Welcome back to another chapter. Think of this as the usual upload schedule. Every maybe once a week or around then. Also this is one of the first of many time skips. I hope we all understand just how important they will be in order to get us all the way to the canon Stargate timeframe. Around chapter 40 is when the events of the Stargate movie will take place so be ready for that when we get to it. Anyways, review as always. Hi-Fionn, thank you for all of your amazing and encouraging reviews!

Chapter 6: Avaris

Time skip: 28 years later
Year: 9,002 BCE

Location: Tau'ri

The Galaxy shook with the deaths of two System Lords and the loss of another ancient power. Marduk informed me of the coup planned by Isis and Osiris in an attempt to depose Ra. Rumor has it that the coup was planned by Setesh however those are but rumors alone. Why Setesh would go out of his way to develop this coup then simply exile himself afterwards was lost on me. It felt counter intuitive. If nothing else he should have tried to use the fact he warned Ra of the impending attack to curry favor but I am not the ancient Goa'uld and cannot fathom the thoughts of a God so old.

The power vacuum left in the wake of the three influential Goa'uld however, provided a nigh unheard of opportunity for expansion and with Marduk having much of his territory bordering the now leaderless domains. It made for an easy decision for myself and my Lord.

That is what led to me kneeling before Marduk and Sarpanitum. Not on Tau'ri, but his own seat of power amongst his domain. Kandara. A massive temple sat in the marshy jungle of the world, at least from what I had seen of it. The temple sat just a few minutes from the Chaapa'ai and served as Marduk's central place of worship on the world. The importance of this world however was that in orbit above the planet was a massive shipyard where Marduk had been mass manufacturing my newly upgraded ships. Nothing major, better power generators and, within the last several years, I had perfected the command chair which he implemented within his flagship.

"My lord, I am ready to depart." Marduk sat with his eyes closed in some form of meditation. Sarpanitum appeared relaxed from the outside but I could see the beads of sweat, the constant flickering of her eyes between Marduk and myself. She was worried about something but what I couldn't fathom.

"Hmm, fine. You win. Nabu. While I am out, securing our domain, you will go with our Queen to take a planet out of the way of my current campaign. I'll give you a small fleet of ships to take with you to facilitate this."

Without another word, Marduk rose and left the chamber. I assumed he would take the rings up to his flagship. His fleet over the planet as we spoke and ready to depart with him. It was fortunate that this system bordered the territory that he was planning to take and this might be just what my Lord needed in order to ascend to the rank of System Lord.

That thought aside, I looked up to Sarpanitum who had the widest, Cheshire grin that I had ever seen adorn her face. A smile that sent shivers and worry down my spine. This wasn't the 'I'm happy to go conquer planets with my child' smile, it was one of those sadistic smiles I remember seeing my ancestors wear when they were about to break their victims. This smile promised pain and much, much more.

Quietly observing her rise from her throne, and gracefully march her way down the steps that led to her throne was tantamount to watching my death step ever closer. Whatever plans she had for me now were already set in motion and the only thing I knew I could do was go along and hope for the best. With my current standing, there wasn't much else that I could do.

"Nabu, our child. You have met our allies. You've spoken your resolve to Egeria herself. It has taken a few decades but now I have secured you an opportunity. You will show me the depth of your will. Show me you are not just some weak-minded scientist and are worthy of your own aspirations. Now come. You have a planet to conquer." Without any further fanfare, she left the chamber, leaving me with a brow beaded with sweat.

'You really never know how far her schemes run do you?' I could only shake my head at Abduls words.

'Never.'

Following Sarpanitum to the ring chamber, we enter the combination to enter one of the many upgraded Ha'tak in orbit above the planet. As we traversed the vessel and made our way to the Pel'tak, Sarpanitum was quiet. Simply choosing to observe how we decided to use the forces provided and it wasn't much considering that we were to take a well guarded planet that once belonged to Setesh.

Taking my place in the seat at the Pel'tak, allowing my fingers to meld with the arms of the chair since this was the only other Ha'tak that received that particular upgrade, it was intentionally left in my care and, perhaps it was wishful thinking on my part but, I thought that maybe it was in case Marduk did eventually ascend to System Lord status and would leave the ship fully under my control. It was a long shot but with our current golden opportunity it was more likely now than ever. With that in mind, I went so far as to add a few custom upgrades to this particular Ha'tak that might prove useful.

"Jaffa, kree!" I called the Jaffa that would aid me in this operation to kneel before me. "We will depart shortly. As soon as we exit hyperspace, have a contingent of the reserves left here dial Avaris. Once they can no longer use their Chaapa'ai, wait for my signal, then send in troops to secure the gate while we engage the forces in orbit." The Jaffa nodded before one left to return to Kandara to relay my orders. The remaining ship commanders returned to their vessels as well.

The fleet provided for me to complete this mission were 2 Ha'tak, one of which being an upgraded ship of my design, the other two having the simple power upgrade. The Ha'tak were also accompanied by a contingent of 5 Al'kesh. Our gliders on the Ha'tak also had energy shields powered by small, secondary Naquadah reactors to aid in their defensive power. Depending on how well the planet was guarded, it would be an easy fight to win.

With a simple twitch of my fingers, I opened the hyperspace window and our fleet entered a hyperjump. The feeling of entering hyperspace causing each of the Jaffa to shift uncomfortably but the rush it left me with only aided in my rising excitement. This was going to be my first fight and I wasn't going to allow myself to disappoint Marduk, especially with our Queen present to observe.

We had several months to wait till we arrived at our destination and I decided to use that time to study the world that we would be assailing. It was one rich in Naquadah and primarily used as a mining world. That, however, was just the tip of the iceberg according to the reports that Marduk had sent me. The world, Avaris, also seemed to be a research world that was used by Setesh mere decades before he went into exile. Whatever he was working on would be useful and I guessed that that is why Marduk had such a vested interest in us taking the world. Having Setesh's state of the art research would be a boon that neither Marduk, nor I, could pass on.

Unexpectedly however, we left hyperspace after a scant few days and I could only grin. The upgrades worked and the ever unflappable was almost instantly at my side. Her features portrayed nothing but utter calm but I could see the curious glint in her eyes that belied her interest in how we managed to arrive well ahead of schedule.

"My Queen, you seem perplexed."

"We've arrived ahead of schedule. This was not anticipated." I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped my lips.

"Indeed, I have upgraded the hyperdrives and allowed the window to expand to the other ships, they basically were pulled along with us when we entered instead of relying on their own drives. The upgrade was last minute but I hope you didn't expect me to rest on my laurels after making such a bold claim to the consort of Lord Ra." The devious smile that crept along her lips was enough of a response and I shook my head.

"I will not allow myself to grow complacent as the rest of our species has, I will never stop. I may slow but never will I allow progress to cease. That would lead me to an early death I cannot afford."

With the casual conversation out of the way, I ordered a scan of the system which revealed much that was expected in the reports.

"My Lord, we are picking up 3 Ha'tak and 10 Al'kesh. A superior force to be sure." I wave off the warning of my worried Jaffa.

"It will not matter, it is only a marginal force. Have faith in your God's and we will prevail. When we get just outside weapons range, use kel'tesh and maneuver us to the left, the other Ha'tak to the right. The Al'kesh will split 2 above, 2 below, and 1 will be our decoy headed right for them. Make haste, Shor'wai'e! Yas! Yas!"

The reaction was swift as the Jaffa sent commands through the communicator to the other Ha'tak and the Al'kesh. As I watched, we all split and I could tell my Queen was curious as to this tactic. I knew she was familiar with kel'tesh as it was a common flanking maneuver but it has never been adapted to space conflict quite like this.

I moved over to another of my latest installed on the ship as Sarpanitum watched on in awe. My fingers deftly moved across a panel before it revealed a real time display of the battle on a large screen. I watched with the Jaffa tasked with being my aid during this conquest.

"Tea'lir. What are your thoughts as to our odds of success?" I allowed the Jaffa to mull over the question as my eyes kept on the display in front of me. Watching as the Al'kesh decoy successfully drew attention to itself. I could already see both this Ha'tak and the other warships raining fire upon the unsuspecting defenders.

"My Lord, our odds are 7/3 in our favor. Even if they have the numbers advantage. Your strategy negates their advantage. Even if we spread fire it would still only be 5/3 our favor. A victory at your hands either way."

I allowed my arrogance to swell as we witnessed the first of their Ha'tak fall. Turning to my Queen with a sly grin, I allowed myself to revel in her delighted expression. I may never tell her personally but seeing the pride in her eyes was one of the many reasons why I pushed the limits of myself so often. Even over the course of almost three decades, I rarely got to see her pride so apparent. Not since she took me to the Gala. That was before I locked myself in the laboratory to prepare for this opportunity. Working on this and the rest of my Lord Marduk's ships left me with little time to spend with my Queen and Lord but it was moments like these that made all that worth it to me. I could even feel the subtle, if begrudging agreement from Abdul.

'You need a new hobby.' Being unable to withhold the internal smile, I could feel Abdul simply nodding with a knowing look.

'You are bold to talk to your God like that. I do, in fact, have hobbies. Do I not spend time enjoying the company of blueprints and inventions?' I could feel him chuckle.

'You know better than I that that was not what I meant. You need to socialize. I do hope Marduk awards you this world so you can do just that. Get us out of that dingy lab.' I couldn't deny the truth of his words. I had spent the better half of three decades holed up in the lab. Maybe getting a little sunlight was what I needed to stop this stagnation that plagued me so. Even with all my progress, I couldn't deny the plateau in my research.

'Perhaps.' Leaving it at this, I returned from my mind to the situation unfolding on the map.

Two of the opposing Ha'tak had been removed and destroyed and the Al'kesh stood no chance in the assault. I didn't come out of the conflict unscathed with the loss of 4 Al'kesh and the other Ha'tak being heavily damaged but we were receiving a hail from the remaining enemy Ha'tak.

"Answer the hail Tea'lir!" The metallic echo behind my voice allowed it to carry my authority as commander of this vessel. It wasn't a surprise when the face of the Jaffa commander of the remaining Ha'tak filled the monitor.

"My Lord, we surrender. We are unable to fight and are willing to submit." Now I had the chance to do one of two things. Others of my kind might take the surrender as an insult and eliminate the Ha'tak for daring to allow themselves to be taken. I on the other hand had a need for Setesh's Jaffa and would put them to use another way.

"I am glad you have come to your senses, Jaffa. I will ring aboard and appraise your vessel. You will be ready to receive me or die." With that, I closed the communication and made my way to the ring room. The surviving Ha'tak had lasted so long for a reason and I was going to find out how.

Before I left, I informed Sarpanitum that I would return to Tau'ri by Chaapa'ai and would be going to the Ha'tak alone. The Jaffa on Kandara had the address and if I didn't return in a month's time to eliminate the planet.

Now, I hear you thinking, 'Sarpanitum wouldn't let you do that!'. To that I say, she wouldn't normally but I allowed myself to owe her a favor and the one she chose was to accompany her to the next Gala in 9 years and in return she'd let me be reckless one more time. A steep price to be sure but I managed to survive the Gala once and I was bound and determined to do it again. I needed this planet and I needed to take it alone.

With my goodbyes, I ringed to the enemy Ha'tak and began my appraisal of the ship and its resources. It didn't take long to make it planet side and let's just say that what I found would be well worth the risk. But that is a story for another time.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review, it's the only way I can get better and feel free to question or criticize my work. I'm not gonna get butthurt over a few harsh words and I might just need to hear them if I have bad habits. Thank you all again for reading and I look forward to seeing your reviews and you all in the next chapter.

Next time on Eclipse - Chapter 7: Avaris Part 2