Jaune.
Just what did 'facilitate relations' mean here? It was possible Earth wanted to draw Remnant into its war with the Goa'uld, seeking new resources, weapons, or potentially, recruits. The frightening part for Blake was knowing their struggle would appeal to many across the Four Kingdoms; if freeing millions (billions even) from slavery wasn't enough incentive, then the simple allure of adventure to places never before seen would draw in a sizable number of her people to their banner. She briefly imagined several of the first years, or even a few third year teams in uniforms like JNPR's. The image made her shudder.
Blake realized Jackson was talking again, so she did her best to pay attention to him. "-ow odds of survival. Optimistically the Goa'uld would just bombard the major cities as a demonstration of their power, only sending down ground troops once resistance was cowed or there was something Sir they wanted, riches or technology."
On the one hand, Blake was hearing the playbook for the end of her civilization, how her people would either be enslaved or burned. Her entire history, her entire world, everything and everyone she had ever known, set to the torch. To be remembered only as a trophy of conquest in some alien overlord's throne room. On the other, Jaune's tone for the one word was off from the usual genuflections. She asked herself why the second mattered in any way compared to the first.
"Don't look at me, I had nothing to do with this. Then again, there is a point in your favor. As far as we can tell, your friends were the first travelers from Remnant in centuries, possibly millennia. Is there a problem with this plan? Most likely no one apart from us and the Cimmerians even knows your world exists." Hammond's voice had the stern quality of a headmaster whose student had told him he was wrong. Blake was worried for Jaune, wondering what would happen to him for talking back like that.
"Well, sir, The Creatures of Grimm seem to be effective at stopping foreign incursions." Teal'c added once more in his curious monotone, "We believe this was the fate of the Goa'uld Lord Kagutsuchi."
"In Earth mythology, Kagutsuchi is a deity in a country called Japan, he's still worshipped in a few places there. Speak up son." Jackson elaborated and Hammond ordered.
Blake nodded along, but internally she was nervous. Jaune had been quiet for too long.
"I don't believe sending SG-1 is a good idea sir."
Blake coughed, causing Jackson to give her a strange look.
"Allergies." she answered the unspoken question, hoping he would buy it. He 'ah'd' in understanding, but Teal'c continued to stare at her. There was something in his rarely blinking gaze that made her unconsciously bristle; most of the Earthers she encountered so far had a hardness to them, but they weren't permanently like that, if Major Smith or O'Neill were the average here. In contrast dark skinned man was stoic to the point of robotic, almost unnaturally so.
"Explain. Anyway, the relevance here is Kagutsuchi is, or was rather, an underlord of the System Lord Amaterasu. Used to be a big player in Goa'uld politics, but sometime in the last millennium he ended up becoming a vassal go on of her. As far as we know, he decided to go you kicked the hornets nest here conquer a world behind his master's back to increase his own power."
"According to his followers, Kagutsuchi traveled to the chappa'ai to scry for a world ripe for conquest." Teal'c added.
"Goa'uld name for the Stargate Sir, I don't. In actuality he was dialing randomly until he got a match, then once he had one, I don't think its safe he gathered a demi-company of his Jaffa for you or anyone else here to march through to travel there. He either would've found a few villages to proclaim his rule over or he would find cities, in which case he would've dispatched one of his ships to the planet."
Blake nodded in understanding, internally noting Jaune's hesitancy. For Jackson's story, she paying very little attention. It seemed interesting, but the men's conversation took priority.
"Kid, what part We got intel from the Tok'ra, long story there, of this job is safe? so we, SG-1 I mean, traveled to his capital world to find a way to disrupt his plan. When we got there, there were eleven unconscious Jaffa and four armed teenagers waiting instead." the bespectacled man explained with a wave.
"So, a question." Blake started carefully, "I realize the Goa'uld I know sir are evil, but could it have been possible to get Remnant's address from him what I mean to say is or his followers." she internally groaned, hating how she ended up talking over Jaune.
"First thing we tried.You don't know the planet like we do. Kagutsuchi memorized the address instead of writing it down, and given the Goa'uld's I admit that I and my team are out of practice natural paranoia he didn't bother to share it with his warriors but we still have a far better idea who only knew their own home address of what to do there than you."
"What about, Kagut-whatever?" Blake quickly prompted.
"Plus, we have No idea,no ones seen or heard from him how effective Earth made weapons are for close to three years now against the Grimm. His surviving warriors didn't say anything about what happened there but but Orac. Goa'uld word for unspeakable monster." Jackson made little movements with his hands as he explained. Blake frowned, raising an eyebrow.
"So, you think he never left Remnant. Says the guy with a sword." Some fear was in her tone, much of it stemming from Jaune's apparent defiance. Much, but far from all.
"We believe he was killed by the Creatures of Grimm. With all due respect sir, I know I can handle myself there, you don't." Teal'c rumbled as Jaune calmly refuted O'Neill.
Blake blinked, for the moment fixating on their explanation rather than Hammond's. "Are you sure?"
"Unless there's you're telling me you think been a new politician, businessman I should send someone with practically no experience or religious leader rising up in the power structure over one of my best in the past three years just because they don't know seriously, has there the dangers there and you do been?" Jackson asked. Hammond's tone had turned dangerously cold, and Blake was afraid for Jaune. She had no idea what would happen to him for speaking out like this.
"Um, none that I know of." she replied distractedly.
Teal'c turned his head to Jackson.
"Daniel Jackson, would you please bring me something to drink?" he requested. The bespectacled man gave him a questioning look, raising a brow.
"Uh, sure. Anything in particular you want y-yes sir." the banal question was ignored. Blake was focused almost entirely on Jaune; while he sounded plenty hesitant, he still kept to his stance instead of just agreeing with the general. The Faunus was scared for him, yet at the same time she felt some real admiration for standing up to the man.
"Coffee. Is again there anything you use a sword kid you would like Blake Belladonna?" Teal'c turned to speak. She needed a second to realize it was directed at her, causing the black haired girl to bashfully clear her throat.
"Um, do you have tea here?" Blake asked him quickly.
"A few kinds, O'Neill none are what I'd call your opinion high quality." Jackson answered as he stood up.
"Anythings fine." she replied.
"Well sir, my first thought is he let the mighty power of the sergeant rank go to his head already." O'Neill half mocked as Jackson stood up and walked away. Blake turned to track him, still listening in. "Second impulse is to say you wanna prove you and your buds are ready when you're not Blake Belladonna."
Snapping her head around, the dark haired girl found herself under the steady gaze of Teal'c.
"Yes?" she replied curtly.
"That's not it Are sir you bored by this conversation?" he asked her, less expressive than an android. Blake idly wondered if the Grimm could even sense him.
"No. Well, a little." she admitted with a shrug. He nodded once.
"I was getting to that Or do you find the discussion in the next room more enlightening?" Teal'c monotoned.
Blake opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. For several seconds she clamped it shut and opened back up, her jaw working soundlessly. Her eyes fluttered uncontrollably, while the muscles in her face spasmed.
"H-h-how..." she got out at last, unwittingly slipping back into her childhood conditioning. The dark skinned man's own expression had all the emotion of a rock.
"I read the report concerning your friends thoroughly. Faunus tend to have superior senses compared to humans, as well as possessing animal traits. If your name was not a cited example of one, I would have known by your distracted attitude and your bow moving numerous times on its own accord." he explained. A a degree of life finally entered his voice, even if the rest of him was still.
"Y-you knew." she pushed her chair back from the table, her instincts telling her to put some distance between them.
He made no move other than blinking and breathing. "I suspected. Your reaction confirmed it."
"Does..." she trailed off, narrowing her eyes.
"I suspect neither Daniel Jackson nor General Hammond are aware of your status. I will not inform them of this development, provided you answer my question satisfactorily." Teal'c offered.
Blake's eyes narrowed. "What?"
"How will you act on the information you have obtained?" he questioned flatly, focusing his hard gaze on her. The emblem on his forehead faintly reflected the light, unwavering.
She was silent for several seconds, pondering her answer. For the length of the men's conversation, she couldn't point to anything which hinted at their plans, good or evil. Whether they were good or bad, she simply didn't know. There were too many unknown variables to make an informed decision, too much she didn't understand.
"I don't trust any of you." she spoke quietly. He nodded once. "But... those four were my friends. They still are." Blake took a breath. "As long as you don't do wrong to me, my friends, or my planet, I won't stop you."
Teal'c never changed his gaze. "Acceptable."
A scant few seconds later Jackson returned, catching both their attentions. In his hands were two white cups, looking like paper at first glance. He set one down close to Blake and handed the other to Teal'c, who took his with a laconic nod to the bespectacled man. Wrapping her finger around the warm cup, the faunus noted the odd feel; it was similar to plastic, but not entirely. Though soft, it seemed sturdy enough to hold the drink inside. Brushing off yet another round of questions, she lifted it up to cautiously sniff the hot tea.
"I know its not the best. Stuff here tends to be freeze dried and packaged before getting shipped in bulk." Jackson said apologetically as he sat down, observing how she carefully tilted the cup to sip.
Internally she was feeling cold fear; she had no reason to trust Teal'c. For all she knew, he was about to turn to Jackson and tell him what he discovered. What would happen to her was something she could only imagine. But as much as it worried her, she had to play along with the charade. For the time being, that meant tasting the Earth made tea.
Lowering the cup, Blake first analyzed the flavor of the provided tea, then pondered how she was going to word her response. In the end she reluctantly decided on, "Its not the worst."
"Indeed." Teal'c spoke simply, taking a drink of the steaming coffee.
Blake thought the tea tasted awful, clearly showing her the maker was a cheap fool. But for as bad as it was, Blake did mean what she said. She just didn't elaborate the worst tea she ever had was the one time Zwei had slobbered in her favorite cup when she wasn't looking. It took Weiss freezing her into a block of ice to prevent the corgi's unfortunate demise that day.
"Then its settled. So, where were we?" Jackson clapped his hands together, probably eager to share his accumulated knowledge with her. Teal'c resumed his statuesque pose to watch her dispassionately, like he didn't just discover her eavesdropping a minute ago.
"Well, I was wondering... Gather what weapons and equipment you deem appropriate from the armory, then get to the Gateroom. You leave in one hour. Dismissed." Blake suddenly blinked and cleared her throat once again, obvious enough for Jackson to frown questionably at her.
"Actually-" she began, but she was interrupted by the door the General vanished to swinging open. As both of the men glanced to the entrance, Blake picked herself up in preparation, pushing the poor excuse for tea away.
Jaune walked out, swaying unsteadily. His features were shaking, and he was breathing shallowly. But there was a glint to his eye which showed relief, even happiness. It lasted until he glanced over the trio, opening his mouth in preparation of greeting the men when he saw her. The joyous look scrunched up in evident confusion.
When Blake cleared her throat again, she became aware of how raw it was feeling.
"Um, thank you for your time Dr. Jackson, Teal'c." she said quickly, pushing herself up from the seat.
"Uh, you're welcome?" the former said hesitantly, raising an eyebrow as she left the chair behind. The latter nodded once.
Jaune took the hint and nodded to the men before powering off, leading the way. Blake followed him, distantly aware of O'Neill walking out of the room as well. She did catch Jackson asking Teal'c, "What was that all about?"
Down the flight of stairs she approached half an hour ago, Blake dismissed the claustrophobia from her state of mind. Once they were in the hallway he stopped to glance at her in concern. "You okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine." Blake replied quickly, checking her surroundings to see if they were secluded enough. While there were still people going to and fro, more than earlier she noted, there weren't any faces she recognized. She deemed it acceptable.
"Okay, just, it looked like you wanted to get out of there right now." he explained with a brief nod, adjusting his footing.
"Something like that. Um, congratulations." Blake offered with a shrug of her own, mustering a smile. She spied a detail on his jacket that she was certain wasn't there before, a patch on his shoulder the size of her palm. It was a blue star surrounded by a white circle, with several bars of white and blue extending out like wings.
"Thanks-wait." Jaune suddenly frowned, eyes widening as his form tensed. A cold feeling sunk into Blake's guts, and she had to force herself to stay out of a combat stance.
"You were..." he stopped to look around, trying but failing to conceal his fear. Apparently satisfied, he leaned in closer to her, worriedly asking, "You were listening in?" in a soft voice. Not a whisper, since the sound would carry farther if done that way. Gulping, she nodded.
"I'm sorry, but I had to know what you were talking about." Blake apologized in the same manner, determined to defend herself.
Jaune took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a second.
"Its... I don't blame you. Um, I'm not mad." he hurriedly corrected, waving his hands placatingly. The tension in Blake faded, though it wasn't dissipating. She already decided she wasn't going to let her guard down in this place, not until they returned to Beacon. "Its just, well, if they knew you could listen in like that, then you'd be deemed a security risk. I swear I'm not going to say anything, but seriously, if you get caught, you'll be in big trouble."
"Define big." she said lowly, narrowing her eyes; thinking of Teal'c flatly explaining her open secret to the rest of them made her involuntarily shudder. Jaune looked away, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.
"I... don't know actually. But I know it'll be bad." he took a deep breath, dropping his head for a moment. Blake idly shifted her weight to one foot, wondering what he was going to do next. All she could do was play along. "Um, do you want to go to the others?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
A man in a green and black splotched uniform strolled by, glancing at them weirdly the whole time. Catching a disdainful mutter of "Flyboys." under the man's breath as he shook his head made Blake both curious and resignedly frustrated at her superior hearing.
"What's his problem?" she felt the need to ask. Jaune looked to the man she pointed at, catching him as he walked around a corner. He sighed, giving a lackluster roll of his eyes.
"Huh, him. He's one of the Marines. They're a bunch of elitist jerks." he explained while turning back to face her. "They don't like the Air Force guys much."
"...I see. Is there a reason why?" she asked carefully, crossing her arms with a small frown. He shrugged noncommittally, not nearly as fearful now.
"Its sort of an unspoken rule for the different services to not like each other. They usually give it a rest when there's a crisis. Anyway, what do you wanna do?" he asked, moving his arm to get his blood flowing.
"Lets..." Blake trailed off for a moment in thought, looking away while she put a hand to her chin.
"I guess I could show you around. We do have some time to burn." he offered. The dark haired girl shook her head.
"Only an hour before we have to leave. Although." she glanced back to him carefully, "What exactly is the plan? I missed out on that part of the conversation."
Jaune glanced around for eavesdroppers, but he stopped and took a deep breath.
"What am I thinking?" he muttered to himself, giving a small shake of his head. "If anyone asks, I told you how the briefing went on the way, okay?"
"Of course." she replied with a nod. Apparently satisfied, Jaune took off at a sedate pace down the hallway. He was moving slow enough for Blake to go to his side, though she let him lead the way since she had no idea where anything was.
"Okay." he said softly, but not excessively quietly. Enough so she could hear without telling everyone they were passing. "The plan is for us, your team and mine, to head back to Remnant on our own. We'll tell Ozpin, wait, is he still the headmaster?" he suddenly asked with a frown.
"Yeah." Blake confirmed with a small intake of breath. And that was all she was going to tell him for now; she imagined JNPR were going to be as shocked as them once they laid eyes on Beacon. Idly she pondered if it was the universe's way of balancing things out.
He looked away for a second, some relief flashing over his features. "Good to know some things haven't changed. Anyway, we're going to tell them the basics, and let him know SG-1s on its way."
"How are they getting there?" she gave him a questioning look, distantly wondering what the Earthers would think of the sight of them. The answer seemed to be bland indifference, given that very few of the people paused to give the duo a second glance.
"The USAF Prometheus. Its a starship." Jaune quickly explained. Blake nodded automatically, frowning in thought.
"So, like an airship, but it travels through space." she checked, musing on the mental image. The idea of a ship traveling through space was the easiest thing for her to understand, even if her knowledge of space itself was poor compared to these people. The Stargates didn't spontaneously grow by themselves, they had to be seeded in the first place.
"Pretty much. The Prometheus is the only one Earth has for now, but I've heard rumors they're planning on building more." he explained conversationally.
"Have you seen it?" Blake asked. She noticed he didn't look lost; by the way he kept looking to the gibberish filled signs, he seemed to be searching for something. Perhaps his training involved mapping the mountain blindfolded, or he had traveled around here enough to know where he was at any point.
"Rode on it once, special circumstances. It... wasn't a good trip." Jaune's expression flickered, not quite a grimace. "Mechanical bugs." he said under his breath, shaking his head.
Blake nodded, wishing he would explain. But she knew the look he displayed, and decided to let the case rest. In the meantime there was a more pressing concern. "So, where are we going?"
"The closest armory." he answered promptly, his thoughts moving away from whatever unpleasant memories were floating around in his mind.
"For Ruby and Yang?" she asked, causing him to nod. The area they had walked into had narrower walls, but to compensate there were fewer people. Blake was grateful for the latter fact, though she wished she could go outside the mountain for a few hours. To see what Earth was really like, outside of a military base.
Her bow twitched, happening at the same time she froze. Jaune noticed her stopping and fumbled through a misstep in order to turn around, concern written on his features. "What's the matter?"
"I hear gunfire." Blake told him, trying to locate where the muffled pops were coming from. He glanced around as well, unknowingly homing in on the same direction she was.
"That way." he said distantly, one of his hands lifting up to point to the source of the sounds. Seeing him relax should have put Blake completely at ease, with him being the de facto expert on this place. "That's the closest major armory to the briefing room."
"So..." she glanced to him expectantly.
"I think that's where Ren took them. There's two other armories on this level, but since this is the closest, I'd figure that's where he'd go." Jaune explained with a jerked thumb towards the sounds.
When he turned to the direction, Blake took a deep breath and followed him. Sure enough the pops were getting louder the closer she got to wherever the armory was, which he seemed to know. It ran counter to both her instincts and her Huntress training to walk to the source instead of running. Every part of her was trying to charge towards the sounds, so she could help whoever it was that was being attacked. A rapid chatter of pops made her suck in a breath, looking away to force herself under control.
The gunfire cut out a few seconds before they rounded a corner, showing a door with a sign which said 'Armory 2B' in bold print. Blake's innards clenched, unconsciously fearing the worst. Jaune took a breath before going to the door, showing faint worry. It clicked when his hand was a dozen centimeters away, causing him to back away. Swinging inward, the thick door moved seemingly on its own accord. Until the one who was leaving cleared the frame, discovering the two individuals outside.
Jaune immediately snapped out a salute, getting out a curt "Major Smith."
Whatever unease Blake felt for the automatic action was secondary to the Earther nodding in acknowledgment, who yanked the thick door behind him shut. Smith began to open his mouth, but his sharp gaze noticed the new patch on Jaune's shoulder as he lowered the arm. He blinked once, the closest thing to surprise the faunus had seen of him.
"Arc, you were promoted to sergeant?" he questioned, a faint edge of actual emotion in his tone.
"Yes sir. General Hammond." Jaune answered in a similar tone. No amount of the disquieting change they did to him, that he willingly put himself through rather, could mask the pride in his voice. Major Smith nodded once.
"Congratulations Arc." he said simply, turning to Blake next. Watching Jaune shakily nod out of the corner of her eye caused her to question how often the man gave out any sort of praise. It could wait, for now she was being held by his attention.
When she opened her mouth to acknowledge him, Smith raised a hand with an extended finger to silence her. Frowning, Blake crossed her arms while she watched his brow wrinkle in thought.
"Blake... Bellon, no, Bella. Belladonna. Correct?" he probed.
"That's right." she confirmed neutrally.
"Thought so." he spoke, half to himsef. "I have heard some... interesting tales concerning you and the others. Speaking of which." he turned back to Jaune, reaching for his back pocket. Both of them raised an eyebrow when he pulled out a folded piece of black leather, a wallet. The Major promptly opened it up to withdraw a slip of green paper, which he held out to the blond.
"Um, sir?" Jaune went confusedly, looking between him and the slip of paper. Blake couldn't see many details about it other than it had a detailed portrait of a bearded man in the center, and emboldened twenties in the corners.
"Arc, take it." Smith said, an unmistakable order. Gulping, the blond snagged it from his offered grasp, hurriedly stuffing the paper into a pocket. "Good. Now before you ask, I'm just doing this on Walsch's behalf. He's going to pay me back the moment I find him."
Upon noticing Blake's raised eyebrow, Jaune glanced helplessly at her. Smith wasn't beholden to the same rules he was, so when he saw the silent question on her features he turned to explain. "Its a competition between many of the personnel here to see who can come up with the best story to share. I personally don't approve, but it helps the men and women here blow off steam."
"And Jaune..." Blake prompted, unmoving for the moment. She may not have shared the innate dislike of the man Ruby freely showed off, but that didn't mean she had a positive opinion of him.
"Won a bet. The reward is cash." Smith explained dryly. Internally she ah'd, finally having an idea for what they used for money. "Now, most of the gangs in there. Major Carter is inside too, so my job here is done. And Arc." he glanced to Jaune, who stiffened.
"Sir?"
"Remember when I said I still owe you one? After dealing with them, consider us effectively even. When you see Walsch or Roy next, you're due for some apologies." he said simply, walking away the second he was finished. They both watched him strude away without a backwards look, until he vanished from sight.
Once he was gone, Blake turned her dry gaze to Jaune, who chuckled sheepishly. "Um..."
"Let's get inside." she said again. He nodded vigorously, snapping to the door with justified haste. The odd juxtaposition between the steel like discipline and the nearly ridiculous game the soldiers played did nothing but remind her of how little she knew about everything here. Though she mused it wasn't unheard of, since she knew first year teams often did something similar regarding their kills.
Her thoughts were put on hold when Jaune opened the door, holding it open for her to enter. Sweeping her gaze around, Blake identified the room's occupants as she spotted them. Weiss was standing beside a recognizable (if small) firing range, grimacing uncomfortably. Her moving her head alerted the others, from Ren and Nora standing on opposite sides of Yang, to Ruby situated beside the former, tentatively holding her arms out to her sister. Pyrrha was standing off to the side with crossed arms, abandoning the focus on whatever her friend was doing. Blake noted how damp her shortened hair appeared, hinting towards a rushed shower. Major Carter was close by the gathering, apparently watching over whatever it was they were doing. While everyone spared a glance their way, Yang was facing down the short range, devoted to whatever was in front of her.
Without exception, everyone had on a pair of thick plastic muffs over their ears.
"Oh, not good." Jaune mumbled, immediately looking to Blake. "Cover your ears."
Blake had no time to ask what he meant, for Yang took the chance to heft what looked like a bulky rifle up to her shoulder, aiming down the space while everyone hurriedly planted hands on the muffs. "Firing in five four threetwoone."
She clamped both hands on her head, digging her fingers into the cat ears a second before it happened. A tremendous boom sounded out, deafening in the enclosed space. But it didn't stop at one; there was a quarter of a second delay between the booms, the effect was barely distinguishable from the others. Gritting her teeth together, Blake cringed through the pain of the powerful noise beating down on her, like some demented drum. The powerful booms cared nothing for her pain as it blotted out everything else. It didn't let up at all, the gunfire going on and on. She tried to count the shots, but it was next to impossible.
Soon, not soon in enough in her ardent opinion, the firing ceased. In its place was a special type of ringing in Blake's ears, politely informing her she was deaf for the time being. Jaune hesitantly lowered his hands from his own head, wincing through his own version of noise filled pain. For the gathered six, she noticed them hesitantly tugging off their own muffs.
In the center the arbiter of destruction lifted the bulky gun so it was pointed at the ceiling, casually removing a large drum magazine. Twisting around and yanking her muffs down, Yang looked over the group with the third largest grin Blake had ever seen. If she could hear right now, the black haired girl was certain she'd be wincing from a high pitched squee.
"Guys? I think I'm in love." she said gleefully, at least Blake assumed she did. Reading lips did have its uses.
"That was..." Weiss trailed off, frowning as she tried to describe what just happened. Ren and Ruby sighed, while Nora practically bounced.
"Told you the AA-12 was cool!" she proclaimed, pumping a fist. Pyrrha nodded mutedly, glancing over to them.
While the collected friends mingled, Carter looked to be playing overseer to the semi organized chaos. Blake walked closer, feeling her hearing start to come back to her while watching the blonde woman. Yang and Nora high five'd, the former not letting go of her new toy. Ren nodded at someone talking, though she couldn't tell who. Jaune shared an intelligible word with Pyrrha over something, as Weiss spared a critical look at the wall the blonde shot at, one which was thoroughly torn up. On the bench were several other weapons, including a P90 close to Ruby.
You get to shoot that?" she asked once she reached the smaller girl, her voice feeling weird without the accompanying sound. Ruby nodded, something very close to glee flashing over her features. Blake was certain she would be bouncing on her feet if she wasn't trying so hard to keep the Earthers from knowing how she felt.
"It was cool. The grips were uncomfortable, but there was so little recoil, and its so accurate, plus its fully ambi, so you can use whatever hand you wanted-" Ruby gushed, plucking the small gun sans magazine up to show her. The fact the black haired girl couldn't hear her didn't seem to register through her excitement. "And you gotta see what they did to their weapons. You'll love it."
"What'd they do?" Blake asked at last, catching movement out of the corner of her eye.
It was Carter, picking up a compact shape which was even smaller than the P90, about the same size as one of Yang's gauntlets. Holding onto a recognizable grip, the woman jerked the object once towards the range. To Blake's amazement it unfolded, several components springing out to form a small scoped rifle, similar to the Gateroom's guards although heavily customized. On the side was some blocky letters that read "Carter Special." The blonde woman was grinning as she aimed it down range, and Blake had zero doubt Ruby was staring slack jawed at the sight. Very likely she was about to clamor for the chance to look it over.
"You can credit Ren and Nikos for helping me build this weapon. There's no way this will ever be mass produced, but who said it had to be?" her silent lips explained. As much as she enjoyed being reunited with her friends, Blake found herself wishing she had tarried a bit longer.
"And even better, Yang didn't shoot herself this time!" Nora proudly proclaimed. Blake mutedly glanced to the formerly happy blonde, watching her countenance go from glee to dawning anger at a perilous rate. She though she saw the grip of the AA-12 start to buckle under her tightening grip.
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"Um, Ancients?"
O'Neill chuckled at something while he played with his pen, while the other three members of SG-1 exchanged looks. Carter and Jackson glanced to each other, thoughts churning. Teal'c and Hammond both oversaw the growing mass of confusion, the former unresponsive.
"Uh." Jaune glanced to the General carefully, silently asking permission of a man far above his own station. When he nodded, the blond took a quick breath before speaking. "The Ancients were a precursor race that existed tens of thousands of years ago. Among other things, they built the gates." he finished with a jabbed thumb in the general direction of the room they arrived in. Ruby blinked, so did Yang and Blake. Weiss did not; she was too busy frowning.
"That's an overly simplistic description but its not wrong." Jackson spoke up, mercifully taking the girl's attentions off of him. Ren's dry look and Nora's playful nudge on the sighing Jaune didn't go unnoticed, nor did Pyrrha's cringing shrug at him.
"You know, I was going to ask who made those things, but I'm much more curious on how this matters here." Blake took the chance to interject.
"Right. Well, the Ancients were responsible for creating much of the advanced technology you can find throughout the galaxy, whether made directly or copied by lesser civilizations. For example, most Goa'uld technology is based on Ancient tech to one degree or another. But as Arc just said, the Stargate network was their greatest achievement." Carter explained, adopting the air of a teacher. No small amount of admiration was in her tone.
"So, what happened to them?" Ruby asked, genuinely curious. Even Yang had tuned in to their conversation.
"They turned to fluffy smoke." O'Neill added idly.
Jackson coughed, as Hammond leveled another look at the man. "You'll have to forgive a lot of the pseudo spiritual terminology for this part, since accurate terms are in short supply. While much of their population was wiped out by a nasty plague, a large portion of them underwent a process called Ascension. They literally rose to a higher plane of existence."
"So, they became gods." Yang tried to summarize, seeing her friends on the other side of the table wince to different degrees.
"Incorrect, but not inaccurate." Teal'c spoke simply.
"Yep. They fit the bill pretty well though." O'Neill commented, before abruptly turning to the ceiling. "If you weren't so lazy about it." he said loudly, turning back to the now muted four. A glance changed the number to a much more reasonable twelve. "They're watching us right now. Seriously."
"I fear for your sanity O'Neill." Teal'c rumbled in his seemingly normal way. The Colonel chuckled and ribbed the much larger man, failing to make him budge at all.
"Ha,T's sense of humor." he brushed off, his tittering increasing at the unconvinced looks everyone was giving him.
Carter brought her hands together, composing her thoughts. "Moving on, we don't have a great understanding of Ascended beings. Most of our knowledge of them comes from second hand sources."
"Yeah, second hand." O'Neill deliberately glanced at Jackson. Were he the only one who looked at him, Ruby would've been left curious but willing to let it go. If her friends didn't pointedly turn away from him too, poorly hiding whatever it was they felt.
"But what we do know." Jackson said forcefully, rubbing his own palms together. "Is one of their highest beliefs. The Ancients strongly believe in the idea of free will, that each and every being should be free to choose their own path in life. To this end, they are big on the whole nonintervention deal."
"They have punished their own for interfering in lower planes on several occasions." Teal'c added.
Ruby chanced a peek at the others on both sides of the table; Yang and Blake were both frowning, privately thinking the big man's question applied to the Earthers in full. Ren (the sole one to appear largely at ease), Nora, Jaune, and Pyrrha had a sheepish look to them, each one knowing how ridiculous it all sounded but unable to share their experiences. Weiss already had a frown, but now her brow was beginning to crease.
"For them to do anything on this plane, even something as roundabout as messing with dreams, is very rare. And without exception, always has a purpose." he explained, a thoughtful look coming over him.
"Which is?" Weiss question.
Ren had the succinct answer. "Besides them, who knows."
"Uh, question." Yang spoke up. "How does 'staying uninvolved' in this plane or whatever, and messing with her dreams mix?" she questioned, holding up her waving left hand at the pale toned girl, who nonetheless nodded in agreement.
"It is possible this Ancient convinced you to agree with their plan, then erased your memory of the conversation once you woke up." Cater offered with a shrug.
"You did have an option too." Pyrrha said as well. When the four snapped their gazes to her, she visibly composed herself. "You said you woke up with the compulsion to head to Forever Fall. But it must have crossed your mind that you didn't have to go."
"In your place, I would have tried talking her out of it." Ren told them.
The guilty looks on Blake and Yang were all the answer they needed, even if the expressions on Ruby and Weiss begged to differ. Nora shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't feel bad. How were you supposed to know?"
"Rules lawyering at its finest. Tramples on the spirit of the law while still following it to the letter." O'Neill said wryly, appearing utterly unsurprised at the tale. Or much of anything for that matter.
"Debating their motivations can wait." Hammond spoke loudly, immediately causing every one of the rooms occupants to glance at him, though the looks they had were hardly uniform. "Right now, we need to focus on what we can do. Thank you for your time ladies." he said as he rose from the table.
"So sir?" O'Neill asked of him first, finally dropping his pen and lowering his chair's legs back to the floor.
"O'Neill, Arc, my office. The rest of you are off duty for the next hour. Feel free to explore the SGC at your leisure."
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A/N: I think I have the habit of obsessing over little details rather than the actual plot. Could explain the 7.4k words this time around.
Edited