Chapter 80: The Intervention Part 5

Forward Base, Primary Mining Site, PZ-921, January 12th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"So… did anyone find out yet why the Jaffa here thought of burying a bomb in the lake? Did anyone show them James Bond movies or Saturday morning cartoons?"

That was a very transparent attempt to change the subject by O'Neill. At least, Catra thought so. Then again, it was a bit stupid to scold Daniel for doing something everyone else thought was the right thing to do. Although O'Neill probably agreed with it as well - in principle, at least - and just didn't like that Daniel had annoyed at least some of the generals. And their backers, of course. The man was very protective of his friends - in a grouchy old-people sort of way.

"We don't know, sir." Sam, of course, replied earnestly. "I wondered if the bomb was placed in the lake, outside of the range of most scanners, so the defenders of the gate had time to withdraw while the attacker couldn't detect much less defuse the bomb in the meantime. But we now know that Heru'ur's Jaffa were willing to die if it meant taking out an important enemy."

Catra suppressed a shudder. The Jaffa had killed themselves, blowing up their staff weapons, to kill Adora by collapsing the mine onto her. And they had come far too close for Catra's comfort to actually pull that off. Adora had taken the whole weight of the tunnel's ceiling on herself, in the middle of a crowd of panicking slaves, with the entire tunnel shaking and buckling… She took a deep breath and pushed the memory away. Adora was alive. Safe. And with Catra.

"And I don't think they knew that we wouldn't pick up the bomb there since it would have been too weak to affect the gate area if it had just blown up on the ground," Entrapta added. "They wouldn't have been able to know about our scanner's power."

"Or our procedures," Catra added.

"Yes." Glimmer nodded.

"Are we sure of that?" O'Neill asked.

"Sir, any leak would have to have been at the highest level."

"Yes. Like, Sam or me. Since we upgraded the scanner recently, so we're the only ones who know the new stats." Entrapta nodded. "And I know it wasn't me, and I don't think Sam would reveal anything either."

"Of course not!"

"Perish the thought!" O'Neill grinned. "If you keep the scanner's real power a secret even from your superiors, then I doubt you'd sell us out to the enemy."

"Of course not, sir!"

Sam was blushing a little, Catra noted - no doubt a response to O'Neill's slightly teasing tone. They really should admit their feelings.

"Do the prisoners we took know anything?" Adora asked.

"All of those we interrogated so far claim to have not known anything about this." O'Neill shrugged. "It might have just been a Jaffa trying to be clever."

"Jaffa generally are not encouraged to 'be clever'," Teal'c said. "In fact, such behaviour is discouraged - often harshly."

"And it couldn't have been an experiment," Sam added. "Unless wrecking their own base would have been an acceptable result for a test."

"I don't think that would have been the case," Entrapta said. "Unless they wanted to replace the old base."

Catra snorted. "That would have ruined the surprise, though. If we had found traces of such flooding, we would have been on our guard."

"Right!" Entrapta nodded emphatically.

"On the other hand," Catra went on, "We do know that the Jaffa improvised when we took out their explosives. So, maybe Heru'ur didn't discourage 'being clever'?" She looked at Teal'c.

The Jaffa inclined his head. "Indeed. It might be that Her'ur's known camaraderie with his warriors extends to trusting them with such… innovations. Using the lake to amplify the bomb's effect was an ingenious way to avoid using more refined Naquadah, after all."

"Great. We almost died under a tidal wave of mud because some Jaffa tried to impress his boss." O'Neill scoffed.

"Impressing your superior through outstanding deeds during battle, on the other hand, is generally encouraged." Teal'c tilted his head, and Catra caught his lips twisting into a hint of a smile. "This would have qualified, would it have worked."

"Yeah, sure. Maybe we did catch the one who thought of this and just didn't get around to interrogating them yet," O'Neill said. "But captured or killed, it's a good thing that this guy isn't serving Heru'ur any more."

Catra nodded in agreement. Clever enemies were a pain to deal with. It was much easier to defeat enemies who blindly followed orders. Or to be defeated with such troops.

At least whatever bastard had had this idea couldn't get away. They had control of the Stargate and the orbitals. And they were tracking every Jaffa on the planet through the Naquadah in their symbionts. Soon, the last of them would be captured. Or killed - Catra really didn't care what would happen to them as long as they were dealt with.

Northern Hills, PZ-921, January 13th, 1999 (Earth Time)

The Jaffa had picked a good location for their last stand, Jack O'Neill had to admit that. He studied the area with his binoculars. A narrow canyon between two steep hills - he'd call them mountains if not for Carter's insistence that they were not tall enough. Hell, he might call them mountains anyway. The valley was so narrow and twisted, and the hillsides so steep, sometimes with vast overhanging parts, that bombing runs and artillery strikes would have to rely on luck to hit the ground instead of the hills. A frontal assault would mean facing staff weapons and zats at close range - Jack wouldn't give even main battle tanks good odds of surviving that kind of crossfire. And rappelling down the hillsides… Unless you could suppress the ground, anyone could shoot you from below. Yeah, Heru'ur's Jaffa knew what they were doing.

But so did the Alliance. "I almost feel bad about this," he muttered as he lowered his binoculars.

"About offering them the chance to surrender?" Teal'c asked next to him.

"What? No," Jack replied. "That's just… You should always offer your enemy the chance to surrender if you can. People who have nothing left to lose fight the hardest." Heru'ur's Jaffa had already shown that in the mine.

"Indeed. But victory in battle generally goes not to those who fight the hardest, but those who fight with the most cunning."

"Yep."

Teal'c didn't say anything, but Jack didn't have to glance over to know his friend was waiting for him to answer his original question. He sighed. "It just feels… I've been there, you know? Sort of. Facing an enemy who outnumbers and outguns you, doing your best to outthink and outfight them, but still ending up trapped."

"In death ground, fight."

It figured that Teal'c would have read Sun Tzu. Jack snorted, then frowned."Was that from The Art of War, or did you hear that from a Jaffa teacher?"

"I quoted the book, but since this is a common piece of advice for anyone who would wage war, it will come as no surprise that I have heard this before, during my training," Teal'c replied.

"Ah." Jack nodded. "Anyway, it feels a bit like cheating since we can track every single Jaffa on the planet thanks to their symbiont. Then again, if you're not cheating in war, you're not fighting seriously." That was a lesson that Jack had taken to heart.

"There is sometimes a fine line between a cunning and a dishonourable plan."

That was Teal'c-speak for 'don't cheat with abandon', Jack knew. He shrugged in return. "We're not exactly breaking our word. And speaking of that… Are you sure that they will honour an attempt at parley?"

Teal'c tilted his head slightly to the left. "It would be very rare - almost unheard of - for any Jaffa to break a truce for parley without explicit orders from their superior."

"That's not really reassuring," Jack commented.

"I do not think it is very likely that Heru'ur would have left such orders for his warriors. Especially since they apparently assume we represent the forces of a rival Goa'uld - breaking your word in that manner when interacting with another System Lord would hurt his reputation amongst his peers and hinder any future diplomatic moves he might plan."

"That's still not too reassuring," Jack said.

"The false gods are not known for their honour."

"Yeah."

"But despite this, the Alliance will still make an attempt to parley." Teal'c sounded as if he approved.

"It's Adora." Jack snorted. "Of course, she can probably shrug off anything they can throw at her. As long as they don't parley in a mine or something."

"Indeed. And She-Ra and her friends will be prepared for treachery."

Mostly Catra, in Jack's opinion. "I just wish we could attend. But we're probably a bit too infamous amongst the Goa'uld. Would give the game away." He still expected to see his face on a Goa'uld wanted poster one of these days. If they had such things in the first place, of course.

Teal'c inclined his head. "A consequence of our many deeds in the war against the false gods. But I have trust in our friends. They are honourable and skilled."

Jack narrowed his eyes. "Do you honestly think they'll convince those guys to surrender instead of fighting to the last?"

"If it is possible at all, then I believe they can do it."

Jack snorted again. So, Teal'c didn't think either that Heru'ur's Jaffa would surrender. Of course, out of all of the other groups they had run down, they had only been able to capture those too wounded to fight on. And Jack didn't think there would be too many of those if it came to a fight here.

Damn, he really wanted to be at that meeting. Sure, he wasn't a magical princess who could shrug off cannon shots or teleport everyone to safety, but… he hated letting his friends risk their lives while he stayed safely behind! "Let's hope for the best."

"Indeed."

Near the canyon in the Northern Hills, PZ-921, January 13th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"For the record, I think this is a bad idea."

Adora suppressed the urge to roll her eyes at Catra's comment - they were walking up to the Canyon entrance where Heru'ur's remaining Jaffa were dug in, and if anyone was watching them through binoculars, she didn't want to show such a reaction.

"You've said that before," Glimmer said next to her.

"It bears repeating. And I'll still hurt whoever came up with this outfit."

Adora glanced to her right side and caught Cata pulling at her collar. Again. Privately, she thought her lover looked very attractive in the design. Although, maybe they should have picked less 'bling', as Jack put it - the white top and skirt combo was fine and let Catra's tail swish freely back and forth, an important consideration, but all the jewellery, especially the heavy ornamental collar that reached out to cover shoulders, were apparently not very comfortable.

"We're supposed to look like Goa'uld, so suck it up." Glimmer scoffed. "You don't hear me complaining, do you?

"You already had the look; all you needed was more jewellery and a bare midriff," Catra shot back.

"What did you say?"

"I said you already had the look."

It wasn't true - Adora was the one who had been able to keep her usual clothes, the white and gold aligning perfectly with what many Goa'uld would choose as colours. Not that she would have been able to change her outfit, anyway. But Glimmer had to change her usual clothes like Catra. Although she didn't have fur that could get caught up in all the metal links and meshes of the jewellery. And she was used to wearing elaborate clothes to make an impression. Catra was more used to making an impression with more casual clothes. Casual, but stylish and sexy clothes, Adora amended her thought with a smile, remembering the Princess Prom.

But they were now almost at the entrance of the canyon. "I think we're close enough," Adora said. "Let's wait for them to come to us." Far enough from the canyon to be outside the effective range of staff weapons.

"Or shoot at us," Catra added.

"Don't worry, I'll port us to safety before anyone can mess up your new look," Glimmer said.

"I'll use you as a human shield."

"Then I'll leave you behind."

Glimmer seemed to be a bit more nervous than she wanted to let on - Adora's friends were bickering more than usual. "Please…" Adora started to say.

"Quiet! Here they come!" Catra hissed.

Oh? Adora squinted her eyes. There was movement at the canyon. Two, no, three people emerging from the shadows.

"Jaffa. Same armour as the ones we fought," Catra commented.

"Well, who else could it be?" Glimmer asked.

"Infiltrators from Apophis?"

"None of our sources have reported that he had troops on the planet."

"They might have missed that like they missed the tsunami bomb."

"That was different."

"Guys…" Adora whispered. She could now see the Jaffa clearly as they approached. They looked… a bit scruffy. The metal of their armours wasn't polished but seemed to be covered in dust. Was that deliberate, or just the result of the Jaffa's trip through the wilderness?

She straightened a bit and raised her chin. She had to make the right impression on the Jaffa. They were used to Goa'uld claiming to be gods and demanding worship. She wouldn't do that, of course, but she had to project confidence if she wanted to be taken seriously.

The three Jaffa, all of them carrying staff weapons, approached until they were about ten paces away, then stopped and stared at Adora and her friends. Mostly at Catra - one of them whispered, but Adora couldn't make out what he said.

"They think I'm a 'Sekhmet', whatever that is. Something related to Bastet," Catra whispered.

Bastet? That was a System Lord, although a rather obscure one, as Adora recalled from her research on the enemy. But it was an opening.

She took a step forward. "I am She-Ra, Princess of Power. My companions are Glimmer, Queen of Bright Moon, and Catra."

The Jaffa tensed. "You are not Goa'uld," their leader told her.

Right, the voice. Well, Adora had never planned to lie during the negotiations - the Goa'uld style was just to make them come out to parley. She shook her head. "No, we aren't." She waited a moment. She didn't like doing this. But she didn't like to lie either. "I am a First One. You know them as the Ancients - the Gate Builders."

One of them, the youngest-looking, gasped. The others hissed through clenched teeth.

But their leader recovered quickly. "That is a bold claim. The Gate Builders have been gone for millions of years."

"Someone studied their history," Catra commented.

"Not all of us left," Adora said. "Some stayed. Some left this universe." That was technically correct - if you counted the pocket dimension Etheria had been sealed in by Mara. "But I have returned."

"To fight the gods?"

He still hadn't introduced himself or his companions, Adora noted. "To save the people. To free them from slavery," she replied. "We heard of a plan to massacre the people of this planet and intervened."

"Lies!" one of the younger Jaffa spat. "The Great Heru'ur would never do that to his loyal subjects!"

"It was one of his rivals," Adora told them. "Apophis, hoping to frame Sokar for the deed."

That didn't seem to surprise them, but they exchanged glances. Their leader spoke up again: "And you used the opportunity to attack while we fought them? Like a carrion eater?"

That… it wasn't like that!

"'Carrion eaters'?" Catra sneered. "We destroyed both Apophis's fleet and your paltry forces in space before they engaged each other, and we crushed you on the ground at the same time. You're all that's left of Heru'ur's forces."

"And you want us to surrender to you? Betray our god?"

Adora refrained from nodding. The Jaffa was right, but she knew better than to admit it right away. They had to be a bit more diplomatic about it if they wanted to convince the Jaffa to surrender.

"Because even if you don't surrender, you can't do anything for your god any more," she said. "You cannot fight us any more. You cannot hide, either - we know exactly where you are at any time."

She nodded Glimmer, and her friend disappeared in a shower of sparkles.

Once more, the Jaffa gasped - and even their leader looked surprised, maybe even shocked, when Glimmer reappeared a moment later with a bot in her hands.

She put it down, and a holographic projection appeared in front of it, showing the canyon - and the Jaffa inside it. All of them.

The Jaffa tensed up again, and the two younger ones glanced at each other. But their leader had regained his composure and frowned. "Every one of us is ready and willing to die in service of our god."

"Of course," Adora said, nodding. "But why should you die pointlessly? We have you surrounded, and we don't need to storm the canyon - we have ships in orbit that can simply destroy the entire area. Your death here wouldn't serve your god - or anyone else."

"It will serve as an example to others," their leader retorted. "Inspire them to do their utmost in service of the Great Heru'ur."

Adora clenched her teeth. They sounded like Horde Prime's clones. But the clones had learnt better, she reminded herself.

"To serve as an example, people have to hear about it," Catra pointed out with a snort. "And who do you think will tell them? Do you honestly expect us to spread the news?" She pointed at the holoprojection. "We can turn this into a crater, and no one will know. There's no settlement nearby, and the only other Jaffa on the planet are our prisoners. You won't inspire anyone - you'll simply vanish."

For a moment, Adora hoped that this would shake the Jaffa's fanatical loyalty.

But the older Jaffa shook his head with a glare. "Our god will know."

"Really?" Glimmer said. "How would he know? He didn't know about Apophis's plan, did he? Or about our attack. Why do you think he will know about your fate here?"

"When we appear in front of him in the afterlife, ready to be judged, we'll tell him."

Horde Prime sees all, Horde Prime knows all…

Adora had been afraid of this. If the Jaffa were convinced that they would meet their god in the afterlife, ready to be judged, then they wouldn't fear death. It would take more than a military defeat to shake their faith in their false god - but Heru'ur wasn't here for Adora and her friends to personally beat and expose as a fraud.

"And what will you tell him? That you had the chance to find out more about us but decided to die instead of doing your duty?" Catra asked, cocking her head and flashing her fangs at them.

"What?" They looked confused, even their leader.

"If you surrender, you become our prisoners. You will have the opportunity to observe us and our forces. Gather more information. If you die now, you won't really be able to tell your god anything useful."

"We can inform him that he is facing a Gate Builder."

"A claim you doubted yourself," Catra retorted. "Will you tell that to your god?"

Yes. Adora smiled as she saw the older Jaffa glance at his companions. If the Jaffa surrendered, even if they did so with the plan to spy on the Alliance, then Adora and her friends could work on teaching them the truth about the Goa'uld. And keep them from killing themselves.

But then the Jaffa straightened, raising his chin, and stared at them. "I will not be deceived by such trickery. I will face my god with my honour intact, and he will judge me fairly." He nodded, followed by the other two. "We will not surrender. This parley is over."

Adora clenched her teeth. This was so, so… pointless! They would die for Goa'uld lies!

Glimmer, also angry - Adora could tell - nodded in return. "Then that is your decision."

Adora wanted to scream at them, even plead for them to reconsider, see reason. This was just a senseless death. But that wouldn't have helped. Maybe if she had the power to turn the canyon into a field of wheat or something… but she didn't. So she nodded, curtly. "Goodbye then."

She felt Glimmer grab her hand, and a moment later, all of them were back at their field headquarters. All except the bot - she could see the feed from its sensors on the big screen here, showing the Jaffa walking back to the canyon.

"Well, some people are just too stupid to live," Catra commented.

Jack nodded. "Don't blame yourself. You did all you could to make them see reason."

Adora didn't believe him. She didn't quite know what else she could have done, but there had to be something. Anything. They couldn't just kill all the Jaffa for believing Goa'uld lies.

"So… time to blow up the canyon from orbit?" Jack asked. "Or just starve them out?"

"They would not surrender either way. If they were growing too weak to fight, they'll charge us," Teal'c said.

"Banzai charges. Yay." Jack scoffed.

Catra shrugged. "So, unless you found a way to take them out without killing them and risking our own soldiers' lives in the process, it's bombing time. At least that will be quicker than letting starve."

But it still wasn't right. "I'll do it," Adora said.

"Adora!" Catra hissed at her.

But Adora shook her head. This was her fault, so she would fix it. She would take them all down. If she couldn't convince them with words to see reason, then she would knock some sense into them with her sword.

Field Headquarters, PZ-921, January 13th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"I thought the whole idea was not to risk our soldiers trying to save our enemies' lives," the Colonel commented.

"I can deflect their staff blasts," Adora retorted. "Or shrug them off."

They had never specifically tested that, but Samantha Carter didn't doubt the claim - she knew from Entratpa and the others that She-Ra had taken worse than a staff blast.

"You're not invulnerable," Catra snapped. "And what if the Jaffa bring down the canyon on you?"

"They would have to have more explosives than we scanned and would have to prepare for that." Adora nodded at the holoprojection displaying the data from Sam and Entrapta's scanner. "They are spreading out, not concentrating."

Changing positions, probably hoping that we have bluffed about our scanners, Sam thought.

"They could get lucky," Catra insisted.

"If the canyon comes down, I can still jump out."

Now that was… not quite a boast, but Sam would prefer to see proof of that before accepting it.

"You'd need to be lucky yourself for that," Catra insisted. But she was scowling in a way that made Sam suspect she believed Adora.

"I can't just let them kill themselves because they think the Goa'uld are gods," Adora said.

Sam half-expected the Colonel to make a quip about how she totally could but didn't want to, but he just frowned at her. And Glimmer and Bow nodded, though they didn't seem to like it, either.

"Use zats?" Daniel suggested.

"You have to get fairly close with those in the first place, and in the Canyon with all those twists and turns and rocks littering the ground, you'd be almost in melee range anyway. It's the same for our shock rods." Catra shook her head.

"If we had some way to knock them unconscious without engaging them in close combat…" Bow trailed off and pressed his lips together.

Catra turned to glare at him. "If we had that, we'd save it for a more important mission than saving a bunch of fools from their own stupidity!"

"We could use it for both," Bow replied.

"We can't expect the enemy not to adapt to our plans and technology." Catra shook her head and turned back to glare at Adora. "But it's not just that they could get lucky, you also plan to knock them out. If you want to avoid killing or maiming them, you'll have to be far too careful to fight effectively. Especially with a shock rod or zat."

It was Adora's turn to scowl. "I have to at least try!" she shot back - but she sounded more desperate than determined.

Catra met her eyes for a moment, then blinked - and sighed. "No, you don't have to try. Others can do better. But we'll need the Stargate to bring them here. And we need a frigate."

"Oh?" Adora looked hopeful.

"What are you planning?" Glimmer asked.

"Something stupid and far too elaborate, so it'd be right up your alley," Catra replied. Then she started explaining.

It was the most absurd plan Sam had heard in a long time. Since her time at the Air Force Academy, actually. But she couldn't find a reason why it wouldn't work. And Entrapta agreed.

And, judging by the way he was shaking his head and muttering about 'Saturday morning cartoons', the Colonel had no good argument either.

Near the canyon in the Northern Hills, PZ-921, January 14th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"I don't want to hear any snarky comments. The only reason I have proposed this plan is to keep you from doing something stupid. If I had my way, we would be dropping bombs and blaster bolts on them until there's only a crater left of the entire canyon." Catra glared at Adora to emphasise her words. This was all her lover's fault. Everything. "The things I do for you…" she sighed.

In response, Adora hugged her. Which was nice. But it didn't quite make up for all the annoyances Catra had to deal with here. "I was the leader of the Horde. I directed tank divisions and fleets," she mumbled.

"Yes, you were," Adora replied. "Look, it's starting!"

Catra pulled back and looked up. In the distance - quite the distance, Catra had insisted Entrapta and Sam doubled it - a Horde frigate, Priest's flagship of the task force, actually, descended and opened up with her ventral broadside, lasers and blaster bolts striking the ground below, starting far outside the canyon range and drawing closer.

Catra hoped that the idiots in the canyon at least were scared by this. It would serve them right for making her do this. "We could have just used this on the canyon," she muttered.

Adora didn't comment as they watched the short bombardment.

"Your will has been done, Your Divine Highness!" Priest reported over the communicator as the frigate pulled up again.

"Thank you, Priest!" Adora replied cheerfully. "Entrapta?"

"One moment! The scanners need to adjust - all the power kind of disturbed the readings… ah, yes! Both the crater and the furrow match the projected data within tolerances! That means we can proceed with phase two!"

Of course, Entrapta would be excited about this. Sam and Bow were probably as enthusiastic but hid it better. Catra sighed again. "Proceed with phase two."

"Yes!"

"As the Chosen Consort of Her Divine Highness commands!"

Catra shot a frown at Adora, who steadily ignored it, then looked up again.

They didn't have to wait long. Glowing balls of not-quite-fire were quickly falling from the sky. "What a waste!" she complained as the first struck, throwing up a plume of ash quickly disturbed by the next impact. And the one after that. And the ones following them. She could feel the ground tremble slightly even at this distance. If the canyon collapsed from this… But it didn't. As the geologists they had called in for this had told them.

"The pattern of the craters adheres to our projections. Mostly. Some corrections are necessary. Transmitting data to you, Priest!"

"Thank you! Commence firing when ready!"

Shortly afterwards, the frigate reappeared in the sky and started firing her ventral guns into the smoke and dust concealing the impact area.

"Take care to melt the bits that are still solid!"

"Of course!"

Priest was enjoying this as much as Entrapta was, Catra realised. Of course, he was doing his goddess's work, so to speak, so she should have expected that. And he was probably already thinking of how to use this to convert the idiots in the canyon.

Well, that wasn't her problem.

"Mission accomplished!"

"The furrow is starting to fill!"

Adora was beaming.

Cara sighed again and pushed the button of her communicator. "Mermista, Frosta, you're up."

"Yes!"

"Finally!"

"This shall be a day to be remembered, my love!"

"Ugh, don't distract me!"

Catra shook her head and picked up her binoculars. She didn't want to miss the conclusion of this.

In a way, it was a fitting end to the campaign, Jack O'Neill was forced to admit as he watched the canyon through his own binoculars. Sure, Carter and Entrapta's sensors offered a detailed overview, but some things you had to see with your own eyes. And this hare-brained operation certainly qualified.

"All the ice has melted - or evaporated, but the losses are within expected tolerances," Carter reported. "The water's flowing into the furrow."

It was more like a canal, in Jack's opinion. Wide enough to let a few yachts pass. Sizeable ones, too. Of course, they wouldn't survive it right now - not with the current becoming a flash flood that would wreck even large boats as if they were toys.

Jack clenched his teeth as he remembered the tidal wave that had almost drowned them in the enemy base. This was different, he reminded himself. It wasn't nearly as powerful, for starters. And it was under control.

He still shuddered when he saw the water crest the edges of the new canal, foam covering the banks as the wave raced towards the canyon.

"The Jaffa in the canyon noticed the wave," he heard Catra comment from behind him. She was inside the headquarters, watching the holoprojection. "Look at them run."

"Some of the Jaffa are trying to climb the walls, Mermista!" Adora sounded concerned.

"That won't help them!" he heard the water princess's gleeful reply through his communicator.

"I meant, watch out so you don't accidentally kill them!" Adora retorted.

"Don't worry! I have it under control. Water is my element!"

"And beauty and grace!" the smuggler added.

Han Solo would have never said anything sappy like that. This really was more like a Saturday morning cartoon.

A deadly one, though, Jack amended his thought when he saw the water reach the end of the channel, close to the entrance of the canyon. There, walls made of ice appeared, catching the water and funnelling it towards the canyon like a huge… Jack couldn't actually think of a fitting word when he saw the water reach the canyon.

Now, against all laws of nature, the water slowed down. Instead of smashing into and through the canyon like a tsunami, crushing everything inside, killing the Jaffa by battering them against the stone walls before they could drown, it almost gently filled the valley.

It was still a force of nature, though - and even slowed down by magic, it still hit the Jaffa wherever they tried to hide and brace themselves, dragging them along. Still… They were literally using water to flush out the last enemies. Like in a goddamn cartoon.

"Oh, look at them go!" Catra chuckled.

"That must have hurt!" Adora added.

"Don't worry, I have it under control!"

"We know, Mermista!"

"There's one almost at the top of the canyon!"

"Don't worry - I've got him!"

Jack turned around and stepped inside the field headquarters to check the holoprojection. He just caught one Jaffa almost at the top of the canyon's walls suddenly freezing. Literally.

"Got him!" Frosta cheered over the communicator.

Jack pressed his lips together. The princess was a kid - a teenager. Barely old enough to drive, if at all. She shouldn't be here, on an alien planet, fighting a war against genocidal maniacs.

But she had already fought in such a war. And Jack knew very well what the response would be if he mentioned his opinion. As a princess, she was expected to fight. Noblesse oblige, Daniel called it. Jack called it using child soldiers. And to think that the Etherians didn't see anything wrong with it…

"Look, they've reached the end of the canyon!"

Right. On the projection, Jack saw the water spread out as it left the canyon, carrying the tiny figures representing the Jaffa with it.

"Watch this!" Frosta exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah."

And the figures started to freeze, like the climbing champion before. Soon the few dozen Jaffa were caught in ice, ready to be taken in. They would be freezing, probably suffering frost burn, but they were alive. And Adora could heal any wounds they suffered, anyway.

If not for the sheer absurdity of it, it would have been an almost anticlimactic ending of the operation, Jack thought as he saw the others cheer. Well, mostly the Etherians and the Junior officers in the headquarters. Percival nodded in his reserved way, the German general was openly gaping, and Bryce… looked as if he really wanted to drink himself into a stupor.

Jack grinned. There was nothing better to help cope with magical solutions than watching other people freak out at seeing it for the first time. Time to play the old hand at magic.

He stepped over to the radio and ordered the capture teams in.

Forward Base, Primary Mining Site, PZ-921, January 14th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"Ah, there is their idiot leader! Let's go rub it in how we destroyed them!"

"Catra!" Adora frowned at her lover. "We're not going to 'rub it in' or anything like that!" They were better than that! "We're going to check if they're OK or need healing."

"Bah! We've had to go to great lengths to take them alive, and it was all my work! Gloating about it is the least I deserve!"

Adora shook her head. "Technically, it was Mermista and Frosta's work."

"They wouldn't even be here if not for my plan." Catra scoffed. "Not that they'd thank me for letting them show off."

Uh. Adora suppressed a wince. She didn't know how serious Catra's complaint was - her lover sometimes tried to hide concerns about her relationship with the other princesses in the Alliance, out of guilt or shame - but it was a touchy subject. Better to change it. "Anyway, Mermista and Frosta did their best, but many Jaffa still got hurt, so we have a duty to check on them and treat their wounds if necessary."

"Sure, sure." Catra grinned. "And it's a great way to convert them."

Adora narrowed her eyes at her - Catra knew what she thought about being worshipped - but before she could say anything, her lover went on: "I mean, convert to our cause, of course."

"Ah." Adora nodded. That was better.

But then Catra's grin widened, showing her fangs. "And I am sure that Priest has already plans to convert them to worshipping you."

This time, Adora did wince. She knew Priest was planning that - she had heard him talk about the captured Jaffa being marked by her, chosen to live where other enemies died. Yes, he wanted to convert them. And healing them would only make that worse.

But it was still the right thing to do. She straightened, lifting her chin, as they approached the fenced-in area where the prisoners were temporarily housed before they could be moved to a more secure - and more remote - planet without a Stargate which would serve as a central prison camp.

"And now let's hope they are still too shaken to compound their stupidity and attack us," Catra muttered. Adora didn't have to glance at her to know she was checking that the guards were attentive and ready to intervene.

Which was common sense, of course - the prisoners hadn't actually surrendered and so weren't honour-bound to behave. At least in theory; Adora knew that Catra had her doubts about how much trust could be put into that; she hadn't been shy about sharing them. But for now, the Jaffa seemed to be behaving.

The American guards at the gate in the chainlink fence topped with razorwire - NATO-style - saluted them but quickly turned their attention back to the prisoners, who had also noticed them. They weren't gathering at the gate, but Adora could see all of them staring at her.

Well, she had weathered worse. She smiled gently as the gate was opened, and they stepped inside.

"If they try something, don't hesitate - just crush them," Catra whispered next to her. "They had their chance."

Adora nodded. As if she would risk her love getting hurt. She could summon her sword with a thought if she needed it.

Their leader - Anok; they had gotten his name while the prisoners had been processed - rose from where he had apparently been meditating. "She-Ra, Princess of Power. Catra." He bowed. Not quite as deep as Priest loved to bow, but it was more respectful than Adora had expected.

"Anok." Adora nodded at him. "How are you? Do you require healing?"

He stood ramrod straight. "I do not."

She could see that he had several bandages on his limbs, like most of the prisoners - the result of being scraped along rocks by the water - and thought about healing everyone anyway. But that would be… rude, probably. Or something. "If you do, please call me. Every prisoner has the right to medical aid."

He inclined his head very slightly, like Teal'c sometimes did, and Adora was sure he wasn't planning to ask for help. Too proud, probably.

She suppressed a sigh. They were talking, and he wasn't cursing her or her friends or trying to attack them. And the other prisoners didn't look hostile either. Things were going better than she had feared, she reminded herself.

"Still doubting our claims?" Catra asked with a smirk.

Adora pressed her lips together. They had talked about this! And just when she had thought that things were going well!

But Akon tilted his head and looked at Adora. "I stand corrected. The way you have captured us all… Whether you are a Gate Builder or not, you have demonstrated that you are a goddess."

Adora blinked, and Catra chuckled next to her. That was… Well, it made sense for someone who thought the Goa'uld were gods, but it was still wrong!

"I am no goddess," she corrected him.

He nodded in return. "As you say." His expression was… far too close to the one Priest often had on his face when talking to her, she realised.

"You've heard the clones talk during transport," Catra said.

"As you told us, we kept our eyes and ears open to gather information in captivity." Anok managed to sound both smug and respectful at the same time as he bowed his head once more.

Adora clenched her teeth. She hadn't meant it like that!

Catra was chuckling again. Louder this time.

Adora had been wrong. Things weren't going better than she had feared. Not at all.