Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Star Wars, or Stargate movies, TV shows, games, books, or comics. This story features elements inspired by Warhammer 40K. They all belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not for sale or rent.

Chapter 17: It all began on Abydos….

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Part 3

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25 December 1996

Stargate Pyramid, Abydos

Ra's Domain

Milky Way Galaxy

Jack watched the boy approaching them through narrowed eyes. He wore clothes which wouldn't be entirely out of place among the Bedouins, though rougher.

"Shoo! Shoo!" One of the Germans grumbled and waved at the mutated camel-horse cross that was very interested in the nearby Wiesel. It was a minor miracle that they didn't light it up as it approached, trilling all the way.

That thing was sniffing at the tankette as if it was the next best thing to coffee, jello, and the Simpsons.

"We should have brought a shepherd dog or two," Another German chuckled at the spectacle.

The animal paid them no attention and began licking the front armor with utmost glee on its ugly face.

"Try to prevent it from breaking or eating something valuable," O'Neill chuckled before turning his full attention to the boy. "And someone bring me Dr. Jackson already! He is our best bet if we need a translator."

Jack's Goa'uld wasn't spectacular, to say the least. It wasn't for the lack of trying, either. That language was like nothing he had tried to learn before.

"Hello there!" Jack let his weapon hang on its strap and raised his hands in what he hoped was a familiar gesture, showing he meant no harm.

The boy stopped about twenty feet from them and tilted his head at Jack. He bowed deeply and babbled so fast that the Colonel could get only bits and pieces. Something about honored visitors from the stars and servants of the gods?

"What do we have here?" Jackson came in panting, then sneezed violently.

"We need your expertise," Jack nodded at the youngster and kept his hands up.

"Greetings! Please stop bowing so we can talk properly!" Daniel spoke slowly and clearly, ensuring that even Jack could understand him.

The boy slowly rose and looked around with sparkling, curious eyes.

"Greetings!" The boy repeated. "I am Skaara, son of Kasuf, our Elder. I am humbled by your benevolence!"

"Ask him which god he serves, Daniel. That much I could get from his babbling," Jack demanded in a light tone while smiling disarmingly.

They first needed to know if there were any Goa'uld around and, if so, who it was.

"We are all humble servants of the Supreme God, Ra! You are his servants here for the tribute, yes?" Skaara answered and looked at them with comprehensive, guileless eyes.

Jack's smile froze in place at those words. He could understand Skaara well enough now when the youngster wasn't babbling like a motorboat. He also wished he didn't.

"Ra, the Supreme System Lord? The Sun god? The big honcho?" Jack asked carefully before glancing at Jackson for confirmation.

"I think that's the one, Colonel," Daniel looked uneasy now, so he understood the implications.

Jack slowly turned around. One of the French soldiers was closest to him. He had lowered his weapon with a finger safely away from the trigger. O'Neill grabbed him and hissed in his ear: "Get to the Stargate and make sure the moment SGC contacts us, you tell them we fucked up! We need Perun's people to get us out of here ASAP, and we need to cover our tracks so no one figures out who we are. Go!"

"Is there something wrong, honored sky people?" Skaara asked in a worried tone.

"We weren't aware that this world belongs to Lord Ra," Jackson stammered. "We are apparently trespassing and don't want to anger someone as powerful as Lord Ra."

Skaara winced and nodded slowly. "I have heard the stories about Ra's wrath. It is terrible to behold!"

"We would like to talk and get to be friends, perhaps trade," Jack tried his best, enough for the kid and Jackson to look at him like he was a halfwit. "For Christ's sake!"

Daniel cracked a smile before shaking himself up, repeating what Jack said in a way that sounded and flowed much better.

"We don't have much to trade besides the tribute, and that is for Lord Ra's servants to collect when they come," Skaara explained.

"We don't want to take your tribute," Jack offered, speaking each word slowly and clearly.

This time, Skaara gave him a relieved look. That was an improvement, right?

The sun began setting behind the dunes surrounding the pyramid, covering the small valley in shadows.

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Ra's yacht

hyperspace

Ra sat on the command throne and touched the neural interfaces built into its armrests. The familiar sensation of merging his mind with the ship's computer felt like submerging into warm, welcoming water. Ra could see what the sensors could see, which was the energy flux of the hyperspace. They were moments away from their destination, and the Goa'uld felt like watching the descend and landing as if he were the ship itself.

Commands ran through the computer core. The hyperdrive drew even more power and utilized it to tear the boundary between dimensions. A vortex of exotic radiation formed, and the heavily modified Chepos dropped into space at the system's edge. Ra brought the sensors to full power and swept the region for anything interesting. Meanwhile, he was content to feel the solar and cosmic radiation washing over the armored hull that felt like his own skin.

There was nothing unexpected the ship could detect. A second, targeted sweep locked on a location near Abydos, and Ra guided the boat for a brief hyperspace jump. Reality tore itself asunder again, and his ship accelerated into the higher energy dimension, only to open another breach and appear at its destination. The radiation burst from its jump was still dying out.

A sensor sweep found the desert where the landing pyramid, Chapa'ai, and the only settlement on the planet were located, and Ra headed that way. The Cheops' engines came to life and quickly entered orbit, flying over a hemisphere. Ra noted that he would be landing shortly after sunset, so visiting his subjects and the ensuring entertainment would have to wait until the next day. He was fine with that. He slowly flew the ship, experiencing the atmosphere's drag as it protested the intrusion. Armored plates heated up, absorbing and dissipating the energy caused by the friction caused by the descent.

Ra could already see the landing site… and the small camp at its entrance. That was new. Were his human slaves maintaining the place? He knew that if left alone in the desert, the pyramid's entrance could be buried quickly when one of the semi-regular storms hit the area. He focused on the people down there through the ship's sensors and frowned.

The Supreme System Lord could see them now, that he knew what to look for. Their clothing and equipment, he could see, were nothing like the locals were supposed to have.

Was that a small combat vehicle?!

"Anubis!" Ra's voice struck like a whip. "Have my guard ready for combat. We have uninvited visitors. I want prisoners for interrogation. Kill the rest," Ra scowled when he saw a second combat vehicle identical to the first. "Launch the Death Gliders and Al'kesh and deal with the vehicles in front of the landing site. Entering through the rings might bring you into a deadly ambush!" the Goa'uld narrowed his eyes, seeing what the ship was seeing."Attack from both sides, secure the Chapa'ai if possible, and bring reinforcements. If the enemy is too numerous and dangerous, grab prisoners and retreat. If I have to, I will level the place with the ships' weapons."

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25 December 1996

Stargate Command, Colorado

The United States

Milky Way Galaxy

Hot coffee and the warmth from a nearby space heater ensured that George Hammond felt comfortable in the hangar despite the winter doing its best to freeze people outside. More importantly, there were promising developments; the ongoing mission hasn't gone to hell yet.

Multiple officers and NCOs agreed with Jack's original assessment – the site outside the pyramid was too clean despite all the dust and sand inside. The conclusion was obvious – there were people on the planet who kept the entrance open. However, the Stargate itself hasn't been used for possibly years, if not longer. If that assessment was correct, then they hit the jackpot. This is what the mission required – people to talk with, ideally without alerting the galaxy at large about Earth.

"Jack might be right," Mayborne, NID's thorn in everyone's side, offered. He was drinking coffee, too, while looking at a transcript from the last report, which was still warm from the printer. "However, we're talking about aliens here and cultures that have been separate from Earth for a long time. They might disagree with what we deem logical and sensible."

"The Stargate hasn't been used recently. That much was obvious from the MALP alone," George pointed out.

"I agree on that point. The lack of a dialing device likely has something to do with that," Mayborne slowly stretched. "I also agree that, given the description of the desert around the place, there should have been much more sand covering the entrance and the ramp leading there. Now, we might be grasping at straws and seeing what we want to see in that regard," the intelligence operative shrugged. "But I doubt it. I am more concerned about what we don't know and can't see yet."

"We will know soon, I hope," Hammond finished his coffee, checked the time, and stood beside Sergeant Harriman. "Walter, dial-up. How are the power levels?"

"They are at the projected levels. The additional capacitors outside will tide us up, for the time being, sir."

That was good. Without that expensive addition, their operational window allowing regular checks on the expedition would have closed much faster.

The Stargate began rotating and clicking as it locked in chevrons. It came alive with energy in a way that almost sounded like the sea to George.

"Stargate Command, do you copy? This is Major Louis Ferretti. I say again, Stargate Command, do you copy?"

"We hear you loud and clear, Major…" Walter answered.

George frowned. He could hear an undertone of worry in the Major's voice.

"Thank God! Stargate Command, Colonel O'Neill

strongly suggests you contact Perun immediately and have him send us a way to evacuate immediately. We made contact with one of the locals and have confirmation that this world belongs to Ra. I say again, we are on one of Ra's worlds and require extraction before we are discovered."

"For fucks sake!" Mayborne cursed.

Under the circumstances, George wholeheartedly agreed.

"I will do my best to get you out of there, Major. Prepare for immediate extraction. We will be contacting Perun momentarily," Hammond made a snap decision. He wouldn't leave all those people to hang if he had anything to say about it. "Walter cut the connection and dial up Pobeda."

George looked around, found a sheet of paper with the symbols designating the alien planet, and shoved it at Mayborne's chest.

"You are fluent in Goa'uld as of last week," Hammond stared the spy down. "I know you aren't technically under my command. However, I need you to go out there and get one of Perun's people to extract the expedition while we still can salvage this situation."

Mayborne grimaced at the demand. Nevertheless, he grabbed the sheet of paper and nodded. He glanced at a table nearby with an innocent-looking metal case on it. The squad of sharp-eyed soldiers surrounding it betrayed its importance.

"I do have a few friends out there I rather have back, no matter how much pain in the ass they can be, General."

The Stargate began spinning again. Mayborne finished his coffee and walked towards the alien device, muttering curses all the way.

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Part 4

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Slavna Zemq

Perun's Throne World

Milky Way Galaxy

I couldn't escape a constant sense of foreboding for the past few days. Meditation didn't help. Naps in the sarcophagi helped keep me at my best, yet the sensation refused to vanish.

The Force was ominously silent when I tried to mediate on the future. It was in flux, and the Force felt like it was holding her breath, waiting for something to happen.

I made sure I had my contingencies in place. Gortski and a group of my Space Wolves spent the past days stationed near the Stargate, at high alert and ready for immediate deployment. My Custodes remained in the palace; however, we had enough transports prepared to move off-world immediately.

Dialing up Earth and demanding they stopped whatever they might be doing was an option, yet not a good one. If my suspicions were correct, my allies were about to kriff up spectacularly because they wanted information about the Goa'uld that didn't come from me. I would be doing the same in their shoes, no matter the warnings I might receive.

Even if I was right, tipping my hand right now would unlikely keep Earth content with remaining blind. Also, if Ra was on his way to Abydos and he ran into Earth, that would be the only controlled way such a disaster might happen. There was no guarantee that if they went later, they wouldn't also run into his people. Or perhaps, one of these days, Ra might feel like checking up on the First World.

Realistically speaking, issuing another warning after explicitly describing what precisely the Goa'uld were would serve no purpose beyond undermining my credibility, even if I was proven right later. If anything, a warning not to go might be an incentive to do so if my allies were undecided.

Playing with the future was fun in that way – attempting to prevent what you think might happen, sometimes was the only way to ensure that such a thing would or could happen.

That awareness didn't make my situation any easier to endure.

Instead of returning to work, I sat down and dove into the Force. I focused on the sense of foreboding, trying to trace it to its origin. This time, the Force didn't remain silent for long.

There were… echoes of what might be or what would be.

I got glimpses of fleets clashing and armies charging at each other, wearing mismatched armor and weapons – they were all Jaffa. I saw soldiers from Earth wearing their distinct uniforms and gear shooting at armored figures and falling screaming as plasma turned them into smoking corpses.

A growing sense of danger gradually replaced the foreboding I felt. The Force bubbled around me in anticipation. Whatever was about to happen, it would be happening soon. Time was up.

I surged to my feet and shouted at my Custodes to follow. It was high time I had words with my allies on Earth.

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Ra's Temple

Abydos

Milky Way Galaxy

Jack stood atop the ramp with Ferretti and Price, watching Daniel and a few other civilians speak with Skaara. Ultimately, convincing the youth to spend the night with them proved easy. Offering help to gather the ore spilled around by the mutant camel and a hot meal went a long way toward earning some goodwill.

"We can't let him go, Jack. He saw too much," Louis didn't sound happy at the conclusion they all reached.

"It's not like we have to shoot him and dump him in a shallow grave," Price reasonably noted.

"Kidnapping it is, then," Jack grouched.

"That beats the alternative. The silver lining is we will get more information from him back on Earth, so this whole exercise won't be a total failure," Like usual, Louis tried to play Devil's advocate.

Jack sighed and looked at the alien stars.

"I'll bring him in myself. I'm in charge. He's my responsibility as well now…." He blinked at the falling star that was getting bigger and bigger. It was moving too slowly… and it was heading straight for them. "Guys, look up!" Jack snapped.

"A meteor?" Ferretti asked.

"It's too slow to be a meteor," Price whispered.

Three heads snapped towards the camp below them, where Daniel eagerly talked with Skaara, then to the pyramid.

"We are out of time. When is the next check-up?" Jack's voice was unnaturally calm. That had to be a ship, one of Ra's, and they were already dead. The only question was if they would drag Earth to hell with them.

"Thirty minutes, Jack," Louis' voice sounded hollow.

"Get everyone inside and set up the charges. We will try to hold the Stargate until Earth dials up and Hammond can send in the failsafe. We'll bring down the corridors leading inside if we have to. Move!" Jack barked.

He could hear a distant rumble now. Jack kept watching the approaching ship, even as Louis and Price ran, shouting orders. He shook himself, feeling ice water move through his veins.

"Get your asses moving! Leave the equipment behind!" O'Neill bellowed.

The hairs at the back of Jack's neck stood up. He stopped running down the ramp to help Price get everyone moving inside and looked to the start-lit skies. Jack tried to ignore the shouts of alarm and cries of shock. There was something beyond the distant rumble of the approaching ship.

A sound that Jack couldn't quite hear snapped in place within his mind. It was so similar to the noise of a flying Death Glider, as he experienced when in the cockpit of one, that it was painful.

"We've got incoming! Air-defense teams, get in position!" O'Neill shouted at the top of his lungs.

He saw Daniel drag Skaara towards the pyramid, and then one of the SAS members joined him, grabbing the boy and pushing him forward.

The thunder of something shattering the sound barrier reached them. Almost everyone outside was already moving up or towards the ramp, save for the Delta boys. They were manning their positions, and those with Stingers were scanning the skies.

Jack raced towards Daniel and the Brit, then helped them drag the protesting Skaara towards the entrance for all the good it would do any of them.

"Incoming!" Someone roared over the noise. Jack's head snapped around, scanning for the danger. He couldn't see the dark shapes of the approaching enemy fighters against the night sky.

Their scorching plasma was another matter. Explosions vaporized tents and turned sand into molten glass. People screeched like damned souls as they burned.

A Stinger missile rose into the sky, followed by another. Instead of heading toward the invisible killers, they traced a much larger, gray, silver vessel gliding through the night. Something shifted below it, and two large plasma bolts slammed into the camp, leaving glowing after-images in Jack's eyes.

One of the Wiesels simply vanished in a ball of fire and molten metal. The other ripped up with its autocannon. The missiles struck, and Jack blinked away stars before seeing the effect. He stumbled when Skaara tried to break free. The boy was screaming something, obviously going out of his mind due to the insane experience.

Jack could see the large silver vessel slow down, surrounded by a glowing golden shield. It fired again, turning the second Wiesel and its crew into molten slag.

They were almost at the entrance when a pair of German soldiers there moved forward and helped them drag Skaara inside. Jack spared one last look before following them into the building.

Instead of going for a bombing pass, the silver aircraft hovered in front of the burning camp. Something descended from its belly, surrounded by bright light. A moment later, the thing went back up, leaving behind a squad of armored soldiers. They immediately fanned out and opened fire, even as the Grayson's boys engaged them.