I walked onto the bridge of the Leopard-Class Dropship a bit less than 56 hours after returning home. I slept for a bit more than two days, then I spent my time eating and getting caught up with all the other kids.
While I had been gone I had been able to repress the loneliness, but even just a week without any significant social contact had taken its toll. To say that I was relieved to not be the only one going on assignment this time would have been a gross understatement.
I found Yren waiting for me on the bridge. She was holding a compad and scrolling through technical manuals, a habit she had gained the moment she became aware of their existence. She had always been the nerdy type, but now that she had access to more than just the odd math textbook that the Elders 'found' she was memorising everything she could get her hands on. She didn't like being bothered when she got like this, so I quickly found a seat.
"Hello again, Arthur. It's been a while."
Just before I sat down, I heard a voice behind me.
Slowly I turned around to find Eamon Thorne, one of the villages' hunters. He was twelve years older than me, so we hadn't interacted much, but I knew that he was one of the village's best hunters.
Three times a year, the Elders would invite some of the graduates – those who had moved onto their full time profession – to our regularly scheduled war games. Sometimes this would be more so to show how rusty the graduates got, but other times it would be to show us what we could do better. Elder James had invited Eamon to put us in our place; he had waited until it was dark and then one by one picked us all off.
It showed that the Elders were taking the operation seriously, and I was glad that he would have my back.
I smiled back at him.
"It's good to see you, Eamon. You don't visit often; I would have loved for you to come by a second time for the games."
He chuckled good naturedly.
"I've been busy, though even if I had come by again you all wouldn't have lasted an hour."
I nodded.
"Absolutely, but it would have been nice to spend some more time learning from you."
He laughed lightly this time.
"You never change, do you Arthur. Tell me, what have you been doing since I last seen you?"
"Nothing much, I've spent most of my time focusing on the games. I've been meaning to pick up a hobby for a while, but I've yet to get a chance."
Eamon nodded seriously.
"It's always important to have something to do to destress. Have I shown you any of my paintings?"
He painted? That was something I was very much unaware of.
"No, I'm afraid you haven't."
"A shame. Once everyone is back home I'll have to show you some of my paintings. I recently discovered a new blue pigment. The only issue is that I have to travel a month and a half on foot to reach the quarry where I can get the main ingredient."
As interesting as that sounded, the door opened once again and in walked Elder James and another of the villagers hunters.
When I had seen that Eamon was one of the people on this mission, it wasn't hard to figure out who the other one would be. Kaela Arden was second only to Eamon when it came to stealth, but she was the single greatest archer in the entire village. The idea of her getting access to laser weaponry was both utterly terrifying and deeply relieving. We just had to hope that she managed to make the transfer from one weapon to the other. Considering the fact that she was here, the Elders seemed to believe that she had.
We all took a seat, Yren put away her compad, and Elder James began the briefing.
"Alright. You all will have three missions. Kaela, Yren, you two will be performing reconnaissance on our suspected resistance members. You will either check back in a week's time or whenever you confirm who we believe they are."
Next he turned his attention to Eamon.
"Eamon, you will be looking for signs of a Tok'ra infiltrator. This won't be like a normal search mission. We do not know what sort of technology they might have access to. As such, you are not to search the rooms of any of the Goa'uld, you are just there to observe them for suspicious behaviour."
Finally he turned to me.
"Arthur, your primary mission will be to infiltrate and retrieve at least two of the Goa'uld staff weapons for testing. Your priority is not getting caught and not putting undue pressure on possible future allies. This could take you two days, it could take you two months. If you cannot achieve your goal while remaining completely unnoticed, then you are not permitted to do so."
We all responded as one;
"Understood."
Elder James nodded.
"Good. Now, we will begin reviewing operational contingencies."
Elder James spent the next four hours drilling us on the various security measures that the Elders had devised for the village's safety. Using the captured Ashrak host – who was still unconscious – they had devised a way to detect the naquadah-based protein that signified a person being a Goa'uld host. From there they had modified a device that would activate should it detect that compound in the wearer's blood.
They had also added protocols for wireless communications; namely, the tried and tested "don't do that" protocol. The only time wireless communications were to be used was during moments of extreme distress, or when a mission was accomplished, at which point the mission lead would ping the other compads in the area and return home.
So, with all of that complete, it was time to head out. We got a quick ride to the Stargate on a pair of Locusts; the kids who were piloting them were having the time of their lives
First Perk Activated. Partial Blueprint Acquired: Locust (LCT-1Vb)
Extralight Fusion Engine (XL Engine), Locust Frame
From there, it was a quick dialing. With the gate activated, Kaela turned to the rest of us.
"Well, I hope I see you guys soon."
Then she was through the gate. The rest of us followed suit, activating the cloaks the instant we were through.
I waited for about ten minutes for the others to get well ahead of me before I turned my attention to the DHD. The Elders had wanted me to devise a way to confirm whether or not any of us had been caught, and I had devised a few possible options. The DHD was likely to be one of if not the single most powerful antenna in the world. I simply had to add a subroutine for it to search for a radio signal and dial a particular gate when it received that signal. Then it would send a signal through the gate.
It didn't work, at least not as I was hoping. Luckily I had been expecting just that, and the Elders provided me with a few microcontrollers that I could attach to the input sockets on the DHD. Now, all I had to do was tell the DHD to send a signal to the microcontroller and then have the microcontroller produce the Stargate Address which it would dial. Then the microcontrollers could send a short radio signal.
It took me almost three hours of work, but I had just barely managed it. I did a test dialing to confirm it functioned and quickly got a reply back from Home. I had not been bothered once during the entire process and it really brought into question why the Goa'uld didn't fortify their home Stargates. I would have to ask if I ever got the chance.
With the backup completed, I began the trek back to Ares' City. The view was just as breathtaking the second time I saw it as it was the first, it was only ruined by the fact that most of the people who lived in it were slaves.
I spent the next three days checking every armory in the city. Each of them were well maintained and stocked, and all of them were sealed tighter than an airlock. I already knew as such from my initial reconnaissance and I was not at all surprised to learn that I would likely be waiting for a while.
—
POV: Kaela Arden
I found my way to Elder Dresden's tent and entered. The Elder was already looking at the flap, so the moment I was inside I deactivated the cloak.
"Hey, old man. I need some help. You up for it."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Unlike you, I like to know what I'm getting into before I agree to it."
I chuckled lightly then began to explain my mission to get into contact with the Dendred Resistance and the possible nature of Lior as a member. Luckily, I had run this by the captain before making contact, or Dresden would have never agreed.
He furrowed his brows.
"So what do you want me to do?"
I smirked.
"I want you to ask him!"
He looked at me, unamused.
"I am not going to walk up to the man and ask him straight up if he is in the resistance."
I sighed theatrically.
"A shame. That'll make getting in contact with their leadership so much more difficult. I may have to do something drastic, like kidnapping one of them."
He looked at me like I was an idiot.
"You can't be serious."
I nodded emphatically.
"Totally and completely serious. Even got Elder James' approval and everything."
The man fell back onto his mattress.
"Fine. I'll ask him tomorrow. Just make sure you're nearby."
"You got it, old man."
With that, I reactivated the cloak and left his tent.
It was the next day when the old man decided to get on with it. During breakfast, he sat down across from Lior and his conversation partner, both of whom immediately turned completely quiet. The Elder grabbed a slice of bread and began eating as he talked.
"I was under the impression that you would want something in return for sending that message."
Lior's face remained completely passive as he responded.
"I will, but I don't need anything from you at the moment."
The Elder placed a piece of bread in his mouth and slowly chewed away, slowly, as he watched Lior. I stood off to the side and recorded the conversation. Finally, the Elder swallowed and continued.
"Let's cut to the chase. You're part of the resistance."
Lior's eyebrows twitched ever so slightly.
"I am unaware of any resistance."
The Elder took another slice of bread and continued speaking.
"Well you see, I heard some interesting information recently. Let me know if it rings any bells. A while back a world by the name of Dendred was invaded by Ares. They were a pretty advanced civilization, and the world's inhabitants – led by a fellow going by the name Ma'chello – started a resistance to fight against Ares. Any of that rings any bells."
Lior's face was unnaturally blank, the guy next to him was much the same.
"I would very much like to hear where you've learned of such things."
"A little birdy told me. Though their words line up with what I've seen. The tents, the pickaxes, none of this is hand made. It could only really be created by an industrialized society. So tell me, are you a member of the resistance?"
Neither Lior nor the Elder moved. Lior stared into the Elder's eyes while he asked a question.
"What do you want?"
Elder Dresden grinned like a shark.
"I want to help, and I want a meeting with your superiors."
Neither of them moved, except to grab a piece of bread. Finally, Lior turned his eyes away.
"Can you teach Japanese?"
The man sitting to Lior's right snapped his face at him, his face remaining blank, before he turned back to the Elder.
The Elder raised an eyebrow.
"Easily. It isn't a quick process though."
Lior turned his attention to his food.
"Then give me a few days and I'll have an answer for you."
The Elder nodded.
"Then you have my thanks."
"You can thank me by not stabbing me in the back."
They both chuckled lightly. The man to Lior's left had completely frozen stiff, but he quickly shook it off and returned to his meal. They both finished and went their separate ways. As he started his walk to the quarry, Elder Dresden spoke into midair.
"Did you get what you wanted?"
I chuckled, speaking loud enough so that only the Elder could hear me.
"Hopefully. Now we just have to wait and see what happens when the hornets nest hits the ground."
His face remained neutral.
"Shouldn't you be following them?"
"Yren is handling that. I have other things to do."
The Elder sighed.
"Alright, take care of yourself."
"You know I will. You do the same, Elder."
With that I left the Elder to his own devices. I had a lot of people to watch, and possibly some tents to search.