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[Khnum]

Khnum and Achaman made no secret of their concern about the news just received from Alienna's subordinate. But while Khnum seemed to maintain a certain calm attention that showed no emotion, the same could not be said of Achaman. The ruler of Echeyde in that year had doubled his strength by drawing on the naquadah reserves of his planets. Extensive mining had been put in place to strengthen his position in the galaxy. Yet Achaman knew that with the Orii beam weapons, none of his ships would have a chance. His shields, although improved, would fail on the first shot, destroying the ship and killing the entire crew. He realized that he was useless in that conflict.



"Our technology is still too far from that of the Orii, we need to know the enemy better in order to beat them, we need to study their shields in depth in the hope of being able to replicate them at least in part!" he completed by seeking the approval of those present.

[Altzek]

When the queen's gaze fell on the Jaffa on the alien world, the entertained attention on her face turned into a barely contained rage as the feeling of betrayal seeped in.
Jaffa. Her Jaffa.
Yes, she could see the disked cuirasses on them and the sign of her consort on their foreheads.
How could they?
As the two hosts kept explaining the situation, Mefitis could only think of the possible punishments for this betrayal, and none of them included the eventuality of one final, definitive death.
Nothing but an eternal torment could have satisfied her.

The next revelations weren't good news either. Ori ships were being built, possibly on multiple worlds and no doubt with know-how from Tau'ri and Jaffa defectors that could have nullified the technological progress and implementation of late Asgard technology in the fleets of the Milky Way's major superpowers through which the Ori were first defeated.
And the prior... a being that could have stolen the affection and the faith of her people from her. Certainly he was the cause of this betrayal.

Her own godhood challenged, the Goa'uld queen was boiling with righteous wrath, but she knew better than to entirely give in to it. She would address this problem surgically, with a firm hand, and drawing on her own millenia-spanning wisdom together with the one she had inherited from her ancestors.
"Priors are very powerful beings" more powerful than her, though she imagined ways to surpass them ever since she had first heard of them, going as far as fantasising about keeping a pet one to dissect, study and above all learn from "and we do not know how many there are. I propose that we style a census of them and then dispose of them. Then it will be the turn of the ships under construction". In many ways a race against time, a rigged one knowing what the priors were capable of even under bombardment. And this was why they had to be disposed of first.

[Khnum]

The ruler of Khenem had remained silent until that moment, aware that their technology was still clearly inferior to that of the Tau'ri and even more so with that of the Orii, whose comparison was merciless. The energy weapon in the past had destroyed the goa'uld ships stolen from the free Jaffa nation with a single shot and it would not have been much different on this occasion as well. They should have studied much more resistant shields but in the meantime an idea on how to strengthen those supplied to his fleet, came to him like a bolt from the blue. The slots available in the ha'tak ship for shields normally took the minimum wage, preferring more firepower. The shields installed on his ha'taks, unlike those of other goa'ulds, were on par with those used by Anubis in the past, strong but still not strong enough to withstand Orii beam weapons. He would double the shields on each ship, tripling those on the flagship while waiting for more information on Orii weapons and shield technology, the true aim of the System Lord. But he had to communicate that idea to the council to demonstrate his willingness to find a solution to the problem that had arisen.

"Our technology is really inferior to that of the enemy, I have installed shields equal to the updated ones present on the ha'tak of the Anubis fleet, powerful but still insufficient against the firepower of the Orii weapons"

"But we know that Netan's swindler's ship during the first real battle against the Orii fleet survived despite being hit by at least two charges of energy weapons, according to my sources, the ship in question was protected by a double shield that the he protected enough to be able to rescue her at the end of the battle! "

"We could use some of the slots normally used for armament, to implement secondary shields and even tertiary shields in order to protect our ha'tak at least for short periods and allow them to avoid the blows of the Orii weapons ... I know it's a gamble , but frankly at present we do not have many other possibilities to protect our few ha'tak against Orii weapons, at least until we have more detailed and secure information to be able to move in greater safety and defensive power and more! " Khnum concluded by making his eyes sparkle, hoping that those present would evaluate his efforts to improve an evident disadvantage in the forces deployed at that moment.

[Shadowlord]

The Crocodile God listened to the words of the other members of the System Lord High Council. Though most of his attention was turned to Allienna and her underling, wondering what resources she would offer to the effort.

Achaman proposed the capture of the Ori ships, though the ships were unfinished the technology could be of use to be turned against their other enemies. Still Sobek found himself unsure if it was truly worth the risk.

Mefitis chose to raise a point on the Priors who Sobek was aware had powers that almost rivalled their own. Advanced hosts had in the past been the centre of great research amongst many Goa’uld scientists and even some former System Lords. There was no doubt in his mind that these Hok'tar needed to be either brought under their control or wiped out permanently.

He would have spoken then had Khnum not done so first. The Ram God for but a moment seemed to have gone mad speaking of some Netan that he was not aware of, but he understood the point being made. There was no way that the Crocodile Lord would lead their forces into such a foolish strategical error.


“I believe then that it is obvious what must be done.” Sobek said with a smile.

“Lord Achaman’s forces will be in charge of captuirng the Ori vessels if possible, while Mefitis’ will be responsible for capturing one of the Hok’tar.” He nodded a single time.

Looking over at Khnum who he had to admit had a good idea. “If your ships could be quickly upgraded with these shields you could get your ships closer to the planet, if Mefitis’ forces are unable to secure the vessels they will need to be sabotaged.”

“Queen Allienna perhaps you could assist Mefitis in infiltration.” “Queen Sekhmet’s forces could offer assistance to mine.” He hoped her Jaffa were up to such a task.

“I will of course pledge myself to the responsibility of seizing the planet’s population, slave and warrior alike. It should allow some distraction to assist you.” Sobek said directly to Mefitis.

Sobek leaned back on his chair and placed his arms by his side. Now it was time to see which of them was willing to go through with such a plan. He awaited to see who would dare challenge him in an attempt to cover their own cowardice.

[Mim]

 

 "If.." Allie held up a slim finger. "...if we can get near that planet, yes I agree completely we need to take a count on just how many priors there may well be. What I do not understand is how this can even be an event. From our sources and we all share the same, supposedly after the Tauri activated the ancient device, those same Ancients were going to circumvent any chance of an Ori resurgence. However, be that as it may, we will require a great deal of stealth." She glanced across to Sobek, knowing he was gunning for a fight.

 "We can deal with what we come up against, when we confront it. I think it is a given those ships must be destroyed before they are completed. We can assume though they will be well protected. Maegwin?"

 
 
 

 Looking up slightly startled, the Chief of Spies blinked. "I am sorry my Lady, at this time we have no data on what else lingers on that world. We can only go in on the data given thus far."

[Shadowlord]

Sobek remained calm once Queen Allienna began speaking again. He listened carefully as she brought up some of the strangest reports he thought he’d read in centuries,  at least had it not been for everything else that had occurred that same decade. If the Tau’ri word was true, which he found it incredibly difficult to believe that they somehow managed to stop the Ori so easily, then it did seem to make sense that this should not be a possibility, still...

“Are you suggesting that we trust these “ancients” on their word?” Sobek asked scoffing at the idea of it. “For all we know they were just other Ori.”

Sobek also looked to Maegwin deciding she was more suited to answer his next questions. “Do we know what kind of weapon destroyed our scout?”

Sobek was not at all picturing a stealth mission being successful. While he believed that infiltration was possible it was unlikely to be enough to complete the full range of objectives needed to be completed in time to stop the threat from growing.

“What other race has worlds close to this one?” Sobek asked wondering if there was anyone else nearby that may have noticed the activity.

[Khnum]

Achaman remained silent as he listened to Queen Alienna's words wondering what had destroyed their scout, but then he shouldn't have been too surprised. Their technology was far superior to that of the Goa'uld, far superior to any other weapon they created. Perhaps equal to the crystal weapon of Anubis or the Serekh of Apep, but only that of which to have a comparison with the technology known among the goa'uld. While Achaman listened, it was Khnum who addressed the queen.

"I'm not sure of the correct coordinates, but it seems to me that the planet Pelagius is there, a planet once controlled by the late Goa'uld Ra, a minor outpost whose naquadah mines have been exploited so intensely that they have created huge canyons ... "

"It seems to me that it is this planet in proximity to the coordinates of the planet where our scout disappeared, but to be sure I would have to view the maps of that sector of the galaxy!" concluded the lord of Khenem.

[Mim]

 

 "For all we know...." Allie repeated Sobek's words, echoing her own thoughts. "Alas we do not have much more to go on do we? Yet, there is something here that annoys me to the point of anger. How did such a thing go undetected; for surely these creatures have been in our galaxy for some time now, to have gotten so far in resurrecting those wrecks." This much she knew simply because only two years ago she surveyed that world herself, walked around those giants ships, which at the time were exactly as she said, nothing but worthless wrecks.

 

 Maegwin looked up once again. "As far as we can discern, it was some type of pulse weapon fired from another vessel, small, possibly a fighter." She closed her eyes, her mate was on that very scout ship.

 Knowing the emotions her adviser was going through the young Queen spoke again looking directly at Khnum. "That would put it within half a days travel to the old Aschen world. That makes me wonder all the more." Thinking for a moment, the next came out in a burst. "We should move quickly and I know where we should strike first!"

[Khnum]

"If you would like to inform us of your plans Queen Alienna, we would be happy, also because otherwise how could we establish a valid strategy against this enemy!" Achaman added unexpectedly, making his eyes sparkle as if it were a challenge.

[Shadowlord]

Sobek nodded to Lord Khnum. “Such a world would make a good garrison position.”

“Their shipyard?” Sobek asked puzzled by Allienna’s sudden passionate burst.

Sobek was as of yet that his plan wasn’t the best. They only had so many ships to patrol the galaxy now, and certainly he did not expect the Tau’ri or their traitorous allies to take up the task of properly defending it.

“Where is it you believe striking first would be effective?” The idea that some target existed other than the planet they had been shown made him wonder.

[Altzek]

"In this case, it is clear that they have retained some of their fighters and this world could be one of their manufacturing centers for smaller craft, and a staging area for patrols and future incursions. Something we might seize for ourselves, before using its position against their other centers". No doubt with high casualties, considering the technological level of the enemy. They would have had to mobilize most of their fleets, too just to be able to deal with a comparatively smaller force.
Then again, how much were a few thousands of lives really worth, compared to her own divine right to rule?