Chapter 4: The most awkward briefing ever, of all time. (Thalia)
My second trip through a Stargate wasn't any more graceful than the first. The acid trip space tunnel was just as disorienting, and despite spending a few years developing my balance and skills as a huntress, I still stumbled my way out of the other gate. Then, Leo managed to crash right into my back and knock us both forward. I quickly got to my feet and glared at Leo, who apologized before taking a step back. The gate on this end was housed in a large rectangular room with concrete walls and blast doors. There was also a row of windows on the wall opposite the gate, where there seemed to be some kind of control room. The mortals waited for us at the bottom of a catwalk ramp, and I spotted 2 groups of armed soldiers near the exits. I almost reacted, but I noticed their weapons were down. Don't be so jumpy I told myself, we need these people to find Jason and Luke.
Jason and Luke, 2 of the people who I missed the most in the whole world, and who caused me the most pain. Luke's betrayal was a big part of why I joined Artemis in the first place. And Jason…well…losing a sibling is painful. Losing a sibling, finding out he's alive 13 years later, then losing him again…Let's just say I wasn't in a good place for a while after I heard the news. But now, with the 2 of them both ripped from their resting places by these Ori, and that crazy Orici lady taking Hazel and Frank, I'd say I was more than justified in being a little on edge.
The seven of us quickly grouped up and followed the mortals down the ramp. "Welcome to the SGC," Mitchell explained. They lead us past the guards and into a series of hallways. Nico ended up taking the lead, seemingly knowing the layout despite having never been here before. "Is this an old missile complex?" Annabeth asked. "Yeah, this place was built when we thought the Russians would be the end of the world, I'd say our priorities have shifted a little since then," Daniel explained. That meant we were underground, which explained why Nico was navigating so well (and why I was more uncomfortable than I should have been).
The mortals led us to a room of guest quarters, but before we were allowed inside we were told we needed to surrender our weapons. "C'mon, it's just protocol, we'll hang onto them until you guys leave,". While no one seemed particularly happy about this, we proceeded to hand over our weapons to the soldiers. I saw Annabeth reluctantly hand over her dagger and sword, but hang on to her yankees cap. Once we were allowed in, I caught Percy and Reyna smirking. They had weapons that could be concealed as everyday items, but then again so did I. The soldiers hadn't noticed the silver bracelet containing my shield, Aegis. I guess that might come in handy I thought.
As we spread out amongst the bunk beds, we realized we were now alone and since there were no visible cameras, we could actually discuss and process the situation. I wanted to talk with Percy and Annabeth about the whole Luke situation, but before I could Reyna pulled me aside. "Are you good?" she asked. "What do you think? Are you?" I replied. My expression softened as I realized that wasn't entirely fair. "I'm sorry,", "no no it's fine, I get it," she replied. Reyna had been through the ringer because of boys herself, though it wasn't entirely Jason's fault. Jason had been her co praetor before Hera abducted him and threw him across the country, and when he came back he was on a Greek ship with a Greek girlfriend. To make matters worse, any catching up or explanation was cut short by having to save the world from Gaea. Then, after finding some sense or normalcy, he dies, and she's forced to lead his funeral procession across her camp. Now, not only was Jason taken but the 2 people who took her place as praetor were as well. "We'll get them back, Reyna, provided they don't escape before we get there," I said. Reyna chuckled. "Yes we will, all of them. Even if we have to bust our way out of this place and dangle Mrs Orici over Tartarus personally,".
After a few minutes I managed to make my way over to Percy and Annabeth. "Did you see him?" she asked, "Yep," I replied. "What in Hades is he doing there? Were he and Jason taken from Elysium?".
"I dunno, but Percy had a dream the night before," .
"Oh really, anything helpful?".
Percy responds "Maybe. I saw both of them in the underworld before things kicked off. But that isn't the interesting part,".
"Well what is?".
"Right after the attack started, it's like someone or something saw me watching and trapped me. I couldn't make out any details other than a bunch of fire, and a symbol,".
Percy pulled out a napkin with a sketch of a symbol on it. It looked like a staff with an open circular top that had a pearl inside. After a moment, I recognized it. "Is that?". "The symbol that was on that wizard we killed, you got it," Annabeth explained. Demigod dreams can be cryptic and unhelpful, and they don't normally allow you a good night's sleep. However, if you're lucky, you might learn something important. While it wasn't much to go on, we at least had something to ask about for later. I got up, but just as soon as I managed to return to my bunk, a soldier knocked on and opened the door, telling us to come to a debriefing.
The base was an interesting mix of what looked like both military and civilian personnel, which is to say our motley crew stuck out a lot. Fortunately, the conference room wasn't too far, and we entered to see the 5 mortals along with another at the end of the wood table. I wasn't super familiar with military ranks, but his age and presence immediately gave away that he was probably the head of this operation. "Have a seat," he said with a gruff voice, "I'm General Landry, commander of the SGC. You've already met SG-1 (gesturing to the team),". The table was a little cramped with 13 of us, but we just about managed to fit. I caught sight of Nico sitting as far back as possible. Poor guy. While spending time with Will had been helping him lighten up, he was still not the most social demigod. Surrounded by so many strangers, and with us about to be the center of attention, I imagine it was tempting to just disappear into the shadows.
Once we were all settled, the general quickly got to business. "According to SG-1's report, you were pursuing an Ori force through an Ancient device when they found you on P3Z-242,". After a confused pause, Annabeth responded "Yes, sir," and quickly mouthed the planet to the rest of the group. Really? That's how they named other planets? Landry then continued "Then I hope you don't mind explaining how a bunch of teenagers armed with swords and bows managed to follow an interstellar army to another universe, or why the Ori would go so out of their way to capture your friends?".
Styx. While I appreciated how direct Landry was, this was the thing I hoped we weren't going to have to explain. So we fought them off with an army of undead in the Underworld, then followed them through the gate. Oh and by the way, we're all part god! And some of those friends we told you about were dead! I just hoped people who'd been to other planets might be more understanding than the average mortal.
Leo almost started to speak, but Piper stopped him. "Most of us attend a summer camp on Long Island for gifted teens. They have courses on historical combat, and we were in the middle of a 'battle' when the Ori showed up and took our friends," she explained. Damn she was good, and as far as I could tell she hadn't used her Charmspeak. It helped that she was wearing a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. She quickly continued "As for why, we have no idea, they showed up, started shooting, took our friends, and retreated using one of their ring platforms. When we followed, we appeared in a mountain range just outside the cave where we found that gate device,". Her story was a pretty good cover, but I could tell they weren't completely buying it.
Vala was the next to speak. "Did Adria- I mean the Orici say anything to you? She might've given away something to explain why they went after your friends,". Adria, so Vala knew the Orici's name, I knew there was a connection there! I saw Piper exchange glances with Annabeth, Reyna, and Percy. Reyna then explained "she said something about us being imbued with power from the higher beings of our universe,". SG-1 looked shocked, even Teal'c raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Wait wait wait, are you saying you have Ascended powers?," Daniel asked.
"What the heck is an Ascended?" I countered.
"Beings who have evolved and ascended to a higher plane of existence. They are effectively immortal and have tremendous natural power," Daniel explained.
"You mean like gods?" Percy asked.
"Yes… from a certain point of view," Daniel answered "while they are technically higher life forms, they aren't perfect or immune to making mistakes,".
"Though they like to pretend they don't," Mitchell added.
If that didn't describe the gods to a tee. The similarities were almost uncanny. Could these mortals have had interactions with Olympus? How? Why?
Sam was the next to chime in. "But that doesn't make any sense. Ascended beings for the most part don't share power, and when they do it's to help others ascend. How could you all have their power but still be human?". Teal'c then suggested "there is one exception, Colonel Carter,". Vala looked a little uncomfortable (definitely a connection) as Daniel countered "The Ori only did that as a way to sneak someone with ascended power into this…galaxy,". He trailed off, coming to some sort of realization.
I was startled when Nico spoke up "What do you mean, this galaxy?" he asked. SG-1 exchanged glances with Landry, who reluctantly nodded. Daniel then launched into a rapid (and seemingly well rehearsed) explanation. "There are 2 main groups of Ascended beings we are aware of. The first we encountered we call the Ancients, they came to and inhabited this galaxy thousands of years ago. They created the Stargates, and seeded other planets with them as a way to facilitate easy interstellar travel. Eventually, they accumulated so much knowledge they discovered how to ascend, and left pieces of the technology behind. With a few exceptions, they avoid making contact with our plane of existence, and have rules against any kind of interference," (that must be nice).
He continued "Last year we discovered that a splinter group of their society from their home galaxy, who we call the Ori, also learned how to ascend. But instead of keeping to themselves they created a religion that forced people to worship them, which feeds their power,".
Vala elaborated "so when they…discovered this galaxy and its billions of unconverted inhabitants…".
"And found out that their old buddies the Ancients were still around," Mitchell added
"They set their sights upon this galaxy and have spent the last 14 months converting all who are willing, and destroying those who are not," Teal'c finished.
New universe, same damn conflict. It was like the Titans and Gaea all over again. If Adria was whatever the Ori equivalent of a demigod was, I didn't want to see what the Ori themselves could do. Which means it's all the more important we find her and stop her ASAP. I thought. Annabeth then pointed out "That must be why she went after our friends, she must think she can convert them and use their power to help the Ori,".
Still not quite satisfied, Sam piped up "But that still doesn't explain why Ascended beings in your universe would share power with so many at such a young age. There's something you're not telling us,". For the love of Zeus! We're wasting time! Could you just let it go so we can find my brother? These people clearly had some trust issues, and while I couldn't exactly blame them I felt myself tensing up.
We exchanged a few nervous glances, and Percy eventually bit the bullet and tried to explain. "Well… in our universe…gods exist. They're similar to the Ascended beings you describe, but they aren't very good about not interfering,". Percy paused for a moment and looked up, as if he expected to be turned into a mouse right then and there. "Occasionally they come down to earth and…hook up with normal humans. The seven of us are all demigods, or half-bloods, whichever makes more sense,". In one fell swoop it seemed like all of the credibility we'd built up evaporated. Teal'c then asked "which gods are you referring to?". Percy nervously respond "well, I'm a son of Posiedon, (gesturing to Annabeth) she's a daughter of Athena, (to Leo) he's a son of Hephaestus, (now quickly gesturing) Aphrodite, Hades, Bellona, Zeus,".
Teal'c was now glaring at us intently "That is not possible,".
"Why not?" I responded
"Because the beings that claimed to be the gods from human myth were not gods, nor were they Ascended beings. They were known as the Goa'uld, and they were the leaders of a galaxy spanning empire, who ruled for thousands of years by oppressing the populations of inhabited worlds, using advanced technology to fool them into believing the Goa'uld were gods, we proved otherwise," Teal'c explained.
Oh Styx! Did the gods not exist in this universe? They couldn't have, or they would never have allowed these Goa'uld to impersonate them. That meant we really were in uncharted territory, and we were well and truly on our own. The meeting fell into chaos, "real subtle Seaweed Brain, what was your plan?" I questioned.
"They were being straight with us! I thought they'd earned the truth," Percy responded
"How would you know they were telling the truth? Now they think we're either a bunch of crazy kids or we're all half alien," I spit back
"Thalia" Annabeth warned. "Take it easy," Reyna added. I didn't feel like taking it easy, my whole body had tensed up and my fists were clenched. Hoping for any good news, I turned back to SG-1, who had erupted in their own argument.
"If they were just Goa'uld and mortal offspring that doesn't explain Adria's interest," Vala said.
"But what are the odds that we would have the same gods, but theirs are real?" Mitchell added.
"As fantastical as it sounds we can't know for sure unless we examine them," Sam explained.
"Could something like what they are describing even be possible?" Landry asked.
"In another universe… anything could be possible. Besides what they described partially lines up with what we know Ascended beings," Daniel reasoned.
"In any case we should not trust their story until it can be verified," Teal'c advised
"Then that's what we'll have to do," Landry finished.
Landry then yelled and grabbed our attention. Once he had it, he said "While you haven't done anything to make us doubt your intentions, we unfortunately can't trust your story until it can be verified,". "And how exactly are you planning on doing that?" Leo asked. "Colonel Carter believes there are some tests we can run that will allow us to-" I cut Landry off "Tests! You expect us to let you examine us and run a bunch of gods damn tests while our friends are out there being converted by an evil space messiah! I smelled ozone in the air as I started to storm out. SG-1 got up and started to back up. Then Percy grabbed my hand to hold me back. Reflexively, I punched him, but I accidentally zapped him and sent him flying into the opposite wall. Percy tried to regain his breath and pick himself up; his T-shirt was singed and smoking a little. "Percy, I'm sorry I didn't mean to-" I was cut off when the water from the nearby cooler jug smacked me in the face and slammed me into the wall. I blinked the water out of my eyes and stood up quickly, electricity arcing between my fingers as I stared Percy down.
"Stop fighting! Calm down!" Piper yelled. All of my anger seemed to evaporate as I relaxed. I looked around to see not only Percy, but everyone else in the room stop and relax, as if there was never a reason to be fighting in the first place. After a few seconds, the instant calm started to fade. It may not be flashy, but Charmspeak could be incredibly useful sometimes. Part of me wanted to be mad at Piper, but I quickly realized I wasn't thinking straight. Percy and I shared an apologetic look, and we turned to see the group of mortals, which now included a few guards from outside, in various states of shock. Even Teal'c seemed genuinely surprised.
Leo was the first to speak up "See? We were telling the truth. Now could we get back to the part where we help each other stop 3 of my best friends from being forced into a space cult? Pretty Please?"