Chapter 130: Spy Games Part 6
Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, December 15th, 1999
"...and that's why the Russian and Chinese forces have been expelled from Stargate Command," the Canadian ambassador to the United Nations finished his explanation.
"You cannot unilaterally decide that!" the Russian ambassador protested - without being invited to speak, Adora noted.
But the Secretary-General didn't intervene. Well, it was an emergency session.
"It was not a unilateral decision, but the decision of the majority of the Stargate Command Council," the Canadian retorted.
Adora felt a little bad about having the Canadians defend the decision - they were not part of the Stargate Command Council. But the Stargate was on their territory, and they hadn't refused when asked by the Alliance.
"That is not in the purview of the Stargate Command Council!" the Russian snapped. "The Stargate is under the control of the United Nations!"
A lot of people present in the hall seemed to agree with that - Adora saw them nod, and the murmurs grew louder. And the Russian was correct - the United Nations had officially taken control of Earth's Stargate. Which, Adora reminded herself, had been the right decision since they represented Earth and the Stargate belonged to Earth as a whole.
On the other hand, removing the Russian and Chinese troops from Stargate Command was also the right decision. They had betrayed the trust of everyone else and endangered the entire planet. And they had tried to murder Catra and our friends, she reminded herself, clenching her teeth at the thought.
"Russian and Chinese forces have attempted to take control of the Stargate, engaged in secret dealings with an alien civilisation for unknown reasons and attacked Stargate Command with chemical weapons!" the Canadian replied. "This is not acceptable!"
"Lies and slander!" the Russian protested. "You have no proof of anything!"
"We have caught the culprits in the act!"
The Russian sneered. "You have captured our troops and refused to let our government talk to them - and refused to have the affair investigated by an independent commission! Your claims are baseless - mere lies made up to cover your blatant attempt to control the Stargate for your war!"
Adora managed not to wince at the loud agreement from half - or more - the ambassadors present that filled the hall.
The Canadian ambassador glared at his counterpart. "Your attempts to play the victim won't work. We have proof of your attempts to control the base's system and your attack!"
"Fabrications of your own!" The Russian scoffed, and more ambassadors cheered.
Adora clenched her teeth again. Glimmer had been right - the truth didn't matter. The rulers of those countries ignored the proof presented to them.
But they couldn't ignore reality, either.
The Canadian shook his head, but before he could go on, the Chinese ambassador spoke up - unprompted as the Russian one, which, Adora understood, was very unusual for him. "You do not have the right to take control of the Stargate," he said. "That would require a decision by the United Nations Security Council."
Which the Russians and Chinese would veto, of course.
Adora knew she should be waiting to be given permission to speak, but it seemed no one was following the rules anyway, so she stood up. She was the Supreme Commander of the Alliance, so this fell to her. "The Stargate is of vital importance for the Alliance's war against the Goa'uld. We cannot allow untrustworthy powers control over it - and we certainly cannot allow hostile forces control over it. Russian and Chinese forces have tried to take control of the Stargate and attacked Alliance forces, killing several of our soldiers. They also have made contact with unknown alien forces and used their weapons against us. Russia and China may claim that those were the actions of rogue forces, but even if that were true, it means that both countries sent untrustworthy, hostile forces to Stargate Command. In any case, we cannot and will not allow your forces to remain part of Stargate Command and threaten our forces and the war."
"You cannot do that!" the Russian ambassador yelled.
"We can," Glimmer hissed next to Adora.
"This is a military decision taken by Alliance command," Adora went on, ignoring the man. "The trustworthy elements of Stargate Command remain in control of it, fulfilling the United Nations mandate. It is up to the United Nations Security Council to decide if they wish to add more forces to Stargate Command."
No one had to say out loud that any decision that didn't please the Alliance would be vetoed.
"That's a blatant attempt to conquer Earth!" the Iranian ambassador spat.
Adora sat down as others chimed in despite the Secretary-General's attempts to restore order.
"The Stargate belongs to Earth - you said so yourself!"
"So much for the honour of the aliens!"
"You brought that on yourself!"
"Don't play the victim!"
"Infidels!"
"We won't let you attack us with impunity and then claim it was a rogue soldier!"
"Colonialists! We won't let you take away our sovereignty!"
"Shame on you!"
"Shame on you!"
"Well, we know where everyone stands," Glimmer commented to her.
Adora nodded. Not that it changed anything. Technically, the Stargate was still under nominal UN control. And the United Nations could move to add more countries to the Command Council - like India. But Adora was sure that every country picked would be vetoed by either Russia and China or the United States, France and Britain.
Of course, that also depended on what exactly had been going on with the Russian and Chinese governments.
Stargate Command, CFB Goose Bay, Newfoundland, Canada, December 15th, 1999
"Just for record: I would like to ask for asylum. Before being deported back to mother Russia with others."
Samantha Carter looked up from her laptop's screen and at Iwan. "You won't be deported."
He shrugged with a grin. "Never know. Bureaucracy can make mistake. Even Western bureaucracy, as I found out here. And Russia demanded all people here back."
They also protested against the removal of the Russian contingent at Stargate Command, but that was just performative - Sam doubted that even the Russians actually expected the Alliance to leave Russians near the Stargate. They would all go, except, possibly, Lenkova and Iwan, and that only because Adora and the other princesses had made it clear that sending either into 'protective custody' far away from Newfoundland wasn't going to happen.
Sam agreed with that stance. Both Iwan and Lenkova had made it clear where they stood in the conflict between Russia and the Alliance. The odds of either being a spy for Russia were too low to be taken seriously. Of course, a small voice in the back of her mind whispered, either could be working for a faction of Russia's rulers that wasn't currently in power. Lenkova had been trained by an intel agency, and Iwan would have had to pass a lot of loyalty tests to be allowed to work with top-secret alien technology…
She pushed the voice away. She wasn't going to become paranoid. And both would be closely observed by people watching out for spies, anyway. People like Wilkinson.
The FBI agent in question looked up from his own - far less advanced - computer. "No one's getting deported until we've finished our investigation. We still haven't found out what everyone involved knew."
"And we probably won't," Agent Paris added. "Most of them aren't talking. And those who do talk are only admitting the bare minimum."
"That's still confirmation for some claims," Wilkinson retorted. "And we have other sources for information to correlate their claims."
Paris raised her eyebrows. "That only works when people talk."
Wilkinson pouted in return. "They'll start talking when they realise that that's the only way they'll get out of a cell."
"Oh, compared to welcome back in Russia, Alliance cell is paradise. Or luxury hotel, at least." Iwan grinned. "Siberia is very cold this time of year. And grave is colder."
Sam glanced at Lenkova. Unlike everyone else in the room, the Lieutenant wasn't working on anything. She was just staring at the TV in the corner. With the volume set as low as it was, Sam doubted that Lenkova was hearing anything.
Then again, it wasn't as if there was any news on the TV - it was just loops of things they already knew, with banners at the bottom adding more 'breaking news' that was anything but breaking.
"They haven't talked even when offered asylum," Wilkinson said with a scowl.
"KGB picked spies well, much experience," Iwan said.
Lenkova tensed, Sam saw. "Some will talk, eventually," the Lieutenant said after a moment - without looking at anyone in the room. "Once they realise that they can get a good deal from the Alliance."
"Wouldn't they know that already?" Paris asked. "They've been working with us for months."
"They take long time to trust, if ever," Iwan said. "West was enemy for decades, so no trust there. And Alliance - Princesses - look too good to be true."
And the Russians and Chinese at Stargate Command hadn't worked with the Alliance except for selected individuals like Kira. "What about the Chinese?" Sam asked after checking that her computer was still working on her analysis.
"Same as Russians, just more secret," Iwan said with a shrug.
"I wouldn't say this. They've been more cooperative," Wilkinson said.
"Marginally," Paris disagreed. "And that could be misinformation."
"We can check their claims." Wilkinson looked at Lenkova. "Once we can contact the Eurondans."
"I've given you all the addresses that I remembered," Lenkova told him. She hadn't looked at the man - or Sam had missed it.
"And we're analysing the data," Iwan said. "But all are empty planets so far."
"The Eurondans should contact us soon." Lenkova turned around. "They seemed very eager to make a trade deal when I saw them. But I didn't have much direct contact."
Eager - or desperate. Lenkova had mentioned that the Eurondans were fighting a war, though they hadn't revealed against whom. Nevertheless, they were potential allies. But with the Russians and Chinese banned from the Stargate, the Alliance would have some explaining to do to gain the Eurondans' trust.
Her computer beeped. Had it finished the analysis already? That would… No. It was a message from the spy bots they had placed around the Stargates used to contact the Eurondans. Oh.
"We've received a message from the Eurondans," she told the others present while she forwarded the message to the General, Adora and the rest of Alliance Command. "They've sent the address for the next meeting."
Stargate Command, CFB Goose Bay, Newfoundland, Canada, December 16th, 1999
"Finally, progress!" Catra grinned as she approached the Stargate. "No more waiting!"
"We've had diplomatic meetings around the clock," Bow said as he joined her in the ready area. "Adora and Glimmer are still in one. I wouldn't call that waiting."
She shrugged in return. "Might as well be. We need intel, and we won't get it talking to people who know less than we do." Such as the rest of the Alliance leaders.
"Other countries have more sources than the Alliance has, at least in Russia and China," Bow pointed out.
"That doesn't mean their sources are worth any damn," Catra retorted. "None of them had any clue about the Stargate plot, had they?" She cocked her head and flashed her teeth.
"Well, the British sources are mostly focused on that recently surrendered city," Bow said. "Hong Kong."
Probably planning to take it back, Catra thought. With just a single corvette in orbit, the British could take out the entire Chinese military, though it would take a while. And they had already two operational and launched the third and fourth. There were news reports of protests against the Chinese rulers in the streets as well. "I don't think those sources will tell us who is responsible for the attack on us," she said. "And I don't think the Americans are any better off." It seemed no one had any real idea what was going on amongst the Chinese rulers.
She eyed the Stargate. Sam and Entrapta had assured them that the computers were now clean and safe, and Catra trusted them, but… she still felt a bit uneasy about the trip. Not that she would show it, of course. But knowing that the Russians and Chinese had infiltrated the entire base so thoroughly that they had been able to fool everyone wasn't a comforting thought at all.
"We don't know anything about the Eurondans either," Bow went on. "Well, nothing except that they are humans - or look human - and want supplies in exchange for technology because they are fighting a war."
Catra nodded. "Heavy water, food, and other raw materials." That meant that they still had the production capacity to use the resources, so they weren't reduced to fighting a guerilla war with whatever supplies they could scrounge up. But it also meant that they had lost whatever access to resources they had before, so their situation wasn't sustainable.
"But we don't know who they are fighting. They apparently never told Lenkova." Bow glanced at the Russian - or was that ex-Russian? - standing a bit to the side.
She was also staring at the gate. As the only one who had met the Eurondans before who wasn't currently in a cell, she had to come with them, but it didn't seem as if she was looking forward to the trip. Probably still feeling guilty about ratting out the Russian plans. If she had heard them - they were close enough for it, but the gate room was noisy as usual - she didn't show it.
Whatever. "Can't be the snakes," Catra said. "They would have bombed the planet already." And if the Eurondans had spaceships, they could get those resources themselves.
"They could have the technology to hold them off," Bow objected. "They do have energy shields."
That was a possibility. On the other hand… "They didn't mention the Goa'uld, as far as we know," Catra said. "They would have if they were fighting them, if only to check that Earth hadn't any dealings with them. Or to warn us."
Bow nodded in agreement.
Catra was about to comment further when her ears twitched - she knew that voice! "Adora's coming!"
"Yes, she… Oh." Bow blushed a little. "You mean she's arrived."
"Yes!" Catra was already moving towards the main door. "Hey, Adora!" she called out as soon as it opened.
"Catra!" her love beamed at her, and they embraced. And kissed.
Glimmer and Bow greeted each with more restraint, not that Catra cared. They hadn't been separated for days because of a stupid plot by stupid people.
"So, done with the meeting?" Bow tried to make conversation.
Glimmer rolled her eyes, Catra saw as she released Adora. "It's a damn mess with China. The British are 'concerned' about the Hong Kong protests and a possible massacre of the protestors by the Chinese army, and the Americans are worrying about the Taiwanese pushing for independence - or taking over China. They don't seem to be able to settle on either. And we didn't even get to meet the exiled ruler of Tibet."
"Oh?" Catra cocked her head.
Adora sighed. "It's a mess."
"China has a lot of problems that were only kept in check thanks to their military," Jack added as he joined them. "Internal and external. Now that their army has been rendered irrelevant, those problems are growing more urgent."
"Their military was obsolete the moment we arrived," Catra pointed out.
"Yes, was." Jack smiled toothily. "But it wasn't that obvious, that blatant, until we kicked them out of here. China could still claim they were a big boy in politics, powerful enough to get access to the Stargate with us. Same as Russia."
Catra nodded. And now that they had lost both the access and the image of power that went with it, everyone who had been holding back out of fear was… no longer holding back.
"If they lose Tibet and Hong Kong, that's going to have consequences for their government. And if Taiwan declares independence - or starts trying to influence mainland China's politics - and the protest movement from ten years ago starts up again, all bets are off."
Jack didn't seem to be too unhappy about that, Catra noted.
"Whatever!" Glimmer said. "I am sick of hearing about China or Russia. We have a meeting with the Eurondans to make!"
"Right." China and Russia could wait.
Gate Area, PX-812, December 16th, 1999 (Earth Time)
Jack O'Neill stepped through the wormhole, checked for threats - nothing came up - and took a deep breath. The air smelt just slightly alien but in a familiar way. Oh, he had missed that feeling, that smell, of exploration. Of course, if he commented on that, Carter would claim it was just his imagination since her drone's sensors had not detected anything alien in the air. And she had been rather thorough - after the poison attack by the Chinese, Entrapta and Carter had adjusted their scanner.
But feeling nostalgic for the days when he had been a mere Colonel, going on missions with SG-1, wasn't why they were here. "So, let's check the receiver!" he said.
"Yes, sir." Carter moved to kneel down next to the plain box on the ground at the side of the ramp.
"You left it out in the open like that?" he asked, looking at Lenkova.
"Yes, General. The odds of anyone stumbling over it this gate were considered too low to bother," she replied with a slight frown.
Whether that was aimed at her former superior, who ordered it, or at herself for following the order, Jack couldn't tell. "Well, the Eurondans stumbled on the address here, as did we."
"Yes, General." She grinned briefly.
It was annoyance at her superior, then, Jack decided.
"Perimeter secure," Isa reported.
"Orbital scan clean," Entrapta added from where she was sitting on Emily. The big bot's upper body was rotating back and forth as it kept scanning the sky, but that didn't seem to bother Entrapta.
Catra and Bow were looking at the grass around them - and on the ramp. "It doesn't look like anyone travelled here since the Russians' last visit we know about," Bow said.
"Or they cleaned up after them," Catra added.
Bow nodded in agreement.
Jack saw Carter stand up next to the box. "There is no new message, and the receiver's memory shows no sign of tampering, sir."
That meant that the meeting with the Eurondans was still on.
Jack looked around. PX-812 was deserted. Both literally and figuratively, as Daniel said; the Stargate was in the middle of a sandy steppe, not quite a desert but getting there. "Did you find anything here?" he asked Lenkova.
"No, General. The native flora and fauna is rather primitive. No sign of civilisation."
Jack nodded. That had been in her briefing. "Some planets are a bust like that. Can't always hit the interesting ones."
"There were plans to settle it," she added. "But the lack of large sources of fresh water, especially near the Stargate, made that proposal uneconomical."
"You could drop ice asteroids on the planet," Entrapta chimed in, walking over to them on her hair. "That wouldn't be enough for an ocean, of course, but you could make a great lake. That would sustain a kingdom or two. Maybe three if you use genetically adjusted plants that don't need as much water. Perfuma created some for the former Fright Zone."
"We don't have spaceships in the system," Carter reminded her.
Entrapta nodded. "Oh, right. And it's a bit far for a trip. But still faster than setting up a factory here and building a spaceship to get ice asteroids, I think."
Neither Russia nor China had the technology to build spaceships on Earth, so they wouldn't have been able to build them here either, Jack knew - checking the space programs of the two countries had been the Alliance's first priority back home - but the Alliance could do either. And he didn't doubt that a number of people were already planning to build such projects for after the war.
"Speaking of water," Daniel spoke up. "The Eurondans want heavy water, you said?"
"Yes," Lenkova replied.
"I wonder why they don't set up a production facility off-world," Daniel went on. "This planet is not suitable for that, but there are others."
The Alliance Council had gone over that before the mission. They didn't have enough data to draw conclusions. They could speculate, though.
"They might not know a suitable planet," Carter said.
"Or they lack the resources for such a project," Catra added. "It might take everything they have to stop their enemy from winning the war."
That would make the Eurondans desperate. Something the Russians and Chinese would have exploited or planned to exploit. The Etherians wouldn't do that, of course. And that might help earn the aliens' trust.
Though, in Jack's experience, people who were waging a bloody, lengthy war tended to be a lot more distrustful, even paranoid, than people who were at peace. Of course, as Daniel would say, they couldn't judge other cultures according to their own experiences and biases.
Well, they would see. It was almost the agreed - or announced - time for the meeting.
As if the Stargate had read his mind, the Wormhole started forming.
"Showtime," Jack said, grinning. "Be on your best behaviour - we don't want to spook them!"
He heard several snorts while the wormhole stabilised. Then, everyone grew serious as the first figure stepped through the gate.
Adora looked at the man who had appeared on the ramp. He was tall - well, taller than her, about the same height as Jack - and wearing a dark green-brownish uniform. And he was armed with one of those Eurondan energy guns - his hand went to its grip as soon as he saw Adora and her friends standing at the bottom of the ramp.
"Tralan." Svetlana took a step forward, nodding at him.
"Lieutenant Lenkova." He didn't draw his weapon. But he was very tense, Adora could tell. Especially when he glanced at her - no, at Catra. And at Emily and Isa. "I expected other people."
That was her cue. Adora smiled widely at him and walked a few steps towards the ramp, past Svetlana. "Hello. I am Adora - She-Ra, Princess of Power. I am the Supreme Commander of the Alliance against the Goa'uld." She gestured at her friends. "This is Queen Glimmer of Brightmoon, Princess Entrapta of Dryl, General Jack O'Neill, Major Samantha Carter, Tech-master Bow, Dr Daniel Jackson, Sha're, Catra and Teal'c. You already know Svetlana."
"I am Tralan. I represent the Eurondans." He glanced at Svetlana, then back at Adora. "We expected to meet our kindred from Russia and the Chinese."
Adora let her smile slip a little. "We know. But those Russians and Chinese officers who made a deal with you were disavowed by their countries and declared rogues." Which they had, even if Adora didn't believe their claims.
"What?"
"Yes. According to the Russian and Chinese leaders, Generals Sidorov and Li acted on their own, and for their own profit, not for their countries." That was all technically true, Adora knew, but she still felt like a liar presenting it like this.
"They… deceived us? They promised to trade us dearly needed supplies in exchange…" Tralan grew even tenser. No one else had joined him so far - according to Svetlana, the Eurondans usually had a larger group but only followed through once their advance party gave them the go-ahead.
"Apparently, they deceived everyone, including their own soldiers like the Lieutenant here." Jack nodded at Svetlana. "They tried to kill us as well when it came out, but that didn't work out for them."
"I see."
Adora gave him her best smile. "But we heard you were fighting a war and in need of help, so we came to see what we could do for you."
"Without exorting your technology from you," Glimmer added.
"Yes!" Entrapta chimed in, beaming at Tralan. "But if you want to share, we won't turn you down! You've got some nice technology - we got some samples from those who attacked us - and the data compression you managed is impressive. And that poison was quite advanced as well."
"Ah…" Tralan smiled weakly and looked a bit confused. But that was normal when people met Entrapta for the first time.
"Yes." Glimmer nodded. "So, we'd like to meet your leaders to discuss this. We don't know what enemy you're fighting or your circumstances, so we don't know how we can best help you."
"I see. I have to inform our leader about this. You have told us a lot, and he must decide how to proceed." Tralan slowly said.
"At least they don't have to vote on it," Adora heard Glimmer mutter.
"We'll be here all day if you need additional information," Jack said. "Seeing the sights, admiring the view…" He turned his head to look at the sandy dunes around them.
"Jack!" Daniel hissed through clenched teeth.
"Good." Tralan nodded, then pulled out a communicator and whispered into it.
"He's telling them something came up, and he needs to return," Catra said in a low voice.
The wormhole collapsed, and Tralan walked over to the D.H.D. to dial the home address. The wormhole formed soon afterwards. "I'll be back," he said before stepping through.
"Do you think that's their home address? Or a temporary base?" Entrapta asked once the wormhole had collapsed again.
"It is the same address they used in our last meeting," Svetlana said.
"It would be smart of them to route travel through a temporary base on another planet rather than risk revealing their home address," Glimmer said.
Adora nodded in agreement.
"But not everyone always does the smart thing," Catra pointed out.
"See: Russia and China," Jack added. "But we shouldn't assume that this is their home address."
"Well, if we are to help them, we'll have to visit their home world," Catra said. "Can't just act without decent intel."
They could hand over supplies, of course, Adora knew. But they could help much better if they knew more. And it was always best to visit the people you were dealing with. Well, often, at least. "In any case, this went pretty well, I think," she said.
"We'll see," Jack retorted. "He wasn't happy to see us."
"He was very surprised by the presence of Catra and Isa," Daniel said. "It didn't seem as if he had met aliens before."
"He also looked at Emily a lot," Bow added. "But that might just be because he wanted to guess how advanced our technology was."
Adora nodded. That sounded like a good guess.
"He also glanced at me, although covertly," Teal'c commented.
Daniel frowned. "Really? He might have encountered Jaffa before. Or he recognised the symbol of Apophis."
"Well, if they are fighting the Goa'uld, it shouldn't be hard to earn their trust," Glimmer said. "We just have to defeat the Goa'uld attacking them."
While Adora nodded, she couldn't help feeling that it wouldn't be so easy. "Let's build a camp," she said. Just in case.
Samantha Carter was halfway through a data analysis for a side project when the Stargate activated again. She quickly closed her laptop and got up while Emily placed herself in the middle of the group. Just in case the Eurondans overreacted - they didn't know what the Russians and Chinese had told them about the Alliance. If they attacked through the Stargate, trying to take them hostage…
But when the wormhole stabilised, Tralan stepped through, followed by an older man, a younger woman and several younger men. Probably guards, Sam thought - they stayed back and kept an eye on both the Alliance delegation as well as their surroundings. All Eurondans were wearing the same uniforms, though that wouldn't be unusual for a people at war.
"Greetings," the older man said, smiling as he stepped off the ramp. "I am Alar, the leader of my people. This is Farrell, my second-in-command. You already know Tralan." He didn't introduce the other Eurondans, so Sam had been right - they were guards.
Adora returned the smile and introduced herself and everyone else.
Alar nodded at everyone, then looked at the camp they had erected. "Are you taking possession of the planet?"
"What? No!" Adora blushed. "That's just a temporary camp," she said.
"We didn't want to build an actual base," Entrapta chimed in. "Or we would have built walls and underground shelters. But we had this new design to test, so… An actual meeting room is better than just standing in the open, right?" She beamed at Alar.
'Room' was a bit optimistic. It was meant for temporary bases on safe planets and was more like a tent, just with sturdier walls and roof. It wasn't an actual prefab building, much less a shelter, though they had Emily's shield for protection. All in all, it was, in Sam's opinion, far less impressive than what the Alliance could build and had built for meetings. But it would serve well enough and hopefully not make them appear belligerent.
"Indeed." Alar briefly chuckled. "We've been reduced to staying in our underground defence facility for years, so we're not used to staying in the open any more." He looked at the sky. "Though it is comforting to see a sky above us where we don't have to fear bombers attacking us."
It sounded as if they were in a desperate situation, Sam noted. Alar might be exaggerating their plight, though that would weaken his position in potential negotiations. Unless the Russians and Chinese had let him know how the Etherians felt about helping people in need. Then again, if they had, and if the Eurondans had believed them, wouldn't they have tried to contact the Alliance?
The General would say that I'm starting to think like a spook, Sam thought with a slightly rueful smile as they entered the meeting room.
Farrell's eyes seemed to linger not only on Catra and Isa but also on Teal'c. Like Tralan before. If Teal'c hadn't mentioned it, she might not have noticed that. Oh - Farrell seemed to glance at Bow and Sha're as well. That seemed a little weird.
"Please take a seat!" Adora gestured at the row of chairs lined up on one side of the table in the middle of the room.
"Thank you." Alar smiled at her and took a seat. Farrell and Tralan followed, flanking him, and the guards took up positions at the back.
Adora cleared her throat. "So… We've heard you've been looking for help because you're fighting a war you're losing."
Alar nodded. "Yes. A war against an enemy that already controls the majority of our landmass and has driven us underground with constant bombing attacks. For decades, we have been holding our own thanks to our superior technology, protected by our defence field, but we lost access to the resources we need to keep defending ourselves. Sooner or later, we will be at the mercy of our foes."
That was a very frank opening, Sam noted. And it was pretty much a perfect pitch for the Etherians. For some of them, at least, she amended her thought - Adora, Bow and Entrapta seemed very empathic. Glimmer and Catra, less so.
"Who are you fighting?" Glimmer asked.
Alar winced. "Another nation. We've coexisted with them for centuries, but they kept expanding, breeding indiscriminately. They showed no respect for our culture, our values, our way of life. War became inevitable."
"We call them 'Breeders'," Farrell added.
"That's not what they call themselves, I assume," Daniel spoke up.
Alar winced again. "They call themselves the 'Alliance'."
"Oh." Adora grimaced - as did Glimmer. "That's…"
"...an unfortunate coincidence, as I understand," Alar said with a slight smile. "But when the Russians and Chinese told us about an Alliance taking control over the majority of their world, it sounded familiar - and concerning - to us."
Yes, Sam could understand that. And the Russians and the Chinese would have played that coincidence up.
"And what do you call yourselves?" Daniel asked.
"We're the Eurondan Nation," Alar said. "Though it sounds much grander than it is, now that we have been reduced to sheltering in our underground facility and fending off the attacks of the enemy with our aero-fighters."
"I am the first to say that airpower is key to victory on the battlefield," the General said. "But air power alone generally isn't enough to control significant territory. You need boots on the ground for that."
Farrell shook her head. "The surface of our world has been poisoned since the start of the war. It is so hostile, ground forces cannot operate effectively there and survive - the enemy found that out early on."
Sam drew a sharp breath. The surface of their world was poisoned to that degree? That was horrible.
"How do you survive?" Adora asked with a gasp.
"By rationing our resources and living on hydroponically grown yeast," Farrell replied.
Adora shook her head. "We can change that. We can heal your world."
"Perfuma can create plants that filter out the poison from the soil and the air," Entrapta said. "She did so for the Fright Zone."
Adora nodded. She was probably pondering using a boost from returning the magic to clean up the planet.
"And we should be able to ship in food," Bow added.
"But first, we'll have to end your war," Glimmer said.
"If you are as powerful as we've heard - and as you claim - then the enemy won't be able to stand against you," Alar said. "Please, save us. Please, help us destroy them."
"Destroy them?" Glimmer shook her head. "It sounds like you've already almost destroyed each other and your world."
Sam agreed with that assessment. It sounded like an apocalyptic war.
"We had no choice but to fight if we wanted to survive," Alar said. "The enemy is ruthless. If you leave them be, they'll attack us again as soon as they can."
Sam felt forced to agree. If they had fought for decades, wrecking their world, then it was unlikely that they could make a lasting peace.
Adora and the other Etherians, however, clearly disagreed. Sam could tell.
"We'll make them see reason," Glimmer said.
Alar didn't seem convinced. "All we need are supplies. Even just deuterium oxide to fuel our reactors will be enough to save us," he said. "Everything else, we can source or substitute."
"And then you can defeat your enemy?" the General asked.
"Yes."
"Then why did you lose access to this resource in the first place if having access will be enough to win?" The General tilted his head to the side and spread his hands.
"An unfortunate combination of underestimating the enemy and overestimating our own forces," Alar said with a frown. "A mistake which won't be repeated."
"Because you'll be making new mistakes?" Catra cut in with a snort. "You can't assume everything will go as planned."
"The enemy gets a vote too. That's why he's the enemy," Bow added. "Or so the saying goes."
Sam glanced at the General - he had snorted at that - but he didn't comment any further.
Alar's frown deepened for a moment before he focused on Adora. "All we need are supplies. We can handle our war and do not wish to distract and divert you from your own struggle."
"We can handle the distraction," Glimmer said, a bit flippantly in Sam's opinion.
"And if it serves to end a war and save lives, then it's the right thing to do." Adora nodded and smiled confidently at the Eurondans. "Trust us, we can do it."
"Can you?" Farrell asked. "In order to operate on our world, you would have to use the Stargate to deploy and supply your forces. As we understand it, that would be a significant effort even for your Alliance and hinder you from using the Stargate for much of anything else."
That was true. Sam had run the numbers - any large-scale deployment through a Stargate would require a massive effort to sustain it long-term.
"We don't need to deploy forces through the Stargate. We can send a task force with frigates," Adora retorted. "But we don't need to deploy an army right now. All we need is to talk to your enemy."
Daniel nodded. "A neutral mediator might be all you need to end this war."
They were too optimistic, in Sam's opinion. A bitter war over decades generally couldn't be solved with some mediation. But that didn't mean you shouldn't try. And they needed more data. All they knew about this war was what the Eurondans had told them so far. They didn't even know where Euronda was located or its gate address.
"It would be futile. The enemy cannot be reasoned with. We tried that, to avoid the war, but they would not listen to us." Alar shook his head. "Please. All we need to save our people is fuel for our reactors. You do not need to concern yourselves with our conflict any further. And in exchange, we can offer you our technology. Which is, as I understand, in parts even superior to your advanced technology." He smiled at Adora. "We do not wish to drag you into our war to fight our enemy. We merely wish to trade fairly."
Adora glanced at Glimmer and the General before turning back to Alar. "But we could end the war and help you restore your planet. Save lives! Surely that would be better than just letting you fight on."
"And you wouldn't have to risk underestimating your enemy again," the General said.
"It is a risk we are willing to take," Alar retorted. "It is our world. Our duty."
"And what if we won't help you without at least trying to make peace first?" Glimmer asked.
Alar openly scowled at that. "It seems that the Russians and Chinese told us the truth - you attempt to take control of our world and enforce your own rules on us."
"What? No!" Adora blurted out. Then she blinked. "Not like that, not really. But you can't expect us just to send you supplies for your war!"
"And what about your people?" Glimmer asked. "We offer you peace and a restored world. Why would you want your people to suffer, hiding underground, if they could return to the surface to live in peace?"
"Most of our people aren't suffering," Alar shot back. "They're in stasis, awaiting the end of the war."
Adora gasped. "You've put your people in stasis?"
Sam stared at him.
"Oh! To save on resources? That seems quite a clever solution!" Entrapta nodded. "As long as you don't need more resources to keep them in stasis than supplying them while awake would be, of course. Or if you start running out of resources to keep them in stasis, which I guess is the problem if you are running out of fuel for your reactors. Unless you don't need power for this? And people in stasis cannot help you in your war effort. Though if you're already forced into an underground bunker, I guess that's not an option any more because you lack the production capacity to use the additional manpower."
Sam winced. Entrapta was correct, but the way she said it…
Alar pressed his lips together.
"Do you really want to risk losing the war?" Daniel asked, leaning forward.
"You do not understand," Alar replied. "The Breeders cannot be reasoned with. They will not change their ways."
"Then help us understand!" Adora snapped. "We want to help you, but we won't, can't, just send you fuel."
"Why not? All we ask for is a fair trade," Alar shook his head. "We had a deal with the Russians and Chinese, or so we thought. Will you keep us from looking for other countries on your planet willing to trade with us?"
That was a delicate problem. The Alliance could block such trade deals, but they were supposed to do so only to keep Earth and the Alliance safe. Of course, after the attack by the Russians and the Chinese on Stargate Command, that wasn't as much of a hurdle as it could have been.
"We won't block you from finding trade partners - provided you won't endanger Earth and the Alliance," Glimmer said. "But your technology was used against us once already. Without further information, we can't let you do that."
"Please," Adora said. "We want to help you. Just let us help you."
"Think of your people," Glimmer added.
Alar scowled again but slowly nodded. Farrell drew a sharp breath but, after exchanging a glance with Alar, pressed her lips together and didn't say anything.