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 10:Rising storm
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Part 5
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29 August 1996
Stargate Command
The United States
Earth
Milky Way Galaxy
There was no escaping politics, George decided. He shouldn't be surprised. With the importance of the Stargate Project, everyone wanted a piece of it. However, the way this Kinsey character was going for it was a novel one.
"A new intelligence to deal with off-world threats?" George asked.
"Yes, sir." Captain Paul Davis looked decidedly uncomfortable as he answered.
He was the current liaison with the Pentagon. His relative youth and rank were supposed to ease up any suspicions. Because, indeed, an important project would have someone more senior "overseeing" it for the Pentagon than a lowly Captain. The old joke that Captains were mere coffee carriers in the Pentagon held a hint of truth.
General Granger looked at the middle-aged Captain. Rumor had it that Davis might get his promotion to Major delayed. That would help enforce his cover as someone on a dead-end assignment, slowly making his way to retirement.
"Senator Kinsey is infamous in Washington. He has been making his way to the Appropriations Oversight Committee. Certain promises he made to get there had the Joint Chiefs wary about the future of various ongoing programs. When Kinsey made his proposal, everyone stood up and took notice. The common belief is he wants to be in a position of authority over the program." Captain Davis explained.
"Why exactly is this a potential problem? We weren't going to run something as massive as this without close oversight or working with many other branches of the government." Hammond inquired.
"Well, first, the Joint Chiefs are wary Senator Kinsey will use the organization he proposed to take civilian control of the project and sideline the military. Second, our friends in the intelligence community have always been a bit hit and miss in their successes. There are fears that if civilian intelligence runs the show, they'll act without properly considering the military realities out there, endangering both the United States and Earth in general." Davis spoke as if someone had to pry his words out with a crowbar.
George understood. At the rank of General, politics were part of the job. However, even when considering that fact, this smelled a bit too much of the military wanting to do its own thing and damn what anyone else thought.
"That is why the Joint Chiefs have a suggestion for us. Not orders, but as you put it, a suggestion." Granger made air quotes as he spoke.
"That's right, sir!" Davis nodded uncomfortably. "The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs requests that you explore the options of an exploration mission to the address we found with the Stargate. You're to prepare and train a team of specialists with an appropriate military escort if the Pentagon gives the green light for such an operation."
"Do they want us to seek an independent corroboration of how much red herring Perun is feeding us?" George asked. "Or are we meant to disregard his warnings over political issues in Washington?"
"Both, sir?" Davis tried his best not to fidget in place.
"We will, of course, follow the Pentagon's 'request' and expedite the training of an off-world team. However, I would protest launching an independent mission until our agents working with Perun's people could give us more intelligence to work with. The data we're getting from our specialists in his domain is invaluable. In the long run, it can help us better prepare to run missions in potentially hostile alien territory." George pointed out.
"Security of such any team we send will be an issue too. A preliminary analysis of the alien materials we bought from Perun suggests that a proper armor made of them will be highly resistant to small arms fire. Any team we send will require armor-piercing ammunition, likely battle rifles as standard issue, and various heavy weapons. Anything less is unlikely to prove effective against Goa'uld frontline soldiers. However, we might fare better against second-rate garrison troops. There are currently too many unknowns, and we do have a viable source of information to work with." Granger noted.
"The Joint Chiefs have discussed the potential benefits and dangers of an independent mission, sir. They agreed that it might be worth taking the risk depending on the circumstances." Davis admitted.
"Fucking politics! Mark my words, George, they're what's going to get us killed, not some slaving alien warlord minded their own business!" Granger grumbled.
"Captain, please inform the Pentagon that we will do as requested." George sighed and glanced at one of the secure file cabinets lining the walls. He had a bottle of scotch there, and the idea of opening it felt particularly enticing right now.
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Varanasai
Perun's domain
Milky Way galaxy
Cool late spring gave way to a humid, sweltering summer.
The heat and a nearly grown Prim'ta squirming in one's gut made for a miserable existence, Ahsoka felt. He was a Jaffa elder, with a body ruined by the passage of the years and countless injuries. The wet heat made his joints ache almost as much as the cold during the winter.
After a lifetime of serving Lady Kali, he didn't want change. In his experience, change was seldom good.
The gods didn't care what an old, wasted Jaffa wished. Ra himself proclaimed that change came to Varanasai. They now served a new god, an unknown god. There were only rumors about Perun, which were as valuable as words thrown in the wind. Actions mattered, like Lady Kali's holy priests leaving and stripping their temples bare.
The minor gods overseeing the planet left after taking an early tax on goods, metals, and a larger than usual part of the harvest. A few young Jaffa with bellies full of fire went to the estates of the gods, finding them emptied as well.
After that, it was mostly quiet for days while everyone waited with bated breath. Farmers kept tending their fields and overseeing their animals, artisans did their thing, and the Jaffa warriors kept the peace. There weren't many Jaffa who weren't either too young, too old, or female left. Months ago, Kali called her armies to fight Ba'al's invasion, and many sons left their homes to honor their goddess.
Ahsoka sat in the courtyard of his family's estate, hoping for a breeze to chase off the heat. One of his granddaughters was busy preparing him a bundle of sweet herbs to smoke. That was one of the few things that helped his joints these days. One of his great-grandsons ran into the shade, panting. The boy grinned at Ahsoka.
"Grandpa, people are coming from the Chappa'ai!" Gupta blurted out. "A few had falcon helmets, like the great Horus' guards! Many others are wearing simple tunics, like the lower castes!"
"Stay inside, boy." Ahsoka got up with a groan. "You did good, grandson." He added and slowly dragged himself towards the main gate. Once there, the elder saw a Jaffa woman in armor jog up the hill towards the estate. He recognized her as Matha, his senior daughter. She was in charge of keeping the peace in the family estates, alongside a cadre of fellow warrior women and some youths still undergoing training.
"Father, our men are coming back!" Matha exclaimed. "Lady Kali is displeased and made them return without their arms and armor!"
Ahsoka bristled at the dishonor. No, these changes weren't good. When the lesser castes saw the warriors return unarmed, they might get ideas. The Jaffa training was all excellent, but it would be much harder to deal with any uprisings without armor and staff weapons. That was especially true if the slaves working in the farmers' fields and in the mines had any bright ideas!
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Dr. Samara Carter – daughter of General Jacob Carter, a scientist working for the Giza, now the Stargate Project;
Captain Samantha Carter – daughter of General Jacob Carter; serving in the US Air Force, working for the Giza, now the Stargate Project;
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Part 6
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Pobeda
Perun's domain
Milky Way galaxy
This was something else, Sergeant Gates decided. It was one thing to hear from the specialists already deployed here and another to see it.
Two odd-looking transport craft loaded smaller pieces of agricultural equipment for delivery to distant villages. Another one hovered above a tractor. Some locals and a handful of combat engineers crawled all over it. They were busy securing it with clamps to the underside of the alien transport.
Those things might be much smaller than a C-17, for example, more comparable to a fighter or a large helo in size. However, Nicholas wasn't going to underestimate how useful they were. Their ability to hover more precisely than any helicopter he had seen or heard of was telling. With it came the capability to land on any sufficiently clear track of land, ensuring no need for a large airstrip. If the rumors were true, those things were actual spaceships capable of going faster than light - all in a package smaller and more compact than the space shuttle.
"Sarge, move!" One of the specialists Gates brought warned him.
Nicholas walked off the ramp leading to the Stargate just in time to avoid becoming a pancake under the wheels of a tractor. Even after weeks of working with the things, it surprised him how quietly their electric engines purred. That was a far cry from the deep rumble of diesel engines he was familiar with from his parent's farm. Gates decided he liked his hearing intact, thank you very much, so he was a fan.
Tractor after tractor came through, most of them dragging pallets with more agricultural or mining equipment. Jaffa guided the machines to a nearby open parking lot that hugged the mountain to the valley's right. A row of low hills made for an excellent elevated position to the left. Whoever designed the place's defenses thought so because there were a few old-fashioned fortresses in sight. More interesting were the various bunkers Gates could see. Some, like those close to the Stargate, were in the open. At the same time, others were almost impossible to see if you didn't know what to look for.
These alien worlds kept surprising Gates with their mix of evident primitive and advanced technology and clashing designs.
A quiet commotion brought Nicholas' attention back to the hovering transport. The locals and engineers around it moved away. They were speaking to each other. However, they were just too far from Gates to understand them. Despite that, the meaning was obvious. They were undoubtedly congratulating each other for a job well done. The transport rose slowly, with the tractor below it barely twitching. Then it gradually accelerated and turned towards the mountains, vanishing above their snow-capped peaks.
As if by clockwork, another transport arrived, complete with clamps underneath. It came above the waiting group of engineers and locals, ready to pick up a tractor for delivery.
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That evening, Gates saw his first taste of an alien town. It was a few miles beyond the valley, nested among three hills. The high ground had a fortress, something that looked like a temple, and manors for the more well-off locals. The town itself was a curious mixture of different architectural styles.
Just like on Prolet, parts of the settlement were in the process of being rebuilt. On the way from the Stargate, Nicholas saw a quarry close to the town. It was complete with a small tent village for the workers. He didn't miss that the road they used could have come straight from the Roman Empire, which also looked relatively new. In the same vein, paved roads stretched from the town's outskirts, heading in three directions.
Distant thunder shook the skies. Gates raised an eyebrow at that. Looking around, he could see not a single cloud. It was a lovely, warm late summer evening. A second thunder followed, then a third. The Jaffa escorting Gates' party to their lodgings in the town appeared unperturbed.
"Is there something we should worry about?" Gates asked one of them. The wiry brown-skinned man had a good grasp of English, certainly better than Nicholas' ability to speak Goa'uld, or their version of Ancient Egyptian.
"It's Lady Vahlen, again." The Jaffa, Martuf, explained in a what-can-you-do tone. "She's… what's the word? Trying?"
"Testing?" Gates suggested.
"Yes!" Martuf grinned, flashing a smile full of crooked but otherwise healthy-looking teeth. "Lady Vahlen's testing new sky spears? Arrows? I don't know the word in your language."
"Missiles. Your Lady is testing missiles." Gates concluded aloud. It was good to confirm that the Death Glider they got was a stripped-down version or an old obsolete one taken out of storage. If the rumor mill back home was right, that thing was a terror already, and that was when it had only guns and lacked stand-off weapons.
Nicholas was ready to pity the poor bastards who might need to fly against fully equipped alien aerospace fighters.
On the way to the city, Gates kept asking probing questions, fishing for information. That was how he got invited to visit the temple that evening. Gates wasn't sure if he hit the jackpot or had been too clever for his good.
At any rate, this was an opportunity the Sergeant couldn't miss. He made sure that his people got set up in brand-new barracks attached to what appeared to be a freshly refurbished town garrison. Only then he followed a large group of Jaffa, including his new pal Martuf, towards the temple. Sadly, Nicholas was right, the damn thing was on one of the hills surrounding the town, and they had to march all the way up there.
The unexpected field march offered Gates the opportunity to gather more information disguising it as small talk and ignorance. That was how he heard all the Jaffa sing Perun's praises again. More importantly, he got regaled with tales of a war against the mad god Moloc. He heard how Perun and many of their brothers serving him distinguished themselves by putting an end to the madness.
Gates took it all with a few spoons full of salt, especially the tall tales about how evil Moloc was. He had to draw the line at the supposed madman burning all female children born to his Jaffa warriors. On the other hand, it was clear that Perun's propaganda machine was working like a charm.
Finally, they got to the temple. By then, Gates had to struggle not to pant for air. The Jaffa put up a brutal pace on the way up, yet none of them appeared to be even sweating, the bastards!
Inside, the temple vaguely resembled a church. Wooden benches were taking up most of the front half, with an accessible path between them leading to an altar surrounded by statues and carvings of Perun. More interesting was the back half of the temple – it was complete with what looked like heavy wooden desks covered with all kinds of gadgets. The Jaffa led him past the altar, and they quickly spread out, sitting behind the desks.
A large man wearing blue robes came from a side door at the back end of the temple.
"Welcome, brothers!" The priest announced. "I see we have a new face today!" He smiled at Gates. "I hope you'll find illumination in Perun's wisdom, friend!"
Gates smiled and nodded. Whatever he expected at witnessing this night, this wasn't it. The sermon, if you could call it one, was far from what you could hear in most churches. It was all practical and made sense even to someone who had issues understanding the language. Further, Nicholas had heard about nothing quite like the sacred path laid down by Perun. It was clear to him that the warlord had invented this thing as a way to bind his people together. From what the Sergeant could see, it seemed to work like a charm.
However, the second part of the "sermon" left the biggest impression on Gates' mind. The priest and two acolytes who arrived later continued teaching the Jaffa how to best take care of their equipment, including how parts of it worked. Sadly for the Sergeant, many terms, the priests used flew over his head. He didn't know what the foreign words meant.
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