Stargate Through the Looking Glass and into Heaven.

The Immortal Watch Dog

Well-known member
Hetman
Could be worse they could have had the misfortune of running into my Banshee variant designed from the ground up with all the B.S. tech you can get by combining Stargate technology and materials science with the best stuff available to everyone in Battletech circa 3145

That reminds me I need to think on what would pass as tank divisions for the Goa'uld. Not that they've used them in thousands of years.
 

Knowledgeispower

Ah I love the smell of missile spam in the morning
That reminds me I need to think on what would pass as tank divisions for the Goa'uld. Not that they've used them in thousands of years.
Probably a bunch of APC and to a lesser extent IFV equivalents with tanks being hilariously rare due to basically no actual wars for a long long time. Oh sure the tanks are around in mothballs but literally nobody has been inside of 90+% of them for a long long time.
 

Knowledgeispower

Ah I love the smell of missile spam in the morning
You know it occurs to me that if Daniel ever ascends in this story I get the feeling that the thing he's getting kicked out over is restoring his wife's mind and soul assuming she's still alive. If not....yeah probably the thing he gets kicked out over is yeeting all the Goa'uld who have forcibly taken hosts into the Black Hole at the center of the Galaxy
 

The Immortal Watch Dog

Well-known member
Hetman
You know it occurs to me that if Daniel ever ascends in this story I get the feeling that the thing he's getting kicked out over is restoring his wife's mind and soul assuming she's still alive. If not....yeah probably the thing he gets kicked out over is yeeting all the Goa'uld who have forcibly taken hosts into the Black Hole at the center of the Galaxy


Hilariously enough he would be greeted by Anubis with a big smile on his face and a celestial bear hug and they'd probably end up getting in trouble for doing good deeds that were overtly miraculous.

That's about the only spoilers you'll get from me on the cosmic being front.

As bad as Amunet is, the one who killed Anubis was so much worse.

It took me two fucking weeks to write that scene.

I was worried I would screw it up or make it edgy or something.

Seems like it was appropriately terrifying and evil though.
 

The Immortal Watch Dog

Well-known member
Hetman
You did a good job. Portrayed the depravity of the moment and the horror experienced well enough without getting too macabre.

I certainly want to curb stomp some alien parasites right now.

Theyre like the antithesis of Ra and Hathor. Apophis and Amunet just wanna fuck and fight and God help anyone around them when they want to do either.

So... I guess that the whole "nothing survives of the host" thing that SG-1 disproved is in full effect with this universe.

Only for the Peers. The average Goa'uld sub species isn't capable of doing anything remotely close to this and it's even dangerous for them to take a host the first time around so the process is a lot more "ethical" in this universe and they go to great lengths to avoid being in such a situation at all.

System lords and the "peers" are in a totally different league and they can very much ensure that nothing of the Host remains.

Being the only ones that are psychic and all the other esoteric crap the older ones get up too.

Fortunately for everyone there's like 24 of them in the whole universe and most are a lot more ethical than Amunet. And quite comfortable in their bodies.

Teal'cs "son" for example would never do what she did.

Egeria didn't, neither did Prometheus...etc.

Shau're on the other hand lucked out and was taken by a hyper cunt who got off on it.
 
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Knowledgeispower

Ah I love the smell of missile spam in the morning
if the snakes have Psionics....welp time to break out my ridiculously overpowered full team of psi personnel from XCOM2 with everyone having every ability unlocked and 9 supporting teams of elite operatives(with all of their abilities unlocked thank you war of the chosen game mechanics) with endgame gear and the amount of weapons and equipment you'd expect people in power armor to have in a realistic setting and send them to grant Shau're a needed mercy kill and chuck copious amounts of plasma grenades afterwards to ensure Amunet dies with her
 
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The Immortal Watch Dog

Well-known member
Hetman
if the snakes have Psionics..

The whole Ra mind raping Ferretti to learn English and telepathically projecting into people's heads and Apophis and Klorel doing likewise to poor Christmas and later Jensen with the half face didn't give it away? :p

The System Lords and the "Peers" are psionics but to varying degrees and varying specialities. Though they come with certain generic "gifts".

Ra was also about to Ascend when he got blown up.

So everyone got lucky he wasn't able to feed on the energy of his worshippers ala the Ori in canon.
 

Knowledgeispower

Ah I love the smell of missile spam in the morning
The whole Ra mind raping Ferretti to learn English and telepathically projecting into people's heads and Apophis and Klorel doing likewise to poor Christmas and later Jensen with the half face didn't give it away? :p

The System Lords and the "Peers" are psionics but to varying degrees and varying specialities. Though they come with certain generic "gifts".

Ra was also about to Ascend when he got blown up.

So everyone got lucky he wasn't able to feed on the energy of his worshippers ala the Ori in canon.
Hey give me a break I follow a lot of stories remembering the precise details of all them is kinda hard. Also I'm on record stating that the nuke that killed Ra has to be the best investment in terms of payoff by taxpayers in history
 

DocSolarisReich

Esoteric Spaceman
Could be worse they could have had the misfortune of running into my Banshee variant designed from the ground up with all the B.S. tech you can get by combining Stargate technology and materials science with the best stuff available in Battletech circa 3145

Or my SithTech Hegemony in Exile could come calling. But they would probably just order a base delta zero once they understood these snakes to be this universe’s equivalent of their Mi-goa’uld fungal infestation.
 

Knowledgeispower

Ah I love the smell of missile spam in the morning
Or my SithTech Hegemony in Exile could come calling. But they would probably just order a base delta zero once they understood these snakes to be this universe’s equivalent of their Mi-goa’uld fungal infestation.
Or call in XCOM. They do seem to be rather decent at the whole reverse engineer alien tech at a breakneck pace and then use it to kick the crap out of said aliens thing
 

Spartan303

In Captain America we Trust!
Administrator
Staff Member
Founder
Osaul
Okay...finally caught up. Consider this story in my top 3 Stargate stories. It might actually be my favorite. Why did I wait so long to read it!?

I am a fool for waiting @The Immortal Watch Dog .


Earth is poor in Naquadah but rich in curiosities basically.

Earth is rich in both spices and exotics. Stuff the Goa'uld have never seen before. Some of it will be novelties, other things will be of immense values to them. And if there is anything Earth is good at, especially the United States, it's becoming a powerhouse economically. When then filters down into other areas.
 

The Immortal Watch Dog

Well-known member
Hetman
Okay...finally caught up. Consider this story in my top 3 Stargate stories. It might actually be my favorite. Why did I wait so long to read it!? I am a fool for waiting @The Immortal Watch Dog .

Thank you...man...thanks. I keep worrying I'm gonna screw the pooch on this story.

Earth is rich in both spices and exotics. Stuff the Goa'uld have never seen before. Some of it will be novelties, other things will be of immense values to them. And if there is anything Earth is good at, especially the United States, it's becoming a powerhouse economically. When then filters down into other areas.

It'll be interesting..On the one hand the US could rewild mammoths because there are millions of them in different dominions but on the other hand Ba'al will likely throw money at them for the genetic material of wolves, birds and there'd probably end up being a market for terran fish.

Though I think Earth will likely strictly control its materials, maybe set up aquaculture farms and spice fields on Abydos or something..And begin mass importing condiments and tobacco and the like straight from earth itself.

Which would cause a huge boom in the American South and places like the DR. Western Hemisphere boom baby!
 
Rescue

The Immortal Watch Dog

Well-known member
Hetman
Alright, some updates!

First part...The teams arrive on Chulak and Daniel gets accused of speaking space ebonics...the second....Some good ol'fashion imperial politics since @StormEagle and @DocSolarisReich and @Spartan303 seem to enjoy that!



Rescue:

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Chulak.






“holy shit it’s cold!”

“It’s not that bad Kowalski, Jesus!” O’Neill muttered with a slight roll of his eyes. It was cold, even for someone who grew up on the Great Lakes, it was damn cold. The Abydonians who had never experienced temperatures colder than fifty degrees were suddenly grateful for the fatigues that the Tau’Ri had insisted they wear below their robes. Others were glad they brought an extra cloak or had pockets large enough to shove their hands. But their chatter and amazement stopped when they looked up at the sky and saw the oddly colored clouds and the sunny skies filled with the distant silhouettes of moons and the immense gas giant, a world of a size and nature that the Abydonians could scarcely believe existed when Daniel told them about the ones in his solar system.



Jackson’s eyes took in the majesty of it all, the surrealness of knowing he was likely even farther away from home than he’d been from earth. His attention turned to the device Carter had taken to calling a Dial Home Device or DHD for short born of her own love of “analogue” tech as she called it. The DHD itself was sculpted to resemble a large cobra like alien, with pink eyes and spikes on its snout and in its open hissing mouth rested the dialing console. His eyes turned to the gate and he whistled in surprise, because the gate on this planet was nearly three times the size of the earth gate, pitch black in color with veins of Naquadah treated to look pink. “Apophis really likes the color pink” Daniel murmured.



“Big ass gate, must move a lot of cargo through here or something.” Kowalski said before turning towards the road that wound out ahead of the main gate. It shimmered a gold color in the sun and it was wide enough for several MI-Abrams to ride side by side down the road. On other side were side walks and several large flag poles which rose up into the heavens some fifty feet. Immense banners of a hissing king cobra like alien in gold with those pink eyes, its hood unfurled towered above a series of smaller banners, each with a different symbol all its own. Daniel suggested those were either the flags of “provinces” within this Snake dude’s domain or perhaps the standards of minor nobility or different regiments of their army or all the above.



The road wound onward, heading towards a city, that seemed to be eclipsed in the shadow of an immense mountain that one of the new marines identified as an enormous palace. “Well when in doubt” O’Neill said, not liking the idea of sneaking into a place that massive to find two people. “Follow the yellow brick road.” He added.



“I could wile away the hours, conferr’n with the flowers, consult’n with the rain!” Daniel began to sing the scarecrow’s part and O’Neill grinned “Easy there Dorothy, I can drape you from one of these flag poles.”



The pair laughed, glad for it given the specter of their lost friends while Carter remained transfixed on the immense gate, her eyes a whir as she seemed to be working out something. “We know two things today, that we didn’t know yesterday Sir.” She called towards the Colonel. -Confirmation that they can build different kinds of gates for different needs and they’ve presumably a way of differentiating between which gates so as not to send something large through this gate only to have shredded exiting a smaller gate.- This was bad, Carter realized. Turning she began to chase after the colonel, throwing up her hood, covered in the eye of Ra.



Ardef who was walking with Daniel turned back towards Carter motioning for her to join them. O’Neill looking as nonchalant as possible as other groups began to appear along the road. “They’re all built like athletes” he noted tensing as his mind wandered back to the Horus Guard and to the serpent-men. All of them built like warriors but most of them seemed to be dressed in garb that looked more like they belonged to laborers or tradesmen, technicians, and specialists. Several of them had what looked like grease or ink stains on their hands and the Colonel wondered why such an advanced society would still need mechanics or fountain pens. Then again Jack hunted even when he didn’t need to, and he still carried around a first world war era pistol. The laborers or whatever they were passed them merely nodding their heads in respect when they saw the symbols of the eye of RA, but O’Neill could sense a bit of apprehension in them that they hid well.





“Kowalski take SG-2 to the gate and set up camp in the woods on the side of the road, I saw some other tents and pavilions there. Hopefully you’ll blend in well with them and they’ll just assume that you’re traders or something. Take the Abydonians with you, our party’s too damn large for this road.”



“Sir…” Kowalski eyed him for a few lingering moments. “Sir, you want us to hold position?”



O’Neill nodded before adding “And I want you to give us twenty four hours and if we’re not back or you see trouble coming up the road, you hit the gate and get out.”



“Sir I’m not abandoning you!” Kowalski insisted. O’Neill shook his head “You’ll do as your ordered.. Listen Chuck if we’re not back or if snake dudes come down that road its because we’re fuck’n dead get it?” O’Neill’s vehemence caused the younger Colonel to reluctantly nod.





“What are you making out for far about their technology?” Daniel asked Carter who’d fallen in beside him her eyes lost none of the wild excitement from the moment she stepped through the gate onto this new world, but he could detect a level of anxiety there as well. The blond smiled at him and shrugged. “Well, we assumed your theory applied to these guys as well, that the copycats on earth were merely copying what another group of thieves and copy cats plagiarized. The story about Ra taking a human as a host seemed to imply, they were parasitic in nature or so we thought.”



“Right, which would in theory mean that they would know how to duplicate the technology and maintain it but not really innovate or advance or build off the technology right?” Jackson asked, sensing where she was going with that line of thinking and not particularly liking it one bit. It reminded him of all the speculating he did back during the first Abydonian mission only for him to realize he was only right about thirty percent of the time.



“Precisely and I was wrong, this is..Well this all speaks to a civilization that treats the technology that built the Abydondian pyramids and the city outside as if it was mundane. A lived-in civilization that shows an alarming amount of high tech just commonplace.”



Jackson didn’t like that, as far as he knew the mountain sized pyramids were the pinnacle of technological achievement and yet she was talking about it the same way a regular person might describe cell phones. “The city by the lake suffered extensive damage during the battle against Ra, within two years the buildings had regenerated themselves, so did whatever power line we hit by accident during the fight. If what you’re saying is right, this road could be thirty or forty thousand years old…Or brand new because they upgraded their roads the way we might upgrade between operating systems…Damn”



“Older.” Carter said in an almost whisper. “Think about it Jackson, even if they did copy some of their technology, to refine it to where they could do this? Build entire colonies and mass export humans from earth all over the Galaxy and who knows where else? An emerging civilization couldn’t do something like that. I think, we’re looking at a much older race than we’ve imagined.”





“Boy! You dorks just keep bringing the good news huh?” O’Neill asked standing between them with an exasperated look on his face. Ardef who was behind them and had been contemplating their discussion gave a nod. “Some of the religious stories we recorded said that Ra’s race was far older than humanity, that the Gods came from outside to rescue us from the darkness.”





“A million years into the heavens” Daniel repeated the words written on the cartouche that launched his journey all those years ago.



Ahead of them a group of men in dark black cloaks with gold lining and what looked like leather made from enormous serpents rested over their shoulders. The men were older, gray beards immaculately trimmed and bald heads with the symbol of the serpent men carved into their foreheads with silver. Their leader nearly stumbled into Daniel and Sam only for him to shake his head and bow in supplication, until he noticed the eye of Ra on the robes, and he regarded them with suspicion.



surra-al-hazla?”



“The fuck does that mean?” O’Neill asked, that hadn’t sounded like any Space Egyptian he’d heard. Seeing their blinking eyes, the priest sighed and began to speak in a dialect that at least sounded Abydonian.



“I suppose its too much to ask of Clerics of the House of Ra to speak in the language of the serpent! The warriors tongue. We are off to spread the faith in the border worlds, there are some breeds of mongrels out on the edge of our holdings in the next Galaxy who are starting to build their first flying machines. We’re to spread the word amongst the frontier, something you lazy fools should consider doing once in a while!” The head Cleric remarked in annoyance at what he believed were interloping priests from a competing branch of the main church.



-Huh? So, This house of Ra has clerics that preach domestically but the clerics of Apophis do missionary work and did he say “other Galaxy”!?” that shocked him but he had no time to dwell on it.



His reply made their faces twitch. While Jackson had replied with “I have often suggested it to my fellows, that we should share in your burden alas, we are merely here to deliver updated texts”





What the Clerics of Chulak heard was the most broken pidgin babble they’d ever heard, something even most backwaters would be ashamed of speaking. “Brother, what did this illiterate say?!” One whispered.



He said something about prepositioning his brothers and coming here to make congress with newtexts?”



Excuse me?!”





Direct them to the main temple and order them not to disturb Lore Master Shaun’ac for her body is still being regenerated by her new Prim’tah and I would not have these gutter dwelling fools agitate her with their babble.” The head priest sniffed.



No wonder his Majesty wishes war with Prince Horus, if these are the priests of the house of Ra I shudder to think what their technologists, scribes and warriors are!”





The head priest sniffed derisively and delegated it to a second who walked towards Daniel and Ardef and speaking slowly in Imperial standard said “You, go North, to Bakhu palace, there go to golden domicile of the Serpent and leave texts with Ra’ak and go away, speak not to Lore Master Shaun’ac, she is very important and busy. Hathor, update imperial religion too much, say come back here in two centuries. Now go towards Bakhu yes? Ayaaaa!” He added the last bit with dismissive effect and quickly stormed off to follow the other priests.





“Grouchy bunch” O’Neill remarked.



“Apparently they thought our dialect atrocious” Ardef remarked in English with a bemused smile. “They thought we were simpletons, though they gave useful information..Though I could understand only half. Daniel gambled and said we came to provide updated scripture, a gamble that paid off as they seemed to accept it. I assume it was useful.”



It was useful” Daniel said somewhat astounded by its implications. “Apparently they’re going off to evangelize in another Galaxy.”



“You’re kidding me!?” Carter asked shocked.



“Could gate the even travel that far?” O’Neill asked.



“I guess? As far as we can tell the gates don’t seem to be limited by distance, I’m guessing it’s a question of power and that would require astronomical levels….Pun intended” Carter offered with a slight smile. Though, the question remained. Could they travel across galaxies by ship like she thought the vessel in area fifty-one could.





“He also mentioned a House of Ra, I wonder if that means their society is feudalistic. Or more imperialistic with a hint of feudalism to it..” Jackson thought aloud.



“Lets just hope some of them see our blowing up their space Cesar as a favor then” O’Neill muttered.



Down the road and towards the mountain of madness.
 
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Dakkara

The Immortal Watch Dog

Well-known member
Hetman
Aannd we get to imperial politics, some scene appropriate music and Bra'tac!

.....


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Dakkara









How he missed this place, the capital of the greatest Empire the universe had ever seen. The center of a cosmic golden age that had risen from the ashes of a million years of darkness, decay and decline. The ancient Capital of the remnants of the Ori and the second world his father liberated, the site where his grandparents were killed, and the rebellion evolved from a pair of lonely outposts to a fire that consumed whole galaxies and cleansed it of the filth that dared to hold his ancestors in bondage. Dakkara had been many things, the symbol of the expansion of their slave rebellion, the nexus of their cultural power and the birth world of the Jaffa race.



Two billion Jaffa lived in the shining blue, green and rust colored gem, another four billion baseline humans, six hundred million Serrakin and a small kingdom of Unas scattered among the immense archipelago’s that dotted the ocean around Dakkara’s southern pole. One hundred thousand years ago, Dakkara had been a wasteland. It’s red, dust covered surface mirroring the sickness that was ravaging the Ori and their dead Alteran brothers, but Yu, Prometheus and Ra had turned it into a verdant paradise, keeping solely the largest eastern continent as the rust colored hellscape the rest of the world had been. There in the dune seas, amidst oasis and the hybrid animals that were a mix of Tau’Ri beasts and local fauna lay the ancient temple of light. Guarded by War Master Bra’tac it was the center of all martial learning and knowledge for the Jaffa warrior race. While Chulak would always be the military industrial center of the Empire, Dakkara was where the greatest Jaffa were trained by the retired first Primes of many system lords and under the leadership of Bra’tac of Dakkara formerly of Chulak.



Apophis, the war god, the master of expansion. The gold and silver colored Tel’tak would have trembled under its owner’s fury at the thought of the name had he not more self-control. In the Imperial religion, Apophis and Athena were the gods of war, strategy, expansion and defense and Horus mighty Falcon was the god of the Hunt, of athleticism, of discipline and skill. Looking at the muscular, tall man that sat upon a throne covered in exotic pelts and furs an enormous golden sword resting against his knee one might be forgiven for assuming he was the god of war. Unlike Apophis who kept himself bald, Horus’ golden hair long and fell about his shoulders like a mantle. Several long braids trailed down the length of his chest while others fell down his back to coil on the cushions. One of his hands was metallic and gold in color, robotic and clawed. A hand taken by his kid sister Egeria during her rebellion and though he could have in time grown back the hand; Horus preferred a prosthetic. A reminder of the price of keeping one’s guard low, of allowing love for one’s family to cloud one’s judgment. A mistake he would not repeat with his uncle.



They entered the atmosphere just as the sun was setting on the southern most western continent, what looked like a series of mountain ranges looming in the sunset. Mountain ranges that were in fact towers belonging that were part of the Iwnw the marvel, the wonder, the center of political and administrational power, the seat of governance of the greatest Empire the universe had ever seen. The beacon, the flame of civilization, the heart of the fire at the center of creation. At twenty thousand square kilometers Iwnw was as much a city as a palace. Half a million people lived within its walls and another million worked in and around it. Though the southern wing of the palace belonged exclusively to the House of Ra, it hadn’t been where he grew up. Horus was born on the world that was the epicenter of the rebellion. The primordial home world of the races that made up the Goa’uld and Horus had been raised in what were now the ruins of the hermitage there. The Tel’tak landed on a concealed pad near one of the grand hanging gardens that dotted the Western Wing. Suspended on anti-gravity pads each block of plants represented a different group of tropical flowers or vines from across the empire. Water flowed against gravity, rising “upwards” and feeding a river that flowed through the air towards a series of cisterns and pipes that fed other sections of the palace.



Ordinarily the arrival of Prince Horus would have come with much fanfare but today he hadn’t even bothered to announce his coming or send a herald. Today his meeting had to be secret, for today the House of Ra was discussing the unthinkable and the very real consequences that potentially came with such talk. But what choice do I have? My uncle has gone mad.



There were many system lords who were cynics, many who were overly ambitious, but what they all held in common was a belief that the Empire, the dream they built from the ruins of their chains was bigger than all of them. Though none embodied that belief quite like Prince Horus of the house of Ra who was the closest thing one could find to a Goa’uld zealot. On earth, he’d be called an ultra-nationalist. The Tollan called him a fanatic, the Asgard a supremacist and Apophis called him a fool playing at patriotism. Horus was loyal, he was a good son and that was why he was here.



He came alone, save only for Garek his chamberlain. The dark skinned, hoarse voiced behemoth of a man was born a peer, one of the sons of Ame-No-Manakushi and thus, like Prometheus. Garek was of his grandmother’s generation. Despite his powers however, he had dedicated himself to martial pursuits and had trained Anubis and Apophis in the art of war and when they surpassed him, he set aside his weapons and became a scribe and administrator. Many scorned him, for he easily could have become a system lord and for changing his name, yet he had chosen to serve instead. To Horus, that was always something to aspire too and admire about the hard old devil. Garek’s cape cast a mighty shadow that when joined to his own gave the impression that he was every bit the winged creature of his personal symbol. Automatic doors opened, there were servants but most scurried away or averted their gaze. To the citizens of the empire, the System Lords were gods and even the lesser breeds of Goa’uld worshipped them as such. -Pathetic- Horus thought, why had his father insisted on the Imperial religion again? It helped keep the peace, it helped build a sense of unity and no peer save father ever really called themselves Gods in private (His father had earned the right as far as Horus was concerned.) Nor did Horus really refer to himself as one in public either, within his domains his deeds spoke for themselves and people worshipped him of their own accord.



They entered an antechamber, far from the main apartments and Horus suppressed a shudder. How could he call this place home when his mother had long ceased living here? Only Isis, Osiris and the myriad of their children and grand children and the imperial bastards lived here.



Walking along marble it wasn’t long before Horus espied a woman who appeared to be physically in her late teens to early twenties by human reckoning. She had long, thick black hair with metallic red streaks and a pair of eyes the color of finely polished copper. She wore a corset made of some leather he couldn’t recognize and a skirt of fine silk that extended to her knees. As usual she was drunk and as usual, she was sharing a bottle with Bra’tac who was the only Jaffa to earn the right to be privy to such discussions, even if Horus did believe it was ludicrously above the War Masters’ station.



Bra’tac was a leather worn, copper skinned, gnarled, wrinkled hard old devil of a Jaffa with long brown hair that had gone an ashy, charcoal like gray. Broad of shoulder and with a long whiskered mustache and hands that still looked like they could crush the skull of an Unas in their grip. Bra’tac, the only Jaffa to defeat Herakles in single combat, the man who defeated two dozen primes and eight of the twelve first primes back-to-back in one of the most amazing sequence of duels Horus had ever witnessed. He'd also killed two hundred of Cronus' rebellious Jaffa as he carved a path of ruin to the mad Titan with not but two teenagers at his back. Brat’ac was adorned in the dark gray and gold of the imperial army, the golden symbol of the serpent upon his head an unpleasant reminder that the mentor of all Jaffa had been a creature of Apophis. -He shouldn’t be here, yet we cannot have this discussion without him-.





“Elder brother!” Isis whispered in a sing song tone. A soft chorus of a dozen different voices some childlike others womanly, some ancient. Rising from the table, swaying slightly she smiled, allowing her eyes to glow a deep white. Brother-in Law Horus wanted to correct, Isis was the daughter of Set, who had been given to Ra when she was still a larval infant. She’d been fostered with Osiris and grew up to eventually marry him and her domains were roughly the same size as her husband’s. Ra, Osiris, Isis and Horus, together the house of Ra ruled some sixteen thousand lightyears and nearly a quarter of a million worlds. Horus personal domains made up the lion’s share of that territory (some nine thousand lightyears), his domains being the largest of all the System Lords, save Apophis whose monstrous fiefdom was nearly the size of the entirety of the house of Ra’s. Together the Houses of Tartarus and Ra controlled just under half the total size of the domains of the system Lords and nearly twenty five percent of the total size of the empire not counting his uncle Yu’s Kingdom.



House of Ra, Horus had to stifle a chuckle at that. He remembered when the house of Ra and the House of Ouranos were one and the same. Before Anubis declared Ra their emperor and divine father made the House of Ra. -Things were simpler then weren’t they? -



“Sister” Horus said nodding his head to her, the bells on his braids jingling. Eyes narrowing as the woman rose and walked towards Garek. She took a dry, old hand in hers and bowed to the ancient Goa’uld. “Old uncle, it is good that you accepted our invitation.”



“Indeed? Bra’tac is already here, if you need a wise voice to tell you this is pure stupidity and disloyal as well, then you’ve him.” Garek rasped in response, his tone as curt as ever and his eyes hard.



“It is only treasonous if we act before Apophis draws first blood.” Horus responded with a sigh, rehashing the argument he’d already had with Garek before they left Nekhen The Crown world of Horus’s domain.





“I agree!” Isis chimed in as she laced her arms through Garek’s who was walking towards Bra’tac and clasped the man firmly on the forearm with the free hand in greeting. “War Master, Tek’ma’te!”



Bra’tac nodded his head, honored by the informality and respect of the term while Horus did his best not to roll his eyes at the absurd latitude the Jaffa was given. “Well met, old father” Bra’tac bowed his head. “They fear, not without reason that Apophis will not wait for the Grand Convocation and election ceremony in five years, they fear he will make war first and seize the throne by force.”



“He would be mad to do that!” Garek responded the chorus of his voice sounded like dozens of deep chanters meeting the rasp of a bunch of machinery. His eyes glowed a soft green indicative of his generation and his connection by blood to Amaterasu and her lineage. Even the ancient strategist, the precursor to the First Primes could not conceive of Apophis being so insane as to do what Cronus tried. “The only reason the Titan rebelled was because he believed he could wipe out the House of Ra and Tartarus at the same festival! A conflict between the house of Ra and Apophis would be a disaster for the Empire!”



“We would need the four of us to stand united against him to merely survive, we would have to call on Athena and Zeus to win.” Horus remarked concerned. “Haqet would side against us, that ancient bitch has ever resented the House of Ra because father was made Emperor and not her!”



The fury of that embittered fossil was well known. Haqet had been with the exception of Garek and Prometheus the oldest surviving Peer after the deaths of Tartarus and Ame-No-Manakushi, Ouranos and Nu made her subservient to them and when both were murdered by primitive Goa’uld in the aftermath of the first battle of the rebellion Haqet had tried to assert her authority. Anubis overruled her by bowing to Ra and the rest was history.



The ancient bitch ruled from her castle on Taonas, a grim and reclusive domain spanning some seven hundred lightyears at the “Northern” border of their empire. Tanith; her Chamberlain was always present at the imperial Court no doubt delegating his duties to some lonely second, his smiles as false as Haqet’s youthful host.



“Amaterasu will involve herself, the only being she detests more than Apophis is Haqet and your mother hates the old whore profoundly as well and if sAmaterasu involves herself, then Izanami will join, and Set will be compelled to side with Apophis as his realm would inevitably end up a warzone! And if Set joins him...” Horus clenched his robotic fists, eyes glowing a violent sort of white.



Nearly all the System lords embroiled in a war that would unravel everything they’d worked so hard to build. It would be a disaster and the ultimate vindication of the arrogant Nox and judgmental Asgard. “We are discussing this as though it is foretold” Garak cautioned as one of the doors opened and their fellow confederate entered. A tall pale skinned man with a lanky body and elegantly trimmed hair that was combed to the side. He wore a form fitting tunic with the symbol of the House of Ra and embroidered on the cuffs of his tunic, a falcon like bird flying through a field of stars. The symbol of Osiris, “God” of exploration, movement and politics, who looked every bit as youthful as his wife Isis despite being of another generation entirely. Osiris, his younger brother conceived some eighty thousand years ago during a period of relative peace between the great wars against the alliance.



“Ah, I see you have begun without me hmm?” Osiris spoke in sweet, melodic tones, the compelling voice of the Goa’uld sounding as though it were full of reassuring, confidence, and ease. The charmer, the snake oil salesmen, the liar. Yet the only being in the universe Horus trusted completely. “Is Garek doubting that Apophis will make a play?”



“He is dear husband” Isis chimed.



Bra’tac regarded the couple and nodded. “Garek is correct, he may not make a move until after the election, should he put his name forward at all” Though Bra’tac hoped he would, if not there would be war for a certainty and all the seeming obedience to form and protocol would have been not but a ruse to build up his forces.





“That brings us to another problem, no one expected Father to die, I do not believe he expected himself to die. These protocols were written the year Osiris was born and ratified by System lords of whom, only seven from that time still live. Prometheus himself is one of the signatories, good luck arguing the legitimacy of that document now.” Isis said folding her hands behind her back in a manner that reminded Horus of father -She may not have been his blood but-.



“Those documents are law!” Garek insisted, flustered by the talk he was hearing. “And even if it weren’t that would mean the position of Supreme System Lord and Emperor would go to your mother.”



Hathor had been co-ruler, empress before her divorce from Ra and while she became the Imperial Chamberlain and remained the second most powerful figure in the imperial government, it had been a step down. Hathor had lost much of her executive authority, retaining the judicial power while the Court of the System lords acted as the legislative body. An ascent to the position of Empress would mean someone would need to fill her spot, Isis and Osiris both seemed to beam with ambition.



Horus and Bra’tac both promptly threw cold water on their fantasies. Assuring everyone that Hathor would never accept the position of empress unless it was forced upon her. “It would go to you Horus, dear brother” Osiris finally said, speaking that which they all knew but dare not say, not until the votes were tallied.





“I wish it, for my father, to continue his legacy but it is a hard duty and I concur with Garek, those protocols for succession cannot, must not be broken!” No, Horus thought, I would not have the empire torn apart solely because of who my father was. I am loyal and we worked far too hard for this peace to be so broken.



“And if Apophis should break with the protocols? Osiris asked.



“Then his death shall be as grotesque as that invalid he calls a son!” Horus boomed and everyone in the room had to suppress a shudder. Klorel was, an uncomfortable reminder of where they came from, a cruel lesson in the dangers of mixing between the breeds and an abomination against every Goa’uld in existence and a perversion of the blood of the peers. “Vile creature that he is.”



“Amunet is little better” Bra’tac remarked and then clarified when he caught the withering gaze of Horus who was one moment of presumption away from killing the War Master. “With respect, eminent prince” Bra’tac began using the affectation for a scion of the House of Ra. “I spoke with Shaun’ac earlier, it seems Amunet took an unwilling Host, without cloning or lobotomization, without it being a condemned criminal and made sport of..neutralizing her spirit.”



Isis gagged and walked towards one of windows overlooking a hanging garden, her body tense with disgust as Osiris cursed and Horus grew so wrathful, he withdrew his sword and in a loud curse struck it into a column, nearly shattering the stone. “Barbarian! It’s bad enough she’s a filthy mongrel, but she conducts herself like some lowly Hassak vermin? Ja’mah! It’s unseemly!” Horus fumed, while the risks the lower breeds of Goa’uld underwent when taking a fully developed Host weren’t present for the Peers it still didn’t mean it was acceptable to conduct yourself like some, mindless, hunger driven primitive. “Father always regretted the way Odin’s body was taken and the way he took the boy. “Horus grew silent, the memory of his own possession distant and far away but he remembered that it was unpleasant, that he had greedily tore apart the mind of his host the act was…bestial and it shamed him to come so close to conducting himself like his barely sentient ancestors or the disgusting peasants that made up the lower orders...



“Our uncle consorts with beasts, surely someone so..addled is capable of anything” Horus said looking to Garek, who seemed to nod regretfully.



“Which is precisely why I suggest we prepare, but only prepare. We will not strike first and if Apophis waits until the election, then more the better. He will be attainted if he does..Perhaps we can avoid civil war entirely if we build a bulwark and box the old serpent in.”





“Or” Began Garek his eyes dark as concern filled him for even suggesting this. “Or we.” He went silent as Lotar entered to deposit some beverages andfoods resuming only when the group departed. “Or we bribe Apophis by promising a period of expansion, long has he eyed the largest Galaxy in our cluster, what the Ori called Akromedas I believe he rules several hundred lightyears there already. There are regions of our Galaxy the rest of the Empire could expand into and establishing a bulwark in Pegasi and the Dwarf Galaxies nearby, it would certainly occupy us for the next ten thousand years.” Garek muttered, touching his chin. Yes, the opportunity for growth there would be something even the Asgard couldn’t object to, even if they did rattle their saber about expansion in the milky way.



“That, would require approval of the new Emperor, only Ra ever held the authority to authorize expansion.” Isis said before her eyes glinted in realization. “Ah, yes, I see…So we make dear brother Emperor and Horus agrees to go on a conquering spree and we sate Apophis bloodlust.”





“You assume” Bra’tac remarked, cutting in. “That Apophis merely wishes for a good fight and is not ambitious, or resentful of being in the shadows of others.”



Horus sneered at that. “Apophis never once set his eyes on the throne before. He was content being our dog of war, he’s served in that capacity for a hundred thousand years! Why would he suddenly want more?”





“Why indeed.” Bra’tac asked with a serene smile, perhaps prince, whose father believed him a fool. Perhaps because he has been sitting on resentment for several ages of the universe at this point and wishes to claim what was long denied to him? Bra’tac said nothing because Garek cleared bis throat.



“This is a discussion we cannot have without your mother, where is her majestic eminence, the lady Hathor?” Garak asked, with none of the usual preamble those who claimed to be friends with their mother only using the prefix used when she was empress. The only real sign that Garek was the closest thing Hathor had to a grandfather.





“No one has seen mother, not in a year.” Isis responded; concern evident in her voice. “Her office continues to release edicts and update scripture as though she were still with us, but she departed Dakkara months ago.”



What?!” Garek’s voice held a note of worry and Horus looked up positively horrified. “You’re certain?! The lady is missing?”



“She claimed she was going to find answers as to who murdered Father, she left through the Gate alone and we traced the address to a Forest world at the edge of Father’s domain.” Isis responded meekly, somewhat surprised her foster brother's chamberlain hadn’t noticed. “You both have been gone too long my loves.”



“Why didn’t you stop her?!” Horus asked in alarm. “Madness…we’re on the edge of civil war and…”



“We should request an analyses of local subspace from Thoth or one of Ba’al’s technologists, we should determine where mother has gone.” Osiris offered, attempting to defuse the stress. “In the meantime I suggest that we at least begin to fortify our borders and send out word that we will hold a grand banquet in Ra’s honor, issue a summons to all the system lords and request their attendance personally, infer that we will begin the process…”



“That may provoke Apophis” Bra’tac cautioned, earning a nod of agreement from Garek who touched his chin in thought. “And yet, perhaps it is good that we do, provoke. At least we will find out who has the appetite for battle and if we’re correct in assuming the majority would prefer a peaceful transition of power and not a civil war.”





“Amaterasu and Apophis, Set and Ba’al, Haqet and mother at a table together…” Isis murmured with an amused drawl in her tone. “Empire’s have been destroyed by less…volatile personalities.”



“And saved by them as well” Garek said, his eyes shifting towards the gardens. -Anubis, your presence is sorely missed…Everything went wrong when you died, Ra cites Egeria’s death as the point, but it wasn’t the Tau’Ri who marred us was it? It was your death-



No, Garek thought.



It was that you laid your weapon down and bowed to Ra and vowed to avenge his parents and unite the universe under the all-seeing eye of Ra, when it should have been the banner of the shakal.





Funny, his failure as a teacher was the inverse of Prometheus’ failure, Garek had never nurtured ambition in Anubis and Prometheus over indulged Ra’s.



He laughed aloud and when the others looked at him, the ancient Goa’uld smiled. “Nothing, Nothing”



Except an old man recriminating against himself, lost in nostalgia.
 
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