Chapter 35
"Wakey wakey, Princess."
Her eyes snapped open. Immediately aware that something was wrong.
Her mind was silent. The sound of her children's thoughts no longer there in the background.
Then she realised that she was not in her sleep pod. She was lying on her table in her personal throne room.
"Just so you know, we are on a clock. You've sixty minutes to decide if you want to die or adapt."
The Wraith Queen sat up sharply and locked her eyes on the source of the voice. Young, male, human.
"The name's Harry. I don't exactly care if you have a name. I might though, depending on your choice at the end of the hour." Harry shrugged.
"My children will know I am being held captive." She snarled as she moved off the table. She was wearing a long skirt and tight top. It forced her movements to be more sensual than deadly. She would have preferred deadly.
"Nope. They have no idea." Harry grinned and pointed behind her.
She turned and saw her sleep pod. It was occupied. There was a female in it and it enraged her.
Then she realised.
It was her.
"What trickery is this?!" She demanded.
"This is the trickery of a people so much more advanced than you that they have the ability to traverse time. To stop it, slow it and speed it up. To travel forward, backwards... like I said. In fifty-five minutes we will have caught up with normal time. You will get to witness me and my people extract you and then you and I will travel back and you will see yourself sleeping. The process will repeat infinitely."
"You have trapped us here?"
"No. Like I said, fifty-five minutes and we start living time normally. Now, take a seat. Let's see if the Wraith can be civilised, shall we?"
She began stalking up to him. "I will make your end torturous."
"See that device at the end of the table?" Harry pointed to a large chest made of silver metal. "That is a bomb. It has the capability of destroying everything within a one hundred mile radius.
"This ship will be reduced to ashes. There is one on every hive ship in the galaxy."
"A bluff."
"I can travel through time." Harry shrugged. "I could easily travel back to the time you first developed into humanoids and kill you. I'm here to give you a chance to live. To be better."
"You are nothing but cattle." She spat. "You live for us to consume you."
"Then you aren't going to be much of a problem for me when the timer runs out." Harry sighed. "Honestly, you don't have a large range of choices. It's either adapt or die. You have... fifty-one minutes."
"You think I will let you live that long?" She laughed derisively. "I will drain you dry now." She began stalking towards before there was a loud bang. She cried out in pain and grasped her shoulder in agony.
Harry just looked at the smoking gun he was pointing at her. "We tend to use projectile based weapons. I have access to energy ones but... they don't leave you bleeding." He said disappointedly.
"You will pay!"
"If you want I can end this now. I don't want to destroy your people. My own people would consider genocide to be one of the worst crimes possible. But... they'd consider slavery right up there too."
"You said I had an hour." She said through gritted teeth as little rivlets of dark, almost black blood began trickling through her fingers from the wound beneath.
"Well, sure. But if you attack me again then I stop the timer and detonate the bombs."
"You claim to offer a choice of life or death, all you truly offer is a quick death or a long and agonising one. You would starve us to death!"
"Horse hockey." Harry snorted. "I've read the Alteran's reports on your physiology. You don't need to kill the source, you don't even need to leave them weak and aged.
"For God's sake! You don't even need to use fully sentient and intelligent beings! You could use a damned cow!"
"What is a cow?" She sneered.
"Semi-domesticated animal from my planet. We breed them and use them for food and clothing. And yes, I know there are strong parallels between you and us, but these creatures literally have limited intelligence. Also, we take good care of the creatures. The men and women who tend to them usually feel they are like family."
"And still you kill them."
"Yep." Harry said simply and unrepentantly. "But, we aren't here to discuss the ethics and philosophies of my people. We are here to discuss the future of yours. At the moment it only has... forty-six minutes left before it comes to a rather dismal end."
"You expect humans to let us feed off them willingly?" She scoffed.
"No, but like I said, you can feed off other animals. I'm sure I can probably find a way to create a source of food that doesn't require a living creature."
Harry went back and forth with uppity female for most of the hour. He could tell there was a chance she would cave, it was just that she did think he was bluffing.
Her attitude changed after forty-five minutes when she saw a second Harry enter the room with a team of men. She couldn't hear what was said but she could tell that Harry was arguing with their leader.
"Times up." Harry stood abruptly as his 'past self' started to open her sleep pod to remove her 'past self'. "Make a decision. Live or die."
Harry had marched over to the bomb at the end of the table. He placed his hand above a shiny panel. "Ten seconds."
The device began to beep.
"You'll die too!"
"Five seconds, four, three-"
"Live! We'll comply!" She screamed in fear.
Harry lowered his hand and the device stopped beeping. "Do not awaken the rest of your people." Harry ordered as he began fiddling with the device.
The queen was more interested in seeing their past selves as past Harry placed a chain around both their past selves and vanished.
Suddenly the minds of her children reconnected with her. She briefly entertained the notion of waking them and killing the boy.
"I will be sending an envoy soon. They will begin working with you to establish a feeding pattern."
"You intend to feed us like your cows?" She sneered weakly.
"The bombs will remain on your ships and bases. Piss me off and I can easily remote detonate them. But, if your attitude and behaviour improves... well, one day you might actually sit at the table with myself and my allies and friends as an equal."
Harry turned on the spot and vanished, the bomb went with him.
Harry reappeared in the dungeons of Azkaban Castle. The new location of the stargate and portals. He had apparated out of the ship and then called for Ember to pick him up.
"What's her response?" Harry asked without preamble. He was standing in a room filled with computers and magical screens. They were manned by wiggles, muggles, goblins. There were representatives of all Britain's citizens. Except those that couldn't be around them like mer-people and dementors.
"She ordered a search of every ship for the bombs." Major Danton, a member of the British Army reported. "She suspects we have bugged her ships and is trying to be careful. She has refrained from awakening the rest of the hives."
"That's fine then." Harry said, he was relieved. "As long as she doesn't start mobilising. The rules remain in effect. Any ship that sends out hunting parties gets blown to bits."
"Yes Sir."
"Anyone have anything to add?" He asked the room.
"If they manage to send out raiders before you blow the ship, what will you do about their potential targets and victims?" Colonel O'Neill asked.
"I'll leave that decision in the hands of Admiral Roth. He has command of this base and the Royal Naval Space Fleet. I'd like to save everyone... but I am frequently informed it just isn't feasible." Harry clearly hated admitting that.
"Your Majesty, rest assured that if we find ourselves able to respond, we shall." Said Admiral said proudly.
"You have my trust Admiral." Harry nodded.
The Admiral was a long serving member of the Royal Navy. He had been recommended by the muggle government to take command of the new Royal Naval Space Fleet. It was currently under the auspices of the Royal Navy, but that was simply until it had enough personnel to justify it as a separate branch of the British Military.
"So, gentlemen, I having considered your warnings and threats, I have taken steps to neutralise the Wraith. They will no longer be hunting humans. If they do... they get wiped out.
"One of you gets to go back to your people and have them release Ganos Lal and warn them that they should avoid our plane of existence unless they want to have a civilised meeting. You can consider there to be a border between our worlds. You need permission to cross into ours."
Harry was seated in one of the meeting rooms on the prison on the moon. Moros and Nicholas flanked him. Opposite him were the two Ascended Alterans that had levelled threats against him.
"Your arrogance will be your end." The older white male scoffed. "The Wraith will never capitulate. You are nowhere near as advanced as we were when we faced them."
"Avada Kedavra." Harry conjured all the hate he had for these bastards, for the people who had hurt him and his loved ones.
There was a thud as the man's face smashed onto the table.
The other man was stunned speechless.
Harry just sat there, silently, patiently.
The Alteran tried to rouse his colleague but to no avail.
Harry and his companions remained silent and waiting.
It was heart wrenching to see the man on the other side of the table desperately try to wake his friend. He shook him, shouted at him, screamed into the air for him to reappear as ascended.
Harry and his companions remained silent and waiting.
"You are a monster!" The Ascended spat at Harry eventually, tears running down his cheeks.
"Why?" Harry asked emotionlessly.
"Why? You killed him! He was unarmed! He couldn't hurt you!"
"Really? Because a few moments ago he threatened my people. He threatened me. Clearly he didn't think he was unarmed."
"Balos!" The man jumped at hearing his name. He looked at Moros as though he was worse than Harry. "You threatened to unleash our worst enemy on Earth. We made this planet. These humans are our children. What do you do? You threaten to hurt and destroy them.
"His Majesty has just shown that you and the rest of our ascended people are not immune to him. He can hurt and kill us. He did all that with just his own intelligence and abilities."
Moros sat forward and stared the man in the eye, intently. "I was the one that created the sword that connects one man to the energy of this island. Imagine what the King could do if he had tapped into that resource?"
Balos paled.
"Now, bear in mind that I could easily connect him to the energy of the entire planet."
"We should have killed you immediately." He said shakily. "You have created this monster."
There was a knock on the door.
Harry frowned as he stood to open it. They shouldn't have been interrupted.
"Harry, I've got bad news." Tonks said gravely. "The Wraith... they began preparing for war. They woke the rest of the hives and started sending hunting parties out for resources and...'food'. Hemi went to try and dissuade them but they tried to kill him. Sparky got him out.
"The Admiral triggered the bombs. They're all dead. "
Harry closed his eyes. A massive amount of pressure was building in his head. There was a flash of fire and Ember flamed in and vanished with him.
Tonks felt heartbroken for her little cousin. This was what he feared.
"Tonks?" Nicholas asked gently.
"The Wraith are dead." She said simply.
Moros hung his head as Nicholas nodded tiredly. "Go find your charge. We will finish here." He instructed.
Once it was the three of them, Nicholas turned to Balos. "You are being released. You will tell your friends what happened here. You will release Ganos Lal, unharmed and unchanged. Then you will consider yourselves foreigners in this universe. If you wish to enter it you will require the permission of His Majesty, Harry Potter.
"Ganos Lal will be assigned as the envoy of the Ascended Alterans. You may relay messages through her."
Harry marched calmly through the stone corridors of Azkaban's dungeons, this was not unusual as he was often there. What was different this time was that he was dressed in his finest clothes, cape on his back, crown on his head, Fleur on his arm, the girls behind him... and a team of soldiers led by David Macdonald armed and acting as his royal guard.
They too were dressed for action, but dressed in their finest.
As they passed, everyone saluted or stood out of respect, they could see that the King was here on serious business. This was one of the few times Harry had warned them about: The time to call him by his title and bow in deference.
The atmosphere was already tense on the island. It was barely two hours ago that the signal was sent and the Wraith were wiped out.
Harry marched into the Command Room of the castle. From here the Admiral and his personnel oversaw all traffic and operations through the stargate or portals. They also managed the flight patterns of the Royal Naval Space Fleet around the universe.
"ATTEEEENTION!" David barked. "All rise for His Majesty, King Harry."
Only a few individuals didn't move, there were rules set that meant they were to ignore everything if they were engaged in delicate operations... such as guiding a spaceship in for a landing.
Harry stopped in front of the Admiral, his face was set. "Admiral, I received word that the Wraith made aggressive moves and our devices were activated."
"Yes Your Majesty. I pressed the button myself." The Admiral was not the sort to condemn another to handle the responsibility for what amounted to genocide.
Harry nodded slowly. "Pending a full review, you are relieved of duty." There were a few gasps. "You may consider yourself on paid leave. The Royal Council of Great Britain and her allies will convene next week and you and I will present ourselves.
"As I said before, Admiral Roth, you have my trust."
The Admiral saluted. "Thank you sir."
"Your second will take command until your return. For now, allow myself and my ladies to help you gather anything you might need from your office."
The Admiral nodded and led them out. David stayed behind momentarily. "His Majesty wants to be clear about this; he is not looking to press charges or make life hard for the Admiral or anyone who has served under him. This review is going to be standard procedure from now on.
"Harry intends to see Admiral James Lord Roth, returning to duty within the month."
Eyes widened in surprise and backs straightened in pride. They wondered if even the Admiral knew he was about to be elevated.
"Finally, counsellors are being assigned to this base. You have all been either witnesses or participants to genocide."
"Did you really destroy the Wraith?"
Harry jumped up from his arm chair and pulled Ganos into a crushing hug. "Thank Moros you're safe."
She pushed away to hold him by the shoulders. "Moros?" She asked with a hint of amusement.
"It pisses him off. Especially as everyone swears by Merlin." Harry grinned.
"The boy is a menace." The aforementioned Moros grumbled as he trudged in behind Ganos and sat on the couch. "Arthur could be reckless. He would charge in and give no care or thought to his own safety... but at least he was sensible and level headed. He didn't go around jesting and pulling pranks." He glared at Harry.
"Probably because you were responsible for him becoming king." Harry retorted. "Like most of the wiggles, he probably thought of you like a god."
"You don't treat me like that." Ganos looked at him archly.
"Ha! I started working on ruling this country years ago. It was the only way I knew that I could deal with the bigotry. I had Nicky churning out gold faster than a volcano does lava. I made sure that there were no problems between myself and the goblins.
"I never really expected to be a king, I thought I'd have to be the Minister for Magic." Harry grimaced at the thought.
"And people have the audacity to claim their Glorious King is the Most Humble of Kings." Moros scoffed.
Harry looked at him worriedly. "They don't really call me 'Glorious', do they?"
Ganos laughed and sat on the couch leaving Harry to find his way back to his own seat. "Moros, have you given any thought to ascending again?"
The old man sighed. "I am living on borrowed time. It is only Sir Nicholas' elixir that has allowed me to live this far."
"You've got a standing invitation to live on this plane, regardless of your state of mortality." Harry assured him. "As far as I am concerned, Moros also known as Merlin, known as Myrddin Emrys has been and will be the Arch Mage of the Round."
Despite how annoying he found the young king, Moros respected the young man for all he had achieved and sought to accomplish. "Thank you, Your Majesty." He said respectfully. "I believe I shall prevail upon Sir Nicholas until at least the end of the coming summer. Then I shall re-ascend. Hopefully I will still be able to serve you in that form."
"So, Ganos, what happened whilst you were gone?" Harry asked his mentor.
Ganos looked murderous. "I was treated better when I was captured by the Americans. At least they were honest about their intentions."
"Are we going to have problems with them in the future?"
Ganos paused, weighing her words. "There is a minority faction that supports a more open dialogue with this plane. They range from observing the development of technology and civilisation to actually walking amongst you and teaching you."
"What do they mean by 'observing'?" Harry asked suspiciously.
"They simply mean to step in to prevent mortals from destroying themselves."
"Urgh, we've seen that happen far too often." Moros said in disgust. He turned to Harry. "It isn't a bad thing at all. They merely want to ensure that if you are going to build a nuclear weapon that you are experienced enough to do it without blowing up the whole planet... or anyone else's."
"Ah. I can see the sense in that. Especially as I have Terry working on weapons, especially one capable of blowing up a planet."
"Why the devil would you want something like that?" Moros demanded.
"Asteroids."
"Oh." He didn't actually have a comeback for that.
"Now you see what I have had to deal with." Ganos smirked at him.
Moros glared at her for a moment before he turned to Harry with a devilish grin. "Would you like to hear some stories about the infamous Morgan Le Fay?"
"Careful, Merlin. I was watching you for far longer than you knew." Ganos calmly warned.
Once again, Moros was shut up.
Fortunately for him Dobby popped in. "King Harry, sir. Missy Toyotama-hime is here. Also, Missy Hermy be's needing you in you's lab."
"Send Toyotama up, tell Hermione I'll be there in ten."
"Yes King Harry, Sir." The little guy bowed and popped out.
Seconds later the petite Japanese Water Dragon in human form burst into the room, she ignored everyone and made straight for Ganos whom she hugged tightly.
"Ganos, you are unharmed?" She asked.
"I am fine Toyotama, thank you." Ganos smiled as she returned the hug. "Harry has become very adept at diplomacy."
There was a snort from both Toyotama and Moros. Ganos looked at Harry as she pulled back from her friend.
"I may have executed one of the Alterans that came and threatened me." He said with shame.
"I would eat them." Toyotama growled. "Dare to threaten a King!"
"I'll leave you two to catch up." Harry said. "I'll go and see what Hermione wanted."
"Hermione, you bellowed?"
Whatever the reason, she had called Harry down for a serious matter. She didn't even roll her eyes at him. "We picked up a distress signal."
Harry was confused. Britain had a decent set of emergency services. Including the military. Then it hit him. "You got the galactic radio working!"
"Yes, and aside from the Goa'uld transmitting orders and reports we picked up this:" She activated a console and a message was played of a male voice.
"This is Chancellor Omac of the Tollan Curia to Tollana Command. We have successfully buried the stargate. The air is toxic and we do not expect to survive for more than a few days. Remember our sacrifice, but more importantly, remember our mistakes."
"It repeats continuously." Hermione told him. "We can help them Harry."
"Sure... now answer the other question."
She looked at him curiously.
"Should we help them?"
She opened her mouth to lay into him.
"'Mione, they could be hostile." Dudley spoke up from a nearby desk. "This could be a trap. We could grab a few students from various houses and have them come up with all sorts of reasons about why we shouldn't get involved."
"But-"
"We'll certainly investigate." Harry assured her. "But we need to know more about these Tollan. You have a new assignment. Contact our allies, like Teal'c, Dr. Jackson and Kasuf and see if they know about the Tollan. If you want you can ask the Asgard and Nox... I'd advise against the Nox though." Harry grimaced. "I don't want to see your lovely brown hair turn grey early."
"Want me to contact Azkaban and have a few ships prepared?" Dudley asked.
"Yep. Tell them I'll be coming along."
"Harry-"
"Hermione! You have a task to complete." Dudley interrupted her. He had been approached by Filius and Harry's girls. They had asked him to 'protect His Majesty's freedoms as fervently as he protects his people's.' A short conversation with his fellow knights, Neville, Gregory and Vincent and they had agreed to adopt this cause as the primary goal of their order.
At the moment it simply meant making sure well meaning busy-bodies (like Hermione) were kept from making Harry's life miserable.
"I'm going to ask Hemi to have his men join us." Dudley added before grabbing Hermione by the arm and marching her out.
Jack O'Neill was a military man. He had been for several decades now. He was also a father, or, he was. Aurora had once pointed out to him that, just as children don't stop being the offspring of their parents when the parents die, parents are still parents if their children die.
Still, Jack had a love of children and civilian life, just as he loved to serve his country in the military.
But he really preferred to keep the two separate.
This was not easy as his current assignment was to liaise and work with the 'King of England'. Not that more than a few million knew England had a king. He was to provide military assistance and expertise with the King's exploration of space.
Said King had appointed him head of field units. Those that went through the portals.
Jack suspected that Harry was trying to coax him into joining the British military.
Anyway, Jack's two loves of life were now well and truly mixed. He was on a military space vessel that flew under the British flag. There was a bunch of British soldiers waiting to disembark down below and a bunch of civilians up here. On the bridge.
The bridge that had clearly been modelled on that of the Starship Enterprise commanded by Captain Kirk.
Fine! He was glad he hadn't managed to pull that trigger the day the Air Force recalled him.
Harry certainly made life interesting.
"All right, listen up!" Harry's voice sounded throughout the ship. "The end goal of this mission is to rescue those who need it. But we'll have a few smaller missions to deal with first. First up, Marco and Polo will head down to the planet and determine the state of the environment and what would be needed to safely land and disembark."
Jack rolled his eyes. 'Marco' and 'Polo' were similar constructs to 'Hansel' and 'Gretel', the two assigned to Terry's department. They were Harry's version of the USAF Stargate Program's MALP.
Even Jack had to admit that any name was better than 'MALP'. Although he had managed to stop him from calling them 'Mork' and 'Mindy'.
"Once we know what is needed to land and if we can get out, Marco and Polo will begin a search for any survivors." Harry continued.
"Harry, Hermione says she has information from the Asgard about the Tollan." Tracey announced from where she was sitting on the couch with the other girls.
"Please hold for more information." Harry said before closing the comm channel. "Let me see it."
Tracey jogged over and handed him what appeared to be a rolled up piece of parchment. Really it worked on the same principals as the Marauder's Map and the Protean Charm from Hermione's DA coins. It could redraw itself and communicated with a central database of sorts.
It was creations like this that had Harry sending people to Terry. Hermione had a standing offer as a researcher under Terry, she was also on a slightly different set of courses than the rest of Hogwart's students. Fred and George Weasley were on the same path. Their assignments and homework were nothing like the ones that were given to regular students. Their tasks involved creating new things.
"Alright," Harry announced as he reactivated the intercom. "Latest intel suggests that the Tollan are relatively advanced. Nowhere near the Nox, Alterans or Asgard, but definitely beyond muggle technology. The Asgard have also noted that they have a culture that has similar leanings to Earth's but are heading swiftly to those of the Alterans.
"Of course, they also noted that this might be because they are human." Harry added with a mutter. "Alright, let's get this show on the road."
Despite the initial misgivings that the 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland had, they thoroughly enjoyed working directly for the new king.
Short of working for the EOD Regiment of the army, you didn't get to wear full blown medieval suits of armour in the field.
The thirty man platoon assigned directly to the command of the king had stormed out of the ship at the location indicated by Harry's new 'scouts'. The suits of armour, that had been forged by the goblins, came with many enchantments. They could be as quiet as a mouse or they could sound like tone of metal shipping containers rolling down a hill.
They hadn't bothered with the silencing charms so that's what they sounded like.
The planet of Tollan was burning up. It had been knocked off course and was drifting closer and closer to its sun. The air was thick with ash and heat. The ground was melting.
The men of the Black Watch had the survivors back on ship within minutes. Harry had them all in Azkaban seconds later. The survivors were being treated by wiggle and muggle healers within twenty minutes of Harry arriving in orbit.
There was nothing that a few potions couldn't fix so an hour later they were in what was once the castle's throne room.
"Alright, which one of you is Chancellor Omac?" Harry asked from the minimalistic throne on the dais.
Immediately a tall man in his thirties stepped forward. "I am Chancellor Omac."
Harry looked to Dudley who was clearly struggling to keep a straight face.
This man had dark hair and a sturdy build.
But he sounded nothing like-
"This is Chancellor Omac of the Tollan Curia to Tollana Command. We have successfully buried the stargate. The air is toxic and we do not expect to survive for more than a few days. Remember our sacrifice, but more importantly, remember our mistakes."
"Please don't insult the king." Everyone on the Dais looked at the fairly irritated Hermione Granger who was holding up a recording device. "He did just save your lives after all."
An older man stepped forward and gently pulled the first man back. "We did not ask to be 'rescued'. We had our mission and we accepted our fate."
"So, 'Mione, maybe you should put this down on the list of reasons we shouldn't have rescued them." Harry teased her.
"Should just send them back." She muttered murderously. She took their slight personally. She had been the one to receive the message. She had been the one to beg Harry to help them.
Harry stood up and moved to the right wall. There was a doorframe... with no door. He activated some runes and a panel lit up on the side. He fiddled with it for a moment before leaning casually against the wall next to the door.
"Alright, if you prefer to die needlessly, walk through there and you will be back on your home world."
"You rescue us simply to condemn us to death?" The man asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nope. I would be quite happy to send you straight to wherever the rest of your people are. At this point in time, you've managed to piss off the person who wanted to help you."
"Language, Harry." Hissed the pissed person.
"Omac, they are not threatening us." The first man reasoned. "We are better than this. We shouldn't be so suspi-"
"Do you remember why we were willing to die back there, Narim?" Omac challenged the man. "Our lack of 'suspicion' is what caused our planet to be destroyed."
"We cannot assume that everyone is the same."
Omac scoffed. "Look at this place." He gestured around him. "They live in buildings made of stone bricks. They have barely harnessed electricity. They carry weapons in plain sight, ballistic weapons. But what is worse, is they suffer under a monarchy! A child monarch!"
"Permission to punt this bastard back to Tollan, Sir?" Dudley growled.
"See? They are barbaric!" Omac pointed at Dudley. "How long will it take for them to demand our technology? We are clearly more advanced."
"Wow, you really want to die, don't you?" Harry chuckled as he tapped on the keypad again. He then strolled back to his throne. "That portal now points to a random, uninhabited planet. It will drop you right next to the stargate. I assume you know how to get home using one of those."
"Actually, we were never told the address of our new home world." Narim said respectfully. "Whilst we did not expect to survive our mission, we did not want to risk being interrogated by the Sarita, those who caused our planet to be destroyed."
"Do you think you could find it in a map of the galaxy?" Hermione asked.
"Yes. The Sarita had no ships. They merely had access to the stargate and only our address."
"Did you have ships? You could send a message if you know the coordinates of your new planet." Harry offered.
Omac just sneered. "It would take years for one of our ships to reach us."
Harry just looked between Hermione and Dudley and grinned. "So much for being more advanced."
"Quite." Hermione said primly as she looked down her nose at Omac. "Especially when you consider that our ships can travel between galaxies in moments."
"Impossible." Omac said dismissively. "Even with faster than light capabilities it would still take time to travel that distance."
"You ever wonder if maybe it was the fact that your technology was so flawed and primitive that caused the Sarita to attack you?" Harry asked. "I know I'd be pretty pissed if you gave me 'advanced' technology that nearly killed me. It's why we don't use stargates. The things are bloody death traps!"
"Language!"
Hermione was ignored... aside from the snickers from the rest of the occupants of the dais.
"If you do not use stargates, how did you reach us?" Narim asked curiously.
Hermione was about to answer but Dudley grabbed her wrist and gave her a stern look.
"Now, we wouldn't want to give you access to our superior technology." Harry said with faux concerned look at Omac. "Who knows what damage you could do to us?
"Besides, just because we don't use stargates doesn't mean we don't have them. If you want to use them then that's fine. But you hold all responsibility for using it. Don't come complaining to us if it kills you."
"Kills us?" Narim looked amused.
"Six people walk through the stargate. The first one through trips on a rock and falls to the ground. The following four tumble into him.
"The sixth bounces off the pile of bodies and back into the stargate."
The Tollan grimaced at that thought.
"Death trap." Harry said with finality.
"Then perhaps you are too clumsy to use a stargate if you can so carelessly kill people with it." Omac taunted.
"Nowhere near as clumsy as you were for sharing advanced technology with untrustworthy people. We haven't blown up our world yet." Dudley countered.
"Please, I just want to go home."
Harry looked at the young Tollan woman who was wringing her hands nervously. She was clearly terrified, she was probably struggling with the fact that she wasn't dead when she was supposed to be.
"You know the coordinates of your planet?" Harry asked gently.
She nodded.
Harry stood up and walked towards her, he held his hand out to her. "Dudley, prepare my ship. Let's get the good lady home."
"On it."
"Any of you who want to go home follow us. The rest... follow anyway." He looked at Omac with disgust. "I can't wait to be rid of some of you."
"Impossible!"
"And that is why you've made so many mistakes."
Omac glared hatefully at the young king. They had boarded Harry's ship only seconds ago and they were already looking at their new planet; Tollana.
"Tollana has planetary defence cannons." Narim spoke up quickly. "We will need to announce ourselves or they will fire on us."
"Jeffries, show Narim how to work the comms." Harry instructed the Signaller for the platoon.
"Dud, take over." Harry said as he climbed out of his pilot's seat and headed to the couch where the rest of the Tollan were sitting. He approached the young woman who had asked to go home. He held out a roll of parchment wrapped around a quill. "Here, if you ever want to come visit or maybe join us on a bit of exploration then write on the parchment. Hermione has a matching one and she'll respond... provided she's awake and not busy." Harry shrugged.
"W-Why?" She asked. She was gobsmacked.
Harry smiled warmly at her. "Because you said 'please'."
"Sir, we've been given permission to land and the coordinates." Jeffries reported.
"Land?" Harry's face twisted into disgust. He turned back to the woman. "Do I really want to land on a planet which produces arrogance like his?" He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at a fuming Omac.
The woman giggled nervously.
"Harry, think about it from a different angle." Dudley called over from the pilot's seat. "Do you really want to land on a planet which produces people like her?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "And he wonders why he leads his own personal order of knights."
"Yeah... I think she's the exception, not the rule, Dud." Harry grimaced as they stood outside his ship.
Upon landing the ship was surrounded by armed soldiers. Harry had tossed Narim out and told him to find out why they were being targeted.
He let the rest of them leave at a more civilised pace.
Of course, Narim was quickly side lined as Omac began ranting and gesturing at them to a woman who appeared to be his age.
"That's High Chancellor Travell." Harry jumped at the voice at his side. He saw the woman he gave the parchment to. "She's the head of our government."
"Ok... this is stupid. What the devil is your name?" Harry huffed.
The woman giggled as Dudley conspicuously turned away to hide his own humour.
"My name is Hana." She inclined her head.
"Well, it was nice to meet you Hana. But we are going to leave now. Nothing about the rest of your planet has made me want to stay. That parchment will only work for you, so don't worry if they try to confiscate it."
"This box contains all the little gadgets and gizmos you were wearing when we picked you up." Dudley tapped a box with his foot. "We also cleaned and fixed the clothes you were wearing, they were a little burnt."
"Thank you, Sir Dudley, and you, Your Majesty, for everything." She bowed to Harry.
Harry shocked the woman by returning the bow. "It was an honour to rescue you, Hana. I hope to see you again someday."
"We're leaving Dave." Dudley said quietly to his girlfriend's brother who was standing with Tonks behind them.
Omac was putting forth the argument that they should detain the ship and its crew for interrogation. They had managed to steal the technology they were wearing and they seemed to have the ability to travel anywhere. They posed a significant threat to home world security.
Travell was not opposed to the idea, she just needed to consider the correct phrasing so they didn't appear to be thieves themselves.
Their discussion was halted when confused shouts sounded from around the landing area.
They turned to see that the ship was closed and moving.
"STOP THEM!" Omac screamed. "SHOOT THEM DOWN!"
Omac was a ranking official in the Tollan government, he was also well known as one of those who had volunteered for what was known to be a suicide mission.
The guards had no qualms about following his orders.
Bolts of energy splattered against the hull of the ship... but it seemed to cause them to rebound.
The ship halted thirty meters off the ground before it plummeted straight back to the ground causing a shockwave to knock them off their feet.
The airlock opened and bolts of red energy streaked out with deadly accuracy that felled whatever it hit.
Eventually only Hana, Omac and Travell were still standing, Omac rushed for one of the weapons from the fallen guards.
That was when another bolt flew at him causing the weapon to go flying through the air.
Harry came stomping out with a face as black as a thundercloud. Dudley was close behind with Tonks and David. He went straight up to Omac and delivered a right cross that had Dudley and David grimacing.
"You have just committed an act of war you dishonourable little shit. When the Goa'uld, Ori, Replicators or anyone else come after you, do not come crawling to us!
"Hana, they give you any shit then use the parchment. We will come and pick you up and you can enjoy a relaxing life on our beaches or pursuing studies with any of our scientists." Harry paused in thought. "Dud, got your Luna Gogs?"
Dudley carefully pulled out a pair of sunglasses from his jacket's inner pocket and handed them to Harry.
"Here, hold these." He placed the glasses in Hana's hand and then quickly pulled his wand and tapped them. "These will let you see into the world that is parallel to ours. It can't touch you but it is an interesting subject."
Harry looked at Travell and Omac with disgust. Omac was cradling his heavily bruised jaw. "If Hana wants us to help you, you'd damn well better make sure she has a good argument." He spat before spinning on his heel and marching back to his ship.
"Euur eaaarr guurrr!"
Whatever Omac was attempting to convey to Travell was unintelligible as he couldn't move his mouth. It wouldn't have mattered as Travell was white as a sheet.
Hana was feeling very apprehensive. She was incredibly grateful for all Harry had done, but he had singled her out to her government and was worried what it might mean for her future.
"That was absolutely pathetic, Harry." Dudley scowled as he grabbed his cousin's wrist and examined the swelling knuckles. "Sensei would throw a fit if he saw that punch. Dave, what do you think? Did he break anything?"
"He might have fractured something, but I'm sure Madam Pomphrey will have him sorted quick enough." David might have been annoyed that Harry had landed and put himself at risk, but it was clear from the shots the Tollans took at the ship that they didn't have anything that would penetrate a standard protego.
Harry just turned his nose up at the pair. "You're just jealous I got there first."
