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Galactic Wizardry
Chapter 17
As the cargo ramp lowered, the three of them set out on their two speeder bikes. They took off over the surface of the water and explored the area right above the crater.
"We really need to pick up another!" Harry called out as they flew side by side.
"Definitely!" Shaak called back as she held onto Aayla who was piloting the bike.
"After this, we'll go back to Naboo and restock. You can choose a speeder while we're there," he told her just as a massive tentacle burst from the water. Harry went right while Aayla went left to avoid the thing. He looked back just as the tentacle hit the water, shooting up a huge spray of water. "Big beast," he not so helpfully said.
"There's probably a lot of nasty things in these waters," Aayla chimed in.
"Let's stay out of it if possible," Harry told them. They made a few lazy circles over the area before rising into the air a few hundred feet. Hovering, Harry looked at Shaak.
"Got any ideas?"
"What we're here for is at the bottom of the crater. We just need to figure out how to get it," she replied. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Well that makes things crystal clear," he said sarcastically. Using his logic, he continued. "The crater is pretty large, but from the distance and speed in which it hit the planet, it may not be all that big."
Shaak nodded while thinking. Aayla had her eyes closed while communing with the Force. While they were doing their thing, Harry pulled out his mini pad and pressed a few buttons. Only a moment later, a small probe arrived at his side. After pressing a few more buttons, the probe dove into the water. Harry watched the screen of his pad as the little probe dove deeper and deeper. He didn't see Shaak jump from Aayla's bike to his. He jerked in surprise as she landed behind him. Sending her a glare, she smirked as she pressed in closer. Resting her chin on his shoulder, she watched the video feed of the exploring drone. Minute after minute passed of nothing but dark blue water. Harry pressed a button and the probe lit up, brightening up their path. After a few more minutes, a picture of some wreckage finally caught their attention.
At first, there was nothing special. It just appeared to be some twisted metal from the long-since destroyed Star Forge, but eventually, Shaak squeezed his shoulder. "Right there!" she said, pointing to a large, metal cylinder partially hidden in the sand. "That's what we're after!" she told him confidently.
"You sure?" Harry asked, using the pad to make the probe droid zoom in.
"She is. I can feel it in the Force," Aayla joined in, moving her back closer and leaning in to look. "I don't know how we're going to get it though. Look at the depth," she said, pointing to the depth indicator.
"It's down there pretty deep," Harry replied. "But let me try something …"
They watched as he held his hand out and concentrated. They waited for a moment, watching to see if he was doing anything. "The cylinder!" Shaak suddenly exclaimed. Aayla saw the cylinder wiggling out of the sand before shooting up through the water. They waited for a few minutes for it to break the surface. When it did break the surface, it shot out so fast that it slammed into the repulsor coil underneath his bike.
"Oh shiiiiiiii …" Harry cried out as he tumbled down toward the water. With Shaak's skills, she was able to jump from his bike just in time to miss the impact. Landing on Aayla's, they dove after him but were forced to watch as he, the speeder, and the cylinder hit the water hard.
As Harry slammed into the water, it knocked him a bit loopy. Sinking down with his speeder, he saw a large shadow coming near.
On the surface, Shaak called out, "Harry!" as they looked for him to swim to the surface. Aayla suddenly squealed and backed up when the large, tentacled creature returned. The appendage came crashing down, and she was just able to avoid it as it slammed into the water. They watched in horror as it dove down right where Harry had crashed.
Harry also watched in horror as a tentacle lashed out and wrapped around him. He struggled but couldn't break free of its slimy grip. He was pulled nearer and nearer. He saw the shadowy beast open its disgusting maw. In a last-ditch effort, he used his powers to summon his lightsaber into his hand and turned it on. Instantly, the water around the lightsaber flash boiled and burned his arm. Screaming in pain, he thrust the blade forward and stuck it right in the side of its head. A terrifying groan made his head ring as the tentacle became slack enough for him to pull free. Turning off his lightsaber, he put it away as the shadow sunk deeper into the abyss. In serious pain, he wanted to get to the surface as soon as possible. Tossing a Bubble Head Charm on himself, he started swimming for the surface. Looking down in sadness as his bike sank, he saw the cylinder right next to it. Summoning it with a bit more care than before, he grabbed ahold of it and they both rose until he broke the water.
The girls watched as the water lit up with black light just before a loud sound reverberated through their skulls. Soon after, Harry broke the surface holding the cylinder. A bubble around his head disappeared just as they tried to pull him up by his arm. When he yelled in pain, they knew that he had been injured.
"Meet back at the ship," he winced and apparated with the cylinder. Without wasting time, Aayla spun around and flew back to the Chimaera.
Galactic Wizardry
As the girls entered the ship's Medical Bay, they watched as Harry received treatment on his right arm by the medical droid. "What happened? Did the beast bite you?" Aayla asked as she kneeled by his side. Shaak sat next to his other side and looked him over. Harry shook his head.
"I had to use my lightsaber. The water got really hot," he said, clearly in pain. Both girls winced. They were warned during their lightsaber training about using it underwater.
"Severe burns. He will need to wear a Bacta Cast over his arm until this time tomorrow," the medical droid ordered as it secured the cast to his arm. The Bacta Cast was actually an airtight tube that kept Bacta on his arm without it leaking. Without asking, the droid extended an arm and injected him with something.
"Hey!" Harry cried out, holding his upper arm.
"Painkillers," the medical droid explained. Harry sighed when the pain began to dull. Standing up, he moved his arm up and down since he couldn't move it at the elbow.
"Still works … sort of," he muttered.
"Try to stop getting injured, please. Or at least keep them to no more than a dozen every galactic standard year," Shaak shook her head.
"I'll try my best," Harry said, giving them a roguish smile. They rolled their eyes but smiled back nonetheless. "I left the cylinder in the Conference Room on my way here. Let's go see what's so important about it," he told them, walking out of the room with the girls hot on his tail. After entering the Conference Room, they saw the cylinder sitting on the nearest table. Shaak Ti walked up to it and began investigating. She looked it over carefully and even studied it using the Force.
As Harry looked closer, he saw that the cylinder was around the size of a scuba tank back on Earth. The casing was made of a dark metal that was trimmed in red. There were lights and even some buttons that weren't lit up.
"I'm not exactly sure what it is. I can say that it's attuned with the Force, however," she told them as R2-A6 rolled up and began beeping. His connector ejected from its metal body and plugged into the cylinder. They watched as the connectors spun back and forth. Once done, R2 disconnected and began beeping at them.
"Safe to open?" Harry asked. Looking it over, he did indeed see a latch that could be undone. Undoing the latch, he grabbed the top and lifted it up. As it lifted up, they saw three red crystals attached to the underside of the lid. Placing it on the table, Harry said, "They look like Holocrons."
R2 beeped some more. "He says that it's a very large memory core. Data is stored on these crystals. Lots of data. He thinks that it's the 'Brain' of the Star Forge. There are hundreds of schematics for ships, weapons, machinery, and even space stations," Harry translated for the girls. Their eyes went wide. "Now I can see why the Force wanted you to get it." They nodded in agreement. Just then, an alarm began blaring.
"Incoming ship!" Aayla cried out as the girls ran to the open ramp. Looking out, they saw a small ship coming straight toward them. Harry placed the lid back on the memory core and secured it in his vault. The girls were about to close the ramp when the ship began firing. Having no choice, they ignited their lightsabers and started blocking the heavy cannon fire from the ship. Blocking such powerful blasts took a lot out of them, and just when the ship was close, a black blade ignited next to them. With his good arm, Harry chucked his lightsaber right at the ship.
Galactic Wizardry
Feeling his excitement turn to dread, Count Dooku saw lightsabers erupt and block his ship's cannon fire. "Damn Jedi!" he hissed.
This was his first true mission since joining his new Master's side as an apprentice. Once a Jedi Master, Dooku increasingly became jaded with the way that the Order was run. His ideas and objections were ignored until he felt that he had no other choice but to leave.
Joining the Sith gave him the opportunity to make the changes that he felt were needed. However, if he failed his first real test, he may not survive long enough to make those changes. He snarled when he saw Shaak Ti. She was the type to just "ride the wave" as it were. She was always too afraid to do what was best for her or the Order if it meant going against her precious oaths. He was just about to fire again when suddenly, a black blade flew through the air right at him. He was too late to dodge and the blade sliced right into the front window. Sparks and wind rushed at him as the cockpit decompressed. The blade continued to slice through the ship, destroying critical components. Alarms were going off and smoke was choking him. He had to use the Force just to keep from killing himself when he crashed into a nearby island.
The two tired girls watched in awe as his lightsaber destroyed the attacking ship. A fire erupted, and the ship began to bank hard. Harry held out his hand and his hilt flew right back into his palm. Stowing it away, Harry ushered them onto the ship. Breathing heavily, the girls quickly fired up the ship since Harry was currently handicapped.
On a small island near them, Dooku crawled out of the wreckage of his ship. He screamed in pain as he saw a jagged piece of metal sticking out of his thigh. Just then, he saw the ship rise up and turn his way.
"Shit!" he cried out as he lifted up his hood. He definitely didn't want to get identified. Hoping that they weren't going to land, he got his wish. Instead, they returned the favor and began firing their cannons at him. Using the Force, he dove as far as he could into the jungle to avoid getting pelted with cannon blasts. His ship wasn't so fortunate. Any hope of repairing it was squashed when the large ship strafed it as it flew by. Dooku watched as the ship kept going and left the atmosphere. Flopping onto his back, he took a moment to compose himself. Knowing what he had to do didn't make it any easier. He crawled back into the smoldering wreckage and used the communicator to call his Master and tell him the bad news.
Galactic Wizardry
"Hmmm … I see … Yes … We'll discuss it in person … Yes … Goodbye," Palpatine said right before turning off his earpiece. Sitting in front of him with a smug smirk on his face was some no-named bureaucrat who thought that he was more important than he really was.
"It seems that you've received some bad news," he chuckled. "Yes … My King did say that you would kowtow to my every …"
That was all that came from his mouth when the man suddenly felt an intense pressure on his neck. Grabbing the invisible hands that were choking him, his last action was to piss himself when his neck completely imploded. As his floppy neck could no longer support his head, it fell over and hung limply. Palpatine levitated him from the chair and banished him into the wall. The body fell to the floor with a thump.
Darth Sidious tapped his fingers on his desk as he attempted to keep from making a scene. It seemed that his newest apprentice was even more incompetent than his last. He had one simple task. Go to the planet and find the core. He needed that memory core. He couldn't build his Death Star without it. At least not any time soon. Without the memory core, it would take a hundred years of research and development to figure out how to build his deadly behemoth. His apprentice would feel his displeasure when he returned. First, he had his mining equipment stolen, now this. What had he done to deserve this?
For now, he needed to arrange an "accident" for the dead idiot that was lying on his floor. He couldn't have people asking questions just yet.
Galactic Wizardry
After their successful mission, the group traveled back to Naboo. Once back in the Royal Suite, the girls immediately began fussing over Harry and his injured arm. Since he was unable to "have fun", they instead curled up on each side of him and talked long into the night. The next morning, he woke up covered in arms and legs. Apparating out of bed, he smiled and let them sleep in. Meeting up with Shaak who was eating breakfast, he asked where Aayla was.
"She stayed the night with Seela. Padme set her up with a room not far from here," she explained. Harry nodded as he grabbed some diced fruit. They chatted while eating and when finished, Harry suggested that they go and find some speeders. Shaak quickly agreed and went into her room to fetch her brown, Jedi robes. After that, Harry apparated them to his ship which was much closer to the useful shops. The shops closest to the Royal Palace dealt mostly in luxury items that were of little use to him while out and about.
"There's a speeder shop over there," Harry pointed as they walked down the street of an area that harbored most of the vehicle shops in Theed. "They have a decent selection," he told her. She pulled him into the shop, and they began looking around. "Have anything in mind?" he asked. Shaak shrugged.
"Which are you getting?" she asked.
"I'm just getting a replacement. I liked the 74-Z. Fast, nimble, and easy to modify."
She thought about it for a second before agreeing with him. "I'll get one as well. It will be easier if we all use the same equipment."
Harry paid for the two brand new speeders and scheduled them to be delivered to his ship later. It was during their trip that Shaak received a call about meeting up with a fellow Jedi that had just arrived on Naboo. When she left, Harry decided to drop in on Shmi.
When he knocked on her door, it opened almost immediately. "Harry!" she exclaimed happily. "Oh! Are you okay?" she asked, looking at his arm. Harry waved her off.
"It's fine. I hurt it a bit, but it should be as right as rain later on today," he assured her, walking into her place. "How have you been?" he asked.
"Just fine," she told him, fixing them a cup of tea. She knew exactly how he liked it. "Work keeps me busy. In fact, my next shift starts in a couple of hours," she said, looking at the clock.
Harry took a sip of his hot drink and sighed happily. "Well, that's … Hey!"
Shmi dropped down in front of him and worked his pants down. Before he could even protest, he was already in her mouth. "Always great to get a hero's welcome," he smiled and took another sip of his drink.
His reunion with Shmi lasted nearly an hour before he needed to get back to the palace. He had forgotten how much he enjoyed the woman. Before he left, he asked her, "When I have everything set up on Eden, would you like to stay there? We've got some big plans for that planet."
Shmi was very happy to hear that. It seemed that she was quite eager to be near him in the future. He told her that it could still be a few years before it happened, but he'd keep her in the loop.
Arriving back at the palace, he was greeted by two tired and disheveled girls who were drinking this galaxy's equivalent of coffee. He chuckled at their less-than pleased faces.
"What's got your knickers in a twist?" he asked the girls, pouring himself a drink to match theirs.
"We woke up alone," they told him.
"Had to run some errands," he told them, kissing Sabe on the top of her head before moving on to Padme. She wasn't interested in kisses on the head, however. Instead, she grabbed the front of his shirt and kissed him deeply on the lips.
"I'm tired of being away from you!" she complained.
"I know," Harry sighed. "But it's only a few more months until your time as Queen is over. I'll make sure that everything is set up on the ship. The moment your reign ends, we'll be here to take you with us."
"Promise?"
"Cross my heart and hope to get a case of Devaronian Shingles," he smiled.
"Gross!" Sabe pretended to gag as Harry laughed. To make Padme happy, he lifted her up and sat down in her seat, placing her in his lap. While she ate, he kissed her soft neck while running his hand up and down her smooth thigh.
Galactic Wizardry
"So … you can see my predicament," Shaak said while taking a drink of her piping hot tea. She was sitting at a table outside of a small cafe near the landing pad where her friend had parked. Sitting opposite of her, her good friend, Luminara Unduli watched her while sipping on her own selection of beverages. The Mirialan studied her friend carefully. She could see that Shaak Ti was quite worked up about her situation.
"Indeed I can," Luminara told her friend. "And with what I've been told by Yoda and Mace, I'd imagine that your confusion is even worse than normal."
She had recently been let in on the secret that they had been working on. When she found out what was going on, Luminara was completely shocked. Immediately, she knew that they were telling the truth. She remembered the strange anomaly that occurred with the Force not so long ago. When they confessed that her best friend, Shaak Ti, was in the thick of it, she joined their small, ragtag group without hesitation. She trusted Shaak's judgment more than her own.
"When I was told, I stayed up all night thinking about things to come. Now more than ever I think that the Jedi Code, as well as the entire Jedi Order, will change fundamentally in the years to come," she went on, talking more to herself than her friend right now. Shaking her head to snap herself out of her thoughts, she carried on.
"As a Guardian, I've always been a little more passionate than members of the other two branches of the Order, but you've always acted a bit on the conservative side. Your feelings must be strong to even consider it …" she said, looking at Shaak Ti. The red Togruta nodded.
"Yes. I've sought answers through the Force many times … nearly every night in fact. I always get the feeling that I should give in to my wants and needs. But …" she was cut off by Luminara.
"You made an oath?" she asked. Seeing her friend nod, she reached out and took her hand. "You made an oath to the Jedi, not the Code. The Code can and has changed many times over the millennia. It will likely change again in the future. Don't worry about the Code, worry about staying true to your fundamental beliefs. If you want my opinion, I say follow what you feel in the Force and go for it. I also say send him my way when you're done," she smirked while taking a sip of her drink. The other patrons of the cafe witnessed two Jedi females giggling like school girls.