Chapter Ten: Sullustan Skirmishes

Harry Potter, Jedi Knight, was currently doing a series of calming exercises in his mind while he tried to keep from strangling the politician he had been sent to rescue. The Sullustan Senator had had several attempts made on his life as he was giving information to the Republic officials about a gang on Sullust that was trading in Force sensitive children. This mission tied into an ongoing investigation that intelligence officers were working on, and they had welcomed the Jedi's help. Harry had been sent to get the Senator off of Sullust and back to Coruscant but that was proving easier said than done.

"Jedi Potter, I need a drink of mineral water, and proper mineral water, not that stuff that you keep on board your ship." The Senator had done nothing but complain and demand all day long, for the past 2 days and even for a Jedi, it was wearing on the nerves. For Harry it was worse as the Senator's behavior strongly reminded him of Dudley. Upon learning of his age, (at 27 Harry was an adult in human terms but only an adolescent in Sullustan terms) the Senator had promptly complained and threatened to file an official complaint against the Jedi for sending a boy to fetch him. Harry had ground his teeth and offered a polite, meaningless, social smile, which felt more like a grimace.

Harry quietly delivered the mineral water and then returned to watching the sunset. They had to leave under cover of darkness, and the ship was in the hangar bay, a mile or so away from where they were. Glancing at the corpulent politician Harry growled mentally as he realized that the Senator was so out of shape that he wouldn't be able to run for long distances.

'We'll have to risk a speeder, and hope that no one catches us' the Knight thought, once again cursing the Council for sending him on this assignment, when one of the older Knights or even a Master would have been able to get the politician in the other room to shut up and listen with just one look. Harry had developed that "don't argue with me" look fairly early on over the past 2 years, he'd found it worked with most beings, and also on unruly young Padawans as well. He'd been roped into teaching beginning lightsaber classes for one term and had enjoyed it, but had quickly learnt to stay firm when he made a decision or else the younglings would run all over him. The other Knights laughed when they learnt about this and said that it was good practice for when he took a Padawan of his own. Harry had accepted the teasing and within a couple of weeks he had learnt how to control the class effectively, and without scare tactics too. He had also allowed himself to think about taking a Padawan sometime in the near future, since the Council, led by Mace were rather unsubtly hinting that he really ought to.

Finally the sun set enough for Harry to risk moving his complaining companion to the ship. The Senator though, didn't want to go.

"Now see here, boy, I don't care whether you're a Jedi or not, we are not leaving while it's dark and that's final."

Gritting his teeth and firmly shutting out memories of Vernon, Harry said equally firmly, "Senator Arndt, if we do not leave now then our chances of being discovered, captured, and quite possibly killed go higher with every passing day. Do you want to give this information of yours to the Republic officials or not, because if you do then we need to leave, NOW!"

The Senator grumbled and growled but acquiesced in the end. So it was that Harry led the Sullustan out to the speeder and got in it, all his senses alert for danger. They made the trip to the hangar in near silence, and then boarded the ship, which was Harry's own personal craft that he'd rescued from the discard pile in the Temple and modified to suit his needs. It was similar to a fighter, but had hyperdrive capability and could carry up to three passengers. Harry had lovingly called it the Marauder, and it had done plenty of that when it came to engaging enemy spacecraft in various dogfights. Harry saw that Senator Arndt was settled and then sat at the controls, sinking into the Force and connecting with his ship. This was one of the many modifications that he'd made to it; the hyperdrive ran off a crystal similar to the ones used in lightsabers which meant that Harry could harness the power of the Force in order to make the hyperdrive work. This was an ingenious modification which no other ship had and it got rid of the need for a lot of the more complicated wiring and generators needed for the standard hyperdrive. No one at the Jedi Temple even knew about it either. Harry had kept it a complete secret.

He ran the standard systems check and found nothing wrong. With that done he lifted off and set a course for Coruscant before engaging the automatic pilot and heading through to the main part of the ship, where the rooms were. He went into his room and closed the door, mentally checking on his passenger. Finding everything ok he caught up on some much needed sleep.

A jolt brought him rudely back to consciousness, as did the exclamation of annoyance from the Senator. Harry dashed up to the front, and sat behind the controls, realizing as he did so, what the cause for the jolt had been. They were caught squarely in the middle of an interdictor field which had brought them out of hyperspace. Harry quickly engaged the comm. channel and called out to the lead ship. He got a reply that made his blood run cold.

"Hello Jedi Potter. I see you've brought our traitor to us then. How nice of you." Harry growled as he realized that he'd flown into a trap, set by the gang that his passenger was set to give information on. Grimacing he replied, "How nice of you to throw us out of hyperspace. You do realize that you caused serious damage to my ship. I'm not very happy with you lot at the moment."

"(chuckle). Come now Jedi, all you have to do is hand over the traitor and we'll let you go. We have no interest in you; all we want is that information. Come aboard, hand Arndt over and leave. We promise we won't hurt you."

Harry thought about it for a second. "What if I refuse" he said evenly, his mind working frantically to find a way out of the situation. The Force was telling him to cooperate with the gang although why it was doing that the young Knight didn't know. The answer that came back told him though.

"Because we are drawing you in with a tractor beam and also we have some children here that you might be interested in."

Harry's blood froze. Three months ago, a group of Initiates and junior Padawans had been kidnapped while on a field trip to the museum. The Padawans' masters had been going nearly insane with worry while the Initiate supervisors weren't much better. It sounded like he'd just found them.

"All right" he said reluctantly. "We'll come aboard, but no harm will be done to either me or my companion until we've worked out a mutually profitable arrangement. I also want to see those children you said might be of interest to me."

"Agreed Jedi" came back the reply.

Harry shut off the comm. and was almost immediately hit by the furious and scared politician he was sharing his ship with.

"You dolt! You just agreed to hand me over to them. I knew the Jedi couldn't be trusted" Arndt snarled, with one hand twisted in Harry's tunic. Harry grasped the Senator's wrist joint with his hands and twisted, forcing the Senator to let him go.

"Senator Arndt, it was never my intention to hand you over to them. This gang kidnapped several Jedi children a few months ago and we've been looking for them ever since. I am doing my best to come up with a plan that will get us, and those children out of the gang's clutches, and hopefully, will end with the gang in custody. I can't do that if you're going to be uncooperative and attack me."

Arndt stared at the young Jedi, seeing a fire in his eyes that he hadn't seen before. He suddenly remembered his classes on the different species that made up the galaxy, and in particular, the differences between the human life span and the Sullustan one. He realized that Harry was truly an adult and his viewpoint changed.

"Fine, what do you want me to do" he said grumpily. Harry looked at him and saw acceptance in the pair of eyes that was looking back so he said, "Just follow my instructions without question. The first thing you're going to do is give me that data chip of information you're carrying."

Arndt swallowed but handed over the data chip. He was shocked when Harry swiftly copied the information onto another data chip and hid it in a special compartment in the Marauder'scontrol panel. Harry then calmly ran a magnet over the original chip, destroying all the information on it. He then handed the now-useless chip back to the Senator.

"There" Harry remarked, "now we have the information, and they'll get a useless piece of junk, which they won't know about until they attempt to decode it."

"What if they try to do that on board their ship?" Arndt asked. Harry smirked. "They won't, all their decoding equipment will be back at their base and I don't intend to let them get that far. Come on, let's go and meet them."

Harry sat and watched as the other ship, which he now saw was called the Galactic Mist, drew closer and closer until finally the Marauder disappeared into the cargo bay of the larger ship.

Harry engaged the ramp and once it was down, he and Senator Arndt stepped out, although the Senator kept well behind Harry. Harry himself was using the Force to scope out his surroundings, and check whether there were any guards in the vicinity. There weren't, but there were 10 Force signatures, which, Harry sensed with relief, matched the missing Jedi younglings. A commotion near the front of the room drew his attention and he saw the leader of the gang come in, leading the 10 Jedi, 5 Padawans and 5 initiates, exactly the number that had been kidnapped. All looked tired, dirty and hungry but otherwise ok. The leader stopped in front of Harry and looked at him.

"So, Jedi, now you see the kids that we said there were, now you hand over the Senator and the information." Harry smiled at the gang leader and said, "It's rude to not introduce yourself you know. When I know your name, I'll cooperate."

The other man eyed him for a second before shrugging. "Whatever. My name, just so you're satisfied, is Damien. Now will you hand over the Senator."

Harry shrugged. "I suppose so. One thing though, is it your policy to allow your guards to fall asleep on duty?" Damien blinked at him before saying, "Nice try Jedi. They're wide awake, see." He half turned, not wanting to present his back to a potential enemy, and saw to his utter shock and disbelief, that his two guards had indeed fallen asleep on duty. He wasn't given any time to ponder this as Harry moved in a blur of motion. One hand came up and pulled Damien's head back, as the other shifted to lock his arms behind his back. The Jedi Knight then quickly knocked his captive out with the Force, the same way that he'd quietly knocked out the two guards, and bound all three of them.

After securing his captives, Harry stood up and made his way over to the children. All were looking at him in amazement. Harry knelt down in front of them and examined them closer. Finally he smiled gently and said, "Are you lot all right?"

One of the Padawans, Harry estimated to be about 12 or 13 said, "Yes Knight Potter, we're ok, but what are we going to do now?" Harry smiled and replied, "You are all going to find the freshers in this bucket of bolts and get cleaned up. Then we're going to get you settled in the crew quarters so you can get some proper sleep while I fly us back home. Your masters are all quite worried about you, you know."

One of the initiates tugged on Harry's tunic and asked in a near-whisper. "What's going to happen to those bad men." Harry gently hugged the little girl, a Mon Calamarian who was in desperate need of a nice soak in a bath to rehydrate her skin, and said, "You let me worry about them, they won't hurt you any more, I promise. Just go with the others and get cleaned up and have a sleep. I'll wake you later so you can eat something ok."

All of the children nodded solemnly before heading off in the direction of the crew quarters, where, if their cries of delight were any indication, they were cleaning up and raiding the food stores and finding nice comfortable beds to sleep in. Harry looked at his previous traveling companion and asked, "Senator, would you be kind enough to wait in the common area in case they come back early. I need to deal with this lot."

Arndt nodded and headed off to the requested area while Harry regarded his captives with displeasure. It would give him great satisfaction to toss the lot of them out the airlock but as a Jedi he couldn't do that. Instead, he resigned himself to locking them up somewhere where they couldn't do any harm. He thought for a minute and then had a brainwave.

Walking over to the nearest one he rather roughly woke him. He then asked in a tone that made it very clear that he wasn't to be messed with, "Where did you keep those children before today?" The guard shook with fear, he hadn't been comfortable with kidnapping Jedi in the first place, because of the possible retribution, and this Jedi that was standing over him looked very scary. He then whimpered, "In the brig, down the corridor and to the left. Why?"

Harry stood up again, and then let a cold smirk show through. "Because that's where you and your companions will be spending the rest of the journey. One word of complaint and I'll forget my Jedi obligations and toss you out the airlock."

The guard shook his head violently to signify that there wouldn't be any complaint and then experienced the odd sensation of being levitated and held off the floor by an invisible hand. His two other companions were given the same treatment and they floated along after Harry until the odd procession reached the brig where Harry stood aside and floated the gang members in. The door was shut, and locked with Harry's Force signature on the lock so no one other than him could open it. With the gang dealt with, Harry walked back to the common area to find the older Padawans still up, with the Initiates sprawled on the seats round the table.

Raising an eyebrow Harry said mildly, "I was under the impression that you lot were supposed to be asleep in the crew quarters by now." The Padawans blushed slightly; the Initiates did not as they were dead to the world. "We, we couldn't sleep, we needed to know that it wasn't a dream" one of the Padawans whispered. Harry nodded before saying, "Well Padawan…?" he trailed off as he realized that he didn't know the apprentice's name. Said apprentice spoke up when he realized that Harry didn't know his name and said, "Ruork, Knight Potter." Harry nodded, before continuing, "Padawan Ruork, I assure you this is not a dream. The men who held you captive have now experienced the beginnings of justice; they will be spending the trip back to Coruscant in the same place that they held you. You and your companions on the other hand, will be getting some sleep and later you can have some food. For now though, come with me. All of you need to sleep so I can fly this ancient rust bucket back home."

Padawan Ruork nodded before levitating one of the initiates and following Harry, who was carrying another in his arms. The other Padawans followed Ruork's example and levitated an Initiate while following the Knight that had unexpectedly rescued them from the hell they were in.

Harry stopped at the entrance to the crew quarters and watched as all 10 children settled into bed. He then walked round all the beds, stopping by each one to say that they were safe and that they could sleep now. He enforced the sleep suggestion with a hint of the Force; it didn't take much for the children to be out like lights. Satisfied that his 10 young passengers were safely asleep and wouldn't wake for some time, Harry returned to the common area to find Senator Arndt waiting for him.

"Knight Potter, I want to apologise for the way I treated you on Sullust, it was rude and horrible of me. I also want to say thankyou for the way you handled that gang."

"We haven't got all of them Senator, but I suspect that we have at least one of the leaders. The other two appear to be lackeys by the way that they took orders. Your information will still be helpful. For now though, I have a call to make and then we can head back to Coruscant."

Sitting at the controls for the comm. channel Harry placed a call to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

"Yes I need to speak to Knight Tahl please. Tell her it's Knight Potter calling, and that it's highly important!" Harry snapped, annoyed by the dithering on the other end of the line. Finally Tahl came on and said, "Yes Harry, what is it. You didn't need to yell you know."

"Sorry, but it was important and whoever it was was obstructing me" Harry replied a bit sheepishly.

"Well, what is the news?" Tahl asked, wondering what her friend had got himself into this time. The answer made her sit up straight.

"You can stop looking for those missing children Tahl, I've got them with me and they're currently asleep."

"Where are you and what the hell happened. You were supposed to be escorting Senator Arndt, not rescuing our missing children!" Tahl exclaimed. Harry chuckled before replying, "It's a long story Tahl so I'll get back to Coruscant, with the Senator and the kids in tow and then you can read my report once I've given it to the Council. For now just tell the horde of worried Masters outside your door that their Padawans and younglings are safe and are with me."

"That won't reassure some of them, given the way you fly" came back the dry retort.

"Oi, I only fly like a speed demon when it's just me or someone I know can handle it, I wouldn't dream of flying dangerously with younglings on board!" Harry said with an aggrieved tone. Tahl snickered before saying, "Just fly safe Harry and may the Force be with you."

"And with you" Harry automatically replied before cutting off the connection. He then examined the controls before setting the course for Coruscant, and home.

A few days later the Mist came out of hyperspace and Coruscant was spread out below it. Harry expertly piloted the ship down to the Jedi landing platform, where a contingent of Jedi Masters, Coruscant security officers and Senator Arndt's aides were waiting. No sooner had the landing ramp lowered down than the young Jedi were racing down the ramp and into the arms of their waiting Masters, if they were Padawans, or the initiate supervisors if they were initiates.

Harry then expressionlessly handed over the three gang members to the security officials who promptly placed cuffs on them and took them away for processing. Senator Arndt quietly spoke with the members of the Jedi Council who were present, expressing his gratitude to them for sending Harry to escort him, before he headed off with his aides and a member of the security force who took the precious information and sent it to the security force HQ. Harry was left to face the senior Jedi that were left on the platform, the other Jedi having gone inside the Temple to attend to the needs of the rescued apprentices and initiates.

"Done well, you have, Knight Potter" Yoda commented. "Unexpected this rescue was, but very welcome it is. Report to the Council you must now." Harry nodded and followed the senior Jedi into the Temple wearily. Halfway inside he stopped.

"The Marauder, I need to remove her from that rust bucket" he said, taking a step back in the direction of the landing platform. Before he could leave, he found his arm in a familiar grip. Spinning round he found himself looking into the eyes of his former mentor.

"Your ship will be taken care of Harry, I promise. You need to give this report though, we're all a bit confused as to how an escort mission turned into a rescue/capture one."

Harry gave Mace a tired grin before saying, "I'm a Potter, we always make things more complicated than they should be."

Mace laughed before walking with Harry up to the Council chamber where the young Knight spent the next hour explaining what had happened. At the end of it, once the Council had given their approval of the report and ordered him to write it up and submit it in the usual fashion, Yoda asked, "Thought any more about taking a Padawan, Knight Potter?" Harry stopped and said, "The thought has become more appealing Master, but I keep having visions of a boy on a desert planet, and then that same boy standing beside me as my Padawan. I think the Padawan that I'm meant to have will not be one of the initiates but will be from outside the Temple. The visions have been getting clearer and more detailed as well which makes me think that I'll meet him sometime soon."

There were mutterings at this before Yoda asked, "So certain are you? Felt no connection with any other initiate here?" Harry faced the little Master and said, "Yes I'm certain Master Yoda. I have spent time with all the initiates and I have felt no pull from the Force directing me towards any. I can't help that, and I have tried. But to take a Padawan from the initiates without feeling that connection wouldn't be fair on either of us and would ultimately not end well. I won't put any child through that. I'm sorry."

"You need not be sorry Harry. If you feel no connection with another initiate from here, and you feel that this boy that you keep seeing is destined to be your Padawan then he will be. Trust the Force, and trust yourself. The future is difficult to see and we won't force you into something that you don't want."

Harry nodded before the Council dismissed him and he left, seeking the one thing that he hadn't had much of during his mission, food and rest in that order. Arriving at his apartment he hurriedly ate a sandwich before stripping out of his uniform and throwing it in the wash before treating himself to a quick sonic shower and crashing into bed. Just as his eyes closed a snippet of the vision he'd mentioned to the Council came to him, only this time there was a name.

"Anakin" Harry whispered as he drifted off to sleep.

Author Note

Well, in response to the lovely reviews I got for the last chapter, and also because I'm on a writing streak given my lack of costume making expertise, I have given you this update as well. I will now be going off and writing chapters 14 and 15 and possibly more before the next update arrives. It's getting harder and harder to keep ahead of demand here. Not that I'm complaining mind you, it just takes time to write the chapters you seem to love. Oh, if anyone's thinking that that last chapter was similar to the one from Jedi Wizard written by Knightblazer85, don't accuse me of plagiarism, any similarities were put there with his full permission and support. Considering he's my beta reader for this series he's the one that helped me put the last chapter in order so any similarity in wording is his doing entirely. I asked for help and sent what I had written, he read it and promptly turned it into what you read. For which I'm very grateful.

Happy reading everyone and may the Force be with you

Padawan Lynne