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Mutants & Masterminds: StarGate Freedom - Chapter 1b: Hunting Darkness


z-Servant of Ra

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They had set down at the end of something called 'Walkerton Road' just east of Burnett Reservoir. It was far enough that they could sneak up on the house that was their target without being seen on approach.

They were a quarter of a mile from the target; following Walkerton would not be the most direct route; walking west would bring them to the reservoir. Following the edge of the false lake further west would bring them to the house.

The high air of the Appalachian evening was thick with the smell of moisture and woods. Green trees rose around them, an old growth of verdant emerald. The night was chill, just above cold.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Shayltar quickly ran through a half-dozen different approaches to the house, including a few that sacrificed Narindar or Jono, and one that did both.

We can do better than that. Bethany insisted sharply. Besides, you want to know if Jono has lost it completely or is just acting a fool, right?

The Tok'ra grumbled, giving Bethany a quick education on Tok'ra cussing, but relented. Fine, let's see if he can get himself killed.

Persephone turned to Hephaestus, her smile sweet and clear. "Well, how shall we do this, then?"

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  • 2 weeks later...

"The only way we can. We approach as carefully as possible, and try to find Seth without alerting him to our presence until we have him in our sites."

He frowned at the look he got in reply to that comment so he shot back, "Do I look like Ares? I make things, not plan assualts. I found him, and that alone is more than anyone else could do under the circumstances."

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  • 4 weeks later...

Charlie shook his head, muttering under his breath. "Alright, fine, I'm the only one that seems to know what we're doing. Except maybe the big guy." He pointed a thumb at Kor. The Unas shifted as Charlie said, "Give me maps, intel, anything you've got and five minutes to come up with a damned plan." He paused and glanced at Persephone. "With your leave, of course, Lady."

"I'm more than happy to have you formulate some kind of plan," Bethany said, making sure her gratitude was seemly and not overwrought. "Hephaestus, would you give him what he needs?"

With a sharp nod, the fake Goa'uld handed Charlie his data pad. The man scrolled the map back and forth and finally said, "Your scans didn't pick up anything unusual like non-Earth weapons, so I think we'll just find normal armament. I know how to fight that. So we'll head east, cross two roads, then strike north until we hit this heart-shaped pond. From there, we'll assess what we'll be facing and come up with the rest of the plan. But it looks like coming from the north to maximize the surprise factor is our best bet." He handed the pad back to the Jono and hefted the rifle Bethany had secured for him. "I'll take point. Kor, you be the tail. No one touch anything unless you're sure it isn't trapped, and Hephaestus, sound off if you pick up any funny weapon signatures. Let's go."

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  • 1 month later...

Jono nodded and did as the military man said. He kept his datapad out and scanned for anything at all that might be dangerous or useful to know, but otherwise tried to be inconspicuous as he followed. He did nod in satisfaction as he looked at the group. They moved more or less as if they belonged. If there was one thing he had learned over the years it was that there was nothing more suspicious than someone trying to sneak around or looking nervous. He had gotten away with pretending to be a Goa'uld all these years by acting the part.

His Kara'kesh was ready to blast anything that looked threatening, but he kept the gold glove-like weapon concealed in his sleeve.

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Persephone followed quietly behind Hapheastus, doing their best to look neither too inept nor too professional as Bethany and Shayltar conversed quietly between themselves about what was about to happen. Mostly, Shayltar "spoke", advising Bethany on what they might find, who they might find, and most importantly, how to make their death look accidental or out of necessity.

Bethany kept a quiet eye on Narindar; so far as she knew, he'd never really been in a combat situation. Neither had she, but Shayltar had been enough to have spent Bethany's entire life solely in combat.

He'll be fine. He's a smart man and Charlie will look out for him as well. Focus on the target.

Do you ever hate what you do, Shayltar?

What?

You heard me.

Now is not the time for this, Bethany.

It's the perfect time. Answer the question.

It doesn't matter. This is what has to be done, and I have an aptitude for it. Desire is immaterial in the face of evil and extinction.

It matters, Shayltar. There are other ways you could fight, other things you could do for the Tok'ra. Aptitude isn't everything. Do you enjoy being a spy? Being an assassin? Killing?

This is hardly-

You can't afford to fight with me right now. We both know that, so answer the question and I'll be quiet until the rest of this is done.

Fine. I...I've never really thought about it. I was born with an aptitude for deception and raised to do whatever necessary to rid the universe of the Goa'uld.

And once that was done? When there's no more Goa'uld to kill or trick?

...I don't know, Bethany. I've always assumed I'd be long dead before that day.

...could we please focus on the mission?

I'm sorry...

Don't apologize. Just focus.

Persephone continued to walk in silence, eyes alert but shadowed.

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  • 2 months later...

They crossed the two roads without any issues and turned the right direction. At the lake, Charlie found them hiding places and told them to stay where they were. For thirty minutes he kept them waiting, until he came back at a slow jog.

"Alright," he said, grabbing some sticks and stones. "The house has guards walking outside perimeter; I counted six. Inside, there are more guards but I have no numbers on them, at least two. I'm going to need to get Hephaestus up close, if he can scan for life-forms." He looked expectantly at the faux-gou'ald.

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The waiting did Narinder little good as far as nerves went. Of course, he'd been in plenty of tight situations, and knew how to keep his cool. But diplomatically tense meetings were a far cry from kneeling outside a house holding a potentially-deadly weapon.

He kept his expression neutral and tried to keep his eyes open and alert. He did his best to pointedly avoid looking at Bethany, which made watching him a bit easier. The only real telltale sign of his nervousness was the fact that he switched his zat from one hand to the other occasionally, discreetly rubbing his hands against his pants to wipe the sweat from his palms. Inwardly, he was still battling fear of the situation, sorrow for his friend, and general fury at the world in general. It didn't make for the best "sit and wait" combination.

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Click to reveal.. (Inventor - kludging together a lifesigns scanner.)




"Sorry, I don't have one, but I can kludge something together." He frowned in a typical Hephaeustus way, then added, "Just give me a minute or two."

It really wasn't hard to mimic the Goa'uld's mannerisms, that was one thing that he had learned years ago. They were litterally in his muscle memory. The ancient 'god' had possessed Jono's body longer than he himself had actually lived it and the body knew what to do. His mind on the other hand had spent the last five decades learning all he could about science and alien tech in particular and rigging a datapad up to detect lifesigns at a hundred yards was nothing. That wouldn't cover the whole compound, but it would have to do. Putting out enough energy to detect life signs everywhere inside would also be enough to get them detected in turn which was definitely to be avoided.

He popped open the back of the datapad and rearranged three of the tiny crystals inside then popped the cover back on and spent a couple minutes keying in commands on the screen. When he looked up there was smile of satisfaction on his face. "Done."

He held the pad out to charlie and there were a number of dots moving about on the screen. "Should be good for a hundred yards or a bit farther. Best I can do on such short notice. I could jack up the power, but that might make us detectable by anyone monitoring on the inside. Like the difference between listening for enemy subs passively, or sending out an active Ping."

Let that be a hint to them. Narinder seemed to be smart. Perhaps he would pick up on Jono's use of Earth WWII knowledge. Persephone's host might catch it too, but then she knew her fellow god's host was from here. Anything to reinforce in his fellow Earthlings the idea that he was someone they could relate to. It just might make them hesitate rather than kill him in an opportune moment. Or maybe, if he were smart enough he'd be able to convince them that he was on their side without giving himself away to the Goa'uld in their group. Depending on what they found here, he might just decide that the snake needed to have an accident. He knew there was no way her host could fool Hades the way he was fooling them all, but maybe if things got desparate enough, it might buy enough time to act...
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So, not a complete idiot. Bethany's mental voice was tinged with amusement and a touch of admiration.

Apparently not. He's finally started to play the game; let's hope he survives the first couple of moves. Shayltar's mind was still running through battle strategies and how to propose them without tipping her hand too much. The scanner was a nice touch, she had to admit.

"Is there anyway we could overload the power in the place? If we could take out their ability to scan for us, we could move more freely and use our kara-kesh's without detection."

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Jono could knock out power to a mothership, but he had no idea what kind of power distribution was in place in the house. If it were just powerlines coming in from the city then it would be easy, but if he were hiding and had fortified this place, he would have redundant power coming in from different electrical circuits, and a backup generator on top of that. So he doubted it would be easy.

"Honestly, I don't know. It might be very simple, or if he's at all paranoid, then he'll have redundancy and a backup on top of that. Most likely killing the main circuit will just kick the ant hill and alert them to the fact that we are coming. To make it look legitimate we'd have to kill power away from the compound to take out the entire community, but that would take time we don't have." He looked questioningly at Charlie, "You're the military man, what do you say? Sneak in and try to take out the guards stealthy-like or try knock out the power?"

He thought of something else, "Oh, zat-nik-atel's are pretty quite", he patted the one attached to his belt to let them know he was talking about the 'ray guns'. "But, when they stun someone they might make their finger twitch. In other words try not to shoot someone if they have their finger on the trigger of an Earth weapon. We don't want loud noises."

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Charlie was quiet a moment. "Guards first," he said. "If we can do it right, they won't have a chance to raise the alarm. They could be constantly monitoring, but that seems a bit high-tech even for a hiding Gou'ald. I mean, high Earth tech. From what I've gotten, our best element of offense is the fact that the sn- Gou'ald are arrogant." He paused and glanced at the two 'Gou'ald'. "Right?"

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Persephone gave an appropriately haughty stare to the upstart human, "Well, if we're going to use zat'nik'atels, then using our kara'kesh is also an option." Her words were a subtle threat to the humans around her: they might be arming them, but their gods would always be better armed and more powerful.

"Shall we begin? I tire of hiding like some دودة لا قيمة لها ." She shrugged, "That and I am starting to get bored."

She motioned to the men, "So, get started."

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  • 2 weeks later...

Jono, being one of the humans, got the message as well as the 'slaves'. Persephone was dangerous and he would have to be careful just how far he went, but he couldn't resist, "You are right, most Goa'uld are arrogant, but keep in mind that he's been hiding here for several thousand years so he's likely to be even more arrogant in a way. One thing we have going for us is that he probably isn't using much of his technology right now to keep a low profile. I was barely able to detect his emmissions. I think zats and our Hara'kesh are safe to use." He held up his own hand device with it's large red gem covering the palm. He reattached the zat to his belt. He was much better with the gold glove than with the Jaffa weapon. He flexed the hand out of habit feeling it's reassuring weight.

"Lead the way Charlie, you are the soldier."

In his other hand he gripped the cane ready to use it as an offhand weapon as quickly as a walkingstick.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Charlie nodded. "Then you two stay here just a moment. The big guy and I can neutralize the guards faster and more quietly if you'll just hang back." He didn't even seem to be aware that he was ordering them around, as if he were in command. "Kor, come on."

The Unas grunted and glanced at Jono; when the fake Goa'uld nodded, he shifted so that he was next to Charlie. Together, the two of them slipped away into the night. It left the two imposters and the angry slave behind with little more to do.

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Bethany sunk to the ground, laying on her back and sighing. "I hate waiting," she complained petulantly. This, at least, wasn't an act for the supposed child-queen. Bethany hated waiting; she'd gotten used to it, but she was already on edge with everything. She wanted to know what had happened to her husband and her daughter, she wanted to hug Narindar and tell him that she was okay. Well, mostly okay and not some alien zombie-monster.

Her eyes flicked over to him, her expression only briefly betraying her thoughts before Shayltar stepped in. Not now, Bethany. Focus, we'll have opportunities later.

She sighed again and muttered, "I hate waiting."

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It suited Jono fine to let Charlie and the big Unas go in and do the dirty work. He had been in the army during WWII but he'd been a scientist and had never been within three thousand miles of the front line. During his time as Heaphestus' slave he had looked out from behind his own eyes as the snake killed people and although it had been his body that performed the act and he had been forced to witness, he hadn't actually ever pulled the trigger so to speak.

His gloved hand balled into a fist and relaxed over and over without conscious thought as he contemplated what he might have to do. The people in there were just humans, most likely good people who had been duped or drugged into slavery, they didn't deserve to die. What he really wanted to do was turn his hara'kesh on Persephone. Her host might not deserve to die, but the snake in her head certainly did. All Gou'ald did, but he had to force himself to wait and play their game. Killing her now would only make things worse for the billions of innocents of this planet. If a Goa'uld died, millions would be made to pay for it in blood.

Set on the other hand was fair game. He was going to die if only Charlie and Kor could get Jono to him.

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  • 4 weeks later...

The night was too long and too dark for Jono’s and Bethany’s taste. The only sound was the screech of crickets; the longer they were still and silent the more the insects sang. So when they went silent again, both people tensed. Was it Charlie and Kor or someone else entirely?

A moment later, their question was answered: three men bearing guns walked through the woods, appearing on the deer path that cut just in front of their hiding place. Jono and Bethany froze and waited; fortunately, the men didn’t seem to see them. But they did stop not far from them; a moment later, a tongue of flame appeared, lighting up both the mens’ faces and the cigarettes they were starting.

The two ‘gou’ald’ might be in for a wait.

Click to reveal..
Declare whether you wish to hide or start combat; if the latter, please roll initiative.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Jono didn't even flex his hand. He waited breathing as quitely as he could, his heart pounding in his throat. He was ready to send a blast that would cave in the man's chest and send him bouncing off the trees behind him, but he wouldn't start combat unless he absolutely had to. He might have technically been a soldier in World War II, but he was a scientist that never came within a continent of the front lines. Of course as Hephaestus' host he had unwillingly taken part in the deaths of dozens of slaves over the past five decades.

These men were guards and well armed and that was different than waving a godly hand and having the defeneless drop dead at your feet. Besides, he rationalized to himself, I promised to keep Persephone safe and no matter how much I'd like to see her dead, I do not need a snake head with a vengence complex gunning for me. Best if we just remain quiet until they go away or until Charlie and Kor return and take care of them.

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