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Stargate Etheria (Stargate SG-1/She-Ra crossover)
- Thread starter Starfox5
- Start date
Chapter 175: Ba’al’s Machinations Part 7
Starfox5
Experienced.
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Chapter 175: Ba'al's Machinations Part 7
Ba'al's Glove, Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)
"Ba'al is using mind control chips like Horde Prime did?" Samantha Carter hadn't expected this. "This changes everything," she said.
"Yes!" Glimmer hissed. "We can't let him do this to anyone! We have to stop him!"
"We will!" Adora agreed.
"I agree, but that's not what I meant," Sam told them. "This was a part of Horde Prime's technology that he kept from everyone. The Clones didn't have access to that technology - they could use them, but they were built by automated fabbers, which the Clones could operate but not build themselves. Ba'al can't have gotten this technology from the Clones he recruited."
"Yeah." The General nodded. "That means that this ship probably is the real deal, too."
Right. If Ba'al had access to Horde Prime's mind control chips, he probably had access to the Velvet Glove's blueprints. And if he had that… "He must have had significantly more time to build up his production lines for Horde technology than we thought. We have to revise our estimates - and probably adjust our worst-case projections." Worst case until now had meant that Ba'al would have gained access to Horde technology shortly after Horde Prime's defeat three years ago. Now, it should be an even earlier access. "Although there is some good news as well," she said.
"Yes?" The General looked at her. "Don't tease us like that, Carter. Out with it - we really could use a bit of good news right now."
Sam nodded. "If Ba'al has had access to this technology for years and still hasn't been able to finish this ship - or finish upgrading his older ships - then he can't have too many factories and resources, sir."
"Right." Glimmer grinned.
"Or he's been so stuck in keeping all his underlings isolated, he's been building up some of his fleets and neglected the rest entirely," the General pointed out.
Sam pressed her lips together. That was an alternative explanation that also made sense.
"And you say you're not a pessimist, Jack!" Daniel shook his head.
"Let's focus on getting off this ship - or station - now," the General said. "We can think about how to spoil Ba'al's plans once we're done here. And once we know them, of course. Which we hopefully will once all that data we just got is analysed." He grinned at Daniel. "See? I'm an optimist!"
Sam smiled almost against her will as she focused on her scanner. Catra, Entrapta and Melog were on their way back to them, but currently hiding in another room from a patrol. Which, Sam noted, would be crossing the corridor in front of their hideout as well.
"Now, let's be very quiet!" the General whispered before she could point it out. "We don't want to tip off Ba'al's Jaffa that we're here."
The automated data transfer from her sensor to the team's HUDs was working as intended, then. This should improve the performance of the Alliance forces in the field. If they could tap into an entire network, together with sensor fusion… Another reason to push the new armoured suits into production as soon as possible.
But she could write a memo about that later. The patrol was passing… no, they had stopped. Sam held her breath as the door was opened and then watched the Jaffa on her sensor enter and look around. If they discovered them… She glanced at the others. The General had drawn a zat'nik'tel, as had Teal'c - of course, those were almost silent. Still, even if they could take out the entire patrol without alerting anyone else, a squad going missing would be noticed sooner or later, and Ba'al would know that someone had infiltrated his ship-building project.
She heard them coming closer - Ba'al evidently didn't alter the usual Jaffa armour, so their steps were quite noticeable - and drew her own zat'nik'tel. There were only four, so…
But shortly before they reached the crates behind which the team was hiding, they stopped, then turned and quickly left. Why would…? The others!
Sam checked her sensors. The three were clear but moving quickly.
"Catra! What happened?" Adora asked through their communicator.
"That's my line! We saw that you were about to be discovered, and Melog created a quick distraction."
Ah. Sam checked the sensor data again. "An accident at the production module?"
"Yes."
That would have been easy to arrange with Melog's illusions. Sam hoped that none of the workers had been hurt as a result.
But she knew that even if the affected workers avoided injuries, they would likely be punished by their superiors. That was how the Goa'uld worked.
But they had no choice in the matter - sometimes, innocents got hurt in war. They could only do their best to minimise collateral damage like that and to shorten the war.
And for that, they needed to get off this spaceship and check the other targets - but only after they ensured that those chips were not being produced in this ship.
And for that, she needed more data about the chips so she could set the scanner for a deep sweep.
She focused on one of the workers in the computer room and set the details to the highest level. That should get more data about those chips.
Catra suppressed another shudder when she approached Adora and the others. She was better than this. She had survived this. She could handle it. She didn't have a chip in her neck. She was free. Not under anyone's control. Not forced to fight her love at a madman's command. She was…
…rubbing the back of her neck to check. And Adora had noticed!
Catra whipped her hand down. She didn't need pity. She had gone through that already. "So, did you get more data on the chips? We need to hack them and free everyone!" she hissed when she reached the group.
"We've just finished a detailed scan and are still analysing the results," Sam replied.
Catra clenched her teeth. That was too slow! This shouldn't take any time! But she nodded. Rushing wouldn't help. Probably.
Adora moved over to her. She didn't say anything, just took her hand. Catra took a deep, shuddering breath and squeezed her fingers. "We can't let Ba'al use those chips."
"We've got protocols to keep him from turning our people," Jack said. "We already check for Goa'uld possession; chips are just one more check. He won't be able to infiltrate our troops like he did on Etheria."
"That's not the point!" Catra retorted. "With those chips, he can control anyone as if he were possessing them."
"There will be no surrenders - no honest surrenders - with those chips controlling Ba'al's slaves and warriors," Teal'c said. "He can force anyone to fight us until death."
That was a more pragmatic argument, and a quite obvious one, but Catra could tell the others just didn't understand the sheer evilness of it.
She saw Sam stiffen. She would get it - she had been possessed once before. Sha're would understand as well.
"We can't let people suffer like this," Adora said. "This is the worst form of slavery. It's evil! We need to stop this!"
"We're working on it," Sam said in a clipped tone.
"Let's talk on the shuttle," Jack said. "Not in the middle of the enemy ship."
"Right."
They made their way to the airlock, where Sha're was waiting with the shuttle. Catra couldn't help feeling guilty when she entered the shuttle. Leaving felt like fleeing. Like leaving the others to their fate.
"So, what do we know?" she asked as soon as everyone was gathered in the main area of the shuttle.
"They use FTL-communications," Entrapta said. "Same as Horde Prime's."
"They are built exactly like the ones we have on file. Direct copies," Sam added.
Catra clenched her teeth again.
"Tha's a good thing, though - we know how to deal with them!" Entrapta announced with a wide smile. "We can hack the network with some effort. Although Ba'al will likely make changes after the first time."
"Then we better get the whole network at once," Adora said.
"That only works if he keeps it permanently connected. I somehow doubt he's doing that," Catra pointed out. Not when he was too paranoid to let his commanders know what the others of their rank were doing and how many others served Ba'al. So, waiting, and letting others suffer for longer, would be pointless.
"Yeah, can't see him letting all his chipped slaves connect to each other," Jack agreed.
"Yes." Sam nodded. "We haven't found any nodes outside this area - the network is limited to this task force."
"And it is either something that Baal reserves for the most important locations or it's very new. Otherwise, we'd have encountered the chips before," Catra said. The shipyards they had taken had been very important, after all. "So, let's crash the network here - no, take it over and use it to communicate with the slaves so we can get them out when we attack!" They would probably sabotage Ba'al's fleet as well once they were free.
"That's dangerous. Not the hacking, but letting them know about us? Some might be true believers and inform their god," Jack said.
Catra shook her head. "Even if they were true believers, after being reduced to… after being chipped, they won't be any more."
Sha're nodded. "Unless Ba'al would not have activated the chips yet, or has used a very light touch - which would be out of character for him - those people will have gone through hell, trapped in their bodies."
Catra nodded. Sha're got it.
"Ba'al's been using a light touch with the Clones. We can't assume he's abusing everyone," Jack disagreed. "And it won't change much anyway if we just crash the network and then broadcast how to surrender, those who are freed will be able to act as they want."
Catra didn't like it, but he had a point. Underestimating Ba'al would be a mistake - this snake was very smart. "Any sign where those chips are made?"
"They aren't manufactured here," Sam said. "We could track the shipments using the sealed data we acquired."
"Ba'al probably has a research base somewhere where he had his best workers develop and probably build the chips and other tools," Catra said. "We need to find it and destroy it."
She looked at Sam and Entrapta, but both were focused on working. They didn't have a trace so far, then.
Damn.
Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)
"So, we have two more targets to infiltrate," Jack O'Neill said. He had to get the team back on track - they were here to gather intel and hit targets of opportunity, and, so far, they hadn't found any of the latter. As bad as the mind-control chips were, they couldn't just drop the mission. "Next stop: Factory ship."
He could see that Catra was about to argue - the catwoman had taken their find quite badly, which was understandable but not helpful right now - but Adora nodded. "Yes. Let's go. We have to keep searching for more intel."
Jack nodded and went to the cockpit. Sha're was a decent pilot, but he would take the con to approach the enemy ship. "Do we have any intel on which we should pick?" he asked as he checked the passive sensors.
"There's no formal command ship for the factory units," Carter replied. "At least not based on their communication pattern. But I've marked the one producing the most advanced components. They will also require the most diverse resources, so we should have a decent chance to uncover more hints of the enemy supply routes. I've marked it."
"Sounds good," Jack agreed. Carter knew what she was doing.
He plotted a course toward the marked ship and started his approach. It wouldn't take long - all factory ships were very close to the Glove. He would have spread them out further in Ba'al's place. Harder to defend, but it would not concentrate all targets in a single spot. On the other hand, maybe the factory ships could serve as a sort of armour for the Glove, shielding it with their hulls - Ba'al's forces had used that tactic in their last-ditch attack on Base Portsmouth.
Still a bad idea; factory ships were primary targets. But Jack wouldn't complain. At this distance, they could probably crash a factory ship into the Glove before anyone could react and intercept it.
Not that they would do that, he reminded himself, since that would kill a whole boatload of people who were forced to work on either ship - some of them by mind control chips. Adora would never condone that.
And there was the target. Jack avoided the main hangars and docking ports - there was too much traffic there - and headed for another maintenance hatch, bringing the shuttle to a gentle stop just a yard off the factory ship's hull. "Alright, Sha're, you've got the shuttle."
"I've got the shuttle."
A last glance at the radar display - fed by passive sensors - to check there was no Death Glider patrol headed their way and then Jack was headed to the back of the craft, where the others were already lining up.
Carter and Entrapta were focused on their scanners, and Bow hacked the airlock easily enough, letting them enter.
The inside looked… Jack wouldn't say dirty or dingy, but compared to the Glove, the ship looked and felt older. Slightly worn. Like one of the older Navy ships back on Earth - he had been dropped off by the Navy on some missions, before Stargate Command. "Well, at least this ship's not new," he commented as he looked around. "Too worn for that."
"We'll have to verify that, sir." Of course, Carter would say that. She always did. And she was correct.
But Jack would trust his gut feelings here. This ship wasn't new but had seen a lot of use, and even good maintenance couldn't hide that. "So… is the backup we need to hit where it's supposed to be?" The main computer was on the ship's bridge, and Jack didn't think reaching it and stealing the data without anyone noticing would be easy, but the backup system was another thing.
"Yes, sir. This is a standard Horde design, same as we use."
"Old Ba'al might have upgraded his ships," Jack pointed out. He didn't really think so - why change what was working? The factory ship already used advanced technology - but you couldn't be sure until you had checked. Which they did.
The ship was actually busier than the Glove - at least the main corridors that the bots ferrying around material and components used; they looked like an anthill or termite nest on the model on Jack's HUD. But there were plenty of smaller, out-of-the-way corridors that were only used for maintenance, so it wasn't too difficult to reach the backup storage room. They had only to dodge one single patrol of Jaffa, which Melog easily handled, and then they reached their goal.
"Looks like they didn't need the backup yet," Jack said as he looked around. "No empty pizza boxes around."
Carter snorted and rolled her eyes at his joke, then explained it to Entrapta while they linked their computers to the main databanks here.
Jack checked the HUD while they worked. Nothing weird was going on. Just workers busy turning out components for Ba'al's Death Star, and minimal guards to keep them working.
That could mean Ba'al's forces were stretched thin - or that he trusted his mind-control chips to keep the crews in check. Though they hadn't been rolled out to everyone, yet - their scanner was marking the chipped workers, and those were only a handful in this ship, unlike on the Glove.
So, old Ba'al had only a limited number of the chips available - or a limited number of bots and surgeons to implant them. Either limit wouldn't last forever, though.
But Jack was sure they'd do something about the whole thing before that.
"Download complete, sir."
"Then let's head back," Adora said. "And then to the enemy flagship."
Jack nodded. The sooner they were done, the sooner they could start preparing to wreck this entire operation.
"There's the flagship of the task force guarding the site."
Adora nodded at Sam and studied the display. It was a regular Horde frigate. As with all the other frigates they had encountered in Ba'al's service, there were no signs of any modifications - externally. Internally, they couldn't be certain, but the analysis of the wrecks and intel from prisoners and deserters had not shown any hints of modifications, either. It seemed Ba'al was more focused on upgrading his old designs to Horde specs than experimenting with his new ships. Unless that was done somewhere else with a wholly different force. Trying to guess what Ba'al was doing had quickly become a very frustrating activity.
Still, they knew very well how a Horde frigate was laid out internally, so they should know what to expect when docking at this ship. "Alright," she said, "take us in."
The frigate shouldn't have better sensors than the factory ships, either, so this should be pretty safe. A bit more challenging to find a hatch to hack and use, a frigate was significantly smaller than a factory ship, but not impossible either.
Jack was already closing with the flagship, using a sweeping approach that would see them docking to the underside of it, where an escape hatch was installed. Horde Prime hadn't been big on his clones abandoning ships while they could still fight but he had liked the idea of wasting them even less. Probably because he considered them parts of him or something similarly narcissistic, Adora thought.
Whatever the reason, they had a way in that led to a supposedly - and now that they were in range of their scanners, confirmed - deserted storage room. Once again, the stealth generator worked - they were parked right between the aft part of the underside beam cannon batteries - and Bow could easily hack the airlock's door and security system.
Adjusting to the fact that the direction of the artificial gravity generator of the ship and the shuttle were not aligned so that they had to sort of walk-climb into the frigate was actually the biggest challenge here - Adora carried Daniel inside to speed things up.
But the storage room was full of rather un-Horde things.
"Looks like we got lost in some snake's attic," Jack commented.
And indeed, the room had a few very ornate crates inside, and jars and bags, all in the Goa'uld style. They looked very weird inside a Horde-style room.
Daniel checked the hieroglyphs on the crates. "Not a Goa'uld, Jack. These seem to be the personal belongings of Mal'ak - First Prime of Ba'al." He pointed at a plaque on the largest chest.
"Really?" Jack peered at them. "And he stores them here, way out of the way?"
"A Jaffa serving their false god is not supposed to revel in luxury," Teal'c said. "He might pretend to live frugally, or as Earth would say, in spartan quarters, as a show of loyalty."
"While hiding his loot and ill-gotten gains here? That doesn't sound very honourable." Jack grinned.
"There is no honour in serving the false gods," Teal'c replied. "And once a Jaffa realises that, they have to consider how to react. Some decide to retain their honour despite the price they have to pay. Others decide to let go of their honour altogether and imitate their oppressors' desire for power and wealth."
"It's too bad that we're on a covert mission - I'd love to rob this guy," Jack said.
"Well, let's see what we're missing at least," Catra said, flashing her fangs in a wide grin as she approached the largest chest.
"Catra!" Adora snapped.
"It's intel!" her lover replied - though she kept grinning. "We might find out which planet he fought and served on by analysing his loot."
"Sounds legit to me." Of course, Jack agreed.
Adora shook her head. "Check for traps."
"Of course." Catra looked at Bow.
Bow sighed. "Let's see…"
"The scanners don't detect any traps," Entrapta said. "At least no traps we could detect."
Adora could have done without hearing that qualifier.
"Good enough for me!" Catra fiddled with the lock and then popped it open and raised the lid. "Oh!"
"A lot of different pots and jugs," Entrapta said.
"Which you saw on the scanner already," Catra told her.
"I didn't want to ruin the surprise!"
Sam was focused on the rest of the ship, Adora saw. To warn them of any guards approaching.
"Those are very diverse designs and styles!" Daniel sounded very excited and almost pushed Jack and Catra away from the chest. No, not almost - he did elbow Jack out of the way without noticing when he reached into the chest and pulled out a pot. "Minoean! But I don't recognise the patterns! And Phoenician, though that was to be expected given Ba'al's history on Earth. But confirmation is always good."
"Forget the pots. Look at that!" Catra reached inside and pulled out another object.
Adora blinked. It looked like it was broken. And it wasn't a pot or jug, but a cube - maybe a cubic pot? Those existed. And she had seen this before…
"It's the same design as the alien data cube!" Entrapta sounded even more excited than Daniel now.
Adora wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
Flagship of the Guard Force, Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)
That was an alien data cube - the remains of an alien data cube, Samantha Carter corrected herself. Why was this amongst what looked like the loot from one of Ba'al's more trusted commanders? It was just part of the cube's shell, so maybe it was a curiosity in a collection, looted from one of Ba'al's enemies - or victims. But if Ba'al had found a base or a planet settled by this civilisation, maybe gained access to their technology… "We need to find out where the owner of this chest acquired this," she said.
"Yes!" Entrapta agreed enthusiastically. "If we find out where they got it, we could find more clues to decrypt our own cube!"
Which, Sam reminded herself, they should have done long ago. Obviously, they should have treated the artefact not as some curiosity but as a priority. More important than, say, dealing with the design faults of the latest abomination from procurement.
"Well, for that, we'll need to find the owner of the chest." the General said.
"That would probably be the commander of this site," Daniel said. "As we mentioned before."
"'Probably'." The General shook his head. "But we've been a bit unlucky lately by making guesses. Wouldn't want to nab the wrong guy."
"Then let's take the entire ship!" Catra bared her fangs in a grin. "That way, we got everyone on board - as long as we can keep them from suiciding."
"Taking the ship kind of ruins the secrecy part of our plans," the General pointed out - but Sam could see that he liked the idea. It was his kind of plan, daring and decisive if it worked. And a spur-of-the-moment decision.
"And if we take out their command ship, the rest of the guard fleet will be easier to deal with by our task force," Glimmer said.
"But we can't attack before we have a plan to save the workers," Adora said. "If Ba'al is willing to sacrifice them rather than let us rescue them…"
Sam pressed her lips together. With the mind-control chips, no one would refuse Ba'al's orders, and he only needed a few key people chipped to ensure the factory ship and the Glove would be destroyed. With the size of this operation, the death toll would be horrible.
"If we take over the ship before the rest of the guard fleet realise it, we can fake orders to split up - or claim we were called away," Catra said. "Have the guards rally in an ambush location, or just send them on a trip to attack a system at the other end of the galaxy."
The last suggestion was probably not meant seriously, but if they could take over the flagship of this force, then taking the entire site over with minimal casualties would be a realistic objective for this mission. Ba'al was fond of compartmentalising his forces, but the individual forces' command structures were very hierarchical, as expected from a tyrant.
"Can we take over the ship without alerting the rest of the guard ships?" Daniel asked. "We could head back to our task force and gather more people."
Sam pondered the challenge. If they managed to manipulate the life support system… They had no gas with them to render the crew unconscious, but if they changed the settings, they could alter the ship's atmosphere gradually and reduce the oxygen until the crew was out. But the risk of killing anyone with this was great. Maybe…
"We need the bridge, engineering and the hangar," Catra said. "To control the ship and ensure that they can't alert anyone else or sabotage it." She looked around. "If we leverage the element of surprise and She-Ra, that's doable, but we need to be quick to get everything and everyone moving afterwards before things start going wrong. "If we take over the bridge and then have the rest of the crew gather in the hangar for an inspection, we could take them out all at once."
That was… Sam looked at the General.
He was grinning broadly. "Good idea! But we need to make sure they aren't locked up with anything they can use to get free - or shoot a hole in the hull to alert the rest of Ba'al's guards.
"We can lock them in with She-Ra," Catra said. "That will keep them from ruining the plan."
Adora nodded. "Yes. I can deal with the frigate's crew. But we need to secure the bridge and then imitate the commander."
"We can do that by taking records of their voice and then using our computer to turn the samples into orders," Entrapta suggested. "Though that might take a while."
"Let's hope he isn't the silent type," the General joked.
"We should be able to get voice samples from the ship's databanks," Sam said. "Communication is generally recorded."
"Yes!" Entrapta nodded. "And we need access to the central computer anyway, for the rest of the data!"
"And the bridge offers access to the computers," the General added. "So, let's go and take it over."
"After we check that the commander is on the bridge," Bow said. "We can't imitate his orders if he can countermand them."
"Right." Adora looked at Sam and Entrapta. "And we need to find out who the commander is. Scan the entire ship and look for anyone who could be it. And scan for mind-control chips. If you don't find anyone who could be it, we need to get access to the backup databanks so we can identify the commander."
"Yes!" Entrapta nodded with a smile, and she and Sam started working.
"We've detected six mind-control chips currently active on this ship. One of them is a Jaffa, the others are Clones."
Catra felt relieved at Sam's report. If the flagship of Ba'al's guard force didn't have more mind-controlled crew members, then that probably meant that he didn't have too many chips available. That was… reassuring.
"So… Those could be three shifts of two people, like the captain and the first officer, the chief engineer and his number two, and the Commander of the entire force and his second-in-command," Jack said. "The commander would be Mal'ak."
"Mal'ak might here as an envoy or to inspect the site, not as its commander," Glimmer said.
"Not nominally, but as Ba'al's First Prime, he'd be in charge anyway," Sha're said.
"We don't know if Ba'al would use those chips on his commanders," Daniel said. "That could drive them to rebel or even desert, as long as they realise what is happening in time to react. He might use them on guards to keep an eye on his commanders."
"His commanders are likely the most faithful of his followers," Glimmer objected. "They would probably agree to the chips to show their loyalty."
"But would he trust them even if that were the case?" Adora asked. "The Jaffa is probably Mal'ak - we know that two of Apophis's First Prime defected, and Ba'al likely knows that as well."
"With how shoddy Apophis's counter-intel work is, half the Galaxy knows this," Catra said with a snort. "But for a mind-controlled guy, that's a lot of loot." She gestured at the chests. "Why would Ba'al let him keep it after mind-controlling him?" She wouldn't call it 'chipping'. That would make light of its horror. She also wanted to tell the others that, but she didn't want their pity. And this wasn't the time for that, anyway. They had to focus on the mission.
She saw Melog glow a little and hoped that the others missed it - she didn't want anyone to know how she felt.
Okay.
She felt Melog's confidence and trust and relaxed a little.
"Ba'al might use the chips as a fail-safe in case his followers betray him," Teal'c said. "His First Prime might not even be aware of what the chips actually do - the false gods always lie to their followers. Further, Ba'al has a reputation for being untrustworthy even for a Goa'uld."
"Yeah," Jack said. "Not telling even his Prime what the chips are and do seems a thing Ba'al would do. The guy seems too paranoid to tell even his highest-ranking followers more than the absolute minimum. Anyway, those are our main targets. Take them out, and their command structure should be in shambles."
"Let's hope so," Adora said, then looked at Catra.
Catra nodded. "Our priorities are the bridge and engineering, but we cannot let anyone with a mind-control chip walk around - they would sacrifice themselves without hesitation to get us or just to deny the ship to Ba'al's enemies - and we absolutely need to control all communications."
"We can hit the scuttling charges first and disable them so they can't just blow the ship - and us - up," Entrapta said. "And we can hack the communication systems."
"That would still leave individual FTL-communicators," Catra said. "We need to jam those as well."
"That would affect our communication with the other ships," Sam pointed out. "They might realise something is wrong."
"Better they suspect than have someone alert them - we can't fight the guard force in this ship," Catra said. "So… Where are the mind-controlled people?"
"We're tracking them. Two, including the Jaffa, are on the bridge, one in engineering, one in the main hangar and two in the crew quarters," Sam replied.
"Are they in the officer's quarters?" Daniel asked. "I mean, I know the Horde frigates didn't have special quarters for their officers since all Clones were replaceable for Horde Prime, but if Ba'al is integrating the Clones into his forces, this might have changed."
That was a good point, but probably not relevant.
"The quarters look the same as on a regular frigate, except for the commander's. That was remodelled. Potentially to better serve as a flagship and accommodate a Jaffa commander," Sam said.
Catra nodded and studied the holoprojection for a moment, checking the targets. "So… Adora and Entrapta to the bridge. Bow and Glimmer to Engineering. "Melog and I take out the one in the hangar. Jack, Sam and Teal'c take out the two in their quarters. And Daniel and Sha're stay in the shuttle and act as our network hub." She looked at the others.
Yes, Melog thought.
"Yes," Adora said. "Keep the maps updated. We have to travel carefully without Melog covering all of us."
Sorry.
"Don't be," Catra told him. "We need you in the hangar since that's a wide space, and we can't take out everyone there before they raise the alert, so we need to be sneaky there."
Yes.
Good. Catra checked her HUD and saw the tracked figures multiply, covering all crew. A moment late, routes appeared on the display, most of them going through air ducts and vents. Entrapta was adapting the data, then.
Catra grinned. "Let's go!"
"Yes." Adora nodded with a firm expression. "Let's go."
They split up. Without Melog's power, the other groups would have to carefully pick their way to their targets, as often through the vents as not. Catra didn't have to bother with that. Melog could hide them from plain sight - in the middle of a corridor, if needed. They didn't go quite that far - that would have been an unnecessary risk; one slip and a Clone might stumble into them in the narrower corridors - but the temptation was there. Especially when they were waiting in an alcove for a group to walk past. At least Goa'uld ships were crewed by Jaffa, and they usually marched at a brisk pace; the Clones walked more leisurely. Horde Prime probably thought having his 'brothers' walking faster would have made it seem as if they were rushed and that might make him look as if he weren't on top of things at every moment.
Still, even with those delays and despite the larger distance, they reached the main hangar before everyone else reached their targets. And their target was obvious - even if the HUD feed from Sam and Entrapta's scanners wouldn't have marked him for Catra, he would have stood out; the Clone stood on a small pedestal in the back of the hangar, watching everything, and Clones regularly came to him for something or the other while maintaining the Horde fighters and their bot pilots lined up in the hangar.
That was a new setup compared to the Horde standard layouts, she noted. The pedestal, not the fighters; those were standard issue. But in the Horde, all the Clones had been supposedly equal before Horde Prime (and beneath him), and such overt signs of their higher positions had been absent. That had changed in the Alliance, but mostly for functionality - they had a dedicated control room for the hangar master, not some platform to look down on the rest.
But it made taking the man out without alerting everyone a bit tricky. Not too much, though. She looked the situation over, studying the patterns of the Clones at work - fewer than in an Alliance frigate for the same tasks; had Ba'al some manpower problem? - and the doors leading out from the hangar.
A quick check with the ship's layout on her HUD later, she had her plan."Can you copy him walking out of the hangar?"
Positive.
Good. "Then cover us as we head over behind the guy."
Yes.
They moved carefully along the walls, quickly passing in front of the two doors on the way so they wouldn't run into some Clones coming and going, until they were standing behind the hangar master's pedestal.
"Hangar group ready," she reported over the communicator.
"Copy. Bridge group still en route."
"Crew Quarters en route."
"Engineering en route."
More waiting, then. She suppressed a sigh - Melog couldn't hide sound - and watched their target.
He was rather brusque with his underlings, Catra noted in the next few minutes. Quite different from what she was used to from the other Clones she knew. Even Horde Prime had played the affable, gentle leader towards his 'brothers'. She pressed her lips together when she looked at the Clone's neck where the mind control chip would be located, hidden by his clothes. How much of his attitude was his own and how much resulted from being mind-controlled by a Goa'uld? Well, if things went according to plan, they would find out.
"Bridge group in position."
Adora and Entrapta were ready. Good.
"Engineering group in position."
So were Glimmer and Bow.
About a minute later, Jack reported as well.
"Crew Quarters group ready."
"Go!"
At Adora's command, Catra nodded at Melog. A moment later, she caught the faintest flicker as their illusion settled over the hangar master.
Go.
She dashed forward, drawing her zat, and shot the Clone from the back, catching him as he collapsed and dragged him back to the wall.
There, she quickly checked his clothes for weapons, relieved him of a zat, slung him over her shoulders and then made her way out of the hangar while Melog made it look as if the Clone had received a call on his communicator and then left by himself.
A minute later, they were outside, hidden in a side corridor.
"Hangar group, done."
Ba'al's Glove, Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)
"Ba'al is using mind control chips like Horde Prime did?" Samantha Carter hadn't expected this. "This changes everything," she said.
"Yes!" Glimmer hissed. "We can't let him do this to anyone! We have to stop him!"
"We will!" Adora agreed.
"I agree, but that's not what I meant," Sam told them. "This was a part of Horde Prime's technology that he kept from everyone. The Clones didn't have access to that technology - they could use them, but they were built by automated fabbers, which the Clones could operate but not build themselves. Ba'al can't have gotten this technology from the Clones he recruited."
"Yeah." The General nodded. "That means that this ship probably is the real deal, too."
Right. If Ba'al had access to Horde Prime's mind control chips, he probably had access to the Velvet Glove's blueprints. And if he had that… "He must have had significantly more time to build up his production lines for Horde technology than we thought. We have to revise our estimates - and probably adjust our worst-case projections." Worst case until now had meant that Ba'al would have gained access to Horde technology shortly after Horde Prime's defeat three years ago. Now, it should be an even earlier access. "Although there is some good news as well," she said.
"Yes?" The General looked at her. "Don't tease us like that, Carter. Out with it - we really could use a bit of good news right now."
Sam nodded. "If Ba'al has had access to this technology for years and still hasn't been able to finish this ship - or finish upgrading his older ships - then he can't have too many factories and resources, sir."
"Right." Glimmer grinned.
"Or he's been so stuck in keeping all his underlings isolated, he's been building up some of his fleets and neglected the rest entirely," the General pointed out.
Sam pressed her lips together. That was an alternative explanation that also made sense.
"And you say you're not a pessimist, Jack!" Daniel shook his head.
"Let's focus on getting off this ship - or station - now," the General said. "We can think about how to spoil Ba'al's plans once we're done here. And once we know them, of course. Which we hopefully will once all that data we just got is analysed." He grinned at Daniel. "See? I'm an optimist!"
Sam smiled almost against her will as she focused on her scanner. Catra, Entrapta and Melog were on their way back to them, but currently hiding in another room from a patrol. Which, Sam noted, would be crossing the corridor in front of their hideout as well.
"Now, let's be very quiet!" the General whispered before she could point it out. "We don't want to tip off Ba'al's Jaffa that we're here."
The automated data transfer from her sensor to the team's HUDs was working as intended, then. This should improve the performance of the Alliance forces in the field. If they could tap into an entire network, together with sensor fusion… Another reason to push the new armoured suits into production as soon as possible.
But she could write a memo about that later. The patrol was passing… no, they had stopped. Sam held her breath as the door was opened and then watched the Jaffa on her sensor enter and look around. If they discovered them… She glanced at the others. The General had drawn a zat'nik'tel, as had Teal'c - of course, those were almost silent. Still, even if they could take out the entire patrol without alerting anyone else, a squad going missing would be noticed sooner or later, and Ba'al would know that someone had infiltrated his ship-building project.
She heard them coming closer - Ba'al evidently didn't alter the usual Jaffa armour, so their steps were quite noticeable - and drew her own zat'nik'tel. There were only four, so…
But shortly before they reached the crates behind which the team was hiding, they stopped, then turned and quickly left. Why would…? The others!
Sam checked her sensors. The three were clear but moving quickly.
"Catra! What happened?" Adora asked through their communicator.
"That's my line! We saw that you were about to be discovered, and Melog created a quick distraction."
Ah. Sam checked the sensor data again. "An accident at the production module?"
"Yes."
That would have been easy to arrange with Melog's illusions. Sam hoped that none of the workers had been hurt as a result.
But she knew that even if the affected workers avoided injuries, they would likely be punished by their superiors. That was how the Goa'uld worked.
But they had no choice in the matter - sometimes, innocents got hurt in war. They could only do their best to minimise collateral damage like that and to shorten the war.
And for that, they needed to get off this spaceship and check the other targets - but only after they ensured that those chips were not being produced in this ship.
And for that, she needed more data about the chips so she could set the scanner for a deep sweep.
She focused on one of the workers in the computer room and set the details to the highest level. That should get more data about those chips.
*****
Catra suppressed another shudder when she approached Adora and the others. She was better than this. She had survived this. She could handle it. She didn't have a chip in her neck. She was free. Not under anyone's control. Not forced to fight her love at a madman's command. She was…
…rubbing the back of her neck to check. And Adora had noticed!
Catra whipped her hand down. She didn't need pity. She had gone through that already. "So, did you get more data on the chips? We need to hack them and free everyone!" she hissed when she reached the group.
"We've just finished a detailed scan and are still analysing the results," Sam replied.
Catra clenched her teeth. That was too slow! This shouldn't take any time! But she nodded. Rushing wouldn't help. Probably.
Adora moved over to her. She didn't say anything, just took her hand. Catra took a deep, shuddering breath and squeezed her fingers. "We can't let Ba'al use those chips."
"We've got protocols to keep him from turning our people," Jack said. "We already check for Goa'uld possession; chips are just one more check. He won't be able to infiltrate our troops like he did on Etheria."
"That's not the point!" Catra retorted. "With those chips, he can control anyone as if he were possessing them."
"There will be no surrenders - no honest surrenders - with those chips controlling Ba'al's slaves and warriors," Teal'c said. "He can force anyone to fight us until death."
That was a more pragmatic argument, and a quite obvious one, but Catra could tell the others just didn't understand the sheer evilness of it.
She saw Sam stiffen. She would get it - she had been possessed once before. Sha're would understand as well.
"We can't let people suffer like this," Adora said. "This is the worst form of slavery. It's evil! We need to stop this!"
"We're working on it," Sam said in a clipped tone.
"Let's talk on the shuttle," Jack said. "Not in the middle of the enemy ship."
"Right."
They made their way to the airlock, where Sha're was waiting with the shuttle. Catra couldn't help feeling guilty when she entered the shuttle. Leaving felt like fleeing. Like leaving the others to their fate.
"So, what do we know?" she asked as soon as everyone was gathered in the main area of the shuttle.
"They use FTL-communications," Entrapta said. "Same as Horde Prime's."
"They are built exactly like the ones we have on file. Direct copies," Sam added.
Catra clenched her teeth again.
"Tha's a good thing, though - we know how to deal with them!" Entrapta announced with a wide smile. "We can hack the network with some effort. Although Ba'al will likely make changes after the first time."
"Then we better get the whole network at once," Adora said.
"That only works if he keeps it permanently connected. I somehow doubt he's doing that," Catra pointed out. Not when he was too paranoid to let his commanders know what the others of their rank were doing and how many others served Ba'al. So, waiting, and letting others suffer for longer, would be pointless.
"Yeah, can't see him letting all his chipped slaves connect to each other," Jack agreed.
"Yes." Sam nodded. "We haven't found any nodes outside this area - the network is limited to this task force."
"And it is either something that Baal reserves for the most important locations or it's very new. Otherwise, we'd have encountered the chips before," Catra said. The shipyards they had taken had been very important, after all. "So, let's crash the network here - no, take it over and use it to communicate with the slaves so we can get them out when we attack!" They would probably sabotage Ba'al's fleet as well once they were free.
"That's dangerous. Not the hacking, but letting them know about us? Some might be true believers and inform their god," Jack said.
Catra shook her head. "Even if they were true believers, after being reduced to… after being chipped, they won't be any more."
Sha're nodded. "Unless Ba'al would not have activated the chips yet, or has used a very light touch - which would be out of character for him - those people will have gone through hell, trapped in their bodies."
Catra nodded. Sha're got it.
"Ba'al's been using a light touch with the Clones. We can't assume he's abusing everyone," Jack disagreed. "And it won't change much anyway if we just crash the network and then broadcast how to surrender, those who are freed will be able to act as they want."
Catra didn't like it, but he had a point. Underestimating Ba'al would be a mistake - this snake was very smart. "Any sign where those chips are made?"
"They aren't manufactured here," Sam said. "We could track the shipments using the sealed data we acquired."
"Ba'al probably has a research base somewhere where he had his best workers develop and probably build the chips and other tools," Catra said. "We need to find it and destroy it."
She looked at Sam and Entrapta, but both were focused on working. They didn't have a trace so far, then.
Damn.
*****
Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)
"So, we have two more targets to infiltrate," Jack O'Neill said. He had to get the team back on track - they were here to gather intel and hit targets of opportunity, and, so far, they hadn't found any of the latter. As bad as the mind-control chips were, they couldn't just drop the mission. "Next stop: Factory ship."
He could see that Catra was about to argue - the catwoman had taken their find quite badly, which was understandable but not helpful right now - but Adora nodded. "Yes. Let's go. We have to keep searching for more intel."
Jack nodded and went to the cockpit. Sha're was a decent pilot, but he would take the con to approach the enemy ship. "Do we have any intel on which we should pick?" he asked as he checked the passive sensors.
"There's no formal command ship for the factory units," Carter replied. "At least not based on their communication pattern. But I've marked the one producing the most advanced components. They will also require the most diverse resources, so we should have a decent chance to uncover more hints of the enemy supply routes. I've marked it."
"Sounds good," Jack agreed. Carter knew what she was doing.
He plotted a course toward the marked ship and started his approach. It wouldn't take long - all factory ships were very close to the Glove. He would have spread them out further in Ba'al's place. Harder to defend, but it would not concentrate all targets in a single spot. On the other hand, maybe the factory ships could serve as a sort of armour for the Glove, shielding it with their hulls - Ba'al's forces had used that tactic in their last-ditch attack on Base Portsmouth.
Still a bad idea; factory ships were primary targets. But Jack wouldn't complain. At this distance, they could probably crash a factory ship into the Glove before anyone could react and intercept it.
Not that they would do that, he reminded himself, since that would kill a whole boatload of people who were forced to work on either ship - some of them by mind control chips. Adora would never condone that.
And there was the target. Jack avoided the main hangars and docking ports - there was too much traffic there - and headed for another maintenance hatch, bringing the shuttle to a gentle stop just a yard off the factory ship's hull. "Alright, Sha're, you've got the shuttle."
"I've got the shuttle."
A last glance at the radar display - fed by passive sensors - to check there was no Death Glider patrol headed their way and then Jack was headed to the back of the craft, where the others were already lining up.
Carter and Entrapta were focused on their scanners, and Bow hacked the airlock easily enough, letting them enter.
The inside looked… Jack wouldn't say dirty or dingy, but compared to the Glove, the ship looked and felt older. Slightly worn. Like one of the older Navy ships back on Earth - he had been dropped off by the Navy on some missions, before Stargate Command. "Well, at least this ship's not new," he commented as he looked around. "Too worn for that."
"We'll have to verify that, sir." Of course, Carter would say that. She always did. And she was correct.
But Jack would trust his gut feelings here. This ship wasn't new but had seen a lot of use, and even good maintenance couldn't hide that. "So… is the backup we need to hit where it's supposed to be?" The main computer was on the ship's bridge, and Jack didn't think reaching it and stealing the data without anyone noticing would be easy, but the backup system was another thing.
"Yes, sir. This is a standard Horde design, same as we use."
"Old Ba'al might have upgraded his ships," Jack pointed out. He didn't really think so - why change what was working? The factory ship already used advanced technology - but you couldn't be sure until you had checked. Which they did.
The ship was actually busier than the Glove - at least the main corridors that the bots ferrying around material and components used; they looked like an anthill or termite nest on the model on Jack's HUD. But there were plenty of smaller, out-of-the-way corridors that were only used for maintenance, so it wasn't too difficult to reach the backup storage room. They had only to dodge one single patrol of Jaffa, which Melog easily handled, and then they reached their goal.
"Looks like they didn't need the backup yet," Jack said as he looked around. "No empty pizza boxes around."
Carter snorted and rolled her eyes at his joke, then explained it to Entrapta while they linked their computers to the main databanks here.
Jack checked the HUD while they worked. Nothing weird was going on. Just workers busy turning out components for Ba'al's Death Star, and minimal guards to keep them working.
That could mean Ba'al's forces were stretched thin - or that he trusted his mind-control chips to keep the crews in check. Though they hadn't been rolled out to everyone, yet - their scanner was marking the chipped workers, and those were only a handful in this ship, unlike on the Glove.
So, old Ba'al had only a limited number of the chips available - or a limited number of bots and surgeons to implant them. Either limit wouldn't last forever, though.
But Jack was sure they'd do something about the whole thing before that.
"Download complete, sir."
"Then let's head back," Adora said. "And then to the enemy flagship."
Jack nodded. The sooner they were done, the sooner they could start preparing to wreck this entire operation.
*****
"There's the flagship of the task force guarding the site."
Adora nodded at Sam and studied the display. It was a regular Horde frigate. As with all the other frigates they had encountered in Ba'al's service, there were no signs of any modifications - externally. Internally, they couldn't be certain, but the analysis of the wrecks and intel from prisoners and deserters had not shown any hints of modifications, either. It seemed Ba'al was more focused on upgrading his old designs to Horde specs than experimenting with his new ships. Unless that was done somewhere else with a wholly different force. Trying to guess what Ba'al was doing had quickly become a very frustrating activity.
Still, they knew very well how a Horde frigate was laid out internally, so they should know what to expect when docking at this ship. "Alright," she said, "take us in."
The frigate shouldn't have better sensors than the factory ships, either, so this should be pretty safe. A bit more challenging to find a hatch to hack and use, a frigate was significantly smaller than a factory ship, but not impossible either.
Jack was already closing with the flagship, using a sweeping approach that would see them docking to the underside of it, where an escape hatch was installed. Horde Prime hadn't been big on his clones abandoning ships while they could still fight but he had liked the idea of wasting them even less. Probably because he considered them parts of him or something similarly narcissistic, Adora thought.
Whatever the reason, they had a way in that led to a supposedly - and now that they were in range of their scanners, confirmed - deserted storage room. Once again, the stealth generator worked - they were parked right between the aft part of the underside beam cannon batteries - and Bow could easily hack the airlock's door and security system.
Adjusting to the fact that the direction of the artificial gravity generator of the ship and the shuttle were not aligned so that they had to sort of walk-climb into the frigate was actually the biggest challenge here - Adora carried Daniel inside to speed things up.
But the storage room was full of rather un-Horde things.
"Looks like we got lost in some snake's attic," Jack commented.
And indeed, the room had a few very ornate crates inside, and jars and bags, all in the Goa'uld style. They looked very weird inside a Horde-style room.
Daniel checked the hieroglyphs on the crates. "Not a Goa'uld, Jack. These seem to be the personal belongings of Mal'ak - First Prime of Ba'al." He pointed at a plaque on the largest chest.
"Really?" Jack peered at them. "And he stores them here, way out of the way?"
"A Jaffa serving their false god is not supposed to revel in luxury," Teal'c said. "He might pretend to live frugally, or as Earth would say, in spartan quarters, as a show of loyalty."
"While hiding his loot and ill-gotten gains here? That doesn't sound very honourable." Jack grinned.
"There is no honour in serving the false gods," Teal'c replied. "And once a Jaffa realises that, they have to consider how to react. Some decide to retain their honour despite the price they have to pay. Others decide to let go of their honour altogether and imitate their oppressors' desire for power and wealth."
"It's too bad that we're on a covert mission - I'd love to rob this guy," Jack said.
"Well, let's see what we're missing at least," Catra said, flashing her fangs in a wide grin as she approached the largest chest.
"Catra!" Adora snapped.
"It's intel!" her lover replied - though she kept grinning. "We might find out which planet he fought and served on by analysing his loot."
"Sounds legit to me." Of course, Jack agreed.
Adora shook her head. "Check for traps."
"Of course." Catra looked at Bow.
Bow sighed. "Let's see…"
"The scanners don't detect any traps," Entrapta said. "At least no traps we could detect."
Adora could have done without hearing that qualifier.
"Good enough for me!" Catra fiddled with the lock and then popped it open and raised the lid. "Oh!"
"A lot of different pots and jugs," Entrapta said.
"Which you saw on the scanner already," Catra told her.
"I didn't want to ruin the surprise!"
Sam was focused on the rest of the ship, Adora saw. To warn them of any guards approaching.
"Those are very diverse designs and styles!" Daniel sounded very excited and almost pushed Jack and Catra away from the chest. No, not almost - he did elbow Jack out of the way without noticing when he reached into the chest and pulled out a pot. "Minoean! But I don't recognise the patterns! And Phoenician, though that was to be expected given Ba'al's history on Earth. But confirmation is always good."
"Forget the pots. Look at that!" Catra reached inside and pulled out another object.
Adora blinked. It looked like it was broken. And it wasn't a pot or jug, but a cube - maybe a cubic pot? Those existed. And she had seen this before…
"It's the same design as the alien data cube!" Entrapta sounded even more excited than Daniel now.
Adora wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
*****
Flagship of the Guard Force, Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)
That was an alien data cube - the remains of an alien data cube, Samantha Carter corrected herself. Why was this amongst what looked like the loot from one of Ba'al's more trusted commanders? It was just part of the cube's shell, so maybe it was a curiosity in a collection, looted from one of Ba'al's enemies - or victims. But if Ba'al had found a base or a planet settled by this civilisation, maybe gained access to their technology… "We need to find out where the owner of this chest acquired this," she said.
"Yes!" Entrapta agreed enthusiastically. "If we find out where they got it, we could find more clues to decrypt our own cube!"
Which, Sam reminded herself, they should have done long ago. Obviously, they should have treated the artefact not as some curiosity but as a priority. More important than, say, dealing with the design faults of the latest abomination from procurement.
"Well, for that, we'll need to find the owner of the chest." the General said.
"That would probably be the commander of this site," Daniel said. "As we mentioned before."
"'Probably'." The General shook his head. "But we've been a bit unlucky lately by making guesses. Wouldn't want to nab the wrong guy."
"Then let's take the entire ship!" Catra bared her fangs in a grin. "That way, we got everyone on board - as long as we can keep them from suiciding."
"Taking the ship kind of ruins the secrecy part of our plans," the General pointed out - but Sam could see that he liked the idea. It was his kind of plan, daring and decisive if it worked. And a spur-of-the-moment decision.
"And if we take out their command ship, the rest of the guard fleet will be easier to deal with by our task force," Glimmer said.
"But we can't attack before we have a plan to save the workers," Adora said. "If Ba'al is willing to sacrifice them rather than let us rescue them…"
Sam pressed her lips together. With the mind-control chips, no one would refuse Ba'al's orders, and he only needed a few key people chipped to ensure the factory ship and the Glove would be destroyed. With the size of this operation, the death toll would be horrible.
"If we take over the ship before the rest of the guard fleet realise it, we can fake orders to split up - or claim we were called away," Catra said. "Have the guards rally in an ambush location, or just send them on a trip to attack a system at the other end of the galaxy."
The last suggestion was probably not meant seriously, but if they could take over the flagship of this force, then taking the entire site over with minimal casualties would be a realistic objective for this mission. Ba'al was fond of compartmentalising his forces, but the individual forces' command structures were very hierarchical, as expected from a tyrant.
"Can we take over the ship without alerting the rest of the guard ships?" Daniel asked. "We could head back to our task force and gather more people."
Sam pondered the challenge. If they managed to manipulate the life support system… They had no gas with them to render the crew unconscious, but if they changed the settings, they could alter the ship's atmosphere gradually and reduce the oxygen until the crew was out. But the risk of killing anyone with this was great. Maybe…
"We need the bridge, engineering and the hangar," Catra said. "To control the ship and ensure that they can't alert anyone else or sabotage it." She looked around. "If we leverage the element of surprise and She-Ra, that's doable, but we need to be quick to get everything and everyone moving afterwards before things start going wrong. "If we take over the bridge and then have the rest of the crew gather in the hangar for an inspection, we could take them out all at once."
That was… Sam looked at the General.
He was grinning broadly. "Good idea! But we need to make sure they aren't locked up with anything they can use to get free - or shoot a hole in the hull to alert the rest of Ba'al's guards.
"We can lock them in with She-Ra," Catra said. "That will keep them from ruining the plan."
Adora nodded. "Yes. I can deal with the frigate's crew. But we need to secure the bridge and then imitate the commander."
"We can do that by taking records of their voice and then using our computer to turn the samples into orders," Entrapta suggested. "Though that might take a while."
"Let's hope he isn't the silent type," the General joked.
"We should be able to get voice samples from the ship's databanks," Sam said. "Communication is generally recorded."
"Yes!" Entrapta nodded. "And we need access to the central computer anyway, for the rest of the data!"
"And the bridge offers access to the computers," the General added. "So, let's go and take it over."
"After we check that the commander is on the bridge," Bow said. "We can't imitate his orders if he can countermand them."
"Right." Adora looked at Sam and Entrapta. "And we need to find out who the commander is. Scan the entire ship and look for anyone who could be it. And scan for mind-control chips. If you don't find anyone who could be it, we need to get access to the backup databanks so we can identify the commander."
"Yes!" Entrapta nodded with a smile, and she and Sam started working.
*****
"We've detected six mind-control chips currently active on this ship. One of them is a Jaffa, the others are Clones."
Catra felt relieved at Sam's report. If the flagship of Ba'al's guard force didn't have more mind-controlled crew members, then that probably meant that he didn't have too many chips available. That was… reassuring.
"So… Those could be three shifts of two people, like the captain and the first officer, the chief engineer and his number two, and the Commander of the entire force and his second-in-command," Jack said. "The commander would be Mal'ak."
"Mal'ak might here as an envoy or to inspect the site, not as its commander," Glimmer said.
"Not nominally, but as Ba'al's First Prime, he'd be in charge anyway," Sha're said.
"We don't know if Ba'al would use those chips on his commanders," Daniel said. "That could drive them to rebel or even desert, as long as they realise what is happening in time to react. He might use them on guards to keep an eye on his commanders."
"His commanders are likely the most faithful of his followers," Glimmer objected. "They would probably agree to the chips to show their loyalty."
"But would he trust them even if that were the case?" Adora asked. "The Jaffa is probably Mal'ak - we know that two of Apophis's First Prime defected, and Ba'al likely knows that as well."
"With how shoddy Apophis's counter-intel work is, half the Galaxy knows this," Catra said with a snort. "But for a mind-controlled guy, that's a lot of loot." She gestured at the chests. "Why would Ba'al let him keep it after mind-controlling him?" She wouldn't call it 'chipping'. That would make light of its horror. She also wanted to tell the others that, but she didn't want their pity. And this wasn't the time for that, anyway. They had to focus on the mission.
She saw Melog glow a little and hoped that the others missed it - she didn't want anyone to know how she felt.
Okay.
She felt Melog's confidence and trust and relaxed a little.
"Ba'al might use the chips as a fail-safe in case his followers betray him," Teal'c said. "His First Prime might not even be aware of what the chips actually do - the false gods always lie to their followers. Further, Ba'al has a reputation for being untrustworthy even for a Goa'uld."
"Yeah," Jack said. "Not telling even his Prime what the chips are and do seems a thing Ba'al would do. The guy seems too paranoid to tell even his highest-ranking followers more than the absolute minimum. Anyway, those are our main targets. Take them out, and their command structure should be in shambles."
"Let's hope so," Adora said, then looked at Catra.
Catra nodded. "Our priorities are the bridge and engineering, but we cannot let anyone with a mind-control chip walk around - they would sacrifice themselves without hesitation to get us or just to deny the ship to Ba'al's enemies - and we absolutely need to control all communications."
"We can hit the scuttling charges first and disable them so they can't just blow the ship - and us - up," Entrapta said. "And we can hack the communication systems."
"That would still leave individual FTL-communicators," Catra said. "We need to jam those as well."
"That would affect our communication with the other ships," Sam pointed out. "They might realise something is wrong."
"Better they suspect than have someone alert them - we can't fight the guard force in this ship," Catra said. "So… Where are the mind-controlled people?"
"We're tracking them. Two, including the Jaffa, are on the bridge, one in engineering, one in the main hangar and two in the crew quarters," Sam replied.
"Are they in the officer's quarters?" Daniel asked. "I mean, I know the Horde frigates didn't have special quarters for their officers since all Clones were replaceable for Horde Prime, but if Ba'al is integrating the Clones into his forces, this might have changed."
That was a good point, but probably not relevant.
"The quarters look the same as on a regular frigate, except for the commander's. That was remodelled. Potentially to better serve as a flagship and accommodate a Jaffa commander," Sam said.
Catra nodded and studied the holoprojection for a moment, checking the targets. "So… Adora and Entrapta to the bridge. Bow and Glimmer to Engineering. "Melog and I take out the one in the hangar. Jack, Sam and Teal'c take out the two in their quarters. And Daniel and Sha're stay in the shuttle and act as our network hub." She looked at the others.
Yes, Melog thought.
"Yes," Adora said. "Keep the maps updated. We have to travel carefully without Melog covering all of us."
Sorry.
"Don't be," Catra told him. "We need you in the hangar since that's a wide space, and we can't take out everyone there before they raise the alert, so we need to be sneaky there."
Yes.
Good. Catra checked her HUD and saw the tracked figures multiply, covering all crew. A moment late, routes appeared on the display, most of them going through air ducts and vents. Entrapta was adapting the data, then.
Catra grinned. "Let's go!"
"Yes." Adora nodded with a firm expression. "Let's go."
They split up. Without Melog's power, the other groups would have to carefully pick their way to their targets, as often through the vents as not. Catra didn't have to bother with that. Melog could hide them from plain sight - in the middle of a corridor, if needed. They didn't go quite that far - that would have been an unnecessary risk; one slip and a Clone might stumble into them in the narrower corridors - but the temptation was there. Especially when they were waiting in an alcove for a group to walk past. At least Goa'uld ships were crewed by Jaffa, and they usually marched at a brisk pace; the Clones walked more leisurely. Horde Prime probably thought having his 'brothers' walking faster would have made it seem as if they were rushed and that might make him look as if he weren't on top of things at every moment.
Still, even with those delays and despite the larger distance, they reached the main hangar before everyone else reached their targets. And their target was obvious - even if the HUD feed from Sam and Entrapta's scanners wouldn't have marked him for Catra, he would have stood out; the Clone stood on a small pedestal in the back of the hangar, watching everything, and Clones regularly came to him for something or the other while maintaining the Horde fighters and their bot pilots lined up in the hangar.
That was a new setup compared to the Horde standard layouts, she noted. The pedestal, not the fighters; those were standard issue. But in the Horde, all the Clones had been supposedly equal before Horde Prime (and beneath him), and such overt signs of their higher positions had been absent. That had changed in the Alliance, but mostly for functionality - they had a dedicated control room for the hangar master, not some platform to look down on the rest.
But it made taking the man out without alerting everyone a bit tricky. Not too much, though. She looked the situation over, studying the patterns of the Clones at work - fewer than in an Alliance frigate for the same tasks; had Ba'al some manpower problem? - and the doors leading out from the hangar.
A quick check with the ship's layout on her HUD later, she had her plan."Can you copy him walking out of the hangar?"
Positive.
Good. "Then cover us as we head over behind the guy."
Yes.
They moved carefully along the walls, quickly passing in front of the two doors on the way so they wouldn't run into some Clones coming and going, until they were standing behind the hangar master's pedestal.
"Hangar group ready," she reported over the communicator.
"Copy. Bridge group still en route."
"Crew Quarters en route."
"Engineering en route."
More waiting, then. She suppressed a sigh - Melog couldn't hide sound - and watched their target.
He was rather brusque with his underlings, Catra noted in the next few minutes. Quite different from what she was used to from the other Clones she knew. Even Horde Prime had played the affable, gentle leader towards his 'brothers'. She pressed her lips together when she looked at the Clone's neck where the mind control chip would be located, hidden by his clothes. How much of his attitude was his own and how much resulted from being mind-controlled by a Goa'uld? Well, if things went according to plan, they would find out.
"Bridge group in position."
Adora and Entrapta were ready. Good.
"Engineering group in position."
So were Glimmer and Bow.
About a minute later, Jack reported as well.
"Crew Quarters group ready."
"Go!"
At Adora's command, Catra nodded at Melog. A moment later, she caught the faintest flicker as their illusion settled over the hangar master.
Go.
She dashed forward, drawing her zat, and shot the Clone from the back, catching him as he collapsed and dragged him back to the wall.
There, she quickly checked his clothes for weapons, relieved him of a zat, slung him over her shoulders and then made her way out of the hangar while Melog made it look as if the Clone had received a call on his communicator and then left by himself.
A minute later, they were outside, hidden in a side corridor.
"Hangar group, done."
*****
Chapter 176: Ba’al’s Machinations Part 8
Starfox5
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Chapter 176: Ba'al's Machinations Part 8
Flagship of the Guard Force, Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)
"Go!"
As soon as Adora's order came over the communicator, Jack O'Neill rose, zat in hand, aimed at the door in front of him. A moment later, it slid open - Carter had hacked the controls. He rushed inside, already turning to aim at the figure he had marked on his HUD.
The Clone was sitting up on his bed. "Oh, what…"
Jack shot him. Once.
The Clone collapsed, stunned, and Jack rushed to secure him with zip ties - advanced restraining devices with much higher tensile strength than steel, according to Carter, but he knew zip ties when he saw them. He searched the Clone for any weapons and devices, tossing out a Horde-style gun, then flipped him over and secured his hands and feet. Better safe than sorry.
Then he lifted the guy on his shoulder and moved to the door.
"Hangar Group done." Catra sounded smug. Well, anyone could kidnap a guy quickly if they had an illusion-casting cat with them.
The corridor was clear according to the HUD, but Jack O'Neill still peeked around the corner to check before moving out of the room. He trusted Carter with his life, but even she or her technology weren't perfect. And this would be a hell of a time to discover that the magic sensor glitched and overlooked a patrolling squad of Jaffa or Clones because they were wearing funny hats or something.
Carter and Teal'c were ahead of him, in the second target's quarters. He closed the door behind him - no clones moving nearby, according to the HUD - and quickly made his way to them. "Carter? Teal'c?" he asked as he entered. "You've got two?"
"This is the target." Teal'c pointed at a Clone who had a chip port in the back of his neck. "We have not yet identified the other."
"Well, they look alike. Maybe his twin?"
Carter rolled her eyes. Teal'c didn't react at all, and Jack sighed. "So… any chance he's someone important?"
"I would need access to the ship's system to identify him. Or check a restricted door's controls for access privileges, sir," Carter replied.
"Let's leave him here, then, and lock the door behind us. We're on a tight schedule," Jack said.
"Indeed." Teal'c grabbed both their guy and Jack's.
"Let's go!" Jack turned to the door to check the corridor and used his communicator. "Crew Quarters group, done."
"Engine Room group, done."
Good. That only left the bridge. Where Adora and Entrapta were.
"Crew Quarters group, done."
"Engine Group, done!"
Adora took a deep breath as the last Clone on the bridge slid down the wall into which she had kicked him. Maybe a bit too hard - he didn't move. But she had knocked him down earlier, yet he had recovered and had been about to shoot at Entrapta. So… his own fault.
She looked around. Half a dozen bridge crew, four guards, the captain and Mal'ak - probably; he had a mind-control chip and was the only Jaffa on the bridge - were knocked out.
"Bridge group, done," she said into her communicator.
"Not yet!" Entrapta called out. "I'm still trying to hack into the system here. Well, systems - we need the data banks, backups and the security system, but also communications. And weapons, or they could shoot at someone to alert them. Or trigger them to fire back. So…"
Well, they had control of the bridge, at least. The rest would come in time. Adora touched the button on the earring Entrapta had made for her, and a HUD appeared in front of her eyes. She could see the others. Glimmer and Bow were holding the engineering section, and Catra's group was moving toward Jack's group so they could merge and join Adora on the bridge. Good. By the time they reached the bridge, Entrapta would have…
Something moved to her right! Adora spun around. Mal'ak was getting up - and he was aiming a zat'nik'tel! At Entrapta! Adora threw herself between the two, but Mal'ak was faster - his shot hit Entrapta in the back, and she collapsed. His second shot hit Adora's shield, though.
She bared her teeth as she rolled and rose, facing him. He shot a third time, and she caught it on her shield again as she rushed him.
She hit him, shield first, and he flew several yards back, crashing into and over a console, flipping head over heels, before slamming into the wall.
She drew a sharp breath when she saw the red smear he left on the wall. Had she killed him? She glanced at Entrapta; her friend was breathing. She had only been hit once, so she was simply stunned.
Adora rushed to the downed Jaffa. He, too, was still breathing but bleeding massively from his head. That was…
He suddenly rolled away from her, reaching for his dropped zat.
Adora stepped on the zat, crushing it, and shook her head. "Surrender!"
He looked at her with an empty expression, then grabbed her lower leg and…
…tried to pull her down. As if!
She kicked him again, not too hard, and he flew back into the wall - but got up again and came at her.
A bash with her shield set him flying once again. Adora heard bones break this time.
Yet, he got up - or tried to. Adora grimaced when she saw his leg give in and the broken bone push through his skin. That…
She blinked. He wasn't showing any reaction - his expression looked almost bored!
Oh, no - the chip must be controlling him!
"What the…?"
"They woke up!"
"Watch out!"
All the chips had been activated.
"What the…?"
Samantha Carter whirled to the side as soon as she heard the General, drawing her zat'nik'tel. Both the Clone Catra was carrying, as well as the two Teal'c had slung over his shoulders, were jerking wildly, trying to get free - no, trying to bite them.
Catra slammed her clone into the ground, hard enough, Sam heard bones crack. Yet the Clone didn't stop - didn't even cry out. No reaction at all!
Teal'c had dropped his two, kicked one away and pinned the other with his staff. But they wriggled on the floor - and were pulling against the restraining devices with enough force to make their wrists bleed!
Sam shot one with her zat'nik'tel before he managed to wound himself even worse.
It didn't stop them.
Sam almost shot the prisoner again before she could stop herself. A second shot so close to the first would kill him.
And probably not stop him, either. "The chips are controlling them!"
The general cursed and used his communicator. "Change of plans - we've been made! Signal the task force to attack and get this ship out of here!"
"Entrapta's stunned. I've healed her, but…"
"Oh… what happened?"
"You were stunned."
"Oh."
"Jam the communications! Crash their comms if you can!" Catra snapped.
"Oh, right."
But Entrapta sounded still a bit out of it - Sam could tell. Even though Adora had healed her.
Another crack made her glance at Teal'c. Her friend had just broken more bones of their prisoners. Pragmatic yet brutal.
Sam winced and focused on her computer. She had to link up with Entrapta's tool and, through it, to the main computer. They had to take over the ship! But first, the task force.
It took several seconds for the computers to link up - Entrapta was not quite as quick, yet, as she usually was - but Sam managed to send the signal to the fleet.
"They've alerted the crew!" the General said. "We need to get to the bridge. And hold engineering."
Sam quickly shut down all doors she could access. That would hopefully trap some of the Clones. But not all - and they were cutting through the blast doors in the corridors.
"We've sealed the door, but they're shooting at it."
Glimmer sounded… controlled. Not openly worried. Not yet.
"Working on the hyperspace window!" Entrapta reported. Sam could see that on the screen of her computer.
"And someone needs to reinforce Engineering Group," Catra said. "I'll go - you go with the rest to the Bridge. Yes, go with them. I'll be fine."
She was arguing with Melog, Sam realised, then pushed the stray thought away as she started to adjust the comms.
The enemy fleet had been alerted - the chips must have been tapped into the comm network and registered when their carriers were stunned. Or attacked. Obvious, in hindsight. Sam did what she could to throw them into disarray, sending out conflicting orders and flooding the network with data and requests for more data. Fortunately, they were on the enemy flagship - and their signals and orders were prioritised by default.
But the enemy was adapting - a squadron had just gone off the network. They would move against the flagship.
"The door's glowing."
"I'm almost there!"
Shots rang out around the corner. Carbine, M4. The General. Then blasts - Teal'c.
"We need to move! They're coming!"
"I'm almost done!" Sam protested. "I need to crash their network. If that squadron managed a coordinated attack… She tagged them as hostile and sent orders to the rest of the fleet to destroy them.
A third of the ships started moving to intercept the squadron. A few more started towards the flagship.
Sam modified the orders again. This time, they looked as if they came from the ships that had dropped off the network. The confusion wouldn't last long, but…
"Alright, we're opening the hyperspace window as soon as we're moving!"
"I've cleared the door to the engine room but it's too hot to open. Bow, what's the engine doing?"
"Uh… It's starting up."
"It's supposed to do that! We're about to enter hyperspace!"
And they were about to get shot by half the enemy fleet. Sam's efforts had delayed a coordinated response, but there was only so much you could do if the enemy had a secure network through their chips…
But before the first ship could do more than diminish their shields, they entered hyperspace, and Sam relaxed. They were safe, for the moment. At least the ship was - the General and Teal'c were shooting again. And Sam could see Melog next to her, probably shielding her with illusions.
"I'm coming back to you. Glimmer and Bow are safely sealed up!"
"Hey!"
"She's right, Glimmer - if we can't get out, they can't get in."
But the chipped prisoners were still trying to attack Sam - she saw one of them trying to roll toward her with broken bones sticking out of their limbs. This was horrifying!
A quick check of her display showed that most of the still-moving crew members were trying to storm the bridge.
Sam pressed her lips together. Charging Adora in a corridor? She knew how that would end. And she could also see that Catra was almost back with Sam's group.
Good. They just needed to hold until they reached the end of their trip and the Alliance marines could board the ship.
Catra checked on her HUD one last time as she rushed down the corridor on all fours. All the enemies were facing Jack and Teal'c, holed up with Melog and Sam in a dead end a bit ahead.
Good.
She rounded the last corner and pounced on the Clone at the back of the enemy formation, landing on his shoulders and smashing his forehead into the floor while she jumped at the next one.
Her claws slashed through his weapon and fingers as she rammed him into the wall, leaving him stunned and bleeding as she pivoted and darted forward again.
The others were starting to react, turning around and crying out in alarm, but she was in the middle of them before they could form a line and dropped to the floor between the two closed, slicing their ankles before they could bring their weapons to bear, then finished them off with a quick series of kicks to the head.
That left three more, caught between her and the others. One tried to shoot her, but she darted to the side, making him miss, then rushed forward, dodging under his aim, to grab his arm. A quick twist broke his arm, making him drop the weapon, and she turned, throwing him into the next one before he could shoot, sending both to the floor, sprawling.
Jack moved up and shot the last one, then stunned the two others before they could recover. "We need to get to the bridge."
She checked her HUD. There were still quite a number of the crew moving around, though they didn't seem too organised any more. And yet… if the crowd in the hangar hit engineering, Bow and Glimmer could be in trouble. "Go. I'll run interference to keep them from getting their act together."
He nodded. "We have three prisoners we can't stun."
"They have been rendered unable to attack us," Teal'c said. Behind him, one of the bound and gagged Clones on the floor tried to hit his ankle with his forehead, and he moved to the side. "Mostly."
They had all limbs broken but didn't stop trying to fight, Catra noticed with a wince. If Horde Prime had used his chips like that… "We need to hack the chips to free them."
"We need to get out of hyperspace and have the ship secured first," Jack said. "We're still trying to take over a ship with just us against the entire crew."
Catra clenched her teeth. "As long as those chips are working, the enemy ships won't stop fighting."
He nodded and glanced over at Sam. "Carter?"
"Entrapta is handling the ship's controls and keeping us on course. Sir, I am blocking communications and weapon systems so they cannot fire on our allies or call for help. But if they track the mind-control chips, they will locate us anyway."
"Right. Hack the chips first."
"Yes, sir."
Good. Catra nodded and left them. She had a ship to roam and crew to take out. At least the regular Clones were easy to disable and not some mind-controlled zombie warriors. But she really didn't want to face a horde of Jaffa controlled by such chips. You'd have to kill them all to stop them, and she wouldn't put it past those evil things to keep a dead body fighting for a while.
Up ahead, three Clones were trying to bypass the locks Sam had put on the beam cannon battery there. She tore through them in seconds, leaving them bleeding and knocked out. The hangar was ahead. It looked like the remaining clones there - half of the hangar crew had been attacking engineering, and Catra had dealt with them already - were trying to get a fighter ready.
That wouldn't do. Catra took a shortcut through the air ducts, scrambling through the narrow space with her claws digging into the material, then slashed the grill and dropped into the hangar, right on top of a Clone dismantling the door controls.
She left him with his head stuck in the controls and rushed the next group. They tried to form a firing line as if this were a field battle but were too slow - and too unused to ground battles; two shot each other when Catra dived between them to sweep their feet, and a third seemed caught between moving to a spot from where he wouldn't hit anyone else but Catra and holding his position.
She took him out with a blow to the head when he decided to charge her instead, then used him as a shield to catch the blast from the last one. A quick charge smashed the smoking corpse into the shooter, and both into the console behind them.
Catra jumped over them, landing behind the console, moments before a volley of blasts hit both Clones and the console.
The rest of the hangar crew had noticed and formed up, including a few bots. Those had no trouble with ground combat and were advancing on her, as her HUD showed.
She grinned as she looked at the enemy formation. It was almost perfectly aligned - Horde Prime would have been proud.
But it was also almost perfectly lined up in front of the closest Horde fighter.
She jumped out of cover - it was disintegrating under the blasts anyway - and ran on all fours across the hangar. The Clones were slow to adjust their fire, the bots barely better, and she reached the fighter ahead of their shots.
A slice with her claws cut the forward landing strut, and the fighter tipped forward, nose hitting the floor. While the Clones shot the cockpit to pieces, she dug her claws into the right side, cutting off a part as tall as herself and twice as wide.
Makeshift shield ready, she rushed the line, catching the blasts until she was in the middle of their formation.
Then she cut loose.
Never split the party, Jack O'Neill reminded himself as he rounded the next corner, leading with his carbine. "Clear!" he called out. The HUD had shown him no one was there before he had reached the corner, but old habits died hard.
And you couldn't blindly trust technology, anyway. Certainly not when fighting someone like Ba'al. Those chips… He glanced back to where Teal'c was literally dragging the bound, gagged and mutilated prisoners and grimaced. Technically, it wasn't a war crime to subdue prisoners who were attacking you, and they hadn't killed them, and they could be healed by Adora - would be healed; it was Adora, after all - but he still felt bad about it.
And speaking of Adora, they were close to the bridge section now. On the HUD, He could see a group of Clones gathered at a junction ahead of them, blocking the access corridor to and from the bridge in this part of the frigate.
Or trying to. Jack scoffed and used his communicator. "Bridge Team? We're almost there. But we could use a little help clearing the way.
"Coming, Crew Quarters!"
Adora must have been tracking them on her own HUD - she charged straight out of the bridge, at the blocking force. Jack heard shots from ahead of him and through the communicator, followed by screams and then the sound of people hitting walls.
By the time his team reached the junction, it was already over. Adora stood in the centre, surrounded by the bodies of the Clones she had just laid out.
Two were groaning, and Jack stunned them with his zat. Better safe than sorry. "We've got the prisoners, but they're in bad shape," he told her with a grimace.
She nodded curtly. "They don't stop fighting. Get on the bridge and cover Entrapta. I'll finish the rest."
Meaning, she wanted to head to Catra, who had taken on the entire hangar section according to the HUD feed. But Jack didn't comment - he understood the feeling, and it made sense for Adora to go and finish the take-over of the ship before they dropped out of hyperspace.
"Alright," he replied.
Adora nodded once, then ran off while Jack led his team onto the bridge.
"Hi, Jack!" Entrapta waved from the corner. She was sitting, surrounded - and almost hidden - by panels Adora must have ripped off the walls and slammed into the floor to form a barricade. "We're almost at our destination!"
Carter joined her at once, crouching next to Entrapta, and put her computer down.
Jack glanced at the consoles, half of them broken, one with a Clone still stuck in it. That was a bit more damage than he had expected.
"Oh, don't worry - I'm running the ship through my multitool!"
Now Jack was worrying. But Carter didn't seem to mind the setup, so it probably was safe.
"How much longer do we have?" he asked.
"Two minutes, sir."
Long enough for things to go wrong. He checked the prisoners on the bridge. All but the chipped ones were stunned and wouldn't be a problem. But the chipped ones… the two on the bridge were wrapped in wall panels and still trying to get out - they were tearing themselves bloody in the process. The three Teal'c just set down next to them were worse off, though. "We really need to hack the chips," he muttered. "Keep an eye on them, Teal'c," he added.
His friend nodded, and Jack went to the main door to the bridge to stand guard.
The corridor was clear, and he didn't see any Clones moving towards him on the HUD. Not many were moving at all in the ship - Adora had gone through two gathered groups and was now about to reach the hangar.
"Oh, look - they're trying to manually remove the locks from the main batteries!"
"That won't help them when we cut the power supply."
"But we can't shut down the reactor."
"We can manually mark the power lines as under maintenance, that will make the system cut them off."
"They could bypass it manually. But they would have to move to the engine room for that. Unless they try to siphon power from the life support systems in the section."
"That won't be enough to power even one beam cannon."
"But they could charge it in advance - it would give them one shot, at least."
"We'll be out of hyperspace and being boarded by then."
"Oh, yes - never mind then. So, this should be safe. Let's start on hacking the mind-control network, then!"
Jack felt a bit better. It sounded as if things were on track. At least on the bridge. They might still pull off this - taking an entire ship with just two teams. Jack would have to make sure that the idiots back on Earth wouldn't try to use that to implement boarding as a standard tactic for fleet engagements. The crayon-eaters would jump at the idea, and some of the Navy pukes might support them even though they should know better.
"Leaving hyperspace in five… four… three…"
Jack tensed.
"...two… one…"
The ship lurched.
Near Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)
"...one…"
Adora was just about to hit the hangar when the ship dropped out of hyperspace - and not as smoothly as she expected - she did stumble at the unexpected movement. But no alarms were going off, and she didn't hear anything breaking, so she continued, using her sword to cut a way into the hangar, where Catra was…
…apparently just finishing off the last resistance, she realised when she came to a stop. "Catra!"
"Hey, Adora!" Her love turned toward her with that sly smile on her face that never failed to make Adora feel that little bit special. Though the fact that Catra's spacesuit was splattered with blood - and her hands and feet were practically covered with it - was a bit distracting.
Catra must have noticed and shrugged. "Most aren't dead, and they weren't able to send out any fighters - or use them to blow the ship up from inside."
Adora took a look at the bodies around Catra. They looked as bloody as Catra did, though she could see most of them breathing and heard them groaning. They needed first aid as well - they were now prisoners of war, with all that entailed. "Good," she said after a moment, then checked the most urgent-looking wounded to heal them.
Catra flexed her hands, extending and retracting her claws several times. Cleaning them using the sealing mechanism Entrapta had built into her suit.
Adora frowned a little. At least, Catra wasn't trying to lick them.
"We've hailed the task force left behind here. Marines are on the way," Jack reported over the communicator.
"Better late than never," Catra commented.
"We were supposed to go on a recon mission," Adora defended them. "We decided to board and take over the enemy flagship without telling them."
"I'm still going to rub it in if they try to act as if they're saving us," Catra said.
"I doubt anyone will claim they saved us if they see this," Adora replied with a nod and a grimace at the pile of bodies.
Catra shrugged. "Marines will."
"Those are Royal Marines," Adora pointed out. "Not US Marines."
"They probably still eat crayons, just the yellow ones." Catra smirked.
Adora shook her head. Her love and Jack got on a bit too well. "Let's clear the space for their shuttles."
"I can't throw fighters around."
"You can drag the bodies out of the way!"
Catra snorted but didn't complain any further, and Adora started pushing the fighters into a corner. Assault shuttles needed more room to land under combat conditions.
Catra had just set down the last Clone and was tying up some bandages around the still-bleeding wrist she had sliced when the first shuttle arrived.
Adora used her sword to guide them inside, and as soon as the shuttle touched down, the ramp dropped, and the marines poured out.
"We need to secure the engineering section and the bridge and relieve our teams there before you sweep the ship," Adora told the commander. "And our prisoners need to be treated and prepared for transport. But check them for chips implanted at the neck. If you find any, call us - those chips can force them to fight with broken limbs and even unconscious."
"Yes, Supreme Commander!" The captain in charge looked grim as he nodded and started sending out his troops.
"Medics over here!" Catra yelled, and a few soldiers hurried over towards her.
The second assault shuttle touched down as the first soldiers left the hangar, and Adora and Catra left with them to return to the bridge. She tried to ignore the cursing of the medics and other soldiers attending the wounded and frowned at Catra when she heard her snickering at some of the 'murder-blender' comments.
Sometimes, Catra's sense of humour was a bit too dark.
Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)
The battle was still going on when they reached Point Velvet on board the Horde frigate they had commandeered. Adora stared at the holoprojection on the bridge and frowned. Between the jamming fields - although as happened before, the enemy was compensating by using local direct radio transmission to form a comm network - and the numerical superiority, Ba'al's guard force should not be putting up such resistance. They were losing, that much was obvious, but they were fighting much harder than before. And the task force was taking casualties as a result. So far, they hadn't lost many ships, but they could only shift the ships around, replacing damaged ones with ships still fit to fight for only so long before they had to send in damaged ones to relieve even more damaged ones, and then the losses would be mounting quickly.
"We need to crash the chips," Catra said, sounding as grim as Adora felt.
"Yes."
"We're working on it!" Entrapta called out from where Sam and she had put up their computers. "But it's tricky. Ba'al's been meddling with the software."
"And he's using non-standard encryption," Sam added. "It's not based on any known Goa'uld systems."
That was not good. If Ba'al was using unknown technology… "Is it related to the datacube's technology?" Adora asked.
"Possibly. We can't tell yet. There are similarities, but we need more data to tell if those are just the result of using the same base principles or actual derivative technology," Sam replied.
"Just do your best," Adora told them while she watched another frigate from the task force fall out of formation, the icon lighting up with red alert messages. They were pushing the enemy back - the first factory ships had been disabled - but the Glove was still holding in the centre of the enemy formation.
They needed those chips disabled.
Samantha Carter tried to ignore the space battle raging nearby and focus on the chip network - which must be piggy-backing on the short-range radio network the enemy was using to counter the subspace-jamming attack of the Alliance forces - but each time a chip went offline, she was reminded that that meant, most likely, a destroyed enemy ship. Worse, though, was the effect it had on Entrapta and her efforts to hack the chips.
"The network adapted again!" Entrapta commented. "The distribution changed - and the codes changed."
The network wasn't using the same architecture as the Alliance networks, based on the Internet. When a member dropped out, data traffic didn't automatically reroute through existing lines and connections to compensate, such as the enemy fleet did - the whole chip network was reorganised, with key nodes changing and even protocols switching.
"This is completely different from the way Horde Prime used them!" her friend went on. "The hardware is the same, but the software… it's totally unlike the software used in the Horde. But! It's not… it's like…" Entrapta shook her head while her hair tendrils kept using two keyboards at once. "The mind-control chips didn't network like that - couldn't network like that."
"Yes," Sam agreed. "The way the protocols change, data traffic spikes. Whole new sets of protocols must be transferred each time. We need to decrypt them so we can hack into that." Once they were inside, they would get the new protocols each time the network shifted.
But the encryption was proving to be frustratingly hard to crack. Sam had no hard proof, but she was certain that it was based on that alien cube's encryption. If only they had cracked that cube earlier…
"Oh, look at that!" Entrapta highlighted a change in data traffic on the holoprojection between them.
Sam narrowed her eyes. The way the shift happened… She couldn't read the data, but the volume… "It's not just temporary spikes when the network shifts - it's forming a new central node each time they shift and they shift all the time."
"Yes. Even though distributing data through direct connections would be more efficient, that's how the normal communication of the fleet works; they send everything through that node - which keeps shifting around even without a chip dropping off the network. But why does it do that?" Entrapta asked. "It's inefficient. It's putting a strain on the network in the middle of all this!"
Sam agreed. It made no sense. It was taking over a lot of the capacity of the enemy fleet's local communication network, and that impacted their performance. She blinked. Performance! "Can the chips actually handle that sort of strain?"
Entrapta gasped and several holographic screens popped up, data scrolling over all of them. Construction materials, internal architecture, everything about the chips. "A regular mind-control chip can't handle that much data - not for long! Not without burning out!"
"They have to keep shifting the central node around to avoid burning out the chips it controls!" Sam shook her head. "If we can stop the transfer…"
"Or if we overload it!" Entrapta nodded. "But how?"
"We can't jam the radio network," Sam said. The enemy ships were too close and putting out too much power; Alliance ships would have to be far too close to stop that. And jamming drones or bots lacked the sheer power needed for that.
"And we're already jamming the subspace communications," Entrapta added. "Too bad we can't lure the node into our captured chips and…" She blinked.
Sam drew a sharp breath. They had the chips - and they were set up to receive such data. If they tapped the captured chips into the radio network, waited until a node formed in one of them - the data traffic pattern would show it - and then cut the network before the node could move on… "If the chips don't have backup control nodes, that might do it."
"If they had such nodes, they wouldn't need to shift around like that and probably could use external cores to run the nodes!" Entrapta nodded eagerly.
But the prisoners with the chips were not here - they had stayed with the captured flagship.
"We need a stealth shuttle and the chipped prisoners!" Sam yelled. "Hurry!"
Their plan had an unexpected drawback, Samantha Carter realised a bit later, in the hangar, waiting for the prisoner transport to arrive. In order to tap into the enemy radio network, they had to get into the enemy formation in a stealth shuttle.
And that required a pilot. Or a crew.
"I'm going, and you're not, and that's final."
"Jack!"
"Sha're! Listen to him!"
"Why, Daniel? You never do it if you think you're right! He needs a copilot!"
"No, I don't. I can handle a short flight alone. I just need someone to keep an eye on the prisoners. No one else."
Sam cleared her throat. "I'll have to come as well," she told the General. "We can't risk the lag from remote operations. Not with subspace still jammed. And if we stop the jamming, the plan will fail."
He glared at her but had no answer to that and finally, reluctantly and with ill grace nodded.
Good. Sam knew the risk this plan entailed, and she wouldn't send anyone off if she wasn't going as well.
"I should come as well!"
Of course, just because Sam was going didn't mean Entrapta had to go as well. Quite the contrary. It might be hypocritical of her, but she wouldn't let her friend risk her life when it wasn't necessary for both of them to go.
No matter how much Entrapta pouted.
It had been hard enough to keep Adora from coming along. Sam suspected that she was still trying to find a good argument to go on the mission.
That prisoner transport couldn't come fast enough!
"Pearl Jam en route."
Samantha Carter ran a last check on the computers she'd set up inside the shuttle, next to the hastily placed prisoner pods - a fancy designation for coffins with life support and medical sensors. But it was necessary to keep the prisoners from trying to attack everyone else - and harming themselves in the process. Even now, with the shuttle's engines accelerating at max power, she could hear some of the chipped Clones bang against the inside of their prisons, and she thought she heard Mal'ak trying to chew through his gag.
It made her feel sick. They needed a quick way to remove such chips, and they needed it yesterday - they couldn't hold enemies with such chips as prisoners without violating the laws of war and every civilised country.
She glanced at the holoprojection to her left, which showed an overview of the battle. The numbers of engaged ships on both sides had shrunk, but not decisively. The task force didn't have the numerical superiority to force a close-quarters engagement, not without taking crippling losses, so they were forced to attempt the now familiar high-speed attacks to create and exploit any weaknesses in the enemy's formation. But since that tactic relied on crippling the enemy's ability to react to sudden changes to be most effective, and the best they could manage now was to slow Ba'al's fleet down, it was going slowly, and while each individual exchange left the enemy more damaged than the Alliance ships, it still took a steady toll.
But the enemy was hanging by a thread, and Sam and her friends were about to cut that thread - if their plan succeeded.
She pressed her lips together as she watched the shuttle's course on the holoprojection, swinging around the most recent attack by an ad-hoc squadron on the enemy formation to avoid stray beam cannon volleys. A single hit would destroy the shuttle at once.
She forced the thought away and checked her setup again. The radio connections were ready, the routines to cut the connection the moment the data had spiked as well, and the power supply was holding steady.
"How are the prisoners doing?" the General asked.
"Their status remains unchanged, O'Neill," Teal'c replied in the same tone he used when talking about the weather. Unflappable and dependable - and deadly, as usual.
"And the tech stuff, Carter?"
"Everything's ready, sir." She sounded a bit clipped, she realised, but he didn't comment on it.
"Alright, we're going in. I've picked out a nice frigate in the back. Keep those radio receivers peeled so we don't have to bump into the enemy hull to get a reception!"
She snorted at the weak joke as she checked the holoprojection again - they were headed straight for a frigate in the rear part - but since the enemy was surrounded, that meant they had to pass through the enemy line.
"Starting evasive flying," the General announced a moment later, and the shuttle began to juke and weave - on the holoprojection; Sam didn't feel any movement through the ship's inertial compensator.
To their side, another ad-hoc squadron was launching a fly-by attack, and a few seconds later, the enemy shifted in response. That opened a hole for the shuttle - and the enemy fire would be aimed away from them.
But now they were in radio range, and Sam connected the setup to the receivers. "Trap active," she reported.
They passed so close to an enemy frigate, badly damaged but still flying, that Sam could see it through the cockpit's windows - and its guns firing - but there was no data spike. The control side might not want to switch to a frontline ship, she thought.
Then they were through the enemy line and headed to the enemy rear - or centre, depending on your view. The radio traffic was heavier here, and she saw another data spike on the chip network - yet not to the trap. Could they locate the chips through the radio network? If they could, they would be able to find the shuttle despite the stealth field, but it should be impossible in such a dense formation while using high-powered short-range radio signals in the middle of massive jamming. And the chips were not connected to the regular communications, as far as they knew, so they couldn't use that to feed targeting data to the beam cannons. But Ba'al had surprised them before…
But no ship turned their weapons on them even as the prisoners' chips connected to the network. Maybe Entrapta's theory was correct and the chips could only enforce loyalty and a berserker mode and lacked the capacity to take over a body like a Goa'uld could? Or was that what the control node could do?
They wouldn't be able to tell until they had the time to analyse them properly.
"We're flying around their flagship. Anyone biting?"
"Not yet, sir. There are many chips for the control node to switch to, and if it's random then this could take a bit," Sam told the General. He knew that already - she had briefed everyone on the risks. But flying so closely to the enemy - the shuttle's icon almost disappeared under the enemy icon on the holoprojection - would stress anyone.
She glanced at the prisoner pods again, No change. What if she had miscalculated? What if the chips were blocked from rejoining the network if they went offline? No, that would have crashed the entire network when the jammers started, but there could be security protocols that delayed…
The computer alert went off - data spike! A moment later, the second alert went off. "Data spike! Trap offline!" she reported. "Checking reaction!"
The logs showed the data spike - into Mal'ak. And the connection was cut before any other data spike could be registered. The control node had been severed!
She smiled, showing her teeth, as she sent the confirmation to Entrapta and started hacking the chips' network. Without the control node refreshing and changing the protocols every few seconds, they could finally finish this!
Then Mal'ak's medical sensors started to scream alerts - his chip was literally burning out!
Flagship of the Guard Force, Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)
"Go!"
As soon as Adora's order came over the communicator, Jack O'Neill rose, zat in hand, aimed at the door in front of him. A moment later, it slid open - Carter had hacked the controls. He rushed inside, already turning to aim at the figure he had marked on his HUD.
The Clone was sitting up on his bed. "Oh, what…"
Jack shot him. Once.
The Clone collapsed, stunned, and Jack rushed to secure him with zip ties - advanced restraining devices with much higher tensile strength than steel, according to Carter, but he knew zip ties when he saw them. He searched the Clone for any weapons and devices, tossing out a Horde-style gun, then flipped him over and secured his hands and feet. Better safe than sorry.
Then he lifted the guy on his shoulder and moved to the door.
"Hangar Group done." Catra sounded smug. Well, anyone could kidnap a guy quickly if they had an illusion-casting cat with them.
The corridor was clear according to the HUD, but Jack O'Neill still peeked around the corner to check before moving out of the room. He trusted Carter with his life, but even she or her technology weren't perfect. And this would be a hell of a time to discover that the magic sensor glitched and overlooked a patrolling squad of Jaffa or Clones because they were wearing funny hats or something.
Carter and Teal'c were ahead of him, in the second target's quarters. He closed the door behind him - no clones moving nearby, according to the HUD - and quickly made his way to them. "Carter? Teal'c?" he asked as he entered. "You've got two?"
"This is the target." Teal'c pointed at a Clone who had a chip port in the back of his neck. "We have not yet identified the other."
"Well, they look alike. Maybe his twin?"
Carter rolled her eyes. Teal'c didn't react at all, and Jack sighed. "So… any chance he's someone important?"
"I would need access to the ship's system to identify him. Or check a restricted door's controls for access privileges, sir," Carter replied.
"Let's leave him here, then, and lock the door behind us. We're on a tight schedule," Jack said.
"Indeed." Teal'c grabbed both their guy and Jack's.
"Let's go!" Jack turned to the door to check the corridor and used his communicator. "Crew Quarters group, done."
"Engine Room group, done."
Good. That only left the bridge. Where Adora and Entrapta were.
*****
"Crew Quarters group, done."
"Engine Group, done!"
Adora took a deep breath as the last Clone on the bridge slid down the wall into which she had kicked him. Maybe a bit too hard - he didn't move. But she had knocked him down earlier, yet he had recovered and had been about to shoot at Entrapta. So… his own fault.
She looked around. Half a dozen bridge crew, four guards, the captain and Mal'ak - probably; he had a mind-control chip and was the only Jaffa on the bridge - were knocked out.
"Bridge group, done," she said into her communicator.
"Not yet!" Entrapta called out. "I'm still trying to hack into the system here. Well, systems - we need the data banks, backups and the security system, but also communications. And weapons, or they could shoot at someone to alert them. Or trigger them to fire back. So…"
Well, they had control of the bridge, at least. The rest would come in time. Adora touched the button on the earring Entrapta had made for her, and a HUD appeared in front of her eyes. She could see the others. Glimmer and Bow were holding the engineering section, and Catra's group was moving toward Jack's group so they could merge and join Adora on the bridge. Good. By the time they reached the bridge, Entrapta would have…
Something moved to her right! Adora spun around. Mal'ak was getting up - and he was aiming a zat'nik'tel! At Entrapta! Adora threw herself between the two, but Mal'ak was faster - his shot hit Entrapta in the back, and she collapsed. His second shot hit Adora's shield, though.
She bared her teeth as she rolled and rose, facing him. He shot a third time, and she caught it on her shield again as she rushed him.
She hit him, shield first, and he flew several yards back, crashing into and over a console, flipping head over heels, before slamming into the wall.
She drew a sharp breath when she saw the red smear he left on the wall. Had she killed him? She glanced at Entrapta; her friend was breathing. She had only been hit once, so she was simply stunned.
Adora rushed to the downed Jaffa. He, too, was still breathing but bleeding massively from his head. That was…
He suddenly rolled away from her, reaching for his dropped zat.
Adora stepped on the zat, crushing it, and shook her head. "Surrender!"
He looked at her with an empty expression, then grabbed her lower leg and…
…tried to pull her down. As if!
She kicked him again, not too hard, and he flew back into the wall - but got up again and came at her.
A bash with her shield set him flying once again. Adora heard bones break this time.
Yet, he got up - or tried to. Adora grimaced when she saw his leg give in and the broken bone push through his skin. That…
She blinked. He wasn't showing any reaction - his expression looked almost bored!
Oh, no - the chip must be controlling him!
"What the…?"
"They woke up!"
"Watch out!"
All the chips had been activated.
*****
"What the…?"
Samantha Carter whirled to the side as soon as she heard the General, drawing her zat'nik'tel. Both the Clone Catra was carrying, as well as the two Teal'c had slung over his shoulders, were jerking wildly, trying to get free - no, trying to bite them.
Catra slammed her clone into the ground, hard enough, Sam heard bones crack. Yet the Clone didn't stop - didn't even cry out. No reaction at all!
Teal'c had dropped his two, kicked one away and pinned the other with his staff. But they wriggled on the floor - and were pulling against the restraining devices with enough force to make their wrists bleed!
Sam shot one with her zat'nik'tel before he managed to wound himself even worse.
It didn't stop them.
Sam almost shot the prisoner again before she could stop herself. A second shot so close to the first would kill him.
And probably not stop him, either. "The chips are controlling them!"
The general cursed and used his communicator. "Change of plans - we've been made! Signal the task force to attack and get this ship out of here!"
"Entrapta's stunned. I've healed her, but…"
"Oh… what happened?"
"You were stunned."
"Oh."
"Jam the communications! Crash their comms if you can!" Catra snapped.
"Oh, right."
But Entrapta sounded still a bit out of it - Sam could tell. Even though Adora had healed her.
Another crack made her glance at Teal'c. Her friend had just broken more bones of their prisoners. Pragmatic yet brutal.
Sam winced and focused on her computer. She had to link up with Entrapta's tool and, through it, to the main computer. They had to take over the ship! But first, the task force.
It took several seconds for the computers to link up - Entrapta was not quite as quick, yet, as she usually was - but Sam managed to send the signal to the fleet.
"They've alerted the crew!" the General said. "We need to get to the bridge. And hold engineering."
Sam quickly shut down all doors she could access. That would hopefully trap some of the Clones. But not all - and they were cutting through the blast doors in the corridors.
"We've sealed the door, but they're shooting at it."
Glimmer sounded… controlled. Not openly worried. Not yet.
"Working on the hyperspace window!" Entrapta reported. Sam could see that on the screen of her computer.
"And someone needs to reinforce Engineering Group," Catra said. "I'll go - you go with the rest to the Bridge. Yes, go with them. I'll be fine."
She was arguing with Melog, Sam realised, then pushed the stray thought away as she started to adjust the comms.
The enemy fleet had been alerted - the chips must have been tapped into the comm network and registered when their carriers were stunned. Or attacked. Obvious, in hindsight. Sam did what she could to throw them into disarray, sending out conflicting orders and flooding the network with data and requests for more data. Fortunately, they were on the enemy flagship - and their signals and orders were prioritised by default.
But the enemy was adapting - a squadron had just gone off the network. They would move against the flagship.
"The door's glowing."
"I'm almost there!"
Shots rang out around the corner. Carbine, M4. The General. Then blasts - Teal'c.
"We need to move! They're coming!"
"I'm almost done!" Sam protested. "I need to crash their network. If that squadron managed a coordinated attack… She tagged them as hostile and sent orders to the rest of the fleet to destroy them.
A third of the ships started moving to intercept the squadron. A few more started towards the flagship.
Sam modified the orders again. This time, they looked as if they came from the ships that had dropped off the network. The confusion wouldn't last long, but…
"Alright, we're opening the hyperspace window as soon as we're moving!"
"I've cleared the door to the engine room but it's too hot to open. Bow, what's the engine doing?"
"Uh… It's starting up."
"It's supposed to do that! We're about to enter hyperspace!"
And they were about to get shot by half the enemy fleet. Sam's efforts had delayed a coordinated response, but there was only so much you could do if the enemy had a secure network through their chips…
But before the first ship could do more than diminish their shields, they entered hyperspace, and Sam relaxed. They were safe, for the moment. At least the ship was - the General and Teal'c were shooting again. And Sam could see Melog next to her, probably shielding her with illusions.
"I'm coming back to you. Glimmer and Bow are safely sealed up!"
"Hey!"
"She's right, Glimmer - if we can't get out, they can't get in."
But the chipped prisoners were still trying to attack Sam - she saw one of them trying to roll toward her with broken bones sticking out of their limbs. This was horrifying!
A quick check of her display showed that most of the still-moving crew members were trying to storm the bridge.
Sam pressed her lips together. Charging Adora in a corridor? She knew how that would end. And she could also see that Catra was almost back with Sam's group.
Good. They just needed to hold until they reached the end of their trip and the Alliance marines could board the ship.
*****
Catra checked on her HUD one last time as she rushed down the corridor on all fours. All the enemies were facing Jack and Teal'c, holed up with Melog and Sam in a dead end a bit ahead.
Good.
She rounded the last corner and pounced on the Clone at the back of the enemy formation, landing on his shoulders and smashing his forehead into the floor while she jumped at the next one.
Her claws slashed through his weapon and fingers as she rammed him into the wall, leaving him stunned and bleeding as she pivoted and darted forward again.
The others were starting to react, turning around and crying out in alarm, but she was in the middle of them before they could form a line and dropped to the floor between the two closed, slicing their ankles before they could bring their weapons to bear, then finished them off with a quick series of kicks to the head.
That left three more, caught between her and the others. One tried to shoot her, but she darted to the side, making him miss, then rushed forward, dodging under his aim, to grab his arm. A quick twist broke his arm, making him drop the weapon, and she turned, throwing him into the next one before he could shoot, sending both to the floor, sprawling.
Jack moved up and shot the last one, then stunned the two others before they could recover. "We need to get to the bridge."
She checked her HUD. There were still quite a number of the crew moving around, though they didn't seem too organised any more. And yet… if the crowd in the hangar hit engineering, Bow and Glimmer could be in trouble. "Go. I'll run interference to keep them from getting their act together."
He nodded. "We have three prisoners we can't stun."
"They have been rendered unable to attack us," Teal'c said. Behind him, one of the bound and gagged Clones on the floor tried to hit his ankle with his forehead, and he moved to the side. "Mostly."
They had all limbs broken but didn't stop trying to fight, Catra noticed with a wince. If Horde Prime had used his chips like that… "We need to hack the chips to free them."
"We need to get out of hyperspace and have the ship secured first," Jack said. "We're still trying to take over a ship with just us against the entire crew."
Catra clenched her teeth. "As long as those chips are working, the enemy ships won't stop fighting."
He nodded and glanced over at Sam. "Carter?"
"Entrapta is handling the ship's controls and keeping us on course. Sir, I am blocking communications and weapon systems so they cannot fire on our allies or call for help. But if they track the mind-control chips, they will locate us anyway."
"Right. Hack the chips first."
"Yes, sir."
Good. Catra nodded and left them. She had a ship to roam and crew to take out. At least the regular Clones were easy to disable and not some mind-controlled zombie warriors. But she really didn't want to face a horde of Jaffa controlled by such chips. You'd have to kill them all to stop them, and she wouldn't put it past those evil things to keep a dead body fighting for a while.
Up ahead, three Clones were trying to bypass the locks Sam had put on the beam cannon battery there. She tore through them in seconds, leaving them bleeding and knocked out. The hangar was ahead. It looked like the remaining clones there - half of the hangar crew had been attacking engineering, and Catra had dealt with them already - were trying to get a fighter ready.
That wouldn't do. Catra took a shortcut through the air ducts, scrambling through the narrow space with her claws digging into the material, then slashed the grill and dropped into the hangar, right on top of a Clone dismantling the door controls.
She left him with his head stuck in the controls and rushed the next group. They tried to form a firing line as if this were a field battle but were too slow - and too unused to ground battles; two shot each other when Catra dived between them to sweep their feet, and a third seemed caught between moving to a spot from where he wouldn't hit anyone else but Catra and holding his position.
She took him out with a blow to the head when he decided to charge her instead, then used him as a shield to catch the blast from the last one. A quick charge smashed the smoking corpse into the shooter, and both into the console behind them.
Catra jumped over them, landing behind the console, moments before a volley of blasts hit both Clones and the console.
The rest of the hangar crew had noticed and formed up, including a few bots. Those had no trouble with ground combat and were advancing on her, as her HUD showed.
She grinned as she looked at the enemy formation. It was almost perfectly aligned - Horde Prime would have been proud.
But it was also almost perfectly lined up in front of the closest Horde fighter.
She jumped out of cover - it was disintegrating under the blasts anyway - and ran on all fours across the hangar. The Clones were slow to adjust their fire, the bots barely better, and she reached the fighter ahead of their shots.
A slice with her claws cut the forward landing strut, and the fighter tipped forward, nose hitting the floor. While the Clones shot the cockpit to pieces, she dug her claws into the right side, cutting off a part as tall as herself and twice as wide.
Makeshift shield ready, she rushed the line, catching the blasts until she was in the middle of their formation.
Then she cut loose.
*****
Never split the party, Jack O'Neill reminded himself as he rounded the next corner, leading with his carbine. "Clear!" he called out. The HUD had shown him no one was there before he had reached the corner, but old habits died hard.
And you couldn't blindly trust technology, anyway. Certainly not when fighting someone like Ba'al. Those chips… He glanced back to where Teal'c was literally dragging the bound, gagged and mutilated prisoners and grimaced. Technically, it wasn't a war crime to subdue prisoners who were attacking you, and they hadn't killed them, and they could be healed by Adora - would be healed; it was Adora, after all - but he still felt bad about it.
And speaking of Adora, they were close to the bridge section now. On the HUD, He could see a group of Clones gathered at a junction ahead of them, blocking the access corridor to and from the bridge in this part of the frigate.
Or trying to. Jack scoffed and used his communicator. "Bridge Team? We're almost there. But we could use a little help clearing the way.
"Coming, Crew Quarters!"
Adora must have been tracking them on her own HUD - she charged straight out of the bridge, at the blocking force. Jack heard shots from ahead of him and through the communicator, followed by screams and then the sound of people hitting walls.
By the time his team reached the junction, it was already over. Adora stood in the centre, surrounded by the bodies of the Clones she had just laid out.
Two were groaning, and Jack stunned them with his zat. Better safe than sorry. "We've got the prisoners, but they're in bad shape," he told her with a grimace.
She nodded curtly. "They don't stop fighting. Get on the bridge and cover Entrapta. I'll finish the rest."
Meaning, she wanted to head to Catra, who had taken on the entire hangar section according to the HUD feed. But Jack didn't comment - he understood the feeling, and it made sense for Adora to go and finish the take-over of the ship before they dropped out of hyperspace.
"Alright," he replied.
Adora nodded once, then ran off while Jack led his team onto the bridge.
"Hi, Jack!" Entrapta waved from the corner. She was sitting, surrounded - and almost hidden - by panels Adora must have ripped off the walls and slammed into the floor to form a barricade. "We're almost at our destination!"
Carter joined her at once, crouching next to Entrapta, and put her computer down.
Jack glanced at the consoles, half of them broken, one with a Clone still stuck in it. That was a bit more damage than he had expected.
"Oh, don't worry - I'm running the ship through my multitool!"
Now Jack was worrying. But Carter didn't seem to mind the setup, so it probably was safe.
"How much longer do we have?" he asked.
"Two minutes, sir."
Long enough for things to go wrong. He checked the prisoners on the bridge. All but the chipped ones were stunned and wouldn't be a problem. But the chipped ones… the two on the bridge were wrapped in wall panels and still trying to get out - they were tearing themselves bloody in the process. The three Teal'c just set down next to them were worse off, though. "We really need to hack the chips," he muttered. "Keep an eye on them, Teal'c," he added.
His friend nodded, and Jack went to the main door to the bridge to stand guard.
The corridor was clear, and he didn't see any Clones moving towards him on the HUD. Not many were moving at all in the ship - Adora had gone through two gathered groups and was now about to reach the hangar.
"Oh, look - they're trying to manually remove the locks from the main batteries!"
"That won't help them when we cut the power supply."
"But we can't shut down the reactor."
"We can manually mark the power lines as under maintenance, that will make the system cut them off."
"They could bypass it manually. But they would have to move to the engine room for that. Unless they try to siphon power from the life support systems in the section."
"That won't be enough to power even one beam cannon."
"But they could charge it in advance - it would give them one shot, at least."
"We'll be out of hyperspace and being boarded by then."
"Oh, yes - never mind then. So, this should be safe. Let's start on hacking the mind-control network, then!"
Jack felt a bit better. It sounded as if things were on track. At least on the bridge. They might still pull off this - taking an entire ship with just two teams. Jack would have to make sure that the idiots back on Earth wouldn't try to use that to implement boarding as a standard tactic for fleet engagements. The crayon-eaters would jump at the idea, and some of the Navy pukes might support them even though they should know better.
"Leaving hyperspace in five… four… three…"
Jack tensed.
"...two… one…"
The ship lurched.
*****
Near Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)
"...one…"
Adora was just about to hit the hangar when the ship dropped out of hyperspace - and not as smoothly as she expected - she did stumble at the unexpected movement. But no alarms were going off, and she didn't hear anything breaking, so she continued, using her sword to cut a way into the hangar, where Catra was…
…apparently just finishing off the last resistance, she realised when she came to a stop. "Catra!"
"Hey, Adora!" Her love turned toward her with that sly smile on her face that never failed to make Adora feel that little bit special. Though the fact that Catra's spacesuit was splattered with blood - and her hands and feet were practically covered with it - was a bit distracting.
Catra must have noticed and shrugged. "Most aren't dead, and they weren't able to send out any fighters - or use them to blow the ship up from inside."
Adora took a look at the bodies around Catra. They looked as bloody as Catra did, though she could see most of them breathing and heard them groaning. They needed first aid as well - they were now prisoners of war, with all that entailed. "Good," she said after a moment, then checked the most urgent-looking wounded to heal them.
Catra flexed her hands, extending and retracting her claws several times. Cleaning them using the sealing mechanism Entrapta had built into her suit.
Adora frowned a little. At least, Catra wasn't trying to lick them.
"We've hailed the task force left behind here. Marines are on the way," Jack reported over the communicator.
"Better late than never," Catra commented.
"We were supposed to go on a recon mission," Adora defended them. "We decided to board and take over the enemy flagship without telling them."
"I'm still going to rub it in if they try to act as if they're saving us," Catra said.
"I doubt anyone will claim they saved us if they see this," Adora replied with a nod and a grimace at the pile of bodies.
Catra shrugged. "Marines will."
"Those are Royal Marines," Adora pointed out. "Not US Marines."
"They probably still eat crayons, just the yellow ones." Catra smirked.
Adora shook her head. Her love and Jack got on a bit too well. "Let's clear the space for their shuttles."
"I can't throw fighters around."
"You can drag the bodies out of the way!"
Catra snorted but didn't complain any further, and Adora started pushing the fighters into a corner. Assault shuttles needed more room to land under combat conditions.
Catra had just set down the last Clone and was tying up some bandages around the still-bleeding wrist she had sliced when the first shuttle arrived.
Adora used her sword to guide them inside, and as soon as the shuttle touched down, the ramp dropped, and the marines poured out.
"We need to secure the engineering section and the bridge and relieve our teams there before you sweep the ship," Adora told the commander. "And our prisoners need to be treated and prepared for transport. But check them for chips implanted at the neck. If you find any, call us - those chips can force them to fight with broken limbs and even unconscious."
"Yes, Supreme Commander!" The captain in charge looked grim as he nodded and started sending out his troops.
"Medics over here!" Catra yelled, and a few soldiers hurried over towards her.
The second assault shuttle touched down as the first soldiers left the hangar, and Adora and Catra left with them to return to the bridge. She tried to ignore the cursing of the medics and other soldiers attending the wounded and frowned at Catra when she heard her snickering at some of the 'murder-blender' comments.
Sometimes, Catra's sense of humour was a bit too dark.
*****
Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)
The battle was still going on when they reached Point Velvet on board the Horde frigate they had commandeered. Adora stared at the holoprojection on the bridge and frowned. Between the jamming fields - although as happened before, the enemy was compensating by using local direct radio transmission to form a comm network - and the numerical superiority, Ba'al's guard force should not be putting up such resistance. They were losing, that much was obvious, but they were fighting much harder than before. And the task force was taking casualties as a result. So far, they hadn't lost many ships, but they could only shift the ships around, replacing damaged ones with ships still fit to fight for only so long before they had to send in damaged ones to relieve even more damaged ones, and then the losses would be mounting quickly.
"We need to crash the chips," Catra said, sounding as grim as Adora felt.
"Yes."
"We're working on it!" Entrapta called out from where Sam and she had put up their computers. "But it's tricky. Ba'al's been meddling with the software."
"And he's using non-standard encryption," Sam added. "It's not based on any known Goa'uld systems."
That was not good. If Ba'al was using unknown technology… "Is it related to the datacube's technology?" Adora asked.
"Possibly. We can't tell yet. There are similarities, but we need more data to tell if those are just the result of using the same base principles or actual derivative technology," Sam replied.
"Just do your best," Adora told them while she watched another frigate from the task force fall out of formation, the icon lighting up with red alert messages. They were pushing the enemy back - the first factory ships had been disabled - but the Glove was still holding in the centre of the enemy formation.
They needed those chips disabled.
*****
Samantha Carter tried to ignore the space battle raging nearby and focus on the chip network - which must be piggy-backing on the short-range radio network the enemy was using to counter the subspace-jamming attack of the Alliance forces - but each time a chip went offline, she was reminded that that meant, most likely, a destroyed enemy ship. Worse, though, was the effect it had on Entrapta and her efforts to hack the chips.
"The network adapted again!" Entrapta commented. "The distribution changed - and the codes changed."
The network wasn't using the same architecture as the Alliance networks, based on the Internet. When a member dropped out, data traffic didn't automatically reroute through existing lines and connections to compensate, such as the enemy fleet did - the whole chip network was reorganised, with key nodes changing and even protocols switching.
"This is completely different from the way Horde Prime used them!" her friend went on. "The hardware is the same, but the software… it's totally unlike the software used in the Horde. But! It's not… it's like…" Entrapta shook her head while her hair tendrils kept using two keyboards at once. "The mind-control chips didn't network like that - couldn't network like that."
"Yes," Sam agreed. "The way the protocols change, data traffic spikes. Whole new sets of protocols must be transferred each time. We need to decrypt them so we can hack into that." Once they were inside, they would get the new protocols each time the network shifted.
But the encryption was proving to be frustratingly hard to crack. Sam had no hard proof, but she was certain that it was based on that alien cube's encryption. If only they had cracked that cube earlier…
"Oh, look at that!" Entrapta highlighted a change in data traffic on the holoprojection between them.
Sam narrowed her eyes. The way the shift happened… She couldn't read the data, but the volume… "It's not just temporary spikes when the network shifts - it's forming a new central node each time they shift and they shift all the time."
"Yes. Even though distributing data through direct connections would be more efficient, that's how the normal communication of the fleet works; they send everything through that node - which keeps shifting around even without a chip dropping off the network. But why does it do that?" Entrapta asked. "It's inefficient. It's putting a strain on the network in the middle of all this!"
Sam agreed. It made no sense. It was taking over a lot of the capacity of the enemy fleet's local communication network, and that impacted their performance. She blinked. Performance! "Can the chips actually handle that sort of strain?"
Entrapta gasped and several holographic screens popped up, data scrolling over all of them. Construction materials, internal architecture, everything about the chips. "A regular mind-control chip can't handle that much data - not for long! Not without burning out!"
"They have to keep shifting the central node around to avoid burning out the chips it controls!" Sam shook her head. "If we can stop the transfer…"
"Or if we overload it!" Entrapta nodded. "But how?"
"We can't jam the radio network," Sam said. The enemy ships were too close and putting out too much power; Alliance ships would have to be far too close to stop that. And jamming drones or bots lacked the sheer power needed for that.
"And we're already jamming the subspace communications," Entrapta added. "Too bad we can't lure the node into our captured chips and…" She blinked.
Sam drew a sharp breath. They had the chips - and they were set up to receive such data. If they tapped the captured chips into the radio network, waited until a node formed in one of them - the data traffic pattern would show it - and then cut the network before the node could move on… "If the chips don't have backup control nodes, that might do it."
"If they had such nodes, they wouldn't need to shift around like that and probably could use external cores to run the nodes!" Entrapta nodded eagerly.
But the prisoners with the chips were not here - they had stayed with the captured flagship.
"We need a stealth shuttle and the chipped prisoners!" Sam yelled. "Hurry!"
*****
Their plan had an unexpected drawback, Samantha Carter realised a bit later, in the hangar, waiting for the prisoner transport to arrive. In order to tap into the enemy radio network, they had to get into the enemy formation in a stealth shuttle.
And that required a pilot. Or a crew.
"I'm going, and you're not, and that's final."
"Jack!"
"Sha're! Listen to him!"
"Why, Daniel? You never do it if you think you're right! He needs a copilot!"
"No, I don't. I can handle a short flight alone. I just need someone to keep an eye on the prisoners. No one else."
Sam cleared her throat. "I'll have to come as well," she told the General. "We can't risk the lag from remote operations. Not with subspace still jammed. And if we stop the jamming, the plan will fail."
He glared at her but had no answer to that and finally, reluctantly and with ill grace nodded.
Good. Sam knew the risk this plan entailed, and she wouldn't send anyone off if she wasn't going as well.
"I should come as well!"
Of course, just because Sam was going didn't mean Entrapta had to go as well. Quite the contrary. It might be hypocritical of her, but she wouldn't let her friend risk her life when it wasn't necessary for both of them to go.
No matter how much Entrapta pouted.
It had been hard enough to keep Adora from coming along. Sam suspected that she was still trying to find a good argument to go on the mission.
That prisoner transport couldn't come fast enough!
*****
"Pearl Jam en route."
Samantha Carter ran a last check on the computers she'd set up inside the shuttle, next to the hastily placed prisoner pods - a fancy designation for coffins with life support and medical sensors. But it was necessary to keep the prisoners from trying to attack everyone else - and harming themselves in the process. Even now, with the shuttle's engines accelerating at max power, she could hear some of the chipped Clones bang against the inside of their prisons, and she thought she heard Mal'ak trying to chew through his gag.
It made her feel sick. They needed a quick way to remove such chips, and they needed it yesterday - they couldn't hold enemies with such chips as prisoners without violating the laws of war and every civilised country.
She glanced at the holoprojection to her left, which showed an overview of the battle. The numbers of engaged ships on both sides had shrunk, but not decisively. The task force didn't have the numerical superiority to force a close-quarters engagement, not without taking crippling losses, so they were forced to attempt the now familiar high-speed attacks to create and exploit any weaknesses in the enemy's formation. But since that tactic relied on crippling the enemy's ability to react to sudden changes to be most effective, and the best they could manage now was to slow Ba'al's fleet down, it was going slowly, and while each individual exchange left the enemy more damaged than the Alliance ships, it still took a steady toll.
But the enemy was hanging by a thread, and Sam and her friends were about to cut that thread - if their plan succeeded.
She pressed her lips together as she watched the shuttle's course on the holoprojection, swinging around the most recent attack by an ad-hoc squadron on the enemy formation to avoid stray beam cannon volleys. A single hit would destroy the shuttle at once.
She forced the thought away and checked her setup again. The radio connections were ready, the routines to cut the connection the moment the data had spiked as well, and the power supply was holding steady.
"How are the prisoners doing?" the General asked.
"Their status remains unchanged, O'Neill," Teal'c replied in the same tone he used when talking about the weather. Unflappable and dependable - and deadly, as usual.
"And the tech stuff, Carter?"
"Everything's ready, sir." She sounded a bit clipped, she realised, but he didn't comment on it.
"Alright, we're going in. I've picked out a nice frigate in the back. Keep those radio receivers peeled so we don't have to bump into the enemy hull to get a reception!"
She snorted at the weak joke as she checked the holoprojection again - they were headed straight for a frigate in the rear part - but since the enemy was surrounded, that meant they had to pass through the enemy line.
"Starting evasive flying," the General announced a moment later, and the shuttle began to juke and weave - on the holoprojection; Sam didn't feel any movement through the ship's inertial compensator.
To their side, another ad-hoc squadron was launching a fly-by attack, and a few seconds later, the enemy shifted in response. That opened a hole for the shuttle - and the enemy fire would be aimed away from them.
But now they were in radio range, and Sam connected the setup to the receivers. "Trap active," she reported.
They passed so close to an enemy frigate, badly damaged but still flying, that Sam could see it through the cockpit's windows - and its guns firing - but there was no data spike. The control side might not want to switch to a frontline ship, she thought.
Then they were through the enemy line and headed to the enemy rear - or centre, depending on your view. The radio traffic was heavier here, and she saw another data spike on the chip network - yet not to the trap. Could they locate the chips through the radio network? If they could, they would be able to find the shuttle despite the stealth field, but it should be impossible in such a dense formation while using high-powered short-range radio signals in the middle of massive jamming. And the chips were not connected to the regular communications, as far as they knew, so they couldn't use that to feed targeting data to the beam cannons. But Ba'al had surprised them before…
But no ship turned their weapons on them even as the prisoners' chips connected to the network. Maybe Entrapta's theory was correct and the chips could only enforce loyalty and a berserker mode and lacked the capacity to take over a body like a Goa'uld could? Or was that what the control node could do?
They wouldn't be able to tell until they had the time to analyse them properly.
"We're flying around their flagship. Anyone biting?"
"Not yet, sir. There are many chips for the control node to switch to, and if it's random then this could take a bit," Sam told the General. He knew that already - she had briefed everyone on the risks. But flying so closely to the enemy - the shuttle's icon almost disappeared under the enemy icon on the holoprojection - would stress anyone.
She glanced at the prisoner pods again, No change. What if she had miscalculated? What if the chips were blocked from rejoining the network if they went offline? No, that would have crashed the entire network when the jammers started, but there could be security protocols that delayed…
The computer alert went off - data spike! A moment later, the second alert went off. "Data spike! Trap offline!" she reported. "Checking reaction!"
The logs showed the data spike - into Mal'ak. And the connection was cut before any other data spike could be registered. The control node had been severed!
She smiled, showing her teeth, as she sent the confirmation to Entrapta and started hacking the chips' network. Without the control node refreshing and changing the protocols every few seconds, they could finally finish this!
Then Mal'ak's medical sensors started to scream alerts - his chip was literally burning out!
*****
Faber_The_Builder
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That´s a big weakness. Should the Alliance research this a bit more, they might more or less be able to just burn out any chipped Ba´al forces.
htgriffin
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Unless and until the "dangerous feedback from disabled chips" feature is worked around, I think the Supreme Commander would insist on it being an absolute last resort.
Chapter 177: Ba’al’s Machinations Part 9
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Starfox5
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Chapter 177: Ba'al's Machinations Part 9
Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)
Mal'ak's chip's burning out. It's affecting his brain.
Catra drew a sharp breath when she received Sam's report - passed as a message through the Alliance network to bypass the area-jamming focused on the enemy fleet. Her own chip had burnt out as well, but she hadn't been hurt like that. What was going on? What had Ba'al done with the chips? The hardware was supposed to be the same as Horde Prime's chips!
"Oh, no!" Adora exclaimed.
Catra checked the shuttle's position. It was still inside the enemy formation, close to the centre. If they made a run for it without another attack by Alliance forces opening a hole to slip through, they'd risk getting caught by a stray volley - from either side. "They can't escape until they've hacked the chips."
"Almost done!" Entrapta yelled from her corner of the bridge. "Without the control node switching things around every few seconds, it's just a modified version of Horde Prime's programs, and I know those, well, I knew them - they've adapted some, but they're not really adaptive, so it's not a mutating system, but… Here we go! Crashing the chips!"
For the first few seconds, nothing happened. Part of that was signal lag - they had to go through the enemy radio network - but part of that was that even if you took out the captain of an enemy ship, the crew would keep going.
But as Catra watched, she saw the first signs of the enemy formation falling apart - slowly but surely, the coordination that had kept the ships together faded, and the formation became frayed, tattered at the edges. Replacing captains in the middle of a fight was never a smooth operation, and if the replacements lacked the mind control chips, they wouldn't really be able to keep up as before.
Here, a ship was a bit too slow to react to an Alliance squadron's fly-by attack, getting caught outside the cover provided by the rest of the ships nearby. There, a frigate retreated a bit too far from another probing attack, escaping any harm but opening a hole in the defence that exposed two more to withering fire from another squadron. And two ships suddenly turned and tried to flee.
Tried. One was shot down by another frigate as it passed, and the other veered off course, weaving back and forth and alternating speed - directly into the Alliance right wing. "Must have been mutineers," she whispered as the ship was disabled - almost broken in two - when their engines were destroyed by massed fire.
And Jack must have seen an opportunity - or just grown desperate - since the shuttle was hightailing it out of the enemy formation now. Catra held her breath as it flew straight at a defensive formation of enemy frigates, but it took a sharp turn before entering their area and flew underneath them, transponder flaring, towards the Alliance line.
She released her breath when the shuttle was safely behind their frontline and turned to Adora. "We have to push now. When they are at their most vulnerable. Before they restore the chain of command. If we can break them now, the battle's over." But if they didn't, they'd take losses they wouldn't take if they just kept whittling down the enemy numbers.
Adora knew that as well. She pressed her lips together for a moment, then nodded. "Captain, signal the task force to press the attack."
"Yes, Supreme Commander!"
On the holographic projection, the Alliance forces shifted, more reserves called forth as the more damaged ships were left behind, and the lightly damaged ones took point. Catra could see the enemy's formation trying to adapt to the attack they knew was coming, but their chain of command would still be dealing with losing all commanders at the same time, and even for the Clones, that was a huge blow.
Instead of an all-out attack, the Alliance fleet attacked by sections. One section, composed of all the ships in the best state, smashed straight into the enemy formation. And when the enemy centre fell back, the outer parts found themselves enveloping the section but also exposed to the next attacks, which cut through them before they could decimate the first wave.
Four, five enemy ships - half of them not even engaged - turned at that moment. One was shot down by their own group, the others ended up charging straight at another Alliance formation.
Three were wrecked in short order, the last one turned so hard, it flew through another squadron of Ba'al's frigates, almost ramming one as it thoroughly dissolved their formation.
The Alliance forces pounced on the ships left in disarray, and as they quickly died, isolated and without coordination and cover, a hole opened in the enemy formation through which two, three Alliance squadrons pushed.
"It's over," Catra said. The enemy formation was falling apart in front of her eyes. Ships fought by themselves, all coordination lost, as the Alliance frigates quickly focused their fire on one enemy after the other. And with every enemy frigate destroyed, the Alliance's advantage in numbers grew.
A few minutes later, the last handful of enemy frigates were drifting in space trailed by debris or turned into expanding clouds of plasma.
And Jack's shuttle landed on their ship.
Jack O'Neill was very grateful that the life support system of the stealth shuttle was rated for heavy duty; thanks to the filters in the ventilation system, he had barely caught a whiff of the stench of burning skin and flesh from the shuttle's cargo area.
He had heard the noise Ba'al's First Prime had made, even through his gag, when the chip had started burning. It was a good thing that the Alliance navy wasn't a dry navy - at least not the Clone ships - since Jack really needed a drink right now. Unfortunately, he would have to wait until he had landed the shuttle and dealt with the entire mess.
At least, they were ready for them; he saw a medical team waiting with a floating gurney as he guided the shuttle into the frigate's hangar, and as soon as he touched down, the four Clones were rushing to the back of the shuttle.
Jack lowered the ramp and got up. "We've arrived, folks." He almost added: 'Thank you for flying O'Neill Air', but Carter looked too grim to appreciate the joke. "How's the prisoner doing?"
"He's alive," Carter replied as she got up and let the medics grab Mal'ak. "But I can't tell yet what neural damage he suffered."
Jack winced. "I didn't think the chips were supposed to do that - didn't Catra mention that her own had burnt out as well?"
"They aren't supposed to do that," Carter replied in a clipped tone. "And the hardware is the same. Ba'al must have managed to alter the software in a way that allows it to overheat the chip to the point of burning the flesh it's attached to."
"The pain from burning skin should not have caused such a reaction," Teal'c spoke up. "If he could not take molten gold poured into Ba'al's symbol carved into his forehead without flinching, he would not have become Ba'al's First Prime."
Yeah, Jack wasn't about to comment on that. Or glance at the golden symbol on Teal'c's forehead.
"Yes," Carter said. "That's why I suspect that the chip did something to his brain."
"Something more painful than burning." Jack pressed his lips together. "Cooking the brain?"
Carter frowned. "That is not physically possible with the chip, sir."
Learned a new thing.
The Clones had finished loading the trembling - and bound - Jaffa on the gurney and were taking him out of the shuttle. He was no longer Jack's responsibility. Not officially, at least. But Jack had been in charge of the mission - he had carried a prisoner of war into battle to use them against the enemy. Even if Mal'ak hadn't been hurt, that would've been sketchy. Now? Jack was sure there would be an investigation. And 'I was following orders' wouldn't cut it. Not that he'd use that excuse - he had known what he was doing when he had taken command.
"What? A war crime?"
Jack nodded. "Yes. Prisoners of war aren't supposed to be sent into danger like that."
"But…" Adora blinked. "Oh, no! I didn't think of that!"
"It was my plan, sir," Carter spoke up. "My responsibility."
"I was in charge of the mission, Major" Jack retorted. If anyone had to take the fall for this, it would be him.
"I'm the Supreme Commander of the Alliance, and I approved of this. If anyone is to blame, it's me." Adora glared at both of them.
"Who's going to prosecute you? You're She-Ra, Princess of Power," Glimmer said. "And the Supreme Commander of the Alliance."
Adora's glare switched targets. "I'm not going to hide behind that!"
Ah… Jack winced. That wasn't going how he thought it would be going.
"You're a Princess; you have diplomatic immunity," Glimmer shot back. "Besides, what do you think will happen if some idiot tries to punish you for this? Priest will nod along?"
"I'll tell him that I was wrong."
"You weren't wrong," Catra spoke up. "The chips were already hurting the prisoners - they almost killed themselves. This was the only way we saw to hack them and stop them." She flashed her fangs. "Call it emergency medical aid."
That was… certainly creative. Jack didn't think too many prosecutors would agree, though that would likely not matter - it might be a good enough excuse to sweep this under the rug.
"But…" Adora tried to defend herself - or the opposite.
Catra shook her head. "We had no choice. If we wanted to save the chipped people, we had to hack those chips. And Mal'ak was Ba'al's First Prime - hardly an innocent victim."
Jack glanced at Teal'c. His friend had been Apophis's First Prime and had deserted. But Teal'c didn't say anything nor showed any expression.
And Carter looked torn.
"Still, we're not supposed to treat prisoners like that!" Adora said.
Catra shrugged. "Not even to save them?" She scoffed. "Those chips had to be hacked. We couldn't let them be mind-controlled. And that was the only way."
At least, they hadn't been able to think of a better way at the moment, Jack amended the statement in his head. But it was better to get on with the program. "So… we tried to save them, and the only way that seemed to offer any hope was dangerous but worked - in the end." Well, he had done worse in the past, and it had been buried.
But as everyone nodded, more or less reluctantly, Jack couldn't help feeling as if he were a spook. Or a politician.
Ba'al's Glove, Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)
Adora watched on the HUD as the royal marines went through another section of the ship. They had already scanned for ambushes and bombs - Adora herself had taken down a squad of Jaffa trying to hold a chokepoint - but the soldiers still proceeded cautiously through the corridors.
"They're fine," Catra commented behind her.
Adora knew that. But she still worried. They were acting on her orders - and as she had just been pointed out to her, she wasn't perfect. To think she had broken the laws of war!
"We've collected all the chipped people already," Catra went on. "This is just standard procedure."
Adora glanced at her. "What about the prisoners?"
"None of them show any symptoms like Mal'ak does," Catra replied. "Sam and Entrapta are removing the chips as fast as they can."
That was good. Adora felt guilty already for subjecting Mal'ak to this ordeal. They should have considered the risk and taken the chip out before heading in. But the chip wouldn't have linked up with the network if it hadn't been implanted, and… She clenched her teeth. It wasn't an excuse.
"We did what we could and had to," Catra said. "We couldn't let this go on."
Adora pressed her lips together. The excuse rang hollow. They shouldn't have used a prisoner like that. But they shouldn't have let the chipped people suffer longer either… There was no good answer. They just had to do better - much better - next time. "What are their reactions?"
Catra made a scoffing noise. "What do you think? They are traumatised by the experience."
Like Catra had been. Like any host of a Goa'uld had been.
Adora still had to ask. No two people were alike, not even Clones. Some might fool themselves into thinking they deserved to be controlled like that. And some might even consider it an honour. They didn't know what Mal'ak thought about it - the former First Prime of Ba'al still wasn't able to be interrogated.
"They're getting treatment," Catra went on. "We're doing what we can. But we need to find the chip factory and destroy it."
Adora nodded. That, at least, was clear and obvious. "We need to decide what we do about this site," she said. "Ba'al could already be massing ships to attack us."
"He can't just keep counter-attacking - we've defeated every force of his we've met so far," Catra said. "At some point, he has to start worrying about his remaining assets."
"We don't know how many forces he has left," Adora pointed out. It was unlikely that Ba'al could have enough Horde forces to match the Alliance, but not technically impossible.
Catra scoffed again. "If he had enough advanced forces to match us, he'd have done so straight away. He wouldn't have sent half a dozen frigates with a fleet of barely-upgraded Ha'taks after us. And he would have reinforced this site with more ships."
Adora nodded. It was likely that they had destroyed the bulk of the Horde forces that had joined Ba'al. But they couldn't be sure until they knew what forces Ba'al had left. "We need more intel."
"No shit!" Catra growled under her breath. "But the only one who seems to know everything is Ba'al himself. Either we take him out, or we have to wait until our spy bot network is covering the entire sector."
And even then, they couldn't be sure Ba'al wouldn't have some hidden base or yard in another part of the galaxy. This site wasn't in a system, after all - they would have missed it if they had simply mapped all systems in the area. "We still have half the spy bots tracking their ships," Adora said. "But we need to decide whether we hold this site or move everything back to the Alliance."
"Whether we abandon the Glove or not, you mean," Catra replied.
"Yes." They could evacuate everything else, but the unfinished flagship didn't have any engines yet. And while it was far from being finished, it was already too big to be moved by anything the task force had access to.
"We don't need it," Catra said. "It would take far too long to finish it, and even if we did finish it, we don't need a ship that big. Not to mention that it would send a pretty bad message to half of Etheria and any survivors of Horde Prime's campaigns."
She was correct, of course - Adora didn't think anyone who had fought Horde Prime would want to see his flagship again. The Velvet Glove had been responsible for so much destruction in the galaxy. "Some people will be angry," she said. Some people would love to have the biggest ship in the sector. And access to the factories planned to be built into it.
"Let them." Cara shrugged. "It would be a bad idea to focus so much into one ship, anyway. As Ba'al just found out."
Adora agreed with that. Not just because they couldn't afford to lose such a ship but also because whoever controlled the ship would control a lot of the Alliance's fleet strength. And that would influence Alliance politics. Still… "Let's discuss it with the others."
Catra shrugged. "I don't think Glimmer will disagree."
Adora didn't think so either. Jack was a wild card, though.
Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 5th, 2000 (Earth Time)
Samantha Carter suppressed a yawn as she stared at the latest data points from the analysis. The central control node code had to have protocols to link up with a higher authority - anything else wouldn't let Ba'al update the standing orders. And there would have to be checks and tests to validate such orders - data the Alliance could use against Ba'al, even if it wouldn't deliver them the coordinates of another of Ba'al's bases.
Unfortunately, after trapping the control node in Mal'ak's chip - Sam's lips formed a thin line when she remembered the consequences of that decision - it had started to burn out, and so they had barely managed to recover fragments of the code before the chip had died and almost taken Mal'ak with it. All that crucial data lost…
"Alright. I think I've finished restoring that piece of code," Entrapta said. "The advanced control routines would work according to the simulation, though we haven't tested that yet so it's not yet confirmed by empirical data."
"Uh, which won't happen because the Alliance doesn't mind-control people," Bow pointed out.
"Right! Of course!" Entrapta nodded.
Sam focused on the new data. The subroutines to control the carriers were the same as Horde Prime's - they had confirmed that with data from all the chips that they had captured - but anything about the actual advanced control node's directives and decision trees were assumptions. Assumptions based on the data from those chips which had hosted the control node during the battle detailing the orders and changes in behaviour it had left.
And wasn't that a nice, clinical way to talk and think about a chip warping a person's innermost thoughts and desires?
"At least we've managed to streamline the removal of the chips," Bow said after a few moments.
That hadn't taken much beyond Entrapta and Bow remembering how they had dealt with Horde Prime's chips and checking if the basic methods worked. Sam still nodded since it meant all of the chips' victims were now free. Traumatised and in need of help but no longer trapped in their own bodies - or, worse, mentally manipulated to become fanatical followers of Ba'al.
But it had netted them a lot of chips to analyse, which they had been doing for hours. Every little detail, every data point, could add up and allow them to crack Ba'al's defences.
Sam would be more optimistic if she couldn't think of half a dozen ways to avoid any potential weakness she came up with. No one is perfect, certainly not someone as egoistical as Ba'al, she told herself. He has to have made a mistake; we just need to find it.
The key was the floating control node's code. All of Ba'al's orders had run through that; updating the network chip after chip as it jumped around. All the protocols and data would have been concentrated there - and gone when the last host chip had burnt out. Something Ba'al had likely intended.
But it was also an obvious failure point and a weakness. Take out the control node, as Sam and her friends had done, and the whole network collapsed. Any chip that survived wouldn't have any way to safely link up with another network. No protocols to validate sources and update orders.
Ba'al did like to compartmentalise his forces. Maybe he preferred to write off a network if it lost the central node? Fighting to the death was certainly standard operation procedure for his followers.
But Sam didn't think that Ba'al would go as far as to permanently split up his forces from the start. And even so, he couldn't expect to keep all chips in a network together forever - ships were sent out on scouting missions all the time, task forces split up according to the needs of any given mission, courier work was fairly common and would require the kind of loyalty mind-control chips enforced. So, every chip had to have a way to rejoin a network. Anything else wouldn't make any sense, not even for a paranoid Goa'uld. Protocols to establish contact. Validate signals. Accept new directives. Everything you needed to become part of the network - or infiltrate it.
Sam and her friends just had to find those protocols in the core software of the chips. But they had been sifting the entire code for any trace of such protocols and had only found the routines that handled the technical parts. Not the ones that actually authorised such link-ups. Where had Ba'al hidden them?
Even simulating a network connection didn't reveal them - the chips linked up, but nothing past signal testing data was exchanged. No actual data; it was like the higher functions were missing…
Sam blinked. "Oh, of course!"
Ba'al was a Goa'uld. Goa'uld were parasites, sapient, but they depended on the brains of their hosts to achieve their full intellectual potential. And what use would a chip without a carrier be for any network? It would feel natural for him to link - to outsource - core network functions to a chip carrier's brain, wouldn't it?
"Can we fool a chip into believing that they are hooked up to a brain?" she asked, then groaned at the realisation that she was starting to anthropomise chips.
"We could, I think, but why?" Bow said.
Sam explained.
"...and so we confirmed that the chips use part of the carrier's brain to store data, presumably crucial parts such as network protocols and valuation codes."
Catra felt the fur at the back of her neck bristle at Sam's briefing. Those damned chips not only took over your body - forcing it to keep fighting even when you were unconscious or dead - but they used your brain for data storage? She'd personally kill whoever came up with this.
"That's…" Even Jack didn't seem to have a joke ready.
"That's horrible!" Glimmer spat.
"Can we fix that?" Adora's expression sent a cold shiver down Catra's spine. She hadn't seen her love looking grim like that very often. "Give people back their… brains?"
Sam winced. "We're still examining the victims. So far, we have not yet been able to access the data stored in their brains, though we're working on identifying and duplicating the protocols in the chips. Once we can assess the scope of the changes to the brain, it should be possible to ascertain what was done to them."
In other words, they didn't know and were not optimistic. "So… We can't exclude the possibility that those parts of their brain contain some ways to mind-control the victims?" Catra asked.
"Shit!" Jack cursed. "Sleeper agent protocols?"
"We can't exclude that possibility at this point," Sam confirmed.
"I can try healing them," Adora said. "This… I should be able to restore someone's brain to their control."
Catra wasn't so certain, but she didn't think it would hurt to try. Though if it took She-Ra to deal with this, that would be another burden on her love.
"We'll have to examine the victims more thoroughly first, to establish a baseline," Sam said.
"Yeah! Or we might not be able to tell what your magic is doing to people's brains," Entrapta added. "We don't know yet what the chip did to brains - not in detail."
"It's a very complicated interface," Bow cut in. "We first thought it was merely an, ah, alternate way to safely store data, protect it from access through conventional means, but the chips' protocols are too complex for that. It doesn't help that we can't use the chips directly to access the data."
Catra glanced around, half-expecting someone to ask why they couldn't put a mind-control chip back into a victim to check their brain, but to her relief, no one was that stupid.
"Alright." Adora nodded. "Keep working on that - it takes priority. We need all the information about those chips we can get to stop Ba'al. Now, next item: The state of this site and our task force."
That was her cue. Sort of. Catra sat straighter and pulled her tablet out. "We're still recovering from the battle, but we've used the captured facilities here to repair our ships. A third of the task force's frigates have been restored to full combat readiness, and another third, while still showing damaged secondary systems, have had their shields, engines and main batteries repaired. The last third, though, will require lengthier stays in docks, either here or in facilities behind our lines."
"We lost a third of our task force, then." Jack didn't sound happy.
"Temporarily," Glimmer said. "They will be repaired."
"That still will cost us resources that could go into building new ships," Catra pointed out. Glimmer frowned at her, but she shrugged. "Opportunity costs are still costs. At least the casualties were light." Trained and especially experienced crew was much harder to replace than ships, after all.
"We were lucky there," Adora said. "If the battle had continued a bit longer, we would have been forced to field even more damaged ships, and losses and casualties would have rapidly grown."
Yeah. As long as you could shift ships around to spread the damage taken by the enemy, you could avoid heavy losses, but once you ran out of undamaged ships to rotate into the frontlines, damage would accumulate fast. Catra had seen it happen in the Horde war with ground units. Once a unit had taken so many casualties that it started to break, you could write it off.
"So… we're basically at half effectiveness," Jack summed up.
"Yes. Which means we cannot repel a counter-attack by a force the same size as the force we took down," Adora said. "We need to evacuate the site."
"That would mean leaving the unfinished Glove," Glimmer said.
"No big loss," Catra said. "It's just a chunk of hull at this point. No engine, reactor, shield or weapons of any note. Not even the factories have been completed yet." She shrugged. "Less than a quarter of the entire ship, too."
"What a waste of resources," Jack commented.
"We didn't spend it," Glimmer said. "Ba'al did."
"And finishing the ship would require too much time, too many resources, and too many forces to guard this site," Adora said. "We can't afford it."
"So, we'll loot it of everything we can take and blow up the rest. Or Have Adora turn it into a space plant," Catra said, flashing her fangs.
"I can't actually use magic on that scale out here," Adora said. "I would need a world's restored magic to do that."
"So, we can't leave a message for Ba'al using flower language. Too bad." Jack grinned. "I guess some explosives will have to do."
"And we'll have to pack up the factory ships - and the ships forming their supply lines," Catra said. "They're slower than frigates, so we better get a move on." Digesting everything back home would also require an effort. But overall, this should help with Alliance war production capacities.
Once they figured out who got what, of course. Catra had a feeling that this would cause some issues with Earth.
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, July 15th, 2000
"...and surely, General, you agree that moving the, ah, liberated production assets of Ba'al to Etheria is a blatant attempt to present the Alliance with a fait accompli that flies in the face of the treaty that formed the Alliance."
Jack O'Neill resisted the urge to roll his eyes; the Secretary of Defense was, after all, his superior. Sort of - Jack was part of the forces the United States had assigned to the Alliance, and he answered to Adora, but he had not left the Air Force. "Etheria was the closest system under secure Alliance control," he said. "Moving the captured factory and mining ships anywhere else would have both required significant forces to guard them and taken far longer. That would have significantly reduced the Alliance's offensive and defensive capabilities in the war." Something the man should have been aware of!
"Yes, yes, I've read the reports." The other man shook his head almost dismissively. "But we can't just look at this from a military point of view, General - we have to take the bigger picture into account. Those factory and yard ships are the most advanced we have; they are geared to produce Horde-style frigates and supporting craft. To place them under the direct control of the Princess Alliance in Etheria when Etheria already controls the factory ships of the Horde fleets in the Alliance seems like an obvious attempt to cement their monopoly on advanced ship production."
Oh for…! Jack shook his head. "The different Clone fleets control their own fleet trains, sir. The Princess Alliance doesn't have control over them."
"Two of the fleets worship She-Ra as their goddess, and the other two are commanded by Princess Entrapta's consort and a very close friend, respectively; I think we can dispense with the polite fiction that the Princess Alliance doesn't control the Horde ships, General."
Jack stared. "Have you met Princess Entrapta?" Did the man honestly believe that Entrapta was some… seductress controlling the Clones through Hordak and WrongHordak?
The man frowned. "Despite her eccentricities, Princess Entrapta is a ruling princess - and one of the oldest members of the Princess Alliance's leadership council, General."
"Entrapta doesn't care about politics; she just cares about technology and her friends," Jack shot back.
"That might be so, but that means she will listen to her friends - and the majority of her friends are members of the Princess Alliance, General. How often did the Horde leaders oppose any proposal from them?" Before Jack could answer, the man went on: "And even if we would assume that your view was correct, you have to consider the optics, General."
"The optics?" Jack frowned again.
"It's an election year, General. How do you think the American people think about the fact that we still seem to be playing second fiddle to the rest of the Alliance?"
Oh. "I think they're more concerned about the body-snatching evil alien parasites trying to enslave us all, sir."
"You would think so, but that's not what the polls say. People are concerned about being beholden to aliens, period. They haven't forgotten how America was forced to bend to the demands of the Princess Alliance. The American people expect us to be the leading nation of Earth, not the junior partner of an Alliance led by aliens." The Secretary of Defense shook his head. "We're lucky that they arrived two years ago, and the reports from the invasions we launched did help, but the public isn't stupid - they see all those alien ships in the news, they see the British ships in combat - and they don't care that those were glorified feighters - and they ask where the American ships are in this war."
"Well, if they want a strong fleet, maybe the Navy shouldn't be building lemons," Jack retorted. The US frigates were still not rated for combat outside the solar system.
That earned him a glare. "All new designs have teething issues. I am sure those will be soon ironed out - Major Carter is supposed to work hard on them, isn't she? - but we need more production capacity under American control if we want to regain our position."
"And win the election," Jack said in the flattest tone he could manage.
"You don't change the team in the middle of the game, General. Besides, how do you think the Etherians will react if the US Government is replaced by people who think the gay should go back in the closet?"
Jack hadn't exactly paid a lot of attention to the election campaigns, but he would have noticed any such demand - hell, the Etherians would have asked him about it! "I don't believe that the next president, whoever it will be, will change those policies, sir."
"Of course not! It's in the constitution now! But the press, especially the foreign press, will dig up everything they said about gays and lesbians in the past in an attempt to cut us off at the knees. We can't afford that kind of trouble." The man narrowed his eyes again. "We need to get control of those factory ships before the election, General, so we can show the public that America isn't weak any more and on the way to regain our place as the leader of the free world."
"That seems to be a political challenge, sir," Jack said with all the diplomatic restraint he could muster. "Not a military problem."
"On this level, that's the same thing, General."
"But I'm a military officer, sir." Not a politician.
"And you're an American - the highest American officer in the Alliance. A close friend of the core leaders of the Princess Alliance. Your country needs you, General."
It sounded more as if Jack's government needed him. "And you want me to… talk to the princesses?"
"I want you to give them your honest appraisal of the danger for the Alliance if the production capacities remain as unbalanced as they currently are, General."
Fuck.
Royal Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, Etheria System, July 16th, 2000 (Earth Time)
"What? They want us to move the entire production line to the Solar System?" Adora shook her head. "That makes no sense - that would take months, not including setting up the mining operations to supply the factory ships and yard ships! We've just finished setting up in the Etheria system, and we already had mining infrastructure here!" Moving an entire space-based shipyard complex took a lot of time and effort!
"Against opposition from our resident isolationists," Glimmer added with a scowl. "They claimed to be worried about the effects asteroid mining had on Etheria's magic!"
Jack shrugged with a slight grimace. "The US government is concerned about the upcoming election."
"They're worried that the opposition party might be exploiting the lingering resentment amongst part of the American population that the United States isn't the uncontested superpower on Earth any more," Daniel said. "At least, the polls I've looked into seem to show that this is a view shared by a not insignificant part of the population."
Glimmer muttered something brief and not very complimentary about democracy that Adora chose to ignore. America, and pretty much every Earth country in the Alliance, was a democracy. That wouldn't change. But… "I thought that blatantly using your power as the government to ensure you stayed in power was considered an abuse of power in a democracy."
"Ah…" Daniel grimaced as well. "It's complicated."
"I sense some hypocrisy coming," Catra commented.
"Well, a democratic government is supposed to implement policies to improve the lives of their people, which, in turn, will, if they are successful, and seen as being successful, gain the voter's support in the next election," Daniel said. "That includes caring about the concerns of the population."
"Appearing to care about them, you mean," Catra cut in.
Adora frowned at her. Catra's cynical views of democracy weren't really helpful right now.
Daniel, though, nodded. "Yes. In politics, perception often is more important than reality."
Glimmer muttered something about democracy again.
Adora focused on the actual issue. "And the US government doesn't want to look weak to their voters, which is why they want us to move the Horde fleet train we captured to Earth and hand it over to them."
Jack shrugged again. "More or less. They were a bit cagey about the whole thing."
"We already could tell because they went through you, Jack, and not through official channels," Daniel said.
"The other countries would protest about such a blatant power grab." Glimmer shook her head. "How do they think this would work, anyway? Those yard ships produce Horde frigates. The Americans chose to build their own designs. Do they want to retool the entire line?"
Catra scoffed. "For their crappy designs? Might as well blow the entire line up and save us the waste of resources and crews!"
"That's a bit harsh, I think," Bow said.
"No, it's not. Just listen to Sam rant about them," Catra shot back.
Adora nodded. The many, many problems with the American ships were well-known. "Leaving that aside, would a change of government really be that bad?"
"Well, if they campaign on more nationalist rhetoric and win, then the new government would likely push for more influence in the Alliance," Daniel said.
"You mean, they'd ask for the same things the current government does?" Catra snorted again.
"Well…" Daniel spread his hands. "In a way, yes."
"I don't think we should get involved in that," Glimmer said. "That feels like meddling in a succession issue in another kingdom."
"Historically, most succession issues on Etheria involved other kingdoms as well," Bow pointed out.
"That doesn't mean meddling is a good idea," Glimmer shot back.
Adora agreed. "Yes. We shouldn't let the internal policies of one country shape the way we conduct this war. Our focus has to be on winning the war against the Goa'uld, not elections." She was sure the rest of the Council would agree - none of the other NATO countries had struck her as particularly happy with the American leadership.
Spacelab, Earth Orbit, Solar System, July 17th, 2000 (Earth Time)
"OK! That should work! Now let's test it!"
Samantha Carter nodded at Entrapta's comment. The latest version of their brain scanner looked promising. Well, it was more of a brain interface, to be precise. Their scanners were already able to scan brains, but they hadn't been able yet to connect them to Ba'al's chips. Whoever had written the software for those abominations must have been both a genius and utterly deranged.
"Connecting the interface," she said as she checked once more that the outside connections were cut before powering up the link between the air-gapped scanner and the isolated chip.
"Protocols… engaging," Entrapta said. "Oh, look - data exchange started."
That was promising, but they had such successes before. If the chip's protocols were not satisfied, it would… The indicators changed. "Successful connection."
"It's looking into the data from the scans!"
Yes, the chip was treating the data as if it were live readings from a brain. Or so Sam hoped. If they could fool the chip, they could get at the reading/writing routines, and then they could access the altered parts of the brains of the chipped victims and find out what data was stored there.
That could be the key to cracking the entire network.
Sam leaned forward as the chip's routines started exchanging great amounts of data with their simulated brain.
"Oh, look at that, Sam! It's trying to alter the brain chemistry! As we theorised!"
Sam nodded. Another piece of the puzzle had been solved. Sooner or later, the whole thing would be open to them.
And then, they could start on tracking down such networks.
Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)
Mal'ak's chip's burning out. It's affecting his brain.
Catra drew a sharp breath when she received Sam's report - passed as a message through the Alliance network to bypass the area-jamming focused on the enemy fleet. Her own chip had burnt out as well, but she hadn't been hurt like that. What was going on? What had Ba'al done with the chips? The hardware was supposed to be the same as Horde Prime's chips!
"Oh, no!" Adora exclaimed.
Catra checked the shuttle's position. It was still inside the enemy formation, close to the centre. If they made a run for it without another attack by Alliance forces opening a hole to slip through, they'd risk getting caught by a stray volley - from either side. "They can't escape until they've hacked the chips."
"Almost done!" Entrapta yelled from her corner of the bridge. "Without the control node switching things around every few seconds, it's just a modified version of Horde Prime's programs, and I know those, well, I knew them - they've adapted some, but they're not really adaptive, so it's not a mutating system, but… Here we go! Crashing the chips!"
For the first few seconds, nothing happened. Part of that was signal lag - they had to go through the enemy radio network - but part of that was that even if you took out the captain of an enemy ship, the crew would keep going.
But as Catra watched, she saw the first signs of the enemy formation falling apart - slowly but surely, the coordination that had kept the ships together faded, and the formation became frayed, tattered at the edges. Replacing captains in the middle of a fight was never a smooth operation, and if the replacements lacked the mind control chips, they wouldn't really be able to keep up as before.
Here, a ship was a bit too slow to react to an Alliance squadron's fly-by attack, getting caught outside the cover provided by the rest of the ships nearby. There, a frigate retreated a bit too far from another probing attack, escaping any harm but opening a hole in the defence that exposed two more to withering fire from another squadron. And two ships suddenly turned and tried to flee.
Tried. One was shot down by another frigate as it passed, and the other veered off course, weaving back and forth and alternating speed - directly into the Alliance right wing. "Must have been mutineers," she whispered as the ship was disabled - almost broken in two - when their engines were destroyed by massed fire.
And Jack must have seen an opportunity - or just grown desperate - since the shuttle was hightailing it out of the enemy formation now. Catra held her breath as it flew straight at a defensive formation of enemy frigates, but it took a sharp turn before entering their area and flew underneath them, transponder flaring, towards the Alliance line.
She released her breath when the shuttle was safely behind their frontline and turned to Adora. "We have to push now. When they are at their most vulnerable. Before they restore the chain of command. If we can break them now, the battle's over." But if they didn't, they'd take losses they wouldn't take if they just kept whittling down the enemy numbers.
Adora knew that as well. She pressed her lips together for a moment, then nodded. "Captain, signal the task force to press the attack."
"Yes, Supreme Commander!"
On the holographic projection, the Alliance forces shifted, more reserves called forth as the more damaged ships were left behind, and the lightly damaged ones took point. Catra could see the enemy's formation trying to adapt to the attack they knew was coming, but their chain of command would still be dealing with losing all commanders at the same time, and even for the Clones, that was a huge blow.
Instead of an all-out attack, the Alliance fleet attacked by sections. One section, composed of all the ships in the best state, smashed straight into the enemy formation. And when the enemy centre fell back, the outer parts found themselves enveloping the section but also exposed to the next attacks, which cut through them before they could decimate the first wave.
Four, five enemy ships - half of them not even engaged - turned at that moment. One was shot down by their own group, the others ended up charging straight at another Alliance formation.
Three were wrecked in short order, the last one turned so hard, it flew through another squadron of Ba'al's frigates, almost ramming one as it thoroughly dissolved their formation.
The Alliance forces pounced on the ships left in disarray, and as they quickly died, isolated and without coordination and cover, a hole opened in the enemy formation through which two, three Alliance squadrons pushed.
"It's over," Catra said. The enemy formation was falling apart in front of her eyes. Ships fought by themselves, all coordination lost, as the Alliance frigates quickly focused their fire on one enemy after the other. And with every enemy frigate destroyed, the Alliance's advantage in numbers grew.
A few minutes later, the last handful of enemy frigates were drifting in space trailed by debris or turned into expanding clouds of plasma.
And Jack's shuttle landed on their ship.
*****
Jack O'Neill was very grateful that the life support system of the stealth shuttle was rated for heavy duty; thanks to the filters in the ventilation system, he had barely caught a whiff of the stench of burning skin and flesh from the shuttle's cargo area.
He had heard the noise Ba'al's First Prime had made, even through his gag, when the chip had started burning. It was a good thing that the Alliance navy wasn't a dry navy - at least not the Clone ships - since Jack really needed a drink right now. Unfortunately, he would have to wait until he had landed the shuttle and dealt with the entire mess.
At least, they were ready for them; he saw a medical team waiting with a floating gurney as he guided the shuttle into the frigate's hangar, and as soon as he touched down, the four Clones were rushing to the back of the shuttle.
Jack lowered the ramp and got up. "We've arrived, folks." He almost added: 'Thank you for flying O'Neill Air', but Carter looked too grim to appreciate the joke. "How's the prisoner doing?"
"He's alive," Carter replied as she got up and let the medics grab Mal'ak. "But I can't tell yet what neural damage he suffered."
Jack winced. "I didn't think the chips were supposed to do that - didn't Catra mention that her own had burnt out as well?"
"They aren't supposed to do that," Carter replied in a clipped tone. "And the hardware is the same. Ba'al must have managed to alter the software in a way that allows it to overheat the chip to the point of burning the flesh it's attached to."
"The pain from burning skin should not have caused such a reaction," Teal'c spoke up. "If he could not take molten gold poured into Ba'al's symbol carved into his forehead without flinching, he would not have become Ba'al's First Prime."
Yeah, Jack wasn't about to comment on that. Or glance at the golden symbol on Teal'c's forehead.
"Yes," Carter said. "That's why I suspect that the chip did something to his brain."
"Something more painful than burning." Jack pressed his lips together. "Cooking the brain?"
Carter frowned. "That is not physically possible with the chip, sir."
Learned a new thing.
The Clones had finished loading the trembling - and bound - Jaffa on the gurney and were taking him out of the shuttle. He was no longer Jack's responsibility. Not officially, at least. But Jack had been in charge of the mission - he had carried a prisoner of war into battle to use them against the enemy. Even if Mal'ak hadn't been hurt, that would've been sketchy. Now? Jack was sure there would be an investigation. And 'I was following orders' wouldn't cut it. Not that he'd use that excuse - he had known what he was doing when he had taken command.
*****
"What? A war crime?"
Jack nodded. "Yes. Prisoners of war aren't supposed to be sent into danger like that."
"But…" Adora blinked. "Oh, no! I didn't think of that!"
"It was my plan, sir," Carter spoke up. "My responsibility."
"I was in charge of the mission, Major" Jack retorted. If anyone had to take the fall for this, it would be him.
"I'm the Supreme Commander of the Alliance, and I approved of this. If anyone is to blame, it's me." Adora glared at both of them.
"Who's going to prosecute you? You're She-Ra, Princess of Power," Glimmer said. "And the Supreme Commander of the Alliance."
Adora's glare switched targets. "I'm not going to hide behind that!"
Ah… Jack winced. That wasn't going how he thought it would be going.
"You're a Princess; you have diplomatic immunity," Glimmer shot back. "Besides, what do you think will happen if some idiot tries to punish you for this? Priest will nod along?"
"I'll tell him that I was wrong."
"You weren't wrong," Catra spoke up. "The chips were already hurting the prisoners - they almost killed themselves. This was the only way we saw to hack them and stop them." She flashed her fangs. "Call it emergency medical aid."
That was… certainly creative. Jack didn't think too many prosecutors would agree, though that would likely not matter - it might be a good enough excuse to sweep this under the rug.
"But…" Adora tried to defend herself - or the opposite.
Catra shook her head. "We had no choice. If we wanted to save the chipped people, we had to hack those chips. And Mal'ak was Ba'al's First Prime - hardly an innocent victim."
Jack glanced at Teal'c. His friend had been Apophis's First Prime and had deserted. But Teal'c didn't say anything nor showed any expression.
And Carter looked torn.
"Still, we're not supposed to treat prisoners like that!" Adora said.
Catra shrugged. "Not even to save them?" She scoffed. "Those chips had to be hacked. We couldn't let them be mind-controlled. And that was the only way."
At least, they hadn't been able to think of a better way at the moment, Jack amended the statement in his head. But it was better to get on with the program. "So… we tried to save them, and the only way that seemed to offer any hope was dangerous but worked - in the end." Well, he had done worse in the past, and it had been buried.
But as everyone nodded, more or less reluctantly, Jack couldn't help feeling as if he were a spook. Or a politician.
*****
Ba'al's Glove, Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 4th, 2000 (Earth Time)
Adora watched on the HUD as the royal marines went through another section of the ship. They had already scanned for ambushes and bombs - Adora herself had taken down a squad of Jaffa trying to hold a chokepoint - but the soldiers still proceeded cautiously through the corridors.
"They're fine," Catra commented behind her.
Adora knew that. But she still worried. They were acting on her orders - and as she had just been pointed out to her, she wasn't perfect. To think she had broken the laws of war!
"We've collected all the chipped people already," Catra went on. "This is just standard procedure."
Adora glanced at her. "What about the prisoners?"
"None of them show any symptoms like Mal'ak does," Catra replied. "Sam and Entrapta are removing the chips as fast as they can."
That was good. Adora felt guilty already for subjecting Mal'ak to this ordeal. They should have considered the risk and taken the chip out before heading in. But the chip wouldn't have linked up with the network if it hadn't been implanted, and… She clenched her teeth. It wasn't an excuse.
"We did what we could and had to," Catra said. "We couldn't let this go on."
Adora pressed her lips together. The excuse rang hollow. They shouldn't have used a prisoner like that. But they shouldn't have let the chipped people suffer longer either… There was no good answer. They just had to do better - much better - next time. "What are their reactions?"
Catra made a scoffing noise. "What do you think? They are traumatised by the experience."
Like Catra had been. Like any host of a Goa'uld had been.
Adora still had to ask. No two people were alike, not even Clones. Some might fool themselves into thinking they deserved to be controlled like that. And some might even consider it an honour. They didn't know what Mal'ak thought about it - the former First Prime of Ba'al still wasn't able to be interrogated.
"They're getting treatment," Catra went on. "We're doing what we can. But we need to find the chip factory and destroy it."
Adora nodded. That, at least, was clear and obvious. "We need to decide what we do about this site," she said. "Ba'al could already be massing ships to attack us."
"He can't just keep counter-attacking - we've defeated every force of his we've met so far," Catra said. "At some point, he has to start worrying about his remaining assets."
"We don't know how many forces he has left," Adora pointed out. It was unlikely that Ba'al could have enough Horde forces to match the Alliance, but not technically impossible.
Catra scoffed again. "If he had enough advanced forces to match us, he'd have done so straight away. He wouldn't have sent half a dozen frigates with a fleet of barely-upgraded Ha'taks after us. And he would have reinforced this site with more ships."
Adora nodded. It was likely that they had destroyed the bulk of the Horde forces that had joined Ba'al. But they couldn't be sure until they knew what forces Ba'al had left. "We need more intel."
"No shit!" Catra growled under her breath. "But the only one who seems to know everything is Ba'al himself. Either we take him out, or we have to wait until our spy bot network is covering the entire sector."
And even then, they couldn't be sure Ba'al wouldn't have some hidden base or yard in another part of the galaxy. This site wasn't in a system, after all - they would have missed it if they had simply mapped all systems in the area. "We still have half the spy bots tracking their ships," Adora said. "But we need to decide whether we hold this site or move everything back to the Alliance."
"Whether we abandon the Glove or not, you mean," Catra replied.
"Yes." They could evacuate everything else, but the unfinished flagship didn't have any engines yet. And while it was far from being finished, it was already too big to be moved by anything the task force had access to.
"We don't need it," Catra said. "It would take far too long to finish it, and even if we did finish it, we don't need a ship that big. Not to mention that it would send a pretty bad message to half of Etheria and any survivors of Horde Prime's campaigns."
She was correct, of course - Adora didn't think anyone who had fought Horde Prime would want to see his flagship again. The Velvet Glove had been responsible for so much destruction in the galaxy. "Some people will be angry," she said. Some people would love to have the biggest ship in the sector. And access to the factories planned to be built into it.
"Let them." Cara shrugged. "It would be a bad idea to focus so much into one ship, anyway. As Ba'al just found out."
Adora agreed with that. Not just because they couldn't afford to lose such a ship but also because whoever controlled the ship would control a lot of the Alliance's fleet strength. And that would influence Alliance politics. Still… "Let's discuss it with the others."
Catra shrugged. "I don't think Glimmer will disagree."
Adora didn't think so either. Jack was a wild card, though.
*****
Point Velvet, Deep Space, July 5th, 2000 (Earth Time)
Samantha Carter suppressed a yawn as she stared at the latest data points from the analysis. The central control node code had to have protocols to link up with a higher authority - anything else wouldn't let Ba'al update the standing orders. And there would have to be checks and tests to validate such orders - data the Alliance could use against Ba'al, even if it wouldn't deliver them the coordinates of another of Ba'al's bases.
Unfortunately, after trapping the control node in Mal'ak's chip - Sam's lips formed a thin line when she remembered the consequences of that decision - it had started to burn out, and so they had barely managed to recover fragments of the code before the chip had died and almost taken Mal'ak with it. All that crucial data lost…
"Alright. I think I've finished restoring that piece of code," Entrapta said. "The advanced control routines would work according to the simulation, though we haven't tested that yet so it's not yet confirmed by empirical data."
"Uh, which won't happen because the Alliance doesn't mind-control people," Bow pointed out.
"Right! Of course!" Entrapta nodded.
Sam focused on the new data. The subroutines to control the carriers were the same as Horde Prime's - they had confirmed that with data from all the chips that they had captured - but anything about the actual advanced control node's directives and decision trees were assumptions. Assumptions based on the data from those chips which had hosted the control node during the battle detailing the orders and changes in behaviour it had left.
And wasn't that a nice, clinical way to talk and think about a chip warping a person's innermost thoughts and desires?
"At least we've managed to streamline the removal of the chips," Bow said after a few moments.
That hadn't taken much beyond Entrapta and Bow remembering how they had dealt with Horde Prime's chips and checking if the basic methods worked. Sam still nodded since it meant all of the chips' victims were now free. Traumatised and in need of help but no longer trapped in their own bodies - or, worse, mentally manipulated to become fanatical followers of Ba'al.
But it had netted them a lot of chips to analyse, which they had been doing for hours. Every little detail, every data point, could add up and allow them to crack Ba'al's defences.
Sam would be more optimistic if she couldn't think of half a dozen ways to avoid any potential weakness she came up with. No one is perfect, certainly not someone as egoistical as Ba'al, she told herself. He has to have made a mistake; we just need to find it.
The key was the floating control node's code. All of Ba'al's orders had run through that; updating the network chip after chip as it jumped around. All the protocols and data would have been concentrated there - and gone when the last host chip had burnt out. Something Ba'al had likely intended.
But it was also an obvious failure point and a weakness. Take out the control node, as Sam and her friends had done, and the whole network collapsed. Any chip that survived wouldn't have any way to safely link up with another network. No protocols to validate sources and update orders.
Ba'al did like to compartmentalise his forces. Maybe he preferred to write off a network if it lost the central node? Fighting to the death was certainly standard operation procedure for his followers.
But Sam didn't think that Ba'al would go as far as to permanently split up his forces from the start. And even so, he couldn't expect to keep all chips in a network together forever - ships were sent out on scouting missions all the time, task forces split up according to the needs of any given mission, courier work was fairly common and would require the kind of loyalty mind-control chips enforced. So, every chip had to have a way to rejoin a network. Anything else wouldn't make any sense, not even for a paranoid Goa'uld. Protocols to establish contact. Validate signals. Accept new directives. Everything you needed to become part of the network - or infiltrate it.
Sam and her friends just had to find those protocols in the core software of the chips. But they had been sifting the entire code for any trace of such protocols and had only found the routines that handled the technical parts. Not the ones that actually authorised such link-ups. Where had Ba'al hidden them?
Even simulating a network connection didn't reveal them - the chips linked up, but nothing past signal testing data was exchanged. No actual data; it was like the higher functions were missing…
Sam blinked. "Oh, of course!"
Ba'al was a Goa'uld. Goa'uld were parasites, sapient, but they depended on the brains of their hosts to achieve their full intellectual potential. And what use would a chip without a carrier be for any network? It would feel natural for him to link - to outsource - core network functions to a chip carrier's brain, wouldn't it?
"Can we fool a chip into believing that they are hooked up to a brain?" she asked, then groaned at the realisation that she was starting to anthropomise chips.
"We could, I think, but why?" Bow said.
Sam explained.
*****
"...and so we confirmed that the chips use part of the carrier's brain to store data, presumably crucial parts such as network protocols and valuation codes."
Catra felt the fur at the back of her neck bristle at Sam's briefing. Those damned chips not only took over your body - forcing it to keep fighting even when you were unconscious or dead - but they used your brain for data storage? She'd personally kill whoever came up with this.
"That's…" Even Jack didn't seem to have a joke ready.
"That's horrible!" Glimmer spat.
"Can we fix that?" Adora's expression sent a cold shiver down Catra's spine. She hadn't seen her love looking grim like that very often. "Give people back their… brains?"
Sam winced. "We're still examining the victims. So far, we have not yet been able to access the data stored in their brains, though we're working on identifying and duplicating the protocols in the chips. Once we can assess the scope of the changes to the brain, it should be possible to ascertain what was done to them."
In other words, they didn't know and were not optimistic. "So… We can't exclude the possibility that those parts of their brain contain some ways to mind-control the victims?" Catra asked.
"Shit!" Jack cursed. "Sleeper agent protocols?"
"We can't exclude that possibility at this point," Sam confirmed.
"I can try healing them," Adora said. "This… I should be able to restore someone's brain to their control."
Catra wasn't so certain, but she didn't think it would hurt to try. Though if it took She-Ra to deal with this, that would be another burden on her love.
"We'll have to examine the victims more thoroughly first, to establish a baseline," Sam said.
"Yeah! Or we might not be able to tell what your magic is doing to people's brains," Entrapta added. "We don't know yet what the chip did to brains - not in detail."
"It's a very complicated interface," Bow cut in. "We first thought it was merely an, ah, alternate way to safely store data, protect it from access through conventional means, but the chips' protocols are too complex for that. It doesn't help that we can't use the chips directly to access the data."
Catra glanced around, half-expecting someone to ask why they couldn't put a mind-control chip back into a victim to check their brain, but to her relief, no one was that stupid.
"Alright." Adora nodded. "Keep working on that - it takes priority. We need all the information about those chips we can get to stop Ba'al. Now, next item: The state of this site and our task force."
That was her cue. Sort of. Catra sat straighter and pulled her tablet out. "We're still recovering from the battle, but we've used the captured facilities here to repair our ships. A third of the task force's frigates have been restored to full combat readiness, and another third, while still showing damaged secondary systems, have had their shields, engines and main batteries repaired. The last third, though, will require lengthier stays in docks, either here or in facilities behind our lines."
"We lost a third of our task force, then." Jack didn't sound happy.
"Temporarily," Glimmer said. "They will be repaired."
"That still will cost us resources that could go into building new ships," Catra pointed out. Glimmer frowned at her, but she shrugged. "Opportunity costs are still costs. At least the casualties were light." Trained and especially experienced crew was much harder to replace than ships, after all.
"We were lucky there," Adora said. "If the battle had continued a bit longer, we would have been forced to field even more damaged ships, and losses and casualties would have rapidly grown."
Yeah. As long as you could shift ships around to spread the damage taken by the enemy, you could avoid heavy losses, but once you ran out of undamaged ships to rotate into the frontlines, damage would accumulate fast. Catra had seen it happen in the Horde war with ground units. Once a unit had taken so many casualties that it started to break, you could write it off.
"So… we're basically at half effectiveness," Jack summed up.
"Yes. Which means we cannot repel a counter-attack by a force the same size as the force we took down," Adora said. "We need to evacuate the site."
"That would mean leaving the unfinished Glove," Glimmer said.
"No big loss," Catra said. "It's just a chunk of hull at this point. No engine, reactor, shield or weapons of any note. Not even the factories have been completed yet." She shrugged. "Less than a quarter of the entire ship, too."
"What a waste of resources," Jack commented.
"We didn't spend it," Glimmer said. "Ba'al did."
"And finishing the ship would require too much time, too many resources, and too many forces to guard this site," Adora said. "We can't afford it."
"So, we'll loot it of everything we can take and blow up the rest. Or Have Adora turn it into a space plant," Catra said, flashing her fangs.
"I can't actually use magic on that scale out here," Adora said. "I would need a world's restored magic to do that."
"So, we can't leave a message for Ba'al using flower language. Too bad." Jack grinned. "I guess some explosives will have to do."
"And we'll have to pack up the factory ships - and the ships forming their supply lines," Catra said. "They're slower than frigates, so we better get a move on." Digesting everything back home would also require an effort. But overall, this should help with Alliance war production capacities.
Once they figured out who got what, of course. Catra had a feeling that this would cause some issues with Earth.
*****
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, July 15th, 2000
"...and surely, General, you agree that moving the, ah, liberated production assets of Ba'al to Etheria is a blatant attempt to present the Alliance with a fait accompli that flies in the face of the treaty that formed the Alliance."
Jack O'Neill resisted the urge to roll his eyes; the Secretary of Defense was, after all, his superior. Sort of - Jack was part of the forces the United States had assigned to the Alliance, and he answered to Adora, but he had not left the Air Force. "Etheria was the closest system under secure Alliance control," he said. "Moving the captured factory and mining ships anywhere else would have both required significant forces to guard them and taken far longer. That would have significantly reduced the Alliance's offensive and defensive capabilities in the war." Something the man should have been aware of!
"Yes, yes, I've read the reports." The other man shook his head almost dismissively. "But we can't just look at this from a military point of view, General - we have to take the bigger picture into account. Those factory and yard ships are the most advanced we have; they are geared to produce Horde-style frigates and supporting craft. To place them under the direct control of the Princess Alliance in Etheria when Etheria already controls the factory ships of the Horde fleets in the Alliance seems like an obvious attempt to cement their monopoly on advanced ship production."
Oh for…! Jack shook his head. "The different Clone fleets control their own fleet trains, sir. The Princess Alliance doesn't have control over them."
"Two of the fleets worship She-Ra as their goddess, and the other two are commanded by Princess Entrapta's consort and a very close friend, respectively; I think we can dispense with the polite fiction that the Princess Alliance doesn't control the Horde ships, General."
Jack stared. "Have you met Princess Entrapta?" Did the man honestly believe that Entrapta was some… seductress controlling the Clones through Hordak and WrongHordak?
The man frowned. "Despite her eccentricities, Princess Entrapta is a ruling princess - and one of the oldest members of the Princess Alliance's leadership council, General."
"Entrapta doesn't care about politics; she just cares about technology and her friends," Jack shot back.
"That might be so, but that means she will listen to her friends - and the majority of her friends are members of the Princess Alliance, General. How often did the Horde leaders oppose any proposal from them?" Before Jack could answer, the man went on: "And even if we would assume that your view was correct, you have to consider the optics, General."
"The optics?" Jack frowned again.
"It's an election year, General. How do you think the American people think about the fact that we still seem to be playing second fiddle to the rest of the Alliance?"
Oh. "I think they're more concerned about the body-snatching evil alien parasites trying to enslave us all, sir."
"You would think so, but that's not what the polls say. People are concerned about being beholden to aliens, period. They haven't forgotten how America was forced to bend to the demands of the Princess Alliance. The American people expect us to be the leading nation of Earth, not the junior partner of an Alliance led by aliens." The Secretary of Defense shook his head. "We're lucky that they arrived two years ago, and the reports from the invasions we launched did help, but the public isn't stupid - they see all those alien ships in the news, they see the British ships in combat - and they don't care that those were glorified feighters - and they ask where the American ships are in this war."
"Well, if they want a strong fleet, maybe the Navy shouldn't be building lemons," Jack retorted. The US frigates were still not rated for combat outside the solar system.
That earned him a glare. "All new designs have teething issues. I am sure those will be soon ironed out - Major Carter is supposed to work hard on them, isn't she? - but we need more production capacity under American control if we want to regain our position."
"And win the election," Jack said in the flattest tone he could manage.
"You don't change the team in the middle of the game, General. Besides, how do you think the Etherians will react if the US Government is replaced by people who think the gay should go back in the closet?"
Jack hadn't exactly paid a lot of attention to the election campaigns, but he would have noticed any such demand - hell, the Etherians would have asked him about it! "I don't believe that the next president, whoever it will be, will change those policies, sir."
"Of course not! It's in the constitution now! But the press, especially the foreign press, will dig up everything they said about gays and lesbians in the past in an attempt to cut us off at the knees. We can't afford that kind of trouble." The man narrowed his eyes again. "We need to get control of those factory ships before the election, General, so we can show the public that America isn't weak any more and on the way to regain our place as the leader of the free world."
"That seems to be a political challenge, sir," Jack said with all the diplomatic restraint he could muster. "Not a military problem."
"On this level, that's the same thing, General."
"But I'm a military officer, sir." Not a politician.
"And you're an American - the highest American officer in the Alliance. A close friend of the core leaders of the Princess Alliance. Your country needs you, General."
It sounded more as if Jack's government needed him. "And you want me to… talk to the princesses?"
"I want you to give them your honest appraisal of the danger for the Alliance if the production capacities remain as unbalanced as they currently are, General."
Fuck.
*****
Royal Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, Etheria System, July 16th, 2000 (Earth Time)
"What? They want us to move the entire production line to the Solar System?" Adora shook her head. "That makes no sense - that would take months, not including setting up the mining operations to supply the factory ships and yard ships! We've just finished setting up in the Etheria system, and we already had mining infrastructure here!" Moving an entire space-based shipyard complex took a lot of time and effort!
"Against opposition from our resident isolationists," Glimmer added with a scowl. "They claimed to be worried about the effects asteroid mining had on Etheria's magic!"
Jack shrugged with a slight grimace. "The US government is concerned about the upcoming election."
"They're worried that the opposition party might be exploiting the lingering resentment amongst part of the American population that the United States isn't the uncontested superpower on Earth any more," Daniel said. "At least, the polls I've looked into seem to show that this is a view shared by a not insignificant part of the population."
Glimmer muttered something brief and not very complimentary about democracy that Adora chose to ignore. America, and pretty much every Earth country in the Alliance, was a democracy. That wouldn't change. But… "I thought that blatantly using your power as the government to ensure you stayed in power was considered an abuse of power in a democracy."
"Ah…" Daniel grimaced as well. "It's complicated."
"I sense some hypocrisy coming," Catra commented.
"Well, a democratic government is supposed to implement policies to improve the lives of their people, which, in turn, will, if they are successful, and seen as being successful, gain the voter's support in the next election," Daniel said. "That includes caring about the concerns of the population."
"Appearing to care about them, you mean," Catra cut in.
Adora frowned at her. Catra's cynical views of democracy weren't really helpful right now.
Daniel, though, nodded. "Yes. In politics, perception often is more important than reality."
Glimmer muttered something about democracy again.
Adora focused on the actual issue. "And the US government doesn't want to look weak to their voters, which is why they want us to move the Horde fleet train we captured to Earth and hand it over to them."
Jack shrugged again. "More or less. They were a bit cagey about the whole thing."
"We already could tell because they went through you, Jack, and not through official channels," Daniel said.
"The other countries would protest about such a blatant power grab." Glimmer shook her head. "How do they think this would work, anyway? Those yard ships produce Horde frigates. The Americans chose to build their own designs. Do they want to retool the entire line?"
Catra scoffed. "For their crappy designs? Might as well blow the entire line up and save us the waste of resources and crews!"
"That's a bit harsh, I think," Bow said.
"No, it's not. Just listen to Sam rant about them," Catra shot back.
Adora nodded. The many, many problems with the American ships were well-known. "Leaving that aside, would a change of government really be that bad?"
"Well, if they campaign on more nationalist rhetoric and win, then the new government would likely push for more influence in the Alliance," Daniel said.
"You mean, they'd ask for the same things the current government does?" Catra snorted again.
"Well…" Daniel spread his hands. "In a way, yes."
"I don't think we should get involved in that," Glimmer said. "That feels like meddling in a succession issue in another kingdom."
"Historically, most succession issues on Etheria involved other kingdoms as well," Bow pointed out.
"That doesn't mean meddling is a good idea," Glimmer shot back.
Adora agreed. "Yes. We shouldn't let the internal policies of one country shape the way we conduct this war. Our focus has to be on winning the war against the Goa'uld, not elections." She was sure the rest of the Council would agree - none of the other NATO countries had struck her as particularly happy with the American leadership.
*****
Spacelab, Earth Orbit, Solar System, July 17th, 2000 (Earth Time)
"OK! That should work! Now let's test it!"
Samantha Carter nodded at Entrapta's comment. The latest version of their brain scanner looked promising. Well, it was more of a brain interface, to be precise. Their scanners were already able to scan brains, but they hadn't been able yet to connect them to Ba'al's chips. Whoever had written the software for those abominations must have been both a genius and utterly deranged.
"Connecting the interface," she said as she checked once more that the outside connections were cut before powering up the link between the air-gapped scanner and the isolated chip.
"Protocols… engaging," Entrapta said. "Oh, look - data exchange started."
That was promising, but they had such successes before. If the chip's protocols were not satisfied, it would… The indicators changed. "Successful connection."
"It's looking into the data from the scans!"
Yes, the chip was treating the data as if it were live readings from a brain. Or so Sam hoped. If they could fool the chip, they could get at the reading/writing routines, and then they could access the altered parts of the brains of the chipped victims and find out what data was stored there.
That could be the key to cracking the entire network.
Sam leaned forward as the chip's routines started exchanging great amounts of data with their simulated brain.
"Oh, look at that, Sam! It's trying to alter the brain chemistry! As we theorised!"
Sam nodded. Another piece of the puzzle had been solved. Sooner or later, the whole thing would be open to them.
And then, they could start on tracking down such networks.
*****
Starfox5
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That's the plan - well, without burning out people's brains as well.
Indeed.
Faber_The_Builder
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Well I kinda expected them to burn out the Blank/programmed clones
Chapter 178: Ba’al’s Machinations Part 10
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Starfox5
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Chapter 178: Ba'al's Machinations Part 10
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, July 18th, 2000
"...and we cannot close our eyes to the fact that we've been at this war for years - almost during the entire time the current administration was in power - and yet, America's position hasn't improved. We depend on alien protection and alien technology for everything! Should the Alliance break apart, America would be left helpless. This has to change! We cannot depend on others any more!"
"Those were very strong statements. And it's still two weeks until the national convention - can we expect even stronger statements then, James?"
"I believe so, Julia! The war against the Goa'uld is dominating this election, and the polls all agree that it is a very divisive issue for America. And while Americans are generally loath to change governments in the middle of a war, with the term limits applied, the effect of that sentiment is naturally not as strong as it could be, and many of us remember how quickly the last war was won under President Bush, so…"
Sitting in the meeting room that she usually occupied in the Alliance HQ, Catra rolled her eyes and switched channels. The Gulf War had been fought with tanks and planes, not spaceships, and with overwhelming material superiority. If anyone thought you could wage war the same way in space, they needed a reality check.
"...and this is not merely a question about how to conduct the war against those aliens, but a question that touches the very soul of our nation: Should America become one nation amongst many, or should we continue to be the shining city on the hill, the ideal other nations aspire to become? After the fall of the Soviet Union, America has been the world's uncontested leader. Where we went, others followed. We were the first to step on the moon - and we were the first to reach out to the stars and strike a blow against the Goa'uld! This is a proud history and a responsibility we cannot discharge as easily as the current government wants us to! America is not one country amongst many, but a promise! So…"
"...and I can only repeat what our government already stated: America cannot stand alone and it should not stand alone. From the beginning, we have been looking for allies against the Goa'uls. We will not reject our friends - we will stand by their side, united against the Goa'uld. America is a strong part of the Alliance, and we will only grow stronger as we adapt the advanced technology shared with us and develop our own. It would be the height of foolishness to…"
Catra turned the TV off.
"That's why democracy is such a stupid system: It's not even been two years since we made the Alliance treaty, and yet, those people want to change it!" Glimmer complained. "How can you trust such a country? Even the worst princesses back home know that you can't just dissolve a treaty like that!"
"Ah, I don't think they want to dissolve the treaty," Bow said. "They just want to, ah, change how Alliance procurement works."
"They want to take control of the shipyards because they can't stand that they aren't the most powerful member of the Alliance!" Glimmer shot back. "Jack told us that - and they're saying it in public!"
Catra nodded in agreement.
"Well, they are going to become the most powerful member of the Alliance once they adapt to advanced technology - they are the biggest country with the strongest economy," Bow pointed out.
"Yes! But that makes this even worse - they don't even have the patience to wait a few years!" Glimmer scoffed. "Don't they know about long-term planning?"
"That won't win them the next election," Catra said.
"Short-sighted fools!" Glimmer bared her teeth and crossed her arms with a huff.
"At least the other countries aren't like that," Bow tried to smile encouragingly. "And they're democracies as well."
Glimmer huffed again. "They would probably act the same if they were as big as the United States."
"Probably. Except for the Germans," Catra said.
"Well, yes. But they're weird about it." Glimmer shrugged, then sighed. "I just wish they'd focus on beating the snakes instead of each other."
"It's not that bad," Bow objected. "They just… are still adjusting."
"Then they should adjust more quickly!"
Catra snorted.
"Well, as long as we can keep them from messing up Alliance strategy and production, it won't matter much who's in charge of the United States, right?" Bow asked.
"They both want the same anyway," Glimmer grumbled.
"That's consistent, at least," Catra said with a grin. "It's almost as if America had a princess."
Glimmer scowled at her, and Bow chuckled politely.
"How much longer until Adora's back from her meeting?" Glimmer asked after a moment.
Catra shrugged. "It depends on what Priest's been doing while we were fighting Ba'al. If he's been good, it shouldn't take too long."
"Great. We'll be here all day then."
She might not be wrong, in Catra's opinion. Priest should have been busy handling the new Clones and the new Prisoners of War, but the wily Clone was perfectly able to do that and meddle in other things. In fact… She used the remote again. "Let's see if there's anything in the news about him."
"There better not be!"
"...and if we modify the spy bot's search pattern to take the range of the chip's FTL comms into account, we can cover the suspected area under Ba'al's control much faster than anticipated, although at the price of potentially missing forces and bases without any chipped victims."
Jack O'Neill nodded at Carter's report. She - and Entrapta - had come through again. "Will that allow us to find his chip factory and shut it down?" It was best to get confirmation before he made any assumptions that turned out to be wrong.
"If Ba'al is using those chips on staff working there and if that facility is within the area we're searching, yes, sir."
Those were two significant 'ifs'. So, if Ba'al was even more paranoid and kept the chipped slaves from the chip factory, they wouldn't find it like that - unless they stumbled on it. On the other hand, would Ba'al really trust such a key part of his realm to people without mind-control chips? "So, we have to hope he hasn't used a clone of his there - or if he does, he still uses chips."
"If he's chipping his First Prime, I don't think he's shying away from doing it to a clone," Catra said. "The question is: Can he control another Goa'uld with the chips? If they can take over a stunned victim to make the body keep fighting…"
Carter nodded. "While we could not test it, based on the experiments we could run, we believe that the chips could override even a Goa'uld's control of their host."
Jack whistled. "Now, if the other snakes knew about that…"
"You think we should leak that intel to the enemy?" Catra looked at him. "Ba'al's already fighting a couple of snakes and us; if more get involved, they'll discover us sooner rather than later."
She was right, but Jack didn't think they would be able to hide for much longer. Between the deception with Apophis and now the campaign against Ba'al, when Adora had revealed herself, he had a feeling that the Goa'uld would discover the extent of the Alliance soon anyway. "We shouldn't underestimate the snakes. They will add two and two together as soon as they can compare information from Apophis and Ba'al."
"Ba'al has organised his forces in a way that makes it exceedingly difficult for spies to infiltrate his court," Teal'c said. "And the more mind-control chips he uses, the harder it becomes for a spy to remain effective."
That was true as well. And frustrating since it also meant the Tok'ra were not nearly as effective as they should be. But… "Yeah, but everything adds up."
"And you think that we should turn the other Goa'uld against Ba'al before they realise how powerful the Alliance is," Adora said.
"Yep." Jack nodded.
"And hope Ba'al doesn't spill the secret to avoid getting ganged up on," Catra said.
"That's a danger," Jack said. "But can you see Ba'al doing that? He keeps everything compartmentalised."
"We shouldn't underestimate him," Glimmer replied. "We know he is one of the smartest Goa'uld we've been fighting."
"And one of the most cruel," Adora added. She shook her head. "I think it's a bit too dangerous to leak the information - it would also show Ba'al how much we know. And I think the Goa'uld already fighting Ba'al are enough; I don't think we want the other System Lords to move more forces into the theatre - it would make defeating them in detail harder."
Jack slowly nodded. That made sense. And they were right that Ba'al was already one of the System Lords most hated by the rest of the snakes. "So, could those chips protect against being taken over by a snake?" Everyone stared at him, and he shrugged. "Just thinking out loud."
"The chips work by taking control of the central nervous system, sir. I don't think this would result in the victim retaining control of their body, sir," Carter said. "It would just be a puppet for the chip."
And that wouldn't be any better than being a host for a snake. Even if you were fighting for your own side. Jack shuddered.
"Well, unless the chip was programmed to just… reinforce the brain. Kinda," Entrapta said. "But you'd have to have all the brain data for that, and the chip can't really hold that much data. So… not really. But in theory, with much more advanced chips, it could be done - but we'd be copying a brain onto a chip for that, which I think we could if we used the Asgard's transfer technology, but we'd still need better chips."
Everyone was staring at her. Jack included. Had she just proposed a way to copy people's brains into chips and then have the copy take over the original body?
"Uh…" Adora grimaced. "Let's not try to copy people."
Everyone agreed with that.
North of Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America, Earth, July 19th, 2000
"...and this, Your Divine Highness, is the latest congregation of your faithful!"
Standing next to the shuttle they had taken here, Adora stared. She had seen the pictures, of course - any officer knew how to check the maps before deploying, and while this trip wasn't an actual mission, it sure felt like one - but pictures didn't quite capture the real thing. "It's a giant sword."
"We considered building it in the shape of a shield, to symbolise Your Divine Protection of those in need, but we felt that emphasising the fight to defeat evil was more appropriate. Also, the building permits were easier to acquire for this design." Priest beamed.
"You mean, you found a giant cross that was permitted, and so they couldn't deny your sword," Catra commented.
"The authorities could not deny us what they granted to others already."
"That explains the giant sword," Adora said. A tall building in the shape of a sword, point buried in the earth. "But what about the fortress around it?" Those were Horde-style - Hordak's Horde, not Horde Prime's Horde - prefab walls complete with turrets and weapon emplacements - though they looked empty, fortunately.
"We received threats from various extremist elements, and the building permits included fences around the property, Your Divine Highness."
Adora didn't think anyone would consider walls thick enough to stop a charging hovertank 'fences', but she wasn't a building inspector. It wasn't as concerning as the first part of the statement, anyway. "Someone threatened you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Religious extremists, Your Divine Highness. They take exception to our faith spreading amongst the people of Earth and resort to threats of violence when their propaganda cannot stop Your Word from reaching those in need." Priest shook his head. "But do not be concerned - their pitiful attempts to scare us will not shake our devotion to Your Divine Truth! As You show us every day by example, we will persevere in the face of any adversity!"
Catra clapped, and Adora glared at her, which only made her lover grin, before she turned to address Priest again: "So, were there any attacks?"
"None so far, no doubt owing to our faithful guards, Your Divine Highness. Although the local fanatics have taken to, ah, 'picket' the building on the days of our celebrations and harass our faithful. Unfortunately, the authorities emphasised that they are allowed to do that by the laws of the land."
"Freedom of speech and blah blah," Catra said, peering through binoculars. "I think I can see them setting up - there's a sign denouncing you as a satanic temptress. And one calling you the whore of Babylon. And a few about 'Hell' awaiting those who follow you."
"We told them that the local satanic temple denied any connection between Your Divine Highness and their own faith, but it did not deter the protesters," Priest added. "Also, unlike Your Divine Name, 'satanic' is not a protected trademark, so the temple could not use legal means to stop this, either."
"My name is a trademark?" Adora hadn't known that.
"We took the steps to prevent people abusing your name and likeness to hurt others, in accordance with your values, Your Divine Highness."
She narrowed her eyes slightly - Priest sounded too smug - and ignored Catra's chuckling. "And to prevent others from selling merchandise, right?"
"Indeed, Your Divine Highness!" Priest nodded. "Your faithful will not be exploited for profit as long as we stand watchful!" He smiled. "Of course, we will limit ourselves to legal means, as Your Divine Example commands us, and not use the magic You graciously restored to Earth to put curses on those who would attempt to defraud Your faithful."
That was an oddly specific claim. Adora made a mental note to check with the sorceresses amongst her faithful - those using Earth's magic, at least - to ensure that they were not abusing magic.
"Or your ships to blow up enemies of the faith from orbit," Catra added.
"Of course not! Orbital bombardment is only allowed on Your Divine Highness's direct order!"
"Oh, look! There's another group protesting!" Catra peered through her binoculars again. "They demand… to 'Liberate Gaia's Chosen Vessel from Alien Bondage'?"
"It's a very small group of people who labour under the mistaken assumption that Her Divine Highness is actually their native goddess and has been coopted by us like the Goa'uld took over other religious figures," Priest explained.
"They think I'm a Goa'uld?" Adora clenched her teeth.
"They have not made that claim yet, but given how they seem to grow more radical every time they show up, it might merely be a question of time until they do, Your Divine Highness."
That… This was slander! "Is that covered by religious freedom?" she asked.
"We are looking forward to the ruling in that case, once we file a suit, Your Divine Highness." Priest nodded.
"Good." Adora nodded. "Then let's go visit the congregation."
Priest bowed deeply at her, and Catra smirked, but Adora ignored both. She hadn't really wanted to visit this church, temple, whatever, but if such hateful people were gathering outside, spreading such lies, and harassing visitors, then she wouldn't let that stand without making it clear what she thought about them.
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Maine, United States of America, Earth, July 20th, 2000
"...and the religious riots that broke out in Nevada following a visit by Princess She-Ra have finally ended according to the state police. While the governor has not yet commented on the incident, stating that the police were still investigating how exactly the riots started, several local politicians have already protested what they consider a 'blatant infringement of religious freedom' and demand the release of anyone arrested during the riot. Meanwhile, sources in Washington D.C. have confirmed that while the US government declined to comment on the incident, there are growing concerns about the involvement of Princess She-Ra in what is considered an internal matter for the American people."
"Thank you, Julie. This incident happening less than two weeks before the first national convention may also influence the election. Amongst growing concerns about America's role in the Alliance, fears of foreign influence are spreading in key demographics. Matthew, you've been talking to people on the ground, so to speak?"
"Yes, Keith. I have been talking to several local residents, and they all agree that the riot was the result of provocative actions taken by the Church of She-Ra."
Samantha Carter frowned at the screen in the corner of the waiting room - sorry, meeting room - in the Navy shipyards, where she was supposed to work on the latest issue that the Constitution II-Class frigate had managed to develop. Why were they interviewing Texans about an incident in Nevada? The two states didn't even share a border!
"...and just ask yourself: What would Jesus do? Why, he would chase them out just as he drove out the money-lenders from the temple!"
"They built a mockery of a church there, to make fun of our faith!"
"I don't have anything against aliens, but they shouldn't force their religion in our face like that."
"It's not a real religion, it's just a scam to get money. Why would they build such a huge building, anyway?"
"Las Vegas is a den of sin."
She didn't see any remote around, so she stood and went over to manually change channels. That particular station didn't deserve to be called news; it was blatant propaganda.
She had to switch channels three more times before she found a news source that was covering the riot in Nevada without engaging in sensationalist rhetoric or speculating whether or not the Church of She-Ra was at fault.
Of course, Sam wouldn't put it past Priest to engineer such an incident, but she didn't think he'd bother; as the news showed, there was considerable support for the attack on the church in the more radical circles of the religious conservatives. Various political and religious leaders might condemn the violence but they also more or less openly blamed the Church of She-Ra for it.
"...and this wouldn't have happened if America were still strong! Our Founding Fathers stood up to the most powerful Empires of their time! They would be ashamed to see how far their country has fallen. These people are lashing out because they don't feel safe anymore. When they look up, they see alien ships in the sky above their heads, not American ones! When they listen to the news about the war against the Goa'uld, they hear about foreign armies and fleets, not American ones! And they wonder where our soldiers and sailors are - and why they can't protect America! This needs to change!"
And that was a leading member of the electoral campaign of the future presidential candidate? Sam shook her head and turned the TV off. It seemed that American politics were taking a turn for the worse. She could only hope that saner heads would prevail.
She turned when she heard the door open behind her and saluted when she saw Admiral Baker enter. "Sir."
He returned the salute. "At ease, Major Carter. Please excuse the delay; our meeting ran a bit longer than expected; you know how it goes."
"I am familiar with meetings, sir." Sam smiled politely and added 'such as this one' in her head.
"Good, good. Now, we've called you because we've made a few more changes to the next block of the Constitution II-class, and we need you to figure out how to upgrade the existing ships." He pushed a button, and a holographic display appeared over the table showing the blueprints of the frigate.
"Yes, sir." Sam managed not to scowl. More changes?
She looked at the display, quickly going over the highlighted changes. "Expanded magazines?"
"The recent deployments have shown that a frigate needs to be able to operate independently for longer than we have previously anticipated."
There had been talk about long-range exploration and recon ships, to expand and complement the Spy bot network and conduct exploration, but the Alliance had not yet decided whether it was worth the effort. "The Constitution II-class frigates were designed as ships of the line, sir," she told him. Badly designed, and arguably useless at that role, but those had been the design parameters. "They're meant to operate in task forces supplied by a fleet train."
"Yes, but as hybrid ships that offer both carrier and gunship capability, they are perfect for long-range missions where sending an entire task force would not be economical. With just a few changes, we can extend their operational range for that."
A few changes that would see crew compartments reduced to a point, even submarine crews would consider the ship too cramped. And this was supposed to be a long-range exploration vessel? Not that the extended magazines would actually add enough supplies to handle such missions. And the whole plan ignored that the entire class was still not rated for interstellar deployment outside an emergency!
Sam wanted to scream. This would have never happened if the Air Force had taken the lead for the US space forces!
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, July 21st, 2000
"Well, as you are already aware, the actions of a tiny minority do not reflect the attitude of the vast majority of the American people."
Catra cocked her head and raised her eyebrows at Daniel's comment, then pointedly looked at the TV in the background showing burning cars in a parking lot in the desert.
He cleared his throat and pushed his glasses up with a finger. "I know how it looks, with every media covering the riots, and how several seem to carefully select the, ah, most sensational statements, but if you look at the actual data, the vast majority of Americans condemn the attack on your church. Religious freedom is one of the basic rights in the country."
"They claim that we violate their religious freedom," Adora said.
"Which is obviously false," Daniel said. "The law is clear about that."
Catra scoffed. "The law might be clear, but the media aren't." She knew the difference between how they covered the actions of the Goa'uld and those of those fanatics who had tried to storm the church.
"The media do seem to show a lot more understanding for the motives behind this attack than one would expect if this were a tiny extremist minority," Priest added.
"It's an election year, and the religious conservatives are an important voting block," Daniel said. "But all the important churches have condemned the attack as well."
"They also condemned Her Divine Highness's intervention to save her church," Priest said. "Even though no one died or was seriously hurt. By any measure, making the ground shake so people fall down is a rather restrained reaction to an attack on the faithful for a divine intervention. Their holy books have much more brutal examples for much less serious offences."
Catra snorted. "They hate that Adora showed up their own god."
"I didn't show up anyone!" Adora protested. "I just stopped the attack before they could hurt anyone. Anyone in my position would have done that!"
Catra wasn't so certain. Sure, the police had arrested all the rioters, but they had been noticeably slow to arrive.
"Indeed, Your Divine Highness." Priest beamed at Adora. "It is not your fault that the absence of such interventions by other gods might cause some of their faithful to develop doubts about them."
On the other hand, Catra also had some doubts that Priest was as surprised about the attack as he had claimed. Sure, the protesters had been gathering for days without attacking anyone, but it was pretty convenient that the day they actually attacked was the day Adora was visiting. You'd have to be a complete idiot to try anything with her present. Of course, those people were complete idiots…
"That is an important point, actually," Daniel said. "While the Church of She-Ra is amongst the smallest religious organisations in the United States, it is growing much faster than any other church. This has been a source of concern for some congregations."
Catra snorted again. "As I said, they fear the competition."
"It's not a competition!" Adora objected.
"Indeed, Your Divine Highness!" Priest nodded slowly. "Faith is a personal choice for every individual, not a competition, much less a business. Everyone has to decide for themselves what faith suits them. Anything else would violate their religious freedom. That some religious leaders seem to have a problem with that should raise concerns about them and their faith."
"Of course," Daniel agreed. "I'm just pointing out why some religious leaders have concerns."
"Well, they should take their concerns up with their gods," Priest replied. "If they were more present in their followers' lives, I am sure they wouldn't have a reason to be concerned about Her Divine Highness's flock of faithful."
"I think if their god were present in their lives, they would have a lot more and more serious problems than the competition from Adora," Catra said with a smirk.
"Well, religious practices and doctrines are a delicate subject," Daniel said. "Opinions about which rules of a religion should be followed, and how, vary a lot within most faiths."
Priest shrugged. "That is between the faithful and their gods. If a god decides to remain silent about such disagreements, then they obviously don't care enough about the matter to intervene."
Adora frowned at him for that. "Or they might not be listening."
Priest nodded as if he had not noticed the implied criticism. "That is possible, though I think the deities being worshipped on Earth would be able to make themselves heard by their faithful. The stories about them certainly imply such."
"If they exist in the first place," Sha're said. "It's hard to believe a real god would have tolerated the Goa'uld usurping their name and faith."
Priest tilted his head slightly. "That so many people do not doubt their religion despite the lack of a divine presence in their lives is a testament to the power of their faith."
Despite the honest tone of his statement, Catra was sure that Priest didn't intend it to be a compliment. And she didn't think anyone else thought so.
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, July 22nd, 2000
"The Etherians have refused to share the factory ships, General." The Secretary of Defense was back, and he wasn't happy. Both about that fact and about Jack O'Neill.
Jack wasn't happy either. He wasn't a politician. "I mentioned the 'optics', but the Command Council decided that military reasons took priority."
"You mean the Supreme Commander decided to keep the shipyards for her personal cult, General!"
Jack really shouldn't have come to Brussels today. Or shouldn't have decloaked his stealth shuttle. "I think it's a bit problematic to call an established religion a 'cult', sir."
"It's a cult!" the Secretary snapped. "Or do you think Princess She-Ra is an actual goddess?"
Jack forced himself to smile widely. "I don't judge other religions. You never know which might turn out to be the right one." Alright, that was a bit too snarky, but really - the idiot shouldn't be blaming Jack for his own failures. He was the politician; Jack was just a soldier.
"This is no joking matter, General! We're in the middle of an election, and the polls show that this is a key issue for a significant part of the voters!"
"Are you talking about the failed designs being built in our shipyards or the failed religious oppression?" Jack asked. "Just so there's no misunderstanding."
"There is no religious oppression in the United States!"
"But 'key segments of the voters' seem to think there should be, according to the news," Jack pointed out.
"There are concerns about new religions aggressively recruiting members, especially amongst teenagers who lack enough life experience to make an informed decision. A valid concern, based on past experiences."
"I'd be more concerned about religious fanatics trying to burn down churches." Jack shrugged. "Or our ships being flying coffins." The Secretary of Defense was responsible for that fiasco; it was his job to ensure that such screwups didn't happen, especially not in the middle of a war.
"The problems with the Constitution II-class are vastly overblown. None of the ships have suffered a serious accident."
"None of them have been in a real battle either," Jack pointed out. "But they haven't exactly covered themselves with glory in exercises either."
"Teething problems that will work themselves out. And it ties into the reason I am here, General. I am here because we need those factory ships! Have you seen the latest opinion pieces? They call us weak! Have you seen the cartoons? They show the United States as a little child hiding behind the skirts of the aliens!"
Jack chuckled. Catra had shown him the cartoon, and Adora had complained that she had never worn such a long skirt.
"It's not funny, General. We can't appear weak. What do you think will happen if we lose the election?"
"We get another government?" Jack shrugged again. That was how democracy worked.
"A government made of people who campaigned on the promise to take a tougher stance against aliens! Do you think that pissing off our allies will help win the war?" The Secretary shook his head. "They'll ruin whatever goodwill we've recovered in the time since First Contact. Do you think the other members of NATO have forgotten that we kept the Stargate a secret from them?"
That hadn't been his fault. Jack hadn't made that decision. "Sir, I've passed on your concerns. But the Etherians - and the other members of the Alliance - don't think that we should hand over the factory ships to the United States. The Europeans also mentioned concerns about crippling their shipbuilding industry by relying on alien factories that would outcompete them."
The Secretary sighed. "I've pointed this out as well, but the public doesn't care about long-term economic policies. They want a fleet of spaceships flying the Star-spangled Banner. The fact that the British ships were seen in action, saving a base, has people asking where our ships are."
"Those transports are altered copies of Horde designs. The British-designed corvettes haven't seen action either so far," Jack pointed out. Though they had performed very well in exercises.
"I know. But the public doesn't care! And the other party is making a big deal about this. We need something to show the American people that we're still a key part of the Alliance - that we're not hiding behind anyone! We need a victory from you, General."
Jack had a sinking feeling in his stomach. "I command the Alliance Special Forces - a mixed unit, sir."
"Yes, but you are the face of our special forces. You and the others from SG-1. Everyone knows that you lead from the front, so we need to use that. It works for princesses, after all."
That was… Jack wanted to protest that he wasn't a princess, but that would make him sound like a whiner. And he couldn't actually argue against leading from the front, could he?
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, July 28th, 2000
"...and I can only say it again: America deserves better! We have fought the Goa'uld alone for years! Stargate Command killed Ra, the Goa'uld's supreme leader, without any help from anyone! We struggled and fought and saved the entire Earth! And yet, the current administration has squandered all that. Instead of leading the Alliance with our experience, Stargate Command has been put under the command of the United Nations and turned into a travel agency! Our best soldiers are doing gatekeeper duty! What has gone wrong here?"
"That's a very biased take on our past, Jim. Stargate Command has fought the Goa'uld and eliminated Ra, but there was a lot of luck involved. You can't compare those missions with the war we're waging now. Stargate Command never had any spaceships, much less fleets of them. And I believe that most Americans would agree that fighting aliens without telling anyone, not even our closest allies, was a mistake."
"A mistake the current administration has made, Heith! Another reason why it should be replaced!"
"A mistake from which the current administration has learned. Unlike your party, which seems determined to repeat the same mistake of making unilateral decisions about the war - and ignoring the reality of the situation."
"We're not talking about taking over the Alliance…"
"Yes, you are. Your candidate spoke at length about the need for 'American leadership' in this war!"
"...we are talking about not letting two dozen foreign countries and aliens decide American policies."
"You have been very vague about which policies you want to change, Jim. Would you care to be more specific? Which policies do you feel were forced on the American people? And how was that done? Did someone bypass Congress?"
"That's sophistry! You are well aware that we didn't have any choice but to change our laws - and the constitution! - with a fleet of spaceships flying above our heads! Do you think gunboat diplomacy is acceptable?"
"Are you insinuating that the Alliance fleet would have attacked the United States if we had chosen not to join the Alliance?"
"They certainly intervened in Iran, didn't they?"
"They intervened to stop crimes against humanity - something the United States has done as well, with your support, as I recall."
"You cannot compare the United States to Iran!"
"I didn't have to - you did it! And do I really have to remind you that the Etherians did not force any country to change their policies even when they disagreed with them? The changes to our laws and the amendment to the constitution were the decisions of the American people and their representatives on the federal and state levels. As it should be."
"What would have been the alternative? To be relegated to a third-world country stuck on Earth while everyone else built spaceships to colonise the stars? That was no choice at all! America deserves better!"
Adora shut off the TV. "That's going to be their motto, right? 'America deserves better'?"
"It seems so. It's a catchy slogan," Daniel said. "And it's hard to disagree with the idea that America should improve. It's just that people differ on how exactly America should improve."
That was a bit of an understatement, in Adora's opinion. She wasn't an expert on Earth politics, but some things were very hard to miss. "It seems to me that at least one party feels that in order to improve America, they need to beat others."
"And they don't mean the Goa'uld," Glimmer added. "They mean the rest of the Alliance. And all those complaints about being forced to change their policies? They want to be able to discriminate against people like us again!"
"I don't believe anyone seriously expects to be able to turn back the clock. Changing the constitution is very difficult - by design - and the latest amendment has far too much support from key states to be repelled again," Daniel pointed out.
"But they're playing up the fact that this was a condition to join the Alliance to create and build up fear that the Alliance will force more changes on the United States," Glimmer retorted. "And they are targeting the same people who opposed the changes in the first place because they want their support. That's not a good sign."
"Not at all," Adora agreed. What could you expect from a government that came into power through such means? Nothing good.
"And they can do a lot without changing the constitution," Catra added. "Just picking what laws they enforce will cause changes." It was the same in the Horde - if you didn't crack down on corruption, every quartermaster stole as much as possible from their magazines.
"I think that's a bit too harsh. A new government is still bound by the constitution and the treaties we've made," Daniel said. "The President isn't a monarch. They do not have absolute power - there are checks and balances for a reason." He smiled. "The current administration might be playing up the amount of changes that could be enacted in order to gain concessions from the Alliance."
Adora sighed. "I've noticed that. Now that they couldn't get the factory ships we captured, they want some great victory so they can show the American public that they're strong."
"Well…" Daniel shrugged. "A great victory over the Goa'uld wouldn't be a bad thing, would it?"
He was right, of course, but…
"If you need a victory to keep your position and power, you tend to take risks and gambles that you normally wouldn't," Catra voiced Adora's thoughts. "And that tends to end badly."
Adora nodded. "We won't rush into a battle just to save the American government." They wouldn't sacrifice soldiers for political gains. Not on her watch.
Glimmer nodded. "If they don't want to be voted out they shouldn't have made their country a democracy."
Daniel frowned at her. "On Earth, the less democratic nations are generally far more conservative. All the members of the Alliance are democracies."
"Well, Earth is weird," Glimmer shot back, flushing a little. "That wouldn't happen if you had proper princesses."
Bow cleared his throat. "Etheria has numerous examples of similarly unfit leaders, both in the past and in the present."
That earned him a frown from Glimmer, but he wasn't wrong, in Adora's opinion. Politics were far too often far too frustrating. War was worse, of course, but at least you could hit your enemy on the battlefield. And…
Her tablet beeped. Priority message? She checked it. And then she smiled. "It's from Entrapta and Sam. The bots have found a mind-control network!"
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, July 18th, 2000
"...and we cannot close our eyes to the fact that we've been at this war for years - almost during the entire time the current administration was in power - and yet, America's position hasn't improved. We depend on alien protection and alien technology for everything! Should the Alliance break apart, America would be left helpless. This has to change! We cannot depend on others any more!"
"Those were very strong statements. And it's still two weeks until the national convention - can we expect even stronger statements then, James?"
"I believe so, Julia! The war against the Goa'uld is dominating this election, and the polls all agree that it is a very divisive issue for America. And while Americans are generally loath to change governments in the middle of a war, with the term limits applied, the effect of that sentiment is naturally not as strong as it could be, and many of us remember how quickly the last war was won under President Bush, so…"
Sitting in the meeting room that she usually occupied in the Alliance HQ, Catra rolled her eyes and switched channels. The Gulf War had been fought with tanks and planes, not spaceships, and with overwhelming material superiority. If anyone thought you could wage war the same way in space, they needed a reality check.
"...and this is not merely a question about how to conduct the war against those aliens, but a question that touches the very soul of our nation: Should America become one nation amongst many, or should we continue to be the shining city on the hill, the ideal other nations aspire to become? After the fall of the Soviet Union, America has been the world's uncontested leader. Where we went, others followed. We were the first to step on the moon - and we were the first to reach out to the stars and strike a blow against the Goa'uld! This is a proud history and a responsibility we cannot discharge as easily as the current government wants us to! America is not one country amongst many, but a promise! So…"
"...and I can only repeat what our government already stated: America cannot stand alone and it should not stand alone. From the beginning, we have been looking for allies against the Goa'uls. We will not reject our friends - we will stand by their side, united against the Goa'uld. America is a strong part of the Alliance, and we will only grow stronger as we adapt the advanced technology shared with us and develop our own. It would be the height of foolishness to…"
Catra turned the TV off.
"That's why democracy is such a stupid system: It's not even been two years since we made the Alliance treaty, and yet, those people want to change it!" Glimmer complained. "How can you trust such a country? Even the worst princesses back home know that you can't just dissolve a treaty like that!"
"Ah, I don't think they want to dissolve the treaty," Bow said. "They just want to, ah, change how Alliance procurement works."
"They want to take control of the shipyards because they can't stand that they aren't the most powerful member of the Alliance!" Glimmer shot back. "Jack told us that - and they're saying it in public!"
Catra nodded in agreement.
"Well, they are going to become the most powerful member of the Alliance once they adapt to advanced technology - they are the biggest country with the strongest economy," Bow pointed out.
"Yes! But that makes this even worse - they don't even have the patience to wait a few years!" Glimmer scoffed. "Don't they know about long-term planning?"
"That won't win them the next election," Catra said.
"Short-sighted fools!" Glimmer bared her teeth and crossed her arms with a huff.
"At least the other countries aren't like that," Bow tried to smile encouragingly. "And they're democracies as well."
Glimmer huffed again. "They would probably act the same if they were as big as the United States."
"Probably. Except for the Germans," Catra said.
"Well, yes. But they're weird about it." Glimmer shrugged, then sighed. "I just wish they'd focus on beating the snakes instead of each other."
"It's not that bad," Bow objected. "They just… are still adjusting."
"Then they should adjust more quickly!"
Catra snorted.
"Well, as long as we can keep them from messing up Alliance strategy and production, it won't matter much who's in charge of the United States, right?" Bow asked.
"They both want the same anyway," Glimmer grumbled.
"That's consistent, at least," Catra said with a grin. "It's almost as if America had a princess."
Glimmer scowled at her, and Bow chuckled politely.
"How much longer until Adora's back from her meeting?" Glimmer asked after a moment.
Catra shrugged. "It depends on what Priest's been doing while we were fighting Ba'al. If he's been good, it shouldn't take too long."
"Great. We'll be here all day then."
She might not be wrong, in Catra's opinion. Priest should have been busy handling the new Clones and the new Prisoners of War, but the wily Clone was perfectly able to do that and meddle in other things. In fact… She used the remote again. "Let's see if there's anything in the news about him."
"There better not be!"
*****
"...and if we modify the spy bot's search pattern to take the range of the chip's FTL comms into account, we can cover the suspected area under Ba'al's control much faster than anticipated, although at the price of potentially missing forces and bases without any chipped victims."
Jack O'Neill nodded at Carter's report. She - and Entrapta - had come through again. "Will that allow us to find his chip factory and shut it down?" It was best to get confirmation before he made any assumptions that turned out to be wrong.
"If Ba'al is using those chips on staff working there and if that facility is within the area we're searching, yes, sir."
Those were two significant 'ifs'. So, if Ba'al was even more paranoid and kept the chipped slaves from the chip factory, they wouldn't find it like that - unless they stumbled on it. On the other hand, would Ba'al really trust such a key part of his realm to people without mind-control chips? "So, we have to hope he hasn't used a clone of his there - or if he does, he still uses chips."
"If he's chipping his First Prime, I don't think he's shying away from doing it to a clone," Catra said. "The question is: Can he control another Goa'uld with the chips? If they can take over a stunned victim to make the body keep fighting…"
Carter nodded. "While we could not test it, based on the experiments we could run, we believe that the chips could override even a Goa'uld's control of their host."
Jack whistled. "Now, if the other snakes knew about that…"
"You think we should leak that intel to the enemy?" Catra looked at him. "Ba'al's already fighting a couple of snakes and us; if more get involved, they'll discover us sooner rather than later."
She was right, but Jack didn't think they would be able to hide for much longer. Between the deception with Apophis and now the campaign against Ba'al, when Adora had revealed herself, he had a feeling that the Goa'uld would discover the extent of the Alliance soon anyway. "We shouldn't underestimate the snakes. They will add two and two together as soon as they can compare information from Apophis and Ba'al."
"Ba'al has organised his forces in a way that makes it exceedingly difficult for spies to infiltrate his court," Teal'c said. "And the more mind-control chips he uses, the harder it becomes for a spy to remain effective."
That was true as well. And frustrating since it also meant the Tok'ra were not nearly as effective as they should be. But… "Yeah, but everything adds up."
"And you think that we should turn the other Goa'uld against Ba'al before they realise how powerful the Alliance is," Adora said.
"Yep." Jack nodded.
"And hope Ba'al doesn't spill the secret to avoid getting ganged up on," Catra said.
"That's a danger," Jack said. "But can you see Ba'al doing that? He keeps everything compartmentalised."
"We shouldn't underestimate him," Glimmer replied. "We know he is one of the smartest Goa'uld we've been fighting."
"And one of the most cruel," Adora added. She shook her head. "I think it's a bit too dangerous to leak the information - it would also show Ba'al how much we know. And I think the Goa'uld already fighting Ba'al are enough; I don't think we want the other System Lords to move more forces into the theatre - it would make defeating them in detail harder."
Jack slowly nodded. That made sense. And they were right that Ba'al was already one of the System Lords most hated by the rest of the snakes. "So, could those chips protect against being taken over by a snake?" Everyone stared at him, and he shrugged. "Just thinking out loud."
"The chips work by taking control of the central nervous system, sir. I don't think this would result in the victim retaining control of their body, sir," Carter said. "It would just be a puppet for the chip."
And that wouldn't be any better than being a host for a snake. Even if you were fighting for your own side. Jack shuddered.
"Well, unless the chip was programmed to just… reinforce the brain. Kinda," Entrapta said. "But you'd have to have all the brain data for that, and the chip can't really hold that much data. So… not really. But in theory, with much more advanced chips, it could be done - but we'd be copying a brain onto a chip for that, which I think we could if we used the Asgard's transfer technology, but we'd still need better chips."
Everyone was staring at her. Jack included. Had she just proposed a way to copy people's brains into chips and then have the copy take over the original body?
"Uh…" Adora grimaced. "Let's not try to copy people."
Everyone agreed with that.
*****
North of Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America, Earth, July 19th, 2000
"...and this, Your Divine Highness, is the latest congregation of your faithful!"
Standing next to the shuttle they had taken here, Adora stared. She had seen the pictures, of course - any officer knew how to check the maps before deploying, and while this trip wasn't an actual mission, it sure felt like one - but pictures didn't quite capture the real thing. "It's a giant sword."
"We considered building it in the shape of a shield, to symbolise Your Divine Protection of those in need, but we felt that emphasising the fight to defeat evil was more appropriate. Also, the building permits were easier to acquire for this design." Priest beamed.
"You mean, you found a giant cross that was permitted, and so they couldn't deny your sword," Catra commented.
"The authorities could not deny us what they granted to others already."
"That explains the giant sword," Adora said. A tall building in the shape of a sword, point buried in the earth. "But what about the fortress around it?" Those were Horde-style - Hordak's Horde, not Horde Prime's Horde - prefab walls complete with turrets and weapon emplacements - though they looked empty, fortunately.
"We received threats from various extremist elements, and the building permits included fences around the property, Your Divine Highness."
Adora didn't think anyone would consider walls thick enough to stop a charging hovertank 'fences', but she wasn't a building inspector. It wasn't as concerning as the first part of the statement, anyway. "Someone threatened you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Religious extremists, Your Divine Highness. They take exception to our faith spreading amongst the people of Earth and resort to threats of violence when their propaganda cannot stop Your Word from reaching those in need." Priest shook his head. "But do not be concerned - their pitiful attempts to scare us will not shake our devotion to Your Divine Truth! As You show us every day by example, we will persevere in the face of any adversity!"
Catra clapped, and Adora glared at her, which only made her lover grin, before she turned to address Priest again: "So, were there any attacks?"
"None so far, no doubt owing to our faithful guards, Your Divine Highness. Although the local fanatics have taken to, ah, 'picket' the building on the days of our celebrations and harass our faithful. Unfortunately, the authorities emphasised that they are allowed to do that by the laws of the land."
"Freedom of speech and blah blah," Catra said, peering through binoculars. "I think I can see them setting up - there's a sign denouncing you as a satanic temptress. And one calling you the whore of Babylon. And a few about 'Hell' awaiting those who follow you."
"We told them that the local satanic temple denied any connection between Your Divine Highness and their own faith, but it did not deter the protesters," Priest added. "Also, unlike Your Divine Name, 'satanic' is not a protected trademark, so the temple could not use legal means to stop this, either."
"My name is a trademark?" Adora hadn't known that.
"We took the steps to prevent people abusing your name and likeness to hurt others, in accordance with your values, Your Divine Highness."
She narrowed her eyes slightly - Priest sounded too smug - and ignored Catra's chuckling. "And to prevent others from selling merchandise, right?"
"Indeed, Your Divine Highness!" Priest nodded. "Your faithful will not be exploited for profit as long as we stand watchful!" He smiled. "Of course, we will limit ourselves to legal means, as Your Divine Example commands us, and not use the magic You graciously restored to Earth to put curses on those who would attempt to defraud Your faithful."
That was an oddly specific claim. Adora made a mental note to check with the sorceresses amongst her faithful - those using Earth's magic, at least - to ensure that they were not abusing magic.
"Or your ships to blow up enemies of the faith from orbit," Catra added.
"Of course not! Orbital bombardment is only allowed on Your Divine Highness's direct order!"
"Oh, look! There's another group protesting!" Catra peered through her binoculars again. "They demand… to 'Liberate Gaia's Chosen Vessel from Alien Bondage'?"
"It's a very small group of people who labour under the mistaken assumption that Her Divine Highness is actually their native goddess and has been coopted by us like the Goa'uld took over other religious figures," Priest explained.
"They think I'm a Goa'uld?" Adora clenched her teeth.
"They have not made that claim yet, but given how they seem to grow more radical every time they show up, it might merely be a question of time until they do, Your Divine Highness."
That… This was slander! "Is that covered by religious freedom?" she asked.
"We are looking forward to the ruling in that case, once we file a suit, Your Divine Highness." Priest nodded.
"Good." Adora nodded. "Then let's go visit the congregation."
Priest bowed deeply at her, and Catra smirked, but Adora ignored both. She hadn't really wanted to visit this church, temple, whatever, but if such hateful people were gathering outside, spreading such lies, and harassing visitors, then she wouldn't let that stand without making it clear what she thought about them.
*****
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Maine, United States of America, Earth, July 20th, 2000
"...and the religious riots that broke out in Nevada following a visit by Princess She-Ra have finally ended according to the state police. While the governor has not yet commented on the incident, stating that the police were still investigating how exactly the riots started, several local politicians have already protested what they consider a 'blatant infringement of religious freedom' and demand the release of anyone arrested during the riot. Meanwhile, sources in Washington D.C. have confirmed that while the US government declined to comment on the incident, there are growing concerns about the involvement of Princess She-Ra in what is considered an internal matter for the American people."
"Thank you, Julie. This incident happening less than two weeks before the first national convention may also influence the election. Amongst growing concerns about America's role in the Alliance, fears of foreign influence are spreading in key demographics. Matthew, you've been talking to people on the ground, so to speak?"
"Yes, Keith. I have been talking to several local residents, and they all agree that the riot was the result of provocative actions taken by the Church of She-Ra."
Samantha Carter frowned at the screen in the corner of the waiting room - sorry, meeting room - in the Navy shipyards, where she was supposed to work on the latest issue that the Constitution II-Class frigate had managed to develop. Why were they interviewing Texans about an incident in Nevada? The two states didn't even share a border!
"...and just ask yourself: What would Jesus do? Why, he would chase them out just as he drove out the money-lenders from the temple!"
"They built a mockery of a church there, to make fun of our faith!"
"I don't have anything against aliens, but they shouldn't force their religion in our face like that."
"It's not a real religion, it's just a scam to get money. Why would they build such a huge building, anyway?"
"Las Vegas is a den of sin."
She didn't see any remote around, so she stood and went over to manually change channels. That particular station didn't deserve to be called news; it was blatant propaganda.
She had to switch channels three more times before she found a news source that was covering the riot in Nevada without engaging in sensationalist rhetoric or speculating whether or not the Church of She-Ra was at fault.
Of course, Sam wouldn't put it past Priest to engineer such an incident, but she didn't think he'd bother; as the news showed, there was considerable support for the attack on the church in the more radical circles of the religious conservatives. Various political and religious leaders might condemn the violence but they also more or less openly blamed the Church of She-Ra for it.
"...and this wouldn't have happened if America were still strong! Our Founding Fathers stood up to the most powerful Empires of their time! They would be ashamed to see how far their country has fallen. These people are lashing out because they don't feel safe anymore. When they look up, they see alien ships in the sky above their heads, not American ones! When they listen to the news about the war against the Goa'uld, they hear about foreign armies and fleets, not American ones! And they wonder where our soldiers and sailors are - and why they can't protect America! This needs to change!"
And that was a leading member of the electoral campaign of the future presidential candidate? Sam shook her head and turned the TV off. It seemed that American politics were taking a turn for the worse. She could only hope that saner heads would prevail.
She turned when she heard the door open behind her and saluted when she saw Admiral Baker enter. "Sir."
He returned the salute. "At ease, Major Carter. Please excuse the delay; our meeting ran a bit longer than expected; you know how it goes."
"I am familiar with meetings, sir." Sam smiled politely and added 'such as this one' in her head.
"Good, good. Now, we've called you because we've made a few more changes to the next block of the Constitution II-class, and we need you to figure out how to upgrade the existing ships." He pushed a button, and a holographic display appeared over the table showing the blueprints of the frigate.
"Yes, sir." Sam managed not to scowl. More changes?
She looked at the display, quickly going over the highlighted changes. "Expanded magazines?"
"The recent deployments have shown that a frigate needs to be able to operate independently for longer than we have previously anticipated."
There had been talk about long-range exploration and recon ships, to expand and complement the Spy bot network and conduct exploration, but the Alliance had not yet decided whether it was worth the effort. "The Constitution II-class frigates were designed as ships of the line, sir," she told him. Badly designed, and arguably useless at that role, but those had been the design parameters. "They're meant to operate in task forces supplied by a fleet train."
"Yes, but as hybrid ships that offer both carrier and gunship capability, they are perfect for long-range missions where sending an entire task force would not be economical. With just a few changes, we can extend their operational range for that."
A few changes that would see crew compartments reduced to a point, even submarine crews would consider the ship too cramped. And this was supposed to be a long-range exploration vessel? Not that the extended magazines would actually add enough supplies to handle such missions. And the whole plan ignored that the entire class was still not rated for interstellar deployment outside an emergency!
Sam wanted to scream. This would have never happened if the Air Force had taken the lead for the US space forces!
*****
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, July 21st, 2000
"Well, as you are already aware, the actions of a tiny minority do not reflect the attitude of the vast majority of the American people."
Catra cocked her head and raised her eyebrows at Daniel's comment, then pointedly looked at the TV in the background showing burning cars in a parking lot in the desert.
He cleared his throat and pushed his glasses up with a finger. "I know how it looks, with every media covering the riots, and how several seem to carefully select the, ah, most sensational statements, but if you look at the actual data, the vast majority of Americans condemn the attack on your church. Religious freedom is one of the basic rights in the country."
"They claim that we violate their religious freedom," Adora said.
"Which is obviously false," Daniel said. "The law is clear about that."
Catra scoffed. "The law might be clear, but the media aren't." She knew the difference between how they covered the actions of the Goa'uld and those of those fanatics who had tried to storm the church.
"The media do seem to show a lot more understanding for the motives behind this attack than one would expect if this were a tiny extremist minority," Priest added.
"It's an election year, and the religious conservatives are an important voting block," Daniel said. "But all the important churches have condemned the attack as well."
"They also condemned Her Divine Highness's intervention to save her church," Priest said. "Even though no one died or was seriously hurt. By any measure, making the ground shake so people fall down is a rather restrained reaction to an attack on the faithful for a divine intervention. Their holy books have much more brutal examples for much less serious offences."
Catra snorted. "They hate that Adora showed up their own god."
"I didn't show up anyone!" Adora protested. "I just stopped the attack before they could hurt anyone. Anyone in my position would have done that!"
Catra wasn't so certain. Sure, the police had arrested all the rioters, but they had been noticeably slow to arrive.
"Indeed, Your Divine Highness." Priest beamed at Adora. "It is not your fault that the absence of such interventions by other gods might cause some of their faithful to develop doubts about them."
On the other hand, Catra also had some doubts that Priest was as surprised about the attack as he had claimed. Sure, the protesters had been gathering for days without attacking anyone, but it was pretty convenient that the day they actually attacked was the day Adora was visiting. You'd have to be a complete idiot to try anything with her present. Of course, those people were complete idiots…
"That is an important point, actually," Daniel said. "While the Church of She-Ra is amongst the smallest religious organisations in the United States, it is growing much faster than any other church. This has been a source of concern for some congregations."
Catra snorted again. "As I said, they fear the competition."
"It's not a competition!" Adora objected.
"Indeed, Your Divine Highness!" Priest nodded slowly. "Faith is a personal choice for every individual, not a competition, much less a business. Everyone has to decide for themselves what faith suits them. Anything else would violate their religious freedom. That some religious leaders seem to have a problem with that should raise concerns about them and their faith."
"Of course," Daniel agreed. "I'm just pointing out why some religious leaders have concerns."
"Well, they should take their concerns up with their gods," Priest replied. "If they were more present in their followers' lives, I am sure they wouldn't have a reason to be concerned about Her Divine Highness's flock of faithful."
"I think if their god were present in their lives, they would have a lot more and more serious problems than the competition from Adora," Catra said with a smirk.
"Well, religious practices and doctrines are a delicate subject," Daniel said. "Opinions about which rules of a religion should be followed, and how, vary a lot within most faiths."
Priest shrugged. "That is between the faithful and their gods. If a god decides to remain silent about such disagreements, then they obviously don't care enough about the matter to intervene."
Adora frowned at him for that. "Or they might not be listening."
Priest nodded as if he had not noticed the implied criticism. "That is possible, though I think the deities being worshipped on Earth would be able to make themselves heard by their faithful. The stories about them certainly imply such."
"If they exist in the first place," Sha're said. "It's hard to believe a real god would have tolerated the Goa'uld usurping their name and faith."
Priest tilted his head slightly. "That so many people do not doubt their religion despite the lack of a divine presence in their lives is a testament to the power of their faith."
Despite the honest tone of his statement, Catra was sure that Priest didn't intend it to be a compliment. And she didn't think anyone else thought so.
*****
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, July 22nd, 2000
"The Etherians have refused to share the factory ships, General." The Secretary of Defense was back, and he wasn't happy. Both about that fact and about Jack O'Neill.
Jack wasn't happy either. He wasn't a politician. "I mentioned the 'optics', but the Command Council decided that military reasons took priority."
"You mean the Supreme Commander decided to keep the shipyards for her personal cult, General!"
Jack really shouldn't have come to Brussels today. Or shouldn't have decloaked his stealth shuttle. "I think it's a bit problematic to call an established religion a 'cult', sir."
"It's a cult!" the Secretary snapped. "Or do you think Princess She-Ra is an actual goddess?"
Jack forced himself to smile widely. "I don't judge other religions. You never know which might turn out to be the right one." Alright, that was a bit too snarky, but really - the idiot shouldn't be blaming Jack for his own failures. He was the politician; Jack was just a soldier.
"This is no joking matter, General! We're in the middle of an election, and the polls show that this is a key issue for a significant part of the voters!"
"Are you talking about the failed designs being built in our shipyards or the failed religious oppression?" Jack asked. "Just so there's no misunderstanding."
"There is no religious oppression in the United States!"
"But 'key segments of the voters' seem to think there should be, according to the news," Jack pointed out.
"There are concerns about new religions aggressively recruiting members, especially amongst teenagers who lack enough life experience to make an informed decision. A valid concern, based on past experiences."
"I'd be more concerned about religious fanatics trying to burn down churches." Jack shrugged. "Or our ships being flying coffins." The Secretary of Defense was responsible for that fiasco; it was his job to ensure that such screwups didn't happen, especially not in the middle of a war.
"The problems with the Constitution II-class are vastly overblown. None of the ships have suffered a serious accident."
"None of them have been in a real battle either," Jack pointed out. "But they haven't exactly covered themselves with glory in exercises either."
"Teething problems that will work themselves out. And it ties into the reason I am here, General. I am here because we need those factory ships! Have you seen the latest opinion pieces? They call us weak! Have you seen the cartoons? They show the United States as a little child hiding behind the skirts of the aliens!"
Jack chuckled. Catra had shown him the cartoon, and Adora had complained that she had never worn such a long skirt.
"It's not funny, General. We can't appear weak. What do you think will happen if we lose the election?"
"We get another government?" Jack shrugged again. That was how democracy worked.
"A government made of people who campaigned on the promise to take a tougher stance against aliens! Do you think that pissing off our allies will help win the war?" The Secretary shook his head. "They'll ruin whatever goodwill we've recovered in the time since First Contact. Do you think the other members of NATO have forgotten that we kept the Stargate a secret from them?"
That hadn't been his fault. Jack hadn't made that decision. "Sir, I've passed on your concerns. But the Etherians - and the other members of the Alliance - don't think that we should hand over the factory ships to the United States. The Europeans also mentioned concerns about crippling their shipbuilding industry by relying on alien factories that would outcompete them."
The Secretary sighed. "I've pointed this out as well, but the public doesn't care about long-term economic policies. They want a fleet of spaceships flying the Star-spangled Banner. The fact that the British ships were seen in action, saving a base, has people asking where our ships are."
"Those transports are altered copies of Horde designs. The British-designed corvettes haven't seen action either so far," Jack pointed out. Though they had performed very well in exercises.
"I know. But the public doesn't care! And the other party is making a big deal about this. We need something to show the American people that we're still a key part of the Alliance - that we're not hiding behind anyone! We need a victory from you, General."
Jack had a sinking feeling in his stomach. "I command the Alliance Special Forces - a mixed unit, sir."
"Yes, but you are the face of our special forces. You and the others from SG-1. Everyone knows that you lead from the front, so we need to use that. It works for princesses, after all."
That was… Jack wanted to protest that he wasn't a princess, but that would make him sound like a whiner. And he couldn't actually argue against leading from the front, could he?
*****
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, July 28th, 2000
"...and I can only say it again: America deserves better! We have fought the Goa'uld alone for years! Stargate Command killed Ra, the Goa'uld's supreme leader, without any help from anyone! We struggled and fought and saved the entire Earth! And yet, the current administration has squandered all that. Instead of leading the Alliance with our experience, Stargate Command has been put under the command of the United Nations and turned into a travel agency! Our best soldiers are doing gatekeeper duty! What has gone wrong here?"
"That's a very biased take on our past, Jim. Stargate Command has fought the Goa'uld and eliminated Ra, but there was a lot of luck involved. You can't compare those missions with the war we're waging now. Stargate Command never had any spaceships, much less fleets of them. And I believe that most Americans would agree that fighting aliens without telling anyone, not even our closest allies, was a mistake."
"A mistake the current administration has made, Heith! Another reason why it should be replaced!"
"A mistake from which the current administration has learned. Unlike your party, which seems determined to repeat the same mistake of making unilateral decisions about the war - and ignoring the reality of the situation."
"We're not talking about taking over the Alliance…"
"Yes, you are. Your candidate spoke at length about the need for 'American leadership' in this war!"
"...we are talking about not letting two dozen foreign countries and aliens decide American policies."
"You have been very vague about which policies you want to change, Jim. Would you care to be more specific? Which policies do you feel were forced on the American people? And how was that done? Did someone bypass Congress?"
"That's sophistry! You are well aware that we didn't have any choice but to change our laws - and the constitution! - with a fleet of spaceships flying above our heads! Do you think gunboat diplomacy is acceptable?"
"Are you insinuating that the Alliance fleet would have attacked the United States if we had chosen not to join the Alliance?"
"They certainly intervened in Iran, didn't they?"
"They intervened to stop crimes against humanity - something the United States has done as well, with your support, as I recall."
"You cannot compare the United States to Iran!"
"I didn't have to - you did it! And do I really have to remind you that the Etherians did not force any country to change their policies even when they disagreed with them? The changes to our laws and the amendment to the constitution were the decisions of the American people and their representatives on the federal and state levels. As it should be."
"What would have been the alternative? To be relegated to a third-world country stuck on Earth while everyone else built spaceships to colonise the stars? That was no choice at all! America deserves better!"
Adora shut off the TV. "That's going to be their motto, right? 'America deserves better'?"
"It seems so. It's a catchy slogan," Daniel said. "And it's hard to disagree with the idea that America should improve. It's just that people differ on how exactly America should improve."
That was a bit of an understatement, in Adora's opinion. She wasn't an expert on Earth politics, but some things were very hard to miss. "It seems to me that at least one party feels that in order to improve America, they need to beat others."
"And they don't mean the Goa'uld," Glimmer added. "They mean the rest of the Alliance. And all those complaints about being forced to change their policies? They want to be able to discriminate against people like us again!"
"I don't believe anyone seriously expects to be able to turn back the clock. Changing the constitution is very difficult - by design - and the latest amendment has far too much support from key states to be repelled again," Daniel pointed out.
"But they're playing up the fact that this was a condition to join the Alliance to create and build up fear that the Alliance will force more changes on the United States," Glimmer retorted. "And they are targeting the same people who opposed the changes in the first place because they want their support. That's not a good sign."
"Not at all," Adora agreed. What could you expect from a government that came into power through such means? Nothing good.
"And they can do a lot without changing the constitution," Catra added. "Just picking what laws they enforce will cause changes." It was the same in the Horde - if you didn't crack down on corruption, every quartermaster stole as much as possible from their magazines.
"I think that's a bit too harsh. A new government is still bound by the constitution and the treaties we've made," Daniel said. "The President isn't a monarch. They do not have absolute power - there are checks and balances for a reason." He smiled. "The current administration might be playing up the amount of changes that could be enacted in order to gain concessions from the Alliance."
Adora sighed. "I've noticed that. Now that they couldn't get the factory ships we captured, they want some great victory so they can show the American public that they're strong."
"Well…" Daniel shrugged. "A great victory over the Goa'uld wouldn't be a bad thing, would it?"
He was right, of course, but…
"If you need a victory to keep your position and power, you tend to take risks and gambles that you normally wouldn't," Catra voiced Adora's thoughts. "And that tends to end badly."
Adora nodded. "We won't rush into a battle just to save the American government." They wouldn't sacrifice soldiers for political gains. Not on her watch.
Glimmer nodded. "If they don't want to be voted out they shouldn't have made their country a democracy."
Daniel frowned at her. "On Earth, the less democratic nations are generally far more conservative. All the members of the Alliance are democracies."
"Well, Earth is weird," Glimmer shot back, flushing a little. "That wouldn't happen if you had proper princesses."
Bow cleared his throat. "Etheria has numerous examples of similarly unfit leaders, both in the past and in the present."
That earned him a frown from Glimmer, but he wasn't wrong, in Adora's opinion. Politics were far too often far too frustrating. War was worse, of course, but at least you could hit your enemy on the battlefield. And…
Her tablet beeped. Priority message? She checked it. And then she smiled. "It's from Entrapta and Sam. The bots have found a mind-control network!"
*****
Starfox5
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They consider Clones people as well.
Chapter 179: The Election Campaign Part 1
New
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Chapter 179: The Election Campaign Part 1
Deep Space, Ba'al's Realm, July 31st, 2000 (Earth Time)
"We should have worked on improving the stealth generator design so it can hide a frigate," Samantha Carter said as she stared at the screen displaying the data from the spy bot network in the area. It could barely be called a network, actually - it was more like a thin cloud of bots spread out to cover as much space as possible and check for mind-control chip signals.
Although she had already changed the deployment order for the spy bots to create a real network - if they wanted to operate in the area, they would need as close a coverage of the space as possible. Unfortunately, with the way the bots were spreading out, even with priorities altered, it would take some time for the next wave of spy bots to fill in the gaps - the spy bots could only move so fast and so far in the time allotted, and too many were already set to push the general search pattern forward.
"Why?" Entrapta asked from Sam's side. "I mean, it would have a huge advantage in combat, although the Goa'uld will realise how good our stealth technology is if we start fielding it openly in battles, but it would require a lot of effort to manage that, and the costs involved would mean we couldn't really build that many frigates."
"It would be safer for recon missions than a stealth shuttle," Sam said.
"If we can scale up the generator to cover a frigate, we would likely also be able to improve the field, so a shuttle would still be better hidden," Entrapta pointed out.
"That's likely but not certain," Sam said. "But we have a better chance to escape an enemy if we use a frigate since the shields would be much stronger, and it would also be faster."
"But we would be easier to detect and to hit." Entrapta shrugged. "But we can work on it and see if we can find a solution to the threshold problem."
"Yes." Although that would likely require an entirely new approach - the current technology's drain on power grew exponentially the more space it needed to cover and the more emissions it had to hide. They could likely cover a frigate, but it would end up having to fly at a snail's pace and have almost no power left for propulsion, shields and weapons - although the weapons could be compensated for by using missiles, those didn't require a lot of power to launch. It would have to operate like a submarine, though, relying on ambushes and then stealth to get away - and that would likely be easier to achieve by using stealth shuttles to deliver missiles or bombs, operating from a carrier…
She snorted softly at herself getting lost on a tangent. Her good humour vanished, though, when she realised that the US Navy would likely jump on either design and treat them as space versions of submarines and carriers. And they had already proven that they couldn't be trusted with adapting warships to space.
"Alright! I've filtered more data in our analysis!" Entrapta's cheerful voice interrupted Sam's thoughts. "We should now be able to pinpoint the sources of the chip signals."
That would be a breakthrough - and the reason they were out here, in a stealth shuttle, a bit too far from the Alliance task force covering the area for Sam's taste. "Let me check," Sam said, already switching the feeds on her screen.
Yes, the signals had been filtered - and with the adjusted and increased coverage of the area, at the expense of other parts of this sector, they now had identified multiple individual chips. "They're using the same base codes," Sam said.
"Yes! But they also use a floating control node," Entrapta said. "So, we can't hack it before we isolate that node."
And that would alert the Goa'uld forces that someone was attacking them. "We can scout the area and gather information without hacking the network," Sam said. "But we'll need more spy bots for that before we send in stealth shuttles." They needed to know how extensive - and how powerful - the enemy sensor coverage was before risking people.
"Yes!" Entrapta nodded. "We can close the gaps and check the entire area around the signals."
Unlike Point Velvet, this site was set in a star system. That lowered the chances that this was the chip production site they were seeking since systems tended to draw more attention and visitors than empty spots in deep space. On the other hand, trying to second-guess the enemy without sufficient information was a fool's errand, so Sam didn't say that out loud.
Instead, she sifted through the growing amounts of data that they received from the spy bots. They couldn't hack the chips, and the ever-changing patterns from the floating control node also made breaking the encryption even harder than it already was, but they could analyse the traffic - and soon, they would be able to compare it to regular data from other sources in the area.
Whatever Ba'al's forces were up to here, the Alliance would soon know.
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, July 31st, 2000
"...and we have gathered here not just to choose the next President of the United States, but to choose the path for America and the world! The current administration has shown what future they want for our beloved country: A future where we will be beholden, dependent on others - other countries, aliens. Following their rules, their customs, even their gods! A future where America is weak! Too weak to protect itself. Too weak to stand for ourselves. Too weak to chart our own course. Is this the future you want?"
Catra rolled her eyes, her ears twitching at the TV's speaker as the assembled crowd visible on the screen loudly yelled: "No!"
"No, we don't want that future! America deserves better! We want a future where America is strong! Strong enough not to need anyone's help! Strong enough to protect our people and our culture! Strong enough to lead the rest of the world as we did before - to once again be the shining city on the hill everyone else aspires to!"
"America deserves better!"
"They say the world changed, and we need to adapt! We say: We need to take a stand and tell the world that we won't bend! America deserves better!"
"America deserves better!"
"Turn it off, Catra! We have an important meeting!" Glimmer complained.
Catra scoffed. "It's not starting yet."
"I don't want to see this."
"Tough. We need to keep an eye on this." If the people gathered at this 'National Convention' managed to win the next election, things would get difficult in the Alliance. The United States weren't the most agreeable member of the alliance to begin with, but at least the current president realised that they couldn't just act as if they were the most powerful member of the Alliance. Those people on the screen yelling about deserving better? Catra wasn't sure she had been more out of touch with reality in her worst moment in the Horde.
"Why? Mr Brown and Julie have already explained that we can't really do anything without starting complaints about election interference and making things worse since that would push more people to support those idiots." Glimmer frowned.
"It's still better to know what's coming instead of remaining ignorant," Catra said. "We need to be ready to adapt."
"We are. If the Americans choose to be stupid, we'll rely on the rest of NATO." Glimmer shrugged again. "It'll make things a bit more difficult, but they have more ground forces than the United States, and Earth still hasn't much of a fleet."
Catra knew that. Though she also knew that that would change. "Worst case, the Americans leave the Alliance and build up their forces while we fight the war."
"They won't do that," Glimmer said. She nodded at the screen. "Those people are too hyped up about fighting the Goa'uld. They probably charge straight at the next System Lord with their deathtraps."
"Yeah," Catra agreed. "That's why I said worst case. If they were smart, they'd let us bleed while they build up their forces, and then take over when we're all weak. They already did that after their last World War." Which was probably why some of the other Alliance members from Earth seemed to hope the Americans would change governments. Earth people kept their grudges forever. If the Horde had tried to conquer Earth, Catra would be in prison for life - if she was lucky.
And maybe I would deserve it.
She pushed the thought away. "So, Adora's still stuck in the procurement meeting." Which was also known as the pork piggy bank session, according to Jack, but she knew better than to trust him even though the few times she had taken part in it, it had been exactly that.
"Yes." Glimmer frowned, staring at her tablet. "Entrapta and Sam are still gathering data from the spy bots."
Catra knew that. They didn't have the intel they needed to plan the next operation yet. "And we're going to discuss how to bring journalists along on a mission without getting them killed or leaking classified information so the United States government can show their voters that they are an important member of the Alliance."
"Things would be so much easier if they had a proper princess," Glimmer muttered.
Catra wasn't quite sure - an American princess would probably be as difficult to work with as Princess Sweet Bee. At least if you looked at their news.
"...and we should… what's that?"
"Oh my God!"
"Security!"
Catra whipped her head around and stared at the screen. The speaker had collapsed on the podium and was… vomiting blood? Yes, blood was coming out of his mouth, nose, ears and eyes. And he was thrashing around as if he were being tased. But there was no attacker visible.
Magic. Had to be magic. Probably one of those Earth magic curses.
Shit.
Alliance Base Lübtheen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, August 1st, 2000
"...and while the investigation has just started - the FBI's specialists have taken over only hours before - the party's leadership has already released a statement blaming 'witches' and 'eco terrorists' for the magical attack on Mr James Delan in the middle of his speech at the first day of the National Convention, and…"
"...Mr Delan remains in critical condition at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. His family refused magical healing from Princess She-Ra on the grounds of not wishing to endanger his immortal soul and asked people to pray for him, but…"
Jack O'Neill scoffed. "Fat load of good prayers will do for him." If that worked, Jack would have a few more friends left. "Wanna bet that his family's already dividing up his estate?" he asked, turning to the two people in his office.
"No bet," Special Agent Wilkinson (on detached duty) said. "In any murder, you look first to the relatives of the victim."
"It's not yet a murder, Wilkinson," Special Agent Paris said. She shook her head. "We can't tell yet if he will succumb to whatever curse has been placed on him or not."
"Are we even sure that it is a curse?" Jack said.
Paris nodded. "I've checked with a colleague - they've identified magic influence. The current theory is sympathetic magic."
"Doesn't look very sympathetic to me," Wilkinson commented.
"It means magic cast on the target using a sympathetic link," Paris explained. After a moment, she added: "Voodoo."
Ah! Jack nodded. "So, did they already check his hairdresser?" he joked.
"Matter of fact, yes," Paris, serious as ever, replied.
"Well, will the FBI ask for you back?" Jack asked. "Looks like they'll need all the sorceresses they can get for this case."
"Thaumaturgists, General." Paris pressed her lips together for a moment. "I was told I shouldn't expect such a request. Officially since I am needed in the war. Unofficially, the bureau doesn't want to deal with accusations of biased investigators."
Wilkinson snorted. "Good luck with that. Did you hear the statements? I'll bet they'll call to replace all Thaumaturgists with witch hunters next."
Jack chuckled even though he was pretty sure that this would actually happen.
Paris, though, looked even more pissed-off. "You cannot solve such a case without magic."
"Maybe they'll find a priest who has a talent for magic but thinks it comes from God?" Wilkinson shrugged. "Could be a profitable niche. Exorcist, witch hunter… I bet a lot of states would hire them."
And Jack lost all humor at that thought. The absolute last thing America needed was another Salem. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. We really don't need an intervention by the Alliance on US soil."
That seemed to shock both (nominal) special agents. "Would the Alliance really intervene in the US?" Wilkinson asked. "Of course, they would," he answered his own question a moment later. "Shit."
"Yeah." Jack nodded. "That's one of the lines the Etherians won't let anyone cross." It was one thing for a mob to gather in a country in the Middle East and murder a few poor victims, it was another for a state to not only condone that but officially engage in such witch hunts. Even the Saudis had stopped that stuff by now - no one wanted another intervention like in Iran.
"If the number of criminal magic users grows, and I believe it will, more police forces with magical talents will be needed," Paris said. "I don't think the Alliance will oppose that. None of the Etherian mages have ever had a problem with me."
"It's the witch hunter part," Jack explained. "That has certain implications that trigger our friends. Especially after those fanatics tried to burn down that church of She-Ra in Nevada."
"They'll think we're no better than Iran. Shit," Wilkinson cursed again.
Jack looked at the TV again.
"...and this wouldn't have happened if we hadn't lost our way. America deserves better! It's one Nation under God - or it should be! Not one nation under alien heathens and their witch friends! It's only by the grace of God my dear friend and colleague is still alive, and it's with God's help that we will save our nation's soul!"
"Well, it is kinda hard to see the difference right now," Jack said.
"If they don't put a lid on that, we'll have witch hunts in America," Wilkinson said.
"We already had several murders where the culprits thought the victim was a witch," Paris pointed out.
"Murders, yes. But if things get worse, we'll see lynchings," Wilkinson said.
And if they went after followers of the Church of She-Ra… Jack winced. Priest might hold back from intervening, the Clone seemed to prefer a soft approach, but if the police in certain states followed their old playbooks and politicians encouraged them to look away if a mob gathered, that would change.
He looked at the TV again.
"...and following this heinous attack on a good, god-fearing man, father and husband, it's clear that we need to regulate and control magic. We cannot let terrorists and witches attack innocent people with curses - the government needs to stop this! Once we retake our nation's helm, we will implement strict measures to ensure that magic will be brought under control and our people will be safe! Magic is too dangerous to let just anyone practice it!"
"I wonder if he'd say the same about gun control," Paris said.
Jack tensed at the familiar pain and guilt that brought up. If he hadn't kept a loaded gun at home… He forced the thought away. He had a lot of problems to focus on and couldn't dwell on that. Not if he wanted to prevent more tragedies.
Even though he doubted he could do much about that.
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, August 2nd, 2000
Adora knew she couldn't go to the national convention. She was needed here in the Alliance Headquarters to prepare the next operation - as soon as Entrapta and Sam finished their recon of whatever Ba'al was hiding in that system and they had enough intel to properly plan the mission. They were already moving a task force into position, but without definite intel, they had to prepare for the reinforcements as well, and even with fleet trains, supply lines had to be prepared, just in case they had to occupy the system on a permanent basis. Ground forces, especially Earth forces, also had a much larger logistical footprint than Clones who were primarily spaceship crew and used bots for far more roles.
And she also knew that if she went to Philadelphia, it wouldn't help anyone. The family of the victim had refused her help already, and all the speakers were blaming the attack on her for releasing Earth's magic in the first place. Some even went further and implied that she had ordered the attack. With the number of worked-up people attending the convention, she'd cause another riot if she went there.
But she wanted to go anyway. Being unable to do anything while everything went wrong was torture! She could heal a dying man, show that magic wasn't the problem, show those people that she wasn't their enemy, if they would only let them!
But they wouldn't. As Glimmer had said, they were 'milking this' for all that it was worth. If she turned the TV on, she would see snippet after snippet of people blaming magic, Etheria and herself for everything that went wrong in their lives. And, as Catra had said, probably for stuff that they only imagined going wrong.
She shook her head and focused on the holoprojection in front of her. The latest troop movements on the Goa'uld front - well, the intel from the realms of Apophis, Sokar and Heru'ur, in this case. They were still in a three-way conflict, but it had slowed down compared to last year. Apophis was trying to consolidate and rebuild his forces and was mostly sticking to counter-attacks - according to the Tok'ra, he was concerned with showing weakness or he'd limit his operations even more. Heru'ur had been distracted from attacking Apophis on a broad front by Sokar's flanking attack and had moved the bulk of his forces to face them. And Sokar was both maintaining a credible defence against Apophis to deter serious attacks and trying to overwhelm Heru'ur's forces with numerical superiority, but - so the intel claimed - was finding out that terrorising your own troops into loyalty unto death wasn't as effective as inspiring your forces by fighting at their side on the frontlines and sharing the danger. Heru'ur's Jaffa genuinely loved their master, and even the Tok'ra agreed that the sentiment was returned by the System Lord. They were holding back Sokar's forces but were not yet able to go on the offensive.
Still, as stable as it seemed for now, sooner or later, Apophis would try to take back what he had lost to the Alliance, and then things would get even more complicated. They had to defeat Ba'al as soon as possible, not just to end the threat his advanced technology and machinations posed, but also to free up more troops.
And for that, they needed more intel. She changed the projection to show the suspected space of Ba'al's realm, with the spreading spy bot network overlaid. Their coverage was growing, but it wasn't as dense as it should be for dependable surveillance. The holes in coverage were just too great, and the increased focus on the latest target area meant the holes would stay - even the rate at which the spy bots were spreading had gone down with more diverted to the system Entrapta and Sam were investigating. They needed that - if they wanted to operate a task force there, they had to have the best advance warning possible in case there were reinforcements coming - but Adora didn't like it anyway. Those gaps in the network worried her. Ba'al was a cunning enemy, and he had surprised the Alliance too often already.
"Brooding over the spy bot network?" Catra asked from where she was going over logistics reports. Adora frowned at her - she wasn't brooding! - and her love snorted. "Ba'al isn't aware of our bots. He'd need a lot of luck to send a fleet through the gaps of our network without being detected."
"We think he doesn't know about our network," Adora corrected her.
"Even if he were aware of them, he'd still need a way to detect them."
"He could be hacking them - and taking over our own network to use against us."
Catra shrugged. "He'd have to beat Entrapta and Sam for that. I know on whom I'd bet. If Ba'al were a better hacker, his chips and his command networks would be much better."
That was correct - and Adora had told herself that before - but she couldn't help worrying. It was her duty to worry about things like that, after all, as Supreme Commander of the Alliance. She was supposed to think of potential threats before they manifested. Or, at least, have people anticipate and prepare for such threats.
She glanced at the holoprojection again. If they placed recon units in the worst gaps, they would have additional coverage - and have units ready to reinforce the task force for the next operation, if they were needed. Or to penetrate deeper into Ba'al's realm. That would reduce the operational reserve in the theatre, but… Adora nodded. The reserve wouldn't be as useful as it should be if they were too late to react because they missed an attack.
She started writing the orders.
Deep Space, Ba'al's Realm, August 2nd, 2000 (Earth Time)
The data analysis was done, and Samantha Carter was looking at the results. "This isn't an isolated system containing his chip factory. This system has more forces than Point Velvet had."
Even adjusting for the discrepancy in power between a Ha'tak and a Horde frigate, the system had double the protection of the other site. The relative power was even greater if those Ha'taks had been upgraded with Horde technology - and Sam was sure they had been; she merely didn't know how many ships and, more importantly, by how much. The upgraded Ha'taks they had encountered so far had been outfitted with beam cannons but otherwise been kept to Goa'uld standards. If those ships had Horde-level shield generators and engines, they would be the equal of a Horde frigate - not quite as fast and agile, but better protected. Alliance tactics would have to be adjusted to fight them.
"Yes! And they patrol the outskirts much more heavily than expected, too!" Entrapta agreed. "The number of Death Gliders is huge - if those are all stationed on Ha'taks, that would mean our preliminary estimate has to be adjusted again. But I don't think they would operate so many fighters without a matching increase in communication traffic."
That would mean the majority of the Death Gliders were stationed on one of the worlds - or one of their moons. "That would have to be the main world, then," Sam said. "None of the other worlds have enough communication traffic to handle so many Death Gliders."
"And it's the only world where you don't need protective gear to operate outside sealed environments," Entrapta added.
"On the other hand, those ships here show significantly increased communication traffic compared to the other ships." Sam pointed at the data detailing the intercepted traffic.
"Those are too numerous for communication hubs," Entrapta said. "They don't need that many for that number of ships. Did Ba'al change his policy of keeping his forces divided and has switched to centralised detailed controls?"
That was a possibility, but Sam didn't think so - none of the intel from other areas within Ba'al's suspected realm showed a matching increase in communications. And the communication traffic seemed more… contained might not be the correct term. It was… What was that? She quickly ran a few comparisons and a detailed, if limited analysis. Yes. "I think they are coordinating the Death Gliders," she said. "There are pattern shifts that line up with communication traffic."
"Oh, yes!" Entrapta nodded, her hair weaving and bopping. "That does match. So, are those ships carriers? Ha'taks can't carry as many Death Gliders as the signals indicate they control. Or did they subordinate the fighters to those ships?"
That seemed contrary to the general dogma of Ba'al's forces, which was based on compartmentalisation. "Until we can identify the different ships, we can't tell." The spy bots were keeping their distance so far; they didn't know how good the sensors were in those ships. And the Alliance wanted to wait until they had a task force able to take on their worst estimates before finding out, to give the enemy no warning before an attack.
Sam didn't fully agree with that plan; they would have to rely on estimates based on potentially insufficient data to judge the necessary size of the task force. If they were too wrong, they would have to abort the entire operation and leave Ba'al aware that they had discovered what Sam was increasingly confident was the heart of his realm.
But the orders were clear, and Sam didn't think even the General would exceed or ignore them at this point, were he in her place. They didn't have enough data and intel for such a decision. They hadn't observed the system long enough for solid deductions in key areas, either. They were reasonably certain that the system contained repair facilities based on the signals from ships that appeared for the first time without matching hyperspace windows, but they couldn't determine if those were repaired ships or freshly built - and they hadn't been able to observe the system long enough to tell any production rates for the latter.
"Hm. That is odd."
"What is odd?" Sam looked at her friend.
"Check the differences in their patrol patterns on the micro-level," Entrapta said.
Sam frowned and did so. Her friend was correct - she could see a noticeable difference in the performance curves of the Death Gliders. The vast majority of the fighters all performed very similarly in all parameters - holding formation, matching speed, course changes - while about a tenth of them diverged more or less significantly, although all were within the margins expected of competent Jaffa pilots.
Her eyes widened. No, the vast majority of the Death Gliders were performing manoeuvres with almost perfect precision. Quite superior to the average Jaffa pilot based on past observations. Either Ba'al had an elite training academy for pilots here - no, even such academies wouldn't produce such a homogenous corps of pilots. "There are only two possible explanations for this," she said.
"Bots or mind-copied clones." Entrapta nodded.
Sam wasn't sure what would be worse for the Alliance.
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, August 3rd, 2000
"...and while the police have yet to release a statement, anonymous sources claim that there has been an arrest in the investigation of the magical attack on James Delan at the national convention in Philadelphia that has shocked the nation. People have gathered outside the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital to show their support for the politician who is still in critical condition, with Minister Smith from Mr Delan's church leading them in prayer. Meanwhile, the demands for strict regulation of magic are growing despite several voices decrying this as hasty. Mr Delan's family hasn't declined to comment on the issue."
Catra frowned, muted the TV and turned to Jack. "Do we know who they arrested?"
"I'm Air Force, not police," he replied.
Catra raised her eyebrows.
He snorted. "The FBI is playing this very close to their chest. Neither Wilkinson nor Paris have found out anything."
"Ah. Too bad." Catra shook her head. The whole affair was extremely annoying. Delan wasn't the first victim of Earth magic, not by far, but he was the first to have been attacked on live TV in the USA - and the first American politician to be attacked like this. Of course, that would spook all his colleagues. "We'll have to consider the effect on our recruitment of sorceresses," she said.
"If they crack down on magic, many American sorceresses might join the Alliance - or ask for asylum in Etheria," Glimmer said. "We already had several such requests from other countries where sorceresses are persecuted."
"Americans fleeing to other countries?" Jack muttered a curse under his breath. "It feels like Vietnam all over again."
"Well, many Americans, especially in subcultures or members of minorities, know what 'strictly regulating magic' means," Daniel said. "Especially if it's coming from the same people who opposed the civil rights movement. You can't blame them for not wanting to end up burned at the stake by a lynch mob or 'shot while resisting arrest'."
"Joy. We might lose the 101st from our forces because they need to revisit Arkansas," Jack muttered.
"What do you mean?" Glimmer asked.
"In 1957, the 101st division was ordered to move to Little Rock in Arkansas to protect the first nine students of colour attending the formerly all-white high school there," Daniel explained.
"You had to use the army to protect students?" Adora sounded shocked.
"It was almost fifty years ago," Jack replied. "But yes."
"Living memory, Jack," Daniel said. "And history might repeat itself."
"Unless, of course, those bigots win the election," Catra commented.
"We should release a statement," Adora said.
"That would be seen as foreign interference," Daniel said. "It might have the opposite effect and push more people to support such policies out of spite."
"Idiots," Catra muttered - but she could understand that kind of thinking. She'd been such an idiot herself, if not a bigot.
"Then we should step up the PR efforts of the Alliance," Glimmer said. "Emphasise that magic is not evil but can help a lot of people."
"I could heal people," Adora said.
Catra rolled her eyes. "Then they will expect you to do that all the time and grow angry if you don't spend all your time healing people. We already settled that." She glared at her lover - she wouldn't let Adora do that to herself.
"Yes. Besides, we should show what good things Earth sorceresses do," Glimmer said. "This is about Earth's magical traditions, not Etheria's."
"I don't think the zealots blaming magic are making that distinction," Jack snorted. "Some are blaming Dungeons and Dragons for this."
"Seriously?" Catra leaned forward. That was the miniature game Bow had mentioned before. "They think that game can teach you magic?"
Daniel nodded. "Yes."
Catra shook her head. "Anyway, so you want to send our few Earth sorceresses on a PR tour?"
"No." Glimmer shook her head. "But since we are about to let journalists tag along with our soldiers thanks to the demands from the American government, we can let them see Earth sorceresses fight the Goa'uld."
Catra wasn't sure if seeing sorceresses using magic against their enemies would help a lot. But it was probably better than nothing.
"And we need to ensure that our sorceresses don't get poached," Jack said.
"Poached?" Adora asked.
"A lot of rich and powerful people just saw one of their own get cursed on TV. They'll want to hire sorceresses as bodyguards," Jack said.
Right. Catra could see that. "And some of them will be the same people who want to crack down on magic, I guess."
"Exactly," Jack said with a wry grin.
"Hypocrites." Catra was about to add something else when she caught the banner scrolling over the TV screen at the wall. Breaking news? She unmuted the TV.
"...and according to the FBI, the suspect, a family member of the victim, has confessed to cursing Mr Delan with magic but claims that she was sexually abused by him since her childhood. The FBI has stated that they are investigating the accusations based on material found in Mr Delan's home. His family has refused to comment."
"Shit."
Catra nodded. That was… well, if it was true it would change things.
Child abuse? Jack O'Neill clenched his teeth. That put a different spin on things.
"Isn't it unusual for the FBI to release such information at such an early stage of the investigation?" Daniel asked.
"Either they release it or it gets leaked," Jack said. "That way, they might have a bit more control over what is released." Might. The way the media was focusing on this story, the way it was plastered all over the country - and the world - there would be countless reporters and journalists trying to dig up anything even tangentially related to the case. And, of course, spooks, both foreign and domestic.
Hell! Jack tensed at the thought - what if that was NID's doing? Kinsey and his pals would not blink at manufacturing and planting evidence of child abuse to deal with a 'problem'; he was pretty sure not all of the conservative politicians and church leaders who had been exposed and arrested in the lead-up to the constitutional amendment had been as guilty of the various crimes as the evidence found might have proven.
On the other hand, thanks to his past, Jack knew better than most that a cover-up on that scale, faced with a priority investigation by the FBI and the eyes of the entire country on them, needed more preparation time than a few days to hold up under that kind of scrutiny. And the FBI wouldn't risk revealing such information if they weren't dead sure that the evidence was legit - they knew how the game was played as well.
No, the whole thing was probably legit. Damn. What a mess.
"Well, that should discredit the whole thing," Glimmer said. "It's now self-defence." She sounded a bit too smug for Jack's taste.
"I doubt that cursing someone from afar would actually qualify as self-defence," Daniel said. "You would need an imminent threat to life and limb for that. It would have been expected of you to call the police instead."
Jack had mixed feelings about that. Delan came from a rural district. The local police were quite a bit 'understanding' when it came to bigwigs like him in such areas. Especially if it involved accusations of rape. And from Delan's own family? "That might not have worked out too well, Daniel," he said.
"I am aware of that, Jack." Daniel grimaced. "And I don't approve, of course, of the attitude. But my point about this not counting as self-defence still stands. I'm afraid, but while this will put off some of the people who were calling for strict regulation of magic, more will still press on."
Some of them might be even more motivated now, Jack thought, because they're afraid their own victims might use magic to strike back.
"That's stupid!" Glimmer blurted out.
"I don't disagree about that either," Daniel said with a rueful smile. "But a significant part of the American people oppose magic on religious grounds. They will support any attempt to control magic."
Catra scoffed. "And a huge part of them also hate people like us."
Jack wasn't about to disagree with her - he had seen the clips from the convention himself. Sure, the politicians were too smart to say it out loud and limited themselves to veiled references about concerns, especially for children - and wasn't that painfully ironic right now? - but their base had less self-control.
"Well, yes." Daniel nodded. "They were used to being the most powerful country on Earth. Losing that position shook them up."
"Those people oppose change," Sha're said with a scowl. "Especially if it means granting others more rights or power. In that, they are very much like the Goa'uld."
Daniel would call that an 'inflammatory statement'. Jack would call it fighting words. But they were true nonetheless. He had met enough of his so-called peers in the officer corps to know that. It was one of the reasons Stargate Command had had to screen their recruits so thoroughly; you really didn't want such people to step through a gate and meet alien cultures. Earth had enough enemies already.
"Well, at least this will be a setback for the opposition party." Adora smiled, though it looked a bit forced. "That should take some pressure off the American government."
"Hopefully, they will stop their demands as well," Glimmer muttered.
Jack shook his head. "I doubt that. They don't want to sling mud at the opposing party. That never ends well. They want good news that they can tout as their work."
"They have factories producing advanced technology opening up at a steady pace," Daniel said. "Some analysts have said that this might reverse the trend to de-industrialise America. And the war is going well."
That was true - though Jack was a bit sceptical about the latter; money talked as always - but it wouldn't be enough. More factories were old news. And the people needed more and bigger victories. "Well, let's work on delivering the next victory, then," he said. "Carter and Entrapta's latest intel looks quite promising." And also dangerous. He didn't like the thought of having them venture so close to so many enemy forces. Especially with him on Earth, unable to do anything should something go wrong.
"Yes, we should…" Adora started to say.
"Shh! Look at that!" Catra interrupted her, pointing at the screen and reaching for the remote.
"...and in a sudden, almost stunning twist, Minister Smith, the leader of the church Mr Delan and his family attend, has been arrested as well. While the police have not released any information about the charges levelled against him, rumours claim that he was involved in the sexual abuse allegedly committed by Mr Delan. Stay tuned for more information as the situation unfolds!"
Well, Jack couldn't claim he was surprised by this.
I can't wait to get back to the front.
Deep Space, Ba'al's Realm, July 31st, 2000 (Earth Time)
"We should have worked on improving the stealth generator design so it can hide a frigate," Samantha Carter said as she stared at the screen displaying the data from the spy bot network in the area. It could barely be called a network, actually - it was more like a thin cloud of bots spread out to cover as much space as possible and check for mind-control chip signals.
Although she had already changed the deployment order for the spy bots to create a real network - if they wanted to operate in the area, they would need as close a coverage of the space as possible. Unfortunately, with the way the bots were spreading out, even with priorities altered, it would take some time for the next wave of spy bots to fill in the gaps - the spy bots could only move so fast and so far in the time allotted, and too many were already set to push the general search pattern forward.
"Why?" Entrapta asked from Sam's side. "I mean, it would have a huge advantage in combat, although the Goa'uld will realise how good our stealth technology is if we start fielding it openly in battles, but it would require a lot of effort to manage that, and the costs involved would mean we couldn't really build that many frigates."
"It would be safer for recon missions than a stealth shuttle," Sam said.
"If we can scale up the generator to cover a frigate, we would likely also be able to improve the field, so a shuttle would still be better hidden," Entrapta pointed out.
"That's likely but not certain," Sam said. "But we have a better chance to escape an enemy if we use a frigate since the shields would be much stronger, and it would also be faster."
"But we would be easier to detect and to hit." Entrapta shrugged. "But we can work on it and see if we can find a solution to the threshold problem."
"Yes." Although that would likely require an entirely new approach - the current technology's drain on power grew exponentially the more space it needed to cover and the more emissions it had to hide. They could likely cover a frigate, but it would end up having to fly at a snail's pace and have almost no power left for propulsion, shields and weapons - although the weapons could be compensated for by using missiles, those didn't require a lot of power to launch. It would have to operate like a submarine, though, relying on ambushes and then stealth to get away - and that would likely be easier to achieve by using stealth shuttles to deliver missiles or bombs, operating from a carrier…
She snorted softly at herself getting lost on a tangent. Her good humour vanished, though, when she realised that the US Navy would likely jump on either design and treat them as space versions of submarines and carriers. And they had already proven that they couldn't be trusted with adapting warships to space.
"Alright! I've filtered more data in our analysis!" Entrapta's cheerful voice interrupted Sam's thoughts. "We should now be able to pinpoint the sources of the chip signals."
That would be a breakthrough - and the reason they were out here, in a stealth shuttle, a bit too far from the Alliance task force covering the area for Sam's taste. "Let me check," Sam said, already switching the feeds on her screen.
Yes, the signals had been filtered - and with the adjusted and increased coverage of the area, at the expense of other parts of this sector, they now had identified multiple individual chips. "They're using the same base codes," Sam said.
"Yes! But they also use a floating control node," Entrapta said. "So, we can't hack it before we isolate that node."
And that would alert the Goa'uld forces that someone was attacking them. "We can scout the area and gather information without hacking the network," Sam said. "But we'll need more spy bots for that before we send in stealth shuttles." They needed to know how extensive - and how powerful - the enemy sensor coverage was before risking people.
"Yes!" Entrapta nodded. "We can close the gaps and check the entire area around the signals."
Unlike Point Velvet, this site was set in a star system. That lowered the chances that this was the chip production site they were seeking since systems tended to draw more attention and visitors than empty spots in deep space. On the other hand, trying to second-guess the enemy without sufficient information was a fool's errand, so Sam didn't say that out loud.
Instead, she sifted through the growing amounts of data that they received from the spy bots. They couldn't hack the chips, and the ever-changing patterns from the floating control node also made breaking the encryption even harder than it already was, but they could analyse the traffic - and soon, they would be able to compare it to regular data from other sources in the area.
Whatever Ba'al's forces were up to here, the Alliance would soon know.
*****
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, July 31st, 2000
"...and we have gathered here not just to choose the next President of the United States, but to choose the path for America and the world! The current administration has shown what future they want for our beloved country: A future where we will be beholden, dependent on others - other countries, aliens. Following their rules, their customs, even their gods! A future where America is weak! Too weak to protect itself. Too weak to stand for ourselves. Too weak to chart our own course. Is this the future you want?"
Catra rolled her eyes, her ears twitching at the TV's speaker as the assembled crowd visible on the screen loudly yelled: "No!"
"No, we don't want that future! America deserves better! We want a future where America is strong! Strong enough not to need anyone's help! Strong enough to protect our people and our culture! Strong enough to lead the rest of the world as we did before - to once again be the shining city on the hill everyone else aspires to!"
"America deserves better!"
"They say the world changed, and we need to adapt! We say: We need to take a stand and tell the world that we won't bend! America deserves better!"
"America deserves better!"
"Turn it off, Catra! We have an important meeting!" Glimmer complained.
Catra scoffed. "It's not starting yet."
"I don't want to see this."
"Tough. We need to keep an eye on this." If the people gathered at this 'National Convention' managed to win the next election, things would get difficult in the Alliance. The United States weren't the most agreeable member of the alliance to begin with, but at least the current president realised that they couldn't just act as if they were the most powerful member of the Alliance. Those people on the screen yelling about deserving better? Catra wasn't sure she had been more out of touch with reality in her worst moment in the Horde.
"Why? Mr Brown and Julie have already explained that we can't really do anything without starting complaints about election interference and making things worse since that would push more people to support those idiots." Glimmer frowned.
"It's still better to know what's coming instead of remaining ignorant," Catra said. "We need to be ready to adapt."
"We are. If the Americans choose to be stupid, we'll rely on the rest of NATO." Glimmer shrugged again. "It'll make things a bit more difficult, but they have more ground forces than the United States, and Earth still hasn't much of a fleet."
Catra knew that. Though she also knew that that would change. "Worst case, the Americans leave the Alliance and build up their forces while we fight the war."
"They won't do that," Glimmer said. She nodded at the screen. "Those people are too hyped up about fighting the Goa'uld. They probably charge straight at the next System Lord with their deathtraps."
"Yeah," Catra agreed. "That's why I said worst case. If they were smart, they'd let us bleed while they build up their forces, and then take over when we're all weak. They already did that after their last World War." Which was probably why some of the other Alliance members from Earth seemed to hope the Americans would change governments. Earth people kept their grudges forever. If the Horde had tried to conquer Earth, Catra would be in prison for life - if she was lucky.
And maybe I would deserve it.
She pushed the thought away. "So, Adora's still stuck in the procurement meeting." Which was also known as the pork piggy bank session, according to Jack, but she knew better than to trust him even though the few times she had taken part in it, it had been exactly that.
"Yes." Glimmer frowned, staring at her tablet. "Entrapta and Sam are still gathering data from the spy bots."
Catra knew that. They didn't have the intel they needed to plan the next operation yet. "And we're going to discuss how to bring journalists along on a mission without getting them killed or leaking classified information so the United States government can show their voters that they are an important member of the Alliance."
"Things would be so much easier if they had a proper princess," Glimmer muttered.
Catra wasn't quite sure - an American princess would probably be as difficult to work with as Princess Sweet Bee. At least if you looked at their news.
"...and we should… what's that?"
"Oh my God!"
"Security!"
Catra whipped her head around and stared at the screen. The speaker had collapsed on the podium and was… vomiting blood? Yes, blood was coming out of his mouth, nose, ears and eyes. And he was thrashing around as if he were being tased. But there was no attacker visible.
Magic. Had to be magic. Probably one of those Earth magic curses.
Shit.
*****
Alliance Base Lübtheen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, August 1st, 2000
"...and while the investigation has just started - the FBI's specialists have taken over only hours before - the party's leadership has already released a statement blaming 'witches' and 'eco terrorists' for the magical attack on Mr James Delan in the middle of his speech at the first day of the National Convention, and…"
"...Mr Delan remains in critical condition at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. His family refused magical healing from Princess She-Ra on the grounds of not wishing to endanger his immortal soul and asked people to pray for him, but…"
Jack O'Neill scoffed. "Fat load of good prayers will do for him." If that worked, Jack would have a few more friends left. "Wanna bet that his family's already dividing up his estate?" he asked, turning to the two people in his office.
"No bet," Special Agent Wilkinson (on detached duty) said. "In any murder, you look first to the relatives of the victim."
"It's not yet a murder, Wilkinson," Special Agent Paris said. She shook her head. "We can't tell yet if he will succumb to whatever curse has been placed on him or not."
"Are we even sure that it is a curse?" Jack said.
Paris nodded. "I've checked with a colleague - they've identified magic influence. The current theory is sympathetic magic."
"Doesn't look very sympathetic to me," Wilkinson commented.
"It means magic cast on the target using a sympathetic link," Paris explained. After a moment, she added: "Voodoo."
Ah! Jack nodded. "So, did they already check his hairdresser?" he joked.
"Matter of fact, yes," Paris, serious as ever, replied.
"Well, will the FBI ask for you back?" Jack asked. "Looks like they'll need all the sorceresses they can get for this case."
"Thaumaturgists, General." Paris pressed her lips together for a moment. "I was told I shouldn't expect such a request. Officially since I am needed in the war. Unofficially, the bureau doesn't want to deal with accusations of biased investigators."
Wilkinson snorted. "Good luck with that. Did you hear the statements? I'll bet they'll call to replace all Thaumaturgists with witch hunters next."
Jack chuckled even though he was pretty sure that this would actually happen.
Paris, though, looked even more pissed-off. "You cannot solve such a case without magic."
"Maybe they'll find a priest who has a talent for magic but thinks it comes from God?" Wilkinson shrugged. "Could be a profitable niche. Exorcist, witch hunter… I bet a lot of states would hire them."
And Jack lost all humor at that thought. The absolute last thing America needed was another Salem. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. We really don't need an intervention by the Alliance on US soil."
That seemed to shock both (nominal) special agents. "Would the Alliance really intervene in the US?" Wilkinson asked. "Of course, they would," he answered his own question a moment later. "Shit."
"Yeah." Jack nodded. "That's one of the lines the Etherians won't let anyone cross." It was one thing for a mob to gather in a country in the Middle East and murder a few poor victims, it was another for a state to not only condone that but officially engage in such witch hunts. Even the Saudis had stopped that stuff by now - no one wanted another intervention like in Iran.
"If the number of criminal magic users grows, and I believe it will, more police forces with magical talents will be needed," Paris said. "I don't think the Alliance will oppose that. None of the Etherian mages have ever had a problem with me."
"It's the witch hunter part," Jack explained. "That has certain implications that trigger our friends. Especially after those fanatics tried to burn down that church of She-Ra in Nevada."
"They'll think we're no better than Iran. Shit," Wilkinson cursed again.
Jack looked at the TV again.
"...and this wouldn't have happened if we hadn't lost our way. America deserves better! It's one Nation under God - or it should be! Not one nation under alien heathens and their witch friends! It's only by the grace of God my dear friend and colleague is still alive, and it's with God's help that we will save our nation's soul!"
"Well, it is kinda hard to see the difference right now," Jack said.
"If they don't put a lid on that, we'll have witch hunts in America," Wilkinson said.
"We already had several murders where the culprits thought the victim was a witch," Paris pointed out.
"Murders, yes. But if things get worse, we'll see lynchings," Wilkinson said.
And if they went after followers of the Church of She-Ra… Jack winced. Priest might hold back from intervening, the Clone seemed to prefer a soft approach, but if the police in certain states followed their old playbooks and politicians encouraged them to look away if a mob gathered, that would change.
He looked at the TV again.
"...and following this heinous attack on a good, god-fearing man, father and husband, it's clear that we need to regulate and control magic. We cannot let terrorists and witches attack innocent people with curses - the government needs to stop this! Once we retake our nation's helm, we will implement strict measures to ensure that magic will be brought under control and our people will be safe! Magic is too dangerous to let just anyone practice it!"
"I wonder if he'd say the same about gun control," Paris said.
Jack tensed at the familiar pain and guilt that brought up. If he hadn't kept a loaded gun at home… He forced the thought away. He had a lot of problems to focus on and couldn't dwell on that. Not if he wanted to prevent more tragedies.
Even though he doubted he could do much about that.
*****
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, August 2nd, 2000
Adora knew she couldn't go to the national convention. She was needed here in the Alliance Headquarters to prepare the next operation - as soon as Entrapta and Sam finished their recon of whatever Ba'al was hiding in that system and they had enough intel to properly plan the mission. They were already moving a task force into position, but without definite intel, they had to prepare for the reinforcements as well, and even with fleet trains, supply lines had to be prepared, just in case they had to occupy the system on a permanent basis. Ground forces, especially Earth forces, also had a much larger logistical footprint than Clones who were primarily spaceship crew and used bots for far more roles.
And she also knew that if she went to Philadelphia, it wouldn't help anyone. The family of the victim had refused her help already, and all the speakers were blaming the attack on her for releasing Earth's magic in the first place. Some even went further and implied that she had ordered the attack. With the number of worked-up people attending the convention, she'd cause another riot if she went there.
But she wanted to go anyway. Being unable to do anything while everything went wrong was torture! She could heal a dying man, show that magic wasn't the problem, show those people that she wasn't their enemy, if they would only let them!
But they wouldn't. As Glimmer had said, they were 'milking this' for all that it was worth. If she turned the TV on, she would see snippet after snippet of people blaming magic, Etheria and herself for everything that went wrong in their lives. And, as Catra had said, probably for stuff that they only imagined going wrong.
She shook her head and focused on the holoprojection in front of her. The latest troop movements on the Goa'uld front - well, the intel from the realms of Apophis, Sokar and Heru'ur, in this case. They were still in a three-way conflict, but it had slowed down compared to last year. Apophis was trying to consolidate and rebuild his forces and was mostly sticking to counter-attacks - according to the Tok'ra, he was concerned with showing weakness or he'd limit his operations even more. Heru'ur had been distracted from attacking Apophis on a broad front by Sokar's flanking attack and had moved the bulk of his forces to face them. And Sokar was both maintaining a credible defence against Apophis to deter serious attacks and trying to overwhelm Heru'ur's forces with numerical superiority, but - so the intel claimed - was finding out that terrorising your own troops into loyalty unto death wasn't as effective as inspiring your forces by fighting at their side on the frontlines and sharing the danger. Heru'ur's Jaffa genuinely loved their master, and even the Tok'ra agreed that the sentiment was returned by the System Lord. They were holding back Sokar's forces but were not yet able to go on the offensive.
Still, as stable as it seemed for now, sooner or later, Apophis would try to take back what he had lost to the Alliance, and then things would get even more complicated. They had to defeat Ba'al as soon as possible, not just to end the threat his advanced technology and machinations posed, but also to free up more troops.
And for that, they needed more intel. She changed the projection to show the suspected space of Ba'al's realm, with the spreading spy bot network overlaid. Their coverage was growing, but it wasn't as dense as it should be for dependable surveillance. The holes in coverage were just too great, and the increased focus on the latest target area meant the holes would stay - even the rate at which the spy bots were spreading had gone down with more diverted to the system Entrapta and Sam were investigating. They needed that - if they wanted to operate a task force there, they had to have the best advance warning possible in case there were reinforcements coming - but Adora didn't like it anyway. Those gaps in the network worried her. Ba'al was a cunning enemy, and he had surprised the Alliance too often already.
"Brooding over the spy bot network?" Catra asked from where she was going over logistics reports. Adora frowned at her - she wasn't brooding! - and her love snorted. "Ba'al isn't aware of our bots. He'd need a lot of luck to send a fleet through the gaps of our network without being detected."
"We think he doesn't know about our network," Adora corrected her.
"Even if he were aware of them, he'd still need a way to detect them."
"He could be hacking them - and taking over our own network to use against us."
Catra shrugged. "He'd have to beat Entrapta and Sam for that. I know on whom I'd bet. If Ba'al were a better hacker, his chips and his command networks would be much better."
That was correct - and Adora had told herself that before - but she couldn't help worrying. It was her duty to worry about things like that, after all, as Supreme Commander of the Alliance. She was supposed to think of potential threats before they manifested. Or, at least, have people anticipate and prepare for such threats.
She glanced at the holoprojection again. If they placed recon units in the worst gaps, they would have additional coverage - and have units ready to reinforce the task force for the next operation, if they were needed. Or to penetrate deeper into Ba'al's realm. That would reduce the operational reserve in the theatre, but… Adora nodded. The reserve wouldn't be as useful as it should be if they were too late to react because they missed an attack.
She started writing the orders.
*****
Deep Space, Ba'al's Realm, August 2nd, 2000 (Earth Time)
The data analysis was done, and Samantha Carter was looking at the results. "This isn't an isolated system containing his chip factory. This system has more forces than Point Velvet had."
Even adjusting for the discrepancy in power between a Ha'tak and a Horde frigate, the system had double the protection of the other site. The relative power was even greater if those Ha'taks had been upgraded with Horde technology - and Sam was sure they had been; she merely didn't know how many ships and, more importantly, by how much. The upgraded Ha'taks they had encountered so far had been outfitted with beam cannons but otherwise been kept to Goa'uld standards. If those ships had Horde-level shield generators and engines, they would be the equal of a Horde frigate - not quite as fast and agile, but better protected. Alliance tactics would have to be adjusted to fight them.
"Yes! And they patrol the outskirts much more heavily than expected, too!" Entrapta agreed. "The number of Death Gliders is huge - if those are all stationed on Ha'taks, that would mean our preliminary estimate has to be adjusted again. But I don't think they would operate so many fighters without a matching increase in communication traffic."
That would mean the majority of the Death Gliders were stationed on one of the worlds - or one of their moons. "That would have to be the main world, then," Sam said. "None of the other worlds have enough communication traffic to handle so many Death Gliders."
"And it's the only world where you don't need protective gear to operate outside sealed environments," Entrapta added.
"On the other hand, those ships here show significantly increased communication traffic compared to the other ships." Sam pointed at the data detailing the intercepted traffic.
"Those are too numerous for communication hubs," Entrapta said. "They don't need that many for that number of ships. Did Ba'al change his policy of keeping his forces divided and has switched to centralised detailed controls?"
That was a possibility, but Sam didn't think so - none of the intel from other areas within Ba'al's suspected realm showed a matching increase in communications. And the communication traffic seemed more… contained might not be the correct term. It was… What was that? She quickly ran a few comparisons and a detailed, if limited analysis. Yes. "I think they are coordinating the Death Gliders," she said. "There are pattern shifts that line up with communication traffic."
"Oh, yes!" Entrapta nodded, her hair weaving and bopping. "That does match. So, are those ships carriers? Ha'taks can't carry as many Death Gliders as the signals indicate they control. Or did they subordinate the fighters to those ships?"
That seemed contrary to the general dogma of Ba'al's forces, which was based on compartmentalisation. "Until we can identify the different ships, we can't tell." The spy bots were keeping their distance so far; they didn't know how good the sensors were in those ships. And the Alliance wanted to wait until they had a task force able to take on their worst estimates before finding out, to give the enemy no warning before an attack.
Sam didn't fully agree with that plan; they would have to rely on estimates based on potentially insufficient data to judge the necessary size of the task force. If they were too wrong, they would have to abort the entire operation and leave Ba'al aware that they had discovered what Sam was increasingly confident was the heart of his realm.
But the orders were clear, and Sam didn't think even the General would exceed or ignore them at this point, were he in her place. They didn't have enough data and intel for such a decision. They hadn't observed the system long enough for solid deductions in key areas, either. They were reasonably certain that the system contained repair facilities based on the signals from ships that appeared for the first time without matching hyperspace windows, but they couldn't determine if those were repaired ships or freshly built - and they hadn't been able to observe the system long enough to tell any production rates for the latter.
"Hm. That is odd."
"What is odd?" Sam looked at her friend.
"Check the differences in their patrol patterns on the micro-level," Entrapta said.
Sam frowned and did so. Her friend was correct - she could see a noticeable difference in the performance curves of the Death Gliders. The vast majority of the fighters all performed very similarly in all parameters - holding formation, matching speed, course changes - while about a tenth of them diverged more or less significantly, although all were within the margins expected of competent Jaffa pilots.
Her eyes widened. No, the vast majority of the Death Gliders were performing manoeuvres with almost perfect precision. Quite superior to the average Jaffa pilot based on past observations. Either Ba'al had an elite training academy for pilots here - no, even such academies wouldn't produce such a homogenous corps of pilots. "There are only two possible explanations for this," she said.
"Bots or mind-copied clones." Entrapta nodded.
Sam wasn't sure what would be worse for the Alliance.
*****
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, August 3rd, 2000
"...and while the police have yet to release a statement, anonymous sources claim that there has been an arrest in the investigation of the magical attack on James Delan at the national convention in Philadelphia that has shocked the nation. People have gathered outside the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital to show their support for the politician who is still in critical condition, with Minister Smith from Mr Delan's church leading them in prayer. Meanwhile, the demands for strict regulation of magic are growing despite several voices decrying this as hasty. Mr Delan's family hasn't declined to comment on the issue."
Catra frowned, muted the TV and turned to Jack. "Do we know who they arrested?"
"I'm Air Force, not police," he replied.
Catra raised her eyebrows.
He snorted. "The FBI is playing this very close to their chest. Neither Wilkinson nor Paris have found out anything."
"Ah. Too bad." Catra shook her head. The whole affair was extremely annoying. Delan wasn't the first victim of Earth magic, not by far, but he was the first to have been attacked on live TV in the USA - and the first American politician to be attacked like this. Of course, that would spook all his colleagues. "We'll have to consider the effect on our recruitment of sorceresses," she said.
"If they crack down on magic, many American sorceresses might join the Alliance - or ask for asylum in Etheria," Glimmer said. "We already had several such requests from other countries where sorceresses are persecuted."
"Americans fleeing to other countries?" Jack muttered a curse under his breath. "It feels like Vietnam all over again."
"Well, many Americans, especially in subcultures or members of minorities, know what 'strictly regulating magic' means," Daniel said. "Especially if it's coming from the same people who opposed the civil rights movement. You can't blame them for not wanting to end up burned at the stake by a lynch mob or 'shot while resisting arrest'."
"Joy. We might lose the 101st from our forces because they need to revisit Arkansas," Jack muttered.
"What do you mean?" Glimmer asked.
"In 1957, the 101st division was ordered to move to Little Rock in Arkansas to protect the first nine students of colour attending the formerly all-white high school there," Daniel explained.
"You had to use the army to protect students?" Adora sounded shocked.
"It was almost fifty years ago," Jack replied. "But yes."
"Living memory, Jack," Daniel said. "And history might repeat itself."
"Unless, of course, those bigots win the election," Catra commented.
"We should release a statement," Adora said.
"That would be seen as foreign interference," Daniel said. "It might have the opposite effect and push more people to support such policies out of spite."
"Idiots," Catra muttered - but she could understand that kind of thinking. She'd been such an idiot herself, if not a bigot.
"Then we should step up the PR efforts of the Alliance," Glimmer said. "Emphasise that magic is not evil but can help a lot of people."
"I could heal people," Adora said.
Catra rolled her eyes. "Then they will expect you to do that all the time and grow angry if you don't spend all your time healing people. We already settled that." She glared at her lover - she wouldn't let Adora do that to herself.
"Yes. Besides, we should show what good things Earth sorceresses do," Glimmer said. "This is about Earth's magical traditions, not Etheria's."
"I don't think the zealots blaming magic are making that distinction," Jack snorted. "Some are blaming Dungeons and Dragons for this."
"Seriously?" Catra leaned forward. That was the miniature game Bow had mentioned before. "They think that game can teach you magic?"
Daniel nodded. "Yes."
Catra shook her head. "Anyway, so you want to send our few Earth sorceresses on a PR tour?"
"No." Glimmer shook her head. "But since we are about to let journalists tag along with our soldiers thanks to the demands from the American government, we can let them see Earth sorceresses fight the Goa'uld."
Catra wasn't sure if seeing sorceresses using magic against their enemies would help a lot. But it was probably better than nothing.
"And we need to ensure that our sorceresses don't get poached," Jack said.
"Poached?" Adora asked.
"A lot of rich and powerful people just saw one of their own get cursed on TV. They'll want to hire sorceresses as bodyguards," Jack said.
Right. Catra could see that. "And some of them will be the same people who want to crack down on magic, I guess."
"Exactly," Jack said with a wry grin.
"Hypocrites." Catra was about to add something else when she caught the banner scrolling over the TV screen at the wall. Breaking news? She unmuted the TV.
"...and according to the FBI, the suspect, a family member of the victim, has confessed to cursing Mr Delan with magic but claims that she was sexually abused by him since her childhood. The FBI has stated that they are investigating the accusations based on material found in Mr Delan's home. His family has refused to comment."
"Shit."
Catra nodded. That was… well, if it was true it would change things.
*****
Child abuse? Jack O'Neill clenched his teeth. That put a different spin on things.
"Isn't it unusual for the FBI to release such information at such an early stage of the investigation?" Daniel asked.
"Either they release it or it gets leaked," Jack said. "That way, they might have a bit more control over what is released." Might. The way the media was focusing on this story, the way it was plastered all over the country - and the world - there would be countless reporters and journalists trying to dig up anything even tangentially related to the case. And, of course, spooks, both foreign and domestic.
Hell! Jack tensed at the thought - what if that was NID's doing? Kinsey and his pals would not blink at manufacturing and planting evidence of child abuse to deal with a 'problem'; he was pretty sure not all of the conservative politicians and church leaders who had been exposed and arrested in the lead-up to the constitutional amendment had been as guilty of the various crimes as the evidence found might have proven.
On the other hand, thanks to his past, Jack knew better than most that a cover-up on that scale, faced with a priority investigation by the FBI and the eyes of the entire country on them, needed more preparation time than a few days to hold up under that kind of scrutiny. And the FBI wouldn't risk revealing such information if they weren't dead sure that the evidence was legit - they knew how the game was played as well.
No, the whole thing was probably legit. Damn. What a mess.
"Well, that should discredit the whole thing," Glimmer said. "It's now self-defence." She sounded a bit too smug for Jack's taste.
"I doubt that cursing someone from afar would actually qualify as self-defence," Daniel said. "You would need an imminent threat to life and limb for that. It would have been expected of you to call the police instead."
Jack had mixed feelings about that. Delan came from a rural district. The local police were quite a bit 'understanding' when it came to bigwigs like him in such areas. Especially if it involved accusations of rape. And from Delan's own family? "That might not have worked out too well, Daniel," he said.
"I am aware of that, Jack." Daniel grimaced. "And I don't approve, of course, of the attitude. But my point about this not counting as self-defence still stands. I'm afraid, but while this will put off some of the people who were calling for strict regulation of magic, more will still press on."
Some of them might be even more motivated now, Jack thought, because they're afraid their own victims might use magic to strike back.
"That's stupid!" Glimmer blurted out.
"I don't disagree about that either," Daniel said with a rueful smile. "But a significant part of the American people oppose magic on religious grounds. They will support any attempt to control magic."
Catra scoffed. "And a huge part of them also hate people like us."
Jack wasn't about to disagree with her - he had seen the clips from the convention himself. Sure, the politicians were too smart to say it out loud and limited themselves to veiled references about concerns, especially for children - and wasn't that painfully ironic right now? - but their base had less self-control.
"Well, yes." Daniel nodded. "They were used to being the most powerful country on Earth. Losing that position shook them up."
"Those people oppose change," Sha're said with a scowl. "Especially if it means granting others more rights or power. In that, they are very much like the Goa'uld."
Daniel would call that an 'inflammatory statement'. Jack would call it fighting words. But they were true nonetheless. He had met enough of his so-called peers in the officer corps to know that. It was one of the reasons Stargate Command had had to screen their recruits so thoroughly; you really didn't want such people to step through a gate and meet alien cultures. Earth had enough enemies already.
"Well, at least this will be a setback for the opposition party." Adora smiled, though it looked a bit forced. "That should take some pressure off the American government."
"Hopefully, they will stop their demands as well," Glimmer muttered.
Jack shook his head. "I doubt that. They don't want to sling mud at the opposing party. That never ends well. They want good news that they can tout as their work."
"They have factories producing advanced technology opening up at a steady pace," Daniel said. "Some analysts have said that this might reverse the trend to de-industrialise America. And the war is going well."
That was true - though Jack was a bit sceptical about the latter; money talked as always - but it wouldn't be enough. More factories were old news. And the people needed more and bigger victories. "Well, let's work on delivering the next victory, then," he said. "Carter and Entrapta's latest intel looks quite promising." And also dangerous. He didn't like the thought of having them venture so close to so many enemy forces. Especially with him on Earth, unable to do anything should something go wrong.
"Yes, we should…" Adora started to say.
"Shh! Look at that!" Catra interrupted her, pointing at the screen and reaching for the remote.
"...and in a sudden, almost stunning twist, Minister Smith, the leader of the church Mr Delan and his family attend, has been arrested as well. While the police have not released any information about the charges levelled against him, rumours claim that he was involved in the sexual abuse allegedly committed by Mr Delan. Stay tuned for more information as the situation unfolds!"
Well, Jack couldn't claim he was surprised by this.
I can't wait to get back to the front.
*****
Faber_The_Builder
Muchkin of Megastructures
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Yea, fully expected this. No way a nutcase like Delan would not be a kiddy diddler with the shit that was coming out of his mouth. Hope her burns in whatever hell he believes in the least for extra irony.