Chapter 51: Stargate 5

Now that Carl had personally deployed his spy eyes in the SGC and had backdoor access to their computers and all their reports, he easily gained access to all the addresses they had scheduled for testing and visiting in the future.

With the first parts of his goals complete, Carl made a trip back to his planet, that he would have to name pretty darned soon. "Maybe I'll call it Caladan. The name of the homeworld of Paul Atreides in the novel Dune, Caladan has a nice sound to it. And it's not a sandy piece of drek like Arrakis was. Caladan it is." Carl decided.

Back on Caladan, Carl inspected what the Petes had been building recently. The basic utilities for his city were built, the streets were being laid out, and the different zones were organized. It was looking good. Once it was complete and populated, it would be quite a sight.

Carl then had the Pete's begin building for him a large supply of stealth satellites. It was time for him to go a-traveling and a-surveying. After loading up the Yamato with the satellites, he set out for the planets that the SGC would soon be dialing up.

The first planet he arrived at was Cartago. There was a primitive society there. Their ranged weapons consisted of crossbows, which could be just as deadly as a gun. Which meant they posed no risk to him. Carl didn't even bother doing anything other than dropping off a satellite before moving on.

The planet was the one where, in the show, Teal'c would be put on trial for his actions while he was the First Prime of Apophis. Carl would naturally intervene if it looked like the people there was about to go overboard. The fact that they put Teal'c on trial in the first place, instead of just giving him mob vengeance, spoke well of the people of Cartago. So Carl planned to work on recruiting them sometime later.

Having law abiding people of good character join his empire would set the proper stage for future development. But for now, he was just leaving means to monitor and gather intel.

After moving on to the next addresses, Carl found three empty planets in a row that had no humans present. But they had Stargates, so Carl left a satellite at each one.

The next planet Carl arrived at was the home world of the Tollans. It was currently going through some volcanic crisis that was making the planet uninhabitable. So the Tollans were in the midst of relocating their population to a new planet.

From Carl's memory of the show, he didn't have a lot of good feelings for the Tollans. They were an arrogant people that looked down on the main characters of the show, so he had some negative opinion of them. But he didn't want to see lots of them die to a natural disaster when he could help, so he decided he would do something about it.

Besides, Carl admitted to himself that his opinions of the people that the SG1 team interacted with was influenced heavily by the show being focused on the "main characters". As a result of being aware of this bias, he was trying to not let his previously formed opinions influence him too much.

Carl entered his time dilation pearl, and spent the extra time designing and building an automated ship that he would leave stealthed in orbit over the doomed planet. Carl wasn't going to personally sit around for months to hover over and help the Tolllans at the last moment, so he programmed the ship to act on its own. Anytime any of the Tollans was about to succumb to the poisonous gasses being released by the volcanic activity, or about to die in accident, the ship was to teleport them up to the ship, heal them, and put them in stasis so they couldn't get up to hijinks with his technology.

What was the Tollan's catch phrase? "We can't share technology with less advanced races." Well, Carl felt like applying the same safeguards to the Tollan people, since he didn't know or trust them.

Since the SGC would likely visit the planet before the last of the Tollan could evacuate, he programmed the ship to let the SG1 team save some of the Tollan. Anybody left behind by the SGC personnel would still be teleported up to save their lives. Carl still wanted the SGC to interact with the Tollan, and to see how the NID would act.

Seeing how the NID organization acted, who talked to who, and where the money flowed would all give Carl plenty of information on how to dismantle the organization without needing to personally read a lot of people's minds to get the information.

While Carl had the previously formed opinion that the Tollan were jerks for not hooking up the SGC with tech and what not, now that he had tech himself that he wasn't willing to share willy nilly, he could understand the perspective. Just because a beggar comes asking for handouts doesn't obligate him to give up the shirt on his back, and empty his bank account to ensure the beggar had a good life.

But just because Carl wasn't willing to chop off an arm for some stranger didn't mean he would sit by and watch them die in front of him. There was a huge difference between being a decent human and being a Welcome Mat that anyone could just walk all over and treat horribly.

Heck, even his efforts to uplift the science and tech of Earth was going to be carried out slowly and with plenty of economic benefits for his own side. Giving away free tech was a good way to destabilize and cause more problems.

Carl briefly pondered about what would happen if he could terraform a duplicate Earth for every country, nationality, religion, or political movement that was currently present on Earth. He could kidnap them all separately and drop them off on their very own Earth. No one but their own group in charge of a whole planet. No one to trade with. No one to argue with.

It really would be amusing to see just how they get along without their neighbors.

Carl shook off the crazy idea. That would be a lot of work for just some entertainment. Unless he recorded it and compiled it into a show…

"No, Carl! You've got too many other things to do, and only nine and a half years to do them in. Focus!" Carl slapped his crazy ideas away.

Carl got back to the topic at hand, the Tollan and SGC meeting. Carl felt like it would be good for the SGC and Earth to know the Tollans and vice versa, so Carl didn't mind facilitating the meeting.

Once the Petes in his time dilation finished building the ship, Carl left it hovering over the planet and moved on to the next planet.

Carl kept up a slow and leisurely pace of 5 planets a day. Meanwhile he kept in contact with his disciples who were working on Earth. Occasionally on the weekend they would all board their ships and move off to some of the empty planets that Carl had set up a satellite over in order to play around with their abilities, ships, and other toys. It was a good relaxing time for the group, to be able to go wherever they wanted, do whatever they wanted, and not have to worry about anything for the time being.

When Christmas time rolled around, Carl returned to Earth and joined his disciples in celebrating the holiday. He hadn't spent a lot of time in front of all the employees they had hired for their earth based company, so it was a good time for him to meet them and show that the owner was around and keeping track of their work.

It was amusing to Carl to meet Dr. McKay. That was a man who could talk an ear off. He was definitely excited about the facilities they had built for him to do his work and experiments in.

Carl was pleased with the progress of all the departments. His disciples had hired high quality people. They were busy "developing" the full immersion VR that they would release within the next several months. Carl's time in the SAO world gave them a lot of experience as to what to watch out for when releasing technology like that to a world like Earth.

They were also in talks with many of the cutting edge medical research facilities and the military, who all wanted to get in on the full immersion VR technology. For the military it would be a low cost way to train their troops. In the VR they could use all their ordinance as if it was live, and not worry about accidents, deaths, or budgets. Programming scenarios to allow two units to fight each other would give them valuable experience in fighting tough and smart enemies.

Carl wasn't against the military gaining access to the full immersion VR technology, but they would have to pay a premium for it. He wouldn't be so silly as to just give it away. However he left the negotiations up to the legal team that Tera gathered. It was their job, after all.

After Christmas and the New Year, Carl continued his trip around the galaxy, leaving stealthed and warded satellites above all the world that had Stargates.

In the middle of January Carl arrived at a planet that had a population of Jaffa on it. Based on his scans, he discovered that it was one of the worlds that belonged to the System Lord Moloc. Carl sat up in excitement when he found that out. He sent out the satellites so they could cover the planet.

"Oh, yeah. I've wanted to find this Moloc bastard for a while now." Carl muttered gleefully.

Moloc was a more deranged than usual Goa'uld. He seemed to derive a sick pleasure for torturing and killing those under his rule. And for some reason he decided that he only wanted male Jaffa around. So he ordered his Jaffa to burn to death all the female Jaffa that were born. Only male Jaffa were to be allowed to live and bring him glory, or some such rot.

"I mean, does he want his population of Jaffa to die out?" Carl muttered, amazed by the cruel stupidity displayed by Moloc.

The complication in taking over was that the people of Moloc would be especially unhelpful due to his drawbacks, and the tech of a System Lord would not work for him. So, he would have to dispose of Moloc, and make it apparent that Moloc didn't rule anymore. Maybe once the occupants of the planets were no longer the people of a system lord, then the drawback would cease to be effective.

First, Carl needed to know the addresses of the various worlds that Moloc owned. But he couldn't chance hacking. So he simply teleported down, disillusioned. He found the highest ranked Jaffa, and read his mind.

He soon got all the information he needed. He knew where he could find each of Moloc's planets, and where the High Priestess Ishta was. Carl teleported back up to the Yamato and was about to leave when he was informed by his monitoring program that a few female babies were about to be burnt in offerings.

Carl cursed, and quickly had the ship teleport up the babies, while replacing them with a simple construct. The small flash of light might make the Jaffa suspicious, but he wasn't willing to let some babies die just to avoid some small suspicions.

Looking at the fussing babies laying on the deck where they were teleported to, Carl felt a headache coming on. What did he know about taking care of babies?

"There, there little ones." Carl tried verbally comforting the babies while he levitated them around him. He didn't seem to be able to do anything for the babies that were wailing in the air around him.

Sighing in defeat, Carl had the Yamato configure a nursery for the babies and arranged for them to taken care of. He remembered back to some spells that witches and wizards used to allow their babies to calm down and fall into nap time.

Carl sighed at the blessed quiet, before he jumped into his Time Pearl to have some extra time to have his army of Petes build 15 more stealth ships that would hover over Moloc's planets and replace any baby that was about to be sacrificed.

Once all the stealth ships were built and warded from interference by the snot balls, Carl exited the Time Pearl and pulled out the ships, then sent them out to seek out the planets they were to keep watch over and protect the babies that would otherwise have been burnt to death.

Now that Carl was assured that the babies would be safe, he had plenty of time to enact plans to change how things were done. Carl would love to kill Moloc right away, but he didn't have the forces needed to keep order on Molocs planets, let alone fight off the Goa'uld System Lords at the same time.

Despite his many advantages, he was only one man. And while he could maybe rely on the VIs to help him, he would prefer to give the people of the galaxy the chance to fight for their right to party. To live and be free, that is.

So before he moved to take out any of the System Lords, he needed to build up his forces, and set up plans. Have his people contact the rebel Jaffa and prepare to take control when the time came to exterminate the Goa'uld.

Upon arriving at the planet that Ishta, the High Priestess of Moloc was, Carl beamed down under concealment charms. He wandered around the small settlement.

'It seems that the Goa'uld keep their followers settlements small. They don't want to chance having uprisings.' Carl thought as he saw how the Jaffa and humans lived in primitive conditions.

Normally Carl wouldn't just walk up to a High Priestess who was a follower of a System Lord and start a conversation. That was guaranteed to go bad for his efforts to interact with them or convert them because of his drawback. But he knew that this particular High Priestess had been greatly disillusioned by Moloc's command to kill all the female jaffa babies. So she had been rebelling in secret, trying to save as many of the babies as she could. Which meant that she wasn't a follower of a System Lord, even if she still had the title.

'Loopholes.' Carl chuckled to himself as he made his way to the building the female Jaffa was in.

Carl scanned the inside of the building that Ishta was in. There were two females with her. Looking around and not seeing anyone around to see him appear, Carl shrugged and dispelled his disillusion spell. He couldn't be bothered to wait around until Ishta was alone.

He knocked on the door and stepped back, waiting for them to answer. The door opened, and Carl saw a female Jaffa with short red hair and a sneer on her face the moment she saw a male was at the door.

"And just who are you supposed to be?" Contempt dripped from her voice as she questioned Carl.

"I'm here to speak to Ishta about a matter that will be of great interest to her." Carl neutrally offered.

"Go away. We don't need any-"

"Neith!" A commanding voice came from inside. "Let the visitor in."

The female with a chip on her shoulder scowled even deeper, but grudgingly stood aside to allow Carl to enter.

The room was nice and had a cozy feeling. A low table was placed in front of where Ishta was sitting. The gorgeous blonde Ishta sat upon a diaz, with a large tapestry behind her with a flower design on it.

A dark skinned beauty sat to Ishta's right, while the scowling Neith took her place to Ishta's left.

Carl sat down in an empty seat without invitation across the table from Ishta. His mouth tried twitching into a smile when he saw his action provoke an even more furious scowl from Neith. She seemed to have a chip on her shoulder, which didn't impress Carl. People who hate based on race, or gender, or whatever generally didn't impress Carl. They were too stupid to realize they needed to target their hate at only the people who actually wronged them, not broad swaths of the galaxy in general.

"Hello, Priestess Ishta. My name is Carl Edwards. I don't feel like beating around the bush, so I'll come right out and tell you that I've gained some information about some of your activities in saving the daughters of the Jaffa from your false god's depravity. And I'm here to offer you some desperately needed help."

Carl could have tried being diplomatic and polite, dancing around the subject of why he was there until an hour or two had passed. But he figured the Jaffa, having a warrior culture, would appreciate brevity and straightforwardness.

Carl cast an indifferent glance at Neith when she seemed to be reaching for a weapon when Carl mentioned knowing about their secret actions. Ishta's action to stay the hand of her more ill tempered companion earned Ishta some points in Carl's opinion. Her other companion, the dark skinned one, actually leaned forward and seemed intrigued by Carl's offer of help, rather than confrontational, but let Ishta talk.

"Greetings Carl Edwards. I am Ishta, as you seem to already know." The Jaffa Priestess did a wonderful job keeping her equanimity in such an unusual situation. "These are my advisors and friends. Neith and Mala. Now, what assurances do we have that you are not trying to entrap us? You come out of nowhere and offer help. It seems strange. And what kind of payment are you expecting in return for your aid?"

Carl chuckled at Ishta's equally blunt questions. "I like you. You get straight to the point, and you seem very balanced in an unusual situation." Carl complimented the Jaffa. "As for how I can assure you I don't mean you ill? Well, I can only do some deeds that will show my good will. First, I recently saved a few girls from being burned on another of Moloc's worlds. I will entrust the girls with you as a sign I am willing to help you."

With three small flashes of light, the three babies that Carl saved earlier appeared next to the women in the room, swaddled in blankets and in baby carriers. Carl smirked at the astonishment in their eyes that he could teleport the babies in so effortlessly.

The three ladies immediately went to check over the babies. Neith's expression even softened into compassion as she cooed over the baby girl next to her. When Carl saw the change in demeanor, he pondered how to get Neith to change her attitude permanently. After Neith showed a side of her that wasn't filled with anger and hate, the red head woman didn't seem too bad to Carl anymore.

Maybe she needed a break from the front lines of the fight against Moloc? Or maybe being able to vent her hatred on Moloc would help her? Carl wasn't sure, but he left the options open in his mind. It would all depend on how Neith reacted in the future, as to how much effort he put in helping her regain her balance.

"Those girls have also been healed so they will no longer need to go through the Prim'ta. They will be perfectly healthy without a Goa'uld larva. I can also offer this healing service to all your people." Carl commented, knowing just what a bombshell he was dropping on them.

The astonished looks in their faces was gratifying to him.

Sometime in the past the Goa'uld had genetically engineered the Jaffa from base humans to need a prim'ta pouch, which acted as an incubator for Goa'uld larva. The larva replaced the Jaffa's immune system, so if they ever lost the larva, their bodies wouldn't be able to survive for very long.

Having an underground resistance to the Goa'uld insured that the people under Ishta were lacking Goa'uld larva to keep their people alive. Stealing larva from the Goa'uld would bring down the wrath of the System Lords down on them, since it would be seen as a rebellion. So Carl's offer to make sure they were not reliant on their larva was a huge deal.

"So." Ishta paused to gather herself so she could speak without her voice trembling. "So. What is the price for such aid?" She intently looked at Carl.

"Hmm. To be honest, there isn't a price, per se. I intend to free all Jaffa from Goa'uld rule eventually. But as to when I could get around to doing it? That all depends on how much help I can recruit into my organization. If you and your people joined me and gave me your loyalty, I would offer many benefits that would allow us to help free the Jaffa People much faster."

Ishta had a look on her face of contemplation. Neith was scowling again at Carl, even as she was playing with the child next to her. Mura still had yet to say anything, but she kept shooting looks at Ishta to see which way she was leaning.

"And just what would we be doing in your organization?" Ishta finally asked Carl.

"Well, that all depends on what each person wants to do. If they want to become a warrior, I can make them the best warriors around. If they want to become a farmer? Sure, we need food too. If they want to become a healer? That is great, we always need healers. If they want to learn technology, even better. If they want to learn a trade and live peacefully and to avoid the conflict? There will be a place for them. If they want to join the war against the false gods? They will be most welcome to join us when we cast down the Goa'uld tyrants."

"You talk very big." Neith sarcastically threw out.

"One of the wise men of my people was said to talk softly and carry a big stick. This is actually me talking softly. Imagine how big my stick is." Carl snarked back with a smile meant to indicate he wasn't offended in the least by her words.

Mura off to the side had to stifle a giggle, and Ishta too had a small smile on her face at the innuendo.

"Is there something else you can show us, to help us believe?" Mura asked.

"Indeed." Carl said. And then the seven of them were on the bridge of the Yamato. The babies were doing fine in their carriers, but the three ladies seemed to be quite a bit wary at the sudden change of location. "On the screen in front of us you see the planet we were just on. Watch closely."

Carl then had the ship go to hyperspace, taking them to the world Moloc was on. They arrived in minutes. He then cast disillusion charms on them, and teleported them down to the room Moloc was in. He kept track of them, and especially kept Neith from attacking Moloc at that time.

After waiting a few moments to be sure they knew it was real, Carl teleported them back up to the ship and had the Yamato head back to where they came from.

"You had him right there! I could have killed that monster! Why did you stop me?!" Neith raged against Carl as she paced back and forth once Carl had released her from the bindings and disillusion spell.

Carl cast a wandless calming spell at Neith, to try to calm her raging emotions. He stepped forward and placed his hands on her shoulders, ignoring the way she tensed when he did so.

"I already have ships in place over Moloc's worlds. From this point on, any time a Jaffa's daughter is about to be fed to the flames, my ships will save them. They will replace them with a doll that will convince Moloc everything goes as he ordered it. I set this up so that no more daughters would be killed by that monster." Carl stared hard into Neith's eyes, willing her to listen. To listen.

"Right now I don't have the people needed to keep order and free the Jaffa after I kill Moloc, let alone the rest of the System Lords. I need people to join my banner. I need some time to build up my forces. When that is done, I will let my armies go and destroy the Goa'uld rule. I will let you personally tear Moloc apart." Carl backed away from Neith, letting his hands drop, but never letting his eyes waver. "Will you join me in throwing down the Goa'uld?"

"Yes!" Neith almost growled, her hands clenching over and over as if imagining she was throttling Moloc. "If you keep your promise to give me Moloc, I'll follow you!"

Carl nodded seriously at Neith, then looked over at Istha and Mura to see their answers.

"I will join you. You've shown us that you have the power to do as you've said." Ishta looked around at the ship. "With this technology in your hands, it's obvious we can actually win."

Mura nodded eagerly. "Finally, some hope for us to win, not just survive!"

Carl smiled at them. "Now, let's get you to medical so we can rid you of the dependence on the Goa'uld larva." Carl beckoned for them to follow. They each picked up one of the babies in their carriers and followed him.

After healing the three ladies, Carl had dropped them back off on the planet. He had provided them with some shields to keep them safe, as well as a communication device so they could contact him in emergencies.

He arranged for his Petes to build a medical facility on the planet so Ishta could bring any Jaffa that was with her group to be healed so they didn't need the Prim'ta anymore. He also ordered the Petes to build some defenses for their small settlement. And he left a ship in stealth to provide them cover from above.

He promised that within the next month he would set up a training session for them to learn certain things. In the meantime, Ishta should figure out who would be loyal main forces. Carl limited the number of people she could bring to the training to eight, but their armies would need many more people.

After that, Carl continued traveling the galaxy, dropping off satellites as he went so he would have a better intelligence system. Not to mention, being able to travel the galaxy was a fun diversion for him.

While he was traveling around, he learned through his satellites that Teal'c was undergoing his trial by the locals on the planet Cartago. Carl showed up in orbit to make sure the people didn't turn into a mob or try Teal'c in a kangaroo court.

Carl didn't end up needing to intervene to save their lives, since they were able to convince the people that Teal'c was now fighting the good fight and should be let go.

Shaking his head at how the SG-1 team seemed to always get themselves into crazy situations, and barely escape by the skin of their teeth, Carl shook his head and continued journeying around the galaxy with an occasional stop back on Caladan or Earth.

At the end of January the SG-1 team rescued some Tollans from their doomed planet. Carl's ship had saved all the other Tollans and were delivering them to the new Tollan planet.

Carl decided to go watch the show in the SGC.

General Hammond and the SG-1 team entered the infirmary of the SGC to meet with the Tollans who just woke up.

"Who are you?" The man in the bed asked in an aggressive tone.

"I'm Major General Hammond. This is Colonel O'Neill." The bald and no nonsense General answered.

"Jack." The leader of SG-1 one tried to immediately get on a more informal standing.

"Samantha Carter." Sam followed Jack's lead.

"Uh…Daniel Jackson."

"Where is this place?" the man in the bed demanded answers.

"You're on a planet called Earth. These people saved you." Hammond answered.

"Nothing could be further from the truth." The man in the bed rudely refuted, causing the Americans to look at each other in disbelief. Was the guy delusional?

*munch* *munch*

Jack looked over to where the sounds were coming from and saw it was the janitor eating some popcorn. He reached over and snagged some popcorn when the janitor offered him some.

"Well, unless I missed something, you're…better off here than you were there." Daniel stated.

"There was a transport on the way." The troublesome Tollan rebutted.

"Well, half your people were already dead. I don't think it would have gotten there in time."

Carl chuckled. His ship did a good job putting those fake bodies there. Hammond looked over to see the janitor, but shook his head at the offer of popcorn.

"Perhaps that's more of a problem for you than it was for us." The patient was really trying everyone's patience.

*munch* *munch*

The sounds of popcorn eating disturbed the man in the bed this time, as he looked over briefly and frowned.

"Beg your pardon?" Jack asked once his mouth was empty of popcorn, getting somewhat annoyed at the guys attitude.

"I find it unbelievable that anyone so primitive could have deciphered the Gate system." The patient insulted everyone around him.

"Did you say primitive?" Jack asked back.

"I too am from a world very different from this one. Here life is highly valued." Teal'c interjected.

"Quite a statement for a Jaffa."

Carl chuckled. The Tollan was determined to attack everyone there.

"Sir, I'd like to know who you are and what you know about the Goa'uld." Hammond interrupted when he realized they could gain vital intel from the man.

"I am Omoc. Our world is called Tollan." Omoc bent a little bit.

"And what do you know of the Goa'uld and Jaffa?" Hammond didn't want to let him get away with diversions.

*munch* *munch*

Daniel looked over at the Janitor who was avidly watching the proceedings and absently accepted a handful of popcorn and started munching on it himself.

"We're aware of them; we don't interact with them." Omoc stated arrogantly.

"Well then, we share a common enemy." Hammond suggested.

"Did I mention an enemy?" Omoc rebutted, not willing to give.

"I only meant…it might benefit everyone if your people and ours could be friends." Hammond tried to be a bit diplomatic and step backward. A useful skill for the brass to have.

*munch* *munch*

Sam looked over and saw the janitor really enjoying his popcorn as he watched the drama in front of him. Sam shook her head no when the janitor offered her popcorn.

"I demand you return everything that you have taken from us and allow us to go home." Omoc clammed up, done with answering questions.

"Well, it could take a while for those volcanoes to quiet down. In the meantime, I'm a bit of a culture buff, I'd like to learn about your history and customs." Daniel offered, eager to learn more about the Tollan people.

"I've said enough. I'll say no more." Omoc leaned back refused to talk anymore.

The SGC personnel left the room. Carl adjusted the notice-me-not once more just as he ate some more popcorn.

*munch* *munch*

Omoc glared at Carl, refusing the offer of popcorn. Carl smirked at Omoc and held his gaze as he continued to eat his popcorn. Eventually Omoc blinked and went back to brooding, forgetting about Carl standing there.

Carl exited the room, chuckling at how much fun this was. Especially when the Tollan personnel didn't have any defense against Legilimancy or telepathy. The so called advanced race was just as susceptible to being mind whammied as anyone else in the SGC.

While Omoc came across as a really abrasive person who was a bit of an ass, Carl could tell he really did care about his own people and was determined to do anything he could to see them home safe.

Carl could understand his point of view too. They were being held by a foreign military. They didn't know the rules, laws, or culture of the people who held them. They had no advocates who they could be sure had their best interests in mind. They had no idea what the U.S. Military would do. And they really had no bargaining power, because the only thing they had, knowledge, had long since proven dangerous to give people who couldn't use it responsibly. Besides the danger of being imprisoned and mined for technology.

Over the next couple of days Carl floated around the base, watching the drama unfold. The SGC tried desperately to gain some trust among the Tollan people. The Tollans, especially Omoc worked hard to gain some leeway so they could escape.

When Carl had watched the show, the interactions between Sam and the Tollan named Narime had flirted quite a bit and acted like they might have some attraction between them. But when Carl watched their interactions, he realized that while there may be some physical attraction between the two, there was a lot more going on underneath.

Narim was trying to get Sam's sympathies so she would help him find ways to escape. Sam was a pretty savvy lady, so she assumed that he was trying to play her, but she went along with it because she genuinely didn't want the Tollan people to end up in NID custody and was hoping to help them find a way to escape, despite ostensibly going against her own people.

Meanwhile the NID were working the politics to get the go ahead to imprison the Tollans because of the hint and promise of advanced tech that they drooled over. So while the NID was planning how to exploit the Tollans, SG1 helped them get a message to the Nox peoples so they could help them out.

Carl was currently waiting in the gate room with his popcorn to see a show and meet a Nox.

"Attention, all personnel. Off world activation. Unknown source." The announcement went out over the PA system.

Carl watched as the stargate chevrons started activating. The iris that would normally cover the opening refused to close. The Tollan, Teal'c, and Daniel entered the room and waited at the bottom of the ramp.

*munch* *munch*

Carl offered some popcorn to Teal'c, who took a handful in a dignified manner with a gracious nod.

"Doctor Jackson, this is Colonel Maybourne. What you're doing is a court martialable offence." The voice came over the speakers.

Daniel placed his hand over his ear with a confused look, as if he couldn't quite make out what Maybourne was saying.

"I'll have you removed from this program for ever if you do this." Maybourne threatened a moment later, desperate to halt what was happening.

The gate activated and a wormhole was established. Carl chuckled. He could feel the tension in the air!

Lya the Nox then walked through the stargate and stood at the top of the ramp. As she smiled, the wormhole behind her closed.

*munch* *munch*

Lya started and looked over at Carl in surprise. He walked up the ramp and offered her some popcorn. Carl felt a mind probe from her as she stared at him curiously.

[Hey there. My name is Carl Edwards. And you are? Are you sure you don't want some popcorn? The buttery goodness is so tasty.] Carl mentally sent to Lya with an impression of the taste of popcorn. He can feel surprise from her. She reaches out and snags some popcorn though.

[I am Lya of the Nox. It's a pleasure to meet you. What are you doing here, though, Carl Edwards? If we knew you could have saved the Tollans, we would not have needed to make the trip.]

Carl shrugged. [Nah, I didn't have the patience to interact with them directly. I'm sure you've got me beat in being a more patient person.] Carl complimented her. [I just wanted to watch some drama. I wouldn't have let them come to harm, but I really didn't want to deal with their arrogance.]

[Hmm. Indeed. The young are often brash.] Lya offered neutrally.

Carl smiled at her diplomacy. That's why the Nox were so nice, always willing to be polite. [Well, I'll leave this to you then, beautiful lady.]

Lya gave Carl a smile for the compliment, and then turned to the group arrayed in front of her.

Carl then stood by as he watched Lya open up the Stargate and usher the Tollan people in while Maybourne went crazy and tried to order the troops to open fire on fleeing unarmed civilians.

Carl frowned at Maybourne. He vaguely remembered the show trying to paint him in a somewhat decent light later on. Like the show tried to portray him as someone just doing his "patriotic duty" by whatever means necessary. Even though his methods were dirty, he was doing it for a cause.

But even though this wasn't Carl's original world, he didn't want to have a United States where those kinds of war crimes were not punished and even rewarded. Shooting civilians in the back as they tried to escape?

'No, I don't think so Maybourne. It's definitely time to take out the NID and the corrupt businessmen that are paying for that kind of thing.' Carl thought while tagging Maybourne with a tracking charm.

He sent orders to the Yamato to track Maybourne and everyone he contacted, record every conversation, and find everyone involved in the NID. While the organization wasn't very dangerous to Carl, he didn't want the despicable organization around to continue mucking up things.

In the middle of February the SG-1 team went to a planet they labeled as P3X-989. There was a facility that was the final remnant of a civilization that died out 11,000 year ago. There was a single person remaining in the facility, Harlan.

The surface of the planet had become uninhabitable, so some of the population had gone through the Stargate to another planet. Some of the people had transferred their consciousness to a robot body that was powered by the broadcast power generator in the facility. But over the years, more and more of the "survivors" couldn't take the long years of imprisonment in the facility. When they couldn't stand it anymore, they left the facility and walked away from the broadcast power, letting their robot bodies shut down.

So when the SG-1 team showed up, Harlan saw it as an opportunity to gain some more friends to help him while away the years. He stunned the SG-1 team and made copies of their consciousness, putting them in the robot bodies.

Carl watched on the screens in the Yamato in orbit as the robot versions of Jack, Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c went back through the Stargate and found out they were no longer human. When their battery was running down, they had to return back to the facility on the planet once known as Altair.

Carl watched as SG-1 came to the realization that they were stuck in their robot bodies for life. Teal'c was having problems with the consciousness of the Goa'uld larva trying to take over, so Carl beamed him up and resolved the issue for him. He put the Goa'uld consciousness in a Teal'c robot body and sent him down so the encounter would play out without his interference. The switch took such a short time, no one on the planet noticed it.

While he watched the drama play out, Carl made sure that the Goa'uld bot wouldn't win in the confrontation and was disintegrated.

The three remaining robot SG-1 members found out they were copies and came to the realization they couldn't return back to Earth as they were. So they met and talked with their human counterparts. The robot versions of SG-1 promised to bury their gate, but Carl knew they wouldn't be satisfied to sit there in the facility until they went mad.

So after the human SG-1 team went through the stargate and the robot SG-1 team shut down the gate, Carl beamed up the four robots to his ship, at the same time waking up the Teal'c robot.

"Hey, guys." Carl greeted the five robots.

"What?!" Jack exclaimed, not sure if he could handle any more craziness. "Teal'c? I thought you were…you know?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow in question.

"He means you fought with Jack and were disintegrated by Harlan." Daniel offered.

"Indeed?" Teal'c asked disbelievingly.

"Well, that was my doing, really." Carl interjected.

"And just who are you?" Jack exclaimed, interrupting Carl.

"My name is Carl Edwards. And you are Robot Jack, Robot Sam, Robot Daniel, Robot Teal'c, and Robot Harlan."

"You must send us back to the facility! We must be near the power source or we will shut down!" Harlan pleaded.

"Don't worry about it. I've got you feeding on a power source up here in my ship." Carl reassured Harlan.

"Your ship?" Sam asked, looking around hungrily at the tech.

"I'm sorry, but you said that it was your fault that Teal'c attacked Jack?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, and how is Teal'c alive after getting disintegrated? Not that I'm not happy you're alive, big guy. But…how?" Jack looked over at Carl in his usual sarcastic manner.

Carl chuckled to see the interaction among the group.

"Well, I'm sure it'll take another few days to go over everything since some people can't keep their mouths shut through an explanation, huh, Jack?" Carl snarked at the team lead for SG-1.

"He's got you pegged there, sir." Carter got her own digs in.

"Thanks, Carter." Jack sourly stated.

"You're welcome, sir."

"So, back on topic." Carl stated. "Teal'c was having problems because the Goa'uld larva consciousness was copied along with his, and it was about to gain control over Teal'c. So I split you two apart, and put the Goa'uld's consciousness in a Teal'c replica bot down there while keeping you up here Teal'c."

"Why?" The stoic Jaffa warrior asked.

"Because I wanted the situation to play out as if I hadn't interfered until your human counterparts were back on their way to Earth." Carl answered.

"And just what did you get out of playing around with us?" Robot Jack asked angrily.

"Playing around with you?" Carl asked, acting like he didn't understand where Jack was coming from.

"Well, obviously if you were around to do all this, you could have stopped Harlan from copying us in the first place! But you let him do it. Why are you messing about with us?"

Carl saw the whole group was interested in the answer, and starting to feel some anger too that Jack was feeling.

"Well, Jack. Just because you're angry at your situation is no reason to take it out on me. I'm not your keeper. I can't be everywhere at once." Carl smiled at the group. "You knew the kind of dangers you were accepting when you starting doing missions through the Stargate. And this is one of those dangers you accepted as a soldier."

"Indeed." Teal'c commented. "But you have another reason for bringing us here. I would hear what it is."

"Very astute, Teal'c. I have an offer for all of you. I can clone you a body and put your consciousness in it. It will be exactly as your body was, except for you Teal'c. I think you would enjoy not having a Goa'uld in your gut. And your new body will be just fine without it. Sorry Harlan, I can't make a clone of your body. 11,000 years is a long time. But I could make you a body that's a brother to Jack though, if you're interested."

"Comtraya!" Harlan exclaimed while almost clapping his hands together in front of his face, causing Jack to pinch his nose. Harlan seemed to be joking, getting back a bit at Jack for his heavy handedness a bit ago.

"So, you're offering to clone us bodies, out of, what? The goodness of your heart?" Jack sarcastically asked.

"Sir…" Carter started to caution Jack that it might not be a good idea to piss off the guy who could get them their bodies back. Not to mention had a ship and teleporting tech. But Jack backed her down with a look, since they were still operating under their chain of command.

"Hmm, yes. Ideally I could convince you five to come work for me after you get new bodies. I'm building an organization that is going to take down the Goa'uld when I've got enough personnel to manage the aftermath."

"You say that like it's so easy." Jack said.

"Yep. It is that easy." Carl shrugged. "I mean, I could do it right now, but then there would be all kinds of chaos and war and death as a result of the power vacuum."

"So, what, you want to rule in the Goa'uld's place? Set yourself up as a god, maybe?"

Carl chuckled, amused at the snark coming from Jack. "While I admit I could easily do so, I see no reason to pretend to a divinity I don't have."

'A divinity I don't have yet.' Carl smirked inside.

"Besides, I don't have any use for the energy that comes from being worshipped. I'm not like the snot balls that fancy themselves gods out there. I'm sure you'll find out about them later." Carl commented about the Ori.

"So, what would we be doing in your organization?" Sam asked. "And why would we want to work for you instead of going back to Earth once we're in a regular body?"

"Good questions. As for what you'd be doing? That's entirely up to you. I've got fantastic tech. I've got lots of science knowledge. I'll need military and police forces. You could even spend your time building a University or traveling around learning about modern or ancient cultures once we've taken care of the Goa'uld and freed the Jaffa."

"As for why you'd want to work for me? There are definitely benefits that you can find nowhere else. Follow me for a demonstration." Carl said, and led them off the bridge and down to the holodeck.

After pacing in front of the holodeck three times, the door opened to show a large grassy field with numerous heavy weights lying in a row, going from light to extremely heavy.

"You have a holodeck?!" Sam exclaimed.

"Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?" Carl laughed. "Okay, a demonstration. Would each of you find the maximum weight you can lift, please?" Carl asked.

After the four SG-1 members looked at each other for a moment, they started picking up the weights that were clearly labeled. Harlan on the other hand simply sat off to the side. Each of the robotic SG1 members were clearly surprised at their increased strength in their robotic bodies.

Once the SG-1 members had figured out their maximum lifting capacity, Carl went over and juggled heavier weights in his hands like they weighed nothing. He then started moving quickly around the field, pausing every so often so their eyes could somewhat track his movements. He then moved so fast he disappeared from their view and was hovering above them, upside down, looking down at them.

"Up here!" When he called out, they all looked up and saw him flying there. Carl then flew slowly so they could watch as he flew circles around them before landing in front of them.

"You could eventually be able to do that. You'd have to go through the basic training program though, to get you up to snuff in your knowledge and physical capabilities. But I promise you. When you're done with the basic program, you'll be powerful, intelligent, knowledgeable, and gosh darn it, people will like you!"

"Well, maybe that last one is an exaggeration. I can't really force anyone to like you, Jack." Carl said, amused by their slack jawed staring.

"Gee, thanks."

"Now, the catch is of course that I won't train you only to let you go back to Earth and rejoin your former organization. Besides, they would want to imprison you for studying and autopsying you. If you agree to join me for my training, you're stuck with me for the forseeable future."

"But no matter what you decide, I'll give you a flesh and blood body if you want. If you choose not to hire on, I'll have to do one of two things. Either erase you memories of me, or put a geas on you so you can't talk or communicate any information about me to any who don't know. I personally think it would be more torturous to know something but be unable to tell anyone than to have the memories blocked, but that's just me."

"Take your time to decide." Carl offered as he led the group out of the Room of Requirement and over to a lounge for them to talk and relax at.

"Oh, and Teal'c. Just so you know, I've already started recruiting some Jaffa to the cause. Many of the Jaffa have become disillusioned with the System Lord Moloc because he decreed that all female Jaffa would be burned alive." He nodded at the growls of rage from the group. "Yeah, I know, right? So I've got a bunch of ships in orbit that are switching out the daughters of the Jaffa with dolls so they don't know what's happening until it's time to strike back. Just so you know that I'm already working on some problems on behalf of the Jaffa."

"Any questions before I leave you to talk about it?" Carl finished.

"Let me see if I've got this straight." Jack began. "You'll give us flesh and blood bodies no matter what we decide. But if we don't hire on, we either get our minds wiped or won't be able to talk about you. And if we do hire on, we get tech, knowledge, and get to be supermen?"

"And a Superwoman." Carl nodded in agreement to Jack's summary while nodding at Sam.

"Okay. That's…something all right." Jack collapsed onto a couch. "Yeah, we're gonna need some time to think about this."

"Alrighty then. Just call out when you've made a decision." Carl said as he was leaving the room. "The ship will let me know."

Carl walked out, leaving the group of five to discuss the curveballs they had just received.