The Star Gate Program (Hetalia/Stargate SG1 X-Over)
Author: Ashynarr
Summary: It was the discovery of the century. A devise older than human civilization, capable of transporting people across the galaxy in an instant. But things have a way of quickly becoming complicated, pushing America and others to their limits as they find themselves embroiled in galactic politics and intrigue throughout the stars.
Disclaimer: Hetalia's not mine. Stargate isn't mine.
Warning: Alterations of the Stargate timeline/canon and Hetalia canon
[Inspired by Stargate Reopened; I recommend reading it if you have the time.]
[Chapter 18]
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"These halls were built shortly after Ra brought my people here for the first time," Soona told her companion, running fingers over carefully preserved (but still time-worn) retellings of her oldest history here. "With the building of the city above, it was easy to hide it from His gaze, allowing a select few to preserve our history for our children."
Alfred, his strange mask back in place - "To keep your people from getting ill" - let his hand-light bring each part of the writings on the walls into view, nodding occasionally as he went along. His fluency in her tongue, though still floundering, was quickly gaining its footing the more he practiced, almost like he was used to learning such things quickly and easily.
'Hundreds of different faiths, none of them Ra.' That was how he'd described his people, something she couldn't imagine fully. How did so many even come to be, much less coexist as harmoniously as he seemed to imply? Just how much had that other world changed since she'd been there?
"What is this?" Alfred asked, looking over one of the larger pictures, this one the beginning of the Tale of Ra. She frowned, remembering back across the years to that day of surprise and fear, the day that everything had changed forever.
"It is the tale of Ra's arrival." Soona replied, stepping close to wall to trace a finger along the story. "His ship came down from the heavens, shining bright as the sun. Most of my people ran, but one was not able to get away in time - he was taken into the light, and for a brief moment I sensed his fear and panic before Ra took his body from him."
"Took his body?" Alfred turned to her, voice choking on his words. "Like a parasite?"
She nodded, not sure if the last word was correct but trusting he was smart enough to understand her story correctly. "The boy he took still walked and breathed, but it was Ra's eyes and voice in his body, commanding us through the chappa'ai to gather the minerals from the mines he so craves."
"You mean he couldn't find the mineral on Earth?"
"No, though I know he searched for it there for a long time. To him, all we were useful for was labor, taking many of my people and others and seeding through throughout the stars to serve on their worlds. It is only through them I know there are others like him, or at least my children feared so. Ra serves as their leader, controlling all with cruelty."
"More of them?" The young man sounded sick. "Nearby?"
"No, far, far away." She shook her head. "Ra would not want the others to find his secret, so he made sure none could come near but him."
He let out a relieved sigh at that, looking back over the tale to where it spoke of the rebellion. "So why did he lose Earth at all, then, if he was so powerful?"
"When Ra did not show for many cycles, my daughter and her people took the chance to rise up and bury the chappa'ai, keeping him from returning that way. Hearing your tale reassures me that he did not try to go back once he returned, though I could not tell you why."
Alfred nodded slowly, silent for a long while as he looked over the walls. "You said he couldn't find this important mineral of his on Earth, right? And that he'd been taking people for a while?"
"Yes to both."
"Maybe he just didn't come back because he didn't have to," He mused after a bit. "After all, if he's as powerful as you say, one planet of slaves without any useful minerals isn't worth the effort if he has hundreds of mineral-rich planets of them elsewhere."
"That sounds likely," Soona conceded, smiling lightly. "I think we should both be glad he never thought much of us, then."
"I definitely am."
"Colonel?" One of Alfred's companions asked, having turned the corner to spot them speaking.
"Daniel," Alfred replied, gesturing to Sha're while asking about her. Daniel gave him her name before gesturing to Soona, asking the same question.
"Soona," He replied, before prattling on a bit longer, the other nodding in acceptance of whatever explanation he gave while her chief's daughter bowed hastily in respect.
Sha're sidled over to her while the two men spoke further, Alfred appearing to give his companion the same story she had just given him. "Who is that stranger?"
"He is Alfred," Soona replied softly, glancing back to the other two briefly. "And I believe he is like myself."
"Another wise one?" She asked, wide eyed as she looked back to him. "But no one treated him as such!"
"I think he prefers to keep quiet about it," Soona mused. "If only you and your father know, perhaps it is the same for his people as well."
"I guess that makes sense…" Sha're bit her lip, glancing between the two men. "But why would he risk himself to come so far?"
"His world, as he has told me, is free and happy, and has grown in ways we cannot imagine since the chappa'ai was sealed away. I do not think he understands the danger involved, or perhaps he does not care."
"And you did not warn them away?"
"He does not know the symbols to get him home; that is why we were down here, before he became distracted by the Tale of Ra."
Sha're flushed lightly. "The tale is actually why Daniel and I are here as well. He holds the Eye of Ra, but does not understand its significance at all, so I wanted to help him understand."
"He holds it?" Soona's gaze snapped back to Daniel, who was just then showing Alfred the Eye while rubbing the back of his head.
Just then, she felt the tension at the base of her stomach that warned her of Ra just as Alfred tensed, his body swivelling on his heels to stare in the direction of the chappa'ai. Sha're paled in reaction as Daniel looked between them all, his confusion obvious even if she couldn't see his face.
"Shit." Alfred bit out, the sentiment passing across languages as he turned back to them all.
"You have to hide," Soona told him, reaching forward to grab his arm. "You and your people can stay here in the halls until Ra has gone, so that he never knows you were here."
"He already knows," Alfred snapped back quietly so only she could hear. "He attacked my people who were guarding the gate, and one of them is dead."
Soona paled, tightening her grip on his arm. "You must still hide; he will leave eventually once he is sure there is nothing else here to interest him, and then you can go back home."
"I am not leaving my or Mattie's people to that thing!" He growled, Soona resisting the urge to flinch back at the tone of his voice. "You can hide, but I'm going back."
She relented, stepping back while Alfred turned to Daniel, demanding something of him and exhaling sharply at the denial. Shaking his head, Alfred turned and left, leaving the other three in the ruins.
"Where is he going?" Sha're asked the other two.
"Back to the chappa'ai," Soona told her sadly. "He is going to confront Ra."
"He will die if he does that!" The younger woman gasped. "Why?"
"He cares about his people far too much, it seems," Soona's gaze turned outward, towards where she knew the pyramid was. "He would rather die than let his people get hurt."
"His world must be very strange, then."
"More than either of us can imagine," Soona replied, gaze turning to Daniel while she watched through her people's eyes as Alfred rallied the rest of his people together, getting onto their strange landships and leaving through the front gate despite it still being dark. The poor man had slouched into himself after Alfred's words - perhaps he did not want to confront Ra with the others, and was being left behind where it was safe.
At the least, Soona figured, he could learn more of their language and history while he waited here in the halls. Perhaps then he could carry her warning back to his home, and have them rebury the chappa'ai for good.
She frowned slightly as she sensed Skaara, who had been enamored with the newcomers and their strange devices since he'd met them at the mines, sneak into the pens with some of the other young men, hopping onto several of the mastadges and following after their landships.
"Foolish children," She chastised quietly, praying they would not suffer the fate of those before them. Whether the thought was directed to Alfred or her own she couldn't say.
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AN: Shorter chapter, but on the other hand we finally get to chat with Sha're for the first time! I really hope you like her – I wanna make her an awesome character to look to occasionally. Next chapter should be, in order: Abigail, Alex, and Skaara. That is, if my plans for the chapter stay the same – who even knows with me sometimes.
But yeah, more Soona POV! For the sake of plot I'm having Alfred pick up the language fast enough to convey the language fairly, but I still made sure my language use was minimal in complexity hopefully. Also, if you watched the film, I just sort of stared at the scene with Daniel going over the story of Ra and was like 'how the FUCK would these people know all that?' so I just basically changed it to what any Nation (and their people) would be able to figure out.
Also, what're your thoughts and expectations for the next few chapters? I mean, between Daniel staying behind, Matthew's specialized ops team, and Alfred on a rescue mission, the divergence from the movie is becoming even more strikingly obvious.
