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Chapter 12: Into the eye of the storm

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Part 7

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6 October 1996

Cheyenne Air Station
the United States
Milky Way galaxy

George gave Perun a pained look while Granger was on the phone with the White House. From what the General gathered, the President was glad he now had a way out of this disaster that didn't publicly involve bending over and giving in to a terrorist's demands. Ideally, a deal with Perun would be an excellent way to avoid losing a few cities. Keeping safe a large part of the continental United States for what Perun wanted was a bargain, one from which the US would also profit.

However, no one liked the strings attached. George could almost hear some of the President's aides whispering darkly of alien subversion and economic warfare.

On the other hand, Perun didn't seem to care if the US government would accept his price or not. The alien kept an amused smile as he looked around, inspecting everything in sight. Security issues or no, George decided it would be unwise to try and stop him. For all he knew, Perun might decide to up the price for aid out of irritation.

Currently, the warlord looked curiously at the Abrams, obviously making the crew uncomfortable. The tank's commander stuck out of the turret and looked warily at the alien studying his vehicle.

"Tracked design. No sign of anti-gravity drive or something like that." Perun hummed to himself. "It looks too heavy to be practical in many rough or soft terrains." He looked critically at the commander's machine gun and went to observe the nearby Bradley.

George hoped someone was taking notes. Everyone present would have to write the mother of all after-action reports after this.

Granger finally put down the phone's handle, straightened up, and came to join Hammond.

"Lord Perun, the President, offers a provisional agreement. The United States government will allow you to buy land and real estate on US soil, pending a mutual security agreement concerning the use of the sites in question. The United States government will agree to allow you to establish joint ventures in scientific research and development and manufacturing. The President is also ready to negotiate the details on contacting select other nation-states in the future and establishing trade deals with them."

That last issue was the largest sticking point. George was almost sure it would derail the whole deal until Perun made an unpleasant point. Sooner or later, he would be in a position to park a capital ship in orbit. It would have a hold full of goods that Perun would be willing to trade to anyone but the US if the United States decided to block business opportunities with other countries. The General was pretty sure that said unpleasant reminder was what got the President and his advisers to agree on serious negotiations on that point. Meanwhile, they could get into gear and stop that maniac Sethesh from blowing up Washington state.

"Then we have a deal." Perun's smile slowly vanished. "I hope your government would honor their part of the deal for your nation's sake. I don't abide treachery."

"I understand, Lord Perun, and I will make sure my superiors receive the message loud and clear," Hammond vowed.

"Good. Now how do we get to where Sethesh has his little temper tantrum? It's high time the two of us talked."

Hammond and Granger looked at each other, then at what Perun and his guards wore. Somehow, he doubted they would consent to wear BDUs or even suits. Keeping the media away was going to be a highly unpleasant task.

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6 October 1996
Tacoma
The United States
Milky Way galaxy

It was fucking spooky, Allen decided. Attack helicopters were buzzing above – both Corps Cobras and Army Apaches. Rangers from the 82nd Airborne and even Army Delta quick reaction forces held a distant perimeter now, leaving the marines stuck close to the mall.

Something like this wasn't supposed to happen in the US! Things like this happened in messed-up third-world countries or movies, not in real life! From what little he heard, the National Guard was busy mobilizing to aid the evacuation of Tacoma and Seattle. Meanwhile, the whole area around was a ghost town. Now and then, Allen could glimpse the rangers or the odd army soldier in the distance. There were Humvees and Bradleys from the First Corps motor pool cutting off a far-off intersection, ensuring the whole district was locked down.

After the EMTs and medics had got the wounded away, it was just Gunny Johnson and Howard around whom he could regularly see. On the other hand, what Allen could hear was enough to stir up his imagination and not in a good way. It didn't help that for hours now, all they could do was sit behind the damn ambulance and wait. There was the constant droning of the helicopters, mixed with the distant wail of sirens, screams, and even the odd shot.

Knowing he sat at what could be the epicenter of a nuclear explosion didn't help. The less said about the revelation that there were aliens, the better. Allen still couldn't wrap his head around that.

It was near noon, and Allen's bladder felt like bursting when finally, something interesting happened. A single man in plain army BDU walked down the street from the heavy perimeter.

"Roger that…" Johnson grumbled and stretched. "Look alive, marines. We're going to have guests."

Allen glanced at the Gunny at that. Whatever info the Sergeant got, it didn't come over the unit's general frequency.

"What's what, Gunny?" Howard asked.

"The specialists will be here any moment now. We've got brass incoming to meet them." Johnson nodded at the approaching man.

Allen looked back at the newcomer. He was tall and wiry, with short sandy hair slowly going white.

"Howdy' folks?" The man drawled. "I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill. I understand you've been briefed about our distant visitors?"

"That we have a fucking alien infestation, you mean?" Johnson grumbled. "That was like a taser to the nuts, sir. What are our orders?"

"We're going to go greet and meet with a dignitary. He'll be talking with our uninvited snake guest, and if we're lucky, he'll bring the bastard home, taking him off our hands. And the bomb too, we can't forget the bomb."

Allen stared at the self-proclaimed Colonel, trying to digest his words.

"I am sure I'm not speaking just for myself, sir, but what the fuck did you just say?"

"You've been mixing up with sailors too much, marine." The fly-boy chided lightly. "We've got a buddy of ours coming to solve the issue. He's an alien warlord, and God only knows what Uncle Sam's paying him for the service. You've read about how the world is much bigger than before, so you're volunteering to play honor guard. Just look pretty, keep your mouths shut and do the Corps proud or something like that. By the way, the snake inside should expect us, so his followers shouldn't shoot us if we're lucky anyway. It's hard to find good help these days, or so they tell me."

Allen kept staring at the odd officer. He wondered if this was an Air Force thing or if someone hit all prospective officers repeatedly over the head during officer candidate school.

"Colonel, please confirm our orders," Johnson rumbled. "Just so there are no misunderstandings. You see, we're dumb crayon eaters, and you might have to use small, simple words."

"You're really going there, Sergeant?" The Colonel sighed. "An alien Warlord, a friendly one, is about to fly in and deal with the alien asshole with the bomb for us. We're here to look pretty and act as an honor guard. If everything goes well, we don't get blown up by a super nuke or turn into cooked meat by plasma guns. Is this simple enough for you, marine?"

"Yes, sir. It's crystal clear." Johnson nodded.

Yep, the world officially ceased making any sense, Allen decided.

Soon, a Black Hawk flew low over the buildings as if summoned by the Colonel. It hovered above the street, covered in wrecked vehicles, while the pilot likely looked for a safe place to land. Its side door opened, and some maniac jumped out. Allen saw a glimpse of gold and purple, and then he heard metal smacking into the ground.

"O'Neill!" A loud voice announced in an accent Allen hadn't heard before. "We meet in the strangest of places."

"Lord Perun, fancy meeting you here." The Colonel nodded.

That was supposed to be an alien warlord?! Allen stared at the man. He looked as human as he was! Then he remembered the impossible jump that the armored man shrugged off as if it was nothing.

The helicopter banked over the street, carefully avoiding power cables, and got lower, hovering just about the cars. More armored people jumped out, this time from a reasonable height. They all had odd, fancy armor and very odd-looking weapons.

If Allen didn't know better, he would be getting mad because someone had to be fucking with them on purpose!

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Part 8

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6 October 1996
Tacoma
The United States
Milky Way galaxy

Sethesh's fingers twitched around his hand device. From what he knew of local law enforcement, and he knew a lot, it was no surprise that the local police jumped the gun, as the Tau'ri called it. That information helped him choose this state for his compound. The police and local government were corrupt and predictable. That was how he spent years in his compound undisturbed.

They were also easy to manipulate and served as a great example to the Tau'ri leadership. Sethesh didn't expect a quick agreement to negotiate, backed by someone of his kind no less! It has been a long since he heard civilized speech, instead of the human's crude languages.

One of his followers risked exposing himself to sniper fire and looked outside, describing what was happening. Sethesh now had to ponder the immediate arrival of another Goa'uld complete with proper Jaffa guard. Their description was both odd yet made sense. It had been thousands of years since he had contact with the Goa'uld at large. Some things would have changed in that time.

Sethesh's face tightened. He didn't want to consider it before, yet now he had to face the truth. The odds of his domain remaining intact were remote. Still, hearing the march of armored Jaffa's feet on the ground brought a smile to his face. He looked up from the dinner table he sat at. The first thing Sethesh saw were two huge Jaffa in thick armor, the kind he had never seen or heard of before. They had strange weapons in their hands and primitive-looking swords with teeth hanging from their belts.

Stranger still, they had harnesses over their armor vaguely similar to what Tau'ri soldiers wore in combat to carry additional equipment.

The giants moved aside, revealing a Goa'uld in a fit, middle-aged host. He wore armor, and its design was unfamiliar as well. Things had changed.

"Sethesh. It has been a very long time since I heard of you." The Goa'uld spoke after he fully ascended the stairs. Four more Jaffa followed him. Those wore slimmer armor, similar to that of their master. They also had that irritating, Tau'ri-smelling webbing and wielded unfamiliar weapons.

As if all their appearance wasn't proof enough, the Goa'uld's speech was both fluent and clear, yet it was painfully obvious that the language had subtly changed.

"I've been on a forced vacation all these years," Sethesh put aside his concerns and worries and smiled. It was good to use proper language once more. "Do you care to introduce yourself, my Lord?"

"I'm Lord Perun, sworn vassal to our Supreme Lord Ra." The Goa'uld finally introduced himself.

Sethesh's smiled in relief. This was much better than a rival System Lord finding him. Ra owed him one for betraying Osiris and Isis' plot and turning on them. On the other hand, Ra was content to abandon him when the locals rebelled and overwhelmed the tiny garrison left on this backwater. Sethesh had been sure that as soon as Ra consolidated his power after absorbing and consolidating Osiris and Isis realms, he would have returned to Earth to wreak bloody vengeance.

Instead, Ra never came back, and the rest was history.

Now, Perun, where did he hear the name?

"I require you to bring me to Lord Ra. I'll make sure he rewards you handsomely for your trouble." Sethesh graciously offered. "Say, didn't you use to serve Kali?"

"As long as you don't try to cripple Ra's ongoing project here, I can get you safely to Ra's court." Perun nodded. "I used to serve Kali. These days, Lord Ra doesn't like her very much and happily uses me as a dagger aimed at her back. It's only a matter of time until I consolidate enough power and Ra permits me to move against Kali and rid him of her schemes."

"And thus, you'll ascend among the System Lords under Ra's aegis." Sethesh relaxed further. That sounded precisely like something Ra would come up with. He patted the sack with the bomb. "As long as we get back to civilized space, neither you nor Lord Ra needs to concern yourselves with me blowing his project. What does he need the Tau'ri for now? I would have expected him to bring fire and death upon this world when he figured out how advanced they are?"

"They're advanced enough to prove some utility while nowhere near advanced enough to be a credible threat. With the right assistance and guidance, the Tau'ri can be deniable assets to strike against Lord Ra's enemies." Perun smiled. "Or anyone who irritates him among the System Lords but doesn't cross the line to earn an official sanction."

If anything, Ra has grown more cunning over the years, Sethesh decided. This scheme sounded just like Ra, yet back in the day was something it wouldn't have crossed his mind. He had to get up to speed before all the changes he was unaware of proved disastrous.

"Shall we go then?" Sethesh asked, trying to keep to himself how eager he was to leave this world.

"What about your followers and the bomb? I'm not bringing you anywhere near Ra's court with such a thing. After the Tok'ra assassinated Lord Heru'ur, trying something foolish would cost us our heads."

Sethesh stared at that. The Tok'ra were that dangerous? Didn't Ra kill their queen? What else didn't he know?!

"Yes, we are not bringing a bomb into Lord Ra's court." Sethesh quickly agreed. Even without the Tok'ra killing Heru'ur, trying to go anywhere near him with a bomb would be highly unwise. It didn't matter if perhaps Ra removed overly ambitious spawn and blamed it on the Tok'ra instead. Sethesh didn't feel like being tortured for a few decades, as an example! He stood up and looked at his followers.

"She comes with us," Sethesh pointed at Cynthia, "as to the others," he shrugged.

"Our local servants would need someone to present as the terrorists who caused this mess." Perun chuckled. "It happens if you're foolish enough to rely on popular approval for power. Besides, the Ashrak keeping them in line will have to control fewer new people that way."

Sethesh nodded wisely. That made sense. Ra wouldn't just trust the locals to obey without taking various precautions.

"Jaffa, secure this place." Perun barked.

The Jaffa moved with a speed that Sethesh hadn't seen in thousands of years. Before his followers could even comprehend what was happening, Zat'nik'tel's blasts struck them down. Huh, those unfamiliar weapons had Zat'nik'tel's attached to them. No, they were parts of the weapons. Otherwise, Sethesh would have recognized the attachments for what they were.

The Jaffa spread out with speed and precision the humans couldn't hope to match, and it was all over in less than a minute.

"This was almost acceptable." Perun hummed at his warrior's improvement.

Sethesh looked at him, wondering how much warfare had changed. The last time he had Jaffa of his own. What he just saw would have been a stunning and exemplary performance!

"Let's get going. I'm sure Lord Ra would want to speak with you, and my realm won't run itself." Perun noted and turned around.

"Come on, dear. Your god found you worthy!" Sethesh grabbed the sack with his bomb and offered his free hand to Cynthia, who eagerly came to his side.

"Jaffa, fall in!" Perun ordered, and the Jaffa surrounded them, forming a protective ring of steel and weapons around their betters. "What do you need the woman for anyway?"

"The things she can do with her mouth and tongue are positively divine." Sethesh happily admitted.

"Ah, I see." It was Perun's turn to nod sagely.

After they exited the mall, Sethesh could see Tau'ri glowering impotently at them. Their powerlessness warmed his heart. It was too bad they would have to use a Tau'ri contraption to go to the Chappa'ai instead of proper luxury transport.

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