We passed through the gate, finding ourselves on a deserted, neutral planet. The convoy consisted of me, another Jaffa, and De Wiart, who had replaced me as the client, while I, accordingly, took up a guard position. Three men awaited us at the gate: the leader, a Goa'uld, whose retinue, Jaffa with open faces and the Yu symbol on their armor, clearly obeyed him. The Goa'uld himself, clad in rich robes, inhabited the body of an Asian. Adrian, or rather the one playing that role, approached him and, removing his helmet, greeted him in Goa'uldish—the language I forced everyone to learn.
"Greetings, comrade," de Wiart said gravely.
"I'm glad to meet you," the potential employer responded, maintaining the same polite intonation. "There have been many rumors about you."
"It's surprising I only left witnesses for the raid on Vritra," Hadrian retorted, succumbing to flattery. "And straight to the point: I'm not interested in your name, who you serve, or any of that other protocol nonsense. The only things that matter are my goal, my payment, and the question of the spoils. That's all. We don't need to be friends or even acquaintances. The less we know about each other, the better for my business."
"I appreciate your professionalism. Please, make yourself comfortable," the Goa'uld pointed to a small table already set with tea.
Adrian sat down, and we, fulfilling our role as guards, stood behind him.
"There's a minor lord—Raiden, my neighbor. He's been bothering me," the Goa'uld said, looking expectantly at his interlocutor. Adrian seemed unmoved. "Raiden has seven Hattaks, twenty-four Alkesh, and twelve fortified planets, but only four of them have Chappa'i. His capital, Kyoto, is said to be impregnable, but he prefers his flagship, the Katana. He carries Chappa'i there, allowing him to maintain lightning-fast communications with his key worlds. This, of course, makes him more difficult to eliminate."
"Should I just kill Raiden or bring down his entire domain? Those are two different bets. I only managed to defeat Vritra because she neglected to protect her chappai and employed incompetent personnel. I don't have the fleet for your internecine wars. And it's doubtful you have the resources for such a large-scale campaign."
"Killing Raiden will be enough. After that, I will begin the offensive, subjugating his worlds and the Jaffa."
"I need more information, but overall, I don't see any insurmountable obstacles," Adrian concluded. "It seems only the stupid Goa'uld and this Raiden don't see a problem with having a Stargate on a ship. Although, I admit, I once had one on my own ship. But I'm erecting a force field inside the gate chamber capable of withstanding a super-powerful explosion. I doubt this Raiden is so foresighted. I'll construct a mecha-decoder that will dial the address of this idiot's capital city every minute, and I'll program a missile that will enter the gate as soon as it opens. I'll use naquadah-potassium explosives—it will blow the ship apart from the inside. And cause a chain reaction of detonations throughout the vessel. So, what's the payment?"
"An alkesh with naquadah," the Goa'uld replied. Apparently, this vassal of Yu had been driven to despair by Raiden. Giving up his own alkesh, and one full of naquadah at that—that sounded like a significant sum. Although, admittedly, professional ashraks charge far more.
"Acknowledged. Keep your forces ready. Once I eliminate Raiden, you can begin your offensive."
That's when I realized how much more promising it would be to have a simple orbital station with a gate. Or, like mine, Monoliths, inside which, thanks to reactors and shields, an energy field is generated that can resist nuclear bombs.
"And one last thing. Don't lie to me, Lesser Lord Kuan-Xi. Raiden isn't the only Lord hindering your ascension. By eliminating Raiden, you'll be able to control his powers, approaching the minimum threshold for becoming a Lord. Don't pass up this opportunity just because you don't want to pay a mercenary."
"I'll pay you as soon as you kill Raiden."
"Wonderful. I'm glad we reached an understanding."
Kuan-Xi handed over the crystal with intelligence data on Raiden and was the first to leave the room.
"I hope the second order will be better," de Wiart complained.
"The second order is from Indra. So, perhaps it will be more fun. Apparently, she realized she couldn't conquer the worlds of Vritra without me, and decided to turn to someone who had proven more effective in the fight against her enemy."
"And the twenty hattaks? Or how many does Vritra have?"
"We'll find out," Adrian shrugged. "I won't bother too much with a ground assault unless it's absolutely necessary. I'll destroy all Vritra forces specified in the contract with the threaders. Bombs can be attached to them, though not many—a few 250-kilogram bombs at most. Of course, if there are ships in orbit, then gliders will appear, and perhaps an air battle. Gliders are more maneuverable in the atmosphere thanks to their aerodynamics. So, engaging in air battles is an extremely bad idea. A quick raid bombing of key targets and an immediate retreat. No more than five minutes."
What can a bomber squadron do in five minutes with the right bomb load? A minimum of several thousand can be destroyed, again, if the load is adequate and all the stars align. Like, for example, with the Vritra castles on Prakith. A castle is an excellent stronghold, but not against bombers. That's more like a recipe for disaster. In fact, countering standard human tactics requires a modern understanding of ground warfare, something the average Goa'uld clearly lacks. Useless parasites. I wonder how much slaves are worth these days? Can I buy slaves from my employer? What if I kill Raiden and he takes over his planets? If Raiden has twelve planets, that means he has at least fifty million under his command. That means a million slaves could be bought. Although, I'm almost certain Isara wouldn't be pleased. "And I don't know what exactly: the fact that they'll be Chinese, the fact that I'm buying slaves, or the additional administrative burden it will impose on her. If you think about it, my planets can handle an extra million mouths to feed. The infrastructure for a million is another matter entirely. That would be a real headache. So I should really think twice about whether I need it.".