Fireteam Mystic
A/N - Forgot to address this in the previous chapter. The magical children are going to be aged up to 6 years old for the sake of the story.
Chapter 2 - Planning and Execution
Sydney, Australia - UEG Capital
It was the day after Dr. Halsey wandered into the defunct Malfoy Manor, an experience she would never forget in this lifetime. Currently she is waiting outside the doors to the small conference room that held two of the most important members of the UNSC High Command. Chief of Naval Operations, Lord Terrence Hood; A stoic man who left little on the table to assure a sound victory. In Dr. Halsey's opinion, a sensible man who was forced to make dangerous decisions from time to time. He was the best bet to get this project of hers approved beyond the normal parameters of any project she had previously pitched. Time was of the essence after all.
His counterpart though from the Office of Naval Intelligence would be a tougher nut to crack. Admiral Margaret Parangosky was by all accounts a pragmatic was shrewd and intelligent with a cold persona that even the most senior of UNSC officials never dared to cross. The last they had spoken, Parangosky had ripped her a new one concerning her usage of flash clones to replace the kids that would be kidnapped. But there was hope from the magical world, perhaps a remedy to the flash cloning process could fully replace the children they would be abducting. It was a long shot as Dr. Halsey had no idea if it would work but it was an option she was willing to dangle if Parangosky decided to play hard ball.
She was broken out of her thoughts as the marine standing at the door motioned her in. The 14 or so steps it was to get to the door was a litany of every invasive thought and worst outcome scenarios ravaged her mind. She was a scientist first and foremost, the top mind in the UNSC. Her work alone in Artificial Intelligence propelled her to heights that thought she would never. She quickly gathered herself and promptly walked into the conference room. There, sitting across from each were two of the most powerful individuals in the UNSC and maybe even the UEG. She quickly sat down, awaiting to be addressed. It was a silent and long moment as she was stared down by Admiral Parangosky and given a brief acknowledgement by Admiral Hood. "Dr. Halsey, you requested an emergency meeting. I do hope for your sake that you are bringing something special to the table?" Admiral Parangosky said with no emotion in her voice.
"I echo that sentiment as well Admiral Parangosky." acknowledged Admiral Hood. "What have you brought for us today?"
"Before I begin with the proposition, I would like to speak about how I came about this information. It was about 2 months ago, I had just wrapped up a long 48 hours of little to no sleep and had fallen asleep at my computer. Then I was plagued by a terrible nightmare of an all-destructive force that annihilated the human species from the face of the galaxy. Near the end of that nightmare, I encountered what looked like an older version of me. Yet instead of the pristine condition that I would normally hold myself to, I or she, I guess…. Was beaten, dirty and missing two limbs. All she whispered to me during that dream "We were not enough, the Spartans were not enough, I wasn't enough". At first it was just a nightmare, perhaps a subconscious fear of mine that I had not realized. But the dreams kept recurring, almost at the same time each night for about a week. Each night I saw more and more of these atrocities, formless beings that made our best soldiers look like children. The night of the last dream, I was given a date and word, Homo Merlinus and the Year 2140." she explained.
Both Admirals looked at Catherine like she was insane. But remained quiet as she continued on. "I had Diana scour the old UN database, looking for information regarding Homo Merlinus and the Year 2140. And in our research we discovered what we previously thought was impossible. Magic."
As she had dropped this bombshell on them, she watched as both Admirals bursted out in fits of laughter. "Catherine, you can't be serious! You? The foremost mind in engineering, quantum computer mechanics, biology and chemistry? The woman who has so many PHDs?" laughed Paragosky.
"Dr. Halsey this is completely out of the blue! There is no such thing as magic! Only science that we have yet to explain!" remarked Hood.
"I can assure you both, this is something I wish was a joke and the three of us could actually worry about Project Spartan instead." Dr. Halsey said as she slid the two datapads over to the Admirals. It was a full 15 minutes before the admirals spoke up. In those 15 minutes, Parangosky was getting paler and paler as time wore on, while Lord Hood had actually wretched in the lovely faux fig tree in the corner. When they had collected and composed themselves it was Lord Hood that spoke up. "I never thought our predecessor would ever be capable of something like that. To kill nearly 12 million humans, the elimination of an entire sub-species of humanity?"
"Those times were dark, we had yet to fully spread out among the stars at that point and resources on Earth were scarce." mumbled Parangosky.
"So your nightmares were what? Visions? A prophecy yet to be fulfilled?" asked Hood.
"I am not so sure about it being a vision. But a warning? Yes. Of a future that has yet to
pass." Halsey said, solemnly.
"I fail to see how magic will help us in this endeavor? Especially since its practitioners are long gone." said Paragosky.
"That leads me to my next point actually." replied Halsey as she flicked her datapad and a new screen was reflected onto theirs.
"In the last 2 months, I have begun traveling and researching the long lost race of Homo Merlinus and have uncovered a veritable trove of information. Take this blood-replenishing potion and the Skele-Gro potion mentioned in this ancient text." Halsey said.
The eyes of the admirals lit up as they read through the information provided. "Just these
2 potions could raise the success rate of the Spartan project by 15% alone! Let alone the medical applications it could have with our soldiers. No longer would we need to synthesize blood, broken bones would no longer take weeks to months to heal!" she exclaimed to the admirals whose eyes were akin to someone striking gold.
Then Dr. Halsey pulls out of her lab coat what looked like an old ceramic mug. It had little scrawlings along the inside of the handle when examined by the tells Admiral Hood to throw it at the wall. He was a bit apprehensive about it but out of sheer curiosity did so regardless. They watched as the wall he had thrown it at had left a slight mark on the steel but the ceramic mug on it had no damage and was completely whole. Both had looks of amazement and even further curiosity. "Based on my research, those little scrawlings on the mug are something called runes, and when properly written and powered by Homo Merlinus are something akin to an Impervious Array. Meaning that it will not be damaged. Further findings on this subject indicate that while they are near indestructible it will take a few powered rounds from an SRS99-AM Sniper Rifle before damage starts to show. It took another 2 rounds before it shattered."
"Catherine. The implications for this kind of possibility are huge, it cou…"exclaimed Hood before he was stopped by Parangosky.
"While this is an exciting find Dr. Halsey, you didn't answer my question before. How are we to utilize this new power when the people who could control it have been wiped out of existence?" she remarked.
" I understand your reservation Admiral. Let me continue my story and we will eventually arrive at the point. Understand that what I am telling you will lead to the greatest discovery since the slipspace engine."
At that, both admirals were enticed to continue on. "I was visiting one of the last sites that Diana found, and for some strange reason it was calling to me in my heart. It was the home of an aristocratic wizarding family known as the Malfoys. In the manor I found an ancient tapestry that depicted their family line and to my surprise my name was at the end of the tapestry, my birth year, and likeness sewn onto it. But the tapestry itself had never been touched before, I was prepared to leave with it but as I went to pick it up, I heard a voice call out to me. That voice eventually formed a translucent body of an aged old man. He introduced himself as Draco Malfoy. According to him he was my 8 times great grandfather, through the line of his oldest son Scorpius Malfoy and his wife Rose Malfoy nee Weasley." she said.
Both Admirals had a look about them that was perplexing. At one hand, magic was very much real and yet for all their lives they were beings of logic and sound reasoning. But they motioned Dr. Halsey to continue on. "He explained to me his personal history and perhaps why I was suddenly receiving these nightmares. He saw the beginning of the end for his world, his culture, and his society. In those visions, no matter what happened, no matter what changes were made, wizards and witches alike would be wiped out in the year 2140. I too at the same time asked why I received these visions, not like we had anyone magical around to help us with the oncoming onslaught my dreams tell me. He then revealed to me an ancient Malfoy Family Heirloom, a golden hourglass with silvered sand on a golden chain. He called it a Time Turner."
The room was a pin drop at that point. Admiral Parangosky reached for a button underneath her seat and pressed it. Dr. Halsey knew she had just blacked out the conversation before it continued on. With a deep inhale she yelled "ARE YOU TELLING ME SOMEHOW THE WIZARDS OF THAT TIME CREATED TIME TRAVEL?"
Dr. Halsey chuckled as she reacted the same way. " I am." she responded.
"Nothing will ever surprise me again. Please continue." smirked Hood.
"Thank you Admiral. As I was saying, he proceeded to give me this Time Turner. This Time Turner in particular was different from the other Time Turners. Not only was it extremely powerful, able to cross decades of time, it had the ability to view different timelines. Though its limitation was that it could not view timelines that wizards were no longer a part of"
"Could you possibly demonstrate this to us?" asked Parangosky.
"Of course," said Dr. Halsey as she clicked and twisted the Time Turner in her hand. When she had finished the sand that erupted in the room, forming something akin to the holographic display used for AI's but made of sand. The 3 of them viewed the destruction of the wizarding world, the rise of Hitler and the fall of Rome.
"I can't believe it." said Hood.
"I can't either and I'm part of a magical family somehow. They called those born into magical families without magic Squibs by the way." explained Dr. Halsey.
"Please continue, I have a feeling I know where we are going with this." said Hood.
"Grandfather Draco theorized that we would be able to somehow merge our current technologies with the Time Turner to create a time ship of sorts. We could effectively go to the past to rescue the family lines doomed to be wiped out. He further explained that we could not travel to our past but we could theoretically jump into an alternate time line where the genocide of Home Merlinus happens much sooner than expected. He personally recommended his family among other families of his dearest friends to be saved with other prominent figures in the British Wizarding Society."
"Why British Wizards? Why wouldn't we find the strongest wizards and save them?" asked Parangosky.
"Unfortunately this Time Turner had a failsafe installed in it by Grandfather Draco after Scorpius and his friend Albus had a jaunt to the past and were stranded there. After approximately 72 hours after the initial jump, those misplaced by the Time Turner get pulled back to their respective timeline, if enough sand is left to fuel it. Though from my understanding, the families we are saving were amongst the strongest of families to ever produce wizards and witches, so I wouldn't say that is a total loss. I also hear the other figures he had asked me to retrieve, one of them is hailed as the most powerful wizard since Merlin himself."
"While not what I had hoped for, this would be an excellent foray into time travel that I can not simply ignore." remarked Parangosky.
"Agreed," said Hood.
"There is one more thing I forgot to mention. Draco and his friends are likely at the age of 6 based on the date he suggested we retrieve them at."
The admirals gave Halsey a pointed look. "Are you saying you wish to abduct the children of our potential allies and assets? asked Paragosky. She was already peeved with Dr. Halsey with her idea of using Flash Clones to replace the kids that had planned to abduct, going as to accuse Dr. Halsey is trying to ease her guilty conscience of the heinous act that they were ready to commit.
"No, I wish to keep the families involved. From my understanding these wizards and witches are at their strongest when an emotion around attachments is powering their spells. No, I wish for this to be a separate but combined study on what group would be most effective in the field of combat. Our perfect soldier with no attachments or soldier who is fighting to protect said attachments. The coming storm is strong and untamed, Admirals, it is not something Humanity as whole can weather through."
After some thought, Parangosky speaks up. "I can give you full funding Dr. Halsey, but this team of Spartans will belong to ONI and me alone." she said, eyes reviewing the proposal like a wolf staring down its prey.
"Absolutely not! These kids will be Spartans as much as the first group! They will be seen as the forefront of what UNSC can achieve. They are not to be used for whatever classified black ops ONI likes to run!" exclaimed Admiral Hood.
This was a stare down of massive proportions, with Admiral Parangosky eventually standing down before Hood spoke up again. " Halsey, for this project and for the Spartan Project, I am willing to give you a blank check for this. With the condition that you find a way to cease with the flash clones. I don't care how you do it, as long as the flash clones do not happen? Am I clear?"
This was something more than Dr. Halsey expected, she had already planned to perfect the flash clones with the help of magic. She immediately agreed to Admiral Hood's proposal. When she shook Hood's hand Parangosky walked away in a huff but with a slight smirk on her face. Had she planned to goad Admiral Hood into giving Dr. Halsey that blank check? Only she would know. Dr. Halsey walked away from the meeting with what felt like the truest of optimism, more than she had felt in recent times.
Undisclosed Location in the Inner Colonies
The next 8 months were grueling for Dr. Halsey and the select individuals who assisted her project. They had retrofitted a UNSC transport ship, the USNC Daybreak, with the Time Turner. It had been fitted to carry approximately 40 or so crew and passengers so it was ideal for this time jump. Simulations had shown that bigger ships required even more of the sand. They infused Hawkins Radiation into the granules of the quantum sand and the millions of simulations said it could work. Unfortunately the limited sand was not enough to conduct any tests. They had set the day a few days before Oct 31st, 1981, Oct 28th to be exact, it was more pragmatic to assume that if they had agreed to leave, to give them a few days to pack the essentials.
Dr. Halsey had volunteered herself to be the only crew on the ship when it made its inaugural jump into the alternate past. She would need AI's to compute and maintain the ship so both Deja and Diana were moved onto the ship to function. But today was the day. She had Deja fly out to non-UNSC controlled space to avoid any collateral damage should the worst happen. "Deja and Diana, are you ready for this?"
"All systems are functioning at max efficiency, slipspace calculations are nearly completed," said Deja.
"Quantum Sand has reached 100% saturation with the Hawkin's Radiation and the engine is purring like a kitten." replied Diana.
"Now or ever I guess." whispered Dr. Halsey.
She removes the Time Turner from her neck and places it into a similar shaped apparatus and watches as the empty Time Turner locks into it.
"The key has been placed and calculations are now complete, prepared to jump when you are ready Dr. Halsey." said Deja and Diana together.
"Do it." she whispered.
The engines roared to life momentarily before it stalled out in a much too close for comfort kind of sound.
"Diana what's goi…?" she was about to ask before the engines came back online. She watched from the bridge as instead of a normal blueish slipstream wormhole opening up, it was instead a silver wormhole with what looked like the same grains of sand forming the breach. She then let out a sigh of relief as she had assumed the worst had happened and was bracing for an explosion of massive proportions.
"Set course for Oct 28th, 1981. We have a future to save." she said finally after a long minute. The UNSC Daybreak slowly makes her way into the slipstream portal and towards an unknown world.
A/N - Another chapter done! The collision of past and present begins in the next chapter. Please be aware new chapters will probably be dropping inconsistently depending on work and life obligations of course. I know that Parangosky and Halsey butted heads often (to call it lightly haha) and I hope to make this version of Admiral Hood as good as the one in the canon timeline. As of now, I don't have any planned pairings but I think it would be funny to see a Harry x Miranda Keys relationship way down the road. Imagine Dr. Halsey's reaction when she finds out! Like always please rate and review!