Beginning
Officers, who didn't have to share with visitors, had been given all of the good single rooms. This room didn't even have a window, and someone's dirty clothes were on the floor. It wasn't quite the military neatness he was used to seeing, but then, Harry didn't really care at the moment. He was content to stare morosely at the ceiling above him as he waited word of the upcoming battle. He had thought that he would sleep, but he had only managed twenty minutes before he was wakened by a nightmare. Those, he could do without.
Harry didn't stir when the door opened. "I'll go if you want," he said, "but I'd rather not."
"Nightmare?" Sirius asked.
Harry looked up in surprise. He hadn't realized he was in the man's room. "How can you tell?" he asked tiredly.
"I've seen you after enough of them," Sirius said with a shrug. "And Samantha said she thought you could sleep for a week."
"That's doubtful," said Harry tiredly.
"You know," said Sirius, coming into the room fully, and closing the door behind him. "Everyone knows you did everything you could back there. You went beyond any expectations."
"I know," said Harry, making a small effort to sit up and face Sirius.
"So what are you doing in here looking like a lost puppy, instead of going out there, punching walls, and promising revenge like all the other soldiers?"
"Because I'm not a soldier," said Harry. "And I don't want to be. When we're done here, I'm done. No more fighting just because. No more watching people die. I'm done."
"Harry," said Sirius, looking surprised. "That's fine. I mean, that's great! I know I can't speak for thirty-plus years of my life, but that sounds like the best thing I've ever heard."
"It doesn't sound great to me," said Harry, looking down.
"It will," said Sirius, "just wait and see. Look, you don't have to go through with this. Let them blow Anubis up again. We do it enough times and eventually he'll just go find some place to hide."
"He'll wait," said Harry. "He'll come back, he'll strike when it's least expected, and he'll be more terrible than he is now. No, this has to end today." He looked over to Sirius. "You know, I can't think of anything you could have done that would make someone want to put you in prison."
"That's nice, Harry," said Sirius. "Colonel O'Neill might disagree with you, but it's nice." Harry snorted; the Colonel still held a grudge over his drugging. "Besides," said Sirius. "Maybe it wasn't prison, as such. It could have been a prisoner of war camp, or a deserted island. Maybe I was in a coma."
Neither of them believed that last to be a possibility. "What are your healers saying?" asked Harry.
Sirius sighed. "They think some sort of imprisonment would be most consistent with my symptoms. But I can't think of any civilized country that would have a prison that horrific."
"What about the wizarding world?" asked Harry, quite satisfied with himself for deflecting the conversation away from his own life.
"You know I don't know," said Sirius tiredly.
"I know," said Harry. "You forgot all the interesting information." Those few seconds where the curse had been able to attack Sirius's semantic memory had left Sirius bereft of those memories that had the greatest emotional valence attached, hence anything interesting. Of course, this in itself led credence to the prominent theory.
They stayed in silence for a few moments. Finally Sirius said, "We'll have lives after all this is over. Real lives. Probably not anything like what they should have been, but we'll make it work. You'll see, Harry."
"Yeah," said Harry, "I'd like that."
!
Apparently, Anubis was a very busy evil overlord; it took him a further three days to show up at the Tollan space station. The cloaked cargo ship that witnessed his mothership jumping near the station took a further four hours to travel at sublight speeds far enough away to avoid detection before jumping into hyperspace. The fleet had completely vacated the rendezvous point within twenty minutes, coordinating their departure times so that they could all arrive in the same instant.
Three minutes after the last Tollan ship had departed, the fleet dropped out around the space station. As they did, the hidden cargo ships began to leave their hollow asteroid, and Harry jumped immediately to Anubis's mother ship. He arrived in what their intelligence reports had labeled as a storeroom near the pel'tak. It held materials important enough to be kept close at hand yet trivial enough to not require a door. Harry was able to sequester himself with a good view of the corridor. The transponder strapped to his ankle gave off his location to the cargo ships, which would have to center around him when he performed the ritual to contain Anubis.
As soon as Harry had left the Prometheus, Commander Tellis gave the command to release a wave of energy. Even Harry didn't know the science behind it, but the entire area became saturated with a kind of radiation that prevented hyperspace travel. The only way out was via sub-light travel. Anubis was trapped.
It had not been obvious at first, but as soon as the fleet had jumped in, the same mechanisms that kept the space station from falling into the black hole began working in reverse, actively pulling the station towards the singularity. As the station began picking up speed, a matter stream connected between it and Anubis's mother ship. Anubis had made it to safety. Still the station gained speed, and it became a streak of light racing to the accretion disk. Suddenly it burst apart, and came to a stand still. The devices that had protected it from the black hole's relativistic effects ceased working, and the miniscule pieces of what had once been a grand piece of technology seemed to hang frozen in time.
In the mean time, the war ships on either side had not remained idle. Hundreds of death gliders flew through space and al'kesh made bombing runs on larger ships while massive bolts of energy flew all around.
Aboard the Prometheus, things were a little more peaceful; it had to meet up with the rest of the fleet, having jumped farther away to accommodate Harry's needed two hundred miles. SG-1 stood at the side of the bridge with Sirius, waiting for the ship's computer to translate the relative positions of the Prometheus and Anubis's mothership into Apparition coordinates for Sirius, who could not make a trip to an unknown location accurately without them. Memorizing the coordinates, Sirius grabbed onto Colonel O'Neill's arm and apparated away. They appeared in a corridor not far from the main weapon's relay. Sirius checked to make sure they were alone before disapparating again. He would have to make the trip three more times, and that wasn't counting their exit plan. They'd be lucky if he didn't pass out.
!
Anubis ringed aboard his mothership with his personal guard, and his servants cowered before him.
"Report," he ordered.
"My Lord," said his first-prime, "our hyperdrive engines have been rendered useless, and we are out numbered. However, our weapons and shields are still superior to those of most of your enemies."
They began walking towards the pel'tak, which was relatively far from the ring room for security reasons.
"Launch the strike squadrons. Order them to take any ships using and advanced energy source, and to destroy the rest."
"Yes, my Lord," said the Jaffa, who hurried away to see to his master's command.
On the exterior of Anubis's mothership, ten small doors opened, and from each, five figures launched into space. They were nearly invisible to the naked eye, their black armor camouflaging them in the dead of space. Passing stray bolts of plasma would light up their armored space suits briefly, before darkness claimed them once more.
Four of the groups sped silently towards each of the Tollan ships. Another group sped to the Tau'ri ship, and the remaining five sped towards the nearest attacking ha'taks, three of which had been captured from Anubis. Small energy thrusters in their hands allowed them to adjust their courses as their targets moved.
The first ship to be reached was a ha'tak, and the squadron approaching it passed through the shields harmlessly. They slowed down as they reached the outer hull, but they did not stop. In the blink of an eye, they passed through the hull. The other ha'taks were boarded similarly, as was the Tau'ri vessel. The squadrons approaching the Tollan war ships were not so fortunate though. Instead of passing through the shields, they bounced off, spinning wildly into space. Many of them died from the impact.
Aboard the Tau'ri ship, five Jaffa stood in an empty hallway and pulled off their helmets. From their waists they drew Zat'ni'katels, and from their backs they drew swords.
!
Major Miles West, nephew to the general that had helped to start the Stargate program, found a great sense of calm in a dogfight; a kind of calm that he hadn't been able to find anywhere else in life. He found it paradoxical of course, but he didn't care. Being brought into the F-302 program had been the best thing to ever happen to him. His assignment to the Prometheus squadron had been a near guarantee of action, and he hadn't been disappointed.
"Hard left!" called out his co-pilot, Captain Young.
Miles didn't question the exclamation; he just pulled hard to the left. Moments later, an explosion gently rocked Prometheus-2. He gave a slight pat to the display in front of him. His bird had taken some damage in that botched rescue, but only the hyperdrive was still offline. Fortunately, it wasn't needed for this particular battle.
"What was that?" he asked.
"Al'kesh," answered the Captain. "One of theirs. I'm getting new orders from Prometheus Actual. Eyes open for black armored astronauts. Engage with extreme prejudice."
"Got it," said Miles with a shrug. He'd had stranger orders.
"I'm sending you coordinates. Mothership twelve needs relief from a squadron of death gliders."
Miles called up the information and changed their heading. "I see them. Coordinate with Prometheus-1. Let's see how close we can get that formation together. Calculate optimal for box-3." The Captain would be the one to calculate the right time to fire the missile into the formation of death gliders.
The battle was sheer chaos. Only two ha'taks had been destroyed so far, both free Jaffa ships. More al'kesh and death gliders had been destroyed on both sides than could be counted though. Looking at any point gave a view of explosions and weapons fire, often against the backdrop of the black hole. Miles had never seen anything so beautiful.
They were ten seconds away from the squadron when the captain called out, "Two death gliders getting on our tail."
"Good," said Miles, wearing a grin behind his facemask.
The fifteen death gliders were flying together, making a strafing run on the ha'tak. Prometheus-1 came around the ha'tak from above them, at an angle, it's rail guns taking out a couple gliders and causing the others to bunch together. Coming from their rear, Miles started firing moments later.
"We're in range of their weapons," said the Captain, as shots started flying around them.
"Activate aerospikes," said Miles, as he flew an evasive pattern.
"Crap," muttered the Captain, as he activated the system.
"Hold on to your-" his last word was cut off by a grunt as the rockets engaged. Miles pulled back hard, letting the two tailing gliders join the squadron.
"NOW!" called the Captain.
Inertial dampeners were an incredible addition to the fighter, but they only compensated so much. Even with them, they were pulling three G's. Then Miles pulled a complete 180 flip. The pressure was incredible, and Miles only had a split second to target and fire the missile.
The death gliders tried to break away when he fired, but they didn't have time; Miles was too close already. His fighter continued it's former trajectory and flew backwards as the last death glider was consumed by the fiery explosion.
Suddenly, a black clad figure slammed into the cockpit. Miles let out an explicative as the Captain began relaying the situation to the Prometheus. The soldier had managed to get a handhold on the wing, and he reached behind him, drawing a sword.
"That doesn't look good," said the Lieutenant.
"Turn off the inertial dampeners," shouted Miles.
The soldier drove the sword through the wing and Miles punched the main rockets, diving forward to avoid the ha'tak. The soldier went flying, and as he did the sword sliced through the wing like butter. The lights in front of him shut off.
"Crap," said the Captain.
!
Harry reflected that maybe he should have just jumped in somewhere close to the ring room. He had been waiting for ten minutes, and there was still no sign of Anubis. Had he taken another route? Perhaps they had over planned this aspect of the attack. If this part, then perhaps the whole thing! He scowled at himself. Now was no time to doubt the plan.
Tired of simply standing there, Harry went to a small computer terminal. It was meant only for inventorying, but it was connected to the ship's mainframe, and Harry quickly accessed the ship's schematics. He scowled. So much for Jaffa intelligence; he would have to run if he wanted to catch Anubis in a corridor, and not in the better-defended bridge. He sprinted through the corridors, only having to silence a few Jaffa on the way.
Harry finally reached a corridor that Anubis would hopefully soon reach. He ducked behind a corner, straining his ears, and making sure his deep breaths for air were quiet. He didn't have to wait long. Hearing the approach of a number of loud footsteps, Harry rounded the corner and faced Anubis and his guards.
Harry immediately recognized their mark and their garb labeling them K'lendo'than Assassins, not seen since Anubis's first fall. A line of verse came to mind, 'They appeared as Death incarnate. Their dance was final and their blade unforgiving. The blood of their enemies painted a picture of the end of my years. Bow your heads, all you who look upon the Phantoms of Black Mist.' Harry hoped that they made better assassins than guards.
"Your elite guard, I presume," said Harry.
"You must realize that they will kill you," said Anubis. The outermost Jaffa unsheathed their swords, while those closest to Anubis leveled staffs.
"I've had worse odds," said Harry. He raised his assassin's lance.
!
"What's the matter, Black? Nervous?"
Sirius's scowl deepened as he glared at the Colonel. "No," he whispered in response. "I'm just trying to remember something."
"So help me," whispered Jack, "if you say, 'the plan'…"
"I know the plan," Sirius rebutted quietly. "I just… I should know something that would make this a lot easier."
"Like what?" asked Daniel.
"I don't know," said Sirius, "that's the problem."
"Wait," said Sam, "can't you become invisible?"
"Yes!" Sirius exclaimed quietly. "That's it."
"Well what are you waiting for?" asked Jack.
"I don't know how!"
"Of all the things to-"
"I'd like to see you do better in my place," said Sirius.
"I wouldn't be in your place," said O'Neill.
"Right," said Sirius, "because you would have just left your godson to wander the dangerous galaxy all on your own."
"No, I would have been there for him in the first place," said O'Neill.
Sirius said nothing, not having the memories needed to defend himself from the charge.
"Sir," Samantha interrupted. "We're here."
"Alright then," said Sirius, "show time."
Falling to the ground, Sirius transformed into a large black dog. He wagged his tail and did an odd four legged jump. Rounding the corner he charged down the corridor, right past the two startled Jaffa standing guard on the long entryway to the weapon's room.
Both of the Jaffa standing guard on either side of the long entryway to the main weapon's relay turned their heads to follow the odd sight. The one further along left his position to chase him. Sirius turned to face the Jaffa and let out a loud bark.
That was the cue for O'Neill and Teal'c to run out and open fire, taking both Jaffa unawares with quiet shots from Zat'ni'katels. This of course did not go beyond the notice of the four guards standing in the short hallway to the weapons relay, and a goa'uld stun grenade was thrown out at them.
O'Neill and Teal'c promptly fell to the ground as bright white light and a sharp metallic whine filled the corridor. Fortunately, Sirius's physiology was entirely different at the time; he was still left reeling though, disoriented. For a few moments, all Sirius could see was white, and the only sound that penetrated the ringing in his sensitive ears was gunfire. Transforming back into himself set the world to rights.
Samantha and the history doctor were standing on either side of the entryway, using the corners as cover, and trading fire with the remaining Jaffa. There was another Jaffa on the ground, apparently having run out after the grenade had been thrown. Sirius scowled and drew his wand. Marching out into the open, he cast a shield that immediately began taking shots from that strange orange energy. He took note of the placement of the two Jaffa remaining. Stepping back next to the history doctor, he lowered his shield and shouted at the man, "What's that wall made of?" He pointed to the wall opposite the entryway.
"Gold," shouted the Doctor.
Sirius nodded, and pointed his wand at the wall and shouted, "Reuelius Tellum!"
The wall contorted, as though strings were being drawn up from a vertical pool of golden liquid, and spears shot out, flying quickly down the corridor. A couple of screams were heard, and then nothing.
"Right," said Sirius, "I'll take care of those two," he pointed to their two fallen companions. He walked down the hallway and pointed his wand at Teal'c and O'Neill in turn, muttering "Enervate."
Teal'c blinked rapidly for a moment, and sat up. O'Neill groaned. "Hate when that happens."
"I can imagine," said Sirius, recalling his own experience with the stun grenade.
The three of them joined the two doctors at the door to the weapons relay.
"It needs an access code, Sir," said Samantha.
"Alright," said O'Neill, "C4."
Sirius cleared his throat and muttered, "Alohamora."
The two large doors slid open with a loud rumble.
"You have to admit, Sir," said Samantha, "he's useful to have along."
"Useful," Jack agreed, clearly suggesting that it was the only good thing to be said.
Sirius just shrugged. He supposed he'd hold a grudge if someone drugged him in his own home. They walked into the large room. There was an impressive mechanism in the middle, with a large display of colorful crystals.
"Now we can use the C4," said Samantha.
The Colonel smiled.
!
"I'm receiving a mayday from a rebel al'kesh. They need help while they repair their shields."
Colonel William Ronson addressed the Captain at the Con. "Tell them they can use ours. Helm, take us between them and their attackers. Major Field's, what's the status of our Death Glider guests?"
"Two are ready for launch, the other won't be going anywhere else."
"Launch them when it's safe," said William, "Ask the other pilots to help with the fighting on deck 4."
They had known that Anubis had found a counter for phase shifting technology, but had had no idea that he had managed phase shifting itself. Thank God he hadn't yet been able to apply it to weapons as the Tollans had. The black armored killers had managed to bypass all security. Doors were walked through, attackers shrugged off. They were getting uncomfortably close to the bridge. Addressing the Con. Officer again, he said, "Have Major Yoshida send someone up here to brief me on the fighting."
"The Major's dead, Sir. Relaying order to Captain Reid."
Major Fields at Telemetry spoke up. "Death Gliders away, Sir. They're joining a nearby formation."
They were taking heavy fire now from the two al'kesh they were defending against. He addressed Lieutenant Drescher at Weapons.
"Launch Tacticals 9 through 12 at the two al'kesh."
"We're awfully close, Sir," said the Lieutenant, even as he moved to carry out the order.
"That's the point," said William, they would have less time to shoot down the rockets. "Our shields can take it."
"Missiles away," a slight pause and a gentle shudder went through the ship, "two detonated on the closest al'kesh, I'm reading heavy damage. Other two were shot down."
At that moment, Sergeant Hayfield ran onto the bridge.
"Fire at will," William told the Lieutenant. Turning to the Sergeant he said, "Report!"
"They've reached level three, sir. They almost have a direct line to the bridge."
"Casualties?"
"At least fifteen, sir. They don't pass anyone without killing them."
"Why haven't we been able to stop them?"
"One of them is down sir, but their armor's bullet proof, and their swords… catch zat'ni'katel energy. They're fast too, sir. It was only a lucky shot that took the one down."
"Why aren't they using their phase shifting technology to come straight here?"
Major Fields spoke up from Telemetry. "The technology can incapacitate you if it's used too much. They wouldn't want to collapse moments after taking the bridge."
"Then that's how we get them," said Will.
"Sir," said the Sergeant, "we're giving them as good of a fight as we can."
Will shook his head. "Pull our men back. Seal all bulkheads and prepare to open starboard airlocks."
"Sir, they've kept their helmets at their waists. We won't be able to suffocate them."
"Yes, but they'll have to activate their phase shift if they don't want to be sucked out. Pull back staff from levels 2, 3, 4, and 5, and leave the connecting doors wide open. And pull our best marksmen to the bridge."
"Sir," said Major Fields, "two squadrons of death gliders are approaching."
"Bring rail guns to bear," he replied.
!
The beam of the assassin lance went straight through the first two Jaffa on his right. He took an instant to regret his Ancient shield device running out of energy before shooting himself down the hallway on the other side of Anubis, avoiding bolts of plasma.
Another energy lance took out the two closest Jaffa, now on his right, even as they moved gracefully to avoid it. He had to roll to dodge a staff blast. A wave of energy from his hand device pushed the Jaffa furthest from him flying down the hall as he turned to engage the other two. The one with the staff was the most dangerous, and Harry leapt at him, grabbing the weapon, and swinging the Jaffa around so that he was between Harry and the sword bearing Jaffa. While the Jaffa was unable to swing his Staff, Harry pulled himself up on it and rammed his knife into the Jaffa's neck.
Harry took a step back, giving himself room against the nearest sword bearing Jaffa, as he shot the fallen staff bearer with his lance. The two with swords were left, and the one on his feet charged him. In a move that seemed more like a dance, Harry stepped closer and to the side, neatly avoiding a strike that would have split open his belly. He ducked a return strike, and then the second one was there.
The two Jaffa clearly knew how to work together against a single opponent, and for a moment it was all Harry could do to stay alive. A slice on his leg, and another on his chest belied their skill. They moved too fast for Harry to take a moment to shoot away. In the end, it was not Harry's skills in the martial arts that saved him. As Harry ducked a swing towards his neck, a well-placed kick hit him in the side of his chest, the loud crack indicated broken ribs. Harry was sent directly towards the other Jaffa, and barely twisted out of the way of another swing. The swing turned into a stab that went through his left shoulder. As the Jaffa jerked his blade up, cleaving cleanly through Harry's shoulder bone, Harry extended his right hand and blew back the other Jaffa. With a bare twitch of his left hand, the assassin's lance bore a hole through the leg of the Jaffa who had just stabbed him, and when he fell, another lance took him in the chest. Finally, Harry threw a ball of plasma at the head of the further Jaffa. They both slumped to the ground, dead.
Harry took a moment to catch his breath as he stared off with Anubis, before he turned over and painfully pushed himself to his feet with his right hand. The weight of his left arm pulling down was agonizing, but Harry pushed through the pain as his healing abilities drastically started slowing the bleeding, and helped to ensure that enough blood was getting through the unsevered tissue to keep the arm alive.
"You sure of you prediction now?" asked Harry.
"You will die eventually, as will all you know," said Anubis. "I will not."
"Yeah?" said Harry. "Let's see about that."
!
"Master Bra'tac," called out the young Jaffa at the helm. "Two squadrons of Anubis's death gliders have been dispatched towards the cargo ships."
"Then we must come to their aid," said Bra'tac. He still found it hard to believe that the painted symbols on the ships were the key to victory, but he had accepted long ago that there were powers in the universe that were beyond him. He just did not believe that the goa'uld possessed them.
Studying the complex map of the battle, he came to a decision. "Take us to intercept the closest squadron, and relay orders to our twelfth squadron to intercept the other."
"Yes, Master Bra'tac," replied the Jaffa.
"How long will it take us to reach them?" asked Bra'tac.
"At least one minute."
The sudden sound of men shouting and the fire of weapons made them all turn their heads towards the corridor.
"Seal that door!" Bra'tac commanded, and one of the warriors standing guard quickly moved to activate the closing mechanism. The doors sealed in less than two seconds. However, the doors served them no purpose. Two black-armored Jaffa walked through, instantly swinging their blades at the two guards. One was killed instantly with a large slice at the neck that nearly decapitated him. The other was momentarily saved by his interposed Staff, though that was rendered useless when the blade cleaved it in two.
So these were the invading warriors that they had heard of. Bra'tac drew his Zat'ni'katel, but had to dive out of the way of his enemy's own wash of blue energy. The black clad warriors were fearsome to behold. If Bra'tac had not known better, he would have thought they possessed the abilities of the boy Harry Potter. They moved with a suddenness that almost made them seem to jump instantly across the room. Never before had he seen warriors so effortlessly dodge Staff fire.
Still, they were out numbered and surrounded. One of the attackers eventually was felled, first by one and then another Staff blast in the back. And then, though it seemed impossible, Bra'tac was the only one left standing, with the one warrior on the other side of the room.
"I should have you know," said Bra'tac, drawing his dagger, "that I am no easy meat."
The warrior said nothing, and simply charged. Bra'tac fired his Zat'ni'katel rapidly, but each wash of blue was absorbed by a swing of the blade. Then the warrior was upon him, and the dance truly began. Bra'tac ducked, stepped, and swung his own blade for all that he was worth. He even drew first blood, a small gash on the warriors cheek, but he then found himself backed into a corner; no doubt by the warriors design. The black clad figure wasted no time in raising the killing blow, but he fell instead; a knife had blossomed in the back of his neck.
Bra'tac's eyes traveled across the room, where a young Jaffa by the name of Mol'sh was slumped against the wall, his right arm still extended from the throw. His left arm clutched at a hemorrhaging wound on his stomach.
"I die free, Master Bra'tac," he said.
Bra'tac rushed across the room to him, and helped to put pressure on the wound, though he knew it would do no good.
"You die with great honor, my student. I am in your debt."
The young Jaffa smiled. "Then I ask for victory," he whispered.
"It is yours," said Bra'tac, as the life left the Jaffa's eyes. He set the boy down and opened the doors to the corridor, letting in the Jaffa who had been locked out. They had cargo ships to save, and a battle to win. And if he was not mistaken, there were three more warriors to track down and kill aboard his ship.
!
Aboard Anubis's mother ship, Harry was starting to feel light headed.
"What?" he asked, struggling to pronounce the question without slurring.
"The engine coolant you are breathing will not kill you," said Anubis, "rest assured that I will do that. Your shield has only been slowing the spread of the gas, but it will soon overcome you."
Harry's shield could keep him safe in a vacuum, but it didn't completely restrict the transference of air molecules when the pressures were equal. His eyes were drawn to the gauntlets on Anubis's faux wrists. Of course, they had likely been the controls Anubis had used to have the corridor flooded with engine coolant. Harry pulled out his breather and drew in a deep, pure breath. He still didn't have very long; the coolant in his system would render him unconscious soon.
"I'll just have to get this done with then," he said, checking an indicator on his own wrist that let him know that the cargo ships were all in position. Knowing that Anubis's shield body would be strong enough to squash him like a bug, Harry stayed back and weakly raised his left hand. It was not magic he called upon, but the assassins lance.
Anubis laughed. "Did you think that I would give my assassins a weapon that was powerful enough to destroy my own shield?"
"No," said Harry awkwardly around the breather, "but I did think it would help." He drew his other hand from behind his back and threw the largest ball of plasma he could manage at Anubis. Under the combined attack, the shield fell, and for the second time, Harry saw Anubis in his true form. He wasn't sure if he was just biased, but he was pretty sure that Anubis's black haze was radiating evil.
Harry didn't give Anubis time to flee or try to possess him. Keeping his right hand out, he called, "Congelo malum phasmatis." The black mist froze, hanging still in midair. Harry felt his knees sag, and he fell painfully onto them; he managed to stay upright. His mind was getting fuzzy, but fortunately his mind was impressive enough that that was not much of a handicap. Pulling the clear quartz crystal from a pocket, Harry held it out in his hand as he called out the words that Sirius had drilled into him. "Vos Peregrinus Ags Solvo Pre Diutius. Exsistito Es Insum, Carcer Vestri.
It felt as though the crystal was drawing his own life energy out through his hand, and Harry had to put his other hand down on the ground to keep himself up, but slowly, Anubis's frozen form contorted and stretched to the crystal. As he became weaker, Harry wondered for the first time if this was going to kill him. Finally, a single tendril of Anubis's being touched the crystal and the rest of him was quickly drawn in.
The now black crystal in hand, Harry collapsed onto the ground, his vision going black. He remained conscious enough to hear approaching footsteps. Just what he needed, Anubis's reinforcements. Wait, those were rubber soles he was hearing.
"Expulsum Aer Nocens!"
It wasn't the most painful thing Harry had ever felt, but it ranked above the pain in his arm. "OWW!" he called out. The pain was over in a few moments though, and his head began to clear.
"Darn it, Sirius," he said, "What the heck was that?"
"What do you mean 'what was that?'" said Sirius. "I want to know what that is," he said, pointing to Harry's shoulder.
"Flesh wound," said Harry defensively, "it's mostly stopped bleeding."
Sam was kneeling down next to him in an instant, though Harry hadn't noticed her moving.
"They cut clean through your clavicle, Harry."
"A bit more than his clavicle," said Sirius indignantly. He tapped Harry's shoulder with his wand and Harry found most of his left side to be suddenly immobile.
"That feels a lot better, actually," said Harry. "Not like that other spell."
"Yes well," said Sirius, "I wound up pulling the toxins out of you directly through your tissues."
"Ow," said Harry.
"It was the only thing I could think of, since I don't have a beazor" Sirius shrugged.
"Right," said Harry, drawing deep breaths and getting shakily to his feet. "Aren't you guys supposed to be taking care of the shields right about now?"
Sam shook her head. "Security in that area was higher than we expected. We decided to come get you. We got your position from the Tollans," she said, gesturing to the tracker on Harry's ankle.
"Oh," said Harry, "thanks."
"Don't mention it," said Jack. "That Anubis?" he asked, looking at the black crystal that Harry still had clutched.
"Yep," said Harry. "What do you say we get out of here?" he asked.
"Sounds like a plan," said Jack, as Sam got onto her radio.
"Colonel Ronson, this is SG-1. We have Harry and Anubis, we're ready to get out of here."
"Copy that, SG-1," came the Colonel's voice. "Coming to a relative stop."
Captain Walker, the helmsman, came on the line. "Relative stop in 4, 3, 2, 1. Apparation coordinates 6-3-9 point 7-4-2 by 8-3-7 point 6-9-0 by negative 1-9-9 point 3-3-1."
"Five side-along apparitions," Sirius muttered, as he took a hold of Harry's arm. With an almighty lurch and an unpleasant squeezing sensation, the two of them appeared on the bridge. Seconds later, Sirius reappeared with Sam, and then with Daniel, Teal'c, and Finally Jack.
"What happened here?" asked Harry, referring to the considerable blood splatters on the walls.
"Anubis's answer to a special ops team," was all that Colonel Ronson said before the Prometheus was at battle once more.
Harry wandered over to telemetry, and saw that Two of Anubis's ha'taks had been destroyed. The rest of Anubis's fleet was taking a defensive position around Anubis's mother ship. On the other hand, the allied fleet was fairing much better, and was going in for the kill. The screen lit up again and again as Anubis's fleet was being systematically destroyed.
"If we tell them we've captured Anubis," said Daniel, "they might surrender."
Harry shook his head a little sadly. "More likely they'd make a suicide mission of destroying us in order to release Anubis. They know he could survive it."
"Could we not simply inform them that their false god is dead?" asked Teal'c.
"That could work," said Harry conceded. "Without Anubis there to counter the claim, they may lose faith. Most of them were already forced to lose faith in one god when the System Lords were killed. This could break them."
"Or it could make them suicidal," Jack pointed out, ever the devil's advocate.
"Perhaps they deserve the option," said the Colonel. "Let's take it up with the rest of the fleet. Con, put out the message."
The officer at the Con didn't send out the actual message of course, he simply relayed it to the room next to the bridge where there were crewmen in constant communication with the other battle ships, relaying messages to and from the bridge. Almost a minute later the officer replied, "We have agreement from Commander Tellis and Master Bra'tac."
"Very, well," said the Colonel. "Give me a broadcast out to his entire fleet."
"Aye-aye, sir."
With a signal from the officer, the Colonel stood and addressed a camera nestled in the middle of a bank of monitors to his left.
"Enemy forces, this is Colonel Ronson of the Earth ship Prometheus. Our forces have assassinated Anubis aboard his mother ship. Surrender now, and you will be shown mercy. If you do not, we will continue to destroy you."
A face finally showed on one of the screens closest to the camera, Anubis's first prime by the look of him.
"You lie!" he said authoritatively. "Anubis is a god, and cannot be killed."
"So where is he?" asked the Colonel. "The goa'uld have never been shy about proving themselves. Show me your god; prove to me that he is not dead. You can't. Your god's folly has led you to your death, as assuredly as his own."
"We will fight to the death for our god!"
"You have no one to fight for but yourself," said Colonel Ronson. "Anubis's silence proves it."
Another face appeared on another screen.
"This ha'tak is standing down. We surrender completely."
"Shol'va!" called the first prime. "You dare to betray your god!" A flash of golden red light struck him in the back, and he collapsed. He was quickly replaced by another Jaffa.
"Anubis's guards have been found dead. No trace of Anubis can be found outside of what remains of his clothing. We are prepared to stand down."
After that announcement, the fleet couldn't surrender fast enough. A number of the ha'taks were commanded by goa'uld, but it was no surprise that they surrendered. Goa'uld were far more cowardly than the Jaffa that served them.
In the end, it was only a few ships and death gliders that refused to surrender, and they were quickly either destroyed or disabled. Soon it was Commander Tellis's face that graced the screen, next to Master Bra'tac's. After Commander Tellis arranged to pick up all stranded fighters and Death Gliders, Master Bra'tac asked. "Is it certain that Anubis cannot be destroyed in this form?"
"We're as certain as we can be," said Harry. "There just isn't a lot of information on the subject. We do know that destroying the crystal will simply free Anubis."
"And this black hole could not contain him?" the Jaffa leader asked.
"Probably, it could," said Harry. "But we don't even know for certain that he's affected by gravity in this form. Eventually, the forces of the black hole would destroy the crystal, and then Anubis could perhaps be freed."
"The Asgard should be more than adequate wardens for him," said Colonel Ronson. "As I understand it, they plan on encasing him in seven tons of a Trinium alloy, and placing him somewhere in the empty space between galaxies. If they never find a way to destroy him, he'd still be likely to sit there until the end of time."
"Then let today mark the day that we ensured that our grand children would never have to fear the name Anubis," said Master Bra'tac. "Nay! Let this be known as the day the goa'uld knew their last days to be at hand."
Jack cleared his throat. "Intergalactic Freedom Day isn't enough of a mouthful for you?"
