2,739A/N: Well here we are. I finally got this chapter finished. This was a hard one to write for me and the last scene, which I ended up cutting out 80% (to add it to the next chapter) because it was going to take me too long to write, has been plaguing me for almost a year now. I think I got myself into an issue of wanting to finish this chapter before writing anything else, and have gotten into a rut that plainly speaking resulted in very little writing done at all in the last year. Therefore going forward I am not going to make any plans on writing for x story or x chapter, and just write whatever I feel like in hopes of actually getting more done for my readers. This may even mean another story, but I have zero plans for that at the moment so I doubt that.
I am hoping to have a chapter for my Star Wars story out in the next few days, as I am trying to quickly write a few small scenes that are cutting up large sections of stuff I have already written to make that chapter as long as I can get it. So that should come before Friday next week for my readers of that story.
To my reviewers, thank you! Even if I have been negligent to respond, I do read them all! I also have been having an issue with my ability to send messages on FFN, so to the people who have messaged me asking how I am doing, sorry I have not been able to respond.
And thank you to my Beta for his awesome help getting this done so quickly!
Chapter 14:
"What can you tell me, Captain? Have we learned anything pertinent to the situation at hand?" General Hammond asked.
"Well Sir his abilities are certainly, well mostly, possible to emulate with technology, I think the Stargate is a good example of what is possible with the right knowledge. I am just failing to see how he is managing to pull it all off." Captain Carter said dejectedly, having made a full recovery from her close 'exchange' with the Tok'ra Jolinar.
"I understand that Captain, but I need something more concrete to go to the Pentagon and the President with." the General said while looking over the papers in the folder in front of him. It had only been a day since the treaty had finally been signed by Lady Anaitis, weeks after Hari's departure.
"General, as much as I hate to admit it, I think we may need to start considering 'magic' to be a very real source of power," Daniel said to the room, which consisted of SG-1, the leader of SG-3, and Doctor Bill Lee. He could see everyone's looks of disbelief or the continued defiance of them simply not wanting to accept magic as a thing, but he soldiered on. "Regardless of whether his abilities are magic or some other form of energy that could be explained by science, it doesn't really matter to us at this moment," he said, getting curious looks from everyone now, and took a moment to collect his own thoughts before continuing.
"His abilities, regardless of their source, are real, and I think his various 'demonstrations' during our negotiations were entirely on purpose. To both confuse us, and get us stuck on that specific issue while ignoring others. It really doesn't matter so much where his powers come from right now, but that they appear to be very real and that his people certainly feel that to be true. I don't know about you, but I managed to get in a few words in with a few of the Phoenix guards..." he said before getting interrupted by the general with a question.
"Phoenix Guard?" General Hammond asked for clarification.
"That is the name of the elite guard that accompanied Hari and Lady Anaitis," he answered the General happily before continuing. "As I was saying, one of the guards I spoke to admitted he did not believe in Lord Hariric as a divine being, however, the guard was readily willing to admit Hari has abilities that he could not explain and that were far beyond what a normal person could do. Even not believing in Hari's divinity, the guard still clearly demonstrated extreme loyalty and reverence to Hari. What's really important to us is that others, even those outside of the Empire, will believe Hari's abilities to be real, and many of those will choose to worship him as a god, and I am not too sure if we can do anything about it, or if we really should." he said finishing up what he had been thinking about, getting mostly thoughtful looks from his colleagues.
"What do you mean?" General Hammond asked, clearly fishing for more information to include in his own reports.
"Well I can't say for certain, but attacking his divinity outright may push those who truly believe in him away from us, and from what we have been able to deduce, that accounts for a significant majority of Imperial Citizens. Just think of the negative reception a country trying to negotiate with America would have if they constantly derided or attacked Christians or core American values. It would obviously not go over well, and that is why I think we should really try to avoid the issue, at least directly for now." he said, letting out a sigh, as he was not even sure about what to do either.
"So we are just supposed to ignore the fact that he goes around using technology like the Goa'uld to trick people into worshiping him as a god?" Jack asked, clearly not happy with this plan.
"We are making the assumption that he is using technology to create an illusion of magical abilities," Teal'c said stoically, raising an eyebrow at the same time. Quite honestly it shocked Daniel that Teal'c was less outspoken about the issue, mainly due to the Jaffa's own past. "His allowance of those to live peacefully who do not worship him is not something I have seen another Goa'uld do. However, It still remains to be seen if his or other Imperial's words can be trusted." Teal'c finished, really getting to the crux of the issue. They were going to need to see how the Star Empire operated for themselves to truly get an idea of who they were working with.
"Hari did not seem to intend or even keen on people worshiping him if what we have seen is indicative of anything. I may be wrong, but his almost casual approach to his visit here seemed to me to be him wanting to almost get a reprieve from all those who fawn and worship him," he said putting his two cents in. But the whole situation still felt weird to him. He certainly was not one to outright dismiss something because it was not part of his normal interpretation of the world around him. So his thoughts on the whole situation, and magic in general, were in major flux.
"I just feel something is a bit fishy, even if Lady Anaitis bargained hard in the second half of the negotiations, Hari seemed to not be bothered at all by providing us with more advanced technology," Jack said voicing his grievances, or maybe it was better to call them suspicious, as he expected Jack had been happy with them getting weapons technology. There was just something about Hari that clearly put Jack off, and if he was not wrong, it was something beyond simply the man claiming to be a god.
"Colonel, you know as well as I do that both the President and the Pentagon have been pushing for us to gain real tangible results with this program. Senator Kinsey was just the first of many to make a real attempt at getting us shut down, and if we don't produce something to quiet their complaints it may very well happen." General Hammond said a little heatedly to Jack, but simply rehashed something that everyone already knew. That the fact that they were going to be able to get some technology, even weapons technology, even if it was slightly older Goa'uld tech, was not something that could be ignored by those in power. It also looked good on them as a team and Stargate Command in general. It did annoy him a bit, but he had put to bed long ago that the cultural value of the program was going to be a tiny second fiddle to the more important goal of technological advancement and the protection of Earth. "How's the investigation into the McDonald's delivery going?"
"Mostly concluded sir," Sam said, shuffling some of the papers she had in front of her before opening a folder and handing out papers to everyone at the table. Looking over his, it looked to be an overview of their investigation into the McDonalds that Hari had somehow ordered and then organized to be delivered to the base. If Lady Anaitis was to be believed it was simply Hari playing a prank on them, another tidbit that lends credence to his belief that Hari had been blowing off steam while here. "He seemed to have used a credit card held in the name of a travel agency that is owned by a string of holding companies. Unfortunately at some point, the trail goes cold as false identities are used. However, we do know that the travel agency sold some small amount of gold to cover their expenses and does nothing but provide a credit card for Hari, with only temporary contract workers when needed. They don't even have a physical office really, just an address shared by several hundred other companies for tax purposes." Sam said, looking over her folder.
She must have worked hard, as General Hammond had given her orders to get some rest after she encountered the Tok'ra Jolinar and the Askrak. He was still worried for her, as he could see the impact that sharing her body with another's mind has had on her, as she seemed almost more introspective than before. It didn't seem to help that Hari was constantly challenging her beliefs and long-held ideas, by both constantly doing different things with his magic, as well as dropping tidbits about science that had Sam getting lost in her mind about the implications. It all made him worry for his friend.
"Do we know anything else?" Hammond asked.
"Not much sir, but it won't be an issue to shut down the company, or the credit card if we wanted. Though they only really have a few million in the bank from the sale of the gold." Sam continued while he looked over the slim file that he had been provided.
"I think it may be a better idea not to move on this information General," Jack said while sitting back, and looking around the table.
"I agree, it's better that we can track any purchases made through this company, rather than being blindsided with orders from another company's credit card." The General replied. "Do we know anything about when the first shipment of goods will arrive to send through to the Empire?" The General asked, looking towards him. How he had been wrapped into organizing the first shipment through the gate, he did not know. Thankfully it was only the one time while the treaty negotiations had been ongoing. Apparently, the brass had wanted a shipment ready to go and it had been down to him to choose what to send off for the first round of trade.
What they were going to 'purchase' with their credits, was going to be something they, the egg heads and upper brass as Jack would say, were going to work out later. Apparently, it was causing quite the argument amongst nearly everyone in the know on what they needed to get from the Empire first. Many wanted a big ship, others more reasonably to him, wanted to get some smaller forms of technology to study before getting something larger like a cargo ship. Then there was the issue of logistics and trying to transport so much through the gate and the SGC. Thankfully that headache was not his.
"The first shipment of food and goods seems to be on schedule, however, the airmen at the tunnel entrance have said if shipments of this size are to continue we will need..." he paused to ensure he emphasized need before continuing, "to drastically expand the entranceway and cargo elevators in a big way," he said as he started his talk on the logistics issues that they were currently facing. Somehow Hari was managing to make his life even more 'interesting' even while not around. How he got stuck with this job when he had more important things to be working on like the hundred different translations on his backlog.
Jolinar was still having trouble coming to grips with what had occurred to her over the last few months, well really more like the last few weeks. Her escape and flight from Cronus, the Askrak hunting her down like a dog over the few months she had lived amongst the Nasyans was not hard to believe. It was in fact a similar sad story many Tok'ra had heard over the years or even experienced themselves when their covers were blown while spying on the Goa'uld. It had truly been the few weeks she had spent since having temporarily taken over Captain Carter on 'Earth' that had her still reeling.
The loss of Rosha still made her heart ache. The actions she needed to take to preserve her own life, mainly that of taking residence in Captain Carter's body without her permission also still left a bad taste in her mouth. It truly went against everything the Tok'ra stood for, however she had important information for the Tok'ra high council on the movements of Cronus's forces, and it was important enough in her opinion to break one of her most strongly held beliefs. Then there were the things she had learned during her stay about Hariric, let alone the fact that he seemed to have contact with the Tau'ri on top of everything else.
Hariric being able to create bodies from scratch was certainly a technology that other Goa'uld did not possess, nor was it any tech that she was even aware a Goa'uld was researching. The impact it would have on the Tok'ra if they could get a hold of it was not small, nor did she neglect the feelings the new body gave her. It had nothing really to do with the fact that the body was in tip-top shape, but more with the feelings of freedom, or dare she say liberation.
The fact that it was her body and not someone else's was something she could not stop thinking about and how much it made her happy, nay ecstatic. She often caught herself smiling at nothing in particular over the last week or so since she gained this host. Never before had her thoughts in a host been so quiet or her own. While she would never fully give up the opportunity to share thoughts with a host in the future, she could clearly see herself coming to enjoy the solitude and not having to take another's feelings, wants, and needs into question when making a decision. It was nice being selfish for once without feeling terrible about it or feeling like a Goa'uld.
She walked away from the gate in the very small clearing it was centered in and moved past the DHD. This was the fourth planet in as many minutes she had been on. She was jumping from one gate to another quickly to ensure she was not being followed after departing the Tau'ri. Not that she expected them to do so, but she would not have put it past Hariric if he cared to track her. She was not too sure he was that interested in the Tok'ra. He seemed, if she was being honest with herself, to be more interested in her personally than the other Tok'ra, and she was not sure what to think of that. Sitting on the specially chosen rock just at the end of the clearing, she kept thinking about the weeks she had been having. She did not need to wait long.
"Identify yourself or we will be forced to act." barked a voice from behind her, one she was not sure she recognized. Looking behind her she smiled as saw that the one who had spoken was indeed the one she could recognize, Xun Ran, a fellow Tok'ra operative and the one she last knew was in charge of this small hidden outpost.
"You need not be alarmed Xun Ran, it is I Jolinar," she said softly while slowly getting up to see two other Tok'ra along with Xun Ran standing there with their weapons pointed at her. She could see her fellow Tok'ra inspecting her, as they clearly did not recognize her host, nor should they.
After exchanging the current vocal and body movements to prove her identity, the other Tok'ra relaxed slightly. That changed after her next words.
"I am in need of the scanner here. I am afraid I may be carrying a tracker, and I have important information for the High Council," she said commandingly, pulling on her rank to get things done faster, as some of her information was already out of date, but still important for the Council to know about. Regarding her fellow Tok'ra who nodded professionally in reply, they quickly moved to the rings that led to the small hidden underground 'safehouse'. Hmm 'safehouse', it appeared things were still spilling over from Captain Carter. It seemed she was truly in for an interesting few months.
Fer'gon was both happy and beyond bored with his current assignment. Happy he was not on the battlefield failing to defend the few remaining minor strongholds of his God Nirrti. Bored because he and co-pilot, Len'din, had been stationed here for two months on a constant rotation between the two of them, staying in the ship not even leaving it once.
They were in one of the newly issued cloaked cargo ships, a gift from their god, and were here to act as scouts and report anything that happened on or over the planet back to Lord Nirrti. However, nothing at all had happened since they had arrived in position. Most of the fighting that had been a constant in the beginning week of the attacks by Lord Pelops', er well he guess it was now Lord Hariric's, troops had mostly dried up as his fellow brothers had been overrun in the early days of the conflict. It had been a devastating week of fighting for the forces of Nirrti.
The sure speed and ferocity that Lord Hariric's Jaffa fought with had shocked and humbled his fellow brothers. The fact that their weapons, while not useless, had been far less effective against the armor that Lord Hariric equipped his troops with had not helped either. With either the battles they had to fight or for morale. Nor had the various new magics and machines that had been introduced to them in the worst possible way, often at the end of a weapon barrel. While nothing had been outright completely new magic to him, that he had not seen or heard about his own God Nirrti performing before, the way in which they were being used had been totally different and clearly effective. His brothers had been killed or captured at a rate he feared to ever experience again. He also secretly feared his god would not be able to maintain such losses for much longer.
Now.. he knew of so few planets of his Lord's that had not been attacked by ships or by way of the Chappai, and what tiny amount of information he and Len'din had been given since their arrival had not bolstered his faith in their victory. To lose to Pelops in a war was not the worst dishonor, with Pelops being the father to all Jaffa. He personally was still not sure about the new name that Lord Pelops was going by but felt it was a dishonor to not try to use it, so he persevered. Unfortunately, this ongoing war had felt entirely different from conflicts with other Goa'uld in the past. While certainly there was the fact that Lord Hariric was using new magics and powerful weapons to win engagements with his God Nirrti, it was the tactics that unsettled him the most.
The new ships being fielded by Lord Hariric were slightly more powerful than the traditional Ha'tak, however, they were far smaller and did not exude the sure awe that a Ha'tak did. At least that was what he had thought till just before he had been assigned here, he had witnessed a new class of ship not seen before in the conflict, far larger than the small blade-like ships that often traveled cloaked, like the upgraded cargo ship he was currently flying. The new ship he had learned after the battle was called a Poseidon class. Maybe after the god? It was similarly shaped to the smaller ones, but far more robust in size, and with how it had simultaneously destroyed the last Ha'tak of his God that he knew of and two Alkesh that had also been present during the first and only battle the Poseidon had shown up to, clearly spoke to its firepower.
That battle, which he had barely escaped in the ship he was now currently piloting, had squashed any real hopes he had of them being victorious in this war. He would still do his duty to his god and hopefully find a good place in the afterlife for doing so. His thoughts were interrupted as a bright flash of light illuminated the viewscreen as a lance of powerful plasma appeared out of nowhere to pierce right through the only other ship here over the planet belonging to Nirrti. As the initial light from the powerful weapon died down he saw the silhouette of one of Lord Hariric's smaller ships appear as its cloak partially lost power after firing its weapon.
His heart started to beat quickly in that fraction of a second as he saw his fellow Jaffa's lives on that Alkesh get snuffed out just like that, however, he did not hesitate and grabbed the control sphere and put the ship into a fast departure from the orbit of the planet he had been watching. The only reason they had even been in orbit was so they had decent sensor cover of the gate on the planet, which was now making his escape much more difficult. Stupid gravity.
He could hear the strain he was putting on the engines and the distant yells of Len'din who had been sleeping in one of the bunks as they pulled away from the planet's gravity. He also disabled the cloak, as he already knew from his fellow Jaffa, that somehow Lord Hariric had developed new magic to defeat his fellow Goa'uld's cloaks on their ships. It had surprised him as he had just only been introduced to cloaked vessels, and here was Lord Hariric already devising a solution. With the offending system disabled, the extra power from the cloak could now be used to bolster the engines. The sensors and ship's alerts screamed at him various things that he was trying to take in all at once, and Len'din finally took the other seat beside him.
"Status?" his fellow Jaffa asked.
"Not good, our brothers are already gone. Taken out in a single beam from a cloaked Blade Ship," he answered not taking any of his attention off of what he was doing, as their lives depended on it.
"Those dishonorable Shiktas!" Len'din yelled, punching in a few commands. "I have diverted all power to engines," Len'din said causing him to nod in agreement. It was not like their shields were going to do much if they actually got hit by one of those beams. They were strong enough to do major damage to a Ha'tak's shields, let alone the shields on the cargo ship.
"Activating Hyperdrive," he said just as he saw another beam of energy streak out from the blade ship towards them spelling their doom. However, just as it was to reach them, their God must have stepped in, as they were swept away into hyperspace, narrowly being missed by the hot burning plasma.
By Merlin's sweaty ballsack this campaign has been boring. Don't get him wrong, he was not entirely bored, as he spent the vast, vast majority of his time sitting in his command chair on the Poseidon doing things unrelated to the campaign; but by all the magics he knew, little progress over the last few months had been made in actually tracking down and exterminating Nirrti once and for all. Sure there had been many small battles, and even one moment months ago where he had been able to take the Poseidon in to test it out and participate in the battle against a Ha'tak. However that had been over so quickly it had been supremely unsatisfying, and there had been no other opportunities to get directly involved himself since. He was coming to realize that he may have just a tiny small super minuscule penchant for adventure and getting directly involved himself.
Hence why he was bored. The ongoing campaign had been mostly relegated to his troops as they tracked down and stormed every small cache, stronghold, and bunker Nirti seemed to have secreted away in her domain. Nirrti the squirrel, hiding away her goodies. And it seemed like she had been doing that for years and years if the number of hideouts they were finding was anything to go by. He honestly had not thought this operation would have taken even close to a fraction of the time it has, but he had underestimated his foe not a small bit it seemed. Moloch in comparison had been a joke. Nirrti however was turning out to be a crafty bitch, and he doesn't use that word lightly.
Not to say that things had not gone quite well in the beginning, with them hitting nearly a dozen of Nirrti's largest bases they had pre-scouted, and with minimal losses. Surprisingly though Nirrti had pulled two Ha'taks out of nowhere and had brought them into play during one of the first major battles. It had cost him a Scout and was actually the first loss of the campaign on his side. It unfortunately resulted in another monolith pillar on Argensis honoring the names of the fallen. Apparently, those memorials had become quite important to those who had lost family members in battles, and people often visited them where they would put on yearly services honoring the fallen.
However, after the first week it had slowed down dramatically because Nirrti, unlike nearly every other Merlin be damned Goa'uld, kept few large bases or even planets she had a permanent presence on. Instead, she had dozens and dozens... and dozens of small, often hidden bases where she kept a few of her Jaffa and often some research or cache of weapons and technology. This was what had made him so bored, as after the first dozen of such bases, all of which had not actually contained Nirrti, it had meant tracking down more of these places and wiping them out was a tedious task.
After those two Ha'taks had been destroyed early on in two separate battles, one to his own flagship, there had been minimal risks to his army, only losing the odd few ground troops when they got overwhelmed or cocky and got hit by something bigger than a staff. Or there was the odd booby trap, such as one base that had exploded. Tracking down new bases was not super exciting either, often they would simply follow 'cloaked' ships, themselves cloaked, tracking where they went. Other times it was from capturing Nirrti's Jaffa and interrogating them with the truth serum. Often though that was not even needed as many Jaffa of Nirrti simply surrendered and entered his service once defeated, as was often what happened to the conquered Jaffa in conflicts between Goa'uld. Or at least it was when said Goa'uld didn't feel like simply slaughtering all the Jaffa of his defeated foe. That happened far too often for him to be comfortable with, well to be honest he was not really comfortable with the situation at all.
Him formally being Pelops had worked in his favor in this instance, as many of the Jaffa were more than happy to join him, as they saw him as the father of the Jaffa Race. This was why many of the System Lords rightfully feared having conflicts with Pelops and why they had left him to his own devices for thousands of years, even if he had been relatively weaker than most of the other System Lords.
What this all culminated in, was little to no awesome showcase battles and certainly, the few ground engagements had been over before they had really started. It had not been exciting, adrenaline-pumping, or engaging; but at the same time that was good for the health of his troops as it meant they were not often encountering surprises that left them suddenly lacking a pulse.
"Why do you fight this war?" the voice of Oma Desala came from beside him. His wards had warned him that she or at least someone of her kind had arrived, even the weaker ones he had placed on his new flagship. "You have the power to mostly reign supreme over these people already, why continue on this path?" she asked, obviously quite intrigued to find out the answer. Which in itself interested him as he felt it was quite obvious.
"Because while I am powerful, I am not all-powerful." he said to his 'friend'. "I struggle for the same reasons as anyone else, and not all that is important in my life is as hard to kill as I. Even then there is plenty out there that can still kill me. I think that's something you all have seems to have forgotten; the struggle of life and death." he said honestly, as the more he talked with Oma the few times she had popped back up for a few minutes or even hours, the more he seemed to both dislike and see the merits in the Ascended Ancients position on non-interference. He even understood them not going around and cleaning up their own technology or messes as when you start doing that, where do you draw the line? Having all that power and still not intervening is not something he would be able to do himself, thank Merlin then that he was not ever planning on ascending.
Something he had also learned from Oma's visits, was that by simply studying her energy signature or body, he was far more sure that a number of his spells would have devastating effects on any ascended, similar to some spells amplified effects on ghosts. There was a reason having a body was an important defense against many magics, it often directly shielded or protected your soul or the essence of your being from direct spell effects. It also allows for you to magically grow as you go about your life. However, it was not that what shocked him the most, but that he came to finally realize that these ascended were not directly using magic but were actually using their mental acuity that resulted in what he can best describe as psychic powers that they then used to control the ambient magic in the universe to be willed to their desires, and it was a truly profound discovery for him. Imagine true telekinesis without the use of magic to emulate it; it was certainly the dream of many nerdy boys and girls when growing up back home.
If magic was the expression of the power of the soul, then their powers were the expression of their minds or psionic powers of some kind. It really brought him back to the idea of body, mind, and soul, and made him wonder if there was really something more to it. The holy trinity of power, it could almost be called. It did not hurt either that while he had been making this discovery he had also been pouring through Nirrti's computer data from the various bases they had taken from her. That data had shown her quite shockingly advanced endeavors and minor successes with making a Hak'tur, an advanced human host for a Goa'uld. Nirrti seemed to be going for a combination of improving the body, and the mind to make the perfect host, and it intrigued him.
Much of his own personal pursuits were almost entirely focused on improving his soul or his magic. Even his rituals to improve his body were his soul imprinting the improvements on the body he inhabits. That was why his ritual enhancements followed him to his clone bodies when he possessed them. This meant that he could become even stronger by looking into improving his clone's actual body's baseline to produce something more akin to a Jaffa or quite frankly far better. It was incredibly ironic that he had ignored this avenue considering he had Pelops' memories, him being the father of the Jaffa, and that sick fuck's own experiments into making the perfect soldier. It was certainly something he had plans to look into even more in the future after this campaign was over. Honestly, it would only take him a few days to implement a few minor upgrades on his next body before he possesses it when the time comes. Something to keep in mind.
"I see," Oma said after pondering his answer. "You know it is only a matter of time before the others finally notice the changes you are making. Your 'Wards' may protect you and the ships you travel on, but it will only be so long before they discover you, even when they pay little attention to this dimension. When you are discovered they may possibly decide to intervene." Oma said to him directly but obviously trying to be delicate.
"Well hopefully they won't break their own rules, as I am not one of them nor will ever be," he said honestly. He had no desire to take such a form, nor did he truly believe it was possible for him to do so naturally as his soul was certainly different from a non-magical's, even Oma's. It was almost mutated for lack of a better word. "And as I have said before my friend, I am not entirely helpless against your people." he said to her with a small smile while erecting a field around them both, cutting them both off from their ability to pull ambient magic from the environment.
For him, this was not much of an issue, but for the ascended, most of their power came from being able to channel ambient magic at a nearly limitless rate, or at least that it was it seemed to him. He expected there were limits to their power, but he had yet to find one. With Oma in a 'human' form, she would be quite limited in what she could do, and he observed her, to see her shock before a small smile came over her face. Just then he was yanked and slammed hard into his console causing him to groan not in pain, but by his own stupidity, because while Oma may not be able to channel the ambient magic, she still did have her prodigious mental prowess that her people seemed to be able to channel into telekinetic abilities.
He let go of the field was exerting that was cutting them off, and smiled at his friend. "As you can see, not entirely defenseless, as you clearly are not either," he said, deciding not to show too much more to Oma, as while she was quickly becoming one of his few friends in this universe, she still could only be trusted so far for now. Even if she seemed to like visiting often, he was fairly certain that was partially because she liked being out of the sight of the 'others' while under his wards, and not just his amazing company. However, her arrival was just the distraction he needed to take time off the ongoing boring campaign.
NEERRrrrr BOOOOM BOOOOM. The ground shook from the impact of glider shots and dirt flew up around him and his squad as they retreated from their advanced position back towards the forward operating base that was located just beyond the Stargate. Captain Mentis looked around him at his men to make sure they were all in one piece and thanked his helmet for helping filter out some of the extreme noises being thrown at him. The shrill singing of large plasma shots raining through the air was not quiet at all. The helmet really did help prevent him from getting disorientated and allowed a quick assessment of the situation. He did this all as he kept up his fast-paced retreat, looking around to make sure all his men were keeping up.
KARREEEREE BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM was all he heard as nearly a dozen gliders were raining hell down upon him and his squad. He could only thank the God-Emperor so much for giving him this far better armor than what he had been used to in that past, as even though it covered him from head to toe now, unlike the standard Jaffa armor, it was far lighter and much easier to move in. This all made for their retreat from that hidden ambush they had basically walked into all that much easier. Regardless of their fast retreat, his HUD was feeding him even more information that he was not liking, such as the fact that there were now two Alkesh on a bombing run right at them about a minute out.
Just then he and his squad broke the tree line and saw the small force of troops belonging to the Empire in open battle with the few gliders ballsy enough to fly over the weapons of the Empire. Thankfully as they entered the clearing the dozen or so gliders that had been chasing them broke off to avoid engaging the MAFPA which was covering the small forward base in the clearing and destroying any glider that came close. The MAFPA and Shield array were fairly standard deployment equipment when they were attacking through the Stargate these days and were invaluable in helping to deal with air targets. Especially when they had no air cover from their own space assets.
He and his squad booked it towards where they could see the limits of the shield being highlighted in their HUD for them. It was not nearly as perilous as he thought it was going to be as nearly all of the Gliders had broken off, unfortunately, when they were halfway to their destinations he heard the telltale sound of another Glider. Glancing over his shoulder he could only watch in horror as the glider fired two volleys, the first entirely missing, unfortunately from the second volley a single plasma bolt hit one of his men directly in the back launching him a dozen meters forwards, causing him to tumble, and leaving his armor a smoldering wreck.
Immediately his heart rate went up, several alarms in his own suit went off alerting him to one of his squad being put into critical condition. With barely even a thought, thanks mostly to the serious amounts of training they were now being put through, he activated the overload feature on both his own nanites and remotely those of his downed soldier. His own nanites were to give him a burst of speed, reaction time, and strength. Whereas his downed soldiers hopefully would help keep him alive long enough to get proper medical attention.
Quickly darting back and to the left, he made it to the downed man and grabbed onto his backplate to swing him over his shoulder before he started to book it into the shield cover. He had enough time to quickly glance around to see several of his squad had already taken up covering positions as he had been helping get their downed squadmate before they all started seemingly moving for cover. Working within and leading this ten-man squad had really driven home how much working in such a unit allowed for the forming of bonds between each other, and overall improved performance as you learned to complement each other's skills, and even cover each other's weaknesses.
The slight delay had almost spelled doom for his squad, as the far louder sound from the incoming Alkesh Bombers was now perceptible, and the warning from his HUD becoming more insistent. However, he could almost feel it when he and his men passed through the shield provided by the Mobile Shield Array that was quickly modulated to let them through. The sound of the Alkesh was getting louder, however, it was the smooth mechanical whirl nearby that brought a smile to his face. There was a quick sound of energy being accumulated before the MAFPA that was in the center of their small forward base, that amounted to a single MAFPA and Shield array, a few temporary structures, and little else but some logs that had been cut and placed in a circle.
WOMP WOMP sounded out in quick succession as two large plasma shots were quickly fired from each of the powerful guns on the MAFPA. They were aimed directly at the two Alkesh he was looking up at now that he was safe inside the shield. The large bolts of plasma streaked forward and smashed into both the Alkesh blowing them to pieces just a few hundred meters above their position. The lead Alkesh had somehow managed to still let loose a single plasma bomb in a last bit effort of desperation as they were blown into chucks, the Alkesh's shields not even slowing the condensed plasma shots down.
For a moment he was worried as he watched the quickly approaching plasma bomb in the fraction a second he had before it hit the slightly yellow tinted blue shield that surrounded the small forward base. There were roughly thirty troops including his own scouting squad watching the spectacular sight above their heads. It was almost, no scratch that, it was beautiful seeing the red plasma splash across the side and top of the shield protecting them. The loud almost GONG that sounded from the bomb's detonation was almost like a wake-up call to him causing him to remember his priorities.
Running quickly he made it over to the temporary setup for medical services, as he moved he could easily make out the almost electrical pinging sound of Alkesh debris raining down on the shield, as most of the sound of battle had quieted down once the MAFPA had truly made itself known to the bombers, the sounds were quite easy to make out. He moved into the temporary structure and put his man face down on an open bed, and took a step back as the medic moved forward without being prompted.
"What happened?" the medic said while quickly grabbing several devices that Mentis did not recognize.
"He took a glider shot directly to the back," he said almost pleadingly to the medic who was now using a device that seemed to almost make the charged and destroyed armor dissolve into nothing before his very eyes, leaving behind an even worse sight as the damage done to his thankfully unconscious man was clear to see. There was a gaping wound, blood, and charred flesh everywhere. He knew right then and there that his subordinate, squadmate, and friend would have died had he not been blessed with the gifts from their god. There should be no way a man can remain alive with so much of his back missing, and if from what he could see, even a segment of his spine was simply gone. Bile rose in his throat at the sight, but he swallowed it down, as he would not disgrace his fallen comrade by puking at the sight of his injury.
"Alright, it seems you managed to get him back here just within time." the medic said with a smile after using another device to scan the wound. The almost happy-sounding response got him to look at the medic like he was insane. "There is not much you can do here, and I have already called for a medic evac. I will have Trooper Gallilo stabilized and moved out back through the gate. If you could allow me to get to it?" the medic asked, already passing some device that emitted a light over the wound.
"Certainly. Please keep me apprised of Gallilo's status," he said before taking one last look at his soldier, leaving the medic area and opening up his comm channel to make his own report. "Fleet Admiral Alexander, Scout Party Leader 1 reporting in," he said into his helmet's coms as he opened a channel with Admiral Alexander, who was in charge of this entire theater of battle.
"Go ahead Scout Leader." he heard the calm and collected voice of the Admiral come over the line. Admiral or Commander Alexander, depending on the role he was taking on, had a growing reputation as being one of the best in the service. The fact that the Admiral had been in charge of the fleet sent to liberate the planet Rena had only helped to cement his reputation.
"Sir, we have heavy Glider and Alkesh presence down here, as well as what appeared to be a well-prepared ambush we did not notice till we walked right into it," he said a bit remorsefully for failing like that, but it had been well designed to stay hidden till they walked into it and the trap was tripped. "I suggest sending in air assets to take control of the sky and do a deeper scan in this area to ferret out any additional surprises," he said, sending the coordinates for the quadrant he figured more hidden traps could be in, or even whatever hidden base these foolish Jaffa were trying to protect.
"Acknowledged. Air support is imminent. Hold your position for now." Came the Commander's orders after a few moments. That put him at ease, as he was not looking forward to having to trip another trap without getting some additional back up first. Looking around the small makeshift base he continued to walk to the command to let the Colonel in charge know what the Commander had said, but he already knew that the orders would have been decimated along the command channels almost immediately, but it was still his duty to make sure.
Looking around at the almost peaceful forest surrounding the tiny temporary forward operating base, he smiled at how much excitement, and quite frankly, fun he was having. The fact that he and his squad had made it out without losing anyone was just a relief, but even then there was nothing that compared to him taking the fight to the False Gods and showing his TRUE God why they were worthy of his attention. This was how life should be.
"James, I am glad you could make it. I was beginning to think that you had managed to get lost in your work for the rest of time." Nicole said with a smile while she stood up as he walked into her office. She had been trying to get him to come down here for some time for a face-to-face meeting, but he had been too busy with more important things in his Empire, such as being on hand for the first bit of the Campaign against Nirrti. And quite frankly, E.E. was operating better than he had ever expected. Sales of their designs, especially the basic fusion reactor, were through the roof, and they had more cash and orders coming in for their various materials and tech, that they honestly were having issues meeting those orders. Regardless they were swimming in cash, and that was part of what this meeting is supposed to be about.
"Well, what can I say... sometimes some avenues of research takes years to pursue without many results to show," he said with a smile while he took Nicole's hand and shook it. "Though I am glad to see you are in a good mood it seems," he said, indicating Nicole's general air of happiness if it even came with a bit of an overworked frazzle.
"Yes, well besides keeping me busy, helming E.E. has been a dream position for me. While also being the culmination of my career." Nicole said while they both sat down, her behind her desk. "What has been keeping you busy?" she asked him, clearly trying to break the ice before they got into the meat of their meeting.
"Well a number of projects, but one that may see some fruition in the next year or two, is a non-lethal stun pistol to replace tasers amongst law enforcement," he said happily tossing out an idea he had for producing and distributing a stun pistol. The utility of such a thing itself to those working in and around civilians was nothing to scoff at, and the fact that it would take him maybe 30 minutes to create and send to Nicole was just a bonus.
"Oh, what would that entail?" Nicole said, clearly interested, but obviously not fully on board. They had not produced anything like that yet, being a weapon, even a non-lethal one. Thought they were getting into military contracts with their military-grade fusion reactors, but that was for later in their discussion.
"As you probably know, tasers are quite dangerous, and can often result in major injury or death. My device would not be able to cause either, well unless you stunned someone on a ladder," he said happily to Nicole who seemed to be getting more interested. "They fire an energy pulse in an almost circular wave that when it hits someone, it causes, well for a lack of a better word, their nervous system to short out. This causes a temporary unconscious state while the energy charge dissipates. Shoot someone more than once and it will only slightly extend the period they are knocked out." he said happily.
"That's incredible!" Nicole said, clearly losing many of her reservations about E.E. going into weapons manufacturing, even the non-lethal variant. "How does it work?" she said, pulling out a notepad to take some notes.
"Well, it will be quite simple. A non-reusable side-arm in the shape of a pistol that will have to be replaced after 30 shots. They won't be super cheap, about $2000-$3000 each as the crystals that allow for the condensed energy pulse degrade after each use and will break down after 30 shots, needing an entire replacement. I felt making the whole thing replaceable at that point was just the easiest route. No need for batteries or recharging. It also will mean many many repeat customers if we market this well." he said alluding to some of the things he had already been thinking about.
Could he have made something far better that didn't need replacement? Of course, he could, he had done that for his own troops, but there was no reason or need to do so here. It would also introduce the idea and technology for Earth to pursue. It was odd but many races in the milky-way had pursued some form of energy stun weapons and the fact that Earth still had not really if you excluded tasers, was odd. He expected to see these stun pistols in more than just the hands of the police though, as they could be an extremely good alternative to a gun for self-protection, or even for the military. You could shoot up a place with stun bolts and ask questions later. A hostage and hostage-taker could both be shot to defuse the situation without having to put the hostage's life at risk. He went on to explain some of his ideas, and why this was one of the projects he was 'focusing' on to Nicole.
"This is quite the exciting discovery, James. Maybe not of the league of your fusion reactors, but certainly nothing to scoff at." Nicole said with a smile and a wink. "I was a bit hesitant when you brought up selling a weapon, but I can see this being a serious benefit to humanity in ironically saving people's lives. However I think it is time we get onto the topics of this meeting no?" she said with another smile while bringing out another folder and papers, before handing some over to him. "How is the progress of finalizing the military versions of the Fusion reactors for the US Military and Nato allies?" Nicole asked, while he smiled and pulled out an encrypted data drive their company was using internally and put it on her desk.
"I still don't understand why they wanted me to design them. I made the designs of the basic fusion reactor publicly available so people could improve on it and make their own," he said a bit exacerbated, as he didn't want to have to get stuck making things for the various Earth Militaries.
"It's quite simple, many of them want this technology for their military assets yesterday," Nicole said while taking the data stick and plugging it into their computer. "With you being the sole expert on them, they needed their various needs met without compromising the quality of the reactors. That is why they have been putting so much pressure on me, E.E. and by extension you, to get you to design them for them. I hope it did not take too long from your other work?" Nicole said, looking up at him concerned. It was good to know his own CEO was still on his side, as Nicole had clearly been filtering a lot of that pressure.
"No. No. It was more the idea of them constantly coming to me to design them whatever it is they need. Make sure you let them know that this was a one-off thing." he said seriously as he was not going to be doing this often unless it really piqued his interest.
"I already made that clear to the various parties involved. To be honest they seemed quite understanding if pushy, as they offered a very good price for the designs, however they had one more request." Nicole said, obviously more exacerbated at the whole ordeal, but clearly happy that it was mostly behind her.
"I thought to bring this request to you as it is for a high energy version of the fusion reactor for a military base. Their requirements were quite high, and what I thought was even more interesting is that it's for a military base in Colorado near our manufacturing facility." Nicole said while passing over a file. "It may even let us learn what keeps setting off our seismic sensors at that facility all the time."
He certainly didn't need this contract to figure it out, not that he felt it would even lead to that, as he already knew that it was the Stargate causing the minor seismic activity. It was interesting that they wanted to build a fusion reactor onsite rather than simply pump in the energy, but that was probably for security reasons. It would also give him another insight into how the SGC was being operated.
"I will take a look over the proposal and see what I can offer," he said seriously.
"Well alright then. Now onto the main reason for this meeting. Our cash reserves are getting far too large, and I am worried we don't have enough areas for investing in." That made him laugh as, to be honest, this was more his fault than hers. Without directions, there was only so much expansion she could do in their current markets. She was obviously already expanding their current manufacturing abilities, but there were only so many factories and sites you could set up. Nearly every single one he had planned was already under construction.
"I just sent you a list of industries I would like to see E.E expand into. Even if that just means investing in other companies already working in those fields," he said as he clicked a few buttons on his phone. "Besides that, I would like to see us drastically increase our Corporate Social Responsibility programs. There are dozens of various charities worthwhile here in the US let alone the many thousands around the world. We have extra cash, there is no reason for us not to share it around." he said with confidence. Realistically the wealth he was accumulating here paled in comparison with that he had in outer space, and the bolstering of various charities worldwide would do nothing but good things for his company's public profile. If he ever came out as being an Alien that would only ever come in handy for him in the future.
"I see," Nicole said, surprise clear in her voice as she pulled up the email and looked things over. "Is there any area you would like to concentrate on first?" Nicole said, giving him her full attention again.
"It's cliche but maybe start on world hunger, water issues, and easily fixable medical issues. And I don't just mean in places like Africa either. There should not be a family or person going hungry here in America either, and we don't need to drive far to find poor kids going hungry." he said seriously and a bit heated, as it was something he still felt viscerally from when he was growing up with the Dursleys. It was not something he thought of much these days, but if he could stop some other kids from going hungry with some of the immense amounts of wealth he was accumulating, then well for lack of a better word... fuck ya he was going to.
"Well, I certainly don't think you will see any pushback from anyone in the company for concentrating on those issues," Nicole said happily while writing something down, before continuing. "Now I wanted to discuss the various projects you have had us champion with NASA, ESEA, and CSA. The experts involved said the idea of a low latency, high bandwidth internet via low earth satellites is certainly a revolutionary idea, but the technology is just not currently there. Though they were happy to launch them for you, and even designed new launch systems to do so in numbers." she said looking at him almost like a shark, which he smiled too in amusement before handing over another data stick.
"Those are the specs for a new data compression algorithm we will use in our satellite systems to allow for vastly more bandwidth than traditional satellites can utilize. There is also a new data-sharing mesh between the satellites I have designed that will remove the need for accessing existing Earth based data links, and finally my designs and idea for the communication satellite that I hope you would pass along to those teams to work and improve as I am not satellite engineer," he said while look at the increasingly happy then shocked face of Nicole. She snatched the stick and plugged it into her computer's data port hub right beside the other. "The communication module is not included in the satellite designs and will be proprietary to E.E.," he said with a smile.
As many things as Nicole was, she was a successful businesswoman that was constantly having to prove herself in a man's world. So E.E. having more avenues of revenue and the clear outlook to huge profits was not something Nicole took lightly, as it was something that directly reflected on her. So it brought a smile to his face as he saw the look of excitement dawn on Nicole's face as any of the worries that clearly had been mounting since talking with other experts working on the project had been put to rest.
"The compression algorithm will even allow us to reach customers not connecting directly to our network, as we will be able to increase their internet bandwidth and what they can view in real-time with the use of the right software," he said, causing Nicole to look at him even more sharply.
"Which we could sell the use of to nearly any company that wants to send larger files or pictures through the internet," Nicole said with excitement.
"Or those who want to access movie theater-quality movies and TV shows via the internet that would otherwise not have access to. Or even those who simply want to get a better quality service. The avenues of business from that little piece of technology I believe are nearly endless, and as such combined with some of our crystal technology, localized Content Delivery Nodes, and we can own the entertainment and communication industry." he said before smiling almost evilly. "And it's going to keep you quite busy," he said with a laugh.
Was nervous the right emotion? Jack didn't personally know, but going through the gate without his gun was just not something that he felt comfortable doing. Looking at the members of his team that were thankfully joining him through the gate, albeit also gunless. At least he will have the backup he had been coming to rely on with him. Looking at each member of his team over did bring a small smile to his face.
Daniel looked almost like a kid about to go to a candy store, nearly bouncing on his feet waiting for the gate to finish dialing. While not carrying any weapons, Daniel certainly was not leaving much behind with the pack he was carrying. His friend was even still going over some notes from his small notepad.
Captain Carter was likewise clearly excited about their trip through the gate to what they were expecting to be a quite technologically advanced city of Argensis if their intel was anything to go by. Carter obviously wanted to get her mitts of some of the technology and it showed, but it was not like Daniel who was almost vibrating.
The last member of his team, Teal'c was also oddly enough, clearly excited about their trip. The man had shared his hopes about finding somewhere safe for his wife and son to reside, but also to see some Jaffa not living under the yoke of slavery to a Goa'uld. Or at least that is what Teal'c hoped they would be able to find. He was personally still skeptical of the whole thing, for some reason the whole concept of Hari being a god just turned him off and left a bad taste in his mouth. It was stupid he knew, as he understood Daniel's arguments, but it did not change how he felt.
"You all prepped?" he asked his team after looking them over, satisfying his own cursory look.
"Yes Mother." Daniel said not even looking up from his notes, but from his tone his excitement was still clear as day, as the snarky reply came off hollow.
"Yes Sir, All prepped." Captain Carter said with a smile.
"Indeed." Teal'c said while looking towards the gate as it finished dialing.
Kawooosh! The unstable vortex came barreling out of the gate and stopped well before them before returning back.
"Well then, let's go kids." he said, walking up the gantry to the gate not pausing before moving through the shimmering event horizon.
When they came through the gate on the other side it was clear they were no longer in Kansas. The building he and his team found themselves in was huge, sprawling and clearing full of people going about their daily business. Looking around he saw an official looking man waving at them.
"Visitors from Earth, over here. Welcome, welcome, I am Fabian. We are simply waiting for one more group's arrival." rapidly said the man in tan robes with black highlights, several of them being the symbol of Hariric. Deciding to follow the directions he indicated for his team to move with him towards what he figured was their tour guide. While doing so he was looking around the facility they were in, looking at the many cleverly hidden defenses around the vast room, and the many he couldn't find. He felt it was safe to assume that they were there and he just couldn't find them. He sadly doubted many avenues of attack had been ignored or not thought of by this group, unlike most other Goa'uld.
The facility itself was large enough to march a military parade through, with room to spare. He could see what looked like a massive open doorway at one end and tons of various cordoned sections and staff processing people through some sort of paperwork. If he was being honest with himself it was like someone took a cross of a military base, with the soldiers he could see around simply standing, the sure size and defenses, and an airport with how many people there were coming and going.
A few moments after they had moved a few meters away from the gate, it shut down like usual, but what caught him off guard was how quickly another gate started dialing in. Then out of nowhere a small circle of ground in front of the gate seemed to simply disappear or recede so quickly he didn't notice. From the hole came out a large silver metal sphere on a stand. It reminded him a bit of the large communication device that Aphothis had used, but smaller and a bit more intricate. A few seconds later a constant beam of light came out of the now activated gate and struck the ball.
"Ah, it looks like we are receiving a shipment." Their guide said, causing Jack to look back to him in interest as this was not something he had ever seen before.
"A shipment of what if you don't mind me asking?" Sam asked for them all, as he was also wondering.
"I am uncertain, but more often than not I believe these shipments are material extracted from mining worlds." Fabian answered, but continued after seeing some of the confusion he was feeling. "Mining on Argensis, while not stopped completely, is on a smaller scale compared to offworld sites; mainly to ensure the planet's beauty is maintained. The result is that many such shipments of materials for industrial purposes are transported here from many other mining worlds each hour."
"Do people travel through the gate via rings as well?" Daniel asked, causing their excitable guide to smile and look and Daniel, happy to be asked a question.
"It is not too common, but it does occur. Travel through the gate via matter beams is quite restricted, and most civilians must travel through the gate normally to pass through planetary security," the man indicated to the various personnel helping and guiding the many groups that Jack was just now realizing were dressed completely differently. Sure there were many wearing the same thing, but there were about four distinct groups with vastly differing clothes. Eh, Daniel will be able to tell him what it means later during their debrief. Probably.
The gate deactivated a few minutes after activating to send materials through, the relay-ball also quickly sunk itself back into the ground hiding away.
"My Apologies, I introduced myself, and forgot to allow you the option to do so as well." Fabian said with a smile getting all of their attention back on him.
"Well, I am Doctor Daniel Jackson," mr talkative said before continuing, "This is Captain Carter, Teal'c, and Col O'Neill, the leader of SG-1." Daniel said point to each of them in turn.
"It is nice to finally meet you all. I have been preparing for this visit for a few weeks and hope my research on your people will help me answer any questions with a bit more ease." Fabian said clearly happy with himself, but it just sounded odd to Jack.
"Oh, is this something you do often?" Daniel asked, clearly trying to break the ice as their 'tour guide' did not seem to be doing so himself.
"Yes it has been my pleasure for nearly a year to give in person guides and tours of this wonderful city here." Fabian smiled while answering. "However this is my first time giving a tour to any foreign dignitaries, and their like." Just then the gate once again activated interrupting them. "And hopefully this will be the group we are waiting on."
They all turned to the gate to see three people wearing futuristic getups made of some kind of dark grey and silver material. They seemed to be some form of officials. One looked far more pompous and full of himself, he also reeked of being similar to Senator Kinsley. Jack presumed they were the other dignitaries they were waiting on. It was odd for them to be joining others when taking their first tour of a foreign place, but it would give them more insight into how this 'Empire' treats others. The three people walked down the smooth stone ramp towards them in a dignified manner before stopping just a bit in front of them.
"Welcome, I feel it is safe to assume that you are the three senators from Rena who wished for a tour of our Capital city on Argensis?" Fabian said.
"Yes, we thank the Empire's government for accepting our request for a tour so that we could get a better understanding of our new allies." The only woman of the three said in greeting with a small bow.
"It is my pleasure to give you a tour, my name is Fabian, and these are guests from the planet Earth who will also be joining us for a tour." Fabian replied why point them out to the new arrivals, who looked them over with interest.
"My name is Alessandra and these are my colleagues in the Rena senate, Senator Gilbert and Senator Johnson." Alessandra said pointing towards the others while introducing them. Senator Johnson gave off the most pompous attitude Jack had seen in some time, and almost looked like he detested being where he was, which made him wonder why this senator had even requested a tour if he clearly didn't like being here.
Eric Johnson looked around the place they had arrived in disgust and at his colleagues who seemed to be so.. so.. so excited about this whole endeavor. It sickened him as he knew in his heart that it was only a matter of time before his people were enslaved by this Goa'uld. He was so happy that his new friends in their secretive group had reached out to him about their shared fears. Though he had been less happy about the quick procedure he had to undergo before coming. He did know the importance of getting solid intelligence on their enemy, but he would have rather not have needed to be the one to do so.
He put his hand into his pocket and felt the small hand light with a built-in secret switch for the sensor device that had been carefully rematerialized in his stomach before his trip. It had been an uncomfortable procedure as they had inflated his stomach before beaming the sensor package in, but it was the only way the Soul Guard felt they could get their device past security. His job was to walk around and allow the passive sensors to get intelligence from his trip around their capital and when he finally get a chance to meet either the disgusting Goa'uld Hariric or if that doesn't happen, a military installation, he was to activate the sensors with the switch to get a far more detailed scan.
The organization he was working with, the Soul Guard, was hoping they could use the sensor data to develop some method to target the Goa'uld specifically. Cut off the head of the snake and this pitiful excuse of an empire will fall right apart, and Rena will be able to swoop in to secure all the technology that they wanted. It was quite the plan, and with his own contribution and suggestions, it was almost as if he was one of the masterminds. He would long be remembered as one of the Heroes of Rena when it was all finished and done with. With that thought he forced a fake smile on his face and shook hands with the primitives from this place called 'Earth'. Who names their planet after dirt?
A/N: Well everyone here is the chapter, a bit late ;), but hopefully I will get the chapter for the Star Wars story out really soon. Thank you to all who have stuck around, and hopefully this chapter scratched that itch.