"Greetings, can you hear me?" my voice echoed off the gate, addressing the sizable crowd gathered around it. Asgardian technology, embodied in my hologram, transmitted me, but I saw everything with my own eyes. The voices coming from outside were unintelligible until the translation module, a gift from the Asgard, instantly deciphered them. It was one of the ancient, noticeably altered, Scandinavian dialects.
"Are you the Supreme God?" came a question from the crowd. I was puzzled: the surrounding infrastructure indicated a highly advanced civilization.
"Oh, even my wife doesn't call me that," he tried to lighten the mood with a joke. "No, I'm from another planet. What you see is remote photon control technology. And you've apparently mastered two-dimensional image capture, right?"
"Yes," came the affirmative answer.
"This is even more advanced technology, but the principles are similar. To avoid any misunderstandings, could you please contact your senior management? I can reappear at the agreed-upon time. Does anyone have a timekeeping device so we can synchronize our units?"
They immediately handed me a watch, and someone started waving their hand over the hologram. I concentrated on comparing their timekeeping with mine.
"I'll be back in one fraction of a day," I meant an hour. "When the symbols start to light up, it's best if no one is near the gate. Unstable energy can be destructive."
In retrospect, it was highly likely that this planet was the one destroyed by the bugs. In one of the SG-1 series, they discovered a desert planet with advanced architecture where Teel was attacked by a giant dragonfly, infecting his DNA. This was their method of reproduction: rewriting the host's DNA to produce 10-15 new individuals. It's surprising that 21st-century civilization was powerless against such a threat. Although, it's highly likely that the same thing worked on animals. Isolating humans is possible, but not all fauna. After that, only Exterminatus would have saved this planet. Some Earthlings dreamed of using such creatures as biological weapons, not understanding that the System Lords would have destroyed Earth ten thousand times over for such a thing. I hoped that this time around, such scenarios would have been avoided. My security protocols for such threats were quite rigorous.
I was currently actively traveling to various planets in search of opportunities to increase my naquadah production, searching for other advanced civilizations capable of extracting the necessary materials. I decided to refit the Hattak for my project, transforming it from a mothership into a fully-fledged battleship, complete with an air group, of course. I could also place more accumulators throughout the ship to store energy.
At the start of combat, the ship's power would be at its peak, as the accumulators would be able to transfer energy to additional weapons, providing a colossal firepower density. To a certain extent, this corresponded to raid tactics—maximum damage per unit of time. According to my calculations, the freed-up space allowed for the installation of 30 more cannons, bringing the total to 90. Each of these would be twice as powerful as standard Goa'uld weapons. The new reactor could support the original 60 cannons, but the additional energy accumulators would allow 30 cannons to fire a salvo of 14-20 shots. With 30 cannons, this would yield 600 shots—a very impressive result, of significant significance in a linear battle.
Everyone was excited to learn of the impending attack in six years, and that it would be the vile Apophis. The Jaffa from Ra's domain were especially pleased: first, I had been rewarded, and therefore so had they. Second, they were able to demonstrate their strength to their eternal enemy. Third, I had participated in the duel and won. Fourth, there would be a continuation of the banquet.
Isara was more interested in military production, as her planet was about to be attacked. She went to Pangar to place a large military order. The Tollans, however, showed no interest in producing warships or even their components, so that option was out of the question. Their strength needed to be used elsewhere, for example, to improve social order. I had just arrived on this planet, in need of industrial capacity. Among the Protected Planets, there was another one where research was being conducted on implanting memories in humans, and where Mitchell was framed. Two industrial planets would be a powerful boost to my defense.
After waiting an hour, I contacted them again. This time, a security cordon of what appeared to be military personnel had been established around the gates. A man dressed in what looked like a business suit stood nearby. I put on a serious expression and introduced myself.
"Greetings," I said, bowing my head slightly. "Lesser Lord Szareh, Phaeron of the planet Urvashi."
"I am Sigurd, the chosen ruler of Svorin," replied a man of about fifty. A graying blond with regular features, he looked fit and healthy.
"Your citizens have called me the Supreme God. May I clarify this point? I would not wish to stir up religious controversy with my presence."
"The ring you speak through is an artifact from an ancient era. Two religious sects of Svorin have long warred over differing doctrines. The Gards believe that with this artifact, the Supreme God created humanity from Chaos, while the Hemonites believe it is simply a holy object through which one can connect with Thor."
"With Thor? You worship Thor?" I asked, surprised. This world wasn't on the list of Protected Planets.
"No, he is revered as an assistant of the Supreme God."
"Now I understand the situation better. Tell me, what influence do these two churches have in your society? If it's significant, you could dismiss it as a misunderstanding. Like, some crazy person making a joke."
"Religion's influence used to be enormous. There were some very bloody wars. This memorial honors all those who fell in those wars. You mentioned you were from another planet. We are advanced enough to consider interstellar travel. My people will survive anything."
I nodded, then formed a hologram of a ball on my hand – it was the Earth.
"This is Earth, Tau Ri, Midgard, Terra, and many other names. This is the homeland of the Human Race. About 11,000 years ago, representatives of the Goa'uld race discovered this planet. They enslaved the native population and resettled them across thousands of planets. The Empire fought a long war with one race that did not like their species' enslavement of other beings. This race is the Asgard. Thor is the Supreme Commander of his race's fleet. The Asgard created enclaves of the human race, free from Goa'uld influence, allowing people to develop naturally, without alien slavery. To reassure people when they were suddenly transported from one planet to another, they had to pose as deities, as the human population of that time was not ready for the truth. The Gard are right and wrong. This artifact can indeed be used to transport people, but your ancestors were brought to this planet differently. For that, a ship and a teleportation system were used.
People were converted into energy, transported to another planet, and instantly restored. From their perspective, less than a second passed, which reduced stress. The Gardians were also right about this artifact being able to contact Thor, but you won't be able to, as his race lives in another galaxy. The pedestal's internal power source can support teleportation through gates within the galaxy, but not to other galaxies. "I have a way to contact the Asgardian High Council, their governing body. I can do this for you. But you must decide for yourself—are you ready for this?"
"Yes, my people have shed too much blood in a religious war. We study space and understand that other civilizations may exist."
"In that case, I am prepared to come and convey to your people basic information about the galaxy and its inhabitants. I will arrive unarmed, but I ask that you refrain from harming me. As ruler of the planet, I have access to a vast number of troops who will not take kindly to my capture."
"We wouldn't dare..." Sigurd began. My hologram simply vanished. I warned Egeria and Isara of my departure and entered the gate. I was being a bit disingenuous: the ribbon device and the Staff of Light didn't look like weapons until the right moment.
Having transported to the planet, I emerged from the gate, stepping onto the pedestal. This caused shock among the viewers broadcasting my appearance.
"Greetings again," I said to the man.
"And I welcome you. Come with me." Perhaps I was hasty, not giving the government time to digest the situation. On the other hand, I didn't have much free time.