Date: Sun, 25 May 2008 09:09:06 -0400 From: Ron Subject: Heritage of the Ancients - Ancients Ascended ch 04 Day 5 Harry stood outside the heavily warded door with a very nervous Minerva McGonagall. "Harry, are you sure.I mean, am I the best candidate for the bond." Minerva would have wrung her hands if it had been proper to do so as she admitted her misgivings. Placing his hand on her shoulder to hopefully comfort the headmistress of education, Harry spoke softly. "You are the right choice here Minerva, besides which, Hogwarts herself chose you." Seeming to find an inner strength at hearing that, Minerva straightened her shoulders settling her cloak and pressing down on the fastenings in the front to make sure everything was in its proper place and nodded her head. Placing his hand against the sealed door, Harry sent his magic and mind towards what was housed inside. 'Hogwarts' Harry let his thoughts travels through the door. 'Is she here?' came back the eager thought of the sentience that once was bound to a castle in a remote location in Scotland. 'Eager much?' Harry laughed. 'HARRY.' Hogwarts scolded. "No need to yell, yes she is here and she is about to come in, if you relax the seal.' Before Harry had finished, the door had become fluid like in consistency, allowing Harry's hand to sink into it. "She is eagerly awaiting your arrival, Minerva." Harry told her, motioning with his free hand for her to go on through. "Look me up when you are finished, I can answer any of the questions or concerns you have about carrying the bond." Harry told her, as she stepped up to walk through the door. As Harry started to leave the chamber, deep under the primary level school and started up the ten flights of stairs leading to the ground level, he thought back to his own bonding with Aloria. It was the day after that disaster called the Department of Mysteries, in his mind any confrontation that led to death of one of those that fought the evil known as death eaters was a disaster. When it happened to be his own godfather it really rated high on the disaster scale. Not that he was really close to the man, if you thought about it, not really, but the problem was, he had represented hope. Something he had never really had before while living with those relatives of his. Then to have Dumbledore lock him in his office until he had his say, not even giving him time to catch his breath. All so he could waffle about, telling him about that damn prophecy, a prophecy he should have been told about long before he reappeared in the Wizarding world, in his opinion. That seemed to be the crux of the problem, his opinion and needs did not seem to be given any consideration. So here he was once again, walking around the lake while deep in thought, as it seemed he did practically on a daily basis this past year. She watched with her sensors, as the one that would fulfill her walked towards her once again. She grew ever hopeful that one day he would reach out and call for her, call out so that they could become one. His thoughts were very loud today, and she was saddened to find out his hope seemed to have left him with the death of his godfather, the previous night. She had such high hopes when she felt his mother walk by this spot many times during her schooling. The first time she had sat under that tree on the rock jutting out into the lake to think she had been intrigued. Then when she opened her sensors she felt the calling of a true Alteran. How had a full Alteran survived all these long centuries, not only survive, but to grow so powerful. She shook herself out of her musing when the boy/man did something he had never done this past year, he went out to sit on the same rock that his mother had all those years ago. Harry needed to sit and try to get his thoughts under some control, as they were going off in different directions as the memories of his life so far flickered in and out in no particular order. Spotting a secluded rock on the water's edge, he climbed atop it and sat down. There had to be something, something for him. He knew what everyone expected him to do, what they needed him to be, but what about his wants and needs. Surely they fit in there somewhere, didn't they? Sometimes he wished he was not human and one of those space heroes off on adventures flying through the stars, leaving the Earthly problems behind, long behind. Sighing, 'so much for those adventures in books', he thought. Frustrated, he picked up a rock and threw it into the water and watched it ripple the smooth surface. Racking his brain, Harry thought there had to be someone somewhere that could help him, someone that would teach him what he needed to know. Maybe teach him, no he thought, someone to guide him and let him make the decisions for once. She watched in awe as the boy/man started to glow as energy flocked to him and started to swirl about him. He was the most powerful of all the Alteran's in her practically ageless archives. No one since.no she thought, how could we have missed this when the ancients evacuated to this planet, all those ages ago. One of the royal line, only the Lord Commanders of legend could do what he was doing. She felt the pull on her, the pull that demanded she answer his command. It frightened her, yet at the same time, she felt herself get lost in the feeling of righteousness it gave her. He said it, he actually said it she thought, as long unused protocols kicked in. Harry had enough; he needed a different way, a way that he could grow and learn what he wanted, what he needed. "Why can't someone come and take me away, to a different life, one I can control, one that would make me happy." Harry muttered to no one. "I might have the power, but I sure don't know how to use it." Harry laughed the laugh of the damned. Standing up Harry said out loud wistfully. "To bad those old fairy tales never come true. I could use a familiar to bond with, one of those that has ancient knowledge that can teach me what I need to know." "So Mote it Be, Young Warrior." A voice carried itself on the sound of chimes to Harry as a bright light engulfed him and he disappeared from the rock near the lake. The first thing Harry noticed when the spots before his eyes cleared as the bright light faded, was that he was no longer near the Hogwarts lake. The second thing he noticed was that he was in a strange room that had a bed with half of it surrounded by glowing and pulsing crystals. Curious he approached the bed and noticed that the head of the bed actually was tunneled into the glowing mass of crystals. "Strange." Harry muttered. "The choice is yours, young warrior." The chiming whispered to him. Harry whipped his head around the room looking for the owner of the voice. And then memory caught up with him. The pulsing of the mass of crystals were in sync to the words of the voice. Starring intently at the crystals, Harry asked a question, hoping the answer would confirm his thoughts. "Where am I?" "Toria Ai Shas, the city built by the Ancients." The voice chimed out again confirming to Harry the crystals were the source of the voice. Hope flared in his heart, hope that he thought had long died. "Why me?" Harry asked. "You have the power, the morals, and the DNA that makes the bond possible." The voice chimed. Harry was quiet for several minutes, as he thought long and hard about what was said and unsaid. But the possibility to bond like those children's legends he had snuck off into a corner of the Hogwarts library to read late at night was strong. "What do you get out of the deal?" Harry asked, hopeful yet still wary. "Completeness." The voice chimed that sounded a lot like hope in its voice. Making up his mind was not easy, but maybe the thing to do would be to take some time and fully research the decision, but Harry felt an urge, an urge that told him to do this. "What do I do." Harry whispered out. "Lay down, head in the chamber." The voice carried over chimes that were louder and if possible more beautiful. Sitting down on the hard bed, Harry swung his feet up onto it and lay down, knees bent. Pushing off with his feet, Harry stretched his body so his head scooted inside the cavern of pulsing colored light that was the crystals. Taking a deep breath, Harry let it out slowly and tried to relax. "What now?" Harry asked. "Do you accept the bond?" The voice chimed in hope. Hesitating for a moment, Harry whispered out in a voice filled with hope and need. "Yes." The light pulsed the brightest yet, as the entity that was Toria Ai Shas initiated the bond. Harry arched his back as if in intense pain as his magic pulsed in response to the pulsing light as he was hit by wave after wave of joy, love, and acceptance. Reaching back to the back of his mind, Harry felt the link, the bond he had with Aloria and knew all was well, only three more floors to climb and he would be back on the surface and to his family. Taking the steps two at a time, Harry grinned at the thought of helping the boys prank Jack as they released fish into the lake this morning. XXXX Molly sat at the table on Harry's work platform. She felt thrilled that she was taking her turn to watch over the systems and such in Harry's absence. After everything he had done for her family, she would do anything to see that the load he carried was just that little bit less, the weight just that little bit lighter. So Molly sat there changing the displays every once in a while to make sure everything was as it should be, and in between that she was doing some studying of her own towards her goal of being a healer. It was two hours into the shift when things started to go off, the fold space communicator chimed announcing an incoming transmission. Placing the file she was reading on hold, "Aloria dear, who's trying to com us?" Molly wanted to know. "Tracing the signal back it looks like it originated on Earth. Do you want to accept it?" Aloria thought she should at least ask, before she took the transmission herself. "Yes dear that's fine." Molly told her as the Holo display in the center of the table activated. Looking at the image that formed in the center of the table Molly had expected to see at least a familiar face. Looking around the room that the people were in, she did not notice the familiar SGC logo on the back wall. Tapping a few commands into the system, she was slightly confused when it verified that the R2 unit was in fact initiating the connection, but looking around the room the people were sitting in, it definitely did not look like that Stargate command place. Widening the angle of the image to include the R2 unit, she saw that it was chained to some type of platform not allowing it free movement. Narrowing her eyes in anger, she sent some commands to the R2 unit that told it to free itself. Looking back up at the image, she noticed some of the people around the table at the other end of the communication channel seemed to be fidgeting in their chairs. The fidgeting turned to cries of dismay when the R2 unit broke free of the restraints and rolled off of the platform. Activating the shields in the little R2 unit Molly now took the time to ask in Alteran. "Aloria do you recognize this place at all or any of the people?" "No I don't, I can also tell you that the so R2 unit has downloaded its memory core and that it was forcibly moved from the SGC base and moved to its current location." Aloria told her "They also do not look too happy at being ignored for so long either." Aloria sounded amused. Pointing at the little flags in front of each person and the large symbol behind the table Molly asked. "If these flags represent the countries these people are from, what does this strange one represent?" "That would be the United Nations flag, it would be equivalent to International Confederation of Wizards." Aloria answered. Fed up being ignored and to that person talking to someone else, the French Ambassador stood up and rudely said. "Excuse me, but have the common courtesy to at least acknowledge us." "It is also common courtesy not to take things that do not belong to you." Molly spat out. "That remote was left back at the Stargate place for a specific reason. Return it at once." Molly ordered. "Now see here, we called to talk to your commander, so tell him we are waiting for him and put him on." The French ambassador told her snootily. "Why the nerve.NO. You may make an appointment to talk to him." Molly said very angry now. "I am not accustomed to be told no madam, now you will do as I have told you, if you know what is good for you." The French man had just finished digging his own grave. Taking in the expressions of the two people on the end of the table showing horror and the others wincing, Molly had had enough. Slamming down her hands on the table as she rose from her seat. "The Lord Commander is not some one that is at the beck and call of every little two bit politician with delusions of grandeur." "You do know who the Lord Commander is do you not?" Molly spat out through gritted teeth, wanting very much to hex the man until he was just a smear on the ground, if that. "What do I care for your silly military titles, those in the military serve us." The snobbish man responded. Sending the command to the remote to advance on the odious man while she kept his attention. "Do you honestly mean to imply that you talk this way to other leaders of other nations, and order them to do your bidding?" Molly was incredulous. "Of course not, those leaders lead, they are not servants like those in the military." The French snob replied. Her whole posture screamed anger as she slowly spat out. "You stupid.Stupid.Fool, did you even try to understand our language before you spouted off your demands?" As the officious man attempted to speak over her, Molly pressed a key which sent the order to the R2 unit to send the electric shock, a taser she thought they yanks called it. Smiling in glee as the man twitched on the floor as the electric shock wore off, she waited until he slowly made his way to his shaky feet. "The title Lord Commander is not an exact translation in your language, an exact translation would be king of all kings." Molly told him. "You will now sit down and shut up, the unit has been programmed to use that weapon on you every time you open your mouth." Molly sat down, trying hard to control her anger. Pointing her finger at the man sitting behind the British flag. "Who are you and why have you contacted us?" Molly asked sternly. Not giving him time to answer. "More to the point that unit was imperative for the colonization project that we are helping you with in twenty five days, by moving it and contacting us, is it your intention to let us know that you have decided against the project and seeking membership in the Alliance?" Molly asked, sending all the delegates into a tizzy. "Madam, I assure you." The British ambassador told her, trying his best to placate her. Purposely taking the word out of context, as she needed to vent and teach them a lesson at the same time. "Do I look like the sort of person who sells my body for money? Or the bodies of others?" Molly spat out so angry the others, even on the other side of the universe, backed away in fear. "I think we are having a failure with our understanding of each other's language." The Russian said heavily accented. "It was not our intention to insult you, or to impinge your honor." The Russian tried to convey how sincere he was. Seeing how she had yet to interrupt him or to zap him with that infernal contraption, he took that as a good sign. "To be completely honest with you, my colleague from the Peoples Republic of China and I am unsure why or even how you were contacted. I was under the impression we were to meet to finalize plans of our own, for colonization projects and how to best present them." The Russian told her. "As for your earlier question." Pointing to all those present. "We represent the United Nations oversight committee charged with overseeing the Stargate program and how it effects the nations of our planet as a whole." Stepping in front of the table now, the closest one to the, whatever the thing was, but surely not R2D2 from Star Wars. "My name is Vladimir Smirnov, I am a commander for the Russian government that deals with the Star Gate." Sighing inwardly when the woman just nodded her head and did not zap him he went about to introduce the others. "The People's Republic representative Ming Lei." The man in question rose from his chair and gave a bow of respect. Going to the other end of the table, Vladimir stood before the Ambassador to the British. "This is Ambassador Frank Williams from the British government, and next to him is Steven Wilkes from the American Government." Both men rose as they were introduced. "And finally, the man that seems to have left his manners at home, is the Ambassador to the French Government, Renee Colville." Vladimir finished the introductions. "The question on why you were contacted and how your unit made it here, I have no idea." Vladimir said, before turning to the others. "Gentleman, would one of you care to explain for the lady?" Clearing his throat nervously, the American spoke up." My French Counterpart and I discussed the situation and felt it would be best if we contacted you as soon as possible about the other colonization projects we would like to undertake. It was felt that since this unit did not seem to be doing anything other than sit in the corner we could safely remove it and use it to contact you." "I have met your President, I did not think he would be the type of man to authorize something like this." Molly said, as she considered what they were and were not saying. Seeing the grimace on the American's face, Vladimir asked. "Your President did give you authorization to move the communication unit, did he not?" Seeing how uncomfortable the American was, Vladimir said in shock. "Your president does not know what you have done. Why would you jeopardize our membership into the Alliance?" "No one said anything about this dam thing anyway, so we did not see the big deal on bothering the President to get his ok to use it." Ambassador Wilkes whined. Interested in letting the men fight amongst themselves, Molly had been quiet until now. "Your General O'Neill and his staff at that SGC knew all about the R2 Unit's duties." Realizing the man probably wanted to get his hands on the technology, Molly mentioned. "It's a good thing you did not attempt to tamper with the R2 in any way, it would have activated its self destruct mechanism." "Aloria do you have a fix on the R2, can we recall it?" Molly asked "It would seem they did not take it off the base, it is merely on the surface above their hidden base in the mountain." Aloria answered flashing another Holo out of range of the pickup showing her. Seeing how pale and sweaty the man was, Vladimir motioned for his aid to come over and told him in Russian to get someone up here from the SGC immediately. "Tell me gentleman, why you did not send the proposals through with the team scheduled to meet with the Lord Commander at the end of the week." Molly asked, curious about their answer. "I can not speak for Vladimir." Ming said, as he placed his hand on a large folder and binder. "But I have no problem with doing that, I can even stay as long as needed in case there are questions the Lord Commander would need answers to." Ming Lei once again bowed in respect. "I too have brought our proposal and charter with me, and see no problems with waiting the few days until it could be delivered." Vladimir said Looking over towards the American, Vladimir asked. "Why were we not told that there was a team being sent to meet with the Lord Commander this week? All this could have been avoided." "Someone must have failed to inform me of that fact." Wilkes tried to bluster his way out of the situation. "If you would like to hand the proposals over I will be more than happy to take them with me to present during the meeting." Molly thought for a moment then asked a question to confirm her suspicions. "I do believe Ambassador Faxon is the representative of your civilian government to our people." Looking extremely nervous, Wilkes stammered. "I am his replacement. My government feels that his duties elsewhere are more important." Suspicions confirmed, Molly shook her head and lied. "I am afraid that is not possible, he is the person we accepted and he was the one to negotiate the terms of the agreement. Your president last time he was here confirmed that he would be the only one from your government to represent his interests to our people." Having the R2 unit move closer to the man, and extend the tubular weapon it had used to shock the other man, in his direction, she asked coldly. "You do not represent your government as you claim, so the question is, who do you represent?" "That is a very good question. Followed by, who helped you get on the base." General Landry said, as he and his MP's walked into the room. Scanning the room, General Landry recognized three of the five people there as being part of the oversight committee. "Ambassador Lei, Commander Smirnov good to see you again." "Ambassador Williams it is also good to finally meet you in person." General Landry said, as he walked further into the room and over to the remote. Looking at the two he had yet to greet, General Landry's tone became harsh. "You two gentleman I have yet to meet, or even have information on who you are cross my desk, nor from what I have heard, do I wish to." Motioning to the MP's he said. "Take them into custody until we sort this out." "You can't do this, I have diplomatic immunity. You do not have the authority to hold me against my will, when my government hears of what you have done the consequences will be most severe." Renee said pompously. General Hank Landry hesitated a moment which caused his MP's to hesitate in securing the French diplomat. As much as he hated to admit it, he had a point, if he was in fact the French ambassador, that meant he did have clearance to be on this part of the base, and the clearance had come about for being part of the Stargate program oversight committee. Seeing the general was torn in what his duty told him to do, and what looked like a pompous politico's rights to do anything he wanted, Molly decided to make things easier. "General, as part of the agreement your General O'Neill and Ambassador Faxon worked out." Molly started to say as she looked off to the side display that Aloria had brought up. "Let's see I believe it is section nineteen, paragraph eight, subsection A, I herby request that you take into custody the two persons presenting themselves as Ambassador Renee Colville and Ambassador Steven Wilkes. Until such time as our security forces make arrangements for them to be turned over to our custody." Looking back at the image, Molly smiled the most sinister smile one had ever seen. "I shall so enjoy watching our mind healers tear apart your minds so we can find out what is going on." "Commander Smirnov, if you and Ambassador Lei would like to escort the R2 unit back to the Astria, I would be pleased to meet with both of you, to go over your proposals today. You should not have to wait due to the machinations of others." Molly said sweetly. Which of course caused the others worry to increase. The moods that she cycled through so quickly, were unnatural to their experience. "Of course." From Vladimir at the same time that Ming Lei bowed and said. "Honored." "Then it's settled. General, if you would take the prisoners to the Astria, several of our Security members will be along shortly to collect them." Molly told him, as she pointed to the two now handcuffed men. "Gentlemen, I will meet with you shortly." Molly said before closing the connection. Letting out the breath she was holding internally, Molly placed her head on the table and muttered. "How in Merlin's name does Harry pull this off day to day." Laughter could be heard from the table speaker. "You did well Molly, after some more practice you will never be nervous again." Aloria told her between laughter. "Merlin Help me if I get comfortable dealing with political intrigue and misdirection." Molly said, head still on the table, at least she had stopped shaking. "Harry makes it look so easy. Especially the way he can change his expressions to suit his needs so quickly." Molly said as she sat back up, time to go back to work. "Aloria can you get Tonks up here with some of her internal security people?" Molly asked. "Would you like me to let her know what is going on also?" Aloria offered. "Please. Thank you dear." Molly said in gratitude. A few minutes later Tonks and four others shifted into the arrival area and walked towards Harry's platform. "Watcher Molly, Aloria told us you need us to go collect a couple of scummy politicians and bring them back for interrogation." "How's Remus doing?" Molly asked slyly. Seeing the young woman blush and her hair cycle through colors to match her face Molly laughed. "That good." "So when is the wedding going to be?" Molly inquired, hoping it was soon. "The bloody git has yet to ask me." Tonks muttered in frustration. "Hmmm, I will have to have a word with Harry, quietly of course, we should be able to prod him in the right direction." Molly was scheming. Smiling at the thought, Tonks asked. "How scary do you want us to be Molly?" Thinking for a moment that someone had to be helping those men in the SGC place, otherwise they would not have been able to move the droid. Deciding that she should make the spies worried she answered. "Very scary. I have a feeling those two have many secrets that Harry should know about. I can't put my finger on it, but something is just not right about those two." "I can do scary." Tonks grinned. "Anything else?" Shaking her head negatively. "Not that I can think of, I will have Remus meet you on Myrrdin to take the diplomats off your hands while you deal with the prisoners." Molly told her. "Righty then, we're off." Tonks told her as she motioned her people off the platform and over to the Astria. Molly decided that she needed a crash course on the agreement between Earth and the Harry before the two visitors showed up. XXXX Tonks motioned her team to follow her as she made her way to the Astria control console. "Where to, Tonks?" David asked, as he looked up from the program he was writing. "Earth, the SGC Astria." Tonks replied. Hand flashing over the controls, David started the sequence that would connect the Astria on Shas with the one on Earth in the US. "Do you need me to flip the connection for your return?" "We're supposed to come back by way of Myrrdin station, picking up Remus there," Tonks informed him. The number three Astria rippled with activation as David nodded towards the group. "Good to go, Tonks." "Right you lot." Tonks started to say. "The faster we get this done the sooner Tonks gets to snog Remus." The others laughed. Shaking her head, Tonks just walked through the Astria head held high retaining what dignity she could. Not even fully out of the event horizon Tonks noticed the alarms blaring and the group of soldiers pointing weapons her way. Having flashbacks to the time she went through the Atlantis gate she went to full combat mode. Not about to give them a chance to fire their weapons at her team. Activating her combat suit with a thought she threw a hand up causing a shield to form several meters in front of her before fully merging with her magic and glowing. Sweeping her hand at the group in front of her, she summoned the weapons from their hands, while the second hand banished the group into the wall behind them with some force. Tonks heard a "What the." Coming from her team as they too went into full combat mode. It was over in less than two seconds with no injuries on either side, other than pride. Dropping the shield, Tonks levitated herself until she was in front of the people on the next level, in the control room. "Why is it every time we come through the Astria and you lot are on the other side the first thing you do is point weapons at us." Airman Davis just stared at the glowing woman who was floating in front of the window in front of him. Hearing her question he silently prayed that the brass would show up soon, very soon would be good he thought. General Landry had picked up the pace when the alarms started notifying one and all of off world activation. When the little R2D2 look alike announced, "Connection in progress, origin Toria Ai Shas." He took off running hoping to get to the gate room before one of his men did something too hasty. He did not think that even the forgiving nature of the Lord Commander would hold long if his people were attacked once again. Sliding his pass card through the reader outside the closed blast doors, he waited impatiently for the doors to open enough for him to squeeze through. As soon as the doors opened enough, "Stand Down." General Landry yelled out before the doors opened enough to make his way through them. Finally he thought, as the blast doors opened enough for him to squeeze through. Sprinting through the doors he skidded to a halt as he took in his men laying around the floor near the front wall and turning his head around to scan the room he noticed their weapons piled over in the corner. Looking at the four angry faces of the Alteran's on the ramp, he looked up towards the control room to ask what the hell had happened when he stopped in shock. Floating in front of the glass was one of the Alteran's and she was glowing with a strange energy as he heard her ask something about pointing weapons at them. Airman Davis, eyes wide, noticed the General run into the gate room and slowly pointed down and to the right of the floating woman as an answer to her question. Tonks privately enjoying the look of fright on the man's face frowned when instead of answering he just pointed over her shoulder and down. Turning her head so she was looking over her shoulder Tonks noticed the side door had opened and several more people were making their way into the room along with the droid. Taking in that several of them had their hands bound behind their back, Tonks lowered herself to ground level slowly. General Landry moved carefully towards the woman, once she reached the ground, arms out in the universal sign of un armed, at least he hoped so. "I apologize, we had not returned yet with your R2 unit, I believe it is called, before you came through the gate." "Because of the way the iris did not close, our standard response is to send in armed men to make sure we are not being attacked." General Landry told them. "Are they the ones I am here for?" Tonks hissed out, still angry at having weapons pointed at her. Seeing the Earth General nod his head, Tonks stalked over to the men. "So, you are the reason those soldiers pointed their weapons at me and my team." Grabbing the head of the French man and pulling it so she could stare into his eyes she willed her mind to make contact with his. Skimming his surface thoughts as he winced in pain, she released him in a throwing motion causing him to fall down. Motioning her people to take the two into custody, she looked back to the General and asked. "Who is this NID they work for?" Groaning, General Landry replied. "A Rogue government agency, one we thought we had taken care of." "Evidently not." Tonks replied, as she made her way over to the droid. Kneeling in front of the droid, Tonks gave it an order in Alteran that only Harry could override. "You are authorized to use force up to and including lethal if they attempt to move you from this room again." Tonks waited until the little droid blinked its light and whistled in the sequence she had been told meant command accepted before standing up. Not caring if the Earth people heard or not, Tonks called out. "Connect to Myrrdin station." The little droid gave a whistle as a small side panel slid open and a burst of energy hit the edge of the gate and it rippled as it activated. Walking back over to the group of people standing to one side of the ramp, "I was told there were two people who needed to be escorted back to Toria Ai Shas." Tonks asked gently. Commander Smirnov stepped forward as he pointed to Ambassador Lei. "Yes, my Companion and I have that honor." Looking at the two and not sensing any weapons Tonks nodded her head as she swept her hand out to the side towards the Astria. "If you would follow me then we shall start the journey." Following the two diplomats towards the Astria, Tonks stopped before entering the event horizon. Looking over her shoulder at the General, she stated coldly, "The droid will now protect itself, the next person trying to remove it might find themselves dead." Then Tonks walked through the event horizon, leaving behind her a very worried General Landry. Looking around at the medical triage team checking out his men, Hank thought he'd better get on the phone to the President about this latest development, before it bit them in the ass. Scott lent me his eyes and brain and provided the wonderful job of editing this chapter. A?N : sorry about that I forgot all about that I had yet to post this chapter