Chapter 108: The Rescue Operation Part 1

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, November 9th, 1999

"...and while reports of magical attacks in the United States keep accumulating, none of them have been confirmed so far. According to today's press release, the police are investigating all reports of magical assaults to the best of their ability, though the press release didn't specify what exactly those resources are. Will we be seeing witch cops patrolling the neighbourhood on brooms?"

Catra switched channels while the stupid journalist laughed at his own joke.

"...and the Vatican has refused to comment on rumours that, following the recent reports of magical assaults in Britain and other countries, they are considering using the Holy Inquisition for witch hunting as several conservative politicians from various predominantly Catholic countries have demanded. However…"

"...authorities are still investigating the massive oak tree that has sprouted overnight in front of the Stortinget. Security camera footage from the parliament building has been leaked, showing that the tree grew within a few minutes from a sapling pushing through the grass to a towering height of twenty-five metres. Even though no one has yet proposed cutting the tree down, several dozen worshippers of the Norse Pantheon have gathered to protest any harm. According to their spokesperson, they consider the tree a gift from the gods, and…"

"I wonder if we should inform the Asgard of this," Catra commented as she changed channels again.

"Of what?" Adora looked up from the reports she was studying.

"That someone's trying to impersonate them."

Adora blinked. "They are?"

Catra snorted. "I doubt it. Looks more like someone in Norway figured out how to magically grow trees."

"Oh!" Adora straightened. "Like Perfuma? We need to contact them, then! That could be a great boon to our logistics!"

Catra shrugged. "So far, no one has claimed responsibility. But we should tell the Norwegian Prime Minister."

"Yes!" Adora made a note.

"Unless it's limited to trees," Catra added. "That's not going to help much. And people might get angry if someone cuts it down."

"Oh." Her lover frowned. "That'd be… not good. But we still need to know if someone can grow trees. And how." She went back to reading her reports, and Catra returned to watching the news.

"...crowds are gathering in front of the temple, hoping to be blessed by what was described as a kami by the local priest, apparently manifesting as a column of water in the temple's pond. It was reportedly called by a shrine maiden whose name has been withheld. While the Japanese government has not yet commented on it, the Tokyo Police Department is monitoring the situation but has not seen any need to intervene so far, and…"

"...of the New South Wales Police Force announced that travel to the area was restricted after witnesses reported seeing a 'great black monster dragging a kangaroo into the river'. While experts assume this was a saltwater crocodile, perhaps of uncommon colouration, some sources claim it was a 'bunyip', and…"

"If Entrapta constructs a bot to sift through all the Earth news for things that would be of interest, I bet the thing kills itself after a week," Catra muttered.

"Hm?"

"Nothing." Catra sighed and changed channels again. The Tok'ra should hurry up; waiting like this was the worst. Especially with the whole world still going crazy about magic.

"...and the police have confirmed that the girl died during an exorcism attempt by the local pastor after her parents complained about her 'unnatural behaviour' since Halloween. Dozens of members of the pastor's church have gathered in front of the jail to protest his arrest. The family of the dead girl also released a statement protesting the arrest. According to them, the pastor only did 'God's work', and…"

Catra shook her head. Crazies! The whole lot of them. Maybe she should stop watching the news and reread some of the reports. But she already read them and memorised everything about Saqqara. She could go bug O'Neill and help with training his 'Snake Hunters', but that would require a shuttle trip to Germany and leave Adora. And someone had to keep an eye on her.

She sighed and looked at the screen in their office - well, Adora's - again.

"...and the police were forced to step in after a 'miracle' in the local church was exposed as a simple trick by a group of teenagers. Two people had to be treated in the hospital after the congregation grew violent following their 'sabotage' of Paster Lawrence's service and tried to attack the teenagers, injuring themselves when their car ran into a ditch trying to ram a van…"

Yes, completely crazy! Catra sighed again as a bunch of kids were interviewed while their dog - the size of a pony - stole food out of the journalist's car. This was…

Her tablet vibrated, interrupting her thoughts. More requests from Etheria for Earth media? They were lucrative but often annoying, especially when they didn't know what exactly they wanted to watch or read.

It wasn't an order. It was a message from Entrapta. The Tok'ra had contacted her.

Yes!

Stargate Command, CFB Goose Bay, Newfoundland, Canada, November 9th, 1999

"Chevron Seven… locked."

Jack O'Neill watched as the wormhole formed. It still felt weird to be in this new base, with the familiar routines and familiar people, yet no longer being part of Stargate Command.

"Wormhole stabilised."

He glanced up at the Gate Command Centre, where General Hammond was watching from behind armoured glass. Of course, this base had shield generators ready to isolate the Stargate and blaster turrets to deal with any intruders. They still had soldiers on guard, though. And a sorceress from Etheria - nominally under Jack's command because of politics. Couldn't have the Russians and Chinese be in command of sorceresses or Etherians.

"Alright! Let's go - there's no time to lose!" Adora said, already stepping on the ramp.

"Bot first," Catra objected.

"Yes! You wouldn't want to hurt its feelings, would you?" Entrapta asked.

"And we still have time," Catra added.

"The delegation might be early," Adora pointed out while the bot floated through the Stargate. "And if they try to open a Stargate and it doesn't work…"

"They'll expect Saqqara's Stargate to be busy and wait for their scheduled arrival," Catra retorted. "So, relax."

"Visual confirmation," Carter announced.

Jack glanced over to her screen, where a deserted Stargate had appeared - just as it was supposed to look. Then the view changed as the drone looked up into the dark sky above it.

"Tracking constellations… PK-Z642's location confirmed," Carter announced.

"No active power source or Naquadah on the scanner," Entrapta added, watching a feed on her visor.

"Alright. Let's go. We've got an ambush to prepare!" Catra walked past Adora and stepped through the gate.

"Hey!" Adora followed. "You said there was no need to hurry!"

Jack sighed. He knew that the two would be perfectly - well, reasonably - professional once the action started, but… General or not, making jokes before a mission to release the tension was his shtick.

"Let's go!" he told the rest, walking up the ramp himself and through the gate.

He arrived on PK-Z642. A deserted world with barely any life on it. At least, according to their intel - and that was also exactly how it looked to normal people. Some biologists would probably be all excited about the lichens on the rocks near the Stargate. "Why did the Ancients place a Stargate here?" He shook his head. "They probably had a quota to make or something."

"That was millions of years ago," Daniel said, walking down the ramp. "Things must have been different back then." Glimmer and Bow were close on his heels.

Jack shrugged. "I doubt it. There aren't even any ruins here."

"Who cares? It's an empty planet with an address close enough to Saqqara's so the Tok'ra can pull off the switch without looking suspicious," Catra said. "That's all we need."

"Well, discovering a planet's history might reveal valuable information." Daniel smiled. "The more we know, the better we are able to understand the Ancients - but also our current galaxy."

"Do you tell your students that to motivate them to sift through tons of sand, Professor?" Jack smirked.

His friend pouted. "I don't have students. I merely give a few lectures on occasion. And I am not a professor."

Jack knew that. "You give lectures at universities. So, you're a professor."

"That's not how it works! It's…"

"Anyway," Jack interrupted him as Entrapta and Carter, followed by Teal'c and Bra'tac, arrived. "Close the gate and get ready - we've got a tribute delegation to ambush!"

"From Khalid, Apophis's poorest and least important vassal," Catra said. "I bet even Apophis has forgotten about the guy."

"Oh, I doubt that." Jack snorted. "Apophis is the kind of petty snake that will absolutely notice if even a single grain isn't delivered as ordered." Even though, according to the Tok'ra intel, Apophis hadn't personally met Khalid's delegation in decades. That was why they were going to use them as a cover, after all.

"Yes," Daniel agreed. "He's petty and cruel - and greedy."

"And arrogant," Glimmer added as the wormhole collapsed. "Everyone who has met him agrees on that."

"Indeed." Teal'c nodded.

"Oh, yes." Jack nodded as well. He looked around. The place was flat, with no cover or concealment available. Under normal circumstances, that would be a bad spot for an ambush. But since their targets would be arriving through the Stargate, expecting to be on Saqqara thanks to the Tok'ra, their surprise should be enough. It wasn't as if they could retreat through the Stargate, anyway. Not while it was active.

"Everyone knows the plan?" Jack asked. He didn't wait for an answer before continuing: "Take them down as soon as they walk through the gate and drag them off the ramp. Don't damage or dirty their uniforms and armour too much - we need them."

"Yes, we know. It's not the most complex plan we've ever seen," Glimmer said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm ready!" Bow hefted his, well, bow and one of his trick arrows - the one launching a net.

"Alright. Take your positions!" Adora said. "They could arrive any minute!"

Then the waiting began.

Gate Area, PK-Z642, November 9th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"'Any minute'? It's been fifteen minutes already. I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up once the gate activates!"

Adora frowned as her lover did as she announced and lay down on top of a rock near the Stargate. "Catra…"

"I'm sleeping." Catra interrupted her, sprawling with two limbs and her tail hanging off the rock's sides, her head resting on her lower arm.

Adora crossed her arms. "You're not asleep." Not yet - not even Catra managed to fall asleep that fast.

A snore was her answer. Adora could press on, but… Catra could be stubborn. And while this was setting a bad example, there were no soldiers around to get the wrong impression. Everyone - Glimmer, Bow, Entrapta and SG-1 - was already familiar with Catra's antics. Except for Bra'tac, but the old Jaffa seemed amused by the scene.

"No warrior can indefinitely stay ready to fight at a moment's notice," he said. "It just tires them out."

"Although the false gods often ignore that wisdom," Teal'c added.

"Yes, they do. And it has cost them battles and good warriors," Bra'tac agreed. "And once word of the new synthetic symbionts spreads, it might yet cost them even more."

That's why we are doing this - well, part of the reason, Adora thought.

"Let's hope so," Jack said. "We can…"

The sound of the wormhole being formed - a few minutes early! - interrupted him.

"Heads up! Incoming!" he snapped.

Adora stepped up and formed her sword. Catra had already rolled off the rock and drawn her shock rod.

A few seconds later, two men appeared out of the wormhole - Jaffa wearing armour and carrying staff weapons. They gasped, startled, but before they could react, Bow hit them with a net arrow that entangled both.

Adora was already moving, slapping their staffs out of their hands and pushing them off the ramp. They flew a few yards and landed in the sand, rolling a few more yards, tightly wrapped in the net.

Another Jaffa appeared, but Catra tackled him off the ramp as well, tearing his helmet off and stunning him with her shock rod before they hit the ground. That would be the leader of the delegation.

Then a wagon came through the gate - the tribute for Apophis, pushed by slaves. They froze at the sight.

"Get off the ramp! Leave the wagon!" Jack snapped, gesturing to the side. They hastily did so, huddling together at the foot of the ramp.

Between Adora, Teal'c and Bra'tac, the two Jaffa bringing up the rear were quickly taken care of as well. The wormhole collapsed shortly after they, too, were in the sand next to the ramp.

Catra grabbed the still-twitching leader. "Alright! Let's strip them!"

That didn't take long, either. Though Daniel had to explain to the slaves that they wouldn't be killed but set free. And to the Jaffa that they were now prisoners, but that didn't go over as well - their leader was still threatening them with 'the Great Khalid's revenge' as they pushed him through the gate back to Earth. It wasn't very impressive, even if he hadn't been in his underwear.

Glimmer eyed the robes the slaves had been wearing with obvious distaste as she held them up. They were clean, though - Khalid wouldn't send his delegation, not even the slaves, in dirty clothes to Apophis.

"What? Not sparkly enough?" Catra grinned. "Too bad. You're too small to pass for a Jaffa."

Glimmer huffed. "I don't want to wear the heavy armour anyway."

"It's not that heavy, actually," Bow commented, slipping into the set that fit him best. "And not as constricting as I expected. And you can see quite well in this helmet," he added in a muffled voice after putting it on.

"What good would it be to design armour that hindered a warrior in combat? Even the false gods would not indulge their vanity that much," Bra'tac said, changing armour himself.

"Indeed."

Bow was correct, Adora found once she donned her own set. The helmet didn't restrict her vision much. About on par with Horde infantry helmets, actually. And they had a set of armour in She-Ra's size. Fortunately, it wasn't the more ornate set that the leader of the delegation had worn; Adora wouldn't have been able to pull off posing as him.

Bra'tac would do that, with Adora, Teal'c, Bow and Jack posing as his guards, and the rest disguising themselves with the robes from the slaves. The robes were a bit large on some of them, especially Entrapta, but that only served to disguise them better, in Adora's opinion. And the Goa'uld were supposed to ignore slaves anyway. Unless they were looking for hosts or something. But they should be safe enough pushing the wagon.

"It's really weird," Entrapta commented as they dialled the Stargate to Saqqara. "They have the technology. Why didn't they build a self-propelled wagon?"

"Tradition, I think. Paying tribute is a ceremonial event," Daniel explained. "It's more about the show of loyalty than the actual tribute - and that means the optics matter more than efficiency. Having slaves push your old-fashioned tribute wagon sends a message."

"Like a parade," Jack added.

"But according to our data, Apophis doesn't even watch this," Entrapta objected.

Daniel nodded. "Yes, which is also sending a message. To Khalid and Apophis's other vassals."

"Khalid sounds like Apophis's Kyle," Catra muttered as she adjusted her hood.

"What is a Kyle?" Bra'tac asked.

Before they could explain, the wormhole formed.

Adora nodded. It was time. They had people to save.

"Let's go."

Gate Area, Saqqara, November 9th, 1999 (Earth Time)

The contrast to Chulak was striking, Samanha Carter thought after stepping through the wormhole and arriving on Saqqara. Chulak's Stargate was in the open plains, quite far from the capital, and guarded at most by a token force posted there.

Saqqara's Stargate was housed in a bunker. And Apophis had remodelled since Bra'tac and Teal'c had last visited, from the looks of it, with a dozen guards close to the Stargate augmented by more behind embrasures in a new wall that surrounded the entire setup. Apophis didn't take any chances on his homeworld. Though he lacked an iris or other mechanism to block the Stargate… no, she realised as she pushed the heavy tribute wagon forward, the Stargate could be lowered to the ground, blocking it. Of course, if a party was expected, the gate would be open…

The wagon reached the top of the ramp, and Sam and the others next to her pushing it had to switch to pulling back so it wouldn't run down the ramp and smash into the official from Apophis waiting there. Without Catra, they would have had to struggle, but as things were, it didn't take too much of an effort to slowly guide the wagon downwards.

That also meant Sam could focus on other things more easily. Such as taking in the layout of the room and the position of the guards watching them. They were set up for a crossfire, positioned in a quarter-circle so they wouldn't hit each other. Like at Stargate Command. And they were watching everyone, including the 'slaves', with their staff weapons ready. Good troops.

"...and here is the tribute of Khalid the Great for the magnificent Apophis! Treasure from his domain, jewellery wrought by the best smiths in his realm! The finest Dakir pelts, unique in the entire Galaxy! And salted Qu'adu fit for the most refined palate of the magnificent Apophis, may his reign last eternally!" Bra'tac gestured at the wagon as Daniel, Glimmer, Entrapta, Sam and Catra took a step back from it, bowing low.

The pompous official - not a Jaffa, a Goa'uld, Sam noted - sniffed rather derisively. "Yes, yes, the usual." He nodded at two Serpent Guards standing behind him. "Search it."

The two approached the wagon, pulled the covers away and started inspecting the various items and crates there. They were used to this, Sam noted - they moved and acted like customs officials at international airports. But a physical inspection wouldn't detect everything, and Apophis was no fool, so…

She kept her head lowered so the hood would hide her face but glanced around. There, on a raised balcony, another Jaffa stood behind a console. That would be the one to use sensors to check for contraband. As Bra'tac had told them. And the scanners she could see looked more advanced than the standard ones they met in the field. A little, at least.

"Nothing," one Jaffa reported.

The Goa'uld snorted at that and checked on his communicator. "And the scan is clean as well. Well, take the tribute to the usual vault." He made a dismissive gesture with his hand and turned away before Bra'tac could reply.

Evidently, Khalid was not held in high esteem. Or any esteem at all. Sam hoped that didn't extend to his servants and slaves being fair game for anyone higher up the food chain. The predictable response to any such attempt would complicate their mission.

Bra'tac huffed - softly, though - and gestured at the rest of their group. "Move! We fulfil our duty!"

Sam started pushing again, and they moved forward. The massive gate in front of them started to open, revealing walls fit for a vault, not merely a bunker. So, a gate room, surrounded by fortified firing positions, all inside a vault. And deep underground - a lift was waiting for them. Apophis took his gate security very seriously.

But not seriously enough to simply have the tribute handed over to his own guards in the gate room and Khalid's delegation sent home from there. Because, Sam thought as the lift stopped and the doors opened, he wants his visitors to see the glory of his capital.

Before them, a maze of buildings sprawled - stone and fake stone, Sam guessed - all massive, built in a vaguely Egyptian style. She could see factory complexes in the back. And all of them were dwarfed by the colossal, roughly pyramid-shaped palace of Apophis in the distance. Death Gliders roamed the sky above it in pairs, probably more for show than for actual patrolling. Jaffa guards lined the wide avenue leading to the palace. Their destination.

"And we have to push the damn wagon all the way to the palace…" Sam heard Catra mutter next to her. "I should have insisted on being a guard."

"Move!" Bra'tac snapped.

They started pushing.

"Architecture meant to impress," Daniel noted. "Some dictators back on Earth did the same. Or attempted to. Any visitor will march through the very heart of Apophis's power."

It was impressive, Sam had to admit. As they walked past the buildings, she could see hundreds, thousands of people moving between them, through side streets and on bridges and passages spanning between buildings. It was a stark contrast to the typical worlds under Goa'uld control.

Yet, she added silently, after making a few calculations, it still didn't come close to the metropolises on Earth. Or their factories. But this was only one of the Goa'uld Empire's core worlds.

Apophis has to be compensating for a lot, Catra thought as they approached the Goa'uld's palace. The pyramid was even bigger than Bright Moon - the city, not the palace. And the street leading to it was wide enough for an entire hovertank platoon to travel side by side. Good ambush spots in the buildings lining the road, of course, but still - not the best arrangement from a defensible point of view.

Of course, if the Alliance had to attack the palace, they'd do with orbital and air bombardment and probably drop infantry and bots straight on the remains instead of launching a ground campaign. Much easier on the civilians as well. But if Catra would have to do a ground assault, she'd still send a unit straight down the road, if only to trip all the ambushers and traps. A group of bots would be perfect for that. Meanwhile, the main forces would strike at the exposed ambushers and push on - and also attack from the flank and make their own approaches by levelling some buildings. Hovertanks could fly over rubble, and the bots could climb over it.

But if she was limited to Earth ground troops… Yeah, assaulting the city would be a meat grinder for everyone. She'd better use assault shuttles to take the palace from the air. Though the air defences would have to be taken out first - even shielded shuttles could only take so much fire. And that meant they would have to lure the enemy forces into revealing themselves. Which meant Horde fighters piloted by bots as bait.

No matter how she looked at it, it would be a costly battle. And the cost would be even worse for Apophis's forces. Maybe it would be better to just level the palace from orbit, wreck the factories and barracks, and then wait the survivors out? Judging by how nice the air smelt, Apophis's factory complexes were either much cleaner than Horde ones - she doubted that - or he had a lot less capacity around his palace than Hordak had had in the Fright Zone during the war.

Apophis himself was another problem for any assault, of course. The snake could, in the face of certain defeat, take over any servant and hide amongst his slaves. And he wouldn't be the only Goauld doing that. Sorting out the hosts from the rest would be a nightmare. They'd need a decapitation strike to prevent that, but that was a lot harder to pull off than a simple invasion with superior forces. And probably best done with stealth shuttles again.

Catra narrowed her eyes, wishing she could throw off the damn hood and let her ears move freely. And kick off - and shred with her claws - the stupid boots she was wearing. She shouldn't have to wear boots unless the environment called for it. And this planet wasn't too cold or too hot.

Anyway, decapitation strikes were a good idea, but with the genetic memory of the snakes and the whole religious indoctrination of their forces and slaves, even taking out Apophis wouldn't really end the battle. But it would fragment his forces, which would make it far easier to defeat them in detail or catch them on the move. Earth armoured forces would be quite effective for that.

They were now two-thirds to the palace. And she had to control herself every step not to unsheath her foot claws for better traction. She really should have insisted on posing as a Jaffa guard. Sure, she was a bit small for a Jaffa, but unlike humans, she had the strength for it. Have O'Neill pose as a slave pushing a damn wagon like a horse. Or get Swift Wind to pull it. Make the damn horse be useful for a change. Heh, a winged horse as a gift would get them an audience with Apophis, allowing them to take him out…

They were passing the massive shield generators - well, the shield projectors on the surface - that were guarding the palace. Those would have to be reduced from orbit, of course. Or sabotaged before the assault. Breaking through on the ground would take a lot of firepower, though it wasn't impossible, as the Battle of Bright Moon had shown.

Inside the perimeter of the palace, though not yet inside the palace itself, she could spot far more guards than in the city. Enough to cover all approaches - not that that was hard; there was a strip surrounding the pyramid that had been cleared of any cover.

And now came the hardest part: Pushing the stupid wagon up the slope to the palace gates without losing her temper or losing her disguise. Grunting, she adjusted to the increased effort. If anyone ever made a draft animal joke about this…

"It's so inefficient…" Entrapta complained under her breath. "A single bot could have drawn the entire wagon. Somebody should have told Apophis that long ago!"

Catra snorted. Having slaves struggle was the point. Like in cadet training. Well, there, it was to foster team unity or something through shared hardship, though, for some instructors, that was just an excuse.

With another grunt, she pushed the wagon to the top of the slope, right in front of the palace gates.

Finally! They had arrived!

Now all they had to do was to vanish somewhere between the gate and the vaults, find Teal'c's family and Daniel's wife, kill Apophis if he was around, and leave.

After pushing the tribute wagon all the way here? Piece of cake.

Palace of Apophis, Saqqara, November 9th, 1999 (Earth Time)

You'd think Apophis had a subscription to 'Dictator's Quarterly', Jack O'Neill thought as they entered the palace. Most of the decor would fit perfectly in any of the palaces of various 'great leaders' and other rich and powerful scumbags on Earth that he had studied during his career for missions that had never happened, and a few that definitely had never happened, no sir. Massive marble columns, wall reliefs with gold inlays, carved wooden and ivory - or something alien that looked like it - furniture littered the hallways and rooms wherever you looked.

Of course, they were walking to the tribute vault, so this would be a route where Apophis's underlings would have taken extra care to impress any visitors. The whole palace wouldn't be full of such expensive gaucheness, or whatever you called it. On the other hand, Apophis had had a few thousand years to decorate and so many worlds to plunder…

He kept looking around as they walked down a big hallway. The armour was alright, but the helmet was a pain in the ass. It restricted his field of vision just a little bit, but it was enough to be noticeable and make him keep moving his head to cover his blindspots. Maybe he should have posed as a slave instead. But then he wouldn't be armed, and that would feel even worse than wearing a stupid helmet.

They passed another pair of guards standing to the sides - the fifth on the route - and finally reached the big lift to the vaults. A red light flickered over them - some scanner, Jack was sure. But unless Apophis had suddenly rediscovered magic or turned the lift into some X-ray machine, the scanner wouldn't find anything amiss. The 'slaves' were not carrying anything unusual. The 'guards' were armed with two zats and a staff weapon, but that wasn't too unusual. And Bra'tac was carrying Entrapta's multitool, but she had assured them that no known Goa'uld technology would identify its magic parts. Or the other parts hidden in the staff weapons.

Would be a hell of a time to discover that the princess had been wrong, of course.

The lift doors opened without any alert being sounded, and Bra'tac motioned to the others to push the wagon inside, but that didn't mean anything. If Jack were in charge, he'd turn the lift into a trap for intruders. It was the perfect ambush spot.

But once again, no alert sounded, and the lift slowly descended without any trouble until it opened again into a hallway made of metal - Naquadah-enhanced steel; Jack recognised the shine. Apophis didn't joke around when it came to his treasure chamber.

He also had four Jaffa guards here, plus another snake flunky, and probably a dozen more behind one of the side doors.

"Halt!" the flunky said. "This is the tribute?"

Jack pressed his lips together before he could make a quip about having mixed up the tribute with the cargo for the recycling plant back home. What did the snake expect? That somehow the guards at the Stargate and the ones at the palace entrance had made a mistake?

"Yes," Bra'tac replied. "The Great Khalid has sent the finest treasure to…"

"The finest treasures of your master are barely fit to enter these vaults," the Goa'uld interrupted him. He inspected the wagon with a sneer. "Quadu? Are stupid? That's for the kitchen, not the vault!"

The snake still grabbed one of the things and snacked on it, Jack noted, before turning to the guards. "Take the rest inside and those bags to the kitchen!"

And now comes the dismissal, Jack thought. Petty flunkies like that snake always jumped at the opportunity to lord it over someone else.

"What are you stool doing here?" The Goa'uld scoffed. "Return to your master!"

Bra'tac bowed his head, then turned around. "We have done our duty! We will return to the Great Khalid!"

They went back into the lift. Jack glanced around. They were under observation - the camera in the ceiling was not subtle at all. But they had expected that. And they had timed the lift's route on the way down.

As soon as the doors closed, Bra'tac slapped the tool into Entrapta's hands. "Don't break it!" he snarled, then gripped his staff with both hands, acting as if he was angry at the insults thrown his way by pretty much everyone. Well, maybe he was angry.

Jack didn't care as long as their plan worked. And that depended on Entrapta and Carter, who were huddling over the tool. And taking their time - they were already halfway to the top. Maybe closer.

Jack clenched his teeth. Carter and her buddy wouldn't let them down. He had to trust them.

"We did it!" Entrapta announced.

"We hacked the cameras, sir," Carter reported. "And we found a hiding spot."

"Great!" Jack grinned.

They reached the ground floor and stepped out of the lift. Vanishing inside it would have been a bit too risky. The guards would wonder why an empty lift arrived. But disappearing on the way out? Plenty of crossings to duck into. Especially if you controlled the cameras and knew the blind spots of the guards.

Halfway to the gate, they darted to the side and dashed down a small maintenance corridor - still shiny with all the gold you could muster - and into a storage room or whatever the snake used it for.

"Alright!" Jack said as he handed his staff weapon over to Carter, then pulled his spare zat out while she started disassembling it. "Let's get this show on the road!"

Adora watched the door while Sam, Entrapta and Bow quickly took apart the three fake staff weapons they had brought and started building - no, assembling - the tools they needed for this. And Bow's 'Q Bow', as Jack had dubbed the contraption Bow had somehow managed to slide into the hollowed-out shaft of a staff. A reference to James Bond, Daniel had told them, before explaing that James Bond was a fictional British spy usually doing the same missions they were now doing. Which was a good omen, or should be one, in Adora's opinion.

"Alright! With the computers linked and the programs loaded, we just need to adapt them to the latest data, and we can go hack the entire security system!" Entrapta announced, beaming from behind the rather fragile-looking array of bits and pieces spread out on the chest-turned-table in the middle of the storeroom.

"I'm almost done with the connection to the main data line here!" Bow was hanging upside down from the ceiling, next to Catra, who had sliced open the stone with her claws to expose the cables. One of Bow's tools dropped when he shifted, but Catra grabbed it before it hit the ground.

"Careful."

"Thanks."

"I am adapting our algorithms," Sam said, not looking up from her 'improvised holographic laptop', as Entrapta had called it. Even with both the screen and the keyboard replaced by holoprojections, the components for that alone had taken an entire staff weapon to conceal, as Bow had explained to Adora. The others had been mostly used to smuggle the explosives Jack had wanted and Bow's bow.

That left them with two working staff weapons for Teal'c and Bra'tac and ten zats for everyone else. And Adora's sword, Bow's new bow - though he only had a few arrows for it - and Glimmer's staff, but that was literally just a weighted shaft of a staff weapon.

"Done," Sam said. "We can now begin our intrusion into Apophis's system."

"Great. Let's find our missing family members and get out," Jack said. "Wouldn't want to overstay our welcome."

"Visiting delegations often enjoyed some time in the taverns of the capital," Teal'c commented. "They will not expect us to return immediately."

"Although Khalid's delegations are not known to mingle as much as others," Bra'tac added, "since they are held in derision by the Serpent Guard and other vassals. Still, few of them would forego the opportunity to enjoy the amenities that a much more advanced planet than their master's holdings can offer."

"Meaning, we have some time until someone starts looking for us," Catra said, dropping from the ceiling and landing lightly on all four after flipping in midfall. She straightened and sniffed the air. "But don't take too long, anyway."

Adora nodded in agreement.

"We can do it quickly, or we can do it safely. Relatively safely," Bow retorted.

"Let's do it safely!" Daniel cut in. He looked nervous, gripping his zat tightly in his hand.

Of course, he would be nervous, Adora berated herself. Sha're might be in the palace.

"Yeah. We can go quickly later - we probably will have to go quickly, very quickly then." Jack nodded.

It was a very weak joke, and gallows humour, as they called it on Earth, but everyone chuckled at it.

And then came the worst part of any mission, in Adora's opinion - waiting while others worked. She hated this. She wanted to help them. Make herself be useful. Do anything.

But she couldn't do anything here. She couldn't help with the hacking - and even if she had the skills, the others were already crowded around both the one computer they had managed to smuggle in and Entrapta's tool. She couldn't even fetch some food or something - they were in a storeroom, not the palace or headquarters.

She gritted her teeth and sighed.

"Stop that," Catra whispered to her.

"Stop what?" Adora whispered back.

"Fretting and feeling useless."

"I wasn't…" Adora trailed off with a pout as Catra snickered. But then she narrowed her eyes. Catra's tail was twitching, and that meant… "Stop fretting yourself," Adora told her. Her lover wasn't doing any better! Well, she should have realised that at once - Catra wasn't the most patient person.

Catra scoffed in return but didn't deny it.

At least Glimmer was holding up better. Then again, she was watching Bow working, so that was kind of cheating. So…

"Look at that!" Entrapta exclaimed.

"Ah, yes. Let's check the records." Sam's fingers flew over… well, the table, passing through the projected keyboard.

"And the feeds from the cameras - can we run a quick search?" Bow added.

"We would have to free some computing power, but… I think so. The system is not quite as advanced as Horde Prime's." Entrapta nodded. "So… Oh! Another hit?"

"But not the same location. Oh. Different people."

Adora clenched her teeth. She wanted to ask what was going on, but she didn't want to bother her friends in the middle of this critical task.

"I've got confirmation! Look at that!"

Adoa cocked her head to look at the projected display. There were multiple pictures there, camera feeds, it seemed, slightly grainy, but…

"Drey'auc. Ryla'c," Teal'c whispered.

"They're in the palace dungeons. As expected," Sam confirmed. "But…"

"Sha're." Daniel was staring at another picture. And that camera didn't show a dungeon cell.

"Yes. She's in the women's quarters of the palace," Sam said.

"We have to save her!" Daniel blurted out, looking at Jack - and then at Adora. "All of them," he added a moment later.

Adora nodded. "That's why we're here," she reassured him.

The only question was how. According to their data, the dungeons were not even near the women's quarter. Those were close to Apophis's personal quarters, in the upper part of the palace. If anything went wrong, if the alarm was raised, it would quickly become impossible to reach the other location.

"We'll have to split up," Catra said, looking at the holoprojection.