Welcome again, folks!

CodyAHM: Thanks. Mon-keigh means inferior species, actually, if that's what you meant.

Infinite Freedom: Well, I knew people would object if Jack was the one to fall to Chaos influence, but I can't please everybody at once. At least he won't fall that easily or fast. And please keep in mind that Chaos can corrupt anyone... well almost.

stwar: Jack will be powerful no matter what power he has.

Malcho1234: Thank you!

starspawn07: Yes, your suggestion will be put to use, but the Ancients, though... I can only say that they and Jack will have a connection, but not on the genetic level. About the daemon prince: I'm thinking more about letting him remain a human with possible mutations.

Trife: Yes, Aluhrial will play an important role in battles to come. Heru'ur's attack will definitely be halted by the eldar - due to reasons of their own, mind you, they don't trust the jaffa or the humans.

simply Eric: Maybe he seems like that, but the opinion of the people decides through the poll.

Leafy8765: Yes, I do remember that, but we won't be seeing that any time soon if at all. Would be kinda stupid to go sacrificing planets for no good reason, considering the only living eldar are aboard the Void Stalker.

Dusel: Who said the Chaos had no power or millions of followers, or that they can't spread their influence (well the influence is REALLY limited)? The Chaos surrogates are many and powerful, but we won't be seeing them any time soon. I guess. We'll see!

Lunatic Pandora1: I don't know about the multiplayer: I have always hated it in every game, unless its split screen with a friend.

More cameos coming in this chapter from World in Conflict! You won't probably see them after the next chapter, apart from brief appearances in the future.

Well, without further ado, here's the next chapter!

Heru'ur Attacks

Ro'nak felt something was amiss as he stepped into the throne room of Sokar.

Even though the Sokar's corpse had been dragged away and destroyed long time ago, he felt something bad was about to happen. He had felt the same many times before, right before a warning vision appeared. This time, though, there was no vision - at least not yet.

"Ro'nak! Old friend, over here!" yelled Meron enthusiastically from his position in front of the obsidian throne. He was a bit roughed up, but seemed otherwise alright. His dark red jaffa armor was torn and damaged from various places, and now lay on the ground beside him. Without his armor, Meron wore a plain black shirt and baggy, grey trousers.

"Meron!" yelled Ro'nak, rushing across the room to his friend, jumping over various pieces of debris. "I'm so glad to see you!"

Meron stood up as Ro'nak stopped in front of him, and they both smiled happily. A reunion of friends had finally come. Laughing, they hugged, happy to see each other alive.

"So you survived, you old fox?" asked Ro'nak as they stopped hugging. He remembered the times when Meron had supposedly died during a battle and had appeared a moment later, alive like nothing had happened. And here he was again, alive and well.

"Don't I always, Ro'nak?" replied Meron. He was smiling, remembering the same as Ro'nak. "This time it was closer than ever."

Ro'nak looked around the room in confusion, remembering something important. "Where are the Tok'ra? I was told they were with you." He was still trying to figure out how the Tok'ra had sent a representative so fast.

"They are down there," he said, pointing at the opening in the wall on the side of the throne room. "I let them search the place with a group of jaffa."

"What is down there, anyways?"

"A catacomb. Sokar's experimentation chamber is there somewhere. It leads somewhere else, too, but we do not know where yet. You might want to see it yourself."

"Maybe later, Meron," replied Ro'nak, looking at the large opening in the wall. "We should wait for the Tau'ri first. If there are more of Sokar's experiments down there, they can be a great help."

Meron glanced over Ro'nak's shoulder to see if anyone was coming yet. "Are you sure they know the way here?"

As if on cue, the group entered the room, heading towards them.

"You were saying?" asked Ro'nak with a sly grin.

"Never mind," replied Meron dismissively. "I'll leave you with the Tau'ri. I'm going to join the search party downstairs." With that said, Meron walked past Ro'nak, stepped through the opening in the wall and disappeared into the darkness.

"So you found your way here at last," said Ro'nak, turning around to greet the humans. "I was afraid you'd get yourselves lost on the way here. After all, you came here only once before. You remembered the way surprisingly well."

"Excuse me, Ro'nak, but where are Martouf and Jacob?" asked the other female member of the Tau'ri group. What was her name again? Janet, or something similar maybe? Who did she mean anyway? "The Tok'ra who came with the previous team," she clarified, seeing Ro'nak's confused look.

"Ah, they are down there," he replied, pointing his hand at the entrance to Sokar's chamber. "Ask Meron, he knows where they are."

"How do I recognize him?"

"Look for a man without armor. He shouldn't be that hard to find."

The woman nodded and broke apart of the group, heading towards the opening.

"One more thing! It might be dark in there, so you'd better be careful!" he yelled after her as she disappeared. He wasn't sure if she heard, but it didn't matter that much. Ro'nak turned back to the Tau'ri group. "So, what brings you all here in such numbers, my friends?" he asked with a tilt of his head. He wasn't informed why the additional men where there.

"Well, General Hammond thought that some backup wouldn't be bad," replied Doctor Jackson, gesturing at the four armed men behind him. "And considering that we're going to allies soon, we came here to help until you can take care of the planet on your own."

"Thank you, Doctor Jacks-" Ro'nak's reply was cut short by a bright flash of light which engulfed him utterly.

When Ro'nak could see again, he found himself floating in emptiness with no ground under his feet. Wherever he looked he saw nothing but darkness that threatened to swallow him. He hadn't expected this to happen at a moment like this and thus hadn't prepared for it, but he had waited for it a long time now. Ro'nak sighed, knowing what was going on: he was having another vision.

"It is still alive," a quiet voice called from the darkness, startling Ro'nak. "The devil may be gone, but The Beast still lives underneath, trapped there long before Sokar defiled this place. You must not allow it to leave this place or else everything is lost!"

Ro'nak was surrounded by a halo of light that shone brightly and vanquished the darkness.

As the darkness receded, a plain metal room appeared. Its walls were stained with dry blood and rust covered every surface. Skeletal corpses lay all around, torn apart or simply smashed to death, covered in dried up blood. The bodies all wore similar outfits: simple white canvas vests, leather boots and patched up trousers. They didn't seem to be experienced fighters, or fighters in the first place - more like farmers of Ro'nak's home world.

A loud sound of tearing metal turned Ro'nak's attention to a large metal hatch on the ceiling above him. The heavy, rusty steel hatch came off, squashing a body under its weight as it landed, scattering dust and bone particles all about. There were people moving up there, searching the place. But that wasn't what concerned Ro'nak; what did concern him was that something was moving behind a bolted door behind him, its resounding footsteps and low growling echoing all the way to Ro'nak's ears.

Then the world lost focus again, signaling the end of the vision, and Ro'nak found himself back in the throne room, lying on ground on his back and breathing hard.

"Are you OK?" asked Captain Carter, standing over him with a look of concern on her face. "Do you feel sick or something?"

Ro'nak stood up fast, pushing back the Tau'ri who had gathered around him. He panted, looking around for the opening in the wall, and was about to run when a jaffa came running through the doorway, nearly stumbling on the pieces of the shattered door.

"Lord Ro'nak! A large goa'uld fleet is heading towards us! They have already destroyed over half of the active fleet in orbit!" he explained frantically. "The invader has identified himself as Heru'ur!"

Ro'nak's eyes widened in shock. This was seriously bad news for him and Delmak; the planet still hadn't recovered from the end of Sokar's reign, and a large invasion fleet couldn't have come at a worse time. Knowing Heru'ur and his reputation for having large fleets, Ro'nak knew Delmak had no chance to survive. Unless... unless the mysterious alien vessel appeared again! But that was only wishful thinking.

"Heru'ur?" asked Doctor Jackson with clear interest for the name in his voice. "The son of Ra and Hathor? The same Heru'ur?"

"Yes, Doctor Jackson, the very same," said Ro'nak. "He must have had something to do with Sokar, otherwise he wouldn't dare come in-system at all, at least not personally to lead an invasion force of this size."

"This... Heru'ur. Is he a powerful goa'uld?" asked Captain Carter.

"Yes. He has the largest fleet of all goa'uld System Lords." Ro'nak thought about the situation for a moment. "Jaffa, I want you to gather all the available forces and prepare to defend the fortress. Evacuate the civilians to the countryside where Heru'ur's jaffa are less likely to find them. Now go!"

The jaffa bowed and left without a word. He ran through the doorway and disappeared into the corridor, his previous exhaustion forgotten.

"We'll go too, Captain Carter," said a Tau'ri who seemed to be in his forties or fifties. "It's finally time to kick some snake butts." He hefted his strange Tau'ri weapon eagerly.

"Stay safe, Colonel," said Captain Carter, and the four men rushed outside with their weapons ready for action.

When the Tau'ri exited the room, Teal'c decided to ask something Ro'nak had expected for a while now. "Ro'nak, what did the vision tell you this time?" he asked, as calm as always.

Ro'nak grinned. "I knew you would be the one to ask that." His expression became concerned. "We are not alone in this fortress. There is something evil lurking in the tunnels underneath. We must hurry!" He sprinted past the Tau'ri group - even Teal'c had raised an eyebrow - and in from the opening, vanishing into the dark corridors beyond, not even caring to check if the others were following behind him or not.

His only hope was that the beast could be stopped before it was released.

Deep within the Sword of Vaul in a large dimly lit chamber, thirty-six figures stood in a circle with their arms crossed in front of their chests. They all wore red body armor with a broad, black backpack and a white helmet with spider symbols on the forehead. In center of the great circle, a warrior similar to the others sat cross-legged. He had no helmet and he kept his eyes closed in deep concentration as the ritual went on.

"It is time, Salahkae," spoke one of the figures in the circle. "Rise. Rise and take up the mantle of the Void Weaver!"

The warrior in the middle, Salahkae, rose to his feet slowly, opening his eyes to look at his brethren. He took a deep breath as a fellow exarch stepped forth from the circle with a helmet in his hands. The helmet was not like any other helmet worn by the other Warp Spiders in the chamber. This one was as black as the void and had no symbol of spider on its forehead since small blade-like decorations were built into its sides to form a distinctive spider shape, and the normally red eyepieces were green.

The exarch - Alartyl was his name - stopped his ceremonially slow approach and handed over the helmet of the Void Weaver.

Salahkae took it hesitantly, still feeling this was but a dream, and held it in front of his face, memorizing every detail of it. He noticed every Aspect Warrior in the room form three rows, twelve in each one. They were waiting for him and his first orders as the Void Weaver.

He donned the helmet, letting himself be lost in the moment for now.

"Warp Spiders," he said after a long silence, ready to issue his first command as the Void Weaver. "Prepare to mobilize as per the autarch's instructions. Make sure you are ready for the coming battle."

Every Aspect Warrior in the room disappeared in a flash of light the instant he stopped talking. Salahkae smiled under his helmet; he knew that while he wasn't as experienced as his fellow exarchs but he could still lead his warriors with skill.

Not a moment later he, too, teleported away from the chamber.

Near the capital city of Delmak, in the countryside where farmers used to farm vegetables for the city, Heru'ur's army was gathering for the attack on the city.

Hundreds of jaffa, dozens of staff cannon teams and Death Gliders as air support; all was ready for the assault on the citadel. Overhead, Tel'taks brought more and more jaffa and weapons to the surface to reinforce the already formidable army.

Heru'ur was confident they were enough to breach the walls of the fortress and conquer it with ease, and when that happened he would seek out Sokar's chamber and look for his experiments.

"My lord, the jaffa are ready to initiate the attack," said a Horus Guard. He stood before Heru'ur, his head bowed.

"Excellent! Order them to attack immediately; we have no time to waste until some other System Lord hears of Sokar's fall and tries to attack."

"Your will be done, my lord," said the jaffa, kneeling down before leaving to do as his god willed.

Heru'ur watched him leave with a smirk. He knew that whoever had taken Sokar's place was no match for him and his army. The enemy army was in disarray, still recovering from the news of Sokar's death, and their morale was low due to the surprise attack. They were already broken, and his army was merely cleaning up the planet.

The jaffa army began to march onward as the Horus Guard spread the word; jaffa marched in large battle formations, staff cannons were moved alongside them and Death Gliders took off to perform their role as air support. Heru'ur quickly found his lieutenant among first line, his black armor unmistakable among the sea of dull grey armor. Heru'ur had chosen him to lead the army to victory.

Heru'ur took a look at the fortress in the distance. He could envision the city burning, its defenders lying on the ground dead, and the fortress and its secrets in his possession. Then, when all opposition was gone, he would free his master from the prison he had slumbered in for so long.

When he was free, nothing would stand in his way!

Heru'ur let his smirk widen, thinking of all the power his master would gift him when he was free.

The battle started in the distance; explosions and weapon fire filled the air with screams of the dying. This battle was practically already over - and in his favor, too.

Yes, soon his master would be free.

And then, the galaxy would drown in blood.

Colonel Jeremiah Sawyer, once a retired officer of the US Army, kept firing his M16 at the oncoming enemy force, blasting jaffa off their feet with well placed shots.

He had served in the Army until few years ago when he had retired to his cabin in Washington. A few days ago he got a call from General Hammond of the US Air Force, telling him to pack his things and get to the nearest airport for an important task. At first he had declined, but when Hammond had told him it was a matter of utmost urgency and national security and told him the President himself had signed the order, he had done as told. Arriving at the airport, he was surprised to see his former subordinates: First Lieutenant Parker (whose first name still escaped him), Captain Mark Bannon and Captain James Webb. Boarding the plane, they were told about the Stargate, aliens and how they were needed to defend Earth.

And so, here he was, shooting at the enemy army with his teammates. They were making their stand at the top of the massive front gate's of the fortress with Ro'nak's own jaffa at their side.

"Sir, do you think we can actually make it?" asked Bannon annoyingly. "I mean, can we really shoot all these guys?"

"Yes, we can! Now shut up, captain!" Sawyer said irritably, felling another jaffa with a shot to the face.

The captain sighed and went back to killing the enemy, taking aim with his M4 and unleashing hell. He blasted through the chainmail armor worn by the jaffa, killing them in rows. Sawyer still didn't understand how weak body armor the aliens could have: he had always thought that aliens would have some high-tech body armor that was immune to all weapons fire. Maybe these jaffa and goa'uld weren't as advanced as Hammond had told him.

More enemies fell under the constant hail of staff blasts and bullets that smashed into the jaffa like: bullets from Parker's P90 pierced both the armor and the jaffa with ease; Webb's MP-5 spat certain death to every jaffa who was unlucky enough to get hit; Bannon's M4 killed foes like flies; accurate fire from Sawyer's M16 picked off jaffa after another in a shower of hot lead; and the staff weapons of the friendly jaffa blasted enemies off their feet with concentrated burst of energy. All seemed easy, until...

"Incoming!" yelled Webb, ducking behind the stone barricade as an aircraft came into the view from the distance. It was a Death Glider Hammond had told them about; it swooped down from the sky, staff cannons blazing, forcing the whole defense line to duck lest they perished.

Sawyer cursed as explosions rocked the defense line. There must have been more than one Death Glider out there for them to shoot this much. He allowed himself to sneak a peek over the stony barricade that had been hastily formed on the top of the gates to cover the defenders who couldn't fit inside the gatehouse. His eyes widened when he saw the size of the attacking force: there were probably over a hundred Gliders flying towards the fortress with ground troops advancing under their covering fire.

This was bad, really bad.

"Colonel Sawyer!" called Parker from his position a few meters from Sawyer. "We can't hold out much longer against this onslaught!"

"I know!" Sawyer yelled back just as another wing of Death Gliders flew by, blasting chunks off the wall. "Everyone! Fall back to the fortress now! We have better chances of fighting them there! Move it!"

As one the defense line began to retreat as yet another Glider wing bombarded the gates. Sawyer didn't know if the retreat was really planned or organized or if it just looked like it because everybody was running in the same direction.

Not noticing the defenders leave, the enemy continued to pound the gates.

Regrouping with his teammates, who stood among the mass of regrouping jaffa, Sawyer thought the situation over. He knew it was pointless to wait for the jaffa to blow the gates open; he knew it was futile to make a stand in the courtyard; he knew it was stupid stay in the courtyard in the first place. Everyone needed to get indoors to better prepare for the attack.

"Colonel Sawyer! Gliders incoming!" yelled Parker, pointing at the sky where another wing of Gliders was coming for another strafing run.

"Fall back! Everyone inside! Now!" ordered Sawyer, and everybody obeyed just as the Gliders began to bombard the courtyard with their cannons. As the front doors closed, a gigantic explosion rocked the gates and scattered debris everywhere. One didn't need to be a rocket scientist to know the gates had been blown open.

Silence reigned inside the fortress' entrance hall as every jaffa and human knew what was to be expected. No one dared speak a word. Outside the doors the enemy gathered for a final assault.

Sawyer approached a jaffa who sat on a small stone on the side of the room, intending to ask something important. "Do you know the way to the throne room?" he asked.

"Yes," the jaffa answered, confused. "But why do you ask? Do we not have more immediate problems?"

"We do," replied Sawyer simply, noticing in the passing that the others in the hall had moved in closer to the two to hear them better. "But the enemy will eventually go to the throne room to claim it. If we wait there and ambush them as soon as they come there, we will have better chances of facing them all. And since the door is gone we can see them long before they even enter, effectively leaving them at disadvantage."

"Don't forget that the Gliders can't shoot us if we are inside, sir," reminded Bannon.

"Thank you, Captain, I think I can remember that on my own. As I was about to say before I was interrupted..." Sawyer shot Bannon an annoyed look before continuing. "If we hold up in the throne room, we force the enemy to come in from one direction, a corridor that is not so big, which means they can't come in in large numbers, and that gives us a better chance of beating them."

The jaffa nodded his head, understanding the plan. "Yes, that might actually work. You have a great tactical mind - a truly great gift indeed."

"Thanks, buddy, but..." Sawyer looked over his shoulder at the door. "There's no telling how long it takes them to break through the door and get here."

"We should get going, sir," said Webb, whilst Parker stood next to him silently.

The enemy jaffa outside started to bang on the door, trying to force it open.

The jaffa nodded and gestured the other jaffa to go ahead. "Follow us," he said. "It won't take long to get to the throne room." With that said, he turned around and followed his comrades with the humans right behind him.

Looking behind his back one last time, Sawyer could have sworn he saw a figure appear where he had stood.

Maybe hope was not lost after all.

A Death Glider swooped from the sky upon a crowd of helpless jaffa who were trying to escort a crowd of humans away from the city and into the countryside on the opposite side of the city as Heru'ur's army, blasting numerous foes off their feet with its staff cannons.

The pilot of the Death Glider and his co-pilot, who sat on the higher seat behind him, had been given direct orders to kill every jaffa and human in sight. To them and the other Death Glider pilots the plan was easy: "kill everyone on the ground and provide air support if needed" was the order they were given. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Ah, how I have longed for this!" exclaimed the co-pilot as he unleashed more and more shots upon those underneath. "There is nothing easier than mowing down helpless enemies. Bah, these cowards are easier than those humans we faced a season ago!"

The pilot could only agree with his associate.

"Wait! What was that?" came a frantic voice over the radio. It was the pilot of another Death Glider in the wing, one of fifteen. "I think something just flew past me. Did anyone else see it?"

"What are you mumbling about?" asked the pilot of Death Glider Six. "There was nothing! You are only paranoid!"

"If you say so..." There was a moment of silence before the pilot spoke again, panicking. "There it was again! It moved so fast!"

The pilot decided to intervene before the other pilot worried the others of the Death Glider wing; after all, he was the leader. "Death Glider Eight, what is your position?" he asked as they ascended above the clouds after their successful strafing run.

"We are right behind you all."

The pilot dared himself to quickly look backwards from the cockpit window, trying to see if Death Glider Eight was really out there.

It was.

Death Glider Eight flew out of the cloud behind everyone else, going at a slightly slower pace, which was probably the result of the pilot's nervousness.

"There is no one out here, Eight," laughed the pilot of Death Glider Three from above One. "You are just paranoid and-"

Eight's pilot screamed again in fear, clearly having seen something again. "There it is! There it is! Shoot it down! Shoot-"

Eight's screaming was cut off by an explosion that sent flaming pieces of a Death Glider scattering all around. It only took a moment for everybody to realize Eight had been blown out of the sky. Maybe his paranoia wasn't as unfounded as they had thought.

Unfortunately, before any actions could be taken, a beam of light pierced Death Glider Two's cockpit and went straight through its hull, scattering debris all about as it exploded in a brilliant fireball.

"Evasive maneuvers!" the pilot of One screamed into the comm just as Death Glider Seven was shot down by what seemed like a mass of flickering lights.

Another beam severed Death Glider Nine's right wing from the hull and sent the helpless jaffa within plummeting down to their doom.

Death Glider One veered to the left as a large projectile of some sort blew Death Glider Four apart. The pilot knew he couldn't survive if this kept going. This unseen assailant was truly effective and frightening; being able to destroy a whole wing of Death Gliders with breathless ease was no small feat.

"I think I can see it!" said the co-pilot just as Death Glider Fifteen blew apart next to them and something really fast flew past them. "Curses! It is too fast!"

"We need to get away!" the pilot shouted, steering the Death Glider to a sharp dive, hoping to get close to the ground to perform a controlled crash landing. He could still hear how a Death Glider after a Death Glider exploded to smithereens high above him.

"Korra! What in the name of our god are you doing! When he finds out, your life will be forfeit, and I cannot help you!" his co-pilot screamed. Korra had never bothered to learn his name. "Pull up now or face the consequences!"

For a moment the pilot, Korra, actually thought about pulling the Death Glider up from the dive to destroy the unseen opponent. But he knew it would have been pointless and stupid; he would have been annihilated like the others before him. So, doing what he knew was for the best, he kept on going, adjusting the trajectory slightly to avoid being crushed on impact.

"Korra, you fool! You shall die for this! I swear i-"

The co-pilot's angry threats were silenced by an explosion on the Death Glider's side that destroyed the left wing, sending the Glider spiraling downward. Korra tried in vain to correct the trajectory, but the Glider was beyond controlling now, and he knew it. He glanced to the side and saw something disappear behind another dark cloud that filled the sky; their attacker was fast enough to shoot down a Death Glider and still have time to get away. Their assailants were skilled, very skilled.

"Korra!"

As the co-pilot's shout faded into nothingness, the Glider hit ground at an angle and slid across a small field while chunks of the hull broke off. The Glider hit a rock, jolted upward and cartwheeled forward numerous times, breaking off what was left of its wings and engine in the process.

The Glider hit a patch of thick trees and stopped almost instantly, scattering debris all over the grassy field.

Corsair prince Aluhrial Juriane watched the enemy army from high atop the citadel.

He had come to the planetside in one of the first Wave Serpents, taking Autarch Fetalque's place as the commander of the warhost, letting the autarch concentrate on the matters in the orbit. The enemy fleet was quite big, but if every ship in it was one of those pyramid ship, then the battle was already over.

"The warhost is ready to engage the enemy at your command. They will mobilize as per their instructions."

Aluhrial turned sideways to see the speaker, Farseer Aldreth. "Thank you, Farseer," he said. "I still wonder why you of all the eldar on board the Sword of Vaul are the one who trusts me the most. Why is that, Honored Farseer?"

Aldreth chuckled. "Autarch Swiftblade is still young; he has much to learn."

"That is not the answer I was looking for."

"I've heard of your deeds before your exile, and I must say I am impressed. Not many can organize such a successful assault you pulled against the Chaos filth and their daemonic allies."

"The victory was not thanks to me alone, Farseer," said Aluhrial, turning to fully face her. "That risky tactic would have never worked if not for Autarch Oltherier and his strike force. It was their diversion that allowed me to lead my warhost to victory."

Aldreth chuckled again as she turned her back to him. "Maybe, but it was you who came up with the plan." She glanced over her shoulder and uttered, "I expect you to lead this warhost to victory without any difficulty." A flash of light later, she was gone.

Aluhrial sighed, folding his arms across his chest as he took one last look over the edge.

Down below the enemy finally broke through the front door of the fortress with a combined shot of five heavy weapon platforms. These vermin were now swarming inside in a seemingly never-ending tide of humanoid figures. Soon it was time to spring the trap and cut down these filthy mon-keigh once and for all, so they would never threaten this world again.

Aluhrial caught a trail of fire in the sky not so far away, just outside the city limits; his visor zoomed in on it enough to reveal it to be an enemy fighter, one of those strange flyers that vaguely resembled necron Shrouds. It crashed into the plains outside the city and vanished from his sight, but he didn't need to see it to know it was done for. It seemed the Phoenixes he had sent were doing their job well - as expected.

"Prince Juriane," said one of his corsairs as he approached him. "The Warp Spiders wish to inform that they are ready to commence with the attack inside the fortress. They await your command, my lord."

"Thank you," replied Aluhrial, turning to face the corsair. "You are dismissed. Join your squad and prepare for battle. Follow the plan as instructed."

"Yes, my lord," said the corsair, bowing, and left rooftop by jumping down a hole the eldar had made when they first arrived on the planet. The rangers did a good job blowing the hole in case the eldar needed to return; their foresight was commendable.

Aluhrial activated his comm-feed with a mental command, picked up his reaper launcher and announced, "And now, we join the fray!" He hefted his bulky reaper launcher and aimed down at the enemy, his finger pressing the trigger ever so slightly. He waited with bated breath for the right moment to fire and cause the most damage to enemy morale. "Mael dannan to the enemy! Attack!"

Sounds of explosions and screams of dying filled the air as the eldar began their attack. Aluhrial saw a massive storm form above - no doubt there by the will of the seers aboard the orbiting Sword of Vaul. From its eye, a massive bolt of lightning raced towards the ground, throwing dozens of enemies off their feet. Another lightning bolt struck a heavy weapon team and blew the gun up in a bright fireball, incinerating its operators.

Aluhrial's visor detected rangers on many of the balconies below, picking off targets with accurate fire of their rifles. He also saw Vypers and Fire Prisms systematically destroying their enemies with ease outside the fortress' walls. He smirked, his visor zooming in on an enemy who wore a black armor as opposed to the dull grey of the others.

Alurial pulled the trigger and unleashed a torrent of mini rockets towards his target, missing on purpose. He watched with satisfaction as the rockets hit the ground a meter or two in front of the leader in a series of small explosions. The leader jumped back in shock and fear, knowing that the shot might have taken his life with ease, and, as expected, cowered in fear, fleeing for the gates to be safe.

There was no escape for one such as him.

With a wide smile on his face, Aluhrial walked away from edge, grabbed his chainsword from its sheath at his hip and dropped down the hole to the fortress itself.

He had a warhost to lead.

Jaffa commander Herak ran out of the courtyard, pushing through the crowd of jaffa warriors as they rushed in from the open front gates.

He was a man of average build and size and had a short, blond hair. He had served Heru'ur faithfully for decades, fulfilling whatever his god wished him to, and not even when his own life was threatened was he going to betray him. Herak was going to report this interference to Heru'ur, and then he would crush these bugs that dared oppose him.

A bright blast threw Herak off his feet, while the jaffa caught in the epicenter of blast were obliterated.

Herak quickly stumbled up to a crouch to remain as small a target as possible. He didn't want to get blasted to bits by that damnable, blue colored enemy machine which was hovering above the ground. A large crystal was mounted at the tip of large barrel at the side of the turret attached to the top of its sleek hull. It seemed to glow, especially before unleashing another one of those deadly beams that caused all of those explosions around him.

Herak broke into sprint, keeping his head down as yet another beam flew over him and struck a staff cannon nearby, blowing it up in a brilliant flash of light followed by a fireball.

He saw a different kind of machine - this one red - descend from the sky. It was smaller and sleeker than the previous vehicle, and had a weapon as large as a staff cannon attached to the side of an open, manned turret. The machine swooped towards a group of jaffa who were trying to shoot it down with their staff weapons and opened fire with its weapon. The jaffa fell over, dead and bloodied, their armor torn from several places.

A second one appeared above the treeline. This one's weapon was longer and thinner and fired a bright beam of light that killed anyone who got struck by it. The machine hovered in place, firing at anything that moved.

Herak kept going down the street, jumping over corpses that littered the ground like garbage, and towards the staging ground in the countryside. He was lucky no jaffa was nearby anymore, otherwise they would have thought he was fleeing and killed him - jaffa commander or not, Heru'ur's jaffa were known to execute cowards during battles.

No! Herak was no coward! He was only trying to deliver news to Heru'ur, his god and lord.

Footsteps on the road alerted Herak to the presence of others in the vicinity. He turned slightly to the right, faking injury to make himself appear less threatening in case it was the enemy, and saw a group of at least twenty jaffa stop next to him. They had to be late troops on their way to reinforce the assault.

"Commander Herak?" the leader of the group asked, confused. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be leading the assault?"

"We were attacked by an unknown enemy force! I came back to inform Lord Heru'ur of this new threat!"

The jaffa nodded, understanding. "Heru'ur already knows: a ship appeared in the orbit and began deploying drop ships immediately. It destroyed a mothership when it ventured too close, but has done nothing since. I have no further information on the matter, but I suggest we retreat."

Herak was about to say something, until a jaffa pointed forward and asked, "Wait, what is that?"

Slowly they all turned towards the fortress and couldn't help gasping in shock when a lone figure seemed to appear out of a blur, like it had moved too fast for them to see. But what was more striking was the figure itself.

The figure was wearing a red robe that billowed in a gentle breeze; a white helmet with a black faceplate and glaring ruby red eyes; and strange, dimly glowing armor that barely even covered his chest. He held a sword that pulsed regularly in his gloved hands, keeping it pointed towards the ground like the jaffa were not worthy of his time.

"Who are you?" Herak demanded. Next to him, the jaffa formed single line and aimed their primed staff weapons at the man. "I'll ask again. Who are-"

Before Herak could finish his question, the man vanished in a blur.

Trusting his honed battle instincts, Herak dropped to his knees, barely dodging a sword swing that would have taken his head cleanly off. The others were not so lucky, however, and they all fell to ground, their heads or limbs cut off. Herak stood up and broke into run, hoping to get away.

Unfortunately, the moment he turned around he came face-to-face with the robed killer. He instantly recoiled, stumbling on his own feet and falling to the ground. He stared, horrified, as the man took a step closer, sword held high in the air for a finishing strike.

The sword descended down upon the downed jaffa commander.

Herak quickly rolled to the side as the sword struck down. He jumped up and grabbed a staff weapon from a dead jaffa, priming and aiming it at the robed man as he freed his sword from ground. Strangely, the man sheathed the blade and reached for a holster at his hip.

"Die!" Herak screamed and fired. His face split into a wide smirk as the energy blasts flew through the air at the man, only for his expression to turn into one of shock and fear as the shots dissipated without even touching him.

The man grabbed the object in his holster and in a lightning fast motion whipped his arm up, pointing the object at Herak. Then, he pulled the trigger, sending razor sharp discs into Herak's face.

Herak fell to the ground, while the mysterious man vanished in a blur once again. He stayed alive for a moment more, feeling his blood bleed from his face. He was actually happy now, knowing he had served his god to the bitter end. He knew he would join his predecessors in the great beyond where all the great warriors of ages lived eternally. He knew his almighty god would always reward the likes of his, the most courageous, cunning and strongest of all men in his service!

And so died the great jaffa commander Herak.

Just another corpse among others, unremembered and unsung.

Ro'nak slammed open a heavy, rusted metal door as he ran as fast as his feet let him.

He didn't know how long he had been running down corridors and across old, dusty rooms, but he did know that he most almost where Meron and his jaffa were. He wondered why these rooms looked so untouched if Sokar had his experimentation chamber down here and came here regularly. Maybe he was just lost in the complex.

Ro'nak slammed another door open, only to see something he didn't expect to see: the Tau'ri team who were supposed to follow him.

"There you are, Ro'nak!" said Captain Carter. "You shouldn't have run off like that!"

"Wha... How did you get ahead of me?" Ro'nak asked, walking to the group with confused look on his face.

Doctor Jackson took a deep breath before replying. "Actually, Ro'nak, you ran off to the wrong direction and got lost. We were worried you wouldn't find your way back here."

Ro'nak blinked a few times in confusion. "I went to the wrong way?" he asked mostly himself, before taking a look around him. True to Doctor Jackson's words, he was back in the entrance room to the damned complex. He felt like bashing his head to a brick wall in embarrassment.

"Things like that happen, Ro'nak," said Captain Carter reassuringly. "Now, could we get going already? You said there was something evil down here, and I really don't want to find some Sokar replica." Her tone was quite forceful, but she made her point perfectly clear; no one wanted another monster like Sokar or Ulkair.

The very thought of those two monster made Ro'nak flinch. He didn't want to remember the devastation Ulkair caused, or the fear inducing aura Sokar spread with his will; it was shocking he was the only one who could resist this aura of fear.

"We should hurry," said Teal'c calmly like always. "The battle outside will spread inside any moment, and we cannot waste our time waiting."

Everyone nodded and went for the door opposite the one Ro'nak had gone through and come from. He still wanted to bang his head into a wall for that embarrassing mistake that cost them all precious time. If he hadn't screwed up like that then maybe they could have already stopped the beast from escaping from its prison.

Together they pushed the metal door blocking their way open, and entered the room slowly. It was a large, empty room with an open door on the opposite side.

Wasting no time, they went through the doorway, running down the dark corridor beyond until they came into a dimly lit room. The room was very big and had no furniture or equipment of any kind anywhere. On the other side of the room was a large gate that was locked with chains, metal bars and most likely with an internal locking mechanism as well.

"Meron!" yelled Ro'nak, seeing his friend and a handful jaffa standing in front of the gate, studying it. "Stop! Everyone, stop!"

That caught everybody's attention.

"Ro'nak? What are you doing here?" asked Meron, walking to his friend.

"I came to warn you all! There is something evil down here, locked away long before Sokar came!" Ro'nak noticed the Tau'ri woman talking to the two Tok'ra, which made him wonder where the representative was - unless those two were assigned to be the representatives. That would make his future negotiations with the Tok'ra much easier.

Ro'nak frantically looked around as everyone came closer to hear him out; he was searching for any sign what might have caused the growling in his vision. Finding nothing, he explained what his vision told him, ignoring the strange headache that was beginning to make itself known. It was hard to concentrate while the headache continued pound in his temples, clouding his thoughts, but despite that he was able to explain what had occurred.

Then, the gates shattered.

Oh, thank god! It's finally done!

The Shard of Void Weaver is from the Apocalypse book and will be seen in action in the next chapter.

The warlock is the one who was wrestling with the ranger, and his power is moving at insane speeds as you've seen. This was inspired by Imperial power, quickening. Herak was the First Prime of Anubis in the series, but now he's a lieutenant of Heru'ur since Anubis won't be villain (Yes, shocking, isn't it?). Anubis will most likely be the only good goa'uld, and someone will take his place as a villain.

Bye!