I own neither Stargate nor the X-COM franchise. No infringement is intended, no profit is to be made and I'm just not worth the hassle of suing anyway unless you want a share of the wages of an underpaid Civil Servant.
Bra'tac swept the altar of the cities temple clear with his arm, scattering relics and a silver idol of Moloc onto the stone floor before he unfurled a map over it. You could still hear the fading sounds of battle in the distance echoing down the narrow streets and passages of the city as his forces dealt with the last of the holdouts and it could be only a matter of half an hour at most before Zimar was completely under Free Jaffa control.
'Come forward and report, Tara'c' the leader of the Free Jaffa told the young officer who had approached wearing an expression on his face that spoke much for the urgency of what he had to say.
'I am sorry Master Bra'tac but we have not been able to prevent the fires set by the Imperial Guard from destroying the towns granaries' Tara'c apologised. 'Gerak is suggesting that we requisition any grain that the human slaves might be hoarding and then turn them out of the city into the countryside' he added.
'A plan that would greatly improve our situation in the short term' Bra'tac replied, 'but I fear the long-term consequences when our Tau'ri and Tollan allies found out we drove the humans of this world from their homes to starve in order to fill the bellies of Jaffa with something other than a prim'ta would not be so beneficial to our cause' he continued. 'Return to Gerak and his warriors and tell him that I regard his suggestion as tactically sound but believe it unwise strategically.'
'There are many thousands of Jaffa in Zimar who will have need of bread we cannot supply' Tara'c noted.
'In that case I will personally undertake to obtain what food is needed to sustain them until the next harvest' a woman's voice interrupted them loudly, 'starting with an order to dispatch all available Tok'ra food stockpiles to Ninevah' it added.
Bra'tac smiled as he turned to face the new arrival. 'Queen Egeria' he greeted the Tok'ra leader who was accompanied by two of her soldiers, all three wearing Tok'ra uniform and armed with both Tau'ri supplied plasma-pistols and zat'nik'tels. 'I was not aware you were coming here or I would have met you at the chappa'ai' he apologised.
'Running this campaign is a far better use of your time than that would have been' Egeria told him. 'As for the need for grain there are likely several worlds we can purchase it from using some of the naquadah the Tau'ri gave us in return for our technical expertise and technology' she suggested.
'Gave the Tok'ra you mean' Bra'tac responded. 'Not the Free Jaffa.'
'You yourself and many others in the Free Jaffa carry developing Tok'ra symbiotes within you' Egeria replied. 'We are one people now' she said simply. 'Despite what some in both groups would like to think' she added, thinking of the traditionalists on both sides who still opposed any notion of unification between the Tok'ra and the Free Jaffa.
'Gerak will ask if you give your word on this' Tara'c told Egeria.
'Then tell him that I give it' Egeria replied.
'I will tell him' Tara'c replied with obvious satisfaction. 'Long live the Alliance' he said, snapping to attention and exchanging a bow of respect with Bra'tac before turning and heading for the door.
Egeria watched the Jaffa leave and then turned to Bra'tac. 'A very serious young man' she observed.
'He was one of those fooled into following K'tano' the Jaffa Master explained. 'Learning that he had really been a pawn of Imhotep has left him suspicious of those in authority' he continued before smiling. 'I think it annoys Gerak that one of his subordinates has yet to fall under his spell.'
'Which is why you assigned Tara'c to him?' Egeria asked knowingly.
'Gerak is one our most able commanders' Bra'tac replied. 'It aided our cause much to have another former First Prime join the Free Jaffa, and many of the other Jaffa of Montu followed him boosting our numbers, but his grasp of politics is not as well developed as his military skills so I find it wise not to give him as much freedom of action as he would like in choosing his objectives and officers.'
Egeria laughed. 'You make him sound like the Russell Sharp of the Free Jaffa' she responded.
'He is not that bad' Bra'tac replied flatly. 'Your arrival was well timed' he told her, changing the subject. 'Ninevah is nearly ours, the power of Moloc is broken and much of what remains of his fleet is joining us' he said with satisfaction.
'Including those belonging to the Imperial Guard?' Egeria queried.
Bra'tac narrowed his eyes, his expression becoming darker. 'While we may be willing to accept most Jaffa that served Moloc into our ranks his Imperial Guard deserve only death from our Staff-Rifles' he said venomously. 'The willing murderers of children have earned nothing else for their actions' he stated.
'I find it difficult to disagree' Egeria replied honestly. Even by the standards of the goa'uld Moloc's mass infanticide of any female Jaffa who were born in his domain, this being organised and carried out by his fanatical elite warriors in the Guard, was an abomination. Sokar and Anubis themselves had rarely done anything so heinous and they actually went out of their way to be despicable, both for the purposes of the psychological impact it would have on their enemies and their personal inclination to be evil bastards. 'Your losses in this battle were not too severe I hope?' she asked.
'The forces commanded by Gerak sustained perhaps a hundred casualties storming the city but most will hopefully recover their wounds' Bra'tac replied. 'Mzel lost no more than two dozen of his warriors vanquishing the bulk of the loyalists who foolishly chose to face us in the open terrain between Zimar and the chappa'ai.'
'I saw the aftermath of that battle walking here' Egeria replied. 'I am no expert but to me it looked like the field artillery was decisive' she said.
The Jaffa Master nodded. 'Although the majority of our artillery remains old-fashioned Staff-Cannon the handful of Plasma-Repeater-Cannon we deployed alongside them quickly smashed the enemy ranks at far greater ranges than our Gatling-Staffs could' he confirmed. 'It is a pity the Tau'ri are not being as forthcoming in handing over those they capture to us as they were less effective weapons' he said. 'We know they have many more sitting in warehouses than they have given us' he added bitterly.
Egeria smiled. 'Don't worry' she told him, 'the Tok'ra will soon have our own production line for the new cannons running alongside our existing manufacturing' she said.
'Good news but it took longer than I hoped' Bra'tac replied. The Tok'ra had been able to supply other equipment such as the shoulder-fired light-staff-cannons the Free Jaffa forces used for some time now, and were able to readily maintain and repair most older goa'uld systems, but the most modern weaponry had been taking them some time to back-engineer. Their genetic memory was of little help when it came to understanding the workings of entirely new inventions and the battlefields of the galaxy had been revolutionised with the deployment of far more capable equipment in recent years. 'I will show you on the map how we are deployed and why Nivevah will soon be entirely ours' the Jaffa Master told Egeria.
As he began explaining how he and his warriors had emerged victorious at such a relatively light cost the mind of the Tok'ra Queen began to wander to broader concerns, not least the nature of the wars now sweeping the galaxy. It was indisputably true that the ways in which battles were fought between the System Lords had changed more in the last five years than they had in the previous five millennia. Adoption of more effective, if perhaps less honourable, Tau'ri-like tactics plus the revolutionary new armaments that Sokar, Anubis and now Baal had introduced meant that anyone who failed to keep up would be quickly relegated to the annals of history and the Tok'ra and Free Jaffa were not about to let that happen to them.
Used to thinking in a much longer-term way than their allies Egeria and other Tok'ra were also becoming concerned at what the future impact would be of the wars, even if they ended up finally defeating the System Lords. The sheer ferocity and scale of the fighting had resulted in a truly horrific loss of life among the Jaffa, millions perishing already and almost every major battle proving to be bloodier than the last. As the lethality of the weaponry used had increased the losses were on the verge of being catastrophic in demographic terms, a situation not being helped by the fact that only male Jaffa traditionally went to war. Even if the fighting ended now, and there was little indication of that occurring any time soon, it would take generations for the population to recover and in the meantime the Tau'ri and the other advanced human worlds would claim every planet in sight and breed all over them guaranteeing their dominion over the Milky Way forever.
After centuries of worrying about their gradual extinction the Tok'ra had thought they had been saved by the reappearance of Egeria but now they were almost as concerned by another issue. When the humans dominated the galaxy what were the chances they were going to find any hosts for the prim'ta now developing in the guts of the Free Jaffa? Much as they hated the goa'uld the reality was that planets full of uneducated slaves and peasants who needed saving from medical complaints that only needed some high-technology to cure were much better for the Tok'ra than worlds like Earth, Hebridan or Tollana were.
'Master Bra'tac' a Jaffa interrupted loudly, his voice echoing from the stonework. 'You are not going to believe who we found cowering in an ante-chamber' he said with barely disguised glee.
Bra'tac and Egeria turned and both looked astonished when two more warriors entered the temple partially restraining and partially dragging a third man between them. 'You do lay on the nicest surprises when I visit' Egeria told Bra'tac as the two Jaffa threw their prisoner to the ground before their leader.
'Perhaps you bring luck' Bra'tac replied. 'To some at least' he added looking down at the obviously bruised and beaten Moloc who was dripping blood onto the floor as he raised his head, an expression more of fear than defiance on his face.
'We were going to execute him ourselves but thought you should have the privilege Master Bra'tac' one of the Jaffa who had brought in Moloc told their leader.
'It is not for me to do' Bra'tac replied. 'Someone go fetch Ishta, commander of the Hak'tyl artillery' he ordered. 'His death at her hands is the most fitting end to this monster' he declared.
Moloc raised his head. 'I can help you' he gasped, before starting to cough, bringing up blood.
'Your death would be of more help to our cause than anything you could manage' Egeria told him, unable to resist sneering.
'You are Tok'ra' Moloc responded, the voice made that obvious given that an ally of the Free Jaffa was highly unlikely to be a goa'uld.
'I am Egeria' the Tok'ra Queen replied. 'You are just as pathetic now as you were when you snivelled around Ra two thousand years ago' she told him. 'We should bring in a recording device to we can record his execution' she advised. 'Seeing the death of their supposed god projected via a vo'cume should break the will of any that still serve him.'
Bra'tac nodded his agreement. 'A wise suggestion' he replied.
One of the other Tok'ra who had arrived with Egeria looked down at Moloc and then to her. 'We could remove the symbiote and execute only that not the host as well' he said.
'Moloc has been using that host since before I first rebelled against Ra' Egeria replied, shaking her head. 'The host would have been driven to madness long ago' she said. 'All we can do for him now is put him out of his misery.'
'Moloc's Empire is fallen, his lands and resources belong to the Free Jaffa' Bra'tac exclaimed, raising one fist into the air. 'Next year in Dakara!' he declared triumphantly.
'Next year in Dakara' all the Jaffa responded as one.
Atlantis – Pegasus Galaxy – July 8465BC
Elizabeth Weir carefully placed the dust covers over the interface console of the control room which overlooked the stargate and then took a long wistful look at the gate itself. She could have gone with the Lanteans to Earth, lived out a long life, maybe even had children but she had made her decision to stay behind and try to save her expedition and she was still convinced that was the right thing to do. All the Ancients had already left and she was the only person left in the city making her feel very alone, not surprising given she was also at the bottom of an ocean, she was on an alien planet three million light-years from Earth and it was over ten thousand years before she was actually born.
Wondering what it felt like when the stasis pod activated Weir hoped the process was as fast as Brigadier O'Neill said it was as she contemplated climbing inside the one Janus had prepared for her. It should wake her in roughly thirty-three centuries from now when her job would be to plug in the second ZPM before returning to the pod. 'Maybe if I don't feel up to it I can set the snooze alarm and get in another hundred years' she joked to herself, yawning and stretching.
Back on Earth the glacial ice had retreated from Europe and North America roughly fifteen-hundred years ago according to what she remembered from geography lessons at school so it wasn't so much the climate that the Lanteans were going to find distasteful there so much as the fact that humanity was still using stone tools. Weir was now fairly certain that the so-called "Neolithic Revolution" which had occurred roughly ten thousand years before her time was down to the arrival of the Lanteans with the development of the first cities, agriculture and the first use of metals probably due to a few helpful Ancients giving advice. Advice wasn't all they were giving them either judging from the evidence provided by the existence of Jack O'Neill and John Sheppard and their ability to use Ancient technology. A few of the Lanteans had quite clearly abandoned the old rules on mating with humans once they got to Earth leaving a genetic legacy behind that a minority of people still carried with them ten thousand years from now.
Weir crossed her arms. 'Well if charm can be inherited too then if I make it back to the twenty-first century alive I'm telling John that Janus might be his great-great-great times a lot grandfather' she decided, grinning.
'The City of the Ancients' Weir said, still amazed she was here as she looked around. The design aesthetic was very different than the ruins she had seen back in the Milky Way and she had commented on that to Melia one of the more personable members of the High Council. The amused Lantean replied that it wasn't too surprising given that it was her own distant ancestors millions of years earlier who had built the cities and structures Weir knew and architectural and fashion styles did have a tendency to change after all. At the height of their civilisation before the plague devastated their population monolithic structures and massive imposing stonework had been the Ancients way of imposing their mark on the universe but in Pegasus they had shifted away from that towards a lighter more graceful look to their buildings, often styled after the city-ship itself. The Pegasus Ancients took the conscious decision to draw a dividing line between the eras of themselves and their forebears which was why they never tried to build a copy of Vis Uban, the greatest city of the Milky Way.
'Better not have anything to drink before I go into the pod' Weir told herself, turning and starting to head off towards where she would be spending the next few millennia in extreme hibernation. 'I don't want to wake up needing to use the toilet in 7000BC' she added with a giggle before frowning. 'Why am I only this funny when there's nobody to hear it' she complained.
Weir only made it two steps before a flash of light behind her had her spinning around to see what it was. 'What in the name of...' she began, seeing a gateship now hovering in the air right in the centre of the gateroom chamber. It was facing towards the stargate but it now began to slowly rotate clockwise in the air as Weir stared at it nonplussed.
If she had been surprised before then her reaction when the gateship turned to face her was more akin to jaw-dropping astonishment because sat in the two front seats, clearly visible behind the cockpit window, were Janus and Brigadier-General Jack O'Neill.
Inside the puddle jumper Janus and O'Neill looked back at Weir. 'Maybe we should wave?' O'Neill suggested whereupon they both did. 'Someone else can explain it to her' O'Neill called back to Sam Carter and the rest of SG-1 sat in the back of the Jumper. 'As soon as we land this thing I need to go carve "Jack O'Neill was here" into a piece of furniture before I forget to do it' he said, setting the small craft down as Elizabeth Weir wondered if she was already inside the stasis pod and this was just some sort of weird cryogenic-induced dream.
'Where's Janus?' Daniel Jackson asked O'Neill after two hours worth of a very condensed version of "current" events ten thousand years from now. 'I got so carried away talking to Doctor Weir that I didn't notice he disappeared' he said. Weir was now sat alone in what would be her office, or rather her time-duplicates office trying to take it all in.
'Andianov is trailing him, not that he wanted the company' O'Neill replied looking down at the time-jumper from the control room. 'I think there's stuff he's doing that he doesn't want us seeing, or at least not messing with.'
'Maybe we should just let him' Daniel suggested. 'He seems okay, and I don't think he'd endanger us.'
'No but he might think we're too "primitive" to be trusted with certain technologies that we could really benefit from' O'Neill replied. 'I'm taking his word that some of the things he's making safe like that idiotic "Exploding Tumours" gadget need dealing with but we're in a fully functional Ancient City with an freaking Ancient with us so I expect to get more out of this situation than an extra Elizabeth Weir and a list of possible ZPM locations.'
'He offered to give us the design schematics to that personal shield McKay found and couldn't figure out' Daniel pointed out. 'He also told Sam about that prototype Wormhole Drive she's down there somewhere trying to figure out herself' he added, pointing down.
'I wanted big-honking space-guns' O'Neill declared.
'We've already got those' Daniel reminded him. 'Elerium Plasma Beam Cannon, AG-3X satellites, Heavy Ion Cannon...'
'Yeah well I was hoping for something, you know, ultimate' O'Neill interrupted him mid-flow.
'Ultimate?' Daniel repeated.
'Yeah like, press this button and all the goa'uld go away' O'Neill replied.
Daniel sighed. 'Jack if the Ancients had that kind of technology they would have used it on the Wraith' he told him.
'You're probably right' O'Neill conceded regretfully. 'There's still no way they should have lost to the Wraith though even with the weaponry we know they've got' he stated. 'I mean like that really big cannon they had on their defence satellites' he continued, 'from what we know those satellites could burn right through a Wraith Hive, cut the damn things clean in half, but instead of building a ship around one and sending it off to stomp Wraith butt the Lanteans just holed up here and gave away the strategic advantage.'
Daniel was about to reply but then he paused. 'That's actually a really good idea' he told O'Neill.
'Don't sound too surprised Danny, I have my moments' O'Neill responded with a chuckle. 'Can you imagine what a couple of ZPM powered Lantean Dreadnoughts with those beam weapons plus drone launchers as their secondary armament could do to a Wraith Fleet?' he asked rhetorically. 'Especially when the Ancients had much faster hyperdrives so they could play hit and run when the numbers were too much against them' he added.
'Maybe they didn't want to risk any more ZPM's falling into Wraith hands?' Daniel suggested. 'We know that capturing some was the turning point of the war for the Wraith, it enabled them to mass produce hives.'
'Oh come on, all you need is a self-destruct to stop that happening' O'Neill replied dismissively. 'In any case we know how long the shields of this city can stand up to a full-scale bombardment by a whole fleet of Hives, any ship commander worth his rank is going to kick in his faster hyperdrives and skedaddle long before then' he said before frowning. 'It's cool that I can use their gear but knowing that means I must be descended from one of these shrubs doesn't make me all that proud I've got to say.'
'Sam would kill for your psionic scores' Daniel told him.
'Yeah well, I do like knowing there's one thing my brain does a lot better than hers' O'Neill replied. 'Where's Teal'c?' he asked.
'He's in that room with the hologram of the teacher asking it about Dakara' Daniel replied. 'It wasn't just the original Ancient Capital in the Milky Way it's also considered the birthplace of the Jaffa because it was where the goa'uld first made them from regular humans you know.'
'I guess the goa'uld claimed the place because it used to belong to the Ancients' O'Neill reasoned.
'Chances are once they got out into space they were trying to find as much Ancient technology as they could' Daniel agreed. 'It's a lot easier to find it and back-engineer it than invent it I suppose' he said. 'You know another positive of you being directly descended from the Ancients is that you can argue that the System Lords have been stealing your rightful inheritance all these years.'
'You're right, those freaking goa'uld are squatting in my ancestral family home' O'Neill realised. 'Do you think I could find the deeds around here somewhere?' he wondered, looking around.
'We could look but just think about how much the Estate Taxes would be' Daniel warned.
Valon – Milky Way – April 2005
'Hail to the King of Battle Baby' Russell Sharp said in satisfaction as from his vantage point on a hill he watched the first salvo of artillery shells start to crash down among the advancing enemy forces five or six miles away. The 155mm and 105mm high explosive, white-phosphorous and shrapnel rounds shattering what had been until then a very impressive tactical manoeuvre by Baal's forces. 'This would be a good time for you to start rounding up all your guys that ran away earlier' Sharp advised the Jaffa Officer in the trench beside him who bore the mark of Lord Yu on his forehead.
'Our warriors did not flee, they were simply moving to a superior defensive position' the Jaffa spat back at the arrogant Tau'ri leader.
'In that case I commend your warriors for the fastest tactical withdrawal I've ever seen from an infantry unit and offer praise for the way in which half of them dropped their weapons in order to move faster' Sharp responded sarcastically. 'Look numb-nuts' he addressed the Jaffa forcefully, 'your boss requested our help to hold this fucking planet and without us you'd have lost it already so just do what you're told' he said.
'The Jaffa of Lord Yu need no help from the Tau'ri' the officer replied angrily.
Sharp looked the Jaffa in the eyes. 'Christ, you actually believe that shit you're spouting don't you?' he asked rhetorically. 'What's the name of the next guy down from you in the chain of command?'
'Changpu' the Jaffa replied, confused by the question until Sharp raised his L2-A3 and shot him with a zat'nik'tel discharge, the pain fortunately short-lived as he crumpled to the bottom of the trench unconscious.
'You there, tell Changpu he's in charge now and he needs to start gathering up those Jaffa before they retreat tactically all the way back to the stargate' Sharp issued an order to another of Yu's Jaffa. The warrior was just standing there staring at his stunned officer in dismay and wondering if he should shoot the Tau'ri in retaliation. 'Don't fuck around, just do it' Sharp added curtly before turning to talk to one of his own soldiers. After a moment the Jaffa went and did what he was told whilst beginning to reassess his previous belief that the tales of the exploits of the Tau'ri Warlord Sharp of Canada must be terribly exaggerated.
Once the site of one of Lord Yu's secret installations the main importance of the planet Valon these days was that it would make an excellent staging area for an attack on Yu's capital world. Because of this Yu's First Prime Oshu had requested urgent Tau'ri assistance in defending it while he gathered enough reserves to properly garrison the world himself. Not wanting the empire of another System Lord to collapse, especially not one which was really being run in secret by Oshu rather than his senile master, the IOA had ordered Sharp to deploy all forces he saw fit which meant the majority of X-COM Troopers based on Terra Nova were now either already here or standing by to reinforce the deployment if necessary.
To their credit Yu's army had learned enough from fighting Baal before to have dug in deep, emplaced plenty of Staff-Cannon and made it very difficult for the enemy to expand out of their initial landing zones. At least that was true at first anyway but after a few days of brutal fighting superior weaponry had begun to turn the tide of battle against the defenders and Baal's armies were now pushing out in all directions to secure the strategically important sites of the planets single large continent.
With Baal's battle-fleets elsewhere, the invasion had been via Al'kesh and Troop Transports not Ha'tak vessels, at least they weren't being blasted from orbit but the enemy was still much better equipped from basic infantry gear on upwards and Yu's Jaffa were still losing several of their own for each of their foe that fell even though they had the advantage of being the defenders.
'We'll give them another ten minutes worth of artillery then counter-attack with Hover-Tanks and Powered Armour' Sharp decided. 'Should be able to drive the sons-of-bitches back ten maybe fifteen miles easy before it gets dark' he said confidently. 'When the sun sets we'll pull our armour back to the starting line and start laying landmines in those fields there' he said, pointing to indicate a cluster of farms with a small river snaking through them. 'Rig that stone bridge across the river to blow too and position mortars to hit any fords they might use because I'll bet they'll try to flank us that way tomorrow' he said.
'They've got night-vision gear for some of their grunts these days Sir' one of his junior officers reminded him. 'What if they try and hit us tonight?' he asked.
'It's possible but I didn't have plans for this evening anyway did you?' Sharp replied with an obvious lack of concern if they did. 'They'll have a hell of a job hauling their field-guns with them at night and without their direct-fire artillery in support they won't be able to put much pressure on us' he said, turning back towards where his own indirect-fire artillery was making its mark and raising his L2-A3 to look through it's electronic gunsight, activating the zoom for a better look.
As X-COM's batteries of M119A1 105mm Howitzers bolstered by their more powerful M777 155mm big brothers rained death on the enemy Jaffa Sharp could only wish ruefully that he could win the war this way. Despite achieving repeated victories on the battlefield and the use of ever more effective means of slaughtering the enemy the truth was that Baal was winning the war and if any of the System Lords were still fighting him in more than a token way by 2006 it would be a surprise.
The losses Earth and its increasingly beleaguered goa'uld allies had inflicted on Baal had certainly slowed down his expansion. Indeed according to Tok'ra agents he was finding it near impossible to scrape up enough Jaffa to garrison a quarter of his domain, allowing the Tok'ra themselves and the Tau'ri to play merry hell with his supply lines as they had once done to Apophis, but strategically Baal was winning nonetheless.
The System Lords opposed to Baal were basically broken. They didn't have enough Jaffa to replace those who had fallen and although some of the Goa'uld had resorted to using human conscripts instead that only proved their desperation. Moreover their economies were wrecked after years of near continual warfare against Sokar, Apophis Anubis and now Baal and their already limited industrial bases were critically overstretched.
Most intelligence analysts working for X-COM predicted Lord Yu would be the last System Lord still in the fight and after he was beaten Baal would finally get around to dealing with the Tok'ra and their Free Jaffa allies who had benefited until now from not being a major enough threat to warrant Baal's attention. Some of the experts theorised that Baal might then back-stab his own allies, seeking to annex the territories of Kali, Bastet and Amaterasu but most thought that the advanced human worlds like Earth or Tollana would be the next target.
It wouldn't come to that of course, X-COM always had a few back-up plans one of which was the destruction of Baal's capital world with naquadria bombs followed by the unleashing of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons against every goa'uld controlled planet if he didn't quickly surrender. The worst case scenario was naturally evacuation to Pegasus and a rebuilding of Terran civilisation there, but the slightly less drastic option was giving the Aschen Confederation the latest goa'uld hyperdrive designs and waiting to see what happened when Baal found himself facing a society consisting of billions of humans who were advanced enough to turn Planetary Gas Giants into stars and had the sort of manufacturing capabilities which even Sokar could have only dreamed of.
Lowering his rifle having watched enough Jaffa get blown to pieces for now Commander Sharp personally doubted they would ever have to let the Aschen off the leash. Chances were that even saying it was on the cards would lead to the Tollan deciding to throw themselves into the war instead to forestall that and if there was one thing that would be likely to get Baal to reassess his plans for galactic domination it would be a proactive Tollana. Visions of their phase-cloaked warships blasting Ha'tak out of the sky with Heavy Ion Cannons, and maybe blowing ocean-sized holes in a few of Baal's worlds as a demonstration of what their UFT bombs, warmed Sharp's admittedly rather dark heart and should at least give a goa'uld as smart as Baal pause for thought he decided.
'Pity we couldn't bring in a few regiments of Langarans' Sharp remarked. Although X-COM had been helping to train and equip units made up of soldiers from the three armies of that world the Langarans didn't want their troops fighting the goa'uld until they had the kind of planetary defences which Earth or Tollana could boast, fearing retaliation from space. 'After taking bolt-action rifles up against Loki's meanest guys I'll bet fighting Jaffa would be like a pleasant stroll in the country' he joked.
'I'd rather have an Optrican Airmobile Brigade backing us up Sir' an X-COM sergeant responded. The Optrican Army had very good equipment and they seemed plenty tough enough from what he knew of their war with the Bedrosians and what he had seen of them first-hand during the fighting on Langara.
'Won't be long before all our allies are in this Sergeant' Sharp told him. 'The future belongs to the human race not a bunch of fucking parasites with delusions of godhood' he declared.
The sergeant couldn't help but grin at Sharp's certainty and his earnest, "Manifest Destiny" delivery of the line. 'So what about the Asgard?' he asked.
Commander Russell Sharp grinned back. 'I'm a reasonable man' he replied. 'They can keep Ida, we'll settle for the entire rest of the universe' he announced magnanimously.