Chapter 13
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Star Wars. Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling while Star Wars belongs to George Lucas.
Jedi Praxeum, Yavin 4
Harry was standing in the groups' training ground watching Tenel Ka go through her katas with a critical eye, trying to find a flaw in her form.
It had been a little over a month since the disaster at Almas. Since then, Harry had changed many things. For one, he had started perfecting his Force lightning and Force bullets. The Masters (beside Mara, Luke and Kyle) had not been pleased of his learning those powers. They would have exiled him outright if it wasn't for the other three defending him. Kyle even went so far as to ask if he would be exiled for teaching Force lightning to him. The similarity of Harry's Force bullets to well-known dark side powers did not help the case. Despite this, Mara and Kyle were firmly on his side while Luke was neutral leaning on being on his side. Luke said he wanted to be unbiased on the case but even he had to admit that the other Masters were being stupid.
'Bunch of prejudiced old goats,' thought Harry viciously.
The worst had been Kyp Durron who had basically claimed he was going to the dark side. Mara almost took his head for that comment. Since he couldn't exile him, Kyp did the next best thing: he made him a pariah in the Academy. Word had gotten out of him having dark side powers and now no one outside his group of friends would talk to him. While before he was looked up to, now he was looked at in fear as if he would turn around and attack them. Despite this, Harry walked with his head high. He had his true friends who stood by him. In fact, Jacen almost came to blows with Raynar when the latter made a comment about Harry's mother probably being a Sith slut when he wasn't there. Needless to say, Raynar quickly learned he needed to improve his saber technique. His friends had refused to abandon him. Kass and Ashara even made a point to stop sitting with a few friends they had made when those very same friends started believing the rumors of Harry going dark. They now only sat with Harry and his friends. The action warmed his heart.
The group had been ecstatic (with the notable exception of Jaina) at hearing of Harry and Astraal's new relationship. The girls (including Tenel Ka) had gone and huddled together while dissolving into giggles every once and a while. Harry, Jacen, Lowbacca and Anakin could only look at the phenomenon in shock before silently concluding that the minds of women shall never be understood by poor mortal men. Heck, even Jaina was in the group giggling! Harry didn't know she knew how to giggle!
Harry and Astraal's relationship hadn't extended beyond holding hands and kissing in public. However, in private they would have consummated their relationship several times if they weren't constantly interrupted. Harry had taken Astraal aside and told her in all seriousness that he didn't mind waiting if she wanted to go slow. He didn't want her to feel pressured. Astraal just laughed and said that she had been "going slow" ever since she had met him and that now that they were finally together, she wanted to enjoy and explore every part of their relationship. His near-death had shown her that she shouldn't live a life that will only leave her with regrets. Astraal had dissolved into fits of laughter at his enthusiastic agreement.
Mara had been surprised at the announcement at their relationship and given Jaina a curious look before congratulating them. On the downside, she now never left them alone and seemed to have grown a sixth sense (or seventh of you count her Force senses) for whenever Harry and Astraal were getting hot and steamy. Harry had lost count of how many times Mara had interrupted them in the worst moment. The worst part was that she seemed to know and just smiled innocently at him.
If it was up to her, Harry would die a virgin.
Despite this, the month had gone quite well. Harry had plenty of time to practice everything he promised he'd practice. He had perfected his Force lightning to the point that objects he hit would be blasted backwards due to the force of it. His Force bullets were almost second-nature now and he had even recreated three new moves. Projected fighting was an incredible boon to Harry's unarmed combat skill. It allowed Harry to extend his reach and hit someone even if his fist didn't physically hit them. He knew the dangers of using the Force to directly hurt someone so he used it to stun instead of kill. He didn't need to give the Masters more ammunition against him. The second was Force grip. While already knowing Force crush, he learned Force grip as a less lethal way of stopping an opponent.
However, his greatest improvement lay in his telekinetic abilities. He had spent hours pouring over Asli Krimsan's holocron which held a discourse by Count Dooku on telekinetic abilities. Due to this he recreated two moves which were basically extensions of each other. The more basic one was Force wave. It let loose a wave of telekinetic power all around the user that blasted back everyone around him. The other was Force repulse. One could argue that they were the same attack but Force repulse allowed the user to lift nearby objects as he "charged up" so when he let the energy loose, the objects would be sent at high velocity away from the user, damaging anyone hit by it. Both were useful for "crowd control", which was when one is surrounded by enemies. Though the latter left the user vulnerable while he was "charging up" so to speak.
Astraal on the other hand had concentrated on her tutaminis. This was the umbrella title for abilities that absorb energy. It allowed the user to absorb the energy from anything to a thrown object to the master level that allowed one to absorb the energy from a lightsaber blade. It was Astraal's goal to achieve the latter. She had also asked Kass and learned the ability that Marrish had used: Force stealth. It allowed one to hide their Force signature completely and skilled users can even use it to avoid mind probes. The Jensaarai used it to hide from other Force-sensitive groups. These two skills would aid Astraal greatly on her path to being a Jedi Shadow.
Unlike his cousins who learned Force abilities so fast Harry swore it wasn't natural, Harry learned one or two and mastered them. Jacen, Jaina and Anakin seemed to be born to be Jedi with their amazing aptitude for wielding the Force.
They had informed Harry of their capture by the Shadow Academy around the same time he was beaten badly by Marrish on Kalarba. Luke had rescued them along with Tenel Ka who felt guilty for not being there to help. Harry told her he was proud of her when she told him that she had wounded Tamith Kai. He also told her that next time, he expected her to take the leg. She simply smiled and shook her head at him.
"That's enough," called out Harry.
Tenel Ka stopped her katas and stood there sweating in front of him.
Since his near-death, Harry had taken to perfecting his style. The addition of Force lightning to his blade had helped him greatly in his personal style. He still had to concentrate in order to keep it from leaving the blade but he was getting better.
He also commonly sparred with his friends. They used their lightsabers at low power and would then engage in a free-for-all where the only rule was no lethal attacks. There was never a clear winner for those spars due to the mid-spar alliances that would form as well as the double-knockouts. However, it was clear to anyone that the group of 8 were very talented. While Harry, Kass, Astraal and Ashara had the advantage due to more experience, the others had the raw talent to make up the difference. Even Tenel Ka had amazing potential as shown when she seamlessly used the Force to create creatures of nature like Harry's father was said to have done. She later admitted that that was where she had gotten the idea.
This was what had given Harry the idea to help train Tenel Ka. Her mid-battle improvisation based off something she heard from him in a story showed Harry that she had vast potential. He told her that if she wished he was willing to help her in her swordsmanship. The look of surprise and gratitude on her face made Harry feel simultaneously happy and chagrined. It was then that it occurred to him that Tenel Ka (and perhaps even Lowie) might feel unimportant being in a group of apprentices considered prodigies. She was often overlooked when compared to Harry, Astraal or even Jaina. Harry swore he would help her excel.
It took a while for Harry to decide what to teach her but then he remembered how fiercely Tenel Ka fought in spite of her using an incomplete style that seemed a blend of various forms. This helped Harry make his decision.
Yuyo was considered one of the most dangerous of the lightsaber forms due to its need for "controlled passion" which violates the "There is no emotion, there is peace" precept of the Code. This takes the person close to the dark side and only someone who can control their emotions can truly master the style. Unlike Vaapad, it did not require the user to enjoy the fight but it did require the user to be aggressive and fierce in combat. All of this only enforced Harry's belief that it was the perfect style for Tenel Ka.
He was proven correct when she took to it like a bird to the air. Her heritage as a Witch of Dathomir allowed her to tap into her ferocity in combat while maintaining control of it. During the month, she had managed to master the basics and was now learning the more advanced forms. Harry didn't only teach her katas and forms, he drilled them into her head by constantly challenging her to spars where he would use Vaapad and she would use Yuyo. While Harry could use Vaapad, he was not a master yet. He told Tenel Ka that she would be a master of Yuyo when she forced him to use his personal Lightning Style to match her.
Tenel Ka's progress had inspired the others and they had all taken to practice and perfecting their skills. Jaina had even started to get training from Jedi Knight Rachi Sitra. While only an archeologist, the Twi'lek Jedi Knight had been in hundreds of battles and even fought in the Galactic Civil War. Her experience helped refine the girls skills. Unfortunately, her fighting style required a flexibility that most didn't have. However, she still helped by providing combat experience against a stronger foe. It was thanks to her that Harry managed to add Force lightning to his lightsaber style so quickly. After all, desperation is mother of all creation and nothing makes a man more desperate than a Twi'lek chasing you while threatening to cut off your manhood for mistakenly landing a hit on her...bottom...with your hand. Needless to say, he learned quickly.
"You're doing really well," said Harry truthfully. "We'll have a spar when we come back and see if you can incorporate those moves in combat. Remember, in this style katas and rigid forms don't matter so much as unpredictability. The point of learning these katas is so you have many avenues of attack not so you follow them to the letter. Improvise."
"Yes, Master," said Tenel Ka dutifully.
Harry rolled his eyes. Tenel Ka had taken to calling him Master ever since he started teaching her. Harry believed that she did it partly out of gratefulness for him taking time to teach her and partly because she knew it annoyed him slightly. It was hard to tell with her stoicism but Harry swore she smiled slightly every time he tried to convince her to just call him Harry. Whenever she stated that he was helping her reach her potential, Harry just waved it off and told her repeatedly that she would have been a great Jedi Knight even if he wasn't there. She disagreed but didn't press the matter further.
"Well, we better go back and change," said Harry. With a smile, he said, "We wouldn't want my other apprentice to appear and get jealous."
Tenel Ka smiled at his comment.
Harry had also taken to training Tahiri whenever he had time. It was mostly just tips and helping smooth out any wrinkles. However, like Tenel Ka she had taken to calling him Master and followed his instructions as if he was. She ignored his grumbling about not being a Master and just being a fellow apprentice. She was very happy to have the undivided attention of a teacher. As you can imagine, she was less than thrilled when she found he was training Tenel Ka as well.
"Yes, we wouldn't want your cheerleader to get angry before the trip," said Tenel Ka with a smile.
Harry gaped at her. Despite having spent so much time with her, it still surprised Harry that she managed to pick up a bit of humor. Mostly sarcasm but it was better than the complete lack of humor she had before. Harry blamed Astraal's influence.
With a chuckle, the two walked toward the Academy to get ready for their vacation.
One hour later
Everyone was packed and ready to leave in the hangar. After much haggling and discussion, it was decided that only 8 would go. Kass and Ashara were visiting Ashara's parents in Shili so they couldn't come with them. When they arrived, the 4 remaining girls would share the twins' room while the boys would bunk in Harry's and Anakin's room. Harry made a mental note to hide certain holos that should not be found by the girls or Force forbid, his ever horny girlfriend. She might take offense at him having them or worse, use them as Harry's version of a manual. Harry wasn't sure which was worse. As he arrived, Harry tried to catch Jaina's eye but she looked away.
Harry and Jaina's relationship had been tense since he had started dating Astraal. Despite giving her approval, Harry could tell that she felt uncomfortable. Especially since she had confronted her feelings just a few days before they started dating. For this reason, Harry was glad that the group was going to Coruscant as a vacation.
After seeing what happened to Harry and the Solo's children capture, Leia had insisted that they needed time off and now they were going to Coruscant to visit. After much begging, Harry was allowed to take them in his ship instead of having Han pick them all up. Harry couldn't bear to be parted from "his baby". Something that Han and the boys completely understood. The women just rolled their eyes at the men's obvious display of stupidity. The men simply muttered that women would never understand.
Harry hoped that the small vacation would fix the tension between Jaina and him. After all, she was still his first and closest friend. She knew him better than even Astraal and he didn't want to lose that bond.
"Well, everyone packed?" asked Harry as the unofficial leader of the group. After hearing everyone's assent, the group entered the Wayward Son. After putting everything into the three cabin rooms, the group moved to the cockpit. Once there, Harry had an idea.
"Hey Jay-jay," said Harry getting Jaina's attention. "Why don't you show everyone here how Solo's fly?"
He said this while sitting down in to co-pilot's seat and gesturing for her to take the pilot's. After a second of shock, Jaina had a broad smile on her face and eagerly sat in the pilot's seat. She ran a systems check like she had been doing it all her life (which isn't far from the truth) and checked that everyone was strapped in. She then slowly brought the ship to takeoff.
The ship made nary a sound as it lifted off the landing pad and gracefully lifted into the skies. Jaina did the standard check of hull temperature as they passed the atmosphere. The last thing they needed was for the cooling system to be on the fritz.
Harry was slightly nervous because it was the first time he had let someone else pilot the ship while he was conscious. But Jaina proved to be the ace pilot she said she was and piloted without a hitch. After they broke atmosphere, Harry helped set the coordinates for Coruscant and the fifteen-year-old girl set up the ship and eagerly "punched it" as she screamed out joyfully.
Solo residence, Coruscant
The group had arrived without fuss (though Harry had to convince Jaina not to treat the landing like the finish line of a race) and were now unpacking in the Solo residence. Harry had thankfully managed to remove any.. cough.. suspicious material from his room before the girls could "explore" his room. Sometimes he lamented them being too curious for their own good. He had broken them and threw them away as soon as he could. With a girlfriend like Astraal it wasn't like he needed it.
"So what do want to do tommorrow?" asked Jacen. They were sharing Harry's room while Anakin and Lowie shared the former's.
"Let's go visit Zekk," said Harry.
Jacen looked at Harry in surprise before smiling and nodding. He had a right to be surprised. Harry and Zekk usually got along but there were times (usually when Harry and Zekk fought over Jaina's attention) that the two would argue heatedly. Despite this, Harry did consider the boy a friend and wanted to see how he was. There was also another reason he wanted to visit the Undercity.
The ominous statements made by Marrish had shown Harry that knowledge of the Force was useless if he didn't know what was happening in the galaxy. To that end, he had taken a page out of his mother's book and started to build a spy network. His first contacts were people he'd met in his frequent trips to the Undercity as a child.
While Jaina liked to visit Zekk and discover mechanical treasures and Jacen liked to discover rare animals in the Undercity, Harry had always been more fascinated by the people who lived there. While the twins explored with Zekk, Harry would go from bar to bar and talk to people. He instinctively avoided the unsavory types thanks to his Force sensitivity that warned him of their intentions. Despite this, he had made many friends in the Undercity and helped many more leave it to better places. Harry always bemoaned the fact that he was lucky at gambling only when he was helping someone else. In fact, the leader of his spy network was a Zeltron girl named Esmeralda he'd helped escape the Undercity to Zeltros. Being a telepathic especially sensitive to emotions had been torture to the orphan girl and Harry had been compelled to help her.
During the month, Harry had made secret arrangements with all his childhood friends across the galaxy to set up his spy network. While still in its infant stages, it promised to be extremely good at obtaining information due to having people in every style of life possible. Harry's contacts with Borga Besadii also helped greatly. The Hutt had been the one that Harry had done a smuggling run for and along the way Harry had made several acquaintances among the smugglers Borga usually hires. Since then, those very same smugglers had openly stated that Harry was the only Jedi they liked. Harry knew this wasn't saying much but it meant they would give Harry a heads up if someone put a price on his head.
They quickly changed into their sleepwear and went to say goodnight to the girls.
When they reached the twins' room and knocked. Tahiri soon opened the door and both boys found (to their hormones' joy) that the girls had also changed into their sleepwear.
Tahiri was wearing a cute little pink shirt with the slogan "I'm a Jedi so give me the money since I'm gonna win the bet anyway" emblazoned upon it in black letters. She was also wearing matching pink pajama bottoms. Tenel Ka on the other hand was wearing what was essentially a long forest green shirt that reached her thighs showing her creamy long legs and Harry was pretty sure that was ALL she was wearing. She also had her hair loose for first time that Harry had seen and the effect made her seem older and more mature. Harry couldn't but notice she was growing up to be a red-haired knockout. Astraal was in the bathroom if the sound of the fresher was any indication but Harry was sure that her sleepwear was even more risque.
However, it was Jaina that drew Harry's eye. She was wearing a spaghetti strap purple shirt that showed her developing cleavage. She was also wearing matching purple underwear which allowed her to show off her beautiful long legs that had muscles while not detracting from their feminine form. Harry couldn't help but gulp while looking at her beautiful legs since when they entered she had one crossed over the other which only emphasized them. It didn't help that both shirt and panty had pink bows on them; one in between her cleavage and the other in the front center of her panties.
Jaina looked up at the boys entrance and couldn't help but shiver in desire when she saw Harry's sleepwear. He was wearing a tight no sleeve black shirt that showed off the muscles he had gained while at the Academy. He was also wearing a pair of black pajama bottoms that Jaina could see did not deny her from seeing his tight behind. The whole thing only enhanced his emerald green eyes that were currently looking at her in the same way she was looking at him.
Jaina couldn't help but blush and get a small smile at the smoldering look of desire in Harry's eyes. Despite him being with Astraal, it was nice to know that he still had eyes for her. She could feel through their Force bond that he was as aroused by her as she was by him. It was lucky they weren't alone because she doubted they would have been able to stop themselves from demonstrating how aroused they were by each other. However, Jaina didn't want to be the "other woman". Jaina couldn't help but be slightly sad that she realized her feelings too late.
Tenel Ka saw the byplay between them and couldn't help but slightly smile. She had been confused when Astraal and Harry started to date. She had thought that Harry and Jaina were already an item or close to being one if all the subtle signals between them were anything to go by. Seeing them now only reinforced her belief that they belonged together and the relationship between Harry and Astraal wouldn't last. The two were obviously in love and she doubted anything could change that. Harry and Jaina hadn't broken eye contact since he entered and Tenel Ka could feel the sexual tension between them.
Luckily, Tahiri and Jacen either didn't notice or ignored it because the latter soon spoke (after taking a second to admire Tenel Ka's form).
"Hey Yaya," said Jacen. "We were planning on going to the Undercity tomorrow and seeing Zekk. Wanna come with?"
His use of her childhood name woke her from her lustful staring of Harry and it took a moment to register what he said. Once it did, a smile lit up her face and she eagerly agreed.
"Anyone else wanna go?" asked Jacen to the girls.
"I'll go," said a familiar feminine voice behind Harry.
Harry turned around and saw his girlfriend standing there with a smile in her nightwear. She was wearing a sheer, black spaghetti strap nightgown that did nothing to hide her voluptuous figure. It only reached her upper thighs so it didn't block his sight from her beautiful blue legs that were just as smooth as they looked (he had checked). She did a little spin when she saw Harry staring.
"You like?" asked Astraal with a seductive smile. Harry grinned and nodded which earned him a kiss.
Jaina was unconsciously glaring at the girl while gripping her hairbrush so tightly that she was in danger of breaking it. Tenel Ka sent Jaina a sympathetic look, understanding her pain at having the boy she likes staring at another girl. Even if that girl was his official girlfriend.
"Well then," said a happily oblivious Jacen. "It'll be me, Harry, Jaina, Lowie, Tenel Ka and Astraal then."
After agreeing to leave at 10am, they said their goodnights. There was a tense moment when Harry said goodnight to Jaina by unconsciously giving her a kiss on the cheek which she returned. They seemed to realize what they did quickly afterward and blushed at the way they had said goodnight. It was similar to how a married couple would say goodnight. Luckily, Astraal had been saying goodnight to Jacen and had her back to them at the time so she hadn't noticed. Astraal gave Harry a goodnight kiss on the lips before the boys left to Harry's room.
Once they turned off the lights and lying in their beds, Harry stayed up thinking of Jaina in her sleepwear. Despite having seen her in her sleepwear before, that was the first time he had seen her in that sleepwear. Harry had been extremely aroused by the sight of her and by the look in her eye, she had been as aroused by the sight of him as he had been by her. Harry tried to banish such thoughts and imagined his girlfriend in her nightwear. Astraal had been extremely arousing in her nightgown and Harry smiled at the memory.
Despite his best efforts, Harry went to sleep with the image of a brown-haired girl with long, beautiful legs smiling at him in his head.
The next day (10am)
Harry and Jacen quickly got changed into clothes that would help them fit in in the Undercity. They asked Anakin if he wanted to come with them but he declined saying he would spend the day at home with Tahiri. The two boys walked to the twins' room where all the girls were gathered talking.
Astraal was dressed in a sleeveless green shirt that didn't show cleavage (she said that she didn't want to attract too much attention in the Undercity) as well a pair of brown shorts. She had her lekku unwrapped but had a headdress that covered her chin and went up with two straps going over scalp in between her lekku. Tenel Ka had her hair braided once more and was wearing a one-piece ensemble that looked like she had a green leotard underneath black armor.(1)
Jaina was wearing her usual "explorer" gear. It consisted of a brown shirt (which Harry noticed was tighter than the last time she wore it) with short sleeves, a pair of brown shorts and brown boots.
Harry gave Astraal their usual good morning kiss and therefore missed the flash of pain that passed Jaina's face at seeing it. She brightened when Harry said hello and she noticed that his eyes lingered on her figure a bit longer than normal. Tenel Ka noticed Jaina's preening under Harry's eyes and hid a smile of amusement.
"Well, let's go," said Harry. Everyone had taken a large bag with them just in case the found something interesting in the lower levels.
The group traveled quickly down the levels toward the Undercity. Long experience traveling down there made it easy for the Solo-raised children to find all the shortcuts. Eventually, they reached the Undercity. They entered through the Uscru Entertainment District and were walking down the street when Harry stopped. Jaina and Astraal noticed and the latter asked what was wrong.
"Nothing, I just remembered I was going to visit a friend and since he's in this district I might as well do it now," explained Harry calmly. The truth was that his contact was waiting for him in the Outlander Club and he didn't want them to come so as not to blow his cover.
Jaina looked suspicious at his excuse but the others accepted it.
"Can I come with you?" asked Astraal.
Harry rubbed his head sheepishly before saying, "You better not. He works in a not so nice place for pretty girls and if any of you girls go it'll cause trouble."
It was true to a certain extent. Any of the girls beautiful looks would attract attention and since he was having a clandestine meeting with his contact, he would like to avoid that.
"Then what are we going to do?" asked a frowning Astraal. "I don't feel comfortable leaving you to go off alone. Especially with what happened last month."
"Don't worry," said Harry placatingly. "I'm just going to meet with him, say hi and then we'll meet up in our usual place, right Jay-jay?"
Jaina was looking at him suspiciously, something not quite adding up about his excuse. She nodded, remembering their meeting point at Zekk's house, and told the others as much. Astraal frowned heavily but subsided once Harry assured her it was going to be quick.
After the others left, Harry stretched out his senses to be sure they hadn't tried to shadow him. After making sure they were gone, he turned and walked into the Outlander Club. It wouldn't be until later that Jaina would realize that Harry hadn't met any old friends in order to promise to meet since he got here yesterday.
Outlander Club
Harry entered the club as if he had been there hundreds of times, which coincidently was the truth. When the twins would go off exploring with Zekk, this would be where Harry would go and meet new people and make contacts. The place hadn't changed at all; it was still a round center floor filled with people talking loudly over the music with illegal gambling and betting areas surrounding it.
After saying hi to some of the local prostitutes that he knew by name from his previous visits. He turned them down gently, and reluctantly when a pair offered a two for one special (girlfriend he might have but he was red-blooded male!), he turned to a shady corner known for clandestine meetings. Although it was well-known for just what Harry was going to do, it was respected for just that. Too many people talked about things they would rather keep quiet there to risk tattling on others' conversation.
It was there that he met his contact, a pair of Falleen named Zule Xiss and Xad. They had never told him their past but from comments they'd made he guessed that Zule used to be a noble but was cast out soon after she discovered her Force powers. She never said the reason why or why Xad followed her even though they were clearly not lovers. Zule was green-skinned with black hair and black eyes and a beautiful figure that combined with her ability to control her pheromones and her mastery of the mind trick (completely self-taught) made her a very dangerous person. However, this was countered by the fact that beneath her false-cruel exterior she was a good person who would rather help a person even if it didn't benefit her. This was probably the reason she was exiled.
Xad was a man who loved exploring and had the cold-hearted calculating mind of his species. However, he was a loyal and dependable comrade who would rather die than betray a friend. This was the reason Harry protected them all those years ago.
When Harry was 10, he had found the both of them being attacked by neighborhood gang who didn't like what she had been doing. She had been buying up all the prostitutes in the area and offering free room and board as long as they didn't cause trouble. They no longer had a daily quota to be able to eat but if they didn't help with payments, they had to help as bartenders and waiters in her bar. Her bar was called Outer Heaven and was located in the level below this one.
Seeing them about to be overrun and feeling as if he should help them, he quickly attacked the rival gang members with telekinesis. The surprise of his attack from behind helped Zule and Xad change the tide against their enemies and they managed to kill every single one of the gang members. They thanked him for his help and asked if he wanted anything in return (even at 10 Harry could tell what exactly Zule meant when she said anything). He simply said no and told them it felt right to help them since they seemed like good people. They took a liking to him after that and he could often be seen in their company along with his Zeltron friend Esmeralda.
When he started to plan his spy network, he immediately thought of them. He had contacted them through a secure line and had asked for their help in the endeavor. They instantly agreed. In their line of work, they met many people high up in the food chain. They would be perfect as information brokers and would keep their ears to the ground for any information of unrest anywhere in the galaxy. After all, unrest equals unhappy senators which equals them trying to relieve their unhappiness, usually with one of Zule's prostitutes. Each one of the prostitutes in Zule's care had been sent there on Harry recommendation. They would do anything he asked as thanks for sending them somewhere they didn't have be afraid of being raped in the night.
"Heya handsome," said Zule with a genuine smile. "How's Jedi training going for you?"
"Pretty good," replied Harry easily. "Though it does come with hazards."
Zule frowned remembering Harry explaining what happened to him. Zule had a keen sense of honor imparted on her from Xad and she owed Harry a debt that she would never be able to repay. Not only for saving her life but for sending her so many girls and promoting her bar when it was still young. It was thanks to him that she was so successful.
Harry admired Zule's usual outfit with the eye that only a hormonal teenager could give. She was wearing only an armored bra and panty combination as well as an ankle length purple skirt that had slits on the side, revealing her green-skinned legs that were no less delectable for being green. Xad was wearing his usual Mandalorian armor that he had stolen off a dead Mandalorian that had been contracted to kill Zule. Luckily, the armor could be modified to his size.
"Yeah," said Xad semi-angrily. "I wish I could give that man a piece of my mind."
Harry smiled at his friend's protectiveness and said, "I doubt it would have made much difference. The difference between my strength and his was too great at the time."
Xad just grunted, acknowledging the point but not changing his feelings on the matter.
"So, Harry," said Zule casually, "what exactly will being your information brokers involve?"
"Nothing dangerous," assured Harry. "Just keep your ears to the ground and send anything meaningful to Esmeralda in Zeltros. She knows how to contact me without it arousing suspicion."
"How exactly did you manage that?" asked Zule disbelievingly.
"Trade secret," said Harry with a smile.
Zule just laughed and shook her head at him. "Very well, you have a deal. But we still need some taozin nodules in order to hide from Force-users," said Zule firmly.
Harry frowned. It was true. The fact of the matter was that many of his informants and contacts were Force-sensitives who were mostly self-taught. Force sensitivity hadn't disappeared with Palpatine's rise to power but they had quickly learned that either they learned on their own or became the Empire's slaves. It was too risky to find a good teacher and if their abilities were discovered by the Empire, they would disappear. Most of the prostitutes were Force-sensitive females who ran and hid from the Empire's inquisitors. They turned to prostitution because really, who would look for a Force-sensitive in a brothel?
However, if they were going to risk themselves in this game, they needed a way to move around undetected from this man. Taozin nodules were originally used by the Inquisitorius to hunt down Jedi but it would be equally as useful for them to hide from the man's agents as they looked for information on him. They could easily hide them as amulets or earrings since a nodule was only as big a baby's fist.
"Okay, but where would I find some?" asked Harry.
"Well," said Zule conspiratorially. "I heard there are several areas in the lower levels, near where the hive rats gather, that are invisible in the Force. Almost as if the floor there isn't there. Sounds to me like a place worth investigating."
Harry mulled it over before agreeing. It was worth investigating. After receiving the locations, Harry made small talk with the two. They talked about her business, his travels and anything they could think of. An hour later, Harry said his goodbyes before promising to take as many nodules as possible later in the day to her bar.
Coruscant lower levels (Hive rats' nest)
It took a while but Harry eventually found the hive rats' nest. He tried to find a way around them to the Taozin webs but the only way was through the middle of the nest.
Probably how the taozin survived so long, mused Harry. They used the hive rats' nest as protection from attack.
Luckily, Harry had brought his secondary lightsabers with him into the Undercity. He never left anywhere without them. He briefly thought of using his Force powers to make them leave but dismissed it. Firstly, beast control had never been a skill he had picked up easily. That was more Jacen's expertise. Secondly, this was their nest. He doubted even Jacen could get them to leave.
Calculating the best place to land, he Force-jumped right into the middle of the nest and just missed the appearance of his friends coming out of the tunnel behind him.
Harry ignited his lightsabers as he fell and cut into the spine of the leader of the hive rats as landed on him. The leader was big, almost 5 meters long, but Harry had landed on his neck and had cut off his head quickly.
However, the death of their leader sent the rats into a frenzy of anger and they attacked him en masse.
Harry fell into his Lightning form and used it to land precise cuts and jabs on the rats' spines and vital areas rather than waste energy cutting through them. He easily fended off the horde at first but miscalculated how many there were. For every one he killed, two more appeared from the nests and he was slowly being pushed back.
Thankfully, he quickly received help. With an amazon cry, Jaina landed on the back of hive rat that was sneaking behind him and used her violet blade to cut through its spine.
"You crazy bastard!" shouted Jaina furiously. "I'm going to give you the worst beating of your life when we get out of this!"
Harry gulped in fear and wisely chose to stay silent. He briefly wondered if dying at the hive rats' hands would be preferable.
Soon afterward, the rest of his friends landed around him with their lightsabers alit. They formed a half-circle with Harry at the center, Jaina to his right and Astraal to his left. One look from Astraal was enough for Harry to know that after Jaina was done, she was going to kill what was left of him. He whimpered in fear.
The group of friends easily cut through the horde with Harry's Lightning style killing dozens at a time, Jaina cool and precise style easily tearing through them and Astraal dual lightsabers making short work of any stragglers. The others were also doing their part with Jacen using his Beast control to confuse them for easy kills, Tenel Ka easily wadding through them with her Yuyo and Lowie guarding Tenel Ka's back.
They soon killed of the majority of the rats and the rest scattered, abandoning the nest for the foreseeable future. To ensure they wouldn't come back for a while, Harry used a bit of Force lightning to set the nest ablaze. Afterwards, he was grabbed by the shoulder and turned around to face the blazing eyes of Jaina Solo.
"Can you please explain to me why you seem to have a death wish?!" asked/screamed Jaina. "You just healed from a near-death experience a month ago and now you're wading into hive rats nests?! Are you insane?!"
The others were also looking at Harry in disapproval. Worse still was that they all had the same emotion that Jaina had barely beneath her veneer of anger: fear. Fear of him dying, fear of him getting hurt again. He hadn't realized how much his near-death experience had affected them.
"I'm sorry, sky princess," muttered Harry quietly so only Jaina could hear. "I thought I could handle them." Unknown to him, Astraal had also heard his nickname for Jaina.
"Why would you attack them anyway?" asked Jaina considerably softer. The use of his personal nickname for her after so long had taken most of the power from her engines.
"I was trying to get through to that tunnel over there," explained Harry while pointing out the tunnel. "I tried to go around but there was no other way."
"What's down that tunnel anyway?" asked Astraal frowning.
"A web of taozins if my guess is correct," said Harry grimly. "I need to collect at least a hundred nodules for some friends."
"What friends would send you alone against a nest of hive rats and a web of taozin which I might remind you have natural shell armors impervious to lightsabers?" asked Jaina scathingly. It was obvious that she was planning on marching up to his so-called "friends" and giving them a piece of her mind, and probably a piece of her lightsaber.
"They didn't know I would go alone but I thought I could handle it," said Harry sheepishly.
"You're not invincible," said Jacen quietly. "I thought you learned that a month ago."
Harry lowered his head at the truth in that statement. He had been arrogant to think he could take a nest of over 200 hive rats alone as well as web of probably 20 taozins soon afterwards.
"We are your friends, Harry," said Tenel Ka quietly. "All you need to do is ask if you need help."
This made Harry feel worse because he could hear the hurt in her voice from what she perceived was a lack of trust on his part. She thought that he thought they couldn't handle themselves and so had excluded them. Lowie's silence told him he had thought the same.
"You're right," said Harry quietly. "Forgive me."
His friends' eyes softened at his apology though they were still angry. Jaina sighed angrily before looking at Harry with a determined glint in her eyes.
"Well, are you going to tell us why you need 100 taozin nodules?" asked Jaina. Despite it being phrased as a question, Harry knew she expected a good answer for his insanity.
Taking a deep breath, Harry explained his building a spy network using friends he had made in the Undercity. He explained how he needed the taozin nodules to make amulets that would hide his spies from Marrish's eyes.
The friends took this in quietly before Astraal spoke.
"Why didn't you just tell us this?" asked Astraal in a hurt tone. "Didn't you trust us?"
"No, it wasn't that!" denied Harry furiously. "I just didn't want you targeted if someone wanted to get information on my spy network. I was going to tell you guys after it was up and running."
The group accepted his explanation but were still unhappy with his keeping it a secret. Tenel Ka started to walk toward the tunnel leading to the taozin webs. When she didn't sense the others following her, she turned toward them.
"Well? Our friend needs help so let's go help him," stated Tenel Ka plainly.
Harry smiled at her loyalty. She had quickly forgiven him for keeping a secret and was now determined to help him. The other nodded in agreement and together, the group walked down the tunnel toward the Taozin webs.
Coruscant lower levels (Near Taozin Webs)
The group was approaching where they sensed an absence in the Force. Jaina had explained that they had left Zekk at his home when Jaina sensed Harry going toward danger. Jacen further explained that she had left Zekk mid-sentence, screaming that she was going to kill Harry for going toward danger. The others had followed after hearing that, telling Zekk that they would be back.
As the group got closer to the webs, they started making a plan to take the taozins down. An adult taozin was around 18 meters long if not longer. Their shells were impervious to lightsabers so they couldn't just attack till it was dead. Their only chance was to attack the soft underbelly. Knowing this, they made plans in order to be able to flip it and quickly attack the brain before it could retaliate. The only unknown was whether the other taozin would defend the one being attacked or would only attack once they were being attacked.
Harry and Jaina had unconsciously taken their old setup of being side by side while preparing for the fight. They had always worked together seamlessly when they had to defend themselves in the lower levels and so fell back on it now. Astraal made up the third member of their team with Jacen, Tenel Ka and Lowie being the second team. Each team would take on one taozin at a time while working together to ensure none was overwhelmed. Having never fought a taozin before, they would have to improvise during the battle.
"We're close," whispered Harry. Being the one with the sharpest senses made Harry the unofficial scout of the group. "I see one."
The others soon saw it as well. It was huge, being at least 20 meters long and resting vertically against his web. The mist soon cleared showing dozens if not a hundred of the creatures everywhere. The cavern where they had their webs was a bowl-like area almost 1000 meters across. Harry couldn't see well in the darkness but he suspected that in the center of the cavern there was a giant hole and there were further taozins deeper inside it.
"I think there are more than enough, Harry," quipped Astraal.
"We should leave at least 20 to repopulate for next time," mused Harry quietly. "I don't know how they reproduce but I imagine it takes a while to recover from that kind of loss."
"Obviously," whispered Jaina dryly. "Can we manage to kill almost 70 of them?"
"Never know until we try," said Jacen quietly. "Plus these things are dangerous to all Force-sensitives. They're most of the reason so little Force-sensitives appear from the Undercity. Untrained Force-sensitives don't understand why they feel an absence in the Force and so think there's no danger. When it's the exact opposite."
"Yes," whispered Tenel Ka. "We will be doing Coruscant a favor."
Lowie gave a short bark of agreement.
"Ok then, pick your targets," whispered Harry. Once the two teams had picked a target, they attacked.
Harry's team
Harry had been chosen as the distraction so he attacked head on. He landed on the taozin's shell and struck out with his ice-blue lightsaber toward the taozin's sole eye. The taozin let out a loud screech at being blind and lifted itself up off the webbing. That was a mistake on its part because Astraal and Jaina quickly took advantage to attack its soft underbelly where its brain was located. Its screech died off instantly and it fell down dead. Harry placed a tracker on the corpse so he wouldn't forget to collect its nodules as well as mark the ones that are actually dead and not playing dead. After all, one adult taozin could have as many as 20 nodules. As for why he was carrying around trackers... he was raised by Mara Jade, enough said.
They quickly moved to another taozin in the opposite direction of the other team. The other taozins had been alerted by the first one's dying screech and were now bearing down on them. Seeing them coming toward them, Harry suddenly had an idea. Harry concentrated and used his shatterpoint ability to see the weak spot in the creatures shell. Finding it right above the creatures brain, Harry smiled at the irony.
He quickly jumped onto the creatures' head, used the Force to stay on its head and used the Force to shatter its weak point. He also caused it to shatter inwards toward the brain. The effect was instantaneous, the creature fell over dead by a punctured brain. The girls were surprised at how easily he took it down but shook it off and attacked another as Harry placed a tracker on the corpse.
It seemed that the taozins on the upper level had decided to attack the intruders en masse. Harry sent a strong burst of Force lightning at a group of three that was coming up behind the girls and it stunned them. Harry sent a stronger burst and held it causing the three to fall down dead. Harry suddenly realized he shouldn't do that since it probably ruined the nodules. Growling at his mistake, he went to help the girls with the third target.
Jacen's group
Jacen's group wasn't having as much luck as Harry's. None of the three were used to fighting something that was invisible in the Force so they had rely on their eyes and ears. Luckily, Harry had recently insisted that Tenel Ka train in using just her eyes and ears to locate an enemy. She had just started but it was enough to give her an edge over the others in this situation.
Therefore, she took the front line in fighting the creature. She used every bit of her training in Yuyo to attack at the creature from all angles and cutting off its arms and legs a dozen at a time. Soon, with Lowie's help, it didn't have any and Jacen flipped it with the Force before striking it in its brain, killing it.
"Are you okay?" asked Tenel Ka hesitantly. She knew that killing animals was anathema to Jacen and it must be taking its toll on him.
"Yea," said Jacen quietly. "It's invisible in the Force so its easier. It also helps that these things prey on Force-sensitives."
Tenel Ka hesitantly nodded before sensing more approaching. She turned to see three more attacking and she charged with Lowie and Jacen at her side. Tenel Ka quickly blinded the center one with her yellow blade before doing the same to the other two. Lowie used the force to enhance his strength and punch the floor causing a tremor that (with Jacen's help) flipped the taozin on its back. He then pierced its brain with his bronze-bladed lightsaber. Jacen had already killed the second which left the third to Tenel Ka.
As she killed it, she briefly mused that this was good training.
Two hours later
The group had managed to kill over 80 of them before the survivors retreated deeper into their webs. Harry made a mental note to tell Zule to warn people away from this area. Anyone untrained would have been killed by the creatures. Who knows how many there were deeper in the webs? Probably over a thousand. Harry shuddered at the thought and made a mental note to someday come and exterminate the rest. They really were a menace.
They then made the slow process of collecting the many nodules from the dead taozin. At the end, Harry had over 1,600 nodules collected. He giddily placed them each person bag and gleefully told them this would make him rich. The girls had to abandon some things they had in the packs but Harry promised to take them shopping after this. Astraal and Tenel Ka smiled happily at that while Jaina just frowned.
"You have a bit of slime in your hair," said Harry amusedly. Jaina tried to remove it only to make it worse. "Here, let me."
Harry carefully removed the slime as gently as possible. After he was done, he was almost nose to nose with Jaina. Harry and Jaina froze at the proximity. They started to breath heavily and desire rose inside them. Despite Jaina being covered in taozin innards, Harry wanted to take her into his arms and just kiss her uncontrollably.
"Hey, you guys ready to leave?" asked Astraal curiously, having missed the byplay between them due to complaining with Tenel Ka about the slime reaching into areas that shouldn't be touched by it.
The sound of his girlfriend's voice cut through Harry's desire and he took a step back. He could clearly see the disappointment in Jaina's eyes and he almost kissed her to make it go away. He reminded himself that he had a girlfriend and it wasn't Jaina. Ignoring the yearning in his heart, Harry smiled at Jaina before telling Astraal they were ready.
As they left back toward Outer Heaven, he tried to forget the hurt look on Jaina's face when he had stepped back.
Outer Heaven
The group reached Zule's bar without trouble and entered tiredly. Seeing Harry, one of the waitresses, a Kiffar girl two years older than Harry named Brea, yelled out a greeting. She had a curvy body which was a must in her previous occupation as a prostitute along with black hair and green eyes.
"Hey, Harry!" yelled out Brea joyfully. "Be right there, give me a sec!"
Brea was wearing her waitress outfit of a long black skirt that reached her knees and a green shirt with the Outer Heaven logo on the left breast. The logo was one of an eye with two wings on the side.
Harry sat down at a large table with his friends so they could rest while Brea finished. As he waited, many of the girls working there greeted Harry happily. Jaina and Astraal were confused and a little irritated that Harry knew so many beautiful women. Jacen just looked at Harry in awe while Tenel Ka just shook her head amusedly. Lowie just chuckled.
"What?" asked Harry innocently.
"Don't 'what' me, Harry," said Jaina angrily. "Are all these girls all really former.. you know?"
"Yes," said Harry grimly. "Most are orphans from the Empire's regime. Unlike me, they didn't get as lucky. So I decided to help them out."
The others just shook their head at his selflessness. The twins knew that Harry had friends down here but they never imagined he had this many. They waited for a few minutes before Brea moved to their table with a bright smile on her face.
"Hey Harry," said Brea brightly as she sat in an empty seat. "How have you been? I haven't seen you in ages!"
"You know how it is," said Harry with a smile. "Training to be a Jedi, missions and ...other stuff. Been too busy to even take a moment for myself!"
"I can imagine," said Brea. "Can I see your lightsaber?"
The others were confused at her odd request but Harry just smiled and handed over his violet lightsaber. Brea took it in her hand and concentrated while closing her eyes. The others suddenly sensed her using the Force and stared at her. After a moment, she opened her eyes and glared at Harry accusingly.
"You are beyond reckless, Harry," admonished Brea. "Going after an obviously superior opponent by yourself. It's a wonder you're still alive!"
The other were gobsmacked at her knowledge of what happened to Harry a month ago just by touching one of his lightsabers. Harry just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"In my defense," said Harry. "Astraal was in danger. You know how protective I am about my friends."
Brea's face softened at that.
"Yes," said Brea softly. "I remember. You came to me offering me a place here and I didn't believe you at first. I thought you were like all men and just wanted a free ride. Then, some men tried to rape a few days later and you appeared like a vengeful angel and defended me. I'll always be thankful."
Harry just waved it off and said, "Anyone would have done the same."
Brea smiled bitterly and responded, "No, Harry. They wouldn't have. Even Jedi forget about us here in the Undercity. You never have."
Harry just blushed at the praise. Meanwhile, the others looked slightly ashamed. It was true in a sense. They had never given the people of the Undercity a second thought. They thought that the people here were here because they were all criminals. It never occurred to them that there might be people who are not here by choice.
"What was that you just did?" asked Jacen curiously. "With his lightsaber?"
"It's a rare ability of my people, the Kiffar," explained Brea patiently. "It's called psychometry. It's a mental technique of picking up impressions and traces of information about the object being touched and the events that have surrounded it. This power allows the user to view events as if they were there, including the sights, sounds, and feelings, both emotional and physical, that the wielder of the object experienced. It's a good tracking ability and many users have been Kiffu Guardians due to it. I have had it for as long as I remember."
The others were impressed by the ability and Jacen said so.
"Can you teach it to others?" asked Jacen eagerly.
Brea frowned before saying, "Yes but I won't."
"Why not?" asked a put out Jacen.
"Because you feel everything that happened around the object including the deaths it inflicted," said Brea firmly. "I'll only teach to someone who has a strong control of his emotions so he won't be in danger of losing himself to the strong emotions."
Jacen looked slightly more understanding but still looked annoyed. Harry frowned at Jacen's reaction. He understood being curious, he was at first too, but some powers aren't taught right away for a reason. This one was especially dangerous due to it being able to drive weak-willed people insane.
"Anyway," said Brea. "Did you get the nodules?"
Harry nodded before opening his bag and showing it to her.
"By the Force!" exclaimed a surprised Brea. "I saw that they were a lot but this is way more than we need."
"Then take 1,000 now," said Harry. "I'll keep the rest and have Zule give them to everyone who's going to help me and is Force-sensitive."
"Okay. Let's go to the back room," said Brea.
The group got up and followed Brea into back room. It was a small living room area that currently had only two occupants: a Miraluka woman around 40 years old and a Miraluka girl about Tahiri's age.
"Hello Harry," said the woman with a smile. "I saw you were going to come today."
Harry laughed at the irony. Q'Anilia's Force sight and farseeing were amongst the greatest Harry had seen. She probably knew the time he would appear down to the last second.
"Uncle Harry!" yelled out the girl joyfully. She ran toward Harry and proceeded to hug his leg before excitedly telling everything that happened since he last visited.
After calming the girl down, he turned to Q'Anilia and asked, "Usually you wait till I'm done with my business before appearing. Is something the matter?"
Q'Anilia sighed before explaining, "Yes, I need to speak to you about little Visas's future. Privately."
Harry turned to his friends before saying, "Give Brea 1,000 nodules and keep the rest. You guys can take 20 each for yourselves if you want. I need to talk to Q'Anilia."
After agreeing with Harry, the group turned to a table in the far corner where Brea was waiting. Q'Anilia told Visas to go with them and the girl agreed happily. She was curious about the wookie since they were rare in the Undercity. Harry turned to Q'Anilia before sitting down in the seat in front of her.
"What's happened?" asked Harry grimly.
"Someone has realized Visas's Force potential and I fear they will try and take her soon," said Q'Anilia grimly.
"Surely they won't dare to try to take her from this place, right?" said Harry doubtfully. "This place can take an attack from a platoon of stormtroopers and give just as good back!"
"Maybe," conceded Q'Anilia. "But they know where we live and we can't stay here forever."
Harry realized the problem. Q'Anilia didn't live in the bar but in an apartment in level above this one. If the people knew where they lived...
"Who is it that wants her?" asked Harry.
"The Shadow Academy," said Q'Anilia mournfully.
"They're here?! In Coruscant?" asked a shocked Harry.
"Yes," said Q'Anilia grimly. "They arrived a week ago and have already taken many orphans whether they are Force-sensitive or not. They think no one would notice."
"They're half-right," muttered Harry. Before Harry arrived, no one would have noticed until it was too late. But Harry had helped found Outer Heaven and it was a haven for orphans in the Undercity. Not all orphans came (Zekk being a prime example) but some did. Even if they refused, Zule kept an eye on all the orphans in the area.
"So, what do you want me to do?" asked Harry.
"I want you to take her to your Praxeum and train her to be a Jedi," said Q'Anilia.
Harry was gobsmacked. For as long as Harry had known her, she had always refused to send Visas to the Praxeum. She stated that she didn't trust them as far as she could throw them.
"Why the change of heart?" asked Harry. "I thought you didn't trust them?"
"And I don't," stated Q'Anilia firmly. "But I trust you. From what I've seen, you'll be a Knight soon and I want you to take Visas as your apprentice."
Harry couldn't help but be skeptical. "Are you sure? It's rare for someone to be a Knight so young."
"But you will be," stated Q'Anilia firmly. "Please do this for me, Harry. I trust no one else and I can't bear to lose Visas to those people."
Harry mulled it over but at the end he accepted. He knew that he couldn't refuse her. She had helped him many times and had even accepted the role as spymaster of his network here in Coruscant. He trusted her implicitly so he would do her this favor. She had searched him when he first started exploring the Undercity and had helped him control his own Force sight. He owed her greatly.
"Okay," conceded Harry. "She'll be my apprentice as soon as I'm a Knight."
"Thank you, Harry," said Q'Anilia sincerely. "You don't know how thankful I am."
"What about you?" said Harry frowning. "How will you evade them?"
"They don't want an old woman like me," said Q'Anilia dismissively. "They want people they can mold and twist to their way of thinking. I'm too old and blind to do this to. Either way, I'm staying in here for a month. By then, they'll be gone."
"Then can't Visas do the same?" asked Harry confusedly.
"No, because if they know she's here they'll come back for her," said Q'Anilia. "Visas is almost as powerful as you were at her age. They would not let her go."
Harry conceded the point. Visas had always had extraordinary potential. When he first met the girl when he was 10 and she was 7, he could feel the Force leaving her in waves. He wondered if he had been the same at her age before dismissing it.
"Okay then," said Harry. "She'll come with me. When?"
"Today," stated Q'Anilia in a soft tone. "If not, they'll take her tonight."
Harry just bowed to her superior Sight. She would know after all.
"I'll let you explain then," said Harry softly. He got up before going to Visas and telling her hat her mother wanted to talk to her. Visas cheerfully said, "Okay," before going to her mother.
A few minutes later, twelve-year-old Visas was standing sadly at Harry's side. She was holding Harry's hand in a death grip and was looking around scared. She had never left the Undercity in her whole life. The only reason she dared was because her "Uncle Harry" was with her and her mother said it was her destiny. She trusted Harry completely and knew her mother only sent her because she had no other choice. Q'Anilia had left a minute ago, not being able to bear to say a long goodbye without it breaking her heart.
"Well, we have more than enough," commented Brea happily. "I'll place them in the private safe and Zule will make sure they're turned to earrings and amulets. I'll take one to make my amulet."
"Okay, then," said Harry. "Be careful, Brea. This guy isn't some minor league idiot. He'll kill you if he finds out about you."
"I know, don't worry," assured Brea. "I'm not reckless like you. I know my limits. Plus I've learned to use this." At this Brea took out an electro sword from a sheath that was strapped to her thigh underneath her skirt.
She swung it around with the hand of an expert, showing that she wasn't an amateur.
"I don't know if it'll stand up to a lightsaber," said Brea thoughtfully. "But it'll certainly help me handle anyone who doesn't understand no means no. Especially that Shadow Academy."
"What?" asked a surprised Jaina. "The Shadow Academy is here?"
"Yea," said Harry grimly. "That's why Vasis is coming with me. Her mother's ability with farseeing is the best I've ever seen and she saw them coming for Vasis if she stayed."
"They've been kidnapping orphans," continued Brea grimly. "Whether they have Force potential or not."
"That's horrible," said Astraal grimly. "We should tell Han and Leia."
"They won't be able to do anything," countered Harry gently. "The Coruscanti police don't really care what happens to people down here."
The others exchanged grim look at the truth of that statement. Despite what they wished, they knew that the people of this region were on their own until they managed to find out how the Shadow Academy was staging kidnappings. The only way that would be viable would be if the Academy was close by.
"Well, let's go visit Zekk" said Harry in a happier tone. "I haven't seen him yet and we can warn him about Shadow Academy. Two wombats with one shot."
The others agreed and after saying their goodbyes (Visas was especially tearful in her goodbye to Brea), the group left Outer Heaven toward Zekk's house.
Zekk and Peckhum's house, Mid-level Coruscant
The group of 7 quickly reached Zekk's place where they found the aforementioned boy talking enthusiastically with Peckhum, a 50-year-old man with gray hair that had taken Zekk under his wing. They turned when they heard the group arrive.
"Hey Jaina!" said Zekk happily. "What took you guys so long?"
"You wouldn't believe it if I told you," said Jaina amusedly.
"Hey Zekk," greeted Harry. "How you been?"
"Oh hey, Harry," said Zekk in a noticeably less enthusiastic voice. "I've been good. How about you?"
"You know how it is," said Harry. "Trying to survive. Did these guys tell you what happened to me last month?"
Zekk had an intrigued look on his face and shook his head at Harry's question. With that, Harry launched into the story of his near-death on Almas. Zekk was enraptured and slightly jealous that a boy a year younger than him was having such "awesome adventures". From beside Harry, Visas looked equally as fascinated at her "Uncle Harry's" adventures and was secretly happy that such an "awesome" Jedi would be her master. After Harry was done, Zekk shook his head at the story.
"You get into more trouble than anyone I've ever met," mocked Zekk good-naturedly.
"Hey!" said Harry in a mock affronted tone. "I have you know it's not my fault. Fate hates me. I think I stole her underwear."
Harry and Zekk fell down laughing at his joke. Despite the tension that was between them due to their shared attraction to Jaina, they were still good friends. Harry could honestly say he'd missed talking to the boy. He had a hard life like Harry had had before he met the Solos. The only reason Zekk hadn't joined the family was because he was too stubborn to ask for help. Plus he said he had Peckhum so that was enough for him.
"Boys," said Astraal half exasperated, half amused. Jaina, Tenel Ka and even Visas agreed with Astraal's comment.
The group started talking and sharing stories. Zekk and Jacen told Harry how they had managed to convince a hawk-bat to give them one of its eggs. They also told him how they ran into the Lost Ones on their way back. Harry frowned at the mention of the gang of deliquents.
Harry never liked the gang, mostly because when Outer Heaven was just getting off the ground they tried to mark the place as part of their "territory". Needless to say, Zule and Xad took that idea out of their minds quickly. Part of Harry pitied them because they were made up of kids who were abandoned or orphaned by their parents. However, Harry knew that a few were kicked out of their house due to their juvenile behavior. While he didn't agree with throwing out your kids, he understood that they needed to be punished to make them change their ways. However, the gang had been getting worse lately. They were going so far as try to assault people in the Undercity for credits. Harry knew that someday they would get over their heads and they would have no one to blame but themselves.
Jaina had been watching both Zekk and Harry as they talked. Despite what Jacen and the others thought, she wasn't blind. She knew that Harry and Zekk hadn't gotten along that well due to fighting over her. However, now they talked as if they were old friends. Jaina preferred it when they fought over her. This camaraderie only emphasized the fact that Harry was getting over her and that hurt her. Suddenly, she had an idea.
"Hey, Zekk," interrupted Jaina.
Zekk turned to Jaina and asked, "Yea?"
"Would you like to come with me to the diplomatic banquet in the Imperial Palace in two days?" asked Jaina while keeping an eye on Harry's reaction.
"Like a date?" asked Zekk in a hopeful tone.
"Sure, since Harry's going with his girlfriend, Astraal, here and Jacen's taking Tenel Ka, you can be my date," said Jaina. She forcefully suppressed her guilt for using Zekk in this manner.
While Harry's face remained carefully blank, Jaina could feel through their bond a strong sense of jealousy and hurt at the idea of Jaina going with Zekk. Jaina felt a thrill of victory at the fact that Harry still felt possessive of her and immediately thought of what to where to the banquet to garner Harry's attention.
"Yea!" said Zekk happily. "I'll go buy new clothes tomorrow so I can look my best."
Harry forced a smile on his face that only Jaina knew was slightly forced before saying, "If you want I can come with you and help you pick out your clothes. Our protocol droid is such a overgrown nanny and would pick up a fuss if you wore something he thought was "inappropriate" which is the same thing as "comfortable" in his mind."
Zekk thanked Harry for the help and they made plans to go shopping for clothes tomorrow. They thankfully managed to avoid having Astraal go with them. They instinctively knew that if she came they would be there all day. The girls decided to go by themselves to clothes shop. Although Jaina didn't really like it, she knew that she would need something good for the banquet. She privately thought that she wanted something that would turn Harry's head and make sure she was the center of his attention.
From the side, Tenel Ka stared at Jaina in disapproval. It wasn't hard to see why she had invited Zekk on a date to the banquet. She wanted to make Harry jealous. It was working but Tenel Ka disapproved of her idea. She was using Zekk to get Harry's attention and he would only wind up hurt because of it.
The group talked a bit more to make arrangements for tomorrow and the next day before departing toward the Solo's residence. As they walked back, Harry left Visas talking to Lowie and Astraal talking to Tenel Ka to walk beside Jaina who was taking up the rear alone.
"So," said Harry in what he probably thought was a casual tone. "You and Zekk?"
"Yea," said Jaina while avoiding Harry's eyes. "He's nice and handsome. We'd be a good match, don't you think?"
Harry fist tightened and he said, "I don't know. I imagined you with someone different. Someone who could keep up with you."
"Like who?" asked Jaina looking at Harry in the eye.
The two looked at each other for a minute, the sexual tension between them rising. They didn't even notice they were getting closer to each other or that at some point they started holding hands. They snapped out of it when they heard Astraal loudly complain about doing too much work while they're supposed to be on vacation. They stopped holding hands abruptly but continued to walk in silence.
"Well," said Harry forcing a smile. "If he's what you want then I'm happy for you."
"Are you really?" asked Jaina while looking him in the eye.
Harry didn't answer and just quickened his steps till he was beside Visas again. Jaina stared at Harry's back before quietly saying to herself.
"What I want is you, my love," muttered Jaina.
Her comment went unheard by all as they walked back home.
Notes
Look up Tenel Ka Djo in yahoo images. It'll be the second image from up to down.
AN: Well, there's chapter 13!
You met a cast of new characters that will mostly only interact with Harry since they're his spies and informants. You also met his future apprentice Visas who will become more important as the story develops.
You also saw that despite supposedly "moving on", Harry and Jaina are still very much in love and the tension between them will only get worse as they grow up. They will have a few failed relationships before realizing that they want no one but each other. The need to escape the tension is one of the reasons that Harry leaves with Astraal and Visas on the quest to discover his origins after the Shadow Academy arc.
I hope you liked the fighting sequence against the taozin. I always wondered why the authors didn't mention the creatures more. After all, they're perfect training for Jedi because they have to rely on something other than the Force to fight them due to them being invisible in the Force. The amulets made of taozin nodules are important for Harry's agents because Marrish's agents are all mostly Force-sensitive as well. They're also better trained than Harry's so they have to fly under the radar. They need to blend in since they're not fighters.
Just to explain, taozin nodules create a field around you that makes it seem as if you're not there in the Force. When Zule said that there was a place that was invisible in the Force, she meant that there were serious lack of buildings and walkways where there were supposed to be buildings and walkways. Therefore, by process of elimination it had to be a taozin web.
Read and Review!