"I'm sorry, Rhunön." Ajax whispered. He steadied his grip on his wand and aimed it at the ancient smith. "Avada Stupefy." A red blast of light left his wand, and Ajax watched as it sliced through the relatively few wards shielding her before knocking her out.
He abandoned his hiding spot, and moved the smith out of the way. After several moments, he found what he was looking for, the remaining bright-steel that was left over from the swords he and Eragon carried.
"Ajax to Phoenix. One for transport."
He vanished in a white flash of light as the old smith woke.
Ajax left the lump of metal in a storage room and transported down to where Aragon and the other Riders were currently raising dragons.
"I lied, Aragon. When I said that the dilithium crystals had gone bad. I won't be joining you for…an extended period of time. Don't expect me to show up when I had said I would, back at the airbase. I'm sorry, but I've other things to do at the moment, things you can't get involved in."
"Is that so?" Aragon asked dangerously.
"Yeah, that's so." Ajax said, just as Amaranth appeared. "She'll be staying here though, much as it pains me to leave her behind."
"What have you gotten yourself into this time?" Aragon hissed out, eyes narrowed.
"Trouble." Ajax replied. He held up a necklace with a pendant displaying the jackal on one side, and the yin-yang on the other.
"What is it?" Aragon asked, reaching for it.
"Texas Sombrero Omelet." Ajax replied. The portkey activated, and Ajax disappeared.
"Damn it!" Aragon hissed before turning around. "Amaranth, do you have any clue what he's up to?"
"Project Betrayal." Amaranth replied sadly. "I'm not telling you anything beyond that."
"Betrayal?" Aragon asked. "That doesn't sound good."
"It is what it is." Amaranth replied simply. "I will say no more."
"Phoenix, lay in a course for Earth, full speed, and cloak after we drop out. Drop out well ahead of time, say, before we pass Pluto?" Ajax ordered.
"Understood." Phoenix replied. The yoke at the unoccupied MC station twitched and twisted as the ship changed course, consoles blinking as the hyperdrive was brought online and the warp core was powered up and engaged to the hyperdrive.
Three days later, Ajax had fragmented the bright steel and placed it in a bag. The flakes jingled slightly as the bag shifted on his back.
As soon as the ship was in CLEO, Ajax transported to a restaurant in Australia. Exiting the alley, he entered the restaurant, where one of the waiters on duty recognized his boss's face.
"Ajax? Blimey, it's good to see you again mate!" the man said, making a notation.
"Good to see you too, Alan." Ajax replied.
"So, what are you doing here? Surprise inspection?" Alan asked.
"No." Ajax replied. "I need to go."
Alan realized what his boss was alluding to, and said "I guess you remember where the bathroom is?"
"Yeah, I know that much." Ajax laughed. He went into the back, to a walk-in freezer with a red taped circle on it. He punched in his access code, and the lock clicked.
Ajax opened the door, smiling slightly as the seals popped, and closed the door behind him. Before him, the blue-green orb of magic pulsed with a gentle hum, occasionally flaring near one of the orange ropes of magical energy that kept the rift secured in place.
Ajax took a breath to steady himself, and walked through, finding himself in a castle courtyard a few moments later.
"Hello, the house!" Ajax called out loudly.
"Identify yourself!" a voice cried out.
"Ajax." he said.
"Oh, just you." the guard replied, entering the courtyard. He lowered his crossbow. "Why have you come here?"
"I need to borrow a forge." Ajax replied.
"I did not know you knew the noble art of smithing." the guard said in surprise.
"There's a lot you don't know." Ajax replied with a wry smile.
"The forge is this way." the guard said, waving towards a door.
"Thank you. Please inform someone who is familiar with the art that I need enough fuel for twenty four hours of sustained burning time." Ajax said. "I have work to do."
"I will inform Grand Master Ogden at once." the guard said. "He will understand what you mean."
"Thank you." Ajax said, closing the door behind the man. After several moments of looking around, Ajax found the ventilation controls, and began opening the roof. That done, he started the fires and laid a trough over the charcoal.
Ogden came in several minutes later, just as Ajax was adding the bright-steel flakes to the trough.
"Semuel informed me that you needed twenty-four hours of sustained burning time." the middle aged smith said, smiling. "What are you planning, Ajax?"
"I'm making a Nightblade." Ajax replied steadily. "I brought with me some brightsteel from Alagaesia, as well as an equal amount of silver and an incredible amount of holy water for quenching the metal in. That will enable me to deal with an vampire or werewolf I should happen against, and the brightsteel, combined with the elvish songs of forging, will enable the blade to withstand almost anything."
"I see." Odgen replied, amused. "What style will you be forging this blade in?"
Ajax snorted. "A powersword."
Odgen's eyebrows raised at that. "A powersword? Ajax, what have you gotten yourself into, and just what is a powersword?"
Ajax picked up a replica powersword he had nearby, for use in copying. "Here's an accurate model of one."
He tossed it to Odgen, who caught it easily. "This is a wicked blade, Ajax."
"Yeah, I know." Ajax muttered. "Still, when in Rome, do as the Romans do."
"Indeed. What is this wicked place that you must go to?"
"I'd rather not say." Ajax replied, adding charcoal. He thumbed a switch on his bracer, causing a quenching barrel full of water to appear in a flash of green light. Walking over to the table, Ajax repeated the process, though this time it was a set of molds and a bag of silver flakes.
The silver was duly added to the brightsteel in the trough as the star-metal began to melt.
"Won't be long now." Ajax muttered, selecting a dipping ladle and a mold.
Odgen added more charcoal, then switched off the blower. "Are you aware that blower was on the maximum setting?" Odgen asked, turning to Ajax with a raised eyebrow. "I have never used that speed before, as I have never had need of a fire that hot or those temperatures so quickly."
"Yes, I know." Ajax replied. He quickly filled the molds with the glowing metal, dumping them into the quenching barrel the moment they were filled.
A massive cloud of steam filled the blacksmith's chamber, along with hissing to put any snake to shame.
"There's that part." Ajax said. He fished out the pieces of metal, and dried them off. The teeth and chain were placed on the table while the bar was thrust into the fire.
Odgen left him to it, presumably do deal with other issues, and Ajax found himself coming out of a trance at the twenty-three hour mark, with a pile of rough powersword parts.
Ajax put out the fire and cleaned up the forge pit before closing the ceiling. With his bag slung over his shoulder, Ajax took a last look at his temporary workspace and left, closing the door behind him.
"Master Odgen!" he called, seeing the middle-aged smith on the other side of the courtyard.
"Yes?" Odgen asked.
"Thank you kindly for the use of your forge." Ajax stated formally.
The master smith smirked and said "Did you complete your new weapon?"
"Not entirely." Ajax replied. "I still need to smooth the parts and assemble it, but for the most part, yes."
"Then I wish you luck on your quest." Odgen replied formally.
"Thank you, Master Odgen." the two nodded to each other, then moved to go their separate ways.
Ajax passed through the rift to find himself once again in the Australian location of his successful Rift restaurant chain. Deciding not to bother with leaving properly, Ajax activated his portkey, stumbling slightly on the bridge of the Phoenix.
A week later, Ajax had properly smoothed and assembled the blade, and given it a starting jolt of power via the warp core.
"Phoenix, go to Pluto, change to the Warhammer 40k verse and then set a course for Terra. Remain cloaked."
"Understood." she replied, tossing her ponytail.
Ajax sheathed the powersword and activated his armor, making himself look like an Inquisitor.
Several minutes later, the cloaked vessel arrived near an Imperial Navy space dock, where an Armageddon class vessel was parked along with several even larger ships.
"Phoenix, I want you to put me on that ship over there, the Macharius' Fury. Once I'm there, get out of here. I want you to go back to Earth, so that if Aragon tries to follow me, he finds you in orbit, not missing. If you allow him on board, you are to tell him nothing about what's going on, just say it's part of Project Betrayal. That's all he's allowed to know, we still don't know if Aragon was the source of the problem."
"What is Project Betrayal?" Phoenix asked. "You don't usually dress up like an Inquisitor, and I seem to recall that you had once said that if you never set foot in this reality again, it would be far too soon."
"It's classified, sorry. Besides, if he attempts to hack in, and actually manages it, I'd rather he not find information about it. If you must know, however, the Trust aren't the only people opposed to the way Stargate Command is run." Ajax replied solemnly. "I guess you can offer up that tidbit to Aragon if he asks." Ajax smirked then. "He thinks he's so important that he should be given every piece of information he even remotely wants. This is really going to torque him."
"I'm sending you to the Fury. See you back home." Phoenix said, her fingers flying over the controls.
A moment later, Ajax found himself just outside the bridge.
"Who are you?" Asked a heavy-set man.
"I'm am Inquisitor Ajax." came the cool reply. "Where is the captain of this vessel?"
"Where else would he be?" the man snarled. "On the bridge!"
"Thank you." Ajax replied, still maintaining his almost emotionless voice.
Ajax entered the bridge, and took a moment to observed the ordered mayhem that was a bridge leaving space dock.
The captain was seated on a throne of some sort, at least, Ajax thought the ornate chair seemed like a throne, and barking out orders while receiving reports from his various bridge officers.
"What are you doing here?" the captain asked politely, pointing at Ajax.
Ajax regarded him with a steady gaze. "I was here to find you." he said calmly. "I assume you are the captain of this ship."
"I am." the man replied. "What do you want with me?"
"Whatever orders you may have had are null and void." Ajax replied. "I need your ship for a…special mission."
"Of course, milord." the captain replied.
"Set a course for Baal." Ajax said. "And get someone who can guide me to the warp engines, I've never been on one of these ships before."
"Right away, sir." the captain replied.
Three minutes later, as the ship was exiting the system, someone entered the bridge. "Sergeant Rankin reporting as ordered sir!"
"Show the Inquisitor to the Warp engines." the captain said. "Dismissed."
"Yes sir." the sergeant turned to Ajax and said "This way, sir." before leaving the bridge again.
Ajax followed the man silently until he asked "What do you want with the warp engines?"
"I intend to tamper with them in such a way as to force them to work differently than they did before." Ajax replied.
"Isn't that dangerous?" the sergeant asked.
"Depends." Ajax answered. "Do I know what I'm doing?"
"I wouldn't know, sir." he replied nervously.
"I've studied with the Tech-Priests on Mars, and have learned much. I then traveled for several years, seeking more knowledge. When I returned to Mars, I turned over all the information I have picked up, and my path has diverged from theirs since then. I know what I'm doing." Ajax said seriously.
"With all due respect, sir, what are you doing?" Rankin asked, several minutes later.
"Building a hyperdrive." Ajax replied. "If I can. I'm not entirely certain that it will work."
"What happens if it doesn't?" Rankin asked fearfully.
Ajax shrugged. "Eh, the ship blows up in the worst case scenario. Best case if it doesn't work is absolutely nothing happens. Not that it really matters. Ala that really matters is that we serve the Emperor. I am but a stone in the wall, a small piece of the master plan."
That seemed to get Rankin to shut up, and Ajax smiled when he beheld the sign stating that the warp drives occupied the space on the other side of the doors.
"No, no, no." Ajax muttered. "These things are far too big." he turned to Rankin. "Don't go." he said harshly. "You are my assistant until this little project is done. Can the warp drives be ejected from the ship?"
"No." Rankin replied.
A moment later, the ship shuddered as the Gellar fields failed. As the atmosphere of the ship degenerated around him, Ajax watched with an odd sense of detachment as one relatively un-mutated Space Marine, came up to him, looking down on Ajax as if he were an interesting kind of bug.
"The file is in your hand." he said at last, his voice gravely.. "Good luck."
Ajax awoke with a jerk and a yell.
"what's wrong, Ajax?" Amaranth asked.
Ajax took several moments to slow his breathing. "Nothing. Just a bit of a bad turn at the end of the dream sequence is all."
"You had me worried for a moment." Amaranth replied. Ajax could hear the concern in her voice.
"I solemnly swear I'm feeling better now." Ajax said. "I've got a new job from Bill, and some sort of odd briefing-ish thing in the dream. Aragon isn't going to be happy, that's for sure. How far out to Alagaesia?"
A/N: This was some messing around with an idea that came to mind, and I'm not sure if I'll continue. Depends on my mood I guess, or reviews. If I get reviews, I'd be more motivated, but it's possible that I'll continue regardless of review status.
