Pax Elysia Chapter 25: Hunting season

The sirens wailed through the underground corridors of the SGC, red lights flashing against steel bulkheads. Soldiers dropped whatever they were doing and rushed to their stations. The control room filled with light in seconds as the wormhole blossomed to life, a shimmering blue light rolling outward in a violent vortex before stabilising.

“Unscheduled off-world activation!” Sergeant Harriman barked, hands flying over the console. “Tracking the wormhole origin.”

“Do we know who?” General Hammond leaned forward, voice clipped.

“Receiving now, sir… It’s from Chulak.”

“Apophis’ throne world.” Hammond muttered, frowning at the stargate.

Weapons clicked into place as the iris slammed shut over the Gate. The room went quiet, every ear tuned to the heavy hum of the active wormhole.

“Sir, shall I shut down the Iris?”

“No.” Hammond said, knowing Apophis was already captured.

Through the rippling event horizon stepped a figure who looked like he had walked through centuries of war.

An older Jaffa, his head shaved, face scarred, his stance radiating the confidence of a warrior who had fought for decades. He wore no helm, only battle leathers and the symbol of Apophis scarred but crossed over with fresh markings. In his hand, he carried a staff weapon, lowered but ready.

“Stand down,” Hammond ordered his men as the soldiers raised rifles. “Welcome back, master Bra’tac.”

“General Hammond.” Bra’tac nodded.

The soldiers lowered their guns while Hammond welcomed Bra’tac into the facility.

Minutes later, the briefing room was filled with tension. Bra’tac stood at the head of the table, towering even in his years. SG-1 sat opposite him, Hammond presiding.

O’Neill leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.

“So… you came all this way just to chat?”

Bra’tac ignored the sarcasm. His eyes burned with something fiercer—something closer to grim hope.

“Chulak burns,” he said. “Not from Goa’uld fire. From rebellion.”

Daniel Jackson leaned forward instantly, as did Teal’c.

“Rebellion?” His voice was eager, breathless with the promise of what it meant.

Bra’tac nodded.

“The great shipyards of Chulak, where Apophis forged his fleets, have been destroyed. Fire consumed them. Entire motherships collapsed into molten ruin. The loyal Jaffa stagger under the blow. Already, whispers rise among the people—that Apophis is not a god, for his works were undone in a single day.”

Teal’c’s expression was unreadable, but his fists clenched on the table. “Destroyed? By whom?”

“That is the question,” Bra’tac replied. “The Jaffa who yet serve Apophis claim it was the work of devils from the stars, wielding power of flame and storm. The rebels—my brothers—believe it is a sign that the Jaffa are ready to embrace their freedom.”

Jack raised an eyebrow.

“Devils from the stars, huh? Doesn’t sound familiar at all.” he shot a look at Carter.

“These devils… what did they do, Bra’tac?” Teal’c asked.

“I only know this from the word of some human slaves who witnessed a fight between Jaffa and these devils. They claim that some of these devils can stay invisible, conjure fire and bolts of power that cause things to explode. They somehow also escaped using unknown means.” Bra’tac explained.

Sam’s mind was already working ahead as she started to piece together the identity of these ‘devils’. But her focus shifted to the information Bra’tac shared beforehand and its implications.

“If the shipyards were destroyed, Chulak would lose the capacity to build motherships. At least for the foreseeable future. That changes the entire balance of power among the System Lords.” Sam observed.

Daniel pushed his glasses up.

“Bra’tac… this rebellion—how widespread is it?”

The old Jaffa’s eyes glinted.

“It grows with every passing hour. Loyalist Jaffa fight in the streets, but the spirit of resistance is strong. For the first time in centuries, my people dare to imagine a life without the Goa’uld.”

“Chulak rises in rebellion.” Teal’c’s voice was low, reverent as it was something he only dreamed but was now fast becoming a reality.

“Indeed.” Bra’tac said with a smile.

Daniel cleared his throat after exchanging a look with Jack, his intention clear. Jack nodded slowly, giving permission to reveal what they knew.

“There’s something you need to know, Bra’tac. About these… ‘devils’ from the stars.” Daniel said slowly, gaining the old Jaffa’s attention.

“Speak.” Bra’tac’s gaze sharpened.

“They’re not devils. And they’re not Goa’uld. They’re…”

“You did it?” Bra’tac asked with an impressed look.

“Actually, we didn’t.” Daniel rubbed the back of his head with an awkward smile.

“Wish we did. Would’ve been grand if we could go all biblical on the Goa’uld,” said Jack, earning a confused look from Bra’tac and Teal’c, while the rest of SG1 just looked at him unimpressed.

“What?” Jack asked, seeing the looks on his friends’ faces.

“Those snakes deserve some good ol’ smiting.” Jack said with his head held high.

“Jack.”  Hammond said with a pointed look, exercising great self-restraint not to facepalm by this point.

“All right… all right.” Jack waved his hands and petulantly turned his face away.

Daniel shook his head and took a deep breath before bringing the conversation back to relevant details.

“These people… they call themselves Elysians.” Daniel explained. “They’re from a planet called Elysium. They have strange powers. Real, tangible, terrifying powers and technology that rival the Goa’uld. They’ve already fought Apophis, and as I understand it, they’ve captured him alive. The same happened to Amunet.”

Hammond noticed Dr Jackson left out the Elysians’ claim of being descended from the Ancients. He subtly nodded at the man, showing his approval. While he trusted Bra’tack and Teal’c to some extent, that trust didn’t extend to all the other Jaffa.

Besides, he felt sharing their knowledge of the Elysians with Jaffa might not sit well with the Elysians themselves.

“Apophis and his queen are now prisoners in this Elysium?” Bra’tac asked with a growing smile as he learned of Apophis’ fate.

“Yes.” Daniel nodded.

Bra’tac now lost all suspicions about these Elysians. After all, Apophis was his most hated enemy, and without him, the Jaffa rebels stood a better chance at freedom in Chulak. He could already see their cause getting strengthened once he spread the word of Apophis’ capture among the Jaffa.

“So, what happened to your wife? Is she safe?” Bra’tack asked, looking at Daniel.

“Sha’re is safe. The Elysians removed Amunet from her body.” Daniel said happily.

“That is good to know.” Bar’tac nodded before his eyes gained a sharp edge. “These Elysians… do they intend to claim Chulak as their domain?”

Daniel looked at Jack and Sam with a thoughtful expression.

To tell the truth, Hammond was also curious about that. He filed that question away in his mind as he intended to find out whether these Elysians held expansionist ambitions. The Pentagon would undoubtedly ask that question once the information about the attack on Chulak reaches their attention.

“We don’t think so. The Elysians have not behaved like an expansionist empire as far as we know.” Jack answered.

“So, these people will help us fight the Goa’uld?” Bra’tack asked eagerly at the prospect of a powerful ally capable of fighting the Goa’uld Empire on equal terms.

“Yeaah! That part about helping us fight the Goa’uld, I’m not so sure about with these folks. They’re more like the Asgard on steroids in this regard.” Jack said, earning a number of disapproving looks from his friends.

“Jack, they helped us when we were in trouble.” Daniel reminded his friend.

Jack folded his arms, adopting a serious look.

“Look, I’m all for anybody knocking Apophis down a peg. But you gotta wonder—what’s their endgame? Nobody throws around that much firepower without a plan.”

“Maybe we should ask them,” Sam said with a shrug of her shoulders. “They seem to have built a good rapport with the Tok’ra, so I doubt they’ve got any ill intentions with Chulak or any planet.”

“You know, I always go with the advice of that old TV personality, ‘Trust but verify’.” said Jack with a sigh. “It’s also interesting that the Tok’ra never told us their friends were going to hit Apophis’ ships. Don’t you find that interesting, Sam?”

“Well, sir, we’re not exactly informing the Tok’ra of what we’ve been doing in missions through the stargate now, are we?” Sam asked back, but Jack only responded with silence.

“Good point.” Jack admitted with a flustered face.

“So, a summit?” Sam asked, looking at Jack curiously.  

“Why not?” Jack shrugged while drumming his fingers on the table. “We’ll have to convince General Hammond to make contact with the Elysians and the Tok’ra.”

Now, every eye in the room turned to Hammond.

“I can find no fault in it. I’ll have to convince the President, though.” Hammond said.

“That’s the easy part. The hard part will be convincing the Elysians and the Tok’ra to come to Earth.” said Daniel.

Even Sam nodded as they knew how secretive the Elysians and Tok’ra were in their dealings.

It took SG1 a few days to convince the Elysians and the Tok’ra to agree to a meeting. The most difficult to convince were the Elysians. They were even less than happy when SG1 showed up at Svoriin.

Hammond stood facing the gate at the agreed-upon time by the two arriving dignitaries. The stargate activated suddenly and started locking in on different chevrons. The portal formed with the standard whooshing sound.

“Sir, we’ve got the signal. It’s the Tok’ra.”

Stepping through the stargate was Grashaw, followed by two unknown Tok’ra.

“Welcome to Stargate Command, Councillor Grashaw.” Hammond extended the greetings with a pleasant smile.

“The pleasure is mine, General Hammond.” Grashaw nodded. “Have the Elysians arrived?”

“I’m afraid not, Councillor. But please, accept our hospitality until our last guest arrives.” Hammond nodded at Sam, who proceeded to lead the Tok’ra into the base.

The stargate activated soon after, and a couple of unfamiliar figures stepped through, even though they received the signal confirming the origin from Svoriin. The one leading them was not Marshal Potter, as he expected, but an older man with a sharp look in his onyx eyes.

“I’m General George Hammond. On behalf of the President of the United States, I welcome you to the Stargate Command of Earth.”

“Well met, General Hammond. I’m Oscar Truman, a member of the High Council of Elsyium. I’ll be filling in for Marshal Potter in this summit.”

Hammond nodded and shook hands with the man who was dressed in a long coat, black pants and a shirt with a sleeveless jacket. The large hat on his head, adorned with a long feather, reminded Hammond of several circus characters he used to see in his childhood, but he quickly dismissed the thought.

“May I ask what happened to Marshal Potter? We were told he’d be the one attending the summit.” Hammond asked curiously.

“Marshal Potter is otherwise engaged in a personal matter.”

Hammond chose not to pry further.

“I see. Then please come join us, Councillor Truman.” Hammond said, leading the Elysian dignitaries into the meeting chamber.

“We have only come because of our interest in what the Jaffa rebels you mentioned have to say. We have serious concerns about the Jaffa rebels and what they hope to accomplish in Chulak and other Goa’uld-controlled planets if their rebellion spreads.”

With all the dignitaries gathered for the summit, they could now begin what would be an interesting talk.

*******

Harry leaned over the controls of the Puddle Jumper, the small shuttle hovering a few dozen feet above the ground. His green eyes narrowed as he scanned the sensor array, which fluttered and beeped wildly. The jumper swept past the deep forests of Africa, chasing after a creature that was giving the ministries on Earth a headache.

“There,” he said, pointing.

A faint shimmer in the distance under the light of the twilight sky indicated the Nundu, the legendary beast they had been tracking for hours. Even from this distance, its aura of pure danger radiated like a living thunderstorm, and the trail of carnage it left in its wake led them straight to it.

Tonks, seated beside him, grinned despite the tension.

“Looks like someone’s having a bad day. I hope you’re ready to play monster-catcher, Harry. Because that thing is enormous and its hide could put a Hungarian horntail’s hide to shame.”

Harry didn’t reply immediately.

He was focused on chasing after the Nundu, which was leaving a trail of smashed trees and a poisonous forest in its rampage. The ministries of Africa had tried to transport the creature to Elysium safely, but it evaded capture and was now threatening to break the Statute of Secrecy.

As the issue became too sensitive, the remnants of the ICW, which had handled the transfer of Earth's magical population into Elysium so far, reached out to him for help. Once Harry learned it was a Nundu on the loose, he was immediately interested in joining the hunt.

Not only was it an opportunity to meet a rare magical creature, but it was also an opportunity to flex his magic somewhat against one of the most dangerous magical creatures on the planet.

Besides, he was getting bored with hunting space snakes. Hunting a big cat the size of a hill was more exciting.

Two Aurors, Marisol Kane and Theo Vance, sat behind them, wands in hand, looking determined to face the fight ahead.

“Honestly,” Marisol muttered, voice tight with excitement, “I thought you were joking when you said we were hunting a Nundu in Africa tonight. I’ve handled dragons, giant spiders, and dark centaurs… but nothing like this.”

“Relax,” Tonks said, smirking. “It’s basically a big furball with an attitude problem.”

“It can kill you with a single breath.” Harry deadpanned.

“Minor detail.” Tonks said with a dismissive wave.

“Focus. We need to take the Nundu alive and preferably transport it to Elysium today itself.” said Harry as he manoeuvred the jumper in between several jagged hills.

The Nundu, sensing their presence, paused and let out a low, rumbling growl. From this distance, it was impossible to hear the sound properly, but the magical tremor in the air made Harry sit up straight in the pilot seat.

He could see that the ground itself seemed to tremble under the might of the creature.

Tonks leaned forward, her eyes glinting with excitement.

“Well, this is it then. Harry, ready to play the hero?”

Harry flicked his wand discreetly, sending a faint protective ward around the Jumper.

“Ready. But this isn’t a game.”

The beast lunged before they could even react, moving faster than human eyes could track. Massive limbs churned the earth, and a gust of wind swept across the Jumper as it closed in. Marisol gripped her seat with both hands as the jumper trembled under the violent gales of wind that sliced through the air.

“I thought the ship was invisible?” Marisol screamed.

“It is!” Harry yelled.

“Then how did it know?” Theo asked, clinging to the jumper as Harry navigated the ship through the debris and crushed rock thrown by the Nundu.

“It may not see the ship, but it can see us.” Harry said.

“How do you know?” Tonks asked.

“Because it can see magical energy, and it’s looking straight at us.” Harry said, pointing at the two massive yellow eyes trained on their invisible ship.  

“Trees!” Theo screamed, pointing ahead as he looked through the glass window on his side.

Harry already saw the Nundu, the crafty bugger he is, sneakily uprooting a bunch of massive trees using its tail and taking aim. He swiftly pulled back the jumper and set it carefully upon a cliff.

The inertia dampeners of the jumper were the only thing that kept them upright after coming out of the jumper. Otherwise, they’d have thrown up by now.

“Oh, Merlin! It’s coming this way.” Theo warned as the Nundu charged straight towards them with an angry growl.

“You guys charge the enchanted net. I’ll keep it distracted.” Harry said as he stood at the tip of the cliff and stared into the angry eyes of the charging Nundu.

Harry raised his wand straight at the massive Nundu charging on all fours. The magic cackled into life at the tip of the Elder Wand in his hand.

Lightning arced from his wand, striking the Nundu midstride. It roared — a deafening, resonant sound that seemed to shake the night itself — and the blast barely slowed it. Harry followed it up with a couple of exploding charms, the air crackling with energy.

The Nundu snarled in rage as its hide was bombarded with massive explosive spells that annoyed it. The creature opened its jaws and breathed out its poisonous gas. There was no warning or sign that the Nundu was using its most potent attack, save for the corrosive effect the creature was having on the forest before it. All greenery withered and died before its poisonous breath and Harry knew then the Nundu was using poison.

Harry concentrated on his magic and jabbed his wand forward. A vortex of wind formed from the tip of his wand, which turned into a massive storm which blew the poison gas straight back at the Nundu.

The Nundu stopped charging and reeled back as its own poison was turned against it.

Harry noticed the Nundu was uncomfortable with the poison gas. But contrary to his expectation, the Nundu just turned tail and ran away.

“Smart cat.” Harry said with a sigh.

But he couldn’t allow the Nundu to escape, so he assumed his spirit form. His body dissolved into specks of white vapour and streaked across the sky, chasing after the Nundu. Bolts of lightning crashed into the Nundu’s hide one after the other as Harry cut off the Nundu’s escape.

He called forth a mighty bolt of lightning that pushed the Nundu several feet back. Volts of electricity arced through the tough hide of the Nundu. Slowly, the creature’s movements became sluggish as Harry persisted in his attack. But the Nundu remained stubborn and refused to go down.

Theo and Tonks joined him on brooms and started bombarding the Nundu with consecutive stunning spells on its head. The relentless barrage of spells finally managed to push the Nundu to its knees as it partially collapsed on the forest floor.

It was at that moment that Tonks, Theo and Marisol started to bind the Nundu’s body with the enchanted net to suppress its magic and force it into sleep.  

Harry transfigured the forest floor into earthen hands and used them to bind the limbs and the tail of the Nundu. The gigantic cat growled in displeasure and struggled against the physical restraints. It still tried to fight off the inevitable.

Seeing the Nundu still not giving in, Harry gathered his magic in his left hand and converted it into plasma.

“Okay, big guy,” Harry said through gritted teeth, “time to nap.”

With a yell, he hurled the attack against the Nundu, which struck the creature straight between its eyes.

A massive explosion levelled the forest. It thrashed sluggishly for several heartbeats, then went still. A plume of smoke and electric crackle rose from the ground where it collapsed. When the dust settled, the Nundu was softly snoring and no longer struggling against the restraints.

Theo focused, reinforcing the wards.

“The restraints are holding… for now.” Theo said after inspecting the net binding the Nundu.

“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you catch a magical super-predator! Who’s buying drinks later?” Tonks whooped, raising her wand in triumph.

“We’re alive. That’s… enough for me.” Marisol exhaled shakily.

Theo checked the creature’s magical readings.

“It’s unconscious. Completely immobilised. But alive — good work, Harry.”

Harry lowered his wand, breathing heavily. Sweat and magic-scorched hair plastered to his forehead.

“Alive,” he repeated. “That’s the important part. I wonder why this one gave this much trouble, though. I’ve seen other Nundus arrive at Elysium’s wilderness, and they were docile.”

“Nundus are wild and violent most of the time. Some rare exceptions prefer the company of wizards or even sleep all day long.” Marisol explained, wiping the sweat built up on her forehead.

“I see.” Harry grunted.

“I’ll call in the charms specialist. It should now be easy to drag it into a warded space and transport it through the stargate.” said Theo.

“All right.” Harry nodded at the auror. “That means I have some time to kill. Anyone coming with me to Hogwarts?”

“Sorry, Harry. Our job doesn’t end until the Nundu is transported through the gate.” Tonks said with an apologetic smile, which changed into one of mirth. “Besides, no one here wants to interfere in the great Harry Potter’s love life.”

Harry just snorted. He turned around and apparated straight inside the jumper. Taking the pilot’s seat, he guided the jumper into a flight vector and punched through the air at high speeds.

His destination, his old school – Hogwarts.