Chapter 3: The World of War

When Ron, Neville and Hermione found them in the mess hall an hour later, Harry and Luna were paying rapt attention to a phrase that Chewbacca was saying. Harry frowned with thought, trying to decipher it. "You left…the blaster…upstairs?" he tried hopefully, but Han's smirk told him he was wrong.

"You turned the engines around," Luna said confidently.

Han shook his head. "Close. He said 'you turned the engines off'. He also called the person who did a…" He trailed off as he looked at the two of them. "Let's just say an idiot." Solo gazed over to the three who were looking on. "Join in; we'll try teaching you a language yet."

For the next couple of days, that was how they passed their free time; they would attempt to understand what the Falcon's first mate was saying and repeat it back in English (or Basic, as it were). Luna was just narrowly the best of them, which seemed to annoy Hermione. Harry, for his part, was only slightly better than Neville, who was having the most troubles understanding the Wookiee. Ron was just below Hermione, and it was only when words or phrases they'd already heard were used again that Hermione seemed to have an edge over Luna. It was fortunate that they didn't have to attempt speaking the language, but even so, two days was hardly enough to fluently understand a different language.

They'd shared their names with Solo and Chewbacca, as well. Solo had given them a look of disbelief, but shrugged and said that their parents must have been unique individuals. Luna found this highly amusing, but the rest of them made no response, wrapped up in their own worries.

Chewbacca seemed to have taken to them a bit more. Due to the differences between human and Wookiee vocal cords (which Harry hoped Hermione was paying attention to, because he promptly forgot what they were), he couldn't actually call them by name. Instead, he'd given them nicknames that they could respond to in case of an emergency. Solo stubbornly refused to translate them, no matter how much they'd asked, saying he "didn't want to spoil Chewie's fun".

Harry's nickname sounded something like arritharr, which was close enough to his real name that it was easy to remember. He actually liked how it sounded, even if he hadn't the slightest clue what it meant.

Not long before they'd reached their first stop, Solo had called them all to the mess hall for a meeting. "Okay," he began, "we're dropping off a couple of crates of vibroaxes at Gamorr. I would've liked to start you on something simple, but I don't have the luxury of giving up a job after starting it. I will say this: do NOT, I repeat, do NOT go anywhere except the ship and the dropoff point. You'll carry the crates off as quickly as you can; Chewie and I will cover you while you do. Once we've got our payment, we're getting back on the ship, dragging up the landing skids, and going right back to space. This job is important; you wanna keep your place on the ship, this is how you earn it."

"What's so bad about this…'Gamorr'?" asked Ron curiously.

Solo smiled, but it was a humorless thing. "It's a place that has war like a star has heat. The planet's been having battles all over it as long as anyone can remember. Not exactly a safe vacation spot."

"And we're going there."

"Gotta earn credits somehow," he said, shrugging. "Anyway, that's the main thing. The other thing is a bit more personal." He looked around at them. "Now, I've tried to give you your space, and I'm not the kind to pry. Nothing against you, but if you've got trouble following you I'd like to know about it now."

Harry shook his head. Apart from Rookwood, they didn't have anyone that really knew about them, and he was still back on that desert planet, probably in prison.

"It's not going to be a problem here, but do you have identicards on you?"

Harry pulled the copy of the one Hermione had made out of his pocket, but the instant that his hand had stopped moving, the card broke into several pieces that dropped onto the deck, with a single one still pinched between his fingers. He looked up at Solo with a level gaze. "…After a fashion."

The man rolled his eyes. "One more thing to the list, then. Forget about it for now; let's focus on getting through the dropoff first. I'll get ready to drop out of hyperspace; when we start making our approach, I want you standing by in the forward hold. C'mon, Chewie."

"Can I come too?" Harry asked the pilot. He was curious to see the ship exit from 'hyperspace', as well as the planet they would be landing on.

He looked at Harry for a moment. "…Sure, why not? But once we get planetside, I want you waiting in the hold too." The three of them made their way to the cockpit, taking their seats and strapping in. Harry only had a moment to enjoy the swirling view of hyperspace before Solo said "Dropping out now," and he pushed a lever forward. The vortex became a canvas of lines, which shortened into dots as the space before them seemed to become real once more.

The planet before them was a vibrant, almost glowing green, with splotches of dark tan smeared here and there over its surface. It looked much like a marble hanging innocently in the darkness of space.

"Don't let the look fool ya, kid," Solo warned as they approached Gamorr. "Once we break atmosphere we're considered fair game until we leave again. There's someone scheduled to meet us at the landing field of Jugsmuk Station, which works fine for me; I'd rather not have to make the trip to a fortress and leave this ship out in the open."

At the word "fortress", Harry felt a pang of worry hit him. It had been almost surreal to hear Solo talk casually about the planet being in perpetual conflict, and so he hadn't really taken it very seriously. But if there really were fortresses…

As the planet began to grow outside the windows, Han turned to look at him. "We won't have to worry about communications, so you might as well head to the forward hold. You know where it's at, right?"

"Yeah; head to the mess and go right."

"You got it." He turned back to focus on his piloting, and Harry, knowing a dismissal when he saw one, left to join the others. He barely had time to open the doors to the forward hold when he was assaulted by a rush of conversation.

"A crate of axes! I mean, really-" "Crates, plural; how are we going to-" "Forget the crates, what about going into a warzone?!"

Ron and Hermione were talking in somewhat stressed tones. Luna was examining a set of crates that, Harry presumed, held the axes they'd been told about. Neville, to Harry's surprise, was sitting on a crate with his eyes half-closed and his arms folded, saying nothing.

"Are we nearly there?" Hermione asked, turning to Harry. "How far is it? What's going on?"

"He says we'll be landing in a field," Harry said. "But there should be someone there waiting for us."

"Someone?" said Hermione, frowning. "Not a group?" Harry shrugged. "Is it a flat or hilly field? Is the person going to collect from us or escort us?"

"I don't know," said Harry, growing a bit irritated. "He just said that we're landing in a field and someone's meeting us! I wasn't expecting-"

"Enough." They all stopped, turning to Neville in surprise. He had a determined look on his face. Harry felt as if he'd seen that look before. With a start, he realized where he'd seen it; during the meetings of Dumbledore's army, when Neville was intent on mastering the newest spell Harry had introduced to them.

"What is it, Neville?" asked Ron.

"Whatever the circumstances, we need a plan, and now. We have to convince Han that we're worth keeping around."

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, and then back at Neville. "Fair point, that," Ron said, looking impressed, "So, do you have any ideas?"

"Well, no," admitted Neville, "but the place we're going to sounds so dangerous."

"At least that probably makes this stop worth a lot of money," Hermione pointed out. "And without any of these 'credits' of our own, we need to find some way to get room and board."

"Okay, okay," Ron said, holding his hands up in surrender. He clearly looked unhappy, but let the matter drop.

"Did he say who might be on this planet?" asked Luna. Harry shook his head. "Perhaps we might see some interesting creatures, then."

Given the "interesting creatures" they'd already seen, Harry hoped they would continue to be more docile; he wasn't in any hurry to see the kind of creatures that Hagrid would have called "interesting". "Well, if we're going to plan, then let's do it quick. We'll be landing soon."

A few minutes later, just after they'd come up with a tentative strategy, they felt the ship come to a stop, settling on what felt to be a solid surface. Soon after, Solo and Chewbacca joined them in the hold. "Okay, I can see our contact; he's about thirty meters from the ship. You think you can get these crates off quick?"

The other four all looked to Harry, who nodded. "If you don't mind, we'd like to suggest how we unload them," said Harry.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Really? And how would that be?"

Solo and Chewbacca strode forward down the freight ramp; the former with his hand on his holstered blaster, the latter holding his crossbow loosely in his hands. Mere feet behind them were Harry and Ron, lugging one of the crates.

"These things sure are heavy," Harry commented, his voice slightly strained from the effort of carrying the long crate.

"Yeah, well, twenty vibroaxes aren't exactly light," Solo muttered without turning his head. "Just stay calm and let me do the talking."

"You're the boss," said Ron through pursed lips. He seemed to be having a slightly easier time than Harry with his longer arms, but sweat was forming on his brow all the same.

They were approaching two creatures that, from a distance, Harry had assumed were humans with unusually shaped heads. Close to, however, he saw that they looked much like creatures in the cantina back on the desert planet. They each had blue skin, and two prominent red eyes. He felt Ron's steps falter slightly. "Don't stare," Harry whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

"Sorry," he whispered back.

"Traveler Rana!" Solo said in a friendly voice. "How are you? I see you've got Traveler Rala with you, as usual."

"Solo," the one in front grunted. "You brought the weapons?"

"You know it. Five crates of vibroaxes, just like Jabba promised. You've got his payment, right?"

"We've got what we owe." The blue man was glowering at Solo; Harry was starting to get a funny feeling that things weren't in quite as much control as Solo wanted to pretend.

Harry and Ron set the crate down, making their way back to the ship. As they did, they held their hands at their sides, ready to draw their wands in an instant should they need to. Heading towards them were Hermione and Neville, carrying the second of the crates. "Let's hurry," Ron muttered as they passed. "I don't like this."

They had reached the ship at roughly the same time that Neville and Hermione had moved to drop the crate off. They passed Luna, who was holding her wand out and keeping a watchful eye on the area around the ship.

This had been the plan they hit upon: Luna would keep them covered from the ship while Chewbacca did the same at the dropoff point, leaving Han to do the negotiations. Whoever finished setting the crate down would keep watch on the way back to the ship, protecting the two who were just getting their crate.

"You're right," Hermione said to them as Ron and Harry carried the third crate out. "I don't like this either."

Harry could see why she'd said that; when they dropped their crate off, there were eight additional beings of the same species as the first two gathered around. Some were loading the crates onto a small wheel-less truck hovering just off the ground, but a few were standing just behind the first two. They were all staring with hard expressions at Solo, who was still talking casually. "Of course I can talk to him for you; I just need a little bit of time, is all," he was saying.

Ron and Harry shared the briefest of looks; once they set their crate down, they walked briskly back to the ship. "Should we fight?" Neville whispered while passing them.

"Just stick close once you've dropped your crate off," Harry whispered back.

"Trouble?" asked Luna as they got back to the ship.

"Well, we hope-" Harry began.

"Yes," said Ron promptly, and Harry gave up pretending to the contrary.

"Should I come with?" she asked.

"No; we need you to keep a clear path back to the ship," Ron responded as he and Harry picked up the last crate.

They drew closer to the dropoff point, and already Harry could tell that Solo was getting flustered. "I don't have those kinds of resources," he said, clearly trying to hold himself back. "All I've got are the goods that Jabba wants me to haul."

"And he expects us to hire him mercenaries by the dozen with these?" snapped one of the other blue-skinned humanoids. "To buy their services with a handful of weapons? We can barely survive with warriors marching back and forth every other day!"

"Then hang onto those," he pointed to the truck full of crates, which Harry and Ron set their last crate onto. "I'll go back to Jabba, tell him your situation, and get him to send you more supplies. But for now, I need to take payment back to him."

"Oh, we've got payment for you, all right," another snarled, reaching for her blaster. But the Falcon's crew was faster; Chewbacca roared and leveled his crossbow, and there was a blaster in Solo's hand in the blink of an eye. It was only slightly later that Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville had all drawn their wands as well, with the blue-skinned woman's blaster last.

"C'mon now, Jana, don't make this hard on us all," Solo said, his voice level but unyielding.

She stared at him, and then at the rest of them. Her mouth seemed to slacken in confusion as she saw the wands being pointed. "And am I supposed to be intimidated by sticks?"

Harry was irritated at her tone, but more so that she was pointing her blaster at him in particular. Well, if she wants a demonstration, then fine! "Expelliarmus!" he snapped.

The blaster flew out of her hand, and soared through the air before dropping down toward Harry. He caught it, pointing it back at her. "Yes, I'd say you should."

Solo and Chewbacca, being turned away from Harry, weren't staring in shock at him. The humanoid creatures, however, were. "…How…?" one muttered.

"Pay us the agreed amount and we leave," Solo said, seizing on their surprise. "We take Jabba his money, tell him that you're in trouble and send all the supplies you need. But if you start a fight, my crew and I can take you apart, and nobody wins."

Jana seemed to come to her senses. "But that doesn't help us now," she protested.

"What do you need now?" asked Hermione.

"Water!" the alien growled. "Every time those Gamorreans fight each other, they bunker down near the place where we get our water. And this time, they broke our water filtration unit altogether; how is our settlement supposed to get anything safe to drink now?!"

"How much water do you need?"

"Kid…" warned Solo.

"Enough water to support twenty people for a day, assuming we get the filtration unit fixed now," said Jana, frowning in concentration. "If we can't get it fixed in a day, though, we'd need a whole new unit."

"We can get you the water," Hermione said. "And if we get your filtration unit fixed?"

She stared at Hermione. "…Then you'd have our greatest thanks, and we wouldn't need any extra supplies for some time. Are you saying you can…?"

Hermione nodded. "Take those back," she said, motioning to the crates, "and bring us as many water containers as you need to. Once you do, we'll send someone to fix the machine."

Solo turned to look at her questioningly, but turned back to face the group when she didn't respond. "So if we can do all that, do we have a deal?"

Rana frowned for a moment, but finally nodded. "Very well." He nodded to the driver of the hovering truck, and they drove off in the direction of a group of buildings some distance away.

Harry strode forward, handing the odd pistol back to Jana. She stared at him apprehensively, but took it all the same, holstering it without taking her eyes off of his.

"Good," said Solo. "Mind giving me some time to talk to my crew? Just so we can divert water from the right spots." The leader of the blue people nodded, and Solo led Harry and his friends about halfway back to the ship before rounding on Hermione. "What the hell are you doing?!" he hissed at her. "I don't have enough water to hold twenty people over for a day! Barely have enough to recycle for the seven of us!"

"You won't have to worry about that," she said. "We're…ah…" She looked to Ron for support.

"We're good at finding water," he supplied. "…On planets."

The man looked at them, disbelieving. "Oh, really? And just how does that work?"

"It helped us survive in the desert back on…" Neville said, trailing off for a few moments. "Well, before you found us."

"Still doesn't really answer my question."

"Family secret," Hermione said, not quite meeting the man's eye. "And if it works, what does it matter how we can do it if we don't harm anyone or anything in the process?"

He stared at her for several moments. "You really think you can do this?" he finally said.

"I know I can."

He threw his hands up in exasperation. "Sure, why not? If it'll get us outta here that much faster, fine. Do what you want."

"Thank you," said Hermione, smiling at him.

"Don't thank me; I'm not doing this for you. I just don't wanna mess up my schedule."

It wasn't long before the hovering truck had returned, with seven large canisters in the back that looked like small lidded cannons. The group of blue individuals unloaded them, setting them down in front of the truck expectantly.

"We found an underground reservoir near our ship," said Hermione knowledgeably. "Wait here; we'll take care of things."

"Why don't we send someone with you?" one of them asked suspiciously.

"Family trade secret," she replied testily. "If you see our process, it'll ruin our livelihood." She stared at them, as if daring them to challenge her.

Fortunately, none did. "Fine," one said grumpily. "You two," he said, pointing to Solo and Chewbacca. "You wait here. Just to make sure our deal is honored."

Solo didn't look happy about that in the slightest, but shrugged and stood his ground. He nodded to Harry and his friends, and they trudged towards the ship, carrying the containers with them.

"Maybe we should help you cast the charm," suggested Harry as they stopped just under the landing gear. That nagging feeling was back once more; he felt like making her do all the spell work would be a bad idea.

"Thanks, but I'll need you to form a wall around me," she said, opening one of the lids of the containers and looking inside. "It's not too different from a thermos in there." Hermione looked back up at them. "All right, it's time."

They obliged, but Harry's suspicions made him pay close attention to Hermione. She cast the Water-Making Charm into the first canister; to all their relief, there was a jet of water that burst from her wandtip, filling it up in no time.

"These are going to be a lot heavier to take back," Ron pointed out as Hermione sealed the full canister and handed it to him. "Probably have to go two people to each, just like the crates."

"Hermione…" said Harry as she opened the second container.

"I know," she said, a bead of sweat running across her brow. "I just had to confirm it. Ron, switch with me after this one."

He did, and she looked quite grateful as she finished with the second canister. She swapped out for his place on the makeshift "wall", looking back at the assembled group. "Funny," she muttered, smiling slightly.

"What's funny?" asked Neville.

"When I was a little girl I had an argument about blue aliens. A boy in my class said they were real, and I said that they couldn't be. We yelled at each other for ages before our teacher separated us. Just thinking…I guess he was right after all."

Neville chuckled. "Guess so. You suppose one of them said the same thing about humans?"

"Oh, Neville, that's just silly," she replied sternly, though the effect was somewhat ruined by her broad grin.

"That's four," Ron said a few minutes later, breathing a little heavier than normal. "Who wants to go next?"

"I suppose I can," offered Neville, switching out with Ron. "What was it again?"

"Aguamenti," Hermione said.

"Right, yes. Aguamenti!" After a few moments getting a proper bearing on how to fill the containers, Neville managed to get the rest of the containers filled to the top. With all of them sealed, Luna swapped with Neville to help carry them back. He gave a grateful nod, and Harry could tell he was struggling to keep his breathing level as he kept watch at the ship.

I knew it, Harry thought to himself. There's something strange going on with our magic. I was hoping it was just the desert planet, but looks like it's here, too.

They returned the containers to the gathered group, setting them one by one in the back of the truck. "Seven containers of fresh water," Hermione said, wiping sweat from her brow. "It wasn't easy, but we managed."

The gathered group looked at her disbelievingly. One of them withdrew a small device from a pocket, opening a container back up and passing the device over it. The object beeped, and the individual gaped at it in surprise. "It's…definitely fresh water," she said. "But it's not just fresh; I'm not detecting any sort of dirt particles or groundwater contaminants." She stared at Hermione in amazement. "How in the world did you do that?"

"Family secret, like I said," she replied, and Harry was impressed that her tiredness did not seem to impact her stubbornness one bit. "Now, your filtration unit?"

The individual with the device replaced the lid of the water container, reached into the bed of the hovering truck, and pulled up an object that looked almost like a small motor. Wordlessly, she offered it to Hermione.

Harry took it before Hermione could reach for it, and was immediately grateful that he had; it was heavier than it looked, and he could tell she was feeling exhausted already. He set it down carefully. "Did you gather up the broken bits?" he asked the blue-skinned woman.

"Well, yes, but what good will they do you?"

He didn't reply, simply holding out a hand. Shrugging, she dug into her jacket pocket and retrieved a capsule roughly the size of a baseball. "That's every piece we could find." She handed it to Harry, looking somewhat curious. She wasn't the only one; the rest of the aliens were watching Harry with open interest, and even Han and Chewie were looking expectantly at him.

They're all waiting; do we mend this with magic?, he wondered to himself. He opened the capsule; several metal objects were within, some very obviously broken beyond repair. What if they don't like magic, and run us off the planet, or worse? Harry bent down over the machine.

"Um, pardon me," said Luna politely, "but what is that?" She pointed behind the group, and as one, they all turned to look.

Brilliant, Luna! Harry wasted no time; he tapped the machine, whispering "Reparo!" urgently. The objects within the capsule flew back to the machine, and with several metallic plinking sounds they were part of the machine once more. He flipped a switch on the side of it and it chugged to life. "There we go!" said Harry happily, shutting the switch off. "It's all yours now."

As he stood up, however, he saw that all of the rest of the group, including Han, Chewie and his friends, were all looking where Luna had pointed. Something tells me they didn't find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. He looked through a gap between two of the blue people's necks and blinked in surprise.

In the distance, two groups of humanoid creatures looked like they were charging against each other. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but their faces looked tusked; almost piglike. The two groups were swinging weapons at each other in broad arcs, and even so far away, Harry could hear the din of combat.

"Don't run," Jana informed Harry. "They haven't spotted us yet. Just set it in the back of the truck slowly, and we'll go from there."

"We're not 'going' anywhere yet," Solo grumbled, though he was taking care to stay still as well.

"Your payment; very well," Rana hissed. She fumbled in her pockets, drawing a number of what looked like cards and handing them backwards to Solo. "The help is appreciated. But now we need to worry about any of us being alive to enjoy our transaction."

"That's your problem, not mine."

She chuckled softly. "They'll go for your ship first before our hovertruck. A freighter would make a good base for them."

"Over my dead body."

"Don't tempt Lady Luck; she's already dealt us a bad hand today."

Solo didn't have a response for that, save to ready his blaster.

Luna looked between them all, and then at the figures in the distance. "I know a way that might distract them. How far are you from your homes?"

"A short speeder ride," muttered Rala. "Why?"

"Can you all fit in your truck?"

Rana seemed to understand something. "You're not seriously going to-"

"It's the only way. Once they notice you, we'll get their attention."

She looked back at Luna. "…We can't let children give their lives for us."

"No one's dying today," Harry said firmly. "Trust us, will you? Get to safety and worry about us then."

Rana was silent for a time. Finally, she said "I'd shake your hand if I could, but given the circumstances-"

"Good enough. Take care of yourselves."

She nodded. "Okay, everyone; in the truck. Ready…go!" They all raced to the truck, piling into the interior and truck bed. It roared to life and sped off into the distance. Far away, they saw the creatures take notice of the speeding truck. Most of them continued their fight, but a portion broke off and prepared to give chase. "Right, then. Han, Chewie; if you would kindly get the ship ready for takeoff."

"Gladly. Don't take too long; I'm not waiting forever." He and Chewie sped towards the Falcon, and Luna strode forward, pointing her wand at the distant group. "Verdimillious!"

There was a loud bang, and then an explosion of green light bloomed from a point feet away from the group that had been ready to pursue the truck. Harry squinted at the bright light, and he just made out the far away humanoids shaking their heads angrily. A few moments later, Harry saw the green light vanish. As it did, he saw that Luna had gotten their attention all too well. The entire group, combatants and pursuers, were all charging at them now, holding what might have been axes high and roaring with bloodlust…

"Time to go!" Ron said, grabbing Hermione's hand and taking off towards the ship. "Harry, Luna, let's go!"

"Ron, I can run on my own!" snapped Hermione, yanking her hand out of his and struggling to keep pace with his long, lanky strides. "Slow down, would you?"

Harry smirked, and had almost turned to Luna when he heard her cast the spell a second time. "Now we can run," she informed him, slightly out of breath.

"C'mon!" he yelled, taking her by the hand and running for the ship. He felt like the ground was beginning to shake slightly with the thunderous footfalls of the approaching horde. Their roars were becoming clearer, and several gave shouts of triumph…

They raced up the ramp, and no sooner had they done so than it began to rise up. Harry hurled them through the door where Neville was standing guard, and it hissed shut once the three of them had made it through. A quick glance saw Ron and Hermione panting as they stood near the doors into the ship. "Get to the cabin," he said to the others gathered there, releasing Luna. "I'll tell him to go!"

The four of them nodded, all too out of breath to really respond. His robes whipped behind him as his feet clattered on the cargo bay floor, hammering the button to open the door to the main hold. He tore through it, racing down the galley until he skidded to a stop near the open cockpit door. "We're all on, let's go!"

"About time! Strap in, junior, we're takin' off!" Han yelled at him. Harry barely had time to sit in his seat before the ship gave a great upward jolt, and they began to rise through the air. The ship banked, and far below, he could see the green-skinned warriors throwing their axes in the general direction of the ship. The mob seemed to fall on itself, and he just managed to see their battle recommence before they'd flown over, headed up into the clouds.

"Not exactly the best of parting terms, but I'll take it!" Han said. He let out a breath, patting his vest pocket gently. "Looks like you kids are a good luck charm; might have to keep you around a little longer!...But just a little longer."

"Sure," gasped Harry, finally feeling his breath catch up to him. They broke through the atmosphere, and the horizon of Gamorr slowly became curved. Even having just escaped their predicament, Harry couldn't help but be struck by the beauty of it. Wonder if they'd be so eager to kill each other if they saw the planet like this? He blinked, frowning. Where had that come from?

Han chuckled, tapping a few buttons. "No, really, I mean it. Having you around to smooth things over like that was a real help. If you can pull out a few more tricks like that, then maybe-"

At that moment, there was an insistent beeping from Harry's console. "Uh, Han? The light's blinking."

The man looked over to see the light Harry was indicating, cursed, and turned to Chewbacca. "Well, there you go, Chewie. People shooting at us before we leave; everything's back to normal." He started punching a few buttons. "You take over here; angle the deflectors while I charge up the main guns." He hopped out of the pilot's seat, motioning for Harry to get up as well. "You ever used a turret before?"

"What? No!" Harry said in surprise as he stood.

"You're about to."

There was a crackling from where Harry had been sitting, and then a tinny voice came from a small section of the console. "Well, well, what have we here?" said the voice. "A nice little freighter, just for us. What could be on the inside of this present, I wonder?"

Han leaned over the console, thumbing a switch. "Sorry to disappoint, but we're just ferrying ration packs and water canisters. There's nothing worthwhile to take."

"On the contrary, my friend. It's mealtime for us, and we're VERY hungry. But I'm feeling generous; if you let us board you and hand over your provisions and whatever else you might have, we may let you limp along to the next supply depot."

Han scowled, flipping the switch back off. "Damn fools. C'mon!" he said to Harry, running out of the cockpit. Harry followed, and the man skidded to a halt outside the gunwell. "Get strapped in; I'll guide you through it as we go."

He began climbing down the ladder, and Harry only waited a moment after he had disappeared to begin climbing up it. At the top was a cramped, bubble-like room with a suspended chair and an octagonal window. Just outside the window was a large, four-pronged aperture that Harry assumed was some kind of cannon. He sat down in the chair, buckling himself in and looking around for something that might help him. A small headset was dangling off of a hook; he grabbed it and heard Han's voice as he started to put it on. "-n yet?"

"What?" said Harry, adjusting the microphone.

"I said you in yet, kid?"

"I think so."

"Good. We don't have time for a step by step, so just take the controls in front of you." Harry did so, feeling a tension and nervousness beginning to well up within him. "Thumb triggers fire, move it to aim. Don't bother lining up a shot by eyesight; use the targeting computer to center a shot."

"Er…" What do I do this is insane I don't know what I'm doing-

"Just point and click. You'll do fine. And if you don't, it's not like I'll be around to complain."

"Great," muttered Harry, with as much sarcasm as he could muster. He moved the controls to his left, and he yelped as he felt his entire seat lurch to move along with it. Had it not been for the straps holding him in, the sudden movement would have launched him right out of his chair. "Controls are a bit sensitive," he noted dryly.

"Well, you'd better get used to them quick; here they come!" warned Han. Another ship was fast approaching them. It looked oddly graceful; a sleek, torpedo-like body, with podlike structures attached to its left and right by struts. "Nova Courier," he informed Harry. "Be careful; it's got friends. Looks like three Rihkxyrks." Three smaller ships darted out from behind the larger one; these were smaller and more angular. "Shame we don't have any ion cannons; that Courier'd go for a decent amount of credits."

"What are ion cannons?"

"Non-lethal and finicky like you wouldn't believe."

"Do these have a non-lethal setting?"

"Nope. It's us or them."

A beeping sounded from the gun in front of him, and a small panel displayed a screen that featured a number of intersecting squares formed into a grid. The grid doubled and then spaced itself a distance from the other, sandwiching a small circle in the centre between them. Four blips appeared on the screen, and a sort of icy cold came over him. This is it. We live or die here; it's no different than fighting Voldemort. He felt his hands steady and his breath slow. He wasn't calm, by any stretch, but for the first time since strapping in he felt that razor's edge of mortality hovering over him. And just like any other time, he didn't flinch.

Harry clenched the triggers, aiming for the smaller fighters surrounding the large ship. With a powerful thrumming, the cannon spat bursts of red light at the enemies, but they broke away, scattering themselves far from their fellow craft. The larger one drew closer, and Harry saw that bolts of energy were beginning to shoot towards them, too. As if… "Han, can you get the turrets on the other ship?"

"I'll add it to the list!" Han shouted over the din of cannon fire.

Harry smirked for the briefest of moments before returning to the task at hand. If he could knock out the turrets or maybe take out the engines, he could disable them without killing anyone. The problem was that he could feel the power of the cannon he was using was considerable; scoring a non-lethal hit was going to be even more difficult than getting a hit to begin with, and they were fast enough already. Still…if he could…

The view through his porthole rotated, and he realized that Chewie must be doing everything he could to stay evasive. While that did make aiming harder, he wasn't about to whinge at the Wookiee; they were still alive, after all.

There was a flash of light at the very corner of the window, and he felt a shockwave rock the ship slightly. "Hah!" crowed Han. "Got one!"

Harry felt his insides squirm. On the one hand, the odds against them had lessened quite a bit. But on the other, a ship had just been destroyed, killing the pilot aboard. He swallowed. It's us or them…us or them…

He saw one of the smaller ones dart in front of the porthole, and for a split-second, was right inside the circle on the targeting computer. Now! Time seemed to slow down somewhat. He could feel a bead of sweat rolling down his brow…feel the pounding of his heart…all he needed to do was press the triggers. Just click them down and…

…But as the moment began to speed up again, as he felt the ship shake slightly, he still hadn't fired. The ship began to leave the targeting circle, and still he hadn't attacked. He swung to track the vehicle, but it vanished past the edge of the window to space. …Han will have to get that one.

The ship shook once more, and he heard the growling of Chewbacca in his ear. "Better stay awake, kid!" cut in Han's voice. "We're losing deflector shields; those go and bad things start happening!"

Why? Why hadn't he fired? He gritted his teeth, spraying bursts of red light at their attackers. Two skipped off of the larger craft; hopefully it meant that they were losing shields as well. The view outside whizzed by again, and he only glimpsed ships at the very edges of the window, unable to line up a shot at any of them. Come on! You've got to stop them!

The stars rolled over and over, before finally coming to a position where they were dots rather than blurs of lights. It happened again; one of the little, angular crafts flew right into the center of his sights. Now! He didn't fire. Now! He…he couldn't fire…You've GOT to! Gritting his teeth, drawing his breath in as a hiss, he pulled the thumb triggers. However, it was too late; the ship had zoomed out of view again.

He heard another explosion. "That's two; what's wrong, kid, you fall outta your seat?" Han's voice said. It was a little strange, probably from Harry's tenseness; it almost sounded like there was a concerned note hiding somewhere in his teasing tone.

C'mon, focus! I've got to do it! Harry fired wildly at the larger ship; it absorbed the shots, and with a flicker across the back side, he saw one of his shots scorch a line across the top of it. "The big one!" he said into his headset. "Its back end is unprotected!" If I can't, then maybe Han can.

"Got it!"

The larger ship lurched away from his firing arc, and the last small ship began to rake the Falcon with bolts of light. He heard an alarm begin to go off. "What's that?"

"Our rear deflector's down. Just stay sharp and let Chewie worry about that!"

"But the others are-!" Harry was cut off as another blast sizzled right over his porthole. It seemed that the large ship had decided to take Harry's strategy of eliminating the turrets, which meant that he was now being targeted directly. I can't let the back get hit! The others are resting back there! "Don't let them die!"

There was a pause before he heard Han's voice over the headset. "Chewie, fly at them head-on." There was an answering growl of doubt. "I know, just trust me!" The ship swung around, and there was a shake before another alarm began sounding. "Dammit, that's not good…"

Harry didn't have time to turn or ask what he meant; the last little ship screamed overhead, heading towards the large ship. Harry suddenly had an idea. Maybe while it's headed away I can hit the engines! Then, while it's floating off, the big one will have to stop and help, and we can jump away! With that in mind, he concentrated with all his might on his targeting computer. He saw, in slow motion once more, the blip on the screen drift into the center. And…NOW! He pulled the thumb triggers, and saw two rays of energy launch at the fighter. One missed, but the other lanced across the lit portion of the back, where the engine undoubtedly was.

The craft shook, and then careened out of control. It spun in a slow arc towards the large craft, which began to veer away from its damaged compatriot. To Harry's horror, the smaller ship lurched into the path of the bigger one, crashing into the large engines at the back of the craft's belly. His breath caught in his chest. No… There was a moderate explosion, and then a series of smaller explosions rocked the large ship. Debris rained across the larger ship's hull, gouging great holes in its shell. There was a short pause, and then he saw the ship rip apart in a large fireball, flaring outward before seeming to collapse in on itself.

He was dimly aware that the Falcon proceeded onward as his hands fell from the controls. Harry slumped in his chair, feeling completely numb. His heartbeat thumped in his ears, and his breath returned, but his lungs didn't seem to be holding enough air; he had to keep breathing faster and faster.

He thought he heard Han's voice in his ear. "Not bad, kid! That was a hell of a trick shot!" Harry didn't respond. Slowly, he raised his trembling hands to stare at them.

"You hear me, kid? C'mon, respond."

His hands…the hands that had pulled the triggers. The hands that had meant the end of those ships and all the lives aboard.

"Harry!"

Ron came to a halt near the ladder of the turrets. Han climbed out, looking at him. "What's going on?" Ron asked the man. "I heard an alarm…"

"That's the life support. It's been knocked offline."

Ron gulped, looking at the man. "…And that's bad," he said, more to confirm how much danger they were in than to question if there was any danger.

Han gave a wry grin. "That depends on how long you can hold your breath. C'mon. Anyone that's awake better make this a priority!"

"…Just me, then. Wait, where's Harry?"

A look almost like concern passed over his face before it returned to its normal state, and he walked briskly towards the living area. "He's still in the upper turret. Someone'll need to talk to him once we're done here."

"What?! If he's hurt-"

"I'll explain later!" he snapped, yanking up the access panels. "But if we don't get this fixed we're gonna have bigger problems. Grab that!" said Han, pointing to a tray full of objects sitting near the computer station.

Ron rushed over to grab it, and as he returned Han was already crawling into the access pit. "Okay; first I need the power scanner. It's the one with a switch and a screen." He looked into the tray, and to his relief, it was right on top. Screen looked blurry, though; what looked like a blob of grease had hardened on one corner. "Here," said Ron, handing him the scanner.

"Thanks." He took the offered tool and wiggled himself into one of the clusters of pipes. "Now let's see…of course it's not the close one. Knew I should've sprung for the mechanical dianoga at that junk trader's…"

Ron eyed the pipes, a sudden idea dawning in his mind. Wait, if something needs fixing, then… He drew his wand from his sleeve, making sure that Han was turned away. Ron muttered "Reparo", pointing the wand at a square-shaped outline in a section of blackened material. Several bits of metal shot upwards from deeper in the access pit, coalescing to form a circuit panel that fitted itself into the square-shaped outline. There was a thunk, and the warning alarm suddenly shut off. He hurriedly tucked his wand away, trying not to look too suspicious.

Han muttered something, and a moment later he had pulled himself up out of the pit. "Huh. That's weird; I didn't even mess with anything yet." He eyed Ron curiously. "What'd you do?"

"Nothing much." Ron blinked. "Er! I mean…n-nothing."

Han grinned. "You've been holdin' out on me. Well, I'll take the help when it means breathing." He patted Ron on the shoulder. "Congrats, kid. You guys have earned your keep."

"Oh. Well…thanks."

His grin faded, though it stopped before becoming a frown. "Someone's gonna have to talk to Harry. We were under fire earlier and…"

"Is he hurt?!" said Ron immediately, his worry and temper flaring at once.

"No. Well, not physically. Here, I'll come with." The two made their way to the gunwell. Han stopped Ron before he could climb the ladder. "Now before you talk with him, listen. We were being attacked by pirates. If they had boarded us, they would've killed or sold off all of us. I've dealt with them before; I know what they're capable of. Harry saved this ship from being destroyed, but to do it…"

Ron felt a slight chill come over him. "He took them out."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but he's never killed before, has he?"

As far as he knew, no. Although, that business with Quirrell…"No," he said, deciding to simplify things.

Han nodded. "Figured as much. Do what you can for him, and if you can get him out of there, let me know. After that, get some rest; it's been a busy day."

Ron nodded, and watched Han as he left. Hmm…I might need some help for this one. He left, returning a short while later with Hermione. She looked slightly tired, but her expression was full of determination after the situation Ron had described; she climbed the ladder up to the top gun, stopping on the last rung and looking around the space. Harry was sitting in the chair, staring at his hands with wide eyes. She squeezed herself into the cramped area. "Hey, Harry." No response. "Han said we need to get some rest. Mind coming down?"

"You go ahead." Harry's voice was distant, and he barely seemed to notice her.

"Please, Harry. Sitting in here without sleep isn't going to help anyone."

"Can't sleep. Not now."

"Harry…"

"They're dead, Hermione." He turned to face her, and a haunted look was dominating his face. "I…I didn't mean to, and they…they…"

"Harry, you saved our lives," said Hermione firmly. "If you hadn't fought back, we'd all be dead."

"But…"

"Did you try to ask them to stop?" said Hermione, cutting him off.

"Han did," said Harry, still looking haunted.

"And did they?"

"…No."

Hermione sighed. "Then it sounds like you tried to give them a chance, and they didn't take it. That's not your fault." Harry still seemed rooted in place, and Hermione shook her head in frustration. "Ron told me that Han said that they hit something pretty important before you stopped them. Who would have been able to fight them off if you'd just sat there and let them hit us?" She paused, steeling herself before continuing. "If we die, who's supposed to help Ginny?"

Harry gave a jolt in his seat. "She…but she'll be…" He looked at Hermione properly. "…I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Just come down and get some rest, all right?"

Harry nodded, and slowly followed Hermione down the ladder and back into the walkway, where Ron was waiting for them. Standing right outside of the gunwell was Han, holding a glass of water and an already-made ration pack. Harry raised an eyebrow at him.

"I decided to try the fruit, but the smell's too much for me," said Han casually. "Thought you'd want it instead; can't waste too much food on my budget." He handed Harry the food and glass, striding away from the three of them and toward the cockpit.

More to occupy himself than anything, Harry held the glass in the crook of his arm and tried a bite of the ration pack. Compared to the one he'd had before, it wasn't half-bad. Not great, but at least there was a hint of a nice flavor to it.

Ron's stomach rumbled. Hermione looked at him with a scowl on her face. "What?" he said before she could open her mouth. "It smells good!"

"Do you ever think about anything other than food?" she said in exasperation.

"It's almost mealtime, and I'm hungry!"

Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but stopped as she heard a noise from Harry. "Harry? What is it?"

He was laughing. Harry wasn't feeling particularly joyful, but a sense of relief was coming to him, helped along by the food. Seeing Ron and Hermione bicker was, at least, familiar ground. "…It's nothing," he said, smirking to himself and taking another bite of food.

Hermione gave him a searching look, but dropped the matter. She looked around briefly. "So, what do you think is happening with our magic?" she asked in a low voice.

Harry frowned, thinking it over as he chewed. "I reckon there's something different about where we are," he responded quietly. "Maybe it's because we're so far from home?"

Hermione considered this for a few moments. "I wonder why that would be, though? What's so special about our planet and magic?" Harry shrugged.

"Wait, what are we talking about?" asked Ron, at the same volume as the other two. "What's going on with our magic?"

"You must have noticed; every time we use a spell, it seems to make us a little more exhausted. Surely you realized by now?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.

"I thought it was just the weird air."

"That's-" She blinked. "…That's a good point, actually. The air on these alien worlds might be slightly different than what we're used to."

"I think it is," Harry said distantly. "Back on that desert planet, I felt…well, it was a sort of…" He trailed off, looking at his ration pack. What was it he'd felt, really? He'd initially thought it felt like a pull, as if something was directing him somewhere. But that wasn't it entirely. It had also been…a sort of calling. As if something had reached out, and a part of him had reached back…But had that actually been what happened? Or was he only wishing it were so? Or perhaps, with the desert heat, it had merely been in his own head.

"Harry?"

He shook himself out of his reverie. "…Nothing. Maybe I imagined it." He took a large gulp of water, draining the glass in a single go. Taking his last bite of food, he crumpled up the now-empty bag, his voice returning to normal volume. "I think I do need a lie-down after all. I'll pitch this wrapper and then come back to the room. Erm…where does it go, again?"

"Here, we'll go with you," said Hermione, leading them back in the direction of the cargo hold with the cushions and table.

As the three left the gunwell area, their echoing footsteps fading away, Han appeared from behind the corner, looking in the direction they'd left. His face was inscrutable as he headed to the cockpit.

The smuggler stepped into the Falcon's cockpit, nodding to his co-pilot. "Nice flyin', Chewie. Pulled us outta the fire again."

(("After the other twenty, I'm used to it."))

Han smirked, but it fled almost immediately. He pressed a switch on the door, closing and locking it behind him before sitting in the pilot's chair. "Harry was the one that pulled off that shot on the Rihkxyrk. First time he killed, apparently."

Chewbacca turned to look at him. (("How is he?")) It wasn't very obvious with all the hair, but the Wookiee had a look of concern on his face.

"He'll be fine. He's with the other kids now." He flipped a few switches, then checked the readout to his left. He nodded, then looked over to Chewie, who was still staring at him. "…What?" His co-pilot didn't respond, merely continuing to stare at him. "He'll be fine." He shifted slightly under the continued stare. "You heard back from our contact yet?"

His first mate nodded. (("None of them are on the Tattooine planetary board. And we'd know if Jabba put a price on them."))

Han frowned. "Hm. So they don't have any local bounties on them, then."

(("You can't seriously think they're on the run from someone in the sector; they look like they stumbled right off a moisture farm."))

"I don't know," he said, sighing. "But those little sticks of theirs can manipulate all sorts of metal. You saw them disarm that Duros, and I caught Ron tucking one of those sticks away right after the life support system somehow started working again. That kind of tech, disguised as a stick? That's not cheap. And it's not even counting whatever trick they pulled to drag up all that water."

(("Think they can use the Force?"))

Han snorted. "Not those old war stories again…"

(("Be as stubborn as you want, I know what I saw. Maybe they were raised by a Jedi."))

"Raised by one of the people the Empire hates most? That'd do wonders for us keeping a low profile." He flipped a few more switches, sighing. "I don't know about that, but there is something weird about them. They were muttering about magic earlier; probably code for something." He rolled his eyes at Chewbacca's pointed look. "Not that. But it could be slang for some kind of scheme."

Chewie gave him a sideways glance. (("You going to kick them off?"))

"Wouldn't want to get rid of the new help so soon after you've gotten attached," he teased. A beep came back from his console, and he nodded as he made a few final adjustments. "But tell our friend to widen the search. Don't mention this 'Earth', just see if someone outside the system is looking for our passengers. 'Til then…might as well get some use outta them."

He pushed a lever forward slowly, and the stars around them began to lengthen as they zoomed into hyperspace once more.

CHAPTER END

I apologize beforehand if the formatting for Chewie's dialogue fails; as much as I love this site, it doesn't seem to like certain symbols very much. But anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, please let me know what you thought!

P.S. Almost 10,000 words to this chapter! Last time that happened, it was an MST3K-inspired chapter of a different story. Perhaps next time I can meet that goal...