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Chapter 157: The Double Cross Part 3
Chapter 157: The Double Cross Part 3

Alliance Forward Base, PU-9841, February 8th, 2000 (Earth Time)


"So, what's the verdict, Carter?"

The General sounded flippant, but Samantha Carter could tell that he was at least a little nervous behind his wide, cocky grin - his eyes gave it away. She knew him too well to be fooled.

"Well, sir…" she started to say, then wanted to wince when she saw his expression grow serious at once. He knew her too well not to catch on that she didn't bring good news.

And then he was grinning again. "If I am mutating into a dog, I'll need to know so I can make arrangements to get my uniforms altered."

She snorted at that. "You're not turning into a dog, sir."

"I sense a 'but' coming."

"Your vitals are all good." Great, even, for his age. Or for any age.

"Still not feeling reassured. Come on, tell me the bad news."

She winced and sighed through clenched teeth. "I've detected some changes in your body on a cellular scale." She took a deep breath. "Your DNA is… changing."

"That sounds like a mutation." He was dead serious now. "Unless X-Men lied to me."

She didn't bother laughing at his joke. "It's not a mutation - it's more an… optimisation. I need to run it past an expert to confirm, but my preliminary estimate is that minor faults and defects in your DNA are being…" Don't say 'fixed', she reminded herself. "Corrected."

"By magic." He was pressing his lips together with such effort, they formed a thin line.

She nodded. "That needs to be confirmed as well, but it is the most likely explanation."

He scoffed in return. "So, someone's cleaning up my genes. I guess I won't have to worry about all the radiation I might have picked up in places I never visited in the first place."

Sam shook her head. "Any such lingering or potential health issues were already taken care of when Adora healed you the first time, sir:"

"Ah." He narrowed his eyes. "So, what exactly is happening now?"

"I have yet to confirm it," she said. "But my best estimate after using the most detailed magictech scanner I have access to here is that your, ah, Ancient heritage has been rendered more prominent."

"I'm turning into an alien?" He stared at her.

"Not quite. It's more that your, ah, Ancient genes are becoming more dominant," she explained.

"That sounds like I am turning into an alien, Carter."

"The Ancients were, as far as we know, and as far as DNA tests have confirmed, our ancestors, sir. They were and are, in Adora's case, close enough to humans to have viable, non-sterile offspring, according to Alpha's data. That means we're the same species."

"That sounds like semantics."

"Scientific definitions aren't semantics, sir," she reminded him, frowning slightly.

"That's what a semantic would say."

"You're not turning into an alien," she repeated herself. "And you won't suddenly sprout, ah, tentacles. As far as we can tell, you're simply becoming a bit more… like your ancestors. DNA-wise."

He snorted. "Still sounds like turning into an alien. Will I get a magical sword or tiara?"

She hesitated a fraction of a second, but it was enough for him to pick up. "Don't tell me I'm turning into a princess!"

"There's no sign of that as far as I can tell with my current equipment, sir," she retorted.

"That's not a 'no', Carter."

"It's as much as I can do here. We have to travel to Etheria and have you examined there."

"By the crazy Frankenstein AI on the moon, you mean." He scoffed and looked at the screen on the wall showing muted news from Earth on a lagging loop.

"And by the experts from Mystacor," she added.

He turned to stare at her. "Right. Forgot about them. So, I'm turning into a witch?"

She winced again. That this would strengthen what, according to Castaspella, was already a high potential for magic was her best hypothesis. "I think the correct term would be 'sorcerer', sir. Though unless you start training in sorcery, you won't be able to actually work magic."

"And that's how I like it!" he snapped. "Not a word to anyone with magic about that, Carter!"

"Sir! It's just a hypothesis so far. It could be something else. We need to have you examined by experts to be able to exclude the possibility that this might be a threat to your health." She met his eyes with a firm expression. "I cannot condone that risk." And he should know better.

He stared at her for a moment, then sighed. "Alright. Let's get the Frankenbot to peek at my genome to check that I'm not turning into an alien."

Sam didn't smile but merely nodded. But she was relieved. If she had to decide whether she would follow the General's orders or her conscience, with his health potentially on the line… whatever the choice, she wouldn't have been happy.

*****​

"So?" Catra turned away from the one-way window into the interrogation room where Kul'et was sitting - secured - at a table and looked at Melog.

Awe. Guilt.

That didn't tell her what the Jaffa was feeling guilty about. Spying for Apophis on Adora? Or that he failed Apophis? He had been grateful, earlier, Melog had said - but that had been right after Adora had saved him from the poison he had taken.

She shook her head. "Looks like you'll have to talk to him, Adora."

Her love sighed but nodded. "I don't know what would be worse - that he's still faithful to Apophis or that he worships me."

Catra rolled her eyes at her. "Stop whining. Every Jaffa that converts to the Church of She-Ra is one less Jaffa we have to fight."

"I'm no goddess!" Adora clenched her teeth. "No one should worship me!"

Catra shrugged. "They do it anyway. Freedom of religion."

"No one should be worshipped like that!" Adora retorted. "That kind of blind faith is what the Goa'uld want - and what makes them so evil."

It was just a small part of why the snakes were evil, in Catra's opinion. You didn't need blind faith to get blind obedience. The Horde had shown that. And Earth had plenty of other examples. But it usually made it easier, of course. "It's not exactly blind faith," she said, grinning. "Priest certainly isn't always listening to you. Well, he's listening, but he doesn't just do what you want." Like when Adora wanted him to stop worshipping her.

Adora groaned. "That's not a good thing either! I'm still responsible for him and his people!"

Catra scoffed. "You'd be responsible for them as Supreme Commander of the Alliance anyway."

"It's not the same!" Adora insisted. "This goes far beyond the military chain of command."

Catra shrugged again. Sure, the clones would likely ignore any rules if Adora really wanted them to do something, but… "As long as they listen to you when it's important, it's a good thing," she said. "Would you rather have them converting to an Earth religion? I'm sure many of their religious leaders would love having fanatical converts at their disposal."

"Of course not!" Adora shuddered. "But… It's just not right. And I don't like to burden the next She-Ra with this responsibility."

Catra pressed her lips together. The next She-Ra would only be chosen if Adora died. And Catra would do anything to prevent that from happening. But there was no need to go into that. She slowly shook her head. "She-Ra will do fine. Mara and you both had to deal with worse responsibilities."

"And Mara died," Adora spat.

Alright, Catra had been wrong. There was a need to get into this. "I'm not going to let you die. And if you're trying to get killed, I'll kill you!"

Funny.

Adora blinked. "What?"

"You know what I mean!" Catra said with a deep frown aimed at both her love and Melog.

Adora smiled even as she shook her head. "I'll go in now." She turned to the door leading to the hallway and left the room. A moment later, Catra saw her entering the interrogation room.

"Goddess!" Kul'et tried to jump up, but the chain fastened to his cuff stopped him. A moment later, he tried to bow but only managed to press his head against the top of the table.

Catra snorted - the Americans had installed the interrogation room, as a 'provisional measure', as they had called it, since they didn't want to move Kul'et to a standard P.O.W. camp until they knew whether he had ditched Apophis's faith or not, but they had done good work anyway.

She glanced at Melog for a moment.

Awe. Gratitude. Love. Guilt.

That sounded promising. Still, they had to be sure.

"Sit," Adora said.

"Yes, Goddess."

Catra saw Adora frown for a moment before smiling again. "How are you doing? Are you being treated right?"

He better be, Catra thought. If They couldn't ensure P.O.W.s being treated correctly in a tiny forward base under their very noses… Well, technically, Kul'et was a spy, but since the Alliance had pulled off the same plots already, no one would make a fuss about that. No one who mattered, anyway.

Kul'et took a deep breath and bowed his head again. "I am being treated better than I deserve. I have done the bidding of a false god and attempted to deceive, to betray you, a true goddess. My life is forfeit!"

Guilt. Shame.

"He has been too long near Apophis," Catra muttered. "That's where he picked up all the drama."

Melog sent her a spike of amusement.

"No!" Adora shook her head, and Kul'et actually flinched at her tone. "No one is going to die for Apophis - or any other Go'auld - if we can help it. That includes you!"

"Your mercy is as vast as your power, Goddess."

Honesty. Relief.

Adora winced. "That's just doing the right thing. You were raised to believe in an evil cause. So was I. And others." She leaned forward, putting both hands on the table. "We understand. And we don't judge you for it."

Kul'et blinked. "I don't understand…"

Confusion, Melog confirmed.

Catra sighed. In theory, Kul'et could still be feeling all this and be loyal to Apophis. Relieved that they were treating him well, guilty for failing - or for having torn loyalties, maybe.

This could take a while. Maybe they should have called for professional interrogators. No - they wouldn't hold the same respect as Adora did.

*****​

"...and so Melog came to the conclusion that Kul'et has honestly changed sides."

Jack O'Neill nodded at Adora's summary. "You mean he converted, right?"

Adora frowned at him, but Catra nodded. "Yes."

"That was likely the key reason he switched," Daniel cut in. "Adora saving his life in extremis, and changing a significant part of the planet at the same time, would have shaken anyone, of course, but Kul'et was especially receptive due to his background."

"The Goa'uld depend on power, both real and fictive, over their followers to keep them faithful," Sha're added. "But that means that should they be defeated by a rival, their followers might switch allegiance and faith to the victor because they might seem ascendant."

"And dear old Apophis has suffered a few humiliating defeats." Jack grinned. Some of them, like the losses of two fleets, he would have been able to keep secret from the general population, but Kul'et would have been aware of them since he was supposed to become a double agent. And Apophis hadn't been able to hide the raid on his palace. Now the Alliance just had to keep the pressure on, and Apophis's entire empire might crumble…

Of course, having the snake's faithful convert to worshipping Adora had some drawbacks as well, but they could deal with those once the snakes were done. "We've got Apophis fooled into thinking the Horde is about to attack Earth, and we turned his spy. How do we exploit this?" That was a question for the brass and spooks at Headquarters, but it never hurt to come back from the field with a few ideas and proposals. Especially if you were discussing it with the Supreme Commander of the Alliance.

"Kul'et had orders to gather what information he could, pass it back once he had the opportunity, and then wait for further orders," Catra said. "So, we don't have to decide right now what misinformation he can pass back. But Apophis will have stealth ships on the way to Earth to watch the expected Horde attack. He might even move a fleet there in case there's an opportunity after the Horde and Earth destroy each other. We need to decide how to handle that."

Sha're nodded. "If Apophis thinks the battle was very costly for all involved, he won't be able to resist attacking the exhausted victor. Not only will he hope to recover Horde technology no matter who supposedly won, but taking Earth will enhance his prestige amongst his peers - and add a massive population to his realm."

"A population who will resist his occupation," Jack pointed out. "And we're rather good at making any occupiers' lives hell." Especially if they wanted to impose their religion on Earth. Hell, this would make Afghanistan look like a pleasure cruise!

"I doubt that Apophis would consider this," Daniel said. "That's not how it works in the Goa'uld Empire."

"He would expect the humans to bow to him once he has dealt with their leaders and armies," Sha're added.

"Then he'll be disappointed," Jack said. "We don't submit easily."

"His response will be brutal," Sha're replied. "He'll do anything to crush resistance. And Earth has so many people, he could kill a billion or more and still consider it a great addition to his power."

"Indeed," Teal'c said gravely.

"The loss of so many people would wreck Earth's industry," Carter objected. "The supply chains would already be in tatters after the Horde invasion, murdering more people…" She shook her head. "Earth might not recover in decades from such a blow."

"Fortunately, that won't happen," Catra cut in with a snort. "So, we have to fool Apophis into believing that either the Horde won easily or Earth easily defeated the Horde."

"If Apophis thinks Earth is strong enough to easily defeat an enemy who wrecked his own fleet, then he'll see us as much more dangerous than he thought - maybe a danger to the Goa'uld Empire," Daniel said. "At the very least, he could portray us as such to his fellow System Lords."

"He would try to set them on Earth in order to weaken both, just as he did with the Horde," Sha're agreed.

"Guy's got no imagination," Jack muttered. And the snake probably thought he was being clever instead of obvious.

"So, if Earth suddenly appears to be a great power in the galaxy, or at least tough enough to defeat the Horde remnants, that might cause the Goa'uld to address us with a united front," Adora summed up.

"We don't want that," Catra said.

"But a seemingly easy defeat of Earth at the hands of the Horde could have the same effect on the System Lords," Daniel retorted.

"That would only mean a return to the status quo," Sha're disagreed. "When Horde Prime was still alive."

"But he was occupied with the First Ones back then," Adora pointed out. "At least for the longest time. That wouldn't be the case now - if the Horde struck at Earth, the Goa'uld might expect them to strike at their own holdings next."

Jack nodded. "And Apophis will try to use that as well to save his own neck."

"It's still better than the alternative," Catra argued. "The snakes won't know what the Horde might do, and how many are left, so they will be cautious until they find out more. So, we gain more time to prepare."

"But the Goa'uld will prepare for a Horde attack. That means we'll lose the element of surprise anyway," Carter said.

Catra shrugged. "That would happen sooner or later anyway. This way, especially with Kul'et on our side, we can control what Apophis will know, and through him, the other System Lords."

It wasn't perfect by any means, and the brass and politicians back home wouldn't be happy, but that was war for you. Jack nodded. "So, let's think about how we can fake a Horde victory and occupation of Earth. Preferably one that makes Earth look like it's not worth another attack."

"I don't think that's going to be possible," Daniel said. "Earth has such a great symbolic value as Ra's ancestral seat, holding it, even if it lays in ruins, would benefit any System Lord."

Jack frowned a little. "It's still better if Earth only has symbolic value rather than symbolic and economic and military value. So, any ideas?"

Carter suddenly stiffened. That was a bad sign - Jack was asking for ideas, not more problems. "Sir, I just realised there's a problem with those plans."

*****​

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, Earth, February 9th, 2000

"...and so we can fake an occupation of the Solar System by the Horde." Adora smiled at the assembled Alliance leaders. "Since the majority of the ships protecting Earth are Horde frigates, we won't have to change our troop deployments. We'll have to be more careful with how we deploy Earth-made ships, but since the Goa'uld haven't encountered them yet, even if they are observed, they won't be associated with Earth." And all of them were descended at least partially from Horde designs, so anyone analysing them without access to a captured ship would likely focus on the similarities.

The British Secretary of State for Defence nodded. "We might have to cover the ship's name and pennant numbers, though. And the flags, of course."

"Yes." Adora nodded. But that was standard procedure for any deployment anyway - at least until Earth's part in the Alliance was revealed. "We thought about using some of them to fake a naval engagement in the system to fool the stealth ships from Apophis which will be observing the Solar System." Kul'et had confirmed that part. " But that would hamper later deployment of the ships, and we don't want Apophis to think that Earth has naval yards - and that the Horde has taken them."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Not that Earth has too many working naval yards to begin with," Catra muttered next to Adora.

That was a bit unfair. Earth had many working naval yards. It was just that, with the exception of the British Flower II-class, they hadn't actually finished and commissioned any spaceships yet. The Americans were close with their Constitution II-class of frigates, though Sam had mentioned that their design still had some issues to be ironed out, and any fixes had to be applied to the other ships on the slips, delaying their completion. And the ships wouldn't be ready for deployment until they had enough space fighters to fill the hangars. The French were a bit more behind, but they were working closely with the British and last Adora had heard, they didn't expect too many troubles with their first design. The Germans were not quite as advanced, but they were both working on a stealth corvette and adapting the British transport design, so they had split their efforts. And, unlike the United States, the Europeans were all working with at least another, usually smaller country, which complicated matters a bit.

But that wasn't a topic for today's meeting. Adora forced herself to keep smiling as she went on: "But that won't help with the real problem: The radio waves Earth has been transmitting."

She could see the assembled ministers react as they realised, some more quickly than others, what she meant.

"We've been broadcasting for years - including coverage of your arrival and the forming of the Alliance…" the American Secretary said, grimacing.

Adora nodded. "We've plotted how far the transmissions have spread, and while they haven't reached any systems occupied by the Goa'uld, and won't for decades to come, at which point they won't be discernible any more, any ship sent to observe Earth from close by will be able to receive and understand them."

"Like a radio telescope," another minister said. "They'll be able to look into our past."

"Yes." Adora nodded again. "And we can't expand our sensor network fast enough to cover all that space. Not if we want it dense enough to spot their stealth ships." Entrapta and Sam had been clear about that. Deep space was just too vast even for their magitech sensors.

"So what can we do?" the French minister asked. "If we couldn't do anything, you'd have started with that."

"We can't count on spotting Apophis's stealth ships in space, and we can't stop the transmissions that were sent already. But his ships will need time to reach the Solar System. So, we need to ensure that when they arrive close enough to pick up the radio transmissions covering our arrival on Earth, Apophis cannot use whatever they receive any more." She smiled as confidently as she could. "We're planning to create a distraction so tempting, he won't be able to resist, and then we strike."

"You want to take him out?" the German Minister asked. "A decapitation strike?"

"Yes." Adora nodded firmly. "He's already suffered several defeats and is increasingly desperate. If we offer him a possible solution to his troubles, he's unlikely to resist."

"And what are you planning to use?" The American Secretary was leaning forward.

"A Horde superweapon," Adora replied. "One about to be used against Earth." She saw their reaction, and clarified: "A fictive Horde superweapon constructed by us." Leaking intel about it to Apophis would be tricky but not impossible with Kul'et's help.

"Ah."

*****​

Spacelab, Earth Orbit, February 9th, 2000 (Earth Time)

Samantha Carter brought up the latest schematics of Project Fortitude - she wasn't calling it 'Project Death Star' no matter what the General said - on the holoprojector inside the Spacelab. "This is what we currently have. If we use the Horde fleet trains manufacturing pipeline, we can build the hull from parts intended for the Velvet Glove mounted on a standard frigate. It would take a few days if we use an existing frigate, a bit longer if we purpose-build a frigate, though in that case, we could also adapt the structure and power generators for the project, which should enhance its effectiveness."

Entrapta scrunched her nose while she studied the schematics. "Hm…"

Hordak tilted his head, then nodded. "It seems feasible. However, someone not familiar with the Horde would realise that it's not an original Horde design - Horde Prime would have never allowed such an aesthetically imperfect vessel to be produced."

Samantha Carter pressed her lips together. She didn't think the design was that bad or ugly. "It's meant to be a prototype," she defended her project.

"Horde Prime fixated on perfection. He wouldn't have shown, much less deployed, an imperfect design such as a prototype," Hordak retorted. "Although I assume that Apophis is not as familiar with Horde Prime's character to know this, so this might work."

"But it wouldn't work!" Entrapta blurted out.

Sam turned to look at her. "What's wrong with it?" she asked. Had she overlooked something? Missed a critical point?

"It wouldn't work! The 'Core Cracker Cannon' doesn't have enough power to actually crack a planet's core!" Entrapta shook her head. "It's just an upscaled regular beam cannon. But it's not upscaled enough. And the beam isn't focused enough to penetrate a planet's crust to the depth needed - in fact, the focussing crystal lenses are widening the beam. All this would do is create a hole in the ground, and not a very deep hole, either - the beam would lose cohesion way before it reached sufficient depth. You could continuously fire it for days and it wouldn't do much more!"

Sam cleared her throat. "It's supposed to be a decoy, not a working superweapon," she reminded Entrapta. And a rush job. And it's still more functional than the Navy's frigate design, she added in a fit of pique. At least this design would be ready to use sometime this year.

Entrapta frowned at her. "But if it obviously won't work, it won't fool anyone either!"

"I doubt Apophis would be able to tell that from the information he'll get," Sam explained.

"We shouldn't underestimate our enemies!" Entrapta nodded at her own words. "Everyone says that."

"We should not overestimate them either," Hordak said. "I suffered a few setbacks early in my campaign when I misjudged the Alliance's response and had positioned my forces for a counter-attack that never came because they withdrew, and I had no forces ready to exploit that."

Sam nodded, though she did feel a little torn about Hordak supporting her using his past as a warlord. "We can't exactly build a working superweapon for this," she said - not for the first time.

"Well, we could, if we used an unstable dimensional portal, but deploying that from space is a bit of a challenge. It would be more like building a flying portal and landing it on the surface before activating it. And finding a way to replicate the dimensional interaction that allowed the portal on Etheria to almost destroy the planet would be tricky even with Beta's support," Entrapta said. "And that technology is banned, of course, because it's so dangerous," she added.

The last line sounded a bit like Entrapta had learned it by rote to Sam, but that might just be her imagination. Still, better safe than sorry. "It was banned for a very good reason." If research into something could destroy a planet - or more - if it suffered a mishap, you'd be insane or desperate to do it.

Or an Ancient, though their sanity obviously was in doubt.

"I concur. However, you said we could build a working superweapon?" Hordak sounded interested.

"Well, it depends on what kind of superweapon you want. If we combine the dimensional portal projector with the spy bot network for targeting, we should be able to compensate for the firing delay, but we would need to develop safe ways to quickly recharge the projector - it wouldn't be very impressive if you couldn't fire it fast enough to destroy a fleet. It would need a larger housing and a lot more power than we can fit into the hull there, though." Entrapta nodded. "And it wouldn't be able to destroy a planet unless you could keep at it until all parts were transported into another dimension, which would take a loooong time. It would be faster to just have a fleet bombard a planet, I guess, even if that wouldn't crack the core either. Anyway, it would probably not qualify as a superweapon. But! What if we combined a Naquadah-enhanced superbomb with a mass driver? Detonate it in the liquid part of the core of a planet, and the shockwaves should wreck the tectonic plates from below!"

Sam felt her stomach drop at the proposal. That was… theoretically possible. Building a bomb powerful enough to achieve that wouldn't be too hard, but finding a way to deploy it to a planet's liquid core would be nigh impossible. "The bomb would never reach the core without being destroyed by the force needed to reach that deep," she said. "And that kind of force would wreck the planet anyway."

"Yes, that's the problem," Entrapta agreed. "But if we manage to adjust the dimensional projector so the bomb is phased out of our dimension just long enough to pass through matter at the speed of a mass driver, it should phase back in just in time to detonate. The timing is tricky, and the speed needed is a bit above our current projections for such cannons, but if we focus on it, I think we could do it!"

"That would take a lot more time than we have," Sam reminded her - and herself. "And we only need something that looks like a superweapon to bait Apophis." Even though he already had a fleet to wreck planets with sustained fire. But a superweapon would appeal to his ego, according to the General. 'They always go for the Death Stars,' as he had put it.

"But it should look convincing!" Entrapta insisted. "So it needs to at least work in theory!"

Hordak nodded.

Sam sighed. "Let's see what we can do."

This reminded her a bit too much of the US Space Navy design process.

*****​

Royal Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, February 10th, 2000 (Earth Time)

"So, Entrapta and Hordak wanted to build an actual superweapon?" Catra snorted as she closed the message and looked at Adora. "To better fool Apophis?"

"Yes," her love sighed.

"A Core Cracker Cannon?" Glimmer had found the message as well.

"Sam's supervising," Bow said - a bit hastily, in Catra's opinion.

Justified, of course - Glimmer looked quite disturbed. Which also was justified - she knew, as did Catra, of course, how close Etheria had come to destruction because of 'superweapons'.

Catra pushed the memory away. "It's being handled. Besides, not even those three can build a superweapon as quickly as we need it. Just building the decoy will take a week if we screw up the logistics of our fleet."

"You sound remarkably unconcerned about that." Glimmer narrowed her eyes at her. "Especially after telling everyone how crucial those supply chains are."

"It'll be good training for when we launch the first offensive," Catra replied with a shrug. "Teach the Alliance to deal with the chaos of a campaign." Most of the Alliance members had never fought an interstellar war, much less on that scale. The clones had, of course, but it had been a while for them as well, and they would have to adjust to fighting in an Alliance. And without Horde Prime jumping into bodies to handle things in person. She flashed her teeth. "But, speaking of crucial things for the war…"

Glimmer scowled at her. "We haven't decided yet."

Catra rolled her eyes for a moment. "You mean you haven't decided yet if you want to stay queen."

"It's not that simple!" Glimmer defended herself. "Mom and Dad are still working things out."

Meaning, Angella was still trying to learn how to fit in after her return to Bright Moon, Catra mentally translated. She didn't say that out loud, of course. Instead, she smirked. "So, that's what you're calling it in Bright Moon. 'Working out'."

"Catra!" Adora was blushing.

Glimmer, though, snorted. "They haven't seen each other for over a decade and thought the other was dead."

Bow looked a little embarrassed, but Catra nodded. "More seriously, though: We need to sort out our chain of command before we pull off a major operation."

"I know," Glimmer spat.

"And if Angella is too 'busy' with Micah to rule…" Catra trailed off.

"Nothing's going to change for now," Glimmer stated the obvious.

Catra shrugged and let the matter drop - for today. She'd return to it tomorrow, and keep at it until things were settled.

Adora cleared her throat. "Anyway, we've done preliminary planning with Priest for the space battle - a skirmish, actually. We'll make a light show and have Kul'et leak that Earth has driven off an attack, but the Horde is bringing in a superweapon."

"Why would we know that?" Bow asked.

"Because Hordak bragged about it to scare Earth into surrendering," Catra explained. "But they won't surrender, of course. Horde Prime probably wouldn't have bragged like that, only after the deployment, but it would fit an underling trying to fill his shoes."

"Priest wanted to write the dialogue, but Hordak declined," Adora added with a wry smile.

"Is Priest working on the fake space battle?" Glimmer asked.

"Yes. Faking the weapons is easy - we'll just power down the beams some. But ideally, we'll need empty frigate hulls to blow up," Catra said. Or actual frigates, but blowing up a working frigate while Earth was struggling to build smaller warships and the Tok'ra had to make do with what small ships they had managed to scavenge and steal probably wouldn't go over well with the rest of the Alliance.

"Fake ships and a fake superweapon? That's a lot of effort and resources to fool Apophis," Glimmer said.

"We're not just fooling him - if all works out, we'll capture him," Adora said.

Or kill him, Catra added. Apophis wouldn't escape.

"You think he will visit the fake superweapon himself?" Glimmer frowned.

"He won't be able to resist," Catra said. "And then we'll get him."

"Ah." Glimmer nodded, then looked at her tablet again. "I think that's all the important stuff we had to cover."

"There are several important memos and reports left!" Adora protested.

"That can be handled by the staff," Glimmer said. "I'm not dealing with altercations between clones and Earth nutcases over religion. Not unless they turn into riots or someone gets seriously hurt. Or they become more frequent than once every two weeks. We're not going to run the war according to what Earth media are screaming about on any given day."

Adora pouted, but Catra nodded. Glimmer was right.

*****​

Alliance Base Lübtheen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, February 11th, 2000

"...and protestors have been gathering outside the local military base. They demand that the, and I quote, 'heathen aliens' are banned from visiting the county. So far, the commander of the base has not responded to our requests for a statement."

Jack O'Neill rolled his eyes. "That's because the whole incident has nothing to do with him or the base, you moron!" The clone whose proselytising had started all hadn't even visited the base. Nor had the 'Alliance military police unit' that had responded to save the clone bothered to check in with the base before breaking up the mob. No wonder the base commander was doing his best to keep out of the line of fire of this mess - no matter what he said, someone would take offence.

And it wasn't a big deal, anyway. The clones hadn't killed or seriously hurt anyone, even though they hadn't been gentle in dispersing the lynch mob. Not even the preacher who had riled everyone up. Jack wasn't sure if one of his commands had been able to do that, especially one that had only recently - as in five minutes before deployment, and Jack wasn't checking too closely if that had been backdated - been converted into a military police reserve unit. For once, Priest's skill at politics had come in handy.

Though Jack also couldn't shake the feeling that the clone missionary hadn't visited that particular town by chance. The clones usually stuck to big cities, at least in the USA. Or to the towns and cities outside the major Alliance bases - Brussels was about to build the first church for the Church of She-Ra, last he had heard, and the only reason Hamburg wouldn't beat it was that the German bureaucracy took longer to issue building permits.

Either way, it wasn't his problem. Or much of a problem at all. Despite the best efforts of certain members of Congress and parts of the media, those things never lasted long—something else Jack didn't really want to examine too closely.

He switched the channel and leaned back in his chair.

"...The United Nations General Assembly debated another resolution that would demand that control over the Stargate passes to a 'multi-national committee', as of yet not defined. It is not expected to pass but has the support of most African and Middle Eastern member states as well as Russia and China, and…"

In other words, no news from the United Nations. Some people just couldn't accept that they lost. As long as the sore losers stuck to trying to pass resolutions in the United Nations, nothing would come of it. And if they didn't and escalated… well, you'd have to be a suicidal moron to start anything with the Alliance if you didn't have a fleet of spaceships with big honking guns of your own. So far, even the Iranians had behaved rationally in the face of that.

"...the announcements of extensive naval exercises near Earth have raised concerns about the state of the war. The Alliance has not been very forthcoming about their operations, and rumours about a failed invasion continue to spread despite several statements of the Alliance Headquarters refuting them."

"...people demand the truth! What is happening out there? Where are our boys fighting? And whom?"

"...with the Alliance refusing to reveal where our tax dollars are going, fears of widespread corruption are common. Several experts have cited historical and current examples of how vulnerable autocratic governments such as absolute monarchies are to systematic corruption and voiced concerns about the Etherian members of the Alliance, especially in light that the vast majority of funding for the Alliance comes from Earth, and…"


Yeah, Earth funded the lion's share of the Alliance's costs - provided you didn't count all the spaceships. Or the frankly priceless support by their magical princesses.

Jack clenched his teeth. Damn! He didn't want to think about magic. He sat straight and gripped the closest memo on his desk. Already handled. As were the next two. He was actually up to date with his paperwork! And it wasn't a good thing.

He switched the channels again, but the report about local and global businesses profiting from the war was just rehashing things he already knew and did so in a particularly boring, buzzword-filled manner.

Not enough to keep him from thinking about magic. And Ancient genes. And subordinate scientists taking time out of their very busy schedules doing important research for the war to bother Jack about it. How often did he have to tell Carter that he was fine? No mutations, no weird magical effects happening - magic didn't start 'leaking' if you didn't use it. He had asked Castaspella that long ago. Besides, it wasn't as if Jack had magic. He had the talent to use magic if he wanted to. But he didn't want to.

Learning how to cast spells would take too long, anyway, even if he wanted. Jack would have to quit his post and move to Etheria. And that would mean leaving his people in the middle of the war, and good officers didn't do that.

Someone else, someone not Jack, someone who wanted to, could learn to do magic instead. It wasn't as if Mystacor had unlimited teachers, anyway. So, it was better to let others with the talent, younger people who weren't generals, learn magic.

Even if they didn't have the same potential as Jack.

He nodded at his reasoning. Not learning magic was the right decision.

A beep from his computer alerted him of another message arriving. Work!

Smiling, he opened the mail. Another proposal from R&D for special equipment for Special Forces? Those always were fun. "Let's see what they cooked up this time…" He blinked, then frowned. 'Special magitech equipment' sounded good, but 'dependent on a user's magical potential' sounded…

…like Jack had to ask a few people in the know a few questions about confidentiality. Pointed questions.

*****​
 
Chapter 158: The Double Cross Part 4
Chapter 158: The Double Cross Part 4

Solar System, near Earth, February 14th, 2000 (Earth Time)


Adora watched carefully as the shuttle flew alongside the hull to their side. Up close, the decoy superweapon did look impressive. At least if you had never seen Horde Prime's flagship before it had been turned into a plant. Adora hoped that Apophis wasn't familiar with the Velvet Glove. Even so, the superweapon was three to four times the size of a Horde frigate, which was impressive for a Horde ship. But compared to the superweapons Jack had shown them, it wasn't that big. Of course, those were fictive superweapons, not real ones. Then again, this was a decoy, so it wasn't a real superweapon either. Just real enough to fool Apophis. Hopefully.

And it was a pretty functional decoy. The hangar doors opened smoothly as their shuttle approached, and the forcefield keeping the atmosphere from venting into the vacuum barely flickered when the shuttle entered the hangar. Of course, none of the people involved in its construction would accept shady construction. The only part that didn't work was the Core Cracker Cannon.

They touched down, and Adora saw a formation of clones line up on both sides of the ramp as it descended.

"Supreme Commander!" the officer in charge of them saluted. "Welcome on board the Piledriver."

Adora smiled at him and returned the salute.

"Hello, Adora! Hi, Catra!" Entrapta waved at them while Hordak and Sam, standing at her side, nodded. "How do you like the not-fully operational battle station?"

"Isn't it a little small for a Death Star?" Catra commented with a grin.

Sam frowned at that, Hordak didn't react, and Entrapta pouted. "Jack made the same joke already," she complained. "It's not our fault! If we had had more time, we could have made it fully operational."

Sam cleared her throat. "It's a fully functional decoy. It's not meant to wreck planets."

"But Jack said…"

"The General was joking." Sam pressed her lips together.

"Is he still carrying a grudge over the magitech weapon proposal?" Catra asked.

Adora frowned. "I thought that had been cleared up. The timing was just a coincidence; his medical data wasn't leaked." The research proposal had been written up before the… magic incident Adora was responsible for. And technically, it was Jack's complaint that had revealed what had happened to him. Though it would be unfair to mention that to him.

"It's a sore subject," Sam said in a tight voice.

"Ah." Adora nodded, suppressing a wince.

"He'll come around once he can blast stuff with magic weapons," Catra said.

Sam nodded with a faint smile. "I guess so."

Entrapta, however, beamed. "Oh, yes! We've gone over the proposals - those will be great!"

Adora agreed, but they weren't here to discuss magictech gear. They were here to inspect the decoy superweapon. "So, show us around?" They had seen the plans, but this was the first time Catra and Adora were on board the decoy.

"Of course!" Entrapta nodded several times. "Let's start with engineering! We've used a standard propulsion array, standard for a Horde frigate, so it's kinda slow, but we've improved the shields in exchange. And since the main weapon is a decoy, we could install a more powerful reactor, and so the shield is far stronger than a frigate's!" Entrapta led them down the hallway. "So, it can take a beating. But it's not actually that much better protected compared to a frigate - since it's so slow, it's also an easier target. Even with all the electronic countermeasures we installed. Though those are mostly to keep Apophis from detecting the hidden troop compartments. Which we built into the reactor room. The interference from the reactor and the shielding from it should help counter any sensors."

Adora frowned. "Isn't the shielding supposed to protect us from the reactor's radiation?"

"Yes!" Entrapta nodded. "But it will also block scans. And we left enough around the reactor, so it's still within Horde safety regulations."

"Horde Prime's or Hordak's?" Catra asked.

"Mine," Hordak told her.

"Good." Catra grinned. "I wouldn't trust the safety regulations from Horde Prime."

Adora nodded. That man had seen all his clones as expendable, after all. "And I can heal everyone afterwards, just to be safe."

Catra snickered. "Jack will love that."

Adora frowned at her - making fun about Jack's fear of being magically changed wasn't nice - but Sam nodded. Firmly. Maybe she carried a grudge as well about the misunderstanding?

Maybe Adora should talk to them. They shouldn't start a dangerous mission with such tensions in the team.

*****

Solar System, near Earth, February 15th, 2000 (Earth Time)

"...So, the decoy battle station is fully operational?"

"Yes, sir." Samantha Carter kept her face impassive and didn't smile at all at the General's joke. "All systems are operational - including the shielded troop compartments." She pointed at the holographic projection behind her in the cabin currently serving as her office on the decoy.

"Which not even semi-portable scanners the size of a crate would find, right?"

"None of the known scanners the Goa'uld use can penetrate the shielding, sir," Sam replied. "All they will detect are the decoy readings we prepared - meaning, they'll see additional power supplies for the main gun," she added before the General could ask. "Although if you desire additional proof, you can attend the testing with the Tok'ra we've scheduled for later today."

"Ah, that won't be necessary. I trust you, Carter."

She pressed her lips together. As he had trusted her not to reveal his condition to others? She'd never break his confidence like that! It was petty, she knew, but he should have known better than even to ask.

Something of her thoughts must have shown on her face since she saw him wince for a moment. "So… everything's ready for the mission. All we need is Apophis to bite."

"Yes, sir."

"Good."

A moment passed without either of them saying anything. She didn't like how awkward it felt.

"So… if we needed, could you and Entrapta rig the main gun to actually fire?"

"The main gun is functional, sir," she replied. "It just doesn't have the power its size would indicate since most of its volume is taken up by the troop compartments and other secret systems. Otherwise, it's a standard main gun used on Horde frigates." He knew that.

"Yeah, I know. But could you, you know, have it shoot at that kinda power if we needed it? By overloading it, or something?"

"No, sir. That would merely melt most of the gun - including the troop compartments."

"Ah." He nodded, then grinned. "Good job on keeping Entrapta from making an actual superweapon. Wouldn't want to blow up a world by mistake."

She frowned at him. That was an unfair comment - Entrapta knew better than that. "The only way such a weapon would have been actually used would have been if Alliance Command decided to use it. Entrapta would never use it on her own." And Adora would never condone such a course of action. She would never sacrifice a world to win a war.

"Not even to test it?"

She frowned again. "None of us would test it on a planet, sir." It would bring up too many memories. Of Etheria's near-destruction. And of planets left destroyed at Horde Prime's command.

"Good." He sighed. "Several people who know about this operation are quite interested if such a weapon could actually be built."

"My report shows that it's theoretically possible - provided quite extensive research proves the viability of several assumptions critical to the concept," she said. "The cost of this research, both in resources and time, cannot be estimated with any degree of certainty at this point, but even the most optimistic estimate is substantial."

"Yeah, I've seen the numbers. Though that won't stop people who really want their second Project Manhattan. Especially if it results in an actual Death Star." He shrugged. "Though some of them probably just want a big cut of the money which would poured into such a project and don't care if it ends up working."

Sam nodded. She was aware of this kind of… it wasn't technically corruption, but you could make a case for it being embezzlement. Though given past practices in the USA with regard to procurement for the Armed Forces, it would just be seen as business as usual - few such projects did not end up costing far more than promised.

He shrugged. "Well, not this one. Our Etherian friends have a kind of chip on their shoulders about blowing up planets. The Alliance won't be funding research into planet busters."

Or other weapons of mass destruction, though the definitions of what was a weapon of mass destruction tended to be a bit fluid when it concerned space combat. Any weapon system that could destroy a large spaceship mounting force shields would easily lay waste to an unshielded city - or landscape. And if you had a fleet of ships designed for such battles, an orbital bombardment could destroy a planet's biosphere.

"They wouldn't take kindly to independent research into such weapon systems, either, sir," she said.

"I know. And so does the President. But do you think this will stop Kinsey's cronies?"

She pressed her lips together. "He has been quite vocal about not alienating our allies, sir."

"Yeah, which means he thinks he can distance himself from whoever is doing this if it gets out," the General replied.

"Such research requires highly specialised and experienced scientists, apart from access to advanced technology, sir. And actually testing even rudimentary power systems advanced enough to power such a weapon would show up on our sensors the moment they are switched on for the first time."

"I hope you're right, Carter." He shrugged. "But it won't stop people trying it. Ours, the Russians, the Chinese… Like every damn dictator who wanted nukes, they won't feel safe until they have something to make the Alliance back off from meddling in their 'domestic matters'."

Sam knew that. But she didn't think they would succeed. Not without a lot more advanced technology available and a lot more research. But she also knew that sooner or later, both would be available.

"Anyway, I've picked my teams for this mission. I'll send them up so they can get settled in." He nodded at her. "Good work, Carter."

"Thank you, sir. I'll pass it on to Entrapta and Hordak."

Another nod. He turned, then stopped. "Also… sorry about, you know. I overreacted."

She hesitated a moment, then nodded, smiling a little, and he left the cabin.

*****

Royal Palace, Bright Moon, February 15th, 2000 (Earth Time)

Catra felt surprised. And wary. She had been all set to insist on coming with Adora to the meeting about Bright Moon's crown, argue that they needed some outside opinion, from someone who wasn't a princess, who had different experiences and perspectives, and whatever other argument she could pull off without coming across as a blatant liar (such as claiming she wasn't biassed in favour of either Glimmer or Angella), but no one had said anything about her walking in at Adora's side.

In a way, it was almost disappointing. But she was in, and with Adora, and that was what mattered. Someone had to keep the bigger picture in mind. And keep Adora from being manipulated - Catra wouldn't put it past Angella to try to act like… like Shadow Weaver, all understanding and caring, and praising, when she wanted something. She still had to find out why, of all the Horde people, Shadow Weaver had been alive in the other dimension - and not exiled, but at court.

But that could wait until this was settled. Maybe a bit longer - with the decoy operation coming up as soon as Kul'et could credibly pass the information Earth supposedly had managed to find about the Horde Superweapon on to Apophis, Catra would rather not create a potential mess.

She sat down next to Adora, scooting her chair a bit closer so her tail could wrap around Adora's calf under the table. On Adora's right were Angella and Micah, on Catra's left Glimmer and Bow, both sides facing each other.

"This feels like a trial," Catra whispered so only Adora could hear.

Her lover didn't say anything, but Catra felt her tense up. Damn. She had meant it as a joke.

"So!" Adora cleared her throat, smiling forcedly, and nodded at everyone and no one at the same time. "We're here to discuss the succession of Bright Moon's throne."

"Also known as Bright Moon family therapy," Catra quipped under her breath.

This time, Adora coughed and glanced at her with a small frown.

Catra knew she was right, though - this wasn't about precedent or law since Bow hadn't found anything about it. The only known case where a princess had returned after a successor had been enthroned had happened seven hundred years ago in a remote kingdom that wasn't around any more - the civil war that had settled the succession there had wrecked it, and the following conflict with Plumeria had resulted in the kingdom becoming part of the ruins found in the Whispering Woods.

No, this was about what Angella and Glimmer wanted.

As if she had been reading Catra's thoughts, Angella nodded and spoke up: "Yes. And as I have said before, this is Glimmer's decision."

Catra pressed her lips together. Angella kept insisting that only Glimmer's wishes mattered, but Catra couldn't help wondering what would happen if Glimmer decided something Angella thought foolish. Well, at least she couldn't easily go back on her word after she had said this, so Glimmer had this in the bag.

"It's not just my decision," Glimmer retorted.

Catra clenched her teeth and hissed under her breath. Of course, Glimmer just couldn't run with it!

"It is. You are the crowned queen of Bright Moon. You passed the test - both on coronation day and by ruling the kingdom," Angella said.

"That's a formality!" Glimmer spat. "I'm talking about family! You're my mom!"

Hah! Catra gave Adora a look that her lover pointedly ignored, though Catra could see her cheeks heat up a bit.

Angella looked taken aback a bit, her eyes widening for a moment before she nodded with a soft smile. "That doesn't change anything. You're no longer a child, Glimmer. You have proven you are a queen. The kingdom prospered under your rule. Or do you disagree?"

Glimmer visibly clenched her teeth.

Catra stared at her. This was what they needed - full approval by the potential contender. Just accept it! she silently urged her friend.

"Look, it's…" Glimmer trailed off, frowning. Probably at herself. "I only got crowned because you sacrificed yourself! Not because you thought I was ready for it!"

Once again, Angella looked surprised - maybe even a little confused. Well, so felt Catra. "And then you proved you were ready when you ruled," Angella said while Micah nodded.

"I almost got Etheria destroyed when I listened to Shadow Weaver!" Glimmer blurted out. "I was just lucky things worked out as well as they did!"

Catra blinked, then snorted. "Join the club!"

"Catra!" Adora frowned at her.,

But Micah chuckled, ruefully. "Shadow Weaver was a master at manipulation. I think of all of us here, only Bow never fell for her lies."

"Ah…" Bow blushed a little. "I did think she was genuine when she claimed to join the Alliance."

"But she never manipulated you into making a really stupid decision," Glimmer told him.

"She never tried."

Adora was looking down at the table, Catra realised. Probably thinking about their childhood. And blaming herself for what Shadow Weaver had done. "Don't be an idiot," Catra whispered, reaching over to squeeze Adora's thigh. "It wasn't your fault. You were a kid." Catra, on the other hand, had fallen for Shadow Weaver's lies even as an adult - she should have known better.

"I also trusted her," Angella said. "Even when I stepped through the portal, I thought she had turned over a new leaf. To find out later that she had not changed, still pursued her own goals no matter the cost to everyone else…" Her lips formed a thin line. "If I had known that, I would have treated her very differently in the other dimension."

Catra slowly nodded. That explained things. Not everything, of course.

"So we all fell for her lies. That still doesn't settle things!" Glimmer insisted. "What do you want, Mom?"

"I want you to be happy, Glimmer."

"How can I be happy if I steal your throne?"

"You earned the throne, Glimmer. It's not stealing if I hand it to you voluntarily."

"But…"

"Oh, hell!" Catra blurted out. "She told you you did fine! Now stop waffling and say you'll keep ruling Bright Moon so Angella and Micah can keep catching up on all the sex they missed!"

"What?" Glimmer gaped at her.

"Catra!" Bow gasped.

"CATRA!" Adora snapped.

And Angella stared, blinking.

But Micah laughed, wrapped an arm around Angella's waist and pulled her into his side. "She's right about that, Glimmer."

"Dad!"

"Micah!"

Now both Glimmer and Angella were blushing like mad. Adora as well.

But Glimmer had shut up about trying to talk herself into not being queen.

Catra considered this meeting a success.

*****

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, Earth, February 16th, 2000

"I'm missing the healing potions," Jack O'Neill joked as he put the file down on his desk.

Dr Leary, the scientist sitting across from him coughed. "We actually did consider such a project - there was some preliminary research into it since magical potions are relatively prominent in myths on Earth and also feature in various emerging magical traditions here."

"I was thinking of the things in computer games." Jack smiled as blandly as he could.

Leary grimaced, so he probably hadn't noticed that Jack was joking. That was par for the course - the man was overly serious. Why he had been sent to a meeting with Jack was anyone's guess. Maybe office politics. Or just politics - the man was working for DARPA, after all, which was one of the holy grails of any Defence lobbyist. "The obvious advantages of such an item are, well, obvious. But if we look at the existing magitech healing items, the risks of such are also apparent."

"Yeah, we don't want people turning into zombies after curing a paper cut." Jack nodded with a snort.

"Quite." Leary smiled forcedly. "In any case, we did some preliminary research, but most of the healing potions, I mean the potions most similar to those which are worked on by practitioners of magic on Earth, are meant to, ah, cure sicknesses or alleviate some debilitating or painful conditions, instead of mending wounds."

"Medicine, in other words. And we have lots of that already," Jack said.

Leary nodded. "Indeed. Alternative ways to treat influenza or the common cold might appeal to a certain demographic, but unless such remedies are far more effective than current medical solutions, spending money on them would be a waste."

Jack nodded. That wouldn't keep rich fools from spending a lot of money on such potions, of course. Magic was the new fad, at least outside religious circles, and anything magical sold like hotcakes.

"So, for now, it has been decided - mutually, Mystacor's delegation agrees - that the Alliance wouldn't finance research into, ah, healing potions or other magical potions. Recruiting sorceresses trained in healing magic should already be a priority for the Medical Corps, anyway."

That didn't mean they had too much success at it, though - Jack had seen the numbers. Not even his command had received nearly as many such recruits as he had requested. And his people would be operating behind enemy lines and in other places where medical evacuation wasn't expected and really needed healers.

But that wasn't the point of this meeting. "Well, the magic items on the list seem interesting," he commented.

Leary winced. "They're magitech tools."

Jack shrugged. "They do magic when you activate them - or are supposed to. That makes them magic items." His soldiers certainly would call them that. "And all the magitech items I know don't need special genes to be used." He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Ah, yes!" Leary perked up. "That's actually a result of the main difference between, say, the magitech scanner the Alliance uses and the proposed tools. With the scanner, you push the button and it tells you what it scanned. Like a computer. With our proposed tools, activating the item creates a magical power of sorts, but it's up to the user to actually aim and use that power so it achieves the desired effect. And that requires a certain genetic disposition."

"A talent for magic, you mean," Jack said in a flat tone.

Leary nodded with a smile. "Exactly! People who could, with the right training, learn to cast spells."

People like me. Jack drew a deep breath through clenched teeth. It had been a coincidence, he reminded himself, that the proposal had first crossed his desk so close after he had found out that his genes were changing. He had already overreacted and made Carter mad; he wouldn't make the same mistake again. "We generally want them to learn how to cast spells," he said.

"Oh, yes." Leary nodded. "That would be ideal, of course. But as you know, the opportunities for magical education are currently rather scarce, even with help from Mystacor. We can only send a handful of people to Etheria, and Earth's own magical institutions are still in the process of being built and not up to taking more than a few students for rather experimental lessons."

"So, you'd rather use them for experiments with magitech?" Jack's tone was, maybe, a bit sharper than it should have been, but he kind of had a personal stake in this.

"Yes!" Leary nodded again, smiling broadly. "If we can create such items, we can drastically shorten the time needed to field magical support for our troops. All it would take is a recruit with the talent, magic gear and time to train with the gear - nothing too different from existing specialist training."

Any fool could see the advantages, and Jack wasn't a fool. And, of course, it would also mean that when the war was over, and the soldiers were getting demobilised, unlike trained sorceresses, those kinds of magic-using soldiers wouldn't be released into civilian life with the power to throw fireballs at their fingertips. Not until they trained as actual sorceresses, at least.

Yeah, Jack could see this proposal's advantages. Even if he didn't like it. "And how likely is this to work out? In time to be used in the war?"

Leary's smile twisted a little. "Well, it's a new field of research and development, so we can't make exact predictions, but we're quite optimistic that we'll see tangible results in time to be fielded. Mystacor's researchers are very interested in this as well, so we have experienced people working on this."

In other words, this could be pie in the sky. But the potential was so obvious, and with Etheria backing the idea, Jack knew trying to block this would be pointless. Better to get on board so he could keep an eye on this - he had mixed feelings about those 'tools', but he would rather not end up fighting zombified test subjects because no one ran herd on a bunch of mad scientists. If his people were to use those things, Jack would make sure they were safe. Even if he had to use his stupid alien genes for it.

So he nodded and gave Leary his best fake smile. "Well, you have my support, Doctor."

"Thank you, general!"

*****

Asteroid Belt, Arealis-System, February 18th, 2000 (Earth Time)

Adora looked at the crates being lowered to the deck of the 'Steel Fist' - Hordak's idea; he claimed the name would fit Horde Prime's naming scheme best - and managed not to wince. The bodies inside the containers had never been alive, so they weren't really corpses, and they hadn't been cloned in the Horde pods but had been grown in Alpha, but they looked the part.

That was a good thing, of course - in order to really fool Apophis, they couldn't just pretend the entire crew had evacuated; some corpses had to be left - but they really looked the part. Some were torn up, some showed the typical signs of 'explosive decompression', as Sam had called it, some were riddled with bullets… the ones that were supposed to have died from suffocation were the least bad to look at.

"They were really thorough in preparing this," Catra commented, peering at the closest container's glass lid. She acted cool, but Adora could tell that she didn't like the sight either. "I'd be worried if I didn't know this was mostly Alpha's work."

Adora blinked. "You're not worried that Alpha did this?"

Her love shrugged. "We already know Alpha would do whatever she thought was needed for her projects no matter how wrong if she were allowed to."

"Ah." Adora nodded. Catra was correct - Alpha had been following their orders, well, Adora's, to the letter, but it was obvious that all she cared about was her research and that she had no moral or ethical restrictions. Not that that was her fault, of course - the First Ones had built her like this - but it was still a potential problem. And yet… "It's better than the alternative." Some clones had volunteered to stay behind! Adora and Priest had set them straight, but that had been a shock. The last thing Adora wanted was for people to sacrifice themselves for her!

Catra checked her tablet. "Well, everything's proceeding according to schedule. Kul'et's report should be reaching Apophis today, unless his people are not quite as competent as we assumed."

Adora nodded. And then, Apophis would think Stargate Command was about to launch a desperate mission to take out the superweapon before it could be deployed against Earth - using information that would allow him to swoop in and take the superweapon for himself. Everyone agreed that he wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to show up both the Horde and Stargate Command. And the timing was tight enough that Apophis couldn't hesitate too long, or he'd lose the opportunity - this system was just close enough for his forces to be diverted here instead of closing in on Earth.

But Adora couldn't help worrying that the timing might be too tight. Sure, the plan allowed for delays, and the scripted attack had several points where the supposed boarding action by Stargate teams would be stalled to give Apophis's forces more time to move in, but the plan was a bit more complicated than Adora would have liked.

"The Imperial Japanese Navy would have loved it," Jack had commented.

Daniel had disagreed with that, but his explanations had made it clear that Jack hadn't been that far off.

"So, the crew casualties are ready to be placed," Catra said. "And the bots should soon be done with the supply station on the ground. We're ready to move into the troop smuggling compartments as soon as we get word that Apophis is starting his operation."

Adora nodded and turned to look through the force field separating the cargo bay from space. She could see the hull that served as the Steel Fist's escort in the distance. It would be blown up as soon as the mission started. At least they didn't need any fake corpses for that part.

Everything was ready or almost ready. And yet… "I wish we could just go straight for Apophis," she said.

Catra shrugged again. "He's prepared for that. We won't be able to sneak into his palace again, and a frontal assault would cause too many civilian casualties - and allow him enough time to escape. But if he thinks he's fooling us, he'll be vulnerable."

Adora knew that. The Alliance command council had argued about this almost as much as they had argued about Adora and her friends leading the mission. As if she'd let anyone else risk their lives without her when she was needed!

She just preferred a less complicated plan. Even cadets learned that you could never anticipate everything. You could just do your best and improvise when needed.

*****

Asteroid Belt, Arealis-System, February 20th, 2000 (Earth Time)

Samantha Carter stared at the holoprojection above her laptop, which showed the Arealis-System and the projected course of Apophis's fleet, confirmed by the spy bot network. Five minutes out according to their best estimate.

She zoomed in on the asteroid belt with a few keystrokes. Tiny projections of the "Steel Fist" and its escort appeared, followed by even smaller projections depicting the two Tel'taks that had docked to both ships.

"Are they there yet?" the General asked. He was sitting back in his seat, hands on the back of his head as if he was bored, but Sam knew it was an act. Same as Catra's 'snoring'.

"Not yet," she replied. "Approximately four more minutes."

"You said that last time I asked!"

She snorted, once, and switched her attention to the screens showing the interior of the 'Steel Fist'. The cloned corpses had been placed, and the boarding team was doing a good job of shooting up the hallways around the bodies. They didn't stray too far from the airlock where the Tel'tak was docked, of course - they would have to retreat quickly once Apophis's ships arrived.

The team on the hulk serving as a decoy escort was doing the same, but since that hull would be blown up, they weren't quite as crucial for fooling Apophis's troops as the team here. If Apophis realised that this was staged…

She pressed her lips together. The stealth compartments built into the fake superweapon were shielded, but against sensors and small arms fire, and the shields of the "Steel Fist" wouldn't last long at all against a bombardment from multiple Ha'taks. If the "Steel Fist" came under fire, they would have to scuttle it using the charges built into the structure and hope that the debris would fool Apophis and allow the compartments housing Sam and the others to be picked up later. Entrapta and Sam had added stealth generators as a last resort, but even if they worked perfectly, they wouldn't stop a stray shot from hitting them.

Sam wasn't really fond of the odds she had calculated to survive this. At least if things went very wrong, not all her friends would die with her - Entrapta had been left behind to work on their projects with Hordak and the rest. It was just the SG-1, with Sha're, and the "Best Friends Squad" here, with two fire teams from the General's command added.

A beep drew her attention - and made the General and Catra sit up at once. "Enemy fleet exiting hyperspace in ten seconds," she reported.

"Showtime. Literally," the General commented with a toothy grin.

Then the holoprojection changed, fourteen Ha'taks appearing with two dozen Al'keshs surrounding them. She checked the distances - a few minutes, at most, until they would reach them. Two minutes for the Death Gliders already shooting out of their hangars.

The General wanted five seconds, then pushed a button on the radio in front of him. "O'Neill speaking! A Goa'uld fleet has just appeared. All teams, withdraw at once - the mission is scrapped!"

Another voice protested. "Sir! We only need a few more minutes!"

"We don't have them, O'Malley! Withdraw - this is an order!"

"Yes, sir!"

The General deactivated the radio and chuckled. "O'Malley must have been channelling his annoyance that he couldn't join us."

"Do you think Apophis is tapping into our radios, Jack?" Daniel asked.

According to Kul'et, the Goa'uld were monitoring the radio waves but didn't have the capability to break their encryption in real-time.

"It never hurts to go the extra mile," Jack said. "Though if he were, I think he would be taunting us right now. Or demanding our surrender."

"He might have decided that the risk of facing SG-1 again is higher than the danger of an underling betraying him and taking the superweapon for themselves," Teal'c commented.

"As long as he comes to check out his new toy as soon as he has secured it, that's fine," the General said.

Sam agreed. If they only had to fool his most fanatical Jaffa and not Apophis himself, that would improve the odds of their success.

The Death Gliders were racing towards them. Their speed was actually higher than expected, if not by much. Sam still frowned as she logged the data. Still not fast enough to reach the ships before the Tel'taks could undock and cloak.

Which the one docked to the Steel Fist just did, followed ten seconds later by the one docked to the escort. As both cloaked - their holoprojections changed colours - the fake escort blew up.

The Goa'uld fleet was still coming at them at full speed. The Death Gliders were firing blindly at the last position of the Tel'taks and the space around them. Fortunately, the cloaked ships had already gained enough distance that the shots went far too wide.

Sam turned to look at Adora. "Escape pods ready to be launched."

Adora nodded. "Do it."

Sam gave the order with a push of a button. The ship was too big to feel any reaction from the escape pods being launched, but she could see the pods, all of them carrying at least one cloned body, on one screen and track their courses on the holoprojection.

They didn't make it far - half the Death Gliders turned and started shooting them. A few blew up, but others began leaking atmosphere or trailing debris. "They're trying to disable them," Sam reported. "Initiating self-destruction routines."

The disabled pods began to blow up as their communicators broadcasted pre-recorded defiant messages.

"You will never take us alive!"

"Glory to Horde Prime!"


Sam muted them. "Decoy scuttling charges ready."

"Trigger them," Adora ordered.

Sam did. This time, the ship shook as the bombs they had placed in the outer hull went off, simulating a failed scuttling.

She straightened. "Charges detonated as planned."

"Thank you, Sam."

Now, they only had to wait until the Jaffa boarded them. And hope that Apophis's commander didn't decide to just destroy the decoy.

*****

It was working. The plan was working. Catra clenched her jaws and tried to ignore how her tail was swishing back and forth as she watched the holoprojection showing Apophis's forces close in on the "Steel Fist". The icons for the escape pods were fading out one after another.

She glanced at Melog. Her friend reflected her own mood. Damn. She had to calm down. Even if just waiting for others to act was a pain. No, not the waiting - the hiding in a defenceless decoy.

She had to focus on the situation instead of worrying. "The Death Gliders keep trying to disable the pods even though that only makes them self-destruct when they don't accidentally blow them up," she commented. "Someone's being stubborn."

"If Apophis demanded prisoners - presumably to interrogate about the operation of the weapon - then his chosen commander would rather die than not obey," Teal'c said. "Even if he did all he could and gained the decoy superweapon as ordered, it would still only be a partial success."

But one could argue it was a complete success given the circumstances. Catra was familiar with that situation, though she doubted Apophis would be any more receptive than Shadow Weaver had been.

"Well, without a trained crew to interrogate, Apophis would have some trouble getting it operational," Daniel said. "If it worked at all."

Sha're nodded in agreement. "And if Apophis punishes the commander for this failure, it might cost him one of his most loyal Jaffa."

"First the Palace, then the research station, and now this? Dear old Apophis must be starting to run out of his most loyal commanders," Jack said with a snort.

"Well, technically, he'll always have a most loyal commander as long as he has commanders, though they might be less competent and even less loyal than their predecessors," Daniel commented. "But if he selected for loyalty rather than competence, he might end up with more competent commanders if he gets rid of the current ones."

"I hope we won't end up improving the quality of his officers," Glimmer said.

"I doubt that." Sha're shook her head. "Anyone exceptionally competent but of questionable loyalty would have been eliminated by Apophis as soon as he realised it. And any rival commanders would have pointed it out to him at once."

Catra nodded. She knew exactly how that worked. That was how the Horde had done things. And that was one of the reasons the Goa'uld would lose this war.

On the projection, the Tel'taks and Al'keshs were now surrounding the "Steel Fist" and the debris field that had been the decoy escort. Catra glanced at the camera feeds to check if she could spot them. The scanner feeding the holoprojection would detect far more detail, but she liked using her own eyes. She didn't spot any of them, though - the distance was still too great.

"Alright, folks, prepare to be boarded," Jack said.

"And hope they don't have better scanners than we thought they have," Catra added.

"Catra!" Adora hissed.

"You don't have to whisper," Catra retorted with a grin. "The soundproofing is so good, even I didn't hear the shooting outside. We can scream to our heart's content here without anyone hearing us."

"Catra!" Adora rolled her eyes, but their friends and the two fire teams with them chuckled.

A beep and a red blinking string of letters made Catra snap back to the holoprojection - and curse.

"Additional ships detected!" Sam reported. "Counting… thirty Ha'taks. Fifty Al-Keshs. And forty-two Tel'taks."

That was a fleet, not just a task force! The holoprojection showed them, coloured yellow, surrounding Apophis's fleet in a pincer movement. The Al'kesh and Tel'taks were already speeding up to engage their counterparts.

Apophis's forces were reacting as well, the faster ships racing to engage the new enemy. But their Al'Keshs and Tel'taks were outnumbered, and the Death Gliders, which might have been able to overwhelm the enemy defences if they had been ready, were not concentrated, many of them just turning away from hunting down escape pods. Catra didn't think they would be able to form up into effective formations before the new fleet had already deployed enough Death Gliders to stop them.

"It looks like Apophis's operational security is even worse than we thought," Jack commented.

Catra nodded. This must be a rival of Apophis who had found out about this. They had overestimated their enemy. And underestimated another enemy. She cursed. "If his commander thinks that he cannot win this, he might decide to deny them their prize." In which case he'd order the fleet to shoot at the "Steel Fist".

She stared at the holoprojection. So far, Apophis's ships were still moving to engage the new arrivals, the screening units launching themselves at the enemy ahead of the Ha'taks. But they were outnumbered two to one. And their formation was split.

"His best chance is to delay the enemy in the hope of taking the "Steel Fist" and escaping with it into hyperspace before the enemy can reach it," Catra said. That was what she would do. But they had to know that if the "Steel Fist" could flee, she would have already done so - they had disabled the engines, after all, to explain why they hadn't fled before Apophis's forces had arrived. So…

Adora nodded. "It's their best course of action, but they have to know the chances they'll pull it off are low."

A Tel'tak - cloaked - was headed towards them. But so were two from the new enemy, whoever it was.

"Well, no matter who wins, we'll get to bag a System Lord," Jack said with fake cheer.

"Unless the other side manages to destroy the decoy to prevent their escape," Catra retorted with a grim expression. That was the obvious response if you lost the boarding action.

They had to hope that Apophis's forces were either competent enough to get the ship moving before the enemy capital ships were in range, or too incompetent to blow up the ship themselves before the others took it.

Catra didn't like either odds.

*****
 
Oh I love that. This bait is too effective. I wonder if just one system lord shows up, after all it would be a game changer in the system lord balance of power, they may have just turned the Ra succession war hot accidentally
 
Chapter 159: The Double Cross Part 5
Chapter 159: The Double Cross Part 5

Asteroid Belt, Arealis-System, February 20th, 2000 (Earth Time)


"Apophis's Tel'tak just docked, sir."

Jack O'Neill nodded at Carter's report. He could see it himself on the screen - a camera was covering the hallway outside the airlock. They didn't have any trouble opening it, of course - the 'boarding team' that had retreated earlier had not bothered to block or seal the airlock; no one would have done that while fleeing. But… "What damage did the 'failing scuttling charges' do to the engines?" he asked.

"They knocked the crystals out of alignment, sir. Exactly as planned." Carter was slightly annoyed; Jack recognised the tone. Probably not really at the implied questioning of her work but their general situation.

The Tel'kats from the unknown System Lord who had decided to crash their party before they could trap Apophis were only a few more minutes away - despite being cloaked from any sensors but the Alliance scanners, they were still avoiding Apophis's ships and Death Gliders, which delayed them.

"Any chance that Apophis's goons will manage to repair the engine in time to escape?" Jack looked at Carter.

"If they have a skilled hyperdrive engine technician with them who immediately starts working…" Carter shook her head. "No chance, sir. We wanted damage that would take long enough to repair to make the boarding team's retreat believable."

"I know," Jack said. "And it was a good decision. No one could have predicted this."

On the screen, the airlock opened, and he could see the Jaffa pouring through the opening. Blowing it open would have been faster, but that would have led to the ship's air being vented into space if they undocked - or if their ship got shot off the airlock.

The boarders split in two, one heading for the bow part of the ship and one headed towards aft. Or whatever Navy pukes called it. Bridge and engine room. We should build a ship with the important rooms switched, or hidden, he thought. Would confuse the snakes. At least once.

On the holoprojection, the two other Tel'taks were closing in as well, just circling around a damaged Death Glider. Trying to be sneaky snakes.

"They didn't bring bombs," Jack noted aloud. "They can't blow the ship up from the bridge or the engine room, either."

"We know that, but the Jaffa and their masters don't," Daniel said.

Jack understood what he meant - they could trigger the real scuttling charges and hide their smuggling compartments amongst the debris. The snakes would blame each other, with no one the wiser, and keep killing each other.

The victor might stay and collect the wreckage to study, though, if only to have something to show to their master. Still, with the stealth modules, they had good odds of avoiding being noticed until it was safe to recover them. And they had enough supplies and air scrubbers to last a long time. Certainly long enough for a 'Horde task force' to show up and check what had happened to their missing 'superweapon'.

It was the smart decision to take - the mission was fubar. Apophis's goons couldn't get the decoy to their Lord before they were boarded in turn. And odds were, they tried to shoot it up at that point anyway. But…

"So… which System Lord do you think we'll trap instead of Apophis?" Catra asked, flashing her teeth in a cocky grin. Her tail was swishing back and forth quite rapidly, though. And Melog looked not quite as cocky as she did, Jack noted.

"Probably Sokar or Heru'ur," Glimmer said, nodding calmly. "They are fighting him and would likely have focused their spies on him and have the forces ready to react."

"I concur," Sha're said. "But we cannot exclude the possibility that other System Lords have been closely observing the conflict, waiting for an opportunity to take out one of their rivals - or all three."

"Yes." Adora nodded. "We planned for Apophis, but we can adapt and capture someone else."

Sure, they could. But they had prepared for Apophis and his defences, not anyone else. All their contingencies to extract them would be useless. Odds were, the relief forces assigned to get them out if they had to hunker down and hold out until relieved would be out of position now.

Carter and Daniel were looking at Jack, too. They knew that as well as he did that he really should push to abort the mission right here and now - the other Tel'taks were closing in now. About one more minute, tops. And Apophis's Jaffa were flailing around on the bridge and the engine room, trying to get weapons working that were carefully disabled beforehand. If they didn't seal off the hallways, they'd be trying to breathe vacuum as soon as their Tel'tak was in range of the enemy's guns.

And yet… Jack had mostly joked about bagging another System Lord, but they had put a lot of work into this mission. Work he wouldn't want to go to waste. Not when they had decent chances to pull off a victory from the jaws of defeat. After all, whoever was attacking Apophis wasn't expecting this to be a trap either and would be unprepared for them.

And unprepared for She-Ra.

Jack nodded and smiled - about as forcedly as the others, he'd bet. "I think it's gonna be Sokar. That's the kind of sneaky move he loves, according to what we know."

Daniel blinked, and Carter rolled her eyes, but they would follow him.

And the Etherians were already sold on it anyway.

*****​

Adora nodded. No matter who won this battle, odds were the decoy would attract a System Lord, and then they could spring their trap. Capture the Goa'uld, take over the ship and escape with it.

"The second boarding force is in range," Sam announced. "They've started their attack run."

"Standard formations," Catra commented as the holoprojection showed the two Tel'taks flying towards the docked one.

"If it works, it works," Jack said.

Moments later, the ship shook, and Adora saw Apophis's Tel'tak shaking as multiple blasts hit it, piercing its hull. She didn't hear anything, though, which was eerie.

Catra pressed her lips together - she must find this disorienting as well, then.

The Tel'tak shook from more hits but remained docked, and Adora couldn't see any secondary explosions. For a moment, she wondered if the Tel'tak would survive this, forcing the attackers to make another run. But then, the ship was ripped apart as something blew up in the aft section, spewing debris into the path of the two attackers, whose shields flared as they flew through the expanding cloud.

And the decoy ship shuddered again when the struck Tel'tak's remains were blown away from the airlock. On the screen, Adora saw a squad of Jaffa taking up positions across the hallway from the airlock.

"They're trying to use it as a choke point," Jack said. "That should buy them a bit more time to get the engine working. What do you think, Carter?"

"They'll need at least a few more minutes," Sam replied. "They have yet to align any of the crystals."

Adora glanced at the screen showing the engine room. The Jaffa - fewer than before; some must have gone to defend the airlock - were wrestling a massive crystal into place. Adora wasn't an expert, but she doubted that would be enough for precision machinery.

"Watch the hull cameras!" Catra suddenly snapped.

Adora turned to look at the other screen, where Sam was quickly enlarging a particular feed. She could see that the Tel'tak had not docked to the airlock, but the hull next to it - and people were leaving the ship.

"That's not standard armour," Sam said.

"It is an armoured vacuum suit," Teal'c said. "Although a rather old-fashioned one."

"Can you see any symbols to identify who is behind this?" Jack asked.

"The places where such markings are usually placed are clear," Teal'c replied.

"So… someone's trying to be extra-sneaky," Jack commented. "Sounds like Sokar."

"I agree. Heru'ur is not known for such subterfuge," Teal'c said.

"Or he has never been caught," Catra pointed out as the Jaffa in suits opened the airlock.

Was the airlock damaged by the destruction of Apophis's Tel'tak? Or didn't the new attackers want to risk suffering the same fate if they docked? Or…

"It's not closing," Catra said.

Oh. Adora grimaced when the inner door of the airlock opened, and the air inside the hallway shot out into the vacuum, dragging the waiting Jaffa with them. They were still flailing, still alive, when they were sucked into space. One managed to grab the doorframe and stop himself from being thrown clear of the ship, but Adora saw a flash illuminating the airlock's insides, and then the hapless Jaffa, a hole blown through his chest, was floating in space as well. That was a very nasty way to die…

"Yeah, that's a bit too clever for a System Lord who likes fighting in the trenches," Jack commented.

"Hey!" Glimmer protested.

Adora scowled as well. Princesses fought at the front; that was how it was done. Your power didn't serve anyone if you stayed behind the lines.

Catra, of course, chuckled. "What about Generals fighting in the trenches?"

"It's not the same!" Jack retorted. "We're talking snakes here - they generally don't like to risk their lives."

"Any System Lord fighting at the frontline risks getting stabbed in the back as much as he risks death at the hands of his opponents," Sha're added.

"Heru'ur is famous for defying those dangers," Teal'c nodded.

Adora watched the cameras again. The hallway had lost all its air, but the internal doors had held - both the Jaffa on the bridge and in engineering were unaffected. Well, physically - the engineers were looking frantic as they continued to struggle with the repairs, and the ones on the bridge looked struck.

"They must not have expected that." Catra shook her head. "If they vent the rest of the ship, they'll win this. Apophis boarders didn't bring any spacesuits."

"Must be embarrassing to miss that," Jack said with a scoff and a glance at his own custom spacesuit.

Adora nodded. Boarding actions were dangerous enough; not to prepare for a hull breach was suicide.

Suddenly, the repair crew in the engineering section froze for a moment before stopping their work on the crystals. Instead, they rushed to the reactor controls.

"They're trying to overload the reactor," Sam confirmed Adora's suspicion. "I've countered their orders."

"Good. Can you make it look like a computer glitch or safety protocol?" Jack asked.

"I already did that, sir," Sam replied.

"Ah, of course." Jack looked a bit embarrassed himself.

On the screen, the Jaffa in spacesuits advanced, splitting up as had Apophis's team before - only this one had double their numbers.

Adora didn't think Apophis's forces would win this. But that meant…

"Two Al'keshs have broken off from the fighting and are headed towards us," Sam reported.

"Apophis's commander must have realised he can't win this," Catra said. "Let's hope Sokar's forces are good enough to stop his last attack."

Adora nodded in agreement.

*****​

Samantha Carter watched intently as her scanner tracked the two Al'Keshs flying towards the "Steel Fist". Unlike the Death Gliders starting their attack runs, the bombers had enough firepower to destroy the decoy. Usually, bombs were as useless in space combat as they were in a dogfight, but with the ship immobilised, that wasn't an issue. And it didn't take much to compensate for the lack of gravity - a bomb would continue the trajectory of the ship launching it at the moment of separation. Sam had no doubt that Apophis's crews were trained enough to manage that. And if they weren't, they were likely fanatical enough to ram the decoy.

She ran a few calculations in her head. Rough, but sufficient to estimate the effect. If one Al'Kesh rammed the "Steel Fist", the shielded compartments could hold - provided the shields went up in time. Two Al'Keshs made that rather less probable. "We might have to enact the evacuation plan, sir," she said, "if the bombers are on a suicide course." Which they wouldn't know until it would be almost too late to react.

The General leaned forward, tense and focused, and stared at the holoprojection. "The new snakes are moving to stop them."

Sam nodded. The attackers' Death Gliders, which had been fighting their counterparts, were disengaging and swinging around to attack the two Al'Keshs. But she could already tell that the majority wouldn't reach the bombers in time to stop them, and the firepower of those who would was unlikely to be enough.

"The Tel'taks are undocking," Catra reported.

Adding two stealth ships would even up things, but they had to accelerate first to intercept the bombers.

The first Death Gliders, some of Apophis's own in pursuit, were in range now and started firing. The blasts were deflected by the Al'Keshs' shields, though, and by focusing on the bombers, they left themselves open to the fighters behind them. Sam saw two, then another, explode in short order. No, that wouldn't…

She drew a sharp breath when she realised the surviving Death Gliders weren't pulling up for another attack run but kept accelerating straight at the Al'Keshs. Even though she had considered suicide attacks, to see it happen…

"They're ramming them!" Adora gasped.

A moment later, the first Death Glider hit the shields of the leading bomber and blew up, followed by another. The shields shattered with the third, and the Al'Kesh suddenly changed course in an obvious attempt to evade the next.

They were too late, though - two Death Gliders crashed into the ship at near-full speed, still firing, and sent it reeling. No secondary explosions, but the ship was blown off-course, trailing debris.

"Fanatics," the General muttered as more Death Gliders went in, all firing until they crashed into the bomber.

Sam quickly zoomed in on the struck ship. The hull had buckled under the impacts, she could see multiple breaches, and… there was the first secondary explosion. Not a magazine, but… The ship vanished in a ball of fire before she could finish her thought.

"They were ordered to stop the bombers at all costs," Teal'c commented. "And they did."

The second bomber, trailing the first, had managed to change course in time and had only been hit by two suicide attacks. But that manoeuvre had brought it right into the path of the two Tel'taks. Still cloaked, both flew straight at it.

Sam winced at the explosion that followed.

She felt the deck under her feet shake slightly - the surviving Death Gliders of Apophis's force were throwing themselves at the decoy, but even with their counterparts' numbers reduced by those who had intercepted the Al'Keshs, there were enough Death Gliders around to make that tactic much less effective. And the "Steel Fist" was much tougher than an Al'Kesh. Only two more Death Gliders managed to ram the ship before they were all destroyed, and the damage done was minimal, according to Sam's scanner.

Sam checked the state of the main battle. Apophis's forces were collapsing. Half of his Ha'taks had been destroyed, and the remaining ones were under withering fire as they tried to disengage and retreat - not they were trying to reach the decoy, she realised.

"Won't make it," Catra commented. "Too slow, and the attackers can concentrate their fire."

Sam agreed with the assessment.

"Look, they've reached the engine room," Sha're called out. "They are…"

"...about to blow the doors," the General finished for her with a grim expression.

Without having sealed off the hole in the hull. Sam winced - Apophis's Jaffa were helpless. They couldn't even launch an attack of their own; opening the doors would only speed up their deaths, and… Her eyes widened - the defenders were moving to the doors. Some were tying themselves to the consoles closest to the doors. Why would…? "They're about to open the doors themselves!" she blurted out.

The General cursed. Catra also cursed.

The doors slid open, and the surprised attackers still placing charges were cut down by the defenders' staff weapons and zat'nik'tels. One of them cut himself off, Sam saw, trying to grab a charge as he was sucked out of the room, but his hands missed. Two staff blasts killed him moments later.

The defenders switched their fire to the remaining attackers. Sam saw one of them get hit, his suit rupturing, as they shot back. But the outcome was never in doubt - not when the defenders were already suffocating.

But they kept shooting until they fell unconscious. By the time the last one died, one of the attackers shooting him with a zat'nik'tel when he collapsed, the bridge was under attack as well.

Sam already knew how that would end.

*****​

The waiting was the worst, but they didn't have a choice any more. Catra scoffed under her breath as she watched the holoprojection. After finishing off Apophis's forces, which had died to a man trying to destroy the "Steel Fist", the new fleet had formed up in a defensive formation around the decoy ship while throwing over a hundred workers at the task of restoring the ship's hyperdrive before either the Horde or Apophis came back with more ships to retake the decoy ship.

And most of those workers were humans - slaves. Catra had already seen Jaffa literally using whips to drive them to work harder. That meant that if Catra and her friends tried to escape by triggering the scuttling charges, blowing the decoy ship up and escaping while cloaked (and disguised as debris as a backup), they would be killing over a hundred helpless people in addition to a bunch of fanatical Jaffa. They couldn't do that.

Not that Catra would give them good odds of escaping even if they did that, not between all the Death Gliders flitting around the "Steel Fist", probably hunting for more suicidal cloaked Tel'taks. No, they were now committed to the plan; the window to call it off and withdraw had closed.

But it meant she had nothing to do but wait for the workers to finish fixing the hyperdrive and hope nothing else would go wrong. Like a third System Lord sending forces to take the superweapon. Or Apophis returning with more ships. Or the Asgard arriving to 'stop the Horde' or whatever.

She snorted. Any of those scenarios were unlikely. If Apophis had more ships, he would have sent them in the first place. The Asgard didn't have the ships to spare and didn't really care about the Horde or Earth - not enough to get involved. And the odds of them knowing about this were slim to none. And if a third System Lord not only had gotten the fake intel about this operation but had the forces ready to move in time to stop Apophis, then Apophis's security was so bad, he should have been defeated by his rivals already.

Catra knew all that, but a little bit of worry remained. Apophis's security had been been broken by one rival already, after all. Which reminded her… "Hey, Teal'c - seen anything to identify the new guys yet?"

Teal'c replied without looking away from the screen he used to watch the engine room, where most workers were slaving away. "Not so far. Not even the slaves are carrying symbols of worship of their fake god. That in itself is telling - whoever is behind this is quite skilled at hiding their involvement. They must have experience with hiding their operations."

Ah! Catra's eyes widened for a moment. That sounded like…

"Like, say, having fooled everyone into thinking they were dead for a thousand years, like Sokar?" Jack beat Catra to the punch.

"I believe he would be the most likely suspect, as the saying goes," Teal'c said. "We know he was already fighting Apophis, so he would have had forces in the area ready to be deployed, and even after the purges following Apophis's setbacks, it is not unreasonable to assume that Sokar has some spies left at his rival's court."

Catra nodded. That sounded plausible.

"Sokar…" Sha're trailed off, and Catra saw her take a deep breath. "His reputation for cruelty is only rivalled by Ba'al's."

"Well, taking him out will be a good thing, then," Jack commented. "Not that taking out a snake is ever a bad thing, of course."

Catra agreed with that as well, though the Alliance didn't know as much about Sokar's realm as they knew about Apophis's, so exploiting the loss of its ruler would be more difficult.

"We might even discover at least one of Sokar's hidden worlds," Sam added.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed. "It is unlikely that he will have the decoy moved to his capital, if only to keep it secret from his own court, but with what little is known about his territory, any new information will be a boon."

"That will make it harder to escape, though," Bow pointed out. "We won't know the area, and we won't have any allies nearby. Not close enough, at least, or the spy bot network would have found the system already."

"If we manage to capture Sokar, this will decapitate his forces and throw his court into chaos," Sha're retorted. "His underlings will start struggling for power at once. Sokar's rule relies on fear above all else."

"And no one fears the chump who gets captured in his own realm by a few good men and women. And cats," Jack said, nodding at Catra and Melog with a grin.

She snorted at that. It made sense, but it was also more than a little optimistic. "Let's not get overconfident. We have to capture him first." And then escape before Sokar's underlings realised that this was the best opportunity to get rid of their boss. "And for that, those idiots need to finish repairing the hyperdrive."

"The crystals we knocked out of alignment were further disrupted by the fighting between Apophis's forces and the new attackers," Sam said. She sounded a bit defensive, as if it was her fault that the Goa'uld were incompetent. "The attacks by the Death Gliders also damaged one of the projectors, which will require further repairs."

"Any estimate for how long that will take them?" Jack asked.

Sam grimaced. "Based on their performance so far, at least several hours."

Catra shook her head. Motivation by whipping didn't work. Especially not when it came to difficult tasks such as repairing high-tech machinery. People made mistakes under such stress. And speaking of mistakes… "Can you check their work?" she asked.

"We are plugged into the ship's systems and can run a diagnosis," Sam replied.

"Good. I'd hate for this mission to get derailed further by a faulty hyperdrive sending us god knows where," Jack said. "I'm already behind on the latest season of the Simpsons."

Catra snorted, but Bow perked up. "Oh, you are?" he asked. "I've got all episodes that were aired so far on my tablet."

"Really?" Jack looked surprised.

Probably hasn't expected his joke to be taken seriously, Catra thought with a snicker.

"Yes." Bow smiled, then looked embarrassed. "My brothers like them, and, well…" he shrugged. "Everyone's still doing it."

"Well, can I borrow your tablet then?" Jack asked.

"Jack! Are you seriously going to watch a cartoon series in the middle of the mission?" Daniel blurted out.

"Do we have anything else to do?"

Daniel blinked but didn't seem to have an answer to that.

Neither did Sam, though she was frowning, Catra noticed.

So, it seemed as if they would indeed watch cartoons in the middle of a mission. Well, Jack would, at least. But there weren't many alternatives. Of course, Catra could think of a number of things to do with Adora that beat watching cartoons, but they lacked the privacy for that.

Quite the dilemma. Catra blamed the Goa'uld for that.

*****​

The Simpsons had been funnier in the past, in Jack O'Neill's opinion. And he blamed the Etherians for it - the 'Princess of Springfield' character, an exiled Etherian, had started with the 'magic goes wrong' episodes, which now seemed to take up half the season. If it wasn't Bart getting cursed, Lisa trying out witchcraft, or Homer annoying ancient ghosts by mistake, you could bet on some Etherian guest character appearing and making a mess with magic.

Far too much magic in the Simpsons, for Jack's taste. He shook his head as the current episode ended with half the town turned into the Simpson's version of the Whispering Woods - for the second time this season.

"Whoever is writing those episodes has no idea about Etherian magic," Glimmer commented. "Even for a cartoon show, I'd expect more research."

"But they hit the nail on the head with the exiled princess Sour Wasp," Catra retorted with a grin. "I wonder if Sweet Bee will sue."

Jack chuckled at the thought. He'd still prefer it if the character were removed.

"Ah, Bow," Daniel spoke up, "do your brothers prefer the new seasons or the old ones? I mean, the seasons released before Etheria made contact with Earth or the ones after that point?"

"Both," Bow replied. "Though they don't get all the jokes in the older ones. And half the jokes about Etheria are funny because they are so wrong."

"Ah. I was wondering about their grasp of the cultural context." Daniel nodded.

"I don't get many of the nuances of the jokes in Earth media either," Sha're added.

"You're making a lot of progress," Daniel told her. "It's not as if it's different for the audience on Earth outside the USA."

"That's because you have as many people on your world as the rest of the galaxy put together," Glimmer grumbled.

"It's not quite as extreme," Daniel corrected her. "Though we do have a lot of distinct cultures."

"Well, on Etheria, most are only getting to know Western media," Bow said.

"And some Japanese," Catra added with a sigh.

"If your impression of Earth culture is based on our media, it might have interesting effects on cross-cultural relationships," Daniel said. "I've mentioned that in a paper for the tourism commission."

Glimmer groaned. "Don't remind me about them. They don't get that the Stargate is not a tourist transport."

"Or that our cruisers aren't cruise ships," Jack added with a snort.

"We don't have any cruisers, sir," Carter cut in.

Jack rolled his eyes at her. He knew that, but his quip wouldn't have worked as well with frigates. "The point is that we don't have the spare transportation capacity to dedicate to tourists. Or the resources to waste on protecting interstellar Spring Breakers and Snow Birds."

"Well, I don't think that the commission expects mass tourism to take off anytime soon. But they are hoping for luxury trips, as far as I understand," Daniel said.

Jack snorted again. Of course, it was about luxury trips for the rich - they had the contacts and influence amongst politicians to prop up the commission in the first place. Same for the pressure to sell shuttles to civilians. Some people really didn't get that a shuttle wasn't a Humvee.

"If anyone wants to travel to other planets, they can join up," Campbell commented. Isa and the rest of the two fire teams in the compartment voiced their agreement. "They'll get all the exciting travel they can stomach."

Jack doubted that if the kind of people who wanted to go on luxury trips joined the Alliance forces, they would end up on the frontlines. They tended to go for cushy jobs in the rear. Preferably in some exotic travel destination. At least he hadn't had to deal with them at Stargate Command, thanks to the secrecy, and he didn't have to deal with them in the Alliance thanks to his position. Some perks that came with a general's rank were nicer than others.

"So, what about the next episode?" Bow asked, holding up his tablet.

Jack looked around. No one seemed terribly enthusiastic. Bow was probably just politely asking, Catra was curled up in Adora's lap in a way that would have half the brass Jack knew scream about inappropriate PDAs, Glimmer was looking bored, Carter hadn't watched the cartoons anyway but had been busy with her computer and Teal'c was… Teal'c. Daniel and Sha're looked interested, at least, and Jack's people in the back were a toss-up between watching and sleeping.

"Maybe we should…" he began.

"Sir! They brought the hyperdrive online," Carter interrupted him. "The "Steel Fist" is now operational."

Jack jumped up and walked over to her. "That was fast, wasn't it?"

"It's within expected parameters," Carter replied. Which probably meant she could have done it faster by herself.

Jack checked the feeds from the hidden cameras. The workers were exhausted - some had collapsed in the engine room - but the bridge crew was busy. Very busy. And on the holoprojection, the patrolling Death Gliders were racing back towards the Ha'taks.

"Get ready, folks," he called out. "Looks like we'll be on the way to wherever soon."

*****​

Hyperspace, February 20th, 2000 (Earth Time)

"According to the navigational data from the ship's computers, we're on the way to PT-1853. The Jaffa have plotted the course in several legs."

Adora nodded at Sam's report. "Do we have any data on that system?"

"Except for the fact that it has a Stargate, no. Exploration has been cut short due to the war effort, and the Tok'ra's data - at least the data they shared - has nothing on it either," Sam replied.

That meant none of the Goa'uld knew about the system. None but the System Lord behind the attack on Apophis's forces. That didn't mean it had to be Sokar - not many Goa'uld would send a captured superweapon to one of their main systems - but it made it a bit more likely; no one knew much about his territory.

"Good work, Carter. Let's hope that the Jaffa don't find our taps."

"Unless they physically dismantle the entire computer system and manage to spot the data ports we've hidden inside, that is unlikely, sir." Sam sounded a bit annoyed. "We're using the ship's own systems, after all, which they control, and our access is purely passive."

Sam was right, of course - they had done everything to prevent their deception from being discovered. Their plan wasn't perfect, of course - the fact that they were not on the way to Apophis proved that better than anything else.

"We're dealing with a paranoid snake expecting traitors everywhere - who has just pulled off an intel coup against Apophis," Jack pointed out.

"We built the system with this in mind and implemented the Tok'ra's advice."

Jack grumbled something Adora didn't catch but which made Catra snort. "I don't think the snake in charge of this will have the ship's systems dismantled for inspection," she said. They would want to keep the 'superweapon' ready to be used as soon as possible - before Apophis might decide to spread the news of this to alert all other System Lords of the danger and unite them against this."

"And they probably don't expect such treachery from the Horde," Bow added.

"Unless they know about his mind control chips," Glimmer retorted.

"Horde Prime probably kept those secret so his enemies wouldn't be warned," Catra pointed out. "Makes it easier to appear all-powerful and all-knowing, too, if people don't know your tricks."

Adora reached out and pulled Catra closer; her love must be remembering her time under Horde Prime's control. Cata grumbled a bit but didn't wriggle out of her embrace.

"At the very least, they won't try to pull the systems apart while they are travelling," Sam said.

"Never underestimate their fanaticism," Jack objected.

"They will not risk destroying the prize they were sent out to secure for their false god," Teal'c said. "Nor will they start to dismantle it without explicit orders. And such orders will likely be given in person - no System Lord will trust an underling with the power to destroy them."

Adora nodded. That was what they were counting on. "How long will we travel?" she asked.

Sam hit a few keys. "If they follow the plotted course, we'll be in hyperspace, with a few interruptions for navigation, for a week."

Adora frowned. They had laid the trap near Apophis's territory. "So, they took a task force standing by to attack Apophis and sent them to intercept us, and now they're withdrawing to a more distant base."

"Probably a forward base for attacks against Apophis," Jack added. "Let's hope our snake will want to check the goods before sending us deeper into their territory."

Adora nodded in agreement. She didn't want to spend weeks or months in hyperspace. That hadn't been a concern when they were planning to trick Apophis.

"So… since we'll be a while here…" Jack grinned. "What's next on the menu as entertainment?"

*****​

PT-1853 System, February 27th, 2000 (Earth Time)

"We're about to exit hyperspace."

Adora suppressed a sigh of relief at the announcement. After a week in hyperspace, she'd even prefer dropping into an ambush to spending another night in the stealth compartment. Sure, they had everything to survive for months if needed, but for one thing: Privacy.

All she wanted was to capture the Goa'uld responsible for extending their trip, head to the closest Stargate and return home to lock herself and Catra in their room for the next twenty-four hours or so. And if she had to personally beat the Goa'uld's entire guard for that, she'd do it happily - another week of this, and she'd agree with Catra about using the shower here! Though Melog, who was mirroring Catra's emotions, would probably claw a hole through the walls before that, if Catra didn't do it herself.

"Great! I am sick of Earth TV marathons!" Glimmer sounded as frustrated as Adora felt.

"We also have literally millions of books with us." Daniel obviously didn't quite get what Glimmer was really frustrated about.

Adora saw Sha're lean over to whisper in his ear, followed by Daniel blushing. Well, he understood now.

"Exiting hyperspace in five, four…"

Adora raised her chin and braced for the familiar feeling.

"..three, two, one…"

And they left hyperspace. Adora watched the holoprojection change as their magitech scanner switched on.

They were inside a system with two planets. And a couple of asteroids - no ring, though.

A moment later, several dozen Ha'taks and even more smaller ships appeared in the projection.

"That's either a major fleet base, or whoever is in command doesn't even trust their chosen task force to stay loyal," Jack commented.

"No System Lord trusts anyone," Sha're said.

"They've opened communications," Sam announced.

On the screen that had been showing shows and movies for a week straight, a Jaffa appeared. Adora recognised him - it was the Jaffa in charge of the task force. Gun'il, as they had found out from overhearing chatter amongst the crew.

The picture of him shrank to show another Jaffa, and Adora winced at the sight of the burn scars that covered the man's face. "Gun'il. You have achieved what you were ordered to do?"

"Yes, Kal'toc. We have secured the weapon Apophis craved and slaughtered his warriors. Our God's will was done."

"That remains for Him to judge,"
Kal'toc retorted. "Prepare for His arrival."

Gun'il bowed his head, and even on the screen, you could see that he was tense before the connection was cut.

"They don't mention their System Lord's name," Daniel commented. "I thought this might merely be an excessive interpretation of an order not to reveal their origin, but they do it even here, in a supposedly secure system. This is quite peculiar."

"That's not normal," Sha're agreed.

"Yeah. Usually, you can't stop them from praising their god," Jack said.

"Indeed."

"And the only System Lord we know who we don't know much about is Sokar." Catra shrugged. "Another clue that it's him, but we already pretty much knew that."

"Such religious practices can give us valuable insight into a System Lord's domain," Daniel objected. "If saying their god's name is taboo, then that could tell us something about their faith. Such a practice is not very common on Earth."

"Or all of them are just afraid of attracting his attention by saying his name," Jack said. "We'll know soon enough," he added, pointing at a Ha'tak that was leaving the planet's orbit and headed, together with most of the fleet, to their position. "I bet he just arrived by Stargate and ring transporter."

*****​

"They've docked," Sam announced, even though everyone could see the airlock on the screen.

Adora clenched and unclenched her fingers, almost summoning her sword. Finally! Their target had arrived.

Gun'il and his guards were lined up facing the airlock, more nervous than Adora had ever seen them, even though they clearly had achieved their mission. Then the doors slid back, revealing a Goa'uld, and the Jaffa dropped to their knees.

"Sokar," both Sha're and Teal'c said together when they saw him.

"Told you," Catra added. She was sheathing and unsheathing her claws, Adora saw. And her tail and ears were twitching.

"Do you recognise him?" Daniel asked.

"We recognise his symbol," Sha're replied. "Not his host. It's been a thousand years since he was seen by other System Lords."

The Jaffa were calling him their lord, praising him frantically, until he allowed them to stand up.

"Someone's really full of it," Jack commented as the Goa'uld started his inspection of the ship, led by the still-tense Gun'il.

Adora clenched her teeth. The Jaffa had won a victory for their god - or so they thought, at least. How cruel was this Goa'uld to make his most loyal followers fear him so?

She summoned her sword and went to the concealed doors that led into the control room of the 'Core Cracking Cannon'. Soon, he wouldn't be able to terrify people any more.

"There he comes!" Jack whispered from behind. "He just entered the room."

Adora glanced at the screen behind her, checked again where the Jaffa stood, then used the door controls.

She burst through the opening a moment later, sword turned shield, but the Jaffa guards were just reacting to the ambush, and Adora reached Sokar before they could even try to stop her. She smashed him into the warriors behind him, a personal shield flaring up, then breaking around him as all went down in a tangle of limbs and armour. A moment later, Catra jumped past her to rake her claws over the closest warrior.

"How dare you!" Sokar bellowed, raising his arm - with a Goa'uld torture device! "You will…!"

While shots rang out behind her and bullets and staff weapon fire cut down the guards on the side, Adora smashed the Goa'uld over the head with the flat side of her sword, knocking him out. Catra took care of the closest guards with a bit more vehemence than usual.

"Room secure!" Isa bellowed as the last guard went down.

Jack nodded. "Alright. Move to the bridge! We need to…"

The ship shuddered, almost sending them stumbling, and Adora heard the sounds of explosions. "We're under fire!" she snapped.

"The escorts have disabled our engines," Adora heard Sam report over the communicator.

Jack cursed. "They're very quick to stab their god in the back. Too quick."

Adora nodded. This didn't look like a coup.

"More Tel'taks are on the way," Sam told them.

Boarders.

Catra looked at their prisoner. "Let's hope we did get the right snake."

If this wasn't Sokar… Well, no matter what, they had to secure the ship and repel the boarders.

And then find a way to get away.

*****​
 
Oh I love that. This bait is too effective. I wonder if just one system lord shows up, after all it would be a game changer in the system lord balance of power, they may have just turned the Ra succession war hot accidentally

If news of the "Superweapon" spreads, old policies may be revised quite heavily.
 
Something something Evil Overlord list, "Whenever practical I shall send a stunt double to inspect any captured facilities, in case they are a trap for me..."?
 
Chapter 160: The Double Cross Part 6
Chapter 160: The Double Cross Part 6

PT-1853 System, February 27th, 2000 (Earth Time)


They were surrounded by dozens of Ha'taks and their escorts, commanded by one of the worst Goa'uld they knew of, and the enemy had just disabled their engines.

Samantha Carter had been in worse situations, but not many.

She checked the readings from the Steel Fist's systems on her computer. The Goa'uld had destroyed the sublight engines, but the hyperdrive was still functional. Although it relied on power from the main reactor, and the readings she got from the engine room weren't good.

Sam switched through a few windows and frowned. The reactor output was fluctuating - the engines' destruction must have damaged it, likely through a power surge. She clenched her teeth. That wouldn't have happened if they had used the latest Horde technology, but the Alliance had been worried about that falling into the hands of the Goa'uld even if the ship was scuttled, and so they had used designs that the Goa'uld already knew. Inferior designs. But the damage seemed repairable - though it would take some time. And even if they could open a subspace window, they still needed some form of propulsion to push the ship through it before the Goa'uld destroyed them. Although…

"Bridge secured. What are the snakes doing?" The General's voice came over the comms.

Sam checked the holoprojection. "Holding their positions, sir."

"Can we get away?" Adora asked.

"We need the reactor repaired and a way to accelerate the ship for a short period," Sam replied. "Then we can escape into hyperspace."

"How long will that take?"

"It depends on how fast we can repair the reactor and rig up a directed explosive to propel the ship," Sam replied.

"I like that plan," the General said. She had known it would appeal to him.

"Bow, Sam - get started on it," Adora ordered. "Have the Goa'uld tried to contact us yet?"

Sam didn't know if that question was aimed at her, but she checked her data anyway as she got up. "No contact yet," she said. "I'm moving to the reactor room."

"I'm headed there as well," Bow added.

Why haven't they contacted us yet? Sam wondered as she ran past a dozen dead Jaffa. They had disabled the ship's engines as soon as Adora had taken the Goa'uld captive, so what were the Jaffa waiting for? Or were they waiting for someone? What if they hadn't captured Sokar, but another Goa'uld serving him? Maybe as a decoy?

She clenched her teeth. She couldn't worry about that - she had to focus on repairing the reactor and setting an explosive charge powerful enough to accelerate the ship forward without destroying it.

She would have to trust that the others could handle the rest.

*****​

Catra had been in worse situations than being stuck in a crippled ship surrounded by enemies, but that wasn't a high bar to clear given her experiences.

"Should we call them and tell them we have a hostage?" Daniel asked.

Before Cara could tell him how bad that was, Sha're spoke up: "No. If this is a coup attempt, or a plot by a rival, that might push them to destroy the ship to ensure Sokar is dead. And if this isn't a coup, we would give them information without gaining anything in return."

"Yep." Jack nodded. "If they realise that this was a trap all along, they might just blow us up. As long as they think this is a superweapon, they might still be wary."

"If they think this is a working superweapon, why haven't they boarded us?" Glimmer retorted. "Aren't they afraid that we'll blow them away?"

"They have us surrounded, and our shields are down." Catra pointed at the radar display. "If we powered up a weapon, they'd notice and blow us up." And even if the superweapon were real, they wouldn't be able to kill the entire fleet in one volley - the Goa'uld had had a week to study the fake schematics and documentation, and they knew how it supposedly worked. They might fear a self-destruct that wrecked the entire area, but those were fanatically loyal Jaffa, so who knew how they would react to such a threat?

"Even if it were a coup, they would want to make sure Sokar is dead, so they should have been calling us," Jack said. "Maybe pretending to be loyal to him or something." He shook his head. "I don't think our guy is Sokar."

"You think they're waiting for the real Sokar to arrive and handle this?" Catra cocked her head.

Daniel frowned. "Wouldn't he have ordered them to secure the ship before that?"

"If he thinks it could be a trap, he might expect that to trigger it again," Catra replied.

"He has a reputation for twisted plots," Sha're said. "But this could still be a coup - or a plot by a rival, like Ba'al. If they had to improvise, they might still be trying to take control of the fleet surrounding us."

"I'd expect them to have started shooting each other in that case," Jack commented.

"Not if the rest of the fleet doesn't know about it," Sha're retorted. "But you're right - we should see some signs of internal fighting soon in that case. It's unlikely that a coup or a rival's sabotage would work perfectly."

"As we just proved," Jack said. "Carter? Any update?"

"We're working on the reactor, but it will take a while yet - we're still assessing the damage and need to recalibrate the controls, sir."

That wasn't good. Maybe they should have taken Entrapta and Hordak with them… But if everything went wrong here, those two would be needed more than ever.

"If this doesn't work, what are our chances if we retreat into the stealth compartment and scuttle the ship as we originally planned?" Daniel asked with a glance to Sha're.

"I think whoever is in charge of the enemy here will collect every single last speck of dust left behind," Catra told her. That was what she would do in their place. "We might escape with the stealth field active, but if we're unlucky, someone could spot stuff hitting us or disappearing in the stealth field, and then they'll have us. And even if it worked, we'd still be drifting in space - and no one's coming to our rescue here since no one knows we're here." They were out of range of the Spy bot network, so they couldn't even call for help.

"Well, I guess it's do or die then," Jack said. "Let's hope the snakes wait a bit longer to sort out what they want to do."

A moment later, the console behind him lit up with an incoming communication.

Catra glared at him.

*****​

There were times when Jack O'Neill was sure that the universe was out to get him. Like, this time right now. He turned to glare at the communication console. Teach him to dare Murphy. He cleared his throat. "Well, let's not make our dear caller wait."

"But you said…" Daniel started to say something, probably about Jack's earlier comment, but trailed off when Jack accepted the call.

A man - a Goa'uld, his eyes were glowing - appeared on the screen in the centre of the bridge. He was sneering, his skin was unnaturally pale, almost as pale as a clone, and Jack could see some veins crisscrossing his bald skull. Compared to the other snakes Jack had seen, this one looked downright alien.

"Colonel O'Neill." And there was the snake voice as well. "Of course, it would be you. Your reputation precedes you."

"Actually, it's 'General O'Neill now," Jack replied. Sokar - if that was Sokar - must have used old intel. How that kind of information spread might be useful to find out.

The snake scoffed. "You have been an annoyance for Apophis."

Jack smiled. Genuinely - he was proud of that, and if the snake wanted to make some small talk about other System Lords, that meant more time for Carter and Bow to fix the reactor. "Well, he didn't really make it hard."

The Goa'uld's laugh sounded like he was coughing, and his lips twisted into a sneer. "That made you complacent." The snake flashed his teeth again. "Your last mission failed."

Jack shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. He had to keep the Goa'uld talking so they could get away. "Really? Looks to me as if both Apophis and the Horde failed. Neither of them is in control of this superweapon. Mission accomplished."

He tensed up. If the snake had seen through their deception, then this was the point where he would gloat. Probably.

"Your 'superweapon' is crippled and surrounded by my fleet, O'Neill."

"So you say." Jack bared his teeth. "But we still control it. And we can destroy it."

"Only at the cost of your own lives."

Had the snake's smile slipped for a moment? Was that the reason why he hadn't sent his Jaffa to board them already? That would mean he didn't know this was a decoy and thought the superweapon was real… Jack shrugged again. "A small price to pay for saving Earth from it. And, well… you've got a kinda reputation. Dying seems preferable to getting captured by you."

The Goa'uld laughed again, slightly longer. And creepier. Jack felt himself shudder when the snake suddenly stopped and stared at him. "Commendable. But you have not done so yet. I wonder why…"

Jack resisted the urge to wet his lips. He just had to keep the snake talking. Long enough for Carter and Bow to fix the damn reactor. "You haven't sent in your warriors yet."

"You still have hope of escaping your fate?"

"We're hard to kill. If I had a nickel for every time Apophis thought he had us dead by rights…" Jack grinned.

The Goa'uld frowned for a moment, then matched his grin. "I am not Apophis. I will not make his mistakes."

"You're Sokar." Jack nodded.

"Did you hope to take me hostage?" Sokar - if that was really Sokar - snorted. "I am not as foolish as Apophis."

"The thought has crossed my mind," Jack told him. He wanted to check back with Carter and get an update, but that would give the game away.

"Another failure of yours, General O'Neill." Sokar slowly shook his head. "You would have had better chances to escape if you had taken over the ship before arriving here. In fact, given how quickly you took control of the ship, I wonder why you didn't do so - you had ample time for it during the trip."

Jack clenched his teeth. Sokar was getting close to unravelling everything. Or had he guessed the truth already and was playing with them? He licked his dry lips. "As much as we make it look easy, we still have to prepare for taking over a superweapon."

"And for ambushing a god."

Jack spread his hands. "Can't fault us for trying."

"Oh, I can - and will. Daring to strike at a god deserves a punishment equal to the crime." Sokar chuckled again. "Did you get greedy? Did you decide that in addition to capturing a superweapon, you would capture a System Lord as well?"

Jack grimaced. That would have been stupid. But it would explain why they hadn't bailed before.

"And how did you manage to hide from my warriors for so long? I did not send fools on this mission. They knew that their lives would be forfeit if they were fooled by you."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Jack smiled broadly at the snake. Let him worry about what they had done here to hide. If Sokar was as paranoid as the rest of his peers, he'd make up threats even Jack wouldn't think of.

"I would - and I will. And do you know why, O'Neill?"

"I guess you're dying to tell me why," Jack said.

"Your situation is hopeless. Even if a fleet arrived to save you, my ships would destroy you before they could rescue you. A fate worse than death awaits you - eternal agony for your defiance. And you know all that. And yet, you hope. You don't want to die. You don't want to kill yourself and your men. And that is your fatal weakness."

Jack narrowed his eyes. That sounded very confident. Had he overlooked something? Were they missing a crucial threat? "You want this superweapon. You don't want us to destroy it."

"Correct. But I would rather destroy it than let someone else control it - and use it against me."

Ah. Jack nodded. "You wouldn't be content with our solemn promise not to use it against you, I guess."

Sokar laughed again. "I have studied you, General. You are no fool. You would not keep such a promise."

That sounded like a compliment. But coming from a snake, that was an insult. "Worth a try." What was Sokar planning? Was this just a sick way to keep them hoping right until the end? Or did Sokar have a way to get the ship before they could blow it up? If there were any cloaked Tel'taks on the way, their scanner would have detected it.

What was he planning? Jack blinked. And why was the snake's picture getting blurry? He shook his head and almost swayed. Wait…

He glanced to the side. Daniel had taken off his glasses and was blinking rapidly. And Glimmer looked like she was about to fall asleep. Even Teal'c seemed a bit off…

Jack gasped.

"Poison!" he hissed.

*****​

Poison? Adora looked around and gasped - her friends were reeling, and she had been so focused on Sokar that she had missed it! "Catra!"

Her love was blinking and frowning, her ears twitching. "I'm…"

Adora summoned her sword and healed her.

"...OK." Catra finished. "But the others…"

"The poison is already working! If you want to survive, you have to…" Sokar was cut off when the screen blacked out.

"Bastard must have poisoned the fall guy!" Jack muttered.

Adora quickly healed him, then the others - Daniel and Sha're had already collapsed, and some of the soldiers with them weren't looking any better.

"Thank you," Campbell said.

"Thank you," Isa added, even though the Socrpionwoman hadn't really seemed affected that much.

"Thanks… Carter!" Jack snapped.

"We're about to finish repairs, sir." Sam sounded fine.

"Bow?" Glimmer asked.

"Since we were working near the engines and at the reactor, we never removed the space suits," Bow replied.

Adora sighed with relief. She had managed to heal everyone, and they would soon leave this place.

"Sokar's sending in cloaked Tel'taks!" Catra hissed. "And he's trying to contact us again."

"Probably to gloat." Jack scoffed. "And to offer us the antidote in exchange for the weapon."

"After he told us we'd suffer for eternity?" Adora shook her head.

"Technically, he told Jack that," Daniel said. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Still a bad plan," Catra said without taking her eyes off the screen showing Sokar's ships approaching them.

"Sokar probably had the underling who visited carrying poison to spoil any assassination attempt." Sha're, too, took a few deep breaths. "I think that might be standard practice for him, and he just exploited the opportunity here."

"Sounds like it'd fit Sokar, yeah. And he'll claim it was all planned." Jack nodded. "How much longer, Carter? We're about to have visitors!"

"We're placing the charges - one more minute, sir!"

"We don't want to start the reactor until the last moment,"
Bow added.

That made sense, of course.

"Might not have a minute," Catra said. "They're about to dock at the lower airlocks - closest to the engine rooms."

"Prepare to repel boarders!" Jack ordered the soldiers and started to move towards the door leading off the bridge. "Damn, I sound like a Navy puke! And suit up!"

Adora was already running, easily passing him and the others. "I'm covering the starboard airlock!" she snapped.

"They're docking now. I've sealed the airlocks, but that won't stop them for long," Catra replied on the channel. "I'll join you!"

Adora knew better than to tell her love to stay back. She reached the starboard lower airlock and took up a position opposite it.

A moment later, Catra, suited up, took the corner behind her, running on all fours - and along the wall for a second. Behind her, the blast doors snapped shut, isolating the compartment.

"Smith! Suit up, damn it - they'll blow the doors again! Isa, Campbell - cover that door. Everyone else, fallback positions one blast door back!" Jack bellowed over the communicator.

"Propulsion charges have been set,"
Sam reported. "We're moving to start up the reactor and hyperdrive."

"Let's hope Sokar won't have the ship blown up once he detects the reactor powering up," Catra whispered.

Adora bit her lower lip and nodded.

Then the airlocks were blown open, and Adora changed her sword to a shield as she let the air drag her forward. As soon as she reached the remains of the door, she grabbed the edge and swung around, entering the Tel'tak with her shield up. She caught two shots on it, another bounced off on her back, and then she started tearing into and through the Jaffa assembled inside the small craft, Catra at her side.

Half a minute later, it was over. The last Jaffa, his suit slashed open by Catra after Adora had torn his weapon away, was still trying to reach her with his arms, but a kick from Catra sent him outside the ship.

"Watch out for grenades! Isa, keep it up!"

The other battle wasn't going as well, but they didn't seem to be losing.

"Reactor starting up!" Sam announced.

"Hyperdrive on standby!" Bow added.

Adora grabbed Catra and hurried back into the ship. The Tel'tak was docked, but better safe than sorry.

They had barely made it inside the wrecked airlock when the ship shook again.

"We've entered hyperspace."

Adora sighed with relief. They were safe - for the moment, at least. But safe enough. Now, all they had to do was to find the closest Stargate and get home. If one of the Two Tel'taks had survived the transition into hyperspace, they could just take it and be gone long before anyone might find the wreckage of the decoy, and…

"Daniel collapsed!" Sha're yelled through the communicator. "The poison's still active!"

What? But Adora had healed him - she had healed everyone!

"Man down!" Jack reported.

"I don't feel so well either, sir," Campbell said.

What was going on?

*****​

Hyperspace, February 27th, 2000 (Earth Time)

They only had a few minutes - the way they had set things up, the Steel Fist couldn't travel too far through hyperspace. Just enough to get away, to travel far enough so Sokar's fleet would have to search an area too large to find them quickly or easily. Samantha Carter should be preparing the next trip through hyperspace - calculating the course, checking the drive and reactor, setting up another propulsion charge, in case the Tel'taks docked to the ship hadn't survived the transition to hyperspace…

But the General and the others were suffering from poison - even after Adora had healed them. Twice, now.

So, Bow was checking the hyperdrive and reactor and preparing another charge from their remaining supplies while Sam ran her scanner over the General, trying to find out how a poison had resisted She-Ra's magic. The results she got confirmed what she had suspected.

"So, what did the magic scanner reveal?" he asked with forced levity - she could tell he was tense.

She pressed her lips together. "She-Ra's magic purged the poison from your bodies, but the poison itself wasn't destroyed - enough was left outside your bodies to affect you again. And it still lingers inside the ship." Another quick scan, now that she knew what to scan for and had the time, showed it had spread quite far through the ship.

He cursed under his breath. "I should've known Sokar wouldn't use a poison that breaks down quickly! He probably considers area denial a bonus."

They had been under attack by Sokar's forces and trying to escape with a crippled ship when the poison had struck, but Sam knew the General wouldn't allow that to excuse his oversight. Nor would Sam allow it to excuse her own, of course.

"We couldn't expect him to poison a ship he wanted to use," Sha're disagreed. "Nor that he obviously never considered that he might be affected by lingering poison himself in certain circumstances."

"Unless he has rendered his host immune to the poison," Teal'c pointed out. "Such is known to have happened."

And Sokar's host certainly looked alien enough to have undergone several questionable treatments, in Sam's opinion.

Sha're conceded the point with a nod.

"And he would have a way to decontaminate the ship," Sam said.

"At the risk of revealing his tactic and poison of choice," Daniel retorted.

Sha're shook her head. "He would simply leave no witnesses alive."

"Charming fellow," the General commented. "But we've got his poison to deal with. How do we decontaminate us so Adora doesn't need to keep healing us?"

"Her magic purged the poison from your body and its immediate vicinity," Sam said. "If you wear your spacesuit and she healed you, you should be fine."

"Should?"

"I will have to scan each individual to check, but your suit is clean inside, sir," she told him.

"Couldn't you have opened with that?" he complained, though he was grinning. "So, do it. We need…" A beeping noise interrupted him.

Sam checked the alert on her laptop. "We're exiting hyperspace in twenty-five seconds."

"Alright - focus on getting us to the next Stargate, then check everyone. And keep your suits on, everyone!" the General ordered.

They dropped out of hyperspace, and Sam checked the coordinates. Slightly off but within expected tolerances.

"Where are we?" Adora asked.

"In the middle of nowhere," Catra replied, pointing at the display on the bridge.

Sam nodded as she got up. Deep Space, away from any system nearby that Sokar's forces might control or search. "Bow and I are going to check the Tel'taks, sir," she reported. If one or both had survived the trip intact, they could leave with them and scuttle the decoy ship.

But Sam wasn't very optimistic - even under optimal conditions, taking another ship with you through hyperspace wasn't easy. Doing it with a crippled ship pushed through a subspace window by an explosive charge… Sam didn't like those odds.

"The starboard Tel'tak has been completely ripped off," Bow reported before Sam reached the airlock on the port side. He'd had a headstart.

"Copy," she confirmed as she opened the blast doors, revealing the wrecked airlock in front of her. "I'm checking the second Tel'tak."

It was still docked to the ship, which was more than she had expected. But it had been exposed to vacuum - still was - as part of the boarding tactics Sokar's Jaffa had used, and that hadn't done it any good during the transition through the subspace window and subsequent travel through hyperspace. And that didn't even take the damage from the fight inside it into account.

"What's the verdict, Carter?"

She suppressed a sigh as she checked her readings - such as they were; most of the ship's systems were dead, and the rest…

"The ship's systems suffered severe damage," she reported. "Reactor, sublight drives and hyperdrive are nonfunctional. Control crystals are damaged, and the navigational console is a total loss." From a stray staff weapon blast, or so it looked.

"So… can you repair it?"

She hesitated. It wasn't a total loss, but repairing it would be what an old instructor at the academy would have called 'quite a challenge'. Still, it was possible. They'd have to cannibalise the decoy ship for it, though - this time, the decision to use Goa'uld technology for critical parts had turned out to be helpful since the parts were somewhat compatible.

The question was, would it be better to repair the Tel'tak or to rig the Steel Fist for another trip through hyperspace to a world with a Stargate? They could only do either; the Tel'tak wouldn't survive another trip through hyperspace, and to repair it, they had to sacrifice the Steel Fist.

"We can," Sam started to explain. "But it would take longer than rigging the decoy ship for another trip, though such a trip would almost certainly wreck the Tel'tak beyond repair, meaning…"

*****​

Deep Space, February 27th, 2000 (Earth Time)

Repair the Tel'tak or another jump with the decoy? Catra frowned. The decoy ship was already damaged, and while she wasn't a tech, she was pretty sure that improvised propulsion by explosions wasn't helping that. "How many more times can we enter hyperspace with the Steel Fist before it falls apart?" she asked.

The slight hesitation was answer enough for her.

Then Bow clinched it. "Uh… One more time for sure. Two, maybe?"

Her old Horde instructor, bloody bastard, would have called out: 'Are you asking or telling, cadet?' Catra looked at Adora. Her love looked grim.

"We cannot guarantee more than one additional subspace transition," Sam replied over the communicator.

"Betting everything on the next planet? With our luck so far?" Catra shook her head.

"What if they find us here before we can repair the Tel'tak?" Daniel was looking kind of pale, still. "We'd be stuck."

"We'd be stuck at the next planet, too," Catra retorted. "And how likely is it that they'll find us? We didn't exactly make a smooth transition." And they were jamming whatever homing devices the Jaffa might have snuck past them.

"While we deviated from our set course, the distance was within the expected range," Sam spoke up.

Adora shook her head. "A working Tel'tak can get us home by itself if everything else fails."

In theory, Catra silently added. They would have to stop for supplies and avoid cabin fever quite often.

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "Start repairing the thing, Carter."

"Yes, sir."

And that was it. Now, it was up to Sam and Bow. Catra leaned back in her seat. Travelling in the Tel'tak would be even more cramped than in the stealth compartment, but it beat being stuck in space because the system you picked had had its Stargate removed or whatever.

*****​

Deep Space, February 28th, 2000 (Earth Time)

"We've finished repairs!"

Catra, curled up next to Adora in what remained of the Stealth compartment after it had been stripped for parts, looked up.

Bow looked tired, but he was smiling. Hell, he looked as if he were about to topple over.

"Yes! Finally!"

And now he did topple over thanks to Glimmer hugging him too enthusiastically. Even in their spacesuits, that had to hurt a little.

"Oof! Bow!"

"I'm OK!"

He looked OK, at least. Not that Catra cared too much as long as he wasn't bleeding or unconscious right now. Not after they had spent almost a full day in their suits. Granted, mostly because of the poison still lingering in the air, especially with the filters being dismantled to replace the Tel'tak's, but still! They could finally get off this wreck and return home.

Eventually, she amended as she followed Adora to the jury-rigged airlock leading to the Tel'tak. They still had to find and reach a Stargate. But with a working ship - and one with a stealth generator at that, even if it was not as good as the one built into the decoy's stealth compartment - that shouldn't be too hard.

Their luck had to get better at some point, at least.

As expected, the ship was cramped with the whole gang and two fire teams inside. Not to the point that it was standing room only, but it made a Horde Transport look roomy. And the bathroom facilities would be strained with so many people, too, even if they weren't hastily repaired like everything else.

She shuddered at the thought of the smell after a day or two. It made spending more time in the suit look like the lesser evil. At least the suit was rigged to take care of that.

Melog, next to her, turned green. Sickly green.

She patted their flank, then slipped past Isa to the cockpit - it was too small to be called a bridge. "Everyone on board," she reported.

Adora nodded at her. "Good."

"Airlock's sealed," Bow said from the pilot's seat.

"Let's go!" Adora ordered.

Catra heard the ship's magnetic docking locks disengage with a slightly screeching noise, but neither Sam nor Bow looked worried, so that was probably OK. Through the cockpit's windows, she saw the decoy ship's battered, holed hull fall out of sight as the Tel'tak turned away.

"Thrusters performing at the expected level."

"All systems nominal."

A small cheer went up from the fire teams. Most of them who hadn't worked a lot with Sam, Bow and Entrapta probably had been worried about the ship blowing up. Catra snorted softly at the thought as the ship continued in silence.

"We're at a safe distance," Sam announced as the ship swung around until it pointed at the small form of the Steel Fist again.

"Alright. Trigger the scuttling charges," Jack said.

"Yes, sir."

A moment later, the ship vanished in a silent, expanding fireball.

Sam's hands flew over the keyboard, and the scanner strapped into the nook next to her seat vibrated a moment. "Destruction complete."

"Good."

Catra shrugged. They had already removed all the pieces of technology the Goa'uld didn't already know, like the scanners and improved stealth generator. But that way, the snakes might not realise it had been a decoy if they ever found it. No loose ends, even though the thought of Sokar and the other System Lords realising they had been fooled completely made Catra grin.

"Alright. Take us out of here!" Jack spoke up. "Let's go home!"

"Yes, sir. Course set."

The ship sped up again, away from the still expanding cloud of dust left from the Steel Fist, and entered hyperspace.

Smoothly, this time.

*****​

In Orbit above PT-9714, March 2nd, 2000 (Earth Time)

"We've arrived in orbit above the target world. Scanning for the Stargate."

Jack O'Neill nodded at Carter's report. "Doesn't look like a good vacation spot," he commented.

"We're not here for a vacation," Catra retorted. "We just need to get to the Stargate and get off."

Jack swallowed the comment he could make about the - likely intended - double-entendre; things were already tense enough after two days in hyperspace in a ship so cramped, Jack could finally top whatever stories submarine crew members could come up. Even trekking through a jungle for a week wouldn't have people on edge like that; at least on a patrol or march, you had something to do, and the exertion helped as well. Here, though? Best not to tease people. "It looks like a dustbowl."

"Correct, sir." Carter nodded. "The atmosphere is filled with dust particles."

Jack frowned. "Does that match our data?"

"We don't have much data about this planet, sir. Only that it has an Earth-like atmosphere and a Stargate." Carter sounded defensive even though it hadn't been her decision to pick this world; it simply had been one of the worlds they knew had Stargates in range and had been picked at random.

"Is that natural?" Adora asked with a frown.

"We don't know enough to tell," Carter replied. "But the preliminary data doesn't match what would result from volcanic eruptions. There's no radiation, though."

So, not the result of someone going crazy with nukes.

"Is it dangerous?" Glimmer asked.

"Our suits can handle vacuum and a moon's surface," Bow replied. "Dust won't be a problem."

She glared at him. "We've spent too long in suits already! Can we breathe the air down there?"

"Ah!" Bow's smile turned sheepish, and Jack chuckled under his breath. "It shouldn't be that bad on the ground."

"Then let's get down!" Glimmer blurted out. "Before I lose my sense of smell!"

"Oh, please! It's not as if you had much of one before!" Catra scoffed. "Now, me, on the other hand…"

"You grew up in the Fright Zone! I've been there; as bad as the smell is here, it's still an improvement over the stench there!"

"Sam, did you find the Stargate?" Adora spoke up, a little more loudly than usual in a blatant attempt to curb the brewing argument.

"The scan just finished," Carter replied, staring at her screen. "We've found a mass of Naquadah that matches the mass of a Stargate…"

"That means 'yes'," Jack cut in with a grin.

"...but we also found significant other concentrations of Naquadah," she went on with a slight frown aimed at him. "Refined Naquadah."

Oh. Refined Naquadah meant technology - Ancient technology, most likely. Jack sighed. It looked like they couldn't just land next to the Stargate and go home. "Let's take a look before we open a gate back to our lines. I assume it's close to the Stargate?" Hopefully, it wouldn't take too long to verify there wasn't anything dangerous waiting to follow them back home, and they could leave exploring this planet to someone else.

"Yes, sir. But there's something else."

Or not. Jack looked at the screen in front of Carter and muttered a curse.

*****​

Gate Area, PT-9714, March 2nd, 2000 (Earth Time)

"Yeah, someone really didn't like whatever was here," Jack O'Neill commented as he stared at the cratered area in front of him. "At least they didn't blow up the gate." The destruction stopped a few hundred yards short of the Stargate proper.

Catra knelt down and stared at a piece of twisted metal that had buried itself into the earth nearby. "Doesn't look like Horde steel. But I can't make out any markings."

"Let's check out the rest of the wreckage!" Glimmer, who had finished coughing and resealed her helmet, said.

"Is it safe?" Jack turned to look at Carter and Bow, who were huddled over the magic scanner.

"No dangerous radiation as far as we can tell," Carter replied. "But there's residual exotic radiation."

"Exotic radiation?" That didn't sound good.

"It matches the effects of Horde beam weapons," Bow added.

Jack narrowed his eyes and looked at the craters again. Orbital bombardment by a Horde task force? They weren't even close to the borders of Horde Prime's former empire. "How long ago did this happen?" The craters weren't grown over much, but that didn't mean anything with the dust blocking sunlight and, well, this being an alien planet.

"We have to run more precise tests, sir. But judging by the rate of particles in the air… If our models from Earth fit this world, then I would guess a couple of years at most.

So… either in the last days of Horde Prime's rule… or after he had been defeated.

Jack's curse was matched by Catra's.

*****​

"The explosives in the Telt'ak's are set."

Adora nodded at Campbell's report. It was a shame that they had to destroy the ship, but they couldn't take it through the gate with them. In theory, they could leave it and then send a recovery crew through the Stargate to fly it back, but the closest Alliance-controlled worlds were months away, and neither Sam nor Bow were sure the ship would manage to make such a trip without a major overhaul first, not after everything it had gone through. It simply wasn't worth the effort. Not even for spare parts since most of the parts were cobbled together from other parts. Of course, some people - mainly outside the Alliance, but some inside the Alliance as well - would disagree and consider the risks worth it anyway. Blowing up the ship would prevent that kind of mess.

"Dibs on pulling the trigger!" Catra flashed her teeth in a wide grin.

"No fair! You can't call dibs on that!"

"I just did!"

"That doesn't count! Besides, you said it wasn't that bad, Catra! You've got no claim to this!"

"No, I said I've smelt worse! I've got the best nose; I deserve to destroy this thing!"

Also, some people, like Glimmer and Catra, really loathed the conditions under which they had been escaping from Sokar, and destroying the ship would serve as a way to vent that frustration.

Adora shook her head at her lover and her friend bickering and walked over to Sam and Bow, both looking through the data from their scanner. "Did you find anything else?" she asked.

"Well… based on the samples of several destroyed ship parts, all of the same type, and the lack of any other ship parts near them, we think this was a major factory complex. Goa'uld technology, though we haven't found any signs of which System Lord was the owner," Bow said.

"Ground scans confirm this. A shipyard or at least a sort of maintenance facility for smaller craft would be our current estimate," Sam added.

Adora nodded. "And the attackers?"

"The residue left from the beam weapons matches Horde beam weapons," Sam said. "In theory, they could be Asgard beam weapons, although we lack samples of their current arms. However, the odds of both species using weapons with so closely-matching characteristics despite a thousand years of divergences are minimal."

Adora nodded again. "And how long ago did this happen? Was it during Horde Prime's reign?"

"No. We've measured the lingering exotic radiation and managed to determine the decay rate precisely enough to exclude that possibility. This happened roughly one year ago," Sam said.

Adora suppressed a curse. That meant they had a rogue Horde task force flying around and attacking planets with orbital bombardment. And looted the remains, according to the traces Daniel, Sha're and Teal'c had examined.

Adora and her friends had suspected that there were Horde remnants unaccounted for - only Horde Prime had known how big the Horde had been; his clones only knew the fleets they had been serving in and those who had worked with theirs. And, of course, Horde Prime wouldn't have gathered his entire force to attack Etheria - he wouldn't have exposed his empire like that for a planet with only one spaceship for defence. But to have it confirmed was still a blow she could have done without. Especially after a failed mission.

"We need to find them," she said. Find them and find out what they were doing and why. If they started a war with the Goa'uld, then they were potential allies. But if they were still loyal to Horde Prime, or had started to carve out a territory for themselves, they represented a danger to the Alliance - and to the Galaxy.

"We can send a swarm of spy bots through the Stargate once we're back home," Sam said. "And some supporting facilities so they can start scouting this sector of the galaxy."

"Yes." Adora looked at the still-visible signs of battle before her and pondered the problem.

She knew this wouldn't be enough if the Horde force in this part of the galaxy were hostile. Any Alliance task force dealing with them would be operating months from the closest Alliance bases. They would need a huge fleet train, preferably with mobile yards, Horde-style - or new bases and an extended supply line back to Earth. Or a combination of both. Either option would strain current logistics, and there were also political issues with both. First Fleet hadn't fully rebuilt their fleet train yet because without it, they were tied to Etheria and the former Horde factories supplying them. That also gave Hordak additional influence over the fleet thanks to his close relationship with Entrapta, who kept the factories running. Second and Third Fleet, though, were able to operate independently for any length of time. Some princesses and several Earth politicians didn't like that. They preferred more control over the fleets.

But the longer the supply lines got, the more inefficient they became. At a certain point, the effort needed to support fleet operations through bases and transport ships ferrying supplies from Earth and Etheria would dwarf the admittedly considerable resources needed to create and maintain a mobile fleet train. And the Goa'uld Empire was so vast, some System Lords' domains were way past that point.

But Adora and her friends had hoped to be able to delay addressing that problem until the Alliance had dealt with the closest System Lords, like Apophis. That should have built up enough trust and confidence to make it easier to build up fleets that had the resources to maintain themselves and could operate far from their home worlds.

Or without home worlds, which was another can of worms.

Adora sighed. She really didn't like to address that, but it had to be done.

"Let's wrap this up and go home. We've got a lot to do."

*****​
 
Chapter 161: The Clones Question Part 1
Chapter 161: The Clones Question Part 1

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, March 3rd, 2000


"...and then we withdrew through the Stargate, using the planned destinations to return to Alliance-controlled territory," Samantha Carter finished her verbal report. Which was the same as her written report, already filed this morning, but that had never kept the brass from holding personal debriefings.

"Thank you, Major Carter." Admiral Kearsy sounded anything but grateful. Of course, he wouldn't be happy in general - the General had been pushing hard to remove him from the Alliance Command Council, and as far as Sam understood things - she didn't like to delve too much into such things, but she couldn't avoid the gossip and office politics in her position - was that Kearsy had called in every favour and used every piece of blackmail he had on influential people in Washington. Even Kinsey had put in 'a good word' for the 'hard-working Admiral'.

Even so, Sam had heard from several people that one more misstep would see the man retired - or sent to a naval station in Alaska or Antarctica, should he choose to be difficult about it. In her opinion, that couldn't happen too soon; the man wasn't just unable to keep his bigoted religious beliefs to himself; he was also not fit to design a rowboat, much less oversee the US spaceship construction effort. If she had to deal with yet another attempt to redesign the Constitution II-class while the first ships were being built, she might abuse her friendship with the Etherians and demand that he be dealt with.

The admiral cleared his throat before he continued. "We have a few questions about your decision to destroy a functional spaceship - a stealth spaceship - before using the Stargate to withdraw."

Sam had expected that. "As my report stated, the ship wasn't safe to enter hyperspace, and an attempt to salvage it would have risked exposure and capture by hostile forces."

The man's smile twisted slightly. "Your entire team took worse risks when going on this mission, I believe."

"For a much more valuable objective, sir. Capturing a System Lord would have benefited the Alliance far more than salvaging a barely spaceworthy small craft that has been rendered temporarily functional with field repairs." She tilted her head as she met the man's eyes.

"That is not your call to make, Major."

"The Supreme Commander of the Alliance made that call, sir." Sam smiled a little more sweetly than was completely professional.

"We all agreed that the mission was worth the risk," General Naird threw in. Kearsy glared at him, and he added: "Well, the majority did."

"Compared to the capabilities offered by our stealth shuttles, a Tel'tak wouldn't have added anything to our fleet," Admiral Brown-Emerson commented in his British accent.

"Do I have to remind you that we are still building up our naval forces?" Kearsy spat. "Any spaceship is needed. And unlike a shuttle, a Tel'tak is hyperspace capable!"

"Not this Tel'tak," Sam corrected him. "The hyperdrive would have needed a complete replacement." Well, that was not entirely correct. Sam was pretty sure she would have been able to repair it, but it would have taken completely rebuilding the drive, and that would have only been the start. All the other components… Sam had better things to do than repair a Goa'uld craft that was already nearing obsolescence thanks to the Alliance's magitech sensor technology.

"Even so, an enemy ship taken as a prize offers unique opportunities - especially for the kind of missions General O'Neill loves to undertake, doesn't it, Major?" Kearsy looked like he barely managed to avoid sneering when he mentioned the General's name.

"While I wouldn't presume to speak for Special Operations Command, we have allies with access to such ships if we need one, sir," Sam retorted.

Kearsy scoffed. "Allies with their own agenda! It's difficult enough to get cooperation from another branch of the service for vital tasks; relying on alien allies for critical capabilities would be foolish."

Was that a dig at her because she had insisted on realistic limitations to the US's spaceship program? Sam couldn't tell, but she wouldn't put it past Kearsy to blame her for not magically altering poorly designed frigates so they somehow made the Navy's impossible demands work.

"We haven't had any issues on that front so far," Brown-Emerson said, stressing the 'we' very slightly, before Sam could think of a good answer.

Kearsy glared at him for that, but the British officer kept his bland expression.

"Well, most Alliance operations were cooperations with the Princess Alliance, and they worked out," Naird said. "Better than our past cooperations with the Navy," he added with a brief and slightly forced chuckle. "I mean the Air Force."

Kearsy scoffed again. "The fact remains that we could have recovered a functional spaceship with a bit of an effort - and with minimal risk compared to the mission you returned from. A mission, I have to point out, that ended in dismal failure and almost led to the loss of key personnel of the Alliance! We have neither a System Lord nor a spaceship in our hands now - in fact, we built and sacrificed two functional spaceships and have nothing to show for it!"

He wasn't wrong about that - the mission had been a failure. But it had failed because of circumstances outside their control; the plan had been sound. But arguing that wasn't Sam's job. That would be up to the General, Adora and the others.

She could argue the loss of the decoy ships, though. "Those ships were built as expendable decoys for this specific mission, sir. They were never meant to be functional warships, and only one had a working hyperdrive to begin with."

"Instead of building those… decoys… the yards could have built actual spaceships!" Kearsy stood and slammed his hands on the table.

"That is correct, sir." Sam nodded, which seemed to surprise him - he blinked. Before he could say anything, she continued: "Although they were built by the fleet train of Third Fleet so this didn't cut into the yard capacity assigned to the build program on Earth." She didn't have to add that Kearsy had been one of the most vocal backers of the decision to build up a native space industry on Earth able to fabricate warships instead of relying on Horde facilities and design - Kearsy's scowl showed he understood perfectly what she meant.

Once again, Sam's smile was just a shade too sweet to be professional. Maybe the influence she had thanks to her friendship with Entrapta and the others was corrupting her.

But when she had to deal with ignorant people like Kearsy, it was worth it.

*****​

Earth Orbit, March 3rd, 2000

"I see. An unknown Horde Fleet has attacked an equally unknown Goa'uld shipyard."

Glancing away from Earth's surface visible through the fake window in the room on Priest's flagship, Catra watched him rub his chin, obviously digesting the news. Or supposed news - she was pretty sure the information about their mission would have reached him before this meeting; Priest and his followers were fixated on Adora, after all, and Catra didn't doubt that the members of the Church of She-Ra were doing their best to follow their goddess's every move.

"Yes." Adora nodded. "We haven't found any clue to either's identity, though we've contacted the Tok'ra so they can look into the Goa'uld side of the thing."

"We will search our archives again for any scrap of information about the Horde's fleets we might have missed, Your Divine Highness!" Priest announced.

Adora winced, and Catra rolled her eyes. At Adora for feeling guilty about turning Horde Prime's flagship into a plant, and at Priest for going over the same data they had gone over with a comb twice before. If there had been any information about any missing fleet, or about the system that had been attacked, they'd have found it. But if Adora's faithful wanted to waste their time on that, Catra wouldn't stop them. That way, they were less likely to get into trouble.

"We've also started extending the spy bot network in the area. If the Horde fleet is still operating in the area, we'll soon know," Adora went on.

Catra wouldn't bet on that. The bots hadn't found anything so far except some debris - from Goa'uld ships, nothing from a Horde craft - in the system. She had no proof, but the attack felt like a raid - smash the enemy, grab what resources you could loot and get the hell out of the system. Though, the fact that the Horde forces had looted the planet raised questions. The average Horde Fleet didn't need to loot their enemies; they had a fleet train to supply them with anything they needed. And Goa'uld technology wasn't as advanced as Horde technology, so… "Why would they loot the place instead of destroying everything?" she asked. "Could they be suffering from supply issues?"

Priest frowned. "They might simply have wished to analyse the technology to better understand their enemy."

That was a possibility as well. But Catra didn't think so - the Horde had been too thorough with looting. No, for some reason, they had wanted whatever Goa'uld supplies they could get.

"In any case, knowing that there is another Horde fleet fighting the Goa'uld is a great boon, Your Divine Highness. Whereas we only suspected and assumed, now we know that more of us are out there." Priest beamed at Adora.

Catra rolled her eyes again. Priest's attempt to suck up to Adora was far too blatant. They hadn't been able to take out either Apophis or Sokar and that meant the mission was a failure. That they had found some intel, and that Kul'et's fake intel must seem to have been validated by Sokar's attack and Apophis would start another purge in his court to find Sokar's spies wouldn't help much - Apophis and Sokar had already been fighting each other, and the hunt for spies endangered the Tok'ra's operatives.

"We need to contact them as soon as possible." Adora pressed her lips together. "We need to find out why they are fighting the Goa'uld."

"And we need to tell them about you, Your Divine Highness." Priest smiled widely. "Your deeds and Your wisdom will guide them to join the Alliance!"

Adora winced again, but Catra nodded. Her lover hated it, but the more clones followed her, the better for the Alliance.

"And we need to look at increasing our numbers," Priest said, bowing his head toward Adora. "We are working diligently on converting others to the Faith, of course, but we should consider building more clone pods and expanding the construction capacity of the fleets. The current cloning facilities have the capacity to sustain our numbers, especially if we leave ground combat to the Earth forces and bots, but should we suffer heavy casualties in space, they might not be sufficient. And without using the mind-imprinting devices Horde Prime used, we'll need more time to raise and train new clones so they are able to serve when needed."

Adora frowned. "We're not making Soldiers as if they were bots!"

Catra nodded. They weren't the Horde! Either Horde.

"Joining the war would be their choice, of course," Priest said.

Adora narrowed her eyes. "We won't raise people with the expectation that they will fight in the war."

"Perish the thought!" Priest bowed his head. "That would go against all the teachings of Your Divine Highness! We would never do that! All we ask is to raise our brothers to be good people. People who will follow the example you are setting, Your Divine Highness."

Adora opened her mouth, then closed it. Catra snorted. Her lover couldn't exactly argue against people following her example. Well, she could, but that would make her a hypocrite.

But all of them here knew that anyone raised to follow She-Ra would happily join the war against the Goa'uld. And Catra was also aware that a number of their allies wouldn't be happy about Priest's plan to expand both the number of the clones and their fleets. Both on Earth and Etheria. She felt a little torn about the idea herself.

And yet, with an unknown Horde fleet out and about, they might not have a choice.

*****​

Alliance Base Lübtheen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, March 4th, 2000

Jack O'Neill watched from the edge of the training field as a platoon of his soldiers struggled to clear the obstacle course they usually ran in record time. Well, they were still doing better than some regular units, but for Special Operations Command, it was not up to par.

"And this after they all had passed the zero-g assault course," Sergeant Meadows commented next to him with a deep frown.

"It's one thing to train boarding ships, it's another to spend days in the suit and fight a war in the field." And the platoon had spent more than a day in the suits already at this point, without a break. "It's still better than the old NBC drills," he added. The spacesuits were far more comfortable than those, and they didn't slow you down that much - Jack knew that from experience. But they still reduced your effectiveness in combat. Significantly in some areas, as the exercise showed, but that should be compensated for with more training and experience.

And they needed the training. The failed mission had driven that point home. Jack should have ordered everyone to keep their suits on no matter how uncomfortable it was. And he shouldn't have blindly trusted that She-Ra's magic would fix the poison. Jack should have known better than trusting a magic solution.

"I don't envy the poor bastards in the regular units," Meadows said.

Jack shrugged. They didn't have nearly enough spacesuits for every soldier - they had barely enough for his command and he had to fight with the Marines to get them and call in a favour with Entrapta - but everyone needed to be prepared for an attack with chemical weapons. Sokar's stunt had driven that lesson home. That the Jaffa would be killed as well wouldn't stop the snakes; they had no qualms about sacrificing their own troops to hurt their enemies. Especially if they were losing a battle anyway. "They're not as much at risk as our troops."

"That's true." Meadows seemed about to add something but yelled: "Jenkins! Get up and get running, or we'll do a medical evac drill!" instead.

Jack snorted and turned away. He had seen enough and had been seen enough - an officer had to keep in touch with the troops under his command. He should run the course himself, but he had already done that yesterday, and he had a mountain of paperwork to deal with; during his absence, the stuff had multiplied, and that wasn't even counting the forms and reports he had to deal with from the mission itself.

And, he added silently with a frown as he made his way back to his office, the idiots he had to deal with. He had heard about Carter's debriefing. Not from her, of course - she would never complain about such things, at least not to him. But others paid attention.

Kearsy should have been reassigned weeks ago, but the whole thing had been delayed because the idiot knew too many influential people, and the usual posts to which you could send officers like him so they couldn't do any damage to the war effort but couldn't complain either since it was nominally a promotion were already filled.

Which said something about the Armed Forces, of course. Even in the Air Force, Jack wouldn't have expected so many staff officers to be so… Well, Daniel, always diplomatic, had called them 'slow to change their convictions' when they had discussed it. Carter had used 'traditional' with that little twist to her lips that showed that it was an insult. Jack wasn't about to be polite inside his head and just called them stupid. And a few worse words.

Having faith was fine and dandy - a soldier needed to believe in something to risk their life in war, and whether you believed in your country or your god didn't really matter. Until one went against the other, of course. You didn't put your god over your country. And you didn't use your god as an excuse to attack your allies.

"Things would be so much simpler if Kearsy were a member of the Church of She-Ra - she could just tell him directly to behave," Jack muttered as he entered his office, then snorted at the thought. If Kearsy converted, his career would be over anyway. His allies and supporters would turn on him in an instant, and the enemies he had made wouldn't lift a finger for him. Well, Priest might, actually.

"Sir?" Brown asked from his desk.

"Nothing. Just a silly thought," Jack replied. "Is there anything urgent I need to deal with?"

Brown tilted his head, glancing at the sheet next to his phone, and Jack frowned. His aide knew what Jack considered urgent. Phone calls from generals and politicians generally weren't. But Brown had a habit of politely and subtly disagreeing about that. "Who called?"

"Senator Kinsey, sir. He didn't say what it was about."

Jack sighed. "I'll call him back." Once he had his next coffee.

*****​

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, March 6th, 2000

"...and lastly, there's been concern about the proposal to clone more, ah, clones and build more Horde frigates."

Adora nodded at the Secretary of Defense's words. "Yes. Priest is concerned about suffering casualties above their capacity to replace, especially with news about another Horde Fleet operating in the sector." As soon as she finished, she pressed her lips together for a moment. She should have worded that a little better - 'capacity to replace' sounded too mechanical.

The Secretary of Defense smiled a bit weakly. "Ah, that wasn't the concern I was talking about. Our government is concerned about using cloning technology to produce soldiers."

Adora nodded again. "I share this concern."

The man blinked, apparently surprised by her words, but recovered quickly. "Indeed. The implications on how the war is seen by the civilian population, and the effects on recruiting, are potentially problematic."

"Not to mention that this will put the question of whether we should use this technology on humans on the table," the German Verteidigungsminister added.

Adora nodded once more. They had gone over that with Priest. Some wouldn't see cloned humans as people - some already didn't consider Horde clones people. And not just those who called them 'soulless abominations'.

"We're aware of that," Glimmer cut in before anyone else could speak up. "It's a difficult decision with many far-reaching consequences. I doubt any of our countries, whether on Earth or on Etheria, are ready to handle the changes such a decision would cause in society. There are many questions that need to be answered."

"Not the least the question of what you should do once your mass-produced clone soldiers have no more war to fight in," the British minister commented. "Her Majesty's Government opposes the use of cloning technology for military recruitment."

"As does France," his French colleague added.

"The United States' position is that at this point, there is no need for such drastic, unprecedented and potentially destabilising technology. The risks are far too great when compared to its moral implications and questionable military benefits."

"Brecht's saying about the Government dissolving its people and electing a new one comes to mind," the German minister commented.

Adora didn't quite get that, but the rest matched what she had heard in the leadup to this meeting after Priest's proposal had been passed on to the rest of the Alliance. And she agreed with the stance. You couldn't just let anyone, well, anyone with the technology and facilities to build and run so many cloning pods, mass-produce people as if they were bots. That went against everything the Alliance stood for. It was just wrong.

"While my government doesn't disagree," the minister from Norway spoke up, "we also cannot overlook that the Alliance is already producing bots, and some of them are sapient. The implications are the same."

"They're not the same!" the American protested.

"Morally, they are the same."

"Sapient is sapient," Entrapta commented, nodding emphatically. "No matter how you're built. Whether metal, ceramic, crystal or biological, it's all just matter, in the end, nothing more."

The Secretary of Defense looked as if he wanted to disagree but held his tongue.

"The scale is vastly different, though. As I recall, the sapient bots are only produced in tiny numbers," the British minister said.

"So far," the minister from Norway retorted. "What if we end up needing more smart combatants and turn to bots?"

That was a good question.

"We'll produce more dumb bots and put human veterans in command of their units," Catra replied. "That's more effective than producing more sapient bots who have no experience."

Entrapta nodded several times. "Yes. We found that out in the Horde War. The data is very conclusive."

Adora wasn't the only one who winced, though in her case, it was because she had torn through Horde bots without a thought.

"I think we can cross this bridge once we reach it," the French minister said.

That went against the basic principle of planning ahead, in Adora's opinion. Then again, it also wasn't smart to start trouble when you didn't need to - and they didn't need to make the problem with clones worse. Not when the real problem - one of the real problems, she corrected herself - hadn't been addressed yet. "So, we're in agreement that there won't be any cloning of humans for military reasons," she said.

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Not for any reason!"

"We didn't agree to that!"

"It's implied!"

"It's not."

"What do you need clones for?"

"There are several possible reasons for cloning people."

"None of them are valid!"

"You can't dismiss them without even hearing them!"

"We just went over the reason they are not valid!"

"It's unnatural!"

Adora cleared her throat, stopping the growing argument in its tracks. She made a mental note to ask around what this was about. "So, that's about cloning humans. But the Horde clones aren't humans. Their society is based on cloning - they do not reproduce sexually. And they are a sovereign species. If they decide to increase their numbers, that's their decision. It would be like us telling people they aren't allowed to have children." That had been an excellent argument from Priest, Adora had to admit.

"That's not the same!" the Secretary of Defense blurted out. "You can't compare individual decisions to found a family to mass cloning!"

"You can't force your family norms on aliens," his colleague from Norway retorted.

"You have to consider the impact of each decision," the American shot back. "As with the bots, numbers matter!"

"It's not our decision in the first place."

As the other ministers started to debate again, Catra, who had been uncharacteristically quiet so far, Adora realised, leaned over and whispered: "Wanna bet that this is actually about not wanting the clones to outnumber their forces if they chose to?"

Priest had mentioned that as well, Adora knew. And he might have been correct. Even though his proposal wouldn't even come close to doing that - not even if he wanted; the Horde didn't have the cloning pods for it and wouldn't have them for a long time.

Then again, it wasn't a baseless concern. There were other clones out there, after all. Clones they didn't know anything about.

*****​

Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, March 7th, 2000

"Carter! Entrapta! Come in! Don't mind the neighbours - they still haven't adjusted to my new commute!"

"General." Samantha Carter nodded a greeting as she stepped into his home.

"What did the neighbours do? I didn't notice anything," Entrapta asked behind her, turning around to peer at the neighbouring houses, semi-hidden by the three shuttles parked outside.

"Nothing. The General is joking," Sam told her.

"I'm not!" he protested with a grin. "And they're watching us attentively, you can be sure of that!"

"Isn't that rude?"

"It's their job." He smiled a little wryly. "When I got promoted to General, the Air Force bought up all the lots bordering mine for security purposes. If they hadn't, the Homeowner Association would have tried to burn down my home for parking my shuttle in the driveway. The others are in the living room - make yourself at home!"

"Alright!" Entrapta nodded, and Sam caught her pulling up her multitool as they entered the General's living room. Probably to check what a Homeowner Association was.

"Sam! Entrapta!"

"Hello!"

"Greetings."

Daniel, Sha're and Teal'c were already there, occupying the couch and one seat. She had expected that - Teal'c would have flown with the General in his personal stealth shuttle while Daniel and Sha're usually took a normal shuttle from the Alliance pool when they needed to travel. For now piloted by a soldier, but Sha're was training to take over.

"Who wants a beer?" The General appeared carrying a tray filled with snacks and his favourite beer as well as some sodas.

Sam noted that the couch table was already covered with more beer bottles and bowls of food. As expected. German beer, mostly.

"It's been a while since we had a get-together here," he said as he took a seat and Sam grabbed a soda for herself.

"Your Homeowner Association sounds more dangerous than the norm," Entrapta commented while her hair grabbed two sodas and a bowl of tiny marshmallows. "I haven't found anything about other such groups using arson."

"That was a joke," Daniel said, frowning at Jack.

"Yes. Though I am sure they wished they could run me out of town when Uncle Sam took over."

"Ah." Entrapta nodded, then started munching from the bowl and occasionally taking sips from the can.

"Adora and the others were held up at headquarters but should arrive soon," the General went on after downing half his beer. "The thing about the clones really raised some hackles."

"I don't understand the problem," Entrapta said. "The clones are not subjects of any country on Earth. So, why should they listen to anyone on Earth about how they should reproduce? Also, the Alliance needs more ships, and ships need crews, and the clones have the means to provide us with both."

She wasn't technically wrong, Sam knew, but it was a very blunt way to look at it.

Daniel cleared his throat. "It's a complex issue. Leaving aside the, err, ethical and religious concerns, some people feel that the Horde is already the most powerful member of the Alliance since they control the vast majority of the Alliance's spaceships. Hearing that they plan to expand while Earth is still so far behind in building up their own ships might make them concerned about the future. And there's still lingering resentment about the changes to Earth society the Alliance caused. Some feel that if Etheria could make them adapt their way of life, they should be able to reciprocate."

"But neither Etheria nor the Horde prohibit people from having relationships and families with anyone or discriminate against it." Entrapta frowned in the slightly pouty way she usually did when struggling with an unfamiliar concept. "So, what is there to reciprocate?"

Daniel hesitated, and the General said: "For some people, not being able to tell others how to live their lives makes them feel discriminated against. You can find a lot of them in Homeowner Associations."

Entrapta blinked. "That makes no sense."

"It doesn't." The General shrugged.

"I have also heard that there is concern amongst some leaders on Earth that their population advantage might be negated by mass-cloning by the time Earth's production capacity for advanced technology would reach parity with the Horde's," Teal'c spoke up.

"But that's baseless!" Entrapta shook her head, her hair tendrils almost spilling a bowl of tiny crackers. "The resources needed for mass cloning on such a scale… Just the need to educate every clone would be beyond the means of the current population, and that's without taking all the physical resources into account! Not to mention they don't have much experience with rearing new clones. Sure, you could use Horde Prime's memory implant technology, but at that point, you might as well just build bots! And that will cripple your science research, which means you couldn't develop better technology, which means your ships - which would require tons of resources as well - would become obsolete, meaning you'd need even higher numbers to compensate… It just doesn't work that way! Not in the time projected for Earth to adapt to advanced technology, at least."

Sam nodded - she had run the numbers as well. Though longer-term, a dedicated focus on cloning and expansion could theoretically enter exponential growth.

"It's completely irrational," Entrapta huffed and sat back down, stuffing her mouth with two tendrils full of snacks.

"That's politics for you," the General commented. He leaned back. "Anyway, it's not as if anyone can stop the clones from doing what they want, so it's going to blow over."

"That's what Hordak said as well. The not being able to stop them, I mean," Entrapta said. "Earth can't dictate how the clones should live."

While correct, Sam was sure the former warlord hadn't meant the moral aspects of the question but had been talking realpolitik. Earth simply lacked the power to enforce their views, even if they wanted to stoop that low.

"Unfortunately, that doesn't mean some people won't try," Daniel said.

"And if your press gets involved, they might try to draw parallels to how the Goa'uld reproduce in large numbers," Sha're added.

Sam winced. It was likely only a question of time until the cloning plans were leaked to the public. And once the various extremists heard about it, their reactions wouldn't be pretty.

She finished her soda and grabbed a beer, but her mood had already been soured. So much for a nice evening with her friends!

*****​

"Hello, everyone!"

"Hello!"

"Hello!"

Following behind Adora, Glimmer and Bow, Catra stuck to nodding in greeting at the others already occupying the living room. At least they weren't too late - the group didn't look as if they had been having too much fun yet.

"Sorry for being late, but we had a meeting run long." Adora smiled at the others with that expression of hers that showed she felt responsible for something that wasn't her fault.

"As usual," Catra commented as she snagged a beer - one of the German ones, not the American stuff and waited for Adora to pick a seat for them.

"Not every meeting runs longer than expected," Adora retorted.

"But every meeting is expected to run long," Catra shot back. Oh, salmon rolls! She grabbed the bowl and ignored Jack's snicker.

"If every meeting is expected to run long then you need to adjust the allotted time for the meeting so it matches expectations," Entrapta said. "Data doesn't lie."

"Then they would run even longer. It's a rule," Jack said.

"But that doesn't make sense!"

Adora grabbed a beer herself and some hot chips, then sat down, and Catra first perched on the armrest before she slid onto Adora's lap, startling her lover with a grin.

"Hey!"

"That's my line," Catra said before pushing a roll into her mouth. Oh! Mh! "Good rolls," she told Jack after swallowing. "Where did you get them?"

"Brown got them for me," he admitted. "I planned to get them myself, but there was a problem with the training schedule. And he probably wanted to avoid complaints from the German police if I parked the shuttle in front of the local supermarket again," he added with a grin.

"You used a shuttle for a grocery run?" Daniel stared at him.

"I put it in stealth mode and had it hover above the ground," Jack replied. "So, I didn't break any traffic laws."

"Except for air traffic regulations, sir." Sam sounded exasperated, but Catra could spot a smile on her lips.

"I was flying too low for that to apply. And I had a flight plan filed per regulations. Not my fault that the German official thought I was joking." Jack shrugged. "Anyway, Brown had it handled like a good aide should."

"Or a lawyer," Daniel commented.

"He's too honest for a lawyer."

Catra snorted at that. The aide sounded quite sneaky to her - sneaky enough, at least, to handle Jack's antics. Of course, Jack was sneaky enough to let him do it, so… Whatever. She finished her beer, then called out: "Hand me another one, Daniel?"

"Why don't you get up and grab one yourself?" Glimmer asked.

"I'm needed here to make sure Adora relaxes," Catra told her with a grin while she took the can from Daniel. "She needs another one as well, by the way."

"I haven't finished my first yet," Adora protested.

"You can still use another," Catra retorted. The meetings had been tedious. So much posturing and horse-trading just to get things done! Almost as bad as Horde meetings, but you didn't have to fear literal backstabbers. Well, you probably didn't; there could always be some fanatic. Or someone going crazy; the stress of waging war could break people.

"So… what movie are we watching?" Adora asked.

"Well, we have watched Star Wars twice, so I was thinking something new," Jack said. "Sorry, Teal'c."

Teal'c nodded in response but didn't comment.

"And I was told by someone," Jack pointedly looked at Daniel, "that you need more exposure to movie culture to truly appreciate 'so bad they're good' movies."

"All I said was that to enjoy those sorts of movies, more context might be needed," Daniel told him with a frown. "And all the movies you suggested were just bad."

"Enough beer and every movie starts looking good," Jack shot back. "Anyway, with the classics out, I thought I'd take a page out of Etheria's book and get the latest movie." He flashed his teeth in a wide grin, reached behind his seat and pulled out a small case. "Behold the latest Hollywood blockbuster: 'Space Pirates'."

"Isn't that still in the cinemas?" Daniel asked.

"I got an Etherian bootleg," Jack said.

Glimmer groaned. "Disney will complain again if that gets out, and the negotiations about a copyright deal will stall again."

Catra shrugged. That wasn't her problem. Besides, Glimmer could always give in and bribe them with magic healing or something if things were going wrong. "Come on, put it on."

"Alright." Jack stood up and walked over to the TV.

Catra leaned back into Adora and got comfortable.

*****​

"We absolutely need to show this to Mermista!" Catra blurted out when the end credits started rolling.

"We absolutely can't show this to Mermista!" Glimmer protested.

"But they so ripped off her and Sea Hawk! Princess Siren even looks like her, and they got her attitude down to the way she rolls her eyes!" Catra giggled. "And the hero is a space smuggler named 'Falcon' with a laser cutlass whose ship gets wrecked in the very first scene and he just walks it off!"

"Exactly!" Glimmer shook her head. "She'll go ballistic."

"There are bootlegs around already. Mermista will hear about it sooner or later anyway," Catra pointed out.

"That doesn't mean we need to tell her!" Glimmer insisted.

"Of course we do! That way, we can see her reaction firsthand!" Oh, Mermista would go ballistic! Sea Hawk would probably love it - the actor playing his expy was great. "And we need to get the cast to visit Etheria!"

"You want to reward them for ripping off our history?" Glimmer sounded shocked.

"More like ripping off our stories." Catra shrugged again. She didn't care - it was a great movie. And speaking of that… "Bow! I'll need a copy for us!"

"OK."

"Bow!"

As Bow tried to placate Glimmer, Catra smiled. That had been a great movie night. Just the thing to relax and have fun.

*****​

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, March 9th, 2000

"...and behind me, in front of the White House, a crowd has turned out to protest the production of clone soldiers. While the protesters are, so far, peaceful, the mood is quite riled up, and the police in riot gear are standing by to intervene."

Behind the reporter who was almost breathlessly narrating, Jack O'Neill could see the crowd waving various signs around. He wasn't quite sure - the cameras didn't really linger on them - but he thought he saw something about 'soulless hordes' next to the dozens of identical "Say NO! to unnatural procreation!' and 'No Kid Factories!" signs. Someone must have mass-produced them for the protest, he thought with a snort.

Then the frame froze, and Major What'shisname, Greaves, stepped up and addressed the room. "As you can see with this news clip - just a sample from various others - we're already seeing protests from the public against cloning people."

Not for the first time since he had received his personal stealth shuttle, Jack had to admit that while it was great to be able to commute to any location on Earth or the moon from his home - or any planet with a Stargate if he took a trip to Stargate Command - it came with a few drawbacks. Such as not having an excuse not to attend a stupid meeting halfway across the continent from your base because travelling there wouldn't take him much time at all.

And so he had to listen to a staff officer who must have risen through the ranks in Public Affairs without ever seeing the field, much less combat. Major Greaves certainly seemed way too concerned about this whole thing. Then again, that was his thing. Jack on the other hand.. If he ever found out who got him on this committee, someone would regret it. He was special forces, not public relations!

"Protests by fringe elements driven by religious nutcases," General Barbier said in his distinct French accent. "If we listened to them, we might as well drop any advanced technology and go back to horse and carriage."

"They're not Amish!" Greaves protested. "They have significant influence amongst the more conservative, err, conservatives."

"In the United States, maybe. I can assure you that such fringe elements do not influence French policies."

"Her Majesty's Government also isn't in the habit of listening to demands rooted in irrational beliefs or based on sensational movies," Admiral Brown-Emerson added. He wasn't a PR specialist, either. Must have annoyed someone back in Merry Old England.

"Unless they donate to your election campaigns," General Naird commented. Of course, he would jump at the chance of getting on a committee for the networking and influence. At least his background - Signals - was something slightly related to this bullshit. "Didn't one of your Lords start a petition to clone a dragon?"

"That's not a rejection of cloning technologies - quite the opposite, in fact," the British admiral retorted with a straight face.

"You can't claim that's rational, though." Naird snorted. "And I bet the guy has come up with this after watching Jurassic Park."

Brown-Emerson chuckled, conceding the point.

"Sirs?" Greaves cleared his throat. "While fascinating, this meeting is being held to discuss the potential issues the adaption of cloning technology for procreation could have for the image of the Alliance."

"It's just the Horde clones who are doing it, and they, well, are clones," Naird said. "No other country has passed legislation to allow the cloning of people." He gestured at the screen. "Those people are protesting an imaginary threat!"

"That is correct, sir. However, what people believe, regardless of its veracity, still matters," Greaves retorted. "If the population - or a part of the population - thinks the Alliance is building factories to churn out cloned soldiers, that will have repercussions."

Jack wasn't really concerned about a bunch of idiots falling for rumours. But the people using those idiots? The people politely voicing 'concerns' about the 'unprecedented expansion of what is arguably already the most powerful member of the Alliance', as one of them had put it? Those could be trouble. Even though Jack had mixed feelings himself about the Horde expanding. Still…

He scoffed, drawing the room's attention. "And even for the Horde, who have been cloning each other for centuries, it's not going to be easy to expand. This isn't a game where soldiers spawn fully trained and equipped at the push of a button."

"No one is expecting that!" Greaves protested.

Jack had a mind of showing the Major the clips from the more conservative TV channels Daniel had collected. Some idiots certainly seemed to think they were living in Starcraft. "Anyway, we're not going to get buried in clones." Carter and Entrapta, and they would know best, had run the numbers, and Jack had checked them himself.

"We can't tell people that, though," Naird pointed out. "That's a military secret!"

"We don't have to tell them that. We can simply not comment but let experts explain the truth," Barbier countered.

"That would be the same! We can't let the enemy know about our production capacity!" Naird shook his head.

"If the Goa'uld have spies on Earth, then speculation about cloning and training capacity is the least of our worries," Jack said. "We just did a dangerous mission to convince the snakes that we're at war with the Horde, remember?"

Naird glared at him. "Of course I do! But we still cannot reveal such details about our military capacity!"

"I think we should consider it if only to counter the narrative that we're on the verge of people cloning armies," Greaves cut in. "If fear of this scenario continues to spread, it's bound to do a lot more damage to the Alliance's capability to conduct this war. Not to mention the consequences if people start to suspect that friends and family could be replaced by clones."

"Surely that is not a realistic scenario!" Barbier exclaimed.

"Never underestimate the stupidity of the average man," Jack muttered.

"I suggest we create a task force for combatting disinformation and rumours," Naird said.

"Good idea," Jack said. Naird looked surprised at his support, but as long as Jack wasn't on that force, he was all for it. Maybe they could have the Department of Education do it. It certainly seemed as if the world - Jack didn't believe that America was unique in that area - was in need of better education, so people didn't believe every nonsense.

*****​
 
Honestly if they want to move earth to war time footing they need a combined ministry of propaganda, the free press and public support for war are generally at odds
 
Chapter 162: The Clones Question Part 2
Chapter 162: The Clones Question Part 2

Earth Orbit, Solar System, April 10th, 2000


"...and as our first batch of new brothers is ready to take their first steps into the universe today, Her Divine Highness Herself is attending this joyous occasion to welcome them with her blessings!"

Adora didn't wince when the assembled clones broke out cheering at Priest's prompting, but she felt her cheeks grow warm. She shouldn't have agreed to this, all the public relations concerns be damned! It was dubious, anyway, that her presence would help make the clones more acceptable. As Mr Brown and Julie had explained, there was considerable overlap between those on Earth who were afraid of an army of 'soulless clones' taking over Earth and those who considered her a 'false heathen demon tempting the faithful', someone even worse than the Goa'uld, just because the Church of She-Ra was still growing on Earth.

It wasn't as if she wanted to convert people to worship her - or have anyone worship her at all!

On the other hand, those newborn clones didn't deserve to feel snubbed and abandoned just because Adora felt embarrassed. It was bad enough that some bigots hated them already before they were even born - or decanted, as Catra called it.

Priest was correct that they were newborns, and newborn children deserved love and care, not hatred and ignorance. It was the duty of She-Ra to protect people, and she wouldn't shirk it.

So she smiled at Priest, tried to ignore how he and everyone else bowed their heads and stepped forward to the small podium placed in front of the cloning pods in the main cargo bay of the frigate they had converted into a support ship, and smiled.

"Thank you, everyone," she started the short speech she had prepared last night - after a final check that Catra hadn't sneaked in the suggestions she had mentioned last night. "I am happy to be here to see new people entering our world, our universe. They are the first of a new generation, the first after Horde Prime was finally defeated."

Experience made her pause in time to let the clones curse Horde Prime. She managed not to wince when she noted that they had picked up a few more creative insults from Catra. That bit certainly would be cut before it was aired by any American broadcasting company.

"They are the first generation to be raised differently - to be raised as people in their own right. The first to benefit from what you all have fought and struggled for - and earned - the right to pursue your own path in life, to find happiness according to your own desires, not according to one being's whims and dictates. You called them your brothers, and they are, but they are also your first children. Treat them as such - raise them with love, care and understanding. Do not force your own expectations on them, but let them decide how they want to live their life."

She felt more than a little like a hypocrite. Here she was preaching about childcare when she had been raised as a child soldier by Shadow Weaver. But that didn't mean she was lying, or wrong.

"Above all, accept and love them no matter their choices, but guide them as well so they can make their own decisions and live with the consequences."

Adora took a deep breath and blinked - her eyes were feeling a little wet.

"In short, be their loving family."

She slowly nodded, and the clones cheered again.

"Her Divine Highness has spoken, and Her Wise Words shall be heeded!" Priest declared. He bowed deeply to Adora and then turned to face the assembled clones. "Now, let's not dally any longer and welcome our newest children to our family!"

Adora turned to watch the rows of cloning pods behind her. The first one, the one at the right end of the front row, briefly glowed, illuminating its interior. The liquid inside it was quickly drained, revealing a new clone. Several cables and tubes connecting him to the pod were withdrawn, and Adora suppressed a slight shudder at the memory of Horde Prime using a similar mechanism for himself.

But then she heard a hissing sound, and the lid of the pod slowly rose as warm air dried the clone inside.

He wasn't moving, though. Adora could see him breathing, but he wasn't moving. But if something were wrong, the machines and sensors would have caught it. And Priest didn't seem worried, so this was normal.

Then the clone opened his eyes, blinking confusedly - at her, Adora realised. "Who…?" he whispered. "Where am I? Who am I?"

"You are a clone, same as we are," Priest told him. "The youngest member of our family."

The clone looked from Adora to Priest, then at Adora, and finally down at himself.

"And this is Her Divine Highness, She-Ra, Princess of Power! We owe her our freedom and our lives!"

Adora blinked as the clone's eyes widened and darted back to stare at her. "She-Ra…"

Before she could tell him to call her Adora, Priest cried out: "Praise her Divine Highness!", and the other clones took up the call.

Including the new clone whispering it as two clones helped him out of the pod and led him to the side, where clothes and other necessities were waiting.

Adora turned to frown at Priest - she hadn't been told about that part! - but he was already stepping up to the next pod.

*****​

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Maine, United States of America, Earth, April 15th, 2000

"...and it's with great pleasure and pride that we have gathered to watch the launch of the Constitution II, the mightiest warship ever to be constructed on Earth. May she serve as admirably as her famous predecessor, the oldest warship still in service!"

Samantha Carter clapped her hands politely as everyone else present applauded. She managed not to roll her eyes as Admiral Baker continued his speech.

The man was technically correct - the Constitution II was the largest warship built so far on Earth and outgunned the Flower II-class built by the United Kingdom even without taking her fighter complement into account. Which was a good thing since the Corsair IIIs that were supposed to be carried by her were still in the testing phase. Although the fighters were about to enter mass production as soon as testing showed that Sam's fixes for the last issues worked. Which it would - Sam and Entrapta had done the fixes personally. Compared to the work on the Constitution II, the project had run almost smoothly for its scope.

Of course, the fact that the Corsair III was a joint project of the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, and one where the US Navy hadn't been able to take the lead, had helped there. If they had incorporated every damn 'suggestion' by the Navy, they would still be in the planning phase for the next prototype. If they had simply copied the Horde fighter design, maybe adapted it a bit, they would have had squadrons of them entering service already, but if there was one thing the Earth part of the Alliance agreed on, it was that they didn't want to rely on copying designs but create their own despite the cost.

By her estimation, the Constitution II could have been launched about a year earlier, and at a much, much lower cost, if they had stuck to the original design for a frigate instead of trying to construct a ship that would do the job of both a frigate and an escort carrier.

And, in her opinion, clearly if diplomatically stated in her reports, the design was a failure as a carrier. It had less firepower than a Horde frigate despite being bigger. And a single squadron of fighters simply wasn't worth the additional crew, space and supplies requirements. More shuttles would have been better and would have significantly helped with the capacity to conduct rescue, scouting and even special operations. But the Navy had argued that the new ships' 'dual focus' would let them gain critical experience with both gunship and carrier operations in space at the same time and that the exploding costs were worth it since that way, they would be able to save money when designing the fleet carriers and battleships they wanted.

Sam would believe that when it happened - and after double- and triple-checking the budgets.

"And now, let's watch as the newest ship in the service of the United States takes to the sky!" Baker finished, gesturing with his arm at the ship in its berth behind him.

For a moment, nothing happened. Sam heard some of the audience starting to whisper - mostly, but not exclusively the civilians present, politicians and other notables, laypeople who expected an outdated rocket launch.

But modern spaceships with inertial compensators didn't launch on a pillar of fire. The ship silently started to rise, slowly clearing the berth's walls. Once she was clear, she accelerated, although still far more slowly than she could, to avoid blasting the audience with a sonic boom.

Even so, it didn't take long for the ship to become a speck in the sky.

While the audience started chatting excitedly about the - in Sam's opinion rather mundane - event, she checked her laptop. According to the scanner in the Spacelab, the Constitution II's systems were performing according to their specifications, and the ship was following the pre-planned route for her maiden flight.

Good. Sam felt a bit relieved even though she knew the odds of anything going wrong were very slim. Not slim enough that she would have been allowed on the ship for this, though. In any case, this was now officially no longer her problem - at least until something did go seriously wrong.

"Major Carter, you must be feeling very proud to see your project coming to such an impressive conclusion!"

She turned to smile, politely, at Admiral Baker. "It is good to see the ship fly," she said, "but my part in the project was limited to troubleshooting when necessary." Which had been far too often the case, in her opinion. "You should congratulate the design team responsible for this." And, of course, the ship still needed significant time to work up until she was ready for active service.

"Already did!" He beamed at her. "And you know what they said?"

Sam managed not to channel the General and comment that she was sure he would tell her. "No, sir?" she said instead.

"That you were essential for the project's success! Now, as we both know, they wouldn't say this if this weren't true. So, again, congratulations! The Navy is in your debt."

Sam smiled, but inwardly, she felt quite differently. Those bastards were only praising her in order to blame her for any problems that would appear during the ship's maiden flight or the shakedown cruise.

Well, Sam wasn't going to let them do this to her. Her reports were already filed and would set things straight if anyone tried to scapegoat her.

So she smiled and nodded - and hoped the admiral would turn to someone else soon so she could slip away and get back to more important work.

*****​

Royal Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, April 17th, 2000 (Earth Time)

Catra put down the report from Priest and shook her head. The clone knew how to mince words, even when writing military reports. But even flavoured quite optimistically, the results remained: Training the newborn clones to be competent crewmen for Horde ships would take six months at the very least, and only if you defined competent as "won't endanger the ship trying to do their duties" and focused on specialising as much as possible.

Which wasn't a good way to run a navy, as Catra knew from her time in the Horde. You wanted as much redundancy as possible in your crews to compensate for losses. And you wanted experienced sailors, both ratings and officers. During the Horde war, the Salinean fleet had had inferior ships but much better crews, and that had told in most engagements where they hadn't been outnumbered to a significant degree. And even outnumbered, they had inflicted disproportionate losses on the Horde forces.

So, in order to actually be effective, they would need to staff the Fourth Fleet with a solid core of experienced clones from the other fleets. That would reduce the crew quality in the existing fleet since those clones would have to be replaced. And cause some friction if you mixed crews from different fleets on the same ship - or even in the same task force. Third Fleet had developed a very different culture than Second Fleet or First Fleet, not that the two latter fleets were identical either; Hordak and WrongHordak ran their forces quite differently.

They could avoid some of the friction by simply taking the cadre for the new fleet from a single fleet. Third Fleet would be the obvious choice, but that would mean that fleet would suffer the lion's share of the drain of experienced crews. And having new fleets so closely associated with existing fleets could, in the long run, damage the entire fleet's cohesion.

Although Catra wasn't sure that just forming new fleets with new cultures would help much with cohesion either. Maybe having more crews move around between ships and fleets would help, but with the way Third Fleet was basically just the Church of She-Ra's naval branch, as Jack had put it once, it might cause more problems than it would solve.

Problems Horde Prime hadn't had to deal with since he had just programmed the minds of his clones to get them as skilled and loyal as he wanted them to be. Loyal little drones. She shivered at the memory of being under his control, ready to lay down her life for him, ready to fight Adora for him… No one should have that kind of power!

Fortunately, all the data about that kind of 'programming' had been wiped on the orders of Hordak, WrongHordak and Priest - not even Entrapta had protested against losing data forever. So, no idiot could have the bright idea of using this technology to speed up training, and Catra wouldn't have to claw off their face for suggesting it, either.

Still, between the need to train all those new clones and crews and draining the existing crews of cadre, it meant that for the next twelve months or so, the Alliance's naval strength would be diminished.

She quickly ran the numbers on her pad. If everything worked out reasonably well, they'd reach the point where they would see the first actual increase in numbers and total effectiveness in about a year, but the individual ships would still be less effective than they currently were since a percentage of their crews would be new clones getting training. That could be improved with a dedicated training command, though setting that up would cost resources as well. However, once running, it should streamline and speed up the training of new clones and improve crew effectiveness.

And having a centralised Horde training command should also help with force cohesion.

Nodding, she started jotting down a proposal she could run past Hordak, Wrong Hordak and Priest. She could put it to the Command Council, but this was Horde business; the idea of a centralised Alliance Naval Training Command had been shot down from the start since none of the Earth navies wanted to adapt to a different naval culture, much less the Horde traditions, and technical training wouldn't help much with everyone using different classes of ships.

Just having a standardised Naval Tactics Course based on the Horde experience for all naval officers to take had been an achievement, and even that had required letting NATO take the lead in Alliance Special Operations training.

Sometimes, Catra really missed having the power to just order people to do things the right way or get shot. On the other hand, having such power also came with a lot more paperwork and everyone and their mother coming to her with problems they should have been able to solve themselves, cutting into her time to actually tackle the important issues.

She took a look at her proposal. It wasn't very detailed, but it didn't have to be; that stuff was best left to those with more experience in the specifics. But it outlined the pros and cons quite nicely. Now, all that was left was to send it to the Fleet leaders.

She was just getting around to that when an alert came in. Not an emergency, but urgent?

Oh. The spy bot network had discovered the missing Horde fleet.

She quickly sent her proposal and got up to head to the meeting room. The Alliance would have to deal with this new development.

*****​

Royal Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, April 18th, 2000 (Earth Time)

"So, what's the situation?" Jack O'Neill asked as he entered the meeting room and found the Etherians already present. Of course, he had had to take the Stargate from Earth while they were living down the hall.

"Hello, everyone!" Daniel said and Jack knew without looking behind him that he was frowning at Jack.

Jack ignored it. The Etherians had called for an urgent meeting, so time was of the essence. At least, that was his excuse. Besides, a meeting was a meeting; the sooner you got it started, the less time ended up being wasted. Though this was a peculiar meeting - besides the princesses, both Hordak and WrongHordak were present, but not Priest.

"Hi there!"

"Hello."

"Thank you for coming so quickly."

"Of course, we came."

"Indeed."

His friends apparently didn't want to go with the program. Foiled again. Jack sighed as he took his usual seat next to Carter, who apparently had stayed the night on Etheria, probably burning the midnight oil with Entrapta again.

"We've discovered the missing Horde force," Adora said once everyone was seated.

"One of the potentially missing Horde forces - there could be others," WrongHordak cut in.

"A Horde force with which we haven't been in contact before," Adora corrected herself. "Though it seems they are the ones that attacked the Goa'uld shipyard we found. They're operating in the same area, at least, and they're attacking Goa'uld forces."

"Oh?" Jack raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, sir." Carter nodded. "We've been able to observe a battle between a task force of standard Horde frigates and what has been identified as a fleet under the command of Sokar." She pushed a button on her laptop, and a holoprojection appeared in the middle of the room. Must have made an upgrade, Jack noted. Or just tapped into the existing hardware of the room. "The Goa'uld force was completely destroyed in short order, the expected outcome given the numerical and technological superiority of the Horde force. Interestingly, we observed salvage efforts afterwards - the clones are working on recovering two Ha'taks that were disabled instead of destroyed in the fighting."

"They're trying to recover the ships themselves? Not just stripping them for parts?" Jack asked.

"Yes, sir." The projection zoomed in on those two ships, showing a few Horde craft near them and docked to them.

"That's a major effort for an inferior ship," Jack commented. Before meeting the Ethetrians and the Horde, Stargate Command had been hoping to recover a Ha'tak by any means necessary, and Jack had familiarised himself with the plans made. Salvaging a ship disabled through damage took a lot of work unless it was precise sabotage you could easily fix. Which getting your engines blasted off by focused naval fire wasn't.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed. "They are either not worried about being caught in the middle of the recovery operation by reinforcements or feel confident to repel any such force."

"It's easy to feel confident in their position," Jack said. "Though that makes it even weirder that they are bothering about Ha'taks."

"Yes." Entrapta nodded several times. "Are they trying to gather more data on their enemies? But between all the Ha'taks they destroyed and the shipyard they looted, they already should know all that is to know about Ha'taks. Unless they were very unlucky or sloppy with their sensors."

"That is unlikely. Clones are trained better than that," Hordak said with a frown.

"Yes." WrongHordak agreed. "Most of us have had those skills ingrained by Horde Prime's conditioning and then practised them continuously. They are almost reflexes at this point."

"But Horde Prime's death was a heavy blow to his clones," Bow commented. "That's like losing a princess without a successor ready to be crowned, and in such cases, a kingdom usually suffered an upheaval on Etheria. These clones would have suddenly lost their connection to Horde Prime without anyone ready to step in and lead them like First, Second and Third Fleet had. We can't really count on them to just keep going as usual."

Daniel nodded in obvious agreement.

"That wouldn't have been enough for them to forget their training," Hordak retorted. "And as our new intel shows, they fought effectively and at a level we would expect, so it's unlikely that they would have suffered a loss of effectiveness in just one area of expertise."

Weirder things had happened, but Jack had to agree with the former warlord. "We need more information to tell."

"Yes," Glimmer said. "Before we contact them, we need to know what they're doing and why."

"We can ask them when we contact them." Perfuma smiled. "I'm sure they'll be curious about us as well - especially about their brothers in the Alliance. We can exchange information."

Jack winced a little.

"We should be more cautious," Sha're spoke up. "We don't know anything about them. They could be a danger to us."

Frosta frowned at her. "They're fighting the Goa'uld - our enemies."

"That doesn't mean that they're our allies," Sha're retorted. "Or that they aren't willing to stab us in the back."

"Indeed." Teal'c nodded.

"It would be prudent to take the possibility into account that they have chosen a similar course as, ah, Hordak did when he was cut off from Horde Prime," Daniel added with an apologetic smile.

"Yes." Catra nodded sharply. "We need to know why they are fighting the Goa'uld before we make contact. If they want to conquer the galaxy in Horde Prime's name, we can't trust them."

"They would consider us traitors," WrongHordak said.

"But if we spy on them before contacting them, they might think we're not honest with them," Perfuma objected. "We can't expect them to trust us if we aren't willing to extend our trust to them."

Jack had to suppress another wince.

"We don't trust them," Mermista said. "That's the point of this meeting. We need to decide what to do about them because they're acting weird and are a potential threat to us all."

Perfuma frowned. "But is that our decision to make in the first place? Shouldn't we leave that either to the Alliance as a whole, or to the Horde, since they are their brothers, and not to the Princess Alliance?"

Good questions, Jack had to admit. This seemed to be a matter for the Alliance Command Council.

"Technically, this is both an internal matter for the Horde and a matter for the entire Alliance due to the threat a hostile Horde force represents," Hordak said. "But since the majority of the clones follow She-Ra, she would have to be involved anyway, and since everyone knows Adora relies on her friends for advice, it seemed most efficient to have this meeting here to decide our course of action before informing the rest of the Alliance."

Jack didn't like the implied dismissal of the Alliance as a whole, but the clone was correct. Whether Earth liked it or not, this would be decided by the clones and She-Ra. And, if he was honest, it was probably more productive as well. And, of course, he trusted Adora more than he trusted most of the governments back on Earth.

He leaned forward and focused on Adora. "So… What do you think?"

*****​

What do I think? Adora briefly bit her lower lip. She had pondered this ever since she had heard about the news. Well, she could start with the easy part.

"I think this is a decision for the clones. Those were their brothers, their people. We don't know if the clones in that fleet still feel like they are part of the Horde or if they feel that they - or the fleets here - are a different people now that Horde Prime is gone, like the others we've found before. But until we know, this is a Horde matter first, an Alliance matter second." Just as deciding to grow the clone population had been a Horde decision, not an Alliance decision.

"Should be good enough for the Alliance to accept so they can save face," Jack commented.

Catra snorted but didn't make any comment about letting an enemy save as much face as possible but nothing else. She'd done that last night already, of course.

"It's not an excuse," Daniel said. "It's the truth. And I doubt that the Earth countries want to set a precedent that would allow the Alliance to intervene in internal disputes."

"We absolutely would if it were necessary to save people," Glimmer muttered.

That was true, of course, but Adora was aware that it was best if they never had to do that.

"Internal disputes in a NATO country don't exactly present a threat to the Alliance as a whole," Jack said. "A Horde Fleet, though, does - they're what, a third of the current fleet strength?"

"That depends on whether or not they have maintained their ship numbers," Hordak replied. "They could have lost ships to battles and desertions. Or internal fighting. Or they could have increased their numbers, as we're doing."

"Do we even know if all Horde Fleets had the same number of ships?" Mermista asked. "We still don't know how many fleets existed thanks to Horde Prime keeping information from everyone, even the clones."

"All three Fleets with Horde Prime had the same number of ships," WrongHordak told her. "While not definite proof, it's pretty indicative of the norm."

"As obsessed as he was with what he saw as 'perfect order', the odds that he would have allowed divergences in the Horde's roster are minimal," Hordak said with a sneer.

Adora agreed with that assessment. She couldn't see Horde Prime tolerating varying numbers of ships in his fleet.

"We should hope that they have the same number," Catra said.

"Why?" Daniel looked puzzled.

"If they have lost significant numbers of ships to battle, it means there's an enemy out there who can match them - and us, in that case," Catra explained. "If they destroyed each other over internal disputes, they might try to do the same to us."

"That they do loot the false gods' resources and make determined attempts to salvage their ships might indicate that they have lost part or all of their fleet train and depend on such means to maintain and replenish their strength," Teal'c speculated.

Adora nodded again. That was a possible explanation. The Horde didn't have bases to support their fleets. Each fleet carried their own logistical base with them, and if they lost it, they would be left to wither on the vine, so to speak. But…

"If they have access to even part of their fleet train, they should, over time, be able to restore it completely," Hordak said. "Like First Fleet."

"They would still have a problem with crewing new ships, though," WrongHordak said. "Unless a lot of the crews of the lost ships survived their destruction - or were deployed on a planet at the time."

First Fleet had drawn most of their replacement crews from the ground forces of Horde Prime that had been trapped on Etheria when Adora had turned his flagship - and with it the cloning pods - into a plant. But those had mostly come from the Velvet Glove; a Fleet wouldn't have as many ground forces to deploy in the first place. "Could they build cloning pods?"

"Well, they should," Entrapta said. "The basic design isn't that difficult to replicate, even without the blueprints in the databanks. Horde Prime really should have backed up his data."

"In theory, they could," Hordak added. "We all knew the basics. But whether or not any of the clones developed the aptitude to build such technology?" He shrugged. "I could have done it, but I was an aberration."

"You're not an aberration. You're Hordak!" Entrapta told him with a frown.

He smiled at her, and Entrapta's frown melted away.

Next to Adora, Catra snorted, but softly, so none but Adora heard it.

"In any case, I didn't have access to the mental patterns Horde Prime imprinted on every clone he grew," Hordak went on. "And without them, the best I could have done would have been to copy my own. Which I did not want to. For various reasons."

Adora nodded. She didn't want to pry. "So, the new fleet might be unable to replace lost clones."

"Or they copied each other and formed some hive mind," Catra joked. At least, Adora hoped she was joking. Judging by Entrapta and Sam's expression, and Bow's grimace, Catra's idea might not be as absurd as it sounded.

"Let's hope not. Taking out hive minds is a pain," Jack said. "But we still don't know how we deal with this new Horde force. Spy on them? Talk to them? Send them a late Valentine's card?"

That was the tricky question. Adora looked at Hordak and WrongHordak. Maybe she should have invited Priest to this meeting as well, but… she already knew he would want them to convert the other clones to worshipping Adora. Like he wanted to convert everyone else.

"We should be cautious and gather more information," Hordak said. "Then, when we know more about them, decide how to handle them."

WrongHordak shook his head. "We should approach them openly and arrange a meeting so we can honestly take their measure."

Everyone was looking at her, Adora realised. Waiting for her decision. Well, this was easy. "We want friends we can trust, and that requires extending trust to them first." She firmly nodded. "Honesty is the best policy."

Of course, Catra had to snort and say something about "trust, but verify."

*****​

Orbit Above Etheria, April 19th, 2000 (Earth Time)

Samantha Carter had expected Adora's decision - anyone who knew her had. Or should have; she was sure some people back on Earth still didn't understand Adora. Probably because they were so cynical - or corrupt - they couldn't contemplate, much less accept that true idealists not only were real but also successful. It would wreck their worldview.

And it wasn't as if Adora's decision was wrong. Spying on the Horde fleet in question before contacting them might appear to be the cautious choice, but only if they weren't caught. If exposed, it would run the risk of antagonising the Horde force and spoiling any attempt at diplomacy. As much as some people might agree with the idea that a country had no friends, only interests, the fact was that countries were ruled by people, and people held grudges.

Still, being open and honest didn't mean you had to be careless about it. Adora was an idealist, but no fool. However, there was a bit of a disagreement about what kind of preparations were adequate for the contact mission.

"We should take the entire First Fleet," Hordak grumbled from where he was studying a screen on the bridge of the flagship First Fleet. "A show of force that will discourage aggression on the part of this Horde fleet. Unlike the other Horde remnants we met before, they are not only fighting battles, but they are not even just defending themselves or their territory; they're actively attacking Goa'uld fleets and bases. If we appear weak, they might attack us as well."

"We don't know that - we don't know why they're attacking the Goa'uld," Entrapta pointed out. "If we appear threatening, they might attack us out of fear. It's a common response amongst many species. Including sapient ones, according to my data. We cannot expect them to act rationally."

The General would say that sometimes, attacking when threatened was the rational response. Sam didn't disagree. But whether or not this applied to a specific situation was often only obvious in hindsight. She checked the data analysis her computer was running against the records from the spy bot network. So far, there were no irregularities.

"If they are so far gone as to let fear dictate their actions, they are already a threat that we would have to deal with sooner or later," Hordak retorted. He shook his head. "And worse, if we show up with a fleet train, even parts of it, in tow, and they lack one, as we considered, then they might be tempted to attack us to take it from us."

"We are not taking a fleet train with us on the contact mission," Sam said. "Just a single yardship." Enough to maintain the task force being sent for a short mission but nothing more. And none of the mining and refining and other supply ships that were necessary to provide sufficient logistics for a Horde fleet. "If we took the entire First Fleet, we would have to take the entire fleet train as well."

"But we would have the strength to defend it," Hordak argued. After a pause, he scowled. "I don't like this. All the other remnants we met, at least those who refused to join us, were isolationists. They refuse to accept that Horde Prime is gone and wait for orders that will never come, merely defending themselves when attacked. This fleet, though, shows initiative. They are conducting what seems to be an offensive - or at least a raiding campaign. Why are they doing this when all the others are passive?"

"Maybe they have a leader like you?" Entrapta smiled.

Hordak didn't. He grimaced. "That would be the worst case."

Entrapta gasped. "Don't say that!"

Sam pressed her lips together for a moment. It wouldn't be fair to agree with Hordak. "You're not bent on conquest anymore," she said instead.

"It took me many years and many experiences to change. And it was only possible because I was isolated from Horde Prime. I was formed by the unique circumstances I experienced on Etheria. The other clones were under his rule until a few years ago. They never had any freedom to develop their own opinions. They never had the opportunity to experience a different life, hear different opinions or act on their own initiative - that would have made Horde Prime cull them." He shook his head. "No, if they have a leader like me, he'll be like me when I arrived on Etheria: Bent on conquest in Horde Prime's name."

"We can't know that!" Entrapta protested.

They couldn't. But It was very likely, in Sam's opinion. After Horde Prime had controlled every part of their life including their very thoughts, individuality came slowly to many clones.

"We need to be prepared for the worst," Hordak said. "At the very least, we need to move the rest of First Fleet forward to a position where they can support and relieve us when necessary. Besides, moving them out of the system will make the Princess Alliance stop complaining about the mining ships cracking asteroids. As if we're significantly reducing the number of asteroids! We could crack dozens without making even a hint of a dent!" he grumbled.

Sam knew that there was also a dispute about asteroid mining on Earth. The Horde fleet trains used to crack entire - smaller - asteroids for refining. It was quite effective but required large mining and refining ships and destroyed the asteroids being mined. The latter was a point of contention on Earth, especially amongst astronomers. Last she heard, there was talk about founding a society for the protection of celestial bodies.

Well, that was none of her concern. She was busy with research and the war effort. Which meant helping Entrapta and Hordak with planning the route to the new Horde fleet's area of operations.

She'd leave diplomacy and protecting asteroids to others.

*****​

Gate Area, PZ-9771, April 30th, 2000 (Earth Time)

"Alright! Drop it down here! Well, not drop - put it down, I meant."

"Sorry!"

"Don't worry. That will buff out."

Catra snorted and shook her head as Adora took a step back from the Stargate on the floor inside the shuttle, and Entrapta and Sam stared at their scanners.

"I just followed orders." Adora pouted at her.

"You should have known better. Fortunately, a Stargate is hard to break, even for you."

"Yes."

Just when Adora perked up, Catra added: "Much easier to break a shuttle."

"It's not broken!"

Catra shrugged. "Not for lack of trying."

Before Adora could reply to that, Entrapat stood up and nodded. "Alright! Everything's in order - we can fly off and return to the others! And install the Stargate on Hordak's flagship!"

"Finally!" In Catra's opinion, they should have installed Stargates on every fleet's flagship long ago, probably on a few more. It would make moving around between theatres of operation much faster for everyone. But that meant removing them from planets, and between planets with a population and planets with the potential for being settled, finding Stargates no one would miss had been a bit of a challenge. You had to thoroughly check whether a planet really didn't have a native population, and that usually required more than a quick trip through the Stargate and a look at the gate area.

But this planet's population had been wiped out in the war between Horde Prime and the First Ones, at least according to the records they had recovered in the remains. Probably as collateral damage, Catra thought - neither side had really cared about anyone else. So, no one would miss this Stargate. And they really needed a mobile one in this sector, what with this weird Horde force being active in the area.

The ramp closed behind her, and she took a seat next to Adora's just before the shuttle lifted off. Shortly afterwards, escorted by a squadron of Horde fighters, they entered orbit and approached the frigate serving as flagship of this task force.

Hordak was already waiting in the hangar, and Catra and Adora stepped out of the way as he, Entrapta and Sam got busy moving and installing the Stargate. Catra followed Adora to the bridge. There was nothing they could do to help with that except for doing the heavy lifting, but they could adjust the gravity for that here, and there would be reports waiting for the Supreme Commander of the Alliance on the bridge.

There always were reports and other paperwork waiting for Adora.

*****​

Outside PT-9621 System, May 1st, 2000 (Earth Time)

"We've sent the communication request, Commander," the clone crewman reported to Hordak. "No response yet."

Catra hadn't expected an immediate response. Being contacted out of the blue, by First Fleet - the escort force for Horde Prime's flagship? That would have surprised, maybe shocked the clones in the system.

On the other hand, all the scattered Horde forces they had contacted before had quickly, sometimes desperately asked them if they had news about Horde Prime. She checked the time. Almost a minute, and this force had yet to open a channel.

"The ships inside the system are moving into a defensive formation."

Catra could see that on the holoprojection.

"Well, they didn't miss our call," Jack commented.

"They're not wary but not aggressive," Adora said.

"They don't know our forces," Hordak retorted. "This is a standard reaction. Once they know our numbers, they might alter their formation depending on their intentions."

"Incoming call."

Adora straightened. "Put it on the screen."

A clone appeared on the screen. He didn't look any different compared to any other clones. Same appearance, standard uniform. Just like Horde Prime had wanted. And yet… Catra narrowed her eyes. Something was off.

"Hello!" Adora beamed at the clone. "I am She-Ra, Princess of Power. This is Hordak, the commander of First Fleet."

Catra and the others present stayed outside the field of view of the communicator. Honesty might be the best policy, but that didn't mean you had to tell an unknown force everything right away. Explaining the Alliance would take some time, anyway. Especially the difference between the Goa'uld and the Tok'Ra. And the difference between Earth and the First Ones.

The Horde clone frowned a little at Hordak, Catra noted. Was he offended by his appearance? Some clones considered any change to their bodies an aberration, a violation of Horde Prime's will.

"I am the Commander of the Horde."

That was quite the claim if he meant the entire Horde. And it seemed he knew that Horde Prime was gone. Otherwise, he'd have asked the supposed leader of First Fleet about it. But had he no name, or was he hiding his name? Catra couldn't tell. And yet, something was definitely off about the clone. Something… She stepped over to Entrapta. "Can you zoom in on him on your screen?" she whispered.

"Yes!"

"What do you want?" the clone asked.

Catra focused on his appearance. The uniform was the same, but… "His shoulders!" she whispered.

"What about it?" Jack asked in a low voice.

Catra leaned over and zoomed in further. "Look at the shoulders! Beneath the cape! Something left a mark on it there. Something heavy." Those marks looked like the dents in a Horde uniform's shoulder pads after wearing a heavy backpack for hours - something Catra was familiar with as a punishment. "He must have been wearing something else on his shoulders and has replaced it with the standard clone cape to talk to us."

"Yes?" Entrapta looked confused.

But Jack nodded. "He's hiding something."

It was just a feeling, but Catra was pretty sure it was something important.

*****​
 
Chapter 163: The Clones Question Part 3
Chapter 163: The Clones Question Part 3

Outside PT-9621 System, May 1st, 2000 (Earth Time)


"We have made contact with you so we can find out what your intentions are, Commander."

While Adora spoke to the 'Commander of the Horde', Jack O'Neill studied his image on the screen to the side, out of the field of view of the camera. It wouldn't do to let those clones know that Etheria and Hordak were working with Earth. Honesty was all good and well, but you didn't have to be stupid about it.

And Catra had been correct - the clothes of this 'Commander' showed signs of something heavy he had been wearing on his shoulders. Though it wasn't a backpack. The position wasn't right for that. Unless it was some weird alien-style backpack - but the bodies of clones were so close to humans, that would have had to be a rather inconvenient setup for them. And while Jack had never met Horde Prime himself, his impression was that the megalomaniac wouldn't have settled for anything short of perfect for his clones.

On the other hand, the outfits weren't exactly practical.

"You wish to know our intentions?" The Clone Commander - Jack made a note to sneak in a G.I. Joe reference sometime - sounded suspicious.

Adora, though, merely smiled widely. "Yes. You're fighting the Goa'uld, after all."

"You know about them?"

Definitely suspicious. Although… should he have expected that, since they were meeting in a system that was, if not a frontline system, as far as you could have a frontline in space, so very close to it?

"We're First Fleet," Hordak spoke up. "We are aware of many things Horde Prime did keep from other fleets."

"You claim to be First Fleet. I do not see the Velvet Glove with you. And I do not recognise you."

"He must know that Horde Prime is dead," Daniel commented on the obvious in a low voice. "He didn't ask about him."

"The Velvet Glove was lost when Horde Prime died," Hordak said. "As were many ships. But we have rebuilt, and now we are stronger than before."

The Commander stared at him, and Jack caught the hint of a sneer on his face. "How did Horde Prime die?"

"He attacked me and my friends," Adora cut in. "He tried to conquer us, and we defeated him."

"Who are you?"

"I am She-Ra, Princess of Power. Protector of Etheria," Adora replied.

Glimmer scoffed. "He's rude to make her repeat herself."

The Commander's eyes flicked to the side, staring at Hordak. "And you follow her?"

Hordak slowly inclined his head. "Horde Prime tried to erase me. He failed."

The Commander nodded. "He was not fit to lead us."

Jack wasn't the only one to be surprised - he heard a couple of gasps so loud, the microphones on the bridge would have picked them up if not for the filtering software Carter had installed.

"None of the other fleets we found rejected Horde Prime like that," Daniel whispered.

"If they rejected Horde Prime and are fighting the Goa'uld…" Glimmer trailed off, but her hopeful tone clearly showed what she was thinking.

"The enemy of my enemy is the enemy of my enemy," Jack muttered. Those were the same guys who had wiped out entire worlds and species for their leader. And unlike the clones in the Alliance, they hadn't seen Horde Prime fall and then were welcomed by the princesses and turned into allies.

"Yes. He was cruel, arrogant and treated you like tools," Adora said, nodding firmly. "You deserve better than that. Everyone does."

"So, what are your goals here?" Hordak asked. "Why are you fighting the Goa'uld?"

"You ask about our goals, yet hide your own."

"We have been rebuilding our numbers, and now we're working to restore what was lost in the war," Hordak said.

Like magic, Jack thought, clenching his teeth for a moment.

"We're looking for allies," Adora added. "And for threats to us."

"And do you think we are such a threat?"

"That depends on your intentions - and on your reason to fight the Goa'uld," Adora replied.

Well, that was obvious to anyone, in Jack's opinion.

"We are fighting the Goa'uld System Lords because they are unworthy leaders like Horde Prime."

"And who is your leader?" Adora asked.

"I lead the Horde."

Jack frowned. That was…

"He's evasive," Daniel said.

"Does that mean you claim power over all Horde remnants?" Hordak asked.

"That depends on your intentions." The Commander's lips twisted into a brief smile.

Smug bastard, Jack thought.

"You know our intentions," Hordak retorted. He made a point to look at Adora. "We follow She-Ra. She has proven to be a leader worthy of respect. Someone who cares and protects her people. And she has defeated Horde Prime in single combat."

Jack winced. That was throwing down the gauntlet - all that was missing was a direct challenge.

"I see." The Commander stared at her. "Are you a First One?"

*****​

Adora suppressed a wince. That was a difficult question. She didn't want to lie - omitting the truth was bad enough already - but the Alliance had gone to great lengths to make Apophis think that Hordak was fighting the First Ones and their descendants. And since this fleet was fighting the Goa'uld, what were the odds that they were aware of that bit of intel? Or that they would become aware of it?

So she smiled and said: "I was born a First One but was taken as a baby from them and raised in the Horde under Hordak."

For the first time, the Commander seemed obviously surprised. "What? You were raised in the Horde? By Hordak? Who follows you now? A First One?"

Ah… Adora saw Catra shake her head outside the camera's field of view.

"There were no First Ones left except me," Adora said. "They tried to destroy our world, Etheria."

"I was stranded on Etheria decades ago," Hordak said. "I gathered what forces and resources I could to conquer the world - for Horde Prime. And yet, when I was returned to the fold, I was judged a mistake to be fixed."

"And we took him in," Adora said. "We protect our world from any threat, whether it might be the Horde or the First Ones." She stared at the Commander.

He inclined his head in return. "And you wish to know if we are such a threat."

"As we told you already." Adora resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. And ignored that Catra did roll hers.

"You defeated Horde Prime - or so you claim - and then took over First Fleet. Are you here to attempt to take us over as well?"

"We are not here to take over anyone," Adora explained, clenching her teeth for a moment. Why did people always assume the worst of her and her friends? "We did not take over the Horde either. We welcomed them as new allies whom Horde Prime had hurt as much as he had hurt us, even if many had not realised it before he was finally defeated." The clones might not have had the same chips Catra and the others had suffered from, but they had been as tightly controlled, bound to Horde Prime's whims.

"So, you claim you are a worthy leader," the Commander said after a moment.

"Yes." Adora nodded firmly. She wasn't perfect, but she tried her best. And that had to count for something. There were certainly many worse leaders.

"Yes, she has proven her mettle," Hordak agreed.

Adora managed not to glance at him in response. He could just be playing his role, but… Later. "People follow us out of their own free will." In some cases even against her wishes. "We're here to check up on you, nothing more. We are not here to recruit you."

"So you claim."

"What can we do to prove that to you?" Adora asked. That was the heart of the matter.

"A demonstration of the power with which you defeated Horde Prime to prove that claim," he replied at once.

That would be… difficult. She couldn't exactly replicate the circumstances of Horde Prime's defeat. She could restore a planet's magic and use the power for an impressive display of magic, though.

She noticed that Catra was glaring at her and mouthing 'no'. But this was an opportunity to convince the Commander that they were speaking the truth about Horde Prime. "Pick a planet nearby, and I can show you my power." She blinked and quickly added: "I will not destroy it or render it uninhabitable."

The Commander looked at her for a moment - was he surprised by her accepting his offer - or challenge? Then he nodded. "As you wish. I shall contact you with a suitable location soon."

The connection cut, and the screen turned black.

Adora sighed, smiling. "That went well." Better than she had feared.

"So, we're showing off magic to them?" Jack asked.

"Apophis and anyone with spies in his court already know about magic after the battle in front of his palace," Hordak retorted.

"Not the point. But what if this is a trap? We're giving them time to mass more ships," Catra said.

"We also have time to prepare," Glimmer retorted. "And Adora can turn their ships into plants if she has to."

"Ah…" Adora wasn't sure she could do that with the magic of a single planet. And she hadn't really planned to do it, back then.

"Guys!" Daniel spoke up before she could explain that. "About the clone's clothes…"

As everyone turned to look at him, Sha're took a step forward. "Those marks fit what an Usekh leaves if you wear it constantly over the same clothes."

Adora frowned. Usekh?

"That's the ornamental collar many Goa'uld and Jaffa wear," Daniel said.

"Indeed."

Oh…

*****​

Marks from an ornamental collar? Samantha Carter was not an expert on Goa'uld fashion. She was a physicist, not an anthropologist. But Sha're had years of experience living as a host, and Teal'c had spent decades in Apophis's service. She trusted them.

"If this fleet is under a System Lord's command, and if Apophis has a spy at their court, then She-Ra being allied with First Fleet will have revealed our ruse about the Horde fighting Earth," Hordak said.

"If Apophis had spies who knew about the Horde fleet here, I think we would have heard about it already - it's a threat he wouldn't ignore, and he would inform the other System Lords about it," Catra retorted.

"Of course, the clones here following a Goa'uld is merely a hypothesis. There are other possible explanations for those marks," Daniel said. "And many cultures had similar ornamental collars."

Sam could tell that he did believe Sha're's guess - and Teal'c's - was correct, though. She did as well.

As did the General. He nodded. "If those clones are working for the snakes, then having our ruse revealed is the least of our problems…"

Sam nodded. Goa'uld with access to Horde technology were a much more dangerous enemy. Combined with the resources of their Empire…

"We don't know that," Daniel repeated himself. "Even if the Commander has been wearing an Usekh, it doesn't mean he's following a Goa'uld - he could have looted such a collar and worn it as a trophy."

"He was trying to hide it from us, though," the General pointed out.

"He had no information about us. If First Fleet had stayed true to Horde Prime's ideal, wearing such clothes could be seen as corruption by them," Daniel said.

"Horde Prime definitely wouldn't have tolerated that amongst his clones," Hordak said. "He had clones disposed of for much smaller divergences from his chosen template."

He knew from personal experience, Sam reminded herself.

"At least we know he's not a host. We do know that, right?" The General looked at her.

"Clones, like the Asgard from which they are descended, reject the symbionts," Sam confirmed. "Trying to possess one would be fatal over time."

"And he has no mark on his forehead," the General went on. "So, he's not a First Prime."

"He might not have yet served loyally long enough to have earned that reward," Teal'c said.

Sam knew that that didn't mean the Commander wasn't as fanatically loyal, though. Priest and his followers were the best example. And new converts were, usually, more fanatical than older members of a religion.

"If the fleet's serving a System Lord, it would explain why they're looting and salvaging Goa'uld resources and ships," Catra said. "They would have Jaffa serving him who can use the loot."

"Yes." Sha're nodded. "And turning a Horde Fleet on their rival System Lords would allow them to hide their actions and avoid retribution. They might even plan to use this 'threat' to form an alliance with their rivals only to betray them at the most opportune moment."

"But who could be doing this?" Glimmer asked. "It can't be Apophis or he would have sent the Horde against his rivals - and against us."

"Every System Lord would do this if they could," Sha're said. "And any of their underlings would defect in a heartbeat and try to take over themselves if they managed to take over a Horde Fleet."

"They would have become one of the most powerful Goa'uld at once," Teal'c said. "Though they would also drive the others to unite against them, should they be exposed."

Adora shook her head. "If they're following a Goa'uld System in the first place - we don't know that for sure."

"I think we can safely dismiss the claim that they're fighting the snakes because they hate such leaders," the General said. "The Commander was far too shifty to be an idealist."

"The other clones might be, though. It wouldn't be the first time that a leader is manipulating their followers by using their beliefs and claiming to share them," Daniel retorted.

"The False Gods have been using that ploy for thousands of years," Teal'c said. "Although they would not tolerate such cynicism from their warriors."

"They do expect it from the Goa'uld serving them," Sha're retorted.

"And some of the snakes might buy into their own lies," the General commented. "They're certainly arrogant enough to think they're gods."

"Can we convert them?" Bow asked. "Like Priest converted?"

Adora looked torn, Sam noted. But others nodded.

"Seeing She-Ra's power would impress anyone," Glimmer said. "We know some of the most loyal Jaffa have converted after seeing her."

"And after fighting her," Catra added.

"It is worth a try," Hordak agreed. "Unlike the Goa'uld, Adora does not need to fake her powers with technology. Nor does she rely on blind faith without any supporting evidence like Earth religions."

That wasn't entirely correct, as far as Sam understood things - she hadn't done any actual research into the matter, but the reports of spirits manifesting on Earth following the return of magic had an influence on religions that worshipped such spirits. Like Shinto. Though Daniel expected at least some established religions, even monotheistic ones, to adapt their dogma as well, or so he had said a bit ago.

But this wasn't the time to discuss religion. Not that she wanted to discuss religion at any time if she could help it.

Glimmer nodded. "Should we call in Priest then? He can use the Stargate to join us."

"We need reinforcements as well. First Fleet is the closest, but we probably can't stall long enough for them to reach us before the demonstration," Catra said, frowning at Adora. "So, we also need to plan how to handle the Commander betraying us."

She seemed quite sure that such an attempt would be made, Sam noted. And she wasn't the only one. The General and Hordak agreed as well.

And Sam couldn't disagree. Not with the information they had.

*****​

Outside PT-9497 System, May 2nd, 2000 (Earth Time)

Catra had to hand it to the Commander (whom she really had to give a nickname or something; "Commander" sounded far too pretentious to her): He had picked this system well. It was close enough to reach it in a few hours in a Horde ship, but further away from former Horde space than the system in which they made contact. That meant the rest of First Fleet couldn't reach them in time for the 'demonstration'.

Not only that, but, as their scanners and spreading spy bots showed, the other fleet had had additional forces close enough to reach the system, which meant the task force was now even more outnumbered. Worse, those reinforcements were trying to hide, staying out of range of the standard sensors of the Horde frigates.

"This is a trap," she said, pointing at the holoprojection on the bridge that showed the system and the surrounding space, including the two Horde flotillas in question.

"We don't know that," Adora retorted. "The Commander could have called them as reinforcements in case we ambushed them." Catra cocked her head and raised her eyebrows at her idiot of a lover, and Adora flushed before raising her chin a little in that endearing stubborn way of hers. "It's a possibility. We would do the same and we don't plan to betray them."

Catra snorted. "I've been planning various preemptive strikes ever since we've set out for this system." She hadn't managed to come up with any that she liked, though - and those reinforcements had rendered all plans with halfway decent chances of success obsolete.

"I know," Adora replied. "But you weren't planning to betray them from the start. This is just a contingency if they betray us."

"Well, it sure looks like they want to ambush us," Jack commented.

"They're staying back, though - they're not moving to encircle us, for example," Daniel objected.

"Those two forces could reach us in minutes through hyperspace," Catra pointed out. "If they want to encircle us, they can exit hyperspace behind us." Of course, they would have to plot their course when they were still minutes away, which meant they could only drop from hyperspace in close range if their targets were stationary or at least in predictable orbits. Or fixed in place by the force meeting them openly.

And the latter tactic was quite difficult to pull off in a battle, especially if your enemy just wanted to get away and was ready to sacrifice a rear guard to hold your forces while the rest escaped. Which meant that Catra was pretty confident that the Commander was planning an ambush without warning. They could spoil that by keeping their task force moving around the system in random order, but that would tip him off that they knew or at least suspected his treachery.

She shrugged. "So, do we want to bait him into attacking us by staying stationary, or do we tell him we know what he's planning by staying on the move while we're in the system?"

Jack snorted. "If we had the entire First Fleet here, I'd say bait him into dropping the facade and attacking us, then turn the tables on him and counter-ambush them."

"That would put everyone in the task force at risk," Adora protested.

"They'd still be safer than we will be on the planet's surface," Catra pointed out. "Even with a stealth shuttle." If the other fleet could move enough frigates to start a saturation bombardment, things would get tricky. Even stealth shuttles could be hit by firing blindly.

Her lover frowned at her, and Catra flashed her fangs in return. Did Adora think she would let her go down on the planet by herself?

"I doubt they will attack, if they're planning to turn on us in the first place, before Adora has demonstrated her powers," Daniel said. "They want to know what they are facing."

"They could also just want to decapitate our forces," Catra retorted, clenching her teeth. She'd rather not bet Adora's life on the Commander wanting more intel.

Sha're shook her head. "If they are serving a System Lord, they will want to know more about Adora's power - as much as possible, actually, since they will want to know if they can take it for themselves. They won't risk losing out on such a prize by striking too soon and killing her."

That did sound exactly how the snakes thought. Catra could see whoever took over a Horde fleet trying to gain more power from their enemies. Of course, that just made it less likely that the Commander would play it first and try to kill them right away, not impossible. And once the demonstration was finished…

"But once they know it's magic, they will know they cannot take it for themselves," Glimmer pointed out.

Catra nodded. "And they will try to kill us to deny this to anyone else."

"And to stop us from using it against them," Hordak added.

"Only those of them who reject the evidence of their own eyes - and sensors - and deny Her Divine Might," Priest spoke up. "As in the past, Her Holy Deeds will enlighten even Her enemies and show them a better way."

Judging by the way Adora flinched, she regretted calling Priest to join them through the Stargate on the flagship. But it was good to have Priest here - he brought a different perspective.

"As nice as it would be to have the entire enemy fleet convert to worshipping She-Ra, I don't think we can count on that," Jack said. "It never worked so far."

"Many converted to Her faith after seeing the truth of Her Divine power, wisdom and mercy themselves," Priest retorted. "That others remain blind and determined to fight the truth does not change that."

"Despite a number of deserters, and likely more who keep their change of allegiance secret, the bulk of Apophis's warriors remain loyal to the false god," Teal'c said. "It would be reckless to expect otherwise here."

Catra nodded. Adora changing a planet with her magic might impress the clones, but enough to change allegiance? She doubted that. Most Jaffa they knew to have converted had experienced a much more personal encounter with Adora's power, having fought her and then were healed by her.

No, she was quite sure they couldn't count on that to win the day here. They would have to win using their wits and guts, as Jack would put it.

And time was running short - the Commander expected them to enter the system now.

Fortunately, Catra had some ideas ready.

*****​

Orbit above PT-9497, May 2nd, 2000 (Earth Time)

Having his own stealth shuttle had a number of perks. One of them being the most experienced stealth shuttle pilot in the task force, which meant Jack O'Neill was a shoo-in for the 'contingency mission' everyone but the most optimist worshipper of Her Divine Highness She-Ra knew would be necessary to counter the Commander's imminent betrayal.

Well, even if he weren't the best choice as pilot, he would have been on the shuttle anyway - since SG-1 was kind of famous, or infamous, amongst the snakes, they couldn't go down to the surface with Adora and the others, and staying back on the bridge of the task force's flagship wasn't Jack's thing - he was Special Ops, not Navy. And any advice he might be able to give to Hordak he could as well do over the communicator.

An argument that had the drawback of also applying to Daniel and Sha're, who were on the shuttle as well, together with Carter and Teal'c, but you couldn't win them all. Besides, it wouldn't feel right to go on dangerous missions to foil the plans of evil aliens without his best friends at his back.

And speaking of friends… He pushed the button of the intercom. "Hello everyone! This is your pilot speaking. After sneaking into this system, we've arrived at our destination and entered a holding pattern. So far, we haven't been cleared to land, so please be patient and ready to disembark on short notice."

"Jack…" Daniel complained from behind him, but he heard Sha're giggle, once, and Carter would likely be hiding a smile as well.

Time to double down! "Please check the entertainment system for the local news!"

"The delegation hasn't landed yet, sir," Carter reported.

He could see that on his screen - the shuttle, a regular model, carrying Adora, Glimmer and Bow down to the surface was still approaching the planet, and the First Fleet's task force had taken a formation in high orbit that should discourage a surprise attack by enemies dropping in from hyperspace - the odds of hitting the planet when coming out of hyperspace were a bit too high. Not that it would be a surprise, anyway; they had eyes on the enemy flotillas outside the system and would be alerted at once should they start to move.

"I should be on the shuttle," Catra complained from the rear.

"Sorry, catwomen are a bit too distinctive," Jack told her, turning to grin over his shoulder.

"So's She-Ra. Everyone saw her on Saqqara," Catra retorted.

"But she's already known." Jack shrugged. In hindsight, they shouldn't have revealed Adora like that. Jaffa were worshipping She-Ra, which meant news of her was spreading alongside her faith among Apophis's warriors and slaves. Any spy could hear about her. But Adora hadn't wanted to use a fake name. Honesty and all.

Still, that didn't mean they had to reveal Catra as well. She had been a bit more noticeable during the covert part of the mission on Saqqara, when they had been passing themselves off as a delegation bringing tribute - including her. An unknown alien species? That had been noticed, and the guards and servants at Apophis's Stargate and palace hadn't been distracted by a fight for their survival at the time either. "Athletic blonde women are not that uncommon." Athletic blonde women who could do magic, on the other hand… well, that ship had sailed already.

"Yes! Athletic blonde women are very common on Earth, as our data indicates! Even more common than their genes' spread amongst your population would indicate, actually!" Entrapta chimed in. "And Glimmer can only teleport two people with her."

"I should have taken Bow's place," Catra hissed.

She could have, but Bow was the more experienced pilot. And he was a Techmaster, which Jack knew from long experience could come in very handy when things went sideways in unexpected ways, which they tended to do, in Jack's experience.

Not that he would say that out loud and trigger another argument - Catra was already too worried about Adora and the others. A sentiment Jack shared. The clone was going to stab them in the back; Jack's gut told him so, and every piece of intel they got confirmed it. The question was just when. Smart money was on 'after Adora's demonstration', but it was by no means certain. The Commander might also be waiting until she was in the middle of her demonstration, to attack while she was distracted.

Then again, attacking She-Ra in the middle of releasing a planet's worth of magic? There were far easier ways to commit suicide in Jack's experience. Hell, he was almost hoping the Commander would do that - he was curious if the clone frigates would end up as space plants in orbit.

"A shuttle has just left the other fleet's formation and is headed down to the planet's surface," Carter reported. "Scans do not show any explosives on board."

"Any bets that the Commander isn't on it?" Jack asked.

"That's a sucker's bet," Catra replied. "He'll send some expendable clones."

"The other fleet isn't in a position to conduct an orbital bombardment of the meeting place," Carter said.

"They're just a short flight away, though," Entrapta commented.

On the screen, Jack could see that their own shuttle had touched down. A few more minutes, now.

He checked the enemy fleet. They were holding their positions opposite the task force. And the enemy shuttle was still on course. If the clones planned to crash it into Adora's shuttle, they would have to act now to hit it with enough force…

But the shuttle continued to brake, touching down about a hundred metres away from Adora's.

Jack nodded. "Showtime."

*****​

PT-9497, May 2nd, 2000 (Earth Time)

Adora watched the Horde shuttle's ramp come down and straightened. Time to impress them and avoid a fight.

"Here they come," Glimmer commented from the shuttle where she was watching with Bow, as two clones disembarked, followed by four bots. All of them started walking toward Adora, throwing up dust with every step - the planet was mostly barren, with only primitive plants growing in spots.

"Based on the mass of the shuttle our scanners show, that only leaves the two crew inside," Bow added over the communicator. "Unless they've altered the shuttle to reduce its mass to hide more people inside it. But that's a standard model, designed by Horde Prime himself, made for his clones and bots with minimal accommodations. To reduce its mass significantly would have taken a lot of effort."

And Adora didn't think the clones would go that far just to hide a few more of their number. Not that it mattered.

"Thanks, Bow," Glimmer said. She sounded tense and impatient. "More importantly, is the Commander amongst them?"

"No," Adora replied.

"No," Bow confirmed a moment later.

"How can you tell without a scan? They all look alike," Glimmer asked. "They haven't customised their appearance like our clones."

"The way they move," Adora told her. And a gut feeling - she had been raised in the Horde, after all, which had been very big on having their soldiers look alike as much as possible, down to uniforms that hid as much of them as they could. And she had spent a lot of time with the clones after Horde Prime's death. Probably a bit too much, in hindsight.

"Hello," she called out, smiling, as the clones reached them. "Welcome."

The clones nodded at her in return, then stared at the shuttle behind her. The cockpit windows were polarised, so they wouldn't be able to see Adora's friends inside. Of course, if whoever was behind this fleet had access to Apophis's intel from Saqqara, that wouldn't help too much, but at least it couldn't harm. And Apophis had gone to great lengths to suppress knowledge of his humiliation there.

"So, who are you?" she asked.

The clones turned to stare at her. "We represent the Commander of the Horde," one of them said.

Adora was feeling a little annoyed at the implied claim, but she couldn't blame them for it; they didn't seem to have grown past their conditioning yet, unlike the clones in the Alliance. It seemed only the Commander had. "So, you're here to watch me demonstrate my power," she went on.

The clones nodded in unison, and Adora couldn't help remembering her first encounter with Horde Prime. All the clones, moving like parts of a machine, tools to be manipulated… Not if I can help it, she thought. And she would.

"So, watch. And don't worry - no matter how it looks, you're safe."

She took a step to the side and raised her sword. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and focused on her power. She-Ra's magic. She felt the familiar pattern around her, barely restraining the planet's magic. She connected her own power to it, opened herself to the magic, and clenched her teeth as the magic rushed into her. As often as she had done this, it was still a struggle to hold it together, contain the magic, keep it from lashing out even as it felt as if she was about to burst herself, caught between the magic of this world and the pattern holding it back, trying to funnel it towards herself.

She slashed her blade down, cutting the pattern, and the magic was released in a blaze.

She opened her eyes and turned, looking at the clones, at the shuttles, at her friends, at the world, and channelled the magic into the world. Into the tiny plants and animals struggling to survive, into the water full of metals and other pollution, into the air dusty from smoke.

And she felt the world change as magic cleaned it and filled it with new life. New plants sprouting all over, growing rapidly, animals changing, spreading, evolving. Life changing from what was into what could have been. What would be, now.

The magic kept coming, wave after wave, changing the world. Finally, she felt the pressure vanish, stabilise, and shuddered as she lowered her sword.

The landscape around them had changed. No longer a practically barren, dusty plains, it was now a lush mix of forests and fields. She could hear birds sing and insects buzz around.

And she saw the clones gape at her, shocked and shivering.

"This is my power," she told them.

"This is… this" one of them stammered, rubbing his arms.

"Not even Horde Prime could have done this!" the other exclaimed. "The whole world changed! You made it come alive!"

She nodded. "I told you the world wouldn't suffer. Quite the contrary."

"This… this changes things," the first said. "We have to tell the others."

"Yes." Adora smiled. It was working. They could avoid…

Before she could finish the thought, the bots jerked and raised their weapons. Adora changed her sword into a shield out of reflex, ready to block the blasts - but the bots shot the clones.

*****​

Orbit above PT-9497, May 2nd, 2000 (Earth Time)

"Shots fired!" Samantha Carter announced.

"The enemy fleet is moving!" the General snapped.

Her eyes darted from the screen showing the magitech scanner's focus on the area on the planet's surface where Adora and the others were to the holographic display showing the planet's orbits and back. The General had the con. She trusted him and focused on the scene on the ground. This was the betrayal they had expected, So… Oh!

"The enemy bots shot the enemy clones," she told the others. "She-Ra has destroyed them in return."

"Bugout is a go, I repeat, Bugout is a go!" the General announced. "The enemy ships are moving into bombardment range. Get the hell out of there!"

Sam clenched her teeth and watched Adora check the clones before sprinting back to the shuttle. Even if the clones were still alive, they couldn't save them!

"Shuttle's taking off," she reported, then glanced up to check the enemy fleet.

"Horde flotillas outside the system have entered hyperspace," Entrapta said.

As expected, Sam thought.

"Noted." Hordak sounded calm and collected on the comm. "Moving to support Bugout."

Sam barely noticed the view through the windows changing as the General changed course and dove down into the atmosphere. Instead, she was focused on the shuttle's course below them. The first frigates were now coming within range of the task force as they tried to intercept the shuttle carrying Adora, Glimmer and Bow.

"Adora!" Catra snapped. "Get out now!"

The enemy frigates opened up, their fire split between the task force's vanguard and the shuttle climbing up.

A moment later, she heard a faint pop and sparkles briefly lit up the shuttle's interior behind her. Glimmer had teleported in.

"Adora! You idiot!" Catra exclaimed.

"Hey! We were fine!"

And on Sam's screen, the shuttle blew up as several beams struck it.

"Bugout complete," the General snapped. "Leaving atmosphere again."

"Understood," Hordak confirmed. "Withdrawing."

Sam looked at the holoprojection and saw the task force's formation split up as the ships changed course and accelerated, no longer flying directly at the enemy, but enveloping them as they sped past - a very dangerous manoeuvre as the enemy dense formation plunged directly into the former centre of the task force's. And at that close range, the fire would be murderous - already, Sam saw several ships on both sides getting hit, their shields flaring and failing.

But the Commander's fleet wasn't reacting quickly enough - the ships which had fired at the shuttle had fallen back and overcompensated, messing up the enemy formation. And they seemed to have trouble focusing their fire, Sam realised - unlike First Fleet's ships. By the time the enemy had restored their rough wedge formation, First Fleet's ships had savaged their outer flanks and were past them, reforming into a defensive formation while staying their course. Sam hadn't recorded any total loss on their side while one enemy frigate had blown up and another had lost all power.

More importantly, the enemy now had to either turn around while maintaining formation, which would slow them down considerably, or execute a much more complex manoeuvre where every ship turned individually and took a different place in a reformed formation.

They tried the latter despite multiple ships having suffered damage, and the slightly ragged formation was torn up completely. Two ships even collided, and more had near-misses that led to frantic course changes, which disrupted the formation even more.

"Reverse course and attack."

Hordak took advantage of it at once. The task force's ships all cut their engines, turned a hundred and eight degrees without changing their course, and then redlined their engines to quickly reverse their course - driving at the disrupted enemy fleet at an angle that cut straight through their right wing.

They were in close range before the enemy could reform, and their focused fire claimed half a dozen already damaged ships without suffering any total losses themselves before the fleet separated again.

"According to the spy bots' data, the reinforcements for the Horde will arrive in a minute, Hordak," Entrapta reported. "If our estimates are correct, which I think they are."

"Noted."

Thirty seconds later, while the enemy fleet was still rearranging their tattered formation, the task force entered hyperspace.

"Are you picking up any beacons from escape pods on our side?" the General asked.

The task force had not suffered any total loss, but Sam checked the sensor's results again before answering: "No, sir."

"Check for enemy survivors!" the General ordered.

"Enemy flotillas dropping out of hyperspace! Aw, we didn't get their positions right!" Entrapta sounded disappointed.

While the scanner searched for survivors amongst the enemy wrecks, Sam quickly verified the positions of the reinforcements herself. They were further out than expected. And quite a bit off from the ideal positions they had calculated. Either they had overestimated the enemy - or the Commander had been a bit too confident and anticipated their response.

Either way, the new arrivals were no concern. "Tracking life signs in the closest wreck, sir," Sam said. That was the enemy ship that had lost all power in the first exchange. And it was the furthest from any enemy formation.

"Good. Let's see if we can get a prisoner before we leave." The General grinned. "Might as well save something from this, right?"

The safe course of action would be to leave the system as quickly as possible and then arrange a pickup outside with the task force, but Sam nodded. They needed more information about this fleet.

So, while the General moved the shuttle towards the enemy hulk, Sam and the others suited up and prepared to board the drifting frigate.

*****​

PT-9497 System, May 2nd, 2000 (Earth Time)

"We don't have much time - two frigates are headed this way already. So, get in, grab someone and get out again!"

Catra snorted at Jack's comment. As if they wanted to stay any longer than needed in the enemy wreck. Adora had already risked her life doing that stupid stunt - and then doubled down and tried to save the lives of two enemies at the risk of her own! - there was no way Catra would let her risk her life pointlessly again!

"Docking."

She flexed her claws as she heard the sound of metal touching metal and felt the floor rock a little as the shuttle locked onto the frigate's hull.

"Opening!" Entrapta announced, and the door slid past, revealing the slightly scorched airlock of a Horde frigate.

Entrapta and Sam started working on the door controls at once, and half a minute later - far too long, in Catra's opinion! - the airlock opened.

She was the first through, followed by Adora, Glimmer and Bow. The airlock closed behind them, then air filled - the frigate had lost main power, but emergency systems were still working.

As soon as the inner door opened, she dashed through, glancing left and right. The engine room would be to the left, and any damage control parties would be there, restoring the ship's power was the priority. Maybe…

Her ears twitched, and she grinned. "Someone's in the compartment next to us!"

A few swipes of her claws cut a hole in the wall in front of her, revealing a startled clone. Before he could react, Adora hat hit him over the head with the flat of her sword and knocked him out.

"Done. Returning!" Catra reported over the communicator.

Half a minute later, they were back in the shuttle.

"And we're leaving! Company's coming!" Jack announced as the shuttle undocked.

Catra was about to say something about an easy job when she heard a gasp. Turning, she saw that Sha're was kneeling next to the prisoner, holding up a small golden amulet that the clone must have been wearing under his uniform. It looked kind of familiar - definitely snake style - but she couldn't place it just…

"Ba'al," Sha're spat.

Oh. That one. Catra grimaced.

*****​
 
Chapter 164: The Clones Question Part 4
Chapter 164: The Clones Question Part 4

PT-9497 System, May 2nd, 2000 (Earth Time)


"Ba'al?" Jack O'Neill asked as he steered the stealth shuttle away from the drifting clone frigate. And away from the two frigates headed there to salvage it. The stealth generator was great, and the clones shouldn't be able to detect them even if they were almost touching their hull, but… the clones also shouldn't be following a snake.

"He's a Goa'uld who rose to prominence during the Second Goa'uld Dynasty on Earth, according to our records," Daniel replied. "He is associated with agriculture and was widely worshipped across the entire Mediterranean and beyond before the Goa'uld were overthrown. His worship continued, amongst other cultures by the Phoenicians, especially Carthage, and associated with human sacrifices, although the sources for that are mostly Roman, and so there's a certain bias to be considered when using them."

Jack checked the radar. No ships were pursuing them, so they should have evaded detection. Good. "I wasn't asking about the myth, but the snake. Isn't he one of the really bad System Lords?" And that took some doing for a snake.

"Although more subtle than Apophis, he's one of the most ruthless Goa'uld," Sha're said. "He kept his followers' loyalty through fear - like Sokar, with whom he was allied during the fight against Ra."

"Must have been the usual alliance amongst snakes," Jack commented, setting course for the outer system. Backstabbing from day one. Almost as bad as Pentagon politics.

"Apophis thought Sokar had dealt with him after Ra fell so he could make a move to succeed Ra as the ruler of the Goa'uld," Sha're said. "Neither Ba'al nor his forces had been seen in a while, and it seemed as if Sokar had absorbed many of his Jaffa."

"Apparently, that was not true," Catra commented. "Looks like he was busy taking control of this Horde fleet."

"Great. Just the thing we needed - a snake with superior technology," Jack muttered. And right when it looked as if Earth had finally caught a break!

"Ba'al has a reputation for ruthlessness," Teal'c spoke up. "It is said that he once sacrificed an entire world with millions of slaves to destroy an enemy fleet."

"Sounds familiar," Glimmer muttered.

"Ah… we always need to consider the source when judging people and, ah, Goa'uld. His rivals and enemies would have had a great interest in discrediting him to undermine his support and galvanise their own followers to fight him," Daniel said.

"Apophis's opinion matches the Tok'ra's," Sha're said.

"Who are also his enemies," Daniel retorted.

"You will be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't consider him an enemy, much less a friend of his," Sha're shot back.

"I admit that the evidence seems solid, multiple sources, but he has been hiding in obscurity for some time, hasn't he?" Daniel said.

"As I said, he has a reputation for being subtle. And System Lords rarely change much if at all."

"Indeed."

Jack couldn't help wondering if that was also how Daniel and Sha're argued over small stuff in their marriage. And if Carter would do the same… Not that that was any of his business.

He cleared his throat. "So… he's the type who would take over a Horde fleet and then use it covertly instead of demanding everyone bow to him?" he asked as he altered their course - a patrol of Horde fighters was coming a bit too close for his taste.

"Yes."

"Indeed."

"The information we have would indicate that, but we need to check with the Tok'ra, I believe."

Great. "So, the fact that he hasn't done it doesn't mean he can't do it? He could have more than this fleet at his disposal?"

"We don't know how large this fleet is," Adora pointed out. "The ships we saw could have been the majority of his Horde forces."

"I don't think a Goa'uld would leave an underling with the majority of his forces," Catra said. "That leads to coups. He would try to keep the majority directly under his command and split the rest up between various officers. So, if this was, say, a third of his available forces, we're talking about half a fleet at the very least. And that's only his Horde ships. He'll have Goa'uld ships as well - and he'll likely upgrade them."

"That must be why he looted the shipyard we found," Adora agreed.

"We'll be fighting Super-Ha'taks," Jack muttered. "Isn't that great?"

"Oh, yes! I'm so curious to find out they adapted Horde technology to Goa'uld designs!" Entrapta cheered. "There are so many possible ways to upgrade them!"

Jack glanced over his shoulder, but everyone was frowning at him as if he had done something wrong. Even Carter.

It wasn't his fault that Entrapta was… a bit too focused on science instead of strategy or politics. Not that that was always a bad thing, mind you!

He sighed. "Well, the guys back in the Command Council won't be happy about that."

"I'm not happy about this either," Glimmer said. "We need to focus on this Ba'al as soon as possible and take him out before he gets even more powerful."

Jack nodded in agreement as he continued to fly them towards the meeting spot where the task force would pick them up.

*****​

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, May 2nd, 2000

"...and then we took the flagship's Stargate to return to Earth," Adora finished with a nod at the assembled members of the Command Council.

"And the prisoner is still being interrogated?" Admiral Brown-Emerson asked.

"Yes. We've been able to confirm that he worships the Goa'uld Ba'al," she replied. Not that had been hard - the clone had been praying to Ba'al as soon as he had woken up. "We have not been able to gather more intel, though - he is quite stubborn. But our analysts agree that it is very likely that the entire fleet is under the control of Ba'al." If the clone had been an exception, if he had been a spy, he probably wouldn't have carried Ba'al's symbol at all - the Commander had had the two clones who had seen her demonstration killed just for their reaction; he'd do the same or worse to someone worshipping a Goa'uld, Adora was sure.

"I'm sure our specialists will be able to get him to talk," General Naird said.

Adora slightly narrowed her eyes at him. Was he hinting at torture? The Alliance didn't do that!

He blinked when he noticed her glare. "I mean, according to our files, clones have several psychological weaknesses that can be exploited by skilled interrogators," he quickly added.

Ah. She nodded.

"Psychological weaknesses Ba'al must have exploited," General Steiner, a new addition to the Command Council from the Bundeswehr, said. "They were raised to obey Horde Prime without hesitation or question - he was literally the centre of their entire existence. It stands to reason that losing him would have left them terribly vulnerable to a skilled manipulator." He didn't have the German accent his retired predecessor had, Adora noted.

"And the snakes have been manipulating their faithful for thousands of years." Jack snorted. "They're very good at that."

Admiral Biggs, the replacement for the finally reassigned Admiral Kearsy, shook his head. "A weakness inherent to people who were raised without faith. That leaves a hole in their souls that the false gods can easily fill to control them."

Adora frowned again. That wasn't entirely correct, as she understood it. The Jaffa and slaves of the Goa'uld were raised from birth to worship the Goa'uld, at least the System Lords, as gods. And the clones might not have called Horde Prime their god, but they had effectively worshipped him as one.

But he was correct that losing Horde Prime had left many clones adrift, literally in the case of at least one force they had encountered, without direction or purpose. Many had become isolationist, refusing to accept that Horde Prime was dead, and were refusing any contact, driving away everyone, while waiting for Horde Prime to return. Others had become depressed. In some extreme cases, clones had just stopped doing anything, even eating, until they had died. Compared to that reaction, latching on to She-Ra instead to guide them was much better.

Anyway, this wasn't the time to discuss what was essentially semantics, she reminded herself.

"Actually, that's wrong." Of course, Daniel just had to disagree about that. "You can't really claim that they lack faith. The Goa'uld's power is based on faith."

"It's based on trickery and deceit - they are posing as gods, manipulating their followers. But they are false gods," Biggs replied. He was clenching his teeth, Adora saw.

Teal'c nodded. "Indeed."

"I think no one here disputes that they are false gods," Daniel said. "But that doesn't mean their followers lack faith. We have to take that into account when making plans about how to deal with this fleet. Recent converts tend to be fanatical, so we cannot count on them abandoning their new lord easily or quickly."

"And we need to deal with them as soon as possible," Jack added. "The longer Ba'al is allowed to build up his forces even more and upgrade his other ships and armies with Horde technology, the harder it will be to defeat him."

"We have three Horde fleets to his one. If we keep one in reserve, we'll still outnumber them two to one. Those are good odds," Naird said.

"Moving First Fleet into his territory is a challenge already; moving another fleet as well?" Catra shook her head. "Even with the fleet trains reducing our need for bases and supply lines, the sheer distance we have to cover makes this a challenge. It would be much better if we could get them to desert him."

Adora nodded. That would also save a lot of lives, which was an important point.

"Or at least start a civil war in the other fleet," Catra went on.

That would cost a lot of lives.

Steiner looked up from his tablet. "That's an excellent suggestion. We already know that a demonstration by She-Ra was enough to sow doubts among the clones who witnessed it. Another such incident might cause a split in the fleet. At the very least, it should undermine Ba'al's claim to their loyalty."

Adora pressed her teeth together. "We can't rely on people converting because of me," she protested. That was… wrong.

Biggs nodded in apparent agreement.

"It's a possible strategy," Steiner defended the plan. "And it's much more likely to succeed than sending missionaries, isn't it? I doubt the clones would receive them well."

"They've also shot at us," Jack pointed out.

"Though if they're at least a bit like our clones, at least Third Fleet, they might try to convert more clones. That could offer opportunities for covert operations," Glimmer suggested.

"A decapitation strike against Ba'al?" Jack grinned.

"The last such operation was a failure," Naird said with a frown.

"We've learned from that," Jack retorted. "And taking out Ba'al would solve a lot of problems."

"We don't even know where he is and what resources he has - or what kind of bait we could use to lure him into a trap," Naird protested.

"Well, best we start working on that, then?" Catra grinned.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Biggs asked with a slight snort.

"With our friends the Tok'ra." Catra flashed her fangs.

*****​

Stargate Command, CFB Goose Bay, Newfoundland, Canada, May 3rd, 2000

Samantha Carter knew the Tok'ra were sworn enemies of the System Lords. They had been fighting them for thousands of years, never relenting despite facing what seemed to be a hopeless battle. They went as far as to consider themselves another species despite being biologically identical.

And they had a unique culture. According to all accounts, they formed a true symbiosis with their hosts. Daniel even was of the opinion that a Tok'ra was the combination of a symbiont and host, not the symbiont themselves, though that view was contested among both the biologists and anthropologists specialised in aliens.

Sam still couldn't help but remember how she had been possessed by Jolinar when she greeted the Tok'ra delegation. Especially since amongst the three members was Martouf - Lantash/Martouf, she corrected herself - Jolinar's old lover. Or lovers. He said he had accepted that Sam was not Jolinar, even if she had seen some of their memories, and that she didn't share any of the feelings of the symbiont, but the way his polite smile changed just a tiny bit when he saw her still filled Sam with a brief mixture of revulsion and absolutely groundless guilt. She wasn't responsible for Jolinar's death.

"Anise. Freya. Jakar. Mats. Lantash. Martouf," she greeted them.

"Sam!" Anise - her voice gave her away - smiled warmly at her, though Sam didn't miss how her eyes wandered around the gate room.

"General O'Neill couldn't make it," she told her, hiding the small, petty satisfaction she felt at telling Anise that the object of her fascination wasn't here. "His duties at Alliance Special Forces Command keep him busy." Really, the woman should just accept that he wasn't interested in whatever she was offering.

"Duty comes first, of course." Anise nodded.

"Always," Jakar agreed.

"But he will join us at Headquarters, right?" Freya asked as Sam led them through the scanners.

"As the most experienced officer in the sort of missions we obviously are going to discuss, his absence from the meeting would be a surprise," Jakar commented.

Sam hid her annoyance at the presumption as she nodded. "Yes, he'll be at Headquarters. As will Entrapta," she added with a glance at Anise.

"Oh, good!" The Tok'ra nodded with what seemed genuine happiness. "I'm looking forward to discussing a few things with you after the meeting."

"Oh?" Sam tilted her head as they left the gate room. That sounded promising. Anise was a great scientist with thousands of years of experience, and her designs were almost always unique and interesting.

"Yes. I've been working on a way to physically enhance humans, and I've hit a bit of a snag."

That definitely sounded intriguing. But also worrying.

But first things first. Dealing with Ba'al's clone fleet took priority.

*****​

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, May 3rd, 2000

The more the briefing continued, the more concerned the Tok'ra looked, Catra noticed. It was, of course, understandable - the situation was bad. Not the worst case they could have imagined; that would have been Horde Prime somehow having returned or invading from a different universe, or a Goa'uld taking over Adora, but it was a serious crisis.

Anise shook her head after the briefing on the contact with Ba'al's fleet had concluded. "A Goa'uld with that kind of power - the resources he has access to, the technology at his disposal. He must be stopped at all costs!"

"He and all his followers have to be dealt with," Jakar added. "Before they can adapt and spread Horde technology to other Goa'uld - or leverage this to take over the entire Goa'uld Empire."

"Such an attempt would plunge the Goa'uld Empire into civil war though, wouldn't it?" Admiral Biggs said. "That would weaken them."

Catra rolled her eyes. "Ba'al knows about us. If we try to exploit such an opportunity, he will use us as a threat to unite the Empire under him." Nothing united people faster than a common enemy they couldn't defeat alone.

"We cannot wait and hope our enemies defeat themselves," Adora added. "We must strike as soon as possible. And for that, we need to find Ba'al."

"Or find the right bait to lure him into the open where we can strike at him," Jack said.

Biggs scoffed. "That plan failed against Apophis and Sokar, and you want to try it again?

"Third time's the charm." Jack's smile was very toothy, Catra noted - and she was sure it wasn't just because he didn't like the US Navy on principle.

Biggs scoffed again, "Superstition won't help us. Quite the contrary."

"Actually, as the latest research studies show, this saying might be true as far as magic is concerned - at least in certain emerging magical traditions on Earth," Daniel commented. When both Jack and Biggs glared at him, he winced and smiled weakly. "But this is probably not the time to discuss this."

"Yes." Glimmer nodded emphatically. "We need to focus on how to take out Ba'al."

"A multi-pronged strategy seems most appropriate," Admiral Brown-Emerson suggested. "A decapitation strike aimed at Ba'al, efforts to convert his followers and undermine his rule, but also a fleet operation as a last resort, to break his power before he can consolidate and expand it."

"That would require the majority of the Alliance military," Naird protested.

"It's not as if we're currently fighting major campaigns," Jack told him.

"If Apophis launches another attack, we would be hard-pressed to counter him. Especially if he realises that we fooled him into thinking the Horde fleet is an enemy of Earth," Naird retorted.

"If he realises the extent of our military capabilities, he'll know that he needs allies, and he'll attempt to unify the Goa'uld against us - and under his rule," Sha're said. "That won't happen without us knowing about it," she added with a glance at the Tok'ra.

Anise nodded. "Indeed. We do not have any assets at Ba'al's cort - yet - but a diplomatic move like that from Apophis would be noticed by our operatives. And I have stress again: A Goa'uld with Horde technology - or Ancients technology - is a lethal threat to us all. We have to focus on this menace above all."

Catra nodded and leaned forward. "So, what can you do to help with that?"

Anise hesitated a moment, glancing at the others, and Catra narrowed her eyes. That wasn't a good sign.

*****​

As he sat down on the edge of his desk in his office in Alliance Headquarters, Jack O'Neill felt a bit of nostalgia. The room was bigger than his old office in Cheyenne Mountain, even bigger than Hammond's had been, but with over a dozen people inside, it felt as crowded as his old office had with just SG-1 inside. And, of course, back then, whatever they came up with still had to be approved by their superiors.

"So… What are we going to do?" he asked as soon as Teal'c had closed the door.

Anise, who had been unabashedly looking around in his office, no doubt looking for any insight about him that would help her get her hooks into him, or at least a sample of his genes or something, turned toward him. "I was of the impression that we just finished discussing this in the Command Council and had the matter delegated to various planning groups."

"Yep, we did." Jack grinned. "Which is why we now can start actually planning what we'll do."

Adora nodded. "We're not an official planning group, but nothing prevents us from making plans."

"No one can stop us, anyway," Catra added, stretching as she was perched on the edge of the meeting table.

Daniel, who had made a beeline for Jack's imported coffee-maker straight from the door, picked his cup up, took a sniff of the hot air wafting up, and nodded with a smile before turning to face the rest of the room. "I thought that the rest of the Command Council was pretty unhappy with us after the last two missions."

He was right, but Jack still snorted with a careless shrug. "They're looking for someone to take the blame for the current crisis."

Daniel frowned. "To be fair, our missions did have, ah, mixed results."

Catra scoffed. "We were working on the intel we had, which turned out to be missing some crucial facts."

"Such as Sokar's plans, and Ba'al's everything," Jack agreed.

"Both System Lords have been hard to gather information on," Jakar said. "Mostly because they spent so long in obscurity and eschewed regular contact with the rest of the Goa'uld."

"It's annoying when the bad guys show good tradecraft," Jack commented with a toothy grin.

Jakar matched it and nodded. "Indeed, it is."

"But enough of that. We do have a crisis to solve," Jack said. "How do we solve it?"

Adora took a step forward. "We've agreed to use a multi-pronged strategy. We'll reach out to the clones working for Ba'al to… persuade them to reconsider their allegiance."

"To convert them," Catra commented with a grin.

Adora frowned at her for a moment, then went on: "We'll mass our available ships for a campaign against Ba'al's fleet, to overwhelm them before they can build up their strength even more, and we'll launch a decapitation strike mission directly against Ba'al as soon as we can."

"Which means, as soon as we find him," Catra piped up again with a pointed glance at Anise and the other Tok'ra.

Anise frowned a little at that. "As I said in the meeting, we'll send operatives out to infiltrate Ba'al's forces and instruct our spies currently working against Sokar to investigate their supposed ties."

Catra waved her hand rather dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, that's standard procedure. But that won't get us the results we need in time to be useful - you've just started on Sokar, haven't you?"

Anise pouted, but Jakar nodded. "Given the dangers and risks involved, we have to move cautiously when inserting spies, often relying on chance and random opportunities, and that takes time."

Not for the first time, Jack thought that their snake allies had grown a bit too used to taking the very, very long view in their fight against the Goa'uld.

"Yeah, but that means we can't hope for a lucky break - we need to be proactive," Catra said. She slid off the table. "We need to launch aggressive recon missions."

Jack nodded. "Exactly."

"We're expanding the spy bot network into the suspected area under Ba'al's control," Carter said. "Though to accelerate this, we will have to rely on spaceships carrying more bots deeper into the target area. That will increase the risk of being detected and the network being exposed."

"That's a risk we have to take," Jack said. He doubted the spy bot network would last forever, anyway. "We need to find Ba'al's bases as soon as possible so we can infiltrate them and prepare strikes."

"That's good for their Jaffa and the Goa'uld ships, but the clone fleet won't need bases," Bow remarked. "And they can move around."

Which made them hard to find, Jack knew. Saturating the area with spy bots wasn't really practical, given how much time it would take.

"But if they rely on the fleet train to provide their other forces with advanced weapons, they will have to stay in close contact with it," Carter said. "We can use that to track them."

"And if Ba'al is the typical snake, he'll keep a close eye on all his forces, so we should be able to find him as well," Catra added.

"Yep," Jack said.

"I see." Martouk nodded. "But in order to gather this mission without deep cover operatives will be very dangerous."

"Indeed." Teal'c nodded with a hint of a smile.

"Yep," Jack agreed. "We'll have to sneak up on and into enemy bases and look around for any piece of intel we can get without being detected."

"Oh, that sounds familiar." Daniel sighed, but he was smiling a little as well.

As were the others in the room, except for the Anise and Martouf.

Jack grinned - he was feeling nostalgic again.

*****​

Orbit Above Etheria, May 6th, 2000 (Earth Time)

"Your Divine Highness! Welcome to the Herald of Salvation! The newest ship in your fleet!"

"Hello, Priest." Adora smiled politely as she stepped down the ramp of the shuttle. "Did you choose the name?"

"It was chosen in light of her first mission, Your Divine Highness," Priest replied as he straightened from his bow. "I found a more martial designation, such as chosen for our older ships, would not fit as well given that her mission is to save as many of our enemies as possible by showing them the light of Your Wisdom and Mercy."

"And the fire of her improved beam cannons if they reject you," Catra commented from behind her. "Can't let the hard work of Entrapta and the others go to waste, can we?"

"As the last resort," Priest acknowledged, nodding his head at her. "We fervently hope that reason will prevail, and that our lost brothers will see the light. But we are aware of the challenges this mission presents us with, and we will do our duty in Your service, Your Divine Highness."

Adora had already heard all the 'Divine Highness' she could stomach, but she knew from experience that telling Priest to call her anything else would only encourage him to come up with an even more ostentatious title, as Daniel had described it. So she nodded and tried to ignore it by focusing on the task at hand. "Yes. A fitting name for the flagship of the future Fourth Fleet."

"Indeed, Your Divine Highness! She will be a shining example for the rest of the fleet, and for the galaxy at large, of Your Grace and Courage!"

"Once she and the rest of the task force are crewed and worked up," Catra said.

"I have chosen the best and brightest from Third Fleet for this task, Your Divine Highness!" Priest replied. "They are well aware of the responsibility they have in shaping the core of Fourth Fleet's cadre so that our new brothers will serve you as faithfully as the other fleets."

"We will serve you with our lives, Your Divine Highness!" Padre, the clone chosen to lead this force, and the future Fourth Fleet, if he worked out, said, bowing deeply.

"I know you will," Adora told him, smiling gently. "All of you," she added, looking at the rest of the clones lined up to greet her. "You have my trust and my confidence."

"You honour us, Your Divine Highness!" Priest beamed at her, as did everyone else in the hangar except for Catra, who smirked.

Adora couldn't help feeling a little guilty and embarrassed at the display. She didn't deserve their worship. But they did deserve her trust. The Command Council had questioned this mission, voicing concerns that the ships of the recently founded Fourth Fleet should work up their crews, new clones mixed with veterans, safely inside Alliance space, in a training command, but Priest had argued that the people forming the core of the crews for Fourth Fleet's first flotilla were all taken from Third Fleet's best and so they would be ready for deployment. Catra had agreed that getting actual field and combat experience as soon as possible would be better in the long run for the fleet's morale and esprit de corps. The sooner they were accepted as equal to the other Fleets, the better.

Adora had agreed. First Fleet and Second Fleet would provide most of the ships for this mission, anyway, so Fourth Fleet's small contribution wouldn't see action too soon - they still had yet to find the enemy's bases and deployments. So, the new fleet's new crews would get to train hard for the time being.

Still, she couldn't help worrying a little. Not only about the new clones serving on the new ships, fresh faces with new gear always meant problems in the field, she had seen that in both the horde and the Princess Alliance, but about the mission itself. Reaching out to the clones in Ba'al's service wouldn't be easy. Turning Horde soldiers had been hard enough in the Horde War on Etheria, and in space, the opportunities to make contact with potential deserters were far less.

And the danger for everyone involved was even higher, she reminded herself, remembering the two clones shot by their own bots after Adora's demonstration had shaken them.

No, Priest might be as confident as ever, but converting the clones following Ba'al wouldn't be easy at all.

But they would still try it, and give it their best shot. The clones manipulated by Ba'al deserved the chance to gain their freedom. And the Alliance would do their best to make it happen. Adora would ensure that.

*****​

Orbit Above Etheria, May 8th, 2000 (Earth Time)

Inside the office they had appropriated on a yardship of First Fleet that had stayed in the system to keep building ships for Fourth Fleet, Samantha Carter was looking through Entrapta's latest proposal for a "science ship". It was a far more practical design than her first one. Instead of a copy - at least in appearance - of a Miranda-class ship from Star Trek, it was a modified Horde frigate with the main beam cannon battery replaced by a greatly expanded version of the Spacelab Entrapta had built with Sam. Quite workable, in Sam's opinion - it shouldn't take long to alter the base schematics used by the Fleet Trains' yardships; they had done that for a few improvements so far, the latest the beam cannons and shield projectors.

But the Spacelab part - it wasn't a module since it would be a permanent addition - would require more work. It would be quicker to custom-build it in a workshop instead of creating a prototype followed by the schematics for a yard… No. Once the war against the Goa'uld was over, there would be a need for such ships, so it was better to design them properly so they could be mass-produced easily and cheaply.

Which reminded her that she needed to go over the latest Fleet Transport schematics they had received; the British were planning to add some changes to the next block after the first block had started actual field deployment. The changes looked good, but Sam wasn't quite sure if the relatively small increase in capability would be worth the added logistical and maintenance demands two versions of the same ship would cause. She would have to calculate that.

"So, what do you think?" Entrapta asked.

Sam felt a little guilty for having had her mind wander. That they both had a lot of tasks to do was no excuse in her opinion. She focused on the design again. "You've removed two-thirds of the beam cannons but left the power generators in place. That will allow more options during an emergency." Such as the ability to shunt power to the engine or shields. Or to overload the beam cannons. With the main battery gone, the ship couldn't focus her firepower; the remaining cannons were more a deterrent to attacks by swarms of fighters - a more potent point defence battery, actually. But overloaded, even those could, for a very short time, provide the ship with significant firepower at the cost of burning out the main focus crystals of the cannons involved.

Entrapta nodded. "Yes! And it will provide ample power to the lab for experiments!"

Right. Sam flushed a little - this was a science vessel, after all, not a military design. "And the shields will be able to withstand extreme conditions for longer." That was a capability the latest Horde frigates had as well, but as with the enhanced beam cannons, trying to upgrade all existing ships would take too much time and yard capacity. They would have to stick to those ships undergoing regular maintenance or battle repairs, and the odd refit slipped in.

"Yes! Not enough to fly into a star's corona - not yet - but we could dive quite a way into the atmosphere of a gas giant!" Entrapta beamed. "And if we overload the engines, we can get closer to a black hole!"

"I think disposable drones would be better for that," Sam told her, smiling a little wryly. "Replacing drones is cheaper than overhauling the engines." Or replacing them - or the ship, should the engines fail before the ship was in the clear.

"Right!" Entrapta's head bopped up and down as her hair tendrils flew over two keyboards at the same time. "Anyway, we can start building the prototype as soon as the fabber in section two finishes with the latest batch of cannons. I've checked it with Hordak; we've got five hours!"

That would be enough for a lot of the parts - the ones not requiring more advanced manufacturing, such as sensors. Though those they could get from the spy bot factories in the system; most of them had been retooled for ship sensors anyway since the spy bot network had spread so far, it was often more efficient for expanding the networks to build automated factories further away than shipping bots from Etheria or Earth; those were mainly used for scouting and communication by task forces sent into areas not yet covered by the network. Such as Ba'al's suspected territory.

"Then let's get started," Sam said. "I didn't find anything I'd change." Though they would find a lot of things that would need changes once they actually used the prototype. No matter how good the design software and simulations were, some things you only noticed in actual use. A lesson the Navy sometimes seemed to forget.

"Yes! Now let's…"

Entrapta was interrupted by a beeping noise - a priority alert. Had something gone wrong? A new attack? Sam quickly changed the feed on her screen, and Entrapta swung over, carried by her hair, to look over her shoulder.

It was from the spy bot network. The bots had found a base in suspected Ba'al territory.

"That was fast," Entrapta commented, cocking her head to the side. "Faster than we expected. We're lucky!"

Sam wasn't sure about that. It could also mean that Ba'al had more bases than expected - or at least, more bases closer to Alliance territory than they had expected. Either wasn't good news.

*****​

Orbit Above PT-9511, PT-9511 System, May 17th, 2000 (Earth Time)

Jack O'Neill couldn't help clenching his teeth when the stealth shuttle approached the planet. A dozen frigates were covering it, arrayed in three groups covering both poles and one in a geostationary orbit above the planet's main settlement - and his and his group's target.

If these were Alliance Horde frigates, they would have been detected already - this close, the stealth generator wouldn't be able to hide from upgraded sensors. But Ba'al's Horde lacked magitech. At least as far as we know, he thought, tensing up a little more.

Neither the frigates nor the patrols of Horde fighters flitting around between the three forces reacted to their presence, though. Hidden by their stealth generator, they were invisible. Unless one of the fighter patrols, which were coming a bit too close for comfort, literally flew into them, Jack could probably fly circles around them for shit and giggles.

"Passive sensor sweep concluded!" Entrapta announced cheerfully from the back of the shuttle. "Oh… You were right! Those are shipyards down there, but no ships are being built right now."

They had known that from the spy bots that had discovered the system. Though they hadn't approached that closely; unlike their smaller infiltration versions, the space-capable bots weren't built for that. And Jack wouldn't have trusted a bot to do this, either. Too much could go wrong on close recon missions. And too many opportunities could be wasted for lack of initiative - hacking computers, sabotaging enemy plans, taking out critical targets, freeing or taking prisoners… No, this mission needed people on the ground. The best people available.

"No ships? Are the yards finished?" Glimmer asked.

"The buildings are," Carter replied. "Though passive scans are limited - we can't tell if the machinery and fabrication lines are set up and if the storage houses are full of the materials necessary for production."

"If they aren't building anything they aren't ready," Catra stated. "We wouldn't let them sit idle, and neither would Ba'al."

Jack agreed and would have said so if they weren't about to enter the atmosphere and he had to focus on piloting the craft. This was the most dangerous part of the mission. No matter how well you could fool enemy sensors, a ship entering a planet's atmosphere turned the air around it into superheated plasma, and that tended to be quite noticeable from afar.

The stealth generators tried to compensate for that, and did to some extent thanks to Carter and Entrapta's work, but even with magitech, you just couldn't hide all the light and heat.

So, Jack had to carefully follow a course that avoided the bulk of the enemy fleet and stayed as far as possible from patrolling fighters, and even so, there was still a risk that someone caught a glimpse of them and didn't mistake it for a meteor burning up in the atmosphere.

He kept a careful eye on the enemy while he took the shuttle down, but the Horde fighters stuck to their routes like glue - one of the disadvantages of using bots as crew, Jack guessed. Their own faced the same issues, but they simply didn't have enough trained pilots to crew all their fighters.

A few tense minutes later, they were low and slow enough so they were safe from passive detection, and Jack changed course toward their target. Still no pursuit or any sign that they had been detected.

He grinned. If he wanted to, he could land the shuttle right next to the base on the planet. Not that he would do it, of course. He was no fool. The risk of being spotted by ground patrols was too high. They wouldn't see them, and as long as the shuttle kept hovering, the ground wouldn't be flattened either, but if a patrol found tracks ending in nowhere, or dead birds that had flown into the invisible shuttle, or any other possible clue, it wouldn't take a genius to put two and two together and realise that the Alliance had much better stealth capabilities than the Goa'uld or Horde had. And that would be a major hindrance to future missions in addition to threatening one of their biggest advantages, the spy bot network.

Halfway across the planet's biggest ocean - he was flying low enough to avoid most sensors, just high enough not to leave a wake in the water - he keyed the intercom. "Hello, everyone! We're about to land at our destination. The weather is cloudy with a chance of Jaffa and bot patrols, both on foot and in the air, so dress accordingly, and thank you for flying with O'Neill Air!"

A round of chuckles from everyone and a sigh from Carter answered his joke, and he grinned. Nothing like a joke to lighten the mood before things got serious.

*****​
 
Chapter 165: The Clones Question Part 5
Chapter 165: The Clones Question Part 5

Outside Ba'al's Base, PT-9511, PT-9511 System, May 17th, 2000 (Earth Time)


"They need better perimeter checks."

Adora agreed with Catra's comment as she crawled up a bit more up the ridge to get a better view of the closer walls surrounding the base in front of them. She'd have to use binoculars, but it was still better than relying on aerial pictures or adapted sensor data. There was just something to taking a look in person at the enemy. Especially as a commander.

"I've seen worse from the Horde," Glimmer said behind her.

"Must have been a rear-echelon unit, not frontline troops." Catra joined Adora next to her.

"We sneaked past frontline Horde guards as well." And there was Bow.

"You did. But it took you more of an effort," Catra said. "We slipped through their patrols without trying."

"If the enemy is screwing up, you won't see me complaining," Jack commented.

"It's a matter of professional pride," Catra said. "This is basic stuff."

"Indeed."

Adora focused on the base below. It was huge - it included a spaceport large enough to handle four Ha'taks at once and shipyards with three 'slips' for capital ships, open to the sky - she could see the beginnings of what looked like Ha'taks there. And next to those were factories for the various weapons and other parts that would go into the ships. At least according to their sensor scans. And there were more factories adjacent to the shipyard complex. And a high wall surrounded it. Constructing it would have taken a long time.

"That's not a forward base or even a supply hub," Catra commented. "That's an industrial centre. And we're barely past the border here."

"Very vulnerable," Glimmer said.

"That makes the guards' failure even worse. They should be better this close to the front," Catra insisted.

"They might not have considered this a potential front when they built it," Bow said. "It's close to Alliance space around Etheria, but we're further away from the known Goa'uld territories Ba'al is attacking."

"They should have reinforced it with better troops after they tried to kill us," Catra said. "Ba'al isn't a fool. And this is an important base. Can't he spare some elite troops?"

"Maybe he has even more such hubs in his core territory?" Daniel suggested.

Adora clenched her teeth. That would be even worse. But… "If he had such a broad industrial base, wouldn't he have a lot of guards as well?"

"The false god might rely on the ships in orbit to guard this facility," Teal'c suggested. "And he might be saving his veteran warriors for more important tasks than guarding his bases."

Catra scoffed. "Let's hope he's that stupid. Guarding your supply lines is crucial against a mobile enemy."

"If he's underestimating us, I'm not complaining," Jack said.

"Really? I think I remember…"

"Focus, Daniel! We're on a mission in Indian country, not on a trip down memory lane."

"But…"

"Speaking of troops…" Adora zoomed in on the barracks visible on the base. "If those are standard troop barracks, then there should be more soldiers around than we see."

"They might be housing workers there as well," Bow said.

"No. The false gods do not allow their slaves to stay in the quarters for their warriors," Teal'c said. "The slave quarters are distinctively poorer. And the warriors would not relax next to the slaves' quarters like those we see below."

Several Jaffa were hanging out, or so it seemed, in front of the buildings. At least they were not standing at attention but sitting, and a few were sparring, but it didn't look like the kind of organised training Adora would have expected. So, Teal'c was probably correct - it was too far for Melog to check with their senses. Then that meant that the workers lived… There, in the plain buildings next to the shipyard complex, she noted.

"Are those quarters full? Can you scan for capacity and check if the number of people matches it?" Adora asked.

"Yes!" Entrapta, who had stayed below the ridge, replied. "Let me just program the scanner for this… Done!"

A few seconds passed. Adora watched a Death Glider take off from a pad near the factory complex. Was that a test flight? Or a courier or shuttle mission? It didn't look like a patrol.

"OK… looks like the people present easily fit into the quarters we have scanned. They could actually fit twice the number in there!" Entrapta reported.

"So, they're planning to expand. Or that's for the crews for the ships they're building here," Jack commented. "Can you tell if the stuff down there is the stuff they looted from the planet they attacked?"

"One moment, sir - running a scan detailed enough to compare the details necessary for such a distinction will take some time," Sam replied.

Adora studied the defences visible from their spot. Towers with crew-served weapons, but no heavier weapons. Without the ships above them, the base would be helpless against orbital strikes.

"All that production capacity and no integrated defences worth a damn?" Catra echoed her thoughts. "Is this a trap, or can't he spare the resources?"

"Well," Jack said next to them, "that's what we're here to find out. Among other things. Let's see how we can sneak inside!"

*****​

"So? Any convenient openings? Like, an unguarded sewer?"

"No, sir." Sitting in front of her laptop below the ridge hiding them from view, Samantha Carter shook her head at the General's question. "The wall surrounding the base has been constructed quite competently. There are no openings for wastewater - according to our scanners, it's filtered on-site in underground treatment plants." She double-checked her scans, just in case she had missed something. She hadn't.

"Yes. That's quite environmentally friendly," Entrapta added. "The other Goa'uld bases we saw were much less careful about their ecological footprint."

"Figures that the one time the snakes care about the environment, it's to our detriment," the General muttered.

"I am quite certain that Ba'al does not care about the environment," Teal'c spoke up. "If he ordered this, then he did it because of security concerns."

"Yes," Sha're agreed.

"Or he figured that having his freshwater sources polluted would harm the base's productivity long-term," Sam pointed out.

"That would mean this base isn't meant to be a temporary installation," Catra said.

"Unless that's his standard procedure," Daniel suggested. "He might be more focused on long-term planning than most Goa'uld - although given their lifespan, most of them should be taking long-term consequences into account."

"They should, and some System Lords do, but Ba'al has not such a reputation," Sha're disagreed.

"His reputation might not conform to his actual actions," Daniel replied. "We only have second-hand information to judge him."

"Well, we're here to get some first-hand information," the General cut in. "So, let's focus on how to get into the base instead of analysing data we don't have, shall we?"

Sam nodded, feeling a bit stung by the reminder - she had not stopped analysing the data the scanner was providing, even though it hadn't given any actionable results yet. "Half a dozen gates offer access, but they are heavily guarded," she reported. A full squad of Jaffa outside the gates, backed by more inside, weapon instalments on the wall, and more sensors than the Goa'uld usually employed.

"Yeah, we saw that," the General agreed.

"And it doesn't look like the gates are used much except for patrols leaving and returning," Catra added.

"In a pinch, we could ambush a patrol, take their armour and clothes and sneak in like that - some of us," Bow said. "Though they would find out afterwards."

"And we'd be limited to four people, and all of them would have to be able to pass as Jaffa," the General said.

And unless they wanted to rely on Melog constantly keeping up illusions, all of them would have to be men. Teal'c, obviously, the General, Bow and Daniel were the only ones, though they might be able to dress up Adora, if changed into She-Ra, as a Jaffa guard with some work - she certainly had the height.

However, neither Sam nor Entrapta would be able to sneak in like that, and while Sam trusted Bow's technical skills, she really wanted to personally hack the enemy systems.

"And we've done that on Saqqara," Catra pointed out. "Ba'al might expect that trick."

That was also a good argument - fooling the sensors installed at the gates wouldn't be easy. Not impossible, but it would be a challenge, especially if they had to do it from afar.

"What are the alternatives?" Adora asked.

"Return the planet's magic, and I teleport us inside?" Glimmer suggested.

"They might notice Adora changing the surface of the entire planet," the General replied. "These kinds of side-effects tend to draw attention."

"I could do something else with the magic," Adora said.

"Something the ships in orbit won't detect?" The General raised his eyebrows.

"Maybe?" Adora frowned. "If I channel the magic into the ground… I could make a tunnel into the base!"

That sounded… possible, but Sam didn't like to trust the plan - and their lives - to Adora improvising a magic feat. That kind of gamble should be left for desperate situations, in her opinion.

But she couldn't see any alternative that was significantly better. The base was surrounded by cleared land that didn't offer any cover, so even if they hacked the sensors, they couldn't sneak up to the base. Melog's illusions couldn't turn all of them invisible out in the open like that, either. Although… "The raw materials!" She was already checking the sensor data - expanding it to cover more of the world.

"The raw materials?" the General asked.

"They need raw materials to build all those ships and other gear," Sam explained while she sorted through the data.

"They mine asteroids," Entrapta said. "That's standard Horde fleet train procedure."

"Yes. But there are some raw materials you can't get from asteroids. Like food." And a few others, of course, especially for chemicals.

"The Horde clones are used to eating food grown in tanks," Catra said. "The Horde never really cared about the quality of their rations."

"The grey ones were good, though," Adora objected.

"They were not as bad as the brown ones, but they weren't good."

Sam ignored the bickering and sifted through the older data.

"But the Jaffa aren't the Horde. At least the Jaffa warriors serving the System Lords we knew about generally don't live on a diet of vat-grown food," Daniel said.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed. "While it is not impossible that loyal warriors would bear such conditions, most warriors I know would consider it beneath them to live on such fare."

"We haven't seen farms around the place, though," Sha're pointed out. "And they could ship in food from other worlds."

"But that would be requiring more spacelift," the General said. "And you never have enough transport capacity. So…"

"...they will be mining and producing what resources they can on the planet," Sam finished his thought. "I've identified two mines and one aquafarm on the sensor data we gathered on approach, sir."

"Good work, Carter!"

She tried not to smile too much at the praise.

"Alright, folks - we have a transport to hitch a ride on!"

*****​

Outside Ba'al's Mine, PT-9511, PT-9511 System, May 17th, 2000 (Earth Time)

"For someone paranoid about security, this transport seems suspiciously easy to board," Catra commented as she looked at the vehicle below her.

"It's guarded by a squad of Jaffa and has integrated sensors," Adora commented from behind her. "And it's in the middle of the mine compound."

Catra snort. "As I said - suspiciously easy to board." Entrapta, Sam and Bow were already hacking the sensors, and the four Jaffa kept a close eye on their surroundings, but she didn't see them looking up very often.

"We're not going to sneak inside the compound, anyway," Jack added. "Let's get into position."

Catra nodded and crawled backwards until she couldn't be seen from below, then circled around the big rocks lining the ridge to join the rest waiting at the ambush point. Well, the boarding point - it wasn't as if they were going to attack the transport.

"I'm feeling nostalgic," Bow said as he arrived as well. "We used to catch Horde transports like that all the time back in the war."

"Only until I beefed up security," Catra told him. "You didn't nab many of the convoys."

"There were enough solitary transports to pick off." Glimmer said.

Catra shrugged. "Can't really send a convoy to an outpost when they only need a single transport. But it's no big loss, either." The Horde planning had always anticipated some losses when calculating supplies. Hordak and hers, at least - Horde Prime had been a perfectionist. Then again, when your supply lines were part of your space fleets, you didn't have to make the same compromises both sides had been forced to on Etheria.

Glimmer snorted. "When we got a convoy, though, half your front collapsed."

Catra forced herself to shrug again. "That was back when the soldiers were deserting en masse anyway." She might have been able to stabilise the horde forces, but… She didn't like to remember that time of her life.

And she didn't need to glance over at Melog to know they had changed colours.

Adora cleared her throat. "Anyway, get ready to board the transport. They won't take much longer."

"We'll know when they're starting to move," Bow said, holding up his tablet. "We can see everything their sensors see, and they're still loading up."

Catra snorted. Adora hasn't been very subtle in her attempt to change the subject, but Bow still had missed it. Whatever. She crawled ahead a bit, up the ridge and past a sensor they had hacked on the way in - Ba'al apparently hadn't the troops to spare to complement his sensor grid, which meant it was easy to bypass them with the right technology - and looked at the area below.

Hidden behind a scraggly bush, she could clearly see the dirt road the transports' wheels had dug into the ground in the last few months. The Horde might as well have paved the entire road; that would have been as obvious and would have allowed for higher speeds.

As things were, the transport would be going quite slow in the curve here - she could see dusty tracks and some traces of paint on the rock wall on the other side, showing that at least one transport had taken the turn with too much speed. So, it was the perfect spot to board it without anyone noticing.

They just had to drop down about five yards onto a moving vehicle to pull it off.

But that wasn't really a problem.

"They stopped loading the transport," Bow announced from below.

"Get up then!" Catra hissed.

The rest of the group started scrambling up the slope and spread out along the ridge.

"They've left the compound," Bow reported.

Catra's ears twitched - she could already hear the transport's engine. It wasn't Horde technology but more advanced than the usual Goa'uld setup. Then again, any kind of engine was more advanced than some of the transports used on planets ruled by the snakes.

"Get ready!" Jack sounded tense, but they had this in the bag.

And there came the transport, slowly taking the corner ahead of them.

"Sensors fooled, sir," Sam reported.

"Go!"

Catra waited a moment - she could have jumped already, but the driver might have spotted her from that angle - then launched herself off the ridge and through the air, landing lightly on the back of the transport in a crouch. She resisted the instinct to dig her claws into the vehicle's roof and quickly glued the lines she had carried with her to the top using Bow's gadgets.

Glimmer, Sam and Jack were sliding down from the ridge on lines before Catra could give the signal. Teal'c brought up the rear - the transport had already passed his position when he jumped off and slid down as well. Entrapta, propelled by her hair, didn't bother with the lines in the first place.

The hair tendrils cushioned her impact like a big spring, then unfolded - just in time to catch Adora, who was carrying Daniel and Sha're with her when she jumped. Next to her, Melog landed as gracefully and softly as any cat would in their place.

Catra sliced through the lines with her claws as soon as Teal'c was clear, then watched the things disappear thanks to Melog's illusions.

Good. Now, they just needed to get inside the transport and hide behind another illusion, and they would be set.

*****​

On the Way to Ba'al's Base, PT-9511, PT-9511 System, May 17th, 2000 (Earth Time)

Leaning back against the wall inside the transport, Jack O'Neill couldn't help feeling that this was a bit too easy. Of course, sneaking onto a poorly-secured ore transport - and rare earth, not Naquadah or anything else that was worth its weight in gold or something - wasn't exactly the same as sneaking into a System Lord's palace, but Ba'al was supposed to be a crafty bugger, and supply transports were an obvious weakness for the base he had otherwise locked up pretty well. With Horde technology, too, not just Goa'uld gear - although that could include Ancients tech as well, those snakes were worse than magpies, or submarine crews, when it came to getting gear.

On the other hand, Jack and his friends had magic, and the snakes didn't. And while Jack didn't like magic for several completely valid reasons, the least of them being that he wasn't a magical princess or witch and didn't want to be one, he liked having an edge on his enemies. And Melog's magic was very effective - anyone looking into the transport would just see ore containers and nothing else. Jack had checked it himself after they had sneaked inside. Coupled with Carter and Entrapta fooling the security systems, they should pass the inspection at the gates - the ones they had observed relied on scanners and the good old mark I eyeball.

Still, that was no reason to grow complacent. Overconfidence killed you. You underestimated your enemy at your own peril. And Ba'al, according to everything they knew, was a crafty little…

"We're approaching the base, sir," Carter's whisper interrupted his thoughts.

Jack sat up straighter, as did the others.

"Scanner-jammer's ready!" Entrapta announced.

"Checking with the shuttle… Bow's connection to the hacked security sensors is stable," Carter reported. "No unusual activity detected in the security system."

Good. Jack nodded. "Showtime, folks!" He gripped his carbine and ran a quick before-operations check out of reflex. The M4 was, as it should be, in perfect condition, loaded with the new armour-piercing-incendiary ammo the eggheads had come up with. It wasn't a magic bullet despite the hype and rumours, and it didn't use magitech but advanced technology to ensure that any Jaffa hit would be sporting a burning hole front to back. Probably the wall behind them as well.

Jack had reserved the entire first production run for his command, of course.

Carter wasn't checking her own weapon - she was too busy typing on her computer to deal with whatever technological thingie Ba'al's Jaffa were trying to detect them - but he trusted her not to neglect her weapon as he trusted Teal'c to maintain his staff weapon.

"We've arrived," Carter reported, though Jack had already felt the transport slowing down - and becoming smoother; they weren't shaken as hard every time the wheels hit a hole or rock or whatever any more.

Then they came to a stop, the engine's droning noise ending, and Jack took a deep breath. If they were spotted, they would be exposed to fire from at least two weapon emplacements from the wall and a squad of Jaffa up close. Adora could take care of the heavy weapons, but in a crossfire, she wouldn't be able to block every shot. And Bow would take some time to get them with the shuttle.

He glanced at Carter, who signalled with her hand. So, the scans had started. No shouting or shooting outside. One of the Jaffa would check the undercarriage, another would climb on a tyre to check the roof. Fortunately, they hadn't left any traces up top.

Did the transport just rock a bit? Jack didn't think even a Jaffa in full armour would be able to affect the ore transport, but…

The loading doors in the back opened, and Jack held his breath as he raised his weapon to aim it at the Jaffa climbing inside. If the man physically checked the containers…

But the Jaffa pulled out a familiar scanner - standard Horde gear - and slowly turned around, attention focused on the thing's screen as he pointed it at the interior of the transport. Seconds passed, then the Jaffa nodded and climbed out - jumped out - again, calling out as soon as he hit the ground.

A moment later, the loading doors closed, and Jack slowly released his breath. He glanced at Catra, whose ears were twitching, and she signed the all-clear.

Then the transport's engine started up again with a shirt whine, and then they were moving inside the base - headed straight to one of the warehouses, where the raw materials for the shipyards were stored. Being inside that huge structure would make it easier to slip out of the transport and hide somewhere.

About a minute later, the transport slowed down to a stop again - they must have arrived at the entrance. Catra winced a moment later, and Jack heard a faint screeching noise. Someone must have failed to lubricate the doors, he thought. That didn't matter, though - he doubted they would use the cargo doors when leaving.

Once more, the transport stopped. Now came the tricky part. They would have to slip out while the real containers were being unloaded. However, that shouldn't be too hard with the way the thing was set up. And Melog had assured them through Catra that they could keep them hidden for that.

The loading doors in the back didn't open, though.

And Catra whispered: "Something's hissing outside. And it smells awful."

Jack looked at Carter and caught her gasping. That was never a good sign.

"We're in the decontamination area," she said, eyes glued to her computer. "Where they wash the transports. But… they're not using cleaning solvents. It's poison!"

*****​

Ba'al's Base, PT-9511, PT-9511 System, May 17th, 2000 (Earth Time)

"Masks on!"

Poison? Adora froze for a moment as she put on her mask. That wouldn't stop nerve gas, though. She could heal poisonings. But… for how long? And if she released the magic of this world, they would be noticed. But…

"It's a trap!" Daniel gasped.

"I can't teleport without magic."

"I don't hear any alerts!" Catra snapped. "Might be standard procedure."

"Standard procedure or not, poison is poison!" Jack spat. "Can you identify and stop it?"

"Working on it, sir," Sam replied. Her fingers were flying over the keyboard of her laptop.

"Seal the compartment!" Catra blurted out.

"Working on it!" Entrapta's hair was whipping around, carrying several tools.

Adora heard a hissing noise and tensed, but it was coming from one of Entrapta's tools.

"I'm sealing the seams, but that won't stop a nerve agent," Entrapta said. "And we just got confirmation - it is a nerve agent! But it will slow it down. We don't have the gear we need to seal the compartment against chemical weapons. An unfortunate oversight."

"I've stopped the poison dispenser," Sam reported. "And I've blocked the sensors from reporting it. But we need to neutralise it before we can leave the transport."

"They have to decontaminate the transport before unloading the cargo," Sha're said. "We can just wait."

"By then, the agent will have contaminated this compartment," Sam said.

"Can you trigger the decontamination procedure? I can heal us until then," Adora said.

Catra narrowed her eyes at the ceiling. "I think I can hear it entering."

Oh, no! Adora drew her sword.

"I risk alerting the base guards if I do that. I'll have to fake a glitch," Sam replied. "And I think they open the cargo compartment for that."

"Do it anyway!" Jack said.

Adora started healing people. If only she could deal with the gas like that… But this wasn't the time to experiment with her power.

Catra cocked her head. "Hoses are working."

Adora didn't relax. Nerve agents lingered - they had learned that in cadet training.

"It's already seeping through," Glimmer pointed out - indeed, drops were running down the sides of the transport."

"That won't be enough to decontaminate the inside," Sam said. "We'll have to wait until they open the door and repeat it."

Adora winced.

And Catra cursed. "Do you know how much it takes to clean your fur?"

Adora knew. As did Melog, who looked green again - and Adora didn't think that was just reflecting Catra's mood. They really needed uniforms that protected against such agents. Masks wouldn't cut it. They could use the space suits, but as light as they were, they were still too heavy to be worn if there were better alternatives. She made a mental note to make it a priority - they had started a project for such uniforms after the encounter with the Eurondans, but as she dimly recalled, it was still held up in a committee where people argued over who got to make them for the Alliance.

The liquid started to run down the walls. At least, this was the decontamination agent, not the nerve agent. Adora still doubted that it was good for your skin.

"Quiet! I hear someone coming!" Catra hissed.

"Finally!" Jack muttered under his breath as Melog hid them again.

Then the doors were opened - by a worker, Adora noted, who wasn't wearing any protective gear - and as soon as the man had withdrawn, the hoses started up again - and two were spraying the stuff in the compartment. Adora closed her eyes and clenched her teeth when the liquid hit her.

It went on and on, and there was nothing she could do - she just had to endure this. Others had it worse, even. Catra was the worst off, Adora knew, with her fur and her big ears.

But after about a minute, the hoses were turned off again. Adora's skin itched and she had to struggle not to scratch herself - she would have to heal everyone again once they were out of this compartment.

But before they could leave, two Jaffa in armour climbed inside, and Adora tensed again. Had they been made? Was this a reaction to the 'glitch'?

They looked around for a few seconds, talking briefly in Goa'uld. Both snorted and left again.

"The first one said that if any escaped slave had been in here, they'd have died trying to open the doors, so there was no need to get wet climbing over the containers," Daniel whispered.

Adora gasped. So, that was why they poisoned the transports!

Daniel coughed. "The second said…"

"...that they would find any dead ones anyway," Jack finished for him. "No, I didn't understand him - that was just a guess. Guards will be guards."

Catra snorted, then cursed even more and rubbed her ears. "Let's get out now before the workers arrive."

"Yes." Adora looked at Melog. "Can you hide us until we're clear?"

They nodded, and everyone started moving to the loading doors. Adora peeked outside - the coast was clear. And they were hidden by magic, anyway.

"Sensors fooled," Entrapta said.

"Let's go!" Ador slid down to the ground - jumping would make noise - and started towards the centre of the warehouse. They could hide between the tons of raw materials stored there and plan their next move.

And she could heal them. She hoped they'd find a way to get clean as well.

*****​

They'd made it out of the transport just before the workers arrived to unload it. As Samantha Carter had expected, the slaves weren't wearing protective gear. In the rush to get away and into a hiding spot, she hadn't been able to see if the men and women showed any symptoms of health problems from long-term exposure to the decontamination agent, but she wouldn't be surprised at all if that was the case - agents used to neutralise neurotoxins were often toxic themselves. Certainly, Sam's skin was already irritated by the agent. And if Ba'al followed the usual Goa'uld policy of not offering any health care to his slaves, then he would have to replace those workers quite often to keep the output here up.

"Here, let me…"

Warmth filled her, and the irritating - and concerning, Sam was all too aware of the damage such agents could do - itching feeling vanished as Adora healed her.

"We need to get this damn stuff off us," the General muttered after peeking around the corner of the container behind which they were hiding. "We can't do the mission if you have to keep healing us every few minutes."

"We could tough it out," Glimmer suggested.

"Says the woman who has been scratching herself for minutes before Adora healed you." Catra sounded very irritated herself. Then again, as she had told everyone, her fur was sticky, and her ears drove her crazy. Her tail was whipping back and forth, either from tension or in an attempt to shake out more of the decontamination fluid. Maybe both, Sam guessed.

"We'll need to find a shower," she said - after briefly checking if the agent would react badly with water. It shouldn't, or the slaves' condition would be far worse, but you always checked such things because the cost of finding out after you already screwed up was usually horrible.

"Well, if we ask nicely, maybe the garrison will let us use theirs…" If she hadn't known already how frustrated the General was, his sarcasm would have told her. He usually was a little more constructive in those situations.

"We could build a shower. We just need a source of water," Entrapta suggested.

Sam blinked. Building a shower? That would… It sounded absurd at first thought - and she didn't want to think about the comments it would cause during their debriefing or the rumours it might create - but it should be a suitable solution for their problem.

"I'm looking for a source of water," she said, starting a search with her scanner. "We'll need a location where we can drain the water as well." Although Goa'uld tended not to care much about such details, someone might notice a slightly toxic puddle of water left where no such thing should be.

"And which offers us some privacy. Don't want to start any rumours," the General said, nodding emphatically.

Sam agreed wholeheartedly.

"Rumours?" Entrapta cocked her head and frowned. "About showering?"

Sam clenched her teeth and pretended to be focused entirely on her scanner.

"Ah, right - you guys still aren't used to mixed units," Glimmer said.

"We're used to mixed units," the General retorted. "Just not to shared showers."

"Must be rough in the field," Catra commented - and Sam could hear her smirk.

"We manage," The General replied blandly.

"But that seems inefficient," Entrapta said. "You'd have to either have a schedule or separate facilities, and either will add friction to your organisation."

"Not as much friction as shared showers would, trust me," the General said, and Sam knew without looking at him that he was grinning in that slightly lopsided way.

"That seems like a problem we need to address, then," Adora said.

She isn't wrong, Sam thought. Sexism was alive and well in the armed forces. She had met her fair share of soldiers and officers she wouldn't trust in such a situation. But they were in the middle of a mission, and this wasn't the time to discuss Alliance policies. Her skin was already itching again! "I think I found a spot, sir," she spoke up, pointing at the location on her screen. "It's not too far from here, quite isolated, and the sound from the processor next door should mask any from the water. Or from building the shower."

"Right, let's go! I'm itching for a shower," the General announced.

"Jack! That was bad even for you!"

"Less complaining, more moving."

*****​

Catra's fur was still wet. So was her uniform. Sam and Entrapta should have built a dryer as well as a shower - or 'improvised decontamination facility', as Sam insisted on calling it, at least officially. It was a shower, though. Not that anyone would care, anyway - they hadn't even taken off their uniforms to shower. They were wet, and it was uncomfortable.

She ran her hands down her bare arms, then gripped her tail and tried to squeeze more water out of her fur. Sneaking around would be harder if they left a trail of puddles. Then she shook her head, trying to clear her ears again.

"Hey!" Glimmer hissed. "Watch it. I don't need another shower!"

Catra snorted. "It's just a few drops."

"Then you shouldn't make a fuss over it!"

Catra glared at Glimmer. She was the one who had to deal with wet fur! Then she blinked and smirked. At least her wet uniform wouldn't rub against raw skin until it finally dried. If it ever did.

Glimmer narrowed her eyes in return. "What?"

"Nothing." Catra smiled sweetly.

"You just thought of something!"

"Yeah, that we need to dry off some more before we sneak around. Don't want to leave a trail of water for anyone to follow," Catra said.

"The squelching noise is also not going to help with that," Jack added. "We need to take that into account when making better uniforms."

"Already noted, sir," Sam chimed in.

"Should just switch to standard Horde uniforms," Catra said. "They're rated against environmental attacks."

"They're not rated for all chemical and biological weapons we know now, though," Entrapta chimed in. "We'd have to adjust the design. And we would have to either build new factories or re-repurpose the ones we repurposed to make other stuff after the war."

"We can't have the Alliance dressing up as Horde troops!" Glimmer gasped. "There would be an uproar back home!"

"Yeah. They didn't like my uniform either when I first joined them," Adora said.

"I was kidding," Catra flashed a grin that earned her another scowl from Glimmer. "But we do need better uniforms." She bent down and rubbed the fur on her feet.

"You've never worn a standard Horde uniform," Glimmer pointed out.

Of course not! Catra snorted and flexed her claws. "Even the Horde realised that they had to make adjustments for me."

"I remember!" Entrapta beamed. "I did warn you that such modifications would compromise the uniform's integrity, didn't I?"

Catra nodded. "You did." But the Alliance hadn't used chemical or biological weapons - well, not the poison kind - so it hadn't mattered much.

"Are we really discussing fashion in the middle of a mission?" Jack complained.

"No. We're talking shit while drying off until we can continue the mission without leaving wet footprints all over the site," Catra shot back.

"We could still build a dryer. We just need a few more parts and we need to hack the systems so the excess heat and additional power drain won't trigger the internal sensors," Entrapta suggested.

Catra knew from experience what her friend considered 'a few more parts' and shook her head. "No time for that."

"Yes. Besides, the people back home would never stop with the vacation jokes," Jack agreed. "We just have to tough it out."

"Just like trekking through a swamp in boot camp, right?" Daniel asked in a rather sarcastic tone.

Jack beamed at him. "Exactly like that, just without the mud sucking your boots off!"

Catra snorted at Daniel's pouty expression - he shouldn't try to outsnark Jack.

"Alright. Let's go," Adora spoke up. "I think we're dry enough."

Catra swallowed the first remark that came to mind and nodded. They could leave the warehouse through the side entrance they had scoped out from outside the base. From there they could quickly reach what Sha're and Teal'c had agreed was the main administration building of the base. They just need to ensure that the 'decontamination facility' was dismantled before leaving their hideout here.

"Wait!" Sam's voice made everyone stop and turn to her. "I've been going over the warehouse's manifest. There's a suspicious item we should check."

"Suspicious how?" Jack asked.

"It's listed as 'special supplies', but I can't match it to anything factory or repair installation in the base."

That did sound suspicious. "Special project?" Catra wondered.

"Let's hope it's not some 'special weapon'," Jack said.

"Let's go check it out," Adora said.

Catra took point as they left their hideout and led them through the maze of containers and stacked other materials to the site Sam had identified. It was a sealed container. Horde-style, far more advanced than the cargo containers in the rest of the facility.

Hacking the lock didn't take long, though - Ba'al might have access to Horde tech, but the Alliance had been hacking their security for years at this point. After half a minute, the doors of the container opened with a slight hissing noise, and Catra moved ahead of everyone else to take a peak.

It was dark inside, but her eyes adjusted easily - and she gasped.

The container was filled with pods. Pods containing people - humans. Identical humans.

*****​
 
Chapter 166: The Clones Question Part 6
Chapter 166: The Clones Question Part 6

Ba'al's Base, PT-9511, PT-9511 System, May 17th, 2000 (Earth Time)


"So… We're either looking at the galaxy's only case of… fifty-plets or Ba'al has been playing around with cloning technology," Jack O'Neill said, staring at the double rows of pods containing people.

"I think the word you wanted to use is 'quinquagintuplets', Jack," Daniel said. "Not 'fifty-plets'."

Jack cocked his head to the side and rolled his eyes at his friend. Daniel was the geeky language guy, not Jack. "The meaning was clear."

"Yes, but…"

"And," Jack went on, "let's focus on the issue at hand, not how we call it. We can save that for the report."

"It's obvious that Ba'al's cloning people," Catra said. She leaned forward and peered at the bare belly of the man in the pod before her. "And humans, not Jaffa. There's no symbiont pouch."

"These seem to be humans," Carter agreed. "But we can't assume he's not cloning Jaffa as well - we don't know."

"Or Horde clones," Adora added. "If he can clone humans, he can probably also clone Clones… err, you know what I mean."

"Yes." Jack nodded. "But does he have the tech to copy and implant memories?" That was the key question. Without that kind of tech, Ba'al would have to get his clones taught whatever skills they needed the hard way. If he could just copy the skills and experience as well as the bodies, though…

"They would have had to create the technology from scratch," Carter replied. "Horde Prime restricted it to his flagship. They wouldn't even have had examples to reverse-engineer. But we don't know what kind of technology Ba'al has access to."

"If all he needs are warm bodies, he can just use mature symbionts to take over the cloned bodies," Glimmer said. "They would have that genetic memory. But they would also have the original's ambition."

"They would try to topple Ba'al and tear each other apart," Sha're said.

"So, we don't have to fear an army of mini-Ba'als in cloned hosts, good." Jack nodded. "But we might still be dealing with an army of clones."

"Even without a way to implant skills into a clone's mind, they could still be useful," Glimmer said. "There are a number of tasks you don't need too much training for."

"But those aren't really crucial skills for the war," Catra objected. "If he has to teach new clones everything, he needs a lot of teachers and trainers and a lot of infrastructure. Unless he just wants warm bodies to launch suicide attacks…" She blinked.

Jack glanced at the pods again and cursed. If Ba'al was cloning slaves…

"He would have no qualms sacrificing cloned slaves for even a meagre advantage," Sha're said. "The simpler the task, the fewer resources it would take to get a clone trained. And the fewer the cost of sacrificing them."

They'd have to prepare for suicide attacks. Watch out for fake surrenders. Suicide bombers hiding amongst other slaves. Jack cursed again.

"He wouldn't have to care about the health of his slaves," Carter said. "If training a new clone is cheaper than the cost of protective gear…" She glanced out of the container, at the warehouse's front.

"But that makes no sense!" Entrapta protested. "Even if Ba'al would only teach clones the most basic skills, it would still take years for them just to learn a language! And the other skills they need to survive! Between growing the clones and housing and teaching them, they represent a significant investment! Throwing that away for basic menial labour or… something else… doesn't make any sense!"

"The snakes might not care much if it is economical," Jack pointed out. "They're not the most rational ones."

"No, you're right," Sha're said. "If he's cloning slaves - and those bodies don't look like they are meant to fight - then he either needs more slaves and doesn't mind waiting years for them to be useful for his goals… or he has a way to teach them."

"Great." Jack looked at Carter and cocked his head at the pod. "Can you find out what's what?"

"According to our scans, it's a cryogenic pod keeping a single person in stasis," Carter replied. "The body itself… looks like a normal human body. No sign of a symbiont or any implants. Or any other alteration to the brain."

"Well, the elasticity of the brain matter is a bit higher than usual for its age," Entrapta added. "But if we want to find out what Ba'al is doing to the clones, we need to get more and better data."

"Well, let's look around for more intel, then," Jack said. That was what they were here for, after all.

*****​

Adora nodded. They could analyse what this meant later - once they had more intel. And once they were back with the fleet. But first… "Can we get samples from the people where without waking them up?"

"We would have to open the pods for that," Sam said. "And that would start the process to revive them."

And that would let the guards know that someone had sneaked into the base.

"According to our scanner, they are identical in all categories we can check without taking samples," Entrapta added. "Though that excludes an actual genetic analysis."

"Did you get all the data from the pods?" Adora asked.

"Yes! We downloaded the entire log of the pod," her friend replied.

"And we have the cargo manifest. It doesn't list the origin, but we might find that once we correlate the information with more data points," Sam said.

Adora nodded curtly. "Let's go then. We need more information about the production here. And the people working here." They had to know if Ba'al was killing off his slaves and replacing them with clones. Among other things, of course.

"And if a slave would be missed if they vanish," Catra said. Adora looked at her, and she shrugged. "They might know things we won't find in the databanks if we interrogate them thoroughly."

"You mean if we debrief them," Glimmer said.

"Thoroughly." Catra flashed her fangs.

Adora didn't quite roll her eyes. "Let's be cautious."

They checked outside, then left the container again - after a last thorough scan of it and its contents as well as taking material samples of both the container and the pods, in case that would give them clues about its origin.

The side entrance they had planned to take wasn't guarded, and the camera covering it was easily dealt with. But they still had to cross about fifty yards of roads and empty spaces to the main administration building. Melog's illusions wouldn't be able to completely cover them over such a distance. They would have to make sure no one was watching the area too closely. "We need a distraction," she said, then used her communicator to call Bow. "Is there a shuttle or ship coming in soon?"

"Nothing on our sensors," Bow replied.

"Then we need to make a distraction," Catra said. "Can you sabotage something? Without it being obvious?"

Adora saw Sam and Entrapta exchanging glances. "We can manipulate the security system, but that might draw attention," Sam said. "It's not very likely, but we cannot exclude the possibility that they will suspect something."

"Wouldn't the first time the snakes were paranoid," Jack added. "But we'll have to take the risk."

"Yes," Adora agreed. "Simulate a glitch or something that raises an alert."

"Alright!" Entrapta nodded enthusiastically, and she huddled with Sam over the laptop.

After a few minutes, both got up. "We're ready," Sam reported.

"Melog's ready too," Catra said.

"Do it!" Adora told them.

A few seconds later, a siren went off in the area on the other side of the route, and everyone started running out of the door and toward the next building. Adora took the lead but made sure she didn't leave the others behind - that would strain Melog's illusions even more.

They reached the administrative building just as the alarm ended and huddled close to the wall next to the door. There, it was easy for Melog to make them look like part of the building, and Entrapta hacked the door and the building's security system while Sam kept an eye on the sabotaged system.

"The corridor behind the door is clear," Entrapta said after a few minutes. "And there's an empty room nearby we can hide inside."

"Good. Melog's getting a bit strained covering so much," Catra said. "And I don't hear anyone inside either."

Adora nodded. "Let's go."

Another quick dash later, everyone was inside a small storage room with empty shelves lining bare stone walls.

"It's designated as an archive according to the building's system," Entrapta explained. "But there's nothing to be archived yet I think."

"No marble, no gold decor, not even some fancy drapes… Ba'al must be strapped for cash. Or just miserly," Jack commented.

"We could only hope so," Daniel said. "But…"

"It's an administrative, not a representative building," Sha're finished for him. "There's no need to spend money on the offices of the workers running this base. Though the commander's office and quarters will be far more elaborately furnished."

"Quiet!" Catra hissed. "I hear someone walking toward us."

Everyone moved to the wall, and Melog once more covered them in an illusion. Half a minute later, Catra spoke up again. "They went through the door."

Adora sighed, relieved. "Now - can you hack the databanks from here?"

"No. They aren't connected to the security system," Entrapta explained. "We need to get to a console, the computer core or the location of the databanks. Though those should be next to the computer core for best performance."

"So… is there an unused console somewhere?" Jack asked.

"Yes," Entratpa replied after a moment, eyes on her tool. "But it's in a room with active consoles."

"Great. The computer core it is, then," Jack said. "Where is it?"

"In the basement."

"Figures. Ba'al is a fan of the classics, isn't he?"

That must be a reference to something from Earth culture, Adora thought.

Before she could ask, though, Sam suddenly snapped: "The base commander ordered a complete sweep of the base, sir. The garrison has been put on alert."

Both Jack and Catra cursed loudly.

*****​

Had she made a mistake when she engineered the sensor glitch? Samantha Carter couldn't say. Given Ba'al's reputation, it wasn't out of the question that the base commander might react with a full alert to every malfunctioning sensor. Or he might just assume the worst since the base was new, but not that new; faults from construction should have been fixed, and equipment failing from constant use shouldn't be happening.

But whatever the reason, the base was on full alert, and squads of Jaffa were gathering to search for intruders. The group had to find a way to evade them before they were found. And it was up to Sam and Entrapta to do it - they were the ones responsible for hacking the system.

"Can we reach the core thingie before the Jaffa fill the building?" the General asked.

Sam quickly checked the different feeds from the hacked security systems covering the base. "They are converging on the shipyards - and on this building, sir."

"Do we hide here and let them finish their search?" Glimmer asked, looking at the door.

"Will they finish their search?" Catra snorted.

"Depending on the commander of the base, they might order their warriors to search until they find an intruder - or until an alternate explanation for whatever triggered this has been found," Teal'c said.

"Now that they have launched a search, they need to provide results, or they will look foolish," Sha're added.

"Well, we should get moving then so we have something to show for if we have to fight our way out," the General suggested. "Besides Adora turning the base into a flower field or something."

"I only did that once!" Adora protested. "The other times, it was Perfuma!"

"Sir!" Sam spoke up. "We're running out of time!"

"Then let's start running. Keep an eye on their positions, Carter."

"Yes, sir." Keeping track of so many squads by flipping through feeds would be hard, but she had no choice. If only they had finished the surveillance bot project which would have automated that, but the failure rate had been too high for Sam's standards.

"They're searching the computer system as well," Entrapta reported as they rushed to the door - she could carry herself with her hair and focus on her computer. "So far, they haven't detected us, but we can't exactly leave backdoors open if they're actively looking."

That would give away that there were intruders on the base. "Keep from being noticed," Sam said as they rushed down the corridor. "The guards in the entrance haven't moved yet."

"You block the exits, then go in and search." The General opened the door ahead of them, revealing the staircase. "Let's use that time."

"The computer core is in the second basement floor," Sam reported. And the first squad had taken position at the side entrance. That left a backdoor… no, also covered. Well, if they had to, they could just cut their way through the walls. Or blow a hole into them. But being found would mean they failed their mission.

"First basement floor clear," Sam reported after a second of flipping through feeds."

"They're checking the sensor routines," Entrapta reported. "We can still look through the feeds, but we can't alter them now without them noticing."

That made things harder.

They reached the second basement floor. Sam checked the feeds again. "There's a patrol in the main core room."

The General cursed. They could take the squad out, but, again, that would expose their presence.

"Can we access the data lines somewhere?" Catra asked.

That was a possibility. Sam quickly checked the floor maps and contrasted them with the system's architecture. "We can go through the ventilation ducts. They double as cable tunnels in some areas."

"Oh!" Entrapta perked up. "Yes, that's a very nice way to travel!"

Before anyone could say anything, she moved ahead, past the closed door, and her hair reached up to remove a grill from an opening, then pulled herself inside.

Catra cursed and jumped up, quickly sliding into it as well in one smooth motion. "Don't rush off!" Sam heard her hiss before Melog followed her.

Adora looked at the others. "Well… Entrapta is the expert here. She spent days in the Horde ventilation ducts once."

Sam had heard the story, as had the others.

"Let's go!" Adora continued, hoisting up Glimmer without showing any effort before turning to the others.

Sam was the sixth in, after the General, before Daniel and Sha're, with Teal'c and Adora, their largest members, bringing up the rear. She had some trouble moving with her computer out in front, but she managed - and she couldn't take her eyes off the camera feeds. If they were caught in the ducts…

A few minutes later, they were deep in the maze of ducts, still following Entrapta. They had passed several cable bundles before Sam, her attention on tracking the sweep of the base, realised that they were headed to the computer core room.

The computer core room with the guards inside.

Not that it mattered - dozens of Jaffa were now searching the building. The entire base must have been mobilised.

A message flashed on her screen.

I'm at the core room! The guards aren't looking this way!

Sam clenched her teeth and hoped Melog had Entrapta covered since she knew what her friend would do.

*****​

"I can reach the console from here… I think. Just need to stretch a bit…"

"Get back!" Catra hissed, clenching her teeth while she tried to keep Entrapta from doing something stupid.

"But it's right there!" came the whispered complaint.

"Let Melog take a look first, so they can cover your hair," Catra said.

"Oh. Right."

Sorry.

Sorry? What were they sorry… Oh, that! Catra winced when Melog pushed past her, almost flattening her in the process. The ventilation ducts weren't that big. "You're heavier than you were before," she whispered when her friend had gotten in front of her. "Too many treats."

Denial.

She snorted, softly, then whispered: "Watch out, Entrapta, Melog's coming through."

"What? Oh!"

In front of Catra, Melog squirmed their way past Entrapta. It was a bit more difficult - Entrapta was shorter than Catra, but not quite as slender. And her hair didn't help. Fortunately, Melog didn't get tangled up in it.

Done.

In front of Catra, the duct suddenly looked empty.

"Oh! Nice! If only a stealth field would work like that!"

Focus, Entrapta, Catra thought. They needed information, not inspiration right now. She resisted the urge to crawl forward, through the seemingly empty vent, until she could peer into the room ahead. Melog and Entrapta were invisible, not gone. She would only disturb either, and at this point, that could be critical.

But she really wanted to. To do something, anything, other than waiting and feeling useless, trapped in a ventilation duct while others acted. She'd be almost glad if they were detected, and she'd have to claw some… No, she wouldn't be glad. This mission was too important. No matter how frustrating it felt.

Finally, after what felt like ages, she heard Entrapta whisper: "Almost done! There is more data than expected, but I should be able to…"

"Enemy reinforcements arriving," Sam reported through the communicator."

Catra gasped and focused on her ears. Yes, she could hear footsteps in lockstep. Then she heard the door open.

"Search the room!"

"We've been guarding the door all day. No one got past us."

"We've got our orders."

"You can see that it's empty!"

Catra heard a smack, metal against flesh. Someone didn't like backtalk.

"Search the room!"

And the footsteps fell out of step. Three, four people walking around the room. Where Entrapta was trying to download the computer's data.

Close.

Well, no shit, Catra thought.

Entrapta didn't say anything. Good - from the sounds of it, at least one Jaffa guard was close enough to hear them whispering in the ducts. So, they just had to wait until…

Catra heard a curse, followed by the sound of metal striking metal.

"What did you do?"

"Something tripped me!"

Oh, for…!

"I don't see anything."

"I didn't trip over my own feet - it was a rope! I felt it!"

Catra's ears twitched - metal scraping over concrete. They must be running their staff weapons' shafts over the floor.

Up in air now.

Good.

"Nothing."

"I know what I felt."

"There is nothing, clumsy fool!"

"But…"

"Do you think the air from the vent tripped you?" A scoff followed.

Catra tensed. If they checked the ducts… they were hidden behind Melog's illusions, but the grill covering the vent was missing…

"The room is clear. Move on to the next objective!"

She heard the steps move further away, followed by the door opening and closing again.

"So much time spent to check what everyone could see with a glance!"

"What do you expect from fools who trip over their own feet?"

Laughter from the remaining guards followed. They acted like Catra would have expected from Horde soldiers in the same situation. And if Jaffa had this attitude toward each other, what did they think of the clones following Ba'al? It was something to keep in mind, a potential weakness that could be exploited.

Though not now. Now they had to get the intel they were here for.

"Got it!"

Back.

Back? Catra cocked her head, then grimaced when she felt Melog's hindpaw touching her face. Ah, that.

Once again, Melog squeezed their way past Catra.

"Just fixing the grill and I'll join you!" she heard Entrapta whisper, followed by soft metallic noises. "Done!"

"We're done. We need a safe room to regroup," Catra reported over the communicator.

"Follow me," Adora replied.

She must have picked a room in advance, probably with Sam's help, Catra guessed. One which the Jaffa had already searched.

The stench reached her nose quite a bit before she reached the room. "The garbage storage room? Seriously?" she hissed as she lowered herself down from the ventilation duct.

"It's only used by the workers, and they're barred from the building until the search is over," Adora defended herself.

"It's not that bad," Glimmer chimed in.

"Not that bad for people whose noses are only there so their glasses don't fall off their faces," Catra shot back. It stank!

"As long as the walls don't suddenly start to try to crush us, I'm fine," Jack said.

"I don't think they will do that - I don't detect any presses that would be able to move those walls," Entrapta replied.

"Ah… thanks. That's reassuring."

"So, what data did you get?" Adora asked.

"Oh, lots!" Entrapta beamed. "The production schedule, full guard and worker roster, transport schedule, maintenance… Basically, everything the administration here needs. No blueprints, though - for those, we need to get into a shipyard."

Catra nodded. So, that would be their next objective.

*****​

Jack O'Neill knew that the administrative data would allow the spooks back home to ferret out a lot about the ships being built here through thorough analysis but to get the actual blueprints… that would give the Alliance a huge advantage in any future confrontation. And, maybe, even a few designs to copy. So, he nodded. "Alright. Let's go and steal the blueprints. Might be useful if we need to stop a Death Star.

"Indeed." Teal'c nodded with such a serious expression, Jack couldn't tell if his friend had gotten the joke or not. It would be just like Teal'c to pull Jack's leg by acting as if he hadn't gotten it.

"I don't think they're building a Death Star here. The slips could be used to build components, but you'd have to assemble them in space, and we've seen no sign of any orbital construction going on. And it wouldn't make much sense not to build such yards in the same system you're building the Death Star, to save you the transportation effort. And we haven't seen the transport ships necessary to lift such huge parts from ground to orbit, either, so it would probably be more efficient to build everything in space from the start, although that depends on how many space-rated workers you have, I guess. Of course, the Clones would know how to build things in space and qualified for such work since their fleet trains do the same, so…"

"... there's no Death Star being constructed here," Catra cut off Entrapta.

"It's very unlikely, yes."

Of course, that didn't mean Ba'al wasn't constructing some superweapon somewhere else. Though would he build such shipyards instead of focusing everything on the superweapon? Megalomaniacs loved their superweapons. On the other hand, he probably needed escorts for it, and such yards would also serve as a way to hide his actual project by making spies and saboteurs focus on them… Maybe that was why the yards were so close to Alliance space? Jack would have to bring that up with the analysts back home. But now, they had a shipyard to plunder.

"Alright. Let's see how we can reach the shipyards from here without starting another search," Catra said.

"We could wait until the search is over," Sha're suggested. "At that point, the guards will be tired and convinced there aren't any intruders around and so won't be paying as much attention as during the search."

That was a good point, but waiting for hours - or even longer; who knew how paranoid the base commander was? - would tire them out as well. "Waiting will be a pain," he said.

"We can't hack the systems to create a distraction," Carter said. "Another such incident would confirm our presence to the base commander."

"But can you hack the system to hide us from the sensors?" Jack asked. That alone would be a big help in getting to the shipyards - and, not to forget, out of the base afterwards.

"That should be possible," Carter replied after sharing a glance with Entrapta. "But we'd still have to avoid being detected by the patrols."

"We could have Melog make us look like a patrol," Catra suggested. "As long as you can make sure that there are no records for them to analyse later and realise that there were too many guards around at the same time."

"We can do that!" Entrapta said. "No sweat!"

Jack glanced at Carter. Entrapta was sometimes a bit too optimistic, but his former second-in-command nodded, so that was a valid plan.

"Let's do that," Adora said. "Check the cameras so you can tell when we have a window of opportunity."

"Alright!" Entrapta bopped her head and went over to Carter to peer at her laptop.

With Melog and Catra on lookout duty, that left the rest of them to wait.

Jack wasn't a stranger to waiting. Every soldier was familiar with it - hurry up and wait, and all. It still grated on his nerves. Not that he'd show it, of course - he made a point of yawning and taking a nap. Maybe he should mention that he forgot his Game Boy… No. That might be overdoing it. And if his troops heard about it, they might think that was acceptable for them as well.

"I think we got a window here, sir," Carter said after fifteen minutes. "If the patrols follow the same pattern."

"Which they have for the last two cycles," Entrapta added.

"But we need to get into position now, sir," Carter went on.

"Then let's go!" Adora stopped pacing and headed to the door, where Melog and Catra were also up.

They quickly made their way to the side entrance - no guards in the vicinity, not after the building had been 'cleared' - and gathered there, waiting for Carter, who had her eyes glued to her laptop, to give the signal.

She held up a hand, using her fingers to count down.

5… 4… 3…

Suddenly, she looked like a Jaffa warrior in full armour. Jack managed not to wince at the sight.

2… 1… Go!

Adora took point, opening the door, and they filed out, marching in step. Or tried their best - Jack really hoped no Jaffa decided to stop them to berate them for not moving sharply enough.

But they managed to reach the closest shipyard without anyone calling them out - or shooting at them - and then entered the office building next to the open slip. They had to wait a nerve-wracking minute before Carter and Entrapta had found another hiding spot, but no one bothered or even saw them, at least Jack hadn't noticed anyone.

He still didn't relax even after they entered what apparently was an unused lounge overlooking the slip.

A very luxurious lounge.

"Someone really likes their comfort when inspecting the shipyard," Jack commented. "Probably Ba'al himself." He blinked, then grinned. "Let's check the bar - I'm sure that would give us great insight into his character!"

"Jack! Are you trying to steal his booze?"

"Of course not!" Though if he thought he could get away with it without compromising the mission, Jack would do it in a heartbeat. Just the bragging rights alone would make it worth it.

*****​

"Don't steal the drinks," Adora said. "That would give us away."

"They also might be poisoned," Catra added. "Either as an assassination attempt on Ba'al or by himself as a trap for his enemies. He might even use a poison he was immune to so he could poison someone while sharing a drink."

Adora didn't know if her lover was serious, but she wouldn't put it beyond a System Lord like Ba'al to do such a thing.

Jack pouted at that, narrowing his eyes at the bar. "That sounds like him. In that case, we should take a few bottles as a gift for some acquaintances."

Adora frowned at him for that. He shouldn't joke about that. Catra laughed, and she frowned at her as well. She shouldn't encourage him.

They weren't here for that, anyway. "Can you access the yard's computer from here?" she asked Sam and Entrapta.

"We'll check!" Entrapta nodded.

"We have to be careful, though, in case this is a trap as well," Sam added.

I would say that sounds a bit far-fetched, but since Ba'al has his deliveries cleared with nerve gas…" Daniel shrugged.

"We'll be careful!" Entrapta's hair flew out and started probing the console near a seat with enough gold plated to its surface to outshine some thrones Adora had seen.

She turned to eye the windows. They were polarised, so those working on the slip below couldn't see inside, but Adora couldn't help feeling exposed. After the poison incident and then the alert, she was on edge.

As was Catra. Adora's lover was putting on a good front, sprawling in a leather seat to the side as if she had no care in the world, but Adora could tell from the way her tail and ears moved. And from Melog's colour, of course. But that was kind of cheating.

"OK! We're in! And no trap - no alert, at least!" Entrapta's announcement interrupted Adora's thoughts. "Let's get the data we want!"

Hair tendrils whipped around, making Adora take a step back out of reflex. Sam, though, didn't even twitch, eyes glued to her laptop.

"Oh… those are the blueprints… Ha'tak, looks like a standard model… and there's the improved one! Look at those engines!"

Adora cocked her head but she couldn't see the screen from her spot.

"Ah. That's three per cent more acceleration," Sam said.

"Not bad! But we're still faster. Oh, look at that blueprint!"

"A Ha'tak with full Horde technology?" Sam sounded impressed. And worried.

With good reason - a ship the size of a Ha'tak, with Horde technology, would be a flying fortress. A very fast flying fortress.

"It's all standard Horde technology, though - nothing improved. And they didn't even adapt the engines; they adapted everything else," Entrapta complained.

"They might not have the scientists and engineers to adapt the new technology," Sam speculated.

"Not yet," Jack said.

"Training people to that level takes a lot of time, sir. But they should be able to recruit clones from their fleet," Sam replied. "They should be familiar with their own technology."

"Familiar enough to improve on it?" Jack sounded sceptical. "I used a lot of gadgets in the force and never rebuilt one. Did some unofficial modifications to my gun, but that's not the same."

He was correct, but they couldn't count on having such an advantage. "We can't underestimate the enemy," Adora said. "They only need one smart scientist to develop better weapons for their fleet, then they can build it."

"It's not that simple in practice, but essentially yes," Sam agreed. Mostly.

"Can you sabotage their blueprints? Without being obvious?" Jack asked.

"If they compare them to the original, wherever it is, they'll notice any changes," Sam explained.

"Can you change them so it looks as if those who created the original blueprints did it?" Catra asked.

That was a rather… ruthless way to sabotage Baal's research and development.

"Not with any degree of certainty," Sam said.

"Not worth the risk then. Though what about adding something? Like a trigger? Something that wouldn't show up until we use it, so they have no reason to check their blueprints?" Jack wasn't giving up on his idea. "Maybe a locator?"

"Hm. Leaving it changed would be a risk, but we might be able to change it and then remove any traces. That would mean we had to limit it to the ships here, though," Entrapta said.

"Three super-Ha'taks sabotaged seems good enough for me," Jack said. "By the time they can start on more of them, we probably are at a point where that won't really matter any more."

That could be taken in a few ways. Adora chose to take it in an optimistic way. "Do it," she told Entrapta and Sam. "Just being able to track their movements will be a great advantage for us."

That done… Adora turned to the others. "Now we need to find a way to sneak out," she said.

*****​

"We can call in Bow. He can hover the stealth shuttle above this building, and we board it under cover."

Samantha Carter nodded in agreement with Catra's suggestion. It was a simple plan with a high probability of success. But she had to focus on sabotaging the ships being built here before they could leave. Adding a locator beacon would need her to have it installed on the slip without anyone realising it. That meant it had to arrive inside a finished component to minimise the risk of anyone realising what was going on. There wasn't a big chance that the slaves working here would notice something amiss by installing an additional component, but it was best to minimise the risk as much as possible.

She quickly searched the copied data. She needed a component close to the hull and with an internal power source so the locator beacon could operate. Independently and send out a signal. The beacon itself would need to have an FTL communicator built in so it had the necessary reach. And a navigation system to track the ship's course… no, better just have it tap into the navigation system of the ship. However, that limited the potential modules even more. A direct line to the ship's computer, close to the hull… "We have to alter the ship's sensor packs," she said.

"Yes! Well, we could add an entire new module, but that would be more difficult and more easily found," Entrapta agreed.

Sam checked the data until she found the factory complex where the sensor modules were assembled. They needed to use an automated process - anything involving an actual worker was too prone to catch the attention of the staff. "Alright. We need to alter this step."

Entrapta nodded. "Add a few more steps for the beacon… but that will slow down production. They might notice that."

Right. At the very least, they might investigate such a 'glitch'. Especially after today's alert. So… "Can we optimise the procedure to compensate?" Sam asked.

"We can, I think - the whole setup looks a bit inefficient. But we'd have to restore the original routines afterwards."

"Yes?" Sam looked at her.

Entrapta pouted. "That feels wrong!"

"They're our enemy," Sam said. "Think of it as sabotage."

"Well… Oh! We could prepare some sabotage here as well!" Entrapta perked up. "If we're already manufacturing beacons and altering the core programs, we can make it so we can remotely sabotage the entire complex! We could repurpose the munition factory to blow itself up! Although that would endanger the workers, I fear."

"Watch out for mission creep," the General suddenly cut in. "Just stick with the locator beacons. We can always send another group to sabotage or bomb the factory."

That was true, especially with superior stealth technology. Although once they used stealth shuttles for that, the Goa'uld would know about that and react accordingly, so that was best used as a mass attack to exploit the element of surprise.

"We'll limit our mission to placing the locator beacons, sir," she said.

"Good."

Sam went back to hacking the computer core of the factory while Entrapta took care of the routines they needed altered - she had more experience with setting up factories, anyway. She had to be careful, though - whoever had been checking the security system's computers might be watching the other systems as well. But they already had a backdoor here, so…

After about ten minutes, she was done. And so was Entrapta. Actually setting up the swap, and the timer to undo the changes, took longer than that, though, but finally, they were done.

And so was the exfiltration plan. They would board the shuttle from the roof of the shipyard, hidden by Melog's illusion and a couple of large vents. There was still a chance that someone might spot them - Melog's illusions were not perfect when out in the open like that, and the stealth field couldn't cover the open ramp, but…

"Did you trip another alert?" Catra hissed.

"What? No!" Sam replied, then checked. "No, the system load is normal."

"They're calling up all Jaffa again," Catra said.

And, indeed, the camera feeds showed it - all the Jaffa currently resting were rushing out of the barracks, and the Jaffa on the walls were moving to the heavy weapons.

"That is not an intruder alert," Teal'c said in a calm voice. "You can see the squad leaders checking the appearance of their warriors' armour. They are forming an honour guard."

Oh. That meant…

"Ba'als coming here?" The General grinned in a familiar way.

"What was that about watching out for mission creep?" Catra asked.

"Oh, come on - that's not mission creep. That's a target of opportunity!" he protested. "We can leave any time, but we can't waste this opportunity!"

Sam couldn't argue that.

*****​
 
Chapter 167: The Clones Question Part 7 New
Chapter 167: The Clones Question Part 7

Ba'al's Base, PT-9511, PT-9511 System, May 17th, 2000 (Earth Time)


Catra looked at the screen, which showed the base's guards lining up to form an honour guard. They made a good job of it, as far as she could tell through the cameras. Better than most Horde units would have been able to do on short notice. Only cadets were generally ready for an inspection at a moment's notice.

"Do you think it's Ba'al?" Adora asked. "Would he do a surprise inspection in person?"

Catra shrugged. Ba'al might not announce his travel schedules in advance just to avoid ambushes and assassinations, but she knew from experience that surprise inspections kept your troops sharp, though only if you kept the focus on things that mattered, such as readiness and supplies, not how good they were at standing at attention.

"He most certainly would," Sha're said. "He wouldn't completely trust even his closest subordinates. This base here contains a shipyard and factories - a plotting underling could use this to build up their own force."

"And try to turn the clone fleet in the system," Catra added.

"Turning anyone against their god, especially new converts, is quite difficult, as we found out," Daniel pointed out.

"The base commander is a Jaffa, so the odds of him betraying his god are very low," Teal'c added.

"But Ba'al can't depend on that," Glimmer said. "Or won't."

"Indeed."

"The sensors caught a Tel'tak approaching, sir," Sam reported.

"That would be our surprise guest," Jack said. "Can you track the ship's course back to its origin, Carter?"

"It did not come from any of the frigates in the system, sir. It dropped out of hyperspace a distance away."

"I don't think Ba'al flew the whole distance in that ship. He probably has at least one Ha'tak with a Stargate nearby, so he can quickly come - and go," Catra said. A Tel'tak had a stealth generator, which made it a good ship to escape an attack - at least if your enemy didn't have the sensors to see through that - but it was a rather small ship, neither impressive nor luxurious. She didn't think Ba'al would spend days or even weeks in one.

"That would be a good compromise - no direct access to the planet through a Stargate, but it can still be reached relatively quickly," Sam said.

"It's easier to hide the entire system that way, too," Sha're added.

"He probably took this planet's Stargate for that," Entrapta said. "Since the planet doesn't have magic, it must have had a Stargate when the First Ones started charging the Heart of Etheria."

"Probably." Jack nodded. "But now, let's see who is arriving."

Everyone crowded around the screen to watch the ship come in to land on the designated space. It threw up some dust as it set down, but the assembled guards didn't even flinch as far as Catra could tell. Well, they weren't that good at keeping spies and saboteurs out, so they had some use, at least.

The ship's ramp was lowered, and four Jaffa stepped out, staff weapons ready, and looked at the assembled guards.

"Now, those look tougher than the rest," Jack commented.

"Those would be Ba'al's personal guard," Teal'c confirmed. "Though I do not see his Prime."

Those guards were tall - not as tall as Adora when she was She-Ra, but almost as tall and buff as Teal'c. And they looked experienced as well. Still, Catra was sure she could take them if she had to. Pretty sure, at least.

"And here's the main act."

A human - a Goa'uld; the eyes gave it away - walked down the ramp, and the base commander dropped to his knees, followed by the honour guard.

"If that's Ba'al, then he doesn't go for as much bling as the other System Lords," Jack commented.

"We don't know how his host looks," Sha're said. "But the reception… I doubt that any of his underlings would be allowed as much respect."

"Our lipreading routine says they're calling him Ba'al. And a number of other titles," Entrapta piped up.

Catra flashed her fangs in a grin and looked at Jack.

He matched her expression. "Time to bag us a System Lord."

*****​

This time, the damn snake wouldn't escape! Jack O'Neill was dead tired of missing their target!

"But what if that's a trap?" Glimmer asked.

"They're calling him Ba'al," Jack replied. "I don't think Ba'al would use himself as bait for a trap." Snakes were cowards. But then again, would he be using such a small ship and so few guards?

"He could be using a double." Glimmer was digging her heels in, it seemed.

"A double used as a host by another snake?" Jack shook his head. "That's a recipe for a coup."

"But it's a bit too convenient," Adora objected. "We just happen to stumble on Ba'al on a recon mission?"

"We're bound to get lucky sometimes," Jack said. It wouldn't be the first time. And they were due a lucky break after the recent streak of bad luck.

Catra frowned. "In any case, we need to find out more before we blow our cover over a potential decoy."

"And how do we do that?" Adora asked.

That was a good question. It wasn't as if they could take a blood sample and run tests - and even if they could, they didn't have Ba'al's DNA to check. But… Jack wasn't the only one who looked at Melog.

"Melog says they will do their best, but they cannot make any promises," Catra said. "They can't read minds like you read computers."

"It should still help. If that's a body double, they should be nervous and resenting their role, shouldn't they?" Glimmer sounded less sure than her words, at least to Jack.

"Yes. So, we need to get close - closer - to Ba'al to check. And we need an escape plan," Jack said. "If we do nab Ba'al, we can't count on sneaking away." The snake wouldn't enter this lounge for some privacy and send all their guards and servants away, and they couldn't count on being able to take them all by surprise before they could raise the alarm. And, speaking of… "We also should move to another room before Ba'al arrives here."

"Yes. Good thing we didn't steal his booze," Catra added.

Jack snorted. "Where's the next best hiding spot? Preferably close to this lounge."

"We could hide in the closest storage room, but it will be cramped, sir," Carter replied.

A red dot marked its position on the map she displayed on the screen, and Jack memorised the route to it. "We can manage being a bit cramped." He had suffered worse on missions. "And we need to move," he added with a glance at the screen - Ba'al or body double, the snake hadn't spent much time letting everyone kneel to him and was already marching toward the shipyard.

"And we should bug the place!" Entrapta piped up. Her hair fanned out, and Jack could see the tendrils reaching underneath the decorations lining the bar's front.

"Better place it on the back, he said. "Less chance it's going to be found there."

"Even with a chameleon-coating?"

"Yes."

"Alright!" The tendrils reached over the bartop.

Jack frowned, but before he could say anything, Catra was already moving to the other side of the bar.

"Looks good to me," she reported a moment later.

"Great!" Entrapta beamed.

"Now, let's move," Jack said. "We don't want to be here when Ba'al arrives."

They moved to the door. "The hallway's clear, but a group of servants is waiting around the corner, sir. We wouldn't cross their line of sight, but well have to be quiet," Carter reported.

Jack could be quiet. "Let's go," he whispered.

They sneaked out, hidden from sight by Melog, and reached the storage room. Jack winced slightly when he saw it - Carter had slightly understated just how cramped it would be. Which was really cramped. Especially if they wanted to leave space at the door for anyone to step inside and visually check the room. Well, they would manage.

And they would be crowded around Carter's laptop, anyway, to watch Ba'al walk through the base.

Which the snake did. It really looked like a surprise inspection. He wasn't headed to the administrative building or the shipyard, no. He went straight to the warehouse - the one inside which they had found the container with the clones, Jack remembered. And the snake did head directly to said container, too.

Interesting.

"Looks like that's a special project," Catra said. "Important enough to take priority over the shipyard."

"Maybe he does have a manpower shortage," Adora speculated.

"If he did, he would take better care of the workers he already has," Sha're disagreed. "But the workers here weren't even wearing protective gear. This has to be something else."

"Wasn't Ba'al the guy with the human sacrifices in Carthage?" Jack asked. He had read about the Punic Wars, of course, but he had focused on the military aspects. Not the religious ones.

"The reports we have are mainly Roman ones, so it's not quite clear how much of them were propaganda," Daniel said.

"Ba'al did have human sacrifices in his temples," Sha're said. "But why would he clone sacrifices when he could use the slaves too sick or old to work?"

"Well," Jack said, watching how Ba'al inspected the container without looking hurried in the least, "we might find out if they waited for him to thaw them out."

"There's another shuttle coming on," Carter spoke up. "From the Horde force in the system."

Oh! That was even more interesting.

*****​

Adora focused on the camera feed. The man on the screen acted like she'd expect Ba'al to act. Confident, arrogant maybe - though that was hard to judge from this angle, and with everyone literally bowing to him, even a humble person would have looked arrogant. Well, a truly humble person would have told the people to stop bowing, but then again, Adora knew from personal experience that even people worshipping you as a goddess might not listen to such an order. In any case, the man held himself in a not-very humble manner. She wouldn't call it strutting, it wasn't quite that, but he moved… Like Horde Prime did, she realised. A leader who thought they were a god.

But did that mean he was Ba'al? All the Goa'uld they had met so far had been arrogant like that. Granted, most of them had been System Lords or their queens, or their offspring… She blinked. Goa'uld had genetic memory. "Could that be a child of Ba'al posing as them?" They would have all of Ba'al's memories - they would be Ba'al, at least effectively.

For a moment, no one said anything. In the smaller picture on the screen, the Horde shuttle came in for a landing.

Then Sha're spoke up: "It's possible, yes. But few System Lords would risk giving their children such a role. It would tempt them to topple their parent and take over. Even Apophis, who granted his son a position of power few other System Lords would dare to bequeath on their offspring, would not have gone so far."

"Someone's always the first to cross a line," Jack muttered.

"We don't know much about Ba'al," Daniel somewhat agreed. "And if he has a child with all his genetic memory, they would be able to pose as him without anyone else being able to tell."

"Mainly because for all that counts, they would be him," Sam pointed out.

Daniel nodded. "That is true, yes. I doubt a System Lord would go as far."

"Sharing power with themselves?" Jack snorted.

Adora couldn't see that either. Horde Prime had made sure that all his clones were beneath him, far beneath him. He hadn't wanted equals; he had wanted slaves.

"That's the Horde Commander," Catra hissed.

Adroa looked at the screen. Her lover was right - that was the Horde Commander, wearing an ornate collar over his uniform, walking out of the shuttle, followed by four other clones.

"Is he imitating Ba'al?" Daniel said in a low voice. "The same number of guards, after arriving at the same place…"

"It would not be the first time an underling imitated their superior, but they have to walk a fine line between flattery and presumption," Sha're said.

"It could be a power play," Jack said. "The Horde clones are Ba'al's most powerful force. The Commander might be subtly reminding Ba'al of that by acting like this."

Adora shook her head. It sounded plausible, and yet… "Would he act towards his god like that?" Priest would never do that. Had never done that.

"Well, we'll see how they react - both of them are now on the way here," Catra said.

"Great. We might get a two-for-one," Jack commented.

"We still don't know if that's the real Ba'al," Adora cautioned him.

"Even if it isn't, the guy probably knows a lot about Ba'al's plans," Jack pointed out. "And the same goes for the Commander. If we can capture both, the intel would be worth scrapping the mission."

"Especially if we can sabotage the shipyards here," Catra added.

They were correct, Adora had to admit. If that were a double, then Ba'al would be warned and change his plans - but that would still cause setbacks and delays. And shifting gears on all levels and fronts would open opportunities for more missions and expose more of his plans. "Let's listen to their meeting and then decide if we take them out," she said. "But we need to prepare our escape. If Bow is coming to fetch us, we need to crash the entire security system so we board the shuttle without getting shot at." Well, they couldn't stop them from firing blindly, but that was random chance. And they needed to escape the frigates in orbit as well.

"We can do that!" Entrapta sounded eager.

"The servants are moving in. And more guards are coming," Catra spoke up. "Some will pass by this room, so stay silent!"

Adora pressed her lips together and glanced at the door. Melog was hiding them, but… If the guards suspected illusions, they would physically check the entire room. They could only hope they didn't suspect invisible infiltrators.

On the screen, a squad of Jaffa stopped in front of their door. A moment later, their leader opened, and Adora tensed.

But the Jaffa only glanced around at the seemingly empty room, nodded and stepped out again.

Adora released her breath. It had worked. But once the Goa'uld were aware of what the Alliance could do, it wouldn't work any more. Was capturing Ba'al or his child and the Commander worth this? No, she couldn't think like that. An advantage that could never be exploited for fear of losing it wasn't an advantage at all.

She focused on the screen again. Ba'al had arrived at the building and was headed to the lounge they had bugged. The Commander was on the way as well, though would appear later. And the servants were just finishing putting up food and drink inside the lounge.

"Cutting it a bit close, are they?" Catra muttered.

"That way, the food and drinks won't have turned stale when their god arrives," Sha're said. "The Goa'uld have punished their slaves harshly for lesser 'mistakes'."

"I'd have expected him to bring his own staff to cook his meals," Catra said.

"Some System Lords do. Others might consider that a weakness rivals might exploit and consider random chance a better protection against assassination attempts," Sha're replied.

Then everyone fell silent so they could listen when Ba'al entered the lounge.

*****​

Samantha Carter knew she should have picked another spot to hide - things were a little too cramped in this room. Although she was aware that everyone would be crowding her anyway, as long as she had her laptop in front of her displaying the camera feeds. Still, so many people so close made it harder for her to do her job, which was to keep an eye on the computer systems they had compromised.

"I would have expected Ba'al to receive the Commander in a throne room, not a lounge," the General commented, leaning a bit too much forward. "Run with the whole 'divine rule' thing."

"It might be an informal meeting. Or a calculated way to honour his newest follower," Daniel speculated as they watched Ba'al take a sip from a drink a servant handed to him right before the Commander entered.

"His four guards didn't enter," Catra remarked. "Could be they aren't trusted by Ba'al - or the Commander doesn't want any witnesses from his fleet."

"He bows as low as Priest does," Adora muttered as the clone did exactly that.

Sam checked that the four clones outside the lounge were covered by a camera, then looked at the main part of the screen again. Maybe she should ask for Glimmer's tablet to set up a secondary screen to make it easier to keep ahead of all the movement inside the base… Although Entrapta was managing that on the heads-up display built into her visor. Sam might reconsider her friend's offer to build one for herself. It did seem quite useful to keep yourself from being distracted. Like by people leaning in too close for comfort.

"Welcome, Commander."

"Your Divine Highness."


Sam glanced at Adora and saw that she was twitching. And Catra was snickering.

"It is my honour to report that the system remains secure, Your Divine Highness."

"I expect nothing less. So, there were no incursions from the heretics?"

"We've been on the lookout, but we have not found any trace of the ships that managed to escape us. We also have not received any further attempts to contact us. After their fake goddess was destroyed, they must have been left leaderless - aimless, Your Divine Highness."

"Like you were when I found you."

"Yes, Your Divine Highness."

"And yet, one would expect a Horde bereft of their goddess, fake as she was, to avenge her."

"That is not our way, Your Divine Highness. We obey and follow. We serve, but we do not lead. As soon as the Pretender was dead, they withdrew."

"Do you not lead your brethren?"

"I am merely the channel for your orders, Your Divine Highness."


"Yeah, right," Sam heard the General mutter. The snort from Ba'al that the device they had planted picked up showed that the Goa'uld didn't seem convinced, either.

"That's a schemer, alright," Glimmer added. "And Ba'al knows it."

"If that's Ba'al," Catra cautioned.

"If it looks like Ba'al, walks like Ba'al, talks like Ba'al…" the General replied.

"...it could be a good double," Catra pointed out. "Double Trouble would be able to…" She fell silent as Ba'al spoke up again on the screen.

"And my orders were to bring more of your people left drifting by the loss of your former god into my caring embrace."

"You also ordered us to secure your bases and raid your enemies, Your Divine Highness. As much as we revere you, we are but mortal and our means are limited."


It was hard to tell with the speakers of her laptop, but Sam thought there was a hint of smugness in the Commander's tone as he diplomatically reminded Ba'al of the limits of his fleet's power.

"Bound by your decree to keep our allegiance secret, we cannot easily spread word of your grace to our brethren still drifting aimlessly following their loss. We have to find their ships using our own craft, and every ship sent out to search for them is one less ship guarding your worlds and striking your enemies, Your Divine Highness."

"We need to restore contact with the other Clone fleets we know of," Adora said. "We can't let Ba'al convert them."

"Broadcasting my offer would alert my rivals and prompt them to try and seduce your brethren with false promises of salvation."

"They cannot match you, Your Divine Highness. They can only offer empty promises. Only you can offer my people a future."


Again, the tone didn't quite match the words, in Sam's impression. But why?

On the screen, Ba'al took another sip from his drink, the massive golden cup hiding his expression.

"And I am delivering. The first test subjects have arrived on this world so you can witness that I am keeping my promises."

Test subjects? Did he mean the cloned humans? And what kind of tests was Ba'al talking about? Given his reputation, Sam wasn't certain that she wanted to know.

"I have never doubted Your Divine Highness."

"And I have a great beach property to sell to you in Colorado Springs," the General commented.

"And your trust will be rewarded. Soon, Commander, your faithful people will no longer face extinction but have their future secured - under my benevolent rule, they shall multiply once more."

Sam frowned. That sounded like… "They can't clone more Clones without Ba'al's help?" That didn't make sense, did it? Horde Prime had kept control of the main cloning factories for his Horde on his flagship, but every fleet had the medical facilities to treat their wounded, including cloning new limbs and organs, and the process was not that difficult to upscale to full clones… "He must be talking about imprinting their minds!" she blurted out.

The General cursed. "And if he can implant memories like Horde Prime used to, three guesses just what a snake will do with it."

"Hordes of brainwashed clones - humans, Jaffa, Horde Clones - loyal to their god unto death," Catra said with a hiss.

*****​

While Ba'al went on to promise basically everything, Catra's thoughts were racing. An army of cloned soldiers, with skills and loyalty built into them. Like bots, but better. Smarter, more versatile. Willing to fight to the death, to sacrifice themselves for their leader upon command - or when they thought it was necessary. She shivered at the memory of how she had done so, on Horde Prime's command, just to hurt Adora…

She pushed the memory away, focusing on the problem at hand. Clones. And the technology to imprint skills and loyalty into them. She knew what she could've done with that kind of resources. If she had been able to use troops like that. Soldiers who didn't need to be trained for years before they could be deployed in combat. Whose numbers could be adjusted practically on the fly.

And soldiers who were faithful, loyal unto death, so fanatical that she wouldn't have had to worry about backstabbing attempts, sabotage, corruption or cowardice… Alright, that was going a bit too far. Priest proved that even fanatics were willing and ready to creatively interpret orders from their goddess. Still… "We need to stop him. Before he gets this off the ground," she said.

"We still don't know if this is Ba'al or a double. If he can clone humans, he can clone hosts as well," Daniel objected.

Proud. Confident. Arrogant. Satisfied.

"Well, Melog says that Ba'al feels like a System Lord should," Catra said. "Arrogant and satisfied." That was good enough for her.

"With their genetic memory, any symbiont would probably feel the same," Daniel retorted.

"That would only work if Ba'al has access to a queen," Sha're added. "We don't know if that's the case."

"What if he can clone Goa'uld?" Adora asked.

"Then he wouldn't need a queen," Sha're replied with a grim expression.

Catra didn't think that would be a big deal. Snakes already could spawn so many larvae, being able to clone them only mattered for those System Lords who didn't have a deal with a queen. And even if Ba'al didn't have access to a queen, having a Horde fleet fighting for him would probably tempt every ambitious queen to join him. So… Her ears twitched, and she held up a hand. "Shhh!"

"...and now we will test the first heralds of a new age for your people."

"Yes, Your Divine Highness."


The Commander sounded like some of the Force Captains Catra had known. The ones who had been plotting behind her back. But if she could see it, a System Lord who was thousands of years old would have seen it as well, wouldn't he? Of course, it was also obvious that as soon as Ba'al could clone more Horde clones, the Commander would be the first to end up replaced by a better version…

"They're going to leave the lounge," Adora stated the obvious.

It would be a good opportunity to ambush them inside the building, hidden from view from the rest of the base. On the other hand, if they waited, they could find out just what exactly had been done to the clones in the warehouse. But that meant they would have to sneak out of this building and back to the warehouse without being noticed.

Catra glanced at Adora, then at Jack. "Hit them now?"

Adora nodded. "Sam, Entrapta - prepare to shut down the entire system, everything."

"OK!"

"Melog, hide us - we need to get to them before they leave the building."

Agreement.

"Alright," Catra replied for both Melog and herself.

"And how do we get out once we have them?" Glimmer asked. "Even with the bases's systems down, people could still see us board."

"You can teleport us out," Adora told her.

"But… Ah!" Glimmer nodded.

Adora smiled. "We need to start showing the clones that there are alternatives to Ba'al."

And what better way to do that than to unleash the planet's magic? Catra smirked. With a bit of luck, that would shock the Clones in the ships above them as well.

"Let's hurry - Ba'al just finished his drink," Jack urged them.

They moved to the door, and Catra cocked her head, listening. She couldn't hear any steps nearby, but the door wasn't that thin.

Clear.

Catra opened the door and stepped into the hallway outside, moving to cut off Ba'al and the Commander. They had eight guards with them, and a few servants.

No problem. They just had to be quick enough to finish them before reinforcements could arrive.

She quickly dashed around two corners - she wasn't going as fast as she could; she couldn't outrun the others, or Melog wouldn't be able to cover them all, but she was quick enough. Another corner and she came upon the rear of their target.

The guards were good, at least Ba'al's, Catra had to hand them that. Two were already turning, raising weapons, shouting "Ambush!", when she pounced on them.

But Catra was quicker, her claws tearing through the two Jaffa's throats as she dragged them to the ground with her before they could fire.

The two Clones forming the rearguard with them fired, but their shots passed over her head - and were stopped by Adora's shield.

Adora smashed into them, trampling them underfoot before slamming the Commander into the wall with a sweep of her shield.

Catra jumped, pushing off the wall, hitting the other wall, bouncing off, launching herself at Ba'al… and hit a force field. She slashed at it as she slid down, then rolled to the side, another shot missing her as the guards in the front started firing.

Between Ba'al blocking their line of fire and Adora rushing ahead, they couldn't do much to Catra, though.

And then Adora hit them, followed by Jack and Teal'c shooting them, and they couldn't do much at all any more.

With the Commander down, that left Ba'al.

*****​

Jack O'Neill double-tapped a guard who had caught a staff blast but was still moving - or twitching - and then spun around, carbine rising, to aim at the snake still standing. Ba'al was firing his pain thingie at Adora, who was shielding Catra behind her. She took the full charge to the face but looked none the worse for wear.

Jack held his fire - his gun wouldn't get through the force field, and ricochets were bad news for everyone, especially inside a hallway. Alerts were sounding - people had heard the shots.

Adora swung her shield forward, pushing Ba'al, forcefield and all, back against the wall with enough force to startle him and make him stop using his torture beam. Before he could recover, the shield changed into a sword, and Adora cut his forcefield apart.

"What…"

Catra dashed forward and cut short both Ba'al's question and his arm. The snake stared for a moment, seemingly uncomprehending, as his lower arm clattered down on the floor in a spray of blood.

Before Ba'al could start screaming, Jack drew his zat one-handed and stunned him.

"Catra!" Adora snapped. She looked angry. Then again, as close as she had been, Ba'al's blood had splattered over her chest.

"You've got magic cleaning," Catra shot back as she bent down and started tying off the limb.

"Not that!"

"We can fix him later."

"And we need to move!" Jack cut in.

"Several squads are moving toward our position, sir," Carter reported. "We've crashed the system, but the whole base has gone on alert anyway."

Well, shots fired next to your boss had that effect, computer or no computer.

"Get to the roof here!" Adora ordered as she picked up both Ba'al and the Commander.

"OK!" Entrapta replied.

"Bow! Come fetch us!"

"On my way!"

"Move!" Jack snapped, covering the entrance ahead of them. "This will get crowded any moment."

Shots and staff weapon blasts rang out behind him - the first guards had reached them and ran into Teal'c.

The door in front of Jack was kicked open, and he fired a short burst at and through it at once, catching an armoured figure right behind it. The new ammo tore through the Jaffa as advertised, and the man staggered, then started to drop.

But more were coming behind him. "Incoming!" Jack yelled, firing two more bursts before ducking below a staff blast that blew a hole in the wall next to him and grabbing a grenade. "Fire in the hole!"

He threw the grenade high, lobbing it through the door, while he fell back, firing a few more rounds to keep the Jaffa from rushing them.

Then the explosion went off, Jack felt the shockwave in his chest, and dust and smoke briefly hid the doorway.

"Come on!" he heard Adora yell, followed by metal smashing into metal. "Move!"

He spun around, running after the others. Teal'c was at the corner ahead, staff weapon aimed at the hallway behind Jack, covering him. Jack ran past him, jumped over a few crumpled bodies that had been smashed and slashed, and knelt down at the next corner. "Teal'c!"

His friend fired his weapon one more time, then sprinted towards and past Jack, who laid down covering fire.

"Stairs!" he heard over the communicator.

He glanced over his shoulder for a moment while swapping magazines. Teal'c was at the stairs, with Daniel and Sha're, who was firing a zat in the other direction. The rest must have gone up the stairs already.

Time to run.

"Fire in the hole!" He threw another grenade down the hallway and then ran all-out to the stairs, throwing himself around the corner into cover a moment before the grenade blew up behind him.

"Jack!" Daniel blurted out.

"Run!"

They ran, Teal'c and Jack bringing up the rear. Another squad of Jaffa had tried to cut them off one floor above them, but Catra and the others had gone through them. Mostly Catra - they looked like someone had put them through a blender. Jack almost slipped in the blood.

Below them, more Jaffa poured into the staircase, and Jack dropped a grenade down on them before booking it.

The doors on the next floor had been welded shut, it seemed - Jack could hear someone pounding on them on the other side as he dashed past, followed by Teal'c.

Two more floors. One more squad of guards dead on the ground - two shot by staff weapons, even though only Teal'c carried one in their group, Jack noted before realising that Melog must have fooled them into shooting each other - and they reached the roof.

A roof that was being shot at from below, with heavy weapons, forcing the team to huddle down in the middle of it to avoid catching a stray blast.

"They don't seem to care much about the health of their god," Jack commented as he joined the others.

"They must have standing orders," Teal'c said next to him, aiming down the stairs. "With the computer system down, they could not have coordinated so quickly."

"I can't approach with all the guns firing there!" Bow reported over the communicator.

That was bad. But they could…

"Enemy frigate moving into position above the base!" Carter interrupted his thought.

That was worse. But they couldn't just blast the base with their Commander and their god inside, so…

"They're firing!"

What the hell?

*****​

Adora gasped, staring up at the sky. The Clones were firing at their own base? Their own Commander? Their own god? How could that be possible?

"Ba'al must be a double!" Catra hissed. "Or that's treason!"

"We need to leave!" Glimmer yelled.

It didn't matter why they fired. They were on a base. A stationary target. They couldn't leave quickly enough.

As the first beams struck the base's outer walls - the first barrage was off, a distant part of Adora's brain noticed, must not have calculated the atmospheric interference correctly - time seemed to freeze as she raised her sword and reached out, feeling for that familiar pattern to cut…

She screamed as she channelled this world's magic, all of, throwing it against the beams striking down from the sky. As the magic obeyed, the beams splashed against a dome covering the entire base, some stopped outright, others, at the edges, deflected to strike the ground, throwing up shards of stone, clumps of earth and clouds of smoke as they blew craters into the area.

Adora clenched her teeth, straining under the pressure. But she would not yield. They wouldn't touch her friends. They wouldn't touch any of the helpless victims here. SHe would stand her ground.

No, she corrected herself, trembling as she stood, sword raised to the sky, that wasn't enough. She had to stop them from attacking.

Her eyes blazed with power as she reached out once more, magic expanding her senses, reaching out, up, into the sky, into space…

There! Directly above them, she found the enemy. A Horde frigate, beam cannons firing ceaselessly, two more frigates about to join them, more on the way…

No! The dome rose, shooting up, deflecting the beams to the side as the magic obeyed her and flew directly at the ships in orbit. She saw the first frigate starting to move, the two others slowing down, trying to escape, but she wouldn't let them. They'd return to attack her friends and the others again.

Before the ships could flee, she struck, sending magic into the hulls, into the engines and reactors, into everything.

And they stopped. Changed. Bloomed.

Adora smiled as three new flowers spread their glittering petals in the sky above them, forming a triangle of life in space, leaves twisting and weaving to orient themselves towards the sun, thick stems connecting everything, reaching out to each other…

She heard Sam's voice in the background. "Three frigates are gone, sir! Replaced by… giant flowers! The other frigates have stopped their approach and are withdrawing!"

"Bow! Get us out of here before they recover!" Jack sounded worried.

"I can teleport us!"

Catra's beautiful voice joined the chorus. "Bow! Open a line to the enemy fleet and tell them to surrender or they'll suffer Adora's Divine Wrath as well!"

What? Wait! That wasn't…

Adora blinked, lowering her sword and turning toward her lover, breathing heavily as the strain from channelling so much magic finally caught up with her. "Catra! What…?"

Bow's voice rang out from her communicator - and from the speakers inside the base.

"Warriors of Ba'al! Surrender or suffer the Divine Wrath of She-Ra, Princess of Power! You only live by her grace!"

The fire from the weapon emplacements had stopped, Adora realised, though she couldn't remember when that had happened - during her channelling the world's magic, or when the orbital bombardment had started?

She walked to the edge of the roof, to the railings holed by staff blasts, and looked down. She was glowing, she noted - surrounded by a shining halo. It would fade, she knew, but…

"Glory to Ba'al!" someone shouted, and a staff weapon hit her in the face.

"Adora!"

She didn't even feel the explosion. Nor the dozen other shots hitting her. She simply stood there, staring, until the shots tapered out. She caught one with her blade and sent it to the side, into a part of the outer wall, and the firing stopped altogether.

Then, one by one, people started to kneel.

*****​
 
Chapter 168: The Clones Question Part 8 New
Chapter 168: The Clones Question Part 8

Ba'al's Base, PT-9511, PT-9511 System, May 17th, 2000 (Earth Time)


"The remaining Horde forces in the system have signalled their surrender."

Samantha Carter mentally filed Bow's report as she focused on restoring the same security system she had just crashed minutes before. Most of the warriors might have surrendered, but there were holdouts, and it would be a while until Alliance forces arrived to secure the base. They needed the ability to check the entire base as soon as possible to prevent sabotage attempts by the Ba'al loyalists.

"Copy, Bow. Did any ships escape?"

"Except for the frigate that jumped to hyperspace before we even called for their surrender, no."


There. Sam successfully rerouted the sensor data to an alternate core. The main sensor data processing core was still caught in a loop of cascading self-diagnosis routines that Entrapta and Sam had started in it and which proved to be harder to stop than expected. So much for improvised viruses. But now they could at least access the sensors… those that were still working, she amended her thoughts. There were blind spots in several locations where the sensors must have been burnt out after the safety limiters on the power supplies had been taken offline by another virus.

"Sensors are back online, though we lack complete coverage," she reported.

"Good work, Carter. Keep making sure that the base won't blow up around us!"

The General thought he was joking, but if Sam hadn't shut down the shipyard's automated production lines, that could have happened. A lot of machinery would have had to malfunction at the exact right time, but it would have been possible, at least theoretically. A not-unusual weakness of many Goa'uld designs.

"Ah! Look at those sneaky snakes trying to sneak by us! Teal'c, care to cut them off?"

"Yes, O'Neill."


She spent the next few minutes writing a new routine to control the power fed to the most sensitive sensors. It would reduce the sensors' effectiveness but prevent them from burning out.

"We've mopped up the holdouts in warehouse two. The clone container is secure."

"Copy, Catra. Stand by."

"We've finished the squad trying to get into our rear."


More good news. She ran another diagnosis on the sensor network… no sign of any tampering. Not from anyone else, at least. And there were no reports of any contacts.

It looked like they had managed to pull off the takeover of an entire shipyard - as long as they could hold it for a little longer, until the task force secured the system and started to land the ground forces assigned to it.

She checked the feeds.

The guards and workers who had surrendered were staying in the yard next to the barrack, watched over by Adora. She didn't like staying there, of course, while everyone else rooted out the ones who hadn't surrendered and gone to ground, but no one else could have replaced her. She was the only one who could guard so many potential enemies by herself. Sam doubted that many Jaffa or workers would want to defy Adora after she had demonstrated her power. Of course, even if they did, Adora could handle them.

Just as Daniel and Sha're could handle the Commander and Ba'al, should either of the two wake up from being stunned and attempt to get out of the improvised cell they had been put in.

"Alright! I've checked the defences twice - they are offline! And I haven't found any self-destruct devices!" Entrapta announced. "I'm coming back to help with the computers!"

More good news. Now, if only the task force would hurry up and finally secure the system… She checked the long-range sensors. They weren't as good as the Alliance's, but they could still find Horde frigates. And if Sam had calculated the flight times and the communication lag correctly, then…

Here they came. Frigate after frigate, the task force dropped out of hyperspace and started to fan out to secure the surrendered enemy ships. Sam could see shuttles shooting away as well - those were the landing forces they were waiting for, with two frigates separating from the rest of the force to cover them.

"The task force has arrived in-system, sir," she informed the others. Just a little bit longer.

"Great! Don't get sloppy now, folks - we're almost home-free. Another successful mission!"

"Technically, Jack, we failed the mission when we broke our cover."

"Daniel!"


Sam couldn't help snorting at the exchange - for a moment. Then, she went back to restoring the base's computer cores.

Her work wouldn't be done even after the base was secure, after all.

*****​

"Alright. Let's wake him up," Catra said and leaned forward to stare at the unconscious, one-armed form of Ba'al - of his host, she corrected herself with a touch of guilt. She had cut off his arm, though he had been busy trying to hit her with that torture device mounted on it at the time, so it was really self-defence.

"I'm healing him now," Adora said.

Catra quickly checked the restraints - all set - and glanced at the door - secured.

When she turned her attention back to the prisoner, Adora had just finished healing him, although only enough to wake him; she hadn't regrown his arm. That probably required more magic. But he didn't need the bandages any more.

The man didn't try to move, and his slow breathing didn't change.

Catra snorted. "Playing dead?"

"Neural activity detected in both the host's brain and the Goa'uld's brain," Sam reported over the communicator.

After a moment, the man opened his eyes. "It was worth a try." He raised his head and looked around - first at his restraints, then at Adora. "For someone with your power, you seem remarkably concerned about me. Do you expect me to escape my bindings and attack you with my stump?"

Catra grinned. At least, the snake had a sense of humour. She could almost respect that.

"Hello, Ba'al - or whoever you are," Adora told him. "I'm She-Ra, Princess of Power."

"Yes, yes, you've already introduced yourself to my loyal underling," Ba'al replied. "Unlike some of my rivals, I am not in the habit of dismissing the reports of my commanders even when they sound rather far-fetched." He looked around. "Although I do think we're missing Colonel O'Neill. I remember he was shooting at me."

Catra shrugged. It had always been a long shot to hope he hadn't noticed or recognised their friends. "It's General O'Neill now," she said, then turned to the camera covering the room. "Jack?"

A moment later, the door opened, and Jack entered the room. "How the mighty have fallen," he said with a grin once the door closed behind him.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, O'Neill," Ba'al shot back.

"I'm not the one strapped to a table in a cell."

"No, you're the general still fighting on the frontlines because your planet can't find better soldiers."

"I like leading from the front - an alien concept for you, I know." Jack shrugged. "But enough about me. Let's talk about you, Ba'al."

"Yes!" Adora nodded. "You're our prisoner. We won't kill you, but we will free your host whether you cooperate or not."

"I fear that's not something you can promise." Ba'al grinned. "But let's say I cooperate. What would be my reward? Purely hypothetically, of course."

Catra narrowed her eyes. The Goa'uld was far too cocky for someone missing an arm and any plausible chance of escape. Something wasn't right.

"You'd have access to more entertainment in your cell," Adora said.

"Oh? I have very discerning taste when it comes to entertainment." Ba'al smirked.

"We're talking movies and books," Jack told him.

"Sanitised, so I cannot glean any useful information from either, I suppose?" Ba'al sounded almost amused.

"You know the drill," Jack said with a shrug.

"That doesn't sound very appealing, to be honest. It sounds rather boring, actually."

"Sounds like a good deal for a snake like you, actually." Jack grinned toothily.

"Really?" Ba'al looked at Adora. "Is that your opinion as well, Princess?" he asked in a mocking tone that made Catra want to slice off his other arm.

But that would only hurt his host, she reminded herself.

Adora frowned at him. "You heard our offer."

"I have a counter-offer. Release me, or my hostage will pay the price." Ba'al was still smiling.

"You really think we'd let you go?"

"No, I suppose not. Well, it has been a pleasure to meet you, but I think I'll take my leave now. Do not worry, though - we shall meet again." Ba'al bared his teeth, nodded - or tried to, strapped to the table, it looked really awkward - then closed his eyes.

"What the…?"

"The scanners detect poison flooding the host's body - and the symbiont's! Their vital signs are…"

Adora was already raising her sword, sending magic at the bound man.

"...stabilising," Sam went on in a more controlled voice.

Ba'al opened his eyes again and glanced around. "I must confess that this is a surprise. This is the first time this hasn't worked."

"There's always a first time," Jack said.

"As you can see," Adora went on, "we won't let you die."

Catra flashed her fangs at him. "Feel free to try it again - she likes the exercise." The snake had a limited amount of poison available; the more he used now, the more harmless he became.

"I think I'll give it a pass, but thank you anyway."

He still sounded smug, but Catra thought he was not quite as confident anymore. Unless that was an act, of course.

"So, about that cooperation…?" Jack smiled at him again.

Ba'al snorted in return. "For what undoubtedly amounts to another form of torture? I know what you Tau'ri consider entertainment."

Catra snorted against her will, even though it wasn't really funny. Did that mean Ba'al had prisoners from Earth? Or access to information gained from such?

Or was he bluffing? Just trying to rile up Jack? That would be quite understandable, of course.

Catra was determined to find out.

*****​

Jack O'Neill really wanted to bash the man's teeth in. He knew that that would only hurt the host, another victim of the snake, and that he shouldn't abuse a prisoner, but damn was that one smug snake! Missing one arm, strapped to a table in a secure cell, surrounded by a woman who had turned his ships into space flowers, and he acted as if he was in charge - even after he had found out he couldn't kill himself and his host.

Then again, the snake was crazy; you had to be to act like suicide was a way to conduct a prison escape. Jack blinked. Or… what if the snake wasn't crazy? "Oh, I wouldn't say that. We have plenty of great movies, shows and books. Some of them would teach you a few valuable lessons."

Ba'al snorted. "I am not much for indoctrination either, General."

"Unless you're the one doing it to others," Jack shot back.

The snake jerked a little - trying to shrug while in restraints. "I prefer to think of it as educating people and showing them a better way."

Jack snorted, but he heard Catra hiss under her breath.

Ba'al had heard it as well since he turned his head to look at her. "And who are you? You are not one of Bastet's chosen. A sekhmet's claws can't cut through metal."

"I'm Catra." Jack saw her bare her teeth at the snake.

"How original." Ba'al sneered, and Catra scoffed. "You were on Saqqara."

It didn't sound like a question, but the snake could just be bluffing and fishing for information, and they wouldn't give him any. "So, about that entertainment…" Jack said. "You sure about it? It's going to be very boring in your cell without some perks."

"Oh, I do not think I will be your prisoner for very long." Ba'al smirked.

"We already showed you that you can't kill yourself. And we will free your host," Adora told him.

"It is not as if I would wish to keep him, anyway. I do not have any use for damaged goods."

Jack clenched his teeth at the reminder of what the Goa'uld did with crippled slaves. "Well, you're about to experience a similar thing. We're not going to give you a new host. But don't fret - we've prepared a nice habitat for you."

For a moment, the snake's eyes flashed with what Jack hoped was rage. But he quickly recovered. "I do not think I will suffer such an indignity for long, though."

"Pretty confident, are you?" Jack shot back with a scoff. "Do you really think you'll be able to escape?"

"Oh, unless your goddess here is going to spend all her time being ready to pull me back from the brink of death, I don't think you will be able to hold me for long." He turned his head to look at Adora. "And if you do, you'll be missed by your faithful worshippers - and on the frontlines our dear General so loves."

So, that was how the snake wanted to play things. He expected to kill himself sooner or later. Jack had met such fanatics before, in his old line of work, but they had always been followers, never the leaders. And Ba'al didn't strike him as someone who'd follow anyone. And Jack didn't think he was crazy or suicidal either. So, why was he acting like this? Was it a bluff?

"We won't let you kill yourself," Catra said. "We can put you into stasis until we're ready to extract you - and to remove your poison glands."

The man's eyes widened for a moment, then glanced at Jack before settling on Adora. "You are more ruthless than I was told to expect." His face settled in a sneering smile. "But then, there's always a distinct difference between what we tell the faithful and what we actually do. I do have to admit, however, that your facade is better than most."

Adora glared at him. "It is not a facade! It wouldn't be right to treat those who were fooled into following you the same as you!"

Ba'al scoffed in return. "You are not fooling anyone here, my dear. No need to pretend."

"Is this going to be one of those 'we are not so different' speeches?" Jack cut in. "Because I can tell you it won't work. She-Ra's the genuine article."

"Really?" Ba'al raised his eyebrows and smirked again. "You have caught me, and now you will make an example out of me. You will take my host, my dignity and my higher faculties from me. The details may vary, but that is exactly how any Goa'uld would treat a captured rival."

Oh, for…! That was a low blow. Jack glanced at Adora and cursed internally. She wouldn't take this well.

And Ba'al wasn't finished. He raised his head as much as he could with the restraints holding him down and grinned at her. "Though I have to give you points for creativity - most of my peers would leave the act of restoring their dead victims to a sarcophagus. You like to do that yourself, though, don't you? Going for that personal touch?"

Adora jerked in response, and Catra hissed again.

Damn.

*****​

Adora wasn't like the Goa'uld! She wasn't a sadistic tyrant torturing her enemies and robbing them of their dignity! She was protecting and helping people! "I'm not healing you to torture you - I'm healing you to save your host!"

Ba'al laughed in her face. "So, you would let me die as long as you could save my host? How naive do you think I am?"

Adora clenched her teeth. She wouldn't hit the Goa'uld - she'd hit the innocent host, anyway. "We're not like you!"

"That's exactly what someone like me would say!"

Oh, this…!

"You don't have to take our word for it. Once we have you out of your host, you will find out for yourself," Catra told him.

"Is that when you will present me with the choice of either letting my mental faculties degrade as I am bereft of a host until I cannot think clearly any more, or 'cooperate' to avoid that fate? Or will you skip the posturing and go straight to torture?" He scoffed.

"We're not going to do that!" Adora blurted out. They didn't torture their prisoners! "We won't get you a new host, that's true, but we wouldn't give you a new host anyway - we wouldn't let anyone suffer like that!"

He looked surprised for a moment before laughing again. "I cannot believe you would admit this. How did you think you could convince me to cooperate if you tell me to my face that you won't grant me even the smallest concessions I need to preserve my mind? I would rather die than suffer such indignity!"

Adora pressed her lips together. It was unfortunate that Goa'uld depended on sapient hosts to reach their own mental potential, but that didn't justify subjecting anyone to giving up their freedom and becoming a prisoner in their own body!

"Oh, stop it!" Catra rolled her eyes. "We know it's not that bad - you're not the first Goa'uld we captured."

"And who knows, it might be good for you. Make you chill out some. Like fixing a dog."

Adora winced at Jack's remark. That was… well, almost as bad as Ba'al's comments.

"You have done this to others?" He didn't seem to be as smug any more as he stared at Jack.

"We've got the routine down pat. There's already a nice little snake habitat with your name waiting for you," Jack replied.

Adora shook her head. "We know what losing your host does to you. But it's not as bad as you claim."

He scoffed, clearly angry. "That is easy to say for you - it's not your mental faculties that degrade, reducing you to an imbecile."

"They aren't yours either!" Adora retorted. "You use your host's mind for yourself!"

Catra suddenly snorted, and Adora glanced at her lover. "You're like a thief who stole a fortune and then demands that he can keep it when he's arrested because he got used to luxury."

That's a really good point, Adora thought.

Ba'al must have thought the same since he didn't seem to have a comeback ready. But after a few seconds of glaring, he snorted again. "You know nothing. I am looking forward to your reaction when you find out just how ignorant you are."

Adora frowned. It did sound like empty boasting, a defeated enemy trying to posture, and yet… she couldn't help wondering what if it wasn't?

"I'll take that as you refusing our generous offer," Jack commented, which resulted in another snort from Ba'al.

"You can take it however you wish, General O'Neill." He closed his eyes and let his head rest against the table.

It seemed as if he was done with them.

"I guess this interrogation has finished," Jack said.

"Yes," Catra agreed. She drew a zat'nik'tel and stunned Ba'al. "Let's keep him in stasis until we can get him to the Tok'ra. He's less annoying that way."

That was a good idea. But… "We would need one of the stasis pods from the clone container for that," Adora pointed out.

"Well, we're not going to keep the clones frozen for much longer, do we?" Catra shrugged. "Entrapta should have figured out if that's safe by now."

That was true. However, they might want to move the container to a safer location for that. One with a Stargate in it. Maybe even Earth or Etheria. They hadn't decided yet if they were holding this base or moving everything useful to Alliance space. Without more information about the forces Ba'al had at his disposal, they couldn't tell if they could hold this base against an attack - they couldn't even speculate who might be in charge, what with both Ba'al and the Commander taken prisoners. If that was actually Ba'al - they still weren't a hundred per cent sure about that. He certainly had the arrogance of a System Lord, but the way he tried to kill himself…

So… "Let's go and interrogate the Commander," she said.

She hoped they had more luck with him.

*****​

Samantha Carter frowned as she looked one last time at the results from the analysis of the biopsy they had taken. The preliminary analysis, she corrected herself - they would do another analysis, a much more detailed one than this one, once they got the samples to Alpha with its far more advanced instruments. But even so…

"The Goa'uld is at least several hundred years old," she said to the others in the repurposed briefing room inside Ba'al's former base.

"Isn't Ba'al supposed to be a few thousand years old at the minimum?" the General asked.

"Actually, he would have to be five thousand years old at the minimum since he was present at the Rebellion against the Goa'uld on Earth, but one would have to take into account that he was considerably older at that point to have established himself as a leading figure," Daniel elaborated.

"So, that's not Ba'al?" Glimmer asked.

"We cannot determine that yet. The Goa'uld use of the Sarcophagus technology to rejuvenate themselves throws off our analysis," Sam explained. "We hope that the more advanced instruments and computers at Alpha can tell us more."

"And we got Loki to help there!" Entrapta smiled. "He probably would like to do something different for a change."

Sam doubted that - he had been almost single-mindedly focused on his mission to save his people as long as she had known him - but then, she wasn't that familiar with Loki. The Asgard was not the most personable scientist she knew, to say the least, and she didn't seek out his company. And since genetics wasn't her main field, he tended to be a little - or a lot, depending on the day - condescending.

But he was the best in his field, Sam had to admit that, and he would likely be able to find out if the Goa'uld they had caught was the original Ba'al. Although that might not matter much. "Even if this symbiont is too young to have been alive back then, he could still have the complete memories of Ba'al, which would render the age differences effectively irrelevant," she pointed out.

"Yes!" Entrapta nodded with a smile. "Since Goa'uld have genetic memory that they can pass off to their children, they can sort of make a younger copy of themselves - and without any technology at all! It's fascinating. According to Anise, they can choose how much memory they pass on as well, if they don't want to make complete copies - I guess it would get a bit confusing if their children are actually copies, right?"

"And bloody," the General agreed. "The snakes aren't very likely to share power even with themselves. Especially not with themselves."

"There can only be one."

Sam turned to stare at Teal'c, and she wasn't the only one. Her friend raised his eyebrow at them as if he hadn't just made a movie joke and were confused about the attention.

She shook her head with a slight smile while the General chuckled and Daniel explained the quote to Sha're and the others who were not familiar with the movie.

"...and there was a sequel, but it was not as well-received, and…"

She cleared her throat to interrupt him. "We have also analysed the identical people kept in stasis whom we have taken into our care. They are indeed clones, all the markers are there, and while we cannot be a hundred per cent certain yet, we need a more thorough examination for that, the circumstantial evidence we found indicates that they were grown using Horde technology."

"Great," Jack commented. "So, Ba'al can make copies of people."

"We haven't found any sign that they were subjected to Horder Prime's mind-imprinting technology, though," Sam went on.

"So… They are like newborn babies? When they are released from the cloning pods, I mean," Adora asked.

Bow grimaced. "Do you think they need diapers?"

"Ew!" Glimmer made a retching noise.

"I guess we know what the punishment duty for Ba'al's Jaffa is," Catra said with a chuckle.

"Well, I doubt he'd ship clones who still need to be potty-trained to this base," the General commented. "It lacks a daycare centre."

Sam shook her head. "Unfortunately, there's more."

"I knew it!" The General shook his head. "There's always more."

Sam smiled thinly at his weak joke. "We've found traces of Goa'uld possession with our scans in every clone. Naquadah levels in their blood are very slightly elevated, there's microtrauma around their spinal cords that matches those from other victims… We still need to confirm it with more extensive examinations once they are released from stasis, but it seems all of them at least briefly served as a host for a symbiont." She shuddered at her own memories of being possessed by Jolinar. How much more traumatising would it be if those were your earliest memories?

The General's expression had turned flat. Everyone else had grown serious at once as well.

"Why would they do that?" Glimmer asked.

Sam took a deep breath. This was a necessary briefing. "Hosts share the experiences of the symbiont's actions and can retain some of the symbiont's memories as well." She knew that from personal experience. "It could, theoretically, be used as a way to implement basic skills into a host's mind." Likely quite effectively if the host was, for all that counted, a newborn clone with a brain devoid of actual memories.

"Oh, Hell! Ba'al doesn't need the mind-imprinting technology at all, does he? He can just use symbionts."

"That would be our conclusion, sir, but we still need to release the clones from stasis to confirm it."

*****​

The Commander didn't look that arrogant any more, Catra found as she looked at him seated in the improvised interrogation cell. Oh, he tried to look tough and defiant, but she was familiar enough with Horde Clones to spot the signs. Oh, if they were doing this in the actual torture chamber, he'd probably be cracking already, but they were better than that. Even if she was tempted to at least scare him with the idea for his attempt to murder Adora.

Well, time to get this show on the road - they were on a timetable. She opened the door and walked inside, ahead of Adora.

The Commander ignored her and focused on Adora. "Ah, the false goddess arrives!"

"I am no goddess!" Adora replied.

"Your followers claim otherwise."

"I can't tell them who to worship." Adora shrugged, though Catra knew she wasn't quite as unconcerned. Well, everyone who knew her was aware of how much of a sore point this was.

The Commander scoffed. "A transparent claim." But he was fidgeting, Catra saw. No comparison to Ba'al's attitude. Or Hordak's. You could say a lot about Hordak, as you could about Catra, but he wasn't a coward or a fake.

And Catra was pretty sure the Commander was both. She leaned forward, both hands on the table, and unsheathed her claws so they sank into the metal. When she caught his eyes focusing on that, she smirked. "Your ships have surrendered. Your 'god' is in our hands. The base is ours."

He scoffed again, but his cheek twitched. "The force here might have surrendered, but not my fleet. And losing the base is meaningless for us - we don't need it!"

Nothing about his supposed god, Catra noted.

Adora hadn't missed that, either. "And what about Ba'al?"

"He will return!"

"More powerful than before?" Catra snorted. "He's no Horde Prime - and She-Ra destroyed Horde Prime."

He stared at Adora. "You lie!"

"I don't lie," Adora told him. "I destroyed him. I am not proud of it, but there was no other way to save everyone else. You can ask the others."

"Your brainwashed followers, you mean!" he spat, tugging on the cuffs securing him to the table.

"No!" Adora retorted. "We would never do that to anyone - or tolerate it. We know how terrible it is."

Catra nodded, clenching her teeth. They knew it too well. She focused on the task at hand instead of on the memories of Horde Prime. "And you know it too. You know Horde Prime did it - and that Ba'al was doing it. You don't believe that he's a god."

He gasped, staring at her, then at Adora. "He's a god!"

Catra snorted. "We've dealt with people who honestly believe the snakes are gods. You're not like them."

He glared at her. His "You are wrong!" was a second or two too late to convince anyone.

Adora shook her head. "Why were you following him? What did he promise you?"

The Commander pressed his lips together and avoided looking at either of them.

Time to push their advantage. "He offered to make more clones for you," Catra said.

He jerked at that, then glared at her. And the way he ducked his head a little… Yeah, they already knew that, but this confirmed it further.

"You couldn't get the cloning pods to work properly, could you?" Adora asked softly. "Horde Prime had kept the knowledge to himself."

The Commander bared his teeth, but his eyes moved from her to Catra to the door, then to the table and back. "We could clone people!"

"But you couldn't clone them with the knowledge they needed," Adora said.

"And you didn't want to raise them."

"We couldn't! They don't learn anything!" he blurted out. "They were braindead."

Catra suppressed a wince as she drew a slow breath. So, they had tried. But without any experience in raising kids, they hadn't known what to do. And had assumed the newborn were… Shit.

"Oh, no!" Adora looked horrified.

Catra pressed her lips together. That was worse than she had thought, and she had grown up in the Horde. Much worse.

"What did you do?"

"They were braindead," he repeated himself without looking at them.

"No!" Adora gasped, shaking her head. "You didn't…"

Catra shook her head. They did. Time to cut this off. She reached out to squeeze Adora's hand, then focused on the Clone. "And then you met Ba'al, who promised to deliver you Clones like you were used to."

He nodded.

"As long as you fought for him."

Another nod.

She shook her head. "He was stringing you along."

"No! It would take time to solve all problems, but there was progress!"

That sounded more desperate than convinced.

"Even so, once he got it working, he'd replace you with Clones loyal to him." Like Horde Prime had done.

"I was… prepared for that."

"Prepared to out-plot a Goa'uld who has been around, plotting against his rivals, for thousands of years?" Catra snorted. "Do you even know how he 'trained' the human clones he brought here? The 'test subjects'?"

"If we knew we could have done it ourselves!"

"He had them possessed by Goa'uld." Adora had recovered from the revelation. "They were hosts."

"But…" he shook his head. "We can't be possessed by Goa'uld. That wouldn't work."

Adora slowly nodded. "He was either lying to you and hoping to use you until he could replace you with Jaffa and replicate your technology - or he was planning to create Clones he could possess."

"Either way, you lose," Catra added.

"No!" He shook his head. "No! That's… No!" He looked like he was about to cry.

Catra felt bad for a moment. Then she reminded herself that the Clone had tried to murder Adora.

*****​

Former Ba'al's Base, PT-9511, PT-9511 System, May 18th, 2000 (Earth Time)

"General, we've secured the perimeter of the base and have taken control of the mining sites on the planet. Thanks to the assistance of Queen Glimmer, we managed to prevent the Jaffa guards stationed there from holing up inside the mines."

"Thank you, Colonel." Jack O'Neill nodded in response. He was already aware of the facts, but a proper report was still needed.

"We've suffered light casualties, though before we could medevac the wounded to the hospital ship, Queen Glimmer had already taken them to the Supreme Commander for treatment."

Meaning, Adora had healed them all. Well, Jack couldn't fault her for it, as long as she didn't strain herself too much. Which, despite the efforts of her friends, was still a potential danger. Adora needed to delegate more.

They had a hospital ship - well, a frigate with extended medical facilities, to be exact - with them for a reason. Sure, magic healing was great, but doctors could treat many wounds perfectly well.

"We've also started installing temporary barracks," Colonel Maryland went on, "Until the temporary prisoner holding area is ready and we can move into the base's barracks."

"Temporarily," Jack added with a grin.

"Yes, sir." Maryland smiled, but it was the humouring smile of a subordinate going along with a superior's joke, not a genuine one, Jack noted. The man obviously had no sense of humour. Even a German would have laughed.

"And with that in mind, has the Alliance made a decision about the fate of this base yet? I'd like to tell my troops whether or not they can plan long-term."

"Nothing has been decided yet," Jack replied. The Alliance Council hadn't even scheduled a meeting to discuss this yet - which they wouldn't until Adora was back, anyway. The colonel knew or should know that as well, so this was probably just a more or less subtle reminder to keep him informed. "We won't forget you out here, Colonel, don't worry. You'll have a Burger King built next to the barracks in no time."

Another forced laugh. Did anyone really take the rumours of garrisons being forgotten on foreign planets, leaving entire units stranded far away from Earth, seriously? Jack might have to look into this if that was common thinking. "If we're staying here, you can look forward to a Stargate being moved here, Colonel." A shipyard needed a Stargate connection if only to move troubleshooters in on short notice. And most civilian contractors demanded significant compensation packages if they were employed on planets without the ability to use the Stargate to quickly return home in an emergency or just for a vacation.

Well, that wasn't Jack's problem. He just needed to oversee the base takeover until someone else was put in charge. Maryland seemed competent enough to handle base security, anyway, which was enough until the Alliance either sent someone to get the shipyards running for the Alliance or to dismantle them and move them to another planet that wasn't as close to Ba'al's territory.

"Is there anything else, Colonel?"

"No, sir."

Jack sighed when the colonel left and checked his tablet. Catra had sent a few pictures of a mass of kneeling Clones. It seemed Adora's visit to the captured Clones had gone as expected. They still would have to be vetted, but Jack didn't doubt that most of them would be serving in the Alliance, and on their old ships, soon enough.

He felt a bit bad about using Adora like that, but you couldn't be too choosy in war, and anything that turned enemies into allies was a godsend. Adora understood that as well, even if she complained from time to time.

Of course, Jack knew that this could, long-term, result in a mess, he knew from experience how working with religious fanatics was always a risk, but the alternatives were far worse. He'd rather deal with the Church of She-Ra than any other religion when it came to fanatics. At least Adora could be counted on to talk to her flock if there was a problem, and Jack could trust her not to abuse her power. Surely more than he could trust the preachers, priests, popes and whatever back home.

Besides, he had to worry about winning the war, not how to handle the peace afterwards. That was up to politicians, and Jack wasn't a politician.

A notice popped up on his tablet - Carter informing him that the clones, the human ones, were ready to be woken up and Jack would better head over so they could start. Well, she was far more professional about it, but that was the gist of it, so he started walking. It beats paperwork, anyway.

He reached the secure area where they had moved the clone container - Carter had flat-out rejected his suggestion to call it the Human Fridge - a few minutes later. The gang was already all there. Carter, Entrapta and Bow were bent over the consoles and gadgets, talking in tongues, and everyone else was watching and trying not to look lost.

He clapped his hands together. "So, ready for the great thawing?"

"Sir." Carter frowned at him. "They're not frozen; they're in stasis."

He grinned. "Sounds the same to me. So, how are you going to defrost them?"

She pressed her lips together, but he could see her lips twitching a little. "The process is automated. We simply have to start it and the pods will do the rest."

He looked at the various gadgets on the ground.

"We're closely monitoring the entire process, of course." She sounded a little defensive, so Jack didn't press further.

"So, let's start? Or are we waiting for someone else?"

"No, sir."

Carter had been right. It was a simple process. Also, a boring one - push a button and then wait. At least, it didn't take long until the pod opened with a soft hissing sound, which probably meant it was done.

"All vital signs are good," Carter reported. "Neural activity detected, but we can't tell yet if that's just the basic activity of a newborn clone."

The man's eyes snapped open, and he looked around. Jack waved, and Adora stepped closer. "Hello! I'm She-Ra. You must be confused, I guess, but don't worry - we're here to help you."

The man stared at her for several seconds, looking her over as if he was searching for something. "Do you serve Ba'al?" he finally asked.

"No, we don't serve Ba'al," Adora told him. "We're…"

Before she could finish, the man snarled and attacked her with his bare fists.

Well, he tried. He tripped getting out of the pod, and Adora stopped his attempted tackle with one hand. "Please! We don't mean any harm!"

But the man wasn't listening. "Glory to Ba'al! Death to his enemies!" he screamed while flailing at her.

"Please stop! We're not your enemy."

"Glory to Ba'al! Death to his enemies! "Glory to Ba'al! Death to…""

A shot from a zat stunned him and put an end to the one-sided battle.

Jack sighed. "I guess that answers the question of whether Ba'al could produce loyal clones or not."

*****​
 
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Chapter 169: Ba’al’s Machinations Part 1 New
Chapter 169: Ba'al's Machinations Part 1

Earth Orbit, Solar System, May 19th, 2000 (Earth Time)


"We'll do our best to welcome the lost fleet into our ranks, Your Divine Highness! We will also teach them how to think for themselves and make decisions about their own lives, of course - to prevent them from falling for the lies of the Goa'uld or anyone else." Priest bowed deeply. "And I offer you the thanks of everyone in the fleet for saving them before it was too late."

Adora suppressed a grimace. "We were too late and couldn't save everyone," she said. Like the clones that the Commander had had grown and mistaken for braindead out of ignorance. And Adora and her friends had personally killed several clones in the attack on Ba'al.

"If you couldn't have saved them, no one could have, Your Divine Highness." Priest smiled at her.

Well, that might be true for the Clones, but if Adora had been a bit more cautious, held back a bit, she might have saved the Commander's guards - though she would have risked them hurting her friends, or worse. She could do better, though, and so she nodded without actually acknowledging the point.

"We've also been making some progress with the other fleets we have been reaching out to," Priest went on. "Incidentally, the ability to create more of us has been a decisive factor for some of them - those who had resigned, thinking they would be the last of us. Knowing our people won't disappear but have a bright future ahead of us has saved them."

"That is good to hear, Priest," Adora told him. She was quite aware that Priest's people would also work on converting them to their faith, but if the alternative was to see entire fleets simply give up and wait to die… Adora didn't like being worshipped - who, except the Goa'uld, did? - but she would hate it if people died when they could have been saved.

"We live to follow your example, Your Divine Highness. Although we still need to find the rest of the Lost Fleet and save them from serving as Baal's unwitting puppets."

"Yes." They had not reacted to FTL-communication requests, and the ships sent to the known positions of the fleet had not found the - they had moved away. Now, there should be confusion after their Commander had been captured along with Ba'al, but Adora would have expected whoever was now in charge of the Lost Fleet to at least answer calls. "We're keeping up our efforts."

"After Ba'al's capture, his command structure should have been disrupted, causing friction or outright chaos in his forces," Priest commented. "Underlings fighting to take over or trying to carve out their own realm with whatever resources they can lay claim to. But we haven't found any evidence of that."

"We don't know the extent of his realm," Adora pointed out. "Only the bases the Commander was aware of." Which had been emptied and often razed to the ground before they arrived.

"We will find them, Your Divine Highness, and we will free all of Ba'al's slaves!"

Adora nodded again. They would indeed. Still, she had a bad feeling about this. Ba'al had been transferred to the Goa'uld holding facility on Earth and interrogation specialists were already talking to him, but the System Lord had, so far, proven completely uncooperative - and quite smug.

Something was up. Adora didn't know what, but she knew this.

And she was pretty sure that they had to find out what was going on, and as soon as possible, or the consequences would be grave. "How are the new trainees doing?"

"Oh, they are very motivated! We might have to slow down the training schedule to keep them from overworking themselves, but…"

Adora nodded as Priest started to detail the state of the new Clones training program. At least that was working as planned.

*****​

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, May 19th, 2000

"...so we are in agreement. The Alliance will hold the base taken from Ba'al and keep the shipyards running while using the base to supply operations in the area."

Adora sighed under her breath as everyone sitting at the conference table nodded. It had taken too long for her taste, but the Command Council had finally agreed on a course of action.

"We'll need to move in reinforcements and fortify the base," she said.

"We already have a task force there to guard it," the American Secretary of Defense said.

"That won't be enough," she pointed out. "And the base's current security and fortifications aren't sufficient to protect it against infiltration attempts or large ground-based attacks. We also need a larger garrison and more infrastructure to supply the fleet."

"We can send one of the new units that have been raised to take over the garrison - it will allow them to keep working up while freeing the combat unit currently stationed there for other duties," his British colleague said.

"Two birds with one stone. Although we will need a Stargate that we can move there," the German minister added.

"We've contacted the Tok'ra to see if they know a Stargate that's not known to the Goa'uld so it can be moved there without them noticing," Adora said. Of course, the Tok'ra also had asked to get some of the ships that would be built there. Which led to another decision they had to make. "Also, we need to decide if we convert the shipyard to build Alliance designs or keep producing Goa'uld ships," she said.

As Catra and Glimmer - and Sha're - had predicted, everyone agreed to convert them to produce alliance designs. But everyone disagreed about which designs should be built there and by whom.

Adora sighed, more audibly now. This would take a long while.

*****​

Research base Alpha, First Moon of Enchantment, May 20th, 2000 (Earth Time)

"I have finished the analysis of the sample you brought."

Samantha Carter looked up from her computer screen upon hearing Loki's announcement. That had been faster than she had expected from him. And he wasn't complaining about the analysis having been a waste of time. "Thank you," she told him as she opened the file on her computer.

After a few seconds of skimming the data, she nodded. "So, it was a clone." All their efforts, and it was just a body double. Worse, now the real Ba'al would be warned and might change his plans. Unless the clone never knew his actual plans.

"Yes. Whoever did the work tried to hide the signs - they probably did use a sarcophagus in the attempt - but for a scientist like me, it was obvious."

For you when using Alpha's instruments. I'd like to see you do better in the field with only a portable computer, Sam thought with some annoyance. However… "Wouldn't the sarcophagus have rejuvenated the body?"

"In the default setting, yes. But even such a crude tool could be adapted and used more creatively." Loki cocked his head in what was probably a shrug for the Asgard. "I assume they tampered with the radiation until it reversed some of its effects; the tissue showed signs of degradation that were similar to but incompatible with ageing effects."

It was just a theory, but it seemed sound. And now Sam had another nightmare-inducing scenario to ponder: the threat of being aged in such a sarcophagus. Granted, compared to being possessed by a symbiont, it would be a mercy, and you could probably use a sarcophagus to undo such an effect, but to feel your body decay like that… She shuddered.

"I also analysed the samples from the human clones," Loki went on.

"Ah?" Sam looked at him.

"I was looking for signs of what kind of research Ba'al might be doing on the Horde Clones."

That explained his interest: Loki was hoping to find data he could use for his own project. "What did you find out?"

Loki's mouth twitched in an Asgard frown. "The genetic code was left unchanged."

"Ba'al doesn't have to use genetic engineering on humans to get hosts," Sam pointed out. Unlike Asgard, humans didn't reject symbionts.

Loki frowned at her. "I had the hope that Ba'al would have used his test subjects more efficiently. But as was to be expected, the Goa'uld prefer to waste resources."

Or they didn't want to have others find out what they were doing by adding more secrets to clones planned to be expendable. But Loki was too focused on his own desires to consider this. "That's the least of their sins," Sam commented.

"Waste is one of the worst sins," Loki, of course, had to disagree. "In any case, I request all the data you can gather from his research sites. It might prove useful for my task."

"Of course." Sam rolled her eyes, but Loki had already turned away. The arrogance of that scientist… Well, she had worked with worse on Earth, but it was still very annoying.

"Will we be duplicating this experiment?"

Sam didn't jerk at Alpha's sudden question. She wouldn't give the bot the satisfaction. Instead, she slowly turned to look at the holoprojection. "There are currently no plans to clone humans," she told them.

"Why not? Using an alien symbiont to implant pre-selected memories into clones is a very original way to make cloning more efficient. If we can duplicate the way memories are passed on, we could avoid having to spend so many resources on training new scientists up to an acceptable level to do more ground-breaking research, freeing up more resources for other projects."

Sam narrowed her eyes. She knew very well that the only reason Alpha pretended to care about anything not directly related to the research done in this base was that the bot hoped to sway her into allowing her latest thoroughly unethical project. "That violates several fundamental principles of the Alliance." Not that Alpha cared about that. "And it also would cause a very high single failure point. If the memories passed on were to develop faults - or were faulty to begin with - the consequences would be dire. The Asgard are the best example for a similar result."

The holoprojection frowned but slowly nodded. "That is an argument I have not yet considered. I will now do so. Thank you." Alpha faded from view.

"I'm surrounded by single-tracked minds," Sam muttered under her breath - and made a mental note to check up on Beta's research. The other First Ones bot running a research base controlled by the Alliance had similar views on ethics and morality, namely that they were in the way of advancing science. And it fell to Sam to supervise both. Maybe she should…

Entrapta appearing in the door to Sam's office interrupted her thoughts. "Sam! Anise just called! She's coming over with her latest project! Oh, and she also has some data on Ba'al, I think."

That was good news - or so Sam hoped. After receiving confirmation that they had only captured a clone and dealing with both Loki and Alpha, Sam could use something uplifting. And Anise's latest project did sound intriguing.

*****​

Bright Moon, Etheria, May 21st, 2000 (Earth Time)

Catra stopped on the way through Bright Moon's market street. Another shop had opened up with products from Earth - or inspired by Earth products; she could tell with a glance that a lot of the merchandise were imitations. Ironically, in some cases because the quality was too good for the mass-produced wares common on Earth.

Acting on impulse, she entered the shop - maybe she'd find a gag gift for Adora or something to annoy Glimmer with. She ignored the display cases with bootlegged TV shows and movies she already knew or didn't want to know and skimmed the board games and other toys. Nothing interesting there, and the clothes seemed rather boring as well. Then again, she was used to the real thing, and once you learned to ignore the advertising that bombarded you everywhere on Earth, you soon stopped caring about most of the products as well.

Or, she added with a glance at the posters and framed pictures of various Earth actors and singers, about most of their stars. Especially those who just didn't get that they couldn't block the Stargates on both Earth and Etheria for hours to ship through a small train of tour material including their personal mobile home… The Alliance was fighting a war and needed the gates.

Whatever, it didn't look like she'd find anything that caught her fancy here. Maybe she should…

"Look, it's here!"

That voice sounded familiar… Yes, she saw two Clones approaching the shop.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Look, there in the back!"

"In the back? That sounds disrespectful!"

Disrespectful? Catra frowned. What were they talking about? Oh! She grinned when she saw the two making a beeline for the toys in the back which prominently featured a local copy of an Earth-made 'Sword of She-Ra' toy.

"See? I told you we would find one!"

"Yes! Oh, and look - there's a set of figurines of Her Divine Highness as well!"

"That wasn't here yesterday! What a find!"

Catra watched as the two bought every scrap of She-Ra merchandise for frankly inflated prices, and again when the clerk replaced the stuff with more of the same from the back. The goat-man didn't quite meet her eyes while working, probably worried about her reaction.

She didn't yet know if he had a reason to worry, but she'd find out soon - it was almost time to head back to the Palace for dinner.

*****​

Royal Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, May 21st, 2000 (Earth Time)

"...so things have been going well here in our absence. Mom's helping Dad run the kingdom."

"How is she doing?" Catra asked, cocking her head at Glimmer while she cut into her second serving of fried ice fish. She wasn't quite sure if Angella getting involved too deeply in the kingdom's politics was a good thing or not, but it was certainly important.

"Oh, she's doing…" Glimmer sighed. "...well."

Catra raised her eyebrows, then glanced at Bow, who looked amused instead of concerned. So, it wasn't anything serious but probably embarrassing. Not that he would tell.

"That's good!" Adora, of course, beamed.

"Yes." Glimmer bit a bit too forcefully in her bread roll, practically tearing a bite off with her teeth. Definitely embarrassing. And that was good. The last thing the Alliance needed was a power struggle between the two queens. Well, time to broach another topic.

"Did you know there's a significant market for She-Ra merchandise in the Horde?" Catra asked as casually as she could.

"What?" Adora stared at her.

"I saw two Clones buying every She-Ra toy in the market," Catra explained. "Overpriced or not."

"But I thought we… Oh, right. That's only Earth," Adora said. "We didn't make any agreements for Etheria."

"People are fleecing the Clones with She-Ra toys?" Glimmer asked. "In Bright Moon?"

"And probably elsewhere," Catra added. "Looked like they have a good supply of the stuff." She might ask Scorpia if she had any idea - it was one thing if the toys were made by hand, another if someone was using a factory.

"But… those are toys?" Adora shook her head. "Are they playing with them?"

"Many people collect toys," Bow said. "It's a nice hobby."

And you're one of them, Catra thought. Though he probably didn't collect She-Ra toys - he was already spending a lot on genuine Earth figurines and 'simulation games'. "They probably put them up on their shrines," she said.

And now Adora looked queasy.

"Do you want me to ban the sales?" Glimmer asked. "It's your, ah, likeness they're abusing. And they're exploiting the Clones."

"No." Adora shook her head. "No, that would be unfair."

"You could start up a line of official merchandise," Catra suggested. "Approved by you and with the profits going to charity or so." The Clones in her church would probably consider the stuff blessed.

Adora stared at her. "I'm not going to profit from people who worship me! That would be… disgusting!"

"That's why you'd use the profits for charity," Catra said. "If you don't do it, others will keep the profits for themselves."

Adora pouted. "It's still wrong! I'd feel dirty doing that. Like ordering people to donate money - donations should be voluntary!"

She had a point, but it still meant others would profit from her followers. Maybe Catra should have a talk with Priest. If he wasn't already aware of it, he would like to know this.

"So… how are relations with the other kingdoms?" Adora asked in a transparent attempt to change the subject.

"Ah, nothing's much changed." Glimmer shrugged. "Sweet Bee is still trying to get control of the Stargate, but her coalition is too divided to do anything."

And too weak even if they were united. Especially during the war.

Catra nodded. It looked like things were well enough at home.

*****​

Alliance Base Lübtheen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, May 22nd, 2000

"...and this, General O'Neill, is our prototype of the Composite Vision Enhancer and Protector System."

Jack O'Neill could hear the 'trademarked' added to the name as the salesman - sure, his official title was 'something-manager', but he was here to sell something - gestured at a man dressed in bulkier combat fatigues including gloves and what looked like a standard Kevlar helmet with a diving mask and a gas mask attached. He made a noncommittal noise and circled the man while the salesman prattled on.

"As you can see…" The Salesman gestured to the model, who reached up, fiddled with the edges of the mask, and then pulled it off. "...it's based on modularity. You can detach the BC-protector for missions that do not need it and keep the Vision Enhancer, greatly improving the user's experience. The same goes for the gloves."

The man stashed the gas mask - Jack wasn't going to call it a 'BC-Protector', trademarked - in a familiar-looking pouch at his belt and then pulled off the gloves and stuffed them in the same pouch.

"So, Mr Delgado… you basically added an NBC suit to the fatigues and a seal to the helmet?" Jack raised his eyebrows at the salesman.

The man didn't even blush. "The suit including the boots and the helmet were designed from the ground up; you can't just add a protector system to the current fatigues or helmet."

"Actually, you can," Jack told him. "It's just that it comes as an outer suit you wear over your uniform. Like our old NBC suits."

"But that would add more weight to a soldier and would take more time to put on in an emergency. With our system, they already wear the suit and sealed boots and can quickly protect themselves against attacks by biological or chemical agents without significantly reducing their effectiveness in the field. Not to mention that the integrated NV-goggles offer superior performance compared to the current technology."

Jack doubted that - the suit did look a little cumbersome, probably barely any less restrictive than the old NBC suit he was used to. "Still looks like you just moved some parts around and called it a day."

"We've been developing the system for some time, General. The recent submission request from the Alliance for an advanced combat uniform that included NBC protection was merely a coincidence. Unlike our competitor, we have a finished product."

That was probably true. Jack doubted even a scummy company could have thrown together such a proposal in that time. Still… it looked a lot like the suits they already had. Since the Cold War, actually. Jack doubted that it offered enough of an upgrade to justify the cost of replacing the current gear. And it made you look like some overweight German soldier from World War I.

But it was the first proposal the Alliance had received, and Jack knew better than to dismiss it without testing it. "So, let's see how my troops do with it!"

"We're ready for a field test, General." Delgado smiled.

*****​

A few hours later, after the sales delegation had left and his soldiers were back at base cleaning up, Jack O'Neill was typing up his preliminary report. The suit had actually performed pretty decently. Better than he had expected. The seals had held up to testing, you could move around better than in the old suits - though you still felt the weight, and it got more than a little hot in the whole getup if you were out through your paces - and his troops had quickly gotten the hang of it, including the night-vision mask and the radio attachment. 'Usability', as Delgado had called it, had been improved indeed. The whole system, except for the stupid name, was a solid product that was a distinct improvement over the current NBC gear.

Unfortunately, that was all it was. Anyone could see that it had been developed before the arrival of the Etherians. It didn't integrate magitech or advanced technology, it wasn't rated for space or low-atmosphere conditions - it wasn't rated for amphibian operations, either - and while it was laced with Kevlar, it didn't offer any better protection than the current vests, and if you added the optional 'Hard Protector', which was the new fancy name for a vest with ceramic plates, the weight increased considerably. And Jack had no doubt that if they managed to increase protection to the point the vest could withstand a staff blast, it would weigh even more.

No, in his honest opinion, the thing simply wasn't offering enough of an improvement over the current NBC suits the Alliance used. And compared to the Horde uniforms, it was clearly inferior.

And, while not official, Jack had asked Delgado about production capacity. It would take years to deliver enough of the suits to equip the US forces, much less the entire Alliance. Even just equipping Jack's special forces would take until the end of the year since the factories had yet to gear up for a production run. If they wanted it faster, the Alliance would have to build more factories and license production. In short, they would be paying a fortune for a suit that would be obsolete when it reached the troops.

Too bad for Mr Delgado, but the Alliance wouldn't buy his company's product. Jack added his conclusion to the end of the report, checked that the videos and pictures were attached properly, and sent the thing to Alliance Headquarters.

With that done, he could return to trying to figure out how to deal with Ba'al.

*****​

Royal Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, May 23rd, 2000 (Earth Time)

"...and I was shocked, shocked beyond belief when I discovered how my brethren are treated on Earth. Raised to be enslaved and abused their entire lives, then slaughtered to feed dogs when they are too old to work! How can you people allow this crime? Even worse, some humans eat horses! That's cannibalism! I must…"

Adora turned the tablet off and sighed. Swift Wind's interview on Earth had caused quite a few issues. Well, his interview paired with a report about horse slaughterhouses… Who had thought that it was a good idea to allow that?

Right, freedom of the press, she reminded herself. Earth people could be so stupid at times! Well, they had to deal with the mess now. Adora wasn't going to tell a bunch of mostly girls that eating horses was fine and not cannibalism, or that using horses for anything but riding them wasn't slavery. That was their problem, not hers.

"And if they continue to bother me with their requests, I'm going to give an interview and tell them that it is cannibalism and slavery!" she muttered as she lay back on the bed.

"Hm?" Catra stepped out of the bathroom with a towel on her head… and nothing else.

"Adora?"

"What? Sorry!" Adora blurted out, blushing a little. And a bit more at Catra's smirk. "Just venting about the horse issue."

"You mean the Crusade Against Cannibalism?" Catra sat down on the bed and stretched.

"They're really calling it that?"

"Brown said something about 'alliteration gone wrong', but apparently, PETA is known for such stuff and was pretty effective." Catra shrugged. "He also said that the 'agro lobby' was being idiots for trying to counter it with the claim that it isn't cannibalism if it is a different species was making things worse for them instead of better even though it was technically correct." She snorted.

Adora frowned. "You talked to Mister Brown about that?"

Catra gave her a look. "I had to know how bad it was before the Alliance drags you into this mess."

Ah. Adora smiled at that. "Thank you."

"Someone has to shield you from trying to solve every problem," Catra replied with a snort. "Anyway, it's not our problem. We don't eat horses in Bright Moon. And we don't use them to pull wagons or ploughs either."

Well, Adora remembered Micah commenting about the costs of sheltering much of Etheria's horse population, but it hadn't seemed to be a real problem either. And it wasn't her problem.

Though without She-Ra, Swift Wind wouldn't exist, she reminded herself. In a way, she had caused all of this… "Ow!" She jerked and glared at Catra, who was slowly retracting the claw that had been poking Adora's calf.

"You were blaming yourself for this," Catra told her with a frown.

"I…" Adora sighed, and Catra snorted again.

"It's not your fault, you idiot."

Adora sighed. Catra meant well, but… Hm. Maybe this was the time to address it. "You know, you don't have to keep blaming yourself, either."

Catra tensed. "I'm not blaming myself for things that weren't my fault," she said, turning her head away.

Adora sighed once more. "Not everything you did was, well…"

"I had a choice!" Catra snapped. "I know what I did. And why."

"And you changed," Adora replied.

Catra didn't answer and hugged herself, pulling her knees to her chest.

Adora wanted to reach out and hug her, but… her lover was still too tense. "You changed to do the right thing," she said instead. Damn, that sounded stupid!

"It doesn't make up for what I did wrong."

"That's not how it works," Adora objected.

"You have to right what you did wrong. That's how it works." Catra turned her head slightly to look at her from the corners of her eye. "And I broke too much to fix it."

"That's not how it works! It's not some…" Adora shook her head. "If you do something nice for someone, it's not OK to hurt them afterwards, is it?"

Catra blinked. "That's… what?"

Adora bit her lower lip, feeling her cheeks heat up a little. She hadn't really thought this through. She shouldn't have started this without being prepared. But she couldn't stop now. "It's not a question of… balancing things. It's about changing so you aren't the person who did all this any more." She stopped herself before she said 'growing up'.

"That doesn't help the people I hurt."

"Someone told me we can't help everyone," Adora said.

"But we should help those we hurt," Catra shot back.

"We are. We're fighting the Goa'uld to protect everyone," Adora pointed out. "And we saved everyone when we stopped the Heart of Etheria. We are helping," she repeated herself.

"It's not the same," Catra protested.

This time, Adora reached out and pulled Catra into a hug. Her lover squirmed some, still tense, but didn't really resist. And Adora could feel her relax a little once she was in her lap. "You aren't the same either. Not any more."

Catra sighed deeply - Adora could feel her shiver, could feel her muscles tense and relax again - but didn't object.

Adora counted that as a win.

After a moment, Catra said: "That doesn't mean you can keep blaming yourself for everything."

Adora snorted softly and hugged her more tightly.

*****​

Royal Palace, Dryl, Etheria, May 24th, 2000 (Earth Time)

"So, this is my home. Kinda - I don't really spend that much time here, actually - well, not the majority of my time, if you tally everything. I'm still here a lot of time, relatively. It's just that the Spacelab is more modern, and Alpha has more First Ones technology and that fascinating data bank, and you said we need to keep an eye on Loki, and I can't neglect Darla or she'll think I don't like her any more, and every time I'm here I need to deal with the ruling things… But! The kitchen here makes the best tiny food! And I have all my first bots here! Well, those that survived that tiny little First Ones virus accident."

Samantha Carter nodded as she looked around. She had been here before, but not very often, though nothing seemed to have changed.

Anise, though, was visiting for the first time. And she seemed a little apprehensive. "Virus accident?"

"Oh, don't worry - it was a computer virus that made all my bots - well, all with First Ones technology, which were all of them - attack me and my friends. Perfectly harmless for people. Except for if you're a First One, I guess, though that was just the one time."

Anise nodded. She was taking Entrapta's explanation better than Sam had, back when she had first visited. She didn't seem to question the safety of the lab here, what with what looked like two dozen bots in various states of repair lining the walls, and more parts stacked on shelves.

Hordak, on the other hand, had ignored the whole discussion and gone straight to one of the consoles at the wall, next to the fabber.

"So… let's do science!" Entrapta beamed.

Sam nodded. The Alliance had to deal with Ba'al before he could create an army of loyal and skilled clones, but there was nothing Sam and her friends could do about that at the moment; they were waiting for the spy bot network and the interrogation of Ba'al's clone to get results. So, they were free to use their time to pursue other projects. Such as Anise's proposal.

"You brought the prototypes?" Entrapta asked, craning her neck to look at the bag Anise carried with her.

"They're not exactly prototypes. I didn't design them - I found them."

"But they could be prototypes, just made by someone else!"

Anise blinked, then nodded. "I don't know enough to disprove that theory." She reached into the bag and pulled out several devices.

Sam took a closer look while Entrapta reached out with her hair and grabbed one. They were roughly shaped like cylinders, a bit too large to easily fit Sam's palm, with several buttons and a large crystal set into one end. If the General were here, he'd joke about lightsabers. They did look a little bit like… She frowned. They looked familiar.

"We recovered them from a fallen civilisation. We don't know if they were designed as tools or weapons," Anise explained, "but they allow you to manipulate gravity. Let me demonstrate."

She grabbed one of the cylinders and pushed a button, causing the crystal to light up. Then she pointed it at one of the bots in a corner and pressed another button. A moment later, the bot began to float. And so did the tools next to it.

"You can reduce or increase gravity in its area of effect. You narrow or widen the area of effect, but that affects the strength of the field," Anise went on, showing the controls.

"Oh! It's much more compact than our own technology!" Entrapta beamed. "If we can adapt that, we could enhance all our vehicles!"

"We haven't been able to decipher the technology," Anise said with a frown. "We do know it's powered by magic; the device doesn't work unless it's on a planet where magic has been restored."

"Oh! It's a magic device?" Entrapta beamed. "That would explain its size!" Then she frowned. "But that would also mean we can't use it in space… Unless we adapt it to magitech!"

"That was what we were hoping for," Anise said with a smile.

Sam blinked. She had seen some of those symbols before… "The cube!" she blurted out.

"The cube?" Anise frowned.

"Oh, the cube!" Entrapta gasped. "You're right!"

"The cube?" Anise repeated herself.

"Yes. The design elements do match some of the cube's," Hordak agreed.

"We found an alien data cube some time ago," Sam said. "Our attempts to decipher it haven't been successful."

"Well, we haven't really focused on it - there was so much else to do," Entrapta added. "But! If you found those devices in the ruins of their makers, we could probably find more clues about their civilisation to help with that!"

Sam nodded. If they had more examples of the unknown aliens' technology to study, they should be able to crack the encryption.

"I see." Anise nodded. "Unfortunately, we recovered the devices from a Goa'uld's vault. There were no clues about their origin."

"And the Goa'uld?" Hordak asked.

"Dead." Anise sounded slightly sorry.

"Well… maybe we can find out more through analysing the devices," Entrapta said.

Sam nodded, though she wasn't very hopeful.

"And we can work on that armour project," Hordak added.

Right. The other reason they visited Entrapta's palace.

*****​

Above the Atlantic, Earth, May 25th, 2000

"...and asked to comment on the fact that several Senators have proposed bills to enshrine the use of horses on farms and for other purposes as part of America's cultural heritage, Swift Wind stated that he wouldn't expect anything else from people who celebrated human slavery as their cultural heritage but expressed his hope that the rest of America would have moved past that dark time of their country's history…"

Sitting in a window seat on the shuttle to Greenland, Catra snorted at the outrage Swift Wind's statement had caused in the United States. "Gotta hand it to him; he did his homework."

"...although he also rebuked the claim from a PETA spokesperson that animals who could not live in the wild should be euthanised, stating that 'murdering those who have been forced to depend on you is even worse than forcing them to depend on you in the first place', and firmly denied that he supported PETA's proposal to cull most livestock animals, so..."

Catra shook her head. Whenever she thought Earth's people couldn't surprise her any more, they went and did something she wouldn't have thought possible.

"Meanwhile, the French Parliament is still debating whether or not horse meat should be considered part of the cultural and gastronomical heritage of France. While some representatives from rural areas supported the notion and planned to add more controversial food to a proposed law, others denied that horse meat was a traditional French dish and decried it as a stereotype…"

"Do you have to watch that?"

Catra looked up from her tablet and grinned at Adora. "We have to keep informed of Earth's political movements."

"It's not a political movement!" her lover insisted. "It's just a… Jack called it a 'flash in a pan'."

Catra made a sceptical noise. "Have you seen the clips of little girls protesting against the 'enslavement and eating of horses'? How many Earth politicians do you think will jump at the chance to get their support?"

Adora frowned at her. "I got a ton of letters asking me to 'smite the bad horse murderers'."

"You're their champion - you ride Swift Wind." Catra shrugged. "At least it has drowned out the 'Clones have no souls' campaign the religious fanatics launched."

Adora didn't look happy about that. Catra cocked her head to the side and looked at her.

Her lover sighed. "Priest is already looking for a planet to settle 'homeless horses' on, and for bot designs to take care of them. Because that supposedly is 'the least we can do for the sacred steed' of She-Ra."

Catra chuckled at that - until she remembered how many horses were on Earth, and how much such a move would strain the Alliance's logistics. "Let's hope he's waiting with that until after the war."

Adora nodded.

Catra went back to skimming the news on her tablet. They would soon arrive at Thule base.

*****​

Thule Air Force Base, Greenland, Earth, May 25th, 2000

"...and all our specialists agree that this Ba'al honestly believes that he is the original Ba'al and not a clone," Major Bradbeck explained.

Catra frowned. "He tried to kill himself." She didn't think Ba'al would do that.

"We think that this was the result of a mental conditioning he was subjected to, to ensure he wouldn't be caught - or to ensure he would not attempt to usurp the original. However, that is mere speculation; even with the new intel from the Tok'ra, we have not been able to confirm that. It would also be possible that Ba'al, the original, given his age, is or was slightly delusional, and that was passed on to his clones," Bradbeck went on.

"Delusional?" Adora asked.

"None of the other Goa'uld prisoners have attempted suicide," Bradbeck replied. "Ba'al's clone might honestly believe that by killing himself, he will return somehow. Or that might be part of the suspected mental conditioning. Even after his poison glands were surgically removed, we had to place him on a suicide watch to keep him from attempting to end his life in his habitat by other means."

Catra pressed her lips together. She was far too familiar with that kind of mental conditioning. She had almost succeeded, too. If not for Adora… She felt a hand close around hers and squeeze, and glanced to her side.

Adora smiled gently at her, Catra nodded, taking a deep breath.

"What can we do about that?" Adora asked. "We can't let him kill himself because he's forced to by Ba'al."

Bradbeck grimaced for a moment. "We've started therapy for him, but…" He spread his hands as if it was his fault. "...none of our psychologists and psychiatrists has much if any experience with Goa'uld patients."

"And you've been focusing on gaining actionable intel," Catra added.

"Yes. Our orders made finding out where Ba'al and his bases are a priority."

"Did you have any success so far?" Adora asked.

"We think we're making progress, but as I said, so far, we have not gained any confirmed intel. We have several theories based on a few comments of his that need to be investigated, and we hope the Tok'ra's efforts will bear fruit in that area, but the special conditions under which we operate - the lack of direct contact, the fact he's an alien and has to use a keyboard to communicate - make it a challenge to gain any intel from the subject."

Catra was aware of that. And she didn't expect much, anyway. Not at this point. Not until they could break down whatever mind control Ba'al had used on the clone.

"We'll bring in more people to work on this. People familiar with similar cases," Adora said. "Can we see him now?"

"Ah, yes, of course. But I have to warn you - he's very uncooperative."

"We know," Adora said, and Catra chuckled despite the situation. That was putting it mildly.

*****​
 
Chapter 170: Ba’al’s Machinations Part 2 New
Chapter 170: Ba'al's Machinations Part 2

Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, May 27th, 2000


"Come in!" Jack O'Neill yelled when he heard the doorbell ring. "We're in the backyard."

"We know," Sha're told him as she stepped on the porch. "We saw it on the approach." She nodded at him, then at Teal'c. "Hello!"

Teal'c nodded back at her and then returned to watching the grill as if he expected it to attack him.

"I figured that was you," Jack replied. She had passed the test and was now qualified to pilot shuttles, after all - Daniel had told him. In detail.

"Oh?" She frowned. "Did I mess up the landing?"

"Not exactly. But none of the security teams coming in fly over my yard, and Carter always takes the straight approach," Jack explained as he shifted some of the plates with steaks and sausages around on the table after checking the spices.

"Hi, Teal'c! You did fine, honey," Daniel said as he joined them. "I dropped the drinks off on the table, and the potato salad is in the fridge."

"Daniel! You've got it backwards!" Jack shook his head with a snort. "The beer goes in the fridge!" He blinked. "Unless you brought it in the new coolers we got."

"We don't have one of those coolers," Daniel said.

"We're not in the Special Forces," Sha're added as she sat in one of the chairs on the lawn. "So we don't have access to one."

"And we wouldn't steal military medical equipment to transport beer even if we were." Daniel frowned at both of them.

Jack faked a gasp. "Steal? I'm testing them! Can't trust the lives of my troops to something that might break down in the field, can I?" Besides, if he wanted a portable high-tech cooler for his beer, he'd just ask Entrapta. OK, he'd probably get a fridge-bot that could float or something if he did it, but he'd get it. Carter would frown at him for it, of course, but mostly because she hadn't thought of it.

"Hm." Actually, a floating bot to dispense cool drinks and stuff in the field would be a neat thing. Like one of those Ice Cream Barges the Navy pukes used to have, just sized for a company or platoon. It could double as an emergency stretcher, too. And maybe make it heat up meals as well. On the other hand, all the power needed for the thing would probably make hiding from the enemy a lot harder unless it could use a stealth generator…

"Jack?" Sha're frowned at him.

Daniel sighed. "I don't know what he's thinking, but it can't be good."

"Daniel!" Jack pouted. "I was merely going over a potential addition to the Alliance arsenal in my head."

"Didn't you tell everyone that there wouldn't be any talk about the war this evening? If Sam hears that…"

Jack frowned at him. That was hitting below the belt! "It was just an idle thought," he said. "And don't you dare tell Carter, or she'll be behind her laptop all evening, doing some remote work on Etheria!"

"I think the communication lag makes that inefficient," Teal'c commented.

"I'm sure she can think of something she can do," Jack replied. Carter had mentioned once that it was actually possible to work remotely across the distance, but frustrating since you had to wait so long for everything, and some fine manipulations were impossible. "But not today! Today is for relaxing. Just us!" SG-1 (and Sha're, since she was kind of an honourary member by now). He hadn't invited the Etherians, but they were busy doing princessly or politician-ly things anyway, what with all the talk about horses' rights. If he didn't know any better, he'd thought that this was all a ploy to distract the idiots in Congress and in the media from the Clones rights issue. It was working, anyway - the news was full of people screaming about tradition or horse murder, not idiots talking about whether or not Clones had souls or were the devil's tools or whatever.

"And speaking of… She's late." He checked his watch with a frown. Should he call her to check that she hadn't forgotten the time while working on another alien problem?

"It's just been five minutes," Daniel said.

"It's Carter," Jack said. "You know how punctual she is. If she…" He trailed off and cocked his head to the side. That sounded like…

"I believe that that is her shuttle," Teal'c spoke up.

"Yeah." At least, Jack hoped so.

The shuttle did take the optimal route to the landing pad, set down, and lifted off a minute later — just enough time to drop off a passenger.

And half a minute later, the doorbell rang again.

"Come in, Carter!" Jack yelled, smiling. "We're about to start! If you have food, drop it off in the kitchen, if you have drinks, drop them in the fridge, if you brought work, in the trash it goes!"

"I didn't bring any work, sir," Carter said with a slight frown as she stepped on the lawn a little later. "Hello, Daniel, Sha're, Teal'c."

"Sam! How are you doing?" Daniel smiled at her.

"No talk about work!" Jack cut in at once. "I've spent the whole week discussing plans to deal with Ba'al before he builds up a clone army and fleet, I don't want to spend my weekend doing the same!" Not when they all had to wait until their recon ships, spy bots and Tok'ra operatives had still to find Ba'als other hidden bases before they could actually do anything but waste time on hypotheticals."

Carter frowned at him again, but there was something… was she smirking? "Alright, so I won't bore you all with talks about our latest project, new armoured uniforms and exoskeletons for the Alliance."

She was definitely smirking when she grabbed a bottle of beer and took a seat.

And now Jack couldn't ask for the inside information about the new armour Carter and Entrapta were building without looking like a hypocrite! He frowned at her, then at his grinning friends. Even Teal'c was smiling - kind of.

Grumbling, he grabbed the first two steaks to put them on the grill.

*****​

Etheria System, May 29th, 2000 (Earth Time)

"...and this is Her Divine Highness, She-Ra, Princess of Power and Supreme Commander of the Alliance against the Goa'uld!"

As Adora forced herself to smile and stepped forward, the Clones assembled in the hangar of the future flagship of the Fourth Fleet cheered loudly.

This isn't as bad as I feared, she thought as she approached the lectern at the edge of the stage. They're just cheering. That's normal.

As if someone had read her thoughts, the first row started to bow, followed by the other rows. It almost felt orchestrated - she couldn't tell who amongst the Clones was a veteran from Third Fleet now serving as cadre in the Fourth Fleet and who was a fresh recruit from the Lost Fleet of (formerly) Ba'al's forces - and she shot a glance at Priest, who had announced her, but the Clone's expression was as polite as ever. Which probably meant he had planned this - hadn't he asked Jack about fan choreographies or something recently?

Well, this wasn't the time to ask further questions. She stifled her sigh and addressed the assembled Clones: "Please, stand."

They straightened at once and changed to parade rest. If Catra were here - her lover had taken a detour to Alpha - she would comment about how sharp the formation looked, followed by some remark about how no unit ready for inspection was ready for combat.

"I am happy to see so many of you here, willing to not only leave your past behind you but to fight for your and everyone's future," she began. "The Alliance doesn't fight to conquer but to liberate. Not to destroy our enemies but to protect those in need. Not for revenge but for justice. Not with malice but with mercy. Those of you who were part of the Lost Fleet, those of you who fought the Alliance, we welcome you in our ranks, and we do not condemn you for your past."

She let her gaze sweep over the ranks, trying to impress on everyone how serious she was.

"All of us here - including me - once fought for Horde Prime." Indirectly, as she had served Hordak and Horde Prime hadn't even known what Hordak was doing on Etheria, and technically, she hadn't actually fought in the Horde war before she deserted, but she had been raised in the Horde, just like the Clones had. "And all of us realised how wrong that was." Some sooner than others, of course. But Adora wouldn't judge. "We realised this despite being manipulated from birth, raised in ignorance of the truth and indoctrinated to obey blindly and not question orders and rules - and learned to make up excuses for anything that didn't fit and to ignore that for which there were no excuses."

If she were speaking to Alliance soldiers on Etheria or Earth, there would be a reaction by now. For good or ill, people would whisper and shout and make themselves known.

Not the Clones. They stood in silence, at attention, listening intently.

Adora suppressed a wince and raised her chin. "All of us here are willing to fight to save others from the same fate. To free those who are held in slavery, in chains both literal as well as made from ignorance and lies, ruled by and worshipping false gods. This is what the Alliance stands for: The right of every sapient being to be free to decide their own fate. This is what we are fighting for - and this is why we fight the Goa'uld.

"They not only deceive people into worshipping them and brutally oppress everyone they can, they also possess people, dooming their hosts to become prisoners in their own bodies. They remove even the least shred of power, the least shred of dignity their victims have, all in the name of gathering more power and more control over everyone else.

"And they have done so for thousands of years, unchallenged and undefeated, spreading untold pain and misery across the galaxy.

"Until the Alliance. Until we decided to fight them. To save their victims. And to ensure they cannot oppress anyone ever again. That is why we - all of us, you and me - are here. We'll be fighting for everyone, and we will win!"

For a moment, silence reigned after she finished. Then the first Clone started to cheer, and a moment later, the entire hangar full of people was screaming and yelling.

Adora smiled. This was why she was serving as the Supreme Commander of the Alliance - to lead and inspire those who fought the good fight.

Then the chanting started. "She-Ra! She-Ra! She-Ra!"

That wasn't too bad, either. The Princess Alliance had chanted her name on occasion as well.

But then the Clones started bowing again.

*****​

Alliance Base Lübtheen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, May 30th, 2000

"...and this is the Improved Combat Armour Mark III! It is vacuum-rated, which means it also resists chemical and biological weapons, well, most of them - Alpha mentioned some First Ones prototypes of biological weapons that might eat through the armour, though you can argue that those are actually a physical attack just on the nano-scale, so while the effect is similar to acid, which would be a chemical attack, I think we still meet all the requirements the Alliance demanded."

Samantha Carter nodded when the General looked at her after Entrapta's short speech. "Technically, the nano-plague Alpha mentioned could be seen as a biological attack since the nanites are based on living organisms, yet the attack vector uses physical force, but the side effects include a fog made up from the disassembled material, which is often but not always toxic, especially when inhaled. Albeit if that were to be ruled a chemical attack, then any attack that sets a target on fire would have to be classified in a similar way since burning vehicles often release toxic fumes," she added.

The General stared at her. "I wasn't concerned with the legalities. I wanted to know if we actually have that stuff."

"No, sir. The samples were destroyed on the Supreme Commander's orders," Sam replied.

"But we could make a new batch if you wanted," Entrapta unhelpfully added. "We kept all the data in case someone else re-invents it and we need to counter it."

"That's very reassuring," the General commented with a grimace.

Entrapta completely missed his sarcasm and nodded with a beaming smile. "I know, right? Imagine deleting all the data!"

Sam cleared her throat and gestured at the soldier wearing the armour. "As you can see, this is just the armoured suit; we are still working on the armoured exoskeleton." She wasn't going to call it 'power armour'. Not after a quick internet search.

"It looks like a Horde uniform with the evil symbols filed off," the General said.

Sam frowned at that. That was factually incorrect in more than one sense. "This is a new design, sir. But as form follows function, similarities to existing designs could not be avoided."

"And that's a good thing!" Entrapta chimed in. "We think we can retool some of the factories in the Scorpion Kingdom to produce the suits. Or re-retool, in a sense, since those factories used to produce Horde uniforms."

Sam met the raised eyebrows and slight smirk of the General without flinching and continued: "It's composed of an insulated undersuit on top of which the armour plates and a sealant gel that resists kinetic and thermal energy are added."

"That sounds like you glued the plates on the suit."

"In a very simplified manner, that is correct," Sam said, smiling at the General's surprise. The gel was, after all, the real heart of the design. The undersuit was known technology, just a slightly tweaked version of Entrapta's spacesuit design, and the rigid armour plates were only advanced technology since they used the same material as Horde ships and vehicles. But the sealant was the key. Not only did it hold the plates in place and provided an additional layer of armour underneath them, reducing spalling and protecting the insulated undersuit, but it also absorbed both kinetic and thermal energy and served as flexible armour over the joints and other moving parts of the suit. "The sealant coating can resist a staff weapon blast, and the plates will repel multiple impacts."

"What about zats?" the General asked.

"An uncompromised armour will resist two shots from a zat'nik'tel. A third in rapid succession will render the armour non-functional, though the wearer should still survive it."

"Non-functional?"

"Mostly disintegrated, sir."

"I see. And how heavy is that stuff?"

"The weight depends on the size, but it is comparable to the full interceptor multi-threat body armour system used by the US Army," Sam replied.

"That means it's heavier than that stuff," the General said.

"The weight is better distributed," Sam pointed out. "And it provides much-improved mobility."

"Well, let's put that to the test, shall we?" He grinned.

"The helmet is fully sealed, with enhanced vision and a HUD display and offers both an air and liquid filter system and an autonomous air supply with carbon-dioxide scrubbers and an integrated communication system that can be upgraded to include FTL range, though this will require an additional repeater module to be carried by at least one person in the unit," Sam finished. She had prepared for the presentation, and she wouldn't let the General cut it short.

"And it can link up with other systems and sensors, providing you a complete picture based on all the data we have - everyone will know everything!" Entrapta beamed. "You can see through walls as long as one sensor in the network covers the area behind the wall, but that might cause a bit of disorientation - you need to be careful not to run into the walls if you use it."

"Alright. Sounds funky. Let's see how it holds up in the field!"

Sam nodded at the soldier serving as a mannequin, and he walked over to the other test pilots waiting at the edge of the assault course.

The General addressed the soldiers. "It's a live fire exercise. Make sure you're only shooting the bots. We don't want to test the armour the hard way."

"Oh, unless you're using armour-piercing rounds, the armour should hold up," Entrapta said. "We extensively tested it against small arms. Though if the rounds hit a non-rigid spot, it might still hurt."

The General frowned at her, then glared at his soldiers. "That doesn't mean you can get sloppy. I'll be watching the entire run and I'll rate it as an exercise. Don't disappoint me!"

The four soldiers nodded and grabbed their weapons, then started the test. Sam didn't think they were slowed down by the armour, but she wasn't as familiar with the Special Forces as the General, and he was watching in silence.

It wasn't until they finished that he nodded. "Decent time. We'll have to do a few more runs, but it looks like you've got a solid design there."

"We need more testing," Sam pointed out - these were prototypes, rushed to get into testing - but she agreed with his assessment. However, it would take some more time to get the design approved for production. Unfortunately, the work on the armoured exoskeleton was not nearly as advanced; they had only started on that while the armoured suits had been a side project for some time. And the exoskeleton would take much longer to get into production afterwards - if it was approved in the first place.

*****​

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, June 5th, 2000

"...and Ba'al's clone has tried twice more to commit suicide in the same manner despite the fact he must have realised that this would not work. Our analysts agree that he is becoming more unstable the longer he cannot obey the - implanted or imprinted - urge to kill himself, leading to a complete mental breakdown. Depending on the results, this might provide an opportunity to gain his cooperation."

Catra winced at the report from the intelligence officer. Not because she felt pity for the cloned snake since she could empathise with his mental state and he wasn't really to blame for it - Ba'al must have cloned him for this fate. No, it was the intel officer's hopeful tone at using that to break the prisoner that made her cringe. That wouldn't go over well with Adora.

"Colonel Lenny!" Adora snapped. "The Alliance does not let prisoners suffer mental breakdowns to interrogate them! We're better than this!"

To his credit, the Colonel didn't falter much under her glare. "Supreme Commander, we're trying all we can to help the prisoner, but the mental conditioning has proven to be too strong for our attempts so far - Ba'al's clone is resisting our efforts. We can only hope that once his mental state degrades further, this will change and allow us to help him."

Catra had heard excuses from soldiers for messing up before, and she wasn't convinced that the Colonel actually gave a damn about the prisoner, but Adora slowly nodded, seemingly mollified. Well, it wasn't as if they could do anything else - even She-Ra's magic couldn't heal whatever had been done to the clone's mind.

"So, basically, Ba'al's clone hasn't provided us with any actionable intel so far?" General Naird didn't sound like he was asking more than rhetorically.

"That's not entirely correct, sir," the Colonel replied. "He did boast about his future revenge, and how he will return, and has been getting more detailed in his threats as his attempts to suicide remain unsuccessful. This has resulted in several leads we can pursue with the help of the Tok'ra. We assume, based on some of his rants, that he's not focusing on building Horde frigates and other warships but planning to build shipyards, both mobile Horde fleet train units and planet-based shipyards such as the one we captured, while he perfects his cloning technology so he can then surge his enemies with rapidly expanding numbers of ships and crews."

Catra pressed her lips together. That meant that they had a shrinking window of opportunity to stop Ba'al without taking huge casualties in the process. She'd have preferred it if Ba'al had taken less of a gamble and gone for more warships from the start.

Naird, though, looked positively surprised. "So, we just have to nip his build-up in the bud before it reaches critical mass?"

"Effectively, yes, sir," the Colonel replied in a tone that clearly said that things weren't so simple.

Naird nodded. "Good. All that remains is finding his shipyards then. And taking them from him like we took his first base."

"We have to find them first, General," Adora pointed out. "And while the Tok'ra are focusing on this, and we're launching as many recon missions as we can, we have yet to find one of Ba'al's other bases."

Catra nodded. The bastard had taken a page out of Horde Prime's books and kept his forces compartmentalised. None of the Clones from the Lost Ships knew where the other parts of Ba'al's forces were. The captured Jaffa, those who had converted, had been a bit more helpful, but they only knew some planets under Ba'al's control, and none of those had any shipyards.

"And we'll have not only to staff the shipyards but also man the ships they produce," Admiral Biggs said. "That will take time."

Admiral Brown-Emerson shook his head. "If the most recently captured base is any indication, then we can expect the majority of the workers to convert to our side thanks to your efforts, Supreme Commander." He smiled at Adora.

And of Priest, Catra mentally added. "We cannot count on that for the future," she said. "We know that Ba'al is already cloning workers who are far more fanatical in following him." The ones they had found in the base had not shown any signs of defecting to the Alliance - or converting to the Church of She-Ra.

"But those clones have yet to observe the Supreme Commander's personal power," the admiral objected. "We know that such displays have shaken the faith of fanatical Jaffa warriors in the past - and of Horde Clones who were imprinted to obey Horde Prime unto death."

Adora shifted on her seat, Catra noticed. "That happened after I removed Horde Prime, not before," her lover said. "We can't count on that."

"And we shouldn't be using a made-up religion to convert the slaves of the Goa'uld," Admiral Biggs added. "They worshipped fake gods all their lives; they deserve better."

Adora blinked before she frowned. "Believe me, I don't like being worshipped, but that's a choice people made and I won't deny them their freedom of religion."

"But it's a made-up religion! Even you agree with that - and you are their idol!" Biggs protested.

"All religions are made up," Catra cut in, flashing her teeth at the man. "Yours isn't any better."

"Catra!" Adora hissed.

"I don't think this is the place for that discussion," General Steiner said. "Nor should the Alliance judge any religion's worth."

"Except for the Goa'uld's," General Naird added. "They are fake gods fooling their worshippers with lies and tricks."

"We don't prohibit people from worshipping the Goa'uld either," Adora said. "Freedom of religion applies to every religion."

The other members of the Command Council nodded at that, but Catra saw that Biggs and a few others did so rather reluctantly. Though, she suspected, for different reasons.

*****​

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, June 6th, 2000

"...and in other news, Senator Smith has proposed a bill that would criminalise the production, importing and consumption of horse meat in the United States. When asked to comment on the fact that in many states, the slaughter of horses for human consumption was already illegal, he stated that this was another reason to ban the practice. Several agricultural experts pointed out that the United States exported significant amounts of horse meat, and that this would affect…"

Jack O'Neill switched channels. It might be un-American, but he was fed up with hearing about horses, flying or not. As if the world didn't have bigger problems! Hell, he'd even had to crack down on a discussion that got a bit out of hand among his soldiers over the damn thing!

"...allegations that the famous singer's relationship with the sorceress was merely an attempt to be able to tour Etheria despite the current restriction on civilian travel through Stargates - a restriction that has been challenged in court - were denied by her management, though anonymous sources…"

Jack switched channels again. He wasn't in the mood for celebrity gossip, either.

"...the Vatican has denied that the Pope has received the unofficial leader of the Church of She-Ra, the Horde Clone named 'Priest', for a private meeting and its speaker refused to comment on the Holy See's stance toward the rapidly growing new religion, or whether or not this was related to rumours about religious persecution of several religions including both Christian sects and the Church of She-Ra in China, though…"

Jack clenched his teeth and pushed the remote's button again. He definitely didn't want to hear about religious issues; he had to tell off several of his 'colleagues' who wanted to talk about why the people on the liberated planets weren't converting to Christianity instead of 'pagan cults' and what could be done to change that. "Maybe those idiots should consider the fact that bringing a book when the competition brings a miracle-working Princess who personally freed your planet doesn't work out too well?" he muttered. Better not, he thought - they might try to limit Adora's use of her powers or whatever.

"...and the police had to step in and stop several people from assaulting the suspected sorceress, leading to complaints about police brutality being raised in the county. The district's representative in Congress, Mrs Brown, released a communique stating that she would propose a bill to 'strictly regulate magic to ensure it didn't threaten the physical or spiritual well-being of the people' and refused to condemn what she called 'concerned citizens trying to defend themselves when the state refuses to take action', though…"

Jack O'Neill closed his eyes. Lynch mobs and witch hunts! "And here we thought that was a thing of the past. What's next, trying to outlaw D&D again?"

"...the rejuvenation of the Amazon basin continues on schedule according to the Brazilian government, citing new restoration technologies and a crack-down against illegal logging operations as the reason. They did not comment when questioned whether there was any truth to the rumour that several influential businessmen had been found dead in their beds, apparently killed by unknown magic, or why the government had refused to release information about which areas would be the next ones to have the rain forest restored, though they confirmed that Princess Perfuma of the Kingdom of Plumeria wasn't involved…"

If that was 'new technology', Jack would eat his shiny new helmet. And he knew it wasn't any of Perfuma's work - the Princess was tracked whenever she visited after a bunch of politicians finally understood what her control over plants actually meant. No, that stuff was magic, probably one of the old traditions of Earth he had heard about. And he would bet that this was payback for murdering environmental activists and inconvenient tribes. But no matter what it was, someone had to keep an eye on it in case it went any further. Especially if Brazil joined the Alliance, though that was a ways off at best, last he heard.

Well, his break was over now. Time to get back to work.

He sighed, turned the TV off and checked the next piece in his pile of mail. And then he sighed again. Great, some agricultural corporations wanted to develop cloning tanks to produce meat, allegedly so the Alliance could reduce the strain on its logistics by producing meat on the bases. And he was supposed to write a report about how that would affect Alliance Special Operations Command's missions?

He scoffed. His troops weren't deployed in numbers or locations that would make such production feasible. Which anyone trying to push this should know. Just as they should know he'd realise this was a thinly-veiled attempt to make the Alliance finance the research so the corporations then could sell the stuff to civilians.

Jack quickly typed a response that said it would be useless for his command. He didn't know if it would do anything, but he hoped it would. He didn't want to eat cloned meat. Whether in the field or at home.

He filed the report, then eyed the next item. Paperwork. How he hated it. If only the spooks would hurry up and find Ba'al's next base so he could get out of this!

*****​

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, June 8th, 2000

"...and while we haven't found one of Ba'al's bases so far, we did manage to acquire the address of one of his ship-mounted Stargates thanks to one of our operatives infiltrating Sokar's forces. If Ba'al keeps his bases off the Stargate network by using ships with Stargates stationed near their systems to allow faster travel, then this would mean one of his bases is near the ship's position."

Adora nodded at Jakar/Mats's report. The Tok'ra had come through, it seemed. Although… "How recent is the ship's address?" she asked.

"It's about two weeks old," Jakar said.

"Do we know how often those ships change their position?" Admiral Brown-Emerson asked. "If Ba'al's is keeping his bases compartmentalised, I doubt he's going to keep his ships at the same spot."

"He is likely moving them around quite a bit, but having his ships change between his bases would defeat his strategy of keeping them compartmentalised," Jakar replied. "So, we expect that this base is still within the same general area."

"If your address was taken when it was on station," Catra said.

"Yes. But since our operative could only secure this address, it is very likely that it is or at least was stationary for some time or there would have been more frequent updates," Jakar told her.

Adora nodded again. A Stargate mounted on a ship could only be reached if you knew the position of the ship, well, the rough position. So, Alliance policy with the few ship-mounted Stargates they had was that they would regularly update their position in case someone needed to travel to them, either by dialling another Stargate or transmitting their position through the Spy Bot Network if they were in range. Ba'al would be faced with the same limitations. "We'll redirect the spy bots to search the area as soon as possible," she said.

"We could try dialling the Stargate address we have and launch a boarding operation if it's still active," General Naird suggested.

"I'm not going to send my troops through a Stargate without any intel about what awaits them," Jack objected.

"According to your files from Stargate Command, you've done that more than once yourself, General O'Neill," Naird retorted. "That was how you made contact with Etheria for the first time, wasn't it?"

"In emergencies," Jack shot back. "When there was no other choice. This isn't the case here."

"Every day, Ba'al is growing stronger, according to our analysts. At some point, he will outnumber us and have equivalent technology unless we stop him as soon as possible. That seems like an emergency to me," Naird said.

"Sending in a boarding force blind is too much of a risk," Adora cut in. "Even if they managed to secure the ship without the crew scuttling it or escorts destroying it, the risk of the Jaffa on station alerting Ba'al before communications are secured is too high." She wouldn't take such a gamble. They weren't desperate. "Besides, it will only take a few days at most to search the area with the spy bots, now that we know where to look."

Naird pouted but seemed to accept that.

Catra whispered something about sending Naird first through the Stargate if he kept this up, and Adora had to stifle a chuckle.

"Once you have the position of the base, what will you do?" Jakar asked. "Will you take it over?"

"If there is a base," Naird said, a little snidely. "It's just an assumption so far."

"Taking over the base is a secondary goal. Our first goal is to get more information so we can dismantle his forces," Adora said. "He might keep all of them isolated, but they still have to report to him."

"You're planning a decapitation strike," Jakar said.

Adora nodded. "It seems the most effective way to deal with this threat. Take out the leader and have his forces wither on the vine."

"As long as we can secure his cloning facilities," Catra said.

"Yes," Adora agreed. "We will have to remain undetected until we have acquired the information we need before we strike, whether at the base or at Ba'al himself."

"Let's hope that this mission goes better than your last. Or the one before that," Admiral Biggs spoke up with a scowl. "You don't have the best track record lately."

Adora pressed her lips together. The man was correct, which was annoying since she couldn't contradict him.

"We still got a much better record, even on the latest mission, than your ships have." Catra, of course, didn't care about that. "How much longer do we have to wait until your 'frigates' are operational?"

"The Constitution II is ready for combat operations in the Solar System!" Biggs shot back.

Adora frowned. Why would the ship be ready for deployment, but limited to the Solar System? Was something wrong with its hyperdrive? But that was essential for battles, not merely for travelling. So… Oh. "That would be an emergency," she said. "But I don't remember the ship being ready for regular operations."

Biggs glared at her for a moment. "We expect to be ready for regular operations outside the Solar System soon."

Jack snorted, but neither he nor Catra pressed the point. Not that they had to - the troubles with the Constitution II-class were widely known at this point. Adora expected the press to pick up on it any day now, despite the information being classified - the Alliance couldn't really stop foreign news agencies. Not without becoming the dictatorship that other nations accused them of being.

But this had gone on for long enough. She smiled at Jakar. "Please convey our thanks to the Tok'ra and inform them of our plan of action."

"I will, Supreme Commander!" Jakar bowed.

And now, they had a mission to plan. Or, to be more precise, adjust the general plans already made to the specific situation. Once they had the information they needed.

*****​

Deep Space, Outside PT-9521, June 16th, 2000 (Earth Time)

"Alright! Operation Lamprey is a go!"

Samantha Carter frowned at Entrapta's comment. It wasn't her friend's fault, of course - she hadn't named the operation. That had been the General. And Sam still disagreed with his claim that the Spy Bot Mark XI was a 'robo-lamprey'. The bot could attach itself to an enemy ship, yes, and unlike the regular space-capable spy bots, it was flatter so the chance something - or someone - would catch on its surface was smaller, but those were the only similarities. The bot used a magitech tool to adhere to a ship's hull, not some suction technology, and it had an advanced stealth generator to hide its presence even up close.

And it was shaped like a flat disc with a slightly rounded topside, not like a fish. But Sam had been outvoted by the others.

Ultimately, it wasn't a big deal. It was one mission, and while writing the reports wouldn't be a little annoying, it would be far worse if the General had managed to nickname the entire line of bots 'Lampreys'. That could still happen; Sam was aware of how such things worked, but for now, they were merely spy bots.

And they were the core part of the plan to deal with Ba'al. They better worked - Sam and Entrapta had had to delay working on the improved combat suits to do work on the bots, and even so, they were using hand-crafted prototypes for the mission.

"Launching spy bots!" Sam announced as she gave the order.

In the repurposed hangar of the frigate they were in, the half a dozen Mark XIs lifted off and left the ship, stealth fields flicking on as they vanished from view.

Sam switched her attention from the ship's video feeds to the spy bot network's data. The six new bots were already integrated, and she could track them through the network until they entered hyperspace, on their way to the Ha'tak Ba'al was using as a gate ship to access this area.

"Look at how eager they are!" Entrapta beamed. "I still think we should have made them smarter. They could do much more."

Sam knew that the spy bots' capabilities would be significantly enhanced by a sapient control unit instead of a merely advanced decision matrix. It certainly would have increased the missions' odds of success.

But Adora had put her foot down - the Alliance wouldn't create sapient beings whose only purpose was to send on missions that were, if not outright suicide missions, then close enough. Sam was forced to agree; given her experience with sapient bots, she doubted that such spy bots would have been able to refuse such an order since that was what they were built for and identified as.

The General had agreed as well, though he had been concerned about spy bots going rogue, starting up their own network and taking over the galaxy - a very unlikely outcome, in Sam's opinion.

However, it meant the spy bot Mark XIs needed more precise orders and were far more limited in their capabilities. They should be enough for this, though, at least in the first phase - all they needed to do was to sneak up on the target and attach themselves to the ship's hull. In the next phase, they would have to split up once they detected other ships to latch on - as long as the ships were large enough for the spy bots to hide on the hull without triggering sensors due to the mass difference, which limited them to Ha'taks.

The entire mission was a bit of a shot in the dark. Using prototypes on crucial missions, trusting their luck, at least to some degree… It's almost like we're back in Stargate Command, Sam thought with a faint smile.

Sure, this time, they had fleets at their back, but if they failed, the consequences would still be grave. If they couldn't stop Ba'al before he ramped up his production pipelines for both ships and crews, they would have to match him, and that would open a whole can of worms, as the General put it. They could ramp up frigate production, and were already doing this to some degree in anticipation of further casualties, but a huge build-up would require more crews than the Clones could provide given their current cloning rates. And that meant Earth crews.

At least, Sam thought with a scoff, in that case, the Navy would be forced to drop their boondoggle of a frigate design and switch to using stock Horde frigates, and Sam wouldn't have to waste time trying to fix whatever issue crept up this week.

An alert on her computer told her that the spy bots were about to drop out of hyperspace, and she focused on the screen, counting down.

Four… three… two… One… Zero.

The spy bots linked up with the network at once, and Sam checked their position - not quite on top of the target, as planned.

She followed on the slightly lagged feeds as they approached the Ha'tak. "Those aren't standard cannons," she said.

"They aren't Horde beam cannons, though," Entrapta pointed out. "Just upgraded Goa'uld designs. Slightly upgraded, or so it looked. And their sensors weren't upgraded either - they haven't noticed the bots!"

They better not have noticed them, Sam thought. If they had, that would have meant Ba'al had better sensors than the Alliance. And that would have been a catastrophe.

But as things were, the spy bots fanned out, picking locations on the hull to approach and latch onto, without anyone opening fire on them.

Soon, the last of them came to a stop, securely attached to the Ha'tak's hull.

Phase one of the mission was complete. Now they had to start phase two.

*****​
 
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