Five Things Ba'al Admires About SG-1
Title: Five Things Ba'al Admires About SG-1
Author: speedy
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: If I owned Stargate, Daniel and Sheppard would never have clothes on.
Notes: Originally posted in response to a prompt at sg1_five_things.
1. Honor
It's rare trait among the Goa'uld. Deals are made and then broken. They stab each other in the back, lie, cheat, steal, and everything else to other Goa'uld. He has been betrayed and he has betrayed. It is expected. One doesn't get to be a System Lord by doing the honorable thing.
He is always surprised when SG-1 keeps their word. The few times he made an agreement with them, they've always delivered on their end, even if he hadn't. They won't pretend to like him, quite the opposite, but they haven't double crossed him.. He knows they'll always try to the right thing, the honorable thing, and do whatever they can to help others in trouble. It's refreshingly nice to be able count on that, particularly when he's scheming to screw them over.
2. Persistence
Ba'al would've capitulated long ago if he had been up against the odds the Tau'ri were. He knows from his Jaffa and Tok'ra spies that SG-1 wouldn't give up on O'Neill when he was a prisoner in Ba'al's secret fortress, despite the fact they'd had no idea where he was. They'd been outgunned and outnumbered repeatedly, only surrendered when they had to and they never gave up. Jackson and O'Neill hadn't given up the fight when they faced Ra alone on Abydos. They hadn't given up when they were captured by Apophis on Chulak, and managed to turn a loyal First Prime to their side. They'd even escaped from Netu, something only a handful had managed in all the years Sokar had held the planet. SG-1 had faced down an invasion army that had defeated combined forces of other Goa'uld and didn't flinch, something Ba'al himself couldn't do. Even Ba'al's own successful record with torture had been tainted by O'Neill's will to survive. No Goa'uld had broken even one of them. Not even death stopped the Shol'va and the three humans from a pathetic, backward, inferior planet.
Ba'al sometimes likes to think that his own persistence is why he's the last System Lord standing; however, he knows SG-1's refusal to bow down to the Goa'uld is the reason he isn't controlling the territory he had just five years ago, much less the known galaxy right now.
3. Strength
The Goa'uld had brute force, but in the end, it was SG-1 who won. Ba'al didn't get to be a System Lord by being stupid. He understands that the strength of the SGC is within the original SG-1 and that their strength is the kind that armies of Jaffa can't defeat.
SG-1's strength lies in O'Neill's quick thinking, in Jackson's intuitive understanding, in Carter's scientific brilliance and Teal'c's tactical experience. Their strength lies in their stubbornness, in their honor, and their loyalty- to their planet, to their people, to each other. Their strength lies in the fact SG-1 leads by example and inspires those same traits in others.
Apophis tried to break them all and failed. Ba'al tried to break O'Neill and Teal'c and failed. The Replicators tried to break Carter and failed. Death had tried to take Jackson numerous times and failed.
4. Success
Every Goa'uld desires to defeat the others. It's in their nature, being a cannibalistic race and all. But no Goa'uld has achieved the string of victories that SG-1 has, not even Anubis.
Jackson and O'Neill defeated Ra in battle their first trip through the Stargate, without knowing anything about the Goa'uld. Since then, the death of nearly every System Lord has been at their hands. Hathor, Seth, Sokar, Heru'ur, Apophis, Anubis, Osiris, Yu... SG-1 turned the Jaffa against them, got the Tok'ra off their asses and on the offensive, conned the Asgard into giving the Tau'ri weapons, brought the Replicators and the Ori to this galaxy. All spelled the end of Goa'uld domination.
It had taken Ba'al centuries to reach his position among the System Lords. SG-1 - just four people - took it all away in less than a decade.
5. Friendship
Friendship and love is something most Goa'uld never know. One can never know if another Goa'uld is trustworthy, or just waiting for your guard to drop so they can stab you in the back. And now, one cannot trust seemingly loyal Jaffa or servants, as they may be part of a rebel faction. It's a lonely life, but most Goa'uld don't know the difference.
Ba'al's witnessed the depths of SG-1's devotion to each other, even with the two new ones. Their easy camaraderie, their friendship, their loyalty.
What Ba'al feels isn't so much admiration, but more like envy. In the deep dark of night, he can admit to himself he had a friend, a companion, a lover in Anat. He trusted her and she trusted him. He still misses her, several millennia after he murdered her for her territory.
Author: speedy
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: If I owned Stargate, Daniel and Sheppard would never have clothes on.
Notes: Originally posted in response to a prompt at sg1_five_things.
1. Honor
It's rare trait among the Goa'uld. Deals are made and then broken. They stab each other in the back, lie, cheat, steal, and everything else to other Goa'uld. He has been betrayed and he has betrayed. It is expected. One doesn't get to be a System Lord by doing the honorable thing.
He is always surprised when SG-1 keeps their word. The few times he made an agreement with them, they've always delivered on their end, even if he hadn't. They won't pretend to like him, quite the opposite, but they haven't double crossed him.. He knows they'll always try to the right thing, the honorable thing, and do whatever they can to help others in trouble. It's refreshingly nice to be able count on that, particularly when he's scheming to screw them over.
2. Persistence
Ba'al would've capitulated long ago if he had been up against the odds the Tau'ri were. He knows from his Jaffa and Tok'ra spies that SG-1 wouldn't give up on O'Neill when he was a prisoner in Ba'al's secret fortress, despite the fact they'd had no idea where he was. They'd been outgunned and outnumbered repeatedly, only surrendered when they had to and they never gave up. Jackson and O'Neill hadn't given up the fight when they faced Ra alone on Abydos. They hadn't given up when they were captured by Apophis on Chulak, and managed to turn a loyal First Prime to their side. They'd even escaped from Netu, something only a handful had managed in all the years Sokar had held the planet. SG-1 had faced down an invasion army that had defeated combined forces of other Goa'uld and didn't flinch, something Ba'al himself couldn't do. Even Ba'al's own successful record with torture had been tainted by O'Neill's will to survive. No Goa'uld had broken even one of them. Not even death stopped the Shol'va and the three humans from a pathetic, backward, inferior planet.
Ba'al sometimes likes to think that his own persistence is why he's the last System Lord standing; however, he knows SG-1's refusal to bow down to the Goa'uld is the reason he isn't controlling the territory he had just five years ago, much less the known galaxy right now.
3. Strength
The Goa'uld had brute force, but in the end, it was SG-1 who won. Ba'al didn't get to be a System Lord by being stupid. He understands that the strength of the SGC is within the original SG-1 and that their strength is the kind that armies of Jaffa can't defeat.
SG-1's strength lies in O'Neill's quick thinking, in Jackson's intuitive understanding, in Carter's scientific brilliance and Teal'c's tactical experience. Their strength lies in their stubbornness, in their honor, and their loyalty- to their planet, to their people, to each other. Their strength lies in the fact SG-1 leads by example and inspires those same traits in others.
Apophis tried to break them all and failed. Ba'al tried to break O'Neill and Teal'c and failed. The Replicators tried to break Carter and failed. Death had tried to take Jackson numerous times and failed.
4. Success
Every Goa'uld desires to defeat the others. It's in their nature, being a cannibalistic race and all. But no Goa'uld has achieved the string of victories that SG-1 has, not even Anubis.
Jackson and O'Neill defeated Ra in battle their first trip through the Stargate, without knowing anything about the Goa'uld. Since then, the death of nearly every System Lord has been at their hands. Hathor, Seth, Sokar, Heru'ur, Apophis, Anubis, Osiris, Yu... SG-1 turned the Jaffa against them, got the Tok'ra off their asses and on the offensive, conned the Asgard into giving the Tau'ri weapons, brought the Replicators and the Ori to this galaxy. All spelled the end of Goa'uld domination.
It had taken Ba'al centuries to reach his position among the System Lords. SG-1 - just four people - took it all away in less than a decade.
5. Friendship
Friendship and love is something most Goa'uld never know. One can never know if another Goa'uld is trustworthy, or just waiting for your guard to drop so they can stab you in the back. And now, one cannot trust seemingly loyal Jaffa or servants, as they may be part of a rebel faction. It's a lonely life, but most Goa'uld don't know the difference.
Ba'al's witnessed the depths of SG-1's devotion to each other, even with the two new ones. Their easy camaraderie, their friendship, their loyalty.
What Ba'al feels isn't so much admiration, but more like envy. In the deep dark of night, he can admit to himself he had a friend, a companion, a lover in Anat. He trusted her and she trusted him. He still misses her, several millennia after he murdered her for her territory.