Urvashi. The Tetrarchy's genetic laboratories, hidden in the remote mountains.
Ten years had passed since the birth of the new Tok'ra. Despite the idea of coexistence, another thought lingered: finding a technological solution to the problem of the existence of my species—the Goa'uld. The System Lords had never sought to solve this problem, and even if they had, the results could have been catastrophic. One possible method was cloning humans to serve as hosts. But this required consciousness, so that the Goa'uld could intercept the signals that control the body. These signals are highly unique to each person and cannot be encoded. Humans are constantly learning to control their bodies, adapting, while the snake in their brain lacks such capabilities. This problem had to be solved. Even Baal copied the personality of the person he possessed in all his clones, simply because it was needed to control the body. The Asgard had no such problems—their clones could walk around unconscious and maintain neural activity. A similar result had to be replicated.
Technically, I may have found a way to replicate the Altered Carbon series using technology, but I was a bit wary of depriving my entire civilization of the ability to Ascend. Theoretically, I could preserve the minds of my soldiers, then clone them and insert their consciousnesses, ensuring a perpetual cycle. One problem: an atrophied, untrained body. The Asgardians seemed to have somehow gotten around this. Yes, I was also tormented by the moral aspect: technically, I was inserting an AI (Artificial Person) into a living body. Just like in Altered Carbon, where it's no longer people who walk the planet, but AI. As Alt Cunningham warned the protagonist of Cyberpunk 2077. So for now, I've left it at that until my own ethics can explain to me what to do.
Create a clone, scan the original for its motor functions, and insert them into the brain as a program—given that I already had technology from the Irish for decoding general brain signals responsible for motor functions, this is possible. Then conduct experiments with the larvae. Fortunately, there were also volunteers willing to add a couple of hundred years to their lifespan. For example, with a normal sarcophagus, it would be at least 10,000 years. I consider technology a blessing and believe it should belong to people, so industrial sarcophagi are entirely possible to purchase. However, it's necessary to clearly understand all the energy patterns to make them safe.
The first batch of Tok'ra matured earlier than the others. They were the first 200 born on Egeria when she was being studied. They were older, and volunteers were found for them. They immediately set to work creating bodies for the rest of their brothers and sisters. More experiments would have been necessary. The first experiments are now in their final stages. In that time, only ten thousand volunteers have been found. And it wasn't me who recruited them, but professionals. No one liked my diplomatic style.
"We're ready to conduct experiments," said one of the Tok'ra, a scientist. "In that time, I've created an entire city for them on an island, specifically for the Tok'ra. My armies are now fighting across the galaxy, winning glory. They've even developed their own named units, who maintain their own 'honor' by boasting of their victories. They even have banners displaying their victories. So, the plan 'How to rule the galaxy without the Jaffa noticing' has been practically successfully implemented."
- Okay, go ahead.
One hundred capsules containing larvae descended into the clones' bodies, and they gnawed through their flesh. An adult larva can take control of a human fairly quickly, but much depends on experience and the body's preparation. Scientists have been trying to stimulate the clones with electrical therapy and constantly induce muscle contractions, training the body. But now will prove just how successful this is.
Egeria was also keeping a close eye on everything, as I seemed to have found a third path for the Goa'uld. After some time, the bodies began to show activity: slightly twitching movements. Scientists were monitoring everything, and neural interfaces were connected to them. The Tok'ra in their new bodies would have to learn to speak, so communication was only possible this way.
The wheezing, screaming, and so on—it wasn't pain; the symbionts would simply have had a lot more to learn. But there were no catastrophic failures. That's interesting.
"All the implantations were successful. Now we need to refer them to physical therapists, prescribe exercises, and so on," said Ish, the symbiont who associates itself with a woman, and she was in a female body. "But it looks like your idea and technology package were successful."
"Okay. Report any incidents to me. We'll keep the remaining symbionts in stasis until we know the entire procedure is safe." I was genuinely worried about the Tok'ra. They were normal Goa'uld, and, like, children of Egeria. I liked her too. "Are you coming with me or staying here?"
"I think I'll stay for a while," Egeria replied.
- See you soon.
I went to the teleportation rings and transmitted a rather unique code through the neural interface, transporting myself to my quarters. A week ago, I received ten thousand symbionts under my command. I gave those specializing in war new armor, and those focused on science labs. I had a number of projects that needed competent scientists, such as my fleet. The ships had some improvements, but they still required a large expenditure of naquadah. We need more ship classes, the ability to control larger territories. Still, having only Alkesh and Hattaki as options is so-so. Only corvettes and battleships. So it was worth creating more ships.
There are literally hundreds of projects to work on, and the Goa'uld's knowledge is extremely useful in this regard. At the same time, they are full citizens of Urvashi, with all rights, responsibilities, and salary levels. As well as the ability to make independent decisions—well, except for those decisions where they'd want to shoot me or betray me to the System Lords.
It's also worth pointing out a specific detail: there were only a few Tok'ra agents because I have a different plan. Instead of a plan similar to "Hail Hydra," I'm relying on military force. That's why many of the Tok'ra (10,000) are warriors. Thanks to Evgenia's extensive data, all the Tok'ra now know how to fight, but some better than others. Essentially, they're an elite army designed to "knock the Jaffa out of the water" if they rebel. Their job is to protect Egeria, me, and Isara. Goa'uld soldiers with advanced technology and a certain loyalty are a strategic resource. No one else has one. The Golden Legion, equipped with the latest technology, will crush planets and, if necessary, civilizations. And serve as a means of controlling the Jaffa, should they ever consider betrayal.
But they had other things on their minds now. The Goa'uld provide me with a seemingly endless stream of orders. In this galaxy, someone is always trying to kill someone. And three years ago, there was an influx of scouts into my system, which had to be hunted down, communications jammed, and the smartest ones hunted down. And there's no point in snooping around in my systems. Quite an achievement: many know about my ships, but somehow they overlooked Khasar Station. It happens.
So, thanks to this constant supply, my proposal was born: anyone who doesn't lay claim to the planets they conquer is willing to be a mercenary and be content with what they're paid. My Jaffa have become quite experienced in practical combat. I also began receiving reinforcements from among the outcast Jaffa. Some Goa'uld wanted to send spies to me—very naive, especially since Jaffa in their "gilded cage" are incapable of transmitting any data. Jaffa don't even have access to the Gate outside of combat missions. And so they were taken in and trained to such a state that they could even forget their mission. I assure you, tampering with their memories had absolutely nothing to do with it. Sarcasm. My troops are now considered the most elite, well-trained, technologically advanced, and ready for any mission: combat in any environment. As they gained combat experience, they shared it through the virtual reality system and trained again. I've become such an "asshole" that now Jaffa are fighting the horrors of Warhammer. And there was no need to be... I don't know, Jaffa. It's a poor excuse, but it's all I could come up with.
The Jaffa are caught in a constant cycle of missions and training. Only the women (not much, they're also training) and the fleet have time. But my income is also becoming significant. I've managed to order the ships I need from many shipyards, establish contacts with the Goa'uld, and so on. Goa'uld are just like people: the more money you have, the more people want to be your friends. So I was able to get an extra hundred Alekesh and four Huttaks. So what? I need to match the Elder Lord's 100 Huttaks, and I currently have 36. Roughly speaking, one-third of the required number, which will allow me to be less worried about Goa'uld attacks, considering that Huttaks with my modifications are 2-2.5 times stronger than standard ones.
It's noteworthy that the Goa'uld, while striving for technological progress, are faced with the limitations of their vast Empire, which hinders both the implementation and mass production of upgrades. For now, I'm ahead of them, moving away from traditional staffs and implementing, for example, shoulder-mounted weaponry in the style of the Marvel Universe's War Machine. A plasma cannon mounted on a V-shaped rail and controlled by a neural network can instantly identify and engage Jaffa, while simultaneously protecting the combatant's blind spots using helmet scanner data. Drones have also undergone significant improvements: new communication and control systems, and a host of other innovations. Many are strengthening their stargates, but only a few dare to consider creating a second pair of gates on a planet, like Yu or Bastet. The latter, incidentally, was one of the first to offer me payment for sparing her worlds, thereby imposing a burden of new taxes on her vassals. As I mentioned, I'm not at war with the System Lords. Not yet.
Meanwhile, the constant conflicts that involved me with the various Goa'uld clans became the perfect environment for Hydra's spies to infiltrate. They arrived on planets disguised as ordinary soldiers, then concealed their identities, becoming hunters, refugees, or simply nomads. Sometimes, even disguised as traveling performers, they integrated into local society, gathering exhaustive information and forming small, self-sufficient cells. Assessing planets became an important step in the future, and here's a shocking truth: humans believe in the divinity of the Goa'uld, and I, striving for galactic conquest, must take this into account. This assessment determines where to apply "soft integration" and where to "quarantine." This is the path to erasing the "gods" from the memories of mere mortals. It's a complete nightmare.
By the way, in case anyone hasn't realized, the galaxy is engulfed in an all-out civil war: the System Lords against the Lesser Lords. This plan was hatched by Egeria and those Tok'ra I never discovered. The System Lords are forced to keep their vassals in line, and here I am—the perfect tool for this purpose. The Lesser Goa'uld themselves are doing their part, unaware of the scale of the impending catastrophe, continuing to hire me.
The House of Ra's pledge not to fight has backfired. It must keep troops ready to pacify its own vassals, while other System Lords, in the event of war, can transfer their resources into space and enslave their vassals with credits. The Tok'ra, Egeria's first children, are pitting the Goa'uld against each other, and they, in turn, hire me, sparking an endless chain of conflicts. My troops aren't involved in every battle, but it's enough for the lesser Goa'uld, exhausting their resources, to start a war. This benefits the System Lords, the Tok'ra, and me. But not Ra, whose vassals, preserving their resources, even expand their holdings, and who is forced to resort to tried-and-true methods of pitting vassals against each other. A global war, claiming millions of lives—it was Egeria and I who started it.
All Goa'uld are greedy—that's why they strive for war. The idea that they can hire me and take over a planet without wasting their Jaffa resources fascinates them. They don't see that they're plunging into a cycle of eternal war, where their wealth crumbles to dust, and only the System Lords remain at the center. They should hire me as a System Lord for such a service. But it doesn't work that way, because being a System Lord of a single planet is a joke.
The System Lords conserve their resources, amusing themselves with petty politics, bypassing restrictions on their vassals' attacks. I don't betray my employers to anyone. But sooner or later they'll turn on each other, and then things will really get fun. I can't be invited, and vassals can no longer become allies. The result of the war will be the weakening of all sides. Weakening the System Lords is the Tok'ra's goal. In the meantime, money is flowing, and even recruits are being found. True, their training takes time, but my losses are extremely small.
It's all about rockets, napalm, "green dragon" (Author's note: It's actually rocket fuel, but it ignites easily on contact with air and spontaneously on contact with water. It burns even when extinguished; it's toxic, like a chemical warfare agent. When interacting with oxidizers, the combustion temperature reaches 3310-4807 °C), rockets with tungsten balls, and so on. On average, a combat crew looks like a thousand of my soldiers against ten thousand of the enemy. Over time, this became common knowledge, and legends began to spread about my Jaffa, as if they were demigods. I learned this from outcasts; rumors fly, the Jaffa are terrible gossips. Especially those who survived my raids, trying to justify their salvation, exaggerated the strength of my warriors tenfold. Well, free advertising.
The difficulty of fighting my Jaffa lies precisely in their high adaptability, something I strove for when training my troops. They must be able to easily adapt to any weapon, any situation, and find solutions. These solutions were often technological in nature, and they had no problem using mortars, artillery, and unleashing a fiery avalanche of "green dragon" or napalm. Now they focus more on efficiency than on a "fair" kill. True, some scoundrels began to notice that my troops were completely ignoring the slaves, and other Goa'uld even questioned me about it. I answered slowly and deliberately:
"You want to take over this planet, in part for these slaves. As your mercenary, I must preserve these resources so you don't have to look for slaves for your mines. My Jaffa don't touch other people's property."
So, I quickly shed the title of "noble" Goa'uld. Now I'm perceived as a total asshole, the kind who doesn't even notice slaves. This does present a problem for me in urban combat, however, when enemy Jaffa, unwilling to surrender, hide behind civilians. I destroy them with a grin: usually in such cases, kamikaze drones, aided by reconnaissance drones, flush the "rats" out of their burrows with precise explosions. Jaffa can hide on the second floor of a building while the family that owns it is on the ground floor.
The drones target the warriors without harming the civilians. Again, I emphasize that a mercenary who cares about the interests of a client (I don't really want to kill civilians) must preserve this property so that the client can immediately use the slaves, rather than curse me for having to search the galaxy for living slaves. This approach seems to earn me respect, though any respect evaporates when the Goa'uld realize anyone can hire me. And that I have no formal loyalty other than to my House—the House of Ra. I think Ra already curses that loyalty and wants me to start exterminating his vassals.
"How did it go?" Isara asked, entering my office with a bowl of soup.
— Did you add more poison, just the way I like it?
She rolled her eyes and placed the plate in front of me. Yes, that's my work schedule. I even eat at my desk.
"Yes, everything seems to have gone well. We'll monitor the hundred for a month, and if all goes well, we'll implant thousands more larvae."
- Essentially, you are recreating an entire race.
"An offshoot of the race," I corrected. "True, it's best kept secret. Many planets exist to supply beautiful slaves for the Goa'uld, but if there are no more of those, and the Goa'uld simply create clones, or finally find someone smart enough to create a body to their liking from the genetic material... It will be a failure. Not to mention the undulating increase in the number of Goa'uld in the galaxy. I'm the kind of person who can allow 75,000 Tok'ra to run around my planet in the future, because their loyalty is more or less adequate. But that trick won't work with the Goa'uld. Even I, a master of restraining the Goa'uld's megalomaniacal instincts, love pyramids, good sex, and carnage."
"Yes, I noticed," Isara looked at me piercingly. "Oh well, we've been married for over 12 years."
— But really, I'm just an engineer stuck in a Goa'uld body.
- Yes, yes, but why are most of your inventions weapons?
"It's not me, it's the Goa'uld, it's the galaxy. Every physical law has to be turned into a weapon. On the other hand, I am the founder of the Interplanetary Research Complex."
It's worth mentioning that the MSC has expanded even further (it required building additional complexes on the airless moon) for planetary and technological research. The "Star Station" technology project, designed to absorb stellar energy, convert it into batteries, and harness it for human use, has been completed. It's a very useful technology, and I like it. Technically, it's a limitless energy source—not a Dyson sphere, of course, but who needs one when there's a method like this that provides the energy I need? All planets connected to the MSC have forgotten about energy shortages. Cheap energy means they don't even need naquadah reactors on intra-system ships, only naquadah batteries. Spaceship production is well established, and there are even companies designing them without my intervention.
A quick start for planets that were still in the dark ages just 12 years ago. True, there were some problems: some people couldn't cope and refused to implement even more advanced technologies, preferring a level they were already comfortable with. The economy wasn't growing at the 10-15% annual rate it had been before, but a stable 1% had been achieved. Incidentally, Hasar stations were built over various planets (Svoriin, Galaran, Tollan), and they even began producing their own ships. I financed the construction of a station over Pangar to ensure the security of one of my technological assets.
- And it functions perfectly well without your diplomacy, which, I suppose, involves shooting intar cannons at people.
"My diplomatic skills have always been at the highest level, at such a level that only geniuses are able to comprehend their depth.
"What's so hard about shooting an intar and threatening people?" Isara asked.
- Maintain style at the same time, so as to appear truly intimidating.
- You have the armor of a two-meter skeleton, what more intimidation could you possibly get?
I remembered about the new Star Wars.
"No, I think style should be preserved," I said, quickly devouring the soup. "How are the Orbans?"
Yes, we recently discovered the planet Orban. Unlike the SGC, which can abandon a planet's exploration in 2-5 hours, the MIC remains on the planet and studies everything thoroughly. Considering that planetary exploration plans include studying an entire system, the process of exploring any gate address becomes quite lengthy. Indeed, many planets remain unexplored to this day. It's worth clarifying that launching a satellite and mapping a planet is not exploration. Exploration is removing every bacterium, every worm, every blade of grass, and every animal and then thoroughly studying them. That's what we call exploration.
That's why I, for example, discovered Orban not after 3 years of exploration, but after 12. Exploration isn't simply inspecting a planet and leaving; research is loving your work so much that you strive to name every blade of grass. Incidentally, it is data from the MIC that Abstergo Industries uses to produce new medicines. I can't "invent" nanites, as that's beyond the technology available on Earth, but I could produce antidepressants and other chemicals. And they helped people.
— They have expressed a desire to join the MIC initiative, and new naquadah miners will appear on your planet.
— I love the new naquadah miners.
"No, you like the 30% tax on naquadah," she countered.
- You're right.
"They invented nanites that improve synaptic activity. However, they had a unique way of transmitting knowledge between people. The Orbans were very interested in our method and wanted to acquire it."
"I don't mind," I said. "They're a technologically advanced planet, so everything should go smoothly. The Orbans can hand over samples of these nanites with the technological documentation; you can give them the designs for the naquadah reactors. Is there anything interesting we can do with them?"
"Improving synaptic activity will essentially make people smarter and speed up their reaction times. They also regulate sleep cycles, allowing you to sleep less while still feeling rested. The Orbans have a lot of groundwork in brain research. They've truly been studying the brain for a very long time."
- Excellent, but even this will not make the Jaffa smarter.
- Sareh, the Jaffa children are quite smart, they show very significant results in school.
— Yes, considering that all of this is connected with the war... They even have tasks like: "Jaffa killed 20 enemies out of 30, how many enemies are left?"
— In other words, you are absolving yourself of responsibility for the fact that you built their educational system exactly this way?
- No.
I didn't absolve myself of responsibility for what happened; rather, I realized I was following the same path as the Emperor in Warhammer. My goal is to free the human race from false gods, as well as control the galaxy, so that crazy Jaffa, crazy Aschen, or crazy humans don't destroy everything. And even though I'm not a forty-thousand-year-old man who has lived through entire eras, our methods are somehow similar, and this isn't blind imitation. There is no other choice. For example, the lifelong use of genetically modified soldiers, whose very essence is war. And they fight for a future in which they will be useless junk. And yet, there were no other options. I even created a special unit that, if necessary, would destroy the Jaffa—the Golden Legion. And this is not only a reference to the Custodes, but also because the Goa'uld love gold. Of course, no fool would wear golden armor. What Apophis and Heruur had was typically a gold-naquadah-trinium alloy, quite durable and able to shrug off both automatic and plasma fire.
The price is steep, but I can afford some of the expense thanks to my advanced manufacturing techniques. A personal guard with such armor would be impressive—certainly not the original Custodes or the Spartans from Halo, just a bit of a knockoff. But I can outfit an entire unit with ribbon devices, advanced weaponry, and other experimental technology. I'll demonstrate them, too. In Goa'uld society, showing off is everything. Just look at their palaces, their ships, and everything they do. Being a member of the Golden Legion boosts my reputation, which is already quite high, considering the entire galaxy considers my technology and warriors to be quite advanced. But I should point out that I have a tool that surpasses even my Jaffa.
True, Ra's reaction may be mixed, but I'll say they're simply select Jaffa, trained as my personal guard, since, as you understand, the price on my head among the Ashraks rises year after year. For example, Apophis really dislikes me because everyone knew he was the only one in the galaxy who couldn't hire me, just like his house. So, I could attack his house with impunity. Ra used this trick when he hired me through an intermediary to snatch a planet or two from his vassals. His vassals were EXTREMELY unhappy with this situation. And they're still fighting over the succession of the Elder Lord I killed, so I could happily claim the title of "starting a civil war." However, it's constantly going on among the Goa'uld, one more, one less. But it's this very civil war that gives me personal power.
Personal power also comes from superior technology and allies. Take Unity, for example—I adore them. If we find some weird thing, we go to them. They're the best scientists at getting to the heart of the matter. Even if they don't know what it is, they know how it works, since they can transform themselves into it and then return to their original form, describing literally every atom in detail. True, there are limitations: they can describe something, but the technical description may be meaningless to us. Like with the MNT: they didn't transform into MNT, but they provided such a wealth of data that it will take another couple of hundred years, maybe even thousands, to figure it out. Same thing with the chair: a wealth of useful and contradictory information that still needs to be analyzed, for a very, very long time. The projectiles fall into the same category.
They're incredibly complex, and we're talking about beings that can transform into human bodies, making them function. However, even their help doesn't help us figure out how the gate works. More precisely, again, for Unity to understand what he's turning into, he needs to have terminology we understand. And if there's no terminology, that's bad. Well, even the Goa'uld, in many ways, lack the necessary terminology, which is what makes McKay's "I'm smarter than the Ancients" joke all the more amusing. Here, a being that can literally turn into a gate can't understand how it works, and he was talking about a "multiversal reactor." What an arrogant fool.
By the way, if all goes well with the Goa'uld bodies, I'll free this body by erasing a significant portion of its memory, and gain my own body. Entirely mine, while also removing a certain moral dilemma.
"Okay, let's talk about something more pleasant, about the updated sarcophagi," Isara said.
Yes, exploring the Cube was a very interesting experience. Especially that energy emitter! And thanks to Unity, we learned where the regulator is, which essentially controls the radiation intensity. The Goa'uld's was literally set to "resurrection" level, whereas in most cases, 10 times less is needed. For example, bone fusion requires 18 times less radiation, and simply maintaining health requires 20 times less. That's why the Goa'uld are so crazy: they didn't fully understand the technology they were using, without first conducting literally a couple hundred thousand tests (I've had mine, I've read them) to thoroughly determine how the radiation affects primates (may animal rights activists forgive me, but humans are more important to me than monkeys).
"They're practically ready for mass production. There are ideas for creating portable emitters that can be carried and focused. The Goa'uld simply installed emitters and didn't learn how to focus energy. We've managed to do that."
- So, you and I will live together for one and a half thousand years?
I looked at her.
- May be.
— Won't we get tired of each other?
"The personality is constantly evolving and accumulating knowledge, which means it's constantly changing, even if just a little. And rarely can anyone predict this development, so constantly studying your partner is still possible."
— A typical engineer's response. He could have said something romantic.
— I'm literally an engineer.
- A little more and you will be considered the God of Death.
"No, no, I don't need such titles. Why not the Silent King Szarekh?"
"Why the Silent One?" Isara asked in surprise.
— I will remain silent.
- And shoot at everyone with an intar.
— This joke has become boring after 12 years.
- Not me.