Chapter 16
When Harry and Six arrived back in the Everglades it was to find them examining the holographic feeds from the cloaked probe that had risked getting a little closer to the base. The Mog warship was hovering above the base with a ramp lowered. The two buildings nearby were a glass and steel one-story looking almost like a greenhouse and an aircraft hangar.
"You're back," Marina said. "How did it go at Ashwood?" "Good. It was nothing we couldn't handle," Six said.
"And we have an FBI cell that anti-Mog looking to speak with us when we get back," Harry answered.
"Sounds like an interesting story," Nine said. "Is Adam going to be able to disable one of their skimmers?"
"Yes. He is working on it right now," Six replied.
"Alright. Let's push the probes in further. No risk means no reward," Harry said.
The probes came in closer allowing the Garde to get views of what was in the greenhouse. Harry took note of a cart of Earth plants that had gray veins going up and down them. The plants looked droopy and about ready to die. One of the next experiments out was what was once a normal cow. It has wet jaundiced eyes, painful-looking horns coming out of its skull, and a grotesquely swollen udder covered in the gray veins the plants had. The cow looked barely alive just like the plants. A Mogadorian trueborn stood at the base of the ramp leading into the warship issuing orders in his native tongue. The probe flew into the hangar.
Laying on a table was Eight's golem. The Mogs had attached electrodes to the body which was generating an energy field which would preserve it. Matt, Five's clone, sat nearby seemingly staring off at nothing.
"The cow needs to be put out of its misery," Luna said before turning invisible.
Harry and Hermione sensed her apparition. A moment later the cow slumped in its cage. "Did your girlfriend just kill that cow without any visible evidence?" Nine asked Eight. "Looks like it," Eight said.
A moment later Luna was back beside them.
"Luna, you are one scary chick," Nine said.
Luan simply gave him a distracted smile. Harry and Hermione exchanged a knowing grin.
"The plan seems to be working," Hermione pointed out as they noticed a group of Mogadorians working on one of the skimmers trying to figure out what was wrong with it.
"Think they will leave it behind?" Marina asked.
"We can hope," Six said.
Hermione noticed how intently Harry was staring at the Mogadorian warship.
"Harry, we cannot steal the warship. Well correction. We could steal the warship. But it would be ill-advised at this point," Hermione sent telepathically.
"It's so very tempting to either steal it or destroy it. But you're right. It would alert Setrakus Ra that we are more powerful than he thinks and cause him to take us more seriously," Harry said.
"I understand the temptation though," Hermione sent as she took his hand and gave him a small smile.
And Hermione did understand the temptation. She and Harry had discussed with the girls making bigger changes to what Harry was able to see in the other universe. By sticking closer to what happened in the other universe they were more easily able to predict Setrakus Ra's actions. They tried to remind themselves that although the universes were similar they weren't identical and that their Setrakus Ra could deviate from his counterpart in the other universe. The Garde were making a lot of changes that Setrakus Ra couldn't see. Setrakus apparently had no idea about the small fleet of ships they were currently building nor about the outposts on other worlds.
Hermione reached back and squeezed her boyfriend's butt sending, "I'll just have to divert your attention with other distractions."
"Not fair woman," Harry replied. "This is hardly the time for that."
Hermione released his hand and reached up to cup his front while channeling a Notice-Me-Not charm focused on her actions.
"You say this is hardly the time. But this thinks otherwise," Hermione teased. "You're going to distract me from what is going on," Harry pointed out.
"Distraction is the point," Hermione suggested. "Now quit complaining and cast a time dilation field."
Harry did as instructed. For the next little while Hermione did a thorough job of distracting him. It was exciting playing together out in the open with everyone else seemingly frozen around them. The Notice-Me-Not charm Hermione had cast was renewed by Harry with enough power to make sure the others didn't notice their activities for the brief second they could have perceived them thanks to the time dilation field. Setting up a permanent time dilation field like was on their private rooms was a lot more involved. A temporary time dilation field took a lot less effort.
Harry and the others paid attention as the Mogadorian officer, Commander Deltoch, went to speak with Clone-Five/Matt.
"We have finished loading the ship. But one of the skimmers is not responding. The mechanics have not been able to figure out the issue," Commander Deltoch reported.
"Leave the skimmer in the hangar. It is close enough to the invasion that even if by some remote circumstances humans find it telling someone would do them no good," Matt said.
"Very well. And the body?" Deltoch asked.
"Transport it onto my skimmer. I must go meet with Setrakus Ra," Matt replied.
It really rubbed Deltoch the wrong way that this Loric had the ear of the leader of his people. "Very well," Deltoch said. "I shall see to it personally," He said while picking up the golem.
He began walking towards a skimmer that Five used. Halfway between the hanger and the skimmer a massive fireball engulfed Deltoch and the golem body. The fireball was so large and bright that it only took seconds to turn the Mog commander and the body he had been carrying to ash. The vat born present were so stunned that only a few of them would later swear they saw two figures momentarily appear near the flames. A glowing blue pendant had floated away from Eight's corpse to the pair before they disappeared again.
"Perfectly executed," Nine said as Harry and Six reappeared next to them a few moments later. "Now that we've stirred up the hornet's nest down there let's watch the action," Marina said.
Five gets the group going soon enough. Once the warship begins to rise up it engages its cloaking device. It vanished from sight. If you knew it was there you could vaguely tell that something was there. If you didn't know it was there your mind would have told you it was playing tricks on you. Matt entered his skimmer and went off to report to the Mogadorian leader.
"It looks like we have a new toy to collect," Nine declares with a grin.
The group went down and retrieved the skimmer. Adam undid the disabling he had done to make the skimmer stop working. Eight had retrieved the Loric transport flying it to the hangar.
"Who's flying home in what?" Nine asked.
"Harry, Six, and I will take the skimmer," Hermione said.
"No hanky panky you three," Nine said.
"Leave them be," Marina said giving her boyfriend a pointed look.
Adam had given them instructions on how to fly the skimmer. Soon both transports were in the air heading towards the nearest transporter platform. Harry actually switched off with Hermione and Six so that they all got practice flying the skimmer. It handled decently well. But it wasn't as sophisticated as a Loric transport. There was no onboard AI to help with flight control.
"Not a bad craft. But I definitely prefer our version," Six said, summarizing all of their thoughts.
"Agreed. But at least now we will have some insight into Mog vessels more than just the plans Adam has helped us steal," Hermione said.
Soon enough the group arrived back at Ashwood Estates. The Mogadorian skimmer did not come with a cloaking device. However, Six had been able to make it invisible using her Legacy.
"So what have you got for us," Harry said as he followed Sam into the tunnels beneath Ashwood Estates.
Hermione, Six, and the rest of the Garde were following behind them.
"We found an archive room where the Mogs recorded everything that went on here," Sam explained as he stopped at the room of question.
There was a bank of monitors. Malcolm sat at the desk in front of the monitors which contained a computer.
"I believe there is five years of Mogadorian intelligence on here," Malcolm explained. "It would take a very large team to go through it all."
"Put this in the interface port," Harry said as he tossed Malcolm a small jump drive. "It will copy everything on the Mog's computer. It might take a little bit because of Mogadorian computer speeds."
"You thinking of getting a few copies of that data and then trashing the originals when we leave?" Nine asked.
"I was," Harry confirmed. "We can deny them the information while keeping it for ourselves."
Sam then led them to the control center for Ashwood where Adam sat behind a computer with dozens of monitors portraying different scenes around the world. There was one that showed hacked security camera footage of the John Hancock Center.
"Thanks for the assist grabbing that skimmer Adam," Six said.
"It was my pleasure," Adam said.
"How were you able to prevent the Mogs from storming this place?" Eight asked Adam.
"Nothing will stop them from coming here. But as of right now they think the General and his team encountered a toxic chemical leak. I used the General's access code to tell them that. It buys us a couple of days, possibly a week at the most," Adam explained.
"We'll tag anything we want to take with us for transport back to a safehouse like we did at the penthouse. Anything else I can use a probe to take detailed scans. We can holographically re- create the base at a later date if we need to see anything," Harry said.
"I can get started on that," Hermione offered. Harry nodded. Hermione left to carry out that task.
"We have guests," Adam said as he pointed to one security camera feed which showed the front gate of Ashwood.
Agent Karen Walker was at the driver's window waving at them.
"Open the gate," Harry directed. Adam nodded. Several SUVs were let in through the open gate before it closed. "I suppose we had better go greet them," He said before leading the way up.
"Four," Karen greeted when she got out of the car.
"I prefer Harry," Harry returned. "Do you prefer Karen or Agent Walker?"
"You can call me Karen or Walker, whichever," Karen returned.
"Karen seems less rude. Join us in here," Harry said while gesturing to one of the houses. Karen followed the Garde inside. She took a seat on one of the sofas.
"Would anyone like coffee or tea?" Luna asked.
Various people gave out drink orders and Luna went to retrieve it.
"So let me start," Karen said. "My partner Agent Purdy died from a heart attack at Dulce base." Karen produced a rolled up manilla folder rubber-banded close. She handed out some photos. "Half his face melted away disintegrated into ash after he died," She explained as the others examined the photographs showing just that.
"So this is the result of the treatments they've been giving you," Harry said. "You know about them?" Karen asked with surprise.
"We know some. Augmentations is what the Mogs call them. Why don't you tell us," Harry suggested.
"First contact was ten years ago with the Mogadorians claiming they were hunting fugitives. They wanted to use our surveillance network and have free range to move around the country. In exchange we would get technology and weapons. I was fresh out of the academy. So, I wasn't involved at that time. The director of the bureau was in on the negotiations. I believe that had something to do with him getting promoted to secretary of defense," Karen explained.
"Bud Sanderson," Harry supplied.
"That would be him. A lot of people who negotiated with the Mogs ten years ago have done well for themselves," Karen explained.
"Does the President know?" Harry asked.
"No. He is kept in the dark," Karen answered. "All of the elected politicians are usually. The real powers are the ones appointed behind the scenes."
"The US wasn't the only country to get on the Mogadorian Progress bandwagon, were they?" Harry said.
"Yep. I don't know how many countries signed up. But I believe all the major powers have signed on," Karen answered. "After the weapons they kept us on the hook by dangling genetic augmentations to us. They claimed they could cure everything from the flu to cancer. They basically promised us immortality."
"I can see why that would appeal to a lot of people," Harry said.
"What's this photo showing?" Nine asked as he held up a photo Karen had passed around. A soldier with blackened veins was showing his arm.
"One week of withdrawal from genetic augmentations," Karen said grimly. "They are turning us into something inhuman. Purdy disintegrating made a lot of us sit up and take notice. Not everyone cares. But there are some of us who do."
"Harry," Six said as she held up a picture showing Bud Sanderson at a café table with a handsome looking man.
Harry telekinetically floated the picture over to himself and held it up to Karen saying, "Setrakus Ra and Sanderson sharing a cozy meal. His human guise will only keep people calm for so long. Though I suppose it would be long enough that it won't matter."
"How did you know it was him?" Karen asked.
"We make it a point of knowing our enemy very well," Six replied. Karen took a sip of the coffee Luna had brought her.
"In two days, the UN convenes. The President won't be able to make it. Sanderson will appear in his stead where he will introduce Setrakus Ra to the world. He'll do some political theater about how the Mogadorians mean us no harm. There will be a motion to allow the Mogadorians safe passage to dock on Earth," Karen said.
"I don't buy that for a second," Harry said. "No way do the Mogadorians even need that. More likely your intel is wrong on this. The Mogs probably just want to use the UN to surrender Earth official. It will get some humans to fall in line. But in the end it won't matter."
Karen was quiet for a moment before she said, "You're sure?" Harry nodded. "Son of a bitch. I bet the lie about peaceful coexistence is just to get us lower level peons to fall in line."
"Most likely," Nine agreed. "It makes sense. They can't have descension in the ranks like they are already seeing."
"There goes my idea of assassinating Sanderson," Karen said.
"I think I've heard enough," Harry said as Hermione returned to the room. "I think it is time we step out of the shadows."
"What are you thinking?" Marina asked.
"The Mogs are going to reveal themselves to the world in two days in what is no doubt something they orchestrated. I say we do it a day earlier on our own terms. We have to get out our own narrative. I hack every news outlet and TV channel simultaneously and speak to the people of Earth," Harry said.
"What are you going to say to them?" Eight asked curiously.
"I've got a day to figure that out," Harry said. He looked at Karen and said, "Discuss your disposition of people with Nine here. We will see about them using some of our safe houses. I'm sure you want to position some assets before the big reveal."
Karen nodded and said, "I do."
Several Hours Later, Ashwood Surveillance Room
"Thank you all for coming. I felt it very important you see this right away," Malcolm said. Malcolm began playing the recording he wanted everyone to see.
"This is Doctor Lockram Anu," Adam explained as an older Mogadorian began speaking in his language. "This is an earlier trial for the memory machine. He is introducing a test subject he said was mentally tougher to interrogate than others."
Anu revealed a younger Malcolm strapped into the chair. His gaze looked unfocused. Anu switches to English.
"Good morning Malcolm. Are you ready to resume our conversation?" Anu asks. "Yes Doctor," Malcolm replied.
"Think back to your conversation with Pittacus Lore. What was his purpose on Earth?" Anu asked.
"He said he was preparing for the war to come, for the Mogadorian invasion and the rebirth of Lorien," Malcolm explained. Malcolm suddenly grew alarmed and jerked in the chair. "They are already here and hunting us."
"Yes. But you are safe now Malcolm," Anu replied. Malcolm calmed down and then Anu asked, "How long have the Loric been visiting Earth?"
"For centuries. Pittacus said he hoped that humanity would be ready when the time came," Malcolm replied.
"Elaborate, ready for what?" Anu probed.
"To fight and restart Lorien," Malcolm answered.
"How will the humans and Garde restart Lorien from here? The planet is light-years away," Anu pointed out.
"Lorien is more than a planet. Lorien can exist anywhere where the people are worthy. Pittacus and the Elders have already made preparations here on Earth," Malcolm explained. "Loralite runs beneath our feet now circulating through the Earth. Pittacus explained it was like blood coursing through veins. It only lacks a heartbeat to give it purpose. It needs to be awoken."
"How specifically will they gave it a heartbeat?" Anu asked.
"Each member of the Garde possesses what Pittacus called Phoenix Stones. When the Garde come of age the Stones can be used to re-create the features of Lorien such as the plant life, Loralite, and the Chimaerae."
"And the legacies?" Anu added.
"Those too will come once Lorien is awoken," Malcolm answered. "This will happen when the Loralite pendants and phoenix stones are committed to the Earth in the Loric sanctuary."
"Where is this sanctuary?" Anu asked.
"In Calakmul where only the Garde may enter," Malcolm replied. Malcolm pauses the recording at this point.
"I'll have to check with him. But I'm pretty sure Henri and potentially all of the Cepans weren't told about the idea of restarting Lorien on Earth. Because Henri kept on checking the status of Lorien itself," Harry said.
"I agree. I don't think they knew," Six added.
"Any idea where Calakmul is?" Marina asked.
"I looked it up. It's an ancient Mayan city in southeast Mexico," Malcolm explained.
"So we'll be going there. The way you talked in the video suggests Lorien is definitely an entity of some sort," Harry said.
"Just like we speculated," Hermione said. "It must be an entity that only the Elders were aware of."
"Not something that is a good idea to keep from your people," Hermione said. "Though, given their close relationship with it this could be what made the Elders stand out from the rest of the Loric. They knew more and were more powerful than the other Garde."
"This explains why Setrakus Ra keeps the pendants of those he has killed," Six pointed out. "It does," Eight agreed.
"What are the others in the other universe doing?" Luna spoke up while looking at Harry. Harry momentarily closed his eyes.
"They are going to split up and have some of them go to the sanctuary while some go to New York to see Sanderson," Harry answered.
"I don't like the idea of splitting up," Six said. "Agreed," Marina added.
"We've already seen what is going on with Sanderson," Hermione mused. "Let's just send a Loralite stone so we can get there quickly."
"I agree. We'll stick together if there are no objections," Harry said.
There were nods all around. They were soon loaded up into the skimmer. Karen hadn't been super happy about the revised plan. But she understood that her previous plan wasn't usable. The Garde would meet her in New York later.
"Glad to have you back out in the field," Hermione said to Sarah when she joined them.
Sarah had just been transported down from LuLoric. She had been heading up the communication with Mark James.
"I'm glad to be back in the field," Sarah replied. "So fill me on the plan." About fifteen minutes later while the skimmer was speeding towards Mexico Sarah was caught up. "Damn you all have been busy. While I can't say I would mind having legacies I can't say that I like the idea of this Loric entity indiscriminately giving out legacies to unknowns."
"Agreed," Harry said. "We won't know for certain the exact situation until we get there. But we're expecting a Mogadorian presence there."
"Time to kick some ass," Nine said with a grin.
The trip is uneventful thanks to Six and Harry taking turns turning the skimmer invisible. It was good practice for his Ximic. He was slowly expanding the legacies he could use. It helped that his wizarding power could do with spells many of the things that legacies could do.
"It's a good thing we are cloaked. The skimmer just picked up several other skimmers in the forest below," Adam reported as they flew over the forest of Campeche Mexico about an hour out from the sanctuary.
"Did they detect us?" Marina asked.
"No," Adam reported. "The only reason we detected them was because the pilots were talking to each other. Thanks to this cloak we weren't detected."
Soon their skimmer approached Calakmul. Ancient looking limestone buildings were laid out below. Beside them is a huge pyramid-shaped temple. Crumbling steps lead up the pyramid with a door of some sort at the top. Dozens of Mogadorian skimmers are parked in a clearing they made in a circle around the base of the temple. There were tents clustered near the skimmers.
"You can tell they weren't able to get too close," Hermione noted. "The trees and other vegetation aren't cut down closer to the temple. This looks like a very interesting barrier."
"Indeed," Harry agreed. "Alright everyone, we hit them hard and fast. Wipe them out."
As soon as the invisible ship touched down, Harry released the invisibility. He was the first out of the ship. Six had already begun summoning a storm overhead. Massive fireballs flew from Harry's hands as he took to the air. Mastering Five's flight legacy had been a high priority for him. Harry had always loved flying. He hovered in the air and rained fiery destruction down upon the Mogs. The other Garde joined in. Six's lightning storm rained down death and destruction on the Mogs equally as violent as Harry's fire. Within minutes the only living Mog in sight was Adam.
"That felt good," Six said. "Definitely," Nine agreed.
Harry immediately flew back to their skimmer. From the small cargo area, he removed a transportation pad. Harry carried it over to where he sensed the barrier was. His pendant floated into the air towards the sanctuary. The barrier appeared cobalt colored and looking like electricity in the shape of a curtain around the sanctuary. Harry passed through unharmed. He set up the transporter platform. Moments later it activated. In short order Adelina, Crayton, and Henri were standing inside the barrier. Adelina had just given birth recently to a baby girl Sarissa. She had used time dilation in her private room to speed things up including the recovery. Harry hadn't even paused after setting up the transporter. Six probes that had been floating cloaked in the background that only Hermione had known about suddenly became visible. A shield formed around the group of skimmers.
A crate was transported in. Harry flew over and picked it up.
"What's he doing?" Nine asked Hermione.
"After getting a look at our skimmer we came up with a control device to remotely control skimmers from anywhere within a star system. He's installing the devices. It will only take a few minutes. We had best get walking up the stairs. He can fly up after us," Hermione said. "It would be foolish to waste such a resources as all of these skimmers lying around."
"What was the shield for?" Marina asked as they started walking.
"I doubt we got all of the Mogs. There were probably a few in the forest," Nine suggested to which Hermione nods.
"I don't think I should come. I am not Loric," Adam said. "You should come," Hermione said. "You have a legacy."
Adam looked hesitant. But when Six nodded agreement he walked through the barrier. They started up the stairs. By the time they reached three-quarters of the way up the stairs they could see the skimmers begin to take off one by one. By the time they were at the top Harry had finished and only their sole skimmer remained. Harry flew up and touched down at the same time they did.
"Cheater," Six said teasingly.
"You're just jealous you can't fly," Harry responded.
"Who wouldn't be," Nine muttered.
The group walked over the flat top of the stone pyramid towards a stone door that was made of a different color material than the rest of the pyramid. The door also showed no age.
"This is a Loric portal," Harry observed. "To wear?" Eight asked.
"Not sure," Harry replied. "Let's find out."
Nine round slots are arranged in a circle at the door's center. Harry removed his pendant and placed it in the slot. Those who had pendants placed them in the slots. The pendants take on the same glow as the force field they passed through to get to the door. The door slid down into the pyramid out of the thin frame present. Inside the frame was a portal into another place. Harry stepped through into the room. The rest of the group followed suit. The doorway closed up and the pendants clatter to the floor within. There was no visible exit. But one wall had slots for pendants just like the door. The room the group found themselves in was one long room, rectangular in shape with high ceilings. There were no doors or windows present.
"Events in the outside world are happening fast," Hermione said, suddenly getting contacted by Subconscious-Harry. "I'm going to put up a time dilation field so we have more time."
"Do it," Harry said.
Harry felt the time dilation field snap up even as he focused back on examining the room.
"The veins of Loralite are depicting the universe, more than Mogadorian star maps know about," Adam said in awe.
The floor begins shaking a little bit. A circular section of the floor at the center rose up revealing a cylinder of pure Loralite. Harry feels an instinct and telekinetically levitates the circular section of limestone floor sitting on top of the Loralite cylinder out of the way, letting it fall to the floor nearby.
"It's a well," Marina said.
"A well of what? I don't think that is water," Nine said. "Loralite," Hermione answered.
"Look. There are picture instructions," Eight pointed out.
Sure enough several pictures were carved into the inner sides of the well including one which showed someone dumping the contents of a chest into the well. Harry opens his chest and retrieved a handful of the objects they didn't immediately identify. He dropped them into the well. The spotlight of glowing Loric energy that rose out of the well intensified and the Loralite veins in the walls seemed to glow a little brighter. The others got the idea. They began to drop objects into the well.
"That's enough," Harry said. "It will be enough to wake the entity to have a chat with it," Harry said.
The others stopped in confusion. Hermione was the only one who didn't appear confused. She had received instructions from Subconscious-Harry who was apparently feeding instincts to his conscious self.
"Six, place your hand on the edge of the well," Hermione instructed.
Six nodded and stepped forward. As soon as she placed her hand, her eyes glowed the same color as the Loric energy.
"Wow, what a rush," Six said. "Oh hello. Someone wants to speak to us. I'm still in here. I'm just letting it speak."
"Welcome my children," Lorien said through Six, its voice sounding like many voices and power incarnate.
"What are you? Are you Lorien?" Eight asked.
"I was called that once by your Elders. I have been called many things on many worlds. I exist solely to bestow my gift," Lorien explained.
"And where does the energy for your gift come from?" Harry asked curiously.
"You would call it a higher dimension, a higher plane of existence," Lorien answered. "I also gain a small amount of energy from being on a planet with sentient life. All that energy is used for is to help me in the bestowing of the gift. The energy for the gift itself comes from the higher dimension. That higher dimension is where I mostly exist." She looked at Harry, Hermione, and Luna in turn and said, "There are entities like me in every universe, some more powerful than others. You three have been given a gift by one of my more powerful cousins from another universe. It is the ability to manipulate reality far more than even my own gifted can. As far as I know there has never been one blessed with both gifts," Lorien said as it looked intently at Harry. "Your power is amazing."
"Thank you," Harry said. "Do you know what our Elder's plan was?"
"They moved me here for safety. I believe they intended for you to fully awaken me and have me gift a select group of humans so that you might defeat the Mogadorians," Lorien explained.
"What are your thoughts on that plan?" Hermione asked.
"I was willing to go along with it because my purpose has always been to bestow my gift," Lorien said. "I must admit. I feel more in this host than ever before. I feel what she feels, sensations no host has ever been able to give me before. I feel hunger, pain, pleasure," Lorien said as she glanced at Harry. "So much pleasure. My host wishes me to help. I feel that strongly. This host has been touched by one higher than any in this universe. Her body is stronger than you realize."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked confused.
"I dare not say more than that," Lorien said as its gaze settled on Path-Harry and Path-Hermione who were watching this meeting from in the room.
Lorien and Subconscious-Harry were the only beings capable of sensing the two Ascended and even only then because the two Ascended had revealed themselves to the two reality-bound entities.
Hermione, receiving prompting from Subconscious-Harry said, "You are genderless are you not?"
"Normally I am. But I am feeling as if I have a gender now that I am in this host," Lorien admitted.
"Would you consent to form a permanent connection to this host assuming she is willing?" Hermione asked.
"I would. She is," Lorien said. "But be cautioned. I am powerful. She will be more powerful as a result. But be cautious about administering that power. If you immediately jump to your end goal without wielding that power you will quickly grow bored and disillusioned."
"If you are connected to Six permanently and she conceived a child from Harry what would happen?" Hermione asked.
Lorien looked at Harry and let out a shudder of anticipation.
"I do not know for certain. Such a thing has never been done before. But...I believe it would make another like me," Lorien answered. Hermione locked eyes with Harry. "I suspect our child would be more powerful than even I because it would be born of two powers such as myself. Your power does not represent all of the power of my cousin in the other universe," Lorien said while looking at Harry. "But your connection with that power is powerful. And you too have been enhanced by the power greater than ours."
Six let out a shudder and visibly glowed all over her body before the glow faded from her eyes.
"That was so strange," Six said as her voice returned to her own. There was something slightly different though. It was almost like her voice had gained some more definition. It was like when she spoked others had to listen. Her voice contained power. "I am now permanently bonded with Lorien." She looked to her boyfriend and said, "I believe you have something to do, Harry." She glanced at the rest of the group and said, "Sorry everyone. But the only spectators allowed are Hermione and Sarah." Six raised her hand and the others were instantly rendered unconscious. She telekinetically floated them to the ground. "Come here," Six said as she crooked her finger at Harry beckoning him over.
Hermione and Sarah would later try to describe what they witnessed to the others when asked. It was some of the most passionate sex they had ever witnessed with a lot of glowing and flashing of power. Like Harry's past children, the child of Six-Lorien and Harry was born quickly. The others remained asleep throughout the hole process. As soon as the baby was born, a girl, the child began to age. Before their eyes in a matter of moments the child became an adult woman who looked to be in her early to mid twenties. Clothes appeared on her conjured by herself.
"Hello mother, father," The woman greeted. "I must have a name." The rest of the group had just woken up to hear that.
"I feel like Gaea would be appropriate," Harry said.
"After the legend of the goddess of the Earth," Six said. "Lorien approves."
"You guys work fast," Nine said.
"No kidding," Marina agreed. "What now?"
"When the portal back to the planet Lorien is ready we can send mother's heart back there to empower that planet," Gaea said.
"What will that do to Six?" Eight asked. "Will she have to stay on that planet permanently?"
"Distances in this spacetime are meaningless to those of the dimension we exist in," Gaea said. "Mother can go anywhere and still be connected to Lorien's heart. I believe it would be appropriate for you to head to the city of New York. Setrakus Ra's ship even now hovers over the United Nations building. Quite the crowd has gathered. Setrakus Ra will soon address them. But first let me give my first gifts."
Gaea closed her eyes. Lightning shot forth from the veins in the walls startling some. The lightning was a different color than Lorien's energy. Gaea opened her eyes and walked over to Sarah first. She hugged Sarah. Sarah glowed briefly. Gaea released her before moving onto Sam. Every non-Garde in the room received a hug.
"What just happened?" Sam asked to confirm.
"You all just received legacies," Six answered.
"Wicked," Sam said with delight.
"They will take a little time to emerge. Your DNA is rewriting itself a little and the energy has to reach a saturation level within you," Six cautioned.
"Still wicked," Sam said.
"It is pretty amazing. Thank you," Henri said to Gaea. "And thank you for blessing our people," He added to Six/Lorien.
"You are welcome," Six said in Lorien's voice momentarily.
"Before we go, perhaps we should strengthen the defenses of this place. It isn't like we don't have the time," Hermione suggested.
"Did you have something in mind?" Harry asked.
"I don't think the concentration of power here would do well with the Fidelius," Hermione said. "We'll have to experiment in the future to see how Lorien would react to being in a pocket
dimension since it is a higher dimensional lifeform. How about for now we just put up some strong wards."
"That works," Harry said. When they were done he added, "This should at least delay any attackers long enough for us to get here and actively defend the sanctuary."
"I'm pretty sure I can teleport us directly from here to the Loric stone we left in New York," Eight said. "I feel like I could teleport us anywhere from here."
"Do it," Harry said. "Henri, Adelina, Crayton, stay safe at the base for now." And then the group that was going vanished.
New York
Harry and company appeared inside of the Loric transport which had followed Karen Walker's convoy to the United Nations building. The Anubis, Setrakus Ra's warship, hovered over the East River. A stage had been set up to meet Setrakus Ra. Quite the crowd had been drawn.
"Good. You are here," Walker said when Harry left the transport first. "How did it go on your mission?"
"Very good," Harry replied. "Let's make our way to the stage." "It isn't going to be easy," Walker replied.
"We'll help," Six said.
"You two go invisible," Harry told Luna and Eight. Harry initiated telepathic communication with all of the Garde, Luna, and Hermione. "I have something I want to tell you all. Recently I have been trying to decide when we want to take a shot at killing Setrakus Ra. I have been struggling if we should try today or wait. If we kill him today the Mogadorians won't just stop. I believe what will happen is that the Mogadorians will try their best to wipe out as many humans as possible to try to take the Earth. I think we need to infiltrate them better. Ella, Matthew, and Adam are helping with that. Beyond that I have another reason to wait. I think the humans of Earth are too fractured, too divided by their small differences. I think they need a wakeup call, a wakeup call the Mogs are about to provide. I think they will grow stronger if given the chance to realize the true threat of the Mogs. Will some people die? Yes. Some people will die either way."
"So what are you saying Harry? That we just let him take over?" Nine asked.
"I'm suggesting we kick Setrakus Ra's ass and reveal to the world what a monster he is. I plan to destroy his cane which allows him to maintain a human form at just the right moment. But we
let him escape back to his ship with his tail between his legs. Since the moment the warships entered atmosphere and settled over cities I've had hundreds of cloaked probes flying around the major cities tagging civilians with one-use portkeys, my teleportation device. The people haven't noticed because the small dots that have been shot onto them are meant to keep them from noticing. But as soon as I activate them millions from each of these major cities are going to be teleported about fifty miles from each city. I've had thousands more probes flying all over the world for weeks tagging military assets to be transported to military bases that will have Fidelius charms activate the moment I give the signal. Those military assets aren't going to make a dent on the warships. But they can certainly help against ground troops," Harry explained.
"You've been busy," Marina noted.
"He has," Six said.
"And we've been helping him," Hermione added. "We stand with you Harry," Sarah said.
"I can't say that I particularly like it. But you're right about the need for a wake-up call and better infiltration into the Mogadorians to be able to take them all out at once before revealing ourselves to be a serious threat. What about the starships?" Sam asked.
The ten starships had recently been finished. Already the construction bays were working on ten more.
"The starships are theoretically very powerful. But we don't know how they will stack up against warships. Harry and I would like to run more tests if possible and train in using the ships. It isn't something we have had a chance to do. If we have no choice we can of course use the ships. But we certainly have a choice right now," Hermione pointed out.
"I agree with Harry's points. I'm behind you," Marina said. "So am I," Nine said.
Eventually Harry had agreement from the others. By this point the entire group had made it close to the stage spread out. Harry cast an illusion over them all to hide it from Setrakus Ra's attention that he was descending into the Garde.
"This is going to be fun," Harry sent just to his ladies.
"Son of a Marauder indeed," Hermione teased. "You always did enjoy a good prank." "Does this classify as pranking Setrakus Ra?" Sarah asked.
"Let's just call it kicking his teeth in," Six suggested. "I do agree that will be fun. You can counter his Dreynen field?"
"I've been practicing hard to do just that. I feel like I'm ready," Harry said. He glanced up at the warship. He opened his telepathic communication to all of the allies present, "Setrakus Ra is in his ship getting ready to descend. He was just informed by a Mog female Phiri Dun-Ra that we visited Mexico. I believe he will be going there next."
A few moments later a smaller ship flies out of the Mogadorian warship and descends towards the stage. It comes to a hover about fifteen feet above the stage. A glowing staircase comes out of the ship down to the stage. Setrakus Ra with his golden cane in hand in the form of an older human walks down the stairs. Ella's golem follows him obediently. She had been playing her part perfectly. She had put up just enough resistance to make it believable. She had fallen in line with Setrakus Ra after he had placed his version of a Loric charm on her golem. Harry takes note that Matthew is absent. The other Garde are happy to see this. Setrakus Ra had not brought out Number Five.
At this point one of Harry's AI programs hacked the cell phone services for the entire planet. Using the GPS of the phones it was able to tell the location of every person with a phone. Any person within a certain radius of a city with a Mogadorian warship hovering over it got the following message.
"This is not a joke. The Mogadorians are here to invade and take your planet from you just like they did with my planet Lorien. You are receiving this text because you are close to a warship. Pack a bag of anything you can carry that is food, practical clothing, medicine you need, and a weapon if you have one. Then leave. Flee your home away from the warship. The attack will happen soon. Harry Smith of Lorien."
Anyone within a mile of the UN building was excluded from that text. Those people had all already been targeted with portkey dots. Anyone on the planet who was a certain radius out from the cities with warships received this message.
"This is not a joke or a prank. People of Earth. My name is Harry Smith. You would call me an alien. I am from the planet Lorien. My planet was invaded by the Mogadorians whose warships are now at your planet. The Mogadorians killed all but a handful of my people. They wanted our resources because they had ravaged their planet and overpopulated. Now they want your planet's resources and your planet. They do not need you. Their technology is superior to yours. You outnumber the Mogadorians they have been able to bring with them. Do not challenge their warships at this time. But you can fight back against the Mogadorians that will come on the ground if you catch them by surprise. A Mog is made of flesh and blood. If you have a backpack fill it with anything essential you need for survival such as practical clothing, non- perishable food, any medication you need, and a weapon if you have one. This will be your go bag. If you get word that the Mogadorians are moving into your area I recommend running for now until organized resistance can be devised. In ten minutes after you have received this text you will get another. It will detail what the Mog classes of ship are called and important information to know about them. Good luck. Harry Smith of Lorien."
It was Harry's hope that warning the populace would result in much less death than if they were completely ignorant.
Setrakus Ra emerges from his ship with Ella behind him. He waves to the crowd. Harry had cloaked probes hovering nearby that had hacked the news feed of every single television on Earth. They were showing what was going on right now with Setrakus Ra.
"Greetings, people of Earth. My name is Setrakus Ra and this is my granddaughter Ella. We have traveled a great distance to come humbly before you with wishes of peace," Setrakus Ra said, his voice carrying out over the crowd. The closed captions of each television broadcast said something entirely different, saying, "Setrakus Ra is a warlord that most closely resembles Hitler. He looks human right now. Don't be fooled. His true form is hidden by technology. It will be revealed shortly. He doesn't want peace. He wants your planet and to rule the few survivors." Setrakus continues, "We have much to offer your people. Advancements in medicine to heal your sick, farming techniques to feed your hungry, and technology to make your lives easier and more productive. All we ask after our long journey is shelter from the cold of space." Setrakus Ra and Ella are now on the stage. "I see several of your leaders are here to greet me on this momentous occasion."
Something Setrakus Ra had not been expecting happened then. A telekinetic attack came not on his person but on his cane. The golden cane containing the Loric gemstone that maintained his human appearance was telekinetically crushed. Setrakus Ra looked down at it in stunned shock for a moment. Then Harry calmly stepped onto the stage. His voice too carried easily.
"I am Harry Smith of the planet Lorien. My people have been attacked by Setrakus Ra's version of peace," Harry said. Setrakus Ra was too busy shaking as his human appearance began to slough off of him like a snake. "Only a handful of my people survived. Setrakus Ra is a liar here to take your planet and its resources for his people. You are now at war people of Earth. He intends to only allow a few of you to survive to serve him. The rest he will kill."
The humans in the crowd had begun to run away as Setrakus Ra rose. He began to grow to fifteen feet in height. Harry immediately senses Setrakus Ra's Dreynen field. Harry had been monitoring Setrakus Ra with a magical sensing spell. The moment he had sensed Setrakus beginning to call up his Dreynen, Harry did the same. The two Dreynen fields cancelled one another out. Setrakus Ra's eyes widened when Harry summoned a massive fireball between his outstretched palms and hurled it at Setrakus Ra. It hit the Mogadorian leader in the belly only serving to surprise him. The next fireball does more than surprise Setrakus Ra. A stream of fire spews forth from Harry's outstretched palm. It surges towards Setrakus Ra who throws up his hands and forms a telekinetic barrier. The force of the fire stream surprises him.
Setrakus Ra is pushed back even in his monstrous form. Harry was using a sticking charm on his feet to anchor himself to the stage. The other Garde were not intervening at Harry's request, only helping to get the crowd away. Harry let up off the stream of fire. Setrakus Ra took the opportunity to draw a three tailed whip from beneath his armor which had been revealed when
his human guise came away. Before he could so much as draw the whip back the combined telekinetic might of all the other Garde present ripped the whip to shreds.
It was then that Setrakus Ra glanced into the crowd which was dwindling to nothing as terrified people fled and noticed the other Garde.
"You can't win murderer," Harry said.
The Mogadorian leader cuts his losses. He uses telekinesis to toss Ella up into the ship even as he shrinks in size and gets back into his ship.
"This world will burn," Setrakus Ra couldn't resist shouting back over his shoulder.
Setrakus Ra's transport zoomed back up towards the warship. Harry triggered the portkey dots for everyone already tagged in the downtown Manhattan area including Walker and her men.
"We need to leave," Six said. "We do," Harry agreed.
The Loric transport still under its cloak had moved slowly over to them called by Harry's mind. They got in and took off. They were able to see as the Mogadorian warship opened up on the UN building first.
"It has begun," Six said.
"We're going to end it," Harry said. "The Mogs won't have this planet too."