"Gentlemen officers," I greeted the five SAS soldiers led by Main. We were in the forest, a considerable distance from Seth's residence, where they had set up camp. The guards at his compound were on a twelve-on-twelve schedule: two on duty, the fifth in reserve and on communications. The guards, incidentally, had tapped into the telephone poles and installed a private line. Since Szarekh had banned the use of virtually any galactic technology near Seth, they had been forced to resort to these measures.
"Sarekh," Maine greeted me. "Everything is ready. Do you intend to participate?"
"No, I'll just get in the way," I replied. It was true. Me and my Jaffa were one thing, but a completely different team was another. "I'll secure Seth's escape route and release the gas."
Maine nodded and began to outline the plan.
"The best time to attack is at night. We used thermal imaging and determined that only fifteen of the two hundred men are awake at this moment. We can neutralize them quietly, and the rest will be much easier."
"But keep in mind that there might be a security network there that will warn Seth."
"We've taken that into account. With Egeria's help, we've obtained special substances that mask our signatures from life-sign detectors," I nodded, acknowledging this point.
"I've delivered the chemical equipment and the necessary reagents. The goal is to incapacitate the men, put them to sleep soundly. Those creatures we destroyed on Wagonbray could help in a situation like this, but I can't even joke about that. We're using a slightly modified sleeping gas. It won't work on Seth himself, of course, but it will work on his confidants. The Goa'uld need sleep. If everything goes smoothly and the squad reaches his bedroom, the battle will be won. However, this is the ideal scenario. Few things go perfectly. I myself wanted the result of 600 years of naquadah mining, but the planet it was sent to belongs to a major lord (not a system lord, but one of lower rank), and he's 100% already spent it."
"What's the worst-case scenario? Direct combat. Finding yourself one-on-one with two hundred people under a nishta. But there's a scenario for that, too—blowing up the armory with a drone. That would lead to a very intense fight, which could result in the deaths of a large number of people. Unfortunately, an assault is preferable, because Seth hasn't left his residence once in a month. Any contact with the outside world occurs only within the estate. I'd be happy to shoot him by raiding a convoy of cars, but there haven't been any such convoys. People are constantly bringing newcomers into the cult, where they're indoctrinated with nishta. The men start working on the estate's grounds or become guards, but the women... They become part of the harem, that's obvious. I wonder when Seth kills the women—at 30 or 35? Well, no, I'm not interested. Of course, when a man gets old, he gets killed too. I don't know, but I suppose so. Seth is a Goa'uld."
"Can I use something high-tech? Yes, but, frankly, I'm afraid."
"Our goal is to eliminate ten men undetected. They constantly move in pairs, carrying automatic weapons. Two men with machine guns are stationed in the upper windows, covering the eastern and western perimeters. Another three are guarding Seth in his residence. Our task is to eliminate the machine gunners as discreetly as possible," Maine explained the plan to me. "We plan to use your invisibility generator to infiltrate the base. One man will enter through the sewer pipe and stun the machine gunners. Once that happens, the others, in camouflage suits, will crawl up to the guards patrolling the area from different directions and stun them with intars. Five pairs for four men. According to the plan, the fifth, the one with the invisibility generator, is to stun the last pair from above. I made small radios and headphones for this operation, so they can coordinate. Naturally, the entire area around Seth's base was illuminated with lanterns and lamps to make it as difficult as possible for intruders. Maine's team also found a secret passage through which Seth must escape. I'll throw a couple of containers of sleeping gas there."
"If worst comes to worst, I'll be reinforcements, with my Staff of Light, to save my people." After discussing the plan, everyone decided to sleep. The attack would take place in ten hours.