The Extraction of the Goa'uld Mer'deth: A Brief Summary (John/Rodney-ish, PG)
Title: The Extraction of the Goa'uld Mer'deth: A Brief Summary
Rating: PG
Word count: ~1000
Pairings: John/Mer'deth pre-slash *coughs*
Warnings: none that I'm aware of
Summary: Imagine, friend, a Goa'uld who would sacrifice himself for the well-being of his host. What times we live in!
Notes: For the cliche_bingo prompt of Documentation (bingo card to be found here). Not beta-read.
~~~
The Extraction of the Goa'uld Mer'deth: A Brief Summary
At your request, dear friend, let me tell you of the Incident which has sent so many of the Tok'ra into hiding and scattered them across the planets like a child might scatter its sticks and pebbles for a game of hurasu-i. I will attempt to recount the events as Thoran himself described them to me.
He told me that the Goa'uld Mer'deth appeared without warning on Revanna, bringing with him not a single Jaffa. He made no attempt to avoid his capture and carried with him no weapon, no tracking device, nothing that would give him advantage over the approaching Tok'ra. This was a cause for much suspicion, for you know the Tok'ra as well as I do: if no suspicious thing can be found, they will only assume it has been hidden very well.
And how much greater their confusion became, dear friend, when the Goa'uld Mer'deth spoke to them! He did not threaten them, or promise them glory if they turned on their kind. Indeed, Mer'deth had come with a favour to ask! If the Tok'ra were to remove him from the body that sheltered him without doing the host any harm, he would tell them all he knew.
I am unsure how much you know about Mer'deth, if anything at all. I certainly had never heard of him, and with good reason: Mer'deth is not a System Lord, nor does he stand in the service of one. He does not think himself a god, has no domain to speak of, and commands but a small force of Jaffa.
You will understand then that the Tok'ra did not think Mer'deth would have any intelligence they might desire. So they pulled him from his host and did not even bother with interrogation, simply locking him up to dispose of him in time.
The host, now, was one of the Tau'ri, who are known throughout the galaxy for their stubbornness and strength of will. When asked why Mer'deth would let him go - perhaps the Tok'ra were still suspecting a ploy - the host told them how hard he had fought for dominance, raging war on his body's usurper until he had brought himself near death.
Perhaps Mer'deth was impressed by such tenacity. Perhaps it was as the Tau'ri told Thoran: that Mer'deth did not want his host to die.
Imagine, friend, a Goa'uld who would sacrifice himself for the well-being of his host. What times we live in!
Free from Mer'deth and once more his own master, the Tau'ri asked what would happen now. He was free to go, Thoran told him, and the Goa'uld Mer'deth was to be executed during the following days.
But what about Mer'deth's knowledge, the Tau'ri asked. The Tok'ra informed him that they had no need for the learnings of a minor Goa'uld.
But what about Mer'deth's willingness to let him go, the Tau'ri asked. Surely such generosity would not be rewarded with death? But the Tok'ra are, as you and I both know, deeply set in their ways. A Goa'uld had been captured. All Goa'uld must die.
And so the Tau'ri finally asked outright, please, do not kill him. He is not so bad, once you get to know him.
Then why did you fight him, the Tok'ra asked. Why would you rather die yourself than allow him the rule of your body, if he is 'not so bad'?
Because this body is mine, the Tau'ri said.
And yours it shall remain, and the Goa'uld Mer'deth shall never take an unwilling host again, the Tok'ra told him, and stood firm that this would be the end of that matter.
But you, my friend, would not have asked me to tell you this story if you did not already know that this was not the end of the matter at all!
This is what Thoran told me: the following night, the Tau'ri overwhelmed his guardians and stole a zat'n'ktel with which he stunned each Tok'ra he encountered. He broke into the chambers that held Mer'deth's cage, took the canopic jar and a tel'tak, and left Revanna for destinations unknown. Only the shards of the canopic jar remained behind. The Tok'ra, upon discovering this, collapsed their tunnels and fled their base, to be safe from Mer'deth's retribution.
And this is all I know, dear friend. Mer'deth has disappeared again, lost in obscurity along with his host. The Tok'ra live in fear, although I do not believe they are in any danger, at least not from Mer'deth. After all, he found them once with seemingly little trouble. If he wanted them dead, I think my friend Thoran would not have lived to tell his tale.
As for why the Tau'ri chose to become a host once more - for surely this is what happened - no one knows for sure. But are the Tau'ri not also known for their honour? If the host believed the Goa'uld to be good, might he not forsake his own freedom to save a life?
But I shall not speculate and have you laugh at me again. Much as I enjoy our disputes, the summer's heat has brought my blood to boil, or so it seems, and I am not in the mood for another hot discussion.
But you have heard the rumours, have you not? About the Goa'uld who chooses his Jaffa for their intelligence, whose sign is infinity and who lives in accord with his host. I might chance a wager that I know that Goa'uld's name.
Please convey my best wishes to your wife, dear friend, and congratulate her in my stead for the patience she doubtless needs to deal with you each day.
Most respectfully,
Odathar
Rating: PG
Word count: ~1000
Pairings: John/Mer'deth pre-slash *coughs*
Warnings: none that I'm aware of
Summary: Imagine, friend, a Goa'uld who would sacrifice himself for the well-being of his host. What times we live in!
Notes: For the cliche_bingo prompt of Documentation (bingo card to be found here). Not beta-read.
~~~
The Extraction of the Goa'uld Mer'deth: A Brief Summary
At your request, dear friend, let me tell you of the Incident which has sent so many of the Tok'ra into hiding and scattered them across the planets like a child might scatter its sticks and pebbles for a game of hurasu-i. I will attempt to recount the events as Thoran himself described them to me.
He told me that the Goa'uld Mer'deth appeared without warning on Revanna, bringing with him not a single Jaffa. He made no attempt to avoid his capture and carried with him no weapon, no tracking device, nothing that would give him advantage over the approaching Tok'ra. This was a cause for much suspicion, for you know the Tok'ra as well as I do: if no suspicious thing can be found, they will only assume it has been hidden very well.
And how much greater their confusion became, dear friend, when the Goa'uld Mer'deth spoke to them! He did not threaten them, or promise them glory if they turned on their kind. Indeed, Mer'deth had come with a favour to ask! If the Tok'ra were to remove him from the body that sheltered him without doing the host any harm, he would tell them all he knew.
I am unsure how much you know about Mer'deth, if anything at all. I certainly had never heard of him, and with good reason: Mer'deth is not a System Lord, nor does he stand in the service of one. He does not think himself a god, has no domain to speak of, and commands but a small force of Jaffa.
You will understand then that the Tok'ra did not think Mer'deth would have any intelligence they might desire. So they pulled him from his host and did not even bother with interrogation, simply locking him up to dispose of him in time.
The host, now, was one of the Tau'ri, who are known throughout the galaxy for their stubbornness and strength of will. When asked why Mer'deth would let him go - perhaps the Tok'ra were still suspecting a ploy - the host told them how hard he had fought for dominance, raging war on his body's usurper until he had brought himself near death.
Perhaps Mer'deth was impressed by such tenacity. Perhaps it was as the Tau'ri told Thoran: that Mer'deth did not want his host to die.
Imagine, friend, a Goa'uld who would sacrifice himself for the well-being of his host. What times we live in!
Free from Mer'deth and once more his own master, the Tau'ri asked what would happen now. He was free to go, Thoran told him, and the Goa'uld Mer'deth was to be executed during the following days.
But what about Mer'deth's knowledge, the Tau'ri asked. The Tok'ra informed him that they had no need for the learnings of a minor Goa'uld.
But what about Mer'deth's willingness to let him go, the Tau'ri asked. Surely such generosity would not be rewarded with death? But the Tok'ra are, as you and I both know, deeply set in their ways. A Goa'uld had been captured. All Goa'uld must die.
And so the Tau'ri finally asked outright, please, do not kill him. He is not so bad, once you get to know him.
Then why did you fight him, the Tok'ra asked. Why would you rather die yourself than allow him the rule of your body, if he is 'not so bad'?
Because this body is mine, the Tau'ri said.
And yours it shall remain, and the Goa'uld Mer'deth shall never take an unwilling host again, the Tok'ra told him, and stood firm that this would be the end of that matter.
But you, my friend, would not have asked me to tell you this story if you did not already know that this was not the end of the matter at all!
This is what Thoran told me: the following night, the Tau'ri overwhelmed his guardians and stole a zat'n'ktel with which he stunned each Tok'ra he encountered. He broke into the chambers that held Mer'deth's cage, took the canopic jar and a tel'tak, and left Revanna for destinations unknown. Only the shards of the canopic jar remained behind. The Tok'ra, upon discovering this, collapsed their tunnels and fled their base, to be safe from Mer'deth's retribution.
And this is all I know, dear friend. Mer'deth has disappeared again, lost in obscurity along with his host. The Tok'ra live in fear, although I do not believe they are in any danger, at least not from Mer'deth. After all, he found them once with seemingly little trouble. If he wanted them dead, I think my friend Thoran would not have lived to tell his tale.
As for why the Tau'ri chose to become a host once more - for surely this is what happened - no one knows for sure. But are the Tau'ri not also known for their honour? If the host believed the Goa'uld to be good, might he not forsake his own freedom to save a life?
But I shall not speculate and have you laugh at me again. Much as I enjoy our disputes, the summer's heat has brought my blood to boil, or so it seems, and I am not in the mood for another hot discussion.
But you have heard the rumours, have you not? About the Goa'uld who chooses his Jaffa for their intelligence, whose sign is infinity and who lives in accord with his host. I might chance a wager that I know that Goa'uld's name.
Please convey my best wishes to your wife, dear friend, and congratulate her in my stead for the patience she doubtless needs to deal with you each day.
Most respectfully,
Odathar