-scene break-
Whilst Cadmus slowly worked its way into a panic over the disapearance of the mildly deranged doctor Hamilton, they were still rather concerned by other developments world wide. Of these concerns the wizarding world at least shared the matter of the lizard monsters in New York. "It could be Egyptian," Lucius remarked in speculation to the assembled dark wizards.
"Or Sumerian, Assyrian," Rosier commented in response from his own book laden table. The dark lord made a nassaly sounding noise of impatience. "In truth without evidence we can only speculate my lord, and evidence we are scarce of."
The Dark Lord's narrowed eyes hardly implied he thought much of that excuse, but the truth was the defeat in France had tempered his the impetuousness that had characterized his return. After a moment he accepted the excuse, "Then we will have to gather evidence."It wasn't that he was particularly intrigued in such a massive breach of the Statute of Secrecy, but it was one more potential weapon to use... when that time came. "I suppose there have been no further leads on the armor of Ares?" He demanded.
"Our contacts have reported nothing since it was stolen," And nor would they Hades, deep within his stronghold in Tartarus, had carefully stashed away the pieces of the Annhilator, which was unfortunate for Voldemort... as he had been considering sticking a fragment of his soul in it. Faust would have been so pleased to know he was being copied... after all it was a good idea. It was likewise unfortunate that the Nth metal disrupted magic... Rosier still thought the weapons could be useful... especially if paired with the annhilator armor. "I do have some good news," It had taken some time, but Voldemort tended to get testy without the occasional bits of good news, "I haven't narrowed down an exact location, but from the Cartouche the Stargate is certainly in the vicinity of Colorado Springs. Perhaps in the town, but most likely on its fringes."
Voldemort made a vaguelly approving though largely noncommital noise, and waved him to continue on, before stopping him, "And the Heart issue?"
"Howard Stark retrieved the Tesseract, and it dissappeared again soon after, but the heart of Kandrakhar seems to be somewhere in the western American states as well." Voldemort rolled his eyes... oh the native population has few useful things they'd developed but American had never been particularly interesting magically to study, beyond of course a handful of fauna or flora that more interested Snape than anyone else in the room. "I could fetch a map of the region?"
Rossier prepared to do just that, but Snape cleared his throat, "I maybe able to lend some help on that issue. Black, braggart, that he is, is not completely useless, or blind for that mattter." He declared a bit reluctantly.
"You can exchange it later," Voldemort grunted, "let us move to address matters closer to home these ruins on the plain?" He glanced at Malfoy, who with some loathing conceeded that while Rossier would likely have been better suited at such nuances the fields were overlapping and regenerating. "They are growing stronger then?"
Malfoy nodded, at an alarming rate to be honest,"Yes my lord. At an increasing rate." At least the Dark Lord wasn't asking about the Bulgarians, while they were admittedly helping progress was ... slow to say the least. The constant warnings of the doom to come were increasingly irritating. "I am merely speculating, but I believe the muggles have perhaps managed to engage some kind of self repair feature to the wards." He added... well it was either that or the whole divine battle on the grounds had, which had the process not be measurably increasing as the muggles continued to poke around would have been his other guess about what was going. "It seems the most likely answer supported by the evidence, without access to the fortress I cannot be sure though."
"The flying pyramid ships in the sky, then?" Voldemort demanded temper stirring again. The Ha'taks continued to travel back and forth, but no one here was Bill Weasley. He'd been tempted to try and coerce the wayward pureblood into being of some help but the opportunity had not presented itself. The truth was Bill had graduated Hogwarts and pursued as study in Egypt, made a grand discovery that by itself would have seared his name in the history books and redoubled his efforts in the field. It was the kind of dedication to the field Voldemort grievously wished was heading up his numerous research projects... not that his present help was incompent by any measure.
If the Dark Lord broached matter Snape was tempted to comment that while Dumbledore did frequently consult the Weasely, and Moody too, but it wasn't like the Order was having any particularly encouraging results either. It wouldn't have done much good... it didn't matter that the Order was making just as little in the way of progress the Dark Lord wanted results. So really this was just going to be one of those days.
Instead of bringing up the matter Voldemort did a one eighty, "The ministry's complacency allows us to work with some degree of freedom at home." He commented, "However Lucius the Bulgarians need to to pull the rest of their weight we have been denied answers long enough," The blonde Death Eater swallowed... Durmstrang was just one venue the Bulgarian's ministry had never been particularly muggle friendly but asking them to demand an inquiry about France was... exceedingly dicey.
"As you wish my lord." He replied soothingly, "The Conference of International Warlocks should be just the venue to press for a follow up," The Malfoy continued, and it was... just not necessarily one that assured results. The French were stonewalling, which was unsurprising really as they would have done that in most cases.
The descendant of Slytherin glowered, "I must have answers." There were many paths to immortality, he knew that, but wizards were long lived in general. It also admittedly wasn't that hard to disappear, or fake ones death, but Voldemort had a problem with un annswered questions. Still for the moment England was looking outward for the most part.
Given the anonymity enjoyed by the wizarding world for the most part this could only prove headache inducing for the other parties. Not that Voldemort was inclined to care. The muggles, as he espoused quite frequently, were ultimately of no consequences. The idea of the gods being real was a little concerning, but the apeal of so many magical artifacts curbed some of the caution he felt in favor of desire for that power.
-scene break-
Sithis leaned back, as far as moods went he was rather jovial at the moment. The end of this era presented him with all the usual problems to be sure. To be tied to the very concept of death meant galactic wars strained his grasp on the mortal plane. Arkay, amongst others, suffered similiarly in these times, but it wasn't without its good news.
Diplomatic overtures by the Systems Lords had done some help for the Hok'tar. It hadn't assuaged everything. Certainly the radical conservatives, and radical anti mutant humans were still up in arms, but the loss of the moderates, especially given how public opinion had shifted over the last eighteen months, had its effects. It mattered little in the long run at least. No doubt the chaos to come would toss all this silliness out on its ear. All the better to be certain. As it was Xavier's school was... busy. The young mutants were enjoying the crisp air, and the expansive yards of the estate's grounds.
"You've got a song about you?"
The Daedric lord quirked an eyebrow, "I wasn't aware that any particuar the ballads had spread to this world." He remarked. Any that had been here should be nearly forgotten, buried in the sands of history... and where they'd be preferred to stay. Still as the Era died magic had funny ways of acting out, and effecting those sensitive to its currents... so at this point he shouldn't be surprised about anything that might come crawling out of history.
"Naw," Rogue responded, holding up a compact disc. "this band's latest singles lyrics mention someone who sounds an awful lot like you,"
"Prince of Darkness," The god of Death said unconvinced, as he took the small book out of the case in disinterest. That could be any number of Daedra... or one or two of the Aedra knowing the way the humans bandied the title. This was no doubt some attempt to relax him. She'd been cross enough the last week over the debacle with her 'british friend'.
"Read down a few more lines," She retorted.
"I suppose this could mention me," Sithis commented, disinterestedly before resuming, "Lord of cloudless nights hunting for souls-" He paused, "The lyrics do seem to imply me, as well as the brotherhood," He admitted, though from the sound of it Hiricine could be just as likely... or truthfully a number of others.
"See I told ya," The young lady remarked, "So who's the girl?"
He blinked, "Not a clue," The Daedric lord drawled. The matter was hardly relevant. The cawing of a mortal bard meant little, "You may wish to move," He added,
The air exploded with a puff of sulfurous fumes. "Sorry about that," Exclaimed a fuzzy blue creature as he crashed on to the desk.
Kitty dusted her self off, "Um are we interrupting something?"
"No," Sithis replied, "Merely a discussion of music," If it could be called that, he admitted to himself. Not that it mattered no doubt this would soon get to the point.
"Oh really," The teen inquired, far to cheerfully, Rogue sent him a dark look from behind shadow cat's back.
"I presume your schooling is progressing smoother now," The dark god remarked, with a nod as he changed the subject. "My brother seems to have reached out," which struck him as about time... it was something he'd expected for sometime. It wasn't quite so reasuring that he intended to show them the arcane paths, but it was done now.
"Err yeah," There was a pause, and a stiffening of her posture, as she moved to change the subjecto the discussion, "You knew though, about Mystique?"
He snorted, "I did, and Constantinos as well if you must know," He replied, and held his hand up in hopes of stifling the oncoming tirade. The outpouring of irritation and outrage so characterstic of teenage youth subsided after a few minutes of belted out demands of what caused him not to say anything, "You were in no danger," Sithis assured, casting a brief glance at the blue furred mutant in the room... after all it had been his mother who had been galivanting about as a teenage breton. "I assure you had I thought there was a threat I'd have safely ensconed you in another estate, in some other province," Perhaps even another world... if that had been truly necessary. "If that were your concern, but it is a lesson you should take to heart." He commented. "though it would seem the message isn't as thorough as it needs to be… perhaps it should be emphasized, what of the radicals of your own populous?"
"Magnus has for now been very quiet on the matter," Charles stated entering the room, "Speaking of Mystique if she were to take the example I think relations would do better,"
"Ah the shape shifter," He remarked, slightly his head still turned to Nightcrawler. "I would presume certain others of the population are acting out so to speak,"
"Yes," acknowledged Xavier. "I had hoped that young Mr. Evans might learn some restraint and maturity by getting the opportunity to live off on his own." There was a decidedly frigid pause as the mutant in question's aunt ground her teeth. The debacle in Dakota had made the news, and while that clown Godfrey had applauded the human vigilantes for 'fighting the good fight'... not everyone had been so quick to applaud the effort. Ororo Monroe had put her foot down, over the phone at least, after, but it hadn't been like there had been another option. "Admittedly Dakota may not have been the best choice."
"Better Dakota than Bludhaven, Charles." She remarked in an irritated addmission. "Still it would probably be best he not return to New York in this climate." The newest young superhero was... the talk of the town after the 'lizardman attack', and it overshadowed the Scath cultists in Dakota easily, which helped the situation in some ways. "Regardless what about the Mathew's boy,"
Xavier had his share aplenty of magic. It was decidely not his thing. Still a bully used to using physical strength getting magic on top of that... it reminded him all too much of his brother. Of Cain's magical supplements for the most part simply augmented his already impressive physical attributes... they were still waiting to see how this would develop. "Perhaps you could shed some light?" He inquired, goodness knew it wasn't like he could ask Logan, who save for some mild Shinto charms, and what Xavier could only presume was some kind of shamanism the Wolverine showed little aplitude for magic despite his long life.
"Magic is diverse, and vast. It would depend largely on who he favors, and teaches him," Sithis commented, sparing a glance sideways. Education in magic was best started young. The Ayelied tended towards beginnning at six... at least in the old rites. Duncan was a little old to begin learning even if humans had boasted an Ayelied mage's lifespan, which they obviously didn't.
Wolverine snorted, "So you got nothing, bub."
"The boy has just started learning." Sithis replied, which was true enough. It still didn't give him an answer to provide. "So I have nothing of use at this time." He conceeded, while he could speculate it would be just that. It mattered little he supposed. There just wasn't a point in speculating there was just too much that could be learned. Of course illusion magic was probably not a likely choice... but whatever the case was it was not certain.
The discussion on magic was not the only thing Charles Xavier wanted to bring up. Magneto as always was a major concern, but so too was Mystique. In this case especially Mystique given her most recent escapade of penetrating the security of the school. Then of course there were the usual concerns about bigotry.
-scene break-
The latest visit by the Goa'uld had been about as pleasant as ever for the Stargate Command Staff. It was becoming normal though. The goa'uld were used to using the stargate, and truthfully, whether it was something that wanted to admit or not, fast hyperdrives were expensive. The goa'uld had been used to slow hyperdrive, which Ra had used to curb expansionism. Of course Yu had pretty much put his foot down by declaring an exclusionary zone around Earth, which substantially reduced expectations of unwanted visitors... or at least Goa'uld ones.
All things considered Jack thought it was an improvement, "Hows it coming?" He asked popping over Danny's shoulder.
"About the same as half an hour ago, Jack," The archeologist responded, "Its a dialect of ancient," He added unnecessarily, "Its not like you couldn't help. Its something thats going to take a while, and they aren't even done cataloging the complex."
Jack blinked, "You can't tell me anything?" As far as he was concerned they'd been at this for ages and they needed some kind of lead.
"Look I can tell you there is at least another facility as big if not bigger nearby to the one in the Sinai." He replied, "Its probably shielded too, which is why we haven't found it." Not exactly the news the air force was looking to hear, and certainly not what Congress or the other service branches would. It was one thing to deal with the issue of a giant ancient alien facility in England, which was also not popular, but the middle east had its own issues. The consequences of a facility in Syria, or Iran would have been a major panic. Iraq would have been slightly better given the prescence of US troops in the country... not that anyone would have liked being told that.
Jack leaned back in the rolling chair until it whacked the back wall, "Great, you told that to the stooges from the NID?"
"They already expected as much," Daniel responded, "I don't have a whole lot of leads. Unfortunately ancient computer security is proving actually rather good when they actually want to hide something, but its probably in the middle east. If it was near Giza we'd have found it by this point I'm pretty sure. This is gonna start a riot Jack... if we go public."
The door opened, "No offense doctor Jackson to your high minded sensibilities, but we'll have a riot either way." The suit responded, "Publicizing Project Blue Book helped minimize some of the forseen damage, but there is still more that can be done." He stated, "There are other leaks we're getting concerned about. Classified intelligence has been compromised across the board. Its going to be a shit storm." He unlocked his briefcase and handed both members of the SGC each a tank jacket of papers. "We're reading you in, in the hopes we can establish a credible response. As precaution the senate is expanding the emergency legislation to withdraw from agreements that might be harmful once our situation comes to light, as we've already done with the issue of nuclear weapons in space. We've reached a private agreement that will be disclosed publically in a month or so, with the Russians about nuclear arms restructurement."
"You mean disarmament is dead," Daniel added glibbly. "and we're not going to mention it until some of the smoke blows over." Working for a classified military program sucked some times.
Jack was already straightened up in his seat, "The Russians, what kind of nukes? More of those block launchers in orbit?"
"Russia is restructuring production. They're going to take the warheads in the RMU2 and put them in launcher's in orbit. It'll probably take six months, but its only one part of the agreement. The Russians are going to declassify the entire Tsar Bomba program to the entire permanent membership. DARPA is talking about rigging up a bomb generated system in cooperation with the others." It wasn't going to be an amazing fix to the defense concerns in orbit, but... "Testing in space should resume in eight months."
"I thought we were trying to move to reusables systems?"
"Doctor Jackson we're facing another invasion, at this point... mass producing energy weapons of the scale we need is considered unfeasible at this time,"
"Every anti nuclear organization is going to throw a-"
"Danny, we're at war." Jack responded, "at this stage, they were already going to riot in the streets. Its come to that once, but at least nukes work."
"They work en masse, every time we do that.. did you see the riot in Berlin on CNN? What about everytime they try and storm a nuclear power plant since the invasion?"
"It is a problem," The spook chimed in unbidden.
-scene break-
It was approaching blisteringly hot across the equator of the planet, but the Ha'tak variant was kept cool and crisp by a carefully regulated enviromental system. It was a little colder than Heru'ur would have honestly preferred, but Cronus had a style of dress he preferred. "Ptah's flagship," the Boat of a Million Years, as it was named, "Has been remarkably active of late." Cronsus commented, which had Ptah been anything other than a filthy degenerate Cronus might have been expecting attack, but Ptah was a filthy pacifist.
That wasn't true. Ptah was a pacifist only by the standards of Cronus, who was an accomplished, and very proud of it, warmongerer. Still it wasn't the only reason Cronus irrationally disliked the other system lord, but it was the most common one that came up for discussion. Heru'ur had long since gotten used to it, "It coincides with Baal's posturing which may be the more pressing concern given the intersection of so many nearby spacelanes," Hyperspace wasn't perfect so there were routes that were either faster or safer than others. Natural or artificial hazzards existed across the scope of the galaxy. These contributed to the number of reasons, besides being fractured, as to why the goa'uld only controlled 'most' of the galaxy.
While Earth talked about nukes in space the System Lords were busy contending with a shift that had been artificially held at bay since Ra enforced the stagnation of technology. Heru'ur didn't like thinking ill of his father, but the stagnation had left him ill prepared for this... it left fighting that traitor Anubis to others. Now Anubis's technology had been left to Baal, who while he'd been forced to surrender some of his master's gains still held plenty of territory he hadn't started with. It was regretable, but something that couldn't be helped.
The ships that the Tauri had called Predators were more inline with Cronus's choice of doctrine than his own, but they were agile... if short legged. A trade off given their price and capacity that they brought to the battlefield. They highlighted a shift as the shipmasters began to experiment, and various system lords better understood the technology that had been brewing. Heru'ur expected his own ships to fare as well; better actually. Without a proper test though he wouldn't know for certain any time soon.
While general hostilities were the norm for the Goa'uld, without Ra to run interference, and quash escalation before it got out of hand... that was precisely what would happen. General hostility would enflame to open conflict. Strictly speaking Cronus didn't mind another round of war between the system lords, and neither did Heru'ur. Baal's agitation of the existing conflict was both advantageous to that, and potentially problematic... Ptah on the other hand. "My uncle will no doubt unveil whatever secrets has managed to discover from the ancient ruins he has taken, and most likely maximize what he can from Anubis's technology that was disclosed. He is unlikely prioritize hyperspace technology, giving him the ability to focus on armaments." Honestly defensive, power generation, or any number of unique oddities of tech were more likely... still the goa'uld tended towards obsessions. "The possibility of reinforced defenses utilizing such systems is also very likely." For the first time in a thousand years the goa'uld were once again militarizing their border systems. It would look very different than the defenses around Earth, or so the Goa'uld told themselves. Stations like Hasara had been the linchpin of such defenses, as technology increased at meteoric base they would need to be updated and redesigned. Ptah would likely make that his priority given the clashes near his border. Still what could be mounted on a space station might find itself also mounted a next generation Ha'tak... or some other ship, and that was what Heru'ur was worried about.
"No doubt the other spineless cowards would mimic his example, as if Raiden didn't set a bad enough example for the System Lords with those hideous monstrosities he build." Cronus spat, "It would be wise to consolidate what gains we can make before such cowardice has a chance to spread amongst the ranks of the goa'uld."
Heru'ur agreed, and consulted the massive holographic display. Were Ptah not Ra's brother (and also a paranoid technocrat with a knack for reverse engineering ancient technology) his domain would have been likely invaded many times over. Unfortunately the well positioned area, especially now, holdings were heavily defended, especially as far as a System lord who was only 'mid tier' in the size of his domain went. "Moving against the Celts though weakens them as they fight Raiden and while is contributing to that fight he is an enemy."
"He is also Sokar's enemy," Cronus pointed out... and Sokar was likely preparing for a war against Baal as it was. Cronus had been rather against readmitting Sokar in the first place. Still it was something that had to be done at the time, and like it or not Sokar was a proper system lord. All criminal history aside. "Better Sokar is involved against Baal than our flanks."
A scowl crossed the younger system lord's face. "So who do you suggest Cronus?" Heru'ur demanded, there were only so many options after all. It also would do to blantantly start arguing over policy in front of the Jaffa...
Cronus agreed with that sentiment at least. The titan, just for the life of him, couldn't understand how the Tauri could manage a proper cadre of warriors with such a habit for bickering amongst their warriors. It made such little sense. A rivalry was one thing, especially between competing companies of men, but still the hierarchy existed lest there be chaos. Instead it seemed he could barely visit without overhearing of some near anarachic disagreement between the Tauri. "I would suggest we prepare. Accelerate the build up of our forces," let Sokar attack Baal, and then they could jump at whichever was the best choice.
"Its advantageous that Yu dislikes the both of them and is unlikely to intervene."
Cronus snorted, "I suppose." It was actually a valid point, but Cronus like all Goa'uld had a long memory... and he was inclined to disdain Yu's tactical maneuvering against the Titan's fleet that occured before Ra's untimely demise. Even another war wasn't likely to weaken Yu that much... the Jade Emperor commanded the largest fleet amongst the goa'uld... potentially even the largest army... though that was closer.
-scene break—