Chapter 112: The Rescue Operation Part 5
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, November 10th, 1999
Catra wasn't fond of debriefings. She knew how essential they were to properly wage war, to spot mistakes for corrections and improvements, to collect intel to pursue, and to evaluate officers, but unless she was the one running the debriefing, she couldn't help remembering how Shadow Weaver had always used them to put her down and manipulate her - and Adora.
And she wasn't in charge of this debriefing. So, she had to listen to someone else list everything that had gone wrong during the mission. And to make it even worse, it wasn't even Adora but some paper-pushing officers from Earth who had never done anything like infiltrating an enemy stronghold to spring a prisoner and do some sabotage while you were there.
She glanced at Adora. As Supreme Commander of the Alliance, she could take over any time she wanted. But her lover just sat there, straight and tense, as the idiot in front of the room, Admiral Kearsy, droned on.
"...and then, having narrowly escaped and commandeered an FTL-capable vessel, you decided to infiltrate the palace again instead of withdrawing.."
"Yes," Adora replied, nodding. "We don't leave anyone behind."
"Like the Marines," Catra added just when he was about to go on and flashed her teeth,
The admiral frowned briefly at that. She couldn't tell if that was because he didn't like the Marines - he was from the United States Navy and, as Jack had explained, the different branches of their mess of an armed force hated each other - or because he didn't like being interrupted. Probably both.
"Ah, yes. In any case, you decided to ambush a worker crew and impersonate them to infiltrate the palace - which, at this point, was on full alert with all checkpoints manned."
"Yes," Adora replied again.
"We counted on the Goa'uld and Jaffa arrogance to ignore their slaves, but we were prepared for being discovered," Glimmer cut in. She didn't like the briefing either - Catra could tell that she was struggling with her temper.
"Your alternative plan consisted of fighting through the Serpent Guards until you reached the palace dungeons." Kearsy didn't roll his eyes, but he made clear what he thought of that without saying so.
"Yes," Adora replied once more, and Catra smirked when her lover's earnest expression made the admiral blink.
"A perfectly reasonable plan," O'Neill said - he wasn't quite slouching in his seat, but he was a bit too obviously relaxed for the briefing. "We fought our way out, after all."
"While losing the ship you had taken, General O'Neill. And being forced to not only reveal magic to the Goa'uld but also activate the planet's magic!" Kearsy glowered at them.
"And losing Bra'tac, a valued ally and friend," Adora said with a frown.
Disappointingly, the admiral was smart enough not to openly dismiss Bra'tac's death as an acceptable loss. He nodded. "Yes, of course."
Catra was still dead certain that he didn't really care about Bra'tac. Even though the Jaffa had been Apophis's Prime for decades and had known both the Goa'uld and, even more importantly, Apophis's key Jaffa subordinates better than almost anyone else. His death was, even seen from a rather cold military view, a heavy loss. But they already knew that, and mentioning it to yank Kearsy's chain wouldn't be worth making Adora feel guilty again. So she shrugged. "Anyway, our plan worked - the Jaffa were too arrogant to check all workers."
"But you took a considerable risk," Kearsy insisted.
"It was a calculated risk," Glimmer retorted. "And we would do the same thing again. We don't leave anyone behind."
"Yes," Adora firmly agreed.
"Though next time, we'll have better gear," Entrapta added. "Concealed weapons and communicators, shield generators that can be dismantled and hidden, stealth bots to carry gear and support us, maybe holographic projectors so we can wear armour and look harmless… there's so much we can do to make the next mission easier!"
A bunch of stealth bots to serve as a distraction or additional forces would have come in handy, though that ran the risk of having the enemy salvage their technology. Catra made a note to bring that up at the next planning meeting with SG-1 - or whatever they were called now. Not that Catra cared too much about official titles. Even Sam slipped from time to time and talked about 'the Colonel' despite O'Neill's promotion.
"And we have to interrogate Amaunet," O'Neill added. "As soon as the Tok'ra can get her out of Sha're. As Apophi's queen, she should know a lot about his realm. And, as a backstabbing snake, I am sure she'll be willing to sell him out."
"And the loss of his queen will weaken Apophis long-term," Sam said. "He needs her to replace the Prim'ta in his warriors. That can be compensated to some degree by prioritising who gets one, albeit with the risk of alienating those who would be shortened," she amended.
Catra nodded. Without a queen, Apophis would run out of larvae, but that would take years to take effect - in the best case. But it was a hit to Apophis's prestige, and if that information spread, he would look vulnerable to his rivals.
"Nevertheless, the enemy is now aware of both magic and Etheria," Kearsy repeated himself.
"We can't assume that," O'Neill retorted. "They saw magic - but will they recognise it? Or think that was just advanced technology?" He grinned. "Hard to tell the difference."
"Technically, magic is a form of advanced technology," Entrpata piped up. "But I think you mean the specific form of magic, right?"
"Yes," Kearsy said, frowning some more.
"And the Jaffa who witnessed this might simply consider this a demonstration of divine power," Sam pointed out. "They were indoctrinated to see the Goa'uld as gods and their technology as divine powers, so they are likely to interpret She-Ra's demonstration similarly."
"And Apophis might do the same," O'Neill added. "He might suspect rivals - or other alien species - behind this, using advanced technology."
"Nevertheless, we cannot assume so," Kearsy insisted. "We must consider that our most secret advantages have been revealed to the enemy!"
"The Tok'ra will look into it," Adora said. "We should know more about this soon."
Catra hoped so. Out loud, she said: "So, no point in doomsaying yet. Who knows, Adora healing everyone might even convert more Jaffa to her worship.
Adora and Kearsy glared at her for that comment. She counted it as a successful debriefing.
Alliance Base Lübtheen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, November 11th, 1999
"...and at that point, we withdrew through the portal." Jack O'Neill finished. On the holoprojection next to him, the figures representing their group finished moving through the gate and vanished, leaving the 3D projection of Apophis's gate room empty.
He took a step forward and fell into a comfortable parade rest as he faced the officers and selected troops attending this meeting. Most of them were still staring at the projection that Entrapta had configured based on the readings from her multitool. Ah, if Stargate Command had had such technology before they met the Etherians…
But a few - more than Jack was comfortable with - were staring at him as if he had just single-handedly kicked Apophis's butt and won the war or something. He hadn't seen that kind of hero worship back at Stargate Command; everyone had been used to SG-1's mission. At least the older hands. And the newbies generally were too shocked by the news that aliens were real to gawk at SG-1.
Anyway, his troops here would grow out of it once they had a few missions under their belts themselves. It was time to get down to business. "So, what do we learn from this?" he asked.
"She-Ra saved the day?" Kelly asked with a wide grin.
Jack chuckled. Leave it to SAS to be the first to dare to crack a joke. "That's one lesson. But what does that mean in more detail?"
Isa rose to answer, then sat down when she realised that she was blocking the line of sight for a bunch of soldiers sitting behind her. "It means that we need to bring more firepower on such missions if we can't have She-Ra with us."
Campbell, sitting next to her, added: "And we need to take magic respectively its absence into account when planning such missions. We can't teleport."
Jack nodded. "Yes. Unless we drag our Supreme Commander and Queen Glimmer with us on every mission, we can't repeat that. And restoring a planet's magic is a two-edged sword."
Jones, the former SEAL, frowned. "We'll have to expect Apophis to start using magic against us - at least on his capital."
A number of the troopers looked wary at that. Jack smiled and shook his head. "Oh, he might have some magitech stuff lying around from before magic was sealed away, and that might surprise us, but Apophis can't just snap his fingers and have trained sorceresses at his beck and call - believe me, I know that. And if we return to Saqqara, we will do so with as many princesses and sorceresses as possible." That planet was now one where their powers worked from the start, unlike pretty much every other planet in the Goa'uld Empire.
That seemed to calm down the soldiers. But Jack knew that most of them wouldn't admit if they were concerned. He would joke about it himself, in their place. "What else can we learn from this?"
"That Apophis's forces are - or were - vulnerable to infiltration tactics," another officer, Lt. Fournier, said. "Though they are likely to adjust their procedures after this."
"Yes. We can't count on them falling for the same ploy again. But we can count on Apophis purging his guards for their failure," Jack said. "So, his forces will lose a lot of experience and cohesion." Like Stalin's purges wrecked the Red Army.
"And we need better kit if we're supposed to do such missions," Burke commented from the back. "I would rather not run around in looted rags and hope to take an enemy weapon before I can fight."
"I'll pass it on to Q," Kelly joked.
"We've already done that," Jack said with a grin. Try to be a wiseass, hm? "We should have some specialised gear if we have to infiltrate a place again - though, as was pointed out" - he nodded at Fournier - "we can't count on the Goa'uld remaining stupid about that." As Apophis had just proven, they did learn from their mistakes. The snake's traps had almost gotten them. "But for now, let's focus on less undercover work and more on traditional infiltration tactics. How do we assault such a complex with our forces? How do we get inside, get our target, and something very important: how do we get out again? Without a stealth shuttle or the fleet picking us up."
Campbell closed his mouth, Jack noted.
"We need breaching charges, lots of them," Jones said.
"Electronic warfare specialists to hack the security systems so we can sneak inside," Kelly countered.
"A few manpads to keep the airspace contested," Müller, former GSG-9, said.
More and more joined the discussion.
"Distractions - drones and bots."
"Rappelling gear."
"Those hover sledges."
"Some sort of active camouflage."
Jack nodded while his aide noted all the proposals, projecting them onto the screen behind him. Yeah, this would be a productive session; he could tell.
P34-353J, November 13th, 1999, (Earth Time)
Watching the preparations of the Tok'ra, Adora couldn't help fidgeting. There was a chance that this would go wrong. Aumanet might kill Sha're before the Tok'ra could extract her. And even if Adora restored magic to the world, she might not be fast enough to save Sha're. As she had been told, she might not be fast enough even if she had Magic restored beforehand.
And the Tok'ra didn't want magic restored to this world. Not yet, according to Anise, but that might be wishful thinking according to Sam - their friend apparently couldn't wait to begin experimenting with magic.
She glanced at Daniel, who hadn't taken his eyes off Sha're since they had arrived on this world. If the worst happened, after all they had gone through, after everything they had done to save Sha're… Adora knew how that felt. When she had seen Catra fall on Horde Prime's flagship, had held her body… No one should go through that. No one would if she could help it.
But she couldn't always help it. She could only try her best, always. And she would.
She shook her head, trying to banish the gloomy thoughts. Things would go well. They had to. The Tok'ra had done this before, many times. They had saved Lieutenant Lenkova as well.
Remembering that also reminded Adora of how the woman had been affected by a relatively short possession. Sha're had been possessed for over two years. The horrors she must have gone through… Adora hadn't suffered like that, but others had. Catra, for one - her lover was staring at Sha're with a fixed expression. And she was far from the only one who had been mind-controlled by Horde Prime.
Maybe she should offer Daniel and Sha're to spend some time on Etheria to recover? They didn't have trained therapists like Earth had, not yet - although they were working on that - but they had experience with this situation. It couldn't hurt, at least, in Adora's opinion.
On the other hand, Sha're had never seen Earth, Daniel's home. She might want to get used to Earth first. Or go home to Abydos - though that would have to wait until they unburied their Stargate again. They could send a ship there, but that would take a long time… maybe once the spy bot network reached the planet, they could install a better system to protect the gate against invasions, and they could resume regular contact…
It wasn't up to her, anyway, Adora reminded herself. That was the decision of the Abydonians. And to Sha're and Daniel. They might just want to return to Abydos and resume their lives there. Though Skaara was still possessed by Klorel, so Daniel wouldn't want to abandon him, would he? And neither would Sha're abandon her brother. Or…
"They're about to start," Catra whispered.
"Oh." Adora flushed a little. She had been so absorbed by her own thoughts, she had almost missed it.
The extractor started to humm, and a beam appeared, striking Sha're. Adora clenched her teeth. This was it. If things went wrong…
But Anise, who was operating the extractor, seemed neither worried nor alarmed as the extraction continued. That must be a good sign.
She still fidgeted. Not as much as Daniel, though, who was trembling as he watched and waited.
"It'll be alright," Jack told him in a low voice, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder. Sam said something in a whisper that Adora didn't catch.
Daniel nodded, but Adora wasn't sure he had heard either of them. Adora could understand that.
Then the extractor beeped, and she could see a symbiont - Aumanet - wriggle inside it. And Sha're… was breathing. Adora could see her chest rise and fall.
"The extraction was a success," Anise announced. "I'm administering the counteragent to the sedative now." She bent down and used an injector on Sha're's arm. "She should wake up soon. However, she was possessed by the Goa'uld for a long time..." Anise trailed off as Daniel stepped past her to stand at Sha're's side.
A minute passed. Was something wrong? Lenkova had woken up more quickly. Maybe the time spent possessed played a role…
A slight gasp interrupted her. Sha're opened her eyes, breathing heavily, looking around wildly.
Right. Adora bit her lower lip. The last thing Sha're would remember was being attacked by unknown women in Apophis's harem.
"Sha're…" Daniel bent forward. He was smiling and crying at the same time. "It's OK. You're safe. You're free."
"D-Daniel…" Sha're reached up to him, one trembling hand touching his cheek. "You're…"
He gently held it. "I'm here."
Then she started sobbing, and the two hugged each other, both crying and mumbling.
Adora pressed her lips together and blinked to clear her own eyes. Maybe they should leave? This felt like a very private moment. On the other hand, this wasn't their home, and if they needed help…
She glanced at Jack and Sam, who stood there, smiling at the couple. If they didn't see a need to leave, then it was probably OK.
No one was saying anything. Not even Anise. The two probably didn't really notice anyone right now.
And while Daniel and Sha're kept holding each other, Adora reached out to grab and squeeze Catra's hand. Her lover looked startled for a moment, then smiled at her.
Samantha Carter had spent years ensuring that she wasn't seen as 'emotional'. That would have been, if not a death sentence, then at least very damaging to her career in the Air Force. She was aware that a lot of sexist officers would have jumped at the chance to cast doubts on her ability to handle the stress of combat and leadership. Even after she had established herself as the leading scientist of Stargate Command and an essential member of SG-1, she had kept any public display of emotions to a minimum.
But she couldn't help the tears in her eyes when she saw Daniel embrace Sha're, both crying. After all the suffering, all the danger, they were finally reunited. Safe. She took a deep breath and glanced at the Colonel - the General, she corrected herself once again. His eyes were suspiciously wet as well. She was tempted to tell him that she wouldn't tell if he didn't, but that would be crossing a line she had kept away from for a long time.
Instead, she cleared her throat. "Maybe we should give them some privacy?" The middle of a Tok'ra extraction chamber wasn't the best place for an emotional reunion.
"Right," the General agreed. He still hesitated a moment, though, before addressing the couple. "Hey… we've got a room prepared for you to, ah, recover."
The Tok'ra had, Sam thought. They had done this before, numerous times.
It took a second before Daniel turned his head toward them. "Ah…" Then he looked at Sha're, pulling back a bit with obvious reluctance before he seemed to remember where they were. "I think that's a good idea…"
Sha're also looked around. Her eyes widened when she saw Adora and Catra.
Adora beamed at her. "Hello! I'm Adora - or She-Ra when I am like this." She waved a hand in front of her chest.
Catra rolled her eyes at that but nodded at Sha're. "Catra."
"I remember you." Sha're nodded. "You saved me?"
"We all did," Adora said at once. "We're Daniel's friends. And we'd like to be your friends as well."
"Thank you." Sha're nodded again. She hadn't let go of Daniel, still clutching his shirt with both hands. Nor had she wiped the tears off her cheeks. She turned to nod at Sam and the General as well. "Thank you."
Then she spotted the container with Aumanet inside and froze.
"She's our prisoner," Adora told her. "She won't ever hurt you again."
Sam half-expected Sha're to demand the Goa'uld's death - she would have, in her place - but the woman slowly nodded, trembling slightly. "I would like to leave this room," she whispered.
Anise - no, Freya, the voice was hers - nodded. "Please follow me." She gestured to the side, where a door opened, revealing a room with a large bed and other amenities. "Simply call for someone if you need anything."
Daniel slowly stood, helping Sha're up, and the two, holding hands, stepped into the room.
Sam sighed as the door closed behind them.
"She'll need time to get over her ordeal," Anise stated the obvious.
Everyone nodded at that quite solemnly without saying anything. Not even Catra or the General.
Instead, he looked at the captured Goa'uld queen. "So… I guess we'll add another snake to our aquarium."
"We would like to be present for her interrogation," Anise said. It sounded more like a demand than a request, in Sam's opinion. Then again, she knew that the Tok'ra were not entirely happy about the mission to Saqqara. The purges Apophis was conducting would endanger their agents at his court.
"Of course." Adora smiled at her.
Ansie looked surprised for a moment. She might not have realised that Adora was the genuine article, as the Colonel - the General - would say. Honest, open and idealistic. Even more so than most other Etherians they knew.
"Your knowledge of Apophis's court will be useful for that," Catra added.
"Yes." Anise took the container with Amaunet and handed it over to Adora before turning to Sam. "Would you like to see my latest work while we await your return to Earth?"
While they waited for Daniel and Sha're to recover enough to travel back, in other words. Sam nodded.
"No blowing up the planet," the General called out as they left.
"Yes, sir."
Outside in the hallway, on the way to Anise's lab, Freya asked: "How is Entrapta doing? I would have expected her to come with you for this. She wasn't hurt, was she?"
Sam sighed softly. "She's very busy researching and developing tools and weapons more suitable for similar missions."
Anise raised her eyebrows. "We have significant experience with such missions."
"She wants to ensure that we won't lose anyone else on the next mission," Sam said, skirting the implied question. Entrapta hadn't taken Bra'tac's death well. Sam wasn't even sure that her friend didn't still hold out hope that Bra'tac might have survived, just like Entrapta had when she was thought dead during Glimmer and Bow's rescue from the Fright Zone. Not that she would say that, of course - that was Entrapta's business.
Anise might suspect it, anyway - she nodded. "Ah."
The Tok'ra also had significant experience with losing friends on such missions, Sam reminded herself. Anise might even know better than Sam what Entrapta was feeling right now.
And while it was completely unreasonable, petty and likely unfounded, Sam couldn't help feeling a bit envious.
Thule Air Force Base, Greenland, Earth, November 14th, 1999
Another day in the Earth Kingdom of Ice and Snow. Catra shuddered at the thought of the temperature outside. Her fur wouldn't do a thing against the cold out there. At least they could stick to the base this time since they hadn't taken Frosta with them, so no one had to go outside and tell the princess that landing strips weren't playgrounds to be filled with ice sculptures.
On the other hand, watching the locals react to Adora carrying the new 'snake tank' inside was amusing. The soldiers in the base seemed both surprised that she could carry the thing at all without any help and annoyed somehow that the Supreme Commander of the Alliance was doing 'menial work', as one of the officers had told another in a whisper they thought Catra's ears wouldn't pick up after Adora had refused to let them help.
As if they could actually carry the thing! However, as funny as it was to see Earth troops still being surprised at seeing senior officers who actually did more than merely leading from the back, it was also a symptom of a potential problem. The Alliance leadership had grudgingly accepted that Adora and the other princesses would be on the frontlines 'whenever necessary', and Jack had extended that to himself somehow, but it was still a tenuous thing. And if it became the norm… Earth officers weren't princesses. Or Catra. Jack was great in a fight, sure, but she didn't think every Earth general would do more good fighting in the trenches than at the planning table. And if Earth officers started thinking that to get promoted in the Alliance, they had to follow his example…
She winced at the thought. That was a good way to kill off experienced leaders. An acceptable trade-off if they were after your position and willing to stab you in the back - literally in some cases - since fighting a coup in the middle of a war was worse than having to replace a Force Captain and recover from a lost offensive. But the Alliance was still struggling with training troops to fight a war in space and on other worlds, and losing any officer with experience or talent would hurt that.
But, she thought as she glanced at Adora while they waited in the cargo lift taking them down, trying to explain that to her friends would be a challenge. Adora had been raised in the Horde, but she had fought for years in the Princess Alliance. And all the others had grown up there. Except for Scorpia, but… she could shrug off cannon shots and throw tanks around, so she would probably take a while to understand the problem.
Maybe she should talk with Jack about that. At the very least, it should be amusing to see if he could think of a solution that would allow him to keep fighting on the front and prevent others from following his example.
The lift stopped, and the doors parted - they were on the special prisoner level. Catra straightened. Time to focus on the task at hand. She could deal with the military culture clash later. Maybe when Daniel was back at work - cultures were his thing.
"Hi!" Adora called out when they had passed through security and entered the holding area. "How are you doing?"
Osiris and Seth ignored her greeting, staring at the tank she was holding.
"That's Aumanet," Catra told them. "Apophis queen."
Both jerked at that, their little heads twisting.
"A queen?" Osiris's synthetic voice asked.
"Apophis's queen?" Seth added.
"We sneaked into his harem and took her since she was using the body of a friend," Catra said. Aumanet would tell them the story anyway once they finished interrogating her and allowed her to talk to her fellow prisoners. This was merely to show her that she wouldn't be killed after talking.
Both Goa'ld laughed at that, the translator turning their hissing into synthetic laughter. They would probably be more amused if they heard about how close the whole mission had come to failing, but since Amaunet didn't know that, having been stunned for the entire duration of that part, they didn't need to know.
Wouldn't want them to get ideas.
"And what about Apophis?" Seth asked.
"He wasn't in the harem," Adora said. "We just came for his queen and his prisoners."
"Was she his only queen?" Osiris still eyed the other snake.
"As far as we know, yes," Adora said. And the Tok'ra knew a lot. Though if Apophis had a replacement for Aumanet waiting, he probably would have kept that a secret from almost everyone - including Aumanet.
"Anyway," Catra spoke up. "We're just showing Aumanet where she'll be living afterwards."
"Yes." Adora proceeded to show the snake the third habitat in the tract. "We'll be back later."
"I'm looking forward to it," Osiris said.
"It will be good being able to hold a decent conversation again," Seth added.
Both were bickering when Adora and Catra left the cell tract and headed to the interrogation rooms. Which was a good thing. If their prisoners started cooperating, gathering intel from them would become harder.
"Apophis will conquer your world, and you will pay for your crimes against your gods, Tau'ri."
Jack O'Neill had met Goa'uld before and knew how arrogant they were, and this snake queen was a contender for the top position. She was a prisoner of war who had been captured in the palace of Apophis, on his throne world, and she still acted as if she was in charge. He shrugged as casually as he could. "He tried before and failed."
"That was because he was betrayed from within and underestimated you. He will not make these mistakes again." The synthetic voice from Entrapta's snake tank interface didn't sound as creepy as the actual Goa'uld voice. That robbed Amaunet's boasts of any weight they might have left, in Jack's opinion. In fact, she sounded almost like a complaining kid.
"Well, we're looking forward to seeing what new mistakes he'll make," he said, grinning.
"I am looking forward to seeing how he will punish you for your insolence," she retorted. "He has kept some of his enemies alive for years, suffering unimaginable agonies, until he granted them the mercy of death."
Now, that was a threat if you knew Apophis. Which Jack did. And yet… the snake queen hadn't mentioned how she would take revenge on them so far. Was she planning to offer them mercy if they let her go or something? It wasn't the best plan, far from it, but better, at least a little bit, than trying to threaten them with Apophis's revenge. That had such a vibe of 'my daddy can beat you all up', Jack almost laughed out loud at the mental picture it evoked.
"You know, that would sound more impressive if we hadn't just walked into Apophis's palace and captured you, liberated his prisoners, and then walked out again," Catra cut in. She leaned back and stretched her arms over her head. "Apophis just doesn't sound that dangerous to me."
"I see no proof for your claims," the snake said.
"Other than the fact that you are our prisoner?" Jack raised his eyebrows at her.
"We obviously captured you and got away," Adora spoke up. "You know that."
Amaunet didn't respond to that. "Apophis knows you have me. And he will come for me with all his might. You cannot stand against his fleets. Your only hope is to beg for mercy for your world lest he burns it down for your crimes against your god."
And here came the pitch. Jack shook his head. "No, thank you. I think we're doing fine." He was tempted to tell her about their guard fleet, but that would have given the snake intel, and it was too early for such a ploy. And it was a Horde fleet, so boasting of its power kind of felt like Amaunet threatening them with Daddy Apophis's revenge.
"Your arrogance will be your downfall! You cannot stand against the might of your gods!"
Jack had to chuckle at the irony of a Goa'uld calling them out for being arrogant. He heard Catra snort as well. Unfortunately, the snake's face wasn't exactly very expressive, so he couldn't tell how she took that.
Adora cleared her throat. "I disagree. We can and will stand against you."
"You think your new allies will protect you?" Amaunet's synthetic voice made a scoffing noise. "If they were powerful enough to be a concern, they wouldn't have hidden from us like rats."
She probably assumed that they were allied with cat people like Catra. It was an understandable assumption, given her knowledge.
And Catra laughed again. "We weren't hiding from you - we were busy fighting an enemy a bit more impressive than the Goa'uld. But with them defeated…" She shrugged. "We might as well take care of you."
"Words are cheap. I see only you here and no one else but Tau'ri."
"Then you are blind," Martouf spoke up.
Hearing the snake voice made Amaunet jerk in her tank. "Traitor!"
"You cannot betray whom you never owed allegiance to," Martouf replied.
"That's how you did it! You were let into the palace by a traitor! Who are you? Kabesh? Horon?"
Jack filed the two names away. Suspected traitors in Apophis's court were potential turncoats.
Catra snorted again. "You still don't understand what you are facing."
"We aren't Goa'uld," Martouf said.
"Tok'ra!" Somehow, the synthetic voice managed to hiss.
"Yes." Martouf stared at her. "We would have killed you after freeing your host. But others stayed our hand."
The glance at Adora was perhaps a bit much, in Jack's opinion. But they had to convince Amaunet that she was in the hands of a powerful enemy and that cooperation was her best bet to survive. "Osiris and Seth cooperated," he said.
"Traitors!"
"Realists." Priest stepped into the snake's field of view.
And Amaunet recoiled. "Horde!"
So, she was familiar enough with Horde Prime to recognise his clones. Another bit of useful information.
"False goddess," Priest retorted with a sneer. "You think you can stand against our fleets? The only reason we have not yet burned down your worlds and wiped you out is that our leader is more merciful than Horde Prime was."
Jack couldn't help wondering if Priest wasn't acting but merely telling the truth.
"Horde Prime is dead?" Amaunet asked.
"Her Divine Highness destroyed the Great Deceiver and freed us!" Priest bowed towards Adora. "Her wisdom and mercy have guided us ever since."
Adora smiled a bit weakly, but Jack doubted that the snake queen noticed - she was twitching in the tank.
Well, it seemed that they had softened her up enough for the interrogators waiting outside to take over.
Royal Palace, Bright Moon, November 15th, 1999 (Earth Time)
"...and while the interrogations have just started, we're optimistic that Aumanet can be convinced to cooperate, at least to the degree Osiris and Seth are cooperating with us," Adora summed up. The Goa'uld queen certainly had been impressed once she had realised that she wasn't just facing Earth but the Horde.
"Which isn't much," Mermista commented. "They are still trying to manipulate us in the hope of gaining power for themselves."
Adora nodded. "But they are doing so by trying to ingratiate themselves to us, which means they are helping us."
"And trying to set up their inevitable betrayal," Mermista retorted.
"Of course they are." Glimmer snorted. "But we know that. And forewarned is forearmed."
"And without sapient hosts, they aren't at their best," Catra added. "They have all their memories, but they aren't as smart as they think they are. And that makes them vulnerable."
Perfuma frowned at that. "I still think that's cruel. Leaving them in such a diminished state… It's wrong."
"Letting them possess someone would also be wrong," Glimmer retorted. "No one deserves to be a prisoner in their own body."
Everyone nodded at that. Especially those who had been controlled by Horde Prime back in the war. Adora reached over and patted Catra's thigh.
Her lover snorted softly, with a twisted grin, but put her own hand over Adora's.
"I know!" Perfuma sighed, nibbling on her lower lip. "But isn't there a way we can help them without hurting anyone else? We've managed to create synthetic symbionts so the Jaffa won't have to depend on the Goa'uld larvae any more."
"It's a bit harder to create a synthetic host," Bow said. "Especially since they would have to be sapient to provide the Goa'uld with the boost in intelligence they are used to. And if they're sapient, they are people."
"And no one should be controlled by Goa'uld," Mermista added.
Not even criminals. Adora nodded.
"Where's Entrapta, anyway?" Netossa asked.
"She's busy in her lab," Adora told her. Their friend had been busy since they had returned from Saqqara. And that was worrying. She really needed to talk to Entrapta about this. As soon as this meeting was done. Well, this and the one after it.
"A sort of synthetic host would help the Tok'ra, too, wouldn't it?" Frosta asked.
Adora wasn't sure about that. "I think they want equal partners for their hosts, not some, uh, biological bot." Which was a kind of worrying concept to begin with.
"Yes," Perfuma said. "A true symbiosis, where both parts profit and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts."
"People aren't plants," Mermista said.
"Of course, they aren't," Perfuma said, frowning a little. "But the principles here are the same."
"Yes," Scorpia spoke up with a smile. "And even if it doesn't help the Tok'ra, if the Goauld won't need people as hosts any more, that's good."
Frosta scoffed. "They are parasites. Why should we help them get smarter? That will only make them more dangerous."
"Because we can't have peace with them if they feel that they have to possess others just to be as smart as they are used to," Perfuma told her. "We need to offer them an alternative that allows them to live peacefully with everyone else."
"But with their genetic memory, they also feel that they need to be worshipped and rule over others," Netossa pointed out. "At least the majority of them - I am aware that some of them joined the Tok'ra."
"Yes," Adora said. "Even Goa'uld can change."
"Some of them," Catra commented. "Most of them won't."
Frosta frowned at her, Adora noted, but seemed to agree.
"And editing their genetic memory would make us as bad as Horde Prime," Bow said. Everyone looked at him. "Ah, just pointing out that that's not a solution," he said, smiling weakly.
Adora wasn't sure if anyone had brought that up so far, but it was clear that Bow had thought about it. But he was right. "Yes. We won't stoop to that level. To manipulate people like that…" She almost shuddered at the thought.
"And what if the Goa'uld won't accept peace? Mermista asked.
"Then we banish them to their homeworld and blockade it," Glimmer said.
"Or we simply capture all queens and don't let them spawn more of them," Frosta suggested. "Then they will die out. Peacefully," she added when everyone stared at her.
"That is wrong as well. To keep them from procreating... We would doom an entire species!" Perfuma shook her head. "We can't do that!"
"They wouldn't die out - the Tok'ra would survive," Frosta defended her idea.
"The Tok'ra don't consider themselves Goa'uld," Adora pointed out.
"Biologically, they are the same species unless you consider their genetic memory as enough of a difference to treat them as two species," Bow said.
That sounded like a technicality. "We're not going to wipe out the Goa'uld," Adora said.
"Then we'll have to lobotomise them and lock them up in their native swamp," Catra said. She didn't seem to be sad about that, Adora noted.
And she wasn't alone with that stance in the Princess Alliance, judging by the nods from others.
It still felt wrong to do that to anyone. But unless someone came up with a better idea, it might be the least wrong solution the Alliance had.