Harry jerked awake and sat up. He coughed out a mouthful of water and choked on it for a moment. "So good of you to join us," came a greasy voice from not too far away. Harry was about to jump to his feet when he noticed that his hands were cuffed and his ankles were shackled to the metal flooring of a spaceship.
Harry took a second to gather his bearings. Looking around, he saw that he was in a small holding cell, and chained up in the same cell was his target, Adi Gallia. Like in her picture, she was a good-looking, dark-skinned woman. Just as he was, Harry could see that she was chained to the floor. An annoying laugh made him turn toward the cell door. On the outside was a brown Besalisk with four large, muscular arms. He was holding a bucket in his hand.
"I take it that you're the one I have to thank for being in this predicament?" Harry asked, annoyed from being wet on a very cold ship.
"Indeed I am. Allow me to introduce myself …"
"His name is Pong Krell. He's supposed to be a Jedi Master, but his betrayal of me says otherwise," Adi ground out. "What I haven't discovered is why he decided to betray his brothers and sisters," she turned her accusing eyes to the betrayer.
"The answer is quite simple, Master Gallia," he said, pacing back and forth outside the door. "A while back, I received a Force Vision. It was the most powerful one that I had ever had. It was as if the Veil of Darkness was pulled back for a split second," he explained, looking off into the distance.
"In that moment, I saw the destruction of the Jedi Order. Since then, I knew what must be done to protect myself," he told her.
"Sell us out to scum like Jabba?!" she nearly shouted. She was beginning to get worked up.
"I'm afraid that it must be done, my dear. Once I leave the Order, I'll need a new employer. Jabba is willing to pay big," he smiled in a way that told them that he really didn't care about anyone but himself.
"I'll bet he is!" she sniffed. "I've been fighting against slavery for years. He must be offering a small fortune for my head." Her comment was met with a booming laugh from Pong Krell.
"Oh, my dear … You've always had a bit of an ego, but even this is too much," he chuckled with merriment. "Jabba isn't looking for you. He's looking for him," Pong jerked his head in Harry's direction. He then turned to Harry. "Somehow he found out that you were the one to steal from him. He has a large bounty on your head. He wants you alive, of course. You really pissed him off," he smiled happily.
"I tend to do that from time to time," Harry explained which earned him another laugh. "How did you know that I'd be here?" Harry asked, wondering if there was another traitor within the Jedi Order.
"I've been meditating deeply since my original vision. I foresaw you coming to Nal Hutta to rescue Master Gallia. All I had to do was set her up for failure and sit back until you came," he told them smugly.
"Quite brilliant," Harry praised him. He bowed slightly.
"Thank you. Now, I must be going. Enjoy the ride. It'll probably be the last enjoyment that you ever experience," he said as he walked off. When the door slid shut behind him, Harry rolled his eyes. He turned to Adi.
"Why haven't you used your Force powers to free yourself?" Harry received a glare in return.
"I would have if I could," she spat. "They injected a slave chip into my head. They're watching me," she said, jerking her head in a certain direction. Harry looked up and saw a camera in the corner of the cell. "A droid is watching the feed. The moment I use my powers …"
"Boom?" Harry asked. She nodded.
"So as you can see. We're in a bit of trouble."
"That's okay. I'm pretty good at getting myself out of trouble," he told her.
"He said that he foresaw you coming to rescue me. You're not a Jedi though …" she said, clearly confused.
"I'm not. I do work with Yoda and Mace regularly though. They're the ones who asked me to come and find you once you stopped checking in." She nodded in understanding.
"So … Any suggestions?" she asked, hopeful.
"I can use my powers to fry the chip in your head," he told her. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't worry. It won't set off the explosive. I've tested it a hundred times. Believe it or not, I've run into slave traders once or twice in my time."
Adi sighed. "Alright."
"The only problem is that it's kind of obvious. So you'll need to be ready for a fight," Harry said. She winced.
"All of our stuff was confiscated, including my lightsaber. I'm guessing that big oaf Pong has it," she huffed.
"Probably mine as well," he replied, checking to make sure. All his stuff was gone. He wasn't worried about that. He'd retrieve it all before checking out. "We'll have to do it the old fashion way." Adi nodded in agreement. "Good. Get ready," he said. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Harry used his magic to transfigure her entire body into that of a tiny kitten. He nearly laughed when the tiny kitten jumped in shock before lifting up its paw to examine it. Harry smiled when the kitten looked up and glared at him. Just then, she transformed back and hissed, grabbing the side of her head. Harry knew that the microchip had shorted out and burned her skin. "What was …"
"No time," Harry said. He vanished their bindings and used a Banishing Charm to blow the door completely off their cell. If they weren't informed of their escape before, then the massive bang of the door slamming into the corridor wall surely did. Harry concentrated hard as Adi stood behind him.
She watched as the door slid open and a battle droid came in holding a blaster rifle. Pointing it at them, it loudly stated, "Halt your actions! Surrender!"
However, she didn't have to take any action against it, because just then, it was hit from behind by a large, plasteel lockbox. The droid yelped loudly as it fell facedown onto the floor. The blaster rifle slid across the metal grating and ended up right at her feet. Picking it up, she fired a few shots into the droid's unprotected back. She heard a click and turned her head just in time to see the lockbox open up. "My lightsaber!" she cried out happily. Using the Force, she summoned it back into her open hand. Once the cold, metal cylinder slapped onto her palm, Adi felt much, much better. Looking at the man that saved her, she saw him grabbing his stuff from inside the box.
"This must be yours," he said as he tossed a money sack at her. She easily caught it and stuffed it into her pocket.
"Thank you …"
"Harry Potter," he introduced himself.
"Thank you, Harry Potter," she said, glad that she now had a fighting chance to escape Jabba's clutches.
"You're welcome. Now let's get out of here. I need to recover my ship and figure out a way to thank Jabba for the way I was treated," he said, still annoyed at having water splashed on him. She watched with great attention as he waved his hand and dried himself off. Even so, she kept her mouth shut. She knew that it wasn't the time for asking questions, especially when the door slid open at the end of the corridor. In came her old friend, Pong Krell holding two double-bladed lightsabers. Before she could say anything, he ignited both of them.
"I don't know how you disabled the slave chip, but I'm taking you both to Jabba … whole or in pieces," he glared. In return, she ignited her own lightsaber.
"Can you handle this guy by yourself? I need to take control of the ship," Harry asked. She nodded.
"Yes. Hopefully, I'll be able to bring him in alive so that he can answer for his crimes against the Jedi Order," she replied, never taking her deep, blue eyes off of Pong.
"Good," Harry said.
"What's a runt like you gonna …"
His insult was stifled when Harry ran at him and hit him squarely in the chest with a powerful Banishing Charm. Pong cried out from the impact of his spell as he flew backward and hit the ground hard. Harry jumped and used his gut as a trampoline to leap over the rest of him. Pong yelped and tried to grab Harry with one of his meaty hands, but it was too late. Harry escaped through the sliding door. Pong had just enough time to get to his feet before he was forced into a defensive position by Master Gallia's fierce lightsaber attack.
Galactic Wizardry
As the door shut behind him, Harry used his common sense to find the Bridge. The ship wasn't all that big. He thought that it was some type of light freighter. Either way, he was easily able to find it. Bursting into the room, he startled the Protocol Droid that was watching over the sensors while the ship was flying through hyperspace on autopilot. The silver humanoid jumped to its feet, crying out that Harry shouldn't be there. Rolling his eyes, Harry used his magic to spin him around. Reaching out, Harry flipped a switch and shut the annoying droid off. Immediately, its head drooped and it stood rooted in place. He levitated it and moved it into the corner of the small room. Hopping in the Captain's chair, Harry grabbed the throttle and pulled it all the way back. He heard the engines powering down as the starlines shrunk back into pinpricks of light.
He immediately got to work, setting a course of Eden. Harry avoided using the comms station in case they could be tracked. He didn't know how deep this Pong Krell fellow was in Jabba's back pocket. He seemed like the kind of guy that would jump straight into the deep end. With the coordinates punched in, he was just about to push the throttle forward when the ship suddenly lurched. "What the hell?" Harry cursed, confused as an alarm started blaring. He checked the sensors. "Hull breach? Atmospheric Containment Emitter malfunctioning? Shit!" he cursed again and jumped up from the seat and ran back to where he had just come from. He ran through the door and was met with almost complete devastation. The corridor walls were slashed up and partially melted. The lights in the room were flickering while sparks occasionally shot out from damaged wiring. The flooring had spots where the metal grating was turned into slag. The worst part, however, was when he was nearly sucked out of the ship and into the vacuum of space. As soon as he stepped in, he was violently pulled forward through a hole in the wall into the adjacent room. He was just able to reach out and grab a piece of equipment. With the wind rushing by, it was hard to hear, but he could see that parts of the Shield Emitter were damaged. He could also see a gaping hole in the outer wall with nothing but the blackness of space behind it. Both Adi and Pong were holding onto parts of the engines for dear life while they slashed at each other with their lightsabers. It appeared that Pong was down to one double-bladed lightsaber. Concentrating, Harry held out his hand and channeled his magic. Slowly, the breach in the hull closed until all three fell to the floor. Adi took the opportunity and slashed with her blade, removing his large hand at the wrist. Pong screamed out in pain as Harry summoned the lightsaber and severed hand to him. The last thing that Pong saw was a flash of red light before he went unconscious.
Adi used the Force to levitate the unconscious Besalisk into the same cell that they had been kept in after Harry used his magic to repair the door. He could see that she was limping heavily. "You're an interesting man, Harry Potter," she told him as she dropped Pong into the cell without much care being put into his safety. Harry used his magic to make sure that he wouldn't bleed to death from his crispy stump.
"I've been called worse," Harry chuckled. "Are you sure that this will hold him? He's pretty big."
She checked to make sure that the door was securely fixed before nodding. "Even a Besalisk isn't strong enough to break the door down. With the Force, however …" Harry understood what she was saying. He reached into one of his expanded pockets and pulled out a tranq-pistol. Loading it, he opened the door and shot Pong with an extra-large dose of tranquilizer.
"That should keep him down for at least twenty-four hours. That's more than enough time for us to get to safety."
"Can you set a course for Coruscant? I need to get back to the Jedi Temple immediately," she told him. Harry shook his head.
"I'm setting a course for a secret planet. You'll be able to contact Yoda and Mace once we're there. Shaak Ti will also be there to meet you," he explained.
"Master Ti?" she asked. Harry nodded again. She quickly agreed.
"Very well, but explanations are in order," she raised her eyebrow.
"Fair enough … but once we get there," he told her. When she agreed, they both went back to the Bridge where Harry pushed the throttle forward, hoping that there wouldn't be another breach while the Atmospheric Containment Emitter was still inoperable.
Galactic Wizardry
As they came out of hyperspace, Adi looked at the paradise planet with approval. "So this is the planet that you discovered?"
"Yep," he smiled at the beautiful planet. "Not too bad, is it?"
"It's beautiful. It's on par with Zeltros," she complimented it. Harry made his way into the atmosphere while piloting toward his private pad. Once he landed, a host of women were waiting for him, including one annoyed Twi'lek that was tapping her foot.
"I can see that you're missing a ship. I hope for your sake it's not lost for good," she threatened, raising an eyebrow at him. Shaak Ti rolled her eyes and came to greet Master Gallia.
"Don't worry, Aayla. The ship is mostly fine. It's back on Nal Hutta under protections. I'm going to need a couple of new power cores," he told her while hugging her tightly. He kissed her forehead before greeting his worried Nabooan women. He then turned to Shaak. "Can you get Master Gallia in contact with Yoda? It's very important. She can fill you in on the details."
"Of course," she smiled. "I'll take her to the conference room." Shaak waved for her friend to follow her. They got into a hover car and flew off in the direction of the Command Center.
"Now what's this about needing new Power Cores?" his girls asked. Harry sighed.
"Come inside girls. I'm in desperate need of a shower and a hot meal. I'll explain it all.
Harry and the four girls happily shared a hot shower while he explained what had happened to them. "You were lucky to make it out alive!" Padme said, obviously worried. Sabe nodded while drying him off with a towel. Harry eyed her dripping wet, nude body. She always put him and Padme above herself.
"A traitor in the Jedi ranks," Aayla said sadly, shaking her head while toweling off.
"Yoda and Mace can decide his fate. Thankfully, I survived in one piece. First thing in the morning, we can go back to Nal Hutta and pick up the Chimaera. I'll place an order for two top-of-the-line Power Cores from the Forge Core. They should be done in time. In fact, we need to do some upgrading to the ship once we get it back. I can't risk you girls getting hurt when it can easily be avoided," he told them.
"Thank you for worrying about us, but you need to worry about yourself as well. I'll be very annoyed if you get yourself hurt again," Aayla told him and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. He could feel her bare breasts pressed against his back. He loved the feeling of her hard nipples against his bare skin.
"I agree," Sabe joined in once he was dry. She grabbed another towel and dried herself off. "And Aayla will order the Power Core. She knows what to ask for. You can go get ready for dinner. Padme and I will cook for everyone," she smiled and stood on her tiptoes. She leaned in and kissed him passionately. Harry eagerly returned it in equal passion.
"Alright. Break it up you two," Aayla rolled her eyes and slapped Harry's tight ass. "We'll need to figure out what to do with Jabba. He's going to be a pain if we let it go."
"Definitely. It looks like another trip to Tatooine is in order. Getting the ship back is our first priority though. R2 is still onboard doing what he can," Harry told them.
"We can talk tonight after you're fed. I'll order the cores and call in a Medical Droid to check you out in the meantime. Padme and Sabe will start dinner," Aayla ordered as they put clothes on.
Galactic Wizardry
"Disturbing it is," Yoda said over the hologram. "A good Master he was."
"We'll be on our way back as soon as possible, but it could still be another day or so. Keep Master Krell medicated until we arrive. Master Yoda and I will discuss what to do with him," Mace Windu told the pair. Shaak Ti nodded.
"Masters Yoda … Windu … I request to join this top-secret mission you have going on. I wish to take up residence here on Eden," Adi Gallia told them. Yoda had filled her in on what was going on. Obviously, she couldn't let the Order die without fighting back. Now that she no longer had a Padawan to take care of, she was free to follow the path that the Force had provided her. It wasn't long before she received her answer.
"Welcome, you are," Yoda said with his warbling voice.
"Speak about this to no one. Remember that the entire future of the Jedi relies on us keeping our operation a secret until the time is right for us to strike back," Master Windu told her. Adi nodded passionately.
"Of course!" she replied. Mace nodded.
"Then Master Ti can answer any question that you have. We'll finish up our business here before returning to Eden to collect Master Krell. May the Force be with you."
"And with you both," Adi Gallia replied with a respectful bow of the head. When the hologram cut off, she turned to her friend, Shaak Ti, with about a million questions.
The Following Day
"How can you not remember where you parked?" Sabe teased him. Harry rolled his eyes.
"I didn't park. I crashed. Big difference," he told them. "Besides, it's not like I have access to the ship's computer."
"Shhh! Aayla's concentrating," Padme shushed them. Indeed, Aayla had her eyes closed as she used the Force to find the wayward ship. When she finally opened them, she pointed a bit to the right.
"Over there," she said confidently. Harry piloted their small ship in the direction that she indicated. After about twenty minutes, Harry finally spotted the ship. They flew down low, and Harry apparated aboard and removed the magical protections. When Aayla landed, they all came out to see the damage. "This thing's going to need a serious wash."
"Yeah. We definitely need to get rid of the smell," Padme gagged at the horrible odor of the swamp. "Let's hurry up and get out of here."
They spent the next few hours removing the damaged cores and installing the new ones. Magic certainly made the process easier. Once they were installed, Harry crossed his fingers and fired up the ship. The smooth rumble of the engines made him smile. R2 quickly jacked in and ran diagnostics. A few beeps later and Harry knew everything he needed to know.
"Runs smooth," he told them. "Aayla, you fly the smaller ship home. I'll be right behind you."
After a few hugs and kisses, they watched as Aayla's smaller ship lifted up and took off. As soon as she was gone, Harry followed her and left the gross and smelly planet behind.