[X] Agree with the plan. Taking out the enemy leader is worth the risk.
It's a risk, but I'd really rather not leave an SG team to pull stuff like this alone. If they lose we risk more people getting captured and possibly pumped for information. If they succeed then we alienate one of our core teams while setting an unfortunate precedent in front of the rest.
[x] Write-in: Instead of relying on force to get up the pyramid, use deception. Have Teal'c bring in the "prisoners" (O'neill and SG-3) with loosened bonds and weapons concealed under slave robes for Apophis's appraisal. Have half the team start the distraction on the ground, then when their forces attention is split, have the "prisoners" go for Apophis.
I'm not totally sure about the status of write-ins, but I admit I like the idea of engaging in some trickery rather than hoping the laws of narrative hard carry for us.
[X] Agree with the plan. Taking out the enemy leader is worth the risk.
[X] Write-in: Instead of relying on force to get up the pyramid, use deception. Have Teal'c bring in the "prisoners" (O'neill and SG-3) with loosened bonds and weapons concealed under slave robes for Apophis's appraisal. Have half the team start the distraction on the ground, then when their forces attention is split, have the "prisoners" go for Apophis.
I'm not totally sure about the status of write-ins, but I admit I like the idea of engaging in some trickery rather than hoping the laws of narrative hard carry for us.
Yes, but it's not as straightforward as "do well on missions" or "take the Raise Command Points action".
Command Points represent your institutional ability to get stuff done. Right now, poor Major General Harrison has to run around and micromanage a lot of things since you lack the institutions and subordinates to handle this stuff. Part of this is the result of the Stargate Program being new and the other part is your Bare Bones disadvantage.
So you will want to look for actions and opportunities that help you build more institutions you can delegate stuff to. One example already available last turn is the Recruitment Program, which discounts the cost for recruiting team leaders and makes it free to hire basic Specialists.
[X] Write-in: Instead of relying on force to get up the pyramid, use deception. Have Teal'c bring in the "prisoners" (O'neill and SG-3) with loosened bonds and weapons concealed under slave robes for Apophis's appraisal. Have half the team start the distraction on the ground, then when their forces attention is split, have the "prisoners" go for Apophis.
[x] Write-in: Instead of relying on force to get up the pyramid, use deception. Have Teal'c bring in the "prisoners" (O'neill and SG-3) with loosened bonds and weapons concealed under slave robes for Apophis's appraisal. Have half the team start the distraction on the ground, then when their forces attention is split, have the "prisoners" go for Apophis.
She still had her misgivings about this plan, and yet with every minute that Sergeant Walt spent among the Abydonians, it was harder and harder to remember them. Around here, children scampered up and down the rickety scaffoldings. Some were running errands for the adults, carrying packages back and forth, others just looking lost and probably looking for a sibling or parent. Climbing this spire was no mean feat for her and she was fit enough to become a Ranger and yet the entire walk up, she saw old men and women into their sixties or seventies trying to haul stones or otherwise make themselves useful in the eyes of the guards.
Little wonder that O'Neill was chomping at the bit to put a bullet into the alien that had ordered all of this. Behind her, SG-3 and her half of SG-2 walked in silence, a few Abydonians in between hauling more of their kit. Thankfully, they all wore spacious robes here or they would have had a lot of trouble to get the carbines concealed. But there was still the risk that one of the Jaffa noticed something. They had split up into two groups, O'Neill leading SG-1 and half of SG-2, while she took the rest up the second approach to the summit. It was not as if going all as one group would have helped them much while fighting on a winding path with solid rock on one side and a 100 story deep drop on the other.
Walt: This is not what it looks like!- (-1 +0 +1 +0) + 1 (Diplomacy) – 2 (Ne Abla Goa'uld) = -1
Elite Serpent Guard - (-1 +0 -1 -1) + 2 (Awareness) = -1
Stalling. Badly.
As she rounded the last bend before their staging area, Walt already knew that things were about to go wrong. The aliens had moved the last guard post. They were supposed to stand behind the next corner, not squat in the small nook that they wanted to use to unpack. She just wanted to signal the others to go back when one of them rose from his crouch and came straight at her. You weren't allowed this close to the summit if you weren't bringing stone and the only things the sergeant carried were a back full of twigs and hand grenades on her back, and the MP5 in her left sleeve.
He began talking to her in the alien language, of which she spoke precisely nothing and stomped with his staff on the ground. "Kree!" He shouted next, clearly expecting her to do something. So, she kneeled. They liked it when you knelt, right? She really hoped that was what he wanted, but in case it was not, she put her hand into her sleeve and onto the trigger.
Walt - (0 +1 +1 +1) + 1 (Diplomacy) – 2 (Doesn't Know How To Kree) = 2
Elite Serpent Guard - (-1 +1 -1 -1) + 2 (Awareness) + 2 (Losing Patience) = 2
Attempting to mime Kree. Badly.
Stalled long enough for Apophis to arrive, but surprise lost for Team 2.
He shouted again. Louder this time and coming closer while telling her to "Kree" again. What was the rest doing? She could not see her team and everything had happened so fast. Should she go loud? A single heartbeat passed, barely enough for the Jaffa to come one step closer. No. The target had not arrived and if the alien was really going to attack her, her team had a better line of fire anyway. She just had to trust them.
Reluctantly letting go of the MP5, she rose a bit again and looked up at the warrior. It was one of those without a helmet and she was briefly surprised by how normal he looked. White, pasty guy with a reddish soul patch. Could have been from Philadelphia for all she knew, snake tattoo on his forehead included. He shouted again and he vaguely reminded her of her own drill sergeant asking her if she was deaf.
So, she raised her hands, pointed at her ears and shook her head. Yeah. She was totally deaf, couldn't he tell? He looked completely lost, asking something short and confused sounding to which she just repeated the gesture. Tonya knew full well that she was on borrowed time. It would have taken literal divine intervention to get her out of this mess without shooting the man. And in a sense, that was what saved her.
The Jaffa suddenly turned a bit, looking at something in the distance and with another few likely unfriendly words, he went to his buddy and began to walk up the path towards the summit. First, she looked behind her, where her comrades all had crouched down near the rock wall in poses that seemed strange unless you knew where they had hidden their own weapons. Second, she too looked at the horizon and she had no difficulty finding out what the alien had seen.
A boat was flying through the sky, looking just like the ones she vaguely knew from shows about Egypt on the History Channel. It seemed to be made from a mix of gold and dull silver, engravings of serpents on the sides and the bow ending in the head of a cobra. It looked weightless as it glided closer, high above the dunes and she could faintly make out two figures standing on top of it.
In and out. One breath after another, just as his master had taught him. High above the sands, Teal'c was almost meditating as he stood behind and to the right of his 'god'. Today would be the day. It had to be. And he had to be perfect. Nothing less would suffice. He drew in more of the sweltering desert air and as he breathed out, he let the tension flow out with it. Until the last moment, he would have to be the perfect servant and then he would be the perfect assassin. He would have one strike and only one, or the serpents on Apophis shoulders would make it impossible to defeat him. There would be no second chance.
Beneath them, the desert gave way to the rocky spires and the Abydonians that had been driven into them. Almost all gazed up at the golden barge, but it was few of them who knelt. They were still defiant, even after they had lost their home. He would have called it foolish, for there was little these people could have done against the armies of Apophis, let alone his fleet, but maybe luck would smile upon them.
The barge came to rest on the plateau on top of the highest of the spires and extended a small ramp onto the ground. Dutifully he followed exactly to steps behind his 'lord' as Apophis walked down towards Apepi. The other Goa'uld was known to be a great coward, which close enough to a virtue for the overseer of a mining world that it almost weighed up his many failings. "I greet you, my lord, on this humble world your bestowed upon me to rule," he greeted dutifully in perfect servility and Teal'c immediately dismissed him from his mind. His guard, six of them right now, might have been a risk, but not the coward.
"I have come as I promised, but it appears the people of this world once again spurn my generosity." Apophis intoned grandly while waving his hand towards the pile of stones next to the tent Apepi used in lieu of a palace. "All I asked in recompense for their sins was for a palace worthy of my stature. But I see no palace."
"No, my lord," the other Goa'uld grinned in reply. "They are still lazy and presumptuous in their acts. I have stayed my hand from disciplining them properly for their transgression, for it is not my place, but now that you have returned, I look forward to bear witness as they receive their rightful punishment."
"Not yet, Apepi," Apophis likewise grinned. "The patience and generosity of a god knows nearly no limits. They will receive one more chance."
With a wave of his hand, the barge began to project a holographic image of Apophis face into the. His voice echoed like rolling thunder through the rock spires as he addressed the Abydonians. "People of Abydos. I return to you on this day for moment that will be celebrated for generations to come. For generations you endured under the dominion of the foul Ra, bearing his cruel rule and twisted whims. And when I finally slew him, you did not despair. You endured the time alone, without the guiding grace of the gods, and thrived despite the hardships this brought you. Truly, I would be joyful to know such steadfast people among my servants."
The Serpent Guards watched in rapt attention as their god spoke and Apepi seemed to genuinely enjoy the spectacle. Teal'c could not have cared less. He had heard this speech too often to count.
"But yet there is a poison that has seeped in among you in the years without divine protection. That poison is sloth. It is chaos. It is hubris. You left these mines, casting down the tools intend to never return to them. You have ignored the guiding rules of the gods, even dared to raise your hands against my warriors, slaying fifteen of them. I asked you, who you act as if you were gods yourselves, to prove yourself to me. To build me a palace within seven days. A deed that would be worthy of a god a those who are their equal. But I see only sand and rubble before me."
Apepi had begun to give orders to his guards, leaving Teal'c almost alone with Apophis, still standing two steps behind him. The serpent on his left shoulder was observing the other Goa'uld, while that on the right never stopped starring at Teal'c. Apophis trusted no one, not even his First Prime.
"You must remove this poison, before it brings ruin upon you. And you must pay the price for your sins." Apophis, paused, his giant visage staring down on the people of Abydos. "For each of mine that were slain, I wish fifty of yours in recompense. Bring them forth and give me their blood. Give me their souls. Take up your tools and your knives and show me that you wish to be redeemed. Show me that you are willing to cut the rot out of your midst."
It was silent, save for the wind whistling past jagged rocks and through old tunnels. There should have been cries of panic. There should have been fear. Up in the sky, the visage of a 'god' slowly shifted into confusion. But for Teal'c, there was only his own breath and the snakes on Apophis shoulders. In and out. Just one more breath. He could feel it before it happened, the moment he had spent half his life to bring about.
Something exploded on the plateau and it did not matter what. Apophis turned towards the sound and so did his protectors. The serpent shifted and there were no more eyes guarding the false gods back. He jabbed his staff weapon forward, arming it with the barest flick of his thumb as the head of the weapon went towards Apophis neck. One hit and it would be all over. One hit and the Goa'ulds true body would be no more.
With another flick of his finger, Teal'c fired his staff. The serpent turned around, it's maw opening and firing a blast of force at the staff weapon, shattering the head before it could fire. A heartbeat later, Apophis turned to him too. "You will suffer for this, Shol'va."
SG-1 + 2 Specialists from SG-2 (Total Combat 10) will engage 1 squad of Serpent Guard (1 Elite Serpent Guard, 12 Serpent Guard, Total Combat 16)
Team Traits: + Surprise (1 Round), + Grenades
Jaffa Traits: + Defensive Terrain, - Disorganized
Master Sergeant Walt with SG-3 and the remainder of SG-2 (Total Combat 11) will engage 1 squad of Serpent Guard (1 Elite Serpent Guard, 12 Serpent Guard, Total Combat 16)
Team Traits: + Grenades
Jaffa Traits: + Defensive Terrain, - Disorganized
AN: Shields functionally are extra hit points, so while this battle is absolutely not in Teal'c favour, he can tank a few hits. Keep in mind that you can get extra Luck by accepting an equal number of Misfortune points.
