A/N: Chap 36 review responses are in my forums like normal. Thanks for reading.

Part V: A Shattered Pantheon

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Heavy

The planet Parnas was quite possibly the most hellishly uncomfortable world Harry Potter had ever visited. The gravity was half again that of Kalmah, and the atmosphere so thick it felt as he were suffocating despite the fact the planet's atmosphere had a high oxygen mix. Worse yet was the overwhelming, lung-searing heat of the place.

No one would ever have come to the world willingly, and yet the world held a human population of almost two hundred thousand people. Most were human slaves forced to work in utterly inhumane conditions in the many mines which covered the metal-rich world. However, there were also at least five thousand Jaffa on the planet.

These Jaffa were why Harry landed a force of ten cloaked al'kesh on the planet's surface, each with a hundred Rangers and another four hundred regular army grunts.

And one twenty-two-year-old adopted prince of the realm.

"You know, all things considered, I think I would have rather stayed with Auntie Hermione," Daniel Jackson gasped. He was not alone—all Harry's soldiers, Rangers or infantry, had to fight hard to breathe and even move in the high-pressure, high gravity environment.

"Complaining is unbecoming, Daniel Jackson," General Teal'c said as he walked calmly down the ramp of the al'kesh.

"I'll let him slide today," Harry said. "Stars above, this is bad. How long do human slaves last on this world?"

"If Lord Cronus is in a fair mood, he rotates the workers out every two weeks. If he does not, they die within a month. Some survive, but most do not. My sources tell me that he has been rotating most of the Hebridan slaves every two to three weeks. He wishes them thoroughly broken, but not necessarily dead. They cost him too much in lost ships, and Ra did not compensate him."

"Well, we appreciate the ha'taks he donated to the Empire," Harry said dryly. He took a sip of water as he surveyed his soldiers, all of whom were dripping perspiration. "The conditions here are just as bad as you implied. Good thing we're not planning on staying long. Do you have the coordinates to meet your agents?"

"I do, Akai'kheb." Teal'c reached out his left hand and the mini-tablet he wore there. Harry duplicated the gesture, and in a second the two devices synced. "Alright. Let our people continue to acclimate and make sure everyone drinks lots of water. Don't hold back to preserve supplies, I can make more if necessary. Daniel, Squad Five, you're with me."

Daniel and the twenty Rangers selected for the mission fell in behind the Emperor as he started walking through the jagged rock formations toward the tiny mining settlement in the distance. It was easily a three mile walk through a treacherous landscape that not even Harry was looking forward to. However, they had to approach quietly. They were deep within System Lord territory, and not even Harry felt good about their chances if they were discovered too early.

Because of the heat and the heavy gravity, Harry set a much slower pace than he would have on Kalmah or his other worlds. Even so, Harry himself was drenched in sweat within minutes. He had to remind himself to look back and gauge his men. He could feel Daniel constantly restoring himself with the Force, but their Rangers did not have that option. They were physically tough men and women, but at the end of the day they were still just human.

He called a rest halt after the first mile. The rangers made no complaints as they sank tiredly to the ground. Their camouflage blended almost seamlessly with the near crystalline rock which dominated the planet and made it a treasure trove for its master, and a death trap for those forced to work it.

Five minutes later saw them all up and moving again over the ragged foothills toward the settlement. They did not enter, though. Instead, they made their way the far side of the reservoir that kept the workers alive. The small body of water was lined with squat, hardy trees that barely came past Harry's shoulders but whose wood was so dense it could rival steel.

"Take covering positions and settle in," Harry whispered. "Make sure to drink plenty of water."

The rangers parted ways and began to finding various hiding places to cover the reservoir. In just minutes, neither Harry nor Daniel could spot them with the naked eye, though of course both men could sense them in the Force.

"So, think this is a trap?" Daniel asked.

"Luna certainly thought so," Harry said. "Let's hope it is."

After half an hour, they spotted a single figure leaving the settlement. He wore loose white robes and a turban to protect his skin from the harsh white sunlight overhead. He walked slowly, prodding along with a staff to steady his steps around the small reservoir of water, until he approached close enough that Harry stepped out from behind the low-growing trees to face him.

The Jaffa, since Harry could clearly see the mark of Cronus on his forehead, stared with wide eyes before bowing low. "Akai'kheb," the Jaffa said. "I am called Teonac. I have answered your call, and wish to find freedom for my children after me."

"Teonac, welcome," Harry said as he approached the Jaffa. "You came alone?"

"I was the only one who could come unnoticed," the Jaffa said. "But I am not alone in my views. There are ten others among the hundred which guard this settlement which feel the same."

"And the slaves?"

Teonac pulled at his scraggly black beard. "It is difficult, Akai'kheb. Lord Cronus moves the slaves about constantly. He does this to keep them from planning rebellions. If I make any contact with a slave, the slave is gone days later."

Harry didn't try to hide his frown. For the past two years, since their spies discovered where most of the Hebridan slaves had been sent, he'd been trying to infiltrate the domain of the System Lord Cronus. The ancient Goa'uld had risen to become the second most powerful Goa'uld under Ra himself in the prolonged absence of Apophis, and as a result of his support in the attack on Hebridan had taken the majority of slaves.

As Harry considered this, Daniel asked the one question Harry should have, but didn't. "Teonac, we were told most of the slaves here were the ones captured two years ago on Hebridan. Have you seen many?"

Teonac looked in confusion from Harry to Daniel. "Akai'kheb, that is not true. I mean, well, some came, yes, but they died so quickly they never got any work done. They were too soft for this world. The first batch lasted less than a week before they died of illness or just weakness. I am told Lord Cronus considered killing them all, but he would have lost his investment. The slaves all work on Kenosis in the farm fields or the ship yards."

Daniel sensed the danger a split-second before Harry, but both men were moving before the staff cannon struck Teonac in the back and vaporized his chest in a shower of bloody mist. The report of the blast came seconds later, but by then more staff cannon blasts rained up from the settlement below, and from the ridges high above.

Harry cast a shield while Daniel knelt down and opened the dedicated ranger network. "They took the rangers out," he called dully over the roar of the staff cannons. "They must have been waiting before we even arrived, I'm not getting a single signal from our people. I think they're jamming us. Do we portkey?"

"None of this will work if Cronus thinks we have any chance of escaping," Harry said, gritting his teeth against the power of the coordinated assault. "We have to stay conventional. Get ready, I'm going to drop the shield in three."

One. Daniel squatted down, one hand gripping his lightsaber while the other fingered one of the new blaster pistols Harry produced in cooperation with Lomet Defense Networks. He wore at his belt a Goa'uld-style personal shield that could only handle a few direct hits before its power failed.

Two. Jaffa warriors—hundreds of them—began pouring from the ridges and rocks around them. Daniel couldn't understand why they couldn't sense them in the Force.

"Three!" Harry let the shield drop. Daniel was already moving before it even fell, but even with the Force it felt like he was moving through honey with the heavy gravity and sickeningly thick atmosphere.

Harry ran beside him, now using his twin sabers to bat away the staff weapon bolts as best he could. The staff cannons were more troublesome, but even those Harry managed either to bat away with his sabers, or block with his magic.

"There's naquedah everywhere!" Harry said. "It's interfering with our Force senses."

That would explain it, Daniel thought. It was, in fact, the perfectly staged ambush. Cronus must have staged the intelligence for months, using unwittingly genuine Jaffa like Teonac.

The time for thinking was over—they'd reached the first line of Jaffa. It was a mark of the severity of their situation that Harry did not hold back at all. Force-lightning flayed the first line of men while Daniel spun with saber and pistol both flaring. He took his shots almost at point-blank range, ensuring each of the fifty shots counted.

Harry didn't bother using the pistol he also carried, but only because his native power was more destructive. Daniel's Force abilities let him deflect fire and move faster, but in Harry the Force and magic combined with frightening effectiveness. Jaffa cried out in alarm as they were flung bodily out of Harry's path, or used as clubs to strike other Jaffa from Daniel's path.

Even as destructive as he was, though, Daniel knew Harry was not even using the full scope of his abilities. Neither man could afford to let the Jaffa think they had no chance.

The two of them broke through the Jaffa line and ran as fast as they could through the heavy gravity and treacherous, jagged rock structures back toward the waiting al'kesh. However, as they ran, they were struck by a sight that would leave almost anyone in awe.

Not one, but five ha'taks loomed down through the thick atmosphere, causing waves of heated air to shimmer around him in puffs of vapor. "Okay, that's not good," Harry muttered. "Try the Tollan channel."

Neither man stopped moving as Daniel checked his wrist pad. "I got through, but text only. Teal'c says the al'kesh have all been destroyed. The men have taken shelter in an old mine cave. The orbital drone reports there are almost eighty more ha'tak in orbit with more coming."

"Damn. Now it's time to cheat."

Daniel merely nodded as Harry grabbed him and the two apparated to the field where they first landed. He immediately disillusioned them both when they found themselves behind a line of Jaffa soldiers who were setting up a firing line facing a distant mine entrance. A second line-of-site apparation took he and Daniel within the mouth of the mine. "Rangers, it's the Akai'kheb," Harry said a second before he dropped his disillusionment.

The handful of rangers sheltering within the shadow of the mine entrance nodded greeting. "Teal'c?" Harry asked.

"Further inside, Akai'kheb," one of the rangers said.

Harry nodded and walked back, passing by two long lines of soldiers waiting to hold off any concerted attacks. As he moved, Harry could not help but notice shield generators lining the hall, most likely taken from the al'kesh themselves.

He found Teal'c in an open dome from which several more mine passages branched out. "General," Harry said.

"Akai'kheb." Teal'c nodded in greeting. "Daniel Jackson," he added. "The situation is grave. Lord Cronus has landed over fifty thousand Jaffa, we now have less than two thousand. Additionally, there are now over one hundred ha'taks in orbit."

Harry nodded as he looked at the computer table the general had hastily set up. "So, it's pretty much everything we were hoping for."

"And a little more on top of that," Daniel added wryly.

"Indeed. I have signaled the Lady Hermione that the main attack is ready to proceed."

Harry nodded. "A trap within a trap. Let's just hope we can survive it."

~~Stars Alone~~

~~Stars Alone~~

Lord Cronus, System Lord, God-King of Knosis, Parnas and twenty other worlds besides, Second only to Supreme Lord Ra himself, sat with a satisfied smile in the pel'tak of his mothership while looking down at his most mineral-rich mining world.

Parnas was the gift Ra gave him in order to win the support of his fleet against Hebridan. It was a well-earned gift, seeing that he lost twenty of his personal ha'taks, ten thousand Jaffa and a vassal in Ramius. The price he paid in materiel and the blood of his people was worth it, though. Parnas had more mineral wealth than all the rest of his worlds combined, and just in the past two years he had mined more than enough to begin construction on new ha'taks.

Each System Lord claimed a garden world as their home sanctuary. Some claimed several, but even those whose dominion spanned hundreds of worlds, there was still one world they called their home. For Cronus that world was Knosis.

Like all System Lords, Cronus kept his planet well defended. Even after the losses he suffered in support of Ra's invasion of Hebridan, Cronus claimed a fleet of almost one hundred and fifty ha'taks and a standing army of over two million Jaffa. On any given day, almost all of those ha'taks and soldiers were on Knosis, ensuring the safety of Lord Cronus against his many, many enemies.

Within weeks following the fall of the hated Hebridan, however, Cronus's many spies became aware of unknown Jaffa bearing his mark circulating among some of his worlds asking about where the hundreds of thousands of Hebridan slaves went. Cronus was no fool—like all the System Lords he had heard about the heresy of the Akai'kheb. Every System Lord from Svarog to Ba'al knew that whoever handed the Akai'kheb's head to Ra would be flooded with untold riches and naquedah.

And so Cronus began a game of his own. The Hebridan slaves were far too weak physically to place on Parnas—not if he had any expectation of them actually working for more than a week before they died. No, instead he cycled his other human slaves through the planet, using those humans more accustomed to long-term physical labor. The Hebridans he used in more skilled positions, crafting new staff weapons or working in the shipyards. Those without such skills he sent to the farms.

He made sure his agents let slip to the Akai'kheb's many spies that the Hebridans were toiling under the harsh conditions of Parnas. After that, it was only a matter of time. Until Lord Ra devised a means of circumventing the blasted ion cannons the heretics somehow obtained from the Tollan home world, the only way to capture them was to lure them out from behind their protectors. And Cronus knew from his own spies that the Akai'kheb considered himself a protector both of the shol'va Jaffa, and of humans. He cast his web wide and sure, and waited for the so-called Bridge Unto Heaven to stumble blindly into it.

"My lord, Lady Enyo has reported from the surface. They destroyed several cloaked al'kesh and now have the enemy trapped in a mine system," Cronus' prime reported from a bent knee. "We came across a single ha'tak in orbit and destroyed it easily. We have them, my lord!"

"How many?"

"Lady Enyo reported there were thousands, my lord!" the Prime said with an eager glint of bloodlust Cronus appreciated. "They are cut off from the Chappa'ai and they have no ships to rescue them. Even if they came with every ship the heretics possessed, we would easily outnumber them."

"Begin landing more Jaffa," Cronus said. "We will sweep them from the mines. The Akai'kheb's head will be my pride, and any Jaffa who brings me that head will want for nothing for the remainder of their lives."

"So be it, my lord!" the Prime said before he stood and walked back to his station to send the orders. Cronus sat with the patience of a god, watching with a deep sense of satisfaction as his ships began ringing and shuttling Jaffa down. He had no doubt it would be a hard-fought victory, and he would lose many men. For all his heresy, the Akai'kheb had real power. It was that power which kept Cronus in orbit. What good was there to being a god if he were to die at the hands of a mere heretic?

Of course, moving a million Jaffa to a planet's surface was a time-consuming process. They were well into their third hour of deployment when his Prime called out in horror, "My Lord! My honored God, we are betrayed!"

Cronus stood, alarmed by his Prime's unusual outburst. "What is this madness you say?"

The Prime turned and did not just kneel, he prostrated himself on the floor before the increasingly concerned Goa'uld. "My Lord, we have just received an emergency signal from Knosis. The forces of the Akai'kheb have attacked in numbers our remaining ships cannot withstand. Knosis is going to fall!"

Cronus frowned. "How can this be? The Akai'kheb is here. Our own trusted spies sighted him in person, and our own Jaffa saw him enter the caves like the worm he is. How can he be attacking Knosis?"

"Our men had no answers, my lord!" The Prime, with good reason, expected his life to be forfeit. While Cronus was not averse to punishing failure with death, he did not have time to train a new Prime while in the middle of combat. There would be plenty of time to identify where the failures were and punish those responsible.

The problem, of course, was that even at best speed Knosis was two days away. "We cannot let the Akai'kheb escape," Cronus said. "Stand and prepare to fight. If I find you responsible, you will die when your duties are complete. Until then, you are to transfer to another ship and lead fifty ha'tak back to Knosis and destroy the invaders at all cost."

The prime climbed back to his feet and bowed from his waist. "I thank you for your mercy, Lord Cronus. I shall have victory or death!" With that, the Prime swept from the pel'tac of the ship in a trot toward the ring room.

Cronus himself returned to his throne, frowning as he tried to understand who the Akai'kheb would trust enough to invade a Goa'uld homeworld in his stead.

~~Stars Alone~~

~~Stars Alone~~

Hermione Potter, Blessed Anu of Eridu, Vice Empress of Kheb and Companion of the Akai'kheb, hugged her arms over her chest as the world of Knosis rushed into view. The "token" force of just forty ha'taks orbited the world at strategic points around the world.

In front of her, seated at the controls of the cloaked al'kesh, a pair of experienced Rangers flew with a calm, professional assurance. Both were with her on Hebridan when she went to the surface to save survivors. The two Mal Jaffa held a special respect for the people of Hebridan, being among the first after Tel'gat to receive the retrovirus that changed them forever from Jaffa to Mal Jaffa.

Hermione closed her eyes and sank deeply into the Force. She reached out her senses to the various ha'taks and the people aboard them. Despite her overriding worry for her husband, who knowingly walked into Cronus's trap, she couldn't help but smile. The System Lord was so intent on capturing the akai'kheb that he left his remaining ha'taks half-staffed at best, and in some cases running on nothing but a spare skeleton crew.

"Dan'tl, I need tactical, please," she said softly, still sunk deeply in the Force.

The co-pilot rose without comment to make room for her. She sat and began marking those enemy ha'taks with the smallest crews. "General An'hur," she said aloud using the Tollan communication devices.

The quantum entanglement the devices used was not traceable, and provided instantaneous communication regardless of any Goa'uld jamming attempts. It was an absolute coup that Luna and Daniel were able to negotiate the purchase of just twenty of them from the Tollan, since the technology behind them was decades beyond even the Hebridan's best science.

"My lady," came the immediately response, even more clear than if he stood right beside her.

"I'm sending priority targets for boarding. I sense these ships are the most lightly staffed. Have the fleet stand by for the final signal."

"Yes, Lady. Today, my lady, the Goa'uld will tremble in fear."

"At least one, to be sure," Hermione said. "The stars are with us, my friend. Send in the boarding parties."

"They are on their way, my lady."

She closed the connection and stood so Dan'tl could resume his seat. "Our target is marked as well," she noted with forced calm. "We are taking the most heavily staffed ship. I sense it is the one in overall command."

"That's good," Shor'yl said from the pilot's seat. She grinned over her shoulder at Hermione. "Who wants water-runs when we can have a true contest?"

"Exactly," Hermione said with a laugh. She patted the younger woman's shoulder before making her way back to the hold. She could not go very far, though. The room was packed to standing room only with five hundred Rangers and veteran soldiers selected because of their experience in boarding exercises.

"Is everyone comfortable?" Hermione asked. With magic her voice easily reached everyone in the room and elicited hushed laughter.

When the laughter died down, she continued. "We are heading toward the most heavily manned ship in orbit. These boarding strikes must work. Even with two thirds of Cronus' fleet chasing after the Akai'kheb, the remaining ships still outnumber us. If we are to free our brothers and sisters below, we must take as many of the ships as we can before the fleet strikes. I've chosen the hardest target for ourselves. I do this because you are the best, and with you at my back there is nothing we cannot overcome. So get ready. Blue squad, we will teleport directly to the pel'tak. Have your weapons ready to fire immediately."

There was no roar of approval—space was too tight for anyone to want to waste energy yelling. Instead, Hermione removed the rope that would serve as the portkey for the twenty rangers she would take with her directly to the pel'tak.

She made her way back to the bridge, stepping over stacks of additional supplies and boxes of ammunition and grenades. Most of the soldiers still carried carbines or zat guns, but the officers now carried Harry's blaster pistols for their sheer destructive power.

As she made it to the cockpit, she could see their selected ha'tak looming uncomfortably close. Even after decades of living in space, it still gave Hermione a thrill down her spine to see the sheer size of the Goa'uld ships. "Their shields are still down," Dan'tl said. He spoke softly, as if afraid the enemy might hear them.

"That will only last until the first of our people steps out of a cloaked al'kesh," Hermione said. She checked her wrist pad that housed the Tollan communicator. They could not afford to risk open communications through normal channels. Every pilot of the ten cloaked al'kesh they had was on the same entanglement beam as her, and each was timing the insertion of their selected ship to precisely coincide with hers. The Goa'uld sensors could not detect their own cloaks in space, but once within the confines of the ha'tak itself, they would be able to detect the sudden displacement of that much air.

"All ships are aligned," Hermione whispered. She wished, more than anything, that Harry were with her. This was not her first time leading troops in battle by herself, but she always felt better when Harry was nearby. However, the plan this time would not allow it, and too many people were counting on her for her to engage in any second thoughts.

She tapped her pad and sent the signal to all ten ships. All ten cloaked al'kesh, hers included, began to move forward with a synchronicity they had rehearsed for days leading up to the final assault. As soon as they were moving, Hermione ran back to the line of waiting soldiers. She grabbed the rope from the stack of supplies. "Blue squad, grab a hold!" she shouted as she tossed them the rope.

The twenty rangers quickly snaked the rope through their squad while Hermione retained the end. She held the rope with her free hand while keeping her kara'kesh ready.

"We're in!" Shor'yl shouted from the cockpit. "They've activated their alarms, Jaffa are on their way."

"For Hebridan!" Hermione shouted.

The main ramp of the al'kesh opened and the soldiers of Kheb poured out, while Hermione touched her hand-device to the rope and said, "Portus."

The battle of Knosis, the first large-scale engagement of the Empire of Kheb against the System Lords, had begun.