The creature facing down Teal'c and his men was of a strange bunch, that much was obvious. He had no idea whether to put stock in their claims, but he was intelligent enough to not simply start shooting without any cause. That would get them nowhere, and Ba'al would not approve of him simply throwing away his life without a chance of success.

"Lord Ba'al has dealt with your kind before," he noted, as a matter of letting the information be known. Not that Teal'c himself understood why, but apparently the Ascended beings known as the 'Ori' would have been a threat at some point. So they had eliminated them before it could come to pass, Undoubtedly the same thing could be applied to these beings. 

Yet, he did not go so far as to not give diplomacy a chance. "It appears we are at an impasse. Conflict at this time would serve neither of our interests. We would be willing to cede you occupation of these lands, should you provide something of equal value in exchange." It wasn't like the Goa'uld had settled this territory yet, so they could afford to play nice in their own time. 

[@Tyki]
[hr]

The explanations for why were not so important to the Goa'uld, once it had been understood that there was no hostile action intended. The lack of offensive ship scale weaponry aboard the station, at least as detected by initial scans, removed any worry that the Goa'uld might have had about some sort of deception or treachery, at least for the moment. Whether it lasted, well, they would see. 

"Understood," the answer came fairly quickly, after a bit of discussion on their end. "Prepare to be boarded." That would end the communications via radio for the moment, and the Goa'uld gave Martin the time he needed to get set up with any defenses and the like before they decided to drop in their own soldiers. 

Several minutes later the Goa'uld would arrive in one of the observation areas, successive flashes of light filling the air, and fading away to reveal a couple men standing there, bodyguards to the man who represented the Goa'uld in this meeting. "I am Soran, of the System Lord Ba'al, Ruler of the Goa'uld Star Empire" he said, even as he took in the place. Well, this was going to be one of the more interesting visits he had had. 

[@supertinyking]
[hr]

The welcoming committee was as one would expect, some Jaffa and a few Ashrak arriving to serve as escorts in case the diplomats tried anything. Admittedly it was doubtful that they could actually stop a Space Marine when it came down to it, but it might buy a few seconds to earn a more forceful response. There was obviously some intimidation, but it didn't stop hem from doing their jobs, pretty important when it came to diplomacy. 

It was one of the Ashrak who would speak, as formal as he could be, just as his opposite was. "Lord Ba'al is expecting you. Right this way." He turned on his heels and the other Jaffa took up an escorting position as they moved away from the landing field, and towards one of the more impressive buildings that was nearby. They could have teleported directly there, but ending up in a wall did not seem like proper diplomatic conduct, even for someone you didn't like, so walking it was. At the least it gave the visiting diplomats more time to see the preparations the Goa'uld were making for whatever conflict ended up coming. Though if it hadn't impressed thus far it probably wouldn't now.

Soon enough they entered the building, led down halls towards the meeting spot. Someone had definitely invested a lot of time in this, columns lining the hallways with chiseled runes in them, and lots of gold everywhere. The Goa'uld did like to show off, and it was just like them to use use precious materials for something as mundane as this, even if it had been infused with trinium to keep someone from destroying it too easily. And all along there were Jaffa, paroling, going about their business, a force that could be quickly called upon in times of need. 

At last they arrived in the throne room itself, marched through an open doorway into a large room, to find Ba'al waiting there for them. He was seated upon his throne, one that was made to suit his claim as a God without being overbearing, made of gold and with small red domes on the ends of the armrests. Ba'al himself was in more elegant dress, reddish robes, and above him rested his sign, something aimed more at other System Lords than at them specifically. Meanwhile attendants and guards stood off to the sides, ready for his call should he need them.

"Ah, welcome Captain," Ba'al said with a smile as he straightened up a bit in his seat at the presence of the Space Marines, flashing a smile that looked like it was sincere. But with the Goa'uld, who could tell? "I hope that the Imperium hasn't fallen onto too hard of times since the last meeting I had with them." 

[@thewizardguy]