Chapter 101: Prison Break Part 3
Earth Orbit, Solar System, February 15th, 1999 (Earth Time)
"...and the so-called Valentine's Day Riots in Paris, France, are quieting down after a night full of violence that saw several hundred people arrested and dozens hurt. What damage has been caused remains unclear as of now; according to the authorities, they are still tallying the damage done during the riot. Although the mayor of Paris did confirm that, contrary to first reports, the Eiffel Tower wasn't damaged in the riots. The smoke that gave that impression originated from trash containers that were set on fire and rolled towards the police guarding the tower. Our correspondent is in Paris right now, reporting live from the Champs Elysées. Frank?"
The picture on the screen in the mess on board of Darla switched from the news studio to a man standing in the middle of a street in Paris.
"Thank you, John. Yes, the rioters have been dispersed, but the situation remains tense. Most people I have spoken with say that another riot could start at any moment for any reason. Inflammatory rumours are spreading, the most prominent amongst them that Princess She-Ra has refused to heal the rioters who were wounded in clashes with the police. So far, that has not been confirmed - but we did receive confirmation that the rioters who were released from medical care because they only suffered light wounds were not healed by her, which has fueled the rumours."
Samantha Carter shook her head but didn't comment as she glanced at the others at the table.
"Don't they understand that if Adora healed the wounded rioters, that would only make the next bunch hurt themselves to get healing?" Catra scoffed.
"But… Oh, you mean, they would slightly hurt themselves so Adora would heal their wounds and whatever medical condition they wanted healed, right?" Entrapta asked.
"Yes. But I wouldn't put it past those morons to accidentally hurt themselves much more seriously. Or kill themselves." Catra sneered as she reached for another bread roll.
Sam agreed, but she also understood that desperate people were not entirely rational. Not that she was about to mention that - Adora already looked like she felt this was all her fault. Even though the date in Paris had been Glimmer and Catra's idea, according to Entrapta.
"Yes." Glimmer scowled. "We had to skip half the locations I wanted to visit on our date!"
"It was still a great date," Bow assured her with a smile.
Glimmer immediately beamed at him. "Thank you, Bow!" And then she frowned once more. "But it could have been even better!"
"Don't complain. You at least weren't limited to a boat and a restaurant - both surrounded by half a company of soldiers," Catra said.
"Well, if you had disguised yourselves…" Glimmer trailed off.
"We decided against it," Adora said. "We shouldn't have to hide what we are or who we are."
That was a great stance - in theory. In practice, there were obvious problems with it, in Sam's opinion.
"But I shouldn't have tried to talk to them," Adora went on, looking morose.
"It wasn't your fault that the morons didn't listen," Glimmer told her.
Catra cleared her throat. "Well, the French should have been better at dealing with the riot. They have those regularly, after all. That things went out of control like that…" She shook her head. "That's on them."
Adora didn't look convinced but slowly nodded.
"At least we know now that we can't visit Earth without wearing disguises," Glimmer said. "So, next time shouldn't see so much…" She looked at the screen and shrugged. "... trouble."
"Easy for you to say," Catra said. "I can't just dye my hair, wear shades and Earth clothes and get mistaken for a human."
"Well, you could wear a hat…" Bow trailed off and ducked his head a little when Catra glared at him.
"And shave off my fur and cut off my tail?"
"Right. Maybe we should look into a magitech holographic projector," Bow said. "That way, you'd look like a human - any human - until someone tried to touch you."
Sam nodded. They had looked into that while waiting for the latest results from their bot testing.
Catra scoffed. "And my tail?"
"Well…" Bow winced. "It could be disguised as a belt, I guess, but that would probably look weird.
"A belt!" Catra hissed.
"Just wrap it around your waist or stuff it down your trousers," Glimmer said.
"We could try to build a tail-hide generator!" Entrapta piped up. "Maybe with a stealth system that only works on the tail! Or a dimensional extender that would look flat from the outside but open on the inside so your tail would be in a pocket dimension, invisible to everyone!"
That sounded like… a huge effort for what was essentially just a question of convenience, in Sam's opinion. And what would happen if that contraption failed with the tail stuck inside? "I think a conventional disguise would be more efficient," she said.
"You mean, wrap the tail around your waist or stuff it down your trousers?" Entrapta asked.
Sam nodded.
Catra scowled, and Entrapta pouted. "That doesn't sound like fun," Sam's friend said.
"It's not fun at all!" Catra agreed. "Tying my tail up?" She shuddered.
If the Colonel had been here, he'd have a field day with such a comment, Sam knew. But he was stuck with paperwork he should have completed yesterday. Which served him right - according to scuttlebutt, he had gone training with Lenkova instead.
She pressed her lips together. The Colonel wouldn't have done anything untoward; she was certain. Still…
A beep from Entrapta's tool interrupted her thoughts. "Oh! The first batch of test models is finished!" She jumped up, propelled by her hair. "It's time for science! And testing!"
Ah, finally! Sam smiled as she got up as well. The Etherians could sort out their problems with visiting Earth themselves.
Earth Orbit, Solar System, February 16th, 1999 (Earth Time)
Catra watched the feed from the new bot. It wasn't really sneaky, in her opinion. Not graceful enough for its size. And not smart enough to pick the best routes and time its exposure - though that could be fixed by taking direct control, she supposed. But it wasn't agile enough to take advantage of the best hiding spots. And being able to fly could only make up for so much, even when the enemy couldn't detect the spell. But it might be enough to fool the Iranians. Maybe.
"Good bot!" Entrapta crowed. She pushed a button, and the feed from the bot shrank, replaced by a rapidly growing feed from a camera observing the testing area. Which was a frigate from Third Fleet.
"So far, no one seems to have noticed it," Bow said. "Which is a good thing for the bot but kind of a bad thing for our own security."
"Priest won't like it," Catra agreed. "He'll have to train his people better." Goa'uld didn't use spy bots - at least as far as she knew - but they could possess animals small enough to sneak around. At least long enough to get to an isolated crew member. And once they controlled a crew member… She clenched her teeth.
"He will," Adora said. "He's watching this."
They shared the feed with his flagship. They didn't leave a channel open, of course - no one wants Priest to praise Adora in the middle of a test. The official excuse was that the rest of the fleet, including his flagship's crew, wasn't supposed to know about this. A test for the bot and the clones, or a double-test, as Entrapta had called it.
"It still hasn't reached the computer core," Catra pointed out.
"Yes. Hacker-4 has to cross the main corridor for that - and descend to the auxiliary bridge," Entrapta said. "But I believe in it!"
Hacker-1 to 3 had not survived the destructive testing and the vacuum travel, respectively. The latter wasn't exactly a requirement for a mission on Earth, of course. But Entrapta and the others were planning ahead.
On the screen, the bot stopped in a corner of the main hallway. A pair of clones passed, chatting about… The Holy Dogma? Catra glanced at her lover, who was frowning deeply. Catra had expected that, though, if she was honest, Earth would be a much better place if everyone converted to the worship of She-Ra. Priest and his people might be fanatics, but at least they tried to follow Adora's example. And they didn't want to torture and kill everyone with magic.
She clenched her teeth. She knew how it felt to be tortured. No one should go through that. Well, with a few exceptions, maybe - but they were dead already.
"And it's down in the central maintenance shaft!" Entrapta announced. "Now all that's left is to get to the main databanks and access them. Go, Hacker-4!"
And that didn't take the bot long - the camouflage field wasn't very good, it couldn't hold a candle to Melog's illusions, but it was, obviously, good enough to fool a casual glance. Though would it be good enough to fool a bunch of guards expecting magical attacks?
Catra had her doubts. She and Melog could do this much more safely. But, she added with a glance at her lover, Adora would hate it.
Yes.
Catra glanced at Melog. They looked at her, then sat down and stretched, yawning. They knew her so well. And together, they could run rings around the Iranians - well, unless they posted dogs at every corner. If Melog had come with them on their date, they could have walked past half the people in Paris without getting spotted.
But that wouldn't have been a date. A date was you and your lover. Or your lovers. Not you, your lover or lovers, and someone following you and watching everything you did. That was… creepy. Even if it was Melog who was watching. Especially if it was Melog, since they were a friend and not a faceless guard.
"So, that looks promising," Bow said.
"Not for that frigate's crew," Catra said with a snort.
"Catra!"
"What? It's the truth. We need better internal security." Catra shrugged. "Anway, that was a good first test, but we can't count on that working in the heart of the Iranian government. They'll expect spies and saboteurs." Such regimes always did. Often with good reasons.
"Well, we could test it on Stargate Command next!" Entrapta suggested.
"Ah… I think that wouldn't be a good idea," Sam said.
"Why not? They should have the best security on Earth right now. If Hacker-4 can infiltrate them, it can infiltrate anyone!"
Catra snorted. It would be fun. But it was too dangerous. "We would have to inform the Command Council first - and some of them might leak the information to warn the Iranians," she said.
"Why would they do that?" Entrapta asked. "Some of them are our allies, and the others are working closely with our allies."
"That's…" Sam winced. "That doesn't mean everyone in their governments can be trusted."
Or that their governments could be trusted, Catra thought. Officially, Russia and China were still planning to join the Alliance, but they hadn't really been pressing for serious negotiations lately.
Which was suspicious, in her opinion.
"Oh!" Entrapta shook her head. "But… Oh! Can we do it in the Pentagon, then? We can trust our allies, right? And you complained about the Pentagon before, Sam."
"Ah…" Sam winced again. "That wouldn't be a good idea, either."
And Catra chuckled.
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, February 17th, 1999
"So… you managed to convince the mad scientist princess that using the Pentagon to test your new bot and using your new bot to test the Pentagon's security at the same time was a bad idea." Jack O'Neill didn't know if he should grin or groan at the news. He should have expected such a proposal from Entrapta, of course - the woman had a bit of tunnel vision.
"Yes, sir." Carter, professional as always, nodded. Even though this wasn't a formal briefing - SG-1 was just meeting in her lab. Coincidentally, if anyone asked. And of anyone asked what they were doing, they were watching the news on the screen in the back of her lab. Which was a mix of 'news' from France, people reacting to the riots, and some entitled idiots claiming it was all She-Ra's fault for not healing everyone. And some useless motion in the United Nations to stop witch hunts, which all the countries doing witch hunting would ignore - and decry it as colonialism or something.
"Why would it be a bad idea, actually?" Daniel asked with a frown. "It would be useful to see how good security is, wouldn't it? And if the bot can hack the Pentagon's computer, it should be able to hack the Iranian government's computer as well."
"That's not correct," Carter said, frowning as well. "We did install adaptive hacking routines, but since computer architecture varies a lot - although basic principles remain the same, and many routines build on each other - you could have a hacking routine that can defeat the defences of the Pentagon, but not an outdated exotic operating system still in use in Iran. It is unlikely, though," she added.
Daniel nodded. "It would still be a good test, though, for both."
"Yes," Carter said. "But it would also likely cause resentment."
Now their friend looked puzzled. "But not if they ask for permission beforehand. They would ask, right?"
"Of course," Carter confirmed, to Jack's relief. "But in order to test the Pentagon's defences, the staff there wouldn't be informed. And should they fail to defeat the bot's infiltration attempt, which seems likely based on my calculations, the careers of key personnel could end up affected."
"And unless someone really messes up, they won't be cashiered but could very well end up in a dead-end position," Jack added. "And some will hold a grudge over that and still have enough influence to take revenge." Petty, probably, and pointless, but enough to ruin other careers - or even missions.
"Oh."
"Such behaviour is common amongst the false gods," Teal'c added with a slow nod. He was talking in an even tone, as if he were commenting on the weather, but it was still one of the strongest condemnations of such officers that Jack had heard in a while.
"Still… wouldn't it be better if any weakness in our security would be revealed before the war picks up steam?" Daniel asked. "And officers who, ah, don't measure up?"
"Yep," Jack told him. "Like a shakedown cruise. Shake up the whole organisation."
His friend blinked. "But…?"
"But such things rarely end well for the one doing the shaking up," Jack explained. "People take such things personally." The Etherians had already - often without intending to - stepped on too many toes of too many self-important people. And nations.
"Ah." Daniel nodded - he would be familiar with that attitude from his own field. The fact that he hadn't used his very public vindication to settle a few old grudges showed that he just was too good for his field, in Jack's opinion.
"And someone in the government might be tempted to leak news of the 'test' to make his friends and proteges look good," Jack said.
"You have a rather low opinion of our government and the Pentagon, Jack," Daniel commented.
"I have a lot of experience with both," Jack retorted.
"Corruption is another trait common amongst the false gods."
"I still think it shouldn't be too bad," Daniel said, pouting some more. "And it might save lives. We're at war! And would such an officer really dare provoke the Etherians with some petty revenge?"
Shaking out the incompetent officers in the Pentagon and elsewhere before they led troops into combat or planned missions would definitely save lives. But… Jack sighed. "We can't just rely on the Etherians as a big stick to get our way. People might get used to it." Sooner or later, everyone - on Earth and Etheria - would internalise that.
"And would that be a bad thing?" Daniel asked.
"Many people will feel oppressed even if the Etherians only want the best for everyone. And Operation Jailbreak won't help with that impression. The Etherians announced - months ago - that they would intervene if there's a genocide," he went on, "but I don't think everyone realised that they actually mean it." The Iranians certainly hadn't. But once the rest of the world understood that the Etherians would intervene, the reactions wouldn't be pretty.
Russia and China might attempt to use that as well to gain more influence in the United Nations. But would they stop trying to join the Alliance? NATO was doing all they could without being obvious to block them, Jack had heard from old colleagues stationed at Brussels, and at least China might very well decide that having to use spies to get advanced technology and lagging a bit behind the curve was worth if it meant the party would keep control over their population, especially the soldiers. On the other hand, if they decided that the Etherians would soon intervene in their countries anyway because of their treatment of various minorities, things wouldn't be pretty. Not at all.
But there was no stopping the Etherians from doing what they thought was the right thing.
Something that most governments, including the United States', would find horrific.
Earth Orbit, Solar System, February 18th, 1999 (Earth Time)
Adora sighed as she watched Earth through the windows of Darla's bridge.
"Are you still feeling guilty for the riots?" Catra was standing behind her, and Adora didn't have to turn around - or look at her reflection in the glass - to know her lover was frowning at her.
"I don't," Adora said. It wasn't entirely her fault, at least, so it wasn't a complete lie.
Catra sniffed in response. "It's not your fault. If the French riot, that's on them."
"But if we had been disguised, we could've had a nice date as planned," Adora said. "It was nice enough, I mean, given, ah, everything…" She winced as she turned around.
Catra snorted. "That wasn't your fault either. I should have expected that. We should have gone to Etheria for a date."
That wasn't right, either. "That would be like hiding," Adora said.
"It wouldn't be the same as hiding - it would be more like avoiding a minefield. Or a choke point," Catra retorted.
"An allied country shouldn't be a minefield," Adora pointed out. They should be able to go out in an allied country, shouldn't they?
"I think their president can't go out without guards either," Catra said.
"But he doesn't start riots." Adora thought he wouldn't, at least.
"And the famous people on Earth have to deal with people annoying them on dates as well," Catra said. "So, it's not your fault. It's just how humans here act."
"I haven't heard of a riot being started over autographs," Adora pointed out.
"They probably hid that." Catra grinned. "Anyway, we might get a working disguise for next time."
"Next Valentine's Day?" Adora asked with a grin.
"By then, whatever Entrapta and Sam will have built can probably hide an entire company on the Champs Elysées. Including tanks." Catra snorted.
Adora laughed as well, but… it was probably not too much hyperbole. They - and Bow, and Hordak - had been working a few days on the hacking bots, and the latest model could already turn almost invisible. Sam had called it a 'predator mode' and then had begged them not to tell Jack she had said that. Unfortunately, the bot couldn't maintain that mode for too long. But it should be enough to hack the Iranians - thanks to the magic scanner, they had the building mapped out perfectly, down to the server storage room. And the shuttles were ready as well. Tonight - well, according to Iranian time - they could launch their mission.
But until then… "Melog could do that," she said. Their friend was a master of illusion magic.
Catra nodded. "But I don't want to ask him to disguise us for a date. That wouldn't be fair."
"I don't think they'd mind," Adora said. Melog adored Catra… She blinked. Good thing she hadn't said that out loud - Catra would tease her about her involuntary pun, and once she told Jack…
"It would also feel a bit weird having them shadow us for the entire date," Catra said.
"We had a dozen French guards shadow us for our entire date." Catra had pointed them out to Adora.
"That's different," Catra said. "They're doing what they were ordered to. Melog's our friend. And they can feel my emotions," she added in a lower voice. While not looking at Adora.
Oh. That was the reason, then, for Catra's refusal to ask Melog for help.
"I don't mind, not really," Catra said, still not looking at her. "It's nice to know they like me, despite knowing me so well."
Adroa almost rolled her eyes. Instead, she hugged her lover.
Catra squirmed a little, but not seriously. "But having a date like that…"
Adora nodded, then let her chin rest on Catra's shoulder. Melog would be invisible, but there was no need to point that out. If Catra was uncomfortable with Melog following them on a date, then Adora would accept that.
"The date was still fun," she said.
"Could've been better, though."
"Most dates could've been better, I think. No one's perfect." Adora hugged her a bit more tightly. "And we didn't ruin Glimmer and Bow's date."
"They complained as if we had," Catra said. "Glimmer, at least."
"She was hoping to climb the Eiffel Tower with Bow once we were done there," Adora said. Her friend had told her that a visit there was a must, after all.
Catra snorted. "Tough luck. She could have teleported up there, anyway. No one could've stopped her." She chuckled. "So, we had the better date."
It wasn't a competition. Although Glimmer and Catra might disagree, in Adora's opinion. But that wasn't important right now.
Earth Orbit, Solar System, February 18th, 1999 (Earth Time)
Samantha Carter was merely an observer. Not an active participant. That was perfectly acceptable according to international law. Military officers used to follow foreign armies as observers in wars where their country wasn't a participant all the time in the past.
But regardless of how often she repeated the thought to herself, it rang hollow. No one would believe her, not with her close relationship with the Etherians known so well. Even if it was, technically, true - she was merely observing how the hacking bot was performing. Of course, she had helped design, build and test it, but that wasn't active participation in a conflict either. Technically. But no one would agree with that view.
"Alright! Everyone's in position!" Entrapta announced. "Do you have the readings, Sam?"
Not even the Etherians.
"I'm just observing, but yes," Sam told her. She ignored the snort from Catra.
On the holoprojector, she could see a live 3D projection of the target building in Tehran, with the internal structure and even the people inside overlaid on it.
"If we had that kind of intel, Eagle Claw… well, it would have still failed, but it wouldn't have been quite so foolhardy," the Colonel commented.
"I think we would have had better intel about the landing sites and the conditions as well," Sam pointed out.
"And we might have started a war," Daniel added. "That the operation failed allowed the Iranian government to save face."
Was that a subtle criticism of the Etherian plans? Sam couldn't quite tell - Daniel was in favour of freeing political prisoners.
"Well, if they want a war, we can give them a war," Catra said. "It won't be a long war, though."
"They would be stupid to start a war with us." Glimmer shook her head. "Since they haven't started a war with the United States in the past, I doubt they'll declare war on us over freeing their abused prisoners. The risk that rival countries will exploit that should be obvious."
"Well, most of their neighbours don't like your policies either," the Colonel retorted.
"Well, it's not entirely impossible that the other countries in the region would support Iran, especially if they fear a similar intervention in their own territory, but there are a lot of old grudges and rivalries to consider," Daniel said.
"We've gone over this before," Adora said.
"And we're ready!" Entrapta pointed at the holoprojection. "The stealth shuttle is ready, Hacking-5 is all wired up, and Guard-4 and Guard-5 are ready as well!"
Sam checked the readings. Indeed, all three bots and the shuttle were ready inside Darla's hangar.
"Start the stealth system," Adora said.
On the screen to the side, the shuttle vanished from view. Since Darla was facing Earth, the ship didn't have to manoeuvre to hide the hangar doors opening, and the shuttle launched without any visible sign.
On the sensor screen, Sam could track how it broke orbit and started to enter the atmosphere. That was tricky, even with the advanced stealth system, but they had plotted the course so the shuttle was on the other side of the world from Iran when it did so.
"No reaction from any ground-based defences," Entrapta reported after a few minutes. That meant the defences of other countries, Sam knew - they were just approaching Iran now. "Shuttle - we really need a good name for her - is entering Iranian airspace… now!"
Sam tensed even though she knew that there was no indication that the Iranians could spot the shuttle. But as the flight path on the map updated, showing how it travelled towards Tehran, without any sign that the Iranian air force had detected it, she relaxed again.
A bit later, the shuttle hovered above the target building. And the few people inside the installation, guards and what looked like a janitor and some night shift technicians, at least according to the pattern of how they moved, hadn't shown any reaction at all.
Nor did they when the three bots launched, flying down to the roof, where the intakes of the air conditioning keeping the servers cool were installed. And the hatch leading down to the top floor of the building. In theory, the bots could enter through the air vents, but it would be a very tight fit, and they would have to go through several filters and deal with mesh wire and bars. With the hallways deserted except for the occasional patrol - which they could track with their scanner - the normal access was safer. And quicker.
Sam still almost bit her lower lip when the bots swept down, opened the hatch and entered the building proper.
"It's like a video game," the Colonel commented when the projections representing the bots travelled down the main stairs, headed toward the server room. "Just needs a few save points."
Sam narrowed her eyes at him - it wasn't a game! - but Daniel chuckled, as did Catra and Bow, despite Glimmer and Adora frowning at them.
Entrapta nodded. "We did use some video game interfaces for this - they were quite ergonomic."
Sam didn't blush when the Colonel grinned at her. She was still grateful that the hacking bot arrived at the server room right that moment, before the Colonel could tease her about video games, and she could pretend to be focused on the hacking attempt. Observing only, of course.
Not that the bot needed her to interfere, anyway - Iranian computer security, once you had access to the physical server, was almost nonexistent. At least for people using advanced technology. And the same went for the physical security - looping the few cameras observing the hallway and the room was all it took to blind it.
A bit later - though it had taken longer than Sam had hoped to get the data because of the outdated computers used by the Iranians had very slow data transfer rates - all three bots were leaving the building again, with no one the wiser.
Earth Orbit, Solar System, February 19th, 1999 (Earth Time)
"Alright, we've analysed the data! Sorry that it took so long, but it was really badly organised - I don't know how the Iranians were supposed to work with such an inefficient system! They can't trust their data at all! We had to infer most information from secondary sources like medical reports, and even there, they were using incorrect data. It was only through pattern analysis that we managed to filter out the truth. If they had simply used encryption, it would have been faster, I think. So, sorry, it really wasn't our fault. If we get the opportunity, we should upgrade their system."
Catra snorted at Entrapta's comment. Her friend sounded more annoyed than when she had started dealing with the Horde's logistics. "That was the point - they didn't want to leave proof of their crimes," she reminded her.
"It's still inefficient," her friend complained with a pout. "Anyway, we've got the people we need to save - all the ones suffering from torture and all the ones accused of magic - and we have marked their locations. Though that needs to be confirmed before we can take them since this data might also not be true."
Catra nodded. That was a complication, but they had expected that.
"Ah, if only every murderous regime was as efficient with their paperwork as the Nazis were," O'Neill commented.
"They weren't actually as efficient as popular opinion claims, Jack," Daniel objected. "Although they were probably better at documenting their heinous acts than the Iranians, and…"
"...and it's not really relevant, Daniel."
"But…"
Adora cleared her throat. "So, we have the names, but we can't be sure that they are where they should be? I mean, they shouldn't be in prison, of course, but they should be in the cell that the data says… I mean… You know what I mean!"
Catra snickered. "Yes, we do."
"If we have to check everyone to see if they are who we think they are before taking them, then that will take too much time to pull this off and get away before reinforcements arrive at the prisons," Bow pointed out. "We need to check beforehand."
"We - you can do it with our scanner," Sam said. "Match the biometrics - at least the basic information like height - with the data we got. Pictures, if we can trust them."
It was funny how she tried to pretend she wasn't part of this operation. Catra would like to tease her about it, but this wasn't the time for that. "Yes, that sounds good," she said.
"That would reduce but probably not eliminate the risk of leaving someone behind," Entrapta said. "If they had DNA records… but testing would be too long. Unless we build a bot that can take samples beforehand!"
"A robot mosquito?" O'Neill raised his eyebrows.
"That would probably be best," Entrapta replied, obviously taking his comment as a serious suggestion. "We just need them to draw blood, after all, and flying would make that easy. Although they probably would be a bit bigger than a mosquito."
"Robot vampire bat?"
"I thought vampires were fictional." Entrapta blinked.
"It's the name of a small flying mammal that consumes blood as part of its diet," Sam explained.
"Ah."
"I don't think we should build another bot," Glimmer said. "That will take more time, and we would need a lot of them to test every target. The risk that they would be spotted would be too great."
Adora nodded - reluctantly; Catra could tell. "We'll see how many are left when we're done with that."
"If we have to, we'll just grab everyone who fits the data," Catra said. "We can sort them out afterwards."
Jack winced at that, but that was probably just envy that they couldn't do that when he was doing that stuff on Earth.
Ah, well. She stretched. "So, there's nothing we can do but wait until you're done, right?" Catra said, grabbing Adora's hand. "Then we'll head to bed so we're well-rested when you're done," she went on without waiting for an answer. "You can worry in bed," she added in a lower voice, cutting off Adora's protest.
Not that she would let her lover worry, of course. Not in bed, at least.
Earth Orbit, Solar System, February 20th, 1999 (Earth Time)
Jack O'Neill hated staying safely behind while his people went into harm's way. Watching the Etherians prepare to launch Operation The Great Escape - it was a perfectly fine name, even if no one else except Jack wanted to use it - was the same kind of torture as watching another Stargate team prepare to go through a gate. Sure, he knew that the people on the teams were trained as well as possible and that the mission was supposed to be safe-ish - the hardest and most dangerous missions went to SG-1, after all - but he also knew that Murphy was just waiting to throw a spanner or two in the works and good people would get hurt or worse. And waiting for that call to action, to go in and get your friends out - or avenge them - was the worst. And with the increase in personnel, more people he had trained, this was bound to get worse at Stargate Command. Lenkova's last mission had been a perfect example of that.
But Jack had been able to save half the team and avenge the rest, at least. Eventually. The prison break was worse since he wasn't allowed to go in and help his friends should anything go wrong. The orders he had received had been very clear about that.
Damn politics. The Etherians were allies, and Iran was a hostile nation with a history of supporting terrorism. And this was about enforcing human rights. America should go all-in on this! Or at least send in SG-1 with the Etherians. Even Daniel would be on board for this. After some worrying about international law, at least.
But no, the Alliance didn't want to be seen invading other countries. Not unless it was a clear case of defending against an invasion. Or to stop a genocide that wasn't disputed by half the United Nations. But even in the United States, some of the radio host nutcases were talking about witch hunts being justified.
It's a crazy world, he thought, looking down at the world in question below him while the comm channels picked on Darla's bridge.
"Stealth transport shuttles moving into assigned staging areas."
"If only we had the time to reconstruct Horde Prime's teleporter."
"Strike teams boarding the stealth commando shuttles."
'Strike teams' meant princesses, some of them younger than most marines at Stargate Command. One of them was still a bloody teenager!
Jack clenched his teeth at the thought. Magic didn't make you bulletproof - not unless you were She-Ra. Etherian body armour was good but not perfect. Nothing was perfect. A stray shot, a moment of bad luck… Not even She-Ra could raise the dead. Well, in theory, there were sarcophaguses, but… Jack shook his head.
All of the princesses had volunteered for this, he reminded himself. They knew the risks. But teenagers who weren't old enough to get a drink in most countries shouldn't be allowed to volunteer, sovereign heads of state or not! This was Earth, not Etheria.
But Jack wasn't calling the shots. The Etherians were. And they were perfectly fine with letting Frosta hit an Iranian prison. 'She's fought worse when she was younger', Glimmer had told him, as if that was an argument for letting her fight more!
But the Teleporting Terror clearly thought so, and the rest were backing her, even Adora and Catra, who should know better.
"Stealth Commando Shuttles launching."
He turned to glance at the projection on Darla's bridge. He couldn't see the shuttles with the naked eye, but the tracking sensors displayed their course as they spread out, entering the atmosphere on the opposite side of the world from Iran.
"They have thoroughly prepared this mission," Carter commented. "They have all the advantages, and we didn't find any sign of a trap."
Jack grunted in response. It would have been more reassuring if she hadn't been glued to the sensor readouts since this circus had started.
Carter didn't react. "Shuttles entering Iranian airspace," she announced a few minutes later. "Following set courses on schedule."
I can see that, Jack thought - he knew the courses set for the shuttles by heart. He had helped pick them. They avoided the known anti-air defences of the Iranians and were as safe as he could make them. Still, no plan was perfect. And no operation went perfectly according to plan. An unscheduled flight, a spontaneous exercise because an officer was feeling grumpy or ambitious, some civilian spotting a weird thing and overreacting or just plain mechanical failures… Missions had failed for any reason. Sometimes violently.
But there was still no reaction from the Iranians as the shuttles stopped above the prisons. No frantic scramble, no patrolling aircraft switching courses, no guns going off. Everything seemed to be going to plan.
And Jack had a bad feeling about this.