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Chapter 14: A race towards damnation
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Part 3
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Rajgir
Perun's domain
Milky Way galaxy
A handpicked group of Goa'uld engineers and Jaffa trained in facilitating Goa'uld 'magic' scurried through the cargo holds of a partially built Ha'tak. Some were forming tons of precious refined naquadah alloyed to work better as a capacitor into tall blocks surrounded by insulation materials. Others were modifying the hold with channels to contain superconductive cables that would lead to additional plasma cannons and secondary shield emitters that would form "screens" to protect sections of the ship when the primary shields began to fail.
It was all crude and brute-force approach to make my Ha'taks harder hitting and harder to hit. All discussions I had with Vahlen and Nerus, backed by reasonable enough simulations, pointed out that adding capacitors linked to the regular ship systems wouldn't do much. There was only so much energy the current shield emitters and matrix could handle while remaining stable. The weapons could also handle only so much power being fed into them. At the same time, adding more weapons powered by the reactor was pointless because between the shields, drive, and weaponry, the power generation was tapped. If a ship had to retreat into hyperspace during combat, it had to redirect power from weaponry to open a hyperspace window.
Power-wise, a Ha'tak was designed to fully utilize its available power generation during combat, and there were actual sound reasons for the balance between armaments and shielding the ships carried. Significant improvements would require either a radical redesign, better technology becoming available, or getting creative in utilizing what the Ha'tak was like, the massive cargo compartments that didn't have to hold cargo or supplies for thousands of Jaffa.
The reason no Goa'uld with the means went the way I was trying to upgrade my Ha'taks was simple. The naquadah invested in the capacitors alone would be better spent building another ship than making a singular Ha'tak more dangerous.
After all, two ships could be in two places simultaneously. At the end of the day, two regular Ha'tak could still take out one featuring such upgrades. Now, suppose this prototype worked, combined with my other short-term projects. In that case, it might emerge victorious if outnumbered two to one, especially if deployed in numbers.
Besides, it wasn't like I was swimming in trained starship crews, much less vetted ones. The efforts of Iasen to train up more personnel for my Black Legion meant that I would actually barely have the personnel to crew the ships already in construction here on Raijin when they came online… and he had his hands full in sorting out the new additions to the legion that were the crews of the Ha'tak I gained as gifts from Ra.
"What do you think?" I asked my fleet commander.
Iasen looked critically at the ongoing work.
"We need more ships," my Prime noted. "We are unlikely to get enough in time, so we must be better in combat."
The three worlds Ra gifted me were an incredible increase in power and resources for my domain. At the same time, trying to administer and bring them properly into the fold was a tremendous strain on my people. Yet, even if everyone was loyal, these gifts were far from enough to conventionally take on Kali.
It was a good thing that I had no intention of doing so. All I required from Iasen was to be able to hold his own against Kali's fractured underlings because I did intend to be the one to kick off the Goa'uld civil war after Ra's death.
Even under such favorable circumstances, we would be significantly outnumbered in space. We would require clear victories to ensure that Minor Goa'uld and Jaffa submitted instead of fighting to claim Kali's legacy for their own.
The obvious downside was that almost all I was doing could be easily and more effectively replicated by Goa'uld with more extensive industrial bases once they knew my ideas were working. At that point, it would be a race, and I would need at least a few allies to buy me time to consolidate.
"I will need at least a squadron of ships with these modifications working together to make a difference. If they work as expected, my Lord. If not…" Iasen shook his head. "Too much will depend upon the competence of the enemy's leadership."
"I have many ideas that can improve our odds. Unfortunately, we lack the time or resources to implement most of them for the time being." Most importantly, I didn't have the damn research personnel and trained engineers to make my ideas a reality.
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It was expected, foreseen, and it was damn frustrating that I lacked the people at hand to have nipped it in the bud. The few trained personnel I had working with surveillance drones focused on Rajgir's core industrial sectors, ensuring there would be little sabotage or successful spying by Kali and others.
That meant I had little available personnel to deploy to my new Jaffa worlds. To say my loyal personnel was fully tapped would be a charming understatement. That was the case before Ra's poisonous, if valuable, gifts.
Stephan, my First Prime, and Vasil, my Custodes commander, arrived in my office on Rajgir bearing expected unpleasant news. What was surprising was the current low-key of the troubles. I was honestly prepared for more violence, mainly targeted against my loyal people, not the locals opening up to my policies.
"Three burned-out temples, over a hundred confirmed attacks on people who accept the sermons of my Warrior Priests," I tapped with a finger the stone tablet holding the summary of the situation prepared by my Primes and put it back on my desk.
"We are facing resistance like you foresaw, my Lord," Stephan grumbled. He wasn't happy at all, and how could he be? My First Prime was painfully aware of how thin our loyal Jaffa were stretched these days.
We had orders of magnitude more warriors now, at least in theory. However, we couldn't use them to solve this issue because they were the source of the problem.
When I took Perun's mantle, I had about forty thousand Jaffa between my ground forces, pilots, and Ha'tak crews. After Ra's gifts, I had hundreds of thousands of warriors ready for deployment, more for purely defensive purposes.
Those numbers were deceptive. I needed more equipment for those Jaffa; they all had to be retrained as well. Getting the trainers, training grounds, and equipment in place to begin teaching them how to properly fight was taking time due to personnel bottlenecks. Winning their loyalty beyond what they believed was owed to me as a Goa'uld would also take time and victories in battle.
"Expedite the training of more drone operators and analysts," I grimaced. What I had to do now meant even more damned work, and already there were too few hours in the day for everything on my plate. "As soon as they have basic training, deploy them to Varanasai and Ujjain. I want the next groups of troublemakers followed until we know which Jaffa Elders are supporting them."
"I will see to it immediately, my Lord!" Stephan promised.
"Further, it is high time we create a new organization to deal with such dissent enemy spies and oversee our intelligence gathering efforts. I want a short list of your most cunning and open-minded Jaffa, both veterans and promising trainees. They will act as the core to build up this organization," I retrieved an empty stone tablet and wrote down a decree. "Have those chosen Jaffa ready to meet me on the Throne World. I will officially create the organization after meeting and evaluating them."
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"I decree the creation of the Holy Inquisition. Its first branch, the Ordo Hereticus, will deal with enemy spies and dissent aimed to subvert our path to a better, glorious future. The second branch, the Ordo Xenos, will be tasked with gaining intelligence on our enemies and rivals, no matter if they are fellow Gods or hostile aliens."
Perun's creation of the Holy Inquisition further shifted the balance of power within the Goa'uld Empire. The more open-minded and forward-thinking System Lords established similar formal intelligence and counter-intelligence organizations. This change significantly increased the difficulty of our own intelligence-gathering operations across the galaxy.
From an EID (Earth Intelligence Directorate) briefing to the UN Security Council
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Part 4
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Slava Zemq
Perun's Throne World
Milky Way galaxy
Jek'il's Space Wolf training came to an unexpected end. He was trudging through obstacles in heavy armor to improve his endurance and ability to effectively use the equipment when a Prime he was unfamiliar with came to the training ground and spoke quietly with the instructors.
The young Jaffa appreciated the brief respite after hours spent on the obstacle course.
"Congratulations, boy, you have been chosen for a special assignment," the Prime observed Jek'il carefully, wondering what was special about him.
By this point, Jek'il was experienced enough to know when to keep his mouth shut and look respectfully at the commander.
"Get out of this armor and clean up. You are to report to the Palace later tonight."
"You heard the prime, Jaffa! Move your ass!" Instructor Ga'var barked at him.
Jek'il saluted and jogged towards the barracks, wondering what in Perun's name was happening.
Hours later, the same Prime, who never introduced himself, brought him and a few other Jaffa to Perun's Palace in the capital. They rode in silence on one of the combat transports, allowing them to look curiously at each other and wonder what that was about.
Jek'il was the youngest of the group. Most of the others were Jaffa in the prime of their life and obvious veterans of many campaigns. After tasting combat and all the training he received so far, that was obvious to Jek'il by how his comrades carried themselves. If anything, he was the odd one standing out, which naturally worried him a lot. Was there a mistake?
When they arrived, a group of Custodes in gleaming armor ushered them into the palace. Perun's personal guards brought them to a large hall lit by golden globes hovering below the ceiling. Inside, Jek'il saw other small groups of people. Most of them were Jaffa; however, there were a handful of Minor Gods and even what he believed to be the odd nervous-looking human!
The Prime who took him from the training camp walked through the hall and vanished into a hard-to-see door while the Custodes took positions near the walls, joining more of their fellows. Despite their golden armor and good light, some practically melted with the walls, making them hard to see unless you were specifically looking for them.
A ripple went through the gathered people, and Jek'il's head snapped towards the front of the hall. Perun himself walked in, flanked by First Prime Stephan. Their God looked at the gathered people – there were about fifty of them and nodded.
"You all have been chosen for the skills and promise your peers saw in you. I have a vital task for you. Spies and subversive elements upon the new worlds of our domain work to undermine our efforts to bring a glorious future for us all. Your task is simple. You will be trained to hunt them down no matter where they hide, capture, and either purge or subvert them if practical. You will be the first members of my Holy Inquisition. You will answer only to me! Your actions will be an extension of my will, and you will live up to the high expectations I am placing upon you."
From the moment Perun began speaking, divinity flooded the hall. Jek'il could feel his God look deep into his soul as if judging his worth. This was an incredible honor, and Jek'il knew he was unworthy of it. All he could do was live up to Perun's expectations! Anything less would be unthinkable!
"Kneel," their God decreed, and they all fell to their knees. "I ordain you as members of the Ordo Hereticus. You are my hunters of spies and traitors alike, my Inquisitors. You will safeguard our domain from greed, treachery, and corruption."
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Delmak
Sokar's Throne World
Milky Way Galaxy
Netu's hellish glow was the only light reaching the dark outskirts of the capital. Sinister red lights lit up the core of the continent-spanning metropolis, yet its border was perpetually shrouded in darkness. The tall walls were the border separating one kind of hell from another.
Under these conditions, Aris Bosh had been working for months. Despite their fearsome reputation, Sokar's Necropolis Guard was no different from the elite Jaffa he had seen and often fought as a mercenary on dozens of worlds. If anything, their extreme penchant for brutality was a problem because the damned maniacs went out of their way to be cruel instead of doing their best to achieve the objective at hand. That worked great when their task was to cower the local humans. When they had to fight enemies who knew what they were doing, on the other hand…
Bosh scowled as he watched through the night vision systems of his helmet how the newest batch of Necropolis Guard got shot to pieces with Intars. That would have been the case if they were using real weapons instead of training ones. Being hit with Inart still hurt like hell, so there was that.
"I thought that every new unit sent here for training would have been taught that running in the open against the new weapons is a good way to commit suicide," Bosh quietly told the Minor Goa'uld that was assigned to him, so Sokar's people would actually listen to what Aris told them.
Krel'tak's Unas host growled at him before the Goa'uld reined it in.
"They were," Krel'tak grimaced, showing his impressive and damn sharp teeth.
"Then you have people to kick into order," Bosh concluded. "Stop laying around and form up for another attack, you whoresons!" the mercenary bellowed at the Jaffa below them.
The newest batch of Necropolis guards had Inarts shaped like the new weapons. However, they wore training armor that could only partially absorb Inart shots. That ensured they wouldn't be knocked off, so they could return to training sooner, yet it still hurt like a nobody's business.
The Prime in charge of the attackers dragged himself off the ground and began cursing his Jaffa into order. Soon, they trudged up the hill they attacked from, heading for their starting position. Meanwhile, the Prime commanding the defense waved his hands around, pointing at new positions for his warriors, who scurried to obey. At least that one was learning, which was a good thing. When the opposition force was reasonably trained, they would leave off-world and train more of Sokar's Jaffa while the current attackers would take their place. Doing so wasn't ideal in Bosh's mind. However, it allowed more of Sokar's vast army to be trained faster and was what mattered.
The mercenary wasn't particularly thrilled with the success of his mission so far. These were pure infantry, and that was easy mode at the end of the day. When vehicles got involved, training their crews, much less figuring out how to make them work alongside the infantry, was proving troublesome. It didn't help that so far, they only had prototypes to work with while Sokar's scientists were doing their best to figure out a working design that their overlord would like enough to put into mass production.
This time, the Prime leading the attacking force proved he could, in fact, learn if he absolutely had to. He put a group of Jaffa on the top of the hill – and they crawled there, offering as small targets as possible, and began laying down covering fire. The rest of the attacking force split in two and moved around the hillside, aiming to flank the defenders.
Shock grenades put an end to the flanking actions. That should teach the bastards not to bunch up so grenades, and heavy weapons could wipe them out in a short order.
"Get them all awake, make sure they can see, and have them try to retake the position. We will be here until they manage to do it!" Bosh snapped. He very much preferred to be in one of the taverns in the city, drinking cool ale. Sadly, that would have to wait. Giving the impression that he wasn't dedicated enough to the mission he was hired to do simply wouldn't do.