[IC] Stargate - Alliances

[Sep]

Kane was annoyed, his contact was never late. Never, he always checked in on time exactly on time without any issues. There were complications with relaying information without getting caught and communications intercepted however he had never been late. He looked out the window at the fleet of five Ha'tak with escort ready to go against the newest Tauri vessel. There seemed to be a record of ships not being fully ready to go before launch and he hoped that this instance would be the same however he had enough force and backup plans to make sure that he got the ship one way or another.

With the noise of an Asgard hologram a dark silhouette appeared. He could never figure out if this was on purpose or if it was just a byproduct of distance. "You're late.""You try living with these people, and doing things their way. It is beyond ridiculous.""I need to know what is going on. Skip all the crap." He could hear the distorted sigh from the man in the hologram, and he frankly had no time for it. "All right, all right. We're going to P2C-119. Supposed to be a Goa'uld planet that revolted, apparently the SG teams started it and they haven't had contact yet. It's called Tolia.""Tolia, you sure?""Of course I'm sure you wouldn't put me here unless I was a good spy.""All right, we can't let them get to inspect the facility.""What Facility?""You don't need to know, just do your job and be on time for the next meeting." With that the hologram disappeared.

Tolia, he had a message to send.

---

Williams heard the buzzer followed by his secretaries voice. "Mr.Williams, Captain Black is here with your reviews.""All right Miss.Hart, send her in." Between the seconds of the call and the door opening Williams did several things, adjusted his tie. Cleared his throat and ensured everything was presentable on his desk which also had to be absent of the Captains personnel file which was still there from his meeting with his new assistant. Of course he was playing the whole spy mission close to the chest so he couldn't even expect the Captain to know let alone tell her. She didn't have the necessary clearance.

He stood up to shake the womans' hand. "Captain Black, pleasure as always.-" He indicated to one of the empty seats. "-Please take a seat." He sat himself back down and took to leaning back in his chair in a comfortable position, something that could not be achieved on the chairs opposite his desk. The whole idea was to put the other person on edge, making them uncomfortable gave them something to think about and something distracting. "Why don't we skip the foreplay, what can I help you with? You would merely send some lackey or send the reports through the bases surprisingly good mail system if that were why you are here."

[Forsythe]

OOC: w/ Sep

Shaking the offered hand and taking the seat, Black smiled at his inquiry. “I do not like you referring to my staff as lackies.” she said, although her tone carried no threat whatsoever. “But you are right there are a few things that need to be settled.” she sighed. They didn’t meet too often, but when they did, the man was not very pleasant fellow. The one dent in his plan right now was that she has spent the whole day in a chair like this, and was at the point where she couldn’t care less where she sat.

“I hope you don’t intend to put me through something like this again,” captain said, handing over the drive with the records, “I’m trained to fight bad people, not bureaucracy. The one thing I want to discuss is: Who is second in command? I have seen no mention of this nor were any of those I was to review assigned that role. I’d hate to think the ship would be paralyzed were I to become… Indisposed, whatever the reason.” she said with a slight sigh. “The next one rank wise is colonel Blaze to my knowledge, but he’s army. Not too much of a qualification.”

Williams continued to lean back in his chair. “Tell me Captain, up until a year ago did you have any experience on interstellar battlecruisers?-” He didn’t even wait for the reply. “-I thought not. Your mind had not even conceived of their possibility in your lifetime until you were enrolled in this program. I agree that you do have some experience in captaining a vessel however should you be incapacitated and Colonel Blaze be put in charge he will have both his tactical experience and the assistance of those around him. Besides I hardly think you are in any danger of being killed while on the ship, or are you actively planning to disregard protocol and venture down to planets that we visit? If worst comes to worst I will take direct control over the vessel in order to remove us from a combat situation until the time comes that we can call in a replacement via the Stargate. If you are incapacitated Colonel Blaze will likely only be in control for a couple of hours.”

“With all due respect, I have been trained for this, probably as a first commander to take a 304. That includes spending months on the Apollo and Hammond, so yes, I do have certain experience. And i’ll tell you right now it was hard to adapt even for me as an air force member, and I was used to 3D battlefield. It is your call, and as you said the chances are slim, but if you insist on colonel Blaze, I’d like him to be present on the bridge often then to be ready, just in case.” Catherine said with a nod.

“Well, if he is on the bridge it won’t be during Combat situations. I hardly like the idea of both of you being on the bridge and having it blown up and you both being out of the picture. Also he is your head of security and on board the ship right now, he knows the ship probably just as well as you do. However if you feel you have a better candidate out of your current crew or have something you feel I should call in I am open to the suggestion, just tell me the name or hand me the file. If they aren’t here I could probably have them brought here in a matter of hours.” The last bit was a subtle brag, just reminding the Captain that he was the one with power and connections in the current discussion.


Black resisted the urge to bite her lip. “Not presently, no. The thought occurred to me only after the interviews and making my way here is hardly enough time to give it proper thought. Once I know, I’ll get back to you.” she said, mildly embarrassed about not coming more prepared. The man on the other hand had an inborn knack to making her furious, cold fury as it was. She noticed how he did everything by the book. After reading the SGC files, she immediately knew that would mean trouble, but she had no idea.

Williams wrote down on a small notepad before looking back to the Captain. “All right, I’ll keep a note on that and keep the IOA apprised on the situation so that when a name does come to mind we can request them immediately. I will also have some suggestions posted to me and the ones that make it past my initial screening will then be sent on to your office for review. So is that all? I know you like to do your own work but actually coming into my office and requesting to see me has to be more than dropping off paperwork. You could simply have given them to Miss.Hart, oh. While we’re at it I need quarters assigned to Miss.Hart somewhere near my office and my own quarters. I sent the paperwork to your office however I haven’t got any kind of confirmation from you that it has been done.”

That one earned him a quirked eyebrow. “Sorry, I didn’t have time today to even get to my office.” she said, mild annoyance about the interviews present in her voice, “But I’m certain there is enough space, consider it done.” she said once she got over her initial surprise. “See, this is perfect demonstration. You like to delegate thing to the point of bringing extra staff, I like to do them myself. To each his own I guess.” she shrugged. “Now, if there’s nothing else, I still have engineers to pester, so I’ll be off your back.” she said with a smile, ready to get out of this office yesterday.

Williams pulled out another report from amongst the substantial pile. “I delegate for this pile of files is only a small portion that crosses my desk daily. Miss.Hart deals with all the little things such as the daily reports to the IOA while I deal with the weekly. However this report should be interesting for you-” He slid it over the desk to the woman. “-It is the final design specs for the Recon-302 craft. I have already filled out the paperwork in that file to replace two F-302s with R-302s pending your signature. The cloaking device is not yet operational however Doctor.Lawson who designed these craft has been re-assigned to the vessel after his absence on the shakedown cruise, the IOA and Airforce called for a live demonstration before they were cleared for duty.” He pressed the button on his intercom. “Miss Hart, could you please come collect some reports to file with the IOA?” He gave the Captain a nice smile after he finished speaking. “If you have any other issues, don’t hesitate to drop by.”

"Splendid, one of the things I wanted to talk to them about, actually. Thank you. Have a nice day Mr. Williams." she said and was all too happy to leave. She headed towards the elevator, browsing the files. During her stay on the other 304s, she noticed the lack of recon before jumping into an area. She didn't like that idea at all, an the R-302 was a godsend.

[Fallenreaper]

Collab: Ellri and Fallen

Joseph stared at the man across from him. The aged and wrinkled face seemed fixed in morbidly serious expression, his salt and pepper hair cut fairly close to the scalp as they both seemed not move from their positions. Joseph took a deep breath before he tried for the fifth time to make a case about the medical file’s limitation and the hazards it brought with it. So far, his attempts kept hitting a solid, iceberg each time.

“While she’s on the ship, Ms. Falk is my responsibility. Right now, I can’t even give her penicillin because as far as I know it might just kill her and I won’t risk that. There’s a high possibility she can get hurt on these missions, a damn miracle if she doesn’t or she’s inhuman. I can’t just simply send her home should she need higher medical attention.” Joseph said firmly as he stood his ground on the matter.

“If her life is in danger, then that comes first. I would not respect any medical personnel who thought otherwise, let alone let them work with any of my patients.” Baldur Ingolfsson answered, his voice clearly accented, but his language otherwise flawless. “If you’re thinking of sticking a needle in her, I would see it relevant to mention to you that that is a terrible idea. She has, as you can see from the open section of her records, fairly acute Aichmophobia. Unless you’ve got several years of experience in dealing with phobic patients, which I know you don’t have, you do not attempt to cross such. Especially not with trained killers.”

He kept his expression fairly unemotional, but firm. “If there’s information you need that isn’t gained through a basic examination, then you can send a request to me, and I will consider authorizing a release. However, as per doctor-patient confidentiality, you will need Ylva Falk’s consent. Any file I transmit will be heavily encrypted, and only she has the decryption key.” Dr. Ingolfsson knew the type that Dr. Sterling was. Stubborn, not fond of secrets being kept from them. He would, hopefully, quickly see that his stubbornness had met its match. Baldur would never let anyone break his patients’ confidentiality. Anyone.

“Without a proper medical recorder or evaluation, I won’t encourage her acceptance to be onboard. It’s too risky for my liking as I can’t give her the best care possible for whatever happens. As for her phobia, yes, I don’t have the training or experience but not all medicine is effective or able to be administered through oral doses.” Joseph said, again feeling the frustration build at being denied at giving the woman the best possible care. “You and I both know that. I won’t her just suffer or die if I can’t administer the medicine because there’s suitable solution. Currently she’s my patient while in this program and any time taken to contact you, namely in emergency events, wastes precious time.”

He took a breath and added. “If I have access to her file then at least I can properly prepare medicines for oral doses or other means. At least know what are some possible alternatives within reason.”

“Anything you’re likely to need for regular emergencies is available in the open records. I have been working with patients with classified medical records for over a decade now, so I know well what can and can’t be kept private.” He smiled innocently. “You can always try using needles on her, but I don’t say you weren’t warned against it when the consequences come up and bite you. I’ve been trying for years to cure that particular phobia, with not even a hint of success.”

“However, if she is unconscious, then the phobia naturally doesn’t have any effect. Just do not let her know she was injected, and it should be ok.” He sat for a moment, then spoke again. “By the way, I would recommend avoiding MRI’s and such. She had some surgery a decade back where she had to get an implant that messes with how those work. Its listed in the open records. Its a pain to deal with, but nothing that makes things impossible. So long as you avoid needles and don’t try to thwart her idiosyncrasies, she’s actually a reasonable girl. She can also help you get a few things done quickly, like blood analysis, both for herself and for other patients. And if you ever have a viral problem, she’s your expert.”

“If that was the case, I might as well let her do my job…” Joseph replied in a bitter and defensive tone.

“Trust a non-M.D. with medicinal work? Are you insane?” he replied, cutting Dr. Sterling’s answer off. “Besides, while she can do the analysis, she’s won’t know what tests to run. That’s where you need an expert like yourself.”

“Instead of interrupting me, you should let me finish with my sarcasm first.” Joseph, his annoyance clear at having his sentence cut off early, as he started again. “If that was the case, I might as well let her do my job but then I wouldn’t be where I am if I did that. I don’t intend to allow Ms. Falk to do her own tests here or any time in the foreseeable future. However, I do aim to give her best care I can and your restrictions on her file prevents that.”

“You actually planned to tell her whose tests she would be running? I always consider it best to simply number each sample and connecting results with names on my own. Keeps sensitive information from getting into the wrong hands.” He nodded. “The restrictions can’t be lifted. Patient confidentiality. You’ll get used to seeing such issues the more you work with the military. Especially if you work with high-ranked personnel or people that deal with the deeper secret operations. I’ll help you out where I can, but patient confidentiality is always first.”

“It’s also my job to ensure she’s not a health risk to others as well as won’t develop them later. I can’t do that without a history.” Joseph then added, failing to see the humor or the fact he had just finished denying he was going to allow her to do her own tests. It seems sarcasm wasn’t in the man’s experience and sadly he wasn’t going to waste time teaching it.

“There’s very little history of relevance. She’s hardly ever sick, and she’s not one of those patient zero carriers. So long as she’s been my patient, she’s always been meticulous about her health and hygiene. Far more so than most. From what I understand, it is due to the nature of her work.”

Joseph leaned back into his chair and wheeled it to the side. For a moment, brief, his attention had turned to his computer which flickered to life again. On the display screen was the patient’s file which contained barely anything he found helpful, mainly the basics complete with name, date of birth, and other needed information to prove she was Ms. Ylva Falk. The red tape prevented anything else for him to view and merely reminded him of his frustrations in the first place. Currently they only seemed to be growing worse with this conversation then better as he had originally hoped would’ve happened.

“Yes, I can see how little of her history there is thanks to your confidential policy. I’ve only got your words as to what is relevance, unable to see it with my own eyes to determine it. To be bluntly honest Dr. Ingolfsson, I trust documents a little more than a doctor who red tapes his patient’s files.” His voiced seemed more than little bitter about the truth of it. Personally Joseph thought the man was being highly bride by his patients, the woman in question as well, which now was a stopping way. “Either way, I’m authorized to create my own basic medical records while she’s onboard the ship. So long as it’s within reasonable measures and acceptable requests that doesn’t break any laws, there’s nothing breaking your red tape. One of the things required is a most recent medical examination and full evaluation, including blood tests results, before I can clear her for duty.”

He paused, his mouse clicked and the screen went black again. Joseph turned back to Ylva’s doctor once again with his frown etched hard into his face.

“Per her father’s request, I performed a full medical check-up on her thirteen days ago. If she consents, I will release the necessary data to you. While I am her doctor, it wasn’t my decision to make her in-depth medical records top secret.” Baldur took deep breath, gathering his thoughts. “While you may think so, the secrecy surrounding these records is not limited to my systems. Whatever the reason, she is on a short list of people whose medical records, as well as various other records I am unfamiliar with, are accessible only with person’s own consent or with a very deep level of security clearance, possibly even to the level of NATO high command. Who else is on that list I have no idea of.”

“If I recall correctly, it is NATO directive ME/62-F/2003, though the exact contents escape me. If you can’t find said directive, then they haven’t granted you clearance to even see it. Why they stamp a directive about secrets as a secret I have no idea, it certainly does not make much sense to me.”

Dr. Ingolfsson saw that the other doctor was still bothered by all this. “One thing you should know about that directive. It specifies that in-depth records for the personnel on said secret list cannot be kept on non-encrypted, non-isolated systems. There are a number of other provisions as well, but the gist of it is that in-depth records can’t be kept in regular systems. Not even on the computer systems of supposedly non-existent starships. The more you work with military secrets, the more often you will see things like this. It takes time to get used to, but there’s little to do about it. It is simply obey or find a new job.”

Joseph had been about to reply when his head snapped to the sound of the door opening. Dr. Niven entered, his fact looked from Dr. Ingolfsson then to him and it only took a few moments to put the situation together. One he likely had started when he showed Joseph the red taped file in the first place. Dr. Sterling raised a white eyebrow at the man when he let off a slight sigh and finally closed the door behind him, the knob clicked tightly shut. Facing him, Dr. Niven tried reason. “Dr. Sterling, there’s another patient awaiting your attention for his physical and blood tests. Could you and Dr. Ingolfsson do this another time?”

Joseph looked ready to spit nails as his eyes narrowed a moment longer, then his shoulders slacked and he relaxed back against the chair. It squeaked against his weight before he submitted...for now. “Very well, Dr. Ingolfsson, we’ll continue this discussion later. Despite that, I still need recent blood samples for tests and I need to be present according to order given from higher up on the command chain. However that can be done another time. The ship doesn’t leave for several more hours and there’s plenty of time.”

He stood up and moved pass Dr. Niven as he suddenly stopped, his mind remembered his manners then added a polite goodbye.

[Ciphra]

Collab" Sep and Ciphra

Cody let out a sigh. “Sure no problem. If you all would come this way.” Cody motioned toward the door to take the Jaffa to their quarters. In short he was glad to get this started. He was going to have to make a profile for them eventually so what better time than the present? Of course he would rather have started with the Tok’ra. Either way though it will all end up the same.

As they walked Cody looked over his shoulder. “It’s not the nicest place, but we make due here. You should consider yourselves lucky! You’re only stuck here for a couple days! Some of us spend half our lives down here!” Of course this was Cody’s what? Second day on the base? Still, he needed to start a conversation with these Jaffa some how.

The other Jaffa were still silent, refusing to talk without the express permission of their leader and he was too busy inspecting this structure to give it. He was already assessing possible escape routes or places to take cover for if he was suddenly to take fire. “We have stayed in many places far worse than this. The lasting battle of Dakara was far worse, while the facility itself fell rather easily there were still many hostile Jaffa and Kull Warriors on the planet who proved difficult to take out.” He moved the Staff Weapon into his off hand so that he would be ready to aim it with his right arm should trouble arise, just a precaution.

“This facility is efficient in the defence of your Stargate which is vastly important to your people in order to defend your world and act in the Galaxy. I would be happy to be stationed in such a place.”

Cody kept walking smirking sightly. He didn’t even know what battle the Jaffa spoke of, but if he should then it was probably in the PDA he needed to look at still. As they were getting closer to the Jaffa quarters he looked over his shoulder again. “So I only know a little bit about the Jaffa so far, but I’m curious. They said there was a drug to cure your kind of depending on the gau’ld. Do all Jaffa take this drug, or are they still trying to find a way to mass produce the drug itself for that purpose? Cody was curious. He’d overheard some science guys talking a little bit about it and figured that the Jaffa he was escorting might be able to answer his question, it was meant for them after all.

“Some Jaffa still tend to use Symbiotes, as a way of oppressing the Goa’uld however Queens are scarce and the Tok’ra sometimes take them to try and give themselves a new queen. I myself as all the warriors here take the drug to ensure that our symbiotes do not mature. We do not heal as quickly and some argue that we are not as strong as our counterparts who have taken the drug however I know that this is not true for I have beaten many warriors who use symbiotes.” He paused as they turned a corridor. “However despite the advantages of tretonin its use in the younger generations is completely optional except in extreme cases of illness.”

Cody nodded then slowed to a stop in front of a door. “I see. Well thank you for the insight into the matter. He turned to face the Jaffa still using a friendly smile. “Well this is our stop, if you need anything just ask them,” He pointed over his shoulder to the guard at their door. “since you’re new to the facility we posted a guard to help you around, so I hope that does not offend you in any way. Also I’ll be around if you’d rather I help, just have the guard radio for me. Welcome to the SGC.”

If what they said were true then he shouldn’t have to worry about dealing with any Goa’uld, at least not from these five. As for getting a profile started he only had I slight profile on what one might call the ring leader of the Jaffa. This was alright though, you can still get part of a profile just from looking at people, and that’s what he did. He looked at each of the Jaffa and memorized their looks as to study them later.

Rea’c bowed to the man as did the other Jaffa. “It will be suitable until the ship arrives. One thing that I must ask, where is the training area? We must spar on a regular basis to keep up our physique and falling behind in our training is not acceptable.” He turned as all the other Jaffa bowed their heads in agreement. “We would like to get started as soon as possible.”

Cody opened his mouth to answer the Jaffa, but then he realised that he didn’t have a clue himself. That was actually one of his questions too. He quickly regained his composure though. “Well in that case just ask your escort here,” He points at the guard again. “And they’ll be more than happy to help you get there. In fact maybe we can go a few rounds before the ship departs, though that will have to wait until I finish my duties.” This of course was just an excuse, he just wanted to start more profiles, and perhaps see how kay was, and get her opinion on the Tok’ra.

[Sundered Echo]

Collab: FallenReaper and Sundered Echo

Ariadne breathed a mental sigh of relief as the Jaffa were led down a different corridor to her. She had been keeping Idalia from surfacing at all while they were around, something that she both disliked and found difficult. Idalia was a strong host and could make things unpleasant for her when she really wanted to - thankfully a very rare occurrence. She let her remorse and apologies shine through to her host as she relinquished control, adding the smallest bit of scolding to the woman for her rash and emotional thinking.

Idalia took control without breaking stride. She was annoyed at her symbiote for having dominated her like she did, but she understood why. She and Ariadne didn’t always immediately see eye to eye, but they usually managed to at least come to an agreement in such cases.

She didn’t like the Tau’ri base very much. It was dark, regular and though strange and new, somehow still boring. The woman that was leading them seemed vibrant and interesting enough though. They quickly arrived at the rooms, from the outside appearing much the same as the rest, but inside seemingly designed just for a Tok’ra - fairly sparse, but tastefully decorated. Idalia put down the box with her things in it on the bed and turned back to her escort. “The quarters seem alright. A little dark perhaps? But why wait? It has been too long since I explored anywhere.” Idalia had almost forgotten the Jaffa by now, the thrill of traveling to somewhere so new overtaking the hatred she felt for them.

Kay watched the pair settle in a bit and considered leaving, her body turned to the door after her offer. She’d stopped when the woman Tok’ra spoke, commented on the quarters and the fact it a little dark. The Israeli woman noted the lacking deep and alien voice of earlier which meant the host, not the symbiote, was in control. Kayle admitted it was a slightly less nerving thing to hear the Tok’ra sounding more human than earlier and no long felt the need to reassure herself her guest wasn’t someone to be afraid of.

Once she registered who was currently in control, Kay listened to the woman, who looked four year junior of her age, take her offer. This caused a large swell of pride and excitement to pulse inside for the Second Lieutenant. Perfect, Kay thought.

“Well, the main reason it’s dark is because the base is located underground. It took me a few weeks to grow use to it but you don’t have to worry about it for too long.” She said in a thoughtful voice, her mind trailed for a moment back to her first arrival and then moved on. “We can start the tour with a few science areas before we head to the cafeteria where if you’re open to new foods, there’s a few delicious dish I can recommend.”

With that said, Kay stepped to the side and cleared a path into the hallway. She did the proper greeting as she wasn’t sure, not completely, how the Jaffa would’ve acted to it. Last thing she wanted was to cause a rift between the base and either race by not being neutral enough.

Idalia noticed as her guide was speaking that she had a significantly different accent to the other Tau’ri. She wondered for if maybe Zaken was not from Earth. Ariadne had no thoughts on the matter so she decided to ask. “Zaken… You speak unusually for a Tau’ri. Are you from earth?” She said as she stepped into the hall and waited to be led to wherever they were going.

Kayle’s face became surprised at the comment which melted into a thoughtful expression, her hands remained behind her back. Her mind drifted to how to explain why she wasn’t like the rest of the base personnel or her accent for that matter. However, Kay dogged on to answer the Tok’ra’s inquiry to her best ability while she started her tour.

She took a breath then spoke. “Yes, I’m from Earth. This planet’s people are different and unique in their cultures from one another creating a wide variety. Currently, I’m only one of a few you likely see when we board the ship. I’m from a nation called Israel and where I came from, many different cultures who share similar faith live there in harmony, mostly.”

Idalia nodded in reply, taking in the information quickly. “I have read that this world has many more people than any other in the galaxy… Billions of people. Of all the marvels I have learned of since I was freed from the Goa’uld, this has been one of the hardest to come to terms with. How can so many people live in one place? Are there many of these Nations? I have seen armies in Ariadne’s memory, but not even they could compare in numbers.” Questions bubbled out of her like water from a fountain - it had been far too long since she’d gone anywhere new and had a chance to learn from the people that lived there.

Kay chuckled at the questions, each one popped one after another while she tried to keep up with them. It was pleasant for her to hear a casual tone and gain a chance to learn about the woman’s enthusiasm, namely how it had matched her own. Her eyes kept track where their path wandered to while they approached the labs open for public display to guest were at. Currently none of the staff were busy toiling within the small lab but the sterile appearance would likely seem rather alien, or at least Kay had thought, to the host and Tok’ra.

She tried to answer the questions and go on with the tour, her mind more focused on the prior then a the latter. “Well, Earth has had many years to grow and develop without any outside influences. It’s not hard to accomplish but I can see how hard it is to see when you’ve got nothing to compare to it. Currently there’s many Nations, from Israel to America, Scotland to New Zealand, and even a place called Australia. Each one has their own rules and ways of life.”

That’s when Kay showed the various labs acceptable for the Tok’ra to see. She pointed and answered all questions, within reason, tossed at her before their tour drew away from the labs and towards the cafeteria. By this time, Kayle couldn’t ignore her stomach. It’s aching and low growls seemed to fill her ears bad enough that she nearly missed her guest’s question.

“Sorry, I missed that. Would you repeat that?” Inwardly Kay wanted to hit herself for the lack in attention and lacking manners.

Idalia had found the tour of the base only somewhat interesting, at this point it was largely exploration for the sake of exploration. The scientific areas she had been shown interested Ariadne more than her, but even so, neither of them were particularly enthusiastic scientists. As they left the third lab, she heard her guides stomach make several noises and couldn’t help but smirk at the ridiculousness of the situation. Somehow, that simple thing made the Tau’ri seem so much more familiar. She decided to bring it up and suggest they find some food as some small mercy to Zaken.

“When was the last time you ate? Maybe you should show me what the Tau’ri eat, and perhaps tell me how your people can feed so many?” Tok’ra didn’t have to eat nearly as often as humans, but even though Idalia wasn’t hungry, it was worth seeing what kind of food the Tau’ri had. She imagined that like so many other things about them, it would be totally unlike anything else in the galaxy that she had yet seen.

Kay almost chuckled when the idea was brought about her meal, namely when it was last and the fact it was interrupted had popped into her head. “I was trying to eat really quick before you arrived but I think that failed miserably.”

She was blunt and honest, finding little reason to lie to the woman when it came to the little things. It was little too obvious she hadn’t eaten lately with her protesting stomach and lacking attention. So without any delay, Kay started to reroute her tour towards the cafeteria as the two arrived just after the mass of the crew had eaten and taken their leave since Kay was last here. The Second Lieutenant walked towards the large stack of blue plastic trays, her hand took two which she passed one over to Ariadne. Slowly she made her way down, her hands reached for the familiar dishes she had acquired earlier without thinking as she used the other to point and name of each one out to her current guest.

Idalia was fascinated by the range of strange and exotic looking foods on display at the SGC mess hall. She had never seen the likes of many of them and she grabbed a small bit of everything on offer as she went, putting them all separately on her plate. She could feel Ariadne’s amusement at her reactions and smiled at it even as she looked closer at some of the foods they had. One thing in particular fascinated her though. A clear blue substance that seemed to be shaped and piled high into plastic cups. When she picked it up it quivered and wobbled, keeping her gaze fixed on it as she carefully carried her very full tray to the table Zaken had already found. Questions were forgotten as she began to taste all these new things, savouring each as she went.

[Forsythe]

OOC: w/ Echo

Earths newest BC-304 the Catherine Langford sat in an arctic polar orbit high above Earth. It had arrived nearly a day ago, and even now the last of the supplies and personnel were being beamed aboard in preparation for the ships first assignment. On the ships bridge, the holographic display at the front of the bridge flickered to life with an image of General Landry in the SGC. “Captain Black, the last group of personnel is just about ready to beam up. Williams has already picked out your first destination, he says he’ll brief you when he gets there. It is good to see a ship get back from its maiden voyage and not need a week of repairs for once though.”

"They know I wouldn't take kindly to them breaking my ship, sir." Captain shot the camera a half smile. She just arrived herself, bringing in the rest of the 302s. She was looking for an excuse to fly one for a long time and she finally had her moment. With her controls beeping, she looked on the side display to check what demanded her attention. "The last batch just arrived, we're stocked up and in the green. Ready to go, sir." Inwardly she was squeeing, although none of it showed on the outside.

The image of Landry smiled at that. “Hopefully we won’t see the Langford back on Earth for a while. I trust you enjoyed the flight up?” Across the rest of the ship supplies were being stowed, systems were being triple checked for readiness and personnel were moving to their stations. It wouldn’t be long before the Langford would be underway on its first mission. With no answer forthcoming for a moment, Landry moved on quickly. “Alright, you have a go to move out as soon as the ship is ready. Do try to take care of her.”

"I'll take care of all of them, general." Catherine said, looking around the bridge. "We're probably going to dead worlds, I don't think we'll be back before we're done." Captain said and saluted as the line shut down. She got the feeling that was wishful thinking, but there was no need to say that out loud and bother the crew with it, as there was nothing that could be done about that other than exercising caution. "Status report." she said sharply. When all stations reported green, she nodded. "Break orbit, set course for P2C-119 and take us into hyperspace." Äfter a brief ‘Jawohl’ from the NO, the bridge was filled with the buzz of the hyperdrive and they were on their way.

[Ellri]

~| A short time earlier... |~

Ylva Falk had just been about to request being beamed aboard when the message came through. She did not know what to make of it at first. It was strangely lacking in detail. There was no trace of origin, and no signature. With those facts in hand, she knew there could only be one probable source. Her father. Only he could find her anywhere on the planet and send messages to her like that. She knew it was only a matter of minutes before the ship would depart from orbit above the world of the Tau’ri, her homeworld.

She looked over at the sergeant, one Walter Harriman, then shook her head. “I’ve got to take care of something.” she said, clearly indicating that she would not be joining the crew yet. Most of her personal gear had already been beamed up, as had the lab gear she would need later on in the mission. ’Don’t worry about it, Ylva. There is nothing to indicate the truth therein. Nothing that can reveal our secret.’. The thought flowed to the front of her mind, but as always she knew it came from Vanja, her beloved symbiote and partner. ‘I know.’ she thought back, wondering what sort of job her father had for her that would make him take her away from her regular duties at such a critical time. Whatever it was, it could clearly not wait. She held the small note attached to the message out to the sergeant which he then read, before calling up the Langford, telling them the position she was to be beamed to. Ylva might not be heading out on a stargate program mission, but that was no reason not to put the technology to use and save both time and resources elsewhere.

The feeling as she was beamed first up into the Langford’s buffer, then back down to the planet’s surface was strange, yet she hardly felt it. A brief flash of light, then she simply was in a different location. Her father’s office, to be exact. “Father. You requested my presence?” she asked. “What is the job you have for me? Whom do you need dead?”

He waved her closer, pointing to a sealed file on the desk before him, not saying a word. Ylva walked up to it, breaking the seal and reading the file quickly, Vanja helping her get through it even more rapidly. “Very well. It will be done. After this job, I will go into deep space and be mostly unavailable. Try not to need me again anytime soon, father. Homeworld command will not take kindly to you pulling me out all the time.”

Again, he did not say anything, simply smiling fondly at her. She was used to him saying little when there was no need to say much of anything. Without waiting for further words, she slid the file into the cross-cut shredder beside the desk, then waited for it to finish mixing the fragments and then incinerate them. Her job was one that would not show up in any records or on any budget reports. Officially, should anyone ask, it would never have taken place. Only then did she depart from the room.

[Sep]

A day into hyperspace and once everyone was settled and had had time to perform and get used to their duties a meeting was called for the members of Strike-Team 1, the Captain and a medical examiner. Williams stood at the front of the table ready to address them all once the final latecomers had arrived. He leaned forward and pressed a button on a recorder in order to record the conversation. "Meeting one, twelfth of April, twenty fourteen at fifteen hundred hours. Mr.Williams IOA representative presiding. I am going to give you the brief outline of the mission plan before allowing Captain Black to go into further detail and give you all your specific assignments and allow her to assign the Tok'ra and Jaffa of her own choosing." He slid out files to each of the individual members sitting at the table.

"The first planet we are going to is designated P2C-119 however the locals named it Tolia. Standard ex-Goa'uld planet, Northern European style climate and very pre-industrial. Stargate Command sent a team to the planet in two thousand and five who started a rebellion against the ruling Goa'uld for the main concern that the planet has some form of Ancient Facility. However when the fighting reached a peak it became clear that our assistance was no longer required and before we got into hostilities we left the planet and have not been able to establish a connection since. We believe that the Goa'uld on the planet was successfully overthrown however like many isolated lower Goa'uld it is impossible to know the situation until we arrive there. Our hopes is that the local populace will be willing to trade for us to gain access rights to the Ancient Facility and maybe even dig up the gate to station a more permanent research team on the planet."

He brought up some stock images of the Goa'uld. "The Goa'uld who rules this planet was named Amenthes and there were also many smaller Goa'uld who were trying to discover the secrets of the Ancient Facility. If Amenthes managed to quell the rebellion and consolidate his forces here to escape the major downfall of the Goa'uld we will be against older class Ha'tak vessels so our weapons will be able to deal with them quickly. The IOA wants us to clear up any Goa'uld forces if they remain in order to improve relations. Any questions?"

[Fallenreaper]

Kayle

It had been a day into hyperspace and most of the crew had been spending their hours adjusting, from navigating the vast interior to settling into their new quarters. Most had been busy cooping with the fact they were locked away in a metal beast and deep into space, something a few hadn’t been exactly prepared to handle. Kay was one of the lucky ones. Due to her spending a few years in the underground base, her senses and mind had adapted fairly well. Once settled in, she naturally had sought company among both the Jaffa and Tok’ra to increase her Goa’uld vocabulary and provided ideal practice.

She was rather pleased to notice how far she had come since she was first introduced to the language. Kay had been careful about her time spent between the two races and had admitted to finding it hard to as the Jaffa weren’t exactly the most conversational bunch that helped her. It didn’t help she was enjoying her time spent in Ariadne and Idalia company best. Though she still had a bit of difficulty in telling the two apart, there were times the speech pattern and mannerisms hadn’t exactly matched moments before. It was a good indicator but the most reliable in Kay’s opinion, her mind forced to seek out another to better her chances at correct guesses. The time had seemed to fly by rather faster than Kay expected when the Strike-Team One, among others, had been called in for a meeting.

She was among the first to arrive. Kay was dressed appropriately for the occasion in her uniform, her hands folded over with fingers intertwined as her feet were firmly planted upon the grey colored carpet. The area itself was an average conference room from the pale yellow paint job down to the long mahogany table running through the center and surrounded by semi comfortable chairs. There were two people at the table’s end. A Captain Catherine Black, a dark haired and rather tall woman. Alongside her was the older IOA, Mr. Williams.

After the last person, the elderly medical examiner, had taken a seat the IOA began his addressing for the meeting. He leaned forward to click on the recorder, formally announcing the purpose, date and time before getting to the objective intelligence. Kay’s appearance seemed calm but under the surface, her excitement and nervousness had started to bubble rapidly. This would be her first mission, a test of her skills in the field. She needed to succeed, fail wasn’t an option in her mind and she would be damned if she fell short meeting the expectations on her. Her hand lifted when the file had been slid over to her then trapped it under her fingers easily. Kay picked it up and started to read it, her eyes skimmed over the information while listening to the briefing. From the sounds of it, the planet wouldn’t have been too hard to work on since it was like Earth’s climate and would at least provide some familiarity. The bit about Goa’uld had caught her attention fairly quickly.

Once the request about any questions had occurred, Kay had placed down her file and looked at both the Captain and IOA. Her voice was calm and firm, with only a hint of curiosity. “I’ve one. Has anything happened that makes the IOA suspect Goa’uld presence upon the planet other than precaution, Sir?”

Joseph

Had been in his office when Dr. Niven had walked in and delivered the news he was to attend a meeting instead of him! Naturally Joseph’s face glared at the man, his skin rather red with slight temper and seemed to bore down on the unexpected man. His sour mood only became worse after fighting him on it. It was much worse when Dr. Niven used his authority, a right given due to Joseph’s decline, in order to get him to attend and took over his current patient in waiting. Needless to say the doctor was in a very sour mood upon arriving into the conference room.

As Joseph took a seat, his mind kept repeating Dr. Niven’s last words to him when he begrudgingly headed out the door. ‘I can’t stand those meetings and much rather deal with the patients then a stuffy conference room with the IOA and Captain glaring down over me.’

The IOA’s voice interrupted his thoughts, his head tilted up to listen. His arm reached across the table to retrieve his file and the other hand went for his reading glasses attached to his coat pocket. Gently flicked them out, he placed them upon his eyes and started to read the information about the planet. It wasn’t too different from what the IOA was talking about other than a few extra details related to his side of things. When the man finally finished, one of the military personal had started off the questions with one that seemed rather odd to ask. He placed his file down to watch the scene play out.

[Forsythe]

When the ship entered hyperspace, Catherine couldn't help it but stare at the swirling blue mess on her screen. She has of course seen it before on the other 304s, but it still got her every time. Vorsprung durch technik*, she thought with a smile before checking out of the bridge to go catch some shut-eye after overseeing the final preparations. It would take over a day to reach their destination, which gave her plenty of time.

As the door opened, Kat got a good look at what would be as close to home as it would get in the next few months, hopefully longer. The cabin was not too big - something she preferred actually. The whole room was very spartan, with nothing but a closet, bed, desk and a few chairs present. It only was a few paces away from the bridge as well, which suited her just fine. Finding her two bags lying on the bed where they were beamed, she unpacked rather quickly, took a fast shower and slipped under the sheets.

A few hours late, Mr. Williams finally called a briefing. When Black entered the room, she spotted the familiar microphone. "Můj bože, zase tohle?**" she muttered for herself as she took a seat. Wondering if the secretary was in the adjacent room, captain waited for Williams to start. Her eyelids promptly slammed shut so he couldn't see her rolling eyes as he talked into the microphone, stealing valuable seconds of her life.

Finally getting to the interesting bit, the briefing provided food for thought. The gate was working before, meaning the locals probably buried it after the rebellion succeeded, although the IOA probably suspected otherwise, and for once she could agree that expecting the worst was good idea. Searching for the gate by scanning would take quite long, and if SGC could be bothered to try dialing while Langford's gate was disabled, detecting the power spike in the buried gate would be much easier. She also wasn't a fan of needing the locals' approval to explore the ancient facility, not with the Asgard transporter on board allowing them to just beam right in, but she was willing to leave this matter to Williams quite happily.

When he was done, Captain took over. "No direct evidence of Goa'Uld presence to date, but there is that possibility, along with Alliance or other factions." she said, answering Lt. Zaken's question, "We will drop out of hyperspace on the outskirts of Tolia's system to avoid detection if any ships are present. The Langford carries two 302s modified for recon the SGC wants tested, and this is a perfect opportunity." she explained, the screen behind her showing a schematic of Tolia's system. "Once we drop out, the 302 will make a short jump to Tolia. If no ships are detected, we'll send a subspace signal to SGC and have them try dialing Tolia's gate. If it is buried, the 302 should be able to pick up it's power signature and pinpoint it's location." Black continued, the graphics behind her showing the plan with additional data on the planet.

"Once the 302 gives all clear, we'll move in and bring our gate online to test the calibration of it's navigational system. If it fails to locate the gate, Langford will proceed with planetary scanning while colonel Blaze's ground team proceeds to the ancient facility. The recon 302 will remain at your disposal, but as Tolia is a former Goa'Uld occupied world, I believe we shouldn't send in either the Jaffa or the Tok'Ra until we confirm the locals will not shoot them on sight." she finished, looking around for any other questions.

* Lead through technology
** Oh my god, this again?

[Sep]

Rea'c looked up at this. "Would we no more instill fear than your people appearing out of nowhere? If these people are known to rebel against the Goa'uld then they are our allies and I would meet with them. They thought beside our brothers and paid with blood together. Also what is to happen if some of the rebel Jaffa have survived? Their symbiotes will be nearing maturity and they will need to be given a dose of tretonin and I doubt you would be able to convince them to take the drug in place of their symbiotes. However if you wish to try without us, good luck."

At this point, Williams jumped in. "Rea'c does raise a good point. I believe the influence of both at least one Jaffa and one Tok'ra would be beneficial to this mission from the start especially with such un-experienced field members for going down to an Alien planet. I believe their presence would be invaluable which is why, after all, they are here. Besides the paper work is already filled out and it would be naught but a waste of time to remove their expertise from the team." He checked his watch as it gave a faint beep. "However my presence is required elsewhere and I will allow you to deal with all the minor details Captain." With that he picked up all his files from the desk, and his voice recorder before walking out of the room, before the door closed he was seen handing all the files over to Miss.Hart.

---

Tonak removed his cloak as he walked into the manor house. He hated these planets, they were too cold compared to a more tropical planet. They just didn't suit him especially with the necessity to wear the big clunky cloaks just to prevent a preemptive death. He'd rather be given a Ha'tak to go against one of the Tauri vessels and its Asgard Plasma weapons than spend long periods of times on a planet such as this. However it seemed like it would have to do. He withdrew a Zat gun as the Tauri called them from under his cloak and stunned to two guards standing around lazily with staff weapons before barging into the office of the leader of this pathetic little hamlet. He raised a gun, an actual gun, at one of his advisers. "Out, now. Close the door behind you."

The fat balding little man dropped most of his paperwork before leaving shaking and panicking. "Hello, Halion. Long time no see. You've been ignoring Kanes calls, you should know better than that. He truly hates that. Anyway, the past is the past, right? Tell you what. All will be forgiven if you do two things, chase your local Goa'uld near the river to the west so he can be found by some... visitors. Do you know where he is?"

((Prince, you can be Halion, why Halion? I heard people talking in the background.))

[Lady Seraphina]

Aeryn stood behind an outcropping of rock on the base of the mountain opposite the one of the Capital City. His breath was coming in ragged gasps from his run and he struggled to control the flow of air without also Asphyxiating himself. There was a team of two bounty hunters not ten feet away. He'd been pursued by them all morning. Most would not go after a target this high up the opposite mountain but these were persistent. They seemed bent on getting their prize or die while trying.

Aeryn had committed no crime worthy of the manhunt that had chased him for the last nine years. His only folly, being favored by a false god that stole his body and his life from him. Amenthes had ruled this planet until nine years ago when an uprising incited by the SGC of the Tau'ri had torn him from his throne and an undercover Tok'ra had killed him with some very finely tuned equipment from the ancient lab that Amenthes had presided over setting Aeryn free. At first he believed that this was the end of his suffering but he soon found out that it was only the beginning.

In his imprisonment Aeryn had grown accustomed to the presence and level of Goa'uld technology but he soon realized that the people had no knowledge of the Goa'uld or could make a distinction between Aeryn the host and Amenthes who had enslaved them. Thankfully the Jaffa had most if not all been killed. Those that survived and had not retreated through the Chappa'ai had been hunted to extinction by Halion Drennon, Tolia's new leader.

The man was the former personal slave of Aeryn... Amenthes. He had trouble making the distinction in his mind sometimes. When Amenthes grew bored of examining the ancient lab he found pleasure in torturing Halion in the most inhumane but nonlethal fashion. Halion as a result was a little unbalanced but unknown to Amenthes he had used his access to learn of Goa'uld technology. When Amenthes fell Halion took control of his temples, his weapons and the few ships that remained. Halion seized power and now hunted Aeryn looking for revenge. The bounty on Aeryn's head was twice as large if he was brought in alive.

These bounty hunters were persistent and they were not going away. Aeryn realized that he could run till the ancient returned and he still wouldn't have lost them. He needed to show them the power of "Amenthes", scare or injure them into backing down. Around his neck was a stiff leather necklace that held a clear jewel right over his voice box. The crystal had been confiscated by Amenthes in years prior from a man who had tried to use it to pose as a Goa'uld. It altered the voice patters of the user to sound as though they carried a symbiote by reresonating the subject’s voice patterns.

Aeryn touched the crystal and it started to glow a faint green. He knew it was working. He held out the Silver Kara'Kesh around his hand and stepped out from behind the outcrop. He knew that Goa'uld's had enormous egos that they carried over to their position of "god". If Aeryn hoped to fool these hunters he had to reproduce that ego.

"I am Amenthes your rightful lord. Kneel before your God and you may yet be spared."

He said in the most towering and powerful voice he could muster. The two hunters as foolish as they looked clearly didn't buy it. They both opened staff weapons that they must have acquisition from Halion's new government and started to fire. Aeryn blinked once and the shield from the Kara'kesh activated blocking the shots. He held it up to them intending to send them flying but nothing happened. He looked at the crystal; it was blinking in and out fully powered for a moment and totally dead the next. Running it so often with the last eleven years had nearly depleted the three naquadah power cores. The shield would fail soon and if it did he was toast.

He quickly withdrew his Zat'nik'tel and stunned the first hunter. The other dived for cover and kept firing. Aeryn could feel that the Kara'kesh didn't have much energy left. He pulled a Prim'ta Ceremonial knife from his belt and threw it at the hunter. It didn't go anywhere near it's mark but it distracted the man long enough for Aeryn to cover the distance between them and hit him hard over the head with his staff weapon. He was out cold. The hunts and close calls were getting more frequent and with only him left it was getting harder to defend himself. He needed help. What he really needed was her, Altenya but it wasn't worth dwelling on the fallen Tok'ra now. She was gone.

Aeryn retrieved the staff weapons of both of his assailants. He knew a cave not far from here that would do as shelter for the night and he'd long learned to mask his tracks. Who knew he might be able to interface the staff weapon naquadah cores with the Kara'kesh. They weren't the same in design but they were similar technologies and he might be able to work up a solution. He would not be alive if it weren't for the Kara'kesh. He still needed it, he had to recharge it somehow.

---

Halion rolled his eyes at the man standing facing him with the gun. Tonak had a flare for dramatic entranced and this was no exception. "Arthur," he said to the little balding man who had been discussing the merits of some sort of political structure that he hadn't been paying attention to. "You can leave; shut the door on your way out." Arthur looked like he was about to wet himself as he hurriedly picked up his most important documents and exited the room.

"Tonak," said Halion mildly completely ignoring the weapon trained on him. "I should thank you, he was about to start talking about the merits of..." Halion paused realizing that he hadn't heard a word that Arthur had said. "Well whatever it was it sounded boring. Drink?" He said moving to a little desk were he uncorked a bottle that had an alcohol made from the berries of the forest (Gin). I've more than enough to go around. Amenthes it seems was fond of the stuff though I believe his kind’s healing powers prevent them from fully enjoying its merits."

Halion poured two glasses not waiting to see if Tonak wanted any. If he refused Halion was perfectly happy to have the other glass as well. "So Tonak, what can I do for the Lucian Alliance. Another friend you need hidden or perhaps a meeting point for a new Kassa supplier, or maybe you simple need muscle." Halion listen to the man talk feeling as if the conversation were dragging on. "Kane checks in far too often and worries far too much. I became bored of hearing his voice. You can take one of these bottles back as apology." Halion said downing his glass while Tonak's remained untouched on the table.

At the mention of the planet's Goa'uld Halion's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Do you think if I knew where he was I would not hunt him down personally?" Halion asked his voice making it clear that Tonak was treading on dangerous ground. Halion eased a bit. "I've recently received a report saying he was spotted on the opposite mountain several leagues from the ancient lab. Tell me though who are these people you wish to introduce him to? Enemies you wish dead? I should warn you he has not had the time to torture anyone in the last several years and rarely kills. It seems he's lost his taste for it since he lost his throne."

Halion refilled his glass before adding. "There was something else? A second think that you wished accomplished?"

[Sep]

"Oh we do not want them dead, not yet." Tonak toyed with his glass slightly. "We want your friend to be captured and taken aboard there vessel. We even want him to maybe convince them to let him roam freely. For one real reason, leverage. They are going to try and take the facility from you, they will try and convince you that their way of running things is the best way of doing it. They will try and change the politics so that everyone gets a say rather the strongest such as yourself becoming leaders." Tonak holstered his pistol as he took a sip from his glass.

"It isn't good enough that you haven't captured him yet, there are a lot of details that we could learn from him. He was master of this planet for generations think of the knowledge we could reap from his mind about the facility. We need this to happen to make Kane and your people strong. I even hear that Kane is considering giving you two Ha'tak vessels in payment to your loyalty over the years and your continued support. He thinks you will find therm very useful especially for when the people of the Tauri find out about your little facility here."

Tonak placed the glass back down on the table. He walked away from the table slightly and took out a device and placed it on his arm. "I hate to go all melodramatic on you Halion. However I will be watching you and how this goes, you know Kane doesn't like to be disappointed." With that he touched the device and faded out of sight, obviously wielding a Sodan Cloak devices. Whether or not it was one of the working models or not could be determined so easily.

[Sundered Echo]

Earlier…

With all of the controlled chaos of preparations settling into relative calm once the ship broke orbit and after she got her shut-eye, Captain found an hour free to finally visit their extraterrestrial guests. Between the last minute swaps in the crew and the mountain of bureaucracy she had to attend, Kat didn't have the time back on the base. Now was time to remedy that. She only hoped they wouldn't feel too offended. Opening up messaging on her PDA, she thought about who'd she would go to first. But it was no decision at all. Aside from the lack of trust she harbored towards the Jaffa, the Tok'ra were plainly more interesting to learn more about.

To: Ariadne of Shayet
Subject: A few moments of your time

Greetings Ariadne, Idalia,
I apologize for not greeting you personally when you arrived to Earth, my duties required me elsewhere. If you could spare a few moments, I would like to talk with you, just tell me where and when. I hope you'll enjoy your stay on the Langford.
Cpt. Catherine Black

Ariadne had quickly picked up the simpler elements of the systems available to her, which were very few from her quarters, understandably. When a message arrived from the Captain of the ship, she was quick to respond in the affirmative, specifying the observation deck as her preferred location. Idalia liked the view, and so far Ariadne herself didn’t really have any favoured location on the ship. She went there immediately, having no trouble moving about the ship after memorising the layout map she had been given. One of the useful aspects of her nature as Goa’uld symbiote was the ability to remember anything permanently if she focused on it for a while.

Catherine smiled when the message arrived. It looked like boredom has been abolished for the next few minutes. Fetching her ID card and tying her hair into a ponytail, she left the quarters for the observation deck. It was located at the rear of the ship in the tower usually occupied by the bridge on the other 304s. They of course had a smaller one closer to the bridge, but that was limited to staff on duty.

As such it took her a few minutes to get there. When the door opened, she was glad to find only one other person in there. Everyone else was probably asleep or disinterested in the sea of blue the hyperspace looked like. "It is quite a view, isn't it?" she said as she approached and stood next to the Tok'ra, her eyes locked on the tunnel in front of them.

Ariadne was seated already in the Observation Deck, a room apparently devoted entirely to looking out at space, or at the moment, Hyperspace. Idalia thought it was the best spot on the ship, and Ariadne couldn’t help but consider the idea a good one.
When the Captain arrived, not long after her, she turned to get a look at the woman that would be lord and master of this ship. For the smallest of moments she likened it to coming into the service of a new System Lord, but that thought was quickly pushed away by both Idalia and her. “Ten years ago I might have told you that that view was mundane and common. Today though, I am inclined to agree.”

A short chuckle escaped Catherine's lips of all reactions. "I didn't realize you probably seen it all. How are you doing? I trust your cabin is satisfactory?" she asked, despite not being able to do a single thing if they weren't. The Langford is a warship, not a hotel, although if she read anything about the Tok'Ra tunnels, she doubted the quarters on the 304 would be troubling.

Ariadne did not know what to think of the captains reaction. She put it aside as an eccentricity and pressed on as though it hadn’t happened. “On the contrary. I have seen it all, but Idalia is not satisfied with seeing it all in my memory.” She thought for a moment, comparing the quarters she had been given to the opulent rooms she once had on her Ha’tak. The most recent one at least. An amused smile crept onto her face, growing as Idalia admonished her for the train of thought, before she continued. “My quarters are satisfactory. I have seen better, but far worse also.”

"You would die just seeing mine then." captain said, turning her sight to the person next to her. "If you don't mind me asking, I noticed your name. You were not born tok'ra, right? How did you come to see things their way?" she asked, hoping she wasn't digging too deep, but on the other hand, she really wanted this question answered. It made a lot of difference to her if she turned out of self preservation, or maybe something more noble. And while she would understand the first, it'd make her watch her back.

Ariadne had been wondering when that subject might come up. The Tau’ri were notorious for giving no trust at all to Goa’uld, and for good reason. If she ever wanted to be accepted here she couldn’t appear to them as one who simply ran to the Tok’ra to survive. “That… is not a simple question.” She began, choosing her words carefully. “In truth, I joined the Tok’ra partly to come closer to your kind… The Fifth Race. My race had its chance at greatness, and we squandered it fighting amongst ourselves. Your kind has proved their greatness countless times by overcoming every System Lord that dared take the title, and it is my honour to now assist you. You would have turned me away if I had come promising aid as a Goa’uld.” She didn’t mention how much influence Idalia had had over her in the first days after taking her as a host. That was too personal to tell the Tau’ri woman without knowing her in the slightest.

Captain stood in silence for a few seconds, taking in what she was told. After that, a very dry, sarcastic laugh echoed through the deck. "Is that how you see us? I suppose I'm much less forgiving than. Even now the existence of all this," she exclaimed, "is kept secret on Earth out of fear that the resulting panic would destabilize the system enough to completely collapse. How can we care for the galaxy when we didn't learn yet to care for each other?" she shook her head. "If you take interest in history, I'll be happy to tell you just how frighteningly similar we were to the Goa'Uld just a few decades ago." she said, the world wars and caribbean crysis coming to mind. "But I digress. What do you make of the Jaffa?" Black asked, more to get a glimpse of what problems might arise between the two alien groups than anything else.

Ariadne nodded knowingly at Black’s words. Some among the Tok’ra had told her of the state of Earths history to try to change her views, but they had failed. “The difference between your people and mine is that enough of yours overcame their infighting to achieve galaxy-shaking accomplishments. It remains to be seen whether the Tok’ra will rise to a similar height of greatness now that the opportunity has presented itself.”

She was glad that she was in control when the captain asked about the Jaffa however. She could feel Idalia’s desire to speak her thoughts on the matter, and while she couldn’t entirely push away the feelings that welled forth, she could at least phrase it a little more diplomatically than her fiery Host. “The Jaffa are a Prideful people Captain. In their minds they can do no wrong. They attribute every terrible act they have performed in the past to their Goa’uld overlords, despite the fact that many of them enjoyed the power they wielded as servants of the most powerful galactic power at the time. They value their own people and customs over everyone and everything else.” To give such an opinion she had had to dip into what other Tok’ra field operatives had told her during her stay on the Tok’ra Homeworld. She would have given a different opinion on the Jaffa once loyal to the Goa’uld, but the ‘Free Jaffa’ as they called themselves, were a much changed people.

Catherine sat down as well, taking a few moments again thinking about the implications and comparing with her own research. She didn’t exactly like what Ariadne was saying. “So it’s pretty much as I thought. Pride and excuses. In the past the Jaffa were… Unreliable, shall we say… as allies. Gerak to name one for all. I would hate to make such a close call here, and I can’t say I am a subscriber of their tactics either.” Black continued, recalling the file saying Bra’Tac nearly rammed SG-1 into an Ori mothership. And that was one of the most reasonable Jaffa the SGC worked with. Looking into Ariadne’s eyes, she noticed some unease. “Is something wrong? You know this is a two way street, right? If you have something to say or ask, out with it.” she smiled.

Ariadne wondered whether it was entirely wise to be telling the captain that her presence here might cause a diplomatic incident or worse, but her desire to remain alive and not be looking over her shoulder won through in this case. “Recently the Free Jaffa have become incredibly… insistent… when it comes to surviving Goa’uld being killed. I have only been Tok’ra for less than a decade, barely the blink of an eye for both my kind and the Jaffa. If they learn of my past, they may act rashly.” Ariadne stopped with just that warning, a prudent one given how many innocents might get in the Jaffa’s way if they decided to dispense their ‘justice’ freely. She didn’t want to go into whether or not they were right or what the Captain should do about it. Those were areas mired with difficult ethics and diplomatic concerns.

"Then don't let them find out. Tok'Ra are masters of spying, keeping secrets and waging war from the shadows, no?" Catherine said half jokingly, "Don't worry, if what you said applies, they would only charge you head on, and there's enough marines in the corridors to repel a boarding attempt, let alone five jaffa." she said, although the expression on her face said that she’d rather cycle anyone threatening her crew through the airlock, if there wasn’t political shitstorm to follow. “If anything they should respect you for making that decision, no matter how late.”

Ariadne sighed at that. She wished it were true, it would make things so much easier. “Unfortunately the Jaffa seem to like thinking in black and white. They like things to be good or bad, so they can decide whether to shoot them or not. But enough of this unpleasantness.” She wanted to move the conversation away from the Jaffa. It made Idalia, and by extension her, sick to think about them, and Idalia’s anger wasn’t something she enjoyed being so immersed in. “Was there anything else you wished to speak to me about?” She said calmly, though not to imply she wanted to leave.

"Yes, but in light of what you told me, I think I have enough to think about for now." Captain sighed, "Hopefully next time we speak it will be on lighter note. There will be a mission briefing sometime later today, so prepare yourself to deal with Mr. Bureaucrat. I’ll see you there." she warned with a smirk, getting up to leave.

“I look forward to it greatly.” Ariadne said with a heavy tone of sarcasm. She stood as well, to see the captain off, as she intended to stay in the observation deck for a while longer. “Thank you, captain. I look forward to our next meeting.”

[Forsythe]

OOC: W/ Echo, Sep

Ariadne could not help but laugh at the Jaffa leaders request. He really was a short sighted man. What disturbed her was that the Tau’ri leader actually agreed with him. Thankfully, the older man left immediately after he agreed with Rea’c. Ariadne did not much care about making a Jaffa look bad, but making one of the ships commanders look bad was not the best idea. “If I did not know better Rea’c, I would think you were joking. You do realise that the people of this world are not going to stop to ask whether you are ‘good Jaffa’ before they shoot you with the staff weapons they have likely taken from their former Jaffa overlords? Sending you to the planet, even with Tau’ri equipment, would be as good as announcing to the entire populace that the Goa’uld have returned to reconquer them. You would be lucky to last five minutes. I at least-” she paused momentarily in her speech to switch to Idalia’s normal voice. “-Can blend in. Although I am not sure I want to risk being among the first to greet the natives. However useful my experience may be.” She paused her tirade to allow others to speak, if they had any opinions on the matter. Despite her use of her hosts voice, she maintained full control. She could feel Idalia’s agreement regardless, so even if people mistook who was speaking, it would not matter.

Black listened to the Tok'Ra speak, glad someone else wanted to be careful here, although she would have put it in words that didn't sound like she was laughing the Jaffa in the face. Captain didn't know how deep the distrust between these particular Jaffa and Tok'Ra ran, but based on their earlier talk, she better extinguish all sparks before they become wildfires. "I have to agree with Ariadne. I never said I'll imprison you on the ship, I merely suggested you go in 'second wave', if you will. Once we verify the planet is friendly, I see no reason to hold you on board, that isn't why you're here. Same goes for the Tok’Ra. I do not want anyone capable of sensing symbiotes who might happen to be on the planet misinterpreting something. As for appearing out of thin air, I do not intend to beam the squad in the middle of their town square." she said, making a mental note to try and not alienate any of the parties. She could smell a conflict with Mr. Williams in the air sooner rather than later, and the Asgard were able to save
Hammond's command once before. She would have greater chances of surviving the IOA's wrath with the aliens on her side.

Rea’c shook his head. “We were not invited here to take a back seat in the operations. We came here to take a stance to improve all of our races. We should all go together in order to show our unity against our foes. If we do not wish to show such a front then I do not see why we have come here and why we have not just done this ourselves with one of our own vessels. It would of been less time consuming anyway and we could have done it with an entire fleet if we ever came across problems with hostile vessels.” He looked at the other Jaffa in the room exchanging silent words as using Goa’uld with a Tok’ra in the room would be wasted. HE then turned back to the Captain. “Would it not be reasonable to assume that if you do come across hostiles that it would be beneficial to have more forces with you than five men? Not to mention what if the planet is occupied by Jaffa? They could think that you are working for the Goa’uld and trying to recapture them. There are many things that can be considered and many ways in which your planned ground team could end up in trouble.”

Black thought about what the Jaffa said for a while. He had a point, even if everything in her screamed with disagreement. Lifting her gaze from the floor, she gave Rea'c a few nods. "You do have a point. Sorry, I lack the mindset to see politics in such situation. Very well, if you insist, you have a go." Captain finally agreed. She didn't want any casualties, least of all on their first stop, but if the Jaffa insisted on putting themselves in the line of fire, so be it. She could remember Ariadne warning her about this, and made a note to thank the Tok'Ra again later for the intel. Looking down at her watch, she continued: "We will be dropping out of hyperspace in two hours, it'll take the 302s a few extra minutes to make the short-jump to Tolia. If you have questions regarding the ground ops, I defer you to colonel Blaze. Now, if that is all you need from me?" she said, itching to be back on the bridge where things made sense without politics.

[GravityFlux]

Harry's awakening from his slumber was quite ungraceful, with a private alarm blaring into his ears, and him getting up only to bang his head into the ceiling. Obviously, he'd been assigned the smallest room in the entire ship, because his quarters were barely larger than a normal janitor's closet. "In the name of Jackie Chan, what the hell?" he muttered, rubbing the top his head in confusion.

He didn't quite realize where he was, and the fact that he wasn't on vacation, until he'd made a cup of tea, and brushed his teeth. As he dipped the tea bag for the second time into his steel cup, he jerked his head in realization, once more banging his head on the wall, and spilling the hot tea. With haste not seen before, he emptied his second cup of hot water without even adding tea leaves to it, and began to dress himself.

As he wore his pants and shaved at the same time, he attempted to send a message to Captain Black, as he figured that the god forsaken woman would be nucking around at his absence. That was his idea of her, at least. His communique entailed a half truth that he was ready and in the barracks, as well as his apologies of not being on the Bridge. She'd probably find out that he wasn't being honest, but hell if he wasn't going to push that trouble as far into the future as he could.

Of course, last night had been quite unexciting. He'd finished his patrol, and gone back to his office to do more paperwork, which he promptly finished after several hours of deliberating and playing Flappy Bird on his PDA. He'd awoken later in his office, having to go and greet everyone with the proper officialism, and wait for the briefing, which had sucked most of his energy. Not that he had much in him by that time.

The door opened as he was finally wearing his tie, with one of the scientists that he was more friendly with as the opener. "Getting late, again?" he quipped to the colonel, and Harry replied with his own retort "Better than what you do, destroyed-expensive-equipment-while-drunk-and-made-me-deal-with-it person.", and promptly rushed out. The scientist followed suit, and both walked quietly at a brisk pace, towards the Bridge. Harry had his work, and the doctor had his.

They parted ways outside the Bridge, both of them giving each other a slight nod of recognition. They'd meet up later, but for now, he had a team to lead down to the planet. He hadn't actually gotten a true view of it, and he intended to give a glance into one of the monitors in the Bridge. The sliding door opened, and he stepped inside, snapping to attention and saluting no one in sight. "Permission to come aboard?"

[Sundered Echo]

On the far edges of the Tolia system, space had remained undisturbed since the last Ha’tak had left years prior. That was about to change. Around a large green-blue gas giant world, a ripple appeared in the fabric of space. In moments the ripple expanded, generating a richly colored bright storm in space. From the depths of the storm emerged the grey, blocky hull of a ship the likes of which the system had never seen before. Emblazoned on the sides of the ship was a name - Catherine Langford.

The scene on the bridge of the ship was tense with anticipation. No-one knew quite what they were jumping into here, would there be Ha’tak waiting to ambush them, peaceful empty space or something totally new and unknown. Officers breathed a collective sigh of relief as no bolts of super heated plasma or anything else unpleasant could be detected in the vicinity of the ship. The officer in charge of sensors spoke almost immediately as the readings started coming in. “Sensors aren’t picking up anything unusual. No other ships in system.”

Shortly after, the communications officer spoke, relaying a subspace message. “Homeworld Command is requesting we unplug the Gate so they can dial in. Generals Orders.”

In the gate room, elsewhere in the ship, the large cylindrical plug that prevented the Stargate from activating was withdrawn from the gate. Shortly after, the familiar call of “Incoming Wormhole” resounded through the room. Last minute personnel adjustments were being made, and a small number of people came through the gate to board the Langford from earth, despite its vast distance from the Homeworld.

A message also came through, requesting that the Tok’ra Ahmos be withdrawn to the Tok’ra Homeworld immediately, and as soon as the incoming Wormhole disengaged, the NCO in charge of the Langford Gate operations began dialing out to Earth. The Wormhole established and Ahmos arrived in the gate room shortly after. He would go to Earth and from there to his own world.

[Sep]

Tonak

It took him days to track the bloody ex-Goa'uld. Ex being the operative word however he couldn't be bothered explaining that to these primitive people, they had won there freedom only shortly before the Ori Invasion and were lucky to have buried the gate when they had. However the Ori did bring some useful things to the galaxy and people to light, such as the Sodan and the cloaking device he was currently wearing on his arm. That was his favorite, though the deployable ring platforms were also rather handy in some situations. He moved over a fallen trunk of a tree outside of a cave careful not to disturb it and expose himself. He took out three Tacs or Tacluchnatagamuntorons as the Goa'uld had so... awkwardness named them. Making sure to set them to stun he took shelter behind their area of fire. He then pressed a button on a small wrist device he was wearing and an escape pod from a Goa'uld ship appeared from nowhere (obviously from out of a cloaked ship) and crashed into the ground several hundred metres away creating a massive booming sound in the valley.

Lawson

Lawson hooked up the last piece of equipment in the R-302. Well, he had been forced to rebuild most of it when it nearly short circuited after using the cloak and as such he had to rebuild most of the control systems and lock out the cloaking protocol especially as it only worked 25% of the time. The issue with that was the fact that he was being pushed in order to build a bigger cloaking system for the BC-304s and the transport ships that were currently being designed and were not being built. He powered up the ships main systems and smiled as all the lights lit up perfectly indicating all systems were active and working one hundred percent without any issues. He climbed out and turned to the pilot. "All right, she's all good to go. Just remember even though it is locked out be careful not to activate any system related to the cloak or you are likely to end up stranded. All the other systems work fine and have been tested a hundred times before someone even sat in the cockpit.""If the cloak is that dangerous why haven't you taken it out?""Because I haven't been allowed to. Don't worry there are safety protocols in place and I will have an uplink to the ship itself and will be able to access it from here in case of any issues you may have,"

He tapped his earpiece as the pilot climbed up. "This is Lawson in the starboard hanger. We're all good to go down here Captain. R-302 is loaded up and fully operational."

[Forsythe]

Back in her own domain, Captain was standing at the TacMap that currently projected the same image of Tolia system as the one before in the briefing, now indicating the Langford's position. Finally she could do some actual work. So far the 304s sensors didn't pick up any activity, meaning whatever could have been here was making damn sure it wasn't seen. A call came from stargate control notifying her of the departure of one of the Tok'Ra. She didn't envy Ariadne her position right now - Catherine doubted being the only one of her people here felt great. Then again, most of their operatives were used to prolonged deep cover actions with next to no contact.

Shrugging it off and confirming the departure, she also noticed the scientist with shady background she remembered interviewing arrived from Earth. Kat made a mental note that she better have other explanation for her absence than 'classified' this time when she stops by to report. Speaking of people reporting, the Colonel has arrived. "Granted. Slept well, Harry?" she said, fully aware they were technically the same rank, but somehow she couldn't take the man seriously half the time. Who'd blame her when she towered over the man by 4 inches. In return she wasn't giving the good colonel hell for showing up late. God knew she'd need sleep too if she was stuck with the paperwork he was. "Not a moment too late, we're about to launch the recon and get a ground scan." she said, switching her comms to the hangar.

"Copy doctor. Alpha one, you have a go. If you get into a jam the rest of alpha wing is waiting in the cockpits with hyeprdrives spooled ready to bail you out at your signal. Good hunting." she finished, confirming the launch clearance on her screen. "Navigation, I want a jump solution calculated as soon as the feed from the 302 kicks in." Black gave the order and turned to the holo about to display the 302s telemetry. Instead another databurst came from Earth, relaying a message from the Free Jaffa to send back all of Rea'c's strike group except the leader himself. "Wonderful. At the end of the day i'll be alone here if this keeps up!" she growled, but acknowledged none the less and forwarded the message to Rea'c and stargate control. At least one Jaffa and Tok'Ra were more manageable than a whole bunch of them.

[Lady Seraphina]

"Tonak," said Halion looking at the man, he was becoming board with the conversation. As valuable allies as the Lucian Alliance were Halion tired of dealing with their agents who all seemed the same. Quick to the gun, no sense of timing, and needing of threats to get what they needed. It was no different from the Goa'uld whose power they had taken. If Halion had taken this world like the Lucian Alliance would have he'd have been thrown down just like Amenthes. Instead he offered his people security and comfort and in exchange they handed over their freedom. "My current governmental standing is working quiet well for me at the moment; I would not be foolish enough to bow to the first ship that comes in over orbit. Besides with a decent speech it shouldn't be hard to paint these new comers as an enemy to the people wanting to destroy all we have, should it become necessary and the facility is safe." Halion refilled his drink noting that Tonak put his weapon away.

Halion was used to dealing with the Lucian Alliance and Tonak in particular and so when Tonak started to speak of Amenthes freedom Halion knew very well that he was deflecting. It didn't change the atmosphere from becoming tense. "If you will remember Tonak we did have him. It was your insistence on taking him to your ship and underestimating his partner, the female that he escaped."

Tonak chose not to answer the question, a head on argument with Halion Drennon was more than likely to end with your insides spilling all over the floor. Instead he offered Halion two Ha'tak vessels from Kane in exchange for his service. Halion would do well with those ships. There was a single Ha'tak left over from the days of Amenthes and it was only still in his possession because the hyperdrive and sublight engines had suffered a catastrophic failure during a previous battle. Amenthes had managed to patch them enough to get it home before it died for good. The other ships he possessed were of less quality and in varied stats of repair. Though he understood the technology quit well Halion didn't have the knack for its repair like there former "god" had.

Still Halion knew that Kane would only give him ships to prevent this new enemy from getting control of the Ancient Lab on the opposite mountain. Still the facility was equipped with some defenses. Though the Ancients had an alliance with the Asgard in the days when the facility was operational they were not foolish enough to assume that no one else could steal or come up with the same beaming technology and the work being done in the lab was from what Halion could tell very secret. As a precaution the Ancients had set up a grid of emitters that prevented beaming for a three league radius around the facility. He was told that it had automatic stun weapons that locked onto non-Ancient genetic codes but those had long since been destroyed, damaged or deactivated by time, visiting races before the Goa'uld came to power or by the one that had controlled this planet for generations.

"Tell Kane I would be honored." Halion said with a mock bow. Tonak said nothing in returned except to attach a device to his arm and after touching it vanish into thin air. Halion had heard of the technology from the Lucian Alliance and several reverences in Amenthes notes but none had remained on this planet, Halion believed they were called a Sodan Cloak. Tonak always did have a flare for the dramatic; no doubt he was tracking down the Goa'uld using Halion's information.

---

Once he was inside the cave Aeryn got to work. The cave was well hidden by brush and plant growth so unless someone knew he was there he should be fine. He'd also disguised his tracks so that only someone of incredible skill would be able to find him; it takes a tracker to find one. Aeryn knew he would be here for several hours at least. The Kara'kesh was a complex machine, interfacing a different power source without overloading or shorting it out would be tricky.

Aeryn had a sling over bag that he kept what he needed in. Mostly it was food and the few possessions he owned which included a set of tools that had once belonged to Amenthes. He knew there intended purpose having wielded them before as a Goa'uld. Amenthes disliked the Goa'uld pain stick. While the energy output cause a severe amount of pain, the Goa'uld that had occupied Aeryn's body found that its effects diminished too much after it was removed, then of course there was the personal touch that Amenthes enjoyed applying to everything he did. The kit that Aeryn unrolled was a set of tools for torture, knives and odd shaped pliers and all sorts of tools for removing teeth and eyeballs and skin. It was ghastly to keep around but Aeryn had need of it. The design of the tools offered itself very nicely to mechanical work.

Aeryn used a thin bladed knife not dissimilar to a Shikra blade in design though of far less quality to extract the crystal from the center of the Kara'kesh. The Crystal was the Kara'kesh, though the wrist bracer might sometimes be equipped with a ring transport activation unit all of the effects of the device could be attributed to the crystal, the rest was more or less decorative, something that was common on Goa'uld design. Once it was removed Aeryn could access the components much more easily, the Kara'kesh was not designed to be replaced. When it was created it was thought that if after constant use over many years it was to fail another could be procured. The valuable materials of the now drained Kara'kesh would simply be melted down for other uses.

It was however accessible, with a little bit of work Aeryn managed to removed a layer of amber crystal that focused the effects generated within. Inside there was a central unit that was also amber in color, this was what generated the personal shield, and could discharge energy to cause an opponent to be thrown away, though this model was too depleted to utilize the function that altered brain chemicals causing incurable pain. The silver models were limited in that ability, the gold ones being able to alter chemicals to for a variety of uses such as making the subject submissive or is they had a mind to Aeryn supposed could be used to implant a message, though how easy that would be he didn't know.

The problem was in the three liquid naquadah power modules that were currently glowing blue. When in good health these should be yellow, the blue luminescence was a sign that the naquadah reaction was ceasing. Aeryn knew there was no hope of recharging the power modules without access to the utilities of a Ha'tak or Amenthes facility which Halion Drennen now controlled. His best hope was to interface the naquadah cores from the stolen staff weapons. Aeryn used a grisly pair of pliers used for tooth removal to expose the innards of the staff weapon and extract the cores. These were green and cylindrical, wider in the middle than on either end. This would not be an easy task.

Aeryn spend the next three hours using bits and pieces from the staff weapons to finally create a workable cradle for the cores to sit in that acted as a converter both between the shapes of the two power generators and the output. It wouldn't do to short out the Kara'kesh, its power was much more finely regulated than the staff weapons. He placed the two cores in place of the modules that were most greatly depleted and placed the dead modules in his bag; it was possible he'd find another use for them. Now: to test the weapon.

Aeryn slotted the crystal back into place and slid his hand through the silver ribbon. When his fingertips made contact with metal he could feel the life in the device, its power reacting to the naquadah in his bloodstream. It was almost pleasant, the feeling of accomplishment if the act of using the technology wasn't mildly painful as the metal in his blood became ever so slightly active. The Device was ready to go. Now he'd best get some sleep before morn, he would have a lot of running to do once the sun came up. Nobody liked to come this close to the Ancient Lab, Halion had spread rumors of it being haunted and drawing back the "Gods" if it was ever entered. He kept a small contingent there who did not know the functions of the place but protected it from anyone and everyone.

Despite superstition the word of the bounty hunters defeat would no doubt draw people to the mountain including some of Halion's men. That man wanted Aeryn brought to him so that he might inflict the same horrors that Amenthes had to him. He'd done it once before several years earlier when Aeryn had been captured, if it wasn't for his Tok'ra partner Altenya he would have died under Halion's hand. Aeryn needed his sleep.

When he slept Aeryn didn't use a bedroll, instead he picked dry places where it would be reasonably warm and pulled his cloak over himself using his bag for a pillow. His weapons were detached but kept close so that arming himself and running wouldn't be problematic should it become necessary. He slept fitfully as always. His dreams were never pleasant ranging from the day that Altenya had died to his time as the Goa'uld.

It didn't take much to wake Aeryn, the sound of a door latch, a footstep and so the sound of an earth shattering crash had Aeryn up fully armed and ready to run in three minutes. He moved slowly and swiftly to the edge of the cave taking only his own staff weapon and leaving the remains of the other two. He left the cave gingerly disturbing the plant life as little as possible. As he moved he could see what made the crash. Down a steep hill covered in trees he could see the impact sight of... a Tel'tak escape pod, the small one man crafts that looked similar to coffins.

Aeryn began to run, if the Goa'uld had returned to this planet then he did not want to be here when they emerged. As he moved a shot flew just over his shoulder. Aeryn dove the other way taking cover behind a boulder. That was a Tac'unitagamunition shot and many more of them continued to pulverize the boulder. He could only assume that they were set to stun since they hadn't ripped through it yet. This was impossible there were no Tac'unitagamunition... Aeryn had always just thought of them as Sentries, left on Tolia. They'd been burned out in the battles between the Jaffa to the point that not even Aeryn could fix them, not that he hadn't tried. He was being ambushed, that much was certain. The pod that had scared him into flight was most likely empty but it had pushed him in this direction where he now had no way out.

The Sentries he knew were not infallible; they were designed to take a beating. There was he knew a safety protocol that cut off the energy flow to the weapon in the Sentries in the event of a massive charge build up in the capacitors. If he could hit them with a Zat'nik'tel it would overload and shut down. Aeryn drew the weapon; one light squeeze to the handle opened it. He slid his hand into the grove of the open weapon and dove out from behind the rock. He fire a single shot at the first Sentry. It hit its mark and for a second as blue energy swirled up and down the device it appeared to work before it exploded. The blast blew Aeryn off his feet. He landed on the ground his head spinning his eyes seeing triple.

The safety protocols had been installed for that very reason. The Bases that these Sentries generally protected suffered more than the enemy from an intense explosion not to mention the increased levels of radiation that had a tendency to cause instability in certain types of metal, one blast wouldn't be too bad but if a number of them such as those that would be used in a war or to defend a facility were to go off the area would no longer be livable and the System Lord for all their infighting liked there prizes to still be intact. His eyesight was fuzzy but he could see a man, muscled in leather walk into his line of sight. "Crazy bastard," Aeryn mumbled more to himself than his assailant. "Kill us all, protocols there for a reason..." That was all he managed before Aeryn blacked out.