Once in the comfort of his own ship, Harry began going through the four steps to his post-bounty ritual. It wasn't a ritual in the magical sense, so perhaps calling it a routine would be more appropriate. But it wasn't really a routine either, since it wasn't something he did out of habit. He did it just because it made sense.
Getting out of his armor was alway a bit tough, but it was always the first step. The mission was over, and now he was in the comfort and protection of his own ship, so there was no reason to wear it anymore.
Shrugging out of the armor after it was unlatched, he gently laid it on the assembly desk in the armory. Using his wand to clean it wasn't a huge issue, but it was necessary. Even a few hours in the Felucian jungle was enough to accumulate more gunk than he was comfortable with, but a handful of quick spells restored the armor back to its previous clean condition.
Once satisfied, Harry hung the armor back up in its locker for the next use. Even on a ship by himself, being tidy was vital. In addition to cleaning the armor, he quickly jumped into the sonic shower in his cabin. While he could have used magic to clean himself like he had his armor, it really just didn't feel the same. There was a difference between looking visually clean, and actually being clean. Harry didn't know if it was a simple mental thing, but he felt much better after using a physical shower.
It was simple, yet effective, and no magic needed. The simpler things were, whether it was in a mission, or just common day-to-day activities, the less chance there was for things to go wrong. In his life, simplicity was a luxury that he tried to indulge himself in as much as possible.
Underneath the mess hall, there was a short storage corridor that ran the length of the ship. Harry mostly kept things under there that he didn't need to access on a day-to-day basis. Mostly raw materials like his potion ingredients and wand woods from around the galaxy and the the equipment to craft them with, but there were also spares parts for his ship.
However, the most important part on the entire ship was hidden under a panel there - the heart of the Rowena's Revenge's magical protections.
Pulling the panel off, Harry placed his hands on the silvery metal orb that was hidden there. To the naked eye, the orb appeared perfectly smooth except for some nearly-microscoping pin points that were on the top, and the orb seemed to be connected to some sort of metal that disappeared inside the walls and connected to all the various systems on the ship.
With his hand on the orb, Harry steadied himself and closed his eyes. The orb acted in much the same way a wand did, as a focus. But it wasn't a simple spell, it was something much more complicated.
The nature of magic was always an interesting topic, one that Harry mostly left to the people smarter than himself. It was quite amazing what the people on Earth had deduced as compared to what the people in the greater galaxy had discovered, and somewhere down the lines someone had coined the term "the Force" and it had stuck.
What Harry had learned, was that while magic mostly ignored the laws of the physics, there were some universal truths. The most important was that what some spells could in theory last for an indefinite amount of time, that was only true given no outside influences. The issue of course, was that there was always outside interference. A "permanent" sticking charm wasn't actually permanent and an "unbreakability" charm wasn't actually unbreakable.
It partially came down to the ambiguous naming of those spells, and there were many other spells like those, but the truth was not absolute. The charm could make the object it was on unbreakable, but the charm itself was not unbreakable. It could be an extremely well-made charm, making it extremely difficult to dispel, but not impossible.
The truth was that magic followed some of the same laws of the universe as everything else. Entropy existed, and time was the great destroyer of all things. Magic degraded with time, because time introduced outside influences, whether it was simply cosmic radiation, or the heat of a star. An enchantment could fail in a month, or it could last for ten-thousand years, but at some point it would fail.
Unless, it was maintained.
That was the key. That's why the protections at Hogwarts had lasted so long, some of them since the school's founding a thousand years earlier. It's why Harry had to return to the Dursley's every summer when he was younger. It's why he was very cautious and tried to refresh the magic on his ship at least once a month.
After a moment, Harry's palm began to bleed onto the orb. The blood flowed down the orb in dark crimson rivulets, following shallow grooves in the metal that had not been visible before. The blood pooled at the bottom before disappearing into the metal itself, as if it had absorbed it.
There was a slight pull on Harry's magic as if the orb was leeching off him. He winced and pulled his hand away, slightly unsettled from the feeling. After all this time it was still a bit uncomfortable, though he he had learned to accept it as a small consequence.
Harry stood up from his squatting position in front of the orb and had to steady himself by placing a hand on the wall. The wound on his palm had healed itself nearly immediately, but he was still slightly dizzy from the exertion.
He replaced the cover on the wall, satisfied that the ship would be at max readiness for the next couple of weeks. All he needed now was step three of his usual routine, which was just a cup of tea and a snack. Blood magic tended to make him hungry, but so too did bounty hunting.
Harry didn't use magic to make his tea, nor did he use it to shower himself or turn the ship into a giant mansion using spatial expansion charms. If that sort of charm was to fail while going at hyperspeed, he would be atomized. It was better to be safe than sorry. All because magic could replicate something, doesn't mean it should.
His survival was of utmost importance, and all of the enchantments through the ship were geared as such. The only exception, and it wasn't really an exception, was the hyperdrive engine.
Stock, an Aggressor-class assault fighter had a two-point-zero rated hyperdrive engine. The Rowena's Revenge wasn't stock though, and had a one-point-zero hyperdrive engine. It still wasn't all that special, though some interior space had to be sacrificed for the increased capacity. Even that wasn't enough though, so with Harry's magic, he could get it to approximately a nought-point-five rating, or perhaps even faster. He hadn't actually tested how fast he could get it to go, as there were few ships that could exceed that rating.
Some of the issues with increasing hyperdrive capacity were the power requirement, the heat output, and the fuel consumption. Fixing any one of those individually was not too much of an issue, other than the cascading effect. If one thing got modified, many other things had to get modified as well, and where he had only started with one single spell, now he had an entire network of magic dedicated to support it. The end result was well worth it, as he'd be able to go faster than anyone chasing him down. It just meant that he didn't want to risk an unneeded finicky spatial expansion charm accidentally failing because it didn't mix well with the charm making sure the engines didn't overheat, or the charms on the hull that made sure the ship didn't disintegrate under the increased stress.
Shields and weapons were the other major improvements he used his magic on, that and the hull itself. Impenetrable armor didn't actually mean as such, but it still meant that his ship's hull was much stronger than normal, though by no means would it stand up to a capital ships' armaments. Theoretically, the ship could survive just long enough to get the hell out of there, though that was a theory Harry never wanted to test.
As for the weapons, they were factory-modified, as most bounty hunter's modifying their ships were inclined to do. Other than that, his magic allowed them to draw more power and be far more powerful than normal, which was always a good thing, but with only four turrets the ship still wasn't exactly a warship. It was meant as a deterrent more than anything.
Relaxing into the pilot's seat with a cup of tea and a piece of fruit, Harry began the last step which was finding the next bounty. It was never too early to start looking for the next payday, even if it lead him across the galaxy, though he usually tried to find multiple jobs in the same sector so he didn't have to travel too far. Travel time was the most time consuming part of the hunt.
Immediately, Harry noticed that his bounty hunter score had increased. Mayor Miassis had marked the bounty as complete from his end, and now Harry was only two more bounties away from hitting the next milestone. That was exciting. Two or three bounties a week for years really added up.
Harry was looking forward to being on the next tier, as not many bounty hunter's made it that far. It was a tier that many of the big names had claimed as their own, names such as Jango Fett and Cad Bane. Harry wasn't really sure what the perks were, though he assumed that it would include increased discounts and full access to the guild's databases. Harry knew there was more, but the bounty hunters who made it to that tier were notoriously tight-lipped, and Harry always prefered to keep a low profile.
As Harry pulled up the bounty board to look for the next job, he started to get an uneasy feeling. A shiver ran down the back of his spine. Something was off, and he couldn't quite place it. It felt wrong, very very wrong.
The final security measure on his ship was a magical shroud, used to hide his magical presence from others like him, whether it was Jedi, or even other Force-using bounty hunters, of which there are several. The shroud wasn't impenetrable by any means, as a significantly powerful spell would light his position up like a beacon, but any spell he was likely to use on a daily basis would be hidden just fine.
But, there was something off in the galaxy at large. When Harry had first entered the galactic community, he hadn't noticed it immediately, but then it began to sink in. It was a greasy, dirty, dark feeling, a presence he felt at all times. A malicious force out there, all encompassing, like a cloud of ink. With time, Harry learned to ignore the feeling and go on with life, but he knew that whatever was generating that murkiness and clouding the entire galaxy like that was very powerful, and certainly didn't have any good intentions.
The feeling itself didn't mean anything. It wasn't an actual spell, but it did create some adverse side-effects. Divination was murky at best, and all attempts at scrying ended in failure, as if the effect was actively blocking it. That lead Harry to believe that whoever was doing it was doing it to hide their presence. That meant evil was afoot. An evil that could affect magic on a galactic scale was not something Harry was equipped to deal with, not without more information, so he relied on things like his shroud to keep hidden.
And now… something was changing. The darkness was not always completely encompassing. With proper preparation and concentration, he could pierce through the veil. He knew there were others out there like him. He could feel them, thousands of them. The Jedi, and some others. They had a presence, and could be felt with the proper technique. Occlumency worked well in that regards.
One by one, their presences in the galaxy suddenly disappeared, like a rubber-band snapping on his psyche. He could feel the Jedi dying off, their sudden absence creating a void that had once been filled with life. Each one was a psychic blow to his mind, which was now in turmoil. He winced as the life forces died off in droves. Dozens at first, then hundreds.
Harry froze in shock. Within minutes, a thousand Jedi were just gone. The darkness in the Force seem to expand, revelling in the disturbance. He could almost visualize the psychic screams as they shrieked on a metaphysical level. Harry had never felt anything like it, not on that scale.
Wiping away the tears Harry hadn't realized he shed, he shakily examined the sensors on his ship and scanned around Felucia. Both the Separatist and Republic warships were now moving, but did not appear to be moving towards him. That was good, and bad. It didn't seem like he was a target.
Concentrating on the darkness clouding his mind, Harry focused on the local Jedi that had been present on the planet. He had felt them when he arrived, but he usually didn't pay them any heed. They were always doing one mission or another.
There had been thousands of Jedi across the Galaxy. Six of them had been on Felucia, but now he could only feel three. Fifteen seconds later, another was gone and it was down to two. Harry reeled from the feeling, and it took extreme strength of mind to stop himself from throwing up.
Immediately, Harry made a decision. He turned the bounty panel away and hastily took up the ship's controls and accelerated swiftly forward. No sooner had he started his ship then another one of the Jedi died, and Harry winced. That one had been close.
Jamming the accelerator forward, the Rowena's Revenge lurched into speed far beyond what a standard Aggressor-class assault fighter could go in orbit. He urged the ship to go even faster, using all of the power available in the systems he had just refreshed a handful of minutes ago. If he could even save a single person, it would be worth it.
The last remaining life force came upon him quick and Harry registered the scene as fast as he could. There were roughly a hundred clone troopers as well as a dozen or so ground assault vehicles, a few of which were already smoking and destroyed. Blaster fire laced through the air as they tried to hit a fast moving target, the Jedi in question, who spun through the air like a top striking down several clone troopers, both with her twin lightsabers, as well as deflected blaster bolts. There was a small pile of bodies around the Jedi, but still scores of soldiers firing.
Whoever it was was far outnumbered and likely wouldn't last much longer, though they were making a good effort out of it. The sheer numbers would prevail, as they often did. It was a miracle that the Jedi had lasted this long, as so many had already fallen that Harry could barely feel more than a handful now in the entire galaxy, where once there had been thousands.
Harry slowed the ship down, and once it was below a certain threshold, he flicked open the ground facing weaponry and opened fire, first aiming for the mechanized gear. He barely even bothered to aim as he wantonly strafed the tanks and clone troopers alike, killing everyone that entered his crosshairs.
The surprise aerial assault caught them all off guard, and he manage to punch his blasters straight through several of the tanks before their escorts had so much as glanced in his direction. And when they had finally turned their sights on him, their attacks dissipated harmlessly off his ship. Personal blasters weren't much of a threat, and there weren't enough heavies on the ground to do a significant amount of damage.
It was brutal, quick and decisive. Within minutes, Harry had destroyed the majority of the clone battalion. Even with the hostile Felucian jungle providing some cover, there was not much a ground soldier could do in the face of a starship firing on them.
After spending a few more minutes picking off the remaining stragglers and making sure the AT-TEs' and SPHA's were truly destroyed, he landed the ship. He hadn't planned on returning to Felucia so soon, but here he was.
The Jedi had been tagged at some point during the battle and had fallen, but had not died. Harry had felt the life force falter, but not fade. They must have gotten hit by a stray blaster bolt and took cover while he strafed the battalion.
Carefully, Harry observed his scanning display, which showed no immediate activity in the close radius. Looking up at the horizon, it did not seem like the warships were moving towards his position, which was good. His ship was decked out, but he didn't want to test how well it would stand up to turbolaser fire. Those Venators would likely annihilate him.
Once Harry was sufficiently convinced that it was safe, at least for the moment, he lowered the ramp and spun his chair around and walked out onto the surface of the planet after applying the bubble-head charm once more. He'd still not risk the dubious air-quality of Felucia, not even in the heat of the moment.
"It's safe to come out now, Jedi," Harry called out. There was no immediate answer, though Harry hadn't been expecting one.
With caution, Harry approached the cluster of boulders that the Jedi had sought cover behind. The reason for the Jedi not responding was apparent, as she was unconscious and badly injured from a blaster shot to the back of the shoulder. Her blue skin was charred and raw. It was a mess.
Harry wasn't overly familiar with the roster of Jedi, but he actually knew who this one was. It was hard to mistake her. She had the exotic blue skin of a Rutian Twi'Lek, and the unparalleled beauty that her species was known for. She was Aayla Secura, Jedi Master and General, the hero of many battles, and one of the figureheads of the Republic Army.
She was heavily injured though, having been hit by a powerful blaster bolt. That she was alive at all was amazing, as a single hit was usually fatal. She wouldn't be alive for long though if she didn't get help. Plasma burns were no joke.
Something had happened here, but Harry wasn't sure what. It appeared clone troopers had turned on the Jedi generals, perhaps across the entire galaxy, and Harry couldn't even fathom why. Still, it was clear that it was best to not linger. The warships were still moving in orbit.
With a wave of his wand, Harry froze the wounded Jedi in place so she wouldn't aggravate her wounds, and then levitated her into the air. A second wave levitated her lightsabers off the ground from where they had fallen. Carefully, he pulled her into the Revenge and set her down in the small medical bay. He took the lightsabers and locked them into a drawer with a quick charm.
"You've got a patient, doc," Harry called out as he removed the spells from her. A droid chirped into life and began whirring about, immediately running scans. While the droid worked, Harry got back into the cockpit and pulled up the ramp, before quickly engaging the engine and lifting off. He needed to get off the planet immediately.
Getting found at the scene of a slaughter was not something he wanted to do. Getting caught red-handed was a sure-fire way to reduce his expected lifespan, and bounty hunters already had a extremely small average lifespan to begin with. It was the risk of the job, but this was a huge risk. Harry wasn't even sure if he had done the right thing. He hadn't had enough information, yet he had just taken drastic action. He had just killed dozens of soldiers to save one Jedi, but from the way the war had gone, Harry knew that one Jedi could be worth hundreds.
It took a few minutes to get the ship into orbit and far away from the battleground. He didn't want to go into hyperspace yet, not without knowing where he was going. Ideally, having an active bounty would give him direction, but that could wait for a few hours, at least until he knew what was going on, and where he should drop the Jedi off.
Once the ship was safely in orbit and out of visual sight of the typical entrypoint from the nearby hyperlane, Harry anchored down and went back to the medical bay. The ship would be ready to depart at a moment's notice.
The Jedi hadn't woken up, which was both good and bad. It was good, because that meant there wouldn't be a confused Jedi on the ship lashing out at him from being in an unknown environment after having just been betrayed. And it was bad, because that meant the injuries were serious.
The droid was doing good work, but it wasn't a specialized trauma droid like those found on large troop transports or in actual hospitals. However, it was good at general emergency triage and common medical problems. It had identified the injuries and had got to work using severe-level protocols. She was in rough shape.
Harry kept the medical bay well stocked in the event that he couldn't treat himself. Or, in case someone else needed a speedy recovery, there was always extreme measures. There wasn't enough room for a Bacta tank and all of the equipment needed to keep one running, but he had something just as good - magic. More specifically, potions.
There were a lot of ways that magic could be used to greater effect than what technology could do, but Bacta was a technological miracle. It was also bloody expensive, and a bit finicky. The magical potions Harry had on stock that could be used to a similar effect were no less complicated, or expensive. The ingredients required were scattered across the entire galaxy and cost a fortune due to their rarity. Regardless, they were nearly invaluable to Harry, but due to how limited the supply was, he couldn't use them carelessly.
While he wouldn't use them for any random scratch or bruise, Harry felt in this instance that they were quite warranted. The war was at a critical junction, and time was of the essence, so he lifted the medical lockout on his potions supply and got to work. He could get the medical droid to use some of the potions, but this wasn't one of them.
Most of the healing Harry had learned had been learned through trial and error, and in the field. But, there were always two steps after the diagnosis. He used his wand for the minor injuries, which mostly was just the flash burns from the blaster shot. The wound itself was caused by superheated plasma, and that's where the potion was useful. A mere spell was not enough to heal such a complex injury, but the potion would be.
The vial was small, but each one was enough to renew the flesh, muscle and nerves of a single injury. A larger dose could even revert the course of time on a limb, restoring it to better-than-new condition. The one issue is an issue that tends to pop up in magic of similar power, and that was the limits. Too much of the potion could cause severe lasting damage, such as kidney failure, or worse. Too much of a good thing, especially in a short period of time, could actually be a bad thing.
Applying the potion was quick, and its effect was even quicker. He spread it over the the blistered wound, and immediately he could see muscle knit itself back together. It didn't take longer than a minute before the entire wound was in the process of healing. It was fascinating to watch.
It was lucky there were no internal injuries. His scanning magic was not nearly as comprehensive as the medical droid's scan, but if there had been an injury, an entirely different and far more unpleasant potion would have had to have been administered. Harry wouldn't say that the Jedi was lucky to have only been hit in the back of her shoulder with a blaster bolt, but it could definitely have been worse. She could be dead.
Harry watched the Twi'lek for a few minutes. Even heavily injured and with a pained look on her face as she slept, there was still a beauty to her. Harry knew that the Twi'lek species was considered very highly in that regards amongst other species, so much so that they were often taken as prized slaves. And the Twi'lek people knew it, sometimes giving up their own children for profit.
The discovery of an entire galaxy full of aliens was an eye-opener for Harry. He wasn't xenophobic by any means, as he had spent plenty of time around goblins, merfolk, centaurs and house-elves, even a talking giant spider. But there was still some shock about just how diverse the galaxy actually was. He was still learning about new species every day. There were something like fifty million inhabited systems.
The Twi'leks were interesting. They were humanoid in shape, came in several skin colors, but also had two, sometimes more, sensitive tentacle-like protrusions coming from their head, called lekku. Humanoid, but obviously not Human. Not to mention, somehow the galaxy was full of Humans that did not originate on Earth. He still had no idea how to explain that, and each answer he came up with was more unlikely than the first.
Aayla Secura was a Jedi though, a warrior first and foremost, a protector of the people. She was more of a warrior than Harry had ever been. That she had been shot in the back meant betrayal. For some reason, her own troops that she had put her life on the line for had betrayed her, and seemingly every other Jedi in the galaxy. That was the ultimate dishonor, and Harry did not abide traitors.
Within fifteen minutes, her labored breathing had smoothed out and turned into an uneasy, but controlled pattern. She was asleep, but her dreams were troubled. She would live.
The medical droid finished its routine and zipped off to the side and powered down all of its processes except for its passive scanners. It would monitor her as well as anyone else on the ship, which was a useful feature.
That just left Harry with the dilemma to actually do with her. It was an important choice he had to make. He could leave her sleeping and let her rest, or he could wake her up and get answers. Any other time, and Harry would likely let her rest. But, Harry had a hunch that time was of the essence, more so now that it had ever been. War was very profitable for a bounty hunter, but it was crucial that he kept a finger to the pulse of it. The tides of war could change at any time, and something was clearly happening.
With that in mind, there were a few precautions Harry had to make. He had already done the first, by locking away her lightsabers. There was always a chance that when he woke the Jedi up, she would panic and start attacking him. He would prefer that wasn't done with a lightsaber, as he prefered to not die if at all possible. And she had two(!) of them. He didn't know much about the fighting styles of the Jedi, but he did know that dual-wielding lightsabers was a rare and difficult feat that only the most skillful employed.
That only left two things Harry had to worry about, her martial abilities, as well as her Force abilities. Sometimes they were even combined. In a straight up fight, she'd likely kick his ass. But, she was coming off an injury, and would likely be very groggy, so Harry wasn't worried too much about that. That left her Force abilities.
Jedi tended to not have too many different abilities at their disposal, instead focusing on just a handful that would be useful in their roles as protectors, and mastering them. Harry knew nothing about what Aayla Secura in particular could do, as even with limited skill sets there was some variance, as some Jedi focused on defensive abilities while others were more combat oriented. But generally, most Jedi could do various pushes and pulls, and Harry would rather not get flung across the room.
The best Harry could do was to simply present as least-threatening posture as possible. He would not do anything to provoke her in any fashion, and he would not restrain her in any manner. Obviously, the Jedi would be curious as to why he disarmed her, but Harry would rather that than get immediately disemboweled from a delirious Jedi who woke up after just being attacked by her own troops.
No, it was definitely best to err on the side of caution.
Shrugging to himself, Harry leaned over and gently shook her shoulder, the one that hadn't been shot. Instantly, the Jedi went from asleep to awake and panicking within the space of a half a second. She jumped off of the table and into the air, landing on the ground on the opposite side of Harry. She immediately reached for her lightsabers, only to come up short.
"Easy there, Jedi Secura," Harry said, holding up both of his hands in a placating gesture.
'"Who are you?" she demanded, taking up a fighting posture, right leg back and hands up at the ready. "Where am I? What do you want?"
"I'm Harry Potter," Harry said, still holding up his hands. "I brought you onto my ship and healed you. I saw you get gunned down by your own soldiers."
With that announcement, the Jedi looked down at her own body, and where there had been charred flesh on her ruined shoulder, it was now healed. "How long has it been?" she asked warily.
"Less than an hour," Harry replied. "I'm not sure what happened, but I felt many Jedi life-forces all throughout the galaxy get snuffed out almost simultaneously… you were close enough that I just managed to take out the clone troopers before they finished you off."
"You're Force-sensitive?" Secura asked. Harry noticed that she had quite a peculiar accent, one that he would classify, if the circumstance was different, as appealing.
"That's one word to describe it," Harry said. "In another place and time I may have undergone Jedi training, but I doubt my home planet is even in your database. None of your Order ever came knocking."
The Jedi paused for a second before responding. It wasn't a terribly atypical statement. There were many across the galaxy who were force-sensitive, some of which who would be viable candidates for training, if only they had been known. The galaxy was a massive place, and the Jedi were outnumbered a trillion to one.
"So, you saved me?" the Jedi asked. She adjusted the burnt strap of her leather top, which was agitating her freshly healed skin. "I was on a mission when I felt the same disturbance in the Force… I could sense my brethren dying. It distracted me, and just as I realized that, I realized I was also in danger. I only just dodged the opening salvo. I tried to fight back, but there was so many of them. I vaguely saw an Aggressor-class ship rip through the air - that was you?"
"Yeah," Harry said. "Something was off, and I'm not one to stand idly by. Do you know why it happened?"
'No, but I would like some answers," Secura replied firmly. There was pain in her voice. "Just… I can barely sense anyone, my vision is clouded. There's so few, how many must have died…?"
Aayla Secura looked despondent, lost, and Harry took that as his cue to reach into the drawer, pull out her lightsabers and hand them back to her. She looked surprised, but grateful as she gingerly snapped them back onto her belt. She relaxed slightly now that she was armed again.
"Others must have survived," Harry said. "Surely not everyone was leading troops at that exact moment. Someone must know what happened."
"I can't focus," she said as she closed her eyes. "There's too much feedback. The Dark Side is more oppressive than it has ever been."
"You were shot in the back by your own soldiers," Harry said. "Given how widespread this seems, someone must have given the order. Probably this "Dark Side", whatever that is."
The Jedi nodded grimly. "Few people could give such a command to the entire army," she said. "And for any of those people to be compromised… it would be quite bad."
"Who would want to take the Jedi out?" Harry asked. "The Separatists of course, but it was the clones who attacked you."
"We've had our fair share of enemies throughout our history… but to do something like this?" Aayla Secura shook her head. "I think the Sith Lord has finally played his hand. We've been searching for him for years now, but we've never been able to find him. He hides himself from the Force well. Count Dooku must have been taking orders from someone, been trained by someone…"
The Jedi then seemed to take in Harry's appearance as well as the medical bay.
"Who are you exactly?" she said. "Are you Separatist or Republic?"
"Well, I'm a bounty hunter," Harry said casually. "I was in the area after just finishing up a job when I felt the same disturbance you did. But, if I had to choose, I'd say I'd much prefer the Republic to win the war, if only because I detest slavery."
Jedi Secura paused at the new information. "If it is profit you're interested in, bounty hunter, I will make sure you're well rewarded if you bring me to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant."
"I know of the Jedi Temple, but if the Jedi were betrayed, would that not be ground zero?"
"Then we must get there quickly," she said.
"We'd be flying straight into a trap."
"A trap where I may learn who is behind this," the Jedi insisted. "If nothing else, there is critical data stored at the temple. A millennium's worth of knowledge of our Order, information on our troop movements, even information of force-sensitive younglings throughout the galaxy."
"Perhaps you should try calling the Temple first," Harry suggested. "So we're at least not flying in blind."
The Jedi nodded. "May I use your comms?"
"Sure," Harry said. "Over here."
Harry showed her out of the medical bay and out into the main corridor. Aayla Secura took in the inside of the ship, appraising the layout. It wasn't too atypical from what was expected of a bounty hunter's ship, with multiple crew cabins, an armory and several small holding cells, but the one thing that stood out to her was that it felt kind of empty. It was sparsely decorated, giving little insight into Harry's personality. She didn't mind it.
Taking a seat in the pilot's chair, Harry started scanning the holonet for breaking news while the Jedi made her call. She sat down in the co-pilot's seat, sinking slightly deeper into it than she was expecting, and brought the receiver headset to her head after punching in the command on the console in front of her. The Jedi Temple had several lines of communication for different levels of access, everything from the public line, to a highly secure line to the Jedi High Council itself. She tried them all, and the message was the same.
"This is a repeating message to all Jedi. The war is over. The Confederacy of Independent Systems has been defeated. All Jedi are to return to the temple for debriefing. This is a repeating message to all Jedi…"
"Definitely a trap then," Harry idly commented.
"I agree," she replied. "Yet, I see no other option. If other Jedi have received this message, they may head there as well. We must go. Whatever your price is, I will pay it."
"I'll keep a tab then," Harry said dryly. "Getting there might be tricky. The hyperlanes will be crowded and likely monitored, but the Perlemian Trade Route is still the fastest one. Once we get to Coruscant itself, it will be easier, as this ship has cloaking technology."
"This ship is capable of stealth?" the Jedi said in surprise. "That is fortuitous."
"Quite useful in my profession," Harry agreed. "Very well. We'll have a few hours before we get to Coruscant. I'll leave it to you to come up with a plan. You know the Temple, and I don't, and I do prefer getting out of Coruscant alive."
The Jedi nodded and pulled up a map of the Temple from the database. It was a very large building in the heart of Coruscant near the Senate building. It was far larger than even Hogwarts was, though Harry was not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. There would be a lot of room for potential fighting, yet it may take forever to get anywhere.
As the Jedi examined the layout, Harry brought the ship into hyperspace. The Perlemian Trade Route was a direct route from Coruscant all the way to Felucia and even farther. Felucia itself was just two quick jumps off of it, so not too far.
Once they were on the direct hyperlane, Harry let out a yawn. He was well and truly tired, and he felt his eyes get slightly heavy. He'd been up over thirty hours by this point due to the bounty hunting and how time critical those things were. And now that he was back in the comfort of his ship, he didn't feel like there was any harm in getting a few hours of shut-eye. It wasn't long before he was out cold.