He is of the Sky [✱19]

Posted on Wed Jun 18th, 2025 @ 1:12pm by Captain Rovak & Colonel Augie Kowalski & Lieutenant Onda Duros & Consul Kwaa & Lord Typhon & Lady Hera & Atonu & Tyr
Edited on on Wed Jun 18th, 2025 @ 1:27pm

2,382 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: The Serpent's Tooth [3]
Location: JAG Courtroom
Timeline: 1030 Hours - MD10

“I call the Lady Hera to the stand.” Rovak said, and the hologram of her flickered and disappeared from its position on the bench to his left, then reappeared in the witness stand opposite Rovak’s lectern.

“Lady Hera. You conspired to kill your husband Zeus, did you not?” Onda asked, leading the prosecution once more after some passionate discussion with Tyr after the last round.

“I did.”

“Why?”

“He was a pig. He dishonored me. And he refused the wisdom of the Aten. He chose to cling to the old tyrannies, he did not believe in freedom for the Jaffa.”

“And you do?” Onda asked, sounding a little incredulous.

“Superstitious drivel about some divine being speaking to him aside, the old man’s ways are not illogical. As wife to a System Lord, I have known tyranny and found it foul.”

“So to be clear, you think that if someone dishonours you or refuses the Aten, murder is a reasonable reaction?”

“Zeus was as much my captor as my husband. My autonomy within his domain was extremely limited. I was first among slaves.”

“Until he died, and then the slaves become yours.”

“The slaves were freed upon my ascension. The same slaves the Tau’ri permitted to be kept in bondage while Zeus lived, in the name of their peace.” Hera said, looking with disdain towards Tyr.

“I have here a report, exhibit D. It shows that in the first years of the arrival of the forces of Oranos in the Milky Way Galaxy, you led attacks on a dozen civilian colonies. You destroyed every living being on ten of them, and left seven worlds uninhabitable.” Onda said.

“That was not me.” Hera said.

“May it please the court, I would like to play an extract from the Tau’ri records.” Onda asked.

“Proceed.” Rovak said.

Holographic footage appeared, it was the view of what looked like a defence satellite orbiting a planet. It began to fire beams of blue energy that impacted the shields of Ha’tak vessels. Each of the three vessels was marked with a cow sigil identical to that of Hera’s Jaffa.

“In the name of Lady Hera, surrender or perish!” A voice from the recording boomed. The satellite continued to fire ineffectively, and before long the Ha’taks began to rain fire down on the colony from orbit, ignoring the satellite, but quickly replacing all the city lights below with a sea of fire.

“That’s the sigil worn by your Jaffa, is it not?”

“I do not deny that one named Hera did as you have shown, but it was not I. I am the third to wear this name, after the queen who spawned me, and the queen who spawned her. Zeus destroyed them when they displeased him.”

“How long have you been Hera?” Onda asked.

“Around thirty years.”

Onda swore internally, but kept a straight face once more. The lion’s share of their evidence was older than that.

“Oceanus, Tiamat and Raiden. You unmade them, according to your introduction when you first came aboard. How many civilians died as a result of those conflicts?”

“We do not measure such things. War leaves many dead, that is the nature of war. Perhaps things are different here?”

“They’re different in that when we wage war, we make it a crime to involve civilians. Have your forces ever targeted civilians?”

“If they have done so on purpose, I do not know of it.” She said coolly.

“But you have never ordered it.” Onda clarified, hoping sincerely the telepaths hiding out of sight who reviewed this were paying attention.

“No.”

“If you told your forces to destroy a rival system lord, and they did so by scouring the surface of the planet he’s on, would you consider that targeting civilians?”

“My forces would not do so. Such tactics are hugely wasteful.”

“Due respect ma’am, That’s not the question. Would you consider it possible that in carrying out your orders your people would take actions that would end civilian life?”

“Yes. I would consider it possible. But it is not so.”

“You’re saying your people have never caused deaths among civilians?”

“It has never been made known to me.”

“Have you ever asked?”

Hera hesitated. Her eyes glowed faintly.

“Lady Hera, have you ever asked your forces about civilian casualties?”

“…No.”

“Was the way you attacked the staff of this station something you’ve done before?”

“Objection.” Atonu called out, standing. “Amnesty was granted by the court for those events, they are not the subject of this tribunal or a factor in the court’s decision.”

“Your honour this speaks to the character of the witness, not to mention her past, which is exactly the basis of extradition request."

“I will allow the question.” Rovak ruled.

"I have the genetic memory of my mother doing it, in the court of Hekate. It was she who brought her into the thrall of Olympus.” Hera explained.

“When you reflect on the memories of the harms your mother inflicted on others, how do they make you feel?”

“Like I must do better.” She answered without feeling. The light came on long enough for Rovak to note that the answer was dishonest.

“I appreciate you may not recall the subject of my next question exactly, because you don’t keep track of such trivialities as innocent lives lost in your conquests. I’d like you to guess if you don’t know, what is the greatest loss of life in a single event or campaign caused by your actions?”

“The invasion of Ugar, ten of your years ago. The System Lord Asey gathered her forces in the largest city of her throneworld. Much of it was destroyed because of the ferocity of the fighting, and her decision to build civilian structures over military infrastructure.” She answered plainly.

“How many lived in the city?”

“Millions, I believe.”

“Why was the overthrow of Asey so essential in your mind?”

“She had bombed three of my worlds from orbit. She had murdered countless Jaffa.”

“And that was your primary concern?”

“Of course.” She said, and the light glowed once more to indicate deception.

“But more broadly, you think that the deaths of millions are justified if your ends are achieved?”

“I think that I had an opportunity to defeat her. Her forces were overstretched in wars with Zipacna and Tethys. By destroying the one city, I avoided years of protracted conflict, and defeated a rival who intended to destroy my people.”

“So the millions killed were actually for the greater good.”

“I suppose so.”

Onda exhaled, and looked around the room. “Did you ever think to just give it up? To just stop being a System Lord, and go live in a cabin somewhere?”

“No. But if I were to vacate my throne, someone else would assume it soon enough. I was not the first Hera, and I would not be the last. Another may already have taken up my mantle.”

Onda nodded, he could feel a lack of momentum. He was yet to land a significant blow, though he hoped there had been some lies in there for the Captain to consider.

“Do you intend to take your son Heracles as a host?” Onda asked.

“No.” She responded without expression.

“He defied you after you attacked the station, didn’t he?”

She looked to Atonu, expecting an objection that did not come.

“He defied you, didn’t he?” Onda asked again.

“He did.”

“Did you expect that?”

“No.”

“Because when you had a harcesis child, you expected it would be obedient.”

“Yes.”

“How many of your servants have been disobedient?”

“None.” Hera said, looking momentarily confused by the question.

“Why do you think that is?”

“Disobedient servants do not last in royal courts.”

“What would you do to a disobedient servant?”

“I would assign them elsewhere.” Hera said after a brief pause.

“You wouldn’t kill them?”

“No.”

“You wouldn’t torture them with your little hand thing?”

“Such displays are reserved those who identify themselves as enemies.”

“What did Rune Thul do to identify himself as your enemy?”

“I don’t know who that is.” Hera said.

“The man you tortured during your failed insurrection.”

“All were instructed that they would be left be if they remained silent and obedient. He chose disobedience. He imperilled our peaceful departure.”

“He’s still in our sickbay. I understand your weapon has done quite a number on him as a natural telepath. Who was the last person you used it on before him?”

“I do not recall.” The light appeared in Rovak’s sight once again.

“That’s a shame. Do you remember what they did to deserve it?”

“No.”

“So numbers of dead, people you’ve tortured with your own hands, these aren’t the sorts of things you keep track of.”

“They are not.”

“But neither are uncommon.”

“Maintaining an Empire does not allow for such sentimental refusal to use the tools at one’s disposal. It is one of the reasons I wish to abandon such pursuits, and focus on the betterment of my people in this new galaxy.”

“If you could go back and attempt your insurgency against this station again, would you?”

“No.” She said after another brief pause. The light illuminated, though only Rovak knew.

“Thank you, no further questions.” Onda said, and resumed his seat.

Hera was a statue of emotionless calm as the court adjusted, and murmurs went through the audience.

Rovak reviewed the information on his lectern before looking up. “The defence may proceed.”

“We have no further questions for the Lady Hera.” Kwaa said, to the surprise of most.

“Are there any witnesses the prosecution wishes to call?” Rovak asked.

“No, your honour.” Onda said, knowing from the earlier discussion that Tyr didn’t have anything.

“Defence?”

“Yes, your honour. We call Colonel Augusta Kowalski to the stand.” Kwaa announced.

Rovak raised an eyebrow, and there was more murmuring among the audience.

Kowalski left her seat in the audience, and moved to the witness stand as Hera’s hologram vanished, reappearing on the bench among the other holographic accused.

“Colonel Kowalski, how many situations have you encountered where a Goa’uld has taken control of a facility to the scale of this one?” Atonu asked.

“Maybe a dozen facilities this size, twice that many of a crew of this many. I assume you’re understaffed here.” She looked to Rovak with her final comment.

“What happened to the facility’s staff or inhabitants?”

“Killed, or taken as slaves.”

“What about situations where Goa’uld have had to abandon a holding, how many have you encountered?”

“I’d have to double check, but I think around twenty.”

“How many were still intact when you got to them?”

“Two.”

“What sort of booby traps were equipped on those facilities?”

“More than we could count. In both cases it was determined that destroying and rebuilding the facilities were safer than reinhabiting them.”

“In your experience Colonel, is it usual for a Goa’uld to leave hostages unharmed, or a facility intact and without traps?”

“No.”

“So would you think it was fair to say that Hera’s behaviour in leaving this station and it’s crew unharmed were unusual, by System Lord standards?”

"Yes."

"Would you call it uncharacteristic?

“I would, yes.” Kowalski answered plainly, but couldn’t hide the slight annoyance at the concession she’d been cornered into.

“Thank you, Colonel. No further questions, your honour.”

“Does the prosecution wish to question the witness?” Rovak asked as Atonu retook her seat.

“No your honour.” Onda said after he and Tyr shared a furtive whispered discussion.

“Very well. Colonel, you may step down. I call Lord Typhon to the stand.”

Typhon’s hologram appeared in the centre as Kowalski left the stand and retook her seat in the audience.

“Lord Typhon. What’s the deadliest weapon you’ve ever possessed?” Onda asked.

“The Tau’ri had been in the wider galaxy only a decade before 99% of the Asgard population was destroyed. And yet somehow the Tau’ri were the inheritors of all their weapons and technology. Does that not seem very convenient to you?” It was apparent that Typhon was talking to Rovak.

“That’s not an answer to my question, sir.” Onda told Typhon.

“In the Pegasus Galaxy, the Tau’ri thirst for weapons of war destroyed an entire solar system. They destroyed many solar systems in their early sojourns. Vorash. Hala. Orilla.”

“Objection.” Onda said to the Captain.

“Sustained. The accused will answer the questions put to him. This is not an opportunity to air grievances or cast aspersions at those who are not subject to these extradition hearings.” Rovak told Typhon.

“I do not recognise the authority of this court. You act on the lies and prevarications of upstarts who somehow managed to outwit the most powerful races their galaxy has ever known despite having only discovered flight a century earlier. The Goa’uld ruled our Galaxy in our way for millennia before the Tau’ri brought disorder and chaos. They turned the Jaffa from the Galaxy's most proud and feared warriors into merchants and farmers under the thumb of corrupt plutocrats." Typhon spoke without hesitation, even after Rovak banged his gavel and called for order.

"They doomed the Asgard to extinction. The Tollan. The Aschen. The Hoffans. The Eurondans. The Asurans. The Taranians. The Woard. They have scoured worlds testing their bombs. They have deliberately connected stargates to systems being consumed by black holes, dooming the inhabitants of whichever system the gate was in.” Typhon continued even over the sound of the banging gavel.

“Lord Typhon, if you will not answer the questions, the court will make a summary judgement based on review of the evidence against you.” Rovak said.

“Only the Aten can judge me. I throw myself upon its mercy.” Typhon said.

“Very well, summary judgement will be made upon review. The accused is dismissed.” Rovak said, banging his gavel once more.

“There will be another half hour recess.” Rovak said. While Typhon’s claims were all inadmissible for the purposes of extradition, curiously, none were lies so far as the telepathic jury could tell.

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