A/N: Yay! I finally got my FCE-test results back. Pass with 82/100.
Reviews are welcome!
Chapter 23 – The Interview
"Greetings. My name is Richard Woolsey. I am sent by the NID to interview you about the mission you suggested." Said Woolsey as he entered the room.
"I understand." Minos said.
"First I'd like to start with who you are. Can you tell me something about yourself?" Woolsey asked.
"I am Minos. I am an Ancient, as you may or may not know. I rule over one planet, Avalon, and there is a treaty between our two planets."
"Ok. May I ask how old you are?" Woolsey asked.
"You may certainly ask, but I don't you if you'll like my answer. I am waaay older than I look."
"I'm guessing that you are not planning on telling me exactly how old you are." Woolsey said.
"You're right on that one. I have told no one in the past ten millennia exactly how old I am." Minos said.
"Let's move on. I'd like to know how you reign over your planet, Avalon."
"If you don't mind me asking, what does this have to do with the mission?" Minos asked.
"It is merely a guide to be able to comprehend what kind of person you are." Woolsey answered.
"Aha, ok. Well, I rule over my planet in what you would call a monarchy, but I am as Signor Machiavelli called it, a 'ruler by love'. I don't use violence as a weapon or threat, I use it only for protection from outside attacks. If there is a problem on Avalon, I am always the one to offer assistance and help."
"Do you know Machiavelli?" Woolsey asked.
"Yes, I did know him. But I didn't like him, he was crazy. I've been on Earth more times than you know, though most of them were quite a while ago."
"I understand. What would you do if Avalon came under attack from an outside force?" Woolsey asked.
"Well, that depends on the attack. If the attack consists of ground-troops that come through the Stargate, then I steal their armour, weapons and other supplies they have and then I send them back. And if they're really annoying I send them back naked. Unless they murdered several of my people, then they die." Minos said calmly.
"And what do you do if they come by ship?"
"If it is only one ship I hijack it and beam every jaffa down and they get send through the Stargate. And I keep their weapons, armour and supplies. And the ship, of course."
"So you posses a fleet of ships?" Woolsey asked.
"Yes, and no. I do have some ships in storage on Avalon, and no I am not going to use them." Minos said.
"Why not?" Woolsey asked.
"I am saving and preparing them for later use. Yes, I can tell what is about to come, until a certain degree. And yes, I will need all those ships, as many as I can get. That is partially why I wanted to go on this mission." Minos said, shifting the discussion back towards the mission.
"Yes, I've heard that you had promised that there were ships involved."
"Promised, no. Highly probable? Yes. It is my main route of escape. And since I can only pilot one ship at a time, I'll need more people if I'm going to steal more ships.
"I see. Can you tell me anything about the planet those ships are on? Is it heavily guarded and are there any minerals abundant in the system?" Woolsey asked.
"Certainly. The planet is called Pe'klo. It has been under control of Anubis since quite some time. It was one of the first planets he conquered. The planet itself is rich in minerals such as naquadah and neutronium. It houses a Goa'uld shipyard, and there is a small fleet in orbit to defend the planet from attackers by ship. I plan to steal that fleet, and all the possible supplies we can get from down on the planet."
"Where is the planet located?" Woolsey asked.
"I don't know how to tell you, because I don't know how your system works. It is located in the inner rim of Anubis' territory."
"Is there any danger from other fleets and armies?" Woolsey asked.
"Not really. The planet is far enough away to give us at least a few hours before the rest of Anubis' fleet can intercept, but there is an army of Jaffa and probably Kull warriors. I can deal with the jaffa easily and with the new anti-armour gun the Kull warriors shouldn't pose much of a problem too."
"So you need the anti-armour gun for the mission to succeed?" Woolsey said, trying to explore a way to get more out of this deal.
"I don't actually need the gun for the mission to succeed, but it would be a extremely helpful asset. I can defeat Kull warriors without it, but it'd go way faster if I had the gun."
"Aha. I understand. Would there be any chance that Anubis attacks us because of the raid?"
"I don't exactly know. Anubis is so dangerous because he is quite unpredictable. But if you would be attacked, I'm quite certain that the Asgard would at least help you, and if you give me a head warning I'll send in some troops too. He might suspect that we have stolen his ships and goods, but he wouldn't know for certain. I'm planning on using an uninhabited decoy planet to prevent him from finding out where we came from. Though he probably knows where Avalon or Earth is by now."
"You're saying that we might be under threat from Anubis?"
"Might be in the same way that everything in the whole galaxy is under threat from Anubis. He was already dangerous when I beat him last time, but now he is even more dangerous."
"You beat Anubis?"
"In a way. I infiltrated his ship, murdered my way through his personal guards but when I reached him myself I was just too late. He was away to a place where even I wouldn't go. He had ascended, though I don't know by which means. I stole several of his ships, and I murdered all the important commanders he had, leaving his armies leaderless. The system lords did the rest."
"You stole several of his ships?"
"Indeed. I did."
"And what happened to them?"
"I kept them, partially for my own defence and partially for storage. But I already told you why."
"Oh, yeah. Can you tell me a bit more about what the dangers on this mission are?" Woolsey asked.
"Of course. The most danger comes from the Kull warriors, but we have the anti-armour gun to cover those, and from the fleet. So we have to move fast, to avoid detection from the fleet."
"What do you plan on doing if the fleet bombards you from orbit?"
"Duck away, shoot back and escape through the gate."
"And if the gate is guarded by jaffa and kulls?"
"Duck away, shoot back and escape through the gate when all the jaffa are dead."
"And what if someone gets hurt?"
"Depends on how serious it is. If someone threw his toe against something, then I don't think it will really endanger the mission. But if someone is seriously injured, there is always the sarcophagus on the planet, and there are always some healing items on the ships. I can operate both well enough to cure most injuries."
"Most?"
"If someone had an unlucky collision with a black hole it would be too tough to repair, even for me."
"Aha. I see. But how would you respond if someone of the group got lost?"
"I'd find him and drag him back towards the group personally."
"OK. And what would you do if your group somehow got separated, and one part of the group got caught by the enemy before you could find them?"
"Well, if they're in a prison I can easily get them out. And if they're not in a prison I don't see why they would need me to escape."
"And what if one of them is injured?"
"I'd heal them, but you already asked that question."
"Oh, I'm sorry. What would you do if you discovered an large threat on the mission?"
"That depends on what the threat is. If it's a ship, I'd either steal it or destroy it. If it's a weapon of mass destruction, I'd destroy it."
"Would you not try to steal a weapon of mass destruction?"
"No, I would not. Weapons of mass destruction threaten most often civilians. I do not threaten civilians for something there government or military have done, no matter how bad. Not until I am provoked, and then only in very small measures. Innocent ones should never have to suffer for the crimes of their government."
"I understand. We have such a policy too here on Earth. Sadly, there are still many weapons of mass destruction left from the cold war. But what would you do if one of Anubis' Jaffa, or Kull warriors perhaps, would take civilians hostage?"
"I'd first try to reason with them, but if that does not work I'd use brute force to take out the jaffa or kulls responsible."
"I understand. I believe I have enough information now to report to my superiors. Thank you for your time." Woolsey said as he left.
"Goodbye, Mister Woolsey." Minos said as Woolsey left the room.
"Well, that wasn't so bad as I expected." Minos said to O'Neill, who stood waiting outside the room.
"Really?" O'Neill asked in surprise.
"Yeah. I've had interrogations that were much worse than this one. Especially the ones by the Goa'uld." Minos answered.
"Yeah, ok I've been 'interrogated' by the Goa'uld a few times myself, and a few times to many at that. They love killing me, that's for certain."
"They enjoyed killing me too. But that was only until I escaped, and started to 'haunt' them straight through the galaxy. That part is fun for me instead of for them."
"I can imagine." O'Neill said with a grin. "Now let's hope the NID and the Pentagon guys in Washington approve the mission. I'd really like to annoy Anubis a little."
"We aren't going to annoy him a little, we're gonna steal a . That's kind of a big annoyance, seeing that I'll probably blow up all the shipyards on the planet, and steal a heckload of weapons-grade naquadah. He certainly isn't going to like that."
"If I could laugh evilly like they always do in movies, I'd do it now."
"You can't?" Minos asked.
"Nope. Never tried, too. I'm more of a movie quote guy." O'Neill answered.
"Aha. I see." Minos said. "Do you think that Woolsey guy can laugh evilly?" Minos asked.
"Woolsey? I'd be surprised if that guy even can laugh. Or show emotions. He's like a Vulcan or something."
"The Vulcans from the tv-show?" Minos asked.
"Exactly the ones. How'd you know?"
"Well, you mentioned them when we were on Thor's ship on our way to the replicator home planet. And Carter explained it when Thor didn't understand it."
"Oh, yeah. I remember now. It was right after you transported back onto the bridge after you were healed by the Asgard healing thingies."
"Yep. They did a pretty good job at repairing me then. I would have died there, if it weren't for their medical technologies."
"Yeah, the Asgard are pretty advanced, waaay ahead of everything we've seen until now, except for maybe the Ancients."
"No, I think their medical technology can rival the ones of the Ancients now. Well, the last medical technology of the Ancients I can recall having seen, at least."
"Which is from when exactly?" O'Neill asked curiously.
"A long time ago." Minos answered.