Chapter 4: The Dinner Conversation
Royal Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, July 10th, 1998 (Earth Time)
"The last of their species?"
Their guests sounded horrified, Adora noticed. As they should be, she thought a moment later, feeling guilty at her grief surprise. Wiping out entire planets was one of the most horrible things you could imagine. Unless you were Horde Prime.
"Yes, Horde Prime razed their planet when they resisted his attack," Glimmer said.
Adora kept her expression neutral while she nodded. "And it wasn't the only planet that suffered that fate."
"Sounds like he took lessons from the Goa'uld," O'Neill commented. "They're big on making examples out of any resistance as well."
"Yes," Daniel agreed. "They would eradicate a planet's population, then resettle it with slaves if they deemed that necessary to crush a rebellion. Sometimes, they even rendered the planet barren, unable to sustain human life. They mark such planets with a totem to warn off Jaffa and others."
That sounded terrible as well. But then, they were fighting the Goa'uld, and it was obvious that they wanted help. Yet, fighting another war...
Melog growled.
Catra nodded. "Horde Prime did the same - he wiped out the planet."
"Yes. There actually wasn't much left that could sustain any life on Melog's home planet," Entrapta said. "The ecosystem was completely destroyed. I don't think it could've been restored without magic - or technology on a scale we don't have access to."
"It's an example to discourage the others," O'Neill said. "Tyrants generally think nothing of sacrificing one world to control the rest."
"It wasn't the only world," Adora told them. "The Star Siblings were the only survivors of their people as well. Horde Prime did that to many, many worlds."
"Oh." Even O'Neill looked taken aback.
They still didn't understand. "He didn't want to rule the population. Just as long as they were useful. Ultimately, he wanted to replace them with his clones," she said. "Clones who were utterly loyal to him. His perfect empire."
"He had a collection of art and food from the various planets he had destroyed," Glimmer said. "He liked to show it off."
Adora glanced at Catra. Her friend was tense, sitting utterly still, but her tail was rapidly swishing back and forth. She placed her hand on Catra's thigh and gently squeezed.
"Well, I think no one will be missing the guy," O'Neill said.
"Except for his clones," Entrapta corrected him. "They're very lost without him. Left adrift. Some even died because they didn't bother eating."
Adora clenched her teeth. She hadn't had any choice - she had to destroy Horde Prime before he destroyed Etheria and everything else in the sector. But the clones, brainwashed to blindly obey, were suffering because of it. And there wasn't much she could do about it - they didn't even know where most of them were, what with Horde Prime's flagship gone. Turned into plants. All they could do was helping those on Etheria and nearby to rebuild their lives.
"Well, enough of that," Micah said. "You were telling us about your world, Colonel."
"Ah, right." O'Neill's smile was fake; even Adora could tell. But he nodded. "Well, as I said, it's a rather average world. We've got a lot of water - about two-thirds of the planet's covered in it. Lots of people, too, but there are still plenty of places where you can be by yourself and relax."
And they still called the world 'Earth' even though it was more water than earth? Well, different planet, different customs. "That sounds peaceful," Adora commented. Far more peaceful than she would expect of a world fighting such monsters as the Goa'uld.
"Well, I won't say we don't have any conflicts," O'Neill said. "But most people are just living their lives. And they won't have to face war if we've got anything to say about it."
"Until the Goa'uld reach your world with their spaceships, you mean," Catra said. "Pretty hard to live your life once the orbital bombardment starts and the infantry and tanks drop into your towns."
"They probably would get stuck in traffic," O'Neill said with a short snort.
"Sir," Carter hissed.
"Sorry, that was a bad joke about traffic jams in big cities." The man's smile looked a little rueful.
"Trying to move anything through a bottleneck is frustrating," Catra said. "One stuck transport and an entire column might be forced to divert - or wait for supplies."
"Yes. That can be averted with proper planning, though, and a smart traffic control system," Entrapta cut in. "Not that it's needed any more, what with the Horde dissolved. But it would have worked if I could've implemented it."
Adora liked Entrapta very much, but sometimes, she wished her friend would not sound quite so disappointed about all the missed opportunities to make the Horde even more dangerous.
"So, tell me about your leader," Glimmer said. "Who rules your world - or your country, if you aren't a united world. You don't seem to have monarchs, do you?"
Adora leaned forward. This was interesting.
"Ah, no, most countries elect their leaders," O'Neill said. "Everyone gets to vote for who calls the shots."
Adora blinked. That was… "How does that work?" she asked. "You just… gather and say who you want to lead you?" That might work for a village, but for a town like Bright Moon? "And how do you pick whoever you want? Do you see their test results?"
"Test results?" Now O'Neill looked confused.
"How else do you know if your pick for leader is a good leader?" Adora explained. "Do you look at how they fared in leadership training?" That was how Force Captains had been selected, at least as far as she knew.
"Most people chosen as leaders have some experience with leadership on a smaller scale," Daniel said.
"Ah. So, like promotions," Catra said. "You look at who's doing well leading a squad, then promote them to lead a platoon, and if they don't get everyone killed, they take over the company once a slot opens. Sensible." She nodded.
Daniel cleared his throat. "Ah, it's not quite like that."
"I sure hope it isn't," Glimmer muttered. "Just because you can lead troops doesn't mean you can rule a country."
"Well, you would know best," Catra told her with a smile.
Adora winced.
Samantha Carter saw the queen glare at Catra for that flippant comment. And the smile looked quite toothy. Did that mean that the queen had started commanding troops and wasn't very adept at ruling the country? Well, she was very young, so she obviously couldn't have a lot of experience. Although her father would be helping her with advice and, possibly, handling some matters himself.
Daniel cleared his throat again. "There are no restrictions for running for, ah, leadership positions, although there is usually a minimum age requirement. In our country, for example, you have to be thirty-five years old to become president - which is the highest office, the leader of our country."
"Wow, Frosta would hate that!" Entrapta said next to Sam. The princess turned towards her. "She was always sensitive about her young age," she whispered.
Sam blinked. Young age? Glimmer, Queen Glimmer, looked as if she were barely in her twenties. "How young was she when she took her throne?" Sam whispered while Daniel went into a brief or not so brief explanation of various age requirements."
"I think she was eight years old when she took over the throne of the Kingdom of Snows."
"Eight years old?" Sam blurted out, a little too loudly, as it turned out since everyone looked at her.
"Talking about Frosta?" Catra asked.
"Yes." Entrapta nodded.
"You had an eight-year-old ruler?" The Colonel shook his head.
"I'm sure she had advisers," Daniel was quick to say.
"I think she had," Entrapta replied with a nod. "It's not as if you can run a kingdom, even one as small as Dryl, on your own. Although I probably could if I used my bots, though they are kind of like advisors. Or guards. Or servants. But I don't call them that, or my actual servants might feel hurt."
"Our monarchies - many of them, at least - had a regent when the heir to the throne wasn't of age yet. The regent ruled until the monarch reached adultness." Daniel smiled at their hosts.
"But you replaced them with your elections, didn't you?" Catra asked.
"Well, yes," Daniel admitted. "Though in some countries, the monarchs remained as heads of state, though with very limited power."
"So… you have countries with a queen or king and an elected leader," Glimmer summed up. "What if they don't agree on something?"
Sam winced. That was a tricky question, and…
...Daniel answered it honestly: "The elected government takes precedence."
Sam was very relieved that the Colonel didn't make a guillotine joke.
Catra snorted. "Well, that only works if your princes and princesses don't have any magic powers."
"I think that is the crucial difference between our two worlds, yes," Daniel agreed. "Without, ah, royalty defined by magic powers, a king or queen's right to rule was more easily questioned. In the past, they claimed divine right to rule, but there came a time when that, too, was questioned - as was religion itself. So, gradually or abruptly, most monarchies were replaced by democracies. Democracy means 'the rule of the people'."
"Government of the people, by the people, for the people," the Colonel quoted Lincoln.
It was quite clear, at least to Sam, that their hosts didn't like that. Well, except for Entrapta, who seemed intrigued. Then again, the princess seemed to be curious about everything from Earth.
"Fascinating!" she gushed. "So, you elect your leader, who then acts like a princess without magic."
"And you hope you didn't pick an idiot as your leader," Catra added. "If you did, how do you get rid of them? Kill them off?" She actually sounded serious, Sam noticed.
"There are regular elections," Daniel explained. "Usually every four to seven years. But in most democracies, there's generally a non-violent way to remove a particularly inept leader. A peaceful change of power is the hallmark of a working democracy."
"And if that doesn't work?" Glimmer asked.
"Then you tend to have a violent change of power," the Colonel said.
"But that's rare in democracies," Daniel quickly added. "The most stable countries in our world are democracies."
"Fascinating!" Entrapta beamed. "So, you use a system of calculated instability - the change in government based on elections - to create long-term stability. A very creative concept with a number of promising applications."
That was a rather creative view, but not wrong. Though Sam had a feeling that Entrapta was thinking about something not related to government.
"That's about it," Daniel said, nodding.
"And how can you make long-term plans if you will be replaced in a few years?" Glimmer asked.
"Well, in most countries, you can get reelected. Some countries have term limits, but they vary." Daniel nodded. "But there are some issues with short-sighted policies."
"I bet," Catra said. "That's like letting the troopers run the army."
"Oh, I've met some troopers who would be great at that," the Colonel said. "And some generals who were bad at running anything."
"Must be a bad system then," Catra retorted. "If you end up with bad leaders at the top."
"And you would know all about that, wouldn't you?" Glimmer asked with a toothy smile.
Sam frowned. She was missing something here.
Catra glared at Glimmer then forced herself to smile. Good hit, Sparkles - though she had still copied Catra. And she wasn't entirely wrong. Catra had messed up. A lot. Of course, she had also won a lot. Conquered Plumeria and Salineas. Almost taken Bright Moon. All without some sparkly magic power or sparkly magic friends. All without Adora…
A hand - Adora's - squeezed her knee. "No system is perfect," her lover said, frowning at Glimmer.
"No one's perfect," Catra whispered under her breath. Adora sometimes still thought she had to be perfect.
"Yes!" Entrapta, with perfect timing, piped up. "It's how a system deals with the inevitable errors that crop up that determines if it's a good, working system or a problem. Also, blowing up is generally not a good result." She nodded.
Catra snorted, even though she was pretty sure that Entrapta was talking literally about blowing up. But it fit anyway. Or either way, given what Glimmer and she had done in the past.
Adora nodded, but before she could say something, the old guy spoke up. "And those officers were removed, retired, or moved to a post where they couldn't do much harm. Eventually."
Oh, that was a pretty soft system then. Inept leaders would've been disposed of in the Horde. Or sent on a suicide mission to the Crimson Waste, she reminded herself. "So, your troopers got promoted to replace them?" she asked.
"Some," O'Neill replied. "They would have to want to get promoted - and they would have to go to officer's school."
"Officer school? Is that like the cadet command course?" Adora asked. "Where you learn how to lead?"
"Pretty much, yes," O'Neill told her. "Though you don't really learn to lead - that you only learn in the field through experience."
Which was true. And sometimes, you didn't learn how to really lead, even if it seemed to be working. But that wasn't the subject Catra wanted to hear about. "So, you either replaced your princesses, or you turned them into servants?"
"Ah, not servants. That wouldn't be correct," Daniel spoke up. "They serve the state, but as Head of state, performing ceremonial and representative duties. And while they generally don't have any, ah, official power, they still have a lot of soft power - influence amongst the people and the politicians, that is, the elected officials in the government and parliament."
Still sounded like a raw deal for any princess, in Catra's opinion. Not that some of them didn't deserve to be replaced or serve someone, at least for a while. Teach them how everyone else lived. As Adora showed, you didn't need to rule a country to be a princess, anyway. Some would probably be happier if they didn't have to deal with a country.
Glimmer, though, wouldn't. She was keeping up a polite front, but Catra could tell that she didn't like what she was hearing. "But how were your original monarchs chosen if you didn't have any magic?"
"Mostly by their ancestors killing everyone who disagreed with the opinion that they should lead," O'Neill replied.
"Jack!" Daniel glared at him. "That's an oversimplification. While probably true in some cases, not every leader was selected through force of arms. As experiments and records show, often, leaders were chosen for their qualities in handling a crisis."
"So… you first elected your leaders, then they stopped being elected, and now you're back to electing them?" Micah asked.
Daniel laughed. "You could put it that way, I suppose, though, as usual, the truth is more complicated."
It always was, Catra knew. Nothing was ever simple. If it looked simple, it was a trap. And their guests did look a little too simple for her taste. A team of soldiers, here by accident, fighting enemies that fought Melog's people in the past and were a threat to Etheria. Very simple, very convenient.
"So, who's your leader?" Glimmer asked.
"Ah, do you mean our country's leader or our commanding officer?" Daniel asked,
"Both."
Catra leaned forward. This would be interesting.
"Stargate Command is under the, ah, command of General Hammond," Daniel said. "He's an experienced officer who has seen us through a lot of situations. And he cares for the troops under his command."
"He's a fine, honourable leader," the tall, dark and silent guy, Teal'c, spoke up.
"Yes." Daniel nodded.
So, basically, 'good officer'. Not much to go on.
"And your country's leader?"
"That would be the President. He's in his second term," Daniel said. "He's done a lot for the economy; the country's prospering."
"Impressive," Glimmer commented. "A country generally suffers in a war."
"Unless you're winning and conquering enemy territory and resources." Catra looked at their guests. Fortunately, Glimmer didn't take this as a dig but as the warning that it was meant to be.
"Ah, we don't conquer territory. We're looking for allies, actually," Daniel said. "But since we mainly fight the war through the Stargates with limited means, we didn't have to turn the economy into a war economy. Most people don't even know about the war."
Catra blinked. That sounded… "You're fighting body-snatching snakes out to destroy your planet, and you haven't geared up for war?" That couldn't be true!
But from the way the others, especially O'Neill, frowned at Daniel, it probably was true.
What were those people thinking? That wasn't how you won a war!
Just great. Daniel kept spilling intel. And in the worst way possible. Jack O'Neill knew that being honest with potential allies was the best policy - keeping secrets tended to come back and bite you at the worst possible moment - but there was a time and place to explain how SGC operated and the first dinner date with royalty wasn't it.
But it would have to be. He had to fix this before their hosts got the wrong impression. He shook his head. "We're doing what we can. Since we fight this war through the Stargates, we don't exactly need huge armies, and tanks and planes wouldn't fit through it." Theoretically, a tank would fit, but that would require ramps that could handle its weight - and you'd have to get the tank to the gate in the first place. Not to mention that Death Gliders would turn most tanks into scrap in short order.
"Planes?" Adora asked.
"Vehicles that rely on aerodynamics to generate lift to fly, not spells or gravity generators," Entrapta explained.
"Yeah, that," Jack said. "Anyway, vehicles are generally too big to send through the gate - at least military ones - and we aren't invading any planet anyway, so we're using small, mobile teams to explore, recon and strike."
"Like your team?" Catra asked.
"Yes." That should be obvious, in Jack's opinion.
"Great. You're fighting princess-style without princesses." Catra snorted. "And you're doing it using natural choke points."
"We're not walking through the gate without sending in a drone first," Carter said.
"Unless we have to leave in a hurry," Jack added. They were already aware of that, after all.
"It's still…" Catra shook her head. "How can you fight a war without even telling your people?"
Jack shrugged. "We manage." It wasn't the best idea, in his opinion, and he absolutely hated lying to the families of the soldiers killed in action about accidents instead of telling them the truth, but orders were orders, and those came from the President himself. And Jack had done enough black ops to know that the military refusing to obey the government was a bad idea. Generally, at least - sometimes, you had to do what you had to, orders or not orders. But he certainly wouldn't bitch to strangers about that. "It also keeps us under the radar. If the Goa'uld saw us sending armies through the gate, they might stop fighting each other and unite against us." And Earth would be conquered. Hell, just one System Lord with a single spaceship could crush all their defences unless SGC managed to pull off another miracle.
"But how can you prepare to repel an invasion without telling your people what's happening?" Glimmer asked.
That was a question Jack had asked himself. "We're doing what we can - recruiting the best and brightest, gathering information, looking for weaknesses…"
The others didn't look as if they were buying that. Well, from what they had said and let slip, they had been through a more conventional war. As conventional a war could be when they were using magic, of course. And spaceships.
"That only works until the other side changes the rules," Catra said. "If you rely on the gate protecting you, you might end up like Salineas."
"Salineas?" Jack asked. He saw that Catra flinched a little, and the blonde, Adora, pat her hand.
"A kingdom in the sea, protected by the Sea Gate," Adora explained. "The Horde found a way around it and attacked with massed forces. It fell quickly."
"Ah." The catwoman had probably fought there. He nodded at her. Losing a battle was always hard.
"But why are you looking for allies if you don't even use your own people?" Glimmer asked. "That sounds as if you want others to fight your war." She narrowed her eyes at them. "And why should we trust you if you don't even trust your own people to tell them the truth?"
Damn. Well, time to do what Daniel would do. "To be honest," Jack said, "Earth isn't as advanced as the Goa'uld. We can match them on the ground - we're a bit better, actually, since our weapons are more effective - but we don't have spaceships or the technology to produce them." He ignored Carter's slight gasp. "Not yet. So, even if we went all war economy, we would only produce more targets on the ground which would be bombed from orbit. We stopped one such invasion, but if they launch another, we're pretty much done for." He pressed his lips together. He didn't like admitting how weak Earth was, but they weren't dealing with a planet full of slaves or former slaves, kept at a primitive tech level for millennia. These people had spaceships.
And they looked surprised. Jack could tell as they exchanged glances and looks.
"And if we told everyone, there would be a mass panic," Daniel spoke up. "People would riot, wars might get started - we're not ready for such a revelation. We would have to prepare for that very carefully, or we might destroy ourselves before the Goa'uld make another attempt to take Earth." He smiled ruefully. "We only started using the Stargate a few years ago."
"In other words, you're desperate," Catra said.
"We'll help you!" Adora blurted out. "We won't let another planet be destroyed."
Jack blinked. He hadn't expected that. Judging by the groans of Glimmer and Catra, they hadn't expected that, either.
Catra was giving her that look - the one where she thought Adora was being stupid - again. And Glimmer looked annoyed with her. If both of them agreed on something.. Well, they were still wrong this time! Adora sat straighter. "We've seen what happens when people like Horde Prime aren't stopped. He destroyed a lot of planets just for not bowing to him. If the Goa'uld are the same, then we have to stop them."
Melog growled. It sounded like they approved.
Catra sighed. "Melog agrees," she confirmed.
Adora smiled at both of them.
Catra still glared at her. Same as Glimmer.
"Thank you!" Daniel beamed at her.
"Yes, thank you," O'Neill added. "So what would that help entail, exactly?"
Oops. Adora had spoken as if she spoke for everyone. No wonder Glimmer was annoyed. "Well, I'm She-Ra. I'm good at destroying spaceships." She smiled at the Tau'ri.
"Well, that's straightforward." O'Neill sounded as if he was sarcastic, though.
"Just point her at a spaceship you don't like and let her at it," Catra said. "But we're not going to let her go off alone."
"Of course not," Glimmer said with a last glance-glare at Adora before looking at O'Neill. "But we're not going to rush out without a plan, either."
Adora hadn't been planning to do that! She was about to point that out when Catra's hand on her thigh - the claws pricking her skin - stopped her.
"If we are to become allies, we need a lot more information about your world," Glimmer went on. "What kind of help you need, what kind of help you can provide."
"Data!" Entrapta said, nodding. "The more data, the better. We can't make plans without sufficient data. First, we need to determine where Earth is in relation to us. Then we can work out how long it'll take for a fleet to arrive here."
"A fleet?" O'Neill tilted his head a little.
"I think we'll need a fleet. But without more data, I can't say how big it has to be," Entrapta said.
"We'll also have to ensure that Etheria is safe from any attack by the Goa'uld," Catra pointed out. "That means enough ships to stall an invasion force and a secure Stargate so we can return at once if Adora's needed."
Glimmer nodded after a glance at Catra. "You have the means to secure a Stargate and still allow easy access through it," she told their guests. "We need that."
"That requires quite the resources," Carter said.
"Which we'll gladly share," O'Neill cut in. "No sweat." He looked at Carter and mouthed something Adora didn't catch.
"Yes!" Entrapta beamed. "We need metallurgy data and examples of the mechanism you use."
"And we need to talk to your leaders," Glimmer said. "So we can come to an agreement. We're not going to jump into a war without a formal alliance."
Right. Politics. Adora wasn't good at those. She wasn't a real princess, after all - she was the protector of Etheria, not a ruler. She nodded anyway.
"That can be arranged," O'Neill said.
"With all your leaders, though. Not just your country's," Glimmer told him. "We aren't going to create another Horde."
"What do you mean?" Daniel asked.
"When Hordak arrived on Etheria," Glimmer explained, "He was alone. He created the Horde by using his knowledge to take over the Scorpion Kingdom, which he then turned into the core of his army - an army dangerous enough to almost conquer Etheria."
"Wait!" Daniel said, frowning, "You mentioned Hordak before." He looked at Entrapta.
"Oh, yes. He's my science buddy." Entrapta smiled, then blinked. "Ah, yes, he doesn't want to conquer Etheria any more, don't worry!"
Adora didn't need to hear Glimmer's words to know that her friend was muttering 'he better not' or something like it under her breath.
But their guests looked surprised. "Hordak was the leader of the Horde?" Daniel asked.
"Until he turned against Horde Prime," Entrapta confirmed. "And he only led the Horde he had built on Etheria, not Horde Prime's Horde."
"He turned against his cruel leader," Teal'c spoke up with a slow nod. "An honourable action."
"Yeah, yeah." Glimmer's mouth twisted into a slight grimace. "It was pretty much everyone against Horde Prime."
"We have a saying on Earth: The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Daniel said.
"Something like that," Glimmer said.
Adora half-expected Bow to mention the Best Friends Squad, but he stayed quiet.
"Yes," Entrapta nodded with a scowl. "Horde Prime wiped his memories - or tried to. Hordak was stronger than he thought, tough."
"Not all of us are best friends," Bow spoke up, "but we aren't enemies any more." There he was!
Adora nodded in agreement. "Yes. We all worked together to defeat Horde Prime. And we'll have to work together to defeat those Goa'uld."
"Well, we have sort of experience with that," O'Neill said, looking at Teal'c. "Working against your former overlord and such."
"Indeed. It's our hope that many more Jaffa will turn against the false gods."
Right. Teal'c had changed sides as well. Adora remembered his comments.
"So, with that settled, we have to determine where Earth is, so we can get there. We probably can find a world with a Stargate to travel there, but that won't work for spaceships." Entrapta nodded. "Do you have any astronomical data?" she asked, beaming at Carter.
"So… that went…" The Colonel trailed off after closing the door to their quarters.
"I think it went well," Daniel said with a smile. "We made new allies."
Samantha Carter suppressed a wince. They might have made new allies, allies with advanced technology - very interesting technology, as she had gathered from her talk with Entrapta - but...
"Care to tell me why you kept spilling information about Earth to people we just met?" the Colonel asked, narrowing his eyes.
Daniel, unlike what Sam had expected, wasn't flustered. "It was necessary to earn their trust, Jack," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "Lying to them would have caused trouble as soon as the truth came out."
"You didn't have to lie," the Colonel told him with a frown. "But you didn't have to tell them everything."
"Lying by omission is still lying," Daniel countered. He was frowning - digging in his heels, Sam realised. "We're dealing with an advanced civilisation here, Jack! Not with former slaves hiding from their 'gods'. They just finished a decades-long war, too. Do you think they wouldn't have noticed if I answered evasively? They did actually, but were too polite to point it out."
Some of their hosts had noticed when Daniel had been evasive, Sam agreed. But Entrapta probably had missed it. The woman was brilliant, but she seemed to have some issues with social interaction.
"They were so polite, they called us desperate and started to list conditions for their help."
"Aren't we desperate?" Daniel retorted. "We barely managed to defeat Apophis when he arrived with two motherships. If he returns with an actual fleet…"
The Colonel clenched his teeth. "I'm aware of our military situation, Daniel. But everything has its price. The more they know about us, the more they can demand."
Daniel shook his head. "They won't do that, Jack. They're good people."
The Colonel snorted. Sam was forced to agree with him - Daniel was naive. Their hosts might be good people - they certainly have that impression - but they were also rulers of a country. And that meant they had to act in the interest of their country.
Their friend looked at them and frowned. "I've talked to Adora while you were hunting monster worms. She's not going to extort us. And she won't let others extort us either." He sounded convinced of that.
The Colonel scoffed. "She also wants to bring magic to Earth."
"And she probably could," Daniel retorted. "At least something she considers magic."
"A form of energy you can manipulate, according to Entrapta," Sam said, "if you have the talent for it. Probably a genetic condition or trigger."
"That's not the point." The Colonel shook his head. "I didn't get the impression that she would be asking nicely if she could turn Earth into a land of magic and rainbows."
Sam was, once again, forced to agree with this assessment.
"She won't. Just as she won't let us get exploited." Daniel shook his head as well. "Jack, this is the chance we've been hoping for! Allies who have the technology and means to fight the Goa'uld on even terms! And they have magic!"
"So they claim."
Sam cleared her throat. "So far, their claims seem to be plausible, sir. I've talked with Entrapta, and she has demonstrated a quite extensive knowledge of Ancients technology."
"Don't let the spears and swords fool you," Daniel added. "They have shown us their technology."
"We didn't see their ships," the Colonel objected.
"Why would they lie about that? What would they gain?"
"Entrapta knows how to navigate in space," Sam pointed out. The woman had asked for astronomical data, and Sam didn't doubt that, if she had enough data, she could locate Earth.
"And she wants to know where Earth is." The Colonel clenched his teeth. "We can block the gate. We can't block space."
"Do you expect them to invade us?"
"We've only met half a dozen people here," the Colonel pointed out. "What about the rest of the world? And they're working with their former enemies!"
"That fits with their society, Jack." Daniel smiled. "In an aristocratic society, people often felt closer to fellow aristocrats than to their subjects, even if they had fought each other in the past. Especially if they hadn't lost close family in the war. They might not have the concept of nationalism as we know it."
"They fought a war against the Horde - and it was a total war; you saw their reaction when they found out that the USA doesn't run a war economy." The Colonel shook his head once more. "And they let the enemy leader off."
"That wasn't uncommon on Earth, either. Especially for aristocracies. And he switched sides according to them. You can't judge them according to our values, Jack. And they aren't like the Goa'uld."
"We hope so."
"We have seen their reaction to the Goa'uld practices and policies," Sam said.
"They do not seem as if they would tolerate the false gods," Teal'c commented.
"And it's not as if the USA is only allied with perfect democracies," Daniel pointed out - a little snidely, Sam thought. "At the very least, they do not seem to discriminate based on gender or sexual orientation."
"There were a lot of women in charge and few men," Jack objected.
Sam refrained from rolling her eyes. "They accepted you as our leader at once, sir," she said. "If they were biased against men, they wouldn't have done that. They would have kept looking to me instead. Trust me, sir, I would know." She had experienced enough discrimination and sexism in her career to spot that kind of bullshit everywhere.
The Colonel looked a little abashed but wasn't giving in. "So they aren't a matriarchy," he said. "But they aren't a democracy, either. And we don't know how they will react if and when they visit Earth."
Sam had to agree again. They could only hope for the best now.
Catra shook her head as she leaned against the planning table in Glimmer's operation room - which wasn't called that, of course, but something like 'planning room'. Or 'Royal Planning Room', all capitals. "So… we're going to help those guys just based on their word alone?"
"Melog confirmed their claims about the Goa'uld," Bow pointed out.
"Yes, yes." Catra waved her hand. "But just because their enemies are as bad as they say doesn't mean our guests are as good as they say."
"Do you think Daniel lied?" Adora asked. She wasn't fidgeting, but she sounded a little insecure. Damn.
"I don't think so," Catra admitted. "But he wasn't telling us everything."
"And the others didn't like him telling us as much as he did," Glimmer added. "We did hear enough, though."
"We did? We still don't have astronomical data to locate their home planet. Or the location of another Stargate," Entrapta said.
Glimmer narrowed her eyes for a moment. "We know enough to make a few deductions."
"As Mermista would say," Adora cut in with a grin.
"And me too! It's science!"
Glimmer's eyes narrowed further. Sparkles didn't like it when she was interrupted, Catra knew that. "First, they are not representing their world, but a single kingdom."
"But they don't call it a kingdom," Bow cut in.
"I was coming to that." Glimmer glared at him. "Second, they don't have kingdoms. They have no princesses in charge."
"Some of their countries might be ruled by royalty," Catra pointed out. Daniel had been a little evasive.
"But none that matter," Glimmer said.
Bow cleared his throat. "Since they don't have magic, it's understandable that they don't have royal lines."
"Third," Glimmer continued a little more loudly, "they don't like our plan to return magic to their world."
"Sam likes it, I think," Entrapta said. "She was very interested in my data on magic."
"O'Neill doesn't like it." Glimmer objected. "And he's their commander."
"Yeah," Catra agreed. "But he doesn't like many things, I think." He reminded her of some older Force Captains she knew. Had known.
"That doesn't change that we have to help them." Adora took a step forward. "We can't let their planet get destroyed. Or any planet."
"Yes." Glimmer smiled. "And we will help them. But we can't just blindly stumble into this. We don't want to cause another Horde situation."
"Do you really think they'll use our help to conquer their world?" Adora asked.
"They aren't their kingdom's leader - they answer to them," Catra pointed out.
"But we wouldn't let them use us to conquer anything." Her lover shook her head. "We're not the Horde."
"If they learn magic here, then they will be ready when we return magic to their world. That would give them a huge advantage," Glimmer said.
"If their world works like ours." Bow looked at them. "We don't know that."
"Magic is an advantage," Catra told him. "Without it, the Horde would have crushed you."
"But as the Horde proved, you don't need magic to win a war against a kingdom with magic," Entrapta spoke up. "Although since the Horde ultimately lost, that might be incorrect."
"In any case, we need to know more before we can commit to an alliance." Glimmer put both hands on the table.
"I won't let their planet get destroyed!" Adora insisted.
"And we won't," Glimmer agreed. "But that's not the same as forming an alliance."
"Right." Catra nodded. "Since they need protection we can station a fleet in their system. That would give the clones here something to do."
"Some people are nervous about the presence of the clones," Bow said. "But should we send them out to fight a war on someone else's behalf?"
Catra grinned. "If She-Ra is going, half of them are going anyway."
Adora frowned at her in return. "I don't want them to! I am no goddess!"
Catra shrugged. "You killed their god, you took his place."
"Hordak killed Horde Prime!"
"Hordak wasn't the one to turn Prime's flagship into a plant. A space plant," Catra shot back. "They pray to you, not to him."
"Well, some do," Entrapta said. "But not all. Some do want Hordak to lead them."
"What?" Glimmer all but jumped.
"He refused - it's tedious, he said. And he's right. But just as we have a responsibility towards our kingdom - you taught me that, remember? - he has a responsibility for them." Entrapta beamed at Glimmer.
Catra kept a smile on her face, but she was a little worried. Hordak working with Entrapta was one thing. Hordak working with clones? Clones with space ships only they and a handful of people on Etheria, most of them in this room, could fly? That was another thing.
"Why didn't we hear of that?" Glimmer asked.
"Well, nothing happened. There was nothing to tell," Entrapta said. "You don't want to hear about our failed experiments, do you? If you do, I can fetch my log!"
Glimmer grimaced. "No, that'll be OK."
"I do," Bow said.
"Oh, I'll get it to you later. Look it over? You might spot things we missed."
"Sure."
"Thank you!"
"Can we get back to the whole new war thing?" Glimmer asked. "We need to decide what to do."
"We need more data. About everything," Entrapta said. "I think we need to finish upgrading Darla and then go looking for Earth or a planet with a Stargate. Although we need to fly to Earth anyway if we want to protect it."
"And we need to find out what we are facing - how many ships the Goa'uld have. Where they are. And how we can beat them," Catra added. "How many ships we need to protect Etheria. And how to use the Stargate network."
"Oh! If we get access to the entire network, that will make it easy to return magic to everyone!" Entrapta smiled. "Just walk through the gate, do your magic, then go to the next planet!"
Adora perked up. "Right!"
Catra was both relieved and annoyed. It was nice to know there was a more efficient alternative to flying through space from planet to planet. But Adora was still set on returning magic to all the planets without it - no matter how long it took. As if it was her fault what the First Ones had done.
Well, at least she wasn't planning to sacrifice her own life and happiness for it. That Catra wouldn't let her do. And as long as she was with Adora, it would be alright.
"So… we need to talk to them some more," she said. "Sound them out. And find out where Earth is."
Which was still a stupid name for a planet. Might as well call it 'dirt'.