The mission had gone pretty well, thought Ylva. Quick in, seamless deployment and just as quickly out. The lack of significant collateral damage was a minor boon. 'Hardly a necessity.' Vanja thought silently. 'indeed.' Ylva thought back. 'No one will find it odd with another group of deaths in the ongoing Ebola epidemic. And its another potential future problem removed.' The operation had been so simple that Ylva suspected they could easily have managed it without her direct involvement, but she supposed it was better to obey, now that her true mission might finally be close to achievement.

After taking a minute to make sure that there were none within sight or following her, she triggered the extraction burst transmitter, and there was a flash of light as she was beamed away from that secluded alley deep in the poorest section of Conakry, Guinea. If, against all likelihood, anyone had observed her entering the dead-end alley, none of them would be able to offer a reliable description of her. Not that she would be within reach of anyone on this world for a good while very soon.

She had no idea if she was beamed aboard a ship or through one of the orbital beam satellites she'd heard rumors about, for when she emerged seemingly instantly in a new place, it appeared to be back on Earth, in a specialized post-op room. Rapidly stripping off both the disguise and the undergarments beneath, dropping the garments in the open bin near the wall, then stepping into the decontamination chamber. She had naturally not spilled any of the virus on herself, but you were never too careful when it came to lethal pathogens. The clothes would naturally all be incinerated. Ylva breathed in and out slowly as the decontamination chamber went through the necessary cycles.

Once that process was complete, she stepped out on the other side and drew on the clothes lying ready. A small monitor on the desk gave her all the information she would need. She would be beamed as close to the SGC as was possible with the anti-beaming technology installed in that facility, then ferried down to the stargate for the journey to the Catherine Langford within the hour. “They certainly did not waste any time there...” she murmured beneath her breath. In their mind, Vanja chuckled. Of course, Asgard beaming technology did make such deployment far easier. It had, she knew well, also simplified operations like the one she had just been on far easier. While it is hard enough to trace pathogens to begin with, this became virtually impossible when the trail disappeared into thin air in a secluded alley.

~| One hour, twelve minutes and ten seconds later |~

The passage through the Stargate was odd, Ylva thought. She had Vanja's memories of countless other trips through the gate, but shared memories are far from the same as the real deal. That also helped her show the appropriate expression on her face upon exiting the other side of the Stargate. She looked around the Langford gateroom. It wasn't big, but it was spacious enough for a decent-sized crew to get ready for departure. A quick look also revealed several suspicious slits in the walls, where one might find a well-armed soldier or three behind. It was also impossible to see how well-armored the wall was, or if one or more of the concealed rooms contained automated weapons. Turning around, she also spotted such slits diagonally behind the gate. Combined with the ability to plug the gate, it was obvious that they took ample precautions when it came to gate security. She certainly approved of this.

Someone she did not immediately recognize waved for her to follow, and she was led to the small room that would be her quarters for the duration of her stay on the ship. As all her clothes and equipment had already been transported up to the ship before its departure, she did not have anything on aside from her shipboard jumpsuit, with nothing in her hands. While she felt a bit naked without a weapon, that could be remedied soon enough. If nothing else, she could find a place or seven to hide throwing knives and darts, both lethal and non-lethal. She'd have to judge out what sort of person the ship's commander was, whether she approved of personnel going about visibly armed.

Following the process of organizing her quarters, she swallowed a single pill of the naquadah dampener she had assembled before the mission, knowing that there would be individuals aboard capable of sensing the naquadah in her blood. Only then did she feel ready to inspect the lab.

Tonak

Tonak tied the man up before hauling him off. The one time a team would be handy and they aren't even here. Typical. He took the man down near, but not quite to the river. Just so that when he eventually escaped there'd be one way to go, making sure of such a thing by the placement of both the ex-Goa'ulds ribbon device and hidden Tacs for if it didn't go exactly to plan. It would work better if he was awake when he was found by the Tauri however it wasn't off any real consequence as long as he was found that was the important thing in all of this. He sat himself opposite the man fiddling with a knife until there was a faint beep from a device that had been placed on the mans forehead, a modified memory scanner, that also read his life signs indicating that his heart rate had returned to normal and hence that he had woken up. He was just playing dumb.

"You know, those things can also can give out quite a bit of pain not to mention the whole memory recall concept of it. I don't need you to talk if you really don't want to but it does make life a heck of a lot easier especially with the fact that this meeting has a deadline. I'd rather not waste any time. I do have other things to do, places to be and fires to light. So can we just get to it?"

Phil Lawson

Lawson hurried to one of the control hubs as soon as the 302 entered hyperspace and set up a video line to the bridge. Turning around when he realized that he was facing away from the Camera. "Uh, yes. Hello Captain. Sorry telemetry should just be in a moment..." The screen changed to Lawson minimized in the corner and the rest of the screen filled with a close up image of the planet. A couple of seconds later a blip appeared indicating a contact. "Oh my, it appears that there is a Ha'tak class vessel in orbit, initial scans indicate that it appears to be damaged we're not getting a strong reading from shields and no radiation indicating it has been in hyperspace for a while so with the damage I presume it is offline as well... and we've got the ground telemetry as well now just waiting for the photographic images..." A 3d representation of a valley appeared the village near the middle several kilometres away from the river and on the mountain to the north of the village sat the ancient facility.

Though before it could render or Lawson could say anything the other screen showing the planetary map appeared flashing red as several smaller contacts appeared. "It appears that there are five Al'kesh and six squadrons of Gliders moving to intercept the R-302 and it can't jump out yet as the fighter crafts hyperdrives are less sophisticated and have a cooldown period." The screen began to flicker. "Captain, they are trying to jam us."

Kayle

Kay's hands ruffled through the data in her pad. Her fingers thrummed from one page to the next, her body spread out across the bed and relaxed. She dressed in a green tank that fitted her figure well, topped off with camouflage pants and a belt. Her gun was put away as was most of her knives, a few still strapped to her. In this case, it was more to ease that sense of nakedness she felt when unarmed. Despite her eyes scanning the light screen, her mind had drifted back to the meeting and what followed after her question.

Naturally she nodded in understanding at the Captain's need to exercise precaution as the woman went on about the plan. For the most part is was sound and reasonable, though she was slightly worried. Things could easily go wrong and with a single ship seperated from the Langford, it would likely be out manned and gunned for the most part. At least if it was an ambush. She settled back into her chair while her mouth held its silence. She had promised to read up farther on the planet before departure just to improve her chances upon the surface. However, despite the solidness there was a few wrinkles. Namely when the Jaffa, Rea'c, had rejected the notion of being left behind. It seems he believe they were questioning his men's bravery, something she would've thought was a joke had she not knew he was serious. That was all it took for Ariadne to jump in, her words harsh and rather sharper then Kay would've expected. Then again, the Second Lt. hadn't the pleasure of getting on the Tok'ra's bad side yet. Part of her wanted to jump in there at that moment but instead, any chance was ripped away when the IOA spoke. He put his two cents in, agreeing with the Jaffa's logic then taking his leave shortly to have Captain Black ease the tensions left in his wake. Kay supposed it was one the perks of his job which was to leave others to clean up the aftermath in his opinions.

Once the meeting had finished, she wasted little time in returning to her quarters. More eager to get back to her research then actually steer clear of the building tensions between the two races. Prejudice seemed more universal, a pain but rather comforting notion to see both so human in a way. At least Kay liked to think so. Her hand paused in flipping to the next set of words and meanings, her mind drifted to her own family when her mind realize the planet they would be on would resemble a different kind of earth.

It was easy to see her father's grinning face. She knew he would've been proud of her, though he would never know it, and her lungs inhaled in a soothing breath. Her teeth bit her lip as her mind wandered to the time she had spent on the ship. Both the Jaffa and Tok'ra provided combative oppotunities. Unfortunately, she had seemed to tilt her favor clearly towards the Tok'ra with most of her time spent with Ariadne. It wasn't good for foreign relations and weighed her hand in favor of whom to ask for her next course of action. Working out the kinks in her tactics and pitting them against new minds, ones that might think differently, seemed too good to pass up. Gently she rised her hand to click the small button at top then placed the data pad upon her bed. Her legs swung about, allowing her to pull upright onto her feet. First thing was first: she would have to seek out Rea'c. With that task in mind, she left her quarters and sought after the Jaffa in mind who would likely be in the gym.


Joseph

The meeting wasn't a surprise to Joseph, though the fact he stomached it was. He could easily feel the dislike the Tok'ra had for the Jaffa, through he was sure it was vice verse as well, from the sharp comments she tossed at him. It had taken all his will not to either roll his eyes or shoulder his temple within his winkled hands. On top of that, the IOA had the nerve to add flames to the fire when he had sided with the Jaffa right against the Captain. Then again, Joseph wasn't military and maybe it was average for that sort of display to happen. When the meeting ended, he didn't spare a moment in his departure. It was very clear Joseph want to be there in the beginning and would show in his leaving.

His shoes clipped along the hallways until he reached his office once more. It was simple and plain, the only personal items were a recorder for his son's CDs and a picture of his family near the computer. The only things that showed he was human. He then proceeded to ensure the medical staff would be on standby when the ground team went to the planet's surface as he didn't like to leave things to chance and have everyone scrambling last minute. It wasn't much but Joseph preferred not to make mistakes if he could help it. He had just sat back farther into his chair when the door opened, his old head jerked to spot the head doctor's figure within the doorway. A sense of repeating event washed over Joseph as the old man braced himself for the first words. It wasn't a surprise when his suspicions turned out to be right.

"Joseph, can you send these blood samples to the lab? I need you to run them through the machine and separate the elements so we can get a clear chance to determine if there's anything wrong." The doctor seemed to overlook the glare, one likely debating on the best way to harm him, before he placed the vials upon the desk's surface. Without pausing to receive a definite yes, Dr. Niven soon vanished back out the door.

Joseph pressed his lips tightly together while his teeth gashed a bit, his hand reached to scoop up the vials and lifted from his chair. It better to get this done and over rather then postpone the task until it couldn't be delayed any longer. It didn't take long to reach the lab, his hand reached out and swiped the key card which allowed him inside. His eyes barely shifted to the only other occupant within while he made it through protocols to enter the room.

Unlike when most people wake groggy and disoriented and sleepy Aeryn woke all at once. It was a byproduct of being on the run. You might need to go from a dead sleep to running and in two minutes. At first it had been difficult but now Aeryn did it automatically. He wasn't foolish enough to open his eyes though, not just yet anyways. HE could feel a Goa'uld memory device in his temple, no doubt for interrogation. He was in a clearing; he could hear a river rushing not far off. He guessed it was the West River that had made this valley as the next one was more than fifty leagues away.

Aeryn didn't get much more information before his captor spoke. The Memory recall device undoubtedly was also measuring his biometric readings. The man could tell he was awake from his increase lung and heart activity. Aeryn opened his eyes. He knew the man standing in front of him. Aeryn had met him once seven years earlier, then he'd held a pain stick in his hands and Aeryn had been in Halion's dungeon. It was only thanks to some tactical mistakes on this man's part and the help of Altenya that he hadn't died that day. He thought he remembered the man's name.

"Chel'til, Na'noweia si'taia?" Aeryn spat in Goa'uld, it was one of the more helpful things that he'd picked up from Amenthes. As he talked Aeryn realized that the crystal wasn't translating his voice, he'd left it on after the incident with the Bounty Hunters so if it wasn't working. It wasn't on him anymore. Aeryn looked around the clearing before spotting his pack, with his staff weapon and Zat'niki'tel sitting besides, his Prim'ta knife, sat tucked into a pocket and his Kara'kesh sat on top along with the Crystal translator.

Aeryn remembered this man vaguely and if his memory served him the man had known he wasn't a Goa'uld even back then, it hadn't stopped him from wanting access to Amenthes knowledge though Aeryn noticed that he didn't bother telling Halion the news, he wouldn't have believed it either way. "Ha'shak, what do you want with me?" he spat again now switching to English knowing the the Goa'uld language was unnecessary, he would fool no one with the ruse though it felt good to tear at the man even if it did nothing.

Chel'til: Untrained warrior (A grievous insult unless said by your teacher, in this case it could be an insult or observation)
Na'noweia si'taia: You are here to destroy me?
Ha'shak: Someone who is very weak; fool

Dr. Kate paused. The ship had been fairly quiet so far. After the launch (routine, as she'd expected), she'd taken care of a trivial problem in the tertiary missile fire control system that was causing it to read "ready" when neither it nor the crew were ready to launch. The system was one of a handful that she'd thoughtfully selected months ago as needing to be overhauled to meet with "advanced weapons systems protocols". The dozen-odd systems were strategically scattered over the ship so that her presence going or coming from virtually anywhere would be almost unquestioned. It wasn't that she was the only one capable of understanding the systems after she'd introduced dozens of changes to both the procedures and hardware. In fact, she'd made a point of ensuring that the actual firing sequence was almost identical to the originals. But it was significantly easier for the crew to just call her up for simple maintainence tasks, rather than have to deal with the small beaureucracy of red tape that she'd added.

But something about her entire not-quite-kosher scheme of getting on board the Langford bothered her. Or perhaps it was just how quiet the ship had been so far. More likely, however, was that she was hesitating before she started her backup plan. Yes, she'd managed to board the ship. Yes, they would, sooner or later, come into contact with the Lucian Alliance. However, if she hadn't ascended or crafted an extraplanar weapons platform by then, she needed a backup plan. Atomic devices were remarkably simple, when it came right down to it. All she had to do was walk into the ship's lab and start creating one, under the guise of analyzing some obscure weapons system.

Having identified the source of her hesitation, she smiled and shook it off. Quietly creating a neutron bomb. What an idiotic thing to worry about. Confidently, she opened the door to the ship's lab, noting the two people already present.

"Pardon me," she said, stepping around the man. She plopped her stack of books down on a corner bench - might as well keep reading about ascension while she was here - and got to work on creating schematics.

Collab: Sundered Echo and Ciphra

Slightly before the briefing...

Cody had been exploring the ship for the most part after they departed. If he was going to be stuck on the vessel he at least wanted to know where things were. His quarters were small but that was acceptable, he’d slept in worse conditions than a small room. He only had a few personal items he had placed in his room though. One was a picture of him with a girl from Israel on a beach from a few years ago taken while he was on assignment there. Then there was his personalized weapon that he kept in a case under his bed. It was a SR25 modified with a bipod and also had a detachable suppressor, and also two extra scopes. One was a nightvision scope, and the second extra was a thermal, while the regular scope remained on the rifle. The last personal item was just a silver bracelet with his name engraved on it along with a short message in Hebrew that Cody never learned what it meant. Though this bracelet was never on him hardly.

As he had looked around the ship he would see all the people on board but didn’t stop to talk to many of them that often, unless he’d already met them. He wanted to get used to everything first. One of the problems he faced though was whenever he wanted to talk with Kay it seemed like he either couldn’t find her or she was busy talking with the Tok’ra, and somewhat the Jaffa, though with what little they say he doubted that lasted long. Finally he’d gotten too curious what was fascinating about the Tok’ra she was always around and now was just too irritated with the unknown that he had to find out for himself. Thus Cody found himself outside the living quarters for one such Tok’ra. He knocked a couple of times and stepped back awaiting the Tok’ra.

Idalia was seated by the window in her quarters when she heard the knock on her door. She had spent every minute she could either here or in the observation deck, her nose all but pressed up against the glass, looking out into space. Of course for most of the journey, she had only been able to see the blue swirl of hyperspace, but even that was an amazing sight. Despite all her time in the Tok’ra she had still never seen space until now. Tok’ra ships were still few, and they could not be spared for simple sightseeing. Or at least that was what she had been told.

She grudgingly turned from the window at the sound of the knock and walked to the door, expecting another visit from the woman Kayle, who she’d learned was the ships language expert, and pressed the button on the wall next to it that would open it. When the door opened, not Kayle, but one of the Tau’ri men was waiting on the other side. She looked up expectantly at the slightly taller man and said simply “Can I help you?”

Cody had seen this one several times so her appearance was nothing new to him. Her body wasn’t all that strong looking, but from what he’d read in the reports and watching the videos Mr. Williams had provided he knew that the host body was enhanced physically by the symbiote. Her hair was just a normal brown that Cody had seen far too much it felt like, of course that was one thing he could not really change. He could change his own identity, assassinate leaders, but he couldn’t change what other people looked like, well unless you count the pale complexion after death. She didn’t look thirty just yet so she was still young to top it off, but could that be another side affect of the symbiote? Well that was one answer she would have to provide because while Cody was a trained killer he still had manners...Usually.

He put on a friendly smile and spoke. “Hey there. My name is Cody Brown-” He gave a slight frown and continued. “Well now I’m back to First Lieutenant Brown I suppose...But you don’t have to worry about that I’d rather you just stick with my actual name, if that’s alright with you.” His mind was already working. He watched her body language but kept his eyes on hers. Everything she said and did would give him more answers into her, and he wanted to make sure he got every detail for his profile.

“Ok Cody…” Idalia said, still unsure what to think of this Tau’ri man. “My name is Idalia. My symbiote is Ariadne.” She still had not got used to having to make two introductions every time she met someone. It seemed that, when among the Tok’ra, everyone had already known who they were, and so she’d not had to make introductions. Now that she was no longer among them, whoever was in control had to introduce both of them, for the sake of politeness to each other. Still in the doorway, she said to him questioningly “Is there something you need me for… Or is this a social call?” Idalia had been too caught up marveling at the view to use her time in control making new friends, though it seemed at least some of the Tau’ri were curious and courageous enough to seek her out and talk. Usually to ask what it was like to ‘have a snake in her head.’

Cody chuckled lightly. “I suppose it’s a social call. I wanted to make sure I got to know people, and possibly make some new friends. It’s a strange thing, but there’s a concept that it’s nice to have friends when you’re stuck with people for long periods of time.” He said with obvious sarcasm. “And seeing as I have only one so far, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to make some more.” She was obviously different from Kay, so Cody had to approach this pair differently, besides that, there was just something about Israeli girls that he couldn’t resist, maybe that was his problem...hmm. In any case he did need to get closer to people to get to know them better, and it wouldn’t be the first time he might have to stab a friend in the back after gaining their complete trust.

“I suppose I should not leave you standing in the corridor then, come in.” Idalia said politely. This Tau’ri man seemed pleasant enough, might as well get to know him. She could feel Ariadne watching more intently from her eyes now as well, though her hosts thoughts were decidedly more cautious. Even with Idalia’s influence on her symbiotes personality, over a millenia of paranoia was difficult to remove. “So what do you on the ship?” Idalia asked. She knew Kayle was a language specialist, but she had no idea about what other sorts of tasks the people onboard the Langford had. All she had been told was that the crew was among the best the Tau’ri had to offer.

Cody scratched the back of his head as he stepped in. “Thank you.” He hadn’t expected to be invited in. Just another walk actually, but this worked too. This woman was definitely going to be as interesting as he expected, and that made him smile on the inside. “Well sadly enough, I am but a lowly soldier. I speak a few languages, none of which are relevant to the mission, and as officers go most of the other officers are probably more suited than me. I am assigned to our first ground team. I guess not everyone has to have a high intellect or speak the enemy language.” Of course his intellect was actually quite high for the common soldier but he never admits it. “So what about you?” He leaned against the wall next to the door continue to observe her behavior. “I know you’re a delegate and all, but what specialties do you possess?”

That was a somewhat awkward question for Idalia as she wasn’t really trained in much, especially compared to her symbiote. She’d had the occasional niggling feeling that she was around just for Ariadne’s experience, and her symbiotes silence on the matter didn’t help. Because of this when she answered her embarrassment was evident in her voice. “Well, my specialties pale in comparison to hers…” She started. She could do a few things on her own. “I can use a healing device, though not as well as Ariadne… And I can fight. Again not as well as she can, but I can hold my own.” Her held the slightest hint of awe when she spoke of her symbiote. The amount of knowledge available to her, she still hadn’t come to grips with it all. “Ariadne though, she has the experience of over one thousand years of life, and all the genetic memory of the Goa’uld.”

Cody gave Idalia a sympathetic smile. Though he found it odd. The way she spoke he wondered about the symbiote. “Hey, just because she has all that doesn’t mean you pale in comparison. Everyone has their talents, sometimes it might just be the ability to talk with others and help them emotionally, or something else. Something that makes you unique, you just have to figure out what that is. Take me for an example. I pretend to just be a stupid grunt, but I can actually be smart when need be, and on top of that I’m good at helping people with their personal problems.” It dawned on him that when Idalia spoke about the two of them they seemed so separate. He would have to look into the matter more, but he thought the blending process he read about he heard about made the pair one, but when this woman spoke they sounded barely connected. What could be the reason for this? He wasn’t sure but he would have to find out. “So now that you told me what Ariadne is good at, why don’t you tell me what you, Idalia is good at.”

Idalia knew this might happen. She wasn’t very good at explaining the nature of their bond and what they shared. She wasn’t sure it even could be described properly to someone who had never experienced a blending. “I am not sure I have accurately explained it.. All of Ariadne’s knowledge and memory is in my mind, and all of mine is in hers. I could tell you how to re-arrange the control crystals of a Ha’tak or the optimal battle strategies for a Jaffa battle group almost as well as she can, the difference is that she has experienced it all, learned it first hand. For me, it is just... there in my mind, and it is hard to trust information that simply appears in my mind without second guessing myself.” She thought for a moment, questioning Ariadne as to whether that was an adequate explanation. Ariadne thought so, so Idalia moved on. “Before I became a host though, I did rally the people of my village against the Goa’uld. Well, the Jaffa really. The Goa’uld were defeated by then I think.”

Excellent. The reports were accurate after all then. Still it somewhat bugged him though. That meant that there was hardly any individual traits besides there emotions and thoughts which were still affected by the other. “I see. Well I suppose it would be something I would have to experience to fully understand, but with my life I don’t think I could allow myself to do that, not to mention my government might want me dead.” He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head again. The fact that he had so many classified missions would hinder his ability to try this. Not to mention what symbiote would actually want to stay with him if they knew what he’d done? Even his own nation would want him killed, not to mention some of the things he did might be considered war crimes, especially that one op he did with that virus a couple years back. He lowered his hand slowly as the thought came to the surface of his mind. Images of the dead bodies started to surface but he blinked and they were gone and he was looking at Idalia again. “So,” He said quickly recovering not knowing if she had said anything to him when he spaced. “I’m curious about this whole joint thoughts and emotions things work. What’s the difference in what the two of you think of me? And are your answers slightly affected by each others feelings?” He had to admit, he wasn’t going to talk about this with her, he figured that everyone else already bothered her about it, but since she brought it up Cody did have questions so he might as well figure this out now.

“Of you?” Idalia said, caught slightly off guard by the question. She hardly knew the man before her, though he seemed alright for the moment. “I think you seem like a nice enough person. At least for a man I have known for all of a few minutes. As for Ariadne… I will let her tell you herself.”

Ariadne bowed her head for a moment, shutting her eyes, then raised it as she established control, flashing her eyes the moment they opened. Her whole body changed posture subtly, becoming less relaxed and more commanding. “I don’t trust you yet. You have already stated that you like to act as a good soldier and hide your intelligence, and it makes me question what else you may be hiding.”

In his mind Cody was smirking at this, but this didn’t show on his face. Instead he just gave a smile and a shrug. “It’s not unusual for me to not be trusted.” The transfer between the two had been obvious, yet subtle in it’s own way. “And besides. Why show off your intelligence? What would it accomplish?” He stopped leaning on the wall. “The only time I show it truly, is to protect others. Other can show off their science degrees all they want. Just cause they know that stuff doesn’t make them better or smarter. It just means there intellegence is in a more concentrated area, and helps in a different way.” He turned towards the door and looked over his shoulder. “There’s a briefing we should get to. If you want afterwards you can ask me…” He thought for a moment. “Actually lets make this fun. After this briefing you can ask me two questions to get to know me better so you can trust me. After that though you have to earn more questions.”

Ariadne took in what Cody was saying, carefully remembering what he was saying and analysing what it might mean. He had as good as told her that there was more to him than there appeared, and she would certainly be keeping her eye on him when he was around, but despite that she did not expect anything particularly dire to come of it. She nodded once at his mention of the briefing, and when he spoke again about earning more questions from him a sly smile crept to her mouth. She may not even need them if she choose her first two well. “Very well Cody. I will play your game. for now, let us see what is in store for us at our destination, then we shall see.” With that, she motioned to the door, waiting for Cody to leave and head for the briefing room before she herself would leave her quarters. There may be no secrets between Tok’ra, but she was not sure she wanted to let just anyone search her quarters at will so soon, and the Tau’ri were not Tok’ra.

With this Cody simply kept up the smile and walked with the pair to the briefing.

As far as she went, intercepting without even a hail was reason enough to be put out of the sky. But alas Williams and Homeworld command would have her head on a plate if she didn't even try. Those could be the planet's people only commandeering the goa'uld ships. "Alpha 1, disengage and hail them. Head for these coordinates and put some distance between yourself and the contacts." Black said quickly hoping to beat the jamming before it fully kicked in, if it was powerful enough to overmatch the 304s communication systems.

"General quarters." captain barked. The lights on the bridge shifted and an alarm sounded throughout the ship, notifying everyone of the condition. "Shields up. Navigation, plot a jump near to where alpha 1 is headed for quick rendezvous. Execute when ready. Weapons, prep tubes 1 through 4, just in case the Ha'Tak is not as dead as we think. Alpha wing, stand by to launch and provied escort. Beta is to suit up." she finished with the combat orders. A dead Ha'tak and few squadrons of gliders shouldn't even be a match for them, but things already weren't going exactly as planned, and ambush was a good possibility.

Still the gears turned in her head. If they were forced to eliminate Tolia's defenders, least they could do is to take a good salvage, since the possibility of being allowed to explore the planet would probably be closed, albeit it was the Tolian's fault. A Ha'tak might not be of much use to Earth than for raw resources, but it would speed along the production of the next 304 or the British ship nicely, or it could be gifted to some of their allies. That would however mean beating anyone left on board, and she wasn't about to send in marines only to recover a shipwreck. After a few seconds of thinking, she snapped her fingers victoriously and opened a private channel: "Captain Falk, do you have anything that would wipe out a Ha'Tak crew on board?" It felt a bit harsh to wage biological warfare only to recover a ship and Catherine wasn't too sure she would give the order, but she liked to know if the option was there.

Having just finished an inventory, Ylva Falk hardly needed to think before answering. “Is that a trick question? Of course I do. The question is what do you want, and how fast do you want it to work? Do you want a virus? a bacteria? Gas? I have a good selection of it all, though if you want to strike the whole ship at once, you had better give me time to produce more.” She thought for a bit. “What sort of crew is on board? Jaffa? Humans? Is the target shielded? Are there many on board? Are they scattered or grouped up? Give me those answers, and I can give you a proper agent. Mind you, most of my toy stockpile takes a day or so to fully deal with its target. The truly fun tools I produce right before use. You really don’t want to have a stockpile of weapons capable of killing the entire crew of this ship instantly. Trust me.”

"I'm looking at possible salvage of a disabled Ha'tak, most systems including shields are down. Crew unknown, assume both. We'll need to get a closer look first, there might be no one on board at all, but in case they are, something that can rid me of them within a few hours would be lovely." she thought of the time cost for a moment, "Would proper delivery speed things up? If the life support is up we can attempt beaming a container straight into ventilation. If they have jammers up all we really have are the rings. Still it's preferable to sending marines on board."

“So you want a gas. Not my specialty, but still fun.” Ylva did not speak for about a minute, thinking through the options. “With both Jaffa and Humans possible, symbiote poison is out… If life support is running, then yes, that would work for hastening distribution… Hmm.. Anthrax is good, but its hard to remove afterwards. Ricin is too slow. Saxitoxin would be very useful, but it decays too quickly for practical aerosol deployment. Tetrodotoxin might work, but I would need to produce more, unless you have some marines willing to go in with a strike team. Most of these toxins are far more effective when deployed by injection. Botulinum is a particularly nasty one, but I can’t say for sure how fast it would decay. Still, while its not as effective as some others, I think the ideal toxin would be Sarin. Its tested and proven effective time and again. And I’ve got a bit set by for a rainy day.”

“If you deploy it directly into the life support system, Sarin ought to deal with any crew effectively and quickly. And if you’re just grabbing the ship for salvage, simply vent the atmosphere before entering. Any remaining gas pockets will be irrelevant then. Not even a Goa’uld should be able to stand up to that, let alone a Jaffa.” Having said hers, Ylva simply waited to see if he still wanted to use it. ’Some Tau’ri are nauseatingly squeamish about using these weapons, don’t you agree, Ylva?’ Vanja whispered in their mind. ‘Yes. Its sad really. Thankfully the commander appears not to be one of them.’ She thought back, smiling. If at any time she had been one to dislike the possibility of collateral damage, that time was long past. As one of the Tok’ra, she knew that sometimes you had to sacrifice much to achieve a goal.

Captain was drumming her fingers on the map table as Ylva thought, very nearly counting the seconds it took the navigation officer to plot the jump, all the while the pilot being alone out there with six squads of gliders. Fortunately the R-302 was faster than the gliders, and so if the pilot had any brain, he’d run even without her telling him to do so. It was but a minute, but one of the longer ones in her life. Halfway through Ylva’s listing of various evil things, they finally made the jump. “Good get to it. I’m not saying it’ll come to use but lets leave the option open. Black out.” she finished with the Langford emerging from the brief hyperspace trek.

“Very well. I will prepare a suitable dosage, so long as you can ensure the delivery system is functional.” Ylva answered right before the channel closed. She would probably ask for the sensor readings afterwards, so that she could be able to see how well it worked, and what might be improved upon in the future. With the shipboard lab, she had already seen many possibilities for future projects.

Tonak had been right, about a day after he left the long range sensor array started to report a ship. When Amenthes had been in control of the planet he'd created an interface that routed the main secondary systems of ships that happened to be in orbit through a control console in his private rooms. The console was capable of utilizing the sensors, beaming tech, the self destruct, remotely activating the rings and a number of lesser systems that Halion didn't use much. It couldn't access the primary systems like weapons or shields, the console effectively turned ships an early warning system for the planet that reported the Amenthes directly.

Currently the ship that was reporting was the damaged Ha'tak in orbit. In its last battle the Ha'tak had lost hyberdrive and sublight engines, its shields had suffered damage, the emitters only able to power to twenty percent without overload. All these things were fixable with the right expertise but the reason that Amenthes had abandoned it in space as nothing more than a relay station was because the life support system had been shot. It still ran somewhat but the Carbon Dioxide ratio inside was such that the system could only clean air for perhaps six people, that was stretching it. Even though the system still operated there were many pockets of the ship that remained closed off with dead air inside or some that vented directly to space. The system did not run evenly throughout the ship and so even with partial life support it was safer to use a breathing apparatus which was supplied to the three man team that manned the Ha'tak. They did not have the expertise to repair the ship, in fact that was one of the reason that Halion hunted Amenthes so venomously. He could repair the ship. The team was simply there to see to the working systems and fend off a boarding party should it be necessary.

It was somewhat defensible, Amenthes for his destructive tendencies was no fool. He had studies the beaming jammers that surrounded the ancient labs and equipped his ships with a Goa'uld recreation.

According to the data the Ha'tak was sending there was a single manned craft the size of a Death Glider though radically different in design simply by the fact that it had exited a hyperspace window. The Goa'uld did not possess a hyperdrive versatile enough or perhaps primitive enough to operate on such a small craft though with armadas and cloakable ships such a thing would be unnecessary. It started a scan, first of the Ha'tak, then of the planet. It was searching for something, no doubt the Ancestral Facility. It should be stopped.

Halion used the console to access the communications systems to the Al'kesh he had in his possession. It was merely one ship but one was better over prepared when it was unnecessary than under prepared when it was needed. Halion was no fool though, this could be a trap designed to draw out his main force. He wouldn't be caught by it. In his possession he held nine Al'kesh, thirteen Tel'taks and a full compliment of gliders from the Ha'tak in orbit. His people had fought tooth and nail to keep these ships killing loyal Jaffa and minor Goa'uld alike to ensure that they could protect there planet.

"Commander Ryken," he said into the communications system. "We have an intruder flying past the our first moon, too close to our Ha'tak for my liking. Launch five of our Al'kesh, and position three cloaked Tel'taks in high orbit, then have the crew ring over to the Ha'tak and beamed to the planet. The ships self destruct capabilities might be needed if worst comes to worst as I suspect there are more ships on the way."

"Ay sir." Came from the other end. Halion would keep the line open so he could coordinate the attack from here. The invading ship was of similar design to a Death Glider but it was obvious from the craftsmanship, design and materials that it was not Goa'uld. It also seemed to have more developed technologies added too it. It's engines ran much faster than those of a Glider again though the Glider didn't need speed, they were fighter interceptors not designed for recon.

"Commander are the Tel'taks in place?" There was an affirmative from the other. "Alright, now set the Al'kesh on an intercept course with the Recon ship. Keep two of them cloaked, the element of surprise may do us good." Halion monitored the Al'kesh on there way. "Commander I was led to believe that the Ha'tak's Glider bay was more or less intact?" "Yes indeed it is sir, do you wish to launch the gliders?" Halion nodded before realizing that the commander couldn't see him. "Yes, let the Al'kesh chase the craft closer to the Ha'tak and at the opportune moment launch six squadrons of Gliders, flank the ship on all sides. With the Al'kesh behind in pursuit. It shouldn't require much to destroy this ship, it is fast but is merely a recon drone."

The recon pilot was skilled and his ship was of good design obviously being much faster than the gliders. He was expert at dodging shots and many maneuvers that Halion's most skilled pilot would't try. It was inevitable however that he would fall into an ambush. The Gliders launched from the Ha'tak quickly surrounded the craft and the two remaining Al'kesh decloaked on either side. The craft had no were to go and the pilot clearly knew he was out of options. The Hyperdrive that these fighters utilized must have some sort of cool down or recharge time before reactivation or the pilot would open a window. There was no escape.

The ship was well manned but the new ships had caught him off guard. He looped and spiraled but with ships covering all sides it was impossible to avoid them all. The Gliders hit there mark and the ship detonated, debris flying every directed propelled by the remaining air in the craft, this was quickly burned away by fire leaving only lifeless space junk. No one could survive that explosion without some sort of minor miracle and Halion felt satisfied knowing of no technology that could save the pilot's life.

The console started to beep again as another contact exited a hyperspace window just outside there third moon. "Commander, we have another contact just outside the furthest moon. It appears to be a battle cruiser significantly smaller than a Ha'tak vessel. It's shields have been raised and from the energy output I'm detecting I'd say they of Asgard make or a derivative there off possible salvaged from a Goa'uld Mothership. If they have had help from the Asgard before there demise or access to Goa'uld ships then it is safe to assume that the ship also possesses beaming technology, a ring platform and an advances energy weapon of some kind. I cannot be sure of these specifications but proceed as if they are true. It is best we are not caught off guard."

"Indeed sir, might I suggest locking down the Ha'tak if this ship is indeed ring compatible it would not do to lose main sensors and I was led to believe that the weapons systems are only down twenty percent. We cannot let this enemy turn our resources against us."

"Thanks you for your recommendation commander. Position the attack for in a stable orbit between the planet and this ship." Halion then turned the communications on inside the Ha'tak, this system was also rather faulty and so was kept off most of the time. "Ha'tak vessel, do you read me?" There was a mildly static affirmative. "You need to lock down the ring platform, or this new ship may try to board." There was another static answer and Halion detected a cut of power to the ring system. "Good, keep an eye on the sensors, we don't know what could happen. Dial up the shields to the highest safe level." The shields strengthened and Halion terminated communications. They were ready for this ships arrival and if all else failed Halion could rely on the Lucian Alliance, they didn't want this planet in the hands of an enemy any more than Halion did.

-Phil-
Phil sighed in relief as a message chimed on his screen indicating that the failsafe had worked. Something beneficial had occured from wraith tech. He was glad that his pet project was working, maybe now his failsafe would be put in all fighters. "Captain, I can happily report that the failsafe worked. Upon his last stand the pilot was stored in a buffer and beamed aboard as we reverted to real space-" it was just a good thing the black box wasn't damaged. "-all systems are in the green." Now to wait to see if the captain would enlist his help rather than some viral expert.
-Tonak-
He looked at the man opposite and laughed at the intimidation and even more at the insult. "Come, come now. You can hardly blame me for what I did as a rookie can you? I mean you had all the experience of your symbiote. That was just cheating." He shrugged his shouldes. "No matter, I am here to offer you a job. Good pay, good hours and I could have you offworld in ten minutes. How about it?"

Catherine was glad to hear the pilot was OK, although he will probably be shaken quite a bit. She'll be stopping by the medbay later to talk with him. But for now, she had other things to do. "Sensors, sitrep!" she asked. "Gliders are not responding to our presence so far. The Ha'Tak's shields are up but barely operational." the officer reported. "Lifesigns?" Cap asked, wondering if she would have to put her plan into motion. "Minimal. Life support appears to be down in most areas. Captain, we have a visual." The holoscreen flickered to life, displaying one of the gliders. "What the?" Catherine asked, seeing the glider looked like it's good days were far in the past. "Other ships including the Ha'Tak in various states of disrepair." the sensors officer reported. "Tolia's home defense force?" she wondered out loud.

It would make sense for them to confiscate former Goa'Uld craft once the rebellion succeeded. That however didn't give them any right to fire on a ship that displayed no hostile intentions. "Comms, open a channel." Kat asked, waiting for the affirmative, "This is captain Black of the Earth ship Catherine Langford to unknown ships: Break off your attack. Firing on any of our vessels is an act of war against Earth and we will respond in kind." The pilot was alive, so she was willing to let the destruction of the 302 slide if they could come to their senses. She was kind of hoping their origin would put them at ease. After all Earth was quite known for fighting against the Goa'Uld, despite what captain thought about it.

"Weapons, prepare tubes one through four. If the Ha'Tak does anything than sit there, I want it out of my sky. Alpha wing, proceed to launch and assume escort formation. Beta wing, hot standby. Reset railguns for fighter interception. Fighters, you're outnumbered there, stay close to the ship so the gunners can help you out. Keep the beam weapons as a last resort, no need to let them know we're up to specs in case they know who we are." Black set up the plan, awaiting response form the planet's forces. "Let's hope they calm down." She was wondering when Mr. Williams would start criticizing her decisions, but she took his silence as agreement. The realist in her told her that she was under surveillance - it would be just the IOA's style to bug the bridge.

Ariadne had been about to seek out Cody to ask him the questions he had promised to answer for her when she felt the subtle movement that indicated the ship was entering hyperspace. It was far less pronounced than the effect on a Goa’uld ship entering hyperspace, but it was still there. From what she knew of the situation, she quickly came to the conclusion that the ship was likely about to enter battle. With who she could only guess, likely Goa’uld or Jaffa forces, but even if was not those, she wanted to be on the ships Pel’tak, or ‘bridge’ as the Tau’ri called it. After a millennia of commanding her own forces, she couldn’t just sit back without even seeing the state of a battle. She knew she would not get to command this battle, nor was she qualified to do so with a ship she had been on for a mere few days, but she would never learn unless she saw the action, and looking out the window in her quarters just would not do.

She immediately changed the direction she was heading to take the shortest route to the Pel’tak, unhappy that she had not already been called there. She did not take long to reach the room, and when she did she immediately spoke to the man guarding the door. “Allow me to enter guard. Your captain may require my knowledge for this battle.” As she finished speaking the ship came out of hyperspace. The guard looked somewhat intimidated by her, and she could tell that he had not been doing this job for long. He stared for a moment longer and Ariadne glanced down at the radio on his uniform. He followed her eyes and quickly got the message, reaching to the communication device and relaying her request to the Captain.

Collaborative Post Between Captain Catherine Black and Halion Drennon

The sensors picked up several energy signatures coming to light along the ship, "there arming weapons." Halion thought to himself. Instead of firing immediately a grainy transmission filtered through the Ha'taks communications system came through.

"...tain Black... Earth ship... nown ships... your attack... iring... vessels... act of war... pond in kind."

Halion didn't understand much of the message but he was under the impression that they were calling for a ceasefire. The other thing that he found interesting was there designation, 'Earth ship'. Even on a cut off planet such as Tolia the Tau'ri were known. Halion knew they were enemies of the Goa'uld and he also knew that they had a knack for starting conflicts for which the rest of the galaxy paid while they suffered minor losses. The Tau'ri had caused the destruction of human and Jaffa worlds alike during the before the fall of the Goa'uld and if the rumors were true they had brought the Ori to the galaxy. Tolia had been lucky enough to bury there stargate shortly before the arival of the Priors of the Ori but Tonak had told him stories, entire planets wiped out, plagues and famines caused by there powers, whole civilizations destroyed. This was the Tau'ri's legacy in the galaxy.

Halion was not foolish enough to attack the shi head on though. It would be wise to contact them first at the very least put them off guard. He opened a channel. "This is Thilas, Halion Drennon of the planet Tolia. You have deployed a recon ship above our planet which has transmitted our current military strength no doubt. In our culture enacting spies is a decloration of war. Our ancestors had not the luxury to wait for the first loss of life. Break off your current heading and disarm your weapons and we may yet come to a peacful conclusion." There was several seconds without reply before Halion relized that this ship would have understood as much of his message as he had there's

He open communications to Commander Ryken. "Commander, cloak and relocate one of the Al'kesh between the ship and our Al'kesh to improve communications. Close to the Ha'tak so that the ship will read the signal being bounced from that area and be unware of the ship itself." Halion detected one of the Al'kesh vanishing from sight and was confident that his orders had been carried out.

Halion tried again. "Alien ship are you reciving me?"

Black got a response to her hail, althought the Tolian's apparently couldn't punch through their own jamming. "Schalt den Störsender aus, Trottel.*" she cursed under her breath, earning a few giggles from the germans on the bridge. Finally another response came, this time clear. "This is captain Black of the Earth ship Catherine Langford. You fired upon a friendly vessel. Break off your attack or we'll return fire." she answered, her tone as harsh as it gets when some of your people are getting shot at.

"I am Thilas of Tolia Halion Drennon, You have deployed a recon ship above our planet which has transmitted our current military strength no doubt. In our culture enacting spies is a decloration of war. Our ancestors had not the luxury to wait for the first loss of life. Break off your current heading and disarm your weapons and we may yet come to a peacful conclusion." He said repeating his previously garbled message.

At the time, Ariadne arrived to the bridge. Good. Catherine could use someone who knew first hand how to fight Goa'Uld carft, because the situation here was deteriorating rapidly. Black told one of the officers to fill the Tok'Ra in on what's going on while she listened to Drennon's mumbling, her mood sinking with every word he said. "In civilized parts of the galaxy, first contact is not considered a spy and treated with a hail, not fire. You're lucky my pilot is alive or there would be no communication with you barbarians. In your company i'd rather keep my weapons armed, thank you." she finished. Where was Williams when he was actually needed?

It did not surprise Halion that this Captian was hard headed. "Perhaps on the Tau'ri homeworld were you have the resources to build more ships and a population that can survive loss you can afford to consider if a ship is hostile or not. Most human worlds don't have that luxury. This armada is all that keeps my people safe and we have not the ability to add to it. I could very easily lose several ships in the time it takes to accertain whether an invader is friendly or not. This planet has no intention of falling back into the hands of the Goa'uld or whatever new threat you've managed to unleash upon this galaxy. It is most definatly I That require my weapons more than you Captain."

As if your weapons could help you against anything that exists in the galaxy right now. Keep poking the hornet's nest, and you'll find out. "Navigation, assume orbit around the furthest moon. Release targets, but keep the fuses primed. Recall Alpha wing." Black ordered. She was willing to give the Tolians the benefit of a doubt, but only that far. "If you think you're situation is going to get better with making accusations as idiotic as the last one, I pity you. check your history from more than one source next time. Now, fortunately my only concern is my crew, as to why we're here, someone else will be speaking to you." She finished, her microphone muting. "Ping Williams and get this idiot off my channel!" Catherine snapped, "Sensors continue observing the situation, they as much as sneeze without telling us so, I want to know."

"Ma'am, a few minutes beofre - one contact dropped of the radar. Al'Kesh, it probably cloaked." Black shot the officer an annoyed glance that said 'And you're telling me only now why?' sighing, she rested her palms on the map: "Even if they somehow got their hands on a naquadria bomb and intended to ram us, our shields are up, we'll hold. Reset railguns for point defense and boost sensor power, let's see if we can find all that they're hiding."

Thilas: second in line to the throne in Serer pre-colonial kingdoms. No doubt a reffereance to Halion's former possition. (A cultural expert on board should know this FYI)
*shut the jammer down, moron

Langford's Primary Lab:

Penelope was midcalculation when she overheard Ylva mention quite a few gasous agents. Disturbingly virulent, deadly agents. The kind of thing that could get out of control very easily. Oh, sure, you could guarantee that nothing wandered through empty space to the Langford, but what about when you were making it? Or transporting it? Messy, horrible, awful ways to kill someone. But still, something piqued her curiousity. The only other person in the lab was the ship's doctor. Although he was attractive (not that she'd ever admit it), he wasn't talking about mass murder. Something which, Penelope thought with a smile, she herself was fairly well-versed in.

"Why does nobody ever think of using radiological weapons," Penelope muttered to herself.

Some small part of her noted that she really ought to get to know Joseph as well, considering that her best option for ascension was still medically based. The trick would be to induce 90% synaptic activity... without inducing seizures. Short of an Ancient lab, she wasn't certain how that would even be possible, but she was no medical profesional. Her research - here her eyes wandered to the stack of rather thick and dry books on unscientific methods of ascension - indicated that a path via meditation was possible. Though how possible that path was with Oma Desala "busy" was questionable. A sudden, horrible thought occured to her.

"Are you making Sarin gas in... here?" Dr. Kate asked out loud.

Her mind switched gears again, briefly. Morgan Le Fay and Oma Desala were eternally busy fighting some ultimate evils. Perhaps even the threat of... distracting either of those ascended beings would be enough to get the Lucian Alliance back into line. Of course, that would depend if someone could even attain an ascended level in the first place.

Kane

Kane sighed as he watched the telemetry. Relayed through a useful device placed on the Langford by his spy which relayed information only when a transmission was sent by the ship as not to be intercepted but also from a device Tonak had placed on Halions little toy console. He wasn't happy with how the situation was evolving. At this rate it would be prudent for the Tauri just to leave Tolia and leave them behind in order to preserve their new vessel. Especially after the destruction of their recon vessel, he wasn't happy that his spy had not informed them about the fact that the Tauri fighters now had safety measures to protect the pilot. That would be most useful in order to take prisoners. However right now that was not the issue. He needed to get control of the facility and the host of the former Goa'uld wouldn't cut it as the Goa'uld himself could not figure it out. No he needed the Tauri to activate it and then take it from them. It would be his prize and not theirs.

He sent a burst transmission to his spy and the vessels he had standing ready to be ready. If he couldn't take the facility from them perhaps he could enact his plan earlier than he had intended. Though he doubted it would work.

"No. I'm making the sarin in the kitchen." Ylva answered sarcastically. "Of course i'll make it here. In lab sector four. That section over there with the warning signs and the containment airlocks. I have just as little interest as you in any of my toys getting out." Ylva smiled at the other woman. "At least my toys do not need radiation shielding to be contained. A good, stoppered glass bottle will do it for most of them." She did not really like radioactive weaponry. It was so hard to clean up. Some of them had ridiculously slow decay rates.

Just to test her reaction, she looked at the woman. "Would you pass me that vial of smallpox? I forgot to stick it back into storage..." She pointed to a vial of plain lab ethanol she'd left out earlier. Deadly viruses were quite fun to joke about, so long as one never ever actually used them in the jokes. 'Ylva! Stop scaring the girl!' Vanja whispered in her mind, even as she chuckled helplessly. Vanja may be serious most of the time, but she sure had a sense of humor. They were, after these many years, very similar in many ways, yet more different in others.

Ariadne had quickly taken in what the crewman had told her when she arrived on the ‘bridge’ and was already formulating her own plans. The natives of this world had decided that since the Goa’uld were driven off the planet partially by their hand, they must therefore be the single most powerful faction in this area of space. Had they not been standing in the way of this mission, she might have laughed at the prospect. Particularly the idea that the heavily damaged Ha’tak they possessed - and no doubt had no idea how simple it was to fix - made them the superior force in this battle. She did wonder why the captain had been so hesitant in simply sweeping them aside after being attacked. The man in command had made it quite clear that he didn’t want to just let the Langford pass. “Captain, why are we negotiating? It is clear that that man is not going to give us what we want, and we have every right to fire in retaliation.” She asked, genuinely curious.

"Politics and ethics." Catherine answered simply, shuddering at the first word in disgust. "I could do away with everything that they have and take what we want, but the pilots in the gliders probably have no idea just how big a douche their CO is. As far as retaliation goes, not everyone has been at this stage long enough to understand how things work." the captain sighed.

"Take us for example - Our first trip through the gate, we killed Ra. We all know what that caused. The pilot is alive, and the plane apparently isn't as good for recon as I thought it would be. It's something to learn from but nothing I would kill over... yet." she said, her last word having enough venom to kill an elephant. "Besides, I am looking at a fleet of ships easy to disable at my leisure. Destroying them is such a waste. I'd rather commandeer some of them instead." Kat explained the 'battle plan' with an evil half smile, "Earth's ships may be powerful but there are too few. I am not going to pass up an opportunity to bolster our numbers such as this one. Who knows, maybe we can get you an al’kesh?"

Ariadne nodded at the explanation. She had heard that the Tau’ri often imposed limits on themselves that were not immediately relevant, though this was the first she had actually seen of them. She wanted to be irked at it, but Idalia’s feeling on the matter washed over her and stopped that particular train of thought dead.

Once the captain moved to more pertinent matters, however, she found herself admiring the strategist in her. She was right, why waste perfectly good ships when you can take them for yourself? “I would certainly like a ship of my own, though I doubt an Al’kesh would be able to keep up with the Langford, and it certainly will not fit in the launch bay. Regardless, if we take one of their Al’kesh now, we may not need to resolve the situation in space so quickly. None of the sensors onboard any of their ships could detect a cloaked Al’kesh, and we could use it to safely land at the facility. At least then we will know whether this battle is worth having.”

The Tok’Ra was rising an interesting point. Kat scratched her chin, the gears in her head spinning. Of course a cloaked ship would take them in and out, but what of the guards at the site? Would there be any? If so how would they react? Could they be knocked out before sounding an alarm? No, too many variables that could go wrong. Not to mention that the enemy would eventually miss the Al’Kesh.

“I don’t think we’re there yet, lets see if Mr. Williams can reach agreement with him, but I believe it’s as you said - they won’t give in no matter what we have to offer. I wonder if he is even his own master, what he said earlier sounded like Alliance propaganda.” Still, once the defecation hits the ventilation, it would be better course of action than she thought of. Her plan didn’t see past getting out of the system with as much bounty as possible. “But, once the negotiations fail, then we could do so. At that point all bets are off, and this actually allows us to at least partially accomplish the primary objective.” she raised her gaze from the map and looked directly at Ariadne: “Thank you.”

The captains reaction came as little surprise to Ariadne, the conversation thus far had shown her that Black had a fair amount of distaste for the political side of proceedings. Like Ariadne, she was a woman of action, and did not want to wait while superiors talked about issues. She smiled a warm smile at the heartfelt thanks being offered to her before continuing with the task at hand. Still, it might change things if they waited until everyone agreed to start shooting each other before acting. “If we are to formally agree to fight beforehand, it will likely be best to simultaneously strike every ship we wish to capture. What of the Ha’tak? if we aim to capture vessels, there is no sense wasting the most powerful, damaged though it may be. If I can get to the engine room I can easily wrest control of the ship.”

Listening to Ariadne, Catherine's mind came up with another, unrelated idea. Williams is going to love this. "I think I just solved my missing XO problem." she said, the corners of her mouth twitching in the tiniest hint of a grin. Motioning Ariadne closer, she amplified the map and highlighted possible targets. "The Ha'tak is a different problem. They are jamming our beaming, and the rings are locked out as well no doubt. The only way on board is to take a 302 and land there, which is something i’d rather not do."

Drawing a circle around the pyramid ship, the holo zoomed in and displayed an X-Ray view. "And once there, you have the life support down throughout most of the ship, making movement somewhat difficult. On the other hand-" she pressed a few buttons and several red blips appeared in the detail, "-There are barely a dozen of life signs on board. In theory you with your amplified strength should have no trouble fighting them off, but I still am not big on leaving you there without support. IF we go through with this, it'd be best to focus on disabling the beaming jammer. I'd feel more comfortable if there were engineers and marines with you in case there are unforeseen problems."

Zooming back out, a few of the Al'Kesh flashed. "Only these two are in good enough condition to be worth the salvage. I don't think they bothered to lock out the rings on those, so a squad armed with Zat's should be able to surprise them. They'll be expecting a fight, not a boarding. And if push comes to shove, my bioweapons expert is already preparing nerve gas charges for delivery. We can de-crew the rest with that, but i'd rather not use it. It's not a pleasant death." she finished her train of thought, looking to Ariadne for a second opinion.

“Death never is.” was all Ariadne said, thinking back to the close calls she had had when her host was severely injured. She quickly shook off that line of thought, it was not pleasant, and not something she wanted Idalia to focus on for even a moment. She brought up the hologram of the Ha’tak again and gazed at for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. “Beaming jammers.” She said quietly to herself, before bitterly adding in Goa’uld “Ne’wae soy no’yan joy” A small smile then crept to the edges of her mouth at Idalia’s amusement over her annoyed state.

She turned back to the Captain, returning the map to its overview of the entire formation. “Do not forget the Al’kesh under cloak. We should still be able to ring to them even if we cannot find them. Oh, and once we begin to use the rings to attack them, a heavy guard will need to be placed on our own rings. In case they get ideas. Regardless, I think it may be too dangerous to take the Ha’tak immediately. If we decide to destroy it, target the Pel’tak, that will ensure it is crippled and can be dealt with at our leisure.”

“You don’t say.” Kat rolled her eyes at Ariadne’s use of Goa’Uld. She had the opportunity to learn some of the language, but didn’t find it worthwhile with Lt. Zaken on board. It was a bit mysterious to her how the rings would work even on cloaked ships. IF the rings could target, shouldn’t they be able to use that system to pinpoint a cloaked vessel? She shrugged the thought off for now and filed it in her mind as something else to talk about with Lawson.

“Guard won’t do, and we better do it right now. Internal, lock out the rings.” she said to someone on the far side of the bridge. “Boarding party is not the only thing they could send through. A bomb comes to mind. The alliance tried those even on earth itself. And while we don’t have confirmed affiliation, i’d rather not find out the hard way. As far as the cloaked ships go, once we start taking over their own, they will have to decloak to reinforce their numbers, at which point we can beam on board instead.” Catherine thought out loud. “The Ha’Tak is not going anywhere nor do it’s weapons appear operational. It’s of no bother to us, just a prize to be taken.”

Catherine took a few seconds to review the plan in her head. Wait out the shooting - check. The 304s shields were nigh impregnable by the forces left in the milky way. Get Ariadne on board the Ha’Tak - no, delay that, fighting still going on. Take over the Al’Kesh - check. Send the ground team on board one - check, the Jaffa can pilot for them well enough. At that point, the cloaked ships might enter the fray, but their numbers will already be down enough and their ranks disorganized for a 302 or two to slip on board the Ha’Tak. Good enough. Now if only Mr. IOA was so kind to fail at the negotiations so their plan could succeed. Then they could gloat. “This could work.” she finally said with a nod, preparing the orders to be distributed the second the slugging starts. “There’s still the matter of sending you onto the Ha’Tak via 302. It is similar enough to a glider, but i’d rather one of the pilots went along. Least they can do is guard your back once you’re there.” Kat would have loved to take her herself, but it would do the mission no good for her to leave the bridge.

“That would be best” Ariadne said. “I am as yet unfamiliar with the control mechanisms of your craft.” Both she and Idalia were quite eager to learn, though that was something to bring up when there was no hostile fleet so close. “I will go and prepare to board the Ha’tak.” She turned to leave, but before getting out of the bridge she looked back with a smile and said jokingly “I wager a bar of Naquada that I will be ready before negotiations inevitably break down.”

“No bet.” Kat replied in kind, saluting the Tok’Ra off. Popping up internal communications, she informed Mr. Williams that a contingency plan has been created should the negotiations fail that would allow them to continue with the main objective.

*Ne’wae soy no’yan joy - I am no longer amused.

Message from Kat to Lawson
To: Dr. Lawson
Subject: Recon craft notes + various

Doctor Lawson, Judging from the performance of the R-302 on this mission, I believe we need to take different approach. I understand the cloak on the ship wasn't operational yet, but that is merely one problem. I believe the chassis of the 302 is inadequate for the task as a whole. Consider the R-302 project de-prioritized. We will still use the other one as a stopgap measure, but I am reallocating your resources (As well as allocating more funding from our research budget) to developing a dedicated craft for the task. Specifications as follows:
- Native low EM and heat signature to increase stealth capability without cloak
- Sprint hyperspace drive. Possibly a dual drive. It will be more expensive, but a dedicated recon craft will not have to be produced in as great numbers as the F-302.
- Depending on the native stealth capability, research into shielding the craft. I can try to get you the specs of a puddle jumper to give you a lead. Even if the shield lasted only between jumps, it would do.

That being said, your work on the sensors and communications suite is nothing short of perfect. Final note regards the 'ejection' system. Your work saved a man's life today. The pilot in question is in medbay 2 if you want to visit him. I want all of my fighters outfitted with the system as soon as possible.

While discussing strategy, Ariadne mentioned the rings are capable of locking onto a cloaked ship. Is there a way to use this to let us pinpoint cloaked ships in the area?

URGENT: Prepare several beacons powerful to punch through the conventional beaming jammers, we may need them rather soon. There should be transmitters powerful enough available in the armory.

Lawson sighed, he didn't like hearing of the use of biological weapons and the idea of beating beaming jammers. Not to mention did she mean getting passed shields or getting passed actual technological jammers. Though he supposed he could do both. He turned around the small auxiliary control room. Not enough room to begin working on the beacons in here he needed the space from the Core Lab, three hexagon rooms connected to a central room where multiple departments could collaborate. He didn't really need the assistance of the other departments however he did need the space of the lab which should be empty, or for all he knew.

It was only a short walk there and he was somewhat disappointed to see other people already present, including the weapons expert who had just so happened to upgrade most of the weapon systems without the paper work which meant that she needed to be on board. He didn't know what she was up to but he was sure he wanted to play absolutely no part in any of it. He entered the physics part of the lab passing everyone else offering them a curt not. Once he had entered the entryway to the physics section he picked up one of the phones and spoke into it. "This is Dr.Lawson in the Core Lab, I need the transmitters that have been laid aside by the Captain for me brought up from the armory immediately." Once he received an affirmative he walked over to the computer and booted it up. Looking at the status of the transmitters. They were powerful enough to be detected from the other side of the system though the problem was getting a lock through the jamming. Then two ideas came to him at the same time. He pulled out a small EMP generator out from a storage cabinet and also a small naquadah cell. This should be easier than he had expected it to be.

Collaborative post between Tonak and Aeryn Thorde

Aeryn eyed Tonak suspiciously,  the last time they had met Tonak had been desperate to get his hands on the information regarding the Ancestral Lab. Perhaps this was another ploy designed to get information from him. He'd play along see where this went, it couldn't possibly make his situation any worse. "What would be involved in fulfilling this 'job'?" He asked slowly, what could Aeryn give the Lucien Alliance that they couldn't merely take?

Tonak leaned on a nearby stump. “Well it is all pretty easy. I’m pretty sure you still want to know what is going on with the Ancestral lab. Why did your Goa’uld care for it so much? What secrets could it possibly hold? Well I’m pretty sure you at least know the Ancestors were a major power in the Galaxy and even in other galaxies. Whatever this lab or facility is for it could benefit everyone. The only issue is, no-one on this planet can use it.” He put his knife back in its sheath and instead took out a flask and took a sip from it. “A ship will have just entered orbit, the Tau’ri and I am sure you remember who they are. Many of them possess the ability to use Ancestral technology and are the foremost experts of it, sadly. We need them to find out what you know about the facility, and you can be an inside man. All you need to do is assist them, and they will get you off this planet. They will take you in and give you new purpose.”

Aeryn cursed silently, the Lab had been one of Amenthes obsession which he’d been kind enough to imprint on Aeryn during the blending. The Lab fascinated Aeryn and Tonak knew that full well. Tonak didn’t know however how much Aeryn actually knew about the Lab. Amenthes had studied it for five years while Aeryn hosted him and many before that. It was as far as Aeryn could tell a Lab devoted to finding a power source for the Mythic City of the Ancients which according to the stories that his father has whispered to him in secret had flown to another galaxy many millennia ago. Aeryn had always thought it was just a story until the blending. Of course knowing that it existed and knowing it was a success were two completely different things. Building a ship of that magnitude would require immense resource, genious, time and skill. Even with all the immense power the Ancients wielded there was a decent chance that Atlantis had never made it off the ground.

“And how do you know that I don’t already have the secrets of that Lab.” Of course he didn’t. Amenthes had used a workout interface utilizing human genetic material that had been modified with certain characteristics of the Ancient genetic code but it had only allowed Amenthes to initialize the main control systems. Much of the lab had been inaccessible to the Goa’uld and Aeryn knew just how much it frustrated him.

“If you had the secrets of that lab, he would of had the secrets of that lab and he wouldn’t have been taken down by a rag tag group of Jaffa radicals and humans who started out using nothing other than swords and bows. No, I’ve been in the facility and while it has definitely been occupied recently I’d say it hasn’t been running since the Ancestors inhabited the galaxy.” Tonak checked a small device on his wrist and sighed. “I can always make the choice easy for you, if you really want. I don’t have to ask nicely you know. I can make it a lot harder.”Tonak moved over behind a stump and pulled out a Goa’uld torture device before sitting back down on top of it. “I can make this intensely painful for you, I’m fed up of asking nicely.” He sparked the device. “Either you can do this, or I will make you do it. It makes absolutely no difference to me.”

---

Collaborative Post between Adam Williams and Halion Drennon

Williams had been listening in and had just been about to takeover when the call had been routed through to him. He composed himself even though there wasn’t a visual before he started to speak after clearing his throat. “Greetings Halion Drennon. I am Mr. Adam Williams leader of the crew of the Catherine Langford and its Captain. I am a representative of Earth or the Tau’ri collaborative governments and my job is to meet with vetted leaders of other planet’s governments. I can understand where you are coming from in blaming the people of the Tau’ri for the mistakes that have been made. However the Goa’uld were always present in the Galaxy and had we not intervened would likely still be in power and at the same time while yes you could perhaps blame us for the Ori incursion we were on the frontlines and in the end we were the ones who defeated them.”

He paused for a minute. “We have made errors in judgement, as have many people on many different worlds and off several different species. However now we are aiming to repair that, and build a better galaxy for everyone. If we stand down will you allow for a peaceful delegation to be sent to the planet?”

As the ship got closer to the planet Halion was able to do an in depth scan, the results were not encouraging. The shield output he was detecting was now clear enough for him to realize that his ships weapons would not penetrate. He also discovered that if his readings were correct these shields were not Goa'uld/Asgard hybrids but purely designed by the race almost as old as the Ancients. Amenthes while in the service of several different System Lords had encountered the Asgard a half dozen times. Amenthes had meticulously recorded scans, tactics and capabilities using them to build a profile of what he thought the ships were capable of. He had hoped to find a way to out do the Asgard. It had been another project that Amenthes obsessed over before letting it fall to the wayside after he was granted control over the Ancient Lab. The scans he was receiving were different than that of those recorded in Amenthes notes but they were still very similar and surely the difference could only be resulted from the improvements to the Asgard technology since Amenthes last encountered them. His Tel'taks might have some success with their self destruct but he could not be certain. This level of technology had kept the Goa’uld in there place under the Protected Planets Treaty for a very long time.

When this Captain Black cut off communication abruptly Halion thought over what she'd said and his mind clasped onto one important detail: the pilot of the recon ship survived. Halion had personally review the sensor readings from the explosion, the craft had been torn into hundreds of pieces leaving only chunks of twisted metal lying in space, there was no possible way that pilot could have lived without beaming out and the Langford had yet to enter beaming range at the time of the ship’s destruction.

There must have been a failsafe installed on the ship, perhaps a personal shield or a portable stasis pod that protected the pilot till he could be beamed on ship. Halion had never seen such technology, it was not in the Goa’uld repertoire when Amenthes had fallen and as far as he knew still wasn’t but with the strange new technology he was faced with anything was a possibility. Halion suddenly had a theory and he went back over the telemetry from just after the Langford arrived. There was a weak energy trail leading from the debris to the ship, as Halion had suspected something protected the pilot till it was possible to beam him to safety but as Tolia’s leader went over the data that the Ha’tak had recorded he realized something. The energy signature was too weak to have converted an entire person, in fact Halion would have missed it all together had he not been looking for it. There was a possibility that at the last minute the pilot had been stored in some sort of buffer and then his pattern was transferred to the ship upon its arrival. That would explain the readings that the Ha’tak sensors had recorded.

Halion had never seen such technology and he found himself wondering where the Tau’ri could have retrieved it from. This Catherine Langford wielded a great deal of power scavenged from the Asgard, the Goa’uld possibly even the Ancients themselves. For the first time Halion began to fear that this was a battle he could not win.

When communications opened again between the Langford and Halion’s console Halion knew grudgingly that he would have to take the diplomatic route. The strong arm tactic only operated effectively if you knew you could win or your enemy thought you could. Neither of these were true.

As the transmission came through Halion found himself impressed with the skill and tact with which Adam Williams spoke. He admitted his people’s mistakes and acknowledged Halion’s argument in an apology that never reached the point of apologizing. He had clearly been doing this for many years unlike this Captain Black who seemed to enjoy blowing stuff up far more than talking. He couldn’t however switch between confrontational and diplomatic immediately without it looked strange.“Adam Williams, your people have been headstrong and reckless which has brought great damage to the peoples of this galaxy but I can at least say that for your shortcomings and mistakes you have always been a friend to human worlds and carried the best intentions in your hearts.”

Perhaps he’d laid it on more strongly than was necessary but Halion was confident that they would find an explanation for this. Perhaps there clear military superiority.

Now he had to consider Adam Williams proposal. If they were to disarm their weapons he could consent to a peaceful delegation. Of course he knew they were after the Ancestral lab and the secrets it held. Besides with a peaceful delegation on the surface he could use their lives as a shield. Of course the important areas of his world were shielded such as the storage space for the Goa’uld’s remaining technology, the burial ground of the Stargate and of course this space. The Alliance was kind enough to provide beam jammers to protect the vital areas in case of an invasion. Any Tau’ri strike force that came would have to beam in at a distance from anything important.“Disarm your ships weapons and move into a stable orbit at these coordinates.” He said sending a set of coordinates that would place the Langford not far from the Ha’tak. I will permit a four person delegation carrying no weapons to beam to this location.” Halion sent the location not far from the West River on the other side from the Ancient Facility and near one of the twelve towns scattered over Tolia’s surface. All of which were close to the main city.

Williams smiled slightly. “We both know Mr. Drennon that I am no more likely to beam down an unarmed delegation than you are likely to come up to my ship with an unarmed delegation.” He pondered for a moment. “What if I were to meet you, face to face with a delegation of four military and one scientist. We want to see the Ancient Facility and try to gather more information about it, and find out what it is for the benefit of both our peoples and the rest of the people in the galaxy.”

He paused for just a moment. “What I am proposing is that while we all meet at the site with one scientist and four guards each. Then while our scientist takes a look at the facility, kept in check by your own scientist and their three guards, you and I can speak together to initiate peace talks."

=====Langford Core/Primary Lab=====

Joseph

Joseph would’ve preferred to have done his work within the privacy of the medical bay’s own lab. However the machines needed for the lab tests, unless used in critical ER procedures, were stored within the Core Lab due to the storage space taken to keep them. Within his hand were several tubes held by the carrying case, their jingling rattled within his ears on his way towards the first section turn off and the one that was solely dedicated to his fields of study, medical and related sciences. His lanky form had just turned when not soon after, he caught the familiar hiss of the door behind him and a feminine voice reach his ears and his head turned behind him. He had started to move too late as she shifted around him quickly. Joseph’s eyes watched her path head for the center table, the surface filled with variety of material and other belongings from the lab’s different visitors, then set her own upon it.

The books made a heavy metal thump against the surface which caused Joseph to flinch, his teeth gritted together so not to scold her. His brief glare had started to fade when he realized how familiar she looked. Slowly his head whipped back towards making his way to his station, but his mind drifted over how he knew her and then the image of her medical file popped up in his memory. A slight relief poured over his figure at realizing where he had seen her. It was when one of the doctors had brought the wrong patient files, Dr. Kate’s, by mistake and he had been the man who noted it before things become worse. Naturally the name and picture had stuck due to that human error. Though he had noted some of the information was in need for an update soon enough, though despite her appearance it was mentioned she was healthy to participate in this project. His mind made a mental note to discuss a time and date for a check with Ms. Kate before he left.

Beyond Ms. Kate, another woman who Joseph didn’t need any help remembering was shifting through the lab storage and taking inventory from the looks of it. Of course Ms. Falk stuck in his mind. Though after meeting her doctor, it was more because of frustration and slightly fretting on his part as his mind wondered to her mostly empty file. His professional within started to nitpick at his ability to treat, namely at how short he fell if she should have something happen despite Dr. Ingolfsson’s assurances. His feet came to a halt when he reached the door and reached for his lab coat pocket for his cardkey, his fingers dug through absentmindedly. His mind was only partly on the conversation until suddenly he heard Dr. Kate’s voice raise at the words of Sarin gas. Joseph’s heart seemed to have skipped a bit at the mention of chemical warfare as he knew just a bit of the damage it could cause.

He had barely noted his arm had still strived to complete his task as his eyes narrowed on the conversation. He swallowed bitterness at the turn it took, Ms. Falk’s tone when she jested at leaving small pox upon the table and his mind noted what Dr. Ingolfsson had mentioned about her hygiene when it came to her job. His fist clenched tighter upon the tray holding the blood samples, his mind deep in thought about his response until a third hiss of the door had caused his head to jerk to the side. Another man, his body thin and dressed in a physical coat trailed into the Core Lab. His slightly bald head nodded politely to each of them before he disappeared into the physics station.

By this time, Joseph’s hand had gripped his card in hand and slid it through the access panel. However he didn’t move through when the door clicked open. Not at first. His body stood there and spoke the words on his mind, a reminder he was also the coroner who likely would be the one to deal with any results after. “Taking human life isn’t much of a joke, mainly when you’re the victim or have to deal with the mess afterwards. I would’ve hoped those who handle such weapons would show that respect…even if it’s so easy for them to take it.”