It was an hour into our trek out of the city that I first spotted the Stargate. That alone was rather odd, but even stranger was that it was being dragged along the ground by a pair of Locusts running at full speed, with another two locust's running behind – one of them wearing the DHD like a hat.
I pulled up my radio.
"This is Arthur. Who's the one dragging the Gate?"
The radio crackled a fraction of a second later.
"This is Callum. Last minute idea. It's working out pretty well if I do say so myself."
I stood there, in a stunned silence for a brief moment before regaining my witts.
"We're about a kilometer ahead of you. We are carrying our primary and secondary objectives. Any chance you can stop to pick us up?"
"Joshua, pick them up. We'll be continuing."
The locusts managed to clear the kilometer of distance within a minute, once they were nearby, we decloaked and one of the locusts stopped to pick us up. Once we were onboard, he continued onward.
A minute later, we caught up with the other Locusts. The Stargate had already been planted back into the ground and the DHD was being lowered from the third locust.
Yren and I dismounted – carefully lowering Ares to the ground while we did so – before making our way over to Elder Callum.
"Right there! And… drop it."
With a slight thud, the DHD was on the ground.
"Alright. The gate will be dialing in…" The elder looked down at a watch on his left arm, "two minutes."
Next, the Elder turned to me and Yren.
"Glad to see you two. James will be arriving in a minute. Just wait for a bit and we'll have Ares out of our hands. What happened to the Kara'kesh?"
"It's in my bag."
"Will the rest of the plan work?"
I had completely forgotten to even check. Quickly, I placed Ares on the ground and equipped the device. Immediately, I got a list of Ares subordinates and what I could do with them.
I smiled in relief.
"We're good. As long as there is a sufficient connection, I can revoke their authority as Underlords."
A weight seemed to leave the Elders shoulders at my words.
"Good. Make sure you're ready to move. The Elder will want you there when we begin the next stage of the Assault."
I nodded lightly and got out of the way as I put the Kara'kesh back into my bag.
Barely a minute after the Stargate had been reset, the gate began dialing. Once the wormhole was stable, my radio activated for a brief moment.
"This is Callum. The plan is a go and the gate is in position."
My radio sparked to life a moment later.
"Understood. We're coming through."
Moments later, resistance soldiers and villagers began making their way through the event horizon. Over the next few minutes, soldiers swarmed from the gate. By the time Elder James and Eudora stepped through the gate, there were more than 600 well armed soldiers.
The Elder and the resistance leader immediately spotted Yren and me alongside Elder Callum. With a hurried stride, they made their way towards us; the Elder's eyes immediately focused on the heavily bound form on the ground beside me.
"So this is Ares?"
"Yes, Elder."
Elder James snorted.
"He's shorter than I was expecting." He waved for a group of soldiers to walk forward. "Alright. You know what to do with him. Make sure that he remains sedated until we are ready to interrogate him."
The soldiers carefully placed the fainted false god onto a stretcher – being careful to tie his already excessive restraints to the metallic frame.
With the Goa'uld prepped for transport, Elder James turned to Callum.
"Dial the gate for Dendred."
Elder Callum saluted sarcastically before making his way over to the DHD which had been placed on the ground nearby.
"Report."
"The flashbangs failed to do anything to Ares. Yren had to use the Zat at close range which finally knocked him out. We also made contact with the First Prime; he had a chance to both save Ares and capture us. He let us both leave with little issue."
Eudora nodded and turned to Elder James.
"Is that enough proof for you?"
The Elder sighed.
"It will have to do. What will his next course of action be?"
Eudora turned to look towards the road.
"He should have seen your men dragging the Stargate; he'll be sending men to contact us soon."
James looked down the road for a moment, but when he saw nothing he turned to us.
"Yren, you'll be escorting Ares back home. Make sure he is properly sedated and watched over.
Yren responded simply. "Yes, sir."
The Elder turned to me next.
"Arthur, you'll have to stay a while longer. You're the only one with experience using the Kara'Kesh and we'll need your expertise to ground Enyalius and Korybas' forces."
I nodded in acknowledgement while the Elder and Eudora made their way towards one of the Locusts. Yren nodded to me once before heading towards the Gate. Moments later, the event horizon opened in a whirl of blue and I watched as a group of resistance soldiers carried the heavily incapacitated Ares through the gate, followed shortly after by Yren and a small number of others.
Taking a deep breath, I sat down and waited; I had gotten annoyingly good at waiting over the last few months. Not even 15 minutes later, we got notice of Arktos' approach.
By the time I could see the approaching Jaffa – nearly 500 of them all marching in perfect formation – most of the soldiers had taken cover in the nearby forest while Elder James and Eudora waited before one of the Locusts. I had been ordered to wait with them since the First Prime already knew my appearance.
The mass of Jaffa approached us down the road, they didn't stop until they were a few dozen feet away from us, at which point they all came to a stop. Arktos marched out from the front of the formation and stood before us in silence.
The mass of Jaffa was a formidable sight, but hints of fear showed on the faces of some of the Jaffa as they stared up at the metallic frame of the Locusts. Both groups stood in silence for nearly 30 seconds before the First Prime finally spoke.
"I have long pledged my aid to the people of Dendred for when the time came to strike against the false god Ares. Now, you have struck him down. His main force is defeated and all that remain are two of his Underlords."
Eudora stepped forward.
"We move against Ares' Underlords; Enyalius and Korybas. Are you willing to join the fight?"
A bloodthirsty smile graced the scarred face of the former First Prime.
"Korybas has been an enemy of mine since the first moment I laid eyes on him. Permit me to bring you his head as a token of friendship."
Eudora responded while offering her arm to Arktos who took it.
"I hate to ask this of you, but we would prefer it if you captured him alive. While Korybas himself may deserve to die, his host is innocent."
Arktos raised an eyebrow.
"A noble sentiment. I cannot make any promises, but I will do what I can."
Next, the giant of a man turned to Elder James and myself.
"I am Arktos, now the former First Prime of Ares. You know who I am, but I do not know you."
Elder James stepped forward and offered his hand in greeting.
"James Cromwell, at your service."
Artkos smiled lightly, shaking the Elders hand before returning his attention to Eudora.
"A pleasure, as your people say. I do not wish to tally any longer. When will you permit me and my men to attack?"
"Just a moment. While we can handle diplomatic matters later, there are a few things we must handle immediately. Firstly, what has become of those Goa'uld who served Ares?"
"They have been captured."
Elder James nodded.
"Good. We have been watching them for several months, and we believe that one of the scientists is a Tok'ra."
Arktos' eyebrows rose.
"A Tok'ra? In Ares' own court?"
Elder James just nodded; Arktos continued.
"What do you wish for me to do with them?"
"At the moment, nothing. Have some of your trusted subordinates keep watch over them, but do not let them make contact with anyone and make sure any jewelry they may be wearing is confiscated."
Arktos called a couple of his men over and passed them some orders.
"What else?"
Elder James continued.
"I'd like to send some of my men to watch you defeat Korybas."
Arktos didn't even lift an eyebrow.
"Watchers then. I can agree to that. In exchange, I'd like to send some of my own men to watch your battle with Enyalius."
The Elder turned to Eudora; she thought for a moment.
"I can agree to that, but your men will not be allowed to fight. You'd be there as watchers, just as my own men will be."
"Agreed. Anything else?"
"None."
Arktos waved for one of his men to come forward.
"Good; then let us stop wasting time."
Elder James yelled over to Elder Callum.
"Dial the gate."
Elder James called over Elder Elias.
"You're going through as the liaison. Once you have things completed on your side, dial the gate and contact us. We'll do the same once we've captured Enyalius."
"Yes, sir."
Eudora spoke to Arktos as Elder Callum once more began dialing an address.
"You're free to go through once we've confirmed that the enemy vessels have all been grounded."
Arktos nodded once and turned back to his men. I pulled the Kara'kesh from my backpack, and put it on. Once more, I felt the connection of the neural interface. I could feel Ares' seven Ha'tak and numerous support craft in the city just a mile or so away.
It was a rather disconcerting feeling. When I focused on the ships, I was able to confirm that all of Ares' ships remained in lockdown, though several of them had become damaged – presumably during later fighting.
Turning my attention to the Stargate, I watched as the final chevron locked in and the blue puddle materialized before briefly exploding outwards and then stabilizing. Immediately, I felt the addition of several more connections.
I was rather surprised at the makeup of Korybas' fleet, among which were three Ha'taks. I put that out of my mind and began the process. Quickly, I revoked all of Korybas' authority over Ares' vessels, and grounded all his ships. Immediately, I felt multiple queries coming from what I assumed was Korybas.
I turned my attention away from the metal device on my hand and up towards Elder James. He had been joined by Arktos while I wasn't paying attention. He needed to hear this information anyway, so I began.
"It's done; I'm pretty sure he knows that something has happened."
Arktos seemed lost in thought for a moment, before he regained himself.
"You have my thanks. If all goes well, then we shall meet again soon."
With that, Arktos and his men left. As the Stargate deactivated, there was a small contingent of Jaffa who had remained behind.
Elder James called out to Elder Callum once more.
"Next address."
Again, Elder Callum began dialing a new address. The resistance soldiers and villagers from Veyna's Rest began to prepare. As the final chevron locked into place and the gate burst to life, I once more felt several new connection forms; most obvious was the connection to Enyalius' Kara'kesh.
Immediately, I revoked all of Enyalius' authority and ordered all vessels to remain deactivated. I turned up to Elder James.
"Done."
He nodded to me and turned to Eudora. She nodded and yelled to the assembled crowd.
"Let's get going."
Next, she turned to the remaining Jaffa contingent.
"You are to stay with us for the duration of the battle."
The lead Jaffa replied.
"We will follow your commands."
The first group of resistance fighters and heavily armed villagers marched through the gate. After the first group secured the other side, the Locusts went through. Finally everyone else passed through.
First Perk Activated. Partial Blueprint Acquired: Astria Porta (Stargate)
Buffer
I was greeted by something rather unexpected; barely a mile away, I could just make out the tips of three Goa'uld Ha'taks. The Stargate was situated in the same type of clearing that I had come to associate with Goa'uld controlled worlds, but Enyalius had landed his vessels much closer to the gate than I was expecting.
Eamon approached us as we made our way out of the gate.
"My group is ready to move out, Elder."
The Elder nodded at him once.
"Good. Get what information you can. Your primary target is Enyalius. If you have the chance, capture him alive. If not, then leave him to us."
Eamon nodded once before gesturing at two other villagers to follow him. The two rushed off before suddenly disappearing from my sight with a shimmer characteristic of the Goa'uld cloaking devices.
As the last group of soldiers rushed out of the gate, Eudora spoke up.
"We've practiced for this. Stick to the forests and do not fire unless spotted or ordered to do so. The mechs will follow up in the rear."
I stayed with the Elder and watched as the soldiers quickly joined their squads and disappeared into the forest. It was a rather impressive sight as several hundred men simply disappeared into the thick foliage.
Within a matter of a couple of minutes, the only groups that remained were a group of about 60 soldiers, the 4 Locust's and the Jaffa group who were sent to watch. Now, we just had to wait for everyone to get into position.
- - -
POV: Eamon Thorne
Enyalius' complex was rather different from Ares' city. While Ares' city had obviously been assembled over a very short period of time, this fortress was much older. The internals were effectively identical in appearance to the hallways of a Ha'tak class vessel – making it hard to tell the age of the structure – the exterior meanwhile was covered in truly ancient stone bricks that together formed a complex of almost a dozen massive pyramids.
Atop three of these pyramids sat a set of Goa'uld Ha'tak vessels. Judging purely from the appearance of overgrowth on the remaining pyramids, the entire facility must have been centuries if not millennia old.
Once we were inside the facility, navigating was relatively simple. The layout was very similar to that of a Ha'tak and I had spent several months learning to navigate such ships like the back of my own hand.
As we explored the complex, we quickly discovered a large contingent of Jaffa were congregating in the primary hangar. It was there that we discovered Enyalius; he was busy tearing open the innards of a Tel'tak. He had removed several dozen control crystals and just dumped them into a pile.
He and his ship were surrounded by more than 50 Jaffa. Some were attempting to assist with repairs, but most of them were simply standing guard. I watched as the target rushed around the interior of the ship. There was no way for us to get in and extract him. We'd have to wait for another opportunity.
A voice spoke through my earpiece.
"Alpha entrance secured."
"Beta entrance secured."
"Gamma entrance secured."
"Hangar entrances secured."
"All entrances secured. Report current status of primary target."
I moved towards an empty portion of the hangar and spoke.
"Target discovered in the primary Hangar. He is currently in the process of tearing apart a Tel'tak."
There were several moments of silence before I heard someone speak.
"Hangar teams, prepare to move in."
I spoke quietly into a separate channel.
"Infil team, move away from the ship. We don't want to get caught in the crossfire. Be prepared to capture the target if he flees."
I turned my eyes to the hangar entrance; I saw nothing but the short runway and the dense forest foliage beyond it. It was barely a couple of minutes later when the order to move in was given.
"All teams, move in."
No warning came for the Jaffa as two dozen of them burst into steam. In an instant, half of Enyalius' guards were dead. The armor now looked bloated, it was not a pleasant site.
The remaining Jaffa were frozen in confusion for only a brief second before they jumped into action.
"Enemy Attack!"
It was at this moment that Enyalius seemed to realize that something was wrong. He rushed out of the ship, screaming at his Jaffa. He turned to the entrance where resistance soldiers had made their way out of the forest and begun firing at those now in cover.
"What are you waiting for! Bring me their heads!"
There was a brief moment of hesitation, before one took the lead.
"Jaffa, kree!"
The rest seemed to break out of their hesitation and stood up straight, determination burning in their eyes.
"Jaffa, kree!"
The Jaffa rushed from cover; immediately, four more plumes of steam erupted from those in the lead, but those behind them carried on regardless. My attention was drawn to the Goa'uld as he activated his energy shield and began rushing from the room.
Taking a deep breath, I pulled out my Zat and approached Enyalius. As he rushed out of the hangar entrance, I followed closely behind him.
"I'm taking out the target. Confirm position?"
Two quick replies came.
"Confirmed." "Confirmed."
I immediately walked right up to him and grabbed his shoulder. He turned to me in confusion, but that was short lived as I blasted him at point blank range. The last thing I saw was the electric blue of the Zat blast.
- - -
POV: Arthur
My earpiece crackles.
"Target captured. Beginning Extraction."
I let out a sigh. I had been rather worried that Enyalius would be able to bypass the controls of the Tel'tak. Luckily we had been fast enough to keep that from happening.
Eudora beside me let out a deep sigh.
"Everyone move in. The primary target has been captured."
Over the next twenty minutes, the resistance members swept through the entire facility. The Jaffa outnumbered the resistance almost 4-to-1, but that advantage was effectively negated by the resistance's specially produced armor. By the end, only about 30 resistance members had died (though many more were injured) while nearly a quarter of the Jaffa had perished.
It was about an hour later that I felt a star fall from the Celestial Forge.
Perk 'Gadgeteering' missed due to insufficient points.
(Available Points: 0, Required Points: 300, Points Doubled, New Point Total: 100)
Special Achievement: Completely Neutralize a System Lord and all his subordinates (Ares)
Targets Captured AliveNo EscapeesSpecial Achievement: First Defeat of a Goa'uld System Lord (Ares)
Choose a perk:
1: Diagnostic Tools (Outlaw Star, 50 Points)
- Description:
A small data display with numerous connectors and scanners, capable of letting you know what is wrong with simple technology and what advanced technology that has been programmed into it. * Portable, can detect what's wrong with simple tech and do the same for advanced tech that you program into it. * Keep in mind 'simple' is a lot higher than modern tech for this scanner, it's from a space fiction.
2: Stockpiles (Girl's Frontline, 50 Points)
- Description:
We can't let you set off empty-handed; here's 5000 Ammo, Parts, Rations, and Manpower to get your army started (it takes 30 of each to make a baseline T-Doll, while the most consistently powerful Dolls cost something like 600/400/100/600 for a reliable chance of getting them). Each purchase gets you another 5k. * This is not just normal ammo, parts, rations and manpower, you can combine them to make T dolls which are AI-piloted android fire platforms for military operations. Plus the ethereal 'manpower'.
3: Art Set (A 'Happy' Harry Potter Fanfiction, 50 Points)
- Description:
A full art kit stored in a small expanded carry case for all your drawing or painting needs. Comes with a small paint can that can change to different colored infinite paint, both indoor and outdoor options, never dries out if left open, and doesn't get contaminated by dirt or other colors left on the brush. Chalk, pencils, and crayons won't break, require sharpening, or be used up. Drawing pages or canvas can be changed to other types and will never run out with the finished picture being saved to your folder, and brushes will never degrade or get bent, broken bristles nor run out if they're lost or pulled. The brushes come in a range of sizes from the wide indoor wall painter to the tiniest canvas detailer. Pencils, crayons, and chalk are much the same as are the colored varieties. A pack of special white erasers are included, ranging from small to large, that don't wear down or spread the erased material but can nevertheless undo any of your drawn or painted projects if necessary. The case and all its inventory can be found in your warehouse if lost, stolen, or destroyed.
4: Electronics (Star Wars - KOTOR, 50 Points)
- Description:
A large supply of computer spikes and repair parts that can be used with nearly any modern machine in the galaxy. Computer spikes overwhelm electronics with junk data and are used by hackers to aid them in bypassing electronic security doors and terminals. Repair parts are packages of universally adaptable components that can be used to fix or upgrade droids, vehicles, and other machines.
5: Satisfactorio Crafting (Satisfactory Factorio Gauntlet, 50 Points)
- Description:
You can make automated equipment for extraction and processing of raw resources. You can make automated industrial equipment out of simple items, similar to the items in the games.
I took a deep breath. I turned to Elder James beside me.
"Elder, I've just been offered some new perks."
"More than one?"
"It says I can choose between them."
The Elder nodded.
"Leave it for now. We'll discuss this later."
Elder James turned to Elder Callum.
"Dial the gate to Korybas' world. Unless I'm mistaken, all of Ares' forces have been neutralized."
"You got it."
At this moment, Eudora walked over to us.
"The remaining Jaffa have agreed to surrender. We're in the middle of confiscating their equipment."
Elder James nodded.
"Excellent. We'll need to start transferring them to Dendred as soon as possible."
The Stargate opened with a woosh as Elder Callum dialed Korybas' world.
"This is James. Enyalius has been captured. How are things on your end?"
There was a short moment of static, before a reply came.
"This is Elias. Korybas has been captured alive and his men have been neutralized."
Elder James seemed to relax as a smile came over his face.
"Understood. Is Arktos with you?"
"He is."
"Hand him the ear piece."
Another burst of static comes over the radio, before a gruff voice speaks.
"This is Arktos."
Elder James is silent for a moment, before he speaks.
"The Resistance has housing for any surviving Jaffa. We will ensure that none who surrendered will be mistreated. Are you willing to let us handle your prisoners?"
A moment of silence follows.
"I can agree with these conditions."
Elder James lets out a breath.
"Good. We'll be transferring our prisoners first. Once they've all been moved, we'll send someone through."
"I understand. I'll begin gathering the prisoners."
"Give us a couple of hours. We'll make contact soon."
With that, the gate shut off. Eudora began speaking over the radio.
"Start transferring the prisoners. Groups of 50 at a time."
With that, Ares and his subordinates were totally defeated. Through sheer, dumb luck, we had managed to defeat a system lord without allowing a single one of his servants to escape. I was, quite frankly, amazed that it had gone as well as it had.
If I ever got the chance, I would have to thank the one who placed the reset code into the Kara'kesh; without that, this entire endeavor would have been impossible. Now it was time for cleanup and negotiations.