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Chapter 61: The Tok’ra Part 6
Chapter 61: The Tok'ra Part 6

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 4th, 1998

"...and then we returned through the Stargate to prepare a habitat and report while Queen Glimmer, Princess Adora, Colonel O'Neill, Daniel, Bow, Teal'c and Catra stayed to continue their discussions with the Tok'ra, sir." Samantha Carter stood at ease as she delivered her verbal report to Stargate's Command Council.

"And you didn't ask them to remove the parasite in Lieutenant Lenkova?" Sidorov asked with a deep frown.

"Since we confirmed that the Tok'ra can remove a Goa'ld from their host without harming either, I am certain that this will be amongst the topics being discussed right now, General," Sam told him.

"Yeah!" Entrapta chimed in, nodding emphatically. "Adora and the others would never forget about her. Although if we can analyse how the Tok'ra are doing it when they extract the Goa'uld from Finran, we might be able to copy the method and do it ourselves. I hope they wait for us before they continue."

"They won't start until we have the habitat ready," Sam reassured her friend. They had an agreement about that, after all, and after SG-1 and the Etherians had been instrumental in saving the base and the Tok'ra High Council, Sam doubted that the Tok'ra would break it just to kill a Goa'uld. Though, as experience had taught, you could never be really certain when it came to aliens. "And, speaking of habitats…" Sam looked at General Hammond.

"Go on, Captain."

"It seems that both Goa'uld and Tok'ra have biological and psychological requirements that we weren't aware of so far, sir. Biologically, they need sapient hosts. Without one, their intellectual capacity is diminished to some degree. And they also seem to have a deep psychological need for a sapient host, though we haven't been able to confirm that."

"Ah." the General nodded. "That complicates things."

General Haig nodded in agreement, though Sidorov looked confused. Sam couldn't tell if the Russian didn't understand what she had just explained - or if he did but didn't understand why they thought accidentally lobotomising prisoners was a problem. She also wasn't sure which would be worse.

"Yes!" Entrapta chimed in. "We need to find a better way to keep Goa'uld prisoners. But we haven't found one yet."

Nor had the Tok'ra.

"Understood." General Haig nodded. "In that case, best expedite the construction of the habitat - and make another one for the Goa'uld in Lieutenant Lenkova."

Sidorov scoffed. "You volunteered Stargate Command as a prison for Goa'uld?"

"No, General," Sam told him. "But since the Tok'ra would kill the prisoner, the Alliance has to take them off their hands. Stargate Command would be suitable since we already hold two such prisoners, but the decision whether or not the spy will be imprisoned here as well is up to the Command Council."

"If you don't want them, we'll take them," Entrapta chimed in as Sam had hoped. "We can house them in a ship. Or construct an orbital prison. Or maybe place the prison on an asteroid."

"I was just checking that you did not exceed your orders, Captain," the Russian spat. "You do not speak for Earth or Stargate Command. That you engage in diplomacy is questionable in itself."

"We did not exceed our orders," Sam retorted, tensing up. "We represented Stargate Command as per our briefings."

Entrapta cocked her head. "And you can't really prevent Glimmer from speaking for the Alliance - either one. I don't think so. Although your organisation is sometimes a little confusing."

"I'm certain General Sidorov was merely voicing his concerns over Stargate Command's involvement in this," General Haig said. "Everyone here is aware that Stargate Command has no authority over the Alliance."

"Yes," General Hammond agreed. "But we should hold you up any longer. The sooner you have those habitats ready, the sooner you can free this Tok'ra and Lieutenant Lenkova."

Not even Sidorov could say anything against that. But it was clear he wanted to, anyway.

Sam kept her expression neutral, though, until they had left the briefing room and were headed back to her lab.

*****​

P34-353J, December 4th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...so, while we hope you'll find a way to solve our dependency on voluntary hosts, I don't think it's too pessimistic to assume such a solution will not manifest within the next few years - years which will be spent waging an offensive war. If we are to take a more active and open part in this war, we need more hosts."

Catra refrained from rolling her eyes at Garshaw's words. The Tok'ra were fixated on hosts. Understandably, somewhat - if Catra needed a host so she wouldn't lose her mind, she'd certainly focus on that as well. But this was the tenth time or so they mentioned it - they sounded like a broken record, as the humans from Earth would say. Though Catra still didn't get how a broken record could still work.

But they were here to form an alliance - well, to lay the groundwork for one since they couldn't form an alliance by themselves without making Earth mad - and so Catra kept smiling. And if her smile showed her fangs prominently, well, no one had complained so far.

"Speaking of hosts…" Daniel adjusted his glasses. "You must have a lot of people waiting for a host - do you keep them all in stasis?"

After the slightest hesitation, Garshaw nodded.

"You must have a lot of stasis jars," O'Neill commented.

"Yes," Per'sus said. "The alternative would be to let those amongst us who do not have a host suffer. And that is unacceptable."

Catra could respect that. Even if this must be a huge drain on their resources. On the other hand, if they had some crystal device that could grow stasis jars like they could grow tunnels, it wouldn't really cost them much - if a stasis jar could hold a Goa'uld on Earth for thousands of years, a few decades of them underwater, without anyone checking it, they wouldn't require a lot of maintenance.

"Of course," Glimmer said. "You can't let children suffer. Or anyone else."

Garshaw nodded again, but Catra couldn't help feeling that they were hiding something. But what?

"How do you raise your larvae without Jaffa?" Teal'c asked. The big guy had been mostly silent ever since they had set foot on the planet, so this had to be an important question.

Even though it was obvious that the Goa'uld must have been able to raise their children without Jaffa since they had created them.

"That is classified. We can revisit that once we have an alliance. But this touches on some of our most important secrets," Garshaw said - without looking directly at Teal'c; they were addressing O'Neill, Glimmer and Adora.

"You mean your queen, right?" Daniel blurted out, then winced. "I'm sorry - I know I shouldn't pry."

Garshaw nodded once more, but Daniel had been correct - Catra had caught how they had tensed up.

"So that's why the spy didn't fake an emergency and get out after setting the bombs to explode a minute after he left!" O'Neill exclaimed. He grinned. "He was after your queen - and he didn't want to abandon that mission to kill us until he knew more about us."

Yeah, O'Neill had nailed it. Catra nodded in agreement - a lot made sense now. "You must be keeping your queen isolated from your spies, so one captured operative doesn't spill the secret." Anything else would be… well, even Kyle would realise how stupid it would be to risk your biggest secret with every spy you sent out. Though that meant the queen would only ever meet a few of the Tok'ra. That would be quite lonely. For everyone else, she might as well not… Oh. Catra grinned with more confidence than she felt. "Unless, of course, that's just a smokescreen to ensure that any spy who manages to infiltrate you keeps chasing after a queen who doesn't exist."

All of the Tok'ra High Council tensed up and exchanged glances. And the aides looked confused and then worried for a moment before everyone was all smooth snake-like again.

"We can neither confirm nor deny this," Garshaw said.

But Catra was sure that she was right. The Tok'ra didn't have a queen hidden somewhere.

Before she managed to decide how that changed things, with the Alliance and the war, an aide cocked their head to the side and pulled out a communicator.

"The others have returned with the habitat."

Garshaw smiled. "We can proceed with liberating Finrar then."

And conveniently avoid the current subject, Catra thought.

*****​

The snakes were definitely hiding something - spooks always did; Jack O'Neill knew that from personal experience. Extensive personal experience. And the snakes were all spooks. But this particular secret seemed to go beyond the usual 'that's need to know, and you don't need to know' spiel. It could be a double-bluff, of course. Jack didn't know those snakes very well, after all. But after today's negotiations, dinner and bomb threat… He was pretty sure that they didn't have a queen stashed somewhere.

Not a hundred per cent sure, though. But he wouldn't have to lead the actual alliance negotiations anyway. What the diplomats and spooks did with his report wasn't his problem. And, unlike when writing reports about the Etherians, he didn't have any reason to feel guilty about this, either, he added to himself with a smile as he followed the snakes and Etherians out of the room.

And now he got to see a snake being removed from their host. If that worked… He glanced at Daniel. His friend looked… well, Jack had rarely seen him with such hope in his expression.

"If this works…" Daniel muttered.

"Yes," Jack told him.

If the Tok'ra could save a host, then they could save his wife, Sha're. SG-1 would have to find her and then capture her first, of course, but that was a problem Jack was sure they could manage. Somehow. Probably with the help of the Etherians - not that Jack thought he could keep them away even if he wanted to. And they would likely need the Tok'ra's support as well, if only for the intel.

In fact, it would probably be best if the Etherians took the lead on this - at least officially. SG-1's new management might not think Sha're was worth the risks SG-1 would have to take for such a rescue. Hell, Hammond would likely have vetoed any rescue mission as well if he were in charge - but he would have looked the other way and wouldn't have investigated very deeply if SG-1 managed to 'stumble' onto Sha're on a 'routine exploration mission'. That bastard Russian would want to send them to a gulag for such a stunt, though, and Jack didn't think Haig or Petit would be pleased either. Insubordination tended to make generals angry.

But if Queen Glimmer proposed a rescue mission? There might be some protests from some people, but in the end, the Etherians would get their way. Jack didn't always agree with their priorities, and he certainly was no Marine, but 'no friend left behind' was a fine rule to live by.

They met Carter and Entrapta halfway to the room serving as a holding cell - freshly grown, apparently. "That's just a transport container," Entrapta said, her hair holding up a cat-carrier-sized tank. "The habitat is much bigger, so we left it on Earth."

"Ah." Garshaw nodded, though Jack couldn't help feeling as if the snake wouldn't have been bothered if the tank was the habitat - they really didn't like the Goa'uld. A few millennia of war to the knife would do that to anyone, of course - Jack knew a few conflicts on Earth with that kind of hatred after a few decades.

They continued down the hallway, past two guards. Two more stood outside the cell. And another two were inside, next to the bound and gagged snake. Jack approved, though it felt a bit like they were overcompensating for their earlier lapse - they really should have caught the bombs being placed. But then, this was a decoy base with a skeleton crew. If they had been in their main base on the planet, things might have gone differently. Might.

The spy was unconscious - and strapped on a table, facing some device mounted above him. This wasn't just a holding cell, Jack realised - this was where they would extract the snake.

Entrapta blinked. "Oh. Are they sedated? Will they need special treatment?"

"They're in stasis, so they cannot kill Finran," Anise explained. "But it's a field, not a chemical, so they will wake up as soon as they leave the fields' boundaries - or the stasis generator is turned off. They won't be harmed or killed by this."

"Much nicer than what they deserve," Per'sus snarled.

Well, that snake wanted the Goa'uld dead.

"Wouldn't sedating them be safer?" Glimmer asked.

"Yes," Garshaw told her. "But if we capture a Goa'uld, we want them to be conscious when we execute them for their crimes."

"Oh." All the Etherians - even Catra - seemed to be taken aback by this.

But Jack understood the snakes' view here. And, to his surprise, Daniel seemed to nod in agreement.

Not the Etherians, though. "Well, we're not going to execute them!" Adora said.

"So, how do you extract them?" Entrapta had recovered. "Surgically?"

"Yes. We have a precision extractor," Anise held up a device. "It extracts the symbiont and stores them in this capsule."

"Is it an automated process?" Cater asked.

"Semi-automatic. It still requires an experienced operator," Anise replied.

Which would mean the Tok'ra would keep a monopoly on the procedure, at least for the near future.

"Usually, we have a ceremony," Hen'ru explained. "We list their crimes, then extract them. It can take a long time for the older Goa'uld. Then they can speak their last words, and we kill them."

"We're not going to kill them," Adora repeated herself.

"Yes." Hen'ru didn't quite sneer, but he sounded very unhappy.

Not as unhappy as the Goa'uld would soon be, though, Jack thought with a grin as Anise started the device.

He lost his grin a few seconds later, though, when the process began. That was… "Carter," he whispered, "make a note - after we investigate George Lucas for alien contacts, we'll investigate Paul Verhoeven."

"Sir?"

He didn't have to glance at her to know her expression. She always had the same when he surprised her. "That's like in Total Recall." Just with lasers and a needle. He suppressed a shudder as a symbiont was dragged out through a needle that seemed much too small to actually let it pass through.

"Oh! Is that a teleportation effect?" Entrapta blurted out. "Contact-based short-range teleport? For greater precision than a contactless scanner?"

"That's possible," Carter replied. "I don't think a Goa'uld symbiont could be compressed enough to pass through a syringe of that size without dying in the process. They are vertebrates, not invertebrates."

"Their bones would be crushed, yes," Entrapta agreed. "You could reconstitute them, in theory, but I think it would be fatal. Probably."

Jack suppressed a shudder and hoped that they didn't propose testing that.

"And the way a symbiont attaches themselves to the host's central nervous system, a contact-based scan might offer greater precision - and might also suppress the release of the symbiont toxin."

That sounded logical to Jack. Of course, Carter was almost always correct about such things.

Anise pulled the tube attached to the mechanism off and held it up, then ran a scanner over it. "The Goa'uld survived the extraction," she said after a green light went on on her device.

"Great!" Entrapta stepped forward, holding up her snake carrier. "It got an adaptive valve - just put the end with the opening in here… the container has an opening, right? Or do you teleport the symbiont in and out?"

"We usually smash the tube," Per'sus said.

"Oh, right. But isn't that wasteful?" Entrapta tilted her head with a confused expression. "A perfectly fine container… is it a security precaution?"

"It's a symbolic gesture," Per'sus said.

"Ah!" Entrapta nodded. "Like smashing glass, which some Earth cultures do at ceremonies."

"Err… yes."

"So… does it open?"

"Yes," Anise said. "The extractor can also be used in case we have to take out one of our own for a medical reason."

"Ah. So… let's do it!"

The tube with the wriggling snake was out on top of the tank, and a sucking noise later, the snake was in the tank, swimming around.

And the former host started sobbing.

*****​

"I couldn't do anything… they took Cordesh… and…"

Adora winced - Finran sounded… well, he seemed devastated as two of the guards led him to a seat.

"The Goa'uld took Cordesh?" Garshaw asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes." Finran sat down, shivering - wrapping his arms around himself. "There was a Goa'uld, Kryse, and she was… in Rosha!"

Several Tok'ra gasped. And Sam did, too.

"They know how to extract symbionts?" Anise asked.

"Yes."

"Who is Rosha?" Glimmer asked.

"She was Jolinar's host," Per'sus said.

She was the Goa'uld who had been in Sam's body. "So… they have Jolinar's knowledge?"

"Yes." Garshaw nodded with a grim expression. "That is… a serious setback."

"Are your bases at risk?"

"Our operatives don't know all our bases - only their own," Garish said. "But Rosha was Jolinar's partner for a long time. The Goa'uld now know a lot about our technology and, more importantly, our tactics."

"Time to change them, then," Catra said. She sounded serious, but the way her tail twitched… Adora suppressed a sigh. Sure, this was an argument for the Tok'ra to change their plans and join the Alliance, but no one liked being told to change what they were doing.

And indeed, the Tok'ra didn't look happy as they took Finran to another room to debrief him.

"So… before we take the spy back to Earth…" Adora smiled at the Tok'ra. "Can I heal your friend? The one who was sick, you said." She couldn't do anything about Finran - that kind of pain She-Ra's magic couldn't cure.

"Saroosh, yes. Selmak's host." Garshaw nodded, and Adora saw her relax slightly. Good. They needed to show the Tok'ra that allying with Etheria and Earth was best for everyone.

"Can we meet them?"

"We'll bring her here." Garshaw looked at her aide, who used their communicator.

"Saroosh is very old, which has aggravated her condition," Per'sus said. "Age catches up with everyone - we can grant our hosts our longevity, but only to a point."

No matter - Adora could help with that. As Jack had proven.

But when Saroosh arrived, about twenty minutes later, on a cot, Adora had second thoughts. The woman looked so frail… And so old. Not like Madame Razz, who was a thousand years old but still spry. Saroosh looked like she could die at any moment. She-Ra would have healed her on the spot, but Selmak was still inside her.

"So, you're the one who has offered to heal Saroosh." Ah, that was Selmak speaking.

Adora nodded. "Yes. I can heal everyone."

"But you're not sure if I would be expelled - or killed - by your magic."

"Yes."

Selmak laughed. Softly, and ending in a coughing fit. "That sounds like magic. I remember it."

"Oh?" Glimmer cocked her head.

"I saw a few… magicians?" Selmak squinted.

"We call them sorcerers. Or witches," Glimmer told him.

"Yes. I saw them do magic. But they couldn't heal."

"They probably never learned it. But She-Ra's special," Glimmer said. "She can heal Saroosh."

Adora nodded, though she wasn't as confident as her friend.

"My leaving Saroosh might kill her," Selmak said.

"I can heal her as soon as you have left her body," Adora said, drawing her sword.

"I appreciate the attempt." That wasn't Selmak - the voice had changed. That was Saroosh! "But I've lived a long life. If I don't survive, don't blame yourself. Or anyone."

Adora wouldn't let the woman die. She nodded anyway.

"Let's do it," Saroosh whispered.

Adora wasn't sure if the woman was talking to her or to Selmak. It didn't matter. She raised her sword, pointing it at Saroosh and prepared to do her magic. Healing. She had to heal the woman.

Saroosh made a gagging noise and opened her mouth. Adora first thought something had gone wrong - but then she spotted the symbiont's head appearing on the woman's tongue, quickly wriggling out of her mouth - and into a container prepared by one of the Tok'ra.

As soon as Selmak was clear, Adora released her magic, and bright, golden light filled the room.

Saroosh froze for a moment, and Adora held her breath. If anything had gone wrong…

But then, the woman sighed, blinking and shivering. "Oh…"

"How do you feel?" Garshaw - no, that was her host, Yosuf, talking. Adora had rarely heard them.

"It's… the pain is gone…" Saroosh blinked again, a smile slowly appearing on her face. A moment later, she started to sit up.

"Wait!" Another Tok'ra said, moving to help her.

But Saroosh waved him away, sitting up in the bed - and then turning, swinging her legs off the bed. "It's… it's incredible." She shook her head and stood up, wobbling for a moment, hunched over, before straightening. "I can move… I feel like I'm young again!"

"Well, you aren't young again," Entrapta said, looking up from her scanner. "Your cells weren't rejuvenated, and your neuroplasticity is at a normal level for an adult. But all the accumulated microdamage in your body was healed."

"That sounds like a rejuvenation effect," Anise pointed out.

"Well, technically, it's not," Entrapta told her. "It's more that this is how her body would be if she had led a perfectly healthy life."

Saroosh seemed to ignore them and moved in front of the aide holding Selmak's container, smiling at the symbiont inside. "It worked."

Adora couldn't see any way that the symbiont could talk or communicate with the woman - except, maybe, the way it swam around - but Saroosh nodded. "Yes, let's rejoin."

The aide handed the container over, and Sarsoosh opened it, then held it below her mouth.

And the symbiont - Selmak - jumped into her mouth. It looked like Saroosh ate them. Well, swallowed them whole.

Once more, Saroosh shivered. And then her eyes lit up, and Selmak spoke. "This is… incredible."

"If we could have all our elders healed like this…" Per'sus shook his head with a wide smile.

"If this works on symbionts as well…" Malinor turned to face Adora and the others. "You haven't tested it on symbionts outside a host, have you?"

Adora shook her head. "We didn't want to risk harming them." You couldn't experiment on prisoners. That would be horrible!

"Well, I volunteer!" Malinor said. "We need to know if it works on all of us."

"Ah…" Adora blinked. That was… a little rash.

"Are you sure?" Glimmer asked. "This could be dangerous. We don't think that you, as a sapient being, would be harmed by the magic, at least as long as you're not inside a host, but we have never tested it."

"Yes, I am sure." Malinor nodded emphatically. "The knowledge is well worth the risk. If magic can heal symbionts like you healed Saroosh, then this would change everything."

Adora frowned. They would live a little longer, yes, but how would it change anything?

"Of course, if it works, the next question would be whether it can counteract the negative effects of a sarcophagus," Anise said. "They aren't biological in nature."

"I can't heal, ah, psychological conditions," Adora told her. If she could, things would have been a lot easier. A lot of people wouldn't have had to suffer so much. But that wasn't her fault.

"Ah. Still, we need to know if you can heal a symbiont." Malinor nodded again. Firmly.

"Alright." Adora lifted her sword again as Malinor left her host and slid into the container that had held Selmak before.

Once more, she focused on healing. Just healing. This time, she held her breath as the magical energy hit the container - and the symbiont inside. If she had just killed Malinor…

But the symbiont was moving - and her host, Kalet, grabbed the container so fast, Adora almost expected her to spill the liquid inside. Then Malinor entered Kalet again.

A second passed. Then another, before Kalet took a deep breath - and spoke with Malinor's voice. "Ah… I was healed. As far as I can tell, at least. And it subtly changed my body - I had to reconnect to Kalet as if I were bonding with her the first time."

"Oh! Interesting. So, healing has an effect on your neural connections? It didn't affect Selmak, did it?" Entrapta beamed at her.

"No, it did not. Or, rather, Saroosh was not significantly changed by the experience, so I could easily reconnect," Selmak replied.

"But symbionts are affected." Sam looked pensive.

"Yes, that's certainly a very interesting point that probably should be examined in detail - at some point. But we're kinda up past our bedtime, and we should return to Earth now before we get grounded by the parents," Jack cut in, clapping his hand.

"Yes," Catra agreed. "Unless you have another emergency, we should continue this later."

"Indeed." Glimmer nodded. "We can schedule a diplomatic meeting at your convenience, where we can discuss this and other topics at leisure."

Garshaw nodded, but Anise and Malinor looked like they disagreed. Well, they looked like Entrapta, who pouted. "But we shouldn't take too long!" Adora's friend said. "This is such an interesting subject to explore!"

And it would be a major part of the negotiations, or so it seemed.

*****​

Saroosh had been healed as expected. Samantha Carter made a note that being a host, even for a long time, did not affect the healing. But it had affected Selmak differently, which was a surprise.

"As we've expected!" Entrapta said, dictating into her recorder. "The subject - I mean, Saroosh - was healed like any other human target of She-Ra's magic. All the microdamage is gone, though the neural structure wasn't altered in any way - though it did have such an effect on Malinor - apparently, a symbiont's body and or neural structure can be altered by the magic." She switched her recorder off. "This is so exciting - a whole new field to study. Glimmer! Do you have records of healing magic from Mystacore? I need a comparison of the healing effects on different species to check if this is specific to symbionts or if it happens to other species as well."

"I don't have such records on me," Glimmer replied. "We can look in our archives once we're back."

Sam didn't know if Glimmer meant back on Earth or back on Etheria and made a mental note to ask about Mystacore once they had some privacy.

"Alright!" Entrapta switched her recorder on again, Sam saw. "Also, there was no transformation of the symbiont into another species, as observed with Swift Wind, though that may be a result of She-Ra controlling her magic. Further research is necessary."

"A transformation into another species?" Anise asked. "Magic allows a transformation on that level? But you'd have to alter the genetic makeup… just how drastic are the possible changes?"

"There was a chance to alter Malinor's species?" Per'sus asked.

"No," Adora told him. "That was a fluke - I had just gained my powers and wasn't in full control of them. It hasn't happened since then. Not when healing."

"Oh, the changes didn't go further than First Ones experimentation," Entrapta said. "Swift Wind just got functional wings, a horn and sapience - and magic powers."

"Sapience?" Anise stared at them. "You changed a non-sapient species into a sapient one?"

"I didn't mean to!" Adora defended herself.

"You did it by accident?" Even Garshaw was now staring at Adora.

"You achieved what the Ancients did?" Malinor added.

"Well, Adora is a First One," Entrapta said, "Although they generally used magitech, that wouldn't preclude them from doing it with magic."

"Wait!" Anise said, blinking. "You mentioned the First Ones - they were descendants of the Gate Builders. You're an Ancient!"

Sam winced. They hadn't told the Tok'ra that, technically, Adora was an Ancient, had they?

"It's not like that! I never knew them!" Adora protested.

But the Tok'ra didn't seem to be listening to her.

"That's why you have such advanced technology - and magic!" Anise said.

"No!"

"It's well-known that the most powerful and dangerous technology of the Ancients - and their bases - are genetically locked to their own species," Molinar went on. "Genetic engineering hasn't been able to fully bypass that - the System Lords have tried, but there has to be some factor that they are missing."

What? You couldn't use genetic engineering techniques to ensure that the Ancient Technology Activation gene was passed on? Of course, the Goa'uld might have simply made a mistake… no. Not for something important. And not for a thousand years. If you couldn't reliably ensure that your descendants had the gene - no, the gene had to be passed on, or it would have died out amongst humans. But what if it needed an activation trigger…? She glanced at the Colonel.

"Don't I feel special now," he muttered.

But did he understand just how special he might be? Of course, the trigger could be something simple - like passing through a gate. You could never tell with the Ancients.

"Well, yes, we can activate their technology," Adora said. "But I don't have some genetic memory that tells me how it works. Except for the language…"

"But the First Ones didn't leave manuals for their technology," Entrapta said. "Which goes against basic principles of science!" she added with a pout.

"How sloppy of them," the Colonel commented in a sarcastic tone.

"Exactly!" Entrapta nodded with a smile. "Just think of how much more advanced we would be if they had left proper documentation!"

"And how much more advanced the Goa'ld would be," Catra commented.

"Oh. Right, that would probably be a bad thing," Entrapta agreed.

"It would be a catastrophe!" Garshaw said. She seemed to have recovered from the surprise, but she was still focusing on Adora. "So, the Ancients survived. Or rather, they haven't all gone."

"Horde Prime claimed he had wiped the First Ones out," Glimmer said. "Adora might be the last of her people."

"And the First ones were an offshoot of the Ancients, as far as we know," Bow added.

Adora nodded. "Yes! I'm not an Ancient - I grew up in the Horde. I can't just… do what they did." She turned her head to look at the Colonel. Sam opened her mouth to step in, but Adora was already talking. "In fact, I'm not really any more an Ancient than Jack, who has the Ancient gene. At least Alpha told us that. We're descendants of colonists."

Sam suppressed a wince as the Tok'ra turned to look at the Colonel with various but strangely unsettling expressions. Especially Anise's.

*****​

"So, you are a descendant of the Ancients as well, Colonel O'Neill."

"So I've been told. Although I'm still waiting for a second opinion."

"I can check your genes, Colonel."

Catra suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Anise was staring at O'Neill as if he was… well, if Anise were staring at Adora like that, Catra would consider marking her claim - or clawing the woman.

"I like my genes where they are."

And speaking of claims… She glanced at Sam. But the woman didn't seem to be ready to do anything violent. Or anything at all. Although she didn't look happy. Not at all. Hell, what did it take for Sam to admit her feelings? Granted, Catra didn't have a lot of room to talk, but Sam hadn't been raised in the Horde by Shadow Weaver but in a normal family.

Well, unless Sam started building killer bots or something to attack rivals or tried to blow up the world, it wasn't any business of Catra's. She had her hands full with Adora, anyway.

Leaning closer to her love, she whispered: "Next time, limit the secrets you blurt out to yours."

Adora grimaced. "I'm so sorry - I panicked!" she whispered back.

"You don't have to apologise to me." But Catra saw that Glimmer didn't look happy either. "I guess we need to talk about OpSec again." And with Entrapta, of course.

"I'm sorry. I'm not used to keeping secrets from everyone."

And wasn't that the truth? Adora wouldn't have made it far as Force Captain - she was just too honest. Not without Shadow Weaver's protection. Then again, Shadow Weaver wanted a loyal, honest minion…

"Anyway, I think we've discussed everything relevant for now," Glimmer said with a fake smile.

Anise opened her mouth to protest, but Garshaw nodded. "Yes. We will start focused negotiations about forming an Alliance soon. And we will extract the Goa'uld from your officer as soon as possible."

"Thank you."

And they would conduct the negotiations with diplomats. And without Adora, if Catra had anything to say about it.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 4th, 1998

"I'm so sorry! They were looking at me like I was a goddess or something, and I, uh, panicked and blurted out your secret!"

Catra sighed. Adora hadn't even been able to wait until they were off the ramp in the gate room. Sure, it had been a gaffe, but it wasn't the end of the world - Catra and the others were very familiar with the difference.

"Well, it probably would have come out anyway at some point, what with all the magic scanners around. Or when we walk into the next Ancient base." O'Neill shrugged, but it looked a little forced to Catra.

Adora, though, seemed to be relieved. "I'm still sorry - I should have been more careful. It wasn't my secret to share."

Glimmer nodded in agreement. "But what's done is done. And we can probably use that in the negotiations."

"What happened?" Ah, the generals had arrived, Sidorov in the lead.

"Well, we didn't start a war," O'Neill told him with a wide grin. "We got a new snake prisoner to go, the Tok'ra have agreed to remove the snake from Lieutenant Lenkova, and we will start negotiations for an Alliance as soon as possible. But I have to insist that there won't be any marriage as part of the Alliance."

"What?" The Russian stared at him in apparent confusion.

Hammond, though, looked like he wanted to sigh. Loudly. "I believe we need a more detailed report, Colonel."

"I made a mistake and revealed that we're descendants from the Ancients," Adora said.

"And that got the Tok'ra very interested in Adora and Colonel O'Neill," Glimmer said.

"Of course it did." Entrapa looked confused as well. "Why wouldn't it? They can access gene-locked First Ones technology - although we don't know if that extends to all Ancients technology. But the potential is obvious and so helpful with research! Once we find another base, at least - the artefacts we have don't require them to be studied so far."

"Yes," Sam explained. "But we don't want everyone to know about Adora and Colonel O'Neill."

"Well, only our friends and allies, right? Honesty is the best policy." Entrapta nodded.

"The Tok'ra are potential allies. We hope they will join the Alliance, but they haven't yet," Glimmer said. "And even then, some secrets are not meant to be shared with everyone."

"Yeah. Some are private. Or embarrassing." O'Neill grinned. "I feel old enough even without all the Ancient ancestry jokes."

"Oh. I shouldn't have mentioned Adora's species, then?"

"You revealed classified information?" Sidorov glared at Adora and Entrapta.

Catra narrowed her eyes at him in return. "None that would concern you. Alliance business. Not Stargate Command business."

"If it concerns Colonel O'Neill, it's our business!" he protested.

Well, he wasn't completely wrong. But she wouldn't let Sidorov attack her friends.

"This was an Alliance mission, General Sidorov. And the Alliance will discuss how to proceed with the Tok'ra." Glimmer curtly nodded at him. "We'll retire for the evening - it's been a long day." Without waiting for a response, she started towards the door, leaving the Russian fuming and everyone else from the humans trying to hide their smiles. At least, that was Catra's impression.

Grinning, she tugged on Adora's arm and followed their friends. Sometimes, Glimmer going all "queen" was annoying.

But sometimes, it was great.

*****​
 
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Chapter 62: Diplomatic Meetings Part 1
Chapter 62: Diplomatic Meetings Part 1

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 4th, 1998

"...and then we returned through the gate." Jack O'Neill resisted the urge to add 'The End!' even if it took some effort. But while it would annoy Sidorov, it would also annoy Hammond, and the general didn't deserve that - he had to deal with Sidorov much more than Jack had to.

The Russian prick hadn't stopped scowling since they had returned. He was almost the total opposite of Dr Iwan the Too-Helpful - where the scientist was all smiles, all the time, the general was seeing enemies everywhere. Of course, with his personality, he was bound to make enemies everywhere…

"Thank you, Colonel." Haig nodded. The Limey was always polite and professional. Too polite for Jack's taste. But better that than Sidorov's paranoia.

"So, you suspect that the Tok'ra do not have a queen and can't grow their numbers?" Petit asked, frowning a little.

"It's a possibility," Jack replied. "We have no way to verify it."

"But if it is true, that will influence the upcoming negotiations." Petit nodded. "Of course, that's beyond our own remit as Stargate Command."

Sidorov scowled even more at that. "We are involved as well - the diplomatic contact was only possible because of the Stargate. Any deal with aliens affects our own security - and the security of Earth itself."

"I concur," General Li said. "While every country is, of course, free to make alliances as they see fit, the Stargate is under the control of the United Nations. It is our duty as Stargate Command to ensure that everyone who uses it does so in a responsible manner and doesn't put our world at risk. This necessitates a certain involvement. We cannot do our duty to guard both the Stargate and the world otherwise."

That sounded rehearsed, at least to Jack. Though Li usually talked more formally. But what were Russia and China planning? Did they really want to seek allies of their own in the galaxy? Or was this just an attempt to force their way into the Alliance by threatening to form an alliance with other aliens if they didn't get their way? Or were they serious about trying to control the Stargate? But the Alliance included three of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Russia and China were outnumbered there. They could use their veto powers creatively, of course, or raise some trouble with the rest of the United Nations - the majority of the countries on Earth were not members of the Alliance, after all, and a lot of them had no real chances to join in the near future for a variety of reasons.

"I believe that SG-1 and our Etherian friends took every precaution when reaching out to an alien power at war with the Goa'uld," Haig said. "I also would like to point out that this contact occurred as a result of one of our exploration missions going missing."

"Which is another reason why this involves Stargate Command," Sidorov snapped. "Stargate Teams were involved from the start."

"To recover our missing team," Petit retorted. "Which was accomplished before the mission to contact the Tok'ra was even contemplated, I believe."

"Nevertheless, as my colleague has said before, SG-1 was an essential part of the contact mission." Li smiled. "And SG-1 is part of Stargate Command. They have performed diplomatic duties before as well if I recall correctly."

"First contacts," Hammond told him. "But this isn't about first contact any more - this is now a matter between the Alliance and the Tok'ra, not Stargate Command."

"It is a matter that concerns the entire world," Li objected.

"You got the entire planet into a war with aliens before without telling anyone else on Earth!" Sidorov snapped. "The United Nations took control of the Stargate to prevent a repeat of that. And now you want to form an alliance with Goa'uld!"

"Uh, the Tok'ra do not consider themselves Goa'uld - in fact, they consider it an insult to be called Goa'uld," Daniel pointed out. "That was in our report."

While Jack's friend weathered the glare from the Russian, Jack studied Li. The Chinese general was hard to read, but he had to have a plan - he had to be aware that Haig, Hammond and Petit could and would block him from trying to mess with the upcoming diplomatic negotiations. And even if they didn't, Glimmer wouldn't let Li stop her.

"Whatever!" Sidorov spat. "But they are the same species - they can take control of your body! And we cannot be sure that they aren't infiltrated by our enemies! This contact represents a significant risk for our world!"

"We've taken every precaution to minimise the risks," Haig said.

"And yet, seeing as your country is a part of the Alliance with the Etherians, some might question how objective you can be," Li retorted with a polite smile. "I think this question is a political one, not a military one, and has to be settled on an international level."

Were they planning to use the United Nations to delay further missions to contact the Tok'ra until their demands - whatever they were - were met? Jack couldn't tell but he wouldn't put it past the Russians and Chinese to try to hold the world hostage.

Well, he added with a grin, let's see how that works out for them. Not only were the most powerful NATO countries united in this, but he had a feeling that Glimmer wouldn't be amused either.

*****​

Earth Orbit, Solar System, December 4th, 1998

"Do you think Jack is mad at me?" Adora asked after their shuttle had touched down inside Darla's hangar.

"Dunno," Catra replied with a shrug. "He'll get over it," she added as she hit the button to open the door with her fist.

Adora frowned. "I'm really sorry."

"And you told him that. More than once," Catra stretched her hands over her head as she walked down the ramp. "Home sweet home."

Adora sighed. Catra might not be the best person to ask about this. She was incredibly biased in favour of Adora. In fact, Catra would take her side over Jack's no matter what happened, Adora was sure of that. And, of course, Catra's view of what was a serious mistake was slightly skewed because of her past.

She bit her lower lip. And by asking her lover, she was poking at the scars left from that part of their life. Oh, she was just making more mistakes, was she?

An elbow in her ribs started her. "Hey!" she blurted out.

Catra grinned at her. "You were putting yourself down again for no reason. Sure, you made a mistake, but it wasn't a big one. Sooner or later, it would have come out anyway, as Jack said." She narrowed her eyes at Adora with the last bit.

"I know…" Adora sighed. Sure, Jack had said that. But had he meant it? She was well aware of the influence they had on Earth. And while Jack wasn't a politician - he complained about them often enough - he would know that. She didn't think he would actually lie to her because of it, but… How would she know?

"Yes, you know," Glimmer said, joining them with Bow, who had finished shutting down the shuttle's systems. "So stop beating yourself up over it. Besides, Entrapta blurted out your secret, and you're not mad at her, are you?"

"Of course not!" Adora suppressed the urge to check if Entrapta had heard them - they had dropped off their friend in her spacelab before continuing to Darla.

"And we're supposed to be honest with our friends - and future friends," Bow added with a smile. "If they found out later that we've kept such a secret from them, it would be worse."

"And Jack should know that," Catra said.

"I know." But Entrapta blurting out something in her excitement was different than Adora revealing Jack's secret to protect herself.

"Oh, come on!" Catra sighed. "No one's perfect. Not even you."

"I know." Adora couldn't help pouting.

"Now come! I want to grab a snack before we go to bed. It's been a long day." Catra tugged on her arm.

"You've eaten half the buffet at the dinner!" Glimmer pointed out.

"Only the fish dishes!" Catra defended herself.

"Those were half the buffet!" Glimmer snorted.

"No, the fried fish was actually fried brain."

"What? You're joking!" Glimmer gasped.

"No, it's the truth!" Catra grinned widely.

"And you didn't tell us?"

"Well, I thought you could use some more brains." Catra released Adora's arm and dashed towards the kitchen.

"Oh, you!"

Adora giggled while Glimmer shook her head. She felt a little better as well - her friends were right, after all.

But there was something niggling at her still.

*****​

A while and a tuna sandwich later - Adora reminded herself to make sure that they took enough canned tuna for Catra back to Etheria when they returned - Adora was on the bed in their cabin, and Catra was changing into her sleeping clothes. Which was stripping down to her underwear, mostly.

And that was a very distracting sight, even when Catra wasn't trying to tease Adora like she was doing right now. And it was working. Especially when she kept stripping past the underwear before crawling onto the bed, and…

But afterwards, even with Catra resting her head on Adora's chest, the niggling was back. Adora stared at the ceiling above their bed - weirdly as it was, the metal ceiling felt more familiar than the decorated ceiling back in Bright Moon - and sighed.

"You know, after what we just did, you should sigh with a lot more satisfaction," Catra complained at once.

"Sorry." Adora sighed again. "I just can't stop thinking about something. I mean, it keeps coming back." She had stopped thinking about anything or anyone but Catra for quite a while just before, after all.

Catra snorted. "This better be a subtle way to ask me for another round without asking."

Adora had to chuckle at that despite her mood. "I would just ask," she told her lover.
Or kiss her and see where it would lead to.

"I don't know. Sometimes, you try to do something because you saw it on TV." Catra smirked at her

Adora pouted for a moment. The rose petal thing had seemed a good idea at the time. Who would have known that Darla would send the cleaning bots in?

Catra shifted, sliding on top of her and facing Adora. "So, what's got you more distracted than me?"

"It's not that!" Adora protested. Catra was much more important than that!

In response, Catra raised her eyebrows.

Once more, Adora sighed. "It's about today's mistake - but not in the way you think it is," she quickly added when her lover started to frown. "I was just asking myself if I could trust Jack is telling the truth when he said his secret would have come out anyway and so it's OK. You know, in a general way."

Catra blinked. "How do you mean? He is sneaky, yes, but he also is honest with his friends. Mostly."

Mostly? Adora filed that away for another discussion, "No, I meant in general. We've got a lot of power. On Earth, and back home."

Catra nodded, but in her 'get on with it, you dummy' way.

"So, how much can we trust people to be honest with us? How likely is it that someone's going to lie to us because they fear we wouldn't like the truth and take it out on them?" Adora bit her lower lip.

Catra blinked again, and Adora felt her grow tense for a moment before she took a deep breath and shifted a little on Adora. "Ah. Like in the Horde?"

"Yes, exactly!" Adora nodded. The instructors, Shadow Weaver, Hordak - basically, everyone - had demanded that they were honest, but if you told the truth, be it your opinion or just a fact, and they didn't like it, odds were you got punished for it.

Catra tilted her head, her shoulders twitching a little, the best she could to shrug in her position. "We're not the Horde. People know we won't punish them for being honest. Well, we'll punish them if they deserve it for other reasons."

"But what if they don't know that?" Adora bit her lower lip. "They don't know us that well - they haven't grown up with us. They haven't fought with us." Catra opened her mouth, and Adora quickly added: "I don't mean Jack, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c. I mean the rest of Earth."

"Ah." Another twitch-shrug followed. "They'll learn. We are being honest about it, after all. Even I." Catra grinned.

"But until then?" Adora took a deep breath. "And what about back home? How many people know us there? I mean, really know us?"

Catra snorted, but her smile twisted a little. "Enough know me, at least."

That again. "You've changed," Adora told her - as firmly as she could.

"Even so, many won't know that," Catra told her. "Former Horde soldiers still give me weird looks when they see me."

Adora frowned. "'Weird'? Like, they can't believe you're in the Alliance?" With her? "Or they don't trust you?" Lonnie had taken a while, Adora knew, to trust Catra. At least Adora assumed Lonnie had started to trust Catra since it had been a while since the last time that their friend had asked Adora what she thought about Catra's change of allegiance. Maybe she should ask Lonnie about that…

"That too," Catra said, shrugging again. "But they also look at me like they did back in the Horde. When they think I can't see them, at least. You know, hoping I won't notice any mistake or something and will leave soon."

Oh. That was… well, it made sense. That was how things were - had been - in the Horde. Catra had been in charge of the Horde for a few years, after all. And if you displeased your superior, there wasn't much they couldn't do to you. Every cadet had that beaten into them, Literally sometimes.

"But you know, that's the Horde. Former Horde," Catra said.

Adora knew that. But… "And what if people in Bright Moon think the same and are just better at hiding it?"

"They aren't better at hiding it," Catra said with a twisted smile. "Trust me."

Adora narrowed her eyes. They were giving her a hard time? If she found out who… She blinked again. "Oh."

"It's nothing," Catra said. "I did try to destroy them a few times, after all." She didn't sound entirely honest, though - Adora knew her too well to fall for her tone.

"It's not nothing," Adora told her. "But I just caught myself thinking that I had to straighten out whoever was doing… whatever. And that would be…" She pressed her lips together.

"Oh," Catra echoed her. "Yeah, that would make them hide their real feelings. More than they do, at least."

"You think they're already doing that?"

"Everyone's doing that," Catra said with a snort. "Somewhat, at least. You don't take out your bad mood on people. And you don't complain to just anyone if you feel down."

"You know what I mean," Adora retorted.

"Well, do you go up to people and tell them: 'I think you're with the wrong person and should pick someone else'?" Catra raised her eyebrows.

What? Adora clenched her jaws as she felt another, stronger urge to have a talk with whoever was… Oh, she was doing it again. But this was different. "Well, if they were a friend and I were really concerned…" But she didn't know anyone like that.

Catra snorted once more. "So, that's normal. It wasn't a Horde thing. Or not just a Horde thing."

"But it was worse there," Adora retorted. "And it's one thing to not mention something about someone's private life, but what if it's about the war?" Lying about the war could lead to disaster. You needed to trust your troops and the information they told you.

"I don't think either the Princess Alliance or the Earth countries in the alliance are like that," Catra said. "We've been working with the Americans long enough to tell."

"Yes." Adora slowly, if a little awkwardly, nodded - she was still on her back, after all.

But she still couldn't help worrying that things weren't as well as they should be.

Because Catra, Hordak and Scorpia had changed for the better - well, Scorpia didn't really have to change, just realise a few things - but what if a princess changed for the worse? Not Adora's friends, of course; they might carry grudges, but they were good people. But there were a lot of princesses on Etheria. And not all of them would be as brave and good as Adora's friends.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 5th, 1998

"Normally, I'd hate to work on a Saturday, but I'll make an exception to watch another Goa'uld get sucked out of their host."

Samantha Carter suppressed a chuckle at the Colonel's comment - it would only encourage him, and she wasn't sure how General Sidorov would react to more humour. The man seemed determined to prove the Cold War stereotype of humourless Russians true. Fortunately, the general was hovering near the stretcher onto which they had strapped Lieutenant Lenkova and so was out of earshot.

A fact the Colonel seemed determined to exploit. "Well, looks like even our Russian paranoid officer in charge isn't too far gone. Unless, of course, he hovers over the Lieutenant because he expects her to break the straps and go for a gun, and he wants first dibs at shooting her."

Sam knew better than to comment. Daniel, of course, didn't. "Why would he want to shoot his own officer, Jack?"

And, as expected, the Colonel jumped on it. "For failing, of course, Daniel! A true Russian soldier wouldn't have let themselves get possessed, don't you know? And failure is treason!"

"But…" Daniel's also inevitable retort was cut off when the gate crew started the activation sequence.

Sam raised her head as she watched the chevrons getting locked, followed by the vortex billowing out, then collapsing into the stable wormhole. Even after countless trips, it was still an awe-inspiring sight for anyone who realised just how advanced the technology behind this was.

"Our request was answered. Codes match the ones we exchanged with the Tok'ra," Siler announced.

"Alright, kids! Time to get another snake prisoner!" The Colonel turned to the Russian team guarding Lenkova. "We'll go first, and you follow. And don't stumble while going through the gate - we don't want you to get lost on the way!"

The Russians didn't react to the weak joke and only moved at a nod from Sidorov. Sam sighed, hefted the transport box - she wasn't going to call it a snake carrier despite the Colonel's suggestion - and walked up the ramp. Once more into the breach. At least it felt like it.

And then she went from the slightly stale and ionised air of the gate room into the hot, dry air of a desert planet. A group of Tok'ra were waiting for them on the other side of the gate, as expected. Martouf/Lantash was amongst them, which Sam had expected as well. And dreaded to some degree - she wasn't ready to deal with… their expectations. She wasn't Jolinar reborn. She had some of Jolinar's memories, but that was it. And she most certainly wasn't ready to enter a relationship with anyone, least of all a host/symbiont union! Would that be a ménage-à-trois? Technically, she supposed. Not that they would have actually said anything concrete, but the undertone… She pushed the thought away as they walked down the ramp. They were here for Lieutenant Lenkova, nothing else.

Behind them, the Russian team - formerly their second team, now their first, with Lenkova's team all but wiped out - followed through the Stargate, two carrying Lenkova on her stretcher and the other two with their weapons out.

They looked nervous and were trying not to show it. Well, Sam had to trust that they wouldn't start shooting their allies. Perhaps a subtle warning to the Tok'ra would not go amiss…

But their hosts were already bringing up their transport.

"So, are we going back to the decoy base, or did you grow a special base for this?" the Colonel asked with a wide smile. "Hey, is it actually easier for you to grow a new base than clean your old one?"

To Sam's relief, the Tok'ra didn't take offence. Martouf - no, that was Lantash - even laughed. "No, Colonel, it's not quite that easy. And we wouldn't want to leave too many bases, lest we make the Goa'uld wonder how we are building them if they stumble on a complex we left. Of course, now that they are aware of our capability, we might reconsider your suggestion - no one likes to be on janitorial duty, after all!"

The Colonel laughed in return. "Oh, yes!" In a lower voice, he added: "Who would have thought that aliens have a better sense of humour than our own allies?"

"Well, Jack, since you always complain about Russians - and Germans - having no sense of humour, obviously, you should have expected that we would encounter aliens with a better sense of humour sooner or later," Daniel said as they climbed into the transport. "Although, of course, just as what is considered funny varies considerably on Earth, the same would be true for alien civilisations…"

"It was a rhetorical question, Daniel."

"Oh."

Sam was sure the Colonel knew that Daniel was aware of that and was just using the opportunity to annoy the Colonel back a little. But it was all part of their team dynamic.

"How have you been?" Martouf asked, sitting down near her as the transport took off.

Sam forced herself to smile. Politely. "Busy writing reports and dealing with other paperwork. Assessing experiments." Instead of, say, working on the spacelab with Entrapta. "What about you?"

"Ah, we were also busy dealing with the aftermath of the infiltration." He smiled in that familiar manner - familiar to Jolinar, Sam reminded herself. "Entrapta isn't coming?"

"No. She is busy in her lab," Sam told him. And, as she had confided in Sam, she didn't want to risk revealing more information to the Tok'ra that might get her friends angry or in trouble until they were officially part of the Alliance.

"Ah. Anise and Molinar will be disappointed." Martouf grinned. "They will attempt to monopolise you, I fear."

"I hope it won't be too bad." Sam would actually prefer dealing with Anise and Molinar to chatting awkwardly with her former symbiont's ex-lovers.

Very much so, she added to herself when she saw Martouf smile again.

*****​

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, Earth, December 5th, 1998

"...and if we were to provide them with hosts, we would create a huge security risk - the Tok'ra would be aware of everything their hosts know. Everything," the German representative, their Verteidigungsminister, repeated himself.

The German general next to him nodded in agreement. He had been doing that a lot, Catra had noticed. She couldn't tell if he was just going along with his superior's opinion or if he fully shared the view. Not that it mattered - the Germans were very clear about how their military was under the complete control of their government, as if that was not how things should be anyway. Glimmer would fire any officer in Bright Moon's military who disobeyed her orders, and many princesses would do the same - or worse.

"So what?" The French Ministre de la Défense shrugged. "Don't let them possess any member of the military, past or present, and I don't see the problem."

"Even civilians know a lot about our military and politics!" the German retorted. "A significant part of the population has military experience!"

"Experience that is now outdated in key points," the British Secretary of State for Defense cut in. "Yes, they will be familiar with our combat doctrine and weapons, which we will be using in the upcoming campaign, but the enemy is already aware of at least our small unit tactics thanks to their little war with the United States. And once we start a serious ground campaign, they will also be aware of our armoured forces and air forces."

That ruffled the Americans' feathers, Catra could tell. "We have dealt decisive blows to the enemy," their Secretary of Defense snapped. "But we do share our German allies' concerns about crucial intelligence being fed to the Tok'ra. As we all have agreed, this war won't be a strictly military affair but will also rely on a civil campaign to educate the indoctrinated population of the enemy and especially their forces. Even information about Earth's culture is significant in this context."

"We are talking about the Tok'ra, not the Goa'uld. If we agree to let them recruit hosts, then that will be part of the Alliance agreement. Which means they will be our allies," Adora pointed out.

"That doesn't mean we can trust them with such information," the German minister insisted. "Even amongst allies, you do not share everything."

"Although sometimes, that includes things you should have shared." The British minister wasn't looking at the American one, but it was clear what he was talking about.

And this time, the American gritted his teeth and didn't respond.

They were still carrying grudges over Stargate Command being kept a secret. Catra sighed softly. She could understand the sentiment, but it wasn't really helpful.

"Are you saying that you expect the Tok'ra to… undermine our efforts to liberate and educate the Goa'uld slaves?" Adora frowned at them. "Have you read our report about how much care they show in recruiting hosts?"

"We're aware of their claims, yes," the German minister replied. "But we have to consider the long-term issues. Nations do not have friends; they have interests, as our British allies are fond of saying. And while currently, everyone's interests align with regard to the war against the Goa'uld Empire, that might not be the case any more once the enemy is defeated."

Adora scowled at that. Catra did so as well. That sounded as if they expected another conflict to break out after they had beaten the Goa'uld - just like it had on Earth after their last world war. Not a really unrealistic view, in Catra's opinion, given what she knew about Earth. On the other hand, she knew that one of the surest ways to start a conflict - or a war - was to assume it would happen anyway.

"But even if we disregard that slightly pessimistic view," the French minister said, "there remains the question of loyalty. Any host would become a Tok'ra, according to what we know about their society - a life-long partner of their 'symbiont'. How is that supposed to be a true partnership?"

"Just as marriage is supposed to be a true partnership?" Catra asked, cocking her head. That was the obvious answer, in her opinion.

"There are parallels to marriages between citizens of different nations, though as our history taught us, couples formed by people from different countries are often put under heavy strain if their countries are in conflict," the British minister said.

"And it's a bit more… encompassing… than mere marriage," the American general pointed out with a smile. "I'm not sharing the same body with my wife."

"The issue is, can we trust our citizens to remain loyal when entering such a relationship? Ultimately, the Tok'ra can enforce their will on them if push comes to shove," the American minister said. "This needs to be a concern when selecting hosts."

Adora frowned again. "The Tok'ra would be selecting the hosts from volunteers."

"Yes, but it's obvious that we need to veto those amongst the volunteers that are unsuitable for security reasons," the American retorted.

"That depends on whether or not there are many volunteers," the Minister from Canada added. "I can't imagine that there would be too many of them who would want to share their body with an alien."

"There are billions of humans. There will be a lot of them," the American minister told him. "And what do we do about volunteers from outside the alliance?"

"We need to stipulate in any agreement with the Tok'ra that they limit their recruiting efforts to our own countries," the German minister replied. "If we successfully negotiate an alliance, of course."

That seemed to be a tad optimistic. Catra shrugged. "The Tok'ra are already aware that Earth isn't united. What if they want to open relations with other countries if they feel we're too restrictive or something?"

"And do we have the right to keep someone from entering such a partnership? That would be like telling people they can't marry," Adora added.

"Well, I think it's not quite like that," the American minister said.

"Imagine if the Tok'ra get hosts from the Russians… or the Chinese…" The German minister shook his head. "Either would love to send a spy to get all the advanced knowledge of the aliens."

"Or Iran or North Korea. And if the Tok'ra become influenced by such extremist ideologies…" The American minister looked grim.

"Well, don't try to restrict them too much, then, so they have no need to seek out other hosts?" Catra offered with a shrug.

None of the people present seemed to like that idea. But they didn't seem to like the alternative even less.

"I guess we can't really keep them off Earth. Not unless we are ready to go to war…" the American general muttered.

"We are trying to make allies, not enemies," Adora reminded him. Once again, the others present didn't seem to like it.

Catra hoped that Glimmer was doing better in her meeting with the foreign ministers.

*****​

P34-353J, December 5th, 1998

And there went another snake, Jack O'Neill thought as the laser-syringe-teleporter thingie started to work on Lenkova. The woman was, fortunately, sedated - the procedure hurt like hell as far as they had been told by the Tok'ra.

They also had been told that there was a chance of failure. Failure to stop the Goa'uld from killing the host, to be exact - it wouldn't fail to extract the snake. But Jack wouldn't dwell on that. It had worked with the Tok'ra host taken over by the Goa'uld spy. It would have to work with Lenkova as well. The woman didn't deserve to be killed by a damn snake, and certainly not in that way.

He carefully schooled his features, projecting confidence as he watched the procedure. Lenkova was one of his soldiers. He was, at least partially, responsible for this, anyway. If he had trained her a bit better, maybe she could've avoided capture. If he had let the fact that she was a Russian spy influence his training her... No, he didn't think he had. But he had been avoiding her outside training.

Daniel was watching intently as well. Jack wondered if his friend was seeing Sha're on the table here. Jack was familiar with things like that. And with personal failures.

He pressed his lips together. This wasn't the time to go there. He forced the thoughts of his family - his former family - away and glanced around. The Tok'ra present were mumbling under their breath. Probably doing that recital thing on the sly - Jakar would have told them the name of the Goa'uld inside Lenkova and their crimes. Jakar was present himself, but that was understandable. This was the Goa'uld scumbag who had almost got away when he had blown up the bioweapons research lab. Jack would've attended as well in the Tok'ra's place.

Anise was at the controls of the extractor, with Carter watching her as intently as the others were watching Lenkova. Jack envied his SIC. To be able to focus on something in a situation like this instead of having the time to let your mind wander to places you didn't want to touch must be great. And Jack would bet a week's worth of dessert on Carter already planning to copy the extractor. Or improve on it. Probably with Entrapta's help. They couldn't rely on the Tok'ra for this forever, could they?

He looked at the Russian team. They looked a bit nervous and trying to hide it. That was understandable, in Jack's opinion - this was their first real mission off-world. Their leader, Lieutenant Babanin, wasn't the most creative officer Jack had ever met, to say the least, but he wasn't the worst either. Solid came to mind as a description, though he was a bit too prone to follow orders to the letter. But that was a problem with all Russian soldiers. And the Chinese, too. But he and his men would do. At least for this - Jack wasn't quite sure he'd trust them in every situation. Not with Sidorov in charge. If the damn Russian started meddling and endangering Jack's people…

His thoughts were interrupted by the extractor finishing - the lights changed, and Jack could spot some snake inside the tube. Jakar stepped forward and took it, removing the container from the extractor. The spy stared at it for a moment before handing it over to Carter.

Yeah, I would have wanted to smash the snake as well, Jack thought. But they needed prisoners, and the Etherians wouldn't take well to such killings. For people coming from a world ruled by absolute monarchs and the closest thing to United Nations or international law being a ball thrown for princesses every ten years and 'whatever they agreed upon at the buffet small-talk', they certainly took human rights seriously. Or alien rights.

"I'm administering the counter-agent to the sedative," Anise announced. She stepped up to Lenkova and injected something into her. "Provided you have given us the correct data and drug, she should be waking up soon."

"We have," Jack told her, nodding curtly. No sense encouraging the snake - she had been staring at him like some recruit in basic seeing a decent home-cooked meal for the first time in weeks before the procedure had started.

"Good. It is a pleasure working with you, Colonel O'Neill." And there she was doing it again, smiling far too warmly at him.

He shrugged. "Ah, just doing what we can."

"And you can do a lot, I am sure." She took a step closer, and Jack fought the urge to take a step back. Or call for help. He could handle a pushy woman, snake or not.

That didn't mean he wasn't grateful for the distraction when Carter spoke up: "Lieutenant Lenkova is waking up."

And she was. He could see her shift, pulling against the straps - which Carter quickly released - before opening her eyes, blinking and mumbling. "Что случилось?" Then her eyes focused on Jack, and she gasped.

He smiled as warmly at her as he could. "You were possessed by a Goa'uld, Lieutenant," he told her. "But our new friends removed it. You're free."

She kept blinking. "Free… he's gone… Oh."

Then the tears came, and Jack stepped away. Carter could handle this. Lenkova wouldn't want her superior officer to see her cry.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 5th, 1998

"Oh, I'm so glad we got an excuse to skip the next 'planning session' in Brussels!"

Adora smiled at Catra's comment as she stepped off the shuttle ramp at the Stargate Command landing pad. The military had already discussed all of the parts of the Tok'ra Alliance proposal to be put forward that fell under their area of influence. At least as far as Adora could tell - they had been rehashing the same points at the end of the last session. So, it wasn't as if they were doing any harm by skipping the rest of the meetings.

"Welcome to Stargate Command!"

Jack was there, personally greeting them? Adora frowned. He hadn't been doing that for months now.

"What's wrong?" Catra asked before Adora could. "You wouldn't be out here for no reason."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "What? You don't think I would want to personally welcome you to the hallowed halls of Stargate Command?"

Catra narrowed her eyes. "And stand around in this cold?" She pointed at the snow on the ground to the side. "It's so bad, I have to wear shoes!"

"Ah, you get used to it after the first bout of frostbite. And soon, anything above freezing starts feeling hot." Jack grinned for a moment, then grew serious, More or less. "I've actually used the opportunity to check out the work on the 'shuttleport'," he added, pointing to the construction site next to the pad.

"You're expanding?" Adora asked. "I thought you were relocating. Or is this to make it easier to move?"

"Stargate Command is moving. The Mountain's still one of the key command centres of the United States - and the world. With shuttles finally in production in the US - and rolling off the assembly lines in Canada already, somehow - that means we'll need shuttleports to be ready for them. At least, that's what the Pentagon says."

"You could use airports and Air Force bases," Catra pointed out. "Shuttles don't need more space than a landing pad."

"Yep, that would be the logical course of action." Jack snorted. "But unlike constructing entirely new ports, using existing infrastructure wouldn't net the construction firms as much money. And the brass claims we need the experience." He shrugged. "Some people are already predicting that airports will be replaced by shuttleports, causing mass layoffs and all that stuff. Stupid, of course, as long as most countries of the world don't have shuttles and are stuck with airplanes, but I expect some protesters forming outside our base any day now. Well, maybe once it's a bit warmer…"

Catra shrugged. "Shuttles are more convenient. And safer."

"But we don't have enough of them, and won't have for a long while, to replace civilian air traffic. Not to mention we don't have civilian shuttle models at all." Jack grinned. "And trust me, civilians won't want to fly military. Hell, I don't want to fly military if I can get a nice American Airlines flight instead. The service is much better, and the stewardesses are prettier."

Adora chuckled at his weak joke.

"You want to flirt with stewardesses?" Catra shook her head. "You like to court danger, do you?"

Jack narrowed his eyes for a moment before grinning - a bit toothily. "As an Air Force officer, it's my duty to flirt with stewardesses. It's in the regs."

"Should I ask Sam what she thinks of those regulations?"

"Female officers are exempt," Jack retorted in a flat voice. "Anyway," he continued a little more loudly, "let's get inside before we freeze our butts off here." He clapped his hands together for emphasis.

"Yes," Adora agreed. "How's Lieutenant Lenkova?" she asked as they walked towards the entrance.

That caused Jack to wince and grow serious. "She's doing as well as you can expect when you've had a snake in your head. Fortunately, she was unconscious for most of it, so it was just a short time, but…" He shrugged.

"Yes," Catra agreed in a clipped tone.

Her lover was remembering her time under Horde Prime's control, Adora knew. She reached out and held Catra's hand, squeezing gently, and was rewarded with a familiar smile and Catra's tail rising.

Adora nodded as they stepped through the gate. Catra had recovered. And Lieutenant Lenkova would as well. In any case, Adora would do what she could to help her along, which included healing her. That's what they were here for, after all. Amongst other things. And to get away from more meetings.

*****​
 
Chapter 63: Diplomatic Meetings Part 2
Chapter 63: Diplomatic Meetings Part 2

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 5th, 1998

Samantha Carter took another look at Lieutenant Lenkova. The woman was asleep. Finally. And the nurse had wiped away the tears tracts on her cheeks. And the snot from her nose. Magical healing didn't clean you up, she absent-mindedly noted. At least not when whatever residue was left didn't endanger your health. But Adora's magic certainly had healed all remaining injuries of the officer in the bed. There was no need for infusions or further treatment - not physical, at least.

She stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her. The two Russian guards outside nodded at her without a word. Sam wanted to say something supportive, but she couldn't think of one that wouldn't have felt trite or stupid.

So she nodded back and walked to the lift. She felt guilty for leaving, but there was nothing more that she could do for Lenkova right now, and she couldn't just sit at the woman's bedside - she had her own duties. Duties that required access to her lab.

But first, she had a report to make. So she headed to the Colonel's office.

"...and so I told the guy: 'Use it or lose it'. And he lost it."

The Colonel was behind his desk, telling a story to Adora and Catra that Sam had heard before. Adora was nodding along on the seat in front of the desk, but Catra was sitting on the edge of the desk, on top of several papers, and stretching. Once more, it struck Sam just how much Catra often acted like a cat. The effects of the spliced genes that had gone into her ancestors must be more profound than Sam would have expected. Maybe if she had a scan of the woman's brain…

"So, how is the Lieutenant?" the Colonel interrupted her stray thought. Which she shouldn't have had - she must be more tired than she thought.

"Asleep," Sam replied. "Physically, she's fine, but mentally…" She pressed her lips together.

"She'll get over it," Catra said with a nod. It sounded confident but also a little dismissive. "It wasn't her fault that she was possessed."

Ah. Of course, given what Sam knew about Catra's past, it made sense she would think like that. "People aren't rational like that when it comes to trauma," Sam pointed out. "And she blames herself for failing her team." Lenkova had said as much to Sam before falling asleep.

The Colonel winced. He, too, would be familiar with guilt, Sam knew. He would be able to talk to Lenkova about what she was going through, but… Sam wasn't sure she liked the idea. On the other hand, she didn't really trust most of the therapists on Stargate Command's payroll to handle this. They simply lacked experience with what Lenkova had gone through. Sam knew - to some degree - how having your body taken over felt. But she didn't know how losing your team as a leader felt.

"But it wasn't her fault!" Adora said, shaking her head. "Sometimes, you do everything right, and you still fail. And it was her first mission against the Goa'uld."

Catra snorted, though Sam didn't see what would be amusing about the comment, and the Colonel shook his head. "All members of Stargate Command are highly-trained and skilled soldiers. And most of them have combat experience in some form. She will blame herself for missing something or giving the wrong order." He scoffed. "Trust me, I know that feeling."

Catra nodded in agreement. "But she'll get over it," she repeated herself.

Sam wanted to ask if the woman was speaking from experience, but that would be… You didn't ask about things like that. Not in this situation, when they were talking about Lenkova. And Sam was certain that Catra wouldn't react well to any attempt to poke into her past. Not at all. The catwoman would probably react like the Colonel. Or more rudely. No, some sleeping dogs - or cats - were better left in peace.

"I hope so. I wish I could heal trauma." Adora sighed.

"You can't just wave your magic wand and solve everything," the Colonel said with a shrug. His tone was a little less gentle than Sam would have expected. He generally wasn't as short with Adora.

Oh. He was feeling guilty as well since Lenkova had been one of his officers.

She suppressed a sigh. This was worse than she had thought. She wished she could just hole up in the spacelab until someone solved this. She wasn't a trained psychologist, anyway.

But she wouldn't desert her team. Nor her commanding officer.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 6th, 1998

"You wanted to see me, General?" Samantha Carter asked after sitting down in General Hammond's office. She kept her tone polite, of course - the general had earned her respect. Even though she really wanted to return to her work; with Lieutenant Lenkova still asleep, Sam wanted to use the time to deal with her paperwork and then advance a research project or two - the lines to the spacelab were working, and she really wanted to test the waldos with Entrapta.

"Yes, I did, Captain." The General nodded. He took a deep breath, clearly uncomfortable - Sam knew him well enough.

And she was suddenly worried. General Hammond usually came straight to the point. And not just because he was usually swamped with work. If he was hesitating, then something was wrong. But was it something that concerned Stargate Command? He had only called her, not the rest of SG-1. That meant it was personal. What could have happened? She pressed her lips together before she blurted the question out. Instead, she kept meeting the general's eyes.

He sighed once more. "It's your father, Captain. Jacob."

Sam frowned a little as she slightly tilted her head. She hadn't had contact with her father since that embarrassing meeting in Washington months ago - before she met the Etherians. What could he have done now? And why was General Hammond concerned about it? Her father was stubborn and prideful to a fault - he still hadn't contacted her, and she certainly wouldn't contact him after it had been revealed just how important her position was, contrary to his assumptions - but she couldn't think of anything he'd actually do that would worry the general. Her father wasn't stupid. "Yes?"

"Now, he didn't tell me, but his aide called me, and…"

Sam nodded. She was aware of how information was passed on through such unofficial channels. But what was it that the General was so hesitant to mention?

"So, long story short, Captain, Jacob has cancer. Terminal cancer."

Sam gasped. Her father was dying? From cancer? Why didn't he tell me?

General Hammond winced, and she realised she had asked that question out loud. "Well, he probably didn't want to appear trying to use your friendship with the Etherians to get preferential treatment."

But… "He's a major general! Surely the United States would ask the Etherians to heal him. He's…" Important and influential enough to have offered Sam help to get into the NASA astronaut program. Not that she would have accepted the help - if she had achieved it through nepotism, it would have been worthless. And she was already involved with Stargate Command, anyway.

Once more, General Hammond winced. "Not against his will, I suppose. And…" He shook his head. "Jacob is a proud man. He might be hoping that advanced technology will be adapted in time to heal him."

That sounded like her father. Too proud to ask his daughter for help after she refused his help. But that would still mean that her father didn't tell his superiors that his cancer was terminal - something she wouldn't put past him.

Ultimately, it didn't matter - nothing would change the fact that she couldn't let her father die. Not if she could get him help. Which she could. She nodded firmly. "I will talk to Adora about that when she's coming over later today. Is he still in Washington?"

"His aide told me that Jacob rented a flat in Colorado Springs," General Hammond told her.

What? Was he planning to move to… to meet her? Something to ask him once he was healed. "Thank you, sir."

General Hammond nodded. He seemed relieved - but also worried.

"I don't think he'll hold it against you," she said. Truthfully, she wasn't sure - her father was prideful, after all. And stubborn. But General Hammond had saved his life in Vietnam.

"I hope so. But I can't let him die over some foolish stubbornness, Captain."

Sam nodded, although she had no doubt that the General wasn't merely talking about her father's stubbornness.

But that was Sam's business, not her commanding officer's.

When she had left the general's office, back in the hallway, in a moment of privacy, she closed her eyes and sighed deeply. Dad, dying from cancer… And he hadn't even told her!

*****​

Sam was acting weird today, Catra had decided after the first five minutes in Stargate Command. The woman seemed distracted while they were talking about how to help Lenkova. Catra had mentioned that Lenkova needed a lover to recover, but while Adora had gasped at her, Sam had barely reacted. That was highly unusual, as they said - the woman's focus was good, but she still tended to react to such jokes at least with a frown or eye roll.

So, what was it that did this to her? Was she feeling guilty about something? Perhaps something related to Lenkova? Jealousy? Catra could understand that, of course. In hindsight.

If Sam thought that, with Lenkova recovered, the other woman would once again pursue O'Neill, using the sympathy bonus, as the humans called it, to win out over Sam, who was apparently hampered by their military's rules… Well, in her place, Catra would probably do a lot of stupid things, not just think about doing them.

On the other hand, Sam seemed more the type to throw herself into her work if she was struggling with jealousy instead of getting distracted. At least that was Catra's take on her - she hadn't reacted like this when Anise had been all but throwing herself at O'Neill (and Catra wouldn't be too surprised if the Tok'ra actually did that at the next meeting). In any case, Sam should just tell O'Neill that she loved him and settle this. If the rules didn't allow their relationship, they should change the rules. Hell, if Adora and Glimmer asked, the Americans might change the rules. Or add an exception for O'Neill and Sam. Whatever worked.

But if it wasn't her love life, then what had Sam so tied up?

"...and we won't be able to tell until the psychiatrists finish their preliminary evaluation, but that can't be done until she has recovered enough for a session," Sam said. "And she might react with hostility to such a proposal, anyway."

"Why?" Adora cocked her head to the side. "Aren't psychiatrists specialised in dealing with people suffering like her? Jack said something about a loony bin needing to make profits, but I thought he was joking…"

Catra nodded, although, privately, she was sure that, while Jack had been joking, he wasn't just joking but genuinely didn't like psychiatrists. He had made enough comments about shrinks for that. But that was a topic she wasn't about to touch.

Sam sighed. "If the psychiatrists come to the conclusion that she's mentally unfit for service, she'll be relieved from her post."

"Oh. And you think that the psychiatrists would be wrong." Adora nodded.

"I think they tend to underestimate our ability to deal with trauma and apply standards that are better suited for civilian occupations. But I am also aware that the distrust of psychiatrists that many soldiers have might lead to some of them hiding their problems for fear of being judged mentally unfit, ultimately becoming mentally unfit as a result of not getting help," Sam said.

That sounded like a quote or something, to Catra, at least. Not that it concerned her. And she didn't think Sam was worried about anything related to that either. Although… "Did they try to get you removed from Stargate Command?" she asked.

Sam winced before showing her usual calm expression. "After Jolinar's death, there were some concerns, mostly by psychiatrists without the necessary experience."

Catra nodded but made a mental note not to poke at that topic either. "But that's not what got you so distracted, is it?" she asked, to change the topic - and to finally get to the bottom of this before Catra was driven crazy by not knowing.

Sam tensed for a moment, and Adora blurted out: "Distracted? Is something wrong?"

The woman sighed. "Yes. Although it's not related to Stargate Command."

"What is it? We can help! I think," Adora said. "We'll do what we can, anyway. You're our friend!"

Catra nodded in agreement - Adora would do what she could for their friend. Any friend, she added to herself with a smile.

Sam took a deep breath."It's my father. He's sick - cancer. Terminal cancer."

Adora gasped. "No! Where is he? I can go heal him right away!" She was out of her seat and turning towards the door before Catra or Sam could react.

"Wait!" Sam held up her hand. "It's not that… He's not dying right this moment. I mean, he's not in need of immediate healing."

"But…" Adora stopped but frowned. "Why should he keep suffering any moment longer than necessary? He's your father! Or are you worried about, ah, nepotism? With your father's life in danger?"

"No!" Sam closed her eyes for a moment and took another deep breath. "It's… We haven't talked for a while. We had a falling out a few months ago."

"Oh." Adora blinked. "That's…" She trailed off.

A falling out? With her father? Catra wondered how that would have happened. Was Sam's father like… like Shadow Weaver? Trying to control and manipulate her or something?

"He didn't know about Stargate. He thought I was 'wasting my potential in a dead-end posting'," Sam explained.

"Ah." Adora nodded.

Catra pressed her lips together. That did sound like a thing Shadow Weaver would have said. To Adora, of course.

"I'll still heal him," Adora said, nodding firmly.

Sam grimaced. "It's not... I mean, yes. But I want to talk to him before that. Alone."

"Oh, of course!" Adora told her. "Just tell us when I can come and heal him."

Sam winced once more.

Catra almost snorted - was the other woman shuffling her feet? Afraid to talk to her own father? Well, if he really was like Shadow Weaver, then Catra could understand that, of course.

But the other woman recovered quickly. "Alright, I'll contact you once that's… done. Now, about Lieutenant Lenkova…"

*****​

White House, Washington D.C., United States of America, Earth, December 6th, 1998

If he had known how many stupid meetings he would have to attend as a result of meeting the Tok'ra, Jack O'Neill would have buried Jakar in a cell and faked the paperwork rather than contacting the snakes. Well, no, he wouldn't have done that since that would have doomed Lenkova and Sha're, but he surely would have thought about it a lot. This was all the Tok'ra's fault for wanting humans as hosts!

"...and, in your opinion, Colonel, what kind of threat to Earth would the Tok'ra pose if they went hostile after securing hosts from us?" the Secretary of Defense asked.

Jack had answered that question before. In his report, even - why was he forced to write those things if no one ever read them? But you didn't question the cabinet in the White House for not reading reports. Not as a Colonel. Not unless they were about to endanger Earth which they weren't. For now. "That depends on whether or not travel to and from their territory is restricted and under our control," he said with a polite smile. "And, if it isn't restricted and under our control, on what our rules of engagement are." They could track the snakes with enhanced Etherian sensors, but if the Tok'ra were guests of another country, things would get messy. Probably the kind of messy that Jack had been called to solve back in the Cold War.

"We control the Stargate," the Secretary of the Interior said. "But can we control space?"

"Not at the moment," the Secretary of Defense - grudgingly, in Jack's opinion - admitted. "We depend on the Etherians for that. But we can track any arrivals, and we have the capability to intercept spaceships in the atmosphere."

Jack frowned as he saw a few cabinet members nod. "You mean launching nukes," he said.

Several people gasped, and the Secretary of Defense glared at him. But the President nodded. "I don't know about everyone else, but I wouldn't exactly call using weapons of mass destruction on Earth a proportionate response to our allies letting people travel to earth whom we don't want here." He leaned forward, folding his hand. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are, and will be for the foreseeable future, dependent on the Etherians for anything related to control of space in this war. We haven't even laid down the first spaceships yet."

"No one on Earth has," the Secretary of Defense muttered.

"And our control of the Stargate is not complete," the Secretary of State added. "It's under the control of the United Nations, and while we have considerable influence in the Security Council thanks to our allies, we cannot expect to be able to unilaterally dictate who gets to use it and who doesn't. Certainly not once it has been relocated to Canada."

There was some grumbling about that, even though that had been a done deal for months now.

The President cleared his throat. "I know it's a bitter pill to swallow, but we have to stop longing for the days when we were the undisputed superpower of the planet. Things have changed, ladies and gentlemen - drastically. The undisputed superpower on Earth is Etheria, and even amongst the countries of Earth, our nation is now merely one amongst the Great Powers. We need to adjust to that reality."

"That's temporary," the Secretary of Commerce objected. "Our industrial superiority will restore the status quo once we have finished adapting to advanced technology."

"The status quo has been irredeemably destroyed," the Secretary of Education retorted. "Just because we have been the top dog for decades doesn't mean we'll return to that position. Demographics and geography can only carry you so far. We are talking about revolutionary technology that is transforming our entire world. The Europeans are already moving to drop their dependency on fossil fuels to take advantage of the new reactor technology the Etherians are sharing."

The Secretary of Commerce snorted. "Good look trying to get that past the oil lobby!"

"Their oil lobby isn't nearly as strong as ours. And they aren't nearly as dependent on cars as we are, so the costs for them to change to this new paradigm is much lower - both political and financial," the woman insisted.

"I didn't know you took over my department," the Secretary of Transportation sniped. "My experts certainly haven't been able to make such predictions with any confidence."

"That's because they know you're backed by the oil and car industry lobby and don't want to upset you," she shot back. "But the fact remains that we need to change a lot if we want to remain the most powerful nation on Earth. And we can't do that by sticking to what worked before - and there are a lot of influential people who will fight any such change for entirely selfish reasons."

"That's just green propaganda! And the German car lobby has even more influence than ours!"

"But not on Europe as a whole!"

"Ladies and gentlemen," the President repeated himself. "This is not the time to - civilly - debate our economic policies. We are here to discuss how to answer the Tok'ra's proposals."

Jack had to suppress a grin when he saw the reactions of the cabinet members to getting scolded. Not that it actually was funny, of course, to get such a stark reminder that the government didn't know what to do yet. But you didn't make a career in special forces without gallows humour.

"We can't let them take over military personnel. Or anyone with classified information," the Secretary of Defense said. "Also, we've come to the conclusion that any attempts to infiltrate them through trained operatives volunteering to become hosts are doomed to failure since they will literally read the operatives' minds."

"Colonel O'Neill, how do you think the Tok'ra would react to a spy becoming a host in order to access their technology and secrets?" the President asked. "Because while I agree that such a course of action would be foolish, I can think of a few countries who would take the chance."

"Damn Russians and Chinese," Jack heard the Secretary of Defense mumble.

"This is hard to say, Mr President," Jack said. "The Tok'ra are, ultimately, a society of spies." Thank you, Daniel, he added silently - his friend's lectures on the subject were useful. "They will likely expect that. But we don't know if they would consider it business as usual or an offence - or an opportunity to reach out to a country outside the Alliance for a separate deal."

"If only to put pressure on us for more concessions," the Secretary of State commented.

"And they have thousands of years of experience with such ploys - we have to assume they are aware of that possibility already," the Secretary of Education added. "We cannot underestimate them."

She was, of course, correct. The snakes, even if they were nominally allies, were damn dangerous.

"So, the best way to avoid all that is to provide the Tok'ra with as many hosts as they want," Kinsey, who wasn't a cabinet member but still present, spoke up. "And if they truly have such a close and intimate partnership with their hosts as you describe, Colonel O'Neill, then the more American hosts they get, the more they'll share our views over our rivals'."

That was just the kind of thinking Jack expected from Kinsey. This was like… a political human wave attack or something. He had to press his lips together to comment.

But the majority of the cabinet seemed to share the man's views, nodding in agreement.

Damn.

"Of course, there are other ways to influence the Tok'ra," the bastard went on with a smile. "According to my information, it seems a prominent scientist of them has become infatuated with you, Colonel."

Jack went rigid. "The only thing Anise is interested in is my genes," he snapped, glaring at the man.

"Isn't that what most marriages are about, when it comes down to it?" Kinsey shrugged. "But, of course, I am not suggesting a marriage, or even a relationship, Colonel. I am merely pointing out that you have the opportunity to forge close personal bonds - of friendship - with the Tok'ra, as you did with the Etherians. Trust me, Colonel, we are all aware here that your and your team's friendship with the Etherian leaders is a crucial factor in our relationship with the dominant power of this Alliance."

Jack was so busy glaring at the scumbag, he almost missed the reactions of the cabinet. Almost - he didn't miss the frowns on some people in the room, though. Or the surprise on the faces of some, which he really hoped was there because Kinsey was - dishonestly, of course - praising Jack and not because they had somehow missed the fact that for the Etherians, politics was based on personal relationships.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 6th, 1998

Each time Adora thought she understood Earth, or even just their friends from Stargate Command, they did something that left her confused. Well, not exactly, but it felt like this. Sam's father was sick - deadly sick. Adora could heal him. But she shouldn't be healing him right now because Sam wanted to talk to him first. That was kind of understandable - relationships with parents were complicated. Adora had no personal experience with that, having been raised without parents in the Horde, but she had seen Glimmer with Queen Angella and King Micah, and that was certainly a complicated relationship. At least with Queen Angella, but Glimmer had complained about her dad as well, though not as often. Bow had had some issues with his dads as well, but he didn't complain about them nearly as often as Glimmer, so it probably wasn't a problem. On the other hand, Bow tended to keep things quiet… Anyway, Mermista's dad had run away from his kingdom in the middle of the war, leaving her to fight off the Horde almost by herself. And, of course, her other friends didn't have parents any more.

But what Adora didn't quite understand was why Sam wanted her to hide that she was healing her father - if her father accepted to get healed, of course, but why wouldn't he? He'd die otherwise! "They're so weird about this," she muttered under her breath.

Of course, Catra's ears perked up, and her lover turned away from the television in the room and cocked her head at Adora: "The humans?"

Adora looked around even though they were alone in the meeting room. Or waiting room, now that Sam was off to talk with her dad. "Yes."

"Of course they're weird." Catra shrugged. "We've known that from the start."

"No, I didn't mean…" Adora trailed off. "I meant about healing. Everyone knows I heal people if I meet them, and they need healing."

Catra nodded. "That's why we don't go shopping with you any more."

Adora glared at her. Her lover might be right, but that was still not a nice thing to say. Even if all the humans agreed that Adora's presence caused trouble or something. But it wasn't her fault that so many people needed to be healed!

Catra smirked in return, and Adora sighed. "But, as I was saying, the humans know that," she went on. "So, why do we need to smuggle Sam's dad into Stargate Command and heal him without anyone knowing?" Catra opened her mouth, and Adora held up a hand. "I know, they don't want to appear playing favourites."

"Well, that's the reason." Catra shrugged again. "Do you want to deal with everyone trying to become your friend so they or their family can be healed?"

Adora pressed her lips together. Of course, she didn't want to suspect her friends of using her like that! But no one should feel forced to do such a thing anyway because they had no other choice. "But we are playing favourites, aren't we?" And it was obvious to anyone - there had been some official complaints by other countries, Adora knew, about favouring the USA.

"Of course we are," Catra replied. "Would you want to let a friend die just because you can't save everyone? That would be stupid."

Adora nodded. You can't save everyone, so you should not save anyone? She couldn't believe some people on TV had actually said that! That wasn't how you did things! You did what you could to help people!

"And the humans also do it. They just use excuses, such as 'improving the efficiency of the government by ensuring that key members of the administration aren't distracted by health issues or health issues of their immediate family'," Catra went on.

Adora groaned at the reminder. Her suggestion that they could just gather everyone in the same room or hall and let her heal them had been turned down 'for security reasons'. And for the same 'security reasons', she was supposed to hide healing the government. Or governments. "Why would the people have a problem with their leaders getting healed?" she complained. "They elected them! If they wanted them to die, they shouldn't have voted for them!"

"Perhaps they want them to suffer?" Catra shrugged with a chuckle.

Adora scoffed. If your leaders were suffering, they couldn't really focus on leading. And that dragged everyone down. That was basic knowledge any cadet was taught. "That would be stupid of them."

Catra nodded in agreement before turning back to the TV, where the news was covering the unveiling of another new factory project in… Detroit?

Adora had missed the announcement, and the buildings all looked alike to her. Not that it mattered, as long as it distracted her from thinking about the whole thing. And from thinking about whether or not Shadow Weaver had been a parental figure or not.

*****​

Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 6th, 1998

Samantha Carter took another look at the apartment complex in front of her. It wasn't much of a complex - it looked more like a converted small two-story motel. To think that Dad would be living here while he was deathly ill and not in a hotel! He certainly could have afforded a hotel. Was this an attempt to be subtle? Or did he have money trouble? She hadn't really kept up with the family finances, but a general's pay, while quite generous for government employees, wouldn't prevent you from ruining yourself through a few foolhardy investment decisions. Maybe she should have asked Mark if he had heard anything, but her brother might wonder why she would be calling, and if he got involved before she had Dad's cancer dealt with…

Sam clenched her teeth. She was stalling, she realised. Trying to delay the confrontation. And she was better than that.

Straightening, she stepped forward, headed to door number five and rang the bell. Which was newer than the door and looked like it had been added as an afterthought. Definitely a converted motel, then.

It took about fifteen seconds until she heard "I'm coming!", and the door opened.

And Sam was looking at her father. Who was staring back at her for a moment, mouth open, before recovering from his surprise. He looked thinner than she remembered him. Chemotherapy? He still had some hair. Same male balding pattern.

She took a deep breath. "Hello, Dad."

"Sam." He nodded and took a step back. "Come in."

She nodded in return and entered the small apartment, trying not to feel as if she was stepping into the office of a superior.

The apartment was barely larger than General Hammond's office, but it did have room not only for an armchair to watch TV but also a small desk turned into a table with two chairs. Sam refrained from commenting on the spartan furniture - she was here to get her father healed, not to start a confrontation.

"Have a seat." He gestured at the desk.

Nodding again, she sat down, and he followed suit, putting the table between them.

"You're in uniform," he said.

"I came directly from the Mountain."

He frowned slightly. "Who told you?"

"That doesn't matter."

"It was probably George, wasn't it?" He snorted with a twisted smile. "Trying to save my life again."

Sam clenched her teeth. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that you have inoperable cancer." She leaned forward. "I've arranged for healing by the Etherians." There. Short and to the point.

She saw his eyes widen, the edges of his mouth twitching as he relaxed for a moment, before a familiar frown appeared on his face. "I didn't ask for preferential treatment!" he snapped back. "Or nepotism."

Nepotism? Sam suppressed a gasp. Was this what this was about? Oh, he was… "This isn't about using your influence to get a relative a posting, but about saving a life!" she snapped.

"It's the same principle!" he retorted. "Why should this be different?"

"It's about your life!"

"And it was about your life!"

"No, it was about my career!" She glared at him.

He scoffed. "We're both career officers, Sam. The military is our life."

"That's… That's not true!" There was more to life than your career.

"Really?" He cocked his head. "And what's your life outside the military?"

Not that again! "If you want grandchildren, visit Mark!" she spat.

His lips turned into a thin line.

"Sorry," she pressed through clenched teeth. "I shouldn't have brought him up." Her brother's estrangement from Dad wasn't why she was here, and bringing it up wouldn't do any good.

He slowly nodded. He didn't apologise for his remarks, though.

It didn't matter. She was here because her father was dying and she could save him. Would save him. "As I said, I have asked the Etherians to heal you. You might as well accept it," she added with a forced snort. "I doubt that you could stop Adora."

"Did you think what people will say about this? They'll accuse you of abusing your position for personal gain."

"They already accuse me of exploiting my friendship with them," she shot back. "And who cares? I don't want you to die, Dad," she added in a softer voice.

"And I don't want you to sacrifice your career prospects - or your principles - for me."

Oh, the stubborn old fool! Sam had to take a deep breath and force herself to calm down to keep from lambasting him. "My career isn't in any danger," she said. She was, without any false modesty, the best scientist Earth had for researching Ancient technology and magitech. She wasn't entirely sure if she would even be allowed to resign her commission if she wanted to.

"You say that, but I've seen good officers get cashiered for petty reasons. Or as scapegoats. Just being my daughter is enough to earn you the enmity of people who can't get to me."

"Removing me from my post would wreck key projects for national security," she retorted. "Not to mention it might damage relations with our newest ally."

He frowned again. "Are you serious?"

Sam nodded. "For the Etherians, politics are personal. They take friendships very seriously. If I get fired for petty politics, they won't just shrug and continue business as usual - they'll question whether or not they can trust America." She hesitated a moment, then added: "And I could easily get hired by them and continue my work. With far less interference by the brass." Though she didn't know if the Etherians would formally hire her - she hadn't asked how they handled such things, she realised. But she had no doubt that she would be welcome amongst them for as long as she wanted to stay.

"You would join the aliens?" he seemed surprised.

"Yes, Dad. They are my friends." It would also allow her to continue working with SG-1. And she wouldn't be bound by the regulations concerning personal relationships any more either… Best not go there.

He nodded. "I see. I didn't know that."

She swallowed the bitter 'there's a lot you don't know about me' comment that this prompted. "Yes, Dad."

"But it's still…"

"It's your life, Dad," she snapped. "And it's how the Etherians do things." With another snort, she added: "Just accept it before they make a diplomatic issue out of it."

He chuckled, but she wasn't entirely joking. Adora felt strongly about family. "I guess I have no choice then? If you're sure it won't hurt you…" He trailed off.

Not nearly as much as you dying would, Sam thought. Out loud, she said: "It won't."

"Alright then." He sighed and seemed to shrink a little as he slumped, and suddenly, he looked far sicker than before. Tired. Exhausted.

Sam felt the urge to get him to Adora as soon as possible. "Then let's go."

"Right now?"

"They're waiting for you," Sam explained.

"You've got the leaders of an alien planet waiting to heal me?" He stared at her. "Queens and princesses?"

"I told you - they're my friends, and they take that seriously," she said. "They'd have the president himself reschedule a meeting for this."

He blinked, and Sam fought the urge to smirk at him. That would have been petty.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 6th, 1998

"Dad, these are Adora and Catra. Adora, Catra - my father, Major General Jacob Carter."

Sam's father didn't look much like his daughter, Catra thought. At least not at first glance. In his favour, he didn't stare at her ears and tail like others - though that hadn't happened very often lately. Although they also had restricted their visits to diplomatic and military meetings and close friends. People who knew better than to stare at her. Or were used to her. The general had a firm handshake for a human, though, even if he looked frailer than others. She nodded at him. "Hi there."

"Hello!" Adora beamed at him.

"Hello." He looked around. "So, this is your lab. With all the alien technology."

"Yes, Dad."

"One of her labs," Adora added after a moment of silence. "Entrapta and Sam also built a spacelab."

"So, you achieved your dream of going to space."

"Yes."

More silence. Catra rolled her eyes. If that was how you acted with a father, she didn't want one.

"So, where do you want to be healed?" Adora asked. "I can do it here. Or we can go to the infirmary so Dr Frasier can observe it with her instruments."

"Whatever is more convenient."

"We should do it here," Sam said. "Fewer witnesses."

"Rumours will spread anyway," her father complained.

"Not on our end," Sam retorted.

They were arguing again. Catra shook her head. "Just spread more rumours. Silly ones, so people won't believe any rumour for a while." She had done that a few times as a cadet. It hadn't worked all the time, but it had generally been amusing.

Sam frowned at her, but her father laughed. "What do you have in mind?"

"Dad!"

"Come on, Sam - you almost smuggled me into the base in your trunk."

"I did not! I was merely discreet."

"Well, you could spread rumours that you needed, uh, to talk about…" Adora trailed off.

"An arranged marriage? Grandchildren? A teleporter so you could visit more often?" Catra suggested.

Sam glared at her - she should be used to such humour, in Catra's opinion, the way she pined after O'Neill - and her father laughed some more.

Not for long, though. He grew serious soon enough. "I think 'family matters' should suffice. People will make up their own rumours anyway. And I can visit George afterwards."

"Sounds good," Catra agreed.

Sam grudgingly nodded, which sealed it.

"Good!" Adora beamed at them again and summoned her sword. "For the Honour of Grayskull!"

This time, General Carter stared, but Catra couldn't really fault him for that. She had seen it a hundred times and still enjoyed the sight herself. The magic. The power. Adora.

Adora didn't lose any time after transforming, pointing her sword at the man right away - as if she feared he might change his mind - and let the magic cover him.

Catra saw the general stagger, gripping the edge of the table next to him to steady himself even as Sam rushed forward.

Then he blinked. "Wow. This…" Shivering, he stretched.

Sam had frozen halfway to grabbing him when he recovered and now pulled out a scanner and pointed it at him. "Let me check!"

"I healed him," Adora told her with a pout. Not that Sam would listen, in Catra's opinion. Not when it was her father getting healed.

"This is…" The man started moving, rolling her shoulder, raising his arms. Then he bent down, slowly, carefully at first, before doing a squat, then two. "The pain's gone."

"Yes," Adora told him. "All the microdamage is healed. You're perfectly healthy for your age now."

"I certainly feel like it." He smiled, though he still looked a little… unsure? Shocked? Catra found it hard to tell.

"The scan confirms it," Sam said. "No anomalies."

"Anomalies?"

"It's magic, Dad. Better be safe than sorry."

"I won't, ah, suddenly grow fur?" he asked with a glance at Catra. "You didn't mention possible side effects."

"You were dying, Dad!"

"Don't worry! I haven't changed anyone since Swift Wind!" Adora tried to reassure him. "I know how to control my magic now."

"Good." The general's grimace was soon replaced with a smile again. "But even if I transformed - this feels great! Thank you!"

"You're welcome." Adora nodded with a smile.

Catra leaned back against the wall next to her. One problem solved. And they had something to tease Sam about now. Something safer than her feelings for O'Neill. "She's a bit like Glimmer and Micah," Catra whispered. Just a bit, though - there was more tension there, but she was, in some way, as concerned about his health as Glimmer was about Micah's. With more justification, of course. Micah wasn't deadly ill. Hadn't been deadly ill either.

"And like Glimmer and Angella were," Adora added in a low voice.

Catra winced. Angella was trapped in another dimension because of her. Because she had been an idiot and a maniac willing to risk the entire world to get what she wanted. Which she could have gotten anyway if she hadn't been an idiot. Damn.

"Oh…" Adora reached out to hold her hand.

And it seemed as if Sam's father had noticed her reaction as well.

Fortunately, Catra was saved from explaining or lying.

"Carter? You won't believe what Kinsey did this… Ah, good evening, General Carter."

Catra's ears twitched as O'Neill actually snapped to attention and saluted. She grinned - that was interesting.

*****​
 
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Chapter 64: Diplomatic Meetings Part 3
Chapter 64: Diplomatic Meetings Part 3

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 6th, 1998

"Hello, Colonel O'Neill."

Jack O'Neill wished someone would have told him that Carter's father, Major General Jacob Carter, was at Stargate Command before he entered her lab to complain about politicians in general and Kinsey in particular.

"Hi, Jack!" And Catra was grinning widely. Damn.

"Hello, Jack." Adora, at least, was her usual friendly self.

"Colonel." And Carter was... annoyed? Or concerned.

"What did Senator Kinsey do this time?" the general asked.

Jack didn't really want to answer that. Not just because it was a little embarrassing; that wouldn't prevent him from sharing a story with a general - it wasn't as if he really felt intimidated by them, after all. But it concerned a meeting in the White House. And while Jack trusted his team with his life, so trusting them with his career was easy, the general wasn't quite that close. And he was Carter's father.

So Jack sighed. "He had some interesting ideas about interstellar diplomacy, sir. Unfortunately, they were discussed in a meeting with the President and the cabinet, so I can't share any details."

The man, who looked far too fit for his age, raised both eyebrows. "But you were about to share them with my daughter?"

"Well, they, ah, concerned her." Jack kept smiling. "She wasn't mentioned by name, though, but it included her as well."

"Really." The general didn't look mollified.

And neither did Carter. "What did he say, sir?" she asked in a clipped tone.

Time to backpedal. "He had some comments about politics and personal relationships. With aliens."

"What?" The general looked confused. As did Adora. Carter was still frowning. Even more so, now, actually. And Catra…

…was grinning. "Oh, did he propose some diplomatic marriage for you?"

"What?"

"What?"

"What?"

"He was joking," Jack replied. "I think so, at least - you never know with politicians like him," he added before he could help himself.

"He better be joking," the general hissed.

"Dad, a marriage of state isn't on the table!" Carter could sound remarkably like her father if she was angry, Jack noticed.

"We don't do marriages of state!" Adora shook her head. "We marry for love!"

"Glimmer would kill anyone who tried to make her marry someone for diplomatic reasons," Catra agreed with a firm nod. She seemed serious, Jack noted.

But Carter still looked angry. "Was he talking about abusing our friendships for political gain, sir?"

Jack winced. He couldn't really deny that.

"I thought so," she hissed.

Adora was frowning as well. "Friendship shouldn't be abused."

Catra nodded and didn't make a cynical comment - to Jack's surprise. Then again, maybe he should have expected that from her; she seemed to value her friendships more than pretty much anything else. Except for Adora, of course.

"Well.." he shrugged. "I think everyone who matters knows we wouldn't do that." At least, he hoped the President was aware of SG-1's stance on that. Or listened to advisors who were, like General Hammond. Instead of to Kinsey - that slimeball had too much influence, in Jack's opinion, because he could manage the conservatives. "Anyway, more importantly, it looks like the government will not deny the Tok'ra their main request."

"They'll let people volunteer to become hosts?" Carter tilted her head.

"Yep." Jack nodded.

"Good." Adora smiled again. "If someone wishes to enter such a relationship with a Tok'ra, they shouldn't be denied."

"I assume that this is limited to people without classified information," the general said.

"Yes," Jack said. After a moment's hesitation, he added: "The idea is that we'd rather have Tok'ra sharing American minds than, say, Iranian." In for a penny, in for a pound, as the Limeys said. And he didn't think that the general would tattle. Not now.

"Ah." The general nodded. "That makes sense."

"Yes," Catra agreed.

"And what if the Iranians want to volunteer?" Adora asked.

"That's the thing the government hasn't figured out yet." Jack shrugged. Time to change the subject. "So, what brings you to the Mountain, General?"

"Family business, Colonel," the general replied smoothly. But Carter looked tense, and Adora guilty.

Jack suppressed a grin. That was interesting.

*****​

Adora bit the inside of her cheek so she wouldn't blurt out the truth. But why did the general lie to Jack? Well, technically, it wasn't a lie - it was kind of family business, but that was the kind of word games Shadow Weaver would have played. Adora could understand that they didn't want everyone to know, but Jack was a friend. A close friend - and he was even closer to Sam than to Adora and Catra. Lying to your friends, or just not being honest with your friends, was a bad idea. Adora knew that from personal experience.

"Ah?" Jack tilted his head. "I won't pry then."

Adora didn't think Jack was telling the truth right then. And she didn't think General Carter and Sam believed him either. But both nodded.

And then Jack smiled at her. "So, what have you been up to, Adora?"

"Ah…" Adora struggled not to grimace. "Well, we're…

"Unfortunately, my father's not cleared for that," Sam cut in before Adora could mention that they were waiting for Lieutenant Lenkova to wake up so they could talk to her - which was another 'technically not a lie' that Adora didn't like.

"Yes," the general agreed. "Need to know and everything. I've got the clearance for a lot more these days, but since Stargate Command is no longer an Air Force project but run by the United Nations, that doesn't mean as much any more."

"Well, technically, we can tell whoever we want what we want, as long as it concerns us," Catra pointed out with a grin.

Adora frowned at her lover. That was true, but this wasn't the best moment to mention it.

Sam's father chuckled. "Ah, yes, it's often hard to remember that you're actually your country's highest authority and not just another soldier."

"Well, Adora is - arguably. I think Glimmer could argue that," Catra said. "But I'm just another soldier. Technically without an official position. Not that we care much about that."

"You're like a princess," Adora retorted. Everyone better be aware of that! Catra was one of those amongst the Alliance who had the most experience leading an army. Granted, it was the Horde army, but still!

"I'm no princess," Catra shot back. "And I don't have a country to rule."

"Netossa and Spinnerella don't rule a country either," Adora pointed out.

"They are princesses, though. And they were leaders in the Alliance before Horde Prime attacked." Catra shrugged. "It doesn't matter anyway since I'm not going to leave your side."

Ah. Adora couldn't help smiling at hearing that. Even though she knew that Catra's talents were, well, not wasted, but underused if she just stuck with Adora. Catra had almost defeated the Alliance, after all, when she had been leading the Horde. "Well, that doesn't mean you won't get a command," she said. "I could come with you, for example!"

"And who would I command? Former Horde troops?" Catra snorted.

"The clones would follow you," Adora retorted.

"If you tell them to." Catra rolled her eyes.

Adora nodded. "Well, yes. They'd still follow you."

"And they'd still look to you for orders."

That was… well, Catra was probably correct about that, Adora had to admit.

"How exactly is the Alliance organised?" the general askedwith a frown.

"The Princess Alliance or the Alliance?" Catra grinned.

"The Princess Alliance. I'm aware of how the Alliance is organised." The general sounded… not mad, but more serious than Adora had expected.

"Well, the Princess Alliance generally has a big meeting, everyone talks too much, and then we do what Adora and Glimmer want," Catra said.

"Catra!" Adora scowled. "That's not how it works!"

"That's how it works out." Her lover shrugged. "If you and Glimmer want to do something, or don't want to do something, who's going to make you?"

"Sort of like the United States was in NATO," Jack added with a grin. "And now the shoe's on the other foot."

"It's not quite like that!" Adora insisted. "We do make decisions as a council."

"And most listen to you and Glimmer," Catra said. "Which is a good thing, of course. Well, Netossa isn't bad, either. But I'd rather not have Mermista lead our campaign. Or Perfuma. I've conquered both their kingdoms with the Horde, so I know how bad they are at leading people."

"One of the drawbacks of hereditary monarchies," Jack said. "People who shouldn't be leading get to lead."

"They're not that bad," Adora defended her friends. But Catra was correct - Mermista and Perfuma were not the best officers in the Alliance. Well, not when it came to strategy. But.. "They're very effective on the battlefield." Thanks to their magic, of course.

But this war would be fought in space, where there was no water or plant life to control - and on a scale where individual actions wouldn't be as important. Adora hoped her friends back on Etheria understood this.

"That makes them good soldiers," Catra retorted.

She was right, but there was more to it. "Perfuma and Mermista also have the support of their people," Adora pointed out.

"Still doesn't make them good strategists, but yeah, I guess that will be a factor in the war." Catra shrugged.

Adora took that as a victory in their argument. But it also reminded her that they hadn't heard of Etheria in months She hoped that Entrapta's bots would soon finish the communication relays to Etheria so they could talk to them and fill them in about what had happened so far. Adora really wanted to know how her friends were doing.

Perhaps they should have used part of the fleet as relays - then they would have had communications much sooner. But that would have strung out quite a few ships doing nothing but keeping station, and the bot network was safer and more effective.

Well, that was how it was in war - almost every action had some drawbacks. "Let's talk about Lieutenant Lenkova," she said to change the subject.

*****​

"So, now you've met the Etherians," Samantha Carter said while walking with her father to General Hammond's office. It was a safer topic for the hallways than their family, and walking in silence would have been awkward - and would have started even worse rumours than were probably already going around.

"Oh, yes." Dad chuckled. "I think I understand now why Boeing, Lockheed and Northrop were bothering me lately."

"They were bothering you?" Sam frowned. Why would they… Ah.

"Lobbyists," Dad confirmed her deduction. "They usually aren't that bad - I'm not in procurement - but I thought they had stepped up their efforts with everyone amongst the brass. But no - that was because of you and your friends." He chuckled again. "What irony!"

"They want you to use my friendship with the Etherians for their own goals?" That wasn't amusing, in Sam's opinion. It went against everything she believed in. Although she felt a little hypocritical now that she had used said friendship to save her father's life. But that wasn't the same thing.

"Of course. There's lots of money to be made in research and development," Dad said. "Especially in the aerospace sector. Any company that gets those contracts has it made. And any company that misses out is basically done for. The stock of the smaller manufacturers is already crashing since everyone thinks shuttles will replace helicopters and aeroplanes tomorrow or maybe the day after tomorrow, and they don't expect anyone but the biggest firms to manage that."

Sam hadn't followed that very closely. "That makes no sense. It will take years, probably decades, to replace every helicopter and plane currently in service. And the militaries will have priority," she pointed out when they stepped into the lift.

"The stock market isn't really sane - it's all about what people think. Or what analysts think people think." Dad shrugged. "The car companies are feeling the same pressure. People want flying cars for Christmas at the latest."

Sam snorted. Even in wartime, research and development cycles weren't as fast. And this was about the civilian market. "They'll be disappointed."

"Not just them. A lot of people will be disappointed," Dad said. "No one knows yet how the war economy will work out. And how the rest of the world will be affected. Worst case, wars will break out over the changes the new technology brings - General Watson is already wargaming some conflicts in the Middle East in case some of the oil states decide to deal with their rivals before they are rendered obsolete and go bankrupt. I think they're running a betting pool on the country most likely to start it, but I've been out of the loop lately."

Because he had been dying. Sam nodded. "You can't just switch from a fossil fuel-based economy to an economy based on advanced technology in a few years."

"But it won't take too long either," Dad replied as they stepped out of the lift. "You can replace power plants easily enough once you can build new ones."

Leaving obsolete power plants full of dangerous substances - radioactive in the case of nuclear power plants - to be cleaned up. At least, that would occupy a lot of people who would be out of a job otherwise.

"In a way, the war's a blessing," Dad said as they approached General Hammond's office. "It'll make transforming the economy easier since we'll have to produce so much for the military. That will make up for the loss of civilian production. Somewhat, at least."

But it wouldn't help those businesses who couldn't get into the military market, Sam knew. Or those countries cut off from advanced technology.

Further discussion was cut off when General Hammond's aide announced them.

"Jacob! Captain Carter!" General Hammond greeted them. "Come in, Jacob. You too, Captain."

They stepped into the office.

"You're looking good," the General commented.

"I'm feeling great," Dad answered the unspoken question. He rolled his shoulders. "And I've got to thank you for that, I've heard. That's twice you've saved my life now. I need to step up and make it up to you."

The General laughed - relieved, Sam realised. Well, Dad could show a temper, as she knew from personal experience. "I just passed the news along."

"Still…" Jacob nodded at his friend.

Hammond nodded back.

"Well, it worked out," Sam commented. "And with the possible exception of Colonel O'Neill, I think the odds of anyone in the base figuring it out are low."

"And even if they do, we'll manage," General Hammond said. "So, you've met the Etherians. What's your take on them?"

"They were much less formal than on television," Dad replied.

"They're not as formal in planning meetings either," General Hammond said.

"A logical consequence of their culture, sir," Sam pointed out. "As ruling monarchs, they obviously don't act like career military." Daniel had covered that often enough, but Dad hadn't read those reports.

"It'll take some time getting used to that… informality, I guess," Dad said. "That who you know and are friends with matters more than your rank… well, to some degree, that was the case already."

Hammond nodded with a small scowl. "Yes. It helps with cutting through some red tape, but it also gives the Etherians an even greater influence on the Alliance."

"If we don't pay attention, we'll have our own command structure wrecked," Dad agreed. "And discipline degrades as everyone runs to the next princess to work around orders they don't like."

"It's not quite as bad," Sam objected. "They do have military experience." But he was correct about the fact that Earth couldn't afford to run things like the Ethrians did. "I'll mention the concerns to them, though."

Dad was staring at her. Oh.

Sam pressed her lips together. She was still a military officer and scientist, first and foremost. Not a diplomat or politician.

But in a war, you did what you had to.

*****​

"You're concerned about military discipline breaking down because of us?"

Adora sounded flabbergasted, in Catra's expert opinion. Perfectly understandable, of course - the only reason Catra wasn't also staring at Sam with her mouth hanging open was because she had been looking at another scout bot prototype when Sam had started talking and had recovered faster.

"It's a concern. Nothing has happened yet, but…" Sam sighed. "We do things differently on Earth. You may have noticed that we're not quite as informal as you are."

Catra cocked her head sideways. "Really? Do you shoot soldiers for disobeying orders as well?" She remembered seeing that in some movies, but those were supposed to show historical wars and generally had the bad guys doing this.

"We might do that in wartime, depending on the severity of the offence."

"We're at war," Catra pointed out.

"Yes." Sam frowned.

"SG-1 isn't very formal," Adora said. "Jack's quite informal. The only one from your team who calls him Colonel is you, actually."

Sam didn't blush, but she tensed for a moment, Catra noticed. "That's because I'm the only other member of the team who's a soldier," she told Adora. "I can assure you that the other teams are more observant of military forms and regulations."

"Oh." Adora nodded. "Yes, SG-3 was like that, I think."

"Yes," Catra agreed. "Still less formal than the Horde."

"I don't think the Horde is a good comparison point," Adora told her. "It kind of makes formality sound like a bad thing."

Catra shrugged. "Unlike the Alliance, we didn't have any princesses, so it comes closest to the situation on Earth." They had had Scorpia, but she hadn't been a princess back then. Or acted like one. Then again, she had made Force Captain…

"The United States Armed Forces aren't the Horde," Sam said firmly. "But yes, we don't have princesses. Or other nobility. We don't have, ah, people who were born into leadership positions. Our leaders in the military derive their authority from their earned rank."

Catra suppressed a scoff. She doubted that every officer had actually earned their rank - people were always promoting their friends and cronies. But overall, it was a good point. "And the officers don't like it if people don't follow the chain of command."

"Yes. It can undermine their authority," Sam confirmed. "The superior officers tell their subordinates what they have to do but leave it up to them to decide how they do it. And they report to them, not to others."

"That works with good subordinates who can handle the situation. But sometimes, you need to take charge of a situation as supreme commander," Catra said.

"Yes," Adora agreed. "And you need to check on your subordinates. They might not be telling you the truth about how they're doing."

"That's a different problem. What we're concerned about is soldiers starting to ignore their superiors to go directly to you or your friends," Sam said.

"And taking up our time with petty problems and complaints." Catra nodded. She could see that happening. It hadn't happened in the Horde, of course - you only annoyed a superior with that kind of bullshit once before you learned your lesson, unless you were Kyle - but she had seen princesses personally taking care of small issues in the Alliance.

"Exactly. And if a superior does this often, they'll undermine their subordinates' authority."

"Right. But we won't do that," Adora said. "Don't worry!" She beamed at Sam. "We won't step in more than necessary."

But the other woman was worried. Catra could tell. And she had a point. Kind of. "I expect that we'll be moving around too much, anyway, to disrupt your discipline too much," she added. They would be dealing with hundreds of thousands of troops - millions in the long term. "Your officers will be able to restore discipline easily enough." Once whatever Catra or others had had to do had been done, of course. "But you might have to talk to Glimmer about this. She's the one who grew up in the Alliance."

"Yes. I will have to," Sam said. She didn't sound too happy. But that wasn't Catra's problem. Glimmer could sort that out.

*****​

Lenkova still looked bad, Catra thought as she saw the woman in the mess hall. She appeared healthy, at least physically, but her whole body language… If she had a tail, it would be dragging on the floor, and if her ears could move, they would be drooping. And she was sitting alone at a table. By choice, Catra was sure - it was between lunch and dinner, so none of the regular shifts was eating. None of the Russians, at least. Though Catra didn't think that Stargate Command would leave the woman unsupervised after what she had gone through, so… Ah, there were the soldiers keeping an eye on her.

"She looks so sad," Adora commented next to her.

Catra glanced at her and rolled her eyes. What did her lover expect? Adora had seen Catra after they had freed her from Horde Prime's control.

Adora blushed. "Sorry."

Catra shrugged. It had been her own fault, after all. "Let's go talk to her." Without waiting for an answer from Adora or Sam, she sauntered over to Lenkova's table and plopped herself down in the chair across from her. "Hey!"

Catra had taken care to approach Lenkova from the front, so the woman wasn't surprised; you didn't startle soldiers who looked like that. She glanced at Catra, Adora and Sam before returning the greeting. "Hello."

"Hi!" Adora said with a forced smile - Catra could tell.

"Hello, Lieutenant," Sam added.

"I take it you are not here by chance," Lenkova commented. "This is what you would call an intervention?"

Catra grinned. "Right in one!"

"It's not an intervention, but yes, we'd like to talk to you," Sam explained. "We know at least part of what you're going through, trust us."

Lenkova nodded, though it was obvious that she didn't. Trust them, that was. "Here?" she asked, making a point to glance around.

"In private," Sam explained.

After a moment, Lenkova nodded. "Yes."

Catra looked at Lenkova's food, which had been barely touched - and it was the good dessert, according to O'Neill. In return, the woman scoffed and got up - and dumped the food on the way out. What a waste!

"That would have started a riot back in the Horde," Catra commented on the way to the lifts.

"What would?" Lenkova asked.

"Dumping the food," Catra explained. "Of course, just offering such food - dessert! - would have started a riot anyway."

"Oh, yes. We never got dessert in the Horde. Or anything else than grey and brown rations," Adora nodded.

"You could get other food if you knew the right people," Catra objected.

"That would have been against regulations!" Adora shook her head.

"That sounds like you needed better quartermasters," Lenkova commented. "Or less corrupt ones."

Catra noticed that Sam looked as if she wanted to say something about that, but the woman just pushed the button in the lift, taking them down to her lab.

"Well, I wouldn't call them corrupt…" Adora started to say.

"I would," Catra interrupted her. "They were making deals with each other." Often, it had been frustrating to try and get the needed supplies for an operation, though that had been mostly due to Hordak, and later Entrapta, requisitioning things for their projects without regard for the Horde's need. But the quartermasters had been rotten anyway.

"Well, yes, but the thing is, regulations never covered other food, only rations. So there was no way to actually get dessert." Adora blinked. "When we wanted to celebrate, we had cake made of the good rations, actually."

They reached their floor and stepped out of the lift.

"You sound like old soldiers in the Red Army," Lenkova said as they approached Sam's lab. "They were telling such stories as well whenever the younger soldiers were griping, to show how much worse they had it back in the days."

Ah, the woman thought they were telling tales? She didn't know Adora then; Catra's lover was honest to a fault. Catra chuckled. "That's not the point of this," she said, stepping past Sam into the lab.

"And what's the point?" Lenkova dropped her fake polite smile as soon as the door closed behind them and looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"I spent years leading the Horde, fighting the Alliance," Catra told her. "Whatever mistake you're worried about, I made much worse ones." Starting with not following Adora when she asked her to, back in that stupid village, Thaymor.

Lenkova's eyes widened, but she recovered quickly. "That doesn't make me feel better."

"It shouldn't. It's supposed to make you realise that fucking up isn't the end of the world." Catra shrugged.

Now the officer frowned at her. "I know that everyone makes mistakes. But mine caused the loss of my team. Two of my men dead. One captured. And…" She pressed her lips together.

"You were taken over by a Goa'uld." Once more, Catra shrugged, though she had to force herself to act nonchalantly. "I got taken over by Horde Prime. He had chips that allowed him to take control of others - make them obey his orders. And he could jump into you to take control of your body. Speak with your voice. Act with your hands. I attacked Adora."

Lenkova stared at her. "I see. How long?"

"A few days." An eternity when being controlled. And tempted to just accept it. Accept the mindless peace and bliss that was offered. If Adora hadn't come for her…

"And you got over it."

Catra shrugged again. "With the help of my friends."

"And we'll help you," Adora cut in. "We know what you've been through - well, some of us."

"I was possessed by a Tok'ra," Sam said. "Jolinar."

"I know. I was briefed about that," Lenkova said. "And yet, we are supposed to ally with them?"

Oh. Catra hadn't expected that - this wasn't just about the Goa'uld.

"The Tok'ra oppose the Goa'uld," Sam said.

"They still take over people. They are the same… the same species," Lenkova retorted.

Catra briefly wondered what she had been about to say. Monsters? Aliens? It didn't matter. "So?" She asked. "They didn't do anything to us. They freed you," she added, feeling a little guilty when the other woman flinched.

"And they don't force themselves on others - they ask for a partner," Adora said. "They're not the same as the Goa'uld."

"Yes." Sam nodded.

"They did force you. I've read the report." Lenkova glared at Sam.

"That was an emergency," Sam replied. "But yes, I was possessed. And my body was taken over. I know how it feels. How you feel." She raised her hand, but only a little, then let it drop to her side again.

Lenkova clenched her teeth. Hard - Catra could see her jaw muscles twitch. "And the memories?"

Sam winced. "Yes."

"But if yours were from a Tok'ra who only forced itself on people in an emergency, you don't understand." Lenkova shook her head. Almost violently. "I have memories… of a monster. So many crimes. Atrocities. Torture. And it liked it. I remember loving it."

Oh. She had been possessed by a Goa'uld working at a bioweapon research facility. Catra nodded. "But those aren't your memories."

"They feel like it. When I dream, I can't tell who I am."

"Yes." Sam grimaced. "But that will get better. I know that. It's bad, but it will get better. Trust me."

Lenkova didn't look like she did but nodded anyway.

This could've gone better, Catra thought.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 7th, 1998

Jack O'Neill hated politics. And politicians. Most politicians. Some were OK. Probably. And you shouldn't hate the President, your commander-in-chief. Unless they deserved it. But overall, he would really prefer it if he could just do his job and not deal with politics.

On the other hand, he wasn't quite sure if briefing another bunch of politicians - something that Daniel could do much better, but, apparently, he was a bit too honest for them, or so Jack thought - wouldn't be preferable to talking to Lenkova. If Carter, Adora and Catra hadn't managed to do any good - and Carter's report had been pretty pessimistic - then what could Jack himself do? Well, he should be able to do as well as Catra, though that was a low bar unless the girl hadn't been as brash as usual.

But Lenkova was one of his, and Jack knew his duty. Any officer worth their commission put his people first. Always.

So he knocked on the door of Lenkova's room - she had been released from the infirmary - and waited.

After about fifteen seconds, just long enough to start worrying that the shrink who had dismissed the suicide watch had been wrong - he heard her call 'enter' through the door.

He stepped inside and caught the woman tugging on the hem of a grey Air Force sweater that clashed some with her Russian-style camo pants and… sandals?

"Colonel O'Neill." She shifted to a parade rest position despite her off-duty attire. Well, she was off-duty until further notice.

"Lieutenant Lenkova." He nodded.

"Please have a seat." She pointed at the only chair in the room.

Sitting while a woman was standing wasn't how you did things in America unless you were behind your desk and dealing with a subordinate who had messed up. But refusing would be impolite and send the wrong impression, so Jack sat down.

Fortunately, Lenkova took a seat on her bed. Though Jack didn't fail to note that she sat ramrod-straight and was as tense.

"So, how are you doing?" He cocked his head.

She relaxed a little, but he caught her frowning for a moment. "I was released from the infirmary, Colonel," she replied.

He had dealt with that kind of evasive answer before and raised his eyebrows at her in response.

She was about twenty years too young to stand up to him and pressed "I am well considering the circumstances, Colonel" through clenched teeth.

"Meaning, you're blaming yourself for stuff that wasn't your fault and dealing with memories of a snake in your head." He nodded. Just talk casually. Professionally. As if this was a normal situation and he perfectly knew what he was doing.

"Yes, Colonel." Now that was a smile. A cynical one, and quite twisted, and probably not very healthy, but a smile.

He smiled back. "So, I'm supposed to tell you that it wasn't your fault and that it'll get better if you just believe in yourself." He shrugged. "Too bad."

That confused her. She blinked, then stared at him.

He grinned. "I was never really good at following orders to the letter. Especially when they don't make too much sense." Not that they were orders, but Jack knew what was expected of him. But he also knew that trying to copy Carter and the others wouldn't work since they had tried that before.

"So, what are you here for, Colonel?" she asked. She was frowning openly now, which he took as a good sign.

"Well, I'm telling you that as the officer in charge of your men, they were your responsibility." He met her eyes and saw her flinch. "Yes, even if there's nothing you can do, you're still responsible. That's what being an officer means. It's not fair, but life's not fair."

She nodded slowly, hesitantly. "Yes, Colonel."

"And I'm not going to bullshit you and claim things will be fine. Things will get better, but you'll always remember your mistakes and the people you lost." Like Kawalski. Or Charlie.

"Yes, Colonel."

"So, I expect you to do better next time." He nodded at her. "But that means I expect you to find out what you could have done better and improve, not wallow in guilt."

"Yes, Colonel." She looked… well, not better, but determined. Good enough, he guessed.

"About the snake memories…" He shrugged again. "Not much we can do. They'll fade over time. And they aren't your memories. But they might be useful intel, so, if you can, write down what you remember before you forget."

Her eyes widened in surprise before she pressed her lips together - probably blaming herself for not seeing that angle.

Jack nodded, hiding how guilty he felt for manipulating the woman. But giving her a task she could do, a way to strike back at those who hurt her, an objective, would allow her to keep going and, ultimately, get over this. Find more reasons to keep going than spite. Or so he hoped.

At least, it had worked for him, after Charlie.

He still felt like a slimy politician when he left her room again.

*****​

NATO Headquarters Brussels, Belgium, Earth, December 8th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and several unions have announced strikes to protest the closing of factories in…"

"...and well, those riots in France might look bad, John, but compared to prior riots, those are really nothing to write home about - or, in this case, to report. The core of the riots seems to be made up of recently laid-off workers, and as long as they do not receive more support from other parts of the population, this won't be more than an episode, so…"

"...stock market remains volatile as prices wildly fluctuate depending on the latest news. Analysts are concerned about the lack of information regarding further steps of sharing technology. Magic remains a wild card, as the recent meteoric rise and subsequent fall of several pharmaceutical titles showed in response to completely unsubstantiated rumours that they had recruited sorceresses for medical research, but…"

"...while the citizens of Detroit are looking forward to the new shuttle factory, Boeing reported a series of cancelled orders from airlines and has denounced the new European Investment and Armament Program as an illegal attempt to subsidise its main competitor, Airbus, citing…"

"...of the Green party presented a new concept for a car-free city based on advanced alien technology…"

"...spokesperson of CERN announced the complete restructuring of the current organisation to focus on advanced technology…"

"...Bundeskanzler sagte, er habe vollstes Vertrauen, dass die Deutsche Autoindustrie sich an die veränderten Rahmenbedingungen anpassen werde, wobei aber mit kurzfristigen Verwerfungen zu rechnen sei…"

"...of the government of Norway stated that in light of the reveal of new power plant technology, Norway is reconsidering its focus on oil production. When questioned, he confirmed that the country is planning to use its statens pensjonsfond to finance the transition of their economy to one based on advanced technology…"

"...OPEC members apparently are divided about the best course of action, with some countries favouring to take what profits they can while the global economy still relies on oil and others pushing to use the threat of reducing oil production to force concessions from the industrialised countries to 'ensure the future prosperity of our countries in a world without oil'. The United States government released a statement that such an 'artificial shortage of crucial resources' would harm the war effort and would receive an appropriate response, but refused to go into details, and…"

"...and these shocking videos of lynchings of gay people in Iran, with the police not only tolerating these murders but actively aiding, raise concerns that the Etherians might intervene to stop those atrocities. What do you think, Connor?

Well, Bob, so far, the Etherians have shown immense restraint considering the shocking disparity of power, but one can only wonder how long this will last if those countries - and I include more than just Iran here - blatantly commit atrocities. Yet…"

Adora pressed her lips together. "We need to do something," she said as the TV in the meeting room showed shaky footage of two people being dragged through a crowd.

"Glimmer's putting pressure on the United Nations," Catra replied, switching through a few entertainment channels. "She said harsher sanctions were on the way."

That wouldn't stop the murders any time soon, though. Adora knew that much. Some countries were under sanctions for decades without changing their policies. "It's not enough!"

"What do you want to do instead? Invade?" Catra raised her eyebrows at her.

"No…" That would, at least according to SG--1, cause even more atrocities as many other countries would panic. And they didn't have the troops to garrison a country, much less an entire region of Earth. "But we can't let them just do this!" It wasn't right.

Catra sighed. "I know, But what can we do? Take out the government?"

That would have the same results as an outright invasion. Too many governments would be afraid to be next. Adora clenched her teeth. "It's so frustrating!"

"I know." Catra smiled sadly at her.

The door opened, and Glimmer entered. "What's wrong?" she asked as soon as she saw their expressions.

Catra pointed a the television. "Take your pick."

Glimmer scoffed. "As I keep being assured by our allies, Earth is actually doing better than expected, overall."

"That's too bad for those who do worse, I guess," Catra said.

"Yes." Glimmer sat down at the table and grabbed a soda from the basket in the middle. "But we can't really do much about it. Not without making things a lot worse."

"We shouldn't let them get away with those crimes!" Adora blurted out. "They keep murdering people for… being like us!"

"Yes." Glimmer looked grim as she nodded. "We'll bring it up in the next Alliance meeting. Once we are finally done with our response to the Tok'ra's proposal." She groaned. "So, sometime in the next ten years or so."

"That bad?"

"They're fighting over details. Even though the main issues have been settled. Don't ask me how, though - first, no one wanted to send any volunteers, but now, suddenly, everyone wants to send as many as possible." Glimmer shook her head.

That was good news. But… "And what can we do about that?" Adora asked, pointing at a news report showing a massive riot somewhere.

"Why are they rioting?" Glimmer asked.

"Dunno," Catra told her. "Either they are afraid of losing their jobs, or they are afraid of people being able to live and love like they want."

"We can't do much about the first problem," Glimmer said. "We're doing what we can to share technology, but Earth has a hard time adjusting, and we can't trust everyone. The second… apparently, the best we could do is accept as many refugees as possible, according to our allies." She scoffed again. "It seems a lot of people would feel a lot better if most gay people emigrated to Etheria or anywhere else off Earth."

"Even our allies?" Adora asked.

"They aren't open about it, but the way they talk about 'immigration pressure' and other stuff…" Glimmer grimaced.

"That's not right! No one should be forced to leave their home just to be able to love whom they want!" Adora protested. "Can we take them in, anyway?"

Glimmer winced, which wasn't a good sign. "It depends on how many people would go to Etheria. Earth has so many humans…"

"It's a mess," Catra commented. "They should settle some empty planets and spread out."

"That's looking like a good solution," Glimmer agreed to Adora's surprise. "But we don't have the resources for that. We've got enough trouble preparing for the war."

"And if Earth had the resources to settle other planets, we'd be spread rather thin protecting them," Catra aded.

That was true. Which meant they would have to let the lynchings continue.

Adora hated feeling powerless in the face of such evil.

*****​
 
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Chapter 65: Diplomatic Meetings Part 4
Chapter 65: Diplomatic Meetings Part 4

NATO Headquarters Brussels, Belgium, Earth, December 9th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Samantha Carter couldn't help feeling that while, without question, having access to shuttles that could take you around the world in less than an hour was a great thing, there were drawbacks. Such as the fact that if you could reach every point on Earth in less than an hour, people adjusted their expectations accordingly.

Which resulted in her being flown to Brussels to provide advice to the Alliance meeting currently held there. And not technological advice - or not primarily - but personal advice.

"...and you think we can trust the claims of the Tok'ra that they won't force themselves on unwilling hosts, Captain Carter?" the German minister present asked.

"I think they are honest in that they won't do that unless circumstances such as an emergency force them to resort to such means," she replied.

"So, despite your own experience, you trust the Tok'ra?" The man seemed honestly surprised.

"Because of my own experience," she corrected him.

And then wished she hadn't done so in such a pointed way when the man nodded and said: "Yes, we can see that."

Glimmer spoke up before Sam could find the best words to respond to the insinuation that she was influenced by the Tok'ra: "You have been briefed about the effects of Tok'ra - and Goa'uld - possession. The mental contamination is restricted to various amounts of fragmented memories. Their hosts, once freed, are not under their mental control any more."

"But we also have reports of lingering effects," the French Ministre des Affaires étrangères cut in.

"Yes," Sam told him. "But not to the extent that they would compromise my judgement."

Most of the ministers present nodded, though Sam wasn't sure that all of them believed her.

"And you called Sam here precisely because she had the memories of a Tok'ra in her head," Glimmer added. "Are there any other questions for her?"

There were none, and Glimmer quickly added: "I move that we recess for ten minutes."

To Sam's mild surprise, everyone agreed, and she found herself leaving the meeting room with Glimmer.

As soon as they entered the meeting room that was occupied by the Etherians for the duration of their stay in the NATO headquarters, Glimmer sighed and sat down in the closest chair. "I'm so tired of this!"

Sam nodded, even though she wasn't entirely sure what Glimmer was tired of - she hadn't followed the state of the negotiations very closely.

"Sorry about that, by the way. They insisted on questioning you," Glimmer added as she opened her eyes and pulled the basket with soda bottles closer to her using her staff.

"You already apologised when I arrived," Sam pointed out while she grabbed a bottle of mineral water for herself. "At least I got to check out the new shuttles," she added.

"Ah, yes." Glimmer shrugged - of course, she wouldn't be impressed by the first piece of advanced spacecraft built entirely on Earth. "Anyway, sorry. I think a few of the ministers are stalling because their governments are still trying to make deals with each other, and you were a convenient excuse."

"Ah." That sounded plausible, in Sam's opinion, but she had no way to tell if it was true.

Glimmer took a swig, swallowed and sighed. "Anyway, how are you doing? Entrapta was all gushing about your spacelab."

Sam smiled for the first time since she had started answering questions in the meeting. "It's quite useful. We can cooperate a lot more this way." And there were much fewer safety concerns now.

"Good." Glimmer took another swallow. "Also, Adora told me that you think we might corrupt your military discipline."

Sam suppressed a wince. "It was mentioned to me that there is a concern about the chain of command suffering if high-ranking officers go around it."

Glimmer snorted. "I don't think your generals pass every order to a soldier through their entire chain of command instead of giving it directly."

"No," Sam admitted. "It was more a concern about subordinates going around their commanders."

"You mean going to Adora and myself," Glimmer said.

"And other princesses, I think."

Glimmer sighed again. "That can't really be helped. A princess is expected to take care of problems - within reasons, of course - if asked to by their people."

"Do you consider Alliance soldiers your people?" Sam asked.

"Well…" Glimmer took another swig. Was she stalling? "In a way, yes. I mean… it's sort of a grey area. In the Princess Alliance, you generally don't meddle with soldiers from another kingdom; they got their own princess to look out for them. But if that princess is not available, you're expected to step in if needed. And, well… you don't really have princesses, so…" She shrugged.

"...so your first instinct is to act as if you would back home," Sam finished for her.

"Yeah. I mean, we wouldn't do it if it's a stupid complaint or concern, but sorting out problems with subordinates is what princesses are expected to do. It's part of being a ruler." Glimmer smiled. "I'll brief the others that this is a sensitive subject with Earth."

That wasn't as reassuring as it could've been, in Sam's opinion. Maybe she should ask Daniel about this.

*****​

NATO Headquarters Brussels, Belgium, Earth, December 9th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and I have to point out that when the Tok'ra are looking for hosts, they are looking for life-long partners. This is an extremely personal and intimate choice for them; they will not adhere to some sort of… contingent assigned by us. Would you pick your partner according to a quota?" Glimmer's scowl made it clear to everyone that this was a rhetorical question.

Then again, after some of the proposals they had heard today, Catra wouldn't have put it past some of the Alliance members to suggest exactly that. The news had speculated about marriages of state being proposed, referring to unnamed sources within one of the delegations, and Catra wasn't entirely sure that those sources were fictional. A few of the politicians in the Alliance still seemed to have trouble accepting that Etheria's princesses were different compared to Earth's royalty.

"Yes, yes," the French minister said. "Although we can and should take steps to ensure that the Tok'ra are giving everyone a fair shake, so to say. We do need to decide on how we present the volunteers anyway, to avoid complications and misunderstandings."

"What do you mean?" the American representative asked with a frown.

"I want to make sure this is not going to be handled as 'first come, first served', the French politician explained with a smile that was about as honest as Shadow Weaver's, in Catra's opinion. "If we created such incentives to rush the selection of the volunteers, we would put Earth's security at risk."

"The United States won't flood the Tok'ra with our own volunteers if you wanted to insinuate something like that."

"I did not, but it is good to hear."

Yeah, the smiles were a bit too toothy to be honest and friendly. Although it was getting late by now, and Catra was sure she wasn't the only one getting hungry again - dinner had been a while ago.

"In that case, I move that we settle the details later," Glimmer said. "Perhaps after inquiring with those who have experience hosting such events."

"I don't think anyone on Earth has experience with such an event," the German minister commented with a snort.

Glimmer shrugged. "Everyone mingling and looking for a partner at a social event - doesn't that sound familiar?"

That caused a few chuckles, with Adora joining in a little late - Catra's love had started nodding in serious agreement before she got the joke.

Although it wasn't really a joke, Catra realised. Holding an event like the Princess Prom seemed to be a much better idea than lining up volunteers to be inspected like livestock or something. Or having a bot play matchmaker, as Entrapta proposed - as a joke, or so Catra hoped.

But with the meeting finally winding down, Catra stretched, relieved, and didn't bother hiding her yawn.

"Catra!" Adora hissed.

She snorted in return. "It's almost midnight."

"But still…"

But Glimmer was already ending the meeting, and Catra quickly rose from her seat. "Let's get a snack on the way home!"

"Oh… alright," Adora caved.

Glimmer kept smiling until they were in the questionable privacy of their waiting room, where she sighed. "This was worse than most meetings of the Princess Alliance."

"You handled the thing well," Catra told her, cocking her head while she opened a pre-packaged sandwich.

Glimmer scoffed. "Not as well as I could've handled a Princess Alliance meeting. I don't know the humans well enough."

"Not yet," Adora commented.

"Probably not ever," Glimmer said, grabbing a soda for herself. "They keep changing ministers and generals even without elections."

"But we only see most princesses at the Princess Prom," Adora pointed out.

"But we see those who matter far more often. And they don't get replaced on a whim," Glimmer complained. "Anyway, let's go home. I want to cuddle with Bow and have him tell me I am doing important work, so I don't teleport the next idiot into the ocean."

Catra chuckled. Whether Glimmer was joking or not, it was funny. And cuddling with your love sounded like an excellent idea.

At least they had finally settled the proposal for the Tok'ra. More or less, anyway.

*****​

P34-353J, December 11th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"Another day, another planet," Jack O'Neill commented after stepping through the Stargate.

He had his M4 in his hands, even if he wasn't aiming it at anything or anyone - this wasn't supposed to be a hostile planet, and the Tok'ra had sent the codes to indicate that it was safe, but you never let down your guard when you were in alien country. Especially if you had been attacked on the planet before. And if you had civilians to guard. Or shepherd. Civilians who made Daniel look like a special force soldier.

"Colonel O'Neill. Queen Glimmer. Princess She-Ra." Martouf nodded at them in turn. "Captain Carter. Welcome."

"Martouf." Jack nodded back, but he wasn't relaxing. The snake wasn't just politely smiling at Carter. There was something more there. As before, actually.

And Carter looked a bit tenser than normal. "Martouf. Lantash."

"Hello!" Glimmer smiled her polite smile.

"Hello." Adora beamed at the assembled Tok'ra.

"Hey." Catra, though, nodded and kept scanning the area. And she wasn't particularly subtle about it.

In any case, it seemed safe. Jack used his radio to signal Stargate Command to send the actual diplomats through. Well, the actual diplomats from Earth - Glimmer and the others were diplomats as well, after all. And officers. And monarchs. Most of them, at least. Jack wasn't sure if he should envy or pity them for that. Probably both.

A few seconds later, Daniel and Teal'c stepped through the gate, followed by Emily and Entrapta, and then the first of the diplomats arrived, escorted by SG-2.

Martouf didn't seem to mind that they had brought more firepower than usual for a diplomatic mission, but then again, if your diplomats included magical space princesses who could throw tanks and turn spaceships into plants, a few killer robots and soldiers probably didn't make a difference.

Which would be a wrong thing to think, of course. But Jack didn't mind being underestimated. In fact, he preferred it.

"Hello," the leader of the delegation, a British diplomat who wouldn't look out of place in a Monty Python movie, in Jack's opinion, said, giving Martouf a bow. "I am Sir Watson, representing the Earth part of the Alliance."

"Hello. We are Martouf/Lantash. Please follow us - we'll take you to the meeting area." Martouf pointed to the skiffs waiting in the back.

At least none of the diplomats with Sir Whatshisname gawked at the hovering vehicles. That would have been embarrassing.

But, Jack thought as he saw Martouf paying extra attention to Carter, he really had to get to the bottom of this. If his second-in-command was being hounded by an alien, Jack would have to do something about it. Couldn't have snakes messing with his team.

*****​

They arrived at an unfamiliar spot in the desert - the Tok'ra had built a new base, it seemed. Or simply moved the location for the transporter pickup, but Jack O'Neill's money was on the former. This was a negotiation, after all, and they would be showing off the technology they knew the Alliance was interested in. Like some arms dealers he had had to work with in the past.

The Tok'ra weren't a front for Russians supporting insurrectionists, Jack reminded himself. They were fighting the Goa'uld, not a proxy war against the United States. He still didn't like them, and it had nothing to do with the way Martouf was smiling at Carter when they stepped off the second vehicle.

"Please stand by for the transporter."

And here it came. Jack tensed a little as the rings appeared around him.

And then he was inside a room, underground. And the air smelt… better than a bunker's air had any right to smell. No wonder the Tok'ra were so fond of creating new bases.

"Colonel O'Neill!"

Jack suppressed a frown and nodded as politely-but-distantly as he managed. "Anise."

The snake was beaming at him. "And Freya," she added in a human voice. And that was the host. She had a whole different body language, he noted. The woman moved more like a human instead of a well, smooth snake. But the look she gave him was the same - and belonged in a bar at happy hour, not at a diplomatic meeting. "How have you been, Colonel?"

"Oh, the usual. Paperwork. Lots of paperwork," Jack claimed nonchalantly. "Boring paperwork in preparation for this mission."

"Ah." Freya nodded with an empathic smile. "A necessary evil."

Then Anise continued: "Documenting your research is, of course, the hallmark of any scientist worth their education, but filing reports for the ones in charge of your budget does get tedious and often frustrating."

"I wouldn't know about that," Jack replied - wasn't it a diplomatic gaffe to talk to the escort at such meetings? But Garshaw was talking to Glimmer, Adora and Sir Watson. Damn. "I'm just the guy with the gun guarding the diplomats and scientists."

"Oh, you are much more than that, Colonel O'Neill!" Anise cooed - and Jack discovered that a snake voice cooing was much creepier than he had imagined. He definitely preferred the creepy megalomaniac snake voice to this.

But they were on a diplomatic mission, so Jack couldn't just tell the snake to get lost. Even worse, his team and his friends had noticed - not that this was hard to miss even for Daniel - and were looking amused. Well, except for Carter, who wasn't amused. Probably because it looked unprofessional, Jack told himself. Even though it wasn't his fault this time. Hell, even the diplomats had noticed! If any of them told Kinsey about this, Jack would shoot them.

Just when he suspected that Anise was about to grab his arm and try to drag him off to some lab or bedroom - and Jack didn't know which possibility he would find more disturbing - Garshaw spoke up, addressing everyone. "Please follow us to the meeting room. Your guest rooms are adjacent to it, and we've prepared a light meal before we start the negotiations."

Food sounded great right now. Jack might even go for a drink. On second thought, no - he needed all his wits to deal with the snake trying to seduce him.

*****​

Adora smiled fondly when Catra stacked her plate with all sorts of fish and almost fish dishes. Things were going well so far. The Tok'ra were friendly, and since the Alliance had decided to grant them their greatest demand, more hosts, they should be able to get them into the Alliance. Preferably as part of a new alliance between Etheria, Earth and the Tok'ra. A Triple-Alliance? They would have to sort out the exact name later. Adora didn't think that the Tok'ra would join as another member state like the individual countries on Earth, even if Earth might want that. Earth just had too many people for that.

"Jack's playing with fire," Catra commented after wolfing down a few pieces of fried fish.

"Eh?" Adora turned her head to look at what Catra was nodding at. Oh. Jack was talking to Anise, who was very close to him - she was almost touching the plate their friend held before him. And he had his back to the wall. "It looks more like Anise is bothering him," Adora commented with a frown.

"He's not doing much to push her away," Catra retorted. "And Sam's mad."

"Oh." Right, Sam didn't look happy. But was that because of Jack or Martouf, who hadn't left her side since they had arrived? Adora couldn't tell. Their friend was often glancing towards Jack, but that might be because she expected him to do something about Martouf. Maybe - the whole situation was needlessly complicated because of these stupid American regulations. She should really talk to the President about that… No. That would be meddling with their friends' love lives, and that was a bad thing. All the human TV shows agreed about that, too. And there was another point to consider, Adora realised. "He probably doesn't think he can push her away without being rude, and that might damage the negotiations."

Her lover scoffed. "If the Tok'ra don't understand that Anise is being rude, then that needs to be settled before we form an alliance."

That was true, of course. Jack shouldn't have to feel uncomfortable like that just for politics. Or worse. But… "Maybe we should do something."

"No," Catra objected. "This might be the thing they need to finally stop avoiding their feelings."

Her lover was serious, Adora realised. "You've been watching those weird TV shows again?"

"Huh?" Catra seemed confused. Or tried to appear so - her tail gave her away.

"The ones the Japanese gave us as a gift?" Adora raised her eyebrows. "With the catgirls?"

"Oh." Catra shook her head with a grin. "I was saving them for us to watch together. Should be funny."

"Oh. OK." Adora didn't push. Catra's interest in how humans saw people like her was understandable, even though the humans had never met actual people like her. But those shows were, well, weird.

"Oh, look! Sam's doing something! Oh, smooth!"

What? Adora turned her head again. Oh. Sam was talking to Entrapta. But… Ah.

Adora smiled when Entrapta went to fetch Anise, and she, Sam and Anise quickly started huddling together in a corner near Emily, who served as a holoprojector.

"She got rid of Martouf and Anise in one smooth move." Catra nodded - and then pouted. "But she's still avoiding the real issue."

Yes, Adora thought, Catra really has watched too many TV shows, weird or not.

*****​

"...and if we adapt this piece so it can be powered by magic, we should be able to increase the efficiency by at least 75%. As a rough estimate."

Samantha Carter nodded at Entrapta's suggestion. That would solve the power issues of their current proposal.

"If your numbers are correct - and I bow to your experience in magitech here - then yes, that should allow us to run several crystal arrays simultaneously," Anise agreed. "Though I can't provide details about the exact specifications until we have finalised the treaty."

"Of course." Sam nodded. This was merely hypothetical. Theorycrafting, so to speak. It was still enjoyable and productive. Far more so than watching Anise trying to seduce the Colonel. Or watching the Colonel let the Tok'ra all but crawl into his lap. Really, he should know better than that! Sam suppressed a frown. And a wince when she reminded herself that she hadn't really told off Martouf herself - but then, her… Jolinar's former lover hadn't been nearly as obvious as Anise, and he had lost his love, so putting him on the spot would have been very rude.

And this was a diplomatic meeting. Not some… other meeting. Even though some aliens might be mixing them up. On the other hand, the Tok'ra were looking for more hosts most of all, so maybe this was a sort of marriage meeting…

Sam nodded again as she studied Entrapta's next proposal to improve the tunnel-growing technology based on what their scans had shown. As long as no one expected her - or the Colonel - to get involved with any of this, that was none of her business.

And that was how she liked it. She was a soldier in the United States Air Force. She knew her duty. And she knew that the regulations governing her life were there for a reason. An excellent reason.

Even though she really loathed them sometimes. But that wasn't something she could change. Not unless a lot more things changed - for her and SG-1.

She forced the gloomy thoughts away and focused on the topic at hand. Advanced technology was something she could deal with, at least.

*****​

"...and while we see no reason to object to our people volunteering as hosts, we do hope that you will understand and respect our security concerns with regard to how such hosts are then chosen by you," Sir Watson said with a smile that Catra would have considered genuine if she hadn't been at half a dozen meetings where this had been hotly, very hotly, debated. "There should be enough suitable volunteers from amongst our population, anyway."

More than enough, in Catra's opinion - Earth had a stupidly high population. That was something that the Tok'ra agreed with. Some of them hadn't even believed the numbers they were told until Anise had run a few simulations. Apparently, the Goa'uld were deliberately keeping their slaves' numbers from rising too high to avoid another rebellion like the one on Earth thousands of years ago.

Though Catra had her doubts about the theory that sheer numbers of rebelling slaves had been the defining factor for pushing the Goa'uld off the planet. Numbers counted for a lot, but her bet was still on powerful magic. She had fought the Princess Alliance often enough - far too often - to know that the Horde would have crushed any number of the rebel soldiers if not for the princesses and the few sorceresses who had not hidden in Mystacore or one of the kingdoms not involved in the war. Although the Princess Alliance also had had access to far better technology than Earth, especially thousands of years ago, had had.

Adora squeezed Catra's thigh - and not in the teasing way. In the 'pay attention' way Catra was so familiar with from countless boring lessons as cadets. She snorted softly and patted her lover's hand, digging her nails into Adora's skin just a little - it wasn't as if anything important was being discussed right now.

"...although the exact conditions for choosing hosts have to be determined. This is a highly personal decision, which cannot be delegated, so…"

Yeah, Per'sus was just saying what Glimmer had been saying for days. And Catra didn't really care about how the Tok'ra wanted to do the matchmaking. That was none of her business - as long as none of the little snakes tried to go for Adora, of course.

Oh, Glimmer was standing up to talk. Catra's ears tilted forward a little.

"I agree with Per'sus, and I suggest that any volunteers - after being vetted by the Alliance - will meet the Tok'ra at a location of their choosing, although for security reasons, they will not travel alone."

Catra half-expected the Tok'ra to make a comment about the Alliance not trusting them with security, but they just nodded in agreement. Probably didn't think they could object after their first meeting with the Alliance had almost ended with a Goa'uld spy blowing them up.

Catra snorted softly again. If that was what it took to run such meetings more smoothly, they needed more such spies.

*****​

Jack O'Neill would really love to have a Goa'uld attack right now. Or any attack that gave him an excuse to ditch the meeting and go shoot something. Or comb the desert for a possible spy. He was so sick of people arguing over minor details.

Of course, how the Tok'ra contacted potential hosts from Earth wasn't exactly a minor detail, given all the security concerns involved. And the diplomatic concerns on Earth since if they used the Stargate for transport, the Russians and Chinese - hell, the rest of the United Nations - would want in as well, and telling them off would piss them off. More than they already were. And probably have them look for ways to mess with the whole project - or infiltrate it. Or both. Though they would likely try that anyway. And if they held the host matchmaking meeting on Earth, they would have to pick a suitable location that was acceptable for most members of the Alliance without causing security concerns - no one wanted a snake, friendly or not, loose on Earth. Or kidnapped. Jack's bet was on Canada - close enough to the USA and Europe while not being the USA.

OK, some important concerns were being discussed, he admitted grudgingly to himself. It was still damn boring. And, more concerning, it was apparently boring enough for Anise to focus on him instead of on whoever was talking. At least she was too far away - separated from Jack by Carter and Entrapta - to actually talk, but the glances she kept sending him… If she was using her alien scanner to see through Jack's clothes, he would have some words with her.

He blinked. That might actually be a real concern. He would have to ask Carter about that - but how, without sounding like a… well, sounding like he was actually worried about alien peeping toms.

"...and with that, I think we could use a break from negotiations."

"I concur. We have refreshments and snacks prepared in the room next to this."

What? Already? Jack blinked. That was…

"Colonel O'Neill!"

And Anise came at him like a Sidewinder locked on his engine. Carter got up to intercept her, but the snake was focusing on Jack. "I would like your opinion on how demographics affect the war strategy."

Oh. That was a safe topic - unless they started talking about personally doing your part to increase demographics. So Jack shrugged as they were walking to the buffet next door. "Well, the Goa'uld still have us outnumbered with soldiers, but the numbers of soldiers don't count nearly as much as the number and quality of spaceships." Who controlled the air - or space, in this case - controlled the war. Usually. Vietnam came to mind as a counter-example, of course.

He relaxed a little as he picked up a glass of fruit juice from a tray at the door. Talking about strategy and tactics was something he could easily do.

"Well, according to your claims - backed up by the evidence so far - your ships are technologically superior to the Goa'uld ships," Anise said after taking a sip - more like a gulp, actually - from her own drink. "But numbers are crucial; the Goa'uld fleet is spread out, which facilitates defeating them in detail, but it also allows them to strike at many, many targets - in addition to the attacker's advantage of picking when and where to attack. And, unlike us, you have worlds you cannot easily evacuate and have to defend. That's a strategic liability."

"Yes." Jack nodded. No need to lie about that. "But in order to attack a world, you must first know where it is. And while they know about Earth, Etheria is not known to the Goa'uld." And the planet had only recently returned to this universe according to the Etherians - something Jack still had trouble understanding or even accepting. Sticking an entire solar system, planets, moons and sun, into a pocket dimension? It was mind-boggling!

"But you still need to guard it anyway, just to be safe. The political cost of exposing it to danger, much less the blow should it be lost, allow nothing else. And, of course, the Goa'uld will quickly learn of its existence once the war switches to open invasions. If they manage to capture an Etherian, they might even gain enough information to find the planet," Anise retorted.

Jack nodded, hiding a frown. He wasn't talking to a snake version of Entrapta, he reminded himself. Anise had the experience and background of a spy as well - and knew politics much better than Jack's friend.

But Anise's interpersonal skills were still a bit less than impressive, he added mentally when the woman shot him another look that was far too obvious and added: "But I am sure a man of your talents has solutions ready for such problems."

"Well, I'm not in charge of strategy," he said, raising his glass. "I'm just a colonel in Stargate Command."

"Not for long, I would hope." Anise looked him over again. "Surely your government realises what a waste that would be."

"I quite like it where I am," Jack said. "I've got the best team possible, and I do very important work. And other people are better at the paper-pushing thing. Strategy and logistics," he added when he saw her frown. "You know, the thing that wins wars."

"Do not sell yourself short, O'Neill. You are a very experienced and skilful warrior. Did not General Hammond comment that you could expect a promotion in the future?" Teal'c gave honest but completely unwanted praise.

And, of course, for once, Anise deigned to acknowledge Teal'c, nodding. "Exactly!"

"That still won't put me in any position where I could move fleets around," Jack pointed out. "I won't even be in charge of Stargate Command." At least, he hoped so.

Anise drained her glass. "That is a pity. On the other hand, if you are not burdened with such a high position, you have much more freedom to take part in missions - or other projects, correct?" She beamed at him,

Oh, Hell and damnation! Jack had absolutely no doubt what kind of 'projects' Anise had in mind. "Ah, I need another drink. I'll be right back!"

He glanced around as he went to refill his glass. Carter was talking with Entrapta and Martouf and not even looking in his direction. Daniel was talking with Per'sus. Adora, Glimmer and Bow were talking with Garshaw and Sir Watson. And…

"Just tell her you're not interested."

…and Catra was standing at his side, refilling her plate. She sounded bored, too, but that was probably feigned.

"That would be rude. And you know what they say about a woman scorned," he told her.

"No? What do they say?" She cocked her head, then plopped a fried piece of fish into her mouth.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," he quoted… he didn't actually know who had written that. Shakespeare?

To his surprise, Catra nodded in apparent agreement. "Oh, yes." Why was she…? "So, why are you risking such fury by flirting with Anise?" she asked.

Jack blinked. What did she…? He pressed his lips together to avoid lashing out at the insinuation.

And she sighed and shook her head. "You really need to sort this out. Trust me, I know."

He knew she wasn't just talking about telling Anise to stop hitting on him. But she didn't understand. Things were complicated. And against regulations. They were in the middle of a war - which would heat up soon - and they couldn't afford to wreck the best team Stargate Command had. Or disrupt… He shook his head. This wasn't like whatever Catra and Adora had. It was completely different. If this was even a thing at all - it wasn't as if he had talked to Carter about anything. But even without anything being said, there were moments…

"There is nothing to sort out," he snapped - knowing it was a lie.

Catra shook her head and turned away, headed back to Adora and the others.

*****​

"...of course, this tunnelling technology is very useful, but it can be replaced by conventional tunnelling techniques, while magitech opens entirely new fields of study - and more applications - so I do not think that an exchange with Ancient technology would be equal."

Adora frowned - Sir Watson did sound genuine, but what he said went against what she had heard about the Tok'ra technology from Bow and Entrapta.

"Even leaving aside the potential inherent in adapting the technology to other fields, as well as the sheer value for building infrastructure on planets you have just taken, I think you're undervaluing the fact that our technology, while based on Ancient technology, is not gene-locked to descendants of the Ancients," Garshaw retorted.

"Yes!" Entrapta piped up, nodding several times. "Working with this technology is much easier, from a researcher's point of view, than with First Ones technology. Sometimes not as interesting, though," she added with a pout.

Sir Watson didn't frown, Adora noted, but his smile grew a little more… polite. "Earth has the ability to produce prefab housing and bases. The differences in efficiency might be significant, of course, but not as significant as space superiority."

"But in order to take advantage of better FTL drives on a strategic level, you need to be able to produce ships in large numbers. We are limited by population and industrial capacity," Garshaw pointed out. "Advanced technology could improve existing ships, but that would mostly facilitate some operations, not change the balance of power."

"You could use your technology to quickly set up yards, though." Sir Watson nodded.

"Those would still require a workforce that we cannot provide and tooling we lack at the moment, and even with both requirements filled, we'd be talking years to show the first results."

"We can help out there! We did that for Earth's shuttle factories - bots are working there while the humans learn how to produce the designs!" Entrapta smiled widely.

"And we already agreed to let people volunteer as hosts, so that should cover the numbers you currently lack." Sir Watson added.

"In theory, but even so, we could not match the numbers of one of the prominent System Lords, much less your numbers." Garshaw shook her head.

It wasn't about who was more powerful within the Alliance! Adora pressed her lips together so she wouldn't yell at the diplomats. They were here to form an alliance to defeat the Goa'uld, not to compete with each other.

Glimmer stood. "We cannot lose sight of the overall goal - the defeat of the System Lords and the liberation of their worlds and slaves. While we do have to take the future after the war into account when we discuss the proliferation of advanced technology, we first need to secure victory. Also, it should be obvious that Earth could easily, once the humans adapt Ancient technology, become a dominant power in the Galaxy by sheer weight of numbers."

That… wasn't quite how Adora would have put it. You couldn't effectively fight in a war if you were already worried about what your allies would do after the war.

"We will need time to adapt advanced technology," Sir Watson objected.

"And you aren't united," Adora pointed out. "Many of your countries do outnumber Etheria, many times in some cases, but most of them lack full access to advanced technology."

"Yes." Sir Watson nodded again.

"And you'll probably fight each other before you would unite," Catra commented.

Sir Watson frowned at her. "I would hope that humanity has grown beyond that."

"Well, you might stick to a cold war like last time." Catra shrugged.

Adora cleared her throat. "We're here to form an alliance against the Goa'uld," she reminded everyone. "Working together, we're much stronger than alone since we complement each other."

"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts," Sir Watson agreed.

"We have a common enemy," Garshaw said. "But we do need to take care not to sow the seeds for a new conflict while we fight this war."

Adora nodded. They needed trust and cooperation. And she knew that fighting the Goa'uld could provide both - if they managed to form an alliance first.

Which they would. Adora would make sure. The others would see that it was the best course of action.

Of course, she added to herself with a glance at Sam and Jack as the debate continued, sometimes, even smart people don't see what is obviously the best course of action. Stupid Air Fore rules! On the other hand, judging by what Adora had read up, the rules didn't say officers couldn't have a relationship with each other at all - just not within the same chain of command. But that would mean breaking up SG-1, which would be stupid as well.

The Air Force really needed to be more flexible, in Adora's opinion. Not every rule needed to apply to everyone. Everyone was different, after all.

*****​
 
Chapter 66: Regulations
Chapter 66: Regulations

P34-353J, December 11th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and I think we have determined the key points that remain to be settled during the negotiations," Sir Watson finished with a smile as they gathered for the sendoff in the transporter room of the Tok'ra base.

For a man who had been negotiating with aliens for most of a day, the diplomat looked quite fit, in Samantha Carter's opinion. Of course, the Alliance wouldn't have sent the man if he couldn't stand a marathon negotiation session - and this was just the preliminary meeting to prepare the actual negotiations. They would only send their best diplomats.

And SG-1. Sam was very much aware that she wasn't just here because she was the best expert on Ancient technology on Earth but also because she was best friends with Entrapta and had good relations with Anise. Although, she amended her thoughts when she watched how the Tok'ra scientist smiled at the Colone, if Anise keeps bothering the Colonel, I might have to rethink my stance. The woman - either woman, Freya obviously shared that interest - shouldn't exploit the fact that the Colonel couldn't rebuff her as he obviously wanted due to diplomatic considerations.

"You should say something to them."

Sam froze for a moment, then turned to look at the speaker. Martouf. "Pardon?"

"Anise and Freya wouldn't go after someone who's involved with someone else," he told her in the same low voice as before. Too low to be picked up by anyone else in the room. Except for Catra - the woman's ears were twitching already.

Sam considered denying the implied statement, but that would have been lying. And she wouldn't stoop to that. "We aren't involved," she said instead. "Regulations prohibit a relationship between officers in the same chain of command."

"But I think neither your nor his heart cares about regulations."

Sam bit back on the angry comeback - a good officer followed regulations. There were exceptions for saving the world, but not for personal… desires. But Martouf's expression was so… empathic fit it best, she decided. And she knew, thanks to the pang of guilt she felt, why he could feel that way - he and Lantash were both pining for someone they couldn't get, either.

Sam.

So she returned the smile in kind. "But we don't let our hearts rule us. There are good reasons for those regulations."

He inclined his head. "I don't doubt that, but I doubt that they are good enough to justify your and his unhappiness."

"We aren't unhappy." She had a great career. She had friends she trusted with her life. She could work with the most advanced technology on Earth and was making further advances. She had a lab in space and was best friends with a genius alien scientist. She could travel the galaxy. She wasn't unhappy.

But she didn't have… She pressed her lips together and pushed the small, nagging voice in the back of her mind away. Some things weren't meant to be.

But she could apply for a transfer. Away from SG-1. She would get it, Sam knew - as the leading scientist for Ancient technology, she could pick whatever posting she wanted. And that didn't even count her… influence with the leading power in the Alliance.

But that would… She was needed in SG-1. She couldn't leave. Not to mention what everyone would suspect about her reasons for leaving. And about her - and the Colonel.

Martouf inclined his head again, clearly not believing her. But he didn't push further. "I wish you happiness anyway."

Sam nodded in return. "Thank you. To you as well."

Then his lips shifted into a wry smile. "You should still talk to them, though." He glanced at the others in the room, gathering on the spot for the transporter. "And your friends, I think."

Sam caught Catra shaking her head at her. And elbowing Adora.

Yes, she thought with a sinking feeling, I need to talk with them. Before they tried to 'help' her. The last thing Sam - or anyone else - needed was a galactic superpower trying to meddle in her personal life.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 11th, 1998

"So…" Catra didn't grin when she approached Sam in her lab. Not much, at least - that would have been petty. And a bit cruel. Not that she had trouble with being either, but Sam was a friend, not an enemy.

Sam still gave her a flat stare that Mermista wouldn't have been able to top. "If you overheard my conversation with Martouf and Lantash, then you already know my response to whatever you are going to say."

Ah? Catra was tempted to claim she agreed with Sam's stance just to be contrarian, but that would have been petty. And stupid. "That's why I am starting with my response to your last statement," she said instead - with a grin.

Sam's eyes narrowed. "And what is your response?" she asked with a sigh.

"That your rules are stupid. You love him, he loves you, and rules that prevent two people in love from loving each other are stupid." Rules, people, orders - whatever stood in the way of love was wrong.

Sam actually rolled her eyes. "It's not as simple. Those rules were made for a very good reason."

She hadn't denied the other part of the statement, though. Catra sat down on the edge of Sam's desk and picked up a screwdriver to fiddle with. People didn't react to that as they reacted to sheathing and unsheathing her claws. "Don't you have a saying about good intentions paving the road to hell?"

"Yes," Sam admitted, and Catra's grin widened. "But that's not the case here. If relationships between an officer and one of their subordinates were allowed, it would be open to abuse."

Catra shrugged. "The people who do that stuff generally don't care about rules anyway." At least, that had been her experience in the Horde. Not that the Horde had had such regulations.

Sam sighed again. "Some will be discouraged. But even if some would not care, the rules make it easier for the victim to seek help."

"You don't have such rules for your civilians, though. So, it can't be that crucial." Catra hadn't heard that such stuff was common, anyway.

"Many private businesses and bureaucracies have rules to limit such relationships."

"Really? Your movies and TV shows are wrong, then." Catra snorted. She was aware of that. Mostly.

"Hollywood takes liberties with reality," Sam said with a wry smile followed by a wince.

"But that's not important," Catra went on, cocking her head to the side as she crossed her legs and juggled the screwdriver. "Do you think Jack would do such a thing?"

"Of course not!" Sam snapped. "But that's not the issue. Even if the majority of the people wouldn't do a thing, there are always some who would if it were allowed, and the rule is meant to stop them."

"And stops you and Jack. And probably others as well." Which was stupid. "You should get an exception."

Sam frowned deeply. "That's not how it works. If exceptions are possible, then those who would abuse their power would abuse such exceptions."

Catra shook her head. "Why don't you stick to punishing those then, instead of everyone else?" It was easier to go after criminals than to turn everyone into criminals. Hell, even the Horde had taught you that punishing everyone for the faults of one or two was something you only did in special situations. Of course, in practice, things had been different, but still…

"Because the intent is to prevent such… problems. Not deal with them after someone got hurt."

That still didn't make much sense. "But you don't have such rules for everyone. Just the military," Catra pointed out.

"And many public and private organisations."

Yes, she had mentioned that before. "You still should have some exceptions," Catra insisted. "Too rigid rules are bad." She knew that from personal experience. Damn Shadow Weaver.

Sam pressed her lips together. "Not everyone's a princess who can make their own rules. And not every princess knows best."

Catra didn't wince at the barb even though it wasn't… completely wrong. She shrugged. "Yeah, but you and Jack are an exception." No one deserved to be unhappy. Especially not her friends.

"No, we aren't. We're both officers in the United States Air Force. We have sworn an oath, and we will keep it." Sam pointedly turned to her computer, which Catra took as telling her that this conversation was over.

Well, one down, another to go. But she might have to change her approach now.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 12th, 1998

"Hi, Jack. Coffee?"

"Daniel?" Jack O'Neill generally liked every opportunity to put off his paperwork - well, the unnecessary paperwork; the kind of stuff someone once thought would be a good idea, ages ago, and which was kept on despite serving no purpose. Like writing a report for something he and everyone who had been there, as well as a few who hadn't, already had written a report about. But Daniel showing up so early in the morning, with the good coffee from his civilian-bought coffee maker? Without getting prompted by Jack? That raised some concerns. He still took the cup with a smile, of course.

"I thought you'd come in later today. Didn't you stay on past midnight to file your report?" Jack asked - as if he hadn't checked his subordinates' paperwork already; he would also have to tell Carter not to burn the midnight oil outside emergencies. Again.

His friend blushed. "Well, I like to write my reports when the memory's still fresh."

"Well, your memory's not going to stay fresh if you don't get enough sleep," Jack told him with a slight shake of his head.

Daniel pouted in return. "Who said that they could sleep when they're dead?"

Jack chuckled. "That was in the middle of an emergency. Not after a boring diplomatic meeting to prepare the actual meeting."

Daniel perked up instead of pouting some more, which raised more alarm bells in Jack's head. "Well, it wasn't that boring, was it?"

Jack shrugged. "People talking about talking. Of course, you'd find it interesting - you even find broken ceramic interesting."

"Even so-called trash can tell us a lot about an ancient culture," Daniel retorted. "But that's a topic for another day."

Like never, if Jack could help it. "Won't see me arguing that."

"Anyway." Daniel took a deep breath. And another when Jack raised his eyebrows at him. "Glimmer asked me a few weird questions yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Jack frowned. They had returned quite late through the Stargate, and Daniel had headed straight to his office, as far as Jack knew.

"Yes. She, ah, teleported into my office. Almost toppled a stack of Sumerian stone tablets."

"I thought we agreed that she wouldn't do that," Jack said.

"Well, she didn't know I had them, and so appeared a bit too close."

"I mean the whole 'teleporting into bases' stuff," Jack explained.

"Ah. She forgot, I think - it was late." Daniel shrugged. "Anyway, she was asking a lot about marriage customs, relationships, and the cultural significance of rules and regulations."

That was weird indeed. Glimmer had read up on that before, Jack knew - when the Etherians had negotiated with the various countries about gay marriage and other rights. But that was, as far as Jack knew, a done deal. And had been for a while.

"Mostly the latter," Daniel explained with the forced smile he usually had on his face when he wasn't sure about something but thought it was bad news.

So, what could… "Oh, damn!" Jack cursed, clenching his jaws.

"Yes. She was, well, not in those exact words, but she was asking about exemptions for certain rules about, ah, fraternisation?"

Jack closed his eyes to calm down and forced himself to unclench his teeth. Then he took a deep breath and sighed. They meant well. And they were stupid kids in some areas. Like this. "Don't tell me that magical space princesses are planning to meddle with my private life." At least Daniel had had the presence of mind to inform him.

"Well, they aren't meddling, at least I don't think they are - Glimmer seemed very aware of the cultural differences between Etherian and American military - but they're, ah, concerned." Daniel weakly smiled, Jack saw when he looked at his friend again.

"I said don't tell me."

"Technically, I told you they aren't meddling."

"But they're thinking about it." Jack sighed again and muttered another curse under his breath.

"They care about y… their friends," Daniel finished with a wince at Jack's glare. "They come from a completely different culture and social position, Jack. They don't really get why, ah, certain rules are the way they are. The idea that, ah, relationships between two adults could be prohibited by law goes against both their culture and their personal experience."

Oh, right. With the kind of messed-up personal history Adora and Catra had, they would completely misjudge the whole issue. The issue that Daniel wouldn't spell out if he knew what was good for him. "Great. Did you tell her not to meddle?"

"Well…" That wasn't the confirmation Jack wanted to hear. Not at all. "I explained the historical and cultural significance of the rules in question?" Daniel smiled weakly.

"To an absolute queen used to getting her whim."

"That's an unfair characterisation, Jack." And the pout was back. "Glimmer understands the importance of the rule of law - Bright Moon isn't an anarchy, and the queen can't just ignore the law on a whim. But their law generally is more, ah, flexible. It has more exemptions."

"You mean the princesses can play favourites." Jack pressed his lips together. Sure, there were mitigating circumstances, but on Earth, Catra and probably Scorpia and even Entrapta, but most definitely Hordak, would be behind bars for their actions in command of the Horde. Well, probably not Entrapta.

"They value their friends highly," Daniel sort of agreed. "And politics are personal for them, often based on personal relationships. Their culture reflects this." He shrugged with a smile. "It's actually not that different from the, ah, flexibility our own politics, especially international politics, has displayed in the past, just adapted to their own culture."

"Did you just compare meddling with my private life to propping up a dictatorship in the Cold War?" Jack asked with narrowed eyes.

Daniel blinked, mouth half-open. "Uh… I didn't mean… I mean, technically? I didn't mean that specific example, though. Just the leeway some people were shown for political reasons."

That still sounded like corruption to Jack. Whatever. "Well, next time you see them, ensure that they respect my… privacy." It wasn't as if he had a love life, anyway.

"Sure." Daniel nodded a bit too quickly.

"And I'll personally talk to them," Jack added.

"That's a good idea, yes."

Jack sighed once more. His friend was a bit too obvious. "Soon, then."

Daniel nodded again, looking relieved. Damn.

Jack nodded at him. "Thanks." For telling him about this.

"Yeah, well…" Daniel shrugged, then nodded back and left.

Well, at least Jack had a good excuse not to finish his second report.

*****​

Earth Orbit, Solar System, December 12th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Adora frowned when Glimmer had finished the summary of her talk with Daniel over breakfast. "So we can't help them?" She didn't like that. Not at all. A couple kept apart by stupid rules…

"Well, he didn't quite say that," Glimmer said as she refilled her glass with fresh juice.

Adora refilled hers as well. Entrapta's juicer was working very well, as long as you remembered to check if whoever had used it last had not forgotten to push the 'clean&empty' button. Certain flavours really didn't mix well. Like anchovies and oranges, no matter what Catra said.

"But Sam was pretty angry when I talked to her," Catra reminded her. "They take their rules seriously. Far too seriously." She stretched and swiped another slice of dark bread to top with smoked salmon.

Adora agreed. Catra might not take all rules seriously enough, but this was a very stupid rule.

"Daniel said it was a cultural thing," Glimmer said. "He said Earth, and especially the United States, was 'beholden to the rule of law'."

"And they have no princesses to step in and correct mistakes." Adora shook her head. "Isn't their president supposed to do that?"

"That would be favouritism, according to Sam. And they don't think it's a mistake," Catra said with a shrug. "Earth people don't really trust each other, so they want to make rules and laws that don't need trust."

Glimmer scoffed. "Oh, yes. Even the countries in the Alliance seem to expect the others to stab them in the back in the middle of the war."

"It's not that bad," Bow objected. "But they've had bad experiences with rulers and with allies. That colours their view. And Etheria has seen similar issues in the past. The Horde changed things since it was a threat to all of Etheria, so things are different in the Princess Alliance, but the other kingdoms haven't changed as much. Such actions were quite common once."

Adora nodded. She remembered the Princess Prom. So many princesses hadn't cared much or at all about the Horde threat. Not even after Catra and Scorpia had blown up Frosta's palace. Well, part of it. "But they wouldn't make such laws."

"Of course not. Limiting a princess's power like that would weaken their rule," Glimmer said.

"And we can't have that," Catra drawled with a smirk.

Glimmer shot her a glare. "Those who have the responsibility and duty also need to have the corresponding power."

That sounded like a quote. Probably from Queen Angella. Adora pressed her lips together for a moment. "Anyway, how do we help our friends then?" There had to be a way to work with the system.

"That's the question," Catra said. "Sam was annoyed at me for telling her she should do something about it."

"Uh…" Entrapta spoke up. "Are we sure that they love each other? Maybe they're just friends."

"Oh, yeah, they've got it bad for each other," Catra said.

Glimmer nodded. "Definitely."

"Yes." Bow nodded as well.

"Yes," Adora agreed with her friends. It was obvious.

"But why wouldn't they want to be together if they loved each other?" Entrapta asked.

"Because they don't want us to 'play favourites' or something," Catra said. "They think that will weaken the whole system they have and open it to abuse by others." She shrugged.

Adora frowned again. "If they have officers who would abuse that, they need to get rid of them."

"They have a lot of officers." Bow shook his head. "They have more soldiers than a lot of kingdoms on Etheria have people. And not enough princesses. Well, people with the power and prestige of princesses. Almost everyone has someone above them - or is limited in other ways."

"The numbers are like the Horde," Catra said. "I couldn't check everything myself, and the Force Captains were, well… of mixed quality. Couldn't trust all of them, of course, but as long as things worked out more or less, other stuff took priority."

"Yes, loyalty was a concern in the Horde," Hordak agreed. He was staring at Catra, who smirked back at him. "But I think harsh punishments for those who abuse their position would be better than preventive prohibitions."

"We can't really make them reform their whole system," Bow objected. "They have it for a reason."

"A stupid reason," Catra retorted.

"But intervening in another kingdom is not done lightly," Glimmer said. "Usually, you don't do that over a stupid law."

"But we can't let our friends be unhappy like that," Adora reminded them. We all know where that leads to, she thought with a glance at Catra.

"But they might not be happy if we meddle," Bow said.

"Not at first, at least," Catra added with a grin.

"Should we meddle?" Entrapta asked. "If they don't want us to…" She shrugged. "Sam isn't afraid to say what she wants, is she? She would have said something if she wanted help, right?"

"She might be too proud for that," Hordak pointed out. "Or she thinks the consequences of doing something aren't worth it."

"Yeah, that sounds like her," Catra agreed.

"Oh." Entrapta pouted. "Poor Sam."

"And poor Jack," Catra added. "So, we should…"

Darla announcing a call interrupted her. Adora quickly checked who was calling. Stargate Command? "Put them through," she told the ship.

Jack's face appeared on the smaller screen in the kitchen. "Good morning, everyone."

He was smiling, but he didn't look happy, Adora noticed when she returned the greeting. Too many teeth were showing.

"I think we need to talk about a few things," he went on. "In private. Face to face. So, any chance you could visit today?"

That sounded… ominous. Adora felt a little queasy. On the other hand, maybe this was an opportunity to talk things through with Jack? Honesty was the best policy, after all.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 12th, 1998

"So… How's the lab work going?"

Samantha Carter suppressed a sigh at Daniel's comment. Her friend's attempt to make conversation while avoiding the elephant in the room - or, to be precise, the Colonel missing in the mess hall - was very transparent.

And that meant he knew why the Colonel had suddenly left the Mountain for a visit to the Etherians in orbit - without anyone else from SG-1. Well, Sam had a suspicion about the reasons for that, but she needed confirmation. So she narrowed her eyes at him. "So spill, Daniel - why did Colonel O'Neill leave so urgently this morning?"

"Ah…" Daniel opened his mouth, then closed it again and pushed his glasses up his nose. "I, ah, don't know exactly, actually."

"But you have a reasonable suspicion," Sam pressed.

"Indeed," Teal'c surprisingly supported her.

"Ah… Well, it's really just a guess…"

"Daniel…" She raised her eyebrows at him with a sigh.

He caved. "I think he's gone to tell our friends not to, ah, meddle with his private life."

"Ah." Sam pressed her lips together. Just as she had thought. Her friends had bothered the Colonel as well with their nonsense.

"They mean well?" Daniel's tone and weak smile turned it into a question.

"It's none of their business," Sam spat. Then she glanced around. If someone overheard them, the rumour mill would go into overdrive. And the damage that would do…. "We'll continue this in my lab." That would assure their privacy.

"Ah, I still have a report to… Alright." Daniel forced another smile.

Teal'c merely rose without a word.

By the time they reached Sam's lab, she had calmed down. A little, at least. It was true that their friends meant well, but they didn't understand. Not even after she had explained things to Catra. She sighed as she sat down at her desk.

"The Etherians have a different view of, ah, the private life of soldiers," Daniel said, sitting down on one of the tables with non-critical parts.

Teal'c cocked his head to the side.

"I am aware of that," Sam said. "But we're on Earth. In the Air Force."

"They grew up in a very different culture," Daniel tried again. "And their personal experience also has an impact. Adora and Catra, well…" He shrugged. "You know their history."

Sam did. And that mess was completely different from… living in accordance with sensible rules and regulations. It wasn't as if an abusive parental figure was manipulating Sam's life. Dad might not have been the best father possible, but he certainly cared for Sam and tried his best.

"So, it's only understandable that they, ah, would react to what looks, from their perspective, like a rule prohibiting relationships such as theirs, by attempting to fix what they would see as a great injustice."

"I am aware that they see our laws as a problem," Sam snapped. Her friend was dancing around the issue, which was annoying.

"I think they are primarily troubled by the Air Force regulations that prohibit two soldiers from forming a relationship," Teal'c commented. "Such as Colonel O'Neill and yourself."

Sam suppressed a gasp and stared at him. He was going there?

Teal'c weathered her glare with a slight tilting of his head and a small smile.

She clenched her jaw. Maybe dancing around the issue would have been better.

Daniel cleared his throat and went to refill his mug. Coward.

"My relationship with Colonel O'Neill is strictly professional," Sam very carefully said.

"Indeed. But it need not be." Teal'c took a sip from his own cup.

Sam took a deep breath, suppressing both the urge to yell at her friend - friends - and the feeling of longing. "What 'need not be' doesn't matter. We have those rules and regulations for a reason. A very good reason."

"Well, relationships between officers are only prohibited if they are within the same chain of command," Daniel pointed out.

As if Sam wasn't aware of that! But that would mean breaking up SG-1. And apart from the personal cost that would incur - Sam didn't trust anyone else as much as her team, and she would loathe seeing them fight without her - there was nobody else who could replace them. Not yet, at least. None were as qualified as Sam and Daniel in their fields. And Teal'c was… Teal'c. His knowledge of the Goa'uld was crucial, and he was the best fighter she knew. Not counting princesses. And the Colonel… Well, he would be promoted sooner or later.

But not today. Or tomorrow. And when the Colonel was promoted, he would likely move up to command Stargate Command. Or whatever formation SG-1 would be serving in at that point - Sam was aware that the odds of them staying in Stargate Command as the war began in earnest were low.

In any case, she would still be in his chain of command for the foreseeable future. She could apply for a transfer, but… Sam didn't want to become stuck in a lab. She was a soldier, not merely a scientist. Sometimes - quite often, actually - her skills were needed on the frontlines. She was needed there.

And she wouldn't sacrifice that for personal, selfish reasons.

No matter how much she wanted to.

"I'm not going to transfer out," she said, nodding firmly.

Teal'c nodded, and Daniel looked both relieved and disappointed.

*****​

Earth Orbit, Solar System, December 12th, 1998 (Earth Time)

O'Neill was annoyed. And angry. Catra could tell the moment he stepped off the ramp of the shuttle in Darla's hangar. His smile showed his teeth, and if he had had the ears for it, they would have been flat against his head. She half-expected him to hiss, too, as he greeted them. "Hi, kids."

"Hi, Jack!" Adora beamed at him, but Catra's lover was nervous. Her smile was just a tad too wide, and her tone just a bit too loud.

"Hi, Jack!" Catra waved. She wasn't nervous. It wasn't as if they had done anything to feel really guilty about. No war had been started, and no one had been killed. Just trying to help out two friends. Even if they didn't want to get helped. Or especially if they didn't want to get helped.

"The others are in the lounge. That should be private enough for… whatever you want to talk about." Adora nodded twice and gestured towards the hangar door as if O'Neill hadn't spent more than a month on the ship and knew exactly where everything was.

Catra sighed and shook her head as she followed the two.

"Hi, kids!" O'Neill repeated himself when they entered the lounge.

"Hi, Jack!" Bow smiled at him.

"Hello, Jack!" Glimmer nodded.

"Good morning, Colonel O'Neill," Hordak said in a flat tone.

"Kids? I don't think we qualify as kids according to the accepted definition, Jack." Entrapta looked puzzled.

"For someone my age, you all look like kids."

"Even Hordak? Since you're actually younger than him, I think." Entrapta frowned.

Catra grinned at the question - O'Neill looked momentarily taken aback.

But the man recovered quickly and sat down in one of the chairs to the side, facing the couch with Glimmer and Bow and the armchair where Catra decided to sit on Adora's lap, leaving Entrapta and Hordak's couch to the side. As expected.

"So… I've heard you were looking into certain Air Force regulations," O'Neill said.

"Yes? I mean, yes," Adora replied with a nod.

"Regulations about the proper conduct of officers in the Air Force." O'Neill leaned forward with a frown.

"Regulations that state you and Sam can't get together." Catra flashed her teeth at him.

He narrowed his eyes at her for a moment. "And you are planning to do something about that," he went on in a flat voice.

"Yes?" Adora shifted a bit in the seat. Not enough to move Catra out of her lap, but enough to force her to adjust her own seat. "I mean, it's obvious that you two…"

"Stop," O'Neill interrupted her. Yes, he was angry now but controlled himself. Oops. "I don't know how things are done on Etheria, but on Earth, you respect your friends' privacy. And you don't start spreading rumours about them."

"Your TV shows disagree with that," Catra pointed out.

"That's TV." O'Neill glared at her. "It's not a role model - and not funny when it happens to you."

Catra wanted to disagree with that, but O'Neill was mad right now.

"But aren't you in love with Sam?" Adora asked.

The man closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. But he was still tense when he looked at them, Catra noticed. "That's not important. Not at all. You don't mess with your friends' - or anyone's - private life."

"Not even when they are, ah… 'showing self-destructive behaviour'?" Entrapta asked. "That would be an 'intervention' according to my data."

"We're not talking about drug abuse or drinking or whatever," O'Neill replied. "We're talking - entirely hypothetically - about two people not doing a thing that would break rules and regulations. And contrary to what kids might think, not acting on every urge isn't the end of the world."

Catra glared at him. Not acting on such 'urges' had almost caused the end of the world! Worlds, actually.

"We're talking about love, not urges," Adora objected.

"And if you don't want friends interfering with your love life," Glimmer added, "then why do you let rules interfere with your love life? That's basically the same thing."

O'Neill sighed again. "It's not the same thing."

"Why not?" Entrapta asked.

"I should have taken Daniel with me," Catra heard O'Neill mutter under his breath. "Look, those rules were created for a good reason. It's like… You know, it's like traffic rules."

"Traffic rules?" Glimmer cocked her head to the side.

"Do you mean trafficking?" Entrapta asked.

"No! Traffic. Cars on roads. On roads, you have a speed limit - the maximum speed you're allowed to go. That's because letting everyone drive at whatever speed they wanted to drive would mean a lot of people would drive too fast and endanger others. And even if you think you could drive faster without risking an accident, you don't do it. Because if you do it, others will do it as well - and they might not be able to safely handle their car at the same speed. And that means they'll crash. Probably into someone else."

"Ah." Entrapta nodded. "So, you serve as a role model for others by conforming to laws that shouldn't apply to you."

"But you have exceptions for that," Glimmer retorted. "The police are allowed to drive faster."

"In emergencies," O'Neill replied. "And this isn't an emergency."

"But we're talking about your… private life," Adora protested. "Not about cars."

"My private life, yes. If I need help, I'll ask for it."

Catra had her doubts about that.

"Look, I know you mean well, but messing with our rules like that will hurt a lot of people. I have seen lives ruined by people… getting involved with each other. Or abuse their power. We need those rules. And every exception would weaken them." O'Neill shook his head. "It's not worth it."

Catra doubted that. Love and happiness were worth it. Everyone deserved to be happy.

But it was O'Neill's life. And Sam's, though Sam hadn't wanted them to help either. So, it was, ultimately, up to them. Even though they were being stupid about it.

He looked at them. "Do you understand that?"

Catra was tempted to shrug, but everyone else was, reluctantly, nodding, so she did as well. But once they finally saw reason, Catra wouldn't let them forget this for a long, long while!

He sighed. "Ask Daniel about the reasons for those rules."

"I did," Glimmer said. "His explanation didn't sound very convincing."

"Well, ask him again." Under his breath, Catra heard him add: "He deserves it."

*****​

Jack O'Neill felt a bit guilty about throwing Daniel under the bus. But this was something his friend should have handled when he had been talking with Glimmer. If Daniel had done his job, Jack wouldn't have had to read a bunch of well-meaning magical princesses the riot act and wouldn't have to look at half a dozen disappointed faces. Well, four. Hordak looked bored, and Entrapta was focusing on her portable super-computer. Or three - Catra didn't look too disappointed.

Still, Jack felt guilty about that as well. "So, yeah, that was what I wanted to talk about." He nodded, suddenly feeling awkward.

"Sorry," Adora said. She looked far too sad for someone with their lover in their lap, Jack couldn't help thinking.

Glimmer, though, frowned. "But with those rules, what about mixed formations or chains of command?"

"Ah… everyone follows their own rules, I think," Jack replied - but he didn't think it would be so easy.

"Our rules say a princess can adjust such rules," Glimmer pointed out with a wry expression. "And our people are used to that."

Just forbidding fraternisation wouldn't work - Jack knew soldiers; fraternisation would happen anyway, but under strict rules, people tended to be more discreet. If they expected a princess to bail them out…

"You can't really expect us to forbid our people from following their hearts," Glimmer added. "Or not help them if they ask us to."

Yeah, Jack knew better than to expect the same people who picked their allies according to how tolerant they were of gay love to play along with a strict non-fraternisation policy. "Well, that seems like a question that should be handled by the brass," he said. He absolutely didn't feel guilty about throwing them to the wolves - handling that was their job, after all. And Hammond was good at it.

And now everyone was frowning at him. Damn.

"Now that you said your piece, it's suddenly none of your business any more?" Catra shook her head.

And Adora nodded. "Yes. You obviously thought about this."

"We would like your opinion on this." Glimmer wasn't smiling, but Jack was sure she wanted to.

He sighed. "Well, we have different cultures - military cultures. We don't really like the idea of staff officers playing favourites." He had explained that, hadn't he?

"Yes. But our people expect us to take care of them," Glimmer insisted. "Even - or especially - when visiting another kingdom."

And there went Jack's 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do' idea. Not that that would have worked well once the Etherians found out how the United States insisted on not subjecting their soldiers to foreign laws.

"We could just treat any formation with Etherians as an Etherian formation," Bow suggested.

"Yes!" Adora nodded. "That would mean they wouldn't be subject to your regulations! And they would be free to have relationships with soldiers in other formations since those wouldn't be in the same chain of command!"

That sounded… well, if no Etherians served with Americans, that would work. Sort of. The brass wouldn't be happy, of course. And Jack knew, though some politicians might not, that soldiers would fraternise anyway. And since this would, technically, not break any rules… He shrugged. "Well, I'm no lawyer or politician, but it might work. Don't quote me on that, though," he quickly added.

The last thing he wanted was to be dragged into a discussion of this proposal with the brass. Handling politics like this wasn't his job - he was only here to ensure that his completely hypothetical relationship - it wasn't as if he even knew what Carter thought about that - wouldn't be meddled with by magical space princesses.

And that was a job well done, if Jack did say so himself.

*****​
 
Chapter 67: Mistakes
Chapter 67: Mistakes

Earth Orbit, Solar System, December 12th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Adora sighed once Jack had left with the shuttle. "We made a mistake."

"We underestimated how attached they are to their stupid rules," Catra said. "That's all. If they want us, we can solve their problem for them."

Adora frowned at her. "You sound as if you expect them to come back and ask us for help."

"Of course I do," Catra said. "If they could solve their problem themselves, they would have done so already." She snorted and stretched her arms over her head. "Although we could have saved some time and effort and just asked beforehand. Or we could have been a bit sneakier so they wouldn't have noticed."

"But then we would have done it against their wishes," Entrapta pointed out.

"They obviously don't know what they want," Catra retorted. "They think rules are more important than their love." She shook her head.

"Well, Jack made a good case for why they don't want to get an exemption from that rule," Bow said. "I mean… he explained his reasons," he added when Glimmer frowned at him. "And we need to keep in mind that they come from another world. They do things differently on Earth."

Adora nodded, though she wasn't sure if she agreed completely. As long as you didn't count the bigotry, love and relationships were basically the same on Earth and on Etheria, that much she knew. And not just from watching television. Well, mostly from television, but she had seen couples as well.

"And they're wrong," Catra insisted. "Sticking to rules against common sense is a recipe for disaster."

Adora nodded again. She agreed with that. Well, with the rules comment.

"The question is," Bow spoke up again, "do their rules go against common sense?" Both Catra and Glimmer frowned at him, but he shrugged. "We're talking about a country with five to six times the population of Etheria. I am not sure if such a country could be run like one of our kingdoms."

That was a good point. The instructors in cadet training had told them that what worked for a squad wouldn't work for a company or battalion.

"They still need flexible rules," Glimmer said. "No rule can cover everything and remain fair."

"Yes, exactly!" Catra agreed emphatically - before blinking and frowning - and looking away from Glimmer, who was frowning as well.

Adora suppressed a chuckle at her friends' antics. She quickly grew serious again, though - this was a serious problem. "But they have experience with their way of doing things. We don't."

"So? The Horde had a lot of experience doing stuff the Horde way, and they were wrong," Catra said.

"Adapting an organisation for clones mindlessly following Horde Prime to incorporate soldiers that could not share the same thoughts is a challenge," Hordak said. He wasn't looking at Catra, but everyone knew he was responding to her criticism.

"Yes!" Entrapta chimed in. "We're still fiddling with the new Horde organisation. Although the differences between Second and Third Fleet also make this a challenge."

"So? As long as they follow Adora's orders, it works." Catra shrugged again. "Better than the rest of the Alliance."

"The circumstances are quite different," Glimmer objected. "Every member of the Alliance has their own military led by their princess. It took a long time to earn their trust."

And Adora still wasn't sure she deserved that trust. She was She-Ra, but she had grown up in the Horde, not as a princess.

Although, since now they had so many countries from Earth in the Alliance, maybe that wasn't a bad thing. It was clear that they had to adapt their rules as well. And they needed to do so before they started the actual fighting side by side with the Earth soldiers.

But rules that required you to abandon your love and happiness were simply wrong. No matter what Jack said about that, there had to be a way to solve this so Sam and he could be happy together.

They just had to find it.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 12th, 1998

Thanks to the latest experimental version of the magic scanner alerting her and her computer's connection to the Mountain's security system, Samantha Carter watched the shuttle touch down on the landing pad outside the Mountain from her lab. The Colonel had returned.

She made a note about possible improvements for the scanner's interface - especially a better method to mesh the scanner's data with camera footage - and then headed towards the Colonel's office. If he was returning from an official mission or even an errand, he'd usually report to General Hammond right away. So, if he wasn't headed to the General's office but his own…

And there he was. "Colonel," she greeted him.

"Carter." A half-wince appeared on his face before it settled into a polite smile. "What's up?"

Sam had an excuse ready. Multiple excuses, actually. She could report on her work with the scanner. Ask about the performance of the shuttle - she had been involved, if only in an accessory capacity, with its design. Give him an update about her work for the relocation of Stargate Command. All true and, therefore, good excuses for going to see the Colonel.

She didn't feel like using any of them. Instead, she followed him into his office and asked: "Did you succeed in convincing the Etherians to respect Air Force regulations, sir?"

His eyes widened slightly before his polite smile turned into that familiar wry grin. "I hope so," he said. "They apologised for trying to… meddle." With a sigh, he added: "Though I don't know if it took - they wanted to discuss regulations for mixed formations after my talk."

"Ah." Sam nodded slowly. That was… better than she had expected but not as good as she had hoped.

He shrugged. "You know the kids - they mean well. But that doesn't excuse their meddling. This is Earth, not Etheria."

"Yes, sir." Sam nodded again. "They are from a different culture, but they need to respect our own."

"Yep." After a moment, he added: "It doesn't help that they've been watching TV, of course."

Sam pressed her lips together. Friends meddling with their friends' love lives was a common plot in many TV shows - and often, far too often, in her opinion, that behaviour was presented not nearly negatively enough. "Hollywood has a lot to answer, sir." She had to struggle a little to keep herself from grimacing when she realised what she was doing - thinking about this as affecting her love life was a dangerous line of thought.

"Definitely." He snorted. "But I don't think they get the different culture bit. I can't help thinking that they apologised because I told them in person to stop and not because they realised their way of doing things won't work on Earth."

And the Colonel wouldn't have asked them to stop in person and in private unless he, too, felt… She shut down that line of thought. She really didn't want to go there. "To be fair, sir," she said before the short pause became awkward, "They didn't get the best impression of our customs." Entrapta, in her usual inadvertently blunt but honest manner, certainly had not left any doubt about that. "And since we actually changed the Constitution to meet their standards for the Alliance, they wouldn't have felt any need to question their own values."

He grimaced. "Yep, that certainly didn't help either." After a moment, he shrugged - a bit forced, in her opinion; she knew him well enough to tell. "Well, it's in the hand of the brass; I told our friends that they needed to discuss regulations for mixed formations with the people paid to worry about those things."

Sam frowned. "What do they consider mixed formations, sir?"

Another grimace. "I would say soldiers from Etheria and Earth in the same unit, but I didn't actually ask how far they would break that down - or how far they would scale that up."

Sam nodded. She could see the problem. "If they consider any unit under the command of an Etherian a mixed formation, then that would have unfortunate implications." Adora was the designated Supreme Commander of the Alliance, after all.

"Yep. But I don't think they're that sneaky. They wouldn't try to argue that. Not Adora, at least."

"But Catra might support that interpretation," Sam pointed out. She could easily see that.

"Yeah. But she's just one of them. And not a princess. Technically." The Colonel sounded as if he was trying to convince himself.

But Catra was Adora's lover - and amongst the Etherians, she, together with Hordak, had the most experience in commanding forces similar to Earth's armies. "You might need to talk to Adora about that, sir," Sam said.

Sighing, he nodded. "I guess so. I really hoped I could dodge that bullet," he added with a wry grin.

She matched his smile. "I trust you, sir."

"Thanks." His smile shifted a little, and, for a moment, Sam didn't know what to say now.

The moment grew awkward quickly. They were still standing in the middle of his office - too close, Sam belatedly realised. Far too close for comfort. If she reached out, she could touch his shoulder. Or he hers.

Stiffly she nodded once more. "Well, it seems you have this handled, sir."

"Ah, yes, Captain," he replied with a slightly jerky nod.

"Good. If that's all…?" she said before she caught herself. Hell, this was suddenly awkward.

"Ah, no, that's it."

"Then I will return to work, sir."

"You do that, Captain."

She turned as if she were on a parade ground and marched out of his office.

Then she sighed. She felt as if she had dodged a bullet herself - and like she had missed a shot.

*****​

Earth Orbit, Solar System, December 13th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and negotiations with the Tok'ra continue in the face of persistent protests against making a deal with the Goa'uld…"

"...you have to understand, Bob, that the Tok'ra aren't Goa'uld. Well, biologically, they are, but the differences between them and the Tok'ra are as significant as the differences between the Nazis and the Allies in World War II.

Well, Bill, our allies in World War II weren't exactly nice either, were they? Two colonial empires that were oppressing half the globe and a bloody dictatorship that would go on to subjugate half of Europe. Who's to say we won't end up in a Cold War with those people? We need to keep that in mind when dealing with those snakes, and we need to ask ourselves if we really need them as allies.

We're currently allied with a planet ruled by princesses, Bob. Absolute monarchs. Do you expect them to turn against us as well?

I'm just saying we need to be prepared. The United States cannot depend on anyone else for its security."

Sitting in Adora's seat on the bridge, Catra rolled her eyes at the screen. They went from discussing the Tok'ra to discussing Etheria - and she hadn't missed the copout at the end. "Those people really expect everyone to betray them," she muttered.

Probably because they were ready to betray everyone as soon as it was convenient for them. Or if they thought it was convenient for them. She knew from experience that misjudging the long-term consequences - or dismissing them - was a grave mistake when making plans. But if there was one thing she had learned after Adora had saved her - apart from how stupid Catra had been for not realising they were in love, of course - it was that you had to trust to be trusted.

But she also knew that trusting the wrong people was a potentially fatal mistake. "Shadow Weaver," she muttered as she switched the channel.

"...and despite the Secretary General of NATO's repeated assurances that the Alliance had no intention to attack or threaten any other country on Earth and the building up of forces, as well as the incorporation of advanced alien technology in its arsenal, was purely aimed to counter the threat posed by the Goa'uld Empire, many nations have voiced their concerns and fears about the shifting balance of power, citing historical precedents, and a proposal in the United Nations is gathering support…"

"...and it pains me to see that even so close to the most holy day of the year, when we should be preparing to celebrate the birth of our Saviour, the world is not only ready to plunge into war but preparing to join forces with evil. Haven't we learned anything from history? Doesn't the Holy Bible tell us what happens if you trust snakes? We need to…"

Catra scowled - why did the news keep giving those religious nutcases any screen time? She switched the screen to a feed from the bot network surrounding Earth and spreading into the Solar System and leaned back. What a way to start the day.

"What's wrong?"

Catra turned her head. Adora had just entered the bridge, carrying two steaming mugs. Chocolate, Catra's nose told her. "Just commenting on the stuff the news cover," she said as she slid out of the seat. "Come, sit down!"

"You just want to sit in my lap," Adora replied as she handed over Catra's mug. But she sat down anyway, and Catra did slip in her lap, then took a sip. "Mhh."

They sat in silence for a little while, watching the Earth through the windows - and the various other planets on the screen - until a ping announced a message. Catra was tempted to ignore it, but Adora being Adora, reached out and put it on the screen, replacing Mars.

It was their mail report from - whatever was considered important enough to pass on to them instead of being handled by a bot. While Adora grabbed a pad and started to go over the letters - scanned, of course - that were mostly calls for help, Catra picked up her own and checked the rest of the report.

Oh. "Speaking of religious nutcases…" she said, shaking her head.

"I thought we didn't get told about hatemail anymore," Adora commented.

"We don't. This is the summary of what the security bots have found. It looks like the bombs are getting more sophisticated, and one bigot upgraded to poison." Catra snorted. "All that effort, and they didn't bother to check whether we actually receive the mail in person!" Of course, the kind of scum sending such stuff probably considered everyone working with them an acceptable target. Well, the police were on the case. And Entrapta's scanners could detect any such threats.

Still, with Earth starting production of advanced weapons, the threats would grow more sophisticated. How soon until a nutcase tried to hijack a shuttle? How soon until a nutcase succeeded and tried to ram Darla?

Yeah, extending trust to people also had drawbacks. Catra would have to hope that Entrapta kept ahead of their enemies with her technology.

*****​

P34-353J, December 14th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Jack O'Neill wasn't a diplomat. Sure, he had talked his way out of trouble before, a couple of times, maybe more often than he had talked his way into trouble, but he was a soldier, not a negotiator. And he was a field officer, not a flag rank. Sure, he was a colonel, one rank below a one-star, and it wasn't as if he knew nothing about strategy, but his main experience was on the tactical level. So, it should have been obvious that he wasn't the best choice when it came to picking officers for the alliance negotiations with the Tok'ra.

But, apparently, his experience with aliens was 'invaluable', and his advice 'crucial', and so he had been attached to the delegation meeting the snakes. That was the official reason, at least - unofficially, Jack was sure that they had sent him along because he was friends with the Etherians and had done his part to defuse the bomb that would have blown up the High Council of the snakes, and the brass, as well as the government, counted on that to influence the negotiations. General Pecks, the ranking US officer of the delegation, certainly had hinted at that in the briefing.

At least the ground pounder hadn't told Jack to lie back and think of America, but Jack couldn't help thinking that the interest Anise was showing in his genes was also a factor. It wasn't as if anyone had needed his advice so far.

"...and while we agree that there are clear advantages to a unified command, there are also disadvantages. If the supreme commander makes a mistake, the consequences could be fatal. A more diverse force can survive such mistakes and keep fighting." Per'sus smiled as brightly as when the negotiations had begun hours ago.

"While that is, technically, true, it is a stance based on fighting a shadow war - a war fought by spies and saboteurs, where being discovered is lethal. Our war against the Goa'uld will be fought by armies and fleets, not small teams of saboteurs. And in such a war, defeat in detail is the bigger threat - and a lack of coordination will result in higher casualties than we'd suffer with a unified command that can have all forces support each other and follow a coordinated strategy." Glimmer's smile wasn't quite as bright - and not just because she didn't have the superhuman stamina of a snake, in Jack's opinion. She wasn't happy with the proceedings so far.

Well, he wasn't happy either. Even a cadet would be aware that you need a unified command to effectively fight a war. Well, maybe not a first year, but a second year for sure. But the snakes were still stuck in their spy mindset - and no matter how often Daniel claimed that it was perfectly logical given their history, it was holding things up.

Of course, Jack could understand not wanting to fight under the command of a foreigner - or, worse, a Navy puke - but if the US had to accept that, the Tok'ra could do so as well. Even more so since, apparently, the Tok'ra had no issues with Adora's age - though that was probably because they considered her an Ancient.

"And you will have a say as well about the strategic decisions," Adora added - for the third time, by Jack's count. "You won't have to obey blindly. Decisions will be debated, and advice will be listened to."

"But ultimately, it will be your decision," Garshaw said. "Yours and your closest advisors'."

Adora frowned, but Glimmer narrowed her eyes and spoke before she could reply. "I don't like this implication. That's not how we do things. Everyone gets a say."

"But some voices weigh more than others," Garshaw retorted. "That's only natural."

"That depends on their arguments and experience," Adora said.

"Yes," Glimmer agreed. "And we will be relying on your experience when it comes to the Goa'uld. You can count on that."

"But we won't be blindly following your advice either," Catra cut in, not bothering to straighten in her seat. Jack almost expected her to put her feet up on the table. "Also, you don't have to worry about getting ordered to suicide-charge Jaffa lines anyway - we know that that's not your strength."

"And who will you order into suicide charges?" Hen'ru asked.

"Bots," Catra shot back. "Dumb bots."

Adora nodded.

"And what if there are no bots available?" Hen'ru didn't relent.

The guy probably had spent too much time amongst snakes - evil snakes, in Jack's opinion. Well, time to justify why he was here. "Whoever's available in that case," he said. "You can't really plan that. It's a difficult decision, yes, but you have to trust your commander to use their best judgement." It all came down to that - trust.

Adora nodded. "Yes. We need a unified command, or the alliance can't really work. But we won't abuse that power. You have my word."

The Tok'ra exchanged glances. For a moment, Jack hoped they would realise that Adora was honest to a fault.

"Yes, of course, but we do have concerns," Per'sus said. "Even with the best intentions, a commander can make a mistake if they rely on faulty intel."

"Well, that's what happens in war." Catra shrugged. "And when it happens, you take your losses and keep going. You can't tell me you didn't have screw-ups that killed your people."

Jack suppressed a grin. They certainly couldn't - not after a spy almost blew them up.

The Tok'ra exchanged more glances. "Yes, of course," Garshaw said with a polite smile. "However, while we agree in principle to a unified command, crucial details still need to be settled."

Jack sighed. This was going to take a while. At least, it looked as if the Tok'ra accepted Supreme Commander Adora.

*****​

After another hour, they were still not done with all the crucial details. The Tok'ra might be attempting to exhaust them into agreeing, in Jack's opinion. Although they might have underestimated how stubborn Glimmer was - and Sir Watson, for all his politeness and British-ness, kept insisting on changes to the Tok'ra proposals that even Jack wouldn't have worried about.

But they finally could take a break - even though, Jack suspected, for Glimmer and the other leaders, it merely meant that they would negotiate more informally over food. But at least they got to eat - just sitting and listening, in case his advice was actually needed, had left him quite hungry.

He looked around for his friends, but Daniel had made a beeline for Per'sus as soon as the break had started, and Carter was already talking in a corner with Entrapta and Anise. Maybe he should go over there and remind Carter to eat? No, that would be patronising. Besides, if she was occupying Anise, then the least he could do was honouring her sacrifice.

The buffet was stacked as before, so Jack could pick what he already knew was good and leave the rest for the diplomats and Peck. If he felt like it, he might even point out the fried brain snacks before everyone had tried them. Now, where did the snakes place the noodles? The fish dishes were easy to find; Catra had headed straight to that part of the buffet, but the noodles were…

"Are you looking for the Ka'met, Colonel O'Neill?"

Jack turned and smiled at Anise. "Ka'met?" he asked while he glanced around - he couldn't spot Carter, but Entrpata was at the other side of the buffet.

"Fried noodles, I think, you called them before."

Had she ordered them hidden to have an opener? No, Jack didn't think Anise was the type to be so subtle - the snake had no problem being blunt. On the other hand, she had apparently noticed last time that he had liked that dish. Did he have an alien stalker? "Yes, actually," he said.

"The grain-based food is over here." She pointed at a row of owls with various mashed stuff in it - it looked like a mashed potatoes display at a barbecue after the kids got the food colouring set.

"Thank you." He stepped over there and spotted the noddles - cleverly hidden between green and bright orange mush that no red-blooded American man would want to look at.

"It's been quite a tiring negotiation session so far." Anise had followed him and was scooping out two helpings of the green mush.

Jack shrugged. "That's par for the course for diplomatic meetings. People can never simply agree to something." Not unless you asked them at gunpoint, and some of the diplomats he had seen today might object out of principle even then.

"It's quite vexing when people do not agree to the logical solution," she seemed to agree.

"I bet our diplomats say the same," Jack retorted.

"I was talking about both sets of negotiators." She tilted her head towards him. "The High Council is, unfortunately, understaffed with scientists."

Jack snorted. "Well, if scientists were negotiating, I bet they would decide everything by experimenting."

"Of course. That would be the rational solution." Anise nodded with a smile, and Jack wondered if he had to work on his sarcasm.

He started eating the noodles - Or Ka'met, whatever - and shrugged again.

"Anyway, I am happy that you are part of the Alliance delegation," Anise went on. "Since until the alliance has been formally sealed, travelling to Earth is restricted, I was hoping to meet you here."

And Jack was pretty sure why the snake wanted to meet him. "I think security precautions will still put some limits on travel to Earth." No one wanted to grant the snakes the freedom to travel unrestrictedly. Hell, the Etherians only got that because they had a fleet of spaceships with big honking guns and the tech everyone wanted.

"Well, limiting travel to the countries in the Alliance would be a rational compromise, I believe," Anise said.

"Maybe," Jack said as noncommittally as he could. Oh, Carter had just entered - and was headed straight towards him and Anise.

And he didn't think she was frowning as deeply as she did because she was hungry. Or that the frown was purely aimed at Anise.

Great.

*****​

"Oh! Looks like Sam's about to stake her claim! Hah, so much for 'there's nothing between us'!"

Adora suppressed a wince at Catra's gleeful tone. Sam was their friend; they should respect her wishes. And Jack's. Even though she agreed with Catra - the two were obviously in love - that didn't mean they should be so eager to see their friends proven wrong. That was just… petty.

But Catra was correct - Sam was frowning at Anise and Jack. Which was a little unfair since, as far as Adora could tell, Jack hadn't done anything to encourage Anise and Freya. On the other hand, maybe Sam thought that he should have done something to discourage them.

"Do you think she'll hit them?" Catra asked - still sounding more amused than concerned.

Adora shook her head as she kept watching the scene; they were both at the buffet, where Catra was waiting for fresh fish dishes, so it wasn't rude. "She's got too much self-control," Adora said. They wouldn't have to fear a diplomatic incident.

"Oh, yes - if she had less self-control, she would have jumped at our offer. Or jumped his bones," Catra agreed.

Adora pressed her lips together. She shouldn't indulge, but… "What are they saying?" she whispered.

"Nothing interesting," Catra replied. "She's just asking Anise some technical stuff."

But Sam had been scowling openly while she was approaching the others; Adora had seen that clearly. And Jack was, well, his smile was strained, and he looked like he was trying not to wince. Anise, though, looked puzzled. But why…

"Supreme Commander?"

Oh. Malinor/Kalet had approached them. And Adora hadn't even noticed. Well, Catra must have missed it as well. "Yes?" Adora cocked her head slightly to the side and smiled as if she hadn't been staring at her friends.

"I was wondering about your plans for returning magic to the Galaxy," the Tok'ra councillor said. "Do you expect that this will facilitate rebellions on the planets held by the Goa'uld?"

Hadn't Glimmer covered that already during their talks? But pointing that out would be rude - they were here to formalise an alliance, after all. So, Adora shook her head. "That's unlikely. Magic - the kind sorceresses do - requires training. Years of training." And as far as they knew, the Goa'uld had taken great pains to eliminate any knowledge about magic amongst their slaves.

"But that's not the only kind of magic, is it?" Malinor leaned forward a little. He was holding an empty plate, but he didn't seem to be interested in getting more food.

"Yes, there're also magical talents that people are born with," Adora told him.

"Some people," Catra interjected between two bites from a large fried fish she had managed to grab from the buffet as soon as it was restocked. "Princesses. And they're limited to Etheria."

Adora nodded. That was true, as far as they knew at least.

"And Ancients, right?" Malinor smiled.

Right. That again. "She-Ra's a special case," Adora told him. She didn't know for certain why she had become She-Ra. She had found the sword the First Ones had made to control Etheria's magic, but She-Ra had existed before the First Ones had arrived. Her friends claimed Etheria's magic had chosen her, that this was proof that it wasn't the sword the First Ones had created that made her She-Ra, but Adora just didn't know. And, knowing what the First Ones had been preparing Etheria for, she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Malinor nodded. "But as every scientist knows: If something was done once, it can be done again. Magitech can be used by anyone. Sooner or later, the Goa'uld will use magic as well - sooner rather than later, I fear, since they remember the time before magic disappeared."

"They can't activate a planet's magic, though," Adora pointed out. Only she could. "That will limit their options."

"But you will activate magic on planets that you invade, won't you?"

Of course - how else could the princesses use their magic? "Yes."

"And the Goa'uld already can use magitech - what they have left, at least," Catra said after finishing her fish.

"Some might be locked to Ancients and their descendants, they often limited their technology like that," Malinor said.

"Then they just have to take over such a host." Catra shrugged. "It's something that will probably happen anyway. At least, they can't use magic that way."

"Yes. But have you considered the threat of the Goa'uld using indoctrinated slaves to do magic? It might take a long time to conquer a planet."

Adora clenched her jaw. People raised from birth to unquestioningly serve the Goa'uld - that sounded very familiar.

Catra shrugged again. "They won't be very effective."

"Not at the start. But the longer they have, the more effective they'll become."

"Then we'll ensure that they won't have enough time," Adora said. "And the longer we have, the better we'll be prepared."

"Which brings us to another question: Did you consider waiting a bit longer with the overt parts of the war so we'll be better prepared?"

"That again!" Catra sighed. "We can't let them have the initiative - they will strike at Earth again, sooner or later. Better to hit them first and make them react to us."

"And we can't just let them keep oppressing people," Adora added with a frown. "We've gone over that before."

"Of course, but we didn't touch on how magic would affect that question. So…"

Adora grabbed a fish from Catra's plate and bit into it so she wouldn't grind her teeth. This was as bad as the negotiations on Earth.

*****​

"And yes, I think that would work out well - provided we can harden the power supply to withstand the drain."

I shouldn't have done this, Samantha Carter thought. Intervening had been a mistake. I should have just ignored Anise hitting on the Colonel.

Yes, that would have been the best choice of action - it wasn't as if he was interested in starting a relationship with either Anise or Freya. Sam was sure of this - the Colonel's many comments about the Goa'uld left no doubt about how he felt about the 'snakes'.

But when she had spotted Anise making a move, Sam hadn't been able to simply ignore it. Instead, she had made a completely transparent attempt to derail whatever discussion Anise and the Colonel had had going by talking about their shared projects. Way to go, Sam, she told herself.

"Yes! I think we can solve that by doubling the powerlines - and adding more redundancy on the power supply side," Entrapta said.

That it had worked was no small consolation, though - Anise had stopped flirting with the Colonel. Or what the Tok'ra scientist considered flirting.

"Well, I see you've got the tech-talk going, so…" The Colonel smiled. "...I'll go check if someone needs a tactic-talk. Or a hockey-talk. Or maybe I'll see if Catra wants to discuss the Simpsons' new catgirl character."

And with a nod, he left before anyone could say anything, leaving Sam wondering what he thought about her lapse.

"Oh. I think we've been rude, right?" Entrapta said, cocking her head while her hair continued to hold two plates, a glass and a computer. "Since Jack's not a scientist or involved in our projects - at least, I don't think he's involved in granting the funding, is he? Anyway, so he probably wasn't very interested in our project. And talking about something not everyone present is interested in is being rude." She nodded twice. "We might have to apologise, I think."

"I started it; I'll talk to him later," Sam said. "It was my fault, not yours." And it would allow her to sound out the Colonel without, well, being obvious about it. More obvious.

"OK. But we all bored him, right?"

"Only after I started it," Sam repeated herself. "Don't worry, if the Colonel's blaming anyone, it won't be you."

"Oh. But… didn't you know it was rude? Or were you impatient? I know it's hard to wait sometimes, but we're still in the planning phase."

Ah. Sam suppressed a wince. How to explain her actions without making her look foolish or lying to Entrapta? Maybe…

"Are you interested in Colonel O'Neill, Sam?"

Sam stiffened at Anise's question. "Regulations prohibit relationships between an officer and their subordinate," she replied almost reflexively before pressing her lips together. That wasn't a question you asked!

"That doesn't answer my question," Anise said, frowning. Then she cocked her head and grew still, somehow suddenly looking very alien. "Ah. Maybe it does." She nodded.

Freya must have commented, Sam realised. Anise's host saw what Anise was seeing. And Freya was interested in the Colonel as well, Sam reminded herself.

"It does?" Entrapta blinked. "Ah, I see." She nodded. "Yes, all my friends think so as well."

Sam really didn't like the smile on Anise's face, but it was quickly replaced by a sigh. "You should have stated your interest clearly, Sam," she - no, that was Freya's voice - said.

Was she insinuating that Sam had missed her shot? Sam could think of a few things that wouldn't miss Anise or Freya… She pushed the irrational bout of overrating aggression away. "As I said, regulations prohibit any relationship between an officer and their subordinate."

"Yes!" Entrapta chimed in. "We wanted to help them abolish that regulation - or get an exception - but that would be bad. Apparently."

Sam refrained from glaring at her friend. Unlike the other alien participating in this discussion, Entrapta didn't know any better and didn't mean anything by her comment. Nothing she didn't say, at least.

"But you are interested." Anise nodded. "If there were no regulations…"

"Those regulations were made for very good reasons," Sam interrupted her through clenched teeth. "And that's not going to change."

"And yet, you don't plan on finding another partner, do you?" Anise slowly nodded as if she already knew the answer.

"I am very busy with crucial work - as you already know," Sam told her. "Too busy to look for a relationship."

"Well, you could pick a lab buddy! That's how Hordak and I got together!" Entrapta beamed at her.

Her friend didn't know any better, Sam reminded herself again.

"What about Iwan?" Entrapta went on. "He's funny and nice, isn't he?"

"I am not interested in Dr Georgovich that way," Sam said. Not to mention that their cooperation would only last as long as Sam was assigned to Stargate Command.

"Ah." Anise's smile shifted into an expression of pity. "You are in a bind, then. You're unwilling to defy regulations - and you are in love with Colonel O'Neill. Is he aware of that?" Before Sam could think of an answer that wouldn't lead to a diplomatic incident, she nodded. "He would be - and he would return your interest. Otherwise, you would have moved on, I am sure."

Yes, of course - Sam wouldn't pine after a man who wasn't interested. She didn't say that out loud. And she was aware that the difference between pining after someone who wasn't interested and someone who wasn't allowed to have a relationship with her was mostly a technicality.

She didn't say that either, of course. Instead, she said: "Emotions are not very rational."

"Ah, yes." Entrapta nodded as if Sam had something insightful.

Sam was looking at Anise, anyway.

The Tok'ra nodded as well - with a smile. "This simplifies things."

"What?" Sam blurted out.

"Yes. While regrettable from a personal point of view - Colonel O'Neill is a very impressive man, and both Freya and I think he would be a great partner - now that this has been revealed, we can stop trying to entice him into a relationship and focus on convincing him to donate his genetic material. That should be much easier!" Anise beamed.

Sam stared. Were they serious?

And Catra started laughing behind them.

*****​
 
Chapter 68: Misunderstandings
Chapter 68: Misunderstandings

P34-353J, December 14th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Catra met Sam's glare with another chuckle. "See, that happens if you aren't honest about your feelings," she said - even though she was too far away for Sam to hear her words.

"Catra!" Adora hissed next to her.

"Oh, come on!" Catra pouted at her lover. "It's funny!"

"It's not!" Adora retorted. "What did they say, anyway?"

And that was also funny! Catra turned to grin at her, wriggling her ears to make her point.

Adora rolled her eyes. "What did they say?"

"Oh, Anise and Freya realised that Sam is in love with Jack, and Jack in love with her, and so they told her that they will stop trying to seduce him."

Adora frowned. "That's a good thing, isn't it? I mean…"

"They will simply try to get his genetic material from now on," Catra interrupted her.

"Oh." Adora blinked. And then she blushed a little. "Not like… that, right?"

Catra shrugged. "I don't think so. But who knows what Tok'ra think about that?"

"Daniel. He would know." Adora nodded. "Let's go ask him!"

That was a good idea. But even better, it proved that Adora was as curious as Catra about this. She grinned widely.

But when she looked around to see if Daniel was still talking to Per'sus, she noticed that Jack had gotten to Daniel first. Damn.

"Oh." Adora pouted. "We can't ask Daniel now - Jack would realise what this is about even if we don't name names."

"So?" That would only make it funnier, in Catra's opinion. And Daniel would probably tell Jack anyway, just as he must have done after his talk with Glimmer.

"We can't just ask Daniel if Anise wants to, ah, just sleep with Jack to have his child if he's there!" Adora hissed.

"Oh." Catra blinked. Not because she agreed with Adora - she didn't; they could and should - but… "I just realised. Anise and Freya want Jack's genetic material to make a baby."

Adora gaped at her. "Oh. But that would… They can't do that!"

Catra nodded. That wasn't funny. You didn't make a baby and then just… left. Both Catra and Adora knew what growing up without parents was like, and growing up with one parent out of the picture because they weren't wanted wasn't good either. It happened too often - on Earth and Etheria - to let it happen to a friend. Or to let a friend let it happen. "We have to talk to them."

"We have to tell Jack," Adora said.

Catra cocked her head. She had meant talking to Anise and Freya, but Jack worked as well - Sam was already trying to tell Anise that they couldn't just make babies. And Entrapta… totally misunderstood the problem. "We need to talk to all of them!" she whispered. "Entrapta just offered to loan Anise and Freya one of the cloning pods from Horde Prime because she thinks this is a technical problem."

"Oh, no!" Adora looked from Jack to Sam, Anise and Entrapta and back, biting her lower lip.

"I'll take Jack; you take the others," Catra told her.

"Alright!" Adora nodded, then took a deep breath, raised her chin and started towards the three women on the other side of the buffet.

Catra sighed, grabbed another fried fish and headed to Jack and Daniel.

*****​

Jack O'Neill would have to thank Carter once they were back on Earth. The Captain had neatly distracted Anise. Although he would have to be careful so this wouldn't end up as awkward as their last talk about… similar topics. The last thing Jack wanted was to touch on why Carter had seemed to be annoyed with him as well as with Anise. Or his subordinate's exact motives for helping him out.

He needed a distraction for himself before he dwelt on that too much and started thinking thoughts a good officer didn't think about his subordinate. "So, what's your take on the negotiations?" he asked Daniel before taking the last bit of his alien noodle bowl.

His friend narrowed his eyes slightly. So it was a transparent change of subject - not that talking about the food had been very engaging either, anyway. "I think we're going to get an Alliance, though ironing out the details might take a little while longer."

Stating the obvious, are we? But Jack nodded instead of snarking. "Yeah. The Tok'ra might not like it, but they need us if they want to beat the Goa'uld." They survived until now, but as any officer worth their commission knew, you couldn't beat an Empire like the Goa'uld's with just saboteurs and spies. You either needed a revolution with the support of the military - and good luck trying to get the Jaffa to rebel against their gods in sufficient numbers - or an outside power that supported you and could increase the pressure until the Empire cracked. Or defeat it in a war and let you pick up the pieces.

"They need the Alliance, yes," Daniel said, nodding.

Jack rolled his eyes. "I am aware that 'us' doesn't mean the United States." Unlike some of his fellow officers, Jack had accepted the new reality. Then again, he had known that the United States wasn't the top dog any more ever since he had started fighting the snakes. And the Etherians were decent 'leading allies', all things considered. Even if they needed to be taught about privacy.

His friend nodded with a smile. "Or just Earth. There's been a lot of changes since we met the Etherians."

"Meeting aliens tends to do that," Jack commented.

"Well, we've met aliens before - but we've kept it secret, and so any changes were very limited. But now… the whole world knows. This knowledge changes how everyone works and lives. Every country is now at least considering the galaxy when they formulate their policies."

"And all the riots and economic shockwaves, and, oh, right, the war," Jack pointed out.

"Well, yes, massive changes rarely happened without such effects in human history." Daniel didn't seem to consider that much of a drawback. Then again, he had been willing to live a basically bronze-age life on Abydos with his wife, so Daniel's standards of what was an 'acceptable cost' were a bit off, to say the least.

"You know…" Jack trailed off when he saw Catra walking straight towards them - with a concerned expression. "Don't tell me you found another spy!" he mumbled, knowing she could hear him.

She jerked at that, her eyes widening, but she kept coming. "No, not a spy," she said as she reached them. "It's about making babies, Jack!"

"What?" Jack glanced around. Had someone from their delegation snuck off and was now engaged in the hanky-panky with a snake?

"Making babies?"* Daniel asked.

"Yes. Or, in this case, about not making babies. Jack! You can't let Anise take your genetic material and make a baby!"

"What?" Jack stared at her.

Now she rolled her eyes. "Duh! What do you think she wants your genetic material for?"

Jack blinked. Not that he would let a snake get his… whatever. But wouldn't exactly expect Anise to use that to have his babies. Seducing him was one thing - attempting to seduce him - but this was…

"I would have thought they want to analyse it so they can isolate the gene or genes that make you an Ancient - at least according to their AIs," Daniel said.

"Yes, but that's just the first step," Catra said. "What do you think comes once they have that knowledge?"

"They… use it?" Daniel grimaced.

"To make babies with it. Your babies, Jack."

Oh. Oh damn. Jack hadn't thought of it like that.

"But just sharing a gene wouldn't make someone your child," Daniel said. Then he blinked. "Or would it?"

That wasn't a question Jack wanted to answer. "I'm not going to have any snake test tube kids," he said. Charlie would… He pressed his lips together and forced the painful memory away.

"Well, would they be your kids, Jack?" Daniel really didn't know when to stop. "Or what about, ah, modifying someone's genes with that gene? Would that make them the donor's child? Or relative?"

Jack clenched his jaw and glared at his friend, just in time to make him shut up before he could speculate further. "I'm not going to let anyone get my genetic material for anything like that."

"Good." Catra nodded. "We don't need more kids growing up without their parents."

That… Oh, Hell! That was how the Etherians saw this? Damn. Jack sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. This was even more messed up than he had thought.

"No one will be growing up without parents because I won't let anyone take my genetic material," he said. "No matter what for." Well, Dr Fraser had samples of his blood and stuff, and not just to check if he wasn't replaced with a double on a mission, but that was different.

But Catra didn't look very impressed. "You can't guarantee that."

Jack pressed his lips together. This wasn't a topic to be discussed in the middle of a diplomatic mission in an alien base, but it didn't seem as if he had a choice. He sighed. "Anise won't take my genetic material against my will," he said. "Not if she knows what's good for her."

"She does seem to plan to persuade you." Catra nodded at him.

"No chance," Jack said in a flat voice. He wasn't ready for a kid. Another kid. Not after Charlie.

"I don't think Anise is planning to, ah, make babies," Daniel said. "For one, they would take too long to grow up to help any project."

Ah, Daniel, both ruthless as well as naive. Jack glanced at Catra, who seemed to share his thoughts. "You don't need to be an adult to do things. We were taught how to fight from an early age," she told him.

Of course, she would know this from experience. Jack would really love to have a talk with Hordak about that, no matter how much the alien claimed to have reformed. And speaking of Hordak and the Horde… "And I'm no expert, but couldn't Horde Prime grow adult clones?" Jack knew that had been the case.

"Right." Catra nodded with a grim expression. "And even if Anise won't do it, others might do it. You might not be able to keep from having… kids."

"I don't know if you could call other people who share some genes with you your kids," Daniel insisted.

"Family, then," Catra retorted.

That was debatable. Only, Jack didn't exactly know how to debate that without sounding as if he would actually abandon family. Even though just getting some genes spliced, modified, whatever didn't make anyone family. Family was more than just genes. Oh, damn - now he sounded like a character out of some sappy soap opera. At least, he was only doing it in his head. "Look," he began, nodding at Catra and Daniel. "I'm not going to abandon a child." Not that there would be one, ever. "But if some Goa'uld adds some of my genes to their Jaffa Prime, then they're no family of mine."

Daniel nodded, but Catra still didn't look convinced. Hell, this argument would have… Oh, for Crying out loud! Jack narrowed his eyes at her. "It's not the same as your situation." Not at all.

"What about Teal'c?"

"He's a special case," Jack replied. Before she could protest, he went on: "And yes, he's not unique. But he's not special because of his, ah, genes, but because of his character. And yes, Daniel's right - you can't just claim to be family like that."

His friend nodded but then said: "Well, I doubt that the question of whether or not you can create familial ties through genetic engineering was ever answered, although they might consider the cases involving sperm donors as precedents."

Jack had no idea whether the rulings from those cases would support his views. He raised his eyebrows at his friend.

"Well, they're not conclusive…" Daniel shrugged. "It depends on the circumstances of the, ah, donation. I'm no expert, though."

"If you have a child, you can't just abandon them," Catra insisted.

"It's not that simple," Daniel said. "Though I think I recall that there have been issues with the biological parent suing the legal parent..."

"Just in case it might be in doubt: I'm not planning to sue for visiting rights to a Jaffa with my genes," Jack said. "And it doesn't matter anyway since I'm not going to let anyone get my genetic material." Oh. That might work. "In fact, I'm going to ask Entrapta to ensure that that can't happen against my will." That should work perfectly. He nodded.

"Ah…" Daniel raised the index of his right hand with a grimace. "Just ensure that there are no misunderstandings. The traditional way to prevent unwanted progeny is kind of… invasive."

Invasive? What…? Jack grimaced himself. "Of course, I didn't mean that!"

Daniel nodded, but Catra looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

And, not for the first time, Jack's friend was unhelpfully helpful and told her.

"They do that?" Catra asked with wide eyes.

Jack clenched his teeth and debated in his head whether heading over to the other group would be less embarrassing than staying here.

*****​

Adora pressed her lips together as she approached her friends. She had to be subtle. Subtle and diplomatic. She needed to be honest and persuasive. She couldn't just tell others what to do - she had to convince them to do the right thing. And, more important, not to do the wrong thing. She could do this. She had to do this.

"You can't make a baby with Jack's genes!"

Adora grimaced as everyone - Anise or Freya, Sam and even Entrapta - looked surprised at her outburst.

"What?" Sam snapped, starting to scowl.

"Actually, you can do it," Entrapta said, nodding. "Science makes it easy - well, relatively easy. But the Horde - Horde Prime's Horde, I mean - already had the necessary technology. Of course, you need the right genetic pattern and base material for the cloning pods - unless you want more Horde clones; that pattern is the default - but it's totally possible to make a baby with Jack's genes! We just have to reverse.engineer the clone pods."

Sam turned her head to frown at Entrapta. "Adora didn't mean that it was impossible."

Adora nodded. "I meant, you shouldn't make babies without their parents to raise them." There - much better! She should have started with that.

"I wouldn't do that!" Anise protested. "Using Jack's genetic material to create offspring without his consent would be an unacceptable breach of trust."

Adora nodded in agreement. That was good. Although now she felt a little foolish for rushing over to her friends. Apparently, she had been worried over nothing. She looked over to see how Catra was doing - she must have overheard their discussion, so… She blinked. Her lover seemed focused on Jack.

"And what would be an acceptable beach of trust?" Sam asked with a twisted smile which, well… Shadow Weaver had always worn a mask, but if she hadn't, she probably would have had such an expression when she had been annoyed with Adora.

It wasn't a good look.

Anise cocked her head to the side. "That depends on the circumstances, obviously. What is acceptable and what is not acceptable changes according to the actual situation. If you are trying to preserve your life, more actions are acceptable than when you are merely trying to avoid an inconvenience."

"The ends justify the means?" Sam was still not happy.

"Yes." Anise nodded.

Adora shook her head. "That's not true. Some things are never justified. Like destroying a world to defeat your enemy." What the First Ones had been planning had been monstrous.

"A single world would be a small price to pay, relatively, to end the threat the Goa'uld present to the entire galaxy," Anise retorted with a frown. "They have scorched and destroyed multiple worlds during their evil reign."

But that was… "That doesn't mean we should do as they do!" Adora protested. "And there's always a way to defeat them without destroying a world!"

Entrapta nodded. "Yes. Although alternate solutions might not be as effective."

"That doesn't matter when we're talking about innocent lives," Adora told her.

"Even if it means higher casualties for our own forces?" Anise asked.

"We don't sacrifice civilians to win," Adora replied at once. You didn't attack the helpless! That was what the Horde did! Had done.

"Sometimes, the enemy uses civilians as human shields," Sam said.

"Then we save the civilians first," Adora said firmly.

"I see." Anise nodded. She looked pensive, Adora noticed. Or talking to Freya in her head.

"But we were talking about using Colonel O'Neill's genetic samples," Sam said. "Which you still intend to do, don't you?"

"Well, yes." Anise nodded. "As an Ancient - or a descendant of an Ancient - his genes could unlock so much technology…"

Adora pressed her lips together as Anise glanced at her. She was a First One - an Ancient - herself.

"Oh, yes!" Entrapta nodded emphatically. "Adora helped us so much with using First Ones technology." She tilted her head to the side. "Although she did that by helping in person. We didn't clone her or graft her genes on others. Which would be tricky, I think - the First Ones were expert geneticists, so they would have thorough checks for such attempts to bypass their security."

"Yes. Simply inserting the relevant genes is unlikely to work." Anise agreed. "The Ancients would have expected such crude methods. And we don't know how much gene grafting we would have to do to satisfy the requirements set by their technology. However, their own descendants would qualify. We know that already."

"Yes." Entrapta nodded. "Alpha proved that when she identified both Adora and Jack as First Ones."

"Exactly. And that means their progeny would qualify as well," Anise said. "Probably - there's likely a combination of genetic markers necessary that not every child might inherit."

"So, you do want to make a baby with Jack," Adora said.

"Only with his consent, of course." Anise smiled. "And without sexual intercourse, of course." She nodded at Sam.

Adora blinked again. Uh… "But the baby would still grow up without one parent." And that was bad. Not as bad as being an orphan, but still bad.

Anise's stance changed, and Freya said: "That does not need to be the case. With a Stargate, Colonel O'Neill could easily visit as often as he wanted. With the demands of the war, many children won't see one of their parents for long stretches of time, will they?" She smiled warmly.

That was… She wasn't wrong, Adora had to admit. And if Jack agreed to that, well, she couldn't tell anyone not to have children, could she? Wait, she had just done that - but that had been different.

"The Colonel won't agree," Sam said with a scowl.

"That remains to be seen," Freya said. "Of course, he could raise the child - or children - and we could visit. I am sure he would be a good parent."

Adora blinked. She wasn't the only one. That was… well, Jack had had a child, so he had experience, but… he was also very busy. But… "That would be his decision," she said. But she doubted he would want to raise a child during the war - he would have to quit the Air Force, wouldn't he?

Sam shook her head. "He won't."

But Freya kept smiling, and Adora didn't think Sam sounded as certain as before.

This was getting complicated.

*****​

The Colonel wouldn't give consent to having a test tube baby with an alien. Samantha Carter was confident that her assessment of him was correct. Mostly - she wasn't a hundred per cent certain. And, she realised, she didn't know enough to tell. She knew - from talking to others; he had never talked about it, and Sam knew better than to bring it up - that the Colonel had lost his son to a tragic accident with a firearm three years ago, which had also destroyed his marriage.

But would that push him to reject Anise's offer? He was almost certainly blaming himself for the accident; any parent would in his position. So Anise's offer might be seen as a sort of second chance. Unlikely, but not impossible. And since Sam knew, from personal observation and experience, that the Colonel had a soft spot for kids, possibly accentuated because of this tragedy, she was also reasonably sure that if someone managed to create a test tube baby with his genetic material, he wouldn't reject the child.

But she didn't know for certain how he felt. And not just about the issue of test tube babies. Another reason for not breaking regulations, a small voice whispered in her head. If she never found out the truth, she couldn't be disappointed.

She pushed the voice away. She wasn't afraid of the truth. And she wouldn't let fear dictate her course of action. Complying with regulations was the reasonable course of action, nothing more, nothing less.

But she still felt the urge to punch Anise - and Freya; both were in obvious agreement about their plans - in the face. It was irrational and unfair, she knew that. They were from an alien culture. Two alien cultures, actually, and they were, as far as Sam was aware, acting perfectly acceptable according to their standards. And, she added to herself, according to some standards of Earth and possibly Etheria as well - donating sperm and oocytes was a relatively common procedure, after all.

But trying to trap someone in a relationship by having their child was not too rare either in many cultures, she added with a frown.

"Well…" Adora broke the short spell of silence. "That would be his decision, right?"

Of course, it would be the Colonel's decision! Sam nodded sharply.

But Freya kept smiling so confidently. She knew nothing about the Colonel, Sam knew. Anise and Freya only knew of his reputation and fame and had barely spent a day with him, less than twenty-four hours in total. Sam had spent months with the man, much of it in extreme situations where people generally showed their true colours, but they had also spent considerable time socialising.

She raised her head and met their eyes. Yes, she told herself again, the Colonel would reject their offer.

He'd better!

*****​

"...so, you see, it's technically reversible, but the odds aren't that good. So, it's practically a final decision not to have any more children."

Catra didn't grimace at Daniel's explanation, but she couldn't help feeling a bit queasy at the thought of asking a healer to permanently remove her ability to have a child. Although healing magic should be able to reverse that. Of course, with Entrapta's help, she could have a child with Adora any time she wanted, no matter the condition of her body - and in a pinch, Adora could carry a baby to term, though they would have to find out how transforming into She-Ra would affect that - but to do that to your own body? When you had other alternatives?

She shook her head. "That feels like a pretty drastic way to save on money spent on contraception."

"Well…" Daniel shrugged with a sheepish expression. "It's one of the most effective ways. And you, ah, can't forget or mess it up. But it is not an uncontroversial procedure; many men think, although quite irrationally, that it would hurt their masculinity."

"Ah." Well, cutting something in your body might do that - Catra was no expert on Earth culture. "But you don't cut off their balls."

"No, we don't. Not any more, at least," Daniel said.

"I think we all got your History of Eunuchs 101 lesson," O'Neill cut in with a toothy smile. "Thank you."

Daniel pouted at his friend. "I felt it was important to explain the differences between a vasectomy and castration. You really cannot afford any misunderstandings here."

O'Neill tensed and nodded jerkily.

Catra agreed. "And it wouldn't help you anyway since Anise could take your genetic material from any cell." At least, Entrapta could do that, so Anise should be able to do it as well.

"Yes, I assume so."

"So, how exactly do you expect her to keep your, ah, genetic legacy secure?" Daniel asked.

For a moment, Jack frowned, then he smiled and shrugged. "Magic?"

Daniel snorted, but Catra nodded. That sounded like it might work. "You should ask Glimmer, though. She's the one who was trained as a sorceress. Entrapta's the specialist for technology."

"I will then."

Catra narrowed her eyes. She couldn't tell if O'Neill was serious or not. He sounded serious, and it was a serious subject, but… he also didn't like magic.

Well, it was his body, so it was his choice and none of her business. And if he could get over his dislike of magic, then that could only help him.

*****​

And he would. Jack O'Neill was sure of that. He suppressed a shudder. Magic was creepy, but he would rather have a spell cast on him than find out someone made a test tube baby with his genes. Or a clone. Or an alien-O'Neill clone. Yes, despite the creepiness, he would talk to Glimmer about this.

But not right now. This was a diplomatic meeting, after all, and Glimmer was the most important member of the Alliance delegation. Mostly because she was more of a diplomat than Adora, of course. In any case, Jack knew better than to bother her about his personal problems in the middle of diplomatic negotiations. Even though they were currently being conducted at the buffet. With his luck, he might derail a crucial breakthrough by distracting her - the Etherians might take politics personally, but, as Catra had just proven again, they cared about their friends so much, they might prioritise Jack's issues over the good of the Alliance.

And that, Jack wouldn't allow. Couldn't. He knew his duty to his country and to Earth. And he would be a damn hypocrite if he defended Air Force fraternisation regulations to the Etherians, then turned around and asked them to help him with a personal problem at the expense of the overall goal of the Alliance.

No, there was enough time to handle this once they were back on Earth. More privacy as well - Jack wasn't keen on letting everyone know he wanted to use magic to keep aliens from taking his genetic material. Carter would probably call it 'preventive contraception' or something sciency-sounding, but she would do it with that faint smile of hers that…

Jack sighed and grabbed another bowl of alien noodles. He reminded himself that he knew his duty. And that he would do his duty.

And just as he started to eat - Daniel was well into lecturing Catra about the finer points of masculinity as seen by various cultures on Earth - the Head Snake called everyone to the meeting room again.

Great. Jack started shovelling food into his mouth on the way to the door. He had a feeling he'd need the calories.

*****​

"...and yes, I think we can agree on the necessity of a united intelligence council. However, the exact composition and purview of such a council need to be defined more clearly before we can move to the next part."

Jack O'Neill struggled not to yawn. Sir Watson had the boring, droning tone of a bureaucrat down pat. The man could speak far more engagedly, Jack knew that, so either he was feeling the hours himself, or this was by design - it was hard to tell with career diplomats. Not that Jack could think of a reason why you wanted to be boring unless it was to tire out the other side or make them fall asleep at the table.

Which, he confirmed with a glance around, wasn't working anyway. At least not on the snakes and their hosts. Though they probably cheated by switching between Goa'uld and host so one of them could rest. Or something.

But Catra looked like she was only awake because Adora would elbow her if she fell asleep, and even Daniel seemed to be too tired to keep paying a hundred per cent attention to 'history being made in our presence', as he had called it. Before the meeting, of course.

"Indeed," Garhsaw said. "And, given the importance of intelligence for waging war, I think the council's purview should include some oversight on how the information provided and curated by it is being used."

"As long as that is strictly limited to advising, of course," Glimmer cut in. "We cannot allow such a council to usurp the role of command."

Sir Watson nodded, and Garshaw smiled. "Of course." Jack couldn't tell if she had seriously expected to be able to outmanoeuvre the Alliance like that, but he was sure that she wouldn't have minded if the spook council would have gotten veto powers or something. It certainly would have fit the sneaky snakes to try for some 'rule from the shadows' role, and you couldn't get more shadowy in war than a spy.

But with that line drawn, they settled for the details of how to staff said council. Surprisingly, the Etherians didn't propose some magical superspy as the leader of the council. Or not so surprisingly - Jack remembered that they didn't seem to be terribly fond of spies, the way they sometimes spoke of 'Double Trouble'.

Well, Jack approved of being wary of spooks. Based on his own experience with them - he was sure that the Etherian version of spies wasn't any better than the CIA agents he had worked with during the Cold War. Probably worse since they had all sorts of magic.

While Glimmer, who seemed to be holding up well, actually, and Sir Watson hashed out the details with Garshaw and Per'sus, Jack risked a glance at Anise, who was taking part in the meetings as a technological advisor - and immediately wished he hadn't. The snake met his eyes with a smile. Or Freya did; Jack couldn't tell right now, not without them talking or moving.

Two people - or a snake and a person - occupying the same body was just creepy. How were you supposed to have a relationship with that, anyway? What if you liked one but not the other? What if you liked both but preferred one? Or if one of them hated you, and the other loved you? It was difficult enough to handle a relationship with just one person, especially as a soldier - Jack's marriage had seen some rocky times even before… He pressed his lips together as he, once more today, had to force the memories of that terrible day away. Anyway, handling a relationship with two people? That would be a nightmare.

No, Jack would stick to plain boring relationships with a single partner. Hypothetically, of course, since regulations were regulations, and they forbid relationships between an officer and a subordinate.

*****​

Adora suppressed a sigh when the meeting finally ended. Almost midnight Earth time, according to her watch, but it wasn't the hours, it was the drudge, or what you called it. Catra, of course, wasn't nearly as subtle or diplomatic. "Finally!" she exclaimed when Glimmer, Sir Watson and Garshaw agreed on finishing for today. "I think I fell asleep twice already!"

Everyone chuckled, though Adora wasn't quite sure that her lover had been joking - there had been a few spots during the last two hours or so during which Adora had been too absorbed by the discussions to pay enough attention to Catra. And since those discussions had been more political than military, Catra might not have cared enough for them to pay rapt attention herself.

Well, it was over for now. And they had made progress! Sure, the devil was in the details, but a lot of the big stuff had been settled. More or less, at least. Adora trusted Glimmer and Sir Watson would handle the rest. Of course, this was just the preliminary negotiations, so there were still important subjects left for the elected leaders of the Earth countries to discuss and settle. Though as Sir Watson had explained, if the preliminary meetings were going well, odds were the actual official negotiations wouldn't divert too much from what the diplomats had already sounded out.

It was different from what Adora was used to. On Etheria, princesses handled that kind of stuff - preliminary meetings were mostly about protocol and stuff setting up the actual meetings since you needed a princess to actually make decisions, but then, since they had Glimmer and Adora herself here, that wasn't a problem.

Still… she was glad to return home, or sort of home, now. "I'd rather fight a tank platoon than do this again," she muttered before she caught herself.

Catra snickered. "Of course, you would," she said. "Tossing around tanks is fun for you."

One of the officers in the delegation walking behind them laughed aloud. General… Peck, Adora confirmed with a glance. The American.

"You should have seen her whine about not being allowed to throw tanks back when we were fighting mind-controlled allies," Catra told him with a smirk, walking backwards as they left the meeting room.

"Throw tanks back?" Peck laughed some more.

Adora pouted. "Scorpia was throwing tanks at us!"

"One tank," Catra said. "And she later apologised for that."

The general suddenly looked a little confused.

"They're not pulling your leg, sir," Jack chimed in. "There are at least two individual Etherians who can physically throw light tanks like we'd throw a backpack."

"At least light tanks," Catra said.

Adora nodded. They hadn't tried it with heavier tanks since the Horde didn't have them.

"The antigravity engines throw off the equations a little," Entrapta said. "But both Scorpia and Adora should be able to handle the mass."

The general wasn't laughing any more, Adora noticed. And Per'sus was staring at them as well. "I thought we mentioned that," she commented. She was sure they had. Pretty sure.

"It was in our report," Jack said. "But it might have been dismissed as an exaggeration."

"I must have missed it," Peck said. He added something else under his breath that Adora didn't catch, but Catra snickered again, so it was probably a curse.

Ah, well - they could address their allies' lack of knowledge about their capabilities later. Right now, Adora really wanted to return to her bed and rest. And relax.

They reached the transport room, but it took a few more minutes of shaking hands and saying their goodbyes before they were finally off, and then there was still the trip back to the Stargate.

There was something to be said for placing the Stargate close to or into one of your bases, Adora found. It cut down on travel time a lot.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 15th, 1998

Adora sighed without restraint when she walked down the ramp in Stargate Command's gate room. Almost home! Well, almost back to Darla.

But the generals were already waiting for them. Four of them - the French one was missing. "Good to have you back," General Hammond said. "Was there any trouble?"

"The Stargate worked like a charm, sir," Jack replied. "No security concerns either." He shrugged with a glance at the Russian general. "I think that's all that concerns Stargate Command."

The Russian general glared at him, which prompted Catra to chuckle. Adora almost chimed in before she caught herself - she must be a little more tired than she had thought.

"Alright, Colonel. The Alliance delegation is waiting at NORAD to debrief you."

Right, Adora reminded herself. Officially, Stargate Command wasn't an Allied base but under United Nations control, so the Alliance officials would be waiting in the base right above this one.

Earth customs were weird sometimes. Not too rarely, actually.

"More meetings," Catra whined. "Let's just tell them we'll talk to them tomorrow! At noon!"

"And leave us to face them all alone?" Jack frowned at her.

"Yes." She beamed at him, showing all her teeth.

"That would be selfish," Glimmer said, shaking her head.

"So? Don't tell me you want to have another meeting right now," Catra shot back.

"It's not about what we want, but about what we need to do," Glimmer replied. "So…"

"Oh, great!" Entrapta cried out, interrupting them - she was talking into her multitool, Adora realised. And she smiled widely. "The relay network is done!" she announced. "We can talk to our friends back on Etheria! And a few days earlier than projected, even!"

Adora gasped, then smiled.

Yes!

"We need to return to Darla at once," Glimmer said.

"Oh, now we do?" Catra asked - but she was smiling as well.

"Sorry," Adora told Jack with a smile.

Though she didn't feel too sorry. She really wanted to talk to her friends back home. She hadn't seen them in almost half a year!

*****​
 
Chapter 69: Going Home Part 1
Chapter 69: Going Home Part 1

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 15th, 1998

"Sorry! We'd really love to attend a boring debriefing, but talking to our friends back home is more important."

Glimmer didn't really sound sorry, in Samantha Carter's opinion. Adora and Bow at least looked embarrassed, but Catra was grinning widely, and Entrapta… was still talking with the fleet in orbit.

"So… see you tomorrow, I guess. Or later today, technically," Glimmer nodded at them as the lift stopped, then stepped out of the cabin and headed to the lift leading to the ground level. "Bye!"

"Well, I guess it's just us now," the Colonel said as the Etherians all but charged into the lift. "Us and the brass. And the politicians. Can't forget them - trust me, I've tried."

Sam drew a sharp breath, but Sir Watson, who was standing right behind them, chuckled. "I would mention that we're diplomats, not politicians, but I assume you do not think that there's much of a difference."

"Well, since you generally do what the politicians say, not really," the Colonel replied.

"As do soldiers, I believe - at least in civilised countries," the British diplomat retorted, still smiling.

The Colonel frowned. "That's a low blow!"

"I don't think either war or diplomacy is a game or athletic competition, Colonel O'Neill."

"War has rules, though."

"But pointing out that both soldiers and diplomats are under the authority of the government - and, therefore, under the authority of politicians - does not violate the rules of war, Colonel."

"Well, it should!"

Sam suppressed a sigh as both men chuckled. It was late already, and she wasn't looking forward to the debriefing. Not at all. And with the news that the Etherians had finally reestablished contact with their home planet, the debriefing would take even longer. Sam was sure of that. Even though everyone should be aware that SG-1 didn't know anything more than what everyone else knew - that they could talk to Etheria.

And they had arrived at the meeting room - guarded by a squad of marines. And a number of people in suits. Oh.

The Colonel stiffened as well at the sight. Soldiers were expected. But bodyguards? That meant a high-ranking official was waiting for them.

And since Sam thought she recognised at least one of the bodyguards from her visits to the White House…

She straightened as she entered the room - behind the Colonel, who was walking behind General Peck and Sir Watson himself.

"Mr President!"

Yes, as expected, there was the President waiting for them. She heard Daniel gasp next to her - he must have missed the signs. The Colonel, of course, wasn't surprised.

The President returned the general's salute and shook Sir Watson's hand. "Please have a seat. I know you must be tired, but I don't think this can wait. Especially not with the news that our allies now can talk with their home planet." He gestured towards the table, where more politicians - foreigners, Sam noted; she recognised the Canadian Prime Minister and the NATO Secretary General sitting there. Amongst the others would be representatives of the United Kingdom, France and Germany then. Their allies in NATO, but while the US joining the Alliance against the Goa'uld was, according to everything she had heard, a done deal, it hadn't been formally signed yet - though that should happen any day as soon as the last detail was cleared. Unless something significant happened that could derail the process.

Yes, as she had feared. This wouldn't be a debriefing about the diplomatic meeting with the Tok'ra but also a briefing about the Etherian situation. Or, as Sam suspected, a lot of speculation, most of which would be rendered obsolete in the morning when the Etherians would return to talk.

But, as Sir Watson had pointed out, both diplomats and soldiers served their government, and it was very obvious that their governments wanted to discuss the situation right here and now.

She forced herself to focus. She was, first of all, an officer in the Air Force and would do her duty to the best of her ability.

*****​

Earth Orbit, Solar System, December 15th, 1998

Catra smirked when Glimmer all but jumped on the ramp as soon as the shuttle had stopped in Darla's hangar - before the ramp had even touched the floor. "We could have relayed the signal to the shuttle if you're so eager," she said - to the princess's back; Glimmer was already rushing to the door.

"I asked if we should," Entrapta said behind her. "You said you could wait a few more minutes."

"She probably didn't want to appear too eager," Catra said with a smirk and shrug.

"Ah."

"She hasn't seen Micah in months," Adora said.

"And apparently forgot that she can teleport," Catra said with a chuckle.

Her lover looked at the door - through which Glimmer, followed by Bow, just disappeared, and Catra knew she was just holding back from rushing after them herself. Adora was missing her friends back on Etheria.

Catra… well, it would be great to talk to them. Catch up. She was wondering how Scorpia and Perfuma were doing. And how the Princess Alliance and Second Fleet were doing, of course. Of course, Catra didn't really worry too much about them. Etheria was not known to the Goa'uld, or shouldn't be, thanks to the system having been sealed in a pocket dimension for a thousand years. And even though the princesses she trusted most were here on Earth, the other Elemental Princesses should be able to keep the planet safe and the Alliance going. You could never be sure, though.

But the most important person for Catra - by far - was at her side. She didn't have to rush to the bridge to call home. Home was where Adora was. She grabbed Adora's hand as they stepped into the corridor leading to the bridge and squeezed.

Adora smiled at her and squeezed back.

Then they reached the bridge, where Glimmer was freaking out. "Do I have any stains anywhere? I don't want to look like we're in trouble or something," she asked Bow.

"Relax, Glimmer. You're perfect. I would have told you if you didn't look good."

Catra snickered at the scowl that comment caused to appear on Glimmer's face.

"But we've just spent hours in a diplomatic meeting! Negotiating!"

"And you look fine," Adora told her.

Catra was tempted to make a comment but refrained. Glimmer did look OK, anyway. "So… what's the holdup?" she asked. "I would have expected you to have called already.

"We were waiting for you," Glimmer said with another scowl as if she had expected them to run as well.

Well, good luck with that! Catra leaned against Adora's seat. "So, let's get ready for the call?"

"It's ready," Entrapta said. "We can open a line of communication anytime we want! The network is stable, and the lag should be minimal. That means no more than six seconds because of all the relays. I can't reduce that further, sorry."

"It's OK," Glimmer told her.

"Given the distance and technical limitations, that's a great achievement," Bow added with a smile.

"Well, Sam helped a lot with the setup and programming - and we copied some protocols from the Internet of Earth, although mostly for redundancy. It's not doing much for speed, and while the basics of data transfers are similar, Faster-than-light communication lag can't be helped overly much by protocols for optical or even electronic networks."

Glimmer was sitting on the edge of her seat and doing her best not to bite her lips, Catra noticed. Well, Catra could ask Entrapta to go into some detail, but that would be cruel.

"Let's start the call, then," Adora said.

The screen lit up with a rotating symbol - Entrapta's work; it looked like a stylised bot - while the call went out. Six seconds, she had said. Catra counted, then slid into Adora's lap just as the screen changed and King Micah appeared.

"Glimmer!"

"Dad!" Glimmer cried out, followed by a sniffle.

She must have been really worried, Catra realised. Well, for over a decade, Glimmer had thought that Micah had been killed by the Horde. That would have left an effect.

"How are you doing? We've been waiting for a courier to return," Micah said. His eyes were glittering a bit as well. Catra hoped he wouldn't start crying. Glimmer would follow at once, and so would Adora.

"Yes, we decided that creating a permanent network of bots serving as comm relays would be more efficient than using couriers," Entrapta explained. "Six seconds of lag is better than a few months, right?"

Micah continued. "So, we were very relieved when we received news that you made contact. And then worried when it was from a bot."

"Yes, Dad, but this way, we can talk any time we want," Glimmer said.

"Ah, that explains it. Thank you, Entrapta."

"I'm working on reducing it further, Micah."

Well, a lag of six seconds didn't sound like much, but it made talking a bit awkward, Catra realised as Micah and Glimmer kept talking just past each other.

"We need to space out our answers." Glimmer had realised the same thing.

Six seconds later, Micah nodded on screen. "Yes. So…"

Then Scorpia appeared behind him, grinning widely. "Hey, wildcat!" She waved, and her pincer hid most of Micah for a moment. "How are you doing."

Catra smiled. "Doing good. Even though the humans - the Tau'ri, as you know them - are crazy."

"They aren't crazy!" Adora protested. "Only some of them."

"Scorpia!" Entrapta beamed at her.

Micah cleared his throat.

"Oh, sorry - I thought we could talk," Scorpia told him.

"Dear, Micah hasn't seen Glimmer in months." Perfuma appeared on the screen as well.

What were they doing in Bright Moon? Catra wondered. There hadn't been enough time since the contact had been made for them to travel from the Fright Zone - former Fright Zone - to Bright Moon. She would have expected them to join through a routed call.

"We made an Alliance with Earth - well, some countries on Earth," Adora being Adora, explained while the other side was still talking to each other.

"Ugh. Let them talk!" That was Mermista. Was there an Alliance meeting?

"An alliance?" Micah cocked his head.

"Do they really have billions of people on their planet?" Perfuma asked. "How do they feed them?"

Glimmer looked like she was a little annoyed as she replied: "Yes, Dad, we made an Alliance with the leading countries of Earth. And we're working on an Alliance with the Tok'ra - they are fighting the Goa'uld, but they're, biologically, the same species."

Then another face appeared as they waited for an answer. WrongHordak. "Hello!" He smiled at them. "Sorry, I got delayed. Did you tell them about the attack already?"

Catra blinked. "The attack?" she said together with her friends.

"Not yet."

"We were about to."

"Can someone move the camera a bit back?"

Six seconds could feel like an eternity, Catra realised as she waited for their friends to hear their question.

Then Micah stopped smiling - a bad sign. "Ah. We were attacked during your absence." He glanced at WrongHordak.

"Yes." The clone nodded - and he had also stopped smiling. That was an even worse sign.

"By whom?" Adora blurted out. She was very tense.

WrongHordak answered her question before he heard it: "Elements of a Horde fleet that was detached to suppress an insurrection - at least that's what we assume based on their communication - arrived in the system. We hailed them and told them what happened, but they didn't take the news about Horde Prime's death well." He grimaced. "They blamed us for 'betraying' him and attacked. We were forced to destroy them - they wouldn't surrender or even attempt to retreat."

Catra muttered a curse under her breath. It would have been easier if it had been the Goa'uld. Probably. "Do you know if there are more of them?" she asked.

"How many ships did they have?" Glimmer asked.

"Did you lose people?" Adora leaned forward a little.

Seconds passed. Catra clenched her teeth so she wouldn't blurt out more questions. That would only make it harder to get the information she wanted. Damn, she really hated the lag.

Finally, WrongHordak heard their questions. "Ah… We were, unfortunately, unable to confirm whether or not the ships we saw were the entirety of the detached fleet elements. We did not detect any communication with others, though; that much we can state with certainty. They had three squadrons - usually more than enough to deal with a rebellion on a planet, but there were larger deployments in the past, according to First Fleet's archives." He bowed his head. "We lost half a dozen ships. We didn't expect their attack, so we were unprepared. I was… too optimistic. I am deeply sorry."

"It wasn't your fault," Adora told him at once.

Catra didn't quite agree - given how different Third and Second Fleet had turned out after Horde Prime's death, and how the remnants of First Fleet had clung to Hordak, WrongHordak should have expected that there might be some hardcore loyalist forces - but this wasn't the time to sort that out.

"We have increased readiness, though, so that won't happen again," WrongHordak finished.

"This was two months ago," Micah said. "And there hasn't been another contact since."

"We've sent scouting detachments out," WrongHordak explained. "But we kept the bulk of our forces in the system, and we haven't found another fleet element."

Or another fleet. But there could be one out there, Catra knew. Or even several. Horde Prime had kept too much information in his head, off his data banks - no one knew how many ships and clones he'd had under his command at the end. Or where they are. With each fleet having its own supply train, and most ships having been built in his flagship, which was now a space plant, there was no useful data to sift through, either.

"I see." Glimmer nodded. "It seems you have the situation in hand. Now, about our alliances…"

As Glimmer proceeded to fill the others back on Etheria in about how things had gone on Earth, Catra pondered how to handle this new problem. They would have to spread the spy bot network out even more than planned; that was obvious. But they also would have to make a plan for handling more Horde remnants. They couldn't fight a peer opponent and the Goa'uld at the same time.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 15th, 1998

Jack O'Neill clenched his jaw. You didn't yawn in the President's presence. No matter how long a day you'd had and how late - or early - it was. And, a quick glance at the clock on the wall confirmed, it was getting very late indeed. Not quite so late that it started to become morning, but he really wanted to crash in his bunk. In the base - he was too tired to return home. Probably too tired to drive, at least in civilian traffic.

But the meeting wasn't over yet.

"...and so I believe that the Etherians will ask for help restoring the Stargate on Etheria. Which, in this case, means adding either a D.H.D. or a replacement like the installation we use at Stargate Command. Both options are within our capabilities," Carter finished her technical assessment.

"But the D.H.D. is Russian," the Secretary of State remarked. "They'll want their pound of flesh for parting with it and then some. Probably access to advanced technology as if they were in the Alliance."

"Would the Etherians agree to that?"

"No," Jack said. Damn - he had spoken up without being prompted. He must be more tired than he had thought. "They won't agree to that. In my opinion."

Daniel followed his lead. "I agree. They haven't shown any inclination to change their stance on the minimum conditions for sharing technology."

"I see." The President looked relieved. "And how fast could we provide them with a copy of Stargate Command's, ah, installation?" He looked at Carter.

"A copy of the installation at Stargate Command would take several weeks to a month," Carter replied. She probably had calculated that long ago. "However, that would be inefficient. The Etherian computer and power technology allows for a more efficient setup to be developed. We would only need to share our database. About a week, I would say, at the longest."

"And then a month to transport it back to their home planet?" a foreign politician asked. German, according to the accent.

"No," Carter replied at once. "The Stargate on Etheria cannot open a wormhole to another gate, lacking a control device, but other Stargates can connect to it as soon as it is recovered from where we sealed it. We can send the control device replacement as well as a team to set it up through our Stargate."

And Jack would bet a month's worth of the good jello in the canteen that Carter and Entrapta had the whole setup prepared already and were only waiting for the order to go ahead.

Hell, he was pretty sure that they would go ahead even without official permission if the government dragged its heels. Probably with some flimsy excuse that the Etherians developed it themselves.

And Jack would back them on that. Even a complete idiot would realise that they needed a Stargate on Etheria, Jack was sure about that. But he wasn't as sure that everyone realised that this was too important to play power games or attempt some horse-trading to gain an advantage.

The Etherians wouldn't take well to that. Unlike most on Earth, they had been fighting a war for years, decades even. And that sort of thing shaped you and your views.

He blinked. Damn, he really needed sleep - he started to sound like Daniel in his head.

*****​

Earth Orbit, Solar System, December 15th, 1998

"...and that's the current situation," Glimmer finished summing up the state of their negotiations with the Tok'ra. "We expect the alliance to be formalised within the next few weeks."

Adora nodded - that was what Sir Watson had said as well. And if everything went well, the United States would formally join the Alliance before that - even though it was, as Sir Watson liked to say, a de facto member already.

"Provided the Earth leaders don't mess up." Catra snorted. "It wouldn't surprise me. Over," she added with a glance at Glimmer before she leaned back against Adora while they waited for the response from their friends.

Glimmer frowned at her in return. Adora gave her a smile and a shrug - Glimmer had forgotten to tell the others that it was their turn to talk, so Catra wasn't at fault for adding it. And all of them had agreed that using old Earth radio protocols was a good idea to make communication easier and less chaotic with the annoying lag.

Bow patted Glimmer's hand.

Then, on the screen, Micah nodded. "I see. That's good news."

"Yes," Perfuma agreed. "More allies is always a good thing. And it proves that the Goa'uld can change." She blinked. "But they don't like being called Goa'uld, the Tok'ra, right?"

Adora owned her mouth, then waited. They hadn't given the signal to talk yet.

"Ugh." Mermista sighed. "Over."

"Yes, they don't like it," Adora said, nodding. "They don't consider themselves Goa'uld, actually."

"Just treat the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra as different kingdoms," Glimmer said. "Or like the Horde and the Princess Alliance. Over."

Another six-second pause. And they couldn't really talk since they were still transmitting. Maybe they should turn the transmission off? As if it were a radio from those old Earth war movies? But that would feel weird. And they wouldn't be able to watch their friends then. Just turn the microphone off? That would feel a little rude.

"We will do that." Perfuma beamed. "And we have an alliance with Earth!"

"With some of their kingdoms," Mermista corrected her. "Which aren't kingdoms. Whatever."

"The best kingdoms of Earth," Scorpia said. "Like the Princess Alliance has the best kingdoms of Etheria."

"And the best of the Horde." WrongHordak was smiling widely again. "I am happy to hear that Priest hasn't caused trouble. Much, at least."

Catra snorted again.

"So…" Micah turned to face the others in his room. "For the record: Does anyone oppose the decisions taken by Glimmer, Adora and Entrapta in the name of the Princess Alliance?"

Adora bit her lower lip. She didn't expect them to disagree, but…

"Of course not!" Perfuma said.

"No," Scorpia added. "Good work."

Mermista snorted, then shook her head. "I mean, no."

"No," WrongHordak said. Then he blinked. "Although I wasn't aware that we had a veto."

"We don't, technically," Micah told him. "Glimmer, Adora and Entrapta were mandated by the Princess Alliance to conduct the exact negotiations that they then did."

"Ah."

Adora saw Glimmer shift in her seat, pressing her lips together. She obviously wanted to say something.

"I doubt Netossa and Spinnerella will disagree, and Frosta probably won't, either," Micah said. "Though you'll have to talk to Castaspella about the magic issues. Over."

"I will," Glimmer said. "Where are they, anyway? Over."

Right. Adora would have expected the rest of their friends to be present - at least via comm.

Micah blushed a little. "Ah, we didn't want to disturb them. They're resting - it's the middle of the night here."

Oh. Adora had forgotten about the time differences.

Mermista snorted again. "That's what you call it?"

"Frosta is resting," Micah said. "In her palace. We informed her people, of course, but it's up to them whether or not they wake her up. Netossa and Spinerella didn't want to be disturbed."

That meant they were… Ah. Adora felt her cheeks heat up a little, and Catra snickered.

"They're gonna hate that they missed this," Cara mumbled.

"Their own fault, then," Glimmer said.

"Can we speak now? Anyway." Entrapta smiled. "We need to get Etheria's Stargate working again - then we can visit any time we want. So, you need to excavate the gate and set it up so we can send a control unit to you. Once we finish it - we need some data still. And a power supply. And you probably need some security for the gate. I have some ideas about bots and gun emplacement. We also might want a huge bomb to blow it up, just in case - Sam said they have such a bomb at Stargate Command. Uh, over!"

Micah and the others nodded as they listened to Entrapta, but Adora could tell that they didn't like the 'huge bomb' part. Well, they probably didn't need that part of the security. Not if the rest held up.

"Ah. Yes, that sounds like a good idea - though we can iron out the security details later, I think," Micah said. "So, you will be able to return to Etheria? Over."

"Yes. Though we have a lot of work to do here, with the Stargate, we'll be able to travel back and forth easily - and to any other planet with a Stargate," Glimmer said with a wide smile.

"Hence the need for security," Catra said.

Glimmer frowned a little. "But we'll also have to decide how to handle travel in general. There are a lot of humans - Tau'ri - who want to visit Etheria. And, well… that could cause some trouble. Especially if they want to visit other kingdoms that aren't in the Alliance. Over."

"Oh, yes," Catra mumbled.

Adora agreed. But compared to finally being able to see and visit their friends again, it was a small thing.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 15th, 1998

Almost noon. Samantha Carter felt as if she had overslept the whole morning. She knew it was irrational - the meeting with the President had lasted until early morning, and she had barely caught five hours of sleep - but she never started her day this late.

She pushed the guilt away as she stepped out of the lift on her floor. Now that work was to be done, she wouldn't waste any more of her time.

"Ah, good morning!" Iwan greeted her in the hallway. "I heard you have eventful day, da? No science, but plenty political!"

Was he fishing for information? It wasn't a secret that the Alliance was negotiating with the Tok'ra. And the Etherians hadn't kept the news that they had reestablished communications with their home planet secret either. And if anyone thought that the President visiting Cheyenne Mountain would be ignored by anyone in the base… She shrugged and deliberately yawned. "Yes. It got very late."

"Ah, yes. Ours is not to reason why, da?"

Tennyson. Of course, a Russian might know a poem about the Crimean War. "We're not the Light Brigade," she replied. "A lengthy meeting won't kill us."

"Not here, but in Soviet Russia, it might very well have killed us. By alcohol poisoning or firing squad." He laughed. "Good thing there's no more Soviet Russia. Would be awkward to court other princesses on Etheria as soviets, da? After we shoot Tsar and princesses."

Ah. Of course, that Russia and China - and many other countries - would want to open diplomatic relations with other Etherian kingdoms was obvious as well. Sam nodded. "Provided the Etherians open their Stargate for travelling."

"You think the Princess Alliance will keep the Stargate closed for rest of Etheria?"

Was that his angle? Did he want information - intelligence - about the political situation on Etheria? Or her views of the Princess Alliance? "I don't know," she said. "That's up to the Princess Alliance." It was a political decision, and she was a scientist.

"Ah."

No comment about her close friendship with Entrapta. But as she walked towards her lab, he was walking with her.

"Will there be a Stargate Command Etheria, maybe? Independent organisation of Etherians?" He shrugged. "Etherians wanted to talk to entire Earth, so only fair if we do the same?"

That was true, of course. And Sam was sure that her friends would struggle with the implied hypocrisy. "Etheria doesn't have a United Nations," Sam pointed out. "The Princess Alliance is the closest organisation they have to the United Nations."

"So, Etheria is ruled by Princess NATO?" Iwan laughed, turning it into a joke.

Sam nodded. "They were at war for decades, and they're at war again." And that would influence their actions. Only, Sam didn't know in what direction.

They reached the door to her lab, and she nodded at him. "Have a nice day."

He smiled back. "You too! Don't stay too late today!"

She snorted. Although she was planning to stay a little longer - she had a feeling she would have to.

Once she was inside her lab, and the door was closed, she grabbed the VR glasses and switched the Waldo controls on. A moment later, she was staring at the inside of the spacelab. "Entrapta?"

No answer. That meant her friend wasn't in the lab. But she, or a bot of hers, would be listening, so…

A hologram appeared next to her. "Sam! I was wondering why you weren't around in the morning!" Entrapta beamed at her.

"I had a meeting late at night," Sam told her. "So I slept in."

"Ah!" Entrapta nodded - and then yawned. "Maybe I should have slept in as well. But we were talking with our friends, and then there was so much to do. Still is, actually."

"I can imagine." Sam wouldn't go fishing for information. Entrapta was her friend.

"Oh! We need our gate controller finished," Entrapta said. "Can we use your computer data?"

Sam had expected that. And she winced. "I asked, but it's currently in dispute if the data is the sole property of Stargate Command or if the US Government has a claim as well."

"Huh?" Entrapta's hologram blinked. "But you gathered the data!"

"Yes, but the agreement that transferred Stargate Command to the United Nations apparently is a bit unclear about that point." Sam frowned. Russia and China were, in a blatant attempt to extort concessions, claiming that the data was part of the Stargate and, therefore, entirely under the purview of Stargate Command.

"But… Don't you have a majority in the Command Council?" Entrapta looked puzzled.

"Yes. But the United Nations is getting involved." Sam sighed. And the Alliance didn't have a majority there. Veto powers cut both ways, too.

"Oh." Entrapta frowned. "That complicates matters. But since we know Earth's gate address, and the Tok'ra's, it shouldn't be too hard to reconstruct the data we need to open gates to either location from Etheria."

As Sam knew from experience, it was actually rather hard. But she had done it before - she knew exactly how to do it. And when she had done it, she had been using computers that had been vastly less powerful than the computers she was using with Entrapta.

Doing this wouldn't, technically, be violating her orders. Of course, her superiours would know what Sam was doing -, and why. But they would also know that punishing her for this would not sit well with the Etherians - and that the data was crucial for the war effort.

And Sam was a little tired of political games right now. Literally.

She nodded at her friend. "Let's get to work then."

"Yes!"

*****​

Washington D.C., United States of America, Earth, December 18th, 1998

Standing in the back of the oval room, Catra struggled with the temptation to show how bored she was while the President - of America, not of any of the hundred or so other countries with one - signed the Alliance treaty. It was just a formality, as far as she was concerned. Anything of note had been settled a while ago, but, apparently, the United States had a specific way of doing treaties, which delayed the whole thing. One more reason why a proper kingdom was more efficient - a princess would have just formally signed the treaty at the first opportunity. According to Bow, in the past, some treaties had been signed on napkins at a Princess Prom. She had to suppress a snicker as she wondered if the napkins had food stains on them.

Showing amusement wouldn't be appropriate, after all. This was a serious occasion, at least according to Glimmer and Adora, who both stood next to the President with suitably polite smiles for the occasion. Well, Adora also was as tense as if she were on a parade ground facing inspection - or at Princess Prom - but she still took such matters a bit too seriously. At least Glimmer was more relaxed.

"...and with this signature, the United States is now a member of the Alliance against the Goauld Empire."

Also known as the Alliance. Not to be mistaken for the Princess Alliance, Catra silently added. Some poor secretary now had to remove the 'provisional' from all the paperwork already passed in the meantime. Although they probably had a second set of regulations prepared that went into effect right now - Earth countries sure loved their paperwork.

Everyone applauded, so Catra joined in. And as people started to shake hands, and cameras clicked wildly, she leaned closer to Adora and whispered: "Can we order some food now?"

"Catra!" Adra hissed. But she was smiling and not as tense any more, so Catra counted that as a win.

Besides, Earth people knew how to feed their diplomatic guests. Once the press was done taking pictures, they would have a state dinner.

*****​

"...so, the Yanks managed to get their act together to sign up with the Alliance before the Tok'ra do. I guess we should be grateful to our future alien allies that the Americans finally stopped trying to take over half the Alliance leadership, but...."

"...well, it's not as if this was something that could have been delayed further, but I think waiting one more day so we could dominate the Friday evening news would have been better…"

"...and I know we're already involved in the negotiations with the Tok'ra, but that was merely a courtesy. Now that we're an official member of the Alliance, I think a few things should be revisited. Sir Watson did his best, no doubt, but since he's a Brit, I think the American perspective was a bit neglected, so…"

"...and yes, that's a really good potato soup. Reminds me of…"

"...when do you think we'll be able to buy shuttles? My kids are asking every day when I'll take them to the moon for dinner. They don't believe me when I tell them that we don't have a moon base yet, so…"

"...don't know why they are making such a fuss about the 'Mars Mission'. Who cares about that? It's just a trip riding in the back of the Etherian cab, so to speak, so…"

"...and yes, I think the United States formally joining the Alliance will simplify many organisational matters for us, though…"

Catra's ears twitched as she listened to a few conversations around them while Adora was busy explaining to some dense American that she didn't have a country of her own to rule and didn't want one either. It sounded a lot like the Princess Prom, actually - just with less gossip about relationships. But the jockeying for position, snide remarks and backstabbing she overheard were about the same.

It almost made her feel homesick. Or would, if she was a princess. She finished her third tuna sandwich - catering finally managed to get proper sizes for them after two complaints filed by her - and grabbed a fourth.

"...so, you see, I am Supreme Commander of the Alliance, so I wouldn't have the time to rule a country anyway," Adora repeated herself for the second time.

Catra shook her head and stepped closer to her lover as the - senator? Or representative? It didn't matter, anyway - frowned. "But you are the most powerful princess, aren't you? And an Ancient. Shouldn't you rule?"

"That's not how it works!" Adora exclaimed.

"Hey, Adora," Catra spoke up before the man could keep bothering her. Why had anyone given the man access to classified intel like the Ancients anyway if he was so stupid? "I think we're needed over there." She pointed at the dessert buffet.

Fortunately, Adora was annoyed enough that she played along at once. "Oh, right. Terribly sorry, Senator, but duty calls."

Catra snickered as they left - and then checked that he didn't attempt to follow them.

"Oh, this was terrible - the man seemed to think whoever is the most powerful rules on Etheria!" Adora complained as soon as they were out of earshot. "And no matter how often I explained that that wasn't how it worked, he didn't listen."

"Go thank the press for that," Catra replied with a shrug. "And Hollywood." She cocked her head. "And probably their own system."

"What?"

Catra grinned. "Well, you know that the most powerful countries rule the United Nations and how much they can get away with. They probably think that's how it works back home. Of course, if you wanted a country, I don't think anyone could stop you from taking whichever kingdom you wanted."

"I don't want a country to rule!" Adora pouted at her. "I don't want to rule anyone!"

"I know." Catra leaned in and wrapped an am around her lover's waist and her tail around her leg. "Something else the idiot didn't get. But we might have to talk to Brown and Julie about setting things straight about Etherian politics. Especially now that we are close to reopening the Stargate."

Adora nodded. "Yes. We need to make sure people on Earth know how things are done back home. Especially if they want to visit."

"If they are allowed to visit, anyway," Catra pointed out. That was something the Princess Alliance hadn't settled yet. It was a touchy question, too.

But they should discuss that in private, not in the middle of a room full of Earth politicians, diplomats and officers. And spies.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 19th, 1998

Jack O'Neill had expected this, but he still narrowed his eyes at his second-in-command. "So, the Etherians finished their own version of a D.H.D.?"

She straightened slightly but didn't otherwise react to his best 'superior's disapproval' glare. "The project was started a while ago but wasn't a priority until recently, sir."

"But once they reestablished contact with their homeworld, it became a priority." He tapped the tips of his fingers together, elbows on his desk.

"Yes, sir. It was obvious that they needed a control and a power supply unit to operate their Stargate."

He squinted - was that a smile? No. Carter wasn't amused. She was… pissed off? No. Or, at least, not at him. It was more… defiant would fit best. He was familiar with the feeling. "And you asissted Entrapta."

"In the spirit of cooperation with an important ally, sir." And now she smiled.

He sighed. "And, of course, that cooperation didn't include access to Stargate Command's computers."

"Not as far as any data related to the Stargate itself was concerned, sir."

Now that was a relief. With the power discrepancy between the Etherians and the United States - or Earth as a whole - as blatant as it was, Carter as Etrapta's best friend could have copied the entire database in the Mountain and the brass would be forced to smile and nod in response. Though they would likely try their best to punish her in some unofficial way afterwards - that was how things were done, after all. And while Jack would still back Carter if she had done that, he really didn't need that kind of trouble.

Of course, some unofficial disapproval-signalling would likely be done anyway, but that was something Jack was familiar with. He could easily shield Carter from that - he had done it for Daniel before, usually after a too-honest briefing of a senator or general.

Still, better check - only so he knew if he had to lie or not. "So, they didn't get our address list and code?"

Was that surprise that he knew computer-speak? He wasn't that old or hide-bound. But Carter nodded. "Entrapta knew the addresses used on previous missions already. With a source of power, they could, in theory, dial manually."

It was a lot more complicated than that; even Jack knew that - Carter had explained it once. Stellar drift something, updated data, and the Etherians would want an iris as well to keep the gate secure. But it was a fig leaf to hide behind from the brass and politicians. "But they would still profit if they had our own address list?"

Carter's lips twitched. "Yes, sir."

"So, the US government still has a bargaining chip - or bribe - once they sort out things with the United Nations." Good. That would keep most generals and politicians happy. And if the United Nations managed to win that particular struggle, Jack doubted that anyone would mind if, somehow, the Etherians got the database unofficially. Quite the contrary, actually.

"I would not presume to second-guess our government, sir."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Don't overdo it, Carter."

"Yes, sir."

"So… when will the Etherians have their Stargate operational?"

"I would estimate it would take them a week to set up security and the control unit and power supply - provided that there are no issues related to Etheira's political or military needs, sir."

"You mean as long as the Etherians don't have to deal with the same problems we have," Jack summed up.

She nodded in return.

He leaned back, folding his hands over his stomach. "So, they know their gate address?"

"Yes, sir." Carter raised her chin a little.

He got the hint. Best not to ask too many questions about how exactly the Eherians had managed that without records. "Well, everything seems to be in order then, Captain."

She nodded again.

"Now, there's another task for you, Captain."

"Sir?" She cocked her head a little to the side.

"The traditional Stargate Command New Year's Party is coming up." He smiled when he caught her eyes widening. "And since I have no doubt that we'll invite the Etherians this year, I think we need your help organising it, so we don't accidentally offend anyone." And Daniel's, but he would consider that a treat.

"Yes, sir."

She narrowed her eyes at him, and his smile grew wider. Yes, officially, everything was fine, but unofficially, some punishment was still merited for doing this behind his back instead of telling him.

And, more importantly, for getting caught by him.

*****​
 
Chapter 70: Going Home Part 2
Chapter 70: Going Home Part 2

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 27th, 1998

There was the Stargate. It was still closed - well, the iris was closed, and the gate was inactive - but that wouldn't be the case for much longer. Soon, the gate would be dialling - and they would be able to return to Etheria. To their friends. To their home.

Adora couldn't wait. And her friends couldn't wait either. Glimmer was alternating between staring at the gate as if she wanted to teleport through it right away and glaring at the technicians operating the gate as if that would make them divert from their schedule. Bow and Entrapta were standing before a screen carried by Emily, giving Micah and Castaspella some unneeded advice - just today, they had already checked the gate's setup at least three times. Hordak was standing to the side and behind Entrapta, outside the angle where the camera would pick him up, but he was looking at the gate as well when he thought no one was paying attention. And Catra was…

…perched on a computer console as if it was a wall and doing her best to fake being bored.

She was trying too hard. Adora shook her head with a smile and wandered over. "Hey."

Catra turned her head to look at her. "That's my line."

"It'll open soon," Adora said, nodding towards the gate.

"I know." Catra cocked her head, then sniffed the air. "Someone's got a tuna sandwich."

"And it's theirs," Adora told her.

"I know." Catra rolled her eyes. "I'm just making small talk."

"Ah." Adora nodded. "So, I don't need t make a run to the cantine and get another one?"

Her lover snorted. "If I wanted one, I'd go myself. Besides, we have a feast waiting for us in the palace."

"And you packed a crate full of the cans," Adora added.

"As trade goods." Catra scoffed. "People will pay anything I ask for a taste of Earth. I'll rake in the cash! It'll be even better than the time we found that Alliance ration on the training ground."

"Ah, yes." They had been able to trade for a dozen of the good Horde rations. But they wouldn't have done that if they had known how good it was. Still… "You could have picked any kind of food you wanted. But you picked tuna."

Catra stuck her tongue out at her. "I wanted something that was cheap and that I liked. Just in case I have to demonstrate that it's safe."

"Of course." Adora grinned at her. She would be surprised if Catra sold half the cans - it wasn't as if she needed money. If they needed anything, they could just ask Glimmer.

"Clear the gate area!"

It was starting! Adora turned around while Catra jumped down from the console, and both of them hurried to the waiting area in front of the gate. They would be home soon!

Their friends joined them as well. Even Emily seemed to walk more quickly as she followed Entrapta.

And there was Jack, walking over to them. "Excited?"

Catra snorted, but Adora nodded.

"Do you expect us to get shot?" Glimmer asked, looking pointedly at the rifle at his side. "In Bright Moon?"

"What? Oh, no. But regulations are regulations. No unarmed gate travel during wartime! Never know when you might end up somewhere else." Jack grinned as the rest of SG-1 formed up next to him.

"Like on Etheria," Entrapta chimed in. "Though the chance that there's a malfunction is very low, in my estimate."

"And we'll test the gate with a bot first," Bow said.

Emily took a step back, and Entrapta beamed at her. "Not you, of course! We've got a spy bot for that!"

The bot - a dumb bot, Entrapta had reassured them - was standing in front of the gate ramp already.

"Let's get on with it," Catra muttered.

As if the technician - Sergeant Siler - had been waiting for her comment, the activation sequence started. Adora took a deep breath as the iris opened, the gate ring spun and the chevrons became locked in. One… two… three…

Soon, all seven were locked in, and the gate formed.

"Go, Spy-Twelve!" Entrapta commanded, and the bot walked up the ramp, then disappeared through the gate.

Everyone turned to look at the screen Emily was still carrying. Adora could see the bot walking down the ramp their friends had erected for the gate.

"It looks good… running a diagnosis… yes. No detectable structural changes," Entrapta announced.

"I assume that means we're good to go," Catra said.

Adora nodded - and stepped onto the ramp. It was time to go home.

A few quick steps took her right to the gate. This was… just another gate trip, she reminded herself as she took a deep breath. She had gone through Stargates many times by now.

But it was also a return home. Smiling, she walked into the gate.

A familiar but still disorienting moment later, she blinked - she was outside, in the sunlight - oh, the air smelt like…

"Dad!"

"Glimmer!"

Adora stepped to the side when Glimmer charged down the ramp, straight into Micah's arms.

All their friends were there! She had known that - they had been talking to them every day to help set up the gate - but seeing them was different. There was Netossa, Spinnerella, Mermista with Sea Hawk, Perfuma and Scorpia, and…

"Adora!" A shadow fell on her.

Yes! Swift Wind landed in front of her, right on the ramp.

"I missed you so much!" he told her.

"I missed you too," she replied as she buried her face into the side of his neck.

"Watch the wings!" Adora heard Catra cry out.

She felt the wings flap - once; Swift Wind didn't lift off - but she was busy hugging him.

"Whoa!" That was Bow. But the ramp was wide enough for him to go around Swift Wind.

"Our sacred bond was strained but not broken even though you travelled to the ends of the universe!"

"We didn't even leave the Galaxy!" Catra commented.

"Wildcat!"

"Hey, ScoOOF! Lemme go!"

"No!"

"Hello!"

Adora released Swift Wind and looked around. It seemed everyone had decided to step onto the ramp - which wasn't bare metal, as in Stargate Command, but made from stone inlaid with crystal, she noticed. Bow was hugging his Dads, Catra was trying - and failing - to squirm out of Scorpia's arms, Perfuma was beaming and hanging out flower necklaces to everyone, Glimmer and Micah were still hugging, and…

…everyone needed to leave the ramp since Entrapta had just arrived, followed by Hordak, which meant Emily would be next.

"Whoa!"

"Watch out!"

The ramp definitely wasn't big enough for everyone and Emily.

"Mount up!" Swift Wind called out as he stepped off the ramp - and hovered in place.

Adora slid on his back, and he took off.

"Hey!" Catra called after her. "Let me go, Scorpia!"

"No!"

"I missed you so much," Swift Wind repeated himself as they cleared the tops of the trees surrounding the gate.

Adora looked down. The Stargate had been placed on the edge of the Whispering Wood - in Bright Moon's territory but close enough to the actual woods that there were no villages nearby. And it was mounted in a frame that would allow it to be flipped and lowered into the ground. Not quite an iris, but it would do.

"We can't fly off yet," she told her friend. "I need to greet everyone first." And introduce - well, reintroduce - SG-1.

"I haven't seen you in months!" Swift Wind complained. But he banked and turned around, then started to descend in wide circles.

"We'll fly after that," she reassured him as she spotted SG-1 arriving through the gate.

"I'll hold you to that!"

"You know, millions of little girls would gleefully kill us all to take your place," Jack told her as soon as Swift Wind touched down next to the ramp.

"I don't let just anyone ride me!" Swift Wind replied indignantly.

Adora patted his flank before dismounting. She shouldn't have left for so long. Then she got to hug all her friends. Even if they didn't want to be hugged.

"Everyone who hasn't met them yet: This is SG-1. Colonel Jack O'Neill, Captain Samantha Carter, Dr Daniel Jackson and Teal'c," Glimmer announced after she finally pulled back from her dad. "They're our friends and allies."

"And lab and science buddies!" Entrapta added with a beaming smile. "Sam and I built a spacelab! We can do experiments there that would be too dangerous for Earth!"

"Ah." Sea Hawk nodded. "They probably have no empty lots left on a planet with six billion people and vast oceans."

"Actually, we have a lot of deserts," Daniel said. "The population is mostly concentrated in several areas."

"They have cities that have millions of people," Catra added. "And more metal and factories than the Fright Zone had."

"Wow!" Scorpia blinked.

"Really? Do you need help with restoring nature there as well?" Perfuma asked. "I've learned a lot dealing with the aftermath of the war in the Scorpio Kingdom."

"Ah, we still need those cities. You know, for living in them, working in them…" Jack said with a fake smile - Adora could tell. "Please don't turn them into plants."

"Oh, but I can grow living buildings!" Perfuma perked up. "A city in harmony with nature."

Jack stared at her.

Sam came to his rescue. "We have laws about introducing new species to an area - in the past, such things often caused small disasters. Any such project would require careful and extensive planning and experiments - and the consent of the local authorities."

"Well, of course, but…"

Swift Wind stamped the ground. "Let's go flying!"

Adora looked at her friends. At Catra.

Her lover snorted. "Go fly, or he'll never shut up."

Swift Wind snorted at her before turning to Adora. "You heard her. Let's fly!"

She wanted to, but…

"Just be back in an hour or two for the meeting," Glimmer told her. "We've got this handled."

Well, with her friends' blessings… Adora beamed at them, then quickly climbed on Swift Wind's back.

"I have so much to tell you!" he gushed as they soared up, flying high above the ground. "We've been making great inroads in freeing my people from slavery on Etheria! Some kingdoms are still resisting, but it's just a question of time. But there was that one princess…"

As he talked, Adora leaned back and smiled, looking at the land below, Bright Moon in the distance, the Whispering Woods…

She was finally home again.

*****​

Gate Area, Near Bright Moon, Etheria, December 27th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Samantha Carter watched as the winged unicorn - the alicorn, a girl's voice in her head insisted - took off and climbed up. Yes, millions of little girls would indeed love to be in Adora's place. And many boys, women and men as well. Maybe even including one Samantha Carter, but that was neither here nor there.

"Well, nothing's better proof that you're not in Kansas any more than seeing a princess ride a flying horse," the Colonel commented.

"There's only one flying horse on Etheria," Catra commented.

"But one is enough. He's rather… memorable, after all," he retorted.

"And pushy. And needy." Catra snorted.

"Takes one to know one," Glimmer said.

Catra seemed to ignore her, shading her eyes as she looked at the horse and rider in the sky. "Well, they'll be a while."

"Alright, I've told Stargate Command that we arrived safely," the Colonel said. A moment later, the gate went inactive.

"Lower the gate!" Someone - Netossa, Sam remembered the princess's name - called out, and the gate started to tilt back, slowly being lowered into a ready-made pit.

"We have to build a proper iris," Entrapta commented as she watched. "And better defences."

Sam nodded. They had gone over this, after all.

"And speaking of defences…" The Colonel looked around. "This is a little open, isn't it?"

"Fewer opportunities for anyone to hide," Netossa told him. "And we have it under guard."

Sam could see bots and soldiers forming a perimeter.

"And if everything else fails, there's a frigate in stationary orbit above us, ready to bombard the entire area," the princess added, looking directly at the Colonel.

"That's going to leave a crater," he commented. He glanced up, Sam noted, as did she, even though she didn't think she'd be able to spot the frigate at this distance without a telescope.

"As would using a bomb." The princess shrugged. "It's just temporary anyway - we'll build a gatehouse here once Entrapta finishes the control and power supply unit." She grinned. "More guards, bots and automated defences, as well as a bunch of sorceresses from Mystacore. No one's going to get through here."

Netossa was one of the most experienced princesses, together with her wife, Sam reminded herself.

"We'll get right on that!" Entrapta said. "After I've checked in with the bots. Some of them will need special maintenance and upgrades."

"Horde-trained technicians should be perfectly able to maintain and repair any bot produced so far," Hordak commented.

Entrapta pouted at him. "But no one's perfect, so I should be checking their work."

Emily beeped in agreement.

Sam smiled - her friend was correct, but that wasn't the only or even main reason Entrapta wanted to check the bots. They were her friends. Or family, in a way. "We need to reassess them anyway, to incorporate them into the gate defences," she said.

"Yes!" Entrapta agreed, nodding repeatedly. "Can't skimp here - this is the gate to Etheria." She cocked her head. "It's too bad we didn't get the Tok'ra's tunnelling technology yet - we could prepare a complete underground base in a day!"

Which would be safer than a Stargate placed in a base above ground. Both against infiltrators/invasions as well as attacks from the outside. Sooner or later, they'd move the gate on Etheria underground; Sam was sure of that. The advantages were just too great.

But not today.

"You mentioned their tunnelling technology," Netossa said, nodding. "But an underground base also means that if someone took it and had access to that technology, they could easily use it to move from the gate undetected."

"Only if they manage to take the gate without raising an alert," Spinnerella objected.

"And you can detect the tunnels using seismic sensors," Sam pointed out. "Or magic."

The princess nodded, but with a frown. "That'll make the whole base more expensive than planned."

"That's the case with most projects," King Micah chimed in with a smile. "We'll shoulder the costs anyway - this is too important."

Seeing how he was beaming at Glimmer, Sam couldn't help feeling that the king was probably as concerned about the fact that the Stargate would allow his daughter to return home whenever she wanted as he was about the security issues. She wasn't Daniel, but such a view seemed quite typical for the Etherians.

"Anyway," King Micah continued, "Let's move to the palace now. We have a lot to discuss, but we should get comfortable first. We've prepared a small meal as well, in case you're hungry." He grinned. "You've travelled a long way, after all."

"Oh! Do you have tiny food prepared?" Entrapta leaned forward.

"Of course!"

"Yes!" Sam's friend beamed at him, then grabbed Hordak's arm before turning to Sam. "Let's go!"

"We also have normal-sized food," the king added with a chuckle.

"Oh! I've missed homemade food!" Glimmer eyed the spire of Brightmoon, visible in the distance, as if she wanted to teleport ahead, Sam noticed.

She probably could, Sam knew. They were on a planet full of magic, she reminded herself. Etheria might only have a population of fifty million, but between the sorceresses of Mystacore and the various princesses, they would have the most magically active individuals of any planet in the sector.

She wouldn't even think of them as 'magic-users'. The Colonel wouldn't stop cracking Dungeons and Dragons jokes for a long time.

"Let's go then. We've prepared skiffs for the trip." King Micah gestured towards several of the flying vehicles - hovering vehicles, Sam corrected herself; they couldn't fly very high - in the background.

For a change, the Colonel simply agreed without making a snarky comment. It was almost magical.

*****​

Bright Moon, Etheria, December 27th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Bright Moon was the same as always, Catra thought as their skiffs entered the main gate. OK, usually, the people didn't line up to cheer whenever Glimmer returned home, but she had been away for months, so that was to be expected.

But the city itself looked the same. Same buildings, same streets. No new construction - well, she could see a handyman waving from a half-dismantled balcony, but that looked more like maintenance. And the people looked the same as well. Well-fed and happy. Happier than usual, but that was likely because they were focusing on Glimmer instead of Catra.

And while it wasn't really home - that was Adora - and she knew that the people still resented her, and with good reasons, it still was… nice to be back. Sort of.

"It's safe."

She turned her head to frown at Scorpia. "Of course, it's safe. It's Bright Moon. Even we never managed to take it." Though they had come close to cracking the shield protecting it. A small reminder that Scorpia had been with her then and there might also do some good - Catra didn't want to get her ribs cracked by another too-powerful hug. It was also undignified; she could already hear O'Neill's jokes.

Her friend kept beaming at her, though. And her pincer twitched a little. "Yes. And it would take an army to crack its defences."

"Or a small fleet in orbit," Catra pointed out. "Maybe a squadron."

"Do you have to talk about how to destroy the city?" Perfuma, sitting next to Scorpia, leaned forward and turned her head to pout at both of them. "You're finally back! That's a time for celebration, not… gloomy things!"

"I'm just pointing out that Bright Moon is safe from ground assaults, but we can't get complacent since now there's also an orbital threat to worry about," Catra retorted.

"But we have a fleet in orbit. A fleet and a half - or one-third, actually, I think," Perfuma said.

But it wasn't Bright Moon's fleet. Catra didn't say that out loud. The Horde remnants were their allies - WrongHordak was a close friend, as far as Catra could tell. But as the recent attack had proven, there were more clones out there. And she had no idea what the rest of Second Fleet thought. Or if First Fleet's remains were still focused on Hordak.

She couldn't help glancing up. Yes, an orbital bombardment would probably raze Bright Moon. Sure, the shield would hold a long time, but they had nothing to shoot back.

She snorted. In a way, Bright Moon's situation wasn't that different from the United States's.

"Don't worry, Wildcat! Adora will be back soon!"

Catra snorted again. Her friend had misread her mood. "I know," she said, leaning back and watching the palace gates as they approached.

"I bet!" Scorpia was beaming at her. As was Perfuma. Their smiles looked eerily similar, Catra noticed.

"So…" Perfuma looked at the skiff ahead of them, where SG-1 was riding with Glimmer and Micah. "Did you make more friends on Earth?"

Catra refrained from frowning. She should have expected that question from Perfuma. Though Scorpia looked like she wanted to know as well. And Catra couldn't tell if Scorpia would be happy or jealous if they had more close friends. Or both. So she shrugged. "We mainly worked with SG-1. And spent time with them," she added when Perfuma opened her mouth.

"Ah." Scorpia nodded.

"What about the Earth leaders?" Perfuma asked.

"We had some dinners with them, lots of meetings…" Catra shrugged again. "But things are different there. Their leaders are all much older, and… they don't really do things like we do."

"What do you mean?" Scorpia looked puzzled.

They hadn't gone over that before, had they? Not in-depth, at least. Daniel would explain it better, but Catra would still give it a shot. "Their leaders just lead their countries. That's all they do. And they don't, ah, hang out with us. SG-1 does."

"Ah." Scorpia nodded again.

Perfuma frowned. "That doesn't seem very friendly."

"It's not how they do things. They're different. Though some of their meetings are like the Princess Prom, just without dancing and less flirting." She grinned.

"They sound very serious," Perfuma remarked. "Unlike Colonel O'Neill."

"Oh, yes." Catra nodded.

"So, you didn't meet any new close friends?" Scorpia asked.

Catra shook her head. "Entrapta met a Tok'ra scientist, Anise, and her host, Freya, and they and Sam seem close," she said. "But we haven't really had the opportunity to meet many Earth people outside meetings and such, except for SG-1. Though maybe we'll meet more people at the Stargate Command New Year's Party."

"Oh? A party?" Scorpia smiled.

"Great! When is it? After you restored the Stargate, right?" Perfuma leaned forward with an eager expression. A very eager expression. "What gifts should we bring? What's the dress code? Do they have a dress code?"

Catra blinked. Perfuma expected to attend the party, she realised. Although… technically, the invitation O'Neill had passed on hadn't really specified who was invited and who was not. He had just told them that they were invited. And since they were representing the Princess Alliance on Earth…

Catra grinned widely. "Well, I have to ask them about gifts. I know they have a custom of exchanging gifts on Christmas, but that's within a family and already past. And we didn't ask about a dress code either."

Oh, she couldn't wait to drop this on O'Neill!

*****​

The palace still looks like someone stole it straight from a Disney movie, Jack O'Neill thought as they stepped through the gate. Clean, shining marble, wide hallways, tall - very tall - ceilings. "Anytime now, they'll break out in a song," he muttered as he looked at the lined-up guards presenting their spears.

"What did you say?" Daniel asked. He, of course, was looking around with a big smile on his face as if he was seeing everything for the first time.

"Nothing," Jack replied. "Just glad to see the palace's still standing. What with the battle against Horde fleets and all, you know?"

Daniel's face fell, making Jack feel guilty. A little, at least. "Ah, yes. But it was just a small, ah, detachment, right? No real threat to Etheria. And it never came close to the planet." And he was smiling at Jack again. "In any case, it's great to be back! This is such a fascinating culture! Unlike most planets we've visited, it's not clearly derived from an ancient Earth culture!"

"Just don't treat the population as some exhibit or specimen," Jack told him.

"I would never!" Daniel frowned at him.

Jack grinned, but he had been only half-joking. Daniel could be a little too enthusiastic sometimes. Of course, he was a good friend of Glimmer and the others, and, seeing how the people had been cheering at their queen's return, that should keep him out of trouble, but a little reminder never hurt.

Oh - the King was walking towards him. It looked like he had finally been able to pry himself out of the arms of his daughter. Jack once again felt guilty for his thought - the man hadn't seen Glimmer for months, so it was only understandable that he'd react like that. Even as a king.

"We've prepared your usual quarters," King Micah told them with a smile.

"Our 'usual quarters'? We've come up in the world!" Jack said, grinning at him.

"Jack!" Daniel gasped next to him.

But the King laughed. "Well, we expect you to visit very often, now that we'll soon have an easy way to travel to Earth and back."

The Chair Force jokes would probably never end if that got out. Once that got out. Jack nodded anyway. Who cared what the crayon eaters thought? "Thank you. Although I expect the Alliance will send a diplomatic delegation soon enough." As soon as the Etherians accepted the request, actually.

"Of course. Although, as I understand, you are planning to build an embassy in the future."

"Yes, Dad," Glimmer cut in. "As we told you. But we can sort this out in the meeting later."

Jack had seen younger officers do similar things when they felt their older, more experienced subordinates were undercutting them, but judging by the way Gimmer grabbed her father's arm, it was probably more that the girl wanted to have her father to herself instead of dealing with their guests.

"Yes." Jack nodded. "I think I still know the way."

"Don't worry - I'll guide you there." Catra had somehow snuck up on them. And the way she was grinning widely…

Jack narrowed his eyes at her. "You're volunteering?"

She got the joke and laughed. "Yes. Because a question came up." She pointed at the huge Scorpion-woman and the plant princess behind her. "Scorpia and Perfuma want to know if there's a dress code at the New Year's Party and what gifts they should bring."

Jack forced himself to keep smiling as Catra's grin grew even wider. They also wanted to attend the party? He noticed that others were paying attention as well - all of the princesses? Oh, for crying out loud!

"The New Year's Party?" King Micah asked. Not him too!

"Yes," Glimmer said. "It's held by Stargate Command. And Jack was nice enough to invite us."

"It's not a big affair," Jack quickly explained. "Since many in Stargate Command have to work on the holidays - we have to keep the lights going and watch the Stargate, you know? - and can't travel to meet friends and family, we generally hold a small party for them." And for those who had no family, were estranged from them or couldn't visit them because they were held prisoners by the Goa'uld. Which accounted for all or, now that Carter and her father had reconciled, most of SG-1.

"That sounds wonderful!" King Micah beamed at him.

"Yes!" Scorpia nodded far too enthusiastically. "Like the parties we threw in the Horde, only with good food and friends, instead of rations and subordinates."

"Yeah, right, exactly," Jack's smile grew a few more teeth as he looked at the grinning Catra.

"So, what's the dress code?" Perfuma the plant princess asked with wide eyes and a wider smile.

"Well…" They didn't have one, actually, as far as Jack knew - soldiers and their spouses were expected to know to dress appropriately. "Nothing too fancy," he said. Oh! He smiled. "But I'm no the best person to ask about this - Captain Carter here is actually helping with organising it, so she can answer all your questions!" He gestured at his subordinate, whose look of shock was quickly turning into a glare aimed at him.

"Sam!"

"I didn't know that you were organising the party!"

"Oh, you are? Can we help? I wanted to see if we could build a mix-bot, like in that movie we saw!" Entrapta beamed at Carter.

Who, Jack noted, blinked, then slowly smiled. "Oh, I am sure that can be arranged."

Maybe dumping that on my second-in-command hadn't been a good idea, Jack thought and suppressed the urge to wince as the princesses and other royalty gathered around Carter. He just knew that Hammond and the other generals would blame him for turning their office party into a high-profile event…

*****​

Above Bright Moon, Etheria, December 27th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"I've missed this," Adora said, looking down at the fields surrounding Bright Moon from Swift Wind's back. They were high enough so she could see most of the Whispering Woods - which reminded her that she had to visit Madame Razz once she had the time. She could also see the farm they had visited with Jack and someone moving over the fields there, but she couldn't tell who it was.

"...and I've had to personally free more horses since the princess was dragging her feet."

What did he say? "You invaded a kingdom?" Adora asked.

"Micah said it wasn't an invasion," her friend said as he banked to avoid a small cloud.

"But you went into another kingdom and…" She couldn't say 'stole'; Swift Wind didn't consider horses as property. "...freed horses?"

"Yes. They were keeping them leashed to carts and ploughs, can you imagine?" Swift Wind turned his head to look at her with a - for him - shocked expression. "It was slavery, plain and simple!"

So he had raided another kingdom. Probably more than one. "And where did you take the horses?" He wouldn't just release them, would he? They would just be recaptured, wouldn't they?

"Micah had them relocated to pastures in Bright Moon."

That was… concerning, actually. "Ah, OK," she said. "How did you get them to Bright Moon?" He couldn't carry them away after all - well, maybe he could carry a pony if someone helped and tied it to his back, but…

"I led them," Swift Wind said matter-of-factly. "I flew ahead, and they followed. Although I had to convince the stallion that I knew what I was doing."

Adora narrowed her eyes. He was staring at the ground a bit too attentively as he said that and avoided looking at her. Still, it was probably a minor thing, even if he thought it was important. There was something else that was bugging her more. "So, you're working with Micah on this?"

"I lead the freed slaves to him, and he sends them to pastures."

Adora suppressed a sigh. She had to talk to Micah about this. As much as she loved Swift Wind, you couldn't just go and raid other kingdoms. And sooner or later, someone would stop Swift Wind. He was magical and smart, but, ultimately, he was a flying horse, not a princess. Well, he was probably as powerful as some princesses she had heard of, but if he were to fight any of Adora's friends, she'd bet on them, not him. He must have gotten lucky so far.

Or, she realised with a gasp, the other kingdoms thought he was acting on She-Ra's orders! Swift Wind was her magical steed, after all. And her friend.

Oh, no! What if Micah thought the same? They had never talked about what Swift Wind was doing, had they? She really needed to talk to Micah. And the others.

She took a last look at the land below her, and the mountains, woods and glittering sea in the far distance, then sighed and patted Swift Wind's neck. "We need to land."

*****​

Bright Moon, Etheria, December 27th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"We've been invading other kingdoms?"

Adora winced a little at the volume of Glimmer's… well, it was technically a question. It was a good thing that they were in her living room with the doors closed or the entire palace probably would have heard her.

"It's not an invasion," Micah said.

"I'd say it's a raid," Catra commented from the couch. She was grinning - apparently, she thought this was hilarious. "Sneaking over the border and stealing livestock."

"Invasion, raid - it doesn't matter! We're attacking other countries - condoning raids by Swift Wind," Glimmer added with a glare aimed at Micah before he could correct her again.

He closed his mouth and looked a little sheepish.

"You've gone full bandit queen!" Catra laughed. "Or is that pirate queen? We have to ask Mermista if you can give letters of marque to horses."

"Letters of marque?" Micah asked.

He hadn't seen the Earth pirate movies, Adora reminded herself as Bow explained the term. Apparently, Salineas didn't issue such letters but formally commissioned the ships that raided Horde transports. Which worked out the same, as far as Adora could tell.

"Whatever!" Glimmer paced in front of them, gesticulating. "This is a diplomatic crisis!" She turned to glare at Micah again. "Why didn't you stop him?"

"Ah…" Micah smiled weakly. "Technically, what he does outside our borders - or the borders of our allies - isn't a concern of ours?"

"That…" Glimmer shook her head. "This has to stop!"

"Yes," Catra agreed, chuckling still. "You're going to run out of pastures to put horses on if this continues. And all the manure the herds must produce…" She grinned at the glare sent her way.

"It's not funny!"

Adora had to agree with Glimmer.

Catra, of course, disagreed. With a shrug, she said: "It kind of is. Everyone must think that you're backing this."

"We compensate the owners for the loss," Micah said.

"Everyone thinks we are behind this!" Glimmer snapped. "And the Alliance! Why hasn't anyone stopped him?"

"Well…" Micah looked at Adora.

Oh, no! "Because everyone thinks he's doing it for me," Adora said, sighing. "Or that if they stop him, I'll get angry at them."

Micah nodded, confirming her fears.

"Well, tell him to stop. At least he's only been hitting the smaller kingdoms," Catra said, looking at the map on the table where all the raids had been marked. "None of them are members of the Princess Alliance. And they're too weak to matter militarily."

"But there are quite a few of them," Bow pointed out.

"Yes," Glimmer agreed. "And that is going to be a problem now that we have to decide how to handle the Stargate on Etheria."

Adora winced. She hadn't even thought of that.

*****​

Gate Area, Near Bright Moon, Etheria, December 27th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"Alright… the converter is connected! Wanna test it now?"

Samantha Carter nodded at Entrapta's question. "Yes." She took a step back from the crystal array that would provide the magic power to be converted. Not that she expected or feared that the array would explode, but it was the unexpected disaster that tended to kill you. "Ready?" She glanced at her friend.

Entratpa had also stepped back. "Yes!"

"Powering up." Sam pressed the main power button. The array started to hum, and the various lights on the control panel lit up, all indicators showing green. Then the main unit started to glow softly, red hues slowly turning brighter as the power increased.

"Converter's working!" Entrapta announced. "Power outflow… steady. Steady. Capacitors charging up."

Sam raised her head and looked at the capacitors. Those were an Earth design, familiar but also looking strangely out of place next to both the Stargate and the Etherian gear.

But they worked, and that was what counted. Sam watched as the charging indicators changed until they lit up green - the power necessary to run the gate had been stored in them. She let out a soft sigh - the first step to get the Stargate on Etheria operational had been achieved. The easiest step, too - but they were ahead of schedule.

Of course, they were ahead of schedule because Sam had used the excuse of having to work on the gate to escape the gaggle of princesses asking about the New Year's Party; the original schedule would have had them start working on the gate tomorrow.

Sam felt a little guilty for asking Entrapta to start their work immediately instead of letting her reconnect with her friends - especially since Sam had known that Entrapta would agree. On the other hand, her friend loved the work, and establishing the Stargate was of crucial importance. Not the least since SG-1 was stuck here as well until the gate was active.

A fact that Sam had been counting on to get out from wasting time on the New Year's Party assignment that the Colonel had saddled her with. She was a scientist, not a party planner! And her work on the gate control unit was much more important than preparing an oversized office party.

But now the office party was set to become a major diplomatic event, with the top leaders of the Princess Alliance all going to attend. Sam was torn between a little satisfaction that the Colonel's punishment had backfired on him and dread that she would have to actually spend quite the effort on planning the party, probably having to rope Daniel into it as well.

She shook her head as the array powered down, then set the capacitors to slowly release their charge.

"So, do you think we'll get a mixing bot ready in time for the party? If we continue to finish ahead of schedule, I think we'll have enough time, right?"

Apparently, Sam couldn't even escape the party planning here. She forced herself to smile - it wasn't Entrapta's fault that Sam had been assigned to this farce. It was the Colonel's fault. And just because she had done what she knew the Colonel would have done himself if he had known - doing it without his knowledge had only served to help protect him!

But her friend had asked a question. "Yes, I think we'll be able to finish the bot - at least the construction part," she said. They could reuse the schematics and parts from one of Entrapta's servant bots. If they could serve tea, they could pour any other liquid as well. "But we will have to see how we can program it with the necessary recipes." And they'd have to calibrate the sensors so it could check that the liquids it would be mixing were of the correct type - it would have to be refilled during the party, and Sam wasn't keen on supervising that kind of work during a party, so it was best if it didn't have to rely on a competent operator. Alcohol and competency didn't tend to mix well in her experience.

"Oh, right. I'll have to ask my cook and Glimmer's cooks about their recipes. And the others as well! Although probably not the former Horde cooks - I don't know if their stills are still active."

Oh. Sam hadn't even considered using a bot to make Etherian cocktails. If only because importing the ingredients from Etheria without permission would probably violate not just regulations but the law. She winced. "That might be a bit complicated."

"Oh?"

Sighing once more, Sam started to explain.

It was a good thing they were alone here. If her peers in the scientific community could see her now, dealing with the legality of a booze-producing bot instead of advancing physics, her reputation might never recover.

*****​
 
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Chapter 71: Going Home Part 3
Chapter 71: Going Home Part 3

Bright Moon, Etheria, December 27th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...we can't just let anyone use the Stargate! It's a crucial resource for the war against the Goa'uld!"

Catra nodded in agreement with Glimmer's argument, then caught herself. Just because Sparkles was correct didn't mean that Catra had to publicly acknowledge it.

"But as with Earth's Stargate, the gate doesn't belong to a single kingdom or faction but to the entire planet," Adora said. "We can't just take it for ourselves."

Catra sighed as Adora and Glimmer stared at each other. Her lover, well… she wasn't exactly wrong, but they were at war.

"We're at war. We can't let anyone else take it," Glimmer shot back. "It's not about owning the gate - but we have to control it."

"And why should the gate belong to everyone?" Mermista frowned. "The Princess Alliance is the reason the other kingdoms still exist. We fought; they didn't do anything. If we hadn't beaten Horde Prime, he would have destroyed Etheria." She scoffed. "I don't see why we should let people who didn't care enough to fight the Horde have a say about who gets to use the gate. Or control it," she added with an eye-roll.

Catra narrowed her eyes. If not for Adora, Etheria would have been destroyed. Twice over. By Horde Prime and the Heart of Etheria.

Adora shook her head. "But that doesn't give us the right to rule Etheria. We are better than that!"

"And we kind of set an example when we insisted on approaching Earth instead of the USA," Bow said. "Even though the USA was the only country fighting the Goa'uld."

Glimmer scoffed. "That's not the same! They kept the Stargate and the entire war a secret!"

Catra nodded. That had been very short-sighted of them. But… it still was a precedent. Sort of.

"But we have to live up to our example," Perfuma said. "How can people trust us if we don't act according to our own ideals?"

Scorpia, no surprise, nodded in support of her. "Yeah. Just because we're more powerful than the other kingdoms doesn't mean we should just push them around, you know?" She shrugged her armoured shoulders and spread her pincers.

Catra glanced at Adora. Her lover was wincing - no doubt thinking about Swift Wind's campaign to 'free' all horses.

"But we shouldn't let them push us around either," Glimmer retorted. "Besides, someone has to control the Stargate, and the Princess Alliance is the obvious choice. We're the biggest organisation on Etheria."

"And you're composed of the most powerful kingdoms," Catra pointed out. "Earth has the 'United Nations', but they are controlled by their most powerful countries."

Adora frowned at her, but she was just telling the truth. Earth was controlled by its most powerful countries. Of course, her lover didn't accept that. "That doesn't mean we have to follow their example," Adora insisted.

"But as Glimmer said: we can't just let anyone use the gate. Not during a war - it's our biggest weakness," Netossa said. "We need to control the Stargate as much as we need to control Etheria's orbit. Just imagine what would happen if the Goa'uld manage to take control of a kingdom!"

Adora sighed but then nodded - grudgingly; Catra could tell. "Yes, that's clear. We need to control who travels through the Stargate. But we can't just take it. And once the war's won, we need to let everyone use it."

"Within reason," Glimmer replied. "We'll need an organisation like Stargate Command. But only once the war's over. Until then, the Princess Alliance can and should control the Stargate. It's a crucial resource for the war and a glaring weakness."

"And if anyone wants to have a say about the gate, they can join us," Spinnerella said. "If they aren't willing to fight the Goa'uld, they shouldn't be allowed to use the Stargate."

Catra nodded in agreement. "That sounds fair." She ignored the glances from Frosta and Mermista.

"Forcing people to fight a war to use the Stargate seems not very fair," Perfuma commented.

"We're not taking anything away from them - we discovered the Stargate. We defend Etheria from the Goa'uld. They can continue living their lives as before, but if they want to use the Stargate - in wartime - they need to follow our rules," Glimmer said. "That's not hypocrisy; that's just common sense."

"And what do we do if they want to use the Stargate to travel to Earth?" Bow asked. "And what do we do if Earth countries want to send people to us?"

"Countries that are in the Alliance - or those who aren't," Catra added.

"Ah…" Adora closed her mouth.

And Glimmer frowned again. But it was a good question. And now that everyone in the Alliance was present, it was time to answer it.

Or, as was more likely, in Catra's opinion, discuss and debate without deciding it. That part of the United Nations Etheria had down pat. Sometimes, she wished She-Ra was the ruler of Etheria.

*****​

"You know, Jack, Sam's not going to be happy with you."

Jack O'Neill knew that. Very well. He had known she wouldn't be happy before he had thrown her to the wolves - figuratively, not literally. Here on a planet with talking - and flying, mustn't forget the flying - magical horses, it was better to clarify that. But appearances had to be upheld. So he leaned back in the best armchair in their quarters (and that meant something in Bright Moon's palace) and said: "She managed to easily handle the situation, so I don't really think she has any reason to complain."

"She claimed she had urgent work on the gate to do," Daniel retorted with a frown. "I don't recall hearing about such work in the briefing."

"Carter's the gate expert." Jack shrugged. It had been a bit of a copout, but it got the raving party princesses off her back. Whatever works was the rule for a reason.

Daniel sighed with a put-on expression Jack was very familiar with. "She was fleeing the palace, Jack!"

"I wouldn't say 'fleeing'," Jack objected with a slight grin - it had been amusing, after all.

"The wise warrior withdraws in the face of overwhelming odds to offer battle again once the situation is more favourable. Captain Carter is wise indeed."

"Thank you, Teal'c," Jack commented.

"I still don't understand why you assigned her to the party preparations," Daniel complained. "I mean, back then, this wasn't a diplomatic event - just the usual party."

"With the Etherians attending," Jack pointed out.

"Those who had spent months on Earth already and were, therefore, at least somewhat familiar with our customs, and it was - or should be - a quite controllable environment." Daniel shook his head. "And don't you always say that we should focus on the important parts of our job and not waste time on the unimportant bits?"

That was about paperwork. And some paperwork was actually important.

"Indeed. It is puzzling why you would assign this task to Captain Carter. She is a fierce warrior and an outstanding scientist, but she has never struck me as a, as the correct term is, I believe, 'party animal'."

They were ganging up on him! Jack looked at his friends. Daniel was frowning, and Teal'c was as inscrutable as ever, but both met his eyes. They wouldn't drop this.

He sighed. He could make up something about Carter needing to unwind and relax more, but he didn't think that would fool them. Time to come clean - as long as Carter wasn't here, at least. "It's punishment detail." At least for Carter. Others would thrive there.

"Punishment detail?" Daniel blinked. "But… why?"

Teal'C nodded. He got it.

"A small reminder that I'm the leader of this team," Jack explained. "If anyone has to take the heat for doing the right thing without orders, or against orders, it's going to be me. Not you lot."

Daniel opened his mouth, closed it again without saying anything and made a half-hearted gasp. "Oh. But what did she do?"

Jack sighed again. Daniel still had to learn what questions you didn't ask in the military. "It's what she didn't do. If someone in my team is going to 'creatively interpret' orders, I expect to be informed." So he could take the heat. Or stop a friend from ruining themselves.

"So you can take the blame for our actions?" Daniel tilted his head. "But that wouldn't be fair!"

"War's not fair," Jack quoted his first drill sergeant.

Daniel narrowed his eyes. "You want to sacrifice yourself for us but don't want us to reciprocate?"

"Yep. That's called leadership." Jack grinned at him.

"But that doesn't take into account that both Sam and I are not easy to replace," Daniel objected. "Well, Sam at least - a number of my colleagues have reversed their stance towards my theories and would probably be able to replace me, with a bit more experience. Or a lot."

Daniel was too honest for his own good. And not quite aware of how brilliant he was. "No one can replace you," Jack told him. "Your experience, your contacts, your… you-ness."

"My 'you-ness', Jack? Really?" Daniel shook his head. But he was smiling. Mission accomplished. Then his friend continued. "But then that would strengthen my point: We can take, ah, the heat."

"But it's not your job. My team, my responsibility," Jack tried again. "And the worst failure of an officer is to ignore what their soldiers are doing." Well, when they were doing something that you had to know - some things soldiers did, officers were meant to ignore.

Daniel, though, was digging his heels in. "But…"

Fortunately, a knock on the door interrupted his next argument. Jack jumped up. "OK, duty calls!"

"Or room service," Daniel retorted.

Jack grinned at him. "That would mean a break!"

But it wasn't room service. It was Adora and Catra. And they didn't look happy. And they were standing a bit further apart than usual, too.

Something wasn't right on Etheria.

*****​

"So, what's wrong?"

Adora had barely set foot inside the guest quarters when Jack asked his question. Was it that obvious? Was she that obvious? She sighed. "We've got a disagreement about how to handle the Stargate on Etheria."

Catra frowned at her, but Adora ignored it. SG-1 were their friends, and they wanted their advice. And you couldn't get good advice if you weren't honest about the problem. Besides, Jack had been at Alliance meetings before, so he knew they weren't always united. Not to mention that Adora was a little tired of playing games right now.

"Ah. Ideals clashing with the realities of war?"

Jack didn't sound or look smug, but he didn't sound too sympathetic either. More… matter of factly.

"Yep," Catra confirmed, sitting down in one of the free seats in the room. Curling up more likely - she pulled her feet up on the cushion.

Adora sighed and took the seat next to her. "It's not as simple," she said. "The Stargate belongs to Etheria, not to a single kingdom or even the Princess Alliance."

"At least, that's one opinion," Cara cut in. Adora narrowed her eyes, but her lover grinned at her, flashing her fangs in return.

"And the other opinion would be finders keepers?" Jack was grinning as well now.

Adora suppressed a sigh. Honesty was the best policy. "Yes. There's also the idea that since the Princess Alliance fought for Etheria and the other kingdoms didn't, they do not deserve to have a say about the gate."

"For the duration of the war at least," Catra added. "But who can say how long that will take?"

"Yeah, such arrangements tend to last longer than the war - far longer," Jack said. "There's always something else that comes up."

Both of them grinned at each other in a very similar way, Adora noted. And that was… well, not worrying, but kind of… disturbing. In a weird way. She took a deep breath. "And that's why we need to decide how to handle the Stargate now, and in a fair way."

"I think limiting access to the gate to those willing to defend Etheria is quite fair," Catra said.

Adora wasn't going to continue that discussion right now. "So, we wanted to know what you thought about Earth's Stargate and how it's being handled."

"And what Earth will think about how you're handling your Stargate?"

Adora nodded, though she clenched her teeth a little. Jack definitely sounded amused now.

"Yes," Catra replied.

"Well, Earth's Stargate is under United Nations control. But the Alliance kind of controls the United Nations, so…" Jack shrugged.

"So, officially, it belongs to all of Earth, represented by the United Nations, but de facto, it's under Alliance control," Daniel said.

Adora nodded.

"The Russians and the Chinese would like to change that, though," Jack pointed out. "And they use the United Nations for that. So, business as usual."

For Earth. But Etheria was different.

"And they would love to point out any apparent hypocrisy in our policies," Catra said. "To manipulate us. At least they'd try."

Jack nodded.

Adora frowned again. "But that doesn't mean they're wrong - not entirely. We can't expect people to trust us if we don't follow our own rules and ideals. And we will need a lot of people to trust us in the war." You couldn't persuade people to join you if you didn't have their trust. And honesty was needed to earn trust.

"So, what are you suggesting?" Daniel asked. He looked from Adora to Catra and back. "I mean, it's kind of obvious that you're, ah, struggling with the decision."

"Well, the Princess Alliance will control the gate until further notice," Catra said.

Adora nodded - she didn't like it, but the rest more or less agreed on that. "The question is how far we'll limit gate travel."

"So, you've got your own Russian and Chinese to deal with," Jack said. "The information got out, then?"

"We're not going to keep it a secret," Adora told him. "But we haven't announced it yet."

"Ah."

"And the question is, what if your Russians and Chinese want to make a deal with other kingdoms on Etheria?" Catra grinned. "I think no one wants that."

Jack slowly nodded. "Yes. The Russians trying to influence smaller countries in your backyard to stir up trouble - where have I seen this before?"

"We're not in the Cold War any more, Jack," Daniel said.

"But we might start another one," Jack retorted.

And if they banned others from using the gate, they would be ruling Etheria. Unofficially, but still.

"We can't really afford to have to worry about another Horde forming on Etheria," Catra said.

"But if we keep others from using the gate, we might be seen as another Horde," Adora retorted.

"I see the problem," Jack said. "Damned if you do, damned if you don't."

"Well, you could form an international organisation to control the gate, influenced to a great deal by the Princess Alliance," Daniel suggested.

"And we call it Stargate Command?" Catra asked, grinning for a moment. Then she grew serious. "It wouldn't really help if our Russians want to make a deal with yours. You aren't going to prohibit them from travelling through the gate, are you?"

And that was another problem.

"Well, if you'd keep the gate a secret, you wouldn't have to deal with that," Jack said.

Adora glared at him. So did everyone else. Except for Teal'c, of course.

"Sorry." But he didn't look sorry. "But I can't really help you here - I'm a soldier, not a politician. He shrugged. "But you could always pull the 'unsupervised gate travel is too dangerous for you' card."

"Is it working for you?" Catra asked.

It was Jack's turn to sigh. So, no.

And giving the Russians and the Chinese - hell, the rest of Earth - advanced technology wouldn't change anything either - quite the contrary.

This was quite a mess.

*****​

Samantha Carter was a little tired when she returned to the palace in the evening - local time; it was a bit later in Colorado already, and she was feeling it. One never really got used to the time differences while gate travelling, but one learned to ignore them. Usually, because there was an urgent problem to focus on - a life-threatening crisis tended to keep you awake until it was solved.

But they had made good progress on the Stargate - the power supply unit was working as intended, though connecting it to the gate would require a lot more time to ensure it would work without issues. Such as unstable wormholes. If they had a D.H.D. to handle that… But they hadn't.

"So, I'll see you at the dinner?" Entrapta asked as she hopped off the skiff that had brought them to the palace.

"Of course." Sam nodded - she had worked up an appetite. Tiny snacks provided by her friend could only go so far. Even if they were loaded with more sugar than the average family-sized breakfast cereal box.

"Great! I'm going to fill in Hordak about what we did today!" Entrapta waved and headed down the next hallway to her own room. Or rooms.

Sam softly sighed and suppressed the urge to remind her friend to clean up as well. That would be patronising. But it had been a long day so far.

And, she reminded herself, that was the fault of the Colonel. She still didn't glare at him when she entered their guest room, but she was a bit more professional than usual when she reported - she even saluted. Judging by his wry smile, he got the message; he didn't even comment about not saluting in the field.

"So, everything's proceeding according to schedule," he said instead.

"We're ahead of schedule, sir," she corrected him. "Depending on how connecting the power supply unit works tomorrow, we might shave off a day or two on the estimated time until the Stargate is operational."

"Good, good."

"That means we'll have more time to prepare the party," Daniel said.

Sam did glare at him. He was her friend and not a soldier, so it wasn't unprofessional.

He had the grace to wince. "Sorry… I'm just a bit excited. This is going to be an important diplomatic event. We're going to host the entire leadership of the Princess Alliance - the most important and most powerful supra-national organisation of Etheria! And a galactic power of the first tier, as far as we can tell, at least."

Her glare intensified. She would be officially responsible for organising part of the event. And taking part of the blame if anything went wrong. "Thank you for the reminder, Daniel."

"Sorry," he repeated himself. "But if you need any help, I would be happy to assist."

"I'll hold you to that."

He beamed at her in return.

And Sam sent a glance at the Colonel, who was looking far too smug right now. "And what were you doing today?" she asked Daniel.

"Oh, we were discussing possible policies for Etheria's Stargate with Adora and Catra," he told her. "They're in a similar situation as we are on Earth. The Alliance needs to control the gate for the war effort, but it belongs to the entire planet."

"They don't like having to compromise their ideals," the Colonel added with a chuckle.

"Jack! No one likes that!" Daniel pouted. "And it is a good sign that they struggle with the decision to limit gate travel - it shows they are taking their ideals seriously."

The Colonel snorted. "They can do that after we've won the war against the snakes."

"What good is winning a war if we betray our own ideals?" Daniel shook his head.

"We can make amends afterwards. If we lose, we won't be able to improve anything - because we'll all be dead. Or snaked," the Colonel shot back, then winced.

Daniel pressed his lips together - remembering his wife, Sam was sure.

She frowned at the Colonel; he had crossed a line there - then smiled at Daniel. "Well, as you said, they won't compromise the war effort."

"No, they won't. And there are several princesses who are as pragmatic as Jack here, as far as we can tell. Not that they told us explicitly, but it was pretty clear from what wasn't said," Daniel told her with a slight frown aimed at the Colonel.

"So, everything's fine!" The Colonel clapped his hands. "Let's get ready for a state dinner! We can probably use this as a rehearsal for the big party."

Sam rolled her eyes at the joke. Daniel did the same. Sometimes, the Colonel didn't know when to drop something.

Which, she reminded himself, was usually a sign that he wasn't quite as confident as he wanted to appear. And she thought she knew why. "It will certainly provide you with more data for your report to Stargate Command, sir."

"Ah, yes. My report. Which I'll send as soon as I'm done making it." He frowned at her.

Yes, she had been correct.

"In which you'll inform them of the slight change to the party's guest list, right." Daniel was getting into it as well - he was grinning.

"A report that will need some opinions from our cultural expert," the Colonel retorted.

But Daniel smiled at that. "Oh, yes! I've got so many notes!"

Sam stifled a giggle as she went to the bathroom. After spending more than half a day working on the gate, she needed to freshen up before dinner.

*****​

"...so, it's like a Princess Prom, but with far fewer rules?"

Frosta looked… interested, in Catra's opinion. As usual at a formal event such as a dinner with guests from another kingdom - or another planet in this case - the princess had been trying to appear aloof and mature (with varying degrees of success). But now she was showing a toothy smile that looked far more natural on her face.

"Well, there are rules, though they're mostly, ah, unwritten rules," Daniel replied.

"'Unwritten rules'?" Frosta cocked her head sideways with a frown. "Why didn't you write them down? The rules for the Princess Prom are well-documented."

"And far too long," Catra heard Mermista mutter under her breath. She chuckled in agreement.

"Is this an attempt to control who gets to attend the party by controlling information?" Perfuma asked, leaning forward. "Or is there a tradition that whoever invites you needs to teach you the rules?"

Perfect! "Well, Jack invited us," Catra said, grinning at his wince.

"Ah, it's not quite like that," Daniel said. "More formal events do have established protocol - established over centuries in some cases. But the New Year's Party at Stargate Command is not a formal event like that, nor does it have such a long tradition."

"We've only been around for a few years, after all," O'Neill cut in. "But the rules are mostly common sense. No fighting, no drinking excessively, no overly public displays of affection…"

"That sounds very formal to me," Adora commented with a frown.

"They mean no public sex, I bet," Catra said.

O'Neill glared at her for a moment, but she ignored that. Watching others blush was more interesting.

"No public sex - no public displays of sex - is a written rule, actually. A law, indeed," Daniel said. "Well, in the USA. There could be countries where it's allowed, but I can't recall one off-hand."

"And why would you know that, Daniel, hm?" O'Neill smirked.

"Because I had to look it up for a report once!" Daniel retorted, blushing. "Not because of what you are insinuating!"

"Let's drop this. I don't think anyone is planning to have sex on the dinner table," Glimmer commented. "Right, Catra?"

Was that a challenge? Wrong move, Sparkles! "I would never plan anything like that," Catra shot back. "Such things are usually spontaneous, right, Adora?"

Her lover blinked, then blushed. "Not like that! I mean, not in public! We'd never… Catra!"

Catra snickered, then laughed. Half the table was frowning at her, but it had been worth it.

"So, no public displays of sex," Entrapta's voice cut through the sudden silence. "Noted."

Daniel cleared his throat. "Anyway, yes, since it was originally meant for the members of Stargate Command, the written rules were Air Force regulations."

"'Were'?" Netossa asked.

"Since Stargate Command was recently expanded from the Air Force into a multi-national unit, the regulations were adapted and expanded."

"So, you do have written rules," Frosta said with a slight sniff.

"Yes." Adora nodded. "I have a copy if you want to read them. Though they are a little confusing in some spots. And contradict themselves in at least two areas. Unless I am mistaken."

Daniel blinked, and O'Neill grinned. "Well, it was a rush job, so you probably aren't mistaken. Did you inform the command council?"

"No. I thought that would be presumptuous since we don't have to follow those regulations," Adora explained.

"We don't?" Frosta perked up.

"We aren't members of Stargate Command," Adora told her. "So, we aren't subject to their regulations. It's a little different in the Alliance, but unless you're formally assigned to a unit, you generally don't have to follow any regulations from other militaries. And then there are grandfather clauses to consider as well."

"Those mean that if something was allowed under your old regulations, it can't be deemed illegal if you join a unit or formation," Bow explained before anyone could ask what that meant. "Provided it was already, ah, going on when you joined."

"It's mostly so we don't have to deal with that silly 'no fraternisation' rule of theirs," Catra added with a glance at O'Neill and Sam. Who, she noted, reacted in the exact same way of pressing their lips together and trying to ignore the dig. She snickered again.

"Anyway," Daniel spoke up again. "It's really just informal or common sense, as far as rules go. It's a lot like when you're visiting someone's home."

"For a dinner, not for a kegger," O'Neill added.

"What's a kegger?" Frosta asked.

"A party where copious amounts of alcohol, usually beer from a keg, is drunk," Daniel explained.

"Which this isn't," Sam spoke up. "In fact, there's no alcohol available at the party."

"Officially," O'Neill said. "I mean, no alcohol on the base, yes."

"No alcohol?" Mermista frowned. "That doesn't sound like much of a party."

Frosta nodded in agreement, which caused Micah to frown at her and then at Mermista.

"It's a military base. Alcohol, enlisted soldiers and weapons don't mix well," O'Neill told her. "We would rather not have anyone starting a drunk tank-tossing competition at the party."

"I only did that once!" Scorpia complained. "And it was a dare!"

Catra shook her head as everyone stared at her friend.

"Daniel, make a note that tank-tossing competitions are against the rules," O'Neill said in a dry voice.

"I didn't think we have tanks in the Mountain." Daniel looked puzzled.

"Not inside the Mountain, but they beefed up security outside," O'Neill explained. "Something about repelling a landing operation from orbit." He shrugged. "The army wanted to feel useful, I guess."

"Ah."

"So, what about dancing? Are there formal dances we need to know?" Spinnerella asked.

"Ah… no," Daniel said. "Dancing is more… informal."

"Don't drunkenly dance on tables is another rule," O'Neill said. "Don't dance on tables, period."

"Why would anyone dance on tables?" Frosta asked.

"Well, it's really…Ooof" Sea Hawk's attempt to answer was cut off by Mermista's elbow.

"Noted!" Entrapta piped up. "You seem to be the rules expert, Jack. Any other rules we need to know?"

"Ah, I wouldn't say I am an expert…" O'Neill started to say.

"Yes, he's the expert on rules," Sam interrupted him.

"Probably because he's broken every rule at least once," Catra whispered to Adora while O'Neill sent a frown at Sam.

Her lover tried to hide her chuckle, and Catra leaned back with a satisfied smirk. This was a very amusing dinner - and the food was great as well.

It was good to be home.

*****​

Bright Moon, Etheria, December 28th, 1998 (Earth Time)

When he heard the alarm go off - beeping softly next to his head so the others wouldn't be woken as well - Jack O'Neill was tempted to turn it off and just stay in bed. For a moment, at least. But duty called.

So he got up, stretched - it was still great and a bit suspicious to not feel any of the familiar old aches any more - and nodded at Teal'c, who was, unsurprisingly, already up. Or still up. It was hard to tell with him using Jaffa meditation techniques. "Morning, Teal'c."

"Good morning, Colonel O'Neill."

Daniel and Carter were still asleep. No surprise there, either - Daniel had stayed up far too late typing up his notes from the dinner, and Carter… had worked too hard before and had still tried to 'go over the latest code' instead of going to bed until Jack had ordered her to rest.

It had been a long day for Jack as well, of course. The dinner had felt more like an interrogation sometimes. Or like trying to hand-feed sharks in a feeding frenzy. Wrangling alien dignitaries was Daniel's job, for crying out loud!

And Jack would have expected Adora, Glimmer and the others familiar with Earth culture to handle the questions of the other princesses. But it seemed they weren't quite as familiar with Earth culture as he had thought - their explanations sometimes were a little off. And sometimes a bit too on point.

Shaking his head, he entered the bathroom. He wasn't looking forward to explaining the new additions to the New Year's Party to Stargate Command, so he'd better look perfectly presentable when he made the call at the gate.

*****​

Gate Area, Outside Bright Moon, Etheria, December 28th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"Yes, General. The entire leadership of the Princess Alliance - and their plus ones - expressed their desire to attend the party." Jack O'Neill suppressed a wince at his superior's expression on the screen next to the gate. Maybe he should have used the daisy-chain communication bot network Entrapta and Carter had set up instead of waiting for the scheduled gate contact. The lag might be useful for once.

"I see." Hammond nodded briskly.

Jack continued. "And since Adora, Glimmer and the others were already invited to the party…"

"By you." Another short nod.

"Just following orders to foster good relations, sir." Jack kept his expression bland. "Anyway, they assume that means the entire Alliance leadership was invited."

"I see," Hammond repeated himself, then turned his head to look at Haig.

The limey nodded. "We were already planning to accommodate high-ranking alien diplomats. A few more shouldn't be a problem, provided we prepare accordingly."

Well, this general got it. Jack nodded. Of course, the additional guests were not familiar with Earth culture at all and included a moody and, as far as Jack could tell, spoilt teenager who could cover the entire base in a glacier if she felt like it, a Scorpion-woman with pincers for hands who threw tanks around for fun, her lover who could turn a potted office plant into a jungle with a thought, and a serial arsonist, so things might require slightly more thorough preparations. Hell, someone had to ensure that no drunk soldier hit on the royal teenager. Or gave her alcohol. Well, that was…

"So, given your familiarity with the Etherians, I think you should be in charge of those preparations, Colonel."

…apparently now Jack's job. Damn. And Hammond was smiling faintly. But Jack nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good. While you are on Etheria, ensure that they are familiar with our rules and expectations, Colonel," Hammond told him.

"Oh, we've already started on that," Jack replied. "They understand the gist of it already." A bit away, working on her computer, Carter coughed, but Jack ignored that. "I emphasised that we frown on tank-tossing competitions."

"What?" Hammond narrowed his eyes and scowled.

"Pardon?" Haig raised his eyebrows but didn't react otherwise.

"Apparently, you should never dare Scorpia to throw a tank. She can and will do it. And since the only tanks at the base are ours…" Jack shrugged. "It's been handled."

"It better have been handled, Colonel!" Hammond growled. "We'll impress on our troops that our guests will be treated with the utmost courtesy."

Jack swallowed his 'they'd better, or they might get frozen, drowned and turned to fertiliser' comment. "Yes, sir."

"Anything else?"

"That would be all," Jack replied. They had already sent the progress report and revised estimates from Carter and Entrapta.

"Good. Stargate Command out."

The screen went dark, and Jack sighed. "Wanna bet that in five minutes, all the spooks are making plans on how best to approach our guests?" he asked Carter.

"No, sir."

"We'll have to be on the ball. And we'll have to warn the Etherians," Jack went on.

"Yes, sir." She nodded curtly. And he caught the hint of a grin. "I trust you will handle this with your usual efficiency, sir. I am, unfortunately, fully occupied with my work on the Stargate, so I cannot possibly assist you."

He frowned at her. Maybe he deserved this. But only a little - and she didn't have to be so smug about it.

Well, at least Daniel would be helping. Eagerly.

*****​

Bright Moon, Etheria, December 28th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"Are you sure we can't claim diplomatic immunity and bring alcohol to the party, Glimmer?"

"Yes, Frosta, I am sure. That's not how diplomatic immunity works on Earth."

Adora wondered who had told Frosta about diplomatic immunity.

"But Daniel said it made you immune to punishment." Frosta frowned - well, scowled.

Adora shook her head. They should be talking about the diplomatic trouble Swift Wind had caused - was causing - not about the New Year's Party.

"It would also be rude," Perfuma commented.

"Why do you want to drink alcohol so badly, anyway?" Glimmer asked.

"Just drink before we leave from here!" Catra interjected before Frosta could answer. "But not so much that you can't walk any more."

"It's not about getting drunk!" Frosta protested with a glare at Catra. "It's about preserving our sovereignty."

Adora wasn't sure she believed the claim - but she hoped that this was true. A drunk Frosta was a recipe for disaster. Well, any drunk princess was a disaster waiting to happen. She almost blushed when she remembered what she had done when she had been, well, it hadn't been alcohol, but she had acted like a drunk in that Horde base with Scorpia.

"Then it shouldn't bother you that alcohol is not permitted at the party." Catra showed her fangs in a toothy grin at Frosta. The princess opened her mouth to snap back something, but Catra went on: "Besides, if you want a real party, we can go clubbing on Earth later."

What? Adora stared at her lover.

"What?" Glimmer blurted out.

"Clubbing?" Frosta blinked.

"You want to hunt seals?" Bow asked.

"Seal hunting?" Catra looked confused.

"Yes, because on Earth, they use clubs to kill them… I saw it in a documentary," he explained.

"Clubbing is going out and visiting bars and nightclubs on Earth," Catra told him.

"Ah."

"They hunt seals with clubs?" Mermista asked.

Bow winced. "Baby seals."

Adora gasped. "Baby seals?" Those cute white animals? But…

Frosta looked puzzled before frowning at her. "They have the softest pelts." She rubbed the white fur lining her top, Adora noticed.

Oh. Ugh. She winced. That was where the fur came from?

"It's actually quite controversial on Earth - as is wearing fur at all," Bow explained. "At least in some countries, they want to ban it."

"Really? But they eat meat, don't they?" Scorpia asked.

"Yes," Catra replied. "And fish."

"That sounds… not very principled," Perfuma remarked with a frown.

"Some people on Earth don't eat meat," Glimmer said. "And some eat almost nothing but meat, or so it seems. There are a lot of humans on Earth."

"Ah, yes, I forgot." Scorpia nodded.

This was her chance to bring the discussion back topic! "Anyway," Adora spoke up, "Speaking about animals. We need to talk about how to deal with, ah, horses."

"You mean Swift Wind," Mermista told her. "And his raiding."

"Pirate queen," Catra whispered next to Adora.

Glimmer glared at her, then sighed. "Yes. As I have discovered, there's some misconception amongst some of our neighbours that Swift Wind is acting in the name of the Princess Alliance."

Catra chuckled.

"What?" Frosta frowned. "What is he doing?"

"He's 'liberating' horses," Netossa told her. "And then bringing them to Bright Moon."

"Really?"

Micah, who was looking embarrassed, Adora noticed, nodded. "We've been compensating the other kingdoms and moving the horses to pastures."

"Which hasn't helped with the impression others have gotten about our stance towards his activities," Glimmer said with a frown.

"I am sorry," Adora said, wincing. "I had no idea he was doing this in my absence." Well, she remembered some comments of his which, in hindsight, should have alerted her, but… no one else had realised anything either.

"The question is: What are we doing about this? We can't have a reputation as horse thieves," Glimmer said.

"And we can't let the other kingdoms think that we will attack them if they won't let him continue," Adora added. "They'll think we're bullies."

"Or a new Horde," Perfuma added.

"Yes. Some already commented on that," Mermista said. "We have a lot of former Horde soldiers in the Alliance now, so some princesses claim to be worried."

"What?" Perfuma scowled, which was quite rare for her. "The Scorpion Kingdom is completely peaceful! Anyone can see that!"

"Well, we've been preparing for the war against the Goa'uld, so that could have left the wrong impression on some," Scorpia added, scratching her head with one pincer.

"Yes, all our kingdoms have been gearing up for war," Mermista said. "That's not new, though. And the fleet in orbit is kind of hard to miss."

That was true. The other kingdoms must be feeling intimidated.

"We can't exactly disarm so the other princesses won't feel threatened," Netossa said. "Just tell Swift Wind to stop and tell the countries who lost horses it was a mistake."

"And what if he doesn't want to stop? He feels strongly about horses," Spinnerella said.

"Quite understandable, really," Perfuma added.

"We can't let him steal every horse on Etheria," Glimmer spoke up. "We're already running short on available pastures. And imagine if he starts doing this on Earth!"

"They eat horses there. Well, in some countries," Catra pointed out.

Adora winced. If Swift Wind heard about that… "But we have to do something about this." It wasn't right to push other kingdoms around.

"Well… We could replace all of them with oxen, I guess - or maybe bots," Bow suggested. "But that would still leave the question of what to do with them once they are free."

"Just let them roam in the wilderness?" Catra shrugged.

"People and animals will hunt them. And capture them," Glimmer pointed out.

"We could propose a treaty about the treatment of horses," Perfuma said. "So they aren't hunted or worked too hard."

Adora wasn't sure if Swift Wind would be satisfied with that, but it might be a start. Of course, if other princesses were afraid that the Princess Alliance was backing Swift Wind with their militaries, then they might think this treaty was the same deal and they would still feel bullied and resent it. And then there was the matter of the Stargate on top of that… "This is such a mess," she muttered.

"Well, it could be worse," Catra said. Adora looked at her. "Imagine if Swift Wind and some of those PETA guys met."

Adora shuddered at the thought while Catra had to explain to the others what PETA was and wanted.

*****​
 
Chapter 72: Going Home Part 4
Chapter 72: Going Home Part 4

Gate Area, Outside Bright Moon, Etheria, December 28th, 1998 (Earth Time)

The Horde fortifications being put up around the gate were a stark contrast to what Samantha Carter had started to think of as 'Etherian style'. They lacked the smoother curves and elegant lines of Bright Moon's architecture - or the clean style of Horde frigates. They looked more utilitarian. Reduced to what was functional, nothing else. Bare metal and concrete, mostly, if of a slightly exotic colour. And they looked… cheap, Sam decided would fit best. She could be mistaken, of course, but since she had seen how they had been set up, she didn't think she was.

Entrapta confirmed her suspicions. "Glimmer's still undecided on the final design for the main building for the gate base. Oh, and there's some talk about Bright Moon's architecture being presumptuous, so even once she decides on the style, the rest have to approve it." She shrugged. "I don't get what's wrong with just using Horde bunkers - except that we could still improve on them, of course. But they serve perfectly fine if you need a base."

Sam nodded. "They might not want this to be the thing a visitor sees first upon arriving on Etheria," she pointed out.

"Oh? I guess that might be true. It's still weird, though." Entapta shrugged, then pushed her visor up and looked around. "Everyone knows we won the war. And most of the Horde soldiers deserted or joined the Alliance against Horde Prime, anyway. And his tech looks quite different. Although Hordak might have picked a similar design to Horde Prime's if he would have had the resources available, I think. Not anymore, of course. But back then, probably."

Sam didn't really want to talk about Hordak - the former Warlord still gave her the creeps, for all that she understood how he ended up doing what he did. That he wasn't imprisoned, exiled or executed was a testament to how different the Etherians - at least the princesses - saw such things. "Well, unless they come to a decision quickly, this might end up being quite a long-lasting temporary solution," she said.

"Yes!" Entrapta nodded with a smile. "The Bright Moon building techniques aren't as fast as Horde technology, either. Although that might be because they do not use bots as much. Or at all." She pouted a little. "I hoped bots would become more accepted in the other kingdoms, but despite their help in rebuilding after the war, many princesses seem to distrust them. Even the smart bots, like Emily."

The bot beeped in agreement - and Sam could detect some sadness as well in the tone. So she swallowed her comment that the princesses might distrust intelligent bots even more than the dumb ones. "Well, they might associate bots with the Horde," she said instead. "It's hard to overcome such impressions."

"Well, it's stupid. We're not at war any more." Entrapta patted Emily's dome with her hair. "But I am sure that they'll warm up to you sooner or later, Emily! We just have to keep showing how great you and your fellow bots are!" She turned to Sam with a smile. "Our bot network should help with that - the spy bots are so useful! And so brave!"

Useful, undoubtedly. Although Sam was sure (and had ensured) that they hadn't sent any smart bots abroad. She would rather not see sapient machines spreading through the Galaxy. So she wouldn't call them brave. But she wouldn't correct Entrapta - it was a minor quibble. "Yes," she said, nodding. "I assume that former Horde soldiers are faced with similar problems?"

"Well, yes, but they are mainly settled in the Scorpion Kingdom, anyway."

Which was ruled by a former Horde Force Captain. Who was the partner of a key member of the Princess Alliance. Some might even suspect that the Horde merely changed the name of their country. Sam doubted that - she had met Scorpia, after all, and Perfuma's influence on her was also quite obvious, in Sam's opinion - but perception rarely matched reality. Especially when it came to grudges.

She might ask Daniel about this - his insight might be useful. And they would have to find out if other princesses in the Alliance harboured such grudges. The last thing Sam wanted was a row breaking out between two princesses deep inside Cheyenne Mountain.

She was rather fond of her lab, after all, even if she would have to move soon anyway, and the collateral damage that such a row could cause… Before she could think of a way to ask Entrapta about it without giving offence, Emily turned and beeped, her blaster cannon aimed. Something was up.

Sam quickly walked over to her pack, where she had put her carbine as well. She should have kept it on her, damn it! The Colonel wouldn't be happy if he heard about this.

"Oh. Perimeter scouts report that we're about to have visitors," Entrapta said - she had pushed her visor down and must be checking the feeds from the bots. "I think."

"Where are they?" Sam asked. They were in the middle of the camp, behind the field fortifications, but if someone took to the hills nearby…

Entrapta pointed at the largest hill around them. "They're up there."

Spies, Sam thought.

She quickly joined Entrapta, putting Emily between them and the hill. "Do you have a visual feed?"

"Uh… yes, let me link it to the… thank you, Emily!"

Sam looked at the screen Emily had handed to Entrapta. It showed half a dozen people - mostly humans except for one, no, two… satyrs, she'd call them on Earth. Diverse appearance, no uniforms - though a few of the outfits they were wearing looked as if they once were part of a uniform. And all of them were armed.

Sam recalled what she knew about Etheria's history. "I don't think they're visitors," she said. "They look like bandits."

"Bandits? In Bright Moon?" Entrapta blinked. "Are you sure?"

"No," Sam admitted. "But weren't they trying to sneak up on us?"

"Well, we are in the middle of a new base… which kinda looks like a Horde base, now that I think about it." Entrapta looked a bit embarrassed. "They might not trust us."

"But sneaking into Bright Moon?" Sam asked while watching the six men and women slowly crawl up to the top of the hill. "They haven't noticed the spy bot?"

"No, they didn't! She's a sneaky one!" Entrapta smiled.

Sam felt herself smiling as well but quickly grew serious again. She turned to look at the guards at the gate and those patrolling the close perimeter. "Do they know?"

"Oops, I forgot that they aren't in the network. Glimmer should really update Bright Moon communications." Entrapta looked sheepish, then she turned, her hair keeping the screen steady, and yelled: "Sergeant Slater! We have visitors - potential visitors - on the hill there."

"Armed ones," Sam added, and the sergeant nodded and started bellowing orders.

The people on the hilltop hadn't missed that, and Sam saw that they were falling back, out of sight of the base but not of the spy bot, and were looking around - trying to spot who had discovered them, she realised. That would fit former soldiers.

The short squabble that followed, ending with one of the goat people getting cuffed on the head and sent sprawling on the ground by the apparent leader, would fit deserters as well. But they were standing their ground now - even returning to the hilltop. Bandits or not, they had guts, as the Colonel would say.

Or they were desperate - or feared their leader more than they feared Bright Moon's soldiers. Then again, if Bright Moon's regular prisons were even half as nice as their converted guest rooms for special prisoners…

She studied the leader. He was a human but as tall as Teal'c and, as far as Sam could tell, even wider. And not much, if anything at all, of that bulk seemed to be fat.

"Should we go and talk to them?" Entrapta asked as Slater sent two squads up the hill, one gong around it to cut off a potential escape.

"Won't Slater take them to us?" Sam asked.

"Well… I dunno?" Entrapta cocked her head. "If we want him to, he would, since this is a Princess Alliance base. Technically. And I am a princess."

Sam reminded herself that for all her experience in a war and as the absolute ruler of a sovereign kingdom, Entrapta wasn't exactly what the Colonel would call 'leadership material'. "I think we should talk to them," she said.

"Alright!" Entrapta raised her multitool and pushed a button. "Sergeant Slater? Could you lead them to the base so we can talk to them?"

Sam heard the sergeant reply: "That might be dangerous, Princess."

"Well, do you think they're dangerous?" Entrapta asked, cocking her head.

Yes, Sam thought. "We can talk to them behind Entrapta's shield," she suggested. "Outside the base."

Slater agreed, and so Entrapta gave the order. Technically.

Sam focused on the upcoming talk, but she couldn't help wondering how this would have played out in a joint American/Princess Alliance mission.

It didn't take the soldiers and their guests long to descend from the hill - with the strangers in the middle, between two columns of soldiers. Entrapta and Sam met them in front of the gate, with Entrapta at their back and the bot's shield in front of them.

"Hello!" Entrapta waved. "I'm Entrapta, Princess of Dryl! And this is Sam Carter, my friend and science buddy! She's from… a place I'm not supposed to tell you. Who are you?"

Instead of giving his name, the man sneered. "We know she's from space. And we know she arrived through the gate with her friends."

So much for OpSec, Sam thought, pressing her lips together.

"Oh." Entrapta blinked, then smiled. "Good! If you know that already, then we don't have to explain things."

Sam suppressed a wince.

"Yes," a goatwoman blurted out. "We know what you are doing! You want to keep the portal to yourself! And we won't accept that!"

The leader glared at her, and she cowed her head. Then he turned back to frown at Entrapta. "We're sick of the princesses keeping all the good land to themselves while we starve in the desert! We want to move to another planet with fertile land!" he all but yelled. The rest of his group cheered in agreement.

Sam wanted to curse. She wasn't an expert on Etherian politics, but she knew this would be trouble.

*****​

Bright Moon, Etheria, December 28th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"They want to use the Stargate to emigrate to another planet?"

"That's what Sam just said," Catra replied to Glimmer's probably rhetorical question. Glimmer shot her a glare, and Catra put on her most fake 'earnestly helpful' expression. She didn't ask if her friend's ears were OK, but she wriggled her own a little. Then she winced - Adora had just pinched her thigh under the table with a whispered 'be nice'.

"Yes." Entrapta nodded with an honestly earnest expression. "They said they were sick of living in the Crimson Waste, and that all the fertile land was already taken, so they want to move to another world." She tilted her head. "And they said that the Stargate belonged to everyone, not just princesses."

Catra couldn't help snorting at that. "That sounds like former Horde soldiers."

This comment earned her a few more frowns, but Adora nodded in agreement. "Yes. That would fit what we were taught in the Horde."

Scorpia nodded as well. "Yeah. It's a bit different for me since I was a Force Captain, and well, everyone loves Perfuma…" She exchanged a sappy look with her lover. "...but there's still some, ah, suspicion towards princesses in some parts of the Scorpion Kingdom."

Quite significant parts, Catra thought. A lot of Horde soldiers were probably fed up with princesses - and with herself, of course, she added with a mental snort - after the war. Well, too bad for them; without the Princess Alliance, Etheria would have been conquered and then destroyed.

"Former Horde soldiers who turned bandits don't like us? What a surprise!" Mermista scoffed. "They're just pirates on land."

"We don't know that," Adora objected. "Not everyone in the Crimson Waste is a bandit. Huntara is a good friend."

And a fellow member of the Princess Alliance. Sort of - she hadn't really been at any meeting since the end of the war, not after she had left to 'liberate' the Crimson Waste from the Horde.

"And speaking of her: What is Huntara doing? The Crimson Waste is hers. She's been too busy conquering it to attend any meeting since the war, so she should be handling this!" Mermista commented, echoing Catra's thoughts.

"I don't think she has finished conquering it," Catra pointed out. "It's a very large territory, and while the number of areas with any strategic value is limited to the places with water, there are still quite a lot of them, and her forces will have taken casualties fighting the Horde and Horde Prime. Also, she might have lost some followers once the Horde was beaten and stopped being a threat." Catra knew what the Crimson Waste was like and she had no doubt that half the better bandits there would rather rule an oasis of their own than follow Huntara.

"Ugh." Mermista rolled her eyes. "I had to retake Salineas and didn't take that long."

"You are a princess," Glimmer pointed out. "You had the support of your kingdom's soldiers and people. Huntara doesn't have that."

The same people and soldiers who had deserted Mermista once before, when it had looked as if she would lose, but Catra refrained from pointing that out. Mermista could be prickly about that, even if she sometimes mentioned it herself.

"We should still ask her about this. She is the closest we have to a princess in the Crimson Waste," Perfuma cut in. "If her people want to emigrate through the Stargate because they are sick of living in the desert, she needs to know." She perked up, "I could help her improve the land!" With a glance at Scoria, she added: "Though that would cut into my work in the Scorpion Kingdom."

"Oh, that'd be OK. You've done so much for us already." Scorpia beamed at her. "And I think we're doing good now. Though we'll have to wait and see how the war changes this."

Catra snorted aloud. "I don't really think this is just about not wanting to live in the desert any more," she said. "Etheria has enough, more than enough, fertile land for people to settle, doesn't it?" She shook her head. "I think they just don't want to live under a princess's rule." They were, by and large, former Horde soldiers turned bandits, after all. Instead of joining the Princess Alliance.

"Well, technically, Huntara isn't a princess," Bow commented. "She hasn't shown any magical power so far. But she's still going to conquer the Crimson Waste and rule it like a princess, so the difference for those under her rule is probably moot."

Catra nodded. The former Horde soldier had made her views clear - 'the strong make the rules', if she recalled it correctly. Which meant the strong ruled. Though Catra wasn't yet sure if Huntara was strong enough - or smart enough - to rule the Waste. Time would tell.

Glimmer huffed. "That's all interesting, and finding out if you can become a princess without magical powers is certainly a complicated topic, but we need to decide what we do about their demand to use the gate to colonise another world."

"We can't just let them conquer another world!" Adora blurted out. "That would be wrong!"

"Just send them to an empty world," Mermista retorted. "Better than having them trying to carve out their own kingdom on Etheria."

"We would have to find an empty world for them first," Bow pointed out. "And it would have to be a world able to sustain a kingdom. Finding one, and ensuring that they can survive and thrive there will take some time - possibly a long time."

"And it would take resources we need for the war," Glimmer added. "We have more important things to do than cater to a small group of deserters and bandits - whose new world we would then have to protect as well so they don't end up conquered by the Goa'uld."

"But do we know how big their group actually is?" Adora asked. "And how many similar groups exist?"

That was a good question. Catra nodded. And had to suppress a snort when she saw the glances the others were exchanging.

How many people on Etheria would want to leave instead of living under a princess? She had a feeling that there were more than a handful.

*****​

Another evening, another state dinner. If this continued, then Jack O'Neill was sure that in just a week, he would've hobnobbed more with royalty than every general at the Pentagon put together managed in a year. Or at all - it wasn't as if they met actual kings and queens very often in their line of work. And the food was to die for.

On the other hand, for a dinner involving multiple heads of state - absolute rulers, even - the whole shebang felt more like a family dinner. With all the squabbling you expected over the holidays.

As long as you didn't think too much about the fact that half the people present had the power to turn you into a paste on the floor with a thought, of course.

"So, you've got a group of discontents who want to emigrate to a planet without princesses?" he asked once Mermista and her 'consort' had stopped reenacting a scene from Much Ado About Nothing or something. He managed not to smirk. Not much, at least, and he hid his mouth by taking a sip from the excellent wine right afterwards.

"You didn't fill him in?" Glimmer raised her eyebrows at Carter.

"I did," Carter replied. Very reservedly.

And Glimmer tilted her head to raise her eyebrows at him.

Jack took it in stride and grinned. Playing dumb didn't work all the time, especially not with people who knew you, and he was no Peter Falk, but it was best to keep in practice. "Yeah, I heard the gist. But I guess you've talked about it in more detail."

"We did." Glimmer nodded. "But we haven't decided how to react to their demands yet."

"We need to carefully consider the issue," Perfuma said. She really had flowers in her hair at all times. Jack wondered if they grew on her head - it wouldn't be the weirdest thing he had seen so far in Etheria. "And we need more information."

"You can't trust the words of deserters turned bandits," Mermista said.

"We don't know if they are bandits," Perfuma objected. "Just because they come from the Crimson Waste."

"They claim to come from the Crimson Waste," Mermista retorted. "They might be pirates who survived the sinking of their ship - or deserted their crew in a port."

"Indeed!" Her consort, the smuggler, spoke up, nodding. "Having broken the sacred bond of captain and crew, they would naturally attempt to hide their betrayal by laying claim to a new identity." He stood, raising his fist, but Mermista pulled him down into his seat before he could… do whatever he had planned. Probably something dramatic, in Jack's opinion.

"I don't think we should assume the worst of them," Adora said.

"But we also shouldn't overlook that they sneaked into Bright Moon," Catra added. "Of course, that's not a big achievement since you can sneak entire herds of horses over the border without your patrols noticing, but it's a little suspicious."

"Swift Wind is a special case."

Glimmer was frowning at her, Jack noticed. But… "Swift Wind is smuggling horses?" he couldn't help asking.

"He sees it as freeing slaves," Catra explained with a grin as Adora blushed.

Daniel blinked. "Are horses sapient on Etheria?"

"No. They're animals," Glimmer told him.

"They're as smart as dumb bots, I think," Entrapta said. "It's hard to measure that. Especially without invasive surgery."

"Ah."

"But Swift Wind was a normal horse himself before Adora accidentally turned him into what he is," Bow said. "So, his views are… kinda coloured by that."

"And he's trying to pull a Planet of the Apes?" Jack blurted out. He winced when everyone looked confused. "Ah, that's a movie from Earth. About an astronaut landing on a planet where humans are dumb like apes, and smart apes rule the world. "

"Sounds like a weird movie," Catra commented. "But not the weirdest I've seen."

"So, back to your wanna-be colonists," Jack said quickly when he saw that Daniel wanted to expand on the topic. The last thing he wanted was to discuss old science fiction movies. And accidentally starting a fear of a horse uprising.

"It's quite understandable that they don't want to live in the Crimson Waste," Perfuma said with an earnest expression. "It's a giant desert, and the plants are mostly cactuses. Which are fine plants, but they can be a little prickly." She blinked, then blushed as a few people - including Jack - snickered. "I didn't mean it like that! I meant they can be hard to control!"

"But doesn't your planet have more habitable regions? You only have about fifty million people, and Etheria is as large as Earth," Daniel pointed out.

"Etheria has plenty of room for everyone," Glimmer said. "Without counting mountains or deserts."

"There's nothing wrong with mountains. Dryl's perfectly fine," Entrapta objected.

"But it's not a farming country."

"No, but we trade ore for food." Entrapta nodded.

"They want fertile land, which usually means good farming land," Bow cut in. "Though they didn't actually state that they wanted to farm, did they?"

"They didn't. That's why we need more information before we can actually discuss the issue properly and come to a decision," Glimmer said.

"But we can't just let them colonise a planet anyway," Adora pointed out. "What if there are already people living on it?"

"Yes," Daniel, of course, agreed readily. "The history of Earth shows the consequences of such colonisation. The United States' history in particular."

The way everyone nodded with a serious expression made it clear that Glimmer and the others had filled them in about that particular part of human history.

"But sending them to an empty planet, as tempting as it is, is not a good idea either," Catra said. "They'd need protection so the Goa'uld can't take them over. Unless they all die off, of course, if their crops fail. Or if they find out that knowing how to raid doesn't let you survive when there's nothing to raid."

"Oh, yes!" Daniel nodded. "Colonies on Earth often required constant support from the country of origin, at least in the beginning, and many failed anyway. Though the Stargate would make supplying a settlement far easier, I guess."

"That begs the question of whether we want to support such a colony or not," Glimmer said. "They obviously don't care for us - or anyone else except themselves. Why should we let them settle a planet and then protect it while entire worlds full of people are occupied by the Goa'uld?"

That was a good question, Jack had to admit. Even though he liked the thought of Etherians striking out to live free from the rule of magical princesses. In an abstract way, though - the nitty gritty details were much less appealing.

Though that wouldn't really bother the press back home if they caught wind of it. He could already see the headlines and talking points about a second Mayflower. And at least some back home would want to emulate them as well and make their own country. A country that would probably be very similar to what the pilgrims had wanted to create.

Yeah, it wasn't really amusing any more.

*****​

Above Bright Moon, Etheria, December 29th, 1998 (Earth Time)

She could do this. She had to do it. Well, there were alternatives, but it was the right thing to do. Probably.

Adora closed her eyes and sighed. What should she do?

"Is something wrong?"

She forced herself to smile at Swift Wind's question - he had turned his head and was looking at her while they flew through a cloud. "No, no," she lied. "I was just thinking. About the war."

Lying to her friend felt awful.

"Ah! I can understand - it must be a daunting task to face such evil. An Empire built on slavery - oh, I understand perfectly. I am waging my own war against slavery here on Etheria, as you know."

Adora winced. Fortunately, Swift Wind was looking ahead again and missed it. Just the topic she had been torn about. Enough - she would face this head-on! As she should have from the start. "So I've been told," she said. "You've been taking horses to Bright Moon."

"Micah has been very helpful in housing them free and safe," he replied. "No slaver would dare to mess with the most powerful kingdom on Etheria. Of course, now that you're back, it should become even easier to free horses - who would dare to challenge She-Ra and her faithful mount?"

Adora blinked. Was he expecting her to help him with stealing horses? She-Ra, a thief? For a brief moment, she imagined herself wearing a mask. And shuddered at the thought of looking like Shadow Weaver. Maybe a full suit with a helmet… No! Everyone would know it was her, anyway - she was usually the only one riding Swift Wind, after all. And he would probably announce her anyway. "Well, they knew you're my friend, my mount, already," she said.

"Yes, but they also knew you were gone. Some might have even hoped that you'd stay gone! But now that you're back, they know they've got no chance to stop us!"

"Yeah…" She winced again. "But I'll still be busy with the war against the Goa'uld."

"Of course! And I will fight at your side! But trust me, freeing horses is easy - you can do it to relax and unwind. And there's nothing more satisfying than seeing them free of the cruel yokes that were forced on them, galloping over the fields and hills!"

Adora pressed her lips together so she wouldn't curse. Swift Wind was… well, he was clearly fully invested in this. And what could she say? That he should let his people - he was a horse, after all, just a special one - just be? Well, she had been planning - considering - that, but now… "Do you know how many horses are on Etheria?" she asked.

"No." He laughed. "But I won't rest until the last one has been freed and slavery vanquished!"

She would have to talk to Glimmer.

*****​

Bright Moon, Etheria, December 29th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"You want us to keep supporting him?"

Adora winced a little - Glimmer's outburst was a bit loud. Well, she was under a lot of stress, what with having to deal with all the issues that Micah had left for her to decide during their absence. Still… She nodded. "He is set on liberating all horses."

"We already knew that." Her friend shook her head. "So what? That means we have to go along with it?"

Yes. But she didn't say that. "Well, we have been going along with it, haven't we?"

"Dad has." Glimmer sighed. "But we can't keep doing this - do you know how many horses are on Etheria?"

Adora shook her head. "That's what I wanted to ask you."

Glimmer scowled in return.

"I guess you don't know either, huh?" Catra cut in from where she was sprawled on Glimmer's couch eating a tuna sandwich.

Glimmer's scowl deepened.

"We can find out," Bow said, smiling at everyone. "There should be records."

"You record the number of horses? Do you tax them?" Catra asked.

"No, we don't tax horses," Glimmer said. "But Mom ordered a count in case we had to confiscate them for the war effort."

"You wanted to fight us with horse cavalry?" Catra asked. "Or mounted infantry?"

"Mounted infantry, of course," Glimmer replied. "They would have been good to move troops through rougher terrain where your tanks and transports would get stuck."

"Ah, so in case you needed to evacuate Bright Moon and had not enough skiffs."

"Yes."

"Got it!" Bow announced. "So… Hm… that's a lot of horses. Oh. That includes the horses Swift Wind brought in."

"But that doesn't tell us how many are left," Adora pointed out.

Bow smiled again. "Well, if we use Bright Moon as a baseline…"

"Can we use it as a baseline?" Catra interrupted him. "The Scorpion Kingdom doesn't have many horses, I bet. And I don't think the Kingdom of Snows or Salienas have many horses, either.

Bow frowned in return. "It would be a conservative estimate, I think."

"A wild-ass guess. Got it." Catra nodded with a smirk.

"It's the best we have," Glimmer spat. She tapped a few keys on her tablet, still scowling. "So, all things considered… we could be dealing with a few hundred thousand horses on Etheria."

That was… a lot. Or was it? "How many horses are on Earth?" Adora asked. "Just to get a comparison," she explained.

Her friends were staring at her. Even Catra.

"Did he say he wanted to 'liberate' them too?" Glimmer asked.

He hadn't. But it wasn't as if they had talked about that. Adora wasn't even sure if he knew that there were horses on Earth - wait, he had to know that after talking with SG-1. Right?

*****​

"So… we've got people wanting their own planet, without magical princesses to rule them, and a magical flying horse - unicorn - running an underground railroad for runaway horses."

The Colonel, lying on the couch in their room, didn't sound as amused as Samantha Carter would have expected, given the situation on Etheria. No comment about 'ripping off Earth history' or about former bandits 'founding space Australia'. He seemed to be treating the potential problem with the seriousness it deserved - for a change. She nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Solving that will be a little tricky."

"I do not see the problem," Teal'c commented. "According to our allies' best estimates, and supported by Captain Carter's observations, those people are deserters from a vanquished enemy army who were too craven to take up arms when their planet was under attack. The Princess Alliance does not owe them anything."

"Yeah, well… obviously, the magical princesses don't see things as simple as that, Teal'c," the Colonel replied.

Teal'c inclined his head, acknowledging the point.

"And what do you think about Swift Wind's, ah, crusade?" Daniel asked.

"I respect his decision to fight to free his brethren."

"Ah…" The Colonel looked surprised. "We're talking about horses, not people."

"Exactly." Teal'c's face showed a hint of a smile.

"But…" The Colonel fell silent with a pout. "Were you pulling my leg?"

And the hint vanished. "No, Colonel O'Neill." Once more, Teal'c nodded. "I do not think that Swift Wind, having been born as a horse, would care whether or not others consider horses as more than animals."

"Ah… Good point."

And Teal'c would empathise with the idea of freeing your enslaved brethren.

"Yes," Daniel agreed. "His, ah, unique history would ensure that he has a different view of the whole situation. And it would be quite, ah, callous, I would say, and perhaps naive and shortsighted as well, to expect him to treat horses as mere animals - he is likely to feel a kinship with them despite their lack of sapience. Of course, since he is a horse of sorts, that's quite justified."

"Yeah, I think we all realised that when we heard about his crusade to free his brothers and sisters from bondage," the Colonel pointed out in a dry voice.

Daniel blushed slightly. "Well, yes, I was just agreeing with Teal'c."

"Indeed."

"Yeah, yeah. But just because he thinks horses are people doesn't mean everyone will agree with him. And that's the problem," the Colonel said.

Daniel blinked. "What do you mean?"

"We have millions of horses on Earth," the Colonel explained. "Some people even eat them."

"Oh. I didn't… How didn't I think of that?" Daniel looked aghast. "He must think we are cannibals - using the more colloquial definition of a cannibal, of course, since, strictly speaking, cannibalism is defined as eating your own species, not merely other sapient beings."

"I doubt that Swift Wind will care about such word mincing."

Sam nodded in agreement with Teal'c.

"But the real question isn't what our magical flying unicorn is going to do, but what the princesses are going to do." The Colonel was looking at her, Sam realised.

"That wasn't a topic that came up while I was working on the Stargate with Entrapta, sir," she told him.

"I expected that, seeing as everyone seems to have been blindsided by the horse crusader." He was still looking at her. Why would… Ah.

Sam narrowed her eyes. "Entrapta is a brilliant scientist, but she is rarely interested in such political questions," she pointed out. She wasn't going to use Entrapta as a source of information about the internal discussions of the Princess Alliance.

"Yeah." He wasn't pressing the implied suggestion. Good.

"We'll have to talk to the Princess Alliance about this," Daniel pointed out the obvious. "This could become a diplomatic catastrophe if the Etherians back his, ah, intentions! And if he uses his unique appearance and nature to run a PR campaign…"

"I think he'd have the girl demographic solidly in his corner. Probably even the French ones," the Colonel commented.

Daniel nodded. "Well, yes, sure, who wouldn't love to… Oh my God - what if he wants to attend the party?"

Sam froze. That would…

"We've never seen him indoors, have we?" the Colonel asked.

"No. But that doesn't mean he won't enter buildings. He might actually live in the palace stables," Daniel said, wincing. "And since everyone here seems to be getting excited about the party, he might want to attend as well."

"And someone will want to talk to the talking horse, and talking about horses that don't talk seems the obvious topic to break the ice." The Colonel looked grim.

Well, he was nominally in charge of the party organisation now.

Sam managed not to smile at the irony, but only because she was still involved as well. "I suggest you breach the subject as soon as possible, sir."

"Yeah."

*****​

Bright Moon, Etheria, December 30th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"We should just ignore them. We don't owe them anything."

"But Mermista! We can't just ignore them - they're as much victims of the war as anyone else who was displaced. At the very least, we should let them resettle in a more fertile region of Etheria."

This is getting tedious, Catra thought while she munched on a tuna sandwich.

"They don't want to resettle on Etheria - they want a planet of their own. If they wanted to farm, they would have returned to the Scorpion Kingdom like the other former Horde soldiers when you put the call out," Glimmer retorted. "And we can't just ignore them sneaking over Bright Moon's borders! They might attempt to seize the gate by force!"

"All six of them?" Mermista scoffed. "Even Emily could handle that by herself."

"Both Emily's offensive and defensive capabilities have been increased significantly," Entrapta spoke up. "Her shield generator should be able to hold out against a prolonged assault with portable weapons, not counting advanced bombs though."

"Not quite my point, but see? We can ignore them."

"But we shouldn't ignore them!" Perfuma protested. "We're better than that."

"And they're kinda our responsibility - well, mine," Scorpia added. "You know, being former Horde soldiers."

Catra swallowed the last bite and snorted. She was a former Horde soldier herself - former Horde leader, actually - but she didn't owe those idiots anything.

"You fulfilled your responsibilities by offering every former Horde soldier a place in your kingdom," Glimmer told her. "If they don't want to live there, that's on them. And the place certainly fits their request for 'fertile land' now," she added with a scoff.

"Well, yeah, but it doesn't fit their request not to live under a princess," Catra said. Half the Alliance leadership turned to glare at her, but she shrugged. "I'm just pointing out that they don't just want fertile land; they want to rule it."

"They want an entire planet. For what, a few hundred people?" Gimmer shook her head. "And that's only if we believe their claims. Huntara messaged us that she doubts that they have such a big tribe."

"And if we give them a planet, others will want one as well," Mermista said. "Even a few princesses, I bet. More than a few, actually. I'd suggest giving them some desert island no one wants, but they'd turn pirate as soon as they can get a ship."

Perfuma shook her head. "They would only turn pirate if they have no better alternatives."

Oh… Catra suppressed a sigh. "Not exactly. Some people want to be raiders, be they pirates or bandits. They don't want to work because they prefer fighting."

"You would know, right?" Mermista frowned at her.

Catra raised her eyebrows at her. "I'm a soldier. I'm good at waging war with all that entails. Logistics, tactics, strategy…" Of course, she also was good at raiding since that was part of waging war, but that wouldn't help her make her point. "They, though, don't want to fight a war. They just want to plunder what others built."

"We don't know that!" Adora protested.

"Does anyone have serious doubts that we're dealing with a bunch of bandits?" Catra asked.

"They might want to turn over a new leaf," Perfuma said.

Which meant that even Perfuma thought that they had been bandits. And that meant they could easily return to their old trade, even if they wanted to change. Which Catra doubted.

"And imagine what example we would be setting if we let bandits set up a colony in the galaxy - and then would supply and protect it." Glimmer shook her head. "What would our allies think?"

"That this is an easy opportunity to exploit?" Catra suggested with a grin. "If we set up a protected colony, they'll want one as well." The Americans had been planning to set up a 'fallback' colony or something, in case Earth fell, but that had been before they made contact with Etheria. As far as Catra knew, they were now squabbling with the United Nations and NATO over the whole site.

"Yes. And you know how many humans are on Earth - and how many countries they have. Everyone will want a colony if others have one." Glimmer scoffed. "So, it's obvious: We have to refuse their demands." She looked at the others in the room - well, the other princesses, Catra thought.

Most of them nodded, some more reluctantly than others. Perfuma disagreed but didn't say anything, and Scorpia hugged her.

Well, it looked like they had finally dealt with this problem. Or at least come to a decision - they still had to deal with the bandits themselves.

"OK." Glimmer nodded, obviously satisfied. "Now that that's settled, Jack wanted to discuss a few things, mainly Swift Wind."

Cara saw that Adora tensed and scowled. Swift Wind's antics were already stressing her lover. If O'Neill added to that…

Adora would do anything for her friend - no one knew this better than Catra herself. But someone had to look out for Adora in return, or the idiot would sacrifice herself to help everyone else.

And that, Catra would never allow. She'd do anything to protect Adora.

*****​
 
Chapter 73: Going Home Part 5
Chapter 73: Going Home Part 5

Bright Moon, Etheria, December 30th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"So, how's it going?" Jack O'Neill asked when he took his usual seat, with his team following suit. The fact that he had a usual seat in the meeting chamber of an alliance of monarchs still felt weird. Even more so because they treated him like an equal. Absolute monarchs weren't supposed to do that - they were supposed to huff and puff about upstart or uppity American peasants.

He suppressed a snort at his weird thoughts and focused on the people present. Glimmer was sitting with her elbows on the table, hands folded, looking directly at him. Adora was sitting straight and tense as if she were a junior officer in a meeting with generals and not the most powerful individual in the room. Catra was sitting slightly slumped over and turned to the side - where Adora was sitting. Jack almost expected her to put her leg over the armrest. Bow was sitting like a straight-A student in class, Netossa like any general from the Pentagon Jack had met under similar circumstances, a contrast to the more relaxed Spinnerella. Mermista was propping up her head with one hand, seemingly bored… Yeah, he had meetings like that before.

"So, you wanted to talk to us?" Glimmer spoke up before he could finish assessing everyone else.

"Yep." He nodded. "Although I have to state beforehand that I'm not speaking for the Air Force, the United States, Earth etc." He saw Daniel relax a bit and had to suppress another snort - as if his friend had any right to complain about potential diplomatic misunderstandings given his own history!

"You're just here as a friend, yes." Glimmer nodded.

"Yes." Jack smiled. "And as a friend, I am a bit concerned about the whole horse business."

"So are we," Glimmer said.

Adora looked guilty, Jack noticed. And Catra was glaring at him as if that was his fault. Well, it wasn't. Whatever the problem was was on the Etherians. But he better got straight to the point. "Yeah, I bet. Anyway, I - we - were wondering what you were doing about it, if you were planning to do anything about it, seeing as Earth also has horses." He smiled. "And a lot of them. Some people on Earth even eat horses." That made everyone wince, Jack noticed. "I guess you didn't know that."

"I think we heard something about it but forgot," Catra said, sighing. She was sitting straight, now. No more posturing.

"That… complicates matters," Glimmer said while she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"You eat horses?" Perfuma asked.

"So did the Horde," Catra said. "When we could catch them, remember?" She looked at Scorpia.

"Right." Scorpia nodded. "Force Captains always got their cut, yes, if anyone caught an animal."

"What's wrong with eating animals?" Frosta asked with a frown. "First, you've got something against hunting seals for their pelts; now we shouldn't eat game and fish either?"

"No one's saying not to eat animals," Glimmer spoke up. "But horses are a special case since Swift Wind used to be a horse."

"I think he still qualifies as a horse," Bow said. "Just a… magical variant?"

"I think the wings and horn kind of contradict that," Jack retorted.

"Many animals of the same species have drastically different appearances. Just think how many different breeds of dogs exist," Daniel cut in. "I would say his sapience is more important. And his ability to talk."

"Well, yes, but those are magical changes," Bow said. "We don't actually know how extensive those changes are."

"He might not be a new species - we would need to test his DNA for that," Entrapta added. "And then we would have to compare it to the data from Alpha."

Ah, the research base they had discovered on one of the moons. Where the Ancients had been playing God. Jack pressed his lips together at the thought. And he wasn't thinking about being related to them. Not at all!

"Ah. So, you don't know if he can have fertile offspring with horses," Daniel said, nodding.

That triggered another row of grimaces.

"Daniel!" Jack hissed, as Glimmer pointedly said: "No, we haven't asked if he's, ah, trying."

His friend actually blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry - I'm really sorry. I didn't think…"

Jack swallowed the 'no, you really didn't' he had on the tip of his tongue and shook his head. "Anyway, does it matter if he actually is a horse, as long as he thinks he is?"

"Well, if he's operating from faulty data, he might change his plans once he knows the truth," Entrapta said. "Provided he is a different species, of course."

"I don't think he, ah, thinks like that," Adora spoke up. "Besides, his parents were horses. And he might have siblings he never met. That they aren't as smart as he is doesn't matter to him."

"Indeed," Teal'c commented with a nod. "I doubt he will stray from his chosen course of action whether or not his species changed."

"Yep." Jack thought so as well. It would have been a neat solution, but things rarely worked out like that. "So, what are you going to do about the whole horse slavery and cannibalism thing? And I know it technically isn't cannibalism," he added before Daniel or Entrapta could say something.

"We're still trying to figure that out," Bow replied. "Oh, by the way, do you know how many horses are on Earth?"

Jack looked at Carter, but she shook her head. Daniel looked lost as well, and he knew better than to expect Teal'c to know such a thing. "I'll have to ask Stargate Command next time they dial in," he said. "That should be… in half an hour." Nice timing. But they would wonder why he was asking such a thing.

He wasn't looking forward to explaining the reason.

*****​

"...and so, if Swift Wind managed to convince everyone on Earth to free all horses, you'd be stuck with over fifty million horses to deal with - and many of them rely on human caretakers."

Adora was trying to listen to Daniel's explanation, but it was difficult. She still had trouble imagining so many horses. That was more than Etheria's population! There was no way, not even if everyone pitched in, that they could put them all to pasture in Bright Moon. Or anywhere else.

"What do you mean, they rely on human caretakers?" Scorpia asked.

"Ah…" Daniel shifted his notes around. "Over the centuries - millennia - of domestication, many horses were bred for specialised purposes, which means that for them, adapting to living in the wilderness without humans to feed, protect and nurse them is difficult or even impossible. And, of course, some horses of a breed that could survive in the wilderness might have difficulties adapting to a life without human contact, though that remains to be seen - there are multiple examples of wild populations developing from horses that escaped their owners, the most famous probably being the mustangs of North America. But the odds of those horses bred to race, or for pulling heavy loads, or the miniature breeds, doing well in the wild are not very good."

Oh. So, it was even worse than Adora had thought. Even if everyone agreed to set the horses free - and she was aware that was not likely - many horses would die as a result.

"But enough - more than enough, I think - would survive to cause an ecological catastrophe in the areas they populated," Perfuma said, shaking her head and leaning against Scorpia, who had her arm wrapped around her. "I can create areas suited for horses by changing the plantlife in the region, but the sheer scale of it… and, of course, I can't change the local climate, so, even with adaptive plants, there are limits - not to mention that changing plants like that can cause an ecological catastrophe by themselves if they start displacing other plants, so…" She trailed off with an unhappy expression.

"...so, even if your friend managed the impossible and got all horses freed, he'd end up dooming millions of them," Jack finished for her with a wry smile.

"And keeping those horses that couldn't survive without humans in human hands… well, I don't think that too many people would want to take care of horses for free if they couldn't ride them or put them to work," Glimmer said. "And paying them would cost a lot of money."

"Well, some activists would volunteer, but I'm not sure there would be enough," Daniel said. "Unless they can ride the horses in exchange. I think more would agree to such a deal."

Would Swift Wind agree to that? Or would he still see it as enslavement?

Before Adora could say anything, Teal'c spoke up: "If they have been altered so they cannot live free any more, would not taking care of them be the duty of those who have owned them and profited from them?"

"We're still talking about animals, Teal'c," Jack said with a slight frown. "They aren't people."

Teal'c nodded slowly. "They are not - but neither is Swift Wind."

"But he's intelligent. Horses aren't," Jack retorted.

"Sapient," Daniel said.

"Whatever. In any case, horses aren't people, and we can't expect everyone to treat them like people," Jack said.

"You don't have to treat them like people in order to not, ah, own or eat them," Daniel said. "Many Indians consider cows sacred, for example, and would not eat them. I think stopping the butchering and eating of horses might not be impossible."

"Just nearly so. If the French decide that eating horses is, like eating frogs, a core part of their culture…" Jack scoffed.

"Jack!" Daniel frowned. "That's a stereotype! Besides, I think many would have second thoughts about eating horses if they knew that there is a sapient horse."

"In his presence, sure, kind of awkward, but he can't be everywhere - there's only one of him," Jack pointed out.

It was a little weird to see them argue about Swift Wind and horses when this was all her fault. But Adora didn't know how to solve this. Not without hurting Swift Wind.

"Well, here's one of him now - but could there be more?" Daniel asked.

"We don't know if he can have kids with normal horses. Or wants to," Catra said. "Do you want to ask him?" She looked at Daniel, who grimaced in return.

And then everyone was looking at her, Adora realised.

"If Swift Wind can breed with normal horses, that would certainly change the situation, I think. Right?" Entrapta asked, cocking her head.

"How so?" Mermista asked,

"Well, with the advantages sapience, flight and magic grant them, they could replace horses. Eventually. Although it would take a very long time," Entrapta replied. "But more importantly, they were the same species, just with different levels of intelligence."

"The horses would still be animals," Jack insisted.

"But we don't treat humans as animals even if they aren't smarter than, say, a smart ape," Daniel pointed out.

Jack opened his mouth, then closed it again. "But he wasn't born that way - he was made that way!" he said after a moment.

"So were half the people on Etheria." Catra shrugged. "Just saying - I won't start a crusade to free cats any time soon, don't worry," she added with a grin aimed at Adora.

But it wasn't funny. Adora would have to ask Swift Wind about his… well, his biology. And family matters. She'd rather deal with a Goa'uld or Horde attack.

But this was all her fault - sort of. Swift Wind wasn't a mistake or something. In any case, he was her responsibility. She wouldn't run from it. She nodded.

But, once again, before she could say something, someone else spoke up. Daniel, this time. And he was addressing her. "So, just, well, it's kind of related, so… since you created him, could you create more of him?"

Adora was at a loss for words again. Create more like Swift Wind? Alter more horses?

"Daniel, we shouldn't encourage people to play God," Jack said.

"It wouldn't be playing God!" Daniel protested. Then he frowned. "Well, not any more, in a sense, than what the Ancients did on Etheria."

And Adora was a First One. "Oh, no!" she blurted out. "I am acting like my ancestors!"

*****​

Samantha Carter winced when she saw Adora's face fall. That hadn't been…

"That's not true!" Glimmer snapped. "They experimented with people - and tried to destroy Etheria to take out Horde Prime - but you just wanted to activate your sword. You didn't want to experiment and create Swift Wind."

"Yes. So don't try to make it sound as if she did!" Catra sneered at Daniel. "That's not even remotely the same."

Daniel looked struck. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just… I just wanted to point out that it's not playing God." He set his jaw. "But I think we do need to know what exactly happened to Swift Wind. And, ah, what the potential consequences could be."

Meaning, whether or not he would have offspring, Sam translated in her mind.

"I can't really reproduce what I did since I didn't know what I was doing," Adora replied. "And I don't… I don't want to repeat it." She pressed her lips together.

She didn't elaborate on her reasons for the refusal, and Sam couldn't tell if Adora was refusing because she felt it had been a mistake or if she didn't want to risk something going wrong - or acting like the Ancients who had experimented on Etheria's people. Probably a mixture of all three.

"But what if Swift Wind feels lonely as the only one of his kind?" Perfuma asked. "What if he asks to have companions? An actual species?" She looked at Entrapta. "Assuming he isn't a member of the horse species any more."

Entrapta closed her mouth and cocked her head sideways, nose scrunched. "Uh… Experimenting with animals is fine, right?"

"That is somewhat controversial, with regard to horses at least," Sam told her.

"That complicates things," Entrapta said.

"I don't know if having more like Swift Wind around would make things easier," the Colonel commented.

"Well, he might be too busy dealing with others of his kind to bother with freeing all the horses?" Daniel suggested.

"That's not how it works." Adora shook her head. "You don't stop doing what you think is right because there are more people and things to do."

Catra looked like she disagreed, but the catwoman didn't say anything - although her frown had deepened, Sam noticed.

And Daniel was being stubborn. "Well, I still think we need to know if there will be more of his kind in the future."

"Yes." Adora nodded. "But that depends on what he wants - we can't decide things for him."

"But he is trying to decide for us how we should treat horses," Glimmer retorted.

"He's trying to do what he thinks is right," Adora told her. "And we haven't told him to stop, have we?"

King Micah grimaced. "Well… no."

"Quite the contrary," Glimmer commented dryly with a glance at her father.

"I'll talk to him," Adora said, sighing. "I'll explain our concerns, but…" She shrugged.

Entrapta nodded in obvious agreement. "Until we have more data, we can't make a sound decision. So we need more data!"

"Yes." Glimmer sighed. "Well, at least we decided how to handle the colonists." She turned her head to look at the Colonel. "Unless similar requests are coming up on Earth."

He smiled wryly. "I am sure a lot of people wish to set up colonies of their own, but as far as I know, there hasn't been anything beyond the proposal stage - and nothing that is even close to being approved."

"Not even the, what did you call it, the Alpha Site?" Bow asked. "Which I hope no one will confuse with Alpha here."

"Well, that was a sort of emergency project. Its fate is now a point of discussion between the United States, the United Nations and our allies on Earth," the Colonel deflected. "And above my pay grade," he added.

Sam winced again. It had been a logical response to their past situation, ensuring that there was a failsafe plan should the Goa'uld conquer Earth, to have a fall-back position from which they could rebuild. But the rest of the world saw it as the United States attempting to save their own culture and leaving the rest of the world to be destroyed. Which, if Sam was honest, was exactly how it would have worked out, due to the secrecy that had been maintained at the time.

"We'll have to talk about colonies with the Alliance as well. And with the United Nations," Glimmer said. "Before people make concrete plans - or go off on their own."

It was already too late for the former; Sam was aware of that. And the latter… what would Stargate Command do if the Russians or the Chinese wanted to set up a colony? Stop them? What if the United Nations voted for starting a colony?

She was very glad that she wouldn't have to make such decisions. She was just a scientist. And, she reminded herself as everyone was getting up, she had work to do at the Stargate - they were falling behind schedule because of this meeting. Well, behind the revised schedule; they were still ahead of the original schedule.

Still, it would be good to do some productive work instead of… meetings like this. Not that they weren't important, of course - quite the contrary. But Sam was a scientist, not a diplomat or politician.

*****​

Gate Area, Outside Bright Moon, Etheria, December 30th, 1998 (Earth Time)

The gate site really looked like a Horde base now. Catra had known it would, of course - she had been involved in the planning stage and had double-checked the layout. But to see it up close, finished, the familiar pre-fabricated walls and bunkers surrounding her… It didn't quite raise her hackles, but it brought back memories she'd rather forget. Between the bots and the fortifications, it felt like a Horde base, despite Bright Moon soldiers manning the walls and patrolling the perimeter.

"I feel like we should be sneaking around here," Bow commented near her. She turned her head to glance at him, and he winced a little. "Ah, sorry!"

Catra snorted. "Well, if you want to test the guards, feel free. We can find out if Bright Moon's best and brightest are better at guarding a site than the Horde."

She saw him blink before he laughed. For a moment, he hadn't been sure if she was joking. Good. She liked being a little unpredictable.

"Well, Glimmer picked them personally - they are usually guarding the palace - so…" He shrugged.

"So, they might actually stop a push by bandits." Catra snorted again. "But how well will they be doing if a princess attacks?" She had seen what happened to large numbers of Horde troops and bots under such attacks, and she didn't think Alliance forces were that much better at fighting princesses. If at all - Horde soldiers had been trained to fight the Princess Alliance, after all. At least nominally; actual combat performance hadn't been very impressive for their regular forces.

"Well, how likely is that?" Bow asked.

She shrugged. "You tell me. I wasn't at the meeting with Princess Bee."

"It's Sweet Bee," he corrected her. She cocked her head at him, raising her eyebrows, and he sighed. "Sweet Bee wants access to the gate, but she wouldn't attack us."

"And that's why we're here to check gate security, right." She snorted.

"It's not…" He sighed. "Well, there was some concern since she was once dating Prince Peakablue, who was a member of the first Princess Alliance."

"The scryer, yes. That's why Castaspella is here." Shadow Weaver had claimed that she had countered the prince's powers. And since the Alliance forces hadn't run rings around the Horde - well, not even more than they had done at times - Catra was pretty sure the woman hadn't been lying. But it remained to be seen if Glimmer's aunt could do the same.

"Yes." Bow shrugged. "Anyway, I don't think…"

"There she is," Catra interrupted him, pointing towards the main gate.

"Ah." Bow checked his pad. "A bit earlier than planned."

"Let's go say hello." Catra was already moving towards the small group entering the base, ears twitching as she tried to listen in to what they were saying.

"...and as you can see, the site is secure. There's no chance that this will be used to launch an invasion of Etheria," Glimmer was saying as Catra approached.

The other princess didn't look impressed, wrinkling her nose and brushing some blonde locks out of her face as she looked around. Her antennas twitched, but Catra didn't know if that was normal or a sign of tension for her species - the princess's butterfly wings didn't move, at least. "It looks as if we've been invaded already," she commented with a sniff. Then she spotted Catra and scowled deeply.

Catra grinned in return before turning to Glimmer. "Base's up to snuff," she told her.

"Noted."

"Seeing you working with former invaders is not exactly filling me with trust in your ability to safeguard the gate," Sweet Bee said.

Catra shrugged and made sure to smile as innocently as she could. "Ah! Of course, instead, you would trust people who haven't even had the guts to fight said invaders."

"Catra!" Bow hissed next to her.

She ignored him and watched as Sweet Bee glowered at her. That had been a solid hit. The closest the princess had come to fighting the Horde had been dating a former member of the Alliance, after all.

Instead of retorting, Sweet Bee turned to face Glimmer. "My concerns remain. And I am not convinced that this new threat is as dire as you claim. It is a bit too convenient."

"Convenient?" Glimmer scowled as well.

"You've finally defeated the Horde, but instead of dismantling your armies and embracing peace, you meet a new enemy that requires you to build up even more forces for another war. How convenient for you - especially since you've also just discovered a gate that connects Etheria to other planets and a First Ones research base that supposedly was the birthplace of our civilisation - on a moon you personally lay claim to and which can only be reached through ships you and your allies control." Sweet Bee sniffed again.

"What?" Glimmer glared at her. "Are you saying that we made this up to… to dominate Etheria?"

Sweet Bee showed her teeth in return. "All I am saying is that it is a very convenient excuse for keeping your armies ready to fight and taking control of artefacts that, by any right, should be the domain of all of Etheria. And I am not the only one who has made such an observation. Especially since we haven't seen even one soldier of your enemies."

Ah, that was their angle. Catra didn't think it would work out - the Princess Alliance was the supreme military power on Etheria and didn't have to bow to anyone - but it looked like more trouble was afoot on the diplomatic front. Right when they couldn't really afford such distractions and in the middle of the Swift Wind mess. And Adora would blame herself for this somehow and feel even guiltier now.

Catra had to suppress the sudden urge to unsheath her claws and hiss at the princess.

*****​

Bright Moon, Etheria, December 30th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Jack O'Neill knew this wasn't the best time. Glimmer seemed more than a little stressed, probably from having to deal with flying horses on crusades, bandit raiders and now queen bees all vying for her attention. Carter's report about the visit to the gate site had made it sound as if Catra had been the most diplomatic at the meeting, not counting Bow and the other tech heads, and that said enough about how cordial that visit had been.

But he wasn't sure whether there would be a better time any time soon or when he would be next on Etheria with some time to spare to address this particular little problem. Or not so little. Sure, if he asked Hammond and explained, he probably would get permission for a personal trip to Etheria, but if anything leaked… Jack could endure a lot, had endured a lot, for his country - or for Earth, now - but he could do without the endless jokes he knew this would spawn.

So it was time to bite the bullet. Taking a deep breath, he approached the door to Glimmer's office and nodded at the guards. "Hi. Is the queen free for a short talk before dinner?"

"We'll check," the female guard said before turning away and knocking on the door. After a moment, she opened the door and slipped inside. Jack hadn't heard any answer or command to enter, so the knocking was probably just to give Glimmer a few seconds to put down what she was doing.

The door closed behind the guard, leaving him waiting with the other guard, a male one, pretty young, who looked completely focused on his job. Which begged for some comments and questions, like how it felt to guard a queen who could probably wipe the floor with her entire army.

But Jack restrained himself. Pissing off the grunts of your allies was not a smart idea. Especially if you were the junior partner in the alliance.

And if you needed a favour. A personal favour. Sure, it would also benefit the Alliance, but it still felt like Jack was abusing his friendship and position for personal gains.

The door swung open again, and the female appeared. "The Queen will see you now."

Glimmer was at her desk - which, even if it was of a size that would give the worst Earth CEO a case of envy, looked small in the room and was covered with files and letters and whatnot - and as soon as the door closed, she sighed. "Hi, Jack. Don't tell me there's another crisis to deal with, please."

Yep, she was stressed - and expecting another crisis. Jack shook his head. "No crisis. None that I'd know of, at least. Just a small little personal request." Here goes nothing, he thought. Then, taking a deep breath and grimacing, he said: "I need some magic help."

Glimmer's eyebrows rose. "Oh?"

Sighing, Jack started to explain.

*****​

"...and that's about it," Jack O'Neill finished his explanation for the second time in ten minutes. "Glimmer said you might be able to help me." If anyone could.

Castaspella frowned a little as she put her elbows on her desk - which was half the size of Glimmer's and only half-covered in paper and what seemed to be parchment. "I see. You wish to prevent anyone from using your genetic material to create unwanted children."

"Yes. No children at all without my permission, basically," Jack said. It was best to make that clear in case someone might think as long as one parent wanted the child, it was OK.

"Yes." She nodded. "It is understandable, given your situation, though more than a little unusual for Etheria."

"It's also unusual for Earth." He grinned.

She smiled in return. "So I heard. Contraceptives and abortions are the usual means to deal with unwanted pregnancies, though that wouldn't help you with your problem. And cloning is a very new technology - we haven't had to deal with such issues before we encountered Horde Prime. But I can think of a few ways how this could be addressed. Maybe a modification of a sealing spell… though the side effects would need to be addressed, of course, or the results might turn out to be quite unpleasant." She tilted her head. "And that would be a shame."

Jack pressed his lips together. The woman sounded a little too flippant - and a little too interested, both in his problem and maybe in himself, though he could be mistaken about the later part. As anyone in Stargate Command knew, and Daniel loved to explain, alien cultures had different social cues, so you couldn't be sure you weren't misinterpreting the subtext of a conversation unless you asked. And 'hey, do you think I am attractive? I am just checking if I am reading you correctly; I am not interested in you, OK?' was the last thing he wanted to ask a witch. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and all.

"But I'll have to discuss this with my colleagues in Mystacore. And I'll have to examine you, of course, in case your ancestry has a mythical part to it that might affect a spell." She smiled widely.

Definitely too eager, Jack thought. Maybe he should have gone to Entrapta instead. Even though that meant Carter would hear about it practically at once.

But the die was cast.

"So, if you would stand up? This won't take long." She gestured to the round carpet in the middle of her room.

'Don't make any jokes about undressing for the examination,' Jack told himself, very firmly, as he walked over. He really couldn't afford any misunderstandings.

*****​

"Swift Wind? Yes, I've seen him arrive. He's in the palace stables - well, former palace stables - I think."

"Thank you." Adora forced herself to smile at the guard before she turned away and started walking.

'Former stables'. She knew why there were no horses there any more. The palace horses had been the first herd Swift Wind had taken to pasture. And Bright Moon's people had let him do it because they thought Adora supported it. Which she didn't - well, not unconditionally. She could understand that Swift Wind wanted to free horses since he was a horse. Sort of. But horses weren't intelligent - not sapient. They were animals, not people. On the other hand, if a human got brain damage, did they stop being human and become an animal? Was there a line, a point where you'd stop being human because you were too dumb?

She didn't think that was how it worked. Of course, a horse was different - a horse had never been sapient. But what if a human was born with brain damage? They were still a human, weren't they? And while Swift Wind had been a normal horse, if he suffered brain damage, Adora would do what she could to heal him. Once sapient, always sapient, even if you were not any more? It seemed a bit unfair to treat humans like that.

And what if Adora could repeat what she had done to Swift Wind? Wouldn't all horses then have the potential to be sapient? And would it be right to keep them from becoming sapient? From becoming a person? It didn't seem fair to keep people - well, potential people - from 'achieving their potential'.

On the other hand, even if Adora managed to discover how to repeat what she had done to Swift Wind, she wouldn't have the time to do that to every horse. There were over fifty million horses on Earth. And the people on many planets occupied by the Goa'uld had horses as well because they weren't allowed more advanced technology and couldn't use magic. There was no way she could, ah, change all of them even if she did nothing but that.

But just because she couldn't help everyone didn't mean she shouldn't help anyone. That wasn't right either. You had to help those you could.

She bit her lower lip as she remembered Catra telling her that sacrificing her life for others wasn't right either.

This was so complicated! She had told the others she'd talk to Swift Wind, but she had no idea what to say! She was such a failure! She was…

"Hey, Adora!"

She gasped and turned. That hadn't been Catra, but Swift Wind. And there he was, smiling at her from the other end of the courtyard she was walking through. "Swift Wind." Once again, she forced herself to smile. "How are you?"

"I am doing great!" her friend pranced a little, wings flapping once. "You've returned! Horses are being set free! And we're about to fight to save the galaxy and free more slaves - a worthy cause indeed!"

Adora managed not to wince. She didn't want to dampen his spirit - and she had been away for months, so that was her fault as well - but… But she had to do this, and she would do this. "Speaking of horses…" she trailed off as she approached him.

"Yes?" He moved closer to her, turning to present his side so she could mount him.

Adora was tempted, but… this wasn't a talk they could have while flying. And she had to have this talk. If only… She sighed and shook her head. "We can fly later. There's something I need to… ask you."

"Oh? Ask away!" He was still beaming at her.

Oh, this was… embarrassing. And not just because she didn't know what she had done. She looked around. "Let's head outside." They would best talk about this where people couldn't stumble upon them.

"Alright." He looked a little confused but nodded, and they walked out of the courtyard and towards the closest gate.

The guards there nodded and let them through without being asked to. And they didn't ask why Swift Wind wasn't flying. But would they wonder? Adora didn't know.

Outside, she pointed at the closest field. "Let's go there."

"Oh, yes! The gardeners sowed the tastiest grass there!"

Ah. And didn't that sound… well, no, enjoying a tasty meal was perfectly normal for all people. Especially if you had been raised in the Horde. Why wouldn't a horse enjoy a special meal, either?

The short walk was really short. Shorter than Adora had expected. And now she had no excuses any more. It was time to talk.

"So…" She smiled at her friend. "It's a bit of a sensitive question, so if you don't want to answer, you don't have to. OK?"

"Of course! We're friends, after all."

"Yes." She took a deep breath. "So, ah, I was curious - well, it's not as if I thought long about it, but it came up in conversation, kinda, so…" She forced herself to keep smiling widely. "And it's a bit weird for me, since I was responsible, but I don't really know how it happened, so I don't know what happened exactly, so… Do you know if you can have children?"

Swift Wind blinked and didn't answer right away.

Adora didn't know if that was a good sign.

"Well…" Swift Wind sounded less like… less like himself than usual. Less sure, less… enthusiastic. "I don't know," he said.

"Oh." That… What did that mean, actually? That he had never… or that he had tried, but wasn't sure, or…

He turned to look away. "It's… Do you know the feeling when everyone's doing something, everyone wants to do it, and you don't understand why they want it so much?"

"Uh…" Adora actually didn't. Was that like food? Catra loved fish, but Adora understood that. She didn't love fish as much as her lover - she doubted anyone she knew did - but she had her own favourite food. A lot, actually.

Fortunately, Swift Wind continued, watching the horizon. "So, most horses, except for those who were mutilated, get those urges. The mares come up to the stallions, nuzzle them and… well, it might take some time, but the stallion generally wants it to, you know? And it's not just that; they nuzzle and cosy up and such. But it's all about that." He sighed, still looking at the horizon. "And I don't get that. I mean, it's nice to be close, cosy up, but… I don't really want to do the rest. Or, rather, It's not that I would hate to do it - I just don't feel the urge to do it or any… desire to do it. And it feels a little weird, you know?"

Adora didn't. But she nodded anyway. "Yes," she lied.

"Exactly! So, I usually just avoid the mares if they're like that. And the stallions, since they get weird and aggressive."

"Ah."

"But that's normal - I mean, you wouldn't like it if people watched you, ah, do it with Catra, right? You'd want some privacy." He was looking at her, but he still seemed a bit… less sure of himself. Or full of himself, a small voice in her mind added.

"Oh, yes," she agreed, nodding emphatically.

"And it's not as if I was mutilated," he went on. "I checked."

"Ah." She didn't have to know that. Well, she did, probably, but it was… how do you ask a friend if they still had, ah, all their parts? When it had happened, Adora hadn't known about geldings, and she hadn't really wanted to know if Swift Wind had been a stallion before her magic hit him or if she had healed him at the same time… although that might be important. Not important enough to ask now, though. Not when he seemed so vulnerable. "I see," she added.

"Yes. So, I don't know if I can have children."

And he didn't sound as if he wanted to find out. Adora nodded again.

"It's… I guess it would be nice to have more like me, but…" He sighed again. "I'm not sure I am ready. And having children is a huge commitment. We're about to fight a war, aren't we?"

"Yes."

"And there are so many horses left to free."

Adora suppressed a grimace. "About that…" She trailed off - this wasn't the moment - but it was too late.

He cocked his head and looked at her. "Yes?"

"There might be too many horses to have them run around free," she said. "And some might not be able to live free."

"What?"

She wanted to curse herself. Why hadn't she kept her mouth shut? Swift Wind was talking about something incredibly sensitive, and she was… But she was committed now. "Some horse breeds are not suited for the wilderness. They can't find enough food on their own. Or they are too fragile to survive without, ah, medical assistance. They depend on humans."

"I know. But they're that way because humans made them so. So, they should take responsibility and care for them."

Ah. What could she say to that? "Like they were doing?"

He frowned. "They were only doing it because the horses were useful for them! And only as long as they could work! Forcing someone to work for you is slavery!"

"But many love horses," Adora said. "They don't need them for work - they just love to ride them." She had seen enough on Earth to know that.

"That's…" He frowned again. "I guess that's OK. But only if they want to be ridden."

"Well, you like me to ride you, don't you?"

"Well, I am your loyal steed:" He posed, one hoof raised, neck straight and head bent at an angle, with his wings flaring. "And we share a sacred bond."

"Yes, we do." She smiled.

"But will every horse find a worthy rider?" He frowned again. "You said there were too many to run free."

"Ah." She sighed. "There are more horses on Earth than there are people on Etheria."

He blinked. "Really? But…"

She nodded. "We checked." Sort of. Jack and his friends had checked.

"Wow. But there are also more people on Earth than on Etheria, right?"

"Yes. And the land available is limited." That was… well, kind of true. The land was being used for other things, mostly. As far as she knew.

"But if they can feed and keep so many horses, then there has to be enough land for them."

"Yes. But not enough land to just… roam and be free. Not enough good land." Adora shrugged with a forced smile, remembering the claims from the bandits. "Or so I've heard."

"I'll have to look into that." His vulnerability was gone - now he looked determined again. "Maybe when we attend the party. Do they have horses there?"

Oh… "It's underground," she said. "In a huge bunker. There are no horses nearby."

"Oh. Well, we can travel afterwards, can't we? Once the Stargate is repaired?"

"Well, yes, but the Stargate on Earth is also underground, and they're going to move it." This wasn't where she had wanted this conversation to go. Stargate Command wouldn't be happy. "And there's another thing."

"Yes?"

"Can you talk to horses? Like we talk?"

He snorted. "They can't talk like we talk."

She pouted a little. "You know what I mean."

"Yes." He looked at the field. "They're not… they aren't like me, you know."

"Yes."

"They're… simpler. But I remember what it was like, being like them. So I can understand them. And I know how to make them understand me."

"Ah." That was… well, it explained a few things.

But it didn't make things easier.

*****
 
Chapter 74: Going Home Part 6
Chapter 74: Going Home Part 6

Bright Moon, Etheria, December 30th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Samantha Carter was feeling good when she returned to their quarters in the palace. They had made great progress at the Stargate. If everything else went well, they would have it operating tomorrow. Just in time to return to Earth for the New Year. Unfortunately, the party wasn't on New Year's Eve, or Sam might have been tempted to tell Entrapta that they needed to take an extra day or two to test the gate…

"Hi, Sam!" Daniel greeted her from behind the stack of tomes he had borrowed from the palace archives.

Teal'c nodded at her without rising from his meditative position.

And the Colonel…

"Jack had to talk to Glimmer, I think," Daniel told her. "He's been gone for… two hours?" Daniel blinked at his watch. "Wow! Time flies."

Two hours? That was a long time for a meeting with Glimmer. It must be important, then. But… "He didn't ask you to come with him?" she asked.

"What?" Daniel looked up from his notes. "No. Why?"

Because if whatever the Colonel wanted to talk about with Glimmer was so important as to take two hours would be important enough to drag Daniel with them for his insight.

Or Sam herself, she added, clenching her teeth a little. Sure, she was doing crucial work at the Stargate, but she was also an officer in the Air Force and the Colonel's Second-in-command; she would have expected to be consulted or informed at least.

"Did he tell you what it was about?"

"No…" Daniel frowned. "Come to think of it, he said it was a minor thing when I asked if he needed me to come along."

Oh? This was getting more and more suspicious. Either the Colonel was hiding something, or something had happened that had delayed him. Sam wasn't quite sure what would be worse. "Maybe we should look for him. It's almost dinner time," she said. She didn't bother with using the radio; it didn't work inside the palace, and the Colonel hadn't a communicator tapping into the Etheran commnet. Which was an oversight they needed to correct, actually.

"Do you think something happened to him?" Daniel asked, standing up again.

"Do you suspect enemy action?" Teal'c rose gracefully and grabbed his staff weapon.

Apparently, she couldn't fool her friends. Sam shook her head. "I'm sure it's nothing like that." She certainly hoped so. But they knew from Glimmer's own stories that the palace wasn't as safe as it should be - or should have been; they had improved the security after the war. Still…

The door opened, interrupting her thoughts.

"You didn't have to walk me back to my room," the Colonel said as he entered. And behind him…

"But I wanted to," Castaspella said, smiling. "And it was the least I could do for you."

"Well, don't… Ah. Already finished at the Stargate, Carter? What's the status of it?" The Colonel cocked his head as he looked at her.

But he was a bit too quick to ask for a report. And with an outsider in the room and the door open? He was hiding something.

"Ah, hello, Captain Carter. Daniel. Teal'c." The sorceress smiled at them all. But she stayed at the door. Next to the Colonel. And she turned back to him. "I'll see you at dinner. And afterwards."

"Yeah, sure." He nodded quickly. "And, ah, thanks."

"Oh, I should thank you. For this opportunity."

What opportunity? Sam almost glared at the Colonel as the woman left and the door closed. But you didn't do that to your commanding officer. Nor did you demand an explanation in such a situation.

"What's going on, Jack?" Fortunately, Daniel was as curious as Sam was.

"Oh, nothing. I just had some questions about magic, and Glimmer referred me to Castaspella." The Colonel shrugged.

"Oh?" Daniel cocked his head to the side. "What kind of questions?"

"The kind of questions that are private," the Colonel replied with a frown. "Which I'm not going to talk about." He sounded quite firm.

Daniel recoiled a little at the answer - and probably at the tone as well. "Oh, sure…"

Sam nodded. The Colonel didn't want to talk about whatever this was about. That meant that pushing him would not only be rude but pointless as well.

But it also meant that she really wanted to know what was going on. For… several reasons. The Colonel wasn't afraid of magic, but he didn't like it either, so whatever made him seek the advice of a sorceress had to be important. Important enough for his second-in-command to be informed.

And the obvious interest Castaspella had shown… Sam really wanted to know if that interest was directed at whatever this was about - or at the Colonel.

*****​

O'Neill had made Sam mad. Catra was sure of that. Sam wasn't glaring at him, but she was… a little distant, yet paying close attention to him during dinner. And to Castaspella. Who, in turn, was talking to the Colonel quite a bit more than usual, although mostly about magic. Which was kind of odd for the human. She was sitting across him on the table as well, now that Catra thought of it - not quite as close to Micah and Glimmer as usual.

"It's jealousy, then," Catra whispered.

"Hm?"

Catra turned her head and grinned at Adora. "Sam's jealous of Castaspella."

"What?" Her lover blinked, then stared at Sam and Castaspella. Three. Two. One. "But… is Castaspella even interested in Jack?"

Catra shrugged. "Ask Glimmer?" She didn't think the sorceress was actually interested in O'Neill that way, but stranger things had happened.

"But…" Adora shook her head. "Should we talk to her?"

"Sam? Or Castaspella?" Catra asked.

"Uh…" Adora winced. "Either would be embarrassing if we're wrong."

"Yes." Catra didn't think she was wrong, but it was also funnier to just let things go on. Maybe this would be the push that Sam obviously needed to admit she was in love with her commander.

She tilted her ears a little to better listen to Castaspella and O'Neill, but Castaspella was still talking about how great magic was. And how versatile a sorceress could be. It sounded almost as if she was advertising Mystacore, but she should already know that Earth was the last planet where sorcerers needed advertising - the humans, at least those countries not ruled by lunatics, wanted anyone able to work magic they could get.

And O'Neill, for all he didn't like magic, was far too smart and pragmatic to scorn magic used by allies. So, why was he looking like he would rather be fighting off a Goa'uld attack? Because of Sam? Possible.

But before Catra could think of a way to get to the bottom of this without making anyone mad at her - or not too mad at her - Glimmer spoke up. "So, we might need to either ask a Tok'ra to visit Etheria or get a Goa'uld prisoner for a while. It seems there are a number of princesses who not only fail to understand the danger we face but doubt that the Goa'uld are real."

"Yes, I heard." O'Neill was very quick to respond - maybe a bit too quick. He was hiding something.

But everyone was now chiming in.

"They are fools, and we shouldn't even give them the time of the day, much less risk a Goa'uld escaping, just because they are being stupid," Mermista said.

"We should show them what we are facing if only so they'll be on the lookout for Goa'uld infiltrators," Netossa objected. "We can't afford any kingdom being taken over like that - if they gain a foothold…"

Spinnerella, of course, nodded in agreement.

"How would they manage that?" Glimmer retorted. "We control the gate."

"But if we introduce the rest of Etheria to the Goa'uld - or the Tok'ta - some might seek them out," Perfuma said. "And they might push even more for sharing access to the gate."

"We should put it into space!" Entrapta suggested. "We control access to space! And while there are some technical hurdles to overcome, we already know it's possible since the Goa'uld use gates on their ships. We could also build a space station - maybe we could build it inside Adora's plant!"

"It's not my plant."

"You made it."

"I had to use the magic power before something went wrong. More wrong."

"Still yours."

"I don't think we should put the gate into orbit," Glimmer said. "We can't effectively use our powers there."

"Or spells," Castaspella added.

"And I think some of the princesses who are currently trusting us might grow a bit more suspicious - it's one thing to have it on Etheria inside a base, but another if we moved it to a ship in space," Micah pointed out. "Sweet Bee would have an easier time decrying it as an attempt to completely control the gate."

"Well, we do want to control the gate," Catra reminded them. You couldn't leave such an asset to others - it would endanger the entire world and damage the war effort.

"Not if it makes us more enemies on Etheria," Micah told her.

Catra shrugged. As long as they didn't have the military power to be more than nuisances…

But Adora was nodding in agreement with the king. "Yes."

Typical.

"We could use magitech to secure the gate in space," Entrapta suggested.

"I can't use my spells like that," Castaspella protested.

"And I think a lot of princesses would be suspicious if we moved the gate to a location where their powers don't work," Glimmer added. "No, the gate has to stay on Etheria."

Catra nodded. A spaceship might be more secure in some ways, but that wasn't counting magic being used - and that was one of Etheria's biggest advantages.

You had to play to your strengths if you wanted to win.

*****​

"...and are you really sure won't you reconsider? You do have a significant potential for magic - no inherent powers, as far as we can detect, at least, but you could be a powerful sorcerer, should you get training."

Jack O'Neill pressed his lips together and tried not to show his annoyance. Castaspella meant well. He knew that much. Or was pretty sure. But she was a sorceress and didn't seem to get that he wasn't as crazy about magic as she was. Jack wasn't going to learn how to cast spells; he was a soldier, not a wizard. Or sorcerer, or whatever they called it here. He was much too old to change careers like that, anyway. Even if he wanted to change tracks. Which he didn't.

But making her understand that without offending her was becoming a bit of a chore. He tried again, shrugging as he leaned back on the couch in her room. "That may be the case, but I can't exactly drop out of the war just to start learning cantrips."

"Cantrips?" She cocked her head to the side, frowning a little as she adjusted her seat across from him.

Damn. He should have never played the game. "Spells. Minor spells." Daniel would be proud of him for that explanation.

"Ah." She nodded with a smile. "You know, it's quite interesting to see that after a thousand years without magic, and, apparently, a significant part of your people trying to eradicate sorcerers, so much of your magical tradition survived."

He'd have to tell Daniel to check what exactly Etherians were told about Earth. But that could wait. He grinned. "Ah, you know how it is with popular culture. Kids always want the thing they can't have. Alcohol, magic…"

To his relief, she nodded. If he had to explain the United States's drinking age again to someone from Etheria - or Europe… But then she frowned. "Although I wonder. Is that why you seem so reluctant to learn magic? Because so many in your society scorn magic and those who practice it?"

Of course not! As if he would let some zealots dictate his actions! He shook his head. "No. But I am too old to change gears like that. And, not trying to sound arrogant, but I think I am much more useful for the war by doing the job I've been doing for twenty years instead of spending the war learning magic." On Etheria, in a flying city, away from his team and Earth.

"Well, while I doubt that anyone can confidently predict how long the war will take, I don't think you would have to spend the entire time learning magic." She smiled widely at him, and Jack couldn't help feeling slightly concerned. "You have such a great potential for our art, no doubt thanks to your First Ones ancestry, I am sure you would not take that long to learn enough spells to become a competent sorcerer!"

He didn't want to become a sorcerer! And pointy hats looked silly, in uniform or out of it. But saying that would sound silly. And irresponsible. And would end with him explaininjg more of Earth's pop culture featuring magic. He shook his head again. "But that would still take me out of the war for a year or two. Longer if the Air Force sends me to teach magic to others afterwards." And they would. Maybe he would get a tour of duty on the frontlines, to get practical experience, but then he'd end up teaching magic to others. That was how things were done in the Air Force, and while it worked well, Jack wasn't looking forward to spending his career doing that instead of leading his team.

And the woman still didn't relent. "Well, I could think of worse teachers than you, to be honest, Jack."

Why did he have to tell her to call him Jack? He should have realised that she'd do it without trouble after spending so much time with Glitter and the others - Etherian royalty didn't act like Earth royals.

"You might not be an experienced sorcerer, but your experience as a soldier certainly would have granted you the wisdom younger students - and older sorceresses as well, in some cases - often desperately need."

"Yeah, I'm not sure I'm a role model for ethics." He grinned, baring his teeth. "I'm a bit too much of a pragmatist." At least according to Etherian standards as embodied by Adora and her friends. "So, anyway, let's focus on fixing my little problem, so no one's going to raise a small army of little kids with my potential but none of my supposed wisdom? I was a pretty dumb kid when I started as a soldier."

"I have trouble imagining that, Jack." She chuckled and folded her hands in her lap.

"Well, easily manipulated instead? I believed a lot of things I should have known better." And wasn't that the truth!

"Ah, yes. Well, you will be welcome at Mystacore whenever you wish, should you reconsider your decision. Now, let's see how you react to a modified sealing spell. Please step into the circle I've prepared - I doubt we'll need the containment, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

And wasn't that reassuring! Still, Jack stepped into the glowing circle full of runes on the floor, trying not to think of ending up as some red mist or stains on the walls, courtesy of a magic mishap.

Or what Carter might be thinking - she hadn't looked happy at all when Castaspella had dragged him off after dinner. He snorted. Maybe staying on Etheria and learning magic in a flying city wouldn't be that bad - it would get him out of explaining things to his second-in-command…

*****​

Bright Moon, Etheria, December 31st, 1998 (Earth Time)

"This is an outrage! A blatant attempt to exert control over the entire world! Mark my words: This will not stand! The other kingdoms won't let it!"

When Adora had met Princess Sweet Bee, the other woman had always seemed to be composed and, well, in control of herself and the situation. Granted, she had only met her twice before, once at the Princess Prom, and then only in passing, and yesterday, at the diplomatic meeting with Glimmer and the other members of the Princess Alliance, but even though Sweet Bee had left no doubt that she wasn't happy with the Alliance's policies, she had stayed polite and, well, Catra called it snooty, and Glimmer called it aristocratic.

But the princess wasn't looking very snooty or aristocratic right now. Nor very composed. She was glaring at them like pretty much every instructor had glared at Kyle whenever her friend had screwed up. As if to confirm Adora's thoughts, Sweet Bee slammed the palms of her hand on the conference table and leaned forward, scowling at Glimmer.

Who met her eyes with a glare of her own. "Noted. Is there anything else you wish to address?"

Adora could see how the other princess was clenching her teeth - the jaw muscles twitched noticeably. "The Stargate belongs to all of Etheria! It is our birthright!"

"Yes," Glimmer nodded. "But the safety of Etheria takes priority. So civilian use of the Stargate will be restricted until further notice."

"You don't have the authority to decide that! You don't rule or represent Etheria!" Sweet Bee slammed her palms on the table again.

"We represent the Princess Alliance. The ones who saved Etheira before - three times," Glimmer retorted. "And we'll do so a fourth time."

Three times? Adora frowned for a moment.

"Three times?"

"We defeated the Horde, Horde Prime, and stopped the Heart of Etheria from destroying the world," Glimmer explained.

Sweet Bee scoffed. "You claim you saved the world. But we only have your word for it - and I see your 'defeated' enemies amongst your ranks."

"And the remains of Horde Prime's flagship in orbit, as well as the stars in the sky," Catra added. When the princess turned to scowl at her, Adora's lover flashed her fangs in an insufferable grin.

"You can deny it as much as you want, but it doesn't change the facts," Adora spoke up before Catra could get into a spat with the princess. "We are fighting a new war, against an Empire that spans the galaxy, with enemies who can take over people's bodies to control them. Unrestricted travel through the Stargate is too dangerous."

"Of course, if you wish to join the Princess Alliance and do your part in defending our world…" Mermista trailed off with a shrug and a smirk that was rather undiplomatic, in Adora's opinion.

And in Sweet Bee's opinion as well, at least judging by her expression. "You will not get away with this! Etheria is not yours to rule!" she spat. "Many kingdoms are fed up with your arrogance!"

"The same kingdoms that were happy to let the Princess Alliance fight and bleed against the Horde while they sat back?" Glimmer scoffed as well.

"Please!" Perfuma spoke up with a strained smile. "I know you don't like it, and I understand your reasons, but we have good reasons to restrict travel through the gate."

"Just as you have good reasons to consort with the Horde?" Sweet Bee scoffed with a sneer.

Perfuma gasped, and Scorpia rose. "Hey, now, that sounds… Well, it sounds like you have a problem with me, not Perfuma."

"I have a problem with the Princess Alliance trying to rule Etheria just as the Horde tried," Sweet Bee retorted.

"But we don't!" Perfuma protested. "We don't want to rule Etheria!"

"Are you seriously comparing us to the Horde?" Glimmer looked angry now - and she was standing as well.

"You're trying to force your policies on the entire world, and you use Horde troops, Horde bases and Horde spaceships." Sweet Bee shook her head.

"Waste not, want not," Catra cut in with a smirk.

Adora frowned at her, and her lover shrugged in return.

"The Princess Alliance isn't the Horde!" Perfuma looked angry. "We've restored the Scorpion Kingdom! We're healing the land! We're not trying to conquer you!"

"You act as if you already did!" Sweet Bee spat. "But we're not your subjects! We're sovereign princesses! And we will fight for our rights!" She turned around, then looked over her shoulder. "You'll hear from us!"

"At the next Princess Prom at the latest!" Catra said before the princess left the room.

Adora sighed. "That could've gone better."

"No, it couldn't have," Glimmer disagreed as she sat down. "She was set on this. The only way we could've avoided this was to give in to her demands."

"They're scared of us," Perfuma said.

"If they were scared, they wouldn't have made such demands," Mermista objected. "They wouldn't have dared to insult us like that if they truly believed we wanted to conquer them."

That sounded… well, kind of logical. "But they still believe we want to rule Etheira," Adora pointed out. "Or dominate it."

"Yes. And that can't be helped unless we dissolved the Princess Alliance," Glimmer said. "As things are, we represent the biggest army on the planet as well as the most powerful princesses."

"They could join us if they want access to the Stargate," Spinnerella said. "But that would force them to fight. And they don't want to fight."

"Too cowardly to join, but not cowardly enough to just accept our policies." Catra shrugged. "Well, that's been dealt with. Let's go check the status of the Stargate?"

As everyone rose, Adora couldn't help feeling that it wasn't as simple as Catra made it sound. But there was nothing else she could do about it right now. Letting everyone use the Stargate was too dangerous.

*****​

Gate Area, Near Bright Moon, Etheria, December 31st, 1998 (Earth Time)

"Everything reads OK - within expected safety margins. Main processing unit is working at peak efficiency. We're ready for testing!"

Samantha Carter nodded in response to Entrapta's enthusiastic report as she double-checked the results of her own readings. Her numbers confirmed the same thing: they had beaten the odds and replaced the Stargate's missing D.H.D. ahead of schedule - significantly so.

"So, I guess that means we can now go home again? Unless the gate turns the bot into a pretzel, that is?"

"Yes, sir." She suppressed a scowl as she faced the Colonel - she wasn't in the mood for his humour right now. Not because he had spent the evening with Castaspella, of course! She didn't really think that he was having a secret tryst, as Daniel had worded it, with Glimmer's aunt. The Colonel wouldn't do that on a mission. Or at all, she added to herself. But that he wasn't revealing why he was meeting with the woman - whose obvious interest in him, in turn, might not be merely professional or platonic? That didn't sit well with her. Not that she had pressed the issue; you didn't do that to your superior unless it was an emergency. And he would have evaded the question anyway. But she would have expected a bit more trust.

"Ah, good." He looked a little taken aback, then cocked his head to the side and looked at the gate. "I can't wait to get home. Slumming it in a palace just doesn't compare to good old Stargate Command."

"Really?" Entrapta peered at him, sliding her visor up. "You prefer your quarters at your base to the palace guest rooms? Did you tell Glimmer that? Because we could have refurbished your room!"

"Ah…"

"The Colonel was joking," Sam told her friend. "The guest quarters are lovely and perfectly comfortable." She glanced at the man in question, who, after a moment, nodded.

"Yeah, sure."

"Good!" Entrapta made a note on her multitool. Probably in her social data file. "So… ready for the test?

"Will it hurt?" the Colonel quipped.

"The bot isn't wired to feel pain," Entrapta told him, completely serious. "And we know from experience that travelling through the Stargate doesn't normally cause pain anyway. So, it won't hurt."

Sam narrowed her eyes at the Colonel, and he winced a little. He really should know better than that by now. "Ah, OK. So, by all means, proceed!"

"OK!" Entrapta turned and called out: "Test-Bot-2! Get ready!"

"Wasn't the last test-bot a twelve?" the Colonel asked in a low voice.

"That was a spy-bot," Sam told him. "Spy-Twelve. This is a dedicated testing bot."

"And what happened to Test-Bot-1?"

"Destructive testing to calibrate the sensors," Sam told him while she entered the address for Earth.

"Ah."

The gate started spinning, and the chevrons became locked one after another. The vortex formed as it should as well. "Stable wormhole established," Sam reported.

"All systems nominal," Entrapta replied. "Camera feed established. Test-Bot-2, go!"

The bot walked up the ramp, then through the gate - and down the ramp in Stargate Command. Sam checked the sensors. "No deviations from the standard parameters."

"It works as expected!" Entrapta cheered. "Now we can easily travel back and forth between Earth and Etheria!"

"Nice." The Colonel nodded and clapped his hands together. "So, we can go home as soon as the bigwigs return for the official sendoff."

"'Bigwigs'?" Entrapta asked.

By the time Daniel had explained - in detail - the term and its origin, Glimmer and the others had arrived.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, Unites States of America, Earth, December 31st, 1998

"The entire leadership of the Princess Alliance is coming to our New Year's party?" General Hammond repeated himself while he and the other generals were staring at SG-1.

Samantha Carter stood a little bit straighter in response as the Colonel replied: "Yes, sir."

"And how did that happen?" General Haig asked.

"Well… apparently, they like parties?" The Colonel smiled. "No, really, we were at dinner with them, the party came up, and it turned out everyone assumed that the invitation to Glimmer, Adora and the others included all of them. We didn't correct them since, well… they were very enthusiastic. They were already talking about dress codes and such." He shrugged. "It seemed rude to tell them that they weren't invited. So, in the interest of diplomacy and good relations with our strongest allies, we didn't."

Hammond sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. Sam knew the feeling.

"I see." Haig nodded.

"This is an outrage!" Sidorov, who looked as if he'd wanted to send SG-1 to the next gulag, or at least the arrest cells, bellowed. "You didn't have the authority to invite a diplomatic party!"

"They kind of invited themselves. By accident," the Colonel retorted. "But if you want to revoke the invitations, we can go tell them that."

"That would be a faux pas," General Petit commented with a slight smile. "I am sure we can accommodate a few more guests at our party."

"Yes," Hammond said. "The security measures were already increased since we knew we would be hosting three princesses. A few more shouldn't be an issue."

The Colonel winced. "Ah, yes, speaking of accommodations - we'll also be hosting a magical talking flying horse. So, best not serve horse meat."

For the first time, Sam was treated to the sight of the entire Stargate Command Council blinking.

Explaining Swift Wind took much longer than their original report had taken.

*****​

Gate Area, Near Bright Moon, Etheria, January 1st, 1999 (Earth Time)

Catra snorted as she watched Frosta try not to fidget. The princess was so excited - or nervous - about going to Earth, yet also desperately trying to appear aloof and collected. And failing at that. "It's just a party," she muttered to herself, shaking her head.

"Hm?" Adora turned her head to look at her. "What did you say?"

"Nothing," she said. "Just… well, we've been at so many events on Earth, it's nothing special any more, but for them, it's something else." She nodded at the rest of the group waiting in front of the gate.

"They've never been on another planet," Adora said with a smile. Which then turned into a wince. "They've never been to Earth."

Ah. Catra suppressed another snort. Her lover was nervous as well - worried about how the rest of the group would behave on Earth. Especially Swift Wind. "You briefed them. Thoroughly." It had taken Catra back to their days as Horde cadets, when Adora had tried to cover every little detail and potential problem whenever she ran a briefing.

Adora blushed a little, but her mood didn't improve. "I'm sure I forgot something, something important…"

And not everyone had been paying attention. But Catra didn't say that. She shrugged instead. "As long as they behave as if they were at the Princess Prom, things will be fine."

"I know…" But Adora still worried. Catra could tell.

Before she could think of what else to say to calm down her lover, Swift Wind trotted over to them. "What a glorious day! To think we'll travel farther than any other horse has ever gone before! To a world full of horses!"

"To a base without any horse in it," Catra told him.

Swift Wind ignored that. "And I had a thought, Adora!"

"Yes?" Adora tensed a little.

Catra did so as well.

"There are as many horses on Earth as there are people on Etheria. A planet's worth!"

Oh, no, he couldn't…

"Yes?" Adora hadn't caught up yet.

"So, what about giving them a planet of their own? Where they can live free? Except for those who depend on humans, but there could be some humans there taking care of them. But imagine: a world full of horses, for horses!"

Adora blinked. "Uh… a colony of horses?"

"Yes!" Swift Wind nodded enthusiastically.

"Ah… I don't think we have the logistics and resources to handle such a colony." Adora smiled weakly. "I'm sorry."

"Oh." Swift Wind looked crestfallen.

"And if we give the horses a colony," Catra managed to say without scoffing at the absurdity of it, "then everyone else will want one as well. Not to mention that we'd have to find a planet first where horses could live."

"And the, uh, ecological balance might be a problem," Adora added. "You'd have to ask Perfuma about that, but just moving lots of horses to a new planet is not easy. And on Earth, some horses starved when they escaped into the wilderness for lack of food."

"Oh." Swift Wind frowned again. "You're right. It would have to be a planet full of grass-covered hills and plains." He nodded. "I'll ask her about that." He turned around and trotted over to the other princess.

Catra smirked as she gleaned at her lover. "Nice dodge."

"It's the truth," Adora shot back.

"And now Perfuma has to explain things to Swift Wind." Catra watched, her ears twitching, as the horse approached the princess, who was fiddling with Scorpia's dress.

"It's not his fault," Adora said. "He didn't get an education when I, ah, changed him. So, he had to learn things by himself."

Ah. Catra hadn't thought of that. "And where did he learn?"

"In Bright Moon. They have the facilities, but…" Adora shrugged. "It's a very spotty education so far."

"Ah." That explained a few things. But it didn't make things any easier. She turned her attention - and her ears - back to Perfuma's explanation.

"...and so I can't just make grass grow - sooner or later, there will be too many horses for the planet's capacity, and then they will start starving until there is a balance. But it's a dynamic balance, not a static one. As the numbers of horses fluctuate, so does the amount of grass available since they influence each other, and…"

Swift Wind didn't like what he was hearing. That was obvious.

"Yeah, nature's brutal," Catra mumbled as she tuned the lecture out.

"What did you say?" Adora asked again.

But before Catra could explain, Entrapta spoke up. "Alright! Everyone, get ready - and stay in the marked area, don't get closer to the gate - we're about to dial Earth!"

"Finally!" she exclaimed with a grin. "I've been waiting for this all day!"

"You were napping all day," Glimmer commented with a snort while they watched the gate spin.

"I'm a soldier; I learned to sleep whenever I can," Catra retorted with a smirk.

"All day?"

"What can I say? I'm an overachiever."

They laughed as the wormhole stabilised and the gate to Earth opened.

"Time to celebrate a new beginning!" Perfuma announced, setting a foot on the gate with Scorpia.

Everyone cheered.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, Unites States of America, Earth, January 1st, 1999

"...and these are Perfuma, Princess of Plumeria, and Princess Scorpia of the Scorpion Kingdom."

Jack O'Neill had to suppress the urge to add 'she's the one who throws tanks for fun' to Glimmer's introduction. It didn't seem necessary, anyway - he could see how the generals were eyeing the smiling woman. Except for Haig, who didn't seem to be fazed at all, all of them, even Hammond, looked at least a little wary when they greeted her. Although that might be because Scorpia, with her pincers and her stinger, poised above her head, looked the most alien of all the princesses. Of course, Catra had fur, cat ears and a tail as well, but her claws were usually hidden, and she didn't look as if she could throw a tank around.

"Thank you for inviting us!"

On the other hand, Catra also never looked as happy as Scorpia - the princess was beaming at everyone when she wasn't looking around the gate area like a tourist. And she was a striking sight, in a black dress that fit her like a glove and wouldn't have looked out of place on a catwalk in Paris.

"Yes!" Perfuma, her arm hooked into Scorpia's, wearing a light green dress that complimented Scorpia's somehow, nodded with a smile as wide as her… consort's? Wife's? "It's an honour to be able to attend your celebration! We're looking forward to taking part in such an important event."

That was a bit too much praise for a New Year's office party - especially one held in a military base for the soldiers stuck on duty over the holidays. Jack glanced at Glimmer, who kept smiling politely, then at Adora. The princess was wincing a little, and next to her, Catra was grinning. So, probably a misunderstanding that Adora felt guilty for and Catra found funny. Business as usual, then.

Jack stopped grinning, though, when he noticed that Hammond was glancing at him with a slight frown. That wasn't his fault! He'd had more important things to do than explaining the finer point of an office party to the Etherians! If anyone, it should have been Daniel!

But Glimmer was already moving to introduce the next couple. "Mermista, Princess of Salineas, and Sea Hawk."

Hammond didn't say 'the Smuggler' in return, but Jack was sure - pretty sure - that he was thinking it.

"It's a great adventure!" the man in question, dressed quite flamboyantly, exclaimed.

"Ugh. Behave," Mermista, who apparently had also gone to great effort in picking her pearl-studded dress, added with a scowl before smiling at the generals. "Thank you for having us. I'll make sure he won't set fire to anything."

"I would never! We're underground, after all!"

Sea Hawk's comment wasn't as reassuring as the man probably thought. Jack decided to impress upon Siler that they should double-check the smoke detectors.

"Princess Frosta of the Kingdom of Snows."

"Greetings." The teenage princess nodded with such seriousness, it made her look even younger than she was. At least in Jack's opinion.

But the girl was the sovereign leader of one of the largest kingdoms of Etheria. And could freeze you in a block of ice with a thought. And the generals greeted her with the utmost courtesy. Well, except for Sidorov, who went through the motions and said the words but couldn't quite keep the sneer off his face. If the man kept this up, then the formal diplomatic event scheduled to follow the party would have some grievances to deal with. And they would blame Jack for it; he was sure. Even though it hadn't been his idea to let Stargate Command handle the party even after the entire Princess Alliance announced their intention to attend.

"Princess Netossa and Princess Spinnerella of the Alliance."

Not ruling princesses, in other words. Still the Etherian version of generals. But the government - governments, actually - preferred to err on the side of caution and just treated all of them as sovereigns. At least etiquette didn't require you to bow. That would have felt wrong - you didn't bow to anyone in your own home. At least in Jack's opinion.

"King Micah of Bright Moon. My father. And Castaspella of Mystacore, my aunt."

Jack kept smiling and reminded himself that the sorceress was helping him - had helped him already. Even though she made no secret of her opinion that Jack should become a sorcerer himself. Under her tutelage. In a magical flying city. But she wasn't pushy. Well, not as pushy as, say, Anise.

And Micah and her were old enough to be taken seriously even by Sidorov, which facilitated matters.

"Swift Wind."

And there was Jack's biggest problem.

"Faithful mount of She-Ra, linked by a sacred bond, and liberator of horses everywhere!" the horse boasted as he stepped forward, wings flaring - and sending a few sheets of papers in the back flying. "Greetings, people of Earth!"

Someone must have shown him cheesy science-fiction movies! Jack was sure of it. He kept his thoughts off his face, though.

Unlike the rest of the people in the room, who were more or less openly staring at the magical talking flying unicorn.

Except for Haig. The damn limey merely nodded as if Swift Wind was a normal guest.

Of course, as a British officer, he probably was used to dealing with eccentric blue bloods.

Well, Jack had a feeling that even the general's composure would be tested before the party was over. It would be funny if Jack wasn't going to be held responsible for it.

Even if it wasn't his fault at all!

*****​
 
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Chapter 75: The New Year’s Party
Chapter 75: The New Year's Party

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, Unites States of America, Earth, January 1st, 1999

Adora was a little nervous as she approached the mess hall. The Stargate Command New Year's Party - that was the official title, as a poster next to the door announced - wasn't an Earth version of the Princess Prom. If her friends expected a ball and grand buffet, they would be disappointed. Sure, she had told them that it was a party for the soldiers stuck on the base over the holidays. Several times, in fact. But the way the others were beaming, looking at everything along the way, she feared that they might not have really understood what that meant. They were princesses, after all. And they had always been princesses. Except for Sea Hawk and Swift Wind, and, technically, Micah and Castaspella. OK, most of them were princesses. But they were used to the parties thrown by and for princesses. Not parties thrown by and for common soldiers in an army of millions.

Adora couldn't help thinking that the Stargate Command New Year's Party would be more like what parties they had thrown as cadets in the Horde than the Princess Prom or the victory celebrations of the Alliance after Horde Prime's defeat.

"Remember, this is a military base," she said as they stepped through the door, following Jack and the others. "They can't…" She blinked. The mess hall looked very different - if she hadn't been here before, and seen the hallway outside, she would have thought she had entered the wrong room.

Catra whistled. "They've pulled out all the stops." She sniffed the air. "Tuna salad. Smoked salmon. Fried fish. The good stuff."

"Look at that buffet!"

"Oh, look at the stage!"

"Look at the sound system! Emily, scan it!"

"Oh! And so many different uniforms! I thought this was all the same army, like the Horde!"

"Air Force, mostly - and not any more," Adora corrected Scorpia. "Soldiers from five countries are now guarding the gate."

"Oh."

"And they've got several different branches in each army," Bow added. "With different uniforms. Although I thought it was a more casual affair. Those are dress uniforms."

Indeed. Adora frowned - she was sure that the dress code in the invitation hadn't mentioned dress uniforms. On the other hand, maybe that was the standard for such events, and so they hadn't mentioned it?

"Well, you said this was a small party, but this doesn't look small," Perfuma said. "Not at all."

"Beats Force Captain parties for sure." Scorpia nodded. "We usually had no decorations and mostly pilfered food and drinks."

Indeed. It was grander than Adora had expected. It looked more like a formal state dinner, with all the white tablecloth covering up the… were those new tables? Definitely new chairs.

"I think that's our fault," Glimmer said.

"Our fault?" Micah cocked his head to the side.

"When they heard that all of us would attend, they probably went over their plans for the whole thing," Glimmer explained.

"Yep," Jack chimed in with a grin. "The funds for the party were mysteriously but generously increased this week. This isn't how our New Year's party usually looks like."

"I thought so," Catra said with a matching grin.

"Me too," Adora added.

"You did all of this in a few days?" Frosta sounded impressed. Well, she had organised the last Princess Prom, so she would know better what went into such events than Adora.

"Yep. The United States have a long tradition of doing miracles when it comes to logistics." Jack snorted. "Of course, I can't take all credit since I spent most of the last week on Etheria."

"What a coincidence," Catra commented.

"I know - but duty comes first."

Once more, their grins matched. It was… kind of weird, in Adora's opinion.

"Colonel O'Neill - we shouldn't leave our guests standing," General Haig said, nodding at the table.

"Right, right! This way, please!" Jack gestured to the table with a flourish, as if they hadn't seen it from the entrance. "We've left one spot free for Swift Wind."

Indeed, there was one chair missing - and there was open space behind it, more than enough for him to stand there comfortably.

"Oh, nice!" Swift Wind beamed.

"We try." Jack smiled.

Unfortunately, the route Swift Wind took wasn't quite as roomy, and Jack's grin vanished when Swift Wind's wings almost pushed two people out of their chairs. "Ah. We asked an expert on horses. We probably should have asked an expert on pegasuses."

"You have more like Swift Wind on Earth?" Perfuma asked. "I thought you didn't have any magic for a thousand years…"

"They're talking about fiction," Glimmer told her. "Imaginary creatures."

"Ah."

"I am sorry," Swift Wind said as he settled at his spot.

"It's OK," Jack told him.

"Although, it is intriguing," Castaspella said. "You closely match creatures of legend and myth on Earth. Perhaps those creatures lived on Earth during the time it had magic." She smiled. "It bears investigating."

"But after the party, I think," Jack said with a slightly strained-looking smile, gesturing again at the table.

"Oh, yes. We can discuss this afterwards - do you have quarters here?" Castaspella asked.

Jack's smile grew more strained, Adora noticed, as General Hammond's eyebrows rose.

And Catra was grinning again.

But all things considered, the party was off to a good start.

*****​

Samantha Carter was late for the New Year's party. It wasn't her fault - well, not really. That experiment had run a bit longer than expected, and cleaning up after it, as well as sorting the data, had taken a bit longer as well. If she hadn't been roped - ordered - into helping with the party, she would have finished in time, of course. But between the mission to Etheria and the scramble to turn a casual party for soldiers into as close one could get to a state dinner without turning it into a state dinner, there simply hadn't been any time.

Of course, usually, that wouldn't be much of an issue - she had been late to the last two New Year's parties as well. As long as she arrived in time to grab something to eat from the chow line - the buffet, she corrected herself - no one made much of a fuss. Although the Colonel would probably have threatened to drag her out of her lab if he hadn't been swamped with the preparations himself, she added to herself with a smile.

Things were different this time, of course, but she was only late by about fifteen minutes. And she had a good excuse. Not even Sidorov could complain about her work taking precedence. Her presence wasn't needed amongst the welcoming party, anyway - the Colonel could handle that perfectly fine, no matter what he claimed. Especially since he had Daniel with him - her friend had no excuse not to attend since his work didn't rely on experiments; books could be put aside without ruining an expensive set of components.

She approached the door, nodding at the two guards outside - marines had drawn the short straw, it seemed; security had been increased as a response to the additional guests - and opened the door.

And blinked. She had known that the decorations would be more extensive than usual, but… This was a bit excessive. No, not a bit - a lot. She couldn't even see the walls behind all the plants, and only the lighting fixtures in the ceiling were not covered by foliage and flowers, either. Flowers that looked as if the decorator had raided an exotic greenhouse. Well, Perfuma loved it - she was beaming as she pointed at a particularly colourful flower dangling overhead.

Sam managed to greet her friends without being too distracted, but as soon as she was seated next to the Colonel, she leaned over and said in a low voice: "I don't remember seeing that in the plans."

"Yep." The Colonel grinned. "It seems no one told General Petit that you should not comment about the challenge of decorating a mess hall on short notice when a magical princess with control over plants can overhear it and wants to be helpful."

"Ah." That explained it. And why the French General was so focused on his discussion with King Micah and ignoring the glares from his fellow officers. And why Catra was smirking.

Well, no harm done - Sam trusted Perfuma's power; she didn't doubt that the plants would hold up nicely. Probably better than the original decorations since those had been thrown together quite hastily - Sam had been there when the changes had been made.

She blinked. Maybe she should ask Perfuma to ensure that the plants would come off without too much effort. Or wilted in the morning, or whatever. The princess might be easily capable of creating plants that thrived underground and could take root in concrete. Or at least adhere to it. And if those were genetically - magically - altered plants based on alien flora, they might have just violated a few laws…

"Cleaning up afterwards might be a bit of a challenge," she commented as she filled her glass.

The Colonel frowned for a moment. Then his eyes widened, and his lips moved as he muttered something under his breath that Sam was sure was a curse.

Well, that wasn't her problem. And she wouldn't mind a greener mess hall, either - Stargate Command was moving anyway.

*****​

"...and don't worry, the plants won't require too much care - a bit of watering and the artificial light will be enough to sustain them as long as you want to keep them going since I changed the foliage so they can extract nitrogen from the air to serve as fertiliser."

Catra smirked as she listened to Perfuma's enthusiastic explanation to the not-quite-so-enthusiastic General Hammond.

"Catra!" Adora hissed.

"Hm?"

"It's not funny!"

"Yes, it is," Catra disagreed. And it was. The general was obviously trying to find a way to politely tell the princess that they didn't want permanent flowers in the mess hall without making her feel bad for misunderstanding their intentions. And probably without Perfuma changing the flowers into vegetables or something.

"That is very impressive," he said. "Although we were not planning to have the plants take root here."

Perfuma beamed at him. "Oh, don't worry about that! I changed the plants so their roots don't bury into the ground - or the walls and ceiling here - but simply adhere to the surfaces. They'll also filter out some of the pollutants in the air and improve the microclimate in the room, so your air filters should be under less stress."

"Fascinating." Haig leaned over. "Could this replace conventional air conditioning in underground bases? Combined with the Tok'ra tunnelling technology, this could provide forward bases with greater autarchy."

"Oh, I would have to modify and optimise the plants for that, and you'd need a pretty large area covered - depending on how many people are in the bunker, of course; the fewer you have, the fewer plants you need to provide enough oxygen."

Catra didn't miss the subtle frown Hammond sent at the other general and grinned again. "I think that would require further research," he said. "We can't really use untested technology in our bases."

"Oh, we can test it easily - this room can serve as a testing site!" Perfuma turned her head and called out to Entrapta. "Entrapta! Can you test how well the plants here filter and replace the air? So we can use them in bases?"

"Sure thing!" Entrpata nodded. "I'll set up some sensors to collect data!"

Hammond's frown wasn't subtle at all any more. "I think such a decision needs to be discussed amongst the command council."

Haig raised his eyebrows. "We are already using this technology, so to speak, so it would behove us to thoroughly test it as the opportunity presents itself."

"And Perfuma can adjust the plants as you wish," Scorpia chimed in, beaming at her lover. "If you want different colours for daily use, for example."

"Or adaptive colouration." Perfuma nodded. "If you wish to make the plants more discreet. I wouldn't think it's necessary - quite the contrary; plants add so much character and comfort to a bunker - but I am a bit biased."

"Oh, yes! The Fright Zone has become so much more appealing and nicer thanks to all the plants covering the buildings! And that's all your work!"

And more beaming followed. Hammond glanced at O'Neill for some reason, but the other man was still talking with Castaspella. And Haig nodded.

"It seems that the plants are going to stay," Catra commented as she stood. "I'm going to grab another plate. Want some as well?"

"Uh…" Adora joined her. "Yes."

As they walked over to the buffet, Catra overheard Swift Wind talking to Dr Fraiser.

"...but why would I have problems with people eating cows or pigs? They're nasty! Have you ever tried to reason with a bull? Besides, you don't have any problem eating them either, right?"

"Ah, no, of course not." Fraiser grimaced and tried to hide it by taking another sip from her glass.

Catra smiled. Good food, good entertainment and good friends. This was going to be a great party!

*****​

This was a disaster! Jack O'Neill already knew it. And he was going to get the blame for it, even though it wasn't his fault! The mess hall had been transformed into an indoor jungle - at least the walls and the ceiling; the floor seemed to be unchanged so far, but he expected some plants sprouting up in a corner near the buffet as soon as someone mentioned the lack of fresh fruits in the regular menu where Perfuma could overhear it.

And he had thought that Entrapta was the one princess to be watched lest she started some unauthorised alterations to the base or unleashed some replicating bots or grey goo! If only he had known…

And it wasn't as if he could've stopped Perfuma anyway - as a colonel, he couldn't just go over the heads of the generals in charge of Stargate Command. At least not when they were right there. That simply wasn't done - short of a life-and-death situation, of course. But an alien princess enthusiastically redecorating the room after misunderstanding Petit's comment wasn't such an emergency. Not even when the entire command council was just sitting there and staring as the room turned into what could have passed for a jungle set of an old tv show. At least Haig seemed to be more intrigued than shocked by the whole thing, but that could just be that British stiff upper lip thing. Jack somehow doubted that the limey was too fond of his base turning into a jungle.

And speaking of jungle… He glanced at the ceiling, squinting a bit. The last thing he wanted was some alien plant dropping pollen into his food or something.

"Don't worry. Perfuma is an expert with perfect control over her creations. Only cactuses gave her some trouble, but she has overcome that for the most part, I believe." Castaspella smiled at him.

Jack forced himself to smile. "Yeah, you know - trust but verify. Instincts."

"Of course, if you are truly worried, I could cast a spell to protect our food, although it might be seen as a slight against Perfuma's competence."

"No, no, that's OK." Jack wasn't really worried about inhaling or eating weird alien pollen - Perfuma didn't strike him as the type who was overconfident or reckless. And he didn't really want Castaspella doing magic right now, either. Her attempts to show him how useful magic could be were subtle, but he hadn't missed how she had never failed to offer a magical solution to the smallest problem ever since he declined her offer to become a student at Etheria's flying magic school.

As if a bit of convenience would be enough to go back to school - and leave his team in the middle of a war. And learn magic.

"Oh, I like this dessert."

"Yeah, it's not blue jello, but apple pie is an American classic." Jack smiled. It was actually far better than the pies they usually served in the Air Force - they had ordered them from a bakery in Colorado Springs. And paid a premium for the rush order.

"I didn't see blue jello at the dessert buffet, though, I think," Castaspella added with a slight frown.

"That's because blue jello is not sophisticated enough for such a swanky event," Jack told her.

Daniel, sitting across from him next to Castaspella, sighed. "That's not quite correct. Blue jello is… well, mass-produced."

"And tasty!" Jack cut in.

"And full of additives of questionable quality," Daniel continued.

"That's what makes it so good!"

Castaspella snorted at that.

"We can sneak you a cup later," Jack told her. "I've got a key to the kitchen."

"Jack!" Daniel gasped.

"What?" Jack pouted at him. "I've got a key for every door here. Legitimately."

"That's not what I meant!"

"I think I would like to taste this blue jello, if only to compare it to your other fare."

"Jack! Are you honestly trying to take our guests on a snack raid?" Daniel looked aghast.

Well, Jack had been joking, but now that he thought of it, it seemed like…

"A snack raid? That sounds like an adventure!"

…a really dumb idea, Jack finished his thought. How had he missed Sea Hawk passing by their seats, carrying a tray loaded with all the dessert dishes? A tray the man was now holding high as he posed, one boot placed on an empty chair. Attracting the attention of everyone in view. Which included all the generals. And the princesses. And everyone seemed to be frowning at him and Sea Hawk.

"No, we're not going to raid the kitchen," Mermista snapped.

"But… Jack said so!" Sea Hawk, still balancing about a week's worth of dessert on the tray, turned to pout at the princess.

"He was just flirting with Castaspella," Mermista retorted. "It wasn't a general invitation. Now come and put the tray down."

"Ah, of course! That's different, then!"

Jack blinked as the man winked at him and Castaspella. "That's not…"

But Sea Hawk was already walking away, humming what sounded like a shanty.

Castaspella was chuckling, and Jack hoped that was because she knew he hadn't been flirting with her.

He really didn't need any more rumours about alien women trying to seduce him - or, worse, him trying to seduce them. If Daniel started to call him 'Kirk'...

At least Carter didn't seem to have noticed the whole thing - she was still deep in conversation with Entrapta.

*****​

Well, things were going better than Adora had expected - feared, actually. Most seemed to like what Perfuma had done to the plant decorations, even though a few seemed worried about it. But General Haig was quite interested in the potential applications of those plants for the war effort. At least as far as Adora could tell - the man was, well, he didn't seem very emotional. When he smiled, it was a polite smile, and when he didn't smile, it was a polite non-smile. Something, Jack once had told her, was typical for the English. Stiff upper lip, he had called it. Although it wasn't a medical condition - she had asked.

Adora wasn't sure if he was correct, though. What she had seen of the English in their news seemed to contradict it - they had looked like a rather rowdy bunch to her. Especially during protests and when watching sports. Some sports, at least. But then, Britain had more people than Etheria, so it should be obvious that they would be at least as diverse as the Etherians. Probably - she wasn't an expert on that stuff, and both Bow and Daniel were currently busy talking with others, so it would be rude to interrupt them. Especially since they seemed to be having fun.

Like Catra, who was on her third trip to the dessert buffet. "They should be serving that stuff every day," she said as she retook her seat.

Adora snatched a muffin - blueberry - from the plate and nodded. "Yes."

"So, why don't you?" Catra asked General Hammond between devouring two such muffins herself.

Adora refrained from frowning. Unlike on other occasions, Catra wasn't intentionally rude, simply caught up by how good the dessert was.

"We don't have the budget for it," General Hammond replied. "And if we had the budget, we probably wouldn't find enough suppliers for everyone."

"Oh." Well, it wasn't too bad - compared to the Horde rations, even the regular food Jack kept grumbling about was good. But Bright Moon's food was better, even in the field.

"You should reevaluate your priorities," Catra said with a smirk. "Some Horde soldiers deserted for better food."

"Really?" That was the first time Adora had heard this. She knew - although she had only been told after the war - that there had been a thriving trade in Alliance food in the Horde, but for people to desert for it…

"Oh, yes. Glimmer and Bow told me about your reaction to decent food." Catra snorted.

Adora blushed as she remembered that day. "That was after I had deserted already!"

"Ah." General Hammond chuckled.

And that had been the day that Thaymor had been attacked. By Catra. Adora felt her smile slip.

Catra shrugged. "Anyway, we'll make sure we'll get our food from our own sources, then."

"That might be bad for morale," General Hammond pointed out. "If people in the same unit eat different food, that could breed resentment."

"Really?" Adora frowned. Both the Horde and the Alliance had different food for the leaders than for the soldiers.

"Don't you have officer's clubs as well in your army?" Catra asked.

Hammond shook his head. "That's not the same. In the field, both enlisted and officers eat the same food. At the base, officers might have the opportunity to go to restaurants - they receive money to buy their food."

"Ah." Adora nodded. That was different - although not quite as different as the general claimed it was, at least as she understood things.

"Doesn't sound that equal to me," Catra commented. "Though it depends on how long you spend in the field. And how things work out on the ships. I don't think we'll have restaurants on the ships."

Adora didn't think so either. Adapting a frigate to transport human troops in sizeable numbers was already complicated. The soldiers expected more comfortable quarters than what the clones and bots had used under Horde Prime. And that meant that, unless some structural changes were made, the troop complement of a frigate would be on the short side. Which meant they would need more frigates for transport - and while they would still be able to fight, you generally were not supposed to use transport ships on the frontlines. If the troops expected restaurants and clubs in a frigate, then that would reduce the transport capacity even more…

"I don't think so either," General Hammond said. "Though, even if it is playing to the worst stereotype about the Air Force, I expect our field bases will be quite comfortable."

"Oh, definitely!" Adora smiled. "With the Tok'ra's technology, we'll be able to build and expand a base quickly and easily. And if Perfuma and General Haig's plans work out, it will be even easier. Fresh produce inside the base, for example!"

"We should put in some fish tanks, too," Catra added. "Like in restaurants."

"I don't know if we could put in enough such tanks to feed a base," General Hammond replied politely.

"Well, we could install clone pods for fish." Catra grinned, and Adora wasn't sure if her lover was serious. Although…

"Yes. I think Entrapta mentioned cloned meat as a way to make supplying troops easier. With Perfuma's help, we could probably produce both vegetables and meat on any planet - or in a ship," Adora explained.

"I see. But would that be safe?"

"Probably safer than using animals and plants from wherever," Catra told him. "You'll know exactly where the cloned animals have been and what they have eaten."

"We have strict standards for our food production," General Hammond said.

"Yeah, but whether or not they're strict enough seems a bit controversial." Catra shrugged again. "And we could pick the best animals for cloning - the costs are the same per animal, anyway."

"I see." Hammond nodded. "Of course, that would be a boon for the war effort, though it might raise some concern amongst the civilian population."

"Really?" Adora frowned. "Because they don't trust the technology?" She had seen a rather passionate debate about genetically modified food once, she remembered.

"There is that, But that technology could also render our entire agricultural sector obsolete," he said.

"Oh." Adora wasn't an expert on Earth, but she knew enough to tell that this would probably cause trouble.

"Yeah." Catra nodded. "But it'll greatly simplify logistics. And logistics win wars."

"Yes. But at what cost? If we lose the support of the people, we'll lose the war." Hammond shrugged. "And the agricultural lobby has a great deal of influence in Washington - and in Brussels."

That was the capital of the European Union. If you could call it a capital since the Union wasn't a country but more of an alliance, as Adora understood it. Still, with so many of those countries in the Alliance, using cloned meat for food might be more of a problem than Adora had thought.

"Well, then we can keep the technology to ourselves," Catra suggested.

General Hammond winced a little. "A lot of our agricultural businesses are also expecting contracts to supply the armed forces."

"It sounds like those businesses have more power on Earth than princesses have on Etheria," Catra commented.

Adora nodded in agreement.

"It's not quite the same, I would say, but the government has to balance the military needs with those of the economy." General Hammond inclined his head.

Catra snorted. "Whatever it is, it's a problem if it means we'll have to eat bad food in the field!"

"The regular food is not that bad," Adora pointed out. "It's much better than Horde rations."

"That's a very low bar," Catra retorted. "Anyway…" She trailed off and frowned. "I think Sidorov made a mistake. Frosta looks like she's about to hit him with an ice gauntlet."

Adora turned her head. Oh, no - Frosta did look angry. Not angry enough to actually start a fight, though. Or so Adora hoped. But… "What is he saying?"

Catra cocked her head. "Oh… he's talking about Russia. And the North Pole."

That sounded safe, actually.

"But he's sounding very arrogant - patronising," Catra went on. "He could only make things worse if he blew up her palace at her ball."

Adora winced. "We have to stop that. We…"

A gust of wind blew most of the napkins on the table across the room - Swift Wind had flared his wings, this time knocking a man out of his seat. "Sorry!" he said before turning to look at one of the young soldiers who had wandered over to talk to him during dessert. "See? They fold out like that!"

"And you can fly with them?" the woman asked. "With a rider?"

"Of course! I can show you!"

Adora gasped. "Not indoors!"

Swift Wind turned his head. "Of course not, Adora! You'd hit your head on the ceiling here. But we could step outside for a moment, and I could show them how we can fly."

The soldiers - many of the women, Adora noticed - nodded eagerly.

"Ah…" Adora glanced at Frosta, whose hands had disappeared under the table. That wasn't a good sign. But maybe…

"Don't look at me," Catra told her with a snort. "The kid won't listen to me, and Sidorov won't either."

"Adora, come! Just a short flight!"

"You could take one of us up!"

"Or all of us!"

"Ah, I am sorry, but I am Adora's faithful steed, ladies."

"And this is a party, not a rodeo," Jack stepped in. "So, please don't bother our guests about giving you rides, OK?"

"Yes, sir!" Half of them saluted. The rest pouted. But it seemed they had one crisis averted. That still left Frosta to, ah, calm down. And… what was Entrapta doing there at the sound system?

*****​

Samantha Carter caught the flying napkin before it hit Entrapta in the face, then glanced at the culprit. Just to check that it wasn't anything serious; this was a party, not a mission, and she was here to enjoy herself.

And it didn't seem to be anything serious. Swift Wind was flaring his wings, probably to impress what could only be called a bunch of fans. And the Colonel was there. Nothing to be concerned about, then. Sam could focus with Entrapta on her current project.

"...and with that, we should be able to increase the output by three hundred per cent. Now we need to sync that with the holoprojectors. Hm. Maybe… Like this?" Entrapta pointed at the interface of the sound system.

Sam checked the connection while she quickly ran through the specs in her head. "Yes, I think that should work - provided that the emulator can handle the data and extrapolate a 3D projection from the television signal."

"Oh, it should! I've run months of broadcasting data through it, with all the multiple angles, and the neural matrix's error rate has steadily gone down. And it's just for fun, so some mistakes are acceptable, right?"

"Yes." Probably - there might be the matter of copyrighted material, but adapting a 3D projector could be called transformative, couldn't it? Not that there was a chance that a lawsuit would go anywhere, anyway - or be launched at all; people wouldn't risk getting excluded from using the technology for their own business. Provided it worked, of course.

Which it should - Sam had gone through Entrapta's data between the main course and dessert, and it was a really simple project; all the crucial work had been done already, and now it was just about adapting the different machines.

"Good! Now… power supply."

"There's an outlet there."

"Right! Hordak can plug in the converter once he's back from the shuttle."

A sudden commotion - chairs being pushed back, people getting up in a hurry - made Sam turn around. Sidorov was at the centre of it, with Hammond next to him, and Frosta marching away from… an ice sculpture of a monster, a monstrous walrus, it looked like, taking up a big part of the table in front of the Russian? Including his plate?

Well, it wasn't her problem, and General Hammond was already handling it. Although Sam still took a few readings, just to have some data on magically created ice and how it reacted to the environment. That might be useful for a number of projects.

"Oh, Frosta looks mad!" Entrapta commented as the young princess stomped out of the room. "I wonder what he said to her."

"I don't know," Sam replied. "It could have been anything."

"It was probably a misunderstanding. The general has a granddaughter her age."

Sam suppressed a frown as she turned her head. Lenkova had joined her and Entrapta without Sam noticing her approaching them. Granted, according to the Colonel, the Russian was a spy, but still - Sam wasn't used to being blindsided like that.

"Oh?" Entrapta smiled at the other woman. "You think he mistook her for his granddaughter?"

Lenkova blinked, then grinned, if a bit weakly. "In a manner of speaking, da. He tends to be a bit protective of children, and the princess struck me as… not appreciating that."

Sam pressed her lips together. She didn't know Frosta very well, but from what she had seen and heard, the girl did have a chip on her shoulder about being treated as a child. Even though she was a teenager.

"Ah!" Entrapta nodded. "Yes, Frosta likes to fight and protect others." She cocked her head to the side. "Oh, Micah is going after her. I think."

Indeed, the king was leaving the room as well.

"Is that a good thing?" Lenkova asked.

"Yes. I think." Entrapta shrugged, then smiled at the Russian. "So, are you interested in music?"

"Music?" Lenkova raised her eyebrows but otherwise didn't react to the abrupt change of subject.

"I noticed that we don't have a live band here, so Sam and I decided to get the next best thing: A holographic projection of a band! Any band! You just insert the data from a video, and the projector takes it and turns it into a projection! Of the band."

"That sounds… difficult."

"Oh, it's not too difficult. In theory - we're testing the theory now!"

Lenkova glanced at Sam. "I see."

Sam smiled, although she couldn't help showing her teeth. "It's perfectly safe."

"I didn't doubt that." Lenkova didn't quite snap at her, but the Russian pressed her lips together for a second after her small outburst. "I just wondered why you're doing it now and not, ah, earlier."

"We didn't think of it before now," Entrapta explained. "And we were busy. And it's fun, and you're supposed to have fun at a party."

"Ah." Lenkova seemed to accept that.

"Here is the converter." Hordak had returned, handing the piece of technology over, then cocked his head sideways as he looked at Lenkova. "Are you here to help?"

"What? No. I was just curious," she replied.

Hordak nodded but kept looking at her, Sam noticed. "About the project?"

"Yes."

"Well, now you know! Do you have a favourite musician?" Entrapta asked as she knelt down, her hair fanning out as it grabbed cables and started plugging them in.

"Bogdan Titomir," Lenkova said. "Although I doubt that you have videos of him."

"Emily, check our data!" Entrapta ordered.

The bot beeped in response, and Sam went back to checking the interface when the Colonel approached them.

"What are you doing, Carter?" He looked a bit harried, she noticed.

"We're installing a holoprojector," Entrapta explained without looking up from where she was now halfway under the main amp, which was held up by her hair.

"And I asked if they had videos of Bogdan Titomir," Lenkova added.

"Can't say I know the man," the Colonel said, glancing at her. "And how are you liking the party so far, Lieutenant?"

"It's… interesting. But a bit tame," she replied.

"Tame?" The Colonel's eyebrows rose.

Sam felt a bit surprised herself. They had magical princesses and an alicorn here, the ceiling and walls were covered by magical plants trying to turn the scene into a jungle, and Lenkova called it tame?

"In Russia, everyone would be drunk by now." The woman smiled a bit ruefully, in Sam's opinion.

"Ah, yes. No drunks here," the Colonel said. "Which is a good thing, of course - imagine trying to tell Frosta she couldn't get a drink while everyone else was drinking." He looked at Sidorov, who was now seated again and scowling at General Hammond.

"Why not serve her a drink, then?" Lenkova asked.

"Because drunk teenagers with magic are as bad as drunk teenagers with weapons," the Colonel said, clenching his teeth for a moment. Then he took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling. "Imagine if Perfuma were drunk doing this!"

"Ah." Lenkova nodded as if that hadn't been obvious. Then she glanced at Castaspella, who was still sitting at the table. Good. "Is that what you talked about with the witch?"

"Sorceress," the Colonel corrected her. "Witches are different - it's a touchy thing for them or something."

"Ah." Lenkova smiled as if that had answered her question - which it had, of course.

"Yes." Entrapta slid out from under the amplifier. "All set here!"

Sam looked at her readouts. "Same here."

"Good! Then we can now test it!"

"Test what exactly?" the Colonel asked.

"I told you - a holoprojector!" Entrapta smiled. "Switch it on, Hordak - wait, we need to pick a video first!"

Emily beeped.

"You found one? Great! Science buddy, hit it!"

A moment later, the machinery they had spent half an hour setting up sprang to life, and a life-sized hologram of a singer appeared on the small stage set up in the room.

Not just a singer, a rapper, Sam realised as the man opened his mouth.

"You made this for a Russian Rapper?" The Colonel sounded both amused and put off.

"Ukrainian, actually," Lenkova corrected him. "At least these days."

"And they like it!" Entrapta beamed.

Indeed, people were clapping and cheering. Of course, seeing a hologram would be a novelty, and there were a significant number of Russian soldiers present who recognised the singer, but she wasn't wrong.

Sam smiled at the Colonel.

Of course, he had to have the last word: "Well, as long as you don't show a polka band…"

Unfortunately, Entrapta overheard him. "What's polka?"

But clearing up that wasn't Sam's job either. She was here to have fun, as the Colonel had told her three times today already.

And she was having fun.

Until she noticed the officer in charge of the night shift entering the hall - and heading straight towards the table with the generals. Something must have come up.

*****​
 
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Chapter 76: The Intervention Part 1
Chapter 76: The Intervention Part 1

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, Unites States of America, Earth, January 1st, 1999

Catra perked up as she noticed the officer approaching the generals. Not that it took a particularly sharp eye to catch it - the man wasn't wearing a dress uniform, so he stood out amongst the party's guests. O'Neill had noticed him as well and was already heading back to the general's table.

But it took damn good ears to listen in at that distance, with Entrapta's holo-singer going off in the background and everyone talking - and Catra had the best ears in the room. She turned them in Hammond's direction just in time to catch the gist of the message.

"...didn't open the iris, but we accepted the radio call from the Tok'ra. They claim it's an emergency and want to talk to the Alliance leadership."

Oh.

"I see."

"Let's get up," Catra told Adora as Hammond frowned. "It's for you."

"What?" Adora looked at her.

"Call from the Tok'ra," Catra explained. "For the Alliance leadership." Technically, Stargate Command wasn't part of the Alliance. At least not directly. And the Russians and Chinese certainly weren't part of the Alliance. And Adora was the Supreme Commander of the Alliance.

"Oh. Glimmer!" Adora called out. "We have to take a call!"

"What?" But Glimmer was already on her feet, Bow following her.

And that started a general move towards the doors by everyone from Etheria - and a lot of murmuring and speculation amongst the soldiers from Stargate Command. Which quickly drowned out the singing.

Sometimes, having the best ears in the room wasn't a good thing.

She grabbed a last sandwich on the way out.

*****​

"I'm sorry, General, but this is Alliance business - not Stargate Command business."

"What? This is Stargate Command! This is the Stargate!"

"Yes, but only in as much as it's needed for transportation and communication, General."

"We have oversight over all gate activities! This is a matter of security!"

"The majority of the Command Council is present, sir. Therefore, it shouldn't…"

Catra shook her head with a sigh as the door slid close and cut off the angry ranting from Sidorov outside the gate room. "We should take control of the Stargate here as well."

"What?" Adora gasped at her.

"I mean the Alliance," Catra explained as they walked over towards the gate. It was still covered by the iris, but she could see Garshaw on a screen next to the ramp. "Or the Earth parts of it, at least. Like we did on Etheria."

"Uh…" Adora bit her lower lip. "That should be up to them, I think. The Alliance, I mean. And they already have the majority of the generals in Stargate Command, so…"

"Then they should kick out Sidorov."

"Oh, yes!" Frosta chimed in. "He's such a pig-headed walrus! I'm a princess and a war veteran, not some baby!"

Catra held her tongue - not because she feared Frosta's anger; the girl had gotten one free shot back in the war for… reasons. But this wasn't her problem. She didn't like Sidorov for entirely different reasons.

"Well, he doesn't know you." Adora, of course, considered it her problem.

Frosta scoffed. "That's no excuse. He knew I am the sovereign of the Kingdom of Snows!"

"Things are different on Earth," Adora replied. "And, well…"

Fortunately, they reached the screen before Adora could put her foot in.

"Good evening, Grand Councillor," Glimmer greeted them.

"Good evening, Queen Glimmer. Princess Adora. Princess Entrapta." The Tok'ra leader looked… well, not too concerned, but she had a good poker face, so that didn't mean anything. "I see you've restored gate access to your home planet."

Now, that probably means there's no immediate emergency, Catra thought as everyone was introduced to everyone. Which took a little while.

But after that, Garshaw cleared their throat. "I am calling because we have received disturbing news. Apophis is planning an attack against a planet under the control of a rival in order to frame a third faction for the attack."

Ah. That sounded… well, kind of smart - and just the sort of thing the Tok'ra did.

"And he is planning to use weapons of mass destruction to ensure this will lead to war - and to hide his involvement." Garshaw looked grim. "According to our intel, most of the planet's population will be killed, should he succeed. And, even worse, for such attacks, the general Goa'uld policy is to retaliate in kind."

Which meant another planet would be razed. And then another. And another.

Damn.

They had to stop that - but that would mess up their planned schedule for the war.

*****​

"Alright. According to your intel, dear old Aphophis wants to frame Sokar for the attack on one of Heru'ur's garrison worlds so he can then sit back and watch his two most dangerous rivals destroy each other." Jack O'Neill shook his head. And then the snake would polish off whoever remained - if he waited so long; Jack wouldn't be surprised if Apophis would attack both once they're weakened enough just so no one else got to kill them.

"Exactly." Garshaw nodded.

"And that intel is dependable?" Jack had been on missions based on wrong intel before. He wasn't keen on repeating the experience.

"It comes from one of our best operatives. They have infiltrated Apophis's court for years."

Jack nodded even though that didn't mean the intel was good - in the spook game, once you discovered an enemy agent, you either turned them or left them in place and fed them bogus information. You could never be sure that the intel was good until after the mission was over. And sometimes not even then. The soviets had gone to great lengths to fool their enemies; even sacrificing a few soldiers or spies of their own hadn't been beyond them. And compared to the commie spooks, the snake spooks were worse.

Not that the American spooks were that much better, of course. At least some of them would fit in with either the KGB or the snakes. Like the spook in the room. Jack glanced at Colonel Maybourne and didn't bother hiding his frown.

Maybourne ignored him, seemingly focused on his notes. Jack resisted the urge to make a face at him. If only they were in private…

"So, they're planning an orbital bombardment to wipe out the ground bases, then loot the mines - and probably have some survivors identify their forces as Sokar's. Pretty simple plan," Catra commented.

"As long as they manage to convincingly pass for Sokar's forces, they won't need a more complex scheme," Garshaw said. "Sokar has only recently resurfaced - he was thought destroyed by Ra and his allies after an attempted rebellion thousands of years ago, and he is reviled amongst the other System Lords. Wiping out the population of a planet is exactly what they would expect of him. All Aphophis needs to do is make his force act sufficiently sadistic when killing the majority of the bombardment's survivors and Heru'ur will be fooled."

Jack scoffed. "What a charming fellow." It would take a lot to get reviled by the other snakes.

Then Maybourne spoke up for the first time during the briefing: "Will acting on that intel put your agent in danger?"

Jack clenched his teeth at the man's comment. He should have expected that question from a spook.

"What?" Adora obviously hadn't, though. "We have to stop this attack!"

"Yes!" Glimmer nodded sharply.

Jack looked at the Tok'ra. They had good poker faces, but… Garshaw didn't show any reaction, but Per'sus was glaring at Maybourne. Of course, that could be an act to impress the Etherians - the Tok'ra were well aware of who was the dominant power in the Alliance. Hell, they might even think sacrificing an agent - or setting up this attack in the first place - was worth it if it made them best buddies with the Etherians! Jack was sure that they had done such stunts before, setting up one snake to fight another.

Maybourne, though, appeared undaunted by the anger directed at him - by aliens able to reduce him to a stain on the floor without trying. Of course, they wouldn't do this, but still - many would show some fear faced with that. The spook even had the gall to smile at the angry princesses. "This could be a ploy by Apophis to discover the agent."

"Other sources have verified that some of Apophis's most loyal and capable forces have disappeared," Garshaw cut in. "I doubt he would risk angering two of his most dangerous rivals just to hunt a spy."

"It could still be a consolation prize." Maybourne shrugged. "But the real question is: Should we stop this, risking that the Goa'uld learn of the Alliance's existence, or would it be better if we let the attack happen and let the Goa'uld fight each other for a bit before we reveal that it was a ploy by Apophis? And then let them fight each other some more?"

Jack narrowed his eyes. That was the kind of cold-blooded thinking common amongst spooks. But, a small voice in the back of his head added, the man wasn't wrong - letting the attack happen and then expose Apophis's treachery would do a lot of damage to the Goa'uld. They would tear each other's armies up.

But it would also kill a lot of civilians.

"You want to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of people?" Adora jumped up, her chair clattering to the ground behind her.

"That's unacceptable!" Glimmer slapped the table with both hands. "We're not going to let them murder people - we're fighting this war to save people!"

A crackling sound drew Jack's attention to his right, and this time, he winced. Frosta was standing, both arms covered to the elbows in gleaming ice - and Jack could feel the cold around the little princess.

He almost quipped about cold rage.

Maybourne finally showed a reaction - he winced. "I'm just asking questions!" he said. "I'm not saying we should let civilians get killed - but it's my job to ensure that our leaders are aware of the costs of intervening. This is a planning meeting, after all."

"I think everyone here is aware of that, Colonel," General Haig spoke up with a frown.

"Yes!" Adora hissed.

"And of the price of our inaction." Bow looked angry as well.

And Catra looked like she was plotting an accident for Maybourne.

"Colonel, I think we need more data on the status of our various forces. Please start compiling a briefing," Hammond said. "The president will want it later."

"Yes, General."

The spook got up and left the room, and Jack relaxed. A little. Why had Maybourne done this? He had to know how the Etherians would react. Was Kinsey behind this? Was this an attempt to sabotage this meeting in preparation for the Alliance meeting where the actual decision would be made? Not that Jack doubted that they would intervene since the Etherians were unified in this. Had that been the goal? Show that resistance was futile? Or had someone set up Maybourne to take a fall to replace him?

And what was the Tok'ra's game?

Jack clenched his teeth again. He hated dealing with spooks as much as he hated dealing with politics.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, Unites States of America, Earth, January 2nd, 1999

"Here's another argument for the Alliance taking over the Stargate: We could cut the meetings in half."

Adora frowned at Catra's whispered comment, but her friend had a point, sort of - this was the official Alliance planning meeting, and they were going over mostly the same things that they had covered in the first meeting here at Stargate Command.

And judging by Glimmer's snort, her friend agreed. Still, while Adora didn't like rehashing things, she also knew you couldn't just rush everything. And even with shuttles, it took some time to ferry in the Alliance leaders from Earth.

"You're the Supreme Commander," Catra went on. "Just tell them what we'll do."

That… wasn't how things worked either. And Catra knew that. But this was the second hour of the meeting, and they hadn't made much progress.

"...and why is Apophis doing this now?" the German general, Müller, asked. "At the best time to hamper our build-up and make us throw away our plans?"

"No plan survives first contact with the enemy," Jack commented.

Müller frowned. "We both know what Moltke actually meant with that, Colonel. And that's not the point. I'm wondering if Apophis is doing this as a reaction to the preparations of the Alliance - if he knows about our plans."

"Our operatives have not found any hint that would support this," Garshaw replied. "If Apophis - or any System Lord - would suspect this, they would reach out to their peers, not attempt to play two rivals against each other."

"His reputation suffered following his defeat at the hands of Stargate Command," Per'Sus added. "His material losses were minor, but he was personally leading the attack. His rivals will wonder if he had gravely underestimated his enemies, showing a lapse of judgement that might be exploited - or if he couldn't spare the forces to ensure victory, showing a fatal weakness. This might be his attempt to counter that and present the conflict between Sokar and Heru'ur as a distraction."

A distraction that would cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people! Adora pressed her lips together. They couldn't let that happen! At least none of the Alliance leaders here had suggested that they should let it happen. This Maybourne… She clenched her teeth. How could anyone think like that?

"Why Apophis is doing this doesn't matter as much as what we're doing to stop it," Glimmer spoke up. "We can't let him murder countless people. We have to stop him."

"Can we stop him?" another European General, Hansen, asked. "Can we reach the planet with the fleet before his ships reach it?"

"If he sticks to the schedule our agent discovered, yes," Garshaw said. "The Horde frigates can reach the planet in time to meet the attack."

"Convenient," Müller muttered.

"If we send the fleet, we will expose ourselves. The Goa'uld Empire will be aware of our forces - and that we're about to fight them. We have to keep that in mind," the British General - Forsythe - said. "We will have a harder time preventing information from getting out than if we struck a target of our own choice."

"We have to send the fleet - we can't stop an orbital bombardment with whatever forces we could send through the gate. If we can secure the gate in the first place," Jack pointed out.

"Maybe." The Canadian representative, Miller, didn't seem convinced. He looked at Adora, she realised. "Princess She-Ra, Could you activate the planet's magic and use the, ah, surge of power to attack the ships in orbit?"

Adora winced. "That was a unique event that can't be repeated." And that was a relief! If there were another Heart of Eheria-style weapon… "Not to mention that it would mean that I would have to do this right before the bombardment starts, but after the attackers are in position. The timing would have to be perfect."

"So, that's not an alternative. We'll have to bring the ships out. And the Goa'uld will know those are Horde frigates," Catra cut in. "They will investigate Horde Prime's former Empire."

"But they won't know about the Alliance. Not right away," Forsythe said.

"Sooner or later, they'll find out about us," Glimmer said. "We didn't attempt to keep his defeat a secret."

Of course not! They had spread the news so his subjects knew they were free! Adora nodded.

"We'd still gain some time. It would be better if we could use Goa'uld ships, to make them suspect each other, but…" Forsythe looked at the Tok'ra.

Garhsaw shook her head. "We do not have nearly enough ships for that."

That was putting it mildly.

"Can we mask the Horde ships as Goa'uld ships?" Miller asked.

Entrapta cocked her head to the side. "We can use false transponders, but camouflaging their visuals is tricky. The frigates are very different designs."

"We could ambush the attackers before they reach the planet. That would cut down on the number of witnesses," Catra suggested. "Jam their communications and wipe them out."

"And make Apophis wonder what happened - if we can pull this off." Bow nodded.

"It would make him suspect a mole," Garshaw said. "But any defeat would result in that."

"Yeah, that's Dictator 101 - it's always the fault of traitors, never your own incompetence." Jack scoffed. "But if you deal with Apophis's forces in space, that still leaves Heru'ur's troops on the planet - and what assets they have in space."

"And they would have the sensors to detect the battle and will investigate it. At least a few scouts will be sent," Per'sus said. "We will have to deal with them as well."

"But that won't take a full invasion. More like a strike by special forces," Forsythe added.

"So, a space fleet action and a ground-based commando strike. At least, it's not a Forest Moon," Jack said.

Adora blinked, then snorted. "The Alliance won that battle anyway," she pointed out.

"But it was still a trap!"

A number of people were laughing, but they had to explain the comment to the rest of the room. Still, joking aside, they had the start of a plan.

*****​

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, January 3rd, 1999

"You know, riding a space shuttle to reach a meeting at the other end of the world just doesn't have the vibe of boldly going where no man has gone before," Samantha Carter heard the Colonel comment as they stepped off the shuttle ramp.

"It's a Horde shuttle, not a space shuttle," she corrected him. "And we didn't leave the atmosphere during our flight."

"It's a shuttle and it can fly in space - it's a space shuttle," he retorted.

She didn't have to look at him to know he was grinning. She did it anyway.

"It's amazing, Jack!" Daniel chimed in. "This is revolutionising travel. Or will, once the shuttles spread to civilian use."

The Colonel shrugged. "Making it so you have to commute around the world is not the kind of revolution that we want, I think."

"Once holoprojectors become more common, many meetings won't be held in person any more," Sam pointed out. "And many office workers will be able to work from home. With advanced waldos and matching headsets, even industrial work could be done from home."

"That would be a security nightmare," the Colonel retorted. "Imagine having access to classified material - or weapons - from your home. Go on a toilet break, and come back to find your kid driving a tank across a base as if it was a remote toy!"

"That can be handled with proper computer security," she pointed out as they entered the building.

"The computer security that can defeat human laziness hasn't been invented yet." He grinned again. "I think we'll have meetings in person for a long time yet. No offence, Carter."

"As you say, sir."

"Want to bet?"

"You want to bet whether or not commuting will still be common?" Daniel sounded surprised.

"Yes, Daniel."

"But how would you define what counts as common? Or commuting? Especially since with shuttles, what would be considered a long commute might become a quick trip down the block, comparatively. Further…"

"And we've arrived!" the Colonel interrupted him. "Welcome to the really official planning meeting! Not to be mistaken for the official planning meeting. Or for the planning meeting. Oh. Sir!" He snapped a salute.

The American general - General Smith according to his tag - standing at the door that had just opened didn't look amused. "Colonel O'Neill. We've been waiting for you to finally arrive."

Sam half-expected the Colonel to make a joke about traffic, or about generals answering the door - though Sam was sure the officer had been on the way out of the room. But he just nodded. "We came as quickly as we could once we got our orders, sir."

General Smith harrumphed. "Well, you're here now. Let's get this started."

Sam wondered if he didn't want them here - technically, they were still assigned to Stargate Command, not the Alliance forces. Though since they were the foremost experts on gate travel and the Goa'uld… They stepped inside.

"Hi, Jack!" Adora greeted them.

"Hey." Catra looked up from her pad and waved.

Next to them were Netossa and Entrapta, waving as well.

"I saved you a seat!" Entrapta beamed at them. "Glimmer and Bow are meeting the presidents and prime ministers."

Sam nodded, though she had known that already.

"Alright." Adora rose after everyone had taken their seats. "Let's get started. We're here to discuss how to spoil Apophis's attack on PZ-921."

As she spoke, a holoprojector turned on, and the floating hologram of a planet appeared in the middle of the room.

Next to Sam, the Colonel muttered something about Endor, but she tried to ignore it.

"This is the world in question. Heru'ur is using it to grow food for his forces and mine ore for his industry, but according to our intel, it also serves as a Jaffa training camp. The planet's Stargate is located here, and the main mining sites are here and here."

As Adora pointed out the various locations, they lit up on the projection.

"According to Apophis's intel, the base housing the Stargate is fortified and has two squadrons of Death Gliders assigned to it as well as a battery of anti-aircraft artillery." Adora nodded at the others. "We'll have to verify that once we have assets in the system."

"We've sent spy bots to the system, but since it's not close to their current line of advance, it'll take some time for them to reach it. But they'll reach it before our fleet does!" Entrapta chimed in.

"So we will have advance warning in case this turns out to be a trap for Apophis's forces," the British admiral commented.

The Colonel mouthed something that Sam missed.

Adora nodded. "If it is a trap, we'll let them handle Apophis's attack."

That made sense, of course - the Alliance was only intervening to save the civilians.

"But if it's not a trap, we'll have to deal with the planetary garrison. And that's where it gets tricky," Adora went on. "We have to take control of the base housing the Stargate without them calling for help."

The projection zoomed in on the gate location, showing an extensive Goa'uld base.

"I'd rather sneak into a shield generator," the Colonel muttered under his breath.

Sam agreed.

*****​

Bright Moon, Etheria, January 4th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"I've got some experience assaulting and defending similar bases, you know. Well, mostly defending, back when I was a Force Captain, but still, that should be useful, right? And, well - I've received so much help from you, I think I should start helping others in turn. And I don't need my magic power to fight, as you all know."

"We didn't help you and your people because we expect your help in return but because it was the right thing to do. And we are bringing back magic to every planet in the sector anyway, so there's no reason not to start with this planet. And I could do some good on that planet as well - and it's a whole planet full of new plants! And you might need my help if the fields get damaged during the fighting so there won't be a famine as a result."

"You could handle that after the fighting; you don't need to be on the frontlines. And both of you are ruling princesses, unlike us. We don't have other responsibilities, and we need first-hand experience if we are to lead similar missions in the future. With or without powers."

"This sounds like an adventure!"

"Sit down, idiot! But as the map shows, the Stargate is near a body of water. I could cover that and grant us a decisive advantage."

"I can freeze the entire lake and form walls around the base. And I can do that without having to have water nearby. Or setting things on fire."

"You lack the experience for this kind of mission."

"What? I've been doing the same things in the war against the Horde!"

"This is a different war."

"War never changes."

Another meeting. If there was one thing Catra didn't like about the Princess Alliance, it was how often they had meetings. And squabbling princesses. And politics, which was usually squabbling princesses. Alright, there were a few more things she didn't like about the Princess Alliance, but right now, meetings were pretty much at the top of her list.

Of course, some meetings were necessary. A number of her operations as Horde Leader would have gone a lot better - or wouldn't have gone off at all - if there had been a meeting where others could have pointed out any flaws with her plans she had missed (and there had been a number of those, obvious in hindsight, but she wasn't going there).

But the meeting she was currently attending? In Sparkles's palace? This wasn't about the best way to deal with a Goa'uld fleet and garrison. Or about potential problems and complications that they might have to deal with in the middle of it.

No, this was just about telling people that they couldn't come along. And the relative novelty of having more volunteers than spots to be filled in a roster had long since worn off. Especially since it looked as if half the princesses would be ready to fight each other if that meant the would get to fight the enemy. "So much for the vaunted power of friendship," she muttered.

Adora shot her a look before speaking up - again - in an attempt to keep order in the meeting. Or peace. "Look, all of you have good arguments, but we can't take everyone with us."

"Why not? Overwhelming power focused against the enemy's weak point is a good strategy, isn't it?" Scorpia asked, slamming her pincers together.

"Not always, as the Horde found out a few times," Glimmer retorted. "And no, we won't bring back magic for this battle."

"What? Why not?" Frosta pouted as she glared at her.

"Because we - I - don't have enough experience with that yet," Adora said. "If I make a… if anything goes wrong, the middle of a battle isn't the best time to try to fix it."

"But you'll do it afterwards, right?" Perfuma asked.

"We're not sure yet," Glimmer told her. "We have to find out more about the planet's situation, the population… Apophis didn't really care about knowing anything about them, other than how to kill most of them, so his intel doesn't cover that."

"We do know that Heru'ur seems to have a better relationship with his Jaffa than most System Lords," Bow added. "He is said to fight at their side and value them as comrades, which Apophis considers a weakness. But that doesn't tell us anything about the humans on the planet."

"You think they would pick their oppressors over their liberators?" Perfuma stared at her.

"We don't know. The System Lords pose as gods so their slaves obey and revere them. That kind of conditioning is harder to break than slavery," Glimmer said.

Adora didn't say anything, but Catra saw how she tensed. She sighed - the differences between what the Goa'uld were doing and the situation with Third Fleet were obvious, namely that Adora hadn't done anything to be revered as a goddess. Not intentionally, at least. But her lover still blamed herself for it. "Don't be silly," she whispered, letting her tail brush over Adora's calf.

Adoa smiled, though a bit weakly, at her in return.

"Anyway," Glimmer went on. "We'll have to run this mission without our magic powers. Which means those amongst us who are effective without magic will take point."

And that meant Catra as well - not that she would let Adora fight alone, of course. And speaking of her… Catra waved at her lover with a grin. "And those who can use their magic powers anyway."

Adora blushed.

Glimmer nodded. "But you're right about the overwhelming power, Scorpia. We need to not just win, but win decisively, shocking and awing the enemy and their enslaved population to break the Goa'uld's grip on them."

"I can do that!" Scorpia grinned and slammed her pincers together again.

"Yes. You and Adora will be crucial for that. And Catra will help."

"And our bots!" Entrapta chimed in.

"Yes." Glimmer nodded again. "But we can't take everyone - that would mean our entire command structure is in this battle. And that would be foolish." She glared at a few of the princesses for a moment. "Anyway, we'll use stealth shuttles to land at the three key locations, then hit them right before the fleet action starts. Two will be held in reserve, and Entrapta, Bow and Sam will be present as well to ensure the enemy communications are cut."

It was a decent plan - Catra would have objected otherwise. Not perfect - they also had to keep a reserve to deal with straggling or unknown elements, and getting those in time would be tricky if they had FTL comms, but it was the best they could do.

She just hoped it would be enough.

"I still want to go!" Frosta said.

"It certainly wouldn't hurt if we came along," Netossa added.

Catra sighed as the bickering started again.

*****​

Earth Orbit, Solar System, January 5th, 1999 (Earth Time)

For a moment, Jack O'Neill felt as if he was on a base in the United States as he stepped on the ramp of the shuttle that had brought him and his team into orbit and heard the sergeant in charge of the platoon assigned to the same bellow, the man's voice filling the entire hangar.

"Alright, form up! You're bunking by squad, so don't lose your squad leader!"

It sounded like, well, home. Even though the soldiers forming up next to the other shuttle were marines and not airmen.

Then he heard another familiar voice, and the illusion was shattered.

"Hello! Welcome on board the 'Three-Two'! I am Lucius the Faithful, and I will be your guide today! Please follow me to your quarters!"

The clone was far too cheerful for an American base. And far too polite when talking to the enlisted. And far too alien, of course.

Jack glanced at the marines as they lined up. A few of them were staring at the clone, and he hoped it was just surprise at the cheerful tone. If they had sent people who had trouble interacting with aliens, that wouldn't be a fun trip. And not a smooth mission on the target planet, either.

"You heard the man! Follow us! Forward, march!"

The marines marched off - and ran into their first problem when the clone turned out to walk more slowly than they were used to. Well, that was for the sergeant to figure out, and none of Jack's business. Hell, since SG-1 was still part of Stargate Command, he wasn't even officially part of the chain of command of this operation - at least not of the Earth part of it; officially, SG-1 was here on detached duty at the request of the Etherians.

"Hi, Jack! Hi, Sam! Hi, Daniel! Hi, Teal'c!"

And speaking of said Etherians… Jack nodded at Entrapta. "Hello."

"You came!" the princess went on - as if that had been in doubt.

"Yep." Jack grinned and resisted the urge to joke about having an opening in their schedule. Instead, he commented: "So, Three-Two? I expected something like 'Righteous Wrath of the Goddess'."

"Oh, no - all frigates have numbers. Three-Two means this is the second ship of the Third Fleet. Priest wanted us on the flagship, Three-One, but Adora explained to him that the flagship shouldn't serve as a transport or shuttle carrier. I am not entirely sure if that's correct - they could launch the shuttles way before the fleet action since they're stealth shuttles - but Adora insisted." Entrapta nodded.

"Yeah, I can see that." Jack wouldn't have wanted to travel on the same ship as Priest either. Hell, travelling in the same fleet was already a bother, and Jack wasn't being worshipped as a god by the clones.

On the other hand, neither Anise nor Castaspella was part of this mission, which was definitely a plus in his book. Sure, they were about to launch a landing operation on a planet occupied by snakes, but Jack could deal with Goa'uld and their Jaffa warriors much more easily than with a Tok'ra scientist or an Etherian sorceress interested in his ancestry and progeny. Ugh, 'progeny'? He must have been listening too much to Daniel and Carter!

"So, everyone is on this ship? Wouldn't that make it the flagship by default?" Daniel asked.

"I've asked the same thing!" Entrapta beamed at him. "But no - the fleet will be commanded by Priest on Three-One. Adora will command the landing operation from this ship, though. Well, until we launch the shuttles, that is. Then I guess the shuttle she's on becomes the flagship?"

"I don't think that's how it works," Daniel said. "But I'm no expert."

Why was everyone glancing at Jack? Did he look like he was a Navy Puke? He was Air Force, and the Air Force didn't have flagships! "Well, it's not as if we're doing things by the book - whatever book there is." Otherwise, Adora wouldn't get to fight on the frontline. Most of the Alliance brass had protested against that part of the plan, though Jack suspected that many of them just didn't want to look bad when the Supreme Commander led from the front and they stayed behind. No matter how insane that was. But then, if you were a magical princess that could cut spaceships apart with their magic sword, it wasn't as insane as it sounded. But still insane.

"Ah." Entrapta nodded as if he had told her something profound. "Anyway, we're all here - well, all those who take part in the attack. They're in the planning room, but I'll show you the lab space for us first!" She beamed at Sam. "And, I guess your cabins, too. Come!"

*****​

"Your chosen companions are on board the assigned ships, Your Divine Highness! The fleet stands ready to depart at your orders!"

"Thank you, Priest." Adora managed not to wince. Her title was She-Ra - or, maybe, 'Supreme Commander' in the Alliance - not 'Your Divine Highness'. And the 'chosen companions' should be the 'Alliance Expeditionary Force'. But she knew from experience that trying to correct Priest would only lead to frustration and waste time.

Time they couldn't afford to waste if they wanted to stop Apophis's plot. "Set out at your convenience, then."

"Your slightest wish is our holy command!" Priest bowed so deeply, she could only see the back of him, then straightened and snapped orders.

Adora watched Earth pass as Three-Two turned and fell in formation next to Three-One, the other frigates of the task force forming a screen around them and the other transports.

They were underway for the Alliance's first operation in the war. She straightened. This would be the official beginning of the war. And it would see them foil a callous, cruel plot by a Goa'uld. A plot aimed at his rivals. In Adora's opinion, that was a good omen.

"And now we wait," Catra commented next to her.

"Even in hyperspace, we have a lot of work to do," Adora corrected her. Planning the assaults, going over the latest intel - the spy bots should be reaching the target system soon, so they would be receiving more data to go over, which would mean their plans would have to be adjusted and refined, there would be all kinds of problems cropping up that she would need to deal with, and…

Her thoughts were interrupted by Catra elbowing her into the side. "Stop that!"

"Stop what?"

"Worrying yourself into a frenzy!" Catra snorted. "We've got this. We've done this before - hell, we've done entire invasions before."

"But never one like this," Adora retorted. And those had been Horde invasions that Catra had done, but she didn't say that.

"The principles are the same. Which means that the Supreme Commander gives the orders and doesn't try to micromanage everything." With a toothy grin, she added: "And if an idiot tries to bother you with small issues, I'll take care of them."

Adora blinked. Catra was an experienced officer, but to volunteer for dealing with all the nuisances… Oh. "Are you talking about taking care of the issues or the…" She wouldn't call them idiots.

"Both." Catra grinned again. "Can't have our Supreme Commander stressed and exhausted when the battle starts. Well, maybe a bit exhausted is OK…"

Catra's gaze left no doubt about what she was hinting at, and Adora blushed. "But…"

"No buts!" Her lover shook her head. "There'll be enough stuff to personally handle for you, anyway, so you can feel like a proper princess."

That wasn't what it was about! Adora pouted at her. Or it was just a small part of it.

But before she could retort, the frigate - the task force - entered hyperspace.

They were on their way to the first battle of the war.

*****​
 
Chapter 77: The Intervention Part 2
Chapter 77: The Intervention Part 2

Deep Space, On the Way to PZ-921, January 7th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"We got the first data from the spy bots in the system!"

Samantha Carter turned away from the preliminary analysis of the latest readouts from her experiment - the lab on the frigate wasn't as good as the one in the Mountain, much less the space lab, but she could still do a lot of work here - and went over to her friend. "What does it look like?"

"Hmm…" Entrapta cocked her head to the side as she looked at the screen held in her hair. "It looks like it confirms the data the Tok'ra shared. At least with regard to the presence of spaceships in the system. Scans show one patrol flight of Death Gliders near the asteroid belt, no other ships."

"Ah." That would fit the intel they had. Of course, if this was a trap by Heru'ur, then any fleet units would be hidden from long-range scans, and while the Alliance had better scanners than the Goa'uld - as far as they knew - they hadn't mounted the best scanners on the spy bots; the chance of them falling into enemy hands was just too great.

"Oh, wait - there's an Al'kesh in orbit around the planet!"

A single bomber? Sam leaned forward and confirmed it. Yes, indeed, a single Al'kesh was in orbit. "That's curious," she commented. But a single ship - and a small one, at that - wouldn't change the equations of the space battle. Not when facing multiple capital ships from Apophis fleet, much less the task force from the Alliance. "Any sign of bombing operations?" If the Goa'uld were dealing with a rebellion on the planet…

"Hmm… nothing going on right now - no explosions. Well, none big enough to show up on the scans. We'll have to get closer to get more detailed scans of the planetary surface."

That would increase the risk of the bots being detected, but not by much. They weren't true stealth bots, but they had a reduced sensor signature. "Yes," Sam agreed.

Entrapta sent the command, and then they waited. A bit more than six seconds to reach the bot in question, then another six seconds to see it starting to move… the lag was frustrating. Even more frustrating was that Sam hadn't been able to find a solution yet.

Finally, the readings started to change. Of course, it would take longer for the bot to reach a range where the scans were more effective. And it couldn't get too close, or the Goa'uld forces might pick it up.

On the other hand, if they just picked up a bot, with advanced technology, if not too advanced, then they would go on alert, and it might even be enough for Heru'ur to send more ships to the system, perhaps spoiling Apophis's plans without revealing too much about the Alliance's existence… No. Heru'ur was unlikely to send enough ships to deter the attack. Not if he was suspecting spy activities instead of an invasion. And he would be on the lookout for spy bots from then on, making their recon missions more difficult. And as the Tok'ra had pointed out - if Heru'ru found out about the planned atrocities, he might strike back with atrocities of his own no matter whether or not Apophis succeeded in the first place. That was how those things worked. No, they had to stick to the mission.

And speaking of the mission… "Let's call the others," Sam said. The Colonel wouldn't like to wait for the more detailed data, but he would hate not being told at once even more. And Adora and her friends could keep him in line.

"Alright!" Entrapta turned to the main screen. "OK… Aw. I really miss Darla. We should have taken her along." She pouted as her hair handled the intercom.

"She's rather distinctive," Sam pointed out. Horde frigates showing up might keep the Goa'uld guessing even if they were spotted, but Darla? A design last used by the Ancients? If the Goa'uld thought they were facing the Ancients, Ancients bent on destroying their empire and way of life, they would likely band together at once, no matter their past feuds. A common enemy did that. And that would make the war much harder to win.

"We could camouflage her! Make her look like… hm… a totally different ship! Or we improve her stealth systems!"

"If we manage that," Sam replied.

"Well, we'd also have to ask her if she wants to change her appearance. But at least we'll get good data on the Goa'uld sensors on this mission. Oh! Do you think we'll get to analyse a captured ship?"

"If we capture one." Boarding a Ha'tak… Sam pushed the memories that brought up away. They had been desperate, back when Apophis had attacked Earth. This time, it would be different - but it would also be more dangerous. Apophis wouldn't blow up a ship with him inside, but Sam didn't doubt that his most loyal Jaffa would rather die and take the enemy with them than allow their ship to be captured.

They had more troops now, but it was still a daunting task, even with Etherian support. Magic didn't work in space - unless you were She-Ra.

Before Sam could voice her thoughts, the door in their temporary lab opened, and the Colonel stepped inside. "So, I spy with my eye…"

Sam suppressed a sigh. She had heard better jokes from him - he must be more nervous than he let on about the mission.

*****​

"So, Heru'ur has a slightly larger force in space than expected," Catra summed up the data Entrapta and Sam had presented. "But it's a single bomber." Hardly a threat to either Apophis or their own forces. She frowned. "That doesn't seem much of a concern - though we probably need to take it out to stop them from alerting Heru'ur's main forces."

"The question is why Heru'ur would station a single Al'kesh on this planet," Sam pointed out. "Its main use is to bombard targets on the ground, but Heru'ur controls the planet."

"The planet's population might be rebelling," Daniel suggested.

"Our spy bots haven't found any sign of combat on the ground," Sam retorted.

"Unless the population was supplied with advanced weapons, the Jaffa on the planet would be able to handle them," Teal'c added. "Should they require air support, then the Death Gliders could handle it. Though they would be unlikely to do so - Heru'ur's soldiers are renowned as skilled and experienced, and highly motivated even for Jaffa; the false god focuses more attention on them than his rivals usually do since he is said to often fight at their side."

That had been in the briefing, Catra recalled. She hadn't thought it would be very relevant, though, since they didn't expect Heru'ur to be present. He would not travel in a single Al'kesh, at least.

"Wow, he sounds like one of the boys," O'Neill commented with a snort.

Catra narrowed her eyes at him. Princesses did the same - and she had taken the field numerous times when she had been leading the Horde. "A leader's presence can decide a battle," she pointed out.

"Yes," Glimmer agreed. "Also, Heru'ur fighting at their side would increase his troops' morale and their motivation, even in training. No soldier wants to slack or fail in front of their god."

Catra nodded. Not if they wanted to avoid getting punished, at least.

"It is a brave but dangerous tactic," Teal'c said. "Seeing their false god defeated in personal combat would strike a harsh blow against his followers' morale even if he manages to escape."

Which he wouldn't if he ended up facing them. Based on what they knew about the System Lords' technology, Catra wouldn't bet on them if they were facing an experienced princess, much less Adora. And Scorpia would probably just crush the snake, shield and all. And Catra had a few ideas about dealing with him herself, should she get the opportunity…

"Well, if he shows up, we'll do our best to teach him the error of his ways," O'Neill said.

Catra narrowed her eyes at him again. Was that some backhanded criticism of personally leading your force?

If it was, Adora had missed it - Catra's lover nodded with a grim smile. "Yes, we will."

"But back to the Al'kesh," Sam spoke up again. "We still don't know why it is stationed there."

"It might be used as a transport," Teal'c suggested. "Although a Stargate would be faster and more efficient for ferrying both cargo or troops unless the destination lacks a gate - or the Stargate is not under Heru'ur's control."

"So, he might be planning an attack of his own?" Bow asked. "With a single Al'kesh?"

"It's enough for a raid. Their cloaking device isn't going to do much against our new sensors, but against a peer-level opponent…" O'Neill shrugged. "Using a backwater planet like this as a staging area would make OPSEC easier, too."

"We'll have to take it out anyway," Glimmer said. "But as long as it stays out of the atmosphere, we need more firepower than the stealth shuttles can deliver."

Catra frowned. The Goa'uld shields were weaker in a planet's atmosphere, but they were quite strong outside - well, not against a frigate. "We could take a few Horde fighters with us, but that would increase the risk of getting identified. Of course, if it engages Apophis's forces with the Death Gliders, our task force can jump it and destroy it - but if it stays in orbit…"

"I can deal with it," Adora said. "I just need to get to it. And a stealth shuttle can get me there."

"Do you plan to board it, or are you going to cut it apart?" O'Neill asked.

"Destroying quickly is safer," Catra pointed out. That would stop any message from getting out. But…

"We can take it over - there might be prisoners on it," Adora said.

"I guess boarding action it is," Catra said. "Good thing I brought my space suit." Adora opened her mouth, but Catra cut her off. "You're not going there alone. And we've got enough officers to handle the ground targets." Entrapta, Bow and Sam would be busy dealing with any technical issue, but that still left Glimmer and Scorpia. And Jack, in case the other Alliance officers screwed up. He might not be in the official chain of command, but Glimmer could easily give him a field promotion or something to outrank whoever screwed up. It would cause some issues with the Earth generals, but that would be less of a problem than messing up this operation.

Adora was still frowning but didn't seem to have a counter-argument for that.

Catra grinned.

*****​

PZ-921-System, January 12th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"The spy bots have detected Apophis's forces," Carter reported.

Finally! Jack O'Neill managed not to blurt it out loud - that would have set a bad example. He wasn't just leading SG-1 here, after all - there was an entire platoon of marines in the shuttle. Sure, they were led by a marine lieutenant, and Jack wasn't in the man's chain of command, but that was only a technicality. The lieutenant's superior officer was back with the frigates of the task force, waiting outside the system, outside sensor range, to deploy once the vanguard in the stealth shuttles had secured the Stargate and taken out enemy communications. And that meant the man might as well be back on Earth - he might even arrive more quickly on the planet if he could use the Stargate, but you couldn't count on that; even if you took control of the gate, the enemy could dial in and block you from using it.

No, with Jack in the stealth shuttle, and him being the highest-ranking officer present, as well as the most experienced when it came to gate travel or fighting the Goa'uld, his advice and suggestions would be taken as orders. And his reaction to, well, anything would be closely observed.

So he yawned and stretched before getting up from his seat in the main hold of the shuttle. "Who won the betting pool? I had 'Apophis tries to be clever and attacks in a straight line from his holdings, to make Heru'ur think Sokar is trying to frame him'," Jack asked.

He was lying, of course - there was no such betting pool. But Carter played along. More or less. "He chose a vector that did neither point back at his territory nor at Sokar's expected holding."

He could hear Entrapta ask, "What betting pool?" over the link to Carter's laptop, but Carter could explain that later.

"Ah, so no one won. What's the status of our fleet?" he asked.

Carter, as usual, had anticipated that and had already done the calculations. "The task force is moving to intercept the attackers. They should be able to engage them in the outer part of the system, sir."

That, too, had been expected. With hyperspace travel, you couldn't intercept an enemy on the approach unless you got very lucky and stumbled on them during a navigational break or had their planned route in your computers. So, you had to wait until they dropped out of hyperspace and engage them. And that meant staying near the target, or you might get caught too far out to reach the enemy force before it reached the target.

Still, that meant that Heru'ur's forces would be able to observe the battle easily. "And that's our cue!" Jack said, loud enough so all the marines would overhear him. "We need to ensure that by the time the snakes get their butt kicked in space, we control the ground."

Soldiers, especially the noncoms, needed to know a mission's goal in case the officer's got taken out. They had been briefed, of course, but the forces being marines, it was better to repeat the information, in Jack's opinion. Maybe a few times.

"Alright, men!" the Lieutenant spoke up. "Check your gear and get ready!" He sounded more confident than his age and rank would make you expect - but then, the leathernecks would have sent their best for this mission. Just like the Air Force, Jack added to himself as he watched his team get ready as well.

"Alpha separating," Carter reported.

Jack nodded. That meant the shuttle carrying Adora, Catra and the boarding force to the Al'kesh.

"Beta, Gamma and Delta en route," Carter went on right after Jack noticed the acceleration of their shuttle. Beta meant them - the shuttle headed for the Stargate. Gamma with Glimmer and Bow would hit the main mining complex, and Delta would hit the second mine. Epsilon with Entrapta would stay in orbit as reserves.

Just as planned.

Which meant it was now time for things to go wrong.

"Alright!" And there was Scorpia, back from the bridge. Or cockpit. The huge woman smiled as she took her seat. "Let's crack some snake skulls!" She flexed her pincers, and Jack saw a number of the marines wince.

"Remember, don't shoot the control device!" the lieutenant bellowed. "Also, don't use it as cover!"

Jack snorted. That was good advice. No matter how well it had turned out for SG-1 with their unplanned trip to Etheria, you didn't want to risk a faulty gate forming.

Then the shuttle shook, entering the atmosphere, and Jack clenched his teeth. This was the most dangerous part of the landing. All the stealth in the world wouldn't be able to completely hide the thermal signature of that manoeuvre. And if enemy Death Gliders were close enough… They shouldn't be - the bots had tracked them - but Jack couldn't help worrying anyway.

After a few far too long seconds, the shuttle stopped shaking. Which meant they were now in the lower parts of the atmosphere, slow enough to be again hidden from sensors, now that they weren't imitating a meteor any more.

He slowly exhaled and checked his carbine. Not much longer now.

"Almost down!" Scorpia commented. Her stinger twitched above her head.

"Alpha reached the target," Carter reported, cool as always. "Ready elements of the Death Gliders squadrons are launching."

Which meant they were now on the clock. They had to secure the Stargate as soon as possible - or at least prevent it from dialling out and opening a communication link. FtL communications could be disrupted or hacked, whatever Carter called it, for a time at least, if you had enough tech and juice, but to block communication through a gate, you had to take the gate, or people could radio or even send a messenger through it.

"This is it, kids!" Jack said. "See you at the gate!"

A few marines chuckled at the reference. Daniel pouted, but Jack had expected. Carter and Teal'c didn't react, of course. And Scorpia grinned widely.

And then the shuttle shook once more - they had hit the ground. Then the ramp went down, and the battle started. Heru'ur's Jaffa were sharp.

Jack wasn't the first out of the door, but he was a close second behind Scorpia.

And it was like running behind a tank. Despite the staff blasts flying their way - most splashing against the shuttle's shield - the huge woman charged straight at, then into the line of Jaffa still forming up, sending them flying. Literally - Jack saw a Jaffa warrior, armour and all, catch a swing of her pincers and get thrown into the air, high enough to clear the wall behind him.

He put a short burst into another who was lining up a shot at Scorpia, dropping him, then fired at a Jaffa crawling on the ground to get his staff. Another, behind that one, was shredded by Teal'c's staff weapon while Jack opened on two more Jaffa trying to hold a gate in the base wall.

Another Jaffa, screaming like a banshee, went over the wall - no, into a Jaffa on the wall who manning a gun emplacement, both vanishing from sight.

"Teal'c!"Jack called out, pointing up.

A moment later, the whole emplacement vanished in an explosion.

The gates of the base began to close, but Scorpia barreled through the remnants of the Jaffa formation in front of it - Jack thought he saw staff blasts bouncing off her armour - and then threw herself into the gate, tearing it out of its hinges and smashing it on the Jaffa behind it.

Jack emptied his magazine into three warriors left staggering in Scorpia's wake and looked for the rest of his team as he reloaded his carbine. Teal'c was at his side, staff firing at another Jaffa on the wall, and Carter and Daniel were right behind him, with the marines fanning out to cover their flanks.

He turned and raced after Scorpia. The gate's remains were forming a small ramp, and Jack rushed it, shooting a Jaffa caught beneath it through the head, then jumped off, landing in a crouch.

They were in the main yard of the base - in front of the massive stone building housing the Stargate. A dozen Jaffa lay on the ground between the gate and the entrance to the building, some still moving, but more were arriving from both sides as Scorpia was busy ramming herself into the closed and reinforced doors of the building.

Jack switched aim and started shooting the Jaffa reinforcements on the right while he moved up to the building himself, Teal'c, Daniel and Carter, as well as a squad of marines, following him.

By the time Jack reached the building and pressed his back against it, the right wing of the Jaffa had collapsed, and the left wing was falling back under withering fire from the rest of the marines. Jaffa bodies littered the yard, but Jack spotted at least two bodies in camouflage amongst them, both still smoking from the staff blast that must have caught them.

Damn. He gritted his teeth.

"Just a second…" he heard Scorpia grunt as she struggled with the door. "This is tougher than I expected."

"Naquadah-alloy," Carter commented.

That made it super-tough. "We need breaching charges!" he yelled. To go through the walls.

"Just a bit…" The sound of screeching metal cut off Scorpia's words, followed by cracks as she managed to crush the left side of the wall holding the doors in place, stone crumbling under her pincers.

The doors started to shift, Scorpia grinning fiercely while she kept pushing, and Jack grabbed a grenade from his belt. The Jaffa would be ready behind the doors.

As soon as a gap opened, he moved ahead, pulled the pin and threw the grenade through it, then dropped to the ground at the base of the wall. "Fire in the hole!"

A second later, the grenade went off, and dust and smoke billowed through the widening gap, followed by screaming.

A marine ran up to the gap, sticking his gun through it, but before he could fire, a staff blast blew his head off.

Jack pulled out another grenade, intending to throw it through the widening gap, but the other wall was already also crumbling, and Scorpia threw the doors inside with a yell.

Then all hell broke off as she charged inside, staff blasts going left and right before she vanished in the cloud of smoke and dust covering the entrance.

Jack cursed under his breath. He wasn't about to charge blindly - literally - into that. But he couldn't leave Scorpia to face the remaining Jaffa by herself.

"Sir!"

The marine lieutenant drew his attention to the yard - no, to the sky above them. Jack glanced up and cursed.

Death Gliders.

Two of the things, and they were starting an attack run. The stinger team and the bot guarding the shuttle opened up on them. The missile hit one, causing it to whirl out of control and crash somewhere behind the walls, but the other kept going, the shots missing, and rained down blaster bolts on the yard and parts of the wall. One marine carrying two boxes of ammo was caught in the open and shredded by them, machine gun ammo spilling across the ground as he fell.

Then the Death Glider was past them, pulling up to turn around for another go. A second missile chased it but missed. The bot was still firing but didn't seem to be effective. And the Death Glider now had the perfect angle of attack to strafe Jack's entire force.

No choice, then.

"Into the building!" Jack bellowed. "Into the building!" he repeated himself as he started pushing his team into the thinning cloud of smoke.

*****​

In Orbit above PZ-921, January 12th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"We're on final approach on target. No sign of detection, Your Divine Highness."

Adora licked her lips and took a deep breath upon hearing the clone piloting their shuttle. Good. Just a bit longer, and they had this in the bag. Maybe she wouldn't even have to jump - maybe they managed to sneak up so closely on the Al'kesh, they could surprise them by docking and boarding the ship? Although Entrapta, Sam and Bow had told them that it was unlikely with their current stealth system…

"Target powering up shields, Your Divine Highness! Deploying electronic countermeasures to impede communication!"

Adora gritted her teeth and turned around, looking at the window in the airlock's inner door. Catra was standing there, scowling at her.

Adora smiled weakly in return. She felt bad about it - a bit - but as great as Catra was, she wasn't She-Ra. She couldn't do the same things She-Ra could. Like fighting spaceships in melee. Or disabling them so they could be boarded and examined to find out what their purpose was.

"Opening the airlock, Your Divine Highness!"

The door slid open, and Adora stepped up to the edge. Below her, she could see the planet's main continent. And to the side, starting to move, was the target - the Al'kesh. She could see the glow from its engines as it tried to evade the shuttle, but it had just begun to move - to change direction - and the shuttle was on an interception course.

She took a moment to watch it move. Enough to know where it would go. Then she pushed, launching herself into space, towards the Al-kesh, sword in hand.

For a brief, brief moment, it was… exhilarating. Like flying. Weightless. Unburdened. Free. Pure joy.

Then she saw the Al'kesh starting to bank and roll in front of her, saw the guns turn to face her and bared her teeth. The first shot missed her, the second she swatted aside with her sword. She cut through the vessel's shield on the backswing, feeling a tingling sensation on her glowing skin as the force field shattered. Yes!

She hit the hull feet-first, her boots adhering to the metal through She-Ra's magic. The turret was still trying to aim at her, but two strides brought her close enough so she could grab a barrel, stopping it in its track.

A slash with her sword cut the whole thing apart, the remains blowing up a moment later. She was already moving, though, sprinting towards the main communication array. It, too, blew up after a single swipe with her blade, and she continued to run, to the back of the vessel, her steps hammering the hull. There was the port engine.

Her sword sliced into it in passing - she kept going towards the starboard engine, easily compensating for the sudden heaving as the loss of one engine unbalanced the craft, and the pilot struggled to keep control.

Before the ship could stabilise, though, she reached the second engine, stabbing her blade through its casing, then twisted - and the ship shuddered as its propulsion died.

"Preparing to board the target, Your Divine Highness!" she heard the pilot over the radio.

"Show-off," Catra added with a snort.

But as she watched the shuttle manoeuvre to align itself with the Al-Kesh, the pilot spoke up again. "Incoming vessels on interception course from the surface, Your Divine Highness - Death Gliders."

Adora turned, scanning the planet below her. If the Death Gliders were launching from the surface, then… yes. She could spot four trails of glowing plasma, like miniature comets, angling towards her.

Towards the shuttle carrying Catra.

She clenched her teeth. They were not yet close enough to fire at the shuttle, but that wouldn't take much longer - now she could see the fighters themselves, not just the trails of their engines. Almost close enough… "Engaging!" she yelled through the radio, raising her sword and pushing off again as they started shooting.

They came in too fast, too focused on the shuttle, to react in time when they spotted her glowing form flying at them. She sliced the first fighter in two, both halves vanishing in a fireball behind her, and cut the right wing off his wingman before they started to evade - and she still managed to grab onto the wing of the third, twisting to land on top of its fuselage.

She could see the pilot gasp at her through the cockpit's windows, eyes wide with terror, as she raised her sword, then drove it through the cockpit and him, wrecking the craft as she killed the pilot.

The fourth Death Glider had gone past her, turning around with blazing guns. Outside the range of the shuttle's guns - the pilot was lucky or good. Probably good.

But not good enough. Not nearly good enough to threaten her lover and get away with it.

She jumped off the tumbling wreck, landing on the Al'kesh's hull a moment later, then jumped off again, straight at the strafing fighter. Before the pilot could evade, she ran her sword through the main cannon's casing, and the freed plasma obliterated it instantly.

"Show-off," Catra repeated herself over the radio.

Adora grinned as the shuttle finished docking with the Al'kesh, looking for a way to enter the ship herself.

*****​

Gate Area, PZ-921, January 12th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"Into the building!"

Samantha Carter was already moving, running while bent over, carrying the backpack with her computer in her arms as she passed the Colonel. She entered the gate building behind Teal'c and stepped to the side as soon as she was past the debris - and the corpses - at the entrance.

The smoke and dust were settling, but visibility was still impaired - she could barely see Teal'c's form as her friend stepped forward, blasting something or someone with his staff.

She didn't bother aiming her own gun - they had a platoon of marines with them. Most of them were already cleaning the rooms of the building with short bursts and grenades. She had other duties.

Sam dropped to the floor and flipped her laptop open. The communication module she had worked on with Entrapta during the last few days was already on, and the utility program she had written was… jamming Heru'ur's comnet. But she could see it wouldn't last - whoever was running the Goa'uld's communication was good. Better than expected. And they had a more powerful machine to use. Sam's laptop was linked to the Shuttle's mainframe, but the connection added just a tiny bit of lag - which could be decisive.

But now she was inside the building. "I need access to a sensor or radio!" she snapped as the Colonel ducked inside, dust and sand from an explosion outside showering him as he threw himself to the ground.

He would have waited too long outside, as usual. She buried the thought as he got up.

"Well, let's find it!" he said.

A loud crashing noise rang through the entire room, followed by an "Oops! Was that supposed to hold?"

"She is a walking tank," Sam heard the Colonel mutter.

"Yes, sir," she agreed. "But she's our tank."

He snorted at that and then moved forward, towards Teal'c, who had crossed the room and was now next to another broken door, peering inside. "Scorpia has secured the Stargate," he said. "But it might be damaged."

The Stargate? Sam's eyes widened. To damage a Stargate, you needed… "The D.H.D.?" she asked as she moved forward.

"The housing," her friend clarified.

That was putting it mildly, Sam realised when she reached the door - the gate was on the floor, facing down. She could see a pair of legs sticking out from underneath it. In a growing pool of blood.

"Well, that's one way to block it, I guess," the Colonel commented.

Scorpia laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry about that - I heard the gates were very durable, so… I guess the mounts were not?"

Sam checked the rest of the room. Half a dozen Jaffa, dead or disabled. "There should be more warriors," she said. The garrison had, according to their intel, several hundred guards. And this was the key stronghold.

"Yes. We didn't kill nearly enough for the snakes to run out of bodies to throw at us," the Colonel said.

"And Heru'ur's warriors are fanatical - even by the standards of the false gods," Teal'c said, scanning the room as if he expected a secret passage to open. Which, given what they knew about the Goa'uld, wasn't too improbable, actually.

"Well, I only saw those here - and the ones in the entrance hall," Scorpia said.

Sam wanted to look for the missing enemy guards, but she had to stop the enemy communication. She rushed to the D.H.D. The unit wasn't linked to the enemy comnet, but the radio next to it was - the guards would have used it to communicate through the gate and to announce arrivals to other bases. And while her laptop was a rather jury-rigged combination of Etherian magitech and Earth electronics, it also had a port that was compatible with Goa'uld technology.

She plugged it in - the radio had, fortunately, survived Scorpia's assault, unlike the guard who had manned it, whose broken body lay crumpled at the foot of the wall nearby - and quickly started taking over the Goa'uld comnet. The enemy operator was still active, so he hadn't been in the building here - or he was in a bunker in the base. But now that she had a direct line to the Goa'uld hub, it was quickly becoming obvious that as good as he was, Sam was better. And he would realise it as well. Would he crash the entire network to deny her access?

No, he was… broadcasting 'Avidan' to everyone.

"Gods are just…" Daniel translated. "Is that a battle cry?"

"Not to my knowledge," Teal'c replied.

Then it made no sense… Sam gasped. "It's a code word - he is signalling the guards here and elsewhere, knowing I am reading his comms. And now he's crashing the net," she added.

"Did I mention how much I hate competent enemies?" the Colonel complained before he yelled: "Lieutenant! Report!"

"The enemy outside is falling back, sir!" the marine yelled back from outside the gate room. "They've lost the second Death Glider."

But why were they falling back? They had to hold the building. Or… "They're planning to destroy it!" She quickly focused on her scanner. She hadn't detected any bombs on their approach, but…

Still no bombs. And unless the Goa'uld had found a way to fool Ancient technology enhanced with Etherian magic, that meant there was no bomb here. Not close enough to affect the gate, at least.

"They must be planning to bomb us," the Colonel said. "Joke's on them - we're taking their bomber!"

That was the logical explanation. Death Gliders didn't have the firepower to destroy the reinforced building - probably not even in a suicide attack. But an Al'kesh had the firepower - more than enough.

But Sam couldn't help feeling she was missing something. Keeping an Al'kesh stationed here just for that? That didn't sound like it would fit Heru'ur's standard procedure.

She ran another scan through the base and the area around it. But once again, no bomb showed up - the entire area to the lake's shore was clear. And any bomb placed further out would have to be too big to be hidden if it had enough power to reach, much less damage the gate.

And yet, what the Colonel would call a gut feeling insisted that she was missing something. Something crucial.

*****​

In Orbit above PZ-921, January 12th, 1999 (Earth Time)

Adora would be OK. She is OK, Catra reminded herself as she moved up to the airlock of the shuttle, pushing past the Earth troops - British Special Air Service. Which weren't part of the Air Force despite the name. But Catra was used to such weirdness - it was actually tame compared to what some princesses came up with.

"Ah, Ma'am…" One of them opened his mouth.

"I'm not going in first, don't worry," she cut him off, showing her fangs. "She-Ra's the one who can shrug off blasters." Her suit might withstand a volley, Entrapta did great work, but she wasn't betting her life on it if she didn't absolutely have to.

"And fly naked through fucking space," another soldier muttered.

"Smith! Shut up!" the officer in charge yelled.

Catra chuckled, then pulled her shock rod from the holster on her back. The engine noise was dimming slightly - they would dock any moment.

Then the shuttle rocked, a few soldiers having to grab the bars on the walls to keep standing. And there was the metallic noise of the magnetic clamps engaging - they had touched down on the Al'kesh's hull.

A moment later, the airlock opened, revealing the smooth hull of the enemy bomber. "Breaching charges!" the officer bellowed, but his demolition man was already moving forward and placed the device Bow had designed on the hull.

"Clear!" he yelled, rushing back - behind the shield-bot stepping up.

A beep followed as the shield sprang up.

"Blow it!" Catra snapped.

The charge went off, quickly melting through the armoured hull. For a brief moment, Catra wondered what it would have done to people - and if Bow had ever used the trick arrows from which he had claimed to have developed this on Horde soldiers.

Then the breaching charge finished, and the hull had a hole wide enough for two soldiers at once.

Or one shield bot moving forward. And not too soon - the bot had barely stepped inside the Al'kesh when the first staff weapon blast splashed against the shield. Obviously, Heru'ur's warriors were living up to their reputation. The average Horde troops wouldn't have reacted as quickly.

But the Jaffa were not facing average Horde troops. Catra grinned, flashing her teeth, as she moved forward, next to a soldier carrying a light machine gun - an Earth weapon. Two staff blasts hit the shield right in front of her, causing it to flicker.

But she had spotted the shooters' positions and flicked her rod at them. She hit the first one, lightning crackling over his armour as he went down, frozen with his muscles cramping up. The one next to him was riddled with the bullets the earth armies loved so much, falling against the wall and sliding down, blood flowing from several holes in his armour.

It seemed the armour-piercing ammunition worked as well as SG-1 had claimed.

The rest of the boarding team was now also inside the bomber, half of them going down the other side of the hallway, guns firing. They would secure the armoury and bomb bays.

"Alright, move it!" Catra snapped. "Bridge team with me!" She turned, moved forward, to the next corner, then peered around it. Three Jaffa were half-hidden behind struts, blocking the way. And one of them… She jerked back, and two staff blasts whizzed past her head as she dropped to the ground and rolled around the corner, catching the shock grenade the third had thrown with her rod's blast halfway in its arc.

It went off, lightning filling the hallway for a moment, and Catra pushed off, somersaulting away and behind a strut herself.

That let the soldiers with her round the corner and open up, and the three Jaffa went down - though so did one of the soldiers, half his arm blown away.

"Medic!"

Catra grit her teeth. They couldn't stop. She dashed forward, over and past the dead Jaffa, through another intersection, and caught a pair of Jaffa coming out of a passage to the side. Before they could react, she jumped, pushing off the wall, then the ceiling, and came down between them, lashing out with claws and shock rod.

Her left hand's claws went through the armour of her target as if it weren't there, tearing his throat out, while her shock rod hit the chest of the other, sending him to the floor in convulsions.

She dashed on, running on all fours, rod between her teeth. Speed was of the essence now.

A blast went over her head - another Jaffa, laying in ambush. She jumped over the next blast, and then she was inside his reach, jamming the shock rod into his side. One more down.

The door to the bridge was locked, but that didn't stop her. A few slashes with her claws cut it to pieces, and she side-stepped the volleys from inside. At least three Jaffa, judging from the number of blasts.

She clenched her teeth. She didn't like doing this, but… They had a nice choke point. And the soldiers were still coming up.

She gripped the grenade on her belt - a 'flash-bang', pulled the ring away and lobbed it inside, then slapped her hands over her ears.

The explosion still hurt, of course. But not enough to stop her. She dashed inside, where the four Jaffa were still reeling from the grenade going off. Her shock rod put one down, then she rolled beneath a swing from the next before lashing out with her feet, her claws slicing through the Jaffa's leg muscles and tendons. He collapsed, and she finished him off with a stab of her rod.

The two others were recovering - but as they were turning to face her, the rest of the bridge team arrived, and both went down in a hail of bullets as she rolled behind the closest console.

"Watch your fire!" she snapped as she rose. "But good work."

She quickly thumbed her communicator. "Bridge secure!"

"Engine and bomb bay secure!" the Lieutenant confirmed.

"Already? I just found the airlock!" Adora complained over the communicators.

"Slowpoke!" Catra shot back. But before she could tease her lover further, the spy bot that had followed the boarding team and connected to the computers started beeping.

"What? A bomb went off?" Catra gasped. "Where?" Had they missed one?

Another beep.

"On the surface?" she hissed. "Where?"

The screen lit up, showing the location. But that was… far from the Gate area. None of the landing teams should have been near it. Heh, it was in the lake there!

Catra blinked. The bomb was in the large lake that ended in a narrow bay right at the gate area. And she remembered the briefing about explosives and water from the Salineas campaign.

Cursing, she hit the button on her communicator, switching to the general frequency. "Beta! Watch out! You've got a flood wave incoming!"

*****​
 
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Chapter 78: The Intervention Part 3
Chapter 78: The Intervention Part 3

Gate Area, PZ-921, January 12th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"Beta! Watch out! You've got a flood wave incoming!"

Jack O'Neill froze for a moment when he heard Catra's warning over the radio. "A flood wave?" They were near a lake, and…

Carter gasped and started typing quickly on her laptop. "The bomb that went off - it was in the lake! Sir, we've got a localised tsunami incoming!"

"What?" Daniel went over to look at her laptop as if he was an expert.

"What is a tsunami?" Scorpia asked, leaning forward to look upside down at Carter's screen. "Oh, that's a big flood wave. We heard about them in Force Captain orientation. Once. Or was that a briefing?"

"The bomb went off at the other end of the lake, underwater, and caused an underwater landslide - and the form of the lake is creating a tsunami aimed at this base!" Carter spoke in that tense, clipped tone she only used when they were in mortal danger. "And this structure won't resist the power of the wave. We need to get to higher ground - but the wave will hit the shore here in four and a half minutes!"

The area around them was pretty flat.

Carter kept talking. "We can dial out and evacuate through the gate, provided we can get it upright and stabilised! We just…"

Jack cut her off and thumbed his radio. "Beta shuttle, lift off and land at the entrance to the gate building - we need to be gone in three minutes." He almost felt bad upon seeing Carter blink and then blush. For all her brilliance, sometimes she missed the easy solution. "Everyone else - head to the entrance right fucking now for evac! We've got a tsunami incoming!" He could only hope none of the marines was trying to be stupid. They should know how deadly a tsunami was.

"Good call!" Scorpia nodded. "So… do we take the gate with us?"

Right. Jack had to remember that she could carry the damn gate as if it was a heavy backpack or something. "Take the D.H.D. with you," he said, already moving towards the doors. The gate would survive this. The D.H.D. was more fragile.

"Alright!"

Jack reached the broken door and saw that the marines in the building were already rushing towards the entrance. "Squad leaders, check no one's left behind!" he yelled. Probably not necessary, but better safe than sorry. "Move!"

"I'm moving!"

He turned and blinked. Scorpia had misunderstood him - she was carrying both the gate and the D.H.D.! He opened his mouth to tell her to drop the gate, then stopped. Despite the weight, she was moving at a decent clip.

"Three minutes left, sir!" Carter was behind the princess, followed by Daniel and Teal'c.

"Noted," Jack replied. "Move!" He clenched his teeth. They could make the entrance easily - but would the shuttle be in time?

But as he approached the main gate, he could hear the shuttle's engines - they were coming in to land.

He still reached the landing spot before the shuttle touched down, but they had the ramp lowered already - and kept hovering instead of actually landing.

"Go! Go! Go!" the Marine Lieutenant shouted. He looked like he wanted to push and carry his men up the ramp.

Jack knew the feeling.

"Two minutes!"

Jack thought he could already hear the roaring water. But that might just be his imagination.

It shouldn't take too long to get inside the damn shuttle, but two marines were wounded and had to be carried.

"One minute!"

Still plenty of time, Jack told himself. "Get inside!" he told his team.

Daniel jogged past him up the ramp, followed by Carter. Teal'c didn't move.

Jack knew better than to urge his friend on. He watched as Scorpia, grunting, stepped onto the ramp - and winced at the sound the metal made under the weight of the woman and the gate. But the Ancients made solid shuttles. Solid anything.

"Watch out - don't get crushed - pull your legs back!" Scorpia yelled, panting, as she stumbled up the ramp.

"Move! Give her some space!" Jack heard the Lieutenant yell.

"Sir!" Carter stood at the top of the ramp, next to the swaying Scorpia. "The wave's moving faster than predicted! It's already here!"

Too early. "And that's our cue!" Jack rushed up the ramp. "Let's go." Don't look back. Don't look back.

He looked back anyway, and his eyes widened. The wave was taller than the walls of the base. And coming in way too fast.

"Lift off!" he yelled as Teal'c passed him, both of them barely inside the shuttle. "Pull the ramp in!" He barely heard himself over the noise, but the pilot didn't need to understand him anyway.

The shuttle started to fly up just as the wall facing the lake was crushed by the wave, concrete and metal parts flung around by the water, and Jack had to grip a handlebar to keep his balance when it suddenly turned.

They were still too low - the wave was too fast. Too high. It would crush them in a…

The engines screamed, and Jack was almost thrown out of the shuttle, only the closing door stopping him - painfully - when the shuttle boosted away, a moment before the water reached the gate building - and swallowed it.

"I'm sorry, sir!" Carter said as he got up, "My projections were faulty - I didn't account for the narrowing width of the lake, which sped up the wave, and so…"

He shook his head. "Stop it, Carter. You did your best. No one's perfect. And we've made it out alive."

At literally the last second, but they'd made it.

"So… can I put this down now?"

Oh, for… He turned around and winced. Scorpia was still holding the Stargate - and her strength was the only thing keeping the gate from crushing a few marines.

Damn.

*****​

In Orbit above PZ-921, January 12th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"...and yes, everyone got out - we didn't lose anyone to the wave. Over."

"Thank you." Adora sighed with relief. Jack sounded a bit annoyed for having to repeat himself, but she had to make sure that no one had died in the flood. Losing people in the fighting was bad enough, but this?

She looked at the screen with the feed from Jack's shuttle - beta shuttle - again and winced. She had only seen pictures of the gate area on the planet, not the best pictures at that, and holo-projections, but even so, the scene she saw on the video was shocking. The entire base was pretty much gone, replaced by a stretch of murky water. What buildings hadn't been swept away by the waves were buried in the mud. Only the gate building was still standing. Somewhat at least. It looked as if the front had collapsed, or maybe the foundations had given way there - that part was also under water, while the roof of the rest was still visible. It must be full of mud inside… "Do you need assistance? Over."

"Not at the moment. We achieved our objective. Over."

Next to her, Catra chuckled. "Technically, he's correct - since Scorpia carried the gate and the D.H.D. into the shuttle before everything was buried in water, we have taken control of the planet's gate."

She was right, but the entire base was gone. That hadn't been planned. Of course, they were planning to create a new base underground anyway, but…

"Remind me not to needle Mermista as much as I used to," Catra commented, leaning a bit forward and cocking her head.

Against her will, Adora snorted. "I don't think Mermista could do this," she said.

"I bet I could make her mad enough to manage it," Catra retorted as their shuttle stopped its approach and hovered next to the other shuttle.

Adora wasn't sure about that but she couldn't rule it out. "Everyone got out," she said. That was one of the good things about this.

Catra nodded. "And the enemy didn't get a call for help off."

"As far as we know," Adora reminded her. She pushed a button on the console, and the image on the screen changed, showing buildings on solid ground, built at the foot of a cliffside, a number of them smoking. Bots were walking around between the buildings, and the ground was covered with bodies. The feed was from a bot as well - Adora could tell from the angle of the view.

Catra whistled. "Wow, that must have been bloodier than I expected."

Adora once more was forced to agree. Glimmer's report had been on the short side - 'The mining complex is under our control. No active enemy forces remain in the area'. "The Jaffa must have fought to the death." Horde troops - Hordak's Horde troops - would have retreated or broken long before… before dying like this.

And they hadn't died alone - she could see at least two bodies wearing Earth uniforms on the ground. And there were three wrecked bots. Had the Jaffa managed to focus enough staff weapons on the bots to overload the shields? Or had they used heavy weapons?

"Looks like Entrapta needs to work on adapting Emily's shields for all the bots," Catra said. "How's the third site going? Did they manage to clear the mines?"

Adora winced. The third force, led by a French officer, had been forced to land a bit further away due to the terrain, and by the time they had overrun the base there, the Jaffa had fallen back into the mines. And digging them out of there… "We might have to reinforce them."

"You mean, you want to go and do it yourself," Catra corrected her.

Adora blushed a little. "I can shrug off their weapon fire," she pointed out.

"You can't shrug off the mines collapsing and the mountain falling on you," Catra retorted. "And if they're willing to flood their base, they're willing to blow up their mines. Send bots into the mines."

"The mine shafts aren't large enough for the bots," Adora told her.

"Then send smaller bots." Catra stared at her.

"We don't have combat-rated bots that small," Adora said. Her lover knew that - Catra just didn't want her to enter the mines. Adora pressed her lips together. There were slaves inside the mines. Hostages. They couldn't starve the Jaffa out. Or bury them inside the mines. They had to go in and save the hostages. And she was the best person for this mission.

Catra kept glaring at her for a few more seconds before she sighed. "Alright. But we'll do it smartly. With the Tok'ra tunnelling tech, after scanning for their explosives."

Adora nodded.

"Your Divine Highness!" Priest's voice filled the shuttle's bridge. "We have destroyed both enemy forces in space! Although I am sad to report that even when their ships were crippled, the enemy crews refused to surrender and preferred to destroy their own ships to deny them to us. Our secondary objective failed. I take full responsibility, Your Divine Highness, and await your judgement!"

Adora closed her eyes and sighed. That was… She shook her head. "You did well, Priest. I am proud of your task force."

Next to her, Catra snorted again. "He's very hard on himself."

"Thank you, Your Divine Highness. But we could have done better. I await your divine insight."

Oh, no! Adora really didn't want to debrief Priest right now. "Ah, I am sorry, but… we have a… situation on the planet that requires my personal attention. Secure the system and await further orders!"

"Your wish is our holy command, Your Divine Highness!"

"Only you would prefer to assault a suicidal enemy holed up in a mine ready to collapse over debriefing your subordinate," Catra commented, shaking her head.

Adora didn't answer. Instead, she called up the feed from the second mining complex and started looking for the best way to deal with that.

*****​

Near the Gate Area, PZ-921, January 12th, 1999 (Earth Time)

Samantha Carter took a - subtle - sigh of relief when Scorpia finished manhandling the Stargate out of the shuttle and put it down on the ground - facedown. Not just because of the danger that the gate would shift during flight and crush the troops near it, but mainly because if anyone had dialled in, the vortex forming would have wrecked the craft - the shuttle simply wasn't big enough to survive a gate activation.

"Whew. Adora makes it look so easy." Scorpia wiped some sweat from her brow, then flexed her pincers. "I guess I need to work out more," she added with a chuckle.

Sam couldn't tell if the princess was joking or not - Scorpia had a self-deprecating streak, at least in Sam's opinion. Maybe low self-esteem, but Sam didn't know her well enough to tell. So she shrugged. "She's She-Ra." That covered a lot, in her experience.

"Right." Scorpia grinned. "But we did well." Then she looked at what used to be the base housing the gate, and her grin vanished.

Sam understood the feeling. And shared it. They were a good distance away, on the closest hill in the area, and so had a good view of it. The base was simply gone. Wiped away and buried in water and mud. Irradiated water and mud, at that, according to Sam's sensors. It was relatively weak as far as radiation went, but still a concern for long-term exposure.

"Cleaning this up will take some time," she commented. And a lot of effort. "And it has to be done quickly because when it dries up, the winds will carry radioactive dust to untouched regions."

"Yeah." Scorpia nodded. "It might be easiest to unlock the planet's magic and have Perfuma grow some plants over the area."

"That would help contain the radioactivity," Sam agreed. The right plants would keep the soil together and stop it from becoming a radioactive version of the Kansas dustbowl.

"We still have to dispose of the plants once they sucked up the radiation, of course," Scorpia went on, "but we've got some experience with that in my kingdom." She chuckled again. "The Horde wasn't very environmental-friendly, so we had to clean up a few dumps like this. Maybe worse. Perfuma helped so much..."

Sam ignored the slight twinge of envy that she felt after seeing the sappy smile that had appeared on Scorpia's face and made a mental note to check if Perfuma actually could create plants that 'sucked up' radioactivity. If she could, that would be a game changer for several regions on Earth - and the war, of course. "This has to wait until we've secured the planet, though," she said.

"Yeah. But we've wiped out the space forces, and all that's left on the ground are the Jaffa holed up in that mine. And scattered guards and the patrols caught too far away to join the battle, I guess." Scorpia shrugged. "And with the gate secured, we pretty much control the planet."

"There might be more such bombs hidden on the planet," Sam pointed out. "Entrapta's running a thorough scan from orbit." They should have done that from the start, but… 'You can ask me for anything you like, except time', as Napoleon had put it. Still, Sam wasn't looking forward to the debriefing of the mission. The things she had missed…

She glanced at the Colonel, who had dropped all pretence of not being in charge and was ordering the troops around to secure the hill until the troop transports arrived. He would claim it was his fault, but Sam should have spotted the bomb before it went off. Should have expected something like this.

Although… Why did they put a bomb into the lake? It was a very convoluted way to self-destruct. Was it meant to wipe out an attacker and leave the base mostly intact? That wouldn't really work out; the mud would harden quickly, and clearing it out would probably take as long as building a new base. Although the Stargate and D.H.D. would survive a flood. A bomb powerful enough to wipe out a base would destroy the D.H.D. and might even damage the Stargate.

Sam wasn't convinced, though. The whole plan went against what they knew of Heru'ur. They'd have to interrogate the prisoners about this. Too bad they hadn't caught the Jaffa giving the signal for the bomb.

Though with their magic scanner, the chances of the Jaffa managing to hide from the Alliance were very, very low. They could track their symbionts and most technology from orbit. There would be no guerilla war on the planet. Not unless the local slaves turned out to be a lot more loyal to the Goa'uld than expected.

She noticed the Colonel walking over to them, Daniel and Teal'c in tow, and straightened.

"So, who's up to play tunnel rat?" he asked with a wry grin when he reached them. "I hear we have some fascinating caves to explore. Or to make, I guess."

Sam nodded. "Yes, sir." Despite her blunder, she still was the best choice to handle the technological side of the assault on the mine. Except for the tunnelling part; that part would be handled by the Tok'ra, of course.

"I'm up for it!" Scorpia flexed her pincers. "Let's finish this so we can focus on helping the people!"

To Sam's surprise, the Colonel didn't make a cynical joke about it. Then again, he had just been checking on the casualties of their force - both the wounded and the dead. Even though it wasn't his fault that they had died, he would be blaming himself for it anyway.

*****​

Secondary Mining Site, PZ-921, January 12th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"This wouldn't work if that were a Naquadah mine - well, it would not work as well. We probably could calibrate the sensor to ignore Naquadah ore, unrefined Naquadah, but it would be quite the challenge since Goa'uld larvae have so little Naquadah in them, so it would still be a little tricky to discern them from the background. But since this isn't a Naquadah mine, we can track all Jaffa in the mine shafts! So, that's a good thing, kinda - even though having a Naquadah mine would have been great."

Catra nodded at Entrapta's explanation. Of course, if this world had Naquadah deposits, it would have been defended with far more forces, and Apophis would have picked an easier target, so it was all hypothetical anyway. What mattered was that they knew where the Jaffa holed up in the mine shafts were.

She studied the holoprojection in front of her. It showed a maze of twisting tunnels where they followed the ore veins. And a smattering of red dots - the Jaffa guards who had made it into the mines. They were concentrated at several choke points. An obvious deployment, but that didn't make it any less of a pain to deal with - if you had to attack them from the front. But there were also a number of Jaffa on the lowest levels. "Did you detect any explosives?" she asked.

"Yes! A lot, actually - but since this is a mine, that's kinda expected, right?" Entrapta turned to Emily and nodded, and the projection floating in front of the bot changed, orange dots appearing at various locations. A lot of them. And spread out. "That's not ideal," she commented. There were three concentrations of explosives, but the rest of the stuff was scattered all over the tunnels.

"Yes," Adora agreed. "It would be easier if they had concentrated all the explosives in one spot."

Catra also wondered if the Jaffa took the explosives from the central magazine outside when they were falling back or if they had another magazine in the mine. But that was an academic question right now.

"What about their hostages?" Glimmer asked. "If we can get them out, the Jaffa can blow themselves up as much as they want."

"That would ruin the mine!" General Soissant objected.

"It's a single mine on a backwater planet," O'Neill retorted. "And we already control the main mining site on the planet."

The one Glimmer and Bow had secured, while the French-led fore had failed their objective at the secondary site. Something Catra wasn't tempted to bring up.

"The hostages are our priority," Adora spoke up. "Where are they?"

"They're gathered at the deepest part of the mine," Sam explained as blue dots lit up on the projection.

"That allows them to kill them all if we launch a frontal assault," Soissant said.

"Or they just moved them there to get them out of the way," O'Neill pointed out. "They might not see them as hostages - the Goa'uld wouldn't care about the lives of slaves, and the Jaffa might not be aware that we aren't working for a rival System Lord."

That was a good point. But it also meant that the Jaffa might kill the slaves in case this turned into a siege. Or to deny them to the enemy. "Well, that makes it more urgent to get them," Catra said.

"We can reach that, but it will take a while," Martouf told them. "We could also dig tunnels to all the other locations, but we only have two tunnelling devices. So we would have to dig the tunnels one after another, leaving a thin wall to break through when we are ready."

"And if the Jaffa detect a tunnel, they'll know what's up and start taking countermeasures," Catra said. "And they'll expect more tunnels."

"Do they have the sensors or scanners to detect that?" Glimmer asked.

"They might hear us tunnelling," Soissant suggested. "Even if they didn't have any sensors."

"And they might have sensors to detect cave-ins," Bow added.

"We didn't detect any such technology," Entrapta said.

"The snakes don't really care much about their slaves." O'Neill shrugged. "Though they would care about cave-ins holding up the mining."

"Anyway, even if we focus on the hostages and write off the mine, the explosives could bring down the mountain on us while we're getting the hostages out. So, we need to deal with the explosives and the hostages," Catra summed up. In the Horde, that kind of mission would have been assigned to expendable troops. Or a budding rival you wanted to get rid of.

"So, three main sites for the explosives, one for the hostages. And we have to hope they don't detect us before we can surprise them." Glimmer shook her head. "It might be better to return magic to the planet - I could teleport inside, dropping off soldiers. Perfuma could use plants to take control of a shaft. Frosta could freeze the explosives. But even with magic, I don't think we can reliably take control of all the explosives without the Jaffa managing to blow up at least a few of them - they aren't stupid and will be ready for an attack."

"We can jam electronic detonators," Sam said. "That would only leave manual detonators."

Which wasn't really reassuring. Catra was sure that Heru'ur's guards were willing to die if it took their enemies with them.

Adora leaned forward, frowning at the projection, then turned to Entrapta and Sam. "Can you build a shield generator that can protect the hostages as long as we need to get them all out?"

"Uh…" Entrapta scrunched her nose.

"I doubt it," Sam replied. "Not if the Jaffa have wired the mine to collapse. If the tunnel is safe, maybe." She looked at Martouf.

"We can't guarantee that," he said. "If the explosives have enough force to cause a localised earthquake…" He trailed off with a grimace.

So, that was a bust as well. Damn. Catra clenched her teeth. No matter what, it looked like they would have to take a huge risk. And that meant Adora would take the risk.

"I have an idea," Bow spoke up with a hesitant smile. "But we need Glimmer's magic for it - and those spy bots."

Oh? Catra cocked her head to the side.

"You have an idea?" Glimmer asked, smiling at him.

"Yes." He nodded and leaned forward. "So… we have samples of the explosives they use in the mine. All we need is…"

*****​

Jack O'Neill peered at the bottom of the hole in front of him, checking if the explosive was prepared correctly. It was - Jack had done it himself, after all. Then he moved back to the trenches, well, back to the reinforced laboratory-slash-observation post, as Entrapta was calling it. "It's ready."

"Goody!" Entrapta beamed at him. "Sabotage Bot Three, go!"

One of the spy bots gathered in the room beeped and left. Jack could see it outside, moving towards the hole in the ground.

"It should work," Bow said. "The lab trials were successful."

"Nothing beats a test under field conditions," Catra said. "Except for actual field testing, of course. And Kyle."

Adora chuckled at that, but none of the others did, Jack noticed. An obvious in-joke.

"Three's approaching the test site," Carter reported. On the screen next to her, they could see the bot's point of view as it moved into the hole, then sprayed the explosive down with the solution Bow, Carter and Entrapta had cooked up in less time than it had taken the ground forces of the task force to disembark and set up forward bases.

"Good work, Three! Now get to safety!" Entrapta said.

The bot's feed changed as it climbed out of the hole.

As soon as it was clear, Carter spoke up: "Attempting to detonate the explosives." She pushed a button, and the scene changed to show the feed from the camera they had installed next to the explosives. "Detonating." She flicked a switch, and Jack saw a small spark on the screen.

"Detonator was activated, but the main charge remained inert," Carter reported. "Test successful."

"Impressive as always, Captain," Jack commented with a smile as Entrapta and Bow cheered.

"It was Bow's work, sir," she immediately deflected. "He already had the base solution for a fire-suppressant arrow; we merely adapted it to the specific explosive, produced sufficient quantities of it and modified spy bots to deploy it."

And she honestly thought that whipping all this up in a few hours wasn't impressive. Jack chuckled - and caught himself before he patted her shoulder. Moving to parade rest, he nodded. "Good work anyway, Captain. I'll go check up on the rest of the force."

"Yes, sir."

"I'll come with you!" Adora said, joining him as he approached the door.

"Can't leave the generals unsupervised for too long." Catra, as expected, followed her, as did Glimmer.

"You never know what they get up to," Jack agreed.

They walked over to the centre of the field base that was springing up around them - well, the part of it that was above ground, at least. Which was mostly composed of fortifications, a heavily guarded entrance to the bunker being grown below them, and storage buildings that would turn into decoys as soon as enough underground storage room was created.

And tanks and other heavy weapons, of course. "The cats are out in force," Jack commented as they passed a platoon of Leopard 2s placed to cover the road leading to the landing site of the transports. Two Gepards were behind them, covering the skies. They weren't really necessary, given the sensors and guns on the transports near them, but Jack approved of covering the bases. They were at war, after all.

"Hm?" Catra cocked her head at him.

"The Germans name their tanks after big cats," he explained.

"They've got taste," Catra replied with a grin.

Glimmer snorted at that.

The guard troops at the entrance here were a mix of French and German soldiers, straightening as they approached. The officer in charge even saluted them - which you shouldn't be doing in the field. Then again, Adora was the Supreme Commander of the Alliance and quite distinctive in her outfit.

Inside, they found the familiar chaos of a headquarter in the middle of a huge exercise - or an invasion. Officers and noncoms coming and going every which way, people talking into dozens of radios and phones, people staring at maps and screens… well, also holoprojections in this case. And the walls were distinctively alien-looking.

But it was still a NATO standard field headquarters at its core. "Seen one, seen them all," Jack muttered under his breath as they approached the generals' corner.

The generals, too, straightened when they spotted Adora. "Supreme Commander," General Duchemin greeted her. "Commander Glimmer," he added with a nod at the queen.

"Generals." Adora nodded back. "The tests were successful. All that's left before we can assault the mines is the tunnelling equipment and magic."

Jack caught the German general wincing a little but he couldn't tell whether it was because of the magic or the fact that Adora had made it clear before that she would be leading the assault. Duchemin, though, smiled. "Very good. We are proceeding on schedule and will soon commence mopping up operations - motorised recon units are already shadowing the remaining enemy forces." He pointed at the screen behind them, where red symbols showed the locations of the remaining Jaffa thanks to Entrapta and Carter's magic scanner.

"Good. What about the civilians?" Adora asked.

This time, the French officer grimaced a bit. "Our soldiers are keeping away from them. They seem wary of our presence, and we have focused on deploying our force and dealing with the remaining military threats before further pursuing this."

"They shouldn't be a factor for the operation," the German general added. "Besides, Dr Jackson has volunteered to take the lead on handling the civilian population and is currently talking to the local village."

Jack blinked, then suppressed a sigh. He should have expected this, but he had been so busy with handling things until the invasion force had landed, then handing over command to the generals and following the preparations for the assault on the mines.

Adora, though, beamed. "They're in good hands, then!"

"Yeah, right," Jack added, trying to sound sincere. His friend was great with people. Most of the time. Sometimes, though, he tended to mess up. Jack hoped this wasn't one of those times.

*****​

Outside the Former Gate Area, PZ-921, January 12th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"Alright. We're ready."

Adora took a deep breath as she heard Glimmer over the communicator. The bots were ready. Glimmer was ready. It was time. They couldn't really wait much longer, anyway - the longer they waited, the greater the risk that the Jaffa would do something drastic. As Jack had pointed out, they might not even be aware that the slaves were hostages as far as the Alliance was concerned. If they decided that they couldn't afford to feed them…

She took a step forward, away from the shuttle waiting behind her, and stared at the huge field of mud in front of her.

"Don't worry," Catra said next to her. "Even if you mess up, you can't actually make things worse here."

Adora slowly nodded, though she could make things worse if she made a mistake. Or lost control. The power of magic returning… She almost shuddered at the memory. But this was the best plan they had come up with. Much safer than trying to use the magic to deal with the Jaffa in the mine. If she made a mistake there…

"You won't mess up," Catra told her. Full of trust. Full of love.

Adora clenched her teeth and forced her doubts away. She couldn't dwell on that. Wouldn't. She was She-Ra. She had the duty to save people. And she would.

She raised her sword and closed her eyes. Focused. She felt the power. The magic. Reached out. Connected.

She gasped as the magic of the planet filled her. It wasn't the same as Earth's magic, but still somehow like it. So much power! Trying to flow through her, like water trying to get around a dam. And she…

Gritting her teeth, she cut the pattern holding the magic back. And shuddered with relief as the pressure lessened - the magic was returning to the world.

But she still was filled with power. She felt as if the magic would burst through her skin any moment. And if she didn't focus, didn't control this…

She pointed her sword at the muddy field below her. Focused. Thought. Imagined. The mud. The water. The radiation contaminating, poisoning both.

Eyes blazing, she moved her sword from one side to the other, a beam of light reaching out, sweeping over the area.

She barely heard Catra whistle next to her as she directed the magic into the water. Into the mud. Into the very earth. Cleansing. Healing. Changing.

When the pressure, the power from the planet's magic, was gone, she opened her eyes and took another deep breath, shuddering slightly.

The radioactive muck covering the area was gone. As were the ruins of the Goa'uld base. Replaced by vast fields filled with plants ready to be harvested. Wheat. Corn. Lentils. There were orchards full of trees with ripe fruits on them. Apples. Olives. Oranges. Rows upon rows of vegetables. As far as the eye could reach.

Catra snorted. "You know, if Perfuma was the envious sort, this would make her mad."

Adora turned to look at her lover. "She didn't get mad at the space plant."

Catra grinned, flashing her teeth. "I know. That's why I said if she was the envious sort." She reached over and patted Adora's back. "Well done!"

Adora nodded.

"Of course," Catra went on, "if any of the locals here saw that, they'd worship you as a goddess of fertility."

Adora smiled. "That's why we were doing this here." There were no settlements near the former base. The planet's population, except for the Jaffa, had been concentrated at the mining sites and the farming villages feeding the miners. And any Jaffa left behind had died in the flood.

No, she wouldn't be worshipped as a goddess just for returning magic to the planet and putting the spillover magic to use. "Let's get back to the mine," she said. "We've got people to save."

Catra nodded. "And enemies to defeat."

*****​

Secondary Mining Site, PZ-921, January 12th, 1999 (Earth Time)

Everyone was ready when they returned to the mining site. Glimmer met them at the landing pad. "There you are!"

Adora smiled at her. Glimmer seemed to be bursting with energy.

"Bet you teleported a few times just for the heck of it," Catra said with a grin.

Glimmer frowned at her, but she was blushing just a little. "It would have been irresponsible not to test it before we start."

"Sure, sure." Catra folded her hands behind her head as she stepped down the ramp.

Adora nodded at Glimmer with a smile. She understood her friend - it must be terrible not to be able to use the power you had grown up with. Adora herself hadn't grown up with magic powers, but she remembered the time she had lost her sword and hadn't been able to turn into She-Ra, back in the war. She had felt terrible. Weak. Useless. A failure. Glimmer was so strong to be able to bear that whenever she travelled in space - or visited planets without magic!

They walked over to the area where the force for the mission had been gathered. Dozens of spy bots, fading in and out of view as their stealth systems engaged. Soldiers with stun weapons, in case the slaves were too cowed or indoctrinated to let themselves be saved. Medics.

And Adora's friends - Bow, Entrapta, Scorpia, Jack, Sam and Teal'c. No Daniel - he was busy with the local people, or so she had been told.

"Hey! Done with turning the ruins into a space plant?" Jack grinned.

Adora rolled her eyes. "Everything worked as planned," she told him. And he had known she hadn't been planning to create another space plant. She turned to look at Sam and Entrapta. "Any changes?"

"No. They haven't moved from their positions, except for a few swapping positions," Sam reported.

Adora nodded. "Good. Let's go then."

"Let's teleport!" Glimmer corrected her with a grin. She turned to look at the holoprojection in front of Emily.

This was tricky, Adora knew that. Glimmer had never been inside the mines. And as good as Entrapta and Sam's scanner was, it couldn't fully replace seeing the actual location. But Glimmer was very experienced with her power, and the holoprojection was detailed enough and to scale so she could estimate the distances. It would be safe enough for Glimmer.

At least, that was what she had told Adora. Of course, Glimmer wouldn't lie - not about this - and Bow didn't seem worried, or not more worried than would be normal.

Adora still worried, of course. Teleporting into an unknown location full of enemies and explosives was dangerous. And Martouf was doing their best, but the tunnel couldn't really get close to the mines until the explosives were dealt with.

Glimmer nodded to herself, then took a deep breath. "Alright. I've got this." She turned to the bots. "Who's first?"

A few of them beeped, one warbled, then two skittered over to her, their stealth coating flashing briefly.

"Trust your sensors!" Entrapta told them.

"OK. Now, this might be a bit disorienting…" Glimmer reached out to grab a leg of both bots, closed her eyes - and disappeared with the usual popping sound and sparkles.

Adora looked at the holoprojection. Three new, green dots appeared. Two split off and started moving. And the third…

Glimmer reappeared with a wide grin. "Next!"

Two more bots moved toward her. Glimmer grabbed them and teleported away again.

A minute later, a dozen bots had been transported. And Glimmer looked a little winded.

Catra shook her head. "Bit out of shape, huh?"

Glimmer glared at her. "Teleporting into new locations is not as easy as you think it is."

Catra shrugged. "As you say."

But Glimmer straightened. "Let's go down the tunnel so we're ready."

They moved to the small bunker they had erected to hide the tunnel entrance - they would have to clean that up afterwards, Adora reminded herself - and then began their descent. Sam and Entrapta stayed behind, updating them on the bots' progress.

"...Five and Six have reached their targets… Good bots! That's one stash neutralised! And Seven has gotten to that tiny stash at the air shaft! Yes!" Entrapta cheered.

"No movement of the Tok'kals," Sam added. That meant the grenades the Jaffa carried.

The enemy had half a dozen of those, of the explosive variant, but they were spread out - and one of them, or even two, wouldn't be able to collapse a tunnel, much less the mine. But if they were gathered together… Well, as long as they were used as grenades, their main danger would be when used against people. Such as hostages.

"And that's the last one!" Entrapta announced as they reached the end of Martouf's tunnel. "All explosives have been neutralised! Good work, bots! And Bow!"

Bow smiled, looking relieved - even though no one would have blamed him if anything had gone wrong.

"Enlarging the tunnel to connect to the hostages," Martouf announced.

Adora watched the tunnel grow in front of her. It was impressive how smooth it was - the earth and stone seemed to meld into walls. Smooth but slow. No, that was unfair - it was moving quite quickly, for a tunnel. But slowly for an attack. It would take several minutes to reach the part of the mines with the hostages. Minutes in which anything could happen. The Jaffa could decide to kill the hostages. Or…

"Oops! Seven was detected!" Entrpata called out over the communicator.

Or they could spot a bot. Adora clenched her teeth, then looked at Glimmer. "Get me inside!"

"And me!" Catra moved to her side.

Glimmer didn't hesitate and grabbed both of them.

A moment later, they reappeared in a different tunnel - inside the mines. "The hostages are this way!" Glimmer whispered, pointing down the tunnel illuminated by Adora's glowing sword before she disappeared again.

Adora started running, Catra right behind her. She had to duck a bit in spots - the tunnels were narrow and twisted as they followed the ore veins. But people were counting on her, and she wouldn't let them down.

"Two Jaffa ahead of you!" Sam announced over the communicator.

Behind Adora, Catra hissed.

Adora gritted her teeth and sped up. She rounded the next corner and ploughed straight into a guard, slamming them into the rough wall behind them. She followed up with a blow to the head that took the helmet off and knocked the Jaffa out - or killed them. Adora didn't stop to check but whirled around, sword rising…

…and saw Catra withdraw her claws from the bleeding ruin of the other Jaffa's throat as he slumped over.

Nodding, Adora continued to run down the tunnel.

"Two more - no, three, they're gathering at the choke point," Sam told them.

"Got it!"

Staff blasts greeted them, but Adora struck them with her blade and charged through the explosions. A swing of her sword cut the closest Jaffa in half. Another screamed: "Goa'uld!" right before she cut him down as well.

"Goa'uGH!"

The third also died screaming, disembowelled by Catra's claws.

They raced on.

"They've tried to detonate the explosives!" Sam reported a few seconds later.

So soon? Why? Adora asked herself. But she had almost reached the prisoners. Just a bit further.

"They keep yelling 'Goa'uld'," Catra told her as they dashed down the tunnel. "They must think you're a Goa'uld."

"Oh." That was…Was that why they were trying to blow the mines? To kill a Go'auld?

Dim light and more screams greeted her before she found an answer. Scared screams - they had reached the hostages!

Adora lifted her sword above her head. "Do not fear! We're here to save you!" she told them. "We will get you to the surface, to your families! A tunnel will open here soon!"

"It doesn't look as if they believe you," Catra commented as the people shied away from them.

Adora kept smiling at them. How could she make them trust her? Oh! There was one holding his arm, grimacing. He must have been hurt. Perfect! She pointed her sword at him. She could…

…terrify him, she realised when the people started screaming, many falling to their knees and bowing. Pleading.

"I am healing you!" she snapped - and sent magic power at the man.

He yelped when the magic reached him, then broke off, looking stunned.

"You're healed," Adora told him.

He hesitantly touched his arm, then started to move it, a shy, hesitant smile appearing on his face.

The people started whispering, no longer shying away from her. Yes!

Then everyone knelt, their foreheads touching the ground.

No!

Catra snorted behind her. "Good work, idiot."

"At least they trust us now," Adora shot back. And the tunnel would reach them soon. So…

"Oh! The Goa'uld at the main shaft are… they're dropping their weapons!" Entrapta told them over the communicator.

Were they surrendering? Adora started to smile.

Then Entrapta went on. "They're manipulating their weapons - the power fluctuations… but…"

"They're overloading the power cells!" Sam cut in.

What? That meant…

"They're blowing up!"

Adora didn't hear the explosion, but she thought she felt the earth tremble. But that was all. Whew.

"The main shaft is collapsing!" Sam sounded terse over the communicator.

And then the earth was definitely shaking.

*****​
 
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Chapter 79: The Intervention Part 4
Chapter 79: The Intervention Part 4

Secondary Mining Site, PZ-921, January 12th, 1999 (Earth Time)

Samantha Carter stared helplessly as the main shaft of the mine collapsed on her screen - and on the holoprojection in the middle of the command centre. "It's just the main shaft," she whispered. "As long as the mining tunnels hold… if the shockwave isn't too powerful…" The uppermost tunnels were fine so far. And below…

"That's a shockwave!" Entrapta cried out.

Screaming filled the communicator - the hostages inside the mines, Sam realised. As miners, they would know about cave-ins.

Her heart sank. Whether the Jaffa had planned this - she couldn't tell; the explosives had been improvised, after all - or had just gotten lucky, the shaft's collapse had struck the hardest on the lowest level; she could see the tunnels there shake on her screen. And those weren't tunnels made according to Earth's safety standards. Those were tunnels dug by slaves for a cruel master who didn't care how many of them died as long as he got his ore.

Sam saw a small side tunnel starting to cave in as the supports splintered and clenched her teeth. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she zoomed in. "I need a structural scan!"

"On it!" Entrapta replied. "Uh-oh! That's not good - there's an unstable layer on that level. And the pressure…"

Another side tunnel was collapsing - no, collapsed. And that caused more shifts. More pressure. More tremors. This was a cascading cave-in.

The screams turned into coughing - the dust cloud caused by the collapse of the shaft must have reached the hostages. More, hoarse screaming.

"Everyone, into the tunnel! Run!"

That was Catra.

"The entire area is shifting - now tunnels upstairs are collapsing!" Entrapta yelled. "And that softer layer of rock is…"

It was giving way under pressure. Filling the tunnels beneath it. And that destabilised the more solid rock layers. At least there was no water in those layers.

"Move, damn it!"

"Everyone, into the tunnel!"

"Come on!"


Some of the hostages were starting to run. But not all of them - and a few were running in the wrong direction! They must be panicking.

"Get them out!"

"Come back!"

And some were… on their knees, praying? Sam shook her head and focused on her screen. There had to be something she could do, other than watch as the mine caved in one tunnel at a time. "How's the Tok'ra tunnel doing?"

"It's holding - the shock wasn't too strong at the start. But I don't think it will hold forever - the pressure from the collapsing tunnels is building up, and check that area there!"

A strand of hair whipped over Sam's keyboard, enlarging an area above the hostage tunnel. And that was… Sam paled.

"You need to get out!" she screamed into the communicator. "The whole area is going to cave in - including the evacuation tunnel!" Her friends were down there! The Colonel was down there!

"Oh, no!"

Sam froze for a moment. The entire area above the tunnel was shifting now.

"Adora!"

*****​

"Adora!" Catra screamed at her love. Who had changed her sword into some huge support-beam-thing which she was using to hold up the ceiling.

"Run!" Adora snapped. "Get out!"

"You can't hold up the entire damn mountain, you idiot!" Catra screamed - and dragged one of the kneeling idiots up and pushed him towards the tunnel. "Run!"

"Glimmer can get me out once everyone's safe! Ugh!"

Catra blinked through tears as she watched her love strain, then turned around. More soldiers, O'Neill at their head, were literally dragging the stumbling slaves out of the tunnel. She kicked another who was not fast enough, pushing the numbskull towards the tunnel.

The earth shook again - another tunnel collapsed. Dust and pebbles rained down from the trembling ceiling.

Catra coughed once - she needed to bring a breath filter if she was ever doing this again - and looked around. The dumb hostages were finally leaving. But…

"There are some who ran away!" Adora yelled. She was straining to hold up the ceiling, Catra could tell. But the idiot wouldn't leave while others were in danger.

"Glimmer!" she snapped into the communicator. "Can you get those who ran into the mine?"

"On it!"

Sparkles was on the job. Catra looked around. Most of the hostages were now in the tunnel - but they were too slow.

Another tremor, another tunnel gone. She could hear the rock grinding against each other, even over the yelling and screaming. And she could see cracks appearing in the smooth walls of the Tok'ra tunnel.

"How many are left?" she yelled.

"Sec… three… no, one, Glimmer got two. One is left!" Entrapta replied.

That would be an acceptable loss. But not for Adora.

"Where are they?" Catra asked.

"Glimmer got them!"

Finally! Catra rushed towards Adora. "Everyone's out of the mine!"

"But not out of the tunnel!"

Oh, for…! Catra clenched her teeth - the idiot was right. The evacuation tunnel might not withstand the collapse of this tunnel.

"Run!"

Never! Catra shook her head. "I'm not leaving you!"

"You can't do anything here," Adora pressed out through clenched teeth. Her knees trembled, buckling - no, she straightened with a grunt, pressing back against the ceiling. Rocks and more dust were now dropping steadily, and the ground was constantly shaking.

"I can be with you," Catra retorted.

The look she got from Adora was… both full of love and desperation.

Catra smiled back as best she could. "I'm not leaving you, you dummy!"

"Idiot!" Adora's next words were lost when she groaned. This time, she didn't manage to straighten - she was slowly giving ground.

Catra swallowed. "It's getting close here," she said into the communicator.

"Run!" Adonra snapped.

"I wouldn't make it out," Catra told her.

"No!"

A dust cloud filled the room - part of the main tunnel had collapsed. Catra coughed once more.

As did Adora. And she almost lost her footing, grunting again as she pushed back. This was…

Catra hissed. If she had to die here, then she would…

Glimmer appeared next to them. "Hands!"

Catra reached out, hugging her - and Adora.

A loud crack filled her ears, and the ground started to give, and someone screamed, and…

…she was on ground that didn't move, under the open sky, blinking, coughing, crying. Outside. Next to Adora. Alive.

*****​

Fresh air. Jack O'Neill took a deep breath as soon as he reached the exit of the tunnel. And then another. And another. He might be in the best shape ever since Adora had healed him, but racing up a shaking, collapsing tunnel from the bottom of a mine to the surface would have left anyone panting.

"Adora and Catra are safe."

Anyone but Teal'c, Jack amended his thought. But the Jaffa was kind of cheating, with his alien body and symbiont.

But his friend was right - Jack could see the two - three, couldn't forget Glimmer - crazy girls on the ground in front of the bunker. Alive and healthy. Though they looked pretty… tired. Maybe exhausted. Adora was sitting on the ground, holding onto Catra in her lap, while Glimmer was lying on her back, arms and legs spread. She must have overdone it with the teleports, Jack realised.

He shook his head as he approached them, trying not to show how relieved he was. And how he wanted to scream at all of them so they would never do anything like that again. "We had a headstart, yet you beat us to the finishing line. Took a shortcut?"

"Did you just call Glimmer short? She's kind of sensitive about that," Catra shot back without releasing Adora or even looking at him.

"I am not!" Glimmer protested, also not looking at him.

"Glimmer!"

"Adora! Catra!"

"What were you thinking?"

Bow, Entrapta and Carter had arrived. Jack schooled his features as he turned to face them. Well, face Entrapta and Carter - Bow went straight past him to hug Glimmer. "I think we both know what they were thinking," Jack told Carter with a wry grin.

"Yes, sir."

"I think it's obvious that they wanted to save everyone," Entrapta said, her head cocked sideways as she looked at Jack. "And according to our data, they did."

"But it was a near thing," Martouf chimed in. He, too, wasn't out of breath at all. Damn snakey cheaters.

"Indeed. But they succeeded." Teal'c inclined his head.

"Our tunnel was close to collapsing in its entirety," Martouf pointed out. "The geological conditions were more dangerous than we anticipated."

"Yes!" Entrapta nodded. "We didn't take the different types of rocks in the mine into account. And we kind of missed that the Jaffa could use their own weapons as explosives."

Improvised explosives, but still. Jack nodded. "Yeah. Someone forgot to tell them that they aren't allowed to do that."

"Oh?" Entrapta blinked. "Who?"

"The Colonel's joking," Carter explained.

"Ah." Entrapta nodded again. "Is that his coping mechanism, as Daniel explained?"

Jack reminded himself to ask Daniel what exactly he was telling people about Jack. Some stuff was private. A lot of stuff, actually.

Carter glanced at him instead of answering.

He sighed. "A good joke can relieve tension. And we're all very tense here." And explanations ruined jokes.

"Ah, I see!" Entrapta nodded and made a note on her device or something.

"And yes, we'll have to address those things in a proper debriefing," Jack added. "So we can do better next time."

Carter winced. "Yes, sir."

Jack suppressed a sigh. Carter was blaming herself. Even though she wasn't to blame. Nobody was perfect, but she came pretty close. And she was a physicist, not a geologist. That they hadn't had a geologist on call - or called one - while preparing to storm a mine wasn't her fault. That was a failure of her commander. Meaning Jack. Sure, he was just a Colonel, but he had been involved in the planning from the start - and he had the ear of the Etherians. They would have listened to him.

"Well, we know we need to keep Adora on a leash," Catra commented. "Or she'll risk her life again. And get herself worshipped as a goddess."

Jack blinked. That was… Oh. He snorted as he saw the saved hostages stare at them - at Adora - from a distance, some craning their necks to keep looking even as soldiers guided them away to reunite them with their families. "Well, she just held up an entire mountain to save everyone," he said. "That's bound to make people mistake you for a god."

"Indeed. The mythology on Earth has similar deeds attributed to various deities, I believe," Teal'c commented. "And no false god would be able to equal this."

That almost sounded as if Teal'c was calling Adora a real goddess. But he would know better than that, wouldn't he?

Adora groaned and closed her eyes. "I am no goddess!"

Well, at least she knew it.

"And you aren't a Goa'uld," Catra added. "Anyway, mission accomplished. The hostages are saved, and the enemy was crushed - and it was their own fault."

Jack had to chuckle at that, and she grinned in return.

"They thought I was a Goa'uld, and they were willing to die to kill me." Adora shook her head as she got up, and Catra slid off her. "We didn't expect that kind of fanaticism."

"Heru'ur has some of the most loyal Jaffa amongst the System Lords," Teal'c said, "but I would not have expected such dedication. Things are, or at least were, different under Apophis."

Jack nodded. "Yeah. Let's hope this guy remains an exception. If we have to re-enact the War in the Pacific, things will get messy." Messier than they already were.

"At least his human slaves do not display any such loyalty," Teal'c pointed out.

That was a small consolation. Jack clapped his hands together. "Anyway, how about we move this to a nice, private debriefing room, once Glimmer and Bow come up for air?"

The two didn't even have the grace to blush. Kids these days. And now Catra was glancing at Adora as if this was a challenge or something. Was that how Hammond felt with SG-1?

"So…" Jack trailed off when he spotted a signals officer heading towards them.

"Sir! Ma'am!" the young man snapped. "We've received a radio transmission from the main mining site! The, ah, representative of the local population has requested a meeting with Supreme Commander Adora to discuss the planet's status."

Jack blinked. He hadn't been aware that the planet's population had a leader - they had been slaves until a few hours ago. And now they wanted to 'discuss the planet's status'? He would have expected them to keep their heads down and play it safe, not… He blinked.

And then he sighed. Of course!

"Daniel, what did you do?"

*****​

Primary Mining Site, PZ-921, January 12th, 1999 (Earth Time)

The base at the primary mining site - the one Glimmer and Bow had taken without issue, Adora reminded herself - looked a lot like the one they had just left at the secondary site. As she stepped out of the shuttle, Adora could see soldiers putting up walls - both earthen and prefabricated steel - around the base area.

And the guards were as alert as the ones back at the other mine, she noted as they snapped to attention at her approach. Just different uniforms - American and British, here. Of course, there were still Jaffa scattered on the planet, but the ground troops had started to hunt them down.

"I thought we didn't salute in the field," Catra whispered, though a little too loud to be discreet, next to her.

Adora gripped her lover's hand a little tighter - and suppressed the urge to hold her tightly and scold her again for staying with her in the mine - and nodded at the soldiers.

"It's debatable if this still qualifies as in the field," Jack commented behind them. "Though I generally say that it counts until a PX opens in the base."

"PX?"

"A military store," he explained. "Where soldiers can buy goods and services. Like food and uniforms, for example."

"You make them pay for their food and uniforms?" Catra asked with a snort. "If we had done that in the Horde, we'd have had a rebellion on our hands. Well, a second one."

While Jack protested that it wasn't like that, Adora smiled even though she didn't like being reminded of that time. "Anyway," she said, "let's go see what the representative of the people here wants," she said, nodding at the aide waiting for them.

"And what Daniel did this time," Jack added under his breath as the officer led them towards a big tent.

"I am sure Daniel didn't do anything bad," Adora told him with a frown.

"Tell that to the generals," Jack retorted.

"Oh, I will." Adora nodded firmly. Daniel was smart and honest. She trusted him to do the right thing.

Jack blinked, then snorted. "Right. Forgot for a second that you can do that."

"Forgetting stuff is a sign of old age," Catra told him.

"Of course, you'd think I am old."

Martouf kept silent, Adora noted. Well, they might be thinking about where they would be using the tunnelling technology here.

The guards at the tent also stood at attention when Adora and the others arrived, and the aide opened the tent's entrance. "The Supreme Commander of the Alliance!" he announced.

Inside, Adora saw a few officers - Generals Bryce and Percival, and their aides - Daniel, who was smiling a little sheepishly at them, no, at Jack, and half a dozen people who were obviously locals judging by their clothes. All of them bowed, but they didn't fall to their knees.

"Sadiki, leader of the people of the planet," Daniel introduced the man in the middle of the group.

"For now," the man added. "We couldn't ask the other settlements, but ours is the largest."

"Which means that this is not a diplomatic meeting with the actual representative of the local population," the American general, Bryce, said with a frown.

"Sadiki represents the majority of the people here," Daniel retorted.

"It looks like he's trying to steal a march on the others and get himself installed as the leader before anyone else," Bryce shot back.

It sounded as if they were repeating an argument, Adora thought. She focused on Sadiki. He looked at her, though he wasn't quite meeting her eyes.

She smiled at him and the others. "Hello. I am She-Ra, Princess of Power. Please call me Adora." She transformed back as she said so. Catra snorted next to her, and Adora didn't have to glance at her lover to know she was rolling her eyes. But there was nothing wrong with being friendly, and she didn't want to tower over those people. "We have saved the hostages in the second mine," she added. "But the mine collapsed when the Jaffa hiding there blew up the main shaft."

"Oh." Sadiki, who had been staring at her, seemed surprised, then slowly nodded. "The mine is lost then?"

"We can't tell yet," Martouf cut in. "We need to scan the area and determine if it's safe to tunnel back down. If it is, we can open it quickly."

"You can do that?" Sadiki seemed surprised.

"We have advanced technology," Daniel told him.

"And magic," Catra added.

Right. Adora nodded. "Yes, I have restored magic to your planet. So, those of you who have the talent will be able to learn how to do magic."

"Magic…" Sadiki blinked.

"Yes." Catra grinned. "Also, she used the surplus magic power to turn the flooded site into fields and orchards. You might want to send people there to harvest the goods."

Adora suppressed a frown. Yes, Catra was right, and the locals would have to harvest the fields before it went all bad, but she didn't have to make it sound so… deity-like.

"I see." Sadiki bowed again, more deeply this time. As did the others. "We thank you for this. With Heru'ur's forces gone, we were not sure how to feed everyone - we have fields and farming villages, but not enough to supply everyone. We depended on food delivered by his Jaffa."

"Yep, that's one way to keep control of a population," Jack said.

"The Alliance can and will supply you with food and everything else you need," Bryce cut in.

Sadiki glanced at the general, then at Daniel, before he looked back at Adora. "Does that mean you will be taking over our world?" he asked, a bit hesitantly.

"What? No!" Adora shook her head. "It's your world! We came to liberate you, not to conquer you." They were the Alliance, not the Horde!

"Although in order to ensure that Heru'ur won't return, we'll have to station troops here," Percival added. "We will need bases for them."

"I see," Sadiki repeated himself. "And will you take control of the Stargate?"

"Only until you can safeguard it yourselves," Adora reassured him. They were here to save the people, not to take over.

Sadiki smiled. But Bryce was now openly scowling. And glaring at Daniel.

*****​

Forward Base, Primary Mining Site, PZ-921, January 12th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"...and so, although this is merely a preliminary geological analysis, and experts in the field need to confirm it, it seems that while the lower parts of the mines have completely collapsed, the upper tunnels won't suffer the same fate. Not without further tectonic activity, natural or induced." Samantha Carter nodded as she finished her report.

"So, basically, if you want to mine more ore, you need to do a thorough geological check beforehand - some of the rock there is more like gravel," Entrapta added. "And that's not very stable. Although with the right technology, you can deal with that. We've got a few ideas on how to strengthen tunnels, but they require some testing."

"Thank you." General Percival nodded. "So, the Secondary Mining Site won't be operational for the foreseeable future - and not at all unless we invest considerable resources."

"Yes, sir." That was what Sam had just explained.

"Resources the local population cannot afford," General Bryce added, "and which wouldn't be justified by the expected return in ore production."

Sam noticed that General Percival glanced at his colleague with a peculiar expression. The British officer was a bit hard to read, but she didn't think he approved of Bryce's comment.

"That doesn't matter, though," Entrapta said. "The mine got destroyed because of us, so we need to fix it. That's how things work."

Sam had to suppress a smile at her friend's comment. It was a simple but, fundamentally, correct view of the morality of the situation.

Percival nodded, though Bryce scowled. "We are at war. Resources are limited. We can address this once the war's won," the American general said.

"We just need more data," Entrapta retorted with a slight frown. "And we've got the time for that."

"And this will result in useful experience for future operations," Sam pointed out. The Tok'ra tunnelling technology was a key component for assaults and invasions, after all. And Bryce knew that. So, what was going on?

"Indeed," Percival said. "Although we'll also require permission from the local government for such actions."

That was a surprise. Sam hadn't expected the local population to have a government already. Much less one that was apparently a potential obstacle for Alliance operations, at least if she interpreted Bryce's scowl correctly.

"Well, we can easily ask them." Entrapta beamed. "I doubt they will refuse our help - it won't cost them anything, after all."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Bryce scoffed.

Sam was missing something. She had been rushed into this briefing after arriving at the base here, and so she hadn't been able to talk to her team and her Etherian friends yet. And she had a gut feeling that she really needed to speak with the Colonel and Daniel about this.

As soon as she was dismissed by the generals.

*****​

"So, you're hiding from Jack?" Catra asked while she dug through an MRE for the candy parts. She was lounging on a fold-out chair, which was surprisingly comfortable once you contorted yourself just right, especially since the design, unlike the more padded armchairs like those in the palace back in Bright Moon, allowed her tail to swish freely. Ah, chocolate! She pulled the bar out and dropped the rest - curry, which was meh - on the floor of the meeting room she had commandeered.

"I'm not really hiding," Daniel protested. "I'm just… catching up on my paperwork until Sadiki and his people return. Jack can easily find me."

Catra snorted. "Sure, sure."

"Besides, wouldn't that mean that you're hiding as well?" Daniel looked at her over the rim of his laptop.

She grinned back. "I'm not hiding. I told Adora I would get something to eat instead of trying to keep myself from clawing the colonialist generals." And she had done so loudly enough for at least one of them to overhear her.

Daniel smiled at that. "I see."

"You're not the only one who has issues with installing a 'protectorate'," Catra told him while she ripped the wrapping off the bar. As if she wouldn't realise what the result of such a policy would be.

"It's official Alliance policy that any bases require the agreement of the local government." Daniel deflected.

"Official Alliance policy you told the local government about." She bit the bar in half and chewed, savouring the taste. "A local government that was formed shortly after you made contact with the settlement here."

"In order to make an informed decision, you need to be informed." He looked at his screen instead of at her, but she could see his lips twist into a smile. "Everything I did was in line with official Alliance policies."

She swallowed, then snorted. "Yeah. And if not for the princesses backing that policy, you'd be in trouble with the leadership."

"That's speculation," he retorted.

"Well, good work," she told him, flashing her fangs.

He didn't reply, but she could see his smile grow larger.

But then the door to their room was opened, and Entrapta and Sam entered. "There he is! Just like the scan showed!" Entrapta said, beaming.

Daniel blinked. "You used your scanner to find me?"

"Ah, so you admit you were hiding!" Catra chuckled.

"You were hiding? We thought you were lost!" Entrapta said, blinking.

Catra doubted that Sam had believed that.

"I'm just working on my report." Daniel pointed at his laptop.

"And hiding from Jack," Catra added.

"So, it was you who organised the local government and told them how to approach the Alliance." Sam shook her head.

"All in line with official Alliance policy," Catra told her. "As agreed by all the big leaders back on Earth."

Daniel nodded. "Pretty much, yes." He didn't look as confident as before, though.

Sam sighed. "And what did the Colonel say about this?"

Daniel grimaced. "Ah, we weren't able to talk about it yet - he was called into a meeting."

Catra nodded. "And Daniel's been hiding here ever since."

Sam and Daniel both winced at that while Entrapta looked confused. "Why would you be hiding from Jack?"

Daniel smiled. "Ah, that's a bit complicated…"

Entrapta nodded encouragingly at him, and Catra chuckled. He wasn't going to get out of this.

*****​

"Commander, we cannot just leave this world be! Apophis lost his task force here, Heru'ur lost the planet - both will want to find out what happened!"

Bryce had a good point there, Jack O'Neill admitted. Both of the two head snakes, and probably half their rivals once they heard of it, would send scouts, spies or even probing forces to this world to find out what happened and who held it. Of course, it was a point that was pretty obvious and so had been raised during the planning phase of this operation. And had been addressed as well.

Glimmer rolled her eyes. "We're aware of that, General. And we won't leave the system defenceless. But we don't need to control the planet to defend it. We can leave a task force in the system to destroy invaders."

"But that runs the risk of them detecting our presence and plans here!" Bryce objected. "That would jeopardise our entire war plans!"

"Holding the planet would not decrease that risk either - quite the contrary," Glimmer retorted.

"But even if we lock down space, that still leaves the Stargate! And the locals cannot defend it. We have to either defend it ourselves or remove it from the planet." Bryce wasn't giving ground there.

"Or give them the ability to prevent others from using it," Adora said. "A simple mechanism to keep it horizontal unless raised to be used would keep anyone from using it for an invasion - without having to place it in a foreign base."

A simple mechanism by Carter or Entrapta's standards, Jack mentally amended - but it was a good solution. Any invaders would be killed when they tried to step out of the gate and fell back into it. Of course, any peaceful visitors or explorers would suffer the same fate. But there was no perfect solution either way.

"That would still leave us committed to the system's defence, and without anything to show for it. It would be a pure drain of resources - resources needed for the war."

Jack wondered if Bryce was in someone's pocket. The man hadn't struck him as the type to care so much for the strategic implications of the operation that he was willing to argue with the Supreme Commander of the Alliance over it. Certainly not without backing from his own superiors. Civilian or military.

"It's going to take a task force from the fleet," Glimmer replied. "And nothing to show for it? As you said, they will be dealing with recon and probing attacks, perhaps even invasions, from the Goa'uld. Which means they'll reduce the enemies' forces."

"And draw their attention to this system, potentially weakening their control over other systems," Percival added.

"Although this will endanger this system," the German general, Müller, pointed out. "And the more forces the Goa'uld focus on it, the more of our forces will be needed to defend it. This could become a Verdun."

"No matter how many forces they send at us, we will defeat them! We cannot fail under the command of Your Divine Highness!"

Jack didn't bother to hide his grimace at Priest's outburst. The clone had kept silent so far, to jack's surprise, but it was obvious that he had overcome his shame or embarrassment for 'failing' Adora and was back to full confident fanaticism.

Adora winced. "Thank you, Priest." She nodded at the generals. "We were aware of this potential issue before we launched this mission, and there's no need to change our plans and contingencies for this. If it becomes too costly or impossible to hold the system, we'll pull out and leave the population with an underground network of tunnels to shelter and hide in and enough resources to survive for years if they do not want to evacuate through the Stargate."

"A very generous offer," Duchemin commented.

"Your Divine Highness provides for those in need."

"It's the least we can do if we fail in our duty to protect them," Glimmer said. She wasn't reacting to Priest's comment, Jack noted.

"But shouldn't we ask the people here to make an effort for their own protection as well?" Bryce asked. "Of course, we cannot expect them to provide an effective military force - they are barely out of the stone age, after all - but they could provide the war effort with the same resources that they mined for the Goa'uld. That shouldn't be too much to ask of them after we've bled for their freedom. And with modern technology and organisation, the output of their mines could surely be increased significantly."

Ah, that was his angle! Jack almost snorted as he wondered which mining corporations were ready to move in from Earth.

"Of course, we'll ask them if they wish to sell their ore," Glimmer told him. "But that's, ultimately, their decision. If they wish to stop mining, then we will accept that - none of the ore mined here is crucial for our war effort."

"And why do you think they couldn't help us militarily?" Adora frowned. "They can learn how to fight just as anyone else can with the right training. If they wish to join our forces, we'll happily accept them."

Bryce blinked. "But… they come from a culture on the technological level of Ancient Egypt! How are they supposed to operate tanks and modern weapons when they have grown up using horses and spears?"

Glimmer glared at him. "My royal guards use spears. And my people use horses. All of them fought well against people in tanks and spaceships."

"It doesn't take a lot to teach people how to effectively use modern weapons. Like the Soviets found out when we taught the Mujahedin how to use Stingers," Jack cut in.

Bryce glared at him, but Adora nodded. "Yes. But it will be their decision. We are not here to take over but to save and support people. We aren't the Goa'uld," she added with a frown. "We will gladly accept any help, but we will not demand it."

"A policy which was set in the Alliance Charter," Glimmer pointed out. Under her breath, she added: "We've read up on your history."

And that was it. Jack liked Bryce's expression, but he knew that the man's backers would not give up so easily. And the Europeans might be more discreet, but they would also be salivating at the thought of getting access to the resources of entire planets.

And once they realised that the Etherians actually meant what they said about leaving such decisions to the locals, Sadiki and his people would be swamped with offers from corporations and politicians with vast experience in exploiting Third World countries.

Jack didn't think they would be more successful or luckier than the countries on Earth. Not even with Daniel's help. Which was something he still needed to discuss with his friend, he reminded himself.

*****​

Adora kept smiling - confidently and friendly, she reminded herself, not like Glimmer baring her teeth - as they left the meeting room. She might disagree with General Bryce's opinions, but they were all on the same side here. Probably. While she had no doubt that they were all working to defeat the Goa'uld, she wasn't as sure that they all meant the same when they talked about 'winning the peace'.

"Ugh!" Glimmer said when they had turned two corners and were - presumably - out of earshot of the earth officers. Well, except for Jack, who was walking with them. "What were they thinking?"

"Is that a rhetorical question, or do you want an answer?" Jack asked with a snort.

Glimmer scoffed in return. "I know what they are thinking. It's 'Hey, those poor primitive people need our guidance. Let's take over their world for their own good! And for ours!'."

"You've studied Earth's history extensively," Jack commented.

"Please!" Glimmer snorted before Bow could say anything. "We heard it all a dozen times every day from your … pundits, I think is the name. Back when you all were panicking that we would do this to you. We couldn't have missed learning about your colonialism and neo-colonialism periods if we tried."

"Though I did study both in more detail than that," Bow added. "Since, well, Earth is, according to some people, still in the neo-colonialism era."

"Well, yeah, some people are opinionated about that," Jack replied. "But not really wrong." He sighed. "They'll try to swindle the people here, you know."

"We know," Glimmer told him. "They'll try to do the same thing they were afraid we'd do to them: Exploit them under the pretext of helping them."

"We need to warn Sadiki and his people of that," Adora added. "But, ultimately, we have to let them decide what they want."

"Even if they mess up and ruin their world?" Jack asked.

Adora nodded. "If we try to force our own ideas on them, we'd be no better than the Goa'uld." Or the First Ones.

"But we can offer them advice," Bow added.

"Yes!" Priest chimed in. "We shall teach them about your deeds and your wisdom, Your Divine Highness, so they, too, might benefit from your guidance!" He bowed in the middle of the hallway and added: "After asking for their permission, of course!"

"Of course," Adora replied, wincing. She couldn't prohibit the clones from talking to others - well, she could, but it would make her a hypocrite. And a dictator. But she really didn't want more people worshipping her.

"Well, you won't be the only ones," Jack told him. "You can bet that the missionaries from Earth will chomp at the bit to spread their faith - and they'll demand equal opportunities."

"As is fair," Priest replied. He turned to smile at her. "However, unlike them, Your Divine Highness's deeds and power are real, as anyone on this world can see when they visit the Divine Fields blessed with your divine power or when they work magic which was restored to their world by your will."

"I'm not a goddess," Adora told him. She wasn't. She was She-Ra, Princess of Power. A princess like other princesses. Mostly.

Priest bowed low but didn't agree. Which she had expected.

"You know, having a holy war on this world won't really help anyone," Jack said.

"If you need violence to spread your faith, you are following false gods," Priest retorted with a serene smile. Which looked like the smiles of the clones worshipping Horde Prime. Like Catra's when she had been… Adora pushed that painful memory away.

Jack narrowed his eyes. "Speaking of false gods, when your god tells you they're no god, shouldn't you listen to them?"

Adora drew a sharp breath, and she saw Glimmer and Bow tense up.

But Priest kept smiling. "Like when your god tells you to sacrifice your child?"

Jack stared at him. "That's not the same."

"Indeed, it is not." He bowed towards Adora. "Your Divine Highness, you would never demand such a thing from us to test us."

"Of course not!" Adora blurted out before she realised what she was doing.

"You lead by example. Your deeds speak for themselves, and we follow your guidance by our choice." Priest bowed again. "Your wish is our holy command, for we place our trust in your power and your wisdom and your honesty and benevolence."

Adora winced again.

And Jack looked annoyed.

But they had arrived at the room Catra had commandeered. And where the rest of their friends were supposed to be. So, Adora couldn't really continue this discussion.

She opened the door. "Hello!"

"Hey, Adora!" Catra jumped up from her chair and moved towards her, hips swaying, swishing in that distracting, sexy way of hers.

"...and so, you see, I had to explain all this, so… Oh, hello, Adora. Jack." Daniel blushed a little. "I was just, ah, explaining…"

"He was telling us why the generals were mad at him for doing the right thing." Entrapta nodded. "It's complicated," she added, "but he can explain it."

"So I've heard," Jack commented with a toothy smile.

Adora was about to frown at him - Daniel had done the right thing - but Catra hugged her, and that was even more distracting than her strut.

*****​

"So, you decided to teach the locals all about interstellar politics in an afternoon. Everything they need to know to make the best, most informed decisions about their future. Right, Daniel?"

The Colonel wasn't happy with their friend. Samantha Carter could understand why he was annoyed, but that didn't mean she agreed with him. Yes, Daniel had acted without orders - his explanation that he had merely followed the obvious logical conclusions drawn from the general goals of the mission was a paper-thin excuse. Some might, would even, argue that he had acted against orders when he had contacted the local settlement.

But this wasn't a Stargate mission. This was an Alliance operation. And the Supreme Commander of the Alliance, as well as the rest of the Etherians, obviously approved of Daniel's decision.

"Well, not everything. Obviously, that would have taken far too long to teach them. Even a general overview of the galactic politics was a challenge." Daniel smiled weakly. "But I did tell them about the basic stance and aims of the Alliance, yes. And that they did not owe anyone their allegiance, much less their support or property," he added in a firmer tone.

"And that was a good thing," Glimmer added with a nod. "We didn't come here to take over the planet. And it seems not everyone realised that we don't just mean outright conquest with that policy."

"That still leaves them at the mercy of our carpet baggers," the Colonel retorted. "Are you planning to stay here to ensure the locals won't sell off the mines for a handful of glass beads?"

"Well, I can't stay - but I left them a number of examples of more equitable contracts for resource extraction agreements." Daniel's smile turned more than a little smug right now.

"And our brothers staying here, defending the system against all enemies, will certainly do their utmost to ensure that the people are not taken advantage of, just as Your Divine Highness wishes! By offering advice and guidance, I mean."

Sam narrowed her eyes a little at Priest's declaration. No matter the clone's intentions, this didn't sound very reassuring to her. Quite the opposite, actually.

And her friends - except for Entrapta, who happily nodded in agreement, Catra, who grinned, and, weirdly, Daniel, who nodded - seemed to share her reservations.

"Remember that the people here are free to make their own decisions, for good or ill," Adora told him with a pained smile.

"Of course, Your Divine Highness. Anything else would be a betrayal of your ideals." And there came the deep bow the clones seemed so fond of. Sam couldn't help but be reminded - very uncomfortably - of the way the Goa'uld were worshipped.

The Colonel was pressing his lips together in a frown. "Well, seems that's settled then. Let's just hope no one will start a holy war once the other missionaries arrive."

"They would have to be allowed through the gate first," Catra said.

"I don't think the United Nations will refuse permission if the alien missionaries are allowed to visit already," the Colonel retorted. "Of course, if you advise the locals here not to let visitors through the gate…" He glanced at Daniel, then at Priest.

"That would set an unfair precedent," Priest replied at once. "While it is their decision, we would certainly counsel the people here against closing off their world, for it is in isolation where complacency and ignorance grow. Only in the free contest between ideas and ideals can you find true, tested guidance for your life!"

That was… surprisingly liberal for a zealot, Sam had to admit.

She wasn't surprised, though, not this time, that Daniel agreed enthusiastically. "Yes!"

"Yeah, sure. Especially if you have such contests on a world with 'divine fields' created by your 'goddess', huh?" The Colonel glared at the clone.

What did he mean? Ah, the effects of Adora's magic, Sam remembered. The clones apparently had named the fields.

Priest inclined his head with a smug smile. "Of course. The claims of false gods pale next to such proof."

Sam couldn't help thinking that the clone was not just talking about the Goa'uld here. But he wasn't wrong, she had to admit - faced with what could arguably be seen as actual miracles, especially by people who had been raised to worship the Goa'uld, any missionary from Earth would be fighting an uphill battle.

She wasn't looking forward to discovering how this would play out - here or on Earth. Not at all. No matter who 'won' in this 'contest of ideals', there would be some very unhappy zealots. And in her experience, no matter their origin, unhappy zealots were dangerous.

*****​
 
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Chapter 80: The Intervention Part 5
Chapter 80: The Intervention Part 5

Forward Base, Primary Mining Site, PZ-921, January 12th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"So… did anyone find out yet why the Jaffa here thought of burying a bomb in the lake? Did anyone show them James Bond movies or Saturday morning cartoons?"

That was a very transparent attempt to change the subject by O'Neill. At least, Catra thought so. Then again, it was a bit stupid to scold Daniel for doing something everyone else thought was the right thing to do. Although O'Neill probably agreed with it as well - in principle, at least - and just didn't like that Daniel had annoyed at least some of the generals. And their backers, of course. The man was very protective of his friends - in a grouchy old-people sort of way.

"We don't know, sir." Sam, of course, replied earnestly. "I wondered if the bomb was placed in the lake, outside of the range of most scanners, so the defenders of the gate had time to withdraw while the attacker couldn't detect much less defuse the bomb in the meantime. But we now know that Heru'ur's Jaffa were willing to die if it meant taking out an important enemy."

Catra suppressed a shudder. The Jaffa had killed themselves, blowing up their staff weapons, to kill Adora by collapsing the mine onto her. And they had come far too close for Catra's comfort to actually pull that off. Adora had taken the whole weight of the tunnel's ceiling on herself, in the middle of a crowd of panicking slaves, with the entire tunnel shaking and buckling… She took a deep breath and pushed the memory away. Adora was alive. Safe. And with Catra.

"And I don't think they knew that we wouldn't pick up the bomb there since it would have been too weak to affect the gate area if it had just blown up on the ground," Entrapta added. "They wouldn't have been able to know about our scanner's power."

"Or our procedures," Catra added.

"Yes." Glimmer nodded.

"Are we sure of that?" O'Neill asked.

"Sir, any leak would have to have been at the highest level."

"Yes. Like, Sam or me. Since we upgraded the scanner recently, so we're the only ones who know the new stats." Entrapta nodded. "And I know it wasn't me, and I don't think Sam would reveal anything either."

"Of course not!"

"Perish the thought!" O'Neill grinned. "If you keep the scanner's real power a secret even from your superiors, then I doubt you'd sell us out to the enemy."

"Of course not, sir!"

Sam was blushing a little, Catra noted - no doubt a response to O'Neill's slightly teasing tone. They really should admit their feelings.

"Do the prisoners we took know anything?" Adora asked.

"All of those we interrogated so far claim to have not known anything about this." O'Neill shrugged. "It might have just been a Jaffa trying to be clever."

"Jaffa generally are not encouraged to 'be clever'," Teal'c said. "In fact, such behaviour is discouraged - often harshly."

"And it couldn't have been an experiment," Sam added. "Unless wrecking their own base would have been an acceptable result for a test."

"I don't think that would have been the case," Entrapta said. "Unless they wanted to replace the old base."

Catra snorted. "That would have ruined the surprise, though. If we had found traces of such flooding, we would have been on our guard."

"Right!" Entrapta nodded emphatically.

"On the other hand," Catra went on, "We do know that the Jaffa improvised when we took out their explosives. So, maybe Heru'ur didn't discourage 'being clever'?" She looked at Teal'c.

The Jaffa inclined his head. "Indeed. It might be that Her'ur's known camaraderie with his warriors extends to trusting them with such… innovations. Using the lake to amplify the bomb's effect was an ingenious way to avoid using more refined Naquadah, after all."

"Great. We almost died under a tidal wave of mud because some Jaffa tried to impress his boss." O'Neill scoffed.

"Impressing your superior through outstanding deeds during battle, on the other hand, is generally encouraged." Teal'c tilted his head, and Catra caught his lips twisting into a hint of a smile. "This would have qualified, would it have worked."

"Yeah, sure. Maybe we did catch the one who thought of this and just didn't get around to interrogating them yet," O'Neill said. "But captured or killed, it's a good thing that this guy isn't serving Heru'ur any more."

Catra nodded in agreement. Clever enemies were a pain to deal with. It was much easier to defeat enemies who blindly followed orders. Or to be defeated with such troops.

At least whatever bastard had had this idea couldn't get away. They had control of the Stargate and the orbitals. And they were tracking every Jaffa on the planet through the Naquadah in their symbionts. Soon, the last of them would be captured. Or killed - Catra really didn't care what would happen to them as long as they were dealt with.

*****​

Northern Hills, PZ-921, January 13th, 1999 (Earth Time)

The Jaffa had picked a good location for their last stand, Jack O'Neill had to admit that. He studied the area with his binoculars. A narrow canyon between two steep hills - he'd call them mountains if not for Carter's insistence that they were not tall enough. Hell, he might call them mountains anyway. The valley was so narrow and twisted, and the hillsides so steep, sometimes with vast overhanging parts, that bombing runs and artillery strikes would have to rely on luck to hit the ground instead of the hills. A frontal assault would mean facing staff weapons and zats at close range - Jack wouldn't give even main battle tanks good odds of surviving that kind of crossfire. And rappelling down the hillsides… Unless you could suppress the ground, anyone could shoot you from below. Yeah, Heru'ur's Jaffa knew what they were doing.

But so did the Alliance. "I almost feel bad about this," he muttered as he lowered his binoculars.

"About offering them the chance to surrender?" Teal'c asked next to him.

"What? No," Jack replied. "That's just… You should always offer your enemy the chance to surrender if you can. People who have nothing left to lose fight the hardest." Heru'ur's Jaffa had already shown that in the mine.

"Indeed. But victory in battle generally goes not to those who fight the hardest, but those who fight with the most cunning."

"Yep."

Teal'c didn't say anything, but Jack didn't have to glance over to know his friend was waiting for him to answer his original question. He sighed. "It just feels… I've been there, you know? Sort of. Facing an enemy who outnumbers and outguns you, doing your best to outthink and outfight them, but still ending up trapped."

"In death ground, fight."

It figured that Teal'c would have read Sun Tzu. Jack snorted, then frowned."Was that from The Art of War, or did you hear that from a Jaffa teacher?"

"I quoted the book, but since this is a common piece of advice for anyone who would wage war, it will come as no surprise that I have heard this before, during my training," Teal'c replied.

"Ah." Jack nodded. "Anyway, it feels a bit like cheating since we can track every single Jaffa on the planet thanks to their symbiont. Then again, if you're not cheating in war, you're not fighting seriously." That was a lesson that Jack had taken to heart.

"There is sometimes a fine line between a cunning and a dishonourable plan."

That was Teal'c-speak for 'don't cheat with abandon', Jack knew. He shrugged in return. "We're not exactly breaking our word. And speaking of that… Are you sure that they will honour an attempt at parley?"

Teal'c tilted his head slightly to the left. "It would be very rare - almost unheard of - for any Jaffa to break a truce for parley without explicit orders from their superior."

"That's not really reassuring," Jack commented.

"I do not think it is very likely that Heru'ur would have left such orders for his warriors. Especially since they apparently assume we represent the forces of a rival Goa'uld - breaking your word in that manner when interacting with another System Lord would hurt his reputation amongst his peers and hinder any future diplomatic moves he might plan."

"That's still not too reassuring," Jack said.

"The false gods are not known for their honour."

"Yeah."

"But despite this, the Alliance will still make an attempt to parley." Teal'c sounded as if he approved.

"It's Adora." Jack snorted. "Of course, she can probably shrug off anything they can throw at her. As long as they don't parley in a mine or something."

"Indeed. And She-Ra and her friends will be prepared for treachery."

Mostly Catra, in Jack's opinion. "I just wish we could attend. But we're probably a bit too infamous amongst the Goa'uld. Would give the game away." He still expected to see his face on a Goa'uld wanted poster one of these days. If they had such things in the first place, of course.

Teal'c inclined his head. "A consequence of our many deeds in the war against the false gods. But I have trust in our friends. They are honourable and skilled."

Jack narrowed his eyes. "Do you honestly think they'll convince those guys to surrender instead of fighting to the last?"

"If it is possible at all, then I believe they can do it."

Jack snorted again. So, Teal'c didn't think either that Heru'ur's Jaffa would surrender. Of course, out of all of the other groups they had run down, they had only been able to capture those too wounded to fight on. And Jack didn't think there would be too many of those if it came to a fight here.

Damn, he really wanted to be at that meeting. Sure, he wasn't a magical princess who could shrug off cannon shots or teleport everyone to safety, but… he hated letting his friends risk their lives while he stayed safely behind! "Let's hope for the best."

"Indeed."

*****​

Near the canyon in the Northern Hills, PZ-921, January 13th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"For the record, I think this is a bad idea."

Adora suppressed the urge to roll her eyes at Catra's comment - they were walking up to the Canyon entrance where Heru'ur's remaining Jaffa were dug in, and if anyone was watching them through binoculars, she didn't want to show such a reaction.

"You've said that before," Glimmer said next to her.

"It bears repeating. And I'll still hurt whoever came up with this outfit."

Adora glanced to her right side and caught Cata pulling at her collar. Again. Privately, she thought her lover looked very attractive in the design. Although, maybe they should have picked less 'bling', as Jack put it - the white top and skirt combo was fine and let Catra's tail swish freely back and forth, an important consideration, but all the jewellery, especially the heavy ornamental collar that reached out to cover shoulders, were apparently not very comfortable.

"We're supposed to look like Goa'uld, so suck it up." Glimmer scoffed. "You don't hear me complaining, do you?

"You already had the look; all you needed was more jewellery and a bare midriff," Catra shot back.

"What did you say?"

"I said you already had the look."

It wasn't true - Adora was the one who had been able to keep her usual clothes, the white and gold aligning perfectly with what many Goa'uld would choose as colours. Not that she would have been able to change her outfit, anyway. But Glimmer had to change her usual clothes like Catra. Although she didn't have fur that could get caught up in all the metal links and meshes of the jewellery. And she was used to wearing elaborate clothes to make an impression. Catra was more used to making an impression with more casual clothes. Casual, but stylish and sexy clothes, Adora amended her thought with a smile, remembering the Princess Prom.

But they were now almost at the entrance of the canyon. "I think we're close enough," Adora said. "Let's wait for them to come to us." Far enough from the canyon to be outside the effective range of staff weapons.

"Or shoot at us," Catra added.

"Don't worry, I'll port us to safety before anyone can mess up your new look," Glimmer said.

"I'll use you as a human shield."

"Then I'll leave you behind."

Glimmer seemed to be a bit more nervous than she wanted to let on - Adora's friends were bickering more than usual. "Please…" Adora started to say.

"Quiet! Here they come!" Catra hissed.

Oh? Adora squinted her eyes. There was movement at the canyon. Two, no, three people emerging from the shadows.

"Jaffa. Same armour as the ones we fought," Catra commented.

"Well, who else could it be?" Glimmer asked.

"Infiltrators from Apophis?"

"None of our sources have reported that he had troops on the planet."

"They might have missed that like they missed the tsunami bomb."

"That was different."

"Guys…" Adora whispered. She could now see the Jaffa clearly as they approached. They looked… a bit scruffy. The metal of their armours wasn't polished but seemed to be covered in dust. Was that deliberate, or just the result of the Jaffa's trip through the wilderness?

She straightened a bit and raised her chin. She had to make the right impression on the Jaffa. They were used to Goa'uld claiming to be gods and demanding worship. She wouldn't do that, of course, but she had to project confidence if she wanted to be taken seriously.

The three Jaffa, all of them carrying staff weapons, approached until they were about ten paces away, then stopped and stared at Adora and her friends. Mostly at Catra - one of them whispered, but Adora couldn't make out what he said.

"They think I'm a 'Sekhmet', whatever that is. Something related to Bastet," Catra whispered.

Bastet? That was a System Lord, although a rather obscure one, as Adora recalled from her research on the enemy. But it was an opening.

She took a step forward. "I am She-Ra, Princess of Power. My companions are Glimmer, Queen of Bright Moon, and Catra."

The Jaffa tensed. "You are not Goa'uld," their leader told her.

Right, the voice. Well, Adora had never planned to lie during the negotiations - the Goa'uld style was just to make them come out to parley. She shook her head. "No, we aren't." She waited a moment. She didn't like doing this. But she didn't like to lie either. "I am a First One. You know them as the Ancients - the Gate Builders."

One of them, the youngest-looking, gasped. The others hissed through clenched teeth.

But their leader recovered quickly. "That is a bold claim. The Gate Builders have been gone for millions of years."

"Someone studied their history," Catra commented.

"Not all of us left," Adora said. "Some stayed. Some left this universe." That was technically correct - if you counted the pocket dimension Etheria had been sealed in by Mara. "But I have returned."

"To fight the gods?"

He still hadn't introduced himself or his companions, Adora noted. "To save the people. To free them from slavery," she replied. "We heard of a plan to massacre the people of this planet and intervened."

"Lies!" one of the younger Jaffa spat. "The Great Heru'ur would never do that to his loyal subjects!"

"It was one of his rivals," Adora told them. "Apophis, hoping to frame Sokar for the deed."

That didn't seem to surprise them, but they exchanged glances. Their leader spoke up again: "And you used the opportunity to attack while we fought them? Like a carrion eater?"

That… it wasn't like that!

"'Carrion eaters'?" Catra sneered. "We destroyed both Apophis's fleet and your paltry forces in space before they engaged each other, and we crushed you on the ground at the same time. You're all that's left of Heru'ur's forces."

"And you want us to surrender to you? Betray our god?"

Adora refrained from nodding. The Jaffa was right, but she knew better than to admit it right away. They had to be a bit more diplomatic about it if they wanted to convince the Jaffa to surrender.

"Because even if you don't surrender, you can't do anything for your god any more," she said. "You cannot fight us any more. You cannot hide, either - we know exactly where you are at any time."

She nodded Glimmer, and her friend disappeared in a shower of sparkles.

Once more, the Jaffa gasped - and even their leader looked surprised, maybe even shocked, when Glimmer reappeared a moment later with a bot in her hands.

She put it down, and a holographic projection appeared in front of it, showing the canyon - and the Jaffa inside it. All of them.

The Jaffa tensed up again, and the two younger ones glanced at each other. But their leader had regained his composure and frowned. "Every one of us is ready and willing to die in service of our god."

"Of course," Adora said, nodding. "But why should you die pointlessly? We have you surrounded, and we don't need to storm the canyon - we have ships in orbit that can simply destroy the entire area. Your death here wouldn't serve your god - or anyone else."

"It will serve as an example to others," their leader retorted. "Inspire them to do their utmost in service of the Great Heru'ur."

Adora clenched her teeth. They sounded like Horde Prime's clones. But the clones had learnt better, she reminded herself.

"To serve as an example, people have to hear about it," Catra pointed out with a snort. "And who do you think will tell them? Do you honestly expect us to spread the news?" She pointed at the holoprojection. "We can turn this into a crater, and no one will know. There's no settlement nearby, and the only other Jaffa on the planet are our prisoners. You won't inspire anyone - you'll simply vanish."

For a moment, Adora hoped that this would shake the Jaffa's fanatical loyalty.

But the older Jaffa shook his head with a glare. "Our god will know."

"Really?" Glimmer said. "How would he know? He didn't know about Apophis's plan, did he? Or about our attack. Why do you think he will know about your fate here?"

"When we appear in front of him in the afterlife, ready to be judged, we'll tell him."

Horde Prime sees all, Horde Prime knows all…

Adora had been afraid of this. If the Jaffa were convinced that they would meet their god in the afterlife, ready to be judged, then they wouldn't fear death. It would take more than a military defeat to shake their faith in their false god - but Heru'ur wasn't here for Adora and her friends to personally beat and expose as a fraud.

"And what will you tell him? That you had the chance to find out more about us but decided to die instead of doing your duty?" Catra asked, cocking her head and flashing her fangs at them.

"What?" They looked confused, even their leader.

"If you surrender, you become our prisoners. You will have the opportunity to observe us and our forces. Gather more information. If you die now, you won't really be able to tell your god anything useful."

"We can inform him that he is facing a Gate Builder."

"A claim you doubted yourself," Catra retorted. "Will you tell that to your god?"

Yes. Adora smiled as she saw the older Jaffa glance at his companions. If the Jaffa surrendered, even if they did so with the plan to spy on the Alliance, then Adora and her friends could work on teaching them the truth about the Goa'uld. And keep them from killing themselves.

But then the Jaffa straightened, raising his chin, and stared at them. "I will not be deceived by such trickery. I will face my god with my honour intact, and he will judge me fairly." He nodded, followed by the other two. "We will not surrender. This parley is over."

Adora clenched her teeth. This was so, so… pointless! They would die for Goa'uld lies!

Glimmer, also angry - Adora could tell - nodded in return. "Then that is your decision."

Adora wanted to scream at them, even plead for them to reconsider, see reason. This was just a senseless death. But that wouldn't have helped. Maybe if she had the power to turn the canyon into a field of wheat or something… but she didn't. So she nodded, curtly. "Goodbye then."

She felt Glimmer grab her hand, and a moment later, all of them were back at their field headquarters. All except the bot - she could see the feed from its sensors on the big screen here, showing the Jaffa walking back to the canyon.

"Well, some people are just too stupid to live," Catra commented.

Jack nodded. "Don't blame yourself. You did all you could to make them see reason."

Adora didn't believe him. She didn't quite know what else she could have done, but there had to be something. Anything. They couldn't just kill all the Jaffa for believing Goa'uld lies.

"So… time to blow up the canyon from orbit?" Jack asked. "Or just starve them out?"

"They would not surrender either way. If they were growing too weak to fight, they'll charge us," Teal'c said.

"Banzai charges. Yay." Jack scoffed.

Catra shrugged. "So, unless you found a way to take them out without killing them and risking our own soldiers' lives in the process, it's bombing time. At least that will be quicker than letting starve."

But it still wasn't right. "I'll do it," Adora said.

"Adora!" Catra hissed at her.

But Adora shook her head. This was her fault, so she would fix it. She would take them all down. If she couldn't convince them with words to see reason, then she would knock some sense into them with her sword.

*****​

Field Headquarters, PZ-921, January 13th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"I thought the whole idea was not to risk our soldiers trying to save our enemies' lives," the Colonel commented.

"I can deflect their staff blasts," Adora retorted. "Or shrug them off."

They had never specifically tested that, but Samantha Carter didn't doubt the claim - she knew from Entratpa and the others that She-Ra had taken worse than a staff blast.

"You're not invulnerable," Catra snapped. "And what if the Jaffa bring down the canyon on you?"

"They would have to have more explosives than we scanned and would have to prepare for that." Adora nodded at the holoprojection displaying the data from Sam and Entrapta's scanner. "They are spreading out, not concentrating."

Changing positions, probably hoping that we have bluffed about our scanners, Sam thought.

"They could get lucky," Catra insisted.

"If the canyon comes down, I can still jump out."

Now that was… not quite a boast, but Sam would prefer to see proof of that before accepting it.

"You'd need to be lucky yourself for that," Catra insisted. But she was scowling in a way that made Sam suspect she believed Adora.

"I can't just let them kill themselves because they think the Goa'uld are gods," Adora said.

Sam half-expected the Colonel to make a quip about how she totally could but didn't want to, but he just frowned at her. And Glimmer and Bow nodded, though they didn't seem to like it, either.

"Use zats?" Daniel suggested.

"You have to get fairly close with those in the first place, and in the Canyon with all those twists and turns and rocks littering the ground, you'd be almost in melee range anyway. It's the same for our shock rods." Catra shook her head.

"If we had some way to knock them unconscious without engaging them in close combat…" Bow trailed off and pressed his lips together.

Catra turned to glare at him. "If we had that, we'd save it for a more important mission than saving a bunch of fools from their own stupidity!"

"We could use it for both," Bow replied.

"We can't expect the enemy not to adapt to our plans and technology." Catra shook her head and turned back to glare at Adora. "But it's not just that they could get lucky, you also plan to knock them out. If you want to avoid killing or maiming them, you'll have to be far too careful to fight effectively. Especially with a shock rod or zat."

It was Adora's turn to scowl. "I have to at least try!" she shot back - but she sounded more desperate than determined.

Catra met her eyes for a moment, then blinked - and sighed. "No, you don't have to try. Others can do better. But we'll need the Stargate to bring them here. And we need a frigate."

"Oh?" Adora looked hopeful.

"What are you planning?" Glimmer asked.

"Something stupid and far too elaborate, so it'd be right up your alley," Catra replied. Then she started explaining.

It was the most absurd plan Sam had heard in a long time. Since her time at the Air Force Academy, actually. But she couldn't find a reason why it wouldn't work. And Entrapta agreed.

And, judging by the way he was shaking his head and muttering about 'Saturday morning cartoons', the Colonel had no good argument either.

*****​

Near the canyon in the Northern Hills, PZ-921, January 14th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"I don't want to hear any snarky comments. The only reason I have proposed this plan is to keep you from doing something stupid. If I had my way, we would be dropping bombs and blaster bolts on them until there's only a crater left of the entire canyon." Catra glared at Adora to emphasise her words. This was all her lover's fault. Everything. "The things I do for you…" she sighed.

In response, Adora hugged her. Which was nice. But it didn't quite make up for all the annoyances Catra had to deal with here. "I was the leader of the Horde. I directed tank divisions and fleets," she mumbled.

"Yes, you were," Adora replied. "Look, it's starting!"

Catra pulled back and looked up. In the distance - quite the distance, Catra had insisted Entrapta and Sam doubled it - a Horde frigate, Priest's flagship of the task force, actually, descended and opened up with her ventral broadside, lasers and blaster bolts striking the ground below, starting far outside the canyon range and drawing closer.

Catra hoped that the idiots in the canyon at least were scared by this. It would serve them right for making her do this. "We could have just used this on the canyon," she muttered.

Adora didn't comment as they watched the short bombardment.

"Your will has been done, Your Divine Highness!" Priest reported over the communicator as the frigate pulled up again.

"Thank you, Priest!" Adora replied cheerfully. "Entrapta?"

"One moment! The scanners need to adjust - all the power kind of disturbed the readings… ah, yes! Both the crater and the furrow match the projected data within tolerances! That means we can proceed with phase two!"

Of course, Entrapta would be excited about this. Sam and Bow were probably as enthusiastic but hid it better. Catra sighed again. "Proceed with phase two."

"Yes!"

"As the Chosen Consort of Her Divine Highness commands!"

Catra shot a frown at Adora, who steadily ignored it, then looked up again.

They didn't have to wait long. Glowing balls of not-quite-fire were quickly falling from the sky. "What a waste!" she complained as the first struck, throwing up a plume of ash quickly disturbed by the next impact. And the one after that. And the ones following them. She could feel the ground tremble slightly even at this distance. If the canyon collapsed from this… But it didn't. As the geologists they had called in for this had told them.

"The pattern of the craters adheres to our projections. Mostly. Some corrections are necessary. Transmitting data to you, Priest!"

"Thank you! Commence firing when ready!"

Shortly afterwards, the frigate reappeared in the sky and started firing her ventral guns into the smoke and dust concealing the impact area.

"Take care to melt the bits that are still solid!"

"Of course!"

Priest was enjoying this as much as Entrapta was, Catra realised. Of course, he was doing his goddess's work, so to speak, so she should have expected that. And he was probably already thinking of how to use this to convert the idiots in the canyon.

Well, that wasn't her problem.

"Mission accomplished!"

"The furrow is starting to fill!"

Adora was beaming.

Cara sighed again and pushed the button of her communicator. "Mermista, Frosta, you're up."

"Yes!"

"Finally!"

"This shall be a day to be remembered, my love!"

"Ugh, don't distract me!"

Catra shook her head and picked up her binoculars. She didn't want to miss the conclusion of this.

*****​

In a way, it was a fitting end to the campaign, Jack O'Neill was forced to admit as he watched the canyon through his own binoculars. Sure, Carter and Entrapta's sensors offered a detailed overview, but some things you had to see with your own eyes. And this hare-brained operation certainly qualified.

"All the ice has melted - or evaporated, but the losses are within expected tolerances," Carter reported. "The water's flowing into the furrow."

It was more like a canal, in Jack's opinion. Wide enough to let a few yachts pass. Sizeable ones, too. Of course, they wouldn't survive it right now - not with the current becoming a flash flood that would wreck even large boats as if they were toys.

Jack clenched his teeth as he remembered the tidal wave that had almost drowned them in the enemy base. This was different, he reminded himself. It wasn't nearly as powerful, for starters. And it was under control.

He still shuddered when he saw the water crest the edges of the new canal, foam covering the banks as the wave raced towards the canyon.

"The Jaffa in the canyon noticed the wave," he heard Catra comment from behind him. She was inside the headquarters, watching the holoprojection. "Look at them run."

"Some of the Jaffa are trying to climb the walls, Mermista!" Adora sounded concerned.

"That won't help them!" he heard the water princess's gleeful reply through his communicator.

"I meant, watch out so you don't accidentally kill them!" Adora retorted.

"Don't worry! I have it under control. Water is my element!"

"And beauty and grace!" the smuggler added.

Han Solo would have never said anything sappy like that. This really was more like a Saturday morning cartoon.

A deadly one, though, Jack amended his thought when he saw the water reach the end of the channel, close to the entrance of the canyon. There, walls made of ice appeared, catching the water and funnelling it towards the canyon like a huge… Jack couldn't actually think of a fitting word when he saw the water reach the canyon.

Now, against all laws of nature, the water slowed down. Instead of smashing into and through the canyon like a tsunami, crushing everything inside, killing the Jaffa by battering them against the stone walls before they could drown, it almost gently filled the valley.

It was still a force of nature, though - and even slowed down by magic, it still hit the Jaffa wherever they tried to hide and brace themselves, dragging them along. Still… They were literally using water to flush out the last enemies. Like in a goddamn cartoon.

"Oh, look at them go!" Catra chuckled.

"That must have hurt!" Adora added.

"Don't worry, I have it under control!"

"We know, Mermista!"

"There's one almost at the top of the canyon!"

"Don't worry - I've got him!"

Jack turned around and stepped inside the field headquarters to check the holoprojection. He just caught one Jaffa almost at the top of the canyon's walls suddenly freezing. Literally.

"Got him!" Frosta cheered over the communicator.

Jack pressed his lips together. The princess was a kid - a teenager. Barely old enough to drive, if at all. She shouldn't be here, on an alien planet, fighting a war against genocidal maniacs.

But she had already fought in such a war. And Jack knew very well what the response would be if he mentioned his opinion. As a princess, she was expected to fight. Noblesse oblige, Daniel called it. Jack called it using child soldiers. And to think that the Etherians didn't see anything wrong with it…

"Look, they've reached the end of the canyon!"

Right. On the projection, Jack saw the water spread out as it left the canyon, carrying the tiny figures representing the Jaffa with it.

"Watch this!" Frosta exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah."

And the figures started to freeze, like the climbing champion before. Soon the few dozen Jaffa were caught in ice, ready to be taken in. They would be freezing, probably suffering frost burn, but they were alive. And Adora could heal any wounds they suffered, anyway.

If not for the sheer absurdity of it, it would have been an almost anticlimactic ending of the operation, Jack thought as he saw the others cheer. Well, mostly the Etherians and the Junior officers in the headquarters. Percival nodded in his reserved way, the German general was openly gaping, and Bryce… looked as if he really wanted to drink himself into a stupor.

Jack grinned. There was nothing better to help cope with magical solutions than watching other people freak out at seeing it for the first time. Time to play the old hand at magic.

He stepped over to the radio and ordered the capture teams in.

*****​

Forward Base, Primary Mining Site, PZ-921, January 14th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"Ah, there is their idiot leader! Let's go rub it in how we destroyed them!"

"Catra!" Adora frowned at her lover. "We're not going to 'rub it in' or anything like that!" They were better than that! "We're going to check if they're OK or need healing."

"Bah! We've had to go to great lengths to take them alive, and it was all my work! Gloating about it is the least I deserve!"

Adora shook her head. "Technically, it was Mermista and Frosta's work."

"They wouldn't even be here if not for my plan." Catra scoffed. "Not that they'd thank me for letting them show off."

Uh. Adora suppressed a wince. She didn't know how serious Catra's complaint was - her lover sometimes tried to hide concerns about her relationship with the other princesses in the Alliance, out of guilt or shame - but it was a touchy subject. Better to change it. "Anyway, Mermista and Frosta did their best, but many Jaffa still got hurt, so we have a duty to check on them and treat their wounds if necessary."

"Sure, sure." Catra grinned. "And it's a great way to convert them."

Adora narrowed her eyes at her - Catra knew what she thought about being worshipped - but before she could say anything, her lover went on: "I mean, convert to our cause, of course."

"Ah." Adora nodded. That was better.

But then Catra's grin widened, showing her fangs. "And I am sure that Priest has already plans to convert them to worshipping you."

This time, Adora did wince. She knew Priest was planning that - she had heard him talk about the captured Jaffa being marked by her, chosen to live where other enemies died. Yes, he wanted to convert them. And healing them would only make that worse.

But it was still the right thing to do. She straightened, lifting her chin, as they approached the fenced-in area where the prisoners were temporarily housed before they could be moved to a more secure - and more remote - planet without a Stargate which would serve as a central prison camp.

"And now let's hope they are still too shaken to compound their stupidity and attack us," Catra muttered. Adora didn't have to glance at her to know she was checking that the guards were attentive and ready to intervene.

Which was common sense, of course - the prisoners hadn't actually surrendered and so weren't honour-bound to behave. At least in theory; Adora knew that Catra had her doubts about how much trust could be put into that; she hadn't been shy about sharing them. But for now, the Jaffa seemed to be behaving.

The American guards at the gate in the chainlink fence topped with razorwire - NATO-style - saluted them but quickly turned their attention back to the prisoners, who had also noticed them. They weren't gathering at the gate, but Adora could see all of them staring at her.

Well, she had weathered worse. She smiled gently as the gate was opened, and they stepped inside.

"If they try something, don't hesitate - just crush them," Catra whispered next to her. "They had their chance."

Adora nodded. As if she would risk her love getting hurt. She could summon her sword with a thought if she needed it.

Their leader - Anok; they had gotten his name while the prisoners had been processed - rose from where he had apparently been meditating. "She-Ra, Princess of Power. Catra." He bowed. Not quite as deep as Priest loved to bow, but it was more respectful than Adora had expected.

"Anok." Adora nodded at him. "How are you? Do you require healing?"

He stood ramrod straight. "I do not."

She could see that he had several bandages on his limbs, like most of the prisoners - the result of being scraped along rocks by the water - and thought about healing everyone anyway. But that would be… rude, probably. Or something. "If you do, please call me. Every prisoner has the right to medical aid."

He inclined his head very slightly, like Teal'c sometimes did, and Adora was sure he wasn't planning to ask for help. Too proud, probably.

She suppressed a sigh. They were talking, and he wasn't cursing her or her friends or trying to attack them. And the other prisoners didn't look hostile either. Things were going better than she had feared, she reminded herself.

"Still doubting our claims?" Catra asked with a smirk.

Adora pressed her lips together. They had talked about this! And just when she had thought that things were going well!

But Akon tilted his head and looked at Adora. "I stand corrected. The way you have captured us all… Whether you are a Gate Builder or not, you have demonstrated that you are a goddess."

Adora blinked, and Catra chuckled next to her. That was… Well, it made sense for someone who thought the Goa'uld were gods, but it was still wrong!

"I am no goddess," she corrected him.

He nodded in return. "As you say." His expression was… far too close to the one Priest often had on his face when talking to her, she realised.

"You've heard the clones talk during transport," Catra said.

"As you told us, we kept our eyes and ears open to gather information in captivity." Anok managed to sound both smug and respectful at the same time as he bowed his head once more.

Adora clenched her teeth. She hadn't meant it like that!

Catra was chuckling again. Louder this time.

Adora had been wrong. Things weren't going better than she had feared. Not at all.

*****​
 
Chapter 81: The Intervention Part 6
Chapter 81: The Intervention Part 6

Forward Base, Primary Mining Site, PZ-921, January 14th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"...and now they think I am a goddess! And some think that's funny!"

Samantha Carter knew who Adora was complaining about - Catra hadn't even tried to hide her amusement. Sam didn't share it, though. Religious matters tended to be complicated and troublesome. And converts were often the most zealous and, therefore, the ones presenting the greatest potential problem.

"It is funny," Catra insisted. "Especially since they think you controlled the water and ice."

"Ugh. All that work, and I don't get credit?" Mermista complained.

"We have to set the record straight!" Frosta agreed.

"You just want to be also worshipped as goddesses," Catra told them with a snort.

"I already worship you, my love!"

"Ugh, not like that."

"However you want, my dear Mermista!"

Sam suppressed a frown. Mermista and Sea Hawk were… they were a couple, that much was obvious, but the way they acted together had Sam wondering how stable their relationship was. The last time she had seen that kind of dynamic had been in high school. And both Mermista and Sea Hawk were in their twenties. Of course, she wasn't exactly an expert on relationships. Or romance. Not even second-hand. And they weren't American, or even from Earth, so they would have different customs, but neither Adora and Catra nor Glimmer and Bow acted like that. Nor did Entrapta and Hordak, but Sam did her best to ignore that relationship.

"Well, if we could tone down the RomCom dialogue a little?" the Colonel spoke up. He sounded annoyed, Sam noted. More than she had expected. "We do have a few dozen prisoners to deal with. Prisoners, I'll note, who might think they could suicide to pass on intel to their leader."

Adora winced at that. "Sorry."

"It's not our fault," Catra said with a scowl. "They came up with that themselves. Before we even talked to them."

"However it happened, we have to deal with this," General Percival said. "We cannot let our prisoners kill themselves - we have a duty towards their welfare."

"If they want to kill themselves, that's their business," General Bryce disagreed. "Some even think that's their right." He shrugged. "Let them kill themselves if they want to."

"That's incredibly callous! You cannot compare this to an informed decision to commit suicide - they honestly think they will meet their god in the afterlife!" Daniel blurted out. "We can't let them kill themselves over such a lie!"

"Indeed." Teal'c nodded.

"Are we going to restrict their freedom of religion?" Bryce asked.

Sam couldn't tell if the general was actually serious, but she was surprised to see Daniel blink and hesitate. "It's not like that," Daniel said after a moment. "We know that the Goa'uld lie to their slaves about being gods. This is more… like a scam."

"Well, it's not the first religion that is actually a scam," the Colonel said.

Daniel tilted his head slightly to the side. "Actually, the Goa'uld might be the first such scam - at least the first we know about. It's certainly the biggest."

Sam had to smile at that - and at the Colonel's expression.

"Of course, that depends on how you see the various religions on Earth," General Soissant pointed out. "But I think we have a less theological and more practical problem to solve since even if the prisoners would convert, it's unlikely that they would do so very quickly, so the threat of at least some of them killing themselves remains. That wasn't anticipated in planning, so I fear our procedures will be insufficient."

Sam made a mental note to address this in the debriefing.

"We can keep them under guard and intervene when we notice an attempt at suicide," General Müller suggested. "That's standard practice, anyway."

"You would not be quick enough to stop a Jaffa from killing another at their request," Teal'c told him. "You would have to isolate all of them, and even then, there are ways to kill oneself quickly, almost instantly, if one is determined and skilled enough."

Which Jaffa generally were.

"Scheisse!" the German cursed under his breath. "That would violate their rights as well. Isolation is torture," he added.

"Isolating prisoners is justified if it's necessary to save their lives," General Percival objected. "If they are endangered by the other prisoners, for example. Which would be the case here."

"They'd still suffer, though," Glimmer pointed out.

"But they'd live." General Bryce rolled his eyes. "We can only do so much."

It was clear that the Etherians disagreed, but they didn't seem to have better ideas on how to handle this. Sam couldn't help them, either. She might be able to rig up bots to surveil the prisoners and intervene if needed, but that wouldn't prevent a trained Jaffa from killing someone else with one blow. Even in handcuffs. And if they were put in restraints around the clock…

"We need to talk to them as soon as possible," Daniel said. "And we need to make them see that the Goa'uld are false gods."

He was correct, of course - but Sam didn't know how they could do this. Not quickly and efficiently enough to avoid hurting the prisoners one way or the other.

On the other hand, while the Etherians and Daniel clearly hated it, sometimes, there was no easy or simple solution to a problem. Especially in a war.

*****​

Should they let the prisoners kill themselves or keep them alive, even if that meant treating them cruelly? Catra didn't know what would be worse. They are enemies, she told herself, and if they want to die, we can oblige them - it's not our fault. But it rang hollow. The Jaffa had been raised to blindly follow their leaders - worship them as gods, even. They didn't know any better. Couldn't know any better.

Catra knew how that worked. Sure, she had seen through the Horde propaganda, even as a cadet, but she hadn't really realised that there were better ways to live. To fight. Alternatives that were available in the Princess Alliance. And when she had realised that, she had been too angry, too proud, too stupid to take them. So much pain and hurt, just because she hadn't been smart and strong enough…

She pressed her lips together and forced herself to focus on the problem at hand. This was an opportunity to change things. For the better. "It's not going to be easy to convince them that they were lied to and manipulated their whole life," she said. Oh, how she knew how that felt! Shadow Weaver had been a master of manipulation, playing her like a fiddle. Her and Adora. "And it's not going to be quick."

"We know that," Glimmer said. "That's why we're looking for more effective solutions."

"Yeah." Catra took a deep breath. "I have an idea, but you're going to hate it." This wasn't going to be pretty.

Glimmer narrowed her eyes at her. As did O'Neill, who muttered something about already having hated her plan to capture them.

Catra ignored both and looked at her lover. Adora would hate it. But Adora would hate it even more if those idiots killed themselves after they had gone to all that effort to take them alive. "You're going to have to put the fear of god into them."

"What?" Adora blinked.

"What do you mean?" the American general asked.

"Or, to be more precise, the fear of goddess," Catra went on. "If you make them think that even in death, they can't join their god, then they will have fewer reasons to kill themselves."

"You want me to make them think I'm a goddess!" Adora blurted out. "You want me to lie to them!"

"Yes." Catra nodded. "As long as it keeps them alive long enough to make them see the truth."

"But…" Adora pressed her lips together in that pouting way she used when she didn't know what to say. "It would be based on a lie. I'd manipulate them," she added with a scowl.

Like Shadow Weaver. Catra suppressed a wince and slowly nodded. "If it keeps them from killing themselves? And they already think you're a goddess - even after you denied it to their face." If the enemy was making a mistake, you were supposed to exploit it, after all.

Adora clenched her teeth - Catra could see her jaw muscles twitch.

"Converting them would facilitate turning them to our side," Soissant cut in.

"We wouldn't be any better than the Goa'uld if we did that," Adora said, glaring at him. "We cannot earn their trust by lying to them. Honesty is the best policy."

Oh for… Catra frowned at the idiot. "You don't have to lie. It's true that when they die, they won't meet their god since he's a fraud."

"They won't believe that," O'Neill said. "That's the problem."

"They believe that you're a goddess, though. So, you've got better credibility," Catra pointed out to her lover.

"But in their religion, the Goa'uld struggle with each other and resort to lies and trickery," Daniel said. "They would expect a rival goddess to lie to them to make them convert."

Catra shrugged again. "It's worth a try. It can't hurt, anyway, can it?"

"It still feels wrong to let them think I am goddess," Adora complained.

"And it would make converting them to a real religion harder," the American General, Bryce, pointed out.

That was… Catra narrowed her eyes. "A real religion?"

"One that isn't a scam with false gods," Bryce replied.

"But how do you prove that a god isn't false?" Bow asked.

Bryce frowned at him but took a moment to answer: "We're talking about the Goa'uld here. They claim to be gods, which is provably false." He looked at Adora. "And it's also true that you're no goddess."

"Of course not!" Adora nodded emphatically.

"That actually depends on your definition of godhood," Daniel said. He looked a bit taken aback when he realised that everyone was staring at him - especially Adora. But he rallied quickly. "I mean, many so-called pagan religions have deities who aren't, in myth and lore, omnipotent like the Abrahamic god. Just very powerful. She-Ra would fit those definitions."

Adora blinked, and Catra had to suppress a chuckle at her expression. This particular point had been brought up before, but Adora seemed determined to ignore it.

"You could honestly claim to be a demi-goddess of old?" Daniel suggested. His tentative smile faded away at Adora's scowl, though.

"I don't want to be worshipped!" Adora insisted.

"You could get a TV show instead?" Jack grinned. "Warrior Princess She-Ra? There's good money in that."

"An how would you know about that, Jack?" Daniel asked.

"I've got a TV and I need to watch something when there's no Hockey on."

"Sure, sure."

"I'm not sure we should push ancient religions on other civilisations," Sam pointed out. "We might end up playing into the hands of Goa'uld who have taken up the mantle of Greek gods."

"We're not going to push any religion on them," Adora said, still scowling.

"Does that mean you'll prohibit your followers from proselytising?" Bryce asked.

"That might infringe their freedom of religion," Daniel added before Adora could answer.

"I am aware of that. Which is why I won't do it," she told them. "But I don't want to be worshipped as a goddess!"

It sounded a bit whiny instead of firm. Catra was sure Adora would end up doing something like what they were discussing. Eventually.

*****​

Jack O'Neill generally didn't like rushing into things. Not when things were serious, at least. Sure, he was good at thinking on his feet, and flying by the seats of your pants and succeeding was an incredible feeling - he was honest enough to admit both - but only if you actually succeeded. And even then, odds were a rush job wasn't as efficient as a well-planned action, and in a war, efficiency was often measured in lives. Yours and the enemies'.

The enemies', in this case, Jack thought when he approached the temporary prison camp with his Daniel and the Etherians. If they failed at this, many Jaffa would kill themselves. And while Jack usually didn't care too much about the enemy, it was a fact that the Jaffa were - most of them, at least - fighting for the Goa'uld because they were indoctrinated from birth and didn't know any better.

But that didn't make them innocent. "Don't forget that all of them have blood on their hands - innocent blood," he commented. The snakes used their Jaffa not only to fight their rivals but also to oppress their slaves. "And they never questioned their 'god'." Unlike Teal'c. Who should be here but wasn't since his presence might enrage the prisoners or something.

He noticed Catra tensing up and clenched his teeth. She had blood on her hands as well. Jack knew more than enough by now, just based on what he heard when talking with the Etherians, to be sure. She had switched sides, like Teal'c, though she obviously still felt guilty about it. Which made Jack wonder how Teal'c felt about his time as Apophis's First Prime.

"Questioning your god isn't exactly encouraged in many religions," Daniel pointed out. "Not to the degree that would qualify as critical thinking in the modern sense. That your god was real was generally considered beyond doubt. So, I don't think we can hold that against them. Many religious texts also contain atrocities that are portrayed as good and moral."

"I'm aware of that," Jack told him.

"Most but not all religions." Priest smiled serenely, then bowed his head towards Adora. "As you taught us, you should never blindly follow anyone, Your Divine Highness. We follow you not out of blind faith, but conviction born from observation."

That was a load of bull, in Jack's opinion. The clone had all the markings of a zealot, and zealots were all about 'don't question or insult my religion, or else!'. He really would have preferred it if the fanatic wasn't with them, but the others thought it was better to introduce Priest to the prisoners while Adora was present to rein him in if needed. Or, as Jack suspected was the case with that bastard Bryce, thought the plan would work better with someone eager to convert them tagging along since Adora might not be fully behind it.

But they had reached the gates. Time to put up a unified front, Jack thought as he saluted the guards there - Military Police from the Army. All of them would have been briefed about the Jaffa's capabilities, but Jack knew from experience at Stargate Command that new recruits always underestimated the enemy. He would usually let Teal'c show them up close how dangerous Jaffa could be, but that didn't work on the scale of entire divisions being sent to land on alien planets.

"She-Ra, Princess of Power," Akon greeted them inside the camp. He bowed to her before addressing the others. "Catra. Queen Glimmer." Nods for them. "Colonel O'Neill." Another nod. He didn't stare at Priest, but the prisoners had met the clones before, when they were shuttled to the camp, so Priest would not stand out.

"I see my reputation precedes me," Jack replied before he could help himself.

"Yes." Akon inclined his head. "So, the Tau'ri have allied with rival gods. Or were you working for them the whole time?"

"It's a recent thing," Jack said. "You know, with Goa'uld being enemies of all we believe in and stuff, it just seemed the obvious thing to do." He shrugged with a grin.

"We're allies - they aren't our subordinates," Adora said with a frown.

Jack nodded. This wasn't the time to disagree about that, even though she was glossing over the power imbalance.

"Akon, these are Daniel Jackson. Princess Frosta, Princess Mermista and… Priest," Adora introduced the others.

Daniel smiled at them, Frosta waved with a cocky smirk, and Mermista nodded with an almost bored expression.

"Greetings, Akon of Heru'ur." Priest bowed.

"We've heard about your kind," Akon told him. "There were rumours of an upheaval in your realm."

Jack made a mental note. That was good intel. They had known that the Goa'uld knew about Horde Prime, but this confirmed that they kept tabs on the maniac's territory.

"Yes." Priest nodded, his smile never changing. "Horde Prime attacked Our Divine Highness and was struck down by her in return, freeing us from his tyranny. We've been following her since that day, guided by her wisdom."

That set the other Jaffa whispering. Jack would have to ask Catra later about what they were saying.

Akon, though, tuned to face Adora. "You have not struck down Heru'ur."

"I have not even met him yet," Adora told him.

"And yet, you wish to replace him."

"No!" Adora shook her head. "I do not wish to replace him - I wish to free his slaves so they can make their own decisions. All his slaves."

"Power shouldn't be desired for power's sake, but only as a means to do good," Priest chimed in.

Adora slowly nodded, so that was probably a direct quote of hers or she would have agreed more enthusiastically. She also looked a bit… embarrassed?

Akon glanced at Priest, then looked at Adora again. He didn't say anything, but he lifted his eyebrows.

Adora flushed, definitely embarrassed now, and Jack thought, once again, that letting Priest tag along had been a mistake.

*****​

It wasn't like that! Not at all! The Jaffa were getting it all wrong! Adora had to correct Akon's… well, he hadn't said it, so it wasn't a claim, though he had implied it. But when she opened her mouth to tell him, she felt Catra's claws lightly pricking her thigh. Oh.

She took a deep breath and stared at Akon. "You respect Heru'ur because he fights at your side."

Akon nodded without saying anything - though he seemed to look a bit wary now.

"That is called leading by example," Adora went on. Horde cadet training had taught her that, though it had been a bit of a mixed bag in practice. "I help people. I don't expect to be obeyed or worshipped for it. I don't want to be worshipped. I am not looking for followers. I just want to do what's right. And lying to people to make them obey you isn't right. Nor is enslaving them."

"Loyalty is a privilege, not a right." Priest nodded again.

At least he hadn't said obedience. Not that he was particularly obedient, anyway. Well, he sort of was, but in an annoying way.

"Our god has earned our loyalty," Akon retorted.

"Has he?" Catra asked. "What did he do for you to earn your loyalty? He fights at your side, you said? But why do you fight? To protect yourself and your family, or because he orders you to fight?" She cocked her head with a snort.

Akon raised his chin, jaw set. "He guides us and will judge us after death, rewarding or punishing us as we deserve in the afterlife."

"He says he does that. But can he prove it? Promising a reward you don't plan on ever paying out is the oldest scam in the world," Catra told him. "And he doesn't even have to prove he has your reward since you're supposed to get it in the afterlife, so you can't check beforehand." She scoffed. "That's the perfect scam."

Daniel and Jack looked a bit weird, Adora noticed, but she focused on Akon.

The Jaffa shook his head. "Our god provides for us. He bestows his gifts on us in return for our loyalty."

"What gifts?" Glimmer spoke up. "Healing, food and weapons? That's just supplying your army. That's not a gift, that's part of your pay."

Akon narrowed his eye at her. "It is not merely payment, but a sacred exchange. His divine power provides for us, and we repay it with our service."

"And there lies the difference," Priest nodded. "Our Divine Highness offers her help freely, yet we do not depend on her generosity. We meet our own material needs. And when she does help us, it is without any expectation of a reward. It is not an exchange, but truly a gift." He smiled, though a little sadly. "Ask anyone who served under Horde Prime, the false god, and they will tell you the same. As she said: It is by their deeds, not their promises, that you shall know people."

Adora was pretty sure she had never said that. But… that didn't make it wrong, did it? You should judge people according to what they did, not what they claimed. So she nodded. "Yes. I don't fight to make people obey and follow me - I fight to free them. To let them make their own decisions, to control their own lives. Humans and Jaffa," she added.

"And yet you do attempt to sway us from our chosen path." Akon narrowed his eyes at her.

"Because you were lied to and manipulated!" she said, a bit more forcefully than she had planned. "You need to know the truth to make your own decision."

"Yes. A decision based on lies is no decision at all, but just the illusion of one - another lie, in other words," Priest added.

"And yet, for all your claims that our god is lying to us, you have no proof at all." Akon shook his head. "Why should we believe you?"

"Ugh!" Mermista rolled her eyes. "That's not how it works. If you demand payment for something, you need to prove your claim. That's basic contract law."

"Our loyalty to our god is not a contract!" Akon spat. "Do not profane our faith like that!"

"It's based on a lie!" Adora blurted out. "He's no god! He is using technology to fool you - technology that he didn't even invent himself but copied from others!"

"So you claim." Akon sneered. "I await your proof."

That was… Did she have to drag Heru'ur here and beat the truth out of him? No, that wouldn't work. For several reasons.

Priest took a step forward. He was smiling, Adora noted. "Have you seen the Divine Fields? They are proof of her power. Where once was just devastation, irradiated mud and silt covering, poisoning the land, now fertile fields cover the ground as far as you can see. Magic was restored to the planet as well, rightening a wrong that was done a thousand years ago. Have you asked the people saved from certain death in the mines? The people healed of the ailments stemming from years of abuse?" He turned to look at her. "Look upon Her Divine Highness! Observe her deeds! She could have killed you all, yet she decided to spare you. To save you. There is your proof! Open your eyes, and look at it! And look at yourself, and your beliefs, and you will be able to tell truth from lie." Priest bowed to Adora, then nodded at the assembled Jaffa.

Adora tried not to blush while she nodded. This wasn't how she would have put it, but she couldn't think of anything else to add.

Akon shook his head. "Your words won't sway us! We are loyal!"

The Jaffa around them nodded, but… Adora thought that they looked a bit doubtful. Some of them, at least.

It wasn't much, but it was something.

*****​

Forward Base, Primary Mining Site, PZ-921, January 14th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"...so, it doesn't look like we had any success. They're just too indoctrinated - they refuse to see the truth." Adora shook her head while she paced in front of the big screen in the headquarters, blocking Samantha Carter's view of the drone feed.

"People generally don't change religion so quickly or easily," Daniel pointed out. "We can't expect Jaffa to just take our word on Heru'ur being a false god. Deprogramming them, so to speak, will take time."

Sam checked that no one could see her screen and then connected her laptop to the drone feed. She was a physicist, not a sociologist - there wasn't much she could add to this debate.

"The entire point of our plan was to make them change their views quickly, before they start killing themselves to report to their god in the afterlife," Catra retorted. "So, in that, it was a failure."

"My failure, you mean." Adora sighed. "I was supposed to convince them, and I failed."

"It was my plan, my failure," Catra objected.

Sam checked the progress on the gate site while the two tried to claim the blame for their supposed failure. Entrapta and Sam had improved on the original Etherian design by having the gate be effectively buried in the ground while not in use. It was a bit more complicated than simply lowering it to the ground and back up again, but nothing too advanced. Well, handling the gate would be a problem for a pre-industrialised society, but, in theory, a team of draft animals could replace the machines they had designed for the purpose, though they would need very strong ropes to pull it off.

She almost snorted at her unintentional pun - the Colonel would have loved pointing it out to her.

Daniel, ever the optimist, still tried to put a good spin on their visit. "We did seed some doubts amongst at least a few of the Jaffa. Or that was my impression - I am no expert, of course, but Jaffa aren't that different from humans. So, we might see dissenters amongst the prisoners in the future." He blinked. "Oh. We probably should be prepared for violence once the first Jaffa start voicing doubts about the divinity or honour of Heru'ur."

"Indeed." Teal'c nodded. "Those still blinded by their false god's lies will consider such doubts treason and react accordingly."

Which meant violently.

"Well, we're already preparing to keep them from killing themselves or each other to snitch to their god, so it shouldn't be hard to cover normal murder as well." The Colonel shrugged. "It's just a different motive, same result."

Adora sat down, sighing again, Sam noticed. "I should have done more to convince them. I could have healed them all, but…"

"...that might have killed their symbionts," Bow pointed out with a wince. "We still don't know how your healing will react to symbionts."

"And the Jaffa are used to the false gods providing healing, although not on that scale," Teal'c added. "I doubt that it would have noticeably improved your credibility amongst them since they already consider you a goddess."

Or at least claimed they did. Sam wasn't quite convinced that the Jaffa really believed that Adora was a goddess. They might just be playing along. But she wasn't an expert on Jaffa society, much less their religion. Or any religion. But, speaking of symbionts… "We also need to prepare in case any of the prisoners' symbionts are about to mature," she said. "That will either leave the symbiont in control of the Jaffa's body or, if we extract it, leave the Jaffa without a working immune system." Which was a death sentence unless the symbiont could be replaced. Even placing the subject in a sterile environment would only offer a temporary solution.

"Indeed." Teal'c calmly nodded, his expression not showing any indication that he, too, had this fate hanging over him, although he had a few years left before it would become urgent in his case.

"Yeah. If the snakes start hatching, it will get messy." The Colonel nodded.

"Oh, no!" Adora looked aghast. "We need to find a way to replace their symbionts - with something else, I mean. Not with another symbiont."

"We could build an artificial immune system?" Entrapta suggested. "Or… The First Ones were great at genetic engineering. Alpha's data might contain something helpful. Maybe we could create a species that could replace a symbiont without being a symbiont." She perked up. "One that could provide its benefits to anyone! If we make it dumb, so it can't take over anyone, that would be OK, right?" She beamed at the others.

Sam suppressed a wince. In theory, creating a species that wasn't sapient - nor sentient, ideally - would be ethically acceptable. But the ramifications of such an action… Even leaving aside the expected protests against 'playing god' from the religious conservatives, and the fear-mongering about parasites and genetic engineering in general from the usual suspects, such a symbiont would increase the human lifespan significantly, and the effects of that on society…

Sam wasn't a sociologist, but she didn't need to be one to see the problems that could cause. Especially if it was too expensive to be offered to everyone.

But the Etherians were nodding in obvious agreement with Entrapta.

Sam sighed. Of course, they wouldn't consider that. She'd have to explain.

*****​

"...and so releasing such a symbiont to the public would need to be handled very carefully to avoid widespread unrest."

Catra blinked when Sam finished her explanation. Earth was so weird - whenever she thought she had a handle on the planet, something else popped up that made her wonder what was wrong with that planet. On the other hand, she should have expected this particular problem after the whole healing issue.

Entrapta, though, looked confused. "But… it's going to benefit everyone! People would be healthier! Live longer and better!"

Catra sighed. "But not everyone would get it right away, and that will cause problems."

"Riots," Bow said, looking grim.

"Seriously?" Mermista shook her head. "Just make it go to those who are so sick, they need it the most."

The princess didn't have any experience with Earth, Catra reminded herself.

"There are too many who need a symbiont," Adora said. "Earth has eight billion people."

"And most of them aren't good at sharing," Catra added with a snort.

"Well… there are historical reasons for that. Resources on Earth have always been distributed rather unfairly," Daniel said. "Even in the most, ah, advanced countries."

"How so?" Mermista frowned. "Don't you have that democracy system where the majority of the people decide what you do?"

"That's not a guarantee that resources are distributed fairly," Daniel told her. "And it's currently limited to individual countries - Earth doesn't have a global democratic government. So, if a country, say, offers universal healthcare to its citizens - and residents - that only covers that country. Historically, many countries waged war over resources, and while that has fallen out of use and has been condemned as a practice by the United Nations for decades, it has not stopped less violent forms of exploitation."

"Yeah, yeah," O'Neill cut in. "Things aren't all sunshine and rainbows on Earth. But we're working on improving the situation. It just takes time, and the whole war with half the galaxy thing isn't helping."

"The United States is one of the richest countries on Earth and still has no universal healthcare," Daniel retorted. "And we've had decades of peace to work on that. It's not that easy to change the mind of people," he added. "It took official contact with aliens, I mean, Etheria, something unprecedented in history, and the threat of being left behind by other countries to push through more progressive laws in the United States in record time - which still took months."

Mermista gaped at him. Catra wished she could take a picture of the princess.

"They don't like change - any change," Glimmer said, rolling her eyes at Mermista.

"That's the conservatives," Daniel objected. "The progressives wish for faster change, but in our - the United States' - political system, any change is often slow, the result of changes in society and political compromises."

"We also have seen a lot of examples of what can go wrong when the local supreme leader makes hasty or stupid decisions," O'Neill added. "And the whole 'everyone gets the same resources' plan didn't really work out well for the communists, so everyone involved abandoned it for capitalism as soon as they were free to do so."

"But there are many different ways of building a capitalist society. The Nordic model, for example, is drastically different compared to the United States model," Daniel said.

"What's the Nordic model?" Frosta asked.

"The political and economic system of the Nordic countries - Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden," Daniel explained.

"Are they located in the North?"

Catra rolled her eyes. "They're not like your kingdom," she told Frosta. "And we were talking about new symbionts that don't take over your body while still providing the benefits." She scoffed. "We can discuss the absurdity of Earth politics later."

"And, so far, those symbionts are just a project." Sam nodded at Entrapta. "We can worry about how to introduce them to Earth once we actually have them finished - and the Jaffa would get them first, anyway, since they depend on symbionts for their immune system."

"Yes!" Entrapta smiled. "But we should get started on that as soon as possible - we can't let prisoners die or get taken over by a Goa'uld, right?"

No, they could not. To lose control of your body was a fate worse than death. Catra clenched her jaws, remembering Horde Prime.

"And once we have enough for everyone, people won't get upset any more, right?" Entrapta smiled.

Catra scoffed again. "They'd still get upset because they don't want one."

"But no one would be forced to take one," Entrapta pointed out.

"They would still get upset. It's their thing."

"It's not quite that bad, not for the majority, at least, but…" Daniel grimaced. "There is a vocal minority on Earth, divided into different groups, who think everyone should live their lives exactly like their particular group does."

A very vocal minority. "We can show you some recordings," Catra told Mermista. "But can we focus on the problems at hand?"

Really, she never had trouble with long meetings when she had been running the Horde. Of course, the whole thing had ended in utter failure, and it had been all her fault as the sole leader, unlike how things had been run in the Alliance…

She still hated those discussions and meetings, though, whether they were useful or not.

And this meeting seemed doomed to be stuck in the 'not useful' category.

*****​

Outside the Primary Mining Site, PZ-921, January 14th, 1999 (Earth Time)

Jack O'Neill shaded his eyes with his hand as he watched the sun set over the mountains in the distance. It looked very peaceful. If he squinted, he could spot, illuminated by the fading dusk, the hills where the Jaffa had been captured. If not for the noise from the base behind him, full of soldiers and vehicles, construction still going on in the perimeter, he could pretend he was alone on an alien planet, just enjoying the sunset. Almost like being in his cabin, just him and nature.

And footsteps behind him. He turned, hand on the carbine dangling from its sling. Sure, Carter and Entrapta had found no more Jaffa with their magic scanner, but Jack knew better than to assume that his only enemies were snakes. Even his friendship with the Etherians, who would investigate his death thoroughly, might not deter everyone he had pissed off in the past - and some of them had the resources to reach this planet. Not many, but…

"Jack?"

He sighed and relaxed. "Daniel?"

"Ah, there you are!" His friend appeared in the underbrush, pushing through with some difficulties. His woodcraft was still atrocious. Then again, he had spent most of his time in the wilderness in the desert.

"Yes, here I am. Enjoying the sunset." Jack swallowed the 'no longer alone' comment he wanted to add - Daniel would take it as an invitation to ask what was wrong.

"Ah, yes." Daniel nodded, brushed off a twig that had gotten stuck on his uniform, and joined him on the small ridge he had been using to shield himself from the base. "It's pretty," he commented after a moment of pushing his glasses up and fidgeting.

Jack sighed. "So, what brings you out here?" It couldn't be anything official, or Daniel would have told him straight away. If they had sent him out to fetch Jack in the first place, of course. So, it was something private.

"Ah…" Daniel cleared his throat.

"Out with it, Daniel, so I can continue to enjoy the sunset in peace."

"Well, I can leave and ask you later… it's not really, ah, time-critical…"

And Jack would wonder what his friend wanted to talk about - away from the others - for the rest of the evening. He shook his head. "Just ask away."

"Ah, OK." Daniel nodded. "So… This is what a war looks like, huh?"

Jack frowned. Daniel was still working himself up to talk about what he really wanted to ask. "Yep."

"Fleet battles, planetary invasions, fortresses being constructed, planets being liberated…" Daniel sighed.

"I didn't think you had a problem with that." Jack raised his eyebrows.

"I don't!" Daniel retorted. "It's just… today, it really hit me that Stargate Command is gone. I mean, not really gone, but…" He sighed and looked at Jack. "We're not going to be working there anymore, exploring and, well, dealing with everything. SG-1 will be part of the army. If they even keep us around as a team. They might split us up! I mean, Sam's been working with Entrapta almost full-time anyway, you've been busy training the new recruits, Teal'c's been… well, he's been helping you. I'm the only one who's been doing what I've been doing all along."

Ah, that was it. Daniel was maudlin about the future, even though he should know better. "They won't split us up," Jack told him.

"I'm not exactly a soldier, and this is a war."

"We've been fighting a war since we started SG-1, and you did pretty well." Jack smiled at him.

"Yes, I know, but, you know how things changed. We've got a fleet and an army now." Daniel shrugged.

"And SG-1 will still be needed." Jack snorted. "Hell, the Etherians are doing the same kind of missions we've been doing, and they have the fleet."

"I'm not a magical princess."

"And that's a good thing," Jack told him. "You'd look terrible in a dress. But we don't need you for your fashion choices, but for your brain and people skills."

Daniel winced. "Unless I get fired for spoiling the plans to colonise the planet."

"You've seen the Etherians' reaction to the whole thing. Do you think anyone will dare to piss them off?" Jack snorted again. "And if they do, you can work for the Etherians. Better pay and more freedom."

"Right." Daniel nodded, smiling a bit weakly. "I could do that."

Jack hesitated a moment, then slapped him on the shoulder. "Cheer up. We've just liberated the first planet in the war. It's time to celebrate." And then to debrief everyone thoroughly so they won't repeat the mistakes they had made in this invasion.

Daniel nodded again, more firmly. "Yes."

Jack turned to look a the mountains. The sun had set now. "Let's go back," he said.

"Yes."

*****​
 
Chapter 82: Educational Issues Part 1
Chapter 82: Educational Issues Part 1

Gate Area, Primary Mining Site, PZ-921, January 15th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"...and this is how you raise and lower the gate. If it's in the ground, it won't work, and no one can come through the gate." Entrapta gestured at the Stargate.

"I see." Sadiki nodded. "And what if this machine breaks?"

"Then you can lift it out with this fall-back pulley system we rigged up! Or you can ask Adora to pull it out. But only if she's here."

Adora managed not to wince at the looks she got from Sadiki and the others with him, but it took an effort. They probably only didn't fall to their knees because Daniel told them that she didn't like that. This was so… wrong. People shouldn't worship her.

"Or if I am here, I can lift out with ice!" Frosta added. And demonstrated by creating a pillar of ice under the gate that lifted it out of the hole.

"Let's hope the whole thing is waterproof," Catra mumbled next to Adora. "And solid enough to resist the ice."

It should be. And Entrapta didn't look worried. "Yes, like that," she said, nodding.

The stares switched to Frosta, who struck a pose and smiled in return. "I am Princess Frosta, ruler of the Kingdom of Snows. And I control the element of ice!"

Sadiki and his people bowed to her.

Adora gritted her teeth. That, too, felt wrong.

"Does that make her a demi-goddess?" Catra asked with a snort - though not loud enough to be overheard by Frosta, Adora noted. "Since she's half your size?"

Glimmer chuckled. "I don't think that's how it works."

"Ugh. Such a show-off," Mermista complained.

"Someone is jealous," Catra whispered with a grin.

Adora was forced to agree - it sounded as if Mermista would have liked to show off as well. She shook her head. This was so silly! And wrong. She wouldn't have expected that from her friends.

They would have to talk about this once they were back home.

"Anyway, the machine should be good for a decade or so unless you damage it," Entrapta went on. "And if you do damage it, you can still use the gate to call us - you know our address - and we'll come and repair it. Or tell you how to repair it. Though you'd have to learn about mechanics for that. And a few other things, I guess. Not magic, though - the entire mechanism works without magic. Just in case you wondered."

"Can… can we learn how to do magic? Like this?" one of the women asked. Adora didn't remember her name, to her shame.

"If you have the talent. You can also learn how to use and make magitech, though you need even more knowledge for that," Entrapta cheerfully explained.

"Yes. We are aware of how much we don't know," Sadiki said. He glanced at the others with him, and a few of them blushed. "And we are happy you have offered to teach us and our children what we need to know."

"Wait until they get homework," Catra whispered.

Adora frowned at her lover. They hadn't had homework in the Horde. Just extra duties to study their material. Which was kind of the same, but not quite. Not like what they had seen in Earth movies. "They know how important education is."

"And our allies know how important offering an education is. For them and our allies," Catra retorted with a cynical grin.

That was true, but Etheria wasn't prepared to teach so many people. Earth's education system, on the other hand, could absorb them easily - they had the teachers to spare, as Daniel had explained. Though he had also made a joke about people complaining about their own schools being neglected or something.

But the important thing was that Sadiki and his people would learn the things they needed to build better lives for themselves. Except for magic - Earth couldn't teach that. And Etheria… was still debating that.

"But while we appreciate you showing us how this works, the Chappa'ai will be operated by your soldiers, right?" Another man asked.

Sadiki glared at the man, but Entrapta nodded. "Yes. For now - unless you don't want us on the planet any more. Then we'd just keep a fleet in the system to defend you against the Goa'uld. Or anyone else, I guess."

Glimmer stepped forward. "This is just a temporary arrangement based on military necessity," she said. "But we are your guests - this is your world and your Stargate. We're here to help you, not rule you."

Sadiki nodded. "And we are grateful for your help."

"And they'll be even more grateful once they don't need our help any more," Catra whispered with another snort.

Adora rolled her eyes. Catra was sometimes a bit too cynical. There was no reason they couldn't become friends with Sadiki's people - they had common interests, after all.

"Well, that's good to hear - again. Can we go home now?" Mermista asked. "Not to rush anyone, but some of us have a kingdom to run."

She was a bit rude, but she was correct. They had a lot to discuss at home. About the invasion, what they learned from it, and about politics.

Adora wasn't looking forward to the latter part.

But she was looking forward to going home for a bit.

*****​

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, January 15th, 1999

"...and so, in conclusion, the tactical deficiencies laid out earlier can be dealt with by more training and more experience. First priority should be more training for assaults with stealth shuttles," the Colonel finished.

"Thank you, Colonel O'Neill." General Percival nodded at him, then looked at Samantha Carter. "Captain Carter, what's your opinion about the lessons that should be drawn from this assault?"

Sam had already given her suggestions in her report. But she knew how this game was played, so she didn't tell the generals to read her report. She still made a point of pulling her report out. "From a technological and scientific point of view, a much closer cooperation with the Etherians and Tok'ra is needed. As we have seen, their technology and magic offer capabilities that Earth is lacking, which has repercussions for our training and tactics." They couldn't train as realistically if they didn't take their allies into account. The Colonel had already covered proposed changes to training, but he had focused on conventional aspects.

"I don't think we can expect the Etherian princesses to train with our soldiers," General Bryce commented. "Most of them are heads of state."

Sam disagreed. Daniel would be able to explain it much better, but he wasn't here. Neither was Teal'c. And the Colonel and Sam were, at least technically, only here as external advisors since they were still formally part of Stargate Command and not the Alliance. But that was mostly just a polite fiction. So, it fell to her to tell the general how their allies thought and fought. "I think that our allies would help with our training if we ask them, sir. That is what they are used to."

"Yep," the Colonel chimed in. "They're big on personally taking charge and charging in."

"In battle, yes. But we're talking about training," General Bryce retorted. "The Supreme Commander of the Alliance doesn't do duty as a drill sergeant."

"I bet his drill sergeant didn't like him," Sam heard the Colonel mutter under his breath.

She cleared her throat to hide her amusement. "The Etherian forces are structured and led differently, sir." Which he should know. "Princesses are expected to lead from the front and to personally deal with problems they might encounter - both in the military and civilian life. If we ask for their help with training our troops, they will help us."

"And become training instructors?" General Bryce still sounded doubtful.

Sam nodded. "Temporarily, at least. Until the structures for an improved training doctrine have solidified."

"I bet Netossa would be a great instructor," the Colonel added. "She has that vibe."

"And the experience," Sam said. "They did train their own troops."

"They didn't have nearly as many troops as we have," General Bryce objected.

"Most of our forces aren't combat-ready yet," General Percival pointed out. "And I think it would be a good idea to have our landing forces train with our allies. They will work closely with the Etherians."

"If they agree, sure. But that will impact their ability to do their actual job." General Bryce was frowning as he shrugged.

"But, speaking of shuttles…" General Müller spoke up. "We need more stealth shuttles. A lot more. Currently, only regular shuttles are in production. If we had sent our troops down with those shuttles, they wouldn't have achieved tactical surprise and would likely have taken far greater casualties as a result."

"Stealth shuttles require magitech," Sam explained. "That technology requires far more extensive training to adapt to our factories and so shuttles with it will take a while to enter production." Something the general should also be aware of already!

"Current plans assume we'll put stealth shuttles into production once we launch our own spaceships," General Percival said. "Until then, we'll be relying on the Etherian space assets."

And those spaceships were years from being commissioned - procurement was still quibbling over the exact specifications for the designs. And, according to what Sam had heard from her father, the yards in the United States were not too keen on joining the European consortium that would, apparently, handle their own design.

"Then we need to ask them for more stealth shuttles," General Müller said.

"They're aware of the need," Sam told him. "But they have no such shuttles in mass production yet." There was so much to do, and Entrapta and Sam - and Hordak - could only do so much.

"We need to take that into account when planning our next move," General Soissant nodded.

"I'm sure Adora is aware of that," the Colonel said.

Sam nodded. They had plans to add stealth generators to conventional shuttles - not quite as effective as stealth shuttles built as such from the ground up, but still quite decent - but they would need help to set up a factory for those as well…

"You fight the war with the army you have, not the army you wish you had," General Bryce said, shrugging once more.

Sam pressed her lips together. That was a very callous attitude. She glanced at the Colonel and saw that he also seemed to restrain himself. They were here as advisors, she reminded herself. They were not even in the chain of command of the Alliance forces.

But that meant that she could go and talk to her Etherian friends about this without violating regulations or the chain of command…

*****​

Bright Moon, January 15th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"Ah, boring Alliance meetings in Bright Moon. How have I missed them!" Catra muttered as she arched her back on her seat and stretched her arms over her head.

Unfortunately, her lover wasn't paying attention - Adora wasn't frowning at her comment or staring at her chest while blushing. Instead, she was focusing on Glimmer's report from the intervention.

Catra sighed. Adora already knew every little detail of what Glimmer was telling the others.

"...and that was the end of the fighting, though we're faced with the challenge of keeping our prisoners alive and teaching them that they have been lied to."

Ah! Sparkles was finally done! Catra sat straighter for a moment, then leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table.

And now Adora was frowning at her? Catra rolled her eyes. Just not taking a nap while Glimmer rehashed the invasion was a huge achievement!

"I see." Netossa nodded. "I'll have to go over the detailed report to see if and how we need to adjust our training. Though without actual battle experience for our soldiers to base any changes on, we'll have to make a few guesses."

"We can ask the soldiers from Earth for their experiences," Bow suggested.

"That might help a little - but our forces are already trained to fight differently," Netossa told him. "They're used to fighting with Princesses leading them."

"Or fighting Princesses," Catra added. When half the table frowned at her, she flashed her fangs in a grin. "Just reminding you that a sizeable part of our forces is made up of former Horde soldiers. And their training is closer to what Earth soldiers get."

"Yes." Netossa, to her credit, didn't frown at her. "There is quite the overlap - but we've been training them to integrate with Princess Alliance forces since the war ended."

Since the Scorpion Kingdom was restored and it tuned out that most former Horde soldiers chose to follow Scorpia, meaning the new kingdom had one of the most powerful militaries of Etheria, Catra mentally added.

"Yeah!" Scorpia nodded. "I can say that they fight kind of like our guys. Mostly. I missed the bot and tank support, though they would have been of limited use inside the main building. And they would probably have been destroyed by the wave."

"Not if I had been with you from the beginning." Mermista sniffed. "I could have stopped that wave."

"Or I could have created ice dams to shield the base!" Frosta chimed in.

Mermista frowned at her, but Frosta raised her chin in that manner of hers that made her look like a petulant kid. Business as usual, then.

"While that is true, we can't deploy everyone to every mission," Glimmer told them.

"Just to every mission near water," Mermista insisted with a grin.

"That wouldn't really narrow it down," Adora spoke up. "Most settled planets have large bodies of water."

Mermista shrugged. "I'm ready to do my part. And with the Stargates, we can travel to every world we need to, across the entire galaxy, and still be back home for dinner."

"Only if we have control of the Stargate in question," Glimmer objected. "And the Goa'uld will fight the hardest to defend it."

Of course, they would - most of their forces depended on the Stargate network for supply and transport.

"Then we can still help taking it and then return to Etheria," Frosta said.

Mermista nodded again. "As long as we have the initiative and decide where to fight, we should concentrate our forces and hit with overwhelming power. Thanks to the Stargate network, we can quickly redeploy after an attack. We need to exploit this. The more princesses we can bring to bear, the easier the battles will be."

"And the more vulnerable you'll be." Catra shook her head. "The Goa'uld aren't stupid, and we won't be able to keep them in the dark about our attacks forever. Once they realise what we are doing, they'll prepare to counter us. And if a single trap can take out all of us…" She trailed off.

"If we had been there, their trap would have failed."

"That was one trap. What if there had been something else?" Adora nodded. "We can't just risk everyone like that."

"Like what?"

"Uh… A biological weapon? Or a chemical one? I could probably rig up a poison that won't show up on a scanner until it takes effect, though that would be cheating since I know what the scanners will detect, but it is possible for others to manage that as well." Entrapta frowned. "Sabotaging the Stargate is another option, I guess."

"Just trapping us on a planet without a working Stargate and forcing us to use ships to travel back would hinder an offensive planned with rapid redeployment in mind," Glimmer agreed.

"We can adapt to that when it happens. We still should use our advantage as long as possible," Mermista objected. "So we can get the most out of it. Hit as many planets before they wise up."

That wasn't a bad plan. But it wasn't a terribly good one either. Catra shook her head. "We aren't ready for such a campaign yet. We'd get strung out too much and would be stuck with defending too many systems while still trying to figure out how what to do about the liberated people. The Goa'uld don't care about killing civilians, so once they figure out we do, they will be able to force us to react to them." That was an obvious way to regain the initiative. Well, obvious if you had been trained in the Horde, Catra amended her thought.

"Yes." Adora nodded firmly. "We only struck this time because we needed to save those people. We need more time to prepare a proper campaign. More time to train and plan."

And that should have been obvious to everyone. "Victory disease is setting in early," Catra mumbled as the other princesses disagreed again. Well, it wasn't that bad, but still a concern. They weren't fighting on and for Etheria any more - the scope of this war was far beyond the Princess Alliance's experiences. And Catra had her doubts that everyone was fully aware of that.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States, Earth, January 16th, 1999

"...and while the official press release doesn't mention which planet was invaded, only that Alliance forces successfully liberated a planet under Goa'uld control, various experts have speculated that…"

Jack O'Neill pushed a button, and the channel in the mess hall changed.

"...how many people died in this invasion? If the casualties were as low as the government claims, then why can't we see footage from the battle? What is the government hiding? Or, rather, what are the aliens controlling our government hiding? We cannot trust…"

He pushed the button again. Harder. Why were those channels still available in the base?

"...and according to our sources, the people our soldiers died to liberate spurned our friendship and expelled us from their planet without lifting even a finger to support the war in return, showing such selfishness that it raises the question of whether the Alliance policy of self-determination can and should be enforced at this point in the war. It might be better to take an example from history, the Philippines, and…"

Jack muttered a curse and switched the channel again. Bryce and his carpetbagging backers at work, no doubt. And the newsies were probably still angry that they hadn't been allowed to cover the invasion live from the frontlines.

"What's with the television?"

"Someone broke it!"

"Stop changing channels all the time!"

"I'm not doing anything! We don't even have the remote!"

"...and several leading news organisations have petitioned the Alliance command to allow embedded reporters with their forces, citing the need for independent information to both build trust and check for potential abuses in the war. So far, the Supreme Commander of the Alliance, Princess She-Ra, has declined to comment on the matter, prompting concerns about the freedom of the press being neglected. As some might not be aware, freedom of the press, even freedom of speech, is not a right on Etheria, so…"

Yeah, as I thought. Jack switched channels again.

"...and the last preparations of the Mission to Mars are now being finished, according to the NASA press release. Originally, it was planned to transport a habitat to Mars with an Alliance spaceship, but with interplanetary shuttles now produced on Earth for the war, it was decided that the first mission to Mars should be launched in a spaceship produced on Earth, with the habitat following afterwards. Now, let's take a closer look at the multi-national crew chosen for this historic event!"

That was better. Jack wasn't in the mood for more stupid rumours and thinly-veiled propaganda. Boring propaganda, at that. Not that the 'Mission to Mars' wasn't propaganda either - they could have sent the first shuttle rolling off the new assembly lines to Mars as a test flight - but at least it was entertaining.

"Where did you get the remote for the TV, Jack?" Daniel asked in a low voice.

Jack slipped the remote into his pocket under the table and smiled his best 'butter wouldn't melt in my mouth' smile at his friend. "What do you mean?"

Daniel rolled his eyes and went back to eating his lunch.

"Please don't change the channel again, sir."

Jack glanced at Carter. She was looking at the screen, apparently following the report quite attentively as it covered the various astronauts who would soon be - officially, at least - the first people on Mars. Was that a wistful smile? "You know, we could ask the Etherians to drop you off on Mars this afternoon if you want to be the first woman on Mars," he half-joked - he had no doubt that Priest would do it if one of his goddess's friends asked.

"Sir!" Carter frowned at him. "That would be an irresponsible abuse of power for egoistical reasons!"

"Yes?" Jack cocked his head and grinned.

"I believe that Captain Carter would consider it dishonourable to, as the saying goes, 'steal the thunder' of those astronauts by beating them to Mars," Teal'c commented.

As usual, Teal'c was hard to read, but Jack was sure that his friend didn't really believe he had to explain Carter's opinion to Jack. Still… "It's just showboating. They've even delayed moving the habitat just so they can pretend that they are doing this on their own. I guess the 'to boldly take a taxi where no one took a taxi before' skit on SNL was one joke too much."

"It's the principle of the thing, sir." Carter was still frowning at him. "Using a shuttle built on Earth means that the mission will not require outside assistance."

Jack shrugged. "Sure, but it's still an Etherian shuttle design we basically copy. One we have been using to ferry troops and officers around for a few weeks now."

"We haven't left Earth's orbit, though," Carter retorted. "This will be Earth's first interplanetary mission."

"I do seem to remember visiting another star system a few years ago…" Jack grinned again.

Carter didn't pout, but the way she narrowed her eyes at him in exasperation was almost as good. "You know what I mean, sir."

"Sure I do." He shrugged. "I'm just not too impressed by the hype. Though it's better than listening to people pushing their agenda on the news." Kinsey was probably involved in half those stories leaking to the press.

"Well, they do have some legitimate concerns. The Etherians don't have the concept of 'freedom of the press'," Daniel said. "They don't have what we would consider modern news media, actually. So, they could be ignoring the issue of independent reporting."

"Well, announcing military secrets to the world isn't a good idea," Jack said. Even though Vietnam hadn't been lost because the press had been turning people back home against the war, as some claimed, it certainly hadn't helped. "But I guess some embedded reporters won't hurt too much." It had worked well in the Gulf War.

"They're also pushing for a visit to Etheria," Daniel told him. "So do many of my colleagues, actually."

Well, that was the Etherians' problem, not Jack's. Though it might be fun to see what kind of stories reporters could dig up in the land of rainbows and unicorns if let loose.

*****​

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, January 17th, 1999

"...and we're all in agreement that there'll be a special task force working on deprogramming the prisoners, recruited amongst experienced people in the field." Adora looked at the generals present as they nodded, then glanced at the aide de camp taking notes.

"Finally!" Catra muttered next to her. "That shouldn't have taken so long. Even a gaggle of princesses would have been faster."

Adora suppressed a wince. Her lover was probably correct. But then, this was an important task, and Adora knew that it didn't pay to rush important decisions without thinking them through and getting the opinions of others. Catra should know this as well, given her past, but pointing that out would be… unkind and pointless. Catra was just venting her frustration, and pretty subtly at that - at least for her.

"Next item: Embedded reporters," General Naird said, shuffling the papers in front of him. According to Jack, Naird was only on this council because he had been commanding Air Force Space Command, and they wanted an Air Force general in the spot, and with General Hammond still stuck in Stargate Command, Naird was the next-not-too-bad choice. But he seemed competent enough and quite nice personally to Adora.

"Embedded reporters?" Catra asked, cocking her head. Adora knew she had read the briefing papers for this meeting, so she was faking her ignorance.

Naird, though, did seem to take her at face value. Or he was just too polite to comment on it. "Yes. The leading news services of the United States and its allies have petitioned Alliance Command - that's us - to allow embedded reporters to cover the war."

"You mean propagandists?" Catra asked, in the same tone she usually denied being responsible for whatever had gone wrong in one of their Horde cadet exercises.

The way Naird frowned at her told Adora that, this time, he had seen through Catra's act. "They are news services, not propaganda organisations. The United States and its allies do not control their media."

"I didn't mean their government propaganda organisations," Catra retorted with a toothy grin. "But they're definitely spewing propaganda." She leaned back. "Trust me, I've been raised on that stuff."

Adora pressed her lips together but nodded in agreement. "Several of those news services do show clear biases in their reporting."

"Well, that's a matter of opinion, though one could argue that truly unbiased reporting is impossible due to the observer effect…" Naird trailed off under the glances of the others in the room. "At least, that's what my friend says."

"Leaving philosophical or physical questions aside, I don't think we can keep the press out of the war," the American Secretary of Defense said, frowning at Naird. "But we can handle that like we did in the Gulf War."

"I don't think they'll accept such strict limitations," the British Secretary of State for Defence said. "Especially since, unlike the Gulf War, this won't be over in a month. You can't control the press for so long."

"Maybe not yours," the American shot back.

"Control of the press goes against the fundamental principles of a democracy."

"Military necessity trumps freedom of the press. Without information security, we will not be able to effectively fight a war," the American retorted. "And with the war spreading to other worlds, we cannot count on Earth's isolation to keep news from reaching our enemies forever."

"If we act like a totalitarian regime, we will lose the support of the population, which will endanger the war effort much more than the occasional leak on Earth," the British official pointed out.

"I would hardly call basic military procedures to control sensitive information a totalitarian move. It's just common sense."

"If we don't give them the news, they'll find something to publish that we don't have any control over."

"Or they make something up," Glimmer cut in. "We've been following the news coverage of the last mission." She leaned forward. "And it was quite easy to tell which news organisation was owned by someone with an interest in exploiting the planet."

Adora nodded with a scowl. "And we haven't forgotten which of your media portrayed us and people like us as monsters." It would be easier to simply forbid any reporters from joining their forces. But Mister Brown and Julie had assured them that that would be 'counter-productive', and they were the experts.

Both the American and the British officials flushed a little while their French and German counterparts looked a bit smug. Naird shuffled his papers some more before speaking up again: "Any embedded war correspondents will have to be thoroughly vetted, of course."

"Of course." Catra grinned. "But who does the vetting?"

"We have people with the experience for that task," Naird says. "And I assume you have such people as well?"

"Yes." Glimmer nodded.

Adora didn't think Alliance spy hunters had quite the same experience as the Earth specialists, given the differences between their worlds, but it was probably good enough. If you could deal with the likes of Double Trouble, picking out honest reporters shouldn't be too hard.

"So, that's settled as well." Naird marked something on his papers. "Next item: Recruiting, screening for and training magically talented people."

That again. Adora sighed.

"That's the purview of Mystacor on Etheria," Glimmer said. "They pick their students."

"And they have offered to train our soldiers, haven't they?"

Catra chuckled. "Castaspella offered to train Colonel O'Neill."

"He's the first soldier known to have a magical talent, right?" Naird asked.

"He's a special case," Glimmer said with a frown aimed at Catra. "Similar cases might receive the same invitation, but we don't know any yet."

"We haven't made a lot of progress with screening for magical talent," the Frech Minister commented. "We would be grateful for any assistance in that area."

"We'll pass it on to Mystacore," Glimmer said.

Adora nodded again. They had to talk with the sorcerers anyway. About this, and a few other things.

"Great. Next item: Commendations. Several members of the Alliance forces have distinguished themselves in the recent combat and deserve recognition…"

Catra groaned, a bit louder this time, but Naird went on.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States, Earth, January 18th, 1999

Jack sighed as he watched the Stargate. It was almost time. "You know, I don't see why we should be here - the Tok'ra want to discuss Alliance matters, and Stargate Command is not part of the Alliance forces. We're just the gatekeepers and gophers for the United Nations." He had better things to do than greet alien visitors.

Daniel frowned at him. "We've been working closely with the Alliance - SG-1, I mean. We've fought in the first Alliance combat mission. I don't think you can claim we aren't part of the Alliance forces."

"Being temporarily detached to other forces doesn't change that we're still under United Nations command," Jack retorted. He knew his regs - the better to bend and twist them.

"That's a fig leaf. We also were part of the delegation that negotiated the Alliance. And didn't you tell me you expect us to be transferred to Alliance command anyway?" Daniel pouted.

"Yep. But all that doesn't mean we should stand here to greet aliens." Jack wasn't pouting. He was better than that.

Daniel frowned. "Don't tell me you're afraid of meeting Anise, Jack!"

"I'm not afraid of meeting the mad scientist snake, Daniel." Jack simply would prefer not to meet her. Not until she accepted - preferably in writing - that he wasn't going to have a baby with her. Or with anyone else. Or with test tubes. Or clone pods. He wasn't going to have kids, period. Not if they were just wanted for their - his - Ancient genes. "But we do have better things to do than meeting and greeting people we've already met before."

"It's called being polite and welcoming to our allies." Daniel's frown deepened.

"Yeah, and others can do that better." Jack wasn't feeling very polite and friendly. And why were the snakes visiting anyway? They had mentioned a 'potential issue for the Alliance' when they had called ahead, but they hadn't mentioned what issue it was.

Not that it was Jack's business, anyway. He wasn't a politician or a general. Unless you could shoot it or blow it up, it wasn't his problem. Or shouldn't be.

That was his story, and he would be sticking to it. Although you could solve a lot of problems by shooting them or blowing them up.

He glanced to his side. Teal'c was doing his 'stoic waiting' thing. And Carter was… in her lab with the other alien mad scientist they knew. Apparently, being a genius working to develop new technology was enough to get out of greeting duty. Jack would have to take notes.

"We're being dialled," Siler announced. "Codes match the Tok'ra."

"Open the iris," General Haig ordered.

A moment later, the iris retracted, and the wormhole vortex formed.

"Wormhole stable."

"Send the go-ahead."

"Yes, sir."

A moment later, two people stepped through the gate, and Jack had to suppress a groan. Anise and Martouf? The snake after Jack's genes, and the snake pining for Carter? This was shaping up to be one of those days he should have called in sick! "We should have claimed that the gate's down for maintenance," he muttered as the two Tok'ra walked down the ramp.

"Since we communicated through the wormhole, I think that they wouldn't have believed us," Daniel pointed out.

"Yeah, but would they have called us out? They might have decided to directly talk to the princesses instead!" Jack whispered. Come to think of it, why were they coming to Earth instead of Etheria? Sure, the Alliance Headquarters was on Earth, but everyone knew where the real power in the Alliance was located.

But here they were. Time to lie and smile. "Marty! Anise! How nice to see you!" Jack said as he stepped forward.

"Jack! It's Martouf!" Daniel whispered behind him as if Jack wasn't aware of that. Hey, if he was the ranking officer in the gate room and had to greet new arrivals, he would do it his way. Otherwise, they might think he liked doing this.

"And it's nice to see you, Jack!" Anise beamed at him, and Jack had to struggle not to wince.

"Yes, it's a pleasure to see you again," Martouf added. He was - none too subtly - looking around, though.

"Captain Carter's busy in her lab," Jack told him with a genuine smile. "You know how it is - science takes priority over politics."

"Ah."

"Of course it does!" Anise nodded. "But the issue we need to talk about concerns Sam - and science."

Oh. Jack narrowed his eyes. If this was just a pretext for Martouf to hassle Carter, then Jack would have to be a bit undiplomatic.

*****​

"Hello, Sam."

"Good morning, Captain Carter."

"Anise? Martouf?" Carter sounded surprised, Jack noted as they entered her lab.

"Hi, guys!" A holoprojection of Entrapta standing next to Carter waved at everyone. With her arms, hair and a few metal arms in the lab - waldos, the name was, he reminded himself.

"Hello, Entrapta." Anise returned the greeting.

"Princess Entrapta." Martouf gave her a nod, already focused on Carter.

"Hi, Entrapta." Daniel beamed at her.

"Greetings." Teal'c nodded politely.

Jack cleared his throat. "Yeah, hello, everyone. Marty and Anise here came to talk about a 'potential issue for the Alliance' related to your work, Carter."

"Oh?" She seemed surprised.

"A potential issue? Do you need our help? We've got a full schedule, but we could probably shuffle a few things around. The spy bot network is growing according to our projections and doesn't need too much supervision, so we could delay the next version, and we could also probably wait with the construction bots for the stealth modules for shuttles for a week or so since we still haven't perfected the mining bots to feed the automated factory station we're designing." Entrapta beamed at their guests.

Jack made a mental note to look into those projects she had mentioned. They sounded… well, he wasn't a geek, but automated factories manned by bots, fed by mining bots… that sounded like a Cameron movie about a robot uprising in the making.

"It's actually about your plan to create 'dumb symbionts'," Anise said. She wasn't smiling any more.

"Oh! You've got the message!" Entrapta nodded, still smiling happily. "Do you have a genetic sample? We could use one of the samples from the prisoners we have, but it might be safer to use a sample without the genetic memory of a Goa'uld, even though we probably would remove it anyway."

Jack blinked. They had asked the Tok'ra to donate a genetic sample to create dumb symbionts to save the Jaffa prisoners?

"We have a few concerns about your plan," Martouf said. Very diplomatically.

Anise nodded with a not-so-diplomatic expression.

And Jack had to struggle not to laugh out loud. It was different when the shoe was on the other foot, was it?

*****​

Mystacor, Etheria, January 18th, 1999 (Earth Time)

Mystacor hadn't changed at all since their last visit, Adora noted. Or, rather, they had repaired whatever damage it had suffered in the war and restored the island exactly as it had been before, so it looked untouched by the war.

Which probably said something about the sorceresses ruling the floating island.

"Auntie!"

"Glimmer!" Castaspella lifted Glimmer up in a hug that made Adora smile and also feel a bit sad - or jealous. "So nice of you to visit! It's been too long!"

"You were staying in Bright Moon for months."

"That's not the same. It's been too long since you visited."

"I would like to visit more often, but with the war…"

"The stress from the war is even more of a reason to visit and relax, Glimmer!"

At Adora's side, Catra sighed. Loudly. She was rolling her eyes as well.

Both Castaspella and Glimmer turned to frown at Adora's lover, and Adora stepped forward to head off any barbs. "Hello, Castaspella. Thank you for having us visit."

"You're always welcome here," Castaspella replied with a smile. "Although, since I doubt you were visiting to enjoy our beaches and hot springs, let's move to my office so we can have tea while we talk."

"Yes." Adora nodded. They were here to discuss politics, after all. All sorts of politics.

Castaspella led them through the marble hallway, past a group of what looked like students - they were young, younger than Adora had been in the Horde war, at least, and stared and whispered. Fortunately, Catra didn't try to startle or hiss at them - sometimes, she did that when she felt annoyed.

Once inside Castaspella's office - which was as large as Adora and Catra's room in the palace, but sorceresses probably needed the space for their spells and experiments - they sat down at a small table, and at a gesture from Castaspella, a tray bearing tea and snacks floated over.

"So, what do we have to discuss?" Castaspella asked while their cups were being filled and Catra looked for fish sandwiches amongst the snacks.

Adora and Glimmer exchanged a glance. "It's about teaching students from other planets," Adora said after a moment. "We have restored magic to another planet, and we will continue to do so, so there will be more people in need of training." Straight and to the point. Like Adora preferred it herself.

"Not nearly as many as Earth will add over time, though," Castaspella replied before taking a sip from her cup.

"No." Glimmer nodded. "But this might change over time. But even so… We need to know if Mystacor will train selected students from other worlds. I know you offered to teach Jack, but…" She trailed off.

"...but he's a 'special case'," Catra finished for her with a grin.

Adora took a sip herself to mask her expression. She didn't think Castaspella was trying to seduce Jack by offering him training, but there were rumours. Rumours which Catra was not so subtly hinting at.

"He's got a lot of potential," Castaspella said, all cool and collected. "And he is a First One, or close enough. It would be a shame not to see this potential nurtured and trained." With a glance at Catra, she added: "I have no intention to start a relationship with him, which I think I made already clear. Not only do I not desire him in that way, but to start a relationship with a student… it would violate everything Mystacor stands for."

Catra made a noncommittal noise in return, her mouth filled with probably all the fish sandwiches from the tray.

Glimmer cleared her throat. "So, Mystacor is open to exceptional students only?"

Castaspella sighed. "Certain teachers are willing to accept special students. As a whole, we cannot teach many more than our usual amount of pupils. We simply don't have the numbers and resources to take on everyone from Earth with the talent. We could expand our numbers, but… that is a controversial issue. As is refusing Etherian students in favour of those from other planets. The best we can realistically do is teach those who have the most potential and let them teach others. "

That… didn't sound as bad as Adora had feared.

"It would be years before that started to bear fruits," Glimmer said.

Castaspella nodded.

"And you haven't picked any such students yet," Catra pointed out.

"We don't know any such students except for Jack. And looking for them on Earth…" Castaspella inclined her head and took another sip from her cup. "We are used to having students come to us after discovering their talents. And what we know of Earth's attitude towards magic raises some concerns."

"Well, people from Earth can't exactly come to Mystacor - or Etheria - that easily," Glimmer said. "Security prohibits that."

"But they would like your help to screen their people for sorceresses," Adora added.

Cataspella grimaced for a moment. "I know a few sorceresses who would like to visit Earth anyway, and they might be willing to look for potential students. There has been a debate in the council about that."

"I haven't heard about that," Glimmer commented.

"They are curious about Earth's magic traditions and want to study them. And their artefacts," Castaspella added.

Oh.

Catra snorted. "They want to exploit Earth's magic?"

"I wouldn't put it like that, but… most of those who voiced such plans seem most interested in gaining more knowledge rather than spreading it." Castaspella spread her hands. "I don't think they would be the best ambassadors for our kingdom and academy."

Ah. Adora nodded.

"Yeah, we don't want to look like colonialists," Glimmer agreed.

"But then you're going to look like elitists unwilling to share your knowledge," Catra commented.

"Several of my colleagues wouldn't mind that," Castaspella retorted. "We're trying to find a compromise, but… it's a delicate process."

"Meaning, you don't think it'll work." Catra snorted.

"It is too early to say that, but Mystacor's politics and policies usually take a long time to change."

"Time we don't really have." Glimmer shook her head. "If Mystacor as a whole won't do anything, we need to talk to individuals."

"That might be a more promising approach, but it might also cause additional tensions within the kingdom," Castaspella said.

"You sound like a diplomat from Earth explaining why they can't do the sensible thing." Catra shook her head.

Castaspella chuckled in return, even though it wasn't really funny in Adora's opinion.

*****​
 
Chapter 83: Educational Issues Part 2
Chapter 83: Educational Issues Part 2

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States, Earth, January 18th, 1999

"..and while the benefits such a 'dumb symbiont' would provide are obvious, there are several important issues with this proposal you might not have considered, in our opinion," Martouf said.

His expression lacked the usual subtle longing when he was looking at her, Samantha Carter noticed.

"Like that having such an option would compete with Tok'ra recruitment?" the Colonel cut in.

"That is one of our concerns, yes." Martouf nodded at him. "Although only one, and not the most important."

Sam could see the issue there, of course. How many potential hosts would want to share their body with a Tok'ra if there was an alternative that provided most of the benefits while the recipient retained full control over their body? But she was sure that there were enough potential hosts even if the symbionts would reach a level of advancement where their benefits were equal to those granted by a Tok'ra symbiont.

"There is also the fact that you would basically create a new, dumb species from a Goa'uld or Tok'ra template," Anise said. "Imagine if, say, we would want to create 'dumb hosts' using your DNA as a base. Human origin, but deliberately reduced in sapience to the level of an animal."

Sam drew a surprised breath through her clenched teeth. She hadn't considered this - she and Entrapta were planning to experiment with a fellow sapient species. If they were doing this with humans… She grimaced as she suddenly felt slightly ill. How had she missed this? She should have seen this! It was unethical!

Daniel looked struck as well. And why hadn't he realised this? Had he been so busy with trying to keep Sadiki's people from being exploited to miss this?

"Uh…" Entrapta, unfortunately, looked confused. "I thought you needed sapient hosts."

Martouf grimaced as well. "It was merely an example."

"Imagine if we would create brainless clones from humans to use as donors for organ transplants," Sam said.

"Oh." Entrapta blinked. Then she tilted her head to the side and looked at Sam. "But without a brain, it's not a human, right?"

"I think that is disproven by several politicians and pundits I know," the Colonel quipped. But he didn't look like he actually was amused any more - he looked a bit queasy himself, Sam noticed.

"He's joking," she told Entrapta.

"Ah." Her friend nodded. "But without a brain, it's just… biomass shaped like a human. Not even a proto-human."

Sam sighed softly. Entrapta was one of the nicest women she knew, a great friend and a brilliant scientist, but she struggled with some things. Such as certain ethical questions. Of course, some questions everyone struggled with. "It's not that simple," she said. "If someone suffers brain damage, they're still a human. No matter how much brain damage they suffer." Of course, there was also the question of when exactly someone became a human in the first place, but that question had been answered pretty succinctly as 'at birth', for a variety of sound reasons, and Sam didn't give a damn about those who disagreed with this - she knew exactly what those people actually wanted when they tried to redefine when a fetus became a human.

"And if they die?"

"Then they are a dead human. But they don't stop being a human," Sam replied. "And if we started treating humans who aren't smart enough as not human, then that could have dire consequences."

"Yeah." The Colonel looked very serious. "Some people would jump at the chance to draw a line like that and then do away with those who wouldn't be considered human anymore. And they might be a little fuzzy about where they would draw the line."

"Yes." Daniel nodded firmly. "It's not a line we want to cross. History teaches us what happens when humans are considered subhumans."

Entrapta still looked confused. "Which part of history do you mean?"

"Slavery and the Holocaust are the most known," Daniel replied.

"Ah. Oh." Entrapta's eyes widened. "You mean… This would lead to people murdering each other?"

"Ah…" Daniel winced. "Not directly. But it's a concern - it's mostly an example to show why it's bad to experiment with humans. Or Tok'ra. Or Goa'uld. Any sapient species, actually."

"And horses, I guess," the Colonel added. "At least according to Swift Wind."

"This is a very simplified view. There are other ethical questions we haven't touched, and human cells are used in experiments by scientists on Earth, although some consider that unethical as well," Daniel said.

"Oh." Entrapta slowly nodded. "So, if we just use the cells, that would be OK?"

Daniel grimaced again. "As I said, it's a very complex issue. Using human - or Goa'uld - cells for research is generally considered alright. But creating an organism based on those cells for experimentation… That's a much murkier question."

"So, it's a matter of intent." Entrapta nodded again. "And it means we have to find another way to save the Jaffa we captured than what we originally planned. But we can use cells for research as long as we don't clone actual specimens out of them. Or clone specimens for experimentation. We need an artificial symbiont, then."

"Most will agree with that view, yes." Daniel smiled.

Her friend was correct, though Sam would still expect some backlash if those experiments were publicised. Although if they managed to create an artificial symbiont, then the majority of the people would want to use it and would likely silence dissenters.

Entrapta pouted. "That will be more difficult than I thought, then. We won't be able to use an existing working template and alter it - we'll have to build up an organism from scratch that will emulate the effects. And we can only use the cell samples from Goa'uld as models, not as a source, since we need a non-sapient organism not based on any sapient species." Entrapta nodded again. "I think we need to visit Alpha for that."

"The Ancient AI?" Anise beamed at them.

"Yes. Want to visit?" Entrapta matched their friend's smile.

"I would be delighted!"

Sam winced. She didn't have to look at the Colonel to know that he was scowling.

*****​

Bright Moon, Etheria, January 18th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"...and that's why we need to go to the First Moon of Enchantment!" Entrapta finished her explanation. "We need to talk to Alpha about the First Ones' research into genetic engineering so we can help the Jaffa without experimenting with people. Because that's bad, but creating a new life form not based on people is good."

Catra blinked, then nodded. It made sense. Sort of. And, of course, Entrapta would bring her friends from the Tok'ra along without asking beforehand. And SG-1 would tag along.

"I see." Glimmer slowly nodded.

"We hadn't considered that!" Adora, though, shook her head. "We should have realised that this was bad. I should haOw…"

Catra rolled her eyes as she withdrew her leg. "Don't blame yourself for everything, idiot." If the others wanted to feel guilty, that was their problem - Sam certainly looked like she did - but Catra wouldn't let Adora blame herself for this.

Adora rubbed her calf - which wasn't even bleeding; Catra knew how to use her claws - and pouted at her. "But I should have realised that this was wrong."

"Well, no one realised it." O'Neill shrugged. "Not even Daniel, and that's usually his thing."

Daniel grimaced instead of laughing at the comment.

Catra sighed. "Nobody's perfect, we all should have realised that experimenting with people to make a new life form is bad since the First Ones did it, we won't do it, blah blah blah. No one did actually do it, so no harm done. You were talking about heading to Research Station Alpha?"

Adora pouted some more at her, and Martouf frowned, but everyone else seemed to be ready to move on. Good.

"Yes!" Enttapta, unfazed by the whole issue, nodded. "And we need Glimmer's permission since it's her moon. And Adora and Jack's, since it's their base. Well, it's Alpha's base, but she answers to you. And we need a shuttle to fly there. So… we need quite a few things."

"Of course, you have my permission to travel to the First Moon of Enchantment," Glimmer said. Then she blinked. "Although… you're not going to start experimenting there, are you?"

"Oh, could we?" Anise beamed at her. "To work in a research base of the Ancients…"

"Research Station Alpha is where the people of Etheria were born, kind of," Bow told her. "It is of immense historical and cultural importance."

Catra doubted that most people on Etheria shared that view - or were aware of the base - but Anise looked suitably taken aback.

"Oh, yes, I understand," she said, grimacing. "Still, the knowledge to be found there, the inspiration…" She sighed.

Catra suppressed a snort at O'Neill's expression.

"Yes!" Entrpata nodded enthusiastically. "Alpha could have immensely helpful data! And it'll be good to talk to her again - she might feel lonely on the moon."

"She's been talking with my dads," Bow said. "They're working on a book on the creation of Etheria."

"That's nice!" Adora smiled.

Bow nodded. "They said they had to distract themselves when we were gone for so long."

And Adora's face fell. Catra glared at Bow, who had the grace to blush. "Err… well, they usually fly with a shuttle from Second Fleet, so… we can ask them to hitch a ride?" he suggested.

"Yeah, let's go." Catra stood. "And we can ask them about their book as well." Bow looked surprised, so she rolled her eyes and added: "Because I think we'll need to know if the book will start a ruckus on Etheria."

"Oh."

The way most of her friends looked surprised at her comment wasn't a good sign.

At least Glimmer was on the ball - then again, she was a queen. "Yes. Princess Sweet Bee will probably consider it propaganda or try to claim the base 'for all of Etheria' - or both. Probably both." She scowled.

"Well, realising that you're the result of an experiment by the Ancients can be a shock to people," Daniel said. "It certainly would be on Earth."

"Heh, just realising that you're not alone in the universe was a great shock to you," Catra pointed out. "Or that magic is real."

"Well…" Daniel shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah, it was a big shock, and we got over it. Those who matter, at least. Let's hope you'll get over having started as 'test subjects', as the computer in the station told us," O'Neill said.

Catra narrowed her eyes at him. "Yeah, Mister First One." When he glared at her, she flashed her fangs at him in return. At least on Etheria, people didn't expect you to follow their stupid religion's rules about who you were allowed to love.

"Let's just go meet your dads and ask if we can tag along with them, OK?" Adora smiled.

"Yes."

Martouf and Anise looked a bit confused. Catra's ears twitched as she caught them whispering to each other. Ah, they wondered why they weren't taking a shuttle from Bright Moon.

Well, wasn't there a saying that to confuse your enemies, you had to start with your allies, or something?

*****​

The First Moon of Enchantment, January 18th, 1999 (Earth Time)

Jack O'Neill considered himself to be a tolerant man. Different strokes for different folks was a perfectly fine way to live your life. What consenting adults did in the privacy of their homes, and with whom, was their business, and none of Jack's, or anyone else's. But some lines shouldn't be crossed in public, no matter whether you were an alien or not, and Bow's parents… Jack forced himself to smile and tried not to look at Lance and George as their shuttle entered their final approach to Research Site Alpha's hangar. They were just so… Well, public displays of affection were OK, even if Jack didn't like seeing two men his age exchange glances straight out of a romance novel. But Lance…

You didn't wear socks with sandals! That was a universal rule, no matter what Daniel claimed. Just ask anyone who had ever met a German tourist!

"And here we are! Hello, Alpha!" Bow's taller dad announced as they stepped out of the shuttle.

"Hello, Lance. Hello, George." A projection of the computer appeared in front of the ramp. Smiling widely.

"Hello, Alpha!" George smiled. "Did you finish refurbishing the new area?"

"I did, yes. Hello, Adora, Colonel O'Neill." The projection bowed towards them, then turned to address the others. "Entrapta. Glimmer. Bow. Catra. Daniel Jackson. Samantha Carter. Teal'c." Then she cocked her head. "There are two people infected with parasites with you. Should I remove them before they contaminate the site, or are they test subjects? Should I set up a containment area?"

Jack blinked, then snorted - and had to remind himself that having the two snakes locked up by the Ancient computer would be a terrible faux pas since they were allies. Even though it would be funny.

"Uh, no, they are our guests, Alpha," Adora said, looking flustered. "They aren't parasites but Symbionts - they aren't Goa'uld but Tok'ra."

"According to my scans, they match all the parameters that define a Goa'uld."

"That's just, uh, biological. But they really aren't Goa'uld, and it's rude to mix them up."

"My scanners aren't set to detect non-biological differences. This presents a grave security threat. I suggest treating them as Goa'uld and detaining them until a verifiable method to differentiate them from Goa'uld can be implemented."

Alpha was his kind of girl, Jack decided. Computer. Whatever.

"We oppose the Goa'uld. We are not like them!" Anise protested. Her voice changed, and Freya added: "We are partners."

"That is a verbal statement which cannot be proven or disproven with the currently available data."

That was the computer version of 'of course a Goa'uld would say that', Jack guessed.

Catra snorted behind him.

"They're our friends. Register them as that!" Adora ordered.

The projection turned to look at Jack.

Was it waiting for him in case he wanted to countermand this? He nodded. "Uh, yes, register them as friends." He ignored the smile aimed at him by Anise.

"Very well. Please state your names for the data banks." The projection managed to sound like a suffering clerk.

"We are Anise and Freya."

"Lantash and Martouf."

"Noted."

Lance coughed. "Now that that's settled, let's proceed to the archives, shall we?

"Of course." Alpha bowed again. "I've prepared the records you asked for."

"Oh, great! You found them?" Lance beamed at the projection.

"Yes."

"Were they misfiled?" George asked.

"Yes." The projection frowned. "The mistake has been corrected." Once more, she turned to look at Jack and Adora. "I recommend logging a reprimand for the person responsible, Assistant Researcher Talar Junas. Faulty or misfiled data is unacceptable in a research site."

"Yes!" Entrapta nodded emphatically. "If you can't trust your data, you can't trust your experiment! It's sabotaging science!"

She sounded as if that was a much worse crime than taking over someone's body, Jack couldn't help feeling. He glanced at Carter, who nodded in agreement. No joking about it, then. So he shrugged. "Well, we don't know if that Talar guy - or girl - is still alive to get reprimanded, but if we see them…" He shrugged, then winced when Adora briefly looked sad. No joking about the death of her people.

"Noted." Behind the projection, the door opened. "Will you join Lance and George in the archives?"

"It's a lovely place," Lance told them with a smile. "We've remodelled, so it's much more comfortable now. Alpha did a great job."

"Enhancing a workplace's ergonomics is a logical way to improve the efficiency of the workers," Alpha added. But she sounded rather pleased.

Damn. Jack pressed his lips together. Now he was, what was the word, humanising machines?

"Oh, nice!" Entrapta beamed. "Let's go check it out! We can check the research data there for our project!"

Alpha perked up. "I stand ready to assist with any and all research projects," she announced.

"Uh, that's good:" Adora smiled a bit weakly. "We can use the help, I think. But… ask us before you assist with potentially dangerous experiments, OK?"

"Define 'dangerous', please."

Alpha had been built by people who created a planet full of 'test subjects' and were willing to destroy it and a big part of the entire sector to win a war, Jack reminded himself.

"Uh… anything that could hurt people if it went wrong?" Adora asked more than answered.

"Define 'hurt', please. Almost any action, even a purely verbal one, has the potential to hurt someone."

Adora looked at Jack.

Jack looked at Daniel. Explaining things so that the nice computer wouldn't accidentally wipe out a world or two trying to help mad scientists sounded like the perfect job for Jack's friend. And it might help him stop feeling sorry for not catching the troublesome nature of Entrapta and Carter's original plans.

*****​

"...so, it's a matter of scale. An experiment that could lead to negative consequences for a single person's mental or physical health is not problematic, but if more people are potentially affected, it requires approval from a legitimate authority." Alpha nodded.

Adora winced. That wasn't entirely what they wanted Alpha to understand. Perhaps they should have asked Lance and George to help, but Bow's dads were already in the archives, researching their own project.

"Not quite," Daniel tried again. "In the first case, it's only not problematic if said person gave consent to the experiment - and if it was an informed decision, meaning the person at risk was aware of the danger and the probability of a negative outcome."

"Ah." Once more, Alpha's projection nodded.

"Yes! You need reliable data to deduce anything! That's how science works!" Entrapta chimed in with a happy smile.

Adora glanced at Sam and Anise, who also nodded in agreement.

"But experiments are how you gather data. If you already had reliable data about the outcome, there would be no need for the experiment in the first place," Alpha said.

That was… well, it was true, but still not correct.

"That's correct, yes." Sam nodded. "But you don't need to know the results of an experiment to make informed decisions about it - you just need reliable estimates of the range of potential consequences."

"Blast radius, for example," Entrapta added. "Calculate the blast radius based on the materials involved so you can determine the safe distance." She cocked her head. "Of course, stuff like Naquadah-enhancements to explosives kind of mess with that, so you should start with tiny quantities and do it in space where shockwaves don't travel well and slowly build up your data."

"Yes." Daniel glanced at Jack, Adora noted. "If you're experimenting with explosives, you should start small. Very small."

"Almost anything can be an explosive if used correctly. Or incorrectly," Anise cut in. "And some processes need to overcome a threshold to result in an explosion."

"Yes," Sam agreed again. "Critical mass."

"I think we were talking about genetic engineering, not explosives," Jack commented. "Unless you want to create explosive tomatoes."

"Well, biological explosives are entirely possible," Entrapta said, scrunching her nose. "Many explosive materials could be grown. It wouldn't be very efficient compared to mass-processing in chemical plants, but it's possible." She perked up. "And if it is a plant, Perfuma should be able to control it, so that would add instant mass-production potential to it!"

Perfuma letting explosive plants sprout from the ground all over an area… Adora felt her stomach drop at the thought. That was…

"Good job," Catra, standing next to her, hissed at Jack, who had the grace to look embarrassed.

"I don't think creating plants that can explode is a good idea," Bow spoke up. "Imagine if those plants spread across a world?"

Adora winced.

"I see," Alpha slowly nodded. "So, that would be an experiment where the scale for requiring approval by authorities would be met since it would potentially endanger an entire world."

"Uh… yes, I think," Entrapta said. "One could do such experiments inside a space lab, of course, so specimens can't spread, but that's not perfectly safe - spores might escape anyway. And we know that some plants can survive and grow in space."

And now everyone was looking at Adora. It wasn't her fault that her magic had transformed Horde Prime's flagship into a plant! Well, kind of it was, but she hadn't known what she was doing. She should have known, of course, but…

"Well," Daniel spoke up, drawing the attention back to him, "it also depends on which authorities you're asking for approval. They might not actually have the authority to approve of such experiments."

"Absent any other representative of the First Ones, Adora and Colonel O'Neill are the legitimate authority with regard to experiments conducted on Research Station Alpha."

Adora winced again.

"Great. It's up to us to keep the mad scientists in check," Jack muttered.

"Yes." Alpha nodded.

Adora looked at Daniel, but he didn't look as if he was going to argue this. Nor was any of the others. Not even Glimmer, even though the First Moon of Enchantment belonged to her. Adora glanced at Catra.

Her lover snorted. "Don't look at me. I don't know anyone better suited to rein in Entrapta and her friends than you."

Adora flushed. Well, Catra was terribly biased. Adora wasn't some… some paragon of wisdom, or something. She didn't know more about these things than anyone else. Just because she was born a First One didn't make her qualified for such decisions - especially not about ethics. The First Ones had proven that they weren't any better than others when they planned to sacrifice Etheria to win the war.

But qualified or not, it was her responsibility - and Jack's - and she would not fail that duty. Straightening, she nodded at Alpha. "Yes." She had to do this. And she would do this.

"So, can we research this?" Entrapta asked. "I mean, the odds of anything exploding are pretty low. And we're not researching plants - not now, at least - but immune system replacements. Perfectly harmless!"

"Unless you create something that replaces the immune system like a symbiont in a Jaffa- and spreads to non-Jaffa," Catra pointed out.

Entrapta blinked, then cocked her head to the side. "Well… that's theoretically possible, I guess. We'd have to create an organism that could replicate outside a lab, perhaps by taking over a host body and using its reproductive system…"

Jack groaned, and Adora closed her eyes.

Why couldn't things be simple - and safe - for once?

*****​

Samantha Carter had to agree with Entrapta. She wasn't a biologist or geneticist, but she knew enough about Goa'uld biology to imagine a similar parasite that would permanently alter the host's body to, if not remove, then at least cripple the immune system - like AIDS - and replace it. The trick would be to get it to reproduce inside the host…

She shook her head. They didn't need a plague version of the Goa'uld. Thinking about how to create one was a waste of time. Even if it was an interesting thought experiment. But they had better, more important projects. Much more important projects.

And she wasn't a geneticist. She was a physicist. And a specialist in Ancient technology, though even that would be of limited use here. Probably. But first, she had to remind Entrapta of their priorities. "While we might consider this as a potential threat so we can plan safeguards and countermeasures, we should focus on our reason for coming here."

"Standard precautions against biological weapons should suffice against such a threat," Alpha commented. "Although I fail to see what use one would get out of such an organism. Unless reproduction is controlled in some way, anyone infected will not be dependent on regular supplies of the symbiont. Therefore, it cannot be used to gain leverage over others. And there are more effective biological weapon systems to reduce an enemy's combat capability."

"Why am I not surprised that the Ancients already thought of the best way to use biological weapons?" the Colonel commented.

Alpha's projection turned to face him. "The logical explanation would be that you are already aware of the research data contained in my data banks."

Sam winced. The Ancients had researched biological weapons here? What was she thinking; of course, they did.

"This day gets better and better," the Colonel muttered.

"This station has biological weapon research data? Samples as well?" Glimmer asked.

"Please answer the question, Alpha," Adora told the A.I. when she didn't reply to the question.

"We have the data for eleven research projects that would qualify as biological weapons, but only seven of them were deemed complete and ready for production, and only five have samples left over from testing. Do you wish me to start producing more samples?"

"Seven weapons? Five samples? What, no, no - don't produce biological weapons!" Adora almost frantically shook her head, and the Colonel had gone quite silent.

"I don't remember seeing this data when we visited the last time," Entrapta said.

"We can produce biological weapons here?" Glimmer looked alarmed as well.

Sam… wasn't really surprised. A species willing to destroy an entire planet to win a war wouldn't baulk at producing and using biological weapons. She only wondered why they were, apparently, not used.

"Were any of them used in the war against Horde Prime?" Anise asked, mirroring Sam's own thoughts.

Once more, Adora had to tell Alpha to answer.

"Yes. Three weapon systems were used in response to invasions by the Horde, but while they were successful in denying the planet to the enemy, the Horde fleet was not significantly affected after the first such attack. Analysis deduced that the Horde's policy of keeping their fleets separate and without contact with each other except for Horde Prime's orders granted them effective resistance even against agents with a long period of incubation, and when the Horde stopped recovering their ground troops after an invasion and started purging affected planets, the research into biological weapons was stopped as not viable."

"Of course, the bastard would just waste his troops like that!" Catra hissed. "If they're written off from the start, they can't infect the rest of a fleet."

"And he was safe from infection himself since he could possess any clone and so didn't need to physically visit. And even if he were infected, he could get a new body," Glimmer added with a grim expression.

Alpha didn't react to their comments, Sam noted.

"So… we probably should look into those projects," Entrapta suggested. "Since they might be aimed at clones, we might need a cure in case we find the locations where they were used." She looked concerned. "We can't risk our friends like that, can we?"

She was right, Sam realised. The Alliance wasn't using Horde Prime's tactics and policies, and if the fleet got infected with such a weapon… She nodded. "Yes. We need to be prepared for this. If the Goa'uld acquire such weapons, they won't hesitate to use them."

"Yes. Alpha, we need the data - not the samples - for all those weapons," Adora said.

"Of course. Will you limit access to the data to this facility's terminals, or do you wish to download the data?"

"Uh…" Adora glanced at the others. "I think we should limit access to the terminals on this station, yes."

That was probably the best course of action. If such knowledge and data spread… Sam glanced at Anise and Martouf, but they looked taken aback as well.

"You can access them in the archive, then."

"Good." Adora sighed. "We need to check the archives for more research data anyway."

"Yes!" Entrapta smiled.

"Are there any such weapons intended to be used against the Goa'uld?" Anise asked. "Weapons that exclusively target them?"

Which would, therefore, also affect the Tok'ra.

"Please answer the question," the Colonel said, rolling his eyes.

"There are two biological weapons that would be effective against the Goa'uld, but they are effective against all biological organisms. The First Ones did not deem it necessary to develop specific biological weapons against the Goa'uld," Alpha said.

Anise and Martouf looked relieved. Sam was as well. If such a weapon existed, some people in the Alliance would advocate for using it - despite the risk it posed for the Tok'ra. Or, worse, because of the risk.

"Let's go take a look," Entrapta said.

"Yeah…" The Colonel still looked tense. And Daniel looked, well, more than a little disturbed. Like the others here, Sam noted.

Well, she could have also done without hearing those revelations. But as a scientist, she wouldn't shy away from facts no matter how disturbing. Reality didn't change if one tried to ignore it. Reality only changed if you made it change. And you needed facts for that. And science.

*****​

"Why is everyone so shocked?" Catra asked as they entered the archives. "Didn't we already find out that the First Ones were not really nice people when we discovered what they had done to the Heart of Etheria?" She saw Adora flinching and clenched her teeth. Adora might be a First One, but she wasn't responsible for their deeds. She had been a baby when she had been taken from them by Hordak and Shadow Weaver.

But Catra should have known better than to bring this up. Even if that wasn't her fault, either.

"Well, in hindsight, maybe this was or should have been obvious," Bow said, grimacing a little. "But I don't think anyone really considered this."

"Ah, I am afraid you're wrong, Bow!" Lance looked up from the terminal he was staring at. "We were already aware of this." His smile looked a little embarrassed.

"You were? And you didn't tell us?" Glimmer frowned at them.

Catra was tempted to make a comment about not feuding with your future father-in-law but held her tongue. That was… a touchy subject. For a variety of reasons Catra wouldn't go into. Not even in her mind.

"We assumed that you knew." George took a step to stand next to Lance and frowned in return at Glimmer. "You had access to this facility for months before we started our project."

"We didn't actually have the time to go through all the data," Glimmer defended herself. "There was so much to organise, and then we left for Earth."

"Well, we had the time - we just focused on other things," Entrapta added. "And I think we all thought that the data about the origin of Etheria - well, of the people of Etheria, or at least of a major part of it - was more important." She cocked her head to the side. "Was that wrong?"

"No," Glimmer told her. "Our origin - the origin of our powers - was more important. We already knew that the First Ones were willing to destroy Etheria to win the war."

Catra grinned. "Which is what I said." She put her arms behind her head and stretched. "We shouldn't be surprised by this. If you're willing to blow up one planet, you're pretty much willing to do anything to win. And the First Ones were ready to destroy many planets," she reminded the others. It wasn't as if the Heart of Etheria would have just killed Horde Prime - or just him and his clones. Horde Prime had been ready to wipe out half the sector, or more, with it.

"Yes. Still, it's one thing to expect something like this and another to find out that there are biological weapons around that," Bow said.

"Yes! We need to ensure that we have an antidote or a cure!" Entrapta said. "And for that, we need the data on those weapons."

Catra nodded. "Yes. Especially if they only affect clones - those weapons could be hiding on populated planets, and we might not notice them since everything would appear fine until the first clone visits."

Sam nodded. "Yes. We need to prepare countermeasures. And adapt our protocols."

"Yes, that would be wise," George said. He still looked slightly disapproving - a bit like Shadow Weaver, Catra couldn't help thinking.

Glimmer must have been thinking the same thing since she frowned at him in return. "And we'll require everything you know about those weapons. And your promise that you won't spread this."

"Spread it?" Entrapta blinked. "Do you mean you have those samples?"

"I meant spreading the news about this," Glimmer said. "We don't need a panic about biological weapons."

"Of course not!" Lance said. "We're not irresponsible. We're historians!"

"Yes." George was frowning again.

"Looks like there's some trouble in paradise," Catra mumbled.

"What?" Adora asked.

Bow cleared his throat before Catra could explain. "Anyway, let's get to work?" He smiled a little weakly at everyone, but the others nodded.

Catra looked around, then picked one of the comfier-looking seats someone had installed in the room - on Lance and George's request since they were in the Bright Moon style, not the First Ones style. That one would do nicely. "Let's sit down!" she said, then grabbed Adora's hand.

"But there's no terminal there," her love protested.

"Are you a scientist?" Catra asked, raising her eyebrows.

"No!" Adora pouted. "But I took the Horde course for dealing with biological hazards. So did you."

Catra winced. "That was about dealing with Etherian plants and animals! And monsters!"

"And it included diseases!" Adora nodded firmly and started dragging her to the terminals lined up at the wall.

"But not biological weapons!" Catra protested.

"Close enough! We're just gathering data, anyway."

Catra hung her head and did her best to ignore the snickering from Glimmer. It didn't look like she'd be able to make out with Adora while the others worked. Though, to be fair, this was important work.

And she could still amuse herself by seeing if she could distract her lover if the work turned out too boring.

*****​

Jack O'Neill hated alien bioweapons. Well, bioweapons in general. It was one thing to die in combat, shot to death. Or stabbed to death. Or beaten to death, maybe choked to death - Jaffa had a lot of options. But it was another thing to die while your lungs filled with pus or from bleeding sores all over and inside your body. Of course, chemical weapons could have the same effect. And dying from radiation poisoning wasn't exactly a quick death, either. That stuff was why you tried to save your last bullet for yourself. And sooner or later, they would have to deal with this kind of shit. The Goa'uld would certainly not hold back once they realised that this was a war to the knife, and Jack was sure that the lab Jakar had destroyed when they met wasn't the only one in the Snake Empire. Not by far.

Although with magical healing, you might not die from such an attack. If someone able to heal was around, and if you were alive enough to make it to that someone. And if you were important enough to get healed, in case a whole world was infected. Jack had his doubts that even Adora could heal an entire world. Even if she would try anyway. But while he hadn't met any other people who could heal with magic, he was pretty sure that they weren't in her league. The Etherians had confirmed that.

And he was also pretty sure that they wouldn't be able to get enough 'healers' from Etheria, by recruiting or training, to make such a difference. Not for the scale the war was going to reach. It wasn't quite going to be the total war World War III would have been, but the mobilisation was already dwarfing Desert Storm levels and was expected to rise a lot more.

That meant Earth needed counteragents. Cures. Maybe even some healing devices, provided they didn't turn you into zombies. And that meant finding out what was hidden in those Ancient databanks. Which boiled down to letting Carter and Entrapta - and probably Bow and Anise, though Jack wasn't so keen on allowing the latter access to this data - do their thing while staying out of their way.

Jack surely had no illusions that he would be of any help just because he had taken a course on dealing with NBC attacks. So he grinned at Catra behind Adora's back and wandered over to where Daniel was chatting with Bow's dads.

"...so you think the Ancients simply left, even though their, ah, experiments were not finished?" Jack heard Daniel ask in a low voice as he approached the three men.

"Yes," Lance replied. "At least, that's what the records we have found and analysed so far tell us."

"If they had left an automated system like Alpha or Light Hope on Etheria to keep an eye on everyone, there should have been some data about it," George added. "Unlike Light Hope, it would have been directly related to this research station, and so it would have needed access to the data here. It wouldn't have made sense to isolate it."

"In my experience, the Ancients had some weird notions about what made sense," Jack cut in with a grin. They certainly had weird experiments. Merging animals and people? Jack suppressed a shudder.

"Well, they had a different culture," Daniel said. "What is considered common sense is often heavily influenced by cultural norms."

"Not letting dangerous stuff lie around and making sure that it won't endanger anyone else seems like a pretty general thing," Jack commented.

But all three men frowned at him. "Jack! Do you know how often that happens on Earth? I mean, doesn't happen as it should?" Daniel shook his head.

"And we have to consider the fact that the First Ones were fighting a war against Horde Prime at the time - a war they were losing," George added. "That will also have influenced their thinking."

"If they were ready to sacrifice Etheria, they would likely not have cared about the experiments on it any more. Or about ensuring that it would be safe." Lance looked grim. "Short of some scientists wanting to save their data for future experiments, maybe."

"Yeah, wars tend to put things into perspective," Jack admitted. "Not always a good thing."

Daniel nodded with a frown. "We have to ensure that we're not falling into the same trap. We can't allow us to justify atrocities in the hope that it would help us win the war."

His friend must be feeling guilty about the whole 'Goa'uld experimentation' plan, Jack guessed. As if that had been his fault.

Lance and George nodded. "It wouldn't help, anyway - the First Ones tried it, and they still lost," George said. "They might have won, had they had allies instead of…" He scowled. "...'test subjects'."

"Yep. Allies are a good thing. Crucial thing, too," Jack agreed. Provided you could trust them not to stab you in the back.

He looked at the rest of the room, where the others were busy with the bioweapon data search. They could trust the Etherians. At least the bunch of princesses they had met so far - that 'Princess Sweet Bee' didn't sound like someone Jack would trust to watch his back. But what about the next generation?

And what about the Tok'ra?

Well, the priority was to win the war against the Goa'uld. Odds were, whatever problems cropped up afterwards would be political ones, and so none of Jack's business anyway. He didn't have to worry about them.

But sometimes, he couldn't help worrying anyway.

*****​
 
Chapter 84: Educational Issues Part 3
Chapter 84: Educational Issues Part 3

Bright Moon, January 18th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"That was a waste of time!"

Adora rolled her eyes at Catra's outburst. Her lover hadn't stopped complaining since they had returned from the First Moon of Enchantment. And she was wrong. "It wasn't - we learned important information."

"No thanks to us," Catra shot back as she dropped onto their bed. "We just read the stuff Alpha showed us but we didn't understand it."

Adora didn't pout, but she frowned at Catra. That was… not quite right. "We did learn more about the bioweapons the First Ones had."

"And which we now have," Catra said. "And which the Tok'ra and Earth now know about."

Adora pressed her lips together. "We don't have such weapons. Just the data."

"And the samples."

"Those aren't weaponised."

"You just need to fill them into a container and then launch it. A bot could do it."

That was… not wrong. But… "That wouldn't be nearly as effective as a coordinated deployment en masse," Adora said - and then regretted her words at once. 'It could be worse' was never a compelling argument.

Catra snorted. "I bet Entrapta could whip up enough of it - of any of the samples - in a few hours to kill a planet."

Adora didn't disagree. Entrapta was… perfectly able to do that. "But she won't. We talked to her."

Catra shrugged, then rolled on her back. "Whatever. So, what's up until dinner?" She turned her head to grin at Adora and the way she shifted her body left no doubt about what she thought they should do.

And… it wasn't a bad idea. Not at all. The others were already looking into the data they had found, and they couldn't really help with that. And they had an hour or two to kill before dinner.

Adora grinned and slowly walked over to their bed, already loosening her shirt.

*****

Bright Moon, January 19th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"So, you claim that Earth, despite being a supposed ally of the Princess Alliance, cannot be trusted enough to allow us to travel there through Etheria's Stargate? Really? I've heard more convincing stories from children!" Sweet Bee scoffed and raised her eyebrows.

Adora didn't like the princess. Not at all. She couldn't understand whatever Spinnerella had ever seen in the woman to have a relationship with her, no matter how short - Sweet Bee was all spite and scorn.

But Adora couldn't deny that, laid out like that, their reasons for limiting gate travel sounded a bit weak.

"Earth isn't unified," Glimmer retorted. "As you very well know. And some of their countries consider magic evil."

"And is their Stargate in such a country?"

"Earth's Stargate is under the control of the United Nations of Earth," Glimmer replied.

"You just claimed that Earth wasn't united." The lack of surprise on Sweet Bee's face made it obvious that she knew what the United Nations were. At least in Adora's opinion. Someone must have told her a lot about Earth.

"The planet isn't united - the individual countries are basically independent. The United Nations have very little direct power." Glimmer pressed her lips together.

"But the Stargate isn't in a country where magic is considered evil, is it? It's controlled by the Alliance, isn't it? Effectively, at least." Sweet Bee smiled, showing her teeth.

"Yes," Glimmer ground out.

"So, why would anyone be in danger when travelling there?" Sweet Bee asked.

"Every country has dissenters," Catra pointed out. "And we're at war."

"But you can detect our enemies - they cannot hide on a planet. Earth and Etheria are free of those 'Goa'uld' and 'Jaffa', according to your own claims."

As much as Adora hated it, Sweet Bee was correct. Sam and Entrapta's scanner could detect any Jaffa or Go'auld.

"Reasonably safe, yes - according to what we currently know." Glimmer must be struggling not to grind her teeth.

"And yet, you won't let us visit the planet. Because you want to force us to fight at your side." Sweet Bee sneered. "Because you want us under your control. Or, perhaps…" She bared her teeth. "...because you have something to hide? The only ones allowed to travel to Earth are members of the Alliance. Princesses who would never contradict your claims."

"Are you seriously claiming that we made the whole war up?" Catra scoffed.

"That's one explanation for your attempt to keep us from visiting a supposedly safe planet," Sweet Bee said. "It would explain why you are so adamant about keeping control of the Stargate - and keeping anyone not in your alliance out."

"The other explanation is that we're at war, and the Stargate is a crucial resource for the war, and so it's not going to be used for frilly trips by people too cowardly to fight," Catra retorted.

"Of course, you would be saying that.." The princess scowled at Catra. "But we've been watching the Stargate - it's barely in use. It's obvious that it could accommodate much more traffic - at no cost to anyone." She sniffed. "Your story isn't holding up to even basic scrutiny or logic. Just admit that you want to use the Stargate as leverage to control everyone who isn't a member of your alliance!"

"That's a lie!" Glimmer spat.

But Adora couldn't help feeling that Sweet Bee's arguments would look really compelling to people who didn't know better. And if Prince Peekablue, who had been a member of the first Princess Alliance with Glimmer's parents, supported her, many people would believe her claims.

She looked at her friends. Catra was sneering, but Glimmer looked frustrated. And Bow looked as if he felt guilty.

This wasn't a good sign.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, January 21st, 1999

"...and so we'll have to prepare for a delegation from Etheria led by Princess Sweet Bee to check if Goa'uld are real. Oh, and to check if Earth is safe."

The Colonel didn't even try to hide his annoyance, Samantha Carter noted. She understood it, of course - this news disrupted their already packed schedule. They had much more important work to do than play tour guides. The Stargate would soon be moved, and just organising her lab to be transported without wrecking her projects was a huge amount of work.

"Princess Sweet Bee?" Daniel asked.

"That's her name. I don't know if she's actually part bee, but I wouldn't be surprised. So, you better check your allergies, Daniel, in case she brings alien pollen with her as a snack or something."

Sam sighed - softly - as Daniel pouted. "I don't think she'll bring pollen. Even if she shared some characteristics with bees, bees transport pollen to their hive; it would be illogical for her to transport pollen to Earth."

The Colonel snickered, probably imagining how this would go.

Sam suppressed another sigh. "The Stargate travel protocols will not allow pollen or similar material to spread inside Stargate Command," she pointed out.

"You mean the decontamination and medical drills," the Colonel said.

"Yes."

He snorted, then shrugged. "Anyway, Glimmer's not happy about this, but it seems this was the best the Princess Alliance could do or something."

"As far as I understand, this princess represents kingdoms not aligned with the Princess Alliance," Teal'c commented. "Their military capability is supposed to be negligible, according to Catra."

Sam was surprised that Teal'c had talked to Catra - then realised she shouldn't be. Catra, despite some claims to the contrary, was quite active in planning the war. And waging it. Like Teal'c, she probably felt that she had to make amends for what she did serving - and leading - the enemy. Not that either of them would admit it, although Sam was sure their reasons for that differed. Still, Sam was curious when they had talked about this. Not curious enough to ask, though.

"Yeah, but, apparently, they can't just ignore the princess." The Colonel shrugged again. "Don't ask me why."

"I assume it's because while the Princess Alliance is the most powerful military power on Etheria, they don't want to act like the Horde," Daniel said. "They might also have economic interests or personal ties to Sweet Bee or her allies that make simply ignoring her request - or demand - impossible. Of course, tradition will also play a role - I assume Etherian culture frowns on ignoring princesses. In an aristocracy, all aristocrats have an interest in ensuring that their status is acknowledged even during disputes and conflicts. Actually, especially during conflicts."

"Yeah, that sounds plausible," the Colonel said.

Daniel started to smile and nod but then caught the Colonel's grin and pouted again.

"So, what are we expected to do?" Sam asked, trying to get the briefing back on track. She didn't ask why SG-1 was tasked with this - they had the most experience in handling such situations, after all. And the Colonel was correct that the sometimes unique biology of Etherians was a potential source of trouble.

"Well, mainly show them around and keep them from getting killed by terrorists, secret agents and traffic," the Colonel replied. "Actually, the generals didn't tell me that explicitly, but we probably should keep them from getting killed, period."

"We're supposed to be bodyguards?" Daniel asked.

"We'll have SG-3 provide actual guards, but keep an eye out as well. While doing your diplomacy thing."

Daniel nodded. "And when will they arrive? Do we have an itinerary? Do we have to prepare one?"

"They'll visit tomorrow. They didn't tell us their itinerary - I'm not sure they have one, actually, since they don't know much about Earth and don't trust the Princess Alliance."

"I'll prepare one, then," Daniel said.

Sam doubted that the delegation would trust him since SG-1 were known to be friends of Glimmer and the other Princesses in the Alliance, but it wouldn't hurt. And it might come in useful despite her expectations.

"Good. Also, we'll have to look into allergies and stuff for Princesses with a 'special biology'," the Colonel quoted.

That meant her, Sam knew. "I'll prepare the scanner and a few potential remedies," Sam told him.

"You do that." He smiled at her, and she smiled back for a moment.

Daniel cleared his throat. "So, uh… how many from the Princess Alliance will visit?"

"Everyone we know except for Entrapta is coming as part of the visit," the Colonel said with a grimace. "So, I guess that means Entrapta drew the short lot and has to stay home to keep the lights on."

"Ah…" Sam raised her hand. "Entrapta had already scheduled a visit to my lab for tomorrow, sir."

"I see." The Colonel frowned - did he think Entrapta being present was a problem? Sam frowned at the thought. That would be unfair. Entrapta was a great friend and meant well; it wasn't her fault that she sometimes was a bit too enthusiastic. That could happen to any scientist, as Sam could testify.

Daniel blinked. "Uh, Jack… do you mean we have to host the entire leadership of the Princess Alliance and a delegation from another Etherian coalition? Tomorrow?"

The Colonel grinned without much humour. "Yep. It's going to be fun, I think."

Sam managed not to glare at him.

*****​

Gate Area, Near Bright Moon, Etheria, January 22nd, 1999 (Earth Time)

"I am looking forward to seeing Earth's oceans."

"And to sail on them! Adventure!"

"I am curious about their plants. Their rainforests are said to contain the most fascinating specimens. Though I hope the plants there won't be as standoffish as cactuses…"

"I doubt that. And even if they are, you'll win them over, like you did with cactuses!"

"Thank you, Scorpia, but we're talking about a completely different planet here - the plants might not react well to my magic…"

"I want to visit this 'Antarctica continent'. It sounds like home."

Catra shook her head at the conversations she was hearing. "This doesn't sound like the diplomatic visit they agreed on," she commented with a smirk to Adora.

Her lover blushed a little. "Well… they're enthusiastic?"

"They're treating this like a trip," Glimmer said in a flat voice.

"Like tourists," Catra agreed.

"Tourists? Ah, yes." Adora nodded. "That would fit."

"What are tourists?" Netossa asked. She was one of the few princesses who didn't act all giddy about visiting Earth but was focused on their actual task - ensuring that Sweet Bee and her delegation didn't mess up things for the Alliance.

Of course, Catra suspected that part of the reason for this was that Sweet Bee was the ex of Spinnerella, but as long as it ensured at least one of the bunch of princesses was doing what they were supposed to be doing, she didn't really care.

Spinnerella, on the other hand, looked a little nervous. Then again, meeting your ex would be awkward. Not that Catra had any personal experience with that. Nor any desire to ever have an ex-girlfriend. She'd die before losing Adora.

"Tourists is an Earth term for people who travel for, ah, leisure. Just to experience another country, take a vacation, that sort of thing," Bow explained. "I think it comes from 'tour', people who go on a tour."

"Ah." Netossa nodded. "Like princesses visiting each other?"

"Probably." Bow shrugged. "But it's a lot more common on Earth. They have an entire industry based on tourism."

"Really? That sounds… weird."

The sound of a skiff approaching drew Catra's attention away from the discussion. Turning her head, she spotted the vehicle just before it started to descend in front of the gate.

"She almost missed her own trip." Glimmer scoffed. "Typical."

"Well, we would have gone without her," Catra said with a grin. "At least, I don't think the others would have waited long for her honeyness."

Glimmer and Bow laughed at that, and Adora snorted, even though she frowned at Catra afterwards.

"What?" Catra grinned. "I'm not going to pretend I like or respect her." And if the princess took offence at that… well, Catra was pretty sure she could take her, should it come to blows. Sweet Bee could fly, but that wouldn't really help her much inside an underground base. Or a similar environment.

"No one likes her," Glimmer complained. "She's just a nagging, entitled princess who didn't have the guts to fight the Horde. But she is a princess, so we have to treat her with some respect."

Catra shrugged. She wouldn't cause a diplomatic incident, but that didn't mean she would be fawning over the twit. Not that it would work, anyway, since Sweet Bee knew what Catra thought of her from their earlier meetings.

"Shh! Here she comes!" Adora whispered. "Oh. She brought Peekablue."

"Ask him to demonstrate his power," Catra whispered.

Adora blinked, then nodded. "Right."

Everyone would have to prove their identity. The last thing they needed was Double Trouble reaching Earth. The traitor would cause chaos just to amuse themselves, no matter how many suffered as a result of it. And if they joined the Goa'uld…

After five minutes of exchanging polite greetings and a not-so-polite discussion about why it was a bad idea to let a shapechanger who thrived on drama loose on an allied planet in the middle of the war, followed by a fairly quick demonstration of everyone's magic powers, they were finally ready to travel to Earth.

While the Stargate was dialling, Catra stepped closer to Glimmer, motioning Adora to join them. "We'll have to hold Alliance meetings off-world for now," she said in a low voice.

"Yes," Glimmer agreed. "If Peekablue can find a scroll I've hidden inside the palace with his seer powers, he can observe our meetings as well. I'll have to ask Castaspella for help with securing the palace against his power, but it might take a while."

"His power could help us a lot in the war, though," Adora pointed out.

"Yes. But he doesn't want to fight anymore." Glimmer shrugged. "Dad said he saw too much while he was with the first Princess Alliance."

"Oh." Adora nodded with a glance at the prince, who was standing a bit apart from them, with Sweet Bee.

Catra scoffed. If the prince couldn't stomach war, he had no business meddling with those who were fighting in it.

Then the gate stabilised, and they got the all-clear from Earth. Catra grinned. Time to find out how Earth would handle the Princesses. And how the princesses would handle Earth.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

Jack O'Neill straightened when the vortex stabilised, and the iris withdrew. "Here they come!" he said. "Put on your best diplomatic smile, and remember: You're not allowed to shoot the nice people with diplomatic immunity no matter how annoying they might get!" he announced.

Carter didn't react, and neither did Teal'c, of course, but Daniel made a sound between a chuckle and a gasp, and Jack thought he caught a soft snort from behind him, where General Hammond, Haig and Petit were waiting. Probably Petit - Hammond was used to Jack's jokes, and Haig never showed any emotion. And the weenies from the State Department looked as if he had just mooned them. They didn't try to scold him, though, so they must have been briefed competently.

He was joking, of course, but only just. It would have been bad enough to meet Princess Sweet Bee and Prince Peekablue, but they were also going to meet pretty much every other princess in the Princess Alliance. They were, effectively, hosting something like the G20 in Stargate Command. On two days' notice.

Jack didn't believe the rumours that the Secretary of State had offered to resign upon being informed of this - that was probably spread by someone angling for the man's job - but the diplomats Washington had sent were certainly nervous enough to make everyone else nervous. Well, everyone not used to the Etherians. And, of course, there was the general shift of priorities in Washington.

"Wouldn't even want to know how bad things would be if we weren't at war," he muttered under his breath. Organising such a visit would have taken months and countless meetings in peacetime.

"Sir?" Carter asked from next to him.

"Nothing. Just musing that the good old 'wartime expediency' thing is working out in our favour for once."

"Ah."

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked.

Fortunately, Jack was spared from explaining just how much worse things could have been by their first visitors stepping through the gate. Adora, followed by Catra.

Followed by a bunch of enthusiastic young people with magic powers looking around as if they were just entering Disneyland for the first time. And an older couple that was trying to appear bored while still looking around as if they were first-time visitors to Disneyland as well.

Those two would be Sweet Bee and Peekablue, then. Sweet Bee actually had wings on her back - far too small to let her fly, if not for magic. And Peekablue was… blue. And kind of… what did Daniel call it? Androgynous? David Bowie-ish in the seventies was what Jack would call it. He pushed the thought away and focused on Netossa and Spinnerella, who were bringing up the rear and looking around unabashedly.

"Hi, Jack!" Adora greeted him. "Hi, Sam, Daniel, Teal'c!"

"Jack." Catra nodded at him and the rest of his team.

"Hello, everyone!" Scorpia beamed.

"Hi, Jack. Sam. Daniel. Teal'c." Glimmer nodded at everyone in turn.

"Sam!" Entrapta headed straight to Carter. "I've got the new designs for our projects. Take a look!"

"Oh, we're underground… Hi, everyone!" Perfuma looked around, waving.

"Hello, everyone." Frosta was trying to act as regal as Glimmer but not quite pulling it off.

Jack noticed the stare from the diplomats. They had been briefed, but meeting the real thing was still a shock, it seemed. Had they expected a group of Queen Elizabeths, all stern and stiff upper lip? Well, time to get this show on the road. He stepped forward and started introducing everyone to everyone.

Which took a while.

*****​

"And this is the Gate Control Room," General Hammond explained as they entered it. "This houses the computers controlling the gate."

Jack resisted the urge to make a joke about 'Carter's kingdom. Touch them at your own peril'. She had gone to her lab with Entrapta, so it would have been wasted anyway.

"Oh, nice. Do you have gun emplacements as well? You've got a good field of fire from here." Netossa asked.

"Ah, no," Hammond said.

"But the new gate room we're constructing in Canada will have them," Jack cut in. He had seen the plans, after all. Before and after Carter and Entrapta had gone over them.

"Ah. What type? We've got some Horde Sentry guns back home, but they're not very impressive. Basically immobile bots."

"Heavy machine guns and anti-tank missiles," Jack informed her.

"Pure Earth technology?" Netossa asked, cocking her head.

"Yes. It should be effective enough," Jack confirmed. He was the one who had been pushing for anti-tank missiles, just in case - the Stargate was big enough for a combat vehicle to pass through, after all.

"Stargate Command is operated by forces detached to the United Nations, and so is not allowed to operate equipment restricted to Alliance forces," General Haig explained.

"What about Captain Carter's lab?" Spinerella asked.

"That's a special case," Haig said.

A very special case Jack really didn't want to explain in detail. Mostly because they still hadn't sorted out what pieces of tech belonged to Stargate Command, what belonged to the United States, and what were Alliance property. Jack would have transferred everything out, but Stargate Command needed some advanced technology, for security purposes at least.

"So, you don't trust each other with your technology," Sweet Bee commented.

"We don't share technology outside the Alliance," Glimmer retorted with a toothy smile. "Here or on Etheria - as you already knew."

The other princess sniffed. "If Earth technology can keep a Stargate safe, then evidently, the danger is not as great as you made it out to be."

"Earth military technology is quite effective in ground combat," Adora pointed out. "It's roughly on par with Horde technology during the war on Etheria."

"And yet they need our help? It must be a profitable arrangement, I guess." Sweet Bee was, obviously, not going to be easily swayed. Or at all. She would fit in great with a number of politicians Jack could think of.

But he was used to those kinds of people. That Sweet Bee was a bit younger and better looking than the usual type on Earth - and had wings - didn't make much of a difference as far as he was concerned. They could handle her.

Now Peekablue, on the other hand… He hadn't said much and kept staring at nothing in particular, and Jack had a feeling that it wasn't because the man was stoned out of his mind. Glimmer had mentioned that he had 'the power of far sight', and Jack was wondering - and worried - just how far that sight could reach.

*****​

"...and that's about everything here in Stargate Command. I hope you enjoyed your tour."

Adora heard Netossa snicker softly at Jack's comment. Her friend probably thought that Jack was subtly joking about them being tourists. Which could totally be true, of course. But Adora couldn't tell for sure.

"We haven't seen everything," Sweet Bee complained. She shared a glance with Peekablue, Adora noticed. "Not even most of it."

"Yep." Jack smiled sweetly at the princess. "The rest of the base is off-limits for visitors. For security reasons - can't have people stumble into delicate experiments. Or disturb the sick, you know."

"There are no sick people inside this area of the base," Peekablue spoke up, tilting his head back. "And the number of sick people in the areas above us is also quite small."

Jack's smile grew a little toothy. "The area above us isn't part of Stargate Command. That's a normal military base."

One of the most important military bases, as far as Adora knew. But not part of Stargate Command, yes.

"You seriously claim that it isn't the same base?" Sweet Bee scoffed. "We're in the same location - just further below them. We can take a lift to their part of the base. What are you trying to hide with this cheap attempt at sophistry?"

Adora frowned. It was very rude to accuse your hosts of lying to you.

"Stargate Command shares some infrastructure with the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, but we're under United Nations Command," General Hammond replied. "And the base is off-limits to Air Force personnel not assigned to the United Nations, just as Stargate Command forces aren't allowed into the Air Force base above us."

"Can't let the Russians and Chinese take a peek at our aerospace defence," Jack added.

Oh! Adora was sure that this was a deliberate dig at Peekablue - though the prince had made it obvious that he was using his power to peek... to spy on the people here. Which was rude. And which Adora should have said something about. But that might have led to a diplomatic incident and been just what Sweet Bee wanted so she could claim that the Alliance was trying to oppress everyone else.

But now she was claiming that they were hiding things from them. Well, they were - but those were things that Sweet Bee had no right to see.

"A likely excuse!" Sweet Bee scoffed again.

Catra snorted loudly. "You've got a lot of nerve. You spy on the American base above us, then complain that they don't want to show it to you? You should be glad that Stargate Command hasn't thrown you out for that!" She turned to smile at General Hammond. "Which would be totally understandable, by the way."

Adora clenched her teeth. Catra wasn't wrong, not really, but… this was rude as well. Although… Glimmer wasn't saying anything.

Jack chuckled, but the general merely nodded. "That's a political decision."

Everyone looked at the diplomats with the group. They didn't look like they enjoyed being put on the spot like this, in Adora's opinion.

"I am sure this can be solved amiably," their apparent leader, Mister Clark, said with a fake smile. "We are aware that Etherian customs differ from ours and that it is considered rude to prohibit the use of magic power."

"Using your power to spy on others is also considered rude," Glimmer informed him.

"We are here to find out if your claims about the war, Earth and the Goa'uld are true," Peekablue retorted, looking straight at Glimmer. "That was understood from the start. Merely following a prepared tour to show us what you and your allies want us to see and nothing else would have been pointless and against both the letter and spirit of our agreement."

That was… not wrong, either, Adora had to admit. It was still rude, though.

"And I am sure your allies here understood that as well," Sweet Bee added.

"It was a consideration when debating whether or not we would agree to this visit," Clark said. His smile had grown even thinner.

"And you did agree." Swee Bee nodded.

"And you knew that some areas would be off-limits as well," Jack pointed out. "That's how the military works."

"Not that you would know anything about that," Glimmer added with a sneer aimed at Sweet Bee.

"But I would." Peekablue narrowed his eyes at her.

"Then you should act like it," Glimmer told him with a glare.

"I am." He nodded. "While mildly interesting, touring this base does not answer our questions. We need to meet those Goa'uld - and see more of your planet."

"Yes!" Perfuma nodded, then blushed. "I mean… a planet is far more than just a base. Underground."

Adora could see that everyone else from their friends - everyone who was visiting Earth for the first time - agreed. As she had expected.

General Hammond exchanged glances with General Haig and General Petit. "Our Goa'uld prisoners are kept in another location - it has been deemed too dangerous to keep them close to the Stargate. But we can shuttle you to their prison, or you can meet with members of the Tok'ra, although they won't arrive for some time. Of course, should you want to meet the Goa'uld, then, for everyone's safety, we have to insist on physical separation."

"We're aware of their power," Peekablue told him.

"At least of what you claim their power is," Sweet Bee added with a slight sneer.

"We should let a Tok'ra take over her body," Catra whispered.

Adora pressed her lips together. That would… the Tok'ra didn't take over people against their will. And it might be dangerous - they didn't know how magic would react to Goa'uld. And it would be wrong, of course.

But it would be a funny way to shut the princess up. Adora was really tired of hearing Sweet Bee's sniping remarks and not-so-veiled accusations.

*****​

"...and so, this data shows how the First Ones combined different species into a new one with parts of both. It's really tricky, by the way - even the First Ones had a lot of failures with the more challenging experiments."

Samantha Carter managed not to wince at the data she was shown. 'Failures' meant not just non-viable results but also people who lived just long enough to die painfully. And people who lived long enough to die slowly and painfully. "Do the others know about this?" she asked.

Entrapta blinked. "I think so - they got the same data we got, didn't they? At least, they have access to the same data. But I would have to check with Glimmer. Or Adora - she's the one Alpha listens to when we need permissions. And Jack, but he's usually not on Etheria."

Sam doubted that the other princesses had analysed the data. Adora would have been shocked at what her ancestors had done and feeling guilty - even though she was absolutely blameless.

"Do you think they will help us? Some of the experiments require magic we don't have access to yet, though I think unless it's an experiment with plants, we should probably ask Castaspella. Or Adora, but she needs the boost to her power from returning magic to a world, and she said she needs better control as well, so that might not be a viable method yet."

"I doubt that they would want to duplicate the experiments of the First Ones," Sam said as gently as she could.

"Well, of course not!" Entrapata nodded firmly, and Sam was just starting to wonder if her friend was aware of the issues when she continued: "We already know how those were done and what results they had. We need new experiments to find a solution to the Jaffa's lack of an immune system."

That wasn't Sam's point, but she nodded anyway. "Yes. But I don't think creating a new species out of Jaffa is the answer. That won't help the Jaffa."

"Yes." Entrapta turned towards the big screen in Sam's lab. "But once we have a viable template, we could use that as a model for altering the Jaffa's bodies."

Gene therapy on that level… Before she had found out about the Ancients and their technology, Sam would have dismissed that as unrealistic science fiction. Or fantasy. But given what they knew now… "That might work, but there might be easier and quicker solutions. Like a symbiotic organism that could also help humans with immunodeficiency. It would certainly be easier to get funding for such a project than for a project to save aliens who were, for the most part, fighting for the Goa'uld."

"That's true. But we can still use this data to see how we might be able to change existing symbionts. Not sapient ones, of course!" Etheria nodded twice. "But if we can change the intestinal bacteria, that would be a great first step. And the final result should be easy to implement - the better bacteria will replace the weaker ones organically."

"It will require extensive testing, though," Sam pointed out. If they created an invasive bacteria that replaced the gut flora in humans and turned out to be harmful or have harmful side effects… that would be a horrible bioweapon. And one manufactured by themselves.

"Yes!" Entrapta beamed. "It should be fun. We might be able to improve the digestive system as well - imagine if we could eat grass, like cows! That would probably solve some of the problems on Earth with food distribution." She frowned. "I still don't understand why you can't just ensure that everyone gets enough food. You've had so long to figure out things, and you have the production and transport capacity according to the data from your logisticians."

Sam winced. "It's a complex situation," she said.

"Why is it complex? People are starving, and others have a surplus of food - according to the fitness reports from the Alliance, you have overweight soldiers. So, the obvious solution is to move food from those who have too much to those who don't have enough." Entrapta shook her head. "Everybody would win that way."

If the Colonel were here, he would make a joke about communist princesses. But he wasn't here - he was dealing with the rest of the visitors from Etheria. He, Daniel and Teal'c. So, it fell to Sam to explain why things were not as simple as they seemed. "It's not just a question of food distribution, but also of politics and business processes. Most 'simple solutions' to similar problems tended to cause more serious problems later."

"More serious problems than people starving?" Entrapta asked.

"Sometimes, more people ended up starving," Sam told her. "Like when food aid caused local food production to become unprofitable."

Once more, her friend frowned. "But… that would only happen if you distributed too much food, wouldn't it?"

Sam sighed. "Not quite. Often, expectations are enough to change how people act - or what they sow. If a farmer expects to get more money producing a cash crop instead of food, then they'll switch production."

"Ah. But isn't the system you use meant to react to that by making food more expensive so people will produce more food?"

Sam pressed her lips together and decided that she would have to have a talk with Daniel about going into more detail when he was teaching people about Earth's economy. "In theory, yes, but it's not as simple as it sounds since humans don't always make perfectly rational decisions - and even if they did, sometimes, the most profitable decision for an individual is not the best for everyone else."

"That sounds like a flaw of the system," Entrapta said.

"Yes. But we haven't found a better system yet."

"That does sound complicated." Entrapta shook her head. "You better find a solution - if you have to keep patching up a broken system, it ends up more work, far more work, than designing a better system from the ground up."

Sam was forced to agree. But this wasn't what they were here for. "Although since neither of us is an economist, we should probably stick to what we can do."

Entrapta nodded. "Yes! Back to Project Smybiont Mark Two!"

Sam sighed with relief. And a bit of shame.

*****​

"So… after the prison visit, you want to visit Antarctica, the rainforest in the Amazon basin, New York, Brussels, Switzerland, Disney World, Hawaii, the Vatican and Mecca?"

O'Neill hadn't managed to keep his unfazed facade going, Catra noted, when the princesses had started to answer his question of where they wanted to go after the visit to the Goa'uld's prison. He really should have expected this.

"Yes." Frosta nodded with that overly serious expression of hers that made her look even younger. Catra was glad that she had never tried to look 'mature'. "The shuttle should be able to reach any spot on the planet in less than an hour, right?" She nodded at the shuttle standing behind O'Neill on the landing pad.

"Yes - the shuttle's rated for that speed, though we'll have to go orbital for some trips, I think," Scorpia said before O'Neill - or Daniel, who had already opened his mouth - could react. She would have read up on the shuttles' specs before the attack on Heru'ur's base, of course. "But that will cut down on the time we can actually spend at every location."

"That would run the point of the visit," Perfuma complained. "Maybe we could split up?"

O'Neill's expression clearly showed what he thought of that proposal.

But the other princesses nodded. "I don't want to see a jungle," Frosta said.

"As long as I can visit the sea, I'm fine. Though I would prefer an ocean that's not covered in ice," Mermista added.

"But we should all visit Disney World together," Perfuma added. "It looks far more fun with friends."

"We can't visit Disney World," O'Neill said. "Security reasons," he added with a stern glare. "We would have to shut down the park for your visit, and that would mean shoving thousands of people out for you."

"Oh, no!" Perfuma gasped. "We can't do that - this would be incredibly selfish! And a deserted Disney World doesn't sound like it would be fun, anyway."

"Why would you have to do that?" Sweet Bee asked with narrowed eyes. "Do you want to keep us from talking or even seeing your people?"

"As I told you: security reasons." O'Neill met her eyes.

"A likely answer." Sweet Bee scoffed.

Catra rolled her eyes. "The chance that some dangerous nutcase will attack us is too high," she said. "You arrogant moron," she added under her breath, which earned her a hissed 'Catra!' from Adora.

"A convenient excuse," Sweet Bee shot back. "But you can't keep us from finding out the truth! I assume you'll claim that visiting the Vatican and Mecca is also 'too dangerous'?"

"The Vatican is a sovereign state. Whether or not you can visit the Pope is up to him," O'Neill said. "Mecca is off-limits, though, unless you're a Muslim."

Sweet Bee huffed. "How is their leader supposed to meet with guests, then? Do they have a palace outside their kingdom?"

"I am sure King Fahd of Saudi Arabia has palaces access the world - or can buy one on short notice," O'Neill said with a grin.

Daniel cleared his throat. "I think there's been a misunderstanding," he said. "You want to visit the Vatican and Mecca because you want information about the two biggest religions on Earth, right?"

"And the two most hostile according to you, yes." Sweet Bee nodded. "Speaking to their leaders is the obvious course of action if we want to test this."

"Well, both Christianity and Islam are actually made up of many factions and sects, without an overall leader. The Pope might come closest, but he doesn't represent all or even a clear majority of Christians, only the Catholics. There is no such leader for the Muslim world, though," Daniel explained. "You would be better served to talk to several experts and prominent theologists."

"Which you would carefully choose," Sweet Bee retorted. "We prefer to make our own judgement."

"But your information about Earth is clearly incomplete," Adora told her. "Did you know that magic is illegal in Saudi Arabia?"

"Or that just meeting with you might be enough for the King of Saudi Arabia to be toppled by his family? Or a revolution?" Glimmer scoffed.

"My sources assured me that their information was correct." Sweet Bee glared at her. "And you admitted to hiding information from us!"

"Sounds like exaggerated rumours," Catra said, shaking her head. "Probably something overheard in the Palace by a guard or servant, and then it spread. Unless you let people watch Earth television." She hadn't heard of anything like that, but soldiers always traded and smuggled contraband. Though the timing was off for this to have come from the intervention, and before that, contact with Earth had been limited to their group. Probably rumours, then.

"We didn't import any TVs," Bow said.

"My sources prefer to remain anonymous," Sweet Bee said. "They fear your reaction to revealing your propaganda."

"Or they have peeked at us from afar and didn't quite understand what they saw:" Catra stared at Peekablue. "Did you spy on us watching TV?"

Peekablue had a great poker face and didn't react, but Sweet Bee scowled even more, and Catra was sure that her guess was correct.

"You've been spying on us!" Glimmer spat.

"That's a slanderous accusation without any proof!" Sweet Bee shot back.

She didn't deny it, Catra noted.

"Well, I think we can swing a meeting with the Pope, but Mecca - and Saudi Arabia in general - are off the table," O'Neill said. "Antarctica, though, we can easily do. And I think we can also find a nice safe patch of rainforest in Hawaii."

Catra narrowed her eyes. All those would be safe locations - and under Alliance control.

"I want to talk to other leaders of Earth!" Sweet Bee insisted. "I do not trust your carefully chosen spots to provide us with the information we need!" She stared at O'Neill and crossed her arms over her chest.

"And we won't let you make deals with potentially hostile countries," Glimmer shot back.

"Hah! You show your true colours!" Sweet Bee sneered. "We're sovereign rulers of our own kingdoms! We are not beholden to you!"

And the two started bickering. "Maybe we should let them visit Mecca," Catra whispered to Adora.

"Catra!" Adora shook her head. "But they're right - we can't just keep them from seeing more of Earth if we want this trip to settle their claims."

Catra doubted that Sweet Bee would accept the truth even if it hit her in the face - literally, in some cases - but Adora was right. They had to make an effort to at least give the morons enough rope to hang themselves.

But how to arrange that?

*****​
 
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Chapter 85: Educational Issues Part 4
Chapter 85: Educational Issues Part 4

Thule Air Force Base, Greenland, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

There wasn't much positive about visiting the United States' northernmost base. Thule Air Force Base was located in northern Greenland, on the west coast of the island, in the middle of ice and snow and frozen seas. The closest village was dozens of miles away. Most airmen considered being posted there as a punishment.

Jack O'Neill didn't know who had chosen the location to house their Goa'uld prisoners, but it must have been someone really, really concerned about a snake escaping from prison and hiding amongst the population. Of course, Jack couldn't fault them for being cautious, but still… a glance at the landscape made him have flashbacks to the cave in Antarctica where he and Carter had almost frozen to death.

"At least we can scratch Antarctica from the itinerary for the rest of the visit," he muttered as they stepped out of the shuttle and into the new shuttle hangar they had built with the new prison section here. "This should be close enough for Frosta."

"What did you say, Jack?" Daniel asked as he pulled on the cowl of his jacket, even though they were inside a hangar and not on the airstrip outside. Then again, it was still damn cold - they were just closing the doors again.

"Nothing." Jack gritted his teeth, then raised his voice. "Welcome to Thule Air Force Base! Now our newest prison camp!"

"This is horrible! How can people live here?"

"I can't feel any plants around - except for some lichens, and they are always weird."

"I think housing prisoners here is violating their rights."

"Their rights? What about our rights! We have to visit them here!"

"Catra!"

"This is a transparent attempt to discourage us from talking to the population! That you were going as far as to move helpless prisoners to such a location is a disgrace! And why aren't you magically heating this place up?"

"Frosta! What are you doing?"

"This is great! It feels like home!"

Jack turned away from smiling overly sweetly at the Bee Princess and spotted Frosta walking straight to the shrinking opening of the hangar doors, arms spread and beaming as if Disneyland was outside. Obviously, Greenland in the middle of winter was close enough to her own kingdom.

And, equally obvious, the cold wasn't bothering her - she skipped outside just before the doors closed.

"Hey! Wait!"

"Someone get her before she freezes!"

Oh. Some of the airmen stationed here must not have read the briefing about their visitors. Jack raised his arm and stopped them from opening the doors again. "Don't worry about her - she controls the cold."

"What? Sir!" They belatedly saluted him.

"Frosta will be fine," Glimmer told them. "Ice is her element." She was shivering a little, Jack noted.

"Would be great if she could control the cold instead of the ice," Catra commented.

"That's not how elemental powers work," Glimmer shot back.

"I know. But that's how they should work." Catra grinned.

With the doors closed, it was getting warmer - the curtain of hot air that was supposed to keep the cold out when the doors were open wasn't working as well as it should, in Jack's opinion. This was a hangar in Greenland, not a mall in New York. Maybe he should ask Carter for a better system, in case they had to visit this base again… No, that would be irresponsible. And Carter would tell him so.

The airmen looked sceptical. One of them peered through the small windows in the hangar door, then recoiled. "Holy shit! She's surfing on ice - on ice waves!"

"What?"

Of course, now everyone had to take a look. Jack sighed and clapped his hands together. "So, while Miss Ice Princess is playing with the snow outside, how about we go and visit the snakes held here? The sooner we start, the sooner we're done and can leave for somewhere warmer!"

"Yeah! Let's do this!" Catra agreed. Her tail was twitching.

"We really should have taken our spacesuits," Bow said.

"Not everyone has a spacesuit," Mermista pointed out.

"What? You should have said something. Entrapta made suits for everyone. Well, everyone in the Alliance," Scorpia said.

"Well, she never told us. And how would she have gotten our measurements?" Mermista asked.

"Ah… we had your measurements in our database." Scorpia scratched the back of her head, and her stinger twitched. "Apparently, Double Trouble is really thorough when preparing to impersonate someone."

"You have our measurements?"

"What? When did they take them?"

"I don't know."

"We need better information security. No Horde spy should have gotten that intel."

"Double Trouble wasn't a Horde Spy but in it for themselves," Catra retorted.

"No other spies should have gotten this information either."

Jack pressed his lips together so he wouldn't make a joke about their weight to the airmen. At least, most of the men were now staring at the princesses inside the hangar and not crowding the small window to the outside.

"What the… the airstrip is now covered in frozen waves of ice!"

Jack had spoken too soon. "Don't worry, she'll clean that up," he told the men.

He hoped he wasn't wrong. If they had to clean up that maze of ice waves and ramps by themselves… Jack was really glad shuttles didn't need an airstrip and could take off vertically, or they would be stuck here for a while. Oh.

Bending down, he whispered: "Someone needs to tell Frosta to clean the airstrip once she's done. Before Her Honeyness thinks this is a plot to keep them here."

Glimmer sighed as she nodded.

"I'm really sorry," Adora added with a grimace.

Catra scoffed. "Whatever. Let's go talk to the snakes."

*****​

This base was… well, Adora couldn't say it was horrible. It was built nicely - at least the part they were visiting. That one was brand-new. She didn't see any sign of the wear and tear you got after a garrison had been quartered there for a few years. No odd smells, either. And it looked quite comfortable - Stargate Command style, not Hordak's Horde style. Or Horde Prime's.

But it was located at what Jack called the end of the world, as close to the North Pole as it could get, or so she had heard. And it had been in use for decades, as part of their early warning system or something, in the Cold War between the United States and Russia. To be stuck here for months or years… She shuddered. She would wish that on no one. Well, maybe on Frosta - the princess apparently loved it here, from what Adora had seen before that had left the hangar. The outside had been covered in ice structures by then.

"This is a new prison. You built a special prison for your enemies?" Sweet Bee asked.

"Yes. Our normal prisons were not really set up for Goa'uld," Jack told her.

"You treat them like a princess," Peekablue added before his eyes lost focus - he was using his magic again.

"Well, you could say that!" Jack laughed, then blinked and seemed surprised.

Adora didn't quite understand what he found funny - you had to take special precautions when dealing with captured princesses. They had taught that to every Horde soldier. And the Alliance knew that as well - it was obvious, after all.

Catra snorted at Jack - Adora would have to ask her what was funny. After this, though - they had just reached another checkpoint with a closed door. A closed airlock, if that was the same type as the one they had gone through at the top.

It was. And there were lots of sensors that Adora could spot - probably Sam and Entrapta's work.

"Even if the Goa'uld managed to escape, we could find them with the scanner," Catra commented as they stepped through the airlock. "There was no need to move them to the end of the world."

"But if they escaped in a more populated area, they could do a lot of damage and hurt a lot of people before we could recapture them," Bow pointed out.

"They could have found a warmer place, at least," Catra retorted.

"Well, apparently, someone thought the cold would be an added deterrent against the Goa'uld." Jack shrugged. "They probably didn't get that they aren't actual reptiles which would be bothered by the cold."

"I think everyone would be bothered by the cold here," Glimmer said.

"Except for our snow princess," Catra added with another snort. "I'd say she has ice water for blood, but she's too hotheaded for that."

Adora frowned at her. You didn't talk about your friends like that. She knew better than to say anything, though - Catra would make a remark about not being friends with Frosta. And vice versa. Well, that might change. Someday.

"Good security in any case," Netossa said, nodding appreciatively.

"It certainly emphasises how worried you are about your prisoners," Sweet Bee… kinda agreed? But she was smiling in a slightly mocking way, Adora noticed. Another barb, then. Or an insinuation.

Adora was really tired of this kind of talk. It reminded her a bit too much of how Shadow Weaver had liked to twist words.

"That's because we are," Jack told her. "They can take over your body, turning you into a prisoner in your own mind."

Spinnerella shuddered, and Adora saw Netossa hug her.

She glanced at Catra, but her lover didn't show any reaction at the - probably accidental - reminder of how Horde Prime had controlled her. She was remembering it, though - Adora knew that.

She grabbed Catra's hand to gently squeeze it and frowned at Jack, but he was already approaching the next, and hopefully last checkpoint before the actual cell area.

Five minutes later - and one comment from Catra about the time it would take if they had to reach the prisoners in a hurry, and another from Glimmer about how she would be able to bypass all checkpoints, which left Jack grimacing and the guards staring - they were finally in front of the cells - or habitats - of Seth and Osiris. And a few more behind them - the place was set up to hold a lot of them, Adora realised. Well, that was just thinking ahead.

"Hello!" she said, waving at the transparent windows.

"So, these are Goa'uld?" Sweet Bee leaned forward to peer at the two prisoners, who seemed to ignore her. "Are they well?"

They looked, well, healthy, as far as Adora could tell, and the habitats looked nice, but she had expected them to react at once to their arrival, and the two Goa'uld didn't do that. Were they affected this badly by the lack of a sapient host? That would be… a big problem. They couldn't provide them with hosts, that would be cruel to the hosts, but leaving them like this would also be cruel.

Catra, though, scoffed. "They're just playing for sympathy."

"Yeah. Don't let them fool you," Jack added.

"Of course, you'd say that." Sweet Bee sniffed. "Can they hear us?"

If they couldn't, Adora would have looked very foolish for talking to them.

"Yes. They just don't want to talk, it seems." Jack shrugged.

But then Seth moved towards the tiny keyboard in his cell, and as soon as he had started moving, Osiris moved to his own. Both typed quickly, and synthetic voices rang out simultaneously.

"Greetings." "I greet you, visitors."

Adora expected them to glare at each other, but they kept talking - at the same time.

"You aren't Tau'ri." "What brings you to my humble abode?"

"Please, don't talk at the same time; it's hard to understand you," Adora said, raising her hand.

"Yes. Stay silent while your betters talk!" Seth told Osiris.

"Why would they talk to a traitorous piece of filth like you? You have proven time and again that you cannot be trusted!"

"You, who tried to usurp Ra's power with your wife, accuse me of being a traitor?"

"I did not spend thousands of years amongst the Tau'ri, founding cults and then enticing my followers into suicide once I grew tired of them."

"You didn't because you were imprisoned for your betrayal."

"A betrayal you set up - only to double-cross us! Only a fool would trust a single word of yours after this!"

"You would have betrayed me in a heartbeat, brother!"

"No! I trusted you!"

"Trusted me to be betrayed! You think I wasn't aware that you were willing to stab me in the back on your wife's orders?"

Adora saw Jack push a few buttons on the keyboard on the wall next to the cells, and the synthetic voices of the two Goa'uld grew dimmer.

"I've also muted us. I am kind of curious how long it will take them to notice," he told them with a grin.

"They are brothers?" Sweet Bee asked.

"Yep. That's your typical wholesome Goa'uld family. Backstabbing, bickering and bitching all day long."

Sweet Bee eyed the two Goa'uld. "They are thousands of years old?"

"Yep."

"Yet, they bicker like children." She shook her head.

"Don't be fooled by their antics - they have oppressed and murdered countless people," Daniel cut in. "You cannot underestimate them."

"They loathe each other, yet you have placed them in cells next to each other?" Sweet Bee shook her head. "That seems cruel."

"Well… isolating them would be cruel as well." Jack shrugged. "Can't win here. And they can mute each other and turn the cell windows opaque, so it's not as if they're forced to talk or even see each other."

"And they might let slip important information while they bicker," Peekablue said.

Jack nodded, and his grin widened a bit. "Mostly historical information - they have been stuck on Earth one way or the other for the last few thousand years - but it helps piecing together how the snakes think."

"The Goa'uld rulers have been in power for a very long time," Daniel added. "And as you can see, they carry grudges."

Sweet Bee frowned, but Adora couldn't tell if she was annoyed at the Goa'uld, Adora and her friends, or herself. "We still want to talk to them."

"Be our guest," Jack told her, spreading his hands. "Once they stop bickering, they will probably be ready to talk. But I'd suggest talking to each one separately."

"Of course." Sweet Bee scoffed. "It's clear that they cannot stand each other, so trying to talk to them together would not serve our needs. Now, who is the higher-ranked?"

"Higher-ranked?" Jack blinked.

"It would be a fauxpas if we talked to the lower ranked of the two first," Sweet Bee explained.

"And that would be inconceivable, right?" Jack asked.

His sarcasm was quite obvious, and Sweet Bee glared at him. "The proper forms have to be observed. Especially if you have someone at your mercy. How could you trust someone who only shows respect when forced to?"

Jack narrowed his eyes at the princess, but Adora couldn't help but agree - a bit, at least. And many of her friends seemed to agree as well.

"We don't really follow the whole 'nobles are better than peasants' on Earth. Everyone's equal," Jack told Sweet Bee.

Sweet Bee scoffed in return. "That you elect your leaders does not change the fact that you have leaders who command and others who follow. Like you have officers leading soldiers."

"Uh, that's not exactly the point," Daniel spoke up. "In those cases, it's about the position - tied to the position."

"And their current position is 'prisoners'," Jack said.

"And yet, they were rulers both. That demands respect," Sweet Bee retorted.

"Respect has to be earned," Jack shot back.

"And they were toppled by their own," Catra added with a shrug. "They weren't princesses when we captured them but fugitives. Osiris technically was a prisoner already."

"That doesn't mean they shouldn't be treated without respect," Sweet Bee spat with a glare.

"We do that," Adora spoke up. "They are people, like us. And we do our best to treat them in a respectful manner." She was pretty sure they did, and the United States would know better than to abuse prisoners, but she might have to check that after this.

"We are not going to treat them like the gods they claim to be. They are false gods." Teal'c inclined his head.

"Yeah. We're not going to worship them and stuff," Jack said, showing his teeth in a grin. "But feel free to do so if you want."

Sweet Bee scoffed once more. "I shall address them as fits a captured leader. But, again: Who amongst them is the higher-ranked?"

"Uh…" Daniel grimaced. "That's actually a good question. Osiris's power seemed to have been tied to Isis as much or more than to his own achievements, but he was the first Pharaoh, or so our sources claim, while we are a bit at a loss about the exact status of Seth - he was subordinate to Ra, that much we know, but whether he was of a higher rank than Osiris remains in doubt." He cocked his head. "I don't think we actually looked into this, and I think we should since it might grant us more insight into Goa'uld society."

Sweet Bee blinked. "So, you don't know."

"Yes." Daniel smiled at her.

Catra snickered, and Adora had to suppress a chuckle herself at the way Sweet Bee flushed with annoyance.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

"...and so, the bacteria have an effect on the immune system, but it's an indirect effect. We need a more direct effect. Although if we supplemented the immune system through that method and then increased that effect, we might be able to replace a non-functional immune system."

Samantha Carter nodded - Entrapta's reasoning seemed sound. Even though, she noted for herself with some amusement, it might actually validate all those 'boosts your immune system' ads certain companies put out for their latest overpriced placebo line. Still… "Yes, that might work," she said. "But we might have to run this past Dr Fraiser. She's the medical expert on the base." And Sam's friend had the most experience with alien biology of all the medical professionals on Earth, something that a lot of experts were still struggling with. Very much like Sam's situation, actually.

"OK! Let's go!" Entrapta jumped up from her seat, her hair sweeping up her presentation materials and recorder. Emily, standing behind her, beeped. "Oh, yes, you can stop that, Emily!"

The holoprojection in the centre of the lab vanished.

Sam realised that Entrapta was about to head to the infirmary. "Ah… I think it would be better if we ask Janet to meet us here," she said. "We wouldn't want to disturb her work."

"Oh?" Entrapta stopped halfway to the door, and Emily also came to a halt a yard behind her. "But she's got all the special gear in her lab, right?"

Of course, Sam's friend wanted to start experimenting right away. She should have realised that. Sam smiled. "We're still in the planning stage. We need to prepare any experiments properly, I think, and then set up a proper lab for it. Janet's infirmary is meant to treat people." Even though they also had had to deal with other emergencies there from time to time. Of course, that fell under treating people as well if you wanted to be technical.

"Ah." Entrapta blinked, then nodded. Her hair, tools still held in tendrils, bopped, and she turned around. "So… let's call her!"

Sam smiled and reached for her phone.

*****​

Thule Air Force Base, Greenland, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

Catra was growing less fond of this stupid ice base - and the memories of that stupid mission in the war that they brought - with every minute she had to watch Sweet Bee make a fool of herself. "Why do you care about the ranks of the prisoners? They're both former System Lords or whatever, and now they're prisoners. Anything beyond that is stupid. Just pick one and talk to them!" she snapped.

"It's not stupid!" the moron insisted with a glare that was probably meant to be scathing but only made her look more stupid to someone who had faced Shadow Weaver and Hordak at their worst. "There are forms to be observed. Not that you would be familiar with that concept!"

Catra scoffed in return. She was familiar with all the princess stuff and rules - from preparing for the Princess Prom, and just hanging out with Adora, of course - but she didn't care for it. But, speaking of… "Just use the rules of the Princess Prom to determine who you talk to first." She managed not to add 'moron', but it was a close call.

"That doesn't apply here!" Sweet Bee retorted. "We're visitors, not their guests! And they're prisoners, not hosts! This isn't like Princess Prom at all!"

Catra bared her fangs in a grin. "Then it's simple, as representative of our hosts, Jack can decide who you will see first."

O'Neill shot her a glare, but she ignored him. He had brought them here, so he could sort this out! And it wasn't as if talking to Osiris or Seth first would make any difference, in Catra's opinion. Both would do their best to lie in an attempt to turn them.

"Yes," Glimmer was quick to agree - probably as tired of this shit as Catra. "Just pick one. Sweet Bee can blame you if one of the Goa'uld complains. You don't mind that, do you?"

Judging by O'Neill's grin, he loved getting blamed by the Goa'uld for anything that annoyed or hurt them. "Alright. So, let's talk to Seth first."

"Why Seth?" Sweet Bee immediately asked.

"He's got the shorter name," O'Neill told her with a serious expression.

Sweet Bee blinked, opened her mouth, then closed it and frowned. But, for a change, she didn't complain. "Very well," she said, sounding very put on.

Catra refrained from offering a high-five to O'Neill.

The two prisoners had stopped arguing halfway into the princess's tantrum and had watched them intently, which was a change from their earlier behaviour. Catra wondered how well they were holding together without a sapient host, but asking now would set off Sweet Bee again.

"Greetings, Lord Seth," the moron in question began after O'Neill had pushed a few buttons and nodded. "I am Princess Sweet Bee of Etheria. This is Prince Peekablue. We would like to ask you a few questions about the Goa'uld. This isn't an interrogation, though; we are merely curious about your society." She bowed, if not terribly deep. "And we aren't members of the Princess Alliance so we have no quarrel with you."

Peekablue bowed with a bit more flair, but the way he wasn't really focused on anything ruined the effect.

"Greetings, Princess. Prince." Seth didn't bow, but as a snake, that would have looked weird anyway. "You are not members of the Alliance, but you are with them?"

"We're on a diplomatic visit to Earth representing a coalition of independent realms on Etheria," Sweet Bee told him.

Catra could see the snake perk up at that. Like an instructor spotting a cadet about to screw up.

This was going to go great, she thought with a scoff.

*****​

"...so, you see, I was not involved with this war - I was stranded on Earth thousands of years ago, before any of the countries waging war today existed, and did my best to live my life without being noticed by the local rulers."

Jack O'Neill rolled his eyes at Seth's lies and spoke up before Sweet Bee could comment: "That's what you call creating suicide cults all over the place?"

"Suicide cults?" the princess asked, turning to glance at Jack. "What do you mean?"

"He recruited people to worship him and then had them kill themselves when he tired of them," Jack explained. Had she missed the barb from Osiris earlier?

"It's a bit more complicated than that, but, essentially, that's correct," Daniel added.

"I was worshipped as a god, and when I had to go into hiding after the authorities started oppressing my faith, my followers, unwilling to live without me, decided to kill themselves. And they were facing torture and death at the hands of the human rulers anyway since they had forsaken their fake religion in favour of following me," Seth retorted. "Instead of being burned alive, they decided to end their lives on their terms."

"Humans kill those who don't follow your religion?" Sweet Bee gasped.

"No!" Jack snapped. Of course, she would focus on that, and not on the fact that Seth had driven his worshippers to suicide!

"Well, several countries still have the death penalty for apostasy," Daniel unhelpfully pointed out. "Although that hasn't been the case in Western, I mean, Alliance countries, for a long time."

"I have heard about your zealots and how they wish to murder us for living our lives differently." Sweet Bee nodded.

"Oh, yes," Seth chimed in again. "They are very intolerant of other religions - a natural reaction, of course, when their god doesn't exist."

"Says the parasite posing as a god," Jack shot back.

"Of course, someone who believes that there is only one god - and a god who is conveniently intangible and only acts through his worshippers at that - would disparage other religions." Seth's synthetic voice was far too smooth for Jack's taste. He had to talk to Carter about that. "You call me a false god, yet I provided for my faithful. I gave them guidance, sharing my wisdom with my chosen ones, healing them in need and offering a safe home for those who wished to live a life different from that mandated by those zealots."

Between advertising and Cold War propaganda, Jack had heard a lot of bullshit, but this took the cake. "You used technology and lies to fool gullible people into worshipping you as a god!"

"You are a false god tricking the Tau'ri," Teal'c added. "And you abandoned your faithful as soon as it became convenient."

"And yet, I offered more than your god ever did, Colonel O'Neill," Seth said. "Which is why, as soon as you noticed me, you stormed my home, killed my followers and captured me even though I had never done anything to hurt your country. So much for the freedom of religion that you tout so often."

Was the snake seriously claiming that his freedom of religion had been violated?

Daniel spoke up before Jack found the right words to react. "Well, while, technically, your followers' freedom of religion was violated, you also committed several crimes. Even leaving aside the fact that you enslaved your host…"

"My followers willingly embraced my gifts!" Seth cut in.

Daniel ignored it and continued: "...you also gathered illegal weapons and used violence and illegal drugs to control your followers. And I am sure you violated zoning laws with your construction."

Jack blinked, then snorted at the last line. If Daniel tried, he could snark with the best of them.

And Sweet Bee seemed, at last, reconsidering her sympathy for the poor captured false god. "You used drugs on your people?"

"Mind control drugs," Glimmer added.

"That is how the false gods operate - they use all manner of tricks to deceive, control and enslave their victims," Teal'c said. "And those they cannot control or enslave, they kill."

"One of them has enslaved Sha're, my wife." Daniel glared at Seth. "They took over her body as their own."

"I had nothing to do with that. In my time, being chosen as a host for your god was a great honour," the snake lied. "And if we are criticising manipulative practises, what about threatening people with eternal torment if they do not follow your god? Or putting those who refuse to convert to the sword? I have seen countless atrocities committed in the name of gods, yet not once I saw any of those gods actually appear. You call me a false god, but you worship an imaginary god!"

Someone had a grudge against Christianity. "If someone appeared claiming to be God and trying to prove it through trickery, we'd call them false as well," Jack told him.

"So, the only god you accept is one who never appears. As I have said before, that is very convenient for you." The snake turned its ugly head and looked at Adora. "Do you call her a fake goddess as well?"

"I'm no goddess!" Adora snapped at once.

"And yet, you are worshipped as a goddess. And after you saved your faithful, you continued to provide them with guidance and healing, generously sharing your divine gifts," Seth told her.

Jack gritted his teeth. Seth must have picked up quite a lot from TV before they captured him.

"That doesn't make me a goddess!"

"Goddess, princess… those are mere semantics," Seth said. "We are leaders with wisdom and powers beyond our followers'. Call it divine right or noblesse oblige, but do we not have a duty to provide for those bereft of our gifts?"

And Sweet Bee nodded. "Of course! A ruler is supposed to protect, help and lead her people! That is why we have our powers!"

"But we shouldn't be worshipped as gods!" Adora spat.

"So much for freedom of religion." The snake managed to even sound smug through the computer.

Jack clenched his teeth. This wasn't going according to plan.

"If there was such a duty, then you failed it every time you abandoned your cults. Leaders worthy of that position do not sacrifice their followers to save themselves." Teal'c slowly inclined his head.

And Sweet Bee blinked.

*****​

"Yes!" Adora nodded emphatically. Teal'c had cut to the heart of the matter. "If Seth were a princess, he'd have abandoned his kingdom as soon as an enemy showed up that looked dangerous," she told Sweet Bee. The other princess had to see that!

"Ugh." Mermista scoffed.

Adora winced - her friend would have some words about people abandoning their princess and kingdom, but, fortunately, Mermista wasn't voicing them. Adora really should have thought about her phrasing.

"It's worse than that," Catra cut in. "Seth here used his followers' deaths to hide his own disappearance. Once his followers were dead, he could kill his host, take a new one, and disappear - with everyone involved dead, no one would look for him." She bared her fangs. "Killing everyone was the plan from the start."

"Yeah, like a parasite, he sucked his followers dry, and when they were no longer useful to him, he killed them without another thought," Jack added. "That's how the Go'auld are."

"That's a gross misrepresentation!" Seth protested. "When I was openly worshipped, before Osiris and his wife tried to topple Ra and I was caught between them, my faithful were cared for! If not for the Tau'ri hunting down all those who didn't follow their religion, my community would have endured without any trouble!"

Daniel scoffed - it was weird to see him sneer like that, Adora realised. "You would have killed them anyway since you were hiding from Ra as well, and having a lasting cult would have exposed you."

Perfuma gasped in the background.

"No! The fault lies with the intolerant and violent Tau'ri!" Seth snapped.

He didn't sound so smooth and persuasive any more, Adora noticed. He sounded desperate.

And Sweet Bee had realised that as well. The princess frowned as she addressed him. "Did you try to save your followers?"

"Of course! I tried everything - they only chose death when there was no way out anymore!"

"That's a lie!" Daniel snapped. "We've looked into the records of your cults and their ends - they weren't hunted by the authorities - in almost all cases, they were discovered after your followers had killed themselves!"

"And they didn't choose anything," Glimmer chimed in with a scowl. "You used drugs on them to control their minds."

"Yes! We have the records for that as well." Daniel nodded.

For a second, Seth didn't say anything - Adora could see him twist. Then his synthetic voice rang out again. "Those records are false! They're trying to frame me so they can fool you," he told Sweet Bee.

But the princess shook her head. "Why didn't you claim that from the beginning? Or when those drugs were mentioned the first time?"

Seth once more hesitated to answer.

Sweet Bee nodded. "I don't think you can be trusted, Lord Seth." She turned to Jack. "I would like to speak to Lord Osiris now."

"Wait! This is a plot! You can't trust…"

Jack pushed a button, and Seth's voice was cut off in the middle of his sentence.

Adora suppressed a sigh. That had been tiring. At least Sweet Bee was as critical towards Seth's claims as she was towards the Alliance. And Seth hadn't had good arguments for his lies. She could only hope Osiris wasn't going to do any better.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

"...and that's why we wanted to ask you about this," Samantha Carter finished her explanation, Entrapta nodding along.

"I see." Janet nodded as well and shifted on her seat in their lab. "You want to use genetic engineering to… create a symbiotic strain of bacteria to boost or replace a failing immune system."

"Exactly!" Entrapta beamed at her. "And we need your help to do that properly. Without accidentally creating a bioweapon. Or a sapient species that needs human guts to survive."

Janet's smile grew more than a little forced. "I think I can help you avoid either outcome," she said.

Sam didn't miss the glance her friend shot at her and winced a little. In hindsight, their explanation sounded a bit… well, it might leave the wrong impression. Even though Sam couldn't honestly exclude both possible results that Entrapta had mentioned. Not when magic and Ancient technology were involved.

Janet sighed and went on. "But I don't think I can offer a lot of help with your actual project. I am a doctor, not a geneticist."

That would have earned her a Star Trek joke if the Colonel was here, Sam knew.

Entrapta was still beaming at Janet. "Oh, don't worry about that! We've got so many ideas to test, one of them should work out! And we've got the First Ones research data to use as well - they knew a lot about creating new species, you know!"

"I see." The narrowed glance at Sam intensified.

Sam winced again and hoped she wasn't blushing. There was no reason to be embarrassed, anyway - testing multiple approaches was how you did research as a scientist. Well, one of the ways you did research. Even if it did sound a bit like what a mad scientist in a B-movie would say.

At least the Colonel wasn't here. He'd have a field day teasing Sam about this.

*****​

Thule Air Force Base, Greenland, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

"So, you have seen through Seth's pathetic lies."

Catra sighed. Loudly, not softly. Adora shot her a glance, but she ignored it. Osiris went straight to gloating about his brother's failure, and that wasn't… well, Catra knew how stupid it was to focus on beating your rival when you should be focusing on actually achieving your objectives. Knew it very, very well from personal experience. Painful experience.

"Yes, Lord Osiris," Sweet Bee replied. "And now I would like to hear what you have to say."

At least the princess didn't apologise for not talking to this snake first.

"About Seth? Or about my current, unjustified predicament?"

"About you and your peers, the other System Lords." Sweet Bee inclined her head.

Catra narrowed her eyes for a moment. If this were someone else, Catra would consider that a smart attempt to get intel. But since it was Sweet Bee… She glanced at Peekablue, but the prince was still doing his 'obviously using my farsight power' thing and staring at a corner of the room. If he started drooling, someone would have to get a picture.

"Well, technically, I was stripped of my position by Ra after Seth manipulated me and my beloved wife into opposing him," Osiris replied.

"But you did try to depose him, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did. Isis…" Osiris sighed, a bit overly dramatic, in Catra's opinion. "My beloved was always ambitious, and I believed she would be a better ruler than Ra - an opinion, I think, that history vindicated."

Sweet Bee slowly nodded but didn't seem to agree.

"Well, getting pushed off Earth by a bronze-age revolution isn't exactly a feather in old Ra's cap," O'Neill commented.

"Isis warned him not to underestimate Earth's magic," Osiris said. "But, as he was wont to do, he ignored her advice."

Now that was interesting.

"Earth's magic?" Daniel spoke up. "What do you know about it?"

"I was there when it grew from primitive rituals into sophisticated spellcraft." Osiris sounded smug even in the bot voice he was using. Catra wondered how Entrapta and Sam had managed that.

"And all under your nose?" O'Neill shook his head.

"Isis was a patron of magic. Under her guidance, her faithful advanced by leaps and bounds."

"And she was guiding them despite not being able to use magic herself?" Glimmer scoffed. "Or was she just trying to find a way to use a sorceress as a host without losing access to their magic?"

Osiris hesitated a moment. "Can you fault her for that? This power, so versatile, so… close, yet out of our reach. Who would, in our place, not have attempted to secure it for themselves?"

That sounded honest, in Catra's opinion. And quite understandable, from a certain point of view. But, she added to herself with a smirk, to some, it sounded quite bad…

"Magic is a talent you're born with. A gift as well as an obligation," Sweet Bee said. With a frown, she added: "It's not something you can take for yourself as if it were a mere physical good."

"Yeah," O'Neill chimed in with a smug grin. "How could it be proof of your divine right to rule if everyone could just grab it as well?"

"There is a difference between magic powers and the talent for sorcery, Colonel O'Neill," Sweet Bee retorted. "Casting spells does not make you a princess."

Catra snorted, softly, at the scowl that briefly appeared on O'Neill's face. Sweet Bee might not have been aware of his talent for sorcery or how he loathed it, but she had certainly hit him in an uncomfortable spot.

"Yeah, yeah. Those Ancients certainly knew how to pick the leaders for their experimental subjects." O'Neill shot back.

"The same people who built a network of Stargates linking the galaxy's worlds, millions of years ago? As far as endorsement of our rule is concerned, I could think of far worse choices."

Before O'Neill could go on about democracy again, Osiris cut in: "Indeed. And the Goa'uld inherited their works - the Stargates and their technology. To take care of the galaxy in their place."

"To enslave and oppress people, you mean," Glimmer corrected him. "It was all for your own power, not for your subjects' welfare."

"Even a god's power is limited - if not by their resources, then by their peers. Isis and I did what we could, and if not for Seth and Ra, we would have done far more." He sighed. "But we were betrayed and defeated, then imprisoned in stasis jars - separated from each other. When I woke up, it was to the devastating news that my beloved had died when her pod had failed."

"You have my condolences," Sweet Bee told him. "So, you were a prisoner for all this time?"

"When my body was sealed away, Ra was the ruler of the Goa'uld Empire, and his seat was on Earth. To find out that he was dead, and that Earth was fighting the Empire, was another shock." Osiris sighed again. "Unfortunately, the Tau'ri count me as their enemy even though not even once did I fight them."

"You only oppressed and enslaved our ancestors," Daniel said.

"If left to their own devices, they would have fought each other - as your history after the rebellion showed." Osiris shook his head, which looked weird for a snake. "And it was a different time. Every Lord was sometimes forced to use harsh measures for the greater good. Back then, few Tau'ri had the necessary knowledge and wisdom to understand leadership. Isis and I planned to change that. We meant to educate our faithful so they would grow in wisdom, could be trusted to lead their own. But, as you know, it was not to be. Our plans, our goals, were foiled by treachery."

"Why would you plan to abolish your own rule?" Sweet Bee asked. "If you're the most capable ruler, why should you step down? That makes no sense."

Osiris seemed surprised. Had he expected a princess to support democracy? Catra snorted again.

He recovered quickly, though. "Of course not. But even a wise ruler requires skilled help. Administrators. Guards. Servants."

"Slaves," Daniel added with a scoff. "No matter their titles, they were slaves to your whims."

"What was the alternative? No Tau'ri, back in my time, could have been truly free. They were at the mercy of the weather. Or anyone more powerful than them. That was how things were: The strong ruled, and the weak obeyed. And have things truly changed?"

"Yeah, we have those things called 'rights' now," O'Neill snapped.

"You enslaved your faithful?" Sweet Bee sounded shocked.

"That's a matter of definitions," Osiris replied quickly. "And, ultimately, a meaningless label. If you are not the most powerful, then you are bound to obey someone else, and does it then matter whether you are called a slave or a subordinate? You obey either way."

Sweet Bee scowled at the Goa'uld. "Being more powerful does not give you the right to force your will on others! The very reason we are here is because we do not obey the Alliance's decrees!"

Catra grinned as she saw the Goa'uld recoil once he realised his mistake. He really put his foot in it there.

*****​
 
Chapter 86: Educational Issues Part 5
Chapter 86: Educational Issues Part 5

Thule Air Force Base, Greenland, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

Well, that went better than expected.

Jack O'Neill was smiling when they left the cell block - well, the aquarium section would be more appropriate, given the cells were special habitats for Goa'uld prisoners, but his suggestion for a name change had been ignored. Still, what mattered was that the two snakes had, by just being themselves, shown their annoying visitor that the Goa'uld were not misunderstood nice aliens but really as bad as everyone who knew them - even or especially the Tok'ra, who would know best - claimed.

Alright, it would have been better if the killer argument hadn't been 'they fail at being good absolute rulers for their faithful', but in politics - and this was politics - you had to take what you could get.

As soon as the doors of the lift carrying them out of the special section closed behind them, he clapped his hands together. "Alright, kids! Now, what's next on the itinerary?"

"We get Frosta to stop playing with the snow and ice, make her clean up the airstrip and leave this forsaken dump for someplace warmer and nicer," Catra said.

Right. Jack had almost forgotten that the kid was still out there. Although it was nice that she had decided to play for once instead of acting all 'serious ruling princess'. "Sounds good," he said. "Any preference about the next destination?"

"Hawaii!" Perfuma blurted out. "I want to meet the plants of Earth!"

"Geneva," Her Honeyness declared. "We need to talk to other leaders of your planet."

Like hell! Jack managed to keep smiling, even though the last thing he wanted was to let the twit talk to the United Nations. It had been difficult enough to keep her from the Russians and Chinese at Stargate Command, and that had only worked because the Alliance had declared this an Alliance matter thanks to their majority in the Command Council.

Unfortunately, flat-out denying this request was, apparently, not possible for reasons of diplomacy. Or something. Jack had received clear orders about that, and Glimmer had confirmed it - and she didn't like it either.

Now, delaying it, on the other hand, was totally fine. So he grinned. "And we'll travel to Geneva afterwards," he told her. "We're still waiting for permission to enter Switzerland - we have to respect their sovereignty, after all. Might doesn't make right, as you know."

Judging by the glare he received from Daniel, he was laying it on a bit too thick. And Sweet Bee was narrowing her eyes at him as well. "As far as I understand, Earth's United Nations meet in New York as well, which is part of the United States and, therefore, should be easily accessible."

"Well, yes," Jack admitted. "But that's the problem - we don't want you to claim that we rigged the meeting by having it happen in our country. Since Switzerland is neutral and not part of the Alliance, this won't be a problem there."

Sweet Bee still frowned at him, but Peekablue nodded. "That seems fair. And I am curious about this Hawaii myself."

"Great! So, who's going to tell Frosta that playtime's over?" Jack asked - they had just reached the top level.

"Not it!" Catra announced. "I'm not going to step outside in this weather. And Frosta wouldn't listen to me anyway," she added with a grin.

"I'll do it," Adora said, with a sigh that told Jack she was used to this.

"Alright!" Glimmer nodded. "Call if you need help."

It didn't sound sincere to Jack - and as soon as they entered the hangar, everyone but Adora made a beeline for the shuttle and its warm passenger compartment.

Jack as well - his job description didn't include 'wrangle ice princesses in the middle of Greenland'. "I'll be starting the pre-flight check."

"Is that really necessary?" Mermista asked.

"It's standard procedure," he told her. "If it flies, you do a pre-flight check." Even though the shuttles were supposed to be as reliable as Jeeps. Jack had heard similar claims about other vehicles.

"We just turned the engines on in the Horde flyers," Catra commented as they reached the shuttle.

"And let me guess: If you lost one to a malfunction, there were more where it came from?" Jack asked, baring his teeth.

"Yes." She matched his grin. "Cut response times down, though."

"I bet it did." It seemed as if the Horde had studied the Russian way of doing things. Well, they had lost the war despite putting tanks against archers. And against magic and trick arrows that would make Green Arrow green with envy… Jack blinked. Good thing he hadn't said that out loud.

He snorted anyway as he walked around the shuttle, checking the engines and the landing gear, and the fuselage in general.

"You don't do this in the field," Bow commented.

"We do it unless it's an emergency," Jack corrected him. If you were under fire, all that counted was getting away as soon as possible. Though Air Force planes generally didn't land in the field. Or if they did, they didn't take off afterwards. But they were in a hangar, on an Air Force base, and airmen were watching - and Jack knew what kind of damage it did if you 'relaxed' such procedures or let the enlisted think they weren't critical. "Well, it checks out."

He stepped inside to do the rest of the checklist.

*****​

Over the Pacific Ocean, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

"Oh, imagine sailing on this ocean! To boldly go where no Dragon's Daughter has gone before! Adventure!"

"Ugh. You mean, to boldly sink where no Dragon's Daughter has sunk before?"

"Ah, my dear Mermista! No ship will sink if you are with me! Just imagine - the Dragon's Daughter VII, sailing the seven seas of Earth! The two of us, travelling to the distant ports of a strange planet! Enjoying alien sunsets and fresh breezes! Oh, I wish we were flying so low that we could open the windows and smell the ocean breeze!"

"The windows of a shuttle don't open."

"The airlock then!"

"Ugh, no!"

Adora grinned at the antics of her friends. First Frosta playing in Greenland, now Mermista and Seahawk enjoying the Pacific Ocean - well, one of them was, but Adora was sure Mermista would like it as well, even if she didn't like to show it. And Hawaii would be a paradise for Perfuma with all those new plants.

It was almost ironic that this trip was the result of Sweet Bee's stubborn refusal to trust Adora and her friends about the Goa'uld. Or maybe it was ironic - Adora wasn't sure. But this was turning into a nice trip.

"I don't see any difference between this and our own oceans," Sweet Bee said.

"That's because you aren't a sailor!"

"No, it's because she's a fool who thinks she knows best," Mermista said with a sniff.

"I know I don't know best - unlike others I might name." Sweet Bee sneered in return. "And that's why I am here: To find out the truth directly from the source."

"Well, so far, you've found out that we told you the truth about the Goa'uld." Glimmer cut in. Adora didn't have to look at her friend to know she was smiling smugly.

"That remains to be seen. Two people - especially since they are considered criminals by their own people - cannot be taken as examples for all Goa'uld. What if someone else would judge all of Etheria by the example that the Horde set?" Sweet Bee retorted.

"Well, in that case, they'd clearly overestimate you," Catra commented with a snort from Adora's side.

Adora reached over and gently patted Catra's thigh. Her lover was trying to hide it, but Adora knew that this was a sore spot for her - and she was pretty sure that Sweet Bee knew it as well. So much for this being a nice trip. At least they hadn't seen that Great Pacific Garbage Patch Entrapta had mentioned once - that would have probably ruined Mermista's mood. More than Sweet Bee's comments had, at least.

"This is your captain speaking. We're on our final approach to Hickam Air Force Base. Please fasten your seatbelts and return your tray table to its full upright and locked position," Jack called back from the cockpit.

Daniel snorted, as did Catra and Bow.

"It's a joke about civilian aeroplanes," Catra told Adora.

"It's what they tell passengers before they set down," Bow added.

"Ah."

"And that's supposed to be funny?" Sweet Bee asked.

"We're in a military shuttle, not a civilian aeroplane. Procedures are different," Bow explained. "At least, I think they are."

"They are. We don't have tray tables," Catra said. "Also, don't cover the airstrip with plants," she added with a glance at Perfuma. "They might not be as chill as in Thule."

"Of course, I wouldn't do that!" Perfuma said with a huff. "That would be irresponsible!"

"I didn't know that they actually needed the entire strip for their shuttles - we didn't need it!" Frosta defended herself.

"What? Oh, no, I am sorry; I didn't mean it like that," Perfuma told her.

"So, how did you mean it?"

Catra snorted again, and Adora sighed as the two bickered while the shuttle set down.

*****​

Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, United States of America, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

"Ah, the smell of the sea! The scent of… Adventure!"

"It smells a bit like the Fright Zone, actually."

Adora sniffed the air. Mermista was right - it smelt a bit like it.

"That's the Air Force base behind us," Jack said.

"Aren't we technically still in the base?" Bow asked.

"One of your Air Force Bases is in an icy wasteland, and this one has a beach? Talk about differences!" Scorpia said. "How do you decide who gets sent where?"

"I bet the screwups go to Greenland," Catra commented. "Kyle would be stationed there for sure."

"There's nothing wrong with snow and ice!" Frosta protested. "At least you don't have to worry about heatstroke and bug bites!"

"Just frostbite. And you wouldn't have to worry about heatstroke if you were wearing sensible clothes." Glimmer sounded a bit… annoyed. Well, it had taken a while to clean up the ice on the airstrips, and she might have felt responsible.

"This is amazing! But I hoped to visit a jungle, not a beach." Perfuma pouted a little.

"Oh, we will, don't worry!" Jack grinned. "But I thought it would be nice to hit the beach while we're organising a trip to Waimea Bay."

"Meaning, you wanted to hit the beach," Daniel said.

"What do you have to organise? Can't we just take the shuttle and fly there instead?" Sweet Bee asked.

"Security has to be set up," Jack explained. "And that's going to take a while. You're VIPs, after all."

"I am sure we can handle any threat on Earth," Sweet Bee retorted. "Peekablue can spot any danger from afar."

"Only the danger I know."

Adora blinked. Prince Peekablue had looked out of it, yet he had obviously been listening to their talk.

"He's a better spy than I thought," Catra muttered next to her.

Adora was forced to agree. Of course, Peekablue would be experienced in using his power - and he had been a member of the first Princess Alliance, so she should have expected that.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain Colorado, United States of America, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

"...and rumours of another delegation of aliens visiting Earth are spreading. We have eyewitnesses reporting shuttle flights from places all over the world, and we are doing our best to match them to scheduled flights to exclude those and find unscheduled flights, although with the information blackout for military traffic, that remains a challenge…"

Samantha Carter shook her head at the television. Trying to find the Etherian visitors using a method like that… Even if all shuttle flights were logged in advance as a rule, you'd still have to consider spontaneous flights in response to an emergency. Or a summons from Washington or Brussels.

Or a general wishing to go home for the weekend, she added with another shake of her head - she had no doubt that with the continuing proliferation of shuttles, sooner or later, the brass would start treating them as helicopter rides for their personal use. She had heard a rumour that General Naird was planning to use one for a personal trip to the moon under the guise of 'familiarising the pilots under my command with the route in case there's an emergency'.

And, speaking of trips into space… She checked the time, then leaned over and asked Siller at the table next to them: "Can we check CNN?"

"Sure, Captain." He pushed a button, and the channel changed.

Perfect timing - CNN's special report about the upcoming Mars Mission had just started. Interest in the mission had dropped a little since the news of the first Alliance operation on another planet had been released, but it was still a scientific landmark, in Sam's opinion.

Or would be once they actually got it launched - they just announced another delay for unspecified 'technical reasons'. I should look into this, Sam thought. I bet I could help with sorting out those issues. If they were technical issues in the first place and not politically motivated - Sam was somewhat familiar with the way NASA operated.

In any case, it meant that there wouldn't be any more interesting news on that front. "Thank you. That was all I wanted to know," she told Siller.

"Alright." A click later, the channel changed again.

"...and PETA has released a controversial statement yesterday," an anchorman commented on screen. "What do you make of it, James?"

"Well, John, we already knew that they think eating meat is murder, but now they're claiming that eating meat is cannibalism, citing the existence of aliens with similar features as animals as proof, and have launched a new advertising campaign to emphasise their point."

Sam sighed and prepared to see pictures of Etherian minotaurs next to Earth longhorns. She wasn't aware of any species that would line up with pigs or chickens, but there was a satyr-like species, and some people ate goats, so that would probably…

"What's this shit?"

"Turn that off! We're eating here!"

"That's disgusting!"

Siller quickly changed the channel again, and another news report from Europe replaced a not-quite-graphic scene of a butchered minotaur being put on a grill. The special effects were quite good for an ad, Sam noted, and the production value seemed quite high. Still…

"Do they think we eat people on Etheria?" Entrapta added, looking shocked.

Sam clenched her teeth, mentally cursing whoever came up with the ad, and started explaining PETA's campaigns to her friend. "No, they want people on Earth to feel as if they were eating people when eating meat. They think…"

*****​

Waimea Bay, O'ahu, Hawaii, United States of America, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

"Another beach?" Catra raised her eyebrows as they stepped out of the shuttle. "You really want a vacation, don't you?" she asked O'Neill. She was tempted to ask if he just wanted to see them in bathing suits, but without Sam being present, it would lack any sting.

"There's a jungle walk here, to a waterfall," he told her. "But if someone doesn't want to walk through a jungle, this should be a nice spot to wait for the others to return."

"It's a famous surf spot," Daniel added.

"Surfing?" Mermista asked.

"Wave riding," Catra told her.

"You have wave riding on Earth?" The princess perked up and turned to look at the rolling waves.

"For a famous spot, this seems rather empty," Sweet Bee commented.

"We had to move out the tourists for security reasons," O'Neill told her.

"And they'll blame us, I suppose."

"We didn't tell them why we needed the place cleared, so they'll blame the government or the military, as usual," O'Neill shrugged.

"That's still not right. We aren't here to disrupt the lives of others." Sweet Bee frowned.

"They'll survive being cut off from their favourite beach for a few hours." O'Neill grinned. "Besides, I am not sure they could handle Mermista."

Catra looked at the shore. Indeed, Mermista was in the water, riding the first wave. Unlike the Tau'ri, she wasn't using a surfboard.

Catra took a step closer to Adora, just in case Mermista planned to 'accidentally' hit her with a wave, but the princess seemed to simply enjoy the water. Any time now, she would probably change into a mermaid or something…

"I will stay here as well," Frosta announced. "It's much too hot to walk around."

"Just create some ice to cool down," Catra told her.

The kid glared at her, then sniffed. "I don't want to deal with bugs, either."

"And that's perfectly fine!" Adora cut in. "So, who's coming with us to the waterfall?"

*****​

As it turned out, the 'jungle walk' was a botanic garden or whatever they called it. Not an actual untouched wilderness. And the waterfalls were not quite as impressive as they had sounded. Not when you were familiar with Bright Moon's waterfall. And the pool below didn't look very appealing, at least to Catra. Not that she planned to go swimming, anyway - trying to get her fur clean of the algae, muck and other stuff in it afterwards was a nightmare. Almost as bad as cleaning up after swamp training.

"Oh, look at that! Another new flower!"

"It's very pretty!"

At least Perfuma was having fun. Which meant Scorpia would be happy as well.

"This is… it's far too hot! And why can't you do anything about the insects attacking me?"

And Sweet Bee was annoyed, which meant Catra was having fun. "They probably think you're a bee," she told the twit.

"I'm not a bee!" the princess shot back.

"But you do have some, ah, aspects of a bee?" Daniel asked. "Maybe your scent is similar to the scent of a bee on Earth?"

"Are you insinuating that I smell?" Sweet Bee sounded outraged.

Daniel opened his mouth to apologise, but Catra was faster. "You do smell." She wrinkled her nose for emphasis. "All that sweat…"

"What?"

"Catra!" Adora frowned at her, as expected. But the opportunity to get a dig in had been too much to miss.

Sweet Bee swatted at another bug trying to land on her. "This is insufferable!"

"Well, we can't just spray the whole island with RAID," O'Neill said with a shrug. "So, I am sorry, but you'll have to endure this for a bit longer."

"I could probably build a bug-repeller, but… I would need some materials, and it would take me some time," Bow said.

"Oh, let me help!" Perfuma beamed at them. "I have a solution!"

"Ah… you can control bugs? Not just plants?" O'Neill looked wary.

With good reason - Perfuma looked excited. And enthusiastic. A bit like Entrapta when faced with something dangerous but interesting. Catra felt the fur on her neck rise.

"No. Well, not directly. But I can control plants, and through that, affect bugs!" Perfuma gestured, and the flowers at the side of the path suddenly grew in size. By a lot. "That should smell far more appealing to bugs than Sweet Bee, now."

Indeed, the bugs buzzing around quickly changed course and flew straight to the giant flowers. Which were dripping yellow liquid on the ground, Catra realised. Honey?

"Uh…" Daniel blinked. "What exactly did you do?"

"I increased the size and yield of the flowers here," Perfuma explained. "And the quality of the nectar."

"Uh. That sounds like… a major change to the flower," Daniel pointed out.

"Oh." It was Perfuma's turn to blink. "I guess I should fix that, then?"

"I think so, yes." O'Neill managed to not sound too sarcastic. Catra was sure it took a lot of effort.

But by now, most of the new flowers were covered with bugs. And more were arriving. A lot more.

"Ah. Maybe wait until we leave?" Bow suggested.

"Just how much did you improve the nectar?" Glimmer asked.

"Well, I wanted it to be so good, no bee would bother Sweet Bee…"

"Great. You produced bee crack." O'Neill shook his head.

"Sorry! Ah, what is 'crack'?" Pefuma asked.

While Daniel explained, Catra looked at Peekablue. The prince was staring at something only he could see. And she had no idea what.

*****​

Above the Atlantic Ocean, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

"I am really sorry. I didn't mean to endanger your ecosystem. I should have known better!"

Yes, the princess with magic plant control should have known better than to meddle with plants. But Jack O'Neill didn't say that. That wouldn't be very diplomatic, and Perfuma meant well. And he was flying the shuttle, so he couldn't exactly focus on the conversation, anyway.

Catra snorted. "No harm done."

"Except to the poor plants and the poor insects." Perfuma sighed.

Jack didn't really care about that. Wiping out both plants and bugs might have been a bit extreme, but he had been improvising, and with that sort of stuff, it was better to err on the side of caution. And of a higher blast radius.

And adapting some of Bow's trick arrows to create an incendiary charge large enough to burn down the entire affected area had been fun. Especially since Jack didn't have to explain the result to the local authorities. It was all classified. Fortunately - if the environmentalists got wind of this, it would be a disaster.

"You restored the plants. And the bugs will recover," Adora told her.

"But still…" Perfuma sighed. "I should have known not to introduce such changes to the ecosystem. Even though I didn't introduce new organisms but simply improved existing plants, and so it shouldn't have violated any of your laws."

"You restored the destroyed area," Daniel added. "That's more than we managed in a lot of places."

"What do you mean?" Perfuma asked.

"Well, a lot of fragile ecosystems are endangered by illegal logging and poaching," Daniel said. "For example, we've lost huge swaths of the Amazon rainforest to both. So, you actually did quite well in comparison."

Jack couldn't help snorting. That was a backhanded compliment if he ever heard one. Daniel would be embarrassed about it, no doubt.

"What? You lost forests?"

"I think we told you that, didn't we?" Adora spoke up. "Lots of Earth was treated like the Fright Zone - the forests were cut down and turned into fields. Or settlements."

"Or deserts," Bow added.

"I didn't… I thought you just had more deserts than Etheria. To think you are losing forests…But… I can help with that!" Perfuma sounded enthusiastic. "Just like I helped with the Fright Zone! And I don't have to introduce new plants or create living cities, or anything, I just have to restore what was there before - that shouldn't be any problem! Who do I talk to?"

"Well, there are several organisations fighting to preserve nature and the environment…" Daniel started to explain.

Jack felt a cold shiver run down his spine. And he had thought handling Sweet Bee was the problem he should focus on!

*****​

Above Geneva Airport, Switzerland, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

Landing a shuttle was easy compared to landing a plane. Very easy. Which was a very good thing since Jack O'Neill kept getting distracted by the discussion in the main compartment behind him. I really should have grabbed a crew, he thought. Or asked Bow to fly it. But I wanted some stick time, and this is the result - stuck in the cockpit while our friends plot the destruction of our agricultural sector.

"...and I could change the plants to need less fertiliser or less fertile soil. Or both. That way, you need fewer fields to grow the same amount of crops, and we could restore more of the jungle and forests."

"Earth has enough, more than enough, food to feed everyone - people still starve because they don't share, Perfuma."

"What? That can't be right, Glimmer!"

"It is. Right, Daniel?"

"Uh, yes. Food production is, overall, ah, sufficient, or would be, to feed everyone. But it's a complicated issue, with politics and economics playing a part," Daniel replied while Jack made a last course change on the approach to Geneva Airport.

"Wow. And I thought the Horde had inefficient supply troops."

"You can't really compare a military supply system with the free market, Scorpia."

"Why not? If you can't feed your people, you're doing something wrong, whether it's an army or civilians."

"It's not that simple, Netossa." Daniel was trying, but defending Earth's economy wasn't something he was good at. "It's, uh… well, one thing is that most people don't see people in other countries as their people."

"And they let them starve because of that?" Netossa asked while Jack cut back on the shuttle's speed and slowly came to a stop above the landing zone.

"No, well… they do help. It's just, usually, not enough."

"How can that be? I've checked the numbers we got from the Alliance. You've got enough resources to transport all the food and then some across your world - and that's without the new shuttles or help from the fleet!" Netossa said.

"As I said, it's a complicated issue. Most seemingly simple solutions created more problems, worse problems, along the line."

"Yeah, Sam told us that," Bow added. "If you just hand out food for free in a region, the local farmers will stop growing food of their own since it won't pay, and so you might end up with even less food next season."

Carter had done a better job at explaining than Daniel. That was sure. Jack sighed as he guided the shuttle down to the landing zone. Smoother than a helicopter and much easier to pilot.

"But you could just hand out enough food to cover the deficit, couldn't you?" Spinnerella asked.

"That's also complicated, but we try that."

"You should try harder, then," Sweet Bee commented with a sniff. "How are you supposed to fight a war against a space empire if you can't even feed your own people? That obviously won't work!"

Jack was tempted to tell the princess about some examples from history, but the wind was picking up, and he had to be ready to compensate if the shuttle suddenly swayed. It was supposed to shrug off such stuff thanks to the artificial gravity generators, but a good pilot didn't blindly trust machines.

"Well, if we change the crops to be more efficient - I could make it so they can extract fertiliser from the air, for example - then everyone should be able to grow enough food in their country," Perfuma suggested.

"That, uh, might work, but I assume the corporations producing seed and fertilisers wouldn't be happy about losing their business," Daniel told them.

They would go screaming at their lobbyists. Which would be funny, actually. Jack snorted as the shuttle touched down on the tarmac. "And we've landed in Geneva," he said out loud. "Check if you've got all your gear before you leave the shuttle."

"Finally!" Her Honeyness exclaimed. "This took far too long!"

And it would take a bit longer, Jack knew. The Swiss had organised a reception for the delegation. Hell, they probably felt Sweet Bee was a kindred spirit, a fellow neutral or something.

Or they just wanted first dibs on offering to handle the princess's wealth.

*****​

Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

"...and this is where the United Nations meet to discuss Earth politics," Adora told Sweet Bee and Peekablue as they walked through the hallway towards the meeting room prepared for them.

"We're aware of that. That is why we wanted to visit this country," Sweet Bee replied with a sniff. "We didn't come here for a guided tour. Or for weird food and drinks."

"Could have fooled me," Adora heard Catra mutter. "You certainly pigged out at the buffet."

Adora suppressed a snort. Her lover was right - Sweet Bee had tried all the food at the 'apéro' the Swiss had prepared. Quite enthusiastically, too.

"And we could speak to the leaders of a country not involved in the war," Peekablue added.

"But they're also unwilling to take a stand against the war!" Sweet Bee complained.

"That's the Swiss for you. They're just interested in your money." Jack shrugged.

"Well, they're a very small country," Bow said.

"That's even more of a reason to stand up for what's right!" Sweet Bee retorted. "Otherwise, the more powerful countries will attempt to roll over you."

"Demanding to use the Stargate without doing your part to protect it is not what I would call right," Glimmer told her with a glare.

"Of course, you wouldn't because you want more soldiers for your war! But that doesn't make it right!"

"And here we are!" Adora forced herself to smile widely as she opened the door to the meeting room and interrupted the bickering. "We'll be meeting the United Nations Secretary-General here."

"For all the good that will do," Catra muttered next to her.

*****​

"...and that's how modern diplomacy on Etheria started." Sweet Bee slowly nodded.

"Fascinating! So, your supra-national organisation grew out of a social event for princesses?" The Secretary-General - without his wife this time - chuckled.

Adora pressed her lips together so she wouldn't lecture the man about the Princess Prom. It was a social event which, since it was open to all princesses and a neutral place during times of war, also served as a diplomatic event. Sweet Bee had not explained that correctly! But explaining that would be pointless - Sweet Bee certainly hadn't taken well to Adora's explanation that the Secretary-General wasn't Earth's ruler but also not a general.

"More or less, yes." Sweet Bee slowly nodded. "Although it is only held every ten years, generally at least."

This time, the Secretary-General laughed. "That wouldn't work on Earth. We're always busy at the United Nations."

Earth certainly needed all the help it could get with its problems, in Adora's opinion.

"Princesses are also always visiting each other, for various reasons," Sweet Bee said.

"Like to annoy their neighbours who saved their asses," Catra whispered.

Adora had to press her lips together again to keep from grinning.

"And, speaking of visiting your neighbour and friends…" Sweet Bee leaned forward a little. "Your United Nations controls Earth's Stargate, right?"

"Ah." The Secretary-General sighed and spread his hands a little. "That's not entirely accurate. The situation with Earth's Stargate is complex. It is essential for the war, which is in defence of all of Earth, of course. But at the same time, the Stargate belongs to all of Earth, regardless of whether or not they are part of the Alliance."

"Exactly like on Etheria," Sweet Bee said, nodding. "And yet, on Etheria, the Alliance controls the Stargate while it is under the control of the entire planet on Earth. Isn't that correct?"

"Well, technically, that is true. But since three of the five permanent members of the Security Council are also members of the Alliance, the Alliance also effectively controls Earth's Stargate."

"Those five permanent members of your council can dictate the world's policy, right?" Sweet Bee asked with narrowed eyes.

Adora pressed her lips together. The princess was quite well-informed about Earth - not that Adora and her friends would lie to her, of course. But she had to have sources in the Alliance.

The Secretary-General smiled. "I wouldn't go that far. They have the power to veto a decision of the Security Council, but they do not rule the world."

"But do they ban other countries from using the gate?"

"Access is, for now at least, limited to the Alliance and the five nations guarding the Stargate," the Secretary-General told her. "The risk of an unprepared expedition or delegation running into Goa'uld forces is too high."

Glimmer snorted, not quite triumphally. But she had a very wide grin on her face, Adora confirmed with a glance.

Sweet Bee, though, smiled. And it wasn't the kind of fake smile you had when you didn't want to let the other know you were annoyed. She was smiling like Glimmer. "Of course, that is, for a threat as the Goa'uld are presented at, quite reasonable. However, there will be planets that are safe from such dangers. For example, planets that the Alliance has conquered."

"Liberated and secured," Adora corrected her. The Alliance didn't conquer territory!

"If a planet is secured, then, by definition, it poses no risks to visitors." Now Sweet Bee was sneering.

Adora clenched her teeth together. "You still have to remain alert. We're at war."

"You claim to be at war. I have yet to see any sign of it." The other princess sniffed.

"Maybe you should open your eyes then. Or ask Peekablue," Glimmer snapped.

"Earth is preparing for war," Peekablue spoke up, surprising everyone, or so it seemed - even Sweet Bee. "It does not seem to be mere pageantry to deceive us. If it were, the effort would vastly outweigh the benefits they might gain from it."

"Convincing everyone to go along with their policies seems worth such efforts - especially since naked force would be needed to enforce their will anyway, should their plan fail," Sweet Bee retorted.

"With the fleet in orbit?" Catra rolled her eyes. "You're delusional. Hell, the Alliance wouldn't even need soldiers; Adora could take on all of you at the same time with one hand tied behind her back, and she'd win. Easily."

"Catra!" Adora hissed. That was… well, probably not wrong, but not a nice or diplomatic thing to say!

Sweet Bee glared at Catra. For someone claiming to be neutral and against the war, she certainly seemed to loathe Catra and other former Horde members. "Even if that is the case, there would be no reason to hinder traffic between Etheria and Earth! Didn't you claim that you could detect any Goa'uld or Jaffa on either planet?"

The Secretary-General raised his eyebrows at that, for a moment at least, before he smiled politely again.

"We can't block the Stargate for emergency traffic. That would hinder the war," Glimmer said.

Sweet Bee scoffed. "A single trip would not take more than a few minutes - much less time than a supply transport such as the ones we observed takes. If you were so concerned about emergencies, you would not move so much material through the gate," the princess said.

Peekablue nodded, and Adora had to wince a little - that excuse did sound a little weak to her as well. But just letting everyone travel between the two worlds sounded like a recipe for disaster to her. Adora and her friends had read up on what happened when countries suddenly had access to advanced or formerly prohibited technology, and in this case, it would probably go both ways. Smugglers on all sides, Tau'ri hunting for magitech - or sorcerers - to acquire or destroy them, all the Earth media, Etherians peddling exotic plants and other dangerous items… "We'll need regulations and limits," she said.

Glimmer shot her a betrayed look, but Adora didn't falter. They couldn't keep the other princesses from using the Stargate, so it was best to, ah, mitigate the damage. So to speak.

"So we'd be only able to use the Stargate - Etheria's Stargate - at your convenience?" Sweet Bee sniffed again. "With your gratuitous permission, to be withdrawn whenever you fell like it?"

"Yes," Glimmer told her in a flat tone. "The war takes precedence. We can't risk an invasion of Etheria - or Earth - just to cater to your pride."

"This is a matter of principles, not pride!" Sweet Bee protested.

Catra loudly snorted. Adora didn't quite follow her example, but she agreed with the sentiment - this was about Sweet Bee's pride and ego. Mostly. It was just unfortunate that she had a point about the Stargate belonging to Etheria. "Besides, you said that only Etheria and Earth were safe worlds, didn't you?" Catra cocked her head sideways.

"I said that they were safe by your own definition, not that they were the only planets safe to visit." Sweet Bee huffed.

Close enough, in Adora's opinion. She smiled.

"No planet with a Stargate is entirely safe from invasion," Bow pointed out. "Anyone can dial in from anywhere in the galaxy. The measures we've taken reduce the risk of an invasion, but every team that is sent out to another planet runs the risk of being captured and then taken over so they can use their codes - and bodies - to sneak back through the gate."

And gather intel about Alliance plans and operations.

"And then attempt to secure the Stargate for the main force," O'Neill added.

"But that risk can be neglected when we are merely talking about travel between Etheria and Earth," Peekablue spoke up again, smiling in a slightly smug way.

Adora nodded. If they had to fear Goa'uld infiltrators on either planet, then… well, then having Sweet Bee and her friends travel back and forth would probably not change anything.

"Earth itself isn't entirely safe for Etherians." Glimmer was still frowning. "Don't blame us if you get stoned or burned as a witch."

"Or blame the rest of Earth." O'Neill smiled. "That is if the United Nations actually accepts such a deal, mind you. We're just talking hypothetically here."

"I doubt that the United Nations will refuse," the Secretary-General said. "The majority of the General Assembly will support it, in my opinion." He spread his hands again. "Of course, some member states will be concerned about, ah, magic and sorceresses, but most will be looking forward to receiving visitors from Etheria - and visiting themselves."

"As we are," Sweet Bee declared.

"Just keep an eye on all those visitors," Catra spoke up. "Some might be fanatics in disguise. Or spies and saboteurs. Or just thieves."

"Are you accusing sovereign kingdoms of abusing their birthright to send criminals through the gate?" Sweet Bee glared at her.

Adora's love grinned. "Yes."

"Well, yeah, that kind of stuff is par for the course for many countries on Earth. We always have spies in our delegations." O'Neill shrugged. "And, of course, there have to be strict regulations about animals and plants. Wouldn't want to grow a haunted forest in a suburb by accident. That would ruin the property values, you know?"

"What?" Sweet Bee stared at him.

But Perfuma nodded. "Yes! We can't endanger the local ecosystems by introducing alien plants and animals. That could cause untold disasters!"

"You'd know what you're talking about." O'Neill grinned as Pefuma blushed.

"I said I am sorry!"

The Secretay-Geneal raised his eyebrows but didn't ask for more details.

Sweet Bee sniffed. "Well, for now, we can agree to limit travel to Earth and Etheria - provided we can confirm that the Goa'uld do represent such a threat to the Galaxy."

"Just talk to the Tok'ra and you'll be convinced in no time," Catra told her.

Sweet Bee frowned, then turned to the Secretary-General. "So, since everyone is in agreement, we can formalise this."

"Well, we'll need a vote by the General Assembly and, of course, also the agreement of the Security Council," he replied. "Although, especially with the support of the Princess Alliance for it, I don't see why this would be rejected."

"Well, unless the Alliance wishes to betray the lofty principles they claim to defend, this should be a formality quickly dealt with, then." Sweet Bee smiled smugly.

O'Neill laughed, and the Secretary-General looked a bit ruefully.

Sweet Bee frowned again, her eyes narrowing.

Glimmer snorted. "You don't have any experience with Earth politics, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

Adora's friend smiled widely as she started to explain how long it would take for such an agreement to be ratified - in the best case.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain Colorado, United States of America, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

The beeping noise of her computer interrupted Samantha Carter's lab session with Entrapta.

"Oh? Are the Tok'ra arriving early?" Entrapta asked, looking up as her hair tendrils kept adjusting the latest experiment.

"I don't think so - the gate room would have called us in that case," Sam answered as she walked over to check.

"Too bad. Anise would be a great help here, I think."

Sam nodded, but her reply died on her lips as she skimmed the message on her screen.

It was a report from the spy bot network. They had found a concentration of Goa'uld ships. Not too close to PZ -921, but close enough to threaten it.

*****​
 
Chapter 87: Educational Issues Part 6
Chapter 87: Educational Issues Part 6

Cheyenne Mountain Colorado, United States of America, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

"The recon drones have detected a Goa'uld fleet?"

"Yes, sir." Samantha Carter noted that, as usual, General Haig showed no reaction while General Hammond narrowed his eyes just a little, and General Petit's smile thinned a bit. General Li nodded, and General Sidorov…

…jumped up from his seat. "A Goa'uld counter-offensive in response to your attack on one of their planets!"

"But it's nowhere near Earth. The closest allied forces are on PZ-921, and even that is a week's flight at standard Goa'uld speed away," General Hammond retorted.

"Yes!" Entrapta nodded with a wide smile. "Our spy bots have done such good work! They've spread out over a significant part of the area near PZ-921, in addition to the other areas they're expanding into, of course - the planned expansion of the network is proceeding on schedule, but we managed to increase production of the spy bots to allow focused additional expansion. I would show you the network, but Sam told me that we can't share that information with Stargate Command since this is Alliance intel. Sorry!"

Sidorov glared at her, but even Entrapta had learned not to take that seriously. General Li merely nodded.

"Of course. We're here as representatives of Stargate Command, not our home countries, which are members of the Alliance," General Petit remarked. "But I assume you are informing us of this because you need to use the Stargate in response to this information?"

"Yes." Sam nodded. "We need to contact the Tok'ra and inform them about this so they can direct their information-gathering operations towards this new development." Unless they hadn't done so already - the Tok'ra kept their spy network a secret from their allies, citing security reasons.

"You don't have the authority to make an official request to Stargate Command, Captain Carter!" Sidorov snapped.

"But I do," Entrapta replied. "I think, at least. I am a princess, and while you don't have princesses, it's a high rank in the Princess Alliance - we don't really have many higher ranks unless you count queen or commander, but that's Glimmer, or Supreme Commander, and that's Adora. Oh! If I can't ask you, I can just call Adora and have her ask you! We already informed the others, but I didn't know we had to ask them to ask you to call our allies."

"I think no one doubts that you can speak for the Alliance in such a matter," General Haig told her.

"Unless it's about experiments, yes," Entrapta nodded. "Glimmer told me that I need to pass the request for dangerous experiments through her and Bow. Or Sam. But Sam's here, and this isn't a request for interesting volatile samples, which we would examine and experiment with in space anyway, so an explosion wouldn't really threaten Earth."

General Haig still didn't show a reaction, but General Hammond winced, and General Petit's smile looked very strained now.

"So… can we call the Tok'ra?" Entrapta beamed. "We can ask if Anise wants to visit early, too!"

Was that a wince from Haig?

*****​

Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

"...and we stand here, representing neutral, peace-loving kingdoms of Etheria, hoping that we may find like-minded realms on Earth to forge closer ties through trade and…"

Catra tried not to roll her eyes at Sweet Bee's speech. It wasn't as if it mattered - the Secretary-General had predicted that the General Assembly would welcome the proposal to open the Stargate between Earth and Etheria for non-Alliance-related travel, and Catra didn't think he was wrong. The nations that were denied advanced technology by the Alliance would jump at the chance to get a trade partner on Etheria this way. And to send spies to the planet, of course. They couldn't stop it, not unless the Alliance simply took over the Stargates and banned everyone else from using it. And that was politically unfeasible - even Glimmer, who really wanted to do it, agreed with that.

At least it would take a while until there was an agreement. And some nations - those who persecuted witches and gay people - were unlikely to be able to make a deal. And the Alliance diplomats might be able to play some games and stretch things out some more. Play some of the supposed neutrals against each other, see if they could undermine Sweet Bee's support base on Etheria… Catra frowned. If she had done that at the Princess Prom instead of focusing on Adora, maybe…

She shook her head and pushed the thought away. Speculating like this was pointless. She had changed - and for the better. Everyone had changed, she added to herself as she glanced at Adora and the others.

"...and so we remain hopeful that you'll decide to open trade and diplomatic relations with our kingdoms."

Sweet Bee bowed as she - finally! - finished her speech.

The Secretary-General thanked her and started his own speech.

Catra was tempted to use some of the unofficial lessons learned in Horde training. Like how to feign attention while all but napping in pointless lectures. But Adora would know, and her lover was already stressed by this whole affair. Well, partially, that was Adora's own fault. If she had told Sweet Bee to take a hike… OK, that would have caused trouble as well. And Adora would have felt terrible about it - betraying the ideals of the Alliance, hypocrisy, blah blah.

Catra watched the Chinese and Russian delegates. They were smiling widely - well, for Chinese and Russians. But other delegates were scowling. Mainly from the countries where magic was illegal. India's ambassador, of course, wasn't amongst them - he was beaming like Entrapta faced with an interesting and dangerous piece of First One technology. Well, the only reason that India hadn't yet managed to join the Alliance was because its government had split over the question of whether or not She-Ra was a goddess in their religion, so until that was settled, their government was paralysed. And they still had that terrorism problem that had led to the attack when Adora had brought magic back.

Well, Catra hoped they settled that soon - and stopped bothering Adora about it.

*****​

'Alright. I think we have to cut this whole trip short since we just got intel about a Goa'uld fleet massing near the first world we liberated in the war, and we have to return to Stargate Command. So sorry!'

That was what Jack O'Neill would like to say, but he couldn't. Well, he could, but it would be pointless. Actually, it would be worse than pointless - Sweet Bee and Peekablue would jump at the chance to claim this was another attempt to use the war as an excuse to undermine their trade deals in the making or whatever they were hashing out in the meeting room next to theirs with the delegates from Russia and China.

"Russia and China!" he muttered. "That's a fine mess!" Of course, he hadn't really thought that they could keep Sweet Bee from making contact with their 'trusted partners' in Stargate Command, but the Russians and Chinese were far too prepared for this - information about Sweet Bee and her trip had to have been leaked prior to today.

Catra, sitting across from him, snorted. Of course, she had overheard him - her ears were twitching. "That's not because of anything we did - Sweet Bee decided to meet with them."

"Probably because Russia and China already have access to the Stargate, so they can't be easily blocked by the Alliance on Earth. She's got good chances to get a working trade deal out of this," Glimmer added with a scowl. "She also can play up how similar her kingdom is to them, both playing second fiddle to a vastly superior military."

Jack nodded. In hindsight, having the five permanent members of the Security Council taking control of Stargate Command (and blocking everyone else) but then taking effective control of it for the Alliance might not have been that smart. Sure, they couldn't let everyone meddle - having a 'Command Council' with five generals was a nightmare for anything serious - but it certainly didn't make Russia or China happy. Or anyone else outside the Alliance.

"Well… that's just obvious diplomacy, right?" Adora shrugged with a slightly strained smile. "She's annoying and rude and obstinate…"

"...a real pain in the ass!" Catra cut in with a grin.

Adora frowned at her but didn't contradict her. "...but she's an experienced diplomat."

Daniel cleared his throat. "I would think that most experienced diplomats would be, well, more diplomatic?"

That was a good point. Jack nodded in agreement.

Glimmer nodded as well.

"Her ego can't handle not getting everything she wants," Catra said. "So she is rude to compensate."

"Speaking from experience?" Glimmer asked with a sly grin.

Catra scoffed at her.

"Well, if she had asked nicely, we would have been more, ah…" Adora trailed off.

"Accommodating?" Bow asked.

"Yes."

"Someone learned a new word today!" Catra grinned again, and Adora rolled her eyes at her.

"Would you have been? Or would you just have been more polite in turning her down?" Jack asked. He knew how politics worked. Countries had interests, not friends.

"The Alliance agreed that gate travel had to be restricted to military needs," Glimmer told him.

"And when you asked her for help during the war, she refused," Catra added.

"Why should she benefit from what we fought and bled for?" Glimmer retorted.

"Technically, we discovered the Stargate after the war," Bow pointed out.

Jack suppressed the urge to award him a point. Best not to provoke the magic princess.

"And that started another war," Glimmer said with a scowl. "Which she is sitting out again."

"But she's right that the Stargate belongs to all of Etheria," Adora said. "She could be nicer about it, but she's right. And Peekablue fought in the Horde War. Just not the whole war."

Glimmer scoffed again, muttering something unflattering, and Jack felt a bit torn. If the Goa'uld were aiming for your planet, it was all hands on deck. If you could fight, you fought. But he had known good soldiers who just couldn't take it any more during a war - for no fault of their own. Peekablue might be like them. Might - it wasn't as if Jack could tell. "Still, making enemies is not a good long-term strategy," he said instead.

Glimmer, as expected, agreed.

Catra also nodded, flashing her fangs. "Payback's a bitch, as you say on Earth. See if we do anything for her in the future. Her kingdom will be dead last in the queue for the Stargate."

Adora, also just like Jack expected, frowned. "We're not going to be so petty as to punish her kingdom just because she has been rude, are we?"

"She would deserve it," Glimmer objected. Then she sighed. "But she'd twist that into another attack on the Alliance."

"So?" Catra stretched like… like a cat. If Jack tried to do the same, his back would break, even with magical healing having restored his flexibility.

"And that means more diplomatic problems," Glimmer told her. "Dad's still dealing with Swift Wind's… antics."

Adora winced as if that were her fault. "Sorry."

Catra rolled her eyes.

"International politics," Jack commented. "Such a pain in the ass if you can't just shoot problems."

"Or princesses," Catra added.

"Catra!" Adora glared at her. "We're not the Horde."

"Yeah. But Sweet Bee would have never dared to mouth off to the Horde," Catra said.

"That's not the point. We are better than the Horde. We won't use violence to cow the other kingdoms," Adora said.

She was completely sincere. Jack knew it. But so did Sweet Bee - Jack was sure of it. Well, anyone would know it after spending a bit of time with Adora; the girl simply was too honest for her own good. And a lousy liar.

"We still should do something to get back at Sweet Bee," Catra objected.

"That would be petty," Adora repeated herself.

"But oh so satisfying, right?" Catra shot back.

Jack nodded. "Yes."

"Jack! We're not going to risk a diplomatic incident because someone else was rude for a change!" Daniel protested.

"Well, it usually worked for me," Jack defended himself. At least, it worked more often than not. Probably.

"I think that is in dispute. But if it were true, wouldn't that be a good reason not to react to Sweet Bee's rudeness?"

Daniel had a good point. Not that Jack would acknowledge it. Instead, he clapped his hands. "So, any bets whether Perfuma and Scorpia finish their talk before Sweet Bee and Peekablue do?"

"They're just talking with a few environmental activists," Bow said. "They're not negotiating interstellar trade deals."

"So, you think they'll be done first, OK. Anyone else?" Jack grinned.

"I didn't say I'd bet on it!"

"All bets are final!" Jack retorted.

"We didn't even say what we bet!" Bow protested.

"Yeah, that was really careless of you." Jack grinned. The kid was trying, but he had a lot to learn until he cold hold his own.

Catra nodded. "Yeah. Shame on you."

"Catra!"

"Jack!"

*****​

Adora laughed. A little - Jack was a bit mean to tease Bow like that, and the bet wasn't really that funny. Catra chuckled, but that was to be expected. Still, it wasn't really a laughing matter or situation. Sweet Bee making a deal with Russia or China - or both, or another country - could complicate things enormously. What if they made an alliance, and say, Russia or China wanted to shift troops to her kingdom? They had a lot of soldiers, and that might make other kingdoms feel threatened no matter how much Sweet Bee claimed that she didn't want a war.

Could the Alliance stop them from moving soldiers through the Stargate? Well, they certainly could, on both sides of the gate, but should they? Sweet Bee was a sovereign princess, and Russia and China were sovereign nations. And part of Stargat Command. And the Alliance would have soldiers from Earth on Etheria sooner or later, for training and familiarisation at least.

Doing something but banning others from doing the same was hypocrisy. Even if there were good reasons for it, Adora felt bad about that. Of course, it was unlikely to begin with. It wasn't really practical for either country to send troops through the gate - not in numbers that would be effective. The supply issues were too big; even the Alliance couldn't really rely on the Stargate to supply their troops in anything but a supplemental capacity. Of course, the United States had plans to improve that, but the easier you made it to transport freight through the Stargate, the harder you made it to defend it.

And the real issue, even though no one had mentioned it yet, was magic, not soldiers. Sweet Bee didn't have close ties to Mystacore, but sorceresses were free to move to her kingdom. And if the Russians or the Chinese set up an embassy there…

"What are you brooding about?" Catra interrupted her thoughts.

Adora looked up. Bow was still protesting that he never agreed to a bet, and Jack continued to claim that he had made outrageous wagers. And Daniel was trying to stop Jack. Glimmer seemed amused, Sea Hawk wasn't helping with his suggestions, Mermista shook her head, Frosta was giggling and… Oh. Spinnerella looked a bit anxious. Was she thinking the same things Adora was?

And now she had noticed Adora's glance and looked even more anxious. Adora grimaced.

But then, her friend sighed and straightened. "I think Sweet Bee honestly feels threatened," she said. "Seen from the outside, we might have seemed to act a bit, well… arrogantly, after the war."

Right. Spinnerella and Sweet Bee had been a couple for a time; Adora remembered hearing about that. But that had been a long time ago. Still, she would know Sweet Bee the best.

"We just did what was needed to start rebuilding. We aren't threatening them!" Glimmer protested.

"Even if you might want to," Catra added, grinning at Glimmer, which wasn't helping.

"But, well…" Spinnerella sighed again.

Netossa was still studying her tablet but now looked up and patted her wife's shoulder.

"I know we aren't threatening them - only we are, in a way, you know?" Spinnerella smiled weakly. "We're the strongest power on Etheria, even without the fleet. With the fleet… well, if we wanted to conquer the planet, we could. Easily."

"Horde Prime thought the same," Adoa pointed out. "He was wrong."

"He was facing you and the Alliance, not some pacifist princess whose only power is to fly," Catra said with a scoff.

That was true - flying wasn't a very powerful, ah, power when people could use spaceships and shuttles. Or flyers. Or aeroplanes and Death Gliders. But it wasn't the point. Taking Etheria was much harder than it might seem.

"We could crush her kingdom, and she couldn't stop us. And Peekablue could only watch helplessly," Netossa said. "The best intel is worthless if you don't have the forces to act on it. The difference in power is too big. All the elemental princesses? And the biggest, richest kingdoms? With experienced troops? And the remains of the Horde?"

"We aren't a threat to her kingdom," Frosta cut in.

"But we could be," Bow said. "And everyone knows it."

"But she can trust us not to abuse our power," Adora protested. That wouldn't be right. She-Ra was a protector, not a conqueror!

"Sweet Bee is, well… she doesn't easily trust people," Spinnerella said.

"Smart of her," Catra muttered.

Adora winced.

"I wouldn't call insulting people who can easily crush you smart. Or countries," Jack said.

"If we crushed her in response, we'd be as bad as the Horde!" Adora blurted out. Then she glanced at her lover. Catra didn't react, but Adora still felt bad for reminding her of, well, the Horde. "We'd never do that!"

"And Sweet Bee is aware of that," Spinnerella said. "She isn't a fool. But… She is proud."

"Like a princess," Jack commented.

"Yes," Spinnerella nodded at him, which seemed to surprise him for a moment. "Ruling Princesses are supposed to be equal in rank. Of course, they're not equal in power, but before the Princess Alliance, the difference wasn't as large as it's now, and if you started a war, there was always the threat of a rival kingdom attacking you while you were fighting on another front to deter it."

"There were alliances, but not on the scale of the Princess Alliance, and when rulers changed, alliances often changed as well. But that changed when the Horde attacked," Bow said. "Now we're the biggest power on Etheria."

"And Sweet Bee doesn't like it," Spinnerella said. "It hurts her pride."

"Tough," Catra commented.

"Well, that's kind of understandable," Daniel said. "Many Americans share a similar sentiment - they were used to being the most powerful country on Earth, and now they aren't any more. And many don't like it."

"The other countries like it, though," Catra pointed out.

Was that how the other kingdoms, the other princesses, saw the Alliance? Adora didn't like that. But… "The President hasn't been rude, unlike Sweet Bee," she said.

"Because he wants something from us - mainly our tech and support," Bow said. "Sweet Bee doesn't want to fight in the war, so she can't join the Alliance."

"If we let people like her join, reaping the benefits without fighting the Goa'uld, we will be swamped with such leeches." Glimmer shook her head. "That would be unfair towards the ones who actually fight and risk their lives in the war. The blowback from that could cripple our forces."

Adora nodded. And it was wrong to let others fight your battles. But it was also wrong to force people to fight if they didn't want to.

"In any case, by being rude and an annoyance, she challenges us, shows she isn't a pushover," Bow went on. "That raises her standing amongst the other princesses."

"It also shows we won't crush people for disagreeing with us," Adora said. "Or discriminate against them." That should prove their good faith. Eventually, at least.

"Even though it would feel good," Catra said with a grin.

Adora lightly swatted her thigh.

"So, everybody wins?" Bow smiled weakly.

Glimmer scoffed. "She's still rude and annoying."

"And a pain in the butt," Frosta added.

Adora nodded in agreement.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain Colorado, United States of America, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

"Hi, Anise! Oh, and hi, Martouf!"

"Entrapta! Sam!"

"Greetings, Captain Carter, Princess Entrapta."

"Hello, Anise. Martouf." A step behind Entrapta, Samantha Carter greeted their friends.

"We heard about your situation and decided to visit earlier than planned," Martouf smiled. "I hope this is not a bother."

"Not at all," Sam reassured him. "Quite the contrary."

Martouf glanced at Anise, who was already looking at some of the data Entrapta had prepared, then turned his attention back at her. "That's good to hear. How have you been doing?"

"We've made a lot of progress, given the circumstances, although we're still far from finishing our current projects."

"Ah." Martouf nodded. Sam expected him to say something more, but he didn't.

"Let's go to our lab," Sam told him. She suppressed a wince - this felt awkward. Like meeting an ex too soon after a breakup. And yet, they had never had a relationship in the first place. Not Sam and Martouf. Only Jolinar and Martouf.

"Yes! We can work better there!" Entrapta nodded emphatically. "And once our friends get back, you can tell Sweet Bee and Peekablue that the Goa'uld are dangerous."

"Yes." Martouf nodded. As they started to leave the gate room, he added: "I must confess I am curious about them. We were already aware that Etheria is not unified, but given their recent history, I would have expected that to have changed."

"Earth has not united either," Sam pointed out as they approached the lift. The two Chinese soldiers standing guard there didn't react, but Sam was sure they were paying close attention.

"As I understand it, all the relevant powers are working together to fight the Goa'uld," Martouf said.

The Colonel would make a quip about Russia and China, perhaps India as well, Sam knew. Or about not relevant powers joining to appear relevant. "I wouldn't say that. Alliance membership is mostly limited because of politics." Limited to countries that the Etherians deemed ethically acceptable, but to state that - and how ironic it was that absolute monarchies had higher standards than democracies when it came to alliances - would be impolite. Especially within earshot of the Chinese guards.

"Ah."

"Yes!" Entrapta chimed in - fortunately, only after the lift had already started moving. "When it comes to ground combat, the armies of most of the countries on Earth would actually be sufficiently effective. But we can't trust some of them, and it's not OK to use them as cannon fodder to weaken them and the Goa'uld because if we did that, people wouldn't trust us. That's what Hordak and Catra said, at least, and it seems a sound analysis based on the available data."

Sam winced. It was blunt but true. And she could imagine the two former Horde leaders saying this.

Anise nodded. "I concur."

"Yes, it sounds quite plausible," Martouf added. "Which means that Earth and Etheria are facing similar situations with internal dissent complicating the situation."

"Yes," Sam confirmed as they stepped out of the lift. From a certain point of view, at least.

"Let's hope that the Etherian dissidents will listen to us," Anise commented. "It would be disastrous if they underestimated the Goa'uld's danger."

"I don't see why they would refuse to accept facts and evidence," Entrapta said. "Our data proves our statements."

"Not everyone is open-minded enough to change their views based on new data," Sam told her friend. "Not even all scientists have an easy time with that."

"But that's the core of science!" Entrapta protested as they entered Sam's lab. "If you ignore the data, you're not a scientist!"

Anise nodded in agreement. "And you would be a fool to ignore facts."

"Unfortunately, many people prefer to ignore reality rather than accept that they might be wrong," Martouf said.

Sam had met more than a few of those people. Full of prejudice and pride. "What must not be, cannot be," she muttered as she closed the door.

"Exactly," Martouf said. "Which, incidentally, is a weakness many Goa'uld share."

"Anyway," Entrpata spoke up after a moment. "Here's the rest of our data. Look at this!"

In the middle of the room, a holoprojection of a star system appeared. Entrapta's hair tendrils flicked over a keyboard, and the projection zoomed in on a formation of Goa'uld ships - half Ha'taks, half Al'kesh and Tel'taks.

"The system isn't claimed by any System Lord, as far as we know," Sam added - though the Tok'ra already knew that.

"We've checked. We don't know any gate addresses for this system either," Anise said. "We haven't received any notification from our spies about this, but since communication is dangerous, we might still receive more information about this."

"We're trying to crack their encryption to identify the ships, but they aren't communicating a lot," Entrapta said. "Or if they do, it's through secure channels such as a Stargate on a ship and directed short-range comms. And if we order the spy bots closer, they might be detected. So, that is a bit of a challenge."

"That is a quite unusual level of security for a System Lord," Martouf said. "An unclaimed system? Comm silence? Few would go to such lengths."

"Unless they are planning something underhanded." Sam nodded. "Like when Apophis was trying to frame Sokar."

"This could be a second attempt by Apophis, though I would assume that he would first want to find out what went wrong with his plan. Heru'ur… generally is blunter. He might want to keep it secret that he lost a planet, but he has to expect that whoever amongst his enemies took the planet will announce it anyway. And it could be Sokar's doing, though we don't know if he is aware of Apophis's plans for him." Martouf sighed. "We don't have a spy at Sokar's court. Not yet."

"So we need more data!" Entrapta summed up.

*****​

Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

Sweet Bee looked happy when she came out of the meeting room, Catra noticed. Of course, she would also be smiling even if the negotiations had completely broken up right after starting since she would have to keep up appearances, but the smile looked genuine. The smiles of the Russian and Chinese delegates, on the other hand, were too polite to tell if they were genuine.

Catra had hoped that the Tau'ri tendency to drag things out for months over details would have frustrated the princess. Then again, judging by some Alliance meetings Catra had taken part in, maybe Sweet Bee had expected that. Or they actually had reached an agreement… No. That wasn't how things were done on Earth.

Peekablue, on the other hand, looked as absent-minded as usual - his polite smile not matching his unfocused eyes. But that was probably a ruse, Catra reminded herself. The prince was paying much more attention to his surroundings than one would expect at first glance. If she had had to deal with him during her time as the Horde leader…

"We have come to a preliminary agreement to continue our negotiations," Sweet Bee announced. "I trust that the Alliance won't attempt to block our peaceful diplomatic meetings."

We should send you to a Goa'uld planet and leave you stranded there, Catra thought. See how you like your 'peaceful diplomacy' when the snakes come to burrow into your body. But that would probably help the Goa'uld, which would make the war harder. And Adora wouldn't like it.

Since they were in public - sort of; there was a photographer, but he was apparently working for the United Nations, not the press, and the Secretary-General was smiling at the idiot with other diplomats - Catra stuck to flashing her fangs in an insincere smile while the Chinese delegate - what was his name again? Something weird - repeated what Sweet Bee had said using slightly different sentences.

"The Alliance always supports peaceful diplomacy - as long as it won't hinder the efforts to defeat the Goa'uld and free millions of humans suffering in slavery," Glimmer announced with a toothy smile as soon as they had finished.

Adora nodded emphatically. "Yes. We won't sacrifice people for trade negotiations."

That should do well with the press, Catra thought. Even though she was sure that a lot of Earth's leaders would be perfectly fine with that trade. At least in private. They let people starve for profit, after all.

"Of course not." Sweet Bee's smile looked as sincere as Glimmer's.

Peekablue, though, nodded. "Yes. We're aware of the cost of a war."

Then the Secretary-General started a hopefully short speech about peace and trade and reaching out that had Catra struggle not to yawn. It was past time to go and meet the Tok'ra - and then push Sweet Bee's butt back through the Stargate. Preferably with a kick.

And Peekablue as well.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain Colorado, United States of America, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

"Colonel O'Neill!"

"Anise. Martouf." Jack O'Neill forced himself to smile as he greeted the Tok'ra. Anise looked far too happy to see him, in his opinion. So happy, indeed, that he felt the urge to check if she had drawn blood somehow while everyone shook hands and exchanged platitudes.

"... these are Princess Sweet Bee and Prince Peekablue. Sweet Bee, Peekablue, these are the Tok'ra Anise and Freya and Martouf and Lantash," Adora introduced their visitors to each other.

Peekablue was openly staring at them - was he trying to spot the snakes inside them? Could he use his magic to look into people? That would make him even more dangerous than Jack had thought. And a lot more useful as well, of course.

"I see," the prince said, nodding slowly.

Had that been a joke? Jack couldn't tell; the Etherian prince always looked as if he was high. Jack blinked. His comparison to David Bowie in the 70s might actually closer to the mark than he had thought.

"You see?" Martouf asked.

"I have the gift of Farsight."

"Ah." The two Tok'ra exchanged glances.

"And what does that do?" Anise was blunt as ever.

"It lets me see," Peekablue told her, sounding absolutely serious.

Jack grinned at Anise's reaction. That had definitely been a joke! If the prince were not with Her Annoying Honeyness, Jack would probably like the guy.

Anise sniffed. "And you think the Goa'uld aren't a danger to everyone."

"We wish to verify what the Alliance has told us about them from independent sources," Sweet Bee told her. "But there don't seem to be unbiased sources."

"Because the Goa'uld destroy or enslave everyone they can. They are as dangerous and evil as you've heard - or more so," Anise said with a scowl.

Martouf nodded. "The Tok'ra have been fighting them for thousands of years. Some of us are former Goa'uld who managed to see the light and deserted them. We know their very souls. They are cruel, vain, greedy and willing to betray even their closest kin for more power. Their cruelty knows no bounds."

Laying it on a little thick, Marty, Jack thought. But then, the Etherians might lap that up.

While the two snakes started to tell Tales of the Goa'uld, uncut edition, Jack looked around. The lab looked like it always looked - cluttered despite Carter's meticulous organisation, with too much stuff that you shouldn't touch spread around everywhere.

And Carter herself was typing on her laptop, with Entrapta looking over her shoulder. Working hard, harder than anyone else. As usual, he thought. She was really a model officer. Far too good for…

He caught himself smiling in a non-professional or diplomatic way and quickly schooled his features.

*****​

"...and then Ra had the entire planet bombed from orbit." Martouf - no, that was Lantash speaking, Adora realised even though they hadn't changed their tone - pointed at the records Sam's projector displayed in the middle of the lab. "He punished an entire world for the actions of their leader - a leader of his choice who had subjugated and enslaved the population."

She glanced at the recording being shown and winced. A formation of Ha'taks was shooting their cannons in orbit, Al'keshs swooping down, dropping bombs… and explosions on the ground. Many, many explosions.

Sweet Bee looked… struck. Her lips were trembling. And Peekablue… Had closed his eyes and was trembling. His lips were pressed together, forming a thin blue line. Oh, no - he must be suffering a flashback, as Earth called it! "Please stop the recording!" she blurted out.

"But we've just started," Anise objected. "This is just the part covering Ra's forces - we're about to show footage from the ground."

"No, we aren't," Adora told her, getting up. "Stop it, Entrapta!"

"OK!" Entrapta looked a little confused, but her hair reached out, and the holoprojection froze for a second, then faded out.

"What's the…? Oh." Bow grimaced; he would know about the problem from his dads, Adora remembered. "Sorry, we should have warned you."

"Warned us?" Sweet Bee blinked, then glanced at Peekablue and Gasped. "Peekablue!" She reached over and wrapped her arm around his shoulder.

"I'm OK," he said. He was obviously lying, though - he still hadn't opened his eyes. He returned Sweet Bee's hug, but it looked like he was clinging to her as she gently sat him down on the ground.

"Definitely not OK," Catra commented in a low voice.

Anise was still frowning, but Martouf leaned towards her and whispered something which made her blink.

Well, that seemed to have been handled. That left… No, a glance confirmed that not even Jack was about to make a joke. He was just standing there and looking awkward.

Like almost everyone else, actually. Even Entrapta wasn't looking confused any more, though she was talking to Sam in a low voice. And Sam looked uncomfortable.

Adora bit her lip - she shouldn't pry. She really shouldn't. It was rude. She should respect someone's privacy. On the other hand, Entrapta was her friend, and, well, she was often confused by things others took for granted, and that made her vulnerable. Sam was Adora and Entrapta's friend, but Adora had known Entrapta for much longer, and…

"She's telling Sam that Hordak reacts differently," Catra whispered.

Adora glanced at her lover. Catra wasn't showing any reaction. She was even looking a bit bored - or trying to fake it.

Adora was about to tell her that she shouldn't try to appear so distant, but then Peekablue opened his eyes.

And they were… She gasped. His pupils were so big, you couldn't see the white of his eyes any more. And he wasn't blinking.

Catra cursed next to her.

"What's going on?" Glimmer asked.

"Flashback," Jack replied.

"PTSD," Sam added a moment later. "Post-traumatic stress disorder."

"He is remembering what he saw during the war," Bow said.

"Like a nightmare, just… without falling asleep first," Netossa added.

"Quiet!" Sweet Bee hissed, still hugging the prince. "You're not helping!"

For a change, no one snapped back as she used one hand to gently turn Peekablue's head towards her face and started whispering to him.

Adora didn't glance at Catra, and her lover didn't tell her what the princess was saying. After a few very, very awkward minutes of silence, Peekablue closed his eyes and loudly sighed, then slumped over.

Sweet Bee hugged him a bit longer, then rose. "We'll return to Etheria. We can continue this talk at a later date. Without such… demonstrations."

"Alright!" Entrapta nodded.

"Let's go back to the gate," Jack said and walked towards the door. Sweet Bee and Peekablue got up and followed him. Adora watched them go. She should go with them to the gate, but… She couldn't do anything to help them.

Instead, once the door closed behind them, she looked at her friends and her lover. "So… We've got a fleet to deal with?"

After a moment, Sam nodded. "Yes. You've seen the data we've gathered so far. Unfortunately, We still haven't identified to which System Lord it belongs."

"We've passed the information on. The Council will look into it," Martouf added. "But unless an operative of ours already knows about this, this will take some time."

"We're analysing their communication - as much as we can, at least - but there are a few problems we have to deal with, namely…"

As Entrapta continued to explain, Adora did her best to focus on the information they had already gathered. And not on the few nightmares she had since the Horde War had ended. She didn't want to remember them.

*****​

"So, we hope that the Tok'ra can find out what's going on with that fleet, but better don't count on it. I bet we'll have to go there and take a look ourselves," the Colonel said. "But… not right now. I still have to do the paperwork for this visit." He stood and rolled his neck, then walked towards the door. "And that'll be a bitch. Because of a bitch."

"Jack!" Daniel gasped, following him out.

Samantha Carter refined from commenting, but she sighed as the door closed and cut off the Colonel's next comment.

"So… is that why Peekablue left the Alliance? The first princess Alliance, I mean. Because he couldn't see the war any more, and so couldn't fight any more?" Entrapta asked.

"It looks like it," Sam replied.

"Hordak doesn't act like that when he remembers."

She had told Sam that already. "PTSD expresses itself differently in people," Sam explained. So, Hordak suffered from it as well. He was still a former warlord who didn't really show too much remorse, in her opinion. But Entrapta loved him. And, at least as far as Sam knew, he loved her. More importantly, she didn't think he would ever hurt Entrapta.

"Apparently." Her friend sat down on the edge of her desk - solidly bolted to the floor - and used her hair to stow some of their gear. "So, how do you fix that?"

Sam winced. "That's also different for everyone. Therapy can help." But some couldn't get better at all.

"We'll have to talk to Hordak about therapy then." Entrapta nodded. "And to Peekablue, I guess."

Sam winced again. 'We'? She didn't want to talk to Hordak about his trauma. But Entrapta was her friend and obviously expected her to do this. So, she nodded and forced herself to smile. "Alright."

"Great! We can travel back to Etheria with Peekablue and Sweet Bee! I'll tell the others!" Entrapta hopped down and was halfway to the door before Sam could react.

"Wait! We've got more urgent problems to deal with!"

Entrapta stopped, turned and cocked her head. "More urgent than dealing with such pain?"

That was… a good question. Sam didn't quite know how to answer it. And they had to wait for the Tok'ra to send word, anyway.

It looked like she'd have to talk about therapy with Hordak.

Great.

*****​
 
Chapter 88: The Therapy Question Part 1
Chapter 88: The Therapy Question Part 1

Bright Moon, Etheria, January 22nd, 1999 (Earth Time)

"I feel guilty."

Catra, lying on her back on their bed, rolled her eyes at Adora's comment and turned her head to glance at her lover. "It's not your fault. Stop being an idiot."

"You didn't even ask what I'm feeling guilty about!" Adora pouted.

Catra grinned in return. "I don't have to. You're always feeling guilty about stuff that's not your fault."

"Not always!" her lover protested.

Catra raised her eyebrows in response. "Name one example."

"Ah…" Adora closed her mouth and pouted again. "But I should have realised that Peekablue was suffering!"

"How?" Catra scoffed. "Not even Melog managed to find that out until he had his flashback." That was a good name for it. Much better than 'nightmare while being awake', or what Glimmer tried to come up with.

"But I knew that fighting in a war left you… hurting." Adora finished hanging up her and Catra's clothes - as if they didn't have maids for that in the palace! And the clothes would be collected and sent to the laundry in the morning anyway! - and sat down on the bed next to Catra. She was biting her lower lip, Catra noticed. "It's… many have nightmares."

"Yeah." That wasn't really new. Hell, Catra had nightmares as well. Not as many as back then, not since she had started sleeping in Adora's bed again, but still. And that was normal - she didn't know anyone who never had nightmares. "Everyone has nightmares. You don't have to fight in a war to get them."

"But it's not the same! Peekablue was… He was trembling, and his eyes…" Adora shook her head.

Catra clenched her teeth for a moment. Yes, the stupid Prince had looked terrible. But that wasn't Adora's fault. "But you couldn't know that he had the worst trauma," she said, as gently as she could, while she sat up and slid behind her lover so she could wrap her arms around Adora's waist.

"I should have!"

Catra rolled her eyes behind Adora's back. "No, you couldn't. Most people who go through traumatic experiences don't suffer like he does." At least not for over ten years. Someone would have told them if that was normal, right? Catra pushed the stupid thought away. "It's not your fault that he had a flashback. You didn't know and couldn't know. He didn't tell us, either."

"Well, yes, but… I still feel guilty. I thought he was a coward for not fighting! I didn't even consider that he might have had a good reason to stop fighting! That he couldn't fight any more! That his magic power would have shown him so many horrible things…"

Catra tensed before she managed to force herself to relax. She was responsible for a lot of those things. If Peekablue had kept an eye on the war… No, he wouldn't have. Not when just recordings of a Goa'uld attack caused such a reaction. He wouldn't have tortured himself like that. She was sure of that. Pretty sure. Whatever. Adora was blaming herself, and Catra had to do something about that. "He didn't tell us, so why would we suspect that? It's his fault for not telling us. It's like…" Think, idiot, think! "It's like a food allergy. If you don't tell people you are allergic to some food, it's your own fault if they serve something that hurts you!"

"How much Earth television did you watch?" Adora asked, turning her head and shifting a bit around to frown at her.

"That was from the lecture about travelling to different planets and trying different food," Catra defended herself. And there had been something about that.

"Ah." Adora shook her head. "It's not the same. We've been blaming him and Sweet Bee for not wanting to fight the Goa'uld even though the Goa'uld are a danger to everyone, but we didn't know this!"

"Sweet Bee didn't have any traumatic experience in the war." The stupid princess had avoided the Horde War - Catra knew all princesses who had fought the Horde when she had been in command. She shifted around, lying across Adora's lap, on her back so she could face her lover.

"She could have fought against Horde Prime's invasion," Adora retorted.

"Do you really think she wouldn't have told us that, repeatedly, to get access to the gate?" Catra snorted.

"Ah…" Adora sighed. "I guess she would have."

Catra nodded. "Absolutely." The arrogant princess would have thrown that into their face at every opportunity.

"But she knows about Peekablue's trauma. So, she knows how it happened."

"So?" Catra narrowed her eyes.

Adora took a deep breath. Catra felt her arms tense around her shoulders and hip. "She would know that this could happen to her in the war."

"That only makes her a coward," Catra snapped. Countless people had fought anyway. OK, not all of them had had a choice or knew any better, but… She clenched her teeth again.

"Not everyone is cut out to fight."

"She's a princess. If she's not willing to fight for her kingdom, she should step down!" Catra spat. "She owes her people that!"

Adora nodded. "But what… what if her people aren't in danger?"

"Because the Alliance protects everyone?" Catra scoffed again. "Then she should help us anyway."

Adora sighed and slowly nodded, but Catra had a feeling that her lover didn't quite agree.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain Colorado, United States of America, Earth, January 23rd, 1999

"Colonel O'Neill, could you explain why the United Nations has sent a request to let a delegation composed of members of several non-governmental organisations visit Etheria?"

General Hammond hadn't lost his touch, Jack O'Neill noted to himself. The man's tone was polite, even slightly bored, his question innocuous, but his expression… Jack forced himself to smile. "I assume that's related to the meeting Perfuma had with them in Geneva."

"A meeting the Command Council wasn't informed of until now." Hammond frowned openly now.

"I think it was in our report," Jack defended himself.

"It was - I checked. 'Princess Perfuma was curious about the biosphere of Earth, and the Secretary-General referred her to a few specialists of his acquaintance'," Hammond quoted. He didn't quite slap the report down on his desk, but it came close. "Nothing about an agreement to restore the Amazon rainforest with magic."

Ah. "I didn't hear anything about that, sir," Jack said. Granted, he - and the others, including Perfuma as soon as she heard of it - had been focused on Peekablue's nervous breakdown and then the whole business about the hidden Goa'uld fleet tok priority.

"Yes, General," Daniel bravely tried to help. "Specifics never came up, though Perfuma was talking about restoring the rainforest earlier in the day."

"And you didn't mention that either, Dr Jackson?"

Damn! Jack knew that face. Daniel was digging his heels in. "It was not relevant to the task we were given, General. We were to report about Sweet Bee's diplomatic mission," his friend said.

"I would think that it was clear that a foreign head of state planning to intervene in a nation on Earth, with possible repercussions for the entire planet, should have been reported."

"I didn't hear anything about an intervention." Daniel frowned. "Perfuma was merely interested in the possibility of using her magic to restore nature, and the Secretary-General referred her to several organisations with similar goals."

"Yes, General," Jack added. "If we can't trust the Secretary-General of the United Nations - of which Stargate Command is a part - then whom could we trust?"

And here came the glare. Jack had to work on his innocent act. "This isn't a time for jokes, Colonel. The CIA has warned us that there are questionable elements amongst the delegation."

"'Questionable elements'?" Daniel raised his eyebrows.

"Potential extremists, Dr Jackson. As you might be aware, there's some concern about extremists of various kinds acquiring magic to enforce their demands."

"Are you sure that was the CIA and not the United Fruit Company?" Daniel inclined his head. "Did they label Greenpeace as terrorists as well?"

"Well, they do oppose nuclear power, which probably means they'll oppose spaceships," Jack commented. "That will make it hard for them to blockade spaceship yards with their own spaceships, though."

No one laughed, and Daniel frowned at him.

"Greenpeace is actually an organisation under observation according to our sources," Hammond said,

Daniel blinked, then took a deep breath. "Of all the… What is going on? This is ridiculous!"

"It is the stance of the United States Government that the reckless use of magic by independent actors might endanger the entire planet, Dr Jackson." Hammond met his eyes. "I think that, thanks to your close acquaintance with the Etherians, you are aware of how dangerous magic can be."

Daniel had an incredulous expression for a moment before he scowled. "Thanks to our close friendship with the Etherians, we are aware that the odds of anyone on Earth being able to endanger the entire planet with magic are infinitesimally small. We don't have the tradition, knowledge and magitech to create anything like what the Etherians dealt with."

"We aren't only concerned about such threats, but also about magical diseases, invasive species - and the repercussions of…" Hammond glanced at another file. "...magical geoengineering and altering of regional ecosystems, especially with regard to the climate."

"Oh, now we're concerned about the climate, are we?" Daniel scoffed. "Ruining the ecosystems of entire countries was fine as long as it wasn't done with magic?"

"Dr Jackson." Hammond narrowed his eyes at him.

To Jack's relief, Daniel backed down. "Sorry, sir. But these concerns seem oddly specific and limited."

"Not the concerns about invasive species and magically altered diseases," Carter spoke up. "Those could be very dangerous."

"Perfuma is aware of that, though," Daniel retorted. "She wouldn't endanger us like that."

"And her new friends on Earth are as responsible?" Jack shook his head. "I'm not a biologist or a sorcerer, but we've all seen what magic can do, and it probably wouldn't take much to change a virus into the second coming of the Spanish Flu." He had done a report about that at the Academy once. Nasty stuff.

"That's just speculation," Daniel said. But he looked less confident now. "And Perfuma and the others will be aware of that. And they will likely have countermeasures for such incidents."

"Which they will, generously and selflessly, share with us," Jack said, not hiding his sarcasm. "Oh, I know they will," he said when Daniel opened his mouth. "But that'll be one more thing we'll depend on them for."

"Only until we get sorceresses of our own, Jack," Daniel said.

"Good luck with that," Jack muttered. The last thing he wanted was more pressure to study magic.

"In any case, the Command Council expects you to discuss these concerns with our allies," Hammond said.

"Yes, sir."

Great. More magic talk.

*****​

Bright Moon, Etheria, January 23rd, 1999 (Earth Time)

"So, Sweet Bee and Peekablue haven't contacted us yet to reschedule their meeting with the Tok'ra. If they ever do," Glimmer said, slowly looking at everyone at the table in the meeting room.

She sounded a bit… not smug. But… relieved? Adora wasn't quite sure. Adora herself certainly wasn't sad that she wouldn't have to face Sweet Bee and Peekablue right away. She still felt ashamed for her annoyance at them before she found out about Peekablue's issues.

"Let's hope that the talk they had with the Tok'ra was enough to convince them that the Goa'uld are a real threat," Mermista commented with a frown.

"I don't think Peekablue could go through another such talk," Perfuma said. "At least not if they have more such… records."

"Sweet Bee could do it herself," Adora pointed out. That would be the logical course of action.

"If she's interested in the truth, at least," Glimmer muttered. Louder, she said: "Anyway, we can just wait until they contact us again. We've got a more pressing problem to deal with."

"Yes!" Entrapta perked up. "Therapy!"

"No, I meant… what?"

What? Adora blinked. She wasn't the only one - pretty much everyone at the table was staring at Entrapta.

"Therapy?" Catra asked.

"Yes. I talked with Sam, and I confirmed it with some data we gathered on Earth, but overlooked until now, but therapy can help you deal with traumatic experiences. It's not always successful, though. But it shouldn't make things worse, I think. So, the logical course of action would be to do it." Entrapta nodded firmly.

"Good luck telling Sweet Bee and Peekablue that. If they don't believe us about the Goa'uld, they won't believe us about therapy," Glimmer told her with a snort.

"Oh, I wasn't thinking about Peekablue - but he probably should get some therapy too, yes. Although Sam told me that the patient needs to want to get therapy or it won't really help, which is quite an interesting difference compared to other forms of healing, right?"

She wasn't thinking about Peekablue? Then who…? Oh! "You want us to get therapy?" Adora blurted out before she could stop herself.

"What?"

"That's stupid!"

"I don't need therapy!"

"We don't need therapy!"

"I'm doing fine!"

"What's therapy?"

"I'm not like Peekablue."

Adora looked at Catra. Her lover hadn't said anything, but she was glaring at Entrapta. And clenching her teeth, hard - Adora could tell from the way her cheeks twitched. She reached over to squeeze Catra's thigh and felt how tense the other girl was.

Entrapta looked confused - and taken aback - by the reactions of the others. "Therapy is a form of treatment that Earth scientists have developed to deal with trauma. And war - which we have gone through - is a commonly mentioned source of such trauma. And the symptoms of a post-traumatic stress disorder vary wildly, but nightmares are amongst them."

And everyone had had nightmares after the war, Adora was sure of that. Judging by the glances the others exchanged, they remembered that as well. But she wasn't sure if those therapists she remembered from the shows and movies she had seen on Earth were scientists. They hadn't really seemed like scientists to her, but then, many of those shows and movies had been fiction.

"Earth did that? Without magic?" Mermista didn't quite sneer, but her expression was not really supportive.

"You can't use magic to, ah, cure trauma," Adora told her friends. She had looked quite thoroughly into that after the war, when Catra had had more frequent nightmares. And Adora as well, but that was another topic. In any case, everyone she asked - Glimmer and Castaspella - had been clear that there was no spell to deal with nightmares and guilt.

"My research shows that therapy is generally based on talking to specialists," Entrapta smiled as she explained, but she still looked confused by the reactions. And perhaps a bit afraid. "It helps, according to my data."

"Talk to a stranger?" Mermista frowned even more. "About what, exactly?"

"The experience that left you traumatised. And your feelings." Entrapta nodded. "It sounds fascinating, actually - the people on Earth have so much data about emotions."

"I bet they have," Catra mumbled.

"That sounds stupid!" Frosta declared. "Why should we talk to a stranger about that? Not that we need to, anyway, but there're a lot of secrets involved in the war - and there will be more secrets in this war. You can't just talk to a stranger about that!"

"Well, talking to a friend about your feelings could be… embarrassing," Sea Hawk said with an embarrassed smile. "Talking to a stranger might be easier."

He was glancing at Scorpia, Adora noticed. And Scorpia seemed embarrassed as well. What was up with that?

"Well, I'm fine. I don't need to talk to anyone about that stuff," Frosta said.

"Are you sure?" Perfuma looked concerned. "Talking to a friend helps; I know that. If you don't want to talk to a stranger, you can talk to me."

"I told you: I am fine!" Frosta retorted.

Now that sounded familiar. Adora glanced at her lover, but Catra was still sitting here, tense and more silent than expected. She wasn't fine at all. And Adora didn't think the rest of her friends were fine, either. There was no helping it; she had to do something. "I think it would be a good thing to talk about such things," she said. Not talking about your feelings certainly wasn't doing anyone any good. If only Adora and Catra had talked about their feelings for each other before everything had gone wrong…

Glimmer frowned at her, Adora saw, but Bow nodded. As did Netossa and Spinnerella. And Entrapta, of course. Mermista, though, crossed her arms over her chest and scowled, but Sea Hawk was whispering to her. Frosta mimicked her. Perfuma beamed at Adora, Scorpia smiled, and Catra… Rolled her eyes but didn't scoff or make fun of her.

Well, that was a better reaction than Adora had feared.

"Even if we want to talk to a therapist, who could we trust?" Glimmer said.

"We can talk to a friend," Perfuma repeated herself.

"Therapists are professionals with a code of ethics that requires them to keep their patients' secrets," Entrapta said. Probably quoting her data.

"That's what they are supposed to do. But can we trust them to actually stick to it?" Glimmer shook her head. "And they would all be from Earth - we would depend on them. That's… unbalanced."

"We could ask for them to train our own therapists?" Perfuma suggested.

"They'll want training in magic in return. And you know what Mystacore said about that."

"Well, yes. But…"

Adora leaned back a little as the discussion shifted about how to get therapy. Things were looking up, it seemed.

"You're going to therapy as well, you know," Catra whispered. "We're probably going to need two therapists for you alone."

Or not.

*****​

Bright Moon, Etheria, January 24th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"Sam! There you are!"

"Greetings, Captain Carter."

"Hello, Entrapa. Hordak." Samantha Carter nodded at her friend and her… partner as she stepped into their lab in the palace.

Entrapta's smile turned into a wince. "I wanted to welcome you at the gate, but then the experiment with the new bot matrix hit a hitch, and we kinda lost track of time! I'm sorry!"

"It's no problem," Sam told her. "I know the feeling." It had happened to her a few times as well, after all. The Colonel liked to claim that she intentionally lost track of time as an excuse, but that wasn't true. Not really.

"Good!" Her friend beamed at her, then turned around to look at Hordak. "Science Buddy! We need to talk!"

"Yes?" Hordak cocked his head and slowly turned to face her. Compared to the other clones, he felt quite a bit more alien, Sam noticed again. There was always some hesitation in his movements. Some stiffness. Maybe it was a lingering psychological effect from living in a crippled body for so long, even being restored to full health hadn't been able to overcome it. Not to mention that the circumstances of that process hadn't been deeply traumatic. And, speaking of trauma, Sam had to consider how to diplomatically breach the reason for today's visit…

"You need to get therapy!" Entrapta blurted out.

Sam suppressed a wince at her friend's bluntness - which she should have expected.

"Therapy?" Hordak looked confused.

"A treatment for trauma that Earth scientists have developed!" Entrapta beamed at him.

But Hordak scowled. "I do not require such treatment."

"Yes, you do!" Entrapta, completely unimpressed, nodded emphatically. "The data is conclusive. You've experienced traumatic events - lots of them that we don't need to go into now - and you're showing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder."

"I do not."

"You have nightmares," Entrapta pointed out. "That's a symptom."

"That is a normal reaction. Everyone has nightmares." Hordak shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, raising his chin. "I am no different in that than anyone else."

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean you don't need therapy. It could mean that everyone needs therapy. Which I think would be the more plausible deduction, actually." Entrapta cocked her head to the side. "In any case, the Alliance is currently discussing how to get therapy. I think so, at least - some were not very receptive to the idea, but Adora supported it. And Catra as well, I think - she didn't protest, at least. And she's like you, kinda."

Sam's eyes widened. The princesses were planning to get therapy? That was… a huge surprise. And important information, she added with a pang of guilt.

Hordak scoffed. "Catra would agree to anything Adora proposes."

"Well, probably, yes. But that doesn't change the data or the conclusions."

Hordak didn't look convinced. "And what does this 'therapy' entail?"

"Well, according to my research, you basically talk with specialists about your feelings and problems until you feel better."

Sam cleared her throat. "It's a bit more complex than that. It's about dealing with traumatic experiences and memories by focusing on changing mental distortions and adapting coping strategies." Well, the most effective and common therapy for trauma did, at least according to her admittedly cursory research.

"I fail to see how this would work," Hordak retorted, glowering at her now.

"Well, that's because you don't know anything about this - we haven't researched this yet!" Entrapta smiled. "Once we know more, that'll change! That's why Sam's here!"

Sam blinked. She hadn't expected that - this was a misunderstanding! She wasn't a psychologist, much less a therapist! She was a physicist, not a shrink!

"Earth has tons of experience with that stuff - I found tons of material in our databanks! Everyone gets therapy there!" Entrapta went on. "Look!"

Her hair tendrils touched the keyboard behind her, and documents appeared on the big screen in the lab. And pictures. And clips from TV shows and movies. Most of them fictional, Sam realised with a sinking feeling.

"You see? It's very common on Earth, which is logical given how many wars they have, and how many other traumatic experiences. Right, Sam?"

Sam winced. "Well, that's… not entirely accurate…"

"No?"

"No?"

"Not everyone who needs therapy gets it," Sam started to explain. Fortunately, her quick research had covered this, although not in real depth. "And while it generally helps, it's not a perfect cure - far from it. Its effectiveness depends on many factors, and…"

*****​

"...and so, people are kind of concerned about any plans to restore the rainforest."

Catra snorted as O'Neill finished and shrugged before leaning back in his seat and nibbling on a finger sandwich. So, Earth was worried about Perfuma wanting to help them. Typical!

"'People'?" Glimmer asked, raising her eyebrows.

"You know, the United Nations, the countries which include parts of the rainforest, various corporations involved in the agricultural business…" O'Neill shrugged. "Lots of people."

"Lots of interest groups," Daniel added with a scoff. "Although the countries that would be affected by Perfuma's hypothetical actions are legitimately concerned." He glanced around in Glimmer's office. "We had hoped to talk to her about that, actually."

"Well, she's back in Plumeria or the Scorpion Kingdom," Glimmer replied. "We had an Alliance meeting yesterday, and people needed a break."

And Perfuma was probably trying to persuade more of their friends to get help. She was like that, Catra knew.

"Oh?" O'Neill perked up. "Something came up?"

"Yes. Therapy." Adora told him.

He seemed surprised, Catra noticed. Surprised and… that was a brief scowl. So, O'Neill didn't like therapy? Or didn't like them getting therapy? Either way, that was interesting.

"Therapy?" Daniel asked with a slightly puzzled expression.

"It's an Earth treatment for trauma," Catra told him, trying to look and sound as serious as possible.

"Oh, I know what…" Daniel trailed off, pouting, while Adora and Glimmer frowned at her, and O'Neill laughed.

Success! Catra grinned.

"Yes, we're considering therapy," Glimmer said with a fake smile. "Although it's a quite controversial proposal."

"Yeah." O'Neill nodded in agreement. "I can imagine."

"Oh?" Catra cocked her head at him. "Do you have experience with therapy?"

"Well, not personally," O'Neill said. "But… the shrinks, I mean, the people who do the therapy, sometimes don't really understand how things work, you know? They are a bit removed from, well, the reality of our lives out here. Or on the front."

Catra glanced at Daniel, who was pressing his lips together and frowning at O'Neill. He obviously disagreed. But would he say so out loud? Probably, she decided. Daniel wasn't one to hold back much. "I see," she said. "So, you've never got therapy."

"No."

"And that wasn't a good thing," Daniel blurted out.

"Daniel," O'Neill snapped with a glare.

"Jack!" Daniel shook his head as he met Jack's eyes. "Therapy does help. Not every therapist is good, but not every officer is good either - and you don't paint everyone with the same brush. That so many veterans don't get therapy is a shame!"

The two stared at each other for a moment. Then O'Neill shrugged with a snort and slouched a bit in his seat. "There are too many stupid shrinks around who think they know best when they don't know anything at all about the real world."

"Many people would be happier with therapy. It's not some hoax," Daniel retorted.

"I can see how the topic is controversial," Bow commented. He was grimacing a little.

And Adora looked torn, Catra noticed. Maybe she would reconsider this therapy thing - it wasn't as if Catra was sold on it. But if it could help Adora with her issues, it was worth it.

"So, we already know that therapy isn't some magic cure," Glimmer spoke up, then frowned at O'Neill's grin at her wording. "But what's the worst that could happen if it doesn't work? Can it hurt you?"

"You get sent to the loony bin," O'Neill replied.

"Jack!" Daniel frowned.

"Loony bin?" Glimmer asked.

"A colloquial term for a psychiatric facility where people who are suffering from severe mental issues are treated, sometimes against their will," Daniel explained.

"You mean psychologists can lock people up?" Adora blurted out. "On Earth?"

That was concerning, Catra had to agree. Well, they obviously wouldn't be able to do it to a princess. Or to her - she'd shred anyone who tried.

"In very extreme cases, but it wouldn't be psychologists, but psychiatrists," Daniel said, glancing at O'Neill. "Those, ah, are specialists for mental illnesses. It's not the same as treating trauma, even though lay people tend to mix them up."

"You're neither a psychologist nor a psychiatrist, Daniel."

"But I know the difference, Jack."

"Whatever," Catra said. "So, seeing as anyone trying to lock up one of us would regret it, what's the worst outcome that could realistically happen?"

"Manipulation," O'Neill said after a moment. "The shrink will get to know you really well. Including some of your worst secrets. If he abuses your trust, he can manipulate you."

Oh. Catra clenched her teeth. That sounded like…

"Shadow Weaver," Adora muttered under her breath, copying Catra's thought.

Glimmer's as well, it seemed, judging by her expression. "Maybe we should reconsider this a bit more," Glimmer said with a glance at Adora.

"Maybe." Adora pressed her lips together as she nodded.

"Ah… it's a matter of trust and trustworthiness." Daniel smiled at them. "If you can't trust your therapist, well… that's obviously bad, but that's the same with many things. Like your doctor. Or your, ah, portfolio manager."

"What's a portfolio manager?" Glimmer asked.

"People who manage your money," Daniel explained. "If they betray your trust, they can steal a lot of your wealth."

"You have people manage your wealth for you?" Bow asked.

"Only the rich, and only some of them," O'Neill said. "Well, there's also banking, which works the same."

"In a very simplified way," Daniel said. "But it was just an example that therapy isn't a bad thing even if there might be untrustworthy therapists."

"And we would have to judge that." Glimmer still looked sceptical. With good reason, of course - in Catra's opinion.

"Well, any psychologist working at Stargate Command was carefully vetted," Daniel said.

"By your government." Glimmer nodded.

Which didn't mean that they could be trusted by Catra's friends. They would have to find their own.

It looked like this would be even more difficult than it had seemed.

*****​

"Yes, by our government, which is your trusted ally." Jack O'Neill smiled widely and ignored Daniel's frown. He was allowed a bit of sarcasm. And a good amount of caution was a very good thing when dealing with shrinks.

"Do you really think the US government will try to send spies to Etheria under the guise of psychologists?" Daniel asked. "That would be a very unfriendly act towards an ally."

"Only if they get caught," Jack said.

"But the consequences of such an operation being exposed… why would the government risk that?" Daniel shook his head.

"Oh, never underestimate how cocky spooks can be." Jack grinned, showing his teeth. He knew that first-hand. "Or what they think they can get away with, as long as there's plausible deniability." Jack had no doubt that a number of spooks were acting as if the Cold War had never ended. Or had trouble adapting to a world where the United States wasn't the superpower, or even a superpower, any more.

"But…" Daniel shook his head again - he hadn't actually stopped, Jack realised. "They would risk the alliance! After all the trouble it took to get into it! Who would do that?"

"Kinsey?" Jack cocked his head. "Anyone from the NID?" Maybourne probably would love such an operation.

"Aren't you supposed to portray your country as trustworthy and sympathetic?" Bow asked.

Jack shrugged. "The United States has its share of bad apples." In often far too high positions, but still - it wasn't as if the country was rotten to the core or something. "That doesn't mean we're the bad guys."

"But there's a risk of some of those 'bad apples' working against our best interest," Glimmer said.

"Yep."

"And if they get caught, they'll claim to have operated without orders from your government," Catra added.

"Yep. Though they would be telling the truth - the government wouldn't give them such orders."

"But they also wouldn't order them not to do this." Catra flashed her fangs. "In case they succeed."

"Spooks have been known to interpret their orders creatively." Jack shrugged again. "Some of them also have been operating quite independently." And some had gone rogue.

"Well, so do we - SG-1, I mean. If we think our orders are stupid," Daniel said.

Like when Apophis had attacked. "The difference is that we only acted when there was no other choice," Jack said. And they had been right, of course. Unlike the NID.

"Your government seems to need better control over its spies," Glimmer commented.

"Like we have control over Double Trouble?" Catra scoffed.

"They aren't a member of the Alliance. They aren't under our command at all," Glimmer said.

"Well, of course, we'd say that!" Catra grinned.

"But we wouldn't be lying about it!" Glimmer snapped. "And Double Trouble wouldn't be acting for us but for themselves."

Catra nodded, serious again.

Ah, yes. The Etherian superspy who could take the shape of anyone - and had the acting talent and experience to play the role convincingly. And who loved to cause drama and chaos for shit and giggles. Just knowing about Double Trouble had sent the various agencies in the United States into a frenzy. Hearing that the Etherians were also concerned about the spy didn't help with that, of course. At least no one, except possibly Kinsey, was blaming Jack for that since he had never met the spy. At least as far as he knew - he could have met them without realising it. Easily.

And wasn't that a comforting thought? Fortunately, Double Trouble was a unique case. At least as far as the Etherians knew. Of course, if Double Trouble were not such a showman, they could have stayed in the shadows forever, so just because the Etherians were not aware of anyone else like Double Trouble didn't mean there was no such spy…

Ah! Jack reminded himself to stop that - he was starting to think like a spook again. And that wasn't a good thing.

And he didn't need a shrink to know that, either!

*****​

Bright Moon, Etheria, January 25th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"Therapy?" Sweet Bee sounded as if that was a dirty word, in Adora's opinion.

"Therapy?" Peekablue repeated although he sounded more as if he was honestly curious.

"Yes," Adora repeated. "It's a form of treatment for, ah, traumatic experiences that cause, uh, flashbacks that the people on Earth have developed. The treatment, not the flashbacks." She struggled not to bite her lower lip - she was stumbling over words she had heard so often in the last few days, she was probably dreaming of them! Then again, talking to Peekablue about it was different - he was so obviously suffering from it…

"They don't have magic; how could they develop this?" Sweet Bee asked, frowning.

"It's not a magical treatment," Adora explained. "It is based on psychological principles." She had prepared for that part, of course.

"What are psychological principles?" Sweet Bee still sounded doubtful.

And Catra had made fun of Adora for preparing to explain that as well! Adora nodded and launched into her next explanation. "It's the science of studying the mind and behaviour. Well, the principles of such behaviour. Specifically, the principles of..."

*****​

"...and that's about it," Adora finished her explanation, then looked at her guests. Although, technically, they were guests of Glimmer, and Adora was a guest in their room. Sort of. Protocol was kind of unclear about such visits since Adora was - technically - a guest as well in the palace, but it was also her home. And she wasn't a subordinate of Glimmer, which further complicated matters. It would only be more complicated if this were the Princess Prom.

Sweet Bee still was frowning. Even more so than before, actually, Adora realised with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Had she botched the explanation? Maybe she shouldn't have come alone, but Sweet Bee didn't get along with most of Adora's friends, especially Catra and Glimmer. Though she also didn't get along with Adora…

"So… You want us to talk to Earth healers about our problems so they can analyse us." Sweet Beet stared at her.

That was… technically correct, but not in that sense. "I think this could help you get better about, you know," Adora replied, looking at Peekablue. This was about him, after all - Sweet Bee wasn't traumatised by war.

"I see." Peekablue smiled faintly. "But I also see the risks of being taken advantage of."

"And of feeling obligated," Sweet Bee added.

"What? No!" Adora shook her head. "This isn't a trade; this is an honest offer to help you. No strings attached!" What did they think she was doing?

"So you say. And you might mean it. But you'd have to be a very selfish person not to feel an obligation to return such a favour," Sweet Bee said. "Glimmer has been quite clear about the fact that she expects us to be grateful for the protection the Alliance provides. Whether or not we want it."

Well, that was… not entirely wrong. Glimmer had been vocal about people profiting from the sacrifices of the Alliance. But it wasn't right either. Adora shook her head. "Glimmer was talking about using the Stargate without contributing to its security." And putting Etheria at risk, which was kind of a negative contribution to the gate security, as Bow had described it.

Sweet Bee rolled her eyes, but Peekablue slowly nodded. "But you don't want to share responsibility over the Stargate's operation - you want to control it."

"We kind of have to," Adora said, trying not to wince. "It's crucial for the war effort."

Sweet Bee scoffed at that. "The usual excuse!"

"It's not an excuse. We need the Stargate to wage the war - the distances are too big for alternatives," Adora told her. Sure, there was the communication network Entrapta and Sam's spy bots were putting up, but that could only handle communication - they certainly couldn't move princesses and other people through it.

"Earth nominally has the whole planet contributing to secure the Stargate, but the Alliance effectively controls it as well there," Peekablue pointed out.

"Which is a problem. You want us to contribute to the defence of Etheria, but we wouldn't have any say about how it's being handled." Sweet Bee shook her head. "The Alliance is just too big for Etheria."

"Do you want us to break up? In the middle of the war?" Adora shook her head. That would be crazy! And they couldn't expect the princesses to stop being friends! That wasn't how it worked!

"No," Peekablue spoke again, cutting off what Sweet Bee had been about to say. "But we expect you to acknowledge that you are so powerful, what the smaller kingdoms could contribute to the war wouldn't matter at all." He leaned forward in his seat, staring - for the first time, ever - directly at Adora and meeting her eyes. "War has traditionally been the business of princesses. Of course, soldiers served and fought in various roles, but a war was generally decided by princesses matching up against each other. The Horde broke that tradition."

Well, Hordak wasn't a princess. Though, technically, he was powerful enough to be treated as one, he hadn't been raised on Etheria. Of course, he'd fight a war differently.

"Yes. The Horde fought differently. And now they're part of the Alliance," Sweet Bee said.

"Well… yes?" Adora didn't shrug; that would have been rude. It was obvious that the Alliance would have taken in former Horde soldiers; that was the right thing to do. And the smart thing to do, as Catra would put it.

"But you - at least most of the Alliance - seem to expect that everyone else continues the same as before," Peekablue said. "Even though things have changed drastically. Earth kingdoms have no princesses - but many times the population of Etheria. And you have Horde Prime's fleet of ships and the Horde army of bots. What do you need anyone else for? Why do you want more people to be exposed to the horrors of war? You already have enough soldiers."

That was… it wasn't like that! "We don't expect everyone to fight," Adora protested. "You can help in other ways as well if you want to."

"You'd have our artisans craft a skiff while the factories of the Alliance and Earth spit out shuttles by the dozens?" Peekablue shook his head. "What for? A skiff more or less wouldn't really change anything for a war on this scale."

"But a skiff more or less would change a lot for a family on Etheria. Or a village. Not every kingdom is large or rich," Sweet Bee added.

"Trading with Earth will change a lot as well," Adora pointed out. "And you are planning that."

"Yes. We have to," Sweet Bee told her. "But that trade will be more equal, and more profitable, than just working for the Alliance. We won't have to turn into the Horde for this. We won't have to change as much. We will be able to control it."

"We hope so, at least," Peekablue said. "We might be wrong, but we have to try anyway. We owe it to our people."

Sweet Bee nodded firmly.

Adora winced. She should have taken someone else with her. She hadn't come for this. "I see," she said, smiling wryly when Peekablue raised his eyebrows. "But I didn't come here to discuss politics. I wanted to talk to you about therapy, nothing more. It might help you with your… issue." He was suffering, and he shouldn't be. No one should.

Sweet Bee and Peekablue exchanged a glance. "We'll consider it," he said.

Adora wasn't a politician, but she knew that was a polite way to say no. Catra would tell her she told her so. But Adora had had to try, at least.

*****​
 
Chapter 89: The Therapy Question Part 2
Chapter 89: The Therapy Question Part 2

Bright Moon, Etheria, January 25th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"I already told you the last time you mentioned this: I do not need therapy."

"But you do! Data doesn't lie!"

Samantha Carter tried not to wince at the exchange between Entrapta and Hordak. She hadn't asked, but it seemed clear that this disagreement had been going on for a while. Probably since her last visit, during which the same argument had ended inconclusively. And she was pretty certain that the two wouldn't be able to find a solution. It was obvious that Entrapta wanted the best for her lover, but Sam knew that her friend didn't fully understand, well, people. She meant well, and she was friendly, but dealing with such a situation was beyond her.

And Hordak was… about the same. He was far less friendly, of course, than Entrapta - gruff, most of the time - but he was as socially awkward, though it expressed itself a bit differently. And he had been raised, and socialised, by Horde Prime, who, by all accounts, made Ra look pleasant and humble in comparison.

Which meant it would need outside intervention to solve this before the two hurt each other. At least emotionally. And absent their other friends, it seemed as if Sam would have to step up and intervene.

Great.

She took a deep breath, then stepped forward, not quite between Entrapta and Hordak - a table with the latest prototype of an improved bot blaster cannon prevented that - but close enough. "Please, stop for a moment."

Both turned to look at her, and Sam had to turn her head back and forth to watch both of them. That was… not optimal.

"Sam! The data doesn't lie!" Entrapta wasn't wringing her hands, but her hair tendrils were moving a bit erratically - she was upset.

Before Sam could reply, Hordak scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "The data is not applicable. It's about humans. I am not human."

"But the principles are the same!"

"You don't know that."

"But the symptoms match!" Entrapta retorted.

"The symptoms can vary wildly, so that is no proof. You display similar symptoms at times." Hordak shook his head.

Entrapta looked taken aback. "Well, yes. I might need therapy as well. But the data is clear that I cannot objectively judge my own mental state, and we don't have anyone yet who's qualified to do so."

"Then you can't judge my mental state either." Hordak sounded almost smug.

"But I can compare the data! And the data is solid enough to deduce that you should see a therapist. If my conclusion is wrong, the therapist will tell you." Entrapta nodded firmly. "That's the obvious solution: See an experienced professional."

They were ignoring Sam again. That was… quite a new experience.

"Professional means they do it for a living. That means they have ample incentive to claim a need for their services, so their judgment would be biased," Hordak retorted. "And the incentive for a spy working as a therapist to make a false claim is even bigger since that would allow them to gather information about us."

That was not wrong, technically, but quite biased itself. On the other hand, Sam was very much aware of and shared the Colonel's view that the NID and other agencies wouldn't hesitate to use such underhanded means to gain more information and potential leverage on the Etherians.

"Then we just need to find a trustworthy therapist!" Entrapta nodded. "Please! It's going to help!"

"Glimmer and the others haven't found a trustworthy therapist yet, and the odds of them managing that feat are not good." Hordak snorted.

"I have confidence in them," Entrapta replied. "They'll succeed."

"How could they? This is completely out of their experience. How could they find a trustworthy therapist amongst the corrupt or compromised?" Hordak shook his head again. "And even them, it wouldn't work since I am not a human. A therapist with experience with humans couldn't adequately judge my mental state."

Sam had to press her lips together to avoid blurting out that you didn't need a degree to determine that Hordak wasn't in a good mental state and needed help. But he was correct in that he wasn't human. His mind might not work the same way as a human's did. On the other hand, he acted all too human, in Sam's experience. Close enough, in any case, to not appear truly alien. "I think the basic principles are the same," she said.

Entrapta beamed at her, and Hordak scowled.

"But I am not a psychologist. Although I don't think talking to one would hurt," Sam went on.

"Unless they are a spy," Hordak spat. "The risks are too great for the small probability of success."

"That's not how science works!" Entrapta protested. "If an experiment is too dangerous, you take steps to make it safer!"

"This isn't an experiment!" Hordak retorted.

But Entrapta smiled. "It's a way to gather data - close enough. So, how can we reduce the risk of this harming us?" She cocked her head and looked at Sam.

"Ah…" Sam was at a loss.

"How did you pick your therapist?" Entrapta asked.

Sam didn't. She went to her mandatory counselling sessions when ordered to, and that was it. Officers who thought they needed additional therapy and told the Air Force so would have poor prospects for promotions. Or for being trusted with top-secret projects. But her friend needed an answer. "Well… people tend to look for references when picking a therapist."

"References?" Entrapta frowned.

"They ask their friends if they know a trustworthy therapist," Sam explained. At least, that was what Sam had heard - it wasn't as if she knew anyone who would actually talk about needing therapy in her social circle. Except, now, for the Etherians. And wasn't that ironic?

"Good. So, who would you recommend?" Entrapta beamed at her, obviously expecting an answer.

Sam winced. "Well, I actually don't know a therapist…" Entrapta's face fell, and Hordak started to smile. Or what passed for a smile for him. Sam quickly added: "But I can ask around."

"Great!"

*****​

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, January 26th, 1999

"So, as you can see, the electronic reconnaissance has resulted in inconclusive data. Although we managed to get closer to the unidentified fleet with a spy bot without getting detected, we could not determine their identity. Well, we already knew what ships were there and how many, but their transponders are not set to any signal in use by a System Lord - or any that had been used by one in the past. Or by a past System Lord. Which kinda is the same, but it's not quite the same. Anyway! Also, optical sensors were not powerful enough to make out any ship names on the hulls from that distance. I wanted to fly closer, but Sam said that wouldn't be safe and the risk of detection was too high. Even though we would then get better data on the fleet's sensor net capability."

Catra suppressed a sigh at Entrapta and slid a bit forward in her seat. Her friend was pouting - she obviously disagreed with the risk assessment. But knowing how good the enemy's sensors were wouldn't be useful if the enemy would, in turn, be rendered aware of the spy bot network.

One of the Earth officers - the British admiral - nodded. "Yes. We must keep the enemy from becoming aware of our capabilities for as long as possible. As long as they think Earth stands alone, they'll underestimate us."

"And might attribute our attacks to rival System Lords," General Naird added. Catra still didn't know why the USA had sent that guy to this meeting. Jack claimed he was one of their best 'Space Force officers', but that was probably just Air Force propaganda. Can't show weakness against the Navy or something - sometimes, it felt as if the Air Force considered the other parts of the American forces their most dangerous enemy…

"Anyway, since we apparently shouldn't use the spy bots to spy on the fleet - and they aren't happy about that, let me tell you! Well, they wouldn't be happy about it if they had their control matrixes enhanced to include emotions, which they haven't since that would be bad, but the principle stands - and the Tok'ra haven't found out anything either…"

"So far," Anise cut in with a frown. "We're working on it."

Why the Tok'ra had sent Anise… well, they probably counted on getting an in with Sam and Entrapta through Anise and getting more technology through shared research. That's what Catra would have done in their place.

"Yes, of course - you don't stop researching. But! Since we can't be sure this will produce more data, we have to focus on an alternative." Entrapta nodded at Sam and Anise.

On the large screen behind her, an unfamiliar shuttle appeared. "We can use this to test our latest stealth shuttle!" Entrapta beamed at everyone in the room. "Since it's a new design, not a First One shuttle or adapted Horde model, no one will know it's us even if they detect us - which they shouldn't according to our current data. Unless we leave the shuttle and meet them, I guess. Or we get boarded, but we could be wearing masks in that case."

Or ensure that no one who boarded them made it out alive, Catra mentally added.

"Since it's a new class, we will have to train the crews, I assume," the British Admiral said. "That might delay the mission. Possibly long enough for the fleet to become active."

"Oh, that's always a risk," Entrapta told him. "They could go active right now, though we would hear about it almost instantly. But without more data, we can't make any educated guess as to their plans. But!" She smiled widely. "Since it's our design, we can crew it, so you don't have to wait for someone else to learn how it works. Which is a good thing since we might want to make some changes to how it works based on how this mission goes, and if we're in the shuttle, we can do it in the middle of the mission!"

Adora cleared her throat. "The crew will be composed of selected individuals from both Earth and Etheria with experience in such missions and the skills to handle a variety of unexpected situations, including diplomacy."

Catra caught Naird muttering something about 'SG-1 again', but she ignored that. It wasn't as if they had better alternatives, and she would rather work with people she could trust - both to be able to handle this kind of mission and to not betray them - than someone new and unknown.

"That's a quite diverse set of skills you'll need for this. Do you have individuals in mind already?" the German General asked.

"Yes. Myself and my friends, and SG-1," Adora told him. "But if you wish to add someone else to the mission, we should have room for them."

Catra leaned back and stretched as the first suggestion to leave the mission to expendable crew members instead of the Alliance leadership was voiced. They really should know better by now. Princesses led from the front.

And it wasn't as if there was a better team to handle this than the BFS and SG-1. Especially if something unexpected happened.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, January 26th, 1999

"So, we're volunteering to go on a recon mission?" Jack O'Neill asked, leaning forward in his seat in the briefing room and putting his elbows on the table.

"Well… only if you want to, of course," Adora told him. "Otherwise, it wouldn't be volunteering. And we only want volunteers."

"We're not in the Horde; volunteering means volunteering here," Catra said, flashing her fangs.

Jack was tempted to correct her, but Entrapta spoke up before he could think o the perfect way to explain 'voluntold': "But we could really use Sam! We're going to use our new shuttle design!"

Jack turned to look at Carter. "A new shuttle design? And you didn't ask me for my input? I'm hurt, Captain!"

Her eyes widened for a moment before they narrowed. "I wasn't aware you were a spacecraft designer or an engineer, sir."

"I'm a pilot," he told her. "One of the guys who's going to fly those things. You know, those who will suffer from ergonomic mistakes all their lives."

Once more, Entrapta butted in: "That's great! You can test the layout of the bridge on this mission, then, and suggest any changes afterwards! You'll be our test pilot! Well, our first human test pilot!"

"Is it a good idea to use a dangerous recon mission to test a new design?" Daniel asked with a frown.

Jack raised his eyebrows at Carter. Daniel was always a bit of a spoilsport, but the question had merit. It was 'train as you fight', not 'test while you fight'. Although he knew Carter - she wouldn't have them risk their lives in untested experimental designs. Not unless the situation was truly desperate. Which this wasn't.

"The design already underwent extensive testing, sir," she replied. "And it passed every benchmark."

"Yes!" Entrapta nodded three times, her hair bopping. "It's ready for field testing."

"That's still testing, isn't it?" Daniel said.

"Technically, yes," Carter told him. "But it's safe."

"Yes! We already did the destructive testing! And the stealth system doesn't overheat any more! Not that that was too much of a problem unless you were in the engine room without a space suit. Or left the door open."

That wasn't nearly as reassuring as it should be. But Jack trusted Carter to keep Entrapta's enthusiasm for bypassing security measures in check.

"Well, are you in?" Catra asked. "Your general didn't seem happy about the plan."

Jack had to briefly remind himself that she didn't mean Hammond. That would be a change once they left Stargate Command for good. "Naird?" he asked.

"Yeah." Catra shrugged. "What's his problem? Jealous he can't go on the mission?"

"He could have asked if he wanted to come along! We even asked for such suggestions!" Adora added.

"General-rank officers rarely go on recon missions," Jack told her. Though he wouldn't put it past Naird to try and finagle such a mission - the guy was still trying to get approval for a 'familiarisation flight' to the moon. But he probably had used up too many favours to get a seat at the Alliance table. Of course, that was a good thing since he was Air Force - the Navy was still trying to gain control over the new Space Force in the making. If they got their way… Jack almost shuddered at the thought of wearing a Navy uniform. "No, we're in. Right, folks?" Couldn't let Carter have all the fun. And Jack was looking forward to getting some stick time in a shuttle on an actual mission - just the bragging rights if he met another Blackbird crew boasting about the speed of their plane would be worth it.

"Yes, sir."

"Of course, Jack."

"Indeed."

"Great!" Entrapta beamed. "This will be such a nice trip!"

"And we'll be taking a task force there with enough firepower to take the enemy fleet out," Glimmer said.

Ah, that was the style of recon Jack could get behind. Find the enemy and destroy them at the same time.

"If it is an enemy fleet," Bow cautioned. "We don't know that."

"It's made up of Ha'taks, Al'kesh and Tel'taks," Catra said. "All Goa'uld ship classes. Who else do you think is flying those? We already know they don't belong to the Tok'ra."

"Well, it could be another splinter faction and potential ally," Daniel pointed out. "All I am saying is that we shouldn't assume they're hostile."

Jack shook his head. When it came to the snakes, assuming the worst was best.

"We'll see," Glimmer said. "That's why we're doing a recon mission. If they aren't part of a System Lord's fleet, we'll find out."

"They are taking quite the precautions to hide their allegiance, according to what we already know," Teal'c spoke up. "If they are observing strict security protocols, finding out who they answer to might be a challenge even for someone with your skill at penetrating Goa'uld computer security, Captain Carter."

"If we can't hack their systems, we'll have to sneak into their ships and take a look ourselves," Glimmer said with a grin. "Shouldn't be too hard even if I can't teleport us into a Ha'tak."

Now that was a mission Jack could get behind!

"We could use a ring transporter, but that's kinda tricky. Even without active counter-measures - and the Goa'uld know how to block transporters - interference can build up. We were working on linking the transporter to our improved scanner, but the signal lag is still a factor. So, we'll probably have to sneak on board using spacesuits," Entrapta said. "Good thing we have spacesuits for all of us!"

Jack grinned.

This should be fun.

*****​

Earth Orbit, Solar System, January 26th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"...so we've been working on stealth shuttles for some time, between our other projects. First we were mostly focused on trying to duplicate the ones we have. Which was harder than expected, even though it shouldn't have been. It's that Horde standards don't mesh well with First One technology, probably because Horde Prime didn't want compatible technology or something, which is why the Horde factories didn't really work well for producing the prototypes. So we switched to modifying Horde designs to create a new stealth shuttle. Well, we ended up using a mostly new design using Horde technology and matched it with better stealth generators based on First Ones technology once we had the interfaces adapted, for which Sam's experience with linking First Ones and Goa'uld tech was really helpful. And it also means that the Third Fleet's supply train can assemble the prototypes, and we didn't need to build or repurpose an existing shuttle factory for it. That would have been bad, Sam said, since everyone wants more shuttles - everyone on Earth, at least - and this would have cut into shuttle production. I don't get that, actually, since the new design is obviously superior, so we will have to switch over anyway." Entrapta shrugged without stopping her explanation as she led Adora and the others through Priest's flagship towards the hangar. "Anyway! Sam also said switching a factory would have caused a delay, and they would have wanted a 'proven design', so maybe we can switch all factories over after his test mission?"

Adora blinked, trying to sort out what Entrapta had just said. If her friend got really enthusiastic, she tended to talk very fast and very much, and it was a bit of a challenge to keep up. Even when she wasn't talking about technology that Adora didn't quite understand.

At least Glimmer looked like she had the same trouble, though Bow was nodding.

"Good luck trying to get the Tau'ri to make any changes to their plans," Catra said with a snort. "I bet they'll need at least three months just debating it before deciding if they do it."

Adora frowned a little. That was… well, not completely wrong, but not fair. Earth leaders could make quick decisions. Sometimes.

Glimmer giggled, though, and Bow smiled. "Well, they just built the new factories, so changing everything might not sit well with them. They'd have to retrain the workers as well," he said.

"But that's the fun part! Learning new technology!" Entrapta protested.

"It's also a matter of costs," Adora pointed out. "And most of the missions they want the shuttles for don't require stealth capabilities. They just want fast and tough transports."

"And I bet that they don't want all of their shuttles to be stealth shuttles," Catra added. "They don't want everyone else being able to sneak around."

Adora nodded. Earth people were already concerned with advanced technology being stolen and used by others. Of course, with Entrapta and Sam's scanner, they could detect any piece using Naquadah on Earth, so that wasn't such a huge deal, in her opinion.

"It still makes no sense!" Entrapta insisted. "And we are still starting out with building shuttles - it's easier to switch now instead of later."

Catra shrugged. "It would be nice to have just one model of shuttles to maintain in the field, but we can't count on the Goa'uld remaining static. Sooner or later, they'll adapt, so we need to stay a step ahead of them."

That was also true. Adora nodded as they reached the hangar.

"And here it is! The new stealth shuttle prototype, the Esmeralda Mark V!" Entrapta spread her arms and hair, beaming at the shuttle in the middle of the hangar.

"Esmeralda?" Glimmer asked.

"Yes!" Entrapta nodded several times. "It's a nice name. Emily approves."

Catra snorted, and Adora frowned at her lover. Esmeralda was a perfectly good name, as far as she knew at least.

"So, can we take it out for a spin?" Catra asked.

"Once Sam and the others arrive," Adora told her. Their friends from SG-1 had been held up by a meeting with the Stargate Command Council. Or was that the Stargate Command Command Council? In any case, it seemed SG-1 required formal orders to join them on the mission, and while that was merely a formality, the Russian general was being difficult or something. "We don't want to go over the briefing twice."

"I can sleep through the second briefing." Catra grinned.

"I don't mind explaining twice!" Entrapta smiled widely. "Sam said, most stuff you have to explain repeatedly anyway, so people get it."

Catra snickered at that, of course.

"Anyway, if you look at it, it's basically a modified Horde space transport. We added the stealth systems, so it got about half the cargo capacity, and we improved the sensors - although in stealth mode, you are limited to passive sensors and magic, since active sensors would give you away, and that would defeat the stealth mode. But it got the latest magitech sensor we could build. For now, at least."

"What about armament?" Glimmer asked. "Those look like turrets." She pointed at the shuttle.

"Yes! Two turrets with two blaster cannons each, one on every side. They're remote-controlled and mounted on the armour, so they're kind of vulnerable, but we would have had to compromise armour integrity if we had mounted them inside the armour, and compared to the shield generator, the armour is not that effective anyway."

That sounds a little… confusing, Adora thought.

"I wanted missile launchers as well, but we didn't have the space for that. Maybe with the next upgrade, we can add them to the underside. Anyway, let me show you the interior! Esmeralda, open up!"

A ramp started to descend in the back of the shuttle, and Adora smiled. Entrapta was always so enthusiastic about her projects. It was great to see someone so passionate.

"Ah! Your Divine Highness, praised be Your name as we bask in Your holy presence as you inspect Your next blessed vessel!"

Adora's smile froze as she noticed Priest standing on the ramp. She should have realised that he wouldn't miss the chance to meet her. That was a kind of passion she really didn't need.

*****​

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, January 26th, 1999

"If this had been an emergency, we'd all be dead by now," the Colonel commented as they walked towards the base's landing pad. Or the base's shuttle port, as most had started to call it. "From old age, probably."

"But it wasn't an emergency, Jack," Daniel spoke up. "Besides, if it had been an emergency, and we'd die from old age, then wouldn't that mean it wasn't an emergency in the first place?" he added with a frown. Then his eyes widened. "Uh, I mean… not like…" He trailed off with a sheepish expression. "Sorry."

Samantha Carter suppressed a sigh. In a way, Daniel was a bit like Adora, blaming himself for things that weren't his fault.

The Colonel snorted. "I brought it up. Don't feel bad about it. It was just a joke."

Sam managed not to shudder at the memory of that mission to Argos. When the Colonel had started to age rapidly, growing older, weaker, practically by the day, and she had frantically tried to stop the process, to save him, before he died of old age in front of her… She shook her head. He hadn't died. His age had been restored. And since She-Ra had healed him, he was even healthier than before. Probably the healthiest he had ever been, given his past and lifestyle. And it showed…

"So, Carter," the Colonel interrupted her inappropriate thoughts. "Are there any other secret projects of yours that you'd like to share with the class?"

Sam cocked her head at him. "Sir?"

He snorted again, obviously not fooled. Not that she had expected that, anyway - but some forms, even informal ones, had to be observed. "Your stealth shuttle project was a surprise to everyone. Sneaky of you, by the way. How many other such projects do you have going between you and our mad scientist princess?"

"We're still trying to decode the alien data cube we found on the way back to Earth from Etheria," she told him.

"Still? I'd have expected you to crack it over lunch."

Another joke, but Sam knew the Colonel trusted her competence, so even a mild joke stung a little. "It's a very complex challenge, sir. We have to deal with a completely different architecture and likely very alien language influences. And we have had to prioritise other projects for the war. Such as the self-replicating spy drone network." And a few more projects Entrapta and Sam had come up with but not seriously pursued. And there was more found technology to analyse. And interface issues for Earth weapon developers to deal with. And paperwork.

"Not even a hint of future surprises?" The Colonel grinned.

"We've got a wide range of potential projects. It's impossible to predict which will reach a breakthrough and which won't." That was how research worked. Something those in charge of her budget never seemed to understand. But working with Entrapta had been a huge help with that problem - as a sovereign ruler and key member of the Princess Alliance, Sam's friend didn't have to deal with bean counters and penny pinchers. Not to the extent a captain in the Air Force had to, at least. Fortunately, officially entering the war had led to massively expanded research budgets for Sam as well.

They reached the shuttle waiting for them - the same that had carried Entrapta into orbit while SG-1 had had to deal with the Command Council. Or, to be more precise, with Sidorov and Li stalling them for reasons only Russia and China knew. Probably related to the recent diplomatic visit by Sweet Bee and Peekablue.

But they had received official orders to join the Alliance task force for the recon mission, and that was all that mattered now, Sam reminded herself as they boarded the shuttle.

"Welcome aboard!" the clone pilot greeted them, smiling as widely as a flight attendant greeting First Class passengers. Maybe even more so.

"That feels creepy, all that cheerfulness," the Colonel grumbled as they took their seats and the pilot had retired to the bridge.

"You'd say the same about a bot pilot," Daniel told him. "Why don't you commandeer the shuttle and fly it yourself?"

"I already got my flight hours for this period," he replied. "I wouldn't want to abuse my rank."

Daniel gave him a flat look, and Sam narrowed her eyes a bit herself. Even Teal'c raised his eyebrow a smidge.

"Well, I'm going to test fly the stealth shuttle soon," the Colonel admitted with a grin.

"It handles quite similarly," Sam told him, smiling slightly when he frowned a bit at the reminder that she had flown the new shuttle before.

Then the shuttle took off, and they quickly left Colorado and then the atmosphere behind them. It still felt a bit weird to Sam how quickly space travel had become normal. Reaching orbit felt almost banal. Like commuting to work.

She wondered how the NASA team preparing for Mars felt about that. Were they excited - or did they resent the fact that, but for Alliance orders restricting shuttle flight paths to near Earth, anyone in a shuttle could have reached the planet already? But the mission had better start soon; there was talk about using Mars as a training location for Alliance marines, to prepare them for landing operations on hostile planets. And that would rob the NASA mission of even more of its fading mystique. Of course, planting a few bases on Mars wouldn't change the fact that it was barely explored and could hold untold mysteries, but it wouldn't feel nearly the same.

But that wasn't Sam's problem, she reminded herself. She had to focus on the new stealth shuttle and the upcoming recon mission.

*****​

Earth Orbit, Solar System, January 26th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"...and that's the passive stealth system, minimising our sensor signature. It reduces the range at which we can be detected by Goa'uld sensors by a factor of two compared to the standard Alliance shuttle."

While Sam explained, Catra cocked her head and looked through the cockpit - or bridge - windows. The frigate they had launched from was just a speck in the black now. Which meant Priest was just about far enough away for Adora to relax again. Which was a good thing, even though her reaction to his praise had been cute.

"It's actually kind of a misnomer," Entrapta added. "It's not as much a system, but design choices that make detecting the shuttle harder - provided that people are using sensors we know of. The stealth system, on the other hand, is an active system masking our presence - including a camouflage field warping the light around us. From the outside, we're almost invisible. But! We also have a camouflage system that can be set to make us look like we're transparent - because warping the light around us might not always work best, say if we're on a planet's surface and the warping effect could be noticed. It shouldn't, but it could. But the camouflage - which can also change the paint coat of the shuttle to any you want, in case the normal one gets boring - is optimised for that kind of hiding."

That sounded… very impressive.

"Like a ring of invisibility. Now you're just missing the SEP field generator," O'Neill said with a grin.

"What's a SEP field?" Entrapta asked. "Did we forget something? I thought we covered all sensors that we knew of."

"It's from a novel series," Sam said, frowning at O'Neill. "It's fictional - not real."

"Oh. What does it do?" Entrapta cocked her head.

"It makes people think that whatever it surrounds is 'somebody else's problem'," Daniel explained. "And asking about it tells us that Jack has read the novels," he added with a grin.

"If you're stuck at a base far from civilisation, you'll read anything in the library," O'Neill said with a frown.

"Well… that might be possible with a spell, I think," Entrapta said. "And it would probably help if you want to shoot at something without being detected. That's kind of a problem we haven't been able to solve yet."

"It's theoretically possible, yes," Glimmer agreed. "But that kind of magic would require tampering with the mind of everyone affected - and that's… a very questionable kind of magic."

Catra nodded - that kind of magic, in the wrong hands, like Shadow Weaver's… She felt the fur on the back of her neck bristle at the thought. She smirked at Adora to distract herself. "And I guess it wouldn't work on the kind of people who think every problem is their responsibility, huh?"

Adora pouted at her. "We can't exactly test that."

"And we would have to create a magitech device to replicate the effect. That could be tricky," Entrapta added. "Although… if we could reverse-engineer the technology that we encountered on Beast Island, the device that made people want to stop doing anything…"

That had happened when Catra had sent Entrapta to Beast Island for not wanting to risk destroying the world to win the war… She clenched her teeth at the reminder of her folly. She had almost destroyed everyone. And it had cost Glimmer her mother. It was…

"I don't think we should build or use that," Glimmer said, shivering. "And it might not work on Goa'uld - or Jaffa. Dad wasn't affected, and he was there for years."

"Yeah, best not build a brainwashing machine like that. Dictators would love it to turn their people into mindless sheep," O'Neill said.

"Yes." Adora nodded firmly. "We don't want to follow Horde Prime's example."

No, we really don't want, Catra thought. Mind control was… She clenched her teeth. Anyone who had suffered from Horde Prime's chips would agree with that.

"The ends don't justify the means," Bow added.

Hordak nodded without saying anything. But he was looking at Entrapta, Catra noticed.

And her friend looked a bit sheepish. "Anyway, we also thought about a system that could actually alter the hull, but that would require a lot more research and testing. And we didn't have the time for that. But imagine a shuttle that could look like another type of ship! Well, with roughly the same mass, but still! That would be great, right?"

Perfect for infiltration missions. Like.. a ship version of Double Trouble. Catra gritted her teeth at the unwanted stray thought. This was supposed to be a test flight in a new shuttle, not a trip down memory lane, as the Tau'ri liked to say. Not to memories she really didn't want to revisit. "So, can we see how that works?" she said.

"Oh, sure! Well, kinda - the light-warping system makes it so you can't actually see out any more, so you kind of see and don't. But other sensors still work, so we installed screens for that," Entrapta explained with a wide smile. But if you're outside the field, you can see it - well, you can't see it any more, which tells you it's working. So, you want to go outside?"

"Maybe later," Catra told her, taking a step closer to Adora.

"Alright, so… here we go!"

Entrapta flipped a switch with her hair, and the stars and the curve of Earth outside the shuttle's windows vanished.

*****​

Jack O'Neill grinned as he took the shuttle through another loop. Sneaky Carter hadn't mentioned that she and Entrapta also had improved the performance of the shuttle's engines. Or maybe she had, and he had missed it, but he usually paid attention to critical information such as that.

Unfortunately, they were doing the test flight in space, not in the atmosphere, and so Jack couldn't do some nap-of-the-earth flying. The moon was a bit too far away to coincidentally approach. There was the frigate, but… playing chicken with large movable objects you launched from was for Navy pukes.

He blinked. Oh, for… He had launched in a small spaceship from a large spaceship. Like a Navy puke. Worse, he had thought of this as a carrier operation, not an Air Force mission. Damn. No one could ever know!

"Is something wrong, Jack?" Entrapta, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat while the rest of SG-1 and the Etherians were in the back checking the stealth system, asked. "You're frowning, which usually means something is wrong. Is there an issue with the shuttle? The readings are all within expected parameters, but…"

"No, no, everything is fine. Better than fine, actually," Jack was quick to assure her. "I just remembered something unpleasant."

"Oh? Something unpleasant?"

"And private," he told her.

"Oh. OK, private. That means no prying. Unless it's for your own good." Entrapta sounded as if she was repeating a lesson. She probably was, Jack realised.

He really didn't want to touch that, so he changed the subject. "So, how do we test the weapons? Do you have target drones out there?"

"Oh, no - this was supposed to be a test for the stealth and flight systems. We've tested the weapons in the lab - well, they're standard Horde blaster cannons, and the power supply was tested and works, and the remote controls are from proven designs - I wanted to improve them, maybe turn them into bots, or make them detachable so they could act as escorts or attack craft, but Sam said we should focus on the stealth system… anyway, they should work."

"Never assume a weapon works without live firing," he told her. "Preferably until it breaks, so you know its limits."

"That's what Hordak says as well. Catra says it's fun, too."

Jack managed not to scowl. He didn't want to be compared to Mr Former Warlord. Even if the guy was correct. "So, how about we fire on the frigate? The shields can take it, right?" he joked.

"Oh, yes. That's probably a faster solution than building a few target bots from spare parts," Entrapta replied. "But we probably should tell them first."

"Yes." Entrapta often had trouble getting jokes, Jack reminded himself. "And we should inform Earth so they don't think there's a coup going on or something." Or an attack by enemy stealth ships - the stealth system hid them from Earth sensors as well, after all, as they had already found out.

"Right! That would be bad, I think."

"Yes." Jack could imagine what might happen if a bunch of fanatics thought their goddess wanted a specific ship destroyed. And the panic it would cause on Earth.

So, a few calls and some narrowed eyes from Carter later, they were happily flying loops around Priest's flagship and shooting at its shields. Which was fun but also a bit disappointing - obviously, the fact that the shields regenerated faster than the shuttle could damage them meant that a stealth shuttle - or a space fighter, like he had heard being discussed - wasn't really going to be effective against a larger ship. Unless you sent tons of them against it. "We need missiles," he said. "Big honking missiles." Torpedoes, even if that sounded like a Navy thing as well.

"We're working on that. Unfortunately, the stealth system is too big for the missiles we have," Entrapta told him. "And reducing its size has hit a few snags since some components don't work if we make them smaller - we haven't found a way to miniaturise them yet."

Jack hadn't thought about stealth missiles. Just normal missiles would be useful - though they would allow the enemy to track the launch location. But stealth missiles… "What about making the missiles bigger?"

"Hm. They would have to be half the size of a shuttle for the stealth system to work. Maybe a little smaller. And that means we couldn't launch them from a shuttle. I think."

That sounded more like a kamikaze shuttle than a missile. An unmanned kamikaze shuttle. Maybe a Kamikaze bot? "Well, if it can fly like a shuttle, we can launch it from a frigate," Jack suggested.

"Well, yes. But it would also have to be able to get through a shield. That's easier the smaller something is, once the shield starts wavering. A shuttle-sized missile…" Entrapta made some humming noise, and Jack could hear her hair typing. "The shield would have to be almost completely gone to get through it. On a spaceship, at least."

And at that point, you didn't really need stealth any more. A pity.

Well - the shuttle was meant to deliver soldiers to their targets, not to shoot down enemy ships. But Jack would have liked to have the option.

On the other hand, in a pinch, Carter could probably whip up something on the fly if they needed it. And Jack had no doubt that space fighter/bombers would be a thing soon enough.

But, most importantly, they were now ready for the recon mission. Jack couldn't wait to use the shuttle for real.

*****​
 
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Scouting Part 1
Chapter 90: Scouting Part 1

Earth Orbit, Solar System, January 27th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"Oh, Your Divine Highness, blessed are we by Your shining presence. We strike out in Your name to bring the light of You to those struggling under the cruel yoke of evil! Just as You have vanquished the Great Deceiver, cursed be his name for all eternity, so shall we vanquish those who oppress others. In Your holy name, we shall fight all comers, ready to lay down our lives for Your worthy cause!"

Adora forced herself to keep smiling as Priest spoke. She wanted to cringe at all the praise - she wasn't a goddess! Their lives weren't hers to command! She was… Oh, no, she was starting to think like Priest spoke! "He must have been watching a lot of Earth television," she muttered under her breath.

Of course, Catra's ears caught her words, and her lover snickered. "Mostly the competition, I think."

"The competition?" Adora whispered before scolding herself - they were on Darla's bridge; she wouldn't be overheard even if she yelled, as long as she didn't open a channel to Priest. And - she quickly checked - there was no channel open.

"What are you whispering about?" Glimmer asked.

"Priest's speech," Catra told her. "He's been watching Earth preachers."

"Yeah, some of his ramblings sounded familiar," O'Neill cut in.

"...and with renewed fervour, we shall do our utmost to spread Your words and ideals to a galaxy yearning to be free, to expose the false gods deceiving and exploiting their faithful, as the…"

"Yep, file off the numbers, and that could be coming from any televangelist on Earth." O'Neill nodded. "I wonder if they can sue him for copyright violations."

"If they do, they would open themselves for such suits, I think," Daniel said.

"They'll claim they got it straight from god," O'Neill retorted.

"Shh! Priest is about to finish!" Bow hissed.

And that meant Adora was expected to say a few words as well. She winced and went over her prepared speech while Priest finished showering his praise and devotion she didn't deserve.

"Thank you. We are facing enemies who are posing as gods to manipulate their slaves - enemies who are willing to sacrifice everything and everyone for power. They're ruthless and evil - but that is not their strength, but their weakness. This mission we are setting out now is…"

As she spoke, Adora felt like a hypocrite. She was no goddess, yet the clones worshipped her. And she was using their faith to lead them. If she were selfish and cruel, she'd be no better than the Goa'uld!

*****​

Hyperspace, January 28th, 1999 (Earth Time)

It really was weird how quickly you grew used to things that had been limited to the realms of science fiction just a few years ago, Samantha Carter thought not for the first time. Here she was, on board a spaceship travelling through hyperspace, already lightyears away from Earth, and it felt like a plane trip back on Earth. She was more concerned about passing the time productively than about the journey itself.

Fortunately, even with the new stealth shuttle taking up most of Darla's hangar space, there was still room left for her and Entrapta's 'travelling lab', as her friend called it. It wasn't even nearly as sophisticated as their space lab, but they could do serious work anyway.

And, in a pinch, and as long Darla stayed outside hyperspace and in range of the spy bot network, they could even remotely access the space lab for some experiments. The lag was frustrating, but they could do work like that if they were careful.

Though since they were going on a recon mission, ensuring that the shuttle was in perfect working order took priority. And that included ensuring that Entrapta didn't add untested modifications during their trip. Even though they looked sound upon cursory or even in-depth examination, Sam reminded herself. Especially if they looked sound and fascinating.

"No, I don't think the Colonel meant that we should add a 'torpedo mode' to the shuttle," she told her friend.

"But it would let us use it as a missile if we had to - a stealth missile!"

"It would also add a Naquadah-enhanced bomb to the shuttle," Sam pointed out.

"Yes?"

Sam sighed and started to explain why that wasn't an entirely positive thing.

*****​

Deep Space, Near PZ-921, January 28th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"Alright! We've got the latest data from the spy bots. There was no change in the target fleet. Well, no significant change - the fleet maintained its position, and its composition didn't change, but the individual ships moved around a lot and often switched formations."

Catra nodded at Entrapta's report. Her friend was a scientist, not an officer, but the picture was obvious. "They're drilling their crews," she said.

"Yes." Adora nodded. "Can we tell from their movements what kind of action they're training for?"

"I don't know!" Entrapta beamed. "Let's review the data!" Her hair moved, and the screen on Darla's bridge showed the last movements of the target ships. "I've sped the maneuvres up by a factor of ten," she added.

Catra watched the ships circle around each other, the fleet splitting up into four parts, then joining together. "Looks like basic fleet actions," she commented. She didn't have a lot of experience with space combat, but she had studied the data from Horde Prime's fleets. And the basics were obvious. "Escort drills. Attack and retreat actions."

"Yes," Adora agreed. "So, we can't deduce what they are planning from those drills."

"They might not be planning anything yet," O'Neill pointed out. "And that's just basic drills to keep the crew busy. God knows you don't want bored soldiers on your ship. They'll just get into trouble."

"Jaffa are generally more disciplined than that, O'Neill," Teal'c objected. "It is more likely that this is to keep their skills sharp." He cocked his head slightly to the side. "They are changing formations and reacting to orders more smoothly compared to the average Goa'uld fleet. These Jaffa are skilled and experienced."

"We don't know if that is a Goa'uld fleet," Daniel said. "They could be… renegades. Or pirates."

O'Neill snorted. "Pirates, Daniel? Really?"

Daniel flushed. "Well… We do know that there are, well, Goa'uld who deserted their System Lord. And not just those who joined the Tok'ra. It's not a stretch to assume that they would resort to raiding others to sustain their forces. If no other System Lord will take them in, that is."

"Few of the false gods would take in another Goa'uld who abandoned their lord." Teal'c inclined his head.

"Why?" Glimmer asked. "Don't they expect their underlings to betray them at every opportunity?"

"Yes. However, anyone who shelters such a deserter might make the System Lord suspect that they were behind the desertion in the first place - or give them the excuse to claim so and act in retribution without appearing to be the attacker," Teal'c explained.

Catra snorted. "And the other System Lords care about such pretexts even though they'll know it's a sham."

"Indeed."

"Don't fail your snake overlord. And if you do, don't get caught." O'Neill shrugged. "But that's a sizeable fleet for a deserter. Even for a guy like Her'ur, that wouldn't be a negligible loss. What are the odds that so many Jaffa would follow a deserting System Lord?"

"Low," Teal'c replied. "Most of the false gods know better than to leave a subordinate to gain the loyalty of so many Jaffa. The most probable explanation would be that there was a successful coup against a System Lord, and this fleet is the loyalist remnant of their forces."

That made sense. But wouldn't the Tok'ra have heard of that?

"If that is the case, this would present an opportunity," Hordak said. "Such a survivor would likely be willing to share crucial intel about their enemies. For support - or merely out of spite." He glanced at Catra, and she met his eyes.

He must be thinking about her own coup against him - if you could call that mess a coup. It wasn't as if it had been planned.

"And because of their genetic memory, if they were toppled by one of their descendants, they could share a lot of information," Daniel added.

"But we couldn't trust them," Glimmer said. "Dethroned or not, they're still a Goa'uld. They would be trying to manipulate us - and betray us at the first opportunity."

"Maybe the second opportunity." Catra grinned. "They would probably suspect the first to be a trap."

A few of the others snickered in response to that.

"But what do we do if a Goa'uld asks for protection? Or asylum?" Bow asked.

"Tell them to get lost," O'Neill said.

Catra snorted, but he wasn't wrong in her opinion.

"If someone asks for asylum, we'll take them in and check if they are genuine," Adora said with a frown. "That's the least we can do - although we'll take all necessary precautions to ensure it's not a trap."

"And then? Play nice with the evil body-snatching snake?" O'Neill narrowed his eyes slightly. "What about their victims? What about their hosts?"

Catra pressed her lips together and looked at the screen instead of at anyone else. That was… a bit too close for comfort.

"We'll check how genuine they are," Adora repeated herself. "And if they are willing to change. And they have to release their host, unless they have voluntarily chosen to host them."

"Fat chance of that." O'Neill scoffed.

"If they aren't genuinely willing to change, we don't have any obligation to help or protect them. So, given how Goa'uld are…" Glimmer trailed off. "But we can't dismiss the possibility of a Goa'uld honestly defecting. The Tok'ra show that this is possible."

Catra nodded, still not looking at anyone. Not even Adora.

After a moment of silence, Adora spoke up again: "So, let's go and find out who is in command of that fleet and what they want."

*****​

Deep Space, Near Unclaimed System, January 28th, 1999 (Earth Time)

Jack O'Neill stared out of the windows on Darla's bridge at the yellowish star in the distance - conveniently highlighted by a holoprojection from the ship, in case he somehow might miss the brightest star nearby. Sometimes the ship's system - whether it was actually intelligent, as Entrapta claimed, or just a sophisticated computer program, as Carter thought - was a bit patronising. "It'll probably start calculating my caloric needs next," Jack muttered.

"What did you say, Jack?" Adora asked.

"Nothing," he told her. "Just a stray thought." A silly stray thought.

"Afraid you'll grow fat on our cooking?" Catra, of course, had overheard his comment perfectly despite being farther away than Adora. She was smirking, too - her ears were turned towards him, and her tail was slowly swishing back and forth. Lazily, not nervously - Jack had learned the difference by now.

And wasn't that a weird thing to know? He felt like a crazy cat lady. Although the agencies back home probably had recruited a bunch of biologists and a few crazy cat ladies just to analyse Catra's behaviour. And Jack couldn't fault them; the catwoman was not only Adora's lover, which meant she had a huge influence on the Alliance's strategy and policy, but she was a leader in her own right. Although didn't have a loyal cadre of followers or subjects - as far as Jack knew, at least. But if they ever found a planet where the population worshipped cats, that might change…

He snorted at the thought, then shook his head. "Just thinking about the fact that the Ancient Egyptians worshipped cats. Amongst other things."

"So I've heard. They had good taste," Catra said, her grin widening.

"Except for worshipping the Goa'uld, of course," Glimmer cut in.

Catra shrugged. "Well, the snakes impersonated their gods, so how could they tell the difference?"

"It's actually not quite clear if the Goa'uld impersonated existing gods when they discovered Earth or if they created the Egyptian pantheon - and other pantheons - in the first place," Daniel said. "It might be a combination of the two possibilities; the first Goa'uld arrivals coopting existing deities and taking over their churches and others creating their own cults."

"Didn't you ask Osiris about that?" Bow asked. "He was amongst the first Goa'uld to arrive, wasn't he? And Seth as well?"

That was actually a good question. Jack glanced at his friend.

"Well… Osiris claimed that they created the pantheon, and with it, the Egyptian civilisation," Daniel replied. "But I have my doubts about that."

"Why? What could he gain by lying?" Bow asked.

"Feeling important?" Jack said, shrugging. "Being the founder of human civilisation would be quite the feather in his cap." The snake might even hope that it would get him a pardon or something. Or followers.

"Yes." Daniel nodded. "And it would, well, wouldn't call it a threat to our world's culture, but if the cradle of human civilisation was formed by the Goa'uld, that would change history as we know it - more than their arrival being revealed already did, of course - and the ramifications of a huge part of human culture being created by aliens…"

"At least no one's worshipping the Egyptian gods any more," Jack commented. "Imagine people demanding that we free their gods on the grounds of religious freedom!" He chuckled. That would be something.

But Daniel nodded and pushed his glasses up. "Well, some of the pagan gods clearly influenced the Abrahamic god. Or, to be more precise, their myths influenced the myths that became the Bible. And while the dogma of the Abrahamic religions that there is only one god has been solidified for well over a thousand years by now, from a purely scholarly point of view, the extent of Goa'uld influence on existing religions really should be researched."

"Yeah," Jack said with a slight scoff, "'Hey, your religion was invented by alien snakes' is going to go over really well with people. I can't see any problem with that."

Daniel flushed. "Well, one has to differentiate between religious and historical questions."

"So, does that mean that all the fake gods went extinct after the Goa'uld left Earth?" Adora asked.

"More or less," Jack told her.

"Not quite," Daniel protested. "Some of the gods that the Goa'uld impersonated are still worshipped on Earth. Like Raiden."

"Yeah, we heard about them," Catra said. "Are their followers going to be a security risk?"

"Some might be," Jack admitted. "If they thought the Goa'uld were their original god. But they should know better than that if they were in the Alliance." Though he was sure that the spooks were keeping an eye on soldiers who might turn traitors for religious reasons.

"That's exactly the reason why we need to know more about that time," Daniel said. "We need to know if the Goa'uld created or coopted the ancient religions."

And if the former was true, they would have to decide if they revealed that - or buried that in the deepest vault they could find. Not that Jack was about to mention that to Daniel. This wasn't the time to discuss religion, scientific integrity and political expediency.

They had a mission to do. And they were wasting time. "Well, hate to cut this short," Jack said. "But we're in position to launch the mission now."

Recon now, religion later. Or not at all, if Jack had anything to say about it.

*****​

Unclaimed System, January 28th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"Approaching the limit of the safe distance."

Adora wet her lips at Jack's announcement. This was it. So far, they had been safely out of the sensor range of the Goa'uld, adjusted for their craft's sensor signature, but that would change now. Of course, there were some safety margins, so it wasn't as if they were undetectable one moment and would appear the next, and they couldn't be a hundred per cent sure about the sensor capability of the ships ahead of them, but still - she couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

"Engaging active stealth system!" Entrapa sounded cheerful. She would be - she loved showing and using new technology. Not as much as she loved creating it, of course.

The stars outside vanished. For a moment, Adora was reminded of Etheria before it had been returned to the universe. There hadn't been any stars back then, either. But there had been the sun and the moons. Not a complete absence of… anything.

The screens still showed the same pictures, though - the sensors, except for the optical sensors, weren't affected by the light being bent around them. And in space, you rarely used your naked eyes to navigate, anyway - at least not in a ship. Still, it felt a little off.

"No change in the target fleet," Sam reported.

"They haven't detected us," Glimmer nodded with a smile.

"Well, we're still at a distance where they might not have detected us even without the active stealth system," Bow pointed out. "They might still do so when we fly closer."

"And if they're smart, they won't react at all until we're too close to avoid their response," Catra added. She was sitting next to Adora, one hand on the armrest of Adora's seat, clearly tense - her tail was swishing back and forth rapidly.

"That would require specific standing orders," Teal'c said. "To see an enemy approaching and not react at once would usually see a warrior severely chastised. As a rule, the false gods do not value such initiative or cunning by their forces."

Jack snorted. "Let's hope that the mystery fleet is doing things by the book, then."

Adora nodded. But the fleet ahead of them was already acting weird - for Goa'uld, at least. What were the odds they had different standard procedures? Well, they'd find out. And if it was a trap… well, Priest's task force was ready to jump in at a moment's notice, with enough ships to overwhelm the target fleet. All Adora would have to do was keep the shuttle safe until then.

"We're now approaching the red zone," Jack's voice rang out. He didn't sound nervous at all even though they were now reaching the range where they knew they would be detected in a normal shuttle.

"Enemy sensor activity nominal."

That meant the sensor sweeps hadn't increased or changed focus, Adora translated Sam's report. A good sign - if the sensors picked up a signal from the shuttle, they would do a second, more focused sweep to confirm the hit.

"They still haven't noticed us," Catra said.

"Don't sound so disappointed," Glimmer commented.

"I'm not."

"Passive sensors working as intended!" Entrapta smiled. "We're getting new data! We haven't been so close before! Oh, I hope the spy bots won't grow jealous!"

"They'll get over it," Catra said. "Without them, we wouldn't have found the fleet in the first place."

"Right! I'll tell them that! It should cheer them up!"

"I thought the spy drones were not sapient?" Daniel sounded confused.

"They still have feelings!" Entapta told him.

"Sensor data is being updated," Sam interrupted them.

Adora checked her screen. "Do we have any ship names yet?" Without optical sensors, they would have to get really close to discern different paint coats to make out any letters.

"Not yet. But the passive scans of the traditional locations for ship names show recent work on the surface," Sam told her.

"They renamed the ships - or erased any names," Catra said.

"Either would indicate subterfuge rather than open battle as their goal," Teal'c commented.

"And that they have taken steps to hide their identity." Catra flashed her fangs.

"Or they captured or acquired the ships and renamed them," Daniel pointed out.

Catra scowled. "And then they hide out like this?"

"Well, if they stole the ships…" Daniel trailed off, looking a bit embarrassed.

"If they stole those ships, odds are they're willing to do it again," Jack said.

"We're in range of the magitech scanner!" Entrapta quivered in her seat. "Let's see what we find out!"

The screens changed as the sensor readings updated.

"Those are the markings of Apophis," Teal'c said in a flat voice. "But we know that he masked his ships when he sent them at Heru'ur."

"Could be a double bluff. He might attempt another attack and claim someone's impersonating his forces," Bow suggested. "Make it appear as if they were recently renamed by renaming them himself!"

"That is unlikely." Teal'c shook his head. "The false god has a tendency to enact complicated plans, but he would not act without more information about the situation at hand."

"He might have gotten the ships ready while he's looking for more information?" Bow didn't sound as if he believed that himself.

"The ships he lost in the attack on Heru'ur that we foiled represent a respectable force. While he is not crippled, his mobile reserve has been weakened, and hiding another force would make him look weaker than he is, inviting raids and probing attacks from his rivals." Teal'c shook his head again. "I doubt that this force belongs to Apophis."

"And you're our expert on him. Good enough for me," Jack said. "But if it's not Apophis, who else could it be? Someone with a beef against him?"

That could be any System Lord, Adora knew. "We'll have to find out," she said.

"Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have to actually board one ship to do that."

Jack didn't sound disappointed, though, Adora noted. Well, she wasn't disappointed either.

It would be good to be able to do something in person.

*****​

Samantha Carter glanced at the main screen on the bridge of the shuttle. They were closing in on the Goa'uld fleet - the suspected Goa'uld fleet, she corrected herself. Even though she had no doubt that the fleet was controlled by a Goa'uld. They were almost at point-blank range now, but the Goa'uld ships had not changed their patterns. If the enemy's sensors were able to penetrate the stealth system of the shuttle, they would have done so long ago.

There was still a chance that this was a trap, that the fleet was just waiting for them to fly too close to evade an attack, but Sam had her doubts about that. Not because of a gut feeling, as the Colonel would claim, but because, as Teal'c had explained, it was very unlikely for a Goa'uld force to react like that. Unless, of course, they were aware of their mission from the start or expected such a mission, but either was extremely unlikely.

"Still no change in the enemy's sensor activity," Entrapta commented. "The stealth system is working perfectly!" She beamed. "Well, it's drawing a little bit more power than projected, but nothing the shuttle's reactor can't handle."

Sam checked the readings. Indeed, the system was running a bit less efficiently than expected. Although that wasn't really worrying - as her friend had said, they had power to spare. Of course, should they have to fight as well, that might change, but even then, the discrepancy was unlikely to prove crucial. A few more shots from the ship's cannons wouldn't decide a battle with a fleet.

But they still hadn't found out who the fleet belonged to. And that was the mission's goal. "Any sign of a sensor network?" she asked.

"No," Entrapta replied. "The ships haven't linked their sensors and aren't sharing data. Unless they discovered a method to transmit data that we can't detect. Do you think they did?"

Sam shook her head. They had picked up some transmissions before - if the unknown masters of the fleet had discovered a superior communication method, they would have been using it for all their comms. That was the logical response. Unless it was limited to certain ships, but in that case, the communications with the other ships should reveal such a pattern. It wasn't tightbeams - they had checked for that. While the shuttle's system wouldn't be able to intercept such communications unless they were directly between two ships, they should be able to detect such a network. But there wasn't any.

It seemed that the fleet still adhered to strict comm discipline. And that meant they couldn't hack the system. There was the possibility of hijacking the sensors, but… Sam wasn't optimistic about their chances. And even if that worked, the compromised system might not have links to the main computers of the ship.

"No luck hacking the snakes?"

Sam schooled her features, not letting her annoyance at her failure show as she looked at the Colonel. "No, sir. Whoever those crews are, they practise good cyber security."

"Yes!" Entrapta chimed in. "We'll have to find a main communication hub to hack into, I think. Like we did with Horde Prime's systems. Those were a challenge."

The Colonel grinned. "So, how do we do this without alerting the snakes?"

They had gone over that in the briefings. "We'll have to match speed with the target ship and then stay close enough so we can use our spacesuits for EVA without getting detected."

That would have to be very close. They couldn't touch the Goa'uld ship, though - sensors fooled or not, the crew wouldn't miss the sound and shock of a shuttle setting down on the ship.

"Well, let's pick a target then." The Colonel was undaunted.

"I would suggest this one, sir." Sam highlighted a Ha'tak on the main screen. "Based on our data of their communications, such as we could gather, this is either a flagship or a communication hub. Either way, its systems should contain the information we need."

"And the movement patterns it has displayed so far should make staying near it easier than, say, near an Al'kesh," Entrapta added.

The Colonel looked at Entrapta, then glanced at Sam, raising his eyebrows.

"The ship only very rarely made unexpected changes to its speed or course," Sam explained.

"Ah." He nodded. "Good. Let's go, then."

They were already suited up. And, even more important, they had already hashed out who would be on the boarding team and who would stay on the shuttle.

Though, Sam couldn't help thinking as she disconnected her laptop from its cradle in her seat and Bow moved to take over the ship's helm, the criteria for deciding the latter might not have been very objective. Bow had simply been the most amiable to staying behind. Or, in other words, hadn't insisted as forcefully as everyone else that he should be on the boarding team.

Sam felt a little guilty for that herself, but she was a logical choice for any such mission since she could hack Goa'uld computer systems. Unlike, say, Daniel, who somehow had managed to argue successfully that he could interpret cultural clues during the mission. Or Glimmer, who had simply insisted that she had experience with such missions and pretty much dared anyone else to contradict her.

Well, the decisions had been made.

Sam slipped her helmet on, checked the seals and ran a brief system check as she stepped into the shuttle's cargo area. It was time to do her job.

*****​

"Alright, here we go…"

Catra tensed as she heard O'Neill speak. They were at the critical point - the final approach to the enemy flagship. If this was a trap… No, the Goa'ld would have shot at them before that.

"And here we are, nice and smooth, right behind the big sucker. Han Solo got nothing on this! You've got the craft, Bow."

"I've got the craft."

Her ears picked up rapid steps - O'Neill was hustling towards the cargo area. "We won't start without you," she commented as he reached them.

"Didn't want to make you wait any longer," he replied. He was already wearing the helmet, so she assumed he was ready for the boarding.

The hatch closed behind him, and she heard the whining noise as the air was sucked out of the room. The shuttle had a dedicated airlock, but it was too small for the entire group - it was too small for just the BFS, actually; Scorpia would probably fill it up by herself if she were here - so they had to use the cargo area for that.

But whatever worked, worked. A moment later, the ramp opened in front of her. Catra felt her fur bristle - looking at the stealth field was disturbing. It was like staring at the deepest black. Not even a speck of light or smidge of grey was visible, just perfect blackness.

And they would have to jump through it to reach the enemy Ha'tak.

She clenched her teeth - she wouldn't show any nervousness. This was just an illusion, nothing more. A trick of the eyes. Whatever. She tapped a button on the side of her helmet, linking up with the shuttle's sensors, and a view of the outside was projected into her field of vision. She could see part of the Ha'tak's hull in front of her now.

"Looks good," O'Neill commented, prompting her to snort. As if he was as cool as he sounded. "Carter?"

"One last scan… we're in the blind spot of their sensors, sir. We're good to go. Highlighting possible points of entry."

Two airlocks lit up on Catra's display.

"Let's take the closer one. Less walking." Catra wouldn't let O'Neill outdo her.

"Sounds good. Wouldn't want to make Bow wait too long for us."

"Oh, I'm fine."

Catra shook her head. "Let's go." She took a step forward, to the top of the ramp - which opened into nothing.

"I'll go first." Adora passed her before she could protest and jumped off.

Catra hissed under her breath when she saw Adora vanish in the stealth field. Then she crouched and jumped after her lover. Into the darkness.

It wasn't as she had expected. She didn't pass through complete darkness for what felt like an eternity. No, one moment, she was flying towards a black field, the next, she was about to land on the golden hull of the Ha'tak, the projection aligning with the real deal at once.

She twisted and landed on all fours on it, the magnets in her gloves and boots sticking her to the metal. Adora was just a bit to the side, crouching on the hull herself. Still in her spacesuit, which was a good sign - if she had to transform, things would have gone wrong already. And She-Ra's power would probably light up all the sensors of the Goa'uld.

And behind her… was nothing. She knew where the shuttle was, but she couldn't see it, just its projection inside her helmet.

Another figure appeared from nowhere. O'Neill, landing with reasonable grace on the hull, followed by Sam and Glimmer.

Daniel came next - and he almost smashed headfirst into the ship, but Entrapta's hair grabbed him at the last second.

"Thank you,"

"No worries!" Entrapta landed on the hull, then put Daniel down.

Teal'c brought up the rear, landing smoothly in a crouch without comment.

Sam was already at the airlock, tools out, and Entrapta quickly joined her, hair tendrils pulling her across the hull while she floated in space.

Catra looked around while her friends worked on the hatch. She could see another Ha'tak in the distance, barely more than a tiny pyramid, and some moving lights drew her attention - Al'keshs, or maybe Tel'taks. Or Death Gliders that were closer than she thought. She cycled through the sensor overlay from the shuttle to check. Al'keshs, at a safe distance. Good.

It took Sam and Entrapta half a minute to open the hatch. Adora entered right away, but Catra had expected that and slipped into the airlock behind her, followed by Sam. And, of course, O'Neill just had to follow her.

It was a bit cramped as a result. Sam almost buried her elbow in Catra's stomach when she used her laptop, but Catra twisted out of the way, pressing herself into Adora's side.

"I've spoofed the security cameras," Sam reported twenty seconds later.

Then the airlock cycled, and the inner hatch opened. Ador went left, Catra right, stun rod at the ready to deal with any Jaffa present.

But the hallway was clear. And rather plain.

"Doesn't look very fancy," O'Neill commented. "Where's all the gold and glitter?"

"It's a maintenance conduct," Sam told him.

"Too bad. I would have liked a big VIP entrance, complete with huge golden hieroglyphs that said: 'Welcome to the flagship of System Lord X'."

"Such an entrance would usually be heavily guarded even when no guests were expected," Teal'c pointed out over the comm as the hatch closed again.

"Yeah, but at least we'd know who we were shooting then," O'Neill retorted.

"How about we don't shoot anyone?" Daniel suggested. "We're here to find out what's going on, not to shoot things."

"We can multitask," O'Neill said. "Besides, I bet we're going to shoot them later anyway, so might as well start early."

Catra chuckled as the others entered the ship as well, but her ears were twitching. Was that…? Yes. "Someone's approaching!" she hissed. She crouched down, pressing herself against the wall. "Just one person," she whispered - she couldn't hear any other steps.

The others stepped into alcoves or crouched down, close to the walls - taking cover as best as they could in the corridor. Even Adora - Catra had half-expected her to transform into She-Ra at the first sign of potential trouble.

But they couldn't hide. And they couldn't leave through the airlock quickly enough to avoid getting spotted - or overheard.

The steps had come even closer. The person was now just around the corner. Catra tensed, ready to pounce, take down the target, silence them before they could scream and alert the rest of the crew, and…

The steps stopped.

Catra blinked. What the…?

Then she heard the sound of a bag being opened, and then metal clashing against metal, followed by muttering. When she smelt heated metal, she almost sighed. Whoever was around the corner was doing repairs or maintenance there.

She could easily take them down - they were too close to react to her rounding the corner, they were distracted by their work, and Catra knew how to knock out someone. But even if they took the prisoner with them afterwards, the ship's crew would be looking for him. And given their strict security measures, they would likely suspect enemy action - and react accordingly.

Which would ruin part of the mission's goal. Damn. She clenched her teeth and glanced back at the others.

Adora was smiling apologetically, as if this complication was her fault. Glimmer was scowling, Sam and Entrapta looked focused and curious, respectively, Teal'c showed no reaction at all, and O'Neill… was grinning.

Catra shook her head - softly. On the one hand, if they took a prisoner, they would be able to find out who was behind this. Sure, a maintenance flunkie wouldn't know their plans, but they would know general orders. And past deployments. And if they were some System Lord's fleet, the Alliance would probably destroy them anyway, so whether or not they were put on alert wouldn't matter. Although that wouldn't tell them the enemy's plans either. And if the ships had slaves on them… They had most certainly killed slaves when they had destroyed the ships of Apophis attacking PZ-921, but they hadn't had much of a choice there - not with the enemy fighting to the death and even self-destructing in some cases. But here? Adora would want to attempt a rescue, and revealing their presence would endanger that.

So they could wait for the idiot to finish their work and leave, or go the other way - and hope the idiot wouldn't follow them.

Decisions, decisions.

Catra glanced over her shoulder again. O'Neill moved his hand, pointing to the ground in the 'wait' sign. But she looked at Adora. That was her call.

And Adora nodded.

So, waiting it was.

And the minutes passed. Whoever was working around the corner wasn't the fastest technician in the fleet. Or the most careful - they cursed quite a lot, if not loud. Catra might not understand the language, but she knew a curse when she heard it. But, really! Kyle would have done a better job!

But finally, after almost twenty minutes, Catra heard a satisfied grunt, followed by metal tools touching each other. The idiot was done! As soon as they left, Catra could…

The steps were headed their way! Catra gasped and started moving forward. She crashed into the other person as they rounded the corner, bowling them over. One hand stopped them from screaming, the other rammed the shock rod into their chest.

The man - the Jaffa! - convulsed, and before he could recover, O'Neill zatted him.

Catra pulled the Jaffa fully back around the corner, just in case, then looked him over. Light armour, a big tool bag, a zat at his hip. "A Jaffa engineer?" she asked.

"Well…" O'Neill started to say, but Teal'c cut him off, pointing at the symbol on the man's chest.

"Sokar."

Oh. The fleet belonged to the System Lord whom Apophis had planned to frame with his false flag attack.

That complicated things.

*****​
 
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