It hadn't taken long for their Guardian to come and retrieve them. Entering into the small tavern, the SG-Team and Chief found themselves staring down a bunch of familiar-looking uniformed folks. They were, by all accounts, very much like the Black Army of Ukrainian make. Anarchists, armed and gathered within the confines of the place. All of the short fellas turned to face the newcomers, whispers spreading throughout the crowd as both male and female Grunts seemed to be looking.
One of them asked some sort of teasing question to the Grunt leading them to the Group's leaders, only to get a snarl back from the first guy. Jack commented, "Ah, infighting. A classic for any kinda movement like this," which got a chuckle out of Daniel and a short laugh out of Cortana. Sam, Teal'c and the Spartans remained rather stoic.
Teal'c voiced, "Strange little creatures," as he observed the bar, where a female Grunt, going by the thinner built, was sitting and serving very colorful drinks with a certain degree of fluorescence to them. He spoke, "Their food and drink seems to also be fluorescent. The alcoholic beverages on display shimmer."
Jack spoke, "Makes some sense, I guess. Stuff here must be adapted to ferment with Methane," as they continued to move to the very rear of the establishment. The Grunt leading them forward raised a hand, waved at them and started speaking in its native language again. Everyone looked at Chief and the rest of the Blues, waiting patiently for translation.
Chief sighed and said, "He's asking that we act respectfully toward their leader," which got Kelly to laugh while Fred and Linda both nodded. Spartans understood the assignment quite easily, with Daniel offering a quick thumbs up as confirmation, Samantha cracking a smile and Teal'c bowing his head slowly, too. Good. Chief looked at Colonel O'Neill next.
Jack shrugged and said, "So long as he doesn't proselytize to me about Communism and or anarchism and its benefits, we're good, Chief," to which Daniel, Teal and Samantha looked at him. He shrugged and asked, "What? I'm just being honest," before ordering, "Go on. Tell him we got what he wants us to do."
Cortana giggled, while the Spartan turned and spoke. The automated translator replied in Unggoy to the little alien, who smiled again, before propping open the door and calling out to his boss. Crouching to enter the place again, the group came upon a dark room. A storage area where boxes of Gruntish liquor lay stored alongside a table, extra chairs and a few other items, like local fauna that was made into obvious steaks, tin mugs with aforementioned liquor and several other Grunts of various bodily shapes and sizes.
Chief among them, a more brutish looking Grunt clad in a dark-green uniform with what looked to be emblem and rank pins on the jacket that were ripped off, leaving torn fabric in place that had been haphazardly sewn back. The leading Unggoy of the pack of Anarchists, a dark-blue-eyed Grunt with much cleaner and straighter teeth, turned away from a map he was presenting to face the group.
He looked at the Grunt that had brought them over and asked something the little guy replied to enthusiastically. The alien turned toward the humans again, put his hand up to his chest, then greeted them in its language, to which Cortana translated, "He says his name is Mapay and he's the leader of the Unggoy Revolutionary Army. Make the same sign. Seems like it's another way of saying Hello."
And, indeed, they complied, putting their own hands up to their chests, each giving their names as they went.
The Alien judged them for a moment, cracked a tiny smile, then showed them to 'sit', or do so to the best of their abilities. Cortana would translate what he said as, "Strange to see Rekindlers here, but it's nice to know we found you first, before that filthy king. Gives us more time to understand those from beyond the Holy Eye."
"Rekindlers?" Jack asked as he sat down. The translator translated it to Unggoy.
Mapay nodded, a seemingly universal gesture, then told them, "Yes. You. Tall beings who can activate the God-touched items the Filthy King is hoarding," as he sat down, too. He offered, "Drink? Food. Good stuff, caught by Smaf in the Western Swamps. Swampcats're really tasty," and that wording nearly got Jack to wrinkle his nose.
He held back. Didn't wanna upset their hosts too much.
"Mapay, sir," Samantha started, a little awkward as if trying to figure out how to show respect to a literally small alien who looked buff enough to rip someone apart. She inquired, "If you don't mind us asking… Why are you rebelling against your King?" as she stared at him. The Grunt's face darkened a little, but he sighed and spoke.
"I should have guessed you would have no context for why I and my Army fight the King," He was translated, "... The Gods' Items. Years ago, when I served as a soldier for him, the King allowed us to share in the wonders left by the Gods. Then… For some reason… In the past few years, he started hoarding the items. No longer could our people enjoy our time together with them, learning of the Great Beyond."
"... So he stole their toys and they're mad about it…?" Jack blinked, looking at the Chief. He then spoke to Mapay, "The King stole your stuff which you were using to play and study together and started hoarding them… Any idea why?"
Mapay didn't seem to know. He was once again translated as he spoke, "No. Tyrant acts like stealing that which we shared for centuries are unheard of in our history. He is the First King to Steal. The Filthy King, the Thief King," and that got the team thinking back for a moment about what Exultation had called the Goa'uld.
Suddenly, Jack whispered, "Oh, God…" horrified.
Kelly snorted and whispered, too, "A Goa'uld Grunt… God, that must be embarrassing," before quieting down as Chief cast a glance back at her.
The Unggoy seemed confused and spoke, yet again translated, "Not Goa'uld… Simple thief. Liar," and that caused Kelly's shoulders to sag. She really must've hated the bastards, Jack thought to himself. Even more so than Teal'c. Teal'c himself nodded in understanding, then listened to Mapay speak again, "King forewent his oaths. We must kill him and return the items to the people."
"Wait, so are you guys actually Anarchists, or-" Jack questioned, before raising his hands and saying, "Y'know what, nevermind…" before sighing and saying, "Guessing they wanna kill the king, so no government, so… Yeah, very much Anarcho-Commies. Freakin' wonderful," before turning toward the door.
Cortana didn't bother translating that. Instead, she translated what Mapay said next, "If you can get in, deal with King and retrieve the Items… Maybe we can be free to enjoy the Gods' gifts again together," to which the Spartans and Humans exchanged glances, slightly concerned over this little change in plans, but more-so by the fact that the Colonel was right.
Chief, however, nodded to the Grunt, who immediately raised his hand high and cheered, alongside the rest of his buddies. They chanted some sort of half-happy salute as they raised the 'Rekindlers' on pedestals, as if they were the supposed Inheritors of the Gods. It wasn't exactly wrong, Cortana thought while everyone stared, bemused. She chuckled, fairly jovial.
Chief looked at Kelly, Fred and Linda and tilted his head toward the door, ordering them to leave while he sat down and let Doctor Jackson and Major Carter engage in small-talk with Mapay, to learn more about their little Revolutionary Army. Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill had also departed, leaving just three of the larger humans in the room with the Aliens, meaning they had a bit more space.
Having walked outside, into the main street of the city, the Spartans and SG-1 members gazed upon the tall structure that was their intended target, with Jack commenting, "Kinda reminds me of Britain a bit… Smog and all included," which got a snort out of Kelly, though the girl tried to remain professional. He added, "Mind tagging along with me, Teal'c? I'm gonna go report to Hammond. Man's probably worried sick about us."
"Indeed," Teal'c spoke, "I will follow, O'Neill."
"We'll keep watch out here, then," Fred said as he drew his tranquilizer-filled airgun and checked it over. The trio of Spartans gave the Colonel a quick salute and watched him and Teal'c depart. The two vanished into the greenish smog of the methane-rich atmosphere, marching out of the town of diminutive aliens while local civilians stared.
Some caught glimpses of the Spartans and closed their window blinds and doors again. Others, however, both young and old, adult and child, stared at the three. They remained the tallest thing on their planet, with some even whispering to one-another in their native language in fear of the giant tin soldiers. Or, at least, that's what Kelly wanted to think they were saying about them.
"They're surprisingly peaceful when they're not Covenant cannon fodder," Linda remarked rather sarcastically, arms crossed to her chest. He saw a few of their Mounted Police, ones clad in dark-blue uniforms with yellow stripes on their pants, ride by on those oddly horse-like creatures. They stared at the Spartans with the same level of sheer confusion and fear as everyone else, but seemed to know that they weren't here to cause trouble.
They stopped in front of the pub, staring at the Spartans while the Spartans simply stared back. They didn't make any sudden moves. They didn't go for the pistols in their holsters. They simply sat there, on their mounts, confused as all hell. One of them took his cap off and scratched the top of his head, before taking a deep breath and exhaling.
Another, a younger-looking one with less blemishes and scars on his skin, raised a hand and greeted them. The three replied in kind, which got a series of noises that could only be described as excited grumbling from the little guy. 'Grumbling' in the sense that his voice sounded a bit more like he had chewed on gravel, like their favorite Team Leader.
Speaking of said team leader, they heard the door open. Turning, they saw the man walk out in the lead, with Samantha and Daniel not far behind. The latter put away his camcorder, then said, "Well, that was informative…" before looking around and asking, "Where'd Jack and Teal'c go?"
"To give a report to General Hammond," Fred said, then looked at Chief and asked, "How'd it go?"
"Fine. We managed to convince Mapay to give us some time to see if we can't be diplomatic with the King," Cortana spoke first through the com system. She added, "Obviously, they're gonna keep tabs on us through people they have inside the King's Palace, but they're not gonna try anything too surreal…"
"Any idea what he meant by Rekindlers?" Kelly inquired.
Cortana answered affirmatively, then added, "The Tech apparently started 'speaking' about us. According to some rumors, when it started mentioning the 'return of the Rekindlers', or Reclaimers, as my translation software for Old Grunty is a bit rusty," and she appeared on John's HUD, "The King kind of took everyone's stuff away for safekeeping."
"I'm surprised people aren't more angry at us, then," Samantha commented as she saw the Policemen sitting in front of them. She smiled awkwardly, then waved, before lowering her hands and adding, "Not to mention the fact the King must be waiting for us, then. Wonder if these Police guys are here to take us to the Palace."
"Probably," Chief replied, then activated his radio and boosted its transmission strength, calling out, "Colonel. We're done talking with the leader of the Rebels. We've got the go-ahead to go and negotiate with the king, see if we can't bring this little conflict of toys to-" before pausing as he heard the crack of a gunshot.
One of the police officers ahead dropped to the floor, the skin on his temple pierced by a bullet from some sort of rifle-sized weapon. Chief and the Spartans drew their tranq guns and divided themselves between the two sides of the road. Fred and Kelly moved to provide cover to the Policemen as they drew their own guns and dismounted, while Linda and Fred shielded the rest of the squad.
"The hell was that, Chief?!" Jack barked just as Linda shouldered her tranq rifle and aimed, searching for targets. She saw the flash of a muzzle from a window nearby, then snapped to it and squeezed the trigger. The rifle-type airgun didn't flinch an inch off of target, the dart flying into the thick cloud and striking the intended target, one of the Grunt rebels letting out a quiet, distant yelp as it fell.
The return fire continued, rounds striking the Spartans' shields and evaporating off of them as Chief replied to Jack, "We're taking fire, sir…" before looking at Fred and giving one recognizable hand signal:A chop of the hand toward the door. The Spartan nodded and moved back to the pub's door, propping it open and going in.
"Switching to Fred's comlink…" Cortana spoke, "And providing him translations-"
She paused, however, when Fred immediately walked back out with Mapay, all while Jack was barking, "Thought you guys said you got the Go-Ahead? Is it the King's guard?!"
"No, sir," Chief squinted and his helmet's visor polarized, HUD zooming in on the targets and noting Black Army/Rebel uniforms. He told Jack, "... Looks like it's Rebels, sir," and paused as Mapay started barking out orders, firing his pistol into the air to take their attention. When several of them poked out from their cover behind windows or carts, the Spartans nailed them with sleeping darts while Cortana belted out a translated explanation to Mapay.
One of Mapay's men walked out and waddled toward the 'fallen', checking them over and seeing they were just knocked out before giving a thumbs up to the leading Grunt. The Police Unggoy beside them stared, bug-eyed, at Mapay having just waded out to warn off his troops. Their Sergeant started asking questions that the leader quickly answered.
Cortana told them, "Cop was just berating the Boss for shooting his gun like that…" before humming and stating, "Not because of Anarchism or anything else. Just firing his gun loudly in the middle of the night," with some degree of disbelief. The Spartans all paused and let the exchange happen while the two very animated Unggoy gestured and argued, but neither pointed their pistols at each-other.
Jack and Teal'c ran up to join the crowd, their weapons drawn as the Colonel said, "We're here, Chief?! Where's the b-" only to pause as he saw the arguments, the knocked-out Rebels down the streets and the rest of the team staring with just as much confusion at the Grunts. Both him and Teal'c blinked, with the latter staring in his usual deadpan at the two arguing aliens.
O'Neill walked up to Chief and said, "Guessing no backup's needed…?" as he slung his dart gun onto his back.
Chief shook his head, while Cortana joked, "No, but we might wanna wash our Mapay's mouth with soap. Those are some really mean slurs he's calling that cop…" with a grin on her face. The Victorian-Era civilians around them and their kids all seemed to balk at the comedic anger between the two alien males.
"I'm betting money on the cop," Jack quipped back, which got a few awkward laughs out of everyone else. Teal'c walked up to them as the Argument still continued. Although the two aliens slowly began to come down from the adrenaline high, they sparred a little verbally, with Cortana translating every little bit she could get her ears on.
The cop had even called Mapay, in a loosely human translation, 'a lousy son of a bitch whose only contribution to Grunty Society was that he wasn't taking up a nipple anymore', which both visibly confused and made the Earthling members of SG-1 burst into laughter. Kelly laughed, too, though she was more subdued, while John, Linda, Fred and Teal'c remained steadfast and deadpan.
When they began to calm down, with Mapay rubbing his throat as if it hurt, the Police Sergeant gestured broadly to the team, basically asking who they were. Mapay explained, calling them Rekindlers again, which caused the Cop to freeze and look up at them. Mounting back up on his horse, he spoke and Cortana translated, "Then I shall take them to the king posthaste!"
"You do that, shank," The translated reply of the Unggoy Anarchist/Rebel came.
O'Neill voiced, "This is the most civil civil war I've seen," both amused and a bit annoyed. The policeman led his squad forward, showing them to follow. And they did, wading through the streets of the Grunty Town and toward the center of the large alien city where more and more civilians had come out to watch them.
The Unggoy Army also seemed to be present, soldiers clad in similar uniforms to those which Mapay and his men wore, though blatantly bearing the emblems of the Grunt Kingdom. A shield crest with a ribbon down below, written in their alien alphabet. The shield itself had the skull of a Grunt(It looked like a PUG) plastered on it with two falchions crossed behind. These ones carried rifles with bayonets and thick black wood stocks.
The town itself was lively, if nothing else, or it was getting livelier as the Night Life began. Kelly burst into laughter the moment she laid eyes upon a most fascinatingly disgusting sight:Unggoy 'Ladies of the Night', to use a more respectful turn of phrase, waiting amidst the crowds and in front of one of the Brothels servicing soldiers.
"... Christ, they really are like us…" Mumbled Jack, hiding his own grin.
Daniel was… Mildly horrified at the implications, while Sam was trying very hard not to stare, because she never expected to see Grunts in garter belts. Apparently, according to Cortana, the Unggoy reproduced quite quickly, which would explain why the city felt like it went on for miles, even to the Palace itself. There must've already been too many of them not to build more.
And yet even more was being built farther North, on the outskirts and right next to the factories that billowed smoke into the sky. They passed by a few early automobiles running on combustion engines nearby and Sam continued to wonder just what the hell was exploding, but not taking the entire planet with them.
As they arrived at the Palace Gates, they were greeted by just about what they expected. A large fence of steel, concrete and stone with a majestic gate and, much to their surprise, a very unfamiliar architectural choice. The Palace compound was at least a mile wide and another long, but the most intriguing feature was the rising pillar in the center.
Cortana spoke, "Detecting familiar signatures within… The tech's right in there, like Mapay said."
"Good to know," Jack spoke, "Time to see if we can't end this without actually having them kill each-other," as they walked up the stairs. The Policemen stopped and turned as the massive wood doors of the place cracked open, revealing the Royal Guards:Grunts clad in ornate armor made out of what seemed to be pieces of aforementioned technology.
Three of them wielded all-too-familiar weapons in their hands. Plasma weaponry of some sort or make. They had golden helmets with face masks and the visible flicker of shields danced across their bodies. One of them spoke to the Police Sergeant, who bowed and nodded. With a wave of a hand, the Policemen were dismissed and the Guards looked at them. The Captain of the Guard spoke, "Welcome, Rekindlers…" in perfect English.
The entire team blinked before the Captain spoke, "I am Tapyap, Captain of the Royal Guard of the Great Unggoy Kingdom," before putting his hand up to his chest, his armor's various Forerunner symbols flickering. He then motioned with his hand to the inside of the Palace and said, "Please, king Yapyap's waiting for you."
The team exchanged looks of concern, but as tense as they were, they followed the Guards inside, to the sight of a surprisingly opulent Main Hall. With two stairwells reaching up to the second floor, gold and other precious metals marking the walls, a beautiful floor made out of some sort of vinyl and even a red carpet.
Statues adorned alcoves on each side, with Cortana stating, "And those are Statues of the Previous Kings… I'm counting maybe sixteen statues total," with each bearing different outfits and poses, as well as nicknames that were soon translated as 'The Unifier', 'The Destroyer', 'The Restorer' and so on. Each king also had a numeral by their side.
And each king was literally just another Yapyap. Clones? Maybe.
Who knew with Forerunners nowadays?
They strode between the two stairwells and toward a massive steel door with gold inlay patterns of various flowers and nature, plus the Crest of the Unggoy, same one as on the Army troops. The Guard Captain pushed the door open, revealing a massive study whose walls were lined with books and early lightbulbs that flickered.
The Guard spoke in English, "My Liege?" just as the central desk, a massive slab of wood of some kind, came into view with the comfortable leather chair behind it being fit for a king out of a Cartoon. The Unggoy King, Yapyap, sat at his desk, perked up from his work space, which was littered with ancient tomes and even Forerunner artifacts, before jumping to his feet off the chair, throwing his hands up and saying, "The Rekindlers are here! I knew you would come! I knew it!" before jumping over his desk and running over.
He grabbed a confused O'Neill's hand and said, "I am King Yapyap the Seventeenth, High Regent of the Unggoy Kingdom on this world! It is an honor to meet all of you and I cannot wait for us to start working together as the Enkindler envisioned!" all while happily jumping from one foot to the other, stomping about. The Guard captain cracked a smile, bowed out and left.
"Yapyap the Seventeenth?" Daniel blinked.
"Enkindler?" Samantha and all of Blue team said at once.
"This is the king Mapay was mad at?" Teal'c inquired, showing just that slight bit of surprise.
"You and your Guards speak English?" O'Neill murmured.
"Oh…" Yapyap paused, frowning, "I suppose you've met my brother," which caused the entire team to basically freeze on the spot. He asked , "He and his friends still mad that we're following the Enkindler's wishes?" before pausing as he saw them all basically double over. He hummed, thought for a second as he saw their confusion, then said, "Yes, the Enkindler! The woman whose creations put us all on our wonderful world of Balaho!"
"The Librarian," Chief realized, which made the Grunt point at him and nod in affirmation, very happy. The Spartan then deduced and said with half-a-mouth, "... The Forerunners are their 'Enkindlers'. And if we're the "Reclaimers', we're their Rekindlers…" before looking at Yapyap and asking, "Mapay is your brother?"
"Yes! He and his friends never really understood the reason our father and I returned all of the Items to the Reliquary…" Yapyap replied, both slightly proud and slightly said, "The Enkindler spoke to us. Told us that the 'Rekindlers', or 'Reclaimers' as you said, would be coming back, Giant Enkindler One One Seven."
… Cortana was unsurprisingly laughing her behind off at this. All the reveals in such a short timespan, combined with the reactions of the entire group, made it all the more fun for the AI as she started piecing things together. Chief then said, "And I'm guessing you speak English because of her, too? Because I doubt Unggoy learned a human language by random chance."
"Yes! Follow me to the Reliquary, please! She will explain everything!" The Alien perked up, then walked over toward a door and waved them forward, "Come! Come! I will have my servants prepare us some refreshments while we go see it!" and the squad, ever more confused, started following him. He spoke, "Maybe this has finally put my brother at ease… Maybe we can finally start playing together again. These Items are… Strangely important to my people…"
… This was just getting weirder and weirder with every passing second, all members of SG-1 and Blue Team thought at the same time.