Another chapter done, and with it the story goes almost completely AU. Some characters from book 6&7 will appear, their plots will have no bearing on my story. This chapter is more of a filler, but the action will start soon. Until next time, enjoy.
Chapter 15
Harry watched with a grin as a constant stream of ships emerged from the gateway and began to spread around in the area. A flash of light to his side revealed his old subordinate Arella, now wearing admiral markings.
"It's good to see you again, Daroth." She grinned as she hugged him.
"You too, Arella. Congratulations on your promotion."
"I owe it all to your great example over the years. We'll catch up later, now we got business to do." She gave one last grin before her face turned serious. "Daroth, by unanimous decision of the Council of Lords, you are hereby given the rank of Sector Lord, with all the duties and privileges it entails. May your rule be long and prosperous."
"You're joking." Her face barely contained her mirth as she shook her head.
"Great. Well, if the Council has made this decision, all I can do is honor it. Are all ships through?" Harry signed.
"Yes. We're moving to create a supply station in orbit over Luna, and make a new, bigger portal." She replied.
"What for? I made sure the gate was big enough to let through even the biggest ships we have." Harry frowned.
"You forgot we're here to mine. We're also bringing in auto-refineries to this sector." She grinned.
"How many?" Harry's eyes widened slightly. Auto refineries were gigantic constructs that were the size of a large asteroid. They were so big in fact, that their method of propulsion was twelve frigates that towed it through space. Through the use of vast amounts of nanites, they had the ability to completely process any area they were deployed in and turn it into useful materials and energy. Four of them working together could completely erase a whole planet in a few decades.
"Eight. The plan is to deploy one on Luna to transform it into a shipyard. This way, we can amass a large amount of ships without our enemies noticing it." Arella grinned widely.
"Lord Deathhand doesn't do anything by half, huh? Let's get started then." Harry's face turned serious. "Ixius, status report."
"The Chapter Immaterial detachment has already begun reworking the portal, and the constructor ships have begun work on the supply station. Initial surveys of Luna are already in place to determine the best construction locations as well as any useful mineral deposits." The AI reported quickly.
Once the supply station was in place, the Lantrisi ships went on to deploy the Fortress defense system. It consisted of layers of defenses, each heavier than the last.
The first two layers were cloaked, self-replicating mine fields, with the second having a larger yield. They were cleverly designed to stop replication after large enough gaps had been made so when the enemy passed through to combat the inner layers, the fields would close and cut off retreat and reinforcements.
The inner layers consisted of turret emplacements, the first two were Decimator cannon turrets, and the energy weapons system lived up to its name. The Bunker class defense system stopped here.
The Stronghold system had an extra layer beyond that one that consisted of torpedo launching turrets.
The Fortress system had one last line of defense close to the most important points in the system consisting of large turrets equipped with Penetrator cannons. They had two types of ammunition. The first was a solid slug consisting of one ton of paranok metal launched at 0.9 times the speed of light. The speed, mass and explosive force of the metal ensured the destruction of anything it hit. Even Lantrisi ships would have trouble enduring such a powerful strike.
The second type was the same, only this time the slug was made of kershin metal. It was incredibly tough, deforming very little even when it endured massive impact forces, and it was shaped for maximum penetrating power, which incidentally gave this weapons system its name.
The paranok shot was used to destroy capital ships quickly, while the kershin shot, if aimed properly could take out several smaller ships in a single shot.
The only flaw was the large reloading time as well as the need for precise aiming, but that flaw was offset by the final defensive element in the Stronghold and Fortress systems.
At several points in the solar system, special stations were emplaced that served as the dock and servicing station for automated space fighters. They were controlled by an AI on board the station that used the sensors that were a part of the system to direct and control them.
The systems also had a large amount of support systems like the sensors as well as repair and power generation systems.
It would take the Lantrisi engineers months to deploy it all, but the ships were more than enough to cover the blind spots in the system while it was being built.
"You said you had urgent news?" Harry faced Hermione once she was brought on board at her own request. Harry hadn't been down to Earth even once, relying on Hermione to act as his liaison between the Lantrisi in orbit and the magical forces on the ground.
"Yes. I'll save the worst for last, if you don't mind. The smallest problem right now is the Death Eater students at Hogwarts. They're planning something, and professor Slughorn almost got poisoned somehow. There's nothing linking them to it, but I believe at least one of them was involved." She sighed.
"The solution is simple. Bring them in and interrogate them until you find out what they're planning. The Ministry has given the Phoenix Army authority to deal with marked Death Eaters as we see fit. If you can't make them talk, we have several skilled Order members in the fleet." Harry shrugged. He wasn't going to concern himself with them. They chose to accept the mark, and now they had to deal with the consequences.
"Right. Well, the second thing is, the Muggles have seen our operation here, and they're going crazy trying to figure out what to do. The crew of the Mir is especially nervous about our ships flying about the system, especially since you have yet to respond to any of their attempts of communication." Hermione continued her report.
"Ixius, have there been any radio transmissions directed at the fleet since our arrival here?" Harry asked, already anticipating the answer.
"Yes, Lord Daroth. The planet is already generating a staggering amount of traffic using this method, and since the transmission pattern was erratic, I ignored them. Also, reconfiguring our communications arrays to receive such primitive transmissions would have taken several hours and would require a complete shutdown of the system." The AI replied calmly.
That was one of the few flaws of Lantrisi AI. While incredibly effective and reliable, they often had the habit of taking initiative and doing things they felt were best. This was tolerated since the core command of all AI were that they could not under any circumstance perform an action that would lead to the harm of Lantrisi or the Collective. Still, it wasn't unknown for ship captains to replace particularly willful AI.
"Next time, inform me, and I'll decide if it should be ignored or not. Hermione, I'm afraid you'll have to take care of this. Go through the Ministry, contact the Muggle government in the UK and have them inform the rest of the world leaders." Harry sighed.
"What should I tell them?" She asked.
"Tell them we're here on a mining operation in this sector, and that this system was merely a convenient staging point, and that we won't be bothering with Earth as it doesn't have any of the special minerals we're after. Consider it as a test of your diplomatic skills. You are my second, after all." Harry grinned at her.
"I'll make some calls and get in touch with the right people. I have one last bit of news for you, and you're not going to like it. Voldemort is not on Earth." Hermione informed him with trepidation, and she was not disappointed in his reaction. His punch left a deep dent in the mitrahil plating to his right.
"How the hell did he escape?" Harry growled.
"He's been gone for months. Apparently, he had been communicating with a select few followers using a subspace receiver they have in one of their bases, and they relayed his orders to the rest. Snape managed to find out about this only yesterday." Hermione replied.
"He's a lot cleverer than I expected. It is very likely that he now has marked servants on the Darkiin worlds as well, which means killing him has just become even harder, if not impossible." Harry sighed.
"What are you going to do?" Arella joined the discussion.
"We'll just have to capture him instead. I think it's time Voldemort learnt that there are fates far worse then death and the Order of Death can do them all." Harry grinned savagely.
"I'll get started on the tasks you set me, then." Hermione turned towards the door.
"One last thing. Inform the Order and the Army that I'll be stopping by in a couple of weeks. Now that the system is secure, we need to deal with the remaining Death Eaters before we start to assault Darkiin holdings for the resources we need for our operations here." Harry grinned.
"What's this all about, Granger? Some of us have better things to do than stare at mudbloods all day." Draco Malfoy sneered at Hermione as he and several other students were brought in before her.
In response, Hermione picked up the shock baton she picked up from Harry's ship and rammed it in his gut. The sudden electric shock left him on ground, his whole body twitching.
"I suggest you choose your words carefully, Draco. All I have to do is give the word and have you lined before a firing squad like the good little Death Eater you are." Hermione grinned as the group began to pale.
"How did…" Nott whispered.
"How do we know you have the mark? We have our ways. Now, we know you have some sort of task to perform here at Hogwarts. You will tell me everything you know." She grinned. While she didn't think she would ever become an interrogator, she had to admit that there was a certain thrill in it.
"Why should we?" Draco managed to stagger back to his feet, but his limbs still twitched occasionally.
"You have two choices before you. Option one, you tell me everything, and we move you and your families somewhere safe and have your marks removed. Option two, I hand you over to some rather unpleasant people that will make you beg for the Cruciatus while you're spilling all your secrets to them, followed by an execution. What will it be?" Hermione's wide smirk told them she was deathly serious, and the group quickly caved in to her demands and told her everything.
"Right this way, miss." Hermione followed her uniformed guide through the building where she was brought for her meeting with the Prime Minister. When Amelia Bones told the man about the meeting request from Hermione and whom she was there to represent, the man asked for three days before the meeting took place.
When Hermione walked in the meeting room, she understood why the man asked for the extra time as she stood face to face with representatives from every major military power in the world.
"Greetings. My name is Hermione Granger, second to Lord Storm-eye, Lord of this sector and member of the great Lantrisi Collective." She introduced herself with a bow.
"Please, take a seat, Miss Granger. I have to say, I didn't expect your name to sound so Earth-like, or for you to look as you do." The British Prime Minister commented.
"Certain species like humans for example can be integrated into the Collective. I was human before my Lord brought me into the fold." A round of nervous murmurs circled the room at this revelation.
"And what are your intentions here? You have a significant presence in space around our planet." The Chinese representative asked.
"We are here to mine certain rare ores that are plentiful in this region of space. This solar system was merely the most convenient location to establish a foothold in this sector. To better benefit from the influx of these resources, we are also constructing a shipyard on Luna. The large military presence is due to the fact that the local interstellar powers hold most of the locations we plan to exploit." She replied calmly.
"I find that a bit hard to believe." The Russian representative joined in the talks.
"You can believe anything you want. There's nothing you can do to stop us anyway. Our technology is far superior to anything you have, and even without it, you don't want to mess with us." She picked up a steel cup that was near her and crushed it in her hand. There were a lot of wide eyes and pale faces in the room after that spectacle.
"Can we perhaps engage in trade? I am sure we can all benefit from such relations." The Prime Minister jumped in before this turned into a competition to see who had the bigger stick.
"There is something that you can provide to us. My Lord wishes to expand his clan to a number more befitting his stature. You can help by providing volunteers for this purpose. By joining the Collective, any disease and all but the worst of mental defects can be cured. Considering the number of people on this world that are dying from cancer alone, you will have no shortage of volunteers.
In exchange, we will provide you with the technology to build fusion reactors as well as high capacity batteries. With the planet's dwindling oil supplies, converting to electricity for fuel will help greatly." She grinned.
"That would completely collapse our economy." One man protested.
"Our projections estimate an overall increase in living standard by about four hundred percent from the current condition of the world in a period of fifteen years." Hermione shrugged. The fact that it would cost some of the richest people on the planet a good chunk of their fortune was of no concern for them. For the Lantrisi, excessive luxury was not a good thing.
"Did your projections say anything about the bankruptcies, inflation, and riots that such technology would create before things stabilize?" The same man pressed on.
"You are under no obligation to accept our offer. We are merely offering you technology that will be of benefit to you." Hermione shrugged.
"Can you provide us with medicines as well? That would be of great use to our people." One of the female representatives joined the talks this time.
"We don't have any that humans can use, but if we can examine a person suffering from a certain condition, we can produce a cure for the ailment." Hermione replied.
It took several long hours before they managed to hammer out an agreement that every nation present could agree on, and by the end of it, Hermione just picked up her copy, transported right to the Valiant Spirit and drank herself into unconsciousness in the mess hall.
"I take it the meeting went well?" Harry had an amused grin as he watched his second rise from her bed with a groan.
"I am never dealing with politicians again. How is it possible for them to bicker about even the most logical things?" Hermione sighed.
"The wonders of democracy, my dear. The system is good in theory, but in practice, greed and corruption have twisted a good idea into a parody of what it's supposed to be." Harry shrugged. "On a different topic, I have this for you."
Hermione stared curiously at the drinking glass of solid diamond set into a pedestal. There were no markings or anything to signify its purpose.
"What is this?" She finally gave up trying to figure it out.
"That is your trophy. You are the first Lantrisi ever to drink enough Nova Blast to need detox." Harry laughed as Hermione blushed and tossed the trophy at him, only for Harry's body to disperse into smoke causing it to pass right through. When he reformed, his laughter only increased in volume.
"I'm never going to live this down, am I?" She sighed.
"Probably not. Don't worry, the novelty will die down in a few centuries, but I wouldn't recommend a visit to Hashera in the near future." Harry's laughter echoed down the corridor as he walked away.
Vowing to get back at him, she stomped away to the displacer room to return to Hogwarts. She had too much work to deal with Harry at the moment.