The Tok'ra took it for granted that Szarekh had unleashed fifty million men upon them, and then another fifty million, even though five years had passed between these acts of generosity. They had to build the necessary infrastructure, bureaucracy, and thousands upon thousands of other details from scratch. Sure, they had the full power of Urvashi, but anyone who slept even eight full hours a day was considered fortunate. Szarekh espoused a principle of constant pressure and hardening—for himself, his troops, and the children of Egeria. However, it's also possible that he was simply a crazed Goa'uld maniac, bereft of any semblance of common sense—that option was also entirely possible. Nevertheless, the Tok'ra lords effectively became rulers of their own fiefdoms, though these were more like cities, home to a million people, with ample room for further expansion. Other cities were located at least a hundred kilometers apart.
They supported trade, but at the same time, they formed autonomous enclaves to master the art of governance not only through Egeria's knowledge but also through practice. Over time, the Tok'ra were forced to form a police force to combat criminals. With Szarekh's rise to System Lord, they received official permission to form their own Jaffa legions, primarily composed of transformed humans recruited into the army. At the same time, an army free of the Goa'uld's usual brainwashing was being formed, which was quite advantageous, as it meant they no longer had to engage the Tok'ra.
These individuals were trained by the Golden Legion—those Tok'ra who had chosen the path of combat and had already established themselves as a significant force in the galaxy. It was not easy for the humans, but they were recruited from various Goa'uld worlds and sold to Szarekh. Ascension to the rank of Jaffa was considered quite prestigious for them. However, they were not entrusted with any police functions, but were only constantly trained for military action.
Constant training took place among the other lords. Officially, they weren't Egeria's children; to the entire galaxy, they were Szarekh's children, his loyal legions, founding their own dynasties and bearing their own heraldry. Heraldry for hundreds of rulers of their own small fiefdoms, who were destined to rise up and become masters of the galaxy, to cast off the Goa'uld yoke from the galaxy, granting it a new flowering.
The dynasties of House Szarekh were clearly conceived under the influence of something intoxicating, but this had no practical significance, serving only to throw dust in the eyes of the System Lords, making them consider Szarekh a fool for fathering so many children and granting them power. This created the illusion of its imminent fall from internal strife: Agdagat, Altimhor, Arotepk, Arrinmarok, Atun, Divanakh, Karenat, Mainarch, Mefrit, Nekfist, Nefreh, Nigilakh, Novokh, Ogdobeh, Oltep, Oroskh, Oruskar, Sarnekh, Sautech, Sukhbekhar, Sekemtar and many others.
Each had to have its own color scheme and heraldry to distinguish the overall style of the skeletons between the different dynasties. However, this had little practical value, as the differences between warriors of the various dynasties on the battlefield were limited to the glyphs on their chests.
All forces possessed relatively similar technologies, but no one prevented each lord from developing their own technological innovations, as diversity was the key to survival. The largest research institute, however, belonged to the Tetrarchy, although lords could commission research. Access to medical equipment and nanites was a significant help, allowing their subjects to survive, which increased loyalty. It might have seemed like Szarekh was crazy to allow such autonomy, but Egeria was above them, effectively coordinating all efforts to transform the system's second planet into an ideal world under the Tok'ra's leadership.
The lords even had autonomous fleets (which, however, operated jointly), without any loans or indentured contracts. They had their own ships built, based on fair economic relations. They themselves built shipyards where gliders and alkeshi were built, since the second habitable planet in the system had deposits of naquadah, not to mention those mined by Urvashi miners in the asteroid belts and other metals that were abundant in the belt and very cheap, such as iron.
This is precisely why enormous megacities were erected in such a short time. Concrete and iron production was colossal, allowing for construction to be carried out on other planets of the Tetrarchy, including those unknown to the Goa'uld but part of this state and developing. Cimmeria, for example, no longer resembled a medieval world; it was a world that had tasted wealth and built modern cities thanks to purchased technology. Many planets thus used their wealth to expand their comfort levels. Hasar stations or other space stations were erected above some planets.
The number of workers requiring constant employment and the abundance of projects that needed to be implemented on various planets, not only in the Tetrarchy but also on allied worlds, was anomalous. Not to mention the Hydra bases: on every planet with a gate, Hydra attempted to build several dozen bases for operatives of varying ranks, as well as several backup ones. All maintenance was performed by robots captured from the Aschen. The robots could maintain the bunkers, but they maintained complete silence about their existence. Naturally, on planets with a large Goa'uld presence, such construction was difficult, but on worlds abandoned by them, it was feasible.
The use of a network of teleportation platforms, which couldn't be used by a rogue Hydra cell, meant that the various groups had virtually no contact. Even if one group were discovered by the Goa'uld, the remaining vaults would remain safe, as the planet was vast and Szarekh wasn't accustomed to nesting only near gates. This was a convenient escape route, but it made the operatives predictable, which was unacceptable. Therefore, each base had Teltaki as a mobile reserve in case of retreat. They also served in the event that an operative arrived at a base by ship. A parked ship didn't reveal the base's cloak.
Szarekh didn't have the technology to build the original Tok'ra bases, but he did have classic construction methods, and he built wherever possible and impossible, even on planets where life was technically impossible. Any planet could become a staging area. Even Egeria couldn't know the full list of Hydra's facilities; agents could establish hidden bases in Goa'uld territory without informing their superiors of their existence. The bases were modest, unable to support a large contingent of operatives, unlike those built by Szarekh, but they were nonetheless hidden bases, housing various supplies, communications equipment, and basic information about the planet. Encrypted reports and data on recruited agents—such information couldn't be stored in the agent's head or anywhere near the agent's home, so it was entrusted to a computer, naturally, one that was sufficiently encrypted.
The Hydra spread across Goa'uld space like a cancer, attracting more and more agents to gather intelligence. The Goa'uld realized Szarekh must have an intelligence organization, and after the deaths of five High Lords, they began searching. They managed to find some, but their operatives always maintained sufficient distance from their recruited agents to avoid detection. Furthermore, they benefited from the fact that Goa'uld counterintelligence units were highly contentious: each had its own approach. Some assigned Jaffa as counterintelligence agents, others used loyal slaves, and still others handed over such a powerful tool to certain Goa'uld cronies.
Each had its own unique strengths, as well as effectiveness. Hydra agents were behind many undisclosed operations, during which planets could change hands ten times over, only to be abandoned as the depleted Jaffa forces forced the Goa'uld to think more logically. Battles became fleeting and bloody with the new weapons. Numerous fronts consumed warriors in large numbers. And the abandoned planets became recruiting grounds for Hydra, and they also gradually took control of these planets. But not so overtly, lest they perish if the Goa'uld returned.
The new operatives, recruited from planets across the galaxy, weren't Urvashi and didn't even understand who they were working for, but that didn't stop them from doing their job. Hydra began to plant its heads on every world, and each head metastasized. Things didn't always go smoothly, of course, but the work was done. Only the organization's senior command had a rough idea of its capabilities, and for now, these were merely reconnaissance capabilities, as the Goa'uld had a large army and navy.
The uprisings were to break out when Szarekh's fleet was ready and approaching the desired sector. Contacts were established with various small rebel organizations to use them as operatives for sabotage. Hydra had to be careful in eliminating the Goa'uld, and it was best not to do so, as no one wanted to accidentally kill the Tok'ra. Therefore, any actions were to be carried out, they were to be directed against the Jaffa, among whom there were to be no Tok'ra agents.
Given that the war was raging across the galaxy, Hydra's spread could have been widespread, encompassing more and more planets. Reports of these were fed into a central database, and central command knew a great deal about the galaxy's planets and the Goa'uld who ruled them.
To launch full-scale military operations, Szarekh needed to amass forces: an army and navy capable of crushing his opponents, as well as experienced administrators to establish order and prosperity in the captured Goa'uld domains. A quarter of a century, just twenty-five years, and the might of his legions would unleash upon the galaxy.
Meanwhile, the IRC discovered the lost homeworld of the Goa'uld, where the Unas, the first race to conquer them, were found. Szarekh's scientists managed to obtain their genetic data, opening the way to the possible rise of this civilization. Although the idea of creating an army of cloned zombies reprogrammed to execute basic commands using nanites was interrupted by Isara's unexpected blow to Szarekh's head, the concept of developing the Unas race to a technological level remained feasible.
In parallel, the original Goa'uld, their life cycle, and their ability to negotiate were studied, with the goal of determining whether they could control cloned bodies deprived of the genetic memory of their queens. This long-term sociological project by the IRC was aimed at understanding and developing societies. Excavations were conducted on the world where Atoth, Apep, Nut, and other ancient Goa'uld were born and rose to prominence. Only Nut, Ra's mother, and Apophis, as well as other queens with significant power, remained alive, despite Ra's ban after the events with Egeria.
Technological advancement was rapid, filling gaps in Goa'uld technology and civilian innovation, facilitating the comprehensive development of society. The widespread use of omnitools and their integration with neural network computer systems significantly improved human life. Tollana, Svorin, Galaran, and Urvashi exchanged civilian goods, improving their quality of life thanks to the limitless energy sources from the Star Stations, which enabled the implementation of any civilian project or scientific research. The Tollana system contained another habitable planet, Sarita, inhabited by humans, albeit less technologically advanced.
The Tollans expressed a desire to assist their neighbors by sharing their technology, but Szarekh questioned the wisdom of such a move, given the humans' lack of understanding for its use. Furthermore, the Tollans had become suspicious: the Mercenary Lord, like an alchemist, was weaponizing virtually everything he could lay his hands on. Therefore, they decided to focus on their advanced technology, research, fleet construction, and defense, following the advice of their ally, who was finding increasingly sophisticated ways to bypass Tollan defenses.
The Tollans also established colonies on Aschen Prime, spreading their influence and establishing thriving settlements on various planets. Aschen Prime played a crucial role—an industrialized world with a large population and idle production facilities that merely required activation. The Asgard helped the surviving members of the Aschen Confederation overcome their infertility, but convincing them of the Aschen's criminal nature proved more difficult. The United Forces decided to leave them to their own devices, providing some technology so that the worlds conquered by the Aschen could restore their industrial potential. The IEC also monitored the system where the Aschen had ignited a second star, in case of a cataclysm and the need for evacuation.
Meanwhile, three forces loyal to Szarekh were forming on Earth: the future Central American Union, the West African Federation, and Israel. These powers were gaining strength, becoming spacefaring nations, uniting, in part, through business, rapidly growing rich and strengthening their political influence, controlling key trade routes. In the future, Szarekh planned to rely on these countries to influence events on Earth, not forgetting Abstergo Industries and the Sheppards, providing them with resources to build their own force.
Abstergo Industries possessed enough patents to become the planet's leading pharmaceutical company, but Szarekh curbed their ambitions. Agents on the ground facilitated the Federation and Central American nations' production of nuclear reactors superior to Earth's, and subsequently, nuclear weapons, which would ensure the sovereignty of these states. Szarekh also had his own plans to strengthen his allies by providing them with advanced missile technology and other technologies that, while only slightly superior to American or Soviet developments, offered significant advantages in trade.
By allowing control of the Earth's economy, Szarekh planned to integrate Earth into his domain in the future, but only when it was ready, so that the transition would be seamless and painless. Earth's vast economy, provided its labor force was devoted to the production of ships, equipment, and armor, could become a powerful asset. However, Szarekh had sufficient skilled labor for equipment production, and Earth could serve as a supply depot.
The proximity of planets like Abydos, Icarus, and Heliopolis to Earth meant that, should Ra perish, the region could quickly become a staging ground for an offensive. If Earth came under Szarekh's control, it could support the legions leading the assault on Goa'uld worlds, with the goal of liberating them and turning them over to those capable of wisely managing their resources. However, working with Earth was always difficult due to the many nationalist factions divided by ethnic, religious, and national affiliations, who hated each other even more than they hated the alien invaders. Plans will undoubtedly require further adjustments. Earth's fate will be determined in thirty years.хз