P3X-116
The Stargate lit up and began to slowly build up energy. The inner ring spinning and locking in co-ordinates for an incoming subspace path. The Gate itself was situated in a large open plain, which in turn was surrounded by a large forest. The sky was blue and slight wisps of white cloud could be seen passing high in the upper atmosphere of the planet. The sun was up and shined merrily down on the scene.
However, the scene around the Stargate could hardly be called 'merry' at all.
A column of twelve Jaffa stood at attention around the gate.
"Jaffa Kree!"
The column of Jaffa brought their Staff weapons to bear upon the mouth of the Stargate. A horn call resounded from the forest. Finally, the Gate activated and after the unstable energy had settled in the mouth of the Stargate into a vertical shimmering pool a few seconds passed and…nothing happened. This confused the Jaffa Commander as he knew enough to know that a Gate needed something passing through it to keep it open this long; his wrist communicator beeped and a few words were exchanged with the First Prime…
"Tau'ri…!" began the Commander but was cut off when six heavy discus shaped objects came hurtling through the event horizon. The Jaffa had barely a few moments to comprehend the danger when the six black objects, which had come to a stop, shot out spherical shapes directly upward with 'clicking' sounds and when they were at roughly 1.7 meters…promptly exploded with a massive concussive shockwave that picked up the nearest Jaffa and flung them away, twisting like rag dolls. A few nanoseconds after the built in wave of shrapnel and nails followed and decimated the remaining Jaffa stationed around the gate.
Three seconds later and the dust kicked up from the massive explosion had blotted the gate from the view of the Jaffa squadron waiting in the tree line of the woods. Their hearts filled with anger and fear at seeing their fellows so casually swatted aside.
Within the cloud of dust, something came through the Stargate that would do more of the same. The first part of it to appear from the event horizon was a coupled cylindrical arrangement of six matt black barrels connected together with a disc. More of it came through and it showed that the barrels were quite long, easily just under two thirds of a meter; attached to these was a small armored vehicle with four ruggedized heavy-duty tires. If anyone from Earth had seen it, they would've thought that a small one-man Caterpillar Earth Mover had married a M1A2 Abrams Main Battle tank and produced these as offspring. Those at Stargate Command when showed the plans for the thing came up with a simple nickname for the armored vehicle…CAT.
It was roughly 1.8 meters in width, 1.7 in height, 4 in length and sloped thick Chobham armor that was colored with digital green patterns to diffuse its visual signature to the venerable Eyeball Mark 1. It trundled down the stairs in front of the Gate and turned on its axis with its independently articulated wheels to face the nearby forest.
The main weapon of the CAT was the M134 Minigun, which fired the 7.62mm NATO armor-piercing projectile. It could fire between four thousand and six thousand rounds per minute. The weight of the gun itself was only 18 kilograms, but the weight of the amounts of ammunition required and recoil (it pushed back with a force of 120 kilograms) produced by the gun when fired made it totally impractical for a person to carry.
Its main role was to provide Infantry Support. The fighting men and women that made up the SG teams were almost all former Special Forces, who had to go through even more training to get them ready for off world missions, the standard demanded of them was high. Unfortunately, that meant the amount of people qualified to fight were numerically small. And more often than liked, found themselves outnumbered in any combat situation with the Goa'uld. The CAT would be the equalizer.
Behind the CAT, four SG teams rushed out of the Stargate and took up positions behind the cover of armored vehicle. The man in nominal command was Major Mansfield, who was crouched directly behind the rumbling CAT. He pushed a button next to the rear hatch of the vehicle and spoke into the shielded speaker situated there, "What do you see, sir?"
"Scans show a large concentration of Jaffa in the woods where my barrel is pointed," replied the driver of the CAT.
"How many?"
"Squadron strength," came the answer.
"Damn," cussed Major Mansfield. "Have you managed to contact SG1, sir?"
"Yes, they know we are here, and are en route back to the gate," said the driver. "Be advised, the smoke and dust is clearing and we will soon be visible to the Jaffa, I'm cutting my radio signal to the SGC." A moment later the subspace path collapsed with a 'whooshing' sound.
Mansfield turned to his men. "Ready!" he hissed under his breath, and hefted his PR7 and multiple charging 'pring' sounds was heard from the weapons of the sixteen soldiers. They had organized themselves into four, four man columns behind the CAT. Those on the left and right flanks hefted their PR7s and aimed towards the forest. "Steady, wait for it…" A slight breeze carried across and finally exposed the CAT. A horncall was heard and orange staff blasts came lancing out of the trees.
But Earth had finally made use of some of the technologies and knowledge gained from the captured Ha'tak of Chronus. This being the first entirely Terran built shield system…codenamed Firestorm. It was a system that was also being thought of mounted on the F302s as well. Though it's drawbacks were that the shields were nowhere as effective as those mounted on motherships and so on, it would provide extra survivability for any unit equipped with it. The Staff weapon fire would need to be almost constantly maintained for several minutes before the Firestorm shields wore off; which was more than enough time for it to utterly annihilate any attacker…when the shields finally would give out, the Chobham armor would hopefully further keep Staff fire at bay until the driver could either retreat or blow them away.
Hence, the staff weapon blasts from the Jaffa coming from the treeline were absorbed and deflected by a shield that flared into the red of the visible spectrum.
The CAT wasted no time in responding. It's Minigun barrel turned to the left and started rotating with an electrical whine, zero point seven seconds later, an ear numbing 'braaaaap' sound erupted and Major Mansfield was quite glad for the earplugs that they had put in earlier. From the spinning barrels a two foot long tongue of flame shot out and he just barely saw the trees to the left erupt and splinter. The CAT's engine geared up and started to move forward at a walking pace. The soldiers kept up behind it and started to send streaming blue bolts of energy into the treeline as well.
Mansfield couldn't see the havoc that the CAT wrought in the treeline, but he could imagine. The short bursts of the weapon came in three second intervals and was immediately followed by cracking and splitting of wood…he could swear he even saw a tree felled by the sheer amount of rounds being pumped into the forest.
Finally the CAT had reached the treeline and Mansfield led his soldiers as they surged forward along its flanks and into the forest, spreading out into an assault formation.
The small rear hatch of the CAT opened and a fully geared up, chromesuited Harry swung himself out. His PR7 materialized in his hands and using the CAT as cover swept the treeline for any Jaffa that might have survived the assault, despite the fact that the sensors on the CAT indicated that there was no Jaffa remaining alive near his position. It was now up to Major Mansfield to sweep the forest and rendezvous with the stranded SG1; the mission they had been sent on was based on Tok'ra intelligence that a Goa'uld was setting up this planet as a new base or staging area…the fact that the Tok'ra had no clue as to who this Goa'uld was spoke for itself, hence the reason for a recon by SG1.
Clipping his weapon to his assault vest, Harry reached into the CAT and pulled out a brand new Tablet PC that was linked to the command systems of the CAT, and would allow him to keep a general sensor watch over the immediate operational area. He watched from a 'God's Eye' point of view as Mansfield and his teams advanced through the forest. He blinked at the tactical situation and activated his radio embedded in his assault vest.
"Sierra Golf Alpha Sierra Tango, this is Sierra Golf Omega, be advised, four leftover enemy troops have slipped way past your left flank and are circling around behind you, distance two hundred meters and closing, over," reported Harry.
"Roger that," came Mansfield's voice over the crackling radio. Harry watched as the dots that showed the SG troops suddenly stopped. The four lifesigns of the Jaffa continued to advance forward until there were sudden bursts of energy registered by the sensors…two of the enemy lifesigns winked out at once and a two minute firefight followed where it seemed the two Jaffa managed to cause a casualty among the SG force before both were killed.
"Damn," swore Harry with a frown. The assault continued in the forest, with Harry giving tactical updates on disposition and location of enemy Jaffa to Mansfield. Finally, after a running twenty-minute battle in the forest, the Jaffa squadron was out for the count. Harry saw four new lifesigns appear at the edge of the CATs sensor range and assumed those to be SG1. He sent Mansfield their location and his squad turned in formation to rendezvous. The computer of the CAT gave a shrill warning at this point.
"Shit!" cussed Harry, and thumbed his radio. "All Sierra Golf personnel, Sierra Golf Omega, we have multiple Gliders and an Alkesh on approach! Get your buts back to the Gate!" There was only a double click on the radio in acknowledgement as the sensors showed that they had started to run. Checking the Tablet PC one last time, he made note of the direction of the incoming Goa'uld craft and chucked it back into the CAT. Now Harry wished he had asked for a Stinger Anti-Air Missile Launcher to be packed into the CAT.
He closed the hatch of the CAT and gestured with his hand to it…it shimmered into disillusionment and was hidden. He ran into the treeline and crouched behind a tall tree, making sure to stay in the shadows. He heard the Goa'uld craft before he saw them. The sonic boom of something going way past the speed of sound and then the characteristic whine of Death Gliders as two of them swooped into view from overhead.
The slower, slick looking Goa'uld Al'kesh bomber roared past a few moments after that. They should have detected him crouching there, but he had willed a scattering field around him and a hundred meters beyond, that diffracted the energy from the scans preventing the sensors getting a return. But the Goa'uld knew that they were in the area, and the dead Jaffa around the Gate was a sure giveaway, not to mention the initial radio contact that had been established with SG1. So the Gliders and Al'kesh continued to circle around the Gate; like Fish Eagles waiting for its prey to surface, while Harry was sure another Jaffa Squadron was being mobilized from wherever this new Goa'uld base was.
Finally, the assault teams plus SG1 arrived.
"Hey everyone, how's things going?" asked Harry sarcastically.
"Ah, same old, same old," said a visibly rumpled and dirty Jack O'Neill.
"That bad, huh?" Jack shrugged.
"Ambassador Harry," nodded Teal'C, and Harry was surprised to see that he was carrying what looked like a man portable Goa'uld Staff Cannon, making the Jaffa look rather formidable and ominous; it was the perfect weapon to take care of their little air superiority problem. Harry exchanged nods with Sam and Daniel, and took note that all of SG1 looked rather the worse for wear.
"We can catch up later," said Harry intently, "Teal'C, how good are you with that thing?" The Jaffa merely raised an eyebrow as if saying You need to ask?. "Good, thought so." Harry opened his hands and with two small white flashes Asgard Jewel Devices appeared in each hand; these were different in that they were designed to be threaded through the fingers much like a Goa'uld Ribbon Device. "OK, Teal'C and I are going out there…I'll be shielding him while he takes care of our vultures, meanwhile, Major Mansfield…"
"Understood," nodded the Major, not needing further elaboration.
They waited until the Goa'uld craft had made another orbit so that their backs were to the treeline when they emerged. Harry and Teal'C surged out of the woods and onto the open plain, while Mansfield and SG1 ran along the tree line to get as close to the Stargate as possible before also surging out onto the plain.
Teal'C took his first shot with the Staff Cannon at the back of the Death Glider. The large bolt of energy slammed into the port wing of the Glider and blew it clean off, turning the normally aerodynamic glider into something as clumsy as a flying brick. The pilot was clearly seen trying to compensate, but it was useless as the craft fell out of the sky and crashed, exploding into a fiery maelstrom.
The Alkesh, however, did not need to turn it's nose around to shoot back. The belly turret rotated and pointed unerringly at Teal'C and Harry…and loosed two shots of orange energy at them. Harry raised his palms towards the incoming shots and just as he had done with Voldemort's killing curse…bent space in front of him. The shots twisted away awkwardly and exploded into a distant mountain.
Harry released his hold on space and it snapped back into its natural shape allowing Teal'C to take a shot at the belly turret. The pilot of the Al'kesh was clearly showing a fatal arrogance here, as he clearly thought that nothing man-portable could harm the formidable bomber and as such, had not raised his shields. The belly turret exploded with enough force to rock the bomber off course in mid-flight. It also struggled to regain control and wavered through the air.
Harry raised his left hand palm up and willed a basketball-sized sphere of crackling writhing blue electricity into existence. The remaining Glider had managed to turn around now, but before it could even begin a strafing run Harry made a throwing motion and the sphere shot forward as fast as a missile and impacted the nose of the Glider.
Tendrils of energy snaked around the Glider but nothing seemed to happen at first and abruptly all its flight systems failed, its energy gone and it turned from a powerful craft of war into nothing more than an object obeying the law of gravity and crashed into the forest…another fireball rising into the air.
Teal'C had, in the meantime, continued to pepper the ungainly Al'kesh with Cannon fire, trying to hit its engines. He had managed to disable one, but it had four to spare so it finished its turn and lined up, clearly intending to finish them off with energy bombs. Harry this time raised both palms towards the Al'kesh and two spheres of electrical energy appeared. They shot from his palms and slammed into the cockpit section of the bomber. Teal'C followed it up with a staff cannon shot that would've killed anyone in there anyway.
"Let's go!" came the shout over the radio from Mansfield and the assault force surged out of the tree line, sprinting towards the Gate. Daniel taking the duty of dialing the DHD.
Harry gestured for Teal'C to follow and ran back towards the invisible CAT…which promptly became visible at Harry's approach. "Grab a hold of this," showed Harry, gesturing to the feet and hand holds built into the flanks of the CAT. Teal'C obeyed seeing what Harry had in mind as the latter opened the hatch and climbed inside and fired up the engines.
The CAT was rather simple to control. On either side of the ergonomic driver's chair were two control sticks. The left governed the movement of the vehicle, while the right controlled the aim of the Minigun. There were no gaps in the armor of the CAT for the driver to look where he was going. Instead there were three large flat panel screens in front and to either side of the driver, that's feed came from internal visual sensors, giving the driver 180 degree forward visibility, and with the flip of a switch allowed 180 degree aft, as well.
The CAT surged into reverse, backing away from the tree line and made a quick turn and sped towards the Stargate at its max speed of fifty kilometers per hour. It was quite funny to see the astonished faces of Sam, Daniel and Jack, still standing at the DHD as the CAT bore down on them.
Mansfield, standing next to the now active Stargate, transmitted his GDO code and after a few moments, nodded to his men, who started to walk into the event horizon. Mansfield's face turned grim as he saw the killed member of his team being carried by another soldier in a fireman's carry pass through the Gate. SG1 walked through and finally Mansfield…giving Harry a clear run. He gunned the engines and the CAT slipped through the event horizon.
Harry stood in the Briefing Room a few hours later and watched as the CAT rose into the air with the specially designed crane that was pulling it through the now open roof of the embarkation room, and towards the Armor Lab on the eighteenth sub-level, where the CAT was originally designed and assembled.
A clean and medically fit SG1 came into the room and General Hammond walked in from his office, ready for the debriefing. Sam came over to Harry for a friendly hug.
"Good to see you again, it's been a while," said Sam
"Yeah well," said Harry with a shrug, "when you have to arrange the future of a decimated civilization it kinda takes a while. Narim sends his greetings to all of you."
"He's alive?" said Sam with a happy smile. Harry nodded.
"Let's get started," said Hammond, gesturing for everyone to take seats around the conference table. "Ambassador, in the interests of all our curiosity and concerns about the fate of the Tollan, I'm opening the floor to you first before the main part of the debriefing."
"Thank you, General," said Harry, his teeth worrying his lower lip as if considering his words. "As I was saying to Sam, Narim sends his greetings to all of you. And he also sends his profound thanks for helping to stop the Goa'uld weapons deal; it's clear that he didn't relish the idea that the Tollan people would go down in the history books as the ones who betrayed every freedom loving race in the Galaxy and beyond."
"Furthermore, the Tollan Remnant with Narim unanimously elected as its leader, has decided to go into hiding," said Harry.
"Why?" asked Daniel with a frown.
"Because I suggested it to them," said Harry.
"You believe they'll come under attack again if it's learned that some survived," said Teal'C with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes," nodded Harry gravely. "I came to realize this mystery Goa'uld behind Thoth targeted the Tollan not only because they didn't deliver the weapons as promised, but also because of the fact that they represented a threat…technologically speaking."
"What led you to this realization?" asked Hammond curiously.
"The bottom line is, this mystery Goa'uld has somehow gained access to Ancient technology and/or knowledge," reported Harry.
"What?" asked Sam in alarm.
"The new shields these Ha'taks were equipped with were still using your standard Goa'uld shields as a basis but with enhanced modulations and upgrades clearly based off of Ancient knowledge. As such, if the Tollan were ever to turn their full knowledge and effort into the fighting the Goa'uld…"
"It would seriously put a crimp in this mystery snake's plans," said Jack.
"Therefore, they have gone into hiding," concluded Harry. "But," he raised a finger, "some good did come from this. The Tollan Remnant is going to be turning their collective scientific might against the Goa'uld. The fruits of this I assure you will be enjoyed by all within the year and beyond."
"Very well," nodded Hammond, "I assume you won't be telling us their location?"
"The Tollan were most insistent that their location remain secret, in the event that SG1 or anyone else fall into enemy hands," explained Harry. "As it is, they were very reluctant for me to report to you even the fact that any managed to escape."
"What if you are captured?" asked Jack archly.
"Then a lot more than the Tollan would be compromised," said Harry with a raised eyebrow, "any Goa'uld that even managed that feat would find me a trifle difficult to hold for long." Jack looked dubious at this assertion but let it go.
"SG1 anything noteworthy on your trip?" asked Hammond.
"It was a bust, sir," reported Jack unhappily. "We were attempting to find the Base when that Jaffa squadron came out of nowhere and cut us off from the Gate. Clearly there is a Goa'uld presence but we couldn't lay eyes on any sort of permanent stronghold before we had to evade Jaffa patrols."
"What about the Jaffa, any idea on who they belonged to?"
"I only saw Jaffa from Chronos and Sokar," replied Teal'C.
"So this mystery Goa'uld is just snatching up the leftovers from any fallen System Lord," concluded Daniel.
"On an unrelated matter to the subject," said Sam, "how did we manage to field the CAT? I thought it was at least two months away from battlefield readiness."
"I appropriated the prototype," said Harry with a lopsided grin, "using Asgard fabrication tech on board the Achilles I finished the missing parts, assembled it and beamed it down into the Gate room."
"Well," said Jack with a big grin rubbing his hands together eagerly, "looks like we've got a new toy to play with."
The next few days Harry was accosted by the scientists and engineers that had been working on the CAT; to explain how he had managed the final systems integration. They even wanted to take apart the thing again, but Jack nixed the idea immediately…'no eggheads would be tinkering with the thing when it could save lives out in the field'. Of course, this meant more work for Harry, as he had to document everything he had done to complete the CAT.
The CAT itself would be something that would never see mass production. Since half the technologies on it the US Military can't admit to having. The highly classified Chobham armor plating required for the CAT was surreptitiously slipped into the standard production orders for the M1A2 and would be classified as 'defective' in inspection and then instead of being melted down would be secreted away to the SGC for use. A similar process was used for every part of the CAT that could be produced outside of the SGC, while all the 'classified' technologies were built and installed in the Armor Lab.
After the fourth straight day, Harry finally managed to escape the 'eggheads' as Jack would call them, and down to level 28. He flung himself into an empty chair in the Control Room and watched the bustle of the techs and his eyes found the Stargate and just stared at it for a while to clear his mind and frustrations.
"Rough day, Ambassador?" said Sergeant Davis, who was manning the Stargate controls and Dialing computer.
"Urgg," said Harry inarticulately and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, "the boys in the Armor shop are enough to drive anyone up the wall."
"I guess they're just slightly miffed at you for 'liberating' the CAT and finishing 'their' work so quickly," said Davis, shrugging.
"So it's their pride that's ruffled," concluded Harry, shaking his head. "Great, all I would need now to round off this day would be for a Galactic crisis to arise of some sort…"
The Stargate lit up and its inner wheel began spinning, alert klaxons ringing throughout the base. Harry slapped his hand to his head.
"…I just had to say it, didn't I?"
As it turned out, it was the Tok'ra to arrive, to deliver some worrying political intelligence on the Goa'uld. The Tok'ra herself was named Ren'al; she was a short slender woman wearing an elegant set of brown robes and had her hazel hair tied in a bun behind her head. Harry had never met her in his time as a Tok'ra, but only knew of her reputation as a superb scientist in the field of organic and inorganic chemistry, and thankfully she didn't have Anise's lack of scientific morals. Harry was rather curious why she would be the one to deliver this intelligence.
Harry, SG1 and General Hammond were seated around the briefing room table, while Ren'al stared at the main display screen showing a digital rendering of the Milky Way that slowly rotated.
"The deaths of Chronos and Apophis created a power vacuum that the remaining System Lords have been trying to exploit. Over the past several months they have suffered heavy losses and expended an enormous amount of resources fighting amongst themselves," reported Ren'al, turning back to face them.
"Let the good times roll," said Jack with a grin.
"Unfortunately the good times may be coming to an end. They've declared a truce. And now it looks as if they are going to have a meeting to discuss the establishment of a new order," said Ren'al. Harry was surprised to see that she delivered the apparent bad news with eagerness.
"So you want to stop them?" asked Hammond.
"Quite the opposite actually. We want them to meet. It'll give us the rare opportunity to strike against all of them at once."
"You're talking about taking out the entire Goa'uld leadership?" said Sam slightly incredulously.
"We are," said Ren'al stoically.
"Welcome to the Dark Side," said Jack with a grin. Harry rolled his eyes at that quip.
"This has always been part of our long-term plan. We just weren't quite prepared for the opportunity to present itself so quickly," explained the Tok'ra.
"Where exactly is this meeting taking place?" asked Daniel curiously.
"A space station in the Hasara system. It is considered neutral territory. Security will be tight, no weapons will be permitted on board and access will be by cargo ship only," said Ren'al.
"Defenses?" asked Jack.
"Impenetrable," said Ren'al dismissively.
"Could we possibly gain entrance on one of the cargo ships?" asked Teal'C.
"They'll be scanned on their approach to the station."
"Okay. Let's hear it," said Jack with a resigned air, bracing for the worst.
"Every System Lord in attendance will be permitted to bring one human slave," said Ren'al and her eyes found Harry's meaningfully. This was not lost on SG1 and General Hammond.
"You want me for this?" asked Harry with a raised eyebrow.
"You can speak fluent Goa'uld and you were one the best infiltrators we had while you were among us," said Ren'al reasonably, "and you possess the technological ability to mimic the appearance of others." Harry tented his fingers under his chin contemplatively and looked pensive as he considered the plan.
"While I agree that this is a near perfect opportunity to deal the Goa'uld a crippling blow, I'm not so sure we should do so," said Harry eventually.
"What?" asked Ren'al, looking astonished. Harry looked to General Hammond questioningly and the two men's eyes met for a moment…the General nodded.
"We have received some intelligence of our own that you do not have," said General Hammond. "You are aware of the destruction of the Tollan?"
"Yes," nodded Ren'al, looking sad. "It was with great sorrow that we learned of their demise."
"SG1 and the Ambassador was present in the events leading up to it," said Hammond and delivered a relevant summation of the facts to the Tok'ra; the ineffective Ion Cannons, the Goa'uld weapons deal, Thoth, Harry's scans of the Goa'uld ships showing them to have shields based off of Ancient knowledge. "The bottom line is Ren'al; we have a Goa'uld out there not affiliated with the System Lords with access to Ancient technology."
Ren'al stared worriedly at a Tablet PC handed to her with the relevant scans on it.
"If we were to take out the System Lords now…" started Harry.
"…it would mean this Goa'uld Thoth reports to would be unchallenged to take over the Goa'uld Empire," concluded Ren'al with a sigh, lowering the Tablet PC to the desk. "The minor Goa'uld would not stand a chance against Ha'tak such as these," she gestured to the sensor profiles of the motherships that had attacked Tollana.
"The long feudal war you were hoping to re-ignite would turn out to be a very short one, with this mystery Goa'uld emerging as the clear overwhelming victor with the entire Goa'uld Empire at his command."
"Do you mind if I bring this data to the Tok'ra in operational command of the mission?" asked Ren'al gesturing to the Tablet PC.
"Not at all," said General Hammond.
"But this does not mean I think we should cancel the mission entirely," said Harry with a raised finger. "I think instead we should turn it into an intelligence gathering mission. I could still infiltrate this meeting. I mean the political and strategic intelligence we could learn would be invaluable." Ren'al thought about this for a moment.
"Very well, but I cannot make any promises on what the Tok'ra will decide to do in the end," she said.
The SGC engaged a subspace path to Revana, the current base of the Tok'ra. And Ren'al used the small subspace transmitter in the Control Room to send off all the data and a detailed report in an urgent encrypted communiqué. It was barely two hours later when an incoming subspace path delivered a response. Ren'al decrypted the message in private and a few minutes later everyone assembled in the Briefing Room again.
"Selmak has operational authority over the mission," said Ren'al, Sam perked up, "after reviewing your intelligence he has come to the same conclusions. The mission will be one of intelligence gathering only."
"Very well," nodded Harry. "I will see you tomorrow then."
That evening Harry decided to sleep in his quarters in the SGC. He willed his chromesuit to disengage and it settled itself into the specially designed container that allowed it to recharge itself. He flicked off the lights and settled under the covers of his bed.
In the haze of trying to fall asleep in the next few minutes he did not pick up the changes going on around him. The air was suddenly different, instead of the fresh air that was ventilated through the SGC, the recycled air of a life support system was now pulled into his lungs as he breathed. The volume of the room he was in suddenly expanded. It was only as Harry felt the distortion in the space time continuum that screamed itself into his senses that he gasped and sat up in bed, his heart racing.
His eyes met a new scene around him. Instead of his quarters in the SGC he found himself in the center of a large circular room easily fifty meters in diameter. The room stretched high above into darkness easily fifteen floors. Each circular floor was open towards the center of the room where he lay in his bed. Bright lights shone from equidistant spaces on each of the floors…and standing in front of each light was tall strong figures in some form of strange laboratory clothing. Harry couldn't make them out further beyond that.
The room had an ominous, monolithic feel to it. He could hear whispers of hushed conversations coming from the mysterious figures as they spoke to each other. Occasionally, one or two would walk to another spot in the room and converse with another. The din of machinery was also in the background.
The ringing sound of approaching footsteps echoed through the large room. From one of the shadows on the ground floor a figure was coming closer. It was tall, and appeared to be wearing robes of some kind he could not make out.
Harry flung the covers off himself and got out of the bed, totally unabashed at the show he was giving these mysterious beings. He stood and mentally prepared himself for anything…to flee, fight, kill, anything.
"You can relax, Harry," said the approaching figure in a raspy, yet strangely familiar voice that he could not place.
"Oh I doubt that," retorted Harry. "You've abducted me bed and all, across space and Time itself…and I'm supposed to relax!"
The figure stopped remaining in the shadows and chuckled heartily, "Amazing, you do not disappoint, Harry. There's been betting on how quickly you would figure it out."
"I doubt that you've ripped me across Time just for a bet," said Harry edgily. "And I can't count how many Temporal Laws of Causality this violates."
"Ah, yes well," the figure looked uncomfortable, "when one is desperate beyond hope you will reach to anything to protect those you love, and preserve that which you know."
"And how does this do that?" asked Harry incredulously, gesturing to himself and around him.
"This," gestured the figure, "is the last attempt to make a difference in a completely hopeless struggle against an enemy that make the Goa'uld look like children playing around with toys." Harry's eyes widened at that statement. "What you see around you Harry is the last vestige of freedom in the entire local Galactic Cluster and it is under siege."
"What?" said Harry, his mind struggling to come to terms with the concept as he looked around, however, he did manage to ask a more pertinent question. "Who?"
"I'm afraid I can't name the enemy," said the dark figure. "That would be going too far."
"Nullus Agnitio!" cussed Harry in Alteran. "You've gone this far already!"
"Calm down, Harry and let me explain," said the figure somewhat imploringly. Harry folded his arms in response and glared, but remained quiet. "The method we used to pull you through Time allows us to avoid most of the Temporal side effects experienced with Paradoxes. You see, we haven't actually brought you into the future…we've overlapped this space," he gestured to the circumference of the floor around the them, "and my current Time with yours, creating a zone of neutral time…in theory we could remain in such a zone for eternity…the hands of time have been stopped."
Harry blinked at this feeling rather awed and amazed. The Alterans had experimented with Time Travel, he knew, but their few successful attempts had resulted in a number of bad paradoxes that convinced them to stay away from pursuing it. Clearly, it seemed in the future, that Terran's had not made the same decision.
"I understand what you are saying," said Harry slowly, "but the power requirements must be…unreal."
"It is, was and will be," said the figure with a chuckle. "However, once the neutral time zone was initiated it will remain in place until it is purposefully dissipated…remember time stands still in here…theoretically we have all the time in the Metaverse."
Harry nodded but turned a gimlet eye towards the figure, "I guess your identity must remain hidden from me as well. Eh? I can sense from my surroundings that you are telling the truth about the neutral time zone, but how can I be sure of your 'friendly' intentions? What if 'you' are the enemy?"
"Indeed," said the figure solemnly, "you cannot know my identity. As for proof of my allegiance, goodness, or that I am not the enemy…well…" the dark figure suddenly produced a blindingly bright aura of white purity and power that radiated outward with multiple tendrils that waved in an unseen wind. The figure's face was still shielded but that power Harry would recognize clearly as belonging to someone with a pure and enlightened spirit. Feelings and sensations flowed across Harry as the figure 'spoke' in the true language of the spirit that was beyond words…it still gave no clue as to the identity of the figure, but in the end Harry was satisfied. The brilliant aura retracted and the room descended into its dark gloom once more.
"Very well," nodded Harry. "I am satisfied. You're a former Ascended…how come you are on this plane?"
"It was my own choice and one out of dire necessity," said the figure sadly. "Now we come to the reason for all this, and what we can do…despite the laws of time."
"In the future, Earth will explore with a youthful fervor and expand its influence in mostly peaceful ways," began the figure, "while it is to be lauded and so on, that urge to explore will unwittingly attract the attention of the enemy. The initial conflict that followed was small, but it laid the seeds for the greater darkness to come. It scattered once strong allies and caused great mistrust between the major powers, weakening them. The enemy then seized on the opportunity and attacked in surprise and in force with hardly anyone able to stop them."
"Divide and conquer, the oldest and most effective tactic in the book," said Harry unimpressed.
"Yes," nodded the figure, "the war to follow laid waste to three entire Galaxies. And for many generations we were laid under the oppression. A Resistance movement was begun and slowly but surely we took back what was ours."
"But…" said Harry expectantly.
"We were beset by a massive counter-attack that undid everything," said the figure angrily. "We had traitors and double-agents in our ranks. And so after nearly a century of fighting it has all boiled down to this last outpost." The figure gestured around him.
"And now you are turning to Time Travel to perhaps change it?" asked Harry.
"Indeed, and the instrument of that change will be this," said the figure, and he bent down placing something on the ground. It was sent sliding over to Harry's feet and stopped against them. It was a white plastic rounded briefcase that looked to be hermetically sealed. On top of the briefcase was a small screen that flashed with Alteran script. Harry bent down and picked it up, it was surprisingly light. He debated on whether to read the script or let the figure tell him what it meant.
"What's this?"
"That, Harry, is the instrument, or rather what is inside," said the figure somewhat enigmatically, "it is a nanotech artificial virus with a very specific purpose." Harry's first thought was to vaporize the thing immediately with vacuum energy, but his instinctual reaction was dampened when he realized that this mysterious figure from the future would hardly give him something that would kill…their commune of spirit told him that.
"What purpose is that?"
"To genetically enhance Terran brain and body physiology by…a considerable margin," said the figure casually. Again Harry was struck with speechlessness and struggled to form a coherent question.
"How considerable a margin?" said Harry…hoping that was not his own voice that just squeaked.
"It depends on the individual," said the figure, "but in terms of brain utilization, a minimum of an extra ten percent to an upper ceiling of thirty percent." Harry inwardly goggled at that; his own brain capacity was hovering at fifty five percent usage at the moment. "In terms of enhanced body physiology, faster reflexes, greater strength, visual acuity, enhanced immune function, at between ten to fifty odd percent. A few future evolutionary differences will also come as a side effect, of course, it's all detailed in the data module on the case." A worrying thought occurred to Harry.
"What will this things affect be on the Alteran descendents on Earth and me?"
"Again it depends on the individual," said the figure, "generally, the same thing as what will happen to the Terrans. Their physiologies will be further enhanced along the evolutionary ladder, however, in your case, not much will happen, genetically speaking you're as far up as you can go, the nanites will recognize this and only act on the superficial evolutionary changes. In addition, the nanites have a database at their disposal on whom most definitely not to enhance significantly, due to their…past actions, and personalities."
"What about visitors to Earth?"
"If the nanites are distributed properly, they should complete their work in two months and then cease to function," said the figure, "anyone coming though the Earth Stargate or landing on the planet will not be infected. The nanites are smart enough to know not to enhance such persons."
"Indeed," said Harry with an amazed glance at the briefcase. The level of nanotechnology embedded within the case was amazing work. "I assume there is a distribution plan in the data module?"
"Yes, everything you will need is on it," nodded the figure. Harry knew instantly that he could not confide of this in anyone…maybe with Apollonia, but no one else.
"Is that all?"
"Yes, I'm afraid, I'm struggling to resist the temptation to violate the temporal laws," said the figure uncertainly, "I don't know if this will be enough…"
"It will have to be," said Harry grimly. "Send me back…"
Revana, Tok'ra homeworld, Present time…
Jacob Carter, former United States Air Force General, former terminal Cancer patient, former resident of Earth, now host to the Tok'ra symbiote Selmak, and seated on the High Council of the most important resistance organization in the Milky Way Galaxy, walked towards the Revana Stargate in a rather pensive mood. He glanced around at the lush green-forested landscape of Revana and couldn't help but to try to draw parallels to Earth.
Earth. Or as the Goa'uld, Tok'ra and Jaffa knew it…Tau'ri.
As host, Jacob knew how Selmak viewed his fellow Terrans that were venturing forth through the Galaxy…with a combination of amazement and respect, but also with deep worry and concern. Selmak often stated that Earth was either a shining jewel of hope for the future…or the vanguard of the death knell waiting to fall.
"Are you ok, Selmak?" asked Aldwin worriedly. Jacob glanced at his fellow Tok'ra walking beside him for a moment and then looked ahead to their path.
"Fine," said Jacob. Aldwin was primarily an infiltrator and when not he worked as an aide to the High Council in whatever endeavor was currently underway. "Just cursing our own luck, or bad luck, as it were."
"I know what you mean," said Aldwin. "The opportunity for a collective assassination of the System Lords was something we only thought would occur in another hundred years. There hasn't been a meeting like this since the collapse of the last Dynasty."
"And now that we have the opportunity, we can't use it," said Jacob with a dejected sigh. "You saw the intelligence on the fleet that attacked Tollana."
"I find it hard to believe the Tollans were defeated that easily, then again, retrospectively it should've been obvious," said Aldwin.
"They got lazy, overconfident and sloppy, and paid for it," said Jacob shaking his head. At that point they were approaching the Stargate…and right on time, it burst into life with the shimmering effect of waterlike plasma and settled into stability. Stepping through first, were SG1, followed quickly by SG16 a newly commissioned team led by Major Mansfield, with a newly promoted Captain and two rookie officers; Lieutenant Elliot and Higgins. Aldwin was assigned to do the offworld orientation of the new SGC officers; since history was a passion for the Tok'ra, he enjoyed it.
Last out of the gate, was the Asgard Ambassador Harry, former host to the Tok'ra Jamilla, the focus of their current mission, and the reason for its reassessment. He was clad in the seemingly multifunction suit of chrome that Selmak would love to examine. Jacob understood the suit was Asgard technology of a type but it was far above his head. Tearing himself away from his introspection he caught up with Aldwin to greet their visitors.
"Welcome to Revana!" said Jacob, a smile blossoming on his face as he saw his daughter Samantha come toward him.
"Hi Dad," said Sam. Jacob gave her a brief hug.
"It's good to see you Sam. Jack, how are you?"
"Kinda curious on this ol' mission," said Jack with narrowed eyes.
"Ambassador," nodded Jacob, shaking hands with Harry.
"Selmak," said Harry, who was looking strangely preoccupied and distant; as if he was staring at something only he could see. Jacob shrugged it off, he only had Selmak's memories of interactions with Harry, and Selmak found Harry to be a strange, enigmatic, frighteningly intelligent Hok'taur. Not even Jamilla, who was now in another host, would speak of the things she had learned when she was blended with Harry, something which frustrated the High Council greatly.
"Some of you know Aldwin. He'll be conducting the orientation for your new officers," explained Jacob, rubbing his hands together to generate a bit of warmth in the cool early morning air.
"We'll begin with a tour of the facilities. After that I have prepared a lecture on the development of Tok'ra insurgency techniques since the collapse of the second Goa'uld dynasty," said Aldwin with an excited grin and polite tone.
"I take it all back Lieutenant. This could be hot," said Jack sarcastically to Lieutenant Elliot who grinned in response. Obviously the punchline of joke that had begun in the SGC. Selmak was rather amused at the Terrans; their taste in humor was refreshing.
Revana; Tok'ra Underground Base, Conference Room
Harry sat in his favored posture of thoughtful fingers tented under his chin at one side of the triangular shaped table, where the rest of SG1 and Jacob also sat. Listening attentively to the particulars of the upcoming intelligence-gathering mission. All the while in another part of his mind, he contemplated the revelations of the mysterious man from the future and the singular burden that was thrust upon him…to be responsible for giving a quantum leap in the evolution of his own race.
"So which System Lord am I going pander to?" asked Harry dryly.
"Yu will be among the System Lords attending the meeting," said Jacob.
"I thought you said he'd be going in as a slave?" said Sam with a toothy grin.
"The System Lord Yu," said Jacob, looking at his daughter with a recriminating stare.
"Little joke there," said Sam, her grin not fading one bit, as she made a 'small' gesture with her fingers.
"Funny," said Jack with a wry grin.
"Who will Harry be masquerading as?" asked Daniel curiously.
"This," Jacob held up a purple Tok'ra computing slate, "contains all the physical specifications for Yu's Lotar, named Jarren. Using this data, Harry can use his mimic technology to near flawlessly impersonate him."
"Lo…Lotar, what?" said Jack, looking confused.
"Lotar is the highest rank amongst the human slaves of the System Lords," said Teal'C stoically.
"They're like personal attendants. It's considered to be a position of great honor. The Jaffa serve a strictly military role and if the host of a System Lord is ever injured beyond a symbiote's capacity to heal, it can be pretty useful to have a human close at hand. I spent the last couple of months establishing myself as a minor Goa'uld in Yu's service. I'll be able to get Harry on board his mothership and deal with the loose ends," explained Jacob.
"How many System Lords will be at this meeting?" asked Jack.
"There'll be seven System Lords at the meeting. That's all the major players," said Jacob. "The main objective will be to attain intelligence on whoever attacked the Tollans and of course, whatever else is of valuable strategic significance to both Earth and the Tok'ra." Harry nodded in understanding.
"What can we do?" asked Jack.
"Wait here. I'll communicate when the mission has been accomplished."
Teltak Cargo Ship, en route to Yu's homeworld…
The pyramidal ship zipped through the blue twilight of Hyperspace on autopilot. In the rear cargo compartment, Harry was busy placing the traditional outfit of Yu's personal Lotar over his chromesuit, while Jacob was dressing himself in what looked to be a traditional silk Chinese robes with intricate dragon patterns.
"So what were you initially going to give me to take out a room full of System Lords, Selmak?" asked Harry curiously.
"Well…" said Jacob, clearly hesitating. "Ren'al and her scientific team have developed a near undetectable poison gas that when inhaled is fatal only to Symbiotes."
"You, the Tok'ra, developed a weapon that can just as easily be used on you in turn?" asked Harry, rather astonished.
"It's our most closely guarded secret, consider yourself lucky," said Jacob gravely.
"So, your original plan was to wipe out the System Lords in one fell swoop, create a huge power vacuum that would lead to a Galaxy wide war between minor Goa'uld…and…"
"…we also felt it we could aid the process by using the Symbiote poison to finally wipe out the Goa'uld out…once and for all."
"And the Jaffa?" asked Harry, his mind focusing on Teal'C and the slowly growing Jaffa Rebellion.
"Well that's still a bit of a wrinkle. Unless we can find a way to reverse their biological dependency on immature symbiotes….they'll all die as well."
"A bit of a wrinkle," said Harry faintly, shaking his head and willing the chromesuit to retract itself to his shoulders as he pulled on armbands with the Chinese character 'Zhong中' on them.
"Ambassador, the Goa'uld have been spreading like a plague across the galaxy for thousands of years. Now for the first time they're showing zero population growth. We're not sure why. Now was the best time to do it."
"Another question I'll endeavor to eavesdrop an answer for," said Harry with a grin.
"Are we ready?" asked Jacob.
"Yip."
Lord Yu's Palace; Yu Homeworld…
Jarren was a slave seemingly content in his position to serve the Gods, especially his god. The Jade Emperor was the most 'respectable' of the gods in his own opinion. Lord Yu, and merciless to his enemies and yet respected them, and he had a strong sense of honor. He rewarded those who served him well, and punished those who didn't or betrayed him. In these respects the other gods were sorely lacking. He continued to prepare the Oolong tea for his Master when his thoughts and actions were interrupted with the sudden electrical charge of a Zat gun coiling its way over his body with bright tongues of electrical energy.
Jarren fell to the ground to reveal Jacob and Harry, the latter holding the Zat gun.
Harry had studied the data on Jarren and now after seeing him in the flesh, closed his eyes and focused inward. Jacob, who was looking at Harry as he did this blinked and gave a jerk of surprise when he suddenly saw two Jarren's in front of him. Jacob grabbed the unconscious Jarren and dragged him back out of the room.
"Just remember to pour from the right," said Jacob, gesturing to the tea set. Harry nodded and Jacob turned a corner with the body and was gone.
Harry mentally got himself in gear for portraying Jarren and picked the tray set and headed into the inner chambers where Yu would be. But the System Lord was not present at the moment, though Harry sensed the Goa'uld in an adjoining room. Harry put down the tray as the System Lord walked in.
"Kel shak Jarren," said the Goa'uld. Harry turned on knelt with head bowed.
"I am your loyal servant," confirmed Harry respectfully.
"Rise. I will have my tea," said Yu with a satisfied nod.
Neutral Goa'uld Space Station; Hasara System
It was a monster of a space station. It looked like a spinning top but was more angular and pyramidal in the final analysis. The upper reaches were over a kilometer in width, which tapered downward into the reactors in the lower levels. The station was colored in the typical naquadah black and gold favored by the Goa'uld in their ship design. The station slowly rotated on its own axis to remain in a stationary position relative to the System Primary, which it orbited at 4.2 A.U.s. And sported shields with massive power reserves that would take almost fifty Ha'tak to make a dent in; hence it was impossible for any one System Lord to assault it alone without incurring a massive loss in military assets that they could never recover from, making it perfect neutral territory.
Yu was piloting the Teltak while Harry remained in the co-pilot chair.
"Identify yourselves," came the instruction from the space station.
Harry thumbed the subspace transmitter and spoke on Yu's behalf as was proper for a Lotar when dealing with such menial tasks, "I represent the Jade Emperor, the exalted Lord Yu Wang Shang Ti."
"Two life signs scanned. No weapons detected. Lowering shields," said the Goa'uld coordinating the station.
"Our fellow System Lords are not to be trusted. Neither are their slaves," said Yu sternly.
"Understood, my lord," nodded Harry.
Yu expertly guided the Teltak to dock with the station.
8888888888888888888
Harry had imagined many different scenarios as to what he would do when walking into a room full of System Lords; the most fun one was coming in guns blazing, the other was where he would engage them in hand-to-hand…or plant a bomb, or just fling Killing Curses and be done with it, or engineer an artificial singularity device and set it off…knowing that the collective System Lords would experience their death for an increasing infinity of time as they got sucked into the artificially generated Universal sinkhole as time dilated and expanded.
He never imagined walking in under disguise as a Lotar to a System Lord.
"Lord Yu Wang Shang Ti," announced the Lotar standing near the door and playing usher.
Yu didn't sit immediately down, instead he took a surveying walk around the room with Harry in tow.
"Note them, Jarren. Our future allies," said Yu, pointing towards the various System Lords in attendance. The first that caught their eyes were two elegantly dressed Indian women, talking under their breaths to each other.
"Bastet. Kali the Destroyer," said Harry, recognizing them. "They made a treaty with Sobek, and betrayed him at the banquet feast not a few hours later. His head still decorates Bastet's palace in Mubastas."
"You have a good memory. They are still worthy of my allegiance. Do not accept gifts from Baal," said Yu, pointing to the dark haired System Lord wearing heavy brown robes and walking with a ceremonial staff.
"They have a habit of exploding especially when he feels he has been slighted. He wiped out the inhabitants of two star systems, sixty million lives, rather than lose them to Sokar in a territorial dispute," said Harry, inwardly sneering at the hated System Lord.
"Poor loser," said Yu with contempt. Next in view was an arrogant looking white woman wearing a black corset flaring dress talking to her muscular Lotar. "Do not consort with Morrigan's servant."
"He will attempt to draw strategic information in seemingly idle conversation. I know your last servant unwittingly gave away the location of one of your secret bases in Velong, to his credit, he was killed in the surprise attack. It is what has given me the honor to serve you, my Lord."
The next System Lord was a tall black man wearing stylized robes based off animal skins and also walking with a staff.
"Olokun is still seething over a recent loss to my forces. He may try to kill you out of spite. Do not make me look foolish by allowing yourself to be murdered."
"Yes, my Lord," nodded Harry. Yu finally approached his own seat and Baal was waiting.
"Yu," greeted Baal and they bowed to each other. "I am pleased you were able to join us given recent events. I understand your fleet suffered some heavy losses."
"I am not the only one. Did I not hear that your flagship was destroyed?" asked Yu pointedly.
"I lost two thousand Jaffa," said Baal in irritation.
"Such is war," agreed Yu.
"No. This is different. This enemy attacks like a coward. Bastet and Kali have suffered similar setbacks. They are becoming more frequent while the identity of our antagonist continues to elude us," said Baal in anger.
"I am certain you have your suspicions," said Yu evenly.
"We are all suffering at the hands of this unknown adversary. By shrouding himself he sows discord amongst us," said Baal with narrowed eyes. Harry wondered if the mystery Goa'uld and the one taking pot shots at the System Lords were one and the same…it was likely, and so very interesting.
Harry continued standing by Yu's side as he talked amongst the various System Lords in the informal talk session of the meeting. There was an interesting development though in that the gathering was expecting an eighth attendant whom had yet to arrive. Soon enough there was a chiming sound and the Goa'uld sat down in their various assigned chairs, though they looked almost like thrones. Harry stood behind Yu with his tea ready to be served.
"This has gone on long enough. We must determine who is responsible for these attacks," said Yu angrily.
"The coward refuses to show himself. He only strikes with his ships never with ground troops," stated Baal.
"None of you have seen the faces of the enemy Jaffa?" snarled Yu in annoyance.
"I have," said Bastet, after a calculated look at her fellow System Lords. "When my outpost at Zeldor came under assault, my First Prime managed to disable and board one of the enemy ships."
"Did you take any prisoners?" asked Yu archly.
"They fought to the death. Most had been in service of Cronus and Sokar. But one bore the mark of Olokun." This caused everyone to turn their angry eyes to the tall System Lord in question, whose lips thinned in response.
"How do you explain this?" demanded Yu.
"One of my motherships was surrounded by the enemy," said Olokun, looking uncomfortable…if a System Lord could ever be as such. "Instead of dying with honor, the cowards surrendered and were taken. They may well have switched their allegiance."
"And you expect us to believe this?" asked Baal dryly.
"I too have suffered at the hands of this unseen foe. How dare you accuse me!" snapped Olokun.
"Excuse me, my lords," said the Lotar manning the door, which opened behind him. "The final guest has arrived."
The Lotar moved out of the way. Harry blinked…and had to blink again, thinking he was seeing a ghost. Walking sensually into the room was a nubile curvy woman that seemed radiate seduction and beauty as a tangible aura from her. Adding to this was the fact that she wore only artfully stylized golden paint all over her body and a small ornate silver groin shield. Her hair was dark as night and cut perfectly to fall halfway down her neck. Her eyes took in the room before her with a dark gleam and her mouth with full lips curved in a half mocking smile.
Harry groaned internally and cursed himself thrice over.
"I hope I'm not late," said the near naked woman.
"Welcome…Anuk-sun-amun."