Stepping into the event horizon of the wormhole, SG-X2 one by one was transported to the planet dubbed Waterfallter by the SGC tech crew.

The scene appears unchanged from what you saw on the video relay. The triangular DHD was there, off to the side. The MALP was nearby.

The pool of water at the base of the waterfall was still there, and the rush of the falling water was a bit loud.

No one was immediately visible, but after a few moments, heads began popping out up on the balconies behind the waterfall.

 Fox steps through and moves to the right clearing the gate area to allow people to move through. Watching the creatures he tries to get a feeling forhow they are reacting

With the team through the gate uneventfully Dillon quickly moved to deposit his large duffel bag near the gate, but off of the worn path of travel.  If there was some nearby shrubbery so much the better, but the main objective was to get the bundle out of the path of travel, not hide it like buried treasure.  Relieved of the burden he set out to secure the area.  "Carter, let's make sure that MALP is still fully operational.  Fox, Bjorn, Ru'tan; fan out and keep an eye on our perimeter, we're gonna have company soon, they're probably not hostile, but keep an eye out for unexpected visitors, we don't know who else is on this planet.  McGuinness, stay close to me.  I'm going to need you to translate when the locals decide to approach us.  Everyone try your best to look friendly, we want to make a good first impression."  Dillon took up a position a few dozen feet forward of the gate, standing in an unthreatening position, hands clasped in front of him as he waited patiently for the locals to approach them.

Ru'tan moves off to the right of the arrival platform, ignoring the heavy pack on his back, holding his staff weapon in both hands as his eyes scan his field of fire. Unsure whether he should acknowledge the order or simply obey it, Ru'tan settles for a nod in Maj. Dillon's direction as he moves.

As he begins scanning his area of responsibility, his forearm holster gives, letting his zat'nik'tel fall to the ground with a clatter.

Rolled to Spot and got a horrible result. I see nuthin!
09:05, Today: Ru'tan rolled 5 using 1d20+4. Spot out of the 'Gate.

"Understood," said Kyle, still catching his breath after the wild ride of the wormhole. He ran a hand through his hair - he'd lost the beanie hat that was bundled with his new BDUs already - and looked around with unconcealed wonder.

Fox is watching his area interested in both what he was seeing and the feel of this world. His bearing is calm and peaceful as he guards his area

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 3):

Carter takes the ride of the gate about like Jack O'Niell took it the first time.

Carter recovers and checks the MALP.

If there had been any of the creatures around the gate area, presumably they fled when the gate opened again.

It's hard to determine emotions from the creatures' expression that are watching from the balconies behind the waterfall, but it doesn't look like fear... more like curiosity.

Joshua's assessment would seem to be correct, for even as Carter checked the MALP, a few heads suddenly peek out of the water, close to the waterfall. They continue to watch for a few minutes.

Finally, one swam underwater to the far left of the pool, and then cautiously emerged on to the pebbly beach. He (or possibly she) called out in a high, sing-song kind of voice, that sounded possibly like Greek.

He'd long ago learned to ignore the quips about his name; after all, he'd had it first, though only by about a year.

Until the Major saw fit to assign someone else to rear guard duty, Jason slid into his old habits, and was the last to step through the gate. He knew the Major was new to this gate travel game, so Jason stepped over to that funky triangular DHD that seemed to be the norm out here in this distant cluster.

Protocol was to 'immediately' dial back home once the gate closed to make sure that the team could return. If for some reason they didn't, all sorts of gears and wheels would begin to turn.

Besides, they were supposed to send the MALP back through. It was an expensive toy, and anyway, he didn't see how they could get it inside the... whatever it was. Structure? Cave system? Sometimes, there just wasn't a term for things. That's when you had to make it up.

Wait. Anasazi. Cliff-dwelling. Yep, that's what this was... except the Anasazi had been in the desert, not hiding behind a waterfall. Had it been built that way intentionally, or had the waterfall been an afterthought?

"Here they come..." he muttered under his breath.

Kyle stepped forwards showing empty hands and spoke quite slowing in Greek.

"Γεια σας. Είμαστε εξερευνητές από έναν πλανήτη που λέγεται Γη. Ερχόμαστε ειρηνικά και θα ήθελα να είναι φίλοι σας."

Dillon remained silent for the moment, allowing Kyle to make contact with the strange creatures.  He trusted that Kyle would keep him updated on the short version of what was being said as the conversation progressed.

Ru'tan slowly bends down to pick up the dropped weapon, his eyes scanning their surroundings. Let the Major and the translator concentrate on the little person confronting them. Ru'tan was determined not to let any ambush take them by surprise.

A few more heads pop up out of the water... just enough for eyes, ears and nose to clear the surface. They do not exit the water, however.

The one standing on the shore replies to Kyle.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:53, Sun 08 June 2014.

Kyle turned to Dillon.

"They say they'd like to be friends and want to klnow what we wish to explore."

"Tell them we would be honored to be their friends, and ask them if any other travelers have come through the gate recently."  Josh replied to Kyle.

Kyle obliged.

"Θα είναι τιμή μου να είναι φίλοι σας. Έχετε οποιαδήποτε άλλη ταξιδιώτες που έρχονται μέσα από την πύλη πρόσφατα?"

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 8):

Jackie smiles and speaks back in her heavily accented, by modern understanding, Ancient Greek.

"I am known as Jackie. We are explorers."

Ru'tan speaks up, gripping his staff weapon firmly.

"I have never encountered a people who were so unafraid. Perhaps this place never was touched by the Goa'uld."

In reply to Ru'tan (msg # 18):

"Interesting isn't it" is Fox's reply.
"yet when the map came though they took cover, I wish we had devices that allowed translation"

"They're all hiding, aren't they?" Jason responds to Ru'tan. "If they aren't afraid, at least they are prudent."

"Major... want me to dial back now?"


The scene was surreal to him, more than just standing on some foreign shore. If he'd just stepped off the boat in Greece, it wouldn't have seemed so strange. Of course, the otter-folk didn't help.

Talking otters... a part of him thought he'd fallen through the looking glass.

"Greetings, Ja'key," the otter-man replies to Carter after casting a confusing glance at Kyle. It would seem he didn't understand everything that Kyle said.

"I am called T'tirik'ti. I speak for my clan. Do you speak for yours?"

Jackie isn't quite sure she translated 'clan' correctly, but he does seem to be referring to some sort of grouping of his people. Whether that is a small pack, an extended family, or the whole village is unclear.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 21):

Jackie continues.

"I am the Second of this group. We speak for our clan in absence of our superiors at home."

"I am first of my clan, but we, too, have a superior," T'tirik'ti responds.

"Why does not your first speak Cromata well?" he asks, gesturing at Kyle.

"I do not recognize those weapons. They will not be allowed into the community... unless Crom approves, but he seldom leaves the community. I am not sure how to resolve this."

"You might be too large for the elevators... can you swim under water?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:31, Sun 08 June 2014.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 23):

"My first does not speak the language of the Hellenes. Two, our weapons go where we go. Three, we could for a. While. We are air breathers.

"We are air-breathers as well, but we are quite at home in the water. The main entrance to the community is underwater."

He turns and dives into the water without making a splash. Once in the water, he looks back at Jackie expectantly, waiting for her to follow.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 25):

Jackie smiles as she switches to English.


"He wants us to follow him to their main community, Major?"

 Fox "Sir if you wish to leave weapons here then I could remain and take care of them"

In reply to Travis Fox (msg # 27):

OOC: Does Travis speak ancient Greek?

NO Not at all not even Latin

In reply to Travis Fox (msg # 29):

OOC: Then you don't know that they wanted us to give up our weapons.

In reply to Jackie Carter (msg # 30):

"Well, Major, shall we follow?"

In reply to Jackie Carter (msg # 30):

missed that sorry. but under water is not good for most things

In reply to Travis Fox (msg # 32):

OOC: all of our weapons are sealed. Although a Zat or staff weapon discharge would be bad.

"You mean, he wants us to go underwater?" Jason said, getting the gist of the conversation at least two steps behind Travis. "Does he think we're fish or something?"

"What about our weapons? They aren't waterproof. Anybody bring a ziplock baggie?"

In reply to Jason Bjorn (msg # 34):

OOC: The P90's are waterproof. so are the hnad weapons. and as long as you don't fire them so are zats and staff weapons.

OOC: What are you basing that on? None of the weapons are listed as WP in the CRB.

In reply to Jackie Carter (msg # 26):

"Alright, lets go for a swim."  Dillon handed off his P90 and 5-7 to Fox and stripped out of his bulky vest.  "Fox; dial back and check in while we're gone, we'll radio you once were inside their community.  Carter, McGuinness; ready to go?"

"OOC: Is it safe to assume I've got a drybag or at least a ziplock to put a radio in?

In reply to Jason Bjorn (msg # 36):

OOC: fine so the book ignores the show. Got it.

"So, Major, what do we do?"

Yes, there was a drybag in the bundle.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 39):

Jackie puts her weapon and her vest in her drybag. Then she jumps in holding on to her drybag.

OOC: I don't recall any episode where they had waterproof weapons. Doesn't mean there wasn't one, though. Remember, too, this game is set at the end of Season Two, so maybe the waterproof guns came later. You can get the P90 (and any weapons) waterproofed for 2 Gear Picks; it's an option, not a standard.

In reply to Jason Bjorn (msg # 41):

OOC: Several episodes they travel through water with their P90's totally under then fire them later. But we will go with what the book says.

"Carter, leave your P90 and 5-7.  If we want them to trust us we're going to have to trust them.  They asked us to enter their home unarmed, it's not an unreasonable request.  Don't forget we're twice their size, you had hand to hand training in basic, we'll be fine."  Dillon had striped out of almost all of his gear at this point, he had his BDU pants and t-shirt on, his K-bar knife was still on his belt, but his boots and socks were off and in his drybag with the radio.

OOC:  I almost missed the discussion going on.  IRL water and guns do not mix.  It might fire after being submerged, it might not.  No gun is waterproof, though many will still function after being submerged, rust and reliability will start to be a factor, the longer the gun is submerged the worse it will be.  Of course there is also the case of the AK-47 that was pulled out of a lake in Russia after 30 years and it still fired...  of course they used new, dry ammo and AK's have more in common with farm tools than they do with P90's...

Kyle dumped most of his stuff, leaving just t-shirt and pants. He didn't want to trust the computer to a drybag, so left it with the rest of his equipment.

"How many are going? Shall I ask if they mind how many of us come to visit?"

In reply to Kyle McGuinness (msg # 44):

"Major, unless that is an order, I will follow Doctor Jackson's suggestion via email. When he said welcome aboard. Never let Jack O'Neill hear you left your weapon behind anywhere."

Jackie swam toward our guide.

"It's an order Carter.  We are here to establish friendly contact with the locals.  If we can't show them enough respect to abide by one thing they ask for we might as well go home.  What do you think Hammond would do if a group of aliens twice our size with more advanced technology came through our gate and refused to go anywhere without their weapons?  Don't you think that would be seen as a little bit hostile?  If you're not comfortable going in there unarmed you can always stay here with Fox and the rest of the team."

Ru'tan silently strips off his gear, wearing a frown. He clearly agrees with Carter.

Commander
"Just for the record sir I am quite willing to seal weapons and accompany you".
"Your call and your orders sir"

In reply to Travis Fox (msg # 48):

"I'll leave that up to Carter."  Dillon replied to Fox.  "I want three going and three staying.  We only need one translator, So if McGuinness is going Carter can stay here and take care of dialing back and getting the MALP back home.  We'll check in every 10 minutes over the radio.  There are two scuba suits in the bag I brought through the gate, if we miss more than one check in report it in to SGC then come get us."

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 49):

Jackie leaves her weapons.

"I am going I have the rapport with our guide."

Kyle raised his eyebrows.

"Whatever you want, Major," he said to Dillon. "But I am the archaeologist on this team."

In reply to Kyle McGuinness (msg # 51):

Jackie smiled.

"Not the only one Mr. McGuiness."

In reply to Kyle McGuinness (msg # 51):

"Well since most of us don't speak Ancient Greek you're an Archeologist and a translator today."  Dillon clapped McGuinness on the shoulder as he walked passed him towards the water.  "Alright, lets get going.  Fox, Ru'tan, Bjorn, take care of the dial back  we'll contact you as soon as we're out of the water."  Dillon entered the water and waited for their guide to lead the way.

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 53):

Jackie dives into the water.

T'tirik'ti seems to float effortlessly in the water while he waits for SG-X2 to join him. Once they are in the water, he swims backwards under the waterfall. When Joshua, Kyle and Jackie clear the waterfall, he dives under the water.

It's a fairly short and quick underwater swim to come up inside what appears to be a large cavern. It's around a 100 feet across, not quite as deep, with a 50 foot ceiling There are several windows in the outer wall of the cavern that lookout onto the waterfall and let in natural light. The falling water creates a sparkly look to the light.

There are two sets of steps leading upward, one on each side of the cavern, and a water slide parallels the steps. The slides end in the water, of course.

T'tirik'ti makes sure everyone gets through before he starts to go up the stairs.

The cavern was empty, though there are balconies at several points and levels along the rear wall. As you climb the stairs, a few otterfolk zip past down the slide.

This repeats as you climb up three more flights, though each level isn't quite as large as the previous one, and each has more and more otterfolk going about their business. There seem to be several rooms off of the main cavern.

Balconies and windows look out over the waterfall and let in light.

On the final level, T'tirik'ti leads you to a room at the back. It's got a large arch entrance so that natural light shines in.

Entering the room, you see a large throne-like chair sitting in the middle at the back. There is a glowing orb in the wall to either side of the chair. The chair is currently empty.

"Master Crom," T'tirik'ti calls out, "the travelers from the Ring of Never-Falling Water are here. Only three wished to venture through the water."

You look to where he is speaking and see a... human! He appears to be talking to a couple of otterfolk.

He turns after a minute and begins walking to toward you.

"Welcome to Croma!" he says in greeting... in that deep reverb voice that is typical of Goa'uld.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 55):

Jackie smiles and speaks in Ancient Greek except for the word Taur'i.


"I am Major Jackie Carter of the Tauri. This is Major Dillon, and Professor McGuiness. We are just here exploring. And please drop the deep voice. I find it more annoying then intimidating."

OOC:  Is the human speaking Greek or English?

Kyle, thanking his lucky stars that he swam like a fish, looked around in amazement.

Oops. Sorry. He was speaking Ancient Greek.


"Hahaha... yes, the voice does tend to be annoying to some, intimidating for others," Crom responds in Ancient Greek, but in a normal tone of voice. "We all spoke like that in the beginning before we learned we didn't have to. As I said, it was intimidating, which quite suited our role as gods."

"In the case of the Cromar, it is merely a voice of authority. They are used to it."

"So you are the Tau'ri. By the tales that have been told, I thought by now you'd have two heads and breathe fire!"

"You are welcome here, but I do not know what there is to explore. The Cromar are a simple folk as you can see. The planet over all is probably pretty much like your own world... what did you call it? Earth? Do you still live there?"

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 59):

Jackie smiles.

"Yes, we still live on Earth. The Go'auld have been mostly forgotten. We like to keep it that way."

Dillon removed the radio from the dry bag as soon as he was out of the water, after he had put his boots back on he radioed Fox as promised to check in, after that was done he followed their guide and the others up the stairs.  He was more than a little surprised to see a human, he didn't follow most of what was said, he recognized 'Tau'ri' and 'Earth', and that was about it.  Dillon frowned and took a few steps closer to Kyle, he didn't like that he didn't know what was being said.  "Care to let me in on what they're saying?"  he asked.

OOC: would it be ok to assume that Kyle is translating as we go so I don't have to ask for a translation every time someone says something?

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 61):

Jackie smiles.

"Excuse me while I translate. Not all of us Taur'i know the old languages."


Jackie then turns to Major Dillion and translates.

Dillon frowned.  "So he mentioned Earth before you did?  That's a little unsettling."  He replied to Jackie in a low tone, but not quite a whisper.  "Be careful what you reveal to this guy, he obviously knows more about us than we know about him.  See if you can find out more about him, and what his relationship with the rest of his people are."  Dillon specifically avoided the word Gou'auld, he didn't know how much Crom would overhear and he wanted to avoid words that he might hear out of context.  "His name is almost identical to the name of this race, it would seem to imply that he is posing as a god here."

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 63):

Jackie shrugs.

"he is their Master. I said he used to be a god."


She then turns to Crom.

"I was wondering which people of the Taur'i worshiped you when your people were on Earth."

If Carter wants to take the lead in talking to Crom, I shall quite happily translate for Dillon, no worries.

Yes, I've been posting for all to read as if Carter or McGuinness are translating. It's fine doing a private message or two in the beginning, or if something important gets said, but otherwise it just becomes tedious to keep doing translations.


"Oh, I was never on Earth," Crom replies. "I was never worshipped... exactly, for I never claimed to be a god. The primitives on Hyperborea, where I was sent, however, still thought I was one, and usually treated me as such. I tried to discourage them from doing that, but the only way I could determine to do that was to actually treat them as if I were a god, and that was obviously self-defeating."

"So, what kind of exploring do you wish to do?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:29, Thu 12 June 2014.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 66):

Jackie smiles as she watches Kyle translate.

"Ah very intelligent. Ra, Anubis and Baal weren't so. Oh yeah Ra and Anubis are dead."

"Yes, Anubis was dead before I... left. It does not surprise me that Ra is also dead now," replies Crom. "Just as Ra led the uprising against Anubis, it was inevitable that a similar one would occur against Ra."

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 68):

Jackie smiles.

"Our Military Forces with Free Jaffa help led the uprising against Ra. One of our leaders, killed Ra."

"Really?" Crom replies, though not really sounding surprised. "There were some of us that thought you Tau'ri would not be suppressed forever. After all, that was precisely why you were chosen in the first place. You were not only easy to repair, but you were adaptable and energetic."

"Oh, and the fringe benefits! Your senses overwhelmed us! We had no idea we'd led such a dull existence prior to that!"

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 70):

Jackie laughs.

"Yes some of the sensations our bodies have betray us. After all, as much as I dislike Baal, his last host from the files I saw was not bad for a man."

Dillon was slightly behind in the conversation, being at the disadvantage of needing to have both Crom's words and Jackie's translated.  "Sorry to change the subject, but you said you left the Goa'uld? I'm curious to hear more about that."  Dillon waited patiently for a reply as Kyle translated his words to Crom.

"I suppose it is not something I am particularly proud of," Crom replies to the question about his 'leaving' the Goa'uld.

"But then, I haven't had anyone to talk to in a long, long time. Actually, I am not strictly a Goa'uld... I am Goa'uldra. My leaving was not by my choice exactly. I was exiled here by Ra because I wasn't... nasty enough, I guess is the way you'd put it."

"Anubis did unspeakable things even by Goa'uld standards, which is how Ra was able to rally the other Goa'uld to overthrow him. In the aftermath, Ra turned out to be only slightly better. He'd seen the line that wasn't to be crossed, and walked that line as finely as possible."

"So now you know my shame."

"Hardly a shame!" exclaimed Kyle, in Greek.

In reply to Kyle McGuinness (msg # 74):

Jackie smiles.

"Mr. McGuiness is right. Tis not a shame. Tis an honor. It causes people to like you more."

Dillon half turned away from the conversation for a moment as Fox's radioed him.  "Copy.  Fall back a safe distance from the gate, and try to find out what it is without being seen.  Keep me updated. Over." he replied into the radio before turning back to the conversation.  "My team at the gate is reporting something moving towards it, is there anyone on this planet besides you and your people?". He asked.

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 76):

Jackie translates and waits for an answer.

"Not that I am aware," Crom replies. "There are other clans of the Croma, and we trade occasionally with a few of them. It's mostly seasonal, but it's the trade season at the moment."

"I suppose it could be a snarl. That's a predator, about 200 pounds. It's never come near the gate before. Perhaps adverse weather has forced it into new territory."

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 78):

Jackie makes sure Kyle is translating that. If he isn't she translates.


"If it is just a predator, Major, I suggest just taking it down. That is if it gets to close to them. If not let it be."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:35, Wed 18 June 2014.

Josh took a moment to speak into the radio again, keeping his voice low, aware of the fact that loud noises from Fox's radio might give away his position. "Fox, our hosts say there are a few other clans of their kind on the planet, it might be a trading party, but they say there is no other intelligent life.  It may also be some sort of large predator called a Snarl.  Avoid contact if possible, kill it of you have to.  Over."

Josh turned back to Crom.  "Sorry about that.  Back to what you were saying about your separation from the Goa'uld, I'm curious, have you ever encountered a group called the Tok'ra?"

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 80):

Jackie continues translating. While wondering if Crom inspired Conan's god.

"Ah. The Tok'ra. From the nature of your question, I gather they are not mythical any more?" Crom replies. "In my time, that is all they were. We were never able to track down where the myth started, but for Anubis and Ra, they were the Enemy. Yet since there was no proof these Tok'ra existed, they had to walk a fine line between denying them and acknowledging they were real. Most of the other Goa'uld, however, dismissed them as fabrications made up by the uneducated, who ascribed all sorts of fanciful abilities and powers to them... fire-breathing, invisible, death with a glance... that sort of thing."

"So you are saying that they are real? And you think they and I would... get along?"

Kyle translates Crom's words to Dillon and adds "As far as I have read, the Tok'ra are hostile to any Gou'ald, however 'reformed' and well-behaved - they may take some persuading that this guy's OK."

In reply to Kyle McGuinness (msg # 83):

Jackie continues to Crom.


"Yeah but they aren't really different."

"I was curious if you had encountered them, as some of your ideals seem similar to some of theirs.  I wonder, what do you think of their practice of sharing the host body with the consciousness of their host?"  Dillon asked through translation.

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 85):

Jackie translated and waited for an answer.

Crom patiently waits for Jackie to translate what Joshua said, and then replies.

"It does not sound like a very efficient arrangement, nor a practical one. Perhaps the Tok'ra are not the same type of Goa'uld."

"My host went horribly insane upon joining, even though he was on the verge of death. I could heal his physical form, but was not able to heal his mind."

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 87):

Jackie smiles.


"I have heard they have ways of healing the minds of the host or the symbiot. No offense but that is what a Go'auld is."

In the middle of their conversation, Major Dillon (maybe) hears the following message over his radio.

"Jaffa inbound. 20 in two skirmish lines. Moving slow."

In reply to Jason Bjorn (msg # 89):

Jackie's smile turns into a frown in a second.

"Crom, do you know why their are Jaffa here?"

Dillon assumed that Carter had asked the very same question that had come to his mind when he heard there were Jaffa approaching the gate.  He waited patiently to see how Crom would respond to the question.

"There are no Jaffa here!" Crom protests. "What sort of game are you playing at?"

"Wait! What are you doing?"

He points out the door, and those who look notice that the waterfall seems to have less water coming down, and it reduces even more as you watch.

He reaches into a pocket and when his hand comes out, it has a ribbon device on it.

"Stop it right now!" he nearly shouts at the SG team.

"Quick, Bir'rikka! Take troops up to the roof and find out what is happening!"

Kyle whispered translations rapidly into Dillon's ear, then turns when Crom points to look at the waterfall.

"Has the bucket system been interefered with?" he muses, then recasts the enquiry in Greek - "How is the waterfall controlled? From where?" he asks.

"I assure you my people are nowhere near your waterfall."  Dillon kept his responses short so Kyle could translate them quickly.  "Someone else is on this planet, and they appear to be Jaffa."  Dillon didn't quite believe Crom's outrage, he had to know about the presence of a group of Jaffa that large, if they were not from this planet than they had to come through the gate, and with the Crommite's settlement so close to the gate it would have been impossible for them to miss a group that size coming through.  Something didn't add up, but for now it wouldn't do them any good if Crom distrusted them.  "I assure you my people are here peacefully, that is why we came unarmed when invited into your home.  We are at war with the system lords and we will gladly help you defend your home against them.  If someone is messing with the waterfall it means they know you're here and they plan on attacking.  Do you have a back way out of this base?  We'll all be safer in the forest, and we may just be able to ambush these Jaffa."

Kyle translated Dillon's words as carefully as he could. Things were precarious enough and a word wrong could send them over the edge. Suddenly, he felt rather nervous.

In reply to Kyle McGuinness (msg # 95):


Jackie looked at the Major.

"Do we know which Go'auld these Jaffa are with?"

As if in answer to Jackie's question, the following comes over the radios.


"Major, we got a major freak goin' on here! The Jaffa... aren't exactly Jaffa. They're... um, kinda like... uh, lizard-men!"

"Honest, Major! I'm not smokin' anything, though now I wish I was! They're some sort of humanoid reptile... don't know if they are snakes, lizards, gators or what, but look kind of like a bit of all three."

"They're wearing a harness with what looks like a System Lord emblem in the middle, and they got staff weapons. No armor that I can see."

In reply to Jason Bjorn (msg # 97):

Jackie quirks up. Then activates the radio.




"Describe the symbol."

Kyle explained in Greek to Crom what was being reported over the radio, ending with "Do you know of any beings like this?"

On the one hand, Crom becomes less agitated at Kyle's words, but he also becomes more concerned.

"Varana," Crom states somewhat disgustedly. "They are known as Varana. As near as we could tell, the Ancients altered all the species out here to make them poisonous to us Goa'uld. We cannot use them as hosts. However, since then, the Varana seem to have evolved away from that, though possibly Pelops or Niirti was responsible. Thus, they have become the closest thing to a Jaffa out here in the cluster."

"Now you know why I thought your initial report of Jaffa was a ruse of some sort on your part."

"While the likes of Anubis and Ra may have been inherently evil, certainly by your standards, not all of us are like that, but I'd caution you to assume they are until you learn otherwise."

Kyle translated to Dillon, thinking that it was odd, the only 'varana' he'd heard of in mythology were a group of monkey-like humanoids in the Hindu epic Ramayana who were brave and inquisitive by nature. Not reptilian at all... from what he'd read in Stargate files, everything seemed to be named after something or someone in Earth mythology.

While Kyle can't figure out the name's significance from his mythology knowledge, he suddenly realizes that he's not thinking along the right lines. It isn't derived from mythology at all, but from Arabic via Latin--Varanus is the genus name of the big lizards such as the monitor lizard and the Komodo dragon.

It's a bit of trivia (Education check) that Kyle picked up when doing an archaeology dig in Indonesia. While they were digging, they uncovered the prehistoric skeleton of a Megalania.

Derived from the Arabic word 'to warn', monitor lizards were so dubbed because they would stand on their hind legs as if they were monitoring their surroundings. Because of their large size and correspondingly larger brains, they are also fairly smart as lizards go: they can differeniate numbers up to 6, recognize keepers, cooperate when getting food and even have distinct personalities. Large species are known to weigh up to 150 lbs. while the prehistoric one was probably 700 lbs.

They also reproduce parthenogenically--a lone female can lay self-fertilized eggs that produce only males. Their bony-scaled hides function much like chainmail and they've been known to run as fast as 12 miles per hour over short distances. Their bite may be poisonous. They can become fairly docile in captivity yet remain very territorial. Like other reptiles, they use their tongues to sample the air.

Kyle wasn't the expert, but his dig partner at that time, Tomas de Quinterrez, was, even though that wasn't quite what they were looking for.

Ah, thank you! Kyle considers but rejects spouting off about lizards now, but tucks what he remembered away for later. Especially that some of them might be venomous.

Kyle was standing there conversing with a Goa'uld, so naturally his first train of thought was along the mythology line and how these neo-Jaffa fit into the System Lords hierarchy. And he still hasn't seen what these Varana actually look like. Had he seen one, it would have been obvious.

"It looks like a teardrop with upswept wings," the reply comes from Jason in a whisper.

In reply to Jason Bjorn (msg # 105):

Jackie shrugs.

"I studied alot of mythology while getting my archaeology degree but I am blanking on that. Do you remember that Dr. McGuiness?"

"I think we're looking at the wrong angle. Going mythological, I mean. But Varanus is the generic name of the family of lizards that includes beasties like monitor lizards and Komodo dragons," said Kyle.

"If these Varanus are lizardmen, they may be related. Just hope they are not venomous as well as capable of wielding weapons."

In reply to Kyle McGuinness (msg # 107):

Jackie shrugs.

"Okay, any other idea what a teardrop with wings means?"

"Maybe we should ask Crom, he would know the locals in this corner of space better than we would."

"OK," said Kyle, thinking through how to say it in Greek.

"It appears that these 'Varasa' bear a badge of a teardrop with wings, do you recognise that?" he asked in Greek.

"I should have known!" Crom spits out vehemently. "That is the symbol of Fu-ts'ang-lung! He's been after our resources for decades. Plus he wants to enslave the Cromar. I've refused to accede to his demands. It looks like he's finally lost patience."

"The waterfall has been our source of power and our defense. He's somehow managed to stop it."

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 111):

Jackie smiles as she translates what Crom said.


"Your call, Major. But I say we have a Go'auld to kick in his and his host's ass."

"Crom, we need to act quickly, if the waterfall was what was keeping them out than I think their intent in stopping it is clear; they mean to invade.  We don't have much time, we need to come up with a plan.  Do you have any other means of defense within this place besides the waterfall?  Any traps or ambush points?  If not we need to act quickly to get the Cromar out of here, does the base have any other hidden entrances' or emergency escape routes besides through the waterfall?  Right now it might be best to fade away, if they are already as close to us as the gate then we've already lost the initiative in this fight.  Better to fall back and wait to engage them on our terms than be forced into reacting to their moves.  Fighting from a reactionary position rarely yields good results."  Dillon was beginning to feel very trapped in their current underground position, if it didn't have a bolthole from which to escape they could very well end up trapped here.

Kyle translated Dillon's words for Crom, adding "How and from where is the waterfall controlled. Maybe we could help restart it?" at the end.

"Copy.  Set up for an ambush, we're working on weapons and another way out of this place.  If we can get back to the surface undetected we will try and catch them in a pincer maneuver.  But if it gets too hot before we get up there fall back into the woods, We've already lost the initiative here, if we can't gain an edge we need to fall back." Dillon said into his radio before turning his attention back to Crom, who had yet to answer his previous question.

"Crom, Time is running out!  We want to help you but we need to act quickly.  We need weapons and a way to the surface.  We need to move, now!"  Josh tried to put a sense of urgency in his voice that he hoped would need no translation.  He was not quite yelling at Crom, but his words were closer to a demand than a request.

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 115):

Jackie translates and uses a tone a native Greek speaker would use for immediacy.

"I still do not know that you aren't in league with them!" Crom snaps back.

He was thinking of his options.

"No, there are no traps or intentional ambush points, but I'm sure you can find some that could be used as such."

"There is a passage up to the top of the cliff. We don't control the river, sir! It is a... river!"

"We have an escape route. I am still trying to decide what the consequences of abandoning our town will be. I can see no alternative but that Fu-ts'ang-lung will bombard this area from orbit."

"Nor will I tell you where it is in case you are in league with them. In any case, it is not a route you can take."

"By weapons, I suppose you mean your weapons. All we have are spears and a few bows. I refused to turn them into a warrior society; now they will pay for my stubborness. We can fetch your weapons for you."


By now, the waterfall had dwindled to only a trickle.

"How long have we been in here speaking alone?  If we were in league with them don't you think we would have tried to kill you by now?"  Josh shot back. There was no more time for delicate negotiations, either Crom was going to trust them or he wasn't, but there wasn't any more time to waste finding out which it would be.  "I'll take you at your word that you don't have any advanced weapons, even though you do have that."  Josh gestured to the ribbon device on Crom's hand.  "If you think you can send someone to retrieve our weapons undetected than do it, and then get the rest of your people out of here.  This city is already lost, we don't know what has happened to the waterfall, but it can't be good.  If the Cromar have a way out of here than get them out.  They're not going to be any help with spears and bows."

Kyle translated rapid-fire as Crom and then Dillon spoke.

"Likely these invaders have dammed the river, probably felled some trees," he chipped in, in Greek then English. "Ought not to be too hard to shift. Where is the path to the top of the cliff?"

Crom turns to one of the otter-folk, and then another.

"N'kitat, take a red blanket and fetch these people's weapons!"

"T'tirik'ti! Start evacuating everyone to the Hideout!"

He then turns back to Jackie and the Major.

"Inform your men that we are getting your weapons for you. I'll show you the upper path to the top of the cliff. Come."


He leads the team to an opening in the back right corner of the room, which turns out to be a hall that doubles back on the room wall until another opening on the right. That leads to what appears to be Crom's private quarters. It's not as opulent as the usual Goa'uld facilities, but there are some 'luxuries'. On the other hand, he is a human body, not an otter-folk.

He goes to one wall that has a large painting in a metal frame on it. He directs his ribbon device at the wall and as it glows, a section of the wall suddenly moves backward and then slides aside, reveal a narrow tunnel beyond.

"I haven't been through this tunnel in several years, so I do not know what the terminus will be like. It is a crevasse in some rocks that is blocked by bushes."

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 120):

Jackie translates.

"How interesting A cleft in the rock like when seeing the True God's back side."

Dillon nodded.  "We'll move out as soon as our weapons are here.Will you fight with us?  That-"  Josh gestured to the Ribbon device on Crom's hand.  "Could be a difference maker."

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 122):

Jackie continues translating.

Kyle peered into the passage.

"Shall I sneak up and take a look?"

OOC: I'm just waiting for our little friend to make it back with our gear :)

N'kitat returns with the red blanket, sets it on the floor and opens it. The team's weapons are in there, plus there are some explosives.


As the team picks up their weapons, staff weapon fire sounds from below, shooting up at the cliff. A moment later, ropes drop down from above outside the cave entrance.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 126):

Jackie retakes her weapons and points her P90 up towards the cave entrance.

Kyle picks up his weapons, finding them strangely unfamiliar and comforting at the same time.

"Shall I go try to clear the obstruction to the waterfall or stay here?" he asked.

"Shit."  Josh cursed under his breath as weapons fire erupted, there was no more time to plan.  He grabbed his radio and fired off quick orders. "Fox; Hit and fade.  Friendlies are clear, we do not need to hold this location.  Hit them hard and then break off contact.  We'll regroup later.  Good hunting."  They were going to have to rely on Guerrilla tactics, it was risky given they didn't know the terrain, but the Cromar did, the SG team would have to rely heavily on them for scouting and reconnaissance.

"I'm going up first, I'm bigger than either of you two, if I can get through than the rest of you will be able to get through fine."  He quickly slung his P90 and stowed the extra explosives as he sized up the tunnel.  "We're out of time Crom, what's it gonna be?  It doesn't look like they're here to talk.  If you want to protect your people you're gonna have to fight."  Josh didn't wait for a response, as he charged ahead into the passage, time was limited and they needed to get moving.

Kyle followed on Dillon's heels.

Josh quickly discovers that the passage isn't easy going, at least not or someone his size. I twists and turns even as it climbs. Clearly it was designed to limit any line of sight for targeting, and make it hard for anyone larger and less agile than the otter-folk to negotiate.


"I'm hardly a fighter," Crom protests, but follows along behind Kyle.

"I suppose I need to go with you just in case my device is needed."


As Jackie brings up the rear, she takes a last glance of the outer balcony. here are no otter-folk in sight. But she does see lizardmen climbing down the ropes. She's not that good at climbing herself, but she knows enough to be surprised, shocked, impressed and almost annoyed when she realizes the lizardmen are climbing down by hand... hand-over-hand! No skill, no climbing gear, just brute strength!

She closes the secret door behind her and throws the locking bar. If the lizardmen know the passage is here, or can detect it, it won't stop them but it will take a while for the staff weapons to blast through it.

Josh kept pushing forward through the tunnel he didn't want to spend any more time in the cramped dingy tunnel than he had to.

It probably only takes about 5 minutes to reach the other end, though it seems like a lot longer.

The exit is similar to the way they entered in that there is a rock door with a bolt. This isn't finished stonework but a natural boulder, though. The bolt slides aside easily, as does the boulder. Joshua is sure there is some kind of mechanism wihin the boulder that enables it to be handled so easily by a single person, but he can't see or hear any indication of it.

It moves aside silently, and Joshua sees a small indentation in the rock that he's looking out of. It's barely more than an overhang, nothing that you'd call a cave. Some vines hanging down from the rock overhead and a few scraggly bushes serve to obscure it from casual inspection.

"There's a small ridge of rocks to the right of the river. This comes out at the base of the ridge, so nobody can see you from the river," Crom explains softly.

Kyle awaits Dillon's lead. He's a bit out of his depth in a combat situation. He contents himself with translating what Crom said.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:02, Sat 19 July 2014.

Josh cautiously peered out and up at the overhang above them before ducking back inside the tunnel.  "Is there a way to the top of the waterfall from here?"  He asked Crom in a subdued tone.

Kyle translated, also keeping his voice down.

"Of course there's a way to the top of the waterfall!" Crom replies. "Just follow the stream! I doubt if they diverted the water at that point, though. Your other men would have seen it coming off the cliff somewhere else."

"More than likely, they diverted up where the stream narrows. Would have been easier, even if the water is more rapid."

Suppressing a giggle, Kyle translated then asked in Greek "How far is it to where the stream narrows?"

"Half a mile," Crom replies. "However they did it, there will be guards."

Kyle translated, adding "We'll have to be careful.."

"That's too far." Dillon responded to Crom's estimate of distance to the most likely point of the blockage.  "It'll have to wait, we need to provide support for the rest of our team and make sure they are able to neutralize the hostiles or disengage.  We need to either get down there or find a good spot to lay down suppression fire from."  He said quietly as he scanned the area looking for a suitable position and hoping that Crom already knew of one.

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 141):

Jackie having followed Major Dillon's train of thought just a half second behind him. Which only reminds herself that more then half the reason she is an officer is her Education.

Kyle explains what Dillon is saying to Crom.

Kyle has to explain what 'suppression fire' is to Crom, upon which Crom just kind of sneers.

"In order for that to work, the Varana would have to understand your weapons, which I doubt they will, and they would need to be afraid. Like the Jaffa, the Varana are fearless. As far as I know, they are incapable of retreat."

"They damned up the river so that they could attack where the waterfall was. They were descending ropes into the upper reaches of the complex even as we departed."

"That would be the vantage point. It seems unlikely that they all would go down the ropes, so there may be guards up top still. On the other hand, it seems equally unlikely that they are expecting to return by way of the ropes."

"I still think you should restore the river. That is the most likely thing to discourage the Varana below."

"Besides, my people will aid your men. They may not be warriors, but they are capable of defending their home."

(OOC: Hope Kyle knows what 'suppressive fire' is... he's not a military man!)

Kyle translates rapidly, and offers to go see what's happened to the river and see if he can unblock it.

In reply to Kyle McGuinness (msg # 145):

Jackie translates suppression fire for Kyle then explains it to Kyle.


"Us Techies, we have to stick together."

Dillon had ignored Crom's recommendations and was in the process of trying to draw a clean shot on one of the attackers, he wasn't about to charge off on a twenty minute trek through the jungle when half his team was engaged with what as best he could tell was five or six to one odds.  Thankfully the rest of his team proved they wanted the fight more than the Varana did.  The aliens were confused, slow to adapt and quickly scattered. ++Good job Fox, try to take one alive if you can, and watch out for a counter attack, they could regroup.  We're going to investigate what shut down the waterfall++  he stowed his radio and lowered his rifle.

"Well now that that's handled lets go investigate the river.  While we're walking lets talk about these Varana.  Are they based off of this planet or did they come through the gate?  How long should we expect it to take them to regroup and return for another shot at us?"  Josh let Crom lead, but stayed within a few feet of him, while he engaged the Go'auld in conversation the whole way his eyes kept scanning the jungle forward of them and to the sides, He expected Carter would be doing the same for the groups six o'clock.  The retreat seemed a little too easy and he was hyper vigilant for any sign of the Varana.

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 147):

AS soon as Jackie gets a clean shot she fires at the Varana.

Kyle tagged along, looking around as he walked. He continued to translate as Dillon and Crom chatted.

<quote Joshua Dillon>
 <green>++Good job Fox, try to take one alive if you can, and watch out for a counter attack, they could regroup.

Fox over radio
"order acknowledged"

As the group advances, the top of an Ha'tak ship comes into sight first. It turns out to be a bit farther away than it looks, though, for they come to the dam in the river long before they reach the ship.

The dam is a force field, set up at a diagonal across the former river. There are two large generators, one at each end of the force field, each about the size of a refrigerator. There are six Varana guarding each generator, and the Goa'uld is sitting on an ornate chair on a rise to the left of the river.

The river at this point came down from the left and curved around the rise. By diverting the river here, it takes a straight course and cascades down off the cliff about a mile from its previous waterfall.

The Ha'tak is about a hundred yards beyond the river.

Dillon held up his hand to halt the group as the scene came into view.  He cursed under his breath when he saw the shear scale of the Ha'tak, the thing would have to be delt with.  He found a vantage point to hunker down and pulled his binoculars from his pack, taking several minutes to observe the movements of the Varana, trying to get a gauge on their numbers.  When the Goa'uld came into view Dillon tossed the binoculars aside and shouldered his P-90, after several long tense seconds he cursed again and slung the weapon, the range was just too long for the SMG.



"Copy, Throw it in one of the cages." Dillon replied.  "And dial home and report in, we've got an enemy mother ship here, we're gonna need more firepower.  Ideally I'd like a laser designator and a cruise missile strike through the gate."  The Ha'tak would have to be dealt with, as long as the enemy controlled it they controlled the theatre, they would have to find a way to take control of it or at least deny the enemy that asset.


OOC: While the other half of the team reports back to earth I'd like to take a 20 to observe the area, looking for total enemy numbers, weaknesses and gaps in their patrols and security.

Kyle was amazed. He'd been expecting something much more low-tech - some logs in the river or something like that. He sat beside Dillon absorbing as much of the scene as he could, taking photos and notes.

"The Varana are not native to this world, nor are their antecedents," Crom replies to Joshua. "I am not aware of what the base species was that was mutated into the Varana, so I cannot say for certain what their home world was, but a number of planets in the cluster have large lizards that could have been used."

He pauses for a moment as he continues to scan the enemy, as the team continues to do the same.

He speaks up again just as Jackie comes to the same realization.

"That is not a Ha'tak ship; it is only an Al'kesh," Crom says.

The mistake came from not being able to see the whole ship, particularly the bottom, and not having a perspective to estimate the size.

Kyle dragged his attention back to the conversation and translated for Dillon.

"Al'kesh...  That's a transport, but an armed one, right?"  Dillon mused out loud while continuing to observe through his binoculars.  "We still need to deny the enemy that asset... but it might be small enough for us to take.  Does anybody know how to fly one of those?  If not, we do have a plan B."  He said, patting the satchel full of explosives that the other half of the team had sent to them via the Otterfolk courier.

OOC did TL get Fox's report and what does he want Fox's group doing

In reply to Travis Fox (msg # 157):
Jackie grunts.


"Al'kesh still means trouble just not as much."

"Bad News Crom, we don't have authorization to take this on the offensive, our home planet doesn't want to risk war.  We're going to have to try and negotiate."  Dillon continued scanning through his binoculars while he waited for Fox and the other half of the team to move up to their position.

Kyle translated, looking concerned. Whilst negotiation was better than brawling, if one side just wades in you have to get them to stop brawling before you can talk to them.

"OK. What languages are they likely to speak?" he asked both Crom and Dillon.

"The Varana will speak only Goa'uld, and the Goa'uld will speak Goa'uld," Crom replies to Kyle. "I have only conversed with Fu-ts'ang-lung in Goa'uld; I do not know if he speaks any other language, but probably not."

"In our arrogance, we refused to learn the languages of lesser creatures, insisting that they learn ours. I speak the language of the Croma because I chose to lead them, not enslave them. They were a primitive peoples when I came here. I have been civilizing them slowly so as not to create any culture shock."

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 161):

"Well, that ends my translating. Time to fall back on my computer ther talents."



Sam sighs.

"Me too," said Kyle. "I think I will have to start learning Goa'uld... wonder if it is a difficult language?"

"Given that this Fu-ts'ang-lung is sitting here with an Al'kesh," Joshua has Jackie translate to Crom, "do you know what planet he comes from? Also, since he didn't use the gate, does that mean his world doesn't have a stargate?"

"And do you know if our explosives will be able to take out his force field generators?"

He waited until Jackie translated the reply, then said to Jackie and Kyle:

"I'm pretty sure General Hammond had an idea what my style of negotiating is, and it doesn't usually involve talking."

"We aren't supposed to destroy or take over the Al'kesh, but that doesn't mean we can't encourage Fu to leave."
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:08, Fri 26 Sept 2014.

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 164):

Jackie translates and smiles.

"Professor Jackson said Go'auld wasn't to difficult."

"Good" said Kyle. "Maybe I get to make a start today!"

"Yes, that is peculiar," agrees Crom about the ship. "There is a gate on Fu-ts'ang-lung's world. Most of the Dragon Lords are loath to use the gates themselves because they know the Ancients have done some significant tampering with this cluster. I suspect, however, it was Fu-ts'ang-lung's way of trying to intimidate me."

"I do believe your explosives will be sufficient to destroy the force field. We Goa'uld have no such items in our repertoire of weaponry. For us, explosive weapons are world-destroyers. Only other Goa'uld are a threat, and their Jaffa or Varana would use staff weapons, so they are protected against those."


As Crom is responding to Jackie's translation of Joshua's questions, and Jackie relays that to Joshua, Travis, Ru'tan and Jason arrive.

As the arriving group jogs up, Ru'tan looks around, wondering what's going on. Turning to Dillon, he asks, "Where do you need me?"

Fox
"Sir, before we commit to an attack I would like to know what space ships the opposition have available".
"I do not want to take a force in there to find a Hatac joining in behind us".
"If the ship can be taken intact then I would suggest doing so"

"I agree with you Fox, but General Hammond doesn't.  We've got no way to get it back home if we capture it, and he thinks destroying it would be venturing too close to an act of war.  Still, if we can capture it long enough to force them to return from where they came from through the gate, we can worry what we're going to do with it afterwards.  We can always set it to autopilot into this planet's sun."

He didn't voice the other option, leaving it for the Crommar to use in defense, but the thought that they might not be on the right side of this fight had crossed his mind.  He was basing their current alliance with the Crommar based on their friendly and peaceful reception in contrast to their hostile introduction to the Varana, but things weren't always what they appeared on the surface, and he wanted to be absolutely positive Crom wasn't up to any nefarious plots before turning over such a powerful asset to him.

"I'd love nothing more than to capture that ship and use it as a threat to force them back through the gate, if we force them off the planet by retreating in the Ship there is nothing stopping them from returning once we leave.  But I have no idea how to fly a Gou'auld ship, we need someone who knows how to operate it if we're going to capture it.  So, does anyone have any experience with these ships?" he asked the team in general; he needed to know if capturing the ship was even possible before continuing with a plan to confront the Varana.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:12, Fri 26 Sept 2014.

Ru'tan shakes his head, "I am sorry, I am not trained enough to fly such a vessel."

In reply to Ru'tan (msg # 171):

Jackie smiles.

"Maybe I can fly it. or maybe between Rutan and I we could fly it."

Ru'tan returns Jackie's smile with one that doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Perhaps, between the two of us, we could discover how to make it fly. However, without proper training to do so, I fear we our journey would end sooner than we hope.

"Maybe isn't gonna cut it here."  Dillon said. "I don't want to find out we cant fly it halfway into getting it in the air.  Alright, we're gonna have to take a different tact on this one,"  He trailed off for a second. "I want to talk to them.  But before we do that I want to sneak some remote linked explosives in as close to them as possible, an old trick we used to use in the sandbox.  We've got a major advantage here in that we are an unknown to the enemy, they don't know anything about us, and they don't know what we can't do.  If we can orchestrate a few carefully timed explosions we might be able to intimidate them off of the planet.  the first step towards that will be planting some remotely controlled explosives as close to them as possible, inside their defenses and on critical systems if at all possible."  Dillon wasn't entirely sure of this plan, but years of field experience had taught him to improvise when a clear plan wasn't available.  They had one thing going for them here, the gou'auld knew less about them then they knew about the gou'auld, and that could be turned to their advantage with a few well planned bluffs.  "Let's get this position scouted, I want to know where their weak points are and how close we can get explosives to their position without being detected."

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 174):

Jackie frowns for the briefest of a portion of a second. Jackie seemingly emotionless stands at parade rest and speaks.


"Yes, sir."

She then takes some explosives and begins to take on the task ordered.

Fox nods in agreement.
"Eye Sir Rutan with me please I would like you to watch my back while I plant some explosives".
"Commander do you want the Explosives capable of doing serious damage or just enough to annoy them"

Ru'tan nods and moves to follow.

"I didn't bring that much explosive, Major," Jason says. "Unless we are on a specific 'seek and destroy' mission, which we weren't when we started, Command doesn't want too many explosives to fall into enemy hands if things go skew-whiff."

"I've got enough explosives... maybe... to take out those two force field generators, which would set the river back on its course."

"With their capture of the otter-folk thwarted and their generators destroyed, don't you think that would be enough to send them packing?"

"Besides, if I kept up with your conversations correctly, none of these Varana or the Goa'uld up here know about us. The other Varana haven't reached their base yet and therefore haven't reported in. If we can keep under cover, they'll think they are being attacked by the Cromar. That might be enough to discourage them from coming back. The only other thing that might do that is to kill this Fu-shu guy himself."

"Hmmmm. That does bring up another question: think any of these Varana can fly that ship? If not, we kill Fu'shu, and the ship is stranded here."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:33, Thu 02 Oct 2014.

Fox smiles "I have ten meters of det cord a 1 kg block of explosive and timers. Does that help"?

Ru'tan listens to Jason, nodding. "If these Varana serve in place of Jaffa, they most certainly will know how to fly the ships. At least, some of them will be able to."

In reply to Ru'tan (msg # 180):

Jackie nods.

"Yes that makes sense, Rutan."

"While that makes sense, Ru'tan," Jason replies to the Jaffa, "I have to say these Varana don't come across as overly smart. Are they even capable of learning how to fly a ship?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm just working on limited information."

"Anyway, yeah, the detcord and block might do the trick. It's certainly enough to generate a diversion."

"What do you think, Major? Some of us circle around and set off a few explosions, maybe fire a staff weapon or two. Meanwhile the rest of us see if we can sneak up on those generators and make a few adjustments."

Kyle listened, hoping that he'd be able to stay out of the way if a brawl broke out. Or at least find something useful to do...

Hey, group, can those of you with rank put it in the character biography? I want to refer to your rank but can't remember who is what.

"Yeah Bjorn, lets get explosives on those shield generators and anything else that looks important that you can get to."  Dillon still wasn't sure if they were on the right side of this fight, but there wasn't much to be done about it now.

OOC: Dillon's rank is Major, Jackies as well.  I believe Bjorn and Fox are both sergeants?

also, did we figure out if we have anyone that speaks Gou'auld?  Ru'tan?  I mean this might be exactly what it seems, the cute furry creatures are the good guys, the scaly bumbling reptiles are the prototypical bad guys.. but I can't shake this nagging feeling that things might not be exactly as they appear on the surface...  but We'll need a Gou'auld speaker to find that out...

Fox's rank is on his sheet He is simply waiting for orders, having declared to his commanding officer what he is carrying.
No argument from me

Ru'tan does speak Goa'uld.

"Alright, Fox and Bjorn get those explosives in place in things go sideways, then find yourselves a nice concealed position you can suppress the area from if need be.  After that Ru'tan and I are going down to talk to them.  If we can't take that ship the best we can hope for is to force them to leave, but SGC probably isn't going to set up a garrison here, so there's nothing to stop them from coming back once we're gone.  If we want to have any chance of running them off for good first we're going to have to find out what they're after."  Dillon issued his orders and waited patiently for his team to carry them out, while Fox ad Bjorn were planting the charges he tuned back to Crom, using Jackie to translate.  "If there's anything else we need to know about why they're here now would be the time."  He crossed his arms and waited for Crom to respond.

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 188):

Jackie translates.


"Definitely have to learn Go'auld."

"I'm open to suggestions on how we are supposed to sneak up on those force field generators, sir," Jason says to Joshua.

"They are guarded, though I wouldn't say well. Still, I doubt if those Varana are just going to stand there while we waltz up and plant the explosives on  the generators."

"As I'd suggested, if Carter and Ru'tan circle around and cause a distraction from the other side, we might be able to reach the generators without being noticed."

In reply to Jason Bjorn (msg # 190):

Jackie shrugs.

"Sounds good. Ready Rutan."

Kyle looked a bit lost.

"What can I do to help?"

Ru'tan looks around at all the humans, concerned that there are so many ideas and so little decision on a course of action.

"Major Dillon, whatever we do, we should decide and act quickly. Every moment we lose could be crucial."

"Ah, Kyle, you have the most important role of all," Jason quips up. "Since the Major wishes to parlay with this Goa'uld, you'll need to translate until Ru'tan and Carter can rejoin him."

"Even then, there are bound to be nuances in the language different from what we know. As the least skilled in Goa'uld, besides those of us that don't know squat about it, you'll be in the best position to spot any of those nuances or discrepancies. Maybe what you question will be just ignorance on your part, but then again, it may be something significant that slipped by the others."

"Finally, since the rest of us are going on our own little excursion, that'll leave the poor Major here all alone. As good as he is, he doesn't have eyes in the back of his head. So you'll be an additional set of eyes and ears to help him keep watch and not be surprised."

"And I bet you thought we brought you along just for your good looks! Well, maybe Carter did."

Kyle looked surprised.

"Oh. And here I was thinking it was for expertise in primitive cultures! I shall do what I can..."

"Hahaha," responds Jason to Kyle's comment.

"I was just kidding you... sort of. Yes, you are on this team for your expertise in primitive cultures, and as soon as we find one, we'll save it for you."

"So think about this: what have you learned about the otter-folk? Does what this Crom fella told you jive with what you've seen? Do you think he's been holding back their development? How do you think you would have assessed them without any input from Crom?"

"Something to thing about... Anyway, be right back."


So, unless Joshua calls us back, Jason and Travis will move out, try to work their way closer to the devices without being spotted, and then wait for the diversion to start.

Ru'tan nods at Carter, hitching his pack up on his back, making sure the straps and clips are well secured. "Lead on."

Fox nods and moves off with Jason to implement the TL's plan.

As Travis and Jason work their way through the underbrush, edging closer to the force field generators, Jason makes a suggestion.

"If your stealth skills are better than mine, how about if you take the one on the right? There's less cover getting up to it so it'll take more skill. Don't know how keen these Varana's eyesight is, but at least we'll be downwind."

After that, they just had to wait for Carter and Ru'tan's diversion.

While Joshua and Kyle wait for the others, Jackie and Ru'tan easily work their way around 'behind' the Varana. It's not quite 180-degrees, more like 120 or so, but the river kind of gets in the way. They could go upstream until they were out of sight and cross over, but that would take too long.

It's doubtful that any of the Varana scouted the area, so it isn't surprising that Jackie and Ru'tan find a slight gully at that point. It might have been a stream that dried up or possibly some run-off path, but it allows them to move without being seen. It even provides some cover.

Now all they need to do is decide how close to the river they want to get, and what kind of diversion they are going to use.

Ru'tan turns to Jackie, raising one eyebrow as he says in a quiet voice, "How should we draw them away? Fire and run? Grenade?"

As Jackie and Ru'tan moved out to circle around the Goa'uld/Varana encampment, she gave some thought to what the Jaffa had asked.

"We have a few small explosive charges," she began. "I think we should use those, scattered around the area as close as we can get, then you should start firing your staff weapon at them. When they come after you, we can set the explosives off."

"My thinking is that they might not know about our P90s, so I'd rather not alert them to it until we have to. If we make a number of false trails around the area we fire from, they may be delayed in finding our real trail."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:36, Tue 11 Nov 2014.

Ru'tan nods, seeing the wisdom in Jackie's approach. "Perhaps you can hide yourself and I will draw them right past you and you can catch them unawares."

The Jaffa begins looking for a suitable place for Jackie to hide and ambush the rival Jaffa.

OOC: Rolling to find a good ambush spot for Jackie.
09:41, Today: Ru'tan rolled 5 using 1d20+4. Find a good Ambush place for Jackie.
Well... looks like I can't find anything.

 OOC remember we have several staff weapons that were acquired from the last set to

In reply to Travis Fox (msg # 204):

Jackie looks around. She notices a good spot.


"Follow me, guys."



Search: 16

Both Ru'tan and Jackie spot a suitable place to ambush any Varana that might pass by, but these are not Jaffa, so without knowing more about them, it's hard to say what they are capable of. Derived from lizards, they probably have a greater sense of smell, so staying downwind of them is probably a good idea. Fortunately, the spots you picked are crosswind. The closer you get, though, the greater the chance will be of them detecting you from errant breezes.


Jason and Travis are in the same situation. One of them had to cross the now empty stream, which was fairly easy at one of the bends. Also, though a bit muddy, the bed of the stream was fairly rocky, strewn with water-smoothed stones.

The one on the near side of the stream will have the hardest time reaching the force field generator as the ground is mostly flat. There are some rocks, and plenty of bushes and scrub grass.

The one on the other side of the stream has a rise in the ground to hide behind, at least until he gets closer. He's also the one most likely to get detected by a shifting wind or errant breeze.


Keeping down, but working forward a bit, Joshua and Kyle keep a watch on the Goa'uld. At first, he looked like another Varana, but after several minutes of observation, it now seems probable that he is human (or at least humanoid) but wearing typical 'god' armor that makes him look like the Varana.

The Varana don't get fidgety like humans do, but at the same time, they have to move a bit now and then--shift a stance, take a step, change orientation. However, their gaze seldom shifts. They don't move their heads around much; they can, but mostly it's their eyes that flicker left to right. That would seem to indicate they have a wider field of vision than humans.

Kyle is the first to spot the 'other' Varana. It is approaching from behind the Goa'uld and to the right. Oddly, it is not running, but walking quickly. This is probably one of the Varana that were engaged by Travis, Ru'tan and Jason down below. It had a long way to go to circle around the cliff to a place where it didn't have to do any climbing.

<quote StarMaster>
Jason and Travis are in the same situation. One of them had to cross the now empty stream, which was fairly easy at one of the bends. Also, though a bit muddy, the bed of the stream was fairly rocky, strewn with water-smoothed stones.

The one on the near side of the stream will have the hardest time reaching the force field generator as the ground is mostly flat. There are some rocks, and plenty of bushes and scrub grass.

The one on the other side of the stream has a rise in the ground to hide behind, at least until he gets closer. He's also the one most likely to get detected by a shifting wind or errant breeze.

Fox looks at the situation.
"I will cross over and work my way down to the point if you wish"

"Okay, Travis, works for me," Jason replied as they hunkered down and approached as close as they could stealthily. Now it got down to sneakiness.

"I sure hope they start that distraction soon," he added. "The longer we stay out here twisting in the wind, the more likely these lizards are to detect us."

"We didn't plan for that, did we? I say charge and plant the explosive. We only have to take out one of the generators to bring down the force field."

With that, he covers Travis as Travis makes his way across the empty stream bed. As soon as Travis is out of sight, Jason turns to his own problem. He works his way as far forward as he can behind rocks and bushes. Going farther, where there is poor cover at best, he slowly crawls through the high grass, matching his movement to the swirl of the winds across the plateau.

He finally gets as far forward as he can.

Kyle quietly points out the other Varana who is approaching.

Ru'tan nods to Jackie, moving to examine the ambush points. "Very well. Take cover, I will draw them by your position."

The jaffa moves closer to the Varana they are trying to draw off, crouching down to make a last minute examination of the scene. Ru'tan clicks his radio, "Ready. Tell me when to proceed and it will happen."

"I think we're as ready as we can be," Carter says to Ru'tan as she follows the scout with her eyes and sighs..

"We want to fire just before that scout reaches the Goa'uld," she adds. "Can you target him from this distance? Fire when you are ready."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:56, Sat 22 Nov 2014.

OOC
Sorry mum has been in hospital

IC
Fox uses cover and wind eddies to get close in and plant his charges.
Then retreats having set them and signals he is ready to the commander. And awaits orders

Ru'tan speaks quietly into his radio, "All set. Is everyone prepared?"

Is everyone ready to kick it off? I'm ready to shoot...

 Fox
Set, go

Josh hadn't noticed the lone approaching Varana until Kyle pointed it out to him. His focus had been on getting everyone else into position, and keeping an eye on the Goa'uld.

As soon as he saw the Varana, though, he knew what it meant. They'd taken far too long to come up with a plan and to get into position. It was enough time for one of the Varana that the gate team had routed to circle around to a place where they could climb up to the top of the cliff. He had no idea how many there were, but this was the first one.

He had to laugh a little as he realized how much of an advantage their radios were over someone who didn't have them. It was another reason the Tau'ri were able to challenge the Goa'uld might--everyman technology. Earth put that technology into every soldier's hand. It didn't make them tougher, but it made them better.

At least, Josh thought so. It was a lesson learned in Vietnam--don't keep a soldier in the dark or you'll lose.

"So, Kyle... as soon as the diversion starts, the others will set off the charges. The diversion will continue. While their attention is divided, you and I will stand and start moving forward until the Goa'uld notices us. Jason and Travis will be covering us just in case. Are you up to this?"

After Kyle answered, Josh got on the radio.

"Everyone is set, Ru'tan, Jackie. Let 'er rip!"

In reply to Travis Fox (msg # 214):

Jackie begins shooting.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:48, Sat 29 Nov 2014.

"Whatever you need," said Kyle. Standing up and wandering around in plain sight of enemies didn't make much sense, but he trusted in the military to know their business.

 Fox hearing the shots gives the command to trigger the charges and blows his with a single flick of the finger on the detonator

Ru'tan stands tall, typical Jaffa fashion, and fires two blasts from his staff weapon at the Varana, trying to attract their attention by being incredibly obvious. He readies himself to run, drawing any pursuing Varana off.

Hearing the racket, Kyle took a deep breath and stood up as he'd been directed.

Jason hadn't been able to get close enough to the force field generator to place his charge yet. The two Varana guarding it just never moved far enough away for him to get in close.

Then the diversion started--gunfire and staff weapon... and BOOM! Travis had somehow been able to plant his charge, and set it off prematurely.

Fortunately, in what Jason would have said was typical 'human' behavior, the Varana guarding his generator first reacted to the diversionary fire, but, like good little soldiers, didn't leave their post just yet. When the other generator blew, though, they instinctively ran over to help... even though the generator was a pile of scrap now.

Using the undamaged generator as cover, Jason ran forward in a tight crouch, covering the remaining distance in only a few seconds. He dropped the charge and drove the spike into the ground behind it to keep it in contact with the device, and turned and ran back. A couple of staff shots came in his direction, but none were really close. Sometimes confusion was the best armor you could have.

Once he reached cover, he pulled out the detonator, glanced up to make sure the charge was still in place, and pushed the button.

The water was already starting to come down the old channel.

Once the diversion shooting and the explosions occur, it's almost comical watching the Goa'uld's head look one way and then another and back the first way.

Ru'tan manages to shoot the Varana scout that is approaching from the back side. It probably didn't kill him, but he'll be out for awhile.

With the second force field generator blown, the full force of the river rushes down its original channel, washing the remnants of the generators along with it.

A few of the Varana move in the direction of Ru'tan and Carter, of course, but the explosions draw them back the other way.

As expected, Randall and Kyle are able to approach the Goa'uld much closer than should have been possible before they are noticed, and even then it is by the Goa'uld. They can approach to within 50 feet before the Varana realize they are there and turn to threaten Randall and Kyle. Whether they would have fired at them or not is unclear, but the Goa'uld halts them from doing so anyway.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:05, Thu 11 Dec 2014.

Kyle stepped forward with a smile.

"Hey, there," he began. "Can we help you with anything?"

Boy, he sure needed to learn Go'auld, but until then he could at least try to be polite.

Fox covers the area with his SMG awaiting results

In reply to Travis Fox (msg # 224):

Jackie covers the area as well.

Ru'tan steps forward, seeing that the battle has been halted. He approaches slowly, his weapon held at the ready, but not pointed directly at anyone. He tries to look intimidating, trying to show that Kyle is not to be dismissed out of hand.

I'm assuming that the references to Del'noc are really referring to Ru'tan.

Yep, the references to Del'noc were supposed to be Ru'tan--you Jaffa all look alike...


Even as Kyle speaks, Crom steps up between Kyle and Randall, and 'translates' Kyle's words.

"Greetings, Fu-ts'ang-lung. The Tau'ri wish to know if they can assist you in some way. Otherwise, you are in violation of the Protected Planets Treaty."

"Tau'ri?" replies Fu-t'sang-lung. "They are a myth! And the Protected Planets Treaty does not apply out here."

"As you can clearly see, they are no myth! I have signed an agreement with them that extends the Protected Planets Treaty to include Croma. They are here to enforce that treaty."

Fu-t'sang-lung looks over at the destroyed force field generators, and then at the redirected river. Just about then, the scout Varana recovers, makes his way over and reports.

Fu-t'sang-lung remains expressionless for a minute before replying.

"I am not aware of this treaty. I will look into it. This is not over."

"Oh, but it is--you just do not know it yet," Crom replies.


Fu-t'sang-lung raises his arm, and eight Varana lift up his throne and carry it back to the ship. All the other Varana follow.

While this is going on, Crom repeats what he said to Kyle and Randall. Of course, you don't know if he's telling you the truth.

"Your associate killed Fu-t'sang's Prime. That is the main reason he is retreating," Crom also tells you.

As you stand there, the Goa'uld ship departs.

As the ship departs, fox come out of his area to check on his partner and then make their way back to re-join the group.
he bows slightly to the Gould just as he would to any other being in command.

Turns to the commander " Orders sir?"

In reply to Travis Fox (msg # 228):

Jackie nods.

Not that we, Tauri, want war. But, if you truly believe anything between the Only Tauri and the Go'auld are over then you underestimate your kin. And what we did placed you in our camp for the future battle.

"Actually, you put yourselves in my camp," Crom replies. "This was probably an inevitable confrontation. I do not know why it occurred at this time. I will have to use the gate to try and ascertain that."

"We should return to the town. I need to make sure everyone is safe. We will need to send out scouts to make sure all the Varana returned."

"I estimate it will take at least six months before Fu-T'sang has sufficiently trained a new Prime."


Without waiting for a response from the others, Crom turns and begins walking back to the town.

"See, Kyle? You not only didn't get shot at, you didn't have to shoot anything," the Major says as Crom begins walking away.

"I need you and Carter to search through the debris from the force field generators to see if there's anything salvageable. There might be pieces of technology in there that we can learn from."

"Travis, Crom is right. I didn't see all of those Varana with the cages come back. If they wander into this area late, they won't know that Fu-T'sang has abandoned them. And I expect they'll attack anything in sight. So stay with Kyle and Carter and keep watch for them. I'm also counting on you to make sure you all find your way back to the bolthole."

"Ru'tan and Bjorn, let's head after Crom. Ru'tan, you can translate, right?"

Kyle grinned.

"It is always good not to be shot at, and better not to have to shoot! OK, I'll get on it."

Looking a lot happier now, Kyle loped off to investigate the debris as directed.

<green>"I need you and Carter to search through the debris from the force field generators to see if there's anything salvageable. There might be pieces of technology in there that we can learn from."

Fox Turns.
"Should be on mine commander I hit an out side component, so unless it blew through some thing should be salvable"

"Travis, Crom is right. I didn't see all of those Varana with the cages come back. If they wander into this area late, they won't know that Fu-T'sang has abandoned them. And I expect they'll attack anything in sight. So stay with Kyle and Carter and keep watch for them. I'm also counting on you to make sure you all find your way back to the bolthole."
</quote>
" Sir" is fox's answer to the order.
"May I make a suggestion, we need naquadah, or at least Earth needs a supply of it."
"See if we can get a location of where it is available"
Fox considers. "I believe we salvaged 5 Blast lances and what ever other equipment the opposition was carrying".

In reply to Travis Fox (msg # 233):

Carter goes to search through the debris.

Ru'tan nods, standing down from his ready, watchful stance. "Indeed I can. Do you think we'll be given the opportunity to speak?"

This message was deleted by the player at 23:43, Thu 25 Dec 2014.

It doesn't take too long to scavenge the area for useful parts, but just as Jackie and Kyle are ready to wrap it up, Travis spots a pair of Varana approaching from the shallow slope side of the cliff.


Josh, Ru'tan and Jason accompany Crom back to the village, re-entering through the bolt hole.

Once through the tunnels to the main caves, Crom is greeted by his people. The waterfall is mostly back to the way it was when SG-X2 got there.

The Cromar, of course, think Crom has made things better.

"It was not I that drove away the dragons," he informs them, then gestures to SG-X2. "It was our new allies... and friends."

"Now, is everyone alright? Is everything back to normal? It may take a few days for the water to re-establish the old patterns again."

After being reassured that everyone is okay and that no damage has been done, Crom tells his aide to send out runners to the other villages... to warn them and tell of this day's victory. There may be loose Varana that will hunt or prey on them.

Ru'tan can interpret for Josh and Jason.

Finally, when Crom is satisfied that everything has been done, he sits in his chair, but makes sure than benches are brought for SG-X2.

"Perhaps I could have dissuaded Fu-t'sang," Crom addresses them, "to leave us in peace. I had no other way of stopping him. You have my gratitude for what it's worth."

<quote StarMaster>
It doesn't take too long to scavenge the area for useful parts, but just as Jackie and Kyle are ready to wrap it up, Travis spots a pair of Varana approaching from the shallow slope side of the cliff.

 Fox will indicate to his partner the approach of the creatures and then one they are in close range fire a burst three into the nearest creatures chest.

<quote StarMaster>
It doesn't take too long to scavenge the area for useful parts, but just as Jackie and Kyle are ready to wrap it up, Travis spots a pair of Varana approaching from the shallow slope side of the cliff.

 Fox will indicate to his partner the approach of the creatures and then one they are in close range fire a burst three into the nearest creatures chest.

Ru'tan looks at Crom, a doubtful expression crossing his face. "When do you think he will return?"

The Varana, not knowing what the status is and with the ship gone, approach to within close range before Travis shoots at them. Travis is able to hit both of them, but only one goes down. The other fires his staff weapon at Travis, and manages to hit Travis in the right shoulder for 7 points.


Back with Crom, the Goa'uldra replies to Ru'tan.

"I really have no idea how soon Fu-T'sang will return, but as I told the Major, I wouldn't expect him to have a new Prime appropriately trained for at least six months."

"However, I do not know much about Fu-T'sang's operations. No doubt he had a second, but how soon he'll feel his second is ready to step into the Prime role is anybody's guess."

<quote StarMaster>
The Varana, not knowing what the status is and with the ship gone, approach to within close range before Travis shoots at them. Travis is able to hit both of them, but only one goes down. The other fires his staff weapon at Travis, and manages to hit Travis in the right shoulder for 7 points.

Can I still operate have no idea of how badly I am hurt

Damage in Stargate is an abstract concept, represented by Vitality (minor damage) and Wounds (major damage)... Vitality represents the minor knicks and scratches, bumps and bruises that happen with combat. Wounds are the more serious damage like broken bones and gunshots. Vitality goes up with your level. Unless the GM specifies that damage is Wound damage, assume it's just Vitality.


Travis has 12 Vitality, so the damage he took from the staff blast is still minor damage. It's up to you to roleplay out just what it means... grazing shot, bruised muscle, minor burn, etc.


Just giving Jackie and Kyle a chance to respond...

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 243):

Fox snarls as the beam catches his arm, the pain washes over him.
bracing the sub gun against his body and letting his body steady it the dot sight beam guides his shot and he places the second group of three aimed centre mass.
Then drops roll and comes up ready to return any fire

"Hey!" Kyle shouted.

"The fighting's over... no need to brawl!"

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 241):

Ru'tan looks at Major Dillon, concern showing on his face. "Major, how will Stargate Command proceed here? I fear we have thrown oil onto the fire, so to speak. This is not the end."

In reply to Ru'tan (msg # 246):

You were probably asking Major Dillon. I assume they way we proceed her will be similar to the Jaffa, Tok'ra and the Asgard. Diplomacy and support.

Travis has no problem shaking off the pain of the grazing blast and firing back. This time, the second Varana goes down.


Crom doesn't understand what Ru'tan says, and looks at Ru'tan and Major Dillon expectantly as if waiting for a translation.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 248):

Jackie speaks to Crom.
Because you have allied now with us, and the System Lords think of us as an enemy. After all, one of our people killed Ra. They will treat you and your people as an enemy as well.

Well, technically, Jackie isn't there yet...


Travis, after killing the two Varana that show up, gathers up the two staff weapons they had, and leads the others back to the bolthole's exit and winds back through the tunnels, getting to the main room just as Ru'tan spoke, in English, to Major Dillon.

Since Crom doesn't speak English, he has no idea what Ru'tan said.

Jackie then explains the situation, though not a literal translation into Goa'uld, to Crom.

"There are no System Lords out here in the cluster," he replies to Carter. "Those Goa'uld who are out here were either exiled or grew up here. None of us have any love for the System Lords, but neither are they going to waste any effort coming out here."

"The Dragon Lords think of themselves as the equivalent of the System Lords, but they have no alliance, no common enemy. You may think yourselves dragon-slayers, but routing Fu-T'sang's raid does not make you an enemy he respects."

"Next time, he may come with a great force. Or he may not. I do not know how many men he can field. He may think this world isn't worth the effort and direct his interests elsewhere."

"In any case, there is nothing here to warrant another Dragon Lord forming an alliance with him."

"I was lax in preparing for such an attack. I will be ready next time."

Kyle was looking worried and upset.

"Why did you have to kill them?" he asked Travis. "The battle was over, they were already defeated."

Fox answers calmly
"Because they were a threat to us and this planet, as prisoner they would have to have been guarded"

In reply to Kyle McGuinness (msg # 251):

Jackie speaks to Crom.

I wouldn't discount the System Lords finding due to allying with us.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 250):

Ru'tan nods, a small smile playing about his lips. "Well, at least there is that. An enemy without allies is much easier to deal with." He hesitates, and then continues, "If there is nothing here to interest the Dragon Lords, why was this one here in the first place?"

 Where is every one
Fox

Yeah, was wondering that myself... but that includes me! I don't know where the week went...


"As near as I can tell, Fu-T'sang was attempting to take slaves to work in his mines," Crom replies to Ru'tan. "The Varana do not fare well in the mines and make lousy miners and laborers."

The otter-folk begin returning to the upper levels again, having emerged from whatever underground hiding places they'd been in.


"It would seem as if his plan was to flush us out of this cave system so that his Varana on the ground could capture us. I do not know if he would have captured me, killed me, or just left me here alone."

"That was quite an endeavor he launched. It is very... un Dragonlord-ish."

"Anyway, I shall have to ponder on how to prevent such future incursions. In the mean time, the only reward I can offer you for your assistance is to inform you of the Dark Ruins. I have only visited them once, but did not see anything to warrent further investigation. However, all of the Cromar refuse to enter them. They claim there is a dark presence there."

"I do not know what this means, as I have not sensed anything. I gather, though, that you are interested in such things."

Kyle's ears pricked up at mention of ruins to investigate.

In reply to Kyle McGuinness (msg # 257):

Jackie smiles in a very unmilitary way. Which if the other military types catch remind them she is a techie as well as a soldier.

Josh had to take a minute to think over what Crom had just said. Normally, they wanted to contact another species that might have some new technology which the SGC could use to battle the Goa'uld. The next best thing was exploring old ruins.

It tended to work out that they'd first contact a culture, do some favor for them to gain their trust, and then be given some boon. That seemed to be the case here, too.

It's not like they could have showed up and just said 'where are you ancient ruins?'

"I'm inclined to investigate these ruins," Jason said to the others. "I can see Kyle is eager to go. I'd like to get an opinion from Ru'tan, though, and from Major Carter, Travis and Jason, before I decide."

He turns back to Crom, expecting Ru'tan to translate.

"How far away are these ruins? Any idea why they are 'Dark'?"

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 259):

Jackie smiles.

"Of Course. I want to investigate these ruins. I am an archaeologist."

"I believe the ruins are some 20 of your miles away," Crom replies.

"There were often called Black Ruins, but that is because from a distance, the dark gray stones often appeared black. I am not aware of any local source of such stones, however."

In reply to Joshua Dillon (msg # 259):
Fox shrugs and answers

"Our remit is exploration and contact."
"I suggest we contact to command before we go traipsing off and ask for a resupply on some items."
"Also to report in what has happened here so far".
"A trip out will also give time for things to develop here and put us in a rear strike position if needed"

Kyle nodded.

"I'd certainly like to see these ruins."

After translating for the Major, Ru'tan also pitches in his opinion, since Dillon asked for it.

"These ruins are a point of interest. Especially if there is no native source of such stone nearby. If it has been abandoned, however, I doubt we will find much to use in our fight against the Goa'uld."

In reply to Ru'tan (msg # 264):

Jackie nods.

I concur with the Sargeant. We should report to command.

Jason tended to live by the 'speak when spoken to' precept, at least when brass was around. There were times to speak up, and times to remain silent, but since he was asked for his opinion, that kind of made it a time to speak up.

"Sure, I think the ruins should be checked out," Jason offers his two cents. "We've only seen one little corner of this world. That's like somebody arriving on Earth in the middle of the desert and thinking the whole world is like that."

"Admittedly, we aren't going that far, but it might give us a different perspective on the world as a whole. And who knows, there might be some sort of ancient technology that's causing the haunted vibe."

Ru'tan looks at their host and asks, "Are there any hazards we should know about in or around these ruins?"

"There's only the usual wildlife, but most of it stays away from the ruins as well," Crom replies.

"I am sure you find it strange that I have not explored these ruins myself, but look around. There is little for me to use to explore them, nor would I force the Cromar to enter them. I visited them once, examined them, and did not see any thing of interest to me. After all, I am not a historian. I have enough of my own past to remember; I do not need to learn some other culture's past."

Ru'tan nods, his face grim. "If even the wildlife is wary of this place, then it would seem something is indeed affecting the area."

 Travis listens, then adds in reply "or simply there is no food in that area for what ever reason.
What ever the cause is it needs checking on before we leave."
Turning to the commander
"Let us report in with a report on actions and intent and see what the people in command have to say then hopefully we can proceed"

Kyle stayed quiet, but was finding the sound of these ruins more interesting by the minute.

That is okay, Crom. Just means more fun for me and Kyle.

The team heads back down to the stargate, and dials home. The Major reports what happened and explains that they are going to go check out the ruins. He requests resupply.

General Hammond considers the request, and agrees to it. He'll dial back in 30 minutes with the gear.

What are you requesting?

 Fox
2 loaded Clips for the P90
10 meters of Det cord
1 block C4 plus radio dets
4 days dehydrated rations

GM I think we have acquired a fair few staff weapons
how many?
Any Zats?
Other equipment?

Not all of the Varana carried staff weapons, and none of them carried zats. Some of the staff weapons got damaged in the battles. In the end, you recovered 21 in tact staff weapons. There was no other equipment. The Varana weren't well-equipped.

Jackie smiles.


We should probably get a couple of loaded clips for all of our P90's, as well as a weeks worth of MRE's.

If you send the MALP back (or did you already?), you can requisition a FRED.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 277):

Map is still here, was going to suggest we kept one staff weapon each and sent the rest back with the MAP

After strapping the extra staff weapons to the MALP, the MALP is sent back, the gate shuts down, and then it's wait for half an hour.

A half-hour later, the gate is activated, and a FRED drives out of the event horizon with the requested gear.

"Good luck, SG-2," Hammond transmits over the radio just before the gate closes.


After everyone gears back up, it's time to head out. As promised, Crom has two Cromar act as guides. They are quite impressed with the FRED, and take great delight riding on it.

Whenever the FRED has to cross over rough terrain, the Cromar study the treads with fascination.

It'll take about 5 hours to reach the ruins.

Kyle looks around fascinated with this new world. He keeps asking the Cromar questions about everything that they see.

In reply to Kyle McGuinness (msg # 280):

Jackie stands near Kyle occasionally putting in a question of her own while keeping a look out. Ready to asl Kyle to be quiet at a moments notice.

The Cromar have names for most of the fauna that the team spots, but don't seem to have worried about naming plants. At first, everything looks pretty Earth-like, but after awhile you start to see... differences. Nothing actually looks alien, but it's clear that this is not Earth.

At one point, you spot a small animal that looks something like a titmouse, but it has a shaggy lion-like mane and a prehensile tail like monkeys. You see one, then another and another and another... there are probably a hundred or more, mostly on the ground or log and rock perches. They appear to group like prairie dogs.

Some of the plants are unusual, like a grass-like plant that has silvery blades or a tree that has blue leaves shaped like a hand.

Birds are visible, but don't quite look familiar. Some chirp and chitter, but some seem to make a sound that sounds strange.

Or a cattail-like plant that the Cromar pick as they go and eat the top like a cob of corn.


Other than things like that, the trek to the ruins is otherwise uneventful. The Cromar inform you that it isn't hunting season for the big predator.

Vegetation around the ruins is sparse and seems to be stunted, so you easily spot the ruins when you're a mile away. It does, indeed, look dark. The closer you get, though, the more they brighten up, but not more than just gray. The darkness comes mostly from the shadows because the dull dark gray stone doesn't reflect much light.

The ruins don't actually appear to be in bad shape--only a few spires seem to have been broken off and fallen down onto the rest of the ruins. It isn't clear just what the function of the ruins were. They seem too large to be a single building, yet not enough to be anything more than a village at best.

The architecture is all angular at the roof line and above, with small spires or antenna sticking up everywhere. Below the roof line, the individual buildings are mostly circular, but there is an excessive amount of overlapping. In fact, by the time you reach the edge of the ruins, you can tell that there are no paths between the buildings except for one major one that winds through the center of the ruins.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 282):

Is there any sort of radio signal, heat or cold radiating from the area.
Any sound deadening effect. Any movement in the area

No, there doesn't seem to be any radio signals being emitted from the ruins, nor does it give off any detectable heat. The material doesn't feel cool to the touch, which indicates it has the same ambient temperature as the surrounding air. So it seems as if it will get cold when the weather turns cold, and will get hot when the weather gets hot.

However, there's one aspect that seems a bit... unusual. It doesn't seem to warm up from exposure to the sun. Being gray, that means it's absorbing most of the visible spectrum rather than reflecting it, yet it isn't warming up.

Curious. What does it appear to be made of - stone? metal? ceramics?

Kyle begins to investigate as he starts to explore the area, creating a sketch map as he goes.

Touch the surface lightly, is there any vibration

Travis feels no vibration coming from the buildings, but there could be one that is so subtle that he can't feel it.

Up close, though, he can see some sort of wavy lines in the material. It's not a discernible line to the touch but a color shift here and there, almost like lines a buffer might make.

He can't discern any particular pattern to these lines.

Jason had once had the opportunity to visit Chichen Itza, and while those ancient ruins were impressive, he couldn't shake the press of ages that had hung over them. He got that same feeling here. Only here, there was a more ominous feel.

Maybe he was just being paranoid, but while he felt the place had been abandoned for centuries, he would swear it wasn't quite dead yet.

"I don't like this place," he stated, going to high alert. "It gives me the willies."

In reply to Jason Bjorn (msg # 288):

Jackie looks around and thinks all the same things Kyle says while actively looking for an ambush

Kyle continues to prowl, touching the ruins and looking at their arrangement to see if he can discern possible uses for the buildings that they once were.

 Fox stands still closing his eyes and allowing the feel of the place to wash over him

Kyle has no idea what the purpose of the buildings are, assuming they are meant for something other than the obvious. The size of the ruins seem inconsistent with any normal town, unless it was a planned community. It makes more sense if it's some sort of base or similar type installation. It probably isn't military, unless there are hidden weapons.

Carter, thinking along similar lines, has the idea that it's some sort of communications facility. Nothing is recognizable as such, but Clarke's Axiom comes to mind.

Travis gets an obvious feeling of age... centuries at least. He also gets a sense that there are spirits here... keeping watch over the place. That was to be expected. What he didn't expect is some sort of... pending... communication, almost as if the place wants to communicate with him.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:05, Wed 25 Feb 2015.

He shakes him self sighs and hopes his commander listens and does not scoff at him, "Commander there are spirits here"
There a wish to communicate I feel.
"With your permission, I shall open my being and attempt it". He looks steadily at his commander "I know that may not make sense to you but it has to do with my time before the army"
Travis waits

Opening his being to the Great Spirit, Travis begins to see images. He's not sure if they are in his mind or he's seeing some sort of after image that took place a long time ago.

At first, it's all a jumble, but eventually he realizes that he's seeing several centuries of images all kind of overlayed onto each other.

He can see a vast fleet in space... thousands of ships. This village is a communications array that not only keeps in touch with each ship but with each individual aboard each ship. Each building was responsible for one squadron.

He can also see that the array was powered by core tap. Beneath the village, a thermal sink of some kind goes straight down into the planet into the molten core.

The people that lived here and operated the array appear roughly humanoid but taller, with blue skin and enlarged heads. They were able to fly around without devices... at least none that Travis can see.

Kyle continues to poke around the ruins, seeking inscriptions or anything else an archaeologist's eye might spot.

I didn't get the impression that anyone actually entered the village/ruins yet, but if Kyle is wandering around, he notices several interesting facets. First of all, he spots outlines of what are probably doors. Each building seems to have only one. It's flush with the wall, discernible only by its outline.

Secondly, it seems as if the buildings form groups, determined by the fact that there's a path that separates each group. Some groups have 3 buildings, some have 4 and some have 5.

Travis starts to speak so his recorder can pick up what he is seeing as well as his team mates.
"Centuries ago perhaps longer this place was a communications centre for a vast space empire, each building one ship and the people in it."
 "It is powered by a thermal source, that reaches to the earths core."
"The beings fly with out means I can see so, are blue skinned with large heads, taller than us".
Fox pauses as he absorbs more information
This message was last edited by the player at 21:31, Sat 28 Feb 2015.

In reply to Travis Fox (msg # 297):

Jackie is following Kyle barely hiding her same interest in the achaeological interests of this expedition with her soldier training to be alert for ambush.

Kyle starts investigating one of the 'doors', looking closely to see how it operated... and if it still does. What are they made of? Stone like the walls or something different? What colour?

Kyle and Jackie examine the structures up close, particularly what appear to be doors. The structures, including the doors, seem to be made of some sort of concrete, at least in the way they were built and general appearance and texture. But they have other properties. They are a uniform dull medium gray in color. There seems to be no variation.

Although Kyle sees no obvious way to open a door, tapping on it in various places reveals that there is a different sound along the left edge as well as down the middle and at the bottom and top center. It doesn't sound hollow, but Carter suspects the material is some sort of cerametal. That further indicates, to her, that the area along the left edge might be some sort of magnetic latch or lock.


Travis continues to try and 'absorb' the images. After he reported some success, Ru'tan joins him.

Travis realizes that the 'images' he is seeing aren't the actual spirits of the people, but some kind of echo of those spirits. He also realizes that these people were a very spiritual people, not unlike his own people. They were also a technological people, but didn't sacrifice their spirituality for technology. There were able to maintain both in balance and harmony.

He thinks they were probably long-lived.

At some point, perhaps when Ru'tan joins, the nature of the images begin to change, but it takes a minute or so for Travis to realize that. He and Ru'tan are now receiving some sort of thought... it's still more like an echo.

There was a war... in space. The blue people were fighting... Goa'uld! The blue people were not compatible with Goa'uld larva, couldn't be enslaved and recognized the Goa'uld as the false gods they really were. In the end, however, the Goa'uld prevailed and destroyed all the blue people. Or thought they had. Some of the blue people fled to another galaxy.

This took place 7 Cycles ago, by the reckoning of the blue people. Ru'tan is able to translate this into around 5,000 years ago.

The ships of the blue people that fled to another galaxy were being propelled by... thought! This station was being used to propel one of the ships.

"Kyle, I am going to try aomething. Step back and be alert.

Jackie attempts to engage the latch after it looks like Kyle heads her warning.

"All right," said Kyle, stepping back to what he hoped was a safe distance.

Jason was pretty much standing around just like the Major. Whatever Travis and Ru'tan were seeing, he certainly wasn't seeing the same thing.

Unless they were going to use explosives to open the door, even that pursuit was not in his purview.

So he and the major simply stood watch... guard... he wasn't even sure what the term would be. Maybe a bit of both... watchguard. That actually sounded good!

"So, Major, what do you think we'll find... if we get inside? It would seem as if the technology level is going to be akin to magic to us. Have you been to any of the training courses on the subject? I have."

"The instructors explained that we could find a matchbox that could move a world or a skyscraper that could only tell the time. We need to keep really open minds... try to think outside the box. Alien races could think in totally alien ways, so we shouldn't try to apply our own technology or lifestyle to anything we find."

"It sounds reasonable enough when you say it, but when you are actually confronted by something so... so... fundamentally alien... well, it actually boggles the mind."

Fox:

"Sir I do not recommend the use of explosives at this time."
"This place was designed as I understand it to use the power of the mind to propel space ships across vast distances".
"They fought the Gould and lost and fled".
"It is likely that this is both a means of flight and a way back if they want to".
"Let me try some thing please."

This message was last edited by the GM at 18:03, Sat 07 Mar 2015.

"Ships powered by thought..." Joshua mused thoughtfully. "Magic. I'm not overly worried about damaging anything--even if we find something useful we can take back, it'll be 20 years before we decipher that level of technology. Eggheads notwithstanding."

"I suspect the SGC will send a complete tech team through to investigate this site. At least we now know why the natives steer clear of the place... some sort of residual thought emanations that they don't understand. Anyway, that's my guess."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:17, Sat 07 Mar 2015.

Although the first thought was that the doors might operate just by pressure--push on it and it'll pop out, that didn't work. It was a slim chance anyway, as it would have provided easy access, which didn't quite seem normal.

The second likely method, given the nature of the door, was some sort of magnetic latch, so Jackie had to cobble together something that would generate a magnetic field. Magnetic fields didn't have a frequency, so it was just a question of field strength and alignment.

Of course, after Travis's revelations, it seems more likely that the door opens via thought.

While she's putting together her magnetic 'key', she tries to direct specific thoughts at the door.

One method or the other seems to work, as the door suddenly moves backward about 2" and then moves aside.

Beyond is darkness, and a whiff of stale air comes out.

A flashlight reveals a single room with a high ceiling and some odd furniture. One in particular looks like a chaise lounge chair with some apparatus attached to the 'head' of it. And there's a skeleton lying on it.

At the door Foxx says some thing in his own language

CI-dessus ceux donner viv ak kè poze
(Above ones give peace)
And gives honour to the being that sent his people to safety sacrificing his own life to do so

In reply to Travis Fox (msg # 307):

Jackie musters up her command voice.

"Sargeant, stop."

"Ah... fascinating. Take care, though. I have seen skeletons revealed in such a manner to crumble to dust on exposure to fresh air."

Kyle got his camera out and began recording everything that could be seen.

This message was deleted by the player at 21:15, Sun 08 Mar 2015.

In reply to Travis Fox (msg # 310):

" It seemed like you were rushing in. Lets take this slow and careful like. Non techies should keep there wits about them and stay close while I and Kyle carefully check out the equipment."

This message was deleted by the player at 21:14, Sun 08 Mar 2015.

In reply to Travis Fox (msg # 312):

<Ornage> OOC: Jackie doesn't know Apache culture. She spent to much tine learning ancient cultures while being on many sports teams. </Orange>
This message was last edited by the player at 22:06, Sun 08 Mar 2015.

ooC placing this in game
Still confused as to why you thought I was entering the room though. I See nothing in my mail to suggest that.
****************.

IC
Fox turns looks confused.
"Your pardon Major, I have no intention of entering a Hallowed tomb"
"I spoke works of blessing and honour as I have learned". "But I have not moved".
Fox sighs
"I would recommend closing the door and leaving the dead to their rest Sir"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:16, Sun 08 Mar 2015.

In reply to Travis Fox (msg # 314):

One: This is not a hallowed tomb. This some kind of scientific experiment gone wrong.
Two: Since this person is not properly buried he must be respectfully moved to a proper burial. Which leaves me with three: We need to study this so humans don't make this same mistake.

 Fox's eye brows go up. "Sir the experiment as far as I could learn did not fail it sent the get away ship where they were meant to go".
"This being sent them with the help of the facility."
"He stayed to make sure they get away, I do not recommend moving him"

In reply to Travis Fox (msg # 316):

That is why you are not one of the technical officers on this mission Sargeant. Your lack of understanding and your close ties to the mysticism of your tribe. Lead you to make hasty decisions about things you have no training in. AS a Scientist and second in command, I suggest we follow the suggestions I gave. As for you Sargeant, you may stand down.

Fox face washes over taking all emotions with it and he steps back.
He has neither the time nor inclination to try and explain things to this Officer who has just dismissed every thing he has been told.

In his mind he address the structure, I am sorry I tried

I may have this wrong, but the way I understood the situation is that Carter and Kyle moved over to one of the doors, not even necessarily the first one, but Travis hadn't moved. So when Travis posted 'at the door...', Carter thought that meant he had moved over to where they were at, and extropolated that movement as intending to enter the building. Just a slight misunderstanding. Other than that, it's all good!


"At ease, Sergeant," Major Dillon says to Travis. "You are both right. My concern is about how accurate and detailed these impressions are."

"For instance, can you say for certain that the remains in this chamber were caused by the... exodus... or the machine within. We really need to determine this. We will treat the remains with respect and disturb it as little as possible."

"I gather that you aren't getting specific data, like how many of these buildings were used in the exodus, or how many people were left behind. Oh, it just occurs to me... are you sure that people were actually left behind to operate, or perhaps power, the equipment?"

"For that matter, we aren't even sure that the body in there is one of these blue people."

"In any case, if we can find rooms with equipment that don't have remains, we will concentrate on those rooms."

Josh then goes over to where Carter and Kyle are, and peers into the room without entering.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he says to Carter. "Travis has a point. His people hold great reverence for the dead and we shouldn't dismiss that so cavalierly."

"However, as I just pointed out to him, his... 'visions'... aren't all that exacting, so we need to examine the remains to get our facts right, but do not disturb them without checking with me first."

"I suggest you start by examining the mechanism of the door. Do you know how to close it? And you should see if you can open other doors, too."