If she'd known they were going to spend two nights or more on this world, Hilda would have packed a spare set set of clothes. As it was, her BDU was getting distinctly smelly after days of hiking, even to the nose of a rustic Cimmerian. She took advantage of cat-people hospitality, asking them to wash their clothes, presumably in the river, and spent the remainder of the day and the night in a cat-people robe. The cushion-heaped couch was not especially comfortable or natural for Hilda, and she got no sleep until she lay on the floor.

As it was, a bleary-eyed Cimmerian emerged the next morning, in only underpants and loosely tied robe, and flopped down into the chair at the breakfast table. She yawned by way of greeting and sought for porridge.

For the most part, the meals are porridge, albeit a fairly wide variety. Fruit and nuts and breads are also served. There apparently is no facilities for processing meat, so there is only meat when they hunt.

Asherrra joins you for breakfast.

"I have asked the Elders if you can use one of the watch-birds," Asherrra says as she eats.

"They have agreed. They are still considering the request to unbury the gate, but even if they agree, it will take a long time. They are concerned about security as well. They now realize that there are friends out in the galaxy as well as enemies but they are not sure that the Alterans' defenses will be able to make the distinction, or that it will even defend them against a threat other that the Goa'uld."

With some breakfast in her, Hilda felt up to responding to Asherrra. 'There is danger in this, it is true. On my world of Cimmeria too, there is a great defence against the Goa'uld: the Hammer of Thor, built by the Asgard – Freyda's people. Its lightning struck down all ettins that set foot through the Ring of Stars. None passed beyond it and none returned. Yet the ettins kept coming and coming, always testing this defence.'

'Then the Tau'ri came to my world and broke the Hammer to save one of their own. And after they left, the ettins came again. The Goa'uld Heru'ur and his Jaffa invaded and overran my world. They slew many, even my family.' she said, voice tight with bitterness and old grief.

Then Hilda admitted 'I blame the Tau'ri for this. But still I came to fight for them. Because I know the ettins will keep coming and coming, and we must fight them. And because all the worlds of the galaxy are out there, and they cannot be ignored. They hold friends and foes, and there is much to trade and see and learn.'

"We understand this," Asherrra replies. "At least, we think we do, but much of it is nearly unfathomable to us. The Elders fear that the First Ones are not yet ready for... Out There." She gestures up to the sky.

"I will take you to the watch-bird controls. It is only there that you can see what the watch-bird sees. Vasandra will control them, correct? Who will observe the Jaffa at the ship?"

'First visit worlds you know to be safe: Midgard, Cimmeria, perhaps... But beware, the Tau'ri have built a metal eye over their Stargate. You must radio first or, um, knock. By throwing big rocks through.' That had been Hilda's approach, and she was glad she hadn't just walked through that first time.

She looked to the Tau'ri, hoping they did not object to sharing the magic of travelling through the Stargate to Midgard. 'We can share the magic runes before we leave.'

She considered the question, saying 'Will we be journeying back to the ha'tak? Then I shall go.'

"Yes, we will need to re-take the Ha'tak," Vasandra said to Hilda. "We do not need to return in order to view it, not with the First Ones watch-bird."

As she followed Asherrra, she gave some thought to the best approach. The Jaffa would be suspicious after shooting down the first drone. In that respect, the watch-bird was only marginally better than her own drones. Her drones were clearly artificial, while the watch-birds only moved a bit unnaturally... something the First Ones were not really familiar with.

If she approached from the opposite side, she fly the drone up to the peak of the Ha'tak and then peer down on the Jaffa.

Or... she could try weaving in through the trees from the opposite direction. Of course, it depended on how high a watch-bird could fly, and what its optical resolution was. If it was high, she could watch from beyond the range of the staff weapons.

Vasandra and Hilda follow Asherrra through the building and down a ramp to what is clearly a more industrial-looking level. The ramp turns into a circular hallway, and you eventually come to a doorway on the outer wall that leads into a metal room with various machinery and electronic systems.

Another Catfolk is there. He nods to Asherrra and then turns to indicate the console in front of him. While it looks like any standard such set-up back on Earth, there is a distinct alien look to it.

The center is a large blank area, but he touches the console and an image appears in this blank area. It apparently shows a view from one of the watch-birds, currently sitting in its hangar.

A hatch in front of it opens, letting in daylight and letting the watch-bird take flight.

He steps aside to let Vasandra get to the controls. It has two joystick-like control handles. However, they are set inside a globe attached to the base on a flexible rod. Vasandra is able to control various aspects of the watch-bird. It only takes her about 2 minutes to get the hang of it. Left-right, forward-back control is normal, but these handles also let her control elevation and speed. If she tilts a handle forward, the watch-bird goes faster. If she moves the handle downward, the watch-bird's altitude decreases. Smooth control of these handles enables the watch-bird to move more like a real bird.

Clearly, then, the Catfolk are not that adept at using the controls yet.

Asherrra informs you that the watch-bird can see in the dark, both as light-intensification and as thermal imaging.

Quickly finishing her breakfast and taking an apple with her, Hilda followed after Vasandra and Asherrra. This was not because she felt she could fly a watch-bird (she was sure she could not) but rather to keep a watch on her teammate in this strange unknown city (in case the catfolk proved untrustworthy; if not, well, the dark elf was not unattractive). More, it was for the sake of something to do and basic curiosity. Besides, she could map what the watch-bird showed to the landscape and forest, and tell where the ettins made camp and where they hid.

Staying out of the way and staying quiet, she watched the proceedings patiently. This was the old high magic of technology and craft, to make a metal bird fly and divine what it saw; she had a superstitious inclination not to interrupt the spell.

The operation of the controls were unfamiliar to her--much more sophisticated than anything she'd ever seen before, but she quickly got the hang of it. She had far more control over the watch-bird than she could have imagined. If it wasn't for her years of pilot training, she might not have been any better than the First Ones at flying a watch-bird.

The watch-bird was just as maneuverable as the heli-drone, but much faster. And it clearly looked more natural.

"What do you think the best approach is, Hilda?" Vasandra asked the Cimmerian. "Should I bring it in from the north... where the entrance is, and the Jaffa camp was? Or should I come in from the south and fly up over the top of the ship?"

The directions were rather arbitrary, but she was pretty sure Hilda would understand what she meant.

She was asking Hilda because the Cimmerian had more experience with Jaffa as well as operating on the ground. Vasandra's expertise was in the sky and space.

But Hilda had other expertise, too, as a hunter familiar with the natural world, and so she gave Vasandra a third answer. 'Fly in circles and dart from here to there, like a bird would. Dive into the trees and out again, as if catching bugs. This way the Jaffa will think it is just a normal bird, and not become suspicious.'

"That's easy for you to say," Vasandra replies to Hilda, "but while I may be able to act like a leaf on the wind, flying like a bird chasing a bug is not in my skill set."

"However... that's a good idea about flying in circles. I shall endeavor to 'fly like a bird', but do it in ever-narrowing circles until we spot something. I trust you'll be able to spot something more quickly than I."


She sends the watch-bird out and takes it up to a high altitude in order to get a broad overview of the area to orient just where they are. She had a good idea of the direction she needed to go, but she thought it would be a waste of time retracing their steps.

Once she spotted the ha'tak, she began flying the watch-bird in a rather erratic course... up and down, left and right, letting Hilda tell her when she spotted something that might need a close look.

'Yes, it is easy for me to say,' Hilda declared proudly, 'I have learned much of the Midgard tongue. And how the Jaffa behave. I will look out.' She leaned over the display, closely watching the pyramid and the forests for signs of Jaffa activity.

Vasandra pilots the watch-bird out in a wide circle around the area, quickly discovering that the drone is receiving beamed power, but also has a self-sustained 'battery' life of 221 hours.

She has plenty of time and room to get the hang of 'flying like a bird', so that by the time the drone makes its way close enough to the ha'tak, she's pretty good at it.

The first sign of the Jaffa is as the drone flies around the 'backside' of the ship. Hilda spots a two-person patrol, circling the ship just like when they first left the ship. Vasandra is able to follow them at a distance, and watch them as they return to the camp in front of the ship.

As near as Hilda can tell, it's the same Jaffa... and the same number... as there were when SG-X1 left the ship. The ship's cargo hatch is still closed.

Hilda pointed out the Jaffa for the others' benefit. 'The lizard ones inside have not come out. The man-like ones outside have not gone in. They have not made peace or war with each other. Why haven't they done anything?' she demanded, perplexed by this lack of development. It made her suspicious and wary, filling her with a nagging sense of dread. What were they up to? Had the ones inside returned through the Ring of Stars? 'But this is good for us. We can hunt and slay the ones in the forest, before going back inside the pyramid.'

"The ones outside still fear the slime," Vasandra points out to Hilda. "If the ones inside did not open the hatch, then they do not know of those Jaffa outside. By now, however, they will have found the skeletal remains of the other Jaffa. If they did not put the slime in the ship, then they will not know how the Jaffa died."

"I must confess, in all the excitement, I forgot to inform Kaspar that I could not open the lower cargo hatch. I started to, but there was a discrepancy in the power source and the mechanism jammed. It opened out about an inch before seizing up. That may be sufficient for the lizard ones to think we left that way, especially if they search the ship and cannot find us."

"We had an alternate power source... three, in fact. The Goa'uld can put staff naquadah into the ship, but they still do not have the crystals to control the energy flow."

"I would guess that they are trying to figure out a way around that. The lizards won't have the technical knowledge to do that, so only the Goa'uld can do it. I certainly wouldn't trust the lizards to do the fine work."

'But after our skirmish, the ettins outside know we are here too. But they did not follow us – instead, they stay on guard by the pyramid.' Hilda pointed out, then realised what this meant 'They must know we are not the cause of the slime. They think we fled it too, and think us marooned here just as they are.'

'And Asherrra says the slime-beast, the macro-mold, is a creature of the forests here. The slime came from here. So the ettins must have captured them, brought them into the ha'tak, and then the slime escaped to devour all inside.'

After a moment, she asked 'Is there a way to put the watch-bird inside the ha'tak?'

"The Jaffa outside don't know we came from within the ship," Vasandra reminded Hilda. "They only saw us on the outside."

"I cannot say what motivates them. They will wait only so long, however. Without women, they have no hope of starting a new colony."

"I didn't get the impression that they knew the slime came from this world. They may be waiting for rescue. They may be waiting for the slime to die out on its own... once it's run out of something to devour."

"We assumed that they were guarding the ha'tak in case the slime escaped. Maybe they were... maybe they weren't."

"We've been coming up with theory upon theory upon theory... with absolutely no data to base any of them on. We attribute motivations to the Jaffa and the Goa'uld based on our own motivations. And that's not reasonable."

"Anyway, the only way that I know of to get the watch-bird inside the ha'tak is if Gavin takes it inside. It doesn't have any phasing ability."

She perches the watch-bird on a branch in a tree where it can keep a watch on the Jaffa camp.

"Anything else you want to see?"

It'd only been a day. She really hadn't expected there to be a change. It was Kaspar that was reading more into the situation than they had information to support it.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:27, Sat 03 Dec 2016.

'But it must be clear to them we came from the nearest Stargate – the one in the ha'tak.' Hilda tried pointing out.

But she shrugged as Vasandra spoke of theories and motivations, unable to deny this nor be overly concerned about it. 'Maybe so. All we can do, then, is go slay the ettins and question those that live – or make peace with them, as Kaspar wishes.' She scowled at that, still doubting the worth of attempting peace with ettin.



'Let us spy on their camp for a time, and see what they are really doing.'


OOC: I forget: there's no sound on the watch-bird is there? Can we see any real activity at the camp, or work out a schedule to their patrols and guard routines?

In reply to Hilda (msg # 843):

Over at the door there is he sound of movement and gear rattling. A male First appears and gestures into the room for someone outside - a  moment later Kaspar appears, all kitted up and wearing his backpack.

"Ah! Thank you, uh, Mrr'rowl for the guidance, thank you very much." Kaspar says to the First, then addresses those inside the room.

"So, ladies, what's the situation at the ha'tak? Have both sides killed each other, yet?" Kaspar's glance falls upon the drone controls, "Wow. That set-up looks really ... mechanical. As opposed to overly electronic, I mean. Vassandra, do you think you can interface our drone remote controls with this system? So we can still use one of these bird-drones when we're away from the city?"

Behind Kaspar, in the hallway, there is evidence of others moving about - apparently the whole Team is with him.

Hilda looked to Vasandra for her response, then reported 'There is no change. The ettins inside the ha'tak cannot come out, and those outside stay in their camp and patrol the forest. They have not pursued us either.' After a moment, she added with a wolfish grin 'They are ripe for ambush.'

The watch-bird does not have any audio registers, so it cannot hear sounds around it. Clearly it was meant as a way to make it easy for the First Ones to use.

It probably doesn't matter at this point, though, since the Jaffa do not seem to be very talkative. They tend to be stoic and silent.

"I do not even know how these watch-birds are controlled," Vasandra replies to Kaspar. "I do not believe they function via radio waves as walls do not seem to have any effect on them."

"So, to answer your question, no, there is no way our simple drone controls can work with the watch-bird."

"It should not matter anyway. They are good for long distance recon. For our purposes, our drones will be fine for close up recon, which is what we will need to retake the ha'tak."

'Yes, there's no more to see here.' Hilda agreed impatiently. 'Let's return to the ha'tak, fight the ettins, and return to Midgard.'

"The Jaffa do horrible acts because they are enslaved and do what their masters tell them to do... or die a horrible death themselves," Rajip tries to convince Hilda once more.

"They have larval Goa'uld within them, and in that sense, they are ettins, but the larva aren't aware yet. Killing one of them would be like killing a child... at least in one sense. In another sense, of course, they are vermin. We think nothing of stepping on an anthill and killing a thousand ants."

"I'm not saying this is right, only that this is how we function. So exterminating the Goa'uld--for us--would be like exterminating the termites or cockroaches in our houses. Leave the house alone, and you're fine."

"The Goa'uld leave nothing alone. Could we extract the Goa'uld larva from a Jaffa, we would do so, but doing so at this time would kill the Jaffa. They are inextricably linked somehow."

"But... as long as the larva is dormant, the Jaffa has free will. With their god and first prime killed by the slime, they have no master any more. However, they are still conditioned to be slaves, so if some other Goa'uld steps forward, they will bow down."

"Unless... we give them another option. Teal'c is a good example. He does not wish to be a slave, despite his conditioning. He does not wish to see his son become a host for a Goa'uld. Can we but give these Jaffa another option, they might fight along side us, just as Teal'c does with SG-1."

He suddenly shuts up... wondering what the hell just got into him? He wasn't usually so talkative. Must be nerves. Walking on other worlds was a science geek's dream. He just wished there was an end in sight where no more walking was involved... no more fighting. It was the way of the Warrior. Not everyone was able to walk the path. There were odd times when he wished he'd been one of the others.

Warriors fought. He'd tried to think of what he'd do if the fighting was all done... if he lived long enough to retire. He couldn't. Could he become an accountant and wage war on numbers and statistics? Those who can't, teach. Could being a teacher of war satisfy that warrior's urge?

More than once, he'd thought of retirement as 'dishonor'. Death before dishonor--you weren't supposed to live long enough to retire.

He didn't have a death wish by any means--he liked being a Warrior. But he was well aware that the sands of his Warrior's hourglass were slowly running out.