The True Way Of The Sith - Part Two

by Writing Shop 12

Sequel to The True Way Of The Sith. The Mass Effect Relay has been activated and a whole new galaxy of opportunity comes with it. What will Lily Potter, the Crown Princess of the Sith Empire, do with this new chance for adventure? And more importantly, will her father let her go into the unknown on her own? Citadel space beware, the Sith have come. (Harry x Harem) (Lily x Shepard)

8. Chapter 8 - The Matriarch

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

Chapter Eight - The Matriarch

The peak of the farthest-reaching research facility was coming into sight through the viewport of their snow-craft, and Harry just had to compliment its mechanic for its clear functionality. "You know, Tali, I am incredibly impressed." He smiled down at the beaming (strange how he could tell through that visor) Quarian and continued, "The shock adjustments you made back at the garage have been exemplary. It barely feels like this thing is moving."

And indeed, they had practically sailed over the crested winter tops of mountain after mountain until finally coming in sight of their destination. Of course, they'd run into more than a few Geth emplacements and troop embargoes, but Asajj and Harry had dealt with them in a matter of seconds so it hadn't been that great an impediment. Turns out large pieces of machinery are more of a hindrance on a mountain than a benefit when the person they're trying to stop can just telekinetically push them over the edge.

The Quarian preened smugly at her Asari companion for the rest of the five remaining minutes it took to lock into the garage of their destination and pressurize its internal temperature from the outside freezing tundra. Then all humor was wiped away as they got back to business, armed up, and continued their trek up the stairs into the structure proper.

What followed was about ten minutes of fighting off the resident mechanical security force as well as something… tentacle-y.

"So," Asajj queried, her eyes not leaving the twitching husk of the beast she'd just sliced in half. "Any idea just what this thing was?"

Liara looked like she was having trouble believing what her eyes were seeing. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but based on my extensive research of alien sub-species throughout our universe, this creature appears to be a Rachni."

"Kee-lah," Tali cursed, "that is impossible. Their race was wiped out centuries ago by the Krogan." Already seeing the Emperor getting worked up into a fury by those words, she elaborated with, "The Rachni were a carnivorous species that bred at far too great a rate to be sustained without consuming the lives and resources of everything around them. They consumed world after world, eliminating entire species and cultures along the way, and had they not been stopped they could conceivably have wiped out all intelligent civilization."

Liara finished the explanation with, "This was also the key event that convinced the Salarians to create the Genophage. They saw the effectiveness of the Krogan at war, and facing down one rapidly breeding species as a threat convinced them to see to the other before it could reach a similar height."

"So those lizards used the Krogan and then stepped on them once their usefulness was at an end." Harry nodded, the words taking root in his mind for future reference if he ever had to use them against the Salarians in future meetings. He was definitely going to be ripping them a new one. "Well, fuck those guys." He kicked the side of the monstrosity with the edge of his boot. "Still, this thing sure was ugly. You said they bred like crazy, so there's likely a bunch more further in, right?"

"That would be the logical conclusion." Liara allowed.

"Then it's a good thing I brought this." Harry pulled his lightsaber free, lit both blades, and prepared his arm for a lot of throwing to come.

And boy was there a lot. It seemed like every hallway and room they entered over the next hour had some grouping of monstrous entity or other waiting for them. And to a one, they all reacted in a feral manner utterly lacking in any sort of intelligent motive.

Liara, fascinated by that fact, hypothesized that it must mean one of two possibilities were in play. One, these beasts were cloned in the secrecy of this mountain lab without a queen provided to direct them; or two, the queen's influence was somehow shielded from the minds of her spawn. Either way, it was a situation that would likely prove untenable once their work was done. Both Liara and Tali had informed the Sith that the moment the Council learned about this facility they were sure to firebomb the shit out of it; or, more likely, the Noverian Security Forces would torch the place themselves to keep news of what was done there from leaking out. As a last resort the Quarian even mentioned that she had hacked into the facility's maintenance systems and that she thought she could activate the thermal purging systems if he gave the order. In all cases, no one seemed to want to let this species make it off the planet.

Harry wasn't thrilled with the prospect of incinerating the lab and driving yet another species to extinction, but if the aliens could not be corralled, controlled, or made to follow anything other than their baser nature, then he might not have a choice. He just hoped his soul would make it through having to make that decision twice in his lifetime.

In the end, they finally stumbled across an inhabited section of the structure; a fortified series of rooms surrounding a central armory. It seemed the survivors had congregated in a place where they could have the best options for resupply and defense. As far as a location for a last stand, it was far from the worst.

The 'leaders', if one could call the mercs waving iron around like they were flags that, proved standoffish at first, but the Emperor 'really' didn't have patience for power-struggle-bullshit when on a rampage, so he mind-fucked them into revealing everything they knew and left them passed out on the floor with foam running out of their mouths.

It seemed that this entire mess had come about when the idiots that ran the place found a derelict ship floating in space with the last Rachni egg in all of creation kept in stasis aboard; and instead of reporting it to the Citadel as was expected, they'd brought it to Noveria where their corporation could study it's unique genetic makeup for later profiteering without any of the pesky governmental oversight that would have otherwise brought questions of ethics and morality into the equation.

As tends to happen in such clandestine and ill-thought-out setups, the monster had broken loose and the inmates had soon ended up running the asylum. The skeleton crew put in place to limit the number of witnesses were easily overwhelmed, a neutron purge was planned but never executed, and the scientists had all fled to their current location to try and wait it out. Said eggheads begged the Emperor to activate the purge himself, but Harry decided against it. Once his bridge crew back on the Rancor finished hacking each outlet and file of the facility and planetary subnet perhaps… but he'd definitely not arrange to set the place alight while he was still inside. That would be the height of stupidity!

With fresh directions from the survivors they continued on towards the main lab, judging as they did that it would be the logical place for their target to go. For whatever reason, Matriarch Benezia wanted to know about the Rachni, and thus they needed to as well. Along the way Tali neutralized all of the automated defenses and Liara performed a stellar job of inserting daemon-infested chips into every single monitor she could see, an act that transferred every scrap of data they possessed to the Sith's analysts aboard the Rancor for later inspection. Most of it was likely not connected to the Rachni,. But it was bound to be able to shed light on many interesting things later once they had the time to devote to it.

Liara especially voiced a keenness for desiring access to the info later on to discover all the dirty little secrets contained, and it was a wish that intrigued Harry to no end. A woman with such passion for digging into the inner-workings of corrupt business entities… she and Hermione were going to get along splendidly. Maybe very splendidly. Perhaps splendidly with him sandwiched in between them with Asajj watching while Shak Ti knelt between her legs….

Fond thoughts similar to those followed him and his partners all the way to the main lab doors. They were, of course, locked up tight. Tali made to hack into a nearby portal to provide them access as she had before, but Harry was feeling a bit pent up from only observing for so long. So he waved the beautiful helmeted woman back into the formation, stepped ahead of them all, and raised his hands before him.

"Uh, Harry?" Liara queried. "What are you doing?"

The Sith's golden eyes narrowed before him as he allowed the Dark Side to fill his heart and flow through his veins. "This door is a four-plated durasteel variant. I can feel its presence on this plane of existence. It's a perfect chance to show you."

The women shared a curious look between them before the tentacled one asked, "Show us what?"

Asajj eagerly answered for him, "The true power of the Dark Side. Tell me, what would it take to blow a hole through a door that thick?"

Tali quirked her head in thought as she considered the answer. "I saw four-plated durasteel on the Rancor. Perhaps an eight kiloton explosion at the least. But an impact of that magnitude would level the entire mountain."

Liara nodded her agreement. "It is why facilities such as these use such doors in the first place. The cost of getting past them would be destroying any information or materials on the other side you would want to acquire in the first place. The price would far exceed the reward. Short of having a galaxy-class hacker to bypass the security daemons, you'd be completely out of luck bypassing the security."

The Dathomiri smirked and tilted her chin pointedly at the focusing Sith at the head of their group. "Such things are of no consequence when leveled against the overwhelming might of the Dark Side of the Force. Observe."

All eyes turned back to the glinting obstruction that barred their forward advancement, and a second later the air surrounding them grew colder while the space before them filled with a horrendous screech that had the Quarian and Asari covering their hearing portals and auditory holes respectively to block out the pain. Then, before their shocked gazes, the edges of the door began to writhe, twist, roll in on themselves, and then begin to crunch into a circular ball in a manner reminiscent of a toddler rolling up a sheet of tin foil. The entire process only took about six seconds and, when it was through, the show was finished by the newly minted iron ball being sent soaring out to crash into the lab ahead of them to the accompaniment of several shocked feminine voices calling out an alarm.

Harry lowered his hands and summoned the hilt of his lightsaber to his left palm. Then asked, "Well, my dears, are you ready to kick some ass?"

Tali and Liara preened at the term of endearment (something Asajj noted with deep amusement) and readied their respective laser rifle and shotgun respectively. Meanwhile, Asajj shared a knowing look with her mate and drew the sabers she'd taken from Sidius' corpse. She knew the game her lover was playing, and she wholeheartedly approved of it.

The Dathomiri quickly explained, "I sense eight minds within the lab and a ninth that is shielded from me. The last must be the Matriarch, so the others are all fair game. Shoot to kill, for you cannot expect mercy from any of them." Her eyes moved to her former master then. "Harry will handle Benezia."

Liara tried to argue that as the woman's daughter it was her responsibility to take her down. Harry, however, was quick to shut that down. "While an honorable idea, it would only be cruelty to make you face your own mother." The Sith stepped forward and gently cupped the blue skinned woman's cheek, unmindful of the time he was wasting. He'd already willed the perception acuity of his group into high gear with battle meditation. He trusted his people's abilities, but he wanted Tali and Liara to have the best odds possible going up against literal Commandos. A few extra seconds of faster thought could spell the difference between life and death.

"I would not cause you such pain. And besides, my mind is the most protected of us all. If the Matriarch is under some sort of spell, then perhaps I can snap her out of it. I really am the best suited to handle her." Having said his piece, he dropped his hand, and smiled with satisfaction at the way the Asari's own rose to touch the place he'd left. Then he drew his saber and ignited both of its blades once more. "Let's get to it."

The Emperor shared a nod with each of them and, as one, they ran into the room to be met by a hail of automatic rifle fire. Harry, in the lead, blocked the physical projectiles with a wall of condensed Force energy; Tali and Liara took out three of the shooters with their return volleys before rushing to cover behind pillars leading to twin stairwells. A cursory look revealed that those stairwells led up to a large platform above them where a far more regal-looking Asari wearing an absolutely wild headdress was currently standing and staring down at them all in utter shock. Bingo.

{Lirara,} self-contained within his Force shield he weathered the continuous assault of fire so his comrades could take the time needed to lock onto their targets, he spoke into the minds of his comrades one by one. {continue boxing in the commandos from the right to prevent retreat. Tali, the same for you on the left. They fucked up lining the back wall. They traded mobility for a clear line of fire.}

Turning his eyes up towards the platform above he added, {Asajj, you remember Kritak?}

His mind hummed with the pleased mental purring of his first mate. {Of course, my love. How could I forget the three glorious days we spent hunting the troupe of Reshor bandits through the desert? One by one they fell.}

{Then you know what to do next.}

The Dathomiri smirked up a storm, activated both of her blades, and started running past Liara's position on a straight course towards the right flank. The enemy was spread out, distracted, and one-on-one none stood a chance against a lightsaber.

As the firefight continued, Harry condensed the Force within himself, squatted down, and released it all at once in one fluid jump. His body soared up the three stories of needed height to land gracefully on the platform not ten feet away from the target of his search. "Well, as my blonde best friend would say, Hello There."

Meanwhile

Grand Admiral Thrawn was performing his usual duties seeing to the running of the Rancor in the Captain's seat as men and women in uniform scurried all about him. Primarily they were dealing with sorting the massive inflow of data they were hacking out of the Noveria planetary satellites, and things seemed to be moving without a hitch… until a blue light on the hand rest of his chair started flashing.

"Hm." Thrawn wondered who would be calling him from the long-distance line. He had another one for cross-galactic traffic. More out of curiosity than anything else, he pressed the button and tapped the edge of his earpiece to transfer the line directly to it. "Thrawn speaking."

A moment later the stress-laden voice of Sirius Black came screaming into his ear, "Open the damned hanger doors!"

The Chiss flinched at the volume and immediately dropped it down several levels. Then he noted, "I was not aware you were outside. None of our scanners have noted the arrival of the Dark Shadow."

"I'm not there yet, but I'm coming in hot. My ship is carrying national-interest cargo and Harry needs to see it right away. I can't wait for the usual docking procedures!"

Thrawn frowned. "The Emperor and Empress Asajj are currently off-ship and planetside at the moment, but he'll likely return soon. Empresses Shaak Ti and Bo Kotan, as well as the Princess, are aboard, however."

"Good, then have them ready to meet me at the gate, and get rooms ready for the Kenobis."

"I am not an errand boy, Black. Do not presume to speak to me as such."

Deep breathing sounded over the line for a moment before the wizard replied, "I… apologize. Look, I'm really shook up here. That's how important this cargo is. It's throwing me a bit out of whack."

Now that bit of information proved remarkably interesting to the Chiss. Well aware of the horrors this human had already experienced in his life, Thrawn imagined there was not much in all of creation that could elicit such a response as this. What could it be? "Apology accepted, and quarters will be ready and waiting for your arrival. The Empresses and Princess will be alerted to your desire for their presence. What is your current ETA?"

"Five minutes. I'm juicing these engines for all they're worth."

"Ah, coming in hot. I understand. Thrawn out." The Grand Admiral cut the line and immediately began belting out orders to his bridge crew before contacting Empress Shaak to inform her of his interaction. Her worry was a clear mirror to his own, for there was not much that remained in the known galaxy capable of bringing such terror to the Emperor's godfather. Whatever it was couldn't be good.

Five Minutes Later

Shaak and Lily were standing on the upper balcony of the hanger watching Sirius's ship, the Dark Shadow, come screeching in and skidding halfway across the length of the bay with Shepard standing shocked beside an ever-armored Bo Katan. "As always, an eloquent flyer, Black is." Yoda, still sitting on Lily's shoulders, commented with a guttural laugh.

"How are they not freaking out?" The redhead asked her armored associate as dozens of droids came scurrying onto the floor below to start extinguishing the friction fires kicked up in the wake of the ship.

"Probably because this is far from the first time Sirius has come onto the Rancor like this." Bo answered simply. "You should have seen the damage the last time he and our Love tried to outdo each other in the Kessel Run with the hanger as their finish line. The engineering corps needed three months to fix it all when everything was said and done." As she spoke, her sister-wife and step-daughter force-leapt to the ground and she took the cue to walk behind Lily's apparently-future-conquest. "Take a breath."

"What?" Shepard gasped in surprise a second later as the warrior-woman suddenly latched her arms around her body, activated her jetpack, and levitated them down beside the other women who were walking with purpose across the fiery expanse to the drop ramp that was already lowering to meet their advance.

By the time they reached it Sirius was already rushing out to greet them while levitating a black trunk wrapped in an obscene number of silver chains, as behind him Obi-Wan and Satine followed at a much more respectable pace.

They all met up in a clump as the wizard dropped his cargo on the ground and immediately scurried away from it. "Alright," Sirius gasped, clearly still worked up from whatever terror was dogging his every move. "We need to kill whatever is in this trunk and we need to do it now."

Shaak raised an eyebrow and stroked one of her lekku as she considered the situation. "If it is so dire an issue, why have you not already done it?"

Sirius shuddered. "I'm not sure if I'd be able to. This thing has survived all kinds of destructive magic in my lifetime alone, and to have survived this long… I thought a lightsaber would be better suited to the task."

Beside him, Obi added, "And I am not an executioner."

At that point Lily demanded to know, "But what the hell is it?"

The wizard looked at everyone and advised, "Get your weapons ready, just in case." As he spoke, he leveled his wand on the trunk and everyone else pulled lightsabers and blasters free respectively to do the same. Then he waved his wrist and the veritable mountain of chains holding the object closed fell away. "It's probably for the best that Harry isn't back yet. Whatever happens, we need to handle this before the kid gets back on board. He's already suffered at this bastard's hands enough to last several lifetimes." And with that he dipped the tip of his wand and the lid sprang up as if it were attached to a spring.

All present gasped with horror at what they saw within. An emaciated husk of bones and stain-warped flesh wrapped within scraps of a cloak with what looked like a bunch of random items grafted to its skull at random points. The effect driven home, Sirius closed the lid in a hurry and locked it back up tight. "See what I mean?"

Shaak recovered from her horror first, and asked, "Sirius… is that Voldemort?" The monstrosity had been beyond most methods of normal identification, but the lack of a nose was something one didn't forget hearing about.

Black nodded. "Without a doubt. But I have no idea how the fucker is still hanging around."

"An idea, have, might I." Yoda said with solemnity coloring his normally jovial tone.

Shaak started stroking her lekku again, this time with a bit of nervous energy. "As do I. Harry once told me of a prophecy he heard shortly before coming to our galaxy. One concerning him and a dark wizard that had murdered his family. 'Neither could live while the other survived', it said. I once asked if he believed that could equate to a form of immortality, since his fated rival was clearly not in our realm of space to land the final blow, but he never really gave the idea much thought. My Love never gave much credence to prophecy. I wonder if it could have worked in the reverse?"

Yoda nodded his understanding of the statement. Then added, "Seen I have, such things as its head before. In the dark days, before the High Republic. Track three fallen Jedi did my master and I to Utapau, and discover we did them trying to tie their lives to physical objects in the Force. Seek to cheat death, they did. Master N'Kata and I interrupted, and warped the ceremony became. Try to reclaim, their bodies did, the energy they gave, and grafted the objects became."

The little green bastion of power shook its head sadly atop the Princess's shoulders. "Seems, to me it does, that this fallen one tried to reclaim the same to survive. Old age destroyed him before violence could."

Bo leveled her blasters at the trunk again. "All that aside, let's get rid of it then. After all of Harry's stories you cannot be thinking of letting this monster live."

Shaak gently placed her free hand atop the nearest blaster and pressed down. Her Mandalorian sister dutifully followed the action with the other. "Harry might not put faith in prophecy, but I do. Seeing the future is what brought me to him in the first place. And if he and Voldemort are tied then only one of his blood can likely finish the deed for good."

Sirius added, "And having Harry here would only be asking for trouble. On the off chance the prophecy is right, and only they could kill each other, heirs notwithstanding, then we can't risk the noseless freak having a final chance to take Harry out."

Shaak's hand fell away from her lekku and her eyes turned onto her daughter. "A fact that lends itself remarkably well to a learning moment, I think."

Yoda, sensing what the Empress had in mind, shook his head in the negative. "Too cruel, such a thing would be."

"Cruelty is sometimes necessary to lead." Shaak retorted. "All the same, the choice should be levied." Addressing her daughter in full, she stated, "The decision falls to you, dear. We can wait for Harry to return, and risk him facing this being one on one, or you can decide what is to be done with it now."

Lily blinked, and the tip of her lightsaber fell to the ground as her surprise at that statement fully registered. "What? I mean… I wouldn't want dad to face any danger he doesn't have to. The Empire needs him."

Shaak tilted her chin toward the trunk once more. "Then decide. If the prophecy is true, then keeping the beast alive and locked in a hole in the deep recesses of the empire will ensure your father's immortality. But by that same logic, he will always be a threat to that immortality. All it would take is the right random circumstances to create a magical firestorm to set it free and it will no doubt wreak havoc upon those people who look to us for protection. So what is the best option? Your father's continued invulnerability, or the potential safety of millions? Can you trust this monster to live? Can you risk a stray blaster bolt getting through Harry's defenses? Choose now."

Lily balked at those words. "You can't ask me to decide something like that. It's way too big a decision!"

Shaak stood her ground. "You are the heir to this empire, Lily. The lives of trillions are going to be on your shoulders someday, not just your father's. If he were here he'd be giving you this same option."

"How could you know that?"

"Because I've been married to him for two decades. Your father understands his responsibilities to his people, and given the information we have he wouldn't allow himself to be in the same room as Voldemort if he could avoid it; and he would trust you to make the right decision."

Yoda's ears drooped as he came to the same conclusion. "Sorry, I am, little one, for the burden you must now face. Agree, I do, that only you can decide what must happen next."

Bo Katan nodded her agreement as well. "Life and death are tied to leadership as beskar is to family honor. Better to have this lesson early. Decide, Lily."

The half-Togruta looked from face to face, trying to find some indication on any of them just what the right option was to take. Already she knew that it was going to be impossible to get out of it. Even Yoda was proving lacking for life lessons as the little Grandmaster flipped off of her shoulders to land by her mother and lean on his staff, big eyes watching to see what she'd do.

Seeing as everyone seemed to be giving her time, Lily decided to make good use of it. As everyone took a few steps back she settled down cross-legged in front of the trunk, closed her eyes, and opened her mind to the ever-present flow of the living Force surrounding her. The outside world fell away as her astral body entered the spectral realm her mind created to make sense of the unknown. Normally when meditating on a hard choice, the Princess beheld many branching walkways leading off into distant futures, and if she was lucky and skilled she sometimes gained glimpses of moments in time held on the other side.

Now, however, she stood amongst a nexus point with one road leading to a platform hosting the dark trunk. On the other side were two stone arches covered by ominous cloth hangings flapping in a nonexistent breeze. Whatever was on the other side she couldn't see, but Lily sensed neither was especially pleasant.

With no other clues presenting themselves to what the Force was trying to tell her, she willed her body to float across the divide to land in the center of the physical manifestation of her choices. Then she placed one hand on each arch and her world turned to fire…

"No!" In a flash of movement Lily woke from her trance, leapt forward with her lightsaber raised, and cleaved the trunk in two. For several seconds no one said anything, and then Lily fell to her knees, the lightsaber dropping from nerveless fingers as tears began welling in her eyes.

"Done, this lesson is, I think." Yoda huffed before hobbling over to place a clawed hand on the Princess's shoulder. "Little one, seen, what have you?"

Lily gulped, reached up, and clasped one claw in her hand just as she'd used to when Yoda would babysit her and sudden thunderstorms on Zygerria would give her nightmares. "I-I saw…"

"A breath, take."

Lily did so and then explained, "I saw… I'm not even sure. There were two futures, and in both… I saw my father dead and a galaxy on fire." The Princess shuddered in horror. "But in one there was a feeling of… hope. I don't know how else to describe it. Master, did I make the right choice?"

Yoda shook his head slowly. "Know, you may never, little one. The price of leadership, that is."

For her part, Satine had dutifully watched events unfold with the stoicism of a born and raised Mandalorian. But all the same, she could see the lights above flashing to alert the normal maintenance crews that another vessel was incoming. So she placed a thermal detonator on top of the remains of the trunk and started shooing everyone back behind the closest barrier of an electron wall. Once they were clear of the atmospheric danger she waved ground control to activate the field and then clicked a button on her belt to set the detonator off. Immediately the thermite in the device encased the cursed object, and by the time the outer bay doors started sliding open to admit the newcomer all that ended up flying outside in the rush of released atmosphere was a pile of ash.

It was with open interest that everyone saw the newcomer was the Victory, and the moment the bay doors closed behind it to allow a return of atmosphere to the hanger, and the electron wall came down, Lily took off running.

The Victory's landing ramp had just touched the ground when she reached it and, clearly having sensed the turmoil of the one he loved most in all of creation, Harry came running down to meet her with arms opened wide.

The embrace that followed was emotional, tearful, and full of hiccups as the Princess informed her father of what she'd done, and the decision she'd made. She was worried he would be furious, but instead Harry merely held her close and promised that he'd have given her the same decision her mother had. The decision was hers and he was proud of her for wielding the fortitude to make it.

By that point the others had made it over as well, and Shaak gave her man a firm smooch on the cheek before asking if he'd acquired the target.

"Of course." Harry pulled one arm from his daughter and wrapped it around his wife. "Asajj and the others are still getting some readings off of the Matriarch in the med bay, but I wanted to check on our little one right away."

Lily huffed against his chest, though she made no move to pull away. "I'm not little anymore, dad."

Her parents shared a bit of a laugh over that interaction before getting back on track.

"Any problems?" Shaak asked.

"Nothing major." Harry laughed off the concern as he started walking them down the ramp to meet the others. "I got a look into Benezia's eyes and the rest was history. She had a mental visitor controlling her actions, not so dissimilar to Zannah when I first met her, but once I cut it in half it disappeared just as quickly. It was a simple matter to bind and transport her after that."

Shaak noted, "I doubt she was on that planet alone, dear."

Harry shrugged. "She had some help with her, but they're all unconscious in the hold; a few bullet holes more than when we met them, but nothing crazier."

Bo Katan's modulated voice came through her helmet speaker, "So we have victims to interrogate. Excellent."

"All part of the plan, Love." Harry blew a kiss to his Mandalorian lover. "We'll have our next target picked out before we know it."

It was only as they reached the bottom of the ramp at last that he noticed the small, incredibly smug-looking, Grandmaster. Harry grew very pale. "Master Yoda, what a surprise." tilting his head toward Bo and lowering his voice to a whisper he added, "Hide the whiskey."

All the same, Yoda's large ears twitched at the sound of his voice, and the little being let out a masterful laugh before exclaiming, "Too late, you are."

"Fuck."