1018 October 24 1997 [Local Calendar]
Cheyenne Mountain, SGC
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
"Sir, she knows that the Stargate is here."
As SG-1 and General Hammond snap their attention to the airman, I stand there waiting for the General to answer my request to allow my team and I to handle the situation.
"Where is she now?" The man asks, motioning for Jack, Daniel, and I to follow as the airman tells him what specific holding cell she's in.
Seeing that I wasn't going to get my answer right now I quickly spike my psionics causing everyone in the hallway to stumble slightly.
"What was that?" The Colonel asked, looking around the walls in suspicion.
"No idea, maybe it was an earthquake." Daniel suggested, looking around confused.
"I highly doubt it, in all my years at this command I've never felt an earthquake." Hammond responded before looking at me with suspicion.
"Yes, General?" I ask, giving my best impression of Teal'c as I try to not let my expression shift.
Giving me a sigh he turned around. "Never mind. Come on, let's go meet our friend who knows too much."
———
Walking into the holding room I can see the red haired woman standing with her back to the door, I quickly take note that there is a male SF officer that was already in the room.
"Ma'am, I'm General Hammond, US Air Force." The General announces himself.
"Yes." Was all the response he received. To my lack of surprise it currently lacked the vocal overlay that was common of the Goa'uld.
The General looked to O'Niell for a moment before turning back to this woman. "And you are?"
"We are Hathor. You would be wise to unbind us and kneel before your goddess." The woman said, turning around to display her cuffed hands.
Jack rocked back on his heels slightly before speaking under his breath. "Hello."
"Hathor?" Daniel asked, his area of expertise being brought into the conversation.
"Yes." Was the answer he got.
The Colonel turned to look at his friend. "Have you heard of her?"
The archeologist took a thoughtful stance. "Hathor was the Egyptian goddess of fertility, inebriety and music."
"Sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll?" Jack asked, looking impressed.
During the byplay I pulled my stamp out of my pocket and palmed it, putting it in a rather inconspicuous position that would allow me to use it easily.
Daniel gave a resigned nod before agreeing. "In a manner of speaking." His gaze shifted to the handcuffs. "Are the cuffs absolutely necessary?"
Hammond glanced to Jack before motioning the cultural expert to go ahead.
Before he could take the key from the guard, I snatch it up in my free hand. "Please, allow me." I say not giving anyone a chance to deny my sudden action.
As I carefully undo the cuffs, I take a moment to hold one of her wrists applying the stamp rather discreetly.
"Surprised we didn't chain her to the bed too." Daniel complained to Hammond. "What's she going to do? Beat us up?"
Oh Daniel, if only you knew.
The disguised Goa'uld turned to face me with a damned beautiful smile on her face. "Thank you." She said, her smile turning downright salacious. "Your efforts shall not go unrewarded." She grabbed my hand and brought it to her lips, blowing a gentle kiss millimeters from my skin, maintaining eye contact the entire time.
I could feel the drug she used slide right off of my Body and Mind Defenses. As she began to look slightly confused I spoke up. "General, do you remember the Touched incident that happened a few months ago?"
"Yes, what about it?"
"I believe that our guest will need one of those VIP guest rooms." I say, watching the confusion shift to anger.
"Why?" The General asked with trepidation.
"Oh it's simple really." I say, my tone calm. "She's a Goa'uld-"
Before I could finish my explanation she tore her arm away from me and shouted in the classic overlapping Goa'uld voice. "Kree!"
At the same moment I shouted as well. "Sarah!"
The SF that had been stationed inside the room went to draw his sidearm, his gaze glued to my back. Before the 9 mm had even been fully drawn the man was pulled by an unseen force and pinned against the wall, his weapon flying carefully into O'Niell's chest.
The door opened to reveal Sarah holding her hand in a way that conveyed that she was holding something as well as the other members of my team.
"I see." The Goa'uld said, her eyes locked onto Sarah. "I hadn't realized that humans had developed to the point of Hok'tar. No matter, you will make a good new host."
"Ah, ah!" Jack said, leveling the confiscated pistol at the Goa'uld. "None of that now."
The woman, looking subdued, just scoffed before turning around and raising her hands.
"You were saying, Commander?" Hammond said, gesturing for me to take an extra step back.
I hold up a finger before I perform a pat down search revealing the hand device looped mostly around her arm and the finger bits tucked away. I then checked and confirmed that she was wearing the Jaffa making body harness. Removing the hand device I step back. "Sorry General, she attempted to use some kind of mind altering drug to make me more impressionable. Figured that if she did the same to the SF, odds were good that she'd been allowed on base without being checked for weapons." I say, my eyes never leaving the perpetrator.
"Alright, but why put her in an isolation cell?" The man asks.
"I'll explain in a little bit sir, but first I recommend getting her and any male personnel that may have come into contact with her into separate cells."
"Agreed." He turned to O'Niell. "Colonel, get a team of SFs that have been off duty for the last six hours and have them escort anyone who has had contact with the Goa'uld into the isolation cells. SG-10 I want you to escort Airman Bauer and miss Hathor to their cells." Once he received a nod from my team and the Colonel he turned to me. "My office."
———
Closing the door behind me, I watch the General take his seat before he turns his attention to me. "So, want to explain why we haven't put a bullet into the brain of the Goa'uld yet?"
"An experiment, sir." I say, having an end goal and allowing my Communication Talent to guide my words. "I have in my possession a piece of technology that uses a topical ointment that can once, and only once, remove any negative mental effects." I give a partial truth. "Don't ask me how it works, I have no idea."
"Okay, and what is that supposed to do? Kill the Goa'uld itself?" He said, furrowing his brows as he tried to figure things out.
"No, sir. It's a fact that you'll discover in a few years, but overuse of those sarcophagi have a bad habit of corrupting the user." I say, gesturing towards the Gate room. "The experiment is to see if a Goa'uld's evilness is genetic or if it's simply something brought on by millennia of over-reliance on the sarcophagus. The ointment takes 72 hours to cleanse the mind. If after that time she is still her regular megalomaniacal self, then we can put a round through her skull."
Hammond contemplated that for a moment before looking up at me. "I'm giving you just enough rope to hang yourself with, if she escapes because of this I will personally have you shot, am I understood?"
"Yes, General." I said, understanding the severity of the situation perfectly.
"Then go, as of right now SG-10 is in charge of her detention." He begins to get to work on some paperwork before he pauses and looks back at me. "Speaking of your team, once this is all settled I expect an explanation as to what exactly Lieutenant Kerrigan did in there."
Giving him an acknowledging nod, I snap a picture perfect salute before leaving the office.
Getting into the elevator I quickly check my capture list to make a clone of Hathor so that we could kill the evil bitch, only to find the cloning option grayed out.
The hell?
Pressing on the locked button I received a notification.
ATTENTION ENTERTAINMENT
AS YOU'VE SHOWN A RELUCTANCE TO USE YOUR GIFT IN THIS REALITY, YOU MUST NOW GO WITHOUT.
UNTIL YOU MOVE ON TO YOUR NEXT JUMP YOU WILL NOT HAVE THE OPTION OF CLONING ANY OF YOUR CAPTURES.
THAT IS ALL.
Well… fuck.
1045 October 27 1997 [Local Calendar]
Cheyenne Mountain, SGC
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
The last three days had been extremely dull, each of the four of us would take six hour shifts sitting outside of Hathor's cell, spending most of the other time relaxing.
While it was mind numbing, it did give me some time to think about what I wanted to do once I was done working my way through the Stargate universe. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do a second tier three jump as there weren't many options that I was intimately familiar with.
No Game No Life was an option as there were plenty of Waifus and a tier X capture was possible, however it'd be difficult to stamp Tet: the One True God.
I could spite the Arch Deity and go to the anime timeline of Pokémon, but tempting being smited… smote? Definitely not smitten. Anyway it was a bad idea to tempt a God above gods.
There were a handful of Disney continuities that I could go to: Frozen, Atlantis the Lost Empire, Treasure Planet, The Incredibles. Only a few really appealed to me though… okay none of the settings appealed to me, it was only the Waifus again.
Full Metal Alchemist was an interesting option mainly just due to how alchemy actually worked, but I also don't want to get caught up in the whole sacrificing an entire nation thing.
A good place to get a ton of followers and some interesting tech would be Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet. Mech-suits that doubled as spaceships? Yes please. And I suspect that it would be rather easy to get the fleet to join us for the simple reason that I have dry land, food, and freshwater, all of which are difficult to come by on that flooded Earth.
I'm not super familiar with Horizon: Zero Dawn, but let's be honest, Aloy is hot and smart, and the mechanical animals of that world are very interesting.
If I went to Sword Art Online, starting in Alfheim Online… that actually isn't a terrible idea. Lots of very powerful people and especially Kirito with his bullshit anime protagonist luck giving him all of his SAO stats would actually make it a half decent option.
Going to Harry Potter during the first three books sounds pretty awful, but given that I have Universal Calibration it'd probably be closer to a college level education rather than middle to high school… maybe.
Subnautica, no. The only thing of real value in that universe is the ion tech which is possibly inferior to the Ancient tech of this universe.
And Firefly… actually I'm really not opposed to Chinese-American space-cowboy-pirates, and Nathan Fillion is always great. I just don't want to deal with the mega corporations, cannibals, or secret government agencies.
So with that in mind I move on to the tier four jumps.
Mass Effect for sure, I want to thoroughly fuck with the Reapers and to a lesser extent the Citadel Council. Plus I'm sure that Kasumi would like to go home.
Avatar the last Airbender would be pretty good for getting some mildly powerful followers, but I'm not sure if I would want to live in what basically ended up being Asia in the 1100s.
In Another World with my Smartphone would be pretty good for some OP Waifus but probably not worth going to. Same went for Infinite Stratos.
The Inheritance Cycle actually wouldn't be a bad option at first glance, dragons, magic users, and elves? Yep that's a pretty solid choice, especially since I myself am a dragon.
Gate: and thus the JSDF fought there, wasn't really on the radar as it'd mainly just be used for resources.
There were a couple that I set aside for later jumps that would put me where and when I wanted to be. I didn't pick Starcraft because I wanted to arrive sometime between the end of Broodwar, and the beginning of Wings of Liberty.
BattleStar Galactica was out also because a government on the run would be exponentially easier to deal with than an established government with so much corruption, it'd make the Goa'uld blush.
I was waiting to do Star Wars as a tier five jump for two main reasons: 1. Revan, male or female, they are one of the most powerful force users in the setting. 2. Because I want to steal probably the single best nation building tool-
I stopped in my musings. Engineering talent was whispering in my ear, why steal what I can build? Using things that I either already have or can acquire in Stargate I can easily build my own Star Forge.
The Subnautica fabrication technology, Asgard matter synthesis technology, and Ancient solar collection technology. With these three components put together I could totally make a Star Forge that doesn't rely on the Dark Side of the Force. Hell I could even throw in a time dilation device to really get those fleets cranked out.
Sweet Baby Jesus.
What the fuck was I even thinking? Of course I could make something like this with the absolutely ridiculous technology of this setting. This started to make me wonder what else I could come up with.
But, still, Revan is easily worth starting a bit early, and then training in a time dilation field until roughly the time of the clone wars.
I would have continued planning my multiversal conquest however the screaming of the Goa'uld in the cell behind me quieted down at the same time I got a notification in my HUD.
HATHOR CAPTURED!
22 CREDITS ADDED
It looks like I got some defense refunds. Nice.
Now there was a different kind of crying in the room behind me. Rather than several variations of "let me out and I'll kill you quickly" I could now hear something completely different.
"What have I done!?" The voice of Hathor wailed through the door. "My sister, please forgive me!" Her sobs were loud and very clear.
"Well, what do you know?" I think aloud as I turn to look at the door, my psionic empathy telling me that this was genuine. "She was only acting like an evil bitch."
"I would not be so sure, Commander Drake." A deep voice came from behind me, causing me to just about jump out of my skin.
"Holy hell, Teal'c!" I whip back around to find the surprisingly stealthy man standing about five feet away from me. "Give a guy some warning."
"I believe I did announce my presence just now." Teal'c said, raising his eyebrow. "However, my previous statement remains. Do not trust your ears, the Goa'uld are masters of deception."
I nod my head before looking back at the door. "Agreed, however there is an ability that very few are born with in my time. It is known as psionics, an ability that increases the mental abilities and even some psychic powers. This is how Lieutenant Kerrigan held Airman Bauer when Hathor first arrived." Getting another eyebrow raise from the man, as well as a nod to continue, I concluded my explanation. "My psionic abilities are untrained, however I've noticed that I seem to have a talent for empathy, feeling others emotions." I turn to look at the Jaffa. "And right now, the only things I'm feeling from her is horror, and a crippling amount of sadness."
The other man was silent for a moment, mulling over my words. "I see. However I am unable to verify that, and I believe that it will take more to convince General Hammond to release her."
"I agree, I just wish that I could think of a way that she could verify it. However any intel she has is 5,000 years out of date."
"Indeed, I do not believe that there is anything that she can do to prove herself."
I let out a heavy sigh. "Odds are that I'm going to have to send her back with my team. It'd be better than being locked in a room for the rest of her life." I see Teal'c moving to object to that idea. "Yeah, I know, I'll speak with the General first."
Teal'c paused for a moment before inclining his head. "I believe that course of action to be most wise, Commander Drake."
———
After another hour of me being on guard, Seni finally came to relieve me, giving me the opportunity to go talk to Hammond. Standing outside his office I knock on the door three times and wait for an answer, thankfully I wasn't waiting long.
"Enter." Came the slightly muffled voice of the man I was there to see. Opening the door I can see that he is not alone as Colonel O'Niell is sat across from him and another man is standing looking through the window into the conference room. I know that posture. Fuck, this is going to get messy.
"What is it, Commander?" Hammond asked as the standing man turned to observe me, revealing Colonel patches and the nameplate Maybourne.
Returning my attention to the General, I take a moment to think about how to say what needed to be said without saying anything that needed to be kept out of the ears of a Colonel who would thoroughly ruin anything that he was unable to worm himself into. "General, I was unaware that you were occupied, I'll come back if-"
"No need to do that on my account, General." The oily voice of Maybourne rolled through the office.
Hammond looked at the man before looking back at me. "Commander, this is Colonel Harry Maybourne with the CID. He is actually here about your experiment. Given the timing, I assume that the experiment has concluded."
Oh, this is very not good. I thought, eyeing the man. "General, I'm afraid that I have some bad news." I started saying, allowing my Communication Talent to guide me. "The device seems to have had a negative impact on the Goa'uld symbiote. I would like your permission to send everything along to my people for study." I finished with a very quick wink from my eye that Maybourne couldn't see, but that both of the other men could.
Catching that there was something that I was unable to say with the other Colonel in the room, Hammond turned away from me. "Colonels, would you mind giving us the room?"
Before Maybourne could object, Jack was already standing. "Of course General." He may not exactly like me, but he knows when an interference play was needed. "Colonel Maybourne, care to join me in the mess? I'm pretty sure that they're serving Country Fried Chicken today."
Waiting for a few moments, I hear the elevator door close. Turning back to Hammond, I speak. "General, it worked."
"But you said that it didn't." The Texan replied, confused.
"Sir, I said that because I know of Harry Maybourne, if he knew that Hathor was alive and cooperative then he would have her carted off to a very dark and very deep hole to be pumped for information until she eventually died."
"While I understand that from a certain perspective, why did you say you wanted to send her back to your people?" He asked, still trying to figure me out.
"Because General, any information she has is 5,000 years out of date, and even if it wasn't you can't afford to trust her, regardless of me telling you that you can trust her because you can't trust me fully." I say before walking to where Maybourne was standing previously. "She's suffered enough, I won't let her suffer anymore. This visit is just a courtesy anyway, she will be going back to my people until she is able to healthily deal with her baggage."
The man's expression shifted from confusion to anger as he stood. "Commander Drake, you have no right to come in here and make demands of me. If you continue with this behavior, I will have no choice but to have you removed from this facility."
I let out a sigh before turning around. "Very well, General. I thought that I would be able to live amongst you for a while longer, but it seems now that that was a fools dream." I pause for a moment. "We'll pack our bags and be ready to leave by 1900. I would like to request to leave via the Stargate so that we can take the fight to the Goa'uld."
The General seemed startled by my sudden shift, but he rallied himself quickly enough to reply. "Very well, I'll arrange for you to depart at the same time as SG-7, they're going to survey a planet that is in close proximity to a black hole. Their departure time will be at 1630 hours, you have until then to get your team and gear together." He slumped slightly. "For the record, I don't want you to leave. You're a great resource for the defense of Earth."
I walk to the door before I turn around and snap a salute to the man. "General, I will always be here to defend the Earth. We'll give you a contact gate address once we're situated." Lowering my arm I turn on my heel and leave the room.
————
A/n: Okay, here we are once again with another chapter. I realized after posting the last chapter that I forgot to address some concerns so here we go:
Shypunk - first off, thank you for your feedback and support, it makes my day when you just thank me for my writing. As for my missing a scene with Daniel telling the MC about Sha're, I purposely didn't do that. Maybe if things hadn't gone the way they did in this chapter then maybe it would have been brought up either late season one or early season two. Thanks for keeping me on my toes though.
Ashes and Souls - thanks for the review, and I do recommend that you do go and watch it, I've watched everything probably 10 times or something.
And as a side note, probably 75% of what I'm writing is from memory, but I do pull up the episode transcript if I want to have a direct quote.
Gg Leroy - I plan on being in Stargate for several years worth of time because there's so much to loot cough explore.
Amerikhan786 - thank you for your suggestion on what to do with Hathor, I was honestly just going to sell her until I read your review.
Blaze1992 - yes, I definitely left a world to its death at the hands of a Zerg Brood, and here's why. The MC had a single ship that was not equipped well enough to handle the situation, it was only a matter of time before the Cerabrate turned its attention to a space born power for self preservation if nothing else. It was the best tactical decision that I could think of, if I had like 50 ships that were equipped to take on an established Zerg presence then maybe, but I didn't.
B127 - thanks for pointing that out so I punished myself.
ZeroSpearow - I assume you're referring to the conversation with Doppel, Kuroko, and Zombina. If that's the case I thought to myself, what is the best way to avoid further questions? My answer was that people get really uncomfortable when genocide is brought up.
Once again, thank you all for the support, and I'll see you next time.
P.s. for the record, I have a general idea of what I want to happen but no real outline for the individual chapters. I honestly wasn't expecting things to go this way when I started the chapter and yet here we are.
Read, Follow, Review.