Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Harry Potter, Mass Effect, or Star Wars. All properties therein are those of their creators. I am only a writer working on my skills with worlds and characters that I love.

Note: I couldn't resist including some Darth Malgus in my story. In many ways he was an early inspiration for Harry's views on the Dark Side.

Chapter Six - What Comes Next?

Liara T'Soni was amazed. Everything she had learned and everything she was seeing about the ship that made up her temporary home was so new, exemplary and modern. The crew were incredibly accommodating, the technology was leagues and bounds above anything she had ever seen before. Even the best tech on her homeworld couldn't compare. Finally, there were the archives.

When she'd expressed an interest in learning about the history of these strange people, the gray skinned woman, Asajj she thought her name was, had rolled her eyes, muttered something about 'another Hermione' and led her to a room she called the 'Hall of data-chips'. It was a massive room with shelf upon shelf of tablets. Each one supposedly held mega-bytes of information pertaining to every world that the Empire held sway over.

"Why would you just happen to have so much knowledge on board?" She'd asked when faced with a literal wet dream of a treasure trove of information. Honestly it had taken everything in her not to let her knees buckle at the sight. Yet near as she could tell the Rancor was a battleship, not a research vessel. So the presence of so much knowledge was rather confusing.

Asajj had just shrugged and answered, "Two reasons I suppose. First, my husband likes to have ready access to any information pertaining to his subjects at any time. Second, he and another of our wives like to have sex in here. Big heaps of information always get her horny."

By the time the Asari had stopped blushing at that insinuation (sex was still something she was rather inexperienced with after all) the Dathomiri woman had already taken her leave. So she'd begun perusing the information with a vengeance. The alien had only gotten through the first century of the galactic calendar when she realized what she was doing. She'd allowed her academic obsession with history and knowledge to distract her from what should have been her primary objective; helping these people in any way she could to stop her mother and Saren from destroying the galaxy.

She was aware that the ship was traveling along something called a Hyperspace lane to Noveria to check out the horrendous Turian's business holdings there, but surely there was more she could be doing to stay useful in the meantime than simply sitting around reading. But how could she choose what best to do? Deciding that the simplest course of action would be to ask the Emperor directly how she could aid him, she exited the vast chamber and started asking around for the man's general location. The officers on duty told her that at that time of day he was either in one of the training rooms or his meditation chamber.

Thinking logically she decided that it was best to start with a singular location before looking into one of many possibilities; so she followed directions to the meditation chamber and was interested to find that it was a dedicated room located beyond a hatch space behind the throne in his audience chamber.

Encountering no obstacles to her passage, the alien wandered across the vast throne room, walked behind the throne, and activated the panel on the wall revealed there. A hidden door hissed silently open and as she stepped inside she beheld the emperor floating cross-legged in the air with a glowing red pyramid-shaped object hovering across from him. In the air between them both was a hologram of a sinister looking bald man with some sort of breathing apparatus covering his lower face and a rather intimidating set of armor on his body.

Not wishing to disturb what was clearly a private moment, but unable to break herself of her own curiosity enough to leave, Liara perked her listening tendrils and picked up what seemed to be the final bit of the hologram's monologue.

The voice was cold, powerful, and full of fiery hot rage held at bay by a will of iron. "I have uncovered a truth long buried. A path to power beyond the understanding or comprehension of the Sith or the Jedi. The true ability of the dark side to impact the greater galaxy and those within it. Understand this, wielder of my holocron, true power can be yours… but only if you are willing to burn."

The hologram faded away after that and Liara found herself nearly jumping out of her skin as the emperor called out, "You can come out now. Hiding in the shadows is useless against me."

"S-Sorry." The blue skinned woman stuttered out as she shuffled further into the room and skirted the wall to reach the front of the powerful man as he descended down to return his feet to the ground. "I-I didn't mean to intrude. I just-"

"Got curious." Harry's smile was all warmth and welcome as he finished her thought for her. "That is a trait I understand well. In the future, however, if you would like to observe my meditations and lessons then you need merely ask and I will permit you to join me."

"Really?"

"Of course. You are my guest, and I have nothing to hide. Would you like to walk with me?" Stepping up to the woman he offered his arm, and delighted at the full face blush that his chivalrous action created as she took it.

"You enjoy playing with me." She accused him as they exited the chamber into the throne room proper.

"No, I simply enjoy treating a beautiful woman as a beautiful woman. As an archeologist I get the feeling you don't experience that very much."

Liara sighed but nodded her head regardless. "That is true. Honestly my mother has lamented on more than one occasion that my solitary career will lead me to discover the true history of the Protheans before it ever allows time for proper socialization of a mate and the creation of grandchildren." She blushed heavily and asked, "Did I really just say that out loud?"

Harry grinned down at her and slowly withdrew the influence of the dark side from her mind. He'd wanted to get a feel for what kind of person Liara was and this was just the latest little glimpse that had fueled his interest. All the same, now she was wary and continued pushing of her mental buttons would only alert her to the invasion of her privacy. "You did, but don't worry, I appreciate your candor. Though I was given to understanding your kind can live for thousands of years, why rush?"

The archaeologist muttered under her breath for a second or two before answering, "Just because we live longer does not mean we do not feel a need for companionship in the moment. We still crave love and attachment as much as any species, and we also are prone to loneliness. Especially if our chosen partners are not as long-lived as we are."

"And you are lonely?"

"... Sometimes." Liara admitted, squeezing his arm a bit harder as he led her into a room full of holograms. "What is all this?"

Harry leveled the woman with a proud grin as he waved a hand through the air. Immediately every bit of open space around them was suddenly filled with hard light constructs and images of art from thousands of worlds. "This is my Grand Admiral's personal archive. A portion of the records and art of our member worlds. As a student of history I thought you might like to see some of them."

Liara nearly swooned in his arms at the sight, but managed to stop herself at the last second. "I-I would very much like to see these, but I really sought you out because I wanted to be useful. I want to help with our mission somehow. It seems superfluous to use this travel time to indulge my own interests when all the others are working their hardest to make this venture a success."

"Hm." Harry considered that and raised his voice to the ship-board AI. "Rancor, open file A-E-T-2-1."

"Confirmed." The robotic voice came from all around him before the artwork faded from view to be replaced with what looked like several library shelves full of files.

Liara stared at the new construct with open curiosity, "What is all this?"

"These," Harry responded, "are all the Asari secret communiques we've intercepted and copied since arriving in Citadel Space."

"What!?" Liara immediately ran to one of the shelves and tried pulling a file out. Of course her hand went right through it, but the intent must have been clear as the file slid out in the wake of her movement and hovered in the air. Not halting, and picking up on the trick quickly, she waved a hand in front of it and began to giggle as it flipped open for her. "These are Matriarch Gireena's private messages to her paramour! Oh, the tabloids have been hinting this affair was going on for weeks!" Her giggling suddenly stopped and she returned to the emperor with her fingers nervously tapping each other like she was a little girl with her hand caught in the cookie jar. "Sorry, Your Grace, I got sort of-"

"Carried away. I get it." Harry reassured her before gesturing back to the shelves. "Archaeologists, in my experience, are very good at spotting patterns and picking up on minute bits of information others miss. I wonder if you might be interested in combing through these documents for any information about Noveria and what your mother might be doing there?"

A hungry glint entered the Asari's eyes before she literally ran back into the room and surrounded herself with a revolving sphere of files, eagerly devouring every bit of information she could. It seemed the woman really liked gossip if her little giggles were anything to go off of. Well, everyone had to have a hobby or two to keep life exciting. His own primarily involved vast amounts of carnal activity with his wives followed closely by scrapbooking photos of his kids and showing them off to anyone who would look. Often Thrawn was his main target as the man literally could not say no to him when demanded some of the busy man's time. Mwahahahahaha.

Two Hours Later

The Rancor fell out of lightspeed and settled into orbit over a planet with an atmosphere absolutely coated in winter storms. It seemed Noveria was an ice world of perpetual winter. Great…

From his place on the bridge Harry sighed as his daughter began ranting about the unfairness of the galaxy and that it wasn't cool for her to be stuck in space while he got to have all the fun. He put an end to it by gesturing to Shaak Ti, who quickly took his daughter and Shepard by the arms and led them out, likely to the physical training room. It always helped to wear Lily out when she was in a bad mood, though it did annoy the emperor a bit that the human woman had gone with them.

Anderson gave him a questioning look and asked, "Pardon me, Your Grace, but what was all that about?"

Harry gave his officers a few Mando'a hand signs for what to do next and led his small retinue back into the halls. He spoke as he walked. "Togruta are warm climate life forms. They do not do well in cold climates, especially not freezing ones. Their bodies have been known to shut down in places where the temperature falls to ten degrees or less. That world is a literal deathtrap for her and she knows that I will not allow her to enter it no matter how many winter coats she wears. So she and her mother are stuck here for the duration of this mission; which I suppose means Shepard is too since Lily would only follow her if she left. Damn but that girl is stubborn when she wants something."

"A trait she gets from her father I assume?" Anderson raised a brow as he asked.

Harry grinned, "How do you think I got five wives and lived to tell the tale?"

Two Hours Later

Harry and his landing team of Asajj, Tali, and Liara made their way to the surface via his personal landing craft without much issue or fanfare. Shaak Ti and Lily had barricaded themselves in the training room to vent their frustration with Shepard and a few others, Garrus was working on upgrading some Alliance tech with the Empire's more advanced variety, Wrex was gleefully sparring with six Mandalorian Iron Guard at once and having the time of his life, and the crew of the Rancor was doing everything they could to make things as simple as possible so their Emperor wouldn't find an excuse to order an Iron Rain on the world below. They'd heard him and their princess joking about it and none were in a hurry to let it happen just yet. So it was that by the time the landing shuttle reached planetfall the Intelligence Corps already had full access to the extranet systems and security overrides for the entire world. According to them the security was so easy their ancestors likely would have been able to manage the same at least two hundred years before.

Harry didn't really think anything of the ease with which his craft took the prime location in the luxurious corporate landing bay of the central facility. Nor did he question why neither himself nor any of his companions were searched by security as they progressed ever further inside. Indeed, he merely did as he always had, and walked the ground beneath his feet as if he owned it. Who knew, in a few years he just might. The Emperor hadn't decided yet if this galaxy was worth adding to his own empire yet or not. For the most part everyone he'd met had kind of sucked, with the exception of a rare few. Perhaps he'd offer those people citizenship instead? Certainly his advisors and bureaucrats would be glad of the headaches and vast amounts of paperwork that would be avoided.

As his foursome started perusing the eavesdropping space/bar where untold corporate espionage attacks no doubt took place as a matter of natural occurrence, he asked the Asari, "Liara, perhaps I should have asked earlier but do you have any idea where we are going?"

The blue skinned woman blinked and nearly stopped short at the question. "Do you not know already? Empress Shaak Ti told me your precognitive abilities were great."

Harry shrugged. "They are, but I like to be surprised so I don't use it often. Plus you did all that research. It would be a shame to put it all to waste and deny you the chance at a grand reveal."

Tali was equally confused, but for different reasons. "You can see the future? If I could do this thing I would never not use it. Such a gift could easily allow my people's tacticians to retake our homeworld from the dreaded Geth."

The Emperor shared a long-suffering look with his former apprentice before addressing both of the younger women at once. "Being able to see the future isn't as cracked up as it seems. For one thing, the future is always changing. Every action, every choice, every road taken or not at the last moment, can have a startling effect on how things can play out. So what I really see are only possible futures, and they can take hours of meditation at times to find. They're good for getting a general gist of where to go, but looking too deeply and taking the things you see as gospel is a surefire way to go mad. Many Jedi and Sith elders have been lost to the dark depths of their own minds trying to find the sure paths to the futures they craved through the vast web of possibilities, and I certainly would not wish such a fate on anyone."

Asajj smacked the back of his head.

"Okay, maybe Yoda. Damn that little bastard's sticky fingers. I swear I'll never forgive him for making off with my fifty year old bottle of Kashykan Rum."

"Bah, only pirates drink rum." Asajj groused.

"No, dear," Harry defended, "pirates merely drink it before noon. The rest of us are merely connoisseurs."

"I'll tell Hondo you said that the next time I see him at poker night."

"You do that; and tell Jango he still owes me forty-thousand credits from last time. Now, Liara, where are we going?"

The Asari thought about it for a moment before replying, "The documents you gave me access to showed a deep correspondence between the Asari matriarchs, my mother, and the economic viceroy of our homeworld. It seems that my mother was handling investment portfolios for several high ranking officials and twisting them up with Saren's to hide his investments in legitimate foreign enterprises. One such enterprise is listed through this locale which would imply a testing facility on the remote end of the settled area. We should check the construction records for the farthest reaching one if possible."

In spite of her earlier reservations about the blue skinned woman, Tali was rather impressed. "That is very well thought out. You got all of that just from reading a few letters?"

Liara blushed at the recollection of her earlier activities and said, "Well… it was buried in the subtext of a lot of love notes. People really seem to let things slip when they try to be poetic."

"Which is why I'm incredibly blunt when I write love notes." Harry broke in.

"That's one way of putting it." Asajj smirked. "Trust me ladies, Harry is a remarkable romantic when he puts his mind to it. You just might find out how much so if you stick around long enough." The Dathomiri laughed deeply at the purple blush and excitedly fogged mask her words elicited and led the way down the main concourse until she stopped in front of a particularly important looking worker and waved her hand in front of his face. "You will show me where the main records depository is."

The creature stuttered stupidly in place for several moments before monotonously replying, "I will show you where the main records depository is. Follow me, maam." Looking over her shoulder Asajj winked at Harry and noted, "Everything is easier once you understand the lingo, isn't it, dear?"

"Right-O, my lady. After you."

As they walked, Tali was looking through the features on her omni-tool, and asked, "Uh, Harry?"

"Yes, beautiful?"

"Uh… uhum," She righted herself after the compliment, "Didn't your Intelligence Corps already hack this information for us?"

Liara answered for him as she had also had the same thought and worked it out in her head. "No, they just gave us access to all the facilities, their systems, and the files that are open and accessible through the computers. However, the information about which investors are making use of which facilities at any given time is kept on an individual tablet under lock and key to avoid attempts at corporate espionage. If no one knows where someone is, they don't know where to send their spies or what to try to steal."

"That… actually makes sense." Tali grumbled. I had heard the people that ran this world were paranoid but this is something else."

Their group received more than a few odd glances as they carried on their way, but Harry ignored them all as they carried on down the halls. He honestly couldn't care less what anyone else thought and he was more excited to be spending time with a group of lovely ladies than anything else on his path to delightful carnage and destruction. Oh yes, he spent his mental time thinking about all the ways he would tear Saren limb from limb until they finally reached a heavy duty iron door.

"I take it this is the main records depository?" He asked.

The bamboozled alien answered, "Yes, indeed."

"Then your usefulness is at an end." He raised a hand and twisted his wrist. An instant later the alien's neck snapped into an impossible angle and it dropped bodily to the floor. At the shocked looks of the younger women he explained, "I saw his mind earlier. Trust me, he took part in enough atrocities during his time at this facility to earn death a hundred times over." It pleased him mightily how well they all seemed to take him at his word as they simply turned once more to the door.

It opened on its own and they made their way inside, silently thanking the Intelligence Corps for their due diligence in taking over the cameras to track their progress. The interior of the massive vault was coated floor to ceiling on three sides with shelves holding multiple varieties of tablets featuring designs going back twenty years if the dust coating some of them was anything to go by. "Well, Liara, where are we looking?"

"Right here." She walked to the centermost shelf and pulled a tablet as thin as paper free.

"Why that one?"

She pointed to the label above it. "It says facility directory right here."

"Damn foreign alphabets." He playfully groused.

Deciding to be a bit playful herself, Liara responded, "You don't need to worry about that. I speak twenty-three languages and read thirty-two others. Keep me close and I can translate anything you need."

"Then I'll be sure to keep you very close." He purred. "Now which facility is it?"

Liara quickly swiped her finger up the tablet and began reading through it. "Let's see, Matriarch Linita messaged my mother about a 'peak' function, so it's likely one of the pole peak numbers... here! Peak fifteen!"

"Excellent." Harry leaned down and kissed the furiously blushing alien's cheek. Then when he saw how Tali was steaming at the act he offered the same to her. How fun it was to make women jealous. "Now let's get out of here." The group made to exit the vault and found, to their surprise, a squad of thirty armed personnel waiting for them with rifles trained on their position. At their head was a haughty looking woman in red body armor.

"Did you lot seriously think you could just march right into our most restricted area without even trying to be stealthy, steal from us, and walk away without any consequences?"

"It never really crossed our minds. And we seriously don't have time for this shit." Harry noted before slowly raising both of his arms in front of him. "You really shouldn't have hired so many weak minded idiots."

"Huh?" The woman looked back and stood dumbfounded at the sight of half of her men pointing their rifles at the others. A moment later they opened fire before turning the guns on themselves. To her credit, the apparent security head tried to draw her own weapon on the strangers, only for the back of her head to explode from the impact of Tali's shotgun.

"Nice shot, Tali." Harry remarked.

"I couldn't let you do all the work." The woman preened before strutting off into the hallway proper, dancing around the corpses as she did. "Shall we move on? The Rancor's scanners showed a large garage that is bound to have some shuttles we can use to reach the facility. With my mechanical skills I can have them up and running in no time."