Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Star Wars, or Stargate movies, TV shows, games, books, or comics. This story features elements inspired by Warhammer 40K. They all belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not for sale or rent.
Chapter 28 Part 5
=SBS=
The scope of the EU foreign minister' meeting in Brussels next week is set to expand significantly after rising concerns that the European Court and other EU institutions will deem elements of the SAT treaty illegal under the existing EU framework.
BBC World News
Heads of state from all EU countries will meet next week in Brussels to discuss a new framework and the future of the EU in a world under Lord Perun's control.
Euronews
Protests against capitulation before an alien dictatorship paralyzed multiple German cities. Smaller protests are gaining strength across much of Europe.
Associated Press
Lady Lyda finally commended on the ongoing legal challenges faced by the SAT treaty!
"Such concerns are below the notice of Lord Perun. Earth survives due to our Lord's uncommon benevolence and the benefits this world can offer. Any other Goa'uld would already be making stark examples of your people for the sheer audacity to believe your laws are of any consequence before
Lord Perun."
Lord Perun's representative on Earth made it crystal clear that the SAT is now the law of the land as far as our alien overlord is concerned, and there is no place for renegotiation.
CNN
Earlier today, President Roberts explicitly stated his administration's position on the SAT before both chambers of Congress.
"We might not have fired a shot against Lord Perun and his forces. Congress might not have declared war as our Constitution and laws require. However, the truth of the matter is that the Stargate Alliance Treaty, a document this Congress ratified if grudgingly, was Earth, not just the United States of America's surrender in the face of overwhelming military force, which we have no hope of resisting. It does not matter if the Legislature or Judiciary members agree or disagree. Our laws, our very Constitution, are not suicide pacts. As your duly elected President, it is my solemn duty to do my utmost to avoid provoking Lord Perun into burning our cities from orbit and murdering our people in massive numbers."
CNN
Law experts warn that President Roberts's administration's various actions could be considered unconstitutional. However, the presence of an alien warship in orbit complicates things. A constitutional crisis might now be inevitable.
Washington Post
Radical Clerics in Saudi Arabia sparked riots across the capital and most major ports in the country. We have unconfirmed reports that members of the Religious Police have joined the protesters demanding actions against the alien Satan, Lord Perun. Calls for Jihad against the alien are intensifying across the Middle East.
Al Jazeera
=SBS=
Stennos, Cronus domain
Milky Way Galaxy
Heru'ur's inglorious death was a boon. Ra would be without an apparent heir for a time, ensuring the Supreme System Lord must carefully choose a possible successor. He needed someone strong and competent enough to be reliable, not so ambitious and powerful as to become a threat. That was, at least in part, why Ra chose to divide Moloc's realm in the way he did. The System Lords' new borders put them in a direct clash course instead of merely making them wary and suspicious.
It was clear that Ra was buying time to put his house in order and track down spies, whether they were Tok'ra or not.
As a result, now Cronus had to worry about a vastly expanded border with Apophis, his most dangerous rival. Sending ships through the territory of a System Lord who wasn't your clear ally would be seen as an offense that begged for retaliation. That was one factor that ensured everyone had to worry only about the rivals on their borders and raids through the Chapa'ai. Besides, sending ships off the beaten path meant they wouldn't be available if you suddenly needed them for weeks if not months. While false flag operations were a danger, that was why everyone had spies in everyone's courts. A neighbor sending a bunch of ships away from their usual deployments would immediately ring alarm bells. In the same vein, an attack from that direction, when the Goa'uld at the border had their fleet accounted for, would be proof enough that someone else was meddling.
Together with Ra's decrees, all these factors helped keep a state of uneasy peace among the System Lords.
However, Ra was now apparently missing. There was no heir to smoothly take over much of Ra's territory, leaving it and Heru'ur's domain open for grabs. That and the new borders meant the likelihood of conflict increased exponentially. If Ra didn't show himself for much longer, it wouldn't matter if the Supreme System Lord was still alive or not. A System Lord was going to take their chances sooner rather than later. The fall of Moloc and dividing his realm stoked the appetites of everyone even remotely interested in expanding their power and influence, which was most Goa'uld of note.
Cronus was no exception. He saw a priceless opportunity to diminish Apophis' power, if not outright deal with that headache once and for all. The only question was who would make the first move and risk Ra's wrath if the Supreme System Lord played some kind of long game.
So far, everyone's spies in Ra's realm pointed at confusion and lack of direction. That wasn't something Ra could allow to persist for much longer. Without Dakara, the Supreme System Lord making himself scarce for some time would have been of no consequence. However, the longer Ra failed to take charge, the more likely he simply couldn't. After a few more weeks of chaos, it wouldn't matter if Ra was alive or dead. There would be too much chaos in his realm, and the System Lords would be fools not to take advantage. After all, they might not get another opportunity to take all Ra had for themselves.
News of System Lords mobilizing elements of their military and moving them to staging areas for 'defensive' purposes soon reached Cronus, who was already doing the same. He already ordered a crackdown on all known or suspected spies in the guise of purging Tok'ra infiltrators. Most other Goa'uld would soon do the same if they weren't already hunting spies.
Said purge brought Cronus and a powerful fleet to Stennos. He should have learned about Zeus' possible return months earlier. However, a suspected Tok'ra ensured no such reports reached the System Lord. This was precisely the kind of distraction no one needed when war was growing more and more likely with every passing day.
Cronus deployed tens of thousands of Jaffa to hunt down this "Zeus." His treacherous son should have died on Tartarus a long time ago. An impostor would be bad enough. Zeus himself returning would mean deeper treachery at a time when Cronus could scarcely afford to deal with such a thing.
Stennos was a large world with fourteen substantial continents divided by small seas. Lush forest covered the whole planet, stretching like green carpet when someone looked down from orbit.
This used to be one of Zeus' most loyal Jaffa worlds. Even after Cronus sentenced his son to damnation, purging his strongest loyalists, Stennos still retained a large population. While most of the hundred million people down there were slaves working in the mines, farming, or supplying wood to many worlds across the realm, a substantial percentage of the population was Jaffa, who had served Zeus since he brought them here millennia ago.
To scour Stennos for his quarry, Cronus had to bring dozens of Ha'tak and countless Jaffa through the Chapa'ai. Death Glider patrols searched for hidden bases, while Al'kesh and orbital support guaranteed that the System Lord's forces wouldn't face effective resistance.
Two cities and five fortresses had to burn before the local resistance broke. Cronus could see the fires from orbit. He personally saw the bombardment of those targets in his eagerness to find out the truth.
It was really a pity that Stennos was ill-suited to deploy ground vehicles by its very nature. Otherwise, Cronus would have been able to field-test all the new equipment his minions developed to counter what everyone else of consequence was seemingly fielding.
Eventually, First Prime Obis got results and personally brought "Zeus" for inspection, ensuring that the past two weeks spent here were worth it.
Obis and his Jaffa were clearly very proud of themselves.
"Zeus" didn't appear appropriately terrified. Instead, that thing stared back in clear bafflement with huge, black, very clearly inhuman eyes.
"What is an Asgard doing here!?" Cronus bellowed, using bluster to hide his apprehension. "Why are you meddling in my affairs?!" He demanded of the small gray creature.
The Asgard blinked at him and pursed its tiny lips.
"I am not. I've been trying to figure out who I am and where I am. When I reached a settlement, everyone proclaimed me their Lord Zeus and listened to me," the Asgard offered.
Cronus stared at it in incomprehension.
"I want a deep scan of everything in this system! Find me any Asgard ships or bases in the area!" Cronus snapped at his First Prime, who hurried to obey. He forced his human host to calm its body and looked at the Asgard in contemplation. "You truly don't know who or what you are?"
The Asgard looked pointedly at its body, then back at Cronus.
"I am not like the Jaffa and the humans I've met, though I don't see a difference between them," the Asgard stated calmly.
Cronus couldn't decide if this was some kind of trap or destiny smiling upon him.
=SBS=
Chapter 28 Part 6
=SBS=
Tens of thousands gathered in a so far peaceful protest against the SAT in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Smaller protests are gathering steam throughout many South American countries.
CNN
Protesters and riot police are clashing in Berlin!
Euronews
Riots paralyze Paris and Marsile!
BBC World News
London authorities withdrew permission for protest marches against the SAT after peaceful demonstrations on the continent turned violent.
BBC
The Federal Government declared four militias domestic terrorist organizations. Federal LEOs are expected to take action within the day.
USA Today
Belgium deployed riot police and military units to bolster security in Brussels days before a historic meeting between EU member heads of state and foreign ministers.
Euronews
=SBS=
Stennos, Cronus domain
Milky Way Galaxy
Cronos had to utilize all his self-control while interacting with the apparently amnesiac Asgard. If this was some kind of trap by the Asgard, he wasn't going to give them a good reason to move against him. This being's presence on Stennos, if a trap, could prove Ra was dead, and the Asgard knew it. They might even have a hand in the Supreme System Lord's demise.
However, if this was precisely what it looked like… this was the kind of opportunity that appeared perhaps once in a Goa'uld's lifetime! Thinking about it, Cronos could recall news of a possible clash between an Asgard vessel and a few of Zeus' Ha'tak during the last war with the Asgard. Four or five Ha'tak went missing, and everyone at the time blamed the Asgard. Depending on the alien vessel in question, an encounter with that many Ha'tak could have ended with a mutual kill or at least crippled the Asgard ship.
Cronos clamped onto his host's reactions so his face would remain impassive while listening to the Asgard tell everything he had been up to. It was all so dull the System Lord wanted to scream.
An Asgard stuck on one of his worlds for years, and he had done nothing of interest! This was either the greatest scheme in the history of schemes, or the creature had lost its memories and, with them, all its arrogance and supposed wisdom.
Cronus tuned out the Asgard's babbling, hoping that his First Prime would soon finish the area the alien claimed it emerged from. Orbital scans detected nothing of use, but that wasn't surprising when dealing with Asgard technology. Orbital scans failed to detect anything of use, requiring a closer examination.
By the time Obis finally reported, Cronus was ready to strangle the Asgard so he could put him out of his misery. He was a System Lord! He didn't listen to people babble about meaningless things humans and disloyal Jaffa got up to!
"My Lord Cronus, close-range examination reveals some kind of buried ship. What are your instructions?"
"I want it excavated! See to it!" Cronus ordered.
This might not be a trap after all. In that case, Cronus had an Asgard prisoner he could use to bargain if or when the Asgard decided to poke around.
"Jaffa, escort our guest to suitable quarters and make sure he is comfortable," Cronus happily ordered.
The Asgard looked at him in confusion but docilely did as instructed. Cronus managed to hold onto his laughter until the creature finally left, and the doors slid shut behind it.
=SBS=
Tok'ra Council meeting, location classified
Milky Way Galaxy
The Tok'ra Council held yet another emergency meeting. This time, they didn't have the luxury of using an old underground base, much less a new one. Instead, they sat in the ruins of a long abandoned villa on a world the Goa'uld deemed useless two centuries ago.
The System Lords and most of their underlings were busy purging their courts of spies, using the pretext of Tok'ra hunt as an excuse. This not only disrupted all active operations, forcing Tok'ra agents to flee or go dark to maintain their cover, but had grave implications. It was far worse than the purges which followed Heru'ur's assassination.
"There's nothing to debate!" Garshaw of Belote snapped. She scowled deeply at everyone before pointing at the Council's leader. "We know how Ra operates better than most! He would never tolerate this amount of chaos among his underlings!"
"With Heru'ur dead, there is no clear heir to seize power in Ra's stead. Ra's Queen won't return from her expedition for months, if not a year, after someone recalls her," Per'sus countered. "The ongoing purges are unfortunate, yet they are not clear proof for an imminent war like you believe! I won't discount the possibility; something so stupid would be in character for several System Lords," he scoffed. "However, taking a war for granted now and acting accordingly is liable to blindside us. We can't afford that to happen again!"
"We have enough indications to believe Ra managed to get himself killed," Thoran countered. "That, combined with their mobilization efforts and the ongoing purges, is as good a proof as any! Despite what they claim, the Goa'uld aren't explicitly hunting us right now! Any of our agents they catch will be swept in a net aimed at all spies in their courts. I agree with Garshaw! We are seeing the prelude to war!"
After a painfully long debate, the Council finally reached a consensus – it didn't matter if the System Lords were all planning to begin a war soon because at least a few of them were undoubtedly opportunistic and arrogant enough to believe doing so was in their best interest. Anyone saner would have no choice but to join in to safeguard their interests and prevent rivals from gaining too much power.
Per'sus tiredly rubbed his face. He was one of Egeria's oldest sons. He lived through many of the real wars the Goa'uld fought and knew what such conflicts entailed. Putting down Anubis and Sokar was as close as it came for most of the Goa'uld alive these days. Even those who experienced the real deal might have become complacent in the past few millennia. The Council leader had to admit that he wanted to believe that the ritualistic and limited warfare everyone suffered for centuries upon centuries was how things were done. However, taking down Moloc should have been a wake-up call, yet… When all was said and done, that conflict was short, and everyone but Moloc suffered light casualties. Such a success was precisely the thing that could whet the appetites of many System Lords.
"Even if the war is not inevitable, there are System Lords who would ensure it happens, the short-sighted fools," Per'sus grumbled.
"That was what I had been telling you since the meeting began!" Garshaw rolled her eyes in exasperation. "What are we going to do about it?" she demanded.
"We can lay low and let the System Lords kill each other?" Delek suggested. "We need time to recover our fleeing agents and set up appropriate infiltration operations to put them back in place."
Doing so properly was a long-term work that can take centuries to pan out.
"The war offers us a priceless opportunity to infiltrate into positions that were out of reach until now," Garshaw countered. "The System Lords will suffer setbacks and losses; they will blame such things upon the failure of valuable underlings. A real war will cause tremendous casualties and reshape their courts. We can place agents into positions they couldn't reach before. We might be in a position to shape the course of the war and ensure no System Lord raises in a position of power like Ra!"
Per'sus cursed in his mind. He knew Garshaw was a firebrand, but what she suggested.
"Billions might die! Worlds will burn, and you suggest we make things worse?!" Thoran exclaimed.
"This might be our best chance to bring the System Lords low and replace them with our own agents! We need that kind of power to change the Goa'uld into something else, or at least mitigate the harm they're doing by simply existing as they are!" Garshaw shot back. "Wasn't that the end goal of our slow infiltration campaign? To eventually replace or assassinate enough of the System Lords so we can take over their power bases and move openly against the rest?"
While Per'sus wouldn't put it that way, any victorious end-game for the Tok'ra included supplanting the System Lords, by subversion and taking over from the inside. The idea was to do it slowly and quietly, without starting a war that burns much of the galaxy.
Unfortunately, they were already on the brink of such a war, and that changed all calculations.
"Garshaw, what do you have in mind?" Per'sus asked.
=SBS=
AN: About the amnesiac Asgard - the idea of it comes from some kind of Stargate RPG, which people used to flesh up the Stargate wiki. I decided to run with it, because it opens interesting opportunities to influence the course of the Goa'uld civil war and as a possible reason for the Asgard to get more involved in the Milky Way, despite the Replicators keeping them tied up back home.