Sobek the Immortal: Bringing a God to His Knees [Closed]

[hi_there_aliens]

Who: Daniel Jackson, Vala Mal Doran, Eva, The Master, Eleventh Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon
Where: Kalimba (planet side)
Summary: A small crew goes on an archaeological expedition to a jungle planet, where System Lord was imprisoned. Taking Daniel as his host, he captures the crew and tortures them, while rebuilding his fleet.
Warnings: Violence, torture, gore

((Part One and Part Two here))

As time drew on, there was no sign of Stacy, rescue parties or of a single landing pods. The typhoon season approached closer with each day, rain and wind spattering the leaves on some days, varying between intense heat and humidity on other days. The megafauna in the jungles had grown more active too. The earth rumbled under their feet as they starting their migration amidst hooting calls and croaks. Throughout the varying weather, one thing remained constant. The hive of activity around the three step pyramids never ceased, slaves either taking shifts or in the most fanatical cases, working themselves near to death or to death. It was like this all across Kalimba. The call had gone out with the instructions for the slaves: work was to begin on restoring the Crocodile God's fleets underneath each step pyramid all across the planet. They were his Chosen, his Children, and he would ensure they were rewarded for their faith.

The complex swarmed with slaves and guards moving weapons and parts. Sobek and his personal guards were also in and out more often as the fleet began to take shape, often traveling to other sites to check on progress. Stones fell away from each ship as far as the eye could see. More and more of each ha'tak was revealed, while lines of human bodies went inside to work on the interiors. If the number of step pyramids that towered through the jungle were any indication, his fleet would be massive.

((same as Part 2: run your own posts with each other, more private threads with Sobek are available at the start. Part 3 does not have to immediately include end-plot stuff. If you want more CR amongst each other or your character being messed with by Sobek, please do!))

Comments

FINAL THREADS

[hi_there_aliens]

The end of days had come. That night, the jungle fully emptied itself of worshipers and Jaffa, disgorging itself as if sickened thousands upon thousands into the main complex. The same happened across the planet to every unveiled pyramid ship.

There hadn't been such a celebration, the earth thundering under feet, since Sobek's resurrection, and the air clamored with chanting and war drums. When morning's first light shown on Ur-Niwa, the fleet would leave the planet. The majority of the guards were already on the ships, leaving only a bare contingent left in the structure the crew's cell was in.

This was their chance. Their only chance.

[Jamie and Eva]

[hi_there_aliens]

The time had come to break free and do their part of this last desperate plan. There was only one guard down the hall, and his attention is more on celebration and his God than the prisoners.

Re: [Jamie and Eva]

[bonnypiperlad]

Now that the guard is paying attention to the celebration, Jamie is finally free to pull out his engineering tools from the larger-on-the-inside-that-the-outside sporran, even though he's careful enough to angle himself so the occasional glance back won't give away that he's done so.

He looks down at them, scratching his head. Some of the things, like the spanner, aren't really going to do much good - at least not while they're in the cell. But there's some smaller pieces, spare bits of metal that he keeps handy along with the larger things. And there's some extra wire, along a combination wire stripper and cutter, and a few other tools that might come in handy.

"If we could use some of these to pick the lock, maybe we can get out that way," he muses to himself, then shakes his head for a moment before glancing over at Eva. Picking locks isn't his strong suit. "I don't suppose ye know how to do that, do ye?"

Re: [Jamie and Eva]

[economicalrhinoplasty]

"Nope." She shakes her head at Jamie, before he has a chance to abandon the idea. "We're not going to be defeated by our ignorance of locksmithing, though."

She's about to start just jamming metal bits into the lock and hoping blind lucky and a bit of ferocity bears her through (as it has a few times in the past few weeks) when she notices something else in the arranged tools.

"Why exactly are we bothering with lockpicks when we have a blowtorch?" A crazed grin creeps over her face, betraying the rush she gets from destroying things these days. At least it's just metal and not another living thing. It's difficult for her to reconcile the release that violence brings her now. It's as if Sobek cracked open her shell, and the yolk inside is nothing but anger and adrenalin and a desire to inflict as much hurt on the world as it has on her - and somewhere in the white running away is her sense of restraint.

Re: [Jamie and Eva]

[bonnypiperlad]

"Aye, well, er..." It's a very good question, actually, especially considering their other options. It's not a terribly large torch, but it was topped up with fuel before he left in case they needed it, and then sealed in a spill-proof container. Even if it had gotten bumped around in the sporran it should be fine. They could just cut through the lock and have done with it.

"It's quieter," he finishes, rather unconvincingly. Even in here, the noise reverberates through the hallway, muffled somewhat but still enough to probably mask the sound of metal hitting the floor, so he knows full well that's not much of an argument. The light from the torch is another matter, but given the way the guard's standing, they might be able to pull it off.

"Do ye think ye can cut through so yon guard doesn't see ye do so? I might be able to stand to block ye a bit, but I don't know if that'll be enough."

Re: [Jamie and Eva]

[economicalrhinoplasty]

Eva shrugs. She doesn't quite know if she can get away with it, but she's too far gone to see caution as being of utmost importance now. Normally she'd be exacting in her precautions and precise in her actions, but these last few months have worn her down, and what was one composed and measured is now desperate. And arrogant.

Funny, that.

"Let's find out, then." She grabs Jamie and drags him to the position that will best block the view, then starts trying to melt the lock.

Re: [Jamie and Eva]

[bonnypiperlad]

As the blowtorch is flicked on, Jamie adjusts his position ever so slightly. Not because Eva was wrong as to where he should stand - he actually would have to agree with her that where he is is the best place to do so - but because he wants to keep an eye on the guard down the hall. The Jaffa's fairly far away, which is good, and he's watching the celebration, which is even better.

All they have to do is get through the time it takes for the lock to melt. That, however, seems to take a small eternity - at least to Jamie, who watches the end of the hallway intently. Time seems to stretch interminably, and his fingers flex, curling into a fist and uncurling again. Any second now the man will turn and see them and their attempt to escape would be over...

But he doesn't. And slowly, oh so slowly, the metal of the lock starts to soften, not quite to a point where it's opening on its own. But it's soft enough that a good shove with that spanner should push it out of the door and onto the floor below, allowing them to get the door open and to get to collecting what they need to make the symbiote poison.

Re: [Jamie and Eva]

[economicalrhinoplasty]

Eva's fingers are cramped by the time she's done, but she keeps the blowtorch in hand. It's a paltry weapon, one she'd like to swap out for a knife at the very least, but at least it's something. She looks over to Jamie. They'll need to take out a guard for a weapon, and even then their chances of making it to the room with the symbiote poison are low.

Low is, at least, better than zero. Eva holds the door so that even broken, it doesn't make any sound against the ground. It's only their luck that the Jaffa hasn't turned around or heard anything. Eva eyes up her enemy, back turned to them. She looks back over to Jamie and mouths, do you have anything sharp?

Re: [Jamie and Eva]

[bonnypiperlad]

Not for the first time, Jamie wishes he had his dirk with him. Even setting aside the fact the familiar weight of it in his hand would be a comfort, it'd be sharp enough for what he thinks Eva wants it for. He may not have a good grasp on how exactly the larval goa'uld make the Jaffa the Jaffa, but he's fairly certain that they're not tucked away in some corner somewhere. If they're inside the body, they'd have to be cut out.

He takes a quick inventory of his remaining tools. The wire stripper/cutter might work - it's got pointed edges, as does a small pair of needle-nosed pliers. Or there's the flat-head screwdriver, although that doesn't have much of a cutting edge to speak of. There's a small leather case with a snap closure on it in there as well, one that Jamie doesn't remember using before. Curious, he pulls it out, and quietly thumbs it open to reveal a small utility knife. A crooked smile appears on his face, and he holds it up so she can see it, mouthing back will this do?

[Eleven and Vala] - after getting supplies

[hi_there_aliens]

The Doctor was going to have to do his best possible work in manufacturing a poison he'd never made before, for a species he had limited knowledge of. Vala would be his only guide in making this, and they have only a few hours to come up with something.

[Order: Eleven, Vala]

[makeherblue]

The Doctor has worked with less. Not much less, but still!

Eva and Jamie are off being humany and productive and no matter what you can say about their species -- sometimes entirely too reasonable, sometimes not reasonable enough, horrid taste in drinks, tendency to ask for too many explanations at all the wrong times -- you can't say that they as a rule don't pull together in times like this. The Doctor trusts them to have that door open, and he's pleased to say that Jamie has gotten used to that super sporran. Now he concentrates on the poison.

Vala will have to help him tailor this to Sobek's species. The Doctor flicks through the settings of his sonic -- thank you, Jamie, for being dependable as always -- wiping off some of the grit that's accumulated since it's been stolen all these months. It'll likely take him a few hours to get something ready.

[valaunbound]

"I guess now's the time for your green glow stick to really prove its worth." Vala commented, harking back to when they'd first arrived on Kalimba.

Fiddling with the accoutrements that were scattered around in their makeshift lab on the cell floor, Vala felt pretty useless. Not that she'd admit that, now wasn't the time for doubts. Positivity all the way, even if they were all about to die horribly probably.

[makeherblue]

"Oh, I don't think that'll be a problem. Nothing more reliable than a sonic screwdriver!" The Doctor tried not to sound too offended at Vala questioning his sonic. "So, probably only have a few hours and not much room for testing. Good thing for you I'm excellent at winging it."

Probably took some classes in Winging It in his youth, probably out of boredom, although he can safely say that coming up with a symbiote poison somehow hadn't cropped up in those classes. Funny how things turn out. He shuffled through what scraps and bits and bobs the group had scrounged together, glancing at Vala. She had what the Doctor thought was a slightly pinched expression, as if she wasn't sure what she was doing there.

"Did we have any luck getting a test subject?" He didn't like the idea of trying the first and last trial on Sobek himself without having at least an inkling if it'd do anything than tickle the False God.

[valaunbound]

"It's the best way, winging it." Vala responded with the blazé attitude that only a person with years of winging it under their belt could pull off. This however was a little beyond her capabilities.

"Eva and Jamie have obtained a symbiote and there's the naquadah in my bloodstream if you need samples of that." She retrieved the canopic jar containing the larval goa'uld, no idea what the two of them had done with the body of the Jaffa. It had occured to her far too late that she should have told them a third shot with a Zat would disintegrate, even if she'd never tested the theory herself.

Lifting the lid, she peered down at the not quite mature goa'uld squirming in the fluid, reluctantly grabbing its neck. "They'd picked a good one, if it had been too young then it would have probably croaked from just looking at it cross eyed."

Vala's hatred for the race was conveyed without doubt in the way she held it. Disdain and a carefully held distance from anywhere it might choose to suddenly burrow inside her.

[makeherblue]

The Doctor turned to look at the symibote writhing in her hand. Vala had that look as if she would feel much better if it was dead and not likely to jump into her if it had a chance.

“Give me a few minutes.” He said, tilting his head.

His face smoothed out as he studied the young alien coiling around Vala’s arm, taking on an expression of careful blankness. This goa’uld hadn’t done anything like Sobek had, as far as he knew, but at this point, he did have to weigh their options and those options were extremely limited. The Doctor took a sample of the fluid, analyzing it with a buzz of the sonic screwdriver before having a look at the naquadah he had from the samples from Vala. With this he thought it should be possible to come up with a solution, the Doctor working away furiously in his little corner, his sonic giving a lonely green glow. After a while, he turned to Vala, holding out a vial of something that for all intents and purposes looked like water.

“Try this.”

[valaunbound]

"You seriously need a shave by the way," Vala chimed in off the cuff as she backed off from the Primta when it rasped at her. Nasty things, even without a Jaffa or a host it seemed to look at her like it was superior in some way.

The Doctor appeared to know what he was doing, she'd have been lost without him, not a point that she found easy admitting to, even to herself. Or maybe it was like when she came across a security system she'd never encountered before. Somehow instinct kicked in and things just happened, she liked to think it was skill but if truth be known it was usually just fluke with a modicum of intelligent guesswork.

"Well that doesn't look particularly potent, I was expecting something that smoked maybe, fluorescent maybe. Or at least effervescent!"

The tired looking raven haired woman took the vial however and held it poised ready to empty a few drops into the goa'uld's mouth from above. Squeezing the pressure point in its glands that would make it open wide (which in itself seemed to be instinct more than conscious knowledge) the jaws of the creature opened up willingly, frozen there immobile for the time she needed to empty a few drops inside him.

"That enough?" She asked, still holding it at arm's length, and keeping its jaw locked open.

[makeherblue]

“Yeah. Should work,” The Doctor reached up to rub self-consciously at his chin. He hadn’t quite grown a beard as impressive as Jamie’s scruff, but it was getting there. He’d forgotten it was there after a moment. Torture did do that to you. “There we are.”

His voice was quiet, eyes on the symbiote in Vala’s hand. The thing had gone stiff after a pained squeal, those fleshly little fins on the side of its body flaring out angrily like it wanted to make a final stand and it was realizing it couldn’t. After what felt like far too long the alien suddenly drooped over, limp, against Vala’s arm. The Doctor leaned forward to peer at it, ready to jump backward in case it was faking. A few minutes passed. He waved the sonic over the symbiote, and, with one of those flicks of his wrist, consulted the scan’s results, hemmig and hawing and making “Oh, I see”’s under his breath. After a moment he looked up at Vala, meeting her eyes. The human looked older than she really was, all those long months under Sobek’s rule drawing those lines in her face deep. He had to wonder when she had a good night’s sleep.

If they pulled this off – and survived. That was the important part – he hoped she could still sleep. Humans were some of the most resilient aliens he’d come across. She would survive. She’d find a way. Vala, like Eva, had gotten this far.

“It works,” the Doctor said. He didn’t sound pleased or triumphant. Not this time. “I’ll have some ready to deal with Sobek.”

[Vala and Sobek/Daniel] - after Vala has been given the poison

[hi_there_aliens]

His new Empire and the Age it heralded was on the threshold. At dawn, he would take what had always been his right. With the new merge of technology, not even Ra or Anubis would have the power to stop him. They would be ripped to shreds, he would step through the remains of their Empires and scatter it to the winds. He would save Bastet and Kali for last. They could taste the growing fear. Perhaps, he would reverse time just for them, kill them over and over and over. Then, when he tired of it, he would enjoy eating them both alive.

Sobek stood, watching his Children pouring their praises to him. A sense of pride swelled up. They had disappointed him before, but they were his First, the Ever Faithful, those who were the foundation for the Age of Scales. For a long while, the God remained motionless. He only watched. The hours drew on and still he waited. He finally shifted, head turned towards the horizon, eyes unseeing as they somehow the sun coming up, the heat it brought across his planet long before they saw it. The Crocodile God was ready. He gave the signal. The fleet was to begin lifting off. Vala was to be brought before him.

Daniel could only watch the dancers below, some who had already nearly been driven to exhaustion and still they kept dancing, and wonder at how this was going to be the last thing he saw. Vala was coming. Sobek's new host.

[valaunbound]

The festivities hadn't stopped all night, the noise of drums seemed to make the entire planet reverberate. They felt like they were beating out an ominous end to Vala, as if they were the drumroll to her failure. Everything depended on the poison working and Sobek not suspecting. The original plan to simply inject Sobek had been written off, it was too risky. It all depended on a precise injection point and in the scuffle and chances she'd have to take to administer it, it was far too hit and miss.

Vala had been injected with the poison instead, the naquadah already in her bloodstream would give it the lethal potency it needed and she could feel it coursing through her veins. It was dizzying, as if she'd simply drank too much. Taking the poison herself had risks of its own, if it was left in her bloodstream for too long without the goa'uld entering her and absorbing it, it would... well she wasn't quite sure what it would do, she'd opted for the Doctor not to share that snippet of doom and gloom. If it all went wrong, it all went wrong. There wasn't really an alternative and Vala had picked it up and and insisted he inject her as soon as she knew it would be just as effective done this way round, regardless of the risks.

The guards came for her and she took a moment to steady herself as she stood. She'd been left alone for hours now, with only the constant thudding of those incessant drums for company, and the poison working its way round her system. Once in Sobek's chambers, they closed the doors and left them.

Vala stood, in the finery that Sobek had left for her. It felt like her heart was beating louder than the drums coming from outside.

[hi_there_aliens]

Alone, and finally his. The ships all around them and across the planet hummed as one, preparing to lift off. They were packed with his armies, and those worshipers who could not fit in them, would see them off. The singing grew louder outside, the roar of the crowd in competition with the engines. Sobek turned from the sight. The System Lord looking her up and down, found her completely stunning. Dressed as a god should be. Perfect in every way and finally fit for him. Drawing close, he inspected her, tilting her face one way, checking to see if the scars he'd left on her had healed, seeing if the fit of a piece of her outfit was flawless.

Everything was as it should be. After thousands of years, he would take what was his and he would have no equal. "The day you ascend and rejoin the Gods has come at least. I would have your thoughts before you leave the mortal plane."

What did she desire as her first act as a vessel? He was in a generous mood today, and would consider granting it. Vengeance? Riches? The subjugation of a particular planet? Sobek desired too to see what she felt at being given the second chance: most slaves did not get another chance to become a God, but Vala was special. What must it be like to be favored by something so above your station?

[valaunbound]

It took everything she had not to spit in his face when he held her jaw and inspected her like an animal for sale in a market, but she couldn't risk angering him now. If she did anything to make him change his mind, it was game over for all of them. She simply looked at him impassively, biting back the hatred for the snake that had brought them to this juncture.

"You'll have all my thoughts as soon as you've taken me. But if you must know I'm on the edge of my seat with anticipation." It was ambiguous, neither sarcastic nor genuine. The corner of her lips turned up and she half smirked, half smiled. Her thoughts were hers, and she was damned if she was sharing anything before she had to.

"You'll let Daniel live, that's all I ask."

[hi_there_aliens]

"Of course," Sobek said. Never once did his face twitch to betray the lie or his eyes give himself away. There had never been any intent to let her have that. She was his to do with as he saw fit, as were all his subjects and his own vessel. His mind had not changed since she had been brought before him in the throne room. "You will be made to understand, Godling. I am not without mercy. Even to those that would think it possible to betray me."

The System Lord would not risk Daniel interfering during the transfer yet he he wasn't an ungracious God. He would not leave the human without a gift for his services. He would grant a final mercy to his vessel. It would be escape from what drove him. Sobek would help him escape Sha're and what he would really find at the end of the chase, if he ever did find her.

Sobek pressed himself even closer to Vala and cupping her face in both hands, brought their faces close, and lips just short of touching. The hand with the ribbon device slid past her cheek and to her neck. Fingers knotting in her hair, Sobek held her fast. The Hour had arrived. He was finally strong enough to complete the process of a swift jump without risk to himself. Sobek began to disengage himself from Daniel's brain and spinal chord. With each unwind, Daniel could feel more of his body return to him, and with it, his heart wanted to beat faster and faster with fear. He had no control of his voice. No way to warn Vala. Sobek did the opposite, right before he unwound himself and his tendrils. The God gave the order to shut his heart down completely.

The Crocodile God moved quickly then, striking out even swiftly before he could have the body die out from under him. He was already exiting his former vessel's mouth and crossing the brief ripple of air on his body, entering Vala's mouth and the back of her throat when Daniel's heart shuddered to a stop.

[valaunbound]

"Good, because I want the pleasure of making him suffer once I am his God." It was something she thought Sobek would be able to relate to, a reason for her request that masked her true desires that would hopefully blind someone like Sobek. Push him into accepting the terms, if it was merely benevolence she didn't think he'd bite and only betray her at the last.

Vala's faith was completely in the hands of the Doctor as the moment drew near, and even that was tenuous. She didn't think it would work, everything in her subconscious screamed at her that she was making the worst decision of her life. Her own heart beat in time with Daniel's racing heart. She tried to hold back any trembling, but if truth be known Vala was more frightened than she'd ever been. When Qetesh had taken her, it had been incidental, not knowing it was about to happen. This was different, she was willingly offering herself. She drew short panicked breaths right up until the point the goa'uld slid down her throat and half choked her.

It wasn't going to work, she wanted her innate optimism to kick in so she could face this down with her trademark blazé attitude but as the Goa'uld slid into her, Vala panicked and tried to rip the thing from inside her mouth before it embedded itself and was beyond reach.

A desperate hand shoved itself into her mouth trying to grab the tail end before it disappeared completely. She'd wanted to do this with dignity, but her own fears took over turned her into a hysterical mess.

She hadn't stopped to check on Daniel, Vala was on her knees and choking on her own hand as Sobek slipped beyond her grasp.

[hi_there_aliens]

Sobek was gone. Vala was taken again. He had control of his limbs for the first time in months but it didn't make a damn bit of difference. His heart was stopped. Dead in his chest. Daniel had a few seconds to realize this fact with the last bit of clarity. The lightheaded sensation that followed was rapid and consuming. His vision tunneled to nothing.

Daniel's legs gave out from under him. The archaeologist hit the ground heavily and lay still in a heap.

Sobek wasted no time in wrapped himself around Vala's spine and began the task of taking her completely. This was different than when he had taken Daniel, no mad rush to grab control of the first host offered with a body weakened from his prison. He stole control of her hands first, then took his time with the rest, taking her voice, her heart and breathing... his mind began to join with hers, all the memories and shared thoughts he'd had with all his hosts, his desires. They drifted and swam in a haze.

She need not concern herself with the slave, he thought, his former host already a brief footnote. He'd given him one last gift. More than a Tau'ri deserved, and there were bigger and better things in store. She would see the glory of his empire. She would be richly rewarded. He would have no lack of battles and bodies to go through. The memory of them drifted up from Sobek, offered to Vala. He practically salivated at just the anticipation.

Mine at last, came the Crocodile's greed singing out. The Time has come upon all. I am the last of the System Lords

[valaunbound]

She could only watch in horror as Daniel fell to the floor, no control of her own body to even hold him. The healing device, if she could just gain control of her hand she could heal him before it was too late. But all she could do was call out his name as the Goa'uld took hold of her, even that trailed off as he took her voice.

He had no intention of letting Daniel live, it was the first of his thoughts she found herself with access to as he observed 'the slave' before them, that and his 'gift' to him. She was an idiot to ever trust a Goa'uld's word. How could she have been so foolish? Did she not know better? Vala didn't hesitate to share her own secret in return as his egotistical thoughts postured his own glory.

She might not be able to do anything, but she didn't hesitate to let him know what he'd walked into. A last final 'fuck you', a phrase that even now she briefly thanked Cam for. Even if it failed he would know that she had betrayed him.