Windmill Tilt

Posted on Wed May 21st, 2025 @ 9:30am by Polyphron & Ramielos Volsunga & Mars & Hekate & Lady Hera

2,855 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: The Serpent's Tooth [3]
Location: Lower Dock, DS13
Timeline: 1940 - MD08 (After 'Dawning as a Soul')

The trio of Goa'uld had made quick time to the lower dock, already there were Jaffa patrolling DS13's hallways, they had stunned a trio of officers who had somehow managed to escape the room they'd been contained in when Polyphron's algorithm had taken control of the computers and shut out Starfleet staff from their usual system permissions.

During their earlier visit to the station, it had been a simple thing for Hekate to sting a starfleet officer with a needle containing the illusory compound produced by the Reole species in their home universe. The officer stung immediately believed they were the inspecting Admiral Gali and his senior staff. He had shown them all throughout the lower dock, and spoken at length about their prisoner in his ersatz cell, the Astartes Volsunga.

They entered the area that contained the supervisory controls, where a single surprised security officer stood up suddenly, only to be zatted into unconsciousness.

"Bring the cell to our nearest umbilical connection. Find something to cut it open with." Hekate ordered the others, indifferent as to who completed which task.

Polyphron quickly determined what she needed to do. Soon the tractor beams within the dock were directing the floating cell to umbilical 4-D, connected to the room they stood in. She noted the security officer's weapon was still clipped to his belt, but did not say anything.

"This had better work, Hekate, Polyphron. This man isn't from our universe nor this one." Mars stated as he watched the women work while he stood guard, he wasn't very technical and so knew to stay out of the way.

The flash of the zat was enough to stir Volsunga's attention from his meditation. He looked across to the office where his monitor had been sitting, and saw figures he didn't recognise. He had no idea about any of the goings on with the Atenists, but he had noticed the earlier power failure and attributed it to standard mechanical issues. Now he began to reassess.

"He is hok'tar. The most advanced hok'tar I have ever seen, but hok'tar nonetheless. Like all hok'tar he was once a mere human. His anatomy is similar enough to allow for implantation. But this dermal layer means entry through the soft palate will be necessary." Hekate said as she examined in-depth scans of the being and his medical records for the first time.

The male rolled his eyes. "The operative words here being once was, meaning not any longer. But don't let me prevent you from foreseeing possible failures." Mars said with annoyance. He kind of wanted her to fail so she'd see that she wasn't all knowing nor smug about herself. He readied his weapon but kept it aimed at the floor and moved so he could see the entrance as well.

"And don't let me prevent you from following instructions." Polyphron said to Mars, moving over to and taking the weapon from the unconscious starfleet security officer, and checking the settings. She adjusted them for cutting. She moved to the opening of the umbilical walkway, and aimed the weapon at the connected cell. She aimed the phaser a few feet below the umbilical vacuum seal, and cut an ovular entryway. With a loud shearing noise, the severed segment of the cell wall fell forwards, and rolled aside, giving them a direct view of its inhabitant, Volsunga.

Volsunga remained seated on his folded in legs in a meditative prayer position. He kept his eyes forward towards the newly cut entryway, remaining quiet.

"Now, I believe settling the inhabitant is a commander's job." The flame-haired engineer told Mars, though she kept the phaser ready in case the enormous hok'tar charged.

"I don't recall our Queen saying that," Mars commented as he took a few moments to inspect the massive man in front of them. "And you know that Poly," he added as he took a few steps closer while not putting himself in the line of fire from the two women. He slowly turned his head to glare at the engineer. "Or are you afraid to do it?" He inquired, "where's the symbiote?"

"I will handle the symbiote." Hekate snapped back, the canopic jar still held under her arm. "Pacify him, now. Or our Queen will hear of your cowardice."

Volsunga made no outward show of reaction, but he was studying their responses to one another. Obvious tension. A lack of clear hierarchy. There were four uniformed soldiers with them, obviously the three were Lieutenants to whoever was in charge. The queen, no doubt. From what his senses could detect of their biorhythms, they were close to human, but not quite. Perhaps the symbiote they spoke of was what distinguished them. But the three Lieutenants were different to the soldiers in grey armour. He needed more to go on, but they were hesitating. Rightly afraid.

Mars glanced at Hekate, "Will you now? He is sitting in a cell, and I doubt any of us can pacify him. Look at him." He gestured for all the Jaffa behind them. "Jaffa kree! Subdue him." Mars ordered.

The four plainly armoured Jaffa advanced hesitantly, as soon as they reached the inside of the cell, they began to spread along the outside walls. "You there! Lie face down with your hands outstretched." The most senior, or at least the oldest of the Jaffa ordered the man, who was nearly as tall as them kneeling. He hid his fear well.

Volsunga slowly turned his head towards the Jaffa giving the instructions. "No." He responded with a gruff neutrality, then returned his vision forward.

One of the Jaffa armed his zat'nik'tel, and fired a shot into Volsunga.

The Astartes made a straining sound as the blast hit him, and its blue energies surged across his form. He fell to one side, and his breath and heart rate began to slow.

"He is subdued, sir." The Jaffa told Mars.

"Well, that is unexpected. Considering how much we don't know about him, I doubted the Zat'nik'tel discharge would be effective." Mars commented as he nodded to the Jaffa. "Well done, Jaffa," he smiled, then turned to Hekate. "Through his mouth," he stated as if confirming the way to implant him.

Hekate slung her zat in a holster at her hip and put both her hands around the canopic jar. She moved into the cell carefully, past the Jaffa and the apparently unconscious Volsunga. Hekate twisted the top off the jar, and a dark red serpent slithered out.

Polyphron watched cautiously as the elder among them performed her task. She took a few steps away from the entry, keeping the phaser raised. She wasn't about to wear it if this all went wrong.

It had a four-toothed maw and long, sharp looking fins, an aquatic creature. Despite that it had no issue crossing the distance between where Hekate had released it and where the potential host lay. The symbiote slithered up the back of him and crossed the peak of his shoulder, before circling around in front of him, tracking his breathing to predict any opportunity to implant with the least resistance. Seeking its opportunity, it charged towards his mouth.

As the serpent charged for the opening in the front of his face, Volsunga also made his move. With a speed greater than a man his size should be capable of, he got himself out of the way of the leaping Goa'uld and into a position where he could leap directly at two of the Jaffa. He drove his elbows into their chests, he wasn't worried about their fate but he heard and felt enough noises to know they weren't likely to get up again soon.

He felt the buzzing sensation of a zat shot and the sting of staff weapon blasts, neither affecting him greatly due to the black carapace layer beneath his skin. He leaned into a kick against the zat-armed Jaffa that caused him to slump against the wall, and proceeded to grab the staff of the other, swinging him towards Hekate when he held onto the weapon for dear life.

Hekate remained as still as she could, watching as the mighty warrior swung a Jaffa by the staff he would not release like a club. The Jaffa impacted against her shield at surprising speed, she wondered if he would survive for the briefest second. Then she refocused, narrowing her milky-white eyes. “I see you are a great warrior. Forgive my trespass, and I will depart.” She scanned the empty space around his silhouette, seeing neither of her fellow lieutenants. Help me, you fools! Hekate cried out psychically to Mars and Polyphron, an ability neither knew she possessed.

"I hear you, psyker." Volsunga said coldly. He held his massive hand up in front of her, pressing his palm against the radiant barrier of her shield. After a moment of watching her with silent menace, he released his palm, and moved out of her way, clearing her path to the exit, though she'd have to step over the collapsed Jaffa.

"Go." He told her.

"As you say." Hekate told him with a slow nod taking a few gentle steps forward. Her fear was more than enough to quieten her ego. As she reached the middle of the floor, she caught the reflection of the symbiote behind her, also behind the massive soldier. Once again, it readied to strike again.

Volsunga looked at the bodies of the Jaffa momentarily as the woman passed. The glance was almost more curious than anything else. It had been some time since he had seen the work of his own hands on another. He did not notice as the serpent left the floor and clung to him. As soon as he felt it he grabbed at it, but it slipped from his grip and went in under his shirt. It emerged wrapping itself around his neck and he gasped instinctively as it began to strangle him.

With the symbiote in striking position, Hekate spun on her heel and released a ribbon of energy from the palm of her silver kara kesh into Volsunga's forehead. She knew this was the only chance to get him at a disadvantage.

Volsunga groaned and fell to one knee as the weapon impacted him. He was already busy with both hands trying to keep the writhing symbiote in his grip. As his concentration lapsed while the pain of the ribbon device overtook him, the symbiote slipped and used the opportunity to get past his teeth.

Feeling the ingress, Volsunga instinctively bit down on the creature, which screamed and writhed terribly. He managed to get a grip on it by its fins, throwing the headless body out the cell. Through the pain of the weapon he managed to reach out towards Hekate and surround her hand with his own. He squeezed tightly, intending to disable her and the weapon.

Hekate screamed a piercing, distorted scream as she felt the bones in her hand break, and the jewel in her kara kesh shatter. She had no more thoughts left for strategy or escape, only pain consumed her.

Volsunga brought his other hand to her throat, and lifted her by it. He spat out the head of the symbiote forcefully in her direction. Its jaws still twitched as it hit the floor.

"When my Queen... learns of... what you have done... to her beloved. Your... suffering, will be endless..." Hekate strained against his powerful hand.

On the surface, he did not want to kill her. It was strange to him, but he knew it was what he felt. Yet with her threat, the bloodlust within him rose, as he replayed his first attempt to show mercy in his mind. She was free to go. She chose to stay and try to ambush him.

"Best you don't tell her, then." Volsunga said, and squeezed the hand he held her up by tightly, until he heard a crunch. He discarded her out the entryway that had been cut into his cell.

"Take her or join her." Volsunga called out to the hallway, returning once more to his meditative position, with his eyes still open and focused on the opening.

Hekate's body rolled listlessly across the floor. Her eyes flashed for a moment, then were still. She was dead.

At that point, Polyphron ran for the turbolift without another word.

Watching the symbiote and Hekate do battle with the hulking man was quite intense. Mars was slowly making his way back to the exit, along with the two Jaffa that remained alive. Clearly self-preservation outweighed their obedience, nothing Mars could fault them for.

At the moment of Hekate's body making contact with the floor Mars took the opportunity to grab one of the Jaffa with him, turned and manipulated him to fire the zat'nik'tel at Polyphron. However, she'd made it out of the room. His adrenaline pumped as he extracted the zat from his hostage and shot that Jaffa. When he was taking aim at the other Jaffa, to his surprise, the other Jaffa with him raised his hands in a certain way. He suddenly recalled who the soldier was, the two shared a glance. They quickly grabbed all the weapons in the room.

Mars turned to Volsunga without knowing the man's name. "Thank you for killing her." He said and gave a short bow. "I was about to do so myself but..." Mars trailed off as he had to catch with to Poly and take her out. "See you soon I hope." Mars gave a fist to chest gesture before the Jaffa and he made their way to the exit.

The two ran out and pursued Polyphron to the turbolift. Once they were in range, Mars yelled. "Surrender!" He fired his two zat'nik'tel's in her direction as did the Jaffa with his staff weapon. Mars missed deliberately while the Jaffa managed to shoot Polyphron's leg.

Polyphron cried out as the blast hit her calf, she rolled to a stop just outside the turbolift door, facing away from her pursuers.

Both men approached carefully with weapons at the ready. Mars had a feeling he disabled the turbolift door with the zat'nik'tel discharged as it hadn't opened yet. "Or we can kill you as well," he added.

Polyphron raised the arm that wasn't under her as she rolled over, in a feigned gesture of surrender. With the phaser at her hip that was in the hand positioned under her, she released a beam as wide as she could make it, filling the space she had come from with the discharge.

Mars and the Jaffa watched as the wave began. The two jumped back and ran into the nearest rooms they nodded to each other, the doors closed just as the wave hit the doors. Mars waited a few moments and poked his head out the open doorway.

With her free hand she grabbed her zat that had fallen from its holster and began to fire zat discharges as rapidly as the weapon would allow in the direction of her attackers, unsure whether they had been felled by the hallway-width-and-height stun wave. As she fired the zat rapidly, she adjusted the controls of the phaser and directed it at the turbolift door, disintegrating the lower eighth of it and rolling under it. Inside, she commanded the turbolift.

"Alpha Dock, disable open-door safety protocols." The lift buzzed affirmatively, and she let out a final shot from the zat as the level she was on disappeared from view. "Computer, revoke all access permissions from user Mars. Total security lockdown on the lower dock. Seal every entrance and exit and reroute any turbolifts currently present away from the area."

As more levels passed, she took her communicator from the pocket on her belt. "My Queen, Hekate is dead, the hok'tar host we sought overpowered her and killed the symbiote. Mars has betrayed us, but I know not to what end. At least one Jaffa has joined him, I would be surprised if there were not others."

"I see." Came Hera's voice, she did a poor job of concealing how she seethed. "It is of no further concern. We are leaving, return to Alpha Dock."

When she was sure the link to her mistress was closed, Polyphron took the reflective necklace from out of her bodice, and began to speak into it. Her leg stung.

Mars knew Polyphron had escaped him and probably reported his treachery. There wasn't really any point in pursuit, he saw a part of the door blackened and he could see inside the shaft. Mars smiled as he realised that zat fire can disable other technological mechanisms.

He glanced over at the other door and nodded to the Jaffa. They had to hurry and attempt to join the Starfleet officers before its too late. He knew their plan and contingencies, after all he was involved in their development. Though without access to the computer things will be a little difficult, the duo noticed that no lift was coming and so quickly decided to climb into the shaft to make their way back.

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