Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Star Wars, or Stargate movies, TV shows, games, books, or comics. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not for sale or rent.
Chapter 3: A Sith in Lady Kali's court
=SBS=
Part 5
=SBS=
Kalighat
Lady Kali's throne world
Milky Way galaxy
Perun acted and looked different, and not just because he had yet another host. For centuries, the only notable thing Kali heard from her agents in his court, who made sure he didn't plan to usurp her in alliance with other underlings, was how the man kept switching hosts, seeking better and better warriors to use. Then, instead of doing something constructive, or dangerous, after rejuvenating his body the old-fashioned way, he went to exhaust all his concubines. It was almost admirable, or if Kali was, to be honest with herself, something that stirred a bit of envy in her. Then again, she had been more than content to let Perun enjoy the spoils earned by supporting her against Shiva all those years ago.
The news he brought, no matter if bait planted by traitors, or a genuine outside threat, more than merited a serious response. Ba'al might not be the most powerful System Lord, his armies and fleets might be smaller than those like Apophis and Heru'ur, however, he was the most cunning, and dangerous among them all. Every time Ba'al did something, you had to look at it as a feint, hiding different intentions, and blades aimed at your vitals.
That was why, Kali immediately ordered a lock-down, and retreated to one of her secure meeting rooms. She had a large security contingent bring in Perun and his small entourage.
"Do brief us, Lord Perun. Leave nothing unsaid." Kali demanded, and her eyes bored into her underling, seeking even the tiniest hint of deception.
While Perun began his so-called briefing, Kali gestured for Sanga to get the information from the Goa'uld's Jaffa, and quickly browse through it.
Soon, there were a dozen stone tablets strewn all over the table at the side of the room. Sanga wasted no time and plugged in a couple of data crystals into a reader built into the thick mahogany wood. The center of the table lit up, revealing a small crystal piece embedded into it. Within a few seconds, the holo-emitter projected Al'kesh sensor readings, for all to see. Soon, long-distance camera recordings replaced them.
They showed decent-sized military camps, and multiple pyramids, over halfway to completion. Various pictures taken from a closer distance revealed Ba'al's symbol on the foreheads of the Jaffa working in those camps.
Further, the report Perun offered was both comprehensive, and exhausting. It was something Kali would expect from her better trained and experienced Primes, instead of coming from this particular Goa'uld.
Perun also had the gall to present plans of assault for handling Ba'al's troops on the ground!
The more the man spoke, the more convinced Kali became that this wasn't the Perun she knew of when they wast met centuries ago. She idly played with one of the rings gracing her fingers. She disengaged the safety of the built-in energy weapon, just in case, while pondering her next actions.
Most System Lords might have rewarded Perun's uncharacteristic show of initiative and competence with a poisoned gift. After all, who in their right mind would shelter a competent, ambitious underling? There was just one little obvious issue with that course of action. It ensured your court would be full of boring drones incapable of ever saying no, or pointing out, in private, an obvious issue with your plans.
Kali used to be one such underling until Shiva let madness consume him. She knew that loyalty could be earned, bought, and retained through careful handling of your underlings. The right balance of punishment for transgressions, rewards for achievements, and vigilance were vital for success.
Otherwise, you would become either become a paranoid wreck, or fill your court with useless parasites hiding a few truly dangerous creatures, who had nothing to lose, and everything to gain by stabbing you in the back.
"All I can see, confirm Lord Perun's words." Sanga's deep voice carried well within the room.
"We have some time to decide how to handle Ba'al's gambit," Kali spoke aloud. "But first, Perun," She said the name slowly, tasting it, "We need to figure who and what are you, and what reward you deserve." Kali's eyes gleamed with questions and unrestrained danger.
Perun gave her a brief, flat look, though he knew better than to flash his eyes at her.
"My Lady Kali, I'm sure your… agents, let's go with agents, in my court have been keeping you upraised about my actions. For centuries now, I've been seeking hosts who proved themselves accomplished warriors."
That much Kali knew, and until now, it had been a constant source of amusement. Perun had been many things, brave, or a warrior he was not.
"I searched for an easy way to become what I was not yet earned to be." The little uppity thing had the gall to flash her a brief smile. "After centuries of trial and error, after absorbing the memories and gaining the skills of dozens of accomplished warriors, it finally worked!" Perun declared grandly, in a way the one she knew, would have never dared. "My last host, this one, was finally enough of a good thing! My eyes opened at last! I found my courage and warrior heart, living up to my titles! I've spent months now,"
"Playing with your Jaffa as you were one of them." Kali interrupted him. One of her agents did inform her of that.
"I beheld, their training, weapons, armor, and capabilities, in general, and I found them wanting. For too long, all they knew was ceremonial combat. All they had to fight with, were ancient weapons designed to cower primitive humans. I've spent my past months changing all that. I created weapons of war, armors that could keep them alive, and I trained them to be warriors, not glorified slave overseers! I am eagerly looking forward to a way to prove the worth of my ideas and offer you a precious gift my lady – a new way to wage war on the ground! A victorious way!"
"That's a grand proclamation, coming from you of all people." Kali made a show of scoffing. If that man would act as the Perun she was familiar with, she wouldn't have believed a word coming of his mouth. However, if this was Perun, instead of a competent underling who had managed to dispose of the decadent fool and take his place, then her old supporter had changed.
In the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter if this was Perun, or not. What mattered was how much use he could be and if said use would outweigh the potential danger he represented. At the same time, he did come to warn her of that prick Ba'al's newest scheme.
"Sanga," Kali glanced at the large Prime who held the dual roles of the commander of her Palace Guard, and her bodyguard. "Test Lord Perun here. He claims he has found his warrior's heart. Let him prove it. Arms and feet only, no weapons."
"Do not interfere," Perun told his Jaffa, who didn't even twitch.
A closer look revealed that they were eager to see the coming performance.
Sanga gave his staff weapon to one of the Skull Guard, removed his Zat, and put it on the table, along with the long curved knife he favored.
All Perun removed from his person was an odd cylinder just big enough to comfortably hold with both hands. He gave it to one of his golden-platted Jaffa and smiled hungrily at Sanga.
"You can use the far corner of the room. Try not to break anything expensive, boys!" Kali needled them to hurry.
=SBS=
Part 6
=SBS=
Kalighat
Lady Kali's throne world
Milky Way galaxy
For the time being, I managed to more or less keep my composure, all the while silently cursing Ba'al. On one hand, I didn't need any scrutiny from Kali right now. On the other, both the potential rewards and dangers were substantial.
Strictly speaking, the straightforward way to solve most of my present problems, was to do it through rewards for services rendered from my current overlord. It was just that, any services worth the trouble of fulfilling, and justifying the rewards I needed, would make me a target. I would be proving myself being too competent to ignore, and second, be so out of character for Perun, it wasn't even funny.
In the end, I decided that my best bet to get things done was to run full tilt with how changed I was now, after centuries of effort to get there. It was mostly bullshit, of course, though my lies did hold enough grains of truth that could be corroborated to become somewhat plausible. More importantly, I did abuse my connection with the Force to aid me in choosing the safest way to approach Kali under the present circumstances.
It helped that despite my expectation, the woman turned out to be cunning and willing to think about new ideas. Instead, she could have either dismissed my concerns or tried to punish me for overstepping my position anyway. Needless to say, that made her all the more dangerous.
The test Kali ordered, was going to prove in her mind that whoever, or whatever I was, I wasn't anything like the Perun she knew. That wasn't as much of an issue as I feared it might be. However, it remained to be seen, if Kali would be willing to play ball anyway.
Her Prime, Sanga, walked around the table and into the mostly empty far end of the room. There were only a few wooden chairs, and several large sitting cushions waiting in the corners for attention.
I slowly went after him, all the while examining his movements. The Jaffa was much bigger than me, and I wouldn't doubt even for a moment that he might have at least a century of experience under his belt. If it wasn't for my brain-dead symbiote enhancing my strength, or the ability to tap into the Force, I wouldn't be sure at all I could take the large bastard in hand-to-hand combat.
I submerged myself lightly in the Force, just enough to be able to anticipate incoming danger, and tapped my symbiote through it. Its muscles convulsed uncomfortably, and it released a potent mix of steroids and other chemicals in my blood. Those were in practice a potent mixture of combat drugs.
Sanga came at me. His arms were in a loose stance, allowing both for rapid offense or defense. As soon as we came close enough, the Prime sent a blur of a jab heading for my temple. I leaned off the way and responded with a quick kick aimed at his left knee. A raised shin intercepted it, making me feel as if I struck a steel pole. Sanga followed up with another jab, and as soon as I leaned away again, he surged forward, and the palm of his left hand flew straight at my face, aimed to smash my nose, and sent fragments into my brain.
I slapped his hand away, with enough strength to make him stumble a bit. Then I retaliated with a kick that caught his left leg just behind the knee, making him lean forward to retain balance.
Sanga was enjoying this – that was all I could get through the Force from him. His blood sang, and he was more than happy to keep fighting until he won. The Jaffa watching the show were excited as well, barely restraining themselves from shouting encouragements.
More importantly, from what I could glimpse from Kali, she enjoyed the show as well. The only question was, if a happy Kali was a good thing for me, or not.
I took the opportunity to gain some distance. When fighting a larger opponent, especially if you did it unarmed, the last thing you wanted was to allow them to grapple you. The odds were great, you would get the worst end of any such exchange.
Distance and speed were your allies in such a case. Let the enemy wear themselves out, let them make a mistake, and go for soft spots and the joints – slowing them down, and crippling them.
Sanga came at me, jabbing at my face again. Goa'uld or not, concussion was a bitch to handle. It would affect the precise control a parasite needed to excel in combat. In contrast, a Goa'uld could simply ignore many other contusions, and keep pushing their hosts to their limits.
I leaned back from the first jab, deflected the second one, then caught Sanga's fist with my left hand. My whole arm shook at absorbing the punch, and if it wasn't for my increased strength and the chemicals racing through my veins, Sanga could have cracked my wrist. Instead, I used the brief opening to slam the edge of my right palm into his wrist with as much strength I could, while holding his arm in place. Sanga tried to force his hand free before I could strike him, and when that didn't work courtesy to Goa'uld sourced strength, he went for my face again. I snapped my head to the side, robing his strike of as much momentum as I could. The bastard still cracked my cheekbone. In exchange, the bastard now cradled his left wrist and shifted his stance to keep that hand protected.
He hit like an angry Wookie on steroids, I could give credit where credit was due.
I ignored the pulsing pain in my cheek and went to the offensive. It wouldn't be long before his symbiote fixed up his wrist – I was sure I didn't manage to properly crack it. I began with a series of low kicks aimed at his right knee, which he absorbed with his shin. I followed up with an old kata of jabs and punches aimed at his mid-riff, seeking the solar-plexus.
Sanga absorbed and deflected the strikes with his hands. I closed the distance, threw a kick at his knee for distraction, and went to grab his left arm again. He used the opportunity to clamp his right hand on mine, and at that point, it should have been a contest of raw strength and leverage. I of course cheated, briefly using the Force to reinforce myself, then struck with all the power my symbiote could give me. Even as Sanga tried to twist and break my arm, I jumped, then left his efforts to bring me down faster. I struck his exposed elbow joint with the edge of my palm, transmitting as much power into the blow as I could.
Bones cracked, and Sanga's left hand went limp, just as pain flared in my left wrist.
I used all the strength I had to tear my hand off his grip, and used the resulting momentum to whirl around. My left elbow cracked against Sanga's skull, followed by a blow that broke his nose and sent him stumbling away from me.
My wrist pulsed with pain, and the fingers of my left hand refused to properly obey my orders. The aimed strike that broke Sanga's nose further injured my hand. That wasn't good but hopefully wouldn't matter.
I went straight at the Prime, giving him no time to regain his wits, and used my injured hand as bait. He grabbed it by instinct, then his training kicked in and twisted it, bringing me forward to meet a rising knee. I surged up, using my caught arm as leverage, and roared in pain as my wrist cracked, then broke. My right hand flew up, propelled by all the strength a Goa'uld could give its host, and aimed with the aid of the Force. I slammed my palm into Sanga's broken nose. The angle was good enough, and the strength of the hit was pure overkill.
The Prime froze. His bloodshot eyes stared emptily at me, after fragments of cartilage tore their way into his brain, compounding the sheer concussion damage caused by my blow. Sanga's hold on my mangled hand slackened, and he slowly toppled to his side.
"Get him into a sarcophagus," Kali ordered imperious. "Whoever you are, you aren't the Perun I knew. He would never risk being injured that way to win, much less endure the pain necessary to do so." She looked pointedly at my broken wrist.
I glared at it through the Force, and with a sharp pull, straightened it, hissing in pain. My symbiote-enhanced healing would take care of the rest.
"Does that matter to you, my Lady Kali?" I asked.
"You should be afraid. I could order your death for murdering one of my sworn Lords." She kept examining me in curiosity as if I was some interesting new specimen in the local Zoo. "And what a death it would be! Yet, there's no trace of fear I could see. Are you that arrogant, or simply insane?"
I simply stared at Kali giving nothing away. My contingency was obvious, though Kali had no way of knowing it. If push came to shove, I would have to kill her and fight my way out in the chaos. Either that, or if at all possible, capture Kali, and use her as a hostage to gain a free passage back home. The real problems would begin after that – I would have to flee, abandoning my realm and most of my power base. Then I would have to either hide and hope for the best or seek Asylum with either Earth or the Serrakin, hoping beyond hope that Anubis would fail.
Those weren't good options.
=SBS=
If you want to support my writing or discuss this story, see the following links:
Pat re on: Delkatar's writing corner
the space battles forums - this is where most discussion over my stories takes place
the sufficient velocity forums
the alternative history forums