Padme was relieved when Knight Vos stepped forward and declared they would be returning to Naboo. Yoda had simply nodded as he patted Harry's hand and moved off to his cabin.
It had been clear that this 'adventure' had taken a major toil on Harry. He had become quieter than usual.
"We can use the time to let R2 use the Empire's resources to learn more about the next target and to observe what happens with Jabba's territories." She reasoned as she hugged him.
"Why don't Harry and R2 create droids that look like the Emperor?" Rabe asked curiously. "R2 could send them in when all that's needed is the Emperor's presence. Like that one time Padme was ill and Sabe had to attend a meeting in her place."
"A Sith would not be fooled by a droid imposter." Quinlan pointed out.
"Neither would an advanced droid." C-3PO added.
"They wouldn't be there to handle that sort of thing. But it would give the Empire an earlier look into how things are going. Send a droid imposter to Jabba's palace and if it gets blown to pieces… send in the droid army. No lives lost."
"Just the droid itself, Miss Rabe." 3PO said with a hint of distaste.
"She has a point, 3PO." Harry spoke up. "The droid doesn't need to be like you, R2 or Lee. It doesn't need a consciousness. It just needs enough programming to walk like me and respond to outside input."
"Master Harry, I know you mean well, but I think you fail to realise just how much intelligence every machine has. Much of my personal programming is designed to allow me to communicate with what organics consider 'utility machines'. Even The Ghost has an intelligence."
Chewbacca spoke up, 3PO translated for those who couldn't understand.
"Master Chewbacca says that wookies know this on some level. It is why they do not have droids or much machinery. Wookies have been hunted and used as slaves for too long, they won't stoop to the same level."
C-3PO paused as he turned to Harry. "I must confess, the wookies who worked on myself and R2 before the Liberation of Naboo were most kind. They seemed very interested in my thoughts.
"You yourself have treated myself and R2 much the same, Master Harry."
"He treats all droids like that." Padme added. "Just watch him interact with Lee or his droid trainers."
Harry just shrugged. "It seems natural to me. I don't understand how people could think otherwise."
R2 suddenly sounded over the comms.
"Master, Count Dooku is contacting you." C-3PO translated.
"Count Dooku." Harry nodded to the old man as he sat in the pilot's seat.
"Harry, are you currently busy?"
"This second or…?"
"Mace and I have discovered an issue. It is one that no Jedi should have a part in."
"I was just on my way home from Tatooine. Is it urgent?"
"Regrettably, I would say yes." Dooku nodded gravely.
"I'll do what I can." Harry sighed.
"Right was Dooku." Yoda shuddered as Harry informed them of Dooku's request. "Mustafar, a nexus of the Dark Side of the Force. Forbid you all, I do." He glared around the room. "R2, call a droid ship. Go alone with Harry, will I."
"I don't suppose we could just the blow the planet from orbit?" Sirius asked hopefully.
"Dooku needs me to get the plans and all records of who might know about this super weapon." Harry shook his head. "Can R2 come with us? He can hack and we can watch his back." He suggested to his teacher.
"Fine, a droid should be." Yoda mused.
"As loathe as I am to be around the danger you invite, I will come too, Master Harry." C-3PO stepped forward. "You will need me to translate for R2."
"Relax, 3PO." Harry smiled gratefully at him. "My helmet has the translator for him. You stick with Her Majesty in case she could use your services."
"Don't worry C-3PO. You and I can sit in the palace and nervously wither away as we wait to find out if my fiancé is alright." Padme glared at Harry.
"That honestly sounds worse." C-3PO muttered.
It didn't take long for the droid ship that was constantly shadowing The Ghost to meet up and transfer everyone but Harry, Yoda, C-3PO and R2-D2.
The journey to the Outer Rim took four days. It was exceptionally tense as Yoda insisted on extended meditation to prepare himself for the darkness of their destination.
Harry occasionally joined the Grand Master, but more often he practiced with his sword and shield against the practice droids.
When Harry, Yoda and R2 disembarked, Harry was in his full armour. C-3PO had insisted that R2-D2 install his core in Harry's helmet again.
Mustafar was an unusual planet. It was caught between two gas giants, each vying for it to be their own personal moon. The gravitational forces caused massive tectonic events. These led to massive lava lakes and volcanoes.
Despite the clear skies, the air was hot, humid and difficult to breathe.
The trio silently walked towards the installation that had been built. It was initially created as a mining outpost, but Palpatine had used it as a possible fall back.
R2 was easily able to hack their way in. The issue came with the automated turrets.
The trio huddled to the side as the turrets bombarded their position. They hadn't even gotten in the front door.
"I don't suppose they will run out of ammo?" Harry asked hopefully.
"Energy weapons. Powered by geothermal plants." Yoda scowled. "Mustafar will die before turrets."
"Well, how about I sneak past and R2 guides me on shutting them down?"
Thirty minutes later and the internal security systems shut down.
Inside, the members of the Black Sun crime syndicate began to panic. They were so absorbed in the computer terminals and watching the mysteriously opening door that they never noticed that their numbers began to dwindle. By the time they did notice, the number had dropped from thirty to fifteen.
Confusion was replaced by paranoia and outrage. Had they been betrayed? Had the others fled? Had they been cut down by one of their own.
Their leader managed to calm them. "There are no bodies." The human snarled at his underlings. "No blood, no damage. If they are gone then they did of their own free will… they fled like cowards."
They froze at the sound of a steady sharp tapping. It was coming from down the corridor to the control centre.
"Weapons on the door." The leader ordered as he pointed his own.
Three more vanished, and no one noticed.
Soon the tiny wizened figure slowly hobbled into view, leaning heavily on a small cane.
"Treat a visitor poorly, you do… hmm?" The being croaked disapprovingly.
The leader opened his mouth and shouted. "Open fire!"
Except he made no noise.
He clutched his throat and tried to speak.
Another vanished.
Soon they all realised that they couldn't speak. Then they couldn't hear.
Then they realised there were only five of them left.
They never realised they were about to be unconscious.
Yoda hobbled into the room and looked around and at the newly unconscious five bodies. He then sighed as he raised a hand.
"OW!" The datapad he had levitated slammed into the back of Harry's invisible, armoured head. "How did you find me?" Harry asked as he took off his cloak and dispelled his charms.
"Sense you, I cannot. Sense twenty-five beings on you, I can." Yoda glared at him. "So well you were doing."
"At least I didn't get caught or injured." Harry grumbled. The datapad rose back up. "By them! By them!"
Yoda grunted before he dropped it. "Call R2. Leave soon we must."
"What do you mean this isn't the place?" Harry demanded of R2 several minutes later.
Harry read the response on his HUD.
"He can't find any indication of Damask Holdings in the database. He also says the complex and system don't match the intel from Dooku." Harry sighed as he informed Yoda of R2's findings.
"Grave mistake, this is." Yoda frowned. "Dangerous to stay much longer."
"Why don't you and R2 go back to orbit. I can fly about invisibly whilst you scan the surface."
"Are you sure I'm not over the complex?" Harry asked as he floated invisibly in the air.
He was currently using the latest version of the magical jetpack. Instead of wood the runes were carved on the inside of his armour. He also had a version carved into a strong but thin animal hide that was made into a vest that he wore most of the time.
"There's some sort of metal structure right below me. I'm going to land and take a look. It might be an alternate way in."
Harry landed lightly on the metal surface that was poking slightly out of the ground. It was quite long, about the length of the Queen's cruiser. The new one at least, same as the old but much more shielding, speed and fire power.
"Found a door… looks more like an airlock." Harry reported as he cast the unlocking charm.
It took a few minutes for Harry to open up the panel on the inside of what was now clearly an airlock and to rewire it to let him in. Fortunately, R2 had a direct feed from cameras built into Harry's faceplate.
"A ship." Yoda was clearly frowning over the radio. "Old. Older than me."
"Looks like everything is on the side." Harry remarked. "Any idea which way to the bridge?"
"Left, Master Harry. The writing on the walls indicate that the bridge is in that direction." C-3PO informed him from his core in Harry's helmet.
"Do you know whose language this is?" Harry asked.
"It is an older variant of Galactic Basic, Master Harry."
"How much older?"
"Several thousand years at least."
It took thirty minutes of hacking through various doors before they found something interesting.
A rust coloured bi-pedal droid. It appeared to be shutdown.
What was worrisome was the large gun near it. Harry quickly moved that out of the way.
And that was what woke it up. It's eyes glowed red as it looked at Harry.
"Query: Did you take my weapon because you would prefer I rip you apart with my bare hands." Despite the monotone voice, there was some inflection in the words.
"No."
The droid tilted its head.
"Observation: You are organic. But you are made of metal.
"Realisation: You are wearing armour."
"I don't suppose there is any way you would consider just talking and not going on a killing spree?"
"Statement: I was made to kill… meatbag." Definitely some inflection in the gleeful statement.
The droid quickly moved forward but Harry's wand was out and it went flying backwards and was stuck to the metal wall behind it.
"Query: Are you a Jedi? Are you my master, Revan?"
"No." Harry sighed in relief as the droid was disabled.
"Query: Are you sure?
"Commentary: It would not be the first time you've lost your memory."
"Positive." Harry said as he sat on a bench. "R2, Yoda, any ideas?"
"Observation: My master was wont to work with both droids and meatbags."
"You're a Hunter-Killer assassin droid." Harry spoke up.
"Statement: HK-47, ready to kill you, meatbag.
"Amendment: Wanting to kill you." It mused as it looked at its restrained body.
Harry cast another spell preventing any movement.
"Observation: You are a powerful Jedi." The droid mused.
Harry cautiously moved up to the droid and inserted a remote access device into the back of its head. "All yours R2."
"Query: Are you trying to reprogram me?
"Statement: It will not work."
"I will be very impressed if it doesn't. The same person hacking into you is the same person who hacked an entire army of droids."
"Statement: They were not me." The pride was clear.
There was a slight dim in the red lit eyes but it passed.
Harry released the droid from the wall. He kept his wand trained on it.
"Query: Who do you wish me to kill, Master?"
The droid paused and tilted its head. "Confession: I was wrong. I have no desire to kill you. Your slicer was very effective."
Its shoulders slumped. "Query: Will you subject me to a life of peace, Master? Must I forever watch as meatbags pass me by… knowing I may never reveal the colour of their blood?"
"No." Harry found this droid about as amusing as R2 and 3PO. "I'm about to head into a complex on this planet. You can kill anyone that tries to kill you."
"Query: May I… provoke them, Master?" There was almost an innocence to the hope in HK's voice.
"Only after they start firing."
The droid sagged in disappointment.
HK-47 soon found himself being flown through the air by an invisible being whilst being very invisible himself. It was disconcerting for the droid to be able to get feedback from his internal sensors about his body, but not be able to see it.
They soon landed outside a cave entrance.
"Query: Would you like me to announce your arrival, Master?" HK-47 asked as he powered his weapon.
"Not yet. I want to get the plans for this super weapon before they have a chance to destroy them. You can clean up after I'm done."
Harry remained invisible as he headed in.
"Statement: I am a super weapon." HK muttered to himself sullenly.
Twenty minutes later and HK-47 strolled merrily into the cave, through the open vault like door and into a hail of blaster fire.
Harry grimaced as he listened to the shouts, weapons fire and monotone laughter… the new droid really liked… to 'work'.
Ten minutes later and the fighting stopped. Harry hopped off the railing he was sitting on in the control room of the complex and readied his wand to go and mop the survivors.
That was when HK-47 walked in, covered in gore.
Harry's jaw was hanging open in his helmet.
"Query: Master, are you in here?"
Harry cancelled his invisibility. "There were a hundred beings out there… you killed them all?"
"Correction: Master, there were one hundred and twenty-three beings out there.
"Affirmation: Yes. I killed them all." The droid stood proudly.
With the plans for the weapon secure and the computers wiped, HK offered to rig the complex to explode.
Harry shrugged and agreed as he called for Yoda to land The Ghost.
As they boarded they were met by R2 as Yoda immediately launched them back to space.
"HK-47, meet R2-D2. R2 is the ruler of the Empire of Magic." Harry sighed.
HK's head slowly swivelled to Harry.
"Statement: I thought he'd be taller."
R2 shifted positions and activated his mini hover jets. He slowly rose up to just taller than the six-foot six droid.
R2 beeped imperiously at the droid.
"Observation: You don't even have hands to kill with." He said in disappointment.
R2 jerked forward and beeped ominously.
HK stood taller. "Declaration: Finally, a master willing to use my elite abilities." He said proudly.
Harry sighed as he read what R2's response to HK's observation was: 'I have you.'
Yoda was exceptionally terse and tight lipped as he meditated for most of the journey back to Naboo.
When they landed he called Chewbacca, Sirius and Padme to The Ghost. He had Harry send HK to the wookies for maintenance.
R2 was present as was the newly embodied C-3PO.
"Much death. Too much." Yoda said, clearly not happy. "Must destroy HK-47."
"I don't understand." Padme frowned as she sat on the couch snuggled into her fiancé. "You were expecting a fight."
"Error was made. Found wrong complex, we did. Single handedly did Harry incapacitate them. No deaths.
"Found HK-47, did Harry. Took him to real complex.
"Let HK-47 kill all of them, he did."
"I wouldn't say I let him." Harry was hurt by the subtle accusation. "I said he could defend himself."
"Again, I don't understand the issue." Padme sat forward. "You were expecting a fight. To be shot at. To have to shoot back."
"One hundred and twenty-three dead. Cut down by HK-47. No mercy."
"Master Chewbacca wishes to know how many of them showed mercy to HK-47." 3PO translated for the droid.
"None." Harry answered. "I told him he could only kill them if they tried to kill him."
"Yoda, what do you think would have happened if Harry didn't exist?" Sirius sighed. "Let's say you and the other Jedi took out Damask and his cronies. You discovered the plans for the super weapon.
"What would you have done if you didn't have Harry?
"You'd have sent a team of Jedi in. Right?"
Yoda nodded.
"How many of those one hundred and twenty-three would have survived if the Jedi took on the mission alone?"
Yoda frowned in thought. "Unknown. But mercy to those who surrendered would be given."
"And if they didn't surrender?" Padme asked.
"You are putting too much responsibility on Harry." Sirius warned. "At the rate you are going you will expect him to try and peacefully handle every conflict.
"If HK hadn't been there then Harry would have had to incapacitate over a hundred armed and bloodthirsty monsters. I have eighty years of experience as a wizard working with you. I guarantee Harry would have been discovered and had to resort to lethal spells or he would have been killed."
"I will remind you that Harry was severely injured and almost killed when he performed rescue missions for Dooku." Padme glared at the wizened old being.
"I would personally point out that Count Dooku stated he was sent on a mission as a Jedi to fight and kill Mandalorians." C-3PO added.
"No." The old Jedi shook his head. "Blame Harry, I do not. Much darkness I sense on the droid. Much death. This concerns me.
"No Jedi exists to kill. This droid does. Hunter-Killer Assassin Droid."
"R2 has reprogrammed him." Harry pointed out. "And if there is one thing I have learnt it is that sometimes… a being needs to be killed."
"Better our enemies than us." Sirius muttered. He turned to Yoda. "Look, no one is saying that we use this droid as a weapon. We don't send him to wipe out suspected Sith enclaves. But I vote he be assigned as Harry's personal bodyguard.
"What's the worst that could happen? It gets destroyed trying to keep Harry alive."
Yoda had assured Harry that he was not upset by anything he had done. He did however return to Coruscant. He wanted to spend time away, meditating without the droid's presence.
Especially after surrounding himself in the darkness of Mustafar.
Harry still had the plans for the super weapon. He decided to take a look at what was so worrisome.
"A moon sized space station." Sirius whistled. "Ambitious."
"But to what end?" Harry frowned as he slowly spun the 3D hologram around as it floated over the table in The Ghost. "Why not just build a massive star ship? Something with good manoeuvrability."
"R2 says that much of the power source is directed to the main weapon. A planetary destroyer." C-3PO translated.
"Destroyer? As in… what? It turns it into an asteroid field or it destroys the surface."
"The first one, Master Harry. It can burrow through the tectonic plates and into the core within seconds. According to R2's analysis."
"A complete waste." Harry scoffed. "What happens once the planet is gone? How much work is needed to move it to a new planet? Surface bombardment means the planet can still be used, even if it has to be treated as an atmosphere-less moon.
"Does the main weapon drain the power so it needs to rebuild before it can make the jump to hyperspace?"
"Kid, I think the dangerous and concerning part is the weapon." Sirius pointed out. "Forget that they built it into a space station, a weapon capable of blowing up planets is bad.
"The fact that it uses kyber crystals… that will really upset the Jedi."
"Why?" The wizard asked.
"Because kyber crystals are a core component of lightsabers."
Harry's eyebrow's shot up. "This superweapon is a giant lightsabre?"
The look of disgust on Obi-Wan's face was one of absolute disgust when he heard about the kyber crystals.
Harry held his hands up and said he knew all he needed to.
He took the plans from R2 and hid them with magic. He then had the droid start the Empire on making sure there were no other copies and that the inventors and scientists were rounded up and warned about working on a weapon like that.
The big day finally arrived. The city of Theed was filled with representatives from around the galaxy.
Today was the wedding of Harry James Potter and Padme Amidala Naberrie.
The entire galaxy now knew that the these were the Emperor of Magic and the Queen of Naboo. They didn't really know or care that those titles were not a part of the marriage, they just knew that they were two of the most incredible beings around.
Especially the Emperor.
Harry hadn't been speaking on news networks or addressing his people as a whole, but they all knew that he created the Queen's dogs from caps, could fly with no jetpack and had performed many various feats that could not be explained.
At both Padme and Harry's request, Sio Bibble was performing the ceremony. Padme had her handmaidens and her sister and family standing with her.
Harry's group was a fair bit more eclectic. Yoda, Chewbacca, R2, C-3PO, Sirius… Sirius was the only one who looked human and everyone thought he was an advanced droid.
Rather unnervingly for Yoda was the constant sense of a weapon aimed at his head. He knew the weapon would never be fired at him, but he also knew that HK-47 took a perverse pleasure in annoying him.
Yoda would teach the droid a lesson later.
Still, the wedding was a beautiful thing. The crowd was silent until the Governor declared them married. Then the city shook with the shouts and cries of joy.
What followed was similar to the celebration after the Liberation of Naboo. Music, dancing, performances, all in honour of the Emperor and Queen.
It was long after the sun had set that Harry apparated them both to Harry's estate on Naboo and they performed the final act of their wedding.
A wedding is a stressful event. No matter how engrossed in each other the couple are. Months of planning, watching every little thing to make sure it is perfect.
Stressful.
The wedding night can also be stressful, especially if it is the couple's first time.
Fortunately Harry and Padme were already intimately familiar with each other. Their wedding night was one of love and unwinding.
They fell into a deep contented sleep in the early morning.
They awoke to sirens and blaster fire as the sun rose.
Harry grabbed his naked wife and apparated.
"Unusual custom, on Naboo. Never heard of it, I confess."
Padme looked down and squeaked as she saw Yoda sitting calmly at a small table with a hot mug of steaming liquid.
"What are you playing at Harry?" Padme scowled as she pressed her naked body against his to hide her modesty.
"We were under attack. I had to get you out of there." Harry said darkly as he conjured some robes for them.
"Attack?" Yoda asked as he stood.
"I figured you would be safest as you were heading straight back to the temple." Harry indicated The Ghost they were standing on. Harry had insisted Yoda use it to get home.
Despite the fact they were attacked on Naboo, it was still the safest place for Harry and Padme. They had contacted the Royal Guard to assure them of their safety and find out what happened. Harry had then apparated them to their bedroom at the palace to change so they could meet with Captain Panaka and the others.
"Black Sun, Crimson Dawn and several other crime syndicates were all a part of this." Panaka reported as Padme sat on her throne, Harry standing at her side. "The motives are not clear, but there are indications that they are some sort of retaliation for the events on Tatooine.
"Jabba the Hutt has gone missing, presumed dead. There are rumours that the Emperor of Magic is responsible."
R2-D2 started beeping and whirring angrily.
"R2 says that he has ordered a droid ship to Tatooine to deal with whoever leaked this information. Starting with Bib Fortuna." C-3PO interpreted.
"R2! You could start a full-blown intergalactic war!" Padme argued.
"R2 says that no one is allowed to harm his people."
"R2, let's ask the Jedi to send some people to investigate." Sirius suggested.
"R2 refuses, Master Sirius. He says he has mobilised several droid fleets and sent them to known locations of those who participated. He says a message needs to be sent and this is it."
Harry knelt down in front of the droid. "R2, if you go to war, lots of innocent people will die. It is why I have been working against the Hutts in secret."
"R2 argues that every day more people are taken and made slaves. Some may die today, but he will prevent others from suffering tomorrow."
Harry just sighed and nodded.
"You agree with him?" Padme asked her husband curiously.
"He is entirely correct." Harry said resignedly. "Despite the control we have over Jabba's holdings, we still can't free the slaves because we have to be so careful not to be found out."
"You still have slaves?" Padme was aghast.
"Well… prisoners, captives. People who are being held because we can't afford to let them go and risk exposure. We try to make sure they are treated like guests, but… a prison is a prison."
"Then it is time to change that." Padme said firmly. "I don't agree with their continued captivity, under any circumstances. But now that these people clearly know, they can be released."
"I suppose so." Harry agreed hesitantly.