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Chapter 5: Consequences

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Part 1

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Kalighat

Lady Kali's throne world

Milky Way galaxy

A job well done often has its deserved reward. It was just that, as often as not, you might not enjoy said reward at all.

In this particular case, I ended up summarily summoned to Kali's Throne World. Kali herself, and Bastet, were in front of the Chapa'ai, surrounded by a large amount of their honor guard.

"Perun, good, you're on time!" Kali's head bobbed once in a quick nod. "Ra himself has summoned us to explain our troubles with Ba'al. We're to present ourselves at Hasara Station, right now."

"My Lady, if memory serves, the station is more than a week away from here, using a fast ship." I pointed out. My mind tried running through the implications. Meeting Ra of all snakes this soon, wasn't part of my plans

"The Supreme Lord's orders aren't to be taken lightly." Bastet snapped.

I could sense her anger and fear.

"He isn't a fan of either of you, is he?" I noted.

"While we might be walking into a trap, disobeying would give him an excuse to either act against us, or give Ba'al a free rein." Kali's eyes flashed. "As a benevolent Goddess, I can't take a course that would see my realm and people endangered for no good reason." She declared primly.

Those words were another nail ensuring the continued loyalty of Kali's Jaffa. That was something I frankly didn't expect out of her, even if I knew she was much smarter than the average Goa'uld. I had to revise my estimate of how dangerous and useful Kali could be upwards, again.

"As you say, My Lady." I bowed as it was appropriate. "Your wisdom is without a doubt. What is our plan of action?"

"We're taking the Stargate to the Hasara System's outpost, then we'll ride a ship provided by Ra's personal guard to the station itself," Bastet explained. "Just an attendant and us."

"It's time to go, Perun. Do not disappoint us." Kali declared imperiously and walked toward the Stargate. Bastet followed, and two human women wearing simple silver dresses trailed after their ladies.

The Commander of Kali's honor guard went to the DHD and quickly dialed the relevant address. The gate activated in an explosion of silver energy, which quickly pulled back to form the unnatural, silver rippling surface of a stable wormhole. That piece of technology never ceased to amaze me, considering all the applications I could think of if I ever cracked it.

Kali and company walked confidently through the gate and I followed. Once again, the experience was unique. For a few endless moments, it was like I was one with the Force. My mind stretched far and wide. There were concepts, sights, and perhaps even flashes of potential futures, that came too fast to leave more than a vague impression within my memories.

One thing was certain, the Force was spreading far and wide, at an ever-increasing pace. At this rate, it was already beyond the Milky Way. Sooner or later, it would reach the nearest galaxies, and then all bets would be off.

I stepped out of the gate and shook myself. Twelve of Ra's guard waited for us, in their ceremonial armor. At a glance, I could see the smart metal helmets and pieces of advanced armor covering their chests. The armor left their stomachs intentionally open, showing that the guards were all fanatically loyal humans. If I was a betting man, I would put my money on every one of them having a boost courtesy of Ra's people. At a minimum, it would ensure they had the sheer endurance and raw strength equal to that of the average Jaffa.

At a closer look, I saw the rest of the weapons Ra's guards had besides the ever-present staff weapons. They had curved knives and Zats attached either to bells or holsters at their thighs.

"Lord Ra awaits you. Follow us." The leader of Ra's guards barked. He was over two meters, tall bronze-skinned human. A Jackal-shaped helmet hid his head.

He turned around and walked towards a nearby Al'kesh. The remaining guards formed two lines, at least trying to maintain the thin illusion of respect. It was a good thing that I didn't sense any hostility coming from them, just the obvious disdain of their leader. That and enough pride to make the average Goa'uld or Sith choke on it.

Those parade ground troops believed themselves to be the finest in the galaxy, I was sure of it. At that revelation, I almost pitied the sorry bastards.

Kali and Bastet walked forward, chins held high. Their attendants followed at a respectable distance behind, with their Ladies, heads carefully bowed in submission.

In contrast, I marched behind them, as if I was on a parade.

If worse came to worst, I would need to use all my skills and abilities to steal a ship and make myself scarce.

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Hasara Space Station
Hasara System

Milky Way Galaxy

After a brief and silent trip, we docked at our destination. Ra's Jackal guard ushered us outside, where another dozen of his buddies waited for us. They escorted us through what felt like endless golden-plated corridors. Eventually we reached a not particularly large meeting room. It contained a dozen chairs put clockwise around a dial. There stood a gleaming throne made of polished gold and silver.

That damn thing was an eyesore even with Ra sitting on it. He had his right elbow on the armrest and his head rested on it. While I knew how the Supreme System Lord looked from two sets of memories, meeting him in person was something else. First, his appearance was deceptive. He wore simple white silk robes and looked like a boy barely out of his teens. Under different circumstances, it would be easy to simply dismiss him as the spoiled brat of one rich dynasty or another.

Another quirk of our lord and master was that almost every time he met anyone, he had a wall of human children in front of him. There was a bunch of the brats, from about ten-year-olds up to sixteen or so. They wore robes in various shapes and colors. And of course, there was all the gold jewelry. My theory was this was how he selected loyal servants and members of his guard – by taking orphans or the children of loyal human families and taking care of them.

I had to grudgingly note it was a system that would work almost flawlessly if done right. That by itself made Ra orders of magnitude more dangerous than the average Goa'uld. That cleverness was one of the major reasons why I had to get him out of the picture, as soon as it was practical.

Kali and Bastet bowed deeply, while their attendants fell to their knees. I suppressed the need to sneer and perhaps choke a snake. Instead, I went to one knee, in what looked like an obvious sign of deference and submission.

"Kali, Bastet," Ra spoke in a surprisingly soft and melodic voice. His brown eye focused on me and flashed. "So this is your new competent commander. The last I heard, Perun was a waste of a good host, just like many of our lesser brothers and sisters." He returned his attention to the two System Lords. "Explain yourselves," Ra demanded.

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Part 2

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Hasara Space Station
Hasara System

Milky Way Galaxy

"Ba'al prepared to assault my domain. We simply acted before he was ready." Kali's words were clear and to the point. There was no trace of the usual Goa'uld arrogance to be seen anywhere in her bearing.

For that matter, I would have thought it was completely missing right now if I couldn't feel her well-hidden resentment at Ra. She loathed him for forcing her to answer like this.

"Did he now?" Ra asked mildly. If anything, he was highly amused by the current situation. Despite his relaxed appearance, his whole being practically screamed that he was calculating how to best take advantage of current events.

"Nothing beyond my borders requires a military buildup, Supreme Lord." I dared speak. "There are neither threats to crush, nor valuable worlds to claim. The only reason to stage forces in that region of space is to assault the domain of my Lady Kali."

Said Goa'uld twitched but didn't turn to glare at me. I could feel her raising anger, mixed with not a small amount of fear.

Meanwhile, Ra shifted his attention to me.

"Ba'al might disagree." Ra mocked.

"If he wants to make a fool of himself, that is, of course, his prerogative, Supreme Lord." I shrugged, still standing in that irritating kneeling position.

"The Perun I knew of, wouldn't dare speak in my presence unless I addressed him directly. He, of course, was a disgrace as a supposed God of War, was he not, Kali?"

"He was, My Lord Ra." Kali managed to keep her tone even, even if she seethed inside.

"Yet, here we are!" Ra happily clapped once. "Two of my System Lords owe their latest victories to a minor Goa'uld who should be of no consequence. Does that speak highly of our new Lord Perun, or is it a sign that you two Ladies of mine are losing your edge?" Ra was back to speaking in a soft mocking tone, riling up Kali and Bastet.

"We're System Lords. We could have dealt with Ba'al's little incursion even without Perun's toys." Kali boldly proclaimed.

"That's a distinct possibility, My Lady Kali." I smiled pleasantly, still facing the floor. "However, even then, Ba'al could much better afford the losses than you, or Lady Bastet ever could."

Ra's amusement spiked at this byplay.

"Either of them can better afford any losses than you, Lord Perun." Ra was happy to point out.

"That's a given, Supreme Lord. I don't have the luxury of wasting any assets. They're scarce as it is."

"That didn't stop you from changing how we fight on the ground." Ra leaned forward. I didn't need to look at him to know his eyes glowed with interest. "I wonder what you can achieve with resources worthy of your talents."

"I've been wondering the same for a long time now, Supreme Lord." I kept playing with fire.

"It's clear to me now, that Kali has been mishandling the assets at her disposal." Ra began. "Further, open military conflict between my System Lords is against my laws. You two and Ba'al broke my edict and will collectively pay for it." At this point, it was obvious Ra was enjoying himself. He didn't even think twice about twisting the dagger he just plunged into Kali and Bastet. "You will pay a tribute in Naquadah and other important resources. We can't have fleets of Ha'taks smashing each other unless I demand it."

"By your command, Lord Ra." Kali and Basted spoke as one and bowed deeply in supplication.

"As for you, Lord Perun," Ra turned his attention back to me. "It's clear that Kali has been mishandling your talents, if not outright ignoring them. I'll have a task for you. If you succeed, I'll reward you richly." Ra smiled at Kali. "I'm sure your lady will be happy to bear the burden of another punishment for trampling my edict in favor of you." The smile now resembled that of a hungry snake. "And if you fail, I'm sure that our Lady Kali would find an appropriate punishment. After all, we can't tolerate failure and incompetence, can we?"

"No, Supreme Lord." This time the three of us chorused as one.

"Good." All mockery vanished from Ra's voice. "For a long while, the Tollan have been a thorn in our side. It falls upon you, Lord Perun, to see them humbled, if not outright annihilated."

"By your command, Supreme Lord. The Tollan will fall. What resources would I have access to, to achieve this valuable task?"

"What would you do if I say you'll have to make do with what you already have available, Lord Perun?" Ra stared at me as if I was some particularly interesting exhibit in a museum.

"Then it would be a long time before I would have the assets to deal a meaningful blow to the Tollans, Supreme Lord."

"And if time is at a premium?" Ra radiated amusement at that question.

"Then I will have to die trying to achieve your directive, Supreme Lord." I humbly answered.

Like hell. Defecting to Earth would be a better option. Either that or trying to sell my services to Serrakin. At any rate, these little games only reinforced my mind about dealing with Ra as soon as possible. Ideally in a few months at most, when he went on his next vacation.

In the same vein, my tolerance as far as Kali and Bastet were concerned suddenly grew very thin. They were enjoying the latest turn of events very much.

"Perhaps you do know your place or at least situation." Ra leaned back into his monstrosity of a throne. "It would be only fair if we deprive Ba'al of more assets than mere resources, on top of the losses he'll have to replace…" the Goa'uld trailed off. "You'll get a few more or less competent scientists working for you, Lord Perun. For the duration of this test, I'll offer you the use of certain industrial assets as well. You'll make the Tollan fear their betters, wish you've died trying." Ra stood up, smiling charmingly at us. "Besides, I would find it entertaining to see if you could make Nerus produce something of use." He looked at Kali and Bastet. "You two are dismissed. I'll have a messenger deliver the amount of tribute you're to pay by the end of the year." Ra focused back on me. "As for you, Lord Perun, you're going to explain in full detail the new way of war you've developed. There will be more than enough time for it before Nerus could drag his carcass all the way here."

"What do you wish to know, Supreme Lord?"

"Most of our kind was content to use staff weapons unchanged for thousands of years now. You weren't. Why?" Ra demanded even as some of his guards ushered Kali and Bastet away. "And get up, I tire of crinkling my neck to look at you scurrying like a worm on the ground." Ra waved me to stand and follow him.

"I'm a Minor Goa'uld, Supreme Lord. All my assets are limited. Considering the location of my domain, increasing them through warfare was not a feasible option, not to mention, that I didn't have many assets to waste in pointless skirmishes. With a limited quantity of troops and just a handful of space assets, the path forward was obvious. My Jaffa had to be better trained, they needed better weapons and armor. They had to perform much better than their peers…" I began explaining.