With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

[Ardy]

Stargate Season 6 Episode 6.


Tok'ra aren't experts true, but the Ascended are.

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That sounds really metaphorical, but I've never seen the show so eh

 

[Darko]

That sounds really metaphorical, but I've never seen the show so eh

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It is metaphorical.

In order to ascend you apparently need to have a genetically stable body and pure mind.

The Asgard haven't ascended because their bodies are damaged, even if their minds are ready.

The sarcophagus damages the brain after repeated use and can cause psychopathic tendencies, so you can view the whole soul thing as being a metaphor for the brain.

People can view the part of you that's responsible for things like personality, imagination etc. as being a soul.

 

[Vaermina]

It is metaphorical.

In order to ascend you apparently need to have a genetically stable body and pure mind.

The Asgard haven't ascended because their bodies are damaged, even if their minds are ready.

The sarcophagus damages the brain after repeated use and can cause psychopathic tendencies, so you can view the whole soul thing as being a metaphor for the brain.

People can view the part of you that's responsible for things like personality, imagination etc. as being a soul.

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None of what you just stated is actual canon for Stargate.

Not even expanded novel canon.

 

[Mr Zoat]

'links'?

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[NightmareWarden]

Embedded "magical" gems, tattoos, royalty… This update makes me want to play through Path of Exile again.

 

[Sockmonkey]

Hmm, I would have expected the brain damage from over-use of the sarcophagus to take the form of screwing up the brain chemistry or simply regrowing the neural tissue incorrectly like a set of microscopic tumors rather than lesions. Overdoing the job rather than half-assing it what with the way Telcheck's device made corpses get back up.

 

[Whenever Possible]

That sounds really metaphorical, but I've never seen the show so eh

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If it were any Ascended but Daniel, I'd agree.

 

[Radiant Knight]

If it were any Ascended but Daniel, I'd agree.

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We know Daniel speaks almost exclusively in metaphor as an ascended in order to get around the THINGS ASCENDED ARE BANNED FROM SAYING gag order that prevents him from explaining stuff in clear terms.

As far as we know souls don't even exist in Stargate. The only real mention of souls being a thing was the Replicators noting that humans had something that differentiated them from Replicators that let them ascend. They called this a soul but it wasn't like they could canonically substantiate its existence. Ascension seems to be some sort of undiscovered law of physics where beings with the right genetic and mental characteristics can transmute themselves into energy.

This entire argument's key concept is relying on 100% pure fanon.

like shit, the terms Daniel uses are 1:1 identical to the terms people use to talk about drug addiction. "You might feel like you're on top of the world when you're on cocaine but it's destroying who you are".

ITT, cocaine is a soul destroying superweapon.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Three days later
Morning

"…reduced his fleets in the face of a series of probing offences from Baal." Mahes moves his hand and the holoscreen responds by updating the force indicator. "Combined with his need to assail Heru'ur's territory, there are fewer ships here than there have been in living memory. Now is the best time to strike."

I retake my place at the table, Mahes not bothering to look at me. He's the primary warlord amongst Bastet's underlords, and it's hardly surprising that he wouldn't respect someone like me who has neither fleets nor jaffa.

I take a look at the galactic map and sigh. Because naturally, Ra's death led to his son and chief general Heru'ur trying to simply take up his father's mantle. But while he is generally considered to be skilled in military terms, he doesn't have the genuine respect that the other System Lords have for Ra. Ra was the only reason that they managed a draw in the fight with the Asgard, the reason why they live lives of luxury with worlds of humans singing their praises. It's not that they liked him, and just about any System Lord or underlord who thought that they could get away with it would have killed him and tried to replace him. But if they had to have anyone over them, just about all of them would have picked him.

Mahes continues his presentation, looking at all of the underlords except me in turn. "I have already spoken with Lord Agni, and he believes that Lord Kali will be amenable to coordinating our efforts."

Lord Agni being his counterpart amongst System Lord Kali's underlords. Kali and Bastet are long time allies, though I don't know how much they actually like each other. Agni and Mahes on the other hand are friends, and meet up on a semi-regular basis to have their jaffa train against each other.

I dread to think how many people have died in this mess so far. The war-. The current war started with Heru'ur fighting against Ra's more uppity vassals, who made a break for either independence or at least greater freedom. Then Ra's brother Apophis stuck his oar in, a chunk of Ra's old underlords backing the more established and politically cunning brother against the brutish son, and more just content to lurk in their own systems until one side or the other forced the issue.

But with big fleets moving around the place, everyone not allied to either of them decided that now was a good time to make their own moves. Baal decided to take a few systems from his fellow System Lord while he's distracted. From what I can tell none of them are particularly important worlds, which is almost certainly part of his calculation. 'Is it really worth moving your forces back, Apophis, when Heru'ur is the obstacle between you and dominating Ra's territory?' But if he doesn't defend it, everyone will take that as a sign that Apophis can't defend his territory, and everyone will try taking their own little bites.

It's all starting to turn into a huge mess. I'd compare it to World War One, but nations during World War One weren't anything like as eager as the goa'uld are. And there are a lot more than two sides. And now Bastet's trying to work out how we should involve ourselves.

And she's looking at me.

Yes, I realise that half of the problem is that while you could roll your eyes at Mahes being his aggressive self, the other underlords aren't all that peacefully inclined. They want more worlds, more ships, more worshippers, and they definitely don't want their rivals to get those while they remain as they are. Capturing wrecks and shipyards is so much easier than building them fresh. So, what, you want me to talk them out of it? Or play the role of gainsayer so that this gathering doesn't do the very human thing of going along with the loudest voice, and then feeling slighted when you don't?

After this is over, I'm going to request that she briefs me on the role she wants me to play ahead of time in future.

I make a construct kara kesh and update the computer's tactical records. New fleet placements appear at once, and they aren't quite as optimistic as Mahes's original estimates.

Apophis isn't an idiot. He doesn't want to fight Baal. He wants to fight the next fool who tries anything, on the assumption that they'll be someone weaker than Baal and will allow him to make a statement without using more of his fleet than he actually needs to. Which is why enough Ha'taks to make an attacker very sorry are sitting a few systems away from the juiciest targets close to Bastet's space, under cloak.

Now he looks at me.

"What is this?"

Ha'taks fly using gravity manipulation. The system that lets them fly also maintains a convenient level of gravity inside the ship and allows it to land on a planet without pulling itself apart. Unlike gas or ion thrusters, it doesn't leave a trail, though it is easier to detect while in use.

Hard to hide from a power ring.

"This is why I dashed out. My sources had just tracked down where the transferred ships went."

He narrows his eyes. I gave his brain the same patch up as everyone else, and perhaps if I hadn't he'd be assuming that this is a plot from me to undermine him. As it is, he appears to take it at face value. He returns his attention to the fleet.

"How confident are you of the accuracy of your sources?"

"I'd bet my life upon it."

He nods. "This complicates things, but it is hardly an insurmountable obstacle. Knowing where the reserve fleet is, we can launch a second fleet under-" He smirks at me. "-Lord Mammon to attack them while they are powered down. If the first strike can target them precisely, then we need not engage them in equal numbers."

I shake my head. "Even knowing exactly where they are, Ha'tak hyperdrives lack the precision to guarantee that they would emerge from hyperspace in a position to fire before Apophis's ha'taks raised their shields."

Now he looks at me with a little more respect. Actual-Mammon didn't have all that much experience at fleet command, so I suppose that he wasn't expecting much.

"I was thinking more of using an Al'kesh swarm."

The Al'kesh. Big enough to be targetted by a ha'tak, small enough to be hurt by a death glider, not agile enough to dodge either. But sending them into the reserve fleet, using standard hyperspace drift calculations… It wouldn't be a sure thing, and they'd get punished on the retreat unless the jaffa on those ships were asleep on the job. They might cause enough damage to disable enough ships to neutralise the fleet, and the cost wouldn't be anything we couldn't afford to lose because they're really only good at bombarding ground positions and we're not planning on launching any ground invasions.

Militarily, it's a reasonable move. Politically…

I nod. "That could work, depending on the number of Al'kesh and the precision of the jumps. I'm just not convinced that it's worth it."

"We can hardly let them reinforce their position when we attack it."

"No. Your plan is militarily sound. I'm just not convinced of the political utility of a military victory. If we do this, given that Apophis is clearly looking to make an example of someone, that will become us."

"He is planning an ambush because he wants to crush someone far weaker than he is. We are not weak enough for that to work, especially forewarned."

"That's true, but you're missing the point. This war? This isn't going to go away. There's no Ra who will step in and enforce a peace treaty if things go on too long. I believe that the ultimate victor will be the side which handles attrition the best. That doesn't constantly lose ships for debatable gain."

He crosses his arms across his chest. "Then what do you propose?"

"Let everyone tire themselves out while our strength increases. Increase the strength of patrol fleets, and build new shipyards. With Lady Heset's improvements to her mines-" Some of which was a result of mining equipment I provided, but not all. It turns out that not being crazy makes you a better administrator. "-we have an increased amount of naquada to work with. And everyone who might try and interrupt construction is distracted."

"This war could be over before any new ships can leave the yards. We will look weak."

"Then just copy Apophis's strategy and make an example of the first god to try their luck. Perhaps deliberately leave an opening to tempt someone to try?"

He considers what I said for a moment, before turning to the other underlords and weighing their response. "That could work, though I believe that the point would be better made with a first strike. I suggest attacking Apophis's territory because I believe that Heru'ur will ultimately win their confrontation. Their total forces are nearly equal, but he can afford to concentrate his fleet far more. If Heru'ur wins, there will be no blowback against us for attacking Apophis. But there are no sure things in war."

Bastet nods. "Lord Mahes, go with Lord Mammon to a war room and use his intelligence to plan the campaign which you would like to wage, and the industrial build-up that he would like to create. Present me with both plans when you are done."

Mahes gives me a sidelong glance, but we both bow to Bastet together before leaving the gathering.

 

[BlackCoat13]

That's a lot of bold you've got there...

 

[Laundromat2.0]

Really enjoying these stargate chapters and Mammon!Paul. His work to uplift his world has seemed a bit lackluster but I assume you're just giving industrialization time...

 

[Lokpik]

I'm loving the Stargate sequences, there are a few things I hope mammon(si) gets a scan of. The gauntlet that induces temporary superpowers, the dimensional mirror and other mcguffins.

He will possibly have to deal with a retu attack at some point.

Im liking bastet in this story.

 

[Vanbers]

That's a lot of bold you've got there...

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Why, one could even call it a... bold move.

 

[hance1986]

So this Paul is the Accountant Goa'uld. I suppose like he said he needs to finalize things with Bastet over coordinating how she wants him to present himself in her councils with other Goa'uld.

I suppose he could be like the quartermaster or logistics guy. A vital position, needed in making sure the military victories happen regarding supplies and moving resources.

Goa'uld are often ready to jump and get into wars to ascend up the System Lord Game of Thrones setup they have and Bastet's military guy being pulled back from initiating combat probably pisses him off, but Paul can probably manage that personality and present something actionable to Bastet.

The label of coward might be thrown around, but Bastet is in charge, not Mahes. Plus the Goa'uld are all about if you're not good enough you deserve what happens to you. So Apophis and Heru'ur chipping away at each other until one is moments from final victory only for Bastet to come into the ring with the steel chair from out of nowhere.

Bastet and the other snakeheads would appreciate that. Ruining all of Apophis's or Heru'ur's hard work and effort inches away from the finish line and saving Bastet from a long drawn out war into a quick transition into consolidation and rewards.

I'm just thinking about this whole Paul Orange Lantern working with the Goa'uld. He's not infiltrating the System Lords with the aim to destroy them from within like the Tok'ra. This Paul has been avarice influenced in a way to work within an avarice rewarding system like the System Lords. He is making Bastet and her allies leaner and more efficient and himself as indispensable and trusted as Goa'uld can be to one another.

At some point I really want to see a SG-1 briefing with Teal'c and Jack and Hammond and everyone else talking about 'Lord Mammon.'

 

[KharnTheBrotrayer]

I am liking the Stargate episodes, I just wonder how SG1 Paul's butterflies are interacting with SGC.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

Three days later
Morning

"…reduced his fleets in the face of a series of probing offences from Baal." Mahes moves his hand and the holoscreen responds by updating the force indicator. "Combined with his need to assail Heru'ur's territory, there are fewer ships here than there have been in living memory. Now is the best time to strike."

I retake my place at the table, Mahes not bothering to look at me. He's the primary warlord amongst Bastet's underlords, and it's hardly surprising that he wouldn't respect someone like me who has neither fleets nor jaffa.

Click to shrink...

But then, you don't need them, Paulmon. You have enough personal power to defend your world, and are insignificant enough that almost no-one would consider you a worthwhile target. The problem is when someone crazy enough to not care takes a shot...

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

I take a look at the galactic map and sigh. Because naturally, Ra's death led to his son and chief general Heru'ur trying to simply take up his father's mantle. But while he is generally considered to be skilled in military terms, he doesn't have the genuine respect that the other System Lords have for Ra. Ra was the only reason that they managed a draw in the fight with the Asgard, the reason why they live lives of luxury with worlds of humans singing their praises. It's not that they liked him, and just about any System Lord or underlord who thought that they could get away with it would have killed him and tried to replace him. But if they had to have anyone over them, just about all of them would have picked him.

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Like so many times in history when a potent ruler dies and his heir is not the man his father was... Heru'ur is likely to spend a long time setting his empire back on an even keel, and running around putting out brushfires in the form of rebelling underlords... Or die young and his empire collapses into a hundred petty kingdoms.

Mahes continues his presentation, looking at all of the underlords except me in turn. "I have already spoken with Lord Agni, and he believes that Lord Kali will be amenable to coordinating our efforts."

Lord Agni being his counterpart amongst System Lord Kali's underlords. Kali and Bastet are long time allies, though I don't know how much they actually like each other. Agni and Mahes on the other hand are friends, and meet up on a semi-regular basis to have their jaffa train against each other.

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HEh. Kemetic pantheon and the Hindu? An interesting alignment of naming patterns. I doubt the latter live up to their mythological counterparts, though - Hindu myths are like an endless cycle of oneupmanship in terms of power level and awesomeness, like a shonen manga.

I dread to think how many people have died in this mess so far. The war-. The current war started with Heru'ur fighting against Ra's more uppity vassals, who made a break for either independence or at least greater freedom. Then Ra's brother Apophis stuck his oar in, a chuck of Ra's old underlords backing the more established and politically cunning brother against the brutish son, and more just content to lurk in their own systems until one side or the other forced the issue.

Click to shrink...

And going by canon, Apophis would be the ultimate winner, if I remember right.

But with big fleets moving around the place, everyone not allied to either of them decided that now was a good time to make their own moves. Baal decided to take a few systems from his fellow System Lord while he's distracted. From what I can tell none of them are particularly important worlds, which is almost certainly part of his calculation. 'Is it really worth moving your forces back, Apophis, when Heru'ur is the obstacle between you and dominating Ra's territory?' But if he doesn't defend it, everyone will take that as a sign that Apophis can't defend his territory, and everyone will try taking their own little bites.

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Another significant name from the later seasons...

It's all starting to turn into a huge mess. I'd compare it to World War One, but nations during World War One weren't anything like as eager as the goa'uld are. And there are a lot more than two sides. And now Bastet's trying to work out how we should involve ourselves.

And she's looking at me.

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Whoops. Either she noticed you weren't paying attention, or she wants you to say something...

Yes, I realise that half of the problem is that while you could roll your eyes at Mahes being his aggressive self, the other underlords aren't all that peacefully inclined. They want more worlds, more ships, more worshippers, and they definitely don't want their rivals to get those while they remain as they are. Capturing wrecks and shipyards is so much easier than building them fresh. So, what, you want me to talk them out of it? Or play the role of gainsayer so that this gathering doesn't do the very human thing of going along with the loudest voice, and then feeling slighted when you don't?

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Ah, the old issue of 'what do you want to hear?' Hope you guess right, Paulmon...

After this is over, I'm going to request that she briefs me on the role she wants me to play ahead of time in future.

I make a construct kara kesh and update the computer's tactical records. New fleet placements appear at once, and they aren't quite as optimistic as Mahes's original estimates.

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Updated courtesy of Ring scans, I suppose. one benefit of your special advantages. I have the feeling she wants you to play spymaster...

Apophis isn't an idiot. He doesn't want to fight Baal. He wants to fight the next fool who tries anything, on the assumption that they'll be someone weaker than Baal and will allow him to make a statement without using more of his fleet than he actually needs to. Which is why enough Ha'taks to make an attacker very sorry are sitting a few systems away from the juiciest targets close to Bastet's space, under cloak.

Now he looks at me.

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The joy of being able to show what the enemy are really doing, instead of simple guesswork.

"What is this?"

Ha'tak's fly using gravity manipulation. The system that lets them fly also maintains a convenient level of gravity inside the ship and allows it to land on a planet without pulling itself apart. Unlike gas or ion thrusters, it doesn't leave a trail, though it is easier to detect while in use.

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So, effectively, it makes itself fall through space by generating positive gravity ahead of it? And with no terminal velocity, the only limit is the strength of the gravitational acceleration you can produce... And then counter afterwards.

Hard to hide from a power ring.

"This is why I dashed out. My sources had just tracked down where the transferred ships went."

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Your 'sources' consisting of a whirlwind stargate trip, then a hop via FTL? The others must be wondering by now if you are playing spymaster...

He narrows his eyes. I gave his brain the same patch up as everyone else, and perhaps if I hadn't he'd be assuming that this is a plot from me to undermine him. As it is, he appears to take it at face value. He returns his attention to the fleet.

"How confident are you of the accuracy of your sources?"

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Fortunate. I hope he's managed to hit up everyone here, or someone might get upset in future... And an upset and crazy Goa'uld never ends well.

"I'd bet my life upon it."

He nods. "This complicates things, but it is hardly an insurmountable obstacle. Knowing where the reserve fleet is, we can launch a second fleet under-" He smirks at me. "-Lord Mammon to attack them while they are powered down. If the first strike can target them precisely, then we need not engage them in equal numbers."

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Ah... There's the issue, you assume attacking is the only option. He'd make a poor 'Risk' player, I bet.

I shake my head. "Even knowing exactly where they are, ha'tak hyperdrives lack the precision to guarantee that they would emerge from hyperspace in a position to fire before Apophis's ha'taks raised their shields."

Now he looks at me with a little more respect. Actual-Mammon didn't have all that much experience at fleet command, so I suppose that he wasn't expecting much.

"I was thinking more of using an Al'kesh swarm."

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Because not every race has highly precise FTL capabilities, and the Goa'uld are not one of them...

The Al'kesh. Big enough to be targetted by a ha'tak, small enough to be hurt by a death glider, not agile enough to dodge either. But sending them into the reserve fleet, using standard hypespace drift calculations… It wouldn't be a sure thing, and they'd get punished on the retreat unless the jaffa on those ships were asleep on the job. They might cause enough damage to disable enough ships to neutralise the fleet, and the cost wouldn't be anything we couldn't afford to lose because they're really only good at bombarding ground positions and we're not planning on launching any ground invasions.

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For the curious: Al'kesh. The destroyer or light cruisers to the Ha'tak's battleships, I suspect.

Militarily, it's a reasonable move. Politically…

I nod. "That could work, depending on the number of Al'kesh and the precision of the jumps. I'm just not convinced that it's worth it."

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Ah, the old 'cost versus benefits' calculus of war.

"We can hardly let them reinforce their position when we attack it."

"No. Your plan is militarily sound. I'm just not convinced of the political utility of a military victory. If we do this, given that Apophis is clearly looking to make an example of someone, that will become us."

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Ooh, good point. This would definitely be poking the grumpy bear.

"He is planning an ambush because he wants to crush someone far weaker than he is. We are not weak enough for that to work, especially forewarned."

"That's true, but you're missing the point. This war? This isn't going to go away. There's no Ra who will step in an enforce a peace treaty if things go on too long. I believe that the ultimate victor will be the side which handles attrition the best. That doesn't constantly lose ships for debatable gain."

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In other words, not doing the very thing Mahes here was suggesting.

He crosses his arms across his chest. "Then what do you propose?"

"Let everyone tire themselves out while our strength increases. Increase the strength of patrol fleets, and build new shipyards. With Lady Heset's improvements to her mines-" Some of which was a result of mining equipment I provided, but not all. It turns out that not being crazy makes you a better administrator. "-we have an increased amount of naquada to work with. And everyone who might try and interrupt construction is distracted."

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And then, when the time is right, they send out their greatly enlarged fleets and roll over the depleted enemies. Surely that would appeal to a warhawk like Mahes...

"This war could be over before any new ships can leave the yards. We will look weak."

"Then just copy Apophis's strategy and make an example of the first god to try their luck. Perhaps deliberately leave an opening to tempt someone to try?"

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A minor planet, that isn't Paulmon's world. Not that any of them know he'd probably have a better defensive response than they think he does...

He considers what I said for a moment, before turning to the other underlords and weighing their response. "That could work, though I believe that the point would be better made with a first strike. I suggest attacking Apophis's territory because I believe that Heru'ur will ultimately win their confrontation. Their total forces are nearly equal, but he can afford to concentrate his fleet far more. If Heru'ur wins, there will be no blowback against us for attacking Apophis. But there are no sure things in war."

Click to shrink...

Better to suggest 'We won't start a fight, but we will finish it.' than 'raaagh, fight everybody!'

Bastet nods. "Lord Mahes, go with Lord Mammon to a war room and use his intelligence to plan the campaign which you would like to wage, and the industrial build-up that he would like to create. Present me with both plans when you are done."

Mahes gives me a sidelong glance, but we both bow to Bastet together before leaving the gathering.

Click to shrink...

Pity he's already had the tune-up, or this would have been a good chance for it. On the other hand, who knows how Mahes will take to the gainsaying once they're in private?

It's subtle, but in a way, Paulmon seems to be carefully arranging things so that Bastet's empire will form a buffer state around his world. Or at least, that's how I read it. Or maybe he just prefers the 'castle up and build up' method of RTS gameplay. Either way, he's going to have to be careful he doesn't step on any toes, because some of these guys might be vindictive even without the brain damage...

 

[Lord Ernest]

At first glance, Bastet seems to have pegged Mammon as a "voice of moderation" while at the same time understanding that his focus is commerce but he also has aptitude for subterfuge, so she's essentially using him as a fixer.

An uppity or out of control underlord? Mammon can take care of it, with subtlety. Some aggressive position is developing among the underlords? Mammon can present a different, more moderate one, still with merits.

What I'm not sure is if he's already officially counted among her underlords or not yet? I mean, he was "presented" at the same time as Lady Heset and he has troubleshooted more than one issue for Bastet, but I would have expected some pronunciation from her, a ceremony or a meeting in which Mammon understood what general service she expected from him.

 

[Prince Charon]

I am liking the Stargate episodes, I just wonder how SG1 Paul's butterflies are interacting with SGC.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, that is something I'm also curious about. 'Mammon' is behaving very differently from the other Goa'Uld that they've met, and eventually they're going to compare notes with the Tok'Ra about him and get even more interested.

 

[Wivk]

The Stargate alt Paul is one I would read a full fic about.

 

[crazygrox]

"That's true, but you're missing the point. This war? This isn't going to go away. There's no Ra who will step in an enforce a peace treaty if things go on too long. I believe that the ultimate victor will be the side which handles attrition the best. That doesn't constantly lose ships for debatable gain."

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I'm not exactly sure when this is in the timeline, but Ra dies in 1996(I think?), and the cannon war continues until at least 2005, with remnants of Goa'uld forces fighting until 2008.

And on top of that we know OOC that the Goa'uld civil war should face sudden shakeups from Anubis showing up, edit: and the mass Jaffa rebellion, and possibly from invasions by replicators or Ori, or even the Wraith(though the alternate universe where they invade the milky way has them doing so 40 years in the future).
But using only IC information, assessing that the war won't stop with just Apophis or heru'ur winning out over the other seems reasonable, and assuming that it's going to turn into an extended contest of attrition, or series or wars between confused coalitions of parties, makes sense, and
thus superior shipbuilding output will be decisive.

 

[Vaermina]

I'm loving the Stargate sequences, there are a few things I hope mammon(si) gets a scan of. The gauntlet that induces temporary superpowers, the dimensional mirror and other mcguffins.

He will possibly have to deal with a retu attack at some point.

Im liking bastet in this story.

Click to shrink...

The Superpower Gauntlet shouldn't be usuable by him due to his Orange Power Ring.

And on top of that we know OOC that the Goa'uld civil war should face sudden shakeups from Anubis showing up, and possibly from invasions by replicators or Ori, or even the Wraith(though the alternate universe where they invade the milky way has them doing so 40 years in the future).
But using only IC information, assessing that the war won't stop with just Apophis or heru'ur winning out over the other seems reasonable, and assuming that it's going to turn into an extended contest of attrition, or series or wars between confused coalitions of parties, makes sense, and thus superior shipbuilding output will be decisive.

Click to shrink...

He's probably fucked when Anubis shows up.

Because his very existence would allow Anubis to go to the next level. After all, Anubis's restriction is he can only use what knowledge he could have learned as a Goa'uld.

 

[Darko]

Zoat, in the spoiler box it says that this chapter is part 10, but it should be part 11.

 

[GhostKing 666]

And on top of that we know OOC that the Goa'uld civil war should face sudden shakeups from Anubis showing up,

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Anubis is the second shakeup. The first was Sokar coming back from the "dead" and blitzing Apophis with the largest fleet in the galaxy. Sokar's capital, Delmak, was the most heavily industrialized Goa'uld world in Goa'uld history and it's what allowed him to field the largest fleet in Goa'uld history(seriously, the Tok'ra already estimated that his "public" fleet was big enough to take on all the other System Lords at once, then they found out his actual fleet size was ten times that number).

Of course, then SG-1 manages to take out Sokar by blowing up Delmak's moon, inadvertently letting Apophis step in and take over Sokar's set up right when some of Sokar's technological developments were coming to fruition(Ha'tak scale cloaking device, a new supermothership and even a prototype next-gen Ha'tak). And then SG-1 and the Tok'ra screw up an attempt to get Apophis and Heru'ur to fight each other, allowing Apophis to kill Heru'ur and absorb his forces, only for SG-1 to later take out a big chunk of Apophis's fleet and get Apophis to ram his flagship into Delmak at max speed with him still inside it.

And then Anubis shows up, stealing Sokar's stich. Hilariously, despite Anubis's knowledge of Ancient technology, I'd rate Sokar as the bigger threat. Anubis is too fond of superweapons(and hidden volcano lairs) vs Sokar's less flamboyant but more practical industrial superpower strategy.

and possibly from invasions by replicators

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An invasion of the Replicators is what ended the Goa'uld empire. If they show up, the Goa'uld are screwed and possibly everyone else if SG-1 can't stop them.

or Ori,

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The Ori can't tell that there's life in the Milky Way galaxy, the ascended Ancients are blocking their sight. They only find out once the SGC discovers Avalon in England and accidently trigger an extra-galactic communication device to the Ori galaxy.

 

[Duke Long]

Then Ra's brother Apophis stuck his oar in, a chuck of Ra's old underlords backing the more established and politically cunning brother against the brutish son, and more just content to lurk in their own systems until one side or the other forced the issue.

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'chunk'?

Ha'tak's fly using gravity manipulation.

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Extraneous apostrophe?

I shake my head. "Even knowing exactly where they are, ha'tak hyperdrives lack the precision to guarantee that they would emerge from hyperspace in a position to fire before Apophis's ha'taks raised their shields."

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Previously in this chapter 'Ha'tak' was capitalised even when not at the start of a sentence. Not sure if that is wrong or the later parts of this chapter are wrong.

This isn't going to go away. There's no Ra who will step in an enforce a peace treaty if things go on too long.

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'and enforce'

 

[Mr Zoat]

I'm loving the Stargate sequences, there are a few things I hope mammon(si) gets a scan of. The gauntlet that induces temporary superpowers, the dimensional mirror and other mcguffins.

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While interesting, the mirror doesn't actually benefit his people in any way, and would create a whole lot of problems.

That's a lot of bold you've got there...

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If I fix it before you post, then it doesn't count. I missed one /.

I am liking the Stargate episodes, I just wonder how SG1 Paul's butterflies are interacting with SGC.

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They're not, really. They're got slightly more naquada to play with, but do you remember a single episode where a naquada shortage was an issue? Their intelligence reports are mildly interesting but I'm not sure that anyone on SG1 would be reading them.

And going by canon, Apophis would be the ultimate winner, if I remember right.

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Kind of. It was more that Sokar didn't finish him off when he had the chance, giving him another try.

It's subtle, but in a way, Paulmon seems to be carefully arranging things so that Bastet's empire will form a buffer state around his world. Or at least, that's how I read it. Or maybe he just prefers the 'castle up and build up' method of RTS gameplay. Either way, he's going to have to be careful he doesn't step on any toes, because some of these guys might be vindictive even without the brain damage...

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It's not that I like engineer rushes, it's just that I don't like to waste my opponent's hard work.

'chunk'?
Extraneous apostrophe?
Previously in this chapter 'Ha'tak' was capitalised even when not at the start of a sentence. Not sure if that is wrong or the later parts of this chapter are wrong.
'and enforce'

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[WereDragon]

Three days later
Morning

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Rather promising.
With the sarcophagus induced insanity dealt with (and I consider 'need medication / surgery periodically to suppress symptoms' as sufficient) then the Goa'uld should be no worse than any of the other jokers and nutters that sapient peoples the multiverse over contrive to put in position of power.
And honestly Paulmon has better odds of reshaping the new Bastet-led System Lord Empire into something palatable than he does of getting the US to actually improve the galaxy in any non-destructive way.

Looks like he hasn't kept the sarcophagus issue secret, and is already noticing signs of change in the underlords. Really hope we get to learn what happens when other System Lords, the Tok'ra and SGC get wind of that revelation.

 

[Chaoswind]

Honestly love this line of SG updates, seems like I was SG starved and didn't realize it.

 

[jasonh23761]

Honestly, the Stargate alt is the most interesting alt Paul in a long while. That's not a bad thing, mind you, this one just hooks me more then expected.

 

[ForeverShogo]

When it comes to the wider galaxy, so far Mammon hasn't really done much when it comes to generating butterflies. It's very much a localized thing where he's improving his own world and preventing the Goa'uld in Bastet's realm from going too crazy.

I'm assuming the stuff between Apophis and Heru'ur is going to basically go as canon. Bastet effectively was uninvolved in that affair.

The real test for Mammon is going to be Anubis. When he makes his return he kicks the shit out of a lot of other Goa'uld, Bastet among them, in order to get his status as a System Lord restored. The ease by which he ravaged her realm is why Bastet votes in favor of his restoration.

And then later on when Baal is the main Goa'uld threat, we're told that she fought against him and got killed offscreen.

So if Mammon continues to stick with Bastet, we're going to have to see how much better off she is when Anubis then Baal come knocking.

 

[Chaoswind]

When it comes to the wider galaxy, so far Mammon hasn't really done much when it comes to generating butterflies. It's very much a localized thing where he's improving his own world and preventing the Goa'uld in Bastet's realm from going too crazy.

I'm assuming the stuff between Apophis and Heru'ur is going to basically go as canon. Bastet effectively was uninvolved in that affair.

The real test for Mammon is going to be Anubis. When he makes his return he kicks the shit out of a lot of other Goa'uld, Bastet among them, in order to get his status as a System Lord restored. The ease by which he ravaged her realm is why Bastet votes in favor of his restoration.

And then later on when Baal is the main Goa'uld threat, we're told that she fought against him and got killed offscreen.

So if Mammon continues to stick with Bastet, we're going to have to see how much better off she is when Anubis then Baal come knocking.

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I think the flaps will be felt when Soker comes knocking with his huge Navy and Bastet and her allies are the only known group with a similar build up to counter him, even more so when we know the ToKra are both inside the realm of Bastet and probably view her group in a positive light so they are likely going to feed them some intelligence (enter Paul as spy master and advisor for Bastet).

The ToKra were mostly against Ra and tyrant systems lords, not their entire species.