Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate or any of the IPs from which any imported elements may originate.

The Wars of Legends

Bridging Interlude: Old Feuds

Chapter Four: Vampires' Revenge

Beta:

In the middle of the Mediterranean Sea a single cruise ship sailed on the open ocean alone. It was unremarkable in comparison to the dozens of similar such ships that plied the scenic waters of the region. This however belied its true nature as the Headquarters of the organization known as Red Shield.

It was onto to this vessel that Lucille, her team, other Interpol teams and a small horde of Chiropteran Warriors led by their Swarm Queens beamed abroad. However, as soon as the bright light of the teleportation faded, the witch knew things had gone wrong.

"Shit!" The blonde woman cursed as she immediately dove behind a large potted plant for cover as she appeared, alone, directly in front of an armed patrol.

Thankfully, the guards seemed as surprised to see her as she them. This gave her the precious seconds it took them to overcome their shock and raise their guns to get behind cover. Even then she'd barely made it before they opened up on her at full auto, quickly chipping away at the pottery keeping her safe.

"Avis!" The witch cast, using the bird-conjuring charm to shoot out a flock of birds from her wand's tip alongside a loud bang. That and the avians rushing at them distracted the two guards enough for Lucille to pop out of her cover and take them out with two quick shots from her SIG Sauer P226 handgun.

She'd apparently missed the headshot she'd been aiming for one of the guards, but rectified that with a quick Terebro charm to drill a hole through his head and put him out of his misery. She winced at the necessity but her orders were clear, deadly force was to be met with the same. No exceptions.

With her immediate threats dealt with, the Interpol agent listened to the radio chatter coming out of her earpiece to try and puzzle together what had happened.

"...Readings say it's a Goa'uld beaming disruptor!"

"How the hell did Red Shield get one of those?"

"Over the black market of course!"

"Stow it!" The commander of the Interpol forces said over the confused mess. "All agents, regroup at Point Delta in 15 minutes."

That should be enough time to make it even if we were all the way on the other side of the ship. Good call. Lucille observed.

"Avoid combat if possible. Is that clear?"

Lucille joined in the chorus of acknowledgements even as she made her way to the designated rendezvous point, the atrium at the heart of the ship. On the way, she ran into more Red Shield patrols consisting of both wizards and what appeared to be muggle mercenaries, some of which were armed with alien weapons she recognized from her briefings as Zat'nik'tels.

Obeying her orders she avoided combat as much as possible, even making time consuming detours where necessary, but sometimes a fight was unavoidable.

"My luck sucks today!" The Interpol agent hissed in annoyance, even as she blindly shot her pistol around the corner serving as her cover at the group of five Red Shield agents who had her pinned. She'd fled and found an alternate route if she'd had the chance, but unfortunately doubling back just put her in the path of what seemed like the enemy's barracks where she'd likely encounter even more of the terrorists. Thus she had no choice but to fight her way through this group and through the cargo hold they guarded to reach the rendezvous point.

A trio of spells shot back her way and slammed against the bulkhead of the intersection, leaving yet more scorch marks on the already thoroughly abused section of wall. If that weren't bad enough, this was followed by twin electric blasts from Zat'nik'tels as the two muggles in this batch of terrorists added their own fire to the assault.

Time to get creative. Lucille mused as she took a deep breath and prepared for her counteroffensive. I hope this works.

Edging her wand around the corner as low and as slowly as she could manage so as to avoid notice, she cast the Jelly-Legs Curse at the terrorists. She seemed to have caught them unawares as they didn't respond until their cries of confusion signified that she'd stuck true. Bursting out of cover to exploit their confusion, she threw a Expulso at the goons that blew the man in the center into bloody mist even as his compatriots were slammed into the walls all around him.

The witch followed this up with shots from her gun and spells from her wand that finished the remaining four off before they could recover their wits.

Breathing a sigh of relief at having survived the encounter, Lucille stepped over the corpses and moved to open the door to the ship's hold. As she pulled it open, she found a dark mist of sorts flowing out of it. That the mist caused the whole area's temperature to drop a couple dozen degrees certainly did not help matters.

"Okay, that's ominous." The witch noted nervously and once more considered doubling back. With how things were going, trying to sneak her way through the enemy's barracks was seeming increasingly more appealing.

Who am I kidding? That'll just get me killed.

That said, she was getting the feeling this route was likely just as, if not more, deadly.

Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained I guess… I just hope what I gain isn't a painful death.

Taking one last moment to steel her resolve and to cast a spell on herself to hopefully filter out the mist from the air she breathed, just in case, the witch cautiously stepped into the unnaturally dark cargo hold. The unnatural mist was everywhere, with thick clouds of it reducing her vision to just a few feet in front of her and making the place feel like it was part of the Arctic Circle.

Quickly casting a few warming charms on herself to ward off the cold, she advanced on high alert through the room. Even through the obscuring mist she could see that the hold was filled with treasures of all kinds. Piles upon piles of gold coins sat next to displays of ornate medieval weapons, including wands, and various artworks.

It's like someone emptied their Gringotts vault and dumped it all here. That being the case… Is this the Red Shield's treasury?

The thought had just crossed her mind when a spell streaked out at her from the darkness. Its light stood out in the unnatural gloom and she had more than enough warning to spin out of the way, but even as searched for suitable cover she was hit by a brace of follow up spells.

Thankfully none of them were immediately fatal. They did however send her flying into a pile of gold coins that collapsed on top of her, all but burying her. That was the least of her worries though. That honor went to the fact that one of the spells her assailant had fit her with had managed to tear a bloody gash open along her entire side. This combined with another spell which had paralyzed her meant she was bleeding out and had no way to save herself.

"A witch?" Her assailant said as he stepped into her view and leaned down to pick up her wand, which had fallen out of her hand during her flight through the air. "How disappointing. I was hoping you were one of the Chiropterans at least."

That's Philippe Marcon, the leader of Red Shield! Lucille thought as she looked at the man holding her wand. It's a shitty consolation prize but at least I can say that I was killed by these psychos' head honcho.

"What is it Grand Uncle?" The terrorist said suddenly, turning away from Lucille and looking into the gloom, dropping her wand in the process.

"Yes, of course. I understand. I know that killing one of their thralls is just as honorable as killing one of those abominations. It's just- Yes, I apologize. I was being foolish."

Who is he talking to?

As if in answer to her question, a skull covered in a dozen or so jewels of various types floated out of the darkness to hover in mid air where it glared down reproachfully at Marcon.

What in Merlin's name!?

"She's still alive?" Marcon asked, seemingly surprised. "Let me rectify that."

Turning back around, the terrorist leader leveled his wand at Lucille. With its tip already glowing a sickly green, the witch knew her end was nigh.

The Killing Curse? Well, at least it'll be quick.

"Not on my watch," a beautiful voice cried out suddenly as a red blur shot into the cargo hold and slammed into Marcon.

The blur materialized into the heavenly form of the Swarm Queen Saya, who with her blade firmly buried through the terrorist's heart looked like a goddess of war who had stepped onto the mortal plane to deliver divine justice. An image further enhanced by the way she cut the man in half in the next motion, all while still looking alluringly elegant.

Okay. I know I'm not usually so poetic. I guess dying must be putting me in touch with my inner poet or something?

"Miss Blanchet, hang in there." The alien sovereign said as she stepped over the corpse which caught fire even as it collapsed to the floor, and confronted the floating skull. "I need to deal with this thing before I can see about healing you."

If Lucille wasn't still paralyzed, she would have nodded. Or, more honestly, done something embarrassing. But as it were, all she could do was look on in awe as the Swarm Queen faced the undead monster.

At last! A Swarm Queen! The disgusting looking Ascended Being that floated in the air before Saya all but telepathically screamed in joy as she faced it. After all these years and the bungling plans of my idiot followers, at last I have drawn a Swarm Queen into my trap. At last, I will have my revenge!

"Revenge? What in the world are you talking about?" Saya asked as she blurred forward. She was driven back, as expected, when the creature began shooting spells at her from the many jewels that was embedded into its physical body.

So it can still use wizarding magic? Saya noted as she blurred out of the way of the spellfire and came to a stop some distance away behind the creature to assess just what she was dealing with. I'll have to be cautious about that. Some of their spells can be deadly, even for me.

Do you think I cannot see you behind me!? The skull roared as it spun around. Strangely enough it wasn't unleashing another spell barrage.

It has 360 vision? Saya observed with a frown as the pile of gold behind her exploded and a rat the size of a lion leapt out of it directly at her. Blurring into motion once more, she easily cut the creature to ribbons only to find dozens more of the abnormal rodents emerging from previously concealed enclosures throughout the hold.

And the ability to control other beings? Saya mused as she evaded a series of spears thrown by a ghostly entity hovering next to a rack of medieval weapons. It can control poltergeists too? I'm actually starting to get impressed.

Blurring towards the specter, she imbued her rapier with a healthy dose of her Ascended power and sliced the spirit in half, accomplishing what the wizards deemed impossible and exorcised it from the mortal plane. It was unfortunately only one of a half dozen of its ilk that the opposing Ascended had under its command and the others retaliated by tossing even more of the hold's valuable contents her way as makeshift projectiles.

At least they seem to be leaving Miss Blanchet alone.

In fact the enemy seemed to have forgotten the dying witch even existed. The way it kept howling about how it would have its revenge by killing Saya or some such variant of the same in an unending litany of curses, it was clearly wholly bent on its self-proclaimed task and was ignoring or perhaps even unaware of anything else.

Not that I'm complaining. Saya thought as she eviscerated another of the giant rats with her rapier and sent a bolt of her power to burn a poltergeist out of existence.

"You keep talking about using Red Shield and its actions as a trap to lure Diva and I back to Earth," Saya said, growing tired of the talking skull's incessant whining and deciding it was time to correct its misconception. "But have you considered that we sprung the trap deliberately?"

What are you talking about!? The other Ascended Being demanded, his attacks slowing in his agitation allowing Saya to finish off the last of the annoying poltergeists.

"Did you think we didn't know that the escalating attacks were meant to draw us out? Of course we did." Saya informed him as she beheaded the last of the rats. "It was too obvious."

Then…

"But we sprung the trap anyway. We had to after the amount of civilian casualties you caused. We couldn't let you keep going. And since we suspected a fellow Ascended Being was behind Red Shield, it had to be us, as Ascended Beings ourselves, to stop you." Saya said as she pointed her rapier challengingly at the floating skull. "We after all couldn't ask any of our daughters to risk their lives for this."

And yet one of your daughters very nearly died anyways. The skull taunted at the same time as it breathed a cone of dark energy from its skeletal mouth that forced Saya to jump back to safety.

"Yes," Saya admitted. "We didn't think Amelia would come to Earth and put herself at risk like that. Not when Surefoot was fine. That was a miscalculation on our part. However, for hurting my little girl you will die today."

The only one who dies today is you! The Ascended Wizard screamed as he fired a barrage of sickly green Killing Curses. With one for each of his jewels, there were two dozen of the lethal spells flying across the hold, which wasn't much of a challenge for Saya to avoid as she blurred out of the way. The problem lay in the fact that one of the deadly curse was heading right for Miss Blanchet and by the time that the Red Queen noticed it was already too late to get to her in time!

Thankfully, Saya never truly fought alone.

With the sound of tearing metal, a large hole was torn in the metal ceiling of the cargo hold as a blue blur shot out of it and directly into the path of the killing curse headed for the immobile witch. A blur which revealed itself to be her beloved twin Diva who effortlessly deflected the spell with a flick of her rapier.

"I repeat what my sister said," Diva told the Ascended Wizard, her eyes glowing a deep, threatening blue. "You will die today."

Both Swarm Queens!? It's my lucky day! The clearly deranged floating skull said, sounding genuinely euphoric even as it began firing out bolts of darkness alongside various spells in all directions.

"That's the Ascended Being we've been hunting?" Diva commented while wrinkling her nose in disgust, even as she ripped the floor of the cargo hold up to create a protective shield in front of Miss Blanchet. "What kind of self-respecting Ascended Being would choose to take the form of an animated skull?"

"Ascended Wizards are weird apparently," Saya bantered back, much more at ease now that her twin had joined the fight even as she dodged the enemy's passable attempt at creating a real-life bullet hell. "Besides, our spies did suspect this was his form."

"Yeah, but I didn't want to believe it." Diva replied with a sigh even as she blurred out of the cover her newly created barrier had provided and tried to navigate the storm of dark bolts and spells to attack the enemy, only to be forced back by the tidal wave of projectiles. "I mean Wizards can Ascend easily and even chose their forms, so why pick something so disgusting?"

My form doesn't matter! All that matters is that I kill you two!

"Do all Ascended Wizards have such provincial ambitions?" Diva said with a shake of head even as she gave up trying to play at the former wizard's game and instead summoned her power into a wall of energy that she used to push her way through his storm of projectiles. "There was that Voldemort person who just wanted to take over Britain, and then there's this idiot who only wants to kill us. "

Killing you is hardly provincial! The skull shot back as it focused a large portion of its attacks into a river of power that slammed into Diva's wall and tried to force her back.

"I mean," Diva continued unfazed by the enemy's retort or its change in tactics. "I know that Ascended Wizards don't get access to the Others' library of knowledge but that didn't stop Nimue. So why are all other Ascended Wizards so pathetic in comparison?"

I'm not pathetic! The undead creature roared, pouring even more of its power into its attack on Diva.

"Yes, you are." Saya informed him as she blurred into being directly above the Ascended Wizard.

While Diva had drawn the majority of the enemy's attention with her taunting, its bullet storm had slackened in its intensity elsewhere. This had cleared a path for Saya to finally close with it, something that she eagerly exploited.

Wh-

The Red Queen did not let the former wizard finish its last words. Without hesitation, she stabbed her rapier, imbued with a sizable chunk of her power as an Ascended Being, straight through the skull and causing the power to detonate. Blurring away just barely ahead of the explosion, Saya watched in satisfaction as the Ascended Wizard's physical form was disintegrated and with it his essence, killing him.

"Goodbye to bad rubbish," Diva commented airily as she crushed a fragment of the skull under her heel.

"No time to gloat," Saya said as she blurred to Miss Blanchet's side and carefully cradled the wounded woman in her arms. "We need to take her to the healers now."

"She's almost bled out," Diva noted, looking at Saya significantly. "Now would be-"

"Not without her consent!" Saya hissed back. "Besides, this is well within the abilities of a wizard healer."

Diva sighed but conceded the point. "Let's hurry then, before it does become too late."

Without another word, the Swarm Queens blurred away with the injured witch in tow.

It had been a week since the successful raid on Red Shield's Headquarters and Lucille found herself still in the hospital. Her physical wounds had been healed but she had somehow been poisoned by the dark mist created by the Ascended Being that had apparently been behind the terrorist organization the whole time.

A poison that the healers, both mundane and magical, were struggling to even comprehend much less treat.

"Hello, Miss Blanchet," the Swarm Queen Saya said as she opened the door to Lucille's room. "Feeling better?"

"Your Majesty? What are you doing here?" The witch asked, surprised by the royal visit.

"Just wanted to check up on you," the alien sovereign said with a smile. "I did go out of my way to save your life. Think of it as me checking up on an investment."

She's joking right? Lucille thought, as her mind ran wild with what the Chiropteran meant by 'investment'.

Regardless of if they were true or not, the other woman had saved her life and deserved to know the truth.

"I'm dying." Lucille informed the red eyed beauty with a bitter smile. "The healers keep saying they're making progress at unraveling what about the exposure to the dark mist is killing me, but they're been saying that since the beginning and have nothing to show for it."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Saya said with a frown. "I'd offer the help of the Swarm but even with all our technology, none of it will heal you. And I doubt any of our allies could either. That said, I do have a way that might."

"You're offering me conversion? Into one of your Chevaliers?"

The alien woman nodded, leaving Lucille stunned. It would mean giving up her humanity which was a big deal but on the other hand she would die if nothing was done, and that was arguably even worse. At least if she lived, she could still remain herself even if she wasn't strictly human anymore.

Wouldn't that be enough?

Perhaps the witch should have taken more time to consider her choice, but in the end she didn't know how much time her body or the Swarm Queen was willing to give her. With that in mind, she looked the enchanting brunette in the eye and nodded.

"Are you sure?"

"As I'll ever be," Lucille replied with confidence.

Her declaration was met with a smile that sent tingles straight to Lucille's nether regions and told the witch beyond anything else that she was making the right choice.

A few days later on board the Elizabeth, Diva and Saya sat in the seats of an arena as they watched Lucille and Haji spar in the combat zone below whilst in their true forms.

Lucille's true form had taken shape as having her entire lithe body covered by a sleek crimson carapace that also served to transform her hands into talons and her feet into bladed heeled boots of sorts. This was complemented by a pair of bat wings that grew from her shoulders.

"Lucille is a fine addition to our Hive," Diva noted to Saya as she sipped from a wine glass full of the blood of some exotic scorpion-like creature known as a Giratablulluh that they had discovered on a remote desert world that had formerly belonged to the Goa'uld Marduk.

"You're only saying that because you like her in bed," Saya replied with a smile as she too sampled some exotic blood. In her case, that of a mpisimbi, a creature that resembled a cheetah, leopard and hyena crossbreed that lived on the savannas of the planet Nyambe.

"Are you saying you don't, sister?" Diva retorted.

Saya said nothing, just taking a deep sip of her drink causing Diva to smirk at hitting the nail on the head.

"Setting that aside," Saya said as smoothly as she could. "Lucille's DNA will likely help the Asgard with their genetic problems. Which is a good thing."

"Uh huh," Diva hummed disinterestedly, her eyes focused on the sensual elegance of Lucille in combat.

If Saya noticed, she chose to ignore her distraction as she continued rambling. She even changed the topic again, in a bid to catch Diva's attention.

"Now, if only the tensions between wizards and the mundanes would calm down a little faster. I mean it's cooling but it's still quite high. Diva, are you listening?"

Sighing at her sister's insistence on wanting to talk business now, Diva tore her eyes away from Lucille and faced her sister.

"Yes, sister, things are going almost too well aren't they?" Diva replied sarcastically. "We should be looking out for when the other shoe drops."

"I wouldn't go that far," Saya said with a frown, deliberately ignored the sarcasm. "We still have to worry about the Goa'uld Remnant."

"They're nothing more than hasbeens waiting to die." Diva said dismissively.

Saya could only hum agreeably in reply.

"So should we invite Lucille to our bed tonight?" Diva asked suddenly, emulating her sister's earlier rapid topic changes.

Her twin didn't notice, instead choosing to give her a look like she was stupid. "Of course."

Diva squealed at the pronouncement and offered her sister a hug.

Done!

This chapter was quite fun to write. Making Javert a demilich was a new and exciting experience. I've never written a creature like that before. I hope the final product was as entertaining to read as it was for me to write it.

Yes, Javert is an Ascended Being with all that implies. One important implication being that Voldemort, as a wraith, was an Ascended Being as well. Unfortunately, he didn't put any effort into truly mastering the powers he'd gained from his state and was obsessed with obtaining a new body. Javert in contrast did not make that mistake and thus was more powerful than the self-proclaimed Dark Lord. However, most important of all it reinforces the point made by Nimue's existence that there are a range of forms that Ascended Beings can take and that each will have differing levels of power/knowledge.

Lastly, yes the Swarm Queens dominated Javert. Yes, this is intentional. For all that Javert was an Ascended Being too and a powerful creature, he pales in comparison to true powerhouses like the Swarm Queens. I chose to show this by having them be in control the whole fight.

Well, that's it for the AN this chapter. That's it for Bridging Interludes too. I sincerely hope to see all of you in War of the Ascended which should be up shortly after this goes live.

Till next time, peace.