Mercer had to appreciate the relative calmness of Millennium. During the early days of the Stargate Program, the SGC was faced with constant threat of Goa'uld invasion. Then Atlantis was under constant threat of wraith invasion. And while Caldwell 70 had more than a few hostile civilizations, none had singled them out. The city was going about its daily business and Mercer went down to get some food from the cafeteria. He patiently waited in line, watching the food servers scoop out whatever was cooking. There was fried chicken, baked beans, some sort of European fish pastry, a variety of Italian pastas, and one of the cooks was a Turk who wanted to show off what he described as 'an ice cream that does not melt'.
Mercer slowly made his way down, graciously excepting a bowl of ice cream along with his fish pastry. As he reached the end of the line, one of the cooks seemed to flag him down.
"General," the cook said with exaggerated glee. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Just grabbing lunch," Mercer said with a smile. "Same as I do every day. No need to make a scene."
"How can I not make a big deal when our brave leader graces us with his presence? Perhaps you could try something for me. Trying out these new potatoes from botany! I hear they tried mixing in alien plant DNA with the new plants to speed up growth" The cook quickly reached behind the counter and lifted up a bowl of steaming mashed potatoes. "On the house!"
"Well when you put it like that..." Mercer said in the same warm tone, letting the cook place the bowl on his tray.
"Let me know what you think of the potatoes!" the cook called after him as Mercer walked away, the old man letting out a hearty laugh as he waved goodbye.
Mercer wasted no time heading back to his office.
On the house...
Mercer knew what this meant. The moment he got back to his office he set down the tray before taking a seat. He picked up his fork and began gently prodding the mashed potatoes. He could still hear the oil sizzling from the heat. After a moment, his fork hit something solid. He gently used his fork to shovel out a small crystal from the potatoes.
A Tau'ri USB would probably be damaged being put with a bowl of freshly baked mashed potatoes. But a Goa'uld memory crystal would survive. There were easier ways of delivering new orders than memory crystals inside mashed potatoes. The green crystal was a lot shorter than most memory crystals so it wouldn't store as much data, but it would still hold a lot. There must've been instructions inside. Probably for another meeting. After the terrific failure on the part of the Tok'ra, tensions were at an all time high. Ending their little coalition and any relations between the races would raise suspicions. But the Tau'ri would not do nothing either. Am-heh was very curious to see how this all went.
Mercer used a napkin to wipe down the crystal before sliding it into a desk drawer. He had just closed the drawer when he heard the door to his office open again.
SLAM.
General Mercer looked at the small stack of papers slammed on his desk before looking up at Corin Nevec standing before him.
"I assume there is a reason you chose to barge into my office," Mercer asked calmly. Corin still looked angry. He had been angry for the past few days every since Mercer announced his plan to try to form an alliance with the Ror'char. Well, it was Nova's idea but Corin didn't know that.
"Consider that my resignation letter," Corin said. Mercer looked down at the papers tossed at him, finally reaching over to scan through them.
"Resignation?" Mercer repeated. "You consider your being here a form of employment?"
"What else would it be?" Corin scoffed. "Look, General. I joined you since I thought you guys might fight against the Ror'char, overthrow them. But in all the time I've been here we've made no headway to that and now we might even ally ourselves with them." Corin shook his head.
"And tell me, Professor," Mercer said, still reading the papers presented. "Where would you go after this?"
"We know a few pirate havens. Drop me off there, I'll figure out the rest."
"I fear I cannot grant your request," Mercer said, finally setting down the papers. "You know too much about Millennium, our security, and our modus operandi."
"General, you've kept stringent security on everything military related," Corin pointed out. "I'm not military, least of all your military. I wasn't even allowed to go into certain parts of the city since I didn't have the clearance for it. I don't have any knowledge regarding any security codes except the password to my computer. General, I could tell everything I know and it wouldn't be worth a damn. I can leave this city without any security risk. Or am I a prisoner?" Corin stepped back, holding his arms out as if he had just proven a point. "Your call."
-.-
Nova slowly walked through a small town, looking at the stores on either side. With all the chaos going on across the planet, it was nice to know her hometown was still relatively peaceful. It was nice to be out of her military uniforms. She felt comfortable in a purple sleeveless shirt with a denim jacket and jeans.
She looked up at the spring sky. The chirping birds on the roof were almost deceptive. This whole town was deceptive. All across the news and the internet you see stories of entire cities in flames. Here, all was calm.
Nova paused in front of a general store, looking up at the giant letters on the banner hanging above.
"Nelson's Shop," she muttered. She gently pushed open the door, the bell giving a welcoming chime.
"Pops?" she called out. There was a musty smell in the air so she knew he had to be in. It was the air freshener he always like to use and sprayed recently too from the smell of it. Nova looked at the far wall, photos displayed all across it. There was a young black man with his wife and eight-year-old daughter. There was his daughter again, this time twelve years old. Then fifteen. Then nothing. There was nothing with his wife nor daughter after that picture.
Nova also saw pictures of herself. There she was at twenty years of age. She was not in good shape, her hair ragged and half covering her face, bags under her eyes like she hadn't slept in days. Though, she stood in front of the shop with the black man, a small smile on her face. The next picture of her was vastly different. She was in her Air Force uniform, standing tall and proud…at least looking proud. She remembered she felt like an undeserving imposter when that photo was taken.
Nova walked up to the counter, looking at the call bell sitting on it. She tapped it a few times, the ear-splitting ring echoing. It wasn't anywhere near the volume of a gunshot, but there was something about hearing it in the silence that made it seem louder.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," a voice from the back room called out. There was a click as the door to the back opened, the tap of a walking cane was audible from where she stood.
She saw a squat black man slowly walk out from the back, though his height could be blamed on his hunch. The hair on his head and cheeks were short but clearly visible because of how white they were, especially on his dark skin. He looked up and stopped in his tracks.
"Hey, pops," Nova said with a nervous wave. Nelson looked at Nova before hobbling towards her with his cane, letting out a hearty laugh.
"Look at you!" he chuckled. "Don't stand at the counter looking like a lost puppy. Come here!"
Nova walked over to Nelson, unable to hide her smile. The old man cupped her cheeks as if to hold her head still so he could get a good look at her.
"Major of the US Air Force," Nelson said. "I knew you would get far."
Nova felt her cheeks flush at Nelson's praise.
"I only got this far because of you," she said. "The things I did disqualified me from any branch. You're the one who helped me get a moral waiver. You helped get me in."
"There is no person on this planet more deserving of a second chance than you," Nelson said. "How long will you be here? Your room is still up there. Didn't touch a thing."
"You kept it?"
"Never had the heart to get rid of any of your stuff," he explained.
Nova looked at the door to the back. She remembered walking through this building. She walked into the back room, spotting the stairs to the left. The backroom, and the rest of the store for that matter, had this old feel to it. It wasn't that it was messy or that the room was falling apart. Quite the contrary, it was well put together and neat. But there was something about the walls that made them feel old, or that the wood was not as sturdy as they could be.
Nova made her way up the stairs to the second floor, stopping to admire the oak floorboards. There were four doors in the hall on the second floor, and Nova went for the one at the end of the hall.
The room was plain as could be. There was a purple bed in the corner next to the window but that was it. She wasn't exactly in the best place last time she was there.
"You weren't kidding when you said you didn't touch anything," Nova said with a chuckle.
"Maybe now you can do some decorating," Nelson remarked, hobbling his way into the room. "Got any souvenirs out in the galaxy, space ranger?"
"None I'm allowed to bring home," Nova said with a smile. "How'd you figure out I'm part of it?"
"Well, them leaks on the internet did show the date of the Millennium Expedition and it's also the date you left."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you what I was up to."
Nelson just waved the apology away.
"I was flying secret mission in AH-1 Cobras while you were still in diapers," he laughed.
"I don't think I was actually born yet when you were doing that."
"Point is, you have nothing to apologize for," he said, hobbling into the room with his cane." What did you parents thinks about you doing this?"
Nova looked away. She knew Nelson didn't mean much by it but it was a sensitive subject for her.
"Dad's gone," Nova sighed. "Died in a car crash. Looks like I got my wish."
"Theresa got her wish. You are not her. What about your mother?"
"Avoided her the moment the stargate went public. Hayes was one of our biggest supporters and she also hated Hayes so…"
"You may wish to talk to her," Nelson said. "Something as small as that shouldn't be enough to split your family over."
Nova looked away, contemplating the issue. She reconnected with her mother last time she was here. It would be a shame if she was to just drop everything. A few years back she would never have dared. But, her mind drifting back to Wolf Pack, the reward of a family was worth the risk of pain.
"You're smiling."
Nova was snapped out of her stupor by Nelson's comment.
"What?" she stuttered.
"You're smiling."
"I've smiled before."
"But not like this." Nelson chuckled mischievously as his mind went over all the possibilities. "What's his name?"
Nova blinked a few times, not expecting the sudden question.
"Oh, Corin Nevec," Nova said.
A grin spread across Nelson's face.
"And Charles Martin."
"Wait, what?" Nelson stuttered.
"Steven Chen…"
Nelson burst out laughing when he realized what Nova thought he meant.
"What?" she asked in confusion.
"It's nothing," he said, still wheezing from his laughter. "Well, I'm glad you found happiness in not one but three fine gentlemen."
Nova still had no clue what he meant. But, it seemed he was happy that Nova was happy so that was all that mattered.
"Hey, Pops," Nova said. "I'm going to need a place to stay while I'm back. Mind if I reclaim my old room? I'll even help with the store while I'm here."
Nelson chuckled, tapping his cane on the ground.
"Welcome home, Terra Nova," he said.
-.-
It was embarrassing to say, but it had been so long since Nova had to drive to the SGC she actually forgot how to get there. It took longer than she wanted but she made it to Cheyenne Mountain, and checked in at the guard post before she drove into the tunnel. She first noticed something strange when she noted a fleet of government cars in the parking lot.
She took the elevator down. As she stepped into the cement halls, she noticed three IOA agents walk down the hall. She had to stop herself from rolling her eyes in front of the three government agents. She'd just got there and already she's running into the IOA.
"Major Nova!" a voice called out from behind her. At first Nova thought some IOA bureaucrat was calling her, maybe to complain about her performance or something. Then she realized there was something familiar about the voice. She turned around and her eyes fell upon a raggedy face she'd seen before.
"Peterson!" she exclaimed excitedly. Peterson quickly jogged up to her, still maintaining his professional demeanor but clearly excited to see her again. It had been a while since Nova even laid eyes on Peterson let alone spoken to him. She remembered he had lent a hand with Operation Typhon when they took down the last of The Trust.
"You're back!" he said. "I heard Typhon returned but I didn't know you came back too."
"You know what's going on here?" Nova asked as another three IOA agents walked past. Normally, when this many IOA agents show up, that meant the SGC was under scrutiny of some sort. But no one on base seemed to have the agitated look that accompanied that sort of thing.
But the IOA definitely were up to something.
Peterson gave a shrug.
"They just showed up this morning," he explained, watching another two agents walk past. "No idea what they're up to."
Nova stared at the IOA officials as they walked away. She had an idea what they're up to. She didn't know much about diplomacy but she was pretty sure planting viruses on the warship of your allies was a big no-no.
"By the way," Peterson spoke up. "General Landry's looking for us."
"Us?" Nova repeated, turning to face him. "The two of us? Did he say for what?"
"Does he have to?" Peterson remarked with a shrug. Nova had to concede that. Orders were orders.
Nova and Peterson both headed for the briefing room. Walking through the cement halls, Nova was reminded how much she missed this place. She couldn't figure out why. It wasn't the best looking of places. Cement halls with exposed wires, colored lines on the floors to help navigate, the place wasn't exactly welcoming. Yet, this place felt like old stomping grounds. Then again, it was her old stomping grounds.
The metal spiral staircase rattled as she and Peterson went up them. They had expected to take seats at the table and wait for Landry. But it seemed Landry was waiting for them. It seemed he had just finished a conversation with not one but three IOA representatives. Nova could see the suits in Landry's office. The two suited men and one woman all marched out of the office and out of the briefing room, letting Landry have the floor to himself.
At first, Nova thought Landry looked angry. But, on second look, she realized he was just confused. Maybe even a little annoyed.
"General?" Nova spoke. Landry hadn't even noticed them enter.
"Ah, Major," he said, holding up a stack of papers in his right hand. "Those were representatives from the IOA. The Pentagon wants an SG team to escort them to a meeting with the…
Landry began to explain, his voice trialing off. He looked at the stack of papers in his hand. "Free Jaffa Parliamentary Council."
"Bit of a mouthful," Peterson remarked.
"Did they say why?" Nova asked.
"Well, you know how the IOA are," Landry commented, putting the papers on the table and sliding them over. "They're good at telling people what to do and not much else."
Nova picked up the paper and flipped through.
"Ithryll," Nova read. "So I guess we're heading to the new jaffa capital. General, I don' have a team yet."
"I did bring that up," Landry explained. "They specifically asked for you to be their escort and permitted only one other person. I've assigned you Peterson. Figured you'd want to work with someone you already know." That statement caught her attention. Nova looked up a bit too quickly, and then realized, suddenly fearing her reaction might make everyone suspicious. Escorting three diplomats would usually demand the attention of a full four-man SG team. She was initially confused why Landry would have her and Peterson be the only two escorts. But with what she knew with what's going on, she could not help but wonder if the Pentagon chose her because they knew she knew and wanted an inside man.
"The council has already agreed to the meeting," Landry added. "You and Lieutenant Peterson are to escort our guests. And I hear they've requested military assistance involving kassa. Figured this would be a nice easy mission to welcome you back with."
Nova chuckle at this, half in genuine amusement and half to cover up her extreme reactikon from earlier. Hell of a welcome back party.
-.-
Nova took a shuddering breath as she stepped out of the stargate and onto Ithryll. She glanced back, watching Peterson step out followed by the three IOA agents. Nova had a MP7A1 in her hands though Peterson still used a P90. They were on friendly soil so they weren't expecting a fight but they still had to be alert nonetheless.
"And here we are, ladies and gents, Ithryll, capital planet of the Free Jaffa Nation!" Peterson announced to the IOA agent like some sort of sports caster. But the agents had no reaction. "Tough crowd..."
"Not what I was expecting for a capital," Nova commented, looking at her new scenery. According to the papers, Ithryll may have been the capital planet but the capital city of Abor Lada was located a fair distance from the stargate. They would have to take a cargo ship from the town of Lios to Abor Lada. Sure, Lios wasn't the capital city but it was still on the capital planet and so she expected a bit more than what she was looking at. The first thing she noticed was the noise. He ears were bombarded by the sounds of five cargo ships. Two of them were coming in, preparing to land on massive stone plazas. Three of them were taking off. And there were five others already landed, hovering above the platform. She heard rings transports being deployed. She heard animals pulling carts full of stuff. There were carts of wood. There were carts of fish. There were carts of coal. There were carts of hay. There were cows and horses pulling these carts. Some carts had cages of clucking chickens.
Nova glanced back at the three agents. The IOA didn't even send their more cowardly representatives. Most IOA members turned into cowards on another planet, checking every nook and cranny for flesh eating aliens. These ones remained stone-faced and stoic.
Normally this would be when Martin would say something like 'these blokes aren't much for conversation' or something along those lines.
Nova noticed a parked Cargo ship that landed near the stargate, a single jaffa waiting outside.
"You are the representatives of the Tau'ri," he said, walking forth, his tone stiff and blunt. "I have bee instructed to take you to the capital."
Nova and Peterson led the IOA agents onto the cargo ship. They could feel the ship's gentle rock as it took off. With its intertial dampeners, she could barely feel the ship's movement. For a moment she thought she would have to wait maybe an hour for the trip. Then she remembered how fast spaceships could move.
It's been a while since Nova has ever stepped foot on a jaffa world before. She remembered primitive villages akin to something from the medieval era, wood and straw huts, stone castles if they were lucky. The Goa'uld hogged all the technology, making sure the jaffa looked up to them as gods. But with the fall of the Goa'uld, that technology was distributed amongst the populace.
"Humans of the Tau'ri," the pilot said. "Welcome to the capital of the Free Jaffa Nation. Welcome to Ithryll."
Nova stared out the window as the clouds parted. And she saw just how much everything had changed. There were still stone and brick buildings, dirt paths, and kiosks with merchants selling goods underneath cloth tarps. There were wood huts, clay cottages, and stone forges. There were dirt paths, brick paths, and some paths even had planks of wood covering it. Flags and banners flew in the wind from the tallest towers and domed buildings. The city wasn't like Millennium. It was hardly beautiful. But Nova could not help but feel a sense of awe, a desire to see what lay down every alley.
But amongst the horse-drawn carts were hovering carriages, carried by anti-gravity pads. Some of the buildings, while primitive looking, were much too large to be built using medieval building techniques. Buildings stretched to four, five, even six stories in height. There were holographic screens at the corner of some of the streets. Store windows had holographic images and signs advertising what was inside.
Above the city were airships hovering above it all. At first Nova thought they were blimps. But their shapes were wrong. At the center of the ship was a bronze triangular pyramid with an elongated front. The pyramid was surrounded with a gray triangular frame that made the elongated front seem even longer. These things could be seen rising from different sections of the city and vanishing into the distance while others came into view and touched down.
"I guess al'kesh don't make good public transport," Peterson remarked.
"Hot damn…" Nova said, at a loss for words. "So, where are we going?'
"We're headed for the capital building," the pilot said, pointing ahead. Nova looked up, eyes falling upon a medieval stone castle. But, like the city, it had been hybridized with Goa'uld technology. Instead of catapults, the ramparts were armed with staff cannons. Staff cannon towers were built into the wall as watch towers.
Ok, she had to admit that she didn't see anything particularly advanced about the castle itself aside from the weapons and what appeared to be a holographic bridge in place of a drawbridge. But, she could imagine that it was hybridized just like the city.
As the tel'tak approached the castle, the jaffa co-pilot began speaking Goa'uld. She tried to listen in, but she didn't know why. She couldn't understand Goa'uld but she guessed it was permission to land.
Communication cut and Nova could feel the cargo ship maneuver toward one of the towers.
"We are in position," the pilot said. Nova and Peterson walked over to the ring platform along with the three agents, standing at the center. She gave a thumbs up and the pilot pressed the button. Stone rings rose from the floor, surrounding the pair. Nova closed her eyes to shield them from the blinding white light that surrounded her. Once the light vanished, Nova looked around. She was on the tower. Sure enough, it was a medieval stone tower…with wires running across the ground. Nova followed the wires with her eyes, spotting power stations where the wires originated from.
"So..." Peterson spoke up, trying to make conversation with the three IOA agents again. But they, again, maintained a rather cold composure. The moment the rings were gone they stepped away without so much as a word. "Ok, I give up!" he said, tossing his hands up.
While Peterson was trying to be friendly with the IOA officials, Nova was too busy being awed by her surroundings. Looking around, it seemed the jaffa had had a few fashion changes. Last time she was here, jaffa either wore their metal armor or plain robes. It seems the jaffa had adopted some uniforms with many of the workers on the towers in dark blue tailcoats.
The higher ranking jaffa had solid metal cuirass and a shoulder cape. Jaffa in traditional metal armor were standing on guard at the entrance to the tower.
Peterson and Nova looked up as one of the jaffa broke off. Unlike most of the other jaffa with armor, this one wore a a helmet.
His helmet covered his entire head except for a large abet vaguely Y-shaped cutout that revealed much of the face. But the face revealed was not one she expected. It was metal. The face beneath the helmet was a metal face designed to look like a scowling face, red gems to make the eyes look like they're glowing. And the mouth was made to look like it was full of spiked teeth.
Jaffa guard helmets were made to intimidate the superstitious and primitive population, designed to feature creatures related to the gods the Goa'uld posed as. Apophis was symbolized by a snake, so his guards wore massive cobra helmets. Ra and Heru'ur were symbolized by a bird so the horus guards wore bird heads. Whichever Goa'uld this jaffa used to serve wanted his guards to appear as supernatural warriors rather than animal spirits.
The jaffa paused so that his helmet could retract. The 'jaws' opened and retracted back before the eyes and nose pieces slid into the helmet. Finally, Nova could see his face.
"People of the Tau'ri," the jaffa said. "Welcome." Finally, his helmet finished retracting, the helmet itself pulling back into the suit of armor.
His head was mostly bald except for some hair that grew out into a braid. But what caught Nova's attention was the silver mark on his forehead. If Nova had to describe symbol, she would say it looked like the crease marks of a person's forehead when they got angry.
Surprisingly, his jaffa armor was more bronze in color. And the body was protected by a solid curiass rather than a metal strip running down the front of a chainmail hauberk. A long flowing red cape ran down his back.
"Greetings," the jaffa said, thumping his spear weapon on the ground. "My name is Ha'kar," the jaffa said. "Former warrior of Ares. I assume you are the Tau'ri representatives I am ordered to meet."
"Yeah, that's us…" Nova stuttered. "Major Nova. This here is Peterson." Peterson held out his hand but Ha'kar ignored it. "And these…" Nova said, gesturing to the agents behind her, her voice trailing off. She had no idea who these people are actually. She only knew she was supposed to escort them to meet with the Free Jaffa Council.
"We're here to meet with the Council," the woman in the middle said. Nova almost jumped in surprise. The three agents had been silent for so long that it was startling to hear one of them talk.
"Excellent," Ha'kar. said, turning around. "I will take you to the Council." He turned around and headed toward the entrance to the tower. Nova exchanged glances with Peterson. They had expected a bit more of an introduction. She had to remind herself that this wasn't hostility or rudeness. This abrupt manner was just how jaffa were. Seeing as they had no other idea what to do, they followed Ha'kar inside.
The castle may have looked like it was made of stone but they were shaped perfectly so that there was no gap between them. She could barely see the thin line between each stone. Mounted on the walls were what looked to be the paddle end of a staff weapon, but the gem that would normally house the capsule of liquid naquadah was glowing, providing the light that illuminated the stairway. The spiral staircase led to a large hall at the bottom. The two humans quickly caught up with their jaffa host, more than a couple questions running through their mind.
"Judging from your reactions, you have had no previous encounters with jaffa before," Ha'kar said in the same stiff tone jaffa are known for.
"We've read the reports," Nova explained. "Then again, most of those reports took place during the System Lords. It's actually amazing how much has changed…assuming the reports are accurate."
"I have not read these reports, but, indeed, much has changed. The Goa'uld had attempted to quell the idea of rebellion by hoarding their technology. We have much to learn in our journey to true independence."
"True independence?" Peterson repeated.
"The jaffa are a warrior culture," Nova explained. "But you need more than warriors to make a nation. Isn't that right?"
"The female is correct," Ha'kar said. "We have jaffa tasked with studying Goa'uld technology to better our society. Many jaffa have taken up tasks they did not expect to."
"What about you?"
Ha'kar turned around, his face still blank of any emotion or reaction.
"I have taken up the role of an ambassador and a cultural analyst, helping to unite different factions among the jaffa," he said. "The Jaffa Council deemed this task suitable to me because I am the funny one."
Peterson found himself staring while Nova had to hold back a choke.
"The funny one…" Nova repeated. "Well...um…lead the way, funny one."
Ha'kar bowed before resuming his march. They continued down the long stone corridors, Nova admiring the architecture.
"So, Hacker…" Peterson said.
"Ha'kar," the jaffa corrected.
"Might want to drop the nicknames," Nova remarked to Peterson. "Jaffa aren't exactly known for possessing a sense of humor."
"A misconception," Ha'kar quickly corrected. "Jaffa do possess a sense of humor. However, unlike the Tau'ri…" Ha'kar paused as he reached a door, stopping to look at his company. "Our jokes are actually humorous."
He bowed slightly before opening the door, gesturing for the humans to enter. Nova stared in shock for a moment before shaking her head, snapping herself back to reality.
She quietly walked through the door and into the council chamber followed by Peterson and the IOA agents. Nova had only seen pictures of the Dakaran Council Chamber. It seemed they tried their best to recreate it here. All the jaffa sat at the tables that formed a circle in the domed chamber, columns directly behind them. At the center was an elevated platform for speakers to step up and speak their mind. The center of the chamber was well lit with a glass dome ceiling above them and torches along the columns illuminating the meeting area. This gave plenty of space for the Council to meet at the center while letting observers slink in the shadows without disturbing the proceedings.
"We've made great progress in our independence but at what cost?" the jaffa at the center asked. "I understand we need to evolve as a nation but is it worth it if we lose what makes us jaffa?
The jaffa bowed and stepped down, returning to his position at the of the tables.
"Members of the Jaffa parliamentary Council," Ha'kar announced. "I present to you: delegates of the Tau'ri."
He tapped his spear on the ground, stepping to the side to present Nova, Peterson, and the IOA members.
"Hi," Nova said unabashedly. The IOA agents were less than amused through.
"Major," one of them said. "We can handle it from here. The jaffa had also requested your help."
"I can assist with that," Ha'kar spoke up. "Major Nova, Lieutenant Peterson, please follow me."
-.-
The Typhon had long since left for Earth. There was no way to get the ship logs directly. Fortunately, it was standard practice to offload the logs so that personnel can go through them even without the ship being there. All Hailey had to do was access the computer core. And that was where she was. There were a lot of buildings in Millennium. Only a fifth of the city was explored. And even in the part that was explored, most of the city was unoccupied. So there were several warehouses in other warehouse districts that housed the servers. There was the primary servers, and then there were the numerous backups.
Hailey knew paranoia was getting the better of her. She had brought her X699 and her life signs detector. She kept the wrist-mounted device up, scanning the area in front of her. This far away from the rest of the expedition, she should not detect any life signs.
Hailey walked up to the computer terminal, scanning her surroundings one final time. She raised her scanner and panned around the warehouse.
"Nothing…" Hailey muttered to herself. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't scared. She didn't even know what she was up against. Even the SGC's never tested the life signs detector against a cloak so she didn't know if hers would work against a cloaked enemy either.
A dead face flashed before her eyes. But it wasn't hers. It was Chen's. Just thinking about cloaked enemies, she realized a cloaked assassin could come after Steven. What was she thinking even considering letting him in on this?
She shook the ideas from her mind. She needed his computer skills. But now she was going to try to access the data that got Grogan killed. She kept her X699 at the ready. It was her personal one, modified to suit her. She had drifted away from the automatic rifle and found the semi-automatic carbine variant to be far superior. Its short length meant she could use it in close quarters. And it still had the accuracy and stopping power that exceeded that of a rifle.
Still, it only provided so much comfort. It was hard to tell if your weapon was a match for the enemy when you didn't even know what the enemy was.
Hailey shoved a flash drive into the USB port and went to the keyboard. She didn't know what she was looking for but she had an idea where to start looking.
"Alright, the files Carl brought me were communication files from the SGC and Atlantis," she said to herself. "So it stands to reason what he wanted was in Typhon's communication logs."
After a few moments, she had pulled up the outgoing communication logs. Nothing. Shouldn't be surprising. It wasn't in communication range of Millennium and it certainly wasn't going to talk to anyone else in the galaxy.
But the logs could have been deleted. She had to try the backup logs. She clicked through a few more files, did a scan.
"Nothing…" she sighed. "Tertiary logs…" She scanned the tertiary logs, but once again came up empty. "DAMN IT!" she yelled. Grogan wasn't killed over nothing. There was something here somebody didn't want found.
She couldn't get emotional. The messages sent from the SGC and Atlantis were sent to their respective beta sites. That means somebody had to receive the message. Maybe there were logs on messages received.
It didn't take Hailey long to scan through the primary, back up, and tertiary incoming message logs.
And came up with nothing.
Hailey flipped up her scanner and panned around the room with it. Hailey felt her heart drop when she sat a blip at the front door of the warehouse. Her hand tightly clenched her X699. There shouldn't be anyone here. Who was that?
She wanted to go over there and investigate. But she was afraid that if she left the computer, then whatever she wanted to find would get deleted. Not to mention, whatever it was might just kill her.
She could just run. But she was back to square one. It might still kill her and delete the data.
No, her mission was to find the data. She was going to stay and find the data. She wasn't going to let Grogan die in vain. She panned around the room again, making sure there wasn't any other life signs. But when she completed her 360 rotation and aimed her scanner back in the direction of the life sign, it wasn't there.
"Shit…" she muttered. She was on the clock. She turned back to the computer. So the logs held no incoming nor outgoing messages.
But those weren't the only logs. The messaging system was built with several parts. There was no way to send actual messages over subspace. A message is broken down into simple data that can be transmitted, sent over a communication stream, received, then converted back. While the messaging system was where it was officially stored, there were backups of the data streams sent to and from the ship.
Hailey brought up the logs. When Hailey went through the primary, backup, and tertiary outgoing data logs, her heart sank with every empty file she saw.
But when she pulled up the incoming logs, she immediately noticed a file. The Typhon had picked up on some sort of signal.
With a few clicks, she saved the logs to the flash drive. She ejected the drive and shoved it into her pocket before raising her scanner and her X699, scanning the area again.
Her heart sank. The scanner put a life sign on the opposite side of the computer server right next to her. All that stood between her and whoever or whatever that was, was a single wall
She didn't know what to do. Training told her to look around and secure the area first, but she feared the moment she took her scanner off this life sign it would vanish again. And she couldn't train her weapon on it since it was behind an obstruction.
She couldn't stand there indecisively. Hailey practically spun around in a circle. She cursed when she finished. Not only was there another life sign directly behind her, the one she was looking at mere moments ago had vanished.
She put her scanner way. She would do what she was trained to do. She was going to make her way back to the entrance of the warehouse, check her corners, and get out. She kept her carbine readied, slowly making her way through the maze of computer servers. Even if a firefight did breakout, these only stored the primary backups. The secondary and tertiary were stored in two separate locations which meant the data would not be lost.
Hailey was stiff as she made her way to the exit. She wanted to flip her scanner up one more time. But she was afraid the moment she took any amount of attention away form what was in front of her, whatever those life signs were would come for her.
When she reached the door, she turned around and flipped up her scanner once more.
One life sign deep inside the warehouse.
At least she was safe from that one. She opened the door to the warehouse and stepped into the hall. But she immediately froze in her tracks as she felt her brain explode. Even if it didn't explode, it certainly felt like it. Before her was a glowing crimson gem, a fiery trail of energy leaving it and piercing her brain. It felt like her skull was crushing her brain inside and threatened to crush it into a pulp. Her entire body was screaming in pain as if her nerves were being fried. She wanted to reach up and grab whatever this was. But her entire body couldn't move. She couldn't even open her mouth to scream in pain because her entire body was too busy screaming in pain for her to even make a sound.
Her hands clumsily grasped at whatever it was in front of her. She could feel a hand in front of her face. That meant this thing in front of her was a Goa'uld ribbon device.
That meant that whoever this was had naquadah in their blood. It could've been a Tok'ra, a Goa'uld, or just a human with a naquadah supplement. Regardless, it seemed like this was how she will die. The kara'kesh would kill her without leaving a mark then her body would be staged to look like she killed herself out of grief. It was another death disguised as an accident.
Suddenly, the gem was moved away. Hailey fell over, clutching her head in agony.
What happened? Why did whoever it was stop?
Hailey looked up in time to see a white mass kick back the cloaked figure in front of her.
"Arcturus?!" Hailey exclaimed. She didn't know what Samanya Arcturus was doing here but it was keeping her alive. Hailey struggled to rise to her feet, watching as Arcturus viciously went after the cloaked figure. She wasn't in any armor and still wore her blue skirt and white dress shirt, but she fought like on the battlefield.
Hailey was used to watching Soren's fighting style, how he would leap and jump around his opponents without ever getting hit while peppering them with punches and kicks. But Arcturus was the exact opposite. She did not dodge the attacks. She blocked them or ignored them, her fists acting like hammers.
A punch to the face sent the cloaked figure stumbling backwards. Now that there was distance between them, Samanya reached up her skirt and pulled out her pistol. Caelum, Hailey believed she's heard Arcturus call them.
Samanya immediately pulled the trigger in rapid succession, three brilliant flashes of golden light emanating from the weapon. Each hit the figure. It staggered back as if they got hit with a sledgehammer. Those shots would have turned the person into a cloud of ash but a radiant wall of orange energy stopped them. But those shots clearly had an effect, the orange shield flickering to stay active. This was the first time Hailey seen a Goa'uld force shield on the brink of collapse. Arcturus went in for another attack, but the figure raised a left hand, its kara'kesh sending a kinetic blast that sent Arcturus flying across the hall. She hit the floor with a solid thud, her caelum flying from her hand.
Hailey's entire body still ached but she had enough energy to pull her SIG M18 and begin firing at the figure. The first two bullets bounced off the shield but, at that moment, the shield died. The figure grunted in pain as a few of the shots landed. Realizing it was vulnerable, the figure fired another kinetic blast at Hailey. Hailey felt an invisible wall collide with her entire body. She would say it felt like a punch to the face, but a more accurate description would be a punch to every inch of her front. She cried out in pain as she flew across the floor, her pistol, X699, and her dagger flying across the hall with her.
Arcturus picked up the dagger from the floor, flinging at the figure who fired a kinetic blast at the knife and sent it back at Arcturus. But Samanya caught the knife in the air as it flew past her before flinging back once more with even more force than before. The knife embedded itself into the man's hand, cracking the crystal in half.
The figure roared in pain, stumbling away. Seeing her opening, Arcturus snatched her caelum off the floor and took aim but it was too late. The figure reached up and pressed a button the back of his hand. And in that instance, he vanished in a flash of white light just as another golden flash of light flew through and vaporized a chunk out of the wall behind.
"Are you all right?" Arcturus asked, walking over and kneeling next to Hailey. Hailey had her hand on her head. It still felt like her brain had been crushed mere moments ago. But, she was alive.
"Bit of a headache," she said.
"Do you require immediate medical attention? Are you even able to stand?"
"Funny…" Hailey said, bracing herself against the wall to get to her feet.
-.-
When Nova first stepped into the room, it looked like a regular meeting chamber. A very impressive and large meeting chamber but regular nonetheless. It was a domed chamber with stone bleachers all along the walls. On one side of the chamber were five large and ornate seats clearly meant for higher ranking officials. On the floor at the center was a vo'cume.
"Stand back," Ha'kar ordered. Nova and Peterson obeyed, keeping a good distance from the vo'cume. Ha'kar stepped forth, holding his hand over the holographic projector. After a moment, three stone pillars rose around the vo'cume, reaching stomach height. The pillars paused, extending curved stone beams out each side, meeting with the beams from the other pillars and forming a ring. Finally, stone filled the center of the ring and turning into a table. Though, it did leave a hole in the center of the vo'cume.
"In the past we tolerated the Lucian Alliance," Ha'kar said. "While the jaffa do not shy away from conflict, we will not start a war if not necessary."
"So what's changed?" Peterson asked. Ha'kar reached out in front of him, waving his hand above the hole in the table. After a moment, a holographic picture appeared. At first Nova thought she was looking at a normal cob of corn. Then, she finally recognized it.
"Kassa," she said. "You think the Lucian Alliance is smuggling Kassa into the Jaffa Nation?"
"We have reason to believe so. We do not believe any jaffa is smuggling these hethenous products into our nation."
"No offense, cuz I know you guys are big on honor and all that," Peterson remarked. "But you know there's always going to be at least one bad apple."
Ha'kar paused to think about what Peterson said for a moment.
"If your analogy means what I believe, then I would agree. However, we have located the source of the kassa distribution. Many of it comes from the human population centers."
"Humans?" Peterson repeated. "In the Jaffa Nation?"
"Even during the reign of the Goa'uld, there were humans living on Jaffa planets," Ha'kar explained. "When the Free Jaffa Nation was formed, those human communities were integrated into our nation."
"And you think the humans are smuggling the kassa in?" Nova asked.
"The Council believes so. Because humans make up a majority of the Lucian Alliance, they believe there are Lucian infiltrators hiding inside the human communities and distributing the kassa."
Nova looked at the map of the town. Tens of thousands of people in one place and someone in there was dealing kassa. She knew Ha'kar was asking her to help with the situation but she couldn't imagine what they could do.
"So where do we come in?" she asked.
"Unfortunately, the jaffa do not have a good relationship with the human citizens."
"Well, you guys did enslave and kill them as often as the Goa'uld did to you guys," Peterson remarked.
"Oh, come on!" Nova exclaimed. "You can't tell me they trust the Lucian Alliance more than you guys!"
"It might not be a matter of trust," Peterson suggested. "I mean, with the amount of bad blood left from when the Goa'uld were in charge..."
"The economic situation may also have an impact," Ha'kar suggested.
"Economics?" Nova repeated. Ha'kar glanced behind him, clearly uncomfortable with talking about it. He glanced toward the hall, making sure no one was standing there before leaning forward.
"Because humans were never given priority by the Goa'uld, they were not given many benefits," Ha'kar explained. "They mostly lived in slums."
"And you guys didn't do anything about that when you took over," Nova concluded with an unamused stare.
"The Council agrees that something should be done about the humans' status. However, our nation is still in its infancy. The humans are just a small percentage of our population and we have far greater issues that impact far more."
"You know they're going to be pissed off until you do something about it," Peterson remarked.
"We are aware. And hence why you are here. They are more likely to trust another human than a jaffa."
-.-
Nova patted herself down, making sure all her equipment was there. They were traveling light, weapons only meant for self-defense. Two extra mags for the MP7 and one extra mag for their berretta. Even their tactical vest wasn't as heavy. They weren't expecting a firefight.
"You sure two people will be enough?" Peterson asked. Nova instinctively paused. She was used to her team all commenting on her subject, then she would make a decision based on everything they bring up. But, her silence was met by more silence. She had to make a decision on her own.
"If we go in big, the kassa dealers will notice us and probably go into hiding," Nova explained with faux confidence. "Technically, we shouldn't even be bringing the guns we have."
"Why not?" Peterson asked. Nova understood his mindset. These weapons were just for defense. Every SG team took weapons with them no matter who they visit. Even when it came to visiting the Tok'ra or Jaffa they had weapons. But, the races and civilizations in Caldwell 70 were all developed. Unlike villages in Milky Way and Pegasus who didn't care about guns being brought in, likely because they didn't know what a gun was, the advanced civilizations took issue with armed aliens walking down their street.
"Well, if the Jaffa came to Earth we probably wouldn't want them to carry staff weapons in the middle of the city," Nova pointed out. Peterson shrugged to acknowledge she had a point. Nova patted her pockets, making sure she had her radio and GDO. Those were things she could not lose.
"Are you prepared?" a stern voice asked from the entrance to the room. Nova and Peterson looked up to see Ha'kar walk in, spear weapon still in hand. His stoic expression turned to confusion when he looked at what they carried. "Are you certain these weapons will be ample?"
"What, these?" Peterson asked, holding up an MP7. "You guys are still doubting our 'projectiles weapons'?"
"I have seen your heavier armaments," Hak'ar commented. "I feel those weapons will be more suited. Perhaps a minigun."
"A minigun?!" Nova and Peterson exclaimed in disbelief.
"Wait a minute…" Nova stuttered. "How do you know what a minigun is?"
"Brother Teal'c took the liberty of bringing your Earth movies when he returned," Ha'kar explained. "I recall seeing it in Terminator 2. That seems to be a superior weapon and better suited for this mission."
Nova wanted to facepalm. But, she knew the jaffa couldn't tell the difference between fiction and reality. Ok, maybe they'll know that the Earth wasn't under threat from being destroyed by Skynet. But they wouldn't know firing a minigun from the hip would produce so much recoil you'll end up shooting the clouds. Or that you'd need an entire backpack of bullets if you wanted to fire for more than a few seconds. Afterall, movies and tv shows were the reason so many people thought a defibrillator could start a heart.
"Yeah, I think a minigun is a bit overkill…" Nova said flatly. Even if miniguns worked like they did in the movies, she doubted she needed the firepower to clear out a forest. Then again, that could also be a misconception born form movies.
Ha'kar didn't sigh or roll his eyes. He was a jaffa afterall. Instead he reached behind his back and pulled out what looked like a pair of pistols. No, pistols wasn't a good description. It certainly had pistol grips, but at its front was what looked like the paddle of a staff weapon. Might not be as big, but it was weapon a that would be too bulky for one hand. There was even a horizontal grip beneath the charging paddle for the supporting hand.
"Hand blasters?" Nova asked as she and Peterson took the weapons from Ha'kar. The thing was certainly designed to be used like a pistol, but its weight distribution was closer to that of an MP5 with a retracted stock or even a Tec-9.
Ha'kar handed them both the holsters to carry the blasters.
"Why do you want us to carry so many guns?" Nova asked, attaching the holsters to her thigh.
"It is a precaution," Ha'kar said. "You'll find the human communities to be quite dangerous."
"Dangerous enough to carry miniguns?" Peterson asked skeptically.
"I do not wish to speak ill of humans…" Ha'kar said sternly. "However, the human communities are among the most violent locations in our nation. More jaffa die at the hands of humans than even natural disasters."
"You're…exaggerating…" Nova said. That statistic couldn't be right. The Jaffa Nation covered dozens of planets. On Earth, one planet alone, every passing moment someone somewhere was dying from a natural disaster. And that was one planet. Granted, armed with Goa'uld technology they could save more lives than on Earth but still… So how violent were the humans to kill more people than natural disasters on every planet in the Jaffa Nation?
-.-
Hailey pinched the bridge of her nose. At least her head had stopped spinning.
"How are you feeling?" Arcturus asked.
"Are you going to give me attitude if I answer?" Hailey moaned. Arcturus merely smiled at this question. They were taking an elevator up to Chen's office. Hailey had the data. She had what she needed.
The doors to the elevator opened, leading to Chen's office. Unsurprisingly, Chen was inside at a computer. But what did surprise her was Soren standing in a corner, leaning against a wall.
"Steven," Hailey announced. "I'm saying this while controlling my temper. I have half a mind to shoot you."
"You're welcome," Chen said mockingly, rising to his feet. "Looks like you had a bit of a scuffle." The bun that held Hailey's hair together was falling apart. It was now a mess of hair bundled together with more than a few strands now hanging out. And Arcturus' hair still stayed in its braided bun, her normally neat white dress shirt now had more than a few wrinkles.
"It was as you said," Arcturus said. "An unidentified assailant came after Hailey with a golden gauntlet."
Chen had picked up a cup of water and begun drinking when she began speaking. And when he heard this, he spit out his drink.
"Wait, golden gauntlet?" he repeated. "A ribbon device? So we dealing with a Goa'uld or just a human with a naquadah supplement?"
"Doctor," Soren spoke up. "Need I remind you that two of us in this room know not of what you talk about?"
"Our galaxy used to be ruled by creatures known as the Goa'uld," he explained. "They had naquadah in their blood. Naquadah's our galaxy's version of quarium. You needed it to use most of their technology including the ribbon device, a golden gauntlet they used to torture and kill people."
"So these so called Goa'uld are here?" Arcturus asked.
Chen and the others talked but Hailey wasn't paying attention. She just had ringing in her ears. She just saw faces. Dead faces. Chen: dead. Soren: dead. Arcturus: dead. Grogan: dead. Elliot: dead.
Telling Chen was a mistake she regretted. And now he just dragged in two more people. She wanted to berate him. But she couldn't even muster that. All she could do was turn around and storm off.
"Jen?" Chen asked, watching her leave. He looked at Soren and Arcturus awkwardly. Frankly he wasn't sure what to do in that situation. The easiest thing was to just let her go. But easy didn't sit right with Chen.
"Hold on a sec," Chen said, pushing past the two of them. When he got outside, he saw Hailey storming away.
"Hailey!" Chen called out.
"You do not want to talk to me right now," Hailey snapped.
"You're right, you look scary," Chen remarked. "I don't what's the cause of this little tantrum, Jen," he had started to say when Hailey whipped around.
"Tantrum?!" she snapped. "Steven, I told you not to look into this any further and what do you do?!"
"Hey, you sought me out," Chen argued.
"I also told you not to bring anyone else into this! Why don't you just shoot them in the head now?!"
It was then it finally struck Chen.
"So that's what this is about?" he said softly. "First Elliot. Then two days ago, Grogan right in front of you."
Hailey shook her head, clearly trying to keep her voice from wavering.
"I don't know if I have it in me to lose another friend," she said, her voice trembling. Chen sighed, not sure what to do.
"Just…come here," he said, bringing her into an embrace. Hailey was tense at first. But soon Chen felt her relax, wrapping her arms around him as well.
After a moment, he pulled away.
"Feel that?' he asked. "I'm not dead yet. And I don't intend on dying any time soon."
"But you can't-" Hailey tried to say before Chen interrupted her.
"Why do you think I called the two biggest ass-kickers on the expedition?" Chen asked. "I'm not exactly keen on having a mass murderer in my office. We're going to get to the bottom of this. And we're all going to walk out of it alive."
-.-
A/N: Hey guys. How's the quarantine? I'm in the news industry so I don't get the pleasure of staying at home. Hope this livens up your day. So a lot of stuff in stargate was held back by budgetary constraints. I don't have these constraints so I let loose on certain aspects like the jaffa. A lot of jaffa aesthetics medieval so I took inspiration from the Renaissance era for a lot of aesthetics. It was supposed to be different but you can see where and what it evolved from. Also, now that the jaffa get all the fancy toys the Goa'uld hoarded, I wanted to play with the idea of a primitive society getting advanced technology and having a hybridization of both. The world of Dishonored greatly influenced me since steampunk is pretty much uncharacteristically advanced technology on top of a primitive aesthetic. And I was trying to work the different military technologies into civilian life. Another thing I wanted was to address the humans. I remember when we first came to Chulak in Children of the Gods, there were humans. And there were usually humans on a lot of jaffa planets. I always wondered where they all went.
Anyways, stay safe and stay healthy out there. Hope this brightens your day.