• spoilers: "Exodus," "Enemies," "The Devil You Know," "Into the Fire"
• Jacob is beyond angry.
• PG [D]

notes:

"Jacob speaking"

//Jacob thinking to self//

*Jacob thinking at Selmac*

#Selmac speaking#

~Selmac thinking to self~

+Selmac thinking at Jacob+

'others speaking'

"Fallen hero?!!" Jacob pounded the conference table hard enough to make it jump. //Good thing it's still only me// he thought, //Selmac would've broken that sucker into splinters.//

"FALLEN-fuckin'-HERO!" The Tok'ra council shifted nervously in their chairs; none had yet gathered the nerve to respond. "After how long? One day? Two days? Did you even look? Did you even entertain the possibility that we might have survived?"

Selmac considered surfacing, but quickly gave up the idea. Jacob's mental slap was harsh enough she knew their relationship would never recover if she forced the issue.

'Our apologies, Sel -- Jacob.' It was a measure of RenAu's discomfiture that she was uncertain whom she was addressing -- certainly hosts were not wont to display this level of rage. Especially not in council. 'Reports from the blast area indicated -- '

"Reports? What kind of half-assed incompetent reports did you rely on? You couldn't have seen a mothership destroyed, since I know for a fact it wasn't. Sensors were blacked out, no one got close enough to retrieve any debris for analysis. Depending on reports based on nothing more than a quick look-see from shit-for-brains is SIMPLY {pound} NOT {pound} ACCEPTABLE!! {pound pound pound}"

"But Sel -- Ja -- Sel -- "

"DON'T INTERRUPT ME!"

~A Tau'ri in full rage is certainly a sight to see,~ mused Selmac. ~Such fire, such spirit. It would do our people good to get more of them.~ Not that she didn't love all of her previous hosts, each in their own way, but here was a warrior! Here was the strength, the power, the passion, the sheer unmitigated gall that led a technologically inferior race of primitives to destroy 5 system lords in as many years.

"And this isn't the first time you've been too damn ready to give me up for dead. Don't think I've forgotten what happened on Netu. Martouf and Aldwin wanted to scrap the rescue mission if Sam couldn't remember how Jolinar escaped -- it was O'Neill who had the confidence to know if it's been done once it can be done again. When Aldwin was ready to abandon the whole bunch of us, Teal'c had to lock him in the cargo hold to proceed with a rescue -- why was that necessary? If SG-1 could come up with a way to get us all out of there, why couldn't Aldwin think of it? Or even believe in it once he'd had it explained to him?"

"Because -- " started Freya.

"I'M NOT FINISHED!"

"Difficult is no reason not to try. Odds are against you is no reason to give up. We've got a problem here, folks. A serious, serious problem. YOUR ATTITUDE SUCKS DEAD DONKEY DICK." One final pound and a table leg cracked; the table tilted, then fell, and water glasses and pitchers rolled across the floor. The Tok'ra were unfamiliar with the meaning of this phrase, but the look on Jacob's face got the message across quite well enough.

Jacob's chin dipped and rose, his eyes glowed, and the council heaved a collective sigh of relief to hear Selmac's voice. {Impudent host} they all thought, {poor Selmac, to be forced to cohabit with such a creature. Perhaps she can make him see reason}.

#Jacob is right.#

The room froze; this was not at all what they had expected.

#The Tau'ri have a saying; "never say die." They climb mountains just to see if they can. One of their great military heroes, facing death, proudly proclaimed "I have not yet begun to fight." Even small children are taught that "a winner never quits, and a quitter never wins." When SG-1 was held by Hathor, what did we do? We watched. We reported. And we watched some more. If those were Tok'ra warriors they would have been left to die. But that is not the Tau'ri way. And the Tau'ri retrieved their comrades.

#They suffered losses in their rescue mission, that is true, they fully expected to suffer even greater losses than they in fact did. But they had to try, because that's who they are. The Tok'ra way would have been content to mourn the fallen heroes and move on, not risk further casualties in an unwinnable assault. The Tau'ri attempted the impossible because they have faith in their ability to fight, their ability to plan, their ability to improvise when opportunities present themselves. Destroying Vorash's sun was a last-minute change in plans that enabled us to destroy the bulk of Apophis' fleet - on Earth they call that 'thinking outside the box.' It's the Tau'ri way to expect the unexpected, and make use of it. To rashly attempt what perhaps cannot be done. They saved their brethren from Hathor because it was the right thing to do; because in spite of the costs, they live by the motto "No One is Left Behind."

#I have learned much from my host; I am refreshed and reinvigorated for our struggle beyond what I would have believed possible only a few short years ago. I have new hope for our future. We all have much to learn from these upstarts.

#I will leave you to discuss these things while I practice the ancient Tau'ri Ritual of the Victorious Warrior Returned; a cold beer and a hot bath.#

His head dipped, and Jacob spoke again. "See you at breakfast, guys." And he left the room.

For once, the council had nothing to say.

© July 7, 2001 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.