Chapter 134: Tense Negotiations Part 2

Underground Base, Euronda, December 16th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"No pressure," Jack O'Neill told Daniel. "You just have to get them to put the war on hold for a while so we can let the diplomats hammer out some armistice."

Judging by the way Daniel frowned at him - mirrored by Sha'Re - Daniel didn't really feel reassured. "I have to get people who have been fighting for their very lives for decades to stop the war right when they are about to win."

"Yep." Jack shrugged with far more nonchalance than he felt. "Maybe focus on the fact that the Eurondans are already beaten?"

"I'll have to get them to listen to us first. Convince them we're not the Eurondans - or their allies," Daniel retorted. He turned to Carter. "Can we communicate with the Eurondan Alliance?"

"We are tapping into their communications," Carter replied. "Their encryption is not as good as the Eurondan's, but they seem to have compartmentalised their communications."

"We've hacked their aeroplanes' comms, but we're still working on the link to their headquarters," Entrapta added. "Their planes are headed this way, by the way. They probably saw the magic surge and want to investigate."

"Or they noticed that the Eurondans' defences are in shambles and want to exploit that," Jack pointed out. He looked up at the ice shield sealing off the big-ass hole in the ceiling. "I don't think that's bomb-proof."

Daniel nodded. "Alright. Let's hope the plants give them pause." He didn't sound very optimistic.

"Here! We put their aeroplane network on channel two!" Entrapta's hair tendrils handed a communicator to Daniel.

"Thank you." He cleared his throat. "Eurondan Alliance forces! This is Daniel Jackson speaking. I am a representative of Earth and Etheria, two powers from outside this solar system. We have arrived in the Eurondan Nation through a Stargate to investigate an attack on us and have taken control of the Stargate the Eurondan Nation has been using. We would like to talk to your leader."

"They've cracked our encryption!"

"Communications are compromised. Continue according to protocols!"

"Understood."

"Uh…" Daniel winced and looked at Jack.

Jack sighed. It looked like the Eurondans - the Eurondan Nation - did enough hacking that the Eurondan Alliance had standard operating procedures for that. Which was kind of a problem right now. "I guess they aren't changing course?"

"No, sir," Carter reported. "They are still flying directly at our current position. At their current speed, the estimated time of arrival is five minutes."

"Please. This is no joke. We are from the stars. We have defeated the Eurondan forces in their base and are currently securing the defence complex. We aren't your enemies," Daniel pleased. Please halt your attack for the moment, and let us talk to your leaders."

Jack pressed his lips together. This wouldn't work. After decades of war to the knife, the Alliance pilots wouldn't stop but press the attack. He knew how pilots thought.

"We have restored plant life to the area and are taking measures to restore the biosphere of your planet. Please stop your attack and let us talk."

Once they saw the plants, they might stop their attack. Might. They might not even notice the plants if they were focused on their sensors and instruments. Jack cursed under his breath. This wouldn't work. They needed something not even a pilot with target fixation could miss. Something to give anyone seeing it pause.

"Keep talking!" he snapped. "I'll get help!"

"What? Jack? Wait! What are you doing?"

Jack ignored him and switched channels on his radio. "Frosta? We need you back at the gate at once!"

"Frosta?" Sha're asked.

"We're busy fighting the fire!" Frosta sounded annoyed.

"Let Mermista take over for a while. We need you to stop the Eurondan Alliance from covering us in bombs!" Jack retorted. "Glimmer! Get Frosta back to us at once!"

"What? What did you do?" Glimmer cut in.

"Nothing. But the Alliance pilots won't stop," Jack replied. "We need her to make a sign even a blind man can't miss!"

"Oh!"

"What? Hey!"

In a shower of sparkles, Glimmer and the struggling Frosta appeared next to the Stargate.

"There you are!" Jack felt relieved. "Create the biggest ice sculpture you've ever done - right on top of us!"

Frosta stared at him with wide eyes. Then she grinned. "Alright! Glimmer, take us up to the surface!"

"Try not to kill off all plants!" Entrapta yelled.

"Bombs will kill them as well!" Jack yelled back.

Glimmer and Frosta disappeared in another cloud of sparkles.

Jack turned to Daniel. "Tell them to watch out for ice sculptures!"

"I'm not even sure if they are listening to me," Daniel replied. But he did as asked.

"Now we can just hope for the best," Jack said. "In case this doesn't work…"

"Dialling to forward base, sir," Carter anticipated his order.

"Good."

Jack looked at the ice above them. It must have started to melt, but that wouldn't be a concern for a while. Nothing Frosta and Mermista couldn't handle. As long as his idea worked.

"What's Frosta doing?" Catra asked behind him.

"Oh! Let me check with the scanner!" Entrapta replied. "I should be able to get good visuals of it…"

Jack looked over her shoulder. And blinked. That was…

"Did she just create a sculpture of herself the size of an iceberg?" Daniel asked.

"Yep," Jack said.

"Almost the size of her ego, I bet," Catra added with a smirk.

Behind them, the wormhole stabilised.

"It's still growing," Entrapta reported.

Well, the Eurondans wouldn't have to worry about water for a while, Jack thought.

"The Alliance Aeroplanes are slowing down."

It was working. Jack softly sighed.

She had to keep channelling the magic. Purge the poison. Heal the land. Purge. Heal. Endure. She had to… She had failed!

Adora woke up with a gasp and sat up. Or tried to - a hand on her face stopped her.

"Don't!" Catra hissed at her. "You've been out for hours!"

Adora was in Catra's lap. Well, her head was. And they were…

"Actually, less than an hour - forty-one minutes, to be exact."

That was Entrapta's voice! Adora turned her head. Entrapta was sitting on the ground, beaming at her while her hair kept pressing buttons on her tool. They were in the Eurondan gate room. She could see Campbell guarding the gate at the D.H.D. But where were the others?

"Close enough." Catra scowled.

"Actually…"

"It doesn't matter," Catra interrupted Entrapta. "The idiot here almost got herself seriously hurt trying to save another world!"

Trying? "What happened? Did I fail?" Adora asked. She had failed - she knew it! "I tried to heal the world…"

"And you did purge the poison from most of the landmass we're on," Entrapta said.

"You also vaporised half of the Eurondan defence complex," Catra added.

"Fifteen per cent, actually."

"Oh." Adora blinked and looked at the ceiling. "Is that… ice?" It looked like ice. A huge patch of ice covering most of the ceiling. No, replacing most of the ceiling.

"Frosta plugged the hole. And then created an ice statue of herself the size of Bright Moon," Catra explained. Or not.

"She did what?" This time, Adora managed to sit up.

They explained. Properly, this time.

"...and that's why Mermista had to move the water so the melting sculpture won't fill the crater with water - Frosta already had to reinforce the ice cover here, but the water pressure could make that worse. We really should repair the ceiling here, but we don't have the material to do that."

"We've created a new lake?" Adora asked. That was… OK, not as bad as turning a spaceship into a plant, but it wasn't very responsible. You didn't rearrange the geography of a foreign world like that!

"They're still working on that. But it won't be a big lake," Catra said. "Anyway, that's why Glimmer and the others are up top, trying to prepare a canal for the water before the ice melts."

"They are digging a canal? How?" Adora asked.

"More like blowing a canal," Catra said.

"Jack is using explosives to remove an obstacle between the crater's edge and a ravine."

That made more sense. "And what about the Eurondans?" Adora asked. "You managed to stop the war, you said." Thanks to Frosta.

"The Eurondan Nation has a truce with us. The Eurondan Alliance hasn't agreed to a ceasefire, but they have stopped trying to bomb us," Catra said. "Daniel's trying to get them to parlay, but they're stubborn, and I think they don't really believe we're aliens even after they saw Frosta's ego trip up top and you rejuvenating the continent." She shrugged. "He's still talking in the next room."

Adora nodded. If the Eurodans were talking instead of shooting - or bombing - each other, then that was a good thing. Still… "I should talk to them."

"You need to rest! You exhausted yourself - you exhausted She-Ra!" Catra snapped.

Adora winced. Even She-Ra's power had limits. No, she had limits. If she had been ready for this… She got up. "I'm fine."

Catra narrowed her eyes at her, and Adora half-expected her to try to trip her to claim she wasn't fine, but her lover muttered something under her breath - probably 'idiot' - and got up as well. "Well, let's tell Glimmer that you're awake." She used her communicator before Adora could stop her.

Glimmer appeared with Bow a second later. "Adora! What were you doing?"

"I am fine," Adora told her friends while they hugged her. "Just a bit tired."

"Exhausted," Catra added.

"Well, you're not hurt according to my scans," Entrapta said. "Though I don't have enough data about She-Ra's power when restoring magic to a planet to be a hundred per cent sure. However, I could compare your hair growth when you change into She-Ra to Sam's recent hair growth and conclusively prove that they aren't the same."

"Sam's what?"

"You made Sam's hair grow. A lot," Glimmer told her.

"It's not magical, though," Entrapta added with a pout. "That would have been nifty."

Adora suppressed a groan. What else had she done? And how could she fix things?

Well, first, she had to end the war. Then, she could tackle the rest of the problems.

Surface above the Underground Base, Euronda, December 16th, 1999 (Earth Time)

Samantha Carter was a physicist. Not a landscaper. Not that she would say that out loud and invite the General to make a Star Trek reference. She had some experience with demolitions, though not as much as the General himself. A combat engineer would be better here. But they didn't have a combat engineer to deal with what was effectively an iceberg on land, so it fell to her.

"That should do it!" The General sounded pleased. "The charges are set. Now, everyone, get back so we can blow this joint as soon as Carter gives the word!"

The others did move away from the patch of land that separated the base of the colossal ice sculpture Frosta had created - in her image, Sam couldn't help adding to herself - from the closest ravine. She used her scanner again. If the explosives weren't enough, they could probably have Adora dig now that she was awake. Or, as an alternative, have Mermista control the water to carve a deeper canal to the ravine, though that was not too practical.

Neither would be necessary if she did her job well enough, though.

"To stand on the surface again… It's a dream come true."

"Our world, restored. A paradise."

"I've only ever seen it from the air. I've been to other planets, of course, but… it's not the same."

"It isn't. This is our home. Our world."

Tralan and Alar's awed conversation behind her wasn't helping, though.

"To see rivara plants grow again… I've only ever seen them in pictures."

"We have seeds stocked in our vaults, but… It's incredible to see plants as far as we can see."

"And you have She-Ra to thank for this," the General added. "Without her, this would still be a poisoned wasteland."

"And we shall not waste her gift!" Tralan said.

Sam winced as she re-ran the last scans and recalculated the yield. That sounded… not quite as bad as Priest, but there was a touch of fervour in the man's voice that bordered on the religious. She hoped it wasn't the start of another branch of the Church of She-Ra; Adora wouldn't like it.

And it would complicate the peace negotiations they were still trying to start.

"Don't forget Entrapta, who's busy restoring your life support systems back down the hole," the General said.

Systems that had been partially wrecked by Adora's magic, Sam mentally added.

"Of course." Alar didn't sound very grateful about that. Then again, that was 'merely' engineering and repair work. Not the restoration of the world's biosphere by magic.

Sam pushed the thoughts away. The calculations and scans were done, and nothing had changed. She looked at the General. "We should be good, sir."

"Great, Carter." His grin made him look twenty years younger. "Here we go!" He held up the remote detonator.

A moment later, the ground in the distance vanished in a cloud of smoke and dust. Sam saw various earth clumps and rocks hitting the ground around it - pretty much where she had predicted. That didn't matter, though. What mattered was whether or not they had blown a big enough crater to reach the ravine.

And according to her scanner, they had. It wasn't quite perfect - the section that had blown open was a bit smaller than calculated - but it would be enough to keep the Eurondan bunker from getting flooded by Frosta's work.

"So, Carter?"

"It's done, sir."

"Huzzah!" Sea Hawk cheered.

"Looks like you don't have to stay and keep the statue frozen, then," Mermista told Frosta.

"Don't blame me; Jack said to create a huge sculpture."

"He didn't tell you to create a huge statue of yourself."

"Ice is ice and melts the same."

Sam rose from where she had been sitting, the movement making her feel the unfamiliar weight of her hair as her new ponytail slapped against her back. Maybe she should just cut it off with her knife? She could have it trimmed properly back home; according to all the scans they had done, it was normal hair. Magically grown, but not magical itself. Which was a relief.

But Glimmer wanted Castaspella to take a look at it 'before doing anything drastic', and even the general had agreed that they should get an expert's opinion before cutting it. 'You can't be too careful with magic, especially magic on this scale', he had put it. She could bear it until then. She might even take a picture before cutting it back to regulation length.

Sam grinned as she looked around. She-Ra's magic had turned the whole area into lush, green fields and hills. No wonder the Eurondans were impressed.

The General joined her. "So, that's one problem solved. Too bad we can't solve the diplomatic problems with explosives."

"I am sure that the Eurondan Alliance will agree to peace talks once they confirm the extent of the changes Adora has wrought," Sam pointed out.

"They still suspect a trap."

She frowned. "That makes no sense. How do they explain this?"

He shrugged. "They don't have an explanation. And that makes them more suspicious. But I'm sure Daniel will convince them."

Sam hoped he was right.

Underground Base, Euronda, December 16th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"...and yes, we are aliens - humans, but from other planets."

"A likely story."

"But a true one. And as you have already seen, we also have other species here with us."

"Tricks. You cannot fool us so easily."

Catra snorted. "So much for showing off me and Isa, huh?"

Daniel turned to pout at her. "I didn't expect that to convince them that we're aliens. Not by itself. But put together with the other evidence we can produce, it should convince them of the truth of our claims. Eventually."

"'Eventually'." Catra snorted again. "Before or after we arrive with a fleet?"

"No fleet is on the way," Adora cut in.

"Not yet." Catra grinned. "It might be faster to send a fleet than talk sense into them."

Daniel turned back to the communicator. "We can meet in person, and you can have medical personnel examine them."

What? Catra frowned at him. Getting her examined by some weirdo medic from a backwater planet? "That's a low blow!" she hissed.

Daniel ignored her, but Sha're made a sound as if she was suppressing a giggle.

"A meeting would be the perfect occasion for an ambush."

"They're paranoid." Catra shook her head. "Just send some expendable soldiers," she said, loud enough to be picked up by the communicator.

"Catra!" Adora hissed.

"What?" Catra frowned at her. "They're fighting a war. They're sending out people to die with every sortie." Unlike the Eurondan nations' aero-fighters, the Eurondan Alliance's aeroplanes were not remote-controlled, as they had found out earlier.

"Every soldier is crucial for the war!"

"You've seen the ice sculpture we created - you've seen it as it was grown. You've seen the crater we blew into your enemies' base. Isn't that enough to at least meet with us to verify our claims before you attack us and risk similar repercussions?" Daniel pleaded. "If this were a trap, what would be the point?"

A different voice replied: "To get us to lower our guard and then do to us what you did to our enemies so you can conquer us both!"

That was… actually a new twist, Catra had to admit. Still paranoid, but it made sense in a warped way.

"If you think we want to conquer both you and your enemies, does that mean you accept that we aren't part of the Eurondan Nation trying to fool you?" Daniel asked.

"You could have couped the old leader in a brutal civil war. And now you're trying to deceive us before we finish you off."

"Well, that's not an entirely unreasonable assumption," Catra commented. "They know their enemies." A group that would set their own base on fire or wreck their own world to destroy their enemies wouldn't hesitate to attempt such a ploy. And they had been suspiciously quick to sacrifice their leader in the process.

"How could we do that in a meeting far away from either your or your enemies' base?" Daniel sounded exasperated. "You have seen how we restored life to your world. Do you really think that we would need to trick you if we can do that?"

"Then what do you want?" Another new voice. Older.

"We want to end the war," Adora spoke up. "Stop the dying. Restore your world. Help you."

After a pause, the same voice asked: "And why would you do that?"

"Because it's the right thing to do," Adora replied.

"Because we have the power to help you, and you need help," Daniel added. "We're not here to conquer your world."

"But we could if we wanted to," Catra whispered. It would be easy - the Eurondans of both factions had spent decades underground. Even with the restored plant life on the continent, they would be hard-pressed to launch a guerilla campaign. And even if they managed that, the best they could do was hide in the new wilderness. The Alliance could easily take and hold any base, and they could detect and track down any base the Eurondans built anew. Sooner or later, the guerillas would run out of supplies to wage even a limited war.

"Catra!" Adora hissed.

"Just saying."

"That's not helping!"

"Nothing seems to be helping," Catra retorted.

"Some people mistake kindness for weakness and restraint for incapability," Sha're commented in a low voice. "If all the Eurondans have ever experienced for a generation is all-out war, they might not understand that we won't use our power as much as we could."

"And demonstrating our power will be seen as a threat," Adora added.

Catra snorted again. It was a threat. But maybe a threat was what was needed to get the Eurondans to agree to a meeting.

"What do you have to lose?" Daniel tried again. "Even if you don't trust us to honour a truce, at worst, you would lose a few soldiers. And in exchange, you stand to gain more information about us."

The older voice replied again: "And what do you have to lose? You do not seem to be concerned about potential treachery on our side."

"No, we are not," Daniel said.

Take that however you want, Catra thought with a grin.

A few seconds passed.

"Very well. We agree to a meeting under truce."

Restored Zone, Main Continent, Euronda, December 16th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"We should have brought a chopper," Jack O'Neill commented as they approached the location for the meeting. "Would've been faster." Certainly faster than the skiffs they had brought through the Stargate as transports. They had been driving for hours - technically flying, but it felt like driving since they had to stick so close to the ground.

"We couldn't have managed to get it up and running in time," Bow disagreed, glancing back from the helm of the skiff for a moment. "With all the preparations needed."

Jack grunted. He knew that - he had checked the facts himself. The gate was large enough to fit a transport chopper through, but the logistics for the trip would have been too much. They would have needed extra transports for the fuel - forget setting up in-air refuelling on a foreign planet without an air base!

"The skiffs will look both less aggressive and more impressive, Jack," Daniel argued. "The Eurondans have nothing like this."

"They don't have choppers either," Jack shot back.

"But they understand the principles. This, though… Magitech is new for them." Daniel smiled. "And the skiffs don't look like military craft."

Which was part of Jack's problem with them - he felt too exposed on the skiff. It was like riding a bus into battle. A strafing attack by an Alliance fighter would… well, the shield projectors would stop it, but Jack would still prefer something visible around him.

"We don't have any advanced transports that fit through the Stargate, sir. They weren't a priority." Carter sounded slightly reproachful. As if Jack had been the one to refuse that project!

He had wanted the things! They were perfect for special ops missions! But the Alliance Command had decided to focus on shuttles. Compared to the proposed 'Gate-capable Advanced Transports', shuttles could haul a lot more cargo or troops, could go much faster - all the way across a solar system - and were much tougher and better armed as well. The Alliance needed shuttles far more than they needed special transports. Especially since most of what the special transports could do could be done with ground or conventional air transports. Unless you needed a space-capable transport that could fit through a Stargate.

"I'll bring it up again," he said.

"Entrapta proposed to modify Death Gliders for the purpose," Carter added.

Jack winced. Those things were barely-decent fighters. To change them into transports… He shook his head.

"We're about to reach the meeting spot," Bow reported. "It doesn't look as if anyone else is present."

They only expected the Eurondan Alliance delegation. "Carter?"

"Linking to Entrapta's scanner… there is an unknown aircraft circling about five miles out, sir. Similar design as their bombers."

Was that a trap? A bomb attack on them? Emily's shield might not be able to withstand that, but the bot supposedly had enough AA-capability to shoot down bombs. But if it were, wouldn't the Eurondans have sent more craft?

In any case, the skiff Adora and the others were on was already setting down, followed by the one transporting Entrapta and Emily. That one wobbled a bit; it was slightly overloaded with the big bot.

"Alright. Let's get ready for diplomacy," Jack said as Bow set down their own skiff.

And find out if this is a trap, he added to himself as he grabbed the tent they had brought with them.

Five minutes later - they had just finished setting up the tent - Catra called out: "They're coming!"

"Yes. They are on a course towards us," Entrapta confirmed.

Jack stood - his back didn't protest at all! - and grabbed his binocs. Indeed, the other craft was coming in low and slow. Not a bombing run, then. It wasn't a big transport - not even close to a C-130. Maybe as big as a C-47. And probably as capable of landing on an improvised runway. Also known as a field. Maybe they should have asked if they should prepare a runway for their guests, unless…

Yes. The plane slowed down even more until it came to a stop, hovering in the air about a hundred and fifty yards from their position, then descended straight down. Like an Osprey, but with jet engines. Jack wondered how they avoided FOD. And how fuel-efficient the thing was.

The plane set down, and the engine noise faded. A moment later, a door in the side opened - like a C-47, Jack thought - and two armed soldiers stepped out, followed by four more soldiers. Probably officers, Jack thought - they were in uniform but didn't carry longarms.

Behind them, two more guards climbed out of the plane but stayed back while the six approached their position.

"Showtime," Jack said. "Let's see if you can do your magic again, Daniel."

"I'm no diplomat, Jack. I'm only here because I made first contact with them."

His friend was too modest. Jack would trust him over any career diplomat from Earth. Or any princess from Etheria, actually. He clapped Daniel on the back. "Just do your thing. No pressure."

"Tell that to Adora," Daniel whispered back.

Jack glanced at her. Yeah, Daniel was right - Adora looked tense. But that couldn't be helped now.

He put on his best smile as the Eurondans reached them.

"Yo!"

Adora was used to Catra's antics, so her smile didn't slip as Jack greeted the Eurondan Alliance delegation far too casually. They didn't know Earth or Etheria, so they hopefully wouldn't realise it, anyway. "Hello," she said with a nod. "I'm She-Ra, princess of Power and Supreme Commander of the Alliance against the Goa'uld."

"I am Captain Akon," their apparent leader, a middle-aged man, said with a rather brief nod. He also focused on her while the others with him stared at Catra and Isa.

Unlike Alar's people, who all looked similar to each other, the delegation showed more diversity, Adora noted. In skin tone and height, at least - all of them were men, and all had dark hair, though while Akom's hair was curly, one of the guards hanging back had straight, long hair.

Catra rolled her eyes at the scrutiny. "No, you don't get to pull my tail to check if it's real," she said.

Adora cleared her throat as two of the younger Alliance soldiers blushed. "Anyway, this is Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon, Princess Entrapta of Dryl, Princess Frosta of the Kingdom of Snows, General O'Neill, Major Carter, Dr Jackson, his wife Sha're, Tech-Master Bow, Catra and Emily," Adora introduced her friends.

"Lieutenants Kels and Pers. Liou." Akon curtly nodded at the three others with him. He didn't bother introducing the guards. Both Kels and Pers were younger men. The former had darker skin than Bow, and the latter looked like he would fit in the Eurondan Nation if he dyed his black hair. Liou was another middle-aged man with a skin tone similar to Frosta's, but he was rail-thin and taller than anyone else here except She-Ra. He was also focused on Catra and Emily, so he might be a scientist.

"We've prepared a tent for the meeting," Adora said, pointing at it. "And we brought some refreshments and snacks." She was sure that if they had been forced to eat yeast-based food like their enemies, they would appreciate it.

"It should be safe for human consumption - at least Alar's people wouldn't have any problems," Entrapta added. "We can scan you to check if you want to be sure."

"I think…" Akon started to reply, but Liou interrupted him. "How is your hair moving?"

Akon glared at him - scowled, actually - but didn't tell him off, Adora noted. So, Liou might be in charge of the delegation.

"It's my magic power," Entrapta told him with a smile - and demonstrated how she could control her hair to hold tools and operate computers. "All princesses have a magic power."

"Yes!" Frosta nodded and took a step forward. "I control ice." Before Adora could say anything to stop her, Frosta moved her hands, and a pillar of ice rose from the ground near them.

"And I can teleport," Glimmer added while the delegation stared at the ice. Then she disappeared and appeared on top of the ice pillar.

"Show-offs," Catra commented. Adora didn't have to look at her lover to know she was rolling her eyes.

"It's the quickest way to prove we're not from this planet," Glimmer retorted as she reappeared next to Adora. She turned to face Liou. "Do you want to examine our powers more closely?"

"I think so, yes." Liou smiled at her. "Although while unprecedented, such powers wouldn't prove that you're from another world."

"Magic powers. Advanced technology." Glimmer gestured at Emily. "Catwoman." She nodded at Catra. "And the plant life of most of a continent restored."

"A compelling collection of arguments in favour of your claim, indeed." Liou nodded once more. "Still, to have come through a 'gate' from another world…"

"Where else would we have come from? Do you think we are from the Eurondan Nation?" Catra scoffed.

"No, I don't think so," Liou replied. "As you might have found out, they consider anyone not conforming to their ideals, both biologically and philosophically, unworthy of living - they started a war over this stance. And most of you would not pass muster."

"We're aware of that," Jack said. "We had a disagreement over that, which led to the big honking hole in their bunker."

"But I think we should discuss that in the tent," Adora added. "After you finish your examination, of course."

"This shouldn't take long," Liou said. "I only brought a rudimentary set of tools." He went and took a probe from the ice pillar, then peered at it through some sort of scanner.

"Oh! Spectral analysis!" Entrapta smiled.

Liou let a piece of ice melt in his hand and tasted it, ignoring Akon's grimace. "It seems to be ordinary water," he said. "Of course, given your demonstrated powers, that could be wrong." He looked at Catra, who rolled her eyes again, though, despite her earlier words, she stretched and moved both her ears and tail.

"Intriguing. This is not your 'magic power', is it?" Liou asked. "You were not named as a princess."

"No." Catra smirked.

"And we're all grateful for that," Adora heard Glimmer mumble next to her.

She cleared her throat again. "So, shall we sit down? We have a lot to discuss."

"We shall." Liou's smile didn't change. "Such as the question of why you seem intent on protecting the same people who wanted to murder us all and would see you dead if they could."

Adora suppressed a wince and kept smiling politely at him. "Yes, that."

They were off to a good start, in Samantha Carter's opinion. Liou had - as far as she could tell - accepted that they were aliens. Or, at the very least, not from the Eurondan Nation. That he was testing the facts more than any preconception was very promising, as was the fact that the obvious scientist of the delegation was apparently in charge.

Of course, that didn't change that the negotiations would be very difficult. Sam didn't have to be a trained diplomat to realise that ending the war while the Eurondan Nation and its people still existed wouldn't be popular in the Eurondan Alliance. Liou's comment, pointed if politely said, made it clear that they saw any interference that hindered their continuation of the war as help for their enemies.

Or so it seemed. As they took their seats, Sam reminded herself that they didn't know anything about the Eurondan Alliance that they hadn't been told by Alar and his people, who had every incentive to paint the worst picture of their enemies. And even that information had been very scant with regard to their society and culture. Mostly vague propaganda about the Alliance 'breeding uncontrollably'. Even if that were true - Sam doubted it - decades had passed since the war had started. Their society would have changed massively since then.

"Thank you for meeting with us," Adora told them.

"And have some tiny food!" Entrapta added, hair tendrils offering plates with finger food courtesy of Stargate Command's mess hall and a selection of all the drinks of the bases' vending machines to the delegation.

The three others glanced to Liou, Sam noted. Taking their cues from the scientist. Smart.

Liou himself looked at the food, then started sampling it. He hadn't attempted to check for poison, as far as Sam could tell. Perhaps he didn't have the means to do so quickly and in the field - Earth technology was limited in that are as well, after all. Though that was speculation. They might have deliberately held back their best scanners.

"Oh." Liou's eyebrows rose after a fist bite from an egg salad sandwich. "This is food from your home?"

"Yes," Daniel told him. "We brought it through the Stargate in preparation for this meeting. It was made by the cooks on our base."

"Ah." Liou nodded. "This is the food your soldiers eat?"

"Sometimes," Daniel replied. "It was specially prepared, but in a military base. Civilian chefs would have made better food, but the logistics of transporting such food in time for this meeting were too challenging. I hope it's still sufficient."

Liou slightly tilted his head. "Are your civilian chefs more skilled than your base's cooks?"

"It depends," Daniel told him. "Their general skill level varies, of course. And some civilian chefs are, well, not very good. But the best chefs are civilians."

"It's kind of hard to hire the best cooks when we can't pay them more than a fraction of what a five-star restaurant can offer," the General added. "But we manage."

"Ah." Liou exchanged a glance with Akon. "You call yourself the 'Alliance against the Goa'uld'. Are you fighting a war?"

"Yes." Adora nodded firmly. "They are an alien species that can take over a human body as a host and rule an Empire based on enslaving humans."

Adora and Daniel briefly explained more about the Goa'uld Empire.

Liou and the others listened, but Sam had the impression that they were not convinced. She couldn't really hold that against them; without proof - and personal experience - Sam would be doubtful of such claims as well. But it would make negotiations more difficult.

That was for the others to handle, though.

"...and that's how we arrived here," Adora finished their very brief explanation of how they had reached Euronda.

"I see. So, the Eurondan Nation allied with your rivals and supplied them with poison to attack your base?" Liou asked. "This sounds familiar."

Akon snorted at that.

"In hindsight, yes. At the time, we didn't know what the Eurondan Nation had done to your world," Daniel said.

"And then, when you met with them under the flag of truce, they betrayed you and attempted to murder you all," Liou went on.

"Yes. After they realised that we, ah, didn't share their views about eugenics and procreation, things deteriorated and escalated," Daniel said.

"We can see that." Liou nodded at Bow, Glimmer and the others. "It's remarkable that they allowed you to visit their base in the first place. They must have been more desperate than we thought."

"Desperate enough to ignore their own ideology and attempt to reach an agreement and trade deal," Daniel said.

"Temporarily," Liou corrected him. "They attacked you anyway."

"Through treachery," Akon added with a deep scowl. "When you had brought civilians to the meeting."

He glanced at Sha're, Sam noted. And at Glimmer. And at Entrapta. All members of the delegation were doing that, actually. Even the guards were doing it. Did they think everyone who wasn't in uniform was a civilian? They had been told that Adora was the military leader of the Alliance, though. And would they realise what was a uniform and what was the personal outfit of a princess from the few samples they had?

No, she realised - Sha're was wearing the same fatigues as Daniel was, and they were looking at her. They were also looking at Sam herself, she realised. And she had been introduced with her rank.

Oh. She pressed her lips together for a moment, trying not to scowl when she recognised what they were doing.

They were staring at every woman.