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It was supposed to be a low-risk mission just dipping their toes back in the water. And of course it's not. There's wraith there and they have to run. The manage to dial fine, they even manage to get to the gate but as they're jumping through several wraith shots hit the gate and something goes strange. The normally smooth passage of the wormhole twists alarmingly and it's normal teal green shifts to a much more menacing red. And when they're finally spat out. They certainly aren't back at Atlantis.
SGA-1 finds themselves at the site of a demon summoning
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from-the-land
"As an officer should. Everything about Za - Chaos - is concerning. We're overdue for another Everchosen leading an army of the daemons, the lost, and the damned out of the Wastes, and summonings like this are meant to kill hundreds of our defenders before the war to weaken Kislev. By slaughter, by disease, by trickery and spells, or by seduction and treason. Killing four innocents can be an acceptable price to be sure they've failed."
not_so_golden_retriever
"I'm familiar with the idea. It may well be justified in this case but it's a very dangerous path to start down."
from-the-land
"You're about eight centuries late for that argument. Tell it to Khan-Queen Shoika when she was founding Kislev. We'd have fallen, oh, probably three times over by now, and probably the South with us. Mercy is a luxury, and I'm buying more of it than most. But unless you do something stupid you'll be fine until the Lady Witch finishes talking with you, and if you're really mortal men you should be fine even then."
not_so_golden_retriever
"That's fair enough. We'll stick around for this Lady Witch of yours to check us for Chaos."
first_chair
"So we're going to just indulge this?" Rodney whispers. "Trust our lives to someone who believes in magic?"
not_so_golden_retriever
"Rodney," He says in a quelling tone. "Let's be polite to our hosts. You remember Chaya."
first_chair
from-the-land
He can pick up on the skepticism better than you'd think. If they don't respond for a while, he'll consider what examples to give.
"In the city of Praag, which was conquered by Chaos for a few years, the dead walk at night unless they are cremated in a blessed fire, and the streets of the outer districts rearrange themselves while no one is looking. No witch or wizard can stand to live there because the residue of Chaos corrupts the soul and ghosts whisper to them on every street corner. The last time the Everchosen attacked, the dwarfhold Karak Vlag closed its doors to withstand a long siege, and when we finally won the war and checked on them, it was gone. The gates were blank stone and the mines were unexcavated; the watch towers had never been built, though many of the paths and stairs remained to show where they ought to be. The karak had stood unwavering for thousands of years and it was erased overnight. That's what it looks like when Chaos makes a serious attempt to soften us up. Our paranoia is more than justified."
not_so_golden_retriever
"Rodney." John cuts him off. "That sounds like something it's worth being worried about. I respect you being cautious and appreciate you checking whether we are what you're afraid of instead of just trying to kill us."
from-the-land
It has not remotely occurred to him that they might think magic doesn't exist, or he'd probably have something to say about it. Some southerners don't really believe in Chaos, but even they have priests and the occasional mages.
So they'll wait in silence for a while, until...
of-the-ice-and-snow
...A woman in white fur robes with layers of frost on the shoulders and an oak staff with ice-like crystals and more frost sweeps in through the doors, with a man in light brown robes with sunburst patterns picked out in gold thread following her.
"Teodor. This is what showed up when the cultists were expecting Khornate daemons?"
from-the-land
"Yes, Lady Kajetana. They claim to be men who were traveling through some other kind of portal while under attack, and surprised to be here instead of returned to their home. They appear to be completely unfamiliar with Za and say they're from a land without kings."
of-the-ice-and-snow
"Hmm," she says, looking at the group of them.
The temperature in the room is sinking slightly.
of-the-ice-and-snow
"That may be. You're supposed to be soldiers, so what are the woman and the clerk doing here?" Her tone is aggressive, just short of accusing.
greet_the_dawn
"In my culture women are just as likely to be warriors as men. I also help Colonel Shepard with negotiations and as someone who had prior knowledge of many of the peoples we met in our travels."
not_so_golden_retriever
"And Rodney's knowledge and skill with technology and science has gotten our team out of quite a few tight spots over the past year."
of-the-ice-and-snow
It may be noticeable that 'science' doesn't translate terribly smoothly in this language and what he said was more like 'engineering and study'.
"Sounds like a culture that would be strong for four generations and then run out of people. Traveling where? How?"
greet_the_dawn
"My people have survived since the ancestors left ten thousand years ago. Our team travels between worlds using the Ancestor's gates as we seek allies and resources to fight against the Wraith."
of-the-ice-and-snow
"By what names are the 'ancestors' known? What are their gates? Are the Wraith ordinary hungry ghosts, or if not what are they?"
not_so_golden_retriever
"My people call them the Ancients, and many others call them the Gatebuilders. We believe they called themselves Alterans. They were in most respects humans but they had enhanced minds and special powers since then they've all either died or ascended. The Wraith are kinda like vampires. They feed on people's life force instead of blood though."
from-the-land
The men with the guns are visibly more nervous. There's still nothing pointed at the team, but fingers which had slipped from triggers have returned to them.
not_so_golden_retriever
Apparently he shouldn't have said that. Maybe something about the Ascended sounds like this Za or Chaos that they're afraid of.
"The ascended are... strange they have strict rules about interacting with beings like ourselves that are still physical so my people have only met them a handful of times. They aren't physical beings like you or I they're something stranger."