Chapter Fourteen – Shaddaa
The prisoners were dropped off with the authorities by the crew once they reached Coruscant. Harry wasted no time getting to his ship and setting a course for Nar Shaddaa. It took a few days to get there and Harry was anxious to bring this little job to a close.
While travelling he took inventory of the ships and droids he had collected. To start off with he had three droids made up of OP, QE, and MT, plus his one ship. The droids were his protocol droid, astromech droid, and medical droid respectively.
On his journeys, he had picked up a few more. After the first pirate attack, he picked up three astromech droids and one Teroch-type Gun Ship. After that, he picked up another five astromech droids from the Wookiees and slavers. On his last excursion, he obtained six more astromech droids and one additional protocol droid from the pirates, including their larger ship – a modified Heraklon-class Transport. The pirates on Nar Shaddaa supposedly had several droids and a Corvette ship, which would be his largest captured one yet, except for the prison ship he let the Wookiees have.
If all goes well then he will end up with four ships of various sizes and 18 droids, plus the extra he will pick up on Nar Shaddaa. That should be a good start for a small space station on Earth, he thought.
While travelling he had his droids check out the latest ones he collected to verify they had no hidden programming that would cause trouble for them. He didn't trust these pirates at all to not monkey with their droids. If fully checked out then they could join the crew with the rest of them. He would have them do the same to any additional droids he collected from these pirates.
They finally arrived at Nar Shaddaa, which was also known as the Smuggler's Moon. It was the largest of five moons that orbited the planet Nal Hutta. It was a massive black market ran by the Hutt Cartel. Most places on it were not safe due to the unsavory characters that inhabited it. Many pirates, thieves, and killers frequented the place.
Harry parked his ship at the Deucalon Spaceport then took a look around at the various ships that were docked there. It took him some time and a few questions to the dockworkers, but he finally managed to find where the CR50 Corvette named Blockade Bandit was located. The ship was big so was located in one of the larger space docks.
Harry approached the ship slowly with a strong Disillusionment Charm applied. From the high ramp he was standing on in the ship bay, he could see into the bridge of the ship. He couldn't see perfectly the entire bridge but he could make out the space well enough. Plus he was familiar somewhat with Corvettes.
With a silent displacement of air, he disappeared from the ramp and reappeared instantly in the middle of the Blockade Bandit's bridge. With a quick look around, he saw no one so he lowered his hands slowly. His disillusionment had cancelled when he teleported. He wasn't accustomed to holding the spell while performing others. He left it off for now.
Homenum Revelio
Harry silently cast the Human Presence Revealing Spell and received information back that only one person was on the ship. Of course, that spell did not reveal droids so he proceeded carefully.
The ship was 150 meters in length with multiple decks. In fact, it had four regular decks plus a Topside Hold and a Belly Hold. Engineering also had four decks. Harry found the person in Engineering on the third deck doing checks and maintenance. She must be their mechanic, he thought. He had shut down and collected close to twenty droids so far, as he came upon them. Some of them were already in sleep mode since there was nothing for them to do while docked. Just three were performing functions on the ship. Harry was easily able to shut them all down, shrink them, and place them in a bag for safekeeping.
As he watched the mechanic perform her duties, he began to wonder if she was a pirate at all. He decided to question her first rather than just stun her and tie her up.
"Excuse me," he said loudly from across the way in the Engineering Room.
After Harry announced himself, the woman was obviously startled so she jumped suddenly with a yelp and promptly dropped her wrench, which clattered below. She then slipped and fell off the ladder she was standing on. If it hadn't been for Harry summoning her to him, she likely would have died when she hit the deck below and landed on her head.
She screamed when she fell then screamed louder as her body changed direction and she flew at an angle across the room. She was disoriented when she landed in the arms of some man that caught her. She finally stopped screaming when she realized she wasn't dead. She then wondered if the man holding her in his arms was a Jedi.
She slowly looked up into the brightest green eyes she had ever seen. He slowly lowered her to the deck so she could stand on her own two feet but held onto her just in case so she didn't fall again.
"Sorry that I frightened you," Harry apologized in a quiet voice.
Now that he could see her up close, he could tell that she was human and probably in her early twenties. She was also quite attractive even though she had a few smudges on her face. She had light-brown hair that was previously kept under a cap, most likely to keep it out of her way while she worked. The cap had fallen off and her hair cascaded down past her shoulders. Her eyes were a golden-brown with high cheekbones and pink, rosy lips.
"Wh-Who a-are you? Are you a Jedi?"
"No. I'm a mage."
She frowned and looked up into those bright green orbs again not understanding what that was.
"What exactly is a mage?"
"Magic user."
"Oh, really?" she asked sarcastically.
"Certainly," said Harry as he stepped back away from her and waved his hand.
Two comfy looking chairs appeared out of nowhere. She gasped in shock.
"Would you like to sit down and discuss it?" he asked with a small smile.
She slowly walked forward and touched one of the chairs before she lowered herself into it. She looked over at Harry and saw that he was already sitting and looking quite relaxed, leaning back with his legs crossed.
"B-B-But how?"
"Magic. You see, I'm not from around these parts."
"I can believe that."
"What's your name?"
"Lisera."
"Lisera, it's nice to meet you. I'm Harry. Let's get down to business, shall we?"
"Okay," she said hesitantly.
"I've been looking for this ship and its crew. Are you one of the crew?"
"No. I'm a mechanic here on Nar Shaddaa. I was hired to do an upgrade, plus maintenance and checks on the ship. This is what I do all the time. I wasn't expecting anyone else to be on the ship with me when you spoke. That gave me quite a fright since I was focused on my job."
"I see. How far did you get?"
"The upgrade to the computer systems is complete and I just have a little bit more to do on the rest of it."
"Why don't they just have all their droids do the work?"
"I don't think they trust them enough."
"Strange, I trust my droids explicitly."
"I trust them too. They just do what they're programmed to do. However, these guys are pirates so they likely don't trust anyone or anything."
"But they trust you obviously. Why is that?"
"I have a good reputation for doing a good job. I come highly recommended."
"If you are so good at what you do then why stay here and fix pirate ships? Why not go to Coruscant or Corellia or just about any other decent planet and work there?"
"Believe me I'd love to but I don't have a choice."
"Everyone has a choice."
"I was sold when I was a young teenager to Bareesh the Hutt. My father owed him a lot of credits. Technically the debt has been paid multiple times over but he makes a lot of money off of me and won't ever let me go."
"Are you part of the sex trade?"
"Do I look like I'm part of the sex trade?"
"You are quite attractive so I can see where you might be as a slave to a Hutt."
"You think I'm attractive?" she asked with a smile.
"Yes, no doubt. So you are not a sex slave?"
"No, I was lucky to have a good mind for engineering. I've been talented that way since I was a kid. Bareesh recognized my talent and used me as a highly paid mechanic instead. Of course, he gets all the money and I'm beaten if I don't do a good job.
"So you are his slave mechanic?"
"Yes and I'll never be able to leave this place. Ever."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that, Lisera. You see I'm not very fond of slavers and it repulses me that you are being held against your will."
"What can you do about it? Bareesh is surrounded by his men. It's too dangerous to take him on."
"Trust me. There are a lot of things I can do but first I have to collect any remaining droids left on this ship and then shrink it before I pay those pirates a visit."
"Shrink it? What exactly are you planning?"
"I was hired to hunt down these pirates for my employers. In exchange, they're going to give me a small space station I plan to install on my home world."
"What's the name of your home world?"
"Earth."
"Never heard of it."
"I'm not surprised."
"You're installing an entire space station?"
"Yes. I should have around thirty droids and four ships to start with."
"That should be fun."
"Oh, I'm pretty much going to turn it over to all my droids to install it. I'll only help if and when I'm needed."
"What am I supposed to do?"
"I want you to help me find any remaining droids on this ship then we're going to exit it so I can collect it properly. You can then take me back to Bareesh so I'll know where to find you after I go find the pirates."
"What do I tell Bareesh?"
"Tell him you finished the CR50 and that we met and I would like you to upgrade my ship systems as well. Only I have an errand to run and I will be back to pick you up and take you to my ship later. I will deal with Bareesh when I can come back to get you."
"I hope you know what you are doing because Bareesh will kill me if he gets suspicious."
"Don't worry. I'll take care of him then take you back with me to Coruscant so you can be free and live wherever you want. With your talent I'm sure you can get a job pretty quick."
"Let's do this then," she said hopefully.
She helped Harry find three more astromech droids, which he promptly shut down and shrunk before bagging them. Lisera was speechless. Once they verified no other droid was left onboard, Harry took her down the ramp and to the dock. There he used his magic to close the ramp then promptly shrunk the very large ship down to a small toy model size.
Lisera nearly feinted when she witnessed it.
"Take my arm and hold on. I'll take us to my ship quickly."
Lisera looked at him strangely.
"Trust me. It will only take a second."
Lisera grabbed his arm and held on while Harry teleported them both to inside his storage hold on his ship.
"You can open your eyes now Lisera. We're here."
Lisera opened her eyes slowly and looked around. She saw where they were.
"Did we just teleport?"
"Yes, nice and quick, huh?"
"I have to sit down. My head is spinning with everything I've seen."
Lisera just sat down on the floor and held her head in her hands. Harry left her there and took out all he collected and put them up. He unshrunk all the droids but didn't power them up. He instructed his droids to check the new 20 or so he just collected, since they had finished checking the other ones. He suggested they all could work on it together to get the job done quicker. QE beeped an affirmative and put them all to work.
"Thanks, Buddy," said Harry before heading back over to Lisera. "Are you ready, Lisera? We had better get going."
"Help me up," she said with her arm raised toward him.
Harry pulled her up where she promptly stumbled and Harry caught her once again.
"I'm beginning to think you just like me holding you," quipped Harry.
Lisera smiled. "It's working though, right?"
Harry smiled. "I suppose it is."
"I'm sorry Harry," she said standing on her own and straightening her clothes. "I'm not usually this clumsy. I think I've just witnessed too many amazing things for my little brain to comprehend."
"Come on. We're not done yet. I need you to take me to Bareesh so I will know where to come back to after I take care of the pirates."
Lisera led Harry to the Spaceport taxi where they rode over to the Upper Promenade and then walked over to Bareesh's Mercantile Exchange. Bareesh, who looked like a giant worm, was surrounded by his Clan Security guards. Lisera played her part and told Bareesh that she completed the work on the CR50 and then ran into Harry on the dock. She said he was wanting some work done as well but had told him he would have to talk to Bareesh so she brought him here.
"Yes, Bareesh, I need an upgrade to my systems and I understand Lisera here just did that to the ship she was working on. She came highly recommended so I would like to purchase her services to do the same for my ship."
"She is a credit to her race. She's quite good at her job. Since she has now completed her other work then she can start for you right away. However, I do require payment beforehand."
"That's fine. However, I have an errand I need to run before we do this. I can come back and then guide Lisera to my ship so she can get started. Can you make sure she will be here when I return?"
"She has no other work today so her being here will not be a problem, but if you tell us where you're docked then she can start right away while you run your errand. I assure you she is very trustworthy."
"I'm sure she is but with my security on my ship she will not be able to enter it. I will have to take her myself."
"Very well, take care of your business and I will have her do the upgrade for you when you return."
"Thank you Bareesh. You've been very helpful. I will see you both soon."
Harry left Bareesh's Mercantile Exchange and took a taxi to the Red Light Sector. From there he got directions and travelled to Gunrunner's Circle. He was stopped a few times by people wanting him to work for them but he said no and kept moving. Club Ufora was nearby so he paid it a visit.
After wandering around in the club for a while, he came across a side room next to the main bar that had its own small bar. The people in there were having their own private party and according to the bartender at the main bar, it was the group he was looking for. They were supposedly celebrating their latest haul.
Harry had no problems crashing their party so he walked right in. When most of them turned to look at him, he asked his question before anyone could tell him it was a private party and ask him to leave.
"I'm looking for Dex Bowers and the low-life scum that run with him."
That got a reaction.
A big one who was hairless and mostly a black color stood up and made his way over to Harry. It was obvious he was a Herglic standing well over 2 meters tall. His width was impressive to boot. Pretty much all solid muscle as far as Harry could see.
He towered over Harry then lowering his head down toward him, he said in a deep voice, "I'm Dex Bowers. Who's asking?"
"Harry Potter, Dex. I need you to tell all the people in this room who are not part of your crew to leave immediately before I get started."
"Only the bartender is not part of my crew," he answered then looked over at the bartender where he motioned for him to leave. "Now what do you want?"
"I was hired to bring in all the pirates who attacked my employer's ships. You are all on my list. I suggest you turn yourselves in and come along quietly."
Dex let out a belly laugh then his crew joined him. When the laughter stopped, he looked back at his crew.
"Kill him," he said.
However, before he could step out of the way Harry touched him and he flew back across the room out cold, slamming into the back wall. Harry put up a full shield as the blasters started firing. They stopped when they noticed his shield was not collapsing.
Then with speed only a Jedi could manage, they watched in shock as the man took them all out as easy as he took out Dex. One touch and they were out or he hit them with a red light and it did the same.
Once he was done, he tied them all up then woke up one of them and found out where their base was. Turns out it was right next door to the club. A few patrons came to see what all the blaster fire was about but he assured them all was okay. He then decided to try some transfiguration that he had read about hoping to make it easier to transport the prisoners.
After a lot of thought, he waved his hand at Dex and watched as he was transfigured into a small stuffed doll that looked just like him. With another wave, he cancelled the spell and Dex was back to his own self, alive and well. Happy with the results, he transfigured all the pirates into small stuffed replicas of themselves. He then collected them into a bag with an Undetectable Extension Charm.
Leaving the club, he walked next door, took care of the two guards waiting outside, and then proceeded into their base. There were only three more inside left to protect the base. Harry subdued and collected them easy enough then sought out to collect what they had stolen. It was obvious they had just made a big haul.
There was information for two ships that belonged to his employers. The info showed where they were docked. There was a very large stash of credits he found, along with a storage area that had a few goods left. He collected it all then teleported to his ship where he dropped off all the loot and prisoners. Making sure everything was stowed carefully.
Once done, he teleported near to Bareesh's Mercantile Exchange and walked in to rescue Lisera.
"Bareesh, I completed my errand and I am back for Lisera."
Bareesh sent for Lisera in the next room to come out and join them.
"Very well, in that case the charge for a systems upgrade is 125,000 credits. Pay my assistant here and you can be on your way."
Lisera walked up and stood nearby.
"That, Bareesh, is where I have a slight problem –," said Harry before he was cut off.
"How dare you waste my time? If you can't afford my services then you should never have come here. I should have you shot for this."
"You misunderstand. I have the money but I don't really need the service. I am really here to take Lisera with me. From my calculations, her father's debt was paid in full a very long time ago. Now, you will agree to her release and we will be on our way, if you know what's good for you."
"You're a dead man. GUARDS!"
Lisera ran quickly over to behind a column near Bareesh. Harry saw her take cover and disappeared. The security guards were wondering where he went. The next thing they knew a light hit Bareesh and a large gash appeared just under his head. He immediately slumped over and died. The guards turned to where the light came from but no one was there. Suddenly Harry was appearing behind each of them, one at a time, and taking them out quickly. After the last one was dead, Harry stopped and turned toward the column he saw Lisera go behind.
"Are you ready to go now, Lisera?"
Lisera slowly walked out from behind the column and looked at all the bodies lying around. She saw the body of Bareesh and shuddered.
"I gave him a choice Lisera but he tried to kill me."
"I know. He deserved it. There's no question about that. I just remembered a slight problem though. I have a tracking device on me and even though Bareesh is dead, someone else will eventually take over his domain and they will likely hunt me down."
"Where is this device?"
She lifted up her shirt and showed him a feint blinking light beneath her skin. Harry examined it carefully.
"Is it just a tracking device or is there more to it?"
"I was told that it can also be detonated from a remote device but I'm not sure if that was just told to me to keep me from running when I was younger."
"I believe I can fix this. Let's head back to my ship before anyone else shows up. I'll take care of it there before we leave."
Harry held out his arm and Lisera grabbed hold of it. When she opened her eyes, she was standing in Harry's ship again. It was so weird to travel that way, but so very quick, she thought. Harry pulled out his datapad immediately and searched through it. When he found what he needed he took Lisera to the medical bay, had her lay down on the table, and had MT standby.
With a steady concentration, he waved his hand over Lisera's side and performed for the first time a variation of the Switching Spell. The spell allowed him to switch the tracking device from her side to a shielded container. After it was in the container, MT scanned Lisera for any issues while Harry overpowered the device with magic until it imploded. He then vanished it.
MT found Lisera in good health so Harry told her to rest while he went to collect two ships that belonged to his employers. It took him about an hour to find them, check them over, and then shrink them for transport. When he came back to his ship, he found Lisera checking it over.
"You know you don't have to do any work to earn your keep or anything. I'm pretty sure my droids keep this ship in great condition."
"They do and I just verified that. Good work guys!"
There were a few beeps in thanks.
"They're thankful for the praise. Now, are you ready to go to Coruscant? I have several items to bring back to my employers, prisoners to turn into the authorities, and a space station to build."
She thought about it for a second. "Yes, I am very ready."
"Once you are at Coruscant you can go anywhere you want and find work to support yourself. If you have any trouble at all, let me know. I'd be happy to put you to work on my space station."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Thanks for everything you've done for me, Harry. I will never forget it."
"You're welcome. You deserve your freedom. Now, come on. You can be co-pilot."
They went to the bridge together and settled into their seats. Before long, they had Nar Shaddaa behind them and Coruscant programmed into the NaviComputer. They settled back and relaxed as the hyperdrive kicked in.