Chapter 99: Prison Break Part 1

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, February 11th, 1999

"Hello. I am Philipp Morrison."

"Samantha Carter."

"Dr Iwan Georgovich."

Samantha Carter shook the offered hand as she looked the man over. She had read his file already, but a first-hand impression was always preferable. A little smaller than the Colonel, a little older than herself, not fat, but not in shape either. He was wearing an expensive suit and matching watch - which fit his file. So, that was the geneticist the Alliance had settled on sending to help them with Loki's request. And their other genetic engineering projects.

He looked around in her lab, then smiled at her again. "When I heard I would be meeting you in your lab, I hoped they meant your spacelab." He had a friendly smile, but he was a bit too… polished. And not just because of his British accent.

Sam chuckled politely. "Ah, that's not actually part of Stargate Command. It's more like a private lab."

He blinked, then grinned. "Ah, the perks of being friends with Etherian princesses, I assume?" He chuckled as well, to turn the comment into a friendly joke.

Sam nodded. "That, and the need for a sufficiently safe distance from Earth for some of our experiments."

"Da!" Iwan nodded. "Embarrassing, blowing up Earth by mistake." He laughed.

Morrison nodded and chuckled, but it felt forced.

Sam also caught him glancing at the Russian. Iwan was wearing his usual clothes, a jumper, pants and sturdy shoes. Sensible for a laboratory but probably worth as much as a single shoelace from Morrison's shoes.

"Well, I shouldn't run into that problem," Morrison said. "I'm not a physicist but merely a geneticist."

His humbleness felt fake, at least to Sam. She might be biased from her experiences with similarly skilled scientists - before the Etherians arrived, when most of her work had been classified, but also afterwards in some cases - but she was sure that Morrison wouldn't be quite as polite if they had met under different circumstances, like at a convention. He probably assumed that her authority over him depended on her friendship with the Etherians, not on her experience and position in Stargate Command.

"Oh, no explosions for you, or dimensional faultlines, but you can make deadly disease, da?" Iwan was playing the dumb Russian to the hilt, overdoing his accent.

Not that Morrison seemed to notice. The British scientist nodded. "Yes, but since we'll be working on a moon, that shouldn't be a problem either."

"Not as long as all safety protocols are followed," Sam said.

"Of course." He nodded, and there was that hint of arrogance she had expected. "Speaking of… are there any special or unusual protocols I should be aware of? This will be my first time working in an alien laboratory." He didn't bother to hide his eagerness.

Of course, any scientist Sam knew would give a body part to be able to travel to Etheria and work in a laboratory built by an alien species with technology far ahead of Earth's sciences, so that wasn't unusual. Sam would probably be as obviously eager in his place.

But he had asked a question. "Most of it is automated and handled by the artificial intelligence running the laboratory," she said.

His eyes widened. "Artificial intelligence?"

She hid her smirk. That was classified, but since he had been vetted and would be working with Alpha, he was cleared. "Yes. The research station is run by an artificial intelligence created by the aliens who built the base there. Her name's Alpha, like the station. She's very friendly and very nice, but she's effectively an alien."

"Ah." He nodded.

He didn't get it. "That means her morals and values are alien," Sam explained. "We had to teach her that humans weren't resources for experiments."

"Oh." He blinked. "That's…"

"Dangerous, da? But exciting!" Iwan grinned. "Different viewpoint, different ideas! Good for science! Just not let it experiment on you, da?"

Morrison's smile looked definitely forced now. "Yes, I suppose that wouldn't be a good idea. I'm quite fond of my body as it is."

"Alpha was instructed thoroughly," Sam said. "She shouldn't pose a problem. Now, one of your co-workers, on the other hand…" She smiled as she trailed off and saw him cock his head at her. "His name is Loki. He's the, ah, inspiration for the Norse god Loki."

"Oh."

Morrison looked surprised again - but intrigued, Sam noted.

It looked like he would have to be watched as well during this mission.

Bright Moon, Etheria, February 11th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"..and so, currently, a dozen people are in prison in Iran, facing death just because they have a talent for magic. There are supposedly more in neighbouring countries, but we haven't been able to confirm that - the various governments didn't release any data. Only Iran made it public. Probably for internal reasons."

Catra didn't smile at Adora's presentation - the subject was too serious - but she felt a certain nostalgia. Adora was, like she had been as a cadet and, according to Glimmer and Bow, in the Rebellion as well, overprepared for her presentation.

"How do we know what they are doing, then?" Frosta asked.

"'Witchcraft' was a capital crime in many of those countries even before we returned magic to Earth," Adora said.

Catra snorted. "Earth has been executing people for doing magic for hundreds of years. Mostly during the time when Earth didn't have any magic."

"But that's… Oh." Frosta pressed her lips together.

"Most countries stopped that centuries ago, though," Adora pointed out. "But not all of them. And, as you already know, a big part of the population of Earth fears and hates magic."

"And there are so many of them… That means that hundreds of millions hate us," Mermista said.

Probably more, Catra thought - two of the biggest religions on Earth thought magic was evil. Well, at least big parts of those religions, and under some circumstances, as Daniel had once explained.

The princesses looked at each other. "They seemed so friendly when we were visiting," Perfuma said. "I can't believe they hate us so."

"Those were our allies," Glimmer told her. "There are a lot of people on Earth. Some love us, some are our allies, and some hate and fear us."

"And some are killing people for having the talent for magic," Adora said. "They want to kill everyone like us."

"They have been killing people like us - or people they thought had magic - as I recall," Netossa commented. "We've seen reports about such killings."

Catra remembered those reports. Mobs beating people to death. Or hanging them. Or even burning them alive. And she had thought the riots following their arrival were bad…

"That's not the same. Those were murders. Not executions," Adora said.

Glimmer nodded. "It was already suspicious how often the police or the military couldn't stop those killings, but there's no excuse for the government executing people because they have magic. Or are thought to have magic." She leaned forward on her table. "We can't let them do that!"

Netossa and Spinnerella looked at each other, Catra saw. Then Netossa nodded. "I agree. But wasn't our stated policy not to intervene in other countries?

"We said we'd intervene to stop a mass murder - a genocide," Adora said. "Technically, this is a genocide aimed at witches."

"And at princesses," Catra added, looking at the others. "At anyone with magic." Or anyone those scumbags didn't like. She was sure those people murdering witches would consider her a princess as well.

"How can they check for magic without magic?" Scorpia asked. "Except when they see someone cast a spell, I mean. But I thought they were still trying to figure out how magic worked on Earth."

"I don't think they are very careful when checking for magic," Catra said. "They just torture the victims until they confess." Bow had mentioned that. Or had it been Daniel?

"If they even wait for a confession," Mermista added.

"Anyway, we can't let them do this," Adora said. "But we need to figure out how to stop them without starting a war."

"Why not start a war?" Frosta asked. "If they want to murder us all, then that's all the justification we need!"

"Some of those countries have more people than we have on Etheria," Netossa explained with a frown. "And we can't just take out the governments and replace them - the people hate us and want us dead. They won't stop."

"And we can't just bomb them from orbit without hitting innocents," Adora added. "Like children. And people who don't want us dead."

"Also, it wouldn't be right to kill them all if we can stop them without a war," Perfuma said, frowning as well. "We're better than that!"

Frosta looked embarrassed and hunched over a bit.

"We could just remove all the accused witches from their prisons," Catra suggested. "They'd just disappear."

"Everyone would know it was us," Mermista said.

"But they won't be able to prove it," Catra retorted. "Just as we couldn't prove that they let mobs kill witches."

"It would still cause some political troubles, but we should be able to handle it," Glimmer said. "Provided we can pull it off without getting caught. Or having to fight our way out."

As long as they had no witnesses… Catra knew better than to say that, of course. Though she wouldn't shed a tear if a guard or soldier in those prisons died. They were willing to murder Adora. And everyone else in the Alliance.

"We need to talk to our friends as well," Adora said.

"And our allies," Glimmer added.

"And what if they don't want us to intervene?" Netossa asked.

Adora pressed her lips together, as did Glimmer, but Catra snorted.

It wasn't as if anyone could stop them.

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, February 12th, 1999

"Did you know that there are people awaiting execution because they're witches?"

Jack O'Neill suppressed a wince at Adora's question. Barely. So much for a nice joint griping session about certain scientists not leaving their lab on the moon or something. "I think I've heard about that," he said. He had - he remembered a news report, but he hadn't really thought about it. Not with everything else to focus on. A stupid mistake - he should have realised how the Etherians would feel about that.

As expected, Adora frowned. As did Glimmer.

And Catra narrowed her eyes at him. "And you didn't think to tell us?"

"I thought you knew - you watch the news from Earth, don't you?" Jack knew that was a lame defence. Even if it was true.

Adora winced in return, and Catra scowled.

"We don't watch everything," Glimmer said. "There's just too much to watch. We'd need an entire company just watching your news to catch everything."

Something in her tone told Jack that the Etherians would probably have such a unit before long. With the Clone Fleet guarding Earth, they would have enough manpower to spare without pulling people from other assignments. Although… didn't the Clones already watch Earth TV?

"Well, most of the news isn't important," Daniel said.

Jack rolled his eyes. "It's knowing what is important that's the hard part," he told his friend.

"Anyway, that's not the issue. The issue is that there are people condemned to death just for having magic!" Adora spoke up again. "We can't let them die!"

Yeah, as he expected. Jack nodded. Not that he minded the sentiment. The question was how to do something about this without invading Iran and starting a diplomatic crisis. Or a war.

"Iran's not the only country where doing magic is a capital crime." Daniel, of course, just had to make things worse.

"It's the only one - so far - to openly announce that they are planning to execute all so-called 'witches'," Glimmer replied. "That's a little suspicious."

"Do you think they expect you to attack them?" Daniel asked. "That it is a trap?"

Jack didn't think the Iranians would be as delusional to think they could trap and defeat an invasion by the Etherians. "If it's a trap, it's not aimed at an invasion or attack," he said. "They probably expect some concessions in exchange for not executing their prisoners. Or this is the result of an internal power struggle," he added.

"Trying to use this to build up popular support - or trying to get their rivals removed by us, directly or indirectly?" Catra asked.

"Either is possible," Jack said. He wouldn't put it past anyone in Iran's government to set the country up for an attack in order to get rid of the current leaders. Not even after their war with Iraq. "But are you actually planning to invade them?" God, he hoped not! They were supposed to be smarter than this.

"Not an invasion, no."

Adora's answer didn't make Jack feel much better - her matter-of-fact tone didn't leave any doubt that they had considered this. "Operation Eagle Claw Part 2?"

"What?"

The Etherians looked confused. So, they hadn't been making plans for a prisoner break already. At least not to the point of studying the failed US operation. As thorough as Adora was, she would have found out about it in that case. "The Iranians took the US embassy hostage twenty years ago," Jack explained. "Operation Eagle Claw was an attempt to rescue the hostages. It failed."

"We didn't know that," Adora said. "We'll have to analyse that operation." She marked something on her pad.

They seemed set on their course of action, Jack noted. Damn. This was going to be such a huge mess. And some idiot would blame him for failing to stop it. As if he could!

"What about negotiations?" Daniel asked. "The American hostages were released, after all."

"After more than a year," Jack said.

"If taking hostages has the desired effect, more hostages will be taken," Teal'c commented.

"Yes. We're not going to reward them for… this," Glimmer spat. "They would just keep at it."

They were right about that, of course. But to intervene in another country, especially in Iran… The President wouldn't be happy about this. No one would be happy about this. Not even the worst hawks in Congress, though those would mainly be unhappy because it wasn't the United States doing this. Time for damage control. "So, this is going to be an undercover operation, huh? In and out without anyone being the wiser?"

Adora glanced at Catra, who smirked and nodded. "That's the plan."

"That's going to be the plan," Adora corrected her. "We need a lot more information to do this properly, with contingencies and minimal risk for the prisoners."

"Can't you scan for them and then teleport them out?" Daniel asked.

"If we have detailed data about the prisons' layouts, I can teleport inside," Glimmer said. "But we would need to know exactly where the prisoners are - and everyone else."

"Sounds a bit tricky," Jack commented. And dangerous.

"Yes," Adora said. "And you can't take more than one of us with you if you need to take a prisoner out. That's too dangerous."

"But we have other options." Catra grinned. "Want in?"

Oh, Jack wanted to! To give a black eye to the Iranians who had humiliated the United States? Of course, he'd love that.

But this wasn't the Eighties, and he wasn't a stupid officer any more. And not even Adora would probably get him out of a court-martial for this. Well, she was the Supreme Commander of the Alliance… Still, his career would be finished if he joined the Etherians for this.

"I'd love to," he said. "But it's not that simple."

Diplomatic incidents - and potential acts of war - never were, no matter if Jack wished they were.

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, Earth, February 12th, 1999

"You want to take action against Iran?" The German Minister of Defence looked surprised - and concerned. As did most of the others around the table, except for the Secretary of State from the United States.

Adora nodded. "Yes. We - the Princess Alliance - cannot tolerate what amounts to a planned genocide aimed at people like us, people with the talent to use magic." Most people winced at the term, she noted.

"Can you call it a genocide in this case, though?" the French Minister said after a moment. "Iran hasn't executed anyone yet, and the number of accused is barely a dozen, with appeals still in the works."

"Yes, they haven't executed anyone yet," Glimmer spat. "Should we wait until they have done so?"

"Technically, they claim to prosecute people who have been using magic, not just those with the talent to use magic," the Secretary of State commented.

Catra rolled her eyes at that but didn't comment. Adora saw that her tail was swishing back and forth, though - if Melog were here, they'd show Catra's anger clearly.

Glimmer glared at the man. "Are you trying to tell me that this makes a difference? Even leaving aside the question of whether or not the Iranian authorities would actually bother with a fair trial, that would still leave everyone with a magic talent risking death should they involuntarily display magic. Which happens."

Mostly with magic powers, as far as Adora knew. Less so with spells, but it did happen.

"Sort of like they treat homosexuals," Catra cut in.

"Well, the Iranians, like similar regimes, are prone to abuse such laws to persecute those who oppose their regime," the British Foreign Secretary said. "However, they will claim that they are not - technically - committing genocide since they are not persecuting people for their inherent magical talent, only the illegal use of it. This point of view will see some support in the United Nations."

"We're aware of that," Glimmer said. She didn't add 'and we don't care', but her tone made that clear.

More wincing followed.

"They might bow to international pressure," the German minister suggested. "And a least abolish the death penalty," he added.

"As they bowed to international pressure when they were holding Americans hostage? When they were executing homosexuals?" Glimmer scoffed again. "If this is an internal power struggle, they can't afford to cave in - not that letting them jail people just for being born with magic would be acceptable either."

"We do not expect the Alliance to become involved here," Adora told the others. "But we cannot and will not let people like us get murdered for being born that way - no matter how they try to excuse it."

"Many countries will see this as using genocide as an excuse to intervene in another country to force your own values on them," the German minister pointed out.

"It is a planned genocide," Glimmer retorted. "And we clearly said that we would intervene to stop a genocide. We won't wait until they have killed so many people that even the United Nations will call them out."

Adora pressed her lips together. Based on what they knew of Earth's history, that point might never come, depending on the political interests of certain nations.

After a moment, the French Minister leaned forward. "And what exactly are you planning?"

"The exact details are classified," Adora told him. They couldn't risk a leak of their plans; Jack had been quite clear about that danger, even if he had been a bit sneaky about letting them know. It was already dangerous to tell so many countries that they would stop the Iranians, but not telling them would be worse - an Alliance needed trust amongst its members. And they couldn't just bully the rest of the Alliance. Well, they could, but it would be wrong.

"We're not intending to occupy the country," Glimmer said. "Just limited action to achieve our goals."

That didn't seem to reassure the others.

"Are you planning covert actions, then? With plausible deniability?" the Foreign Secretary asked.

"That depends on several factors," Glimmer said.

Catra snorted, softly, next to Adora. It mostly depended on the Iranians, Adora knew. If the Iranians wanted to keep things quiet, the Princess Alliance wouldn't announce their actions. Not that Adora expected the Iranians to do so. They had announced the planned executions, after all.

"Whether or not you have plausible deniability, this might spark more terrorist attacks," the Secretary of State pointed out. "Iran is financing several terrorist organisations that they can use for that."

"We're also aware of that," Glimmer said. "But we're already a target for most of those organisations."

Adora nodded, remembering the attack in India, although those people hadn't been financed by Iran, as far as she knew. And she clearly remembered the many, many protests with people burning her and her friends in effigy…

"They won't just attack you, though - as your allies, we will be targets as well," the German minister said. "And easier targets."

"You're already targets." Catra scoffed. "That won't change anything."

Adora frowned at her. That was a very callous thing to say. Even if it was correct. "If you are attacked as a result of us stopping a genocide, we'll react appropriately." It should be considered an attack on the entire Alliance, in her opinion, but Earth politics made things more complicated. The Alliance wouldn't conquer the world. It couldn't - not without becoming the same thing they fought against, oppressors.

And that Adora wouldn't let happen. Just as she wouldn't let people murder others just for being born differently.

Research Station Alpha, The First Moon of Enchantment, February 12th, 1999 (Earth Time)

Alpha's holographic projection appeared in front of Samantha Carter and Morrison as soon as they stepped out of the shuttle in the hangar.

"Hello, Alpha," Sam greeted her. "This is Dr Morrison. He will be assisting with our work. Philipp, this is Alpha. She's controlling the research station." For all intentions, she was the research station, but Morrison should realise that already.

Alpha cocked her head slightly to the side and looked at the scientist. "I have added his data to my memory banks. I assume he will be working under the same restrictions as the other visitors?"

"Like Loki, yes," Sam clarified. Alpha considered everyone but Ancients 'visitors' - including Entrapta and Sam - so it paid to ensure that Morrison wouldn't be given the same levels of access.

"Noted," Alpha replied.

Morrison nodded, looking around in the hangar. "Very impressive."

The hangar sported a few shuttles and spare parts, in case of emergencies. Enough to build a spaceship out of them, as Entrapta had specified. And First Fleet had provided, at Hordak's request.

Sam shrugged. "You get used to it quickly. It's no different than any other commute when it comes down to it." She knew she was laying on the 'veteran Stargate and space traveller who has seen everything', but Dr 'Call me Philipp' Morrison probably needed the occasional reminder why she was his superior on this project.

He laughed. "That's one way to talk about travelling half the galaxy for work! Well, we don't have to deal with traffic jams, at least."

Sam suppressed the urge to correct him - the distance between Etheria and Earth wasn't even close to half the galaxy. "Yes. This is a priority project, after all."

He smiled with just a touch of pride. Or arrogance. "So I was told. Multiple times."

Sam nodded. "Now, let's head to the actual lab."

As expected, Loki was already - or still - working when they walked into the main lab, though he stopped and turned to face them when he noticed the newcomer.

Morrison held out his hand. "Hello. I am Dr Morrison. Philipp Morrison."

Loki cocked his head to the side and eyed him - not unlike Alpha's reaction, Sam noted. He ignored the outstretched hand.

She rolled her eyes, both at Loki's rudeness - he was familiar with the custom of shaking hands by now - and at Morrison's attitude. "And this is Loki of the Asgard. They have different customs." As Morrison would be aware of.

"So I gathered." Morrison smiled at the alien as he let his hand drop to the side. "Your reputation precedes you."

Loki nodded, rather curtly. "Are you Earth's best geneticist? I, we, were promised Earth's top scientists."

"Ah, I wouldn't go that far," Morrison replied - with what Sam was sure was false modesty, though he was probably not too far from the best. "I am considered to be amongst the best in my field by my peers, though."

"Then you should be helpful." Loki nodded. "We have a lot of work to do." He turned away to get back to his work. "I assume you will need to familiarise yourself with the 'classified equipment' in the station. Once you've done so, you can start contributing," he added without looking at either.

Morrison blinked, then glanced at Sam with a wry expression. "I can see that working here will be an experience."

Sam snorted. "You have no idea."

He looked around. "I was under the impression that Princess Entrapta also worked on this project."

"And Hordak," Sam confirmed. "They should arrive shortly - they had other duties to attend to."

Loki grumbled something Sam didn't catch, but she already knew he disapproved of the idea that there was anything important enough to drag the others away from the work in this lab. Such as reporting to Stargate Command, writing reports, socialising with your friends or sleeping in your bed at home instead of a cot in the lab. Though sleeping in the lab wasn't really a sacrifice, of course - Sam had done that a few times.

And speak of the devil. Sam smiled when the door opened and Entrapta and Hordak entered.

"Hi! You must be Dr Philipp, right? I read your file. I'm Entrapta, and this is Hordak. We'll be your lab partners for this project." Entrapta swept forward and stopped right in front of the surprised scientist. "You'll like it here - it's sooo cool to work with First One technology in an entirely new field! I keep telling Perfuma she should visit; she'd love to work with some of the plant samples here. Anyway, sorry for being late, we had to help our friends with the preparations for a classified mission I think everyone knows about - well, every one of our friends - but we're still not supposed to talk about it, so we won't. That's why Bow's not with us, either - Glimmer told him they needed him for that project. But you'll meet him soon, I think. Or we can stop at his office in the Palace on the way back - wait, it's still classified, and you and Sam will be going back to Earth, not to the Palace. Sorry, my mistake! But you'll meet him soonish, no worry! It's just that he has a new project right now. Which you don't need to know about, as I said."

Morrison blinked. "Uh…"

"It's classified. It won't affect your work here," Hordak told him with his customary scowl.

"Yes?" Morrison blinked again. "I mean, I hope so, though without knowing what it is, I obviously cannot be certain about this."

Was he fishing for information about the intervention in Iran the Etherians were planning? Anyone cleared for this work should know better than that. Or shouldn't be this obvious, at least. Unless that was what he was counting on. On the other hand, the idea that a renowned geneticist would also be a trained undercover operative was ludicrous. Still, Sam wished the Colonel was here. He had more experience with this sort of thing.

"Anyway!" Entrapta turned away, her hair tendrils flaring as they grabbed tools from her own workspace. "Let's do science! We've got two species to save!"

Morrison blinked once more before he started smiling again. "Oh, yes. That's what we're here for, after all."

"Yes," Loki added from behind his table. "So you should stop wasting time."

Morrison frowned as he looked at the alien.

"Don't mind Loki. That's just how he is," Entrapta said.

"Rude and abrasive," Hordak added.

"Anyway! Did you show him the gene splicer already, Sam?"

"I was about to when you arrived," Sam told her friend as she walked over to the tool in question.

As her friend had said, it was time to do science now. And find out if Morrison was as good as his reputation claimed.

Evin, Tehran, Iran, February 13th, 1999

Scanners were nice and useful, but nothing beat personally taking a look. Especially if you were planning a dangerous mission for and with your friends. If Catra had followed that rule a bit more during the war… Well, to be honest, overall, things probably wouldn't have gone much differently.

Catra snorted at her idle thoughts.

Good news already?

"Just some stray thoughts," she told Melog before leaning forward on the railing and peering through her binocs again.

From this position, right on top of a smaller skyscraper - or maybe it counted as a taller high rise? Catra didn't know the exact definitions and didn't really care - she had a good view of the Evin Prison. At least for an overview. "They definitely increased security," she whispered. The data they had gotten from the United States and the British hadn't shown so many guards. Or so many heavy weapons emplacements - a lot of them anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missile launchers. With at least two sensor units - radar, as the humans called it. Which wasn't able to spot a stealth shuttle, as they had confirmed.

"We've expected that," she heard Adora reply over the comm channel.

"Would've been nice if they just trusted their god to guard their prisoners." Catra snorted again. "But someone in their government seems to be somewhat competent." She could spot patrols moving outside the prison, soldiers with their weapons ready. Zooming in on one such group, she scoffed. "Revolutionary Guards." Supposedly Iran's best soldiers. Certainly their most loyal. According to what their allies had told Catra and her friends, the Iranian propaganda that all of the Revolutionary Guards were ready to lay down their lives on the orders of their leaders wasn't too far from the truth. As fanatical as Horde Prime's Clones had been. Or most Jaffa were.

"We won't be able to scare them away, then. If it comes to that," Glimmer said over the comm.

"Not easily," Catra agreed. Even those who might want to flee - there were always some in every unit - would be held back by the threat of getting killed by their comrades. "But they have to spot us first."

"Not all of us can turn themselves invisible," Glimmer shot back.

Catra grinned and glanced at Melog. They could - and could extend that to Catra. If anyone was checking this spot, they would see an empty roof. And Catra was sure that the Iranians regularly checked any location where the prison could be observed. The spots closer to the actual prison complex would be permanently guarded - she had already seen a few not-so-hidden guards on the flat roofs of nearby buildings.

Can also frighten soldiers.

Right. Melog's illusions were powerful. And they were dealing with religious fanatics.

"I think we can do something with that," she muttered.

"What did you say?" Adora asked.

"Nothing," Catra replied. It was just an idea for now. And Adora would hate it. "I'll have to take a closer look." She had seen all she could from this spot.

"No! The place is crawling with soldiers!" Adora protested at once.

"We're invisible," Catra retorted. And she had sneaked around in more dangerous spots.

"They probably have dogs."

Right. She had seen one of those stupid animals with a patrol. "Aren't they supposed to be unclean or something in their religion?" she muttered.

"They're hypocrites," Glimmer said. "But you can return to the shuttle, and we can fly over."

"We can also use a spy bot," Adora added.

"We can't get close enough with the shuttle." Not with the birds flying around - someone must be feeding them. "And the spy bot isn't invisible," Catra pointed out. And she really needed to take a personal look at things. Up close. Staying behind and relying on scanners and bots was a recipe for disaster. Sooner or later, you'd miss something important.

"It's too dangerous!"

She rolled her eyes at Adora's outburst. "They've got a park with a restaurant and tea house next to the prison. It's not like they have created a death zone around it."

"They probably have staffed either with guards," Glimmer said. "This might be their plan - a trap for one of us, to get a hostage."

That was… possible, Catra had to admit. It would make some sense. On the other hand, the Iranians had no idea what the Alliance could do. "They won't catch me," she said.

"Catra!"

She felt guilty at the worry she could hear in Adora's voice. "We need to save the prisoners," she reminded her friends. "And we need good intel for that. Or we risk walking into a trap. Or making a huge mess."

"But…"

"And if things go wrong," Bow cut in, "we'll rush down and get you out. Nothing they have down there can get through our shields."

Nothing they knew about could get through their shields. Not fast enough to stop them, at least. But that didn't mean there was no danger - especially when picking up someone. But the guards wouldn't spot, much less catch Catra and Melog, so the point was moot. "See? We'll be perfectly safe."

Illusions also help.

"Yes, Melog." Though using illusions now would ruin the idea she had. "Anyway, we're going in," she announced.

"Catra!"

"I'll be careful, don't worry!" Catra told Adora as she swung over the railing and started to climb down, followed by Melog.

Whether the building was a high rise or a skyscraper, it was a good climbing spot - Catra only had to use her claws in a few spots and quickly reached the streets below. Melog easily kept up. Cats were kings of climbing.

Navigating the streets was easier than she had expected - there were far fewer people out the closer she got to the prison, and those who walked the streets there generally hurried and kept their heads down. They were afraid, she realised, watching a family cross the road and almost throw themselves into the shop there. But were they afraid of an attack on the prison or afraid of the soldiers patrolling the streets and manning the checkpoints and weapon emplacements? Or both?

The information the Alliance had about the internal situation of the country ranged from 'teetering on the brink of a counter-revolution' to 'united against a perceived common enemy of their country and faith', which meant it was basically worthless. Of course, the NATO spies and analysts had the excuse that the revelation of aliens and the restoration of magic had changed the whole world, making most old intel worthless, but still! Catra didn't expect some spy work straight out of the Earth movies, but a bit more than pages upon pages that condensed into 'we don't really know' would have been nice.

Another reason to have eyes on the ground. Though just observing the people didn't tell Catra much about their thoughts. They clearly didn't want to stay near the military, but that could just be because you didn't have to be a genius to know that soldiers would draw fire in an attack and that most attacks didn't really discriminate between targets in the area. Or it could be because the soldiers in question were fanatics looking for spies, saboteurs and infiltrators and might mistake you for one.

Well, she wasn't here to analyse the politics of the country. She was here to scout out the prison to free the sorceresses inside. And it was clear long before she reached the park next to the prison that the Iranian military expected an attack - the soldiers on patrol were twitchier than a Horde scout squad in the Whispering Woods at night.

Easily confused.

She nodded at Melog's comment. Yeah, a quick illusion would have half the soldiers shooting each other. But that wasn't what they were here for.

She cut through the park, dodging both patrols - and their dogs - and checkpoints. Being invisible made it so easy, it felt like cheating in a cadet exercise. Hell, even as a cadet, without her experience and Melog's help, she probably would have managed it. The Revolutionary Guards might be fanatics, but they weren't as good as Bright Moon's best. Adora and the others had fallen silent, not wanting to distract her at a crucial moment, no doubt.

She reached the edge of the prison's close perimeter. The Iranians had reinforced the defences here as well. Razor wire, concrete walls with more firing positions - covering both the perimeter and the interior, she noted - than the original ones, and… She peered at the ground, freshly ground up after the construction. Yes, there were mines; she could see the hints. It looked like she had been wrong about the lack of a death zone.

But the Iranians hadn't gone far enough. The mine fields didn't cover enough ground, and the razor wire and walls weren't big enough, either. They might stop a human infiltrator, but she wasn't human.

"Let's go climb a bit," she whispered, checking that no patrol was nearby.

Yes.

Catra burst out of the bush she had been hiding in, crossed the path in front of her and jumped. She soared over the minefield and the razor wire, hitting the wall of the prison behind them, claws digging into the concrete to get a grip. A moment later, she had scaled the wall to the top, followed by Melog. They'd left a few scratches, but she didn't think anyone would notice.

And they were in the prison - technically. On the roof of a building, and close enough to the soldiers crewing the anti-aircraft gun there to smell their snacks, but inside the perimeter. She crawled forward, to the edge of the roof, and peered into the yard below.

She didn't see any prisoners out, but that had been expected. None of the aerial pictures had shown any prisoners there for a while. But…

She blinked, her ears twitching. Had that been? She cocked her head. Yes. Screaming. Faint, but not faint enough to escape her.

It came from the building next to her.

She didn't have to climb down. She simply dropped to the ground and dashed across the yard. Reaching the window from which the screams came was even easier - the bars made for convenient handholds that let her peer inside.

Leaving without ripping the bars off and the prison guards behind it, and everyone else involved, to shreds, instead continuing to scout out the prison's defences, was harder.

Much harder.