If you want to help me financially, you can do it on
https://ko-fi.com/neverluckysmile
Whoever said that peace was easier than war never worked in a hospital, Hela thought to herself as she and Piotr made their way into the medical center of Fortress Mars. It was a large area and had been enlarged recently for the massive influx of wounded that they had taken in after what was called being called the Eurasian War. Apparently, this was because the name Winter War had already been used and Winter War Part Two just didn't scan.
Regardless, literally the day after her Seidr Man had finished off the terrorist named Mr. Sinister, Harry had started to work on the wounded from the various fronts being shipped back from the front, taking over the most horribly wounded of them. And in the two weeks since, he hadn't come out of the hospital even once. Not to drink, not to eat, not to sleep. I know that in many ways he is akin to a God such as myself, but even so, his mind has yet to show any signs of growing to match. Working for so long is not good, nor do the reasons he is pushing himself so truly make any sense. I had hoped he would get out of this funk of his without the need of an intervention, but I suppose after I saw Ororo throwing herself into the work right beside him yesterday and the state Jean and Emma have pushed themselves to, I should have realized he was leading by example even in this.
"There he is," Piotr said, pointing in one direction down the long row of resting wounded. Every person in this row was in a potion or spell induced sleep, suffering from horrible wounds that would cripple them for life in various ways. Some had their faces or bodies burned. Some were very obviously missing limbs, or had shots to the stomach, only being kept alive this long by the stasis spell on them. Others lay crippled from spinal damage or brain trauma.
At the far end of one such row was Harry. He was leaning over a man, his magic pulling out a large caliber bullet from inside the man's stomach before he went to work repairing the wound. Piotr smiled at the sight, but that smile turned upside down as he and Hela came close enough to see the bags under Harry's eyes and the jitters in the hand that wasn't currently directing his magic to slowly repair the man's damage. No spell or potion had been created in Harry's old world to heal such wounds, after all, so he was left to direct his will.
"It looks as if Amelia and Una were right, you seem to be working yourself into a collapse Harry Potter," Hela said sternly. She had, Piotr had noticed, waited until he was finished with his current patient though.
Harry looked up from his work on his patient. "Hela, Piotr. Um, what's wrong? Why are you here?"
Hela sighed, then lightly reached out and smacked him with two fingers on his nose. "While your caring nature is one of the many qualities which has attracted me to you, overworking yourself like this out of guilt is not a good thing. You have done enough here. It is now time to pick up your staff of office once more and get to work on the political side of things."
"After a rest," Piotr added, reaching down to pick up a glass bottle which he recognized as the type which contained the pepper-up potions. "A real rest. The world can wait for you to get at least twelve hours of sleep and some food in you. When was the last time you ate, tovarisch?"
Harry frowned, looking around as if realizing for the first time that there might actually be a world beyond the confines of the medical center. "Um…I can't remember. I think Amelia mentioned it, um gave me an energy bar or something."
Looking at Harry, Hela was again reminded that for all of his magical power changing him to a tremendous degree, there were just some things about Harry that were still mortal. One of those things was how long his mind could go without sleep and recuperation. And it was very obvious to Hela that Harry had surpassed those limitations. "I agree, come away, my Seidr Man," she said softly, taking his arm with hers.
"I, can't, I need to, to keep working…" Harry muttered, staring around him. "So many wounded."
"How many Pepper-Up potions have you had?" Piotr asked sternly.
Harry blinked, his eyes not tracking for a moment. "I don't know, I think I lost count at around twenty."
There was a popping sound and Cory stood there, almost glaring at his master. "Cory has kept count. Master has taken over 32 Pepper-Up potions. Each time, the effect lessened and he had to takes another one faster."
"So I need a stronger potion," Harry said with a nod. "That makes sense, but still the potions keep me moving so…"
"NO!" Hela growled while Piotr looped a strong hand around Harry's waist, pulling him up to his feet and then dragging the feebly protesting Harry away from the wounded. "This, the wounded coming, that state of affairs will continue for months Harry Potter. You and Ororo are only two people. Even with magic, there is a limit to what can be accomplished quickly. And do not think you are the only one being rousted out of the medical center. Jean and Emma are both awake after having their own limited downtime and between the two of them they will get Ororo out of here as well eventually."
"I was surprised she joined us in the first place, given all the work she's been doing with Gaea," Piotr said, more to make an actual conversation rather than anything else, overriding Harry's muttered protests.
"Thanks to the Earth Mother's willpower and godly magic sustaining her, Ororo is actually a little better off than our Jarl here, so she will actually be able to do a better job than him in healing these wounded soldiers as well," Hela replied before looking down at Cory, stopping Piotr's efforts with a hand on his shoulder. "Let us be more efficient about this. Cory, pop the three of us down to the portal to Earth and then to the bedroom on High Note."
Cory nodded, his long ears flopping his head moved so fast. A moment later they were standing in front of the runic doorway, passing through it to High Note where, despite his continued resistance, Hela and Piotr slowly peeled Harry out of his clothing and pushed him into the bed. "Sleep," she said tartly. "Real, honest, sleep. You need it more now than you did even after we broke the Dire Wraith's magical assault!"
Then she sighed, sitting down next to him as Piotr smiled at them both and stepped away from the bed, watching but not saying anything. "And I know why you are pushing yourself so hard. You feel guilty for those who were hurt or killed in this war. You feel as if you should have stopped it."
"Not personally," Harry said after a long moment of silence, his words more lucid than they had been, but still not back to the normal energy and vigor he would have normally shown. "I'm not that stupid or egotistical. I couldn't have waved my hand and stopped the violence once it began."
Piotr spoke up then, showing the understanding of the human nature that was so central to why, despite his unwillingness to put himself forward, the former Russian peasant was respected by everyone who knew him. "And even if you could, the fear that kind of show of power would have engendered is horrifying to contemplate." He snorted, shaking his head. "You both have powers and abilities well beyond my understanding, but just like anything else, it is bringing it to bear that really matters. When, how and always remembering the consequences."
Harry nodded weakly. "But, you heard what a lot of the pundits were saying. That, if we had proof of alien involvement, the EDF should have moved the instant Russia launched its attacks."
"And they are fools. Acting against a terrestrial threat is not in Earth Defense Force's charter Harry Potter, and you know it. You wrote the darn thing and the UN agreed with the idea in essence since they do not want the responsibility and have no resources to see to the defense of Earth even if they did."
"I know that up here," Harry said tapping his forehead. "The EDF can't be a simple extension of the United Nations. We can't get involved unless we have incontrovertible proof of alien involvement. But, we could've gotten involved here faster than we did. And when I started to see the wounded coming through thanks to our previous agreements with the Americans and the rest…"
Hela sighed. "We could not have acted without proof. Besides, do you honestly think those nations would have welcomed you? As it is, there is already resentment building up in many of the smaller countries for needing help in the first place. Georgia and Azerbaijan want Turkish troops out instantly now that the shooting seems to have stopped, which isn't going to happen, and Latvia and the Ukraine are both protesting the fact that NATO is going to be building still more bases on their land. Kazakhstan's screaming in every political and public forum it can about the fact that the Subterraneans still haven't been tossed out of their territory. All of them have just forgotten how bad it would have been without the allies' aid! Ungrateful worms, the lot of them!"
"It is hard to be a small country, with big bad Russian nearby and the history of the world as it is, caught between the giant on one side and the seeming warmongers on the other," Piotr interjected mildly before looking at Harry firmly. "Regardless, your guilt is unfounded. You can only do what you can, you cannot control human nature and we could not have moved any sooner than you already had."
"You have done enough on that front for the moment, Harry," Hela said. She heard the door behind her open but didn't turn around. Instead, she pressed Harry's head back into the pillow. "Now, sleep. You will still have duties to see to elsewhere, never fear."
To her relief, Harry was asleep within seconds and she turned, smiling wanly over at the still tired-seeming Jean and Emma. "Well, that was irritating. But for now, I think all of us still have duties to see to, do we not?"
Piotr sighed, but nodded and headed out the door, passing the other two women. They stood there, looking at Harry before turning aside and heading out after him. It was true after all; they still had a lot of work to do.
Harry didn't know how many hours he slept but he woke up feeling, if not entirely revitalized, then certainly more cognizant and aware of his surroundings. He then held his hand to his forehead, because part of what he was now aware of, was a pounding throbbing headache that threatened to burst his head in two. "GAaaaaa…," he groaned.
Instantly there was a pop nearby. "Master is still not feeling well?"
"Gurrh," the wizard groaned in response, trying to open his eyes only to slam them shut again when even the briefest glimpse of light caused the stabbing migraine to get even worse.
"Master is feeling the results of far too many Pepper-Up potions. The addiction aspect be kicking in, but Master's mistresses have warned Cory that's they will do horrible things to Cory if he accepts your orders for Pepper-Up potions again. You are banned from them for more than a year, so says the mistress Stormy."
Harry groaned again, waving one hand feebly. He just wanted the pain to stop, was that too much to ask?
Evidently, it wasn't quite because Cory shook his head and an ice pack of some kind slapped into Harry's forehead, sticking there by magic. "The cold should help Master Potter's head feels better. But Masters be not to have any potions or healing potions until he is feeling better. You'll need to kick this on your own Harry, so says Mistress Flamehair."
Despite the fact Cory had labeled his girlfriends with their house-elf names, a certain sign of accord with the orders, Harry would have argued the point. Indeed, he would've argued the point most vociferously, considering that Jean had gone through something similar recently. And Ororo as well, come to think of it, and more than once. But the cold did actually help and soon, Harry was once more asleep.
The next day, or whenever it was, that he woke up, Harry felt almost fully restored. The light still bothered him when he opened his eyes, but he could concentrate now, move his limbs, even talk. He looked to the side table and noticed that there had been placed several large bottles of water, all of them drained. And then Harry realized that he had to piss like a racehorse.
Fumbling his way out of the covers, Harry got out of bed, standing on weary legs before moving into the refresher station as he shouted out, "Cory, I think I'm on the mend. Who all is available to talk?"
"Mistress Jean is available for talks," Cory said, shimmering into existence from wherever House-elves went while they were simply waiting for their master to call. "Lady Hela and Mistress Emma are also available, Mrs. Ororo is not available, she bes doing her daily eight hours in the healing center."
Harry frowned, wondering if he should join her before a new voice interrupted him. "Don't even think about it, Potter!" Emma said, moving into the room and flopping down on a chair, shaking her head as she twisted herself sideways and put her feet up on the side of it before looking at Harry furiously. "While you've been off playing doctor, which admittedly has had a major impact on our PR aspect, I've been dealing with both politics and business. Someone needs to take half of that load off my shoulders and do it very freaking promptly, or I'm going to scream. And when I do, I'll do it telepathically too."
"All right, I'll take over the business side then," Harry said with a nod, his lips twitching.
"Very funny," Emma said slowly, mock-clapping, "would you like a prize to celebrate your discovery or sarcasm? Or perhaps would you like a helping hand to find where your actual sense of humor has gone. This rented version of yours doesn't do you much justice."
"Okay fine, it was a lame joke and I apologize," Harry said, holding a hand up in token of supplication. "I'll just go and shower my head, see if that brings my sense of humor back shall I?"
"Thank you," Emma said, nodding her head gracious in victory.
"Sounds like a magnificent idea Harry," Emma replied, her eyes suddenly gleaming as she stood up, stripping off her own clothing. "I'll join you."
Before they could get too involved in their 'shower' however, Emma pulled back, sighing. "Jean just arrived with Hela. Damn it." She turned, showing Harry her pert, lily-white rear slick from the shower, shaking her rear at him for a second before leaping with a laugh out of the shower.
"Someday soon I will have my revenge for this treatment," Harry replied mildly, staring from Emma down to his wedding tackle, which was at full mast at that point. "And my vengeance will be terrible indeed."
"Ooh I'm all a-quiver," Emma quipped, pulling on her leggings, shirt, and blouse quickly.
Moments later, Harry joined her out in the bedroom, smiling at Jean and Hela, who looked amused at Emma's wet hair and Emma's twitching lips.
Jean was a little plumper than when Harry had last seen her, but not overly so. At this point, she was near to full term for the pregnancy and Harry, as he lifted up a towel to dry his hair, made a mental note to ask about how well the planning for the wedding was going. After all, it was kind of important that their twins, whatever gender they were, would be born in wedlock rather than out of it. He paused then, blinking. "Hela, would you care to explain why my hair just, dried itself before I could do so?"
"Perhaps a spinoff of your newly heightened powers?" Hela asked, chuckling at the expression Harry was wearing. "Your hair and its untamable quality has always been a side effect of your magic after all."
"Great." Harry rolled his eyes. "So my new level of magical power helps my hair dry… but doesn't seem to help my brain all that much. That is just bloody fantastic."
"You are still nearly mortal Harry. And I wouldn't worry, it doesn't seem to be holding you back… All that much anyway. After all, we have yet to see if your endurance in… other areas can stand up to a true goddess," she said, her black-painted lips quirking wickedly.
She was about to sit down when she felt a spell hit her followed by the feeling of someone slapping her rear. Hela gasped and looked at Harry furiously.
"Interesting," Harry said mildly. "It looks as if with my newfound power, I was able to get through your natural magical defenses. Something to bear in mind unless you want to see me join your little prank war with Illyana? On her side?"
Hela scowled, but forbore to rise to the challenge just right now. Instead, she just sat down, crossing her legs provocatively. She looked over at Emma, asking bluntly "Have you told him anything?"
"Not just yet, Emma said, prevaricating slightly. I wanted us all to be here so that we only have to do this once. And then we were also distracted."
"Distracted, is that what you call it now?" Hela snarked, before looking over at Jean who sat, not in a chair, but on Harry's lap.
He looked up at her questioningly but then Jean was leaning down and kissing him.
Their kiss went on for some time, until finally, Emma said snarkily, "I could've sworn you said back when he was near to collapse that Harry was mortal, Hela. Last time I checked mortal men needed to breathe."
"Perhaps I was wrong, but that would still not explain Jean," Hela replied chuckling.
"I wonder if she's using subconsciously using her telekinetic powers to funnel the two of them air through their noses at a faster rate. I would think that would sting your noses something fierce though," Emma mused, her eyes alight with humor.
Harry and Jean reluctantly disengaged at that point with one of Harry's arms going around her shoulders, the other one even more gently going around her waist as Jean leaned against his shoulder, sighing contentedly. As he began to rub the redhead's swollen stomach he asked, "Was that jealousy I heard just now?"
"No, it was boredom. Making out with someone is fun. Watching someone else make out can be highly arousing, too I suppose. But not with Jean as she is right now," Emma said dryly.
Jean pouted, but Harry's rubbing of her stomach seemed to calm her down instantly and she took that hand in both of hers, her thumbs moving along the back of it.
Yet even with a lovely armful of pregnant Jean in his arms, when he turned his attention to the other three ladies Harry was once more all business. "Well, we're all here, what say we get started. What has been happening since I buried myself in the hospital? Give me a sitrep."
The four women exchanged glances and somehow, without any further communication Harry could follow, Jean found herself forced into speaking first. "Well, first of all, we figured out what was going on in China before the war started and why their army didn't have much in the way of real high tech weaponry. Some other criminal types had apparently attacked his businesses and the Mandarin replied by not only taking over the man's business but also by attacking the man's base of operations, essentially taking over the island of Madripoor lock stock and barrel."
Harry scowled. He knew the name; Sir Dennis had told them about it. It was a lawless island, ruled by descendants of pirate princes, small, not very strong at all militarily, but very important to the area and the world at large as a place where illegal deals could be made. It was the sort of place every government condemned, but all of them used. And if he'd taken it over, then the Mandarin would get a cut for every deal that happened there. "How?"
"It turns out Mandarin had held back two of the last three shipments of infantry weapons he had designed and built and most of the rest had been placed into a centralized location by the People's committee. When it came to it, they just couldn't get them to the front."
"That makes some sense," Harry said with a nod. "Logistics is always an issue. But if that's the case, the Mandarin needs to repay the People's Party and the rest of China. His actions didn't really hurt us all that much, after all, he might have designed the Flame-tongue tanks, but he didn't build them and he couldn't control the logistics side of things either. Let China handle that issue, just tell them to get him in line. Just because he was our conduit to them doesn't mean I want the Mandarin to become some kind of international Kingpin or other."
"We've also learned that the Chinese want to buy a lot of those anti-alien scanners that Reed came up with," Emma interjected with a bit of glee. "With Sage's help, I've already penciled in a deal under your name to sell them four thousand of them as an initial shipment with more following after."
"Good enough, but our main priority for those should be Russia for now, spreading out from there," Harry said with a nod, looking back at Jean.
"The EDF is still growing. Over the past few weeks, we've finished work on the cruisers and the last of the frigates of the mothball fleet we acquired from the Kree. They're all being brought online as soon as we finish training crews for them. That's thanks to the sudden glut of worker droids that have been coming out of the factory on fortress Mars thanks to Polaris and Kitty's work there. I was the one to organize that, along with Carol and Polaris and the two admirals.
"The teams are alright, all their wounds of been healed up and all of the material they lost, a few rifles, some daggers and so forth, have all been replaced. We left Thunderbird in place in Genosha obviously, and I took the liberty of moving a few more members of the Custodes Mundi down to help there. At the moment, we and the Marines supplied by the American fleet there are the only ones really keeping the peace between the two factions in Genosha. They are not exactly happy with one another obviously, although I will admit to some surprise at how well the Brotherhood of Mutants is dealing with the fact that they had basically been fed a load of propaganda for almost their entire time with Sinister and his organization."
"Oh, um, Namor has finally reached out to us through the FF thanks to the fact that the oceans suffered heavily under the touch of that winter weapon. Sage is handling him at this point, although he does want to meet with you personally, in order to iron out more details. He seems to want to push for some kind of taxation on all water travel and thinks that he can do so through you, and yet at the same time just wants to know what the hell happened and wants access to some of our technology. It's confusing," Jean finished, looking over at Emma.
She hadn't been involved in that meeting, but she had ridden piggyback style on Jean's mind during it and Emma now supplied her own opinions. "I think it's the fact that his people have never had a foreign policy. They're not expansionist, they have no need to be. They're not even isolationist, again, their isolation is sort of built-in, given how they live on the ocean floors. And it's confusing him I think that they have suddenly realized their isolation doesn't mean that they can't be affected by what happens up here. Before this point, Namor alone was the only real connection between the Atlanteans and the rest of the world. He's not certain that going to continue and is uncertain what to feel about it one way or the other."
Harry nodded, his eyes flicking back to Jean in his lap again and she went on. "More good news is that the team under Dani which was sent after the Mole Man, or the Dire Wraith posing as him anyway, both discovered and forced the Dire Wraith into its normal form before killing it. The Subterraneans are furious and not doing much of anything at the moment other than fortifying their tunnel entrances to the surface world. Reed is talking to them, but there are issues there, because without the Mole Man…"
Harry interrupted, nodding his head once more. "They don't actually have anything like a government or centralized political structure. They're almost as clannish as the Middle East was before World War I. Maybe a little more so. They are not exactly as violent against one another, thankfully, but there are issues there."
"Exactly," Jean said with a nod of her own and a kiss on the cheek. "We're trying to figure out a way to convince them they need someone able to speak for all of them but it's going to be a while before we make any headway there."
"And the original Mole Man?" Harry asked.
"Presumed dead, though the Subterraneans haven't discovered his body yet," Jean replied.
"The Black Panther is also helping down in Genosha," Hela said, speaking up for the first time in the conversation. "He is bringing in aid workers and suchlike, and they've already begun to move refugees back into the port city. There is even some push to have Genosha join the African Defense Organization. However, the populace is not willing to look to Africa, they don't have the best relations with the nearest countries there and to be blunt, Genosha was actually started by bands of slavers shipwrecked there over time who built their own society. They have little in common with the rest of Africa, you could even say that the way they started to look at mutants leading up to this civil war was an extension of their previous beliefs."
Jean looked extremely uncomfortable for a moment, tugging at the long braid her hair had been put into, looking away. "My…my look-alike, my clone, is being looked after by Charles and Xian, that young Asian telepath he took in. Between the two of them, Charles believes they have a handle on her powers, that and a power inhibitor Reed created. Though mentally, that's a different story, one I'm not willing to touch with a four-foot pole. And it's still freaking creepy to think about Sinister having cloned me like that," Jean said with a grimace, shaking her head. "He's very dead right, I mean he is not going to be able to come back, only…"
"I have told you before Jean," Hela said, reaching out to rest a hand on her knee and squeezing gently. "I talked personally to Mistress Death and she confirmed the passing of his soul. Mr. Sinister will not return. His soul is being… exhumed, cleaned before being returned to the wheel. It is not a pleasant thing for a soul to go through, I am told. Especially one which has built up as much of what the Hindus would call karma as Sinister has."
"Who is leading the brotherhood now?" Harry asked, smiling very coldly for a second at the idea of that man suffering like that for an eternity or two before turning his attention back to the conversation at hand.
"An Asian woman named Dragoness has come forward as their leader. She reports - and she's telling the truth, I checked - that the clones of the Marauders are dead. They'd all been pulled back to help defend the tower and we ripped through them. A few tried to escape to sea but drowned there after being hit by several depth charges. The Brotherhood essentially is defanged and, while an organized force, lacks the willpower to do anything but defend itself at this point," Emma said. "We've been in discussions with them and they might be willing to join the other adult and late teen mutants we've relocated to the Savage Land, although we'll have to watch closely to make certain there's no tension with the existing groups of natives and our other settlers."
"The Press Gang is fighting still, and dying doing it," Hela said grimly. "The Marines and the Black Panther's troops have spread out from the port city and they and Thunderbird don't have any mercy for any press gang members who try to keep fighting."
Harry nodded, then glanced shrewdly between all three ladies as Emma went on smoothly. "On the business side of things, we have been getting increasing demands to release the design for our hover technology. I've decided not to let that happen just yet, but to sell various working models of it, which can then be fitted into whatever vehicle they wish, patenting each version in turn. Elsewhere, of course, life has continued…"
"All three of you are trying to soften me up for something and it's very easy to see the elephant in the room here," Harry said interrupting her with a scowl. "Russia. What's been going on with the country that, you know, is larger than a few of Earth's continents?"
Hela twitched, but now it was her turn to lose some kind of womanly mental duel between the three ladies and she answered gamely. "Well first, North Korea began making demands and shooting off missiles at soon as it was clear the war was over. I believe that is the perfect example of a little dog falling silent when a larger more aggressive one is around, but it is still annoying to hear it's yapping."
"Not our problem," Harry said cheerfully. "Unless they're making moves against their mutant population?"
"No, not so much. There are still the normal pogroms and assaults, but Wendy seems to have drilled her team into a well-organized unit by this point and she is handling as many rescue operations as she can without working them all into an early grave. She has requested more people though."
"And Russia," Harry said leadingly now looking very worried. "Come on, you're still stalling."
"I'm not stalling, I am simply leading up to the more important item," Hela said huffily, knowing full well she and the others had been stalling because the news about Russia wasn't good.
"I'll be involved in the Genosha issue because it's mutant related and the Russian issue because that is extraterrestrial in origin. North Korea doesn't matter and while everything else was interesting to hear, none of it was important. Now talk!" Harry ordered.
Hela's eyes narrowed dangerously at his tone and Harry held up a hand, apologizing without words, but then gestured with one hand for her to answer anyway. With another glare which implied that he would be paying for that tone later, she did so. "The European Union, the organization that had been made to meet the demands of the EDF, is now moving into a more permanent thing, a kind of overarching government. However, to get off the ground they need funds and they want those funds to come from Russia, furthermore, they are pushing demands for Russia's dissolution into smaller nations."
"What exactly are the other countries saying? Harry asked, struggling to find a word to describe the various political groups.
"The African Defense Organization doesn't care," Emma said, counting off on fingers. "They didn't send troops or even money or material into the fight against Russia. Most of them are more intent on wooing or possibly even pushing for a full takeover of Genosha. Luckily for us, the Black Panther understands how we would react to that kind of thing and America has very bluntly stated that it's not going to happen. Any imperialism in that direction is not going to succeed."
"The South American group SARU also doesn't care. They've been concentrating on meeting the EDF's material and fiscal requirements too much, too grateful for the two Verdun class space platforms stationed over them to do much else. America and Canada have also both been relatively silent, although there it is, frankly, because they have no idea what they want," Hela took over with a sneer.
"The joys of democracy," Harry quipped, shaking his head. "Still I imagine they'll herd their cats into line at some point in the future."
"The UK is pretty much silent for the same reasons, which means that the only ones that have a clear policy are those who want Russia to spill out its life-blood willingly to pay for its wrong. Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, even China, every nation which was directly invaded is pushing for the full dissolution of Russia. On top of that, they are making demands of money and materials which would beggar even that nation, or indeed any other, for years."
Harry groaned irritably, rubbing at his lightning scar. "This does not make me happy," he said his tone one of deep understatement.
"They think that they can push for America to supply the troops to take over Russia and…" Hela began.
"That's just not going to happen," Harry said sharply. "Russia is too big! Way too big."
"And the European Union can't meet our demands in terms of manpower types any longer," Hela continued, unperturbed by his outburst, merely adding it to the tally he would have to make up for later. "France, Italy, Spain, and Greece are, in fact, making noises about repudiating the agreements reached."
"Germany isn't, they love their arc reactor too much. Indeed they might ask for more, but that is in the future. And of course, Russia is refusing any such thing, claiming to have been unwilling dupes of the alien, the true threat out there," Emma said, scowling. "Neither side is willing to compromise, one because they smell blood in the water and the other because they are fighting for their nation's very existence."
"Thus it is turning into a dogfight and all the while the armies stare at one another across no man's land and everyone is wondering if someone's going to suddenly develop itchy trigger fingers!" Hela growled. "Politicians," she spat making the word into a curse with all of the hauteur and disdain a goddess could convey. "Have none of them learned from their own histories?"
"I rather think that they have, they've simply learned the wrong lessons," Harry said with a sigh. "At least in some cases, although if they are pushing for this then yes, France at least hasn't learned from history at all. But you're right. Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it and I refuse to let Russia become a second Germany."
"Or worse yet, a second Middle East," Jean supplied. "The Russians have areas where there are a lot of other ethnicities, especially in the Balkans, near the borders to Georgia and Azerbaijan. They keep a lid on regional conflicts through main force. Would a military occupation, especially one that had democracies looking over their shoulders, be willing to do the same thing?"
"Not if the Americans run it," Harry shook his head. "But they won't, will they? I know that I said it earlier but…"
He looked at Emma and Hela in particular at that point, knowing the two of them were her his best political advisors. Hela because she was a ruler in her own right – if of a very odd realm - and an incredibly good judge of character without the use of magic or telepathy. Emma had been his economic advisor from the start and that bled over into the social and political scenes.
"You would have to ask Mary Jane," Hela said with a sigh. "I can tell you what I believe the politicians are truly after and Emma could tell you what a few of them are actually thinking but that is all."
Harry looked at her sharply and Emma quickly shook her head. "I didn't go searching around in their minds for secrets Harry, don't worry, no matter how much I wanted to do just that. But I don't have to. A few of them that I met in my Diamond persona or dressed up in my Phoenix illusion broadcasted so much it was appallingly easy to pick up on them."
"There are a few we might want to watch by the way," she went on more clinically, scowling irritably. "Many still harbor anti-mutant sentiments, or simply anti-Harry sentiments. They don't like how violently you have overturned the status quo, despite the fact that doing so allowed us to be in a position to help with this latest issue with Russia."
"Leave that for now. Right off the bat, I want an answer to my initial question," Harry replied.
When she was called in, Mary Jane sounded frazzled, tired and more than a little put-out. But she still had an answer and said firmly, "America will in no way be willing to put up with the price of supplying the majority of troops to occupy Russia. Ignore what the war hawks are saying, that is a strong public opinion that crosses the political divide. Canada's much the same, although they didn't lose as many troops as America did, not having had as many with the NATO forces in the first place."
Harry nodded, looking relieved. "Good. I'll want that in writing later, as well as who in your opinion is the policymaker on this issue, but I'll call you in for that in the morning. Thanks, MJ."
MJ replied in the affirmative to that, then signed off, heading back to a dinner date with Wyatt the call had interrupted. I'm happy to see Mister Harry up and about again but come on, we've been running around ragged for nearly a month now thanks to the war and everything it's caused. I deserve some me time!
Back in the bedroom on High Note, Harry sighed, standing up as he paced, kneading the lightning bolt scar on his forehead, almost tripping between one step and the next. Was it just him, or did his lightning bolt scar feel a little more prominent? Like instead of fading, the scar had become more pronounced. Weird.
Regardless, since he couldn't sense any kind of foreign magic or negative impact on his body or core, he turned his mind back to the Russian issue, considering the matter carefully. "Now is the time for statecraft, as Hela said when she roused me out of the hospital," Harry mused, as if to himself, having possibly forgotten three of his four ladies were in the room with him. "The question becomes, how to make Russia a friend and do so in such a way that we don't insult our existing allies. What leverage do we have against both, what do we want from both and what should we off in turn."
"Truly, you have put your finger on the crux of the matter, my Seidr man," Hela said with a firm, and rather proud, nod.
"It is a sign of a good statesman that they can make friends out of enemies and we need to here. Russia is too big and too important, especially with its hidden factories and their underground tunnel system. Heck, if we can get the Subterraneans to join us through the Russians, that would be even better."
"Yet it is a poor jarl who tramples over old friends in order to make new ones. We must always be cautious of such, lest you lose all the momentum that we have gained in your various enterprises," Hela warned. "Many a war leader or Emperor has made that mistake and comes out of it the poorer."
"True enough," Harry said with a frown, before moving out onto the patio overlooking the jungle set into the center of High Note. There he conjured up two more chairs to join the two already there, conjurations he had made permanent a few weeks before the Dire Wraiths and Russians had started their assault. He sat in one chair, gesturing the ladies to join him, smiling at the scent and sound of the jungle. "So, what should we say we want out of this and how do we get what we really want?"
Emma frowned, looking over at Hela and then Harry as she and Jean joined them. "Well, there will be reparations for certain. Russia will have to pay them and will have to admit it's culpability in this war. They can say they were tricked by the aliens, infiltrated or whatever, but they'll still have to pay."
"What kind of numbers are being thrown about for that?"
"Nothing solid yet, that's part of why everyone's arguing, everyone wants a large chunk of the pie."
"Then that's our first job, to make sure that those reparations are of a limited nature, not beggaring Russia. In fact, we might be able to use that as a feint, make it seem as if we want to work with the Russians to not pay much, but then compromise on how those reparations are to be paid out: instead of money have Russia payout in resources. Oil for certain, natural gas," Harry counted off. "I think I saw an estimate once that said Russia contained something like 25 percent of the world's total resources?"
"The Americans and the Chinese will back that and the Indians as well and I think even the United Kingdom. All of them are going to be unwilling to turn the screws for one reason or another. But another area we'll need to work on is land," Emma said with Hela nodding agreement beside her as Jean sat next to Harry, pulling her chair next to his and leaning her head on his shoulder. It looked as if the pregnant redhead was going through a very touchy-feeling phase at the moment, which was fine by Harry.
"Go on," Harry said with a nod. "I'll need to get brought up to speed on everything pertaining to this issue as soon as possible but we can start from the top."
Emma nodded and exchanging a brief glance with Hela, she began. "Well, I'll start on the economic and logistical side of things. First, the fronts have stabilized pretty well. Thanks to our tech and Stark's, we've been able to create a logistical pipeline, both overland and through the air. That's having a decent impact on the local economies on the allied side of the lines. On the Russian side, they've begun to supply themselves decently enough down in the Balkans and the forces that pulled out of Europe have combined and created a new front around some giant river there…"
"The Volga, you irritatingly blinkered woman," Hela said, the very mild slur coming out with more affection than any real heat. "And it isn't so much along the river, as the head of the river up to St. Petersburg, which is still in Russian hands as Finland has no desire to come anywhere near it and, further, no wish to launch an offensive war. But they have reclaimed much of the land they had owned in decades previous, and that seems to be enough for both sides as, despite their drubbing, the Russians were the ones to open up peace talks."
"Who are the movers and shakers in Russia at this point?" Harry asked, one arm looping around Jean's shoulders, taking almost as much comfort in having her there as she obviously was in him.
"Two members of their Senate and three generals, with the most senior being a member of the State Duma named Ivan Zigersky and a general named Barisov," Hela replied promptly. "I've been watching not only the news but reading Sir Dennis's reports and Sage's on what is going on in Russia since the revelations and we actually have something of an internal ally at this point. A mutant named Sputnik is helping Sir Dennis and Sage, he seems to have been infuriated by the truth of our allegations of alien infiltration."
"Alright, we'll start there, though first I'll get in touch with…" Harry paused then as Hedwig appeared, gliding into the room to land on his shoulder, rubbing her head against his and biting at his hair affectionately, though tugging on it hard to show her irritation at his having pushed himself so hard over the past few weeks.
"It always amazes me how you know exactly when I'll need you girl. And your thoughts are appreciated too. Don't worry, once these political talks are done, I fully intend to take a least two weeks off to just rest and recuperate," Harry said with a fond smile, reaching up to stroke her feathers, as the girls all looked on with faint grins on their faces.
"Which of them is most senior, in terms of the Russian government I mean. Let's make this somewhat official."
"Where? Will we have these talks? Fortress Mars is too militaristic," Jean said promptly shaking her head, taking part in the conversation for the first time. "Especially for the Russians, who haven't contributed anything to its construction, unlike most of the others, at least in terms of materials and food."
"I do want someplace in space though," Harry said. "Here in High Note? We can have them here without having them actually knowing the secret, although we'll have to move High Note afterward in case they figure out where we are in relation to the Earth's rotation."
"I'll help prepare the area in the jungle for them then," Hela concurred. "And maybe some magic on the walls to make them transparent? The view is, after all, magnificent even for one such as I. For the politicians and especially for a discussion that will touch on the EDF and aliens, it will be a most pointed message."
Harry suddenly frowned. "Dr. Doom. I presume Doom doesn't want anything from Russia, other than maybe money? And even that's doubtful."
"No, he doesn't want anything from them or at least hasn't indicated any such to us. Russia is too far from Latveria's borders for him to care about now that they pulled out of Ukraine. There have been some rumbles there, about how a known supervillain and former terrorist is basically conquering other nations around him, no matter the provocation. But it hasn't gotten anywhere in the UN just yet."
"And it's not my problem," Harry said bluntly. "Let Dr. Doom fight his own battles. I'm quite certain he would be rather furious at the idea that he couldn't. Although, if the Subterraneans want to have some kind of access to the surface, but can't reach an agreement with Kazakhstan, perhaps Dr. Doom and myself can help them with that."
"You want anyone on our side of the military involved?" Emma asked, pulling out a personal computer Reed had developed for them, smaller than her paired hands, and typing into it.
Harry frowned, thinking. "Yes," he said at last. "Let's ask General Murphy for the EDF and the coalition commander from the Balkans, plus whoever worked with Steve in Poland. That'll do for the military side of things I think?" He looked at Hela who frowned, then nodded slowly before adding that the Finns might want to bring along a military advisor. "That's fine. But I'll also ask if the Black Panther would be willing to sit in."
That surprise all three ladies and he shrugged. "He and I will probably never quite get along, thanks to bad first impressions, but he is a king in his own right and in terms of the war against Russia, a neutral party. I'll want at least two more neutral parties too, representatives of nations that were not at all involved against Russia. They'll form a quorum and it'll be everyone's job to basically create an agreement that those three agree can work. We'll need to prepare information packets for them and me too, but that will be another job I'll have Sage do."
Hela burst out into laughter, not in humor but disdain, like the cry of a hawk. "You are making a mistake Harry Potter to believe that everyone wants something that is fair and just."
"What they want and what they need are two different things and both are different from what they'll get," Harry said grimly. "One way or another, this war is not going to flare up again and there is not going to be any kind of enforced occupation of a country that dwarfs the entirety of Europe! It would be a recipe for disaster, the kind of grinding incessant guerrilla warfare that the Americans saw in Vietnam on a scale that I don't even want to think about. That is the objective here ladies, to make sure that doesn't happen, to make sure that the Russians sign on with the EDF, and to make certain that humanity focuses on the threat up in the stars."
"And social changes too, Harry," Jean interjected firmly, leaning away from him to glare into Harry's eyes. "We're getting back to that whole 'don't ignore old allies' thing. The Russians are one of the worst nations for how they treat their mutants. We need to change that, or else assign two or three teams the size of Stinger's to them fulltime to try and get all the mutants that the Big Book of Students finds out before they can be killed."
"Agreed," Harry said with a nod.
"We can tie that into other demands on the social level," Hela said. "Mary Jane said something interesting about that, so you might want to check-in with her as well and to figure out who to bring along on the American side, which she has a far better handle on than I. The president is an obvious one, but I think she said something about the House of Representatives Speaker or something like that, I can never keep the democracies' various titles in my mind, oh, and the new Speaker of the Senate not being a real power in the Senate any longer? Something about some kind of scandal recently brought to light."
"In America that would probably just be another Monday wouldn't it?" Harry quipped.
"Ouch," Emma and Jean, both Americans and rather proud of it, said as one, reaching out to smack Harry on the shoulders then laughing.