All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.
Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place two weeks after "Infiltration".
Truths Behind Prophecy
By SN/TVfan
Email: Sam_Nary
Illuminati Headquarters
The Inner Council watched a small news program as it depicted the continued growing crisis in the Far East.
"The People's Republic of China appears to be involved in a singular crisis on both ends of its borders," the reporter said in a professional business voice, "It is currently involved in a Counter-Insurgency operation in Tibet, and now tensions between China and Taiwan have now risen to a near crisis level."
The screen then showed several small frigates, all sailing near what appeared to be Hong Kong in the background.
"After recent raids of three Chinese warships and the theft of their anti-aircraft weaponry and ammunition, the Chinese government has stepped up patrols over the waters separating mainland China and Tawain," the reporter spoke in the background, "Only the threat of intervention from the United States Navy prevented these ships from shelling the island of Tawain. The patrols have not ceased however, and the United States is reported to be sending one aircraft carrier and four destroyers to the region to act as a monitoring and peacekeeping force. How much they do to prevent what appears to be a full fledged collision course between Tawain and China remains yet to be seen."
One then turned the television off with a heavy sigh and set the remote down on top of the television and pushed the cart it was sitting on back against the wall.
"We can consider ourselves grateful that both the Communists on the mainland and the Taiwanese follow our orders," One grumbled, "They will bluster about who did what and who is truly at fault, but they will not resume their war. The problem in China is the insurgency."
"We still have not found any evidence as to who is behind it," Four pointed out, "And reports that we're getting out of the Chinese military is that they're being ambushed at every corner. And some of these raids are beginning to spread beyond the borders of Tibet."
"Perhaps we should ask Khan to join the efforts to investigate this insurgency?" Two asked, "I mean, we've had him and his supermen patrol the area before the insurgency began, and it is not like these insurgents don't know about us or them."
"No," One said firmly, "That will only cause more trouble. Khan may have been created there, but he does not look either Chinese or Tibetan."
"But these insurgents attacked us first," Three pointed out, "Shouldn't we do something to stop them? In our own way?"
"This whole thing is drawing too much media coverage to the area, which we do not entirely control," One sighed, "Doing so would risk our own exposure. We can not allow our organization to be revealed to the world. Our key has always been secrecy."
"I still do not like this," Five said, "It is becoming much too chaotic for me."
"I know," One sighed, "and the real problem is that we can only pray that the situation fixes itself."
Tibet
Khan sat silently as he looked over various field reports from his various units that he had running covert operations throughout Tibet and parts of China. He was pleased to see that the presence of more Chinese soldiers in the province was beginning to get many of the local Tibetan people upset, which gave him the hope of getting at least the younger people to follow him. He looked up from the reports when he saw his second in command enter.
"We've successfully installed the antiaircraft weaponry that we've stolen from the Chinese Navy," Khan's second reported, "We had to do a little work with the base itself to make sure they can not be seen by satellite photographs, but the work has been done."
"Excellent," Khan smiled, "What is the status of the army?"
"We've raised enough to fully garrison this fortress and maintain one brigade in the field," the Second answered, "Not enough to directly challenge China's army over all, but enough to controlTibet if the locals do not fight us."
"Most reports indicate that they are beginning to become frustrated with China's occupation," Khan smiled, "We might be able to gain their young people in with our regular army."
"Yes," the second nodded.
"We will continue to increase the number of supermen that serve us and will maintain harassment tactics," Khan continued, "Until we have the men to overwhelmingly surprise and drive the communists out, we can not do anything that would risk becoming involved in all out battles."
"Right, sir," the second agreed, "Do you have any new orders?"
"While we may not be at 'war' with China yet, we have to prepare," Khan commented.
"We are already building an army and stealing as many pieces of Chinese equipment as possible, including tanks, artillery, and others," the second answered, sounding slightly surprised.
"Yes," Khan nodded, "But they will either find this place or the Illuminati will tell them of it once the 'war' begins. And while our anti-aircraft guns should deal with any plane or basic missile, the Chinese do possess weapons that can't be stopped by the anti-aircraft guns we have."
"The Chinese wouldn't use Nuclear weapons on their own soil," the second said, "Plus, the current Nuclear powers now hate the weapon."
"The Chinese wouldn't," Khan nodded, "But the Illuminati would, and we know that they possess the launch codes to every nuclear power and could blame the explosion on a terrorist organization that they don't have control over."
"Where are we going to send their missiles then?" the second asked.
"No where," Khan answered with a smile, "We have the Illuminati's list of various spells here that go along with their dealings in the occult. All we need to do is cast the spell that will turn every Nuclear weapon in China into merely a large telephone pole."
Elsewhere
Rachel sighed as she felt her brown furred feet sink into the snow that she and Merlin were walking through. Tibet was far colder then anything she had expected. So cold that she felt warmer in her werewolf form. She sighed knowing that Merlin could just use his magic to keep himself warm, but then her fur kept her warm too. Then, as they were walking the two came to an area along the mountain slope that looked like it had been flattened out and the snow on it was packed down slightly.
"What the…?" Rachel started.
"It's a road," Merlin finished for her.
"What's a road doing in the middle of Tibet on a mountain slope that would not safely fit a motorcycle let alone a car?" Rachel asked.
"It was probably built by the 'supermen' that Je Lu's clan mentioned," Merlin commented, "The official Chinese roads are in the valleys or at least in more stable areas."
Rachel looked at the road and noticed that it took a path that went up hill.
"Where do you suppose it goes?" Rachel asked.
"Hopefully to their base," Merlin answered, "Then we can see if these 'supermen' are the source of the war to the 'East'."
"What do we do if we run into any?" Rachel asked, "I can't fight them all with risking leaving a claw or bite mark, and the last thing the world needs is 'werewolf supermen', and you can't beat all of them with your magic at one time."
"Well, we're not here to fight them all, remember?" Merlin answered, "Just to see if they have anything to do with the prophecy."
"I trust you can hide us then?" Rachel asked.
"For as long as possible," Merlin nodded, "Let's go."
The two began walking up the road, unaware that they were being tracked.
Illuminati Headquarters
A man in what looked like a military uniform, not with the insignia of any known country but the insignia of the Illuminati society, slowly looked at a satellite image of a man wearing a heavy coat and pants and a female werewolf walking through deep snow.
"Harry, contact one of the Council members," the man yelled to a partner, "Our observation satellite has picked something up."
The other man, Harry, was quickly up and out of the room. He returned a few minutes later with Five with him. The Council member seemed quite interested in what the man had to report.
"Now, Pat, what is it that you have to explain?" Five demanded.
"One of our satellites just finished its routine sweep over the Tibetan area," Pat reported, "I'm sure you'll find the results interesting."
"What is it?!" Five demanded insistently, "Have you found the headquarters of these insurgents?"
"No," Pat answered, "But it has found two people of interest to the Council."
Five stood patiently waiting. Pat meanwhile pressed a few buttons to bring back the satellite images he was looking at earlier. Once they came up, Five looked at both of them very closely.
"That's…?" Five asked in surprise.
"Merlin Ambrosius has apparently created a road leading to our Tibetan facility," Pat answered, "He's walking into our hands."
"Only if Khan knows he's coming!" Five answered and ran out.
Tibet
"Use the Illuminati's spells?" the second in command asked as Khan lead him toward the main computer information center, "Wouldn't we need a sorcerer for that?"
"What makes you think we, ourselves, can not do this?" Khan asked back.
"I have studied some of what the Illuminati has printed down in their electronic files, as you ordered me to," the second reported, "Among human and gargoyle sorcerers there must be a certain 'talent' toward magic. And the third race is born with their magic. After this I checked the Illuminati's notes from the original creation process."
"We all know that," Khan snapped, "Scientific enhancement of embryonic cells and rapid growth."
"Yes," the second nodded, "But the Illuminati never implanted any fey DNA or magical talent in any of us, and it appears that they did not keep any sort of thing along those lines here."
"Meaning we can't just create a superman with magic talent or fey DNA," Khan sighed, "So what can we do then? There is no scientific way to turn Uranium or Plutonium into something harmless. Even the atoms that come out of a fission reaction, even if they aren't normally radioactive, are radioactive as a result of the larger atom being split."
"That is why we will need a sorcerer," the second pointed out, "but most of those who exist in the Illuminati's files either practice dark magic, are not strong enough, or are employees of the Illuminati. In fact the who only two light magic practitioners who are strong enough to what you ask are a female gargoyle named Demona and fey halfling, known as Merlin."
"Demona has the talent, but is a gargoyle with a history of hating humanity," Khan commented, "And while Merlin is not entirely in the Illuminati's camp, I doubt he would want to help us either."
"There is capturing him," the second commented.
"I suppose we'll have to," Khan answered, "Where is Merlin's present whereabouts?"
At that moment a lower ranking superman ran into the room and interrupted Khan's conversation with his second in command.
"Sir, Five is on the communications screen," the superman reported, "He says he needs to speak with you!"
"Let's see what the Council wants," Khan sighed, "We'll finish this discussion later."
"Of course, sir," his second answered.
The two then began to follow the man that had reported Five's contacting the base. They arrived in the communications to find Five's image waiting patiently on screen.
"Hello, Master Five," Khan greeted, "Has the Council established a new scientific team to lead this facility?"
"No progress has been made on that front," Five sighed, "But there has been a development that does require the work of your supermen."
"We will be sent after these insurgents then?" Khan asked.
"The Council wishes that you stay out of that situation," Five answered, "But a different enemy of the Illuminati has made an appearance in your area. Heading directly toward the base, actually. We want him and his companion dead."
"And who might our target be?" Khan asked.
"A human sorcerer named Merlin and female werewolf known as Rachel Winters," Five answered.
"My men have anti-magic armor, but we do not have silver," Khan reported, "This sorcerer can be easily dealt with, but we'll have to simply capture the were."
"Very well then," Five answered, "So long as they are dealt with."
"For the Illuminati," Khan swore as the screen went black, indicating that Five had terminated the connection.
Khan then turned and smiled to his second, "We are in great luck. We don't have to look for Merlin. Merlin is coming to us! Get two squads of infantry ready and tell them to get their anti-magic armor and tranquilizer weapons ready. I want them both in custody within the next half an hour!"
"Of course, sir," the second in command saluted.
Outside
Rachel and Merlin slowly continued on their way up the road, which continued to go up hill and remained very narrow and barely safe for any vehicle.
"I'm beginning to wonder how these supermen could have given China so much trouble," Rachel grumbled, "They couldn't get any large truck or long vehicle up here, as they would either be too wide or too long when the road turns."
"Most of that stuff is probably elsewhere," Merlin answered, "We just need to reach the summit of this…"
"Get down!" Rachel screamed and tackled him to the ground.
"Rachel, what's…?" Merlin questioned.
Merlin's question was broken by what sounded like a gun shot. He heard Rachel give off a pained grunt as the two of them landed in the snow. He then watched as she pulled a dart out of her thigh.
"What the…?" Rachel asked weakly as she wobbled and then fell over onto her back beside Merlin, out cold.
"Rachel!" Merlin gasped and turned to face four men wearing futuristic looking armor and all pointed tranquilizer weapons at him.
"I wouldn't move if I were you, sorcerer," the first man threatened.
Merlin answered by firing an lightning spell at two of the attackers, but they only stumbled back a few steps and neither came close enough to falling off the edge of the road. The other two then fired their own tranquilizer weapons before Merlin had a chance to raise any sort of shield, and knocked him out cold.
"This is squad one," the man reported into a radio once Merlin fell back, unconscious, "We've captured both the wizard and the wolf. We're on our way back."
"Excellent," Khan's voice answered on the other line.
Later
Merlin awoke to find himself strapped into a large experimentation table. He tried a few energy blasts, but found that he couldn't break the straps that held him down with his magic.
"I'm afraid you can't escape my friend," an aristocratic voice spoke from behind his head.
Merlin turned his head to see a man dressed in what appeared to be a military uniform with two men in scientific/doctor's smocks standing behind him. He also noticed that he was in a rather extensive laboratory.
"Who are you?" Merlin demanded, "Where am I?"
"My friend welcome to my headquarters," the man answered, "I am Khan Noonien Singh."
"You don't look oriental to me," Merlin commented in a defiant tone, "And as far as I know, the Chinese Army doesn't employ foreigners inside its army, so I can only assume you're an Illuminatus."
"You would be wrong in that regard," Khan smiled, "In fact the Illuminati and I will be at odds with each other in near future."
"And why would that be?" Merlin questioned, thinking this man was trying to play a game with him.
Khan only smiled again, "Let's say that we each have different ideas as to who should be running the world."
"And what do you want me for?" Merlin demanded.
"I need you to provide me with a blood sample," Khan answered simply, "Nothing more. Nothing less."
"What?" Merlin asked in surprise.
"We need a sample of your blood," Khan answered, "We could ask for 'other' samples, but given your reputation, I doubt you'd be willing to do 'that' for us."
Merlin began to get some serious vibes off of Khan that he wasn't playing games and that he was completely serious.
"The world isn't going to like you trying to take over it either," Merlin pointed out.
"That will be quite obvious," Khan smiled, "The Illuminati controls their governments and will give whatever information they want. When the time comes, I, however, know that their propaganda can be countered."
"You want to start a war?" Merlin gasped, "With the Illuminati?"
"Not only that, when the war starts I intend to expose them to the world," Khan nearly laughed, "And that will be my key to victory. The Illuminati are actually a very small minority within the world's population. They have many members and followers, but they are still a minority, including within the populations of the countries that provide them with the greatest strength."
The two doctors approached the table that Merlin was on and began to prep one arm to take a hypodermic needle.
"With the Illuminati exposed as a secret society that has controlled every world population since the Middle Ages in Europe, people will lose confidence in their governments," Khan continued, "Every political leader will fall out of office, from the American President to possibly even the British Monarch and her family, and anarchy will reign. Which will leave me to pick up the pieces."
"Why are you telling me this?" Merlin demanded.
"It's not like I intend to let you leave," Khan answered, "You would likely side with the Illuminati against me, despite the differences you have with them."
Merlin cringed as one of the hypodermic needles pierced his skin.
"You'll never get away with this!" Merlin vowed, with little else that he could think off.
"I think I will," Khan answered, "Make sure he's out before you take him off the table."
"Yes, sir," the two doctors said with a salute as Khan left.
The last thing Merlin remembered was the other doctor sticking another needle in his arm.
Later
"Ungh, where am I?" Merlin grumbled as he came to consciousness again.
"Some kind of prison," came Rachel's voice, "They mean to hold us hear indefinitely."
Merlin looked up to see Rachel standing in her human form in a barred cell across from a similar cell in front of him.
"These bars are superheated," Rachel grumbled, "I can't get out."
Merlin threw a lightning spell at the bars to the cell that he was in. The magic in his spell simply bounced off of the bar and hit him, throwing him against the far wall. He only heard laughter as he began to recover from his own attack.
"Do you honestly think that you would be placed here with us having no knowledge of your abilities?" a guard asked as he came into view, "The bars to her cell are heated to the point where they're red hot. An average human could break them with their own hands at this point, if they could withstand the heat. We do this because we don't have the silver that she is vulnerable to. Your bars have a special technological-magical force field that prevents you from using your magic on them."
"But you people have no talent for magic!" Merlin spoke, "How could you have combined magic with technology?"
"We didn't," the guard smiled, "The Illuminati did. Hope you enjoy your stay."
The guard then turned and left, actually going into another room.
"Do they have any cameras in here?" Merlin asked in a quiet tone.
"No," Rachel shook her head, "But that guard checks in every few minutes, just make sure no one is trying to escape, and he is armed with tranquilizer weapons."
"Can you shift forms?" Merlin asked again.
Rachel nodded, "It won't do me any good though. My hands will have such serious burns that by they time they've healed, the guard would notice I'm out and would shoot me with the tranquilizer gun before I could get you out."
"It could, if I can remove the heat from the bars to your cell," Merlin commented and approached the bars to his cell.
Merlin tentatively stuck out his hand between two bars, and found that none of them repelled him instantly. He then began chanting in Latin.
"Metal bars heated hot,
Lose your temperature, all your heat, for naught."
A weak stream of green energy left Merlin's hands and went across the way between the row of cells that Merlin was in and the row that Rachel was in. Rachel watched as the bars of the cell she was in suddenly turn to ice, but then noticed that the bars in Merlin's cell activated and threw him against far wall again. She sighed as began to retake her wolf form. Unfortunately, her howl, once her tail had fully grown out, brought the guard back in.
"What is going on here?!" the guard demanded.
"Our escape!" Rachel growled as she lunged through the bars that Merlin had cooled.
The guard turned to face the snarling werewolf, and readied a tranquilizer gun to put her down for a couple of hours. Rachel simply rose up onto her hind legs and swatted the gun away as if it were a fly. She then grabbed the man by his armor.
"How were you able to get out so quickly?" the guard stammered.
"The bars weren't made of silver," Rachel answered, "Do you think that something that is simply hot could stop me?"
The superman mumbled something that Rachel didn't understand, and she only threw him down the hallway. He hit the far wall hard and slumped to the ground unconscious. Rachel then turned to find Merlin waiting just behind the bars of his cell. She quickly grabbed two of the bars.
"I don't know how long, he'll be out," Rachel commented, "So we're going to go now."
"Fine with me," Merlin answered as Rachel physically ripped the bars out of the wall.
Rachel then turned to head out while Merlin followed her. She didn't hear the sound of any footsteps coming down the hallway.
"We must get to their laboratory," Merlin said, "They took a blood sample from me. We need to make sure they can't use it."
"What about your research?" Rachel asked.
"I believe I've been told everything we need to know," Merlin answered, "We just need to get my blood sample back."
"Were you conscious when they took you there?" Rachel asked, "Because I was out cold when I was dumped in there, and you were out too when they brought you in."
"True, but my blood is a part of me," Merlin explained, "I can at least cast a homing spell that will lead us straight to it."
The two of them stopped in a hallway while Merlin quickly tried to cast his spell. Rachel kept her ears perked to try and catch any sound of approaching supermen. After a few seconds she heard Merlin scream with frustration. She quickly turned her head to see what was up with him.
"What is it?" Rachel asked.
"Iron, the entire complex is laced with Iron!" Merlin exclaimed, "My spell can't locate us let alone my blood."
"Of course it can't," Khan's voice spoke over an intercom, "This building was created by the Illuminati. They know about magic and know that the fey would attack them if they could find them. They laced this building with Iron so that neither Titania and Oberon, or the deceased Madoc and Maeve could attack this place without lowering themselves to equal footing with Illuminati defenders. You, as a fey halfling, are limited by the same laws, Merlin."
"Who is that?" Rachel growled, looking around for the cameras.
"I am Khan, the commander of this post, werewolf," Khan's voice answered, "And don't bother looking for the cameras. They are invisible to all, even myself. Oh, and if you wan to get out of here, alive, you might want to pick a direction and go."
Almost at that exact moment, several men armed with tranquilizer guns appeared in both hallways. Each group began firing the instant they had Merlin and Rachel in sight. Only a quickly generated force field by Merlin prevented them from being knocked out.
"I think it's time for us to go, and to forget about your blood sample," Rachel spoke to him.
Merlin's force field dropped as both groups attacked at once for hand to hand combat. Merlin dealt with the group attacking him rather quickly with a few lightning spells, while Rachel struggled, as she was not entirely used to fighting in any manner, and didn't want to even risk clawing one of the attackers. She managed to knock one out with a lucky punch, but the rest had managed to tackle her and hold her down. Only another lightning spell kept her from being knocked out by the lead superman. A short while later, Merlin was able to free Rachel from their grip.
"I think you're right," Merlin sighed, "now hopefully, we can figure a way out of here."
Main Control Room
"Make sure that they are driven OUT of the facility," Khan ordered to his second in command.
"Why not kill them?" the second asked, "Merlin, at least, will fight us later."
"Merlin's magic is already too powerful for us to defeat him to the point to kill him and there isn't enough pure Iron here to kill him," Khan answered, "We have to let him escape with the werewolf. Make sure our teams drive them out of the facility. Once they're out, they can not bother us any more. My goals have been accomplished."
"What of the Illuminati?" the second asked, "They've already sent agents to either execute or pick up Merlin and the werewolf?"
"We will tell them that their life signs appeared to have ceased when they were tranquilized," Khan answered, "We will claim that we thought them dead and buried them in an unmarked grave to make sure know one knows it is them."
"The Illuminati could punish you," the second reminded him.
"They didn't program us to know magic or even want to study its laws," Khan answered, "How should they expect us to fully grasp the supernatural?"
"Of course, sir," the second answered.
Merlin and Rachel continued moving as fast as they could to try and get through the hallways that made up the Illuminati complex. As they went more supermen would appear and try to jump them. Merlin was easily able to deal with most of them, and Rachel managed to knock one or two out, but her blows were mostly the result of getting lucky. She didn't want to risk biting or clawing anyone and then as principle, held back much of the time in an attempt to keep from accidentally creating more werewolves. Despite all this, it appeared that the supermen had a mission other then killing them.
"They're driving us," Rachel muttered as she swung a closed fist at a superman who leaped at her.
"Great," Merlin grumbled back, "And with the Iron in the walls, I can't determine where we are or where they're driving us."
Merlin then erected a series of force fields as more supermen came up behind them, armed with tranquilizer guns. He and Rachel then turned and ran as the tranquilizer rounds hit force field, disintegrating on impact. They then kept running down the hallway that there were no supermen in.
"We're gonna die, I just know it," Rachel grumbled as she ran.
"No one's going to die," Merlin answered, "I hope."
The two then rounded a corner and kept running when a superman jumped out in front of their path. The movement was so sudden that Rachel actually ran into him, sending both tumbling along the floor. Merlin quickly sent a lightning spell down the hallway that the man had appeared out of to make sure that there was no one behind him. Rachel ended up on top of the crook and then made sure that he hadn't been scratched at all. Seeing that he wasn't, Rachel then threw hem back toward where she and Merlin had come from.
Merlin meanwhile moved to look around. Their only option was to go ahead and run through a large metal door.
"Let's see what's behind door number one," Merlin commented as he approached the door.
To his surprise as he opened it, the door led to the outside. Both he and Rachel slowly went outside trying to see if they could find out if it was real. Once both were far enough away from the door that neither could make a quick dash back in, the door slammed shut behind them.
"They drove us outside?" Rachel asked.
"It would appear so," Merlin answered.
"Did you find out everything you needed to know?" Rachel asked.
Merlin slowly nodded, "They're lead by a man named Khan and if future events go as he has planned, he will start a great war here that will eventually plunge the entire world into chaos. Possibly threatening the entire world."
"So this Khan is the one that the prophesy predicts?" Rachel asked.
"Apparently," Merlin answered.
Illuminati Headquarters
One sat quietly staring at an old text that the Illuminati had come across in the seventeen hundreds and kept hidden from the rest of the world. One was the leader of the Illuminati Council, which lead the Illuminati for the Mage. It had been their job to control the world for him, and the prophecy in the book frightened him. He had to find a way to prevent it. As he stood up he left the book open to the page that held the prophesy.
"A secret organization rules the globe,
But a conqueror from the east shall arise,
Who will destroy those with 'illuminated' minds."
The End…