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Galactic Wizardry
Chapter 11
"Okay … Now tighten that one up. Not too tight, otherwise the fuel won't flow through the valve properly," Aayla instructed her captain as the two of them tuned up his hyperdrive engine. Once the last bolt was tightened, they stood up and wiped the grease off of their hands. "Have you decided what we're going to do first?" the blue Twi-lek asked. Harry nodded.
"First, we're going back to Coruscant so that Shaak can collect some necessities from the Jedi Temple. After that, I think we'll hit up the Dorvalla Mining Company. They're controlled by the Trade Federation and have access to some stuff that we're going to need."
"Where are they located?" Aayla asked, putting up her tools.
"The Outer Rim on the Lipsec Run. It's a bit of a journey from Coruscant, so maybe you can start teaching me how to use this thing during the trip," Harry said, tapping the lightsaber on his hip.
"I'll ask Master Ti to grab some training sabers and a training remote," she said, stretching her back. It was sore from being hunched over an engine for the last hour.
"Training remote?" he asked, wondering what that was.
"It's a hovering sphere that zips around and fires low-powered lasers at you. Jedi use them to learn how to feel danger through the Force. I'm not sure if it will be much use to you, but it'll still be good to have one," she explained before she trotted off in search of the older Togruta.
Putting the tools away, he apparated back to the Royal Suite. Seeing Padme, he walked up to her and hugged her.
"You smell like grease!" she said, wrinkling her nose cutely. Harry chuckled.
"I was working on the ship. We're about to leave, love," he told her. Padme nodded and hugged him tightly before giving him a passionate kiss.
"Remember to visit whenever possible," she reminded him. Harry nodded. "We already said our goodbyes to Aayla."
Harry then turned to the other human female in the room. She too got a hug and a kiss. After promising to keep them in the loop, he disappeared and went back to his ship. His R2 unit had just finished running diagnostics on his handiwork when his two shipmates walked up the ramp.
"Ready?" he called out as they put their bags in their rooms.
"Ready!" Aayla called back. Harry smiled and fired up the ship. He loved hearing the powerful hum of the engines. As he lifted off, Aayla hopped into her seat and began calculating the route back to Coruscant. When they exited the planet's atmosphere, Aayla had the route set into the navigation computer. Pushing forward on the throttle, the small pinpricks of starlight stretched until they disappeared into a swirling vortex of light.
Galactic Wizardry
When they exited hyperspace, Shaak Ti replaced Aayla in the co-pilot's seat. She was able to quickly use her Jedi credentials and get them a prime landing spot close to the Temple.
"How much time do you need?" he asked Shaak.
"No more than an hour. That should give me plenty of time to talk to Yoda and Mace and then collect my things."
"We'll be here in an hour then. C'mon, Aayla. Let's go get a drink," he smiled and stood up as the ramp lowered. He made sure the ship was being refueled as Shaak slipped away. Soon after, the pair had mounted their speeder bikes and flew off to a lower level. Harry loved riding his speeder. It reminded him so much of his old brooms back on Earth. He smiled as the wind whipped over his face and tousled his already messy hair. Seeing the bar that he was looking for, he motioned to Aayla. The two pulled out of the speeder lane and parked on a nearby walkway. Placing temporary wards around their bikes, he straightened his brown leather jacket and tried to fix his hair.
"What are we doing here?" she wondered, looking at the bright, neon exterior of one of the tens of thousands of bars on the city-planet.
"We're here to see someone," Harry replied and walked into the bar with Aayla in tow. Upon entering, he found the bar thick with smoke and the smells of dozens of different species, all in a different state of cleanliness. The loud bar music was thumping, and he could feel the rattle of the heavy bass throughout his body. Going to the area that he was told about, he walked to the back corner and found the being that he was looking for. Sitting with a very sexy, human female wrapped around his arm, was a seven-foot-tall Wookiee named Tekkchula. Seeing him arrive, the Wookiee began barking out his greeting. Harry greeted him back and introduced Aayla.
Without any more niceties shared, Harry reached into the inside of his jacket and stuffed his hand into his expanded pocket. Pulling out a sack of coins, he tossed the bag of Peggats on the table. Immediately, the female pulled out a scale and dumped the coins onto it. Grabbing several, she used a molecular scanner on them before nodding in satisfaction. Tekkchula growled and howled out something else as Harry wrote it down. He then tossed a datacard onto the table. Harry snatched it up and placed it into his inner jacket pocket. Once they were done, Harry nodded and pulled Aayla to her feet. The two left without saying a word.
"Would you mind telling me what that was about?" she asked as they got onto their bikes.
"Someone I know got me in contact with Tekkchula. He knows where I can find a small army of construction droids and equipment that isn't guarded too carefully. And now I know as well," Harry said happily, patting his jacket pocket.
"I didn't even know that you learned Shyriiwook," she said, wondering when he learned the language of the Wookiees.
"I didn't," Harry said, pointing to his ear. Aayla looked closer and saw a small bud in there.
"Translator?"
Harry nodded and fired up his bike. Aayla followed his lead, and they flew back to the ship to wait for Shaak Ti to return.
Galactic Wizardry
When Shaak had returned, she brought with her a droid that carried a big trunk that held the things that she would need for her upcoming adventure. The droid wheeled the trunk into the Crew Quarters where she would be staying. Once the little lifter droid had departed, Shaak Ti used her Jedi credentials to quickly get them into the air. Breaking out of the atmosphere, they flew a bit further out so as to not congest low-orbit.
Both girls were in the cockpit with him. Aayla was in her usual seat, and Shaak was standing right behind her.
"Are we going straight to Dorvalla?" Aayla asked, checking the star-charts. Harry was looking at the paper with the directions written on them.
"Don't know yet. Let me see," he told her before pulling the datacard out of his pocket. Sliding it into the console, a hologram appeared from the projector. Harry whistled at what he saw. Scrolling through the photographs taken, he could see that he was right by calling it a small army.
"There must be twenty-thousand droids," Shaak said with some surprise. "What are they building and where is this?" she asked, turning to him.
"This is a dead moon circling a gas giant not far from the planet Kalee," he told them, still flipping through the pictures. "It's in a solar system that was previously unknown to anyone but the mining company."
"That's why you wrote the directions down? Because it's not on any star-charts?" Aayla asked.
"Yeah. I'm not sure how Tekkchula learned about it. The mining company isn't exactly following galactic laws. They're supposed to announce any newly discovered planets so that it can be determined if mining in the solar system will harm any existing lifeforms. They didn't do that. This operation is completely illegal," Harry said, smiling wickedly. Aayla snorted.
"I can see that you're planning on taking the law into your own hands," she smirked.
"I'm nothing if not a law-abiding citizen," Harry smiled. He then turned to Shaak. "To answer your other question, the droids are building factories, storage sheds, modules for housing, so on and so on. The operation isn't completely up and running yet."
"That's a lot of equipment for just a moon," Shaak said.
"Large corporations are greedy. They'll likely dismantle the entire solar system before they are done. Maybe we can slow them down and put their equipment to good use," Harry said, punching in the coordinates into his nav-computer. "I think we'll handle this first," he told them as he calculated the route. "We'll discuss the plan along the way." Both girls nodded in consent.
Once they had entered hyperspace, Aayla smacked him on the leg. "Let's start your training! Master Ti has already agreed to help me continue my own."
"Sure," he said happily, eager to learn how to use his lightsaber. "Let's go!"
All three moved from the Bridge down to the Training Room which was next to the Secondary Engine Room. Shaak Ti brought with her a bag of goodies that she dumped onto a table. Harry saw multiple lightsaber hilts along with multiple metal spheres. Aayla grabbed two of the hilts and tossed one to him. She then motioned for him to meet her in the center of the room.
"These are training blades," she said, igniting her green blade. When struck, you'll feel a noticeable electric shock. It doesn't feel pleasant, so try not to get hit," she said, smirking.
"I'm sure you'll take it easy on me," he said, igniting his own. His blade was also green. Aayla explained and showed him the many different forms of lightsaber combat. When Harry said that he learned best by doing and not talking, Aayla happily decided to teach him.
"OWW!" Harry yelped, shaking his hand.
"I told you not to leave your hand sticking out there like you're a bum begging for change. Keep the blade closer to your body so you'll have more room to react," Aayla told him while Shaak looked on and instructed them both when necessary.
Aayla swung down and Harry blocked her blade only for her to immediately swing from the side. Not being used to using a lightsaber, he was slow at blocking that swing. Once he blocked it from the side, he couldn't block her blade as it came straight for his chest. Hitting him right in the middle of the chest, he winced as her blade flared. She was right, it didn't feel good getting hit by it. Harry took a few steps back and reassessed the situation. Before he could even think, she lunged again. After an hour, Harry was sweating and breathing heavily as he blocked strike after strike from her blade.
"That's enough for right now. He's still a beginner," Shaak Ti cut in, and both turned off their blades.
"When I get the chance, I'm going to hit you right in the butt with it," Harry grumbled as he shook his hand while trying to get some feeling back in it. Aayla laughed. Shaak smiled at them.
"It's better to start by learning how to defend. You can't go on the offensive if you have a lightsaber blade sticking out of your chest," she wisely told them. Harry nodded and got them bottles of cold water from the mini-fridge in the room. Harry sat down and let the two women spar. They were both obviously way better than him. He watched in awe as they battled for over an hour. It was clear that Shaak Ti was taking it easy on Aayla. The red Togruta outmatched her in every capacity, which wasn't surprising considering that she was a Jedi Master. Soon after, they called it quits for the time being. All three took showers to clean the sweat from their bodies before Harry cooked them up a hot meal.
Galactic Wizardry
Harry dropped them from hyperspace a respectful distance from the moon. Slowly they crept closer, keeping a close eye on what they were seeing. Harry had used his powers, to Shaak Ti's amazement, to expand Aayla's seat. Now both girls could fit on it with a bit of a tight squeeze.
"It seems that your friend's intel was correct," Shaak said as she looked at the large droid transport ship. "If we want those droids and the equipment, we're going to need to take the ship first."
"I know. Thankfully, this should make it easier," Harry said, holding up the datacard that the Wookiee had given him. "Custom codes from a very talented Slicer. Install these into the ship's command console and we'll be golden," he said, handing it to her. "Be as sneaky as possible while I create a scene. That should draw in any security droids that the ship has."
They nodded. "But how are we going to get on?" Aayla wondered.
"We'll land and sneak aboard one of the transportation pods that are going back and forth," he said, pointing to the line of small ships traveling to and from the desolate moon. With their plan made, Harry landed the ship not too far from the pod's landing zone. Once he powered down, the three got up.
"Will this moon support life?" Shaak suddenly asked. Harry nodded.
"It still has an atmosphere with plenty of oxygen. The oxygen percentage is at a higher level than we're used to, so you might feel dizzy when we first get off," he warned them. Lowering the ramp, they were immediately hit with the chilly air of the moon. Like he said, all three were a bit lightheaded when they first began taking lungfuls of the oxygen-rich air. After a few minutes, they were able to stabilize themselves.
Tapping each of them and himself on the head, they felt the sensation of a cold, goopy egg dripping down their bodies. Looking down at herself, Shaak yelped when she saw that she was now invisible. "No talking," came Harry's voice. "Hold hands and follow me."
Harry took Aayla's hand while she took Shaak Ti's. Slowly they made their way to the LZ and were happy to see that the pods were automated. An autopilot flew them down where droids unloaded the equipment before returning to the Command Ship. When one was finally emptied, all three jumped aboard before the door closed behind them. He made them visible once they took off.
"First part was easy enough," Harry said. "Do you girls need to be invisible for the next part, or can you handle it?"
"We should be able to handle it ourselves. Thank you though," Shaak said. Shaak and Aayla continued to talk over their part of the plan until the Command Ship opened its bay doors. Knowing that the ship wasn't going to land and let them out, Harry used his magic to apparate them onto the hanger floor. Again, there wasn't a living soul to be seen. There weren't even all that many droids walking around, just a few for maintenance.
"Alright Ladies, be careful and call when you've completed your mission," he told them before parting ways. Once he was sure that they were well on their way, he became a bit more brazen by skipping down an empty corridor while belting out a few bars of an old rock and roll song from Earth. He was a bit miffed that no one seemed to care. As he passed by doors, he would bang on them and keep walking. Still, no one cared. Growling to himself, he ignited his lightsaber and started swinging it haphazardly. A door was cut in two and a long trail of molten metal was dripping from a wall before something big rolled in.
What appeared to be a big metal ball stopped about a hundred feet away before it opened up. Three crab-like legs sprouted out of the bottom along with a long arm with a big blaster at the tip. A luminescent blue shield activated as it pointed its blaster at him. Soon, two more normal security droids stepped up behind the Droideka.
"You are under arrest for trespassing and destruction of private property, human! Stand down and prepare to be taken into custody," came the robotic voice from the goofy-looking humanoid droid that was holding a blaster rifle in its hands. Harry turned off his lightsaber and put it away. He smirked and raised his hands. As his hands raised, so too did the two goofy-looking droids. They cried out in surprise as they rapidly rose and slammed into the metal ceiling of the corridor. Sparks flew out of their mangled heads as they dropped to the ground. The Droideka was just about to fire when it was hit with a massive Banishing Charm. The big droid flew back another hundred feet while slamming into the walls and floor. Harry laughed and turned. As he ran down the hall, a blaster shot flew past his head.
Looking over his shoulder, he could see the droid curl back up into a ball and begin rolling after him. Putting on the speed, Harry ran even faster. Turning the corner, he quickly pressed his back to the wall and waited patiently with his lightsaber in hand. Listening carefully, he waited for the perfect time. Just as the droid turned the corner, Harry ignited the blade and sliced right through it. Two pieces slid further down the corridor, the sliced bits glowing white with heat. Looking back around the corner, he saw what must have been two dozen droids running after him. He put his lightsaber up before continuing to run down the hall.
He could hear the metal clanking of robotic feet catching up before he slipped into an open room to make himself invisible. His hope of catching his breath proved faulty as a large, thick metal door slammed shut. Harry began pressing some buttons on the door control unit, but the door remained shut.
"We've got you now, criminal!" Harry heard the droids say right outside the door. Harry frowned while taking a moment to catch his breath. Once his breathing was under control, he ignited his blade and jammed it into the control unit. Sparks and smoke shot out, making him cough. The lights in the room turned off, and he was left in the darkness.
"I was sure that was going to work!" Harry choked as he wafted the smoke away from his face. Holding out his hand, a small ball of light appeared in his palm. Tossing the ball at the wall, the light stuck to it and illuminated the entire room. The control unit looked like a burnt mess. Shaking his head, he thought about it for a minute before going to the far end of the wall. Making himself invisible, he Transfigured a portion of the wall into paper and quietly sliced it open. Squirming out of the room, he looked down the hall and saw the entire troop of droids standing there with their weapons drawn while another droid tried to hotwire the door open.
Galactic Wizardry
The two Jedi silently crept down the corridor, slipping into rooms whenever the Force urged them to. In truth, like Harry, they found their mission quite easy due to the lack of droid oversight. As they took a turn down the corridor, the Force strongly urged them to duck out of sight. Moving into an empty room, they peeked out of the small window only to see a Droideka roll past. They waited until every security droid in the ship ran past their hideaway. Aayla chuckled quietly.
"He's very good at annoying living beings. It's no surprise that he would be the same with droids," she told Shaak Ti, who chuckled herself. Now that the Force was urging them to carry on, they slipped out of the room and made their way to the Bridge. As they entered, the few security droids that were left raised their rifles only for two lightsabers to quickly make scrap out of them. As the smoking hulks fell, Shaak walked around them and jammed the datacard into the droid's mainframe. Specialized code immediately began running and within minutes, the small army of droids was completely in Harry's command.
On the other side of the ship, Harry was just about to hit them with some very intense fire magic when his communicator crackled to life.
"Harry! Mission complete. We're in control now," Aayla told him.
"Understood," he replied. "Let's just see …"
"Go back to your posts!" Harry ordered. The two dozen droids turned to him and snapped to attention.
"Yes, sir!" the command droid stated before they turned and marched away. Harry smiled happily. The first part of their mission was a success.