Darkest Before Dawn
Chapter 3
Home Sweet Home
Milky Way Galaxy: Middle Rim / Sol Sector / Earth
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
April 2, 2013
Jack walked up to Nex's cell carrying a book and asked, "Enjoying your stay?"
"Your literature is as refined as your sense of humor," Nex sneered as he tossed a book between the bars having it land at Jacks feet.
Jack looked down and frowned as he said, "Oh they had you read Twilight eh?"
"I wasn't sure if the guard was giving me a book to read or extra toilet paper," Nex retorted.
"This one's better I promise," Jack said as he handed Nex a new book, "just remember the guard will be here for more of your history in a few hours."
Nex nodded as he took the book and sat back down on his bed and started to read. The humans and him came to a sort of agreement, he would tell them some things of Alesian history and they would give him some historical documents to read. This one was entitled The Hobbit. He knew it was a work of fiction, it was however still strangely interesting. Of course the information he gave them was equally as fake or was worthless. The key to successful deception was one part half truth and one part playing on expectations.
A few hours later
As Nex finished reading the page he swept his hand with two fingers extended over the book turning the page. A couple of minutes later meant another page down and another sweep of the hand to turn the page. This went on for a few more pages until Nex noticed something. Sweeping his hand over the book again the page turned. So he did it again, and again and again. With a smirk on his face Nex closed the book hearing the guard approach that would be there to hear more of his "history" lessons.
As the guard turned towards Nex he held up a recorder and said, "You know the drill. I record your history and we give you a historical document."
Nex stood up to face the pathetic mortal as he replied, "I'm not feeling it today."
"Either you spill the beans, or I take the book back," the guard retorted.
"By all means, take it." Nex sneered as he tossed the book towards the guard. As it sailed towards the poor soul, he reached out to grab it. Before it reached the guard's hand Nex thrust his right hand towards the gate sending a wave of telekinetic energy towards the door. The barred wall ripped from the concrete encasement and crushed the poor man in against the opposite wall. Loud multiple snaps were heard as the impact broke bones in the guard's body.
Nex acted quickly as he spun right and thrust his left hand forward blowing out the whole wall. Metrinos, who was in the opposing cell, was thrown onto the floor, where he laid limp upon the floor with debris strewn across his body. This brought no small amount of personal satisfaction to Nex as he strode out of the jail as though nothing was wrong. Alarms began to sound as Nex suspected they would. Fortunately, with Metrinos out of the way, Nex could use his full abilities.
Nex smirked as he waved his hand, bending light around himself to conceal his form. With this ability, he was able to sneak about the SGC with relative ease. However it took him a few hours to actually locate the armory where his gear was being held and avoid the guards that were running around the base to find him. Nex poked his head around the corner and saw two guards at the entrance to the armory. A quick mental scan confirmed his gear was inside.
Nex gestured sharply, dispatching the guards before they even knew it was coming, leaving their heads facing the wrong direction without even having touched them. A simple flick of the wrist and the armory door was removed from the wall and lying on the floor before him. After looking through the area he found what he was looking for. It took him only a moment to get into his armor and power it up. Diagnostics came on as well as his targeting sensors. With a cold smile, he picked up his black staff, which was given to him by his old friend and leader, Amann Adar, to symbolize his leadership of the Death's Hand. 'I must get to that control room.' He thought as he made his way to the control room for the stargate that he accidentally stumbled on to while looking for his gear.
Once there he dispatched the one person watching the system by simply smashing one end of his staff on the side of the mans face with a loud crack, knocking him into a nearby mainframe. A guard rushed around the corner, which was easily dispatched with a burst from his plasma blaster. After a few moments and three more dead guards, Nex had full access and dialed Alesia before locking the others out from their own computer and setting the self destruct sequence. Nex then secured his staff to his back as he made his way downstairs.
As he entered the gate room a strange metal structure enclosed around the event horizon as Jack yelled out, "Stop where you are."
Nex peered over his shoulder and smirked at Jack as he reached out towards the iris. The metal bent and buckled under the extreme stress of Nexs mental grasp. Cuts opened along deep ridges formed in his hands. Fresh blood leaked from his gloves and onto the ground of the gate room. Nex grimaced as he focused his power, screaming in rage and pain as the metal deformed. With a loud crash the metal of the iris ripped free from the gate and crumpled into a ball of scrap metal that floated in the air. Nex waved a hand and the ball of jagged steel clashed on the ground as he walked through the stargate, the wormhole closing behind him.
Looking at the mess left in the room Jack looked at Hammond and muttered, "We are so screwed."
Milky Way Galaxy: Outer Rim / Alesia Sector / Alesia
April 02, 2013 Earth time
Alesia City, Core Complex
Nex stepped through the gate to see several Alesians pointing their weapons at him. As soon as they saw him their jaws dropped as quickly as their weapons and they all slammed their fist into their breast in salute. They had figured him for dead. Even after they escaped the time bubble they saw no signs or traces of him anywhere in their old colonies. They figured he was hunted and killed by the Asgard just like the rest of their kind. Word instantly spread as the gate guard reported his presence. It did not take long for it to go up the chain of command.
A few minutes later, Amann entered the room and walked over to Nex with a look of shock. He just stared at Nex, his mouth slightly open.
"Hiel? Is it really you?" Amann managed to say.
"Yes it is. And you know I prefer Nex." Hiel said, looking at Amann with his eyes narrowed. Amann was one of the very few that could call him by his old name to his face.
"So you have said before." The Alesian High Councilor said, his dark eyes looking into red. Hiel was unprepared as Amann suddenly smiled. It was one of the few genuine smiles that Hiel had seen from Amann in a long time. He was also shocked when Amann darted forward and embraced him in a bear hug.
"Hiel! You cunning old wolf! I knew if anyone could survive the Asgard, it would be your sorry carcass!" Amann said with a laugh, patting him on the back as Hiel chuckled, returning the brotherly hug.
"Yeah, they nearly had me. But I still outsmarted those eunuchs." Hiel smirked as Amann laughed. After a moment, they let go and started walking along the corridor.
"You are rather late, you know." Amann said as they pushed past two more Legionnaires posted at the door.
"I had a hard journey, Councilor. There were many obstacles to overcome before I was able to return." Nex said formally.
"Nevertheless, I am glad to see you…..brother." Amann said, using the Alesian form of address towards their close friends.
"You as well." Nex said.
"We have to talk. Privately. In my office." Amann gestured as the two Alesians walked together. Nex noticed that Amann was not wearing his usual white robes, but full Alesian battle armor.
"I take it you are still on a war footing?" Nex said, indicating the armor.
"Yes. I may be abducted by our enemies and I must be prepared for battle at a moment's notice. I am sure you can understand." Amann said as they entered his office.
"Yes. I can." Nex said as Amann sat down behind the white desk. Screens surrounded the councilor, and Nex was reminded heavily of a command and control center for starports, except the screens displayed reports and data charts instead of traffic lanes. As he watched, several more reports opened up on the screens. Amann looked at the screens with undisguised contempt.
"I hate office work." Amann grumbled. "I have three aides and I still get thousands of messages a day, all of them critical. I never get around to answering them all."
Nex nodded at that. He could relate. He hated the feeling of being trapped in an office. His musing nearly made him miss the next question
"Where have you been? Its been years since we broke the time field and we haven't seen or heard from you since." Amann said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.
Nex began to recall everything that had happened since he first conquered Belst. Amann listened carefully, asking a few side questions to get a broader picture of Nex's time on Earth.
As Nex finished his report, Amann asked, "So the Terrans are a primitive race?"
"Very much so," Nex replied, "They are barely evolved enough to think let alone conquer space travel. They pose no threat at all at the moment. Though given our rate of expansion prior to the time stasis, we would reach Earth in about a century. If they get to Atlantis or if the Asgard help them they could become quite a formidable foe."
"Well, we need you back at work immediately. Go home. Get some rest and report to me in the morning for your next assignment."
"Yes sir." Nex saluted.
"It's good to see you again. With you by our side again, we will have victory."
"Damn right we will." Hiel got up and left, the door closing behind him.
It wasn't long before he made his way home. Even though he hadn't been there in several thousand years it seemed like it was only yesterday. After all from his perspective he was here only a month or so ago, and everything was right where it was when he left it.
The next day…
Nex awoke and went over to his personal terminal. After hitting a few buttons a meal appeared on the table. While the humans fed him, the meals paled in comparison to fine Alesian dining. He dug in eagerly to his favorite meal and got ready for his work. He threw on his armor and grabbed his staff. His time on earth affected him more then he knew, the low gravity had weakened his body. His armor seemed a little heavy and uncomfortable, and he seemed to tire more easily back on his homeworld. The pathetic mortals made him weak but it wouldn't be long before he adapted back to the high gravity.
As he made his way to the High Councilors chambers, he noticed that everyone that he passed gasped. While he knew he was very well known throughout the Empire, what he didn't know was that they declared him dead and held a day of grievance in his honor. The people never thought their war hero would return. His position wasn't just given to him, it was earned by the blood he shred from his enemies. There were times when he would return to his chambers from the front lines literally covered in it. Most Alesian generals did not participate in combat nearly as much as he did. Those that did were some of the most formidable soldiers he had ever served with.
And Nex prided himself on being the absolute best warrior among his people, with the possible exception of Amann Adar himself. They had sparred many times in all forms of combat. While Nex had much more experience on the battlefield, experience and cunning only counted for so much before his friend's raw mentalic power. And Amann had plenty of experience, Nex reminded himself. Amann had served in the Lantean Sentinels just as he did, eventually rising to officer rank. You don't get to be a fleet captain, a flag officer of the Lantean Fleet, by being incompetent. 'That changed after we got exiled it seems, otherwise the Lanteans would never have lost to the Wraith.' Nex thought with a mental sneer. Nex prided himself on a greater mastery of the blades, which is something Amann never could beat him at.
As he reached Amann's office, he sat down and waited. A few minutes later, Amann walked in and sat down.
"Morning General. Sleep well?" Amann asked.
"Very well, Councilor. Thank you." Hiel said as Amann handed him a data pad with some information on it. It took him only a moment to glance at it and see what Amann had planned. Instead of expanding out in all directions like normal, they were going to start focusing their expansion towards Terra.
"You understand my strategy it seems. Even though they would be like an ant under our feet now, if they got their hands on Lantean tech, who knows how far they could advance in a hundred years. Given their resourcefulness, they could become a great threat in a short amount of time. I will not allow that." Amann stated as he indicated the pad in Nex's hand.
Nex looked at the pad again. Amann wanted Nex to head to a planet called Vespir, on the outskirts of their current territory. A system somewhat close to that of Belst. Even the name now fills him with rage. While he was victorious in his conquest and would have been against the Asgard near by had he been prepared, they still outsmarted him. He was the greatest tactical mind his people had ever seen, and he was fooled by a cloned race of eunuchs and stranded in a glacier.
When Nex was done reading he looked up and Amann said, "You'll be taking the planet by ground forces only."
"No orbital strikes or aerial support?" Nex asked.
Amann shook his head as he replied with, "Not this time. While the bulk of our fleet was kept safe within the time bubble, we have no ships to spare. We only have what we need for defensive purposes here on the planet, the rest are all actively engaged in securing our old outposts. You will be dropped off with your men and left there until our next batch of ships is built."
Nex got up as Amann did the same.
"No retreat." Amann said.
"No surrender." Nex said, saluting and acknowledging the old blessing.
"May you bring victory for the Empire." Amann said, saluting back.
Nex nodded his understanding and left the room. The pad said he was authorized to take a full legion of men with him to secure the planets surface. He would have three weeks to conquer the planet before the Imperial Fleet would come by to pick him up. An Angelan class dreadnought would escort him back to Alesia. This would not be easy. The planet, while still technologically inferior to Alesia, is still not as primitive as Nex would like for a ground assault. Plus the enemy had numbers on their side. Nex smiled. The enemy always had numbers.