Author Topic: Chapter 50  (Read 4295 times)

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Offline Daen

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Chapter 50
« on: July 29, 2022, 04:26:47 AM »
Korama leaned back in the pilot’s seat, stretching and yawning. As beautiful as the view was, and as interesting as seeing all the other ships in orbit had been, this trip had become overwhelmingly boring.

He was the only one on board the small craft; his younger brother and father were both on the planet below, hopefully receiving the symbiotes they needed. Taa’na was only weeks away from undergoing prata, and facing death without one. Korama remembered his own prim’ta ceremony vividly. A priest with a knife, chanting prayers to the gods over his dying body.

The galaxy had changed so much, and so quickly. Not so long ago, he and all other Jaffa had been in service to the gods and then, almost overnight, they were all suddenly gone! His father had come home from the wars, and then, just as suddenly, there were no wars anymore. Now, symbiotes weren’t a gift from on high so much as a gift from the new Free Jaffa Council. The prim’ta ceremony itself was now… obsolete.

His own symbiote twitched within him, almost as if it had read his thoughts. Somberly, he realized that he would also need a replacement for it, possibly in as little as a year. Either that, or begin taking the drug the Tok’ra had developed. He honestly didn’t know what to make of that idea. To give up a symbiote forever? It seemed like heresy. And his father certainly wouldn’t approve.

He just wished that they would get back soon. At least this trip had been exciting for Taa’na.

Ahead, a flash of light caught his attention. Another tel’tak had suddenly fired its engines and jetted forward. As Korama leaned forward to get a better look, he could see the ship’s shields flare as it collided with- something.

The empty space in front of him seemed to twist and ripple, distorting the view of the planet beneath them. Then, suddenly filling that space, was a full-sized ha’tak mothership.

He gasped and instinctively steered his own ship back and away. The tiny tel’tak was lodged in the superstructure of the now-visible battleship, and both ships appeared to be disabled. Several fires could be seen raging through the viewports of the ha’tak, and only the very rear portions of the cargo ship were visible.

From his new and safer position, Korama reached towards his communications system to send them a message, before realizing he had no idea what to say! Do you need help? Is anyone alive over there?

A harsh voice cut through his paralyzed indecision. "All non-combat craft are ordered to leave this area, immediately! This is now a Kek’shara matter. I repeat: leave the area immediately!"

One glance at the control board told him that the order had come from one of the other ha’taks guarding the planet. He could see two of them fast approaching from behind.

Korama hastened to obey. As he turned the ship to put some distance between them, he could see escape pods being launched from the bigger ship, as if it were some kind of burning tree, releasing its seeds while it still could.

Off in the distance, the vast void between worlds was suddenly filled with flashes of light. Ships, dozens of them, heading for the planet. As one, they burned past him towards the crippled ha’tak.

Whatever was going on here was way bigger than he’d ever seen before. Korama just hoped his brother and father would be safe, at least until he could come back to get them.

-.-

With a groan, Tony propped himself upright in the copilot’s seat. Gingerly, he checked his head, arms and legs before doing the same for his ribcage. Nothing seemed to be broken. Looking over, he saw a livid bruise forming on David’s forehead where he’d smacked into the steering orb. He wasn’t moving.

The light in the cabin was very low, probably emergency lighting, and it was flickering on and off. The ship’s front viewports had gone opaque, but at least they seemed intact. Tony’s muscles protested as he got up and examined David more closely.

He was breathing, and he woke up with a gasp of pain as Tony tried to lift him out of the seat.

"Gah! Damn!" He rubbed his neck and forehead before slowly looking around. "We’re alive?"

"Looks that way." Satisfied that he wasn’t in any immediate danger, Tony glared at him. "What were you thinking, pulling a stunt like that? Are you insane??"

David gave a pained-sounding chuckle. "Well, technically I’ve got multiple personalities, so that’s a yes. I’m not really sure if that was Alvesh or me, actually."

He reached out to the control console, but it didn’t respond. A long, jagged crack ran the length of it. "It’s dead." He grunted. "But on the upside, there’s no way Hargrove will be able to open a stable hyperspace window now, not with us sticking out of his side like a knife. You can yell at me later if you want, but I bet you’d have done the same thing if you had time to think about it."

Tony let that pass. He didn’t want to consider just how much he wanted to take Hargrove down. "So, what now?"

"Well, I transferred all shields forward before my ‘kamikaze’ run, so the ship is still intact, but that’s about all the good news there is. We’re almost out of power, both sets of engines are toast, and-" he stopped and turned his head slightly. "Yup, we’ve sprung a leak."

The very faint hissing noise Tony had barely noticed earlier seemed a lot louder now. "Ok. Escape pods?"

David shook his head. "I saw us punch through several levels of Hargrove’s ship before I blacked out. The pods won’t launch from in here." He staggered over to the airlock door and peered through it. "Looks like we’re in luck. The airlock’s sealed shut because of the impact, but it looks like we’ve got a positive air seal. Emergency forcefields must be keeping the air from escaping through the breach we made. If I can get this open, we can walk right onto Hargrove’s ship."

"Ok, but are you sure you’re up for it?" Tony gave a concerned glance at the welt on David’s head.

[David has a concussion.] Alvesh answered for him. [I have it under control for now, but it would be best if you took the lead, assuming we get over there. If I am to heal him fully, he needs to remain still.]

Not entirely reassured, Tony nodded.

David worked on the airlock in silence for a few moments as Tony thought over what to do next. It was possible Hargrove had been killed during the impact, but Tony had to be sure. Depending on how much of the ship had been opened to space, it was possible there was no one left alive over there. And of course they didn’t have anything even close to a space suit on their own ship.

When David finally gave him a nod, they both stepped into the airlock.

The hallway on the other side was a mess. Two mangled corpses could be seen from their position, and twisted metal fragments littered the area. The air was breathable, if a bit acrid, and alarms were blaring from the nearby hall.

Tony took the lead and stepped out into the hall, his 9 mil at the ready. It wasn’t any better outside. Crumpled metal bulkheads marked the left passage, and he could hear the roar of unchecked flames down that way.

"This must be a mothership." David spoke up hoarsely, through the smoke. "That’s an evacuation alarm."

It didn’t take them long to find a console and confirm what he’d said. According to the computer, all engines had failed, and the ship was slowly losing orbit. The evacuation order had gone through barely three minutes prior.

"Hargrove wouldn’t leave without the SV." Tony said bluntly. "It’s been the key to the Alliance’s success. Pierson said it was in the power core, right?"

"That way, then." David pointed him to the right. He put his hand to his head. "I won’t be much use to you in a fight, not like this. I can use the ship’s internal sensors to keep an eye on you from here, and keep anyone left on board from surprising you."

Grimacing, Tony nodded and turned his radio on. "Good luck."

David followed suit. "You too."

-.-

With David’s help, he made good time through the length of the impressively large ship. He saw a few people on his way, but they didn’t seem to notice him, or they were just too busy to care. Most of them were injured, or helping injured people to the escape pods.

It seemed David’s plan had been a winner. This mothership, which they’d discovered had been named Apotheosis, was crippled. It’s shields were down, and in a few hours at most, it would fall out of orbit and burn up in the planet’s atmosphere. And that was assuming the Jaffa forces didn’t blow it to pieces first. Tony didn’t know why they weren’t firing yet. David hadn’t been able to tell what was happening outside; the ship’s external sensors were down, too.

As he rounded the last bend outside the ship’s fusion core, Tony could hear voices ahead. He thought he recognized Hargrove’s voice, but the door closed before he caught anything significant. As quietly as he could, Tony sidled up next to the door and pulled it open just a fraction, hopefully not enough to alert anyone.

"All right, the power’s off." He heard Hargrove say. "Disconnect the leads, carefully, and lift it out."

A wave of something cold washed through Tony. This was his chance. After all the suffering and death, the shocks and self-recriminations, now was his time!

He didn’t give himself time to think about what he was doing. Slapping the door control to open it fully, he walked into the room, firing.

The two guards at the door were good, all right. They were in flanking positions on either side, within sight of both the door and Hargrove. But they weren’t expecting anyone. Neither had a chance to aim before he shot them each, twice.

The two technicians near the power core were armed as well, and he gunned them down before either had a chance to pull their weapons. To his credit, Hargrove crouched as he spun around, and almost had his gun in line before a final shot took him in the shoulder, propelling him to the ground and his gun skittering across the room. Tony never even broke step. Before he knew it, he was staring down at his enemy, gunhand steadily aimed.

The cold wave faded, and Tony came back to himself. His hand started trembling as he realized just how casually he’d done everything, but he willed himself to stay calm.

The Soma Voco had fallen to the ground. Clutching at his bleeding shoulder, Hargrove glanced at it for a moment, before dragging himself back towards the wall. When he looked back up, his eyes showed… respect, of all things!

"What, no headshot for me?"

"Believe me, I’m already regretting it." Tony said darkly as he reloaded. He wondered faintly what would happen next.

"Nicely done." Hargrove grated out slowly as he looked around the room. "I should have known that you’d make it out alive, and that you’d worm your way on board my ship." He gave a pained laugh. "You were crazy enough to ram me, after all."

"That was David." Tony admitted faintly.

"Really. I didn’t think he had the stones for that. Comes with being a Tok’ra, I guess." Hargrove shook his head. "No matter. What happens now?"

"Why’d you do it, Hargrove?" Tony could finally ask him, finally look at his face while he answered. "Why create the Alliance? Was it part of your vow to eliminate the Goa’uld for good?"

Propping himself up against the wall, Hargrove gave him an intense look. "I’ve wanted to explain this to you for years, Tony. Hell, I even wanted to bring you in on the plan in the first place! Garrett convinced me you weren’t ready." He glanced over at his dead guards. "Maybe you are now."

"Oh, that's rich." Tony couldn't keep the scorn from his voice. "I hope you're not trying to take the moral high ground, now that a few of your cronies are dead."

"They're not all mine, Tony." Hargrove kept his eyes on the bodies. "Not originally, anyway."

Almost unwillingly, Tony followed his gaze. Three of the bodies were unknown to him, but one seemed familiar. With a start, he realized it was Govis. He'd let his hair grow out, and was sporting a mustache, but it was definitely him.

In his haste, Tony hadn't even noticed who he'd been shooting at.

"That's not all." Hargrove continued softly. "Jahu and Chanehi were in the lower corridors of the ship when you hit us. By now, what's left of them is probably falling through the planet's atmosphere. Two weeks ago your Tok'ra friends shot Premin'aha to death."

He sighed. "How many more, Tony? How many of your own people are you going to kill before this is done?"

"They stopped being my people when they became criminals." Tony struggled to keep his voice even.

"Criminals? Criminals break the law, Tony! Whose laws have we broken? Goa'uld laws? Jaffa laws? What exactly makes us the bad guys here?"

"The whole Alliance is made up of nothing but thugs with spaceships, and you're the worst one! You orphaned Sylvia, for God’s sake!"

But before he’d even finished speaking, Hargrove was already shaking his head. "And what do you think you’re doing, right now? You were so obsessed with tracking me down that you were willing to risk making her into an orphan. Again! No, no, you can tell yourself it’s my fault, Tony, but you know it’s not true. We both know you wanted this. Don’t try to hide your motivations from me." He slowly and deliberately spread his right hand, covered with his blood, towards Tony. "Your beliefs don’t make you any better than the rest of us!"

Tony clenched his jaw. This wasn’t what he wanted to hear. "Why did you create the Alliance, Hargrove? What are you preparing it for?"

With a grunt, Hargrove forced himself to sit up, his back against the wall. "Aside from Earth, all of humanity has been nothing but a stepping stone for eons! First for the Goa’uld, then for the replicators. Now, maybe for the Ori, too."

He glared accusingly up at Tony. "You remember what it was like back then. We started by calling ourselves Survivors, and that's exactly what we did! No matter what happens to Earth, mankind will survive, because of us. We're strong, intelligent, adaptable, and we're growing in numbers every day! For the first time in history, humanity's fate is in their own hands, and that’s because of me!"

Tony’s lip twisted. "So this is your master plan? To replace one set of monsters with another? They’re no better than the Goa’uld!"

"They will be." Hargrove’s voice became soft again. "Our destiny is out there, Tony. When we claim it, everything will change. The truth of the universe will be ours, and everything will change!"

Tony snorted. "You can’t hide your motivations from me, either! Never try to con a con artist, Hargrove. You can save the religious dogma for someone who will believe it. You did this for power. So that you could be in control of it all."

Suddenly his radio came to life. "Tony, I just got external sensors online! There’s a firefight going on out there! The Jaffa are squaring off against a bunch of other Goa’uld-designed ships."

Tony gave Hargrove a questioning glance. He held the radio on, so that David could hear as well.

"They’re Alliance ships." Hargrove explained. "I had them standing by in case the mission went south. When you crippled my ship I called them in, to give me time to escape."

As if to emphasize his words, the deck shuddered and the internal lights flickered.

"So that’s why the Jaffa haven’t been firing on us. Until now, anyway." Tony lifted the radio. "David, get down here, quick. We'll need to find a ring room and get out of this hellhole."

"You got it."

"The nearest one is two levels above us." Hargrove offered unexpectedly. "But all the rings on the ship are locked down tight. It will take hours for you to break through the encryption codes. Fortunately for you, I know them."

Tony gave him a scornful look. "Let me guess. You’ll give us the codes if we promise to take you with us?"

"No, your need for revenge is too strong." Hargrove shook his head sadly. "I can see that now. I was hoping you’d let me go, but that won’t happen, will it?"

He gave Tony a piercing look. "I’ll give you the code if you give me your word, as a soldier and a man of God, that you’ll let Suna and Cayo go."

Tony blinked in surprise. He’d cut them loose days ago, but apparently Hargrove didn’t know that.

"Just… let them disappear." He continued, looking down. "I wasn’t cut out to be a husband, or a father, but at least I can do that for them."

"I give you my word. I won’t make them pay for your mistakes." Tony assented softly.

As Hargrove let out a long sigh of relief, David came skidding through the door. "Tony, we have to go. The Alliance ships are bugging out, and the Kek’shara are on their way back here!" He gaped at the carnage in the room for a moment, and then shook his head. "Are we taking him with us?"

"No." Tony reached down and grabbed the Soma Voco. "Head up to the ring room. I’ll get the code and meet you there."

David nodded and headed for the door before pausing. "Tony, if we leave him, there’s nothing stopping him from grabbing an escape pod. He might get away."

The gun in his hands suddenly felt a lot heavier. "I know. Go!"

He didn’t hesitate a second time.

Almost as if in a dream, Tony closed the door after he'd gone, so that David wouldn’t hear the gunshot.
« Last Edit: July 29, 2022, 04:42:15 AM by Daen »