"WHAT ASS-BACKWARDS SHIT HEAP DID YOU CRAWL OUT OF THIS MORNING?!" Tarnor shouted at the top of his lungs at the woman in front of him.
It took all of Khepri's willpower not to lean away from the man bellowing in her face at a truly abominably early hour. It had become an unfortunately familiar routine to be woken long before she wanted to be and yelled at before the start of another miserable day. Every single day, the Jaffa with the burn scar on his face would throw them out of bed, chew them out for looking tired despite the fact that he was the one who hadn't let them go to sleep until about five hours ago and then march them off for an exhausting run through the woods, only after which they would be allowed to eat.
It didn't help that the Jaffa himself looked far too well rested.
Years had passed since that first celebration(which was now hosted annually) and everyone currently enduring this hell knew why they were going through it. The Emperor had apparently grown tired of waiting for them to change their attitudes and had cooked up this idea as a means of breaking them out of it, something that Tarnor reminded them of every few days, along with assurances that something else would be tried if it didn't work and that they had the 'honor' of testing for the correct method.
Everyone knew that they were here because neither Emperor nor Empress had the patience to slowly guide them away from their beliefs of gender superiority and were going to grind them into the dust if that was what it took.
All of them being regular humans under Goa'uld dominion, they'd never been allowed any kind of martial training, so being placed under a Jaffa master had been a wildly unpopular move. Unfortunately, their grumbling and protests had only made the whole thing harder on them, quickly teaching them to keep their complaints to themselves.
Khepri had no idea how long they'd been at this. Day after day of exhausting activity with no end in sight. An endless stream of running, hiking, camping, hunting, fishing and a slew of other activities, many of which required cooperation with others. Of course, the whole thing was for the most part organized in such a way that the only people you could cooperate with was the opposite gender.
It was no secret what they were trying to achieve with this, but that didn't make it ineffective. Especially when refusal to participate was often followed by a lack of food and you couldn't eat pride.
But it wasn't just people from her village and the three male dominated ones(still a concept she found both baffling and infuriating), there were also some volunteers present. That anyone would volunteer to go through this was yet another baffling thing, but they did. It was mostly men, though there was also a smattering of women among them, all willing to go through this because they wanted to fight the Goa'uld.
Khepri had always believed that Bastet was a benevolent goddess that protected them in exchange for a few of their men, but this place had made her doubt that. There were many people here who had tales of Goa'uld cruelty, stories of how they forced people to work for them in terrible conditions, abducted their most skilled and most beautiful and many other things.
At first, she had been smug about it, claiming that Bastet was better than that, but then someone had pointed out that their world had probably not held anything of value to the Goa'uld, except for the people themselves. The man she'd been arguing with had said that after the mine near their village had run dry, the Goa'uld had all but forgotten about them, except for the occasional raid when they needed slaves.
Khepri had wanted to deny it, but she had to wonder how Bastet would have reacted if they'd refused to hand over the men. There had after all been times in the past where a few extra hands would have been invaluable in working the fields, but none had ever dared refuse.
The Emperor had even held a lecture once or twice, explaining in detail what the Goa'uld actually were and what they did with their lives.
Despite everything however, Khepri refused to believe that Bastet was simply one of many and not a goddess of any kind. She had especially refused to believe that the goddess she'd been taught to revere and worship for her entire life could be a slimy serpent with delusions of divinity.
She'd tried to rally her sisters to not be swayed from their faith, but the Emperor had been very persuasive and she knew that they were wavering, especially when years had already gone by and there was no sign of Bastet.
Even her own resistance was crumbling, despite her determination to not be swayed. She was just so tired and wanted to go home. She'd already decided to keep her opinions on men to herself from now on. Even though she still thought of them as inferior, it just wasn't worth going through this in order to say it out loud. It wasn't as if life on this new world was bad, despite having to adjust to longer days, milder seasons and other minor nuances. Their lives had in fact been steadily improving, but she resented the forced changes to their way of life.
Men existed to work and father children, while women made the decisions. They were the ones that ensured the survival of their people and that was how it had been for centuries. Surely something that had worked for so long couldn't be wrong, could it?
Neither the Emperor nor the Empress seemed inclined to agree.
Seeing that Tarnor had nearly finished yelling at everyone, Khepri snapped out of her tired daze and forced a focused look on her face. Looking bleary eyed and inattentive during this morning ritual tended to invite trouble.
She wondered what they would do after the daily run. She hoped it would be one of the less physically demanding things like swimming or gardening. For all that the exercise had turned her body incredibly fit, Khepri was desperate for a break.
"After we come back and you're finished with breakfast, you are to make your way to training ground two for lessons on sword fighting with commander Setsuna!" Tarnor bellowed loud enough for all to hear.
Though nobody let out a peep, everyone could well imagine the unified mental groan resounding in all their minds.
"At least we'll get to rest while they're healing our bruises." The young man next to her muttered.
Khepri's lips twitched into a slight smile in spite of herself. Taro often managed to find some kind of gallows humor in their situation. She decided to approach him about partnering up for the later swordsmanship practice. While still not enthused about partnering with a man, she didn't really have a choice in the matter and she knew Taro slightly better than most since his bed was right next to hers.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"They're looking cheery." Naruto commented from where he was sitting as he observed the procession of men and women walk tiredly towards the bathing area to wash off the sweat.
His lips quirked into a grin when his ears caught some happy exclamations from there as they discovered that all the water had been heated for them. Usually, they had to wash with cold water because if they took the time to heat it themselves, they'd miss breakfast. He'd been hard enough on them already and figured they deserved a little treat.
The idea of getting himself a stereotypical drill sergeant had just been too tempting and he hadn't been able to help himself. Tarnor was particularly well suited for it with that nasty burn scar of his.
Next to him, Setsuna snorted and sipped at her morning tea, but did not speak. They wouldn't be cheerful for very long once it was time to pick up a bokken and show her what they had learned.
Te'lok merely sighed and resisted the urge to roll his eyes, which was in and of itself an expression of exasperation he'd picked up from Naruto.
"So how are they doing?" Naruto asked, unperturbed by their attitudes.
"Better." Te'lok admitted. "They now work together and cooperate without complaint, though it remains stilted at times."
Naruto grinned in satisfaction. Nothing brings a group of whiny bitches(and he included the men in this description) together like a common enemy. But it couldn't be some distant enemy like the Goa'uld or even someone unassailable like himself and Xanna. No, to get a proper sense of simmering resentment going, you needed someone closer to their level. Eventually, they would resent that person more than the one they used to and would bond over their common resentment.
In theory.
It didn't even matter that they knew that this was all done on his orders. Tarnor was the one yelling at them and making them miserable day in and day out.
"We'll have to see about organizing something to smooth that over." Naruto mused. "Maybe a survival exercise in the wilds, or a team based competition of some sort that would pit them against some of the younger warriors."
"Splitting them into smaller, more manageable groups and scattering them across the forest with a hidden Jaffa minder would work best. It would forge tighter bonds than a single large group and some of them might even indulge in sex as a form of stress relief." Setsuna adroitly inserted her own opinion.
"That's good, I like that." Naruto grinned.
Te'lok once again resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of course he would like that.
Still, he had to admit that while he'd been initially dubious about this odd idea, it was definitely working. Under the Goa'uld, he would have expected nothing save than torture and death in exchange for the insolence and defiance that these people had showed.
But Naruto did not want to break them, quite the contrary even, but he did want them to adjust their world views to something more sensible.
Most of the societies now present on Erius tended to be somewhat patronizing towards women, with the noted exception of the one that had been part of Bastet's domain, where the situation was reversed, but it had been steadily changing under Naruto and Xanna's influence. The occasional loudmouth still showed up every so often and made noise on the subject, airing various opinions on the inferiority of women, but usually didn't last long. If they didn't get silenced some other way, eventually either Naruto or Xanna stepped in and dismissed them in the same way that one would dismiss a petulant child.
It was different for the four societies where such views were taken to extremes however, especially for Khepri's people. Even if they were left to their own devices, they would have had to change soon enough due to outside pressures. Being surrounded by people with more moderate views had already been generating a festering resentment among the oppressed genders that would have no doubt ended in violence if something wasn't done.
The people taken from Bastet were especially in danger of this, since they were outnumbered more than most and unlike in a reversed situation, the dominant gender did not have any raw physical advantage.
When Naruto had shown up years ago to ask Tarnor how good he was at yelling, Te'lok had been confused and Tarnor had looked both confused and intrigued.
After a baffling conversation on needing something called a 'drill sergeant', Naruto eventually managed to explain his idea in an understandable manner.
Tarnor had been terribly skeptical at first and had openly wondered why Naruto did not simply make a few examples, only to get an airy response about how that was for people with no imagination. It would shut people up to be sure, but it would in the end only support their point of view instead of change it. Remove them from any kind of familiar comfort though and they would have no choice but to adapt, especially when the situation was engineered for almost exactly that purpose.
Te'lok also suspected that horned god did not want to deprive himself of subjects that were willing to be insolent.
Even after all these years, he still had trouble understanding how Naruto could tolerate, much less enjoy it when someone was willing to insult him. Xanna at least made some sense in that regard, though she reacted differently than what he was used to. Instead of executions or torture, the horned goddess was fully capable of cutting a man or woman to ribbons(metaphorically speaking) with words alone.
Either way, Tarnor had not taken too much convincing to attempt it. He was a much older Jaffa than Te'lok and had seen far more battle. He was content to spend his time training the young despite his disparaging views on regular humans as warriors, especially women. It was a common attitude among Jaffa men, though most took care not to voice it around Setsuna for fear of being violently disabused of it.
Despite her small stature, the woman trained obsessively and had become quite the terror. The fact that she was the only one still receiving training from the Emperor was a source of much envy and no small amounts of fear.
"How did my last lecture work? Have they stopped thinking that the snakes are gods?" Naruto's question brought Te'lok out of his ruminations.
"It would seem so for the most part my lord, though Khepri and a number of her compatriots refuse to believe it. It does not look like they will fully abandon their faith in Bastet anytime soon." The Jaffa answered.
Naruto hummed consideringly and mulled the problem over. Though it wasn't of any great importance to him what they believed, even if it was stupid, past experience had taught him that it would invariably cause problems both major and minor. At the very least it could act as a catalyst for other things. All it took was one idiot in the future seeing a stubborn Goa'uld cult still existing, taking it as proof of their supposed divinity and managing to contrive some means of getting word back to the snakes.
That would inevitably lead to an invasion that would have to get slapped down in a humiliating fashion through the use of some actual divine power, which would probably suck all the fun out of it for Xanna and make her sulky and irritable.
Sometimes, Naruto wondered if it had been a mistake to get her to play 'Civilizations: Beyond Earth'. The limitations of the game had obviously annoyed her and given her some...ideas.
"Do you think they would be useful in a combat situation?" He asked.
"I would not trust them with the main offensive, but they should do fine as a rearguard at the stargate." Setsuna answered in a puzzled tone, knowing that Naruto had never intended to send them into battle at all. This entire training regime, though effective, had only been supposed to force them into a situation where they would have to work together with those they looked down on.
"I think I've got one of Bastet's mining worlds on my list of approved raiding targets." Naruto said musingly. "I'd bet my horns that she isn't bothering with the 'benevolent goddess' image there and the empire is stable enough to handle an influx of new people."
"Does that mean we are going on another raid Heika?" Setsuna asked, her expression projecting intense eagerness.
Tarnor might be happy with settling down and training the new blood, even Te'lok was not bothered by the lack of action, which wasn't all that surprising since he had already fathered three children, but Setsuna wanted to be out there, tearing apart the Goa'uld Empire.
The last few years of peace had not agreed with her.
"Down girl, we still need to prepare first." Naruto replied teasingly, amused as ever by her enthusiasm.
"I must object to this course of action my lord." Te'lok protested. "As long as they continue to believe that Bastet is a true goddess, taking them along on a raid to one of her worlds is a security risk. They may attempt to leave behind a message for her that would reveal our position."
"Yeah I know, it's adorable how clever they think they are." Naruto said in a tone of agreement.
Te'lok merely looked vaguely frustrated. Unlike the Goa'uld, the horned man encouraged everyone to think critically and the Jaffa felt that bringing them along like this was a completely unncessary risk. The same could be achieved simply by having Khepri's group assigned to helping the newcomers settle down when the raid was finished, never allowing them to set foot off-world.
He had seen enough to believe that Naruto and Xanna were truly gods, but they had never claimed to be all knowing. They could see far more than any mortal, but openly admitted that it was not impossible for something to slip past them.
"Don't worry yourself too much Te'lok, I'll be watching for it, but I want them to go with us. It'll have more impact if they see it firsthand." Naruto reassured with a more serious tone.
"We risk discovery every time we assault a Goa'uld held world, it seems foolish to compound that risk by taking untested and potentially untrustworthy warriors with us." Te'lok argued back. " You are being reckless."
Te'lok ignored the nervous tightening of his stomach at his own audacity at speaking to his lord like that. Had he spoken like that to Zeus, he would not be breathing anymore...unless the Goa'uld had been incensed enough to revive him in the sarcophagus and kill him again. In fact, he would have incurred a punishment simply for his first objection, much less daring to argue further.
Setsuna tensed and looked as if she was mere moments away from grabbing her sword when Naruto's hand on her shoulder calmed her down. The woman was loyal to a degree that would put just about any Jaffa to shame and did not lightly tolerate what she saw as insults to her Emperor's honor.
It was one of the reasons that she was so gleeful about handing out bruises during swordsmanship practice. It often rankled her that the horned man simply did not get upset no matter how insolent people were being. She just couldn't grasp how he could be so even tempered about being insulted by the people who were in his debt for the safety and prosperity he provided.
Te'lok knew that he was not in any actual danger, despite Setsuna's immolating stare, but it was not easy to overcome the instinctive reaction. A Goa'uld would have flown into a towering rage at that kind of backtalk, but he could see it for what it was now.
Insecurity.
The Goa'uld did not tolerate anyone to defy them, question them or even doubt them because they knew their power was built on lies.
Both Naruto and Xanna considered defiance to be long term fun, questioning them to be short term fun and doubt to be unimportant. They didn't care whether anyone believed them to be gods or not, it would not change what was.
All of that knowledge still didn't help Te'lok dispel the knot of tension in his gut when Naruto grinned at him, the disturbing gold-orange eyes full of amusement. "You can't play it safe all the time, but don't worry Te'lok, I'm sure Setsuna will protect you in case something goes wrong."
Setsuna snorted in spite of herself and the remaining tension left her shoulders.
Meanwhile, Te'lok stiffened slightly at the no doubt deliberate sting to his pride. It was hardly the first time that Naruto had made a pointed barb at his or some other warrior's pride. Indeed, it was something he did fairly regularly.
"If either one of us will need protecting it will be her, since she is the one who likes to mount reckless assaults on enemy positions." He retorted.
"Hmph, my 'reckless assaults' are usually the reason why the enemy's resistance is broken so quickly." Setsuna said smugly.
"Except for that one time when you got yourself killed during the initial charge and your warriors got bogged down laying a siege on the barracks that only ended when I came to reinforce them." Te'lok pointed out.
"It was a lucky shot." Setsuna said stiffly, internally seething at the memory.
That had not been one of her finer moments. Getting killed in the first thirty minutes of the battle and having one of her subordinates drag her lifeless corpse to the sarcophagi they'd brought along for resurrection and missing almost the entire battle as a consequence remained a source of shame for her.
The day had still been won, obviously, but not as decisively as it could have been and it had forced the Emperor to intervene rather more directly than was his wont. Still, it had served as an invaluable reminder of her own mortality and she had turned her 'reckless assaults' into 'calculated assaults' instead.
Naruto merely grinned at the banter and mentally reviewed all the things that needed to be done before the raid could be launched. The particular world that he had in mind had a local Goa'uld overseer, meaning that he would be able to have plenty of fun with him/her/it.
He could hardly wait.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Approximately three months later.
Khepri stood nervously in front of the naquadah ring that allowed for transport between worlds. This would only be her second time through it and she was only marginally less afraid this time.
She didn't even want to be here, but the reward had been too tempting. The Emperor had promised that he would let them go home and leave them to their own devices if they joined this raid.
He had even promised that he would allow them to go back to their own planet if they so wished, though she knew that particular promise meant nothing. She doubted that there was a single man among her people remaining at this point that would actually agree to go back, and the Emperor would make certain that they knew that they were welcome to stay.
Regardless, she and several of her more devout sisters, all of whom had once been priestesses extolling the virtue of Bastet, had already decided that they would get this over with and go home, at which point they would tell their goddess everything, provided that they could somehow contact her. It would be glorious to see her goddess finally destroy these horned demons that had dared invade one of her worlds and steal away her people.
Just in case it would prove impossible in some fashion, Khepri also had a note stashed inside the uniform she'd been given, with the gate symbols of Erius written on it, which she intended to leave on the world they were about to attack. That note caused at least half of her anxiety, with the other half being caused by the fact that they were going into combat, even if they'd been told that they would be kept well out of the way.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Naruto had known that the information he had on this mining world of Bastet's was most likely out of date even when he'd first gotten it, never mind now, but he had figured that it wouldn't be too bad given the glacial slowness with which things seemed to happen in the Goa'uld Empire.
He had been almost correct in his assumption. Most of the information was spot on; it was a planet with low-to-moderate naquadah deposits; it was held by Bastet and defended by the female Jaffa warriors of the Bast Guard and it had a permanent local overseer.
The differences lay in the defenses, which had been tightened in response to his seemingly unstoppable raiding, and in the identity of the overseer herself.
The enhanced defenses were not in any particular way troubling, since Naruto had been the first one through the gate and had easily smashed aside the Jaffa guarding it, allowing his own armies to march through and establish a perimeter with impunity.
The second difference, the identity of the overseer, was important for one reason and one reason only. In most cases, one Goa'uld would be the same as any other, but it mattered in this case.
It mattered because she was a Tok'ra spy.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Zarin and her host Leah had been in their current position for only a short time, but it had already proven itself to be a profitable endeavor.
It had taken Zarin years of running what amounted to errands for Bastet to rise sufficiently high in her favor, followed by a timely assassination of the previous Planet Lord that saw her elevated to the post. It helped that the Tok'ra were, as a general rule, more competent than their Goa'uld counterparts, being unburdened by the crippling(and often unfounded) arrogance that so characterized their race.
Bastet suspected nothing, as the assassination had been made to look like a raid to liberate a few dozen slaves and steal some naquadah. The Goa'uld knew that the Tok'ra needed hosts and naquadah just as they did.
So here she sat on a gaudy and uncomfortable throne, overseeing the work of the human slaves and siphoning information away from the frequent Goa'uld underlings that came to collect the mined ore. It was almost insultingly easy to get them to talk really, the fools had inherited all the arrogant self-importance of the Queen that had spawned them(who had herself inherited it from her forebears and then acquired some of her own) and felt that it was beneath them to simply fetch naquadah for Bastet.
Genetic memory could be a double edged sword in that regard.
Having no power to change their situation, they naturally did the only thing they could and complained to the first person that would listen to them, which was her. They likely had no idea just how much information on Bastet's and even some of her close ally Kali's operations they had given the Tok'ra.
Despite the throbbing irritation she felt at listening to their whining, she kept Leah's face neutral, even sympathetic while they spilled Bastet's secrets to her. All in all, Zarin situating herself here had been a great coup for the Tok'ra intelligence network.
Unfortunately, Zarin herself was unable to enjoy it, because her host was constantly miserable and couldn't even muster the will to take control of her own body when they were alone in the privacy of their quarters.
Leah had formerly been a slave in one of Apophis' mines and had joined the Tok'ra in the wholehearted belief that the Goa'uld needed to be destroyed. She was also heartbroken to see so many people suffering in the mines and being unable to help them.
They did what they could and managed to arrange more food and water to be given to them, as well as organizing a rotating work schedule to allow for more rest, but it just felt like trying to stop a landslide by pushing against it.
Even that much had been risky, since the Jaffa on the planet answered to Bastet and not her, if she appeared too merciful, they would report it and the System Lord would undoubtedly begin to suspect her of being Tok'ra. The only reason they hadn't done so already was because efficiency hadn't suffered due to the changes she had implemented.
That morning, Zarin had gone through the same little ritual that had become the norm for them ever since they'd been elevated to the post of Planet Lord. Wake up, bathe, shave legs, dress in the diaphanous silks which made the leg shaving necessary in the first place, eat the overly rich food expected of a Goa'uld, primp up Leah's hair until it shone, try to console Leah, fail to console Leah, feel sad as her host and friend retreated into herself once again, sit on the ugly throne, look imperious and feel their shared ass slowly go numb as they ran the mining operation for Bastet.
She had been expecting one of the usual crop of lackeys to come through the gate today, so she hadn't been particularly surprised when Nala, a woman of dark hair and very dark complexion and also the most senior Jaffa warrior on the planet, barged into the throne room without being summoned.
The female warrior went down on one knee as was expected of Jaffa when addressing a 'god' and spoke in a stoic tone. "My lady, invaders have come through the Chappa'ai. They have already overwhelmed the primary defensive positions and are making their way here."
"Which System Lord do they serve?" Zarin demanded, her voice booming deeply with the distinct tone that her species were able to impart to a host.
"They bear no markings on their foreheads and fight in a manner unlike any Jaffa I have ever faced." Nala admitted, hesitating before speaking again. "My lady, they use powers like the gods do."
Zarin's eyes widened in shock before she quickly suppressed it and even Leah was drawn out of her mental isolation, interested in what was going on around her for the first time in weeks.
Quickly accessing the sensor terminal built into the throne, both host and symbiote felt a chill grip them as they saw the numerous life signs of the invading forces swarming around the Bast Guard positions and how far they had already come.
They understood now what Nala had meant by them fighting in an unfamiliar manner. They had split off into numerous squads and were harassing the defending Bast Guard from all directions. Meanwhile the bulk of the enemy took strategic positions unimpeded and then simply overwhelmed the defenders. No wonder that Nala's warriors weren't able to fight back effectively, this was a completely different approach from the typical Goa'uld tactic of simply throwing their soldiers into battle and demanding victory.
It would also require that every squad have a capable leader, which was again impossible for an army of Jaffa, who were mostly made up of foot soldiers without the slightest understanding of tactics and strategy.
Could the squad leaders be Goa'uld? Leah asked from within, knowing that the allusion to 'godlike power' that Nala had made probably meant the use of kara kesh devices.
Unlikely. Zarin replied. Such a league of minor Goa'uld forming would not have escaped attention from us or the System Lords for very long and this attack strategy is too different besides. No, this is something else.
Could it be the Phantom? Leah speculated next.
Zarin froze for a moment as she considered it. 'The Phantom' was the moniker that most Tok'ra used for the unknown enemy that had been emptying Goa'uld planets for years now. The High Council was not happy with the name, but it had stuck on account of the fact that nobody really knew anything about this new foe the Goa'uld had apparently made somewhere. There were never any witnesses, nobody ever escaped or got out a message.
It was maddening for the Tok'ra just as much as it was for the Goa'uld, both of whom had assumed that at least one of the above would have eventually happened. The fact that the raids stopped just as the Goa'uld began to implement their plan to leave a single, loyal human spy on every planet had induced a great deal of paranoia among them.
It would certainly fit so far. An overwhelming assault through the stargate that allowed no real response and she could already see them securing the slave camp. Nala hadn't mentioned them being led by a clawed man with unshod feet, but he may have simply not showed up yet.
"My lady, we will be unable to hold them for long. You should escape and report what has happened here to our mistress." Nala's voice snapped her attention back to the kneeling Jaffa.
Zarin glanced back at the sensor readout and saw that it was the truth. There had to be upwards of a thousand enemy warriors on the planet by now, and the stargate was still disgorging more of them. That was far more than the number of Bast Guard that had been stationed here at the start of this invasion.
"What kind of armor do the invaders wear?" The undercover Tok'ra asked instead.
"They do not wear armor, merely a cloth uniform in dark colors." Nala answered dutifully.
Zarin paused for a moment of contemplation. It was looking increasingly more likely that they had indeed stumbled upon the mysterious new power in the galaxy. The Goa'uld liked their warriors to be armored if only for the intimidation that their clanking march caused among the people they oppressed. Certainly it did little enough to protect them from other Jaffa.
"Launch the Udajeet and fly over the enemy army, but do not fire upon them. See if you can locate who leads them." Zarin finally commanded.
"Knowing who their leader is will not help us now. We need the power of our goddess to drive away this evil." Nala protested.
"You dare question me?!" Zarin snarled angrily in a perfect imitation of a typical Goa'uld, Leah's eyes glowing in the way that a symbiote was capable of inducing in their hosts. It also made the eyes itch terribly, but it did serve its purpose.
Nala stiffened and replied instantly. "No my lady, I apologize. I will lead the flight personally."
"See that you do." Zarin replied in a clear dismissal.
The Tok'ra spy slumped in the throne as soon as she was alone, hoping that things would turn out alright. Staying long enough to gather information was terribly risky given the fact that the enemy was already knocking down the palace doors.
Strangely enough, according to the life signs sensor, they seemed reluctant to engage the defending Jaffa in the confines of the palace itself, apparently content to have forced them to take cover inside the building.
That would at least give her an easy escape should it prove necessary, though if it was the mystery attacker, Zarin had to wonder if they would actually be able to get away. It wasn't the first planet to be attacked on which the local overseer had a means of escape in the form of a Tel'tak cargo ship, and yet they had somehow not managed to escape in spite of it.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Naruto cocked his head curiously as several of those silly Goa'uld fighters flew overhead, much too far overhead for their plasma cannons to be of any use.
It wasn't hard to guess that they were on a scouting mission, so he gave them a cheery wave and let them go about their business.
Setsuna, Te'lok and the various lesser commanders had done well in this battle. The female Jaffa had for the most part been captured and the few fatalities were already undergoing resurrection in the sarcophagi that they'd brought along. Past experience with Bastet's Jaffa told him that they would probably be bitchy and annoying for a while, though not quite to the level of Khepri.
Good times abound.
He wasn't sure if Bastet was a strategic genius that had figured out that having an all female fighting force in what was a otherwise male oriented warrior culture would make them all the more loyal to her, or if she was just a man hating cunt.
It could go either way, but he was hoping for the latter because it would be more fun. The idea of asexual parasites being sexist was hilarious.
Speaking of man hating cunts...his gaze swung over to Khepri again, smirking at the nervous sweat beading on her forehead.
It was just too cute how she thought that she was being clever with the idea of leaving a message behind. He'd stayed at the gate with the rearguard just to make her sweat. They didn't need him at the front lines anyway.
"Khepri." He said suddenly, making the woman jump with a startled yelp and drop the zat'nik'tel that she'd been given.
Naruto snickered.
"Yes?" She asked stiffly, pride stinging and cheeks flaming over being laughed at.
The horned blond grinned again, amused at her barely respectful tone and address. She was too afraid of him to be insolent right to his face, but tried to assuage her pride by speaking to him in clipped tones.
The joke was on her though, because Naruto didn't care how she talked to him. He'd never told anyone to call him 'my lord' or something like that, people seemed to just naturally defer to him and Xanna. It was always amusing when someone picked up on this and tried to see how far they could push things.
"I'm sending your group over to the slave camp, explain to people that we're taking them through the stargate to somewhere safe. Provide medical attention and water as necessary. They probably won't put up any kind of fight, but be careful anyway." He instructed.
"As you wish." She acknowledged rather snootily and turned to do as she'd been told.
Naruto rolled his eyes and caught the gaze of a nearby Jaffa troop leader that was looking as if he was trying not to smile. The man pasted a serious look on his face by reflex and nodded when Naruto jerked his head towards the retreating woman in a clear indication that he was to go with her.
"And Khepri..." He said casually, making the woman freeze in place. "when all the slaves have been sent through the gate, come talk to me and see if you still want to leave messages behind for Bastet to find."
The sudden smell of cold terror wafting off the former priestess made him raise an eyebrow. Honestly, if he was going to do something gruesomely painful to her, he would have almost certainly done it before now.
Khepri eventually unfroze and began to walk forward robotically, as if afraid that every step would be her last. The minor Jaffa squad leader followed after her and rallied their respective groups, keeping his mirth carefully concealed.
"Well, time to go kill me another Goa'uld." Naruto said to himself with a sigh once they were gone, bouncing off the big rock he'd been sitting on. "And I still don't have any clever one liners or cryptic messages thought up. Woe is me."
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Zarin ruthlessly suppressed the nervous crawling sensation that was giving her a full body itch. It didn't help that it originated form both host and symbiote.
When the Udajeet had returned with definite confirmation that there was a strange barefoot man with horns sitting by the stargate, they had known for certain that it was indeed the one they had been seeking information on for years.
Despite Nala's strenuous objections, she and Leah had decided not to attempt an escape by Tel'tak. Circumstantial evidence from previous raids suggested that it would be futile.
There was also the consideration that this could prove to be a powerful new ally for the Tok'ra. They had precious few of those and this warlord had already proven his ability to be a nuisance to the Goa'uld.
If that were all, Zarin would have gladly arranged for a meeting with the Tok'ra High Council. Unfortunately, the only thing they knew for certain was that he had no problem attacking and angering the Goa'uld. For all they knew he could be just as bad as them.
Zarin was however gambling that he wasn't, based mostly on the fact that he had sent his warriors to the slave camp and was apparently sending them through the stargate to some unknown planet. It was of course possible that he was simply poaching slaves from the Goa'uld for his own use, but his rather kind treatment of them contradicted that.
Unless of course he simply wanted healthy slaves. The productivity that Bastet demanded from this particular mine usually resulted in death by exhaustion within a few years.
Please stop thinking like that. Leah pleaded, her hopeful optimism for the coming meeting withering as Zarin's more pessimistic outlook kept finding grim alternatives for every possible good sign.
I apologize my friend. Zarin replied contritely, having truly not wanted to worsen her host's worry. It is too easy for me to see evil intentions in everything.
Instead of answering, Leah sent feelings of reassurance to her longtime companion, projecting the feeling that at least neither one of them would face this alone.
A few more minutes passed in suffocating silence, the nearby form of Nala and her remaining warriors arrayed against the walls, visibly clenching their jaws as the tension ratcheted steadily upwards.
Zarin had told Nala to lay down their weapons and let the invaders leader through.
The proud Jaffa had of course objected and in fact nearly turned against her, but Zarin had coolly told them that they were surrounded, outgunned and outnumbered to a hilarious degree. The only reason that they hadn't been defeated yet was because the enemy had thus far not deigned to storm the palace, which they were fully capable of doing at their leisure. In addition, she claimed to 'sense' that the enemy 'god' was vastly more powerful than her, making escape impossible.
The Jaffa women had not liked it, but had finally stood down after Zarin had added that she had no wish to carelessly throw away the lives of noble warriors in a hopeless struggle, especially when they had already fought so valiantly.
The expression of value for their loyal service, empathy for their sense of honor and of course the superstition that the Goa'uld cultivated among the warrior race had finally served to sway Nala into ordering her subordinates to abandon the defense and await their conqueror in the throne room.
Why is it taking so long? Leah finally asked mostly for the sake of saying something.
That was indeed a good question, more than enough time had passed for the mysterious invader to have made his way to the throne room. From what she'd been able to see on the life signs sensor, he had taken a leisurely stroll through the halls.
But he was nearly at the entrance now.
Nearly a full minute later, the door finally slid open and admitted the horned man, who stopped to take a curious look around the room before entering.
Zarin stood from the much disliked throne and spoke with as much dignity as she could muster. "Greetings, I am Zarin."
"Naruto." He replied simply and moved forward.
"I find myself placed into a state of bewilderment," He continued casually as he ambled into the room. "usually, the Goa'uld would try to use their remaining Jaffa as a meat shield to cover an escape attempt, not surrender to spare them."
The Jaffa in question gripped their staves tighter as his eyes passed over them. He hadn't seemed this intimidating when viewed out of a death glider, especially with the way he had waved at them.
Zarin and Leah were no more resistant to intimidation than the Jaffa, though Zarin at least took a mild solace in the fact that an escape attempt had obviously been anticipated and would have no doubt been countered somehow. It meant that she hadn't foolishly squandered a chance to save Leah and herself by staying. If they were doomed, then they would have been doomed either way.
A rather morbidly fatalistic bit of comfort, but the Tok'ra had long since learned that yout took what you could get.
"There was no use in prolonging a hopeless battle and needlessly throwing away the lives of noble warriors." Zarin answered.
Despite the grim situation, the Jaffa women visibly swelled with pride at the words.
Zarin kept silent about the fact that concern for the lives of the Jaffa had not really been an issue, but rather a hope that surrender would make him more favorably disposed to her. There was no love lost between Jaffa and Tok'ra, even though the Tok'ra were well aware that the foot soldiers of the Goa'uld were little more than unwitting pawns.
"Is that so?" The horned man asked speculatively, his eyes narrowing slightly. By this point he was standing within arms reach of the undercover Tok'ra and loomed over her due to his considerably greater height. "What if I told you that you're an incompetent idiot and that I've had more challenging battles against children?"
Chakra powered ninja children, and he hadn't been a god then, but that was all besides the point.
While the Jaffa tensed and seemed to be restraining themselves from attacking the horned man to redress the insult, Zarin merely balked slightly, wondering both why she had suddenly been insulted and at the strange wording of it.
He is attempting to provoke a reaction from you. Leah advised in a burst of insight, seeing that the speculative look was still on his face.
"Those must have been some very interesting children." Zarin replied cautiously, taking heed of her host's observation. Leah's innate ability to read a person's facial expressions had always been a great boon to them and she had never been more grateful for it.
Naruto grinned broadly at the reply, which he noted was completely absent of bruised ego. "Well you certainly are something different. Different is good, different is fun."
"If it pleases you lord Naruto, we could adjourn to a more private setting to discuss the terms of my surrender." Zarin said next, hoping that he would get the hint that she wanted to talk to him in private.
Judging by the severely amused look on his face, he probably did. It wasn't as if she was in any position to be dictating terms after all.
"And what is to become of us?" Nala interrupted rather demandingly, something that she wouldn't have dared to do if Bastet were the one here.
Naruto turned to the Jaffa woman with a raised eyebrow. "If you want, you can help my soldiers by showing them where all the naquadah, weapons, gliders and anything else of interest is stored for easier looting."
"This planet and everything on it belongs to Bastet." Nala interrupted again, her tone confrontational and angry.
"Hence why it is called looting." The horned man replied patronizingly, making the woman fume. "After that is done, with or without your help, you are coming through the stargate with us and will eventually be able to join my army if you want. Otherwise, you can live out your lives as ordinary citizens of my empire."
Two dozen staff weapons were primed and aimed at him with deadly intent. "We would sooner die with our honor intact than serve the enemy of our goddess."
Naruto smirked. Bitchy and annoying.
Zarin panicked a little and cursed the stubborn pride of the Jaffa. So far, Naruto had been extraordinarily reasonable, far more reasonable than she had dared hope for to be honest, but if they attacked him after already offering surrender...
Well, she doubted it would end well to say the least.
Just as she was about to snap a possibly futile order for Nala to stand down, there was a flash of movement and the bulbous emitter pods of every staff in the room fell to the ground, rendering them into nothing more than unbalanced clubs.
A thin, majestically curved sword that was as long as a man was tall was now pressed point first into Nala's neck, making the Jaffa female freeze as it threatened to give her a new breathing hole.
So fast! How is it possible for him to be so fast? Leah boggled.
I do not know, I have never heard of such a thing, but it explains his confidence in coming here alone, surrender or not. Zarin replied, just as stunned as her host.
"That's not an option I'm afraid." Naruto said casually, as if he wasn't holding a sword to someone's throat. "Aside from those here, all of your fellow warriors that were captured earlier have either already been sent through the gate or will be after they are brought back to life. You can join them of your own free will or you can join them under coercion, but you will join them. If you find yourself unable to tolerate the changes in your life, then you are free to end it, I promise that you won't be brought back if you decide to do that."
The sword was withdrawn and resheathed down his back after that, leaving only the long hilt visible. The Jaffa women glared sullenly but dropped their ruined weapons to the floor, resigning themselves to their fate.
Zarin knew that he wasn't really giving them much choice in the matter, since Jaffa culture viewed suicide as a disgraceful act and Naruto was clearly determined to keep them alive. She suspected that they would all end up joining his army, depending on how persuasive he was. If nothing else, they would come to respect his strength.
Anything further was interrupted by the sound of many feet walking down the hallway outside.
"Heika, " Setsuna greeted as she entered the room with a dozen warriors at her back. "all resistance has been quelled and the extraction of the slaves should be completed in four to five hours at the current pace."
Zarin quickly analyzed the newcomer. She walked with the confident stride of one who was not the least bit intimidated by either the Jaffa or supposed Goa'uld present, a great rarity for humans in this galaxy. Her uniform was well made, but not so well that it would indicate a heavily industrialized society. Just as Nala had reported, none of the newcomers wore armor, though the woman had steel bracers and greaves for some reason. It was a distinctly odd place to have armor and yet leave the rest of her body unarmored. Finally, there was the bizarre juxtaposition of a sword and several daggers in addition to the zat'nik'tel hanging in a customized leather holster at her waist.
All in all, she looked quite formidable despite being the shortest person in the room. While neither Zarin nor Leah understood the language that had been spoken, the newly arrived woman had the mannerisms of a subordinate reporting to a superior officer.
"Excellent, have everyone who isn't busy with that join up with Te'lok and help him with the looting. These ladies may or may not help you with that, they haven't decided yet." He said, waving a hand over at the somewhat lost looking Jaffa women, this time speaking in Goa'uld for the benefit of everyone that wasn't him or Setsuna.
Setsuna simply nodded but then gave a pointed look at the destroyed ma'tok staves littering the floor, taking his cue and speaking in the same language. "Heika, was it not you who said to seize as many intact weapons as we could?"
"Yeah, but they tried to kill me and I got a bit excited." Naruto admitted with a rueful grin.
He really missed his frequent sword fights against Karasuba. Setsuna was getting to be very good herself, but she'd never have the same superhuman power as the Black Sekirei.
"I see." The woman said simply, electing not to comment on that. "And what of this one?"
Zarin suppressed the urge to take a step back at the cold tone and rather murderous stare that this woman leveled at her. As if her general disposition wasn't enough, the way that she fondled the hilt of the sword sheathed at her hip gave a clear idea of what she was hoping the next order would be.
"There's something strange about her, so she stays alive for now, but I'll let you do the honors if I decide to kill her." Naruto replied, reassuring Setsuna but causing deep worry for Zarin and Leah.
The room emptied after that, the defeated Jaffa women leaving with Setsuna in a distinctly sullen mood.
"Now what is up with you?" Naruto said to Zarin once they were alone in the room, stalking around her curiously. "You seem to be a Goa'uld but don't act like one."
"I am-"
"SHH! Don't ruin the mystery for me." Naruto hurried to interrupt, not wanting her to spill the beans.
"But-"
"Shh!"
"Plea-"
"Shh!"
Rather exasperated, Zarin stopped trying to tell him that she was not actually a Goa'uld.
Meanwhile, Naruto had prowled behind her, planted his nose into the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply.
Naturally, the undercover Tok'ra agent jerked away from the disturbing act and looked at him oddly.
"You even smell a little different." The horned man said musingly, paying no heed to the reaction. It was hardly the first time he'd creeped someone out by doing that after all. Honestly, people would let a dog sniff them without complaint, but when he did it, it was suddenly creepy?
Discrimination!
He can smell the difference between Goa'uld and Tok'ra? Leah asked, both shocked and impressed.
I am glad the Goa'uld do not have this ability. Zarin replied with a mental shudder. It would be our doom if they find the homeworld of this species and take them as hosts.
They would find that very hard to achieve.
If all of their kind are as fast and strong as he is, then that is undoubtedly so, but the Goa'uld would need only a handful and it would not help against an attack from orbit.
You'd be surprised.
What do you mean by that Leah?
What do you mean 'what do I mean'? Weren't you just talking to yourself right now?
No, I was talking to you!
I did not say anything Zarin!
If I was not speaking with you, then who was I speaking to?
Getting pretty crowded in here isn't it?
Overcome by shock as Naruto's voice resonated in their minds, Leah lost consciousness and Zarin was similarly too shocked to stop it, meaning that she got dragged along for the ride.
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