It was two days later that we finally figured out how the Dendred Resistance was getting in contact with people off world. A member that we previously hadn't known about had a Goa'uld communication orb, similar to the ones seen in SG1.
A couple of days later, Kleon got a message from the rest of the resistance; a member of the resistance leadership was on their way to make contact and confirm our claims. We waited a bit over three hours for news on when and how the resistance leader would be arriving. It was only when resistance members started slipping into the forest that we noticed that something was happening.
As I followed the half dozen resistance members – Kleon and Lior amongst them – deep into the forest and out of the way of the sight of the Jaffa who were watching over them; there were a few Jaffa in particular who I was certain caught them heading into the forest, but didn't say anything. That was either worrying or a sign that these people were much more entrenched here than I had initially believed. That was fine. I would think about that later.
Eventually, about a mile away from the Quarry, the group approached a clearing and I watched in shock as a Goa'uld Tel'tak landed and uncloaked. After a moment, the door opened and out walked a very familiar face; the face of an older Michael Shanks – the face of the man who had played Daniel Jackson in SG1.
I stood there, flabbergasted for a brief moment; then I heard the other resistance members begin to speak and it all snapped into place. Kleon, as the leader of the group, was the one who spoke first.
"Ma'chello! Why would you risk coming!?"
I barely remembered that Ma'chello had been played by Michael Shanks; it made some sense that a much younger Ma'chello would look like him. This was also an important sign for where we were in the timeline; we were much earlier than I had initially believed.
The Man chuckled as he scanned his surroundings. His eyes lingered on my location for just a fraction of a second too long; I was pretty sure that he had seen me, though I don't know how.
"You know me, old man. I'm not going to leave an opportunity like this to someone else. Especially if they're as advanced as you claim. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to make a useful laser weapon? I can't just let go of that sort of chance."
Kleon responded by throwing up his arms and shouting.
"What if Ares discovered tha–"
"Ohh please. Ares wouldn't notice if I was pissing on him; Arktos has made sure of that. Now, I believe our guests are here."
He turned to me, fully this time. Once again, he spoke.
"I'm already here. No need to keep those cloaks active."
Deciding it was best not to keep my cloak activated, I deactivated it and walked forward.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, sir. My name is Arthur."
He nodded to me.
"The pleasure is all mine. I am Ma'chello. I apologize for getting to the point, but how are you activating those Ashrak Cloaks? Last time I checked, using those requires a unique protein that only appears in Goa'uld hosts."
I really should have been inspecting that question. Everyone around Ma'chello immediately appeared on guard as the words came out of his mouth.
"That protein stays in the blood after a Goa'uld leaves the host."
My words caught Ma'chello off-guard, but I continued before he got the chance to ask.
"But no, as far as we can tell, I am able to activate the cloak due to some genetic anomaly. Genuinely, we do not know why I am able to use the device. There are several others from my village who can use it as well and all of them are descended from former servants of Nirti."
Ma'chello appeared to have dropped his guard somewhat at my answer, though those around him definitely had not.
"Something for another time then. Now, let's not stand out here. It's hot enough as it is. Please come aboard."
I nod.
"That would be much appreciated. Would you mind if another comes with me?"
He raises an eyebrow, but nods; Yren walks out from the edge of the forest. Ma'chello squints slightly at the her, but eventually gives her a light nod.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, young lady."
Yren nods in return, but doesn't say anything. We follow Ma'chello onto his ship. The hatch closes behind us and I take in the ship's interior. The exterior is indistinguishable from a standard Tel'tak, but the interior is a completely different story.
The decidedly utilitarian interior was a stark contrast to typical Goa'uld aesthetics. The cockpit had been transformed into a functional meeting space, with a wide central table surrounded by numerous seats, clearly designed for large strategic meetings. The walls were lined with what I could only assume were Dendredian displays, new text constantly flickering over the display in what appeared to be greek. The standard Gold decals had been totally stripped from the walls. This vessel was tailored for the resistance's needs.
Ma'chello took a seat at the head of the table – a spot he was clearly used to occupying – and gestured to a spot across from him.
"Please, have a seat."
I did as requested; Yren sat down beside me. The seats were exceptionally comfortable despite of – or perhaps due to – the utilitarian design.
Was the seat Utilitarian if it was comfortable? On the one hand, you wouldn't really think so; on the other hand, the purpose of a seat is to be sat on and if it's not comfortable it's not doing its job. Am I misunderstanding utilitarianism?
I refocused my mind on Ma'chello and found him to be staring at the two of us with mild interest.
"So tell me, what is it that you offer?"
I placed down my backpack and pulled out a couple of objects, sliding them down the table to Ma'chello.
"As you have undoubtedly already heard from Kleon, the firearm is a Mouser A1 and the computer is known as a Compad."
Ma'chello inspected the A1 for several moments; making sure not to look down the barrel. Then he picked up the Compad and inspected the outer casing. He dragged his finger over one of the metal edges that was noticeably dented.
"This thing is very well used."
I nodded.
"Compads have been in use for several centuries and outside of the first few decades, their designs haven't changed all that much."
He chuckled.
"Just from the metal fatigue on this casing, I'd say this one is almost a century old."
I raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to hand me the compad. He did so and I quickly opened the settings and found the device information for when the OS had been installed; 11th of October 2332. The device was over 400 years old… What the heck was something like this still doing inservice?
I handed the device back.
"That particular device has been in service for a bit more than 400 years, depending on the date."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Depending on the date?"
"We aren't entirely sure what the date is back home. Had a bit of a mishap getting to where we are right now."
Ma'chello slowly placed the compad down. He stared at me in contemplation.
"Alright. What is it that you want from the resistance?"
Straight to the point it is.
"We are planning an assault on Ares' force and would like your assistance."
A couple of the other people at the table nearly choked; one of them was the first to reply.
"Are you mad?! Even if you could defeat his Jaffa, his ships would just destroy us from space. All you'd do is give him warning that the resistance is greater than he could imagine! Do you have any idea how much work we've put into making Ares complacent? How many people we've had to le –"
I could hear the pain in the man's words, and luckily I had a way to allay his worst fears.
"We can neutralize his ships."
Everyone froze in shock. Ma'chello quickly let it pass, and in its place was an expression of utmost resolve. He said just one word.
"How?"
For a brief moment, I considered keeping it secret. How did I know if he was trustworthy? I quickly put those thoughts aside. Ma'chello was definitely different than he appeared in SG1, but not greatly so. He alone was the greatest proof that this was the resistance I was dealing with and not some hidden cell pretending they were – though that idea was ludicrous even by my tinfoil hat standards.
I had seen how Ma'chello acted in his final days. If nothing else, I knew this man would work against the Goa'uld.
I needed his trust, and trust is earned with trust.
"The Kara'kesh has an override code that can be used to reset the device's owner. If we capture Ares, we can override his Kara'kesh and use it to ground all of his ships."
Ma'chello sat back in his chair. He was silent as he considered my words. Finally he let out a deep sigh.
"I need to speak to your superiors, but if what you say is true, then we stand a good chance of defeating Ares' forces within a month's time."
While that was certainly earlier than I had been expecting – earlier than I could have even hoped for – there was still a lot to complete.
"Of course. I have been asked to invite any resistance leaders to our home base so that you can speak with our Elders and see everything we are offering. We'll just have to take a trip through the Chappa'ai."
Without any hesitation, Ma'chello nods; though the other resistance members seem less sure in the action.
"Very well, I can have my ship land near the Gate. We'll be able to make a short trek from there."
I motioned towards Kleon and the others.
"Will there be an issue with all the resistance members going missing?"
Ma'chello raises an eyebrow.
"Let's just say that we have friends in high places; friends who see the Goa'uld for what they are and aren't willing to blindly kill at the whims of … false gods. The Jaffa who know will not say a word of it."
Was he saying that there were Sodan amongst Ares' men? I can't think of any other groups that would call the Goa'uld 'false gods.' No… they would have had access to the Sodan Cloaking Devices if they were Sodan. So there is a group of Rebel Jaffa amongst Ares men then. I'd inform the Elders later; Elder James would kick my ass for missing something like that.
"Before we take off, I have to grab one more person."
Ma'chello chuckles lightly before reopening the hatch.
"Be my guest."
I nod in thanks, then exit the ship to wave Kaela over. She uncloaks and approaches, laughing boisterously as she enters the hatch.
"Howdy friends! Hope I'm not causing too much trouble."
Ma'chello matches his laugh good naturedly.
"Not at all, young lady. In fact, I believe you all have made my day."
Once again, the hatch closes and moments later we are flying around Ares city and to the location of the Stargate. Midair, my compad receives a ping. Checking the notification, I find a mission successful notice from Eamon; that could only mean that he had found conclusive evidence of a Tok'ra infiltrator amongst the ranks of Ares' subordinates. I'd let the Elders know to expect him when we were through the gate.
Ma'chello landed his ship about a mile away from the Stargate. As we approached, the gate was still unoccupied. I decided to ask Ma'chello if he knew why.
He chuckled lightly in response.
"I believe it is due to Ra's influence. Ra has claimed all of the Stargate's as part of his domain and thus considers it to be one of the greatest betrayals if a system lord places defences around a gate."
That was utterly nonsensical. Ma'chello chuckled before I even got the chance to ask anything further.
"Between you and me, I'm fairly certain he does it to allow his agents to regularly search the lesser system lords for signs of mutiny. With a claim over the entire Stargate Network, he can send his spies to any world, and as long as the gate is undefended the other System Lords will have no way of knowing his people were ever there."
That made a disturbing amount of sense. It was no wonder infiltrating Ares' city was so simple; it was designed to be.
We approached the gate, and I quickly began dialing home. Ma'chello watched me input the sequence; obviously putting the address into the back of his mind. The final symbol locked into place, and we walked through the gate, arriving in the same empty clearing we always did.
Ma'chello and the other resistance members scanned their environment. They seemed to relax slightly when there was no sign of hostile forces, but several of them had their eyes linger on the massive footprints that were imprinted onto the gravel.
I activated my compad and sent the arrival notice. Confirmation arrived not even ten seconds later.
"Transportation will be here in a few minutes."
"What should we be expecting?"
He asked while staring intently at the massive footprint of the Phoenix Hawk.
I smiled at him, feeling particularly smug.
"You'll know when you see it."
We waited for a few moments, before the ground started to shake in that way anyone who'd ever seen a mech move would recognize. Looks of mild confusion and panic appeared on the faces of the resistance members, but they quickly gathered themselves when they saw Kaela, Yren, and me not reacting.
Suddenly, the head of a mech appeared from over the hill; Elder James' Phoenix Hawk. Behind it, a Marauder and eight Locusts followed behind. The members of the resistance watched as the behemoths of metal stomped their way over the crest of the road and towards us, all of them travelling at a good thirty miles an hour.
Ma'chello watched on in fascination as they came to a sudden stop not far away from the gate. The hatch of the lead Phoenix Hawk opened up and the resistance members gazed up in stunned awe as Elder James clambered down.
"Well Arthur, you going to introduce us?"
I nodded.
"Elder James, this is Ma'chello. Sir, this is James Cromwell, of the SLDF."
Elder James quickly corrected me.
"Formerly of the SLDF… And you say you're Ma'chello. Well sir, I've heard a lot about you, though I was expecting you to be much older. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Ma'chello raised an eyebrow, sneaking a quick peak back at me.
"No, the pleasure is mine. I was unaware that my name was so widely known; you'll have to tell me how that came about."
The Elder chuckled.
"Another time. I do believe we have more serious matters to discuss first. Care for a ride." The Elder gestured at the Battlemechs, standing there menacingly.
"More than you could possibly imagine. If I wanted further proof that you weren't with the Goa'uld, then this would more than do it. What are these machines called?"
Ma'chello gestured to the Mechs.
Elder James nodded.
"They're Battlemechs. That one – my mech – is a Royal Phoenix Hawk. The small ones are Locust's, and the really big one is a Marauder."
Ma'chello examined the now named machines for a moment.
"If you are willing to offer such machines in the battle, Ares' forces will never stand a chance."
The Elder chuckled.
"I wouldn't go that far. We can't get the big ones through the gate; when the time comes, the only support we'll really be able to provide is with the Locusts."
Ma'chello frowned in confusion.
"Do you not have ships of your own?"
The Elder shrugged in resignation.
"We do, but our FTL drive is disabled, and everyone who might know how to fix her is dead."
Ma'chello winced slightly.
"You have my condolences."
The Elder just smiled at the man.
"It's been over thirty years now. Nonetheless, I appreciate the sentiment."
Ma'chello continued.
"Do you think it would be possible for us to get a look at your ship at some point? We might be able to do something about getting your drive functioning given some time."
The Elder gives it a moment of thought, before answering.
"Eventually, perhaps. That'll have to be in the future, however. At the moment we both have greater concerns. Would you like to ride her?"
Ma'chello and the Elder grab a ride in the Phoenix Hawk while the rest of us find open seats in other Mechs. A few minutes later, we arrived at the Dropship landing site.
As we hop out, Ma'chello looks at the massive dropships in confusion. The Elder seems to anticipate his question.
"These are dropships. They're too small to have one of our FTL drives. They usually dock to an FTL capable vessel and then disconnect when they arrive at their destination."
Ma'chello stared up at the massive 33 meter tall Confederate class dropship.
"Your FTL systems must be quite large to be unable to fit them into such a vessel."
The Elder nodded.
"Aye, quite large indeed."
The resistance members and the Elders quickly found their way to a conference room where they began discussing the nature of their upcoming cooperation.
Six hours after we arrived, Eamon returned from the gate with a video and audio recording of a Goa'uld sending an audio recording to one Jollinar of Malkshur– a name he quickly recognized as belonging to a rather famous Tok'ra.
The resistance members stayed with us for three days while they and the Elders worked out the nature of the upcoming cooperation. By the end, a formal declaration had been signed. Along with it, we would be providing excess laser weapons and training to the resistance. There would also be a personnel swap – which I had been selected to be a part of.
Finally, we had a date for when we would begin our assault on Ares force. Two months; that was how long we had before we would wipe Ares of the board. I was ready, and so was everyone else.