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Chapter 9: Brewing storm
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Part 7
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Babylos
Moloc's Throne World
Milky Way galaxy
Fire and righteous fury bubbled in Moloc's veins. Pathetic mortals and even lesser gods dared strike at the heart of his domain! They dared infest his capital while his army was outside, fighting to purge the infidels! Evan, after his divine wrath struck down Heru'ur himself, the wretched slaves of jealous Goa'uld breached the sanctity of Moloc's very palace!
The sheer insult! The lack of respect and proper groveling made his divine blood boil! Moloc could feel the cold touch of the unclean all over his realm. Only fire and proper cleansing could make it better!
The supreme deity smiled. Moloc could hear how his blessed Imperial Guard chased the infidels all over the palace. The screams of the dying invaders were music to his ears. The shrieks of those his Jaffa dragged to face his wrath brought an eager smile to Moloc's face.
He could hear the infidels' shrieks of terror as their hour of judgment came near!
The lines of loyal unto death blessed Jaffa trembled in anticipation. Watching a sacrifice would purify them for the sin of standing guard instead of charging to burn those who dared trespass on the holiest of grounds!
The cries of mercy and wails of agony ceased echoing throughout the palace. A pervasive silence fell upon the court in anticipation of the cleansing fires. Moloc left his throne, hungry with anticipation.
"Rejoice, my blessed servants! Soon we'll purify our…." Moloc's words died in his throat.
Wicked shadows crept into his bright throne room. An accursed chill pierced his skin and sunk into his very bones.
The main doors of the throne room rang like a gong and bulged inward as if struck by a massive hammer. A second strike ripped them off their hinges with enough force to send them flying halfway through the throne room.
Moloc's blessed Imperial Guardsmen left their position and quickly formed a defensive barrier in front of him.
"You dare!?" The commander or Moloc's palace guard furiously demanded.
Moloc himself just stared, not believing his eyes. He knew not what was happening! The sacrifical rituals painstakingly observed throughout his whole realm cleansed and empowered him! His Imperial Guard had his blessing! There was no foe in the galaxy that could stand against them! His loyal Jaffa had crushed the infidels! He had heard them wailing for mercy himself!
Instead, all Moloc could see was a shield wall held in place by large abominations. The infidels who dared to invade his palace were here, covered in blood and reeking of unholy taint.
Moloc pointed his right hand at them and gathered all his divine power.
"Burn!" The god decreed and unleashed his holy wrath through the Kara'kesh. The air in front of him rippled as his divine fury struck the infidels.
A manic grin appeared on Moloc's face. He fully believed his strike would smite everyone daring to challenge his divine power. His wrath should have shattered those cursed sinners, leaving them broken and ready for the pyres!
Instead, a ripple in the air intercepted Moloc's holy smite. A blast of concussive force staggered him and the two lines of loyal Jaffa in front of him.
The infidels didn't even falter.
"I want Moloc alive. Purge the heretics." A cruel, monstrous voice announced.
A wall of steel charged through the broken door. The Imperial Guard answered with holy fire. To Moloc's growing horror and utter disbelief, the shots of his blessed warriors had no effect. He raised a hand to smite the impure again. Even as Moloc gathered all his divine power to cleanse the whole throne room, a red blur flew at him. He unleashed his power and saw with satisfaction how one of the giants charging him was flung away.
The next thing Moloc knew was fire he did not enjoy. A burning blade impaled his right arm, burning through flesh and bone. His damaged Kara'kesh sparked, shocking him.
Moloc screamed in pain and righteous fury!
Something slammed into his forehead, and the god's eyes crossed. He beheld purifying light and knew no more.
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Huh, my aim was off. Instead of hitting Moloc in the chest, the shock grenade I threw at him nailed him between the eyes before detonating. The wave of light and energy knocked out a third of the Imperial Guard. The rest put up a desperate and utterly futile fight against my Space Wolves. Once again, shields and chain weapons proved superior to staff weapons in melee combat.
I couldn't wait for the day my shock troops could wear proper power armor. If the Goa'uld and their Jaffa thought that this was bad enough, I couldn't wait to see their reaction at facing units equipped with proper power armor. I smiled at that thought and walked through the carnage while my Jaffa rapidly secured the throne room. Pairs of them took a position at the obvious exits while the rest gathered around Moloc and me in a loose circle.
"Transport this thing to Slavna Zemq. Do scan him properly before bringing him through the Chappa'ai. We should be vigilant against more Tok'ra treachery." I will present Moloc to Ra as a consolation prize soon. However, first, we would have a heart-to-heart talk about any hidden caches for a rainy day he might have.
Meanwhile, we had a palace to secure, a treasury to pillage, and secure files to loot if the Tok'ra hadn't absconded with the latter.
Reinforcements arrived, led by Re'ol. The Horus' guard looked around with wide eyes. The lad still had difficulty getting accustomed to the effects of seeing proper shock tactics and rapid assaults.
"Re'ol," I proclaimed in my best Goa'uld voice. "Rejoice! Soon Ra will avenge your god. As promised, I will drag Moloc in front of the Supreme System Lord myself." I nodded at the mad god, who looked worse to wear.
Moloc's right hand was a mangled ruin, and his forehead proudly displayed an angry red bruise.
Re'ol and his boys watched with reverence and barely contained anger at how my Jaffa dragged the mad god away. I picked up my lightsaber and attached it to my equipment harness.
"We still have potential Tok'ra agents to hunt and a city to secure." I pointed out to the Horus' guard.
"My Lord!" Re'ol fell on one knee, and the rest of the Horus guard in the throne room followed suit. "Today, you granted us all a great boon. Through your actions, our honor is partially restored! We are in your debt, Lord!"
"Perhaps. This is not the time or place for such a discussion. We haven't completed our task here yet, and the Tok'ra are still at large. Rise and serve."
"We serve unto death!" The Horus guard stood as one and saluted with fists striking their chests.
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"News of Lord Perun's rapid victories reached us soon after the fact. Just asHe promised, Divine Perun led us to avenge our Fallen God.He captured Moloc, so the mad god might face Almighty Ra's Divine Justice. In a single day, Lord Perun proved himself a worthy god of war. He took the first steps towards avenging our fallen god and secured the heart of Moloc's realm in one swift strike. Who else would we follow in our quest to destroy the treacherous Tok'ra? Who else is worthy of inheriting Lord Heru'ur's mantle? When the whole galaxy went mad, who else could we follow?"
Prime Karrok, former First Prime of Heru'ur
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Part 8
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Babylos
Moloc's Throne World
Milky Way galaxy
A handful of my engineering-minded and trained Jaffa were busy dismantling all computers in Moloc's palace. Their job was to retrieve the data crystals for my scientists. My Space Wolves pillaged the treasury. They were still carrying naquadah and trinium bars for transport to my capital. The less said about the gold, jewelry, and precious stones, the better. Most of those would be going as a tribute to Ra. From what I've seen, when he wasn't working, he loved his bling as much as any other Goa'uld.
I believed I could justify seizing the critical resources as fuel for the projects Ra had me working on. In that regard, the raw resources weren't the real prize. Byblos was not just Moloc's Throne World but his capital city. After securing the bulk of the palace, we discovered an extensive industrial complex built into the small mountain at its back. Even as Heru'ur's boys ran through it, capturing Goa'uld overseers, my people secured all fabricators and tools that could easily fit through Stargate.
Speaking about the city itself, it was disturbingly quiet. The place reeked of fear and despair, now mixed with the odd tang of disbelief. On the bright side, there was no local resistance to speak of, though that might be the shock of how fast we took the capital. That was a boon. Jaffa garrisons from all over the planet slowly made their way toward the capital. It remained to be seen if they would see reason and surrender or if they were all fanatics eager to die. In the latter case, we would oblige them.
I was sure Ra would love to see more combat data on the new weapons to be sure that what we have achieved to date wasn't a fluke. While orbital strikes would be the simple answer, especially when the approaching Jaffa got far away from anything valuable, there was still an issue with that approach. From orbital observation, Heru'ur's commander assured me that there were few roads connecting the various settlements across the planet. Blowing large craters in the transport infrastructure, as pathetic as it was, would be less than ideal.
Besides, the expected combat actions could prove good training for everyone on our side.
I left the palace surrounded by a group of Custodes. I could feel their disappointment and envy at not participating in the assault beside me. The truth was virtually all of my largest Jaffa were now in the Space Wolves legion due to the need to be effective in the heavy armor. My Custodes were, on average, by no means small examples of Jaffa. Yet they would still find it challenging to operate clad in the current variant of heavy armor. In practice, even their improved armor proved heavy enough to slow them down and reduce their endurance in the field.
There was a good reason my Lighting Legion contained most of my Jaffa, and they had the lightest of the new armor, of course.
The plaza outside bustled with Jaffa. There was a relatively clear staging area to my right, near the main road leading towards the gate we took at the start of the assault. Combat and assault transports would unload Jaffa there, then load loot from caches deposited from the palace before heading back.
To my left, a few hundred Jaffa were busy setting up a field hospital and fortifying the area in case of a sneak attack. In the center of the plaza, more Jaffa unloaded provisions from Tel'tak and Al'kesh. This only left a free space in front of the stairs leading into the palace. There, dozens of Jaffa stood guard. They glared murderously at captured Goa'uld. The prisoners waited for eventual transport to Ra's court and interrogation to determine if they were Tok'ra infiltrators.
I headed to the transport ship landing zone and rode one to Heru'ur's flagship. The pilot was more than eager to tame me up. By now, the news of Moloc's capture had spread far and wide, raising morale, especially among Heru'ur's Jaffa. My reputation was growing, and that would prove extremely useful in the future.
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Heru'ur's flagship
in orbit above Byblos
Milky Way galaxy
The Jaffa in the cargo hold loading supplies in the arriving ships greeted me with cheers. The same was true for the heavy patrols roaming the Ha'tak's corridors in search of elusive Tok'ra saboteurs.
My first stop was the sarcophagus chamber. Karrok was there, watching the humming device like a hawk. There were at least a hundred Jaffa cramped in the large compartment, making sure no Tok'ra would be able to finish the job of murdering their god.
Well, it was too late, I hoped. I could sense no life coming from the sarcophagus, though that didn't say much. Even if the device could bring him back, it would likely be days before it opened. At any rate, after the bomb and my efforts, the sarcophagus should be able to, at best, bring back a brain-dead host. The Goa'uld, if the device could revive it, should be little more than a drooling idiot.
From what I knew about the device, it would be unable to repair sufficiently heavy brain damage. Well, it was capable of reconstructing blank gray matter. That was how the device could heal minor to moderate brain injuries but not recover the information that used to be there. In the former case, a mostly intact brain could learn how to work around the lost memories and utilize the freshly recovered sections. In the latter case, there was simply nothing to work with.
"Lord Perun!" Karrok exclaimed. He greeted me with a warrior's salute, and his Jaffa followed suit. "We heard you captured the Mad God Moloc?"
"My Jaffa are bringing him to my throne world to ensure no Tok'ra infiltrators kill him before he could face Ra's wrath," I explained. "What is the status of Lord Heru'ur?"
"The sarcophagus is doing its blessed work. All we could do is wait, Lord." Karrok bowed his head, hiding the pained grimace that twisted his face.
"Keep your vigil. I need to inform Lord Ra of the recent developments." I left with those words and headed for the bridge. It was time to face the music.
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"Despite its overwhelming initial success, the intervention against Moloc would continue for months and require the deployment of millions of Jaffa. The destruction of Moloc's fleets and the bulk of his field armies at the border did little to discourage many of his remaining fanatical followers from fighting. Terror strikes and sabotage persisted for months until occupation forces aided by the locals could finally track down and eradicate most of Moloc's fanatics. By the time of the Abydos' Accident, multiple System Lords had deployed their Jaffa to seize and secure parts of Moloc's territory…."
NID report on the state of the galaxy in the aftermath of the Abydos' Crisis
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