Robotech: The Stargate Saga

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters and universes that I am about to mangle around and mash together for my own demented author amusement – sadly all Robotech and Stargate characters and concepts remain the property of Harmony Gold and MGM respectively – I am merely borrowing them and make absolutely no profit from their use. As a result, please keep the legal attack dogs – also known as lawyers – firmly muzzled and on a leash as I have no money to give to anyone.

Interlude Twelve

Tok'ra Embassy

Robotech Factory Satellite, Earth Orbit

Sitting in the small conference room of the part of the massive space station that had been assigned to be their embassy Garshaw and Selmac listened intently to the report being presented to the High Council by Kigash on the battle that had taken place over the planet of Orisa a few hours ago. A battle that had revealed some very alarming details, especially as it was the first time, they had gotten any real details on the new Drakka'tak-class battleships that Sokar had built and begun deploying.

The most worrying thing about these new battleships was the now confirmed fact that, alongside upgraded plasma cannons, they were armed with a very crude but – based on the small amounts of data they had gotten from the remains of previous battles between various Goa'uld and the new ships – effective copies of Tollan ion cannons. Where and how Sokar had gotten his hands on them they didn't know as the Tollan jealously guarded the secrets of their weapons technologies but that didn't matter all that mattered was that Sokar had them. Had them and was starting to equipe his warships with them, though so far only on the new battleships due to the sheer power requirement. It gave those battleships a dangerous, potentially decisive, advantage over the forces of the Goa'uld System Lords.

At least it had until now.

Both Garshaw and Selmac sat up straighter as Kigash revealed that the ion blasts had been almost completely ineffective against the shields of the fleet assigned to Ba'al's newest underlord. A Goa'uld called Tharos. The blasts had been almost completely neutralised upon impacting the shields, the energy being almost completely dissipated in the familiar form of Cherenkov radiation. The same could not be said of the weapons that Tharos had outfitted most of his ships with, weapons that while like all Goa'uld weapons still employed plasma did it in a completely different way. Instead of firing distinct bolts, like most energy weapons did, they emitted the plasma in the form of a very tightly focused beam.

A beam that was devastatingly effective as the shields on most of Sokar's ships hadn't been able to withstand more than one or two direct hits before failing under the power of the beams. Beams that would then go on to burn through the ships annihilating anything and everything in their path until they found something vital. At which point the ship would be immediately destroyed. Even the Drakka'tak had bot been immune to their power though its shields had lasted longer than the others and Tharos hadn't destroyed the vessel, instead electing to disable it. Presumably so his master could begin examining the vessel, which in itself was not good news given that Ba'al was known to be a bit more level headed and grounded than most other Goa'uld of his station and didn't buy his own propaganda about being a god.

"We managed to get an image of Tharos from the communication exchanged between Tharos and the Fleet Lord Jofin," Kigash continued, "we were able to compare it to our records and it came back with a high priority. Tharos host is the Terran Vincent Grant."

"That explains where he got the knowledge and technology to make the plasma beam weapons," Selmac commented with a frown. At the confused look Kigash responded with, since she had been on scouting duty for months now and wouldn't know, he explained. "Terran weapons, as well as the weapons of their allies a race of giants called the Zentraedi, fire focused streams of supercharged particles at a significant percentage of light speed. They are extremely effective against shields and even more devastating to the hull of a ship, even a mothership. Tharos no doubt used his hosts knowledge to adapt Goa'uld cannons to also fire beams."

A murmur of agreement ran through the members of the High Council visible of various holographic screens floating in front of them. It was a very logical deduction on Selmac's part, and it neatly fitted in with the determination to find and recover Grant as quickly as possible displayed by both Terrans and the Asgard from the moment he had been discovered to have been taken as a host. They had obviously been worried by the prospects of what Tharos would be able to do, what he would be able to create, with his hosts knowledge of robotechnology.

Which both Garshaw and Selmac, based on the things they had seen since coming here to a space station which in size and capabilities blew anything ever built by the Goa'uld away, had to acknowledge was a legitimate worry. Especially as if Tharos had created these new plasma beam weapons so quickly, and for Ba'al of all Goa'uld though there was no doubt that the other System Lords would have them soon enough as Ra would make sure of that, then what would he be able to create if he was given even more time. Especially now that he had the resources of the industrial facilities on Orisa to play with.

It really didn't bear thinking about.

"So, what are we going to do about this?" Ren'al asked breaking the silence that had fallen upon them.

"The solution is obvious," Delek replied and mentally Garshaw sighed and prepared herself for whatever he was about to say. There were times when Delek and his main ally Thorun displayed a bit too much of the Goa'uld mindset for her taste, indeed it was why most on the Council didn't like either of them. "Tharos must die as quickly as possible. We have enough of the symbiote poison now synthesized to kill him with ease."

"And what of the host?" Ren'al questioned pointedly, "you know as well as I do that as he dies Tharos will release his neural toxin and kill his host."

"An unfortunate sacrifice."

"And not one we should make," Selmac said speaking up, glaring slightly at Delek not at all surprised that the other Tok'ra had proposed this course of action with no real care about the wellbeing of the host. Delek was known to be of the opinion that that the wants and needs of the symbiote and that the cause of the Tok'ra was far more important than the welfare and life of a human. "Doing so would not only set a very dangerous precident but would severely undermine our efforts to foster at least a friendship with the Terrans to say nothing of an alliance with them. If they found we killed one of their people when we could have saved him, just because killing him was more convenient, then they will turn against us."

"Why would it matter," Thorun asked.

"Have you not been paying attention to our reports Thorun," Selmac asked making the other Tok'ra wince, communicating clearly that he hadn't.

"Probably considered it beneath his dignity," his host, an Abydonian named Skaara, commented. "Given him and Delek are the most Goa'uld-like of all the Tok'ra in their beliefs and outlook."

"Probably," Selmac agreed swapping the mental equivalent of an eye-roll with his host before speaking aloud again. "Thorun the Terrans and their Zentraedi allies are very technologically advanced, and their weapons are substantially superior to ours. Making an unnecessary enemy of them would thus not be a very good idea."

"Surely, they would understand that it could be a necessary sacrifice. The Goa'uld cannot be allowed to advance their technology anymore than they already have."

"While Tharos must die before he can pass on anymore robotechnology secrets we should do our utmost to save the host," High Councillor Persus said intervening before things could get more heated between Selmac, Garshaw and either Thorun or Delek. "The host is a victim in all of this and that must always be remembered," he continued shooting the latter pair a warning look showing he was not at all impressed with their disregard for the innocent life of the host, "thus we must do our utmost to save him."

"Understood," Thorun answered, looking somewhat like he had bitten into a particularly sour lemon as he did so. Like Delek he would have preferred to just use the newly developed symbiote poison to kill Tharos and be done with it, the fact that the host would die as well being a necessary sacrifice for the greater good of all. Unfortunately, the Council was showing, again, that they didn't have the stomach for such a simple and practical solution. "So how do we do this?"

"I would think the solution is fairly obvious," Selmac answered, "we inform the Terrans and offer our assistance in removing Tharos from the body of their officer if they can recover him."

"It would let us gain a bit more intelligence as to their capabilities," Delek admitted, somewhat reluctantly as he hadn't liked the handful of reports that had been sent back to the High Council so far from the diplomatic mission. Reports that if anything showed that Lantash had underestimated the level of technology possessed by these Terrans and what their robotechnology – whatever that actually meant – was capable of. There level of technology potentially made them extremely dangerous to the Tok'ra and he didn't doubt that any Terrans who became a host to a Tok'ra would exert far too much influence upon their symbiote than a mere human ever should. Humans should in his opinion be like his own host, quiet and withdrawn and quite willing to let him be the primary personality almost all the time though he would – of course – allow him to speak whenever he wished he wasn't a Goa'uld after all.

"What is more important is improving our relationship with the Terrans," Selmac pointed out as millennia of experience with these things – there were advantages after all to being the oldest of Egeria's surviving children – had taught him well how to read a species. Read and assess their potential and he got the distinct feeling that this particular species was going to, someday soon, change the galaxy in ways that hadn't been seen in tens of thousands of years. "Intelligence gathering on their capabilities should very much be a secondary concern. Our prime concern should be on laying the foundations for an alliance with them, as if I am right then it could be the greatest alliance we will ever build."

"Do you believe them that important Selmac," Persus asked, reading Selmac with the ease of someone who had known him an extremely long time. Thus he could tell that Selmac had seen something in this species, something important or special that could signal a major change to how things were in the galaxy.

"I do."

"Then are we all agreed on what must be done?" Persus asked the entire council. One by one they all nodded in agreement, if somewhat reluctantly in the cases of Thorun and Delek, and Persus smiled before giving the formal orders to Selmac and Garshaw. "Then it is agreed. One of you will go to the Terrans and inform them that we have found Tharos and their man. Provide them with the coordinates of Orisa and offer our assistance in both retrieving their officer and removing the invading symbiote from his body."

"As you wish," Garshaw acknowledged.

"Is there any other business?" Persus asked, when nobody else spoke he smiled. "Very well then this meeting of the High Council is adjourned."

The holographic screens pixeled out of existence, the projector fields powering down, as the subspace communications link between them here in orbit of Earth and the Tok'ra High Council chamber on Vorash was closed down. For a few moments Garshaw and Selmac sat silent, contemplating everything that they had heard in the meeting. Both of them getting the distinct impression that whatever happened next, however the Terrans reacted to the information that they had to relay to them, it was going to change the galaxy – possibly forever.

Then, by silent mutual consent, Selmac stood and began making his way towards the entrance to the suite of offices and living quarters that had become the de facto Tok'ra embassy on the Factory Satellite. Once there he would speak to the guards on duty outside and ask to speak to both Admiral Chase and Doctor Weir…

…which would set everything in motion.

Authors Note: Well, another interlude chapter bites the dust, I hoped you all enjoyed it. I hope you liked the glimpse of the inner workings of the Tok'ra High Council, especially as there are some members like Delek and Thorun who betray their Goa'uld origins in their preference for weak willed, meek hosts who will let them be the primary personality, and their response to discovering where Tharos is. Next arc we will be going after that particular Goa'uld however in doing so Terrans and Zentraedi alike will cross a certain threshold with regards to the Goa'uld that they won't be able to go back from.