Pax Elysia Chapter 20: Abydos P2

Harry and the others observed the activities of the Goa’uld fleet of Tel’taks flying over the largest settlement close to the pyramid.

“Sir, three Tel’taks have landed troops using transport rings. They’re clearly Jaffa.” One of the curse breakers said after observing the settlement using a pair of omnioculars.

Harry picked up the omnioculars and zoomed in on the transport rings. He saw Jaffa, marked with the symbol of Apophis, escorting two people. To his surprise, he found one of them was a woman, and she was heavily pregnant.

The woman’s face was familiar, and Harry immediately remembered something from the SGC files he pulled from Earth.

“That woman is Sha’re. She is now the host of Goa’uld Amunet. The one walking beside her must be Apophis.” said Harry, after handing the omnioculars to Fleur.

“The Goa’uld are vulnerable now. Should we launch an attack, sir?” came the voice from his wrist device.

It was Officer Parks, using the subspace channel to communicate without alerting the Goa’uld.

“No. They’re too close to the civilians. We’ll wait this out.” Harry said.

That was exactly what they did. Despite the advantage they had with Spitfire cloaked in orbit and one of the System Lords under the range of ion cannons, Harry enforced restraint.

The reason was simple. Even if he were to kill Apophis and Amunet with some civilian casualties, the whole process would be for nothing. It was not as if he had the army to subsume Apophis’ empire into the Elysian Federation. The bulk of his forces were already working overtime to assimilate Heru’ur’s domain.

Even if he were to ignore that glaringly obvious flaw, he’d still be committing the worst strategic mistake ever. Taking over Apophis’ territory without a plan would only invite the wrath of Sokar. The latest intelligence the Tok’ra gave to him suggested Sokar was on the rise and was in the process of conquering Apophis’ empire. It was all but certain Apophis would lose to Sokar because Heru’ur had already engaged Apophis with his forces and weakened the Goa’uld for an attack from Sokar’s forces.

Obviously, with Heru’ur under Elysian control, that partnership with Sokar broke down. So, Apophis had a slight breathing room now that he only had to deal with Sokar. AT the same time, they suspected Sokar might turn on Heru’ur’s holdings since they were in conflict before, and a tacit understanding to attack Apophis was the reason for peace and partnership between them.

But Harry suspected it was a little too late for Apophis to regain the initiative in this war. Sokar would no doubt press his advantage instead of opening another front against Heru’ur.

Whatever the case, the last thing he wanted was to get into a quagmire fighting the Goa’uld empire. So, he chose to observe Apophis and Amunet from a distance.

Within the hour, Apophis boarded a Tel’tak and left Abydos’ atmosphere.

They waited for a little while in the chamber before the confirmation came from Spitfire that Apophis’ mothership had left the star system.

“Officer Parks. Do you have a visual on Amunet?” Harry asked.

“Yes, sir. She, along with some Jaffa, is all that remains in Abydos.” Officer Parks informed him.

“All right. Send the Jumpers to inspect the moons. Send more crews to scour this planet for anything valuable. Also, send a combat team to my location.” Harry ordered before terminating the comm link.

“What’re you going to do?” Fleur asked, feeling her friend was about to do something with the Goa’uld.

“Don’t you think we should pay a visit to the Abydosians and properly greet the Goa’uld queen?” Harry asked with a smirk.

They quickly made the preparations for confronting Amunet and the Jaffa guarding her. The curse breakers were left behind in the treasure chambers as they were tasked with moving the artefacts into the Jumper. While this happened, Harry led a team of three Elysian soldiers through the desert to the Abydosian settlement near the pyramid. They were not wizards, but they now possessed Merlin’s evolution gene, which would ensure their progeny would be magical.

Though the three men in his company were not magical, it didn’t mean they were defenceless. Their tactical suit was more than enough to take out Jaffa warriors. Like all Elysian technology, the tactical suit required the Merlin gene to access its higher functions. It was an all-weather suit with the most powerful charms and enchantments woven into its fabric. It also hosted a naquadah power source, giving it automatic energy shield protection, inertia dampers, anti-grav thruster boots and even a limited flight system.

For offence, the men carried their plasma rifles and short swords for close combat.

Together, the four of them traversed the desert and converged on the position of the Jaffa surrounding a large tent. The civilians were disconcerted seeing strangers walking into their camp, but they didn’t stop them.

“I’ll attract their attention. Take them out with standard pincer moves.” Harry ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

The three soldiers split off, and together they converged on the tent where Amunet was staying.

The Jaffa saw them first, but Harry was the first to strike.

Before the Jaffa warrior could point his staff weapon, Harry blasted Apophis’ Jaffa with a bolt of lightning straight to the face. Smoke came out of the open mouth and ears of the Jaffa as he lay dead on the ground.

The Abydosians scattered screaming in fear as a fight broke out between the remaining Jaffa guards and Harry.

Three Jaff guards converged on him and unleashed a hail of plasma bolts.

Harry raised a shield and absorbed their attacks with ease. He was at a level where even a wandless shield was more than enough to negate the effects of a Goa’uld staff weapon.

More molten lights slammed into the conjured shield with cracks of heat. Harry pushed forward, the spell flaring like glass under fire, then exploded outward — shards of force knocking the two Jaffa guards against the ground.

He flicked his hand.

‘Expulso!’ Harry thought.  

The ground beneath the third Jaffa warrior erupted, sending him tumbling backwards into a stone wall.

The other two Jaffa stood up and made to attack him with their staff weapons.

With a thought, he halted their advance using telekinetic hold.

‘Expelliarmus!’

The wandless disarming spell wrenched the staff weapons from the Jaffa with ease. Harry flicked his hand, and the weapons were thrown behind his back.

With their weapons lost, the two Jaffa came at him with their fists raised.

Harry summoned the Sword of Gryffindor into his hand and threw himself to the ground to slide towards the Jaffa. With a mighty swing, he cut through the legs of the two and fell into a roll before slamming his sword straight through the throat of the third Jaffa, who was about to fire his staff weapon.

Two more Jaffa emerged from the tent and tried to flank him. Harry met them with a whip of conjured flame, the weapon searing the air before binding the two Jaffa together like a rope of flame.

With a thought, the flaming whip grew large into a blazing pyre which burned the Jaffa alive.

More Jaffa tried to come to the defence of Amunet. Still, they fell quickly to the relentless bolts of plasma fire from his three companions, who positioned themselves perfectly while he distracted the Jaffa.

Finally, under a minute, there was a lull in the fighting, and the area fell silent.

The ground was littered with Jaffa corpses. Their blood stained the sand of the desert, but Harry was unsympathetic to all of that.

His companions emerged from their positions and stood behind him with their rifles charged and ready for any surprise.

“There are two occupants inside the tent, sir.”

“Lance, stay outside and watch the locals. You two, let’s move in.” Harry said.

Harry entered the tent, accompanied by his two guards, who had their shield barrier on their left forearms. In the place where they expected a fight, they found two scared Abydosians looking at them with terror.

“Amunet?” Harry looked at the younger woman who trembled like a leaf in a much older man’s arms – a very pregnant woman at that.

“Please no! Don’t harm...” the older man stood protectively before the woman.

“Who are you?” Harry eyed the older man with a white beard.

“I’m Kasuf. I’m her father.”

Harry gestured to his men to stand down as he felt no lies from the man Kasuf.

“You’re the Tau’ri. You speak their tongue. You’re with my Dan’iel.” Sha’re said hopefully, peeking around her father.

Harry chose not to answer that.

“Is Amunet awake? Is she aware?” Harry asked.

“The… the demon sleeps.” the woman stuttered out.

Harry stared into the woman’s eyes, and her mind was like an open book to him. Thanks to the Goa’uld within her slumbering, her mind was entirely unprotected, which made it easy for Harry to extract all information.

“Interesting.” Harry muttered, seeing several flashes of images and bits and pieces of knowledge about Apophis’ plans and current military assets.

There was a whole lot of information in the woman’s mind that was jumbled around, which a fleeting legilimency probe could not piece together.

Seeing that the woman was a treasure trove of information, he naturally felt the risk he was taking was negligible. Besides, he got the feeling Apophis would return soon once Sha’re gave birth to the child.

That was an opportunity he could not pass up.

Harry's mind went into overdrive as he cooked up plans within plans.

‘Apophis will come for Amunet. Sokar will come for Apophis. What if Heru’ur gives Amunet as a peace offering to Sokar? It could avoid hostilities breaking out between Heru’ur and Sokar. And Sokar will turn his forces on the other Goa’uld, leaving Elysium to assimilate Heru’ur’s domain.’ Harry mused.

It was a tricky play to pull off such a massive subterfuge, but he felt he could not let such a chance slip by.

“This is Apophis’ child?” Harry asked just to confirm.

“Yes.” Sha’re said with a choked sob.

“My name is Harry. We’re Elysians. We can help you free yourself from Amunet. Would you like that?” Harry asked.

He knew it was not as easy as it sounded. He would have to consult with the Tok’ra before he used the extraction process on Sha’re.

Sha’re and Kasuf looked undecided.

“We can save you from the Goa’uld. We can save your child.” Harry promised.

“Apophis… he…he will attack Abydos if I’m not here.” Sha’re said fearfully.

“Apophis won’t harm another soul ever again. I can guarantee that. Trust me.” Harry said earnestly.

Something in Harry’s eyes must’ve moved the duo because Sha’re and Kasuf agreed.

With that out of the way, he immediately called in Spitfire and informed them of everything that transpired. It was decided to transport Sha’re to the Spitfire to ensure she got the best medical treatment.

Back aboard the Spitfire, Sha’re lay in the medbay, weak but resting under the gentle glow of stasis fields. Amunet’s containment prism sat locked in a warded chamber, pulsing faintly like a heartbeat. He was ready for an extraction procedure, but he wanted expert opinion before he went through with it.

Harry paced the length of the medbay, cloak swirling at his heels. He waited for the verdict from the medical officer on the ship.

He became alert when Dr Emily Emerson opened the medbay doors and her voice filled the quiet of the hallway.

“The scan confirms it. Host physiology is stable, but extraction would pose catastrophic risk to both mother and child.”

“Why?” Harry asked.

“Because if we attempt to remove Amunet, she’ll awaken, and the child might be affected by the resulting backlash of bioelectric impulse within Sha’re’s body.” Dr Emerson explained.

 Harry rubbed his brow. “Because the symbiote is wrapped too tightly around her nervous system?”

“Yes. And more. The pregnancy complicates circulation and organ stability. Removing the parasite now could trigger haemorrhaging, or worse.”

Harry clenched his jaw. The idea of leaving Amunet inside Sha’re — even suppressed — didn’t sit well with him. Yet to force removal was to gamble with two lives instead of one.

Then a thought struck him.

‘The Tok’ra should know more about this.’ Harry thought.

******

The Spitfire streaked through hyperspace before abruptly arriving at their destination. It used to be a planet under Heru’ur’s possession, but was now the permanent base of the Tok’ra.

The vast mountainous terrain of the planet gave the Tok’ra ample opportunity to build their hidden bases deep inside the mountains. Since he had already communicated with the Tok’ra base ahead of their arrival through subspace channels, the Tok’ra were already ready to receive them.

Upon entering orbit around the newly named planet Ib, he received coordinates for entry.

“Have the transport rings ready primed on these coordinates.” he ordered.

Tok’ra guards in desert-coloured robes were waiting, staff weapons lowered but wary as the transport rings teleported them from Spitfire to the planet. A familiar face stepped forward — Jacob Carter, host to Selmak.

“Harry Potter,” Jacob greeted, his voice carrying the layered cadence of symbiote and host. “To what do we owe this visit?”

Harry motioned to the healers behind him as they guided Sha’re on a floating stretcher.

“Amunet’s host. I pulled her out of Abydos. The symbiote is bound and asleep, but the host is pregnant. I need options that won’t kill them both while extracting Amunet.”

Jacob’s eyes sharpened.

“Pregnant?” Selmak’s deeper timbre bled into his voice. “That complicates matters. Greatly.”

They walked together into the Tok’ra’s medical chambers, crystalline walls glowing with faint bioluminescence. Sha’re was settled into a scanning pod, the symbiote’s silhouette projected above her in flickering light.

A Tok’ra healer, Einar, studied the image with clinical precision.

“Removal now is impossible without certain death. But… do we want the child to survive?”

That question took Harry aback.

“What do you mean? It’s still a child. How can you…”

“Einar means no offence, Marshall Potter.” Selmak said grimly. “When two Goa’uld hosts copulate and produce a child, we call it a Harcesis child. This child will possess all the genetic memory of the Goa’uld parents, making the child a threat to Goa’uld power.”

“I see. The Goa’uld feared they’d be overthrown by the knowledge possessed by their human offspring.” Harry deduced.

“Not just that. Since a Heracesis child possesses Goa’uld genetic memory from a young age, it won’t grow up with an independent personality. The psyche of this child is already fated to be similar to that of a Goa’uld. For this reason, we Tok’ra also consider their existence a threat.” Selmak said grimly.

Harry became alert and watched out for any hostile action from the Tok’ra. His eyes found the soundly asleep form of Sha’re and her pregnant belly.

“Is there any way to suppress this genetic knowledge from influencing the child?” Harry asked instead.

“I’m afraid not. If there is something, it’s beyond our knowledge.” Selmak said with a shake of his head. “Do you not have a method?”

“We have one, but to use it on a child is somewhat… abhorrent.” Harry shared his thoughts on the memory charm, though he never explained the concept to the Tok’ra.

The Elysian High Council and Senate approved the use of a memory charm on adult muggles but never on a child. Besides, he also wondered whether the memory charm could be directed at genetic memory and truly suppress it forever. There were theories that a true master of the memory charm could even suppress instincts the body remembered from past experiences.

“Then I’ll ask that you leave the child with us.” Garshaw said as she walked into the chamber. “We can try to teach the child better ways to suppress what he inherited from the Goa’uld.”

“You are more knowledgeable in these matters.” Harry acknowledged. “However, I gave Sha’re my protection. I intend to give them refuge in Elysium for the time being, at least until the child is born safely. Meanwhile, I shall make inquiries whether an exception can be made to use a regulated procedure on the child to remove the Goa’uld memories.”

 Suddenly, Sha’re screamed in pain.

“She’s giving birth!” Einar said in alarm.

Harry, Selmak and Garshaw stood outside as Einar and other Tok’ra healers helped Sha’re aid in birthing the child. Screams of the poor Abydosian woman tore through the chamber, making Harry wince.

“Should I call for healers from Elysium?” Harry asked.

 “Einar knows what she is doing.” Selmak said confidently. “Now, tell us this plan of yours to deal with Apophis.”

“Not just Apophis. Sokar is also my target.” Harry said.

“Sokar!” Garshaw said with a raised eyebrow. “We tried to gather information on his workings, but he has been very secretive. Out of all our agents, only Jolinar managed to evade capture from Sokar. But even she could not find his army.”  

“We don’t need to find his army. We need to destroy Sokar. He is too dangerous to be left alone.” Harry said with a note of finality.

“Why do you think Sokar will take the bait?” Garshaw asked.

“Because we’ll deliver him Apophis. Heru’ur will do the job for us, and Sokar will not suspect a thing because Heru’ur will use Apophis as a bargaining chip to strengthen their alliance. And Sokar, who needs allies if he is to make a move on the other System Lords, will naturally think Heru’ur is an asset.”

“It’s a bold plan.” Garshaw admitted.

“So, will I have your support?”

Garshaw exchanged a long look with Salmek before addressing Harry.

“We have our concerns, but we’re broadly in agreement that we need to take out Sokar. So, you have our support.” Garshaw said with a nod.

“Good. We’ll have a detailed discussion on the plan, and we’ll address any concerns you have. We’ll go through with it only if we have broad agreement from both parties.” Harry offered, and that seemed to have appeased the Tok’ra somewhat.

Suddenly, the screaming stopped, and Einar came out of the chamber with the news of a safe delivery by Sha’re. It was a boy, and the woman was overjoyed upon seeing the child in Einar’s arms. Sha’re reached out with her arms and looked expectantly.

Harry immediately fired a red bolt of energy from his open palm, and Sha’re fell unconscious on the medbay.

“Amunet is awake.” Harry explained.

Harry read her surface thoughts and noticed the switch immediately. The last thing he wanted was for the Goa’uld to hold the child hostage.

After Amunet was safely extracted, he gathered her memories using an extraction crystal before he left Amunet in the custody of the Tok’ra.

Harry took Sha’re and her newborn son aboard the Spitfire and left for Elysium.

While the Spitfire streaked across an ocean of stars through hyperspace, Harry rested in his chambers with the Eye of Ra in the palm of his hand. Using his magic, he stripped the outer shell of the medallion expertly until all that was left was a red crystal synthesised with the most pure enriched Naquadah. Its power was truly exhilarating for his magical senses.

Slowly, he placed the crystal into a locket on a chain. Harry decided to wear it around his neck and study the enriched mineral at his leisure.