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Chapter 2: Making deals with the Devil...
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Part 1
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CC FOB Alpha
Krepost
Milky Way Galaxy
Between running reconnaissance missions, and bringing in material for the FOB, finding Earth's address the hard way took longer than anticipated. It took most of a well-spent month. It was full of both successes and disappointments.
Returning the Serrakin and their two Hebridan human allies to their people did happen. However, it was, unfortunately, a low-key affair. Their government was grateful, and I did get to have a short talk with a diplomatic representative. The good news was that I got an agreement for a covert contact sometime in the future. The obvious downside, one that I should have expected was simple. I lacked sufficient material to trade with if I wanted to get anything useful. That much became painfully clear, and it took only after just a brief conversation with their diplomat. One of the Serrakin conglomerates was ready to sell me everything short of military technology I wanted. The catch was that in exchange, I had to provide either hard local cash, enough naquadah, or trinium to barter with.
At least, that disappointment ended up peacefully, complete with an exchange of good wishes and a few Stargate addresses of empty worlds we might use as future meeting places.
The meeting with the Serrakin made one thing painfully clear to me. For the time being, my best for trade was Earth. While I would be able to bargain only for low-tech goods from there, they would still be a major improvement in mining and agriculture. Further, my limited resources would get much further when dealing with Earth. That was especially true compared to equivalent trade with the Serrakin.
On the bright side, my recon teams did find multiple operations run by various Goa'uld all over the galaxy. One of the potential targets was of particular interest. It was just a few dozen light-years from Pirin, and nearly a hundred and twenty from my version of Stargate Command.
First, that world was outside of the domain claimed by either Kali, or her various underlings. Not one should be pocking their fingers that way. Second, it appeared to be a forward operating base. Third, it was slowly growing into a staging ground. The place was nowhere near Ba'al's territory that was close to Kali's domain. The one break I got was that his closest official holdings were over a thousand light-years away, on the other side of Kali's domain.
I didn't need to be a genius to figure out what was happening – the cunning bastard was busy building a forward base for a flanking maneuver. Sooner or later, he would have enough Jaffa staged there, and more importantly, ships ready to flank Kali. After that, all he would need was a diversion on the border.
This development was a clear and present danger that I needed to deal with, yet one I didn't dare attack by myself. Ba'al was a System Lord. Politically, it was highly unwise to pre-emotively strike his forward base without orders from Kali. The issue there was that going to her might reveal some of the cards I was holding. On the other hand, the last thing I wanted or needed was to see him knock out Kali and potentially take over. He would be diligent in uprooting loyalists, and the moment his agents got to my domain, I would be in trouble. The last thing I needed was one of the few smart Goa'uld either looking over my shoulder, much less declaring me a threat to be removed.
Time is a curious thing. When you need it, you often find yourself with too many important things to do, and no time to do them properly. I had multiple targets that needed further investigation, my Earth unit had almost run out of options to go over, and was posed to find the address soon. And then there was the Ba'al-shaped complication.
That was how I found myself in my own Chappa'ai Command base, looking at preliminary intelligence gathered by Lighting Legion operatives. At the rate Ba'al was slowly building up strength and supplies, his forward base would be operational within the next two months. At that time, I expected that multiple Ha'taks would appear in the skies, making a ground assault unfeasible.
"Stephan, get my cloaked Al'kesh in the air and heading for that world. I want it under constant observation. Shadow protocols will be in effect. Keep the Lighting Legion detachment in place, they will contact us through the Al'kesh using tight beam transmissions. Get me more recordings of that base, but be careful. We must remain undetected." I looked back at the few pictures, and much more comprehensive written reports supplied by my scouts. As soon as I got more information, I would be visiting Kali. "Stephan, get in contact with Gorski. We will be unleashing his Wolves."
This threat had to go. The best I could do under the circumstances was to prove myself as a capable leader, and get as much recognition and reward from Kali. The downside was inevitable scrutiny.
"Orel cut back on the far-ranging exploration and recon missions. Concentrate your efforts on only on three to four lightly defended targets, and when you have enough data, get me a preliminary plan on how to covertly raid them." I looked back at my First Prime. "Stephan, when you get Gorski here, begin planning a gate assault on Ba'al's forward base. I want three plans. The first will assume that we hold the orbitals. The second assumes contested orbitals, and the third, that we will lose control of them and will need to pull back under heavy bombardment."
I shouldn't have been surprised that at that point, my luck decided that I didn't have enough on my plate and acted up.
Someone struck the armored door of the command center three times – today's signal that they weren't coerced. The door soon slid open and to reveal a panting Jaffa.
"My Lord, we did it! We're pretty sure we found this Earth you wanted!"
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21 May 1996
Project Giza complex
Cheyenne Mountain
United States
Milky Way galaxy
Alarms roared to life, shattering the frustrated peace reigning under the mountain. Stunned scientists looked up at angry red lights, unsure what was happening, while soldiers threw away whatever they were doing and ran for designated action stations.
"General West, report to the control room. I say again, General West, report to the control room!" An excited male voice came over the internal message system. A metal groan followed, heard or felt by everyone under the mountain. Then the tremors began.
"Security to the control room! Security to the control room! The artifact is active! I say again, the artifact is active!" The same voice repeated. This time people could hear worry mixing up with his excitement.
"Sergeant, what in God's good name is happening…" General West finally ran into the control room and froze when he saw the ring. It was alive, rotating, and one of its chevrons just locked down with a loud groan. The tremors increased, and sparks lit up the ring's room as sensors and other assorted equipment shorted out.
"We've got six locked down symbols and counting…"
"We never got anywhere near close to that…"
"And that makes them seven…"
Military specialists and civilian scientists spoke over each other in excitement. The General pushed through the shock he felt, shook his head, and looked around for his damned security detail. He could see just a few lightly equipped soldiers that made it to the control room. A single trooper was fast on the uptake and managed to get into the ring room. So far, there was no trace of more security. It was damn sloppy, and he let it get that way, damn it all!
The gate shook, and the scaffolding surrounding it screamed. It finally stopped rotating, and the seventh symbol locked down. The ring flashed to life, and what looked like glowing, silver water just formed inside, then exploded forward, annihilating everything in its path. For a moment, West thought that this was it, that they were all dead, as the water, energy, or whatever that was, it kept flushing forward. Suddenly, an invisible force pulled it back. The silver thing imploded until it formed a rippling surface, which fortunately remained contained within the ring.
As if that wasn't enough, moments after the energy field stabilized, a ball-sized object flew through it. The thing warbled and lost altitude, before stabilizing and rising. It bobbed in the air, rotating as if looking around.
"Get security down there but make no aggressive moves!" West finally found his voice. "Seal the whole facility and give me a line to the Pentagon, now! Someone call General Granger, and have him send us all reinforcements he has at hand, yesterday! And find me a Geiger counter or ten! I want to know the zone is hot or not!"
The ball, no, the probe, warbled again, as if offering a greeting. It kept turning around, bobbing in the air at the height of the command center overlooking the ring room.
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Part 2
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21 May 1996
Project Giza complex
Cheyenne Mountain
United States
Milky Way galaxy
Until today, General Jerome Granger thought that commanding Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, would be a good last feather under his cap. After this tour of duty, he could retire and enjoy spoiling his grandchildren. With the Soviets gone, and no credible strategic threat rising to replace them, he was looking up to a happy retirement without the specter of nuclear annihilation hanging upon everyone's heads.
Instead, now he had to worry about aliens, or something even more outlandish.
"It's a stairway to the heavens, I tell you! I'm not wrong!"
"We all saw it, you ass itself portal!"
"I vote for gate, as long as both of you shut the fuck up!"
"William, care to explain what did you just drop in my lap, and why exactly I had to mobilize every trooper I had who can act as security?" Granger ignored the bickering scientists and focused his full attention on his balding acquaintance. "I'm pretty sure I head something about aliens, and I'm not certain if I hope you're pulling my chain or not."
"Just a moment, Jerry." West turned to one of the armed security personnel standings beside the door. Inform me as soon as Colonel O'Neill or Dr. Jackson arrive on base. They need to be briefed ASAP." They would also need to sign a bunch of NDAs West had to oversee. "Come with me. It's easier to believe when you see it."
Granger followed West deeper into the underground base, followed by a squad of fully kitted Airmen.
"The Brits dug it out in Egypt, during the years leading to the Second World War. At the time they were unsure what exactly they had, but knew it would be a bad idea to risk it falling into the hands of the Nazis. Somehow, the damn thing ended up in a warehouse on the East Coast forgotten for decades, before someone found it, and eventually, it ended up as my responsibility. Until a few hours ago, we had just a bunch of unfounded theories. Then someone activated it…" West kept rambling until they got to a control room chock full of all kinds of electronics.
If the place was a bit darker, it would be easy to mistake it for a Carrier's CIC.
"Raise the shield. General Granger needs to see it," West ordered and continued his explanation. "At twelve-fifteen today, it activated, scared the shit of most people on the base and what looked like an advanced drone flew in, buzzing the ring room…"
Armored panels rose, revealing a decommissioned missile silo holding a huge metal ring. Damaged scaffolding and a bunch of personnel in MOPP gear surrounded it, waving all kinds of sensors around the thing.
"Is it hot?" Granger narrowed his eyes. While he might not have recognized most of the equipment down there, a Geiger counter was rather obvious if you've seen one before.
"If it's hot, it's with something we can't detect." West's words were less reassuring than they should have been. "As I was saying, fifteen minutes later, the ring shut down, leaving the drone behind. Then it flew up to the gate, issued some signal at it we were barely able to detect a part of, and is activated by itself, then it left."
Granger looked from West to the ring and back. Perhaps he should have tried to get a different last assignment, as a station in Alaska, where the only things he should worry about would be the cold and the odd polar bear.
"Well, on the bright side, it's a choke point," Granger concluded after giving one hard look to the ring and the room containing it. "On the other hand, choke points only matter if you can stop whoever is trying to force them in the first place."
"That's why…" West began saying, only to be interrupted by the ring lighting up, and beginning to move.
At a closer look, Granger noted that the artifact was made by multiple rings welded together in such a way that at least one of them could freely rotate.
"We've got an outside activation. Chevron one corresponds to the first one from the previous one…" A technician announced.
"Get everyone out of there and seal the ring room. Put down the armored plate and make sure security is ready and in defensive positions!" West barked.
"You heard the man. We're holding up the fort." Granger told the squad that followed him.
The armored plate lowered, giving some protection to the command center. Granger looked around until he found a camera screen showing the ring.
The ground began to ominously shake.
"We don't have a proper buffer system to hold the ring in place, or so the scientists believe. With some tweaking, we should avoid shaking the whole damn base…" West explained.
"Chevron six, locked down! Chevron seven! We've got a power-spike!"
For the second time in a few hours, the artifact activated. This time around, there was nothing in the way for the resulting energy explosion to annihilate. The portal stabilized, and the energy within rippled like the surface of a lake ruffled by a light wind. Instead of a probe, or an invasion force, a long object flew in, fell to the ramp in front of the ring. It bounced once and lazily rolled to the concrete floor. A few seconds later, the artifact shut itself down.
"Get that thing checked by an EOD unit, then shove it in containment!" West ordered.
"Fuck, you weren't pulling my chain." Granger groaned.
"Seeing is believing." West shot back.
A few hours later, after running a bunch of tests, everyone was pretty sure that the artifact sent to them through the gate wasn't an imminent threat. At a first glance, it looked like ceremonially bound colorful parchment, which was simply ridiculous, wasn't it? Yet, a closer examination revealed that it was a colorful parchment containing a message in what appeared to be an Ancient Egyptian.
Instead of achieving something constructive, that revelation got West's civilian specialists arguing with each other what the existence of the artifact meant, instead of what it said.
"That down there looks like an address! However, I'm not sure what the else says…"
"I need to get my books. Those symbols look close but are by no means identical with what we've been working on…"
"What do you think? Does it say 'we come in peace, or is this a declaration of war?" Granger quietly asked West.
"I have no bloody idea, Jerry. By the looks of it, nor do my so-called Egyptologists…"
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CC FOB Alpha
Krepost
Milky Way Galaxy
I'd forgotten that in democracies, it could take a very long time to make an important decision. In my experience, that tended to happen either over conflict of interests, or if for no other reason, then because most politicians wanted to get their asses covered in case of a mishap.
Thirty hours after finding Earth and sending them an invitation for a diplomatic meet and greet, there was still no answer from their side. In the meant time, my Primes managed to craft a preliminary assault plan to take Ba'al's FOB. Their diligent work gave me something constructive to do.
The first two plans had much in common. They both relied on a rapid assault through the gate led by my Space Wolves. Their heavy armor and brutal weapons should allow them to establish a beachhead, to be exploited by my Lighting Legion. Those specialists, backed by my Space Marines would take the hills surrounding the gate and link up with our scouts on the ground. At that point, the plan significantly diverged depending on if we had orbital control or merely fought under a neutral sky.
The third plan was very short and to the point. It politely required that we don't commit mass suicide, in case we knew, we wouldn't have at least neural skies. Success, my Primes were growing!
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