"Aaahhhh!!!" Isara screamed, clutching my hand, and the other guests echoed her, their cries echoing my own descent into the abyss of fear. They screamed because, from their perspective, a red-hot plasma bolt had struck their faces. Did they think so? Because I, like a deity daring to draw his sword, had released "The Liberation of Prakitia" into theaters. My entire soul, all my sweat and blood, were woven into this film, from every frame to the final chord of the soundtrack. Only thirty minutes, but I writhed under their weight. I wove the juiciest, most explosive moments into this fabric, woven the canvas, purchasing all the infrastructure to make the film's release a reality. And apparently it turned out so well - after all, who, if not you yourself, will appreciate your skill at its true value - that it seems like my hand is about to be torn off.
"Calm down, I'm alive!" I calmed Isara, like one would calm a raging ocean.
She looked at me, and the powerful people of Urvashi saw what real war was, a war between Goa'uld. This film served two purposes: to create an image of me as a hero, shining like a star, and at the same time to serve as a dire warning, a banner fluttering in the winds of possible uprisings. And, of course, the third purpose was to unite, to burn bridges between the past and the future, to press on the most vulnerable points of society. I had freed an entire planet from the iron grip of slave labor in the mines, and here it was—the result. Instant profit. A separate thread ran through the gratitude of the Prakitin Jaffa, and for me too—that too was nothing less than a halo of glory. The film turned out well, from a propaganda standpoint. It was more like a war chronicle, a ferocious battle song. Considering it was the very first film they had seen, it struck like thunder. And now, anyone who dares to film anything will face my wrath—I'll throw a camera at them. For a fair price, of course, as will the gramophones with their spinning discs. Within a month, Urvashi will drown in a sea of entertainment, and I can already see how they'll react to jazz, this seething stream of melodies.
Soon all this will seep into the public consciousness; the twentieth century, like a galloping stallion, will rush into Urvashi, leaving only trails of dust in its wake. We had a deal with the manufacturers: I'd bring something new from other worlds, in this case, from earthly paradise, people would try it, and then I'd make all the technology freely available. Now it would be gramophones, vinyl records, and recording devices. I also brought data on how to organize the assembly line, and now factories, like giant machines, are being built in dozens of directions.
There are plenty of minds on the planet eager to invest their capital, and here I am, all handsome, with my ideas. Or rather, not ideas, but finished, well-functioning products just waiting to come into being. And some things will have to be purchased. Technologically, the eighteenth century was almost no different from Ancient Egypt, except for a few minor details. And I have here – complete technical documentation. I've only been here six months, and industrial bicycles already exist, selling at an incredible rate. Perhaps they will even reach the automobile, shortening the distance between Earth and Urvashi, but literacy is still low, and that needs to be addressed. We need to prepare for the Industrial Revolution, expand cities to make way for automobiles, and build buildings for human habitation.
"But they could have killed me," she said, like a whisper from the wind.
"They could," I replied affirmatively. "But that's the price you pay for having people follow you. Even though every Goa'uld is a megalomaniac, as indifferent to the suffering of others as the dust beneath their feet. But each of them is playing a long game, where their life is the stake. And this game lasts as long as the Goa'uld lives; those are the rules."
"Weren't you afraid?"
"Of course I was. I'm not some adrenaline-fueled psycho, I'm an engineer. But I need to build my reputation, respect, and skills. After all, the inhabitants of that planet now know who liberated them, and even though their loyalty lies with Indra, the respect they've earned will allow us to trade with them."
"You threw them at the enemy," Isara said accusingly, her words like a sword thrust.
"That's right. It was for my own benefit and their freedom. It would have been impossible to win on my own without razing the city to the ground. A million and eighty-seven thousand lives hung in the balance. And there's no guarantee that the same number wouldn't have died in the mines over the next ten years. I had to make decisions from a limited set of options, like choosing a path through a maze."
"Now Vritra won't come?"
"I don't know. She was looking for something valuable. If I find out the list of planets Vritra controls, I can attack them and distract them. But I shouldn't count on it. They were too relaxed and didn't control the gate. That was a grave mistake. If I find such a planet and manage to launch satellites, I'll attack. But if there are stronger enemies there, with a fleet and bombers, the investment won't be worth it. Vritra is apparently a lord, which means she can deploy a force of up to twenty or thirty Hutta'ks. And the number of her vassal planets could number two hundred and fifty. Not all of them have garrisons, but that's an indication."
"What kind of army could such an average lord have?"
"It's important to understand that the Jaffa are a separate branch of the human race, and they are 100% warriors. And they are distributed strictly according to gender. More can be purchased if needed."
"Buy?"
"Yes, but it will mostly be a deep secondary market. The children of unsuccessful warriors, or those who have brought shame upon themselves, the wives of warriors who have fallen in disgrace. Jaffa women live to produce warriors. And they need a husband, or to be useful, otherwise no one will give them another larva. Therefore, they are in an extremely vulnerable position. And for breeding, yes, they can be bought. But you also need to buy larvae, so you have to be careful to maintain a balance of trade. The stabilization purchase or production of Goa'uld larvae is a separate economic dilemma for a lord. Goa'uld larvae bind a Jaffa's life to their masters, but this creates an additional headache, as it adds another economic variable to the strength of the army. Vritra, if she is an average lord, might have somewhere around a million Jaffa of both sexes, and four hundred thousand employed in her army."
"That would mean you killed one-eighth of her army," Isara quickly calculated.
"Yes. That is, if my calculations are correct."
"But that would mean that an equal number of women would be put in a difficult situation."
"Vritra will either sell them, or introduce harems, or something along those lines. The question remains: what will it choose—quick profit or natural population recovery? Of course, there's the option of simply creating new Jaffa from the planets' inhabitants. But they'll be of very poor quality, and this device will only produce a few thousand Jaffa. You'll also need available operating capital for larvae for them, and you'll also need equipment and weapons. Although purchasing larvae is a separate issue. She needs ninety thousand larvae every year. And we don't know which larvae were new and which were old. Which warriors are nearing the end of their service life, and which are just beginning. And their distribution among those I've killed. So the rate of army regeneration can only be determined by digging through the accounting records."
"Is it possible to defeat such a lord by exterminating his army as you did?"
"Win? Depends on what you consider victory. But yes, it's possible. While Vritra may have vast space forces, that doesn't negate the fact that it has production and mining capabilities. According to our strictest laws, it's forbidden to destroy naquadah mines or production facilities, or attack slaves with biological weapons. The point is, these naquadah mines or shipyards produce goods. In the case of naquadah, that's a tax burden.
If the naquadah mines are reduced to rubble, it will take a long time to restore production, possibly years. This means there will be no taxes from this mine. If the production facilities are destroyed, all contracts tied to this planet will be cancelled. And this is extremely unpleasant from the perspective of all market participants. If you ordered ships and the production sites are destroyed because of a war between two Goa'uld, this causes discontent, and whoever committed such a crime cannot count on favor and will be stripped of all titles. Afterwards, they will be destroyed, as their actions have created problems for a large number of respected snakes. Therefore, if infantry units are unable to dislodge the enemy from their positions, then, according to protocol, the loser must retreat. So, if Vritra has no infantry left, her production facilities could be seized by other Goa'uld. And this creates the risk of revoking her title of Lord, with the right to appoint her own First Warrior. She could, of course, buy troops from her overlord, but knowing her position, it's quite possible that she'll be paying for the Jaffa with Hatta'k."
"And the lords who placed orders with the shipyards of the lord who is attacking, won't they protect their investments?"
"According to protocol, when you capture a planet, you also assume all obligations associated with that planet's production facilities. So, once you've captured a planet, you fulfill all contracts to the letter. Contracts can only be annulled by a System Lord."
"What if a planet is captured by a lord from another dynasty? For example, the planet of Ra's vassals is captured by a vassal of Kronos?" Isar was genuinely curious.
A vassal of Kronos must fulfill all contractual obligations to counterparties from the Ra dynasty, after which he or she terminates relations with the vassals of Ra and may accept contracts from vassals of Kronos. Vassals of different dynasties typically do not produce weapons for each other, except in such exceptional cases; otherwise, it would be somewhat absurd. Also, according to protocol, equals must fight equals to maintain a balance of power and adhere to protocol. System Lords typically have a much greater ability to violate protocols. Therefore, System Lords can, for example, blow up their mines if they fall to other System Lords. More often than not, they prefer not to do this, but they are exempt from many protocols because they can simply ignore them. However, to prevent cases where a senior lord attacks a junior lord, a system of equal combat has been introduced where equals fight equals. This can lead to domain wars, where lesser vassals fail to unite in self-defense against another senior lord, which can threaten both the lesser lord's own overlord and everyone around them. Protocols for equal combat arose to protect lesser Goa'uld from the tyranny of stronger ones, which could lead to an imbalance.