Ketchup - 2

Continuing 'The Story So Far'

N.B. This constitutes a SPOILER ZONE for any 'episode' you haven't already read.

The Mirror Cracked: part 1

At the Agora, Lt. Kern was upset at hearing that Captain Beck had been sold as a slave. General Bradfield was unsurprised by what had happened. On the plus side, they found records of two missing men matching the Agora clerks. J felt sorry for Kern, a loner with few social skills, and decided to include him more. Later, at Ash's pad, Maxine showed the others what she'd bought at the Agora.

At the debriefing, Maxine received a summons to WPX for the following afternoon. She went to her office in the Arlington Building early and found a suspicious new document on her in-tray. It mentioned Dragomir and sounded like a plot to assassinate someone. When she came back from lunch, the document had been removed. She gained more information from her photo-copy.

Maxine had a different driver, Sergeant Quinney. President Warren was not in a good mood but Maxine managed to bullshit her way through their inability to rescue Captain Beck. Sergeant Quinney then kept her waiting, so Maxine got the groom, Costin, to tell her where to find him. In the staff room, Maxine rescued the young Romanian maidservant from Quinney's sexual attack. Warren arrived in the middle of the altercation, and gave her the girl, Ellika, to add to her slave collection. Ellika proved to be Costin's daughter. Maxine took her to the linguistics department. Later, J and Maxine had a row about her slaves.

At the next briefing for their mission to P4D-141, an agricultural world allegedly showing signs of rebellion, Kern was told he was on compassionate leave and would not be going. As the remaining four members of SG-24 set off up the ramp, J was called back by a messenger, and waved the rest to carry on; he would follow.

P4D-141 didn't look like the agrarian world they were expecting. Then the wormhole collapsed with no sign of J. Maxine had a bad feeling about it.

The Mirror Cracked: part 2

Luc called the SGC and was told that J had already left. They were then ambushed by several men in cammos and carrying ray guns. The leader told them in Romanian that they were safe but their friend wasn't. The group left immediately through the 'Gate.

In a science lab, the scientists had to abort their procedure. Matter streams coalesced into two men, each standing on a circular podium. During the panic, one guy jumped on to the other man's podium. The two were combined into a single matter stream which disappeared through a small horizontal Stargate in the ceiling.

The 'Gate on P4D-141 activated without a 'kawoosh' and two men - one was J - tumbled out, fighting. Instead of greeting his team, J ordered them to kill the other guy. The order was too out-of-character for any of them to obey. Maxine sneezed. The stranger then proved that he was actually J.

The Romanian group returned and cuffed 'J.' Their leader announced himself as Eneas of the Contra-Bruxai. They were descendants of the Archaioi or Furlings. Long ago, the Dwimmerlings, or dark Furlings taught the Strigoi (priest/scientists) how to take over people in power and replace them.

Maxine identified J's would-be replacement as Dragomir. The science lab. was beneath the Stargate. Eneas led his men in, taking over the lab. As J and Dragomir were being swapped back, there was a loud sneeze that wasn't from Maxine. In response to Eneas' order, Grandfather Daniel appeared. Eneas explained that Ancients were allergic to dark matter.

Maxine thought the whole mission was set up to replace J. Skender, the Contra-Bruxan scientist told them that memories were suppressed, not destroyed, but removing the memory block was difficult. Before the Contra-Bruxai left, Eneas told SG-24 the code symbols for worlds which were safe, those which had labs under them and ones which had been taken over by the Bruxai. Maxine agreed a Tau'ri symbol with them.

Before SG-24 returned, the team agreed the tale they would tell. They'd been held prisoner by bandits. J, knocked out earlier by Luc, had been concussed trying heroics.

General Bradfield had been informed about the error in the 'Gate address by a memo delivered in his absence. Later, in the infirmary, J told the team Beck was to be replaced by Captain Bachmann, and that while he was laid up, his replacement was to be an officer from out of state named Major Reuben Kellermann. Luc reacted with horror.

Perdition, Catch My Soul: part 1

Luc, shaken to the core, left the S.G.C. Theo tracked him down in his apartment, where he was sitting in the dark holding a photograph. Luc showed Theo the photograph of a beautiful girl, now dead. The events took place in Las Vegas, now a walled city and Catholic bastion against the Warriors.

Luc's father ran a club. One of his mother's bridge playing friends, Via Cavalcanti, seduced Luc, then sixteen. He came to realize she was just using him as a sex toy. This led him to objectify women, becoming a sex addict.

At nineteen, he met Christine, the girl in the photo. She was his own age and resisted his charm, much as Maxine did later. His interest piqued, he fell in love with her. He visited her home outside the walls of Las Vegas, intending to ask her to marry him. At the end of their love making, an angry man burst in with his two sons.

This was Christine's bully of a husband. He strangled his errant wife in front of Luc and the sons attacked Luc, throwing him down the stairs. Realizing there would be no one to avenge his inamorata if they killed him too, he fled the scene.

He turned to his parents. Concerned that the Kellermanns, high-ranking Warriors, would blame Luc for the murder, they changed his appearance and sent him to Colorado where he joined the Air Force Academy.

Theo tried to dissuade Luc from his plan of revenge. Luc pointed out that the Kellermanns already had the blood of innocents on their hands and would take more lives if not stopped. Theo then went to warn Ash after Luc promised not to act rashly.

The following morning, there was a briefing for the next mission, plus introductions to the new team members. Luc played it cool. Major Kellermann made a veiled threat to Theo. Later, Theo went to see Ash. Mr. Kirkwood told him the three Kellermanns had dragged his son off to be tortured then executed. Promising to help Ash, Theo went to Luc's to aid his plans for avenging the innocent.

Perdition, Catch My Soul: part 2

Maxine's father, Rufus Pepperday, arrived with news from her Young Warrior brother, Rusty, who was acting as Rufus' spy, as was Josiah Fischer, whom Ash feared. Rusty's news was that out-of-towners had come to round up homosexuals, including Ash, to be tortured and executed in Project Hell's Gate. Maxine identified them as the Kellermanns.

Next day, Rusty found that Ash was being held in a church cellar. That night, Maxine acted as spy, using the invisibility material, and zatted a guard. Rufus zatted another - Benjy the Bigot. Ash and two others, Michael and Josh, had already been taken up on to Cheyenne Mountain. The 'avengers' freed the other three prisoners from the cellar then they blew up the church.

Up on the mountain, the Kellermanns were preparing to burn their three victims. One tried to escape and had his leg broken. The youths were tied to stakes. Before the fires were lit, a bright shooting star came towards the site. It turned into a misty cloud which healed the youths' injuries. The rescuers arrived unnoticed, zatted the Kellermanns and fastened them to the stakes, then set them alight.

The press, ordered by the Kellermanns, arrived just after the rescuers had hidden. The blue mist surrounded Ash as he told how they'd been rescued and healed by God who lit the fires under the Kellermanns. Dr. Timmy Flint arrived and described Michael's repaired broken leg as a miracle.

Later at Ash's pad, he told his rescuers that it had been Daniel who'd healed them. The local T.V. news covered the story as 'The Miracle of Cheyenne Mountain.'

The Storm is Come Again: part 1

During the next briefing, Bachmann showed knowledge of Kellermann's plans. To protect Ash from Bachmann's slurs, Maxine implied that they were an item. Bachmann was also annoyed that the mission to the real P4D-131 had been postponed until J would be back on active duty.

After the briefing, Lt. Kern privately thanked Luc for saving his cousin at the church and his cousin's 'close friend' on the mountain. Luc was worried and called a meeting at Ash's pad to discuss potential problems. Might the Warriors round up those known to have been in the church? A 'phone call to Rufus revealed that all those rescued were safe. It was decided to conceal their identity on such missions with code names, to practise finger spelling and signing, and to learn a little Japanese.

Maxine slept over at Ash's from time to time to imply a straight relationship. A tripped security device told them that someone had broken in, but nothing had been stolen.

In the 'Gate Room, Bachmann was ranting about not needing one of the PATTs which were having a trial run, so J had one taken back to storage. On P4D-131, J set Bachmann to remain at the 'Gate as, without a PATT, he would slow them down. J told him to stay and hide and to contact him if anyone came through the 'Gate. Maxine spotted a sign indicating that P4D-131 was a Bruxan-controlled world.

As the remaining five drove to Persulis, the principal town, peasants working on rows of vines, took cover. Discussing possible reasons for this, Luc suggested that Kern needed to know about the Bruxai, and P4D-131 being a Bruxan world. J agreed. Kern picked up on why no one at then SGC had mentioned it, and when J asked Kern to pass anything suspicious on to him or one of the team, Kern suggested that Bachmann was not included in this. J was pleased that he was fitting into his team.

Maxine began asking a young man working on the vines for information. When she said she was Tau'ri, he attacked her.

The Storm is Come Again: part 2

Maxine made friends with her attacker, Nashak, and explained that the real bad guys were the Bruxai not the Tau'ri. They exchanged information and he told her they could hide out in his aunt's washing shop.

J was concerned to hear that there was a party of Bruxai already in Persulis. He decided to leave the PATTs in a copse near the town and enter the town via the Rivergate to the north of the town. They would use the laundry as a base for gathering intell.

Aunt Shirin agreed to help, lending Maxine, Luc and Theo local clothing so they could blend in. Kern helped in the laundry while J kept watch from the shady doorway. The spying party was passed by two Bruxans discussing SG-24 in Romanian. Maxine warned J they were coming his way.

In the baha-zar, or marketplace, Maxine rescued a young lady, Gulshan, from a couple of Bruxans who were taking her to their leader, Frantisek. Maxine then ran away, pursued by the Bruxan kidnappers. Luc went to look for/rescue her and found her sitting in an alley in tears. She'd killed the two men and destroyed the evidence with her zat.

Meanwhile, J overheard the two Bruxans talking to Bachmann on their comm. units. His anger towards Bachmann reminded him of a time before he'd learned to control his temper, and had been rescued by his bother, Lincoln.

Back in the baha-zar, the rest of the team took Gulshan home. Crossing the parade ground, they met Gulshan's father, Tahmuras. He was the hazarapatish or military commander, and spoke little English. Maxine explained that the satrap had probably been replaced by a Bruxan, but should be kept alive so he could be reunited with his body, if and when he was found.

Together, the three and Tahmuras put together a plan. Tahmuras would lure Jahandar and the Bruxans, individually into another room where they would be over-powered and then locked up in the underground cells.

This worked fine until Theo and Luc found one of the Bruxai leaning over his fellow with Maxine out cold on the floor.

The Storm is Come Again: part 3

Maxine had been shot with a Bruxan ray gun. Luc had to shoot the other one. With the last of the Bruxai locked up, Frantisek bragged that the USS Habbakuk - the last Daedalus-class ship - belonged to the Bruxai.

J called in to say that he and Kern were coming to join the rest of the team as Bachmann had reported the arrival of a dozen men on horseback through the 'Gate. Maxine identified the First Prime's tattoo as belonging to the goa'uld, Azi Dahaka. Tahmuras freaked at the name of 'the old god.'

Maxine told J they would come and meet them and told J the Bruxan leader's name. J's response indicated that they had been intercepted by Bruxans. Maxine and Tahmuras rescued J and Kern. The team with Tahmuras, now satrap, then set about defending the town with chevaux-de-frises and C4.

J had fun baiting Vishnasp, the first prime, before routing the band, confiscating their weapons and horses, then escorting them to the 'Gate. J let Vishnasp choose which planet to go to.

Back in Persulis, J made Tahmuras a gift of the weapons and horses as a sort of recompense for what the Tau'ri had taken without paying, and asked only for Persulian goodwill and friendship. He suggested that Tahmuras keep Jahandar prisoner until the real one showed up, and that Frantisek and his men be treated the same way they treated their captives and sell them as slaves. Tahmuras could keep all the proceeds.

Back at the 'Gate, Bachmann wanted to know what had happened to the horses and weapons, becoming agitated when J wouldn't say. Maxine left a message for the Contr-Bruxai near th 'Gate. At the debriefing, Bachmann complained that protocols hadn't been followed, then he got a summons to WPX.

In the evening, J, Luc, Maxine and Theo went to the Sunny Side Up. There, an old tramp accosted them, grasping Maxine's wrist and touching a brooch on his lapel. It was Grandfather Daniel. He had created a 'time loop' in order to warn her that Kyros was on Earth. Kyros was after the Stemma Dunamatelikon and The Diabolikon, plus someone pure of spirit, such as Ash, to open the book. Kyros had been ascended by the Dwimmerlings.

At the mention of dark energy, Maxine realized the Stemma was the crown she'd 'confiscated' from King Tobias. Before Daniel could tell her how to destroy it, he was yanked away by powers unseen. Before he disappeared, he ripped the brooch from his lapel and gave it to her 'to look after'- proof she hadn't been hallucinating. The time loop rejoined seamlessly with the normal flow of time, except that the tramp had vanished.

All That Glisters...: part 1

Maxine warned Dr. Feynman that Kyros wanted the crown and asked that he hide it.

SG-24's next mission was to P6L-208, a 'Wildcard World' found by random computer dialling many years ago, but never visited. This one had atmospheric pollutants normally found in technologically advanced societies.

Maxine was summoned to WPX and found her attack on Sergeant Quinney had made her famous there. After a joke about the fork, Warren questioned her closely. She managed to convince him that Bachmann, with his age and experience, had been of more use guarding the 'Gate, plus he couldn't have kept pace with the PATTs. She also pointed out that they had gained the goodwill of the Persulians at no cost to themselves.

The next day, J received written Presidential orders that Bachmann was to guard the 'Gate. The other five set off into the woodland. The planet showed no sign of advanced civilization.

While the team stopped for a break, three people in mediaeval attire arrived in a clearing nearby. Maxine donned a robe and went to spy on them. High Priestess Albinia and two men were discussing the danger of their gold falling into the hands of Count Orthon when two men in chain-mail yanked Maxine from her hiding place.

Maxine protested that she was not a spy but was looking for trading partners for her people. A new arrival brought news of a plot to steal the gold. The two men in chain-mail, Sir Wayland and Sir Bennegard, threatened to get information about the plot from Maxine, the spy.

All That Glisters...: part 2

Count Orthon's Nighthawks and SG-24 burst into the clearing, J spraying bullets into the air. He was taken aback when the shrewish Albinia ripped him a new one for using real weapons. The locals were not mediaeval peasants, but Live Action Role-Players. The two knights were played by medical student Frayne Bardon and post-grad physics student, Nevin Stanbow.

Albinia, or Rowan Vailser, was an arch-skeptic who was convinced SG-24 were not 'aliens' but free-loaders trying to gatecrash their Summerfest. By way of proof otherwise, J sent Frayne and Rowan with Luc and Maxine to the Agora.

While they were away, J learned more about the LARPers. Eyan Challix, eldest son of Zandar Challix, was summoned. Zandar was a businessman who owned the woods that the LARPers used. Eyan was nearly as skeptical as Rowan.

At the Agora, Rowan was eventually convinced she was on another planet. The group visited the slave market where Maxine met Noah and Jethro again. In the center of the Agora, Maxine saw a strange signpost.

On the way back to the 'Gate, Frayne save a little girl's life and her mother gave them all gifts of leather headbands. The mother made a public declaration of the gifts as Stelios had done when he gave her his gold ring - presumably to prevent innocents being sold as slaves.

When the group returned, the Summerfest party was in full swing, and Zandar Challix haad driven over. He and J set up a meeting with the Tau'ri trade delegation.

After debriefing came a visit to the Sunny Side Up with Ash. Maxine told them about the signpost. Two signs pointed to the Stargate and the Space Port. The other two pointed to the 'Allokosmopulon' which she took to mean a Quantum Mirror. Ash worked out what the 'Chronokinaton' was...

Heirs and Graces: part 1

General Bradfield announced a 'foraging mission to P5C-768 to Bachman's delight and Maxine's horror. Kern later pledged his support to J in thwarting Bachmann's plans. Maxine called a meeting to tell her friends that P5C-768 was Edora. The mission must fail because it might be home to O'Neill's descendants.

At Ash's pad, Maxine suggested burying Edora's 'Gate, and blaming the 'fire rain.'. Theo agreed to sabotage Bachmann's PATT, and Ash would likewise prevent the DHD from working for a while to give them time to bury the 'Gate. Luc wondered how they would get home. Maxine arranged to collect 'the return tickets.'

Next day, Bradfield told J that Kern had been injured while helping his widowed mother. J asked that Kern be moved to the SGC infirmary. Bradfield agreed and also gave SG-24 leave to help Mrs. Kern. She thanked J for his good influence on her son. Eli had gotten in with a bad crowd. At the Sunny Side Up, Rufus gave Maxine their 'return tickets' from Aunt Claire.

In the infirmary, Bachmann gloated to cronies about how he'd ousted Warren's pet copper-knob. He also had a large supply of C4 in his PATT and referred to Kern as a moron. Kern and Timmy Flint listened quietly and passed the intell on to J, who collected Bachmann and banned him from requisitioning any more C4 without his authorization. The rest of SG-24 returned most of the C4 to the armories. Next day, Bachmann's PATT broke down on cue.

On Edora, the locals were waiting, armed with Tau'ri weapons. Maxine spoke with their leader, a suspicious Finn O'Neill, and told him of their plan to bury the 'Gate. At the SGC, Bradfield told Bachmann to go on foot, but the wormhole wouldn't engage. Ash became involved, delaying Bachmann's departure, but eventually he was cleared to go.

Heirs and Graces: part 2

On Edora, Maxine produced an Asgard transportation gem to get them home. The team was aghast until she convinced them the Asgard were still living. Then Bachmann arrived and was told the cover story.

He held that the disobedient peasants had tricked J, and started firing his 9mil. The bullets were stopped in a silvery glow. The glow coalesced into Jack O'Neill. He declared Edora off-limits, stating that the Edorans were his 'heirs and graces.'

J asked Jack's help in getting home without Bachmann giving them away. On Jack's say so, Maxine operated the crystal, transporting them all on to Thor's ship. Bachmann was taken away. Jack asked that a chip be embedded in his brain with a memory of the fire rain, but no memory of himself.

As Thor left, a pissed-off Daniel appeared; he hadn't known Jack had ascended too. He calmed down when he learned that Jack had been watching his back when Daniel had been intervening.

General Bradfield was worrying that SG-24 might be dead when Thor beamed the whole team, including a puzzled Bachmann, into the 'Gate room. Next day, Bachmann visited Maxine's office in the Arlington Building and demanded to know what she'd done to him because there were holes in his memory, then added that Warren wanted to see her, stat.

She was further delayed by the driver, who was one of Beck's cronies. When she realized, she pushed him out of the buggy and drove herself to the White House. Warren wanted to know why their mission failed. He was interested to learn about the Asgard and wanted to know why they couldn't have re-opened the 'Gate.

Maxine replied that the Asgard disapproved of advanced races exploiting less advanced ones, and that the Tau'ri had a bad rep. She warned that they were lucky there wasn't an Asgard attack fleet coming and that the Tau'ri should be on their best behavior. At SG-24's 'debriefing' at Ash's pad, Maxine was concerned that she'd forgotten about the bug in her computer when Bachmann was in her office. Ash made her a butterfly 'decoration' to remind her.

Hitched: part 1

At WPX, Maxine found a scrawled message in her locked office, reading 'Beware of the Black Dragon.'

While Ash was having lunch alone at the Sunny Side Up, he was joined by a dark-haired man claiming to be new to Colorado Springs. The stranger turned up regularly when Ash was having lunch and introduced himself as Dougal Drake. To discourage Drake from joining him, Ash took Maxine with him for lunch. Drake came over to see Ash's girlfriend. Maxine denied the relationship, but Drake implied that he knew it was true.

Two days latter, Ash received an envelope containing photos of his apartment from the Kellermann affair when Maxine's clothes were there, and a photocopied report from the 'morality police' about the two living in sin. The sender was 'D.D.' Ash went to the Sunny Side Up to find Drake. Drake worked for the morality police so he could 'warn good people' like Ash. He could also make the problem go away in exchange for a favor. Ash told Maxine about their problem and Drake's offer.

Maxine found the paper with the warning. Douglas Drake was the black dragon, and probably Kyros. She shocked Ash by telling him what Drake wanted, then told him about the crown. Ash said he had a plan to solve the problem, but needed to contact Rufus while SG-24 were on their mission to a Wildcard World. Maxine visited Dr. Feynman, but Drake had not been there.

Next day, SG-24 minus Kern arrived on P7Y-329. Shortly after, and when they were out of sight of Bachmann, J agreed to a pow-wow suspecting Maxine's paranoia, but Luc backed her up. So they drove the PATTs into a clearing in the trees. Bachmann was acting out of character. J recalled that Bachmann had called him 'sir' without being prompted.

Luc said Bachmann had positioned the AVCOP where it couldn't 'see' what was going on. He recalled that Eneas' first act had been to shoot up the AVCOP during the Dragomir incident. J agreed it was fishy, so they went on foot keeping under cover. Round the next bend, they saw a group of Bruxai coming towards them. They had Eneas and some of his band prisoner. Probably they were planning on capturing SG-24 too. Theo came up with a plan for rescuing their allies.

Hitched: part 2

The rescue succeeded. Eneas and co. were being taken to the Bruxan slave market. Thanks all round for rescues, and warnings, led to reminiscences. J recalled Bachmann's communications as Andrei, and asked Eneas to field the call if Bachmann did it again, which he soon did.

Eneas, as the Bruxan leader, gave Bachmann a rollicking for alerting his team-mates who had thus evaded capture. Luc told Eneas their secret mission names - Wolf, Hawk, Storm and Blue - and the reason for them. Bachmann's presence at the 'Gate was a problem for Eneas going back to their base. Maxine said she'd deal with it - and disappeared.

She returned to the 'Gate alone and zatted Bachmann from behind, then trussed him up. He was regaining consciousness as the Contras left. Toma kicked him. As Eneas, last to leave, waved goodbye, SG-24 fired a volley of shots and came running to Bachmann's 'rescue.'

Bachmann was suspicious about how the rest had evaded capture. J said they'd been alerted by some loud-voiced moron calling the slavers. As Bachmann was probably injured, J terminated the mission.

The team went to Ash's. After they'd given their account, Ash put his arm around Maxine's shoulder and introduced her as his wife. With the support of Rufus and Aunt Claire, he'd hacked into the Government computers and 'registered' their marriage some two years earlier. They'd kept quiet about it to keep their jobs. So nothing needed to change.

Next day, Maxine was called in to see General Bradfield. He knew about the marriage and said 'someone' in the Office of Public Morality had found an 'anomaly' in the records, and that she was to undergo a medical to prove that the marriage had been consummated and was legal. As her friend Dr. Flint was away, Dr. Dawson was waiting for her. Maxine told Dawson it could wait until her own doctor returned.

Luc found her looking worried and asked what the problem was. Maxine explained, and Luc offered her the 'natural' solution. Out of options, Maxine agreed. Luc had something he needed to do, so they settled on two days later in the cave. Afterwards, Luc told her that Rufus said he was to take her to Aunt Claire who had a healing device. Maxine was amused that Luc had discussed her virginity with her father. Then she wanted Luc to do it again...

Basic Information

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