Chapter 171: Ba'al's Machinations Part 3
Deep Space, Outside PT-9521-System, June 16th, 2000 (Earth Time)
"The spy bots have successfully attached themselves to the target."
Watching the ship movements of the task force of First Fleet on its flagship's bridge, Catra grinned as she heard Sam's report. Phase 1 of the operation was complete - time for phase 2. The best way to get the Ha'tak with the Stargate in it to move to another of Ba'al's bases, or at least a rally spot for his fleet, was to remove the reason it was staying in this region of space.
"Begin Phase 2 of Operation Lamprey," Adora ordered.
"Yes, Supreme Commander! Entering hyperspace in ten… nine… eight…"
Out of habit, Catra checked that all ships of the task force were ready as the countdown continued. No malfunctions were reported.
"...three… two… one…"
The task force entered hyperspace, and the link to the spy bot network was briefly scrambled, reestablishing itself as soon as they were travelling. She noticed no changes amongst the enemy guard ships - four Ha'taks, a dozen Al'kesh, and twice that number of Tel'taks. Even with upgraded systems, like the one Entrapta had reported, that wasn't enough to bother a task force half their size. Even if those ships were upgraded to full Horde technology, the outcome would be set in stone, but the odds of winning without taking significant damage to capital ships would be much lower and the odds of taking casualties higher.
But everyone in the task force knew this. Catra glanced at Adora. Her love was standing at parade rest, face serious and eyes fixed on the big holoprojection in the centre of the bridge.
Catra was tempted to tease her a bit, but this was the largest planetary invasion the Alliance had launched in this war, and she knew Adora was already tense enough with worry.
So Catra just ran her tail over the back of Adora's leg as she stepped a little closer and watched as the holoprojection showed the task force's formation. The lead frigates were forming a wedge around the flagship, ready to pounce on the Goa'uld forces, and the frigates escorting the Fleet Transports were hanging back, covering their charges. Just as planned.
It didn't take them long to reach their destination. "Dropping out of hyperspace in five… four… three… two… one."
The enemy ships had noticed their arrival a fraction of a second before the first frigates left hyperspace - not soon enough to react to the sudden attack as the Horde frigates came out firing, thanks to the feed from the spy bot network tracking the Goa'uld guard force. The lead frigates focused on two of the Ha'taks, multiple broadsides of beam cannons ripping through the shields and shredding the hulls of the massive ships.
One of them managed to return fire - a ragged, uneven volley, half the shots missing - before it blew up under the follow-up assault. The other was disabled at once, engine and reactor shredded by pinpoint attacks, and fell out of formation with wrecked sections trailing behind it.
That had given the other two Ha'taks and the supporting ships enough time to react, though, and the two Ha'taks quickly closed formation and started to focus their fire on the closest frigate while the supporting ships dove at the task force's edges.
"Switching to escorts," the flag captain reported as the frigate's beam weapons started firing on the smaller ships charging them.
The improved beam cannons cut through the Al'kesh like Adora cut through bots. Less than half a dozen got into range of their weapons, none close enough to drop their bombs, before they were all destroyed. The Tel'taks only survived to start firing on the frigates because they were more numerous and not priority targets.
"Eternal Vigilance, fall back! Lead elements, focus fire on the remaining Ha'taks!"
On the flag captain's command, the frigates turned their attention on the two Ha'taks, quickly shattering their shields with concentrated volleys. As the Ha'tak's hulls were holed in multiple locations, Catra checked the effect of the Tel'tak and Death Gliders strafing the task force.
The lead frigates's shields were slowly but steadily degrading under the fire. The escort elements, though, were quickly clearing the space around them, and the two Fleet Transports, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, were barely touched at all - a handful of Death Gliders had made it through the formation and were picked off by the transport's gunners.
The next Ha'tak vanishing in a cloud of gas and vaporised metal drew her attention back to the fight in the front just in time to see the last Ha'tak lose its engines. The ship continued on momentum alone, guns still firing, as the beam cannons' volleys punched into its fragmenting hull.
"Lead elements, Switch targets to Tel'taks and Death Gliders! Escorts, clear the orbitals."
The fire from the Death Gliders and Tel'taks quickly fell off as their pilots started trying to evade withering fire, half of them caught in a crossfire as the escorts and transports changed course for the planet's orbit and passed the lead frigates. A few Tel'taks and Death Gliders managed to form up for a focused attack on the transports - their leader must have realised what they were - but they were too few to seriously threaten either ship even if the escorts hadn't focused on them in a heartbeat.
When the last Ha'tak finally stopped firing, reduced to a floating wreck with all systems and power out, HMS Albion and her sister ship took up positions above the base on the planet below, launching shuttle after shuttle while their cannons silenced the planet's anti-air defences.
"I should be with the others," Adora mumbled.
"No. You can't be everywhere," Catra disagreed in a low voice. "They need to learn how to do this without you." The Alliance couldn't depend on having She-Ra present in every landing operation.
Adora frowned but didn't disagree, and Catra patted her back while the escorting frigates finished clearing the planet's orbit of the surviving Death Gliders.
In Orbit above PT-9521, PT-9521-System, June 16th, 2000 (Earth Time)
Jack O'Neill wouldn't say he had a problem. He knew that while he was a good pilot, others were better pilots. He also knew that as the officer in charge of phase two of Operation Lamprey, the invasion of PT-9521, he couldn't personally fly a shuttle even if he were the best pilot in the Alliance. And he trusted his fellow soldiers. Even the Navy pukes. But he drew the line at waiting safely in orbit - he wouldn't send his troops into danger without coming along! Besides, he knew that if he had to make a call, he wanted to be at the front and get a view of the situation up close and with his own eyes, not through reports and camera feeds.
He still didn't like the feeling of being a passenger sitting in the back of a craft while they dropped on the target and having to trust his life to the pilot at the front. Especially when they were shot at - everyone knew a shuttle was most vulnerable during re-entry. Even stealth shuttles couldn't hide during that part of a drop because of the plasma they produced when they hit the atmosphere - the improved stealth systems still could only reduce that, not remove it.
And he and his troops from Alliance Special Operations Command were the first to descend on the planet, using stealth shuttles to drop ahead of the two British brigades that made up the main invasion force, so they were facing the brunt of the enemy fire by themselves.
Of course, the two limey Fleet Transports were suppressing the enemy anti-orbital and anti-aircraft fire with constant volleys from their beam cannons while fighters from the escorting frigates did attack runs and pounced on the few surviving Death Gliders left in the planet's atmosphere, so the odds of any of Ba'al's forces on the ground figuring out that the stealth shuttles' plasma trails were not the result of the bombardment or the fighters diving to the surface of the planet were fairly low. Jack still would have preferred it if they could have completely avoided the field of fire of the base defences, but the Alliance Command Council was worried about Ba'al figuring out their stealth technology and wanted more plausible cover for their plasma trails.
Which meant they had to risk getting hit by shots not aimed at them. And Ba'al's Jaffa were certainly trying - Jack could see on the screen mounted in front of his seat that the ground defenders were firing everything they had as fast as they could until their weapon emplacements were taken out.
So he gritted his teeth and tried not to think of the odds when his shuttle entered the atmosphere, directly behind the lead shuttle, and the outside view vanished in a fireball.
The sensors feeding his screen weren't affected, though, and he kept checking his troops while the half-a-dozen shuttles carrying his troops swung around the planet as they slowed down in the atmosphere. None were hit or reported any trouble, and by the time they re-entered the field of fire of the base's defences, they were too slow and too low to generate plasma any more. The Jaffa had no idea they were there.
Or shouldn't have.
"Alright, folks," he said into the communicator, "time to get busy! You know your targets, go in and secure them - and make doubly sure that your transponders are working; we don't want the navy pukes accidentally hitting us!" 'Danger Close' was frightening when it came in the form of orbital bombardments.
As he had ordered his soldiers to, he checked his own transponder when the shuttle stopped, hovering above the ground. Campbell and Isa were the first ones out, Isa taking the lead - until they got the new armoured suits, she was the best-protected member of his forces.
Jack was right behind them, his carbine in hand. He dashed forward to the ridge shielding the base form view and quickly took an overview.
Craters, both big and small, lined the perimeter, and the wall had been breached so often, a full company could charge through without having to stop. It still provided the defenders with cover and ambush opportunities.
Or would if they were aware that the invasion had already begun. But with the heavy weapons mostly destroyed - there went another one, struck by a beam - they would hunker down to face the invasion they knew was coming.
Jack pulled out his tablet and flipped the feed from the Fleet Transports above them on. Yeah, the Jaffa were taking shelter and covering the breaches as well as they could. Well, the Limeys could deal with them - they had the tanks and artillery to push through. Jack wasn't here to show them up; his forces had to find a way past the defenders so they could secure the base's computers and communications before Ba'al's Jaffa could destroy both.
He checked that all his troops were ready, then opened a channel to the ships above. "We're in position, smoke them!"
"Copy."
Half a minute later, missiles struck the base - and released thick clouds of smoke that soon merged, covering the entire base.
Jack switched the thermographic vision mode of his visor on and grinned as he went over the ridge.
"Go Go Go! Move!"
They charged down the ridge. At any moment, Jack expected someone to spot them - parts of the base were not completely covered in smoke - and raise the alert. To see the weapon emplacements left start laying down covering fire or to blindly open fire into pre-selected sectors. But they made it down the ridge and halfway across the open field to the remains to the walls without anyone shooting at them, or even just in their general direction.
If he were in charge of the base defence, he'd have rigged the field with anti-personnel mines, too, but they had scanned for that.
But a few yards before Isa - that woman was fast! Even carrying a heavy machine gun and a missile launcher, she outpaced him! - reached the wall, Jack saw figures move in the smoke, taking up firing positions. "Watch out!" he snapped into the communicator. "We've been made."
Moments later, staff blasts tore through the smoke and into the field, blowing up chunks of dirt and stone. Unaimed fire, he realised at once. But that could kill you as dead as aimed fire if you were unlucky. And the closer they got to the wall, the closer the shots would get to them.
He really wished they had the new armour suits already when he heard a scream, followed by a call for a medic, over the comm.
Isa returned fire with the heavy machine gun, running diagonally across the breach towards the wall. Jack saw a few flashes from the tracer rounds, and two figures collapsed in the smoke.
That cut down on the fire somewhat, and Jack reached the wall on the other side of the breach ahead of Campbell. "Fire in the hole!" he yelled, drawing a grenade from his pouch. He pulled the pin and threw it around the edge of the wall.
A few seconds later, it went off, and he felt the shock wave in his chest before he jumped up and rounded the corner, leading with his gun.
Two Jaffa down but moving - he put two rounds into the closer, Campbell finishing off the second. On their right side, Isa - no one else was that large - pushed ahead, her machine gun firing in short bursts.
To Jack's left, something moved, and he dropped to the ground. A staff blast passed overhead, and he returned fire, dropping the Jaffa, who had taken up a firing position behind the wreck of a cannon with another burst to the head and neck.
Then Campbell dashed forward, throwing himself into cover behind the cannon. "Fire in the hole!"
The grenade flew over the wreckage, and two Jaffa, one to each side, dashed out from behind it. Jack dropped the left one with four rounds in the chest, Campbell caught the other in the legs, but the Jaffa fired back while falling, and the cannon's twisted barrel next to Campbell blew up.
The man cried out, holding his head, as he sat down, and Jack rushed over. In the smoke, he couldn't check the wounds, and so he called for a medic and left a beacon on the groaning man. Isa turned around - he could see that in the smoke with his thermographic vision - but he waved her on. "Go! We've got our targets!"
She jerked but continued toward their target - the main communication centre - firing a few more bursts upwards while she ran.
Jack followed her, shooting at the Jaffa on the roof as well, but he couldn't tell if he hit anyone or if they had just dropped into cover. He took a position on Isa's left at a corner of the main building, checking for more enemies.
There were still too many Jaffa up and fighting here - he spotted a group running across the street to the side - and if they massed their forces, Jack's troops would be done for.
He checked the tablet for a brief look at the overall situation. A few more minutes until the assault shuttles would hit the ground. And the second group of his force had just reached the main computer centre or whatever the Jaffa called it. Above them, the British brigades were dropping as well now - and their shuttles were visible to sensors. If the Jaffa pulled back from their other positions, they'd be overrun in no time.
However, Jack wasn't sure they knew that. And there were enough Jaffa at the main entrance that charging that with his… three other soldiers, two more had joined him and Isa, would be suicide.
Well, time to make a new entrance then. He moved back, sending Meier to cover the corner, then pulled out the 'wallbuster' charge prepared in advance and slapped it on the wall in the centre. "Take cover!"
A few seconds later, everyone was hugging the ground, and Jack triggered the detonator.
Compared to the grenade, this explosion was much more powerful - Jack was a bit too close, and the shock wave felt like a punch to the stomach - but it did the job, and he was charging toward the hole in the wall before the dust settled.
Isa beat him to the punch, though, and entered with her machine gun firing. Jack followed, going left, Meier, behind him, taking the right side.
A squad of Jaffa rushed around the corner, and Jack dropped to the ground, clenching his teeth as he opened up with a long burst that took three of them down. The fourth got a shot off that came way too close to Jack. He felt the heat from the blast on his cheek before he got him as well with a couple of bullets to the chest.
He did a tactical reload while getting up and checked the rest. Meier was down with a shot leg, but Isa had tied a tourniquet around his thigh, and he'd be fine.
But they couldn't leave him here. "Take him," Jack snapped.
While Isa grabbed Meier - he protested, claiming he could hold the breach - Jack dashed ahead to the stairway in the distance. The main computer would be down below.
He reached the stairs despite a Jaffa firing a zat at him - twice, before Meier or Isa got the bastard - and raced down.
He kicked the door open, ducked back - no shots missed him - and then used a small mirror to check the place.
Rows upon rows of snake computers and FTL communicators, no living soul.
Good. "We've secured the comm centre," he announced. "Need relief as soon as possible."
"Copy."
Jack hoped the Fleet was on the ball here. He didn't want to reenact Market Garden.
PT-9521-System, June 16th, 2000 (Earth Time)
"Base communications and data centre secured, Supreme Commander. Awaiting relief."
Adora nodded at the report. Jack's troops had reached their objectives. But they were a small force and had to hold out until the two British brigades arrived. They had started the landing operations - the first wave's shuttles had just finished re-entry and were about to drop on the assigned landing zone - but it would still take some more time until the base was taken. She bit her lower lip, watching the troop deployments on the holoprojection. If she dropped directly into the base…
"You can divert a company to land directly inside the base," Catra commented. "That would be faster than flying down yourself."
When Adora frowned at her, Catra smirked. "I know what you're thinking."
Adora huffed and checked the status of the landing again. She could divert a company from the reserves in the first wave, but if they needed those units to reinforce a thrust or cover a hole in the formation, that could cause a lot of problems. And get more people killed. "Divert two empty shuttles to serve as close air support."
"Yes, Supreme Commander!"
That would require adjustments to the second wave's deployment, but they had planned with losing shuttles to enemy fire in mind, so it shouldn't be a big problem - they hadn't lost any shuttle outright, but two had taken fire and needed repairs before they could be used again.
"That's not much firepower, though," Catra said. "We should produce some assault shuttles for ground support for those missions. If we can spare the production."
That was a big if. They still lacked enough transport capacity for their available ground formations. Infantry, vehicles, medevac, supplies, ammunition and tankers… everyone wanted transport shuttles. Even on planets with a Stargate, a shuttle was often better to carry supplies to outposts than a ground-based transport, what with worlds controlled by the Goa'uld often lacking decent roads. Or even decent dirt tracks. While they had designs for an assault shuttle, it wasn't a priority. Horde fighters and orbital fire support were supposed to cover that.
But Adora didn't trust either not to blow up parts of the base they wanted intact if they provided said fire support. Sure, if they had to blow up the base to save people, Adora would do it in a heartbeat, but they shouldn't have to make that choice.
On the holoprojection, two icons representing shuttles changed course and moved over the base. A few icons depicting enemy soldiers blinked out soon afterwards, and the rings of Jaffa surrounding the buildings taken by Jack's forces shifted as a result.
"We've destroyed their anti-air network," Catra said.
That didn't mean the shuttles were safe, though - the Jaffa's staff weapons could, if used in bulk, overwhelm a shuttle's shields. And the shuttles had to slow down to target enemies on the ground, making them vulnerable.
Case in point, Adora could see one of the shuttles suddenly jerk to the side in an obvious evasive action and the other changing course to support it. If it were shot down, that would be on her.
But the first wave was now advancing on a broad front, tanks and IFVs deployed and engaging entrenched enemies. Adora watched as the enemy line crumbled, most Jaffa dying in place - or at least rendered incapable of fighting - while a few tried to retreat under fire.
"There goes the main gate," Catra said. "They've broken into the base."
That meant combat at close range in urban terrain - pretty much the worst kind of combat against inferior forces. But it also meant that the Jaffa attacking Jack were now caught between two forces.
And one of those forces had tanks and IFVs with them. It only took a few positions getting blown up by direct fire for the remaining Jaffa to spread out and try to evade the trap.
Not many did.
"We're not getting many surrenders," Catra said. "Sure, we're assaulting and relieving the special forces, but… Apophis's forces had more Jaffa surrender in similar conditions."
Similar but not the same - Adora had fought personally in past invasions. "Maybe I should have gone in as well," she said as she watched the British soldiers take control of the base, starting with the buildings Jack had secured.
Catra didn't reply, but when Adora glanced at her, she saw that her lover was frowning. So, she probably was thinking the same thing.
Something to bring up during the debriefings. But, more importantly… "Did the gate ship move yet?"
"They received the emergency transmission from the base, but they haven't taken any action so far, Supreme Commander."
"Probably waiting for orders," Catra said. "Wouldn't want to retreat without permission. That gets you executed in some armies."
Adora nodded. Ba'al was supposed to be a fearsome Goa'uld. And the gateship was - or so they would think - safely hiding out of reach.
But a few minutes later, the Ha'tak with the Stargate left their position and entered hyperspace.
"Phase two complete. Primary and secondary objectives achieved, Supreme Commander."
Now, they could only hope that the spy bots would succeed. And that they could repel the counter-attack Adora was sure would be coming.
Ba'al's Base, PT-9521, PT-9521-System, June 16th, 2000 (Earth Time)
"Secure the area!"
The ramp fell down, and the soldiers inside the shuttle piled out. Samantha Carter didn't really pay attention as they fanned out, staying focused on the HUD display on her visor, fed from the upgraded laptop in her armoured backpack.
The base was supposed to be secure, more or less - there were still some suspected holdouts in the sewers, and she was happy she didn't have to dig them out - but the upper area and main buildings had been searched thoroughly by the General's troops and the British landing force before Sam's shuttle had reached planetary orbit from where she had been supervising phase one of the operation.
She still ducked when she got the go-ahead from the soldier at the ramp and ran toward the building's entrance in front of her, shielded by a Challenger 2 and three Warriors. All of them adequate for fighting the Goa'uld, she noted as she entered the building, though the IFVs would be vulnerable to well-placed staff blasts without the added shield projectors. But compared to Horde technology, they were obsolete. And Ba'al had access to Horde technology.
Not to mention, adding shield projectors to tanks and IFVs was a kludge compared to vehicles designed with advanced technology in mind, such as shuttles.
She pushed the stray thoughts away and focused on the task at hand as she passed through the entrance hall of the building, which had suffered a bit in the fighting - as had the guards; she saw half a dozen dead Jaffa in a corner, covered somewhat with torn drapes. However, she also saw two wounded soldiers apparently awaiting medevac. Special Forces, not British infantry.
"Ah, Carter!"
And there was the General. "Sir!" she nodded at him.
"We've got the comms secured but didn't touch them, so if anything is broken, it wasn't us!" He grinned.
"Yes, sir." She didn't smile; they were in the middle of an invasion, and she had a job to do. But she felt better.
She followed him down the stairs guarded by two soldiers.
"So, any news from the space part of the invasion?"
She knew which part he meant. Phase one. But that was classified, and they knew better than to talk about it in the field, in a facility they had just taken from the enemy. "We expect an enemy reaction, but we don't know when it will happen." No news yet from the bots.
"Ah. Well, that's up to the Navy pukes, then."
They reached a door guarded by two more soldiers - Isa and another trooper she didn't recognise.
"Campbell was wounded, but he'll make it," the General said before she could decide to ask.
"Ah."
"He better make it!" Isa growled. "He owes me lunch!"
Sam chuckled. It was what you did when people joked about such things to cope with stark reminders that every combat mission carried the risk of getting killed.
"Adora will probably wave her magic sword and cure him. He won't get to laze around in the hospital ship," the General said.
Then they were inside. The comm room didn't show any battle damage, not even bloodstains. Sam appreciated it, of course - trying to get any useful data out of broken consoles and shattered memory crystals was usually an exercise in frustration and futility but occasionally yielded results, so you had to make an attempt every time.
"We know they managed to get an emergency notice off," the General said, "but not if they managed to delete the memory."
The first thing had been planned - they had to alert the Ha'tak with the Stargate so it would move and lead the bots to another location. The second was a risk they had to take to get the first. She went to the main console and checked the screen. Yes, it was reporting a memory deletion. But.. She crouched down, checking the connectors in the back. The system was usually easier to penetrate through the data lines, especially the transmission caches. And while the caches were supposed to be cleared, they were also supposed to ensure the messages got through, and that often led to some data fragments remaining in the cache until overwritten by the next transmission - which never happened here.
Sam grinned as she started copying the data. If the Goa'uld had more competent IT staff, her job would be much harder. But the System Lords often selected for loyalty first, expertise second. Not without good reason, of course - controlling communications and information made it easier to launch a coup.
She skimmed the data. It was encrypted, but they had already broken that code when they intercepted the transmission on the Ha'tak. And this data contained some markers and headers that weren't sent but could give information about other recipients.
"Done," she announced. "We can move to the base's main computer building."
There would be the real prize.
The General grimaced. "About that…"
Sam pressed her lips together. She already knew she wouldn't like it.
"The fighting was a bit more intense there, and the Jaffa had a bit more time. So, it's not as if all computers got broken, but…"
As she had feared, another frustrating task awaited her.
Former Ba'al's Base, PT-9521, PT-9521-System, June 16th, 2000 (Earth Time)
"We have managed to secure the physical facilities. They were damaged during the fighting but not beyond local capabilities to restore. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, the defenders managed to inflict significant damage to the memory crystals in the central data centre. We've managed to recover extensive records, but key parts were lost. We expect to be able to use the other shipyard we've captured to restore the missing data, though this will require careful checks and will delay the recommissioning of the shipyards here."
Catra nodded as Sam finished her preliminary report - she knew her friend would deliver a much more detailed one, but she only needed the big picture here. The fiddly bits could be left to others. Not for the first time, she compared the Alliance to the Horde. The difference between working with people who were as likely to lie to you, either in an attempt to sabotage you so they could replace you or to hide a mistake they made to escape punishment, and people you could trust to tell you the truth of the situation on the ground was staggering.
"Thank you, Sam," Adora said, smiling. "Good work."
Sam winced. "We should have been quicker. If I had been with the special forces…"
"The damage was done before we managed to secure the room," Jack cut her off. "You being with us wouldn't have changed that."
Sam obviously didn't like it, but she acknowledged it with a nod. "Yes, sir."
"We did secure the base and the shipyards mostly intact," Adora said.
"And we did deny it to Ba'al," Catra added. The base must have cost him significant resources to set up - both material and personnel. They still didn't know the extent of his resources, but losing two entire shipyards was bound to put a dent in them. And, speaking of personnel… "Resistance was heavier than expected, wasn't it?"
It was Jack's turn to grimace. "Yeah. The Jaffa fought harder than the ones we beat before. Even for Jaffa, they were fanatical."
"They fought as one would expect the chosen personal guard of a false god to fight - to the death," Teal'c added. "Yet, they lacked such an elevated status and served in common positions."
"All Jaffa are expected to fight to the death, aren't they?" Brigadier Hughes asked. This had been his first battle in the war against the Goa'uld, Catra knew.
"They are, but…" Jack shrugged. "Not all of them actually do. There's always a couple who reconsider the dying for their god part when things get tight."
Catra nodded. Either because they weren't quite as fanatical as they claimed to be or because shell shock didn't spare Jaffa, either. "But we had significantly fewer such surrenders here, right?" That had been in the first reports.
"Yeah."
"We're still in the process of determining whether this is due to increased efforts by Ba'al to ensure loyalty unto death or if there are other factors in play," Major Bellheim, the officer in charge of the intel efforts in the invasion, added. "However, we've also noticed a higher rate of uncooperative civilians than in similar cases."
And that would add even more delays until the shipyard could restart production. Trained staff was much harder to replace, even if you added the cost of retraining them to produce Alliance craft.
"We've preliminarily identified one factor that might be responsible, at least in part, for the increased resistance to our efforts to, ah, convert the prisoners to our side," the Major went on.
Ah. Catra snorted. "There was no She-Ra to awe the Jaffa and slaves into abandoning their god for Her Divine Highness."
"Yes, ma'am."
Next to her, Adora sighed.
"Well, on the positive side, that's one more reason for you to fight at the front in such operations," Jack said,
Catra rolled her eyes when Adora perked up. Of course, she'd like that! "Well, releasing the planet's magic should help with shaking the prisoner's faith in Ba'al," she said.
And Adora sighed again.
Tough, Catra thought. If she wanted to win the war as quickly as possible, her lover better had to get used to this - it was their best way to turn enemies into allies.
And, though Catra wouldn't say that out loud, not here, not on Earth and not on Etheria, the more people followed She-Ra, the better Etheria's position would be after the war.
Something one had to keep in mind as well. It wouldn't do to win the war and lose the peace. She trusted their friends from Earth, but that world had far too many nutcases, in her opinion.
Base Portsmouth, PT-9521, PT-9521-System, June 18th, 2000 (Earth Time)
Some of the limeys at the meeting were still sneaking glances at the sight outside the base as if they had never seen She-Ra's magic at work. Well, they probably hadn't, Jack O'Neill admitted - both brigades had seen their first battle in this war. It was hard not to grow a bit blasé about world-shaping magic if you encountered it every other day - well, it felt like that, at least.
Of course, his own people were making a point of acting as if turning the entire region into lush fields instead of dry, near-desert plains, supplied with water from changed hills and mountains around it was nothing special at all. Had to show up the new guys.
It was harmless and helped with the esprit de corps. Napoleon had said, the moral was to the physical as three was to one. Jack wasn't quite as sure; there was a reason people also said that providence was always on the side of the big battalions. Even the best morale couldn't won against all odds, as this base assault had proven; Ba'al's soldiers were fanatical, but they hadn't been able to stop, much less defeat the landing force.
They had been able to blood them, though - casualties had been higher than projected, both for Jack's own forces and the two brigades. Not quite as bad as failed landing operations could get, not nearly so, but still worse than they should have been, given their numerical and technological superiority. There was only so much you could do if an enemy was willing to die to hurt you - and was holed up in a building you couldn't just flatten with air support or artillery.
He spotted the last missing officer entering the meeting room, Major Bellheim. The Intel guy looked more like a nerd than James Bond, and his service file confirmed the impression - not much field experience, but a great analyst.
Time to get this show on the road.
Jack cleared his throat. "Alright. Now that everyone is here, let's have your reports. How are things in our shiny new base?"
His own people chuckled, but most of the limeys looked a little annoyed. Well, Jack was the officer in charge, and if he liked to be less formal, that was his privilege. Besides, they had better get used to it, or they would not survive working under some of the princesses. On the other hand, those people were used to serving a queen, so they probably would get along well with the more royal-minded princesses.
Whatever! He looked at Major Bellheim. "Last in, first out. How's the situation with the prisoners?"
Bellheim didn't miss a beat or react to the slight ribbing about being the last to arrive even though he had still been on time. "As expected, Princess She-Ra's demonstration had a significant effect on the prisoners taken in the assault, aided by the fact that we could prepare for it beforehand and arrange the best conditions for the prisoners to watch. Most of the civilian workers seem to have abandoned their faith in Ba'al and converted to worshipping She-Ra. We can't tell yet what impressed them more; the alterations done to the landscape or the healing, the sheer number of people to process and vet will keep my unit busy for the foreseeable future." He smiled apologetically. "We decided that a strict process was necessary after the initial resistance proved stronger than expected."
"This will mean we won't be able to have the workers aid with restoring the damaged parts of the yards," Captain Baum, a Navy Puke sent here to oversee the shipyards, cut in.
"Yes." Bellheim nodded and ignored Baum's scowl.
Jack considered reminding Baum that they could ask the workers to help but couldn't really count on that, but decided against it. Odds were, the new converts would help out anyway. "What about the Jaffa?"
Bellheim's expression didn't change. "Reactions were mixed. Most positive were those from the wounded, though as we have been able to confirm, Ba'al does allow some of his warriors to be treated in a Sarcophagus. Hence, the psychological effect of receiving magical healing was less pronounced than in other incidents. Nevertheless, coupled with the changes to the area outside the base, we estimate that a significant number of the prisoners have changed allegiance or will do so soon, but we keep all of them under close scrutiny and have expedited their transfer to safe holding facilities."
Jack agreed - most prisoners had surrendered because they had not been willing to die for Ba'al, so they had been halfway to betraying their god already. But the prisoners who had been captured because they had been unconscious or too wounded to keep fighting were another thing.
He waited, and when Bellheim didn't add anything, he turned to the next officer, Colonel Carson. "Now, what's the status of our defences?"
"We're replacing the destroyed heavy weapons with our own systems, focusing on anti-aircraft and anti-infantry systems. With the task force in orbit, the need for heavier defences is not quite as pressing. We should have adequate cover against a division-sized attack with dozens of Death Gliders in two to three days - setting up the power supplies for the systems takes longer than estimated in some cases."
Well, Jack was curious if Carson would say the same once Ba'al's counter-attack started, but the Colonel wasn't wrong that shoring up the defences against a ground attack with air support was the priority right now. "Good. And, speaking of supplies…"
He already knew the gist of everything, but it was always good to have more details. Jack would rather not discover a problem in the middle of an attack if he could help it. Ba'al would create enough issues on his own; Jack was sure of that.
