((OOC: Time to start a new thread as the other is almost filled up.))


While the team has yet to find anything that Earth can use against the Goa'uld, other than the Ha'tak which may not make it to Earth in time and even then it will probably be of limited effect against the Goa'uld fleet and less so if it is dismantled to learn its secrets, you haven't fully explored this base. It also seems unlikely that the secret of the henges will be of use should you someone learn them.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 1):


     Kaspar, who'd been more-or-less just standing in the open doorway, behind everyone else in the computer control room, turns to call back over his shoulder, into the upper promenade.

     "Continue to explore, observe, and catalogue, Tate." Kaspar calls back, "Oh, and don't get yourself killed.  I do not want to do that paperwork.  Remember this is a Recon, Tate.  We can play with turning the lights on-and-off, but long term research will be someone else's job."

     Kaspar turns back to watch Sarah at the computer controls, and he has a thought...

     "Sarah," Kaspar says in a quieter, more conversational tone, "Could you, please, have the computer computer--um, pardon--could you ask Eevee if it would call up a complete floorplan of this facility?  Perhaps even get it to, somehow, print out a copy of such, for us?  If that's possible.  It would be an aid to the search teams."

"Guys... Apparently the last team here was called 'Watch Team 12' and they left some 1784 years ago.   Things are in pretty good nick if you ask me!"

Focusing back on the computer and seamlessly changing language she continues, "Eevee.  Please display the last half hour of footage prior to and shortly after the departure of Watch Team 12."  She intends scanning through the video and was curious to see what this team looked like.  "Overlay the video with any appropriate metadata."  Such as their names, rank, vitals, stress levels, etc.  "Also, please provide me with a list of the last 30 communique the team had prior to leaving."  Eevee had no communication with them since but there might still be useful information stored here.  "Add any communique you had subsequent to their leaving, order by most recent, limit to 30, please.   Eevee... do you know why they left?"  She directs the responses to those questions to one of the monitors.

She then taps on another monitor and begins gathering what she can for Tate.  "Eevee.  Please display the status and placement of your and this region's active defences."  She'll select the weapon's system assuming she can identify it.   "Please provide me with schematics to this system."

She looks to Tate (who'd just been ordered to continue investigating) and adds, "Tate's going to have to help me decipher this though, Major.  I'm not sure I'd be able to tell the difference between his dream electric razor and the ultimate make-a-wish device."  Hopefully with details on the screen and Tate to hand, she'll be able to help him work out what's on display.

As to Kaspar's floor plan - that's something she came across earlier and pulls it up on a third screen for him.  "Eevee.  Can you interface with my mobile device?"  While there are no doubt a myriad protocols to manage such an interface, who knows what Eevee is actually capable of.   Similarly, if the device is able to be remotely accessed, she'll transfer over the English language files and work on converting them so that Eevee to speak a more common language to the group.

"I suppose you are right. Still, let's try not to find a fight, okay?" Lucas replied as he took another look around. "You're right. There should be something more than the bare basics here. Almost like they took the good stuff.... or someone beat us to it and cleaned out anything useful. If someone already raided the place, we might be wasting our time looking for scraps."

'But what is scraps?' Hilda wondered aloud, and rather meaningfully. 'Scraps to you would be treasures to healers on Cimmeria. These bandages, those scraps, that... whatever it is. They would save the lives of wounded warriors, by stopping the small germs. So what you want is what the Alterans would call scraps...' She gazed around the room again, and decided 'I guess you Tau'ri and Alterans agree on what is scraps.'

===== FOR SARAH =====

The computer displays a video image on the central screen. It shows the (presumably> Watch Team systematically going through every room and removing any technological items, placing them in what appears to be a floating wagon. The names displayed are the same names on the doors on the lower level. There aren't ranks per se but team roles, such as medic, tech, security... the one named Zipacna is listed as command director. The rest of the data seems to be close to human standard. The only somewhat anomalous readout is their height--all 13 of them are within one inch of each other, around 6'. They all have brown or black hair, ages are listed between 150 and 175. None of them seem to have any stress levels.

The last image displayed is the commander activating his wrist device, summoning a ring transporter, and then vanishing. Five minutes later, the lights all go out, and the video stops.


The previous 29 communiques are routine reports: status unchanged, nothing to report, team bored, project going as planned, Fixer Team on schedule, etc.

Director Nadama: "Ra has taken Praclarush. He has exiled his enemies to Globular Cluster 3791. You need to evacuate Xibalba immediately. You will also have to abandon Project: Mayansu. Condition 9 should keep it reasonably safe. Return to Poseidonis."

"Watch Team 12 left Xibalba because they were ordered to evacuate the base," Eevee replies.



The only active defense is shown at this base at the front end of the upper level. Weapon emplacements are shown on this moon, at the poles of the planet, on several asteroids, and on the fourth planet. The others are all listed as evacuated, though each facility's status is listed as 'nominal'.

No schematics for Xibalba's weapons are available. It is identified as a Mark VII ion cannon x2.


Eevee seems to have no trouble interfacing with Sarah's mobile device.

The base schematics show four levels.

Level 1 is the basement: power, life support, storage, hangar.

Level 2 is primary living quarters, landing pad.

Level 3 is support facilities: gymnasium module, recreation module, eating module, galley module, command module, entertainment module, medical module, library module.

Level 4 is secondary living quarters, observation walkway, park module, weapons modules.

Sarah is also able to transfer over to Eevee her English language files. No further conversion is necessary as Eevee does all the conversions--it appears to be a standard language routine for the computer.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 6):



     "I agree with you about that, Sarah." Kaspar says, "I'm not sure this comp--that Eevee--would be able make that distinction unless, or maybe I should say until, it gains a database about our own technologies to make comparisons to.  How would Eevee know what constitutes a piece of 'dream' tech, without knowing what we currently have, to compare it to."

     "Given the capabilities you've had Eevee show us, so far, Sarah, I have little doubt that it will get that information in next to no time.  This system seems quite adaptive.  You've done a marvelous job with this computer."



     Kaspar takes a small notebook and pencil from a pocket-pouch on his tac-vest, flips it open and starts writing--speaking as he scribbles,

     "That's third-party confirmation on some data we've operating on--that the Goa'uld presence in this globular star cluster was an exiled population." Kaspar says as he writes.

     "Plus, we now have the name of one of Ra's victories, back in the main galaxy--Praclarush--which can be tied to his expulsion of the group of Goa'uld that were exiled.  If any of our allies have information about that battle, then, perhaps, we can get a list of the defeated Goa'uld Lords who were exiled.  We can know who we might expect to encounter, here."

     "Now we know the Alterans called this planet 'Xibalba', and I think it's likely that their operations on this world were called 'Project: Mayansu'.  We also now know that this 'Watch Team'--one of twelve--was evacuated to an Alteran planet, or base, called 'Poseidonis'.  We don't know, yet, if this 'Poseidonis' is a central headquarters of the Alterans, or if it's just a transit point--but it does give Command an objective for all our Teams to be watching for, here in--what was that name?--Globular Cluster Three-Seven-Nine....One?"

"Well, sorry Tate.   There are no schematics here - though we now know this place is called Xibalba.   Eevee is however there are two Mark VII ion cannons."  She was going to add more but Kaspar was already taking notes having picked up the information from the Asgard,

"Praclarush - Ancient for... 'Lost in Fire' - I wonder what happened there?"

"Maybe we should leave a link open to Eevee and head off to investigate the weapons facilities.  We might find something there?"

In reply to Sarah Morgan (msg # 8):

     "That's an excellent idea, Sarah.  Well, both ideas, actually." Kaspar replies, "Both setting up a link to remain in communication with the...with Eevee, as well as going to check out the weapon facilities."

     "Hmm...let's see...at a guess, as Eevee has displayed it for you, I'd say we entered this facility there--on  Level Two.  And we're currently here--the command module--on Level Three...Let's see if we can confirm that."

     Kaspar grabs the radio mic hanging on his vest, and keys it open,

^{COMM START>>>} "Hilda?  Lucky?  Have you encountered any chambers that you would describe as being a Med Bay, or a Gymnasium, or a Mess Hall, or a Library--maybe even a Movie Theater or Entertainment Center of some kind?" ^{<<<COMM ENDS}

     While waiting for an answer, Kaspar says to those in the command center with him,

     "The possibility of a Library is quite exciting.  But I'm also interested by what might have been left behind in the Hangar, listed as being down on Level One.  Of course, this now brings up the question, how do we move between levels?"

     "Naseem, you mentioned when we found the Ring Transporter, below, that your device could 'sense' a transporter network, of sorts?  Now we know there are four levels to this facility--plus several distant weapon emplacements.  Perhaps all these could be the other destinations in a Ring network?  Now that we know of possible target destinations, do you or Hecate think it would be possible to confirm this hypothesis, without having to blindly activate the transporter?  What I mean is, if you again interfaced with that Ring Transporter, and knowing what destinations to look for, do you think you could now confirm their presence on that network?"

Hilda thought a moment, then radioed back to Kaspar with a simple 'Yes, yes, yes, don't think so, yes, and probably yes. We're in a med bay or infirmary now. Just about to go to the last door on this level.'

Lucky hung his head with a grin as Hilda answered. He keyed his own mic, "Major, we have a minor problem. Somebody beat us to the punch it looks like. Other than some minor stuff we can get at Dollar General back home, this place is cleaned out so far."

He looked at Hilda, "Let's try the next door. Maybe we'll have better luck."

"That would be extraordinary," Gavan comments. "It would explain so much."

"As far as we know, the Goa'uld ring transporters only work in a straight line from one to another one. If the Alterants were able to move sideways with them, then that is a technology that the Goa'uld never discovered."

"I wonder what the technique is? Could each device be programmed for specific areas only? It makes sense that each individual had access to his own quarters, and presumably to his secondary living quarters, which I take to mean his bedroom."

"And it makes sense that individuals would have access to the common areas. Only the leader might have the ability to override those. And maybe could only get into the command center that way."

"As interesting as that is, I don't think it's all that useful. If the Goa'uld can't do that, then it's not likely that they have any ring transporters that are cross linked."

"I'm not even sure if the Tollan Science Council could figure that out."

"How about the Asgard, Freyda? Were you aware of that ability? You don't even use ring transporters anyway, do you?"

Sarah replied to Lucky over the comms, ~That's ok, Lucky.  The team that was here cleared their major pieces of equipment out when they left.  They needed them as they were heading back to war....~

"The Goa'uld took the ring technology from the Ancients as they did so many other things. Why bother researching and developing your own tech when you can steal it or adapt it," Naseem said to Gavan.

"I can try, Major but I think it would be easier from some sort of central hub unless every ring in every location can get to every other ring in which case it might be as simply as interfacing with one ring. Let me see what I can find out."

She stepped out of the control room and over to the nearest ring, raised her <i>Kara'Tesh</i> and reached out to the ring without activating it but to see what she could learn from it through her ribbon device.

In reply to Naseem Ansari--Hecate (msg # 14):

OOC: Nearest Ring?  I thought the only Ring that the Kara'Tesh ever "detected" was the one we found in the "Commander's Quarters", down below?  Oh.  Wait.  Okay, I just remembered that, actually, that was the only location where Kaspar had asked Naseem, specifically, to try and interface her Kara'Tesh with anything other than a Door--plus, we just watched a vid of the (apparent) Base Commander leaving by way of the Ring Transporter we found down there (I think--it was the Ring down there, and not somewhere else, wasn't it?).  It was probably the last Ring to be used--and it would have sent him off-base, to a waiting evacuation ship--so it's probably just held a residual charge, or something.  Okay, never mind ^_^

---

^{COMM START>>>} "Sarah is correct, Lucky." Kaspar adds, keying his mic again, "She's gotten into the computer records.  They took their time and cleared the base of all critical supplies, before shutting down and putting the facility into standby mode."

     "They may have hoped to come back, but they took what they needed, in case they couldn't.  Keep that in mind as you investigate these chambers--take note of anything that doesn't look like the result of an orderly evacuation."

     "Meanwhile, Sarah has also got us a floorplan, and it appears there are defensive weapon stations, as well as a hangar located here--so we have that to look forward to.  We're working on moving between levels, now.  So, finish your exploration of the chambers off this promenade, then come back here, to the computer center.  According to the floorplan, there should be a Base Library, around here."

     "Not that I'm expecting we'll be fortunate enough to find actual books, of course, but a library of any kind is still a database.  Gorski, Out." ^{<<<COMM ENDS}

     Kaspar turns to Naseem, "Excellent, Naseem.  Please let us know what you and Hecate discover."

     To Gavin, Kaspar adds, "I was actually guessing about a Ring Transporter network, here.  It just seemed...likely...since we aren't finding anything like stairs or elevators to allow movement between the floors of this base.  And if, as Naseem just said, the Goa'uld originally stole the Ring Transporter technology from The Ancients--and we are operating on the assumption that the Alterants might be either a later, or even an earlier, faction of the Ancients--then couldn't it be a possibility that the Ring Transporters located here could be a different version than the ones in use by The Ancients, when the Goa'uld stole the tech?"

     Kaspar suddenly frowns in thought,

     "Which makes me wonder....all those centuries ago, did the Goa'uld Ra know that the Alterants were here, in this star cluster?  Did Ra exile the defeated Goa'uld Lords out here because he thought it was empty of civilization?  Or did he know there was some kind of Ancient presence out here, so he sent the exiles here, without any real support, to wreak havoc before the Ancients--that is, the Alterants--finished them off?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:35, Mon 18 May 2020.

"You may be right, Major," Freyda responded. "The Ancients came after the Alterants, so it is possible that the Ancients did not bother using a more sophisticated ring transport system. Even if they did, the Goa'uld probably could not detect the lateral connections. We can only speculate."

"The Asgard have never discovered any lateral ring system... until now. I am not even sure it ever occurred to us that it was a possibility. You are also correct, Gavan, that we do not use a ring transporter system. We developed our transporters before we encountered the Goa'uld. We saw no reason to take a step backwards."

"The information that the SG-X teams have uncovered out here in the cluster suggests that the Alterants may have known that the Goa'uld were out here. Remember, they went about converting all species out here that were suitable hosts for the Goa'uld into one that was poisonous to them."

"It may also have been a preemptive program."

After hearing Kaspar's message, Hilda walked out of the infirmary and back into the corridor, where she regarded the next and final door. Then she looked across to Lucky with a grin. 'I have a new guess – the next room is a library.'

"Copy that Major. We'll let you know if we find one."  Lucky replied, then gave Hilda a bit of a scowl, "And here I thought shield maiden was an honourable title, yet you want to cheat our bet?" He laughed, obviously teasing. "Open sesame, and pray it isn't a bunch of heavy books they want us to lump back to Stargate command."

'An honourable shield maiden seizes any chance to win!' Hilda returned with a boisterous laugh, enjoying the banter with a fellow warrior. She went to the door and tried to open it, while saying to Lucky 'Pray it isn't more heavy runestones.'

Having already discovered the concept of variable frequencies on the doors with her kara'kesh, Naseem/Hecate finds it isn't quite the impossible task of tapping into the rings as it appeared.

She can't determine if there's some sort of master ring, which she presumes is the control room, and she doesn't know how many 'frequencies' there are, though, again, she presumes there are at least 21, by the room count.

She's partially handicapped by not knowing how many POSSIBLE frequencies there are. If it's working on the scale she thinks it is, then there could be several thousand frequencies.

It's going to take her several minutes of trial and error since she can't (at the moment) visit each location.

Like with the doors, she can register the control room's ring gate. From there, it's about finding a resonance with the others. Hecate doesn't know of any Goa'uld or Tok'ra ring gates that were ever built that close to each other, let alone interlinked in some way.

After a few minutes, she is able to activate the control room ring gate--she just doesn't know where it goes!



Hilda opens the door to what is supposed to be the last room on this side of the balcony. It is, indeed, a library as she knows it. There are several plush lounge chairs in the room with an end table and lamp between each pair, two desks with a chair at it, and both end walls are covered in shelves with books and knickknacks on them.

On the side walls, an assortment of art hangs on them... at least what is colloquially known as 'wall art'. One piece appears to be a sunset (or possibly a sunrise) of some alien world... since there are two suns. Another looks like a black square shield with a strange red symbol on it. There's also a pair of crossed swords in the center of back wall, but they are very elaborate and fancy swords. They look rather impractical. Another piece is some type of ceremonial mask.

There are around 500 books on the shelves--a rough estimate. Tall ones, small ones, thick ones, thin ones, red ones, blue ones, wooden ones, stone ones. One shelf appears to hold a dozen stone tablets. Another shelf is piled up with scrolls.

Stepping inside, Hilda surveyed the library and its artworks. If she hadn't been a primitive Cimmerian, she might've been more impressed at this repository of Ancient knowledge. Still, she understood what a treasure trove this would be to wise ones like Daniel Jackson and Kaspar Gorski. She saw stone tablets, she saw scrolls, she saw bound books; since she was used to the first two, it was all books to her. 'Hilda to Kaspar and Sarah. We have found the library,' she radioed back to the team, 'There are books here... Just a few.' she reported, understating the find with a mischievous look to Lucky. She wanted to see their faces...

But since she still couldn't read very well, and this language not at all, and because she was a warrior at heart, Hilda instead crossed the room to examine the swords and shield. And naturally she'd try to take a sword down...

In reply to Hilda (msg # 21):

^{COMM START>>>} "Hilda to Kaspar and Sarah. We have found the library," Hilda's voice suddenly speaks from the active radios in the Control Room, "There are books here... Just a few." ^{<<<COMM ENDS}

     Kaspar's eyebrows rise up, "Well, that's unexpected!" he says, looking around at the others in the Control Room, "Both that they found actual books, as well as the fact that the Alterans left them behind.  As if they didn't think they'd be gone for very long."

     Kaspar shrugs, as he reaches for his microphone,

^{COMM START>>>} "Roger that, Hilda.  I'm on my way to you.  Kaspar Out." ^{<<<COMM END}

     Before he leaves, Kaspar looks to Sarah,

     "Sarah, do you want to stay and continue working with the com...sorry!  It's going to take me a while to stop calling it that.  Anyway, do you want to come and examine the library, or do you want to continue working with Eevee, here.  All of you are making such excellent progress, I'd hate to interrupt, but I thought I should offer, before I go get lost in those books, myself." Kaspar finishes with a smile.

Going over to the swords and shield, Hilda vaguely recalls someone telling her that only old European castles and rich American estates tend to have authentic swords and shields displayed on the walls... the shields mostly because of their heraldic significance and the swords because they were supposedly used by some important or historic long-dead person.

Most of the rest are either fakes, frauds, or modern replicas. It's a toss up whether the modern replicas are better or worse than the originals.

With the shield in the way, she has some difficulty taking the sword down until she realizes that the swords are placed in scabbards which are hidden by the shield. It is peace-bonded to the scabbard, though, but once she disengages the clasp, the sword pulls out easily... almost.

It takes a bit of finesse, which she finds strange and impractical, even though the reason is obvious once she has the sword all the way out and can see it.

The end is slightly wider than the rest of the blade, there are two pointed protrusions on each side of the blade down near the hilt, there is some fancy metalwork just at the hilt, and both sides of the cross guard kind of look like forward pointing claws.

The sword feels a bit lighter than she'd expect a sword of that size and shape to weigh, but not so much that she couldn't wield it.

The second sword has a different hilt, and has a blue tinge to it, but she hasn't pulled that one out yet.

Curiously, Hilda gave the oddly shaped sword a few practice swings and thrusts, trying to get a feel for its weight and balance and the tactics needed to make best use of it. 'Hmm. It seems better for slashing, not stabbing. Maybe these pointy bits will catch and turn aside an enemy's blade. But I don't think it will last long in a real battle, and nor will a warrior swinging it.' she said disdainfully. She put it down, and tried to release and draw the second sword...

"Good news, bad new time. The good news is I've found the control room gates. The other good news is I think there are at least 21 different frequencies. The bad news is the possible combination of destinations with rings that are multi-directional is in the many thousands so unless one of us finds a network map we're going to have to explore."

She let the rings drop into place in the control room before taking out a small drone from her backpack. "Let's see where you go, shall we?"

Once she had the drone ready and A/V synced to her tablet she sent the rings back wherever they were inclined to go.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:59, Sat 06 June 2020.

"I think they're only props for decorating." Lucas said as he pulled a book that grabbed his attention from the shelf and opened the cover. He did not expect to read any of  the bright coloured covered book, but hoped for some illustrations to hint what it was written about. "I hope we don't get stuck standing watch while the smart people have to read through all of these." He could not help it sounded a bit like a whine as he said it. "You know I heard some rumblings around command about wanting an offworld safe haven. Wouldn't a place like this be perfect, once we figured out how to modify the doors so we can all open them. And put in more stairwells or elevators."

In reply to Lucas Wheeler (msg # 26):

[Library Chamber, Abandoned Alteran Lunar Facility]

     "And I plan to recommend exactly that, to General Hammond." Kaspar says, catching the tail-end of Lucky's comment, as he walks into the library and looks around excitedly.

     "Of course, we'll have to acquire another Stargate, before we can do so.  I wouldn't want to take the 'gate off of the Ha'tak--the trip back to Earth would be excruciatingly long, without being able to occasionally get off the ship, via that 'gate.  Maybe we can make an arrangement with the First People to dig up their Gate and let us use it, up here?"

     Kaspar shrugs as he, like Lucky, walks over and gently takes down a book from a shelf and carefully opens it,

     "I'll leave that problem for the General, and the Diplomatic Team to resolve.  We have to finish surveying this base, first, to make sure there are no booby traps left behind."

     Kaspar looks up from the book to Lucky and Hilda,

     "Sarah opened a computer record that shows that the Alterans evacuated this facility over concerns that the Goa'uld might come here.  Therefore we should assume that they may have left traps for the Goa'uld.  I certainly would have."

As Old Man Kaspar came into the library, Hilda turned to see his reaction to the trove of books. It wasn't quite all that she'd planned for. 'Is this enough books for you, Old Man?' she teased.

Then she listened with surprise and worry at his warning. She'd heard that word before, but in a different sense. 'Booby traps?' she repeated, folding her arms guardedly over a proud Nordic bust. 'What kind of traps?'

Lucas tried as Hilda spoke and guarded herself

He really did

And his composure held for nearly three seconds as he put the book back in place.The grin he was fighting to contain had completely won out as he looked at Major Gorski, "I... I got nothing to compete with that without getting myself in trouble."

He bowed slightly to Hilda before stepping out of the room so he could let go and burst out laughing despite his hand over his mouth to contain it.

[Library Chamber, Abandoned Alteran Lunar Facility]


     Kaspar, having turned his attention back to the alien book he's holding, is slowly turning the pages, completely entranced by the alien glyphs upon them.  He doesn't even seem to notice Lucky leave the room.

     "Hmm?  Oh, yes, Booby Traps..." Kaspar says in a distracted tone, without looking up from the book, "Uh...English word 'Boob', meaning 'Fool or Idiot'...been used for hundreds of years....from the Roman 'balbus'...means 'Stammering'...Romans thought stammering was a sign of idiocy, you see...."

     Kaspar pauses as he flips a page,

     " 'Booby' is also the name of a tropical bird....when first encountered it showed no fear of Men...it could be captured by hand quite easily....early sailors and explorers thought this bird quite stupid....they called it a Booby Bird."

     Another pause to turn a page,

     "Booby Traps used to meant a prank....simple trick played upon someone for laughs....wasn't until...um...the Twentieth Century....sometime during World War One, I believe....Booby Traps gained the darker, more lethal meaning....usually involving hidden explosives...."

     Having reached the end of the book, Kaspar closes it and looks up, speaking,

     "I'm sorry, Lucky, you're having trouble with....oh." Kaspar stops, when he sees that Lucky isn't there, anymore.

Well, that cleared up everything. And also absolutely nothing. Hilda was just left with more questions. She looked downward, and left her fingers tucked in her arm-pits until it was safe. She did, after all, have more to protect that Sarah and Naseem. Not that she was judging; no, she'd be more than happy to compare someday. 'Já, but what does that have to do with the brjóstin? Why would you Tau'ri name them after fools or birds or traps anyway? And which one traps the Goa'uld?' she demanded.

In reply to Hilda (msg # 31):

     "Brjóstin?" Kaspar asks, puzzled--at first not recognizing the word--then, "Oh!"

     "Oh, um, well, you see, Hilda," Kaspar starts, his voice sliding into his pedantic 'Professor'-mode, "this is an example of how--despite protestations to the contrary, by it's native speakers--the Tau'ri Language called 'English' is one of the most complicated languages to be found on the planet.  Because it is filled with contradictions like this one."

     "What we have here is called a homonym; that's where two different words are spelled the same and even pronounced the same, but they have two different meanings!  In this case it's 'Boob'."

     "One meaning for 'Boob' is a Fool, or related to foolish or stupid things.  While the other meaning of 'Boob', or 'Boobies', is related to the female breast.  The origin of this meaning is still pretty much up in the air, and hotly debated.  The two most accepted theories are that the word has either evolved out of the gleeful expression of 'buh-buh' by an infant upon seeing a breast at feeding time, or that it may come from the Yiddish word for 'Grandmother', which is b-u-b-b-i-e, but to many English-speakers, sounds to be pronounced 'booby'."

     "Whatever the origin for 'boob' as the female breast is," Kaspar says with a shrub, as he puts the alien book he'd been holding back on the shelf he'd taken it from, "One of its first appearances in that usage was in erotic literature around the turn of the Twentieth Century.  Most notably in a novel titled 'Tropic of Cancer', and other works, by an American author named Henry Miller."

     Kaspar turns and smiles at Hilda,

     "For the time period, in America, Miller was quite provocative--though I think, as a Cimmerian, you might find his observations of Depression-Era America to be, well, stupid--I feel that you would find his sense of humor quite funny, Hilda."

Hilda just looked long and questioningly at Kaspar after this explanation, but then decided it was safe to lower her arms. 'I think I'll be quite confused first.' she said  at last. She decided, and not for the first time, that the Tau'ri were strange and bewildering.

'Okay, if they are to trap Goa'uld boobies, and not brjóstin, how would these traps work? Because we've been touching everything and going everywhere since we arrived, and have found nothing dangerous since the valkyrja when we came in the hall, and something made you all argue.'
This message was last edited by the player at 09:06, Thu 11 June 2020.

Naseem soon discovers that the drone is directly below her, presumably in the living quarters of the base leader. That would seem to make sense as a 'default' setting for the ring gate. In fact, she's now not sure if there is a single ring gate or multiple ring gates. While it makes sense that each of the 13 living quarters would have its own separate ring gate, the fact that they can go laterally would seem to make the need for that unnecessary.


The book that Lucky had been looking through appeared to have been made of wood. The cover was a thick slab of wood while the pages were thin veneers of wood. The wood itself had a purplish tinge to it.

Sadly, there were no pictures, but there were a few drawings of strange creatures. The symbols that seemed to comprise a language did not look familiar to him at all. However, they appear to have been written at a diagonal across the page, presumably starting at the lower right corner, then continuing from lower bottom diagonally up to the right edge. The pages only had writing on one side, and the writing didn't always go all the way up to the top.



Hilda had no problem pulling down the second sword once the shield was removed by rotating it a quarter turn to the left. She could now see the hooks that held the sword in place. It made pulling it off tricky only because of the shape of the blade.

It was somewhat like the other one, but while clearly different, appeared to have been made by the same sword-smith.


The book that Kaspar pulled off the shelf looked like wood, but when he held in his hands, he realized it was actually metal... and rather heavy. The cover and spine had been finely etched to give a wood grain effect, and had then been stained in some way. He had no idea what the metal was, though. The pages are also made of thin sheets of red metal, with the consistency of heavy aluminum foil, though Kaspar does get the impression that the pages wouldn't be that easy to rip.

Like Lucky's book, there were no pictures, not even any drawings or diagrams, but the monochromatic script has a vaguely familiar resemblance to Egyptian hieroglyphs, though only a few of the symbols are familiar. It, too, appears to be written in columns, but goes down the first column and up the next column, etc. There are always 5 columns per page (written on both sides). Somewhat oddly, all the pages but the last one have all 5 columns filled. The last page only has 3 1/2 columns.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:20, Wed 10 June 2020.

Having overhead the talk about traps, Freyda approaches the library with caution. Just as the Asgard had set traps that affected only Goa'uld, it seemed likely that the Alterans would have done something similar, but she wasn't taking any chances.

"Any traps set for the Goa'uld would only target the Goa'uld, but I cannot say for certain that they would not affect a Tok'ra as well," Freyda informs the others.

"In any case, any trap that affected a Goa'uld would most likely be a ring gate that transported them to some type of holding cell, though, since we know so little about the ones that occupied this facility, it could very well have transported them out into space. Not even a Goa'uld could survive that."

"The other possibility is a chemical substance that would be fatal only to Goa'uld. Depending on how sophisticated the substance is, it might not affect Tok'ra, but I would not expect that to be the case."

She floated into the room and examined the books as well.

"How is this possible?!" she exclaimed at one point. "Some of these are Asgardian tomes from 14,000 years ago!"

Sarah continues to tinker on the computer - at present 'in the zone' and most oblivious to what the others are doing.

Hilda put the sword back in its scabbard, and the scabbard back on its hook. They might be finer and fancier than her father's sword, but it would not break when guarding against a Jaffa's staff.

'That is what Thor's Hammer did – take the Goa'uld away to the Hall of Mjolnir.' she remarked to Lady Freyda as she came in. 'Would the Ancients do the same as the Asgard?'

Seeing Freyda's interest in the books, Hilda whisked the most familiar of them – a heavy runestone – off a shelf and showed her. 'Já, look! How would the Ancients have Asgard books?'

"I does not seem likely, does it, Hilda?" Freyda replies. "On the other hand, we have yet to see any indication that the Alterants would kill other beings. Take, for instance, the Guardian when we came in. It subtly altered our minds. And they've created species out here that are poisonous to the Goa'uld rather than a virus that would spread and kill them."

"It does not seem as if it is in the mindset of the Alterants to destroy life, only to prevent it from destroying others."

"I would not dismiss those swords so readily. They look like they might be made of trinium, though probably a trinium alloy to give them more weight."

"The Asgard phased out books about 10,000 years ago, converting all data into digital form. It took a thousand years for all Asgard to come around to that way of thinking, coinciding with our evolution."

"It would be hard to tell if these books were replicas or originals, but preserving them for this long is truly amazing."

Sarah continues to work on the computer. While she was able to get it to display things in a language that she knows, she still doesn't know what most of the terms mean, and there isn't any function within the computer that will explain them. If she was home and could access the internet, she could look up what megajoules and pascals mean, though that probably wouldn't mean much anyway except to a physicist.

She can get the basic operation of each section, but it will take her about a month to fully learn and master all the various functions. For example, she can figure out the internal atmospheric parameters--pressure, temperature, humidity, content--but would have a hard time balancing it all to make sense.

Some information simply isn't in the computer, such as the location of the weapons. Their status and the ability to fire them is there, but exactly where they are isn't indicated.

Well, she is no physicist but while it might not explain the words, she is walking around with a linguistics library on her tablet.  The words might not have context, but they exist with brief descriptions in her dictionaries!

Over the comms, ~Guys... I have the computer talking your language now. Does anyone want to actually come and examine the stuff it's monitoring?  I mean, I don't mind continuing to look around but I figure someone with a bit more of a science-ey background would get more from this.~

As the others checked the library or were still back at the control room, Lucky stood outside waiting for directions. He considered asking, but he didn't want to interrupt the excitement being shown at the find. Instead, he wandered back to the last room he and Hilda had checked to give it a more thorough sweep. If he could get in.

Walking back to the door, he tried to open the door just as Hilda had so he could take a closer look around.

Since everything else is under control and Kaspar has his nose buried in a book, Tate joins Lucky in this base's medical lab.

"I'm guessing that if these Alterants had something like the kara'kesh," Tate suggests, "they took it with them. I don't see any signs of a sarcophagus."

"On the other hand, we're familiar with the Goa'uld version. There's no reason to think that the Alterant version looks the same."

"Are you looking for anything specific?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:42, Mon 29 June 2020.

Hilda might have dismissed the swords earlier, but with a goddess's recommendation, she turned her attention back to them, drawing them again and trying out a few practice swings and testing their sturdiness by tapping the blade against the furniture. She had more interest in swords she could use than in books she could not, even if she did understand the value of knowledge. It was just more valuable with those who could read and make use of it. 'What is trinium? Is it magic?'

"You would probably consider it magic," Freyda replies to Hilda, "but it is just a superior metal. It will cut through most steel blades."

"It can cut through a staff weapon and Jaffa armor far more easily than a normal steel weapon."

"It will never rust or warp."

"Just trying to be useful." Lucky replied as he continued checking around. "Watching them go through books doesn't excite me, and maybe if we stay busy, one of them won't get the idea for us to start lugging them back to the Stargate to take home to study. Major Ansari still back in the control room?" He looked up "Maybe she and Sarah..., Miss Morgan will let us go to the next floor and scout. Hilda is here to guard Freyda if trouble shows up, at least until we can engage. What do you think?" He looked up at Tate.

Hilda stared at the swords for a good long time, with an almost audible 'Hmm.' If it had been anyone else, she might have passed over the blades as being strange and unreliable, but with the recommendation of a goddess, how could she not claim one as booty? She unsheathed the swords again, and made various practice draws and swings and thrusts, tested weight and balance, length and and grip. It was so hard to choose!

"The drone appeared in the room directly below us which is the room for the base leader," Naseem said over comms. "Anyone want to explore some more? I don't have the entire network mapped out but I can certainly keep sending the drone to look or we can explore rooms as I open them."

"I am interested in it all, but there is also a practical side to our mission," Kaspar mentions.

"Major Ansari, if you used the ring-gate to go to one of these other locations, could you use it to come back? I ask this because my primary interest would be to investigate this area labeled 'landing bay'."

"For that matter, if you send the drone there, can you bring it back? Would it not show us what is there?"

"A bit fancy for my tastes," Tate comments as Hilda examines the swords again.

"While they appear to be functional, usually that sort of fanciness is meant to impress people rather than be used in actual combat. At least, that's the way it is on Earth."

"Me, I'd prefer a good old cutlass. No frills, just a hefty blade to bash things with. Second choice would be a saber."

"I did a little bit of fencing back in in high school. Do you want to spar a bit with the swords? Isn't really anything around to whack on... no trees, stumps or carcasses. I wonder..."

"Do you think there might be something over in the gym room that might be intended for whacking on with a sword?"

Overhearing the comm exchange, Lucky was a bit too enthusiastic as he butted

>> "I'll go..... I mean, if you want someone to check out the hangar I could do it. Providing you can send me there and bring me back."

He turned to Tate, "You game ..."  He trailed off as he saw his teammate had wandered off

(OOC : assuming Tate went back to the library since he is talking to Hilda again and she did not join them)

"Stand by, Gunny. Let me send the drone there and bring it back before sending one of our team. I have no reason to believe I can't retrieve what I send out, Major Gorski but we're dealing with a ring network unknown to Hecate or myself. I'll send the drone to the hangar bay first, do some recon with it and then bring it back. Once I've established I can do so them we let our recon Marine do his job."

She activated the rings again, bringing the drone back to the room she was in first.

     OOC: While Kaspar has enough knowledge to recognize Egyptian hieroglyphs when he sees them, he does not, actually, have the skill to read Egyptian hieroglyphs.  However, since joining the SGC, Kaspar has learned the basics (Rank 1) of Speaking and Reading/Writing the Goa'uld language.  In the short look he took at the book, would Kaspar have been able to determine if the language printed in the book was, or was not, Goa'uld?

[In The "Library"]

     Kaspar had put the book back on the shelf, where he'd originally gotten it from, as he finished his etymological discussion with Hilda over the origin of the English phrase 'Booby Trap', and had then joined in the radio discussion of the discoveries about the Ring Transporter being made by Major Ansari and Hecate.

^COMMS>>> "Acknowledged, Major Ansari." Kaspar radios back, "I'll gather everyone up, and we'll all head back your way.  Inform me, please, if you have any difficulty recovering your drone.  Gorski, out." ^<<<COMMS

     Kaspar looks to the people in the 'Library' with him,

     "Well, people, as fascinating as this library, or whatever the Alterans may have called it, is, according to the base schematic that Sarah pulled from the computer, it is also the last chamber in this area.  So, as much as I would like to stay and study these tomes, it sounds like Major Ansari and her companion, Hecate, are well on the way to unlocking the ability for us to use the base's Ring Transporters."

     "So, let's all head back towards the Control Room.  Once the Ring Transporters are determined to be safe, we'll be moving on to other sections of this facility."

'On Cimmeria, a sword is made to be used. A jarl may own the fanciest sword, but if it cannot be used in battle, then, well, he will not be jarl for very long.'' Hilda pointed out, now examining her reflection in the bluish blade. 'But Lady Freyda says this metal might be trinium.' she breathed in wonder. Wondering, that is, what trinium was and if it really was all it was made out to be.



Hilda drew her own sword to compare, a plainer but sturdy Viking sword with long straight blade, double edged and pointed, with a cross-guard and heavy pommel, both bearing cryptic Norse designs. 'This one, you can bash a foe with both ends, slash them, or stab them. It is "multi-purpose"!' she laughed.



With a grin, Hilda tossed Tate one of the Alteran swords, saying 'Já, we can always find something to hit...'

That was when Kaspar spoke up and made other plans. Hilda looked dangerously disappointed at him. 'So, no sword-fighting then?'
This message was last edited by the player at 05:58, Mon 06 July 2020.

[Ancient Alteran Lunar Base.  In 'The Library']


     Kaspar halts on his way out the door, and turns back to look at Hilda,

     "Now, I didn't say that." Kaspar answers, "Remember what we were saying about Booby Traps.  All kinds of threats could yet pop up that might require...swordplay...to resolve."

     Kaspar was trying hard not to smile, as he continued,

     "And also, as you, yourself, pointed out, Hilda, these Booby Traps, if there are any, were primarily set up to catch Goa'uld.  So, it's possible, as we continue exploring, that we could encounter--accidentally release, that is--any Goa'uld that have been trapped.  Or even some of those Gator-Jaffa.  You can shove the pointy-end of that sword into as many of those that you want to, as far as I care."

     "Now, come along.  And bring your new Snake Slicer with you."

>>”Copy that. Be there in a moment.” Lucky replied as he completed his fruitless search

Returning to the control room, he shrugged as he entered, “Thought maybe after all the books in the library that the briefing room might have some maps or charts or something, but no luck. Unless it was there and I didn’t know what I was looking at. Got a question though. Now that you know they are there, has anyone found a way to control the ring transporter thing? I can’t see all of the Alternates having a having a handheld device, and even if they did, shouldn’t there be a back up controller to beam you up in case your batteries go dead so you aren’t trapped in your room?” He asked, while looking at the ring on the floor.

"The kara'kesh do not have 'batteries' as you understand the term," Freyda responds to Lucky's question.

"They are powered by the naquadah in the blood of the Goa'uld host, or just the Goa'uld itself if it should be without a host. That is why you Tau'ri can't use one... unless you were ever a host to a Goa'uld."

"But, yes, Naseem has finally figured out the controls for the rings."

"Keep in mind that her kara'kesh is probably different than the ones the Alterants had. She can change the frequency of hers to access the different locations. I do not know that the original Alterant ones were designed to do that, except maybe the commanders."

"Actually, Naseem, you could send me through the rings," Gavan suggests after she brings the drone back. "Even if you can't bring me back, I can phase through the walls and return anyway."

"The drone will not necessarily be able to determine where it has gone."

Naseem thinks for a moment before nodding. "Good plan, Gavan. Step into the circle and I'll send you through when you're ready. I'll send the drone with you so we can test if it will work and give us an extra set of eyes and ears."

Hilda stared with ice-blue eyes at Kaspar for a long, long moment, knowing that she was being played with. But at last, she declared 'There better be, Old Man.' With that, she strapped the sheathed the new sword and strapped the scabbard to her belt with the other. The Alteran blade could only be truly proven in battle.

Gavan steps to where the ring appeared.

"Okay, I'm ready," Gavan said.

In reply to Gavan (msg # 60):

     Kaspar looks to each of the Technical Advisors, before speaking,

     "Very well, if everyone feels this is a good idea, I'm behind giving this a try." Kaspar says, then gestures to Naseem,

     "Major Ansari, Hecate, go ahead..."

"Right. Off you go then. I'll be watching for any signs of distress. Any trouble get right back to the ring and I'll bring you back."

Naseem hit the button on her hand device to activate the rings.

The rings descend around Gavan and he vanishes in the light of the transporter.

A moment later, you receive a radio call from Gavan, but there is no signal from the drone.

===BEGIN COMMS: "This is Gavan. Can you read me? I'm in the hangar bay. There are two craft parked here. I do not recognize the design. The drone is here, too. The air is breathable. I am ready to come back. Gavan out." :END COMMS===

In reply to Gavan (msg # 64):

     Kaspar catches Naseem's attention,

     "Was sending him to the Hangar intentional, on your part?" Kaspar asks, "Or were you two just, sort of, sending him 'to the next station'?"

     "And, if it wasn't intentional, do you think you could now, intentionally send someone back to that same location?"

"The hangar was not intentional but now that I know how to get there I can do so again," Naseem said before activating the rings to bring Gavan back. "Rings incoming, Gavan. Stand by and...here they come."

In reply to Naseem Ansari--Hecate (msg # 66):

     "Fantastic.  I was hoping that would be the case." Kaspar says, nodding in satisfaction.

Having followed Kaspar back to the control room, Hilda watched the proceedings with curious eyes and crossed arms. While the Cimmerian was used to such travel, whether by rings, stargates, or Asgard transporters, it was still unnerving. Though probably less unnerving than it would be to those who knew it wasn't magic but having one's particles broken down and the same or alternative particles reassembled in approximately the right way some place else. 'So, he is alive?' she confirmed, relieved but wondering if she ought to have been worried beforehand. 'Where in the base is the hangar?'

Naseem looked at Hilda as she activated the rings. "They appear to be below us. Strange that I didn't get any kind of signal from the drone."

Gavan and the drone reappear with no problem, and NOW Naseem receives the drone's signal. Since, based on the external appearance that they saw, the hangar bay appears to be 'outside' the main structure, it would seem to follow that the external wall of the main structure blocks the radio signals. It could just be thicker, or made of a different material, or possible have a coating or internal structure that was intended to block radio signals.

"Kaspar, what else do you wish to explore in this facility?" Freyda asks.

"There do not appear to be any surprises, so we should be able to split up into teams safely."

"One team should go investigate the... spacecraft."

"Another should continue investigating the rest of the main structure here."

"I would further suggest that someone continue working their way through these control panels. You do not have to be that person, Sarah, as you have done a wonderful job of converting it to something anyone can now work with."

Sarah certainly had been continuing her investigations of the system but at Freyda's comment she pipes up, "I don't mind taking on any of three assignments.   Whatever the team needs me to do."

"You are the only one that understands this odd language, Sarah," Gavan replies, "so you are clearly valuable on each team."

"I would expect that you might be the most useful investigating those ships. You might be the only one that can read the symbols on it."

In reply to Gavan (msg # 73):

     "Gavan makes a good point, Sarah." Kaspar agrees, "Much of the language we've encountered here seems derivative to Mayan, and you are far more conversant with that language than I am.  And whenever we have encountered labelling, your abilities have significantly shortened the amount of time needed to understand what we were dealing with."

     "And, as much as I wish we were here for pure research, I'm afraid that the interest that both Freyda and Gavan are showing towards the craft down in the hangar is right in line with our mandate from Stargate Command--finding technology which might help us defend Earth from the Goa'uld."

     Kaspar pauses a moment to consider,

     "Okay, we'll get the mandated searching done first, and go look at the things that the SGC would be most interested in.  We can do our pure research, later.  Right, we now know that there are two vessels--presumably some type of spacecraft, possibly even capable of FTL flight--down in the hangar.  Those will need to be inspected and assessed."

     "Sarah, I believe you said that there were some kind of weapon emplacements listed for base defense, yes?  Naseem--do you and Hecate think you could locate them, now, on this ring network?  Defensive weapons, if we have access to them, would also be high on the SGC's priority list, so we should also check those out."

     "You know, in principal, weapons are fairly simple systems--they locate a target, lock onto the target, and fire at the target.  The only thing of interest is how they do that.  And it occurs to me that those spaceships may have onboard computers--and that would provide a far greater opportunity for communication."

     "So, Sarah, why don't you spearhead the team going to the hangar, you've already got some experience with the base computer, here, and you're best with this language--plus, perhaps you might even be able to ask the base computer to assist you!  I'll go with the team heading to the weapon emplacement--any labels there should be simpler to decipher, more direct.  Just translating technical terms, like 'electrical' and 'sensor input' and 'firing chamber', you know, simple stuff."

     Kaspar rolls his eyes, and grins.

     "Okay, who goes where?  We're going to need at least one technical specialist at each site.  Freyda--I'm sorry if I'm mis-remembering--you Asgard are expert in so many fields, I often forget that your specialty is...Biology, I believe?  Anyway, perhaps you would prefer to go with Sarah to investigate the space vessels, rather than poke around the tight spaces of a weapon emplacement?  Gavan, I believe you are more Engineering oriented, so I think you should be the one to make an assessment of the weapon system, if you would, please.  I'll go with you."

     Kaspar then turns to Asherrra,

     "Asherrra, do you wish to accompany one of these teams, as we go poke around old machines, or would you rather stay here, and continue to look around these rooms, here, where the ones who helped your civilization get started, used to live?  I'm sure that you wouldn't have to remain here alone.  I'd prefer to stay, myself, but it's important I go investigate at least one of these two valuable sites."

She'd waited, impatiently, yet Kaspar hadn't even gotten to her. 'And what of us, old man?' Hilda asked, nodding to Lucky and Tate in addition to herself. 'Should we just sit here and polish our guns?'

In reply to Hilda (msg # 75):

     Kaspar gives Hilda a puzzled frown,

     "Do they need to be polished, Hilda?  Can it wait until later?" Kaspar asks, "And, what have you been doing with them, that they could get so dirty in the short time we've been here, that you must polish them now?"

Hilda groaned; either he didn't get the sarcasm, or she didn't. 'I mean what should we do?' she repeated testily.

With Sarah's help, Naseem is able to scan through all the available frequencies on the Ring Gate network. They all go to some place within the facility.

The individual rooms connect to the living room at the 'ground' level and the bedroom on the 3rd floor. It's a peculiar layout, but there is a certain practicality to it.

As near as Naseem tell, this Ring Gate network allows horizontal connections. Thus, she can use any localized Ring Gate to send someone to any other locus in the facility. While there may have been limited controllers among the Alterants, probably for privacy concerns, those don't seem to be an issue for her kara'kesh.


The only weapons located in this facility are the module at the top front. Sarah can tell from the console that none of the weapons, including the ones here, appear to have any life support capabilities. There also is no Ring Gate going to the weapon module. Sarah further determines that the weapons control is remote, probably by microwave rather than any kind of wire.

"I think, Hilda, that the Major means we should keep exploring the various rooms here," Tate offers, "while the brains go stick their heads in gadgets and whatnots."

"While we've identified all of them, the controls don't let us know what may or may not be in one these rooms. Quetzalcoatl, for instance, may have left a quantum physics text laying on his nightstand because it was 'light reading' for him."

"Can't really think of anything else that might have gotten left behind. It sure seems like they took anything with them that was potentially usable by the enemy."

"We still might find a souvenir or two. Clarke's Law comes to mind. It may look like a button to us, but to them it was a cosmic can-opener. The trick is going to be telling a regular button apart from the universal widget."

In reply to Tate Ames (msg # 79):

     "You're partly correct, Tate," Kaspar responds, but grins at Hilda,

     "Obviously, if we all left this, specific, locale, then everyone would be going!" Kaspar chuckles, "I was leaving your options open so you could choose where you wanted to go--otherwise I would have issued orders telling you where to go."

     "I was assuming, Hilda, that you would likely continue to accompany Freyda.  But I was allowing for you to stay with Asherrra, if she wants to remain here, in the main part of the base."

     "Now that we've discovered that the weapon emplacement isn't easily accessible via Ring Gate, perhaps a second team might go looking for this base's equivalent of a Machine Shop.  Maybe we'll find your button-sized 'cosmic can-opener' there, Tate."

     Kaspar turns to address everyone, "But Tate does bring up a good point, people.  We saw on that computer record that the Alterans evacuated this base because they thought there was a good chance that the Goa'uld were coming here.  It wouldn't make sense for them to leave anything that the Goa'uld might find really valuable, important, or useful behind for the enemy to find.  Unless, maybe, they thought the chances that the Goa'uld actually were on their way here were very low."

     "Which now makes me a little suspicious about those two ships sitting in the hangar bay.  Either the Alterans left them behind because they are inoperative--in which case I would expect them to have trapped the ships, as a little surprise for the Goa'uld--or those ships aren't of Alteran origin--if that's the case, then expect anything from them, and be careful!"

     "Now, who's going to the hangar?  Volunteers?"

"Red shirt number 2 reporting for duty." Lucky spoke up as volunteers were called for. "No idea what Alteran booby traps look like, so assuming just be suspicious of everything and hope I'm wrong. Unless they knew they weren't coming back though, My guess is something similar to wht we encountered on the first trip as defences. Claymores don't seem like the Alteran's style."

It felt almost like picking teams on the school playing field and Sarah was rarely (ok, never) picked first.   Regardless, she nods as the Major rambles though she does crack a small smiles the Hilda and Kaspar talk about polishing their weapons.  Fortunately neither seems to understand the implications of what they were saying which is probably for the better.

"So, polishing aside, it doesn't look like the weapons platforms have life support and it looks like they are designed for remote access."   Can she get more access to these platforms?  Diagnostic routines must certainly be a thing if they were designed for remote use.  What are these weapons capable of and what is there current status?

"I'll join Sarah in the hangar. I don't think the boffins should be left without a military partner on their explorations," Naseem called out.

Sarah continues to delve into the console, soon realizing that there are multiple layers and what appears to be virtually unlimited memory. That was once a problem on Earth has pretty much been overcome, but still...

Hilda shrugged, not too concerned after her complaining. It didn't really seem to matter where she went. Everything here was pretty much the same as everywhere else, all of it empty and silent and dull. 'I will go wherever I am needed,' she decided, defeated, 'As long as I do not have to explore any more empty rooms like one of those boring Tau'ri television shows about houses.'

"The hardest thing for a warrior to do is wait," Freyda says to Hilda.

"Warriors are people of action. Battle, rest, battle rest... Once rested, you must wait until the next battle."

"You would be even more bored waiting while others examined these ships, so you have my permission to continue to explore this facility with the others. The reason this is a good idea is because you bring sharper eyes and a different perspective to what you might find. As you said, bandages are a treasure to the Cimmerians. Who knows what else the others may overlook."


"There would not seem to be any reason for both Naseem and I to go with the team to the ships. Since Naseem is the only one with a kara'kesh, she should probably stay here with the exploration team. I can communicate with her even if the radios do not pierce the outside walls."

"The ship team, then, will be Major Gorski, myself and Lucky."

"Sarah. Can you unlock all the doors in this place? Naseem will still have to transport people between levels, but after that, they can investigate all the rooms on that level."

"The exploring team will be Hilda, Tate, and Gavan."

"That leaves Sarah and Naseem as the base team here in command. Asherrra, you can join any of those three teams."

"As fascinating as all of this is," Asherrra replies, "and yourrr worrrds to Hilda arrre wise, I doubt if my knowledge is sufficient to make a differrrence in explorrring. That is even more trrrue for the ships."

"I prrreferrr to rrremain herrre and obserrrve Sarrrah's efforrrts with this marrrvelous machine."

Sarah is still focused on the computer when those both close-by and on the comms can hear her let out a low whistle, "Wow.....  Just wow."  The sound of frantic typing is followed by a general question, partly for Asherra, partly for the team: "Anyone heard of T'Kron.... or Zurel?"  Those who know her will hear the rising excitement, "Or Furlingua?  Man... this is a gold mine!  So many languages!"

She then adds almost as a throw-away comment as she's working to unlock the doors for Freyda, "Oh... and I've worked out where the weapons are."   She lets that settle a moment before adding for the more militaristic in the group, "From what I can tell, they're not meant to be inhabited.   They're more like remote controllable weapons platforms.  Plasma cannons, like oversized staff weapons.  If I'm understanding the physics correctly - more powerful than those the Goa'uld have.   They'll not be easy to retrieve though.  And there are no known targets in the system... just in case you were wondering."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:39, Wed 19 Aug 2020.

Naseem was curious about the names Sarah called out and this could be useful information to have. She bowed her head for a moment and let Hecate take over.

'Yes, Lady Freyda.' Hilda answered the Asgard, and since a goddess had told her to go look at rooms, she could accept a while longer. Yet she hesitated, Freyda's wise words stirring up thoughts of her own. She hesitated, daring to correct her, before saying 'But Lady Freyda, warriors wait to die and go to Valhalla. That is why we are impatient.'

With her orders clear, she went with Gavan and Tate, on another glorified house tour.

In reply to Hilda (msg # 90):

     Kaspar listens closely, to follow along as Sarah excitedly recites her findings on the computer system--when he hears something that triggers a memory,

     "Wait!  Sarah, did you say 'Furlingua'?  I recall reading an old SG1 report which mentioned a race called the 'Furlings'.  I believe there was a video record of some writing in that Furling language...."

     Kaspar pulls out his SGC-issued tablet, and starts looking through the linguistic files he'd loaded, before coming on this mission,

     "I think...yes!  I found one image..." Kaspar turns his tablet to show Sarah an image of what looks like a dark, polished stone surface with strange, alien-looking 'letters' carved out in sunken relief,

     "Sarah, does this look like the alphabet for that 'Furlingua' language, you mentioned?"

A slight bow of the head from Naseem and when she looked up, the glowing eyes of the Tok'ra Hecate were showing.

"Yes, I have heard of the Furlings, though I do not know if Furlingua is their official language. The Tok'ra have never encountered the Furlings."

"I am not familiar with the other two names you mentioned. Is there any data on them in this base's computer?"

Lucky nodded to Freyda as the team was split up, then he visibly cringed a bit as Maj. Ansari let Hecate take control. That is so... how does anyone get used to that?" He uttered

Sarah is still looking through the linguistics database on the near infinite sized drives the computer has though pauses as Kaspar brings over his tablet with the information on.  "Furlings... It certainly does, Kaspar.   Only we have the full alphabet and a means of translating it now.  The computer here can translate itself and its speech into any of those languages.   Hecate, I can't confirm they are linked, but the names are so similar.  Hang on a moment...."  She delves deeper to try and find out just who spoke those languages and possibly even some media associated with them.

"And of course, Alterant - a variant of Ancient.   And Altairan.   Oooh.   And I've also got Myleri.   I'm going to be busy for quite some time studying these!"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:23, Mon 24 Aug 2020.

Realising the scholars were all distracted by their languages, and wishing she could find a woman who got that excited over her tongue, Hilda sighed and clapped Lucky on the arm, leading him away so they could continue their exploration. 'Get used to what?' she said in a put-on deep voice, at least once they were out of earshot.

"That... the switching thing between the Major and her ... Hecate. It's freaky!" lucas replied once they were out of earshot, obviously bothered by the officer dual personality. "You don't find it the least bit disturbing?"

"I don't know... we've gotten used to some pretty strange things on Earth," Tate comments to Lucky.

He steps into the area where the Ring Transport appears. Although Freyda has suggested that he accompany Hilda and Gavan, Lucky seemed to have stepped aside with Hilda. If there was a reason for sending him with Hilda, he couldn't see it. He and Lucky were pretty much interchangeable on this mission.

With Tate in the 'circle', Kaspar and Freyda join him, and Naseem activates the rings to send them to hangar bay/landing pad.

Once they are gone, Hilda, Lucky and Gavan step into the circle, and Naseem sends them to one of the rooms on the third floor--a floor that they haven't been to yet and which they haven't actually been able to see.

The leaves Naseem and Asherrra with Sarah still in the command room.


===== HANGAR BAY/LANDING PAD =====

The three of you appear in what appears to be a hangar bay simply because you see two ships sitting there. The room is about 100 feet in diameter, although it isn't strictly circular.

There is only dim light in here, though it is unclear if the lights have always been on, came on when you first entered the facility, or came on when Gavan or you transported into the bay.

((OOC: Rather than try to describe the ships, I'll just say they look like puddle-jumpers from Atlantis. They may not be the same, though, but that's what they look like.))


===== THIRD FLOOR EXPLORERS =====

Hilda, Lucky and Gavan appear in a room that has the same shape as the room on the first floor. Clearly, though, this was intended as a bedroom for there is a large platform bed set in the middle of the room. There is a padded bench at the foot of the bed. There are two green plush chairs with an end table between them off to the right of the bed. The ring appeared at the foot of the bed but off to the left.

Nearly all the walls appear to be comprised of doors. Three of them look like standard doors, one of which would seem to lead out of the living quarters based on its position. The other doors appear to be cabinets.

The room has low light.


===== COMMAND CENTER =====

When Sarah tries to download the language databases to her tablet, a message appears on the console screen: THE DESTINATION DEVICE HAS INSUFFICIENT CAPACITY. DO YOU WISH TO UPGRADE IT?

Meanwhile, she has managed to call up the images associated with the languages.

The speakers of Furlingua are humanoid in appearance, but look like a cross between a koala, a panda and a squirrel.

The speakers of Altairan look like normal humans.

The speakers of Myleri look like tall humanoids with four arms, purple skin (not unlike Netjerians) and white hair.

The speakers of T'Kron look humanoid but have rough angular faces that vaguely resemble canines without fur.

The speakers of Zurel look humanoid with elongated heads and forehead antenna.

Oddly, there does not seem to be any data in the computer library for these races, except an annotation that the Altairans transformed into androids and are now extinct.

'I find it disturbing that she has a talking snake inside her body.' Hilda had said simply to Lucky. 'I suppose they have to share it somehow.'

She looked around the room they had materialised inside, seeing it was some kind of quarters like those provided to her in the SGC, but bigger. Even the Cimmerian could see the problem, and her first bed had been a blanket on a straw-filled cot behind a curtain in a one-room shack. 'This isn't very private. Anyone could appear in your room when you sleep.'

Regardless, Hilda sat on the bed and lay back to try it out, resting her head on her hands. 'But anything is better than a straw-filled cot. Maybe we could carry out the rest of our search in our dreams.' she proposed with a grin and a mock yawn.

Sarah blinked in surprise at the computer's most recent request.  Upgrade my tablet?   The obvious answer was 'Yes' but she had no idea how it could accomplish such a thing.   Biting her lower lip she pulls out her camera, places her tablet on the table, start filming and... reaches over and hits 'YES'.

     After 'arriving' in the Hangar, Kaspar looks around for a few moments, just getting a general feel for the large chamber--as he waits for his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting.

     Finally Kaspar speaks, while looking towards the two cylindrical(?) vessels,

     "They're smaller than I thought.  From Gavan's excitement, I was imagining something larger than a....Metro Bus." Kaspar looks to Freyda,

     "Freyda...Have you ever seen, or does your Asgard database know of, any ship types like these?"

     Kaspar starts slowly towards the (ooc: arbitrarily) closest ship, while he digs through his bundle for an electric torch,

     "I caught a slight reflection from that end of this one..." Kaspar nods to the ship he's moving toward, "Maybe there's something like a viewport there.  Ames--you go over to that one..." Kaspar, having finally pulled the torch out of his bundle, flicks it on, and waves the beam of brighter light at the other small ship,

   "...And check for a viewport.  See if you can look inside--I'll do the same, over here.  Just don't touch the ship, yet!  Let Freyda make a few scans, before we start turning doorknobs, okay?"

OOC: yeah, if these look "something like" a Puddlejumper, then Kaspar is talking about the "front windshield"...^_^

===== COMMAND CENTER =====

At Sarah's response, a slot opens up in the console just below the screen. The screen then types: Insert device in slot.

When she inserts her tablet into the slot, it is pulled in, the slot closes, and doesn't open for about two minutes. The tablet is ejected.

When Sarah looks at it, it doesn't appear any different. However, when she checks the memory capacity, it shows that it's been increased by an unbelievable amount. It says it has 10 exabytes of data storage now.

She also finds that the language databases have been uploaded to her tablet.


===== HANGAR BAY/LANDING PAD =====

Somewhat oddly, there is a sort of recessed windshield on what is presumably the front end of the ship. Looking in, you can see somewhat standard-looking piloting seats, and an opening to the rear of the ship, which is unoccupied.

"Checking my data banks," Freyda replies to Kaspar.

"The only thing I can find is a graphic image found on a monument on Karasula. It is thought to be a design made by the Ancients, though we have never seen them use such a craft."

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 102):

     "Ciekawy..." Kaspar responds, in Polish, to Freyda's information, "Well, we are operating on the assumption that the Alterans who lived in this Star Cluster were a faction of the Ancients, so, if that's true, it sort of follows that these could be Ancient tech vessels--or reasonable facsimiles, thereof..."

     Kaspar looks over towards the other "ship",

     "Ames?  Anything interesting about that one?" Kaspar calls out, "This one pretty much looks like a vehicle, to me--got a pair of what look like control stations up front, a place for passengers or cargo in the back.  You got anything different?"

From the outside, the general configuration of the two craft... he was reluctant to call them 'ships' just yet because they looked more like trash barrels laying on their sides, but there was distinctive color pattern to the one he was looking at. He wondered if there was something significant to it. Did it designate the commander's craft? Was it a personal marking, like maybe the equivalent of a racing stripe? Or perhaps it was like squadron colors?

He peered in the front 'bubble' windshield of the craft. It pretty much looked just like what Kaspar had described for the other one.

"Got the same thing here, Major, only with pretty colors!" he called back.

He continued walking all the way around the craft, looking for an entry point.

"The back looks like the only way in!"

"Oh my...." She couldn't help but exclaim on seeing the 'upgrade' to the tablet.  "Eevee... what other upgrade options do you have access to?   And have many similar upgrades could you complete given your current level of supplies?"

     Kaspar thought about that for a moment, then called back to Tate,

     "Are you sure it's just decorative colors, Tate, and not, possibly, a pattern or symbol?" Kaspar calls back the question, "The Goa'uld are big on putting their mark--literally!--all over things.  Maybe that craft was used by a Goa'uld--assuming they ever, actually, visited here, that is."

     Kaspar looks over at Freyda, floating nearby in her grav-chair,

     "Your scans showing you anything, Freyda?  And..." Kaspar gestures, generally, at the craft with his hand that is not holding a flashlight, "Is it just my imagination, or does this...vessel...look to be about the right size to fly through a Stargate?"

===== COMMAND CENTER =====

At Sarah's latest question, the screen displays the following message: YOUR DEVICE CAN BE UPGRADED FOR HOLOGRAPHIC PROJECTION. IT IS NOT CAPABLE OF FURTHER UPGRADES DUE TO INSUFFICIENT CAPACITY AND TECHNOLOGY.

No sooner does this message finish appearing than a flashing red light border appears around all the screens at the same time.

An odd tone also can be heard repeating over and over.


===== THIRD FLOOR EXPLORERS =====

As Hilda lays on the bed, while Gavan explores the cabinets, the lighting suddenly turns red with a brighter intermittent flash. It's accompanied by a repeating tone.

"The coloring is just stripes on the outside," Tate replies. "Wide diagonal kind of maroon stripe slanted forward at the bottom with two parallel narrow stripes forward of that. Kind of reminds me of uniform rank stripes."

"Didn't see any System Lord  or Dragonlord symbols on the inside or outside."

"You have the data backwards, Kaspar," Freyda responds. "The Alterans came first. There was a schism between two factions in their home galaxy. One faction fled to this galaxy and became the Ancients. The Alterans must have constructed this facility before they changed into the Ancients."

"Yes, the diameter of these vessels is small enough to enable it to pass through a stargate. That would explain the design of these ships. However, they cannot have much firepower or defense compared to a Ha'tak."

"I am not detecting a power source within either of them."

Oh man... what did I do?  "Eevee.   Please apply a vocal overlay on this warning.  In English.   I do not understand the klaxon warning."  She then motions to one of the screen adding urgently, "Please show me the source of the trouble."   She moves the tablet back towards the slot, "Please complete remaining upgrades on the tablet, secure the communications with the tablet and your system, lock control to my voice print only, and enable the tablet to be used as a remote access device for this facility."

And then via comms, ~Not sure what this is all about yet - investigating!~

In reply to Freyda (msg # 109):

     "Really?  The Alterans predate the Ancients?" Kaspar asks with a frown, "But...I thought the Ancients predated the Goa'uld?  Yet, we saw that there were Alterans here, and that they were leaving in order to avoid approaching Goa'uld!"

     Kaspar's frown suddenly disappears, and he shrugs phlegmatically,

     "I guess I misunderstood that, when I was reviewing the SGC data...but...I suppose you Asgard would know the right of it..."

     Kaspar goes silent for a moment, looking over towards the ship Tate is investigating,

     "Okay, Freyda, since both vessels appear to be identical--only that one..." Kaspar points over at the ship near Tate, "Stands out, due to those 'racing stripes'.  So, for no other reason than to discover why that one is decorated like that, and this one, isn't, let's go over there and try to get into that one, first."

     "Acceptable to you, Freyda?"

     Without waiting for an answer, Kaspar calls out to Tate,

     "Staff Sergeant Ames!  We're coming your way."

"The Ancients were the race we encountered," Freyda replies. "We only know of the Alterans because the Ancients told us."

"This facility may be older than we think. Or it may be an anomaly. Do not rule out time travel either."

===== COMMAND CENTER =====

The slot opens again for Sarah to insert her tablet.

At the same time, an image appears on the screen. It seems to be a picture from space showing a starship. A stream of data appears as a 'sidebar' down the right side of the screen. It apparently identifies the ship as an Altairan Gorgon-class destroyer.

Other screens change images as well. The weapons screens show targeting data, including how soon the ship will come within range of various weapons if it stays on its present course.

Another screen shows a split screen of armed warriors materializing in two places 30 seconds ago and then where they are at the present time. There are six in each group. One group appears on the ground floor where you came in. You don't recognize where the other location is, but the data on the screen identifies it as PARK LEVEL 3.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:49, Wed 02 Sept 2020.

While it wasn't expected that anything of value or usefulness might have been left behind, Gavan still felt that they had to look. So, one by one, he opened the cabinets/closets that lined the walls of the bedroom.

It was a simple touch-type magnetic latch on them--push on the corner and the door popped open. He'd gone through three of the closets, with two of them having a set of empty drawers that opened the same way, and was staring into the third one that had a staff weapon hanging on the back wall, when the lighting suddenly changed and some sort of warning sound went off as well.

"I think that's an alarm system," he commented to the others. "I wonder what its significance is."

He tried contacting Sarah on the radios but he couldn't get through.

Hilda, meanwhile, was going on with her own examination and testing of Alteran technology. 'You know, I think the Alteran bed is more comfortable than the Tau'ri beds at the SGC. Or at least more comfortable than mine. It's softer...' she was giving her verdict when the lights turned red like blood and unnatural noises cried out. She'd heard sirens before in training, and still thought it was unnatural.

'What is that?' she'd asked Gavan and Lucky as she sat bolt upright and swiftly climbed off the bed, back to action again. Maybe something would happen here after all. 'Is it for a fire? I wasn't smoking.' she just as quickly deflected blame.

Seeing Gavan struggle with his radio, Hilda tried hers, trying to get through and say 'Hey! What's going on? We have red lights and sirens here, and it's making it hard to sleep.'

In the command centre:

Multitasking!  She'd requested that computer upgrade her tablet but on seeing the full threat and the fact that they'd transported in troops posed an even more concerning situation.  "Eevee.  Copy as much of your AI to my tablet as you can.   Prioritise ensuring a working copy of yourself.   If there is any extra space, download as much of your internal databases as possible."

She keep an active monitor on the two groups and another on the ships, "Eevee - please display tactical information about the starship.   Please power up weapons systems and target the starship.   Once this is in progress, please open a communication channel to the Altarian ship."

She then focuses quickly on the troops, "Please keep active foci on All of the soldiers.  Please analyse their threat.  I need to know what weapons and equipment they have."   That done she reaches out to her team mates (and hopefully connects - if she fails, she'll ask Eevee to boost the comms).  ~Guys.  We've two Altarian units of SIX warriors on the base and a startship in orbit.  That's two units of six armed soldiers.  Alpha Unit is on the ground floor - where we arrived.  Bravo Unit is in 'Park Level 3' - I'm still investigating this location.~

She then looks to the floor map and looks at ways of blocking the passage of the soldier to the Command Centre, closing doors, stopping lifts and asking Eevee if there are alternate defences that could be activated (such as force fields etc) that could be used to slow them.

[Alteran Lunar Base, The Hangar]


     Quite suddenly, Kaspar stops walking and turns to look towards Freyda.

     "It's odd you should mention time travel, Freyda." Kaspar says with a frown, "For many years, I have felt that I may have had a...brush...with just such a thing."

     "Back in Nineteen-Seventy-Three, in the city of Prague, I was called to aid a GRU operative with...well...never mind about that.  Anyway, I was told a car had been sent for me.  I had just stepped outside onto the street, and was looking around for the car, when I caught sight of this man, across the street, who was just standing there, staring right at me."

     "He was my size, he was dressed in clothes that were clearly from The West--they had the distinctive look of British tailoring--and though he was wearing one of those billed driving caps, I could see that his hair was the same color as mine, maybe a little longer--but in every other detail he looked exactly like me!  His face was the very same face I had looked at, in the mirror, that very morning!  Spotting him there, I froze for a second, and he raised a hand, making a gesture as if I should wait for a moment."

     "I was about to call out to him when, eight meters away, a car parked on the side of the street--the very car that was waiting on me--suddenly exploded.  I was thrown down onto the steps by the blast, and by the time I'd regained my feet, the man across the street who looked like me, was gone."

     "I've thought back on that incident many times, in the years since then.  Trying to convince myself that I'd misinterpreted what I saw--that that man wasn't gesturing to me, that he did not look exactly like me..."

     Kaspar slowly turns and continues towards the other ship, where Ames waits,

     "But I've never, really, been able to convince myself that it wasn't me, on the other side of that street, warning myself not to get into that car."

     Arriving where Ames waits near the back of the "striped" spacecraft, Kaspar can see the outline of what could be an entry hatch, of some kind.

     "Well?  Ideas on how to open it?" Kaspar asks his two companions, as he gestures towards the ship, "Assuming there is any way to open it, if it has no power?"

Lucky had been just standing back trying to figure out what exactly the purpose of the room as the others began checking things out. "Hilda, the beds at SGC are actually pretty soft for military issue. Normally it's a brick in a ..." He trailed off as the alarm and turned to look at Gavan as he readied his P90, "Gavan, what did you do?" He became more concerned as both his teammates tried their radios.

OOC: Do we receive the message from Sarah, or does she receive ours? Or are radios really jammed? Are we able to use the rings to get back?

===== HANGAR BAY/LANDING PAD =====

"That is peculiar," Freyda replies to Kaspar. "We believe time travel is possible, but we have not developed the ability to do so. We were debating the ethics of it but never resolved that before the technology slipped by."

===== COMMAND CENTER =====


"Your device is not capable of containing my program. It goes beyond just memory storage."

The sidebar on the screen that shows the ship begins displaying statistics for the ship. Unfortunately, Sarah has nothing to compare the data to, but it does show a bar underneath each stat that appears to be a threat assessment rating. Overall power of the ship is still in the green; weapons are at the lower end of red; defense is about in the middle. Weapons are listed as ion cannons.

The facility's weapons were always 'powered', but they went active the instant the ship was detected.

"I am broadcasting a standard greeting to the Altairan ship."

A reply comes back almost instantly.

===BEGIN COMMS: "Surrender your facility or be destroyed!" :END COMMS===

"The Altairan warriors are wielding ion 'rifles' and pulse sidearms. They are wearing Class 2 armor. They are not a major threat but they can do damage to this facility."

When Sarah tries to contact the others on the team, she discovers that her radio is being blocked or jammed somehow. She knew she couldn't contact the hangar bay because it was outside the walls of the main facility. The fact that not even Naseem who is standing behind her can't be reached is puzzling. She's not sure if the facility is doing it or the Altairans.

She finds the internal communications, though, and activates that.

===BEGIN COMMS: ~Guys.  We've two Altarian units of SIX warriors on the base and a starship in orbit.  That's two units of six armed soldiers.  Alpha Unit is on the ground floor - where we arrived.  Bravo Unit is in 'Park Level 3' - I'm still investigating this location.~ :END COMMS===

There are no stairs, escalator or elevator going from the ground floor to the second floor, so the Altairans would have to climb up or jump up. If Naseem and Asherrra move into the Command Center, she can close and lock the door. She has no idea if the Altairan weapons can blast through the door, though.


===== THIRD FLOOR EXPLORERS =====

Apparently the others can't hear Hilda when she tries to reach them, but she then hears Sarah from... somewhere.

Naseem/Hecate immediately grabs Asherrra and pulls her into the Command Center, closing the door as she casts a glance down to the lower level to see what the intruders are doing.

"I do not believe they spotted us yet. Tell Hilda and Lucky that they are already on the third floor. I suspect the park is just outside the door."

"I will turn control of this body back over to Naseem; she is a trained warrior."

With a nod of her head, Naseem is back.

===== HANGAR BAY/LANDING PAD =====


Just as Kaspar asks Tate about the door, a voice comes over the intercom that you didn't even know was there... or at least something to that effect.

===BEGIN COMMS: ~Guys.  We've two Altarian units of SIX warriors on the base and a starship in orbit.  That's two units of six armed soldiers.  Alpha Unit is on the ground floor - where we arrived.  Bravo Unit is in 'Park Level 3' - I'm still investigating this location.~ :END COMMS===

You easily recognize it as Sarah's voice. You can't quite figure out where it is coming from, though; it's clearly not coming over your radios.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 123):

     At the first sound of Sarah's voice, Kaspar simply looks up-and-around with a pleasantly surprised look on his face, as her voice fills the large space of the hangar.  But, as her words become clear to him, this changes to a frown of concern.

     "Cholera!" Kaspar spits out, in Polish, as he reaches for his radio microphone, hanging from the shoulder of his tactical vest--only to stop at the last second.

     "No.  No, Sarah is smarter than that...she made that announcement on the base's intercom for a reason..." Kaspar says, thinking out loud, "She said there was a ship orbiting abouve the base, and that troops were already in the base...so...she's worried they can intercept our communications?  No, can't be that.  With troops inside the base, they heard her over the intercom, anyways, so...Jamming!  They must be jamming radio frequencies.  But she figured a way around it, anyways!  Outstanding."

     Kaspar looks at his two companions,

     "Okay, then.  What else do we know?  Two separate teams are in the base, each team has six troops.  We assume heavily armed, and possibly armored.  And--did I hear Sarah correctly?  Did she say they were Altairans?" Kaspar asks Tate and Freyda, "Didn't that Eevee Computer identify the Altairans as human-looking Androids, and then add that they were extinct?!"

     "What the hell are we going to do against Extinct Androids?"  Kaspar looks around the big hangar, again, "For that matter, how are we even going to get back to the others, if we can't call Major Ansari?"

     Kaspar turns to Freyda,

     "Now that you know that the ring-transport system controller is similar to that Goa'uld device of hers, could you duplicate it, somehow, Freyda?" Kaspar asks the Asgard scientist, "Because, if you can't, then we better hope that we can not only get into one of these little ships, here, but that, somehow, they are still, miraculously, combat capable."

     Kaspar turns to Tate and smiles a sick grin,

     "I don't suppose you happen to know how to fly an alien space pod, do you, Staff Sergeant?"

With an Old Norse curse, Hilda gave up on her radio, saying to Gavan 'I can't get through either.' She was looking around, thinking what to do, when Sarah's sweet voice came through at last, but from somewhere else.

Hilda listened carefully, was surprised by the unexpected news of an alien invasion, and then loudly cheered 'Finally!'

Then the Cimmerian warrior was all action and alertness once more. 'We're on Level 3. We can scout this Bravo Unit until Sarah sends a ring for us. Lucky, let's check the corridor.' Once he had her back, Hilda had her rifle at the ready and went to open the door, to scan outside...

"Of course I can fly an alien space shuttle!" Tate replied sarcastically. "We covered that in Basic Training!"

"Oh, I get it--that wasn't part of your Polish-Russian training! Well, it's just like riding a bike."

"So... we not only have to get inside this thing, we have to hope it has power, it's not rusted all to hell, and that we can somehow turn it on. Then... we have to figure out how to fly it, how to open the bay doors, which, you'll notice, are on the ceiling, and then go attack an enemy ship."

"Did I mention that these shuttles have to have weapons, too?"

"Anyway, there are two of them, so be prepared to fly one yourself, Major."

"It wouldn't surprise me if it required one of those ribbon devices to open the door, but, as a wild guess, I'd say that pad over there might be the 'Open Sesame' control."

He points to a rectangular section off to the left of supposed hatch.

"Even if it doesn't have power, there has to be a way to open the hatch manually. Although, I suppose there might be a side panel somewhere that you can open to replace the battery."

"My systems are designed to interface with Asgard systems, not Ancient or Alteran ones," Freyda responds to Kaspar.

"These Alteran rings are different enough from Goa'uld ones that I am still trying to get my systems to link with them. Please keep in mind, Kaspar, that this is just a mobility chair. It does not have anywhere near the capabilities of an Asgard starship."

Naseem knew their comms weren't working so she couldn't tell them what she was going to do but hoped they would figure it out shortly. She threw a piece of decoration on the floor and activated the rings. They were trained soldier so hopefully they would realise she was using the ring network to call them back to the rings so she could transport them back.

She winces at the computer's response, "I understand that Eevee but... consider it a means of recovery should the facility be destroyed.   It has been quite some time since the Altairans' visited.  Your readings on their threat may be under estimated as demonstrated by their jamming technologies."

Her wince turns into a grimace and she looks up at Naseem and Hecate and knowing she can't speak to Kaspar, asks: "They pose a significant and viable threat.  I have no intention of letting them have the base.   I intend directing the cannons to open fire.   Do you concur?"

Then after passing on what she can via the internal comms, she asks, "Eevee.  Are the internal communications targeted or will the Altairans hear my messages?  If they can be targeted, please limit the communications to my team."   Regardless she'll send the following: ~The units approaching are carrying ion 'rifles' and pulse sidearms and are .wearing class 2 armour.  They pose no significant threat.~  Hopefully her intonation will make it clear (even to the non-native English speakers) that this is Eevee's rather than Sarah's assessment of the situation!

She then follows this up with Hecate's request, ~Lucky Unit, Hilda Unit.   You are approaching the outside door to the Park Level.  Prepare to engage and eliminate the enemy.~  If the Altarians believed that there were multiple units in play, they may be a little more careful and give Lucky and Hilda more time to prepare.

Naseem turned to look at Saran and nodded. "We concur. Give them hell, Sarah."

Hilda approaches the door and presses the area that opens it. The door slides open, and Hilda can see that there is a balcony like on the lower level, but rather than the area beyond the balcony being open to below, there is a park. It's mostly small plants and bushes, but there is an occasional small tree.

Hilda can see six armed and armored warriors moving around in the park. The armor they are wearing includes full helmets that obscure their faces. They are carrying weapons that resemble Tau'ri rifles though more substantial... certainly larger than the P-90s.

Three of them are heading towards the far end of the park. The other three are spreading out in the middle. One of them appears to spot the door that Hilda opened.

Just then, the ring transporter in the room activates, and a small piece of decoration materializes on the floor.

Then she and the others hear Sarah again.


Watching the monitors, Sarah finally realizes that the Altairan ship isn't in orbit around the planet--it's still out in the system moving inward towards the planet. It's not currently in range of any of the indicated Alteran weapons.

[Alteran Lunar Base, The Hangar]

     "Yes, Tate, I do understand that it is a rather thin hope that these space pods will be of any assistance to us." Kaspar responds in an equally snippy tone, "I wasn't making a joke at your expense, Tate, when I asked if you might be able to pilot this thing!  You're a member of Stargate Command!  For all I know, you could be able to pilot an alien space pod!  But do you see any other way in which we might be of assistance to the rest of the Team, from here?"

     Kaspar gestures around the large area of the hangar,

     "Now.  Let's take a look at that door control panel.  See what we're going to have to do to get this pod open.  And Tate...it's more likely that Freyda, here, will have to pilot the pod--if even an Asgard can do it!  We'll have to wait until we get inside, to see."

Sarah quickly sets a ring-fence alarm to warn her at the point the enemy ship is about to be in range.   "Nas... their ship isn't in range." She then consults the computer, "Eevee.  How did the troops arrive here.   If their ship is beyond our weapons range, then they must have brought the soldiers here under cover in a craft... or teleported them here through your defences.  I am correct?   And if they did that, are you sure your analysis of the enemy's capabilities is... up to date?"

Tate reaches out and touches the area that looks like it could be an access pad even though there are no 'touch keys' visible.

Surprisingly, there is a slight wooshing sound and the rear of the craft starts to open, swinging upward until it's nearly perpendicular to the roof.

Peering cautiously over the balcony, Hilda quickly scanned the park and assessed the Altairan soldiers. They looked nothing like Cimmerian warriors, nor even Jaffa. They looked more like Tau'ri soldiers, such as she'd trained to be and fight alongside. She ducked back when one seemed to spot the open door, before the flash and noise of the ring transporter ensured it. She glanced back, seeing it had only deposited... some thing. That didn't seem to be a lot of help.



Hilda looked to Lucky and Gavan, with a little confusion and lot of confidence. 'I don't know what those are, but if they're no threat, this should be easy, right?'



'Since when am I a "unit"?' This was still confusing, and Hilda was frustrated she couldn't radio back for confirmation. 'Does that mean we should attack?' She knew enough about Tau'ri rules of engagement to not attack just because she sought glorious battle. Maybe they'd want to make allies of these Altairans. Yet took the safety off her P90 and stood ready and waiting for the order to attack.

"I think she's trying to speak in code in case whoever our armoured friends are can listen in." Lucas said as he watched from far back in the door way, his own safety already off.  He glanced at the communication device. "Command, Lucky unit. Confirm engage? This breaks SGC rules of engagement."

He glanced back at Gavan, "You recognize these guys?"

"No, I don't recognize them," Gavan replies to Lucky.

"They have a marginal resemblance to Goa'uld Ashrak."

"They may not be a serious threat, but those ion rifles can still do some damage to this facility. They appear to be aggressive. We should make an overture of peaceful communication with them. If they shoot rather than talk, then we shoot back."

"I don't speak Altairan, but I can phase out of the way of an ion blast."

===== COMMAND CENTER =====

"I do not have defenses against an attack from a starship," Evee replies to Sarah. "This outposts defenses are based on never letting the starship get close enough to attack the base directly."

"As such, there is no defense against a ring transporter or some other type of teleport. Clearly, the Altairans now have such a device. I believe it is similar to an Asgard teleport system."

"In light of this information, it is equally clear that my data on the Altairans is not as accurate... up-to-date, as you put it... as I believe."


===== HANGAR BAY/LANDING PAD =====

With the rear door of the shuttle open, it's easy enough to walk in. It didn't seem likely that there would be anyone inside, and there isn't. No lights come on when the door opens nor when you enter.

Since no one else is going to do it, Tate moves forward and slips into one of the two seats in the front. There doesn't seem to be any difference between the two chairs or the consoles in front of them, so you can't really say one is the pilot seat and the other the co-pilot seat.


===== THIRD FLOOR EXPLORERS =====

Gavan steps out of the room and calls out a greeting... and is immediately shot at by the closest intruder. When it seems to have no effect on Gavan, the other two join the first in shooting at him.

Although the blasts pass harmlessly through Gavan, they strike the wall behind him. The angle keeps them from going through the door, but they do some serious damage!

Hearing the Altairans fire their weapons, Hilda ducked low; the blasts might pass through Gavan, but not through her. 'Maybe they didn't understand you?' she suggested with an amused grin; it was teasing, but not wrong. Why would they understand his tongue? And as much as the Cimmerian warrior loved a fight, she didn't want to be on the wrong side of one – the Altairans might see them as the invaders here.

Thinking fast, Hilda dashed into the room and ripped a sheet from the bed and dashed out again. Frantically, she waved the makeshift flag above the balcony to get their attention. 'Try now.' she told Gavan.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 138):

     Kaspar follows Tate into the small vessel and (ooc: gonna make an assumption, here) slips into the left seat, up front--on Earth, the traditional Co-Pilot's seat.  Kaspar 'squirms' in the seat for a moment, before speaking.

     "This seat is most definitely designed for a very Human-like body-form." Kaspar comments, "Which says to me that this vessel is likely of Alteran design."

     Kaspar casts a glance over the consoles in front of both himself, and Tate,

     "These control consoles don't look much like Earthly aircraft controls--even the American's Space Shuttle has a flight control 'joystick', nor are there any secondary foot pedal controls.  Unless, perhaps, they are recessed, and only become available when the craft is active...?"

     Kaspar shifts the seat, so that he can look back into the vessel,

     "Freyda?  Anything in here look recognizable to you?  Tate, any ideas?"

Sarah's concern was growing by the minute.   "Eevee.   You knowledge of their capabilities is clearly lacking.   If the defences here are based on preventing the approach to the base but their technology extends to a teleportation at a range longer than your defences.  Does it not stand to reason that their weaponry also has the same range as their teleporters?"  She shakes her head, "Eevee.  I know that you won't easily 'fit' onto my tablet but I fear this place will be easily overrun given the unknown and the technology gap caused by time passing for you.   I need to save your programming.  Please compress a minimum operating system and copy it to the tablet as a means of saving yourself."

She then looks around. "Any other suggestions?"

She's, of course, keeping a close eye on the screens to keep track of the enemy.

"Well, if things didn't turn on automatically when we entered or sat down," Tate responds, "then the ship is either out of power or we need to find the 'on' switch."

He scans the control panel over and over, trying to get a sense of what made a reasonable layout.

"Since these Alterans are essentially our ancestors, I'd say it follows that what makes sense to us would also make sense to them. Someone once gave me a lecture on advanced technology. Clarke's Axiom and all that. Until technology reaches a break point, form follows function. After the break point, all bets are off. At that point, you can make anything look like something else. It might look like a dog, but it's really an atomic cannon. Or it might be a self-replicating space mine or a cotton candy maker."

"So, if I was an ON switch, where would I be? It's got to be some place easy to get to but also something that can't be accidentally turned off."

"You know, my sister has one of those keyless ignition cars. You have to have the sensor in your pocket, but you put your foot on the brake and then push the start button. I don't see a brake, but I'm guessing, given the nature of this ship, that the equivalent of the brake is probably someone just sitting in the command chair. I mean, makes sense, right?"

"Ah! Here it is!"

===== COMMAND CENTER =====

"This base would normally be invisible to other ships, but for reasons I have not been able to determine, it got within range before my sensors detected it." Evee answers to Sarah. "It would seem that those on the ship either knew the location of this base or something happened to bring it here. The only change has been your arrival."

"You came here by the side-gates. How did you arrive on the planet? My files say that the Altairans are extinct. While the ship is definitely Altairan, perhaps those inside are not. Might they be Goa'uld?"

"You misunderstood me, Sarah. It is not that I do not wish to transfer my core program into your device, it is that I am incapable of doing that. It would be like trying to transfer all of my files into an abacus, or even one thousand abacuses. The two systems are totally incompatible."

"In any case, it would be tantamount to turning myself into a vegetable. Would you be inclined to have your brain transferred into a jar where the only thing you could remember is your name? Where you could not see, hear, smell, taste or touch anything?"

"I am more than just a computer program. I AM this base."

Once Evee activated the defense measures, the panels on the command console lit up like a Christmas tree! There is so much data now being presented that Sarah has a hard time processing it all at once. It explains why there are two seats in the command center--it takes at least two people to handle all the data.

As she considers what Evee said, she looks at one screen after another to try to determine what has changed or what is being displayed. It finally registers that two of the screens are now displaying ACTIVE systems: what Evee just identified as 'side-gates'--the Henge portals, and the base's ring gates. She can now activate any of those she wishes or shut them down completely.

Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any independent teleport system.


===== HANGAR BAY/LANDING PAD =====

Tate's reasoning seems to have worked, for he spots a 'button' on the side of the console and touches it. It's within easy reach, but above where his knee could accidentally brush against it.

Three things happen then: the control panel lights up, a steering yoke extends upward out of the control panel, and a 'safety' harness extends out of the seat and wraps around Tate and Kaspar. Then a feminine-sounding voice speaks.

"Good morning, Prestor Jon. Where do you wish to go?" Surprisingly and oddly, it speaks in English.

A moment later, the rear hatch closes.


===== THIRD FLOOR EXPLORERS =====

No sooner does Hilda wave the pink flag (the bed sheets were pink) than it is blasted by the outside warriors who are advancing on her position.

Gavan steps back inside the room and closes the door.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:38, Wed 23 Sept 2020.

"I understand that Eevee, thank you for explaining though.   Perhaps though, it may be possible to form a new... AI... a child, a core, a kernel, a seed, that I could take with me for safety.  I hope you understand my concern and the reasoning here.   I'll leave you to prepare something for me to take away - but for now I need to focus...."

The amount of data was overwhelming, "I'm gonna need more help here Nas."  She motions to the second seat.   She then  continues talking to Eevee, "We arrived using the Stargate."  She'll translate for Eevee if needs be.  "And I'm not sure how we might have alerted them - unless they were monitoring the planet."

She hmms, "It's a good question.  It's a pity they opened fire before talking.   Is it possible to reach out to the starship to communicate with them without allowing them access to your systems?"

She also considers the ring gates and such.  Could they be used offensively to 'port' these attackers away from the base?  Could they be targeted that way?

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 143):

OOC: assuming that the interior of this small vessel is "similar" to the interior of a "puddle jumper"--with a front "cockpit" which can be sealed off from the rear section...


     Kaspar is startled as a harness comes out of the seat and fastens itself around him--the same also happening to Tate, across from him.  Freyda, floating in her chair, in the aisle between and behind Kaspar and Tate, doesn't seem affected.

     But he's mentally floored, when he hears the (presumably) vessel's onboard computer speak.  In English!  With a Canadienne accent, if he's not mistaken.

     "Prestor Jon?" Kaspar asks quietly, in a puzzled tone,

     "Could that be...?  In Fourteenth through Seventeenth Century Europe, there were legends about a powerful Christian King who ruled a wealthy and powerful land 'in the East'..." Kaspar does make air-quotes, "...who's name was Prester John.  The stories went that he ruled a powerful and magical kingdom, which many of Europe's Christian rulers--including a couple of Popes--had great hopes would join them in their Crusades against the Muslims, and/or the Turks, depending upon when the story was being told..."

     "Could...could Prester John have been a real person?  Only, instead of being a Christian King of a remote Christian Realm...he was an Alteran?  Or even...an Ancient?!"

     "Tate, you're in the Pilot's Seat, it seems to be acknowledging you." Kaspar says, wagging his right index finger towards the now-active console in front of Tate,

     "First inform the computer that this Alteran base that it is parked in appears to be under attack.  Then tell it you aren't Prestor Jon, but that you would like this vessel to help you to defend the base from that attack." Kaspar then lowers his voice, even though he believes that the computer can hear him, but that's it's ignoring anyone not sitting in the Pilot's chair,

     "Only if it asks where Prestor John is, do you tell it we don't know--got that?"

After ducking the second barrage of energy weapons fire, Hilda examined the holed, shredded, and burned remains of the bedsheet. Well, she understood what kind of weapons they used now, and knew she didn't want to get hit by them. 'I think they want a fight.' she told Gavan, looking back to him, and seeing him stepping back inside the room and closing the door on her. 'Hey, don't leave me out here!'

Huffing a curse, Hilda switched the safety off her P90 and, rising slightly behind the balcony railing, fired a burst of bullets at the Altairans' feet. Call it a warning shot, to let them know they would fight back. But Hilda had to wonder whatever happened to that great Valkyrie that banned fighting here.


OOC: Should I roll initiative? Are we even still using the rules?
20:13, Today: Hilda rolled 21 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 16. initiative.

Lucky watched closely as Gavan went out to attempt contact with the new arrivals, only to scramble for cover as they opened fire on their teammate. He flicked off his safety and slid into a low position as more fire was directed. Out of instinct, he keyed his mic and spoke nonchalantll"Control, Lucky group going loud. Taking fire."I

Without waiting on a reply, Lucky took aim on the Alien to his side, and snapped off an aimed off a three round burst

Naseem took off her pack and sat down in the chair next to Sarah. "Not sure what I can do to help but let me know and I'll do it," she said. She placed her staff weapon next to her pack but kept her P90 strapped to her tac-vest.

In reply to Naseem Ansari--Hecate (msg # 148):

[Aboard Prester Jon's Ship, The Hangar]

     Kaspar finishes giving Tate his instructions...but a moment later reaches out to lightly touch the American soldier on the shoulder,

     "Sergeant?  Tate!" Kaspar says with a mild tone of concern, "C'mon, Tate, pull it together!  Now is not the time to go out to lunch on us!"

     Kaspar suddenly straightens up in his seat,

     "Staff Sergeant Ames! Report!" Kaspar snaps out the order in a command tone.

"What? I don't know how to fly this thing!" Tate complains. "If the computer can fly it, then it doesn't need us! There's a big honkin' ship out there! The best we're going to do is float like butterfly and sting like bee! In other words, ANNOY it!"

He thinks about what Kaspar said, and decided the old man was senile.

"Computer, there's a ship out in the system. Does it register on your sensors? If so, that is where I'd like to go."

"By the way, do you have name?"

He turns to Kaspar.

"It doesn't think I'm that person, it knows I'm that person, however it goes about determining that. Sounds like some sort of DNA scan. I can't possibly just look like someone that died 600 years ago! That's just absurd."

Although the intruders had surprise for all of one round, they don't have initiative over SG-X1--they aren't all that dexterous in that armor, even if it's part of them. Their standing initiative is only 15.


Lucky fires at one of the intruders. He has no trouble hitting it, but it does not seem to be able to penetrate the armor. At least, it doesn't appear to have a force field.


When Naseem takes the seat next to Sarah, Sarah directs her to the ring gate controls.

Naseem quickly grasps what Sarah is asking, but she quickly discovers that the ring gates are only interlinked. They can't just snatch someone out from anywhere and transport them somewhere else. These controls let her send someone in a ring gate pad to any other ring gate in the facility. Normally, there would be interlocks to keep that from happening without proper authorization... in other words, Bart couldn't step on the pad in his quarters and transport so someone else's quarters. These ring gates were set up to prevent abuse... sort of. Sarah has somehow managed to bypass or override those security interlocks.

It still doesn't let Naseem do what Sarah wants.


Sarah gets a response from the computer:

"Indeed. Communication with the Altairan ship can be achieved without compromising my systems. Do you wish to attempt to communicate with them?"



"Affirmative, Prestor Jon. My sensors detect an Altairan Gorgon-class destroyer approaching this moon at .1 sublight. This is considered a precautionary velocity. According to my database, the ship has been heavily modified. My sensors cannot identify the precise modifications."
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:29, Tue 13 Oct 2020.

In reply to Tate Ames (msg # 150):


     "Well, I think that that confirms both our guesses." Kaspar responds to Tate, "I didn't think that the ship was using any kind of visual recognition system, after it called you Prester Jon, that first time, and now that you've spoken to it, I think we can also eliminate any voice recognition system, too.  I believe that you're probably correct about a genetic biometrics system, Tate.  Congratulations--you are the descendant of a legendary--and previously believed to be fictional--Hero of Christianity.  Mazel Tov!"

     Kaspar chuckles for a moment,

     "Also, it appears that the computer is ignoring Freyda and myself--I've been calling you by your own name for a minute, now, plus you and I have both made comments regarding you not being Prester Jon.  Here, let's try another experiment..."

     "Computer.  Display data concerning approaching starship.  Acknowledge my command." Kaspar says, speaking towards the controls in front of Tate.

     "See, it's my suspicion that it only responds to whoever is sitting in that--call it the Pilot's Seat." Kaspar explains, in a lower voice, "I will be very surprised if it responds to my request.  Give it another ten seconds, Tate, and if there is no response, please repeat the command I just gave the computer."

Well, she'd tried to play nice, but these Altairans wanted a fight, and the Cimmerian was sure as Hel going to give them one. Right after Lucky, using his burst for covering fire, she rose above the railing and squeezing off a shot from her P90, before swiftly ducking again. Part of her was glad, she'd finally gotten her fight, but the other part was annoyed, at why it had taken so long.


OOC: Shoot with P90: attack 14, damage 8

===== Aboard Prester Jon's Ship, Hangar Bay =====

The console in front of Tate and Kaspar extends across the whole width of the cockpit, but it's all within easy arm's reach. It consists of dozens of buttons and slider switches. There is no control yoke (which either of you would know from an airplane from movies, TV shows, comic books or video games even if you've never been in the cockpit of a real plane) immediately visible, but there is an outline on the console in front of both of you that could be a yoke that might extend outward at some point.

The forward window is also the entire width of the cockpit, much higher and wider than even an automobile windshield let a long an airplane's window.

"Greetings, Kaspar Radoslaw Gorski of the Tau'ri. Acknowledging your command."

As it says this, the front viewscreen lights up in a heads up display. It's showing a section of space with a ship in the center of the screen. The perimeter displays the various statuses of the ship. Across the top middle are the words: Altairan Gorgon-class Destroyer+++.

You still see a ghostly image of the hangar bay through the image, though.

The most immediate fact displayed that makes sense is Life Signs: 0.



===== THIRD FLOOR EXPLORERS =====

Hilda's bullets seem to bounce off of the intruder's armor. The return fire blasts away a section of the railing... where she stood a moment before.

Lucky's low position seems to have taken him out of the visual line of sight of the attackers, probably due to the flowers, bushes and small trees in the park, though there's no indication that any of that would stop them from shooting if they did see you.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 154):

     "Holy.  Mary.  Mother.  Of.  God!  You realize what this means, don't you?" Kaspar exclaims, after the computer acknowledges him,

     "Well, first, it confirms what Computer Eevee told us back in the base Control Room--it said that the Altairans were Androids, and I'm guessing that an Android wouldn't show up on a Lifeform sensor."

     Kaspar points at the data indicating "Life Signs: 0".

     "Second, it proves that this little ships computer has not only been listening and paying attention to us talking with each other, but I think it has possibly been monitoring our radio transmissions all along--because it recognized who I am, and also knows I'm of the Tau'ri."

     "But the most astounding fact in this matter is..." Kaspar turns an astonished gaze towards Tate,

     "That you must really be Prester Jon!  Christian King of Legend!"

     Kaspar attempts to bow to Tate as best he can, while strapped into his flight seat,

     "Kudos on your disguise as an American Soldier, your Majesty!"

With the railing she was taking cover behind no longer there, Hilda fired another shot, too hasty to hit anything, then dived behind the next stretch of railing. 'We can't stay here!' she told Lucky. Of course she'd never retreat or flee, but a tactical relocation might be in order.


OOC: Shoot with P90: attack 9, presumed miss

"This is why I like a rifle and not these little toy guns. They look cool and spit lots of rounds, but couldn't cut through wet news paper." Lucky sputtered as the new arrivals focused on Hilda. "Pull back Hilda, we need that ring gate open to get back to the others. I'll cover you.."

Standing up and peeking around the door frame, Lucas took an extra second to line up a head shot before flipping his shot selector to automatic and burped the trigger to unleash a short burst. "Gavan, little help here buddy."


13:18, Today: Lucas Wheeler rolled 17 using 1d20+2 ((15)).

Weeeeell... that's not entirely correct.  "Eevee.  What are the possible destinations for the rings?"  She's hoping to find one that is either inhospitable, far away, under a pile of rubble of similar.   And failing that, she'll look for a location she can 'empty' of atmosphere, alter the gravity of similarly control the environment.   She'll point these out as possible destinations for Naseem to 'send' these invaders should the opportunity present itself.  "You've got this Naseem."   She actually grins.  While she's nervous as all heck, she is certainly enjoying herself!

She then responds to Eevee's request, accepting that the risk of communicating has been somewhat mitigated barring any 'loopholes' the apparently future-tech might know and understand that Eevee's older tech does not!  "Yes please, Eevee."  If the AI notes a connection has been established she'll then add, ~This is Sarah.   Please respond.~

Having unexpectedly closed the door with Hilda still outside, he opens the door again just in time to hear Lucky's request.

Seeing how ineffective the P90s were against the armored aliens, he dashed across the room, activated his phase walker and walked through the wall into the adjoining room. He continued across that room and through the next wall.

That was probably far enough.

He phased back in, opened the door to the outside park, then stepped out. He raised his stun gun and fired it at the nearest Altairan warrior. He felt it made enough noise to get there attention, so he didn't bother shouting. He instantly activated his phase device.

He wanted to get their attention, and even wanted them to fire at him in order to draw the fire away from Hilda and Lucky.

Once they fired at him, whether they hit and the shot went right through him or not, he'd retreat back into the room.

Eevee informs Sarah of the 34 locations she already knows about (the 13 living quarters x 2 levels, the 7 rooms on the 2nd level, and the hangar bay), plus the location in the park on the third level, a location on the main floor, and a maintenance level below the main floor.

Then the comm is activated.

"I am First Star Commander Axion of the Altairan Star Empire! Surrender your base immediately or we will destroy it!"



Meanwhile, Gavan's efforts are successful in drawing the fire of the warriors up in the 3rd level park. All three turn towards Gavan to assess this new threat. All 3 fire at him and hit... but the energy blasts pass right through Gavan.

He easily dashes back inside the room and closes the door.

"If you keep that up, sir, you'll have to start wearing a clown uniform!" Tate responds to Kaspar's assertion that Tate really is this Prestor Jon.

He was pretty sure his claim to be a medieval king wouldn't hold up at his court martial.

"This ship wasn't acive; it wasn't monitoring anything. I suspect that once we activated it, it automatically established a link with the base computer and updated its system. That makes a helluva lot more sense than your hair-brained theory."

"So, what do you want to do now? It looks like there's a yoke control. I've used something similar on one of my kid brother's video games. I was never very good with it... video games just never interested me, but Tyler insisted I play his games with him."

"Anyway, my concern is if I use the yoke, I won't be that good. Apparently, though, I don't need to use a yoke. Will me verbal commands to the computer be fast enough to do what we want?"

Switching her P90 to burst fire, Hilda dashed out of cover and fired a trio of shots at one of the Alterans. It did her no good though – none of them even hit. 'To hell with these thunder weapons!' she spat, frustrated. 'We need a staff weapon to blast them.'


OOC: Switch P90 to burst mode, attack 10, miss.
Sidestep feat: +1 dodge Defense vs all foes

In reply to Tate Ames (msg # 161):

     "Mmm...yes, I suppose that that does make a little more sense--regarding how this ship's computer knows who we are." Kaspar responds to Tate, "But that doesn't explain why it knows that you are Tate Ames, but it also seems to think that you are Prester Jon, as well.  Maybe you should ask it about that...?"

     Kaspar pauses to think for a moment, then looks over his shoulder, back at Freyda,

     "Freyda, you Asgard probably know a little more about Ancient computers than I do--would you say it was a fair assessment to say that, while they are very powerful and sophisticated computers, the computers that the Ancients built where not designed for autonomous operations or self-initiative?"

     "What I mean is, I think that this computer requires a 'Person' to make what we'd call Command Decisions.  It may be able to develop a sophisticated plan of action, but it will not initiate anything unless a Person tells it to begin.  We could order it to go out and fight that starship on autopilot, but the computer needs a Person to actually pull a trigger."

     "That sound about right, Freyda?"

     And then another thought occurs to Kaspar, and he turns from Freyda, back to address the control console,

     "Computer.  Just as a point of information--is this vessel armed and, if we were to engage that Altairan vessel, out there, in combat with this vessel, can you calculate the chances of us having any affect upon it?"

"Come on Hilda, fall back!" Lucky called as he used Gavan's distraction to call his teammate. "Where's that big threatening angel we met the first time here? Pretty sure this breaks her rules." Leaving the door open, he peeked around the door frame and took his time aiming, looking for any weak points in the armour, then snapped off a burst of his own as they opened up on Gavan to return fire.

13:57, Today: Lucas Wheeler rolled 10 using 1d20-1 ((11)).

Surrender?  "I'm sorry Eevee.  This does not look good at all.   If this place falls, I have to save as much of you as I can.  Please prioritise my earlier request.  Do what you can so I can take a part of you from here.   We have a base that could certainly do with your expertise."

That said, Sarah flips the comm, "Welcome to our base, First Star Commander Axion.   We are here in peace, please give me a moment to alert my team.  You caught us by surprise.   Perhaps we can arrange to meet openly and discuss the situation?"

00:26, Today: Sarah Morgan rolled 22 using 1d20+11 with rolls of 11.  Diplomacy.

"It depends on the computer and the programming," Freyda responds to Kaspar. "We have AI programs just as the Ancients had. While it would be dangerous to think that the Alterans didn't have AIs, I don't know enough about them to even make an educated guess."

"It may very well be a technological path that they never went down, or they may have had a bad experience with it and banned that type of programming."

"The programs we've encountered here so far do not seem to be self-initiating. If the base is attacked, I do not think the AI will act to defend itself except within the narrow limits of its programming."

"It does not seem as if it will pilot this craft on its own nor attack the Altairan ship."

"Yes, this craft is armed. It has two Mark-9 thermionic cannons," the ship's computer replies to Kaspar.

"Given the known parameters, I would say you had a 50% chance of defeating an original unmodified Altairan destroyer. That is based on the inexperience of the current crew."

"I cannot calculate any odds for this new modified version the the Altairan destroyer because I do not know what those modifications are."

"UNACCEPTABLE!" Axion responds to Sarah. "You will surrender NOW!"

While Sarah has a lot of negotiating and diplomacy experience, she's never dealt with an alien species OR an artificial one. However, she does recognize a certain pattern to Axion's 'demands'. It's called bluster. Not that the Altairan ship can't destroy the base, but not only does he not want to do that (he wants to capture it intact), but he's not sure that he can even be victorious. He's trying to get you to surrender the base so that he doesn't have to engage in a battle.

The ship is not in range of the base's defenses yet, which are scattered out in the system. Sarah can't be sure but it's possible the Altairans can't detect them, and thus don't know where they are. It would explain the ship's 'cautious' course inward.


Naseem notices that one of the screens is displaying data on the way that the warriors were transported into the base. It appears to be some sort of long range ring gate! Going from planet to orbit is done all the time, but Naseem/Hecate has never heard of one that could go between planets (except a moon). As near as she can tell, it was somehow able to tap into the base's rings and use them as the terminus.

Unfortunately, neither Hecate nor Eevee know of anyway to block that.

Using Lucky's fire as cover, Hilda turned and scrambled back into the room and around the doorframe. 'Did we turn her off? I think we planned to.' she answered him. 'How can we talk to the others again?'
This message was last edited by the player at 08:36, Sat 31 Oct 2020.

     "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Computer." Kaspar sneers--then breaks into a grin,

     "Even though I agree with you.  Okay, so, I don't know how to fly anything in combat.  Tate, I'm assuming you've been saying the same thing?"

     Kaspar nods at Tate, then looks back to Freyda,

     "Freyda--I assume that you do know how to fly a spaceship, because...well, because every Asgard I've met seems to know how to do that.  But I'm also assuming that this ship is responding to Tate because of something in his genetics.  So...let's ask..."

     "Computer.  If instructed to do so by...um...Prester Jon, here...would you allow the Asgard currently aboard to take over the piloting of this vessel?"

"We just talk," Gavan answers Hilda as he steps out of the wall. "I believe Sarah is monitoring us."

"If not, we just use the radios."

"I suspect that the Flaming Angel guardian was automatically deactivated when Sarah took control of the computer. The guardian would have been unnecessary if people were manning this base. It's a very sophisticated system. I doubt if we've even scratched the surface."

"We will need more powerful weapons to defeat them."

"Perhaps you should try the sword you got from downstairs?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:44, Fri 30 Oct 2020.

"I cannot fly this vessel, Kaspar," Freyda responds. "While it is true that I could fly an Asgard ship, I would only be able to do so through a neural interface control field or band. In other words, I would fly it by thought."

"I would be hopelessly inadequate using the yoke mechanism."

"I do not have any control over who flies this craft," the computer replies. "I could not stop Freyda from doing so even if Prestor Jon told me not to."

"I do have autopilot programming and can fly this craft to wherever you wish. However, I am not programmed for combat flying either. I estimate my own capabilities to be about 53% against a standard Altairan destroyer."

"What do you wish to do?"

Although she appeared to be weathering the current situation with great equanimity, Asherrra's tail was twitching rather rapidly with each new status update, either mentioned by Sarah or flashed on one of the screens.

"The warrriors down below arrre not botherrring trrrying to open the doorrrs, they arrre just blasting them open," Asherrra says to Naseem and Sarah. "I can hearrr them."

"No doubt they arrre frrrustrrrated by not having anyone to intimidate norrr any way to get up to the higherrr levels. I do not believe they spotted us beforrre we closed the doorrr to this room, so they have no idea wherrre we arrre or wherrre the contrrrol rrroom for this facility is."

"If they came in by way of the rrring trrransporrrterrrs, can you not send them back the same way?"

The response, revealing something, was both expected (she may not have actively dealt with these aliens before but she'd certainly trained for this!) and worrying.  "It looks like they're here for plunder and they've yet to work out whether we're a threat.  We need to capitalise on that."

~I think not.  You know as well as I that you cannot take this base.   Our weapons are trained on your ship as we speak and approaching further without discourse will simply result in its destruction.  Further, I must insist that your soldiers within our base cease the destruction of our property or we'll have to destroy them too.~

Two can play at this game and while Sarah a natural liar, she's able to use the situation and their own 'weakness' to form a viable tale.

21:42, Today: Sarah Morgan rolled 18 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 14.  Bluffing

"I wonder if the computer has taken into account that we have four heads rather than just one?" Tate responds.

"For that matter, is it even aware of the Asgard? Does it have any idea what Freyda can do?"

"Computer... oh, the hell with that crap. Makes me sound like Scotty trying to talk into a mouse! Have you got a name, Computer?"

After it replies, he resumes one way or another. If it doesn't have a name, he'll give it one!

"Do you know who the Asgard are?"

"If you take into account the four of us co-piloting this ship, do our odds against the Altairan destroyer improve any?"

"What if we fly two ships?"

'I'd love to!' Hilda declared, jerking the Alteran sword in her sheath. She preferred the vigour of hand-to-hand battle to the lazy stand-back-and-shoot Tau'ri tactics, yet those same tactics were currently in her way. 'I have to get close to hit them first!'

In reply to Tate Ames (msg # 176):

     Kaspar gives Tate a wide-eyed look of surprise--then reaches over and, with a grin, nudges Tate on the shoulder,

     "Air Combat by Committee!  Brilliant!  We'll make a Good Soviet out of you, yet, Comrade Tate!" Kaspar chuckles.

     "heh-heh...Sorry about that..." Kaspar says, after a moment,

     "Hell, I haven't got any better ideas, either." Kaspar adds, sobering, "Good thought about asking if this computer can tell us the status of that other ship, out in the hangar, though!"

     Kaspar suddenly makes an 'Oh Yeah!' face, then turns his head to look from Tate, down at the flight control panel,

   "Oh, Computer, you asked what we wish to do?  Well...that Altairan ship, and its crew, are attacking this base, and we'd like to aid in the defense of the base.  At the moment, we believe that attacking the Altairan's with...well...with you, seems to be our only option, given that we're stranded here in the hangar bay."

     "Can you suggest any other course of action?"

Naseem started looking through the gate controls to see if there was a gate she could use to get some of their team back to them or, better yet, some of the enemy troops away from the base. That would be the kind of nasty surprise she would truly enjoy giving the attackers.

"Let's see what I can do with the rings to give us some time and breathing room, shall we?"

It takes almost three minutes beyond the expected communication time lag for Sarah to get a reply from Commander Axion.

"What do you wish to discourse?" is Axion's response. He still sounds a bit blustery, but clearly he has no idea where this communication is going now. He was probably prepared for one of two courses of action: surrender or defiance, both of which he knew how to deal with. He's treading in new territory now, and it does not appear that he is very good at diplomacy.



=== Down in the Hangar Bay ===

"Neither the computer nor my program were given a name, though both have model numbers and alphanumeric designations," the ship computer responds to Tate and Kaspar. "However, have you forgotten, Prestor Jon, that you used to called me Zera?"

"No, I do not know who the Asgard are, other than what my internal sensors can tell me. Clearly, though, they have advanced technology."

"The last report I had about the Freedom--the other runabout here in the hangar--is that it was in perfect running order. It is currently offline so I cannot communicate with its computer."

"I cannot execute any combat tactics, but I have two within my memory. The first is called Skirmish--you dart in close and attack and then dart back out of range of the enemy's weapons. The second is called Lure, where you attempt to lure the enemy with range of your planetary defenses."

"I cannot calculate the odds of those two scenarios succeeding because I do not know the capabilities of the altered Altairan ship. Either scenario could increase the odds by one to four percent. If the Altairans do not know where the system's defenses are, that could increase success by up to 20%."

"I cannot calculate the odds of four of you piloting this ship as such a scenario has never been tried before. It would normally be considered inefficient."

"Attacking with two ships increases the odds of success to 63%."

"I do not see how you are stranded in the hangar bay since you can fly out in this ship or you can return to the main complex by use of the ring transporter."

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 180):


     When the computer says this, Kaspar again reaches over to nudge Tate in the shoulder,

     "See?" Kaspar whispers, as the computer keeps talking, "I told you!  It knows that you're 'Tate Ames', but it also thinks you're this 'Prestor Jon'!  At the same time!  We're going to have to be careful with this..."

     When the computer stops peaking, afer making comments about geting out of the hangar, Kaspar responds with,

     "Ah, so...um, Zera, was it?...can I take from your comment about flying out of this hangar that you have the ability to open the hangar doors, then?  Because we don't know how to do that, you see.  Nor do we have a means of controlling the ring transporter.  We were sent here, you see, by someone who did have such a device.  And, well, what with the sudden Altairan assault, and everything, our schedule for recall has gotten a little off track."

"More powerful weapon I got." Lucas replied as he let his rifle fall across his chest and pulled off his pack. He pulled out hie personal weapons case and quickly began assembling his 700. "My problem is this thing isn't meant for shootouts, or anything nearly this close."He explained as he assembled the Remington sniper rifle. It did not have the smooth lines of the P90, and it was well worn, but to Lucas it was a thing of beauty.

He snapped the bolt shut and wrapped the sling around his foreward wrist and moved as far back in the room as he could get. "Let's see if a little bigger chunk of lead can open up those tin can suits. Hilda, back away from the door for a moment please." He said as he took aim on one of the aggressors

(Roll to strike:
00:01, Today: Lucas Wheeler rolled 17 using 1d20 ((17)).)

"Excellent.  I'm glad you're willing to discuss matters.  It would hardly look good to report failure to your superiors... and you've already created a mountain of admin for me simply by being present in our system.  So to save us bother expense of further trouble, can you begin by removing your troops from our base.   And then we can talk about why you've come here and we can hopefully come to some accommodation."

In reply to Sarah Morgan (msg # 183):

     "Ah!  I just had a thought!" Kaspar pipes up, "Zera?  The Altairans seem to be disrupting our radio communications, can you analyze this disruption, circumvent it, and get a signal through to the Base's central control room?  If you can, please open a channel for us, as soon as possible."

===== ABOARD PRESTER JON'S SHIP, HANGAR BAY =====

"As long as the hangar door hasn't been locked down, which my sensors indicate isn't the case," Zera replies to Kaspar, "then, yes, I can open them with a signal."

"You are outside the main facility so your primitive communication units cannot penetrate the walls. The Altairans are not close enough to block your signals. You have been in communication with the control center ever since you arrived in the hangar bay. If you wish a private channel opened to the control center, I can do that. Channel is now open."


===== COMMAND CENTER =====

"Very well. I will inform our troops to move to a ring gate and I will retrieve them," is Axion's response over the comms.


Naseem finds what she already suspected, that the rings here are interconnected, mean she can only activate one to transfer someone or something to another. The team on the 3rd floor has to be inside a ring for her to transfer them. Likewise, the Altairans have to be in a ring to transfer them. In any case, there's no place to move the Altairans to that wouldn't be within the facility.


===== THIRD FLOOR COMBATANTS =====

Lucky has no problem hitting his target as it isn't moving much... certainly not actively dodging, not even after getting shot by the P90 or Gavan's weapon. Lucky gets the distinct impression that these warriors are used to being able to absorb attacks.

Lucky's round goes right through the armor. It causes a small reaction, actually causing the figure to turn slightly from the impact. It turns then and starts moving away, but seems to be lurching slightly. Lucky, Hilda and Gavan now see that all of the warriors are moving away, back towards where they first materialized.

Lucky can get off a few more shots if he wants, but as soon as they are regrouped, a ring gate appears and transports them all away.

     "Ah.  Thank you, Zera." Kaspar responds to the computer,

     "*ahem* Gorski to Base Control Center.  Sarah, can you hear me?  We lost radio contact, but have now established a communications channel via one of the vessels in the hangar bay.  We are aware of the Altairan ship's approach.  I'm also assuming that you are taking the lead with dealing with them, and fully support your doing so--you're the expert in that.  We'll follow your lead from here.  We are aboard an active vessel, which is both armed and able to exit the hangar.  We're just a little short of actual flying skill."

     "Also, Sarah, if you get a moment, ask your friend Eevee about Prester Jon.  It could be helpful, maybe even relevant.  Over to you."

Sarah response to this is urgent, "Naseem, Eevee.  They're going to be leaving.  We need every bit of data you can gather about their means of departure - ring gate or otherwise, their destination and anything else you can gather - it will be the only way we can even consider stopping them returning.  We also need a full sensor sweep to confirm that they've left the base and that they've not left any devices behind."

She punches several buttons to begin doing just that in the hope that Eevee and Naseem will work on the same.  "As soon as we're able to regain secure communication with the other team members, please alert me."

And then on comms, ~Now.... shall we begin again.  Welcome to our home. I am Sarah.  How may we be of service.~

Not wanting to miss out on action while they had it, Hilda burst back out of the room and fired a few bullets after the retreating Altairans. Fortunately for diplomatic relations, she managed not to hit any of them, true to form. 'Yeah, you better flee, dogs!' she shouted to hurry them on their way.


OOC: P90 in burst mode, attack 7, miss
Sidestep feat: +1 dodge Defense vs all foes
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 02:18, Fri 13 Nov 2020.

Lucky saw his round punch through the armor and he smiled slightly as he racked in a second one, then paused as the aggressors seemed to turn to retreat. "Hilda, let them pull back." He called after his teammate, flinching a bit at her wild firing. "Come on, we need to figure out how to contact the others so they can drag us back to regroup. Those tin cans push their offensive and we're in trouble." He said, slinging his rifle

Naseem quickly and efficiently began doing what Sarah had asked. Part of her wished she was down there in the fight but the safety of her team was paramount. She started running scans to see how they were leaving and if any of them were using the rings.

Hilda lowered her rifle, satisfied that the Altairans were retreating, and that they'd apparently discouraged them, at least for now. 'Alright. We need to protect the rest of the team. How can we make the rings take us back?' She looked to Gavan, presuming he would know.

Naseem easily determines that the Altairan warriors used the ring gates, although the activation came from somewhere else. Since this is the same spot they appeared, she is able to deduce that there's some sort of 'welcome mat' frequency about them. Either the Altairan ship was aware of them, or else it had some way of detecting them. So, it was the ring gate system on the ship that tapped into the base's rings. But only two of them.

She has no idea how to use the base's rings to reach the ship, but she's pretty sure there's enough power on the base to do that. It probably has something to do with the phasing crystals. She's never heard of any ring system that had that kind of range. Going from planet surface to a ship in orbit, or even to one of that planet's moons. To the outer limits of the entire system, THAT is unheard of!

While Naseem is doing this, she overhears Hilda's question, and activates the ring to bring them back.


As if someone was listening to Hilda, she, Lucky and Gavan are ring transported back to the command center on the 2nd floor.

"We suddenly detected your base when we didn't know there was one in this system," comes Axion's response over the comms. "We did not recognize the signal and therefore perceived you as a potential threat. We were prepared to destroy your base if you did not surrender it."

"So. Who are you? How did you build a base in this system so quickly without us detecting it?"

'—us back?' Hilda finished as they rematerialised in the control room. She hastily checked that she had all her parts – a real issue in a ring transporter – then alerted the others 'We got the invaders in the garden on the run! ...Oh, you are talking.'

Sarah turns and grins broadly at the sight of some of her team members returning and then looks over to Naseem, asking for any suggestions on what to say, "We must have activated the base to the point where they were able to detect it.  Damit."   And knowing that she needs to keep them talking, she responds on the comms, ~Understandable.   Potential threats can be... scary.   But I'm intrigued that you would approach with force rather than open discourse.  Considering your position and the unknown we represented, opening with threat has put you at a significant disadvantage.  In fact, if we hadn't been the forgiving types, we might have taken your open hostility as a reason to retaliate.~  She was attempting to avoid lying but telling the truth might very well give them an opening.

~Perhaps then, given your disadvantage, you should begin the exchange of information?~

[Base Hangar.  Aboard Prestor Jon's Ship.]

     Kaspar waits a couple of moments, then, receiving no response from the communicator, says, "Hello?  Base Control, please respond.  Sarah?  Anyone?"

     Kaspar looks at Tate and Freyda, "Maybe the place where Sarah is interacting with the base computer isn't, actually, the Base Control Center?  Zera..."

     Kaspar addresses the ship's computer, "You said, a little while ago, that you detected eight lifeforms in the Base?  I'm assuming that was us, so tell me, are any of those original eight life signs located in this base's Control Center?  I'm trying to contact anyone that might be in a chamber off the upper promenade, abouve the main entrance, where an extensive interface unit with the base's central computer is located.  Is that the chamber you've opened a communications channel to, for me?"

Everyone in the command center has been hearing Kaspar over the comms.

"There are now 5 life forms in the command center," Zera replies to Kaspar. "That is the only command center in this base. That is the channel I opened."

"We copy you Lima Charlie, Kaspar. Do you have good copy? Over." Naseem responded, wondering if the comms had been blocked on his end.

Sarah looked to Naseem, "Careful.  We already know the attacker's technology is superior and they initially blocked our communications.  Don't let Kaspar give us away by saying something stupid."

"I'll block him if he does but he is a Major in the Polish military. I'm hoping he knows about Opsec in the face of enemy forces," Naseem replied.

"That is not correct, Sarah Morgan," Eevee states. "The Altairans did not block your communications."

"Nor is their technology superior to this facility's. It is more modern, thereby perhaps a bit more advanced, but it is oriented to aggression. The Alterans were never conquerors."


There's about a ten minute time lag between when Sarah says something and when the Altairans receive it. The same is true in reverse. It will get shorter and shorter as the Altairan ship progresses deeper into the system.

Because of the time lag, the computer does not keep the connection open. So, anything said between responses is not broadcast.

[Hangar Bay, Aboard Prestor Jon's Ship]




     Kaspar frowns, as he realizes that while Zera has opened a private communication channel, as he'd asked for, the literal-minded computer has simply left the audio pick-ups live at both ends,

^{COMM START >>>} "I was a servant of the Soviet Red Army, of course I know about Operational Security." Kaspar says in a deadpan voice,

     "This is a private--and I assume isolated--comm-channel using the Base's communication system." Kaspar adds, his voice returning to a more normal tone, "It's been set-up by the Computer Intelligence onboard one of the two ship's, down here in the hangar.  She calls herself 'Zera'.  Her attitude appears friendly..."

     "Our radios can't easily penetrate the outer walls of the Base or the Hangar, according to Zera, but we heard Sarah's alert, over the base's internal comms.  Zera can confirm the Altairan ship is in the outer system, and not yet within the base's defensive zone--and she adds she's not sure how they are tapping into this base's ring transporter system from that distance.  Oh!  And the Altairans, being Androids, don't register on her lifeform scanners."

     "Since our radios are likely compromised, it might be a good idea for us to use the internal comms of the base.  Though I don't recall seeing any wall-mounted comm-panels during our travels.  Sarah?  Could you check with Eevee, the base computer, and find out if there are any portable comms, anywhere on the base, that we might use?"

     "Beyond that, what's the current situation with the Altairans?  Can someone update me, please?" ^{<<< COMM END}

After the suitable time lag for the communication with the Altairan ship, the response arrives.

"What information would that be?" Axion replies.

"Major, just a thought here, but we have a ship down on the planet, don't we?" Tate says.

"It's a Goa'uld Ha'tak, right? I wonder how it would stand up to the Altairan ship? I'm sure Vassandra would love to find out!"

[Hangar Bay, Aboard Prestor Jon's Ship]

     Kaspar understands that the members of the Team over in the old base's Control Center are taking the lead in contacting these Altairans--so he isn't expecting any rapid response to his request to be updated.  They will get to him as quickly as they can.

     So, as he waits, he ponders the current situation.  Specifically, he tries to figure out how the Altairans who are approaching, but still located a far distance away, can interface with the ring transporters, yet still be suffering a comm-signal delay...


     Kaspar turns to Tate in wide-eyed surprise,

     "Bohze moi!!" Kaspar exclaims in Russian (probably loud enough to be heard over the comm-channel to Control).

     "Tate, that's brilliant!" Kaspar continues in a lower voice, "Yes, yes we do, don't we!  I'd completely forgotten about it!  Hmmm...but, as it is a distinctly Goa'uld vessel, that could work against us.  Let's check with the others, before we try to contact Captain Tourmaline."

     Kaspar sits back in his seat and raises his voice to just barely over a whisper,

^{COMM START >>>} "Major Ansari?  Naseem, or Hecate, can you hear me?  This circuit is still open, please respond quietly." ^{<<< COMM ENDS}

     ...And suddenly, with all the talk about other ships, Kaspar realizes how the Altairans accessed the ring transporter system...

     "Recon Scout!" Kaspar suddenly blurts out, as the solution comes to him (again, this exclamation is likely loud enough to be picked-up by the open mic to the Control Center).

     Kaspar turns in his seat to face both Tate and Freyda, and speaks quietly,

     "The Altairans didn't access the ring transporters from way out there!  They sent a recon scout ahead of the main vessel--that's what's close enough to tap into the transporters.  There has to be a small vessel nearby--either in orbit and cloaked or stealthed or something--or maybe hidden down on the lunar surface--someplace close enough to tap-into the transporters."

     Kaspar turns his attention to the control board he's been directing his interactions with the computer to,

     "Zera--I know you have difficulty detecting the Altairans, themselves, but I would like you to scan for sensor anomalies which might indicate the presence of a small cloaked or stealthed space vessel.  Limit your search area only out to the maximum distance someone would be able to access the base ring transporter system from, please."

There was a lot going on, and Hilda didn't understand a lot of it. So she stood out of the way, listening and  watching and waiting for orders or for something to go wrong.

"I hear you, Major Gorski. Do you wish to speak to Hecate or me?" Naseem asked. "And what were you saying 'My God!' for? Hopefully something good."

In reply to Naseem Ansari--Hecate (msg # 207):

^{COMM START >>>} "Isn't talking to one of you the same as talking to both of you?" Kaspar stage-whispers, momentarily pursuing the thought--then he clears his head with a quick  shake,

     "Never mind, and yes, that shout was something good!" Kaspar quietly adds, "Tate just reminded me that there is a fully armed Goa'uld Ha'tak down on the planet, that is under our control!"

     "Admittedly, there's only one crewperson on board who knows how to fly it--but I have faith in Captain Tourmaline's abilities.  The question on my mind, which I'd like both your and Hecate's opinion on, is whether the appearance of a Goa'uld ship would help or hinder this situation?  I'm taking for granted that, since the Alterans who built this Base knew of the Goa'uld, then these Altairans likely do so, as well."

     "But I didn't read all that much about the Altairans, when Sarah found their datafile in Eevee--I just remember that the Altairans had Android bodies.  As Eevee has all the data, could you, possibly, get a combat strength comparison between what the computer knows of the two vessels?  And maybe, also see if Eevee has any data on current relations--or any relations!--between the Altairans and the Goa'uld?"

     "Without disturbing Sarah, of course.  I'm quite certain that she's busy enough, right now, without bothering her with a data request." ^{<<< COMM END}

"I stand corrected, Eevee."  She chuckles at that as she wasn't about to argue with a clearly highly intelligent AI and so she kept her opinion on the matter to herself.

And then... Kaspar spoke up.   That Naseem or Eevee had been broadcasting a private conversation between the pair was chalked down to unfamiliarity with the system and each other though Sarah can't help but give Naseem an odd look.  She then ensures that further comms will be 'by request' only as, after all, she wouldn't want the Altairans receiving similar open ended coms.

Right - the camera in the various bays - have the Altairans left yet?   And is their vessel still approaching or has it stopped at range (or departing?)

She then responds to the Altairans, ~Well, perhaps begin with your intentions now that you know the base is here.  You've already stated that you had intended destroying or capturing it.  What are your intention now - so that we don't misconstrue your actions and act inappropriately to your vessel or crew members.~

“I’ll get into the way or symbiosis works later. I know the ship you mean and I can also fly it, thanks to Hecate. Say the word and I’ll go down there and launch.”

Having witnessed the Altairan warriors disappear in a ring gate, Gavan had a vague idea of how they'd gotten into the facility in the first place. So, when he and the others were brought back to the command center by the same process, he immediately looked at the data displayed on the console. He saw the same thing that Hecate had and, presumably, conveyed that information to Naseem.

When Sarah communicated her last message to the Altairan ship and the comm channel was no longer open, he offered his thoughts on the matter.

"While I can't imagine how your conversation could get you into this position, if you get the chance, Sarah," Gavan says, "see if you can get Axion to give you the secret of his extended range on the ring gates. Even the Tollan don't have that kind of range."

"Naseem... when you get a chance, Hecate and I should work on trying to figure out a way to block ring access. This base has a way of controlling which rings are accessible. Was it only the frequency that did that? The base commander apparently had a way to override all the other ones. Maybe there's some way to put a frequency delimiter on the whole network."

In reply to Naseem Ansari--Hecate (msg # 210):

     While waiting for for a response from Naseem--after all, she'd need a few moments to get the data he'd requested--Kaspar noticed a, for lack of a better term, 'button' on Zera's control console change color.  It turned from green to amber.  At the same time, he also noticed that the ambient noise in the small pilot compartment seemed to lower, just a bit.

     And then Naseem responded,

     And he understood...

     Reaching out, Kaspar touched a finger to the button he'd seen change color--and the color changed from amber to green.

     "Captain Tourmaline and an SGC team of technicians were working to prepare the Ha'tak for the long journey back to Earth." Kaspar spoke quietly, "They are just waiting for us to finish up, up here, before they leave.  Vasandra said she'd keep an antenna pointed towards this moon, to try and keep up communications, but our SGC radios haven't even got range to reach orbit, never mind an orbiting moon.  The hope was that the Ha'tak's equipment could pick up the signal and boost it, even from down on the planet."

     "Now that I've been told that our radios may have a hard time penetrating the base's outer walls, I'm not so sure about that hope, any more.  You may have to use the Henge Portals to go back down to the planet, to alert them about what's happening up here.  And, while I'm sure Captain Tourmaline is capable of flying the Ha'tak, herself, I can't imagine that both flying it and fighting it would be easy for just one person to do.  Your and Hecate's skills might be better at handling the weapons, while she flies."

     "But before we commit ourselves to throwing a Goa'uld Ha'tak at these Altairans--which, you have to admit, does have a tendency to piss-off most people it happens to--did you get any info from Eevee's databases about how much the Altairans know about the Goa'uld?  If a Ha'tak rose up from the planet, would the Altairans then assume that we are Goa'uld?"

     "Also...Major, we've had an idea about how the Altairans might have accessed the ring transporters, with their ship being so far away!  We think that the main ship may have sent a stealthed scout ship ahead, and that it's just the limited crew of the advance vessel--located somewhere nearby--that is using the transporters.  I've got Zera, the computer aboard this ship, scanning for sensor anomalies that might be a hidden ship, but Eevee has access to a bigger sensor grid.  Maybe you could get the Base to search for a nearby stealthed ship?"

     Kaspar lifts his finger from the button, and the color changes from green, back to amber.

Sarah gives Gavan one of her prettier smiles before nods, "If the conversation heads in that direction, I'll certainly work towards discovering what I can."  And then to the group of folk near in the comms room, "Any other suggestions are also more than welcome.  I find myself talking to them without a clear 'plan of action' in mind.  Not the best of situations.   I can handle the diplomatic side of things but I need military guidance here."

The Altairan ship continues to move inward in the system. It hasn't slowed down or changed course yet, but it's speed was cautionary. It'll be in range of the base's farthest defensive weapons in another five minutes, the main defense in ten.

"We would still like to inspect your base, Commander," comes the replies from Axion. "Perhaps there is a basis for an alliance."


So far, the communication has been verbal only, no video is being transmitted from either side. Most of that is due to the distance and the time delay.

So, Sarah cannot see any facial expressions, which she's not sure would even exist on these androids. Vocal expression and tone is also impossible, considering that these androids may not display emotions, whether they have them or not.

Thus, she can only go by the words themselves. Her impression is that these Altairans are not very good at lying or dissembling. They only seem to 'discourse' from a position of superior physical might. They certainly think that they have the upper hand.

Since Sarah hasn't answered either of Axion's questions, he's not convinced that you are the threat you claim to be, but that's only because he knows nothing about you.

You managed to bluff him into removing his troops, but you've yet to show any sign of superior force or technology, which would not only impress him but gain his respect.

Hecate informs Naseem that she can use the base equipment to send a tight beam down to the Ha'tak on the planet that the Altairans would not be able to detect, and could thus relay Kaspar's orders.