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Danielle Moonstar walked through the entrance to Camelot with a sigh, eager to get some food before she started to see what else had been going on. Of course she had been aware of the war the instant it had broken out – thanks to the international communications and the dozens of news networks out there- but she wasn't certain where Harry would be sending her, and wanted at least a few hours to herself to unpack mentally. This hunt had not been fun at all, even though she had once more learned a valuable lesson: that humans could be as much animals as any crazed dog.
"I take it your hunt was successful then?" Dani looked up as the large form of Garm came out of the shadows, moving with all of the cold grace and silent footwork of a true hunter for all of his size.
"It was indeed. You'll probably, well you won't be because I know you couldn't care less about most human news, but Dennis will be hearing about it on the news at some point, and I don't think I made any friends with how… fatally I took down the individual who ordered the hit on the family of Magical Minds workers. There was a local hero, Daredevil was his name, and he seemed to be of the opinion that everyone should be handed over to the police regardless of whether or not they would actually be committed for their crimes. I followed my jarl's orders however, which was to remove the individual who ordered that ordered that atrocity with extreme prejudice."
"And in this case extreme prejudice would be?" Garm asked, his tongue lolling as he huffed in amusement.
"An incendiary explosive set underneath his bed, and me on a nearby rooftop with a bow and arrow. The device actually didn't do as much damage to the Kingpin as I hoped, the man had good survival instincts," she admitted grudgingly. "But even he couldn't survive being shot through the forehead with an arrow from Sigyn's Gift."
And my aim wasn't nearly as spoiled as daredevil had hoped with that darned nun-chuck of his trying to take my head off, she mused to herself, shaking her head in bemusement at Daredevil's attempt to capture her. That hadn't worked as well as he had hoped and it had been her who had left unconscious on the rooftop. The man had been tough, and very darn good at martial arts, but he hadn't been able to deal with her suit.
"It does sound as if you had an amusing time," the giant wolf said, then smirked, his fangs flashing from under his gums. "But I think your timing is excellent. I believe the tide is turning. I can scent it in the air."
"Garm's rather prescient in his statement on that score Dani." Said a new voice, and she turned, bowing her heard towards Harry and Hela. Harry went on, smiling wanly at her. "Dani, I'd like you to check in with Sage. I've got a few questions to pass on. Have one of the house elves help you to get up to High Note as soon as possible."
Her empathic senses blaring a danger signal to her, Dani just nodded, watching silently as Harry stalked past her. Ooh, boy, I've never felt the jarl being so angry before. I'd pity whoever he's angry at if I didn't have a good idea that they probably deserve whatever he's going do to them.
As he moved through the castle, there was actually little to tell from looking at Harry physically that he was indeed, enraged. His anger had gone through the hot stage more than a week into this assault on earth, if that was really what it was. After all, Harry still didn't know the full motivations of the Russians for launching this war. Surely not all of the Russian generals or leaders had been replaced by aliens? Regardless, Harry was in full control of his anger as he gathered up Danielle, Garm, and Hela before heading up to High Note. Be cold, calculating, and when you strike, make sure it is crippling. Never do your enemy a small injury.
His anger congealed into something even worse when he found Jean before disappearing utterly, swamped by worry. The young redheaded woman looked utterly exhausted, the bags under her eyes said that she hadn't been sleeping well and the twitching in her limbs were honestly worrying. Harry knew that she had been using her powers in fits and starts since this conflict began, active around the world mostly to help direct the hover ambulances and other medical personnel forward or back. On top of that there had been several more attempts by scattered Russian submarines to launch ICBMs at various American targets rightly assuming that America was the logistical linchpin of their enemies or perhaps just for hatred's sake. Certainly Alaska, the target of two of those attempts had nothing to really off the war effort at the moment.
So she had been doing her part telekinetically, as well as providing leadership. She and Emma had between them even stepped into a communications role twice in various fronts when the Russians brought out massive jamming equipment of a new and unusual type. It was only because of the two telepath's and that the Azerbaijan front hadn't completely evaporated at one point. Even the first time Dr. Doom had brought up his own forces and retreated to do some needed repairs on his suit, the Latverian army had been saved from being cut into pieces unable to communicate with one another by the two of them.
Yet as she turned towards Harry, her eyes seemed too glimmered with tears and it was clear to Harry that whatever she had been doing, Jean didn't think it had been enough. "I could've gone on the offensive myself you know," she said almost calmly, despite the fact that her arms were twitching spasmodically, one hand clutching her distended belly, the other gripping the side of her chair, like a bird of prey gripping an animal.
"I could've wiped out whole armies with Phoenix Fire from orbit." She laughed then, and it was a high-pitched almost manic sound that made Harry wince, not in fear of course, but in sadness at what his lady had been going through. "I could've done it."
"But you didn't love," Harry said in reply, moving over and rushing a finger down the side of her face, one of her eyes closing and bless at the touch. "You didn't because you're a better person than that. You don't want the blood of all those millions on your hands."
"Not that," she murmured. "It would just be so easy! I did it once before you know. When we were bringing back the derelict ships, I wiped out an entire fleet of Kree, burned their ships to ashes and the crews within, tore their atoms to shreds. Two things stopped me." She tapped her stomach, indicating the twins within. "These two, and the lack of my self-control my being pregnant has forced me to endure. The last time I had to move ambulances from the front, it took all I could concentrate on just to move them one at a time. For some reason grabbing missiles is easier," she mused.
Jean couldn't have even used her telekinesis to create a shield to separate the two sides. Mostly they were too badly intermingled most the time, for that kind of action to work. And at this point she couldn't separate her regular telekinesis from the Phoenix Fire. That was why she had to keep using the ambulances, metal doesn't melt nearly as quickly as humans.
"I think it's a difference between grabbing a stone and an eggshell Jean," Harry said lightly. "You can grab a stone as hard as you want, you don't really care if it gets crushed or not, but the egg, the egg is precious."
She laughed at that, and now it sounded a little saner and Harry breathed an internal sigh of relief as he asked, "and what was your second reason?"
"The Phoenix Force," she said simply. "I am its avatar, and while that gives me leave to use a fraction of its power as I want, it also tells me what the Phoenix force is about. Death and rebirth, but more rebirth than death. I didn't want to sully it I suppose you could say, by taking the lives of so many people." Her smile shifted somewhat, becoming almost winsome. "So the next time some general asks me why I'm not using my powers to attack, I want you to understand why I am going to have to reach out and rip his spine out through his skull."
"You won't get any argument from me," Harry said with a chuckle. "I fully agree with your choices. Better to save lives than to take them. Of course, is not exactly going to be an option for me. Nor to be Frank, Emma in the right mind to care one way or the.
"for now, you need to Let go love," Harry went on calmly, his fingers rubbing at either side of her temple, his thumbs running down either side of her jaw. "Let go. I'm here, Hela's here, Ororo is on her way. You did it, you did your part. Now you have to let us take the burden."
That seemed to get through to her, and she looked at Harry quizzically. "How exactly are you even walking around anyway, I would've thought all the magic you've been expelling you would be like the walking dead."
"Pepper up potions are wonderful thing, and I figure I can rest myself in a bit." Harry said with a faint smile, putting his arms around her. "Now come on love, up you get."
Jean almost fought him, but the look of love and caring in Harry's eyes completely unmanned her, and she began to sob quietly, leaning up into his chest as he gently, very gently pulled the mother of his children forward into his arms before slipping one arm underneath her, and lifting her into the air.
Hela smiled at the two of them than turned, moving ahead of them to open doors. She had been quiet as Harry helped the avatar of the Phoenix, but now she began to sing softly, almost crooning a lullaby as she helped Harry put Jean down on the bed, gently touching her for head. The two of them stood by the now unconscious woman, for several minutes, simply touching her hands and forehead before reluctantly turning away.
By the time they returned to the asteroid's control center Emma was there, and she grabbed Harry by the lapels and pulled him down into a searing kiss. This kiss went on for a while until Hela coughed into her fist, gaining their attention. "As much as I would dislike poking my nose into your business, I believe that presently we do have more to do than fulfill your need for flirtation."
Emma gave her the finger, which caused Hela to growl irritably, but as Harry pulled away, she did the same albeit very reluctantly. "Say rather my need for fornication rather than flirtation. I'm almost tempted to take you away for a bit and have my wicked ways with you," she said, shaking her head. "It's been a nightmare these past weeks and not just because of lack of sleep or cuddle time."
The blonde telepath didn't look quite as bad as Jean had, but even Emma was showing the strain, her face marked by sleeplessness, her hair unkempt in such a way that she would have never allowed had she been sleeping regularly. More telling her nails looked as if they had been nibbled on to the point of nonexistence.
"I'm actually surprised you're not trying to convince me about the recovery powers of that quickie you just mentioned then," Harry said, leaning down and giving her a far gentler kiss before moving around her.
"The thought crossed my mind, but then I saw your face," she said tartly. "Sex should be dirty, but not that guilt inducing. I take it Jean is down, finally resting. I tried to convince her to rest but I couldn't get her to leave the command center."
"She is down, and I've placed wards all around her room. No one enters that room without my say so. I don't even want you to reach out to her telekinetically for a bit. She looks as if she should sleep for a week or two herself right now."
Emma nodded, sighing deeply. "I've been splitting my attention over the last four, five days? I don't honestly know when it began, and it's been a full twenty-four-hour thing, trying to keep her psyche from fraying from the burden she took on. Her connection to you was a godsend Harry, if she'd had to deal with her telepathic abilities, on top of her fraying control of her telekinetic power…" she shook her head. "It would've been ugly. And I don't think just for her. After all, she can project thoughts just as easily as she can take them in."
"So what do we do now?" she asked, shaking yourself and waving off Harry's concern. "You can pamper me later after all of this is over, let's concentrate now."
"I can pamper all of you equally," Harry said calmly. "You, Jean, Hela and Ororo and myself to admittedly. It is not been an easy time for any of us."
Emma scoffed. "You say it like it's going to be any easier from now on."
"Not any easier, but certainly more active rather than reactive. Harry shrugged. "For now though, Pinoptes, First, show me the state of, well everything. I want to know what the satellites over Russia are telling me, what the satellites over the various front lines are able to tell me, I want to know the position of forces, how are the logistics going, everything that Jean couldn't pass on to me in any detail before this. Right now, I need information to plan where we're going to attack and how."
As Pinoptes replied in the affirmative, Harry noted that even the AI sounded relieved to have Harry back and Jean resting. Yeah, while I was learning delegation out of necessity, she never did. We're going to have to rectify that going forward. Putting the thought of delegation into action, he had Hela start helping him reading out the information about the various forces involved in each front, and asked Emma to go through regular channels to get the leaders of the Custodes groups up here as well as the various Field Marshals. For his part, Harry was more concerned just then with where the Russian Aerospace Force bases were. The war was about to take a turn in a major way, and he wanted their blows to land as heavily as possible. Never do your enemy a small injury.
The map of Russia was filled in quickly by the satellites using data they had retained from before the war began, marking out his targets, while Hela worked on her portion of the task and also talking to Dr. Strange. He was the only other magic user who was in any shape to do much of anything, although he was still connected to the coven spell along with his girlfriend, and Wanda for now. The energy they were pouring into it was slowly decreasing though, as more of the sun's heat funneled into the earth's ley lines, controlled by Gaia.
Getting Doom away from the front took all of Emma's potent diplomatic skill, as he had been in the process of pushing the Russian army completely out of the Ukraine comment despite the fact that they had brought in what looked like some kind of mobile fortress command center, complete with heavy artillery guns that would have made the Big Berthas from World War II fame look small in comparison. But soon enough, all of the Custodes commanders were present in person aboard High Note and the various military men had joined in a video conference. Dr. Doom had his own side, as befit Harry's first political ally, and the man's military power. Various other generals shared the other wall, while one the room's third side, there were two rows of elevated seats for the rest of the Custodes Mundi commanders. Steve was there with Sam, Scott and John, Piotr and Amora.
The Neo-Grecian girl took one look at Danielle, and leaped towards her, grabbing the girl in a fierce hug which was returned equally as Piotr waited for his own hug. "Girl, you've missed sooo much! Where the hell have you been?"
"I know," the Native American girl said grimly even as she smiled at her friends, looping an arm around Amora's shoulders. "You can fill me in after this. But I'm back now, my jobs done, and I think it's time that we all remind our enemies not to screw with us."
Even Reed Richards was there, coming in late, and looking rather frayed around the edges himself although in his case rather than simple tiredness it looked as if he had strayed too close to one of his experiments, and it had exploded in his face. Of all of Harry's friends and allies and commanders, only Steve looked chipper, his face still clean-shaven unlike Scott's, going around shaking hands, and nodding seriously to Harry as he entered.
"Gentlemen, ladies, welcome all. As I'm certain that you all can tell already from my near presence here, things have begun to change on the magical front. I won't go into details, because you probably won't understand them, and or might be terrified by them, but suffice to say that I am now free to act offensively. And that the cold front that the Russians somehow created is going to be snapping soon. But right now, I would like an overview of the war your perspectives, please."
"That's a sentiment I think we can all get behind," said an Indian general said in response to Dani's comment, getting many a 'hear, hear' from the rest of the military men. He was one of the newest members of this group and Emma filled Harry in on him quickly as the emerald-eyed wizard moved into the center of the room. He was in charge of a large Indian Army Group that was even then disembarking into Georgia from the Black Sea, transported there by Indian and British naval units, to bolster the forces already available. That front was the most ramshackle, having lost its last two commanding officers, and not having a very good local force to build upon. Not that Azerbaijan was any better unfortunately. Still, they would get into that eventually, now they needed to talk about the overall war effort.
The American generals, four of them, started to speak first. The industrial might of America had quickly begun to churn out winter gear on a large-scale for the armies at the front, for their own troops, and anyone else you wanted to ask. Getting their troops trained up on winter warfare was far slower too, but between America's sheer industrial power, and Tony Stark streamlining the process, supplies were flowing across the Pacific in huge lots. Tony had even helped to create entirely new rail lines, using his own robots to carry the goods from various ports deeper into Europe straight through Germany, and into Poland.
Getting goods into the Ukraine was a little more difficult, but there Dr. Doom now pledged help to help the process. He was not happy about this. Dr. Doom was a prideful person and had long ordered the other allies away from the Ukrainian front disdaining all aid and dealing with the Russians on his own. But while his own military force was well-equipped for winter warfare, and could switch gears as was now being intimated they would have to easily, the Ukrainian armies had been simply demolished by the better trained and better equipped, even better motivated and led, Russians. Rebuilding them would take far too many resources in terms of food, and simple metal let alone actual guns that Doom could not provide.
The British general, Demontebanks, was one of the two Brits in the video conference. The other man was Philip, the crown prince of the British Empire. The older man spoke up now explaining the British were sending SAS into Georgia, to help the Marines and the American army groups on the way to bolster the forces already there in... various underhanded and dastardly ways. Political claptrap held the Army up with the Georgian and Azerbaijan governments essentially collapsed, and there was an almost civil war between the few government officials who were willing to stay on, and the generals at the front lines. "And one of their own had also basically tried to declare himself dictator a few days ago. Luckily that seems to have stopped recently, the man turning himself in and in a very interesting way too. The report I got said he was found outside of his command post hopping up and down screaming about how he was a chicken…" the old general smirked. "I don't suppose whoever had a hand in that could be found in this room, now could they?"
"Yes, well…" Harry said looking over towards Emma and Betsy. The two telepaths, smiled back at him, not even trying to look innocent. "Regardless of what occurred there, that issue at least was apparently headed off at the pass gentlemen. Anything else on your end?"
"The first admiral has gathered his fleets together again, after dispersing them for repair and maintenance." Philip said seriously. "We want to push into the Barents Kara Sea down from there to the Russian Border with the instant the ice starts to un-melt around there enough for us to move forward."
That had been a shock, which had stopped any move in that direction before this. While it was normal for the Kara Sea to be frozen most of the year, the Barents Sea was relatively warmer in comparison. Yet it had frozen nearly from one end to the other, the very ice and cold of winter creating a shield for Russia's western ports and their attacks on Norway and the eastern border of Finland. Considering that many of Russia's strategic targets, its factories and industry, resided within cannon range or missile range from that sea, it was no small exaggeration to say that that move had saved Russia's war efforts.
Frowning Harry shook his head. "Gentlemen, I don't want any kind of strategic bombardment or bombing. I've read enough history books, precisely one in fact, to know that strategic bombing is more about destroying morale than anything else. Yes, they force the enemy to waste resources dispersing its factories or what have you but it isn't enough of a difference when you consider how much it would bolster the hatred the Russian people might feel for any invasion force. We'll have enough issues later on when we invade. Military targets only."
A few of the generals grumbled and one of them even shouted out that Harry was in no position to give them orders, but he simply smiled back thinly. "So you would want me to pull my forces back then, recall all the weapons I've loaned out?" As they all contemplated not having anything that could stop the special-power units among the Russians he waited until the man had looked away. We will fight this war as cleanly as possible gentlemen, that is all."
The German general who was his country's representative on this council had been silent for most of the meeting, only commenting on the railroads the Tony Stark had been making, as well as his government's wish to buy the German section away from him after the war. Now he spoke up though, looking at Harry thoughtfully. "You mentioned that this winter weather would be breaking, can you elaborate please?"
Harry nodded graciously and did so, outlining how the winter weather would be broken, like a string snapping. "The tensions already building up," he said smiling lightly. "I would bet a lot of weather people the world over are once more tearing their hairs out as they notice the overall temperature increasing worldwide."
"That's all well and good," the German general, Von Kranst, said slowly, "but you have to realize that there are dozens of feet of snow on the ground now, no matter how badly churned up. If it all melts, it's going to create mud. Say what you will about my country's past actions in World War II, but we learned the hard way that trying to move an army through mud is almost as hard as moving it through snow. Frozen or not, the deep, glutinous mud were talking about here will snarl up tracks, jeeps, trucks, tanks you name it. And of course our own feet won't be able to make much headway in that kind of environment."
The French general, Paul Disswaier nodded, almost glaring at his German counterpart. "Indeed. I can remember my father saying much the same in World War I, when he was stuck fighting the Bosch at the front. The mud became so bad, if you fell into it, you couldn't get yourself back out. Many a man died because his friends couldn't pull him to safety out of that kind muck."
The German simply glared back. "Well, if we're going to talk about that kind of ancient history, why ever did the French ever…"
"Gentlemen," Harry said holding up his hands while Emma grimaced, kneading her forehead slightly. "This is not a forum to rehash old arguments or misdeeds."
He shared a glance with Prince Philip, who was looking a little smug, and he said blandly, "I doubt any country here could survive that kind of scrutiny after all."
The prince had the grace to look a bit abashed at that, while now it was the American's turn to look smug, until Danielle coughed into her fist, a very odd, obviously contrived act given the fact she was wearing her Ghigau suit, complete with helmet. "Native American genocide." She looked up to find several of the Americans both around her and on the screen looking at her darkly, but she merely cocked her helmeted head to one side quizzically. "I'm sorry what?"
Harry bit his lip to keep from laughing, while a few of the others barked laughter, with Jon even going so far as to reach out and slap the other Native American on the shoulder.
"To get back on topic, our German compatriot has a point. The only way over that kind of morass is hover technology."
"And I suppose that means you'll be looking to me," Tony said with a sigh and a put-upon look. "Honestly, as if controlling and moving so money moving parts for the trains and logistics aspect – all those darn robots I had to design and build - isn't enough, you want me to upgrade all of your tanks and trucks?"
"I'm curious as to why you haven't been doing so actually," Harry said blandly.
"As if I want hover technology to become that widespread. This war is going to end one way or the other and we've already released far too many genies for my liking, I don't want to add another." Tony replied.
Harry's tone was dust dry as he spoke up again. "While you might have a point, I think we need to win the war first before we can worry about what happens after. Will you at least help the locals set up centers for that refit to be done? I'll order the engineers over at Saab to release their toy box and they'll do the retrofitting themselves. Of course it won't be that easy, I doubt they have half the people they'll need for that kind of huge job, but I also have no doubt that all of your armies have inbuilt engineering corps?"
"The 22nd armored division and the 33rd infantry division is due to arrive in Port Calais in two days," one of the American generals said. Troops that would need retraining before this weren't sent to the front through the runic doorways, instead travelling the old-fashioned way and doing some training on the way. "I can order them to leave the majority of their support personnel, those mechanic who work on their jeeps and such, and the 22nd's armored engineers there. We can start retrofitting as quickly as possible then."
"That'll do for a start, but I'll want someplace closer to the front." Harry replied.
The polish General thought for a moment, then named a Polish city. While not a logistical depot for their efforts to bring more troops to the front, it was one of the closest ones to that front, and moreover was home to one of the few homebuilt tank assembly line centers in Poland. That made it ideal for this.
Harry nodded firmly, and Emma turned away, writing out that order to Saab's mechanical division on a tablet for after this meeting was ended. They might balk at being uprooted like this, but given that no one knew where the Russians wanted their offense to end, they would probably see the point.
"I think we'll also need to get that kind center down on the Caucasus Front soonest," Philip said, looking over at the Indian general and the others who dealt with that theater. "The SAS infiltrators we've been able to get behind enemy lines passed on a report that the Russians are building up more of their forces down south then we might be able to tell from satellites or what limited other intelligence we have."
"They're still using those fucking underground tunnels," groused more than one military representative, scowling angrily. The fact those had been created and on such a scale, with no one the wiser and with underground trains added into the mix, made all of them rather furious. Harry was amused by that, since the minute he heard about the Mole Man being allied with the Russians he had figured out how that had happened, and knew they would have to worry about that in the future.
"Actually, they haven't only been building up forces like that on the southern front," Scott said holding up a hand. Unlike the rest of you, no offense meant, but I have actually gone over the line a few times, and not only are they building up forces in Finland again to push deeper, but they've also begun to mine something. I was wondering if any of you have any insight to why they would already be mining the area despite fighting still going on nearby."
"What?" Said more than one voice.
Scott shrugged, and started to tell his tale.
Flashback:
"I don't know why they're doing it but I swear those idiotic Russians are setting up a mine, a mine right there barely a day from our battle lines in Inari!"
Blinking, Scott moved in that direction. "Are we talking about some kind of tunnel operation? Building another tunnel like the type they used to bring their armies forward so fast?" He asked the three arguing locals.
The local fins nodded, although though they also looked a bit dubious about what he was wearing. The X-Men uniform gave them a new tremendous degree of protection against the environment, in this case the cold, although they ate just as much as any two normal people needing to build up their calories. They were also gaudy in the extreme, relying on a series of illusions to blend into the ground. Rolling his eyes at their expression he asked, "You were saying something?"
The man who had been speaking nodded. "My name's Georg," he said, holding out his hand to the younger man. Scott shook it firmly and then stepped back, actually taking up a parade rest position as he did, looking at the man questioningly,
"I'm part of the force recon, and we've been involved almost from the get-go, my squad I mean. I've lost four good men," he said with grim look, "and got only three to replace them. The Russians fight like nobody's business! And they're not making the same mistakes as they did against us during the winter war, more's the pity. Anyway, we were out past the front line, we'd spotted a series of those small, really mobile troop carriers they have, the ones with hover technology?"
Scott nodded indicating he knew what those were and indeed agreed with the man's assertion that they were expensive. Not as much as the tanks the Russians were no longer trying to bring against the Finns, but still very expensive.
They were near to the front line up there for a time, near that little bump at the main fortress up in Inari, the one called the Antler. So we went after them wondering what they were being used for. It turns out that they were carrying some kind of mining team. They threw up a small mining operation, used these large weapons that near about shook the rock apart in segments. Then they started to mine in earnest. We were going to attack and wipe them all out just because it was so mysterious, but we spotted a larger force of infantry moving into the area. And while it was close the front lines, it wasn't close to any forces we could ask to help us, so we retreated quickly at that point. We made it back here, I gave my report, and we haven't heard anything from the higher ups about it since."
"What could they be mining up there?" All the locals shrugged and Scott frowned, shaking his head as he remembered some of Jean's orders to them all was to look for anything unusual going on with the Russian forces, anything that could point to the aliens being involved. That was especially true here in Finland, where the locals really didn't have anything in terms of natural resources to offer that Russia didn't already have. The attack on them was completely nonsensical, unless, like many of the Finns Scott had talked to thought, it was simply finishing the job Russia had done on them after Finland had foolishly joined the Nazis in attacking Russia in order to regain their lost land. But perhaps this is a clue in that direction.
"Do you think you could lead me and my X-men there?" He asked aloud.
Moments later, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, the locals and Rogue were skimming just over the forests in the back of a truck flatbed minus the actual truck portion. Rogue was both steering and propulsion at this point ,pushing them along as quickly as she could towards the fortress Antler nearest where Georg and his men had spotted the mine while Thunderbird had been left in command of the other X-men for now. There they switched to foot, and for more than half a day Georg and his team led the three X-men moving through the forest and avoiding confrontation with the Russian forces in the area, which included large mortar batteries being brought up to try and break the fortress. They made a note of them, but kept going for now. "We'll hit them on the way back," Cyclops promised.
Soon enough they were downhill hidden among a series of tall, deep snowdrifts as they stared through sniper scopes at the mine. For that was what it was, the Russians were busy excavating or mining something. "I need to see what it is damn it," Cyclops muttered, looking around the woods and the Russians who were on watch. There weren't many of them but they were certainly on guard, and they were scattered throughout the woods. Still, given this terrain it is still possible… "Georg, can you get me a little closer?"
The Finnish lieutenant nodded, and then gestured Cyclops to follow him. It took some time, a lot of slow, controlled, timed movements, before they were in a position to actually see what was going on directly around the head of the new mine. Once there, Cyclops looked again and saw a few men carrying large crystals of some kind, orange in color, the color caught by the light as they exited the mine so as to be visible. It was kind of pretty, but that was all Cyclops could say. It certainly wasn't something obviously valuable or rare, but he doubted he'd be able to spot anything but gold or silver as valuable metals in any event. Damn, should have thought about that ahead of time.
Shaking his head, Cyclops palmed a small recorder into the back of the sniper scope. These were routinely used in either practice or to scout out enemy positions and it was used as such here. He kept recording as night fell and then, with the added help of the darkness around them, he and Georg exfiltrated back to the others. 'So, where did we spot those mortars again?"
For an hour the group moved across the forest in the direction Georg and his men felt the mortars were going to take. But before they could try to hunt them down, they had to turn aside as a in-the-clear message rang out in their ears. "Mayday, mayday, this is Fortress Antler we have been infiltrated, they are, they are…agghhh…"
Cyclops looked over at Rogue then turned and without a word blasted apart a nearby tree, toppling it into the snow. "Everyone hop on, Rogue do your thing!"
Rogue nodded and the others got on, even Georg and his men, who all looked a little leery at the idea. But the tree was large enough for them all to basically hang on one after another on the trunk like so many koalas. Then they were in the air, with Rogue disdaining subtlety for speed, rising into the air until she could barely see, then zooming towards the fortress, following a map that Cyclops could see on his HUD.
Despite their quick reaction however, by the time they made it back to the fortress, it was all over bar the shouting. The fortress's cannon mounts had been opened like someone had taken a series of whips to the guns and stonework on either side, cutting through them then heading inside. Nearby further Russian forces were moving towards the fortress, intent on investing it.
And when Nightcrawler bamfed inside, he saw bodies. The bodies of the defenders left where they fell, contorted, crushed some of them utter husks, their lives drained out of them somehow. He continued on, bamfing further and further into the fortress, but he couldn't find a single person alive within. Returning to the others, he could just shake his head.
Cyclops, Rogue and the Finns had begun to take fire from and fire in tur non the Russian troops moving forward. They had halted in disarray, shocked when Cyclops's beam had hit them just as they broke out into the bit of open ground around the foot of the fortress, but were quickly coming on now despite his continued fire and Rogue throwing large chunks of the disabled cannon at them. "No one is here mine freunds, they have all been slain, butchered."
Cursing Cyclops and Georg exchanged a glance, and the local shook his head gesturing to the west. Cyclops sighed and nodded. "Rogue let's get out of here. There's nothing more than we can do here."
End Flashback
Harry leaned back in a chair he'd conjured halfway through Scott's story, tapping his fingers together, looking over to Dr. Doom's image and where Reed sat listening. "Let's set aside the news the Russians might have brought forth a separate team of superpowered individuals into Finland, ones whose powers don't match any we've seen so far. It's obvious that by their being there to attack the nearest Finn strong point, this mine sight is very important, possibly to the war effort as a whole. "Doctors, could you shed some light on this?"
Doom and Reed Richards exchanged a glance, then shook their heads. "This is an entirely new mineral to us, it sounds as if it should be quartz, or at least is formed in the same geologic manner. But if it was simple quartz there is no reason for the Russians to be in such a hurry to excavate it."
"We've all been wondering all along why the Russians were so idiotic as to launch all of these different attacks and heck, why they started the war in the first place," Amora said, dragging attention to her. "The assault on the Chinese was a spoiling raid done large, we can understand that at least. And historically speaking, the attacks down south into Azerbaijan Georgia and then through into Turkey also makes sense."
The Turkish officer, not a general but a colonel for some reason, nodded glumly. "Russia has long wanted to have access to the warmer seas."
Harry nodded in his direction and then Philip spoke up again, voicing a question that everyone in Britain had been askin since hostilities began. "Bloody hell, why open a naval war at all? No offense to my peers in the Admiralty, but our fleets certainly weren't a danger to them, not like the Americans with their fighters and bombers. And with this cold already working against those, they had no need to launch such raids. So why open up the war on the sea like that unless they were after something. The First Lord of the Admiralty felt they were trying to create a smokescreen for this submarines, but that didn't make any sense to my father or I."
The American admiral, a man named Patraus, snorted. "If they thought they were going to get more than they did out of their submarines, then me and mine were quite happy to disabuse them of the notion."
Harry nodded, saying nothing for a moment. The submarine warfare against the Russians had been deadly and dangerous, a thing of knives in the dark, ambushes and counter-ambushes scattered across the world deep under its oceans. Even now there were still reports coming in of a few surviving Russian submarines, and despite what the American admiral said, they were doing a very good job of hiding themselves. But they weren't nearly as good at it as the Americans. Their Los Angeles class were kind of scary in how stealthy they were in the water.
Moreover, all of the underwater warfare had the day before finally roused Prince Namor from his people's civil war. A civil war Namor had thought stamped out months ago had again reared its ugly head at around the time that Harry had revealed himself to the UN. Now Namor was also hunting Russian sobs, and Harry knew it was but a matter of time before the king of all the oceans dealt with them all. Of course later, I will probably have to deal with him diplomatically I'm not looking forward to that. But that is for the future.
"Agreed," Harry said, then went on voicing his thoughts aloud. "It's the same trouble with their attack into the Ukraine, Into Poland? Finland of all places? Those never made sense to me or mine. Why, after they sliced off chunks of Finland during World War II, would Russia want more? What could be worth the hard knocks they'd gain infighting such an opponent on their own ground? Make no mistake I know they would win if they were just facing Finland, but the finish military is…"
"Bleeding well scary determined to use a British phrase," Scott said, eliciting laughter all around as well as many a nod from the Finnish representative and those who had trained alongside the Finns at some point in the past. "But if this mineral is somehow important to their new technology…"
Once more Harry nodded. "Agreed. I think Scott, I'll be joining your front soon enough. Once I do, that mine is going to be our main target."
"It might not be the Russians at all," Reed interjected. "Remember that we know that they have alien… if not allies, then instigators among them up, it was the aliens who created this abnormal weather after all. Perhaps it's important to them?"
Many of the generals scoffed at that, looking away, while others just looked grim. None of them were at home with the idea of extraterrestrial threats being involved in this warm, though thankfully none of them were in the still active 'it's all fake' crowd. Harry was thankful though that at least a few of them seemed to be noncommittal about it rather than dismissive it.
"It still brings up the question of why the Naval war?"
"They could've swarmed across to Alaska," Philip decried shaking his head. "It would've bloody well cost them, but they could've landed troops there. Or they could have, until those two stupid submarines launched missiles at Alaska and Phoenix put her foot down."
Even locked in with the magical battle Harry had heard of that from the woman herself. Warned by Pinoptes Jean had basically grabbed the missiles almost as soon as they exploded out of the water and hurling him up into space with all the telekinetic subtlety of a hammer. And then she had reached out and directed several destroyers to find the subs who had launched them by using large, flaming arrows in the sky directly over the ocean to point the way for them.
Steve frowned faintly. "We're going to have to talk about her later," he said looking at Harry speculatively. "It's not a big issue right now, just something we'll need to keep in mind the future going forward."
Harry raised an eyebrow at that, but shrugged his shoulders and nodded acquiescence. "I don't see a Chinese gentleman here," he said aloud, just having noticed that lack and going off topic for a second. "Is there reason for that? I know their army was proven to be a bit of a paper tiger, but surely…"
"You have to understand," Emma said holding up her hand before anyone else could speak. "The People's Army is just that, the People's Army of Communist China. They aren't a national army as most of us would understand the term. They are dedicated to the perseverance of the Communist Party in China. They'll cheerfully throw their troops into the Russian units within their borders, soak up far more damage than any of us want to see, but they're not going to send troops abroad whatever they might have tried to convince Jean about."
Harry's eyes narrowed, and then he asked very mildly, "Then why are they still allied with us and the earth defense force?"
"Because the aliens out there represent a clear and present danger to China," Emma said promptly. "They do not believe that Russia represents a threat which would force them to fight against them in foreign countries. In fact I was told clandestinely that they refuse to be used like Vietnam or other subsidiary countries had been in a new Cold War.
Harry growled. "Do you think my talking to them personally would help?"
"…Maybe," Emma equivocated, waving one hand in front of her from side to side. "I'll admit that they were also giving me very serious vibes of angered misogynists, but I just don't know."
"Furthermore, it isn't as if their gear is all that good anyway," Amara said shaking her head. "And I'm not talking about their tanks. They've got this one kind of tank that was actually pretty decent. And some of their commanders are quite good. But their logistics is crap, they can't move forces at all quickly from one theater command to another. Their troops aren't nearly as well-trained as they should be, their guns aren't very good and certainly aren't up to date. Even their individual Army logistics isn't anything to write home about."
"That bad?" Harry asked, looking at her sadly.
'Sorry Harry, but it's the truth, paper tiger, remember? We could probably talk them into giving us a few of their mechanized units, but since most of those are old-fashioned tanks rather than their new Flame Tongue, I don't know how much good that would actually do."
"Not very good at all actually," Philip said with a shake of his head. At the moment, what we need in the southern front is coordinated leadership. A single organized response, especially from someone who the locals can respect and who has enough clout to smack them upside the head and force them to play along like good little kiddies rather than going their own way."
"Our marine units were mauled in a series of engagements there, and were far too often left in the lurch by the locals," one of the American generals said with a scowl. "Even the Turkish army groups don't really seem interested in working together with anyone else." He gestured to the Turkish colonel, who just nodded agreement, making no effort to defend his fellow Turks from the allegation.
Harry looked over at Sam. "Comments, Sam?"
The Falcon shrugged. "I've been trying to do my part boss and I think we've organized as well as we can away from the front, the marines and the Turks at the front to work together decently, the other units we've brought in are working together well, acting professionally and all that. But unless I start replacing officers willy-nilly, I'm not going to get the locals to toe the line as a combined force. I could probably get away with that in Georgia, but not Azerbaijan, not after that general tried to make a play for dictatorship."
"All right. Emma, I want you to concentrate on that aspect. Take Translator, and head down there personally." Translator was Douglas Ramsay's rather unimaginative codename. "Coyote will serve you two as bodyguard. We'll wait on offensive action with the Custodes Mundi until we have that front more settled."
"Do you have a set timetable for when the, the spell that's created this winter will break?" One of the logistics officer asked hesitantly, not looking at home with the idea of magic being real." "You can hold off for the break of winter so that we're prepared for it?"
"I'm afraid that's not entirely up to me." Harry replied ruefully. "I would say twenty-four to twenty-eight hours. I can request that the lady in question waits for a bit, but if she feels that the damage to the earth by our enemies is too great, she'll act on her own, and I'm not about to argue with her. No, it won't last longer than that which means we need to have whatever forces we can ready to go."
Harry deliberately did not use Ororo's name, or Gaia's. The knowledge he had Hela as an ally and what she was had spread since the incident which had birthed E, but most simply believed she was a mutant or alien of some kind, not a figure of myth and faith. And for all of Hela's power, Gaia, being the original mother Goddess of every pantheon on Earth, had a far larger following of prospective believers, and could be nothing but what she claimed to be. This would of course result in existential religious questions and conflicts, which Harry had no interest in sparking.
"And what does that entail?" the Frenchman asked cautiously.
"Two things. One, it means that our Air Force is going to be getting into the action as soon as we can possibly contrive it, in as large a force as we can possibly contrive as well. "And second," Harry sighed faintly his eyes and indeed his whole expression becoming cold and grim. "Second, it means that I will be taking direct action. In this case, that means destroying every known Russian Air Force base or runway I can possibly find within Russian borders. All of them. You will rule the skies uncontested gentlemen, and we will finally go on the offensive."
There were some uneasy glances at that, many of the people here understanding without needing to be told the number of people Harry was going to be, essentially, slaughtering without giving them a chance to fight back, but none of them said anything. It needed to be done, and it was better for the dead to be Russian military personnel than their own after all.
Soon after that most of the generals signed off, a few of them staying behind for a few seconds to wish Harry well, or ask specific questions that hadn't been important enough to interrupt the flow of the meeting. As they were finishing, the atmosphere of the meeting room changed, becoming much more laidback, with everyone leaning back in their chairs or putting up their feet or turning their attention to other things for a bit. Ghigau and the others with helmets also removed them, many of them grateful for the ability to do so for the first time in days.
As this was going on the image of the Black Panther enlarged to take their place. He had been silent throughout the meeting up to this point and now he nodded his head towards Harry, before looking at Dr. Doom and the others. "Mr. Potter, I take it now that you have essentially begun to organize your offense against Russia, it is time to talk about my own albeit much smaller war?"
"It might be smaller, but it is almost as important to me on a personal level," Harry said. "If not for the amount of people dying then for the involvement of a particular thorn in my side: Mr. Sinister."
"I agree with your priorities Harry." T'challa said, waving that concern to one side. "The aliens at the very least needs to be discovered, and the ball rolling on the offensive into Russia before you can turn your attention to helping me."
"It's not that bad on my end," Harry said, shaking his head. "I'll be pulling back most of the Custodes Mundi itself, leaving Steve and his force to one front and the X-Men to the other for now so I can guarantee you some reinforcements soon, but how bad is it on the ground? Jeans reports on your progress weren't as well detailed as I would've liked."
"…I am afraid I have to say it is not going well," the Black Panther said reluctantly. "My troops are well-trained and well-armed, but we've never actually trained in the city landscape before this, all of our fights before this have been in the mountains, hills or planes around and within our nation. This is an entirely new type of warfare to us, and it is taking a toll. Despite that I control most of the port city now, but even so, the Press Gang units and Mutant Liberation Front terrorists are taking a harsh toll on the populace. They are also costing my people lives," he said slowly, his voice pained.
"I understand how that goes," Harry said with a sigh and a nod. "If you need help after this to set up some kind of widow and orphan's fund, I'll full freely pitch in half again as much money as you put in."
"For the future that is well and good. But for the now, I need more help. I need super-powered type help, that can help me counter the Mutant Liberation Front. At the moment I am the only one who can really fight them on even footing, and even then, it's quite difficult."
"All right," Harry said after a few moments turning to look at Steve. "Scott, can you spare Havok and Thunderbird?"
Scott tried not to seem too eager to get rid of his brother, but the man's general entitled attitude had been causing a lot of the other issues. He looked over at Thunderbird, who nodded once, before turning his attention back to Harry. "I can, and I think Thunderbird is ready for a larger role. Who else do you think?"
"Cortez, Havok, Banshee, Wyatt and you Thunderbird in command," Harry said slowly, looking at the large Native American. "Do you think you can handle this?"
"I think I can sir, but does that mean you've got another job for Mystique?" John asked. "I'd like to talk with her for a bit, get a feel for the MLF and the real dangers among them."
"Mystique returned with her team a few days back, and she hasn't left Irene's side since. You'll find them both in Camelot," Harry replied, having been told that by Emma while he and Pinoptes were picking out targets. He was touched as he always was by the devotion Raven, who could possibly be immortal thanks to the ever-renewing nature of her cells, showed to Irene.
John nodded, then asked if he could be excused to go and talk to the skin changer. Getting a nod from both Harry and Scott, he existed the room, asking for Cory or another teleporting house-elf to take him back to Camelot.
Watching his second-in command go, Scott was torn. On the one hand, I think John's ready for it. On the other hand… "A part of the problem with my brother is that he feels he should be at least one of the lieutenants, and this is going to put him under John's command. That could cause issues."
Which I am certain that T'challa and John can handle with professional aplomb," Harry said drolly before turning to look at the Wakandan King. "They'll join you within the hour."
"But what will happen to Genosha after we have beaten the uprising, if that is what it truly is, back. I have been getting many a question along those lines from various governmental officials." Emma interjected.
"That isn't a decision that I alone can make," Harry said with a scowl. "Obviously I think a peacekeeping force will be necessary, and I intend to move any willing mutant, who hasn't taken part in the violence willingly to Avalon myself. Beyond that who knows. Perhaps if no one else is willing to step in or the locals can't rebuild their government I would be interested in doing more. A more public segment of Avalon could be useful in many ways."
Avalon was the name Harry had come up with for his country. He wasn't certain it would stick. He still wanted to hold an election to choose the permanent name, but it was one that he felt was appropriate, and which he could remember, not a small consideration.
"I will tell them that. It will relieve some and annoy others I predict." Emma said with a sigh
"Isn't that always the way with politics?" Harry asked dryly, causing laughter from all around him. With Harry back and the prospect of offensive action in the near future, morale was high respite the obvious tiredness Harry could see all around him and he grinned. "For now though, let's go over our own plans going forward.
Of course, even with the generals on board, there remained two problems. First, was finding the epicenter of the spell and thus the aliens who were somehow powering it. That problem though would be solved the instant the cold spell was reversed. Shattering a spell like that, as Those Who Watch Above in Shadow had found, was an incredibly painful feeling. And it would leave a residue that Dr. Strange, Hela and Harry could use to find where the spell had originated. "At that point, I want a spy type mission ready to go."
"A spy type mission," Hela drawled, looking up from where she had been plaiting Dani's hair, with the help of Betsy. The two of them surprisingly got on quite well, since Betsy more often than not identified herself as a wiccan, a member of another ancient religious group that was built upon personal connection to spirits and nature rather than organized religions. "Would that be why you requested Sam bring along Betsy for this discussion?"
"It would indeed," Harry said with a grand bow towards his fellow Brit, who giggled and tried to look haughty despite the fact she was currently plaiting the younger girl's hair. Why in the world are they doing that anyway? Is that some odd girl way of dealing with anxiety or something?
Setting that thought aside, he went on, his tone His tone going from whimsical to grim quickly. "I don't want the aliens, whatever their name is, to be able to restart the spell, turn their energies to other mischief, or even retreat," Harry said grimly. "Russia is too damn large, and these shapeshifters too damn good at hiding even from magical means, for me to want them to get away once we go on the attack. I'll what you down on the ground somewhere, near Moscow I predict. Once you confirm that they are there, lady Gaia, will release the full power of the sun."
"HA!" the voice of Gaia said, an image of the Mother goddess appearing in front of them as if Harry's use of her name had summoned her into being. Since they were not in point of fact standing upon the surface of Earth, it was only a projection, and a vague, translucent one at that. For all her power on Earth, Gaia had next to none away from the planet which bore her name.
As Hela and the others bowed towards her or scrambled to their feet in automatic respect (even Sam, a staunch Catholic) she laughed, sending a wink toward Harry. "While I was not pleased with your near demand that I wait on breaking this spell assault upon my person, you have the right of it. If they could attack me nicely once, the necessary they could do so again. But I will not wait longer than twenty-four hours." The goddess glared at Harry, and he nodded, understanding she wasn't going to budge on that point. At his nod her glare disappeared and she smiled around at them all. Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to go and see my chosen champion. Good luck in your future battles, oh Champion of Life and companions."
For a moment after the goddess had disappeared, the meeting room was silent, then Sam grunted and seemed to shake himself. "That um... that was, that couldn't really have been a goddess, right?"
The Falcon looked around but none of the others attempted to reassure him, while Hela cocked a fist on her hip flinging her hair back with her other hand. "I believe the phrase, and what am I, chopped liver, is quite appropriate here."
Sam opened his mouth then closed it, shaking his head. "You know what, there is literally no way for me to reply to that right now without sounding insulting or worse, so I'll just shut up now."
"Smart man," Steve and Harry murmured as one, while laughter broke the moment of stasis Gaia's arrival and abrupt disappearance had caused.
After the laughter ended Hela asked, "And who will I be leading on this mission?"
"You will, we need a magic user and a heavy hitter, and you're both. You can bring Betsy, Carol, and Garm of course, considering I really don't want to start another fight right now by trying to get him to leave your side."
"Hmmmpf, then you too are wise, Harry Potter, to know a lost cause when you hear of one," Garm said, panting in good humor at his mistress's future mate. Why the heck they hadn't finalized the deal was something he only vaguely understood, but it was quite obvious that it would be occurring in the near future as his lady dictated.
"And Morph too I think," Harry added after a moment. "I don't think now that it's come to open warfare and we've removed all but the most physical means he could use to leave the island that we need to use Morph against Mr. Sinister. Kitty has also volunteered to join you for this."
"Truly?" Hela asked, cocking her head quizzically. "I thought she had decided to no longer participate in combat missions."
"Yes, but this is a full-bore combat mission. In fact, if you can find this place and then simply signal me to come in, I think that would be the best outcome."
"Why ever would we need you?" Hela said, putting some a great deal of disdain in her voice, as she cocked her hands on her hips. Her entire manner screamed out that if this was some kind of man thing where he thought she would need rescuing, they would have more than words.
Harry laughed at that, reaching out and gently putting a finger to her lips, pulling away when she made to bite it while Garm covered his face with his paws humans flirting and the others all chuckled. "It's nothing like that. It's just, I have a hunch about how these aliens are doing this and why they're so interested in that rock. If they have created an item that they send power through, not only would the spells on it be fascinating to learn for our own use, but the power that they have put into it could be most useful.
"Ah, now that is a most recent plan, one I can get behind my seidr man," Hela said with a chuckle, leaning in to kiss him lightly on the cheek.
"All of that though was only one problem. What is the second one problem Harry?" Emma asked, somewhat amused by the two flirting like that in a somewhat public setting, despite it being so very low-key."
"We need to pin down the Winter Guard and this Grigori team, pin down and annihilate them. The Titanium and Red Guardian suits we can only destroy as they appear, but the rest of the Soviet super-soldiers need to be dealt with."
"Annihilate, mmm I just love that word," Emma said smiling almost beatifically. "It sounds so permanent."
Harry chuckled, nodding at the same time. "At this point, I don't care about the reasoning behind this war, I don't care if the Russians are doing this of their own volition or have been tricked into it. There are far too many of them for all of them to be such dupes. After this war, I think that the mapmakers are going to be very busy rewriting the borders. And that means dealing a killing blow to Russia's ability to make both conventional and unconventional warfare."
"And how do we do that? You said it yourself, Russia is far too big to search effectively." Scott protested.
"We set out some bait, and watch the mine you found," Harry said simply. "I'd like to think this crystal the aliens may or may not be after is most important to them, but if the Russians are either being used or were simply with the aliens, then they won't want to concentrate their Super-powered troops on only one front. If they are going for something that they have always desired, that'll be the southern front and a target juicy enough to bring their Super-troopers out can be found there. If it's these mines, they'll head to Finland. Whichever, I'll have the majority of the Custodes ready and willing to be drop onto them like a ton of rectangular building things."
"Actually," Steve said, scratching at the back of his head sheepishly. "I think they've already begun to think about a target they can eliminate in order to break the morale of the allies," he said pointing at himself self-consciously. "Like it or not, the uniform kind of draws attention you know? So I think we'll see the Winter Guard in Poland."
"True that," Sam laughed at that, slapping the captain on his shoulder.
"All right," Harry said with a nod. "So we pull back our troops, including the Custodes Mundi and add your group into Steve's, Sam. We keep the rest in orbit, and bring than been down like a hammer when the Winter Guard show themselves wherever that might be. No letting them retreat, no letting them regroup. We finish them."
After the meeting broke up, Steve approached Harry. Harry nodded at him, but then gestured at Steve to walk beside him as he moved down High Note's corridor to check in on Jean. They had placed her in the room that they all shared up here, the one that overlooked the atrium, open to the sky and the birdsong of the jungle beneath. As they entered Steve's face had been somewhat confused and worried, but it tapered off as he spotted Jean sleeping on the bed. He took her and the view out the open balcony before turning a smile on Harry. "It's nice to know Jean still needs sleep," he quipped in a low voice.
Harry blinked, then raised an eyebrow, "And you're going to explain that comment as, what, exactly?"
Steve shrugged awkwardly, looking away. "This is kind of embarrassing to say but there is a new, well, a new religion popping up recently among the soldiers I've interacted with. A new religion that says that the Phoenix is the second coming of Jesus, or the first coming of the Savior or whatever. The stories of what she is vary, but all of it has distinct religious overtones."
He held up a hand as Harry made to speak, and when he went on, his voice had taken on a singsong edge, obviously repeating something he had heard all too often. "A god of fire and flame, first it showed the fire, burning the enemies of humanity in the skies over Florida in America." He smirked. "As an aside a lot of the Poles just call it the land of the Mouse." Then he went on resuming the singsong voice. "Now it shows the mercy, destroying the weapons with which we would make war upon ourselves and upon the innocent, bringing aid to the wounded, succoring them at need and transporting them to where they can be best treated."
"So you see they see her as some kind of goddess of fire and mercy, Steve finished. as Harry simply gaped at him, his voice returning to normal. And given her sheer power, I suppose you could say they even have a point." Harry continued to gape, and Steve started to laugh at his expression shaking his. "Is it so hard to believe?"
"I… intellectually, I suppose not," Harry said after a few minutes. "After all, Ororo was known as a goddess, Hela is a goddess, and Jean is the avatar of one of the fundamental powers of the universe that makes most goddesses and gods look like street corner bullies. So yes, I can understand. That doesn't make it any easier to hear that your pregnant girlfriend/soon-to-be-wife is slowly becoming the center of some kooky new age religion." He fell silent, thinking then shrugged. "We heard a bit of the same rumors after the events in Florida, it slowly went away. Hopefully it will do the same now, but we will need to nip that in the bud as soon as possible."
"Good thinking," Steve said with a smile, then waiting a tick before asking, "how?"
"You're having fun with this aren't you?" Harry grumped.
"Somewhat yes," Steve said with a laugh. "Your reaction was hilarious, and honestly speaking matched my own. Then again, I've come to know Jean, and of all the ladies you're involved with, she is the least likely to ever be comfortable with that kind of adoration."
"I'm afraid that will probably be the only way to fight this kind of thing." When Steve made an interrogative noise, Harry gestured to Jean. "We'll need to show Jean as being simply human, possibly up to opening up about or relationship and maybe even her identity." His eyes hardened. "But we'll of course have to wait until after the kids are born, and our marriage. That is nonnegotiable. It if lets this new religion grow, we'll deal with it later."
"I'm not going to argue with that one," Steve said drolly. "Frankly, I'm a little worried what you're going to be doing to Mr. Sinister given his attempts to kidnap her."
"Then it's funny that you should mention that my girlfriend has become the center of this new religion then. Because I am going to be positively Biblical with what I do to that particular pimple on the face of the universe." Harry tone and words were light, but his eyes were such a hard emerald, that even Steve could only nod grimly.