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    (More of "Darkest Before Dawn," see previous post for beginning and next post for conclusion.)

    Spoiler:
    Everyone on the bridge cheers triumphantly, and the Ori formation dissolves in the wake of such a stunning upset. Seizing the momentum, Carter motions to Teal’c and says that they can proceed with the next part of the plan. He nods in reply and tells a nearby officer to scan one of the Free Jaffa motherships for a group tagged with locator beacons. When the crewman has the individuals locked in the sensors, Teal’c says to beam him down with them to a precise set of coordinates in the middle of Chulak’s capital city. With any luck, the people will see their old hero return with an army to free them and rise up against their oppressors. Col. Davidson offers to send a group of marines down with them, but Teal’c refuses on principle; Jaffa are too stubborn and proud to accept anyone but fellow Jaffa leading the charge. Up here where the citizens can’t see is one thing, but on the ground is quite another. He and his people will do this themselves or not at all. And with that, he disappears in the flash of a transport beam.

    Inside the landed enemy mothership, the commanding Prior looks out at the Free Jaffa death gliders beginning to make attack runs on Ori surface fortifications. He demands that someone contact another conquered planet to call for assistance, but a worshipper manning the communications terminal replies that they’re long-range transmitter has been jammed. He glares angrily as two gliders pelt the shields directly in front of him, then watches in shock when hundreds of individual transport beams materialized a ways away in the city square. Teal’c has brought some of the finest warriors from around the Milky Way, clad in traditional Jaffa armor supplemented with Tau’ri advances such as anti-staff weapon polymers (“Heroes, Part 1”). They easily defeat the few guards in the immediate vicinity, then advance in the direction of the mothership, taking cover as necessary to engage reinforcing crusaders. From his vantage point, the Prior begins to show signs of fear, and flinches noticeably when a single staff blast hits the shields in front of him. Down in the square, Teal’c lowers his weapon, smiling, before rejoining his forces.

    Meanwhile, Mitchell and the F-302s have succeeded in repelling the Ori fighters, chasing them as far as possible toward their berths before being turned back by intense enemy fire. Launching a missile after one of them, Cameron radios the Odyssey and reports in, saying that they’ve taken far fewer losses than they anticipated. The early loss of a mothership seems to have thrown the crusaders into complete disarray, suggesting that the Priors chose not to inform the worshippers about Earth’s new weapons system. After such a humiliation over a heavily populated world, however, he expects that the news will spread like wildfire through the believers’ ranks. Whether that will cause panic or renewed resolve, no one can know.

    Moving in behind the fighters, the Free Jaffa vessels concentrate their barrage on the opposing ha’tak, knowing well enough to leave the Ori ships to the Tau’ri. They hold enough of an advantage of blow them away with relative ease, and their al’kesh move in to finish off what tries to make an escape. Still out in the thick of things, the Odyssey has moved on to a second enemy mothership, ducking a plasma beam and returning one of its own. The blue ray punches through the weakened shields and pierces the hull, venting atmosphere and crusaders into space. Vala looks away, inadvertently thinking that Tomin could be among those now sucked into cold vacuum. She does her best to put the thought from her mind, then returns to her task of coordinating firing arcs between the Earth ship and the Jaffa. The last thing they need in all of this is friendly fire.

    Down in the settlement, Teal’c leans out from a column and fires up at a crusader hiding behind an abandoned cart. He scores a direct hit, and the man tumbles down the marble stairs with his weapon clattering behind. The Free Jaffa army has retaken the central city and set up a forward command center inside the Palace of Apophis, the place where the rebellion against the Goa’uld began when Teal’c refused to execute Jack O’Neill and SG-1. They’ve gone so far as to mount staff cannons on the roof and begin shelling enemy positions nearby, driving entrenched crusaders into the streets or into the outskirts. Up above, death gliders have gained total air superiority and are circling the skies alert for potential targets. They’ve had to abandon runs on the landed Ori mothership, though, as its array of secondary plasma turrets are rapid fire cannons capable of bringing a whole squadron down in seconds. Now the major focus is on the advance up the hill to the flagship vessel, and they’ve made good time thus far.

    A civilian runs up behind him, grabs a zat gun out of a weapons supply pile, and quickly piles in with dozens of others to join the fight. Now that the Jaffa have shown that they have a chance to retake the planet, the people are flocking to them by the dozens to assist. It won’t be long before they can simply overrun the Ori, though Teal’c is keenly aware that the mothership could fire its main gun down into the city at any time to kill them all in a single blast. For a moment, he pauses and wonders why that hasn’t happened yet, then shouts to his men to watch out. He remembered a moment too late that Ori vessels require the Prior to be present to use their most delicate systems, then watches helplessly as a group of Jaffa are hurled into the air and tossed against an adjourning building.

    Coming down the steps, the Prior holds his staff ahead of him and lets dozens of plasma blasts fly at him, smirking as they scatter harmlessly into the steps, walls, and columns nearby. Then he raises the rod and shoves it forward, sending out a wave of telekinetic energy that sends the nearest two dozen warriors flying. Unable to watch his men be slaughtered, Teal’c drops his own weapon and grabs something out of the munitions pile, putting his hands in the folds of the robes under his armor. Shouting that he’s the one in charge, he slowly makes his way past his wounded men until he’s standing only a few meters from the Ori leader. Teal’c insists that if this is only going to end in the death and torture of his army, then it should start with their commander. He will not stand by and watch like a coward while his people suffer, noting that he’s no follower of Origin. Fire leaps into the Prior’s eyes, and he says that he will gladly send this heretic to burn in the fires of damnation, raising his staff to summon some ungodly power... but nothing happens.

    Staring in shock, the Prior swings his staff at Teal’c, a move the Jaffa warrior dodges easily. Still keeping his hands inside his robes, he ducks under a second swing of the rod and delivers a swift roundhouse to his foe’s midsection, doubling him over. A knee to the face sends the Prior stumbling backwards, and a spinning kick to the head finally brings him to the ground. The closest crusaders, doubtless terrified to see their invulnerable leader felled, quickly drop their weapons, but the ones further out aren’t about to give up. They retreat up the steps to better cover and prepare for the renewed fight. Teal’c returns to the weapons pile and grabs a staff of his own, dropping the anti-Prior device he borrowed from Stargate Command just for this purpose. As he returns to the thick of fighting, though, he puts a killing shot into the unconscious Prior’s chest, oblivious to the fact that it’s not the one previously seen up on the mothership.

    The orbital battle is likewise going exceedingly well, with the crusaders and their convert allies losing ships at a breakneck pace. Two enemy ha’tak come apart at the seams and explode, wiping out a whole squadron of interceptors in the process. The second mothership that the Odyssey was attacking is also finally going down, one final blast from the Earth vessel breaching its bow and sparking a chain reaction. Unfortunately, the 304 can’t quite get away fast enough this time, and the explosion slams into the shields. Everyone on the bridge is briefly thrown into consoles or to the floor, but no one appears to be seriously injured. Helping Vala to her feet, Daniel comments that the shields are down over 70% and still falling. So far their speed as enabled them to keep out of too much harm, but their show of force has made them a massive target. Interceptors are coming at them from every angle so thick that the railguns can’t be sure if they’re hitting the same craft with each burst, and as if to prove his point, one slams into the forward shields just in front of the bridge.

    Carter admits that they may have underestimated the Ori forces when they decided to start drawing their combined fire, but she’s confident they can hold out long enough. The Free Jaffa are keeping most of the other ha’tak busy, but there are a few that just won’t quit hitting them. She radios Mitchell to see if he and the F-302s can do anything about it, but Cameron shouts back that things have gotten somewhat complicated. The crusader pilots seem to have learned that the 302s are far more deadly adversaries than the death gliders, and they're practically ignoring the Jaffa squadrons to target the humans ones. He and his men can't disengage, else they'll be ripped to shreds from behind. There's really no choice for them but to keep where they are and try to hold on for as long as they can.

    Listening in, Col. Davidson says he could bring the Odyssey in toward the fighters and use their railguns to clear a path for the F-302s to break free. But Mitchell says that it would only leave them exposed to the full firing arc of the surviving Ori mothership, and with their shields as low as they are, that can't happen. He and his men will be alright, and every minute they keep the interceptors preoccupied is another minute that they're not going after Earth or Jaffa forces. With that said, he switches off his radio and turns his sights on the enemy fighters again. Watching the dogfighting on a display, Davidson notes that they’re starting to bleed people left and right out there, something he can’t sit by and watch. Sam sympathizes with how he feels, but sides with Mitchell on this one; their defenses are too low to put themselves in the crosshairs of every opposing ship at once. As long as they stay inside one of the two formations, they’re okay, but venturing into the empty space between would just get them killed. Before they can continue their argument, a transmission comes through from the surface, and Daniel informs the others that Teal’c is asking for them.
    Last edited by s09119; 22 October 2011, 11:23 AM.
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      (Conclusion of "Darkest Before Dawn," see previous two posts for beginning.)

      Spoiler:
      Down on the planet, the Jaffa army has breached the landed mothership, forcing its way past guards and crusaders living inside. Many of them are unarmed and are in the process of being rounded up for holding until they can be processed, but some are fighting back. They took great pains to ensure that as few injuries and fatalities were inflicted on them as possible, but even with restraint there have been deaths. Now he and his forces are forcing open the door to the bridge, and Jaffa warriors rush inside the moment it’s clear, shouting for the people manning the consoles to step away. Two crusader guards are crouched behind the control chair, shouting for the infidels to leave, but zat blasts soon silence them. Looking out over the reclaimed city, Teal’c asks Sam if she can come down to rig a control interface for their new vessel like she’s done before (“The Shroud”). It’s beyond his or his men’s ability to do it themselves, and they’d like to make their prize useful. Seeing it rise out of the atmosphere to join the battle would be a truly inspiring sight for the crews. Carter would be happy to assist, and goes to grab her laptop before being beamed down.

      A ways across the settlement, though, not everything is going according to plan. A group of Jaffa warriors have seized the stargate from crusader soldiers, watching to ensure nothing gets through. It would appear that the Ori had laborers extend the city all the way out to the gate’s location, and a robust plaza has been designed around it. The guards look slightly bored, watching the lights of plasma fire near the mothership and doubtless wishing they were there to take part. Then, suddenly, two of them are lifted into the air and smashed down into the ground. Two more look around in bewilderment, only to be thrown through the gate and into one of the hastily-built structures beyond. The final two manage to raise their staff weapons and fire towards their assailer, but it’s ultimately pointless. They’re necks are snapped telekinetically, giving the Prior formerly in command of Chulak leave to approach. He raises his staff, the end glowing brightly, and the DHD suddenly flashes to life. Seven glyphs lock in as if automatically, and the stargate activates with its traditional kawoosh. Turning back to glare angrily at the lost city with his one surviving eye, the Prior steps through the puddle and disappears.

      Up above, it would appear that Col. Davidson has decided to take the risk in helping his trapped F-302s. The Odyssey dives past a defected ha’tak and smashes through a cloud of Ori interceptors, its railguns lighting up the darkness with trails of white-hot metal. Tapping his radio, Mitchell asks what they think they’re doing, then shuts up when a gunner takes out an enemy fighter that was preparing to shoot him down. Vala jokes that he should spend a little less time yelling at the people come to save him and a little more time getting over to the hanger. They can’t hold this position for long, and Davidson orders the squadrons to make emergency landings immediately. But even with the DSC-304 sitting in the middle of the firefight and filling the area with projectiles, the interceptors refuse to let up. They pelt the ship’s shields continuously and pick off a damaged 302 attempting to land. Waiting until nearly all the other pilots are safely back in the bay, Mitchell guns his engines and dives for the safety of the blast doors.

      A pair of enemy craft cut in front of him, and he’s forced to pull up and skim above the Odyssey for a moment before coming back around to try again. On the bridge, Jackson tells him that they need to move, prompting Cameron to set his jaw and barrel-roll under an oncoming fighter and make for the hanger. The crew inside is waiting as long as possible to seal the entry, but an ever-greater number of plasma blasts are pelting all around the entrance. If the shields were to fail with the blast doors still open, everyone and everything will be sucked into space. They can’t afford to wait much longer, but finally Mitchell sees an opening and snakes past another group of interceptors, clipping a wing but still managing to come crashing into the hanger in one piece.

      Its fighters recalled, the ship prepares to brush past the remaining interceptors and break position. Its sublight engines have barely powered up, however, when, when a beam of golden plasma slams into the starboard shields. A second quickly follows, and the defensive barrier flickers dangerously. On the bridge, an office shouts that the sole remaining Ori warship has locked onto them and is preparing to fire again. Gritting his teeth, Davidson mutters that Sam’s assumption was right, but Daniel assures him that it was the right call to make. Mitchell and the 302 pilots would have been massacred had they not arrived to retrieve them when they did, though Vala notes that now they’re all just going to die together. The helmsman tries to take evasive action, but another officer reports that another hit will go clean through what shields they have left and slice them in half. There doesn’t seem to be anything they can do, too far out to strike back and too in the open to avoid the next shot.

      As the mothership’s cannon lights up, about to discharge, another golden beam strikes it from behind. The warship’s shields are already nearly depleted from engaging the Odyssey and so many Free Jaffa ha’tak, and they fail a second later. Then a follow-up blast slams into the listing vessel and punches all the way through its armor. Detonating in a massive fireball, the previously-landed mothership enters orbit and hails the rest of SG-1. Teal’c stands at the weapons console with a smile, glancing at a relieved Carter and telling them they launched as soon as possible to lend a hand. Davidson leans back in his command chair and thanks the Jaffa for saving their lives, then suggests they save some more and finish off what’s left of the Ori ha’tak. Targeting the weapons system, Teal’c nods.

      Hours later, SG-1 has assembled on the surface--in the old Palace of Apophis--while Col. Davidson effects emergency repairs on the Odyssey. Sighing, Sam muses that she just finished patching up systems that were probably shot to pieces in the battle, and looks forward to another month of sleepless nights. Daniel puts an arm around her shoulder and says that she can pawn it of on Dr. Lee instead, seeing as they have more important things to do. With such a stunning victory over the Ori, he expects that the Pentagon will want to take the initiative and launch another strike soon. With any luck, this will have been the turning point. It’s only a shame that it comes with the loss of the Asgard; none of them are really certain what the future holds without their oldest and most noble allies.

      Teal’c steps out of a large meeting hall and announces that intelligence confirms that the Ori are withdrawing from nearby star systems in the wake of their defeat here. Chulak formed the backbone of their supply line to the Supergate, and without it they look more cautious than ever in attracting another fight. The news of their triumph has already spread to worlds across the Free Jaffa Nation, and a spontaneous celebratory festival has erupted on Dakara. Work crews busy rebuilding the city there after the Ori attack (“Counterstrike”) have paused in their efforts to consider the first true win for the galaxy since the crusade began. For the first time in a long time, people everywhere have hope. Of course, an enemy fleet could drop out of hyperspace to try and take back the planet at any time, but Teal’c is confident they can hold the line. The Free Jaffa Fifth Fleet is en route to reinforce the depleted Third, and the captured mothership should plug any holes in their defense. As long as they control Chulak, they can threaten most of the important crusader bases set up thus far. That should be enough to ward off any rash attacks against other targets of opportunity like Earth... at least for now.

      Carter thinks they can even extend that advantage by putting the Asgard legacy to good use; Stargate Command has isolated designs for a defense grid of orbiting weapons satellites armed with finely-tuned pulse cannons. If calibrated correctly, they could provide pin-point accuracy against any approaching ships, as well as rotate to shoot down anything hostile coming up from the surface. Area 51 hopes to start production soon, and once Earth has a minimum number to defend itself, additional satellites will be dispatched to worlds like Chulak and Dakara to guarantee they don’t slip into enemy hands. A planned counterattack must already be under advisement, and no one doubts that another battle is coming.

      Still, Mitchell considers it a success. Just a few weeks previous, they were contemplating the imminent capitulation of the Milky Way. Now the Jaffa have retaken one of their most prominent worlds, the Ori have lost four motherships, and people around the galaxy again think that victory is within their grasp. They still have a long way to go, but Daniel can’t help but reminding them that they just faced and overcame what was probably the darkest chapter of the war. And it’s always darkest just before dawn.
      Last edited by s09119; 22 October 2011, 11:24 AM.
      Click the banner or episode links to visit the virtual continuations of Stargate!
      Previous Episode: 11x03 "Shore Leave" | Previous Episode: 6x04 "Nightfall" | Now Airing: 3x06 "Eldest"

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        YES!!! First to post!
        Awesome ep, can't wait to see the rest!

        Comment


          Cool to see you going back and reworking so9. How far are you going to go, b/c I could see you getting stuck in an infinite loop. You know, going through every ep until the end and then feeling like you improved even more, going back to season 11 and starting again.

          Basically, do you have an idea of where to stop the re-edit? Like season 12?13?
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          Enjoy!

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            hi
            i meant as a guest but are there going to be sam/jack moments in sgu continuation?
            it will be great to know...

            Comment


              Awesome um...'re start' s09119. Bit, well SPACE BATTLE HEAVY (Seriously, how long would have all of those scenes been in the actual tv show. Properly would have killed the poor CGI department! That, or made them extremely rich! ) BUT you've got the 'tone' of season 10 down nicely.

              Yes i mean the 'Carter/Laptop ship can do anything!' sort of tone.
              Is it hard 'jumping' back after being away so long?

              Think the one-eyed Prior needs a moustache to twirl or cape to swoosh or something. That guy defenantly 'has an evil plan'!
              [''... I laugh at your reality..''][ STARGATE FAN COMIC: 'Hallowed Turf' ] [-DeviantArt-] [ ".... and a seagull."]

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                Originally posted by SG-18 View Post
                Cool to see you going back and reworking so9. How far are you going to go, b/c I could see you getting stuck in an infinite loop. You know, going through every ep until the end and then feeling like you improved even more, going back to season 11 and starting again.

                Basically, do you have an idea of where to stop the re-edit? Like season 12?13?
                Uhhh... to be determined? xD

                Originally posted by Choo1701 View Post
                Awesome um...'re start' s09119. Bit, well SPACE BATTLE HEAVY (Seriously, how long would have all of those scenes been in the actual tv show. Properly would have killed the poor CGI department! That, or made them extremely rich! ) BUT you've got the 'tone' of season 10 down nicely.

                Yes i mean the 'Carter/Laptop ship can do anything!' sort of tone.
                Is it hard 'jumping' back after being away so long?

                Think the one-eyed Prior needs a moustache to twirl or cape to swoosh or something. That guy defenantly 'has an evil plan'!
                Hey, it is pre-Season 11 canon that Sam can rig that interface, that one is all on TPTB
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                  it was literally just a laptop and an interface program. so yes that was following canon. can't wait for the part where you rip out the ridiculous and replace it with more satisfying stuff

                  Comment


                    Originally posted by thekillman View Post
                    it was literally just a laptop and an interface program. so yes that was following canon. can't wait for the part where you rip out the ridiculous and replace it with more satisfying stuff
                    excuse me? But some of us LIKE the ridiculous

                    Originally posted by Dollhouse
                    Sierra: Earth-identical gravity and atmosphere on other planets. Is that two?
                    Topher Brink: I'll give you one.
                    Sierra: That's fair. One ecosystem for a whole planet.
                    Topher Brink: Good.
                    Sierra: Human-alien cross-breeding without scientific intervention.
                    Topher Brink: Nice.
                    Sierra: Flamey explosions and sound in a vacuum.
                    Topher Brink: Yes! Good job.
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                    Topher Brink: Ahh-ahh-ahh, I said classic sci-fi errors. Now you're just attacking good story telling.
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                      i like crazy. i don't like ridiculous

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                        hi
                        i meant as a guest but are there going to be sam/jack moments in sgu continuation?
                        it will be great to know...
                        are there any new episode of sgu i can read with s/j moments?
                        thanks

                        Comment


                          CSGU hasn't been written yet. S09 (the writer) will first polish his Sg1 season 11.


                          but i believe this has been answered before with a "yes"

                          Comment


                            11x02 "Revival"
                            Synopsis: Taking advantage of the lull in Ori activity, the Tok’ra begin preparations to establish a permanent homeworld. But their plan requires SG-1’s assistance, and if anything goes wrong, it may ensure the demise of their people forever.
                            Spoiler:
                            ((30 second recap of “In the Line of Duty,” “Cure,” and “Death Knell”))

                            Stepping through an active stargate on P4X-846, Vala Mal Doran sighs hopelessly. The planet they’ve arrived on looked promising in the pictures sent to Stargate Command, showcasing lush greenery and watering holes. Now that they’ve arrived, she sees that was only the oasis around the stargate, and the rest of the landscape is predominantly desert. She would prefer a nice temperate scene, maybe something mirroring the forests of Canada on Earth. Standing next to her, Dr. Daniel Jackson just rolls his eyes, muttering that the odds of finding a planet that looks just like Canada are slim to none. Teal’c just chuckles, reminding her that a great many inhabitable worlds are relative wasteland. Nevertheless, Vala turns to the rest of SG-1 and asks what it is about symbiote species that seem to love living in sand, because why the Tok’ra would want to build a permanent settlement here is frankly beyond her.

                            Coming up the path toward them, a rather striking woman replies that it’s something in their nature. With so many System Lords choosing to take on the gods of the civilization closest to the Earth stargate--ancient Egypt--it only seemed natural for the Goa’uld to settle on desert worlds. Of course, the Tok’ra are not Goa’uld, but as the human saying goes: old habits die hard. Bowing respectfully, Daniel introduces Anise to Vala and Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell, explaining that SG-1 aided the scientist’s work years before (“Upgrades”). That was long before now, though, when she has become a leading voice on the Tok’ra High Council. Laughing, Anise says that Daniel is certainly overstating her influence, but thanks him all the same. With most of her research completed, part of it rather groundbreaking material that she will detail later, she was offered a seat on the latest Council. Her host Freya urged her to accept, and so she did.

                            Taking the Councilor’s hand, Col. Samantha Carter says that it’s good to see each other again after all the time that’s passed. Their last encounter was understandably painful for everyone involved (“Divide and Conquer”), and the subsequent fracturing of the Jaffa-Tok’ra-Tau’ri alliance only made further contact more difficult (“Death Knell”). Anise motions for the team to walk with her, nodding knowingly. Relations have been strained ever since then, with one crisis of galactic significance after another greater distance between their peoples. But their joint efforts to capture the Orici Adria (“Dominion”) convinced the Council to soften their stance toward Earth. That, and Anise’s insistence that SG-1 was necessary in their current endeavor.

                            They walk out of the clearing in which the stargate is located and toward the edge of the oasis. Egyptian-style buildings are in construction a ways away, where the Tok’ra plan to settle their first city in thousands of years. After so long a time running from the System Lords and being chased from one end of the Milky Way to another, excitement couldn’t be more palpable. Looking over the work-in-progress appreciatively, Daniel asks how it is they can help. Anise replies that it’s not so much SG-1 can be of assistance, but more one of its members. She gestured to one of the completed structures in the middle of the settlement and promises to explain in full once they’ve arrived at the facility.

                            Light-years away at Stargate Command, Dr. Carolyn Lam is in the infirmary helping an injured office into bed when Gen. Hank Landry shouts for her from the doorway. Sighing, Lam eases the woman down onto a cot before slinging her stethoscope around her neck and asking what she can do for her father today. Giving her a look, Landry hands over a file folder and asks to know why copies of the documents within were transmitted to the Tok’ra without his authorization. Carolyn takes it and leafs through a few pages before handing it back, saying that it’s a routine psychological evaluation of Samantha Carter from the late 1990s and a mental scan from three months ago. Open trade of non-confidential medical data was enshrined in the Earth-Tok’ra treaty years ago (“Divide and Conquer”), and Landry was at a conference in Washington when they requested the packet a few weeks before. From what she read of Dr. Janet Frasier’s records, it was a fairly common exchange before relations deteriorated.

                            Pulling his daughter aside, Landry mutters that that’s the problem. Things have been difficult between their government and the Tok’ra for a few years now, and the Pentagon has some reservations about keeping with all the treaty’s stipulations. Many of the Congressional leaders let in on the Stargate Program likewise believe that a new agreement should be drawn up before dealings return to prior levels. They are a rising power in the galaxy, whereas the Tok’ra are in decline with no foreseeable way to reverse their stagnation. Couple that with the new Asgard technology bequeathed to them, and a good number of legislators believe that if there’s a treaty to be had, it should be one that assures Earth’s dominance over the partnership. Hank says that his superiors see Lam’s casual transmission of data, innocent and useful as it is, as a relic of a bygone age. The next time such a request comes through, they want it to go through him, a Congressional Committee, the Joint Chiefs, and the President. Or, if the representatives insist, the International Oversight Advisory.

                            That leaves Lam absolutely floored. Having to go through so much red tape would delay any information requests by months, and the Pentagon is being moronic if they can’t see the implications in that. Acting like that will only anger the Tok’ra and push them to do the same, and there are other key parts of the treaty that the IOA would do well to keep in mind before stunting their information exchange. One of the concessions Earth gained in the original negotiations was near-total access to the Tok’ra subspace network. Without that, their communication with their fleet and offworld bases would be severely hampered, not to mention the strategic consequences of losing such accurate galactic telemetry (“Reckoning, Part 1”). Gen. Landry isn’t sure if they fully realize what a dangerous game they’re playing, either, but it’s not their job to begin debating policy. He’ll make his case when he can, but it’s going to be up to someone else to prove that their tentative alliance deserves a second chance.

                            On P4X-846, Anise welcomes the team to the main scientific complex of the future settlement, a beautifully crafted building blending Egyptian style with a sleek design. The interior is divided into dozens of laboratories for physicists, biologists, chemists, and more, all with built in safeguards and contingencies for any number of potential disasters. Leading SG-1 into a large chamber, presumably meant for the exhibition of findings, Anise apologizes for the delay in answers. She merely wanted them to see for themselves why this project is so critical to the Tok’ra. As Earth was made aware shortly after making contact (“The Tok’ra, Part 1”), they are a dying people. Their queen and sole source of new offspring, Egeria, was mistakenly imprisoned on the planet Pangar and used as the source of the miracle drug tretonin (“Cure”). Obviously some good came of that debacle, providing the Jaffa with a way to shed their need for Goa’uld symbiotes and therefore make possible their rebellion. But it came at the cost of the future survivability of the Tok’ra, as Egeria was the only queen to have ever turned against the prevailing beliefs of the System Lords. Without her, no new symbiotes could be born without the taint of the Goa’uld, and thus there have been no new Tok’ra for centuries. As she said, they have been a dying race.

                            Pressing a button on a nearby console, Anise continues while a series of panels in the floor iris open. She says that the truth of what happened on Pangar shocked the Tok’ra to the core, and for many days they mourned in despair. As long as Egeria was only missing, hope remained that she could be found and returned to them. Nowthat possibility was gone forever. The Pangarans understood their pain and allowed them access to the facility where the queen has been kept, trying in vain to see if any of her offspring had even a fragment of her mentality. But they were all blank slates, completely empty of thought or belief, useless for the purposes of restoring the Tok’ra civilization. Then they found something that changed everything. She presses another button, prompting a large dias to rise through the opening in the floor. On top is a tank filled with a watery substance and covered in monitoring devices... and inside is a Goa’uld queen.

                            After recovering from the shock, SG-1 has joined Anise and several of her scientists in a meeting chamber not far from where the queen is being kept. Delek--leader of the Tok’ra contingent at the old Alpha Site (“Death Knell”) and now a member of the High Council--has arrived, as well. Though he originally gave voice to the idea that an alliance with Earth was something that his people simply could not afford, he looks relieved to see SG-1 here now. He and Teal’c eye one another suspiciously, however, no doubt a holdover from their disagreements years before. Clapping his hands together to break the awkward silence, Mitchell asks what they can do it help. Anise replies that, like she said, it’s not something that the team as a whole can assist with, but more one of its members. She turns to Carter and says that the queen they have in captivity, as a child of Egeria, has no true mind of its own. All of her offspring were purposely born with defective genes to hamper the Pangarans attempts at producing tretonin from them, with the hope that they would release her when they no longer had a use for her. Of course, that didn’t work out, but the fact remains that the defection has essentially purged every newborn’s brain of knowledge, personality, and, most importantly, Goa’uld genetic memory. The key to breeding new Tok’ra is that they inherit the beliefs and memories of their species, so that they come into the world fully aware of the evil that were the System Lords. This is where SG-1 comes in.


                            (Beginning of "Revival," see next two posts for conclusion.)
                            Last edited by s09119; 22 October 2011, 11:25 AM.
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                              (More of "Revival," see previous post for beginning and next post for conclusion.)

                              Spoiler:
                              For the past several months, the High Council has recalled tens of thousands of Tok’ra operatives from around the galaxy for one purpose; to make copies of their memories. Using a memory recall device and a massive system of data storage crystals, Anise and her team have copied centuries worth of hopes, dreams, loves, victories, defeats, and countless other experiences. They’ve spent even more time cataloguing them and deleting duplicate entries, memories of the same even and the same perspective from different people, usually a symbiote and their host. Though many of the oldest Tok’ra have died as a result of old age and no new body to sustain them, they’ve been able to save most of their history via surviving elders and historians who had committed much of it to memory. If all goes according to plan, they can transfer the collection into their captive queen, in essence giving her what she would have had in a normal life. That said, there remain a few notable gaps, namely of critical missions and encounters during the final decade of the System Lords’ reign. Sam understands what she means immediately, guessing that her one-time symbiote Jolinar of Malkshur (“In the Line of Duty”) has the information needed to complete the record.

                              Anise nods solemnly, asking that she please consider undergoing the procedure. It’s completely painless, at least physically. Frowning, Daniel asks what she means by that, and Delek steps in to explain. He says that in order for the transfer to work smoothly, Carter will need to relive every moment of every memory they extract. Vala starts to ask for clarification, then seems to realize what he’s implying and puts a hand to her mouth. Sam has gone suddenly stiff, and Cameron whispers what they’re all thinking: she would have to live through hundreds of years inside her own mind... ending with the memory of death.

                              Some time later, Carter stands one of the science center’s balconies, staring absently at the other buildings under construction all around. Coming up beside her, Vala asks if she’s okay, to which Sam responds that she doesn’t know what she is right then. She had been expecting the Tok’ra to ask for some help with mathematics or programming, or a request for Daniel to offer his expertise in a historical analysis. Maybe even for she and Mitchell as a whole to join a mission deep into Ori-controlled space to gather new intelligence. But nothing like this, nothing that is so obviously imperative and terrifying all at once. Not sure how to respond for a moment, Vala finally asks if she knows what she’s going to do. She doesn’t get an answer.

                              Back at the oasis, Daniel and Cameron have dialed the stargate to Earth, filling Gen. Landry in on the situation. Deep within Cheyenne Mountain, Hank picks up the file folders he showed Dr. Lam earlier, asking his daughter to remind him how long ago the Tok’ra had requested them. She pulls up a chair next to the main computer bank and answers that she sent them out a little over two months previous. They’ve probably been planning to ask for Carter’s participation for a lot longer than that, but wanted to be sure that Jolinar’s memories remained to the present. Curious, Landry asks what the documents revealed. Carolyn can’t give a 100% certain response, not without a better understanding of how the procedure will work or the finer points of the blending process, but she thinks the memories will be intact. Samantha may not be seeing them in her dreams or even aware that they’re still there, but for a brief time her consciousness was merged with someone else’s entirely. That makes Jolinar’s experiences just as valid to Sam’s brain as her own, and she’d wager that the Tok’ra will find everything they need.

                              That said, Landry decides to leave it up to Carter. He tells Mitchell that he won’t order her to do this or give his opinion one way or another. Though he realizes what this means to the Tok’ra, it’s not their inherent right to the memories in Samantha’s head. Should she decide to undergo the transfer, it will be her choice and her risk, but he’ll have no part in pushing her toward it. Wishing the team the best of luck, he cuts the connection.

                              Meanwhile, Teal’c is in the queen’s chamber looking her over, one hand unconsciously clutching his empty symbiote pouch. The thoughtless creature stares at him blankly for a moment before looking away, uninterested. Walking up behind the Jaffa, Delek asks if he has any more pity for the Tok’ra now than he did a few years before. Not turning around, Teal’c replies that he was wrong to have judged them so harshly simply because they preferred a different methodology. After all, the rebellion against the Goa’uld would have failed miserably without proper intelligence and espionage. The divide between their two peoples was the result of stubborn pride, and it very nearly cost them all their lives and freedom. That is a mistake he does not intend to let happen again, though it’s not his decision as to what treaties the Free Jaffa Nation signs. The first democratic elections for the Jaffa Senate and Chancellorship will be in a few months, but he decided against running for office so long as he remains on SG-1. If Delek wants an official revival of the old alliance, he’ll have to take it up with whoever wins the vote. Smiling, the Tok’ra reaches out a hand and says that he’ll do that. Inclining his head, Teal’c takes the offered handshake.

                              Not long after, the team reconvenes upstairs, where Anise waits expectantly for Carter to decide. After a long moment, she asks how old Jolinar was when she died, and the answer of “nearly 500 years” leaves her reeling. She clutches the chair next to her and puts a hand to her forehead, then nods. Looking up, she says that she’ll do it on one condition; that she know what in her former symbiote’s memories is so critical that it cannot be left out of the record. As if expecting that, Anise pulls out a hologram projector, activating a small image of a planet. She explains that this is Malkshur, site of Jolinar’s defection from the Goa’uld and her attempted rebellion against her masters.

                              It was after this event that she became a member of the resistance, a transformation exceedingly rare amongst Tok’ra even when their numbers swelled into the millions. Today, no symbiotes remain alive that came from a brood other than Egeria’s, nor their hosts. The mental processes leading to the change of heart are as important as anything else, particularly when their new queen will be receiving countless memories of the System Lords and their philosophy. For that reason, it’s crucial that she also receive a realization of how misguided and evil those ways were, and it would appear that only Samantha Carter can provide that. Satisfied with the reasoning, Sam agrees to the proposal.

                              Following a few hours of preparation, the team is led to a small and simple laboratory on the upper floors of the science complex. A Tok’ra scientist helps Carter into a reclining chair adjacent to a row of data crystals, each wired into a central terminal linked to a recall device. Making sure the settings are tuned properly, Anise tells her that this is her last chance to withdraw, as the process will put her in a coma-like state while it accesses deeply-stored memories. Sam gulps audibly and says that she’ll be alright, then looks over at Mitchell and cedes him command of SG-1 for the duration of the process. She doesn’t know what kind of state she’ll be in when this is over, and this has never been attempted on a human having gone without their symbiote for so long. In every other case, the Tok’ra has opted to take control, ensuring that they, not the host, experiences the centuries-long flashback. But of course, that luxury isn’t available to Samantha, and thus this whole event is really quite a wildcard.

                              Giving her a final encouraging smile, Anise presses the recall node to Carter’s temple, and everything abruptly goes black.

                              Jolinar opens her eyes, looking around wildly to find that she’s in a tank of some sort. She writhes every which way in an attempt to escape, but is inevitably caught by the strong hands of a Jaffa attendant. He pulls the symbiote from the birthing tank and carries her to where Cronus stands with a beautiful young woman suspended by two beams of energy, the leader of a human world that dared to resist the incursion of the System Lords. The poor girl screams, thrashing uselessly, but is ultimately powerless. Cronus takes Jolinar in his hands, his eyes flashing maliciously, and holds her up to the human’s mouth. Rearing back, the symbiote lunges inside the next time she screams, burrowing into her throat until reaching the spinal cord...

                              In the lab, Anise reports that so far, everything is going exactly as planned. Carter’s vitals are stable and her mental state looks solid. Looking on anxiously, Daniel checks his watch; barely five minutes have elapsed.

                              But in Sam’s mind, it’s years later, and Jolinar has settled into life as a devoted servant of her god. She commands a vast army of Cronus’s finest warriors, launching an invasion of Camulus’s territory and marching right to the gates of his palace. Wielding a staff weapon with blades built into each end, she spins around in a deadly blur, felling foes left and right. After severing the limbs of two enemy Jaffa, she takes to one knee and aims up at the staff cannon slaughtering her men. Jolinar fires two plasma blasts with pinpoint accuracy, killing the gunner and his nearby replacement. With the way forward clear, she raises her weapon and rallies her troops, ordering death glider squadrons to begin their air assault on the fortress. She rushes forward, everything around her seemingly to melt away in the process.

                              Dozens more years melt by, every single moment dragging out for Sam to relive as if she’d been there. Countless innocents executed, thousands of prisoners vented into space, and atrocities too horrible to name even in memory. One event in particular emphasizes just how monstrous Jolinar was at one point, when she decided on a create way to fulfill Cronus’s order to punish the population of a Renaissance-level world. She personally dialed the planet’s stargate to a system being consumed by a black hole, then departed in her ha’tak before the time dilation effects began. She would return every five years and monitor from orbit, guessing at the odds that the surface would be twisted apart by her next visit. It took some seventy years thanks to the slowed passage of time, but eventually she returned to find the planet had been completely torn to shreds by the warping of gravity. She sat on the pel’tak laughing for hours, and ordered the slaughter of ten-thousand prisoners in celebration.

                              But something eventually changed in her. Decades later, a Tok’ra was captured attempting to spark a revolution on the key stronghold world of Malkshur. Furious that his defenses had been breached, Cronus dispatched Jolinar to interrogate and kill the intruder. And interrogate him she did, torturing him for days and weeks to no avail, utilizing every kind of implement and drug available to her. She had him beaten and subjected to the worst kinds of horrors, but he refused to give in, merely mocking her devotion to the Goa’uld. He claimed that she would only live so long as she remained useful, and that as soon as she threatened Cronus’s absolute grip on power, she would be put to death. Shouting through the pain, he screamed out the Tok’ra philosophy and the truth of the System Lords, and slowly, Jolinar began to doubt. By the time two months had gone by, she was no longer certain of her place in the universe, and she left the prisoner.
                              Last edited by s09119; 22 October 2011, 11:27 AM.
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                                (Conclusion of "Revival," see previous for beginning.)

                                Spoiler:
                                Using her privilege as right-hand of Cronus to visit the worlds of his vast empire, she began to understand that what the Tok’ra infiltrator said was correct. She finally saw through the lies, conditioning, and genetic memories and realized that she was nothing more than an instrument of pure evil. Returning to Malkshur, she killed the Jaffa guarding the detainee and slipped him out of the complex in the dead of night. She nursed him back to health in the human settlement, disguising them both and pretending to be slaves. It was during this time that Jolinar found herself developing feelings for Lantash, crediting him with opening her eyes to the world around her. Though he at first regards her with hatred, Lantash is too weak to do anything but remain in her care. He slowly recovers over many months, and at length grows to see the good woman Jolinar is without the taint of the Goa’uld. Despite the circumstances of their meeting, the two fall in love and plot a rebellion against Cronus.

                                Waiting until war breaks out between he and Apophis, they manage to convince the people that there is hope in defeating their master, and revolution erupts in the streets. Although the humans were somehow able to drive the Jaffa from their homeworld, Cronus soon arrived through the stargate with his army and demanded their immediate surrender. Taking to the frontlines, Jolinar traded blows with her former master, and for a brief moment it looked as though victory was possible. But then Apophis, summoned by Cronus in his hour of desperation, arrives with a fleet of motherships to bombard the humans into submission. Jolinar and Lantash barely escaped with their lives, ashamed of their loss but taking solace in the chaos their rebellion caused within the ranks of the Goa’uld. Fleeing with a few leaders of the human resistance, they their way across the galaxy to safety, collapsing at a Tok’ra outpost hand in hand. Unfortunately, Jolinar’s host is too badly injured to survive, and for a moment it appears that she has no choice but to die. But a young woman from Malkshur, Rosha, offers to lend her body to the woman who tried to set them free. Their blending marks the first new host in years, and it is seen as something of a sign.

                                They spend the next few decades growing closer to one another, embarking on dangerous missions deep into System Lord space and using Jolinar’s inside knowledge to sabotage one Lord after another. Although most of the High Council is understandably suspicious of her at first, Garshaw of Belote takes Jolinar under her wing. She, too, was once a proud servant of the Goa'uld who came to turn against her masters, and she remembers the trials she faced in proving herself to the Tok'ra. Everything seemed to be working perfectly, until the day when Jolinar overestimated her abilities and found herself cornered by Sokar’s forces on Delmak. This story Carter already knows well, having partially relived it when she herself was held prisoner on Netu (“Jolinar’s Memories”/”The Devil You Know”). As a consequence of the transfer process, of course, she has no choice but to experience it all over again.

                                Having left the lab to get some fresh air, Daniel and Mitchell are standing out on the balcony when Anise approaches from inside. Gesturing at the construction, Jackson tells her that she should be proud at how far the Tok’ra have come since Earth first met them. Back then, the resistance movement believed it would be extinct in a matter of months, but here it is stronger than ever, on the verge of restoring hope for its survival. Cameron still thinks they could have picked a better planet, prompting Anise to reveal that it was chosen for its abundance of naquadah-laced sand, a resource they hope to refine one day for investigation. That is, if they can find a way to trap it when it erupts from the dunes on the southern continent. Suddenly Daniel chuckles, suggesting a name he thinks would be appropriate if that’s the case; Arrakis. Anise seems to take an instant liking, pointing out its similarity to the Goa’uld phrase “arre’a kes,” which itself means “plane of salvation.” Looking between the two of them, Mitchell mutters that he has no idea what either of the words mean, and all three share a laugh before heading back to the laboratory.

                                In Carter’s mind, time has slipped along to just before Jolinar’s fateful--and final--mission that would end on Nassya and Earth. She and Martouf are in the middle of a heated argument, one that they have repeated many, many times now. It concerns Jolinar’s time spent on Netu and her incredible escape, an event that Martouf believes broke something inside of his lover that she won’t speak of. Telling him that he can drop the subject or drop their relationship, Jolinar stalks from the room to depart via stargate. She dials the gate and steps up to the puddle, then freezes when she hears Martouf call out from down the hall, begging her to wait so he can say something before she leaves. But she can’t hear it right now, and steps through the event horizon, not realizing that she will never see him again.

                                The other memories could have been pulled straight from Sam’s own, as they follow Jolinar’s forced blending with the human soldier and their return to Stargate Command. The Tok’ra was terrified the entire time, but never let her fear show through. She knew the end had come, that she would never be able to escape the ashrak hunting her without countless innocent lives being lost along the way. And when the hunter finally came to end her life, she focused every ounce of strength left in her body to save Samantha Carter. Her last act would not be to take such a noble woman with her, but to ensure that she survived. If anyone could help the Tok’ra in the darkest hour, Jolinar decided, it would be the Tau’ri.

                                Then, quite suddenly, everything again goes black. Sam finds that she can’t breathe, gasping for air but finding none. She tries to scream but can’t make a sound or move a muscle. Before slipping into complete and utter darkness, she realizes that she’s died.

                                If that was death, though, then life seems to come immediately after. Sam opens her eyes and gasps, sitting bolt upright in the lab and looking around wildly. Eyes wide, she shies away when Teal’c tries to touch her, looking protectively at the Tok’ra scientists. Daniel asks what’s going on, calling her name and insisting that she’s safe. Anise, however, thinks she knows exactly what’s going on. She sits down next to Sam and lays a hand on her arm, whispering something in Goa’uld that seems to calm her down. Then Carter shakes her head, blinks several times, and asks where she is. Mitchell recaps that they’re on P4X-846, helping the Tok’ra with a project to save their species, and Sam nods slowly. Putting a hand to her forehead, she asks for a minute alone with Anise, something the others respectfully give her even in their confusion.

                                When they’re all in the hallway, she asks how Anise knew what to say to her. Shrugging, the scientist admits that she wasn’t sure how Sam’s mental state might change as a result of the procedure, but a crisis of identify was certainly one of the possibilities. When she saw how foreign SG-1 appeared to her, especially Teal’c, compared to the Tok’ra nearby, she realized that for a brief moment, Sam believed herself to be Jolinar. Understandable, given she had just relived hundreds of years of another life, but obviously nothing they wanted to become permanent. Carter doesn’t quite know what to say in reply, whispering that she feels very, very old all of a sudden. Anise promises that her mind is no different from what it was an hour before, just as active and brilliant as ever. But it’s true that Sam has, in her head, lived out half a millennia of life in real time. She offers to use the memory recall device to wipe the experience clean, if it’s any consolation, and Carter thinks it over for a long moment, not giving an answer right away.

                                Several days later, SG-1 returns to the planet and joins the Tok’ra High Council in the audience chamber, where dozens of scientists and hundreds of operatives have gathered. Still in her tank, the Goa’uld queen has spent the past week receiving the millions of collected memories, but the process is almost complete. At long last, Anise removes a memory recall node from the queen’s body, letting a middle-aged woman step up and lean over. A former host who’s symbiote recently died of natural causes, Telaia has offered to take the responsibility of carrying the sovereign. If the transfer brings her to life as a Tok’ra, it will be a momentous occasion. But if she awakens as a Goa’uld... guards are already standing by with weapons at the ready.

                                The queen looks up at the human head over the tank and shoots up, snaking inside her mouth and asserting control. Telaia’s eyes flash, and the symbiote looks over her new body appreciatively. Speaking very slowly, she proclaims herself the steward of Egeria’s legacy and the mother to all who seek freedom from tyranny. The Tok’ra will survive, and she will give birth to a new generation of this great and righteous people. The chamber erupts into applause, with Anise and the others either growing teary-eyed or openly weeping with happiness. SG-1 applauds, as well, though only Carter notices that the queen is staring directly at her. Telaia inclines her head respectfully before turning to speak with the High Council. Sam takes one last look up at the stage and the future she helped to create before telling her team that it’s time to go home.
                                Last edited by s09119; 22 October 2011, 11:27 AM.
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