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Steve stumbled a little as he came out of the teleportation doorway. I am never going to get used to those, am I? Captain America then straightened his tie, and smooth down the front of his best suit, as he made his way from the teleportation room down through Hogwarts.
He waited a moment at the entrance to the runic doorway room, then smiled as it opened for him and a house-elf bowed to him from the other side. "Mister Steve Sir, I's be Darry. If you want, I'd be taking you down the street to the groom's room?"
"Thank you, but no, Darry I rather think I'd like to walk it. Although you could give me directions?" Steve replied.
Darry did so, and Steve walked to the nearest flight of steps heading downwards. As he did, he listened, shaking his head at the number of distant voices, the pitter-patter of feet large and small, the voices of teachers in the various classrooms as he passed by them, some of them all the same, showing those classrooms were being taught by Pinoptes. The wedding was a small thing to the majority of the people living in Camelot. School and learning continued all the time, the school last extracts are that Ororo and Pinoptes put together running like a well-oiled machine by this point.
He walked by several groups of students, sixth and seventh graders, who are going about their business from one classroom to another, carrying books that look like science books to Steve's eyes. Several of them smiled, and a few even gave him salutes, which he returned gravely, keeping a smile off his face with difficulty. As he passed them by, he asked, "how many students are here at this point?"
There was a faint pop, and Darry's voice answered him. Steve had been told at one point that most visitors had a house-elf assigned to them unless one of the magic users was with them. "More than two thousand kids be here now Mr. Stevie." Then he popped away again.
"No wonder the place feels so alive," Steve muttered to himself, shaking his head again as he waved at a few students heading up the stairs as he was heading down. They all cheerfully greeted him in several dozen languages, their looks showing Indian, Middle Eastern, European, South African, and Asian descent.
There were no doubt a few Americans in among them, but despite what a lot of people actually thought, American accents were normally not strong enough to be picked out of the crowd of English speakers. And thanks to the spell on work on the castle, all of their voices no matter what language they were actually speaking reached his years as English.
And this is only the younger half Steve thought, with a faint smile on his face. He knew there were at least 600 older students by this point, ranging from starting high school age up into the college years. Many of those students, those who could be trusted to look after themselves among non-mutants, or who didn't have physical deformities were preparing to transfer to Charles his mansion and would be doing so slowly as dormitories were added to his complex over the next few months.
Others, the vast majority, were in the Savage Land taking part in lessons and ongoing education there. These were run mostly by Pinoptes with Ororo's aid in creating the lesson plans. It was an amazing sign to Steve that Harry had kept all of the educational side of things going, growing and becoming more organized and simply better thanks mainly to Ororo and Pinoptes of course, with all the other balls he was juggling.
Eventually following Darry's directions Steve found a room on the first floor labeled the groom's room. Inside, Steve was amused to find that the interior, of what must have been at one point been an office of some kind, had been turned into a man cave. There was a giant TV on one wall, showing some kind of game, which Steve eventually placed as rugby, which Steve sneered at good-naturedly. His nod toward his American upbringing done, Steve took in the rest of the room, seeing there was a bar to one side. Ben was there leaning on it and staring at the screen with boredom written large on his face holding a beer in one hand, the bottle looking almost childlike in his massive paw. There was a pool table to one side, where Harry and Piotr were playing, with the quiet Russian apparently learning the game from the wizard.
All of them were in tuxedos of course, with dark blue undervests, and shiny black shoes with small dark blue lacquered buckles on them. Instead of ties, they all wore cravats, the same black as their tuxedos to offset the white that dominated the ladies' outfits. Even Harry wore a similar outfit and had spent an irritating 20 minutes with the house elves getting fitted for it the day before. His grumble of, "I just don't understand why I can't just transfigure something," had caused even the lady house-elves to stare at him as if he was retarded, shaking their heads and clucking at him.
Now Harry didn't look up from where he was directing Piotr how to take a shot, simply waving his hand at Steve. "Grab a beer, the games just getting good too."
"What, no pre-wedding jitters, no getting cold feet? It seems to me that is almost as unnatural as your magic," Steve teased as he moved to the wet bar, exchanging a nod with Ben.
At that, Harry paused, looking up at the ceiling trying to put into words why he wasn't nervous about this. "In a way, this is simply sitting in stone was already been packed for months, it feels more like a natural step then a true change of state I suppose you could say. No, I don't feel nervous at all. Although you're right, it is kind of strange."
"And can you say the same about the women?"
"Emma yes. Jean, not so much. For obvious reasons alas," Harry replied with a sigh, feeling his lover's distress through their telepathic link.
OOOOOOO
Indeed flying in the face of all tradition the bride was feeling quite calm about everything. If anything she was feeling eager to get this whole folderol over with. Emma was all for romance, but weddings to her mind were just a sort of necessary step. Nothing would really change, it was simply to acknowledge that her and Harry's relationship had reached that point. Something that they already knew, and which frankly she felt was no one else's business. So Emma was calm, staring at herself in the mirror with a faint, satisfied air.
Elsewhere, in their own ready room, Jean grumbled, staring at her reflection. As the chief bridesmaid, she was dressed in a dress that was the same color of white as Emma's, even if it wasn't nearly as elaborate. The dress in question was wide trapped dress draped from the shoulders on down to just below the knees. It was tight in the waist, but loose around the legs, and over it, Jean wore a jacket that was cream colored bar a few red highlights here and there.
"All right, I know I said this a few months ago, but now no one with eyes could possibly argue with it! I look like a freaking blimp!" Jean's mouth quivered as if she was trying to cry for a moment before she shook her head angrily. "I know that with Emma there no one should be looking at me, but damn it, I look like a tethered blimp dressed in white! Part of the freaking scenery instead of an actual part of the wedding!"
Hela and Emma both rolled their eyes, as Ororo, dressed for her role as priestess rather than bridesmaid, shook her head at the emotional outburst. "If you believe that, you are both truly blind and rather foolish. You look gorgeous my dear. Perhaps not sexually, but there is a distinct glow about you, one that has been given to you by your current status." Jean pouted, and every woman there was able to follow her train of thought without the use of telepathy.
Deciding to head it off, Ororo let a wicked leer cross her face, an odd look for the regal black woman yet she somehow made it work. "And if you think you would look better in that wedding dress when you're thinner, why don't you just keep it around and have it retailored in the future. I guarantee that Harry would enjoy some role-play of that nature."
The other two ladies laughed, which caused Jean to pout at them all, before sighing and nodding her head. "I am being rather ridiculous aren't I?"
"Just a bit. But don't worry, pregnant women always get a free pass about such things. In fact, you could probably get away with a lot more than you already do. I know I would." At Emma's suggestion, Jean chuckled, before Ororo, seeing that Emma was nearly ready, excused herself and Emma turned to glare at Hela. "And you. Is there any reason why you haven't yet changed into your dress? I know the house-elves got your sizes right."
"I don't wear white," Hela declared. "With my skin tone, it makes me look like a wraith. I have told you this time and time again."
"And I have told you that you don't have a choice. You will stick out like a, a black rose in a bed of white, and not in a good way either! You need to wear it, or else just not take part in the wedding," Emma threatened.
Hela huffed, waving at Emma's dress. "As if anyone is looking at the bridesmaids during a wedding. You will not get your way on this Emma Frost, leave it be. You might be stubborn as the day is long, but you cannot browbeat me."
"Want to bet?!" Emma hissed. "I didn't even want this wedding in the first place, and now you, who helped push for it, is going to wreck my color scheme?"
Jean shook her head, taking a step back. "Oh, don't mind me, I'll just wait to clean up the blood afterward." Neither arguing woman even acknowledged her, and she chuckled, moving over to sit in a chair with a sigh. This looked like it was going to be a long one.
OOOOOOO
Back with Harry and the others looked up as there was a knock from the doorway. Harry called out "Come in." Then he realized a man would've just barged in, and looked around at everyone, before adding, "We're all decent."
At that addition, the door opened and Sage came in. She was not dressed for the wedding. She had been offered a spot among the wedding-goers. While unsung in many ways, Sage had become one of the most important parts of Harry's growing power base not just with Magical Minds but with everything else, the EDF and the Empire he was slowly building. Which still needs a name darn it.
But she had refused. Weddings apparently were not her scene. "Not unless you went full Goth," she'd joked at the time, before allowing a thin smile on her umber-painted lips. "Although I might be interested in seeing Hela get married. I've researched some of what I can of old Norwegian style weddings, and that sounds like it might be interesting."
So Harry was a little surprised to see her, and by the wry quirk of her mouth – the most expressive part of her face given she always wore ruby-tinted sunglasses almost like Scott's that doubled as projector screens, it wasn't entirely good news that brought her here. Especially since I still have two days of vacation after today. Emma had insisted on adding another day to their vacation, so they could have their honeymoon and a day to recover.
Harry was kind of insulted that she thought he'd need an entire day to do so and had said so. Emma however simply laughed. Her eyes had become half-lidded, and she had played with her bottom lip in such a way that Harry had been unable to look away. "Challenge accepted."
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important Harry," Sage answered his unsaid question before he could voice it. "There are three things I wanted to bring to your attention before you actually get back to work and are then inundated by other things. Because I think once you hear, they will shape your workload for a while, and I want you to be thinking about that now before you officially go are back on the clock."
Harry rolled his eyes, but nodded, and sat down in one of the nearby plush chairs, while the others all made themselves comfortable, with Steve and Ben making no move to set their beers down. In turn, Harry made no move to ask any of them to leave. If this was about something they wanted to be kept secret, Sage wouldn't have even mentioned it after seeing how many people were in the room.
"Lay it on me," he said expansively. Harry was in a very good mood and refused to let this sudden intrusion of business-related stuff before it's time get to him.
Sage smiled, and slid into the chair across from him, crossing her legs as she leaned back comfortably. She then twitched her fingers, and a bit of light disappeared from one of her sunglasses' lenses, indicating she had just turned them off and was no longer concentrating on who knew how many things via those computer display glasses of hers. "First, I think it's time for you to get more involved in the lawmaking aspect of the Babylonian Empire."
"It's named now Harry asked, while the other one man in the room mouth the name.
"You're taking too long. It's a working name anyway. I would suggest though you figure out a new name quickly before it becomes like so many other temporary things: permanent in all but name."
"Good cause I don't like all the connotations of that name. And what do you mean I need to be involved?"
"Well for one thing, the lawyers are spending more time arguing about the minutiae of the wording of this or that law. They need to be smacked upside the head, and they won't listen to me or Carol. And for another, they are putting far too many laws on the books. Especially laws occur that are made to curtail the power of the individual in charge, i.e. you," Sage replied dryly.
Harry growled, leaning back. "All right, that's a good point." Perhaps if his empire wasn't going to be built on the premise that humanity would be at war for much of its continued existence, the idea of limiting the individual in charge's power would be a good idea. As it was, no.
"You're openly calling it an Empire now," Steve interjected, setting his beer down.
"You have the Emperor, me, who has basically created this Empire through his own work and hands, if in a far different manner than Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan," Harry tapped his chest. "And we will have several different, very diverse and far-flung holdings, countries eventually, all with an overarching connection in the form of a few bare laws and the defense of the whole. Eventually, we'll have multiple societies, ethnicities, etc. Many of whom will have little to do with one another but will still be beholden to me for the creation of their various colonies and to the EDF for defense. And in no way do I want to let the various colonies make their own space defense forces. I'm trying to cut down on the various divisions among humanity, not add to them. So, empire."
Steve winced. A good American, he much preferred democracy, but he reminded himself that Harry was right. The mutant question was basically dying out the world over as the violent pro or anti factions were hammered under by the powers that be. The Middle East was still a major question mark, and Russia had only just begun to meet its obligations in that area for the medical supplies it wanted from Magical Minds. But so far, Harry was still the biggest player in the game in terms of employing, training and helping mutants. That wasn't going to change anytime soon, as far as Steve could tell, not with the head start Harry had on recruitment and education side of things.
That left the space-based threats. And there again, Harry was the only name in the game for a simple reason:
stepped up to the bedplate about it Harry said, shrugging his shoulders. The countries of the world had basically been doing the equivalent of sticking their heads into the sand and going 'La la la it's not real' since the moment that the Fantastic Four adventures had proved that aliens were out there and very dangerous. They had barely begun to provide funding for SWORD, the space-based version of SHIELD, and that had never gotten off the ground because the various countries just couldn't trust one another to run things.
"Are you sure you need to build on the idea of becoming an empire instead of a nation?" Ben asked, crossing his massive craggy arms. "I mean, with magical transportation, I would say that regardless of how far apart they are everything can be tied together really easily."
"Yes, transportation between them is instantaneous thanks to magic, but even so, few people are going to transfer from one place to another for a while. I've talked to hundreds of workers up in Fortress Mars, and their families all decided to live with them rather than I the Savage Land. But I have hundreds of others that want to live in the Savage Land, hidden and protected and able to contribute from there. The laws and ordinances have to be different. And that's not even considering how many offers of requests to create different colonies I've been getting."
"That was my second point," Sage said interjecting quickly before Harry could explain that the bemused group of men, none of whom had heard about that point just yet bar Steve, and he'd only heard about the Americans wanting to build their own base on Mars. The only one who didn't look at all surprised by that aspect was Piotr, who had already heard about it.
"We've been getting more and more requests to talk about colonization since the Eurasian War ended. Religious groups for the most part, who want to set up a colony where they can, for various reasons, be left alone to see to their own affairs."
Harry grumbled, shaking his head. "This isn't a charity. It can't be, I don't have the resources for that." He knew his voice was almost a whine as he said that, but it was true dammit. Even with the time chamber turning out about four hundred repair droids every other week, he was still nowhere near where he wanted to be when it came to his industrial capacity. The training for the human portion of the space industry was also becoming a real bottleneck, both on the military side of things and the engineering side. There were way more people signing up for the various levels of training/retraining than were coming out of it. That was one area magic couldn't help, unfortunately.
"I think the thorniest request along those lines comes from a group of Buddhist Tibetans. At first, they were requesting our help, to gain independence but after we shot down the first few people who brought that up, there have shifted to helping perform a mass migration to a prepared colony."
"I thought the majority of Tibetans were happy enough with Chinese rule," Harry asked quizzically. "I haven't made a study of it but…"
"Not quite," Sage's voice was dust-dry as she interrupted him while Ben coughed into it one large fist and Steve and Piotr just looked on in confusion. Like Harry, they were pretty ignorant on this topic. "The Dalai Lama is a major divisive figure in absentia pushing for more local autonomy and protection of the existing ethnicity, and the Buddhists are not happy to be under the aggressively anti-religious Chinese. And there are dozens of others. Some who represent interesting groups, groups that may be able to contribute a lot in the future, including prospectors who just want a ship and access to space to a South American thinktank that has some interesting ideas I think we should have Reed look at about actually creating and bio-forming as they put it, colonies. I think we need to look over their applications carefully Harry. I realize the cost now would be higher than any immediate return but in the long run, I think some of these groups could contribute a lot."
Harry stroked his beard, thinking. "Okay, I can see where that would be an issue, however, again, we're running right into the same thing I don't have any colonies to give them. Fortress Mars…" he said holding up a hand when Sage made to object, "Is just that. A fortress first and foremost. Military bases only with the people there being military personnel and their dependents. I'm not going to quibble about that.
Piotr held up a hand. "How long do you think it'll be before you are able to create colonies?" He hadn't followed anything on the space side of things. The former farmer knew his strengths, and that wasn't one of them.
Harry paused thinking. "…I would say it would depend on what these groups mean by a colony. If they want a hollowed-out asteroid to call their own, I can provide that within a few weeks. The construction droids will finish hollowing out the last Ravenspires, soon enough, while most of the fiddly bits aren't even finished on the first and second carrier fortresses. The welding and engineering teams have started on the second one, and the first is near to completion, but…" he shrugged. "So yes, we could provide the bare minimum for say, a certain gratuity off the bat if that's what they want. But I won't be responsible for the first buffoon who thinks that they'll just be handed a finished, completely set up colony. They must be willing to put in the work to finish things, and it won't be safe or easy."
Steve barked a laugh. "Luckily Harry, I think that message should be among the easiest to get across."
"You'd think so wouldn't you," Harry laughed in turn, although there was more of a sharp edge to his bark of laughter than actual humor. Then he looked at Sage shrewdly. "I've noticed you haven't mentioned anything about pro-mutant or anti-mutant stuff."
"I have not," she said with a smirk. "The reason for that is simple enough: because there haven't been any issues. Oh, there is a lot of bad feelings on either side of things down in Genosha but we're on top of that. Thunderbird and Morph have been freaking godsends there if for different reasons, along with the US aid that's been coming through. Frankly, without people on both sides instigating things, the extremists are becoming more and more isolated the world over now. Heck, even that one group we were monitoring thanks to how violent they are, the Purifiers have been taking hits, several of their recruiting offices were raided recently and their leader is now on America's Most Wanted."
The smirk shifted into a real smile at Harry and then she did something that surprised him: she removed her data-display glasses locking eyes with Harry earnestly, her eyes a deep, almost liquid black. "A few years ago I would've never seen this coming, I thought the battle between mutant and non-mutant would dominate my entire life. Now, barring a significant setback, and I don't see one coming, mutant equality under the law at the very least if not socially is going to be a reality through most of the world. I won't say mutants with physical deformities won't be ostracized bullied or any such stupidity, fat and ugly people are routinely bullied after all. But it won't be on the societal level and hate groups are now on the outside looking in. Non-powered humans and mutants can maybe, just maybe start to live together without fear."
Hearing that from Sage, who was routinely a pessimist on such things, Harry smiled and leaned back, happy for an entirely different reason than before. One aspect of his self-appointed mission in this world looked to be well on its way to completion. The second, well the second was probably going to take the rest of his life, but it was certainly a good sign of things to come. "And your third point?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"The Russian government wants to talk to you. They sent a representative to Magical Minds, somehow, I don't know how they got him to the UK without anyone realizing it, but they did. They want to purchase hover technology from us and wish to talk about further business dealings."
"Purchase?" Harry said frowning quizzically. "Are you sure about that wording?"
"Yes," Sage said with a smile. "I caught that too."
"I don't get it," Ben asked while the other two men looked just as confused. "What are you talking about?"
"If the Russians wanted to, they could already have gotten design schematics or possibly even a complete sample of our hover technology given how much it's been used in the ambulances and so forth since the Eurasian War. It is not like our medicine where they simply can't reproduce it. It might be tough for them to reproduce it on their own, but they could do it. If they are actually asking, that means they want something else on top of it. And are willing to pay for whatever it is too. And you say one of the representatives is willing to just wait on my convenience?"
"Yes, that was significant to me as well," Sage said dryly once more. "Especially since is it Professor Moran Kirov of the Duma."
"Ah, next time lead with that," Harry breathed, remembering the mild-mannered man in glasses who had basically taken over the Russian delegation in the peace talks on High Note through intellectual legerdemain. "Okay, I'll bite. Set up a meeting for the first day I'll officially be back on the clock. Make it early, eight or seven, something like that. Tell him I'll be bringing some other people along with me though. Piotr are you up for this? I'd like an interpreter on the social level to make certain I'm understanding everything he's asking and how he's doing it."
Piotr frowned, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "While I appreciate the vote of confidence tovarisch, I believe that I am not the best person for this. While I am Russian, I was a peasant. I do not have a strong enough grasp of Russian society as a whole and know next to nothing about our politics from the inside of the beast. Would Father Garnoff do instead? You know he has been approaching you to ask if you would fund a mission of his back into Russia."
That had been the case for a while, but since the Eurasian War ended, Garnoff had changed his requests from Harry aiding him in a secret mission into Russia to restart his Underground Railroad, to an open mission to preach cooperation and unity. Being reminded of that, and realizing the rightness of the idea, Harry grinned, looking over at Steve. "See, this is why I always listen to Piotr. There is most decidedly a brain in that big lug of his."
Piotr chuckled, as did Steve, nodding his head to the big man while Ben slapped Piotr on the shoulder lightly.
"You're right," Harry went on. "This might be a perfect opportunity to kill two Shi'ar with one stone." He didn't elaborate on what he meant by that though, saying instead, "I'll talk to blind faith after the wedding, get him used to the idea before we go to work. Anything else?"
"Two more minor points I wanted to give you a heads up on because you haven't been answering your mail during the past few days. First, King William is going to be stepping down formally Mid-December. He has requested your presence and Ororo's at the coronation ceremony for his son."
Harry's head reared back and he stared at her in shock. "I knew it was coming, but… okay. I can understand."
Sage shrugged. "I predict he'll still be a special advisor to the crown for a while, but yes, he'll be stepping down."
"Actually I don't think he will be. Sage looked at Harry quizzically, and Harry shrugged. "If anyone has earned the right to just set his burden down and walk away, William has. Three World Wars now, the whole Mutant Question, helping to oversee the breaking up of the British Empire as peacefully as he could he's been through it all. And frankly, I don't know if he's got many more years left in him at all, let alone in the driver's seat. No, he'll cut himself off entirely, devote himself to his grandchildren and possibly his memoirs. And more power to him."
While Steve nodded firmly, almost wistfully and the others simply nodded Sage frowned then shrugged. "You know him better than I do obviously."
"I do indeed," Harry said, smiling wryly. "He's been an excellent king and an excellent man which is sometimes far harder, for far too long. I think it's time he removes one of those hats."
"My last point is that we've been getting queries from China, the United States, and now Russia, about releasing some of our technology on the spaceship front. But I doubt you've changed your opinion on that."
"No I haven't," Harry said very firmly. "There are way too many problems with that, starting with the fact that they don't actually have the capacity to build ships yet. None of them have been able to figure out a way to get into space that doesn't rely on my largess and again I don't want to reinforce the existing powers that be. This isn't the Americans wanting their own base on Fortress Mars, that was a good and done deal, which both sides benefited from, them more than me admittedly, but still. This isn't even about the fact they think they could do a better job than me. It is once more about the whole one man shouldn't have all that power thing again. No. Just no, I am not releasing any of that technology to anyone."
Steve frowned. "While I would prefer to stand up for Uncle Sam and say your stance doesn't have much merit, considering the fact that the secret work on revamping the Iowa classes hasn't even been finished yet to they could work as planetary defenses fortresses, I'd have to say you're right. Still, handing over some of the ships might be a good idea Just training vessels strip out their weapons, get people used to everything."
At this point, Jean's voice came into all of their minds as one, a gentle poke at the back of their skulls, though pointed for all its gentleness. "That's enough of that Harry. Today is Emma's day, and you do not want to think about what she would say if she learned that you were thinking about business before seeing her coming down the aisle."
Harry winced, then laughed responding down the telepathic connection with a sending full of wordless affection and love for Jean, Emma, and the others. Then with that most important message delivered, Harry went on, amusement plain in his mental voice. "You know, for someone who was so against the idea of marriage, she seems to have gotten caught up in this whole hullabaloo in the past few days."
"Of course she has, silly man," Jean replied, her own mental tone loving yet exasperated at the same time. "It's part of the joys of being a woman."
"What, changing of the drop of a hat?"
The telepathic poke this time was as gentle, and Harry winced as Jean's voice came back in a much firmer mental tone. "No Harry, taking joy in being wedded to her love. Or one of them anyway." Despite the droll tone of the last few words, Harry could feel the true depth of emotion behind them.
At those words Harry just nodded, send back another wordless wave of affection, and stood up, using magic to pull twist his tie into place, then staring at the nearby mirror. He tried to comb his hair once more, having done so before Sage had entered, and yet again it was messy once more. Darn it. His hair seemed to fight his efforts and even magically, he couldn't make any headway. Messy it is then, he thought, then squared his shoulders, and looked around at the other men. "Gentlemen, I have been told that it is about time for us to get ready. And it would be very unbecoming if my bride reached the altar before I was there to wait for her."
Ben laughed, clapping them on the shoulder. 'Heh true that." Steve also smiled, and set down his beer, hopping to his feet as Piotr did the same.
Once they reached the altar, Piotr fell in beside Harry as best man, and the other two slid out to the side, as they had been told to do so by the wedding planner, in this case, Ororo who was also acting as the priestess. The queenly African woman was dressed in a white sari, which wound around her body and then up her chest over her shoulder, leaving one shoulder bare while covering her other arm down to her forearm in white cloth. The necklace and Panja ring Harry had made her gleamed against her chocolate skin, and she had decided to wear a tiara of burnished gold to hold back her hair. She was a vision of beauty to Harry's eyes, and he wondered how Emma was going to top it.
She smiled at them, then leaned forward and kissed Harry on the cheek, a stark departure from the normal way a priest or even a priestess should greet the groom when he arrived at the altar, but one no one here even blinked at. "Prepare to be mesmerized," she quipped, before taking her place at the altar.
At those words, the wedding march played in the background and he turned to look, and it took all of Harry's self-control not to gape.
Emma's wedding dress was somewhat simple in design. It was a white off-the-shoulder dress, made of silk, lace and ripples and designs that Harry had no idea how to describe. It hugged her body tightly at the waist, while somehow doing the same to her chest without becoming sexual while being simply gorgeous. The hem of her dress flowed behind her held off the ground by Melody and Illyana, both of whom were grinning at the duty in white dresses of their own. She'd done something to her hair that made it bounce on her slightly tanned shoulders in loose ringlets, shining in the sun. She wore the jewelry Harry had created for her along with an emerald and diamond necklace that looked like something a queen would have worn during the Middle Ages.
To say that Harry was indeed mesmerized was putting it mildly.
OOOOOOO
At the same time Emma was walking down the aisle a ship came out of hyperspace, well out into the hyperspace bubble of the solar system. This was deliberate. The hyperspace maps of this area of space that the Shi'ar Empire had access to were not very good, and under those circumstances, some caution was necessary.
Or at least, for most of those on board it would be necessary, the captain thought to himself, looking over at Gladiator as he stood at the back of the bridge, his arms crossed. Gladiator wouldn't have been injured by anything they could've run into in hyperspace. Indeed, the only reason why he had bothered with taking a ship at all was distance. Gladiator could cross the distance around the solar system as fast as a Shi'ar could cross a medium-sized garden, but there was a vast amount of difference between that and crossing between star systems. Especially from one portion of the Galactic Arm to the other which was the case here. For that, you needed hyperspace travel.
Especially when considering the distance we've come, the captain mentally groused, shaking his head. Damn it, our holds were full of reactor mass, and I honestly can't say if we have enough to get back. Not at the same speed we went out anyway. When calculating hyperspace speeds, the faster you went and the farther you were jumping both effected the amount of fuel you used. For a ship their size on a trip like this, two weeks in four long hyperspace jumps followed by twelve smaller jumps, they'd burned through the equivalent of an entire year's worth of patrol missions. I wonder if these primitives have any we can repurpose. Doubtful I suppose, according to what reports we have the humans haven't even escaped their gravity well yet.
He was about to say something to Gladiator to tell them that they had finally arrived, when several of his sensor specialists hissed in shock and began to jabber at one another in quiet tones, rechecking and checking their systems. "What is it?" he growled instead, striding over to them.
Gladiator followed, one dark purple eyebrow raised in surprise at the sudden frenetic activity. "Have the Kree or the skulls moved in already? That would make my job slightly harder."
"We have multiple ships out there, what looks like a mid-sized flotilla that is currently diving into the outer edge of that gas giant. We're getting readings of power signatures from several different points around the solar system, not just from the third planet, the one called Earth. And there's something…"
A second later more data appeared, and the man scowled. "Captain, we have the earth here, blazing with all the energy of a pre-space industrial society, but then we have this. This is the fourth planet from the sun, and it is blazing with almost as much energy as the Earth is. Though that could be because of the fact it no longer seems to have much atmosphere to diffuse the energy signals. There are other signatures scattered around, but we can't make out much more detail for them at this range."
Gladiator shrugged. "The humans seem to have spread into space then?"
"Maybe, but the reading I got off that one ship before it ducked behind the planet, it looked almost Kree."
"Regardless, our mission does not change. If the humans want our help in forcing the Kree out, then perhaps it will make my job simply easier."
The ship moved through the solar system until it was just passing the orbit of the outermost planets, two of them, one of which had an orbit which dipped into and out of the Oort cloud, at the outer edge of the system. However, as they passed the second planet, a nasty little ball of nothing, they were hailed. A ship came into view at the far edge of their weapons-grade sensor suite and sent out a pulse of tachyon based communications.
"It's on a Kree frequency, but it doesn't have their encryption and come with a translation key. Isolating and activating it now," said the communications specialist quickly. He reached up underneath his helmet to scratch at his feathers for a moment frowning as his computer worked on the words, translating it. "Attention incoming vessel. You have entered Terran space. Please state your intentions, or you will be fired upon."
OOOOOOO
Aboard the bridge of the cruiser Valiant, Captain Josiah Drake, originally of American descent and one of the first batch of officers to come through the EDF's training regime was not exactly happy with his orders. Yes, the ship that had popped out of hyperspace was a design they'd never seen before, so they shouldn't fire on it right off the bat, that was obvious. But he would much rather have preferred to make this approach backed up by as many Ravens as they had on hand. Instead, the Ravens were being held on the other side of the Teleportation Gates ready to be sent into the closest gate, but not yet on the field of battle.
That left his ship out here like this. Is this what it feels to be one of those birds miners take into the mine to see if there's any danger? It isn't a nice feeling at all. Still, he had his orders. "Send the first contact package again, and our request that they cease acceleration.
OOOOOOO
Gladiator and the captain exchanged looks, and then the captain guffawed, while Gladiator simply shook his head. "Such hubris, from a race that has only barely gotten out of its own gravity well? Foolish."
"Could it have something to do with how they turned aside Galactus?" the captain asked, sobering somewhat.
"Doubtful, that was apparently done by a team of four super-powered individuals. I do not believe they could have their powers to all this. Ignore them," Gladiator ordered. I will address these humans once we are in orbit over their planet."
"They may fire on us," cautioned the captain.
"And if they do I will destroy them," Gladiator said simply. "I believe it is time that these humans realized how small they are in the large, large universe." The Shi'ar all around him nodded and grinned at that, slamming fists to chests as they shouted "Majestor Rex!"
OOOOOOO
As he waited for his Admiral to make a decision on what to do next, Drake examined the ship ahead of him through his scanners, frowning faintly. It really did not look like anything they'd seen so far. For one thing, from what his sensors could tell the incoming ship was slim, streamlined with a central cylindrical body. Going from his light refraction scanners it was painted silver of all things, instead of black or gray. It looked almost like a Romulan bird of prey from Star Trek, but not quite. The wings were tented upwards rather than downwards, the head was very much more obviously shaped into a beak, and all of its weapons seems to be mounted in that beak and around it, a few on the neck, but that was all.
His sensor specialists seem to think there were a few more hidden under panels on the wings, but at best they would be secondary defensive weapons. Shield blisters here and there along its back, but that was all.
The ship also moved like lightning though. It had already crossed more than half of the outer system, faster than anything the Kree or the Badoon had shown.
As the ship continued forward ignoring his message and actually quickly letting his ship behind despite his helmsman's best efforts to cut back and into the system. But that wasn't his main concern at the moment. "Communications?"
"Captain, I know they received the package, translation software and all. But they are not responding," That worthy replied formally.
So not only are they deliberately not talking to us, but they are also ignoring my ship given the fact they even were able to get here, their senses have to be just as good as the Kree's. And they just kept on going towards where the simulacrum of Earth was, several days ahead of where earth really was hidden under the magical spells of the boss and the other magicals. Drake didn't pretend to understand how they'd been able to do that, but he knew they had, as he'd seen the results. Even shotgun-style attacks like the one the Badoon had launched could only hit Earth very lightly at the edge of the attack, which would've been dangerous enough, if not for the more active defenses.
No, Drake wasn't worried about Earth just yet. He was worried about what this ship might entail. It wasn't a large ship, it wasn't firing on him, it was just ignoring him. Was it a scout ship coming in to get readings and then send them off somehow? If so, they'd soon realize that wasn't going to happen.
"Sir," his communications specialist barked. "Admiral Powers has ordered the Hyperspace Trap activated and is going to be sending in a few Ravens to help out along with two of the frigates working through their trials in Saturn's rings. We are to assume the incoming ship is hostile if they do not immediately start to communicate with us or open fire upon the frigates."
"Relay my understanding of our orders please coms," Drake replied, grateful for the clear cut orders. At least he wouldn't be left out to dry if things went wrong. Which he was very afraid might happen. Something about this situation was making his hair stand on end, a feeling of unease that did not decrease even as the trap activated and the ravens came through the Teleportation Rings.
On the bridge of the Shi'ar ship, this was immediately apparent to the sensor specialist. "Sir! Massive gravitic signature just… By the Majestor!"
"Calm down and give me a proper report you sna'grataah (unfertilized egg)," The captain snarled, looking over at what one of the sensor specialists, appalled at the lack of decorum.
"Gravitic spike," the man repeated. "It just popped up like, like a second star had just appeared in the system and reached out for us personally. It seems to be creating a cone of space where any attempt to jump to hyperspace impossible. We can't hyper out or even send out a drone!"
Scowling, Gladiator asked, "Where is it coming from? This is an act of war!"
Technically it actually wasn't, not even by the Shi'ar Empire's extremely lax rules, but the captain wasn't about to say that. After all, these were primitives. Whatever their level of technology, they were still primitives. They were not an Empire they were not a power that should be taken seriously. They were simply a single system polity, apparently one with delusions of grandeur. They would have to be taught the error of their ways.
The Shi'ar Empire did not have the phrase 'the nail who stands out gets hammered down'. But it was certainly a term of phrase that the Shi'ar would understand.
"Extrapolating the energy wave, it is originating from the fourth planet, the one with the energy signature which nears that of Earth's."
"Twist our heading towards the fourth planet then…"
"New ships incoming! Where the hell they come from!?" The sensor specialist suddenly shouted, interrupting the Praetor of the Imperial Guard and not noticing, so great was his surprise. Three dozen small ships had just appeared out of nowhere over one of the outer gas giants and were moving towards them from the port side. They were gaining on their ship, moving faster than them, something that shocked the captain tremendously.
Their size made Gladiator dismiss them, though the captain did not, and was now suddenly looking very worried. Then two more ships came out from within the ring of the largest gas giant, moving to intercept them, having hidden within so well they hadn't noticed them, occupied as they were by the fourteen plus ships moving around the blue-tinted gas giant. Both were of Kree design and were frigates rather than the light cruiser which had been dogging their trail, but even so that was certainly an escalation. And they had to respond appropriately.
Gladiator' s teeth appeared as he snarled, shaking his head. "Prepare to launch me. I will destroy those ships."
"My Lord, are you certain?" The captain asked.
Gladiator looked at him in surprise, and the captain shrugged. "I understand why you think this is an act of war, and I fully understand and agree with the fact that these people need to be put in their place. But, shouldn't we at least reply to their hails before doing so?"
"No," Gladiator said, and the captain shrugged. He'd given his objection, now whatever happened was on Gladiator's head, which was precisely why he'd spoken up in the first place. He didn't honestly believe that these humans had any right to defend themselves against the Shi'ar people. What kind of quixotic universe was it where the weak felt they could demand attention from the strong without consequences?
Within moments, Gladiator was in the hangar bay, the hatch behind him sliding shut. Vacuum opened ahead of him, and he flew out, accelerating to near light speed within seconds of leaving the ship. Two seconds after that, he had crossed the intervening distance between himself, and the first ship that had made itself known to their sensors.
Captain Drake had barely an instant to see on the scanners that the thing shooting at them faster than even a gauss round was sort of human-shaped before it slammed into his ship's shields and through them without even slowing before it crashed into his ship's nose. An instant later, decompression occurred, and the emergency runic arrays on his and most of his crew's emergency teleportation devices activated, teleporting them straight into the holding center on Fortress Mars.
"Well fuck me!" he shouted, as he appeared there, pulling off his helmet and shouting, "Someone get me a headcount!"
It turned out, that he had lost two hundred and thirty men and women in that first attack. They had been struck through the head or heart by debris from the ship as Gladiator cored right through it from head to tail. The rest of his crew of nine hundred had escaped.
However, the individuals on the two frigates that Gladiator turned his attention to in the next few seconds were not nearly as lucky. They'd reacted, twisting away from him, opening fire as several of the Ravens also took him under fire with their graviton beams but he simply flew through them slamming into and through them in turn. One he took through the middle, the other at an angle from above.
By that point, most of the Ravens had scattered and after only catching five of them Gladiator was satisfied he had gotten his message across, and he stopped in his slaughter, smirking slightly and then turning his attention towards the distant Earth. "Captain, pull back to the outer system," Gladiator ordered as the remaining Kree warships twisted and flew away from him. "I think they have gotten the idea. Now to deliver my demand."
With that, he flew towards the earth.
OOOOOOO
The wedding ceremony was small and had been kept deliberately so at Emma's orders. Ororo had given a brief speech full of the word love and then Emma and Harry had both been asked the penultimate question. Harry was just about to say, "I do", or words to that effect - he in fact it had about a paragraph ready and waiting to go - when Big E stood up from where he had been sitting in the audience. He had asked to watch the proceedings as he had yet to see a wedding and had seemed to enjoy it as a new example of human interaction, but now he spoke up in a very loud, commanding voice.
"Your pardon. This is not an objection to your being wedded Harry and Emma, however, I believe that the rest of the galaxy is not willing to give you time to enjoy your nuptials. Pinoptes has an unidentified ship in the system. Hostilities have begun and the ship has just launched a human-shaped Super soldier of some kind. We have lost Valiant, the Dauntless, Incorruptible and ten Ravens that had been sent out to support him. The rest of the ready fleet is scrambling backward away from this unknown superpowered fighter, but he has ignored them, and is turning towards Decoy Earth."
"How many dead?" Harry asked, turning away from Emma with manifest reluctance, while she looked as if she was torn between shock, rising horror at the fact that their people were dying while she was walking down the aisle, and rising anger at both those facts.
"No confirmed kills among the Ravens. The emergency teleportation activated in time. Portions of the crew of each of the two frigates and the light cruiser have also survived," E said, his robotic voice sounding furious, the AI's ability to emote startling no one among this select company. "We have confirmed missing among the crew of all three ships, more than half in the case of the Incorruptible."
"And he's going for Decoy Earth?" Hela asked sharply. "This is not a magic-user we're dealing with, then."
"Negative, he is indeed apparently going for the Decoy Earth. So too was the ship before Fortress Mars activated the hyperspace trap."
"And when they did?" Harry asked while the wedding-goers were looking on in shock.
"It immediately rerouted to Fortress Mars but didn't take any overt action until the ravens showed up on their radar from the Teleportation Gate, coupled with several of the other ships moving to intercept them. At that point the human-sized being they launched attacked, and hostilities commenced."
"Hostilities commenced? I think you need to broaden your nomenclature E," Harry said with a sigh as he mentally went through a list of the people he'd want to send where. "And why was I not warned about an unknown ship in-system?"
E shrugged. "Admiral Powers and General Murphy knew you were being married at the moment Harry, so they didn't want to interrupt for a false alarm. Pinoptes relayed to me a report the instant shit hit the fan. Your orders?"
"Better," Harry said with a nod. "And as for my orders…" He looked at Emma apologetically. "Sorry about this love, but I think duty calls."
Emma nodded coldly, her hands clenching and unclenching, but that was the only sign of her rising wrath. "Jean and I will be standing by, in case this enemy is one that is somehow shielded against your magic, but not mental attacks. But Potter," she mock-growled, allowing a faint smile on her face as she leaned up to wrap her arms around his neck. "I will demand my honeymoon dammit!" It was rare for any of Harry's three lovers to get him all to themselves of a night, and she had been looking forward to it.
Harry chuckled at that but nodded and kissed her hard but lovingly on the lips. Then he pulled back, winked at Ororo, and intoned formally, "Since it does need to be said, I do, a thousand times I do."
"Oh right, erm, me too. I do," Emma stammered, having forgotten where precisely in the ceremony they had been interrupted such was her anger.
"In that case. I pronounce you man and wife. Now, let's go save the planet." Ororo said clapping her hands once even as she rose into the air.
Mary Jane leaned over to Wyatt. The two of them sat on the groom's side of the aisle and had been invited to 'stop by if you wanted', which MJ had grabbed at with both hands. "is it just me, or does it kind of shock you at how blasé she just sounded when she said 'save the planet'?"
"It's a half shocking and half very uplifting," Wyatt replied, shaking his hand and standing up slowly. He doubted he would be called in on this one. "After all, you perform at any job better once you have experience."
"This is going to be a space battle," Harry said as he led the way towards the castle, flying now with Ororo beside him with Piotr dragged along below him via a spell. "Piotr, did you test that jetpack we made you?"
"I did tovarisch, and I am more than willing to see if it will allow me to have enough mobility in space to help."
"Good." He looked around and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that Jean had not followed them. She was with Emma, the two of them walking towards the castle. Thank God that's not one argument I won't have today.
"Oh don't worry, I've learned my lesson," Jean said, having sensed that mental thought down their telepathic link. "It's a wrench, but I can't be out there with you until the twins are born."
"Thank you love I'm sorry it has to be that way, but it does."
By the time Harry and Jean were finished talking, Ororo, Hela, and Harry along with Piotr and the Thing were within the environs of the castle. From there they entered the gate room, teleporting to Babylon, and from there, Piotr put on the jet pack while they were joined by the Johnny Storm. Of the Fantastic Four, he was the only one who could participate in a pure space battle with any ease, although he had also brought along a jet pack for the Thing created by Reed Richards. It was a little bulkier than the one Piotr was wearing and was more powerful but not as durable because it wasn't made Orichalcum like the one Harry and Jean had created for Piotr.
Harry took a brief moment to dress into his Crysis Suit, then enchanted "Magia Erebea," shunting five percent or so of his magic into strengthening his body and strength. After all, this being had just torn through capital ships so it was obviously powerful.
Then, the group of Custodes zoomed out into the distance from Earth, towards where Harry and Ororo, could see the Decoy Earth, like a heat haze in the distance.
"Are we going to try and talk to this shit?" The Thing grunted. He'd been enjoying the ceremony and had been looking forward to a great feed, and to have been interrupted by news of people dying in space was harsh as hell.
"Once more. After that, I don't care what the fuck he's here for, this person killed my people. And he has to pay for it," Harry replied grimly. None of his fellows had any objections to that, not even Johnny.
OOOOOOO
Gladiator frowned, as he looked around him. His physical senses weren't as immensely powerful as physical prowess. He couldn't see for light-years or even beyond a single small planet's horizon. But even so, he could tell there was something strange going on here. This earth he was racing towards didn't have anything in orbit, but he could see some orbital works out in the distance, some kind of small satellites or something of that nature, obviously defensive installations, although nowhere near the number he would have expected if the humans had spread to a second planetary body in their system. The placement is also strange. Why would they put those defensive satellites out there, rather than around their actual planet? Is there something I can't see in the distance? Or is there something else going on here?
Still, Gladiator set that aside, as he came closer to the planet. Then when he punched through what should have been the outer atmosphere, he halted instantly. Because that hadn't felt like any outer atmosphere he'd ever felt. It had felt more like running into a tiny electrical current or something, not the physical atmosphere of the planet. Scowling, he looked around him, and then down as the image of the Earth he'd been going towards disappeared. "By the Majestor, what in the world… how… some kind of cloaking technology? But on a planetary level? How is…"
Then he was attacked from one side, a blast of plasma-like flame impacting his side as someone shouted, "Flame on asshole!" their voice coming to him despite their being in space.
The heat blast slammed into Gladiator, but it was nothing to what he had dealt with before and he laughed at the sight of the humanoid encased in fire. "I have delved through the heat of a busy nebula! Do you think your pitiful flames will…"
That was as far as he got before a sword appeared out of nowhere, and a woman strode forward as he dodged under it, where it would have sliced across his forehead. It actually cut some of his hairs off, which was surprising in and of itself, but his hair had always been the least durable aspect of him, and he raised a hand trying to grab the blade, twisting it to the side. The blade did not cut his skin and he smiled, but the woman pulled it out of his grip and swung in again, faster than any of the Imperial Guard could have moved.
Yet Gladiator was faster still, and he smacked the blade to the side, a kick crashing out into the human woman tossing her backward gasping. He was about to follow up once more when he was once more blasted in the side by some kind of energy beam. This time he actually felt some pain, but not a lot and he turned, growling.
In front of him was another human, wearing a matte black uniform, which would have made him almost invisible in space to most save for the flame of the Human Torch, with silver highlights at the shoulder and joints. His face was covered too by a mask, and his visor gleamed with a dark green light. It gave him an overall dangerous appearance, but if the human thought that Gladiator was going to be intimidated he was sorely mistaken.
Three more people appeared to either side of this main target. Two were large as Gladiator, one encased in a silvery metal while the other seemed to be made of orange stone. But if they relied on strength alone, they were no threat to Gladiator. The fourth man was slimmer, and with a strangely less emotional face and seemed to have skin made of a different kind of metal than the larger metal-clad warrior. Unlike the other two, he seemed to move under his own power and wasn't as physically imposing, so Gladiator didn't know what to expect from him.
At the same time Gladiator was staring them down, Harry was looking at him. The purple-skinned alien floated in space easily under his own power with no helmet or anything else in sight. He was wider and taller than Colossus, his heavily muscled form held within a dark red uniform and red cloak that looked like something out of the comic books. His hair was also purple if another shade of it and was done up in a tall mohawk.
"My name is Guardian," Harry said his voice almost sepulchral from under his mask, as he stared at the purple mohawk individual in front of him. "You have attacked my people in what amounts to an act of war. I'm giving you one final chance to back down before we start using lethal force. And before you ask, no, neither Hela's sword nor the Human Torch's attack equates to lethal force. That was about as close to a hello is she is liable to give you at the moment. The Torch, well he's just as fiery as his body is at the moment, so doesn't seem to have gotten the memo about my wanting to try to talk once more."
Hela scoffed, but it was true enough. Johnny gave Guardian the finger while keeping his eyes on Gladiator.
Harry was not surprised when the creature hovering in front of him simply laughed and pointed at the Human Torch. "I am here to talk to him and those who work with him. Allow me to do so, and this conflict can end with your simply being subjugated by the Empire. Keep this up, and I will simply kill you all, and then goes in search of Mr. Fantastic, I speak for the Shi'ar Empire, and I will not be dissuaded, or threatened."
"Nor even attempt to speak to us as an equal?" Hela growled, her lips twisting into a snarl as her eyes narrowed behind her half-mask. "You speak as a conqueror Sir, yet do not think that we will go quietly into that dim night."
The purple-skinned alien shrugged. "I am Gladiator, Praetor of the Imperial Guard. I am the Majestor's steel fist. If you fight me, you'll simply die tired."
"Let's find out," Harry said coldly, no longer in any mood to banter words with this man.
With that, the battle was properly joined, and Harry launched a massive blast of power, the siege breaking spell to start off with. "Fragor unda fortitudine!"
Gladiator took the magical blast on his chest thinking it was simply an expression of kinetic energy, and in the main it was, only to find himself being tossed backward through space, feeling pain for the second time in that fight. He was surprised by that, but whatever attack that had been hadn't been able to get through his basic durability all that much, and he laughed wildly before flying forward.
He was fast, faster than Colossus of the Thing could move, and as he closed with them, it was only the fact they had trained together occasionally and that both were trained in hand to hand that allowed them to block his first few blows. Even so, Gladiator pushed them away from their fellows a bit then decided to do so deliberately as the others started to attack him with various energy attacks from all sides. Grabbing their fists, Gladiator carried them back even as he traded blows with them, putting entire lightyears between himself and the others, pushing them out and away from the Decoy Earth.
Once he was satisfied the others couldn't interfere fast enough Gladiator stopped holding back, using all his hand to hand skill to get through the paired defenses of the two super-strong humans. They were only able to block the first few blows, while Gladiator dodged and ducked under fire from the one with the cape and the other two, including the one who had given his name as Guardian. Then one blow connected, and Colossus gasped in shock as he was hurled backward despite his jetpack's best efforts to keep him in one place, the metal of his Juggernaut armor having saved him from significant injury. But to the shock of all, it buckled slightly under the blow.