Sitting on the throne while a woman, completely oblivious to what's happening, is led to you in her nightgown, surrounded by Jaffa, forced to kneel—it's frankly an unpleasant sight. I admit, it wasn't my order, but rather the impulsive initiative of my minions. Their idea of "caution" was so bizarre that they didn't give the poor woman a second to compose herself before dragging her to me. I've served them for two years, and they're still the same thick-headed creatures. Snapping my fingers and giving them a withering glare, I ordered:
"Stun everyone in the palace, but do not harm them. They are my slaves now."
The woman looked at me with undisguised fear. But what was truly terrifying was this: there was a roar, flashes of energy—and armored men burst into the chambers. They stunned me and led me to a man with glowing eyes, sitting on a throne.
"Bring her something," I said to my servants.
"At least a robe. They don't even know how to take hostages properly."
Yes, it may be my fault, but after two years in hyperspace, I'm desperate for action. I've been secretly distributing poems and books from Earth, forcing servants to put on performances, sing songs—basically, I've been doing something completely insane.
Of course, I'm glad I escaped Ra and spent two years in hyperspace. His hyperdrives are undoubtedly superior to mine, so if he wants to punish me, he'll have six months. That was enough time to get this assignment. Ra was in the midst of another pointless war with Apophis, and the High Lord needed both warriors and administrators. His "children," the lesser Goa'uld, were eager to get as close to him as possible (just as Klorel would one day get to Apophis). All I had to do was explain to Ra the importance of the naquadah planets, which Apophis couldn't quickly reach, thereby disrupting his supply chain. Ra, no fool, gratefully accepted the offer. However, for most, this turned into exile, the realization that they could no longer please Ra, and he would no longer provide them with new ships.
Since two years in hyperspace is a very long time, we found ourselves literally at the edge of the Milky Way. Any communication was carried out only through the Stargate, which, of course, created fertile ground for separatism. But here the Goa'uld mentality came into play: building infrastructure took time, and Ra didn't wait. He set a high quota for manual naquadah production, not to mention the debt hanging over me. Did you think the Goa'uld kept the entire history of their race in their heads? No, I, for one, know next to nothing. And yet I am a "lord"—Queen Ra, who appointed me, apparently "optimized" my knowledge, minimizing unnecessary details. Therefore, I don't know the entire stele of gate addresses that Ra keeps on Abydos.
There's a lot more I don't know, either. For example, for me, the history of the Goa'uld begins literally a couple thousand years ago. Yes, I know they existed before that, but that's the part of the story that, at least, the queen shared. And she clearly edited everything, like a censor: be loyal to Ra, Apophis is the villain, and so on.
Regarding debts. What resources do you think the Goa'uld rely on to survive? Not the System Lords, but people like me. Even scientists and workers have it better—they have a profession that provides for them. But people like me, the "little lords," are like the younger sons of feudal lords: they can throw parties and sleep with girls, but they have no personal wealth. And if a feudal lord orders you to go somewhere, you go, otherwise you'll be left without a livelihood. At best, you'll be allowed to wander, seeking refuge (yes, with limited knowledge of the gate network and technology) among other System Lords. But who needs you without a reputation, connections, and useful skills? You'll certainly be suspected of espionage. The Tok'ra, using their connections, create a biography for an unknown Goa'uld, presenting him as a man who infiltrated Yu (Jacob Carter and Selmak) to take an important position and replace a personal servant in the palace.
Goa'uld like me are closer to a nest of vipers (literally). Here, you have to prove your worth quickly, otherwise you'll be deemed useless and sent to... I don't know, work as an executioner, at least not as a sewer cleaner. And the last part isn't a compliment, since that requires an education. To prove yourself, you have to undermine your competitors by any means necessary. Among the lesser Goa'uld, who haven't even been given a tiny planet with a few thousand inhabitants, the intrigues that flourish in Game of Thrones simply pale in comparison. Personally, I only survived because I retreated so quickly that the others merely shook their heads. Although the smartest ones envied me.
The whole point of my simple plan was to get as far away from Ra as possible while still preserving some resources. So I proposed to the High Lord that we rediscover a planet believed to contain naquadah deposits but abandoned for some reason—perhaps to ensure a steady supply of naquadah through the Gate to the shipyards. Ra liked the idea and found such a planet himself. It had been abandoned about 500 years ago due to another Goa'uld war, this time against Kronos. The Lord, based on Urkesh, was ordered to conduct a flanking attack (yes, it lasted two years). He failed and died, communication with the Gate was severed, so Ra abandoned the planet. He had enough on his plate; he sent a ship to find out what had happened to the Gate. Until I came along with my proposal.
It's difficult to allocate resources these days, but Ra had Cheops, which was far from new, and modernizing it would have been expensive. So they forced it on me and set a price high enough to buy Hattak. I also bought a thousand Jaffa (with their families), slaves, and other small items I needed. That's how my debt accumulated. It needs to be repaid, in addition to paying the tribute to Ra.
What if the Goa'uld are capitalists? Do you think Moloch sacrificed girls because he was so happy? That fool simply didn't have the money for the required number of larvae, or he was trying to save money. That's exactly what Ra did, completely enslaving me, because he will be the one setting the price for the larvae (I don't know many addresses, not to mention the other Lords will also inflate the prices). As a result, I will be left with nothing from all the naquadah I collected. At least, that's what Ra thinks.
I managed to pull off a small scam, tricking my most foolish comrades into agreeing to assassination and traveling to a remote province for a fee. There were still plenty of fools left at Ra's court; they didn't have time to die. So they spent their money on me. It wasn't much, to be honest, but it helped me buy a few things.
Two years later, I finally arrived on Urkesh, and I'm ready to quietly thank Ra for this planet. The entire planet had a population of 30 million, was rich in naquadah, which is why the Ancients installed the gate here, but it also had a unique concentration of habitable planets. One system had four habitable planets, but that didn't interest the Goa'uld who ruled here before me. He, too, was mired in debt and had no interest in colonizing worlds not connected to the gate. Otherwise, he would have been forced to build a space fleet, even if it consisted of those same Alkesh, and that would have been an investment. And he was clearly spending all his money on debt.
The first planet is a classic ocean world, 80 percent water, with occasional islands. Urkesh orbits another planet, and they share similar geographic conditions, somewhat reminiscent of Earth: oceans, continents, and a diverse climate. The fourth planet is quite barren. It's certainly no Abydos, but distance from the local sun matters. All of them have stable atmospheres capable of supporting life and reflecting the sun's rays. If you think like an Earthling, that's a "jackpot," but if you think like a Goa'uld, nothing changes. A small population means you need to mine naquadah, and if you're going to colonize other planets, you need a surplus population and a space fleet capable of at least providing transportation. Planets without naquadah are agricultural planets. Why make them that way and build a space transport fleet for that purpose when the same can be done on Urkesh? Instead of a developed industrial sector, it's a remote village. And though I am a lord, I will give the bulk of my "harvest" to Ra. In this, I am little different from the people of the planet I have come to conquer.