Chapter Twenty-Four – Vong
"Well, I see you arrived just in time," greeted Luke. "I don't suppose I should be surprised by that though, Harry."
"Time is my middle name, Luke, …sort of," Harry said with a smile.
"We have prepared as best we can, Harry, and are about ready to travel to the place in the galaxy they're supposed to enter. Why don't you join my family for dinner later and I'll fill you in on what we have in store for our unwelcome visitors?"
"Sounds like a plan."
While waiting for dinner, Harry pulled out his datapad and reviewed all the details he downloaded about the Vong invasion from the future. He stopped when he came across the fact that their ships were organic. This, he thought to himself, could be used against them.
He just happened to have a spell that would do the trick. The question is whether or not their shields can block it. Of course, if their shields are also organic, then that will be perfect.
At dinner, Luke and Mara filled Harry in about the plans they had made and the forces they had mustered. When asked about what Harry had been up to, they received far more than they anticipated from him. He filled them in on how busy he had been of late and provided some detail on what was taking up all his time. They were very impressed with his mission to bring his home planet up to speed in technology.
Harry was introduced to their pre-teen son, Ben. After dinner, Han and Leia, along with their children, who were young adults now, showed up for a visit. Han and Leia wanted to see Harry again and their children, who had never met him, were anxious to meet the legendary time traveler and war hero who battled alongside Revan so many centuries ago.
Harry even entertained the younger ones with some tricks since they hadn't seen him in action before. The youngest Skywalker kid kept pestering Harry for more after Harry decided he had done enough. Mara told her son to stop asking but he continued anyway.
"Are you positive you want to see me do one more time manipulation spell?" Harry asked the kid.
He nodded his head and his eyes grew bigger anticipating Harry's next feat of magic. He was so enthralled with what Harry could do.
Harry pointed his finger at Ben and de-aged him back to a four-month-old baby. He was practically swallowed up by the clothes he was wearing. Everyone was in shock.
"Mara, would you like the opportunity to hold your baby boy again before I change him back?" Harry asked her.
"You bet, Harry," she responded, realizing her son was fine. "Let me hold my baby one last time before he becomes an annoying kid again."
All the adults chuckled at her statement while Mara picked up her son. All of his clothes fell away leaving him completely naked in her arms. She cuddled and cooed at him while the baby frowned at his mother. His body may be four months old, but his mind had not changed a bit. He didn't appreciate his mother treating him like a baby and his nakedness was a bit embarrassing.
He was then passed to his Aunt Leia and cooed at again. His idea to pester Harry just so he would perform another trick for him was not sounding like such a good idea anymore. Eventually, they finished embarrassing him enough so Mara carried her son into his bedroom while Luke grabbed all his clothes from the floor and followed her along with Harry.
Once Ben was placed on the bed, Luke laid the clothes on top of him and Harry reversed the spell. Ben scrambled around making sure his clothes covered his privates. He looked up at his parents and Harry.
"That was not funny, Mom," he complained.
"We all thought it was hilarious, sweetie," she replied. "If that wasn't fun for you, I'm sure Harry here can do something else and see if that makes you laugh."
"No! I've seen enough. I don't need to see anymore."
"Well then, thank Harry for obliging you after you pestered him for so long. Then we'll leave so you can get dressed again," Luke suggested.
"But he turned me into a baby!"
"Ben?" Mara asked sternly.
Ben lowered his head and fiddled with his hands. "Thank you, Harry, for showing me another trick. I won't ask again," he said contritely.
"You're welcome, Ben. Glad I could oblige."
"I can't believe he turned me into a little baby," Ben mumbled as his parents and Harry left with smiles on their faces, shutting the door behind them.
When Ben came out all dressed again to join the others, his two cousins snickered at him when he looked embarrassed. He started to say something but one look from his father reminded him to control his emotions.
He lowered his head and then when he looked back up after a minute, he was calm and unconcerned about it all. That earned him an approving nod from his father and from his cousins, along with pleased smiles from his mother and aunt.
oOo
Two days later they headed out to the Helska system in the Dalonbian sector with an entire fleet of massive ships. It was far out on the edge of the Outer Rim territories. They were going to stop near Helska IV, an inhospitable planet consisting of one large iced-over ocean and no native life forms. It was near there that the Yuuzhan Vong were to enter the galaxy.
According to history, the Vong used the planet to establish a war coordinator under the surface of the ice called a yammosk. A yammosk was a spawned, partially sentient, bio-creation of the Yuuzhan Vong empire.
They resembled huge brains with thousands of tentacles. They had the ability to link the mind of Yuuzhan Vong commandos, providing a secure means of communication as their thoughts were linked to each other.
In the original timeline, Anakin Solo was forced to destroy the planet killing the yammosk and all the Yuuzhan Vong holed up there. He used a device that froze the liquid core of the planet until it shattered.
Harry planned to not give the Yuuzhan Vong the chance to even setup that base of operations. Planets should not have to be destroyed, even if they are inhospitable.
They placed five ships right in the path of where the Yuuzhan Vong were to appear once they crossed over into the galaxy. However, the majority of the fleet were hidden, ready to show up in force when called upon.
Harry asked to be in the very front of the ship with no one else in front of him. The ship he was on also had to be the lead ship with the other four in a horizontal line but slightly further back than the lead ship.
When the Vong ships began appearing on the edge of the Dalonbian sector, they came to a halt in front of the ships waiting for them. They quickly arrayed themselves in a line like a standoff as the five ships just waited. The Vong were quite surprised to have a welcoming party. They could not understand how they knew where they were entering the galaxy.
Plus, they clearly outnumbered the five in front of them so the Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane quickly relayed orders to fire on the ships all at once to obliterate these upstarts showing up with just five ships to guard the galaxy. It was obviously a good opportunity to show the might of the Yuuzhan Vong.
The Vong's ships fired all at once with everything headed straight for the five ships of the Galactic Alliance. Many of the people on the ships recoiled in fear that their shields would not hold under such an onslaught.
Harry, on the other hand, calmly raised his hands and stopped not only the deadly attack but froze the Yuuzhan Vong ships in time as well. The Vong, who were not caught in the time freeze, due to being inside their ships, noticed everything coming to a halt and their ships not responding to any commands.
Their ships suddenly seemed to ripple and get distorted all around them. Their shields failed during the rippling affect and the organic ships actually made noises like they were confused. The Vong had no idea what was happening. What really made their eyes bigger was when the same powerful shots they fired at the five ships returned to where they came from with just as much power behind them as when they were first fired.
The Vong couldn't do anything so they braced for impact. Their organic shields were gone so they had nothing to protect them against their own fire power. Many ships were completely destroyed while others were severely damaged. Debris from the destroyed ships even caused damage to the other ships near them.
While the survivors were recovering from the hits and trying to get their ships to respond to any commands at all they didn't notice all the ships that arrived behind the original five. When they finally quit panicking and looked up, they saw an entire Armada arrayed against them. Easily double the amount of ships of the Yuuzhan Vong before so many were destroyed.
The Vong knew they were defeated at that point and began questioning their leadership who brought them all the way to this galaxy with promises that it was theirs to take. However, in reality they were brought to ruin.
The crew members on the Galactic Alliance ships, who were able to see what Harry did, were in complete shock, along with the Vong. Word had spread that a special friend of the Jedi Grand Master, Luke Skywalker, had arrived to help them. They were not expecting anything like this.
"Harry, release your hold on them but please stay at the ready," Luke requested. "Officer, try to communicate with them and see if we can get them to talk to us. I'll also need a droid in case we need to translate. Who knows what language they speak? I doubt it's Galactic Basic."
Everyone began following Luke's orders and soon a droid was able to learn the Vong's language so they could communicate properly. Things seemed to be going well enough until the Vong's Supreme Overlord informed them that no final accord could be reached without a one on one battle to the death between himself and the leader of the Galactic Alliance.
Shimrra Jamaane was taking a gamble but was counting on the Galactic Alliance leader being an old man with little combat training, just the brains behind the plan that succeeded in conquering the Vong so easily. He sincerely hoped the leader was not the one that did all that to his ships. He still failed to understand how that was pulled off. He was also not expecting another force sensitive and certainly not one of Luke's caliber.
Luke cut the communications with the Vong as soon as that information was relayed to them. They needed to think this through. Harry quickly relayed privately to Luke and Mara that he was the one to defeat the Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane in single combat during the original time line. He was confident Luke could beat him in any time line and reassured the Jedi Grand Master of that belief.
Eventually, it was decided to grant the wish of the Supreme Overlord and have Luke fight him. They suspected he was hoping for an old admiral who was past his prime and unable to defend himself in single combat very well. He had emphasized that it had to be the overall leader just as he himself was the Supreme Overlord and leader of the Yuuzhan Vong.
The next question was where they could fight. The ship they were on had a big enough hangar where it could take place, especially if they moved a few fighter craft around, but how to get him over here without them pulling a stunt. They were worried that if they allowed them to bring a small ship over to their hangar that they may explode it or attack once they arrive.
Everyone grew quiet after they heard the next words.
"I'll go get him."
"Harry, are you sure about this?" asked Luke.
"No problem. I'll just pop over and bring him right back. I'll need a translation droid to go with me though."
"Just be careful. That's a ship load of Yuuzhan Vong over there and they're all force sensitive."
"They'll never know what hit them. Let them know that you are sending someone to pick him up along with a single witness he can bring with him. They'll be expecting a ship and not just me showing up on their bridge."
Luke relayed the command so the Vong were informed that someone would be there shortly to pick up the Supreme Overlord with his witness, and bring them back to their ship for the one-on-one single combat.
Harry then stared hard at the bridge of the Vong main ship before he vanished with a small pop, a droid going for a ride with him. The people on the bridge had seen him do some amazing things today but teleportation was a big surprise for them.
Harry appeared on the bridge on the Vong ship and immediately stopped time. Everyone froze, except for his droid. They were one ugly species, Harry thought to himself as he walked over to what looked like the person in charge. Harry started time again just on the person in front of him.
The Vong captain looked startled at first noticing all his comrades were not moving at all and a strange person was in front of him with a droid next to him. The captain frowned at the droid. Vong do not like technology.
"Tell him to let the Supreme Overlord know that his ride is here and waiting for him on the bridge," Harry instructed the droid.
The droid told the captain what Harry said and the ugly Vong just stared at Harry in disbelief.
"Tell him I'm short on patience today so it would be in his best interest to get a move on."
The droid translated.
The captain went for his weapon.
Harry hit him with a light space distortion spell which had the captain yelling in pain on the floor, along with his live weapon which was hissing in pain. Harry released the spell after a couple of seconds then stunned the weapon.
"Any questions?" he asked.
The droid translated in a calm manner just as Harry asked the question.
The captain looked at his limp weapon and shook his head no very quickly as he got up and called for the Supreme Overlord to come to the bridge since his ride was here waiting. There was some back and forth as the droid continued to translate for Harry.
The Supreme Overlord was asking how the man got onto the bridge and why he wasn't captured. The captain said he wasn't sure but he seemed to just appear out of thin air and froze all the other crew members on the bridge. He also added that the man wasn't very patient.
The Supreme Overlord gathered together a troop of ten of his best soldiers and headed for the bridge. Harry froze the captain and his weapon again. He then cast his Time Ripple spell on the bridge of the ship to draw their attention to that when the others arrived. Harry then disillusioned himself and the droid.
When the soldiers entered the bridge, they were distracted by all the distortions and rippling effect on the bridge. The ship was making sounds again as if confused. While they were distracted, Harry hit them all with a wide-area stunner and watched them drop down to the floor.
The Supreme Overlord walked into the room as Harry released his Time Ripple spell on the bridge and removed his Disillusionment charm on himself and the droid. The Supreme Overlord had his weapon at the ready but was being careful. This was obviously the one with the special powers.
"I'm Harry Potter. I trust you are the Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane?"
After the droid translated for him, Jamaane nodded his head.
"I'll be your personal transport today," Harry continued. "Are you ready to go?" Harry turned to the droid. "Make sure he understands and has everything he needs for his single combat."
The Supreme Overlord just nodded again after the droid told him what Harry said.
Harry shrunk the droid and put it in his pocket. The Overlord, who was staring intensely at Harry and studying him closely, widened his eyes at that. Harry walked toward him so the Overlord raised his weapon in defense. Harry shook his head and shook one hand out in front of him to indicate that would not be needed.
Then when the Overlord was relaxing his stance, Harry hit him with a stunner really quick from a very short distance as he closed the gap between them. His hand was still up in front of him so it made it easier and faster. The Overlord tried to get his weapon back in position but it was too late and he crumpled to the floor out cold.
Harry crouched down and grabbed a hold of the Vong leader while he summoned the captain to him and stunned him. He then released the time on the bridge crew. He disappeared from their bridge and appeared inside the hangar bay on the big capital ship he was on before. Harry stepped away from the Overlord and the captain then enervated them from a safe distance as Luke was sent word that Harry was back with the Vong Supreme commander and a witness.
Shimrra Jamaane stood up from the floor and frowned at all the technology he could see, he then stopped and looked at Harry, giving him evil glances. Harry smirked and returned the droid to normal size. However, he kept an eye on their guests the whole time. Harry had the droid explain that this hangar is where the fight would take place and the Galactic leader was on his way.
The Supreme Overlord wanted badly to make this powerful individual pay for attacking him and bringing him to their ship, but he was concerned about what else this strange person could do. He also wanted to save his strength for the fight with their leader, just in case he needed it. For now, he was content to glare at the man who just unshrunk the droid he had shrunk earlier. This was hard to believe.
The captain was being very still and watching Harry carefully.
Harry conjured a nice chair and sat in it while they waited on Luke and the others to arrive. Jamaane's eyes grew even wider than before.
"Ask them if they would like for me to give them chairs to sit in while we wait," Harry told the droid.
The droid translated but the leader declined the offer. Following his leader, the captain declined as well. Instead the captain asked if there were more people like Harry around.
"I'm the only one on this ship," Harry replied.
Jamaane and the captain were then wondering if each ship had one like him, which is what Harry wanted them to think.
"Why do I have to fight here on your ship amongst all of my enemies while all alone except for one?" asked the Overlord. "Why did you kidnap me? I am surrounded. How is that fair?"
"Would you have preferred that we destroy all your ships and your people?" Harry asked him as the droid continued to translate. "You were the one who insisted on this fight to the death. We will honor your request, even though technically we don't have to do that. We are honorable people. You will face just our leader as you requested. No one else will interfere. Win or lose, your people will still sign the accord. The captain will be the witness to your people on how the fight went."
"You have amazing powers, Harry Potter. You can do things I've never seen or even heard of before."
"Just so you know, I've been holding back. You haven't seen anything yet," Harry replied still relaxing in his conjured chair.
Neither one gave a response.
It wasn't much longer before Luke and many others showed up in the hangar. Harry stood and waved his hand. The chair he was sitting in disappeared to everyone's disbelief. Luke walked over to the droid standing next to Harry and stopped.
"Translate for me, please?" he asked the droid.
The droid nodded and stood ready.
"I am Luke Skywalker, the leader of the Galactic Alliance. I believe you require one-on-one, single combat between you and myself? A fight to the death? While I do not agree with this, I will fight you if this is the only way to achieve peace between the Yuuzhan Vong and the Galactic Alliance."
"How do I know you are the true leader of the Galactic Alliance and not just their best fighter?" he asked, noticing a different type of weapon hanging from Luke's belt.
"How do I know you are the true leader and not just their best fighter?" Luke turned it around on him. "Besides, Harry here is our best fighter." he said gesturing to Harry. "However, I assure you I am the leader."
"Then we should begin," Jamaane replied after the droid finished translating.
Harry pulled the captain toward himself and quickly conjured a chair for him as he got closer. The captain activated his weapon while flying toward Harry. However, Harry was ready for him and transfigured the weapon into a stuffed serpent.
This confused the captain who was looking at his weapon wondering how that happened. Harry put him in the chair as he landed and tied him to it with a simple wave of his hand so he couldn't interfere, only witness the fight. The stuffed serpent was caught in the ropes so just stayed with the captain as he sat.
There were many murmurs from the crowd as they saw what Harry did, but soon they were distracted by the two leaders and so was the captain. About the only thing he could move was his head but he was situated to be able to watch the fight without any trouble.
They began circling each other with weapons ready for battle. Jamaane had his Amphistaff and Luke his lightsaber. The use of the different weapons was indicative of the differences between the two. The Vong hated all technology. Their ships were organic and so were their weapons.
The Amphistaff was actually a serpent that the Vong form a bond with at a specific time of the serpent's life. It had power glands that could send electrical pulses across its body to harden it in different positions. It could become different weapons such as a spear, staff, or even a whip.
The serpent could use the crystalline structures of its body to harden enough to even block lightsabers. Another ability it had was to spit venom. It was a very nasty weapon that obeyed all the commands and impulses of its wielder.
The Supreme Overlord had a bigger, more powerful Amphistaff than any of the other Vong under him.
Harry quickly moved the people back and cast some wards to protect the spectators from the combatants. He also moved the captain again and his stuffed serpent, pulling him behind the wards and a little further away so Luke and Jamaane could have plenty of room.
The fight was ready to begin.
After they circled each other a couple of times, the Supreme Overlord attacked swiftly using his weapon as a whip. Luke quickly batted the end of the whip aside with his lightsaber. The whip tactic was tried again but this time the weapon stopped halfway and spat venom at Luke.
Luke quickly moved out of the path of the venom before turning and grabbing it with the force. He then sent it flying back to where it came from. The venom splashed harmlessly on to the serpent weapon and the Vong leader who laughed. He was immune to his weapon's venom.
Luke closed the distance between them in a flash and their weapons clashed together. Jamaane's weapon was now a staff. Their moves were blazingly quick as they dueled, each one relying on the force to guide them.
They sparred for a while until suddenly Jamaane's staff curled around Luke's lightsaber blade to prevent him from using it. Jamaane's hand struck out in a powerful force blow while at the same time his weapon struck to bite Luke in the neck.
Luke's force senses were going off like warning bells as he dodged the snake bite to the neck and deactivated his lightsaber to release it. He was caught with the vicious blow from Jamaane though. He flew several feet away from the Vong leader before he could catch himself with the force and slow down.
While doing this, Luke made a lightsaber throw that hurdled through the air toward the Supreme Overlord. Jamaane ducked as the blade flew over him, however it turned and came back. He found himself dueling a blade with no person attached.
Eventually, his staff grabbed the blade again. Luke used the force to deactivate his lightsaber, then force pulled it back into his hand, catching it with practiced ease.
The combatants circled each other again.
This time the Vong leader changed his weapon into a long spear. The distance was closed between them again and they were going at it furiously weapon to weapon. The speed in which they moved was just a blur as they relied on the Force.
Using a tactic that worked for him before, Jamaane's Amphistaff curled around Luke's lightsaber again with the serpent's head moving in to strike Luke and Jamaane's hand moving in to strike in a vital spot to cause more damage to his opponent. Luke was more ready for that move this time though. He deactivated his lightsaber and dropped to the ground doing a sweep with his leg.
The leg sweep caught the Vong off guard since it happened so fast. His legs were swept out from under him, sending him to the floor while Luke's lightsaber was activated again. He lashed out with it even before the Vong leader could hit the floor. If it hadn't been for Jamaane's abilities, the fight would have been over at that moment. However, he still was nicked in the arm along the bicep.
He did not like that at all but recovered from the strike and was back on his feet very quickly, using his weapon as a whip. Luke dodged the whip and force leaped into the air, flipping over and landing on his feet facing Jamaane.
Luke immediately used a strong Force pull on the Vong leader that sent Jamaane flying toward him. Jamaane readied his weapon back into a long spear so he could stab Luke with it when they collided. However, before the spear could reach its target, Luke Force leaped again and flipped over Jamaane's head.
While upside down in the air over his opponent, whose spear was still thrust out in front of him, Luke slashed with his lightsaber cutting straight through the Vong leader's head, basically splitting it down the middle.
A collective gasp was heard from the crowd as Shimrra Jamaane crumpled to the floor dead. Amazingly, the serpent he used as a weapon died too along with its master; the bond between them severed.
The captain sat there in disbelief that their Supreme Overlord was defeated. However, he was now reassured of the opinion he formed earlier when their ships were destroyed or disabled so easily.
They never should have come to this galaxy.