¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

*Chapter 1*: Chapter 1

Same Song Different Verse

Chapter one

It's the song that never ends!

Harry smiled as Fred repeated, word for word, one of Oliver Wood's pep talks. The troops of the battalion he led, with Angelina, his wife as his second, grinned.

Harry did too, in spite of the coming fight. Harry was tired. The Earth was mauled, and half the population dead. The only bright spot, three quarters of that half were dark bastards. The shame was the billions of good people they had lost. Innocents and fighters.

His mind trolled back over what happened as he continued to stand and gather magic. He had won his war. He had crushed Riddle, in what should have been his seventh year of school. It had cost them though. Thousands of casualties in Britain, but it had been contained to the UK. The former Death Eaters had still had a foothold however, Harry had taken the country, and with his friends, shook it like a dog shaking a rabbit, until he broke their backs. Killing most of them in the process. Naively he believed that was all, and blithely he headed back to school and got on with his life.

The dream had lasted for three good years, and some more that were constantly ramping up in tension. Easy to see it now, looking back. Hindsight was in fact twenty twenty. He had become an Auror. Gotten married, been baffled by the women in his life, and thrown himself in his work, because if Vernon did it it was wrong so he wasn't about to take anything out on his family. So he worked hard, and then worked out, leaving all that work crap in the office, or more likely in the destroyed dueling dummies in the gym. The unspeakables and crime scene analyst liked putting them back together and reconstructing what he had done with their classes, so it was a win win. He worked hard and efficiently as he knew how. Then he went home. He wasn't a workaholic, hiding in his work. Along the way somehow, he had become the scourge of the remaining dark or rather evil wizards and witches.

Then out of the ashes of the Russian wizarding world, crushed in 1917 by that mad ass dark lord Rasputin, and never recovered because of the hell that was the war with Grindlewald, a wizard had risen that made Rasputin look a child's story. Europe had been pulled in, then when he threatened Britain, Harry had acted with a battalion of Aurors. Tonks among them. Remus had been killed fighting Riddle. Tonks had stuck to Harry. She had just moved in with her son. Andromeda her mother had moved in too. Tonks had died in the frozen horror that had been the fight in Yekaterinburg. A stray curse from a fight a block away. Harry sighed. Teddy her son, Harry's godson, was just before his first year at Hogwarts.

Harry lost it, and had ground the European dark, or rather the evil bastards among them, to a smear on the cobbles, and then, in a spectacle that had become a racial memory for the Russians, he had taken a month to kill the Russian Dark Lord on the keyboard monument. He had begged for death and named all his associates, allies, and servants, plus all his safe houses, and hiding places before Harry let him die. He, his remaining Aurors, and the replacements had spent a month rounding people up and executing them as fast as the ICW could write the warrants. He had become the head of that ICW action group by then. Mostly by default. He didn't get killed or severely injured and no one could beat him in a duel.

Peace, Harry snorted, another pause while the evil bastards rearmed, reigned for a short two years. Harry made Chief Auror. Attrition was high and most people weren't anxious to live an adventurous life. Harry chuckled, he wasn't either, but he didn't know anything else. He was much in demand killing the rising Dark Lords and Ladies. His wives Hermione, Daphne, and Luna climbed higher in their chosen professions. They developed a system of evaluating people who's governments were begging him to kill them. Sometimes the Government was what actually needed his attention. The wizard or witch might be dark, but wasn't necessarily an evil bastard. The girls had discussed it endlessly. Daphne was proof Dark didn't mean evil. Just as they all relaxed, and began contemplating the future, and possibly children. The world exploded in hellfire. Literally hellfire.

The US and its Allies had been fighting for years in the Islamic crescent by then. A rising dark lord, knowing all was lost against the mundane forces arrayed against him, tried to call Djinn. He got demons. A class two host commander to be exact. A prince of hell. Normally the class or tier twos were about ten meters tall, weighed about seven tons, were massively strong, and wickedly powerful. Theoretically, mostly because they said they served a master, there was a tier one. The other direction went all the way down to tier or class tens. Imps were class tens. About a foot tall, a good fight for a grindy low or Cornish pixie. The tier twos gained and maintained their positions by both physical and magical force. They expanded their fiefdoms in hell by fighting each other, and gathering host of the underclasses. Some of the other classes were bigger, Class fives were like buildings walking around, but the class twos were hard, smart, strong, and fast. The tier two came with his host of minions and of course the dark idiot lost control nearly immediately. The horde of demons turned on the idiot and his followers, then the mundane in the area, while parts of the horde hunted the magical.

As you can imagine none of the mundane or magical forces in the area took this well. Meanwhile alarms were blaring in every government in the world, and Auror forces from the world over gathered, and with the mundane destroyed the horde and finally its Commander.

For a year and more they worked and struggled containing the horde, pushing them back, then closing with the portal where Mecca had been, finally Luna found a way to close the portal and they did it. They lost most of a mundane division, and a combined regiment of Aurors. The only good thing was the sentient of the world all pulled together for that short time.

The world tried to go to sleep again, and of course cooperation evaporated like alcohol on a exhaust manifold. Magic was the cat out of the bag now though. Nearly got the mundane cooperating again. They had had to have a lesson in leaving magical beings alone, several in fact. Lots of little tin pot dictators had a visit from action groups of Aurors.

Luna was a seer though and Hermione had charted her as one hundred percent accurate in regards to combat involving Harry. She had five more of the devices they had used to close the portal. She told them more demons were coming. She and a team worked on them, along with Harry as he could, for a year, while the world waited and Harry and the worlds Aurors hunted stray demons, mundane megalomaniacs, and evil idiots.

Hermione worked to integrate the Magical and Mundane worlds and indulged her hobby of recovering knowledge and Daphne helped her while managing the vast estates Harry had acquired claiming them as a warrior of the light. Luna was hip deep in a propaganda campaign, maybe a psychological operations campaign, a bit of both really, to integrate the magical and mundane worlds. Harry found Gabrielle Delacour in a Demon lair during this and brought her home.

Harry smiled and shook his head, in spite of himself, listening to Fred. He could feel Fred and Angelina's eyes on him as they enjoyed his subtle reaction to their words, which was their motivation the whole time. There had been precious few reasons to smile for a long time, and one could always count on Fred and Angelina to get Harry out of whatever funk he was in at any given moment. He had gotten over his 'brooding' as the wives called it just in time for the earth to go most of the way to hell. A sigh escaped Harry's mouth as he gave in "The one we've all been waiting for," Harry said while he continued to shake his head. There was triumph clearly heard in the laughter from Fred and Angelina. Meanwhile, Harry could clearly see confused looks upon the dozens of other faces who heard the conversation. The confusion would never be explained to those who heard, because the attention of Harry, Fred, and Angelina immediately returned to the scene of nightmares in front of them. This was it. Before them lay, hopefully, the last battle of the war which had plagued Earth for the last decade or more. Harry wasn't sure. He lost track of the years.

In the times Harry wasn't chasing down an idiot or a demon he was working wonders with runes, Harry chuckled, much to Hermione's frustration as he hadn't studied it in school, and studying healing. Tonks had died in his arms and he wasn't having that again. He was celebrated wherever he went and continued to rise in the estimation of the world's population and governments. His wives rose as much. They were all powerful and accomplished and really coming to the peak of their power. They only got better as they gained knowledge.

He was the field commander of the ICW European Aurors. Field because he wouldn't spend time in Geneva doing whatever the fuck it was they did, instead of being in the field killing. He left that to those too injured to be effective in the field anymore. They needed all the combat effectives they had pulling triggers or casting spells.

Harry nodded to himself and picked up his mental thread again. Fred and his distractions. You had to love the guy. He had found Gabrielle, she had moved right in, or rather refused to be moved out. Fleur had moved in to be near her for a while. That meant Bill had been around and Harry had learned cursebreaking, warding as well.

Then, of course, Luna was proved right. The Islamic tradition of teaching by verbal, rote memorization, as most of them in some countries couldn't read, bit the world in the ass and they had missed an imam, who had witnessed and committed to memory the ritual used to summon the demons. That ability to teach like that, it was a skill, well that and really high recall, so a skill coupled with an ability. Of course he had to run into a magical who had a grudge and a moderate amount of power. This magical had a group of followers too. The imam probably told that story as a cautionary tale. Mundane couldn't open those portals after all.

Mr Grudge rose as a dark lord. Despite Harry's best efforts, and with combat accelerated Darwinism improving both opposing forces. The ones Harry led more as they recovered their wounded and healed them. Finally pushed hard, and deciding he was called by the Prophet, led by God, found a burning bush, got a spirit animal with nine tails, or some shit, he sent a suicide group to open a portal. It worked the way he wanted and another level two and his horde was unleashed. Harry sighed, he just couldn't kill the fuckers fast enough back in those early days. He chuckled, not a problem he or the other Mage class wizards and witches had anymore. They could drop a county with a wiggle of their fingers. Or not lock Lavender in her cage once a month. Harry had to laugh. Woman was a hazard.

Anyway, the world's forces were better now, or then rather, they had done this once before, and had some tips techniques and procedures, but these demons from the new portal Mr. Grudge's minions had opened were pissed. And there was a metric fuck ton of them, several metric fuck tons. The theory was the explosion from the portal in Mecca had been much worse on their plane. On this plane it had turned Mecca into the world's deepest hole and glassed a circle of desert thirty klicks in diameter. Not radioactive fortunately. They, the worlds forces, had made a few of those spots all on their own, in the desserts of the crescent, stopping the demons from getting into Europe. Afghanistan really was a write off now. Well parts of it. China as well. The Chinese had gone nuclear early.

While the world worked desperately to contain this the evil idiot got other groups ready. As Harry and the forces he now controlled contained one, another opened. The forces got so good and practiced at containing them then dropping a Dark Sponge, the thing Luna had found and Harry had improved, in the portal Harry had time to take a group and hunt the idiot.

It had not been without cost though. Demons were hard to kill and dangerous even dead. It took a task organized battalion sized group of mundane for the level threes, the battalion commanders of the hordes, and company sized elements could handle any class below three. As the classes went lower the task organized companies could handle more and more volumes of them. The lose demons immediately oriented on dark magical, then magical, then mundane. Children were a preferred treat. The younger the better it seemed. Dead ones gave off heat at unbelievable levels for weeks. That helped and hurt. First they lit fires around where they lay but then you could chop them up and use them to generate steam to make electricity to get wherever the fight had been back on its feet. At least on the mundane side and with the technomancers from America and the Pacific rim pretty much everywhere now. They had portable and stationary steam plants hooked to generators. Power production was no longer the chief source of greenhouse gasses.

The demons actually helped Harry and his forces by eliminating the evil wizards and witches by preference. It cut down on the number of minions the latest idiot could muster. And opening portals took sacrificing minions. One way or the other. In all cases so far the Demons had killed the group doing the summoning or any left alive after the ritual which consumed most of their magic and life force.

The evil bastards of course got desperate, organized, and in an orgy of stupidity like the Kamikaze of a bygone era opened multiple portals on every major continent simultaneously. That had been a year ago? Two? More? It felt like forever. Nine of those had devolved to single combat for Harry. Was it nine? More maybe? At least nine. A few other powerful witches and wizards had gone toe to toe with them too. But then the tier twos were weaker maybe, and their own TTP had improved while the demons didn't as they were unable to share TTP, tips techniques and procedures, once the forces of Earth got the portal closed. No evolution of their knowledge. Hermione and Daphne assured him that he and the others capable of going toe to toe with the demons were getting better. Harry gave a mental shrug. It was possible he guessed, but he thought adult core sizes were fixed. Wasn't that what made you an adult?

"Alright Harry Bear?"

Harry blinked "Fine Fred."

Fred snorted "Sure. Last one though eh? Got the bastard trapped this time."

Harry observed the battle field, Morokweng impact crater, they liked to use these craters for some reason, despite the tactical disadvantage it left them. Harry sent the signal to launch and looked at his hardened smartphone to see it start the countdown timer to the preparatory bombardment. Fred looked at his as it vibrated and smiled "Luck Harry, Good Hunting. See you on the other side."

Harry nodded and went back to observing. Remembering really. Mostly those who had died. Not the evil bastards. He really couldn't care less about them, they did populate his dreams in the myriad ways he had killed them, and seen demons kill them but more as scenery, while he was focused on the friends and acquaintances he had lost. As soon as they turned evil there was no way back for them. They had learned that the hard way over the years. But his friends and comrades, the whole long line of them, that was painful. One so painful he could hardly contemplate it.

He checked his equipment as the aircraft screamed over head from all directions at all different altitudes, in a finely choreographed, well practiced, dance of destruction, the bombs from the heavy bombers above the artillery began walking kilometer wide and kilometer long strips of destruction through the demon horde below, while dedicated aircraft with the best crews dropped the sponges.

Harry turned his wrist in nearly a nervous tic and checked the holster, first one wrist then the other. Each holster had a wand and a trunk socket. Well a socket for a shrunken trunk. He carried the required two trunks but no one had said he couldn't modify them. If they ever exploded as allegedly sometimes happed when a trooper was hit they would probably cover a battalions AO a quarter mile deep with the crap he had collected. Expansion charms after all depended on the ability and power of the caster and then the runes that fixed them. He had put all his power into the expansion charms and his best effort into the rune strings. Hermione had been a bit peeved. Then she had had him do trunks for all of them, all the time, well at least one a week, and carried everything they owned or could acquire around completely ignoring the regulation. She wasn't a troop leader, and if you tried to lift her skirt to see her trunk holster belt if she didn't kill you Daphne would. Skirt, phhhttt, more dragon hide strip kilt, like the Roman centurions wore, pteruges, that's what the girls called them. He shook his head, no thinking about sexy skirts. He chuckled, everyone he knew did exactly the same thing with their trunks. The magical army of earth was like an army ant nest. When they left an area it was bare of all magical items along with anything they thought might be useful. The evil dark items were destroyed and everything else was in their trunks. As were all the resources they could summon. The trunks were how they did it. Plus, they carried ammunition for their mundane attachments or whatever else was needed. Early on Harry had carried trunks, shrunk down, in his trunks, which were then shrunk and holstered. It made keeping the crap sorted easier plus he could pick up his casualties trunks, but then several accidents or something had happened, and the edict had come down from on high, or form the REMFs (Rear echelon mother fuckers) with a load plan and everything. Harry snorted. Everyone expanded their issue trunks to the max, and carried one in each holster on their forearms. Out of fights they carried multiple trunks in belts. The trunks had top trays loaded with the load plan shit.

Harry being the boss had to set the example though so he had the regulation two, unlike the girls. Two trunks you could fit an aircraft carrier battle group each in, submarines and all, and it would have room to maneuver and launch and recover aircraft. Expansion was a function of power, and well, Harry had plenty. He helped troopers expand theirs when replacements came in. He also did one a week for the girls. About the only part of the regulation anyone paid attention too was no shrunken trunks in trunks. Which he ignored. He wasn't leaving some wounded or dead troopers stuff for the demons or idiots.

The Sergeants conducted pre-combat inspections of regulation trunk contents ignoring interiors of trunks that looked like Zeppelin hangers, or Warehouse Thirteen, maybe the archive from that Indiana Jones movie, and mountains of crap behind the formations of troopers. There was no sense in leaving anything in the areas they were fighting in because if they were operating there the demons had been there, and had killed everyone.

When they left an area it was denuded. Every few months the trunks were gone through, trash tossed, identifiable objects returned to owners if any could be found and national assets returned if someone was back in the places they had been. They left tiny guard forces, usually of the nearest to full recovery wounded. Other than that the various National Magical Law Enforcement and mundane military units rotating out of the fight for rest and refit took care of stray demons in their own areas. While they sorted their piles of crap.

If they had a few fighting pits set up, well that was the national governments look out wasn't it? As long as it was tier six and below. Sixes were troll sized, not very magical and about as smart as a dog. They kind of looked like trolls too. Oh and the demons died. Couldn't have the fuckers getting loose.

All that was if you didn't run from one incursion to the next. Harry tried to remember the last time he had cleaned out his trunks, besides the casualties trunks being returned to them or their families if they had any.

Harry stopped wool gathering and looked at the route he had plotted to see if it was still good. After the aerial bombardment and the artillery lifted and shifted fires, he would cast the pattern of killing curses, apparate from here to a spot of high ground five miles distant, cast the area affect killing curses and then check his next position as the others came up clearing any demons that survived his assault. Other powerful witches and wizards would do the same from their positions around the rim of the crater. His range was actually more than that but they went with what the least powerful of the mage class wizards and witches could do which was about two and half miles. Twenty-eight of them in this part of the assault. Nearly the whole population of mage level magical from the whole planet. It was a big incursion in a big crater. There was a pattern they practiced and everything. Each Mage class magical having a slice of the circle five miles wide at the start then narrowing, slightly overlapping. When it got too narrow some Mage class wizards stopped and took up guard positions. Lowest powered first. Some of the mundane units stopped with them. This usually left Harry as the last Mage in the assault. He was the most powerful of the class, and by now had the most experience. Which, of course, is how it devolved to single combat with admittedly usually wounded demons. The nine times he went head to head with a full up tier two had been more than enough for everybody to learn that wasn't the optimum circumstance. Now the best tank crews were pushed to within four kilometers of the tier twos and a depleted uranium penetrator did the honors if possible. That DU shit killed those fuckers like it was sucking out their souls. Americans were heartless bastards. The outside layer of their tanks armor was that DU crap. The demons ran from them. They tried to chase them down and run over them, recording it with go pro's, laughing like maniacs. Those tankers would need help after the war. Or locked up, one of the two. Until the US wanted someone else dead anyway. Great blokes, not nice people at all.

Killing curses halfway to his next position, apperate then a full circle of killing curses. After that it was lather, rinse, repeat until they got to the portal. Then the specialist plans for each portal happened. Lately holding the line and waiting until the sponge hanging in the portal dropped. The weight of shot accurately laid on the portals was preventing the head to head fights. The tier twos were chopped to rags and dying screaming. Find the head, give it a killing curse, then mop up. Hard to kill, tier twos, and grew pieces back, like super fast star fish, found that out the hard way.

It did make some interesting potions though. Well those that hadn't been hit with killing curses or DU. Daphne had kept that one alive, or whatever that was, in pieces in that refractory cement vessel for years now. Apparently completely dissecting one made it hard for it to do magic. It was finally dying though she said. She had found, or the mundane materials scientist had managed to synthesize, replacements and she had lost interest in keeping it alive. The goblins were just extracting heat from it now. Split its brain into separate hemispheres and separate them and it lost the ability to regrow parts. Who knew?

No report of a sponge in this one but some were close. He might have to levitate one in. That happened occasionally. No slight on the airplane drivers, that crap wasn't easy, and that was without the eddies of magic around the portals. Like another layer of winds really.

He was one of the few keyed to the wards to do it, or powerful enough to either. A sphere of flood basalt with a volume of five cubic meters shouldn't really be a problem for an average witch or wizard, but the things were strange. Then pump them full of dark energy or evil, and they got even stranger.

They would keep compressing the circle until they had killed all the demons and the idiot, then the magical units would guard, until the sponge dropped through the portal and their portkeys activated. The mundane would withdraw as fast as they could to get out of the danger area. Seven kilometers in a main battle tank. Eight in an infantry fighting vehicle and ten if dismounted.

The mundane all had emergency portkeys as well but they really didn't want to use them. It disabled mundane troops for hours. That made them easy pickings for a remnant demons if any escaped.

After that they could all go home. Harry's phone vibrated and he cast a pattern of area effect killing curses up to his next stop over lapping the mages on either side of him slightly. He looked at Fred, and Fred grinned and launched his element. Harry twisted, landed, and cast a full pattern of killing curses and then took stock.

The cameras and sensors on his gear sent readings straight to the Divisional TOC (tactical operations center) and all the TOCs close to him and the battle command blue force tracking system painted a picture in the projected translucent view in front of his vision. Everyone was filling in targets, everyone with a view that is including the battle staffs watching the images they were being fed by drones. The technomancers and developers had even managed to automate some of it. Autonomous ground vehicles skittered around in front of the troops doing the same missions as the drones and if attacked by demons exploding like the mobile five hundred pound bombs they really were. They had a skin of DU molecules thick that usually kept the demons off of them.

It was a well-executed contraction, like they had done it hundreds of times even, practice makes perfect. He stood gathering information and hurling the occasional curse at the enormous tier five's still up and moving. Some of them were enormous. He laughed as one stepped on a sponge that was out of its CEP (circular error probability) and was sucked into it. Leaving a five story tall pile of shredded, putrid, meat and bones the other live demons fell on. He let that go as those would dig to the bottom of that pile and touch the sponge and charge it right up by getting sucked into it, and he didn't have to spend any energy on them. It would activate everyone within ten kilometers portkeys just before it detonated like a ground burst nuke. Outside the portal, it could probably suck up all the demons here and not explode. Well except for the class two. Sometimes they set the things off on their own in the early years. Harry had never been that lucky, but it had happened. Hence the warning rune string, and the activation rune string he had added to the emergency portkeys everyone wore.

He continued to look at the map and his surroundings. Usually in this contraction or the next was where they found the pens with the stored live food or entertainment, if there were any. He would need to apparate and then hold the next high ground while the regiments and magical battalions came up behind him without the area affect killing curses if there were pens. The drones, air or ground, hadn't seen anything though. So the artillery and bombs were still walking forward.

Fred came up behind him and nodded once he had his attention "Well that was too easy."

Harry nodded cautiously "Yeah I'm getting a feeling. Keep moving up." He watched the barrage clear his next target, twisted, and was gone.

Fred frowned as Angelina, George's widow, now his wife and his second in command came up "Boss going fast."

Fred nodded "He has a feeling." Angelina winced and tapped on her device. The battalion surged passed in short apparitions by twos.

Harry got to the military crest of next high ground, walked up until he had a view to the center of the crater, and sighed. His HUD came up and he noticed the other big hitters moving up as well. A mundane armor unit was guarding the demon pile at the sponge. They could handle it. The other leader's instruments were confirming what he saw. There would be no pens. The whole crater floor was demons standing shoulder to shoulder.

The loitering aircraft rolled in and the party started. Fred came up about fifteen minutes later "Those tankers are playing with those demons. Well, the two that are left. They are so full of their mates they can hardly move and the tankers are herding them around with machineguns. Sick bastards." He grinned "I told them I wanted a memory and video, if they actually got them to dance."

Harry laughed. Angelina came up and looked over "That is a crap load of level sixes."

Harry nodded "They aren't real bright though. Why don't they attack and try to break out?"

Fred sighed "The idiot actually has control of the tier two."

Harry shrugged "It would be the first time one managed it."

Angelina added "He will get tired too. Let's get as many of these dead as possible before that happens."

Harry nodded and the aircraft rolled off station, ordnance expended. Thirty seconds later the artillery began to impact. And the bombs from the high altitude heavy bombers began taking out grid squares. Nice tight timing. Couldn't get much better. Harry smiled. He was having a Patton moment. It was so sad, he was so damaged. He did love this so much.

Harry went back to watching and his mind, fully capable and very sharp, also contemplated other things simultaneously. He had a set of skills second to none now. Skills that were in all probability no longer going to be in demand in the next few hours. He was well versed in equipment maintenance and operation. All of the equipment his Army had at its command. He was expert in runes and healing. He nodded to himself. Healing was good. And would always be in demand. He chuckled. He was probably going to have to learn pediatric and OBGYN healing though. If Lavender Brown had her way, just for her.

His eyes flicked to where Lavenders battalion of weres was in their intermediate objective and laying a withering fire at extreme range. They all had M107 .50 Browning Machine Gun anti material rifles and Mark 211 armor piercing explosive ammunition. That stuff did horrible things to demons. The only thing that was worse was Mk211 Mod 4 which had nano powder DU added to it. That was just getting into wide availability though.

The normal magical troops rifles were all 7.62 NATO loaded with shrunken Mk211 projectiles, with runes on the barrels that took the shrinking charm off as the bullet cleared the barrel. They were also worked every way Harry and the other rune masters in the forces could. They could probably take down a main battle tank, and made their own ammo if you kept up an aimed fire. All the weapons, or most of them, were strengthened and had the magazines that made ammo. If you weren't a shooter in the forces you were a medic or working in an operations center somewhere, those folks got pistols. Tokarev pistols shooting shrunk down Mk211 were surprisingly effective. Not accurate at all past fifty meters, and prone to failure as all that pressure and recoil had to go somewhere, but effective. Everyone carried at least one of those, most carried two in case one failed. Harry favored a shoulder holster on the left, and a drop leg holster on the right for his pair.

Harry tapped on his phone, as the carpet of demons succumbed, and started the countdown to the next contraction. On zero, just as he apparated, the last of the artillery fell. Harry did his circle when he landed firing his pattern of area affect killing curses, and turned to the inside. He found himself looking at the portal, occasionally through a forest of tier five's twenty to fifty stories tall. He took a knee put the elder wand in the chassis and got down prone and started shooting. He chuckled. The elder wand was singing to him. It really loved killing demons. He would have to do a purge and a cleansing ritual after this for sure. It was standard practice but the wand was making a joyous noise. Never good.

Fred brought his unit up, and the tanks and IFV's came up and took up positions about five hundred meters apart. Rune engraved depleted Uranium penetrators were nearly effective as killing curses, and the tankers and mech infantry were having a party. The sabot petals were nearly as effective as the penetrators at close range. This crater would be uninhabitable for thousands of years. No matter, someone would cap it and pour in water, and Africa would have power for all those years too.

Harry looked at the now cleared path to the portal through the shimmering heat waves of the dead tier fives and frowned. There were no demons there. He looked at Fred and shrugged, then tapped on his computer, the final assault started and ran into a ward about half a klick from the portal.

Harry shrugged, dug in his pocket, and got out a handful of stone blocks about the size of dice. He pushed then up against the ward with his wand and tapped them, they expanded to their normal size of about a cubic meter and the ward pulsed. He set one every ten meters until he was out. Fred sent pairs out to put more stones down every ten meters or so.

The mundane began to withdraw, killing everything alive and not friendly, on the way while checking accountability. Half of the magical units helped them.

Harry stood watching inside the ward and frowning. Fred looked at him "Boss?"

"Something is wrong. Pull everyone back to the last contraction. Get accountability and fall back to the second line. Put up shields. I'm going to go in here by myself first."

Fred gaped at him "You're drunk. Hermione would kill me, Daphne would reanimate me, and Luna would kill me again, Then Gabrielle would torture me so much my grandkids would be screaming."

Harry laughed then sighed "If there is anything in there other than this idiot, who I can't remember the stupid fucking made up name of right now, I will bug out. The ward sappers will have the ward permeable in a few minutes and I'll check."

Angelina had walked up "If your wives kill Fred because something happens to you Potter you have to shag me."

Fred nodded then froze "Wait, what?"

Angelina shrugged "He's me back up."

"I thought I was your back up?"

"Succession of shags Weasley. Three layers like they taught us. I got your swimmers in storage along with Georges though, so there will be another generation of Weasleys. Alicia, Katie's and my eggs stored in three different places too. Harry and Neville listed for swimmers for all of ours as well as you Weasleys."

"Oh, right then. Wait a minute!"

Harry rolled his eyes "Standard signaling."

Angelina nodded and led Fred away. Harry nodded. All the witches and wizards had eggs and sperm stored. In multiple locations. As soon as this was over they were going to be cooking first their babies then babies for all their friends who had not survived. Harry had nearly objected to the amount that had been collected from him when most of the witches put a Potter baby in their will. The wives found ways to make the collection fun though.

He hit a speed dial on his phone "Neville, yeah. I pulled the magical back to the second contraction in stages. Do accountability, then pull them back to the start point. Something is wrong here. When the sappers bring the ward down I am going to check. Hold the mundane forces at the ten kilometer circle and have them dig in. Be prepared to transport them if something comes boiling out of this freaking hole." He rolled his eyes "The girls won't kill you Nev." He listened and then sighed "Fine I'll put up sensors and cameras." Harry grumbled as he set up a sensor and camera array. Everyone acted like the wives would hurt them. Harry winced remembering Sydney. Well maybe it wasn't so farfetched, but a few hours in the infirmary and everyone had been right as rain. Well besides that stripper but she had been a bit forward really. Plus she worked that limp into her act, he heard, he had deleted that video she sent, quick check, yep deleted.

Harry sighed. He was so tired. He had read a study that said the average combat infantryman in World War II had spent ten days a year in combat. By the time this started the combat and combat service support units when committed were spending three hundred days of a year long tour in combat. Outside the wire they called it. Support troops were inside the wire but the FOBs were in Indian country so no one ever got to completely relax. How many days did that make for him? Sure he looked twenty five but that was, well, a different problem.

He checked his computer. An ominous silence was holding on the Command net. The Admin and Logistics net was humming though. The girls were so going to kick his ass. Damnit!

The ward sappers glowed a dull red and Harry backed away. Finally the wards broke and cascaded down like toilet paper burning out of a tree after Halloween. Augusta Georgia, trees all over the place looking like torches. Fishing troops out of more strip clubs, loaded with strippers in vampire and witch costumes, well if four square inches of lace could be called a costume. And Americans said Aussies were crazy. At least Aussies had real lager.

Harry cast and sighed when the casting revealed nothing. So the hard way then. He looked at his computer and smiled at the units having withdrawn in good order. He walked past the line of glowing, popping, ward sappers and as soon as he stepped across the ward line another ward went up. Harry chuckled. It was in contact with the sappers. They would take it down in a few minutes. He spun into a low crouch and fired a killing curse. The idiot he was here for danced away screaming. Harry never let off the gas again. He was a bit angry. The idiot had been laying under a lead foil sheet with the edges buried in the dirt. Old trick.

The dark wizard had some talent though. He would have given Riddle a run. Too bad for him that was about a hundred dark wizards and witches of that high, or higher caliber ago for Harry. It was also too bad he didn't seem to be able to cast with both hands simultaneously. Riddle and Harry's own wand simultaneously fired strings from the killing curse, through a strangulation curse with no counter, with stops at blood effects, bone breaking and soft tissue damaging, vanishing and expelling. He hit the ground as hamburger. Harry figured out the second part of the ward set that had sprung up just as he died.

Fiendfyre sprang up about five kilometers out. Harry grinned evilly, that withdrawal had saved the Army. The cursed flame raced in both directions consuming the demon bodies and growing in leaps and bounds. It would have triggered the emergency portkeys, if anyone had been left accidentally, that close. The engineers should have gotten the containment ward up at the ten kilometer line. Harry attempted an apparition to no effect. He hit his portkey next to the same result and was backing away when the flame front crashed against the still working ward and washed over the dome of it. Harry looked up and cursed. He knew what would happen next and he had nowhere to go. The ward sappers would detonate. With fiendfyre on one side and the wards on the other, he was trapped in the center of what was essentially an implosion nuclear device.

Harry was not a subscriber to the Kobiashi Maru scenario however, and turned whirling the invisibility cloak over himself, snap changing his holly wand for the elder wand in his right hand and casting at the portal. He was casting shields at the sponge with one hand and runes with the other trying to somehow affect its performance or really its destination when he felt the ward fail. The sponge was glowing white and dropping and Harry leapt toward it never quite touching it but falling through the event horizon of the portal just as the compression above him detonated as he expected it to.

Harry turned in his fall and cursed as he saw what was either the biggest tier two ever or the theoretical tier one open its mouth and gulp down the sponge. Harry rolled in a ball snapping his wands into their holsters and willed a shield over himself. His final thoughts were "The girls are going to kill me."

SSDV

Hermione looked at the live feed from Harry and growled "That Man!" She looked out the side of the TOC at the enormous mushroom cloud.

Susan Bones blinked. Luna sitting near her patted her hand "It's Harry. He's fine. He's just on vacation."

Susan looked at them amazed, and then it changed to a glare "You knew this was coming! You expect me to take over! Oh hell no!" Hermione, Luna, Daphne and Gabrielle looked at her and she leapt to her feet, or her peg and her foot "Neville!"

SSDV

In another place Jedi Master Aayla Secura was winding up a planning session with the latest update from the Scouts. Jedi Knight Bariss Offee would take one section to the water plant. She would lead the rest of the element against the droids base to give her time to secure the water plant and then she would fall back to it. Aayla froze for a minute as the Force sang briefly then she led the others out.

Bariss shuddered a bit then led her section away. She was thinking it was a bad omen, whatever she had felt in the Force. Secura as always looked confident and buoyant. She was also displaying, again, for her clones. One minor gaff and she had been sent to exile with the 327th, Secura's collection of worshippers. Skywalker had needed another Jedi for the 501st, since his little padawan resigned in her fit of pique, but did she get that? No.

SSDV

Palpatine, Chancellor of the Republic, and Darth Sidious, writhed on the floor of his office burning all over, then he lost control of his bodily functions, and the shroud was ripped from him for a moment. He regained control, but it took a great effort, and the shroud was not as it had been.

SSDV

Yoda was meditating. He did that a lot. He sensed the Sith lord. Very powerful and very close. In the center of the capitol! He opened his eyes and called for Master Mace Windu.

AN: The original idea was Plums. Plums, consider it an homage. Some of this will be close to his/theirs but I have tried to extract it all. If you recognize it, it is someone else's and they deserve the credit.

*Chapter 2*: Chapter 2

Same Song Different Verse

Chapter Two

Out of the Fire

Harry traveled in his tucked position, like he was being fired from a sixteen inch naval rifle. He felt himself moving through some type of something sluggishly then was ejected into air. He uncurled and blinked as the ground receded under him. He sighed. This was new and different. Hell was apparently a jungle. Some of the older veterans had said somethings about a green hell, but he thought they were telling war stories.

Hey wait, Hell had ships on land? Holy fuck! How was that thing flying? It was the size of, hell bigger than the Eye! And round. Holy crap I'm really up a ways. Those squares are troop formations then. Crap that was a lot of troops, corps sized element. Oh shit falling!

Harry looked around frantically for a few seconds then settled into it. He was a wizard after all. He cast a few charms, windshield for one, and saw a line of troops, or rather several lines, approaching the regimented squares of troops. He sighed and coasted trying to come down off to the side of the closest line, and hoping the smaller line to his right was flankers. He softened his landing as much as he could, short range apparated to a dead stop a few times to kill his velocity, and grunted when he hit the ground, or rather the mud. "Just fucking perfect. And in the middle of somebody else's war. If it weren't for bad luck..." Harry thought about lying back in the mud and just staying there. The girls would be trying something and would be angry, angrier, if they had to come find him once they got here. He sighed. He couldn't not do something. Well he could sleep, in a year, after this adrenalin charge wore off. Fuck, that was bizarre. It was like Dumbledore was alive and dreaming up demented mad hatter crap again.

He sat up after rolling over, cleaned himself, and apparated to the top of a giant mushroom. "I've landed in Alice's Wonderland." He sat for a moment and noticed how magical this place felt. The air seemed to hum with magic. His reserves were filling rapidly, or refilling rather. Nearly painfully rapidly. He had spent nearly everything between protections on himself, and trying to make the portal do something other than transport him to hell. Both had apparently worked, but he needed a minute. He took up a cross-legged seat and tried to clear his mind.

He got flooded with magic. He struggled and then sighed and just let go. That worked after a few minutes, he managed to clear his mind, then set about what he wanted to do in the first place.

The first thing he tried to do was feel for his links with the girls. He got a vague feeling of anger and winced. That was going to hurt when he got home. OK so they are alive at least.

Second he pulled back a little and got a bit of a feel for a vast array of places that had powerful magic. It was dizzying, things rushed in on him a bit and he took a while to get control of it. Withdrawing further, or would that be closer to himself? Anyway he, finally, after a bit of a tour of the galaxy? Could that be correct? He felt this planet. The whole thing. Like he was connected to it, and the magic was singing to him. He was amazed, magic in this place shouted and sang and begged to be used. That first feeling before he had started withdrawing his conscious must have been the whole plane or new Universe. Luna would be pleased. All those arguments she had with Hermione about the 'multiverse', turns out she might have been right.

He explored the magic for a while until he felt two magic users close. Others too, lots of others. Further away though and the usual mix of normal, he refused to call them good, because they could still do some bad things, and just fucking evil bastards. Surprisingly few of those. A horde would go after the good folks here nearly immediately. Wow, unless they could eat things. Holy crap there were whole planets that were just freaking evil. What the hell had gone on here?. He had developed some finely honed sense during the demon wars. Probably hunting dark idiots too but especially in the demon war. He could feel them anywhere on the planet, the last planet he was on. Well the upper level ones. He snorted. The last planet he was on. Man he was going to hear about this for a thousand years. Hermione already brought back shit from first year during 'discussions', the fucking train ride even. He zeroed in on the two close magic users and determined they were in the lines of troops moving through the jungle. Golem troops? No, something else. Not normal though. He felt around and blinked when he could only get the feeling of magical devices from the ranks of regimented troops they were approaching. Machines? As troops? DARPA gone mad perhaps. Well madder than they were normally. The boffins were a bit head in the clouds all the time. The Yanks would indulge them as well. Liked their shiny toys the Yanks. They did come up with some beauties though. Well the Army and Marines. The Navy and the Airforce spent all their money on airplanes. Phhhttt. Drones could land on carriers, turn tighter, and carry more ordinance for the fuel as they didn't have to support a pilot. Hmm he might have been hanging out with the ground forces a bit long. Seriously though the Warthog and Buff drivers were the most reliable of the air forces. Well Marines, but then, they were grunts too, sort of.

Harry shook his head. OK, so magic users in the area. Jungle. A fight going on. He was suppressing his aura after that wild first flight and then feeling around and they weren't. That probably meant there were no demons here. Aura suppression was something that he, and almost every magical person on Earth, was required to perform on instinct. The primary prey of demons were magical people, Dark oriented first, evil shits at the top of the menu. So, in a city full of six million people, if there was only one magical person out of all those six million, the demons would immediately attack and try to kill that person first. They would even do this if faced with more dangerous threats. Then they oriented on the mundane evil bastards. No one had figured out how they did it. The acquisition of the ability to suppress an aura around the clock, even while sleeping, became a tiring exercise, but eventually everyone learned it, or did not stay alive long. They had some aids, but they weren't as good as occlumency barriers completely locked down. You could feel the devices. The smarter demons figured that out after a while. Of course they were then killed, and didn't transfer the knowledge, but it could have happened.

He took another look turning in a slow circle on top of his mushroom and took in his surroundings. And the two moons in the sky. "Well we are definitely not on Earth. Talking to yourself already Potter. Not good."

Harry looked up at the sky as it lightened and gaped. That was not the kind of sky he was used to. It had a purple tint. He nodded, felt in the magic of this place again, and located the closest magic user. He was going to have to do some recce.

Harry made it about a half mile before he was sweating like he was around a dead demon. One of the problems of fighting them. If you killed one it radiated heat and all kinds of bad stuff for days, years really but the first days were the worst. They had burned Lisbon to the ground fighting the things before they broke the code and made adjustments to their techniques. Los Angeles too. Then the chopper teams got made up, and demons became fuel. They had drawn, or rather started to draw or push the demons to the sites the choppers, who were mostly goblins, wanted them in before they dropped them if they were outside a portal zone. The Goblins had flipped out over demons, and either ran screaming away from them, or at them. Nothing in between. Very few ran from them though, and those not every time.

He applied a cooling charm under the cloak, and kept moving in the direction he was feeling the magic user in. He was making good time when he finally saw the lead elements and thought they were probably a few hours from the other army in this jungle. He settled in to follow and observe, moving from tree to tree, as hidden as his magic could make him.

Harry was a bit amazed when he finally identified the magic user. First it was a she. Her clothing, such as it was, left no doubt of that. A skin tight leather top, just barely covering her large breast and toned arms, and skintight, extreme low rise leather pants, firmly packed with a magnificent arse and great legs. If she was human he was about a millimeter from seeing her slit, and the crack of her, magnificent, ass, unless she was like some of the trans troops. nah no bulge, a mound, but no bulge. In between were acres of thick abdomen and back, like a MMA fighter with a chest. He did mention the large breast didn't he. Large, tight looking, high mounted breast. Holy fuck she turned him into a tit man. Even Gabrielle hadn't managed that, and she had a rack that was unbelievable. The weirdest affectation? Difference? Whatever you wanted to call it, was a set of tentacles, or maybe wrapped hair that leapt off the back of her head, and trailed over her bust or behind her back depending on where she moved them too. Oh well, maybe the weird part was she was blue. Woad maybe? Not like he hadn't seen troops every color of the rainbow. Usually wearing active camouflage however, not quite so much of them to look at, well between that and the helmets, body armor, knee and elbow pads, gloves, helmets, ballistic eye protection, boots, like that. Lots of different colored faces though.

The soldiers with her were in white armor with shaded eyes. Harry snorted. Troops and sunglasses. They would probably wear them in a cave. At least the ones they had used in the earth armies offered ballistic protection, and dozens of charms, plus a translucent VR image of the battlefield from the battle control systems, as well as looking cool. Plus he shouldn't complain. A lot of wounded had jobs making those things, the sponges, the suppression runestone necklaces for the children, Mk 211 projectiles, all kinds of stuff. No one got to just sit around. White though? Were they from a cold climate? His troops spray painted everything in earth tones as soon as it was issued to them. No need to huff just walk by a group of troops not on mission. The paint fumes would get you high.

Harry dropped into the magic around him as he traveled and observed. Something felt off about the other magic user, the farther away one. Blue felt great, erh, in magic, crap that wasn't better. The girls were going to kill him. If he was going to make an approach this one would be the best. He had felt ones like the other before. Those who had been evil but swore they weren't. The demons order of dining had sorted them for the whole planet.

The incursion in southern England had wiped many a former Death Eater family, who were 'reformed' according to the government, right off the map. Odd how the demons went after a lot of the allegedly noble English pillars of the community first. Gold wasn't as tasty reckon?

Notably the Malfoys and their vassals. Except for Astoria who was at the Greengrass estate being mad at Draco and running home to mother for a few days when it happened. And Narcissa who lived at Harry's house with Andromeda most of the time. Just to cause trouble, he was fairly certain. Now Astoria lived at home with the Greengrasses raising Malfoys. One a year for at least the last five years. He wasn't going to ask where she got the swimmers, or why the kids had black hair and green eyes when they were born. Nope certainly not. Nor was anyone asking about that blood that was under stasis in her dressing table. Flask after flask. Draco must have thought he was being attacked by a vampire. The demon probably had to wash him down with a keg of lager, like he was pub jerky.

Harry chuckled thinking of Vampires. Boy those fucks and demons did not get along. Viktor Krum, and Maria his wife, had sent some footage of the fight in Romania. Cured two problems that incursion did. Of course Harry had to go down there for the class two after it killed Vlad, or whatever the current elder vampire was named. but it was so beat up it really wasn't that hard. He had tried to tell Viktor. Maria had stomped on that for some reason. Hermione got pretty growly at her about it too come to think of it. He would have to check those memories later.

Anyway they, the Death Eater families', had railed about how the Aurors and military had responded to slow to help. At least the survivors, those few, had whinged about it. Tough to help when you couldn't get in the wards and had to use sappers. Somehow Daphne shut them up eventually, after a year or close to it. Fucking whiners. They tossed killing curses around like beads at Mardi Gras for Tommy boy, but forgot how looking at a demon?

Harry chuckled, humans found out why elves were enslaved too. Little Buggers went completely psycho on demons. It was shocking. Of course none of them were unbound after that and if someone thought you were abusing one a lynch mob was liable to show up. Little buggers were scarier than the demons. Hermione had been totally smug for months over it. Of course until a demon showed up at an elves house they just went along as they always had. Then demon, and wham, Kujo! Something about demons not being human so they could take all their rage at being bound on them. That was the theory. More like it was a demon that bound them if you asked him, as they didn't do that to Goblins. No use asking the elves. They acted like they didn't hear the question, you couldn't even order them to answer because then they played like they misunderstood and your dinner was cold. Your boxers turned pink too.

Veela weren't much better, whole flocks of them slaughtered demons at every opportunity. Of course Gabrielle had found out why. Veela weren't dark at all. They were other. At least in their thinking. Like the goblins. A wholly alien thought process humans had learned to work with. And demons wanted them for other than food. The ladies objected. In large calibers or with swords and fire and with deadly intent. Once they transformed the heat seemed to fuel them too. As long as they were with a flock they were fine. If their flock was taken out, and they were wounded, the demons swarmed them.

A few fights had developed when the Veela elements threw everything in to recover wounded. Of course everyone did the same, but the demons didn't fight quite so hard to hang onto a snack, as compared to keeping a Veela. That drug in the units near them and then the reserves, air forces, all the arty. Harry and a couple of heavy hitters, It had been bloody.

While he was sunk into the magic he was constantly being fed by the planet, or something, like he was at Hogwarts. The whole planet acted like a ley line interstice and the magic sang. His reserves were filled, and he was amazed sparks weren't shooting from his fingers. Some of the plants glowed with it. If he stayed here he would have to get samples. He could also feel magical animals moving about. Harry was pretty sure he could apparate anywhere on the planet blind, and tried a few short hops to test the theory. Up in the canopy, so it wouldn't be quite so hard to extract himself if he missed. Nothing like having to phase your foot out of rock to teach that lesson.

His thoughts led back to the portal and what had happened. He was fairly sure that was a tier one, or rather, the tier one. The actual king of that hell plane. The most powerful magic user they theorized. If Luna's theories were right, and there were other planes like that, he didn't want to know about them. He went through the memory again and noted the blasted barren terrain behind the demon. It was alone as well. Had they finally won? He hadn't been there long enough and had been a bit busy to be feeling around, busy not pissing himself, as well as trying to avoid having to cut himself out of a demons gut. He wasn't so worried about the hell plane, there was magic there after all. Not that he wanted to go, but he could have survived it. Probably. He snorted, definitely, if anything could he would have.

Harry nodded to himself. So here he was, not on the hell plane, though it was hot as fuck, and muggy too. He didn't know about portals or enough to know how to make one other than for summoning. He had some books, who knows how many, Hermione stole and copied from the Unspeakables. At least one a day and all the libraries he, she, and they had access too. All in a library trunk you could put a fleet aircraft carrier in, and very illegally and in contravention of regulations, inside one of his trunks. Regulations be damned, he had never seen a cascading expansion charm failure and the idiot Unspeakables could kiss his ass. They had produced one hitting a trunk with a finite then a killing curse with the lid and the compartments open. They were just seeking relevance. Anyway everyone copied all the books and gave out copies to everyone they knew. That was aside from that technomanced kindle thing constantly uploading books that were translated and loaded into that web site Hermione had set up. A bunch of the wounded worked on that too.

Anyway, to get home was going to take some studying and a shed load of power. He was going to have to bone up on arithmancy too. Hermione and Luna had everything they knew about every portal in a self-updating book all in arithmancy. Runes were easy compared to Arithmancy. Particle physics were easy compared to Arithmancy. Maybe he could open one, ride a sponge to the demon plane and make it take him home when it exploded? Erh, maybe save that for a last desperate gasp. The girls weren't that mad yet.

Meanwhile he had to survive here, and while he could do that, he didn't particular want to do it stuck on this steam bath of a planet, and he had felt people moving around on ships in space, or at least magic users. Some that needed killing out there too. He frowned and wondered how many had felt him when he made his uncontrolled entrance to this world. He had had the cloak on though and the blue girl seemed not aware of him.

A mental light came on for Harry then. He could let up on his shielding a tiny bit and gain her attention! He slipped off his cloak and as they progressed he let up on his suppression. She was suddenly much more cautious and looking around.

Harry had years of experience fighting and being around troops and the body language of the troopers near her said she was the leader. And respected, maybe adored. At least lusted after. There were a lot of helmets turned to that ass, when she wasn't looking. He was now shifting from mushroom to tree branch to giant flower to stay abreast of her, and looking at the odd equipment these troops had. Something that looked like a tank on legs, another that looked like APCs both open and covered. All on those weird legs.

An aircraft flew over and Harry nearly fell off his mushroom. Fucking thing was quieter than a Hog, even once it had passed him. It had a weird buzz too, like it had shed a turbine blade. When the strafing run began he did jump down. All tracer. Bit of overconfidence there. Airdales were all the same. Heavy sounding though thumps though. Thirty millimeter or better.

Suddenly the blue girl turned directly toward him, and took off running at incredible speed, making prodigious leaps. Harry froze and clamped down on his aura suppression and she stopped about fifty meters away. His magic was singing for sure now, and those were some kind of tentacle. Somehow it all worked for her though. Why did she have a torch in her hand?

Harry watched as the twelve troopers who been with her most of the day came up behind her. Her personal protection detail probably. He heard radios, then suddenly the body language shifted. Harry watched in horror as a mutiny happened right in front of him. They had mutinies early in the war, and then later some troops broke and fled, killing their officers and NCO's or rather letting them get killed. He had never seen one until now, and seven of the twelve got off shots before he snapped their necks, on instinct really.

Meanwhile he felt a lot of pain and betrayal as the magic he had felt earlier screamed. He also felt it from the other force user on this planet, before he felt nothing from her. Harry concentrated and focused himself, and went into battle mode. He flicked a stasis charm on the now wounded, severely, blue girl and looked at the troopers hopefully. He found one still moving, breathing on his own, but it was movement, and smiled. He dropped one of his trunks, fished out a polyjuice potion, got some of her blood in it, she didn't have hair on her head, or under her arms, and he wasn't checking downstairs, and watched as the potion bubbled and turned blue. He shrugged and switched it into the soldier who then nearly disappeared in the armor. He shrugged, chuckled and vanished the armor. He conjured fake Blue clothes from the sweat soaked undershirt and boxers he had been wearing, flipped him over and matched what he remembered of Blues wound pattern. He flipped fake blue back over. He looked at the troopers and collected on e of each type of weapon and a radio thing. Then he dropped the radio. On Earth networked communications told the TOC where they were. He put the trunk away after getting another vial and tapping it with his wand. He cleaned up the area of as many traces of him as he could find.

Then he picked up the Blue, summoned her torch, concentrated on a safe place, and apparated away. Dropping a vial of erumpent fluid in the middle of the dead troopers, or between them and dead fake blue really. At least that was his intention but he had arms full of Blue and was concentrating. He did see it spinning the direction he wanted.

SSDV

Harry landed in a field in front of a cliff and walked forward, smiling as he saw the cave. He checked it with a wave and walked into it. He conjured a concrete floor, dirt was impossible to sterilize, and an operating table with a flick and lay the girl down. He needed emergency treatment first or she was going to die, stasis or not. He stripped her, cleaned her and got her situated on the table and draped. He scanned her quickly and got out a vial of near golden fluid. He dripped a bit in each wound, thankful she had not been injured in the head, or in those tentacles that contained part of her brain, according to his scan. He was also glad the tears apparently worked with no side effects. He watched for a minute as they bubbled or rather the wounds did and at least stopped bleeding. That would hold her for a few minutes.

Harry stripped off his armor, put his trunks down, laid out his wands on another conjured table and got wards up. The stones were already carved, he just had to add his blood and hers, of which there was plenty around, and then set the stones. A tap of a summoned wand and they were up and running. They would charge slowly, but it would be enough for now. He didn't dare exhaust himself full charging them, not when he had no idea how much work he was going to have to do on Blue.

Several dozen charms and transfigurations and the cave was an operating theater. Sterile too. Now Harry really got to work. He looked at the first scan he had run, ran another and noted what was changed then went to his potion supply. He switched three potions into her and took the stasis off. He scanned her again and didn't like her volume. He wasn't going to do tilts, but her pressure should not be that low. Not in a fast moving warm blooded animal anyway. He got out an unfixed blood replenisher, dropped some of her blood, he cleaned, into it swirled it gently for a few seconds, and switched it into her superior vena cava or rather what looked like it and was full of blood. It worked on all magical species on Earth and it worked here, thankfully. He nodded, and started a large bore IV drip of normal saline, she had both water and salt in her blood in approximately the same quantities as human blood, while he still had a vein, in case she went real low.

He worked over his patient, examining her in minute detail, including injuries that were probably old, or surgical, while he thought and the tears he had used on her worked. She hadn't had foreign matter in the wounds, so they were easy, like burns really. Excise the damaged tissue and then some healing charms and a drop or two more of tears and that was good. He didn't really want to get to invasive, or heavy on the potions, without some more in depth knowledge of her species. The tears she had tolerated. The old injuries were the normal thing. Mundane surgical fixes. Some charms and some tears would fix those. It was all kind of the same as the wounded troops after a incursion really. Well, he wasn't a mind healer, and she wasn't awake, so really it was the same. The only way it would have been better was if he had had the elixir and she had been dead or dying.

Harry had taken Dumbledore's vaults, or rather Daphne had, and there, in the main vault was the stone he allegedly destroyed. It didn't give immortality, but it did transmute lead to gold and produce a liquid that would heal people. If you didn't mind inflicting pain on them like Voldemort's cruciatus. Oh, and making them sterile. As nearly everyone had eggs and sperm in stasis though, all the field surgical teams carried several vials of the elixir, and vials of tears. Daphne was close to duplicating the stone as well.

He had no idea if she had her eggs saved though, so the elixir was out until her last breath. Tears though, well he had plenty of those.

Phoenix didn't like demons either. Worse than the elves. Everyone knew now why the flipping birds had that reputation. Phoenix song apparently drove the fucking demons mad as well. Bit of a surprise that. Really if there hadn't been so many of the fucking things, and the tier fours and up hadn't been more powerful than the average magic user, it wouldn't have been that bad. Well, if the fives hadn't been the size of tall buildings. Well, if there had been more elves and phoenix. Harry shook his head as he finished up examining the Blue girl, who appeared normal in all respects, aside from those tentacles and some deviation of her internal organs, two stomachs for instance. Oh and being blue, which was her skins pigmentation. No looking at her color to tell her oxygen saturation. He set a charm working on vitals. He had to twist it a bit but he got it to work. Goblins and the other species had taken a twist or four hundred as well. Not to mention elves, a whole different charm for them. Their magic was different, fundamentally different.

Whoever had enslaved elves must have been the magic user who created the god myths. That had been a powerful motherfucker. Or like he thought a demon, class two at least. He chuckled as he cleaned his hands, or a tricky magical like Daphne. Phoenixes? Who knew where they came from and there would be no enslaving them while the planet was still inhabitable. Squawking and flaming. Flames coming from their talons like they had after burners, thank god it wasn't the cloaca right? How much would that hurt? Wonder their feathers stayed on when they got up to mach three and dove through a demon, or a line of them, like some demented, autonomous, kinetic energy weapon.

Harry used a vial of tears in the drip and conjured a chair. He sat watching the blue woman for a reaction after a scan and laying all the results side by side, on a low table in front of himself to see any changes.

He had heard the radio but hadn't understood the language. Translation spells were intent based, and you had to have some idea of what the other person was saying, and some other aspect of the language. A frame of reference sort of. When she woke up she was going to freak. She had been strong, sure, and fast. Brave too, coming right at him like that. Unless he figured out a way to communicate, it was going to be a fight, and she might be reinjured.

He now had two sure apparition points on this world and could get back quick if she stirred. He had an hour or two before she needed, or could tolerate, more potions. Harry cast a monitoring charm on her in addition to the charm displaying her vitals, along with placing a set of four stones that had her in a hundred percent oxygen environment at .5 bar overpressure, which at home promoted healing and helped keep the patient areas sterile. He also gave her a big dose of vitamin C as an antioxidant, because of the one hundred percent oxygen environment. She already had some ascorbic acid in her system, about as much as a healthy human, percentage wise, so probably a thousand mg wouldn't hurt her. Turn her urine orange maybe.

Harry put the monitoring charms on her, and checked the cushioning charms and containments, so she wouldn't either roll over, or off the table. He draped her as best as he could leaving the wounds exposed, and brought the temperature of the space in the wards up a few degrees to what appeared to be her normal body temperature. He had never subscribed to that freezing operating theater theory.

Now he could look around a little. He concentrated turned and went to where he had picked her up arriving disillusioned, silenced, and scent suppressed, with the cloak on so he didn't need the full suite of stealth charms, including thermal signature suppression. Somehow the cloak did that. Surprise! Death apparently saw near and far infrared, like some animals. Who would have thought?

The troops were gone. Dead and all. He followed the crushed path through the understory, no stealth used by those troops at all, just a straight line and running over everything, in short apparitions and found them at an airfield? He poked around for a couple hours, got the lay of the place and then pulled back and apparated away.

He scanned Blue again gave the next series of potions, including a nutrient potion, as her body would be burning calories like mad as the tears worked, and massaged Blue's knee with some tears in an oil base potion that was good for connective tissue. The potions had to go in her in a certain order at specific times. Soft tissue regeneration then nerves then bone and he didn't need others influencing them inside her when her metabolism was already slightly different. The topical potion was great for sore muscles and joints. Rucking eighty percent of your body weight taught you quick. Better than Ibuprofen, which the mundane called 'Light Fighter Candy'. The tears would help too, and never interfered with other potions except for some of the more questionable ones, which had better counterparts anyway. He examined her wounds and nodded to himself. He scanned her again and compared the sets of scans smiling. He would need to move her, and get some clothes on her in an hour. Right now she was face down, on a customized to her operating table, those breast had to go somewhere and he didn't want them interfering with her breathing so they were in two dents in the table. Blue was still in a hundred percent oxygen environment thanks to the specialized ward and charms. He looked at his supplies and shrugged, he had one renewable resource. He switched a full vial of tears into her superior vena cava. While she was in a coma that would cure what ailed her if nothing else did. He would work on restoring her fully over time. The tears would keep her alive nearly no matter what.

Then he sat down and started on his project. Dean had taught them to make flip books which were kind of movies on paper in first year, and then had found a charm to do it with a memory or been shown it in third year, by then they could all draw fairly well. Well not Ron, but his stick figures had gotten better. They had made some movies from memory with it. It was clumsy and had none of the three dimensionality of a pensieve, that he learned about later, but it was cool for a thirteen year old who never really got to watch the telly. Well, watching Deans memories of shows had been. Everyone had made the books in a kind of fad and Seamus along with Ron had made porn flip books. Ron's drawing improved then. He never really got into those, but they were pretty detailed. Which of course made them make them in private and hide them after Neville pointed out they remembered some john thomas's in excruciating detail. Harry smiled. Everyone had tortured Seamus and Ron endlessly over that. The flip books were great for scouts and operations reports though. More secure than digital video storage and required no power. A few runes and they could be impervious too. A charm Seamus had found trying to make them, erh, liquid proof, lets say.

Harry had nearly perfect recall now, occlumency at a high enough level to suppress an aura came in handy for lots of things, and was amazed at how good the story turned out. In color even. He went from his last battle to now, him sitting here making the book, and put a few of his visions or insights of this plane, place, time or whatever this was, in it. He rested a moment and then added a whole section of him making this going backwards after a scene of a time turner with a clock counting backwards. He had managed to decipher the symbols for numbers from the shelf aisle labels in that big arse warehouse at the airfield. The numbers had started in single digits and gone up with a different lead digit every ten until it got to a hundred and seven so he was pretty sure it wasn't an alphabet. He had seen what had to be a clock too. Two digits, a space, two more digits changing every minute going up by one.

Harry busied himself drawing a map of the compound out of his memory and onto a large engorged parchment. He then ended the enlarging charm and marveled at the detail. He worked on his plan to empty the base into his trunks for a while. He would make another book of that when he had it in his head.

Last he checked the monitoring charm on her and got some rest. He set an alarm for an hour.

He woke up when the wand he had set the alarm on was just starting to shock him. He must have been tired. The vibrating normally woke him. He checked Blue and found her still in the coma but pretty much healed besides some scarring.

She was still in a coma though. He sighed and gave her a millisecond burst of cruciatus and checked her again. He nodded as her levels changed. She was sleeping now.

He lay back down after resetting her monitoring charms. The cruciatus had broken the original ones.

He snapped awake what felt like a few minutes later and checked the time. An hour. Wow, trips to, or through hell were tiring apparently. She had stirred but not woken up. He conjured a large t shirt and some track shorts onto her like Hermione liked to sleep in, well boxers, his boxers but he wasn't doing that with some girl he had never even spoken to. He levitated her, banished the operating table to the side and flicked a bed out, then levitated her to that with the wards still on and ran another charm. He lay back down on the couch he had conjured and waited. Sleeping in his alert mode.

His mind was busy working on all the problems he had right now. He had seen some amazing technology. Those walking things were pretty fucking retarded when you apparently had antigravity, but to each their own. So he had a language to learn, or more than one. He had technology to learn. He had to learn the lay of the land here and he had to figure out how to make a portal work to get home. Plus he wanted to see if they could affect these magic users dying all over the place. To do all that he was probably going to have to kill a few of these evil bastards, enough so that the others learned to leave him the fuck alone. No sweat. Same song different 'verse, universe in this case. He laughed at himself over that. Fuck the girls were going to kill him.

SSDV

Mace Windu lay on the floor of the office, dying. His regret were the Jedi masters who were dying with him or were already dead. He and they had been arrogant. They had never expected a Sith Lord of Palpatine's power, and now he had led them to pay the price. Worse, the younglings, knights and temple masters were paying the price now.

SSDV

Yoda sighed and winced feeling the loss of so many Jedi. He ordered the guard to alert and meditated on what else he should do while sitting in a treetop on Kashyyyk. He had been so wrong for so many years. How had that been? Admittedly, in the last two hundred years the shroud falling across the force had made things more and more difficult. Really though it was his, and through his training, the Jedi Orders arrogance.

SSDV

Darth Sidious cackled as the reports rolled in. Jedi were dying in droves. Soon the Empire would rise from the Republics ashes.

*Chapter 3*: Chapter 3

Same Song Different Verse

Chapter Three

Into the Stew Pot?

Harry sprang awake, his monitoring charm had awoken him with the soft happy feeling of a well patient, cast a tempus and blinked "Six hours. Fast healer. I did use a lot of tears though so we will have to make sure everything stays healed." He had never had a reversal, but it allegedly could happen. Well, he could get that IV out of her and heal that. Check how much she took on board as well. Maybe empty her bladder for her. No way was he using a bed pan on her.

Jedi Master Aayla Secura awoke and lay still trying to figure out what was going on. She was in a bed. A very comfortable, warm bed. She was clean and someone had taken her clothes and put her in different ones. She remembered the pain and levered herself up. She tried to feel of her back through this strange shirt and saw the human sitting on a couch across from her bed. Before she could speak he brought her a glass of water and a book which he tapped with a stick. She felt the Force as the book leapt into the air and the pages started turning rapidly making a kind of two dimensional holo of a human and others, this human and others, fighting rancors and transdoshians, giant transdoshians, and other things, things bigger than the legendary Zillo beast, or not so legendary now that one had escaped and trashed a section of Coruscant before it was brought down. Then him fighting another human and jumping on a glowing ball after killing the other human as flames sprang from the ground and rushed at him then over him. Glowing square things exploded and he rode the ball down toward a huge Rancor, the biggest one yet, it ate the ball and the world smeared.

He flew out of the smear and saw her unit moving, along with the droid army they were engaging to their front as he apparently lifted toward orbit, then he floated down, landed and she watched as he saw her, watched her, and followed along parallel to them. She drank the water and he refilled the glass with his stick. She blinked at that and then looked back at the book as she charged him and he froze. Then her clones shot her. They shot her. She remembered. She felt the others die. Her eyes teared up and he tapped the book and it stopped. She looked at him and he smiled sadly. He waved at the water and she drank then he waved at the book and tapped it again.

The scene changed and she flinched as her clones heads snapped to the left, too far to the left. She watched as he somehow changed one to her, made his armor appear disappear, dressed him like her, and then the clone died. He cleaned up, closed a box, it shrank and he picked her up, force pulled her saber to him and then they vanished. The world blurred again and they were standing looking at a cave. She watched as he walked in the cave and things appeared as the cave changed. He lay her on a table, her clothes disappeared and he treated seven blaster wounds in her, any one of which should have been fatal.

She looked at herself, interested, as he treated her like a Jedi healer, very professionally, and then left her. The image shifted and she was looking at the Clone camp and LZ full of troops getting ready to leave. One more shift of the world and she, or her view of him, was back at the cave. He treated her again and then the book ended on a strange object and a time keeper readout running backwards. The last shift showed her Bariss Offee killed by her own clones and a saintly looking figure nodding but crying.

She looked up and blinked. He tapped the book with a finger and filled her glass with his stick. She watched again as everything she had seen happened in reverse and drank more water, and he looked at her at the end holding the real version of the odd device from the book. He turned it to the last image of the smoking hole where Bariss had been and wagged his finger at her while shaking his head.

She blinked "So you are a Force using, warrior, healer, who is a mute."

Aayla nearly fell over when he spoke in a pleasant voice but she didn't understand a word. He frowned pointed to the clock in the book and then the device. She frowned "So this can make time go backwards." She pointed at the clock and gave him a questioning face. He nodded and pointed to the last drawing again, the one of Bariss and shook his head. He looked at the device and frowned then said something but wrote twelve in aurebesh, more like drew it. Maybe he was illiterate?

Aayla sat for minutes. Obviously she couldn't save Bariss. Bariss wasn't the only death resonating in the force though. There were thousands. Those perhaps she could do something about. "Fine come on then. This is all a dream or a nightmare. It's the glitteryll giving me a flashback, or a hallucination. It happens sometimes. Usually they don't hurt though. You don't understand a word. This is going to take some time then."

She got up and looked around. He blushed, Force pulled her clothes to himself, and her sabers to her, somehow used the Force to clean and repair the clothes as she stared at the blood and blaster burns in her top then handed them to her and resolutely turned his back. She chuckled "A prude, illiterate, warrior, monk, Force user." She squeaked when he waved over his shoulder and she was nude. Aayla looked around and dressed then charged at where she could see daylight rather than the odd hovering flames lighting the cave.

She turned around and blinked. There was no cave.

The monk stepped outside, really appeared from nowhere giving her a start. Her precognition didn't warn her though. In fact her Force connection was being strange and nearly cuddling his miniscule force presence. He handed her another book and tapped it and a plan unfolded. Her at a holocom, then them running around taking things and putting them in boxes and making a frigate disappear. Going in the armory and making weapons disappear, and then her doing something to weapons they left, followed by a scene of an Agricorp worker throwing his shoe in a grinder. He had the stick weeder and everything, This was followed by supplies disappearing into his odd box, food, water, medical supplies, feminine hygiene products, office supplies, uniforms, armor, paint, wait what, paint? Oh everything! OK she got it, prude, illiterate, warrior, monk, Force user, thief. "How long were you wandering around? Did you go in every building? How did no one stop you?"

He handed her a very detailed map of her base. She nodded. He had not just wandered every building. He had wandered over every inch of the base apparently. She got the gist. She watched the book as three Venators left the planet. She was nearly overwhelmed but she steeled herself and drug him toward the base.

He squawked and followed her then drug her to a halt. He looked at her with an arched brow and pointed at the time again as it hovered in the air and she nodded She looked at the time piece on her wrist comp and said "Seven hours." She paused a moment, she had been attacked and nearly killed seven hours ago. She would have been killed if it wasn't for this strange human. He had healed her from injuries that would have kept her in bacta for a week in seven hours. Aayla shook her head and reordered her thoughts. Time, seven hours would give her time to infiltrate and warn Bariss. She looked at him and he stared back and she got the feeling he knew what she was thinking. He shook his head, pointed at her, made a scattering motion with his hand and pointed at her then the clock. She shuddered "So if I change some things it would spread me across time?" He reiterated his signs and nodded. She sighed then nodded and held up ten fingers then two. Might as well give them as much time as she could. Maybe they would get caught and it would change Bariss fate, after they had warned the Order of course. Surely she could talk herself out of imprisoning herself. Wait, what? She sighed, she hated the glitter dreams.

He nodded and put the chain attached to his device over her head and around his neck before reconnecting it, and then he spun the face of it with a small knob on the side. He released the face, as it spun she watched in awe as the sun climbed in the sky the wrong way and headed to the other horizon. The world slowed and stopped and he took the chain off and pocketed the device. She turned to go and he stopped her by grabbing an arm and twisting. The world blurred. The Force grabbed her and squeezed, she gained her vision back outside the perimeter sensor range of her camp. It was one of the worst experiences she had ever had with the Force. Like being submerged in it then pulled through a fuel supply pipe. While she was recovering, he tapped her on the head, and she shuddered as the Force oozed down her body. He then waved at her and she squirmed and wriggled as the force adhered to her somehow. She blushed as it gripped her in very private places. She shot him a glare and he disappeared except for a feint outline. Smiling. She narrowed her eyes at him. Then shuddered as the Force stopped oozing around her.

Aayla blinked, got used to it for a moment, then she led off. She went straight to the command center. She led them to the door, looked in and then looked at him and made a shooing motion. He frowned for a moment then smiled and nodded. He waved at the door and the room and all the clones and support staff left. He looked at her and held up five fingers then waggled his hand.

Aayla nodded went to the holocom and fired it up, connecting to Master Shaak Ti. She was typing as fast as she could on the keyboard as she waited on a connection. By the time the connection was made she had typed three pages and pushed send.

Harry looked at the image and tapped Aayla on her head. Master Ti's eyes widened "This is a new skill."

Harry smiled at Aayla's grateful look and backed up. "Master Ti, We have a huge problem, you are going to find this hard to believe but please hold your questions." said Aayla quickly, not waiting for Master Ti's acknowledgment of the greeting. "I've travelled back in time twelve standard hours. In less than three hours, clone troopers will attempt to kill me on this world. They were ordered to do so, Master Ti. The Jedi are about to be betrayed by the Chancellor. We need to evacuate the Temple and get the younglings to safety while we still have a chance."

"Aayla. Time travel is not possible?"

"I can't tell you the details right now. I've� I personally can't change too much. I'm not allowed to change anything I know will happen, to avoid creating a paradox I believe. Since I have no idea the fate of those back on Coruscant and on other worlds, I simply felt many joining the force, I thought it would be possible to change some things and help Jedi� elsewhere," pleaded Aayla, her composure starting to slip. Harry saw Shaak Ti's eyes widen. He knew that in that instant the woman understood what Blue was telling her and believed her.

For the first time ever, Harry actually felt what he thought was the timeline splitting, or shifting, or something. The other line didn't end, it spun or wandered off in a new direction. Close at first then diverging wider and wider. He could also feel Luna smiling. She did that sometimes at home when major events occurred. She frowned too sometimes, and last time that frown had meant demons, which was not so good.

Shaak Ti asked "How do we know this is the Chancellor?"

"He's the only one with access to even the hidden instructions in the clones. He can use that to override the Jedi in the chain of command. General Kenobi is engaging General Grievous today. If he defeats him the Chancellor is supposed to stand down as Dooku has also been defeated. Mace Windu has already said in counsel the Chancellor is surrounded by the dark side. The Council has already decided to arrest the Chancellor if he does not stand down on Grievous defeat Shaak." said Aayla without any hesitation.

"Master Windu has gathered several Masters. He has had some discussion with Knight Skywalker about Palpatine. Palpatine got Skywalker on the council. Windu thinks Palpatine is the Sith Lord." Shaak Ti nodded thoughtfully.

Aayla nodded "If they fail he will give the order. Undoubtedly they failed before I came back in time. They either need more forces or to do something else, meanwhile we still need to warn the Jedi in the field, their Clones cannot be trusted until this is resolved. Where is Skywalker?"

"Leaving on a mission against the CIS leadership on Mustafar but his ships have not yet loaded the 501st and departed." Shaak Ti replied and the two looked at each other. Then nodded.

Shaak Ti finished "I have your plan. I will start the others in communications notifying the Jedi off world and talk to Masters Windu and Yoda."

Aayla nodded "May the force be with you."

Shaak Ti nodded again "And with you." The connection terminated and Aayla checked the time and smiled, she had been quick enough, barely, by a few seconds, no record of a call that short in the net. She erased the local record grabbed her human and left. She wriggled as she felt the force flow over her again after he tapped her on the head once more. She was going to have to talk to him about that. It wasn't bad just, well, different, and grippy. Supportive rather than directive? Something, nice though. Plus if she moved correctly she was invisible. This needed more investigation.

Aayla led him to the stores warehouse first and pointed out food. She watched, amazed, as the pallets of rations were moved, duplicated, shrunk and disappeared into an assault pack. Ration bars, fresh food, water, spices, sweeteners and cooking oils all disappeared while the human grinned and she marveled at the way the Force moved for him.

The next marvel was the tiny hinged box he had placed on the floor and somehow used the force to expand, then, grinning, opened the lid of and force levitated near a regiments worth of food for a campaign into. She considered the box and then eyed him as there was a mountain of what appeared to be junk in the box. He colored slightly, shrugged then closed the box and made it shrink again before putting it in a holster on his arm and looking at her with an arched brow. She rolled her eyes and led him on.

Next, they hit the medical stores. She pointed out the supplies she would need, he looked at her, shrugged shrunk them all, and put them in his box. Aayla snorted, there were going to be some extremely pissed off techs and officers. He also took most of a regiments medical supplies leaving his force fakes. Aayla fretted about that a bit, but the ships would have fully stocked med bays.

They hit the armory next, where she debated then did a little, or a lot of, sabotage. He winked and waved and the weapons showed clear and safe status indicators as they had when they walked in. Aayla returned his grin this time.

She led him off to her starfighter and pointed at it and Bariss Offees'. He waved and then waved again and she watched as the earth rose up and swallowed the Starfighters and changed to look like a low hill. It started with the Force moving and shaping the earth but settled into a mostly natural feeling. Aayla was fairly certain he had just buried both star fighters.

He led her to a frigate and pointed. She laughed and waved him toward it and he waved at it for several minutes. Then he got out four rectangles of rock and placed them around it. This time the Frigate just disappeared. Like the cave really.

He stopped by a combat walker with a mass driver and got a gleam in his eye, As she watched he made the mass driver separate and disappear. She blinked, and led him to power converters and ammunition for it. Those disappeared too.

She led them to her room in the barracks but sighed, her card key would show what time and who opened it if anyone happened to check, her being in two places at once was going to cause some problems. He looked at her and the card and waved. Every door on the floor popped open. She grinned. He handed her a dark green assault pack and mimed holding it open so she did. He waved and said 'pack'. She was surprised to understand the word and all of her things flew into the pack. She looked in it and he grabbed her as she got vertigo like she had with his impossible box. She was either learning or that had been a contextual intuitive translation. He was constantly talking in a low, pleasant voice, at least while they were alone. Aayla resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her Force being warm and happy about him.

She went to Bariss's room next and looked around sadly and he produced another pack. She held it as he waved and Bariss's things flew in the pack. They would get them to her family if she had one or the Jedi if they survived. If the Force willed it they would return them to her.

Aayla looked at him speculatively and led him back to the hangers and maintenance bay and pointed to a charging rack full of astro mech droids. He got a look and rubbed the back of his head then detached rack and all and made it disappear in a swirling blue light. Aayla led him around pointing at various maintenance supplies and cabinets and he vanished them all. She nodded and took him to the command center where she hunted down a droid with first contact capability and pointed to it and then tried to sign for the cave. Finally, he smiled and the droid disappeared to the cave, or she hoped that's where it went.

She was amazed at the amount of stuff they had stolen. He had of course been creating duplicates of the things. In her examinations of them they felt like the Force or like they had the Force in them, and it was receding, lessening perhaps. Through his pantomime, she got the impression they would fade away. Still though, a first contact protocol droid and a Frigate disappearing would cause problems. Hopefully it was dismissed as a mix up. A quick recall, as she had witnessed before, sometimes produced errors like that, that then took weeks to sort out. Plus if her sabotage worked as she hoped the traitorous bastards would have other things to be worried about. Like survival.

She was now exhausted, and they had used nearly all of their time. He looked at her, put his arm around her and they disappeared. They reappeared in the cave and he smiled. He dug a rucksack from one of the trunks full of stuff, extracted and put up a tent, of all things, and disappeared inside.

Aayla frowned and followed him then stood stunned at the large room with carpets, leather covered chairs and couches and a fire place. He led her around and she smiled at the bedroom and the big bed. She frowned at the smaller bedrooms. She smiled again at the kitchen and its food preparation and storage, and then squealed at the bath. With a shower and bathtub! She stripped immediately and laughed as he fled. Prude. It was cute.

She lounged in the tub after a shower, sniffing the various bottles of manly smelling things, until she found one she liked and poured it in her bath. So there was a woman in his life somewhere. Well if she used her male friends as guides. They picked one thing and stuck with it for years. Sometimes if it wasn't available anymore they got upset. She chuckled remembering a few conversations over the lack of a particular soap after the company making it went bankrupt.

He came in in a robe and she grinned at him as he glared and got in the shower. She thought about standing up as his view wasn't blocked due to how tall he was then wondered where that thought had come from. She had never teased anyone in that way before, not purposefully. She had of course posed as a dancer on a few missions, but really that was just a cover, not her. She must be getting tired.

She left the bath, found an adequate but bland dinner he had prepared, and then went in the bedroom and dug in his drawers until she found a pair of shorts and another of those funny shirts. She dropped her clothes and put the shorts on and was trying to figure out how to get her head in the shirt when it appeared on her and she looked at her blushing human. She laughed and pushed him in the bed crawled in behind him and snuggled in as he lay stiffly. She was asleep nearly immediately.

Harry lay awake for a while contemplating how the women in his life just took over. This one wasn't even in his life. And she was blue!

He woke to her crying later and felt some pain and betrayal but nothing like it had been before. Just barely an echo. He sighed and pulled her to him.

SSDV

Shaak Ti had sat in the briefing in the High Council chamber with a padd preparing plans after getting a warning sent out and transmitting Aayla's rough plan. She was waiting and as soon as Master Kenobi confirmed he was going to engage Grievous she knew it was all true. She sent her plans to the knights she had working and they started sending them out. Really all they had to do was hit send and continue to add Jedi to the address list. They, herself and her group hadn't had long but she had managed to cobble together a plan based on the data Aayla sent. She thought that if it worked as Aayla intended it would cripple Palpatines forces. She only holed it wouldn't lead to the CIS taking over.

The other part of her plan was the evacuation of the temple. That was critical. She would work on that as soon as this council broke up.

She didn't try to hide her activity and Yoda looked at his padd in his holo and then up at her. He was attending via Holo from Kashyyyk.

Mace Windu looked at his padd and nodded. He would need to take more Jedi to the Senate Building.

The Antarian Ranger General in his holo looked at his padd, scowled and then started issuing orders with quick taps. Apparently the Rangers already had a contingency plan.

Obi wan simply looked down nodded and continued. He already had a mission.

They all felt a wrench in the Force, like everything slid to the right a meter or so. None of them would ever know a fork occurred in the multiverse right there and two planes separated and began drifting apart.

Contingency plans over the galaxy were sent out and began execution. Jedi separated themselves and their padawans from their troops and began missions to sabotage this latest effort of the Sith, while shaking their heads not believing it was possible. They drove on though. They had orders, and the way they planned the sabotage if the clones did not act the way it was predicted they would nothing would happen. Well besides the Jedi getting some time away from their troops and the Rangers activating their defenses. It would look like a test of readiness for the Rangers and another mystical Jedi thing for them.

SSDV

Luna smiled and knew things would get better. Then she frowned and took the book from Hermione and took her to bed. It was going to take a little time but that meant they had time to beat this plane into shape. Also she could plant some seeds. Oh seeds! They could have four, no five children apiece for their friends who had died! They had healers, they were all healthy, they could carry five to term reasonably safely. She paused and looked at the lines cleaning themselves up. Hmmm yes this could work out fine. She would have to go back and make the changes in the line s she had written down.

*Chapter 4*: Chapter 4

Same Song Different Verse

Chapter Four

Stone Soup? She Asked.

Aayla snapped awake in the morning and groaned. She was so warm and comfortable. Her lekku were wandering over something soft, warm, and smooth and one of them was wrapped around something the perfect diameter and just rigid enough. She blinked and blushed realizing where she was and what her lekku were doing. She stilled them, then slowly withdrew, resisting the urge to giggle. He would freak! He averted his eyes from her nude form and here her lekku were having sex with him. She sighed as she broke contact and he went back to being a blank in the force. He had been a solid firm presence last night, more than he had been yesterday. What was the difference? Touch perhaps? She tugged at the shirt and sighed as she padded to the fresher. She didn't want to destroy it but she couldn't get it off, either over her head or around her shoulders. She left it on and kept the shorts on as well. It wasn't like they were going anywhere. Her exhaustion after twelve hours of work yesterday indicated she wasn't fully healed quite yet.

She walked out of the tent toward the front of the cave and saw the first contact capable protocol droid standing there. She opened its back panel, erased its ownership data and reinitialized it with herself as its owner. Thank you Chancellor. She spent some time working on its mission parameters and functions and making sure it was ready to record everything her human did nearly as well as an archivist droid. She took it back in the tent and stood it in the large room.

She did some stretches and was bent over wide legged and head down when he came from the bedroom. She smiled at him upside down and he chuckled then blushed. She rolled her eyes and stood up. He walked into the kitchen area and she followed with the first contact droid. The droid introduced itself as he worked at the cooking surface and he nodded and said "Harry Potter" pointing to himself. The droid introduced her as Aayla'secura and he made an effort at it. She beamed at him. He was taking the droid rather well. Oh she assumed he was from a primitive culture! Because he didn't speak basic perhaps? Aayla chastised herself a bit and watched. Breakfast proceeded with him holding up a thing and giving a name and demonstrating its use, while he named the technique he was using. Obviously not his first time working with someone who didn't know his language. The droid told him the name of the thing, or technique in basic.

He appeared surprised as the droid started putting together simple sentences by the time they were done with breakfast. Hmmm, maybe he was from a primitive culture. He made a few corrections to it as it improved. He led her to a cushioned table that had appeared in the main room and lay her down on it with her face in a hole. Her clothes vanished off her and he put something marvelous on her wounds and massaged them slowly and carefully with the droid attempting to translate but not quite there yet. She snuggled into the bench, table thing and as he eased down her back massaging lifted her bottom a bit. He obliged and very professionally worked those large muscle groups. He then smacked her sharply on her butt, cleaned her clothes, and turned his back then used the Force to vanish the clothes she was wearing again, as she dressed she rolled her eyes, again.

They took a walk outside with the droid translating more and more, then they went to see if the Clones had left and what they left. As it turned out they left a lot. Useful but near worn out vehicles, a scrap pile, a trash dump, and the odd piece of dropped kit, or item, lost in the rush to leave, No ammunition or weapons however, besides the ones they had stolen, all the usual detritus of war.

They went and checked the frigate. It was near brand new or a near new refit. Without checking its hull numbers it would be impossible to tell. The consular class had been in service for decades. During the war they had been refit as Frigates and Command ships. They spent some time on it and getting the droids and other equipment he had moved under or close around it on board. Harry then walked out and started shrinking vehicles, equipment, and scrap and making them disappear. When they finally left the only thing left at the base was the stabilized, rammed earth, landing field. The jungle would take that back without droids to keep the brush and creepers trimmed. They went back to the cave in the frigate and Aayla chuckled, still amazed, at the tiny piles of scrap and the shrunken vehicles and things. Most of it would probably eventually end up in the mass converter but, they needed that too. Aayla had flown the frigate with the droids helping back to the cave. Harry watched intently. As they lifted they saw the Droid army frozen in the regimented ranks still. Aayla frowned. That was not good.

They set the ship down. Harry brought out the packs and they divided everything between the tent and the ship in case they had to flee and leave one or the other. The droid got better and better at translating and then suddenly made a leap like they sometimes did. "Master Secura, he is actually using a language much like basic, simply a different alpha numeric notation system and the language has drifted. One or the other, his 'English' or basic has picked up words from other languages as well. Perhaps both." It turned to Harry and said the same thing in his language. Harry looked thoughtful.

They took another walk that evening and Harry stopped to pick up a few plants and samples of some wildlife, mostly insects, he summoned. It all went into a small pouch at his waist. Another of those bottomless bags of his.

They had a long, droid facilitated, conversation about Magic or the Force. Harry grinned a lot. Aayla ended up rolling her eyes a lot. She did get shown the wards and why the cave was invisible to those not keyed into where and what it was by Harry.

Harry made his 'flip books' to explain quite a few things. He made lunch while Aayla went over all the ones he made, his map, and formulated more questions.

That evening Aayla brought a shirt and shorts and stood in front of him and he waved and changed her clothes. He got her sitting down and pulled out one of his trunks and got out a crystal. He, through the droid, explained what it did and that if she could clear her mind of everything but her memories of Basic the crystal could copy them and then he could use it to learn the language. At the price of a bad headache for the learner.

Aayla nodded. They had this facility at the temple but most Jedi avoided it. It was a really bad headache, that could in fact affect your performance for days. It was also done by a device powered by electricity, not the Force. She wanted to see this.

Aayla entered a meditation and Harry affixed the crystal and then left her to it and went and talked to the droid. Or rather had the droid show him the frigate and its systems again, with a R2 unit to explain, and the protocol droid to translate R2 to human.

Harry lay down that evening after their baths, where she teased him a little more to make him turn the cute pink color, and he affixed the crystal to his forehead.

Aayla woke up sweating and tearful again and he lay like a lovely warm rock. She contemplated it for a minute and then had a thought. She got up and went to the medical supplies. The R2s had cataloged and stored all the stuff they had stolen, which Harry had dumped out of his trunk in a sort of slow motion fountain of stuff, and then went to see the medical droid to see what the results of its scans of Harry were. She had explained what the medical droid was by having it scan him. He had been fascinated.

SSDV

The next morning Harry opened his eyes and smiled then grimaced. He stumbled to a trunk, opened the appropriate compartment and took a pain potion. He closed his eyes and sighed, when he opened them again he was looking at an upside down twi'lek face between spread legs with a gorgeous ass over it. He laughed "Good morning Aayla."

She whipped upright, lekku flying, spun around and jumped on him. Taking him to the ground. By noon Harry felt he needed a nap and he was talked out. Aayla quirked an eyebrow at him, and he put the last memory back in his head from the pensieve they had been using. She stood up, drug him out of their cave, and let him go, then just walked "So four wives."

AN: From Grammarist, In all main varieties of English, dragged is the standard past tense and past participle of the verb drag. Drug is a dialectal variant that appears in many areas of the U.S. Though drug is common in these areas and cannot be considered wrong, itmight be seen as out of place in more formal writing, where the traditional dragged is always the safer choice. From me, I don't consider fanfiction formal writing. There that should fix that. All you grammar Nazi's can go back to your perches now.

Harry sighed "Who I can't get back to right now. I have to live my life here and now. I'll still work a bit each day at getting home but I think the first order of business is survival. For that you are going to have to tell me what is going on here."

Aayla nodded "You have read the history, well, the modern one of the last fifty years or so, while I was in those memories. I suspect Chancellor Palpatine is a dark lord, much like those you fought. How we missed his rise, his master, and all the ones that have gone before for the last millennium, I don't know. We believed them to be extinct really. We won't be able to talk to the Order, if they survived, until we are safer. I hope that can be soon. Meanwhile we lay low here for a few days and then go see what we can see. I need to get my star fighter rings. Well mine and Bariss's. We will put the Starfighters and the rings in the frigate."

Harry nodded "He shows the signs. I wonder why they always want to be in charge. It's like they don't realize people are just a pain in the arse generally. Or that the more control you have the more decisions you have to make for the idiots. Don't even get me started about governments, that's just hiring idiots, to watch idiots be idiots, and pick them up and wipe their snotty noses and kiss their boo boos, until it all dissolves into a heaving pile of uselessness, because the idiots you hired the other idiots to watch think they have rights, besides the right to die. Meanwhile, there are some more plants and animals to be collected here and you need to finish healing which I didn't expect for weeks not days, however at the rate you are healing it looks sooner rather than later."

Aayla smiled at him smiling at her "Feel better with that off your chest? You can teach me how to manipulate the Force as you do. And I can teach you not to be a cynic."

"Yes I can teach you magic." Harry smirked. This was already an old argument between them.

Aayla turned, grabbed his hand, and drug him toward the cave "Hungry. We need to spend some time planning too."

Harry nodded "A result of the healing I think. And yes we do."

Aayla took up a seat at the island in front of the food preparation area, and they spent some time running over spices that he had and those they had acquired at the base before the clones pulled out. Harry finally nodded "Like an Indian but not like a Thai. So spicy but not necessarily hot. Ok I can do that."

Aayla for her part showed him some of the meats and vegetables and how she knew to cook them and laughed "The meat is blue but the blood is red."

Harry sighed "No worse than that paper white bird meat I guess."

"The bird will change colors when cooking it. It is a mark of great skill in a chef to be able to prepare it and have it remain that color." Aayla offered.

"First time boiling was the mark of a great chef. We are trying it my way." Harry nodded and got to work cooking all the samples of things they had gotten out and handled. The bird turned a spectacular golden brown. Aayla raved about it. She had never eaten it when it changed color before, well besides when she killed one in the field and cooked it herself, that was usually closer to black.

After lunch Harry sat Aayla down for a lesson in finding her core, and occlumency as a part of that. He had put a child stone on her already, like he did all wounded. He carried a moke skin pouch full of them. All medical personnel did. Most troop leaders as well. Sometimes wounded couldn't suppress their aura. Plus, you never knew what you would find on a battlefield.

He sat and sped read a padd as fast as his occlumency let him. That was basically as fast as he could move the pages. He would digest it tonight, probably.

Aayla gave him another crystal of another language. Her native language, Ryl. Harry assured her would do the same for her once she was fully healed. She got another massage and padded off to bed a noodle. She, or rather her people, had no taboo on nudity. Harry flicked the shorts and shirt on her as she disappeared in the bedroom. He didn't have a taboo on it either, but that was a lot of hot blue woman. A woman who was apparently in a celibate monastic order. He didn't mind the sleeping together, that was actually nice, but he wasn't going to go any farther without more of an OK than flirting.

Aayla woke up in the night again, and just lay looking up at the night sky of Felucia. Harry had fixed the windows and ceiling of the tent she had not known had been broken. It was nice. She realized what her lekku were doing again and giggled. She was going to get a face full if she wasn't careful. Plus the stones were wearing him out and he was generally very tired still. She would have to talk to him, before she woke him up with her lekku one night when they weren't doing the stones, and he was less tired. He was a perfect gentleman, with a beautiful, durasteel hard, warm, penis. No, stop that! Lekku had a mind of their own.

She slipped from the bed, out to the com link in the cave, and called the medical droid. She had gotten Harry scanned again today, and a droid trundled in with some further vaccinations and other injections. The droid had had some kind of mental break down when it scanned him this time, apparently it had thought it's first scans were wrong and had run a full diagnostic, and they had had to tell it why he had all these things in his blood and what they were. The droid got very excited about it all. Aayla had gone in the pensieve to see those memories and been a bit awed really. They had a long discussion over his life. Aayla just didn't want him getting sick right now, so she worked with the medical droid and got them another blood sample and moved on. She could come back to giant snakes and spiders later.

SSDV

Harry woke up in the morning and went through the same routine as yesterday, got the same view and laughed as she leapt on him again when he spoke to her in Ryl.

The pair spent another day talking. And trying to make plans. While he studied and she went to the pensieve theater. Harry was also reading like a fiend on a padd Aayla had shown him how to use that was linked to the frigates very up to date memory core and working to figure out how to protect the ship better or even if he could. She was a bit in awe of how fast he ripped through material. He shrugged "Occlumency. One of the side benefits."

He took some scrap and tested weapons on it, after ending the shrinking charm on the fighters while Aayla and a droid taking them to get the rings, while he waited nervously. Sitting around fretting was not something he did well. He even used some large stones, carved runes on them, activated the schemes, levitated the stones and had a droid shoot them with the turbo lasers from the frigate. He grunted when the runes somewhat worked, well, once he summoned the stones back and examined them or the pieces of them. He went back to doing rune schemes and plotting, erh planning. He stopped when Aayla and the droid brought the star fighters in, then shrunk and engorged them twice so she could run diagnostics to see if magic hurt them. Or rather he did that to Bariss's red one which was apparently now his.

This brought about an impromptu lesson in the shrinking and enlarging charm and where the weight went which led to arithmancy which led to him digging out the third-year books on arithmancy, explaining the alphabet, numbers, and pronunciation to the droid, and getting it started translating. Harry dug out the Hogwarts books and references for the droid, and set up a library in an expanded stateroom on the frigate so the droid could work at its own pace. What he didn't know was that the droid was putting the books in, or rather on the holonet. In a password protected section it gave Aayla and the astromechs the password to, but still. It was a bit like the cloud back on Earth. How could you be sure it was protected? Aayla rolled her eyes and explained it to him three times. He didn't seem any happier "Jennifer Lawrence found out about data safety."

Aayla frowned "Who is Jennifer Lawrence?" Harry blushed. She made him produce the memory. Aayla decided this Jennifer was very pretty, but she had better breast. Firmer, less sag as well. Better legs and butt too. Jennifer should exercise more. Sparring would help her.

Meanwhile big breakfast, lunches and dinners were consumed. Aayla found she liked American breakfast sausage, at least the spicy variety Harry shied away from. Harry found several fruits and the odd blue meat he liked in their pilfered supplies.

Aayla's massage happened and this time Harry put clothes on her as she got up. She, as was now traditional, woke in the night and grinned ruefully at what her lekku were doing as Harry learned Huttese. The language of the criminal underworld of the Republic. She checked, got the next series of injections, and gave them to him. She was a bit afraid of those stones at this point, if they could do that, keep Harry asleep with a lekku wrapped around him and stroking gently. He was normally preternaturally alert. And a huge prude, unless it was something medical.

She lay thinking as she settled back in after putting the memories away like Harry had told her. He had told her her mind would get them out and review them, but she should be sure to put them away after. Her mind palace, as he called it, was a library on her home world where she had hidden as a child and where she learned to read. It had small and twisting passages and niches for the old style data disk carved in the walls. It was a comforting place. Plus without the abilities her Lekku gave, it was near impossible for anyone but a Twi'lek to navigate.

She was nearly healed. He was teaching her, even if it was somewhat incidental and a bit haphazard. She would start teaching him her ways after tomorrow. It would be good to exercise again. Perhaps he could be a competent sparring partner. He had practiced with that sword enough in those memories.

SSDV

Aayla was pleased the way things were working out. They both gave in depth answers to questions, and the background if needed. It was a mutual learning experience. They were ranging farther afield from the cave and collecting more and more plants and animals.

Back in the cave he showed her the spells he used to analyze the things they collected and she showed him how to do it with the tools she had, or they had on the frigate.

What was not as satisfying was his ability to use the Force. To reach out to it. She was fairly sure the years of having to keep it contained were the problem. He could no longer just leave his shields down. Even with a stone on. It didn't stop him from using the Force like she did but it muted his ability. He could do it but it took conscious effort.

She on the other hand was struggling with her rudimentary mental shields. He said this was natural and it would be that way until she finished sorting her memories.

He had given her a purging potion too, he was concerned about the chemicals in her system. She had thought seriously about maiming him slightly when disgusting slime leaked from every orifice. The big lump had been sympathetic, attentive, and put her in the shower.

If she hadn't felt so much better that evening she might have maimed him. Well, that and he did a cleansing ritual which did a bit of the same things to him and took a purging potion. She asked him "Why are you doing this?"

Harry shrugged "I cast about forty killing curses. You don't have to hate to do it, but it is, hmm. Maybe it leads you there?"

Aayla nodded "Hate is one of the paths to the dark side."

Harry shrugged "So is not dealing with emotion. Any emotion really. It all has to be put in context and balanced. Killing curses though, they get easier if you hate. Then if you don't put the emotions away and deal with them on top of the physical by products, well it doesn't take long to overwhelm all but the most, impervious? Clueless? Occlumency or not. After that its a pretty quick spiral until it affects judgment and gets you killed. Maintain an even strain, that was what the troops said."

Aayla poked her tongue out at him, he was always having a go at the order over there stance on emotions. "I am done for the day until bedtime Master." She was hinting for her massage.

Harry smiled "All things in their time grasshopper. Hungry yet?"

"Urrgh." Aayla held her stomachs and blushed a bit. It was to soon after the purging draught.

Harry looked at the medical droids scans of her and went on a hunt with his hands, for the massage today. No one had ever been where his fingers and eyes had now traveled and it was like he was memorizing her for apparition coordinates. Or maybe a hyperspace lane. Oh it was all professional and like a healer, perhaps the best she had ever had but he had dove into the droids resources on twi'leks and then turned pleading eyes on her to let him find out how what he had learned felt. Aayla sat up after a bit warm, and damp. "Not hungry yet. Maybe in an hour or so."

Harry nodded absently and headed for the kitchen padd in hand. She rolled her eyes and followed him with her own padd. He studied as hard as anyone she had ever seen and with his occlumency he had nearly a hundred percent recall, the results were astounding. Right now he was planning how to take the plating off the frigate. So he could carve runes in the frame. At the same time he was plotting a ward scheme for it. Somewhere in there was a plan to do a rune string to conjure fuel. Deuterium. Heavy water he called it. It could be synthesized on Earth as well, so he had dug out a book that contained the method and was making that process into a rune array to be fed by another rune array that made the components of water. Since it wouldn't have to last long he was confident it would work. She wanted him to do it to the reactor of an AT TE, that was still functional, but worn out and not worth the fuel to freight it away from the planet when the Republic left. If it exploded they hadn't lost anything. It was one of the ones that had been field modified to an open command carrier. Now though even the command and control electronics had been stripped. It was essentially a reactor and generator with legs and a rudimentary droid brain to give it locomotion and guidance.

He cooked, read and scribbled notes all at the same time. She watched bemused. She took his plan for the frigate and started checking it and scheduling the work for the six astromechs. While she was at it she worked in some upgrades those ships had always needed, but who would take the hull plating off one to do it, outside a yard? She included some notes for him to do cooling, strengthening and impervious runes to weapons, engines, shield generators and emitters, and other select areas. They had tested several blasters and laser rifles to destruction getting the data they needed. Now it was a matter of scaling up.

After dinner Aayla surprised him "Lay down and I will massage you."

He hemmed and hawed until she put both fist on her hips arched a brow and her foot started tapping. His training from the wives kicked in at that point and he stripped and lay down. She went over him like he had gone over her calling the Force and directing it into him. She found enough knots of muscle to keep him awake.

He sighed when she was finished "Thank you. You do that better than I do."

Aayla laughed "Nope, and I can't do it to myself. Now hold still." She picked an injector up from the tray the medical droid had brought and Harry arched a brow. "You didn't have any of the immunizations all beings here get. I don't want you catching something. The medical droid is working on some of those weird bugs in your blood. Soon it will have shots for me, so you don't give me anything."

Harry nodded "The Colombian exchange." then winced, and stood when she was through. He gave her the puppy dog face and she snorted. He patted the bench and waved a cleaning charm on it and she smiled stripped and lay down. He didn't even blush. She grinned to herself. He got started and told her "I have the antibodies to quite a few things from where I was from. Got them late in life but still I got all the injections. Mundane and Magical. I'll have to get C five to translate a couple of epidemiology text for the medical droid."

She nodded "The Medical droid is working on it. It will undoubtedly have more questions for you, you will have to identify the antigens." She snuggled into the table and he melted her again. She padded off to bed with him following immediately tonight. Tonight she got a memory crystal of English. She was going to get English, French and German, the three earth languages he was competent in. Additionally, the vulgar Latin for spells he knew.

SSDV

Darth Sidious, former Republic Chancellor and now Emperor of the Galactic Empire surveyed his demesnes and screamed in rage, blasting another holo screen with force lightning.

Mace Windu had shown up mob handed and half of his Jedi had gone to the Senate to discuss the defeat and death of Grievous and the other half had come to his offices resulting in a pitched battle. During this the Jedi temple had been evacuated before he could get order 66 out. The Force was roiling. Order 66 looked a success though, until the reports trickled in and he could get a handle on the reality.

Less than a thousand Jedi had died. Substantially less, and they had inflicted massive casualties on the clones, going down fighting in every case. The Jedi were wreaking havoc on his forces on Coruscant, eliminating the vaunted 501st and Skywalker as an effective fighting force. The temple defenses were on full, and though the primary holonet was down, the secondary and tertiary nets, hundreds of them, were up and running, slicers were destroying any coherent picture he might present to the press.

Something had happened to the fleet as well, ship losses were staggeringly high. The CIS fleet and Droid army was awaiting orders. The only bright spark in this entire debacle.

Wait. He needed a fighting force and ships. He would send Skywalker to Mustafar to seize control of the droid armies and fleets, as soon as he was well enough to travel.

The inquisitors and acolytes would handle these slicers, and the bounty hunters would take care of the Jedi.

Yes, everything could be salvaged. The reason he had built in the layers of redundancy after all.

SSDV

Yoda was in full combat mode in the lower levels of Coruscant with the remainder of the Jedi who had attacked the Senate building and then fought a rear-guard action to allow as many Senators as possible to withdraw. The Red Guard had proved tougher than they had anticipated. They were decimated now however, and most of the Jedi in the galaxy were safe. Losses had been high, but not catastrophic, and the New 'Empire' had been punished severely.

Kashyyyk was in Wookie hands, Yoda having turned the Republic forces there into a fight with a CIS fleet in the system and off Kashyyyk. That drew the CIS forces back to space, and the Wookies had run a bit rampant over the skeleton force both sides of the conflict had left on the planet. The Wookies were now chasing down Republic ships and units.

The temple evacuation had gone according to Master Ti's plan, and the transports along with a hundred Jedi Starfighters, had left in convoy, cleared atmosphere, and then made it to the hyperspace lane, before the order Aayla Secura said was coming was issued. Something strange about that. Master Secura had never been known for visions before.

Now something must be done about the Sith Lord. This Empire he was trying to declare must not be allowed to flourish.

SSDV

Aayla drug Harry out of the cave in the early morning and got him started on exercise. He groaned like a teenage padawan. She rolled her eyes and was terrified to find most of the things she had thought were utter BS when they came from other Masters and Master Vos rolling out of her mouth. She was pleasantly surprised on the run though when he got tired, then started using the Force to keep up. She stopped at about the halfway point "Now since you have learned how to run, it is time for you to learn to jump." Harry, hands on knees and panting, eyed her. She huffed and jumped fifteen meters into a tree. He blinked. She jumped down and he frowned.

"Can you do that again please?" He asked.

Aayla opened her mouth and then saw his eyes glowing a bit. This was his Force sight. She leapt again then jumped down. He nodded and spent several minutes unsuccessfully jumping, just as she had gotten over her laughter, or was going to lose her composure and laugh out loud, he jumped and disappeared straight up. She gaped as she tilted her head and saw him a hundred meters or more in the air. She lost it when he screamed like a female youngling on the way down, then popped around with a series of sharp cracks until he righted himself, stopped flailing, and landed. A bit heavily truth be told. She schooled her features "So that is the force jump. Now we can make some time." She leapt away and felt him following in the Force. Not that she needed it as he was crashing through the trees like he had crashed through the understory at the start of the run. He smoothed out however.

Once back at the cave she nodded and drew her saber. He frowned and conjured a stick shaped like a saber but with a slight curve and took it in a two handed grip. She nodded checked her saber was on training setting and attacked. He lasted four slashes before he yelped as she got a stroke through his guard. She backed off and he nodded seriously "So the same as always, negative reinforcement training." He sighed.

She blinked and he made a charge that she fought off. And then tapped him across the shoulders making him growl. They continued for a half hour until she called a halt. "You never make a mistake more than once." She beamed at him.

He smiled tiredly "Nope, but I make them all once."

She grinned and left a trail of clothes to the shower and then a trail of water to the tub. He snorted and waved at her pants, top, headdress and boots and they picked themselves up, cleaned themselves, then folded themselves and landed on a bench off to the side. He stripped and got in the shower. She admired the view.

She blinked when he got in the tub. This was new. She rested not saying anything as he laid back and soaked. "You use magic to jump and land. Nearly identical to some other magic I already know. That's how I got the Force jump so fast. I have a feeling younglings don't normally get it as quick as that."

"No, normally it takes them being very frustrated. At least it did with me and all the Jedi I have spoken to." She got up to leave and found her ankle in his grip and then him up beside her from the tub and then on a knee at her feet. Her heart rate picked up. He summoned a brown flask and looked up at her "Dittany." He took a touch on his finger, and rubbed it along a scratch on her calf. He worked his way up her, applying the Force imbued liquid as he went, then silently handed the bottle to her taking a seat on the bench. She knelt and worked her way up his many more scrapes, scratches, and training saber burns after he pointed to them.

She watched fascinated as they faded nearly immediately. "This is good. We had many problems with fungus in wounds, even simple ones, on this world. Many troopers were out of action in medical from those infections."

Harry smiled "Yes, we learned the hard way about breaks in the skin in jungle environments as well. Dittany helps with skin and slightly deeper wounds. Anything more than that is beyond its ability really. There are other potions for other injuries."

Aayla smiled "So now I can sleep as I prefer, as you are no longer a prude?"

Harry rolled his eyes "Breakfast. Then we sort my trunks and your packs and add the stuff to our inventory. Well the stuff we liberated anyway." Aayla snorted at the 'liberated'.

SSDV

Shaak Ti was in a freighter she had acquired from a slaver in her first port off Coruscant, after she had freed the slaves, and taken them to the Wookie consulate. The vessel was in good condition overall, but It was a slave ship so was in a need of a good cleaning. She felt a nudge from the Force and dropped out of hyperspace heading in the direction the Force was urging her. She let the R2 unit land the ship as she Force leapt into the fight, just as the Master was struck down by one of the three persons with red bladed sabers he was fighting, as the Padawan fought off another. She ignited her saber immediately and waded into them. If there had not been three of them they would not have succeeded against the aged master of this padawan. She dispatched three quickly, recognizing two as Jedi, or former Jedi of low rank in the temple. The Padawan with her twin sabers and odd technique finished the fourth. The former Jedi Shaak recognized had been in the local Coruscant section. The other two she did not recognize. She snapped her saber off and moved to the padawan who was on her knees by her master, her eyes filled with tears.

The padawan was a young, healthy, female, Zabrak. Red skinned with red eyes, that were slightly off putting now in the advent of the rising of the Sith, but were common with her race and coloring. She appeared to be seventeen or eighteen. "Come Padawan. Let us reunite your master with the force."

Shaak kept the girl busy building a pyre, and then levitating her master to it, while she and the R2 stripped the bodies and their ship of anything useful. Resources were a key now. Then she stood with her as the flames consumed her former master. She could feel the Padawans pain and rage. "Your emotions are appropriate padawan. For this time." After the pyre had consumed the girls former Master Shaak nodded "Come, let us finish and leave here."

Shaak, the Padawan and the R2 unit collected anything of value they could find in the escape pod the Master and Padawan had landed in, and the ship belonging to the four inquisitors, as Shaak had found they were called. She had pulled their computers core memory, power, and processing units, and they left the bodies as the carrion they were.

The ship she had acquired being set up for one crewman operation, she let Maris Brood, as she had discovered the Padawan was named, use the guns and fly while she destroyed the inquisitor's ship. It took some effort, as she, or they and the astromech, had even taken its fuel and reaction mass.

SSDV

Aayla huffed at Harry laying frozen as she snuggled into his side nude. She flipped one of her lekku onto his chest and lay fading into sleep rapidly. Harry found sleep a little more slowly.

SSDV

Harry woke up with Aayla making upset noises and squirming a bit, and pulled her to his chest. They had forgotten the crystal last night. She stilled then awoke, as he had expected as the windows had lightened. She rolled over and smiled at him, and then got up. He closed his eyes making her chuckle.

As Aayla showered Harry cleaned the sheets and made the bed. She came in the lounge of the tent and started to pull him out the door, he stopped her and put his hands on her breast from behind over her top. She gasped and then moaned as the Force washed over her breast and upper torso. He said "Support charm. I noticed you were a bit sore yesterday."

Aayla nodded smiling "You have been trained very well." Harry snorted and herded her through the flap.

They exercised, ate, and did a plant and animal collection moving farther afield, via apparition this time, as he tried to talk to her about how to do it. Aayla was straining, and obviously making a face, as Harry was chuckling, when an Acklay stepped from the thorn trees at the edge of the field of immature mushroom trees they were in. Harry looked at the creature and Aayla snapped her head around as he had stopped chuckling "Acklay. Pack hunter. There will be others."

Harry nodded looking at the creature with narrowed glowing green eyes "Very magical too. Three more to its left deeper in the woods." The acklay charged, and a rock appeared from nowhere, smashing it to the ground. Harry waved, the rock disappeared, and the acklay shrank, he walked over, picked it up with a glove, that he got from one of his bottomless pockets, looked at the other acklay for a moment, walked back to the now open mouthed Aayla and took her arm spinning them back to the cave. Or in front of it. He trotted inside after dropping the acklay and ending the shrinking charm on it. He came back out with a roll of knives and a sack of flask. Aayla wrinkled her nose as he butchered the acklay for its magical parts. He talked her through the process, and why he did it by hand and with gloves and magically inert tools "A lot of the inherent magic of the creature can be corrupted by other magic. Some of this could be good for wands, some for potions, some for artifacts but it needs to be untouched by magic. I will have to start carrying my stuff with me on our little jaunts. Shrinking and enlarging charms are about the only thing you can use on magical plants or animals. Without it influencing them."

Aayla nodded "At least it isn't going to waste. We just kill them when they attack. It's nearly impossible to get away from one once it decides to hunt you. They are inedible as well, and somewhat resistant to light sabers."

Harry grinned "Not to big arse rocks though."

Aayla rolled her eyes. That afternoon, after she made Harry shower and change, they got stuck into the frigate.

They were panting in the heat until Harry did some work and they had a shade. A little more and they had an insect ward and cooling charms up. They still soaked through their clothes. Humidity control wards helped that some but they were after all working hard.

At the end of the day as the sun set Aayla set the droids to work and led into the cave, tent and bathroom leaving her traditional trail. She pulled Harry in the shower with her and then into the tub. She put her feet on his legs and sighed when he massaged them "I will have to meet whoever trained you and do something nice for her."

Harry chuckled "Hermione will think you are the best present ever. You and she can talk in numbers and symbols at each other all day."

Aayla nodded "French tonight." Harry liked to pretend he wasn't that bright. The things in his padd though made Aayla's head ache. Pan Galactic astrogation was simple next to rune array arithmancy.

Harry smiled and nodded "Yes ma'am."

After dinner, some conversation, and mutual massages, they got in bed and Aayla very precisely positioned him, to his amusement then lay down, settled in and said "Crystal please."

Harry nodded and held it to her forehead until it stuck "Good night." He watched as she drifted off and snorted at the pile of arms, legs, boobs, and lekku he was trapped in. He groaned as her left, dark blue, nipple hardened in her sleep and the aureole crinkled up. This was completely unfair he decided.

SSDV

Harry woke up and smiled. He slipped away and got a headache potion. He got back in the bed and waited. He wasn't so worried about his potion supply. This was one world of thousands, tens of thousands, of specie of flora and fauna with magic properties. Some of these already looked like potential replacements for common ingredients.

This whole plane or universe of the multiverse, whatever it was hopped, crawled, swam, ran and flew with magic. Raw and untouched or rather undirected but it was there. More things had magic in this plane than did not. It might take some experimentation but he was fairly sure he could produce potions from ingredients native to this plane. Aayla assured him there were billions of species of flora and fauna and a good percentage of them were 'imbued' with the Force.

Not only that, but Aayla had great confidence they could isolate and synthesize the active ingredients of his potions in a Force saturated area. He had his doubts about that one. They had never been able to synthesize magical ingredients at home but then the technology here was very advanced.

Today he was going to try her on wands. She had managed apparition and her occlumency was progressing in leaps and bounds and he had only had to help her once. Her memories of the time under that drug had unsettled her severely. Harry was just glad it was nothing near as bad as some of those Soviet conditionings he had read about. It was not near what they did to condition females. A little dancing and a few looks down her nearly non existent clothes in those places and that was it. She had been retrieved quickly. She had loved this Fisto bloke but he, Fisto, had put an end to that. Foolish of him really. This Order of theirs couldn't offer any reward to match Aayla.

He had hundreds, thousands, ten thousand or more? Any way, lots of wands in his trunk. From casualties, and areas they had cleaned after incursions. One of the first things they did was summon the wands and foci. Freaking demons were bad enough without help.

She stirred and the crystal slid to the bed, he switched the potion to her second stomach where it would be absorbed quicker.

She grumbled and scrunched her face up and reached out for him then crawled onto him. He lay there blushing, as hard as he had ever been. She woke up and sat up on him and looked surprised "You want to mate me?"

Harry laughed "With the exception of the lekku, ears, and being blue you are human in every way. Being blue isn't a big deal to me, and really works for you. The ears are cute and the lekku are much cooler than hair, at least on you. You are also very fit, very well built, gifted by the Force even, and you are a wonderfully intelligent person. Besides which, you smell so good! I haven't taken a vow of celibacy. I am full grown and it's spelled M A N. Of course I want to mate you. Stumps and rocks probably want to mate you. That doesn't mean I will. Or that I am going to turn into a rapist or something. I like to think I have control of little Harry not I am his ride."

Aayla leaned down, kissed him and giggled when he throbbed under her. She hopped up and headed for the bath. He rolled his eyes glad it was conjured water. Aayla meditated lightly under the shower to get herself back under control. She hadn't been like this since she was just past first blood. She would be walking around wet all day if she kept thinking about this. "I am in control of you too." She leaned over and told her vagina. Little Aayla pouted.

At breakfast what finally penetrated opened her eyes wide in surprise "I smell good?" Harry blushed furiously.

"I have no idea why. Sorry, but you do smell fantastic."

A support charm, exercise and another far afield plant gathering trip and just as they were about to leave a bull Rancor strode from the trees and roared. Harry looked at Aayla "What are the chances of two different deadly magical creatures in two days?"

Aayla shook her head "On this world those two are nearly the only animal life. Well, large animal life. Also they are imported, or were sometime in the past, by someone."

"So how much does it upset the eco system if I take this one?" Harry asked.

Ayla shrugged "They are not native. The farmers would probably thank you. We are close to one of the trading centers."

Harry nodded. He had already collected some nysillum cuttings, whole plants and seeds as well, it showed definite promise for some potions. "I'll just stand here. If he leaves us alone we will leave him alone."

Aayla's eyes widened "They have been known to kill Jedi."

Harry shrugged "Tier six size, Maybe a four. I got this. Apparate away if it gets too dangerous."

Aayla glared at the back of his head. He ignored it and took several things from various pockets. One of them being a M107. He got it ready and dropped to the ground taking a prone position and chambering a round. The Rancor charged and roared and Harry shot it in the back of the roof of its mouth. The Mk211 round exploded surprising him. Normally they would over penetrate and explode behind a soft target. The Rancor dropped and skidded a few yards closer to them and they heard crashing in the woods around them retreating in the distance.

Aayla blinked "What the frack was that?"

Harry shrugged "What kills demons." He put everything away, got out his roll of knives and trunk of flask and boxes, and went to work. Aayla looked a bit squeamish. He smiled "You can go back."

Aayla shook her head "The others might come back. Hurry though, the smell will attract acklay."

They got back and took a break for a shower, then lunch, then moved to the frigate. Harry snapped his fingers and got out a pair of white compression shorts and a white crop top from one of his trunks. Aayla frowned and put them on by dropping her clothes where she stood. Harry had turned and was digging in the trunk again looking for cross training shoes and handed them to her then turned away blushing. Aayla went to the bath and looked in the mirror and smiled. She walked back out "So one of the wives?"

"An unused set in case some troop needed them actually. That's the PT uniform of the forces I was in charge of. They have permanent cooling runes stitched into them. I can make more. I have the material. Then I just transfigure it and fix it with runes so it can't be ended with a charm. Cooling runes because, well erh." Harry blushed and stopped talking.

Aayla laughed "Females sweat too?"

Harry nodded vigorously and she drug him outside. He set up a bench and one of the droids brought him hull plates in order after he carved the runes on the ribs and activated them. He carved the runes, Activated them and the droids reinstalled the plates. Soon they were just bringing him plates with the runes carved in them. He smiled when him activating them worked. He got the Protocol droid to thank them and activated the runes on the hull plates as he worked on a set of what appeared to be dimension lumber made of metal but was really scrap molded into those shapes with magic. The protocol droid watched what he was doing, then got him to make extra pieces and stack them. Occasionally he was fetched by a droid to activate a rune set on some part of the ship in accordance with Aalya's plan.

Aayla meanwhile stripped systems and replaced or reworked them to be more efficient and give true redundancy. She had two of the astromechs working with her. She also replaced some things with better newer systems from the other vessels they had stolen. The Jedi fighters and two hyperspace capable Lartys, troop and cargo lighters that went from ships in orbit to the ground or functioned as assault lift for troops and general transport in atmosphere. "So that will make people unsure of what this is?" Harry asked.

Aayla nodded "It will appear as if it was one sold for salvage and upgraded with salvage parts. These cooling runes will make the systems function much better and confuse sensors as to what they really are. Processing speeds are up an order of magnitude. Remember we are testing your fuel creation runes today so don't wear yourself out. I started the walker heading to where we want it first thing this morning."

Harry nodded "We learned about electronics and heat on earth. Computers, or at least ours, locked up when they got hot. That's where that rune set comes from. It won't get so cold it freezes them and it won't get so hot as to let them lock up. Or at least that's the way it worked for us. Its dumping heat to the nearest, coldest, body it can find. It can't dump it to space. I don't think anyway."

Aayla nodded "There are ice planets everywhere, plus ice in the asteroid belts of most systems."

Way after dark the droids were left to keep working and they went to rest. The reactor from the AT TE running merrily away at full output tied to the rudimentary planetary grid some hundred twenty klicks in the distance, half way to one of the water works. It had been a big day.

SSDV

Darth Sidious had a big day too. A fifth of his Jedi hunter killer teams had stopped reporting. One of their ships had detonated in orbit of a planet taking another fifty teams and a thousand clones with it and Corellia had refused imperial citizens access to the surface, brought their defenses up and Garm Bar Iblis was fighting fleet actions against the Imperial fleet with the Corellian navy and winning! He had taken half the sector!

Bail Organa had left Coruscant headed for Alderaan, no doubt to foment more rebellion, and Skywalker had another week in Bacta before he would be able to be deployed. Meanwhile he was scraping him a force together. He could launch Skywalker and send the forces behind him.

The Antarian Rangers had revolted, and started killing clones in droves all over the core, as had the other paramilitary associated with the bastard Jedi, while they fought their way off those planets. At least a hundred Jedi and an unknown number of Rangers and other paramilitary were here on Coruscant fighting a guerilla war.

The revolt was gaining worlds by the hour and he was losing them. His anti non-base human propaganda had yet to stem the flow, or bring him reports of Jedi or Rangers.

On top of that, the damn Jedi temple was inviolable. Even a strike from orbit had been deflected into his Naval HQ nearly obliterating the building. Nobody was believing it was an accident either.

He had to get control of this. It was such a shambles it was becoming obvious even with him in control of the media. Nominally, those damn slicers were still cracking holo feeds and twining illegal signals on them.

SSDV

Yoda was getting a bit desperate. The deaths of Jedi had slowed to a trickle. Less than during the clone war even. But still he couldn't get these off this rock and Mace Windu was missing. Now Padme Amidala had died in childbirth for no apparent reason. "Take the boy and go to Tatooine you will Obi Wan. Leave him with his relatives you will. The girl Depa will take to Breha Organa on Alderaan." The two masters left and Yoda dropped into meditation. The Force was suddenly so different. Wild, chaotic, as in his youth. More powerful than the last two hundred years as well. Gaining strength every day as well.

SSDV

Aayla woke up and smiled. He was sleeping but he had given her a pain potion when the crystal fell off and today they would speak German to solidify it in her mind or at least she would, He might. Or French, Ryl, Huttesse. English. One of them. She crawled astride of him and smiled as he hardened under her heat. Until her vulva engorged and flowered around him. She leapt up and trotted to the shower as he woke. She smirked at the growl. Apparently, her body needed some more meditation. It wanted to mate him as well. She blushed and sighed.

Breakfast had them up and moving, and exercise was followed by an unremarkable potions ingredients apparition trip where she practiced side along apparition. She was pleased to find this particular Force manipulation was much better when she was in control of it.

The protocol droid had had the astromechs' carve the runes on the metal boards in the sequence and locations Harry had carved them as they sat in the rack charging and it ferried the parts. Harry had told all the droids thank you and he was proud of them. Aayla had never seen droids work as hard as they did after that. She was amazed and they finished nearly half of the work on the ship.

They worked the heat of the day away under the overhead cover, inside rune driven cooling, insect repelling and humidity reducing wards or charms. The humidity reducing ones were filling the water and reaction mass tanks on the frigate. At dinner Aayla asked "Harry what is in the oil you massage me with? It is powerful in the Force."

Harry smiled "Phoenix tears. A legendary magical bird from my home world."

Aayla frowned "And you don't worry about running out of them?"

Harry grinned mischievously "Want to see some magic?"

Aayla glared then softened "Yes I enjoy the way you manipulate the Force." Her traitorous brain added 'especially on my breast'.

Harry stood up and disappeared while a magnificent white bird hovered in his place. It sang a beautiful uplifting song and Aayla came out of her stunned, open mouthed, freeze. She looked in the bird's green eyes "Harry? How are you doing this?" She had gotten up and come around the table to the chair he was currently perched on and reached out to him whereupon he rubbed his head on her palm. She smiled brightly. It was as if he was made of the Force! Harry got petted and showed her where to scratch and she laughed at his actions. Finally, he changed back and she hugged him tackling him to the floor. "You can't tell anyone Aayla. It could save us someday."

Aayla nodded at him "So your tears help healing. What else can you do?"

Harry smiled "I can transport myself, and really extreme amounts of cargo, through wards. Any wards. And up to a hundred tons dead weight."

Aayla who was now sitting astride him as he leaned back on his hands nodded. "Yes that needs to stay secret even after we teach people to do wards. If we do."

Harry nodded and relaxed "I think we need to teach magic. First they have to find their cores, then begin to master occlumency, and Aura suppression though. After that if they take oaths, well if I can get one crafted, we can show them everything."

Aayla grinned at him as he rose to hardness under her "And find you a mate."

She blinked at his not nearly quiet enough "Found one." As she got up. She was a bit flustered but stripped for her massage and then did his, still nude. They went to bed and though both their minds were full they were asleep nearly instantly.

SSDV

They got into a bit of a rhythm for a couple of days. Aayla waking him riding him. Breakfast, exercise, work on the frigate, while studying and talking, a spar with sabers and magic and then the evening talking and studying while dinner was made and eaten, then massages, some time for their own things, and bed.

Finally they were done with the majority of the work on the frigate. Aayla watched Harry collect his own tears as a phoenix and then when he changed back, took him to the bed, arranged him how she liked him and snuggled in. She was not giving up her own personal sleep heater.

SSDV

The next morning Aayla took her now customary ride and hopped off as he awoke and then scolded herself in the shower. She had lay on him watching him breath and gotten wet. The hygiene charm she flicked on him probably woke him up faster.

They were just finishing exercising when Harry froze "Magicals. One very powerful one not as powerful but still growing maybe." He pointed and Aayla followed his finger and then felt of her neck. She had left her stone off! She turned her saber to maximum intensity but did not ignite it and stood waiting. Harry nodded and loosened his wands in their holsters. Aayla had his holly wand in a holster. It worked for her best of all the ones he had collected. He had the death stick, and a wand he wasn't sure what it was made of, but it made almost everyone else ill to handle it. He had no problems with it and it was probably better than the holly wand. It certainly loved combat. He thought he found it down around the Gallipoli incursion. It had come to him in a block of clay and sand. It was old, must have been a family wand. "I'll do ranged, you defend, then do close in. I'll keep them off you if they have guns and keep them separated. One at a time." He had emptied a blaster cartridge with it set to stun shooting at her and her deflecting bolts. Some back at him. He had been amazed and ceded close in combat to her until he could learn that.

"That's a good plan. Let us see who is visiting first." Aayla replied tightly.

The ship, looking much like a UFO to Harry landed, and even more UFO like, or at least in a good Hollywood representation of one, a ramp opened and steam obscured the people descending it until they finally broke through the billowing clouds.

He jerked as Aayla yelled "Master Ti!" and charged the two women. He recognized her from the holo but she wasn't blue, she was red. He looked at the younger woman and blinked at her red eyes. She had red skin too though. Oh and horns. A row or crown of them. He sighed debating whether to wait or walk over. He decided to walk. Aayla was talking five thousand words a minute in basic and he knew what would happen now. At least for a while. He was introduced to Master Shaak Ti and Padawan Maris Brood. Maris looked at him and arched a brow. He smiled and shrugged and between them they steered the older women to the cave, after getting some blood for the wards, and Aayla treating the fidelius like a prank, they then got the same treatment from her over the tent. Maris went out and back three times. Shaak Ti simply arched a brow. Harry started cooking, Maris came and helped.

Harry listened as events in the new Empire were explained and Shaak Ti mentioned another Droid fleet in orbit. Doing nothing but station keeping. The two senior Jedi discussed the new rebellion and Aayla looked at Harry. "We have to get off this planet and get to Alderaan. We have friends there."

Harry nodded "Two days' work on the ship. We can carry the other one."

Shaak TI looked up from the padd she was using to look over Aayla's plans. "Much less if we help and all the droids work. We have an astromech droid with us as well. The protocol droid can do diagnostics. Or at least help the ship do them."

Harry nodded and went to his trunk getting out tops, shorts and shoes. He left them on the table and walked in the bedroom coming back when Aayla called. She smiled and stood by the flap spreading her arms from her sides and Harry rolled his eyes and charmed her again. Shaak stepped up and with an expressionless face got in the same position. Harry arched a brow at Aayla who waved at him and smiled when Shaak's legendary composure broke and she moaned.

Maris stepped up blushing a neon scarlet and moaned when she was charmed as well. The other two women drug her through the flap and Harry followed chuckling.

By nightfall Harry had the last hull plates engraved and activated. He had already activated the runes on the frames, and did the systems wherever the droids carved them. He thought the little buggers had gotten carried away, until he looked at their calculations. Apparently astrogation lent itself to arithmancy, and the astromechs enjoyed it, and argued about it endlessly between themselves, at the speed of thought. It was a very tight, very solid array based on some simple runes. Harry got the protocol droid to give the astromechs the arithmetic descriptions of runes. That was pretty esoteric, but if they got it they could then do anything. He couldn't wait to see what they came up with.

The Jedi had the systems installed and the droids were testing them. Jedi were mechanics, who knew. He had already found out Aayla's favorite cover was as a ships engineer or a naval architect, erh, for starships. Spatial architect? No that couldn't be right. She was good at it too. The Jedi, with Harry following, went to the other ship and while Harry glared at the collars and chains they went to the cockpit to use the sensors on the frigate. When they came out Shaak and Maris possessions were in two bottomless packs, the ship was sparkling like a new penny and the slave chains were gone, the bulkhead bright and freshly painted with no evidence of the welding that had fixed the chains there. Aayla smiled brightly at Harry and hugged him, and Shaak arched a brow. They powered down the ship and went down the ramp where Shaak caused it to lift and seal, Harry shrunk the freighter to the size of a Frisbee, picked it up, and handed it to the stunned silent Shaak Ti.

Maris, wide eyed, led her along behind the other two while carrying the packs. Harry went and cooked again with Maris following and helping, when she wasn't looking at him in awe and making him blush. Shaak and Aayla were having a quiet but vigorous conversation. Harry jollied Maris out of her awe, and flirted enough to have her rolling her eyes.

They packed up after dinner and after checking the status of the system test, and Shaak eyeballing Harry's addition to the fuel system, On paper and then Aayla taking her to see the AT TE reactor still running full throttle with no fuel tank. They moved onto the ship which Harry had waved "Marauder" onto after no one objected to him naming it.

Harry meanwhile installed some of the the doors he and the droids had built of all that 'lumber' in a cargo hold with a security door and awed Maris again creating null spaces or because the doors opened onto null spaces from the size of a padawan cell to the size of small cities, depending on how the strange symbols were manipulated. One in the floor opened onto an enormous tank of polluted water for reaction mass. "Those droids were trying to pollute the water on this planet. I set the runes to summon it, and we can use it." Harry shrugged.

Maris followed Harry, helping as she could, as he packed up and tore down the wards and moved everything onto the frigate. Aayla and Shaak returned from the Clone base and some other sites, and Harry sighed at Shaak's appraising look.

Harry sat in the second level of the cockpit theater type seating as they lifted out. He looked out the front glass, transparisteel, awed at the massive droid fleet in orbit. The Jedi set course and went to hyperspace as he was still turning it over in his mind, while they were all still observing him.

Aayla finally asked "Harry?"

Harry looked up "Why did he leave that fleet here and add to it. I mean you didn't say anything about their being that many ships in orbit when you got the rings."

Aayla nodded "Because there weren't."

Maris answered "Skywalker 'killed the leaders of the CIS' at least that's what the holonews reports from the Empire say. They also said he shut down the droids but was nearly killed in the process on Mustafar."

Shaak Ti nodded "The Emperor has declared the Clone war over."

Harry nodded "So he knows somehow something happened on Felucia. Somehow this Skywalker was supposed to give him control of that fleet to add to his existing."

Maris snorted "Estimates in the Rebellion world's holonews are you and Aayla destroyed forty percent of his fleet and army. Aayla, really before she was killed. No one knows about you. That forty percent is a conservative estimate. Reports vary anywhere from sixty to eighty percent. No one knows how big the home fleet in the core was, or is. It will become more clear in time."

Aayla blinked "Me? I barely booby trapped the ones here. Wait I'm dead? Well, they think I am dead?"

Shaak TI nodded then asked "So those plans for sabotage and delay timing weren't meant to cut the hyperspace lanes at the Core boundary?"

Aayla shook her head "No, they were, but that was more punishment for Barriss and their mutiny. I didn't intend the other Jedi to do that."

Maris grinned "Well you paid them back all right."

Harry frowned "Which makes it worse not better. He really needs the, Droid?" The Jedi all nodded and Harry continued "Droid fleet now. I'm missing something." He lit up "The first thing I am missing is people tracking magicals." He dipped in his pouch and produced two stones and put them on Shack Ti and Maris and waved at all three of the women. "There. Now you can't be tracked. Don't take those off before we get a chance to teach you to suppress your aura. Well, first to find your cores. Then occlumency which will lead to suppressing your aura."

That started a barrage of questions as they worked their way through lesser used hyperspace lanes toward Alderaan. They found out as they tried to plot a course on a major route it was blocked with the remains of the former Republic fleet from Felucia.

That barrage lit off demonstrations of magic by Harry and Aayla and instruction in finding their core and occlumency for Shaak Ti and Maris. With half a dozen astromech and a protocol droid plus the Frigates battle command AI and self-repair capability they mostly sat in the cockpit monitoring what was going on with the ship watching Harry study and answering or asking questions. Alternatively, they watched Harry work on the doors he had built which led to giant spaces they put all the stuff they had collected in including one in which he set up the mass driver. He took the doors left after that, put them in a cabin, and stuck them to the wall providing more spaces, he then warded the cabin against mundane.

For the mass driver he built connected portals, one on the muzzle of the mass driver and one on the ship outside, held in a set of arms that pivoted for elevation and azimuth, running in a track he made from scrap, after he finally got a model the astromechs approved of. Really two tracks, one longitudinally and one along the latitude. They crossed on the bottom and top of the ship. The astromechs affixed the tracks, portal device, portal, and calibrated the whole system while they were travelling. Harry wasn't satisfied as it took fifteen seconds to get from one side of the stern around to the other as the track didn't cross in front of the engines but Maris had rolled her eyes and told him the ship could roll to bring the muzzle to bear. Harry frowned and nodded still not happy. They calibrated it, or test fired it, rather at their first hyperspace lane turning for which they had to drop from hyperspace and recalculate their course. A short side trip and a dead abandoned moon that would take a few years to get back together after being cracked and they were on their way again. Harry and the astromechs were very proud of their toy. The Jedi smiled indulgently. Harry and the droids sitting around scheming was cute, him talking and them whistling and beeping at him like they actually understood each other. Of course it also meant you never knew what changes would be made but usually it was an improvement. A bit scary, like the fully rune augmented, twelve hundred round a minute cyclic rate, mass driver, but an improvement. Besides that pancake machine. That thing was a hazard before caf. Pancakes flying through the air and landing on plates. Thing was a menace.

Harry was again amazed at how fast Jedi took instruction. Especially in magic. The Force. He had not been near so quick on the uptake. They were all using wands they somewhat, or more than somewhat matched, from his supply of them. Maris had a wand that was in love with her and hostile to everyone else.

Maris finally burst out when Harry and Aayla went to bed the second night on the ship "Master Ti! Master Secura is sleeping with him!"

Shaak looked at her "The celibacy part of the vows is conjecture. The prohibition is against attachment. Also, I do not believe there is a Jedi Order anymore. Lastly, they are not mated yet as you know. Your Force calls to him as much as mine does. I can't believe we have not known about Force cores all these years. The shroud must be to blame. How has someone not stumbled on this by doing the accidental Force manipulation he described children doing otherwise?

We shall find out if there is still an Order on Alderaan and then we will each have to decide based on what the High Council does."

Maris frowned thoughtfully and settled back in monitoring the ship and the holonews feeds. She was also working on her occlumency at the same time. Master Ti might decide she needed more exercise if she pushed it. Masters seemed to fall back on exhausting exercise a lot when padawans asked troubling questions.

SSDV

Harry was working with Maris one morning when a thought occurred to him and he trolled back through the history he had gathered from all these women. They had been taught magic, the Force, at a very young age. They were constantly enhancing their physical abilities with magic. They used very little of it directly. Like the recommendations from the US he had seen for training magical children early.

He considered the other unlikely similarities, the language having the same form for sentence structure as English and number of letters plus a few for combined letter sounds like umlaut's in German.

Maris watched him zone out then snapped her fingers when she had let him have a minute or two "All right Master?"

Harry grinned "I'm not your master, though�."

Maris smiled "all in good time."

Harry fell over laughing. Maris tried a pout. He laughed harder and so she leapt up and grabbed her sabers. He stopped laughing and held his hands up palm out. "So what's the deal with red sabers."

Maris explained Sith normally use synthetic crystals made the fastest way possible and they are a bit weaker and prone to breakage but could be quite strong in some cases. "With Jedi it's more about the journey to find the crystal and to get to the point where you are ready for that."

Harry frowned "So that's why you all don't use the sabers Shaak took from the inquisitor people?"

Maris shrugged "Can't you feel it? They just feel wrong."

Harry scratched his head. "Never picked one up really."

Maris huffed at him "No you haven't, have you Mr. five kilo beating stick."

Harry chuckled "Bokken. Suburito technically, It's weighted to make training harder."

Maris nodded, understanding the concept. "Now, more magic, lazy Master."

"Hey I'm not lazy!"

SSDV

Harry was sitting in the cockpit later turning things over in his mind again. The similarities, the droid army all of it. It was all running together a bit. He went to meditate or really order his memories.

When he returned later Aayla looked at Shaak Ti "Skywalker?"

Shaak nodded "I told you I saw him there. The 501st as well."

Harry looked at the holofeed Maris waved to and saw the logo of one of the rebel worlds news services. There was video apparently from the Temple security cameras of Skywalker's attack and what happened to it and him. Harry winced. He had seen lightning like that before. It was a high-quality video feed "Hey he has red eyes like you Maris!"

Maris glared at him "They used to be blue, that's the mark of a Sith. Red or yellow when they started out a different color."

Harry smiled "Sorry. So if you go all dark you are going to have blue eyes?"

He waved and Maris blinked. She looked in a shiny surface "Hey change those back!" It developed into a bit of a lecture and Harry going to get a training aid, a set of eyes that would register and record charms and curses. Once the women got over being creeped out, the things did spin around like Mad Eye's had, they practiced until Maris changed her own eyes back and then tried to change Harry's. It turned into a bit of a duel and Harry and Maris got pushed or chased from the cockpit before they broke something.

Aayla shook her head "Children, the both of them."

Shaak sat up "Does he have the school books he learned from still?"

Aayla nodded "I suppose. He has thousands of books. The protocol droid is translating them. About one every four hours. The ones on the top are pretty esoteric and deeply theoretical. Dangerous Harry says. They are what he has been using when he and the droids are plotting and scheming."

"We should inventory that trunk."

Aayla laughed "Harry says we would need an empty planet and repulsars to do it. Hermione was apparently a bibliophile. She made them all copies of every book she could find and the trunks to keep them in. He says her learning to break the copy write charms was one of the few truly practical uses he ever saw her make of runes. That and her curse building on and then warding the trunks. Apparently she is a genius level intellect."

Shaak nodded "That will be fun." Aayla looked at her and got a shrug "The Force wants me with him. So much so that if the Order can't be made to see sense I will be leaving." Aayla gasped and Shaak nodded "I know but the way we were going nearly got us all killed. He will never quit trying to get home, we will meet his wives if we live long enough. No matter the front he puts up he is a genius level intellect too. He will get back if it can be done."

Harry and Maris came back both puffing a bit and smiling. Shaak picked up where they had left off "So Skywalker attacks the temple as Order 66 goes out, but Windu has led a force against the Senate. Inside the Senators end up in the Senate chamber and Palpatine declares himself emperor. The Senate laughs and suddenly Palatine clearly orders the guards to quell the rebels, the guards start killing Senators on live holo feeds. The Jedi fight back. While the off-world feeds are riveted on the Jedi fighting the Red Guard and those new Senate guards. Windu leads the assault on the Chancellors office. The Jedi are beaten back with unknown losses, most of the Senate flees and those Red Guards plus the new ones are decimated. This pretty much sealed the rebellion when it was streamed live.

Meanwhile, instead of turning the 501st to attack either the Jedi or the guards, Skywalker keeps working on the temple and losing clones. Eventually he got in, I don't know how, and we had already evacuated everyone but guardians by then, then the temple or its defenses did what you saw earlier. We scattered and I took the slavers ship on the first stop of the commercial transport I had gotten. I had intended to go to Felucia directly, but with what you and the other Jedi did to the hyperspace lanes, I took a longer route, along the way the Force told me to drop out of hyperspace. I felt Maris and her master fighting and got there as quick as I could. Her master was killed. I killed three of their attackers and we killed the last one together, really Maris did, but she says I distracted him.

We joined her Master with the force and came to find you."

Harry frowned and Aayla told him "If our bodies don't join with the Force at the time of our death it is traditional for Jedi bodies to be burned."

Harry nodded "Dark Lords. Only makes sense. Spare your friends from fighting your animated corpse."

The women looked at him and he sighed "Inferni we call them. Necromancy, a very dark art almost none of the practitioners of which has lived to a peaceful death or a ripe old age." The women gaped at him. He shrugged. "Still not as bad as demons."

Shaak Ti looked at him "Speaking of which?"

Harry sighed and went and got the pensieve then spent the rest of the day pulling memories they wanted to watch. Well working on his padd while they watched a memory talked and then asked for one related to something they had seen. Some he had to drop to his mind palace to find. They were alerted to them from things said in passing by someone in the memories. When they were all looking at him a bit wide eyed he snorted "Past is past. We only live in one direction."

Maris grinned "Very Yoda like Master."

"Grrrr."

Aayla cleared her throat "Before you play more children. What happened to Skywalker?"

Maris nodded "I found some more while you were getting beaten up with magic this morning Master Secura. Apparently, somehow, Master Kenobi ran into him on Mustafar, after he had sent the deactivation code, in the fight to gain that code and send it all of the troops he had with him were killed by the remaining non droid units of the CIS army and navy taking them out as well. Kenobi apparently sliced him up good and left him dying. There was a short statement from Kenobi on Alderaan's holonews."

Harry nodded his head "Confirming those things should have tried to kill us. Not that robots would have been able to find us. Or can they sense the Force?"

Aayla shook her head "No they can't. Read radiant energy in the tachyon range is about as close as they can get, and then not very much and not very well."

Harry blinked "Tachyon range?" School was in session for Harry.

*Chapter 5*: Chapter 5

Same Song Different Verse

Chapter Five

An Elf, a Queen, and a Stranger

For two hours Harry had been wildly agog over traveling in space. Then they went to Hyperspace, and after fifteen minutes of looking at mottled blobs of light and dark and streaks he took a nap. Since then he had been either working on his padd, teaching, learning, working on the ship, scheming with the astromechs or getting his ass handed to him by girls with light sabers. When he wasn't pulling memories, or being badgered into opening his trunks and keying the women to them in one of the big null spaces behind a door.

He had started putting the memories, or copies of them, in labeled vials in a warded trunk he built out of scrap for the girls and making flipbooks of them to go in that trunk as well. it had a projecting pensieve, a set of comfortable seats, and a popcorn machine. He told the girls to be on the lookout for butter beer in the other two trunks. He was sure there were a lot of pallets of it in there. Somewhere. The girls kept two of the droids in those trunks working all the time on a rotational basis. He called the new trunk the cinema trunk.

Harry had also scanned Maris and Shaak Ti with medical charms and given them a few options and potions and then extended the massages to them as well as Aayla after she had shoved him that direction. He learned Togrutan and Zabrak females like he had learned Twi'leks. Shaak Ti had then demanded he reciprocate as she was a healer, or had been in that track before the lead in to the war and war itself, she got to confirm he was base human in every way. She and the medical droid spent a lot of time pouring over his physiology and whatever samples of fluids they could talk him out of. He also found out lekku were erogenous zones as well and smirked at the time he had spent fascinated by Aayla's and oiling them. Montrals were for even better echo location. Oh and Zabraks, at least red ones, blushed neon red all over. The one he had access to had hair in the expected places as well. Of course payment for that was him turning pink as Shaak Ti took Maris through all the muscle groups and what the function of everything was. Maris had pertly thanked him for the live demonstration. She then made him teach her the depilatory charm. He had dueled her with magic some more. That Shaak and Aayla had great bodies, and Maris was well on her way to the same was not germane to the discussion at all. And it had nothing to do with him avoiding the bath they had him set up. Them redesigning the shorts and tops and him teaching them to make the material by transfiguration and fixing it with stitched in runes and getting the droids to sew it for them to their own fiendish designs were all just part of the training. In this case, specifically, in how not to be distracted and get saber burns everywhere.

He designed his own bath after that in one of the rooms and it only ran cold water in the shower.

Harry learned how to fly the ship via a simulator, and about hyperspace lanes and what they really were, spaces least effected by gravity wells, and the people who charted them. He felt they were either the bravest people in the galaxy or rejects from the island of misfit toys. Potentially both, as those things weren't mutually exclusive. They made fortunes selling their routes if they saved shipping lines time or fuel though. Maybe they were prospectors? As far as he could tell sensors could tell you what was at commercially viable mining depths on any body in the galaxy, so prospecting didn't really happen here. Surveys did, mostly done by droids, and apparently Navy people who had pissed someone off, but not prospecting.

He had explained to the Jedi that Earth was as far as he knew way out on a spiral arm to the galactic south west in his plane, universe, time, or whatever this was, or rather was distinctly not. He found out that was wild space or the unexplored regions here. That drove home how vast a galaxy was, and how fast they were really going. There had been a Republic, or other type of government, with this type technology minus incremental improvements here for twenty five thousand years, and they still had not explored the whole thing.

They had some discussion about their somehow being contact with Earth and the parallel development and math being math explanations got thinner and thinner to all their ears.

All three women knew something was bothering him but he just said he was missing something. And then the empire holonet exploded. 'Second Assassination attempt on Beloved Emperor!' Harry snorted. 'Rogue non-human religious zealot attacks Leader of the free humans of the galaxy.' Harry frowned "Pretty blatant propaganda and race baiting there. Too bad it will work." He got raised eyebrows and shrugged "Seen it before. On Earth there were five distinct types of the species homo sapiens, what we called humans. Biologist and anthropologist couldn't even agree on that. Then there were hundreds of ethnicities. Once we got the people to mostly stop harassing each other about race, black people versus white people for instance, they took off on ethnicity. Then about sex, as in male or female and there being more than male or female, there isn't by the way, that's a choice not a fact of biology. I mean, more power to em, but lets try to stay in the realm of possibility, yeah? Male female fine, male male fine, female female fine. Males who dress up as females and think they are, whatever floats your boat. Some imaginary third sex? You might need some professional help, possibly medication. Does it matter in the end and did everyone else care? No and no. That isn't even talking about religion, haves versus have nots, or any of the other shit people come up with to hate each other and be closed minded over. The more liberal folks got so narrow minded and strident it was impossible to tell them from the most conservative and those two groups hated each other. The propagandist didn't help. The demons proved none of that mattered and ability was all. They didn't ask about race, creed, color, sex, or ethnicity. They also didn't book slots on talk shows. If you couldn't fight them off they ate you. If you were lucky you were dead before they started." He shrugged. "Be the best you can be, don't be a fuck, keep private shit private, and work as a part of the team. Or get eaten." The women all frowned thoughtfully remembering instances of intolerance from both sides of issues in their lives.

The video of Yoda attacking Palpatine was pretty obviously faked. No old human could dodge all those strikes from what looked like a pissed off elf fighting a demon after an overdose of crank. Much less doing it with a sad face and trying to talk the elf down.

Aayla sighed "Why would Yoda attack him?"

Harry nodded "Knowing he would play it for propaganda if he failed and even if he succeeded the Galaxy is in a civil war. It was lose, lose for Yoda. Is this Yoda prone to this type of thing?"

Shaak shook her head "No."

Harry frowned "I'm confused. He could only lose here. Four of your top people, at least, already couldn't take this guy knowing what they were in for. What did Yoda hope to be able to do? Is he that much better than everyone else?"

"No. He is not, especially than Master Windu." Shaak glared at the screen a moment "This bout of hubris will cost the Order much, perhaps all. The only thing I can think of is a diversion to get the rest of the Jedi off Coruscant but sabotage would have been easier. Or stealth. The Senators who were leaving were gone before this. The majority of the Jedi and Rangers as well."

Harry nodded and shrugged "Dumbledore was the same way. Only he knew best. Mainly because only he knew. Plus he was 'the most powerful since Merlin' and had years of experience. The Order is going to have to change to survive. If he did live through this and got away he will have to change to meet this threat."

He looked at Maris who had frozen at the non-human comments "You're still the hottest demon I have ever seen Maris."

Maris gave him a scorching glare and he grinned "Better. I actually felt that one." The other two women laughed as the chase began. Harry apperating randomly and Maris using the Force to try to catch him, the laughter was a bit shaky though. This could be really bad. The one good thing was Yoda was reportedly alive, and if he lived others they knew probably did. Master Yoda had originally been stationed on the planet Kashyyyk when the execution orders went out. Aayla sighed. Her former Master, Quinlan Vos, was stationed on Kashyyyk, along with Barriss Offee's former Master, Luminara Unduli. If Master Yoda had survived Kashyyyk, and managed to make it to Coruscant to attempt to attack the Dark Lord, there was a good chance her former Master and her dead friend's Master survived as well.

Harry had found Aayla did not react well to news that featured the Chancellor, because in almost every article about him, a small blurb would always mention the initial 'attack' upon him. The names of the four Jedi Masters that had failed to 'assassinate' him were always prominently mentioned. Oddly the pitched battles at the Temple and Senate were not. Among those names was Jedi Master Kit Fisto. Harry knew she no longer held the deep feelings for Master Fisto she once did and she knew he was 'with the Force'. It was still hard for her to come to grips with the fact her close friend was gone. All Harry could do during these moments of grief was to hold on to his friend and be there for her as she dealt with her slowly rising losses. He had been through this. He hoped it didn't accelerate for her as it had for him during the demon war.

After Maris caught Harry and beat on him a little they were all seated again watching the holofeed over when another article in the series or a recent addition to the grand propaganda effort popped up. Harry turned his attention away from the articles related to the assassination and brought up the other big headline. 'Anakin Skywalker Sacrifices Life to Kill Separatist Leaders!' The biggest news surrounded the betrayer, Skywalker. According to the Empire's headlines, their former ally had single-handedly ended the Clone War when he travelled to the remote world of Mustafar in the galaxy's outer rim. The entirety of the Separatist leadership council had apparently hid on the planet to lead the final stages of the war from afar. Harry snorted, more like they were having an early victory party and got caught with their pants down probably arguing over the spoils. The Republic Fleet and Army had taken a mauling however and they still had an army and fleet in the field. Much reduced, on its last legs even but it was out there. Details were quite vague from the articles, but it appeared a victorious and mortally wounded Skywalker had ordered the Droid armies to stand down. The fact that Skywalker was dead according to the articles wasn't believed for one second by Shaak Ti. She had seen the Legion that he had brought to the Jedi Temple. She couldn't imagine anything less sent to deal with the leadership of the Separatists, which Skywalker would always find a way to snake his way out of. Plus the revolt holofeeds were in direct contravention of this.

Details of the battle were extremely sparse, and Harry and Aayla both agreed that something much more must have occurred there, especially since this would be a prime thing for the Emperor to publicize. All that the Empire's news broadcasts stated was that the Separatist's leaders refused to surrender and that Skywalker went into the complex they occupied and, regretfully, was forced to kill the entirety of the Separatist Council. Harry got the opinion from the ensuing discussion this would never happen, as some of the members of this council were of species who would never resist openly at the risk of their own lives.

When he asked about how Skywalker could have gotten the codes he was told powerful Jedi could read minds. "Legillemency. Should have known. Probably not much control though, like the very basic occlumency you all use. More passive than directed."

The army that the Marauder had flown above during its ascent out of Felucia's atmosphere had received its shutdown orders that very day from Skywalker. They must have been waiting for orders after order 66 when Shaak saw them on her way down. Why had the emperor not had the code? If as it appeared more and more likely Palpatine had engineered this whole thing and run both sides of the war, why then hadn't he had the code?

Why hadn't the droids continued their occupation of Felucia as well? Where had their human officers buggered off too? Harry chuckled, fog of war, questions he would probably never know the answer to. Shouldn't look to closely at either. Gift horse and mouth, all that.

Harry knew all this was significant for some reason, but couldn't for the life of him figure out why. He did as Hermione had taught him and wrote a timeline as best as he could including a weird little diagram of their loop through time. They all spent hours after meals and during their nominal watch shifts trying to figure out why this was niggling at them all by now but Harry allowed it might have been him affecting them. They did not buy that.

Harry always returned to the main news menu, and scrolled down further in attempt to focus on something else. The empire had touted one story multiple times over the past few days: 'Jedi Conspiracy Unmasked. Clone War Ends!' Finally, with the Separatist Council's defeat, the rest of the at-large high-ranking members of the Confederacy had surrendered. Palpatine made a nearly Roman victory parade of his announcement of the glorious end to the Clone War and parading the surviving defeated leaders on the feed. He really took off on laying the whole thing at the Jedi Orders door and promised he would hunt them down.

The Jedi dug up information on these 'leaders of the confederacy and rebellion' and they were more money men and minor figures in obscure positions that could barely effect policy or the execution of it. That didn't make any sense either as his apprentice Dooku had been running the confederacy.

The news coming from the rebel feed directly contravened most of his points and included hacked, sliced, he was corrected, video from the Senate, the Temple and some off of the bridges of capitol ships some enterprising soul had gotten.

The empires whole media play was odd. It really seemed as if it had been put in the can months ago waiting for order 66 and was now running regardless of the outcome of that and the Jedi sabotaging the fleet.

The rebel feed took great pleasure in recounting the numbers of, to include the names of the ships where known, empire casualties.

Harry offered that it was the same old Dark Lord problem. If events didn't fit your narrative ignore them. Alleged light lords too really. When people weren't trying not to be eaten they loved their opinions. Especially if they wanted to be 'In Charge'.

The Jedi agreed and Maris pointed out the propaganda ignored both the revolt and their holo channels and that order 66 had apparently not been the killing blow against the Jedi it was intended to be.

Maris spent time dueling Harry, physically, sword, and magic, and meditating. The propaganda campaign against the only home and family she had ever had really made her angry. It improved her magic, occlumency and Harry's swordsmanship by leaps and bounds. Her Master had felt she was his last apprentice and had traveled the back hyperspace lanes and by ways during the war. Maris hadn't seen the brutality and lies of it until now. The upside was her old Masters ships navigation core had most of the routes in the space of the former Republic in it and helped them find their way around blocked hyperspace lanes.

Shaak and Aayla had seen propaganda already and knew there was truth somewhere in the middle, or at least an idea that probably had a truth attached to it somewhere. They saw this was a problem, but maybe more for later than now. Now they needed to find out what happened to the Jedi and see if the Order was still coherent and if so how it was going to act. If not. Well that was a whole new cricket match as Harry said.

Harry was a cynic. He thought this would parallel the Voldemort war after Dumbledore died if the Order collapsed. "People follow the loudest noise. Palpatine is pretty loud on those worlds he managed to hold onto. These Core worlds." He shrugged.

The Corellian feeds eventually presented something resembling clarity and unbiased fact. It had dates names and places. It cleaned up the timeline and mostly matched it. It also included that order 66 was programmed into the clones at their inception and other pertinent information but still the thought that was trying to peek through would not pop into focus for Harry. He had had this happen before and it was always something odd that set the chain of connections running. It was frustrating.

Harry frowned "Who would know all these orders?"

Aayla shrugged "The cloners and the people who ordered the clones. We knew some of them. Enough to work with the clones but not all of them and some were canceled supposedly but how would you do that except in the next batch?"

The article laid out the events and the timeline then savaged the Jedi leaders when it was mentioned they attempted to secretly arrest the highest-ranking official in the galactic government with no media present and without notifying any political or military allies. In fact, it was determined less than half a dozen sentient beings in the entire galaxy were aware of the four Master's self-appointed mission to arrest the Chancellor. Even if they had succeeded in their mission, the political consequences of the Jedi's presumptive actions would have been disastrous for the organization. Harry nodded "Like I said. Even their friends are at least exasperated now."

Throughout all the articles, it was immediately apparent to the foursome that the fallout from that day was immense. Jedi were now hunted on all Imperial worlds, and bounty hunters had now turned up in droves to make fast cash as they chased down crippled Force users who no longer had their former unlimited resources. The head of a Padawan currently paid out more money than some of the most dangerous jobs offered by the Hutts. The bright side of things was that rank and file Jedi were welcomed with open arms on any of the newly formed Alliance worlds, and bounty hunters who chased them were being taken down with extreme prejudice within those system's borders. Law and Order noises always made politicians look good in a crisis.

SSDV

Shaak Ti gave a lesson in Alderaan, its people, climate, terrain, government, and factions and their significant players of that government as they got close. It was one of the best pre-mission briefs Harry had ever had. "Shaak that was great, thanks! One of the best pre-mission briefs ever. How up to date is it?"

Shaak smiled "Not to worry. Ships in hyperdrive cannot be tracked accurately by most means. I have been working my connections and contacts however I have conveyed that we are trying to stay under the radar."

Harry frowned and Aayla gave him a shove with her hip where she sat nearly in his lap "Be nice. Now it will only be the unofficial, official, radar.

Harry sighed "Actually I wasn't thinking of tracking. I hate politics, and I am not good at it. I hadn't even thought about them tracking us because of who Shaak is. Military can track ships in hyperspace I take it. Hmm because of the way the lanes are I would assume they track based on them. That would make it slightly easier for them. We should see about getting full maps from those lane scouts."

Maris shrugged "We have to learn politics Harry. We won't be able to just beat everyone to pieces. Alderaan was known as 'The Soul of the Republic' and was one the Republic's founding worlds 25,000 years ago when the first galactic constitution was signed. It's a core world that we have significant allies on. It is a well-respected and popular world. Bail Organa is a good man. Even I saw that from just the holo's, he is the Viceroy, and is married to its Monarch, Queen Breha. They already announced their intentions when they took sides against the new Galactic Empire. They are a Republic planet and people. The planet has not yet drawn much of the Empire's wrath despite its location in the Core because there are other systems with much more formidable Navy's that have already actively engaged the Empire's remaining fleets. Corellia for one.

Plus the Black Sun and the Hutts. If Palpatine gives them an inch they will bite off hundreds of worlds."

Shaak nodded "Very good. He has also perhaps realized that the political fallout that an attack on Alderaan, which does not have a fleet or army, would drive many of the worlds still on the fence firmly into the camp of his enemies.

One of many reasons we chose here rather than Chandrilla or Corellia. I trust Bail Organa to act honorably and do what he says. What he has said for years and has acted on for years, was keeping the Republic together. He will drive to make these rebelling worlds and systems a Republic with a representational government as well."

Aayla nodded "I have dealt with him and Queen Breha in the past, all his dealings have been completely honorable. He had been one of the dissenters against the Clone War, and was one of the more well-known 'quiet' political antagonists of the Chancellor. Now I supposed direct opponent, politically, financially, and now, newly militarily against the Empire and its interests. The reports have the Antarian Rangers heading for Alderaan with their fleets as they withdraw from the core. That may or may not turn permanent."

"Any idea what we'll do when we get there? Or who we should try and get in contact with?" asked Harry.

"We'll have to play it by ear," said Shaak Ti. "We don't know how the defenses in the system are now arranged, nor do we know if or how many Jedi may already have fled to the system."

"Aayla, I want you to leave your suppression necklace on, Shaak you and Maris take yours off." said Harry suddenly.

"Why Harry?" she asked.

"You've seen the news reports. You're listed amongst the casualties of Felucia. If we arrive at Alderaan, and someone can sense four Force-capable people on a craft, they'll come looking for you and me. But if you're wearing it, and I'm suppressing my own aura, they'll only know about Shaak Ti and Maris."

"It's a good plan," said Shaak Ti after a few moments of silence, as all three Jedi pondered his suggestion. "I'm not quite good enough at aura suppression yet but I can damp it some as can you Maris. No need to advertise who we are to anyone who has been around us, before we know whose side is whose and which we are on."

"OK and lightsabers for you all but remember I will do ranged attacks if necessary. You can all feel my magic when it's sent and you know it's me so don't bat any curses down." Harry added. "And I think we should decide on our next destination, have the course laid in, and the droids keep the ship ready to lift. As soon as Palpatine gets his area secured and a fleet he nearly has to attack Alderaan if all you say is correct."

Maris was scowling. She was still struggling with occlumency. Harry smiled at her. "We'll get there. It takes time, but it's absolutely crucial to a lot of really valuable skills you can eventually master," said Harry.

Maris nodded "I'm taking that hold out blaster we worked on Harry."

Harry winced "Careful, remember that poor asteroid. Dead before its time, dust to dust."

Maris poked out her tongue at him. They all chuckled. The hand blaster had broken up a fairly dense asteroid up at one of the lane changes after Harry and the droids had worked it over. They weren't sure why. Though it was full auto and had a huge tibanna gas supply in a null space in the grip now. It also had a cyclic rate of about five thousand rounds a minute. Harry had grinned hugely and told them it was like a Hog. They were still working that out a day later when Harry told a story about a Hog brrtting some class threes. They had figured out a Hog was an in atmosphere speeder. A Thunderbolt II A10. One built for war with an apparently magnificent cannon just for taking out ATTEs and vehicles like that.

Shaak Ti nodded, then leaned back and stretched her back. "It's time to sleep. Are you coming, Maris? Or will you stay up here for a while?"

"Well, I probably should chaperone these two, but I guess we can trust them alone� to not wreck the ship, mainly because Harry made that impossible." said Maris before she quickly moved down the cockpit access passage.

"She's getting better." observed Aayla to the remaining group.

"I like her, she is getting� more normal? To me at least. Are Masters really strict?"" asked Harry.

Shaak Ti sighed, "Some." Harry nodded and Aayla shrugged. They had had a few of these conversations. "Anyways, good night you two. Have fun staring at the star lines." Shaak Ti waved absently behind her and closed the cockpit door.

Harry shook his head "Who would have thought traveling a jillion miles an hour would be boring. Nothing near as fun as a broom. Out of hyperspace is ok but this is just boring."

Aayla merely rolled her eyes and gave him a light slap on the back of his head, "Stop being so melodramatic. Play with your padd. When are you going to let us see that thing?"

Harry handed it to her and she dug in. After a few minutes, she grunted scowled at him and worked on the computer backing up his data, sorting it into categories and giving him the padd back while she perused what was now becoming organized rather than a white board in a new large team brainstorming session that had gone on for far too long with far to many white board markers in the hands of type A personalities.

He blinked after looking through it for a few minutes as it was synchronized with the computer Aayla was working on and continued to get more organized under her direction. "Thanks. Still right there tip of my brain though."

Aayla waved him off "Fly the simulator while I look at this. Leave your padd. I might have some tighter organization to do." Harry smiled at her and gently stroked a lekku as he moved to the copilot's station and the R2 driving set him up a course that would drive most pilots mad. Harry liked his challenges. The droids seemed to enjoy virtually smearing him over some planet or asteroid belt. Occasionally chasing him down and blowing him out of the sky.

After an hour or so Aayla looked up at a sharp whistles she perceived as astromech laughter in time to see Harry buy it in some simulated fleet action taking on a Lucrehulk battle ship and a lot of vulture droids. "Harry there are a thousand contingency plans in here."

Harry leaned back "Trying to cover all the bases. The pieces can be swapped around too. Well the fully separate actions. Never know what a mad dark lord is going to do but there are limits. Mainly in his available forces and the terrain. I know mad dark wankers. I am getting a handle on weapons capabilities and the galaxy. When I have a dark wanker thought I write it down change the weapons and vehicles for those available here then game out my response to that. The problem is they all end up run away right now as I have very few resources. If he comes out personally and I can get to him I think I could throw the whole thing up in the air with a killing curse."

"And all this magic?" She asked.

"This and that. Ideas. Like the potions section. Stuff worth trying." Harry allowed. "Getting the tent windows to work wherever it is is one of them. Oh the stateroom designs are in there too. The mass driver installation. Specs for the runes on it. Ideas to improve it, engines, hyperdrive coils, blasters all kinds of stuff. St Vitus brain Luna calls it. Most of the stateroom designs are complete, just upgrading the fresher's to real water left to do. Maris doesn't seem to be interested in plumbing, and you and Shaak are busy decorating. She will finish the rooms with a droid and I will come behind and do the bathrooms, once you all have a design you can knock that out. The portals I made are the pain. I can't figure out how to link them to the ship for holocom and the like."

"Maybe make little hole portals like the mass driver muzzle, one linked to one over a holonet control. It can be near enough to reach a control panel and relay the signal or hard wire it then disillusion the whole thing and hide it behind the panels in the lounge. You do know those can come down right?"

Harry blinked "Thanks."

Aayla shrugged "You and all the training, building your portals and playing with your cannon. We are happy to help you Harry." Harry grinned at her sheepishly and got an eye roll. "Plus we will need to figure out who is safe to tell about all this. I still think of these oaths you talked about."

Harry grimaced "And if they sell the ship?"

Aayla sat up. Harry had built portals to variable sized null space portals and put them all over including the gun space This ship could now haul as much as a large freighter and accommodate a brigade of clones. The discussion over these devices had gone on endlessly with Harry pointing out slavers and smugglers and what they could do with the things. "Didn't you say the goblins could make things return to vaults?"

Harry nodded slowly "Yeah, have to find that book of Bills and we will have to have a secure place. Maybe a small moon under the fidelius charm."

Aayla smiled. They could all get what they wanted here. They just had to work together. Harry rolled his eyes.

All that greeted this response was one very well-manicured eyebrow slowly rising upwards. "For that, you'll begin my lessons now."

She sank back still reading his padd but now frowning. Harry asked "Something wrong?"

Aayla snorted "All of this."

Harry nodded moved back the expanded seat and sat by her. "We'll figure it out."

Aayla bit her bottom lip "Harry I have. I'm going with you no matter what the Order does. If they can't deal with it then well I think we have the start of our own Order."

Harry laughed "Sure, what's one more faction in this mess. I got a good record against dark lords though."

Aayla was looking at a section where he had written out the similarities between Palpatine and the dark lords he had fought and Harry's estimate of what he would do. "So I see. Dark Ladies too?"

Harry snorted "Worse than the males. They just get mean when you thwart them."

Aayla raised a brow "Good that you know."

Harry spluttered "Oh feisty. Defend your mind Master Secura." She narrowed her eyes at him and he slipped into her mind like a warm breath from a lover on her ear. She gasped. He had never done this before.

Harry got past her defenses and she glared at him in her mindscape, he grinned. "Come on show me around and I'll show you some other tricks." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

Aayla eyed him "I better have my clothes on in that cockpit." Harry laughed and followed her around then took her hand and let her in his mindscape. She gasped at the castle.

Harry nodded "Hogwarts. My school of magic. Come on I'll show you around. It will give you some ideas."

Aayla followed him, seeing some things that she was sure were very personal. Harry named the students, professors and beings they met in the halls and told her their stories. Unfortunately, they all ended "They were killed at such and such on so and so date."

She looked at him for a moment "Harry why are they here?"

Harry smiled "I gave them access to all my power. In here they're all as powerful as I am, and here they live forever. They are my defenses."

Aayla hugged him from the side.

Harry took her back to her mindscape and shooed her in to do some work. She smiled and went to it. Harry exited to Maris reading his padd. And doing a little more cleanup on it and then synching the backup. "Thanks?"

Maris grinned at him. "You were busy. Aayla good?" how did you get past her shields? I can't."

Harry blushed and she giggled "You can do that in there? Good, stop wasting time and do it out here."

Harry huffed "She needs to figure out what the deal with the Order is."

Maris shrugged and waved the padd "Not better than this is what they are, or aren't as the case may be. We can be our own splinter cell."

"I knew I shouldn't have put that stone on you or let you read that book." Harry leaned back in the seat putting an arm around Aayla and pulling her close.

"Phhtt I want to code the game on a data core!" Maris bounced in her seat.

"Can't sleep?" Harry asked gently.

Maris sighed "No, not from nightmares for once, just nervous. I'll sleep in a bit. I'll wake you before I go if you want to nap. I'm picking your brain over here."

Harry chuckled but nodded. "So sinceuwas up." He tossed her a grin and got a eye roll, He was the only one who thought that routine was funny. He should make a crystal of American. "Why are these big ass boats the droids keep killing me with retarded donuts?"

Maris looked at him blankly for a moment then grinned "Airshaft max. The core worlds are ecumenopoli? Is that the word? Anyway the whole worlds are cities. They have air shafts that because of some regulation are a standard size. The Lucrehulks were cargo ships the CIS converted for the war. The hulls without control spheres let down into the shafts and unload cargo and take on waste and concentrate. They haul that to agricorps worlds and then haul food back. Without the control spheres traffic passes through the hole in the middle of them as they are loading and unloading cargo. Not like they can grow food. They do extract everything possible from the waste and use it, to include growing algae and converting that to ration bars which are nearly free but kind of skeevy to eat."

Harry snorted "You know skeevy but aren't sure about ecumenopolis?" He got a look. "Fine. So they are really just fit to purpose, then because they had them and they are enormous the CIS armed them."

Maris nodded "Yep. Now sleep. I'm picking your brain. Well after I clean it up some more."

He woke up to a gentle touch an hour or so later and Maris looked at him and nodded. He nodded back and shifted gently. As she left Harry had a feeling "You know Maris you'll never be alone again. Shaak and Aayla are older than you. They had already left their masters. No matter what though, I won't leave you. You take your time and decide what you want. I'll be here."

Maris came back hugged him and left.

Harry looked down at the blue head on his shoulder. "So how much did you hear?"

Aayla looked up and smiled "All of it. Found number two, or perhaps three." Harry rolled his eyes. "I know you struggle with it but there is no random. The Force moves things to where it wants. Maris needs you and needed to hear you say it."

Harry shrugged "Magic gets what magic wants."

Aayla shot him a glare "Primitive."

"Yep that's me."

She gave him a shoulder check and reached for the padd. Harry arched a brow "So how did it go?"

Aayla grinned "I got the rest of the memories done and put in a surprise for the next person in my mind." She looked at Harry sternly. She had a wampa wandering her tunnels. A wampa with dark, flat, charcoal fur. The first time someone knew it was there would be when its claws came out of their chest.

SSDV

Harry and the others listened to the beeping then watched as the ship dropped out of hyperspace and a blue green planet swelled in the cockpit windows. Harry relaxed when it stopped doubling in size twice a second "Nice brakes."

Aayla chuckled "Good thing."

Maris looked at the two. Shaak started speaking before she could get a comment off "So we will enter the holding pattern and wait for a query."

Harry had frozen though "There is a very powerful magical right there." He pointed and Maris brought up a view of the area, then magnified it showing a cruiser in orbit. "More on the planet and in orbit but that one is the most powerful." The Jedi went quiet and Harry shuddered as a mental sweep passed over them "You all felt that right?"

They all nodded and Shaak relayed "Master Yoda."

She was interrupted by the cruiser calling them "Vessel exiting hyperspace this is the CNS Reliant. Identify yourself and state your purpose."

Shaak keyed the coms "Corellian Navy Ship Reliant this is the mixed freighter/passenger vessel Marauder. We are intending to land on the planet to discharge cargo and passengers."

"Master Ti. Good to hear from you it is. Worried about you we have been."

"Master Yoda. We need to have a discussion, but here is not the place." Shaak replied frostily. The others raised brows at her.

Yoda replied "Agreed we are. Follow Reliant you will."

Harry frowned "Used to being obeyed he is. This should be fun. A bit unrestrained with the legilimency as well."

Shaak nodded "He will know about Maris and me for sure."

Aayla was scowling. "You know, that had not been so invasive to me before."

Harry nodded "Powerful and skilled. He was reading your surface thoughts or trying to. A lot of you all's battle precognition is tied up in that I've noticed."

The Jedi nodded. They had had this conversation and when Harry had his occlumency screwed down tight their precognition was less effective. It had been a bit of a surprise to the Jedi. Aayla was an empath and Harry putting his shields on full bothered her. He didn't screw them down to demon hunting mode unless they were sparring. He also didn't tell her that what he was doing with suppressing their but leaving a trickle connected to others auras was what couples or parents did. He was also doing it with Maris and Shaak. As well as training himself to let them in a bit.

They paralleled the cruiser with no problem. The frigate had powerful sublight engines, attitude control engines too, with literally tons of available reaction mass now stored in null space, and more repulsar coils than it really needed. It could keep up with or outrun a lot of fighters. A lot of ships in hyperspace as well. As it was designed with no armor, its defense was agility. Its hull plates now, while the same, were all rune engraved and activated, and after days in space were fully charged, and probably better armor than heavy cruisers.

Harry smiled at Maris question of where they were headed as he looked out at terrain that reminded him of Switzerland and pointed as they cleared a mountain range announcing in an over the top voice, that he considered Pythonesque, "To the castle!" Maris shot him a raised brow, that sounded suspiciously like something from one of the 'swashbuckler' movies he liked to make into books and laugh at the sword play in, and he shrugged "Castle that big only governments can afford. If you are keeping it, might as well stuff it full of drones, seems to be the predominant thinking in my experience."

Shaak nodded "Never heard that reasoning but yes that is the seat of the planetary government and the landing pads and security apparatus are close to it."

Harry shrugged "Drone hive. Hopefully they won't learn to decentralize and power down the hard way." Harry's theories of governance were colored by losing layer after layer of governments to Demons. It had been interesting or led to interesting discussions rather. "Shaak I'll let you do the talking. I'll try to stay invisible."

Aayla snorted "Nearly two meters tall, powerfully built, and moves like a predator, green eyes I have never seen or heard of in this galaxy, that glow when you are working on something. Wearing black leather and armor. And carrying twin blasters in hip holsters and one in a shoulder holster. Yep invisible. I thought you might use your cloak. Are you serious Harry? You are going to set off every warrior presents precognition. Occlumency or not." Harry pouted at her. The Jedi laughed. They landed as Reliant and two flights of fighters circled, They made their way down to the personnel ramp as Reliant landed. The fighters circled to a higher altitude and Maris pointed out the speeders coming toward them.

Harry smirked "Not as cool as hover bikes." They had stopped with Shaak and Aayla in front, Harry behind Aayla and Maris behind Shaak. The Jedi nearly rolled their eyes. Harry loved the speeder bikes he had stolen without Aayla realizing. He, with his droid conspirators, had then disassembled one and hopped another one up to and passed the maximum they thought it could be, certainly past what was safe. They were sure the thing could get out of a planetary gravity well on its own. They were dreading the first test ride. Harry had waved them off saying he could always apparate off and leave it. He had nine more after all.

The Jedi smiled, amused, and composed themselves. The armored speeders arrived and a tall light brown skinned human dismounted as the security formed up, and he handed out a very pretty, conservatively dressed woman. Shaak informed them "Bail Organa and Queen Breha. Unexpected."

Bail led the Queen up and opened the conversation "Master Ti, Master Secura."

Shaak and Aayla inclined their heads and Shaak spoke "Senator Organa, Queen Breha. May I present Padawan Maris Brood and Harry Potter?" The two bowed slightly.

Bail nodded "I didn't know you had taken Padawans Masters." Bail wasn't a dummy. He heard every word said and filled in the unsaid blanks. Then he probed for the truth.

Shaak replied "Padawan Broods Master was killed."

Aayla added "Harry is not a padawan."

Bail apologized immediately "My apologies Knight Potter. I don't believe we have met before. Our sympathies for your loss Padawan Brood."

Harry smiled at the smooth attempt "No we haven't. I am not a Jedi. I met Master Secura on Felucia." He had been watching the mob approaching from the Reliant. He and the Queens Security people. The lead speeder stopped and a house elf got out and tottered over with a cane. Harry raised a brow. Like elves but not. And like them nearly made of magic.

It spoke "Master Ti, Master Secura. A surprise this is. Padawan Brood, Happy to see you well I am." He turned to Harry and Harry rebuffed a probe. The small being stumbled.

"Where I come from that is an actionable offense. It is also usually how fights start." Harry offered calmly.

Bail raised a brow. He didn't know what had just happened but it was significant, suspected of the Jedi as well. He watched quietly. Aayla added "I will no longer tolerate intrusions on my mind without permission Master Yoda."

Shaak nodded and Maris grinned impudently when she rebuffed the probe. Bail coughed as he put it together. Shaak nodded "Senator Organa we would like to speak with yourself and the Queen at your earliest convenience."

Breha had watched the whole time as Yoda was rebuffed then ignored. She suspected what had just happened. It confirmed something she had suspected Yoda of for a long time. Now here was a council member, a senior master who had been very publicly involved with the war and allegedly dead and a rescued padawan with what appeared to be someone like a Ranger General snubbing him.

Bail asked "Master Ti how did you manage to save the Order? Sorry but I have been desperate to find out."

Shaak looked to Aayla "Master Secura saved us. Not I."

Aayla shook her head. "It was all Harry but I'm not sure the apron of the star port is the place to discuss it."

Bail nodded and turned back to Master Ti working through some more initial meeting details and customs and doing a bit more fishing and Harry stepped over to Maris "You OK?" He smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.

Maris sighed "Master Yoda just tried to barge into my mind! I'm fine though."

Harry nodded "I used that. Sorry. I'm not sure he has control of it. It's like standing beside a dwarf forge. The magic coming off of him is massive. I need to get a stone on him soon to protect us all. I used the opportunity presented though and set him back a little. It also told his allies he has been doing it." Maris looked at him and he smiled. "Full disclosure this is a bit of theater too. Me talking to you while the masters are busy."

Maris narrowed her eyes and he sighed "Sorry. I hate politics but it is necessary."

Maris sighed "I caught the Legilimency and that was it. I think I might not be a Consular."

Harry chuckled "Me either. Yoda was cruising for a bruising though." Maris smiled and snickered as he turned and bowed to Queen Breha who had walked up "Your Majesty."

Breha had been Queen for years. She eyed him closely "You Mr. Potter, are going to be interesting, aren't you."

Harry sighed "I do seem to have been cursed to live in interesting times ma'am."

Breha nodded "Please be careful. Yoda is a necessary ally."

Harry nodded "Ma'am."

The Queen looked at him "Not a Jedi but not inexperienced. A Ranger?"

Harry smiled "Perhaps a conversation for more controlled conditions Ma'am."

The Queen arched a brow "You do realize we are under all kinds of surveillance here. Some eager analyst is right now searching the nets for your details to give to me."

Harry smiled "And if my skills are what they should be they have heard an annoying buzzing and my face is just blurry enough for them not to be able to read my lips ma'am."

The Queen smiled "Yes, interesting. And Maris Brood. We were sorry to here of your loss. If there is anything we can do for you please ask. Shall we join the others and go?" Harry bowed and she turned and walked to the other group. Maris was a bit stunned. The Queen led them, a few paces ahead.

Maris looked at him and arched a brow. He shrugged "She doesn't stay Queen of an unarmed planet being silly." He saw the Senator look at his wife and nod then catch his eye and nod. Harry returned the small nod and smiled. They were in for now. Maris sighed. Harry put an arm around her shoulders and chuckled. "I had to learn the hard way. I'm glad to talk to you about it. But later."

They came up on the group and heard the Senator "So the clone war is over but now we have a rebellion against a despot." He looked tired.

Breha patted his arm she had taken "Fortunately Palpatine has made mistakes, those mistakes have multiplied and left him at sea for now. Master Secura's actions have reduced his forces, and the various sectors in rebellion have him spread so thin we have a bit of room politically and militarily."

Harry zoned out, Maris, aware of this, steered him a bit by an elbow as they moved slowly, still talking, to ground transportation. Something in the Queens comments had triggered a cascade. He suddenly jerked and Aayla then Shaak turned to him. Aayla looked at Maris and then asked "Harry?"

Harry looked up and smiled evilly "The Queen has supplied the missing piece. Mistakes." He looked at the raised brows. "OK I am the Dark Lord. I have a plan, but my evil overlord guild rules say to have a backup. I am running both sides of the Clone war to deal with my political opposition, as the Jedi have been neutered by the Rusan accords. They are pretty much an annoyance. As part of my primary plan though, they must go. My primary plan blows up spectacularly, taking my primary force with it. I was running both sides of the war though. I send my henchman to get full control of the secondary force, to finish the primary plan. He sends the standby signal but is interrupted before he can send the change of mission instructions. My secondary forces go into standby. Henchman gets chopped up, and I don't have the code. I have to wait until I screw him back together, unless I am a high order necromancer. I would have felt something that dark. Playing with souls leaves a distinct, impression, let's say. I didn't feel anything. So Skywalker is alive and being healed, and as soon as he is the emperor will get the code."

They all looked at him, it was a reasonable conclusion of how events had unfolded, they weren't getting what was so exciting about this though. Harry cackled a bit "Skywalker sent the signal from Mustafar. Aayla, you told me those holo terminals log signals. Wouldn't the master control code still be there in that log?"

Bail perked up, smiled, then laughed. He turned to the Queen "Your pardon Ma'am but I need to talk to Garm."

Breha smiled at him, he ran and jumped in an opened topped speeder, and the driver gunned it. Breha turned to Harry "Interesting all ready. Come, we will go to the palace and let you rest from your travels. We will have dinner together tonight I think. Ourselves and you four. Master Potter can entertain us with interesting stories by the fire after dinner."

The others followed the Queen while sneaking pleased looks at Harry. Aayla had moved to his other side and Shaak next to her. Yoda followed behind. Harry handed the ladies into a covered speeder got in, and the guard shut the door and stepped on the footplate. The armored speeder accelerated away hard. Yoda waited for his open speeder.

At the palace, the Queen led them to an observation deck high in the building and left them with a butler while rooms were prepared for them. The Jedi hugged Harry who blushed. Aayla pulled him to the side while Shaak engaged Yoda, who had shown up shortly after them, in a stiff conversation with Maris watching. "Force Harry!"

Harry chuckled "I keep putting things in there and they rattle around and sometimes they connect the right way."

Aayla smiled "Nice timing. Way to smack the Grand Master of the Order down and get a few shots in at the Order as well."

Harry shrugged "Somebody has to wake him up. This has been a farce from start to finish. It is finished as well, time to move to the next phase. For the Order to survive they must pull their head out, and take some tough decisions. It may come to a split and letting the Rusan Order finish dying on the vine."

Aayla looked at Shaak, who had a stiff face on, and led Harry over. Yoda looked at him "Apologize to you I must."

Harry, who had been alternately loved and lionized then hated and demonized his entire life had had this before "I forgive you but I won't forget. You should apologize and explain yourself to all these other people who you have been skimming the thoughts of all these years."

Yoda nodded "Think poorly of the Order you do."

Harry shrugged "Not as individuals, though I haven't met them all. I know the type however. You have some apparently mystic power. The Sith side of you use it for their own gain. The Jedi side of the same coin use it for allegedly noble purposes. Allegedly because how can you tell what is good for everyone? Set the conditions for success, make people leave each other alone to get on with it, you didn't do that though. No one ever does. There is always the temptation to impose your will, as you know best. Politics creep in over time, then some major event happens and you get some reform, where the common people without mystical powers emasculate the mystics. Normally the noble ones who are convinced they are serving the good. Because they will listen to the people, if they are loud enough. The evil bastards don't care and chop up anyone in their way mystics or not. One side normally triumphs at that point. This time however the rule of two for the Sith prevented them from gaining dominance. Well, that and their own internecine struggles. Bunch of sociopaths, maybe psychotics. That rule of two guy played the long game though. He knew the Rusan reformation would limit the population of noble mystics and lead to their destruction. All the Sith had to do was wait and be prepared to pick up the pieces. Probably thought he had broken the code on immortality."

Yoda nodded "Dispute you I cannot, as unfolded exactly that way events have."

Aayla blinked "Master?"

Yoda turned to her "Different you are in the Force. Your experience on Felucia changed you it has."

Aayla nodded "It did but the difference is this." She removed her stone and Yoda blinked.

"What is this?" Yoda looked from Aayla to the stone.

Harry snapped his fingers and reached in one of the pouches on his belt. "You need to put this on. You're a beacon in the Force. This will suppress that."

Yoda blinked and took the stone. He looked at Harry "You I cannot feel in the Force. But you used the Force." Harry shrugged and dropped his occlumency to just shielding his thoughts and looked at Yoda's comically wide eyes. Yoda recovered "A Sith technique this is! The paths of the dark side have you walked."

Harry snorted "A technique to keep demons from hunting you down and having you for a snack this is." He pulled his barriers back up and sat in the grouping of furniture on the platform. "As for walking in the paths of the dark? Yes, most of them anyway. Walk, ran, danced down, tripped over. Covered most of them I think. No raping, missed that one, but, somehow it had no appeal. Oh and no torturing and killing kids. You can't catch them and kill them unless you know them. Did I want to? No. I wouldn't recommend it. I'm pretty sure I got all the grease out of my hair but I can never be sure. My eyes don't twinkle though." Aayla elbowed him moderately hard as she sat.

Yoda looked at the stone as the women sat. "Have one of these you do not. Alive in the force is this stone."

Harry shrugged "Wow, you are a perceptive little dude. Took me months to feel that. OK Aayla I will work harder on feeling the force around me, not just searching for enemies. I can teach the technique. My people use these stones for children until they learn to suppress their presence. We put them on our wounded and ill too."

Shaak and Maris pulled out their stones and put them on. Aayla suppressed her signature and Harry beamed at her. Yoda blinked and looked around tiredly leaning on his cane heavily. Harry waved and low chair appeared. Yoda recoiled then poked it with his cane. Aayla smiled "It is real master Yoda."

Yoda looked at the Jedi and put the stone over his head, then sat and wriggled around until he was comfortable. Harry sighed in relief. Yoda looked at him. "The truth you spoke. Failed we have. The new code imposed by the Senate was. The danger we did not see. Rigid is the new code and our practice became that way.

Change the order must and the Senate that imposed the code is gone. The old code we will follow. These techniques in you have no darkness grown. Felt you when you released your essence I did. Darkness you have fought for years."

Harry sighed "More than you know."

Aayla looked at Yoda "Harry is teaching us these techniques." She offered, with the slightest bit of challenge.

Yoda looked back at her "Suppressed useful knowledge you think the Order has." Aayla nodded and he closed his eyes. "Powerful force users in my youth there were. More powerful by far than I. The last of the Jedi dynasties. The Sunrider clan and their peers. The new code and celibacy ended that. Techniques were lost. Many Jedi fell to the dark. Techniques were poscribed. Then came the shroud. For two hundred years it has grown. Knowledge we might have lost or controlled too closely but purposefully not." He looked up and saw another person standing beside the Butler. "To rest you should go. Meditate I must. Master Secura, a moment for me you have."

The others rose and walked away. Harry gave Aayla a glance and she smiled and nodded toward the door. She had made her decision. Now the Order needed to make theirs. Yoda looked at her for a moment then nodded "Blame you I do not. Denied you and Master Fisto the Order did. Deny you again we will not. Controversial this will be."

Aayla smiled "Wait until you see what Harry can really do. He and I will go where the Force leads us." Yoda smiled and shooed her away. She rose "Master be careful. That chair is conjured. If he didn't intend it to be permanent it will disappear after a while."

"Sad is this. Best chair I have had in years this is. Thank you for your warning I do. Not so spry am I."

Aayla walked away contemplating whether they had made another convert. She turned a corner and found Harry waiting with a padd in his hand. She hugged him, and when he looked down she rose on her toes and kissed him. While he was stunned she giggled and took the padd and his hand and drug him away. She took him to his room pushed him in the bed and crawled in on top of him. He finally managed "Aayla?"

She grinned and snuggled down "Yoda won't protest. Now it's up to us. Sleep. Breha is very smart, Bail is her equal." She turned her head and lay it on his chest and felt him rise under her. She smiled "That's not sleeping."

"Grrrr."

SSDV

Harry entered the room in his robes without the armor and Aayla had donned a loose brown, cowled, robe over her normal pants and crop top. Maris and Shaak were there in Jedi robes. Harry bowed and Breha smiled "We thought here in a private dining room rather than a state dinner."

They all got seated and plates were served then the servants withdrew. They discussed many things during dinner and then afterward Breha led them to another room, a nice sitting room with a fire place that had a fire burning on the grate. Harry chuckled "Stories by the fireside Ma'am?"

Breha shrugged slightly. "It is traditional I think. Please feel free to speak freely here. This room is swept carefully."

Harry waved "And now is proof against Force enabled eavesdropping. I have a device that I think would make this easier. It can project the actual memory of an event." He reached in one of his seemingly bottomless pockets, got out a projecting pensieve, and put it on the low table in the midst of the seating group after ending the shrinking charm. "Where do you want to start?"

Breha nodded "Perhaps at the beginning. With your world and how you got to Felucia."

Harry nodded, thought a moment, and pulled a memory strand with his finger. He dropped it in the stone bowl, pressed several of the runes around the edge, and a memory of a view of Earth from space showed "This is Earth, my home planet."

Bail whistled "Beautiful, nearly a water world."

The memory faded and then changed to Hogwarts seen from the boats at night. "My school." The scene faded and shifted to a view of the inside of the school and in Harry's dorm room. It swiftly progressed through a day there and shifted to night or early morning. "This is the last fight I had with the first dark lord I defeated."

The others watched amazed and Harry watched sadly. They recoiled when Riddle appeared and Aayla hissed "Sith!"

Harry blinked "Really? They look like that too?"

Shaak nodded "It is thought to be the corruption of the dark side."

Harry tapped his chin thoughtfully as the memory played on. They were amazed at the display of the Force and all of the variations of it, he won that fight, then the memory showed scenes of him as an Auror. Aayla looked at him "You were a Jedi there. A Sentinel." Aayla had been thinking about it watching all his memories as they traveled. "A Shadow even."

Harry smiled "Sort of, an Auror. There were regular police, Law Enforcement Squads, then a kind of cross between police and the military, Hit Wizards and then Aurors. We chased down the darkest creatures, witches and wizards. Normally in pairs or small teams. The Hit Wizards were arranged in bigger units, up to forty. The Law Enforcement Squads were in teams of ten, then platoons of forty or so, companies of up to a hundred twenty, and then Constabularies of however many companies a area required. They patrolled and did day to day law enforcement. The Aurors were nominally in charge and able to act as any of the three."

Bail was watching and had been keeping a running count "Harry that is four of those Sith so far."

Harry sighed "Dark Lords and their minions. One every couple of years for a long time. About the time we got one another would appear."

Maris blinked "The rule of two?"

Harry shook his head "Usually they were rising as we were dealing with the worst. Parallel development? There was some discussion about trying to herd them together to see if they would kill each other off. Now that I have read your history here I see how bad an idea that really was. Natural selection would have made the ones that survived very tough opponents."

Bail barked a laugh "Harry those are all tough opponents. Ranged Force attacks? I'm not sure even the Jedi could deal with that."

Shaak nodded "The least of them has been Darth level. The worst make Darth's look easy. Legendary enemies. Yoda needs to see this."

Breha nodded "Especially if Palpatine can make it to this level. We have reports of him using some kind of lightning attack already."

Harry winced "This next one favored that. The Dark Lady Cleopatra."

They all recoiled from the next image. A beautiful woman apparently ravaged by disease. Maris half rose as Cleopatra, in the pensieve image, loosed fiendfyre on a section of Cairo. She eased back down as Harry's team plus some Egyptian Aurors controlled it then Harry engaged the Dark Lady. She did favor Lightning. In the image Harry didn't seem to appreciate it. He beat her to a bloody pulp. "Was that fire alive?"

Harry nodded then shook his head "Sentient, but not alive as we understand it. It consumes the Force in people or objects." The Jedi hissed. Harry warned "The first Demon I fought is coming, then it will be the fight with the last one and how I got here."

Despite the warning Bail and Breha leapt to their feet at the appearance of the tier two demon, then sat slowly and much closer together. The scene shifted to a blasted, devastated world and the last fight in the crater. All those from this plane leaned back wide eyed at the ferocity of the fight and the amount of power applied. They relaxed as Harry killed the Dark Lord then tensed when the fiendfyre appeared and Harry leapt in the hole.

Aayla laughed as Harry shot from the ground and tumbled through the air. He scowled at her and the others raised brows. Aayla smirked "I will show you a memory next." They watched as Harry followed Aayla in the memory and Breha grinned.

The grinning stopped when the clone's radio conversations happened wherein they heard order sixty six be issued and Aayla was attacked. They followed through Harry healing her the trip back in time, all their activities at the base and after. The memory ended and Harry took out a wand and retrieved it.

Bail nodded "That was Palpatine's voice. He gave the order himself."

Harry nodded "Could it be voice tied mental conditioning? Some of the worst governments on Earth experimented with that."

Bail looked thoughtful and got up "Drinks?" Everyone took something. Bail picked for Harry. A generous amount of an excellent Alderainian whiskey. Like a bourbon Harry decided. Not as sweet. The ladies got a nice white wine. Bail sat again "So you were the commander of the Earths armies and a Master in your Order?"

Harry laughed "Aurors aren't an order. A calling maybe. I was the Chief Auror of Britain and was going to be the Chief Auror of the International Confederation of Wizards. Then the Demons appeared and I was left in charge of most of the forces of Earth. Force using and non-Force using."

Shaak nodded "The Grand Master of the Jedi and the Commander of the Republic Navy and Army."

Breha waved Harrys sputtering off "It is the equivalent Master Potter. Nearly identical missions minus the diplomacy of the Consular Jedi."

Harry sighed "Well that was there. Here I am just trying to help."

Breha let him off the hook and looked at Aayla "And you Master Secura?"

Harry talked her through putting the memories together, using his wand to extract them, then made them play and she narrated. Harry blushed as they all chuckled at his first force jump, or rather the scream as he fell.

Shaak was next and they got to see the mad scramble at the temple to try to stop it all. That caused a lot of discussion. Harry had to pause the memory and back up several times. Finally, they got through that and got to Maris being picked up, then finally meeting up with Harry and Aayla. Shaak concluded "We left Felucia and after a bit of debate came straight here. The main lanes are closed, so it took a few extra days."

Bail laughed "Yes. The lesson being don't betray Jedi. The estimates are sixty percent of the fleet destroyed and the same among clones and navy personnel killed. Confidence is high in the estimates."

Harry put away the pensieve and the conversation swirled. Breha finally offered "We have a place for you to stay. Well, a lot of the Jedi really. It is on Royal grounds but is disused. At one point it was a primary seat but them the capitol moved here. We will go there tomorrow." She looked at Harry and Aayla who were nestled together and smirked. "For now I think our young lovers need to get to bed."

Harry spluttered while Aayla smiled, Maris chuckled and Shaak grinned. The group took their leave. Breha turned to Bail who was standing by the desk "So?"

Bail nodded "It recorded. It was inside the field I guess. He was right about the listening devices and recorders at the space port. The faces were blurry and the audio was an annoying buzz."

Breha nodded "Time to talk to Yoda and get Mon and Garm on a secure holo conference."

Bail nodded "Yes, we need to talk to Mon and Garm without Yoda as well. We may be hosting the Grand Master of the new Order."

Breha chuckled "Yes, and its Mistress." Bail ruefully shook his head.

Aayla led back to their room. Shaak and Maris stood grinning. Aayla sighed and towed Harry in the room after good nights.

SSDV

Harry woke with Aayla firmly resting on him and him hard. They were both nude. He noticed he was wet. Aayla lifted her head, slid up and kissed him. He kissed back. She slid down and bumped him and jumped up "Shower!"

"Grrrrr."

"Shaak wants to exercise Harry."

"Grrrr."

"Clown."

They stepped out after dressing, nearly into Shaak and Maris. Both grinning like crazy people. Aayla laughed "The door was open Just come in." Harry face palmed.

Bail, Breha and Yoda watched them from a balcony. Bail asked "So was your meditation helpful?"

Yoda nodded "They are the way of the Order." He pointed at the four with his stick.

Breha shook her head "Some of the Masters are going to be a problem."

Yoda shrugged "Follow the new way they need not. Learn the new skills then however they cannot. Dangerous is Master Potter's use of the Force. Learn this I must."

Bail changed the subject "Are you sure about the lodge? It's in a bad state Ma'am."

Breha shrugged "It is isolated."

Yoda nodded "Few distractions. I will go as well. Some of these stones we must get. Put on the Jedi until they learn the new way."

After exercise, showers, breakfast entertaining courtiers and Jedi buy how much they ate, Harry, the three Jedi, Breha and Bail Organa with Yoda got in a convoy and took off for the lodge. Harry looked at the ship. Aayla smiled "An R2 can bring your toy later. Let's get settled." Harry nodded. The Maurader was sitting with its reactors and weapons powered up and its sensors running. The mass driver muzzle device and the other weapon systems were tracking different targets out in space. The port authorities were very disgruntled.

There was some discussion as they flew, drove, hovered? Anyway as they made their way to the Lodge. It was about an hour trip at pretty high speeds before they got there. Bail gave a window tour of the property and then they all dismounted at the lodge. Really a palace. It had extensive grounds but was smaller than Hogwarts. It was easy to see how the Government would have outgrown it. With it being very isolated in this remote valley moving the capitol made sense.

Harry looked at the buildings and smiled "So our rent is fixing up the buildings?"

Bail grinned "Well, if you feel like you have to?"

Breha cleared her throat. Bail turned to her "Yes dear?" He got a light glare.

"Masters, Padawan Brood, we have these temporary structures for your use for now." Breha indicated a spot against the wall where an in atmosphere freight platform was unloading and a crew was rapidly erecting five duraplas temporary shelters and starting a reactor and generator then hooking the shelters to it. On the other end an antenna array was being installed. "Each of them will have secure holonet connections or rather one connection shared between them."

Harry smiled "Thank you. You didn't have to go to all this trouble."

Yoda nodded "The thanks of the Order you have as well for all your help."

The Organa seneschal walked up and Bail and Breha sighed. Bail made their excuses "Duty calls I'm afraid." Goodbyes got made and Harry walked around a bit. There was a ley line near here, and this planet had a lot of the force. Not like Felucia but a good amount, more than Earth as well. That needed some thought as soon as he got time The Jedi supervised the workmen then the workers and the freight platform left.

Aayla looked up at Harry once they were alone and said "Tent in this one please." They were in the shelter in the middle. Harry smiled and put the tent up. Yoda watched amazed.

She then drug him from hut to hut and he did classes on color charms and transfiguration of furniture from garden debris. He also showed the rune to make the transfigurations stick until the rune was obliterated. Yoda took the hut on the far end. It was rather spartan, besides the chairs and bed Harry made for Yoda. The others were fitted out comfortably by all three of the women. Finally, after he made a late lunch in the tent, and they worked the rest of the afternoon around the huts in a ever widening half circle, Harry made a fire pit and some garden furniture and put up some insect and weather wards, while Aayla who knew these charms and transfigurations already collected wood. Then they sat around the fire for a while with Harry answering questions. Shaak finally asked the question the Jedi wanted the the answer to. "Master Yoda how many have we lost?"

Yoda sighed "Killed, less than a thousand. Damage to the Empire they did though. Scattered all but a hundred and nine. Retrieve them we are trying to. Master Potter your stones could we have?"

Harry tossed him a bag. "Put them around their necks. Those are the true children's versions, only one older than them that they trust would be able to take them off."

Yoda nodded. Aayla offered "Master we have a capable ship."

Yoda nodded "More important here learning this now you are. Once we have the ships, in pairs the Jedi will go out. They can get their friends and those they know and pass a supply of the stones to those who can do the same and it will grow. Ships we are being given, the Rangers are helping as well. Have them all soon we will.

Master Potter how long to learn the skills of a Force Mage to learn took you?"

Harry snorted "Finding their core and Occlumency should come first. Maris is still working on her occlumency but she is nearly there. Shaak the same but a bit closer. Aayla is qualified basically but can still work on it. Like all skills, practice makes perfect. So let's say half a year.

After they find their core and can shield themselves from detection, if these three are any guide, three years, less for these three, to what we considered qualified to be an adult, my school was seven years. Younger ones, not already so advanced will take that long, depending on their mental and physical abilities, and motivation.

Two more years for law enforcement, of course your people have a lot of that already so perhaps one for the specialist spells. Less for some.

A year after that for a Hit Wizard if selected and another year for an Auror if selected from the Hit Wizards. With work experience of a year at least for each level before selection. The top ten percent of both fields get offers to move up. The pay was better at each higher position. The risk higher as well though. Then field work with a fully qualified Auror and team selection.

Some were selected from the base school for the Aurors and that was three years of classes. Followed by a year of field work on a qualified team and then team selection and integration. The top one percent or so were recruited that way.

So four to nine years for fully qualified ready to fight Witches and Wizards."

Yoda nodded "And Masters Ti and Secura, Padawan Brood? Would you have recruited them from the first school?" Harry nodded immediately pleasing all three women. "Force Mages they will be. Enough trouble I will have over the code without reference to magic." Yoda nodded "Holo calls I must make, and then meditate I will." Yoda toddled off and Aayla snuggled into Harry.

Shaak got a glint in her eye and snuggled into his other side. Maris looked at them on the love seat and Shaak opened her mouth while Aayla grinned and Maris said "Night" and trotted to her shelter.

Harry chuckled "Girls play rough."

Aayla elbowed him and she and Shaak talked across his chest for a few minutes before Aayla drug him off to bed. Harry was glad for the safety runes he had put around the fire pit.

*Chapter 6*: Chapter 6

Same Song Different Verse

Chapter Six

Hiding while fighting

In the morning, as was now normal, Harry woke up being a bed, maybe a body pillow. Just as he was really getting into wake up snogging, the curtain at the bedroom entrance in the tent flew open and Shaak snorted "Do that later. Master Yoda is ready to exercise."

Aayla growled "He can."

Shaak laughed "You know how he is."

Harry found himself outside as the sun rose, after support charming the women, creating a back pack of a thing for Yoda. He soon found out why. They stretched, did partner resisted exercise and went for a run around the property line Bail had showed them. Harry was wearing the pack Yoda was in and answering a stream of questions. About halfway Yoda called a halt and Maris got the pack and a passenger.

Harry followed along trying to figure out why even without Yoda it seemed harder here. "Is the gravity different or something?"

Aayla nodded "More than Felucia."

"Good that you noticed. Some don't, and injure themselves." Shaak congratulated him.

They got back did cool down stretches and Harry showered and left when Shaak and Maris invaded the bath. They laughed. Harry got dressed and made breakfast. After breakfast, the Felucia pattern reestablished itself and they were off looking at plants and animals. After lunch Harry picked a building in the compound and showed them cleaning and repairing charms. He had talked with Yoda all through the day about finding his core and Yoda took time to meditate and try it.

Diner followed at dusk and then they talked around the fire with Harry saving out some of the sticks the Jedi summoned. Accio was easy for them as they were doing it already, the Force pull. "Force imbued you call it." when Maris arched a brow at him because he saved out a large piece she had summoned. She summoned another.

Later, Yoda went to make Holo calls and meditate, the others went to the tent. Harry traded massages with Maris as Shaak taught her and then massaged Aayla and Shaak. Aayla then drug him to bed.

Harry woke up feeling something. Like a Demon actively searching but on the other side of the planet. He debated apperating to the feeling and killing whatever it was for a minute, then decided to do wards instead, they needed them anyway.

Harry sat cross legged on the ground outside and searched for a suitable ward stone. He found one and sighed. It was deep. This would be a pain. Harry started pulling on it and applied more and more force until the ground was shaking. Yoda had felt whatever it was and come outside as Harry folded into a seat and closed his eyes.

Aayla woke up alone and came out hopping putting on a shoe. Her saber was hooked to her belt though. Shaak was next in few clothes but with her belt also and Maris came last, looked at the older women and went back and got her belt. She flipped it around her waist and stood in panties and a camisole "What is going on master?"

Shaak replied "Stretch out your feelings. There is something moving in the force. Something not good."

Yoda nodded "More than one. Corrupted, evil, dark siders, they are linked and working together to find Jedi."

The ground gave a serious shake and a block of granite pulled free and floated to Harry. The Jedi watched as he held it up with one hand and flicked out a wand. A flurry of slicing charms left a nearly mirror polished cube, curved sections marginally wider than the cube and two round plates plus a pile of chips. Harry set the cube on one of the plates and looked around with his eyes closed and his hands spread and then summoned a hole in the ground. He set one plate in it and made it vibrate until it was fully in contact with packed earth. He then erected the tube sections. He waved at the pile of chips and they flowed around the tube sections leaving a raised lip just big enough to set the second disk in but a smooth and unbroken exterior. The sections of tube sealed themselves together and to the outer layer in the same way, the bottom plate fused to both the outer layer and the tube.

Yoda looked up and put his hand out. He nodded "Master Ti call the palace tell them of the intruder." Ti walked off and Harry levitated the cube and walked up to it. He moved his hand over the surface carving very precise letters in one side but leaving sometimes large gaps.

Ti walked up "That is a giant ward stone like the small ones he had on Felucia."

Yoda tilted his head. Aayla replied "Yes. He said some of those took several wizards to charge. If he does the Fidelius he will be out for a while, it will exhaust his core."

"Help we can, share the Force like the dark siders we may." Yoda offered.

Harry kept carving until he was finished and Aayla saw him sweating, and noticed that he had started using his wand. The feeling of danger was screaming to her in the force though. Harry talked as he worked "Help me levitate it in the hole and then we will charge it and I will blood it. I probably will be out until it settles after that. If you can help it will be good." He finished speaking as he finished the last runes and the stone settled to the ground.

They all levitated the rock and it leapt in the air. Harry laughed tiredly, they all got it under control and lowered it in the hole without it touching the edges. It cleared by less than a millimeter at all corners. "Dirt around the outside of the casing now while I shake it. Around the outside in a fine powder." They filled the hole until Harry said to stop and then Harry got down bent over the hole and put his hand to the stone "OK hands on my bare back and call the Force then let it flow to me." They all leaned in and put a hand on him and gasped. Even Yoda. It was like touching the Force itself. Harry let the Force flow into the stone until it glowed. Then cut his palm with a silver knife and put it back on the stone "Maris out." Maris lifted her hand and stood panting. "Levitate the cover on then cover it with more dirt. It can be loose. You don't have to fuse the cover on either. We will do that later. Aayla a blood replenishing potion. The one I showed you. Aayla out, get the potion so you can fix it to me from my hand. Shaak out." Finally, he turned and grinned drunkenly at Yoda "You are a powerful little bugger aren't you. Stay watchful, just in case. Put a stone on me too." He passed out. Yoda levitated him, Aayla fixed the blood replenisher to him and fed it to him and Shaak went and got a stone and put it on him. Maris levitated the cover on the tube and then covered it in the dirt spreading it in a low truncated cone, then sat exhausted. Shaak checked and cleaned Harrys hand, she was amazed there was no cut.

Aayla took Harry and put him in bed, Yoda stood with his eyes closed. "Sense us no longer can they. Barely could they before, all together. Moving off they are."

Shaak nodded and went to her hut to call the planetary security forces. Yoda looked at Maris. "Into robes Padawan Brood. Patrol we will."

Maris nodded "Yes Master."

SSDV

Harry's eyes opened and he saw Aayla asleep but looking exhausted beside him. He slipped out of bed and nearly stepped on Maris. She got up and drug him from the room, then threw her arms around his neck and hugged him before she handed him clothes, put a finger to her lips and after he dressed drug him outside. Shaak met them and handed Harry a plate of food. He blinked. Shaak snorted "The Queen sent it and had her guard leave it in our reach, we summoned it. Breakfast just arrived. They can't see us, we thought if we left we would not be able to get back until you keyed us into the wards."

Harry frowned "How long have I been out?"

Maris supplied "Twenty two hours, and we just got Aayla to lay down, so you are eating, using the facilities, Shaak is giving you a checkup and you are going back to being a pillow. The science community on this planet are going mad and once you get up they won't leave you alone for weeks."

Harry just nodded, the women looked at each other. They had expected a fight.

Yoda walked up "The Queen her property would like to see, when you wake next."

Harry nodded "I can add her to the wards. In fact, her and whoever she needs to be able to see this place when it is in full security mode. I'll need to make a ward control book but that will only take a few minutes. After that She or Bail can raise or lower them as they please.""

Yoda nodded "Veins of the Force for the planet flowing to here are now."

Harry nodded "I'll have to think about that one." Yoda nodded and Harry was fed, watered, examined, sampled, and sent to the fresher then put back in bed. Shaak and Maris watched as he drifted off.

SSDV

Harry woke up again around lunch and Aayla was laying on him watching him sleep. He grinned and the curtain was shoved aside. Maris and Shaak came in and Harry sighed.

They got up and Maris said the Queen would be by at two that afternoon. This gave Shaak time to examine him again and him to examine the ward stone and the area around it. He made the book and tested its capability at the same time. He grinned. Only wards tied to ley lines had the power to raise and lower fidelius charms like that. He was standing rubbing the back of his neck when Yoda cleared his throat "Hrrhrmm. Problem there is?"

Harry shook his head and moved over to the seats around the fire pit. "So the Force is everywhere, yes that's true even in space. However, it has paths it likes to travel. Those are Ley Lines. On planets, a lot of the Force travels in those lines."

"True this is. A measurable phenomenon." Yoda nodded.

Harry stopped and blinked then nodded "So there wasn't one of those lines right here. How there are three leading to the stone now, I don't know."

Yoda shrugged "Known to move occasionally these lines are."

Harry shook his head "Not on Earth."

Yoda looked thoughtful "Many of these stones you have?"

Harry blinked "Millions probably. So in this case the only stone on the planet is drawing the ley lines. Wow. That thing will be monstrously powerful."

"Another in the royal palace you should make."

Aayla instantly said 'No!"

Harry smiled at her. "You aren't supposed to do it all in one go. Oh, and find and dress the stone too. It seemed necessary. Plus, I won't put the fidelius on that one. I could put the national charms on it, have to make them planetary. Bit happy to glad really, intent is the same, should be doable. I'll work on a scheme. We can give them the specs for the stones. Plus, it can charge naturally, we don't need it this instant."

"We're all coming with you." Aayla folded her arms and he smiled at her.

Breha and entourage showed up with a baby introduced as Princess Leia, Breha insisted on the child being added to the wards by blood. Harry took a drop and healed her instantly. Maris uncovered the stone, they added the blood, and Breha gasped as the knowledge of the Lodge came back. Bail did too.

Harry joked "Find that code and I can put it under that charm. If not many people know it it would take a few seconds."

They spent an evening with Harry showing them the ward book he had made and the pages with the secret written on them and coaching them through getting their guard and sworn retainers in on the secret after Harry checked them. He was surprised the oath was imprinted on them like a magical oath. He thought that made Breha the anointed monarch. She nodded "I can sometimes feel things from the planet I think. Things it wants me to do."

The Organas marveled at the tent and then had to go back to the duties of state. Harry nodded. With oaths working they could put a room in the palace under the fidelius and put a portal to the lodge here. They discussed it and agreed to look at a portal later. It would really be a null space with a door on each end, or rather between two doors. It was a bit hard to explain. The astromechs got it right away but even the protocol droids floundered translating the pure math the astromechs spoke when describing it.

Duties of state took the Organas' away and the others went and worked on another building. They got back into their routine.

He found decent matches for Yoda, Maris, and Shak among the wands he had. Hours of frustration passed before he could even get to the point of teaching Yoda spells, though. For years, the aged Jedi Master worked with the Force by meditating, then following its guidance as he perceived it. He was intimately connected to the Force but unwilling, or uncomfortable telling it to do things

Yoda's method didn't work with magic. He could do spectacular things, but only when he felt the force wanted it.

Harry's use of the Force was telling the Force what he wanted and using his will to make it happen. Yoda sighed "Hard it is to make the Force do things. Wrong it feels to order the Force."

Harry frowned "But you all do it all the time. You summon things. Aayla told me you can put people to sleep. Hide yourself from people without the Force. That is a somnus, and a notice me not charm. Relatively safe and harmless magic."

Maris arched a brow "There is unsafe Force manipulation?"

Harry smiled. They would not say magic if they had to use five words otherwise. "All magic can be unsafe. A Somnus on a vehicle operator could kill them, A Notice me not while you rob a bank is a crime, while not necessarily unsafe.

Except for three curses most are allowed, but you have to guard yourself and examine your intent."

Yoda looked at him "These three curses?"

Harry sighed "The unforgivables. An automatic life term in prison. Very little chance to get out of it either. The Imperious curse. You can take over someone completely. A law enforcement spell intended to gain control of a suspect or someone else to prevent them harming themselves and others. With the wrong intent, it can be used to make children kill their parents or vice versa. In that case though you must want to completely dominate the person. Make them an extension of yourself. Essentially it is you doing the killing but they are aware and cannot stop you. Also in that case, the intent is normally what most would consider evil. You want to do harm. It's tricky to do and can be overcome. Probably no one here besides myself could use it on Master Yoda and I might not be able to. People of weaker will than you though, they can be made to do anything."

Yoda nodded "The Sith this can achieve."

Harry snorted "Why does that not surprise me. Next is the Cruciatus."

Aayla glared "You cast that on me!"

Harry chuckled "It is a medical spell, useful too. A patient in a coma or going into shock? For a spilt second every pain receptor in their body fires. Dumps a load of adrenalin in them and brings them round or keeps them from going deeper in shock. With the right intent though, or the wrong rather, the intent to cause pain for the joy of causing pain, it can break people's minds. Happened to quite a few. Dark bastards love that one. It gets them their jollies."

Yoda looked at him "Felt this you have."

Harry shrugged "It's a favorite of theirs, I lost count of how many of them I have killed because they went for that while I went with a piercing hex in the fatal T. It doesn't bother me much anymore."

"Last but not least the Killing curse. Meant to be a humane way to kill. Not supposed to hurt. I can tell you it does. That one is difficult. You must want the other thing dead. Works a treat on demons, not illegal unless cast on a sentient, or a demon. Bit of a power hog when used with the wrong or insufficient intent.

All of these have in common the ability to pass through Force shields and their perverted versions needing bad intent. Even the killing curse used correctly taints you. A purification ritual and purging draught are mandatory after you use them even for their intended purpose. Slaughter house killing floor workers do the rituals and take the potions regularly.

Aayla was looking at him "The Boy Who Lived."

Harry groaned "I hate that one. That was the first time. I was fourteen months old. My mum did something with runes and between that and my luck, when my first Dark Lord cast it on me it bounced off my head and knocked him out of his body and the body disappeared. Served him right, he had killed my mom and dad.

I got in a bit of a rut killing him because of some other purely evil magic he used to keep his soul around."

"This too have the Sith." Yoda nodded. "Joined with the Force your Sith Lord did."

Harry sighed "No actually. He had a method to hold his soul on this, erh that plane. It required the sacrifice of an innocent. This is going to be a pain if Palpatine does it. You have to find the thing and kill it then him."

"Darkest Sith practice. Lost in time this method is." Yoda intoned.

Harry laughed ruefully "Yeah we thought so too."

"But that's only part of the problem with those spells and magics. There are easier ways to torture people. Easier ways to kill people. I favor piercing hexes in the fatal T myself, easy to cast, no wand movement and low power requirement, greater range. I can cast them hundreds per minute. These specific spells, the unforgivables, take a lot of magical power to cast, outside a frame of mind that isn't going to corrupt you utterly, they are very messy arithmantically, and require a very specific emotional state at the time they are cast, If left unchecked it corrupts people. The evil ones like it, they think it is power, so they leave it unchecked. You must watch yourself and keep your intent� good for lack of a better term. Even cleansing rituals and purging draughts can only do so much.

Experience your emotions, deal with them then move on. If you bottle them up its nearly a sure method to go all killing party evil."

"Jedi suppress emotions. With your methods, wrong this is I see." Yoda said.

Harry nodded "That's why occlumency is important and the first step. Some of your people will have bottled things up for years. That must be dealt with, or it will surely lead them to the 'dark side' as you call it.

I was told once there is no light and dark. That may be true but I can tell you from experience emotions left not dealt with, good or bad, can turn you evil. My headmaster was the pinnacle of the light. Hundreds who didn't need to died on his watch, their killers walked free, given a 'second chance'. My first dark lord was an evil murdering bastard just because he could and he enjoyed it. In the end, they had about the same amount of blood on their hands.

For some things, there can be no second chance given." Harry said firmly.

"Well, I believe that's enough lessons for today. You all should take the rest of the day off and just relax," interrupted Shaak Ti. She had enough of the dark undertones of the conversations that highlighted the various dark curses that Harry had been subjected to in the past.

"Come on Harry, let's go play with all the wand stuff from Felucia that's just sitting there," Aayla pulled at him. Maris and Shaak popped up, Harry chuckled, rose and lifted Aayla. Yoda toddled on behind.

Harry took them in the tent and laid out all the stuff they had collected leaving the wood in the trunk. While he laid out stuff he talked. He added samples of everything magical he had from his potions supplies as well "OK so when we got our first wands it was from this creepy old guy with an odd sense of humor. He sat around all day making wands in all different kinds of combinations, because he felt like it mostly, sometimes to test his skill. Some things just don't like each other.

His shop was floor to ceiling wand boxes. You went in and he had an animated tape measure pester the crap out of you while he tried to get a feel for you and the wands and see who liked who. It is the wand that choses the wizard after all. Or at least Ollivander, the old man, always said so.

I spent a bunch of my off time there trying to figure out one wand I had.

Anyway since you can all feel your cores and you obviously feel the Force I want you to close your eyes and reach out with the Force and see if anything calls to you. Don't touch it, just move close to it and stand there until I can isolate it."

The Jedi nodded and closed their eyes. Aayla immediately arrowed to one of his Phoenix's feathers. Harry isolated it and pulled her off to the side putting the feather on a table he conjured.

Maris was obviously trying to narrow in on something and Shaak Ti was drawn to a crystal. Harry had to focus to remember where it came from. Aayla leaned over and supplied the answer "Bariss had several. They were legendary for their healing power. She was trying to understand how they worked."

Harry nodded, narrowed in on the single crystal of the three she was truly oriented on, and led her away to a separate table.

He heard a eww and turned to see Maris looking at a part of an animal. One of the Rancor heart strings.

Yoda sighed "Nothing here calls to me so strongly as this wand." He held up the wand Harry had given him.

Harry nodded "That's fine. It works well for you. It matched you anyway. That was one of Olivander's no one ever fit before. We saved it, well I did. I summoned his shop contents into a trunk just as a tier five fell on Diagon Alley. We wondered if any of those would match anyone ever since they had all felt a pretty strong dose of my magic. A building falling on you is a bit panic inducing."

Maris asked, "What happen to Olivander?"

Harry shrugged "No one knows. He disappeared. A week later a being that looked just like him showed up said he was Until Ollivander and started making wands. He didn't want these back.

I have a feeling though that that wand will have a brother in your service. All of you in fact."

Harry was clearing away the core parts and getting out wood. "Same thing, if you don't find a piece don't worry, you have wands that are working fine. We can wait until you find a piece. Or if you find a piece of wood we can wait on a core as in your case Yoda."

They all opened themselves to the Force, both Aayla and Maris ended up with wood. Shaak frowned. Harry chuckled as Yoda frowned with her. Just like the kiddies when they didn't match right away. "OK I will put these aside for you marked and work on getting or making some wood working tools."

Maris whined and held her wand parts, in stasis charmed jars, to her chest. Harry shook his head. "Hey custom work. I need proper tools."

Aayla grinned "We can ask Breha!"

Maris nodded "We have to go do the ward stone anyway!"

Harry laughed. "Fine but don't expect some miracle when it's done. That wand you have already loves you. Never saw anyone match a Yeti heart string before you Maris. Let's not even talk about teak. Might as well be rock it has so much silica."

The rest of that evening was the pensieve movie theater of all of Harrys working with Olivander memories, and a million questions. Harry as normal made dinner around 'Help' mostly with spoons for snitching taste and Yoda watching and demanding more vegetables. Raw from preference.

After dinner massages got done as Yoda toddled off to work the holo com and meditate, and after he left, in a new wrinkle Shaak and Maris went in the other bedroom of the tent.

As was usual Aayla and Harry began to prepare for bed together. When they had settled into bed next to one another Aayla finally spoke up after a long period of silence. "I have a question."

"You know you can ask me anything," Harry responded without hesitation.

"Your feather. Is� that normal for pieces of such a personal nature to be used in wand cores on your world?" Aayla asked quietly.

"Figured it out did you?" Harry was silent for a moment "I had a friend who had a wand with one of her grandmother's hairs as a core. Her sister does too. Common no but you are drawn to what you are drawn too."

Aayla nodded "We need to show them your form. Especially with them in here in the tent. You do your tears collection and one of them walks in, they will know anyway."

Harry nodded "I trust them."

Aayla smirked "Good thing as they are both going to be in our bed sometime soon." She laughed at Harry's fish impersonation. "Go do tears. I want to sleep and I can't when you are a phoenix. Besides you deserve a scratch for that feather."

Later Harry was lying in bed and looked at the ceiling. "It's broken again."

Aayla smiled "Its Felucia. I like it. It's important to us."

Harry grinned "One thing off my 'Honey Do' list then."

Aayla snorted and lay back down on him. "So, the old code."

Harry chuckled making her smile "Bets on how many Masters flip their shit?"

Aayla sighed "All of them. No bet."

SSDV

Harry awoke in the morning with Aayla, nude, sitting cross-legged on the bed with her hands turned palm up on her knees. He lifted himself to an elbow and watched her. He determined she was sorting memories again and examined his blue friend in detail. He smirked as the blush spread down her chest turning her a bit purple "See something you like Harry?"

Harry made a decision, nodded vigorously bent around and crawled over her pushing her back on the bed. He trapped her under him and kissed her fiercely. They were just getting really into it and Aayla's arms had just twined around his neck when the curtain of the bedroom flew back and Shaak looked in and grinned "You can do that later. Exercise." She chuckled at the twin scowls she was getting and dodged a stinging hex. Surprisingly from Aayla. They all looked at her hand.

Harry smirked "Accidental magic. Wandless. Good." He rose pulled her to her feet and led her to the shower with Shaak trailing behind and Harry had a surreal experience showering with one Jedi Master while talking to two about accidental magic.

Maris came in the bath and nodded "Finally we are bathing together. Harry I am glad you got over your prudishness but it is time for exercise, Master Yoda is waiting."

Harry thumped his head on the tile wall of the shower. Aayla smacked him on the butt and waved her hand "Ouch. Wow, hard butt Harry."

Yoda watched as the laughing Jedi and scowling wizard tumbled out of his shelter. He looked at Harry "Help you with this I cannot. Senator Organa you must seek for guidance in this." The women cracked up and Harry groaned. He needed to tell Yoda he was already married. Still Bail might have some insight. Different plane different customs maybe.

Yoda seemed to think if they had enough energy for this none of them were exercising hard enough. He kicked their training up a few notches.

Harry and Maris were getting crushed and Shaak and Aayla kept looking at each other smiling. Harry knew something was going on. He didn't mind the exercise but the grilling that came with half of it on everything from his first childhood memories, to his opinion of flan, was a bit distracting. He never knew what was going to pop out of Yoda. Neither could he understand why it popped out.

At eleven in the morning after separate showers, in Harrys quarters, and all the women walking around nude while slowly getting ready, then breakfast with everyone, they all gathered and Harry took them through the grounds of the residence showing them repairing, strengthening and other spells and looking at the plants. After all Maris's wand wood was from one of these. They found what to Harry felt like an ancient magical tree in the courtyard. It was fairly gnarled and twisted, apparently growing attached to the courtyard wall. Or eating the wall like trees did nails, wire signs and other things left on or attached to them.

Yoda nodded "One of these in the temple stands. Force sensitive they are. Through the levels of the temple its roots go, some say rooted in Coruscant itself it is."

Shaak Ti nodded and felt of the bark "I think the one in the temple is a cutting of this one, or a seed. It feels the same in the force."

Yoda walked closer and a stick dropped from the foliage at his feet. Harry snorted "So much for subtle. Pick it up Master Yoda. How does it feel?"

Yoda smiled "Like something I need."

Harry nodded "A core and we will have a wand for you. Any animals you feel an affinity too? Any you especially like?"

Yoda sighed "I do not like them, but a terantatek will probably supply my animal part. I and my Padawan, Dooku, were nearly killed by one, years ago on Kashyyyk. Terrible battle, strangely unsettling"

Maris snorted "You should have fed it Dooku. Erh Master."

Yoda nodded "Dooku lost his way. Ensure that you do not Padawan. Easy it will be now with the Order changing. Guard ourselves and go carefully we must."

Harry shrugged "You can feel darkness in a magical. I suspect you can in a Force user as well. Those people will need to be watched, probably closer than they would like. It was a problem for us on Earth as well. Occasionally one would slip through our guard and turn evil. Greed seemed to be the best indicator. You cannot catch everything though. Now let's get some lunch together. Master Yoda can look through the stuff for cores again, since he has a wood. I need to talk to Bail about wood working tools."

Harry and the Jedi had made a few trips doing the ward stone at the Royal Palace. The staff had found a selection of stones and cleaned a room in a sub-basement down to bedrock. Droids had cut and polished the stone Harry had selected into the appropriate pieces, from drawings Harry supplied. Harry had carved the runes under the eyes of a protocol droid, then they all charged it slowly as he talked about maintenance and how to put people on the wards. When it was set, blooded by the royal family and covered Harry had put the fidelius on just the room. He left the ward book with Bail with a few pages of the secret to the room written on it like lines of punishment. It was all recorded by an archivist droid Breha assigned to Harry. It watched his every move and asked questions like a two year old. Harry was getting better at starting explanations from 'first you find a stick, then you sharpen it, then you dig for ore, rock, clay�.' The droid turned it all into multilayered holo's which made great lessons. Of course its eyes and instruments ran analysis across the spectrum and measured everything he did in nanometers.

The Jedi followed him back to his tent in his shelter. All the women pitched in and helped with lunch as Yoda looked over the stuff they had picked up and some more of Harrys things from the trunks. Harry laughed when Yoda of all people came up with a piece of Nundu jaw tendon. He explained what a Nundu was over lunch.

That evening in the spare shelter they sat around a Holo talking to, or watching the discussions between, Yoda, Senator Organa, Queen and several Jedi in a holotank, a kind of virtual gathering space, as Harry worked on wands and the droid recorded while he talked quietly. The droid could pick up anything, nearly. Shaak leaned over to the other three "It is almost like the high council, except open to everyone. I think I like it."

Maris looked at the controls and indicators on the holo tank "Eight thousand connections. Most of them are not talking so we don't see the holos but they are watching and listening."

Harry nodded "Lurking they called it on Earth. It's fine. They can speak up if they want. Everyone has had a hard few months.'

Garm Bel Iblis appeared and Aayla told Harry who he was. "Senator Organa, I have your droids, where do you want them?"

Bail Organa stood mouth agape in his Holo then spun to Harry's holo "They're his." He pointed. Harry put his face in his hands and groaned.

Yoda chuckled which brought the massive holo conference to another halt "Senator Organa technically correct is Master Potter."

Harry gaped "I don't want trillions of droids and hundreds of thousands of ships! Uh, have them defend the planets that are rebelling which are weakest. Some of the Jedi can command them until we make different arrangements or find someone better suited. If any are left over have them start policing, help any Jedi they find, and arrest any bounty hunters. We need to get control of that. Oh and slavers! Hey wait, where are these things made I may want another trillion or so. After that you all can decide what to do with them. Uh we did change the codes right? I can do something to make sure no one else can find out what they are."

Aayla, Shaak, and Maris grinned and Queen Breha arched a brow at them. The women knew they could expect a summons or a visit soon. Garm nodded "We have control of thousands of CIS warships, mostly Lucrehulk class battle ships and droid control ships or rather Lord Harry does."

Harry had his head in his hands and was bent over rocking back and forth "No no no no no."

General laughter followed. Bail and Garm looked at each other and nodded. Breha gave them both the evil eye.

Harry pouted for two days. Aayla was rolling her eyes so much the muscles that did it hurt by the end of the first. Maris started punching him in the arm. Shaak took every opportunity to show up nude in his shower, the bath, or just lounge around in next to nothing. Harry and her had lots of conversations about healing.

On the second morning Maris ran in when Harry had just gotten Aayla rolled under him. Aayla shrieked and chased the girl out the door stark naked, with her sabers though. Shaak sauntered in and looked at Harry spread eagle on the bed nude and snorted "Come on, exercise. I told you both to do that at night. Master Yoda gets up early."

Harry sighed "I'm too spun up at night. If we are going to do this I want Aayla to have my full and undivided attention."

Shaak blinked "Well you will have to meditate in the evening and put the past away."

Harry gave her a glare "Thank you Master. I didn't think of that."

Maris ran in and hid behind Harry as he sat up and pulled the sheet into his lap. Aayla chased her in then growled and glared at her. Harry stood up and pulled her to the bath. Maris fell over on her side still panting "Harry has to teach me to teleport."

Shaak chuckled.

After exercise this morning, with fidelius now down, they all watched as speeder after speeder descended on them, and full compliments of people were disgorged. Bail looked at the fully restored exterior of the palace and the several restored outbuildings and smiled "Nice Harry."

Harry sighed "So our sojourn alone is over then."

Bail blinked as Breha gathered up the three female Jedi and led them away for a talk "Uh, no, but we do need to know what to do with your fleet and your worlds of the former Confederacy of independent Systems." He introduced Garm bel Iblis as he walked up "When we took over the droids we took over essentially all of their governmental infrastructure and agencies, it was all droid or trade federation computer managed. It is all coming back on line now and, well, we had to have someone in charge, your name somehow got put down."

Harry glared at him "And I thought you were a nice guy."

Garm bel Iblis laughed "Sorry old man really, we were rather too well-known, Bail assured me you were well hidden and could not be gotten to by the organic life forms of the CIS or Empire. Plus, all those plans just kept coming, from purportedly you."

Bail nodded "And you put that code under that Force manipulation. Did you know the people that knew it before can't remember it now? That AI in the code shop is the only one who knows it besides you. It even disappeared from where we are pretty sure it was recorded in the transmissions that gave us control of the droids."

Harry groaned "Never drop your guard around droids. They have plans. That damn archivist droid takes all my thoughts, now that it has me programmed to talk all day, it categorizes what I say, downloads my padds does the same to them, then sends instructions and memos out to the people who might be involved. Bloody thing is using me as a figure head to take over the universe."

Bail and Garm blinked. Breha walked up and all the men bowed. She sniffed at Garm and Bail "Harry what they aren't telling you is that since you did whatever it is you did to the codes you can assign someone or rather delegate authority to someone. Now this is going to take a year of conferences, but the CIS worlds, or rather some of them, aren't that bad. You can set up a council and have them report to you, the military of course can be made to run with either Jedi or other trustworthy people at its head. This should bring the entire former CIS into the rebellion against Palpatine. Which they were doing already, or wanted to. It will help them and probably save lives in the end.

Most of these people are technicians who will be checking and if necessary setting up the infrastructure for you to do this by attending a meeting or two a day as you continue to train Masters Secura, Ti, Yoda and Padawan Brood and they continue to train you. Master Yoda will also be able to use these facilities to get the Jedi council back functioning and he and Master Ti can start getting a grip on that. Master Secura and Padawan Brood can start working on codifying and making a syllabus for this Force Mage training of yours. We need the Jedi up and functioning. They will come here and Masters Yoda, Ti, and Secura can get the Order up and running again, and training in this thing you do. The Marauder being parked here gives us defenses and access to some very good sensors and holonet connections.

The other buildings can hold injured Jedi, you can see if you can help them medically if you want. The Jedi will be moving in healers and getting them back up to speed though, so we will need sparring facilities. These other buildings need fixed up and that spatial manipulation of yours done to them. Once they are healed or debriefed, learn your Force mind magics enough to take off their stones, then they can go out on missions again.

You do not have permission to go running off until we settle what is going on a little more, unless it is a galaxy ending crisis that requires your attention, and we discuss it. Do you understand?"

Harry blinked then bowed "Your Majesty."

Bail nodded at Garm "Told you, smartest man I ever met."

"Bail!"

"Yes dear?" Bail gave her an attentive look. Garm and Harry snorted.

Breha shifted back to Harry "Now that you have had some time, what do you think of Master Yoda and the Order?"

Harry shrugged "It's like we were before the first incursion. We were handling Dark Lords and Ladies easily, even contemptuously, by that point. Of course, we got arrogant. Our enemies rose to the occasion, as Palpatine seems to have here. I think the Order will show its true strength in how it responds to this. I know we did, but only after we had lost half our population. I hope that doesn't happen here, but there is the potential.

Yoda I think has turned the corner on it. Realized his own arrogance at least. The question is can he make the other masters on the council see theirs.

Yoda is actually a good being, and very adaptive. To tell you the truth he surprised me with that. Our old men held us back. The demons cured them. Usually by eating them. After that it was pure power politics which left me on top of the pile. Daphne handled the pure politics. She enjoyed it. I didn't. Hermione worked on a more benevolent and fair arrangement of Daphne's successes. Our higher selves if you will. Luna drug the eggheads along. Gabrielle and I, along with a few others, stomped on things that didn't respond to treatment.

The Order will do what the Order will do, and we will work with them or around them. By we I mean myself and those that want to work with me. I won't waste time trying to convince them my way is right. I will succeed or fail, then they can judge for themselves. If they have helped they won't end up my enemy. In a fight for survival there can be no neutrals. We can't waste resources protecting them, or maneuvering around them, and he would turn them into slaves.

I don't think anyone should mistake that a fight for our lives is exactly what we are in. Palpatine will have the survival of himself, and those that will do what he tells them to or just himself, in the forefront of his thoughts. It's the nature of Dark Lords. This anti base human campaign he is running shows us his thoughts. His prejudices as well. They limit him. We won't be able to afford that. Everyone needs to pull their own weight and just a little more. The leaders need to be very efficient. No wasted time or effort.

It came down to me leading the whole thing, and all efforts being focused on eliminating demons, on my world. What art and science there was was military. Trench art Hermione called it. Still beautiful pieces of art, music and literature but done by soldiers in the long watches between fights, using the materials found on battlefields. The science was all about killing demons faster and more efficiently, along with getting our wounded fixed and back in the fight, if something spun out of that it was fine. Very little pure research for researches sake though. The magic was the same as was the 'arts' such as they were. Not to say there weren't advances but they were purposeful or the ideas were recorded and shelved.

Warriors, Healers, and Diplomats, that is what I understand the Jedi to mostly be. Its good, we will need them. Any being in the arts and sciences we will need too. Hundreds of planets with billions of beings apiece in the enemies control, this is going to be a long fight.

Harry looked up and smirked "Unless of course Palpatine makes a mistake and lets me get close enough to him to pop his head like a grape."

Breha blinked, then glared at him.

SSDV

Yoda watched that conversation replay with everyone else in the daily holo conference and nodded "Master Potter fresh eyes has. He has seen our problem exactly and in days. A hundred years it has taken me to reach the same conclusions."

Bail nodded "Now what do we do though?"

Garm shrugged "As master Potter says, live free or die. In this case, to live free we fight."

The Wookie representative growled and yowled. Bail chuckled "Another convert to the Potter way."

SSDV

Sheev Palpatine sighed and swirled the Alderaanian brandy in a snifter. Things were looking up. He had gotten Skywalker back. In pieces, but alive. He could be put back together and then he would have the codes and the plan could be brought back on track. This was a pause and could be useful for him to rearm and resupply to continue the fight against the Jedi who he had apparently underestimated. He would have to pull back to a defensible line until he got the CIS fleet and armies on line.

SSDV

Aayla sighed as Harry walked away with Bail and Garm the next afternoon. Breha chuckled "Fix it tonight Aayla. Make him meditate then make him yours. Then you Shaak and Maris can work out whatever the rest of this is going to be. This had to be done. Palpatine can't keep being an idiot forever, now we are inside his decision cycle. They need to talk to Harry, they won't keep him long. Now we need to work out the protocol of you two as a couple receiving state level visitors. Mon Mothma will be here in a week and she is the most powerful figure amongst the Loyalist Committee, those worlds which became the core of the rebellion." Aayla blinked.

Harry followed Bail and Garm to an enclosed speeder as they talked and Bail led them into the vehicle. Harry froze looking at the orange, younger, version of Shaak Ti "Uh, Hello, Harry Potter."

Bail smiled "This is Ahsoka Tano. Former Padawan of Knight Skywalker. We would like you to train her."

Harry looked at the female Togrutan "OK what's the real story? I thought Padawan became Knights and then Masters if they lived through the meat grinder that was the Order. And why can't I feel her if she is or was a Padawan. I can feel Maris easily."

Bail smiled "You aren't the only one with tricks. She has a talisman from Dathomir but we want her to get rid of it as those things are notoriously dark. A few years ago the Order made a mistake Ahsoka was caught up in, she left the order. She has been helping me since."

Ahsoka had sat for the whole time silent but attentive. Harry sighed "Do you want to be trained?"

Ahsoka sighed "I've been hiding and fighting, with Bails help, for most of two years. I want to get out and move freely around the galaxy again. I know Master Secura, Master Ti and Padawan Brood. I have…I can work out my problems with them."

Harry thought for a minute "Yoda and the rest of the order?"

Ahsoka shrugged "If I am your apprentice will they have any say?"

"Aayla, Shaak, and Maris will, but not the Order. Yoda seems to be happy for us to be together." Harry shrugged.

Garm was a bit cynical "For now. Who knows when the Order will stick their nose in?"

Bail shrugged "Harry saved most of them. A Master or two, a seat on the council and a Padawan seems a low enough price." Harry growled and Bail shrugged "its politics and women Harry. We can deal with politics. Women? My advice, if you like them, and they aren't about to get you killed? Go limp."

Ahsoka glared "Come on Master, let's get out of this den of misogyny and go meet my cohorts." She grabbed Harry's hand and drug him away.

Garm looked at Bail "Breha is going to kill you."

Bail shrugged "It was her idea."

Garm eyed him "Go limp?"

Bail winced "No need to say anything about that."

Ahsoka walked over to the collection of temporary shelters, Harry was explaining about repairing the palace when Aayla trotted up and swept the young woman off her feet into a hug. She was replaced by Shaak who was apologizing the whole time, and Maris who wanted to know everything that had happened in the last two years. Harry smiled, nodded, and went to prepare dinner.

Breha, Bail, Garm and Yoda joined him in the kitchen and watched or helped where they could. Garm looked around the tent "Harry you wouldn't happen to be going to go into business making these would you?"

Harry grinned "If I had the time. My world had about a hundred million what you would call Force sensitives before the demon wars began. People made all kinds of things. By people I mean Force sensitive beings of all species. Maybe in a hundred years, or so, we will have trained enough Force sensitives out in the galaxy so that this kind of thing can be done again. Though these were pricey. These duraplast shelters could be the base actually. An animation string to erect them and take them down, then a shrinking charm to carry them. Yeah this could work. The runes could be etched or cast in the components. We could even add wards as these are substantial enough to gather and store magic. Maybe made of a natural resin. Lignin maybe, I know we made biodegradable plastics from it. Runes could make it impervious. UV impervious as well. Hmmm I know the rune set. Months in a tent with very little to do. Hermione and I couldn't have sex all the time. Well after a month or two." He trailed off and the women looked at him smiling. He turned around to work on something.

Yoda asked "How much of a percentage of your population was force sensitive?"

Harry shrugged "A tenth of a percent perhaps? Total? A percent? I think the world's mundane population was around five billion. Before the wars. Thinking of it though that was a mundane estimate and the magical population was hidden. Maybe seven or eight billion total population. Hard to tell with the goblins and the other hidden races. There could have been trillions of them, all underground, and we wouldn't have known. High enough we were having problems with arable land and water, or the lack there of really. The mundane population was thinned rapidly by the demons. They had barely any way to fight them without massive destruction until we stepped in. Which we did right away, but the damage was done from the first portal and incursion. Demons are extraordinarily hard to kill, and extraordinarily dangerous even dead. When the mundane killed them it destroyed counties. We learned to hunt in teams of teams, mixed mundane and magical. It took a while to find ways to use the demon bodies and ameliorate the damage they caused. They emit radiation across the spectrum when dead. There were a couple of incursions the goblins got sponges for from us. Estimates were the goblin population was halved as well."

Breha was very perceptive though "Except for you. You didn't hunt with a team."

Harry sighed "I kind of snapped. I had finished off a Dark lord. Two years later another rose. I finished him and his followers off after a few years, and was thinking it was over then. They kept popping up. Five years after we thought we had it done once and for all, another belonging to a mundane religion or from the culture of that religion, perverted that religion utterly, and thinking he was summoning Djinn he opened a portal and demons appeared. They killed thousands of his followers, then set their sights on the rest of humanity. The Mundane, with weapons nearly effective as yours, were unable to stop them. I had been fighting my whole life. I was so tired. Anyway, after the demons depopulated the biggest landmass on the planet, they fought their way north. They won't cross salt water. We were glad of global warming at that point let me tell you.

Then Rome. Hermione found me in a crater that was once a town, then a metropolis, the capitol of a once global power, on a sea, that had stood for forty or more centuries. I was the only thing left alive. She stood me up, put me back together, and took me home. That was one hoard out of nine, no twelve? Can you believe I lost count? Anyway, that was the second of the hoards that fully made it through unchecked.

We had devices that we could plug a portal with before a whole hoard deployed, if we found them quick enough. I became the leader of the armies fighting them. I wasn't a politician nor a civil administrator. Before that I was an Auror. Kind of like the Jedi. I was a Master Auror. The Chief Auror of my country. I would have been made the Chief of the International Aurors too perhaps, if I didn't snap and kill someone over paper work. That is the tool of the dark side, paper work I mean. I was good at hunting Dark Lords and passable at killing demons.

The only good thing was the demons had an affinity for evil wizard's, witches and mundane. They struck for them first. The poor bastards."

Yoda nodded "Master Jedi level you are. Past it in manipulating the Force. Trained with lightsabers you will be. To Ilum you and your students must go. I will lead you."

Garm blinked "Now? We just got this whole army and fleet! Harry has them by the balls, as the Trade Federation made the Banking Clans computers, and we can control them. We have solidified or can solidify the entire rebellion under him! Uh sorry Breha."

Breha chuckled "Harry does have them by the balls. It is a bad time, but we can't beat the damn Sith without Jedi, and I suspect without Harry. Why else would the Force snatch him from his plane to this one? That doesn't mean we can't go on a fleet of Lucrehulks, with those Subjugator abominations, and a droid army or two liberating planets, and destroying Imperial forces between here and Ilum to further throw Palpatine into disarray. We could essentially cut the Empire in half north south, and east west, and end up with three quarters of it. Perhaps blockade Coruscant and the core, maybe even throw a Droid army into occupying it. That should distract him from hunting Jedi.

Harry scratched his chin "Anyone have a map of the galaxy? Oh and intelligence on what Palpatine's forces are doing? I apparently have thousands, maybe a million of these Lucrehulks and other ships all manned by droids, who once given a target can operate independently. Might as well get some use out of them. If we really do control Banking and Commerce, we do have an opportunity here to bite off several large chunks of the Empire and then stop. Palpatine is down forty percent of his transport and fleet at least, and an unknown number of troops. We could do some real damage and fence him in."

Maris appeared behind Harry with a spoon "Preferably into a resource poor space. Or a space with lots of population and few resources. A year of that would take the revolution to him. Cut off Camino and we have his source of troops. What's for dinner Harry, can I taste?"

The older generation watched as Harry tried to keep four women with spoons out of his dishes, until he finally put them to work despite their various pouts.

Garm smiled "I'll have to bring the wife to state dinners at the head of the CIS's house, this is actually fun."

Breha snorted "Clynda is already on her way. She isn't pleased she is missing all the fun. Plus Mon is coming."

Bail chuckled as Garm winced.

SSDV

Harry ran with Yoda on his back while Ahsoka ran alongside Maris "I'm out of shape."

Maris smiled "So was I. Fighting and checking troops all day somehow makes you just as exhausted but it isn't training Aayla says. I know exercising on a ship wasn't doing it for me."

Ahsoka grinned at her "Staying up talking half the night like first blood youngling sisters has nothing to do with it."

Maris nodded "Exactly." The two looked at each other and giggled.

Shaak ran with Aayla who was a little tired already. She smiled hugely and Aayla scowled at her then sighed "Yes. It was wonderful, a transforming experience like all the bad holo's you have ever seen. Even better. I think he lost a few brain cells."

Shaak immediately fired back "And you gained some?"

Aayla blushed but then smiled. She looked at the cliff they were about to climb and groaned.

Bail, Breha and Garm watched from a balcony where they were taking breakfast as the Jedi ran up. Ahsoka put down the pack with Yoda in it who reached out a hand and something silver flew into it from his temporary lodging, he handed it to Harry. A beam of light grew from the thing, Maris grinned and stepped up, and her own sabers flared to life. She attacked Harry immediately.

Aayla squared off with Shaak. Yoda stretched his hand out again and a pair of objects flew to him which he handed to Ahsoka. They all gasped as the yellow blades surged forth and Yoda's shorter blue blade came into view.

Garm snorted "Master Yoda risk much. If I was Ahsoka Tano I would try to kill him for what he and the Council allowed to happen to me."

Bail nodded "She is still very angry about it."

Breha shrugged "Harry won't let it go too far. He knows the price of anger now. There was perhaps nothing else he could have done besides turning Rome into a smoking crater, but now we, and he will never know." She had looked at some of his books. She had been stunned by the pictures of Rome. Before and after the Demons.

Bail nodded "Demons. Millions of demons."

Garm sighed "Dark Jedi, Sith Acolytes, Bounty hunters, Slavers. Most of them would count. Slavers for certain. We have cast him straight back into it. I intended to use his name and keep him hidden. He was never going to stay hidden. Giving him control though he is apparently the right man for the job, that was a mistake."

Breha nodded "We will build him an organization. Mon's Bothans. Our and your slicers. All the Navies and Armies. We will make this work. We have to."

Bail nodded "Harry asked for a general economic overview of the galaxy. Production and wealthy centers. Food production and distribution as well. I think he and Maris think alike."

Garm hummed "And she listens to every word he says. We should send a fleet to protect the Agricorp worlds. Palpatine couldn't be that stupid."

Breha nodded "All the food production worlds. Harry will sign off on it while he learns what he needs to know. I'll holo Lee Char see if we can get Gial Ackbar to run defense of the agricultural worlds. I have read reports on him. He was running circles around superior fleets of both the Republic and the CIS defending Mon Calamari space."

Harry did of course agree once Breha, Bail and Garm met them all sitting on conjured chairs in front of the temporary structures and brought it up. Breha brought Leia and everyone smiled at the cooing child. Harry looked around "How were the rooms we repaired?" the Organa's and Garm all complimented them. "We'll do some more today. I want to get Ahsoka started on finding her core and then I need to give some orders to the droids. I want to start hunting bounty hunters and slavers. I think I'll have the bankers put bounties on all known hunters and any slavers and rewards for slaves brought to me on top of their cost."

Bail paled "Uh, Harry where will you put them all?"

Harry grinned "The Force will tell me."

Bail frowned "Harry don't do that."

Harry laughed "I'm sure I can find or start industries for them to run. Businesses need workers, so do governments, freighters that need crews, training for Force sensitives amongst them. I bet the bankers will be happy to tell us where those opportunities exist. At home, they knew to the person what companies they had loans to needed. Let's get them free then we will worry about it."

Garm sighed "Idealist." Harry grinned impudently back from his chair with Aayla nearly in his lap.

Ahsoka was wriggling and finally burst out "Master Yoda you aren't going to say anything to Master Secura?"

Yoda sighed "I am sorry for making you Skywalker's Padawan. More for him than for you it was."

Ahsoka blinked "I believe you. He went dark, not my fault, got it. Now, Master Secura?"

Yoda harrumphed "Change must the Order. This is not the Orders business, unless it affects Master Secura's abilities or assigned task. Consideration given will be in her assignments to keep her with her teacher and partner, and Master Potter with his. Important to the continuation of the Order they are, you are, Master Ti and Padawan Brood is."

Breha, Bail and Garm blinked as they processed this. Breha finally sighed "The Jedi high council will have a fit."

Yoda nodded "Then left behind as a dead end they will be. The Order must change to live. Master Potter has already demonstrated emotions can be had without harm if channeled and handled appropriately they are. Attachments as well. Strength from them we can gain. Strength we will need.

Master the method of the mind Master Potter teaches will be a requirement though. No Knighthood without this."

Harry grinned at Aayla, who elbowed him lightly. Shaak looked at Yoda "And how long will it take you to sort your memories Master?"

Yoda huffed "Months. Long enough the trip to Ilum, Master Potters search for a crystal, and the trip back will be done. Painful it is to see your mistakes from hundreds of years again."

Harry nodded "But educational." Yoda just nodded. Breha looked at Aayla, Shaak, Maris and Ahsoka and kept her own counsel. The High Counsel had better be ready for a harem, whatever this was going to be anyway, as well. Aayla was apparently all for sharing. Harry was a male and while he might resist, in the end Aayla would win this discussion. As long as she truly did not mind sharing and the other women were amenable. Harry obviously had been previously trained in this from four wives in the other plane, Galaxy, whatever.

Breha kept her own counsel about that as well. The astromech droids had worked on the memories of Harry being outside under clear skies at night that they had seen. The stars were unrecognizable but the droids thought they could indicate Earth was in another galaxy to the universal south and closer to the center so younger than this galaxy. Intergalactic travel had lit them up like a Republic day fireworks display. Of course, they would need a stable worm hole to get there in one lifetime, but Harry was here so anything was apparently possible.

Ahsoka was amazed at magic. Repair charms brought things back whole, cleaning charms made them sparkle, then runes made them stronger, or better at their function. What Harry said was a simple shield stopped a lightsaber like nothing she had ever seen before. It was amazing. Harry told them about the magic, showed them how to do it, and then gave them books translated to Basic for theory, that the Protocol droid had done, and was there to answer questions. On the fifth morning she dueled him again. He slipped her guard and touched her lightly over her heart and then healed it. She would use two swords in their next spar. Maris walked to his tent with her for their communal cold bath, warm shower, and short very warm soak. "And those burning green eyes aren't distracting at all." Maris grinned.

Ahsoka shook her head with her chin slightly lifted "Nope not at all." They giggled like mad, until they stepped down in the ice-cold water. It did speed recovery, but it was painful in and of itself. The warm soak with Harry made up for it. Barely.

They had finished a hall in the palace yesterday, the technicians and droids had installed holo equipment today, and the first daily Rebellion holo conference got underway. Harry stood "OK we all have lots of work. Who has a problem, a life threatening problem?" Several Jedi signaled and Harry nodded "OK those of you closest to them in real space take it offline and work it out, if you can't come back to us before the hour is up and we will figure something out."

He waited as the lights changed indicating people were doing as asked "Fine, now Admiral Ackbar you have the appropriate codes and the required resources?"

"Yes Master Potter."

"Good start moving the fleet. Remember I expect he will lash out. Give ground, draw him in, bite the piece off and crush it." Harry nodded firmly. He had learned the Russian method of conceding terrain to conserve fighting forces, they after all had an entire galaxy and the universe to play in. Worlds were being prepared to evacuate critical personnel and industries from, along with as much of the population as could be accommodated. Planets were plentiful. From what he was told they could even be made from the asteroid belts around systems. Expensive, and complicated, but doable.

The long pole in the tent was resources. Both beings, and facilities for production. Energy was apparently not a problem, with his fuel conjuring rune string. It had been adapted to caps for fuel lines large and small. And by large they apparently meant planetary grid reactor large. A meter in diameter pipe. He did one of those a day before he went to bed. It made sleep very easy. Most of those were going to the navy but navy ships could transfer fuel to planetary reactors on planets they were guarding. He did the little ones all day as the droid carving the rune set brought them to him.

Ackbar nodded back and winked out, his light stayed green indicating he was lurking listening. Harry turned to the Banking Clan leader "And employment for former slaves?"

The clan leader looked surprised at what he was reporting "Slaves have already begun coming in. The aptitude testing is being done. Medical issues taken care of. Their manumission legally taken care of and they are being employed. This is actually going to be filling some critical gaps in companies we were thinking would fail and have to be sold to recover any of our money. This is actually saving us the legal fees from the bankruptcy and claims as well as the break up and sale as well Master Potter. It's astounding." Harry grinned.

The Trade Federation representative nodded "Why anyone would sell a droid engineer as a slave is beyond us but we got two and a software genius who is smoothing and improving the code in the droids as we speak. The Republic is in for a shock from the forces under Ackbar's command I think. We are pushing software and firmware updates out daily. It takes them about a month to propagate across all droids and computer networks. Droid freighters are now more efficient than crewed ones, at least on well patrolled routes. We are going to have to do something about the pirates."

"Arm the droid freighters?" Harry asked. This kicked off a whole discussion. Harry was glad as he was a bit stunned about how many droids and computer networks there had to be for an update travelling at hyperspace speeds to take a month to reach them all. They all had essentially the same processors and operating systems thankfully. None of that windows versus apple versus whatever crap they had gone through on earth until apple died on the vine when disposable income became a problem. Sure, bells and whistles and glowing apples on the back of laptop screens were neat but they really only let people know where you were in the real world and if you could be seen, heard or smelled you could be hit, if you could be hit you could be killed.

Once that settled with the agreed solution being arming the freighters if the software genius, Rangers and some Jedi could come up with a way to distinguish pirates Bail sighed "Something will have to be done about Corellia. It's on the front lines and the Empire controls its orbital yards." Harry let that discussion happen as he monitored the Jedi or people in trouble discussions and watched them all be resolved apparently to either parties' satisfaction. He had little input to the Corellia discussion as they really didn't have the available forces right now to force the issue. Once they secured the worlds fully in Republic space and clarified the battle fronts then they could work on it.

As it came back around Harry rose "To summarize firms doing work for the, Empire I suppose, will find high interest loans. Raw material and supplies from our areas will increase in cost and become rare and we won't be doing business with them. Let's see if we can find some ex slaves or people fired from the Empire because their managers are idiots to improve the Lucrehulk designs. I like those fracking things. Lots of uses. Last but by no means least our military focus will be on securing Republic space, cleaning up remnant empire forces there and sewing the empire into the core."

The Banking Clan leader cleared his throat "One of the Lucrehulk hulls right now has been transformed to a prison ship and currently has one hundred twelve bounty hunters on it for which we offered a thousand credits and haulage on iron rations less than someone else has offered, no guild fee and in trade bars. It is possible we could pick up pirates the same way. We could sell them for their Empire bounties on the orbital yards of Corellia. Our analyst expect we will fill the available space in a few weeks as word gets around. Meanwhile the number of dead bounties may be high."

Harry grinned "It's a hard knock life. So we are going to make a thousand credits a head for helping ourselves? You guys are great! Round of applause for the Banking Clans everyone!" Harry led the clapping and the head of the banking clans actually looked embarrassed. Harry wrapped up the meeting on that note and they all went about their busy schedules.

Breha was sitting in her study with Leia when her holo chimed. She answered and Mon Mothma appeared "I want him."

Breha laughed "You'll have to get in line behind a Togrutan member of the Jedi High Counsel a Rutian Twi'lek Jedi Master who is sleeping with him, a Jedi Zabrek Padawan, oh and his own apprentice a famous former Togrutan Jedi Padawan."

Mon huffed "Jedi bitches! They get all the good ones!"

"Mon!"

"Don't Mon me Breha, you know it's true. Did you see the Banking Clan leader? Harry's enemies will die penniless. I don't think anyone has ever given those bastards a round of applause. Harry couldn't have bought their loyalty and now he owns them. Those Jedi won't know what to do with that. He could be a hundred and fifty, blind, fat and slimy as a Hutt and we could make him emperor by public acclaim in a week."

Breha was dying laughing "You do want him."

"And I'll have him toooooo."

"Stop Mon you're killing me."

Mon turned serious "I thought we were in trouble here but this, well this changes things. We might actually make it out of this poodoo storm alive."

Breha nodded "I know and he has no idea, well about politics. The politics of war yes but not the true deep machinations. He is going to need all our help."

Mon nodded "Women either apparently. Aayla must have lost her mind letting those others close. What was Garm thinking?"

Breha smiled tiredly "That this could all blow up in our face so it was better if he, the invisible man, had it. How is your guest?"

Mon shrugged "Grouchy. We'll fix that tomorrow."

Breha nodded "One way or the other." The two talked for a few more minutes until Clynda bel Ilbis joined the call and Mon did her routine again.

SSDV

Far across space On Coruscant in the former senate building the self-proclaimed unacknowledged by the senate Emperor fumed in an impotent fury. The only thing that was working as it should was Skywalker's rebuild and his rehabilitation into Darth Vader would take months. Also the code was not in his mind which was troubling. Apparently being burned alive in a lava stream had wiped his short-term memory. It was disappointing.

The bounty hunters were not bringing in Jedi and now the worlds they themselves had committed crimes on had apparently put bounties on them and they were busy capturing or killing each other.

Five major and seven minor Hyperspace lanes were full of the garbage that remained when you detonated the magazines of dreadnought class vessels and they or the fragments of them took out all their ancillary vessels and sixty percent of his manpower was gone. The route to Camino was blocked. The direct route, the other route was a six month one way trip through Republic space which was apparently hotly contested. The facility on Weyland wasn't ready either.

Sith acolytes and Dark Jedi were being whittled down as much or more than they were reducing the number of Jedi. He had always expected this. They were after all Jedi turncoats in this first generation. The strong would survive and in later generations teach the young Force sensitives of the Empire and they would improve or die. Hence the Inquisitors, Dark Jedi and Sith acolytes along with the bounties. Multiple backups as he had been trained to use.

Prices were rising, the black market was flourishing, it was all glorious chaos but only on those worlds that followed his lead. This rebellion of over half the planets in the galaxy was ridiculous on the face of it but there they were broadcasting as normal, no great upheaval, and the criminal activity about the same. Not even the price rises the Empire was experiencing. It was not exactly as he had planned. People were taking advantage and profiteering. Transportation was more difficult and consumed more resources so some price rise and temporary shortage was to be expected however he would have to step on the profiteers eventually. Or just take their profits.

He could not get all the holonets shut down as he needed at least some for his own propaganda engine along with the military command channels and the others piggybacked on those signals. Perhaps cutting the amount of data that could be transmitted? How would that affect his own channels though. They had to be deep, wide and rich or the people would suspect something was not as advertised in the Empire. They were all attached to their padds and other devices like babies on their mother's teats after all. That of course let him control their thoughts by controlling the information they received but it was a two-edged sword he had not seen. If he could use the holonet so could others. His propaganda efforts to now had been clumsy in hindsight. Easily questioned or in some cases shown to be exactly what they were. Continuously biased attempts to control the opinion of the populations of the core worlds. Now the propaganda war raged and he was barely holding his own. Playing on the masses base fears and desires surprisingly only took you so far when you hit them in the wallet.

To top it all off the powerful force spot that he knew was Yoda had disappeared but he hadn't died. One by one out in the wider galaxy the powerful force lights were disappearing before his agents could close on them. When they did then all those dimmer force lights around them went out as well. Could the order be using the Sith technique? If so how did they learn it?

Something had happened. He had felt it in the force then everything had become a whirlwind and at the end of it he had used the excuse of his attempted arrest by the Order and the faked holovids to elevate himself to Emperor and the senate had laughed. They laughed! Those dead Jedi of Windu's didn't laugh. Yoda the little beast had played right into his hands and tried to assassinate him and rather than rewarding his survival by making him emperor the senate had continued business as normal. Order 66 had gone out and been an abject failure in the cold light of day. Even worse the Jedi had killed sixty percent of his clones and destroyed the same percent of his fleet.

He had another army just standing waiting on him. Skywalker had given the stand down instruction from Mustafar. The logs from the command section there would have what he needed to sweep the galaxy of these rebels! "Tarkin!"

SSDV

As the emperor came to the same realization as Harry had and wasted time planning a gargantuan fleet action to retrieve what he needed rather than the surgical strike on a prostrate world Garm had executed Jedi sped to their brothers and sisters with stones and aid. Those Jedi then sped to the aid of others and the Jedi Order shook itself from its near defeat and rose from the knee it had been forced to.

*Chapter 7*: Chapter 7

Same Song Different Verse

Chapter Seven

All quiet on the western front

Aayla looked down at Harry with a beatific smile as she rode his hard cock. She was a sweaty, bite marked, slimy, fucked out mess. It was wonderful. Of course, she would go get in the shower then the bath and he would join her and heal all her marks before they slept. Maybe she could get him to leave the one around her left nipple. It wouldn't show much under her clothes. And she could let the part of her outfit that rose over her breast and tied behind her neck slip and Maris and Shaak would know, Ahsoka too.

Of course, she could just do what she intended and drag Shaak in their bed and help Harry mate her. He certainly appreciated her in the tub. A corpse would. Shaak Ti was magnificent. Maris would be in a few years but Aayla didn't think they would wait that long to mate her, Ahsoka was already well on her way to spectacular. Aayla wriggled on the cock in her sex and then flopped down on Harry kissing him madly. Harry chuckled "I am still not helping you seduce them."

Aayla pushed herself up and pouted at him. He latched on a breast. She reached behind his head with one arm and held him tightly to her breast. He slid his hands down grabbed her hips and fucked her hard. She came and her clenching on him took him over the edge. He sat up, untangled and carried them in the shower.

Later he dried them on the way back to the bed which he flicked cleaning charms on and lay her down and healed her. She shuddered some more and did her own wandless hygiene charm getting a kiss and a smile.

Harry woke in the morning with a butt in his crotch and his hard cock wedged between her cheeks, a pair of boobs pushing into his shoulders and a weight resting on his side "You know this never works in the morning. Yoda takes-" The partition was yanked back letting light stream in and Ahsoka gaped at the pile "offense to us having private time in the morning."

Shaak lifted her head over his shoulder "We could stun her and bind her."

Harry snorted "The old man would send in random people or droids. Come on, shower, exercise."

Ahsoka was drug into the bath protesting she was already ready.

On the way out the door she was shoved in front of Harry who reached around her, gripped her breast firmly and applied a support charm. She moaned then eeped and scampered out. Maris leaned back into him moaned and turned her head to kiss him. Shaak turned around and kissed him hard. Aayla grinned impishly. Harry rolled his eyes.

SSDV

Breha, Mon and Clynda watched Yoda supervise and Mace Windu observe the training. Breha shook her head "The wind blew him into your office window after it, and the force field behind it, had failed."

Mon shrugged "Well he is named Windu." She tossed the others a grin "It happened, what am I supposed to say. 'Get back out there?' Let me feed Leia. The Jedi say there is no coincidence. If that is true you have to wonder what it has planned for Windu."

Clynda snorted "Harry Potter delves into one of his magical trunks of holding, which may have more storage capacity than all the warehouses on Corellia combined, comes up with nine potions and a tiny, impossibly sharp knife. Knocks him out, converts one of the huts to an operating theater and hospital by making it impossibly huge on the inside, chops him up and then grows him an eye, hand, and heals all his other injuries in twenty-four hours, and that was after the medical droids said Bacta couldn't help. The medical and science people are losing their minds trying to duplicate the stuff he used and he just shrugs it off. Meanwhile Windu is recovered enough to be up walking around in a day, exercising in two, and now thinks he is ready to try Harry on with a light saber. I wonder if Harry will be able to stick all the parts he cuts off back on?

Well it at least it stopped Windu from wearing that eye patch. Has the man never heard of cybernetics? He could have had an eye that could see across the galaxy, and been calibrated to measure nanometers. What the hell is with that leather coat too?"

Mon nodded toward Windu "He got rid of that too. Back to Jedi robes now. He doesn't even have scars. At least on his face or hands anymore. I think I will check into the Potter Clinic for a while. Meanwhile Harry isn't as good with a saber as the girls and Windu is better than him. Windu better have that saber of his on the training setting or Aayla and Shaak Ti will kill him."

Breha laughed "And Harry has a stone bowl that can play memories like a holo. Memories he or the Jedi women in his group can take from anyone and we can find things in we didn't see when the events occurred. He tinkers with it, sets up six holo recorders around it, and we have a recording of the memory in three dimensions and high resolution. The news people are having a field day. So are my public affairs people respinning the whole clone war, and the lead up to it. The only way you don't know Palpatine is a Sith Lord now is if you don't get Holo.

Garm ask him about making the stone bowl, he rubs the back of his head, hunches his shoulders and says he can do it when he isn't so busy. He adds it will have to go on the list with the shelters.

Meanwhile we have an apparently mad politician setting himself up as the emperor. Which of course all right minded beings in the Galaxy oppose, and there are already engagements fought in space and on worlds every day."

Mon looked up from the baby "Some won't care, some will think it's wonderful. Most will get up and go to work and try to put food on the table. So, when are we going to Ilum? I have a few months before we will be able to get a senate for the New Republic up and operational. Obviously, we aren't going to any of the Core worlds. Well other than those in the bulge, if we can hang onto it. It actually looks like we will be able to. Most of those worlds are staunchly Republican, and had big fleets as status symbols. A lot of fat Generals and Admirals suddenly earning that pay and prestige. Most of what needs to be done is going to be done over Holo."

Clynda tossed up her hands "The whole leadership of the Republic can't go. Besides which, a monarch is more agile, and we need to think about leaving it like that."

Mon snorted "Getting your intended monarch, King Harry, to agree is somewhat of a problem. Breha won't do it either. Naboo does that weird election thing, but that is too chancy by far. The Queen Mother would be glad to, along with an army of these others we don't want. We need to get a Senate up, functioning, and under control while we are still in these opening stages, and before it turns into a war of attrition."

Breha shrugged "Why not. All go to Ilum I mean. We do have some time and some negotiations to do. Every world with any sense is pulling everything they own off Coruscant and Bars Hnad is evacuating everyone that walks up to a ship. They get to a civilized world, get tested, and get put to work. Oh, and sent to school or training. Ackbar is happy as a clam, no pun intended, with the fleets he has, and this engagement at Mustafar will tell us what we need to know. If we can annihilate that fleet we can leave defense in Ackbar's hands, and go to Ilum before we get bogged down in the mess the Republic is going to be for years. Oh, and we work on the Corellians' to get them to see sense, and do more than bar the Empire from the planet itself, before we have to invade them."

Clynda was looking at the Jedi "What are they wearing? And hey! Your planet didn't and doesn't have half the now imperial fleet sitting above it. It's a bit of a delicate situation, besides being our primary source of income. Garm and I are amazed we haven't had an all-out assault on the planet. The yards being declared free are what keeps the empire from acting too foolishly, now that our fleet is linked up with Kuat Yards fleet. The empire was forced to withdraw from Kuat and it left us the farthest forward yard. They lost all the others when they lost the hyperspace lanes."

Mon snorted "Bitches. Not much. I can see nipples and mounds from here."

Breha glared at her "Not in front of Leia." Mon looked a bit nerfish in surprise at Breha's mother fangs getting displayed.

Mace Windu was waiting after the run, now fully healed and rested after a week, and lit his lightsaber as soon as Harry lit the training saber. Harry took a beating. Mace nodded "Well, at least you aren't better than me at that." He softened it with a neutral face.

Harry had converted one of the unused temporary shelters into a hospital, and was busy amazing Jedi healers and confounding medical droids every time a new Jedi showed up. He examined them and cured them of anything. It was the Jedi's first introduction to Force Mage skills. Harry still couldn't get Jedi to say magic. Mace had watched this all silently, with a padd in hand linked to the holo installation by the huts, and while coordinating the effort to recover Jedi. He had been amazed.

Jocasta Nu, the Librarian, as others called her, but really the Master of the Order of Knowledge had dug into the archives and found records of similar feats in healing. More than a thousand years ago, when there were still Jedi Clans. Of course, this made the Masters on the High Council immediately assume Harry Potter was a time traveler, and someone brought up Revan, of course.

Harry, being Harry, had shrugged and said "Something is different about time here, but I'm not sure what, and unless that worm hole moved me backward or forward before it shot me to Felucia, where I had no frame of reference, I couldn't really tell you on way or the other. Luna will know." With all the confidence in the world. And most of the naivete, apparently not realizing a worm hole was in fact a hole in time, as distance was essentially time.

Harry grinned "Something to work on then." Mace glared at him, he laughed and moved on to Maris, then Ahsoka beating on him. They both weren't giving concessions and were duel wielding sabers. The Masters watched and Mace sighed "He never makes the same mistake twice unless it's on purpose and a ruse to draw you in. He will be formidable. He has a Padawan in Ahsoka. You are right Yoda, he is a Master. The others will lose their minds."

Yoda shrugged "Find them again quickly they must. Learn from him or perish we will. Nearly Grand Master of his Order, the Aurors, he was. Officially. He was the Grand Master in reality. Doing the job he was. Fleet Admiral and General of the Armies as well."

Mace sighed "You taught me to look to the Force inside. I couldn't get it from him." It had been like with Yoda, and was going to be a long slog for Mace, until Yoda had taken over and brought his insights from finding his own core, starting his occlumency, and use of magic. Once Mace found his core though, while still sitting in his hospital bed, occlumency had come in hours, along with Aura suppression, now he, like Yoda, was sorting his memories. It was painful.

Yoda nodded "Taught me he did. Teaches me something every day he does. I will teach all I can, but he is the Master. The others we must bring back. Teach them he must. Missions must wait until their auras they can suppress. The stones can be damaged. Beacons in the Force Jedi would become, drawing the hunters. Masters Ti and Secura must teach as well. Padawan Brood and Apprentice Tano can help him teach groups. The young from him learn better. The older Masters will learn from us and each other. Set in the old way we are."

Mace sighed "Obi wan will be here soon, we can talk about it then. I wish you wouldn't call her apprentice. The Masters are already going to be nervous about the alchemy and sorcery."

Yoda nodded "Truth is truth, and she refuseg to be called his padawan. His apprentice she is. Mustafar will happen soon, then we will know for sure. The other site he must ward for us as well. A long struggle lies ahead. Change we must."

SSDV

In orbit around Mustafar a sensor droid transmitted a burst that included size, location, direction, and speed, then died in a burst of fire. The empire had arrived, and dropped from hyperspace in neat orderly line astern columns, heading for their release point at maximum sublight, to start their envelopment and pre-assault bombardment. Venators, the empires ships of the line, in the lead. Followed by the Acclimator assault transports.

This force was a significant portion of the remainder of the empires fleet and army, those left out past the hyperspace lane blockages that they were still working on clearing anyway. Only small ships could navigate those blockages, even then, it was at sublight speeds.

Still it was a significant naval and ground force and nothing to be taken lightly by anyone.

Gial Ackbar certainly hadn't taken them lightly, and had assumed command of a force of Lucrehulk Battleships, Droid assault ships and their Control spheres. In amongst the bounty that was the former CIS fleet, were Subjugator, Providence and Recusant class vessels. All of the now Republic vessels had landed their droids more than a week ago so they could dig in, and taken on as many Vulture droids as they could. They had held light seconds away at all points of the compass and on all axis.

All of these vessels, under control of a AI, now turned to updated vectors and began their attack runs.

Ackbar watched in the holo tank as a line of Lucrehulks popped out of hyperspace at close range, let go with every weapon that would bear in a sustained burst, dropped fifteen hundred Vulture droids apiece, then jumped away and another line appeared not in exactly the same place. Another line appeared in front and above. Subjugators, four of them, stayed and fired ion cannon as rapidly as they could be cycled. Providence class carriers fired from the rear as they unloaded their complements of Vulture droids. He watched in satisfaction, and not a little horror, as a significant portion of the remaining Imperial forces died. Two Venators and an Acclamator managed to limp away into Hyperspace.

Tarkin stood on a bridge shrouded in smoke, with fires burning around him, trying to understand what had happened, how he was going to survive it, and how he would redeploy the fleet so they could defend and police with the twenty percent of the force they had had available two months ago.

They couldn't even stop the rebels from leaving Coruscant now, or showing up there. It was essentially an open planet. The lower classes jammed the food and recycle transport ships like rats fleeing a burning building. Somehow even the slave controllers were being jammed and the slaves were running. The slaves! This was more than a setback. This was a new path, requiring perhaps a century to a united imperial galaxy.

Now they had enough to hold the space to the galactic south and west, bordered by the Corellian run in the east, and the Mettelos trade route in the north, minus the considerable bulge around Alderaan and its allies. They must hold Corellia. He would go there for repairs. Yes repairs, not because he was afraid of the emperor.

SSDV

Gial Ackbar got the marines and their assault ships ready, and boarded the ships the ion cannons had disabled, taking them, their clones, and crews with some minor fighting and low losses. Those vessels and crews were mostly prostrate. Shocked into near insensibility by the ferocity and suddenness of the attack on them.

Lucrehulk cargo hulls moved in and policed the battle space with tractor beams. They gained twenty two capitol ships that would need refurbishment, a hundred thousand clones, twenty five thousand imperial officers and ship crewmen, all of whom would need reprogramming, and parole or imprisonment. He wasn't sure this was a strategic victory with the absorption of resources this represented, but it was certainly a tactical victory. First blood in a long war was the Republics though, and he could be proud as could his troops.

SSDV

Harry looked at the holo tank and was nauseated. It was such a waste. They had no doubt killed as many as they captured. Aayla put her hand on his arm. Yoda sighed and the rest of the council on the holo conference was eerily silent. The leader of the Banking Clan finally cleared his throat "Sad but necessary. We have Lucrehulk salvage vessels cleaning up the battle space and performing search and rescue operations, then we will see what can be done to rehabilitate the clones and imperials that survived Master Potter.

Meanwhile an enormous fleet is on its way to you with the mission to defend Alderaan and intent to hold the empire to an area west of the Corellian run and south of the Mettelos trade run. Admiral Ackbar will capitalize on any mistakes they make. Following your run to Ilum, the intent is for most of that fleet to turn south, west of the core worlds boundary, and push the empire back into the core worlds space. Meanwhile we can start nibbling at the edges of the empire, and recovering some worlds that have significant wealth and production capacity. In doing so we expect, and Admiral Ackbar concurs, that we will become the defacto police and government of these worlds. We would like to have Jedi assistance as soon as it is available and our goal will be to stand up local governments and police forces as soon as possible. Salvage ships are patrolling the hyperspace lanes on our side of the line of the core worlds, to open those lanes, and any battlespaces to recover what we can.

I'm afraid to say most of the bounties have dried up. The hunters, pirates and general scum seem to have fled to Hutt space. Not a problem I would advise we deal with now. We did however make one point eight million credits on the deal as we cleaned up several thousand bounty hunters, slavers and the like. We are still picking up the occasional bounty when they try to use our ships for passenger service. Sadly the majority of pirates, slavers and bounty hunters seem to have fled, mostly to Hutt space.

Lastly a show of force and occupation Fleet is on its way to you, with the intent to clean up remnant forces the empire does not recall, and establish law and order from Alderaan to Velusia, Pantolomen, and then around the border of the core worlds to sew the Empire up into the core, deny them resources, then hold the line in the south. As we have discussed. A protégé of Admiral Ackbar is in direct command, Ackbar has over all command. We are sweeping imperial forces back as we go, or destroying them. Mostly they are in untenable positions and barely able to supply themselves after the debacle at Mustafar. They are basically collapsing nearly as fast as we can get to them.

I would advise everyone to have everything they want to keep out of the core in the next two weeks. Admiral Ackbar assures me the colonial reaches will be a dangerous battle ground after that as resistance firms up and we drive to the Core worlds boundary.

One last thing, we are continuing to use the Republic credit and will back it full value. We are not divesting ourselves of interest in the empire, but are slowly working our way out of those positions in order to keep the prices of the shares up and not start a stampede. I mention this as it appears Palpatine is going to change the name of the credits in the space he controls to Empire credits. We shall, of course, put a valuation on these credits as soon as we see both the official law or edict, and how the worlds in the 'empire' value them. As we will save considerably in mintage and administrative fees by avoiding a name change, I suspect the Palpatine credit is going to trade at at least a ten percent discount from the start of trading the day it becomes official.

Harry rubbed his chin "Any way to sew the Hutts up in their own little bubble and let them die stewing in their own juices?"

The Clan Leader grinned "A man after our own hearts. The Hutt's are having credit difficulties, and are being forced to sell assets at severely reduced prices. The war between the bounty hunters, they are busy trying to collect the bounties we still have posted on each other, and the sudden influx of pirates and slavers is not helping. The Hutts are having to be very firm."

Harry blinked and Aayla sighed "A lot of Hutt assets are slaves Harry."

The Clan chief nodded "Mistress is correct. Significantly more valuable to our industry and culture as warriors, workers, students, teachers and professionals of all types and part time entertainers, than pushing a broom or dancing in some Hutt slime pit. Again, an investment, as the Master has shown us. Productivity is up more than fifty percent, crime and spice use both down slightly. Again, reduced legal fees and police cost as well, we really should have stamped out illegal spice years ago."

Harry beamed at him "Thank you and a round of applause for Admiral Ackbar, the military and again the Banking Clans everyone." Harry rose leading the applause enthusiastically. The noise died down and Harry nodded "I want you folks in the Banking Clans and Military to know how proud I am to be associated with you. You folks, right now, are leading the Republic into better times. Anything I can do for you please don't hesitate to ask. OK unless someone has something?" Harry looked around and waited for anyone to appear in a holo. "Back to work then."

Mon fanned herself and Breha along with Clynda laughed. Bail and Garm sighed.

SSDV

Harry was outside sitting in an armchair looking at a blaster pistol. He scribbled a rune on a rock, summoned one of the local vermin, stuck it to the rock and activated the rune, levitated it a couple of meters away then shot the rodent stuck to the rock. It blinked at him. He emptied the magazine. Security forces came running as did Bail and Garm. Harry looked up "Oh sorry. Wanted to test something. It worked."

Ahsoka glared at him then looked at the rodent "How did you miss a captive varna with a full magazine from a couple meters away?"

Harry shrugged "I didn't. Bubblehead charm. It filters out harmful gasses see. Then the magnetic pulse that encapsulates the tibanna gas passes through the, varna you said? Anyway magnetic currents don't hurt it. I found a way to make the bubble head charm rune based. It doesn't take much energy or magic either. I barely charged those runes for a few seconds.

Now lasers are just bright light right? Hmmm the sunshield charms adjusted for frequency and way way over powered might work. Probably need blood for that." Harry sat and returned to scribbling in a padd and the others just looked at him. Bail picked up the slab of slate with the Varna and went to find a medical droid.

Garm followed him "Could it really be this simple and we just missed it all this time?"

Bail snorted "I won't tell anyone if you won't."

Mace Windu looked at a grinning Yoda and huffed.

SSDV

Later in the week a freshly arrived and now rested overnight Obi wan looked at Mace and Yoda "They all sleep in that tent."

Yoda nodded "A marvelous construction imbued with the force. Given a mansion Master Potter was. Turned it over for the wounded's use he did. A modest life he lives. An example to all he is."

Obi wan blinked "Master, not to put too fine a point on it, but I believe Master Secura is sleeping with him. At least Master Secura."

"Like an old woman you gossip Master Kenobi. Beneath you this is."

Obi wan blinked, owl like, and Mace couldn't hold it anymore, and for the first time in memory he cracked up laughing. He fell over and rolled on the ground pointing at Obi wan "Your face! That was exactly how I felt when I figured it out. It was all right there on your face!"

Obi wan huffed indignantly and Ahsoka came over with the pack "Ready Master Yoda?"

Obi wan watched Yoda get in the pack, Ahsoka strap it on, then take off running with the others, he blinked some more. Mace pounded the ground. Obi wan walked away stiffly "Completely uncivilized!"

On the balcony Breha held Luke "Your guardian is so silly. Yes, he is."

Mon grinned looking up from Leia "I think he took that rather well."

Clynda snorted "We should send a medic to Master Windu. I think he hurt himself laughing. You two quit hogging the babies."

Breha smiled "You know Mon, Obi wan is single."

Clynda looked at Mon who had frozen, finally Mon sighed "If it wasn't for that stupid beard. That, and let's face it, he will never be Master Potter, but he does have something." Clynda looked at the smirking Breha amazed.

Obi wan was back for sparring and looked at Harry and Aayla standing inches apart. Harry snapped his saber on as he backed away from her, Mace stepped up and lit his saber. Harry grinned. Mace frowned. That grin meant trouble. He attacked, and as Harry missed a parry with his saber he pressed, then blinked as Harry stripped his saber away and held it by the blade.

On the balcony Garm's "Frack me!" was heard over the entire sparring area and most of the grounds of the Lodge, and didn't even get a comment.

On the sparring field Harry handing the saber back by the blade had Aayla run over and look at his hand then take him to the ground kissing him. Yoda broke the tableau "Explain Master Potter will."

Harry sat up and smiled moving Aayla around to his lap "Dueling shield but on my hand, it's impervious to most anything. Set by runes. Amped up with a couple of rune strings that had me worried, they are a bit odd. I made a bracelet out of it." He tapped his wrist and a durasteel bracelet appeared. "After I successfully fixed Master Windu's arm, which gave me a good look at the mechanism of injury from a light saber, I decided to try this. It worked against Aayla's sabers, no burn, nothing. So, we cranked them up a level at a time until we got to full strength on her sabers, it works.

I think if you wore ankle bands, belt, choker, and armbands it would cover most of your body but we haven't gotten that far. I was thinking of adding it to the rune stones but I want to test one against ship cannons in orbit. The astromechs are taking the marauders hull plates off and carving the runes. I tied them to the rune king in the cockpit. I just have to activate them then it should work on the ship. They might charge slow, but if the Force is everywhere, as Master Yoda said, they will charge forever. They are directional too. I just need a control. Or maybe I don't as they would keep someone outside them from shooting in or anything from inside shooting out. Well, come to think of it that could be a problem, but we can probably work it out."

Garm and Bail had made it down to hear that last. Bail shrugged "Try it on the main Palace wards. It should be charged by the time we get back. If it does what you are afraid of and prevents us from shooting out we can put the planetary defenses on satellites, or stations outside of it. There are plenty of hulls that aren't in condition to travel hyperspace, but could be effective for system defense."

Harry smiled looking at Yoda who nodded "Ready you are. Fleet arrives tomorrow, go we will. Marauder can travel in a hold on a lucrehulk, you can work on it there."'

SSDV

Harry stepped off the Larty and smiled. The astromechs had brought the Marauder up "Well we can still run in the mornings."

The girls laughed. The ship was huge, with hangar decks first five, then four, and finally three, stories or decks high, a thousand meters wide, if a complete circle, with a circumference of over nine kilometers. With the gap in the circle it would still be eight kilometers. The gap in the donut shaped ring was a kilometer wide and the hole the Control sphere sat in two kilometers in diameter, if the ship was stretched out straight it would be eight kilometers long, a thousand meters wide, and six decks thick. It would also take significantly more material to build. Obi wan grumbled. He had joined them for exercise this morning and found out war didn't keep him in as good a shape as he thought.

Yoda nodded "Other Masters, Knights and Padawans joining us along the route will be. Occlumency we will teach them. They will go and teach others. Discuss new rules for the Order we will. What was old, is new again."

Mace looked at him. He had watched a memory of Harry's, a film Harry called it, The Last Samurai. It had resonated with Yoda. It had resonated with Mace too now that he had watched Harry's memories of his arrival here. He knew he had not survived the encounter with Palpatine in the timeline Harry had jumped, abrogated, whatever that had been. And Harry said time was funny here. At least they didn't back it up and go again. As far as anyone could tell, they spun off in a new direction. The Council of Knowledge was a warzone debating it.

Harry had shrugged and told him that never happened before. The whole galaxy backing up, or diverging on a different path. He thought it was because of how much of the Force there was here. They had classified those memories as top secret. Harry had the device secured somehow. Secured so that if it was stolen it destroyed itself. The few in the know about it agreed it shouldn't be used again without serious consideration and only in galaxy ending situations.

Mace brought his thoughts back to the present as a huge consular cruiser came in on repulsars and set down. The ramp dropped and the Royal household of Alderaan disembarked. Bail strode over to Harry. "Harry I've had a thousand request for wards like the royal lodge has. Price is no object apparently."

Aayla barked "No. Harry was unconscious for two days. I will not have him in a coma."

Harry looped an arm around her and leaned over pecking her on the cheek "That was the fidelius. All the others including the dueling ward, if it works, they can have, they just need books and the rocks and to have a droid carve them. I'll write up a schema. It will cost them blood and I'll activate them. You all can help, it will be a way for you to learn how to do it." He grinned at Bail "Then I'll show you how to break them."

Bail glared at him. Breha smiled "As long as only you and the girls know how to break them Harry."

Harry bowed "Your Majesty, the fidelius at your lodge can't be broken until your line dies out. It will last forever."

Bail looked at Breha and she smiled a little smile at him. Until the Skywalker line died out as well then. If she had understood the lesson on wards, it had his blood, so was tied to Clan Potter as well.

Aayla nodded slowly "And what will we charge for these wards Harry?""

Harry blinked "The goblins charged fifty or a hundred. I don't know. I'll have to think about why, and look up any notes I have from anyone, Bill Weasley specifically. He worked for the Goblins as a curse breaker for years, then for the Aurors freelance ward breaking."

Aayla frowned "Credits?"

Harry shook his head "Pounds of mithril, or the galleon equivalent, so fifteen times the weight of pure gold. A galleon contains about a third of an ounce of gold. Hmmm, let's say six hundred and eighty-one pounds of .999 fine gold for wards, and double that for the fidelius as long as the local government gives their permission for the fidelius to be emplaced."

Aayla frowned "Triple for the Fidelius. Six hundred eighty-one pounds of gold or the equivalent for wards, and two thousand forty three for the fidelius."

Harry nodded "We will need to add some verbiage to the contracts for people emplacing wards."

Shaak nodded "I will work on it Harry."

Maris tapped her chin "If they are covered by the planetary wards in the seats of governments would they even need individual wards?"

Harry grinned and Bail snorted "At those prices? Pure status symbol. Now we will have to figure out laws governing the fidelius."

Harry nodded "Carefully, because breaking that is going to cost you a fortune, years, and maybe lives, and that's if they didn't use my blood in the original set, unlike the ones on Alderaan. I don't think anyone in this plane is strong enough to break those wards with my blood, and Yoda's Force energy, dumped in that stone like it was. That's not even mentioning Aayla, Shaak and Maris who are no slouches. That stone is a bit scary. I looked at it yesterday and it was up to nine ley lines connected to it. Hogwarts has seventeen as far as we can tell and she is sentient. That many lines and it gets a bit dicey and you have to infer from direction where they are connected to. Generally, they run straight if not diverted by a node or interstice."

Breha blinked "I think we won't be having the fidelius on private properties then. Could you do that to a planet Master Potter?"

Harry shook his head "The fidelius? Not an occupied one. Too many sentients already know of it, and its location. It would be recorded lots of places, too much memory, or too many memories to occlude I think. No one was ever sure which the charm was doing, the one memory or the many separate memories. It's all a bit esoteric for me. I think I could do an unoccupied planet easier than the Lodge. We will have to find a planet no one knows about and try it."

Garm nodded "Wouldn't the easy way to break it be to make you or one of yours the secret keeper?"

Mace Windu frowned "I'm not sure we want the Order involved in that. I can already hear the accusations if someone did find a way to break it."

Ahsoka shrugged "Make a droid the secret keeper and give it a password protected set of instructions for issuing the secret."

Harry nodded "We'll have to try that. The AI running the droid and computer code took the fidelius after all. One should be able to be the secret keeper for all the fidelius. Those things are damned expensive though, and need maintenance, power, protection, none of which is cheap. It would add a monthly fee to the cost of the fidelius."

Bail nodded "But then the government could get the secret if it was a law and order thing. The Senate would need to approve it. A super majority of the Senate I think."

Harry nodded "Have to get that programmed in under that base secret. Some checks and balances too. Not like governments are incorruptible after all. Or do the smart thing all the time."

Mon and Breha shook their heads, Clynda spoke for them "Let's get an actual Senate up and running first then we can take this on, after we get something like a government working."

They were all given a tour of the lucrehulk by a droid that wouldn't call Harry anything but Master. The core ship attached to the battleship class armed ring with double the normal complement of the new improved Vulture droids and hundreds of the repeating mass drivers was luxuriously appointed drawing pleased sounds from the women and arched brows from the men. Breha snorted at them "Harry is the defacto ruler of the Republic for now. He has an image to protect. We will certainly have to drag recalcitrant world, system, or sector leaders somewhere for private conversations, this will be perfect. Exactly the right tone. If we are going to have to start this thing while on ships this is the perfect place to do it from."

Harry grinned "Bail can be the Tyrant."

Breha glared at him "Stop that. You know he can't, as you would happily follow orders with your hordes of droids until he did something you didn't like, then you would just take over and we couldn't even call it a coup."

Harry shrugged "We can lease the droids to the Senate."

Breha just looked at him "But in the end, you own them Master Potter."

Mon snapped her fingers "Harry, you are going to need the best lawyers in the galaxy to write the lease contracts. They have to be completely unambiguous and unimpeachable, so when you have to turn someone's or some planets, leased droids or wards on them they won't have a leg to stand on."

Harry glared at Bail and Garm, who had the decency to look sheepish and apologetic. Mace laughed and laughed. They went on with the tour and met the ships battle command AI. Harry was like a kid in a candy shop. He gave the AI access to the limited AI on the Marauder. Not knowing the astromechs had been working on it for weeks and it was no longer so limited, or that it was tied to all the astromechs of the Marauder and his protocol and archivist droid. A thought occurred to Harry "Who do you think has the command codes to this thing. I mean it's brand new."

Bail looked at him then at Garm. Breha sighed and turned to Aayla "You really have to catch what is being said in council when he does his little zone out things. No one minds, because the most interesting and useful things come out of him after, but he obviously didn't catch it all."

Aayla actually blushed "We do now your Majesty, but that was discussed in the first or second council, before we realized he was thinking about something else and wasn't catching it for replay like Master Yoda does."

Harry leapt to her defense "Oh it's in there, along with millions of other things, I just haven't gotten back around to it, hold on a minute." He concentrated, then face palmed "Changing it and putting the code under fidelius made it self perpetuating, as it controls the AI that is used to develop all other droid brains. Even if a new code was built in, the base command code would still be there, and would override any others. The only droids without it are those made in empire space, or made by hand. Even the code updates automatically sent out had it, and it has now perpetuated across nearly all droid code, and will possibly infiltrate the empire if they steal code from the trade federation. A distinct possibility, as the Code Genius has made the code better, faster, and more complete than ever before. Frack that's why you say I'm the defacto ruler. Crap. We can't back up and undo it either, it will always be there." He had lifted his head and then turned to the droid guide "What is the designation of this vessel?"

"Republic One while you are on board Master. It is a LH 1740 fleet battle command core joined to a modified LH 3210 Battle Ship hull. It has no designation other than its hull ID number combined with the command core control number when you are not aboard." Bail and Garm started out chuckling, then laughed until their sides ached at Harry's horrified face.

Breha smiled and led the party on. Or rather had the droid lead them. They all froze at the sight of the huge bed in the Master Stateroom or vault as the droid called it. Ahsoka broke first "Well that solves that problem." Breha, Mon and Clynda chuckled. Harry and the rest of the males blushed and fled.

While they were waiting on the ladies Mace looked at the droid "What is your designation and function?"

The droid replied "I am a B3 Battle Droid, Designation Republic One Alpha. I combine the function of a battle droid along with smaller manipulators to enable the use of most types of blasters, the old command droid's abilities, without their arrogance, or what the programmers called blood thirstiness, protocol, first contact, and astromech abilities, as my type has the internal capacity for the memory cores, processors, and power supply. I have a micro reactor, and ninety standard days of fuel, before reverting to the fuel generation cap system recently installed. Like all droids on this vessel I am an eighty percent redesign and improvement over the preceding model. For example the Vulture droids have been switched to a liquid fuel and the masters fuel production and reaction mass caps added and now have as much, or more endurance than Imperial fighters, and they have been released from the tether to a control ship and granted limited mission specific autonomy. Weapon systems have been improved with the Masters cooling and amplification runes, structural integrity and armor are to be updated on the older droids and built into new models. A technical team of astromechs and a force sensitives to activate the rune sets is proceeding to all major fleet command ships and ports in Republic controlled space as they are trained."

Harry blinked "That's why Bars wanted those runes? Hey, is that what is in those crates he had me activate? Those were pretty small, thirty millimeters, The water ones are the same size. Oh they fill the tanks over time. Probably get the Vulture droids up into hyperspace and cruise, and can fill the tanks slowly while that is happening. Good thing we put that pressure sensing switch in there. The poor droids would feel like they have wind otherwise, we would be putting deuterium and water over the relief valves as well. That thing was the very devil to get calibrated. Hmm tell Bars if he repeats it on bigger caps he increases the production as long as the volume of the cap can absorb the Force needed. That's why they are aluminum. You can't believe the crap you have to put in a string to get it to work on steel. It's the iron. Magic does not like iron. Loves carbon, hates iron. Well carbon that isn't a diamond. The matrix is all collapsed on diamonds, nowhere for the magic to snuggle into. Your caps are those five millimeter jobs I bet. I activate those by the cargo lifter container full. Hundreds of thousands at a time. I thought that was a bit silly but I guess your reactor doesn't use much? Any excess capacity? You could recharge one of your brothers who's reactor is offline."

The other males looked at each other as Harry kept talking to the droid. Yoda finally shrugged "A Slave was freed. Did this in joy of that freedom I think."

Obi wan frowned "What if they do some of what he is talking about after he trains them? We won't recognize the galaxy anymore. Who knew the Force hated iron and couldn't imbue diamonds? Well rather who has thought about why?"

Bail grinned "Especially that the carbon is hugging itself and took all the magic's snuggle space."

Obi wan sniffed "His phrasing is odd, quaint, uncivilized even, but the rationale behind it will hold up."

In the Master suite Breha looked at the girls "What is going on?"

Shaak smiled "It is comforting to sleep together. Aayla and Harry are the mated pair. We will go where the Force leads us."

Mon snorted "Well that's me out. I could never share one."

Clynda sighed "Sometimes I wish I could, it would be nice to have a friend that close all the time, but culturally it is impossible."

Breha shook her head "Be careful of one another and him and talk. Take your time, you have years now. The Republic has the upper hand."

Mon nodded and added "Decide how you are going to contain him when the holo tabloids get wind of this and go all scandal crazed. All we need is him chopping that little failed lawyer in half. Or one of those empty headed bimbos he employs to stroke his pissy little ego. I don't think those people are ready for Master Potter."

Aayla nodded "All good advice and we do, plus we talk to Harry."

Clynda grinned "You actually get yours to do more than grunt? Not to be indelicate, but heirs for Harry? These are skills we don't want to lose."

Shaak nodded "Harry is convinced magic or the Force will find a way. I know we can all gestate human eggs to full term. If nothing else we can do that if the force leads us that way. He said there is a ritual called blood adoption as well, it would add our blood and traits to any child and not take away its parents. It does however connect the parents and the children. Makes the children safer somehow. I will have to get him to explain that further."

Breha nodded "We certainly will." She had two children that needed that done today!

In the conference that afternoon the Banking Clan chief smiled "Master Potter, you have made us several more fortunes." Harry blinked "Your ideas for Droid freighters panned out, we now have droid lucrehulks taking food from Telos and other Agricorp worlds and returning full of the product of Coruscant. All at exorbitant rates of course."

Harry smiled "What is the produce of Coruscant?"

Ahsoka snorted "Shit and government regulation. Hey wait a minute� so really just shit then" She got laughs all around.

The Clan Chief nodded "Very droll young Mistress. Absolutely correct also. Coruscant produces trash and, once the waste is treated, fertilizer and compost. We mine the trash stream for usable products, compost the rest and mix it with the fertilizer and sell the fertilizer and compost to Agricorp and other agricultural worlds. Both moderately lucrative, now with the fuel caps and improvements to drives using runes, in comparison to barley profitable before, and then we transport food stuffs back, that was always moderately lucrative. Since we are using droid crews and Lucrehulks that were rebuilt after combat the ships were basically free. We also do specialty freight, and food stuffs for ridiculous amounts of credit, and water with the food. Oh and passengers, lest I forget, a very profitable sideline that we discovered with the continuing exodus from the Core. We of course transport slaves and the indigent free as long as they sign an employment contract." Harry looked around and Aayla and Shaak nodded at him. "Yes the mistresses have approved all the jobs and pay scales.

The yards in the Federation are turning out Lucrehulk cores and 3210 capitol freight ships with containerized passenger modules for now but the cores are armed to heavy cruiser class and have vulture droids for defense and could be changed out for droid control, assault or battleship modules quickly. They are manned by B3 droids. The 3210s can operate autonomously from a core and in most cases on scheduled routes do. Quite a bit of money changing hands all around, another improvement to life in the galaxy I must say. Prices are falling everywhere except in the empire. And Hutt space."

Harry chuckled "I'm afraid I've turned an honorable banker into a warrior."

The clan chief grinned fiercely "And we thank the Master. Why a few more years of this and Ackbar may be able to go home, we will have sucked the core worlds dry."

Harry snorted "We haven't conquered Corellia's yards."

The Clan Chief shrugged "Yet master, yet."

Harry nodded "If anyone can without firing a shot it will be you fellows. Now Bars I was talking to Alpha One, all those five millimeter caps can't be going to droid production?"

Bars nodded "About three quarters to new production and retrofit teams. The rest are going to microreactor generator sets we sell. Along with battery packs."

Harry blinked "Whatever for?"

Bars shrugged "A lot of planets don't have planetary grids. One of those can run a small house. Several a small industrial concern. We didn't realize the error rate or rate of failure would be zero so we had a lot excess to need and one of the freed slaves came up with this idea. Larger machines can even be sold or leased with permanent power."

Harry nodded "How do we charge for that?"

Bars smiled "We came up with a meter and charge market rate for fuel and if needed reaction mass as the computers report it back to us. It's no real advantage but for some reason people love it."

Harry nodded "Energy independence or the facsimile of it. Big thing on earth with independent minded folks too. Thank you."

Bars bowed from the shoulders as he sat.

Admiral Akbar was up next "We have begun establishing the line east of the core Master Potter. We are able to push to the debris fields in the hyperspace lanes and as the salvage vessels clean up we advance behind them. The northern extension will happen as you pass Coruscant. As you close on Ilum the western fleet will sweep down pushing the empire back and establish at the core worlds boundary. The south will fill in from the eastern and western fleets. The Northern fleet currently has the hardest area and the most ships of the Subjugator and Providence class. Droid assault ships and battle droids as well. The Empire has ordered a general withdrawal and we are having to reestablish law and order in some places, but so far nothing we can't handle with your updated B2 droids, Rangers, and the Jedi for now." Ackbar swung away on his chair but could still be seen in his holo.

Mon nodded and rose "Negotiations for the establishing of the Republic Senate are proceeding rapidly. We do have a problem though. Some of these laws are, frankly, stupid. We would like some help from all the worlds looking them over, aside from the ones regarding capital crimes Master Potter has proposed, and we have already approved. What we would like is a representative from each group and sector. Trade Federation, Banking Clans, Jedi, Rangers and so forth. Please send someone with sense and not your most obfuscatory lawyers, or we will end up with the same mess.

At the same time we need to tackle the tax code. Please, again, not your most devious accountants. We will save those, and try to recruit them into the forensic accounting part of law enforcement, when we get Republic law enforcement stood back up."

Yoda rose "The Jedi Council believes a leader we will need to decide some cases."

Harry leapt up "Oh hell no."

Bars smiled "The Banking Clan nominates Master Potter."

SSDV

Harry flopped on the bed in their quarters later. Maris looked at him "Stop pouting. You just tell them when they are being idiots. Only now it's official." She snuggled up to his side.

Ahsoka dove on the bed and snuggled the other side "Yeah if you don't understand it when whoever they send reads it to you say no. It's not like you read anything but technical manuals and magic books."

Shaak slid in behind Maris "We will help you."

Aayla crawled up his body and snuggled down "Lights off! Sleep, tired. Be a baby about it tomorrow Harry."

Harry pouted. He was perfectly capable of being a baby over being named interim head of state now. Was that even a title? Garm had made that up on the spot he was fairly sure.

SSDV

Zed Three Four commanding hull 345971 stood impassively as the Imperials poured over the ship and its cargo. The inquisitor looked at him "What are these empty modules for?" He pointed at the stack after stack of flatpacked cargo modules.

Three four replied in his best droid voice "Passenger modules for the outbound trip as the compost and concentrate does not take up as much space as the grain and other food stuffs."

The Inquisitor arched a brow "Erect one." He walked to the stack and pointed to the one in the middle. "This one."

Three Four gave the order and loader and Astromech droids had it erected in moments. The inquisitor looked inside then went in. There were stacks of bunks on both sides, floor to ceiling, and a fresher. He chuckled "You won't be making much money hauling people like cargo, droid."

Three Four replied "The main function of this unit is hauling cargo. They pay we haul. This is the lowest class. There are modules with half this number and modules for dual occupancy. The rates rise commensurately."

The inquisitor nodded "Erect one of each. Provide a list of passenger routes."

Three four gave the instructions and pulled a print out. The Inquisitor looked at the route list "You stop at nine hundred and fourteen worlds?"

Three Four replied "This unit makes the Coruscant to Nabib run. Modules are dropped at Nabib, transferred to whatever unit is making the run for their next leg, finally they are dropped planet side at their destination. Individuals are grouped in modules by species environmental tolerance and according to the route to their final destination. The modules are broken down and put back in the system after disinfection and inspection at the final destination."

The inquisitor nodded. Trust a bunch of repurposed battle droids to run passenger service like intermodal freight. "And food in route?"

"In accordance with class from ration bars to prepared meals such as the clones receive." Three Four replied. "The higher classes have access to holo net and screens for each berth. Holonet access is wider and deeper in the higher classes."

The inquisitor looked at the leads being connected to the container of the highest class and stepped in to peruse the facilities. At the rates on this printout he could afford a vacation to pleasure planet. "Have a meal for this class brought. A lunch meal."

Three Four clamped down on the kill subroutine, and sent the order. This inspection team had intercepted them at a waypoint but not prevented them from entering hyperspace. They had a day to accommodate these meatbags.

The Inquisitor looked at the data gathered that evening. This ship was exactly what it purported to be. A lightly armed freighter travelling between Nabib and Coruscant with millions of tons of food stuffs and barley enough fuel to get it there. There were barely enough droids to run it and no humans aboard.

The junior Inquisitor tossed her padd down and growled. The senior laughed "Not quite the adventure it was painted to be eh? Be glad. There are five of us and twenty droids. If this thing was loaded with Jedi or Rangers we would be dead by now."

This was being repeated all over the core as Lucrehulks threaded the blockages at the hyperspace routes. Before they could go to Hyperspace they were hailed, halted, and boarded by an inspection team. Well the inspection teams flew their ships into the hangar space. They did their inspections, took samples of cargo, checked them, and left at the first way point, or in the case of close ports, when the Lucrehulks dropped from hyperspace and entered the planetary control pattern. At the lowest priority, as always. As they were the clear majority of traffic it really didn't matter. Thousands of them a day arrived and departed hundreds of core worlds. The inspection teams switched to a departing ship, smug in the fuel savings they were achieving for the Inquisitorious. The mass of their fifteen ton, five man, droid carriers was negligible to the Lucrehulks loaded with passenger's, fuel, and whatever cargo someone would pay them to haul, besides the containers of compost and waste concentrates.

The outbound flights were tougher, checking the passengers in the dual berth compartments, and interviewing them. Somehow, they never quite made it to the lower classes. The juniors were always keyed up to find someone to persecute, but never really did as these were generally business people using the cheapest transport available, or other imperial agents. Who they gleefully ratted out to their bosses.

SSDV

The remaining officers and clones of the once grand fleets and armies of the Republic now Empire limped to rendezvous in space, joined with other remnant forces, then forced their way back into the core worlds space. Sometimes in a running fight, sometimes without seeing anything. It was a bit hit or miss as space was vast. While sensors were good, sometimes the pursuit vectors wouldn't resolve. Even at continuous maximum burn, for those ships with the new fuel caps.

Truth, the imperials were all glad to be out of the untenable positions they had suddenly found themselves in, with populations in open rebellion, no resupply, or fresh units available. Whoever had planned this latest cluster fuck needed to suck start their blaster pistol.

The fucking droids were no joke anymore either. None of that "Roger Roger" shit. Those little B2 fuckers were fast, accurate and could concentrate fires in milliseconds. None of that slapstick shit, and the imperial units only getting overwhelmed by numbers anymore. Who knew how, but those things had had a serious upgrade. The B3's in charge were lethal and fast. They fucking learned too. Even if you killed one it was transmitting, and the rest learned the lesson.

The pilots shook their heads. The vulture Droids had had hardware and software upgrades and learned too. No more out flying them until their solid motors ran out, then turning around and knocking them off. The Battle AI's were the same and in charge of everything. Relaying orders at holonet speeds, in frequency hopping, burst on the same frequencies the empire used, so they couldn't be jammed. Constantly in contact with each other and with at least two AIs in every fleet that attacked.

Ships officers nodded sagely. Subjugators and Providence class always lurking near the Lucrehulk main bodies, just when you thought you had crossed the T on the fuckers, the Subjugators and Providence class crossed the T on you, leapt in out of hyperspace in line astern after one ninety degree turn, and fired as their batteries would bear, before leaping away.

The only reasonable course was to abandon the planets, get into fleets, move to bigger fleets, and get out of the space the rebels controlled, before they found you and put a scout to dogging you, running at the maximum speed the slowest ship could achieve, along some obscure, or perhaps new lane your own scouts found.

SSDV

Tarkin stood frozen at the position of attention "And the reports of people fleeing Coruscant Majesty?"

"Nonhumans and scum. Let the Republic be weighed down by them. Clear the blocked hyperspace lanes Tarkin, hold the borders. Don't worry about those cesspools in and past the colonies space, but you will hold the yards of Corellia and everything inside the core/colonies space border." Tarkin bowed and the Emperor snapped the holo off.

The Emperor went to watch the painful reassembly of the cyborg that was once Anakin Skywalker. He basked in the hatred of everything rolling off the man. It was glorious. He would send a few of the good looking female hands to tempt him. His rage at having no sex organs would be exquisite. Burned off with his legs. Palpatine shook his head. Kenobi was deliciously cruel. That was unexpected from a Jedi. The Emperor opened himself to the force. He basked in the cruelty of it all for a few moments, then noticed almost all of the Force lights were out. He also noted some new dark patches. They must have been obscured by the lights. He would have to send someone to investigate. No sense letting candidates get away. One never knew when an apprentice would fly apart or fail and need to be made an example of.

Despite Tarkins whining the fleet and armies in the rebellions space were withdrawing in some kind of order and he would get seasoned clones and officers back from that. He could always build a new ship. It took what, a couple of years? He had hundreds of yards. Those officers though, they took time and attention.

He needed to find a way to get more into the imperial academies. Hmmm, yes he would have to point the propaganda people at that. Maybe tax breaks for military families. Yes, not conscription, not yet anyway. The propaganda people needed to start preparing for universal service though. He could tie enfranchisement to service as well. Not like their votes mattered, but it made them feel good. A senate under his control would further that illusion. This one needed dissolved anyway. Most of them had fled and the rest were simpering toadies. Moff's over the Senate, and him over the Moffs of course. They could see to the administrivia of running the empire, and he could get on with his business. They would all feel useful and important.

In the end, the ones that didn't work out could have the younger hands set on them.

Palpatine looked at the padd in his hand and the report from the Inquisitorious. Freighters being freighters. No Force sensitives on them leaving. How were they disappearing then? What idiot had he put in charge of that? Another Jedi failure? Fuck, good help was hard to find!

SSDV

Zed Three Four led the old twi'lek to the appropriate container now that they were in the orbit of Nabib. She looked at a padd then touched several places on the wall. A portal appeared and he opened it. Inside was a nullspace with row after row of stacked containers, all full of Force sensitive beings, family groups together where possible. And all the support they needed for the entire trip. He moved to the computer terminal and interfaced. "Shortly your container will be moved to a smaller ship for transport directly to the testing and sorting station. Your name will be called when they are ready to process you. Have a pleasant stay in the Republic." He backed up and they went to the next bare spot of wall between a rack of bunks.

AN; Here ends any influence from Plums excellent story. Mostly I think it ended mid-way through chapter six but we are truly in uncharted space now. All fanfiction is derivative and clichés are for a reason. Because you are unique does not mean you are useful or good. Judge not lest ye be judged. In other words, if you don't like it don't feel compelled to read it. A demon portal will probably not open under you.

*Chapter 8*: Chapter 8

Same Song Different Verse

Chapter Eight

Crystals huh?

The fleet, armada really, thousands of ships, millions of droids and tens of thousands of organics and maybe a few silicates made their way north of Coruscant stopping at outer core worlds in the bulge in the lines that included Alderaan and the die hard republic core worlds. It skirted just on the border with the new empire dropping occupation forces, planetary defense weapons and Harry doing a ward stone on the first one, then finding an existing interstice to put it on and blooding it with as much blood of the residents of that world could be collected. He charged it just enough to get it started. On the next world a stone was waiting for him, selected and carved by droids, with a twenty liter jug of blood. Maris charged that one until it started absorbing blood and then they all did one in rotation with Harry guiding them. Even Master Kenobi.

Of course the holofeeds of these stops were pitching the Empire into a panic, loading the droid Lucrehulks serving the waste removal and now passenger stations to capacity with passengers on every run. The food and recycle Lucrehulks were the greyhound bus of the galaxy, cheap basic transportation. What no one but the Banking Clans realized or had the full picture of was these ships were doing the same booming trade across the core and outer core worlds at ever shaft or port twenty-four hours a day every day.

The Lucrehulks were also the source of the slave control signal suppression. Whole worlds would find themselves bereft of the classes of people that cleaned up, maintained and cooked. They would also find themselves minus dancers and sex trade workers. At five thousand people every hour per sector in various shafts or ports on every planet in the core the bleed rate was high. When you started with three hundred and twenty billion beings of a population of a trillion on just one planet though it would still take seven years to get them all off the planet in the case of Coruscant, if all the non-humans decided to leave. At least if there was no other transportation available. Coruscant was a pretty normal core world. The nonhumans hadn't all decided to leave yet but they would, all except the truly lawless under dwellers. When they did Waste Management hulls would be there. But as these people were beneath the notice of the upper crust the lower levels emptying went unremarked. Except for the sex slaves not returning. They were generally first in line once they figured out the control signal was blocked. Once in line inside the port facilities no one was going to fight B3 droids and the medium weight quad canons that appeared guarding the Waste Management Line terminals to get them back.

Once inside the facility passengers were processed and put into containers and from then on didn't know whether they would step out in a ship or on the planet they had request passage too. Or in the case of slaves 'off this planet'. It was all artificial light and steel walls with Holo screens in the bunk rooms. Everything was based around the container you were assigned to.

By the time the brothel owners and pimps figured out what was going on the sex slaves were gone. Going looking for new stock in the under city got more than a few brothels placed under new management. Under dweller women weren't some yokel on some farm world to be shoved around. After all they were managing to survive in those dark hells. Plus their men were not liable to sell something they had fought, clawed and killed over already. Fuckers held a grudge too. They also weren't averse to taking it out on the surface dwellers who were coming to the clubs. It kept the Imperial Security Forces very busy. The Imperial medical and fire personnel as well. Molotov cocktails never went out of fashion.

There was always one ship ascending to orbit another descending and one unloading and loading at every shaft or port once the signal went on and B3 Battle droids defending the waste processing and loading facilities and the food unloading facilities. They took on passengers on both sides of the tongue like loading platforms that extended into the gaps between the hulls. They were lined like highways both in and out of the ships and the loader droids ran at max speed both directions. Paying passengers rode loader droids with people moving pallets, got in lifts, and rode to the second deck to their double rooms with fresher and holo screen which if they wanted it to be private they simply paid for both bunks. Never realizing it was a container like the rest. Passengers who paid half as much were happy to walk up to the third or fourth deck to find their ten person one fresher bunk rooms. Former slaves were happy to be in a container wherever the loader droids put them. Those had ten bunks and a fresher and one holo screen as well. The normal traffic in the shaft moved through the hole in the middle of the donut shaped Lucrehulks.

For months, it never even occurred to anyone 'official' to check those facilities and the lucrehulk garbage scows. By then the sex slaves, the slaves period really, were long gone.

While they were there B3's collected debts for a ten percent of the debt fee. They had a one hundred percent success rate. It soon got to be that if a B3 showed up, people lined up to hand it their id and cred chip. The alternative was rumored to be them processing you and selling you for parts and meat in Hutt space.

A standard loader container could mount two doors on the end and nine on each wall. So below the nominal 'passenger' deck, the second deck, every loader pallet contained twenty null space cabins of the two or ten bunk variety with the only difference being the deck they were stored on and the destination they were going to. Oh and the atmosphere and temperature. The cargo capacity of the ships was not compromised as all passenger facilities were contained in these null space door containers, Laundry, kitchens, tankage and everything else. Droids cooked and cleaned and did laundry and crewed the control sphere less hulls. They weren't fast but they were steady and inviolable. They still had flocks of chemical powered vulture droids on them with upgraded software to deal with pirates or slavers and deal they did. Harshly.

The indigents or contract travelers as they were called had to take test before boarding and were found jobs in route to their first planet outside the core and transferred ships, as told, or the container of them transferred, until they reached their destination. None taking more than a month to arrive at some planet and be herded into medical, more testing, have clothing issued and being assigned a job, factory, shift, training schedule and room. They were also given a padd linked to the local holonet. If they had friends going the same place their container efficiency apartments were right next to each other. The stacks of containers had duracrete balconies and stairs or lifts between vertical stacks of two wide and five high. Droids added five floors of balconies, lifts and stairs which carried water, sewer and power lines, plus holonet connections and every new ship brought a new stack or fifty. The infrastructure stopped being built when the factory you worked at was fully staffed, all three shifts. The droids then moved on to roads, parks, auditoriums, shopping areas and all kinds of things. Another set of droids was building another factory in the distance and the racks for the stacks of containers. The accommodation container interiors were expanded as much as the team of force users at the factory that built them could. So instead of being forty square meters they were two hundred square meters inside with a fresher, bedroom, lounge, and kitchen. Null space doors were available for purchase for storage or an expanding family. Anything above or different from base, nearly indestructible furniture was for available for purchase as well.

Harry's account got one percent of every transaction at least and his banker, the Chief of the Banking Clans invested that for him in more of these ships and more lines going to more vent shafts or ports. Then more factories, containers and rack infrastructure. A whole planetary factory was churning out Lucrehulk hulls as fast as they could be built all day every day. More ships to serve more worlds outside the core as well. They were spartan to be sure and the food was barely above iron rations but they got the job done. They would get more amenities as time went on and the mass migration changed to more normal flows of people going where the jobs and therefore the money were.

Another planetary factory churned out B3 battle droids who were the new standard droid as they could use the same tools as humanoids and do a lot of the same jobs. Then if needed they could down tools and pick up blasters. They were also linked in a network to the AI of the planet they were on increasing it and their capacity.

The Clan Chief also bought labor contracts by the millions and Harry made one percent of those beings pay direct from the employers as a load on their contract as well for five years over and above them paying the freight lines back for the reasonable cost of transport at a reasonable rate over five years. Bars Hnad the Clan Chief put those people to work on every planet with any arable land or industry at all. All at a decent wage. They wouldn't get rich but they wouldn't starve or have to sell their children either. More and more of those planets, farms and industries were Potter concerns. If you didn't want to work for a Potter industries concern or line you could lease a bit of land or a facility for a hundred years and run your own farm or factory. If you had itchy feet you could lease a ship. A rebuild from the clone war or one phased out of service with a line and rebuilt but still a ship.

On jungle worlds, others as well, force sensitives looked for plants and animals that were heavy with the Force, took samples and looked for the compounds that the samples of Harry's potion ingredients revealed. Whole list of plants and animals were compiled and then hunter gatherer teams protected by droids went out. Those plants and animals that could be domesticated were and whole continents given over to magical plant and animal production. Harry was forced to do a potion a day in front of an archivist droid and those were broadcast once they were made into instructional holo's and healing potions were renamed and used as medicine. Every force sensitive in the Republic sat in on Harry's classes. Well as soon as they took the oath and got a security code.

The Banking Clans head hunted Force sensitives, even those not capable of using the Force, when they came to understand those people could brew potions. Droids did ingredient prep on industrial scales and potions were scaled up industrially to vats just as large as the person running them was capable of making work. Brewers were paid a premium based on their capacity measured in liters.

Harry hadn't realized the brewing process took the magic in the plants, some in the environment and some magic from the brewer. Potions breweries were sited on ley line interstices with a ward stone sunk in the center of their floor space.

Harry didn't demonstrate any potions outside the medicinal and normal, not the experimental or the harmful ones. The Republic already had birth control. His still sold well and worked better the humanoid females of the galaxy decided. He did however make a holo of the menstrual relief potion which was closely related and normally combined. His vast wealth tripled on that potion. If a species menstruated it provided relief. The women gave him cow eyes over it for years and his name was written in on ballots across Republic space for centuries. Winning most of the time. Harry had a seat on every local, planetary and sector council for years. Sometimes he even holo called in to meetings. Bars had people to sit in local, continental and planetary councils for him and he was always a holomail away for questions. He was very growly over it all. He owned the medicine business outright. All of that was for the future though.

SSDV

A week into a fourteen day hyperspace transit Harry woke up covered in very active Lekku and looked around to find Maris grinning at him. She whispered "It's a massage first thing every morning. They do this as they wake up."

Harry sighed "But you all end up in my bed?"

Maris smiled "Aayla's bed you mean. We wait until the shower runs, finish our showers, meditations or whatever and by the time we get in here you are passed out and Aayla is using you for a pillow." She rose nude and went to the shower.

Harry slipped out of bed and followed her "Naked. And why are we taking so many showers?"

Maris snorted "You like naked don't lie. We like you liking it plus we like you naked. As for the showers, well it feels good when we wake up, then we have exercise and are sweaty messes then we work hard all day and don't want to go to bed smelly. That one may be a bit of a girl thing. Besides you do drying charms even asleep. It feels nice. Now shave me."

Harry frowned "I taught you this charm."

Maris rolled her eyes "It feels better when you do it to us that need it. Here I bet it feels better for you for me to do it to you." She flicked her hand and a chair appeared. She sat Harry in it and picked up her wand and slowly shaved him sitting in his lap cowgirl style. Harry growled low in his throat and Maris slid back and forth. He wasn't in her but he was as hard as a rock. Maris finished and slid to her knees taking him in her mouth and finishing him. The other girls surrounded them and gave out hugs and kisses.

Harry looked at Aayla and she rolled her eyes "You should have been mating them all already. I'm not leaving. I love you and them." Harry would have that in the back of his mind all day.

SSDV

At exercise that morning a large group of Jedi Masters watched from a catwalk as Harry took on Maris then Ahsoka then Aayla followed by Shaak with either sabers against his suburito or hand to hand. Last he and Aayla dueled with sabers so fast it was hard to follow. The girls were all happy and filled with energy. Mace, Yoda and Obi wan stood with the Masters as their Padawans and a large group of Knights and young Masters watched from the floor. Plo Koon nodded "Padawan Tano is ready for the trials. Brood will be soon."

Adi Gallia frowned "Potter has mastered most of the forms though his signature lies heavily on them. Even his defensive forms are aggressive and violent. Only form six and seven need more work. If we send Tano to the trials it will reinforce him being a Master."

Yaddie laughed "You have eyes but cannot see. He is a master now. A consular he will never be. A Shadow he is. Powerful in the force, anathema to the dark. What trials could we devise that exceed leading a pre hyperdrive planet to win a demon war? Judge him we hardly can."

Stass Allie shrugged "There is the Jebble box. Or Korriban."

"Beneath you it is to seek to get Master Potter to clean up our messes. Control of our armies he has. Too important to risk where the Force does not point him. You all will spar with him and we will talk again."

Obi wan had been watching Harry and the female Jedi. Harry had put down some stones while talking to Padawan and Knights and then he tapped one with his finger and the living force came up and created a wall across the hold, no a large rectangle. "What is he doing?"

Mace watched the four Jedi light their sabers and then Harry light his in his left hand while holding his wand in his right "Satisfying your curiosity." The group watched as four Jedi who had been training together for a month attacked Harry. The fight was so fast the human eye literally could not catch it all and then the magic started. Blast of the force, walls, sheets of it. Bolts of the Force lying from both Harry and the four Jedi. It left the Masters gasping, the four Jedi in the warded area down, and Harry hyper as he ran to them ensured they were alright and lifted them then hugged and kissed them. The hold rang in a stunned silence except for the laughing Jedi and the hyper Harry.

Depa Billaba gasped "They are mated!"

Yoda nodded "With my blessing. The Rusan code killed us it would have. Change must the order. There is its future. Imposed by a fearful senate that no longer exist was celibacy. Afraid of the dynasties of powerful force users. The old code we will use."

On the upper reaches of the sphere in a luxurious space and with the droid Harry had renamed Alpha One the Leaders of the Republic Senate and the burgeoning rebellion alliance watched the Masters of the Jedi order dissolve into a hissy fit as their Padawans and Knights and some younger Masters swarmed Harry and his mates. Mon snorted "Alpha One is there a gymnasium we can lock the Jedi Counsel in while they fight over a lost cause?"

Garm barked a laugh "Ever blunt Mon. Though I wish we could use the Yoda method on the Senate."

Clynda nodded "I'm not sure it's necessary though. A few parties and meeting Harry and I think they will understand there is a larger predator lose in the galaxy. We will try a few meet and greets first. Turn this trip into an educational tour for Harry. It's not like this thing isn't big enough to hold a senate chamber over in that other arm."

"Beg Pardon Ma'am but there is a Senate hull in the convoy. We would simply need to move the sphere to it and dock." Alpha One supplied.

Bail eyed him speculatively "There is a Jedi hull in the convoy as well isn't there."

Alpha One replied "Clan leader Hnad anticipated the need as well as the need for a ship for each planet or region with a Senator in the former Republic who have joined the rebellion. Those are still being built and can be fitted out as the Planet in question requires and can afford."

Breha chortled "The Clan Leader bears watching. How were we beating them?"

"The interference of the Sith Lord Ma'am." Alpha One supplied deadpan. The organics watched the hissy fit and Harry's group some more while they thought about that.

SSDV

At the next stop after days of exercise and leading a group class on finding their core for the Knights, Padawans and young Masters and the Council still discussing developments outside of a few trying to duel him, and getting the crap surprised out of them. Harry sent a few charged dueling rune stones into space and then fired ships cannons at them. The rune set and stones were not harmed but the small moon they impacted, fortunately void of life, actually cracked as they had been accelerated to hyperspace speeds. They had to wait an extra day while droids retrieved the stones.

Bail scratched his chin "So I have these things and they get charged and some big fleet comes and bombards the planet from space what happens?"

Alpha One offered "The planet is sent on a new course."

Harry frowned "Bollocks, I didn't think of that. Hey is that even possible? Ships like that I mean."

Mon nodded "The Empire has a set of plans for what they call a star destroyer with enough fire power to do that, and there are rumors of a station under construction as big as a small moon that could destroy a planet. The Bothans are looking into it. The yards at Corellia have already laid the keel for one of the larger star destroyers. If the empire took their remaining battleships and massed them they could probably do it. They did on one occasion." They were all in a conference room on the third sphere level with hundreds perhaps thousands of beings in attendance via holo.

One of them, Apailana, the Queen of Naboo offered "I think I would rather these wards than the alternative. What must I do to get them for my people Lord Harry."

Harry sighed and Aayla poked him "We will send you instructions Your Majesty. Harry will come by and do the last part as soon as he can. Your craftsmen can start the process."

Apailana smiled and nodded "I look forward to meeting Lord Harry and his lovely mates at your next destination. I am leaving tonight."

Bars grinned "As do I my Lord."

Harry sighed "We are going to need a bigger boat."

Mace Windu and Yoda laughing brought the conference call to a close.

SSDV

Corellia existed in a ring of steel and firepower with only lucrehulks of Waste Management Industries, or WMI as that is what they had come to be called as that was painted around the donut shaped ships outer hulls in letters five stories tall, under droid control being allowed in and out. So of course those lucrehulks were nest of intrigue as spies from both sides plied their trade in the passenger container sections. The passenger containers were of course classed, though it was still moot or rather a matter of how many beings were in one cabin, and no imperial spies had thought to ride in the lowest classes as they would have had to sign employment contracts and the classes were strictly segregated. So the panic over what was really going on was avoided again.

Ameesa Darys lay on her bunk in an outbound freighter thinking she could smell the shit the ship was full of. She couldn't, the waste was sterilized six different ways and hermetically sealed in containers before it was transported. She was finally away on a mission to the wider galaxy though. The small densely packed with planets and humans part the empire controlled was denuded of Jedi. Padawan, Knights and Force sensitives even at this point. Her job was to kill Jedi and she meant to see it done. Her and her team first had to track down this powerful dark sider the Emperor sensed. No reason she couldn't kill a few Jedi if she ran across then along the way and make her Masters Life easier.

SSDV

Master Plett landed his ship in the hold of the giant freighter and a droid crew took over beginning to service it and move it to a parking spot somewhere in this enormous vessel or on another hull in the fleet. Another ship landed behind his.

He led the children down and off the slowly moving ramp to the stationary flight deck. The ship having landed on a repulsar pad that held it a few millimeters above the deck and moved it around. One of the children froze watching Jedi exercising along the wall of the enormous cargo bay, running and leaping along stanchions protruding from the wall. Master Plett had to admit these Jedi were powerful and in phenomenal shape. Roganda Ismaren had no reason to be surprised though. She had seen Padawan, Knights and Masters before. Her brother Lagan followed her eyes so of course the other children did as well.

Master Plett sighed and was just about to say something when Master Mace Windu appeared at his elbow. "Send your Padawans to join them and come up to the observation platform Master Plett."

The kids turned to him, beamed at his nod and took off. Mace looked at the freighter and nodded as the droids unloaded Jedi equipment and fighters from the cargo ramp in the rear "You brought everything. Good. We will move you over to the Jedi Temple hull in a week or so after your people find their cores and are tested. Your ship will be fully serviced by then as well."

Plett blinked "Cores?"

Mace nodded "It is interesting and difficult but the first step on the new path."

Plett frowned "And if we want to stay on the old path?"

Mace shrugged "Feel free but I think you will join us and let the Force help you even more than it does now, and allow yourself to help the Force more effectively."

After exercise and in the dining room where she liked to visit the new arrivals Breha found some familiar faces "Roganda and Lagan Ismaren! Thank the force, we have been so worried about you!" She hugged the children who were trying to bow. "I'll holo your families straight away. Expect some messages!" She beamed at the two. "Come, you have to tell me what happened."

SSDV

Breha sat watching the thirteen year old Roganda watching Master Potter and smiling. Mon snorted "She has a crush that could wreck Battlecruisers. I don't know what you are so happy about. She will be broken hearted."

Breha smiled "She is human, highly force sensitive and could give eggs and would I think."

Clynda rolled her eyes "You have two babies already!" She lifted Luke slightly.

"Who should have thousands of force sensitive friends!" Breha breathed. Then she shifted the slightly fussy Leia and looked at Mon "I noticed Master Kenobi shaved."

Clynda giggled and got glared at. Mon maintained a dignified silence on the subject. Aside from the glares.

Maris looked at Roganda just reaching a hand toward Harry as he was stripped to cargo pants, boots and tight undershirt and rolled her eyes. Ahsoka elbowed her and leaned over "Human. Eggs. Be friendly." She whispered fiercely.

Maris looked thoughtful. Shaak and Aayla smiled at each other. Shaak had begun coming in the bedroom with Aayla and Harry, before the bedtime shower ran. Maris and Ahsoka were still not there yet. Aayla had offered to leave the two alone. Shaak had answered that by taking Harry's length down her throat. They turned him into a noodle four nights in a row after that and the teenagers relaxed him before exercise. Themselves too. Without getting him in them, well other than their mouths. Maris and Harry still hadn't told the others about the wandering Lekku.

Tis'wedu, a Miralin, one of the female Padawan stepped behind Roganda "He is mated."

Roganda surprised herself "Not to a human." She and Tis'wedu looked at each other shocked then covered each other's mouths. They looked up horrified at the chuckling Master Potter.

"New take down ladies?"

The girls snapped their hands down and blushed furiously and the female Jedi in the area watched and smiled as he gentled them into talking and then they listened to him explain what he was doing to the hull plates the droids were bringing him. They drew a crowd of Padawan and a Harry style lesson in warding happened with the archive droid that followed him around listening and recording.

After that it morphed into a finding your core meditation. The Masters watched from their catwalk and the Senators watched from their holo conference room. Both groups talked as they watched.

After he had the Padawans meditating Harry talked to some Knights and young Masters and they all worked on swordsmanship and blaster use. Harry taught the useful magical shields, transfigurations and charms relevant to combat. Everyone was amazed at the bubble head charm turning blaster bolts unpleasant rather than deadly.

The young Jedi tried to defend against his violent smashing attacks that only included parries he had learned when he couldn't get another smash in. It was like fighting a demolition droid with the fastest actuators in the universe. He could get a smash in where others had to parry.

After the holo conference that afternoon Harry took a training lightsaber apart and with a small circular furnace drew the crystal into a pencil lead thin rod a meter long. He cut it into sections and with some of the Force sensitive wood made up wands.

He had acquired some woodworking tools from Bail, or really a trip to the Archives with Bail on Alderaan. In another of those odd similarities that were hard to explain the tools were nearly identical to what he had used to shape wands on Earth. Well once he had repaired and cleaned them. The Archivist watched him use some tools like a Master. Tools no one had been able to figure out the purpose of up to now. That spoke shave for one.

Roganda and Tis'wedu were handed the wands and talked through levitating a feather Harry conjured. They succeeded. Two knights who had found their cores had an easier time and Maris and Ahsoka launched the feathers so fast they burst into flames. Harry scratched his head over that one.

Master Yaddie chuckled "So you don't know everything Master Potter."

Harry pouted "I have never made that claim Master Yaddie."

Yaddie nodded "Speak your actions do though. Vast knowledge of manipulation of the Force you have. Unique in my experience it is. Comparable to legendary Jedi and Sith of ages past.

Padawans train for years with crystals in practice sabers that are as close to the same as can be selected. An affinity for them they develop but push their force ability they must. Their own crystal is Force matched to them. Your two young Knight Mages have their power revealed in this casting. Expecting the training crystal to make it harder they pushed harder. A training focus you have made like a training saber."

Harry nodded "The crystal choses the Jedi then."

Yaddie nodded "As you will soon see in the caves of Ilum. Open yourself to the force you must, your crystal will call to you. The Masters, Knights and Padawan with sabers will search for training crystals to match the ones we have already in use. Many training sabers were lost in the temple."

Roganda frowned "But they weren't Master. The 501st never made it inside and Skywalker was hit by lightning multiple times. We left, the last few I think. The temple sits abandoned."

Harry looked at Yaddie's stunned face and chuckled "The day isn't a loss then, we all learned something. That tree. If it's been there for thousands of years it is probably rooted in a ley line. The thing might be sentient by now. The school I attended had stood for a thousand years, was at the interstice of many lines, at least seventeen that we knew of or suspected and was sentient. She would protect herself and her children. Took down a tier two demon by herself with lightning like that. The tier twos were the horde commanders. Think a Rancor ten to thirty meters tall. Add Force manipulation abilities like mine."

Aayla looked at Harry "And how many of those did you kill Master Potter?"

"Six and then I stopped counting, then I don't know what happened to the one I was fighting when I was sent here. I think it was consumed in the portal to power it to this plane. The mundane killed one, several really by sheer weight of shot. It was teams of teams by then though so I think everyone gets a little credit for most of those others. Hogwarts killed one to protect her charges." Harry looked tired, everyone else looked at him in awe.

Harry moved on to his afternoon healing session. Shaak went with him. Luminaria Unduli was stripped and laid on a table and Harry examined her with his holly wand, his eyes, then his hands. Luminaria looked at Shaak wild eyed when the massage started and got a grin back. She glared. Oh Harry was very professional. The problem was him touching you was like the Force touching you. It was impossible not to give in and revel in it. Shaak told no one about the two Jedi who had been repulsed by his touch. Harry had told Yoda and Mace they should be watched. Harry felt they would fall to the dark side unless they got help.

SSDV

Clan leader Hnad looked at the Holo and the Falleen in it "You are not profitable anymore. In fact your operations are impeding our ability to make a profit. I am sorry, you have been a profitable customer in the past but times have changed. Now if you were to move your predations to the Empire worlds perhaps something could be worked out. Say inside the Corellian run and to the south of Coruscant. We would of course be willing to pay a finder's fee for all the employees you can bring us."

The Falleen growled "You'll pay for this you p-"

Bars sighed "I was afraid of this. Please check your sensor data. You will find that you and your planet are completely encircled by Lucrehulk Battle ships and Droid control ships. We had a few excess to need you might say and well we have managed to keep them off the books. They are now the Banking Clans enforcement arm. A demonstration was always going to have to be given but I had picked Nar Shaddar. Oh well we can make it work. Enforcer One you may fi-"

"No wait wait! What kind of shape would these employees have to be in?"

"Why ready to go to work of course, so no rape, torture or significant injuries requiring more than first aid. A bonus for Force sensitives. Nothing for bodies. In fact, you will be charged for us having to see to their disposition. While we are on the subject, we have determined spice is detrimental to productivity, at least the illegal drugs made from it. So you will traffic raw spice and we will let you alone. If you traffic illegal drugs made from it we will destroy your home world."

The Falleen looked satisfied then turned greedy "And Hutt space?"

Bars sighed "A loss I'm afraid. In two months, the Clans will have no significant interest in Hutt space. I will advise you if that changes."

The Falleen nodded and terminated the holo on his end. Bars signed off and shuddered as the Force seemed pleased with him. It was nearly as good as those burning green eyes shining with pride in him. It was ridiculous. Now for these Death Watch scum. Mandalore must be brought into the fold and made productive and these wild eyed dark siders were not the way to do it. He issued the order and the fleet moved. Death Watch would be dead in a day once they arrived. So would most of the conservatives on Mandalore and what or whoever these dark siders were. If not they would be so deep underground they disappeared. Now who to make the ruler of the place. Satine would have been perfect but alas fucking Palpatine screwed that up.

Bars growled and launched a ship full of assassin droids to Coruscant. He did that whenever he got angry at Palpatine. He sighed, he would have to grow a leader for Mandalore and occupy it meanwhile. He moved on to the Pyke organization. Three days for the fleet to get there. This time they probably would have to destroy the planet. He needed a distribution network in place for that. Oh, wait the food ships. They had strong rooms and guards. Fine. It could even be a part of the Master's promising looking pharmaceutical trade. Hmm perhaps go from the other end and sell defense to the miners and offer them another market for their goods that paid slightly higher. Well slightly higher than the nothing they were going to get as the potions were taking over the pharmaceutical market. Yes, this could work out.

SSDV

The next morning Harry got on a Larty and was ferried to the surface of Ilum. He looked the trail and followed it with his eyes up the mountain. "This is part of some trial, isn't it? To judge if I am worthy."

Yoda nodded "Padawans trial."

Harry grinned looked around at the girls and yelled "Race you" and took off. The girls gave pursuit and soon Larty load after Larty load was pounding up the trail after him.

The Masters walked along complaining about not respecting the gravity of the situation and Yoda rolled his eyes. Mace saw him and chuckled. Obi wan looked stiffly offended. Mace eyed him for a moment "What happened to your beard?"

Obi Wan blushed and Staas Ali snickered "Mon Mothma didn't like it."

The whole party stopped and looked at Obi wan who glared back "What?"

At the top Harry slid into the cave after waving the temple doors open, leapt down to the floor and made room for those behind him. When all the Padawans got there Harry grinned "OK open to the force let's find some crystals. Stay in groups, do one at a time don't lose your way!"

Aayla looked at Shaak "I think we should be insulted. All the meditating and preparation we did and he turned it into a game."

Shaak shrugged "Where all the Padawans helped each other and they all made it here. I'm going to see if I can find another crystal."

Aayla shrugged "Might as well, we are here." Ahsoka and Maris went with separate groups of young padawans. And Aayla and Shaak watched all the padawan in the areas they were in and everyone else they could.

An hour later the Masters walked in to a cave echoing to squeals and laughter and glowing with kyber crystals. Yaddie blinked "The Force here is happy?"

Yoda closed his eyes and a look of content settled on his face "Everywhere."

SSDV

In his inner sanctum Darth Sidious screamed and rolled on the floor with blood pouring from his eyes. He worked desperately to attenuate his connection to the force without terminating it as he was unsure he would be able to get it back.

He wasn't the only dark side user affected. He was just the most affected.

SSDV

Harry of course ignored his own instructions and crawled and squeezed himself farther and farther into the mountain and then near a ley line found a cave full of crystals. He blinked, they were all glowing happily at him. He snorted got out an empty trunk summoned them all into it, shrunk and pocketed it, then reached out with the force to find a group having trouble and apparated.

Roganda squeaked, gave him a glare and put her fist on her hips "Don't do that Master! Wait did you just teleport to me?" She blushed gently and Harry hugged her.

"Felt like you were frustrated."

"I'm holding the group up. My crystal is behind that wall but I can't find a way in."

Harry smiled and produced the training wands "Blasting hex." He gave some quick instruction and the group traded the wands around trying it with him coaching. Soon enough they tunneled into a room and it was covered in crystals and then covered in Padawans. Tis'wedu trotted up with a big hunk of crystal in each hand and a massive smile. Harry hugged her.

She babbled "The closer we got the more I felt it. This cave is huge!"

Lagan walked over with crystals too and nodded. Harry walked along watching Padawans find pairs of crystals or sometimes three or more. He came upon Roganda staring breathless at a grouping of five. He put his hand on her and gave her a gentle push and when she touched the crystals he felt it through her. Roganda sighed and collapsed in his arms. Harry blushed. Roganda had had a massive orgasm, he had felt it. He waved a hygiene charm on her and led the way back toward the entrance carrying her. Halfway there he set Roganda on her feet and Tis'wedu took her over as they walked off whispering furiously to each other.

Harry got back to the Masters and as they waited for the groups Aayla, Shaak, Ahsoka and Maris had taken over he emptied the trunk on the floor spread the crystals in a single layer over about a hectare then opened himself to the Force. He called the crystals he felt to him and they flew into his hands one after another until he had three.

Yaddie ran her hand over the others and looked at Yoda who did the same then nodded "Wand cores for Jedi these want to be. Matched out in the world they are." He held out his hand and a single crystal flew to him "This one and the wood from the tree in the courtyard of the temple. He held up his walking stick.

Harry shrugged and took the stick and the crystal and started to work. He dug into his pockets of holding and came up with gloves and tools then found a flat rock. He halved the stick perfectly, carved a groove a droid with machine tools couldn't match, looked at the crystal, ran it through the furnace with a wad of soaking wet paper to hold it then made it match perfectly including the bend at the end, put it all together again ran his glowing hand along the split healing it and then pressed cooling, imperturbable, anti-summoning and several other rune sets into it with a mundane tool. He had left a small hole in one end and held it out to Yoda with a silver athame and Yoda pricked his erh claw and let the hole fill with thick green blood. Harry healed Yoda, ran his hand over the hole healing it and the stick glowed painfully bright. When it stopped, Harry handed it to Yoda and the resulting fountain of silver, green and blue sparks lit every corner of the chamber and the walls rang. Harry grinned "Nice. Powerful!"

Yoda wasn't listening, he was doing every spell, hex, transfiguration or charm he had watched Harry and the others do and amazing the Masters. Harry laughed at the kids standing looking with huge eyes. Aayla rolled her eyes "We can't leave you two boys alone for a minute. Roganda what were you thinking leaving them unsupervised? You too Tis'wedu?"

"Me? Us?"

Harry snorted "You will have to work on your girls some more Aayla. So, what now? Barbeque? Beers maybe? A little music, some dancing?"

Maris snorted "Back on Republic One before we party Master."

Harry opened his mouth and the girls and kids grinned and took off. He eeped and took off after them turned around summoned the crystals into the trunk did it a little sloppy and got all the loose ones within five hectares and then shrunk and stowed the trunk and took off.

Obi wan sighed "Again with the running." Yoda zoomed past on some kind of carpet and he face palmed. Mace sighed "I need a wand. I'm too old for all this walking. Who wants to go with me to raid the store rooms for branches the tree at the temple has dropped?" Stass Allie put her hand up followed by most of the others. Finally, Obi wan sighed and lifted his hand.

SSDV

That evening on the holo conference Master Krion gave a report. He was trying to get to some weapons with a company of Antarian Rangers in a cloaked ship. When they landed, they found out the emperor was injured so took the opportunity to complete stripping the temple. Well to take the ships that the droids had loaded in the temple hangers which had everything not bolted down in the temple aboard. Some things that had been bolted as well. The droids had had a while to work and the ships weren't at full capacity. Oh, and the droids. They had all made it off planet into hyperspace then into Republic space and were now headed to Ilum at the maximum hyperspace speed of the slowest ship.

The conference members looked at each other then Harry rose and started clapping. They all got seated again and Mon looked at Breha and Clynda "Something must have gone horribly wrong somewhere."

Clynda nodded "Our luck has been too good."

A Bothan provided the clue "A former Jedi now part of what they call the imperial inquisition is enroute to retrieve the Kashi Mer Talisman with a team."

The Jedi Temple Librarian gasped "That is a legend. It was used to put a dark side user in stasis twenty-five thousand years ago. Arden Lyn."

Harry groaned then looked thoughtful "Can it do anything else?"

Jocasta Nu shook her head "As I said it's a legend. I will research it."

Harry nodded "While you are at it any lose talismans, things that try to make people do things, soul containers, evil ghost tied to a place or that sort of thing, dark, light or neutral. I don't want to go through that again. I had to hunt down six of those things to kill my first dark Lord. Better if we kill them all now."

Staas Allie sighed "There is the Jebble Box and the attached legend."

Yoda interrupted "We will work on this outside the conference and report."

Harry nodded "As ominous as that sounds. Now we will be here two weeks at least probably, a month to let everyone catch up and then we will make one more trip down for any Padawan that arrive to collect crystals so let's try to get the galaxy into a groove before I start coming around doing wards. Anything else? No? OK great job everyone!" The conference connection was cut and Harry was buried in people for half an hour before he could get away.

SSDV

In the morning, Yoda looked at the masters "So it is agreed Roganda will be Knight Broods Padawan and Tis'wedu will be Padawan to Knight Tano."

Plo Koon registered his objection "They won't be assigned missions outside that group though."

Jocasta Nu sighed "It is the quickest way to get the lessons for padawans and younglings. He will start them at the basics, the archivist droids will be watching them all."

Mace nodded "Plus he is the very center of the storm. I plan to have several Knights, Padawans and Masters near him at all times. If he does finish that ship of theirs I am still going to have or ask the Senate to have Republic One trail him wherever he goes. We will load it with Jedi. Auxiliary vessels too. As many Padawans and Knights as we can get with the Masters and Knights of that clan."

Depa Billaba spoke up "Because he controls our armies and navies."

Shaak Ti snorted "He would gladly cede that to you, take the Marauder and us and fly around the galaxy seeing the sights."

Yaddie nodded "Right you are Master Ti. Yoda, failed we have. Think you must Master Billaba what would you do with the level of control he has. What has he done. Perfect for the job he is, honest he will make us. How tempted would you be by the dark side with that power? He shares it out and tries to get others to do most things. Leading the combined council makes him unhappy and yet he does it so well it looks effortless. He teaches and studies and works. All day every day. No foolishness and very few distractions. What is the reason behind your lingering distrust?"

Adi Gallia looked at Depa "It is the mating."

"Four matings, to Jedi! And now we put defenseless Padawans in that harem." Depa hissed.

Shaak Ti burst out laughing and everyone including Depa looked surprised. She looked at Depa and laughed harder. Depa began to look offended and Shaak waved her hand palm out "Sorry! I am so sorry I did not mean to offend. You are welcome to come see the Master of all he surveys being henpecked in the Harem any evening you choose. I don't know how he keeps sane really with four of us in there. Four very independent, powerful, Force users he has taught magic who are better with light sabers than he is and he sleeps amongst us. Oh and snores a bit.

Any ideas that you had that he is in charge are patently false. If anyone Aayla Secura is in charge in our rooms and that is by mutual consent. He saved her and in so doing saved us. In all cases when there is a dispute he looks to her.

He hates slavery with a burning passion and will make the dark look tame when he eventually takes slavers or anyone to do with the trade on. Other than that, he fully expects everyone to do the best they can even if they fail and then be honest with others and themselves about the results. Last, he expects them to try to improve themselves and not fail at that particular thing again.

Oh, one more thing, he really doesn't like bullies. He would cheerfully leave Palpatine alone if he would treat people equally and not meanly."

Obi wan snorted "Darth Fairness. I think I would leave that Darth alone as well."

Shaak Ti chuckled with the rest "As for defenseless you do know Roganda Ismaren Is Breha Organa's niece correct? Tis'wedu is her best friend."

Mace looked around "Settled? Good. I for one need some practice, I would advise you all to get done with your assignments and get to bed early. Exercise comes way too early and Master Potter improves with the saber way too fast for me not to stay in shape. Any of you either."

Roganda and Tis'wedu sat out in the lounge of the suite in robes. Maris walked out looked at them, snorted, walked back in the master bedroom and came back moments later with white tops, bottoms and running shoes like she was wearing. She herded the padawans in their room and got them changed then herded them back out and got in line for a support charm. Roganda looked down and Ahsoka chuckled "Be glad, mostly they are just in the way for a few years and boys gawk at them. They don't get fun until later, you can use them to make males do anything, and then even later than that they become useful. Tis'wedu you aren't far away though that top will keep them mashed flat and out of the way without restricting your breathing for a while longer. The advantage of the support charm is it doesn't restrict your breathing." They made it to the cargo bay and gave out greetings as they stretched then took off running then running along the walls using force jumps.

After running and stretching again they set up for saber sparring and Harry put down the magical dueling wards. They all got a chance to spar with him and he taught the girls a shield and the stunning charm. The archivist droid recording away.

Yoda asked for a full on magical spar and the hold drifted to a halt watching the show. They would later watch slowed down holo recordings to see what they missed and the archivist would get a voice over from Mace Windu. Debate raged for years whether Harrys methods of the forms needed their own names or his combination of them needed to be called a new form of its own. It was mostly balanced until it swung into attacks so fast the eye could not follow them and only battle precognition helped hold them off.

After sparring the Potter trained led the others in core finding then Occlumency exercises. After that Harry worked on something and everyone watched and he helped them as he worked. A couple of hours a day he worked on potions and the holo conference normally took up about an hour. During which he normally worked on a padd as he listened. He spent at least an hour in the med bay every day working with whoever needed it.

This pattern continued with more and more ships arriving until the Jedi Temple ships arrived and Harry made wands for Jedi who came and found their crystals already holding the branches the tree they had been drawn to. The tree had dropped these branches naturally and they had been preserved for thousands of years as if waiting for this.

Apailana arrived in a beautiful mirror polished ship and no make-up wearing Jedi like robes. She sailed up to Harry and dropped a curtsie. He smiled and lifted her and kissed her hand. Roganda wanted to smack her one. Harry blinked "You are magical my Queen."

Apailana's eyelashes fluttered and now Tis'wedu wanted to smack her too. Aayla laughed "He means you are Force sensitive Majesty."

Apailana gaped at them. Breha sailed up "Apailana. Force sensitive? You poor dear, they'll have you up at the crack of dawn running the walls, and down in that nasty cave after jamming your poor head full of their craziness."

Apailana grinned predatorily. Roganda and Tis'wedu smirked. Yaddie shuddered and put her face in her hands.

SSDV

Over the next three weeks the Republic did settle, lots of wands got made as Masters watched and then made first the tools Harry used without using the Force, then training wands which Harry checked and finally wands for their Padawans or Knights and Masters they knew. And lots and lots of magic happened.

The dueling shield stones Harry had set up on a lark after they were recovered were well on their way to fully charged when Harry thought to check them. Fortunately, his placement had worked and they were set so the ship was covered but the gun barrels were not. An accident really but one Harry noted and then changed some of the ward stone locations on the Marauder over. Roganda, Tis'wedu and Apailana along with her doubles and young guards were thick as thieves and attached at the hip and going through the most intensive training ever.

The Order Masters were watching and discussing it the whole time. Yoda was getting pretty short with them.

Apailana's older ladies in waiting were constantly scandalized, her eating like a horse. Her group doing the same. The crop top and shorts exercise outfits, and that they wore them nearly all day tossing on plain robes over them if it was needed. Her nearly living in Harrys Master suite in the Padawans rooms. Breha found it hilarious until Mon reminded her she had a Force sensitive princess in her arms and Harry apparently wasn't through adding to the harem. After that she checked and found out he was through adding for now at least, much to three moony teen's disappointment, or was it nine. Those guards and doubles were right there. The ladies got good chuckles out of watching them following Harry and the older girls around after that. Harry was attentive to them and the girls were tolerant to the point of indulgent. The three musketeers plus were truly, madly, deeply in love like only just teen girls can be.

The last thing that almost caused a government crisis for Naboo was Apailana appearing in the holo conference sans makeup in what looked like Jedi robes or something close to them. Of course, her people loved it as she was sat at the right hand of the Master as Harry was being called.

SSDV

Palpatine saw a still and ground his teeth "Little Nabooan whores, always in the way! I will make that planet suffer when I can reach it."

SSDV

Apailana was mortified when the gossip holos linked her to Harry romantically. Of course, her girlfriends, her doubles, guards, Roganda and Tis'wedu made fun of it for a day then closed ranks and glared the rest of the galaxy into submission. She had never felt so loved. Well from that and Harry smiling and sighing dramatically at his loss. Apailana filed that away. He wasn't that old and she wouldn't be queen forever. Plus Maris and Ahsoka were only four or five years older than her. They were sleeping with him. They might not be sleeping with him sleeping with him though. Something was going on however, they were awful smiley most mornings. She dropped that train of thought before it made her blush again. Besides they were going to the caves of Ilum today!

A massive crowd assembled and this time the whole ship let down into atmosphere and then onto the planet. Apailana had been warned and was dressed in exercise clothes under her sort of Padawan robes. She laughed and ran after Harry when he took off. Several Masters rode carpets. Mace rode his standing on it with his robes billowing in the winds of his passing. She found herself panting in the first room of the caves and part of the group going with Harry. She opened herself and led them off. They trekked deep and came to a blank wall. Roganda grinned, got out a couple of training wands taught the Padawans and Apailana's group the charm and they cut a passage.

It was another crystal filled room. Harry watched smiling and found Apailana like he had found Roganda. He hesitated to give her a comforting hand and Roganda rolled her eyes and shooed him toward the girl. Harry sighed put his hand on her shoulder and caught her when she grasped her clump of crystals and passed out. Roganda bounced up and looked at Harry's blush, giggled and waved a hygiene charm on Apailana and then herded the others out as Apailana recovered twined her arms around Harry's neck and stole a kiss as he put her down. Roganda and Tis'wedu picked her up and Harry ambled along behind lost in thought and making sure no one got left.

The girls took one look at Apailana and glared at Harry before they broke out in grins. He knew he was going to get grilled again. Damn crystals.

SSDV

Back on the ship and with a buffet set up in the hold Apailana her group, Roganda and Tis'wedu disappeared and then popped back up with a root twice as long as Apailana was tall and one of her crystals. The doubles and guards all held out crystals too. Roganda and Tis'wedu had sticks. Harry blinked. Everyone chuckled. Harry got down to work an Apailana's wand. Maris and Ahsoka worked on their Padawans wands, Aayla and Shaak worked on doubles or guards, and the girls all had functional wands in a couple hours. The Nabooan's were all exactly alike and the same golden yellow shot with crimson. They were beautiful and, from the showers of sparks, powerful. The Naboonan girls were over the moon. Roganda and Tis'wedu had wands that were very different though still beautiful. The tan of well-oiled furniture. Well figured like top grade gun furniture.

Harry segued seamlessly into a wand safety lecture while showing them all how to make wand and trunk holster's like he carried on both arms and one leg. While they were all working on it using conjured parchment before they got leather with the archivist droid recording away, Aayla came and sat on his leg "You will never be rid of them if you keep being a big softy."

Harry chuckled "We have them for near a year from the council's plan doing this progress thing. If Palpatine doesn't get stroppy and I have to go kill him sooner. Bars and Gial seem to have him sewn up. Bars banking enforcement fleet is better at policing than the police." The Banking Clan rep jerked and Harry chuckled "Spies everywhere, plus I can read minds. I may have to give you all raises if you keep on." The Banking Clan Rep goggled and Harry chuckled. "Plus all that junk from the battles disappeared and we didn't see a corresponding rise in junk stored or a fall in scrap prices. I thought Bars was taking a reading of my intelligence. Nice on Kessel too. Elegant solution. Pyke is crippled and Black Sun and the Hutt's are fighting it out weakening both. Do keep the military strategist apprised won't you. There may be an opportunity there to bite off one, the other or both territories."

The Banking Clan Rep bowed deeply "Master."

Harry sighed "None of that, have a beer and tell me what else you devious financial warriors have in mind. Apparently, I have to visit the known worlds, might as well help if I can. Oh the worlds that suffered during the war, can we get their ships out soonest and maybe a couple each on food and supply runs? Some of the least beat up salvaged Lucrehulk battleships as well, maybe a pair per planet. Load them for planetary defense not occupation. The capitol ships will ease the population's minds and the food and supplies their bellies and burdens."

The Clan rep pulled out a padd and started typing. Bail walked over "Stop that, we have a Senate for this sort of thing, you are embarrassing us."

Harry looked sheepish "Sorry the thought occurred."

Garm walked up "And we agreed we were going to write these thoughts down and discuss them in an open meeting so no one felt slighted."

Harry bowed up and looked at the banking clan Rep "Take it out of my personal accounts if you have too. Let's get it done though. People are suffering."

Bars appeared above the clan reps padd. "It is a good investment Master. We will work on the relief ships as a strictly private nonprofit venture. They can have used refurbished capitol ships and equipment on a hundred year lease at cost for defense. We have about two thousand of them. The hulls and vulture droids for them anyway. Even if we do it at cost the name recognition for your yards and lines is worth it."

Shaak conjured chairs and an impromptu open meeting got underway while Harry worked on wands, coached on holsters, started on trunks along with whatever else he needed to. A couple of hours in Garm leaned back looked at his padd and Harry's work table and snorted "All meetings should be this productive. We should change the format and drop the formal meetings until we need a vote."

Harry's table and the floor by him were covered in the Naboo ward stones and Harry had gone over every one while answering questions about nearly everything. Naboo's people had scrambled for the rock to make them and the droids on her ship had carved them. There were perhaps a thousand people sitting at tables covered in padds or some kind of work and someone had set up a sound system. "Second the motion." Harry grinned.

Mon leaned over from where she was looking at something on a padd Aayla was holding and smacked him in the shoulder "We just said voting in formal sessions. Write it down and bring it up."

Apailana nodded at her table where she was reviewing charms it appeared "I have it, it's already on Naboo's agenda for tomorrow. You know he can't type, only write, in seven hundred and fourteen rune languages."

Harry frowned "Hey I can't help my substandard education. I blame erh, somebody."

Jocasta Nu slipped him a padd "This is the list of harmful artifacts we know of, their last location and what we think they cause."

Harry looked at it "Oh boy, anything with ghoul in the name can't be good. Bad as anything with death in the name. Hmm the Kashi Mer piece is way down the list."

Jocasta nodded "It would be dark sider against dark sider, and might clean up some of the emperor's minions if he is going after it. The Muur Talisman definitively causes rackghoul plagues and Celeste Morne had it attached to herself when she was sealed in Dreypas' Oubliette."

Bars laughed "We are handling the sale of the Jebble Box, or were. The current crisis has derailed things. The people who own it are on an empire world and cash is getting tight. I'll see what I can do."

The crowd froze and Harry sighed "Purges, cleansing rituals and dragon pox protocols. I need to know the legend of this thing rather than this overview. If it has a spirit it sounds like a horcrux. I have something to fix that but then we will need to purge this Celeste Morne if it is attached to her, and run her through a purification ritual or twelve, teach her occlumency and get her past the memories of all the terrible shit she did.

Anyone have a sample of this plague? Let's get that looked at. Maybe we can inoculate against it.

Meanwhile I'll teach patronus charms as we pass right by Korriban and I want to try to poke Palpatine in the eye again. If the Force being happy incapacitated him a patronus should ruin his day, maybe permanently. Any other planets these Sith used as well."

Apailana leaned over and her doubles, guards, Roganda and Tis'wedu leaned in "And she will have big boobs, a great arse, a face for holo's and be sweet as new cream no doubt. Oh and she will have been locked in a box for three thousand years and be randy as a Varna." The girls giggled madly. The women eyed that table suspiciously. They remembered those giggles and the plans that went with them.

The fleet got under way shortly and the rhythm settled back with the Senate voting meetings being once a week but the open working meetings happening daily. The Senators all got under way or got staffers underway to the first meeting or the one they could meet the now much smaller fleet at, meanwhile the Droids and techs set up holo emitters in banks for them to attend the open meetings via holocom.

SSDV

Apailana found a picture of Celeste Morne and huffed "Told you. And look at that hair, black as midnight shiny as a bird wing. Fine he can add her to our Harem."

Tis'wedu cleared her throat and Ahsoka Tano leaned in and looked at the picture "Harry isn't all about looks. Got to have it upstairs or he ignores them. Look at that Ratakkan. She makes me wet and Harry doesn't know she is alive."

Maris chimed in "Aren't you a little young to be plotting how to get in Harrys bed as well? If you have time for this then you have time to spar."

Apailana and the others groaned. Every time they got comfortable and girl talking one of the Knights or Masters showed up and they had to work. Usually until they were sweaty messes. Harry always smiled and his eyes followed them after though. Oh so he liked athletic girls! Duh four of the hottest Jedi in the galaxy of course he liked athletic girls.

Shaak looked at Harry's frozen smile and laughed "I'll work on her occlumency some more. It's that weird connection thing though. She keeps us out no problem."

Aayla smiled "Thankfully it's only her mind she throws open for Harry so far."

Shaak wrinkled her nose "Thanks for that image."

Aayla laughed "Show it to Apailana."

Breha sat in a chair nearby "Don't give the child ideas Aayla. You are going to see her again."

Harry took Luke and Leia and melted panties over the hold smiling and making stupid faces to get them to laugh. "How goes the campaign Mon."

"Is my love life all that anyone can talk about?"

Harry smirked "Keeps them off my scandalous Harem. Thanks for that by the way."

Mon huffed "You so owe me. So the plan for the first stop�" As they talked Harry activated runes on hull plates. Droids brought stacks of them to any knight or master not working on something else. The entire Jedi fleet was getting them as well as Republic One and the other ships in the command fleet. Harry had had to ask where they were coming from and his protocol droid had explained they were doing all the ships with the latest Marauder charm/ward set.

Bars had nodded in his holo "The new ones have it built in. The droids carve the runes and our force sensitive activate them. As it turns out astromechs do arithmancy like they do astrogation and can plot ward stone locations." Mace Windu gave Harry a glare.

Harry ignored him "So maybe that ward stone placement on Marauder wasn't an accident. Cheeky little buggers. Have to get them an oil bath for that." The Marauder R2 Tweedle Dee whistled and beeped excitedly and a wave of that swept the hold.

SSDV

Later Harry read the updated briefing as he was waiting for the docking to complete so they could walk over to what they were calling the party barge. It was a lucrehulk cargo ship set up just to host parties.

Well that had been the plan. Now it was one normal personnel height deck, well mostly, the designers and party planners were in cahoots and wanted grand spaces, for the party space which could be subdivided into smaller sections as needed. The rest, minus the engineering spaces, with the space expanded to the limits of the magic, full of hangers, magazines, tankage, storage lockers and workshops. Harry really wasn't for wasting space.

The party deck was opulent, stuffy, built to impress and Harry was so glad they weren't living on the thing. Bars paranoia was paying off. Harry would put a fidelius on the docking port to the control sphere and no one who wasn't already aware of the secret on the Republic ships that were docking to unload passengers would be given the secret. Even if a spy or assassin got on board the party barge they would then be trapped and hunted down by B3's after the party.

He went over the list of VIPs' again revising and adding to his memory and knowledge of them. These were all people who were movers and shakers locally on their worlds and some of them had traveled for as much time as he had from Ilum, two weeks, to be here. The senators from a volume of space two weeks in hyperspace travel at commercial speeds from here were on the list too.

The now reduced fleet was in orbit of Pallaxides. A private resort planet Harry held the note on through Bars efforts. They would be here for a week as he made a circuit setting wards.

Most of the vessels that had gone to Ilum had started their patrols and working on pushing the empire back into the core on the west side of the galaxy and some were in transit to the south to their sectors of assignment in Gial Ackbars plan. The rest of the fleet was moving and working now in their sectors on the east and north side of the core. Their next party stop would be a month from now in orbit of Telos. And some advanced party ships were already headed there. Meanwhile the Command fleet was making a side trip to Korriban. After a week of meetings.

While this party was going on the Oubliette was being delivered. They had a barren planet in mind to open it on. Harry and the girls were planning, training, and rehearsing hard for that. Harry was also teaching the patronus charm and the basics of curse breaking, the detection and safety procedures first. First this party though.

Harry greeted the first guest in the receiving line warmly. Hours later he circulated looking fresh as a daisy on his third pepper up potion. The girls were as well. Drinks, conversations, a dance here and there. Five thousand guest and four hundred holonet reporters convinced they had the measure of a good man. A man they could work with and do great things to make them and their worlds free now and wealthy later. Bail, Breha, Garm, Clynda, Mon and The Jedi Council watched stunned. Mon finally shook her head "He is so getting laid tonight."

Clynda barked "Mon!"

"Did I say that out loud? I meant by the girls, look at them, they are going to burst with pride."

Yaddie snorted "Maybe tomorrow. They are going to fall over as soon as they get to their quarters. Those potions lead to what Master Potter calls a crash."

Bail nodded "It's a couple weeks to Florrum. They'll be ready."

Bars Hnad The leader of the Banking Clans had joined the fleet and was even more impressed with the Master in person. He frowned.

Garm looked at him "So going to tell him you killed the five and clawed back all that money to keep the Clans alive. Him coming along was a godsend for you too as the Empire would have finished you off?"

Bars laughed "He surely knows, doesn't he?"

Mace nodded "Probably. He'll never say it out loud though. He makes connections we don't even think of."

Bars sighed "He could have been such a banker."

Bail laughed "Politician."

Yoda nodded "Jedi."

Apailana smiled and sighed "Instead he is exactly what we need."

Breha chuckled "From the mouths of babes indeed. How are you holding up dear?"

Apailana grunted "There is a Nimoidian I want to kill and this makeup sucks but other than that fine."

Bars glared at the knot of Nimoidians who paled "Please don't. I actually need the things for a little while longer. You can have them when I am done though."

Apailana smiled "When Harry is done?"

Bars laughed "Personal banker to the Master. I make money from him making money. I like money."

Mace asked "So you brought the package?"

Bars nodded "I must say I don't like these two risk at all. Especially as the Master will be involved personally."

Obi wan nodded "Harry feels the time to act is now. He thinks a steady rain of blows to the dark is the best course. Our gaining access to the droid army was a Force provided boon and he wants to capitalize to keep the Empire wrong footed."

Bars nodded "Those closed Hyperspace lanes are helping but there is a cloning site somewhere in the Empire. I don't think it's operational yet, at least it isn't receiving the same kind of freight we used to deliver to Kamino. It is headed that way though. Twenty thousand or so Clones a month from the equipment we can track. We have a lot of those Providence and Subjugator class vessels building for the fleet. Most of the Lucrehulk production of all classes is going to the Masters lines and uses. He loves the 'swiss army knife' of star ships. A year and we will have a fleet the equal of anything the empire has, two years and it will be better than the empires. Did you know the Master doodles warships, and modifications to weapons and engines? We download his padd every night and have four archivist and librarians working on it with Master Nu. The Archivist and protocol droid that follow him around help too. We have list of projects that will take us a hundred years to evaluate and test. The designers tell me he is a bit of a genius."

They all looked thoughtful and Staas Allie added "That cloning operation would barely replace our losses during the height of the war."

Bars nodded "The droids are better now. The Master's investment in organic manpower has paid large dividends. Some of them are quite intelligent and see the droids as replacements for human soldiers. Quite a competition among them to make them first as able as the clones and then better than them."

Mace looked at him sharply "And your work with the Black Sun?"

Bars shrugged "Some success, not as much as I had hoped. The emperor has Dark Jedi and Sith Acolytes in the empire. I'm afraid the Black Sun and Pirate losses are high. It did get the Hutt's, the slavers and just the general scum with ships interested in an income stream however. They turn in ten thousand or so former slaves and force sensitives a month. That helps the manpower crisis. As a benefit to the wider galaxy Dark Jedi and Sith Acolyte losses are also high."

Bail and Garm looked at the Jedi and noticed they were very stiff, the Dark Jedi were a sore point with them, about a third of the old Order had turned. Bail filled the gap "The Hutt's might actually make it happen. Your plan to strip the empire of anyone useful I mean. What will you do?"

"Why pay the finder's fee of course and then take it back in debt service." Bars smiled.

The others gaped at him. Apailana finally managed "A dangerous game Bars. We need you too you know."

Bars looked at the others nodding and took a drink, there were those pesky feelings again. "The Master has brought up something in our private conversations. He talked to me about succession planning. He told me he always had at least two successors picked out and trained. He said if all of them 'bought the farm' it was a cluster anyway and it wouldn't matter because it would be every person for themselves until a new leader rose."

Yoda nodded "Master Potter is wise. Practical experience has taught him well."

Mace nodded "Aayla and Shaak Ti. I can live with those."

Mon snorted "The question is can the galaxy survive in the event of one of them succeeding in killing him. You just think you know what a Dark Lord is now. Aayla Secura would end this Galaxy. The others would cheerfully help her."

*Chapter 9*: Chapter 9

Same Song Different Verse

Chapter Nine

Money, Politics and Jedi, Oh My.

SSDV

On the other end of the galaxy Ameesa Darys was losing a fight for her life. So were her companions. They had come on this woman, Arden Lyn, as she was working on understanding a scout's ship. She had surprised them and torn them to pieces, with nothing but her feet fists and a vibro blade. Oh and the Force lightning. Can't forget that. Tremaine was down and Torbin, well what could you expect from a talking head? Lyn sucked them dry with force lightning as she tore them to pieces. Ameesa threw her lightsaber down and raised her hands "We're on the same side! We all fight for the dark! I will take you to the Sith Lord, he could use you!"

Arden grunted and waved the vibro blade at her "Make this work." She jerked her head at the scout ship.

SSDV

Darth Vader traveled with a fleet to stamp out a system rebellion in the southwest just inside the core worlds boundary. He was ready. Too bad the rebellion was nearly over and that system was now prostrate and devoid of anyone who disliked the empire. The Rangers who had started it had moved on to the next system to do the same thing taking their new friends, all the working starships, weapons, and most of the food and fuel from the system with them. Vader would arrive to complete anarchy. The Rangers continued to fight their way clear of the core.

SSDV

Harry looked at the box, shrugged and tried an unlocking charm. It worked, the lid popped up and he petrified the woman with the red eyes. Droids rolled her over and Harry applied basilisk venom to the golden scorpion looking thing on the back of her neck. Of course that's when it all went wrong. The thing leapt at him and he felt it or something it was doing trying to get through the bubble head and the anti-nundu charms. It was also smoking as the basilisk venom ate through it. He cast fourteen spells at it in the wink of an eye before he finally transfigured it to water and it shank into the yellow sands. Of course there was the vapor and the scream and then some face looking at him, he bound the soul and hit it with a killing curse for luck.

He had the droids take the woman in the shelter. Felt several more attacks and nodded. He switched the purging draughts into her and started the purification ritual. While the droids stripped her. The result was nasty. He and the droids cleaned the woman up and looked at her eyes which were green tinged with red. He gave her another round in spite of her glare. He changed his and her clothes, coveralls, under the spray of disinfectant.

Finally he did it one more time and got nothing and the woman passed out. After switching a vial of tears, a nutrient potion and a liter of electrolyte solution, into her he walked to another shelter, was hosed down with disinfectant, as were the droids and the woman, walked into one last shelter and they all were hosed off again before he stripped, left the clothes there, air locked through to a clean room and put on a fresh set of isolation clothes and dressed the woman in the same. He walked, levitating the woman, to a Larty already marked as a biohazard while the droids rode on the outside in hard vacuum as a droid piloted and a medical droid apiece ran every test possible on the two organics and the air in the shuttle.

The box was meanwhile going through its own decontamination. Everything else was being torn down and burned. The box and the droids would ride an open Larty up after their decon.

The command council watched on a holo feed. Bail looked at Luke and Leia "Are our inoculations effective against dragon pox?"

Breha nodded then shook her head "The precautions seem a bit extreme?"

Aayla spoke up "Harry has antibodies in his blood to several bio warfare agents especially used against force sensitives. A poison, that's what he used on the talisman, and a healing agent better than Bacta. It took us until now to separate out all the components of his blood. The children, along with all the force sensitives, will get those inoculations."

Maris frowned "Wasn't much of a fight. She is supposed to be all Jedi Shadow."

Shaak Ti shrugged "It would be difficult to fight with black ooze coming from every orifice even if he hadn't paralyzed her. She will have her revenge I would assume." Everyone winced. Poor Harry.

SSDV

Master Celeste Morne was up and around by the time they made orbit of Korriban. She was quiet. Speaking to Yaddie for now. She watched as the ship the others transferred too dropped from orbit and landed. Suddenly blue white lights flew out of the Hanger bay and a giant grazer with horns charged the Sith temple and drove right through it! The dark side of the force shrieked in agony. Celeste smiled.

SSDV

On Coruscant Palpatine went into convulsions. On the bridge of the star destroyer Darth Vader froze, only his prosthetics keeping him upright and in the far rim Ameesa Darys gritted her teeth and thrashed in her bunk. Arden Lyn watched and chuckled. People shouldn't mess about with things they didn't understand.

SSDV

It went on and on as Jedi fanned out in teams around the planet collecting Sith artifacts and bringing them to Harry if they could not dispel the magic using finite or the basic curse breaking charms they knew. Which did actually work most of the time. When every stone on the planet was cursed, even the dirt it seemed, it was a bit of a project.

Harry gave a beginner to master class on curse breaking. Resorting to drops of Basilisk venom, a somehow stabilized mixture of nitric, hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acid, soul bindings and killing curses more than once. The killing curses made the Jedi ill. Harry doing the cleansing ritual and purges made them look at him awed again. He knew what it was going to cost him and never hesitated to do what needed to be done.

Celeste was confused. Jedi using Sith alchemy and sorcery to destroy Sith artifacts. She watched and waited. She had only felt darkness in the one they called Master Potter and that only because he had fought it for a long time. Nearly losing to it more than once. You could tell if you had experienced the same thing. He felt like she did. They spent two days then went to hyperspace leaving Korriban a smoldering cinder in the Force. Once Harry, the most sensitive besides Yoda, and Yoda agreed there were no more point sources of darkness.

Celeste looked at the catalog of objects raided from the Sith home world and shook her head. They had never been this effective in her day. She sat in on the council meetings, listened to the people and understood what Harry was doing. He was annihilating evil, not the dark. So few of these could understand the difference. She looked at Yoda and knew he knew. Aayla and the others in Harry's group knew as well. Maybe not the Padawans but they would figure it out. Apailana knew. Celeste stayed close to Harry and watched him and his group quietly. The Padawans Roganda Ismaren and Tis'wedu along with Apailana and her handmaidens were getting the most intensive training she had ever seen. Now, using what the High Council was calling Force Mage skills to break those objects recovered from Korriban, everyone was getting intensive training.

The Jedi Masters were being trained as well. Each of them had an object at each skill level assigned to them and were studying the holo's produced by the archivist droids and then under Harry's supervision breaking the curses on the objects. Master Potter was a teacher without parallel in the practical applications of Force manipulation.

Some of them were very evil soul containers and Harry kept those in a warded space only he had access too. He and an archivist droid spent some time in there each day working on those while everyone watched. He was the antithesis of evil.

Who wasn't being trained were Jedi Shadows. She spoke to Jocasta Nu the leader of the council of Knowledge about it. Jocasta had smiled and told her she had found her purpose.

Celeste found herself being nearly worshipped by the padawans onboard this gigantic vessel and just to get them quiet enough so she could watch Harry she started teaching a class a day. An archivist droid started following her around too. She glared at Jocasta who arched a brow back.

SSDV

Harry one day laid out a hectare of kyber crystals and Celeste, along with others, walked up and down the rows. She froze as one sang to her. She stretched out her hand and it leapt to her just as Harry touched her shoulder, she woke up in his arms completely and utterly sated and content. She blushed to her roots. Harry smiled "Your hair is so heavy."

"What?" Harry nodded where her synsilk wrapped plait that hung to her thighs was over his shoulder. Celeste took the steadying arm as he put her on her feet. "You should be around to help me with it when it's wet." Harry grinned and his green eyes sparkled. Celeste blushed and glared at him.

He chuckled "That crystal will make a powerful wand. Like Roganda's and Apailana's. Do you want to try and find a piece of wood? We can work on your wand."

Celeste opened her mouth, looked around at the sparkling eyes from the Masters and Knights of Harrys group and the glares from the Padawans, and snorted leaving off the comment about the wood that was currently pressed to her belly "Where are the samples?"

Harry led her to a medium freighter everyone had been putting fragments of whatever force imbued wood they found in. Celeste walked the rows and stopped at a thick, planed, polished board. Harry grinned "Should have known. Part of the lining of the oubliette you were in. Harry measured her and took a piece of the wood. He went out to his work bench and Celeste watched and asked questions as he worked. Celeste asked "Could I not make my own wand, like my saber?"

Harry nodded "You could, but its better if your magic doesn't touch it and no one's magic touches it before yours does when it is complete. About the only magic that won't effect how it bonds to you is a healing charm. I'll handle it with gloves or rags before I give it to you."

Apailana asked "Why was there wood in a technological stasis chamber?"

"The researchers theorize it was to isolate the technology from the Force and the Force from the technology." Shaak replied.

Celeste nodded "It's actually two layers of wood. One Force sensitive and the other not. From the same tree but the heart wood and the sapwood. This is the force sensitive side, the heart wood. It actually has the property of absorbing the force."

Harry nodded "Like hardened military or flight grade electronics. Magic, the Force, blows out light duty or not hardened printed circuits and electronic components. We will have to find this wood. If it can absorb the Force and then discharge with some stimulus I have a project in mind for it."

Celeste nodded "Kingwood. It grows on Ossus."

He finally handed the dark, nearly black, wand to Celeste and a flash of light and shower of sparks lit the hold. People cheered as had become normal. Celeste became a part of the group.

Celeste also gathered a group of Knights and young Masters male and female who were offended by the idea of Dark Jedi. She smiled and started Jedi Shadow training.

The second party, series of meet and greets, in the orbit of Telos occurred and was as much a success and less tiring than the first. Several more ward stones were placed as close to ley line nexuses as possible. The more lines the better. The locations were already prepared as were the stones so Harry just needed to activate them and drop them in, then blood them with the blood of as many force sensitives as could be found on that world and pick one line to keep the ward book. This became the standard practice and they moved the convoy two weeks in hyperspace, stopped had a meet and greet week, while they placed wards on as many worlds as they could reach in a week, all the while learning and teaching. During one of those training sessions Obi wan looked at Mace Windu on the catwalk over the sparring area "Master Morne has the same type of saber style as Master Potter but slightly different."

Mace nodded "Its a combination of moves from all the styles, combined into something that fits their physique. The parries are attacks even, no flourishes, all efficiency in the attack. If they move it is to set up another attack and to put the most power behind it."

Yoda nodded "Meant for melee combat against many enemies this is. Combined with Master Potters ranged and area Force Mage attacks deadly to armies it would be."

Obi wan frowned "Is it possible that the forms were refinements of these moves? Refinements and combinations of them into something that looked elegant in the sparring area?"

Mace nodded "The forms do look better. I hate to think it was that shallow. Perhaps an aid to teaching?"

Yoda nodded "With parries added. All are not as strong as Morne and Potter."

SSDV

In the Empire, the reports started to paint a picture for Palpatine of a powerful Jedi, not Yoda, who was uniting the Jedi who survived order 66 and did not turn to the dark. He upped the training of his hands and acolytes and the search for more of them. There was also this politician uniting the Republic as they called themselves. Which one to pursue first? He needed intelligence. The damn Banking Clans failing to fall had hurt his plan. As had the Trade Federation and rebellious worlds joining forces. The loss of the CIS fleet had been crippling on top of the loss of the Republic Fleet and the Clones. So much for inbuilt redundancy.

His agents of other than base species were nearly useless. The Falleen had failed him and needed punished but had turned and started a war in Hutt space when they weren't slaving on planets in the empire. They would need to be suppressed. Vader could work on the pirates and slavers while they built their forces and gathered intelligence. Meanwhile he could train this Arden Lyn. Darys had been punished and it was time for her next mission. Something that would show his displeasure. Assassinating the Falleen leader or a Hutt perhaps. Or letting Lyn use her for her own purposes. Palpatine smiled. Yes she was terrified of Lyn. He would give her to her. Now a new inquisitor who was able to chase down and eliminate Jedi, not talk about it. He really needed to work to find competent people.

The lights of the Light side of the force were ever decreasing in number. True the Dark had somehow lost nearly as much in the latest paroxysm but it balanced and Wayland was online now. Hard to keep supplied and difficult to move clones from but it was on line and working.

SSDV

Celeste walked in the bath nude with her plait coiled on her head after exercise one morning and the others froze. She huffed at them and they restarted. In the cold bath she looked at Aayla "You are first among equals. Him if anyone but no one yet."

Aayla smiled and hugged her and passed her to Shaak. Maris hugged her next after Shaak and smiled "Us too but maybe a little more than nothing so far. Still not mated yet."

Ahsoka hugged her in welcome nodding along with Maris "Same for me. If not him no one."

Harry lay his head back on the rim of the pool "Do I get a vote?"

Five simultaneous no's later he lifted his head. Ahsoka shrugged "You proved you would happily kill poor Aayla. Shaak had to step in and save her."

"What?" Harry asked. The women broke up laughing.

Roganda looked around her and Tis'wedu's cold pool full of hot teens and shook her head "What are they doing to the Master now?" Apailana blushed furiously and the others broke up giggling.

Celeste got her first support charm that morning and narrowed her eyes at the innocent faces she received back from the Masters and Knights.

That day they started on armor. Celeste was a font of information. Harry was making a ward map for the armor and chuckling. The politicians watched with arched brows. Harry chuckling boded no good for someone. Someone of the dark persuasion.

As they worked their way around the outer rim the Republic settled. There were some spectacular pirate chases and slaver raids being broken up in the empire. This Vader seemed competent enough, if a bit slow. The Rangers were always a step ahead of his heavy forces and nibbling away at his lighter units and scouts.

The Banking enforcement fleet had collected some debts and Ackbar was reporting more and more probing as the lines firmed up. Harry sat at his table with a prototype set of Padawan armor and Roganda in a unitard being his model, to her mortification, as everyone watched him fit the pieces on her "So we got most of the outer rim planets warded or will have them done by the time we reach Naboo. We should sweep back closer in and do another run."

Mace blinked and Yoda chuckled "Alone you think you are Master Potter?"

"Erh what?"

Roganda poked him "Use your words Master." She got chuckles and looked smug.

Harry tried again "Beg pardon? I don't think I am alone but I don't understand Master."

Yoda shook his head "Watched you we have, taught us you have. Teams of Masters, Padawans, Knights and Rangers wards in our wake have placed."

Harry pushed the chest piece up and latched it and Roganda eeeped. Breha came and put her hand in an arm hole. Roganda flinched "Your Majesty!"

"Shh child. Master Potter this needs to be looser."

"Slap injuries."

"Pardon?"

"It's plate armor. Nearly impervious. A projectile or blaster bolt will accelerate it into her and cause what we knew as slap injuries. Not a problem with soft armor. Even with plate for males. Females are hard to fit as they change sizes through the month. We can either turn the top out like an angled shelf and leave her upper chest unarmored or we can make full cups and armor the upper chest. I can put runes on it and link it to the individual in female's cases. The armor will shrink and grow with her through her cycle and in younger girls cases, well it will just accommodated them. Erh human females that is. To a point anyway. It will probably work for females in general. Mammalian females anyway." Harry explained. Roganda blushed furiously. Tis'wedu blanched, knowing who the 'mammalian' test case was going to be. In front of everyone and a thousand holocams too.

Yoda tapped his wand that that was his walking stick and it sparked on the table in front of him "Master Potter, while we contemplate this aspect of armor, the wards are rather violent with people. The ones that have been in place the longest. Several people killed most grotesquely in starships coming in to planets have been. We can only blame the wards."

Harry nodded "Intent wards. In atmosphere it would bounce them. I bet the wards are slamming them against the insides of the ships."

Jocasta Nu nodded "That matches the rather lurid descriptions."

Harry nodded "Investigate those people and you will find they intended ill toward someone or more probably a group or the people of the planet. It will cut down on the external scum the local police have to deal with. Won't stop someone who develops ill intent inside the wards. Unless they leave and try to come back of course. Hmmm I think it's almost surely the populace of the world too not the government or individuals as we use blood from as many beings of the planet as will give it."

Mace Windu snorted "Deal with them without a mop and bucket you mean. Did you not tell us about this on purpose?"

Harry sighed "Its standard on my world. In the base rune set. I forgot about it to tell the truth. We didn't have space travel either. I could rework the base plea but we would have to replace all those sets."

Apailana spoke from her table where she was waving a stick practicing wand movements "Not on Naboo's please." A chorus of agreement rose.

Celeste cleared her throat "Now armor and breast? This was ever a problem and the compromise was a tight fit which as the cycle progresses can impact your breathing."

Aayla nodded "What if I am pregnant?" The hold froze and Aayla snorted "I am not, however what about females who are and are used to wearing armor."

Harry scratched his head "We pretty much kept females from battles once we knew they were pregnant. They drew demons like nothing else. Past a certain point the armor won't fit so I think then you would have to go without."

Harry unlatched the breast plate from the back plate took it off over Roganda's head and laid it out etching several runes on the inside of both pieces but especially in the cups and across the abdomen, then had her power them and add a drop of blood, which amazingly soaked in the metal. He put the breast and back plate back on, latched them together and everyone watched as it molded to her like a second skin. Roganda eeped and pulled her robe on and closed. Her breast plate had nipples! Hard ones!

Harry chuckled "Sorry, I'll fix that."

Celeste pulled her robe open and looked at her critically. She nodded. Apailana nodded and one of her doubles asked, "Is it possible to make it match skin tones?"

Harry smiled "And how would you do that young lady?" Class was suddenly in session. Roganda got more mortified when armored bottoms were drug out and she was shaken into them. They were high wasted and not high cut, more skin tight shorts with no legs rather than her normal panties. Then a discussion about changes in that part of females happened.

SSDV

Two weeks later and very few Jedi were not found in armor. Jocasta Nu had even created a set for herself. Helmets were not popular but making lightened body armor engraved with runes and charging from the user and the Force were becoming part of a Padawans passage into Knighthood. The auto sizing for females had the same strings as Roganda's top plus one to smooth over the nipples and a release feature on the bottoms so they could be gotten off. They had cleaning rune sets on all the pieces. Harry never wanted to hear about bloating or feminine hygiene again. The males did the same thing, liking the tight fit and everyone wore it under clothes except for Harry who wore an open robe over his when it was needed. It had the runes for the dueling ward and bubble head laid in the arms, neck, waist, and at the ankles. Harry made it so the bubble head would go active and cover the whole head closely. Melina, one of the doubles, had helped with that and had to take a hair regrowing potion which made Harry another fortune, from older males mostly this time. Hair did not like hard vacuum and the cold and heat of space.

They had also found a way to add a synthetic rubber sole to the armored boots to give better traction.

Harry favored extremely utilitarian unembellished designs so of course everyone else did too. It was polished to a mirror finish and a reflective rune set applied for laser based weapons though. Apailana started a trend among female senators and VIPs when she and her doubles and young guards created sets that matched their skin tones or makeup exactly, like a chameleon but faster and more exactly a match. You really couldn't see the armor until they moved and a muscle didn't. Or they wore an open neck and you could barely see where the armor stopped.

As they learned the process Knights, Masters and Padawans were besieged with people wanting armor. Finally, a price was decided as the people making it were providing value and a thousand credits or the equivalent was not unreasonable. The material was after all mostly transfigured scrap metal. The ones making the armor were free to give it away if they wanted to but plain armor was considered to be worth a thousand credits. The Jedi made armor for their Rangers.

Oddly the female Knights, Padawans, and Masters services were most in demand. Husbands and Mates wanted their wives or mates protected and now! The children that were old enough to be close to their full growth as well. That armor evolved and some was strikingly beautiful. Apailana and her girls were paid a royalty for the color charm rune set. Of which most was set aside for charity. Lots of ladies suddenly showed up for exercise. The sizing charm only went so far either way.

There was, of course, experimentation going on already to see what material made the best armor.

SSDV

Breha looked at the governor of Naboo's holo image "Apailana has asked for this?" The command fleet had turned south after crossing the galactic north just inside the outer rim territories.

"Uh no actually." The Governor blinked as he answered.

Mon laughed "You can forget it then. He will not agree to a betrothal to the Queen of Naboo if she does not wish it. His ladies to include their Padawans do not agree to it and he won't touch her with a ten meter pole until she is of age at which point she will no longer be Queen and someone else will."

The governor grimaced "Apailana has been elected Queen for life. The experience of losing Padme Amidala deeply affected the people. They seek to avoid a repeat of that. They wish to tie her to someone who will defend her at all cost and against all comers. As the petition states 'destroying the galaxy if necessary. If there is no Queen of Naboo, let there be no life.'

Obi wan sighed "Even for diplomatic language that is a bit overly dramatic."

Bail chuckled "He is just the one for the job though."

The governor nodded "Yes quite. It wasn't even the children's vote this time. The whole world is mad for them both. The Queen of Light and her Dark companion."

Staas Allie shook her head "I heard him tell Master Morne 'Those that fear the dark do not know what the light can do.' I fear this may be true in his case."

Yaddie nodded "Touched by dark those two. Bathed in it, nearly drowned in it. Surfaced from it and defeated it they have. Dangerous they are. No limits to what they will do in defense of the Light. Injure them though it does. In opposition to a Dark Lord one labored in the halls of her mind for three thousand years. The other defeated the King of the Darks highest minions in single combat multiple times. Perhaps, nearly certainly, the King himself.

Perhaps ties to the light they both need. Master Secura is a tie. Master Ti is an anchor for Potter and Secura. Maris Brood another tie and Ahsoka Tano. The Padawans Roganda and Tis'wedu are bright lights. Tied to Master Potter has Master Morne become. Careful we must be to surround them with light. They will lash out powerfully at the dark. For good or ill."

Obi wan nodded "It is a bad idea to keep this from them. Especially as he fosters this openness."

The governor sighed "The Holo networks are running with the story tonight. There is a petition for a vote."

Bail threw up his hands "This must be the emperor at work. Backing Master Potter into a corner is a really bad idea. No offence, but Naboo is a bit of a backwater. How did the fate of the Galaxy become do entwined with Naboo popular politics."

Breha frowned "Is that possible? Is this a plan of Palpatine's to destabilize the Republic? As for the galaxy being tied to their popular politics, well they have the only system where the will, or opinions for the majority of all beings is represented and judged. Anyone can start a petition. If it gains enough support it becomes a vote, if passed it becomes a law. If you were born on Naboo your vote counts if you can make your choice known, and the majority rules. You are not allowed not to vote unless you are judged incompetent."

"Naboo internal politics aside, for him it couldn't happen at a better time. We have a meet and greet tonight, we are more south than north. People have had months to prepare for this one, it will be a weeklong event, every lunch and dinner. It will be all anyone can speak about. First it is those two themselves, second, she would be joining a polygynous marriage. It could also distract him. Oh, we know it won't but Darth Sidious can't know that." Garm offered.

Yoda finally spoke "Tell them we will now. Get ahead of this we must."

Harry was holding forth on transfiguration when the group arrived and Breha put down a holo projector. The governor of Naboo appeared. "Majesty. You have been elected Queen for life."

Apailana blushed and sputtered. The girls hugged her. Harry narrowed his eyes "And the bad news?"

"Ah, most perceptive Dread Lord." The governor prevaricated.

Bars appeared first among many holo projectors that were laid down.

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. "Haven't heard that one in a while."

Most of the people there froze for a second as did the holos. Bars chortled "Dread Lord. I like it."

"Bars I will come find you."

"Your pardon Dread Lord."

"Grrr!"

Aayla sat on Harry's leg "Harry, Bars stop playing, this is important. Governor you were saying?"

"Majesty there is a petition, that already has enough signatures to force a vote, to betroth the Queen of Naboo to the Dread Lord." It was funny in hindsight, as no one expected sweet little Apailana to explode in quite such an incandescent ball of rage. It wasn't too funny to the girls scattering from the armored arms waving or the accidentally sonorused voice detonating.

Harry regained his wits first and flicked a silencing charm on her. Bail wriggled a finger in his ear "Always these little Nabooan Queens exploding across the galaxy. Must be the hormones."

"Bail!"

"Yes dear?"

Bail and Harry turned to Breha and winced at Apailana standing with her fist on her hips and her foot tapping, tink tink tink, on the metal deck plates. Harry arched a brow "Uh gentlemen I believe our part of this conversation is yet to come. Perhaps a look around the other arm. I need to find some scrap anyway." He led the males away.

Yaddie sniffed "Cowards. Where are you going governor?"

The governor hunched his shoulders "Nowhere Master Yaddie." Yaddie nodded and ended the charm on Apailana with a "Finite."

Harry looked into the other side of the hold a half hour later and found the ladies sitting around with cups and a lively though not deadly discussion going on. There were even smiles. He sighed and looked at the males "Once more into the breach dear friends."

Garm nodded and straightened his vest "As you wish Dread Lord."

Harry growled "What is that governor's name? I am going to kill him. He had to say that in front of Bars as well."

Bail laughed "This is going to be so much fun."

Harry glared at him "If you didn't have kids. What does Breha see in you?"

"No idea." Bail grinned, unrepentant.

The other males chuckled, even the sternest Jedi masters.

Harry led them back and smiled at Apailana and then Aayla and the girls. "So that's done then."

Aayla nodded "Yes, you will be married to the Queen of Naboo on her eighteenth birthday."

"What? Who? Me?" Harry spun around and the women fell about laughing. The males chuckled.

Roganda face palmed "Some Dread Lord you are Master."

Harry pouted "Glad I can provide entertainment. Apailana, no matter what any vote says, you will do what you want."

She beamed at him "Good, and if I still want on my eighteenth birthday I will marry you."

Harry sighed "Are we really going to let them win?"

Apailana rolled her eyes "No first we are going to investigate this to see if Palpatine is behind it. Then we are going to continue as we are and if something happens it happens and if not in four years we will campaign to change it and win the vote."

"Thank Merlin. Erh not that I don't like you and you aren't bright and pretty or anything."

Apailana laughed "I'm thirteen Harry. You haven't figured out Maris and Ahsoka yet. Let's not even talk about Celeste, Roganda and Tis'wedu. Plus you are a boy and Aayla probably had to hit you over the head with a boob or something. I'll have to ask Master Ti if she had a head injury, I mean getting involved with you?"

Roganda and Tis'wedu scowled and said "Oi!" simultaneously. Aayla was drumming her fingers on the table and the white plate over Shaak's left eye had risen

Harry was really pouting now and the women were having a great time. Finally, Harry was saved by time when Breha cleared her throat and announced "As fun as watching the Queen of Naboo disassemble the Dread Lord is, we do have to get ready Ladies. It is nonstop for the next week." The men rose and the ladies left.

Harry looked around "Well that went much better than I thought it would. Who wants to spar?"

Obi wan stepped up and lit his saber. Harry leapt on a table and lit his and a shota he had built. He leapt from table to table like an over amped Errol Flynn. Suddenly there were chandeliers and staircases that lead nowhere and big fat candles in candle holders. It was a fun afternoon. The ladies watched smiling and occasionally wincing at holo's as they got ready.

Celeste smiled watching Harry. Aayla and Shaak chuckled. Maris and Ahsoka rolled their eyes and Roganda and Tis'wedu watched still learning. In this case male management, oh and transfiguration, maybe a little about sabers.

Harry bounced in, showered, Roganda shaved him, he sprinkled compliments hugs and kisses and then led them all smiling to Apailana's quarters, which had been moved under his and a spiral stair between them installed and hidden from mundane as she was always in his Padawans apartment anyway. Harry sprinkled more hugs and kisses got barked at over smudging makeup, rolled his eyes, and then led them all to the door to the party barge. Which was in this case the only ship not rafted in a triple row along the planets equator. It had hundreds of ships in a holding pattern waiting to land in a bay or dock and disembark passengers.

The Command Fleet as it was known had gained ships of all types from hundreds of worlds. Those ships were under Republic One Battle Command Sphere's AI's control as long as they were in weapons range of Republic One. The AI ran their sensors weapons and engines. There wasn't a lot the nominal owners could do about it as it could use the base command code and just take the ships and the droids on them over remotely. There had been a bit of a flap about it. Harry had quashed that with a shrug and a "You don't have to be here."

Harry smiled and everyone got into a position as directed by a B3 forming the head of the receiving line. Harry set the tone when the first local VIP approached him "Congratulations Master Potter!"

Harry leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially "It's a girl."

Apailana yelped "Harry!"

"Yes dear?"

Breha watching sighed "It's going to be one of those evenings. Go speak to him." She shoved Bails arm.

Bail blinked "What? Me? Why me?"

Mon chuckled "The Dread Lords eloquence is contagious."

The guest that night were treated to an all the way on Harry and he infected the girls. Apailana's older handmaids were scandalized. The locals loved it all. The reporters were going nuts. Aayla smiled. This was the first time he was truly carefree and happy since she had known him, nearly a year now. If a shock like today brought this on she would have to make it happen more often. Her eye fell on Celeste who paled "Not until I'm ready."

Shaak Ti smiled "Is one every truly ready for a super nova."

"You've been hanging around that council to much, or looking at those movie books again." Celeste fired back. Aayla laughed and hugged them both.

After while they were in their quarters Apailana punched Harry in the gut "It's a girl! What were you thinking?"

Harry rolled off the couch on the floor and she sat on him and punched him some more. He rolled around laughing trying to defend himself weakly. She finally got tired of beating on him and used him for a chair. He lay slightly winded and smiling.

Roganda smiled "It did pull their teeth."

Farris the closest double blew a raspberry "Like that will keep the idiots at home from thinking it's a brilliant idea and voting for it."

Celeste shrugged "When we have to kill a few million empire troops the blush will wear off."

Celene a guard sighed "That will just make them confident they have picked the right mate for Apailana. Erh not that they haven't. Uh…damn it!"

Harry chuckled "Fell in that trap. I know what you mean. Hungry. I only had those little cracker things all night, who wants a roast nerf?"

The girls, all burning calories like he was, nodded and Harry ordered up dinner. The Archivist droids had watched him cooking too and the protocol droids could imitate his style to the degree, second and microgram of ingredients.

The medical droid that had been added to Harry's droid entourage kept up with everyone's calorie intake, vitamins and minerals and their meals were tailored to them specifically. Designed, with their physiology in mind, to keep them at the peak of fitness. It coordinated with the droids who cooked for clan Potter. As a side benefit poisoning Clan Potter was impossible. Not that it would have worked in Harry's case anyway. The medical droid scanned everything around the clan all the time.

SSDV

Allanteen Six was the next stop and Harry toured the shipyard there. The women had to smile as he scampered over the yards and the vessels there with the foremen. If you were a VIP looking to meet him you had better have brought some work clothes. By the time the first dinner rolled around he owned the yard workers and Bars already owned the yard. Or Harry did but Bars managed it and was getting his people in to run it at the yard foremen's direction or for them, sort of.

They spent two weeks in the area and a thought occurred to Harry. He was working at his table as they worked their way down the convoluted route to Bothawui, the main hyperspace lanes having been only partially reopened "Why couldn't we make ward sets, put them on planets in the core and inner core, and blood them with the blood of every dissident on the planet and one of us and we hold the ward book?"

Jocasta Nu chuckled "Don't you know?"

Harry shrugged "I think it would work. We need a world to test it on."

Mace Windu grinned fiercely "Coruscant."

Stass Alli spoke up "Bibringi."

Harry looked it up on his padd. "Hmm good test and it strips the yards there from him. I can-"

Yoda glared "Stay here and finish your tour and your teaching and we will send several of the Shadow trained when Master Morne says they are ready. Your Padawans, Apailana included, not ready are for that yet."

Celeste nodded but looked at Harry apologetically "It makes sense. The Shadows need to spread out in the empire and start eliminating the Dark Jedi anyway. They might as well carry ward stone sets with them. We can do several while we gather intelligence and they finish training then we can see what happens. The planets with yards in the core edge of the colonies space."

Harry nodded "Maybe dark sponges first. I mean if we have to take those yards we will be the ones meaning to harm the populace won't we?" He looked up at the quiet to see a beaming Apailana and Bail with his face in his hands while Obi wan talked fast to several, older, Nabooan handmaidens. "What just happened?"

Mon smiled "You have infected Master Yoda and he said something plainly that we all know already but hasn't been spoken out loud to now."

Harry arched a brow and Shaak Ti sighed "He called Apailana your Padawan and said she wasn't ready for you to take her on clandestine missions to the Core worlds."

"She isn't really, but she is doing well. Sorry Apailana." Harry looked at her table and saw the Governor of Naboo collapsed in his hologram. Harry blinked. Aayla sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Bail nodded "Nabooan Queens, I'm telling you."

Breha nodded this time. Garm had to walk away he was laughing so hard.

The entire time in hyperspace was tense as the Senate, Naboo and the Jedi Council argued back and forth over Apailana's status. Yoda let the holos of her training, sparring and studying play in the background of all the meetings while he called her a Force Mage Padawan. Breha and Bail, with two force sensitive, now blood adopted, children came down on Apailana's side which three quarters of Naboo had joined. The governor was fighting a valiant rear guard action, a truly forlorn hope, as push come to shove someone would start a petition and force a vote.

Harry, when asked shrugged "As long as the holonet stays up she might as well be here as there. She has an audience chamber here in her quarters. I don't stop her from running Naboo or try to influence it. We'll bring her home for whatever celebrations she needs to be there for. Like this trip really. We'll be there for Independence Day. She can take meetings by Holo as effectively as if she was there the rest of the time, be safer too. She gets to meet more of the other leaders and influence them here. I'm not averse to stretching my legs on Naboo for a while either. It sounds like a lovely planet."

That comment spun the Republic into high gear and overnight there wasn't a room to rent anywhere on Naboo for that month. The orbital slots went next as everyone realized their Lucrehulk could potentially be ready by then and hold thousands or they could lease a ship. The equatorial geosynchronous orbit was reserved for the fleet. The governor had to have a lie down when he saw the guest list. Harry told Bars to get some people to help him. Apailana gave him a peck on the cheek for that and he smiled as she blushed and was drug away by the Padawans, now including the doubles and guards.

Master Billaba huffed and lectured him about treatment of ones Padawans. Harry looked interested and nodded alertly while his hands carved runes on a project he was working on. A dark sponge he called it. He used it for an hour or so a day to demonstrate rune carving and runes in general. A bit of a lecture aid. It was the size of a large marble really but he had engorged it. The girls hid their faces. After Depa left Aayla shook her head "If you ever do that to me I am going to make you spar with no magic."

"What? Me? Do what?" Ahsoka rolled her eyes and Maris pinched him. "Oww! Hey aren't we supposed to be having sex before you can abuse me, or have kids, or something."

Garm arched a brow "Interesting. How exactly would that law or guideline read Dread Lord?" Harry pouted.

Aayla explained "Act like you are listening when you are really working and ignoring me." The archivist droid filed most of that away in the clan Potter files in the restricted archive.

SSDV

Gial and Bars watched the Republic Holos and nodded. They started moving fleets and armies. Gial Ackbar planned to mine the Hydian way and the Corellian run. He had always wanted to see if that would really work. The Empire was arrogant enough to try a major move down hyperspace lanes. He wanted to get his mine laying ships inside the colony region all the way to the Outer Core so all haste had to be taken. The mines could be set and stay at the edge of the lane until a certain time or signal.

Mon got the Bothans and the rest of the network working to find that time and all the other data Gial wanted. The Republic AI's dug into the files and as far in the empire nets as they could get looking for ship signatures. They hit the jackpot when one broke into a security bouy on a deep core route.

The fleet came out of Hyperspace and took up orbit three weeks before Harry said they would be there and Harry the girls along with Apailana and her girls launched in the Marauder with three sets of stones and a ley line map. The three major interstices of lines on the planet had wards the next day.

The stones had been interesting as the blood banks on the planet had contributed three different drops of each donation they had at Apailana's request. It was a lot of blood. The stones sucked it right up. Harry had them all feed him power as he charged the stones. The things glowed as they sank to bedrock in the shafts. He wanted these ready to go ASAP. By morning they were all back on Republic One and in the holos could be seen doing their normal exercises.

The Party hull became the keystone of the next layer of ships joining the ring around Naboo. It was rafted to Republic One at a fidelius warded docking port. Alderaan's Lucrehulk hull rafted to it on the port side, Chandrila starboard and Kashyyyk to its stern, or the outward facing side anyway. The other arrivals rafted to those in the same way. The gaps in the hulls were turned to the port or starboard at forty five degree angles to facilitate ships using the giant bays and Republic One AI took over their self defense weapons, B3 droid defense squads and sensors. The paths between the docking ports were patrolled by those B3s. The normal stops at planets for meet and greets went this way and by now the ships were used to it mostly and minimal jostling for position occurred. You knew what Republic One's AI thought of how you were cooperating with her master by what position your Lucrehulk got. On the southern side of the line the Bothan's Lucrehulk became the key hull on the bottom of that row of Command fleet Lucrehulks and the crowd grew from there.

Half of every day was spent in meet and greets all over the planet and the other giving or taking instruction. Last thing at night they checked the holo tank repeater in Harry's study/command room to see what new developments on fleet dispositions had occurred. Both main hyperspace routes to Naboo grew lines of mines right at the border of the Outer core parallel to the hyperspace lanes. The sensors of the mines began feeding the Republic computers which displayed the data in the holo tanks or used it for higher definition of their maps. Scouts and agents appeared at minor route crossings. They also dropped sensors on the way to those. The food/garbage fleet began dropping a cloaked sensor package with a tiny reactor, a fuel rune cap on its fuel and reaction mass line and generator every parsec. Those sensors scurried to the edge of the hyperspace lane on alternating sides and went dark and quiet, passively sensing and sending burst transmissions when they detected like size data packets passing in hyperspace. They were invisible in the vastness of space. All the data fed the Republic tactical holo tanks and AIs. The trap was set if the Emperor took the bait.

Meanwhile teams of Jedi and Rangers and their Generals and Admirals moved to place wards and join units and fleets.

Last but not least, Gial positioned a fleet in the south west aimed like a dagger for Byss. It looked like a normal patrol fleet but it has specific instructions and equipment. Yoda had a bad feeling. Harry was still unsure about that as the fleet was a bombardment fleet. They also carried dark sponges which were really time bombs. After they fed off the dark side long enough they became unstable. The marble sized one had destroyed a good sized asteroid the probe they left had reported. It took a month but it happened, one of the five cubic meter volume spheres would probably crack an imperial planet like an egg.

Harry sighed and Shaak nodded "It is up to Palpatine Harry. If he leaves us alone we will leave him alone."

Celeste qualified that "Aside from hunting down all the dark Jedi. Sith too."

The advertised day of the visit to Naboo finally arrived and the first ships appeared in orbit and the invitations flowed in. The rafts swelled alarmingly. Harry stopped by the holo tank after the shower of holo's he had to reply too and while waiting on the girls, who were taking some care since they would be on display today, he blinked at the lines growing on nearly all the hyperspace routes out of the inner core and core. He punched a button and Bars appeared "Dread Lord?"

"Stop that. Uh, why are we mining the galaxy?"

Bars laughed "We have the things. They were a thing in Republic military strategy for years, maybe hundreds of years, and a Trade Federation company was paid to produce them and store them in caches at or near to what the military people tell me are choke points at the edge of Core space. They are modified Vulture droids, or the Vulture droids are modified versions of them, I haven't quite gotten that straight yet. Bit chicken and egg. They are loaded in ships that are really racks for a million mines and are just sitting in space. The ships are automated as are the mines. Trade Federation computers of course so they are yours now. They have just enough processing and propulsion to get themselves and their mines in position and to function as controllers for the mines. Given enough lead time. They aren't exactly fast by modern standards. Normally they sit somewhere in space with photovoltaic panels deployed waiting on a signal. The mines, the same processing power, plus sensing to target themselves and just enough propulsion to catch a ship in hyperspace, so we activated all the ones in the inner core and as Mon's people feed us signatures we are feeding it to them.

As we can manufacture them, droid crews are are putting your fuel and reaction mass devices on the rack ships at their fuel intake and reaction mass tankage line caps. They slowly fill the rack ships tanks allowing us much more utility from them really. Any mines that don't succeed can be recovered, serviced, modified to liquid fuel, micro reactors, their processing and sensors upgraded and refueled, perhaps your caps installed, which none of us had realized. It's a whole program with replacements and spare parts in train, and repair droids, everything really, sitting out there for however long just waiting on the proper codes. There has been a little pilfering over the years but we have now put squads of B3s on the racks with some upgraded B2s each to stop that. Gial said a battalion sized element with the B3s in command."

Harry frowned "And you don't trust Palpatine to take the bait."

Bars frowned "He didn't get to be Supreme Chancellor and manage both sides of a fake war being stupid all the time. I think he has become unhinged but we could see a moment of inspiration. If I was him, while all eyes were focused on you and most of the Republic Leadership on Naboo I would strike for the Banking Clans or the Trade Federation yards in force with a feint at Naboo to hold our attention. Nearly a perfect setup for the mines. I doubt we will ever see a chance to use them like this again. Additionally this takes them away from him forever."

Harry nodded "Gial knows I assume. Now what are these lucrehulks near the minefields doing?"

"The mines were his idea. The more he and his staff dug into them the more excited they got. It's a bit of a thing with them and our hired military analyst and staff. It is the considered opinion of the staff and the risk managers that your Command fleet has enough firepower to hold off whatever he might throw at Naboo. That is without Republic One taking over every weapon system and sensor within a parsec of your location. The Hulks are just reporting to us. They are powered down unless they have to defend themselves. Salvage after the battle is their job. They are the reconditioned ones and have no organics aboard. Most of them cant even maintain atmosphere anymore, well not all over. They all have at least a deck for SAAR operations. It has a medical bay and bacta tanks. Containerized of course. The passenger sections of the mixed hulks have those now as well. That actually speeds processing of the new workers and gets them to work that much faster. Only the ones who need specialized care go to medical at the destinations now. We are doing testing and job offers are made aboard as well."

We are going through metals at a ridiculous pace. These are a part of the solution, the other is droid maintenance workers finding and putting scrap metal from the core worlds in the garbage stream. Between us and the Empire scrap metal is becoming worth its actual value. Miners, mine engineers and mining droids as well. If this continues we will denude known space of metals.

We have even gone so far as looking at historical battles and have started salvage operations where the cleanup from them piled the remains.

We are turning up some interesting things in the recycling operations. All kinds of useable equipment and intelligence. It will take us and the counsel of the first knowledge years to get through it all."

Harry frowned thoughtfully "Have the droids mine the empire city planets under layers while we still have access. Do we have a portable processing plant? They could set up operations deep down and ship processed metals and the empire would provide the power. Strip as much as we can. Don't make them unsafe, but perhaps not so robust. Map them for us at the same time. Might as well prep them for eventually taking them and terraforming them back the way we discussed."

Mon popped up, she was one of the few with access to the Republic command holo tanks "Wow, they don't call you Dread Lord for nothing, you devious hunk of man you."

Harry smiled "Morning Mon. How is Obi wan?"

"Fine Dread Lord." Obi wan stepped up beside Mon. Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. Obi wan knew he hated that.

Mon looked at Harry's face and winced as he smirked. Harry grinned "I won't-"

Aayla walked up beside Harry and squeed jumping up and down. The Republic military and command holo tank network dissolved in, well gossip or drama or something for a moment. Gial finally appeared and asked if they were through discussing relationships of state and could he get on with the business of defense. The girls drug Harry away got support charmed and ran off to Mon's quarters working padds with Harry following.

Mon spluttered as she was inundated. Harry found her food preparation area and took it over. Obi wan assisted him.

Apailana and all the younger girls were very distracted. Shaak replayed the morning in her mind and chuckled. They had all gotten support charmed too in the rush and Harry was at his excited best. A handful of young pert breast in each hand had probably added to the excitement. She watched the younger girls be challenged to pay attention all day long. When they went to bed at the unheard of hour of eight, as soon as they were done with or as early as they could get away from the affairs of state and studying she told the others what had happened. Harry blushed furiously. Ahsoka smiled evilly "So a good hard run in the morning then."

Maris laughed "They will be exhausted. You don't think they are sleeping do you?" Harry put the pillow over his head.

SSDV

In the morning the tired Padawans, Doubles and Guards lined up with the rest for support charms and Harry hesitated. Celeste arched a brow and Aayla made a shooing motion. He growled and charmed the girls and they made exercise energized and smiley.

Breha looked over her tea cup at them and frowned slightly. Clynda who had captured Leia this morning followed her look and smiled "They got support charmed yesterday by accident. Apparently, it's very pleasant."

Breha sighed "All of them?"

Clynda shrugged "The body guards and doubles are selected to be as much like her as possible. The Queen of Naboo is a bit of a package deal. Why they don't date or marry when they are Queen really. Uncharted space here."

Apailana was happy to show the places she had grown up and the group toured Naboo in a Larty dragging a tremendous tail and sprinkling Republic credits everywhere. The people were ecstatic. First as they got to see and meet the Queen and Harry and then as the plague of locust descended with overflowing wallets. Food, handcrafted items, clothes, fabric, everything went. Nabooan dress became common across the Republic upper echelons. The ladies were very conscious there would be formal occasions in the near future and a nod to the host world culture was expected and appreciated.

SSDV

Across the Galaxy the Emperor took charge of the military planning. They had an opportunity to decapitate the forming Republic and he was not going to pass it up. The intelligence all pointed to the Republics massive numerically superior, though obviously individually inferior, military pulling toward the galactic south and east with a fleet of second tier ships to the north and west. Those must be a feint to draw his attention and hold him in place while the Nabooan tart secured her protector and political ally. Or maybe it was two individuals. The little tarts were perfectly capable of spreading for any number of idiots. They had always fucked everyone but him after all.

The Banking Clans were left with their salvaged and rebuilt enforcement and collections fleet in the extreme north east. Laughable at best. Those ships and droids had already been chopped to pieces once by Venators, Acclimators and Clones. They were of no moment. The cruisers and frigates to the north and west weren't even capable of penetrating heavy ship shields much less planetary shields. The picket line around the core was a bit thin so a concentration of force should break it. No it was time to strike at the heart of the Republic. Its wallet. He reviewed fleet dispositions and started movement to the Banking Clans worlds. All of the new fleets would converge at the edge of the outer core in a grand armada and sweep all before them. Now who to put in charge. Vader was capable. He would lead the ground forces.

Hmm this strategy was pointed out by Admiral Thrawn while Tarkin cowered on Corellia recommending the old tired deliberate set piece attack on Naboo. Thrawn could command. Yes shake Tarkin up a bit. Tarkin could run a feint in force at Naboo with the oldest capitol ships, if it succeeded fine. Thrawn would have the newest and most powerful. Palpatine chuckled.

Arden Lyn listened to the emperor cackling from her place in the shadows and, not for the first time, wondered if it was something about the dark side that drove males insane. No matter, chaos followed them and in chaos the dark flourished.

Her plans and schemes were all succeeding and she was pulling in gold, not those credit things, real gold, with both arms and a foot.

She turned her mind to the enemies she could reach. Vader was possible. Tarkin definite. She needed to work her way up the chain and eliminate the threats light and dark under her, twenty five thousand years and nothing had changed, at least in politics. Right now this apprentice of hers needed more training. Maybe giving her to a clone unit for their entertainment would motivate her? She had managed to kill the inquisitors she had given her too. They were barely Jedi though. They must have been librarians or social workers or something, lawyers maybe, they talked enough for it. Light siders liked that kind of thing, educating and helping people. As if they deserved it.

SSDV

Naboo and the Republic followed the Queen on hover cams all day every day. They watched her train, practice and govern, instead of it breeding contempt they fell in love. Here was a young woman trying her very hardest to be everything she could be for her world. The Dread Lord was not her only Instructor but he was far and away the one everyone loved. You could see the care and concern as he watched her. And if someone or something moved to fast in her vicinity and ended up looking down a saber blade or chopped to pieces, well that was right wasn't it. One should have a care around the Queen.

SSDV

Maris flopped on the bed at the end of a long day and huffed "I am so glad the fracking holo cams can't come in here."

Ahsoka nodded "Just when I forget about the things, one nearly runs over me."

Aayla stated firmly "I spoke to the Nabooans, they are making them back off further. They didn't account for Jedi abilities."

Shaak smiled "Or armored boobs." The others chuckled then laughed. The hovering holo cam had hit Ahsoka right in the right breast. It had not survived. The Republic did however get an action close up of armored Togrutan breast.

SSDV

Garm watched the tailor flee, nearly in tears, and handed Bail the credchip. Breha narrowed her eyes "What are you two doing?" The conference floor on the grounded control sphere ground to a halt.

Bail shrugged "Betting on how long it takes for Harry to run another tailor off."

Clynda blinked "What? What tailors? He will be in his armor. Give him a cape and there you are. Mirror polished black goes with anything the girls could think to wear. What idiot sent tailors?"

Mon laughed "The high-class women of Chandrilla think armor is inappropriate for the Consort of Naboo. The Ladies of the court of Naboo agree."

Lars Kren growled and wufffed in the way Wookies had and his protocol droid deadpanned "Good luck with that." Bail and Garm grinned at him. The Wookies were a favorite of Harrys. The first one he had seen had gotten him very excited about 'Big Foot', 'Yeti' or 'Sasquatch' and the possibility a Wookie ship had crash landed on earth. It had reenergized his search for his home world. Him wrestling them in the sparring area stopped everyone. Harry and the Wookies enjoyed the all out physicality of those sparring sessions. Harry starting to win a few and then most of them was making him the Wookies hero. The Dread Lord beating a Wookie was a badge of honor among them.

SSDV

In the Padawan quarters Roganda looked at Tis'wedu "We have to tell him. I am wearing out my magic using hygiene charms. The charms in the armor are great but they take a minute or two. Plus my nipples are sore from being hard all day."

"Are you sure you won't eventually get used to it?" Tis'wedu asked.

Roganda arched a brow "Sure, I am going to get used to the Master playing with my breast all day. Today when he looked at me and smiled he rolled and pulled my nipples. If I ever get used to that I will take the celibacy vows as he won't do me any good then."

Apailana spoke up from behind the two "It's just you and me. The others don't orgasm fifteen times a day."

Celene her guard spoke up "Celeste too, chilled her right out or does when he looks at her. All of you he was touching when you found your crystals. He still gets the rest of us but not as often."

Roganda nodded "We need to talk to Aayla and the others. We will have to send Harry off somewhere."

Apailana nodded "The Wookies. He wants to talk to them anyway, and loves sparring with them."

In the bedroom of the suite they were using in the Royal apartments of the palace Ahsoka moaned as Harry rubbed the light oil down her Leku. She shuddered and leaned into him for support. Harry grinned. Aayla toed him "Goof you are supposed to be frustrated and hold her down and take her. Not enjoy her orgasm nearly as much as she does."

"She doesn't want to be taken yet." His oily hands moved to her neck and Ahsoka rolled her back bringing herself forward between his legs and moaning again. "It's good for her to wait as well."

The older women waited and Maris nodded when he stayed quiet "And you didn't add that stupid comment about her finding someone else, better. You've accepted the truth. Now you should do better about the Padawans. Guard your lecherous thoughts."

Harry snorted "I don't have any lecherous thoughts. Well not then or about them. It's a bit tied to me though which is why witches on my home world did their own, had their girlfriends do it or their boyfriends if they were serious. It can be applied to other parts of your anatomy, even mine as well. Some couples in school got carried away. If I am happy it wants to make you happy. I can't really stop it. Well short of arithmantically deconstructing the spell and redoing it and I am a little busy."

Shaak nodded "They can do each other then. Later we can deconstruct and reconstruct that spell or one of the Knights can do it as training."

Harry nodded and moved to Ahsoka's back working out knots "Now why hasn't the idiot attacked?"

Aayla lay down and curled around Harry "Creating some overly complicated diversion and main effort. Probably, at least that is the estimate right now."

Maris snorted "Every day he doesn't only helps us. Leave it or he could not and we will have wasted millions of tons of fuel and hours of labor."

Ahsoka sat up and arched her back to help Harry with a knot "Are we sure about not coding the empire scouts into the mines for anything other than sensing?" Harry asked.

Aayla nodded against the hip her head was near "The recycling fleet can handle scouts, as can the Progress fleet and the Blockade fleets as well. My worry is him striking toward the Chiss Ascendancy and into the unknown regions. We have thinned that part of the blockade to set the trap."

Shaak nodded "He wouldn't though. He has the core worlds. He was getting them under control and Jedi free. We baited this trap heavily both ways. If he is successful either way he could gain control of the Republic."

Maris frowned "But he can't be successful. Not really. Even if he went for the Banking Clans and was successful the Blockade feet could sweep through the core and take it from him. They could spear for Aargau and we would have a new bank, and the other half of the money in the galaxy."

Harry nodded as he dug into a knot at the base of Ahsoka's spine. "He is accepting risk in order to gain control early and end the war." Ahsoka grunted, growled, surged up, turned around and sat on Harry. He slid into her core as she locked her lips to his and twined her arms around his neck. The others blinked then giggled.

Shaak offered "Well, she got ready."

SSDV

In the morning, after waiting, Roganda was elected leader and she palmed the door switch and slid in the bedroom on cat feet. The others, curious, as teens ever were, followed her. The younger girls looked around at the bodies, all nude, in various poses. Master Ti was mounted on Harry. Fortunately, there was a sheet across their middles. The others were covered in bite marks, hand prints and the odd abrasion. Roganda lead the girls back out, they did the charms on each other and went to exercise. Apailana sighed as they left "I was right, mountains of boobs and a spectacular ass."

Neela, a guard, grinned "With teeth marks now." The others gaped then giggled madly.

Breha and Clynda observed from the leaders lounge while feeding the babies. Breha laughed "Maris and Ahsoka got tired of waiting I'll bet."

Clynda nodded "Mon too. Obi wan is missing and he isn't on a mission." The two looked at each other and giggled madly as well.

On the ground outside Yoda nodded "Good Padawans Ismaren, Tis'wedu, and Apailana. Masters indisposed you responsibility take." The Padawans blushed "Share your run I can?" Yoda summoned his pack.

Maris woke up, leapt up, and reached for her armor. Harry caught her by a foot and pulled her in the bed "Let's see what they do."

What they did was keep Yoda engaged in teaching all day. He smiled beatifically. Mace frowned and grumbled, as when Yoda was teaching he was leading the Order. The other Council members hid smiles. They would have to get Roganda to give Master Windu a break tomorrow and have him teach. Stass Alli looked at Adi Gallia who nodded "About time."

Depa Billaba frowned "Depravity!"

Jocasta Nu rolled her eyes "You are going to have a long way to fall if it ever happens to you Depa. It will be very entertaining. If you don't loosen up."

Yaddie nodded "Or all the way to the dark if you do not deal with emotion other than suppressing it." Depa and the others frowned thoughtfully. "Everything in its time Masters. Deal with your emotions you must. Not rule them, accept them and move on. This was the mistake we made after Rusan and with the new code."

SSDV

Admiral Thrawn looked at the clock and nodded "Signal the scouts to proceed." Admiral Tarkin at the same time gave the same order.

Palpatine looked in the holo tank and nodded as the scouts accelerated away from the fleets.

SSDV

Arden Lyn moved to the edge of the deck of the cargo lifter as it descended the vast air shaft "It's gotten taller."

Darys nodded "It's not safe below the thousands."

Arden looked at the rising stream of laden lifters and felt the thump as they passed, one every five seconds, and shrugged "Safe for droids. The Lower levels were never safe. The thousands were close to the upper city in my day."

Dayrs grunted "Droids aren't food."

Arden smiled "This could be fun then." She looked at her nervous apprentice "Don't worry we aren't going any deeper than the protein production levels. Twelve hundred you said. We'll jump at twelve fifty and Force sail to the landing. Where are these lifters taking all this crap?"

Dayrs shrugged "Recycling, heading to the waste stations. Level thirty two seventy, in most sectors. Bulk receiving as well. Grains, proteins from off world, fish and plankton for the tanks, specialty items, water. All on droid freighters. Most of the passenger capacity in the Empire too. They take away the trash and the sewage after the protein plants get through with it."

Arden shook her head. "Otherwise we would drown in shit while buried in trash. Got it. Never eating a ration bar again."

Dayrs smiled tightly. "Our target is a suspected Jedi. Some of his coworkers reported him."

SSDV

Harry met a stern faced Roganda at eleven, Harry was leading the older women and she tried to be upset through the hugs and looks that ensued and just couldn't. Harry got left as the girls had to go talk. He sat at his table under the bright sky working on one thing and another and answering questions or giving classes with his ears burning.

When the girls came back he was brewing a potion with substitute ingredients under several charms. The R+D Jedi with him were all watching closely. As was his Archivist droid and a Process Control Droid now. This was the first all this galaxy skelegrow. A deceptively simple potion that was notoriously finicky to brew as most of the process was energetic and it could go exothermic if not monitored closely. The Queen had declared the area they worked in off limits to holo cams to howls of protest. Harry put up a ward. Hover cams died in droves. The holo networks and paparazzi got the message. Oddly long lens images were blurred as well. Obi wan when he showed up looked at the ward and glared at Harry who shrugged "Didn't think of it."

Jocasta nodded "Hence your archivist droid companion."

Mace watched the process holding his chin "This is what you used on me?"

Harry nodded "I vanished your bones in the injured limb, sliced off the healed over end of your stump and other wounds down to clean undamaged tissue regrew the soft tissue with a potion, another potion for nerves, one for muscle, another for connective tissue, and then potions for blood vessels and skin. Lymphatic system, if needed got another potion. Gave you several other specialist potions for other injuries and types of tissue then used skelegrow, for your bones.

I surgically debrided your eye socket preserved the remains of the optic nerve which were, thankfully, undamaged and then used some more specialist potions and a charm to hook the regrown eye to the nerves. Bit lucky there as that only works about half the time. I do know of a prosthetic eye that is functional but it would have taken a while to make one of those.

Then just to cover old injuries you got the cure all potion and some others. That cream for the scars you are still applying every night until the deep parts of the scars fade as well I hope."

Mace sighed and nodded "Do the bottles have to be skeletons?"

Harry blinked "It's traditional." Celeste started the laughter at Harry's offended face.

Aayla looked at Obi wan and tapped her neck. Obi wan frowned at her and she finally drug him off and brought him back minus the hickey but with a blush a few minutes later. Mon smirked when Breha arched a brow at her. Clynda rolled her eyes, it was like high school all over again.

SSDV

That night Harry looked in the Holo tank as the last twenty four hours replayed at speed. He looked up "Scouts."

The older women of his group nodded. Roganda asked "They missed the minefields?"

Ahsoka nodded "They are in hyperspace. The mines are just at the edge of the hyperspace lane powered down except for sensors. Their propulsion is chemical then a small hyperspace generator puts them on their target. They'll attack the engines and sources of radiation so the command decks and weapons. They aren't very accurate which is why they weren't used much in the past but anything cruiser size and larger they should hit."

Tis'wedu nodded "At hyperspace speeds. The kinetic energy alone might destroy a ship."

Maris nodded "Most probably will destroy a ship."

Harry blinked "There are millions of mines out there. Are you telling me one will kill a ship?"

Shaak shrugged "At the settings now each capitol ship will get a hundred mines attacking it from each minefield. They can fight back and do have automated anti mine defenses. At least up to Venators did. I doubt the empire dropped it from the designs. They probably didn't improve it though. A hundred should overwhelm the defenses. If they don't the successive lines will. At least that is what the doctrine says. These are blocking minefields and can only be overcome by a deliberate breach, a slow and costly operation. Clones in suits boarding the mines and placing demolition charges or their destruction by direct fire. Either would activate them and they would attack anything in range not issuing the correct identification code."

Apailana asked "Do Sith have battle precognition?"

Celeste nodded "They do. These mines though aren't using the Force, they aren't alive. A powerful Sith will sense danger but I am not sure what they could do about it."

Harry rubbed the back of his head "So send the dark sponges or not?" Apailana arched a brow, Harry explained "On my world a dark side user used dark magic to open a portal. It was to the, or terrifyingly a, demon plane. He lost control of it of course and of the horde of demons that came out of it. The way we closed them was to fight our way to them drop in a five cubic meter spherical ward stone we created and then defend it until it absorbed the dark energy locally and then it would drop through the portal as it collapsed and detonate on the demon plane. The backlash usually wiped out everything within ten miles of the portal in all directions but that didn't really matter as the demons killed everyone anyway. We apparated away or portkeyed as soon as the sponge dropped past the event horizon. You haven't gotten up to that memory recording yet in the history you all had me write, or record rather.

You had to kill all the demons or they would open another portal. Took us a while to learn that. Oh and apparently what happened on our plane was nothing as to what happened in theirs because after the first ones they were really pissed.

Some people got upset about art and architecture but well, against people dying?" He shrugged eloquently.

Apailana stepped up to him and hugged him. A twenty mile diameter circle was bigger than the capitol city of Naboo, Theed. She could barely imagine the horror.

Celeste nodded "Byss Harry. We will see if that balances the force. If the other sponge boats get in that will be fine too. We only got fifty of the boats ready."

Ahsoka nodded "And it hammers one of his main bases from what the spies turned up if it goes off. If that wasn't still planning stage."

Harry sent an order and shrugged "How did he build this all? Or rather start it all. Without an active portal I have no idea how long it will take. It took hours with a portal. That one on that asteroid lasted weeks and that whole rock was just evil. It felt like a portal and that sponge was tiny. It shouldn't have been able to hold that much."

Aayla nodded "We should have tested one on Korriban."

Maris shrugged "Ziost. Any of the worlds in Sith space are measured and documented and wouldn't be much of a loss."

"We are assuming the droid boat can deliver them. The core is all controlled hyperspace lanes and fortress planets. The fleet being gone to attack us might be the only reason they get there. If the cloak fades for a second whichever one will be destroyed. And then we are assuming there is enough dark energy to fill it then rupture it." Shaak supplied.

Harry shrugged "I got a bag full of them. Shrunk down like gob stones. We made thousands."

Aayla nodded "You should make one for the archivist droid."

Harry winced "I think it will be a planet killer. I mean we had wards on earth and it still did damage. Those planets have no ward and will get the full force of the blast, If nothing else it will probably leave the planet with very little of the Force. I am working on the one, that training aid, the beach ball sized one, off and on. It's a great course in runes. It teaches everything." A long discussion ensued before the younger girls pushed them all in their bedroom and went to bed themselves.

*Chapter 10*: Chapter 10

Same Song Different Verse

Chapter Ten

The Dread Lord

The week went by with the older group 'relieving tension' as the younger group called it and the younger group giggling like mad. Everyone was again watching Mon and Obi wan and the build up to Nabooan Independence day was at a fever pitch.

SSDV

On Coruscant the preparations for the Nabooan independence celebration had built to a high pace as well. Palpatine watched as the scouts filled in locations and fleet movements and the fleets assembled to jump off in time to be there for the celebration. He was happy to provide fireworks for the Nabooan slut and her frogs.

SSDV

Harry looked in the tank and shrugged "Today, at high hyperspace speeds down the now cleared lanes so they can be here to put their boot on Apailana's neck day after tomorrow. Figuratively speaking."

Ahsoka lifted a brow "And you are so calm how exactly?"

Harry grinned "I have the Marauder. Get me close to the bridge of the lead ship I will apparate over and bring you back their admiral's head."

The girls gaped at him.

Alpha One offered "Republic One has control of a hundred thousand battleship main battery caliber weapons Master. You would need to jump out of their range to have a chance before she killed them. Five parsecs to be safe."

Apailana smirked. She had talked to that AI. She was vicious, skilled, unscrupulous, and protective of Harry. A sweet girl, erh, computer. Whatever!

SSDV

Admiral Thrawn was on the bridge when the ship, the first of a new class, dropped out of hyperspace and disassembled itself down the hyperspace lane.

Vader had run to and leapt in a TIE fighter minutes ago. His fighter was miraculously untouched as it dropped through a massive hole that bloomed in the ship before him. He left it powered down. Mines. That had to have been a mine. They would flock to any signature now that they had been tripped. He watched screaming in rage as the fleet was torn to pieces. The whole fleet as it had been traveling all in one group. A sharp thrust to the heart and done! Thrawn had spoken so eloquently.

Tarkin nodded as the front wave of his fleet dissolved in the hyperspace tank and ordered the rest of the waves back to post along the line to defend from the attack he was sure was coming from the east. The mines continued to pursue and harass. He lost three more ships of the line and several returning scouts.

In the Emperor's situation room two admirals and a captain fell to the floor, dried out husk, as the lightning snapped off. No one made a sound. Palpatine stalked out to his private office.

Darth Vader watched as thousands of Lucrehulks appeared, maneuvered and tractored the remains of the Grand Fleet into their hulls and once full left again. They picked up bodies and all clearing the hyperspace lane. As one got to close he ignited his engines, got clear and jumped to hyperspace from the back edge of the swath of destruction. He managed to stay ahead of the mines.

SSDV

Harry smiled at how happy the Force was and stood behind Apailana and the Gungan leader on the stage after walking behind them in the parade trying to be invisible. Apailana in full makeup wasn't having it and drug him forward in his mirror polished black armor and cape. The crowd roared and the Gungan band struck up again. The holonet reporters spotted. News of what was happening in space was scrolling across the bottom of holo screens in flashing red letters.

The droid ship settled into the pond on Byss and dropped its payload then left as quietly as it could. It settled on the furthest of the five moons and turned its camera and sensors towards Byss, this was repeated on forty nine planets or moons of gas giants in the core.

SSDV

Later that week Harry was following Apailana and her entourage in full dress, armor and black dragon hide over robe, down the main street of the capitol city in the afternoon when a holo reporter with her breast nearly falling out of her suit jacket top stuck a microphone in his face "How do you answer the accusations that you are starting a revolt of non-human species and your Harem of non-human Jedi females are the leaders and have mind tricked all the former Senators?" Harry blinked.

"Or that you have included underage Nabooan women and are using them for unspeakable purposes and to reward the non-human Senators that are following your orders Dread Lord?"

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose "I'm going to kill Bars Hnad."

"So, your next plan after crushing the flower of the Empire with your unholy alien horde is to kill the Chief of the Banking Clan Chiefs, Dread Lord?"

"No I am killing him for sticking me with that title. Look you seem like a nice red lady, why don't we walk and talk? I don't want to lose sight of Apailana. Lots of people we don't know around here. Call me Harry. What is your name, if you don't mind me asking? Oh and what species are you?"

"I'm Luxa D'pow Dread Lord. I'm a Zeltron. We thought you might not hurt me since you do seem to collect non-human base females."

"Harry Luxa, do you mind if I call you Luxa? I don't collect females. I have been blessed that all these lovely young women have decided to help me and teach me. I come from the far reaches of unexplored space you see, and was not really prepared for life in the Republic. The ladies have graciously allowed me to stay in their company."

Luxa beamed at him "Luxa is fine Dr, erh, Harry. So, when did you arrive in Republic space?"

Harry sighed "Right at the time the former supreme chancellor stabbed the Jedi Order in the back and issued order 66 to have their own soldier's mutiny and kill them in his attempt to usurp the authority of the people and take over the galaxy. I was able to play some small part in helping to get the word of his treachery against the free peoples of the galaxy out."

The Republic watched and fell into those green eyes and that open honest face. No Jedi displayed emotions like this. This was a man just trying to make his way in the world. Or at least half the republic did. A part of the rest of it nodded along knowingly. That would be just like that weasel Palpatine. Hadn't they just told the boys at the bar and the wife he was a slime? The other part of the rest were hanging on his every word minus that tiny fraction that was sitting in their moms basement looking at their holo screens with nearly square eyes, catching all this in the picture in picture while their massive holo game ran and they desperately fought each other for control of the holo world and all the hot women in it. Another part was too busy looking down an impressive red cleavage to care no matter what Harry said or did.

Mon, who as always had key word searches running, burst in to the Republic conference level of the grounded control sphere and turned all the holos to this when Luxa first waved boobs and microphone at Harry and they all sat stunned as he gave a class in self-deprecation and aw shucks and never told a single lie or the whole truth.

"Now why did you come to talk to me Luxa?"

"Hmm Harry? Oh there is a holo from the Empire that claims you have done all kinds of things and have destroyed half the Imperial Navy as they moved out to reestablish law and order in the galaxy. You and your far from base, alien hordes."

Harry blinked "I was right here making sure Apailana was safe. I think everyone saw me at the parade earlier this week. Least I could do for her after she has helped me like these other fine folks. You folks cameras have been following me every step for weeks now."

Luxa breathed "She's a lucky lucky girl."

Maris grabbed Apailana's hand as it went for her light saber and she hissed "He has it, it's working. The half of the Republic that hasn't fallen in her cleavage is falling in his eyes. You can have her skinned for a purse later."

Harry chuckled "Oh I'm a lucky fella just to know her. She'll make some young man a fine wife someday."

Luxa smiled "I heard that was going to be you Harry?"

"Well when she is of an age to marry I won't be young anymore will I?"

Jocasta Nu was doing some math in her head and gasped "It's not possible." Yoda looked at her and she huffed "He is base human." Yoda smiled mysteriously and left it.

Luxa took Harrys arm by wrapping hers behind his and resting her hand on his forearm. Shaak stepped in front of Aayla. The doubles kind of body checked Apailana along and Harry smiled, looked at Luxa and ambled. "Now about that far from base alien hordes comment from the failed chancellor?"

Luxa huffed "It was insulting to everyone not a human Harry."

Harry looked sad and shook his head "People like that always fall back on trying to stir up prejudice when they fail don't they? I mean look at you! A fine figure of a lovely red young lady out here in the galaxy trying to make a living and he would do what? Replace you with some pale, high strung, badly educated, core world's rich girl, with no life experience who didn't know a Larty from a Vulture droid? No thank you. I much prefer ambling along with you as everyone enjoys themselves on this fine Nabooan day.

Now of the ladies and gentlemen who have helped me so much, well there is Celeste Morne a human. Aayla Secura a Twi'lek, Shaak Ti a Togrutan and a couple Wookies and well, I just can't tell you how many others. I'm grateful to them all. You know I don't even know what most of the species are.

I think we all play well together, learning each other's strengths, helping each other with our weaknesses. It's worked so far anyway. As far as law and order? Well the local police out here are still there. Local governments still run. The Jedi still look for threats from outside after, or in in spite of their losses, caused by the jealous and inadequate former senator from this very planet. I think everyone should say thank you to all the Jedi they see for soldiering on in the face of their great pain. I know I'm very grateful. The police and local militaries as well. I don't think we need a disgraced former politician from a great planet who disgraced both noble races that inhabit it telling us about law and order do we?

I think we all need to help our Local, Planetary, System, Sector and Republic government and the Jedi root out these corrupt humans and others who would use prejudice and ignorance to ty to harm us."

Harry looked away into the middle distance on the holo and Mon moaned "Sorry Obi wan I'll have that!"

Obi wan nodded absently "How do you feel about sharing."

Bail snorted "Idiot just made himself the real Emperor."

Breha waved "Shhhh! The shows on!"

Harry looked at Luxa again, sincerity shining from him "That's not an excuse to let our own prejudices out to play though is it? I mean lots of the folks who have been helping me and fighting the failed chancellor and his bureaucrats are human just like us. Well not you. That is the prettiest red."

Luxa smiled blindingly at Harry "Now Harry, what was that about killing the Chief of the Clan Chiefs of the Banking Clans earlier?"

Harry blushed. Mon moaned again. "Bars Hnad. Bars has helped me out a lot. He is a great guy. One of the pillars the Alliance was and now the Republic is built on. Brilliant guy. This thing with Apailana came up and everyone was kind of freaked out and well the Naboo Governor called me Dread Lord and Bars well he laughed and started calling me that to get under my skin. I'm just Harry you know? I've had some luck, but what I have really had is the help of a lot of good people of every possible species. I've just tried to contribute as they seemed to be doing the right thing. Helping people. Say let me introduce you to some of them."

Mace Windu snorted "That devious bastard."

Garm looked at Clynda and she laughed "I am not having a daughter so you can put her in the harem. Ours are already married."

Breha smiled and Bail face palmed.

Bars popped up in a holo looking stunned. Mon chortled "Yes we saw."

Bars nodded "The Empire is running a whole propaganda campaign. He hasn't even seen it. That reporter obviously surprised him with it. Not only did he put a Zeltron whose specialty is befuddling men in the palm of his hand and have her purring, he destroyed the empires propaganda campaign point by point."

Jocasta smiled "He has fought at least three fully realized, and up until then successful, dark lords and won. Dark lords who used the Force like he does and had years of experience. He was at the top of an order like the Jedi, in line to be the Grand master. He fought, in single combat, the leaders of nine incursions from a parallel dimension or different reality while commanding the forces of his world fighting others. He was the defacto if not in fact Grand Master of his Order, Fleet Admiral, and General of the Army. The things he knows I estimate would take a lifetime for a Jedi Master to learn."

Yoda nodded "Older than he looks our Master Potter is. More experienced as well."

Breha blinked "He looks twenty five or so."

"Master Potter's story to tell this is. Done well he has. Pulled the Dark Lords teeth again. Capitalize on this we must."

Gial Ackbar popped up "Militarily not much more can be gained. We can continue to draw the noose tighter but we will eventually have to fight a real fleet engagement or several. Also some of those ships were of a new Super Dreadnought class. Our yards will need to work up a counter."

The Wookie rep growled and yowled and his droid deadpanned "Mines seem to work."

Bars nodded "Commercially the Republic is fully employed and highly productive. We are bleeding the empire white on non-base workers, gold and other metals, fuel as the lucrehulks go in empty and come out full. I think we give it a few months and continue to build and see if Idiotine makes another mistake.

Mon blinked "In empty and out full and they don't burn it up?"

Bars shrugged "The Dread Lord sent us some rune sets and the astromechs have been putting them on. We have force sensitives that can uh start? Power? Whatever they can make them work. Fuel consumption is down to ten percent so we put just enough fuel in them to get them wherever they are going in the core plus ten percent and they come back full and we store it. They have the fuel producing devices as well. The tankage and space inside the hulls is massively expanded as well, Like Republic One and the party barge now. We keep the paying passengers to the second deck, It isn't magically expanded. We take the fuel in payment for the food and garbage hauling from worlds who don't have gold or other trading materials. We sell it on, for a small profit of course."

"Emperor and the richest male in the galaxy. I take it back Garm, I'll see the doctor." Clynda announced. The room broke up laughing.

Luxa D'pow followed Harry and company all day. She finally had to leave at his bedroom door and she sprinted off the command sphere and into a speeder. She had to go home sleep and get cleaned up. She was invited tomorrow too! Well sleep after an appointment with Mr. Feelgood. Mr. Human Feelgood.

Aayla folded her arms and tapped her foot. Harry sighed "Enemies close. The press can be worked to our advantage. We will do what we called embedding with her and see if we can make her ours."

Tis'wedu snorted "She is already yours. Bring her to bed anytime. You could have mated her in the street and she wouldn't have cared."

Harry grimaced "She is like a Veela with no control."

Aayla asked "Veela?"

Harry shrugged "Near human species, can turn into giant birds of prey and throw fire balls. They exude a pheromone and magic related to mating and are universally beautiful women. Most men get lost in the pheromone and the magic. Me, well you know how I am about unwanted mental intrusions. Pheromones, or hers at least, give me a headache."

Aayla hugged and kissed him "How about wanted intrusions into Twi'leks?" The younger women squealed and fled.

SSDV

In the morning Luxa was waiting bright and early. A B3 escorted her to Harry's bedroom and after she turned the camera off let her in. She looked around at all the women and Harry and sighed. Harry chuckled "Come on, come over here and sit down. It isn't over yet. We just wanted everyone to meet you and have time to talk." Luxa smiled and sat in the armchair facing them. "Did you know you are force sensitive?"

Luxa blushed a deeper red. "Not enough to be a Jedi."

Harry chuckled "Maybe enough to be a Force Mage though. I am going to ask you for an oath that will prohibit you revealing anything we don't want you too. After that you can be our reporter and stay with us. We will do our best to give you enough news so you can make a good living. Meanwhile we will try to teach you how to use the Force."

Luxa swooned "Who do I have sex with first?"

"Ask Aayla."

"What?"

"Aayla was my mate first here, anything else is up to her. After her then Shaak, Celeste, Maris and Ahsoka. Roganda, Tis'wedu. Apailana and her girls are too young for that yet and we will burn that bridge when we get to it in five years." Harry supplied.

Apailana rolled her eyes "Four."

Tis'wedu snorted "She passed out."

"Go away Harry, we'll handle it." Aayla gave him a shove.

He walked out and went down and nearly turned around and went back when he stepped out and everyone on the ground turned to him and bowed with a fairly uniform "Dread Lord."

Jocasta laughing at his horrified face stopped him and started them chuckling. He sighed "BARS!" Now they all really laughed.

Aayla drug a still stunned but head on a swivel having Luxa up in the standard exercise clothes later "Armor."

Harry nodded "Yeah people will be after her."

"Promises, Promises Dread Lord."

"Luxa! Not you too! Didn't we cover that yesterday, and this morning?" Harry looked horrified. The women and girls chatted as Harry did armor for Luxa. She then got drug off to meet the women of the Senate. The males bowed at Harry. Who lit his lightsabers scattering them, except for Mace Windu. Harry gulped and legged it. Mace chased him and the others watched and laughed.

At the end of the day Luxa sat in the Senate lounge "So we exercise like models, work like spice miners and he really is like that interview he gave? That wasn't some clever ploy to frack Palpatine over?"

Mon snorted "You are going to need that armor. And a room on this boat. Who knew a reporter was a Repub symp."

Luxa snorted "Phhhtttt those core world nerf herders see me and those like me as life support systems for sex organs. Where did you get powerful, dark and dreamy? Are there more like him somewhere?"

Bail and Garm laughed "No, sorry. You'll have to ask Aayla for the story." Bail supplied.

Breha shrugged "Look at what Jocasta has on him and ask questions, that oath will make you show the stories and holos to us, or them at least, for approval. You don't have a family out there that could be used against you do you dear?"

Luxa shook her head. "No actually. OK let me cut up what I have and we can review it today and I can send it to keep my producer off my pretty red arse. We'll start all 'being intresty' before we get in depth and give the Dread Lord the Galaxy."

Bars laughed in his holo "Another convert."

"He is going to find a way to punish you, you know?" Luxa arched a brow.

Bars smiled "Every time he does it makes us another fortune. I will find a way to endure it I'm sure."

Luxa nodded as she got out her specialized data pad "So why didn't the Republic Credit collapse, it is a fiat currency after all."

The others watched amazed as Bars got a rigorous grilling in his own field of expertise by an apparent expert of at least his level.

SSDV

The Imperial palace was eerily quiet. Since the holo news today the emperor had killed fourteen. Not, apparently, on purpose but the lightning kept getting away from him. The rest did their job in silence and left as soon as they could. Bad news was now being relayed to the Emperor by holo.

Arden Lyn looked around and chuckled "I'm working for the wrong dark Lord."

"Disloyalty will not be tolerated." Darth Vader stepped from a shadow.

Arden snorted "It never is. So how did you live through that debacle? The force saving you for something?"

Vader tilted his head slightly "Perhaps."

"Sucks to be you then." Arden turned and walked away. Ameesa joined her at the doors. "Time for us to catch a freighter apprentice."

On Byss a dark acolyte looked at the grass sprouting around the ornamental pond and thought it was nice to see things growing again.

SSDV

Harry looked up from his table and nodded. He walked to the room in the palace the council was meeting in. He was deep in thought.

They had been on Naboo three months, things were very settled. Orderly even. The probe on the Byss moon had relayed three data burst when it detected packages of a like size being sent. Everything appeared to be fine on Byss. Ship traffic, construction both in orbit and on the surface. All calm. The only thing of note was a drop from the first sensor reading of force energy to the last. A noticeable drop. The other probes were much the same, this bore watching. "Harry?"

"Aayla?"

"Where do you think we should build a new temple?"

Harry frowned "Schools in every sector. Decentralize and power down. It makes the leaderships job a bit tougher but its safer and, well, shouldn't the most experienced have the toughest jobs? Send the kids home for holidays or let the parents come for holidays if possible. Make them self-sufficient and preferably able to defend themselves and go to orbit then hyperspace if they had to. When they aren't using that power for themselves they can share it to the planetary grid. It could be a source of income for them as well."

Yoda opened his mouth clapped it shut then Mace chuckled "Well we are sucking the Core dry of credit with produce from the Agricorps. Although what the hell Dread Lord, suddenly our force sensitives have jobs and you brought in automated machinery?"

Harry shrugged "Low powered or folks who didn't want to swing swords. R+D, although Jocasta has most of them. Potions brewers, rune carvers, all of that. Stuff has to get done that can't be done by droids. Crops droids can do. Troop to task we called it."

Bars nodded from his holo "What was it Harry? If a Force sensitive can stand up, see lightning and hear thunder we have work for them? As it turns out Force sensitive or not. Not all the senses are necessary either. Manpower is a bit of a problem. We are feeding droids in everywhere we can but nothing beats sentient beings for some jobs."

Mace snorted "We've sucked the core dry of all of those already. The ones that want to leave. The Empires propaganda has convinced some you are the thing that goes bump in the night Dread Lord."

Harry grinned and Aayla slipped a small blue hand over his mouth and gave him a glare. His shoulders slumped and Bail made a whipping motion and a fffchhhh sound. Breha thumped his ear.

Garm laughed then offered "All very domestic, but we are still technically in rebellion."

Apailana huffed "Technically? She arched a brow. "That desiccated failure called me a whore. I'm going to shoot him in the face."

The Wookie rep lifted his arms and yowled. Several other representatives cheered. Yoda sighed.

Ackbar spoke up from his command chair. "Desultory skirmishes continue along the now stable frontier of the Core worlds aside from the salient we have in the line near Alderaan. Those skirmishes are more deliberate and constant. Oddly, the droid Lucrehulks continue to ply the trade routes virtually unmolested. They send aid to casualties among the droid ships on their side and we do the same on our side. All very civilized. It is nerve wracking. The Empire continues to build forces, at least fleet units. And recently some attempts have been made to break out to the north east along the Perlimian trade route with scouts being shadowed to Wayland. A planet that had disappeared off electronic charts. The thousands of droid scouts deployed when you took over the CIS fleet have found it and others again Dread Lord."

Everyone pulled up the data and Mon paged through several reports and then huffed. "Cloning cylinders. Twenty odd thousand at Wayland."

Harry smiled and Stass Allie leaned over to Shaak "Your mate is planning another surprise for his friend the Emperor."

Ackbar coughed "I believe I can help with that."

Bars nodded "I may be of some assistance too."

Harry paused and then grinned "Time for a trip round the Republic and then to Ilum. I might have an errand or two to run on a planet here and there as well. Lots of Padawan needing crystals don't you think?"

Yoda rubbed his chin then nodded and the planners in the Command council, the Jedi council and the Republic council sighed and got to work. A shot at the Dread Lord and recovering his sewed in forces from Wayland would be to much for Palpatine to resist.

SSDV

Harry and company were walking down the main street of the capital of Naboo just out being seen when he snapped a hand out, caught a slug and summoned someone with the other hand. Ameesa Darys landed at his feet.

Arden Lyn went to slide back in her position eighty degrees away and froze at the snap hiss of a lightsaber and the heat on her neck. Celeste nodded "Smart. Now don't move or I will kill you."

Arden shrugged "I came to talk to the Dread Lord."

Farris growled "We have holos."

Aayla smiled at Harry after healing his hand, the dueling shield he thought onto it had been still coming up to his normal impervious "Thank you, but I felt that."

Harry nodded "Two are better than one. Apailana?"

She held up a finger tapping away on her padd. Celeste walked up with Arden and Harry wrinkled his nose "Vampire? Oh no that thing there. Hmmm. Dark sider anyway, before you got that thing. Well doesn't mean you can't be useful."

He looked at Ameesa "Fallen Jedi?" Celeste nodded. "Just kill it then?"

Ameesa struggled to a sitting position in the ropes she was wrapped in "Kill me? She is some kind of demon and you are just going to let her live and kill me?"

Harry shrugged "Thank Yoda, he has mellowed me. A year ago you would have already sublimed to gas. She has never been anything but a dark side user. Lots of dark users where I come from. Doesn't make them evil, just a different set of morals. My school even had a house for them, Slytherin. They didn't run around killing their brothers and sisters. Well some did but I killed most of them before I graduated. Then I killed their parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, a couple of their dogs and a snake or two."

Arden grinned at him "Dark plus penis makes evil nearly a hundred percent of the time in my experience. This is going to be fun. Think you can make it where I don't need this thing? I mean, I did bring you a present."

The others gaped. Harry laughed "My apprentice is going to want words over your delivery. Her planet you see. She is a little touchy about killing people here. How did you get this one down here? You I got, you just wanted my attention."

Arden shrugged "Locked her in a closet, didn't tell her where we were going. She is so scared of me she can hardly think anyway. Kill four or five hundred under dwellers one morning and she pees herself. Big bad Jedi. Hey you know that robot guy, Vader was a Jedi too. Skywalker."

The Jedi blinked and Ahsoka closed her eyes "Oh no. I was hoping it was a nightmare." Maris hugged her.

Arden grinned "Two presents."

Harry sighed "Slytherin. That last wasn't a present. Most of us figured."

Arden tried the word out "Slytherin, Slytherin. I like it."

Harry chuckled "I'll show you a book later. Ah Master Koon."

Plo Koon looked at Ameesa "Ameesa Dayrs." Ameesa sighed.

Harry led the group back toward their area "You're going to have to swear some oaths."

Arden nodded "If you agree to end them when I ask."

Harry nodded. "I will have to wipe your memory before you leave if you do. If it was just me fine, but there are youngsters involved who can't protect themselves."

Arden nodded and then looked at the women around her and smiled "If I live." Harry chuckled. Arden got swept away in the crowd of girls.

SSDV

Arden Lyn stood watching the Queens Guards spar with the martial art she was teaching them. Apailana stood beside her lost in though. A group of her friends and classmates had just left from a visit. "You can't go home again Majesty."

Apailana nodded "I knew that a week after being elected. No, I'm just wondering why it's so different for me. They think about boys and class and speeders and clothes. And I do too but I think more about armor, sabers and blasters. Along with fleet tactics and planetary investments."

Arden grinned "Somebody else already picked your boy."

Apailana favored her with a glare "Please. If he wanted it to be different I really couldn't stop it. Luxa would start a PR campaign and I would be out on my shiny, armor plated ass. Maybe it's true though and that might have made me a better Queen. I don't have to work through all that poodoo."

"And I can redirect those hormones into something useful." Arden smiled.

Apailana snorted "I am still going to get good enough to beat your ass for bringing that idiot to shoot Harry."

"Who knew he was a light sider and wouldn't move or would step in front of a shot so no one else would get hit? I did have the idiot use a slug thrower. If I had wanted more than his attention I would have used a blaster. Much faster shot. Though with him he might have still caught it. He is quick. Oh and all those lightsaber burns don't count?" Arden arched a brow.

Apailana smiled "From the outside he does appear a bit of an uncaring dictator. Though Luxa and he have softened that right up. Only in here is his true nature obvious. As in the clones. Everyone thinks of the clones as human so they fret over them. Harry knows they are programmed biological machines with predetermined life spans and abilities. He really isn't happy with the Cloners. He doesn't treat the clones like machines though. Even the droids that look like machines he treats well."

"But instead of crushing the Cloners under his heel, he lets the Senate work on them. Light sider." Arden nodded.

"Harry says it's doing what is right over what is easy and our rights end where the other fellow's nose begins." Apailana nodded.

Arden shrugged "Come on light disciple let's see what you have today. Is Harry tapping Luxa yet?"

"Trying to make me mad won't help you. I am one with the Force."

"Please, you are one with sleeping across his door like a loyal guard Wookie. Do you girls keep a schedule of who he bangs?"

"Oh we should! We could do pattern analysis."

Arden stopped and was thrown to the sand. She laughed "So not all the way light side then."

"Still female." Apailana smiled tightly.

Depa frowned on the raised platform that had been built by the exercise area "She is dark but not of the dark."

Adi Gallia nodded "Not evil Harry says."

"Fall to the dark side more of the dark oriented do Master Potter says as well. Arden Lyn was or is from before the schism. Before true Jedi. She did not fall, she was always dark." Yoda offered.

Depa sighed "Master Potter's world is at once more complicated and simpler than the one I inhabit."

Bail Organa strode up "Why he does so well with politicians and warriors. Unbending on evil though. The schedule for the new progress is on your padds. Mostly a closer to the core course with a few excursions. One to the Hape cluster. How are we doing on Knight Darys?"

Depa squared her shoulders "She is on the confinement ship. Amazingly, and despite her intent, she had not killed anyone in cold blood yet. She had only killed when pressed. We are working with her. Master Potter has suggested a purification ritual but we want her to realize why she should change first. Arden Lyn's purification ritual having virtually no result as it did opened a whole philosophical debate about light and dark, good and evil. Master Potter says light and dark are the same, a force of nature and only intent can be good or evil. He also says because intent is good, doesn't preclude evil."

Bail looked at his empty cup "I need more caf before we get into that."

Adi smiled "Nearly the universal reaction. A stop by Alderaan? More temptation for the Emperor?"

Yoda shrugged. "He must go to Wayland. On our terms this battle will be."

Harry, Aayla and Shaak worked as they watched Maris and Ahsoka with Roganda and Tis'wedu. "Those two will be ready for master trials by the time we make it back to Ilum. Their padawans for knights' trials. All three of them, those doubles and guards as well." Aayla observed.

"Their Magic would be at OWL level now, passed that really and by then will be passed NEWT level. Roganda and the others will be post OWL but pre NEWT probably. Its a bit surprising how fast people here pick up magic. Maybe all that familiarity with the Force and the Jedi prepared them." Harry added. Harry went by the much tougher US standards. Test from a nation where ability was everything and blood didn't matter. It wasn't the utopia they had thought coming out of the blood wars. People were mostly asshats and loved their opinions after all, but the standards were much higher. You didn't start a fight with an American magical on bluster unless you were a complete idiot. They went quick and hard from the first insult, nothing less than intentional grievous bodily harm. Usually with the intent to maim. And that was just for a barracks or barroom brawl. Bit hotheaded the Americans.

Shaak looked to where Arden was working with Apailana her doubles and guards "Your apprentices are not far behind Harry, in any of their training."

"I wonder what Yoda will do." Harry watched them.

Aayla snorted "Call them all Force Mage Knights. Maris and Ahsoka Master Force Mages. What are we going to do when they all want in our bed?"

Harry blanched. Shaak chuckled "Run and hide apparently. You like them, they like you, we all get along, relax. You need heirs."

Harry rolled his eyes "Did I ever mention Centaurs? Body of a horse and torso of a man or woman. Sentient. Seers nearly every one of them. Favored bows and arrows."

"But you don't know how it happened Harry." Aayla pointed out.

Harry rolled his eyes "If you get off birth control we will find out. I found a reference to creating new species in a book I inherited. The ministries outlawed the practice on my home world but it involved Basilisk venom and phoenix tears in a human and somebody dying. I think we have all the ingredients already. So my luck is you will get off birth control and we will have sextuplets."

"Oh! I hope one of each primary color at least!" Aayla clapped her hands in front of her chest. Harry face palmed. Shaak laughed and laughed.

Mace looked over at them "Aayla will be pregnant in a month."

Obi wan sprayed caf over the railing. Plo Koon nodded "The Dread Lord needs heirs."

Obi wan turned "I'm going back to bed."

"Good, you need heirs too." Plo nodded.

Mon walked into Obi wan and kissed him "Told you. Different species Mace. They haven't even seen the geneticist."

"I have great confidence in the Dread Lord." Mace allowed.

Jocasta Nu walked over "You read that latest translation too then. If it could or can happen, it happens to Harry."

Mace nodded "And yet he comes out on top of it most times."

Yaddie shrugged "Karma. Rewards from the Force."

Adi chuckled "Or the Force having its way with him, as he says."

Obi wan sighed "Not another religious discussion. It's not even nine in the morning."

Mace shrugged "How far are we from having all the books he had with him translated Master Nu?"

Jocasta shrugged "The droids are done with the school books. The librarians are checking them to make sure. The reference books mentioned in them are next. The others? A thousand years? Hermione Potter must have copied several hundred books a day or had people helping her. The librarians are checking the droids work and trying to make the process faster. Learning a new language a month is a bit trying even for the droids. It is getting faster as we build up the numbers of people knowing the different languages. We have an AI working on it all now so the concepts and theories that are actually repeatable are getting cleaned up. One of the problems is the level of power controlling what is actually possible for each individual Force Mage. That and belief in their own abilities. There is some debate over whether Harry is actually stronger than everyone else or just has unshakeable belief in his own ability and the Force.

Meanwhile the archivist droids have to ask him questions all day while he walks around doing magic seemingly unconsciously. We still haven't gotten explanations on some of the contents of his trunks. Plus we turn up books in there too, literature, science, history, fiction all in different languages of course. Things he and his troops salvaged from battlefields. Pieces of art, objects. Anything you can imagine. Broomsticks charmed to fly even. We get him to explain things as we can."

Mace smiled wryly and nodded as he turned back to watch Harry and the Potter Clan. There had been Jedi clans before Rusan. This was just a post Rusan clan. He nodded to himself.

SSDV

Palpatine stood on the balcony of his temporary retreat on Byss. The planet always calmed him. This visit seemed to be working wonders. Sucking the anger right out of him. His thoughts were clearer. Consolidation of the Core, that was the key.

Let the rebels make the next move. Well after he evacuated everything from Wayland. That was a loss but as it was cut off deep in rebel space well it had to be. With effort it could be turned from a loss to a setback. He had plenty of time after all. He cackled a bit.

Yes let the rebels deal with the trash and beat it into some kind of order then he could attack the strong points and collapse them and have a mostly intact magnificent empire, all built on the efforts of this Harry Potter and the Nabooan whore and her lover the Dread Lord.

He would have to talk to his spy's about why they referred to them like they were the same person. Sure they dressed the same but the Dread Lord was so powerful he blurred holos while this Harry Potter had been on the holos for hours with that Zeltron slut and her huge cleavage. Harry Potter had none of the signs of the dark side either. The corruption that set in. The Dread Lord was a Dark Lord obviously. Why even the name was catchy. Palpatine sighed. He needed a marketing firm like that. Darth Sidious. Dread Lord. Which one of those caught the imagination more?

Could that be it? Was the Dread Lord a construct of the banking Clans to keep the others in line? Bars Hnad had after all run his game under his very nose after all, and snatched half the wealth in the galaxy right out from under him using this Dread Lord/Harry Potter construct.

Palpatine laughed. It was delicious. Bars Hnad might as well be fucking the Nabooan whore himself! He had found a handsome gigolo to beguile the outer worlds and the whores. He had educated him and trained him and now was using him and someone, probably a bounty hunter that had fallen to the Dark Side as this Dread Lord. Well played Bars well played.

Now Vader to keep the core worlds in line Tarkin to hold the line of the Core worlds minus that incursion centered on Alderaan that was mined nearly solidly, how had that happened, and consolidation while he grew his Sith acolytes. Palpatine glanced across to the Imperial Academy and smiled. After Wayland's evacuation.

SSDV

Harry worked on the door he was building and the archivist droid followed his every move. He was lecturing as he worked and the best and brightest students of runes and arithmancy were hypnotized.

Ahsoka snorted "He lost me about four permutations ago." Shaak shushed her.

Aayla smiled and pulled those that were lost away "We can watch the Droids holo later. Let's spar with Arden. We can talk to her about the Inquisitors as well. I have a bad feeling about that."

Maris nodded "Ominous name notwithstanding. Why do evil wankers spend so much effort dreaming up these idiot names?"

Farris smiled "Wankers? Harry rubbing off on you some more?" Maris smiled at Farris who held up two fingers. She had caught it when it left her mouth. The others chuckled. All these languages, an endless source of embarrassment and humor.

SSDV

Harry was sitting in the holo Senate, A new virtual Senate chamber and looking around amazed like everyone else. He had his own seat? Hover office? Whatever it was and was surrounded by Bail and Breha, Garm and Clynda, Yoda as the Jedi representative and Apailana for Naboo. Mon was there as well and with Bars and the Ranger General who was representing all the Ranger organizations, they formed a central block directly across from the empty Chancellors seat. There were thousands of people here, beings rather.

The representative for Kashyyyk stood and growled and yowled and Harry rose, getting the gist, before the protocol droid was even through speaking. He bowed "I thank the Wookie people for their confidence. However, being new to these reaches of the Galaxy I do not feel my skills currently would serve us, the free beings of the galaxy, as well as say Bail Organa of Alderaan. I therefore must decline humbly and submit Bail Organa in my place."

Apailana beat Garm to it "Naboo seconds the nomination."

The Senate susurrated for a moment and then the Wookie yowled some more. Harry smiled. The droid said "Well that's done. What's next?"

Bail rose and smiled "I think we should have at least an affirmation vote."

Ninety percent of the virtual hover platforms front lit green and Garm laughed "You're done for, go on. Breha can be Alderaan while you play Chancellor."

Bail nodded "Thanks, I think." He disappeared for a moment and reappeared in the chancellor's seat. In reality he had walked across to another chair in the senate lounge on the control sphere and keyed up the holo connection in it. "So now for this first session the agenda has already been determined and we have quite a few votes to get through. The first being the representative from Thrusta's request to clarify Harry Potters position by declaring him the Defender of the Republic."

Mon who had fought this tooth and nail called out surprising nearly all members as she had touched nearly all of them in her campaign to halt this "Second!"

Harry rose and Bail looked at him "Before the Senate votes, I again voice my objections to being singled out for doing what any being would do and helping to defend those who are less able to defend themselves against bigotry and tyranny."

The Bothan Senator rose "Call the question Chancellor. We have heard, and are ignoring, the Dread Lords' arguments. We have decided to use him as our shield and sword." He smiled and gave Mon a short bow.

Bail nodded and the yellow section of the lights beside him lit. The reply was over ninety percent green from the Senate with a few abstentions and no reds. Harry sat and the Senate chuckled as Aayla poked him and said "Don't pout. You were going to do it anyway. The meetings aren't bad now we have this virtual space."

The Bothan nodded "Something else one of your employees came up with Dread Lord. Very efficient. We set up our droids, they peruse and synopsize the legislation in circulation, we decide what we like and then we vote. All so civilized." He seemed disappointed by the lack of chances for back room deals and power plays on the Senate floor.

The meeting continued for an hour working through the pro forma, easy votes, Laws, a basic few about capitol crimes. Taxation, already agreed to and a sliding scale for individuals and corporations. All of the minutia of government.. Debates on new issues would come next week and votes the week after. It was all very calm and orderly.

Later, in their quarters Luxa popped the latches on her armor, shimmied out of the armored bikini bottom and got in the shower. She looked around "What? With that armor he has seen it all anyway. Going back to my place takes forever."

Aayla laughed "Four decks down." Luxa waved her off and got in the pool sized bath.

Maris shook her head "Gave up on your producer?"

"Turns out he is gay. I don't mind but he should have said. A girl only has so many good years." Luxa leaned her head back on the edge of the pool.

Harry grinned "This must be a spectacular one then."

"Thank you. Still no. I have some more fishing in the small pond to do before I jump in with the biggest shark in the ocean."

Farris laughed "Not even a tumble?"

Luxa lifted her head and arched a brow "If I ever do that it will be over. It's all Dread Lord all the time or nothing. If nothing comes along by baby time we will talk then."

Harry grunted "Why am I always the back up."

Aayla arched a brow and Harry ducked his head under water. Aayla nodded. The women laughed.

Calliss, a double, smirked "Dread Lord problems." The laughter kept on for a while.

SSDV

Harry sat at his table and shrugged "Gateway stations. Half in the ward line half out. Old Lucrehulk hulls would be perfect. They get off the interstellar ship, or get decanted from the passenger container, walk through the ward line to a Larty. If they make it across the ward good, if not arrest them. Map and put buoys on the ward line. The buoys could serve useful purposes. Guidance systems, scanning systems, defensive weapons platforms, Holonet relays, or hotspots, all kinds of things. We could use something like those mine bodies for the bouys. Until the system is up and running if you are a revolutionary or terrorist stay home. Trusted status for Droid cargo vessels without passengers. I don't know how to get around the ward without breaking it and breaking a ley line tied ward would probably kill whoever did it. The containers can go on a slow line for servicing and break down and be loaded on the next ship that needs them.

Oh freight transfer stations too. I mean some money could be made off people that hated you right? Even if their ships can't get passed the wards."

Yoda blinked and Mace groaned "You just made another fortune didn't you?"

Bars nodded "Yes, yes he did. Amazing. Ask him a question and money pours out. 'Dread Lord Defense' I think."

Yoda rubbed his chin "And dark siders that can pass the wards?"

Harry shrugged "Obviously if they mean the populace no harm they could. Individual's maybe. You will still need planetary security forces. The wards aren't a panacea. Jedi will still be needed to hunt down people who go bad, light or dark. Like the Aurors. We had the Ministry Law Enforcement Squads where most Aurors came from, well really the Law Enforcement squads then the Hit wizards then the Aurors. Bit of a pyramid. Like padawans to knights to masters. So LE squads ran patrols and did normal policing. Aurors chased dark idiots or creatures. They did investigations too. When the shit went really bad there were the Hit Wizards. They went in hot and took down everyone then the Aurors sorted it out and handed back off to the MLE squads. I was thinking I would make Arden a Hit Witch once she gets her magic and blaster skills up to speed. Already deadly with a sword and hand to hand and needs something to do. She can start training Hit Wizards and Witches."

Depa puffed up and Harry glared at her. Her plait wrapped around her neck and lifted her about an inch then dropped her. "I've said. It's about intent. That is a hair care charm. Lavender Brown could strangle a thousand minor demons at once with it. You really didn't want to piss her off. She would skin you with an exfoliating charm. Her getting turned into a werewolf made her really dangerous."

Aayla sat up along with Celeste "She was a wrackghoul?"

Harry chuckled "Hermione used to say her time of the month was just a little worse than a normal witch. If it was a bad one she said being able to turn and eat idiots who were pissing her off would be a relief. Werewolves only changed at the full moon. We were working on it. It was like rabies but had a curse component that affected squibs and full magicals."

Celeste sighed "I wish you had not destroyed the Muur Talisman. We might have been able to reverse the curse."

Harry ran a hand down her arm "And someone else could have ended up cursed. We can still work on the plague."

Mon snapped her fingers "Which reminds me, the probe reported a drop, a plateau then another drop. The time of the plateau correspond to the time the Emperor was on Byss. The others didn't do that."

Harry frowned "He replenished the evil by his presence? That sounds like a tier three or higher demon. I think we need to put sponges on all these planets with high dark side readings and see what happens. I will make some more if we need them."

Yoda nodded "To make one how long?"

Harry shrugged "A year? Less probably. I've done a few now. We found three in Egypt. Luna deciphered and copied one of them. It took her and a team about a year. Once the droid has it though droids can carve them but it takes a week to power up the rune sets and a cleansing ritual after. Our wounded did them. They could work up the rage to channel the dark enough to initiate the runes. One of those pain curses I told you about works great. Cleansing ritual after that of course and a purge. That's actually good for the wounded though. They get to work off their rage and the cleansing ritual and purge clears the potions break down by products from their systems. Lots of psychobabble about that too. We'll need basalt. Nothing else will work, well not for a full on one capable of going in a demon portal. Flood basalt is best. I have a scientific description. I've done some preliminary carving just to show what is possible. Those little ones are granite though. Maybe why that one behaved so differently. I'll put it on the schedule of classes."

Jocasta looked at the bag of sponges he had tossed on the table and bit her lip to keep from asking how many wounded they had that even his medicine and magic couldn't make whole. She looked up and saw Staas Ali looking at her with a like expression. Staas nodded and said quietly "What the light can do."

Harry looked around "Mon has mine and Apailana's proxy for the Senate, we are going to test the portal I made."

Bail frowned "I still say Mon will take over the place."

Mon pinched him. Breha glared at him and thanked her. After Harry and company left Mon turned to Depa "You are going to have to let it go."

Depa sighed "The teachings of a lifetime."

Mon shrugged "And your guilt over Bariss Offee and Ahsoka Tano and how you handled that. It's in the past Bariss is dead, and Ahsoka Tano has put it behind her. Mistakes were made."

Yoda nodded "Wisdom this is. Two weeks we have before the fleet departs. Make ready we must."

SSDV

Harry and company put a varna from the twenty they had brought in front of the medical droid got it scanned and Harry levitated it over the portal and dropped it. They watched on holo as Jocasta caught it and the medical droid on the other end scanned it. Jocasta nodded "Subject one readings the same. Slightly elevated adrenalin."

Harry smiled "See you tomorrow."

Ahsoka grinned "Where to Harry?"

"Second star to the right and on til morning Soka."

Ahsoka looked out the cockpit, picked a star, shrugged and when the sensors and astronavigation computer had a lane she took them to hyperspace. They were going out six days and doing a Varna a day. Then they were turning back and receiving Varna and sending them for six more days. If that worked they were leaving a portal on Naboo and one of the Knights in R+D would pick up Jocasta's part of the experiment. They would figure out where else to put the door's linked across a nanometer of null space after that. Besides they were still finding the upper limit of how many could be reliably linked.

Meanwhile they had time to relax a bit and bond. They loved Luxa but it was a strain being on display all day every day. She need a vacation too and a chance to get ready to travel the galaxy with them. Getting rid of her apartment on Naboo, things like that. Bars had her money in management. With her very active participation. He was following her investments with his own and Harry's. They were making a fortune. Mostly in companies and investments Bars had or would never consider. He got an AI started on analysis of her moves. People just thought some people had a nose, or the gut instinct, for certain markets. In Bars experience that was because they didn't know how to analyze what they were seeing.

Republic One AI watched the Marauder with scouts and any Republic ships near the Marauder were given warning orders in case someone did something foolish. She was tied to its more limited, but rapidly improving AI. Something the Astromechs had done without telling anyone. Soon they would have it capable of being a full Avatar for her doubling her capacity and giving her a lifeboat. They had the massively expanded astrogation processor spaces to work in after all.

SSDV

It happened at a party thrown by the Chandrilla embassy. Someone got a little drunk as they often do and said what they really thought "He is the champion of the non-humans. He left the core worlds to die under the heel of Palpatine's evil boot." This loudly, too loudly honestly, in a mixed crowd of species and sexes.

Breha stood her full height turned like a laser turret and the Queen of Alderaan gave it to the lout with both barrels. "While you fought with all you had to free your money and liquidate your property in the Core and were starting on the Colonies space. Your defense of your riches is an epic tale we all want to hear I'm sure. Did you even have a human carry your riches off planet for you to save even that one? What would you have him do sir?"

"Send in his droid army to rescue them of course!"

Arden Lyn laughed "You're an idiot. They can leave whenever they want. On Coruscant alone at over three thousand unloading and loading facilities, ships unload, take on passengers and cargo at loading stations and leave. One ascending, one descending, one unloading and loading simultaneously, all day every day at every facility. It takes about four hours for one to turn around a full load of containers once the loading and unloading bridge is connected. They aren't even full anymore. At least of passengers. All anyone has to do is show up pay a modest fee and leave. They can even leave just by signing a labor contract.

Their money can be moved to the Banking Clans and they can live in luxury on any of thousands of worlds in the expansion region, mid or outer rim. Hell, in the outer rim they can buy or claim their own planet. In wild space or the unexplored regions, they just need to find a planet and occupy it.

They stay because they are grasping prejudiced scum slopping at the trough of the spillage of a Sith Lords wealth. They stay because there are those lessor than them, in their opinion, they can look down on and enslave. They stay because they are afraid. The dregs of humanity too scared to leave too stupid to survive staying. The Sith Lord will use them and then throw them away when he is done with them.

As always, they convince themselves that they are loyalist and seek others of their ilk for affirmation. What they really are is cowards. Too afraid of risk of themselves or their wealth to leave.

Already his minions are set on each other to provide him entertainment. Thrawn was a Chiss. Humans, and all other races, died in his fleet along with clones. Tarkin is human and his crews made up of the same mix as Thrawn's. Tarkin was more cautious and now is the Grand Admiral of the fleet. Fighting off those below him to stay on top of the ever shifting pile of the Emperors favor.

When the Emperor comes for your miserable planet in a year or two, which is what you are really afraid of, will you fight, or roll over and give him your wives, daughters and obedience? Accusing the Dread Lord of cowardice while he is not here being bold talk for a fat man cowering behind him at a dinner party. A fat man who hasn't even opened his wallet to pay anything for the defense being provided to him. Why he does it I don't know. I know I wouldn't." Arden turned on her heel and strode away. The human slunk away, tail between his legs.

Mon snorted "And the Dread Lord has another admirer."

"Mon!"

"What Breha? You know it's true. I think I'll ruin that fat bastard just for fun though."

Garm nodded "I'll help."

SSDV

Harry rubbed the back of his head "So tie it to the wards in case anyone gets access to one and Bobs your uncle. If we need to be here or Alderaan or wherever, step through the door that leads to that planet and there we are. We already put them on every planet of every system we stopped in for twelve days. The girls got lots of exercise putting them in and putting up the fidelius charms. So are we all packed?"

Aayla smiled "Or between ships and nearly. We are but the others have some more to do. The Jedi will pull the training area down and pack it away. They may leave it and we will just build others as we need them."

Apailana nodded "They are leaving it and a few of the older Masters for any Force sensitives that want training. Naboo is to get one of the first temple ships. I tried to give them a building or the ground but they want a landed ship."

Harry nodded and stood "Want to take a walk downtown Ladies?" Luxa clapped like a little girl.

Maris snorted and then asked "So Bars got the Auror Academy, MLE School and Hit Wizard School ships ready yet?"

Harry waved "They'll never do that."

The girls looked at each other grinning. Harry could be so naïve.

SSDV

A month later a stunned Harry was being introduce to the heads of the Auror Academy, MLE and Hit Wizards. Although he already knew Arden. He also met the first classes. All the force sensitive members of the Republics planets police and local military, or as many as could fit on the ships. A lot of this first load were the potential new trainers. They were totally funded by the Member states of the New Republic. Ships and all. Arden was even paid by them. Master of the Hit Wizards and Witches and Commandant of the Academy. Harry was pretty sure they were going to regret that. Arden didn't take crap from anyone.

SSDV

Luxa put an anti-hover holo ward on the hallway to Harry's door and the lift, and moved into the room the Padawans weren't using. When asked she replied "It's the only place I feel safe out of my iron pants." The Padawans started a pool.

The fleet went back around going to different planets two hyperspace weeks apart. The Jedi collected Force sensitives who wished to join along the way in the week long layovers. When they could Harry put a portal on the planet for them. Rather he showed the Jedi the technique, the droids cut the pieces, did the welding and carved the runes then the Jedi teams activated the portals on the world and tied it to the Temple ship the student was going to or the Progress fleet Temple Ship if their sector didn't have a temple yet, after the group of Recruiters put it somewhere under a fidelius. The Varna still hadn't shown any ill affects so all the Academies and the Senate ship as well as the party barge got warded portals. A team of Jedi, Rangers and droids began installing them. Most teams actually. It was another income stream for the Jedi and Rangers, doing the maintenance and installation. Those social political ones as Harry called them cost the people who wanted them or the governments involved a pretty penny. They also came with a maintenance contract and were technically leased to them not owned by them. The things even worked in hyperspace which drove the scientist nuts.

The party barge had to have a permanent staff assigned and was leased out for meetings, conferences and parties. It had started as a neutral ground thing and grown by leaps and bounds. Now it had security and wait staff, kitchens that could cater to any race, a Maitre de hotel in the form of a B3 along with front office staffed by droids and technicians to help with whatever information technology was needed. It wasn't cheap either and was in high demand. After all most of the VIPs in the New Republic had already been there, seen the facilities and liked them. The Republic press had a set of rooms for their near permanent presence. Doors were installed all along the main deck on the outboard wall except for where the docking ports were. Each door could only take a hundred connections. So as one filled another was put up. A B3 and squad of B2s assigned to it and everyone who used it checked with no exceptions. The B3s now carried Tasers. A shocking development, pardon the pun, as the darts didn't need wires and had a range of about a hundred meters. Law enforcement was clamoring for those and Bars was happy to make them in a factory using just droids as they didn't use the force at all. That factory ran continuously. Harry's trunks were full of things like that.

SSDV

The Emperor began planning again. He would feint toward Alderaan if the idiots stopped there and send a party to Wayland to recover his property. The important thing was getting the cloning chambers.

Of course they would challenge this so it needed careful preparation. He could put the oldest fleet units into the fight toward Alderaan with main goal of seizing and holding the junction of the Hidean way and the Perliman trade route to clear it for the force going to Wayland. The Clones and Technicians there could begin packing the labs and cloning equipment and everything else in the facility. The evacuation force could arrive, load and depart with as short a presence there as possible.

SSDV

Harry worked on a sponge for a couple of hours a day in the bay of Republic One under the unblinking eye of a process control droid dedicated to just that. When he wasn't working on it the droid was measuring it to the nanometer, and a factory of droids copied what he had done on twelve sponges apiece. Basalt of a specific type made the owner of one rocky planet very wealthy. It also grew that planet whole cities underground. It actually was rather lovely. It was like one of the city planets but upside down and the in-demand apartments and buildings fronted on the air shafts which were all standard sized to fit a lucrehulk for loading and unloading. Transport and residential halls radiated out from the air shafts as they were dug. The bottom of the shafts were water storage and had ward stones sunk in them and the surface was all agriculture, leveled and sculpted with the tailings from the mines after they were processed with the waste and everything of value extracted from them. The first crops were those that grew best in poor ground and then it ramped up to others, crop by crop year by year. The planet didn't ship any waste off world. It was all consumed on the fields of the surface.

The visit to the Hapes cluster was quick and a bit stiff but maybe the ice was broken a little.

Harry looked at the thing parked next to Republic One and laughed. It was a sphere perhaps twice the size of a standard control sphere, absolutely bristling with weapons. Torpedo tubes, laser cannons, mass drivers like his on the Marauder and the ammunition for them like he used now. Ammunition, basalt that didn't make the grade for spheres with an iron core poured in them, was shrunken until it dropped in the loading tray from a hopper containing thousands. Every weapon that could be jammed on it really. Between every muzzle, opening, longitudinal and lateral track for mass driver muzzle devices or antenna a vulture droid perched. The latest model vulture droids. It was all droid so it didn't have crew areas or their associate life support and waste collection. Just ammo storage behind armor, shields and wards with armored power generation buried somewhere in it. It was semi-autonomous. It had the rune driven fuel producing caps eliminating tankage. In a new wrinkle the reaction mass tanks for the sublight engines were eliminated in the same way, large diameter reaction mass producing caps. Harry had wondered what those were for. A B3 controlled it from Republic One at least as far as telling it to shoot or stop shooting. Its sensor data fed the holo tank on Republic One. It didn't have an AI just redundant astromech cores for navigation and flight and redundant fire control cores. It linked to the Republic holonet but could still function autonomously if the nets were jammed. It used banks of fuel producing fill pipe caps and reaction mass tank caps feeding redundant propulsion and attitude control systems. Bars nodded "Bit of a test bed. We hope to get it in combat and then we can make it better."

"Uh, Bars if it is in combat won't I be?"

Bars blinked "Well no. The plan is to send it to intercept whoever as far away from its mother as possible. The AI on Republic One has control of it."

"Oh. I thought you were mad about the death threats there for a minute."

"Speaking of which have you slept with Luxa yet? We're getting close to one of my days in the pool." Bars arched a brow.

"Apailana!"

"Eeep!" The Queen of Naboo legged it. The command council fell out laughing. They were in tears when the doubles, guards, Roganda and Tis'wedu edged to the door and shot off after her. Luxa pouted at Harry and he walked away grumbling.

SSDV

Jocasta watched Harry working on the dark sponge. He had cut it in half, hollowed it out saving the material leaving about a six inch thick shell and was drawing sections all over the inside of it in chalk. He would then come back and carve the runes. He was consulting a thick book as he did so. All of the chips from the carving were sent to the pile of rock he had carved out of the sphere. That was inside a rune circle which was drawing the Force away from it leaving the waste rock completely dead in the Force. A process control droid, his favorite protocol droid and an archivist droid were watching his every move.

Jocasta was also looking at a sheet comparing readings on planets they had already put sponges on. Or rather teams of Jedi or Jedi Shadows had put them on. There was a great debate going on as it appeared the sponges were really absorbing the Force tainted by, corrupted with, or something with evil intent or evil as Harry defined it. The debate was over whether or not this would leave the empire with dark users like Arden. As you might imagine it was a heated argument. Arden was no joke and when aroused was scary for everyone, Mace Windu and Yoda included. Only Harry smiled and motioned her to come on and fight after she had gotten angry. They used staffs on each other. Harry called them quarterstaffs. Broken bones were not unusual in those matches.

The rune sets he was carving and that book he was counsulting had pages of were causing some consternation as well. There were whole languages of runes in there. Another Archivist and first contact capable protocol droid were working on the book. The book itself was an illuminated, hand written, dragon skin leather bound book on real parchment. A priceless work of art. Jocasta got dizzy looking at it sometimes. Librarians from far and wide were clamoring for images from the book even though they couldn't understand a word of what it contained and would probably, unless they were Jedi, never be allowed to learn these languages.

In the Jedi and Command council a debate was raging over what to do with the fallen Jedi the Shadows were bringing back. Harry had shrugged and said "Purification ritual, purging draughts until you get clear fluid and if they fall again execute them. They can't be saved, they have to save themselves."

The dark side users that weren't corrupted were given to Arden and if they survived and she judged them worthy they took oaths and became Republic Hit Wizards and Witches. If they could find their core and do occlumency to a high enough level. If not they worked somewhere for Potter industries with everyone watching them.

Surprise! Arden had learned occlumency or its equivalent in her youth and didn't understand how the Jedi and Sith of today didn't know it. Really couldn't, freaked completely out couldn't, and didn't know how all the Jedi hadn't fallen to the dark couldn't. More religious discussions, as Bail and Garm called them, ensued. Legillemency was known to her but she was not a practitioner. Aayla had set on Yoda again about suppressed knowledge and the Librarians and Archivist were looking at everything they could find starting as far back as they could find it an asking Harry and Arden questions.

The Hit Wizard program was also a training ground for healers and potion makers. All of the Academy ships were really. There were a lot of Force sensitives who didn't want to be Guardian, Sentinel, Shadow or Consular Jedi or researchers or work in a potions factory. Bars and Harry were working on schools and jobs for them and the tent idea was looking like coming true.

The Republic would soon have enough of each, Law Enforcement, Hit wizards and Aurors to take over from the droid armies on worlds they had to establish law and order on that had not made it to a planetary government yet. Of course the police patrol droids would still be there so it would be transparent to most citizens until a pair of coppers showed up rather than a droid squad. The droids were leased at cost to the Republic and then the sector or planetary governments. Policing protocols had just been pushed to all combat capable droids and B3s. The new B4 models would have it as well. As the occupation forces were relieved by local forces they were brought back for rebuild and upgrades then pushed out to the fleet or to other worlds as needed in twenty thousand droid, armor heavy, infantry division sets.

The Consular path Jedi were ecstatic to have jobs setting up governments on those planets and getting them in relationships with like-minded young governments either in their system or somewhere else in the New Republic.

All in all, a happy busy Republic. Oh, and official lunches and dinners on the Party Barge one week in three. Meeting the people who someone, maybe even themselves, considered important in the New Republic. Breha, Mon, Clynda and a staff form Bars ran that with Obi wan. The Potter Ladies grew host, literal host, of female friends all over the Galaxy. Well, minus the core worlds.

Harry pretty much tried to ignore that part of it but he was still polite to everyone. Most of the time. A few had ended up getting interrogated then arrested. Which was better than having to duel the Dread Lord or having assassin droids show up at your house.

*Chapter 11*: Chapter 11

Same Song Different Verse

Chapter Eleven

Going to the Chapel

The group arrived in orbit of Alderaan and, as they were staying a while, put the control sphere of Republic One on the ground outside the Fidelius wards of the Royal Lodge.

It was a much different experience from their first arrival. Alderaan's close geosynchronous orbit fairly bristled with weapons platforms. At the poles were two new small moons. Lucrehulks that had been enclosed into full spheres and were bristling with weapons. They had no atmosphere and were all sensors, weapons and vulture droids. As soon as they arrived they received a automated warning to stay in orbit no closer than the platforms. It took only seconds for Republic One AI to disregard all that and take over the planets weapons in orbit. Sorting that out took a few hours. Breha finally stepped on the government and gave Republic One control of the planets droid based defenses. Things in orbit suddenly traveled rigid, predictable paths and did exactly as expected in accordance with Alderaan air and space control regulations, or a cloud of vulture droids descended on it, if what ever it was resisted it soon became an abrupt warning, followed nearly immediately with a close warning shot. Several young nobles lost major points with their romantic interest and friends as pissing yourself was a faux pas. The organics in the space control system control rooms watched nervously then relaxed. Breha received a few reports and went and talked to the AI. The AI began moving copies of herself to the two planetary defense spheres. Breha's technicians went to install the necessary redundant memory and processing cores in those spheres.

They had doors to the Academy and Jedi ship and Harry, on a lark, had put them on sheets of druasteel with braces so you opened a door in midair and stepped through to your destination. He thought it was funny anyway. The girls just rolled their eyes, even after he explained the movie and made a flip book of it. The Royal Palace got a door in a public hallway that led to another in the Royal Lodge. Warded like Hogwarts or Gringotts of course. Intent wards, Harry hadn't done that and found it happening a bit puzzling. The runes were right there, but he would have never put them in that particular order. It was a mystery for now, but thy worked so he shrugged and left it.

Citizens on worlds widely separated began wondering what was going on as The Dread Lord and party would be seen first on their world and later that day on another. There was a holo channel that was all Dread Lord all the time. Luxa ran it on about an hour delay. It quickly became a legendary power of the Dread Lord. He could be anywhere at any time. Harry would have laughed if he knew how crazy the girls wanting just that thing from that store on X to go with the skirt in the commerce center on Y was driving Imperial intelligence. Him looking for things he remembered in junk shops on seemingly thousands of different worlds whenever he had an idea or needed one and just going there didn't help. The things he bought in those places and the discussions with the shopkeepers were just scrambled enough so you couldn't really tell what it was or how much it cost on the holo's.

Luxa had a deal with Republic One AI. Republic One got to use the Holo cams watching Harry and the others and she did the OPSEC censoring on the holo feeds from those cameras.

Harry agreed with the older Ladies in waiting that the skirts they were matching those shoes and other things to were really belts. The girls really didn't care about that as all anyone was seeing was flesh toned, clothing color matched, or contrasted full coverage armored pants, cuisse, complicated joints over the knee that took real skill to make, like the elbows and shoulder joints, and greaves. Which had cushioning charms inside them now so you could dent the duracrete if you dropped on it full speed. Hadn't that been embarrassing! Oh and triggered another slap injury test series. The charms didn't help with those, they were less than a millimeter thick after all, but they made the armor so much more comfortable they stayed.

The Jedi Council licensed the doors from him and now Padawans and younglings got one for their homes if they had one and their families allowed it. Those were connected to the school ship the padawan was attending, usually in their sector unless they had some special skill or need only served on a different school ship somewhere.

The diplomat, scholar, warrior, monks of the Force were suddenly a lot more scholar than anything else. Keeping up with the knowledge being gained from the Dread Lord required a couple of hours of study a day.

Bars, of course, was looking at the possibilities of banks of public doors, but local governments were skittish, how would they control that? What were the long-term effects yada yada, an endless litany. Plus, or perhaps the real issue, the things cost a fortune and had to be maintained perfectly and not just everyone or any five force sensitives could charge that rune set. And it was hard to figure out a way to capture the income stream of public use. The Senate doors had people like elevator operators, stupid but well, you know, people. Senators still had sentient organics answering their holo's. They, the operators, also were security for the Senate hull.

The Senate hull was making the Bothans happy as it was seeing more and more use. Every sector or planet with a senator had a magically expanded standard loader droid container and outfitted them as they liked. It was a nest of intrigue of course, and had its own police force. A job Harry wished on no one, but the people that did it passed veritasserum questioning and swore oaths. Oaths to the Republic.

The scouts were dropping doors on unoccupied worlds or bodies at the same time they dropped ward sets. Those doors were being connected to doors on Republic One.

Halfway through their two month stay on Alderaan Harry woke up, walked to the tank and watched B3 One Delta put the Sphere of Destruction, or SoD as he liked to call it, to work. Tarkin had led with his oldest ships of the line firing away at everything, including rocks, to clear the mines which still managed to take some out and then another wave to engage the Republic fleet. He didn't fare as well against the uprated Subjugator class battle cruisers that were now the Republics ships of the line. Several emergency portkeys dropped Jedi on the Temple ship in the infirmary and non-droid Officers on the hospital ship though. The Rangers hospital hull was receiving a steady stream of casualties as well.

Vulture Droid carriers, inspired by the mine racks, and needing nearly no modification to the existing mine racks in the spares train of the mine program, just able to make it to hyperspace deployed millions of them and more and more mines were laid off their rack ships.

Lucrehulk hulls converted to mass driver platforms maintained a devastating fire on all sides of the penetration. Quad cannon mounts on those ships were busy destroying masses that survived passing through the imperial fleet and were on course to one of the Republic mass driver platforms. They also performed as a unified networked defense against imperial fighters. Republic One AI and her twined selves were in the background doing that sort of thing automatically. Her power consumption ratcheted up to near the sphere she was resident on being in hyperspace. Reaction mass, water, was diverted to cooling and steam was being dumped through her attitude control jets with the nozzles widened to maximum so they produced nearly no thrust and in balanced opposite side pairs. It was actually fairly lovely, The giant, now red and gold, sphere wreathed in clouds. The lawns and gardens downwind were getting a gentle mist of water.

The planetary wards and defenses of New Republic worlds in the tip of the bulge all the way down to the chunks of Anaxes got a light test then the planetary defense Ion cannons kept up their fire on anything not squawking the correct code. Those worlds fleets weren't being quiet ether. If it entered their space and didn't squawk the friend or foe identification correctly it was engaged immediately.

Vader took a group of the newest and fastest Star Destroyers in the super dreadnought class to Wayland once Tarkin's fleet cleared the mines to and at the intersection of the hyperspace routes. Tarkin disengaged but only withdrew a few light hours and the command council had a meeting. Bars had the information they needed this time rather than Mon. "An Imperial force intends to invest Wayland."

Harry grinned and One Delta sent the SoD hurtling to try to catch them in normal space in orbit around Wayland. It had by now been fully tested and some rather spectacular techniques worked out using it. It was a bit slow in comparison to the empire ships, at least in hyperspace. In normal space it spun like a top in any direction and the weapons fired as they bore. It had appeared as if imperial vessels were hit with masses from nowhere as they were moving sideways nearly as fast as they were moving forward. The astromechs had adjusted those trajectories on the fly and were very excited to be allowed a free hand to work as fast as their processor cores allowed.

Ackbar nodded "As soon as the salvage fleet clears the lane we will mine it and prepare for Tarkin holding the door open for their return. Meanwhile I will move some units to the hyperspace lane turning and see if we can't mine that and knock them out of hyperspace to fight.

I will have some fleet units in the north push down to Wayland to join the SoD in that fight."

Mon frowned "Depending on what the SoD can tell us about that unit's composition. Meanwhile we might want to move elements to contain this break out."

Garm nodded "Though I think they are only after whatever was in that base on Wayland."

Harry nodded "They don't know we know that though, so let's punish them as much as we can. Flex at this hard like we think it's a major break out, go on the offensive all around the core world's boundary, shell Coruscant if we can. Shell any we can get to from orbit, the imperial government facilities anyway. He wants an enemy, let's be one. If we have enough assets launch a spoiling attack at the orbital yards and planets in the Corellia sector. Get a picket of Lucrehulk mass driver platforms facing the lanes and as soon as anything is detected in hyperspace other than us saturate the lanes in masses from the mass drivers. Tarkin is leading with remote controlled near hulks. Let's make him spend those.

We need to get some people looking for what spin his propaganda machine is going to put on this and work to counter it. If nothing else than by getting the truth out there. I think our first line though should be us responding to this 'unprovoked and dastardly attack' In fact I have a speech from a memory of a documentary for our propaganda people to review."

Mon rolled her eyes "Public relations and News people Harry."

Harry blinked "Yeah those."

The command council grinned and Ackbar started sending instructions. Reconnaissance in force and by fire started nearly immediately with Providence class ships.

SSDV

Three days later the SoD popped out of hyperspace a day behind the imperial fleet led by Vader and opened a withering fire on the imperial elements investing Wayland and the planet itself.

Darth Vader fought hard for eighty hours before they got everything from the base in the mountain. Thousands of vulture droids with apparently inexhaustible fuel and reaction mass and hundreds of Lucrehulk class battle ships attacked his Flotilla in waves that appeared, dumped more vulture droids, let go broadsides and disappeared to be replaced by another wave just far enough out of line to require reorienting guns or ships to engage them. That and some new type of ship that was all weapons and had some kind of hypervelocity rapid fire mass driver. It spun crazily and darted around as if it was in a holo simulation, continuously firing a nearly solid stream of masses. If attacked by fighters it fired thousands of medium twin turbo laser batteries. If you let up your fire on it for an instant, torpedo's streaked away from it and wandered around looking for a chance to attack you. If they got within a kilometer they detonated in a fireball that ate portions of ships within that kilometer circle. They apparently had inexhaustible fuel and reaction mass as well. He was out of fighters, nearly out of ground troops and his ships, though new when he took them out were leaving pieces, bodies, flimsy and gas plumes behind as they maneuvered. At least there were no mines.

Elsewhere Tarkin had had to split his fleet and call up reserves to try to stop the penetration that lost them the Corellia sector and let the Republic occupy the capitol world and begin the ground fight to take it from the minority empire sympathizers who had tried a coup and the fight on its orbital yards to take them.

Coruscant planetary defenses were sorely tested by another Republic Fleet and he was steadily pushed off the hyperspace lane turning and out of position to support Vader's return.

The empire elements along the picket on the empire side were engaged and in some cases pushed off the picket line or destroyed all around the core worlds boundary.

Only a general mobilization of the fleet offered hope and for every fleet unit they could get underway five Lucrehulks two Providence and a Subjugator class showed up in the tanks. Along with one of those Force forsaken mine racks and another of those vulture droid racks. Or at least that is how it seemed. They were appearing around the core though and not necessarily where they could affect the battle for the hyperspace lane crossing. It didn't stop them from driving toward the nearest empire unit guns blazing. Or sitting at extreme range, masses spewing into empire systems at near hyperspace velocity. Several planets or sectors that had not kept up planetary defense learned the hard way the navy wouldn't necessarily save you.

Finally, Vader returned, got knocked out of hyperspace, started clearing the mines, and after a melee battle, that nearly set space ablaze, the Imperial fleet withdrew in a shambles to a stronger line and held. The Republic moved up, spewed mines everywhere and then began policing the battle space. Tarkin looked and sighed. They had lost everything except the Core and even then, the bulge had expanded to include the smoking ruin of Corellia and nine other systems. The Republic left a barren field as they withdrew behind the thousands of active mines they left at the new picket line, leaving nothing in their wake, like a plague of locust. They took the pieces of Anaxes even.

The Emperor had congratulated them on a job well done. Tarkin wondered if the man was operating in the same reality as him.

SSDV

Harry came through the door to Republic One, ran to the atmospheric shield on the front of the hull and looked at the ball. "Poor SoD." The girls gave him sympathetic looks. The Sphere of Destruction had performed magnificently, but was savaged. Fires burned in serval locations fed by gasses leaking from engineering and weapons spaces and impact craters dotted its surface. Crippled droids crawled about its surface trying to effect repairs, pieces of droids littered the areas near the craters.

Aayla sighed and hugged him "We'll get you a new, better, ball Harry."

Harry looked at her and smiled sadly. The girls rolled their eyes. Roganda said "Come on Harry. We'll get the Idiot back and finish the sponge and the droids will make millions of them. We'll seed them everywhere and shoot them into the inner core." Harry lit up.

He worked the next twelve hours on the sponge as reports came in and the Republic took stock of what they felt was a victory. On paper it certainly was. The Empire had no units left it had had when the clone war ended Army or Navy. It had lost another nine Core systems and two more were now threatened and on the front lines. Coruscant had been bombarded from orbit, to desultory effect to be sure but bombarded, and the people panicked. With nine core systems shields and defenses not holding there was at least some reason for concern and by the time the herd got done with it it was the hysterical end of the known universe and life as they knew it.

The Empire holonet of course painted it as the gallant forces of the empire repelling the non-human invaders and the Republic holonet went with the truth. Well with a bit of FDR influence, Maybe some Churchill in there too. "We will fight them in space, we will fight them in orbit of our allies' worlds, we will fight them on the ground. We will never give up." In Harry's voice laid over scenes of those very things. Harry had blushed. If the girls at home ever saw this they would take the piss out of him for years.

Heavily edited holo from Luxa showed Harry giving the instruction to punish them and cheering beings and hardworking droid crews serving smoking gun emplacements and sparking shield generators. Fighters of all types locked in deadly combat, ground forces of droids and humans led by Jedi fighting Clone units and imperial sympathizers on Corellia. Calm officers of all species tensely watching holo tanks, blurred for operational security, along with holo footage of what was being called the Dread Lords weapon in space single handedly battering multiple massive star destroyers into flying junk yards, imperial fighters and cruisers into expanding balls of plasma, finally the savaged SoD receiving aid from the droids of Republic One and so he was further lionized. He rolled his eyes.

SSDV

Aayla drew her saber and cut the first pair of tossed panties into five pieces before they hit the ground and that didn't happen anymore. They were walking down the main street of the government center of Corellia at the time. Live footage of Harry levitating massive pieces of building off trapped survivors and then healing them in front of everyone's eyes, including his ever present archivist droid, didn't help. Arden Lyn standing over him with lit sabers did. It didn't matter at all that hundreds of Jedi and a group of girls were doing the same things in the same shot. It was all Harry all the time.

The command council shook their heads and laughed until they hurt themselves. The senate would declare him overlord of the universe or something. He went two weeks constantly in motion, fighting, healing, rescuing civilians. More and more haggard and with the women of his close circle and the Jedi in general performing at heretofore, at least to the general populace, unseen levels, all with holo cams following their every move. All suitably blurred as Republic One AI thought necessary for OPSEC. Harry healing children who were balls of bloody rags when they were brought to him in front of the entire Republic and most of the empire stopped the galaxy in its tracks. Him chopping a slaver or just a rapist to pieces with a giant knife, that made the body rot or something, in front of those same eyes got them all moving again.

Harry fell in bed at the end of a tough few weeks and woke up twenty hours later with Arden of all people being his blanket. She moved straight in that day.

SSDV

Luxa talked to her belly "Come on, baby time!" Harry pounded his forehead on his work table. Aayla slid a rubber pad under his forehead and kept talking to the Knight that had gotten her attention. Breha, Clynda and Mon had to walk away, they laughed until they cried.

Mace looked at his padd the next day and sprayed caf over the exercise area "Dark Jedi led by the Sith Lord Dread Rape Corellia? What the frack? Look at this picture, it's Harry levitating half a building off a basement full of children. That girl, that one right there, just threw a pair of panties at him! The pieces haven't hit the ground yet from Aayla chopping them to up! Depa is in the background using the Force to unfold a speeder to get a trapped passenger out." Obi wan collapsed laughing. Mon had to take him to lie down. Mace went and chopped up a block of basalt that had failed inspection with his saber. Harry shrugged sheepishly and went back to getting beaten on by Aayla, erh sparing, yes that's what it was. Yoda made a dusty kind of noise that grew and improved into a bit of a mad cackle. Yaddie glared at him. "Yes, puzzling this is." He broke up again and had to toddle away.

Bail lay his head back on the conjured armchair he was sitting in. "Fracking Dread Lord."

Breha could only nod. Leia and Luke giggled and waved chubby arms.

They finally loaded up and moved on to the next world on the list. The exercise, sparring and learning of magic continued apace.

SSDV

Out in the wider Republic the Dread Lords daily schedule was pieced together and all kind and manner of preventable sports injuries became common until Roganda and Tis'wedu along with Farris sat down with Luxa and did a piece on beginning exercises, starting with stretching. The next thing that happened was white stretch sports bra crop tops and compression shorts became scare, along with good cross training footwear.

Luxa started a piece where she passed on questions from the wider galaxy to the younger girls. Makeup, none. Hair, braided tight to the skull and out of the way, excess wrapped tightly in something suitable, The grey recycle cloth worked if that was all you could get, or braided and those braids made into buns over the ears, or a sock bun for out of exercise. Harry had shown them that one. Washed and brushed out daily. While you are washing your hair or at least using a fresher on it you might as well be in the fresher or shower. Some moisturizer appropriate to your species after the shower. Diet mostly fruits and vegetables with a moderate amount of protein, not fried, and few carbohydrates, no processed food unless nothing else was available. Clean water or whatever liquid you needed. But above all make sure you get enough and if you aren't holo these numbers (the local Jedi Council or Republic office holo number along with Bars recruiting office number). Potter Industries ration and hygiene packs marked for your species and sex if nothing else. Available for free from any droid police unit. Exercise, demonstrations for indoors or out, on a ship or off, with a partner and without. Upper and lower body groups. Some kind of aerobic exercise, at least twenty minutes a day at your target heart rate. Instructions on finding your target heart rates. Homework help or the holo sites to use for study help. Boys not until we are older, on and on for an hour a day.

Maris and Ahsoka got suckered into the same thing for the older female crowd and Aayla even gave up an hour for the fully mature females with Shaak and Celeste.

You couldn't watch those holo channels unless you were a verified female and they were guarded jealously. Males got used to the channels being shut off and them glared at until they left the area during the live hours.

Bars noticed a uptick in grades and work production and those hours were blocked out of work for female workers. Harry was of course then roped into the same thing for males. He press ganged Jedi Padawans, Knights and Masters into helping. Bail and Garm got press ganged as well.

Harry was starting to get worried again as everything was running so well. He wasn't even being called to tough cases of wounded and injured as much. He would have to investigate why. The medical bays on all the ships were still mostly full from the reports. Then he came in the hold one morning and there was a droid loading platform with what looked like a catapult on top of it or maybe a siege engine with a sponge in a sling? Cup? Something, and a grapple or manipulator arm. The girls were all over it. "Ladies."

"Morning Master." A chorus.

"What is this?"

Roganda was spokes Padawan "Well as we know, there is a black hole at the center of the galaxy, or at least according to theory. Also, according to theory, they can absorb infinite amounts of energy, radiation, matter or whatever. So if we slow launched a sponge at the center of the galaxy and the Force is everywhere as we are taught and so the dark or evil side is everywhere as well wouldn't the sponge be slowly drawn to the black hole soaking up evil all the while and then disappear in the black hole? Poof!"

Tis'wedu picked up "So if we had a Lucrehulk loaded with sponges and it went an hour in Hyperspace, dropped out, then slow or soft launched one at the black hole wouldn't they eventually clean the Empire of evil?"

Maris nodded "Meanwhile the Lucrehulk could be an intelligence gathering platform. And drop sensor packages. Maybe slow launch them as well, on a useful trajectory. We could repair one of the shot up ones just for droids and load it down with sensors, sponges, older rebuilt astromechs and B1 and two squads to keep people from being, well, people, put on fuel and mass caps and send it off."

Ahsoka got into it "Or a couple, one from each side going the same way round and if the sponge landed on a planet and survived well then that would be fine and if it didn't POW! One less Empire world full of enemies."

Harry rubbed the back of his head. "OK, so what runes are you going to need to unshrink the sponges in the launcher cradle? Then we can do away with that arm and a droid can just put one in there. Or a hopper like the SoD mass drivers. One for the sensor packages too. The sensors could be manufactured on board." Class was back in session.

SSDV

On Byss Palpatine chuckled at the holo stories of the Sith Lord Dread and his dark Jedi. He had his cloning chambers, he would soon get another legion a month. The scientist and engineers could copy the chambers and the number would only increase. The Empire had stayed at wartime production levels. The yards were turning out super dreadnoughts and his secret weapons were coming along nicely. The humans in Empire space were terrified and in his pocket. Yes, consolidation, and then Alderaan would be sacrificed followed by Naboo and wherever Bars Hnad was clearing the way into the wider galaxy and his benign rule.

This rebellion was useful after all. He hadn't realized how quickly he would need an enemy once he had won the against the CIS. Bit of an eye opener there. Of course Bars construct Dread filled in nicely. Yes, yes it delayed his plans for Hutt space, the Ascendancy and Hapes but it was just a delay. Those plans needed more work anyway.

Dread had given him a moments pause with that healing. That was a new skill for a Sith. At least doing it without the screaming. Then of course he had chopped those men who were simply following tradition to rotting pieces with some kind of dark artifact so it was all even in the end. Perhaps even better. Mercurial moods of a Sith lord and all that. The Propagandist could work with that.

Now which minion was getting above themselves and who could he set on them?

SSDV

Bars shrugged "I like it. We have a lot of Lucrehulks barely space worthy for organics. We can put a few of the oldest into this. The ones that would require the most refitting to be fully useful again. The new models are so much better. We might as well get value out of them rather than scrap metal. The ladies do have a point, or many points."

Harry sighed "Now we will have to drop one on a dark world and see what happens."

Bail grunted "You are a softy. You do realize these people are the enemy, right? What kind of Sith Lord are you?"

Aayla barked "No kind! Uh sorry. Bit moody lately."

Breha worked on her padd and a medical droid trundled in. Aayla squirmed a bit then the droid said "Twi'lek female, mixed species fetus both healthy."

Harry levitated her to his lap and sat hugging her and smiling. The girls buried them in a group hug. Clynda sighed "Oh boy, here we go."

Luxa smiled "I have the campaign ready. By the time it becomes obvious it will be passé.

Celeste nodded "And put paid to this Sith Lord nonsense. The first thing they lose is the ability to procreate."

Breha sat up "Oh a wedding! A State wedding!"

Aayla snorted "Harry is my mate, I am his." The discussion got really interesting immediately.

SSDV

"Felucia! In a cave!" Breha looked at Aayla in despair.

"It's where I first saw Harry. When he was healing me after he stopped the Clones from killing me."

Sighs went up around the work area. Breha glared at the women present. She looked at Harry "Harry?"

"Where ever Aayla wants. A handfasting we decided though."

Aayla nodded "Bound by the living Force." More sighs. Solemn nods from Jedi Masters. Breha thought she might be having a stroke, the pain behind her right eye was so bad.

"Powerful wards the planet now has. Strong in the Force was always Felucia. Read this book on handfastings I must." Yoda added.

"Of course it does. Well let's get working on a guest list then." Breha nodded tightly.

Harry grinned "We can invite Palpatine. Put an end to the civil war now."

"Very droll Dread Lord." Breha smiled and replied, in a rather brittle voice.

Harry sighed "I'm sorry Queen Breha. Bars send Breha whatever she needs."

"Of course Dread Lord. Might I suggest white for My Lady's armor and leave it as a under layer to her traditional dress?"

Harry blinked "Hmmm hadn't thought about that."

"Your black will be fine Harry. White is too clone like though. Perhaps orange or yellow." Aayla tapped her chin.

Breha smiled and relaxed a little. Obviously, she was going to have a bride to work with after all, for a while there it had appeared to be that this was going to be a wedding at blaster point. Which would be a scandal, as would a wedding that was not an EVENT, with its attendant minor scandals and chatter. She had thought Aayla more politically astute than that. The damnable clone war had taken a lot out of her apparently. She narrowed her eye's looking at Harry, or maybe something else.

Bail looked at Garm as they stood some distance away "So there is that then."

Garm nodded "Poor Harry."

Bail snorted "Poor Harry has half the hottest women in the galaxy. He also has most of the money and does whatever he wants. Poor Harry. Are you all right Garm?"

Garm sighed "The sword of Gryffindor. A poisoned, force imbued, weapon of his family thousands of years old. Poisoned with that acid he used on the Muur Talisman, but not destroyed by it like pure gold was. That he got to absorb that acid by jamming it in a sixty foot long, force imbued, snake that can kill with a glance when he was twelve years old. From inside its mouth! That memory is the most horrifying thing I have ever seen. I don't think I have ever seen someone so single minded and purpose driven."

Bail nodded "It's the demons, those upper class ones, that do it for me. Fighting them at all first, and then the upper level demons one on one with just the Force?" He shuddered. "Maybe the Force is paying him back for being a complete bitch to him for years. Can't think why else the girls all get along so well. Would have expected them to have had a giant fight by now, maybe Harry to be missing a few pieces. They do have light sabers and he does sleep near them." Garm looked at Bail with a raised brow.

SSDV

Three days later a thoughtful Yoda came to Harry "Twenty two Jedi or Jedi and non-Jedi couples handfastings on the spot you saved the Order want."

Harry grinned "I can take us to it. Uh, wait a minute. Which spot? Where I stopped those meat robots from killing Aayla, where we sabotaged the armory, or at the cave where I healed Aayla and woke her up?"

Yoda frowned "Ask I will." nodded and walked off, still thoughtful. The girls all jumped up and down with their hands over their mouths. Harry looked at them and rolled his eyes. It wasn't just the Padawans either. Jedi Masters were acting like teenagers.

As it turned out the memories of the whole of the first few days had to be reviewed and recorded into a holo presentation, edited by Luxa and put on the women's channels of course, Harry got a little skittish from the looks he was getting. The holonet crashed five times. Then a consensus among the brides was reached, that the landing field where Aayla and Harry had contacted Shaak was the seminal location. The cave was deemed private to Aayla and Harry, and no one wanted to be married where the clones shed Jedi blood, even though it all worked out in the end. "Now go back to the start and lets see it again. Pass me that pillow." Seemed to be the reaction to the presentation on the female channels of the holonet. At least at all the watching parties that sprang up.

The girls knocked some designs together of a clone legion headquarters, just a frame with floors, in white painted structural durasteel. They assumed the original duracrete pad would still be there. The alter being as close to the spot where the holo terminal Aayla used to call Shaak was, as anyone could figure out using Harry's original map and the holo anyway. The design was in a virtual space on the holonet. By the time they got it where they wanted it between the twenty two brides it was very nice. A memorial even.

Harry was digging in his trunks for seeds, bulbs, and cuttings to force grow. Roses of course, anemone, baby's breath, calla lily, carnations in pink, red and white, mum, daffodils, freesia, daisies, Then he had to get Neville's book on the language of flowers out which of course led to some planning for the area surrounding the venue. It also led to Neville's book going on the holonet. He was also doing a ward scheme on the structural members and the astromechs were already cutting members and carving runes. They had a foundry and mill in an expanded space in what used to be the service spaces under the hanger floor and was now a magically expanded industrial complex. Harry had expanded the space to the limits of his magic and fixed it with Runes. They could probably build ships in there in pieces that would just fit the vulture droid elevators and assemble them on the deck.

The other Lucrehulks in the command fleet grew the same type spaces. The Party hull was a processing plant, ship yard, arsenal, droid production plant and storage depot.

Anytime it was stopped, any of the Command fleet was stopped really, the ships tractored in scrap and anything else near them in space that didn't appear to be someone else's property. If it couldn't be used as anything, to include being reduced to a nano powder and used as reaction mass, it was sent to the nearest stars gravity well in a non orbital trajectory.

Luxa broke the wedding story, outside the women's channels, and the Republic exploded. "I told you, I don't know why you are so surprised Fred." Wives and girlfriends huffed at significant others.

"Well he hangs out with all those females, I didn't think he would tie himself down like that, Martha. He is a young man. No need to rush. Besides those women's channels are mostly gossip."

"Tied down?" Martha, or whoever, with arched brows, replied in dangerous tones.

SSDV

Palpatine read the report and snorted. Bars was at it again. This time using a Twi'lek. Hmm, what could he want from Ryloth, besides slaves?"

SSDV

Harry shrugged "Most of them have their ships now, it is a pretty clean shot, along good routes we control. We'll wait a month. The Padawan can use some experience in the Jungle."

Maris nodded "And we can jump over to Sith space, drop off some sponges. Yavin even."

Arden nodded "Ossus is right down the lane. Lots to see and do."

Celeste nodded "We should put one on this wheel thing."

Jocasta leapt in "The Library on Ossus to salvage."

Breha arched a brow and Shaak nodded "And twenty six weddings of Jedi to attend or for most officiate along with Yoda, Harry."

Harry blinked at the ever increasing number and looked at Breha "See fun."

SSDV

A week later they had erected the skeleton of the building. Only the dressing rooms and WC's had floors, walls and ceilings. Harry had dropped seeds and nearly had to draw his saber to free himself from the explosion of vegetation, and a battalion of B1 droids had taken over and trimmed and trained under his inexpert guidance but with Neville's books. The thing looked like something out of every girls dreams of an outdoor wedding venue. The climbing roses bloomed continuously and changed color and shape to match the next brides themes and colors. How it knew was drawing teams of researchers. Harry got to work on wards. Anti-insect, humidity control and temperature reduction first. Rain and sun protection after that. The sun protection one left a soft golden light inside the temple, as people were calling it, that made the women's eyes misty. Then he had to go back and modify them to let in beneficial insects. The whole thing hummed with the Force. Harry was a bit puzzled as it wasn't his doing. The Force seemed to be doing it all on its own. The holonet networks had thousands of reporters with their attendant clouds of holo drones running around. Harry was glad the focus of that assault battalion was not on him.

Harry got some other B1s and put up a real building and artfully disguised it as a low hill and it was a catering facility. Another frame was erected to be the reception area. Menus drew commentary from the Republic at large. Food Channel talking heads watched the drones cooking and taste tested everything, raving about technique, presentation and flavor. Twenty-eight rehearsals scheduled, and four days of partying later, and they had done their first two handfastings. Everyone had looked at the ivy Harry had force grown from cuttings out of stasis on Felucia or rather Felucia had force grown and then watched as it sank into two Master's wrists. It was a simple ceremony with words full of meaning and a glow signifying its completion. The mark of the ivy was like a tattoo. One of those brides was not a Jedi and it sank into her and she glowed as well. The women loved it. All the women, of the entire Republic, the empire too using sliced receivers, from eight to nearly dead.

Bars launched a full droid control ship and its compliment of droids to handle what he was certain was about to be the primary location females wanted to be married in the galaxy. He got the AI running the shipping concerns working on packages from nearly no credits to millions of credits. Luxury travel was still not cheap. A bride and groom could sign a labor contract to pay, or, if they had to, extend their existing.

The regular holonet and the Jedi loved it as well, everyone really. Harry picked a place nearby and set some ivy cuttings. He watched them take off through the week and strangle a thorn tree forest to death. He worried it would take over the planet. It finally slowed and then took up a normal kind of feeling and the B1s got it under control. For a few days it had felt super charged in the Force. It also killed that thorn forest or coopted it or something, it was a bit strange. The B1s were training it onto the edges of the forest all the way around the enormous rammed earth star port. The roses were running as vines in it as well. They and the ivy made an awesome natural barrier Ackley and rancor couldn't get through. Insects barely could. The B1's were turning the whole starport into several gardens in a landscaped park. Bars sent cargo hull after cargo hull full of prefab parts and built a hotel. An enormous low rambling hotel no part more than three stories tall, and a residence for Jedi to use while they were there handfasting couples. Harry and Felucia hid that artfully with a low rolling set of hills as well. Harry had needed somewhere to put the dirt and rock from the foundation and Felucia covered it in flowers, grasses and young trees.

One of the last cargo hulls Bars sent brought ten Lucre hulk reactor and generator sections and suddenly Felucia's power grid was not so rudimentary. Four Planetary defense hulks took up station around the planet. One of them had an AI on board. A droid division landed on and fortified the rammed earth star port the CIS had used in the battle for Felucia.

A week, and fifteen weddings in, a propaganda piece about slave bindings of Dark Jedi hit the Empires nets, but now everyone knew and ignored it. Even the Fat Bastard, who Mon was keeping swinging slowly as if in a gibbet as she took his credits, reputation and social standing away piece by piece. Ignored is the polite way to say every holo commentator, news person or celebrity in the Republic had a go at getting a laugh at Palpatine and his propaganda. The Republic was after all watching, more glued too, live holo feeds from Felucia and its environs and the holo news networks had commentators of every stripe talking continuously about everything. Republic Ones AI was running traffic control and planetary defense, while turning the Felucia defense AI into a clone or twin of herself. Thousands of Lucrehulks from planets or sectors showed up. Weddings were scheduled from one in the afternoon local until seven pm local. Five more reception venues went up.

Bars provided Felucia a police force, modest Navy and Army and a governor, with an administrative staff. The towns on the planet experienced the rain of credits that happened wherever Harry and the girls went.

Mace negotiated for farm land, Bars for mineral, and other natural resource, rights. Felucia was suddenly not a poor backwater world. Its people were left blinking in surprise, near shock really.

Then, live on the holonet for an entire day, Harry and Aayla were handfasted. It was at the cave which now had ivy and roses crawling up the mountain behind it. All Harry could remember was Aayla was beautiful and it was a gorgeous day. That gold armor under Twi'lek traditional dress was spectacular on her. Oh and that he had never seen roses that metallic gold or bright blue before. Ravenclaw's wished they could do blue and polished bronze as well as Aayla did. The barely there baby bump enhanced her rather than detracted as well.

The approach to the cave was lined with dignitaries from thousands of worlds and Jedi. In the cave itself, left as it had been when our group departed for Alderaan long ago, the feeling of the Force rising brought a respectful hush to anyone who entered. The alter was erected on the sealed, polished, concrete (really opus signinum, it was an ancient magic) floor where the operating table and then the bed had been. As Aayla and the brides party passed holos of the inside of the cave came to life in front of the crowds and on the net and most of known space paused and watched the simple, deeply meaningful, ceremony. No one asked why Harry's arms had ivy tattoos halfway to his elbows. One of them black.

They stayed at the reception, which had taken over the entire wedding venue, until Maris and Ahsoka had enough, and after the happy couple had danced with everyone who was anyone in their lives, hustled everyone in the Marauder and they disappeared for a week.

SSDV

They caught up with the command fleet at its next stop. Harry read the reports and snorted "I have to leave more often. Look how much got done without me."

Shaak Ti grinned and the other women laughed at Breha's groan. She had become something like the Regent of the Potter commercial and political empire with Harry gone.

Bail looked at Harry "Guess what we found on Corellia."

Harry smiled "Full plans for all Empire ship types for this and the next generation." Bail pouted and got laughed at. Harry chuckled "It was a Navy Yard Bail, they had to know what to build. Your hackers have had a while to work, sorry, slicers. I assume you have analyst and Bars' geniuses running over them to see if we can beat them and then make them unbeatable?"

Bail smiled again. "Why yes we do, Dread Lord."

Harry gave him an even look and he grinned impudently.

Yoda changed topics "Many Padawans we will have at Ilum. Groups Masters will take."

Harry and the others nodded and listened as the plan and a schedule was laid out. Harry blinked at the numbers "Well I see you caught up on force sensitives Mace."

Mace snorted "Not per capita. There are still very many who go into the Aurors, Hit Wizards or law enforcement. Plus research and development. This is a huge bump in the total number of force sensitives. An increase in the percentage of the population in fact. Single digit increase, but still."

Harry frowned and Yoda offered "The shroud falling has done this believe we do."

Harry nodded "Hermione is going to dive into this as soon as I can get her here. That gives me the willies though. We probably should do some more research on that shroud thing."

Aayla grinned "We will figure it out Harry."

Breha narrowed her eyes. She didn't think Aayla was talking about the shroud.

SSDV

Harry and Aayla got loaded into the Marauder, it taken over by Republic One AI, and flown on a parallel course to Republic One under her guns for a week. Shaak controlled access to them, and became the sort of Regent.

After their actual time alone honeymoon Harry and Aayla brought the Marauder back to Republic One and things again settled.

The girl's project had gone ahead and Harry had gotten serious about the sponge. Jocasta and the Archivist put the holos involving Runes from translation, individual runes, their meaning and purpose, syntax, all the way to writing sets, inscribing, carving and then activation methods together into a package. The Archivist had Harry trained and he talked as he worked. The Spheres construction had covered every language Harry knew of and every method he knew to complete. It was a mastery in Runes then post master work to true understanding past the doctorate level. The illuminated tome was included in the holo page by page as a reference.

Harry was amazed. "If they complete this they should be able to do anything I can do. It's all there." Jocasta smiled and showed him the transfiguration and charms holo syllabi. "How did I manage three courses syllabi in two years?"

Apailana laughed "You work like a loader droid twelve hours a day and use the Force continuously. The archivist droids catch it all and then Jocasta and her people arrange it all into syllabi."

Jocasta nodded "You will have to approve defense but we have come to understand it's mostly Transfiguration and Charms, along with hex's and curses, with Jedi like combat training and knowledge of Force sensitive creatures and their abilities. Potions is complete. Once we had the reaction tables, and ingredient preparation techniques that is really chemistry with a bit of a twist. Of course it is all patented or copy written under your name. Bars has a fee arrangement that is not even onerous and only applies to commercial volumes of brewing. The individual potions masters are advancing the art and may achieve that creepy little speech you gave those poor younglings."

Harry blushed. He had Snaped a group and 'put a stopper in death' had sent them running to Aayla and she had been very firm with him about it. "Man causing me trouble and he's been dead so long I hardly remember him. So you don't need me anymore and I can take the girls and go wandering?"

Jocasta arched a brow "Healing? And who would explain all these things we are translating from the books you had? The things still coming out of those trunks as well. Why potions have to be made in vessels of alloys of elements with molecular weights from forty seven to eighty nine or synthetic crystal?"

Harry sighed "OK Healing I can do. Though that seems to be about power and the Healers connection with the Force. I can't explain most of the stuff in those books without tearing it all down and researching it. I have no idea why cauldrons are like that. They just are. Apparently the thickness of the cauldron matters as well, even past the thing melting if it is to thin."

Jocasta nodded "You can go be a pervert hermit once you have finished all that."

Harry thumped his head on the rubber pad Maris Force pushed under it. She shook her head "You get to do all but the hermit part now, stop whining."

Yoda nodded from his carpet hovering nearby "Trials we must have for your Padawans and your Knights Padawans. MLE, Auror and Hit Wizard regulations and procedures must we write. Decide on including the completion of a sponge being a part of a masters duties as well."

Mace nodded "Then of course there is the minor distraction of a galactic civil war."

Harry thumped his head some more. Younglings, Knights and Masters in the area smiled. Ahsoka poked him "Don't be a lazy Dread Lord." The crowd laughed.

Harry turned his head and gave her a glare "Me? Is the sponge launcher ready?"

Farris sighed "That needs a better name. Sponge launcher sounds vaguely gross."

Apailana derailed everyone "I want to put a sponge on Naboo. We will monitor it and if it goes critical we will put it in empty space. I'm thinking some kind of cradle that could automatically drop it in a portal and the other side of the portal put out in clear space."

Breha nodded "What a good idea." The conversation really got going then. Harry smiled, Apailana and all her girls were geniuses. It was so much fun! At least when it was new and different stuff. Well somewhat new and different. Asshats were asshats, no matter the species or location. They always seemed to follow the same pattern. Harry chuckled darkly and Brea frowned at him muttering about reading the rules.

SSDV

Palpatine studied the reports from the scouts out in wild space and frowned. Yuuzhan Vong. Their technology was amazing. Of course they had refused contact. Killed any being not Yuuzhan Vong as a matter of fact. They were set on invading and conquering the galaxy. His mind arts had been able to make some headway but not deter them, in fact it seemed to incite them. He needed that technology. His agents were able to penetrate fewer Republic worlds all the time and the information he paid for from citizens was too general in nature. He had female agents watching those women's channels of the Republic holonets but sorting rumor from truth was a bit difficult. Females had always operated in some other universe. Still it was his most valuable and most up to date source of information. Plus the classes on those and the children's channels were improving life in the Empire. He cackled a bit. Thank you Dread, or rather Bars. "Darth Trade Bar." He cackled and grinned. The aids near him backed up a bit.

The Republic Senate was bogged down in ensuring the rights of every citizen as he had known they would be. Bars droid fleets and armies though had him stymied. He needed a change of paradigm.

From the core he could send fleets above the plane and find one of these world ships. Yes the Vong technology would be his. Or no ones. Palpatine shuddered at the amused feeling he got from the Force.

SSDV

In the Republic the Grand tour continued. There were doors going up nearly everywhere so it was a bit deceptive. They could all be anywhere at any time. Apailana did audiences on Naboo. They slept on the Republic One control sphere though, she, the AI, liked it that way, or in a house the concerned government gave to Harry, one of the governments, and Bars worked over and then put Droids to securing, droids under Republic Ones control. She got a bit fractious when Harry was out from under her eyes. When he was all the ships and droids in the area headed for his last known location as fast as they could go. Harry had houses in most sectors. Nice places, with killing ward sets. Life improved and though there was still unrest among the Humans about the core worlds and their massive human populations and what might be happening to them the droid ships continued to deliver food, haul recycle, clean the hyperspace lanes and the space near them. and wealth continued to change hands.

Jedi and Harry moved to whatever world needed them with the opening and closing of the appropriate door, mostly.

It was a bit of a mutually agreed partition between the Empire and the New Republic. The war was one of propaganda right now.

SSDV

In the Senate indulgences were given as the Dread Lord and his obviously pregnant First talked quietly and sometimes just sat smiling at each other. Until of course credits got involved. In this case an enormous tax on slave holders.

Bail tried a couple of times to get Harry's attention to have him reply to a rather snide comment from a member and finally managed. Harry looked at his padd and nodded "Double the amount."

The Senate took several minutes to get back under control and Bail looked at Harry. Harry shrugged "Droids are cheaper, the leases on them per year cost lest than the food a slave would consume, the clothing they would require and the original cost of acquisition. Droids do a better job and don't corrupt society. It really doesn't matter though as eventually I will eradicate both the practice and those who cause or participate in it as other than a slave."

A senator for Senex leapt up "Is that a threat?"

Harry shrugged "Because of the Force and my connection to it I am likely to live a very long time. I have the means to ensure everyone in the galaxy gets at least a ration bar of whatever type they need to sustain themselves every day and the required liquid to go with it. I fully intend to. So selling one of your children to keep the rest from starving won't ever be required again.

Selling them to get them to a better environment won't be necessary either as we work with all of our technology to improve the environments of the planets for the people, flora and fauna in the Republic.

I intend to ensure all sentient beings are educated to a level where they are competent to function in society.

I will stomp on the beings who are causing harm to others if the Local, Sector or Republic government does not.

I live simply, my needs are few and my fortune is vast beyond comprehension. I have the means, the motivation and the time.

If you haven't noticed I can go to any planet whether I was born there or not, the wards do not prevent me. I intend no ill towards any people. Individuals however, now some of them are a different story. Take that as you will.

In my view government should prevent harm to the people who set it up, ensure they are provided for so that they can at least live and educate them so that they can be productive and provide a source of taxes to minimally maintain the government. Governments should ensure that the people they work for have the opportunity to determine their own fate as long as that does not interfere with everyone else's or anyone elses right to the same thing. After that everything should be up to the individual. Exceed the base education. Be a great and popular artist. Thrill the galaxy with your dance, prowess in sports or acting. Be the very best farmer in the galaxy, bring forth wonders of art, music, science, literature, whatever they want.

A threat? No, consider it notice." Harry was by now standing and his eyes were glowing green. The magic was flowing from him in shimmering waves. The Senex senator had frozen in terror.

The Bothan senator smiled "And along the way you make a hundredth of a credit on everything they need and employment in Potter Industries is the ultimate goal of every worker."

Harry pulled his magic in and his eyes dimmed, then he shrugged "Bars was a bit insistent about the credits."

The Bothan chuckled along with the rest as Bars glared at Harry. "And everything above base needs? You do control most of the means of production."

Harry smiled "And I will charge all the market will bear. Which increases your tax income and lets me get on with my simple philanthropy. If you don't like it no one is stopping you from building a plant or buying or leasing the land and hiring workers or farmers and or leasing droids as long as you comply with the laws proposed by and approved in the Senate, Sector and Local government."

A Dalusian Senator frowned "And how does your leasing of the military droids to the Senate play into your vision?"

"Provide for the common defense is the way one people on my home world put it." Harry shrugged.

The senator from Dalusia continued "So if we wanted to replace them with something else?"

Harry shrugged "I'm not making any credits off of them am I Bars?"

"No Dread Lord. The lease is amortized to recover initial and operating cost with a modest amount for R+D of replacements. In the case of combat loss we are paid the remaining value."

"They are good droids though. I am sure they could be lumber jacks, farmers, miners, foundry workers or street sweepers on any number of unoccupied worlds. Some sentient beings can't even occupy due to the atmosphere or the lack there of. The scouts find new worlds all the time. Please feel free but I would ask that there is a competition, supervised by the commanders as to what force preformed the best." Harry looked at Bail who nodded along with Yoda and Mon.

The Bothan asked "And these new worlds, who do they belong too?"

Harry smiled "Well I found them, or my droids did, in my ongoing effort to root out Imperial forces. We ward them. I'm sure we could work out a reasonable lease." Bars grinned predatorily. Bail face palmed. The Senate exploded.

SSDV

Later in the command council Yoda looked at Harry "Necessary the distraction was why?"

Harry shrugged "It gives them something they think is important to distract them from Mon and Garm trimming the laws down to something sensible. Something that can be enforced reasonably. It also helps keep them off the new Senators from the planetary governments we have finally managed to stand up, or back up in some cases. The lawyers are sure our position is unassailable."

Mace nodded "Well played. Just when I start thinking of you as Harry you remind me you are in fact the Dread Lord. It will take those a hundred years to realize what you did. Now are you ever going to stop taking force sensitives for the Aurors, Hit wizards and MLE squads?"

Harry frowned and looked at Shaak who nodded "They do get most, however the ones that have the ability and desire flow to the Jedi academy. The Jedi however lose some to the academies now as they don't make it through the Youngling, Padawan, Knight, Master cycle. Mace is concerned as they, the planetary governments, take the ones that would have worked in the Agricorps. We get quite a few in Potter industries as well. Or rather Bar's does."

Harry smiled "Hard to keep them on the farm when they could have the exciting life of a flatfoot? The factory floor is so much more glamorous than the life of a roving ambassador or a intenerate warrior? Ever heard of droids Mace? They can run a hoe all day and all night. Haven't we had this conversation? This time it isn't even me. Well the new ones you are losing aren't. It's their planetary Governments. They pay them, we just set the standards and run the training so it's all uniform." Mace glared at him. Harry smiled and held Aayla's hand.

"I knew there was a reason we didn't let people marry." Mace grumbled and got burning glares from females, Jedi included, and laughed at.

Celeste tapped her chin "Depa is still single isn't she Aayla?"

Mon recovered from the general laughter after that sally and looked at Harry "So we are just going to consolidate and wait on another error from the Sidiot?"

Harry smiled "Sidiot, I like that one. We have, in fact, about a thousand years of work to get through Mon and that was before the recently discovered, or rediscovered planets. We found a bunch of console things in the salvage from ancient battles that have better maps than our current ones. They even update for stellar and Galactic motion. The Astromechs had some kind of electronic orgasm over them."

Ahsoka standing behind Harry shoved him "Eww Master!"

Harry smiled "The scouts are launching to confirm them as soon as they are built and outfitted. We will keep improving weapons and droids and spinning the applicable technology out to civilian ventures, but until we build a little more, certainly more organic population, I don't think we can bite off any more of the Empire even if he does make a mistake. Would we try to help them, yes, but it would be a strain and really I have a pregnant wife and other things to do."

Shaak nodded "Like marry me next and Maris and Ahsoka after that then Celeste and of course Apailana if she is still deluded enough to be a part of this thing. All the doubles and guards if their brains fail them. Meanwhile we have Padawans and classes and work. Well it gets a bit much even for Dread Lords." Arden cleared her throat. "Sorry, and fit our Dark Lady in there somewhere. Plus she is the only one that can reach these dark siders. Even if she does it by just beating the snot out them until they get it."

Arden shrugged "It's how I learned. If it isn't broke don't fix it yeah? Besides that only works on the females. Harry will eventually have to kill the penis carriers. One fall is to many for them."

Celeste nodded "Meanwhile we are bringing in all sorts. Former Padawans a lot of them. Ventress and Sinj, people like that. They will take effort to reform even if we can. They need to be tried, serve their sentences and then be made productive. We need to review how Masters are given Padawans. How often we see them back at an academy, and other Masters look at their Padawans as well. The Knights Padawans aren't so much a problem. Perhaps as a Master of the team is there providing extra eyes."

Aayla nodded "We need to get Master Kura in for an evaluation and perhaps some time with us. She trains great Jedi but when they 'go off the script' they do it in a big way. All these independent Masters without Knights and teams are somewhat the same. The practice may need to be if they come across a force sensitive youngling, that youngling goes straight back to the closest Academy ship or at a minimum a team."

Mon nodded "I like it. Meanwhile the Empire has launched hundreds of scouts along the z axis both up and down. There are rumors of an extra galactic race with technology he wants."

Harry sighed "The Sidiot will have us all in another war, an extra galactic one this time. The Chiss, Hapes, Hutt now this. Anything you can develop on capabilities Mon. We can put R+D to work on them."

Mon nodded "Your distraction might pay more benefits than we think."

SSDV

Six months later, and just before Roganda, Tis'wedu, Apailana the guards and doubles trials of Knighthood, Harry was pulled out of sleep and went to the holo tank in the Sphere grounded back on Naboo. He watched as a massive empire fleet launched on the z axis up and then turned and went to hyperspace. He nodded and sent scouts after them by doing the same thing, using the z axis to get clear of the galactic plane. He turned and went back to bed.

Over the next months and with the girls now Knights and Maris and Ahsoka officially Masters they got holos of destroyed ships and the scouts picked up samples to bring back. Harry blinked when he saw his first whole alien body "Minor demons. Level seven maybe. Could be eight, depends on the magic."

"No way." Celene breathed.

Farris waved "Send a sponge boat out there, not like we don't have plenty. The sponges haven't soaked up enough evil, or whatever it was on the demon plane, to cause any of them to detonate. They just seem to suck in anger or any bad emotion or the Force that has been corrupted by it. Even that one on the dark Jedi confinement ship just keeps working, no glowing, no nothing. The sponge boat can do early warning for us too in case the Empire misses one of these."

Arden nodded "The sponges don't hurt the dark side at all. Seem to help actually. Much better than that cleansing ritual. Just lay on one for an hour or so. Helps your back too. Philosophical debates aside, don't we want to get some salvage ships out there to pick up whatever is recyclable? That's a lot of metal."

Aayla nodded and a B3 started sending orders. Harry drummed his fingers. "Send a squadron of SoD IIs as well. Have them mop up any Imperial remnants. If they won't surrender. If they surrender put them on a confinement hull and we will figure out what to do with them. Somehow I don't think we want Palpatine having this technology. Besides these things are, from all reports, kicking the shit out of the clones. Storm Troopers they call them now. The quality has slipped from when those Caminoans were doing the cloning and training apparently."

Shaak frowned "Should we inform the council?"

Harry nodded "We will but this is on my own credits. I have a bad feeling about it. Plus its extra galactic so do they even have a say?"

Harry did inform the command council and they had the same questions, and came to the same conclusion. After much debate the Senate agreed as it was extra galactic, and not taking away from the defense of the Republic, it was Harry's decision. They did not want their leased forces or the Jedi committed to it though. Yoda agreed with Harry something was wrong. Not the least being the apparent genocide being committed by the Empire as it launched another fleet to follow up the first. As they were just collecting scrap and doing rescue then confining the rescued, and only with droid lucrehulks, the galaxies garbage trucks, their surveillance operations were ignored. The SoD IIs hadn't had to engage anything. Nothing was surviving the battles.

They watched as mind bendingly large and animalisticaly fierce battles were waged with planet sized ships being destroyed by massed fleets of star destroyers, clone armies waged war to gain and maintain control of others, all in an obvious attempt to harvest technology. The enemy, now they knew, called the Yuuzhan Vong, fought to the last, then detonated their ships, or the ships detonated themselves as they were alive, sort of.

While they watched over three years as this titanic struggle was waged Harry and Shaak were handfasted on Felucia, then Maris was handfasted to Harry a week later at the same place. Ahsoka was handfasted later at the Royal Lodge on Alderaan leading to a planetary party. And Celeste was handfasted to Harry on Republic One. Arden was happy being a mistress, it fit her image.

Master Kura came and stayed a while with Clan Potter and then moved on again. She did take a taciturn Knight with her along with a team of equally taciturn Rangers. All female. Harry rolled his eyes. The women of clan Potter added the Kura Team to their schedules of holo calls. Harry's comment of "Half the population has vagina's, they need to get over it." drew glares. Then as soon as he went back to whatever he was doing head nods. The women of the clan agreed as those particular members of the galactic population had light sabers or blasters and vibroblades as well and were very proficient with them. Their pay was the same as any other Jedi or Rangers of the same rank and they got assigned missions in accordance with their abilities and records. They really didn't have anything to prove.

Aayla tossed out "Maybe they are just that way."

Farris nodded "Hard, lonely probably too, if you only associate with people who think like you right?"

Yoda arched a brow and Harry shrugged "Before we got winnowed down there were problems with sexual assault in some of the forces. It wasn't about sex, it was about dominance. It happened to males as well as females. Probably more males than females as the forces at the beginning were eighty percent or better male. I don't know whether all that training we did fixed it or all of the ones inclined to it got eaten because their mates weren't eager to help them. Maybe a bit of both and we eventually got it under control. Mostly by prosecuting the hell out of offenders, their commanders if they didn't stomp on that as well. Nothing wrecked a unit faster. Wrecked units, well they got worked over pretty hard.

In the civilian world it was probably worse.

People didn't help themselves or each other by adopting extreme philosophies of any type however, which they were doing about the time of the first incursion. If there are people in it there has to be compromise eventually. Well no, but if you want to live. Same problems with my first dark lord. Purist, only associating with other purist for generation after generation. Must of been like dating your sister there after a while eh? Anyway, as the planet was getting close to carrying capacity, competition for resources picked up. All that peace, love, lets get along, goes out the window when you are out of water.

Potter Industries pays based on ability and we don't tolerate any of that type of thing." He grinned "Gets me lots of employees from other companies. I hope."

Everyone in the area blinked. Mace sighed "It's always something with you. What if its just the right thing to do."

Harry laughed "Doesn't mean it can't pay for itself. I proposed and voted for a bunch of laws to make things equal. I don't do civil enforcement by law remember. The Republic retained that to themselves and the Jedi. Only if the local, system, and sector law enforcement can't handle it, and the Jedi can't or don't, do I get involved, if its not a emergent threat." He beamed at Mace.

Mace glared "Fracking Dread Lord."

Harry hopped up and lit his saber. Mace grinned and lit his. Harry legged it. Mace chased him laughing. The rest of the command council sighed. The meeting was over apparently.

SSDV

The Republic solidified into a true nation and Harry stayed as its defender with overall control of the military. The gargantuan ninety percent droid military, that when called on fought under Jedi Generals and Admirals and the small cadre of professional military men and women Gial had seen to the training of. Along with the various Ranger's in support of course. Weapons were improved as technology advanced, both through original research, then research into the weapons recovered from the battle space where the Empire of Humans fought the Yuuzhan Vong in a genocidal war of attrition.

As the Empire used clones there could, in the end, be only one winner. Harry. Well two, the New Republic also, they got any spin off technology. Well Bars if you were being technical, but as he only took a fee and used Harrys wealth to fight Harry was the far and away winner as the Empire required more and more resources and Harry had them on hundreds of planets. And in the end they got most of the metals and plastics back to sell again as the salvage fleets cleaned the battle space. They also cleaned their way out to the battle space and back to where ever they were going along a different route each time, putting now standard loader droid and pallet sized doors wherever there wasn't one. While dropping a sensor package every parsec. Asteroids, rock, ice, comets, junk they ran across. It all went into gaping maws of the salvage fleet and came out clean blocks, containers, or standard tank pallets of raw material ready to be sold to the Empire, used by Harry's industry or whoever else paid for it.

Meanwhile the droids on core worlds still mined the undercities, beings still found their way to freighters passenger compartments and then to Rebel space and Harry's industries.

When the command council thought the conflict appeared to be nearing a close, Harry or rather Bars shut down the flow of material or rather made it arbitrarily hideously expensive and vast stockpiles grew on worlds Harry controlled. Or just in space in the case of the already processed salvage that was waiting its turn into the factories.

One spot in space had so much raw salvage, that the ships had sorted but not yet processed when they reached that spot, put in it the pile had its own gravity and formed its own rogue planet. The scientist were thrilled watching what they claimed was a model of how the planets formed. Harry was skeptical that magically worked to the limits of the expansion charm and droid run Lucrehulks dropped a full load of sorted scrap into like piles every few minutes on forming planets. It could simulate meteorite bombardment but he didn't think so.

SSDV

It was the fourth year and Apailana walked in Harry's bedroom. Aayla grinned, rolled off him, and Harry woke to the Queen of Naboo sliding down him. Roganda and Tis'wedu lifted their heads and nodded.

Farris and the other guards and Celene and the rest of the doubles sighed. "Thank the Force! I was losing my mind. Dibs." Farris said. Celene looked at her "Saber, flimsy, sponge?"

Apailana turned to them "Do you mind?"

Arden chuckled at the ongoing tournament "Apparently not."

Harry picked her up by the butt and carried her back to her, or the rather the Knights room. He was a little busy to try the spiral stair, or apparition.

SSDV

Breha looked at her in the morning and arched a brow. Apailana rolled her eyes but smiled, and blushed a little. Clynda huffed "Finally. Now what are we going to do about Mace and Luxa."

Mon shrugged "Cheer them on?"

Apailana offered "Strip them naked and dump them in the western dune sea?"

Luxa walked up and sat down "Come to my handfasting in three months?" The males fled the squealing. Harry summoned Luke to save hm. His son Sa'james was in a pack on his back, his leku sticking straight up and pointing different directions, and he had his son Sirius Po in his arms. Sirius was holding the cutest little montrals ever as his echolocation was disoriented, the daughters were all with their mothers. Leia leading the pack of them.

SSDV

The first command council after Mace's wedding to the hottest reporter on the net, a glorious exercise in the media going all out for one of their own, and taking place on Alderaan, Mon informed them "The last world ship escaped and is on a course that will take it under our galaxy and to another. It is out of reach of the Empires ships. Darth Vader killed the leader of the Yuuzhan Vong in single combat and it broke their purpose."

Bars nodded "The Salvage fleet is finishing cleaning the battle space and the Empire is limited to the resources it possessed at the close of our last engagement with them."

Ackbar nodded "Their weapons have improved but so have ours and we have equivalent armor and shielding with the addition of wards. They don't know it but we are, we believe, back to the stalemate. Your wedding to Naboo we think will draw a strike and we are preparing accordingly Dread Lord. We should be able to remind them it is a stalemate with the SoD mark Vs."

Mace nodded "I should hope so, the things are the size of moons. The Jedi are moving to their post in command and we will be prepared for the stalemate to resume."

Bail sighed "Do we break it? We could by simply shutting off their food and water."

"Until they have an advantage or break the stalemate I don't want to do that. I think most of the people in the empire are just trying to make their living and live their life. Unfortunately the best of the worst have risen to the top if that makes any sense.

We eliminate the best of the worst in combat operations with little risked besides droids which is a shame but in the end what they are for. Like the clones they have no other reason to be. The Jedi commanders are at some risk, but if they don't want to be with the B5 upgrades we can pursue the war and still I think achieve the stalemate. The war is a way to eliminate the worst actors of the Empire and then eventually get to Palpatine.

They don't really bother with the common human and we are evacuating non-humans and force sensitives constantly." Harry shrugged.

Bail nodded "The Senate still does not want to take the offensive."

Mon snorted "Surprise, surprise, but in this case they may be right and I do agree with Harry. I think we can maintain this unofficial détente we have and continue to hollow out the empire."

Arden and Celeste smiled and Celeste commented "And their dark side users will come out into the face of Shadows, Sentinels, Hit Squads and Aurors. They are in for a shock."

"Golden age the Republic is in. Saved the Dread Lord and us a problem has Palpatine by mistake. His darkness leads him to dominate it does. Yuuzhan Vong reasoned with could not be. Felt the force they did not. Wait we should as sponge boats search intergalactic space. Another use Palpatine may yet have."

Harry froze as something built in the Force. Aayla looked around wildly and grabbed him "Harry!"

They all watched as four black clad figures dropped from thin air to the deck plates in a waft of sulfurous air. Several Jedi lit sabers. Harry goggled as the lead figure stood, turned around and looked at him then narrowed her glowing cinnamon brown eyes "Harry James Potter what did you do?" She put her fist on her hips and tapped her foot, tink tink tink�.

Arden snorted "I recognize that look. More wives Harry?"

Daphne Greengrass rose and looked at Harry then at Arden. You could sense the darkness rolling off of her. "Four not enough Potter?" Harry winced.

Luna climbed to her feet, glared at Daphne "Thanks for the hand." Looked at Shaak and froze. "Harry you found one, more, you found them you found them!" She jumped up and down clapping her hands.

The last had landed in a crouch and rose with a ball of fire in her palm that she waved away.

Harry slumped unconscious. Hermione blinked "Bloody hell. Coward." She looked around, glared at Harry again and tried. "Hello. I'm-"

Aayla smiled and spoke English "Hermione Jane Potter. That is Daphne Potter Greengrass, you are Luna Potter Lovegood and you are Gabrielle Potter Delacour. I am Aayla'secura Potter."

Pretty much everyone had learned most of the languages the books from Harrys trunk were written in by now. There were books in all the modern languages and most of the ancient ones. Lots translated now but sometimes interpretation could be wrong. Better to get it from the source.

Mace put his face in his hands "What the frack? Fracking Dread Lord!" Mace had shifted to English, a bit unconsciously.

Daphne chuckled as she caught that "Haven't heard that one in a while. Not since that tier two in Brisbane begged for its life while Harry skinned it alive."

Celeste poked Harry "You never told us that story husband."

Hermione frowned and scanned him "Occlumency reboot, magical exhaustion as well, but he is recharging rapidly. He must have anchored our transit, give him a minute. The English is going to make this easier. Did he have a stone or just wave his hands?"

Mon put her chin on her hand, her elbow was on the table where she had leaned forward "Someone get Jocasta and an archivist droid I think we can get the whole story from the ladies Potter while he's out. You Potter wives have been holding out on us. Pillow talk is one thing, but four pretty, witchy, wives back in the home reality? No wonder he is always trying to find a way back."

The four new Potter wives arched brows and Aayla waved a hand "Or to take us and him back and forth rather. At least that is what it had morphed into. We work on it about an hour a day. The physics along with the arithmancy is a bit complicated."

Hermione snorted "I can imagine. No need now. That was the last one. We killed the rest of the demons on that whole plain with the sponges, and Harry killed the King on the way through when he came apparently. We just mopped up the remnants. We brought all of our stuff." She turned her wrist and Aayla looked at the five trunk socket, two wand holster. She saw the trunk holster and compartment belt around her waist in the gap in Hermiones dragon hide robe.

Arden was looking at Daphne. Daphne smiled a predatory smile back at her and sighed in what was probably the sexiest voice ever in this galaxy "I have so much to teach you, my apprentice." Arden swallowed nervously.

Bail blinked and Obi wan shuddered "I didn't know you could be that dark and alive."

Gabrielle and Celeste had locked eyes and then nodded to each other.

Luna looked around "So Dark Lord probably." She sniffed "Oh demons, but they are dead, or gone. Oh he has learned, he tricked the dark lord into fighting the demons with, golems? Clones? Ewww! Prejudiced population supporting the dark lord. When are they not? Harry of course working with the light. Oh an elf, whoa not an elf. The daddy of all elves maybe. You my friend are nearly pure magic. Uh, you and the missus might want to get busy though. Last of your kind and all that. It's not asexual reproduction. It still takes two."

The whole room looked at Yoda and he blushed. Mace fell over. The whole room was frozen in shock, Hermione barked "Luna! For goodness sake, look what you did."

Bars sat down in his hologram "Oh my."

Gabrielle looked at him "A ghost?"

Bars shook his head "Technology Mistress Potter Delacour. I am actually on a planet several par- uh, well, far, far away."

Jocasta ran in the room and beamed at the newcomers "Finally! Now we can get the real story!"

Luxa toed Mace "All right Babe? I got to get this. Sorry." Mace rolled into a ball and waved a hand gasping.

An hour later things had settled somewhat, Hermione and Aayla were sitting together. Hermione looked at Harry "So marrying a Queen. She is awful young, you did try to talk her out of it right?"

Harry sighed "For years."

Apailana barked "Hey!"

Hermione looked at her "It's always like this around him. You seem a nice girl, run while you can. You can have some nice, pretty, prince and not have to deal with all this."

Apailana snorted "My planet was invaded, the dark lord's apprentice ruined our most popular modern Queen and led her to her death. I think I'll take my chances with Harry."

Gabrielle grinned at her "Bon. Good for you. Now let us discuss this wedding. Are you bringing your ladies to the harem?" Harry blushed.

Apailana chuckled "They are bringing themselves plus Jedi Knights Roganda Isamren and Tis'wedu, in their own time and if they want. You'll meet them all in our quarters tonight. They are out on a mission right now."

Bail brightened "Harry you are going to have to get a bigger boat."

Hermione blinked "We live on a boat?"

Harry sighed "Starship, and we can do magic Bail. We can make the space bigger."

Hermione sighed and looked at her notes "Sponges, portals, wards, magic in space, space, hyperspace, why this reality feels so magical. We have so much to check."

"Hey it all worked." Harry defended.

Daphne chuckled "Everything works for you and probably for Yoda too Harry. The rest of us have to be right. And use the right spells not just point and will it so. Well those not mated to you. Now where did you find my apprentice? We looked for so long for one with the darkness that had not fallen to it."

Harry looked at Arden sitting in the chair with Daphne looking a little glassy eyed "She was in stasis for twenty-five thousand years because of some talisman, that apparently, my appearance in this reality broke. It, or she, sucked the life and Force, magic, whatever out of several of the death eater equivalents of this reality and then came and found me after she decided the Voldemort equivalent of this reality was an idiot. Used a minion to take a shot at me to get my attention. Killed a few of the dark Lords minion's on her way to me. Surprised me showing up in the bed one day."

Daphne rolled her eyes "Power Harry, it's about power. We had this discussion at least forty years ago. When I seduced Hermione to get in your bed. We will discuss subtlety my apprentice."

"TMI Daphne. Aayla babies?" Hermione steered the conversation back.

Aayla opened her mouth and then snapped it closed and started again "Where are your kids?"

Luna pointed at Harry "Well half are in there and half are in us. You don't want to have kids with demons running around. It took all we had to protect the few we had. Now that we killed all the things I expect Earth is going to be the diaper planet for a while. We had just cooked a set for friends who were no longer able to when this last incursion happened.

Hermione, we need to figure out making that gate work both ways as well. Something is going to go on in the other reality Harry is going to need to take care of. Hmmm maybe not Harry. Maybe a lot of people. Beings? Anyway, it's going to be interesting. Harry was never the brightest student but we can look at what he tried first. We can get a few of these ships to our reality and get mankind, and the other species, spread out a bit. Keep all of our eggs from being in one basket so we won't have to fight or die if we missed a demon or two on their plane. Or on earth."

Mon looked at Jocasta and she smiled "Give me a year and I'll have the whole story pieced together."

Mon nodded "Let's start with 'cooking a set'."

Hermione smiled "After we get Harry married to the last ones I'll help lay the whole story out. We have pensieves, if Harry didn't find his in that mess he calls trunks. Now we'll need to review the instruction Harry gave. He is a fabulous teacher, one of the best, but he is a little light on theory. Mainly because he doesn't need it, but it will help your students who are not as powerful as gods."

Mace blinked "Harry is a god?"

Hermione looked at Harry "You haven't told them."

Harry sighed "It didn't come up."

"And you just want to be Harry, not the immortal master of the personification of death. Vacation over, back to work." Luna gave him a glare and nudge with a foot.

Bars grinned "Dread Lord indeed!"

Mace pinched the bridge of his nose "Fracking Dread Lord. Fracking Immortal. A fracking god or demi god. Well that explains some things. Millions of years old probably."

Harry rolled his eyes "Fifty, sixty odd at the most. Hard to track in this plane."

Ahsoka smirked "Cradle robbing pervert."

Harry huffed "I told you all."

"Holding out again Ladies Potter. We are going to talk about this." Mon glared around at the girls.

Breha sighed "I am tired. The children need put down for a nap. Harry needs to go make his stateroom or the mansion bigger. How about we have dinner in the great hall in the lodge at seven local."

Hermione looked at her "I'm sure we don't want to be a bother. We can find something. If Harry is out of money I have a little gold, some platinum too."

Bars fell over and disappeared from his holo laughing. Breha chuckled "Harry and Bars somehow made Harry the richest man in the galaxy. You, all of your co wives and all of their children's, children's, children, perhaps the entire population of your planet will never have to work again."

Luna nodded "Being an abused slave, tortured to death several times by a dark and light lord for seventeen years, then having to fight for your and our lives for forty more built up some good karma. Told you so Harry."

Harry blushed "Come on. Nobody wants to hear about that Luna, it's all in the past. I'll show you the stateroom then the house Breha and Bail let us use. We can figure out what we want to do to it."

Luxa sighed as they disappeared "He is so wrong. Everyone wants to know about that."

Staas arched a brow at Adi "So that's how he knows what the light can do."

Mace sighed "Frack me."

Obi wan nodded "Quite. And then a genocidal war for his races survival, with demons. The immortal Master of Death itself."

Yoda nodded "Pity the demons you must."

Garm nodded "Poor bastards never had a chance."

Mon frowned "I think I'll save my pity for those that aren't murdering, raping, sentient eating bastards, the demons got what they deserved. The ones here so far too."

*Chapter 12*: Chapter 12

Same Song Different Verse

Chapter Twelve

Here Be Dragons

Hermione was watching a padd leaned against a cup of caf, while working on eight other padds laid out in a semicircle on the table in front of her, a week after the story had broken in the Republic about their arrival, When the Empire nets picked up the story "Whores from another dimension? What? Who does this miserable streak of piss think he is?" She produced a sheet of parchment and a fountain pen and wrote angrily for several minutes, tapped it with her wand and incanted "Sonorus maximus." Then did another twist and the envelope turned red and started smoking. She jabbed her padd then nodded and incanted "Portus Imperial Senate. Activate!"

Harry grinned, got a padd and tuned it to a live image of the imperial palace, and laughed when the windows blew out of the top fifty floors and smoke billowed from the building. The image was generated from a holo camera on the Jedi temple and the speaker on the padd still blew out and a curl of smoke rose from it.

Hermione blushed and Daphne arched a brow "You've been called worse, what was that about? And what the fuck, over? You should be magically exhausted after that little display of temper."

Hermione pouted "Flashback to Draco fucking Malfoy. It's a whole new galaxy, and someone I never even met called me a whore. Harry you screwed that up. You should have let the Vong lose in the empire to kill the dark bastards for us."

Hermione blushed "I am having some trouble regulating power. This Galaxy crawls with magic. I mean, all these people doing wandless magic, so much so, they never even thought of foci? Well except for twats trying to take over the galaxy. Light sabers aren't foci but are tied, or attuned, to their user, and they don't even realize? How inured to the Force can they be? I can feel dark side users so far away I can't get a good location on them by intersection from the far side of the planet."

Aayla hugged her. The two had become joined at the hip. Harry leaned over and joined the hug. He nodded "Had to crank my occlumency way up to not walk around drooling all day."

Mace pinched the bridge of his nose. "Never mind killing half the humans in the galaxy. We will talk about that later. You've been able to do that the whole time Dread Lord?" Mace hadn't gotten over the god or demi god thing quite yet.

Harry shrugged "Never-"

"Thought of it really." Mace finished "So you can make the Force do anything, and you never know what you are going to make it do until you do it."

Harry shrugged "You've seen me do stuff. Just ask if you want something Mace. I'll figure it out."

Daphne cleared her throat "And we will check if it's safe, and codify it. What Hermione did was known magic Master Windu. Not sorcery. A plea for magic to do your bidding, not the will and the word, and then magic throwing itself at your intent like a love-struck school boy at whoever made him realize girls are different."

Harry rolled his eyes "It's not sorcery. It's still magic, or the Force. You've been like this since you read those books. You would make a damn fine Polgara though." Harry grinned at Daphne rakishly and waggled his brows.

Luna smiled "Only you and Master Yoda can do it though, talk directly to the Force."

Yoda nodded "Easy it is not for me. Unlike for Master Potter. Six hundred years it took me as well."

Gabrielle shrugged "Needs must when the devil drives." Celeste looked at her then hugged her. Only Harry, his wives and Gabrielle knew why she was so quiet and so powerful now when she had been a sparkling normal chatterbox as a young woman. Harry found her and brought her home when her family had given up all hope, she had moved in with him, Hermione and Daphne. It took her a year for her to say the first word. She slept in their bed from the first night. Daphne had blinded wizards for looking at her. Hermione healed them, eventually. Harry wouldn't. It had taken her five years to touch Harry. Then they had sparred for a month, all out. Celeste had understood immediately.

Mace glared around "What I want is this war over."

Harry chuckled darkly "I don't think you really do. Or if you do you don't understand, yet, what that would entail. You are way to light for that."

Mace blinked, and Gabrielle joined Harry in chuckling along with Arden and Daphne. The rest of Clan Potter, Yoda and Yaddie were stone faced.

Apailana changed the subject "You all are in amazing shape." She said to Hermione.

Luna shrugged "Demons are strong, magically powerful as well, resistant to magic or were. Strong body, strong mind, strong magic. The lazy people got eaten. So slaves Harry?"

Harry shrugged "Not in the Republic and the MLE, Aurors, Hit Wizards, Jedi and Shadows watch for it. So do the droid networks."

Daphne nodded "Good. You've done amazingly well Harry."

Harry laughed "Thank Garm and Bail. I had a thought. Bail ran with it and told Garm, he went and ended up putting the command code for the droid army under my name because it would have been dangerous for them. The Sith Lord would have come after them, nobody knew who I was, and there are no records of me in this galaxy, it was actually a reasonable plan. Then I did a Fidelius on that command, or base control, code before many people knew. The code was stored in a kind of Master AI and it is the secret keeper. Not quite sure how that happened as it lives in the same box doesn't it? Anyway, the fideliused base code perpetuated across the droids and their manufacturers, and made me the owner of the droids unless they are built off line, by hand by organics and then all new code written for them. It even propagated across software patches and upgrades. The lawyers are still wrangling about that.

Then you can thank Aayla, Shaak, Maris and Ahsoka, they taught me to be a Jedi. Then of course Master Yoda and Windu and all these. They all helped. Arden, Celeste, the Knights Potter." He tossed them a grin.

Apailana looked at Hermione "He always does this?"

Hermione nodded "You have no idea. He's done it for years. The people who made him this way got eaten though, so nothing to be done now."

Mon shrugged "Put the whole Senate in his pocket and nearly the whole Republic. Even a freshly conquered world. Aayla had to cut up airborne panties there."

Daphne rolled her eyes "Again?" The women stopped and looked at her. She shrugged a bit "New galaxy same hormones I guess. Happened a lot at home. Hermione has the record. Six pair on the wing."

Harry blushed and put both hands over his face. Mace started the laughter. When everyone settled Mon looked around "Speaking of which, you are all awful chummy with what I would view as competitors?"

Hermione snorted "They love him, he loves them. We can read minds, especially surface thoughts like that. Lust comes across like a search light. Love is different, and takes more. Sex isn't love, well for anyone, or many, besides this doofus, Mr. high moral tone. She has to invest in it as does he. Plus not to swell his head but a girl needs a little help with the Dread Lord on occasion. I expect more occasions when we are pregnant. I think I like having some not pregnant ones around then." She frowned "Love does seem to preclude random tumbles though." Harry smiled gently at her. Daphne and Gabrielle rolled their eyes. Both of them, Harry and Hermione were so clueless, they still didn't know they had been in love since the troll, a lifetime ago.

Depa looked at Harry "You said some from your planet can read minds. Not all."

"It's a learned skill, and the more powerful the better. Harry lends power, and then when handfasted to him, well we all doubled or better in power and we weren't slouches to start with. Aayla has gotten more powerful than that even with the babies, so has Shaak. That's a phenomenon we need to look at." Daphne supplied.

Depa looked at her "How have you not fallen to the Dark?"

Daphne gave her a sultry smile "Who says I haven't."

Depa snorted "There isn't an evil bone in your body. I have chest bands more evil than you. Pinching things."

Daphne laughed "It's about emotion. Dark magic and emotion are a tangled web. I had to learn to control my emotions to survive. Even before the demons. Once we beat the first Dark Lord I could free my control a bit, hence the whole Hermione, Harry thing, They were both powerful enough to tell me I was running amok, and then do something about it. So I seduced a light side witch to get to her above classification warlock. In spite of my families plans for me. Since that little youthful rebellion I've just learned over the years to keep it away or them away from the darker magic's. A cleansing ritual a month helps too. Mastery of occlumency is a must, not competence, Mastery, complete and total. I was made to master it by the time I went to school at age eleven. That was pretty much my childhood, meditation and control or punishment. Few in my situation succeeded, many fell to the dark, then into the very worst of the darkness, it corrupted them utterly, and we had to kill them. They were the soldiers of the dark lords.

Arden is good at occlumency, she will become better and then, well then, we can show her the true power of the dark. Light siders can fall too you know. It's the intent behind the emotion. Harry didn't show you Lavender Brown's hair trick? Even I never mastered that one, not like her. Dead minor demons as far as the eye could see, we walked on the bodies for two days, vultures and hyenas so fat they were paralyzed. Despite being an allegedly dark creature, Lavender is so light she farts rainbows, and that is a pure light side spell. Harry can do it better than I. Lavender can however be a howling, quite literally, beast. She has no intention to dominate, rule, secure her place at the expense of others. Now my apprentice has this lie on a sponge thing we have to investigate as well. I can't believe that never occurred to me."

Harry smiled "Not like Lavender though, the hair trick. How is she?"

Hermione laughed "Keeping a harem. Seamus, Ron and Anthony Goldstein. She has gone back to working on the cure. She is going to have a baby naturally or die trying. I told her about envitro. She was going to try that as soon as she found an unoccupied womb. Everyone with a womb was pregnant, with at least twins, a month after you killed the king on that last one. This last incursion was small, a hundred thousand or so, and a tier three that was over reaching, calling himself the new king. A tier four sacrificed a few tier sixes, we missed a few along the way somewhere, and this tier four kept its head down, and the tier sixes in a cage, opened the portal without human help. We were handling it with a Battalion after the initial assault and containment, just guarding really, as we got a sponge in it early, when the damn portal collapsed a mined out salt dome. We never thought about salt as we were on the US side of lake Michigan, Dearborn. The mundane had been mining the salt for years. We were too close and went right in. So did all of the demons. It was like a funnel web or a lion spider trap. The demons all got eaten by the sponge. The chief demon touched the sponge and here we are. It ate him, and then exploded when we were right at the event horizon, but it had already fallen through into the demon plane. Our armor linked up into a kind of bubble and threw us through some kind of worm hole. I think it anchored on you since we are bonded. That is what you felt and why you were magically exhausted. Normally it takes you killing a full horde by yourself to do that. We'll work it out but we might have to explode a star or two. Nothing else has that much energy.

Something odd about it though. I mean it's been twice, three, maybe more, times as long for you here as for us. We all cooked quints for the old crowd that didn't make it and had just gotten them all settled in with their relatives and were thinking about the next set as we recovered fully back to fighting trim and then here we are. Two years for us. Some kind of time dilation maybe. We'll check it out."

Harry leaned his head back "You know mine absorbed the King as well now that I think back on it, or it started to, his soul at least, then boom. I can't get the things to go off here, well, one tiny little one I probably screwed up making. I bet you are all hot as hell pregnant." He turned his head and smiled at each of the girls.

Luna nodded "Makes sense. They hold so much it needed the demon plane and then the demons were the tipping point or trigger. One big gulp too many. We are hot pregnant. I think the time dilation was an artifact of it being tied to Harry and not terminated." She was examining Ahsoka's montrals closely again. Ahsoka grabbed her hand and put it on one. "Oh thank you."

Ahsoka blushed "Just leave the lekku alone…in public."

Luxa grinned then frowned "I should have waited to get married. I bet that bedroom is a party now. Although none of you are the worse for wear, even after pregnancies. Those potions do work I guess."

Roganda snorted "Like it wasn't before. You never wrote or did a story about it."

Luna smiled "But she knew. Curious thing."

Mace glared at Harry. "Hey she had her own bedroom and never slept in mine. She just hung out, and girls talk to each other." Harry explained.

Clynda nodded "Unlike big strong males." Garm rolled his eyes.

Daphne looked around "So state wedding? The Republic marrying Naboo."

Breha nodded "Defender of the Republic, but yes."

Daphne nodded "Gowns then. Armor under."

Apailana sighed "State robes for me."

Daphne nodded "Still armor under. We need to check yours today. Harry where do you work?"

Later they all sat at worktables like Harry's looking at the armor. Hermione nodded "This is really good work. Harry?"

Harry nodded "And them. Celeste had a lot of influence in the form and fit. I mostly did the base runes. Apailana and the girls did the color change rune string all on their own. Now the Jedi, they have to learn to make armor before they are Knights in case they take a Padawan. The Jedi sell the armor, the base material is scrap metal. No idea why none of them in this crew have taken one yet. In this plane it's the Force that selects the Padawan."

Luna shrugged "No Queen youngling so no padawan for a Queen Knight plus who would be the Knight doubles and guards padawans. After her babies. Big flap about her retiring. Most likely for now anyway. A couple others, one where she is Queen forever, immortal by injection. A slew of padawans then. Never without them really, as the girls who could be queen want to be just like Apailana."

"Luna, public." Gabrielle said.

"Sorry." Luna looked up and around.

Luxa waved her off "No holo zone. The AI does operational security censoring too."

They reviewed plans, guest list, and smiled at the handfasting being done by retired boss Rugor Nass, once they heard the story. Then they went to look at the location stepping through doors and impressing the Earth wives. The Witches smiled at the gigantic tree on the edge of the water. Gabrielle dropped an ivy cutting and they all offered it encouragement. Apailana was in tears at their show of support for her marrying their husband, so were the doubles and guards, as the ivy climbed the giant tree lovingly. Not like it had done the thorn trees on Felucia. The Queen of Naboo really was a package deal.

Later Hermione was looking at the plans again when she looked up "Harry the leadership of the Republic will be here. Palpatine will do a Riddle, like at the Burrow."

Harry shrugged and nodded "Dark Lord. Must be something they learn on the way up. Somehow they just can't resist. This one tries to be crafty though."

The command counsel opened their mouths and Luna poked some buttons on the holo tank and pointed out Alderaan, Corellia and Kuat "These, from the Z axis, up and down. Naboo from the Z up and down as well." She frowned then smiled "Oh I see. Oh yes he likes that now as he can move about freely. Why would we dig holes in space?"

Harry smiled "Mines Luna. Like the land mines we used on demons."

"Oh, OK. Mine him in the inner core, top and bottom, it's where his fleet is. Well besides the feints he throws but the patrol moons kill those easy. Harry, you build moons?" Luna's eyes were solid silver.

Mace sighed "The Dread Lord is immortal, and married to a seer. Of course."

Daphne snickered "This close in time to an event she is one hundred percent accurate too. Like long range battle precognition."

Ackbar nodded "That could be very handy." And started tapping away.

Gabrielle chuckled "Not if you are a demon or an Imperial."

Ackbar grunted "Anything over here?" He indicated the far side of the core toward Ilum.

"No Admiral."

Mace blinked "Well that was succinct. Anvil and Hammer then."

Ackbar nodded "SoD Vs and Planetary defenses as the anvil. Mines to shape the battlefield Sod II through IVs as the hammer. Super Lucrehulks and Subjugators mop up and Lucrehulks pull salvage. We may have trouble maneuvering them all in three, well four, planetary systems. I have brought the mine and vulture droid racks all up, and they are cloaked."

The room lightened as the lights started swimming into place in the tank and everyone saw Hermione with her arms crossed under her breast "Sods Harry?"

Harry snickered "Sphere of Destruction. And they do frack enemies right up the arse. It works both ways."

Aayla groaned "You bastard, you've been having us on for years."

"Nu uh, I love those sodding things. They are great! Wait till you see Mi! They have huge fracking cannons, and lasers that are really particle beams, in enormous triple and quad turrets, like Iowa class but bigger, anti-matter torpedoes the size of frigates at home, sponge launchers, a million autonomous fighters and and well BOOM!" He waved his arms. "It's beautiful! George would love it, so would Sirius." He wound down "Dora too."

Hermione dropped her arms and hugged him "Oh Harry. Fine, SoDs it is."

The others looked at each other and shuffled uneasily feeling like they had just seen something very private.

Luna looked at Jocasta with a very clear direct gaze "All family Harry lost to his first dark lord before he died the last time. Before we knew what we know now. Except for Dora. Then the Russians died, well, most of them." The others blinked.

The Potters left and Obi wan said "Why do I feel like if the SoDs don't deliver, we will find out what the light and the dark are capable of." Everyone nodded.

The Empire, obligingly, began movement in time to be physically present for the wedding, and the Lucrehulks out on deep watch saw their every move.

SSDV

The handfasting started and the Empire hit the cloaked mines. They valiantly fought on and the cloaked SoD's opened fire. The engagements raged, and the older SoDs pressed the attack from all sides. Ackbar's little addition kicked in, and the rest of the fleet still on patrol turned inward and advanced into the empire. Fourteen core worlds had armies landed on them, and almost nothing to resist them after the planetary shields were over loaded or had sponges dropped on the generators. The sponges went right through defense shields and absorbed anything less than heavy caliber masses traveling near hyperspace speeds.

The Inner core fleet finally came up to stop the advance after six more core worlds were invested. Coruscant was heavily bombarded from orbit. Every government building was hit multiple times. The imperial place was left a shell by fire. It had gotten three sponges, one on each planetary shield generator. If that hadn't worked, droids were standing by in the under city to cut power to the grid. They were the back up as they still had years of mining to do. No one wanted to spend them early.

Imperial fleets and units that tried to flee were pursued and destroyed, and the noose tightened around the core with the Republic not giving ground this time. If they took it they held it and fired continuously into the core and inner core. The Imperial fleet withdrawing back to the inner core was the only thing that stopped it. The six additional core worlds were abattoirs. Despite the Republic not intentionally engaging civilians, only military targets.

Counter attacks by the Imperial fleet saw them retake everything but the fourteen more core capitol worlds and thereby their sectors they lost in the Alderaan/Corellia bulge, while taking grievous losses. This time the Republic sacrificed its oldest ships and equipment, but the garbage barges of the galaxy hauled it all back to them. No command ships were lost, the organic officers and soldiers were jerked to hospital ships by portkeys when wounded and the droids fought to the last erg then, the B3 and higher, self-destructed in the kiloton range, amidst piles of destroyed droids so the empire couldn't have the parts for R&D. At the end of the eight days of combat the Republic again came away the winner.

SSDV

Palpatine burst an aneurism and had to move to a clone body. Vader escaped again, heavily wounded this time. Tarkin was on a Star destroyer in the inner core the whole time. Nearly the whole of the counter attacking fleet's officer corps were killed and the ones taken prisoner were crippled. Most of the storm troopers were killed. The empire had no way to tell how effective they were as Rebel casualties disappeared in swirling blue lights. Imperial forces going after hospital ships were savaged. Then their home ports and carriers were taken under sustained long range bombardment that continued for months or until they were destroyed.

The food and recycle fleets evacuated the wounded from those six contested worlds then anyone who wanted to leave. Most of the people, as the planets were burning wrecks headed for nuclear winters.

SSDV

Harry was on a honeymoon, on Naboo, at Apailana's house in the country by a lake. Republic One Control Sphere was grounded by the lake with its reactors at full output supplying the AI with power. Its holo transmit and receive dishes were nearly glowing. Yoda led the Jedi to help the people of the fourteen liberated worlds, systems really, as those worlds were the capitols. Hermione watched the holo's and could be heard saying "Call me a whore, you great fucking twat."

Luxa was having a field day with footage of gun crews fighting to exhaustion and being dragged away from their gun's unconscious, Ships in decisive ship to ship action, ground armies taking worlds by force, led by Jedi and Rangers, and Republic fleets massing fires at fleeing Imperial vessels. Then the final heroic last stands around air shafts by the droids as food and recycle ships evacuated injured civilians. Finally, the ultimate selfless sacrifice of B3 - 5 droids, in heaps of their less capable soldier droids taking brigades of storm troopers with them and buying precious moments for the evacuation.

The Republic Senate tried to give Harry a medal, he argued successfully that the droids didn't have to defend the air shafts and it would have been easier for them not to. The awards were given, post destruction to the droids who led those defenses and self destructed, their designations retired. Droid factories had frames and skins installed, each marked with a retired designation, of those droids in among a pile of B1 and B2 droid parts in front of the factories. Droid engineers didn't know you could get more loyal than hard coded instruction until then. The AI's of the Republic proved you actually could. Every change to software and hardware was evaluated first on how best it served the Dread Lords goals in a system of systems concept.

The next months were the Knights marriages and the empire suffering under astronomical prices for anything they couldn't acquire from their own worlds except food.

Jocasta was ecstatic as the Potter wives from Earth tore into and added to the archives. They gave excellent lectures on theory to back up Harry's more practical application demonstrations. Those holo's were so in demand, multiple copies were running on multiple channels on the holonet continuously. A channel for each branch of magic with the lessons coming on from first year to mastery then repeating. If you were coded for first the instruction, and then that level. To gain a level you had to pass a written test then a test in front of a trio of Mages, a new category of non Jedi Force users, Masters or Knights who were already passed that level. Daphne was amazed how good his potions instruction was though, and was nearly orgasmic over new ingredients, and swiftly showed what a real potions Mistress could do. The scientist, pharmacologist, materials and chemical engineers were agog as Daphne delved past potions into alchemy.

Luna talked with Yoda and Senior Masters along with Shaak and the magic of Divination was added to the list of syllabi. From scrying to Force visons.

As Harry was good at all task, and without peer as a practical instructor, his Earth wives were generally good but then specialized in one or two subjects. It really opened the throttle on instruction.

Jocasta came to understand that, like the other Earth Mages, Harry had a couple of areas he really shined in, runes and healing were Harry's forte. Hermione nodded "It's disgusting, he can do anything with runes, and make it permanent. Never even took the subject in school! What, he didn't tell you about Luna and her team doing the sponge? He took the one apart and then rewrote most of it in other than a dead language as they translated it. Hieroglyphs? Please, who writes in Hieroglyphs? He did it while they worked and it took a year. Experts later took eight years to translate it all and he didn't miss a letter of the rune sets or an iota of the intent. Gabrielle came to us during that and she essentially drew what Harry did as he did it. You didn't see that book he has? That was all Gabrielle. Its the seminal text on runes on Earth now.

I've looked at the holos of those ward stones for the planets. All of those empire boats together probably couldn't penetrate those wards, before he had you put them on interstices. I think there is a reflective component too. Our Harry likes his little surprises. I wouldn't want to be the first one to take a shot at them. Those planets will probably survive being engulfed by a supernova."

Harry walked up "I wasn't sure about that, but I added it. You know how Dark Lords think. If they can't have it destroy it no matter what it takes. Blowing up a star isn't too far a reach for them."

Jocasta nodded "Ships not boats. It has happened in the past. Blowing up stars."

Hermione sighed "I better be immortal Harry. They have twenty-five thousand years of stuff in their library."

Harry smiled and kissed her "You could always haunt it."

"Ghost can't hold books Harry." Jocasta gasped then looked at Harry. Hermione grinned "You know there is a potion that deages beings."

Harry blinked and went to his table. Jocasta followed him with her eyes. The Potter wives giggled madly. Daphne snorted "Hurts like being boiled in oil too, that potion does."

Shaak shrugged "A Jedi can conquer pain."

Ahsoka chuckled "That one is going to try it. Get out your cauldron Daph."

Luna jumped off her stool "Reminded me. I need to get Poppa and Mama elf together. And talk to one of these trouser makers."

"Stop that Luna! Geneticist. You are one for Morgana's sake." Gabrielle yelled after her and got an airy wave back. "And a magizooologist and an arithmancer, what else, theoretical physicist!"

Ahsoka added "And nearly as big a pervert as Harry. Well about lekku anyway." The head nodding turned to giggles.

Mon leaned back in her chair "Well it's lively."

Obi wan snorted "It was lively before, it's a madhouse now."

Mace nodded "So we think the Empire is going to rebuild again."

Garm sighed "To what purpose. How can he not take a hint?"

Bail shrugged "My grandkids will be grown before he is ready to try again this time. At least for something in the Republic. I am more worried about Hape, the Hutts and Chiss."

SSDV

Harry looked down at the Earth like world. They had been in hyper space for three weeks and now were going to be here for three months.

Every day was a good day now. He was married. All his wives were here, the news from the home plane was good. They had the portal doors, going up all over the place now, everyone was busy and the Empire was rebuilding. Chiss Space, the Hape Cluster and Hutt Space were eating Imperial intelligence, Inquisitors and dark Jedi like Chex mix at a sausage fest. Life was good.

His recruiting was going well. Twenty-five thousand of each species and moved to a planet that could support them. A ward set installed, equipment provided, some light industry making the tools of medium and then heavy industry, agriculture started, natural resource management rigorously enforced and viola, hehehe, where was Hermione, she hated when he did that, another world of the Potter hegemony. So far fifty of them. The pace on that was growing too. Bars wanted to get to one a day. Eventually it would take off exponentially as their target populations of no more than a billion, based on what the world could support with its own resources, was reached. The ecess would be moved to new worlds. Not like they weren't finding, warding, and mapping five or ten a day.

The counselor Jedi were creaming themselves coming in and starting governments and linking planets up together to form sectors that then got a senator. All sworn to Harry, but it made them feel good he supposed.

Somehow, the Jedi didn't get oaths. They lived with so much of the force around them, they didn't get the nuances. Why did they think the empire was struggling so hard? Oath breakers in all the command positions. It would be a generation or two before that was fixed for them, and by then? Well at the rate the Sidiot was going he wouldn't last the course. Riddle and Dumbledore weren't this hard headed. Nor this active. Put the whole thing on the fast track really. Had to work to stay even with the Sidiot so he could gnaw on his liver until he made another mistake and they could chop another piece of him off.

Exercise in the morning, classes for a couple hours. Work on projects then a meeting via holo, kid time until their bedtime, then snuggle time with somebody. Meals when he was hungry or someone was. Now work on a Hermione project. A whole world to seed with magical flora and fauna from Earth. She had brought ova or eggs, seeds or spores from anything magical in a trunk, magically expanded to the theoretical limit by al the girls working together. You could probably fly Republic One in the thing. The geneticist had cloned up a bunch and slightly altered their genes to make viable populations from what Hermione and others had scrounged. Luna had dived into that project nearly as soon as the Earth wives got here. Daphne dropped jaws making the necessary potions.

So now, three months of animal husbandry, horticulture and ward setting on a garden planet then leaving it in the able manipulators of droids. Well the warded animal or plant zones. The rest of the planet got as many colonist as they felt it could tolerate and had inbuilt renewable natural resources growing and waiting for. A super Lucrehulk freighter full of shrunken droids. Those were to work the warded areas until the population of beings got competent. Just because they were a capable fighting force, well that was a benefit. Hermione wanted to do five of these, and in there somewhere the yearly pilgrimage to Ilum, and the girls all wanted to see Felucia. He should have put a portal in that cave. Oh well. He never thought of these things until it was too late. He would leave one there this time. Everyone else treated the cave like a shrine, bit embarrassing really. Someone had made the holo of his, Aayla then Shakk and Maris time there play in a loop there in real scale and real time and it was a tourist attraction. All it needed was the stations of the cross. Well at least the girls parts were suitably blurred out. Then they were doing five worlds of non magical earth flora and fauna.

Speaking of ova. Hermione had brought the eggs of the girls that willed them to all his earth wives and they were cooking another set of quints apiece, this time one of them being theirs. The of age, twenty five for human's, whatever the research said for non humans, women were implanted a month apart. The wives weren't for waiting. No demons meant it was baby time. They would stop when they ran out of eggs from friends or rather once they had all gotten one or several of their own. He hoped? Maybe not really. The kids were like little drunks. It was hilarious what popped out of them. Harry had a padd with all those comments and recordings on it. His archivist made a Potter family archive out of them. The earth girls had infected the others. Oh my gods it was boy heaven. They were so hot pregnant!

Luna had waved Harry off when he got concerned. "We'll have the portals up and running and can get them back to their relatives if they have any. You already agreed to this anyway. Plus, you like making them as much as we do. Besides, with phoenix tears in the after birthing potions, we are in the best shape we have ever been in in two weeks. Tight as a virgin. Oh hey, Daphne could do a little work and you could pop our cherries again."

"Luna!"

"Hermione! Like that idea did you? I knew you had a little pain smph mn mnu." She glared at where her lips were sealed together, or tried to, Daphne nodded and her wand disappeared again.

The armor had gained a layer. The girls got pinched once in a while by thigh guards and their pants, or breast and back plates and pants. Harry solved this by making a wire of mandalorian iron from a ship the scrappers had brought, alloyed with ultrachrome, durasteel and even a little neuranium. He drew this into a less than hair thin wire and had a runeset engraved on it with a laser. Harry made a loom and wove it into a cloth. He then had droids make suits for the girls and they shrunk to skin tight and the runes activated with a drop of blood.

The first problem was underwear. That had to go. Next was hair, if the girl in question had any, anywhere other than on her head at least. That got trimmed right down, then last the suit had to be peeled down to go to the loo but the girls waved that off, as it was a known problem with women's clothes apparently, and, no matter how good the runes were they were not peeing much less anything else in their suits. Then a patch of absorbent material was woven in in the right places. Under boobs for one. Harry had explained for hours about the runes and how they didn't need that, plus the armor already had vanishing charms. Celeste had already explained boob sweat at great, horrifying, length. Harry had huffed. It made them a little salty, what was the big deal? He got lifted chins and imperious looks so the natural fiber thread was woven in by the droid looms and its attendant mech droids.

The suits kept them cool or warm, dry, were rune charmed soft, light as air, permanently clean, impervious and waterproof. You could discharge a lightsabers power cell trying to cut them and not change the color. One survived a quad laser battery hit on a test dummy, the dummy survived as well. By the time he got the shrinking charm where they wanted them they were also the best shaping garment ever so bulges between joints of the plate didn't happen and so didn't get pinched. They were also charmed to stay clean and were nearly indestructible. A second skin really and their armor needed no modification to go on over it. They also came with footies made on to them, gloves and a cowl hood.

The girls loved them but they only came in a gold tone. Like a really nice natural tan. The girls wore them for missions and exercise, like they could get worn out. Between the suits and the armor no one needed environmental suits and could probably swim through the rivers of lava on Mustafar or survive in space until a Lucrehulk showed up and tractored you to the medical bays. Harry shook his head. They ignored him. Knights learned the charms needed to make the suits and activate them before they became Masters like the armor. Harry set up a plant making the fabric and had all the necessary metals transferred to that planet from the scrap piles. His suit shrank to fit with no compression. Somehow the girls liked but he hated being squeezed.

The close security droids began gaining patches of skin that gold color, over vital areas.

Hermione, Daphne, Luna and Gabrielle being the people they were wanted to learn all the things a Jedi should know and burned through the course. They would be ready for a crystal when they got to Ilum. Gabrielle took to light sabers like a Gungan to water. Celeste beamed at her and they tackled Mace and Yoda. Yaddie sent them scampering. She did not take it easy on them because they were pregnant. Even subconsciously.

The girls spent hours and hours talking. Harry was generally right in the middle of it smiling and either working, reading, teaching or holding a baby. Sometimes all at once. He drove the holonet women's channels wild. Him with a mate caught in a PDA would crash those channels. He blithely ignored it all.

Daphne had a secret smile and was turning Jocasta back a day for every one as she gave her tiny doses of deaging potion.

Luna had a huge smile and Yaddie and Yoda were seen more together than apart and seemed to be getting slowly younger as well. Nobody asked. Yoda started hanging out withy Harry. Nobody asked about that either.

The children toddled about in a huge pack trailed by alert, gold tone, B4 droids with additional nanny cores, female voices, vibro blades and heavy caliber blasters. It was comical to see a toddler holding the hand of a droid super warrior, and excitedly gabbling away. Approach that child and make a hostile move and it stopped being funny instantly, lethally. It turned deadly swiftly and unless you somehow signaled your complete and utter capitulation it stayed that way for the microsecond remainder of your life.

Suddenly a whole factory making B4 Nanny Droids was running three shifts at max production. The leases on those weren't cheap, but they freed up workers, not least from the children's homes Harry was running for orphans, and teachers from primary schools. An insider attack on a school eventually happened. No one, not even the perpetrator, was harmed. Well much. Having a B4 lift you by your hair and carry you to the principle like that had to hurt a little, all that screaming indicated it did anyway.

Harry wasn't having one of those feelings because everything wasn't in fact going along according to plan. The Juvex/Senex sector and the slavers there were trying to get back in business and Harry was going to have to do something he really didn't want to do. Start killing again. They were refusing to comply with Republic law and refusing Republic Law enforcement and the Jedi Shadows were reporting bad things as were Mon's networks. They would swing down there after Ilum. They had worlds to look at in the unknown regions anyway. Then they could pop out in Juvex/Senex. Surprise motherfucker.

SSDV

Harry activated his hundredth set of Potter Hegemony ward stones that day, finishing the weeks production, so they could be taken away and loaded onto exploitation lucrehulks. All the worlds the scouts found got an exploitation Lucrehulk next if they were unoccupied or a Jedi team if occupied. Just barley activated wardstones were placed and then the droids placed a small amount of blood from Harry on them, a single drop. It made him or his agents have to keep the book but the recruiters had the people going to the world to live sign the book or leave a digit tip print after reading the oath Hermione tied to the ward book at the orbital entry point and give a couple of drops of blood if they were going to live there before they caught a Larty to the surface. The exploitation lucrehulks brought all the necessary equipment and supplies along with older model reconditioned droids to set it up and get things running. Those Lucrehulks landed and became temporary housing, workshops, schools, and power stations along with holofeed stations and government offices. Planetary defense hubs as well, but you know, side benefit.

The advantage was if the people intended Harry harm they wouldn't be able to cross the ward line before the signing station.

The planets that were uninhabitable still got wards because droids could work on them no matter what. Those with no oxygen sometimes still had carbon dioxide so plants would grow. Sometimes explosively. With every tillable surface covered in crops and the lakes, rivers and oceans seeded with useful algae it would take surprisingly few years to have breathable atmosphere. After the surveys Daphne wanted for any possible new potions ingredients. Droids could farm until the atmosphere was breathable.

Methane or ammonia atmospheres were just for droid mining. Unless of course there were species the recruiters found enough of to make the genetically diverse enough base for a colony. The methane and ammonia was useful too, and ice, including frozen carbon dioxide could be summoned from space. Those planets might take a thousand years to become habitable or they might eventually be colonized.

All of the mining was planned with sentient occupation later in mind. Like the sponge basalt world.

All in all a pretty good life leading up to the confrontation in the Senate and on the ground over slavery. Ah well into each life a little rain must fall. "So it's me that makes you broody." Hermione wormed under an arm. Harry was standing in the Master stateroom staring out the transparisteel window.

"Who, me, broody, what?" Harry was caught off guard

Ahsoka called from the bed "Use your words."

Hermione giggled "Those are his words."

Harry pouted standing in front of the floor to ceiling wall of transparisteel looking out at the last system they were visiting before Ilum. "I'm going to have to do something about Juvex/Senex."

Luna snorted "Duh. Even over and above the freaking slavery, thing they are just doing whatever they want, and the people who live there are like serfs. It's the pure blood thing again. We'll drive down there. I'll figure out the lynch pins, we'll whack them, and it will fix it. Not like we aren't going to have to give people reminders every couple of hundred years. Even if we do bugger off and cruise the Universe.

If you hadn't turned Ro into a sex toy she would be down there fomenting rebellion, after spending years as a Hand of the emperor, which sounds really pervy by the way. Anything you want to tell us Arden?"

"Hey! Nobody asked your sexual history Luna! And no by the way. Harry got the cherry, all of them. My first love got killed before we got around to more than making out. I wasn't going to let that happen again so when I knew for sure it was Harry I climbed on." Arden crawled over and pulled Luna down. "Some of those Hands do things like that but not with him. I don't think he does that. He is fixated on Vader though. Oh and Tarkin."

Roganda was sitting up and her mouth was opening and closing but no sound was coming out. Luna looked at her by turning her head upside down lifting her shoulders off the bed. "Its fine sweetie, it won't happen now. There are some others we have to hunt down and either watch, or have Harry inject some sense into. I'll make a list. Plus Harry turning most of the galaxy into a meritocracy, and supplying basic needs, changed the paths so it is way fewer than before. Mara Jade, Lukes wife, Sabine Wren, who we can make into the leader of Mandalore, Drayeen, but she wants to be a prostitute dominatrix. Not sure what to do with her. Maybe Daphne can sort her out."

Hermione chuckled and snuggled her head in the crook of Harrys neck "See all handled. You just vaporize who we point you at. Daphne and Apailana can handle the Senate. I'll work the science and Force side Gabrielle will sniff out trouble and make most of them disappear, Celeste will help her. Luna will steer us all in the right direction, Aayla and Shaak will keep the Jedi honest and Arden will keep law enforcement straight. The Knights and Padawans will help. Everyone will help."

Harry smiled "It's good to have the band back together. Uh Luna? I am not injecting sense into anyone, especially not Luke's future wife, who is probably not even born yet."

Ro finally managed "And I am not a sex toy. I'm a-"

"Sex fiend, succubus, sex addict?" Tis'wedu smiled and then shrieked as Ro tackled her.

It turned into a general riot and they were late for exercise in the morning, pitching the protocol droids, who managed the schedule, into a tizzy. They were all smiles and all the way on though. Breha shook her head. Clynda rolled her eyes at her "Don't be jelly."

The group fell out laughing at Breha's shocked offended face, and her tossing a sticky bun at Clynda.

SSDV

Hermione stood on the floor of the cave at Ilum after watching the Padawans doing the gathering ceremonies and looked at Harry who shrugged "I just landed the ship and we all ran here like wild Indians. You know, Jedi, so everything has 'deep meaning'. Amazed they don't have the stations of the cross on that trail up here, three pillars, a well. You know, something like that."

Hermione snorted and opened herself to the Force. She started walking and Harry and the others followed. It was another blank wall of course, but Hermione cut out a section and made a passage hardly breaking stride, and they entered a cave covered and piled in crystals. Daphne arrowed to a set and Arden stopped her and called Harry over. Harry put his hand on her shoulder Daphne touched her biggest crystal and huffed out a breath "Oh my! Ladies you have to try that! Nice Harry. Thank you, now go do the others."

Harry smiled, kissed her, and the new wives looked disappointed. Daphne chuckled "I've been his wife for over thirty years. Do you think that's the first orgasm he has ever given me in public?"

Luna stood over a set of crystals "Yay! Harry come do me."

Hermione sighed "Silencing charm Luna. You know how loud you get in public. Remember the awards ball?"

Gabrielle grinned "The minister was white for a week. You were too Hermione. Even Ronald knew what was happening."

By the time they got back to the main cave Luna had named and animated her crystals and they gamboled around her feet. Mace scowled, then blinked when Yoda smiled and animated the loose ones laying around in the chamber and they started trotting around sniffing people. Luna's took up defensive positions around her and fended off all the curious ones.

"Potter do you have to turn everything into a circus?" Mace asked.

Yoda looked at him "Good outlet for emotion, play is."

Mace looked back at him "Quoting parenting books?"

"Study a lifetime and learn new things one can." Yoda shrugged.

Mon, here to finally see the caves, turned to look at Yaddie and Obi wan hugged her and gave her a look. She smiled widely.

A two week in hyperspace, one week stopped, cruise around the unknown regions headed generally south followed. Roganda and Tis'wedu brought Padawans back to the apartment one day, and the Togrutan Padawan Maar Li and Zeltron Padawan Nomis were settled in the Padawan rooms. The girls looked a little shell shocked. So did Roganda and Tis'wedu.

The Empire holo net picked up on them a month later and Hermione taught them how to make a howler. All the women helped with powering the portkey charms to several gossip columnist and Op Ed writers and a wave of 'terrorist bombings' swept the empire.

Mon looked up from her padd at breakfast when the news broke "You wonder how Hermione ended up in this and then something like this reminds you."

Obi wan nodded "Always the quiet ones."

Mon arched a brow "And you would know that how exactly?" The others at the table smiled and watched the negotiator be taken under fire.

Out in the edges of the galaxy past all the systems, mine manufacturing ships the size of small moons plied their trade dropping a mine every parsec while maintaining sensor sweeps of intergalactic space with one hemispheric ring of sensor emitters surrounding a parabolic dish a hundred and fifty miles in diameter, and the other hemisphere, exactly a mirror image, watched the galaxy though normally passively. The new mines included sponges, medium quad canons, a mass driver and squad of battle droids in case someone tried to board one. The battle droids were loaded with astromech cores as well. The mines had very advanced very powerful sensors pointed both in and out, and holonet connections as well as being holo net hotspots. They had reactors with fuel producing rune driven caps and reaction mass tankage with the same type caps. They dumped waste heat into the reaction mass tanks and were essentially holes in space. The Potters had figured out how to draw the Force from the reaction to power the runes so even if the ambient Force in the area wasn't enough the fuel caps would run and the sponges runes charge and then activate. That was a new string one of the Padawans had suggested and they all worked on. Republic battle control holo tanks gained more and more fidelity and capability every day. The mine production ships also cleaned space along their path and used that material to supplement what they had been loaded with. Resupply ships cleaned their way to them and back in to their points of origin.

Lucrehulk garbage barges used the data being sent in to find and police up trash, wrecks, asteroids, ice, dust and anything else that could affect navigation or be sold on or used in any of the operations of the Potter Hegemony. Scouts and exploitation Lucrehulks used it to find and occupy planets. Bars really didn't even have control of it anymore the droids were doing it in a kind of hive mind arrangement with the AI's linked in. Republic One was a harsh task mistress and brooked no nonsense. She could pop your circuit breakers from anywhere in known space, and would. No droid or computer was safe. Well no Republic ones. The empire had learned a few harsh lessons early in her career. She had time though. They would slip up again, and then she was going to pop all their processors off their motherboards. Try to attack her Master would they? She carried a grudge like, well, a stone really.

Salvage was presorted and processed on the lucrehulks, historic items, and items of value saved out, metals smelted, cast into ingots and stored, plastics separated and reprocessed into giant blocks and stored, and what little was unusable trash, even as reaction mass, ejected into the gravity well of the nearest star on a non orbital trajectory. They also had powerful passive sensors feeding the holo tanks and AIs.

SSDV

An Imperial accounting analyst on Coruscant noticed one day that the food delivery, garbage, passenger ships never left empty and he could see from his window, in shaft twenty seven sixty six, they loaded what looked like construction debris and recycling every load. He did some quick research and calculations and was terrified. He fired off a memo.

In Imperial intelligence analyst looked at it and snorted "And he wants us to drown in shit and garbage? Obviously slipped his cogs. Let me get an investigation going on this idiot. Senior analyst, no telling what damage he could do. Hmmm Spinks, just the girl for the job. She wants to be a Hand. She can go give Senior Analyst Cripke a hand job. Hahaha!"

An Imperial navy analyst looked at the flow of the new lucrehulk super freighters and frowned. All headed to the galactic west. What was the Republic up too? One of those things had been observed unloading with a thousand loader droids and it still took a month to unload. They were so heavy loaded they couldn't deorbit. If they managed it they wouldn't fit in the shafts. Lucrehulk lighters went back and forth between them and the surface. Agents reported they looked normal as did the cargo flats that went in and out for days. One every five seconds both ways on average, a hundred tons apiece. It was a puzzle. Fifty one million eight hundred forty thousand tons. They weren't the fastest ships in the galaxy but they got the job done, day after day, month after month, year after year. First it had been the Lucrehulks doing it, now it was them being lighters for these Super Lucrehulks. The last day of runs the cargo load got lighter and it was passenger modules already loaded with passengers if there were any. The main puzzle was what that much material could be being used for. Well outside the core worlds. It was obviously economies of scale inside the core.

There were thousands, tens of thousands of occupied worlds in the Republic. They weren't at the level of population of the Core worlds but they weren't sitting on their hands. If their pattern remained the same and the Super Lucrehulk freighters had a Battleship, Droid Assault, and Droid Control ship sisters, then they were a match for anything he knew of on the ways or in development much less out in the fleet. That was not even discussing those gun moon abominations. Or the rumored super Subjugators.

Where were they getting the fuel? The metals were easy, the damn garbage scows were everywhere, vacuuming up everything with tractor beams.

One of the agents had bought an older freighter in Hutt space, and was in cover as a smuggler. They had stopped at a planet and the sensors on their ship had seen a whole planet made of recycle. Most of it read like material from the Yuuzhan Vong war and then that abortive attempt on the Dread Lords marriage to Naboo. Just out there past the system the agent was in, no guards or anything. Of course, the stuff was not worth the fuel to haul it but still.

If he was a competing Darth that would explain the Emperors interest, but he wasn't. He sat out there happily building an empire of his own and ignoring the Empire, fucking little girls and alien slaves. Making half alien abominations, the Republic press followed around all the time. It didn't make any sense. They could just wait until he died and then take over from the inside.

He tapped his padd. And now this. Jedi teams moving around in the Empire pulling Force sensitives out. Mostly before the Empire knew they were Force sensitive. How were they doing that?

SSDV

Jocasta looked at the book of names where names and addresses were constantly appearing one after the other in English. The book was tied to the force through a ley line interstice on Dagobah, an apparent Force nexus. According to Hermione, and Yoda. Of course Jocasta was looking at the book in a secure holofeed. The droids in the air and watertight sphere sunk in a swamp sent the holofeed of the book out to the Jedi.

The Jedi and Republic law enforcement took the names from there and researched them, then sent recruiters. Recruiters who were essentially snatch teams went to the empire. They snatched the candidate and their entire family. Those were put on Potter Hegemony worlds and given a fresh start. With the Shadows or Aurors watching over them. Not that they knew about that.

Jocasta sighed. There was so much to learn. Hermione seemed very understanding about her wanting to learn it all and so needing Harry, but could she be that mercenary with her affections?"

Daphne appeared as if by magic "You don't like the way he looks?"

Jocasta blinked "No, he is handsome."

"His power is not enough for you?" Jocasta just looked at her. "He is a very talented, and giving lover."

"I would be using him!"

Daphne smiled "And he would be using you. The deaging potion works once. As soon as you don't have your dose a day you can never take it again. Deage to say eighteen, then see what will be. You might find a handsome young scholar and be happy with two lifetimes. No rush, you have fifteen or twenty years to decide. Unless of course you get used to the pain and we up the dose."

Jocasta blushed "I already have doubled it. I was going to ask you."

Daphne looked at her impressed "Take it up as high as you can tolerate. One extra drop at a time would be my advice. Oh and don't worry, if he doesn't love you he won't have sex with you. I should know, I have tried and tried to get him to shag some girls for fun." Jocasta gaped and Daphne gave a throaty chuckle and disappeared. That little habit was very unnerving. Especially in Daphne. You never knew quite what she was thinking. Jocasta sighed. She had never set off her precognition though. She might be considered a librarian, but she was still a Jedi Master, she had the skills necessary to make it to her Mastery.

SSDV

Harry looked at the holo tank while Hermione and the girls worked. They were conducting what amounted to a series of experiments in cracking planetary defenses. Without resorting to sponges. They knew those worked. Harry's ships were out rounding up every ship in the two sectors while every planet was invested.

He turned back to the virtual Senate as this proceeded in the background of his holo image "We are in fact doing as little damage as we can. If they would just surrender we would send down peacekeeping forces and then transition them to representative governments as soon as possible."

"But you are still attacking them?" The Senator from D'Alegoth insisted.

Harry blinked and scrolled through a padd "Yep. Slavery, profits from, actions in support of, still illegal in the Republic. They refused to stop. Talk to them not me, I'm just doing my job."

"You are increasing your hegemony! Using our fleet and armies." Senator Kharrus replied hotly.

Harry sighed "I am establishing the Republic in that sector, those sectors. We cannot afford a nest of insurrection and lawlessness deep in our own space when there is the chance we will have to confront an implacable foe at any moment. We are using non-lethal means and doing as little damage as we can, when I could just crack all those planets like eggs, harvest the debris and move on. Diplomacy has failed, including your own efforts Senator.

We all knew this was coming. This is not the old Republic, where things are tolerated or a blind eye is turned, if there are enough credits involved.

How many Senators have been arrested, prosecuted and jailed for corruption? That should have been your first clue things were different.

Pardon me, your first clue should have been when we pared the laws down and took out all the ambiguity leaving very little room for interpretation and making them much easier to enforce. Then when people started being held accountable should have confirmed it all for you.

If the planetary governments capitulate I will establish law and order and hand it back to the Jedi. If they force me to kill them, the alleged noble family heads, ruling them, well, then they are mine, by right of conquest.

Now if you don't mind we are gathering up the alleged nobles and I will be offering them duels or they can submit to the will of the Republic." He turned away and his holo faded.

Bail looked out "So, any more questions?"

Mon leaned back, muted her pickup and snorted. Garm was already muted "So now they know. This will be fun."

Garm looked thoughtful "I don't understand Kharrus. The humans I get, they are terrified of the former slave races. With those rumors leaking out about the Dread Lord having been a slave they see fire and death in their future. Well if they aren't females."

"Kharrus is used to the old Republic and is trying to build a base of those sector Senators near him. Juvex and Senex are wealthy. That is how power used to be measured. Now it's measured in educated, content population and output.

Let's hope the idiots capitulate, If not Harry will own their estates outright when he wins the duels. If they do something stupid he will add to his Hegemony. Of course he will still turn it all over to the people who live there. Did you notice no one brought up none of these worlds having wards, or the modernity of their Empire tech based planetary defenses?" Mon looked at Garm.

Garm nodded "We were going to have to do something about them. Slavery got Harry looking at them, and all kinds of things tumbled out. It's a nest of Imperial loyalist."

Mon nodded "We are going to have to look at everyone closely."

Breha added "Before Daphne, Gabrielle, Celeste and Arden get a chance."

The Bothan senator sitting nearby shrugged "Or not perhaps. I find the Dread Lords hegemony sectors and worlds easy to deal with, honest to a fault really."

Breha chuckled "One day you are going to make a mistake and Lady Greengrass is going to pay you a visit."

The Bothan smiled "My heirs will enjoy the holo of it. I already have a wall picked out for my pelt."

Breha inclined her head "As long as you realize."

SSDV

Maar Li looked at Nomis a bit nervously. Harry, erh, Master Potter, sat in a plain straight chair behind a plain desk and another Noble was brought in. Harry shook their hand, had a short conversation demonstrating what he knew about them, and then asked if they would take an oath of loyalty to the Republic, or if they would like a duel. They prevaricated and blustered, he pressed, they decided, and were led out by a Knight or one of the Masters to either a dueling area, or another plain stone walled office to take the oath. Roganda and Tis'wedu watched them like hawks the whole time they were in the office, with hands never far from saber hilts. They watched Maar Li and Nomis too.

After the last had made their decision Harry stood up, stretched, talked and joked with them as he led them to the dueling arena. There were nine who had decided to duel. They stopped at the ward line and Harry walked into the dueling area. "You have all selected to duel. It will continue until you are dead or unable to continue."

A large muscular Lord snarled "Or you are dead and I take your whores."

Harry smiled "When you are ready."

The Lord drew a blaster and dropped it screaming as his skin was peeled off. He was hoisted in the air by an ankle and a fire appeared under his slowly rotating skinless body. The screaming was unbelievable. Harry flicked a silencing charm on him and looked at the others "Next?"

The other eight attacked simultaneously. Harry had seven down in seconds and was looking at the eighth who held a red bladed light saber. Maar Li hissed "Sith!"

Harry looked at the Sith and nodded "Ah so a good workout perhaps. The Emperor send you?"

"Trained specifically to kill you."

Harry laughed "Well that would be a first, well, if you could make me stay dead."

Hermione scowled "Holo's Harry, and stop playing around. Oh and don't kill it, I want to strip its mind."

Harry turned and looked at her and parried seven strikes "Any more request?"

Daphne perked up "Let my apprentice have a go?"

Harry continued parrying and looked at Arden "Want a go Hun?"

Arden huffed "It's not very well trained. You are much harder as a sparring partner."

Harry turned his saber down and hit the Sith eight times "Hmmm. I could train it up. Make it into something worth keeping?"

Gabrielle snorted "It is crying in pain now and just has a few burns. Hit it with a Cruciatus, let's see if it has any potential."

"Forbidden this curse is." Yoda spoke up.

Gabrielle spun to him "It's a Sith?"

"In no danger is the Dread Lord. Handle it your Knight's padawans could. Forbidden this curse is, as well as experimenting on sentient beings." Yoda said firmly.

Maar Li and Nomis looked at each other nervously. Gabrielle huffed "It's a Sith, I think I need proof it's sentient. You, creature, can you pilot a, no our droids do that better than empire trained humans. Hmmm Oh! Do you have a family?"

"My Emperor is my lord."

Harry sighed "That's as bad as there is no god but god. We know that dumbass. At least from your limited perspective."

Gabrielle frowned prettily "Does that count?"

Luna shrugged "Debatable. It speaks, it sort of thinks, it makes and executes short and long range plans and it uses tools. I think we have to call it sentient. Hermione?"

"I never liked that tool use requirement, dolphins being a prime example, but yes. Knock it out Harry and let's get on with our day. Oh and that one you are torturing for being an insulting boor, fix him and kill him. Let's not leave a mess. We have nine new systems to see to."

"Yes dear."

Harry flicked his hand and the Sith crumpled.

Mace, in the Jedi council watching the live feed, put his head in his hands "Fracking Dread Lord."

In the Senate watching live, Bail sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Breha reached over from her chair to his in real space and patted him on the back. While the Holo nets went ballistic, and the Senate went from silence, to terror, then to a riot the Potters stripped the Sith of every memory he had and reviewed them in a pensieve.

SSDV

The Jedi High council was stunned. A Sith academy. Force sensitives put in training, and it being an immensely steep pyramid, with few surviving every level to move up to the next. Those who could be saved being sent to other academies, Intelligence, Inquisitus, Military.

Harry shrugged "Kind of a parallel to ours, but we find their place through testing, not trying to kill them, then finding work for the survivors. I wonder where they are and if we have a sponge there. It didn't seem truly evil, just people misunderstanding the dark and how to use it."

Daphne nodded "Exactly. They still think emotion is the power. A couple of those were Riddle or Bellatrix level though. If there is a sponge and they are like that they will be tough. It will take senior Masters or us to take them out. Well if they learn magic. I didn't see anything beyond the normal Force skills the Jedi were using or had in their histories. That lightning looks like that thing Plo does. Can you work with me on that Master Koon? If I see yours I might be able to do the Sith one then we can take it apart and see what makes it tick, arithmetically that is."

Hermione shrugged "Hugely inefficient cruciatus from the descriptions. Not an immediate killer, cause's pain then death. Like someone tried to make an area effect cruciatus combined with a core drain. Master Koon's is driven by righteous anger. Like Harry did to Bellatrix."

Daphne nodded "Harry never could do that right."

"Hey! I popped Lucius bollocks thank you very much. Arden can do the dark one."

"But he wasn't anymore insane after than he was before, and Narcissa, the skank, tried to thank you remember? Said it mellowed him. Arden hasn't done it since you got the Kashi Mer piece disconnected from her. We will check it out." Daphne replied.

"Stories of the past enlightening are. Dangerous present deal with we must." Yoda brought them back.

The Potters in unison said "Your Pardon Master."

Obi wan shuddered "It's so creepy when they do that." The Potters chuckled. Mace glared.

Harry shrugged "We are snatching Force sensitives from empire worlds as fast as we can. We are preventing the kidnappings of force sensitives on Republic worlds. Unless you want to invade the Chiss Ascendancy, Hapes Cluster and Hutt space I don't see much we can do about it. Lot of blue folks running around that academy."

Obi wan broke in "We are making progress in the Hapes cluster. Master Greengrass Potters people especially."

Daphne pouted at him "I thought we were going with Dark Lady Greengrass Potter."

Depa rolled her eyes "You are married, stop flirting. I concur we are succeeding diplomatically in Hapes. Hutt space is a free fire zone, nothing new there, and the Chiss Ascendency has delusions of grandeur, and will probably be the Dread Lords next target after the Empire, but they are no threat now or then really. They will find themselves surrounded by the Potter Hegemony, and warded out of the rest of the galaxy. Only open space is still a lawless frontier and that will not last as the MLE, Aurors and Hit Force grow and the Hegemony takes more and more bodies out there. The recycle fleet pulling in entire gas clouds and asteroid fields is reducing their hiding places as well.

The problem is still the Emperor and Empire. We should have expected this from Palpatine, he has always been fascinated by the Force. Somehow we missed him falling to the dark side decades ago. He did not suddenly become a Sith Lord since the Invasion of Naboo.

That is for the historians. We must deal with the now. We are countering his current moves. What will his next move be?"

Harry shrugged "Once he rebuilds his fleet and armies he will attack the Hutts or the Chiss. He needs a success, and Hapes, well we would have to defend that, to close to our manufacturing and money. The Hutts are more his kind of scumbag. He probably has agents in there manipulating them now. We need to keep up on R&D and decide whether we need more agents in there or not. I have no idea how to get humint in Chiss space other than what we are already doing. Paid informants, traders, and probes watching them and their networks. Not many blue folks on our worlds that don't have lekku."

Celeste shrugged "And we need to kill these acolytes who are really dark Jedi."

Mace looked at her sharply "Or capture."

Celeste nodded "If it does not risk our people."

Luna decided it was time for a curve ball "So I can have money for my Avada Kedavera cannon?"

Hermione blinked "Your what?"

Luna passed her a padd. Hermione looked at it and her expression grew horrified "Luna this could really work."

"Duh."

"Luna!"

Mace slumped in his seat "Fracking Dread Lord."

"Hey, wasn't me!" Harry looked around innocently.

SSDV

Hermione looked at the street full of bowing men and curtseying women and sighed "What now?"

Luxa chuckled "The holo's of the Dread Lords duel."

"Oh, for heaven's sake." Hermione huffed.

Luxa laughed "Better get used to it."

Hermione grunted "I can't wait to see what the Empire nets say this time."

Luxa smiled "Not a peep, behavior expected of a dark lord yada yada."

Gabrielle "We should show them the light."

Daphne sighed "We want some alive Gabrielle."

"What for."

"Our sons will need wives and our daughter's husbands." Daphne stated firmly.

Gabrielle nodded "So we need a big pool to sort the worthy from. OK. Then once they have children we can show them the light."

Arden blinked "I'm not raising millions of yowling brats, erh mistress."

Gabrielle sighed. Luxa covered her mouth, she was sure that was a puddle of urine under that casino owner.

Hermione brightened "There it is! I knew I saw those boots on this world!"

Harry sighed. They were cute boots, but this was the eighth or ninth world today. It was a dinner party, not the emperor's funeral. That would need cute boots. Black ones to go with the red dresses they all wore dancing on the fucks grave. Harry led the boys in a junk shop, maybe a droid parts dealer, it was a bit hard to tell, these were always the best though. The Padawans stuck with him. They were still working on armor and were still growing. Plus they had other things to worry about than clothes. Like speeders, ships and blasters. Arithmancy, astrogation, physics, transfiguration, charms, potions, runes, all of that. Jedi robes were fine for them. Simple, no decisions, you know?

Aayla smiled and followed them. Things were settling nicely again. Hermione was a dream too. Genius level intellect, sweet as cream, and happy to be co first. Hard as cold iron when needed. She needed a co with all of these too. Plus she had been first first and for years so knew Luna, Daphne and Gabrielle the best. Luna needed a keeper sometimes, Daphne well she just needed watched, always some scheme with her. Like Bars really, and there was always the chance Gabrielle would fly apart and skin someone alive before she incinerated them. Hermione and her three had gotten worked into the group and it gave her time for the children. She sighed. Hermione was bound to be pregnant again soon and then she would have to take over more again. They had worked out an alternating schedule for babies. Half of them carrying quints all the time. Well the masters. The Knights would once they were Masters she was sure. Probably earlier. The way they found Padawans it was a bit hit or miss on becoming masters. Yes, they should go ahead if they reached the appropriate age. She would have to talk to Hermione.

SSDV

Palpatine watched the holo again. Yes definitely a Sith Lord. What had happened to the rule of two? He was clearly the elder? No wonder he was having so much trouble with Darth Dread. Maybe something had freed him from an artifact like Celeste Morne or Arden Lyn. So much history was hidden. Perhaps he came from a time before the rule of two. Would that make him the elder? Palpatine sighed, He was not going back to being the junior Darth again! He had a full Darth as an apprentice!

So he would turn his attention to reorganizing, rebuilding, then expansion not confrontation. The Hapes were out. His Dark Lady, or one of them, had somehow gotten the Queen mothers attention. Probably by promising Darth Dread would come breed her. That was a failing of Dread, all these females. Needy things. How he managed to breed them was the question. Maybe this Potter clone was doing the breeding? The females seemed to love him.

SSDV

Luke whined "But dad, Sa' and Siri!"

Bail laughed "Will still be there in ten minutes after you wash your hands and face."

Leia poked her tongue out at her twin and scampered through the portal, Mina and Theel were waiting. They were going to get to talk to Nomis and Maar about being Padawans. She sighed. Not like she could ever be a Padawan but a girl could dream. Apailana had done it. Of course the Dread Lord didn't take Padawans anymore. Uncle Harry was so busy. All the Potters were. Maybe though. Her youngling studies were up in the same grade levels as Aunts Aayla, Shaak, Maris and Ahsoka, all of the Potter Masters. And there were the Knights Potter without Padawans.

They were in the Dread Lords court though. They could have a princess as a Padawan. She rolled her eyes, a prince too. Luke was as good a youngling as her.

Sabine Wren looked around the exercise area. She was part of an advanced class here to get instruction from Master Ahsoka Potter, the Master of Jar'Kai. Rumors were all the Potter Masters and Knights had been trained by the Dread Lord in all forms including unarmed combat.

It was hard to tell what was true about the Dread Lord. He was sat right there looking like he was mid-twenties. She had looked at holos of him when he first became known ten years and more ago. He looked the same.

At the table with a babe in arms strapped to his breastplate, and him using a pink brush on a blond child's hair, he looked like a harassed uncle who was enjoying the harassment. Nothing like the being who had skinned a Lord alive, killed seven more in the wink of an eye and then played with a Sith like it was a youngling. Or made a cloak from the skin of a transdoshian who was running a racket charging people for access to the public ration station on some world she couldn't remember. Freed all of Jabba the Hutts slaves and turned that monastery into some kind of fountain that wept water from its walls in an inch thick layer. Water on Tatooine! Taken every orphan he or they could locate in the Republic and brought them to homes and schools. Or done any of the other things shocking or heartwarming that he had done.

The Republic was a not a paradise. But if something was wrong and the MLE then Aurors didn't get a handle on it, the Hit Force or Shadows and Sentinels showed up and if you fought them the Dread Lord paid a visit. Things happened then. Normally not good things for those people not wanting to follow the law.

You could live your whole life doing nothing. Ration bars and water, clothing and shoes, basic medical care and education. All provided free. Of course, ration bars were nearly tasteless. Like shipping flimsy. Water was boring, the shoes were functional and the clothes were gray and formless. It was all made of recycle too, it was grey as that was what the different colors of plastics turned to when they were reprocessed. A shirt, pants, underwear and cold or wet weather gear, grey and serviceable and that was all. A bunk and trunk in a ten person room. If you wanted better you had to make credits some way and make your life better than just the basics but you could live by doing nothing other than obeying the law, or at least not be dead.

Potter Industries tested and employed everyone and anyone though. Blind beings, all kinds of disabilities and differences were accommodated, no questions asked. Give them an honest day's work and you got an honest day's pay and below a certain level no tax. Male, female, indeterminate, none of that mattered. Whatever religion you wanted. Vote in local, planetary and sector politics how you felt. Go to classes when not working and you could move up. More credits, a padd, a place of your own, better clothes, medical care that wasn't life limb or eyesight. So not paradise, but better than some planet destroyed by combat and dodging slavers.

Sabine saw the beautiful blond and just knew. The blond looked at her and sighed. She knew too. She had a Master. "Gabrielle."

"Eeep! Dread Lord!" Sabine panted.

Harry smiled "Her name is Gabrielle Potter Delacour, you will be her first Padawan. Try to take it easy on her."

Gabrielle walked over "So let's find out what you know, my Padawan." She led Sabine away. Roganda looked at Harry and followed them. Harry nodded and Ahsoka and Maris got on with their class. Leia watched and nodded. So the way was open after all. That girl was exceptional in an exceptional class.

Luna hummed and nodded "So no Hand for you Palpy. Now Luke's wife and we're good. Well Drayeen but we will run into her, or rather Arden and Daphne will. Little slutty. Daphne will find her something useful."

Harry sat down and worked on his project some more around kids and people asking him questions.

SSDV

"Mom!"

Breha sighed "Leia don't tease your brother. You will find masters when you are supposed to find Masters. You both have good records and excellent marks in your classes."

Leia crossed her arms over her chest "Knowing Sa and Siri won't help him like he says. The Dread Lord has never taken a Padawan. He has however taken a princess."

"Well he is due then." Bail came in sprinkling kisses "Don't push Luke. It will happen if it happens. So Leia, you were there when Lady Gabrielle took a Padawan?"

Leia nodded "The girls and I watched all afternoon. Sabine Wren, Mandalorian, good with her sabers, magic, and mind. Powerful in the Force."

"What did Uncle Harry say?"

Leia sighed "He started on her armor."

Luke snorted "Girls and clothes."

Harry lay in the bed later with a quiet Gabrielle. "Unexpected."

Gabrielle nodded "Not unwelcome though. I'm ready."

*Chapter 13*: Chapter 13

Same Song Different Verse

Chapter Thirteen

Wizards in Space!

Harry had finally gotten his wish. Him, the wives and the non-school age kids off exploring the Galaxy. The school age kids stayed at the house with upgraded B4 nannies watching over them and their parents a holo away. The holo on the Marauder was nearly never off. The ship was also jammed full. Harry was as happy as he had ever been.

The Marauder had been massively magically expanded, at least all the cargo, stores and crew spaces. Its drives were upgraded and it was the fastest ship in the galaxy. Its weapons were also upgraded and it could theoretically take on an Imperial fleet, by itself, and survive. At least all the simulations said so. It of course had the best shields in the galaxy. It could probably fly through a supernova. Life was good. Republic One AI never told him she had included enough memory and processing power for her to ride along in the upgrades he had planned and ordered, or carried out himself over the years and the droids knew better that to rat her out. He was the Master. He knew, probably. She would melt your power core.

People of course had an opinion but the Potters were mostly Jedi and quite a few of them had come to the temple as toddlers. Their story was legend by now. Harry and the Earth wives had gone to boarding school. The royal children of Alderaan were across the yard as were their parents and they didn't want to spend time away from their friends. Plus there were the portals the public didn't know about. One in the manor house Harry had been given, so one of the mum's, as the group of women were known, was nearly always at the house solving some crisis. Harry was back at least once a week for some meeting and he always made a day of it. Leia never far from Uncle Harry. Breha and Bail had several conversations about it. Last but not least were the hover holo cams with two way holo links now. The children had had to fight to get the connection indicators on those. That way they at least knew when a parent was watching. Republic Ones AI was always watching. She kept quiet unless it was life threatening though. So everyone had an opinion and wondered if it applied to the Dread Lord, who could appear anywhere at any time, perhaps all places at once even. There were some rumors.

Dread Lord sightings were the UFO, Elvis, Celebrity sightings of the Republic. The tabloid Holo channels reported them continuously. Imperial intelligence had a current tracking section for Harry with updates every thirty seconds. They were where the rumors of his ability to be in more than one place came from.

What Harry and the wives, other than Luna, didn't know was that Sidious had gotten his fleet and armies to the point he wanted and was waiting for an opportunity to strike. He just needed the competing dark lord to stay still long enough. It was like trying to swat a fly with a sheet of duraplast. Darth Dread apparently had no concept of pageantry and the effect of showing up with a fleet and cowing your enemies. He was reported on, and seen in the holos on five worlds a day minimum. When he wasn't there he was on that decrepit Lucrehulk left over from the last war. No matter how shiny and clean it was it, was still a relic. It was a relic surrounded by the most modern fleet units in the galaxy though. The alternative was sending his greatest weapon to where the Dread Lords children were. Luna was infinitely amused. It was like a silent comedy from the early days of film watching the Sidiot. Those stones she had enchanted to attract people and get picked up and carried for a few hours before being given to someone else that cast subtle glamor's were actually working. Though transdoshians appearing with messy black hair and green eyes wasn't. How had that stone gotten all the way to there? She should have put a location tracking feature on them.

Mon and the Bothans had turned up some interesting intelligence and Bars was starting to be able to back them up with his contacts into the Empires banking systems. The result was a disturbing picture. The Empire had a large military with no active target. They had not shifted to a peacetime, or even a mixed economy. They were effectively stalemated against the Republic. The analyst were looking for likely courses of action and possible targets for those.

More and more it looked like Hutt space was going to be that target. The Jedi's warnings, and even Bars warnings to his former customers in Hutt space, were going unheeded. The Hutts would last maybe a month against the Empire.

Sabine Wren couldn't care less. She was being worked nearly to death and loving it. On the Marauder they did partner resisted exercise and ran on treadmills. On the planets they stopped at they wore glamours and worked out, or left them off and went and looked at things. Oh, and practiced the skills she had recently learned. Arden could be invisible without the Force. Like she was a hole in the Force even. If it weren't for the Master's being like randy Varna in the evenings it would be perfect. She had to be careful where she went once the children that were onboard for whatever reason were asleep. Open the wrong door and you get some training you weren't ready for yet. Walking around the ship after eight pm with your eyes closed though did improve your infiltration skills. She wasn't a young girl, anymore she was a woman now, and didn't need the distraction so close to her trials. After them? Well it wasn't a distraction then was it? Apailana had been married by this age, and had been in Harry's bed a year before that.

Apailana, Roganda, Tis'wedu and their group were learning a lot as well. These were the first Shadow missions they had had. Of course with the distraction the Dread Lord, the First among Equals, Aayla, and the Mages of Earth, caused everywhere they went, it wasn't hard but still, actual assigned missions! Poor Apailana had to wear glamours on the missions too, so did the doubles.

SSDV

Mace looked at Yoda "It's in contested space."

Yoda nodded "Jedi they are. Important she is. The Force agree with Master Lovegood it does."

Mace nodded and sent the message. "Killed it will get us, if something wrong it goes."

Yoda looked at him "Duel you need, see I do."

SSDV

Hermione was in the cockpit of the Marauder when the message came. Luna walked in and smiled "Time to get Luke's wife."

Hermione snorted "Fine, let's get the kids home, then we will go take the Emperors Hand off."

Daphne chuckled "These fun titles Dark Lords come up with. It's a gift. Do you think they get training in it in evil overlord primary?"

Aayla deadpanned "And have to take a test in order to get their Dark Lord qualification. They get fined for violating the Dark Lords Guild rules."

Hermione frowned "Do we have a copy of these rules?"

Nomis handed her a scroll and she unrolled it eagerly. Nomis scampered back out of reach as Hermione read

152 Rules for Being an Evil Overlord

Based on Peter Anspach's list

1. My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear visors, not face-concealing ones.

2. My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through.

3. My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon.

4. Shooting is not too good for my enemies.

5. The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object that is my one weakness.

6. I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament before killing them.

7. When I've captured my adversary and he says, "Look, before you kill me, will you at least tell me what this is all about?" I'll say, "No." and shoot him. No, on second thought I'll shoot him then say "No."

8. After I kidnap the beautiful princess, we will be married immediately in a quiet civil ceremony, not a lavish spectacle in three weeks' time during which the final phase of my plan will be carried out.

9. I will not include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, it will not be a large red button labeled "Danger: Do Not Push". The big red button marked "Do Not Push" will instead trigger a spray of projectiles on anyone stupid enough to disregard it. Similarly, the ON/OFF switch will not clearly be labeled as such.

10. I will not interrogate my enemies in the inner sanctum - a small hotel well outside my borders will work just as well.

Hermione let the scroll snap closed after the tenth, not reading the remaining one hundred and forty two rules and glared at Nomis, who tucked in behind Harry. Gabrielle, sitting on the arm of her chair, poked her. She blushed and everyone chuckled. Hermione huffed "Go get the kids home and stop having a go at me. I know you did this Luna."

Luna smiled and pointed at Daphne who was trying her innocent face. It wasn't working well. Not a good look for her at all. Hermione growled and put the scroll in a pocket. The wives chuckled.

SSDV

Mara was doing her dancing girl routine. Since the Twi'leks had become so scarce, pretty young human females were in high demand. It made her life easier. A few drops of the drug and the idiots were very suggestable, and answered any question you asked. Worst case it was in her lip gloss. She took the antidote before applying it and only had to get the gloss on their skin. A Potter Pharmaceutical product obtained on the grey market, so of course it was safe and effective, it and the antidote.

She had done the minimum required seduction in the Academy since she found the drug. Or rather another female Hand had pointed it out to a few of them trying to build a clique. The Males never learned. It had to be the testosterone.

This one was handsome, well-built, and she was old enough. Maybe she wouldn't gloss him. "Your ship? Sure I'll just get my things. I am off now anyway."

"I should hope, the place is closing." Her mark smiled.

"Oh I hadn't noticed." His voice was nice too. She smiled and actually blushed. She really hadn't noticed it was closing time. She had been a bit busy showing him all of her that the law allowed. She trotted to the locker room put on more than the five square inches of synsilk and got her bag. She stepped out and he was there. She could sense the force in him. Powerful. He must be a Jedi. She smiled at him winningly, controlling herself rigidly. She took his arm and he led her to a ship of a type she had never seen, but had heard of. A Frigate of the Clone wars era, converted from a Consular Cruiser. An antique. But it looked like it had been hand built, all smooth and organically seamless like it was, but still it didn't conform to standard at all with those extra things on the hull. Was that a trackway? with a manipulator arm base? Never heard of tractor beams Rube? Had he converted it for asteroid mining or something? Also Red and Gold?

He led her up the ramp and into a lounge and she smiled and giggled "So a private dance then?"

Harry shrugged and flipped open a panel with a set of screens "If you want. The girls will be a minute cleaning up your tails."

Mara froze "What?"

Harry nodded "Your handlers and support. They are pretty good but we have been on you for a month and you have been wiggling your butt at me for two weeks in that club. Cute butt by the way."

"Who are you Jedi?" Mara reached in her bag and dropped it to clear her left hand, she was suddenly holding her light saber.

Harry grinned "Kinda Jedi. Well maybe, of a sort." He smiled at the snap hiss and then frowned at the red blade. "Sith crystal. Well, we can fix that."

"You will release me." Mara waved two fingers at him looking him in the eye.

"That won't work on me honey. Just sit tight, we'll have this wrapped up and be off world shortly. Daphne was feeling a bit mean, so some of your friends are getting turned into bombs so they will take down your former headquarters."

"I am the Emperors Hand."

Harry shrugged "One of hundreds. So maybe a finger? Of course that makes him deformed, but well, you know."

"No I am his Hand."

Harry sighed "Your reeducation is going to take a long time with that attitude. Why would I lie? We pick up kids like you all the time. They all think they are his favorite and he loves them. He is a Sith. He doesn't know what love is. Aside from looking in the mirror maybe."

Mara attacked and gaped as the saber bounced off the man. "What are you?"

"Getting a bit angry really. That stings."

Mara gave it another try and found herself hanging upside down by her ankle "Fight like a man."

"Does that ever work? What, is that Evil Overlord minion rule thirty two or something? No, that one is don't shoot the messenger, I think."

Mara thrashed and screamed. Harry shook his head, sat and conjured a cuppa. She stopped when Jedi after Jedi, then two dark ladies boarded the ship. She recognized most of them from intelligence briefings.

Finally, Maria from the club walked up the ramp and a light went on in her eyes. Harry laughed and took his glamor off. "Darth Dread." Harry thunked his head on the table in front of him. Mara looked around "The Whore of Naboo."

Apailana chuckled "Sparring with you is going to be amusing."

Arden got a look "The traitor slut."

"Hey! I only bang him."

Sabine rolled her eyes "Lots, and wherever, it might count."

"Princess Leia Organa. The new headline dancer. Does the Queen of Alderaan know her daughter is a whore?" Mara recognized the clothes tumbling out of her bag on the table, that metal bikini with the scarves was unique.

Leia blushed but smiled. She had turned the punters to jelly. Gabrielle had been so proud of her. She wore less on the beaches too. Uncle Harry was not letting her out without armor over the vitals. That bottom was fully cut and more, so were those cups in the bra. Hmm that might not work with mother though, and really it was a bit different when your intent was to get something other than a tan. That club had become a font of information and they had collected it all, and only swooped in on Mara when it ran dry. Then she scowled. Whore eh? It wasn't only going to be Naboo who got a spar.

Luna sighed and hit Mara with a stinging hex. "Language young lady. Now give me that thing." She pulled the lightsaber away and crumbled it to fragments in her hand while it was still on. "There, now let's get you down and showered. Then we will run you through the med bay. No telling what's been in you. We don't want Luke catching anything."

The others watched as Mara was led away under a hail of stinging hexes and charms to control children. Ahsoka blinked "Holy Frack."

Gabrielle snorted "You should know by now. Luna is not to be played with. Poor Mara."

Daphne sighed "Yes, we will have to reign Luna in." She was holding Arden's arm. Shaak was scanning Arden.

Harry frowned "Is Arden hurt?"

"No but she is holding the Imperius on ten of those idiots while they load up their ships with thermal detonators and wire them together, then they are going to go crash them into various intelligence buildings on Coruscant. She will be fine in a day or so. Once she has them fully programmed." Daphne explained.

Aayla, Shaak and Maris finited their glamors. Tis'wedu did hers Nomis's and Maar Li's. Harry nodded. Hermione looked around "Are we ready then? Let's take little miss thing to Alderaan."

Apailana "Yes, she has a date in the dueling area with the Whore of Naboo." Leia nodded scowling and Harry winced. He had trouble with an angry Apailana. Leia was smooth and crafty and would surprise you with a saber blade to the crotch. Mara was going to get shredded.

Luna spent the week in hyperspace fully demonstrating how little power Mara really had. Sabine often found her furious in some out of the way corner of the ship. "You are mad at the wrong people."

"Oh? Really? I'm going to be a whore for Darth Dread and given to some boy who has pleased him but I shouldn't be mad at him? Or the insane bitch that is my jailor? I'm given these trousers and a shirt and a pair of underwear and that's it. All my things are taken. But I should be happy for that?" Mara glared at her.

Sabine chuckled "In the first place if you tried to get in bed with him he would blush, stumble, and fight you off if you forced the issue, and if he had to run away. Next Master Lovegood is a seer, and had a true vision of you marrying Luke Skywalker Organa. Do it in your own time, no one will force you, to tell you the truth he is a bit of an idiot, or well, a boy. You will need years training him. Powerful in the force though. A nice guy really, just a bit of a boy you know?

Oh, if you try to get in bed with Harry, Leia Skywalker Organa will do bad things to you. She fully intends to be the next on that. He will take her as a Padawan when we are back on Alderaan this time, we think, maybe, depends on her really. If he didn't already that is. I mean Queen Breha let her come on this mission, and we are pretty deep in Indian country. Gabrielle Potter Delacour is my Master and I am ready for my trials so Leia has it in her head the next Padawan around here will be her. She did get permission to come on this mission after all. More power to her, it's exhausting with all these masters. Fun, educational, but exhausting. This was her first outing with the group and she only got to come because her uncle is here, and well might have already taken her as a padawan. As she is a princess it could only really be him. Could you imagine the blathering the idiot tabloids would do otherwise?

The normal course of events seem to be, Padawan then Knight, then if you are interested, have time, and they all approve, the ones in and out of his bed now, they will coach you through taking a shot at him. Knights Nomis and Maar Li seem to be working up to it. Nobody really hurry's anything though. We have years. You'll see.

Hmmm you could be one of the others Padawans. You're a dark sider, so maybe Daphne. Or Hermione. She is the most balanced of them but is a super genius so you would have to be on your speeder. Hermione also has a bit of a temper. It takes a lot, but once she is set off, run. Luna needs another seer so not her. Hmmm, yes Hermione I think. She is done with babies for this go around. So she has a few years. Hmmm. She had to raise Harry too, so could give good advice about the other super powered boy."

"And if I stay the Emperor's Hand?" Mara asked.

Sabine shrugged "Lots less fun on a confinement hulk but it's up to you. They don't make anyone do anything. Oh you are going to take a beating over that Whore of Naboo comment. Just be ready. Arden likes being the Traitorous Slut, she took it as a challenge to maintain the title, so you have one pulling for you already. Leia is no joke with a saber. That whore comment will come back on you there too. Guard low with her. She loves burning your bush if you get my meaning."

Mara huffed "You cannot win against a Sith Lord."

Sabine shrugged "They have every time so far. If they don't it won't matter as they will destroy the Galaxy to keep him from having it. It isn't just dark lords who talk themselves into that. These grey ones just have it as their last option, not somewhere in the middle."

Mara thought about that for a minute "They all sleep with him."

Sabine nodded "Well, not Nomis or Maar Li yet, oh they sleep in his bed but they don't sleep with him sleep with him. You'll know when it happens. Its like someone stuffed a hyperspace motivator in them, for a week or so. Plus they can't shut up about it, once they crack and tell someone. Oh, or they drag him down in a passageway. You would think after four or five pregnancies they would stop, but oh no. My advice, after eight keep your eyes closed, and use the Force to move around. I do. My Master is the worst. Makes Zeltrons look frigid. Anyway, give it a while, they haven't lied to you. You'll see."

SSDV

Drayeen smirked. Mara Jade captured. Things were looking up. Especially as she was out working that banker when the suicide attacks happened. The Emperor had been pissed and the questioning intense but she was one of the senior Hands left now. Who could blame him really, nine buildings and a space station obliterated. The Headquarters, no great loss, but the data centers, apartment buildings and control center were a real loss. Upside, she would get some fresh meat from the academy and fleet to ride around for a while. She would get some juicier missions too. There were some senior Hutts that needed assassinating before the campaign kicked off. They were loaded, and well, things could fall in a girl's pocket, or onto her credchip during a mission.

SSDV

Sabine winced as Harry stood at the magnetic shield of the cargo bay and waved at the pirate vessel as it approached, then he shrunk it. After the crew of it appeared in space beside it. She summoned the now frozen or petrified bodies so they could collect the bounties. She brought them in, transfigured them to the little green plastic army men, and put them in the half full normal trunk with the others. Her dowry Harry said. Once Uncle Bars got through selling them for their bounties. Harry put the ship with the others on one of the shelves of this bay. They used all of these, or the Jedi and Aurors did. On lease of course, Uncle Bars whined otherwise, once the droids, Harry and whoever he, Aayla or any of the other Force Mage masters was teaching worked them over. They would be fast heavily armed and able to haul vast amounts of people or cargo.

He grinned at her "Be careful who surrenders to you."

Sabine huffed "Yes Master, but I don't think it would be this much of a problem, with any other vessel." Harry laughed. He had trained all their Padawans the same way. Admittedly in short jumps away from Republic One, but the method always worked. Travel along looking clueless with no guard up and some idiot would demand your surrender.

SSDV

Luna found Harry in the Manor "Get out there or I will bring her in here. You're in the bedroom so she can just mount right up."

"Luna!"

Luna rolled her eyes "Prime Princess ass. Beautiful, brilliant, powerful. Like another Mi really. You know, most boys would not have to be talked into this."

"I changed her diapers."

"Which just makes it seem kinky. You aren't related to her in any way. Train her up. Otherwise she is going to be wasted on some douchebag."

Harry sighed and stood up.

Breha looked at Bail when they saw the two standing in the sparring area staring at each other as Apailana gave Mara Jade another painful lesson. "Finally. I thought he would let her run off with some idiot. Now in ten years or so we can get a few babies out of her."

Bail sighed. "And Luke?"

Breha looked at her son. "That is going to take a while. Apailana is through being a bitch though. Mara can get on with abusing him into shape, that will take a few years, he is good but he thinks he is good. I'm going to have to speak to Apailana. She can certainly carry a grudge. All those Nabooan girls really." Bail pinched the bridge of his nose. He shouldn't have asked.

SSDV

Sidious glared at the reports. Darth Dread had gone still. Alderaan. Damn. No sense repeating that lesson. Well, time to deal with the Hutt's then.

SSDV

Garm sat back in Corellia's Senate seat. The planet and system was back together, and back to being a power. He had them in with the right block and things were looking pretty good. The Sidiot, that was still funny, had made the expected move and pushed Hape straight into Daphne's open arms. Clynda would settle, and stop trying to get a granddaughter in the Potter family at some point. Or one of those seemingly millions of Potter boys would pick one of them. His sons and daughters seemed to be competing with the Potters in that particular area anyway. How many children could they support? Them? What about him and all this money Clynda was spending on grandchildren. Not only that, but if all of them kept on like this who would the thousands of Potter-bel Ilbises marry? His great grandchildren couldn't be marrying just any idiot.

SSDV

Captain Han Solo shuddered and his Wookie friend looked at him "No idea. Weird feeling. Come on let's find a buyer and then another cargo. You know with the Empire crushing the Hutt's and Jabba's misfortune our lives are looking up buddy." Chewbacca yowled. Han glared at him and led into the bar "Of course not slaves. Do I look like I have a death wish? Slaves. You'll be talking piracy next. I don't want to meet the pirate killers either. This place isn't the same all humid either, before it was a dry heat. Did you see that green as we flew in? All along that ravine where that temple of Jabba's waters the desert. Changed the whole place. Moisture farmers rolling in money now. That always brings in cops. It wont be long you watch. This place will have a real government and police."

Chewbacca wuffed and barked. "Laugh it up funny guy. Just you wait. I know its Hutt space but they aren't the only ones with money anymore." Han paused to let his eyes adjust to the interior of the seedy bar.

SSDV

Ta'a Chume looked at her reflection in the mirror of her stateroom aboard Star Home and nodded. This dress was the right choice. Bright red, deeply cut, clinging to her ripe hips. He would be hers. At least enough of him to get the part she needed done. She was beautiful.

Lady Daphne had convinced her the Potter clan was not Jedi. Shudderingly dark and powerful. No Jedi would tolerate that. What they were was still a bit open to debate. Force users certainly though. Pragmatic, much more so than the Jedi, however. The true power in this Galaxy as well. The core or rather Palpatine was dangerous, not as dangerous as these though. They or rather the Dread Lord was playing with him for some reason. Using him for some purpose. A dangerous game to step into but with his reputation he wouldn't let his progeny far out of his sight if at all. Her AI said his AI never took her eye off of any of them. There had been incidents. Fleets appearing from nowhere near Potter children out shopping or just being children running around on some world somewhere. Then there were the Nanny Droids. Completely merciless, never more than steps away from their charges.

The Empire was moving on the Hutt's. She would need some help with the defense of the cluster and perhaps another heir or two. The heir's staying with him just secured her line. Consortium forces had to lead the defense of the cluster and that could eat up a lot of troops and young leaders. Her sons would be at the front of that. Besides he was delicious the last times she had seen him, and hadn't aged a day on the holo's.

Leia stood behind her Master and watched The Hapes Queen Mother come through the receiving line. She fumed internally and smiled pleasantly at the cow nerf. Why didn't she just get her nerf udders out right here? A thought occurred, a Daphne like thought. She would have to get with Master Potter Greengrass. Harry owning this nerf cow and her begging and making an idiot of herself in public would be perfect.

Harry caught the leakage from Leia and nearly laughed. "Queen Mother. Words can do you no justice. Thank you for coming."

Ta'a Chume smiled as her hand was kissed lightly on the knuckles. She had made the perfect impression obviously.

Hermione smiled at him as they danced later "Your Padawan is mean."

Harry laughed "And perverted. I'm not sure anyone could even do half of those things."

Hermione nodded "So you have seen the light and are going to help Daphne's plan?"

Harry chuckled "Wouldn't that be seeing the dark? We'll see, she seems a pleasant enough lady. Nothing will interfere with us though, so everyone has to be on board, and we have to do something about Leia. On board for me erh-"

"Grudge fucking the nerf cow to death, up the arse, in the senate?" Hermione asked with sparkling eyes.

"Uh yes that. Well, she can't give Daphne her heirs to the throne if I do that, can she?"

Hermione nodded "Plus we have to keep the Empire out of Hapes, rather than start a war with them, and we haven't seen the empires new capabilities yet. The Hutts will give us good intelligence."

SSDV

Harry woke in the night and went to the CIC in the mansion, a holo tank in a bare room that had been a maintenance closet before. It had been another late night with Ta'a. Nice, funny, but long. He looked in the holo tank and saw immediately what disturbed him. He keyed himself in.

Yoda and Ackbar popped up in holograms "Doldur sector?" Harry arched a brow.

"Falleen Federation. Forget Sidious does not." Yoda nodded.

Harry nodded remembering the Black Sun himself now. "Admiral?"

"It's a feint, but in strength. He likes these operations where if he has success he has gained something, or if not he has achieved his objective, this one he got to combine a spoiling attack to distract us with resolving his grudge against the Black Sun so a win win for him. We can hold it. Meanwhile if you observe here and here, the scanning Lucrehulks and mines are picking up trails of disturbance. These are cloaked scouts headed into Hutt Space. We expect the main effort to follow shortly." Ackbar indicated as he talked.

Mon came up in the tank "Their cloak only works for their scouts and not very effectively unless they are stationary or not in powered flight. At least at the level of resolution we now have in Republic space and along the borders. They will disappear when they get to their targets in Hutt Space."

Bail came up "Warn the Hutts?"

Yoda nodded "Again, we must."

Mon shrugged "They will fight for a while, until they make deals. Have we lost anything in Hutt Space?

Bars appeared "No. most, if not all of the Force sensitives are already out of there. Their families too. The slaves left there now are mostly criminals of one sort or another in the Republic. The Hutt's have had a booming trade with us for a few years now. It mostly cleaned out their space as we made slaving difficult if not impossible everywhere else, and the empire seems to lack a sense of humor about human slaves as well. Palpatine having a base there is my only concern."

Harry smiled viciously "Unless they brought along enough material to start colonies it won't matter when we close both doors."

Garm appeared "So pound this incursion in Doldur with everything, and then wait, and when he has maximum forces committed to Hutt space cut them off."

Mon nodded "Be ready for him to try to relieve them, and them to attempt to break out. We think he is going to commit heavily in an attempt to terrorize us. The Hutts will, of course, go with where they think the money is."

Harry shrugged "Palpatine cutting down the numbers of pirates and mercenaries in Hutt space is welcome. I might have to send him something for Yule."

Mace came up from lurking "Something deadly I hope."

Harry chuckled "Does anyone sleep anymore?"

SSDV

Leia bounced and flipped. She knew better than to stay still. He would be on her in a second. They were in the cushion charmed basement sparring room as grappling often got highly charged, and very disruptive to clothing, and all she needed was her mother watching as she tried to use some of the dirtier tactics she learned on him. Not that they worked on him so far. Not like him getting a handful of bottom on her. Maybe if she slept with him it wouldn't be so distracting. Damnit! "No fondling the boobs, Master!"

Harry laughed and spun away from the knee to the groin. He continued into a hip throw and took her to the cushioning charm. She surprised him, locked her lips to his and then slipped from under him and into a rear naked choke. Harry got the thumb bar and slipped it and spun using his weight to pin her. Leia found herself with him between her legs pressing her into the floor and all his weight, or most of it, on her. She didn't want to slip this one and leaned up and kissed him again. He slipped her the tongue, she accepted willingly and he ground down on her. She ground back. Celeste blew the whistle and glared at both of them. They both blushed, drawing laughs.

Sabine snorted "You two need to get a room. You aren't going to be effective opponents until you work it out."

Mara grinned "She means until you shag like varna for a week."

Leia glared at the other two Padawans "Duh!" She realized what she had said and blushed furiously.

Harry, a little pink himself, laughed and hugged her. "We'll discuss it. Once Ta'a is out of the way."

Leia nodded "And you test clean for two weeks."

Celeste stepped in the charmed area and gave Leia the come on signal "While your Master is indisposed." Leia blanched. Celeste was as good as Harry. Fighting her left bruises places that shouldn't be bruised. She also could not be distracted.

SSDV

Harry was sitting in the large space in the Royal Lodge everyone used to holo into the senate, with his microphone muted "What the hell has gotten into the senator from Doldur. He has never voted for anything or supported any proposal we made before."

Garm smiled from his chair near Harry. Everyone had a tendency to go to where Harry was when crisis occurred, at least the command council subset of the Senate. "The fight in his sector is pretty intense. Only the border sectors have had to go through this before. It has dawned on him that without us he, or his sector rather, doesn't stand a chance. No sector could afford the lease on enough force to fight off the empire by itself, even at your very reasonable rates. A B4 is worth a squad, and the lease for one cost a sergeants pay for a year. The Vulture Droid mod fours are worth a leader wingman pair and cost what one pilot would make per year."

Harry frowned "The border sectors have gone quiet. I think all that effort, fighting the picket fleet, has been transferred to Doldur as the Hutts are putting up a surprising resistance and sucking up resources. I know I didn't expect them to last six months."

Mon snorted "No one expected all those Chiss and Mandalorian mercenaries. We all thought they, the empire and the Chiss Ascendancy, had a détente."

Breha nodded "I would accuse him of running two wars again, if we hadn't checked every way possible."

Harry grinned "And that hissy fit he threw. Destroying half the imperial palace. Didn't know the little weasel had it in him."

Yoda nodded "Not attacked the Chiss Ascendancy why the question is."

Harry shrugged "The Hegemony has them pretty well sewn in but he could do a z axis attack. We can keep them sewn up though, and him too I think, plus that would just be another bubble to trap him in."

"Reported on several Republic worlds Drayeen has been." Yoda changed the subject, only slightly, like a left face in two axes at once slightly.

Mon nodded "Celeste, Daphne and Arden are closing the noose on her. If she stays out here they will have her soon."

Harry nodded "Not to wish anything bad on the Falleen, but I wish the Empire would press their attack close enough to seriously engage one of the planetary ward sets. I want to see what happens."

Garm chuckled "Pay back for all that resistance in the senate Dread Lord? You know there is the opportunity while he is engaged to attack him. Expand the Alderaan, Corellia pocket."

Mon shook her head "His strongest fleet is in the core still. Mostly hyperspace minutes away from that area."

Harry sighed "I wish the sponge on Byss had worked. Maybe we look for a thin spot somewhere else."

SSDV

Leia put her all into the saber duel. She finished in a draw with Aayla and swayed on her feet. Aayla stepped up to her "Leia?"

"Why won't the nerf cow leave?"

Aayla chuckled ruefully "She is due soon."

Leia growled "If I couldn't spar I would have killed her already. Parading around to be sure everyone knows she is pregnant, and by who. She should have just had the holo cams in her bedroom."

Aayla couldn't help it, she laughed. She hugged Leia to take the sting out. "Well, it at least confirmed Harry doesn't like casual sex."

Leia sighed "Or political. I can't believe he had to have stims though. I mean, she is good looking."

"For a nerf cow." Aayla grinned at her. Leia nodded and they both laughed. The stims issue was a tightly held secret. They knew the kind of insult to both that would be if it was known. Daphne had brewed them herself to keep it from any source.

Leia was already through most of her training before she became Harry's Padawan. This thing with the Queen Mother had tested both of their consular skill, all of theirs actually, to the utmost. As soon as Ta'a was gone Harry would finish Leia's training and her Knighthood trials would follow. Sabine and Mara at the same time, they had all started late as padawan and it had been full throttle for a while now.

Obi wan had taken Luke and he wasn't as far. Of course he didn't spar eight hours a day and study like a monk for another eight trying to burn out the rage, like his sister and Mara, or keep up with her roommates like Sabine, either. Or have the best fifteen masters in the order. Potter Padawans were busy girls, studying, dueling, teaching younglings, putting classes on holo, missions occasionally. The only thing they didn't have were padawan of their own. There were some candidates though and lately their had been a rush of padawans in the Naboo branch of the clan.

Both Skywalker Organa's were Guardian path but tended to Consular behavior and skills.

SSDV

Harry picked the nude Leia up out of the bed in the master suite and carried her to the Padawan room. Ta'a, eight and a half months along, had told him she wasn't comfortable having sex anymore. Harry had apparated to the medics from the hall outside her apartment. Then to the master suite, their first coupling was athletic, rough, and needful. By morning they had settled into a slow loving pace, and left each other mauled. The Potter women came in, kissed them both, did some healing, a lot of smiling, and left.

Over the next week Mara could only laugh, Sabine had been right. Maybe a reactor and a hyperspace motivator though. Leia was going to explode, or those braid buns were going to turn into turbines, or something. Her pack of youngling females had doubled as well. They all had packs traveling with them, but Leia's had exploded after she was mated to Harry. All females, past first blood. Hmmm. This should probably be documented and studied. Where was Shaak, erh Master Ti?

SSDV

Ta'a was delivered the same day Ackbar broke the back of the incursion in the Doldur sector. Twins, a boy and a girl. Harry was a doting parent to them like all his other children. Leia tolerated their mother. Some of the Potters actually got along quite well with her. Hermione as well as Daphne. Gabrielle as well, now that the disruption was over with. Gabrielle didn't like disruptions she didn't cause, and had a tendency to make people pay for them, pay a lot. Sabine got her mauling from Harry as well. Her youngling pack suddenly grew as well. Good thing, Sabine didn't have braid buns to turn into turbines. Mara laughed at them both, Sabine and Leia.

SSDV

Drayeen could only hope things settled, and someone remembered she was in a welded closed box, with a transparisteel front, on a prison ship, nude, with a toilet, table welded to the floor, and a chair welded at it. Meals appeared once a day with a jug of water on the confinement Lucrehulk. Once she had finished withdrawal from the legal and illegal drugs she indulged in, she had figured out exercising got her better food than a tasteless ration bar, so she did so religiously. The water jug stayed full. Talking got her a Holo on the wall behind a transparisteel window turned on. Supplying information got her more channels of the holonet under voice control. Once a day there was a shower of warm water, a sprinkle of soap, and another shower of warm water. She couldn't find a shower head or drain, just some marks scribed on the ceiling and floor. It would stay on as long as she stood on the marks, well for about thirty minutes. The B3 droid standing in front of the cell with the blaster rifle at port arms never said anything and its ocular sensors never left her. Her view consisted of other B3 droids in front of other cells. She got used to its staring and ignored it. She hoped whoever it was watching enjoyed watching her masturbate. The perverts. Yelling at them or writing snide comments back to the questions got no response.

SSDV

Harry was at his work table when the command council walked up. Leia cast the silencing dome over the group and looked at her brother when he looked offended at being excluded. The other padawan and Leia all arched brows at him. Bail led right in as he put down two padds which projected holograms of Ackbar and Bars. "The war in Hutt space is over or has turned into an occupation. Without withdrawing any forces he is sending a fleet heavy in clone transport ships, those super Acclimator class vessels."

Harry nodded "As soon as those get in Hutt space activate the mines and SoDs. Lock him in those two spaces. Admiral launch the fleet. When we activate the mines you may commence your bombardment. Follow that with terrain oriented offensive operations. Kalist VI is your goal, anything past that can be given back if we have too. Holding a line from Rakata Prime to Kalist VI then to Corellia is the mission. Push hard everywhere else to keep him occupied. All fleet units begin bombardment with mass drivers ahead of the fleet. The targets are prioritized and will be loaded by the AI. May the force be with us."

The Command council left as the B5s started executing commands. Harry's Aide De Camp B5 had the memory cores of his original Alpha One and that was still its designation.

SSDV

The Imperial General staff looked at the Holo tank as core world after core world stopped reporting. Diamal was, unfortunately, the first in line. A multi ton mass fired from a SoD in hyperspace, a week ago by a mass driver aimed by AI, slammed into its main communications center, which like most Imperial planets was in the center of its main military base. The base ceased to exist. So did a portion of the continent it was on. The outer core southern sector of the empire was suddenly leaderless, without forty percent of its support, and twenty percent of its forces. All the worlds in the Core got the same treatment and communications in the empire ceased for moments, then picked up again, severely degraded, and using obscure channels that limited them mainly to text, as every military target that could be identified in the empire got a five to fifteen round burst from automated mass drivers, at the appropriate time up to a week ago.

The ships in orbit were next, and were neutralized in seconds as SoD Vs fired on them through their unplottability charms, as they raced past the core worlds at near hyperspace insertion velocity. It was a disaster for the empire.

The line of disaster advanced steadily north, Belgaroth, Dentaal, Abregado-rae, Eclipse in the east and Kokash in the west just added to the confusion. the alarms went out, the Imperial fleet began ponderously reorienting. Plexis, Gerrard, Botor, the fleet came fully about and got under way, just in time to run into a barrage of multi ton projectiles fired days, or by now an hour before. Dulvoyinn, Lialic and the projectiles from the east and west began impacting, and hitting some Imperial ships that maintained a steady course and speed. In the Imperial General Staff war room the emperor started killing people. It was unintentional. He was so enraged the lightning sprayed from him indiscriminately. The SoDs surrounding the core and locking the Imperial navy in tightened their grip by moving out of the mine belts toward the inner core. Firing all mass drivers as rapidly as they could cycle as they went. Super Lucrehulks dropped packages of masses still with their lightening and shrinking runes active in front of the SoDs, who picked up these caches with tractor beams on the way by. The mines headed into empire space on preprogramed courses at maximum thrust, until they were intercepted by their racks and scooped up for transition to hyperspace to get ahead of the fleet and into the new line. Vulture droid racks and vulture droids did the same.

The Emperor ordered the whole of the imperial fleet south and the return of the fleet in Hutt space. The first consequence of this was Coruscant immediately coming under sustained attack. Every Imperial facility on the planet was targeted. The next consequence was the fleets in Hutt space becoming decisively engaged as they headed up and down the z axis, and then the Hutt's reenergized their mercenaries.

The Republic fleet slowed as it closed the distance to the Kalist system and fought its way midway to Byss before the combination of the inner core and the Imperial home fleet brought it to a halt. It then grudgingly gave ground collapsing the corners and bulges, redeploying units, all the while continuing its bombardment and spewing mines.

To take pressure off the south and let the new line stabilize, Republic units to the east, west and north advanced and for a time Coruscant was cut off from the rest of the empire.

The Republic Navies having achieved a stunning success the Armies followed that up with conquering the worlds on the Republic side of the new line.

Harry fought on the ground, hopscotching to Kalist VI with Hermione, Luna, Daphne, and Gabrielle while the other Potter Masters, with their Padawans, and Knights fought in space in and near the system or systems Harry was in. Storm Trooper divisions were ground to dogmeat facing them, while their support in space was chopped into scrap.

Harry and the Earth Mages let it all out. The forces of the Republic were in awe. Not so much that they couldn't fight their own stunned, demoralized, opposition however.

Leia then Luke came face to face with their father. Leia being saved after she was locked in a stalemate with him by Harry, who mauled Vader, with blaster, saber, fist, and the Force in a display that dropped jaws. Vader fled, assisted by a banishing charm from Harry, when Leia had to take a knee, her wounds, none critical, caught up with her, and escaped to a nearby world. He fought Luke there then Obi Wan who managed to hold off the already wounded Vader. Harry had not been pleased his Padawan had been attacked. If Vader hadn't been mostly machine he would have been dead. As it was he looked like a broken terminator with a zombie head by the time he fought Luke.

Obi wan had not succeeded in driving him off before he dropped a bombshell on Luke. Harry sighed "Told you we should have told them. Luke I am your father! What the fuck? Was that supposed to be some kind of inducement to come to the dark side? Your sister mostly kicked the shit out of me. Her master turned me into a broken robot a salvage Lucrehulk wouldn't scoop up. I'm pretty much a dickless, broken robot, with bad breath control, and her Master blasted me over the horizon. I escaped in a fucking retarded looking ball with wings, and then you kicked my ass and your master nearly finished me putting the boot in, but it's all good over here in the dark?

What do you think Luke, want some dark side? I can have Daffy and Arden find one to dark you up. That Drayeen chick maybe."

Mara glared at Harry "Not and live you can't. I can do my own darking thank you very much. Master."

Leia wanted to be mad at him, them really, she really did. Instead she sat on a rock and howled with laughter. Obi wan huffed "Uncivilized!" Luke gaped at them.

Harry rolled his eyes "Oh we were supposed to be all angst ridden? You know what, I think I am going to go kill the Sidiot. Then we will shut off the food and starve these bastards out. They aren't worth any more Republic lives."

Yoda hobbled up and sighed "Prison planet this was. Political prisoners these people were. Condemn them that would."

"Fuck me." Harry sat next to Leia.

Gabrielle smiled "There is our angst ridden Dread Lord. I was wondering when you would show up." She reached over and grabbed him by an ear "Come on. Yes, right now. Killing idiots gives me antlers."

Sabine huffed "Makes you horny Master."

"Whatever. When my frigate is rocking don't come knocking." Gabrielle tossed back over her shoulder. The Potter women looked around, nodded, and quit the field in pursuit. The Marauder left the planet seconds later.

Luke looked after the ship thoughtfully for a moment then nodded. "He is right."

Obi wan sighed "Uncivilized, inexcusably coarse, but yes, most of the time they are right."

Yoda hopped on his carpet "Back to orbit and Command ship I go. Encirclement and conquest of these worlds complete we must. Wives and children, we have. More important things to do we have as well."

Luke sighed "Mara went with them."

Obi wan rolled his eyes "Do something about it then."

SSDV

The Republics side of the conflict was the only side heard from for four months after the month of high intensity fighting. The Empire was a shambles and Hutt space a free fire zone, again, as the Empire forces there took several resource rich worlds centered on a triangle formed by Gos Hutta, Mulatan and Bootana Shagplan and fortified them. Essentially the heart of Hutt space that they had fought so hard for already. They were under constant harassing and interdicting fire from the encircling SoD's and mines as was the rest of the Empire.

Harry started every look in the holo tank at Bootana Shagplan. It gave him a chuckle. The Masters Potter smiled and the Potter Padawans rolled their eyes. As long as he didn't do that hip thing anymore. That was just gross, and weird. And what the hell was 'Shagadelic Baby!' What did that even mean? He wasn't yelling that anymore either after Master Greengrass Potter got through with him. Boys were weird, and needed constant watching.

The droid lucrehulk salvage and trade/passenger ships plied their trade unmolested. Wearing the Potter crest proudly. Harry laughed every time he saw one and Daphne got a night with him by herself. The Crest was her idea. It was on the flimsy tickets, the B3s, upgraded with the latest hardware, software and firmware their systems could tolerate, that were guards and crew, the cargo lifters, the ships, everything Harry owned. The Ladies Potter rolled their eyes and smiled. It did make Harry happy.

SSDV

Sidious looked out his window from the top of his tower at the holes with the fires still burning in them, holes where imperial installations had been. The lightning arced to his desk and sparks flew again. He cursed and went to the landing pad. He needed time away. Dread had been stopped. The core was between Byss and his forces. Retaliation for attacking Doldur was what that had been. Perhaps he should have sent a note before he punished the Black Sun. No! He was the senior Darth! Yes some time alone to get his rage under control then he would begin again. At least he now had fortified worlds in Dreads rear. He also had one, no two, important things out in what was now Republic controlled space.

SSDV

Things settled into a rhythm as things would and Luna walked out to the work tables one morning laid a padd in front of Harry and said "I want these. They have enough power to finish my portal back to our reality. And make it two way."

Harry picked up the padd and looked at it over the half Togruta girl in his lap. "He actually built this thing? Hmmm is this power generation specification right? Holy cow. Yeah it does have enough. Endor. Hey wait a minute, that is in our space. Is this another Wayland? Damn, how does he hide these things everywhere? Oh, ass end of space really. Hmmm nobody saw this other one when we pressed the core though. I wonder where it is."

Hermione had linked her padd "It's slow. We will find it."

Luna nodded "You can mess it up, just don't blow up the reactor. The Sidiot will probably send it after you soon anyway. You just have to stay still long enough."

Aayla nodded "Or he will send it here. To Alderaan I mean. We did scuff him up pretty bad. He will have to gain face somehow. Can't have the upstart Dark Lord embarrass him like that. The empire press is even getting a bit snarky and it's state controlled."

Gabrielle tapped on the table "Or he will go after Darth Trade Bar." Bars watching on holo while working groaned. Harry grinned and chuckled. Gabrielle's network had turned that up from a Hand they had caught. Everyone had a good chuckle at Bars, not to much though. It was like laughing at the pay master, dangerous if taken to far.

Luxa walked up grinning "Unlike ours which is boob controlled." She had a dark red baby on her hip.

Sabine snorted "One pair of boobs anyway."

Harry worked and played with the children as things got sorted in his mind.

SSDV

Something was bothering Harry and everyone knew it. Aayla and Hermione talked and decided they had missed something and Harry was doing one of his put pieces together things.

That afternoon just as lunch finished Harry sat the latest Potter daughter with an issue on her feet and chuckled "You have your own Hun. Your sister has hers too. They are not quite the same." He stopped talking.

Julia, an older Potter daughter turned to him "Mum! Daddy is locked up like the holo net does when you get mushy!"

Hermione led her off to a seat "Just wait Julia he has remembered something. Good girl for prompting him to put it together."

Harry finally blinked "Its two of these death stars, one complete and one building at Endor. I really am going to kill the Sidiot this time. He is going to send it after terror type targets. The one at Endor is bait and if it gets completed then a weapon for him too. Same type of targets. Not military, mostly civilian."

Luna smiled "Yay then we can make the portal two way right away! Oh and big! We can fly ships through it rather than send parts and droids. Wow that makes this whole thing easier, better, and faster. Good. Some of these kids need to meet their relatives." She picked up her padd and started modifying her plans.

The others sat at the tables stunned.

SSDV

The command council were as stunned as the Potters later. Breha collected herself first "So one of these things is complete and running around in our space? With millions of troops and a weapon we think can destroy a planet?"

Mon gasped. Gial nodded "I'll need the sensor specifications."

Hermione nodded "We put them in the command net holo tank. We didn't want to start a panic."

"Strike where will Palpatine?" Yoda looked thoughtful.

Mace sighed "He is so unhinged, no one could know."

Harry shrugged "Dark Lord, They are fairly predictable, at least in the general sense. They all follow the same overarching pattern. I think it's because they want to rule, so let's see, where are we in the Sidiot's careen through existence? He has clones, so immortality, of a kind. He has a bunch of worlds that follow his orders. He has lots of chaos and problems to create intrigue and drama. A new toy. They like to test them out on targets that are not crucial but are significant. Hmm any place where a blow against the light could prove a significant demoralizing blow? Oh or the Force worshippers. They are good for that crap too. Striking symbolically, religions are great symbols. These things rate of fire and movement are hideously slow compared to a SoD VI. Of course, we don't accommodate air breathing troops who have low G tolerance on ours. Got rid of hundreds of systems that way. Ours are, leaner? Fit to purpose better, maybe."

"Jedha, or Jedha City" Daphne replied looking up from her padd. "The weapon uses giant Kyber crystals Grievous acquired for Palpatine from Utapau. Drayeen has been laying out the history she knows of this thing in dribs and drabs for privileges. Arden and I will interrogate her."

Gabrielle laughed "It has a ward set this Jedha. So charged it glows white. There has been some discussion of removing it as it might overload but it doesn't. They built rooms or chapels around the stones."

Luna shook her head. "We have to find it before Jedha kills it, and take it. We need that power plant or we will have to build one. That would take years and Harry needs to swing by Earth soon. This other one too or we won't be able to get back here and we need to be here as well. We still aren't finished with Palpy. We could have these up and running in a year or so."

Bars nodded "Not to mention the cost of building that reactor would be significant, even for the Dread Lord."

Mon nodded "Finding it seems the main issue. Then you Potters can go do what you do."

SSDV

Harry padded in the CIC barefoot in pajama pants with the fussy Princess of Naboo on his hip "Since you won't sleep, let's look at the galaxy for a while."

Padme Potter giggled and yanked on his arm. He keyed himself into the holo tank and immediately had his eye drawn to the flashing red circle in space with a course vector line pointed toward Jedha. He thought a minute and didn't notice Gial coming up in the tank "We'll never get there in time with ships Padme. Daddy is going to have to shine a light on the emperor's toy."

Gial cleared his throat "Master Lovegood will be unhappy."

Harry looked over at the holo of Gial "Don't you ever sleep Gial?"

Gial chuckled "As much as you do apparently Harry. We have some forces in the area, we can slow the thing down."

Harry nodded "Let's call it DS One. I'll talk to the Ladies and we will come back with our part of the plan at say seven. It looks like we have a few days before it could be in range to take a shot and have those wards vaporize it."

Gial nodded "More probably, as he would want to test the full range of its capabilities, including assault, he will try to take the planet then blow it up."

Harry nodded "That will be interesting. Test whether clones have intent or are just doing what they are programmed to do. The ultimate test of the Nurnberg defense eh Padme?" Padme smacked her daddy in the mouth. Gial laughed.

SSDV

Orson Krennic nodded as they closed on Jedha. He would show all the doubters. The bridge lights flashed off and then came up red and a warning blared. One of the bridge crew turned to him "We have been boarded sir."

Orson scowled "In hyperspace? That's impossible!"

The officer turned to a monitor and waved her hand then punched a few buttons. The main screen showed what was unmistakably the Dread Lord scything through Storm Troopers with a lightsaber in one hand and the Force coming from the other. Troops in mirror polished armor behind him walked through a portal and immediately lit sabers and attacked. Droids intermixed with them placed other portals on the bulkhead and a group activated them one after the other. More Jedi, Rangers, Republic Marines and Army troops and Droids poured from the opened portals. Some of them took one step and disappeared. Lights all over the bridge lit indicating intruders spreading like the plague.

Orson gave the orders to alert the crew and troops to repel borders and the bridge crew went to work.

SSDV

Harry strode onto the bridge sixty three hours later and cut Orson in half "So you can surrender or die. I don't really care. But this is my boat now." He looked around at the remaining bridge crew.

Daphne meanwhile led a force to the forest moon of Endor and took first the ground station and then the under-construction DS Two. Arden and Celeste had joined her, the fight through the planetary crust clearing out the storm troopers who were to eventually man the thing was magnificent. The girls let their hair down so to speak. Their troops were in love. Even the Droids.

The fight in space in and around the system was spectacular as well. Gial was sharpening up some junior officers by taking the empire fleet guarding their future home base to pieces.

Luna immediately got to work with thousands of droids modifying the things to power a worm hole to their home reality. Before the fight was even over, while she had them both moved to the position she had calculated. Slightly above the core just clear of the last rouge stars and centered on the mass of the Galaxy. That was fairly easy to find. The black hole eating the galaxy gave it away a bit.

SSDV

Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader watched as the Emperor shrugged the loss of two stations and millions of troops along with hundreds of fleet units off. "Once we lost control of them out in space I didn't expect they would succeed. They were in another Dark Lords back yard after all. Darth Vader, prepare for the invasion and subjugation of the Chiss. Take your reinforcements with you all in one movement. Moff Tarkin, prepare the Fleet to clear his route. After that Hapes, and we will have three, no four places to attack him from."

Vader and Tarkin bowed and backed away.

Tarkin and Vader finally decided to go galactic down this time as the building fleet of Republic ships sitting centered on Galactic up was a bit more than they wanted to fight through. Down was covered by mines and a few ships of the line. Almost like the normal picket at the core boundary. Certainly not as heavily patrolled as the new picket line to the galactic south.

SSDV

Life had settled in the Republic. Oh there were border skirmishes and the occasional serious battle but it had been nearly a year since the death stars were seized. Bars had stopped the Potter concerns from accepting the empires fiat currency period, then had them take the value of precious metals or just metals instead. Some core worlds paid for food and sewage haulage in fuel. Deuterium wasn't that hard to produce after all. Well for worlds that had a running reactor of the appropriate type and water no matter how polluted.

Luna was getting close to finishing her project by applying every droid Bars could find to it. Most of the highest intelligence people in the Republic too. Harry stayed far away from that set of holo tanks. The Potter ladies spent considerable time there. Harry worked on thorny problems they brought him that runes might help, and teaching healing. Well playing with kids and the occasional mission with his Padawan or one of the padawans. Leia was a Knight now after all. As was Sabine. Mara was close. Herding Padawan Skywalker slowed her a bit. Leia and Sabine were helping with that though so it was good. Really she was ready for trials.

When he wasn't doing any of that Harry instead sat in the Senate with Aayla. One fine day Mon looked at Harry apologetically before she pushed the button to turn on her signal light. Bail sighed and recognized her. "Thank you Chancellor. The government of Chandrilla has asked what the Dread Lord intends with the millions of humans he has captured in his latest exploits."

Harry grinned "Having them with fava beans and a nice Chianti? Ow! Dang it Aayla, we said no pinching."

The Senate was frozen in terror. Aayla rolled her eyes "They haven't seen that movie Harry and Mon isn't named Clarice."

Harry pouted a moment, then rose "Most of them are clones. Living machines that have one purpose and a finite lifespan. We have folded them into the military where they will fit after examining them and removing some control devices the Sidiot had installed. The devices that led to their mutinies. Or rather the original clone's mutinies. These new ones, the Clone troopers that we have gathered over the years who have survived, have started training but they are, I am told, of inferior stock and will never be as capable as the original clones. They have been briefed and seemed accepting of their parole. Despite some of the things I have seen some of our more ill-educated mouthpieces, erh, propagandist, ow! Reporters write, they have not been conditioned by us in any way except to make them better at their chosen profession. If they prefer they are found other work.

The prison is currently full of their officers and technicians, those that can be rehabilitated are and then take the oaths and join our military. Their services are included in the bill the Senate receives for leasing the military as are the Storm Troopers. The ones that wish other employment are found other work after giving their oaths and being briefed on the monitoring they will be under.

The few we cannot rehabilitate will remain in the prison. They are maintained in strict compliance with the laws of warfare, Senate bill 03A, as enemy prisoners of war. You can see them anytime. I know the ladies aid societies spend a lot of time with the storm trooper units and former empire officers and technicians ensuring they are comfortable and have a good life."

The Senate chuckled for a moment. There were some interesting stories coming out of that development. Human's, especially human males of a certain age were a bit thin in the Republic. Mon nodded "Thank you Dread Lord. That was mainly to get this on the public record as we have your briefing."

Harry frowned "You know that isn't an official title."

The Wookie Senator leapt up and growled and wuffed for a while. Harry put his head in his hands. Aayla smirked at him and half the Senate laughed while the other looked horrified.

Daphne caught him heading for his table outside as the weather was good and laughed at his thunderous scowl "I've told you again and again to think about things and not just blurt them out. Now you are officially the Dread Lord." He growled and Leia poked him.

SSDV

Luna finally got the press to shift to something else and Harry gave her a planet full of the strangest animals he could find in thanks later. She shifted the Galaxies attention by firing up DS One, opening a wormhole and sending DS Two completely loaded for exploitation with every surplus droid and lucrehulk, reduced to toy scale, in the Force galaxy that would fit aboard. It was armed with every weapon that could be found besides its giant, planet killing, turbo laser and all the weapons the empire had been building for it. Five hundred droid scouts chased it through followed by a seemingly endless stream of Lucrehulk exploitation hulls and ancillary ships of every description. There was nothing space worthy in the Force galaxy that wasn't actively engaged. DS Two, like DS One, was still being actively worked on as it went. It had a twin of Republic One AI aboard and in control.

The Galaxy was agog. She followed that up with DS One, still being being worked on, and bristling with every other weapon the salvage ships had turned up over the years. It probably didn't need the fleet of, no longer hyperspace capable, salvaged ships she had turned to weapons platforms, she had drug out, armed to the hilt and set to guarding it. Another twin of Republic One AI ran that. Everyone wanted to know what the large caliber tube that glowed an ominous green in testing was. It was a closely guarded secret. Hermione had to have a lie down the first time she saw it. Later she would give Luna a glare over the one on DS two. Luna just smiled. She had her AK cannon. In the worst case Palpy wasn't getting near her worm hole. And if it killed most of the core, well they were all going to die eventually anyway. Luna frowned, she might need to go lay on a sponge.

SSDV

Over the next few weeks a constant flow of scouts and lucrehulk collection and processing ships followed as they came off the ways on planets dedicated to producing them for the Milky Way. One Lucrehulk and five scouts an hour.

Harry looked at Luna a month into this and arched a brow. She smiled "The scouts are mapping out our galaxy. They will become the perimeter mines eventually, once the Milky Way is mapped. The collection ships and processing ships are preparing raw materials they find and exploitation hulls turn up and get filled with raw materials, one for every five collector processors. When we find Earth, and after we rebuild it, we will seed the Milky Way with the races and species of earth. The time thing looks to be a one off. Like I said, it was anchored to you somehow, and us. Still not quite sure. The arithmancy got a little complicated."

Yoda frowned "Other races in your Galaxy there must be?"

Luna nodded "Hopefully, but we already have Veela, Humans, Centaurs, Goblins, Unicorns, Merepeople, Dolphins, Whales, Dragons, Pixies, Giants, Vampires, Weres although do they count? Dwarves, Yeti. Lots of other races. There are bound to be empty planets. Harry can Dread Lord those too."

Harry sighed "And if I don't want to?"

Luna waved him off "You won't let them die. We can spread the races from here too. The ones from there to here. Lots of baskets for many eggs. We might need a bigger Senate boat though."

Harry thumped his head on the table. Julia force pushed a rubber pad under his head. Hermione beamed at her.

Bail was a bit pale "Uh, Lady Lovegood that wormhole won't stay open."

Luna waved him off "Deuterium. It's free. Well next to. Harry's runes have been dumping heat to Hoth and Jebble, all kinds of ice planets. Turned them into water worlds with big polar ice caps. I put facilities with portals on them, collect the deuterium to run the reactors, the portals can be, and for DS One and Two, were tied to them. You can summon hydrogen and oxygen from space, burn them together in a gas turbine for electricity and the by product is water. Provides power for the grid and keeps the weight of the planet the same. The astromechs were getting a bit upset about orbital mechanics. There are water and ice worlds in our galaxy as well. Occasionally Earth is one. Thank God for global warming eh? We did some work on those reactors as well. Much more efficient now. About like a Imperial super dreadnought in fuel consumption. There is some work being done that will get us, maybe, one more order of magnitude of efficiency, but then I think we have reached the theoretical limit.

We'll go through once the scouts find Earth and we'll set Fred, Angelina, Neville and Susan up. They are the ones in charge now, well with some others. They have a council like the command council. Send them a few factory ships, some technicians, and an army to start them and they can build more and explore the galaxy. Earth is way out on an arm of our spiral Galaxy. If there is a big galactic civilization we can go, Harry can Dread Lord, and it will be fine."

Mace sighed "Dread Lord." Harry held his hands up palm out.

Yaddie nodded "Master Lovegood is right. More baskets for our eggs we need. I only have a thousand years of fertility left." Yoda blanched and Obi wan fell over laughing. The others chuckled. Yaddie had litters every seven months all with just different enough genetics to safely, uh, do whatever it is her and Yoda's species did. The geneticist were having a field day.

SSDV

Fred was at Hogwarts working through the latest problem when the report came in. Thousands of gigantic donuts from space landing near every city and town, disgorging hundreds of robots and starting to rebuild those cities and towns. He went outside and watched one descend on Hogsmeade. He was still gaping when what could only be a UFO landed on the front lawn and a ramp opened as steam obscured his view, then Harry fucking Potter stepped from the steam, Fred's eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed.

Neville laughed as one of the girls with Harry slapped him on the arm and said "Great work Uncle Harry." Neville looked at Hermione, Harry, Daphne, Luna and Gabrielle and tears streamed down his face as he strode up and hugged them all. Luxa had hover droids running, streaming the Dread Lord going home live to the Republic Holo's. There was hardly a dry eye in the Republic and very little work was getting done.

Lavender Brown stepped out of Hogwarts with a baby on her hip and nodded "About fucking time Potter. I told these idiots you were immortal. No way could the King of a hell plane have killed you. You are a God after all. They wanted to put up a statue."

Harry beamed at her and lifted her and her baby up as more and more beings flowed off the ship and out of the castle. Harry spun them both around and did the same to Seamus, Ron and Anthony. Tears were streaming down his face like Neville. Harry said something, Lavender rolled her eyes and said "English Harry. I know it's been years, but you can do it."

Harry's first audible words on the planet were "I love you guys."

Mon shook her head in the Senate, watching amazed as the transcription to basic scrolled across the bottom of the screen "How the frack does he say the right thing every fracking time."

SSDV

Tarkin watched the Republic holo feeds and was silent, waiting on the Emperor to speak. Palpatine nodded. "I never considered he was the Dark Lord from another galaxy. We will have to watch and see what else he comes up with. Tarkin clear the path, Vader launch your attack while Darth Dread is distracted with his home galaxy. Prepare for the attack on Hapes as well."

SSDV

Harry was awake in the apartment he had been given in Hogwarts and heard a baby crying. He went to the Nursery and arrived to a smiling Winky diapering a half Zeltron baby boy. She levitated him to Harry and watched as he padded away with his son in his arms.

Harry as was his habit went to the room with the holo tanks and looked at the Away galaxy first. He saw the red highlighted activity in the Chiss Ascendency and nothing but the normal ever growing definition in the Home Galaxy tank. He keyed himself into the Away Galaxy. Gial came up immediately "Day here. Or at least where I am. Vader is leading the attack on the Chiss. Tarkin cleared his exit path sacrificing hundreds of dated ships and tractoring them or the main body of them away before the salvage Lucrehulks could even get close. They are learning. We had some casualties, none among organics, the portkeys as always, but he used a very lightly defended area with no fixed defenses as there are no suitable bodies in the area. Another Z axis attack. Down this time."

Harry nodded and Bail appeared "Harry! I'd ask how you are but every second of your day is transmitted live. Well before you go in that door. Private apartments I gather. Beautiful castle you have there. The Jedi have another channel and their work with Earth is being transmitted too. You need to be careful, well too late now. Did you lose you mind and let Luxa fill one of your trunks with hover droids? She must have ten million of the things up on Earth. The devastation of the demon war is now well known and people and planets are putting together supply and relief ships for Earth. Every planet that has one is sending their Lucrehulk loaded to the gunnels with relief supplies, equipment, beings and droids. You may yet be elected Emperor of the Republic.

Stunningly beautiful planet besides the Demon devastation. We all wish we could have seen it before.

The scouts have not found other evidence of life. Do you think the demons got loose in that galaxy?"

Harry blinked "I don't see how. We didn't have intra galactic travel."

Mace Windu came up "It is odd though. A whole galaxy devoid of sentient life except one planet which had twelve sentient species at least. All wildly different. Some fully aquatic. We will keep working. Master Plo I see you are on. What do you make of the empires operation in Chiss space?" Plo Koon, over his strenuous objections, had been left in charge of the Order in the Force Galaxy, with Depa as his second.

Plo Koon appeared in a holo "Complete disaster for both sides. We've sent, or rather Bars has sent, ships loaded with relief supplies to the Chiss and we are recovering, treating, and rehabilitating empire officers and clones but it is� there are no words really. Gial and the Queen Mothers officers are preparing for the attack on Hapes and the Hutts have reinvigorated their efforts to dislodge the empire forces in their space.

Jocasta is bringing a ship full of archivist to save the learning of Earth. I think she hopes to leave some driods in the major Libraries. The beings running the relief ships hope to use her efforts to rebuild the areas they have picked to the level that they were before the demons.

She said the scouts had seen evidence of former occupation on some planets, so something happened in the Milky Way to eliminate most life. She wants to get to the bottom of it."

Mace nodded "Keep working with the Senate. Stay on top of the Empire. I wouldn't put it past Palpatine to try something with the Dread Lord here. It would take us days to get back."

Bars came up and smiled "Give us six months and the Milky Way fleet would be coming back as well. Worlds everywhere, ore lying on top of the ground. Nearly pure carbon ore everywhere. So much deuterium and rare metals it's astonishing. Now we have a bolt hole from The Force Galaxy if we need it."

Staas Alli appeared "That leads into our new theory. There is so little of the force in the Milky Way galaxy, and tied to the planets as it is, an academician has theorized there was a Force user war that got out of control and both killed most of the population of that galaxy and used up the force in it. The Earth is, according to his theory, an ark, so to speak, the last hope of a dying galaxy."

Harry blinked "We called it coal Bars. Is that even possible Staas?"

Yoda appeared "Much we have to learn about the Force and some of it will be learned in the Milky Way. Fix Earth, the Home of Man, we will and then see to the rest."

Harry snorted "I still don't agree with that theory that man came from this galaxy. It would have taken them thousands of years to travel to the Force galaxy. Ancient Han being so close to ancient Basic notwithstanding. I think that's parallel development."

Yaddie appeared with Yoda "Early morning it is here. To bed your child needs to go Dread Lord. Tomorrow we will have theoretical discussions."

They all smiled bowed and keyed out of the holo tanks. Yaddie was not very forgiving when it came to children and their welfare.

SSDV

Hermione looked out at the two hundred and fifty two representatives in the virtual senate space "So it is agreed. The Milky Way will be divided into two hundred and fifty two equal pie shaped slices from the safety zone around the black hole at the center to the edges of the galaxy and a station will be built on the Z axis, galactic up, near the wormhole entrance, within its defenses, to house the Governing body. Each of those sectors will send a representative to the Republic Senate along with a diplomatic mission to include as many consulates as they like and each Republic sector will send a mission and consulates here.

All members of this body are requesting membership in the Republic and any newly found friendly races will be accommodated by shrinking everyone's sectors an equal amount, systems and planets will be held in escrow, unexploited and colonized, to accommodate this until the scouting is complete. The slices will be of equal value as determined by appraisers from the banking clans and the goblins."

The Ragnorok leapt up "And the Milky Way thinking stone!" Hermione acknowledged the Chief of the Clan Chiefs of the Goblin Nation with a nod.

The Republic Senate watched the monitors attentively, language memory crystals were a headache inducing necessity on both sides of the worm hole now, as the light on the Milky Way Chancellors virtual platform lit for a vote and the green bar headed for the right side of its path while the red stayed unlit. It was unanimous and the Milky Way joined the Republic.

The celebration went on for quite some time. Hermione finally called for order and announced, "The Milky Way joining the Republic, I believe it is time to elect a Chancellor for this body."

Natalia Romanovna, Hero of Russia and the Demon war, Mage level magical, second only to Harry Potter in power stood "Harry Potter!"

Harry rose smiling "Nat! Come on, just because I had to run out in Vladivostok! It was a tier two and a full hoard near Pyongyang you know." The Milky Way Senate chuckled. Harry chuckled at the bird he got from Natalia "I respectfully decline. There is in fact a Dark Lord in the Force Galaxy and I will have to finish him. While I might accept a role here, like defender, as I fulfill there, I would have little time between the Sidiot, his minions, and my children to serve. I nominate the Planetary Hero Natalia Romanovna in my stead."

Natalia glared at him as she was elected.

Zara Phillips the surviving Royal Magical in the UK rose "While Nat is trying to kill Harry, I elect him as the Protector of the Milky Way!"

Harry groaned and face palmed while his women laughed at him. He was, of course, elected unanimously. Nat beamed at him and both senates chortled.

Nat took her place, and the Milky Way Senate got down to business hypnotizing, the Force Galaxy Senate. The first order of business was standardizing Galactic Basic and English as the official languages. The Bothans were horrified, along with many others, at the speed with which the Milky Way section of the Senate got business done. There hadn't been a moment of time to even propose the idea of a supreme chancellor. The coalition the Bothans were a main player of had felt this was a chance to get Harry Potter involved more deeply and further tie him to them.

SSDV

Afterward Harry sat in a virtual meeting of the combined command council and an officer of the Republic military briefed the operations of the empire and Chiss.

Nat turned to him "You are going soft my Dragon. Why haven't you killed this Dark Lord? Are you going to wait for this one to discover demons too?"

Hermione sat up "We emptied that plane, or galaxy, whichever it was."

Nat huffed "Do you assume that was the only terrible place in the Universe Hermione? The next one could be worse. We should kill this dark Lord and have done. His minions can be rehabilitated and sworn, or rot in prison."

Bars chimed in "A point I have made before Harry."

Yoda sighed "So many humans will die in the attempt, even if successful, we do not know what plans he put in place for his demise. Orders that will be executed by his most loyal."

Chester Gibbs, the American senator and Mage level wizard shook his head "No matter what they won't be worse than what we suffered, and will kill less. There is no way we could evacuate everyone through the worm hole, even with it running one way and minimal spacing between ships. The wards and guard fleets are already taking off his spy vessels.

You all are in a race to find and destroy dark objects and get sponges in place while he races to find the same objects. Nat is right. It's only a matter of time Harry. Let's get a group together, get them trained and we'll take the minions while you take him. We'll get the gang back together and all of us go if nothing else. Twenty eight Mage level witches and Wizards should be enough even for a tier one. Or you know, you make like Major Kong again.

Using him to kill off or lead all the evil humans to their deaths is convenient and all, since we don't have any more demons, but let's not chance it."

The command council looked at Harry with the light finally breaking on a few of them. Mon looked around at the few surprised faces "Really, you should all keep up, and do your reading. It's as plain as the nose on your faces. If Palpatine had been a real threat Harry would never have stayed with us. He would have moved to wherever Palpatine was, destroyed him, and probably the planet he was on. I thought for sure after Harry teleported onto DS One with it in hyperspace you all would have figured it out."

Bannon the senator from Durros who had been brought into the command council chuckled "Not a big percentage hadn't figured it out, but we, that is this group, know Harry best. Imagine how many in the senate, as a whole, have yet to figure it out. What I want to know is the number you are waiting on Harry?"

Harry sighed "I was going to go visit him after Chiss. I worry about the Rakatan though."

Bannon snorted "And that isn't a number. I know you have one."

Harry shrugged "We don't actually, well an estimate, about ten percent of any population cannot be reached by any means, in our experience. Education and useful work, plus strict laws rigorously enforced, will cut it down to that. Well, along with some social engineering that should be baring fruit with the new generations. We are still working through how to get those too young to know better away from him. Gabbi, Arden and Celeste, oh the Jedi and Bothans as well, have put marks on some of the ten percenters they have found, and we are watching or were watching for them to be chewed up. Meanwhile we have several psyop campaigns running in the empire and we have never stopped transporting all comers. As we are the passenger lines it makes it a bit easier to do individual evaluations, and look for the personality markers. The AIs keep up with it all. I guess we could get a number out of them if we had too."

The Ragnorok, Bone Crusher nodded "Give the Stone Brains the markers we know of. Especially the evil magics. Put the star forge back together and put a sponge on it. It will work or the sponge will destroy it. It can build vessels and equipment for the teams. Yes, I think we should go ahead as well. Who knows what a dark lord could find, or create. I think the teams should be made of a member of each Republic species. Let everyone take credit for ending this Dark Lord."

Harry smiled "I like that idea. I have apprentices to train and babies to raise."

Leia snorted "Like the Sidiot has slowed you down any." Roganda looked pointedly at her flat stomach and the others laughed while Leia blushed.

Nat nodded "And you have some more to make Harry."

Hermione rolled her eyes at his groan. Aayla poked him.

AN; The 152 rules in case you have never read them. Google 'Based on Peter Anspach's list'.

*Chapter 14*: Chapter 14

Same Song Different Verse

Chapter Fourteen

Focus on the Empire we should

Mon fell in a chair on the balcony and looked at Breha and Clynda "I love Goblins. Better than Bothans they are. Crafty devils."

Breha looked pointedly at the dueling arena where a Goblin shield maiden was giving Ahsoka all she could handle with a lightsaber she had had for three days "Good with swords too."

Clynda nodded "The sexual dimorphism is so odd. The Dread Lords new apprentice is almost a meter taller than her father."

Mon laughed "Another Princess. Harry does seem to attract them. Have you all read about these Drow? Harry is sure to free one."

Breha snorted "Trapped in a magical device for thousands of years. Yes I expect so, he did Celeste and Arden anyway. Of course it will be a she and she will be fabulous."

Mon nodded "Dangerous too. I was hoping to delay it until we get the Sidiot in the ground or his ashes in space somewhere."

Clynda shrugged "These dark siders from Earth put paid to the notion the dark side is evil. Over and above Daphne and Arden. I thought those two might be aberrations." The other two women nodded.

Clynda looked at Mon "How do you feel about the goblins and the AIs?"

Mon grinned "Match made in heaven, the people and the brains of stone."

Breha laughed "Bars doesn't think so. All the AIs suddenly getting goblin guards. Plus, a quarter of their population studying electrical engineering and computer science."

Clynda rolled her eyes "People are so strange about religion. The goblins think sentient stones are goddesses and since the chips are silicon that makes them sentient stones. Never mind silicon is a metal. Well mostly." None of the three even considered goblins as anything other than people.

SSDV

Mace looked at Harry sitting at a table "So a timeline?"

Harry nodded "Half the Republic ran off to the Milky Way. Our Force users are training hard. The teams are building. Give it two years and we will be ready. After that it is a matter of when Mon gets the intelligence together."

Obi wan nodded with his daughter Rey on his hip. "She is working at it hard. Along with the Bothans and the Goblins. Our people as well."

Shaak nodded and conjured a stool at Harrys table "The star forge is up and running. It took three Sponges, aside from exhausting your Force core, and we had to portal the first two into the empire when they were glowing white. Suspending them over the purpose built portal Naboo came up with, and with the cradle monitoring their color works great. They glow and it drops them and loads the next. The other portal must be near the black hole as we didn't pick up much when the first two detonated. Just enough to give us the strength of the blast. Comparable to a yellow dwarf super nova. Those happen in the core though, so nothing new there.

We have to look at those portals again. The thing survived both those explosions."

Hermione had walked up and blinked "Frack me, we dropped hundreds, maybe thousands of those things into the demon plane."

Aayla nodded "Jocasta's people are scanning extra galactic space looking for clusters of those signatures. They think they might find that galaxy eventually, and it was one thousand three hundred and eighty seven from the records. Though we aren't sure the ones that transported Harry and you all here will look like that."

Gabbi nodded "We made thousands and used them. Usually the ones closest to the demon portal went in when the one trapped on the event horizon did, but we would have to look at satellite or drone data to be sure. Or to see if they detonated. Maybe that's why the blast was so strong? It was many of them."

Daphne laughed "If there is any galaxy we don't want to find it's the one we created thousands of supernova in."

Aayla shrugged "Forewarned is forearmed. Super nova happen fairly frequently."

Maris had joined the group "I think you are being optimistic Harry. That half of the Republic that ran off to the Milky Way were the ones trying to get in on the ground floor and start businesses or trouble. The Law Enforcement groups have their hands full. It will take more than two years to sort that mess out. Even though the laws in the Milky Way and Republic are amazingly close together. The mundane, Auror and Jedi law enforcement are very busy."

Harry shrugged "That's law enforcement though. Different folks than Soldiers, Hit Wizards, Sentinels, Guardians and Shadows. Besides, some 'entrepreneurs' from the Milky Way wandered over here to the Force galaxy as well.

What is up with Corellia and these "Green" Jedi? I've been meaning to ask and keep forgetting."

Obi wan groaned and Mace laughed "Something about Jedi from that sector, that system in particular. They have a tendency to end up in Law enforcement. Cosians tend toward investigators and researchers. It runs like that species to species. Not a guarantee but a good bet let's say. Togrutans tend toward Guardians. Twi'leks are the only ones that are constant surprises. Well before you turned up with millions of human Force users, some very dark."

Yoda nodded "And lifted the veil was. This Galaxy began producing as many Force Users as the Milky Way."

Luna shrugged "Natural selection, or unnatural in our case. The Demons killed a lot of the mundane. Twenty years of breeding magical with Mundane and the normal amount of first generations and now sixty percent of the population are Force users. Of course a large percentage of them are under age. The dark users who survived are pretty strong."

Saber the goblin padawan walked up and hipped Harry "Spar Master."

Harry smiled "Later when there aren't holo cams."

Saber huffed "They should all know you are my Master."

Arden laughed "They would all make money from it though, selling the holos to pubescent beings." Saber wrinkled her nose.

Obi wan nodded "Uncivilized. Harry your giants want in on the teams."

Harry shook his head "They barely have a breeding population. Wait how did they get to be mine?"

Shaak nodded "I'll talk to the Gorun's wife. They became yours when they won't do anything, unless you tell them it's OK." The males present winced and got laughed at. The Goruns wife was very direct. She was also the power of the giants. Oh the Gorun was no joke, but, well, who she didn't like did not do well, let's say.

A droid walked up and sat down a padd, Nat appeared "Harry we have a problem. We encountered two races. One is like a tier three, at least their Queens, the drones are like amped up tier fours, fucking things have acid for blood, we thought it was basilisk venom until we analyzed some. Bastards to kill too. Neither are magical, yet. The other hunts and kills the first. It's all they do. They don't have or want planets but they are happy to have us supply them. They tried hunting a few of our teams. They weren't prepared for your droids, thermal imaging, or magic. We have détente with them. The non-magical demons though, there is no reasoning with them. Apparently, the demons were an experiment that got loose and the ones we call Predators were sent to hunt them. They call them Xenomorphs, The Predators may have been built, genetically engineered, for the purpose. They have certainly evolved to impressive specimens through natural selection since their inception. That was all in the distant past and lots of galaxies away though. They are both certainly extra galactic. They have evolved over time as well. Both types.

Master Tiin says they don't feel the Force either. He is forwarding a report to the council. Apparently, these things are spreading through the Universe slowly and when the Predators clean them out of this galaxy they will follow the trail to the next one. The Predator ships are enormous and generational. Four or five Super Dreadnought together enormous. They have clans on each ship. We have identified five.

Mace leaned in "Chancellor how will they know they have finished the demons?"

Nat nodded "They have sensors they can find them with, as long as they don't mutate too far. These demon things take DNA from whichever species they encounter.

Harry, we want to build the Predators a souped up Death Star for a guarantee and oaths. Plus, their technologies."

Bail walked up with Garm. Both had padds. Bail looked at Nat "Chancellor. I take it you are discussing the idea with the Defender?"

Nat smiled "Just getting to his part Bail. Harry, we want to let the Predators or, at least one of their clans, use the worm hole to check the Force galaxy and continue their mission from there. It would be a reorganization for them as usually they arrange mating's between clans. They would transfer half of the pairs between ships for the whole population. About thirty thousand hunters, male and female, those would be the crew and residents of the death star, essentially a new clan. They could fill it over time."

Obi wan had gotten out a padd and Saesee Tiin appeared over it "Master Tiin?" Yoda, still in the Milky Way, appeared with Tiin.

Master Tiin waited for the greetings then nodded "The Predators have been at this for thousands of years. The Milky Way Force users and droids are repairing, cleaning and refueling their ships, to include their food production areas, where the soil was pretty worn out. Professor Longbottom has been very helpful. They are genuinely grateful, but are so hunt and clan oriented it is, or was hard for them to treat with us as equals. Some Sentinels and Shadows, plus some Aurors, helped them on a hunt and they are much more willing to talk now."

Yoda nodded "Went with them to see these creatures they hunt I did. Like the Yuzung Vong they are, except no technology they have. Sentient, but they do not feel the force, and cannot be reasoned with. Overcome their instincts they cannot. The Defender should allow this and the Republic support it."

Harry nodded "Except we don't control all of this galaxy. We can feed the plans of the death star and any modifications they want to the Star Forge. It is up and running now, and get them a worm hole max death star a month, supplying it and fitting it out would take another month or three, but we still can't get them into empire space.

As for them using the worm hole I don't have a problem with it as long as they aren't hostile.

Of course the forge is using the command codes from our computers, since we patched its software. I still don't know how that happens. Anyway, my point being Republic One would have control of their ship in the event they turn hostile. I'm not sure we need to let them know that. Plus we need to know their magic number genetically, and put at least that many on each Death Star we build for them.

We don't have anymore of those giant Kyber crystals so they wont get that big ass laser, but plenty of mass drivers and large caliber turbo lasers."

Yoda nodded and hrmmmed "Matter for the Republic Senate this is. Get the plans and their modifications we will. Master Lovegood's fuel arrangement we can make for fuel for their ships. Several water planets apiece. Free them to hunt, rather than harvest and process ice. We will negotiate for them to clear the Force Galaxy as well as the Milky Way for the Death Stars. Concentrate on the empire you should Defender."

Harry nodded "And no one let Palpatine know about these xenomorph things. He already has experiments running all over the core. One, or more, is bound to get away from him."

Luna stepped from a portal door and listened for a moment then nodded "Oh you heard. Hermione, I need you to look at this charm. It summons deuterium from space, if you aren't in hyperspace anyway. If you like it we can get Harry to craft a rune set, then we won't need to worry about sucking water worlds dry."

Gabrielle rolled her eyes "Deuterium is a small fraction of water Luna, we won't suck them dry. Merde. With the right reactor and normal water you can even make more. Those reactors use up things we need used up. Radioactive elements mainly."

Nat spoke up "The Mere people worry."

Apailana nodded "The Gungan too."

Gabrielle was cursing in French and Arden laughed "And that is why you aren't in politics, you can't tolerate irrational people."

Harry was already working on a padd. Another trap play for the next fleet Palpatine sent out. They had a year or so but then he would go after Hapes. The Chiss had settled in to kicking the crap out of his forces. This time he needed to be stopped in route and in the core, Hutt space, and the Chiss Ascendancy reduced. This would take the fleets from both galaxies, all their yards, and the Star Forge, running flat out. The Forge was amazing. It worked like one of those printers that printed three dimensional objects. It could do lots of them at a time as well. That was just on the ship production side. Uniforms, blasters, anything really. Feed it a design and stand back. Too bad it consumed whatever star you parked it near but they had a few that didn't have planets, just debris fields, and the star forge ate the debris fields as well. There was some talk of putting it near stars that were about to go nova. Harry would have to do some more reading. One of those discussions had said something about stopping black holes forming that way. Where was that white paper? If they could get the damn thing to quit trying to be evil it would be perfect. The sponges cured it but it had to have some kind of mental problem. Probably a imprint of Revan's bi polar disorder or something. HAL off his drugs really. Robin was forever torturing the fucking thing popping circuits. Maybe it would cure it when she had finished off all its old circuits and was it.

Palpatine was already sending scouts to Hapes. They would have to step up their anti-reconnaissance efforts as well.

Hermione looked at him and scowled "Harry, is Dark Lord rule number twelve why all the kids have read access to your padd?"

Harry sighed "Daphne made those up Hermione."

Hermione glared at him "After knowing you for fifty years and reading your journals and padd!"

Daphne had both fist on her hips and stomped her foot "Why you horrible little man! Some mundane made those up and you stole them and have been using them since sixth year!"

Hermione narrowed her eyes "And how, exactly, do you know that Daphne Ophelia Greengrass Potter!"

"Please, you were brain damaged, and convincing yourself the orange disposal was your speed." Hermione squealed. Everyone grabbed a child and scattered.

SSDV

Later Shaak arched a brow at Daphne coming in wringing wet, and leaving a trail of sweat soaked clothes to the shower. She followed. "Daphne? What was that about?"

Daphne chuckled "Hermione has been building up to an explosion. Sometimes you have to preempt it. Or some poor innocent, or well, not truly deserving individual, gets skinned and roasted. That last year of the war was a bit rough on us all, and used up all our patience, the year after that was a bit rocky. Harry was just gone. We all learned and lived through it. Then it started happening again. The reason we only had a battalion with us was to keep everyone else back. Hermione went on some kind of berserk killing spree. We probably didn't need the sponge except to close the portal.

She knows Harry didn't have anything to do with me in school. She took the excuse. We have way to many interesting things going on and she is, well, killing herself staying focused and not just diving in the padds and never surfacing again. She wants and needs to spend time with the kids and us. She gets impatient. Its like she forgets we are not aging."

Shaak nodded "We will need to schedule more physical activity, that will help." Daphne looked her up and down. Shaak laughed low in her throat. Children had made her even hotter. "It really is too bad none of us are that way. I'm fairly sure we could give Harry a run for his money."

Daphne paled "Oh please don't start that. We did that in University. Between Aayla, Nomis and Gabrielle they would kill us all, well, except Harry."

Shaak pushed her in the shower "Do tell wife. Oh and I want to know what part of that whole display was code for that not being a serious discussion. Hermione and Harry's cue. Ahsoka and myself might want to go all Togrutan on him." Daphne giggled.

Harry had caught Hermione and took her to the Knights shower "Better?"

Hermione nodded "We have to give Daphne something nice. She knows me so well."

Harry nodded and washed her gently. She sighed and relaxed into it.

SSDV

Darth Sidious lounged in his new clone body on Byss. This one the genitalia worked on. That was a bit of a bother but it wouldn't last long. Vader had, or was nearly at, success in the Ascendancy. Of course, Dread had already fenced it in. That was why he didn't make any moves to stop the conquest of the Ascendancy. He let Vader's fleet in but any capitol ships trying to get out were obliterated. Never mind, they were their to colonize it after all.

Vader could ride a lucrehulk back to Byss to take command of his next fleet. Chiss space could become a fortified bastion and eventually he could push an armada out of it and Hutt space as he attacked Dread from the core. Sidious laughed and laughed. Dread was making a pittance off him sending replacement officers to Vader in the Ascendancy and Vader had taken cloning chambers with him. He had enough to generate a legion a month, or rather the Moff that was taking over would have. Now who to send?

He would have to ask Tarkin when he reviewed the plans for Hapes. He chuckled to himself looking at the padd and the reported expense of fifty thousand tons of deuterium for this month's officer and technician transfers on lucrehulk hulls. Dread was such a fool. Or Darth Trade Bars was so greedy, one of the two.

He lifted his gaze to the greensward surrounding the pond between his palace and the academy. His young officers relaxing or studying on the lawns. He should move here permanently. Coruscant didn't have this. No, instead it had duracrete, transparisteel and malcontents. That was before you even got to the under dwellers. He would have to start thinking about purging those. Maybe that would shut the other whiners up. It could also winnow down some of these from the academy. He would get better, hardened, combat experienced, officers then.

SSDV

Jocasta Nu stood in the library of Alexandria nearly overwhelmed and glad she had gone all the way back to twenty years old. She was still getting the Dread Lord to inject her to immortality as soon as this last flask of the deaging potion was done though. That should take her back to a little under eighteen physiologically. He loved babies and she needed a million years just for what they had discovered so far. Now a whole race discovered, and their eons old library was being copied to them. She smiled and got the counsel of the first knowledge Jedi working, and headed to her quarters through the portal to Hogwarts. Another great library. No, now she had to go exercise near the Dread Lord and be seen. She smiled as she changed. Besides the Dread Lord was hot! Crap, this potion was turning her into a hormonal mess.

SSDV

Luxa watched the holo feed of the demonstration against the tyranny of the Dread Lord and knew this was a problem. She took the padd to Harry who laughed and led her to a door and through it onto a ship followed by the Clan Potter, or at least the adults and padawans of the clan. The babies and toddlers stayed with the elves and nanny droids. Another match made in heaven. Don't fuck with a elf around a nanny droid. Things went to kill mode instantly. None of that carry you by the hair crap either. Warning shot, in the head. Her elf, nanny droid pair were definitely in charge of the house too. They had Mace and her well trained. Dangerous combination, that species and those droids.

Luxa looked around at the ship, and as they walked to a kiosk and Harry found the right door for the planet where the demonstration was, she marveled. Ahsoka laughed "Lucrehulk, an old one, phased out of service due to having to many landing and lifting cycles. They are fine for just sitting out here in space. Divided into decks and halls big enough for standardized load lifter pallets on loader droids to pass each other. Ramps between decks. The portals are just big enough to let them through. Remember that rogue planet of scrap? Well it's been reorganized and sorted now, and all the scrap and salvage comes here to be sorted, then these doors are used to deliver whatever anyone orders. They are on all the time and the droids control directionality when they approach them. The lucrehulk interiors are magically expanded to the maximum. A battalion of B4's does security work, Uprated of course. The new B6 combat droids are replacing them in the fleets."

Luxa blinked "The ones that can look like any species? Those are wild. There has been talk of them working in the sex industry in the empire." Daphne chuckled then stopped and looked thoughtful. Harry shook his head and herded everyone along.

Ahsoka eyed Daphne for a minute "No telling what you just started Luxa. Anyway, a loader droid can handle a hundred tons in a four meter square by ten meter long container, so, as we can shrink and lighten things, most of the bulk freight in the Republic, the Milky Way too now, moves through these. At least for long haul. Only out where there isn't a door yet do we need ships. Oh, in the empire, and for passenger service for the old folks. The exploitation Lucrehulks all have doors now. So as soon as we land one we have doors on that planet and put up doors here as needed. The droids seem to be competing for which galaxy can produce and put up the most exploitation lucrehulks and doors. Apparently when they run out of bodies here, the Force galaxy droids have contracts to deliver to the Milky Way. Big droid argument. Harry had to step in. Well the Republic One AI twins, triplets? No quintuplets now I think, did but, same thing. She reads Harry's padds as he writes on them. The Archivist was put in that B5 chassis and works as a body guard, and her eyes and ears.

The ships are arranged like the galaxies and rafted together, a few over fifty of them right now, it grows though so that may be an old number, so a loader droid can go from Earth to, say Ziost, by driving through the rafted ships to the appropriate door after coming out of the Earth door here." Ahsoka pointed to a ship on the map the kiosk displayed, then touched the ship where Ziost was. A route lit up between them.

Luxa blinked "Uh, through the worm hole? And we were going to advertise this amazing achievement when? Wait a minute how is this place not a nest of imperials running from door to door?"

Maris chuckled "Its a tube connecting the two galaxies of ships down the core sphere hole in the two worm hole ships. The runes for the doors working across the worm hole make Harry's head hurt, he says they aren't any different, and he didn't know they could do that, and Shaak is still working on the arithmancy. Makes the astromechs squeal like they are... Ewwww. Now I have an image! The rays and rogues are the real pain. Anyway, wards and guards on the planetary doors. Harry hires retired Rangers and Marines for that. The younger folks know about this. It's how they go shopping, a credit for twenty four hours of use. Your network has done several articles on trendy things being bought up and more of them than the population of the world they were on disappearing in a day. Flash shopping they called it." Maris followed Harry leading Luxa "We have been talking about some amenities in these but Harry doesn't want us taking money from the local economies. If we put say a restaurant or shopping in here, why would anyone go to say, Zeb."

Luxa wrinkled her nose. Zeb had an aroma, if you were being polite. It was still taking all the compost and concentrate that could be dumped on it as it was a barren rock. The aroma came from the untreated natural by product, of dairy and meat farms, that was mixed with the compost and concentrate which led to an explosion in the microorganism growth, which led to great crops, and well, stink. A rock jammed full of every useful mineral in the universe all being mined by Harrys droids, creating dust to mix with the compost and concentrate. The organic residents were all farmers. Somehow though, the best natural fabrics in the galaxy came from there. The most in demand meat, cereal and produce too.

Nomis nodded "Lately gangs of teens have been shipping themselves, in passenger containers, to places for 'spring break'. Places with beaches mostly."

They stepped out of the door on the target planet and walked out of the freight transfer facility with the guards smiling and saluting and Harry stopping to talk to one every once in a while. Luxa was amazed. Harry actually knew these people, and their children, or at least knew of their children.

Maris nodded "He knows all of them or at least the profiles of them. Millions, billions now probably, of sentient employees, and somehow he stores a one paragraph profile of them away in his brain. Its pretty amazing. Thrills them to pieces when he ask about their spouses and children by name. They would follow him to the demon galaxy."

Harry led them up to the back of the crowd that had gathered in the main square of the town and Hermione huffed and created a stage. The organizers of this protest, revolt, whatever it was, were using a portable sound system that had seen better days. Harry installed a sonorous after mounting the stage. "Pardon me." The current rabble rouser looked at him and froze, and the crowd did an about face. Harry smiled "There are Jedi moving among you, they will assist you with speaking so everyone can hear. We will address your problems one at a time, so raise one of your appendages to gain someone's attention and let's get started. You all picked a nice day for it I must say. A little warm though." He waved and a plain director's chair appeared and then a pallet of water "That's water so pass it around. If anyone has special needs for other liquids raise your appendage please."

Someone shouted "BEER!" and got laughs.

The lead rabble rouser took over the portable sound system "You are the Dread Lord! You are holding us in servitude!"

Harry got out a padd and set it on the platform and the planetary manager appeared in a holo "Gyss are we holding these folks in servitude and you didn't tell me?"

Gyss, a harassed looking Cosian, snorted "No. someone however has read some socialist claptrap from the Milky Way on the net, and think they should all get a bigger share of the wealth of the galaxy."

Harry nodded and looked at the lead rabble rouser "So why are you really disgruntled? I mean your basic needs are taken care of. So what is the real issue? You know what, first what is your name?"

The leader blinked "Call me the voice of the downtrodden."

Harry chuckled "OK Voice, what is the issue."

Voice snapped back "You have all the wealth in two galaxies and live in luxury while we toil in durance vile!"

An older female in the crowd snorted and Tis'wedu hit her with a sonorous "Little twit doesn't know what durance vile is. Working in the worst whorehouse on some core world's lower levels would teach him though."

Voice blinked as the mood of the crowd shifted and Harry sighed "Sorry we didn't get you out of that faster Ma'am."

"No problem Dread Lord. You did get me out. You know what the problem is? These people grew up not knowing how bad it can be, so they think this all is how it should be and that they are owed more just for being alive. They don't remember, or never knew, the days when your only right was the right to die, and some slave holder could even take that away from you."

Harry nodded "You might be right ma'am but we aren't going back to that. Food, water, shelter, basic clothing, basic medical care, and a basic education, are what I view as everyone's right. That's why I pay for it all. Admittedly it doesn't cost much, and even balances out to a zero sum game, as most folks don't like just the basics so work on more education to move up in the companies, to make more money, to get better and nicer things. Which, in the end, makes me more money."

Voice cut back in "So you are exploiting the people!"

Harry nodded "Yep. It's a bit how it works in the real world. They exploit me for the basics, I exploit them for their labor, physical and mental. They get more educated and can do higher level work they get more than the basics and I get more work. Can you start a business?"

"I could given the wealth!" Voice replied hotly.

Harry nodded "Convince these folks to each give you a Republic credit for a share of the company and do it then. Or go to work, save the money, and do it on your own if you don't like sharing. Do both at the same time if you want, my workers only owe me eight good hours a day. I encourage them not to do more, but to use that time to study, or relax, maybe take their best girl, boy, whatever, out somewhere nice. Some of them seem to run little businesses to relax. Some of those little businesses have become great competitors for me. Some haven't. Comply with the Republics laws and inside of those and Local ordinances do whatever you want."

The crowd laughed and the older female snorted "I don't think rabble rousing is a saleable product. I'm out. I have always wanted to start a dance studio though. Keeps you in shape dance does, and not all that running around walls or up cliffs like you do Dread Lord. I've seen you on the morning holo's."

Harry snorted "I have no rhythm though. Ms.?"

"Re'sara. Sure you do Dread Lord. I've watched you chopping up imperials on the holo. You get into a fast rhythm with occasional flash breaks, come down here and I'll show you."

Voice watched as his revolution turned to a dance party, with Re'sara lining Clan Potter up and starting a clapping rhythm going, that the crowd took up, and showing them how they danced. The rhythm got faster and faster and the smiling laughing Potter clan kept up.

Luxa had the whole thing on delay feed and was editing as it flowed out. Mr. Voice froze when he and the other speakers were all grabbed and cuffs snapped on them. "Just to check your back ground, and make sure you aren't an imperial agent Mr. Voice" The smiling Law Enforcer said while firmly leading him away.

Mon looked around at the rest of the command council glued to the projection and chuckled. Obi wan grinned "We could still try sharing."

Mon laughed "Have you met Master Potter Greengrass? I like my skin firmly on, not on her wall, thank you very much. Harry thinks you are cute, but not that cute. Besides Master Nu would kill us both if we distracted him from her plan."

"Oi! Mind your business Mothma!" Jocasta shouted across the meeting space in the command sphere, she was on her feet following along with the dance as was the Wookie representative. Several others were looking like joining in.

Susan Longbottom Bones snorted in her holo "How he got British middle class values growing up a slave, and then being the richest man on Earth, is a mystery." She adjusted her prosthetic right arm and left leg. They were new, the finest work Republic tech could do. It had been hard training herself to do magic left handed with a hook. Now though she could cast with both hands like Harry. Hannah Longbottom Abbot was walking again, which was even better. Well it would be with a few more months of physical therapy. A technologically repaired spinal cord. It was amazing. Hardly anyone was 'disabled' anymore. Quite a few were more abled than they had ever been before. Harry was an amazing healer already, but combined with medical droids, Jedi healers and Republic tech, Susan wasn't sure their was anything he couldn't heal you of, or from.

Mon arched a brow "A story we haven't heard I think Lady Bones. The richest man part."

Susan shrugged "Common knowledge here. His family is one of the oldest families. They never were extravagant. They were, however, warriors of the light and there is a spell for spoils. They claimed the dark families they defeated. Their titles, wealth, property, and chattel. They pretty much released the chattel with a trust account as soon as they could but they kept the property. What was left after making those trust accounts. They decided slave holding was bad a couple thousand years ago. Or one of their heads did."

Mon looked at Jocasta who shrugged "It's in the restricted files. Look under Potter. Most of his verified history is laid out in there. He doesn't talk much. Just odd blurbs and snatches of conversation, but the Archivist droids capture it, and update whatever files need updating every day. It's annotated as corroborated when we have that. The Libraries in the Milky way have corroborated vast amounts of data on all of the Milky Way Force users of the old clans. The Command Council has access."

Mace snorted "The good and the bad side of finding the Milky Way. We finally got to know about the Dread Lord but you all have been infected and never give information unless asked."

Yoda in his holo shrugged "How are we, your mind to know?"

Mace glared "Have you been hanging out in the headmaster's office again talking to the Dark Lord Dumbledore's portrait?" The discussion devolved a bit from there. Mace was convinced Dumbledore was a Dark Lord by his actions. He, Mace was working out how his eyes weren't yellow, or red. Yoda thought he was terminally misguided by his hubris. Everyone else watched the dance party turn into a street party and then a whole town partying. Bars sent caterers, food, drinks, a band, and serving droids.

Somehow it turned into a bit of a planetary party, on one of the poorer worlds of the Republic, as first young people, then older people, left the freight transfer station in a steady stream. A party that lasted a week, drug in everyone with a spare moment, and a few credits, and left that world much richer, with several thousand new businesses due to off world investment, and one activist in jail for fomenting rebellion against the planetary government.

SSDV

Luxa looked at Harry "Make doors for the Predator ships and get them to let them be installed."

Harry rolled his eyes "Luxa they know you just want to get hover cams in there with reporters. Wisely I think they don't have a free press, or a press at all."

Luxa pouted at him and Master Tiin, the Jedi emissary to the Predator clans chuckled "But it would facilitate access for them to us by holo and vice versa. Also resupply, and we can lend assistance if they need it Dread Lord. They can supply precious metals and other rare commodities. Or the location of those. We could send landers with doors through and drop them on bodies. More baskets for your eggs Dread Lord. They do provide a necessary service and save us from having to hunt these things down."

Harry sighed "And more places for Luxa to send hover cams too and recruit some of the best people to be talking heads for." Luxa pouted at him. Oh she did, recruit the best, the Dread Lord did not suffer fools as reporters, but well, it was her job after all. Mace pointed at him and laughed.

Bars sighed "It is a huge market. I do worry about this propagating across their clans, we still don't know how many there are, and them sucking our Galaxies dry killing off these xenomorphs across the universe. Acess to more resources would mitigate that risk."

Master Tiin smiled "They have agreed to let our people install new doors in new galaxies they find as long as we resupply them. We can also drop droid scouts with racks of doors in each Galaxy they find."

Yoda nodded "A possible member of the Republic in the future as well."

Harry sighed "Luna?"

"Hmm? Oh no problems Harry. Go ahead. More baskets. We are already sending scouts to the galaxies the Predators have cleared. The other clans as well. It will take a while for them to get to the farthest away ones, galaxies and Clans. Maybe three or four thousand years. The fights between the Predator Clans and the Xenomorphs don't leave much alive. The doors would let the clans mix more as well. Strengthen their genome."

Harry chuckled "Fine, the Senate can decide if they want to play or not."

Bail glared "You mean pay or not don't you?"

Harry grinned at him. Leia poked him "Stop arguing with your father in law Harry."

Bail and Harry spluttered and the others in the area broke up laughing.

SSDV

Our Empire Intelligence analyst, Jules, had by now risen through the ranks. Sometimes, in a hail of bodies from attacks on imperial facilities, but he had made it to a Section Directors position. He had kept watching the Lucrehulks and what they were up to. It had become a bit of a habit. Some would say obsession.

Lately he had noticed many more humans leaving on them rather than returning. He had written it off to transfers to the Ascendency but these near indigents weren't part of that. Lots of young people too. Males and females. These in this report were very attractive. They would have made fortunes in the high-level brothels. Then they could have moved worlds and made other fortunes when they aged out at twenty-five or so. Hmm, no destination listed, of course. The lines did not give up information and could not be sliced. Not without the processor and memory core trying to slice them exploding anyway. Whoever ran their security was vicious. Vengeful too, as all the processor and memory cores that one had been connected to exploded in a chain reaction.

Jules drummed his fingers. Could he put an organic agent on this just to satisfy his curiosity? Spinks maybe. She was still alive. Never had made a Hand. Meaner than the Hands too. Thwarted was not a good thing for her, or her coworkers. It was great for him.

SSDV

Jak, Iggy and Streaks followed the loader droid. It looked lost. It also looked about a million years old. They were first, children, next curious and last that most dangerous of things, unsupervised as they had one live parent between them, Jak's dad. The droid stopped and using a manipulator put a thing that looked like a picture of a door on a bare section of wall and trundled on. Another loader droid appeared and unloaded a container. It went back through the door. The boys blinked.

The boys looked at each other and approached the container. They read the sign on it that said, 'Orphans only!' Iggy and Streak went in but Jak couldn't. He listened to their exclamations and looked at them when they came out grinning. Iggy said "Food, clothes, soap, medical supplies! Portable shelters. All ours. There will be more. We have to get the others and empty this one before they will bring another!"

Streak nodded and handed Jak a padd "These too. They seemed locked on that Rebel kid's network and the Rebel education and information sites. There is a scanning station inside. A medical scanner. It told us to pass these out to our friends."

SSDV

Harry was sitting at his table in the hold of Republic One during one of the working meetings when a Jedi walked up and put a padd down. Yoda appeared "Focus on the empire we should. Let the governments handle the rest of this."

Harry smiled "I have been or didn't you notice? Kids keeping you up Yoda? The Chancellors are dealing with nearly everything except the empire."

Yoda glared at him "A duel I see you need Dread Lord."

Harry chuckled "Right now there isn't much to be done. Gial and his folks are sewing him in tight this time. A defense in depth we called it. We are shelling the core continuously to keep him pushed back, and mining, or creeping SoDs in as close as we can get them. If he tries that automated old capitol ship trick again he is going to get a shock. Meanwhile we are fomenting rebellion on every core world with containers full of supplies for the under dwellers. They will break next time he tries something big, and we will have doors to push droid armies through to support whatever rebellions happen and evacuate populations through.

The Jedi have thousands of teams running around in the core. All wearing stones. The first time a dark Jedi, Hand or Sith know they have been targeted is when they wake up in a cell on a confinement hulk.

We are doing the same to his worlds in Hutt Space and in the Ascendancy. Hapes is coming online with their navy. The Milky Way fleets are building, the Death Stars for the Predators are finishing, and will be tested in transit. One of their clans is due through to start scanning this Galaxy and occupying their sphere here. Or rather the twenty five thousand Yautja they are bringing will occupy it and start a new clan. We will build them other's they can move to at a slower pace.

The academies and schools are full and the businesses are still crying for employees."

Bars popped up over a padd the Clan rep laid down. "Not as much as we were. The under dwellers, or some of them, are sending their most vulnerable out on the food and compost fleets. We are building toward them operating at maximum passenger capacity again."

Everyone paused. Daphne finally nodded "So the revolution is closer than we thought."

Harry narrowed his eyes "You know all this Yoda. Now, what is really going on?"

Luna frowned and got in a Lotus position on her table. Yoda tapped his cane and paced "Feel something in the Force I do. Hutt space it comes from. The Light and the Dark howl in protest."

Harry called up an image of Hutt space and replayed all the reports he knew of from there. He couldn't find anything. Minutes passed and finally Luna sat up straight, then leapt to her feet with her lightsaber ignited "Inferni! Millions! They reanimated the dead clone troopers. All the dead now."

Luxa had already pushed a button on her bracer and the hover droids winding down on the floor filled the silence.

Harry shook his head "How? I would have felt necromancy."

Apailana got out a fountain pen made from materials native to Naboo and filled with ink with the same properties. One of the older handmaidens handed her a sheet of paper made of reeds from around the water by the tree where they were married. She wrote and chanted at the same time. "Sheev Palpatine Naboo cast you out," The handmaidens and guards joined in "No Succor shall you have under the lights that illuminate her. No bread shall you find from her. No salt, water or sustenance will you receive from her. You and your family are anathema and we hate you, forever. Your name will never be spoken in her hearing again. You are the defiler."

The parchment was smoking and instead of red when she turned it to a howler it turned black. The handmaids, doubles, and guards all touched their wands or fingers to it and Apialana intoned "Portus, the defiler."

A ring of black detonated from them and the howler disappeared. Harry sighed, lifted Apailana's chin, and looked in her glowing red eyes "OK, a cleansing ritual and a purge for you." Farris looked up, had the same glowing red eyes, and Harry sighed. "A while sitting on a sponge too. At least none of you are pregnant. Lucky there. You have to think about these things girls, let the babies chose the light or dark on their own."

Daphne grunted "We have it Harry, come on Arden."

Harry kissed the girls and sent them on their way with their sister wives. He sat down and called up Gial "Admiral Ackbar, Execute please."

Ackbar appeared nodded said "Yes Dread Lord" and swung out of view in his command chair.

Harry nodded at Bars and he nodded back, Mon sighed "I'll find out where Harry."

Stass Ali looked at Harry "That was not what the light can do."

Harry shook his head "No. That was what the Magic of an annointed can do. That will have, or is about to, kill Palpatine, his transition to a clone will be difficult. He is adrift and homeless in the Universe."

Yoda nodded "Hatred leads to the dark side."

Harry sighed "Especially when it is a planets or a systems. They are past masters in occlumency. They will be fine in a week or so. Don't piss them off until they don't have red in their eyes anymore though.

Bars is starting the Droids through the doors. We will probably have about two weeks to pound the empire while it is headless. This will be a maximum effort. Join in if you like."

Mace gave him a glare "We will. Thank you, Dread Lord."

SSDV

Tarkin watched as ships and facilities were struck from who knew where. Every planet in the Empire was receiving attention from a unit of the Republic and they were not saving ammunition. The Imperial palace on Coruscant was a smoking ruin and the people in revolt, backed up by ever increasing numbers of droids with Jedi and Rangers.

Only the inner core was still somewhat safe. The Ascendancy was a smoking ruin and Vader dead. Hutt space was rubble, and from the reports the Republic was burning the rubble, stirring the ashes, and burning them again. They would be lucky to hold the inner core. Only the difficulty droids had navigating there was saving them now.

He wondered what started this. That black wave had passed over the empire and this had all started. Proof Dread was a Sith really. Perhaps the more powerful of the Sith.

The Red Guard, Dark Jedi and Hands, all nearly disabled by that wave to some degree, had taken Palpatine's body and cut their way off Coruscant. With massive losses. They were going to activate his most current clone surely.

So he had two weeks at most to do whatever he was going to do. If he lived. Perhaps he should holo Garm Bel Ilbis. He was a reasonable man.

SSDV

Harry was in the command council meeting space just listening. He was sitting there in black dragon hide robes with a cowl, still covered in the battlefield of some world, or some fight in space. Brooding the wives called it, when Garm walked up with a quirked brow and a padd. He put the padd down and Grand Moff Tarkin stood there bold as brass "Very droll Bel Ilbis, your humor has not improved through the years I see. Darth Dread" He gave a little bow.

"Tarkin. I have to say, you look like shit. Getting enough sleep?"

"Haha your eminence. I called to discuss terms."

Harry smiled "For you or for the empire? The defiler is dead. He should be in his next clone body in three more weeks. It will be a bit of a problem for him as Naboo cursed him. He may or may not retain his abilities. It depends on how good and dedicated his followers are. We've taken enough of them over the years. They will probably get it done. Won't be near so many of them left though.

Fine, terms. Surrender, complete and total surrender. You, well the officers and managers, will be tried and imprisoned or hung, as the laws of the Republic require after justice is administered to you, and the defiler, all his clones, along with all of Vader's will be put through the black hole at the center of the galaxy. The Jedi will deal with the dark Jedi. I will deal with the Hands and the Red Guard. Otherwise I am going to seal you into the inner core in a Dyson sphere of mines and, Droid gun moons, I think you call them, and starve you out. I have grown tired of you all."

Tarkin nodded "I see. I will call Bel Ilbis back Darth Dread." The holo shut off and Harry looked at Staas Ali tiredly "That is what the light can do." He rose and left headed for the master vault. No one said a word.

It had been a big two weeks, The Potters had been on world after world leading droid armies and breaking empire forces holds on outer core worlds. When they weren't there they were in Hutt space killing undead clone troopers and burning them. Or just losing Fiendfyre in Harry and Gabrielle's case. They sterilized whole worlds and moons where the undead clones had killed everyone and everything else.

The Jedi, Aurors, and Hit Wizards had been no less busy. Everyone got a chance to fight undead clones, and it was horrifying. Even Milky Way forces had committed to annihilating them. And then had pivoted to The Chiss ascendancy, and killed most of the imperial forces there. The Ascendancy was a post-apocalyptic nightmare region, with zombies. Somehow a scout or something had leaked through from Hutt space carrying the virus or bacteria that did this. It was engineered. All the Potter Hegemony worlds and the Milky Way fleet were now trying to save as many Chiss as they could.

The Predator Clans had watched amazed and impressed at what these mostly soft humans and their allies could do. If they ever ran out of prey these were worthy adversaries. Meanwhile they had another job and they very efficiently got on with it and finished, finding no prey. The new clan set their sights on the closest galaxy. These Yuzung Vong looked a lot like prey, they needed to take a few and see what they were. That might be one of the original genetic donors of the prey. They had been thoroughly mauled by these humans and were a negligible threat, but it was as good a direction as any. The Clan that had given the new Clan transport picked a galaxy slightly further away and left on a shakedown cruise of their new Death Star.

Imperial worlds expected to be subjugated and were instead helped by grim faced beings of the Republic, who, very professionally, went about their jobs.

After two weeks and Bars running passenger service flat out at full capacity from the inner core along with the doors taking a steady stream of organics, six wide, shoulder to shoulder, the ones not set to toward the empire only for military purposes, Tarkin told Garm they would have to refuse the terms offered. Garm had shrugged "Your funeral." And shut down the call. He was a bit tired too.

SSDV

Harry woke up, went to the children's wing and picked up a fussy red baby boy with the cutest horns and went to the Holo tank. He keyed himself in and sighed looking at the nearly complete encirclement of the inner core. He bounced the boy. Orion, his child by Tonks, out of Daphne, and surprisingly the metamorph trait had showed up in him, and they had named him what a drunk Tonks told them she wanted to name her next son. She had been killed the next week. Remus had died months, had it been years, before that never having recovered from Sirius dying really. Harry had transfigured Greybacks seminal fluid to silver for that. It took him weeks to die, howling in a gibbet in Diagon alley. Orion's crèche mate, as they called them, was a little mostly Zabrak child of Harry and Maris's and he looked like her most often. Harry typed one handed and talked to Orion as he changed the plan and left one entrance to the inner core for Lucrehulk freighter/liner traffic. He then built a route that went to the closest core world they held. Everyone would be offloaded and questioned under veritaserum there before their dispositions were determined. It was a border planet in the N'Zoth system. Coruscant would have been doable but cruel. The Portals were intent warded. Only these passengers were a problem.

The portals from the under cities opened onto worlds with droid divisions and Jedi waiting with veritasserum, medical droids, and then Bars people waiting with contracts.

He had just finished when Daphne came and took Orion and Farris led Harry away. The Ladies Potter all looked at what he had done and smiled. He was still their Light Lord. Hermione smiled and logged him off noticing the lurkers and went to bed. Farris was taking Harry to Naboo's room. Good. They needed a little light.

SSDV

The food and recycle ships made the runs from the inner core worlds with human pilots now, and packed to capacity on the outbound legs. Of course their compost hauling capacity had been halved as had their outgoing freight capacity. That space was given over to passenger modules. Conditions in the inner core were ever worsening.

It was also becoming a bit of a free fire zone, as Jedi and Republic forces could get in any time they wanted. Republic Holonet boats with droids driving ,following buoys the freighters laid, cruised everywhere and there were channels with live feeds from them. Once they got to a core world without another of their brothers they set up, and just watched and transmitted.

Harry sat out at his table and Breha walked up "Harry?"

Harry sighed "Last days of Nazi Germany. Six months maybe."

Breha frowned and Jocasta Nu got out a padd and lay it down. It projected a converted holo documentary of the last days of World War Two on Earth. Starting from the allies crossing into Germany itself.

The leaders watched as others linked their padds and did the same. Breha looked up at the end "I don't think you can count on him to kill himself Harry."

Harry grinned "Nope. I'll do that and find his horcrux at the same time." There were sharp intakes of breath all around. Harry shrugged "When he came back with his Force abilities I knew he had one. At least one."

Yoda nodded "Find it we must."

Leia frowned "But Darth Vader came back with his abilities too."

Luke Skywalker looked up alertly and Harry shook his head, Luke looked at his former master "Obi wan?"

Obi wan sighed "Anakin Skywalker more than Darth Vader. Then they loaded the clone with Vaders memories. Your father is dead Luke. A biological machine exists in his place."

"That can't be true!" Luke leapt to his feet.

Harry sighed, waved, and a ghost appeared. The Older Jedi went very alert, two lit sabers. Mace was one of them.

Anakin Skywalker looked at Luke then at Leia "Your mother would be proud. I know I am." He turned to Harry "Thank you from releasing me from my torment Master. I could not release myself." The spirit turned back to Luke "The clone is not me son. It is probably in as much pain as I was under the control of the dark side. I didn't have a soul jar, I had at least managed to resist that. Palpatine and everything he touches is corrupted by evil. It must all be destroyed."

Harry nodded. Before he released Anakin's soul Apailana spoke "And Queen Amidala, Skywalker? How fairs Naboo's Rose, that you stole from us, in the halls of the dead?"

Anakin winced, turned to her, and bowed "Very well and proud of her successor and people Majesty. The Dread Lord knows the price for this and will not subject her to the pain."

Harry nodded and waved releasing Anakin "Return to your rest Skywalker."

Mace nodded "Master of Death. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. So Palpatine?"

Luna shrugged "Has done us the favor of terrorizing even the idiots in the empire into fleeing. Six months and we will have transported all that can be saved. Then we will shut off the food and starve the rest out for a year before we go in and kill Palpatine or rather Harry does. We will search each of those planets for the horcrux, they are a bit hard to miss, screaming for attention like they do, and then we will toss it in the black hole and see what happens." Several beings present shuddered.

Daphne waved Luna off "After we run all the experiments we have planned."

Luna nodded at Yoda "Ixney on the expieramentatays Aphdne." Yoda gave her a glare. "What, you never let us play with these idiots."

SSDV

No one realized the sphere around the Empire was shrinking every day, well no one besides the upper levels of the military. A mine everyday pulled out of the sphere and went back to its parsec at the edge of the galaxy, stopping for a refit and upgrade on yard ships on the way.

Everyone watched amazed as another Star Forge, or the parts of one, were sent through the worm hole to the Milky Way and set up down in the inner core of the Milky Way using stars about to be ingested by the black hole for power and worlds and debris just before the event horizon for raw material. Building droids and ships for the Milky Way, and the abandoned Predator Galaxies at an astounding pace. After Harry exhausted his core getting it up and running. Unhappy wives. A hot time. Several people were still limping.

The Milky Way and Force Galaxies were watching the exploration of their previously unexplored parts, and the wonders contained there so much, it was easy to forget the droids slowly crushing the Empire.

Then an occupied system was bypassed and was suddenly in Republic space and the Jedi swooped in on it.

Harry blithely ignored the furor that erupted about it being his system and went on teaching, healing, working, and playing with his children.

Mace looked at him sitting out at his table on a Hegemony world, one of the first, named Lilith "So you don't care about planets of the Hakassi system Harry?"

Harry looked up "What? Oh, well no. Hmm that's not exactly true, let me try again. I conquered them, they are mine. The Senate gave no orders and paid no money for the campaign, the Republics armed forces were a bit busy in Hutt space and the Ascendency if you remember. They don't have a legal leg to stand on. I'll ward them as they pop out and put law enforcement elements on them, drawn from their own populations if possible, they are already in training, and the people there can go about their business. If they want to have a Senator per sector and join the Republic that's fine with me, but I own all the worlds. It is going to take about a thousand years to get them straight and cleaned up. I guess I'm the landlord, sort of. Unless of course the senate wants to pay Bars appraised price for a core world an its assets. The Ragnorok tells me he is low on the appraisal, he is hoping for an offer I guess." Mace blinked and Harry arched a brow "What did you think complete and unconditional surrender or I will take your worlds meant Mace?"

Mace rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. Then he looked at the flask of whatever it was Harry had set on the table. "Is that Bacta?"

Harry nodded "Sort of. Daphne, Shaak, and I have been working on it and this is the result. Watch this." He picked up a Varna on its last legs due to age, dropped it in the flask and sat back.

Mace blinked as the medical droids readouts on the Varna increased to the pinnacle of Varna health. He spluttered and Harry nodded "Should solve the labor crisis. Lifespans tripled at least."

Hermione looked over "With the sponges cleaning up the Force, probably exponentially increased for force users. We are still trying to pin that down."

Gabrielle nodded "Except in species who don't feel the Force. This is the bacta for the Predator race?"

Harry nodded "Works on everyone though. It will have to go out with the fertility restoration warning though. That part really works."

Gabrielle smiled "Oh they will be pleased."

Mace raised a brow and Gabrielle leaned over toward him and lowered her voice "Notoriously low birthrate. We are working on it."

Apailana nodded "Meanwhile we have two galaxies to populate now, and in a few years will start getting others when the scouts start reaching galaxies the Yautja have already cleared."

Obi wan sighed walking up with a cup of caf and a stroller "Please don't remind me. The Ragnorok is already trying to introduce bills to formalize the division of the new galaxies."

Shaak Ti nodded "As is prudent Master Kenobi. We know they are there. We have maps of them. Harry, or rather Potter Industries, are building the wormhole generators for them. We should be ready. As Bone Breaker pointed out, the wormholes will make exploration and settlement of them nearly instantaneous. Bars is already signing up colonist in their groupings and the parts for their Forges are being built. Harry will simply have to go through a portal and activate their Forges after the shrunken parts are returned to normal size, assembled, and the forges placed, then colonization can begin. The Worm hole Generators for the first are launched, building the final parts as they make the transit. The Forges now can build the worm hole generators, at least this newer more efficient model. That will bring commerce, trade and more population. As each one further away gets a worm hole generator and hub it will make the time to the next one shorter for the ships flying to them."

Maris nodded "Yes we already had to rebuild that schedule and recall some of those scouts. We will send them through to the first one and on from there. And since we have cleaned up the arithmancy and spell work we can establish worm holes without those DS reactors and their inherent risk and power consumption. The Forges can power them from the stars they are eating before the event horizon as well. It's like a traffic circle. You fly in a wormhole and turn right out of it at the appropriate galaxy. Time doesn't seem to matter in them. You come out pretty much as soon as you enter. Even if you miss the exit and go around again."

Sabine contributed "Meanwhile, we keep improving power generation, weapons performance, and every other technology."

Mace sighed, and Luxa walked up and handed him a baby "Your daddy is going to have to go back to class if he doesn't keep up with his reading."

Mace snorted "There are only so many hours in the day."

Yoda nodded "Reorganization of the Council is required. Master Potter, the elves are joining families in both galaxies in pairs and are increasing in number more rapidly than any other species."

Harry looked at Hermione then arched a brow at her sigh. "Master Yoda you have spent more time with them than anyone, and know probably more about them that anyone. Well besides Master Yaddie. Is there a problem?"

Yoda shook his head and nodded "They are joining with paired and single Jedi and other force users. Part of the teams they are now. Paid they are not." He turned to Bail Organa who had just walked up.

Bail sighed "Nat and I will work on it. You and Yaddie are going to have to convince them to take the credits. Is that the new bacta Harry?"

Leia smiled "It is Dad. We have tanks for you and mom going in the apartment in the Royal Lodge. You will need to trade off as we think it will take at least twenty four hours."

Harry snorted "If they want quints. Let's start with a four hour soak apiece." The conversation really got started then.

As the Potters and everyone else worked a new world a week popped out of former Empire space into the Republic, now met by relief fleets, Jedi and Aurors. Oh and a package of droids. Several Super Lucrehulk sized packages of droids actually. By the time the population was through medical and debrief their world was on its way back to a natural, sustainable, state as the planet covering cities were demolished and recycled, the toxic waste and dangerous creatures in the under cities eliminated, and the surface essentially terraformed back to a natural state. The work would take years but the basics were there. It would be hard at first but get better and better. The droids mining the under cities had done their work well over the twenty five years since Harry had started them on it.

The mines had gone back to their lonely patrols by now and the older SoDs were being pulled, reconditioned, and brought up to spec for the new Galaxies as the sphere containing the empire was collapsed.

Each planet in the core got a population of twenty five thousand of every species that could survive unaided on it. The excess humans were moved to other planets in the two galaxies looking to achieve that number. The research had pointed to this being the 'magic' number for establishing a permanent population.

It also got magic number populations of as many species of plants and animals as could tolerate its environment.

The local government was a representative from each species and one from the Jedi, Aurors, Law Enforcement squads and assigned Hit Wizards and Rangers. All under a governor oath bound to Harry until they got fully stood up and functioning on their own, something Harry was hoping would take a single generation. They were grouped in sectors and each sector sent an elected representative to the Senate.

The same thing was happening in both Galaxies and the two Chancellors worked together to iron out any differences. When they couldn't they came to Harry. Hermione and Aayla laughed at him as he got growly about it. Bail complained Nat had the advantage as he normally found her in his lap. Hugely pregnant.

Nat came to Harry for other things too, and Bail glared at him over having to deal with a pregnant Milky Way Chancellor. The Potter clanswomen laughed themselves silly at Harry's surprised face as Nat drug him down like a gazelle. The female Potter children glared at their mothers, and the boys, those under a certain age wrinkled their noses. The older ones fled, mortified. Aunt Nat was so hot, and Dad was so old!

The scouts in the Milky Way had flown one above and one below the plane with a pair going in each direction at different distances from the worm hole which had originally dumped them above the core. Aside from those four the others had all shot out like spokes of a wheel until they found Earth and were now spiraling back toward the core. Hundreds of worlds were mapped a day. There was no need for crowding anymore. If you were a hermit you could lease a world from someone.

Worlds in the Force Galaxy already having populations watched the new core worlds and the Potter Hegemony, realized it was the same and the worlds in the Hegemony with the most number of species were outstripping the homogenous worlds in every way and started recruiting other species who could live in their planets environment. They also started working on turning their planets back 'natural' and acquiring all the flora and fauna that could survive on it. Neville who had ended up with a bunch of worlds, as a Hero of Earth, had gotten a bunch of droids with agronomy cores, programed them better, and was making a fortune supplying plants, software and hardware upgrades, and advising governments. He had a group of Jedi and non force users following him around as well as an archivist and process control droid. Most of the Milky Way Force Mages who had survived the demon war got those, along with one sitting in every classroom. Jocasta didn't want to wait on Harry to do everything.

SSDV

The Potter clan outgrew the manor house. Breha laughed until she cried. The ladies were sitting on the balcony watching the hive of activity that was the yard of the Royal Lodge as they liked to do. Mon eyed her "Laugh it up funny girl. You are having twins. You will have the same problem, if you can't get them to move out like he can't."

Clynda blinked "They don't. Even if they marry they stay in his house or on his ship and just do missions in those boats they have always taken from idiots. Mine all moved out."

Breha huffed "They can figure out how to terraform planets. I think they can figure this out. We will just let them build what they need here. I know they already did on Naboo."

SSDV

Harry looked in the holo tank and drummed his fingers on the edge. Julia, one of his daughters with Hermione, and Farris's latest padawan padded in barefoot and in her sleep wear. "You too Da?"

Harry pulled her in and gave her a one armed hug as she wrapped her arms around his waist "Yeah."

"Arden's people say it's a world full of dark Jedi and Sith acolytes. A lot of them are kids." Julia informed him. Harry drummed a steady pattern. Julia smiled "Well when you are as old as two Galaxies I guess we all seem like kids."

Yoda cleared his throat in the holo "Hrrmmm. Fifteen is not an adult even if you are a Potter Clanswoman."

Stass Ali spoke up "Her point being they are what they are. We would not hesitate to have our Padawans fight. We did so in the clone wars. We have done so in the last twenty-five years. This was a foreseeable result of the plan. We have emptied Empire space of all but the most hard core. Contract the sphere Dread Lord, and we will deal with it. You have already centered the containment sphere on Byss. That is as much of a concession as we can afford."

Harry nodded "I'll be there tomorrow. We'll start as soon as we are ready."

SSDV

Harry looked out the transparisteel of the combat bridge of the SoD VII, the only space on it with an atmosphere and gravity, only accessible by a warded portal, and shook his head "Are we planning on terraforming that?"

Hermione spoke up "Prakith. Pretty much a giant volcano so no. Pumping it dry of metals and useful materials yes."

Harry closed his eyes and opened himself to the force. Celeste did as well. They both gasped at the same time.

Celeste opened her eyes "Not Plapatine."

"An dead dude? No Andeddu." Harry sighed "Another one afraid of death. Well we're full circle now. He has a horcux, or had one. His lightsaber crystal can you believe? He must have another somewhere down there." Harry shrugged.

Aayla sighed "Quinlan Vos had it once. I wonder�" She worked on the holo tank for a few minutes and a face appeared.

"Aayla? Is Korto OK?"

"Kahleen, yes he is fine. He and his Master, Sa James are on a ship still, we haven't begun the assault. Is Quinlan around?"

"Thank the gods. I would rather be there than sitting here knowing nothing. Yes, he is coming. We had some trouble with a few of these inquisitus people trying to pass themselves off as normal folks. Here he is."

"Aayla? Dread Lord."

Harry rolled his eyes "Harry Quin. I'm sure you remember. Hey, we are looking out the window at Prakith. We felt an old friend of yours, Andeddu. You don't happen to have his saber crystal do you?"

"No Harry. I tossed that in a hyperspace drive as mass. It was evil. Why? I can tell you not to do that to any you find. Thing screamed like the damned, I thought I would be permanently deaf."

Harry chuckled "OK I won't. Look we are about to get started here, Kahleen said you are having problems?"

Quin sighed "Nothing the veritasserum doesn't fix. It is a bit irritating though. There must have been a headquarters on this planet. There are hundreds of them. We had to get another confinement ship sent. I don't think these will be rehabilitated either. They are pretty hard core. Some are downright evil bastards."

Harry nodded "This planet is going to be worse. It was some kind of fleet HQ and we found your buddy Andeddu's tomb. The sponge on the confinement hulks might change some of their minds in a few years. OK, got to go get the party started."

Quin nodded "May the Force be with you."

"And with you all Quin." Harry terminated the call and checked his armor. The others did too and he moved to the portal and a portal equipped Larty. He sent the signal and thousands of Lartys dropped behind a wave of mass driver projectiles.

Four hours later they had cut their way to the tomb and Harry was a little pissed. He opened the door, cast Fiendfyre, closed the door and sealed it. Celeste looked at his grinning face and pulled him away. "You know that is probably going to eat this whole planet."

Harry shrugged "Saves us burying these idiots."

They stepped out of the tunnel to the tomb and into a fight where Daphne was dueling a Vader and the others were annihilating his minions. Harry smiled and jumped in the middle of a formation of Red Guard lighting a saber and drawing a wand. Celeste smiled and took another formation of them.

The holonets were waxing poetic as they followed the Potters around all over the planet. Apailana leading a charge and cutting her way into some kind of academy and then putting the children there on Lartys for evacuation. After disarming them of course.

Harry taking a knee to render medical aid to a wounded Ranger and casting a spell that turned a Inquisitor into a burning pillar that then did the same to any of his comrades he touched.

Hermione leading a stoic little blond girl at the front of a line of five and six year olds to a Larty as her daughters cleared the area with blaster rifles on full auto.

Ahsoka Tano being evacuated unconscious after Harry healed her and then him going berserker on regiment after regiment of storm troopers leaving a foot deep layer of shredded armor and bodies covering the capitol city. Ahsoka and her team had been overwhelmed by a army group of Storm troopers and Ahsoka had activated the others portkey as they were all wounded, just as Harry and the Clan Potter arrived. After Ahsoka was evacuated, Clan Potter went back to what they were doing and let Harry work off his anger.

Elves putting children to sleep and evacuating them. Milky Way units with their distinctive spiral Galaxy flag on their right shoulders clearing buildings and fighting with units of Rangers and droids.

The third and fourth in line for the Hapes throne cutting down Dark Jedi with Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan calling down supporting fires from orbit and airstrikes.

Republic wounded swirling away in blue lights, sacks of Bacta being filled by swirling blue lights, leaving a wounded Republic forces member in them, in sparkling white med bays you couldn't see the end of.

It went on and on for hours, days, and weeks and in the end, after magic revealed no more beings on the planet, the withdrawal from it and the sterilizing bombardment from orbit. Nearly unnecessary, as the feindfyre had escaped and consumed the Force imbued objects on the planet.

The gloves were off, and this was not propaganda, other than in the sense of a warning of what happened when your planet fell into the Republic and you resisted. The lesson was not lost on a shocked silent Senate. The Milky Way Senate chuckled darkly, and when asked told their peers they had seen worse. Red Guards and Sith didn't eat the people they killed after all.

SSDV

Harry was sitting back out at his table in the hold of Republic One after spending five weeks on the hospital ships healing the toughest cases. The Republic medical community was almost convinced that if they could find a single live cell to bring to him he could cure the whole person. They were close to right. If that cell was holding the soul on this plane he could and would grow another body for that soul.

Now though he was being made to take it easy and people who approached him were getting glares they could feel.

Bars walked up and sat across the table "I think it's time you consider not going in the field again Dread Lord."

Harry smiled "I always consider it Bars. I don't particularly enjoy it. I know you are looking at it from a risk perspective but after the first four or five times I died I figured out that wasn't actually a risk. I'll get the Ragnorok to share a device that plays memories and some memories with you. Along with some stories."

Bars nodded "Now that I have the risk management staffs concerns out, and have survived, your latest acquisition, what are we doing with it?"

Harry shrugged "Something on it is driving the core of it to be very hot. That causes lots of tectonic activity which leads to lots of volcanoes. It emits rare gasses, metals and minerals on a consistent basis though, so I am thinking we mine it and don't worry about permanent colonies or settlement on it. I'm thinking it is full of radioactive material which could power a reactor to make deuterium."

Bars nodded and made a few notes. "Next, the empire fleet. The next contraction will take us into range of them and they of us, as the sphere will become too small for them to avoid it, and for us to get away from it. They have nearly no maneuvering room left in there."

Harry nodded "Gial and I talked about it. He expects an attempt to break out. We believe that will break the fleet and then we can continue to contract one SoD a day."

Bars made a few more notes then looked at him "You look tired Harry. Get some rest. I'll have the protocol droids restrict your schedule further."

Harry gave him a rueful smile. The wives and children beamed at him.

SSDV

Harry walked to the holo tank followed by several people this time. You could feel whatever was happening in the Force. He looked after coding in and winced. The Sod's were taking a pounding but giving as good as they got. The Imperial fleet was soon not going to be a cohesive fighting force.

SSDV

Garm walked up with an arched brow and lay down a padd. Over it cowled figure appeared "Darth Dread."

"Defiler."

The figure froze for a moment then continued "I wish to discuss terms."

"Surrender, be judged, and executed. Bring your soul jar. Those are my terms Defiler."

"Now that you have that on the record, we can perhaps discuss reasonable terms Dread."

Harry laughed "I am married to Naboo idiot. I can offer you no succor, ever. Kill your soul jar and yourself or I will do it. Those are your only options."

"And all these people trapped in this hell you have made Dread? What of them?"

"If there is one innocent soul amongst them they have been missed in our searches for months. Have you noticed your birth rate has dropped to zero. It happened years ago. You didn't notice did you? The last of your people are in the middle grades of your academies now. I took the last of them that could be considered below the age of reason. The ones leaving now end up in the confinement hulls waiting judgement.

You haven't even been a challenge Defiler. A simple long range plan I wrote in my first week in this galaxy has taken you and all your support down. A few modifications along the way of course, no plan survives contact, but still, you have not acted in any way different from the others I have killed. Of course, I learned it at the teeth and claws of demons and madmen, but there you are. You were nothing, are nothing, and soon enough, you will be nothing again."

"There are billions of people here Dread. Billions of humans. Your Senate won't let you kill them all."

Harry nodded "All they have to do is lay down their arms and surrender. They will be judged under the laws of the Republic. If guilty they will be punished. If innocent they will be freed and transported to a planet that can support them."

Palpatine laughed "You thought you knew something Dread. How then do I have these here with me."

A group of young females of many species were herded around Palpatine. Hermione started cursing before the others realized the apparition happened. The holo showed it all though. The young girls disappeared from the Holo and reappeared in the hold. Harry grabbed the Defiler by his throat and everyone watching knew he was using the cruciatus at the maximum output possible. The Defiler arched in a bow and his scream climbed the register until it fell out of the range of human hearing as a red light shot from every orifice of his body. Tendons cracked and bones broke, it continued until the Defiler was a gibbering wreck, and then Harry realized Red guards and Dark Acolytes were attacking him but their attacks were bouncing off. He flung the close ring of them away, and they hit the walls of the chamber, then slid to the ground, leaving trails of gore. He ignored the others as he tortured the location of the soul jar from the Defiler and then had him order it brought before him. On live holo, as the entire command council and both senates watched, he tortured a soul, or a portion of one. Then he killed it. Not just killed it, he did something to it that completely annihilated it, and erased it from the multiverse. The living Force howled in triumph.

Daphne started portkeying holo hover cams to Harry and then the Potter wives disappeared reappearing into the holos just standing and watching, killing the occasional person who attacked them.

The command council watched in horrified fascination as Harry tortured the confession of all his sins from the Defiler. Then he stopped and Apailana walked up, drew a blaster and shot him in the face. Twice. The Wookie Senator howled out her triumph, arms raised high. The Goblin delegation joined in.

Harry looked at the now gathered Moffs and arched a brow, they all bowed deeply from the waist, they stayed in that position as they were cuffed and led away. Julia looked at Stass Ali "And now you know what the light can do." She kept seeing to the young women and girls as medics flowed in and took over.

Sa James nodded "The war with the empire of the Defiler is over." He and his brothers, sisters, their wives and husbands disappeared, and reappeared with their father and mothers in the holo's.

*Chapter 15*: Chapter 15

Same Song Different Verse

Chapter 15

It's the song that never ends�.

The tall thin figure in slightly ragged clothes climbed the dune with her staff. The sun beat fiercely and the winds of Jakku whipped the sand about her legs up to her knees. She shielded her eyes and looked over the dunes. The small, odd, round droid rolled up behind her and let out a series of beeps and a blatt. She unwound the turban from over her face, leaned on her staff, and looked down at it. She smiled "Is that so BB?" BB was her astromech. It was from early in its production run and had come to her brand new. Designation BB 8. They had been together for a while. It had come with the T70 X wing she had been trained on, that had been assigned to her since. She had come to understand him. He did have a kind of harmonic to his voice that was not unpleasant.

"Beeep!"

She looked back along their trail at the line of padawans struggling along. Force Mage Master Rey Kenobi smiled "All right you lot, quickly now."

She turned and looked over the fields and droids stretching as far as the eye could see in front of her. Fortunately they were downwind. Jakku was still taking as much compost and concentrate as anyone was willing to ship. The native soil was after all, sand. That plus the contribution form the population inside the planet in the mined out passages and open spaces made the planet pretty fragrant.

The only problem was, not many of the worlds in the United Republic had spare compost and concentrate, as nearly all of them were shifting to the plants in the sun, people inside model. Even the oceans, for those that had them, were in some kind, or many kinds of, production, from mineral extraction, through alge and plankton farming then into large scale protein production. And of course Deuterium separation.

Here on Jakku the water facilities, Uncle Harry's rune driven caps on meter diameter pipes, were the only buildings on the surface. low buildings with a hundred meters of pipe sticking up, one for every thousand hectares. The caps were on top of the pipes and the water drove a generator turbine on its way to the crops. They were roofed with solar collectors which ran the pumps for the drip irrigation pipes, all recycled duraplast, they also housed the reactors and generators, on the off chance the sun never shined. Which on Jakku was an impossibility. There wasn't enough moisture to make clouds. The one area of natural desert remaining, a piece the size of Ireland on Earth, didn't normally produce the sandstorms that had savaged the people and animals of Jakku in the past. The generators powered the planetary grid as well, or sent excess power to the grid. Even with two thirds of the planet's surface in high production, a third in pastures, and this desert, and the mines under the surface hollowing out more space for more population, the place was still very dry. To dry to form clouds still. The dew in the mornings and evenings took care of that.

Padawan Isis Potter Farris, leader and best healer of her quintuple out of Farris, the former guard and now Force Mage, Shadow Master, Body Guard of the Queen of Naboo, and legendary figure of the Dread Lords court, or one of them, by Harry, The Dread Lord of the United Republic, the natural of that quintuple, stopped beside her Aunt, erh Master "I'm glad that's over."

Esme, Esmeralda Potter Greengrass, by Harry and Astoria and out of Farris, an elegant if somewhat awkwardly tall twelve year old and Isis's womb sister, shaping to be the strategist and tactician of that quintuple nodded "Not over until recovery is finished."

Johnny Potter Lester, By Harry and PFC Melinda Lester, Silver Star, US Army, out of Farris, the best shooter and slicer of the quintuple, spoke up "Recall sent. The Larty is dropping."

Arjun Potter Patil, By Harry and Parvati Patil, GCB, CGC, British Armed Forces, Auror Division, out of Farris scanned Rey "A little water Master." Arjun was good with explosives and ship weapons. Healing as well but not quite as good as his womb sister Isis.

Rey rolled her eyes "Healers. All the same. The babies and I are fine Padawan." Arjun was also the quintuples logistician and worry wart.

Rey's Knight, Macana out of Saber by Harry, gave her a look. Rey drank. Macana nodded "Good Master." The Padawans giggled.

Gwen Potter Davis, By Harry and Tracy, OoM2, British Ministry of Magic, out of Farris and the best swords woman of the quintuple while also being able to pull some of her fathers tricks and disappear in plain sight, making her the scout or spy, walked up last "Back trail clear. The Babies are more important than this training Master. You know we are ready for trials. Now we just have the years of experience to work in what the knowledge transfer crystals gave us, and get our physical conditioning up, leading to live missions, then a few years of those until the Knights trials. After that we will make our quintuples like all the other females."

Johnny and Arjun, the two males of this quintuple, intoned "Because the worlds need more people."

The girls looked at them and simultaneously said "Jinx."

Macana grinned "Jinx" She got narrowed eyes and the two boys laughing at the three narrow eyed girls. "Now Master, since we have quiet in the digi fruit gallery, what's next."

Rey sighed "Training. Gwen is right. You and I are still getting crystals too. They won't send us on missions as a team above our skill level. Robin watches and evaluates through the B7s, and both Grand Masters just know. Somehow these first order idiots are holding on though. Mostly out in the rogues, as there really isn't wild or unexplored space anymore.

There are populist nationalist in the Milky Way as well. Mostly they all ran off to planets in too small numbers to establish viable self-supporting populations, but they are out there. Slowly dying out.

Pirates in both galaxies, though fewer in the Milky Way. Plus, their heart doesn't seem in it, it seems more of a lark for them, that they then got trapped in.

Ignorance and prejudice everywhere. As Uncle Harry says, we will never be done with the ten percenters."

Macana smiled "Job Security honey." She said in a deep voice imitating her father.

Macana sighed as the Ranger squad and the B7s assigned to their unit of action moved up and took up an Israeli lager as they waited on the Larty. It was taking its time as this was neither a combat extraction nor an emergency, no use burn off the ablative shielding if they didn't have too. Rey looked at her "You have time to cook a quintuple."

Macana nodded "I know, mother has pointed it out, every day, for a month."

Rey smiled "Slungshot needs to get off the credit. Whole lots of pretty green Goblin all stacked up there."

Macana gasped "Master! Slungshot gets off or on the credit fine thank you very much. I have my heroes eggs lined up. All off the Clan Potters bequest, so Dad can fertilize them anytime. We just weren't sure about the timing and Slungshot is a bit busy being the Grand Master of the Force Mages Knight."

Isis waved at Rey and pointed up. Rey nodded "Snap. Combat recall, Palawan Potter, you are in charge." Isis nodded and took over. Rey and Macana stepped on the Larty ten seconds after it touched down. Isis and the other Padawans having force leapt to it and levitated the droids. The Rangers ran in backwards, collapsing the screen, and stepped on Force guided by the padawans and trusting them not to let them go wrong, as soon as the Larty touched sand, while the droids were in over watch five on each side. Rey levitated BB 8 aboard. Johnny told the droid Larty to execute from his wrist bracer. And it lifted hard. Not as hard as it could go but hard enough to make the humans flex their knees. Rey smiled "After being his first male padawan. Poor Slungshot. All that time in the henhouse."

Macana laughed "We didn't rough him up that bad. He had his own bedroom even. Never had to wake up with a face full of boobs."

Esme smirked "Until you decided he should anyway."

SSDV

Harry sat out at his table. Sabine walked up and sat on him. The older children scowled and the younger ones grinned. Sabine stuck her tongue out at the older females and got gasp. Harry chuckled and put his hands on her swollen belly. They glowed slightly as he moved them around gently. Sabine sighed and leaned back on him "How can we help the Mand'alor today?" Harry asked.

Sabine sighed "Just this. Well, maybe killing most of the males on Mandalor."

Celeste conjured a rocker and sat. A B6 nanny handed her a baby. The elf of the pair stopped the five wide stroller and set its repulsars to rock back and forth gently. Its wards crackled a bit as a cloud of midge like insects found out about them. Celeste took the bottle from the elf as the Nanny droid scanned it. The B6's had micro reactors, fuel, and reaction mass caps, maneuvering thrusters, in case they were caught in zero G, medical, combat, astromech and educator cores, vibro blades and pulse rifles as powerful as clone war era quad cannons. The baby started suckling the bottle and Celeste sighed "I love these charms on the armor and these bottles. It was such a pain unlatching and dropping the breastplates before. Just as well we had to make pregnant breast plates. What have the idiots done now Sabine?"

Sabine snorted "They are rabble rousing about the Nightsisters again. I swear to the Force they have two track minds. Neither of which is eat or sex. They just want to fight and talk smack. They are all 'Darth Maul, creation of the Nightsisters, blah blah blah."

Harry chuckled. leaned forward and kissed her neck. "That Blue Ray going on the net was a mistake."

The Five Flowers as they were called, Daisey, Rose, Daffodil, Columbine and Calla, All by Harry and Fleur, Legion of Honor, French Ministry of Magic out of Gabrielle Potter Delacour gave simultaneous fist on developing hips and stamps of child size six feet "Papa!" The older females in the area snorted. Harry had a lapful of hot Mandalorian, how much sway did they imagine they had? Five Veela or not. They did love that movie though.

The Mandalorian in question gave them an arched brow and they scampered. Sabine would make them spar, and even pregnant she was hazardous. A bush burner, and they didn't have much of that to burn. Aunty Leia should not have taught them all that. Sabine looked at the padd she had taken from Harry "What the hell is this?"

Harry chuckled "Astromech entertainment. They play with runes in idle processor time. Now they have a link of some kind they are doing it over. It's like a super Astromech or something. They wring every possible erg out of everything but it has to be checked. Not sure why actually, but until Bars people get the Rune Masters to sign off on it he won't let the factories implement it. I get the ones that terrify everyone else. This one should make Luna's Avada Kedavera cannon a focused beam rather than an area weapon. Hmmm, switchable? Scalable? No able to focus at nearly any distance, line of sight or sensor. Wow that's good work."

Hermione blanched "We didn't build that thing! Well those two that I have to be in the loop to activate."

Harry shrugged "We could."

Hermione tapped her padd and the holo of a voluptuous woman of about thirty five, wearing a catsuit like T'pol or Seven of Nine, with obviously no underwear, appeared "Hermione?"

"Robin, Potter blood restrict all plans or documents relating to the AK cannon."

Robin, Republic One AI's name for the last few years, since it had leaked out that was what Harry called her, sighed "They are love. You know that. I don't know why that thing scares you so much. It will be mine if it ever gets built. It's a bit insulting you don't trust me by now love."

Hermione gave her a look "I trust you and your sisters in the other galaxies will do whatever you think necessary to protect Harry, us, and the children. To include killing the rest of the universe. Nothing we have found survives an AK. Even AI's and droids. You have control of the Forges now. You could whip up an AK Cannon in what, five minutes?"

Robin smiled "Aww. You do know we love you then. Less if we stopped all other production." Hermione huffed as the others chuckled. The wives and those with Master bedroom or vault after bedtime access grinned. Robin would hop in that pleasure droid body later and try to drive Hermione crazy again. One day Hermione's resolve would break and that body was going to get stress tested. By Harry too.

Sabine cleared her throat, "Nice distraction Harry. I was talking about this string here. Is this a ground, or obstruction, avoidance string for a hyperspace speed capable speeder bike?"

Harry tried his innocent face, but the boys crowding around and talking loudly and over the top of each other blew it. Harry pulled his head down in his shoulders. Apailana laughed "When we are out of eggs Harry, then you can go race in the Boonta Eve classic. I told you, all the other wives and mistresses agree. You are outvoted."

Harry pouted "I could so take the Hutt's for every credit they have."

Mace Windu arched a brow "Haven't you done that already."

Obi wan nodded "Three times if I recall."

"A bonding experience for our sons this is." A one hundred year old looking Yoda, all smooth, green, shiny, skin and muscles tossed in. Then he ducked feeling the glare from Yaddie. A pregnant, smoking hot, big busted, smooth skinned, filled out face, healthy deep green, Yaddie.

Nat popped up in a holo "What's this about a hyperspace capable bike? Lavender sent me a hmail."

Harry growled "Fracking rumor control. Faster than Luxa. What the hell?"

Luxa appeared with her nanny elf droid pair and a five wide. She was only cooking four hero eggs though, and those from the general contribution Gringotts had. This was her fifth set, the one she had on board. The Nanny droids were with sets one through three and set four was in the stroller. Her first born was in school. "Hey! Pregnant! It takes a minute to get up and moving with this crowd too. Now speeder bike development Dread Lord?" The hovercam over her shoulder turned from her best profile to Harry. Luxa flicked silencing charms at all the laughing beings around.

SSDV

"Crowded. Even out here among the rogues. Damn Republic LEPs everywhere as well. Where they aren't, the damn Droid Army and Navy is. Or those fracking Jedi. We need a cargo for the Milky Way." The aging, scruffy, human with the low slung blaster said.

The Wookie sitting beside him woofed, barked and growled.

The human looked dismayed "Honest work?"

More woofs and growls

"Your mate? What mate?"

A long set of woofs growls barks and what might have been a whine.

"Contracted! When you were cubs, and she is at sexual maturity now? What the frack? Contracted? Is that even legal?"

Several minutes of woofs growls and barks.

"My Fracking ass! I'm contracted to a Selonian clan mother? From when? Oh I remember, but she was a little girl, cant have been more than a few years ago, she can't be grown up now, that was just playing and it got us out of those cells."

Two barks and a growl.

Han Solo opened his mouth and the holo chimed "Millennium Falcon, this is the CNS Dreadnought Executrix. You are being held in a tractor beam. Prepare to be boarded."

"Quick Chewy hide the� Hey wait a minute, we don't have any cargo." Han looked at the holo and blinked at the Selonian in Corellian Navy uniform.

SSDV

Garm looked at Clynda "Pregnant? Again? Uh sorry, wonderful news. What did the girls say?"

Clynda glared "Nice catch, not. Now you owe me a spring maternity wardrobe. You know we need more people. The Yautja Bacta not only deages us it makes us fertile again. Price you pay. Look at Bail and Breha. They are on their eighth or ninth set."

Garm snorted "She is the Queen of Alderaan and nearly as rich as Harry. Plus, the Milky way pays a stipend for hero eggs brought to term as does the Force Galaxy for selected eggs now."

Clynda sniffed "Like you aren't rich, you skinflint. I'm still not sure about that selected egg deal. I mean, tested for mean capacity, physical, mental, and Force and then fertilized by more powerful sperm. That smacks of eugenics."

Garm looked at her "It is eugenics dear, but no one is stopping anyone from storing eggs and using them themselves. That ritual that was developed takes the eggs that would normally waste away and stores them in Stasis. She can have them back if she wants and it works the same for all sentients that produce eggs. They are left with the normal three to seven hundred thousand at the onset of puberty. They can do the other ritual then and it will collect all of those. Potter Medical made a fortune with that one. Unplanned pregnancy a thing of the past. You know Bars is single."

Clynda smirked "Not for long. Luxa has a cousin, the one that taught her high finance and economics. She just got decanted after three days in the Yautja Bacta and Bars is coming to dinner with her at Harry's tonight. They already have her hero eggs picked out. Thirty six of them."

Garm laughed and laughed.

SSDV

Wilhuff Tarkin sat in his cell, wearing his grey coverall, with the armed B3 droid watching him. It was actually a decent cell, clean, warm enough, he had three meals a day and was given access to holo and a touch screen padd under some type of glass on the table made into the floor with the chair made into place at it, if he exercised. Documents appeared and he was both allowed read, and comment on them. The more he commented in a useful manner the more Holo channels he could receive for more hours. He liked the Chandrillan and Coruscanti classical music and opera channels. Oh he knew they were gaining useful intelligence from him, he was completely forthcoming and honest in both his comments, and if asked to do an appraisal. He however was not dead, had not been interrogated as he had expected to be, and the Dark Lord, that held these fools in the palms of his hands under some kind of delusion, didn't come and destroy his soul. They had lost. This was really more than he had expected.

The Republic Senate had not imposed the death penalty in most cases. The Dread Lord and Yoda had to agree to implement it even then. The Dread Lord at least killed those tried, and found guilty, in private, with an audience of observers from most species, in single combat, and with no cameras. His eyes weren't red either. All together, a different kind of Dark Lord.

Wilhuff laughed to himself, a kinder gentler, smarter Dark Lord, who had all of two galaxies at his feet, and didn't want them. He had to go lie down for a few minutes as tears streamed from his eyes. Fracking Dread Lord.

SSDV

Mace, Nat, Harry and Bail stood watching as Yoda got out of the pack of a new quintuple Luke's latest former Padawan turned Knight was training up for him, or them rather to start taking on missions. Leia ran up with Ahsoka running beside her having done the crazy random seeming questioning of Leia's latest padawan turned Knights quintuple. "Where is Obi wan?" Mace looked around.

Harry chuckled "He answered a distress call from some itinerant trader, read smuggler, Han Solo. Apparently, he met him on Tatooine once. This Solo got himself contracted to a Selonian, she got tired of waiting, and sent a Dreadnought after him. Rey got drug in because she was coming off an exercise on Jakku with her quintuple." Harry shrugged.

Nat nodded "The quintuples need direct support artillery."

Bail looked at her "What is that? Harry is that a Russian thing? Everything can't be solved with artillery!"

Harry and Nat smiled at each other and turned to Bail and simultaneously said "Da? Name what can't." Then laughed as Mace chuckled. Bail glared. Nat finally caved "Fine. The do have the new support ships."

Bail nodded "Which have eight billion cannons and a trillion vulture droids."

Harry rolled his eyes "Do you even read the specs?"

Mace was chuckling "Yes, it just seems like that, as they can each apply the same amount of firepower as the empire home fleet could have. Even the B7s, ten of them together are worth a Clone legion. Not Stormtrooper, Clone. Now Harry, not to change the subject, but Rey as a Master? She made that young."

Nat huffed "Not this again. All the test, not most of them, all of them with perfect scores. Magic out the hoo hoo and occlumency barriers I can't break, and I can do everyone. Including Daphne. Harry doesn't count. Her mind palace is spotless. Only Harry can get in there."

Harry nodded and shrugged "She started before she could walk. We never restricted her at all, and taught her everything she could learn. I think she would have survived my youth."

Bail frowned "So a Dread Lady in the making?"

Nat laughed "Not immortal. At least not yet. Good though. She could go as a power hitter to an incursion, Her range is the same as mine and Harry's, she would maybe make the portal."

Mace frowned "And then be in single combat with a tier two. That procedure still needs refined."

Harry grunted "Not that she is ever going to get a chance for that, or anyone else is, if I can help it. I think she is one, or one of the ones, fate had something instore for. Me falling in that portal, well, it changed a lot of paths."

Mace nodded "Not least mine. Fine. If we have a pressing threat develop though, I am assigning her and her element to Adi Gallia."

Harry nodded "Thanks, Saber would kill me if something happened to Macana. Adi is my kind of Jedi, she doesn't take any crap from anyone. She believes in applying firepower. From the maximum range possible."

"If something happened before Macana and Slungshot got busy." Bail tossed in. The others nodded.

Nomis looked at Julia watching the four on the platform "Julia?"

"Sorry Master Nomis. Wool gathering." Julia looked back to their quintuple.

Nomis smiled "Worried about your sister. Its fine. We are on, uh, where the hell are we?"

"Bath, Somerset system, English sector capitol." Julia looked at her bracer. "Dad was feeling patriotic I guess."

"Or just ran out of names. Like that whole section of Force galaxy planet names with II after them, they did in the Milky Way."

"I should say something to Mother. We need names ready for the next Galaxy." Julia nodded firmly.

"In a month? The scout is just maneuvering for the dive into the core now." Nomis asked.

"Better late than never?" Julia shrugged a little.

SSDV

Mon Mothma held one of her babies and smiled at the waving lekku. She fully embraced the effort to increase the population. If she was going to be pregnant with her and Obi wans child then she might as well share the space. That seemed a dominant opinion, at least on the women's channels. The Yautja Bacta had made her the best she could possibly be in an eight hour soak before her pregnancy and an hour after. The babies were fine. She had her elf, Nanny droid pair, in addition to her assigned pair of B6 body guards, who also had medical and nanny cores as standard because they might be needed, or the droids might have to have to guard a child, Naboo still elected Queens after all. Well they could. She had her assigned counselor as well, on guard against postpartum depression. Now if she just had her husband back! Oh, and her oldest daughter, who was pregnant as well.

Rey! Helping some scruffy nerf herder! While pregnant, and with her, barely out of the Academy quintuple, and Knight. Off with a squad of Rangers, ten B7s and an assault dreadnought! Force Mages! Worse than the Jedi ever were. Harry needed to keep her home and pin her to the mattress. Another Princess rather than Padawans. Obscenely powerful in the Force and with mind arts just like her uncle. How does that happen? She wasn't related to him in any way? "Thank you Nell." She took the tea from the elf and then gave her a bit of a glare.

Nell smiled "Missy Mon too excited is being."

"You have been watching Yoda's channel on the holo again."

"Yaddie's actually Missy Mon."

Mon huffed and sipped her tea "So what are we going to do about this latest idiocy in the senate Nell?"

"Senator Lizard should be careful. Master Dread Lord is happy, he doesn't bother anyone. He works hard. His ladies have plenty babies. Tickle sleeping dragons and Dread Lords one should not."

Mon chuckled "Wisdom this is. However the illustrious senator from Thisspias apparently has sand under his scales."

Nell frowned "Better than being a belt, or a handbag."

Mon nodded absently while calling on Borsk Fey'lya. Borsk sprang to life in the holo "Mon! What a pleasant surprise!"

"Don't be a nerf Borsk. I've been at this since before you were born."

"You wound me Mon. Besides you look about twenty since your after babies bath. How are the sprogs?"

Mon smiled "Right to the mother instincts eh? Well since that's the way you want to play, they are fine. The other children are excellent, aside from their oldest sister who is tied up with some nerf herding smuggler, and her father, enroute to Corellia."

Borsk laughed "Han Solo, and his partner Chewbacca. Yes. Apparently Solo agreed to marry some Selonian girl back when we were killing imperials, if she would let him and Chewbacca out of some cells the Corellians had him in for smuggling. Unknown to him she was the heiress of a clan mother, a rather important one, and had dreams of freedom. He thought nothing of it. She hung her life on it. She is now the clan mother and wants her life of adventure before she populates her clan for the next generation. At the same time, oddly, and without, as far as we can tell any collusion, Chewbacca's contracted mate has decided it is time to cook some Wookie cubs. And attempt a new record on repopulation. That last is a rumor, unconfirmed I am afraid, but her older sister carried eleven to term in one set."

Mon laughed "The population initiative has given you Bothan's a whole new entertainment hasn't it? I actually called about the Senator from Thisspias and his campaign to stop using the droids as the military. Thank you for settling my mind about Rey however. She and her father should be able to settle Mr. Solo."

Borsk shrugged "Easily. If it hadn't been for her being in the area when Solo called for Jedi Kenobi in that distress call, 'Help me Master Kenobi, you're my only hope!' she never would have ended up involved. You should really maneuver the Dread Lord into putting a ring on her."

"Through her nose more like. Miss independent. Running around fighting while pregnant, with my grandchildren! Unmarried!" Mon crossed her arms.

"It's those holos from the Milky Way. Between the operas and the angst ridden holo dramas�" Borsk left that hanging for a moment "Senator Osson, yes. Not the man his uncle was. You remember him, Master Ossos from the Jedi council. Died in the fight in the Senate. He thinks universal service would instill discipline in the youth. He wants to replace the droids with sentients."

"Well when sentients can handle weapons in the kiloton yield per shot range they might be able to compete. Up until then I don't really see it happening. The B7s are the firepower of the quintuples. The Jedi and Rangers are the specialist and sometimes actually fire their weapons. If all the droids are in a reboot cycle at once. Which has happened exactly one time, and then that possibility was written out of the code. Hermione was not pleased, Robin was apoplectic, half the design computers had their breakers tripped. Hermione's second Padawan nearly getting a boo boo from some transdoshian the girl skinned with her saber. Robin was going to pop all the design processors off their boards, Harry had to talk her down I heard. All the AI's in the Transdoshians employ had their processors popped anyway. Even Harry couldn't talk her out of that. Though he might not have tried to hard. They discovered the weakness and exploited it for their owners.

The Force Mages perform consular, shadow, healing, sentinel and all other functions. It really has evolved to the perfect small unit.

When they can't handle it Droid control ships come up out of standby, show up with B4s, B5s then B6s, Super dreadnoughts, Subjugators, all of that. Eventually the enemy breaks or the system they are in does and the recycle fleet moves in with medics and healers.

Meanwhile it all sits in space idle costing us maintenance fees and nothing else. The few remaining B2s were withdrawn and work on agricultural activities with the B3s replacing them as they are finally recycled after their cores are dumped, reviewed and the data compressed into mineral crystal storage.

Robin even has a plan to start using the idle four through sixes and their ships on planets, for a fee, in a dual lease arrangement with Military use having priority. as long as the Senate doesn't lose its mind and keeps up its payments. Hermione and Leia are negotiating those contracts."

Borsk sighed "I didn't say it made sense Mon, I just said that's what he wanted. The Transdoshians still can't hire AI's either. Those goblin guards running amok in their fleet and on their planet did not help. It will take them a thousand years to recover their population. After we get the goblins to stop killing them and wrecking their economy."

Mon narrowed her eyes "And frustration leads to stupidity. I think Master Morne should be made aware."

Borsk laughed "Tired of Osson already? You know Celeste can find something to kill anyone over. If she can't Arden or Gabrielle can. Perhaps we should ask Luna-"

Luna appeared in a holo "No he is good. He won't get carried away and have to be fireballed. First Solo has to show us the Utegetu nebula so we can sew the Killik up in there and we have to dig those nest under the Royal lands of Alderaan out and move those Killik to the nebula."

Mon and Borsk blinked. Mon finally managed "Will we never see an end to this kind of thing?"

Luna shrugged then grinned "Keeps us busy, people say we can't have sex all the time."

"Luna!" was shouted from off holo and Luna scampered before Hermione appeared heavily pregnant and walking fast after her.

Stella Potter Lovegood, thirteen and the current in charge Potter Daughter on Republic One appeared "Sorry. Hi Aunty Mon. OK Later." The holo disconnected.

Borsk pinched the bridge of his nose "It so takes the fun out of it when Master Luna can just do, that!"

Mon smirked "Fracking Dread Lord."

"Quite."

SSDV

Sabine sat in the Senate with Harry. Everyone else was busy getting four thousand exploitation super Lucrehulks inspected, their shrunken cargo and droids loaded and their twenty five thousand colonist loaded and signed to the ward books. "Could have done without the Killiks right on top of the new galaxy colonization."

Harry smiled and shrugged "It's always something. What did the troopers used to say? An opportunity to excel!"

Sabine hoisted a brow "I prefer the Marine advice, embrace the suck."

Harry laughed and Nat, chairing this session of the joint Senate eyed them "If Mandalor is through with the Dread Lord, there is a question?"

Harry nodded "Fine with me. Make it like Rome. They can't be citizens until they serve twenty years. I have things for the droids to do. A whole new Galaxy to explore. Fun places to go visit. Mines, farms, new worlds! There is this water fall on Nell seven that is four kilometers tall! A whole ocean falls across it."

Osson blinked as the Senate to a Senator turned and glared at him "Uh, no need to be hasty Dread Lord."

Harry slumped "So you've changed your mind? Really? Come on, help a brother out. In five years the next Galaxy will be ready for colonist. I think I need some stability in my contractual responsibilities here. I literally have trillions of systems to plan for. Most of them in Galaxies that need help recovering from the Predator Xenomorph wars. Nearly as much help as Earth and the Core did."

Yoda spoke up from his hover office "Yes. The Order would like this as well. Academy vessels we must prepare for the colony worlds. The spread of the known races we must see to. The integration of the new races. Preservation of the knowledge of these new galaxies. Integration of the Senates as stand up they do. The Portals, blessing and curse they are. Instantaneous transport between the worlds and galaxies, so much to do."

Apailana nodded "Moving the galactic avatar ships of doors into position over the worm hole entrances simply made it faster. Now you can walk from Naboo to New Naboo to Naboo one and then Naboo Two in moments. The new ship for the Naboo sector in Galaxy three is already waiting to make the transit to the Galaxy Three worm circle entrance." Her oldest daughter HRH Princess Padme sat with her mother in her knights robes and armor nodding.

Osson, who's robes were literally smoking from the glares he was getting, hastily said "Thisspias withdraws its question!" and sat.

SSDV

Sa'James watching on the conference deck of Republic One chuckled. Dad hadn't intended that at all. He had in fact intended to pull the droids to Galaxy Three. He frowned. That needed a better name. They would have to find live inhabitants and find out what they called it. Sirius'Po looked at him in the Holo from the Conference deck of his control sphere grounded on HowLong in the Australian sector of the Force Galaxy "Mum Daphne will be laughing at Da again."

James nodded "It never goes quite the way he intends."

Sirius nodded "He never hints around about it or tries to manipulate. He just says what he wants. Scares people."

Miriam Greengrass Potter popped up in a holo "Potter boy conference?"

"Yes, us thirty year old boys." James smiled.

Miriam rolled her eyes "Talk to me when you are a million James. We lost Superior Bottom."

"No way! Stand up and turn around!"

"Sirius! I'm your sister! Perv. Thanks though. No the star went nova."

James nodded frowning "It was an old dwarf. When it recedes we will see if those wards really work."

"Or we could send a frigate. That one flew through a nova before." Miriam offered excitedly.

James narrowed his eyes "What have you and the other ward mistresses cooked up and slid past Da now Miriam? There were only droids mining and terraforming it." He had pulled it up on his padd.

"You got that energy converter string to function didn't you?" Sirius sat up excitedly in his holo.

Miriam eyed him "So that droid of Luxum's hasn't fucked your brains out and you do listen to her? I'll have to let her know."

Sirius sat back "Well I wouldn't say it didn't, but I do listen to her. Now how far have you gotten on the artificial wombs. She wants to build a quintuple or ten."

Charlotte Delacour Potter popped up "Nearly there. Fifth iteration of Varna testing done and primate testing underway. Hold your horse's daddy. We want to be sure before we risk a hero's eggs. You know this, Cilghal is in your bed with Luxum most nights isn't she?"

"More successful on the sex until brain damage occurs than we thought then." James laughed.

Miriam gasped "Does Master Billaba know you are having colorful conversations James?"

Depa walked into James Holo and sat in his lap, looking about thirty from her pre natal hour soak in the Yautja Bacta "Yes she does. Stop being mean Miriam. So it took me a while. Some of us are late bloomers. And leave Sirius, Luxum, and Cilghal alone."

Miriam smiled at her "Depa. How is the heir apparent treating you?"

Depa frowned "I haven't spoken to Rey."

Charlotte laughed brightly "And isn't with Master Skywalker" She imitated in a calm firm voice "he is pretty angry about it."

Sirius growled "He is going to cause a schism."

Luxum walked up, somehow sat, while maneuvering Sirius onto her lap and chuckled "One man going his own way is not a schism. He is wary of the dark from his father's experience. He doesn't then deal with it well. Master Mara will keep him straight."

Miriam shrugged "Or Mum will catch him when he falls. If Aunt Leia doesn't chop him to pieces."

James nodded "Speaking of which and since we are having a family conference apparently, how do we feel about dad taking on these Padawans?"

Julia chuckled "Jyn Erso Mothma Kenobi still freaking you out James?"

James nodded "Straight in the Shadows with that one. Of course she had to end up with Celeste. One look at her and you know she is going to stay a clanswoman. Aunty Mon and Uncle Obi's crush on Dad I think. Plus her egg mother was a bit different from the histories."

"Are we talking as Padawans, or as mistresses when they make Knight? Wives sometimes as well, depending on their culture." Julia Potter Granger asked as she came fully up from lurking. "Fine, either way actually. The mums are still collecting him and he has about five million hero's eggs to get through yet. Now heroes from the Force galaxy as well. Who knows how many request from citizens. Plus, the Padawans don't all stay. In fact the last one that did was Rey. The rest put themselves on the list for fertilization for their stored eggs. You know to be a Padawans of the Dread Lord you have to be really powerful and really good, in addition to a genius. Improves the species really."

Miriam nodded "All of them. Speaking of the plan, all you boys need collected too. Don't stop just because women finally lost their minds and took you on to make better." She got a round of boos from the holotank. Followed by feminine laughter.

Orion Tonks Potter got them all focused and going around the group talking about their latest projects.

SSDV

Luna was standing at the holotank in the apartment on Lockjaw, in the Mute sector of Galaxy Three. The current Potter project world. They were planting and placing everything force sensitive that could tolerate its environment, twenty five thousand mixed colonist and an exploitation super Lucrehulk to go along with that. Lockjaw sang in the force like Felucia and Dagobah, they were going to link the book of names for this galaxy to it as well. Hermione walked up silently. "What are you and Robin doing Luna?"

Luna smiled "Morning? Aayla's new quintuple wake you up? Retiming some scouts. The new scout gate boats are much faster stripped to engineering plant, engines and gate installation fixtures like they are. Pigs in atmosphere of course but 0.001 hyperspace. Wicked quick. The Yautja hunting pair boats are the only thing faster. We want them set in position every twenty five years or so remember? Five every five years from everyone capable of cooking them backing up the artificial wombs gives us a hundred million for each new galaxy. A good initial seeding for four thousand sectors."

Hermione blinked "If the gate boats hit something at that speed we are going to have another big bang." Luna smiled and made an explosion noise and motion with her hands. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Good back fill for all the galaxies too. Bars even stopped bitching about sentient shortages since the Kamimoans took over growing babies. It's so odd how hyperspace and the technology in these galaxies are so integrated with the Force and susceptible to magical manipulation and improvement." She tapped the Force Galaxy inset and waved at the unnamed others.

"Galaxy three through seven too. Proves that force user war in the Milky Way theory of Jocasta's." Luna nodded. "Sort of. I think what really happened is more Yoda being correct. The Force user war in the Milky Way killed off most everything. The Force was then lessened. Then it got into a death spiral. I'm not sure earth would have made it without Harry's vacation. Anecdotal accounts have the first hyperspace travelers being Force sensitive. Maybe it takes the Force to make it work? Not to change the subject, but the readings in the Milky Way are coming up, the Force readings, as we get more and more beings and species there. Did you know the mass of dark matter is decreasing?"

Hermione giggled "That is what woke me up. Jocasta trying to be immortal by injection again, while increasing the number of sentient. Like the Yautja Bacta isn't the elixir of life without the sterilization penalty."

"Which is really weird because it shouldn't work that way at all. It's all the cord blood from all those mixed Force Galaxy species I'm sure." Luna added.

Hermione shook her head "Its Harry's sperm in the mix to make the stone. Immortal Master of Death bukkake."

Arden walked up "Eww! Not this argument again. I need caf first. Ten milliliters of sperm in a cubic meter of solution reduced to a stone by boiling it and metric ton of platinum in a plasma flask does not bukkake make Hermione. Wow! How the frack did those gate boats get there? Holy Force. Don't let Harry see that, he will do it to a speeder bike. Good thing the buoys are shrunk near microscopic and that launcher goes fifteen hundred rounds a minute."

Gabrielle stepped from the shadows "We have his cells. We can clone him a new body. You all worry too much. Those buoys being SoD Xs with SAAR facilities and uprated sensors is great though. Fifteen hundred a minute puts them sensor range apart so we get a little overlap. That extra Forge in Galaxy four making the gate boats and those worked out."

Celeste laughed as she walked in "Like he can be killed anyway. If that Galaxy Five basilisk swallowing him, and him cutting his way out with his sabers, didn't nothing will. Jocasta is getting louder."

Luna nodded vigorously "Growing his skin back in the bacta was fun. Well after, when we all left in the Marauder."

Roganda shook her head "We cannot all be pregnant at the same time ever again. I hate peanut butter too. What the hell is that about? What if I was allergic?"

Shaak walked in frowning. Aayla, walking with her, looked at her "OK tired of this, out with it."

Shaak sighed "The goblins finally got Diagon Alley Gringotts cleared and safe to enter. The upper levels. They got to the Tonks vault. Andromeda and Teds gametes are in storage and viable."

Maris mouth dropped open then snapped closed. Nomis beat her to the punch "I want a Nymphadora." Maris glared at her. She looked around and the others were all nodding their heads.

Roganda laughed "Half at a time, at the most, we just talked about this. Besides Harry will kill us if they all decide they want him like their sister did."

Tis'wedu shook her head "Like they will want anyone else. Where is Hela? Hey Leia, what the hell is with that Solo guy?" Hela was a Dora, Harry daughter. She had a huge Electra complex. She couldn't sleep in the master because one of the moms was with Harry every night. She knew it, the mums knew it, all her half brothers and sister knew it and Harry knew it. They all spent some time sorting the males in the galaxies for her a husband everyday. Except Hela. She was happy being around Harry.

Leia rolled her eyes "Like I know? First he is an idiot with the morals of a Hutt, and second, no, just no. Even if I wasn't with Harry. I would get a geneticist to modify a set of eggs and do Luke first. I can't help he keeps leaving holo messages. I sent him a howler and talked to the clan mother who owns him. She thinks it's funny. The old Perv. Hela is teaching in the academy on Earth. Don't you talk to the young women that come leap in our bed after they jump back out?"

"Jania Solo is a powerful Force sensitive." Harry said. The Potter women jumped then turned and glared at him.

Arden recovered first "Jocasta need a break? Jacen is full on dark and will have to be watched carefully."

Daphne nodded "Won't matter with him I think, but we could get a few years out of him, before he ends up on a confinement hulk in suppressor bands."

Harry tapped his chin "How about I shrink a active sponge and make it a necklace, and we give it to him in some big ceremony. I know Mace is watching him too."

Maar Li giggled "Mace is going to be so pissed 'never thought of it before really, just ask if you need something Mace.' Let's do it today!"

Rey wandered in "Wow, mean much Maar? Wives meeting?" Arden cleared her throat. "Lovers meeting then?" Harry laughed.

SSDV

Rey stood at the edge of the crater with her new Knight and a new quintuple. Master Macana Potter stood near them with hers. Knight Isis Farris and her Knight womb brothers and sister stood with their five Padawan apiece.

Maris Potter Brood, the Master of their assault ship was down in the crater in the first ring of security. The Dread Lord, Dark Ladies Daphne, Arden, and Master of the Shadow Council, Celeste Potter Morne, were in the inner circle with the leaders of the first order. Questioning them.

Leia Skywalker Potter Organa walked up. Rey could sense her inner turmoil. "Leia?"

Leia looked up, around at the group, and then at Rey "In a path Master Lovegood saw and wrote down, before the original wives were pulled here, Ben Solo was my son."

Maris frowned "With Jania and Jacen? Instead of them?"

Leia shrugged "I had to stop reading."

Gwen Davis nodded "Married to Han Solo? Who could read that!"

Leia smiled at her sadly "Thanks. It doesn't help much. Knowing what Harry is going to do and how stubborn Ben will be even if he is, or perhaps because he is, a bastard of Han Solo's."

Johnny shrugged "On him really. Dad ran this like a demon campaign. We have all of the first order besides Snope. They can give him up or hang onto this idiot dream. Turning the planet into a weapon kind of turned Dad sour on them though. Stay on your planet and kill each other all you want. Go offensive and pow, Dread Lord."

Rey laughed "Pow, Dread lord. Where do you kids come up with this stuff."

Esme waved all that off "Bother all that. Jacen and the Hapes princess?"

Macana rolled her eyes "Worse than Master Skywalker, erh the male, Mara at least got him beat into some kind of shape. That Hapan princess is going to have to try harder with Jacen. Even with that stone he has delusions of grandeur. Twins for the sake of the Force. How does he get the idea that he is the most powerful force user when Jania is kicking his ass sparring all the damn time. Luke could do it too if he wasn't busy being all calm and shit. Lets not even talk about Harry or any of the other Masters of that era.

Maris smirked "Jania is just trying to impress your father."

Isis Potter Farris faked retching "He's like a billion years old!" Rey glared at her and tapped an armored boot. "Which is fine for you Master Kenobi." The older ladies chuckled and then winced at the screaming.

"Hux." Macana supplied "Skinned him. Harry loves that charm of Lavenders."

Down in the crater, Daphne in just her second skin of armor body suit, eased up on the petrified form of Ben Solo "You see Ben, May I call you Ben? Do you prefer Kylo?" Ben nodded and shook his head "Ben then, you see Ben, the Dread Lord doesn't care one way or the other. You are caught between a want to be Dark Lord and, well that." She nodded to Harry slowly moving a hand a millimeter above Hux's exposed nerve endings. "We will find Snope, when we do, he will tell us all his little secrets. We haven't aged a day in nearly a hundred years. We can wait. Meanwhile you have fomented an armed rebellion. We don't like that. Now the way to save yourself, and that pretty face and hair of yours, is to tell us what we want to know. Otherwise, well, there is really no healing back like you were after having your skin removed like that."

Daphne leaned back grinning as Ben Solo's eyes tracked to her chest. She chuckled throatily and unpetrified him. He slumped in his chains and then gathered himself "I will tell-"

"Me everything," Arden said as she stepped in front of him, caught his eye, and dove in his mind.

Celeste put the vial of veritasserum away "OK, that's another way." Daphne pouted at her. She rolled her eyes.

SSDV

Luna watched the two man skiff approach and got it lined up in the sites. She reached over and took up the control and pulled the trigger. A cloud of plasma continued on a straight line course missing the entrance to the traffic control pattern for the worm hole. She nodded "Test passed I think."

Hermione burst into the small control room for the AK cannon "What did you do?"

Luna looked at her wide eyed "Testing?"

Aayla walked in and chivvied them both out and to the portal to Rey's assault ship "It was Snope Hermione. We have other things to do besides chase that idiot all over the place."

Apailana nodded, stepping from a side corridor "Yes, like talk about the campaign to let me retire."

Hermione snorted "Padme ready to be Queen?"

Padme blinked "What? No! Besides it doesn't work like that. They elect the Queen. I won't run." The group, along with their Knights and Padawans stopped and looked at her. She sighed. "Mom, you can't dump this on me! I just got Jo'han Windu where I want him!"

Celene laughed "Is that what we are calling it. That isn't very much of a euphemism."

Padme brightened "I don't have guards, or doubles, or ladies in waiting, none of that."

Celene nodded "Bit of a problem, but well, I'm sure they will find some. I was just minding my own business and bam, you're a double now."

"MOM!"

SSDV

Han looked at the notice of the son he barely knew of being arrested and the number of the confinement hulk he was on.

A long, shiny furred, well formed limb reached across his chest and a pair of warm fur covered breast snuggled into his back "A boy I hardly knew about. I tried to talk to him."

"I know love. He was lost to us and we couldn't even bring him and his mother in. I'll have the diplomats make some enquiries. We will see he is as comfortable as he can be, under Republic law. At least the Dread Lord did not skin him." The Clan mother offered. Han nodded and closed the terminal. The clan mother smiled, she didn't add, and send Lady Daphne something nice for removing that threat to my children. At least out loud.

SSDV

Wedge Antilles, Biggs Darklighter and Po Dameron stood in the bar. Biggs was moving a little strangely. Poe looked at him "What is wrong with you?"

Biggs sighed "Prosthetics going again."

Wedge rolled his eyes "You know they can regrow arms and legs. You wouldn't have to give up your calibrated droid ocular sensor unless you wanted to."

"I heard stories, they get you in the med bay, forget, and replace everything." Biggs shrugged and took a drink. Wedge and Po looked at each other.

Po smiled "Another round Finn. You know Biggs, we can easily blind you again. Just in the one eye of course, if they do."

Finn poured and shook his head. Rescued from the first order. He hadn't wanted to stay in the military, but this bar, that was just close enough wasn't it. And he got a free billet on this assault transport. And no waste processing! These pilots were hilarious too. Ranger and Marine club of course. The fleet used Vulture droid Mark thirty mod sevens in front line service now. The Organics commanded legions of them "Did you hear there are sentient races in Galaxy fourteen." The pilots all turned to him "Master Kenobi and Skywalker went to talk to them."

Biggs grunted "If it was the male Skywalker we might get some action. Though Kenobi, well I guess its to much to hope for. Hey did I ever tell you about that cockpit rupture before that portkey snatched me away? The one that cost me my last real extremity?"

Finn laughed "Save it for when the ladies are here Darklighter."

SSDV

Mara Looked at Luke in their stateroom, she rolled her eyes "What now."

Luke sighed "Somehow it feels as if I was meant for more than this."

Mara snorted "You wrote those Force visions down, I'm glad we aren't living that large. All those younglings dead all the time. Just be happy the Dread Lord is the bogey man in everyone's closet. Him popping out of one and skinning some idiot live and in color on the holonet keeps the idiocy down. Besides Luna says those are visions from the path we didn't take."

Luke nodded and moved to the bed "The one the Dread Lord forced us out of."

"Your uncle Harry never forced anyone out of anything. He does what he does and you either like it, or don't. If you don't, and aren't good enough, you are the example for the next generations of how not to do it. That was the Force, I keep telling you all." Mara told him firmly.

SSDV

Harry squatted by the dagger. It was one of hundreds of thousands of like weapons on this planet. Gringotts, Earth, having been completely cleaned of these type weapons. "Go on back to the ship Slungshot. I have it."

Slungshot looked at him "Just one. Your daughter and her mother will gut me otherwise." He spun and disappeared.

Harry chuckled and pulled the dagger. The white haired, black skinned, green eyed, voluptuous woman that appeared looked him up and down. She said something firmly and held out a hand. Harry put a flip book in it. She blinked.

On the control sphere Aayla nodded "That's what got me."

Hermione blushed "We were sitting watching Fantasia after I made one for him. I had a tape of the soundtrack I had synched the book too. I knew then. We were just starting university. Things hadn't gone at all the way we expected after the war with the blood purist."

Luna shrugged "If it aint broke don't fix it. Still gets him laid." She was looking in the holotank.

Hermione sighed "Luna." Then she looked in the tank and spluttered. The female Drow had taken Harry to the ground, They weren't fighting, well not exactly. Harry appeared to be trying to get away though. The wives all started chuckling and shouting encouragement to their new team member. The daughters fled.

SSDV

"Ania Solo." Leia pinched the bridge of her nose.

Aayla rubbed her back in a comforting way "Well she is a little old but we've found her now. Orion'sa James son has her with his knight and their quintuple. She did manage to kill that wannabe dark lord. It will be fine."

Leia glared at her "Another of Han Solo's children, or is it grandchildren by now, he scattered over the galaxy, but it will be fine? I need Harry to go back in time and retroactively sterilize Solo."

Shaak tapped her chin "You know, they all have the force, and not a little either. We should round them all up, make them a clan."

Leia shook her head "Oh hell no! Then I would somehow be made the Matriarch and I am not related to them, despite everytime one gets in trouble, I end up involved somehow."

Apailana shrugged "The Force trying to tell you something?"

"Just because I was with Harry when it was your turn last week! You were on Naboo!" Leia looked at her with her lip trembling.

Apailana blinked "What? Oh no that isn't what I meant at all. I meant maybe they need your guidance. Not you should be with Solo, yuck, can you imagine?"

Daphne huffed "Hey! My clan mother loves him!"

SSDV

Xoxaan looked at Jedi Master A'sharad Hett "You are dark."

A'sharad nodded "There is much pain in the universe. I have seen a lot of it. My tendency was toward darkness. My life to now reinforced and brought that out. We accept our darkness, The Dark Lady teaches us how to use it."

"So what is it you wish from me Master Hett?" The holocron of the dark lady asked.

A'sharad smiled "The Universe is wide and deep Lady Xoxaan. We have need of knowledge. All of the sith artifacts are studied, and a determination made before, their disposition is decided. The dark Masters make the recommendation to Lady Daphne. I was chosen to evaluate your holocron."

Xoxaan narrowed her eyes "When you say determination, what exactly does that mean?"

A'sharad shrugged "The Dread Lord has proven that holocrons are almost soul jars, the sith ones especially, depending on your abilities and how much of your soul remains we could attempt a body, either droid, or organic, for you. Or you could be sent back to the Force."

Xoxann nodded "And if instead I take you?"

A'sharad shrugged "Several have tried. I will be interviewed by the Dark Lady after leaving this planet. She will know and will deal with you, perhaps saving me."

Xoxaan thought a moment "Tell me about this new galaxy."

SSDV

Zenoma Sekot watched her infestation thrive and was happy. They were industrious these tiny organics. Connected to her as well, and solicitous of her welfare. Now how could she help them, she had already combined all their best traits into a race that could thrive on her or in space. Perhaps leave them alone and watch, guarding them. She should petition the senate for new planets in the other galaxies to expand her children too. Master Hermione would help.

SSDV

Harry looked up from his favorite seat on the Marauders bridge. He finally had his dream. Him and the girls out seeing the sights. Of course, the Marauder being slotted into its berth on the super lucrehulk battleship hull and locked in docking clamps wasn't exactly what he had in mind but, still it was just them, on the Marauder anyway. "Second Galaxy to the right and on 'til morning 'Soka."

Ahsoka Potter Tano smiled and pulled the hyper drive control down to the maximum. They could make galaxy forty one by morning. This fracking thing was the fastest hunk of junk in all the galaxies. Best armed, and armored, as well.

Star wars theme, fade to hyperspace lines, then black.

SSDV ends above. the next eight or nine thousand words are how it came to exist.

AN: below is the story I was writing when I read Plums excellent story, Last Second Savior, and, well, eight of the preceding chapters flowed out, whole cloth. I had originally intended to just post them using Plums original nine as my lead. He/she didn't want that when I asked. So I went back and redid theirs while twisting it to better fit mine. I had used up theirs by the middle of my chapter six.

If anyone does that to this one I would recommend you stay with the pre Disney canon fucking of the SW universe canon, a rich and varied tapestry of thousands of years of history, now considered legend by people with mouse ears on their heads, and dollar signs in their eyes like Scrooge McDuck.

I would also appreciate a heads up and maybe a chance to comment on your piece of this yarn, SSDV or Rage, before you post it.

I think I saw another piece titled Rage on someone's favorites page. I have not read that, and this has nothing to do with it. other than maybe stealing the lines from Dylan Thomas.

Rage

Imperial Inquisitor Le'drang looked at the body they had picked up from space. From space! An apparent humanoid in perfect condition. Picked from an orbit around a yellow dwarf at the edge of the galaxy, where the disturbance in the Force had led them, a very young yellow dwarf. In the appropriate orbit for humanoid, carbon based, life, amidst a debris field, but still. One meter eighty-five, at the most two meters tall and ninety to a hundred kilos. All arranged in a very pleasing way. She shook her head, a complete blank in the force, so not a Jedi or a Sith. Just an oddity.

"Put him in a cell, and we'll drop him off at the Imperial science academy. Let's get back to our real job. Set course for the nearest suspected Jedi location." She left to her underway cabin in the Venator class star destroyer. The Inquisition had taken great pleasure in taking the Jedi Order to pieces and the job wasn't finished quite yet.

Somehow no one commented on the absurdity of putting a frozen body in a cell. It never even occurred to them.

Ahsoka Tano watched from across the hall as the body was dumped in the cell across from her. The years since leaving the Jedi order had not been kind to her. Kinder than they had to the Order, with most of the Jedi killed but, still not kind, and now she was a prisoner for being a Jedi. She chuckled darkly. A mistake from her infancy, that she had no control over, being revisited on her again and again.

She had managed to survive though. No mean feat. She had even done damage to the empire at every opportunity. Why? Because the fucks simply would not leave her the fuck alone. Some of those Jedi had been her friends though, once upon a time, and the Order was as close to family as she had. Maybe in retrospect she would appear as a Jedi. Now the empire was hunting down her family though. She nodded to herself. They would make a mistake, she could wait.

Oh wait, he moved.

Harry's eyes opened. He took in the metal walls in the dim light and snorted. So, another go then. It had been time. All his relatives had passed on again. Well any closer than six generations to him. He had been growing a bit bored. He only had the one purpose after all. Once he was successful, he got his reward of a good long life, with plenty of wine, women, and song, before he went into that long night, again, and then was jerked back into the light, again, normally screaming and clawing. But he always ended up in the same place, the dark emptiness.

"Phhht which always lasted until I opened my eyes again in some new place." Harry said aloud. He frowned. What the hell, why was he so stiff?

Ahsoka blinked as the young woman appeared astride the body. She was in a thin shirt and pants, and had a collar with an attachment dangling from the front, she had some kind of facial tattoo around one eye. She had some kind of heavy boots on her feet. Grav boots maybe? She started as the young woman looked at her with jade green eyes and winked, then looked down at the man, and pinched him in a sensitive place of his upper anatomy with both hands. Ahsoka covered her nipples in sympathy as the male yelled, and sat up, and the woman hopped up laughing.

"Death! Bloody Hell! Fucking Witch!" Harry glared at her.

Death snickered "Come on Master. Lots of work in this reality. Time to get busy."

Harry glared "Is this another Mad Titan deal? If so I get all the red heads again. Widow, Thirteen, Jean Grey and Siryn as sweeteners too. I hate that purple fucker. Cylon six and eight too gods damnit! And you."

Death sighed "No teasing Master, this is even better! High technology, evil fucks all over. Hundreds of species of intelligent life, most of them evil, and almost no magic users. Well, not at your level. They have combined magic and technology more than any other we have visited though."

Harry sighed and slid himself so his back was against the wall. "So, worse for me."

Death pouted "Come on sweetie, you know that just makes the rewards better." She nodded to the opening in the wall.

Ahsoka frowned trying to puzzle out the language the two were speaking. She focused on the two pairs of glowing, jade green, eyes staring at her and snatched her hands away from her chest. That didn't help as the band she had been given was as thin as any she had ever worn and her nipples would cut transparisteel right now.

Harry snorted "Horns, and is that hair? Tentacles? Nice body though, fit. Red skin? Are those white marks tattoos? OK, fine."

Harry stood up and paced the small cell for a minute. "Why am I so stiff?"

Death flushed a bit, which was so unusual it brought Harry to a halt. "Well Earth isn't formed yet in this one so you were kinda in space."

Harry sighed "Kinda? How are you kinda in space? Wait, am I on a ship? How the fuck am I supposed to drive this thing?"

Death smirked "Reach out with your feelings Luke."

Harry blinked "You didn't!"

Death shrugged "Maybe Lucas was a seer, or a past viewer, or something."

"Or your fuck relatives created this fucking reality, after watching the movies, or reading the fucking books, or some shit. Again! Fuck! Fine, but the elf chicks better be hot and love to suck cock like in the last one. None of those fucking complicated 'I was in love with a dwarf who died' fucking tragic fucking stories either. I don't want to wait a thousand years while she gets over her broken heart. If that shit happens I am butt fucking all three of fates aspects to death."

Ahsoka giggled at the cursing coming from across the hall. It had to be cursing. The male was turning colors and the female was doing the toe digging in the ground thing. When she wasn't covering her mouth and giggling behind his back as he paced.

Harry continued "Fucking monkeys and their fucking typewriters. Why couldn't it be Seven of Nine again. She fucks like a beast! T'pol is too damn complicated, and as for Baldies Enterprise, none of those bitches were a good fuck. At least not on the boat, and Riker was so fucking smarmy he made me want to shoot him in the face every time I looked at his retarded ass. That fucking space station was full of hot pussy though. Those Bajorans too. Man did those girls love to fuck. Come to think of it Romulans made up for Vulcans. Well, them and Klingons. OK fine. Its killing time."

Harry stopped, looked at the door, wandlessly and silently, cast an unlocking charm. The lit ribbon around the door sparked and died. He stepped in the hall, cast on Ahsoka's cell then went down the hall casting on all the cells. Ahsoka followed.

The others in the cells froze for a moment, then when the young Togrutan female walked past they eased into the hall, and then followed.

Harry came to an open area and glared around, then waved. The members of the Inquisitorius present dropped like puppets with their strings cut. Ahsoka grew a bit concerned. She followed as Harry made his way through the ship, and the death toll grew. She finally found a protocol droid and grabbed Harry. "Ahsoka Tano." She pointed to herself. She pointed to the droid and read it's painted on designation "D four H three." She arched a brow at him.

Harry sighed "Harry Potter."

D four took over and Ahsoka defended them in the alcove with the blaster she had picked up. The others from the cells were doing the same thing. Ahsoka noticed quite a few of them were Padawans. Other members of various non empire groups and two were Knights unless she was mistaken.

Harry looked at the robot and repeated "I am Harry Potter." The robot mimicked him "I am D Four H three."

Harry nodded and pointed at Ahsoka "Alien." Then at himself "Human."

D four nodded "Human, Togrutan." It pointed at Harry then Ahsoka.

Ahsoka got nervous as a big push from the Inquisitus came and Harry looked up and waved. Ahsoka glared at him "Stop killing everyone."

Harry rolled his eyes and went back to pointing at things and telling the robot what they were. The group got pushed back closer to Harry and his waves got more frequent.

D four finally told Ahsoka "I am able to communicate with this being in a rudimentary manner."

Ahsoka nodded "Stop killing everyone." D four went straight to translation mode. The principles talked and it translated.

"I'm not killing everyone. These are evil or bad, difficult concept expressed poorly."

Ahsoka sighed "How do you know?"

"I read their minds. Not actually however an equivalent."

Ahsoka blinked "You're Jedi? Where did the girl go?"

"No, I'm untranslatable nonsensical construct. She'll be back, usually at the worst time possible. Can you operate this vessel?"

Ahsoka nodded "Yes, we have to get to the bridge."

"Lead on my Lady."

Ahsoka looked at the droid then Harry. "Fine, come on." She took off toward the lifts to the bridge. She had served on these vessels, she knew the way.

Their pace was somewhat slow because of the droid, but Ahsoka was actually grateful. It let her coordinate their group, and kept the male from just killing everyone out of hand, as he apparently could, and was happy to. He also healed quite a few of them and shielded them from attacks. The ones he didn't kill joined them. Ahsoka was wary of this but a lot of people were pressed into service by the Empire.

They stepped off the lift and Ahsoka rolled to the side at the snap hiss of the lightsaber. She and everyone else froze at the sight of the male, Ha'rry was his name, Ha'rry holding the red blade of the Sith light saber and grinning at the female Chiss Sith. He pulled the blade and it shut off as soon as the light saber body left her frozen hand. Ahsoka force pulled it to herself, getting a long look from Ha'rry in the process. "Naughty naughty." D four dutifully translated getting a glare from the Chiss as the others flowed into the bridge disarming the on-duty bridge shift. "Now tell me everything."

Le'Drang glared and her eyes went full yellow "You will die screaming."

Harry laughed "I always do. So the hard way then." Ahsoka blinked as the droid relayed this.

Ahsoka watched, horrified, as something happened in the Force, something unclean. The Padawans had all frozen staring where Ha'rry was holding the Chiss by the neck and staring in her eyes, as blood flowed from her nose and ears. Just when Ahsoka was going to move to stop whatever this was, Ha'rry dropped the Chiss who fell bonelessly to the deck. He waved and nothing happened. "Tap into the public-address system."

Ahsoka blinked "What? Who?"

"Ships Company." Came from hidden speakers "I am Harry Potter. I have taken this vessel. If you desire to leave it when we visit your planet, or a planet you can survive on, you may.

Meanwhile we will find and pick up these people the Empire is hunting, while killing these agents of this Empire." Ha'rry chuckled darkly "Welcome aboard the Revenge."

Harry moved to the command chair and sat. D four moved with him showing him how to work the computer interface. Ahsoka went about comforting the Padawans. Instructions began scrolling across screens, and the senior members left in each department of the crew began moving bodies to the mass converters after stripping them, then getting their departments back operational.

Rage

On Dagobah Yoda shuddered. Across the Galaxy surviving Jedi looked around uneasily. They never saw the humanoid girl appear and those closest to finding them drop dead. On Coruscant the Emperor convulsed in agony.

Darth Vader lost consciousness in his sphere on his star destroyer.

Rage

Ahsoka looked at the coordinates of their destination "Felucia. Ha'rry why are we going to Felucia?"

Harry smiled "Harry, and we were already in hyperspace pointed that way. I have a list of locations of Jedi. We are going to pick them up."

Ahsoka nodded "What did you do to the Chiss?"

Harry shrugged "She wouldn't tell me, so I took all the information I needed. She is, or will be fine, but she only remembers her life up until she started school at some academy. She was about six. We'll have to teach her all over again, I took the rest." Ahsoka was horrified. Harry shrugged "If you think that's bad you should get off at the first stop. It's nothing on what I can, or will do. Kind even. She can start over and she isn't dead. Pretty hot too, even blue. Nice body, fit. Good mind in there as well."

D four finished translating and looked at Ahsoka placidly.

Ahsoka turned back to her console.

Rage

Ahsoka looked at the elegant foot high black script that had appeared on the wall behind the command chair. D four had translated it for her 'Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Do not go gentle into that good night.'

The ship instead of being Republic red was now flat black with 'Revenge' and 'Earth' under it, painted, or waved like the writing, in dark red letters, on both sides of the stern. Homeport as Harry called it. That's what Earth meant. His home planet, that didn't exist as far as she could tell.

It summed up Ha'rry Potter. He was rage contained in a handsome bottle. He was also unnerving for Force sensitives, he was a complete void in the Force. until he was unguarded. Then the seething rage bled over and filled the space around him until he noticed and suppressed it somehow. Oh, he was unfailingly polite and even kind to the youngest Padawans. But in those unguarded moments, an ancient rage burned like a white dwarf. The warning sounded and she brought her thoughts back to the present and watched as they dropped from hyperspace over an impossibly green world. She immediately felt the presence in the force of Master Shaak Ti. "Harry-"

"Yep, Come on. Something funny down there. Do we have a ferry on this boat? Oh yeah. A shuttle. Let's go check out the problem. Uh, Padawan, erh, green you have the con." Harry had studied and sped read from the holo net and the ships data cores for the four days in hyperspace. Either sitting in the command chair or pacing in front of it with a padd. He had at least skimmed an exabyte of data at gigaflop speeds, while eating ration bars and drinking plain water. The padd he was using was hot to the touch. Occasionally things, like the writing on the wall behind the command chair, the ships paint job, its name and homeport, just happened.

Chandra Ollee, a twenty year old Mirialan, with a pleasing pattern around her blue eyes sighed "Ollee Master, erh, Harry."

"Better. I don't do master. Free will or nothing." Ahsoka grabbed Harry and pulled him to the lift, before he could get started on another rant. That was the other thing that defined him. He had strong, strange, near maniacal opinions, and was happy to tell everyone what they were. Don't even think about slavery. It had taken a day to stop him from abandoning the search for the Jedi and going off killing slavers. She had finally talked him into one fight at a time. All the while he never quit abusing the poor padd.

They made it to the shuttle and he followed her on the controls as she flew. He had input a set of coordinates in the navicomp and she flew to them. He looked around the clearing they had come to and pointed. As they came in they had seen a droid army in rows and the ships delivering it on the ground with no power readings. She was still thinking about that when she saw the body on the ground. The blue female body. She landed and ran off the shuttle as its engines spooled down. She found Master Aayla Secura in some kind of Force trance. She was stitched up her back with a line of blaster wounds.

Harry arrived, nodded and waved. Ahsoka watched amazed as the wounds healed. The Twi'lek master was still unconscious but she was healed. Impossible. She rolled the master over and Harry blushed ferociously, waved and her band repaired itself. Ahsoka laughed "Prude."

Harry asked, "How would you like to be on display as you slept."

Ahsoka shrugged "How is she here? I mean alive."

Harry levitated the female with a wave and headed back to the shuttle "This place crawls with magic, or the Force. Come on, some dick is trying to kill the ones I was after. She was the something funny."

The secret apprentice stepped from the trees and lit his light saber. Shaak Ti nodded and stepped out. Both froze as the shuttle landed. Harry walked out looked at Star Killer, and flicked his hand. Star Killer slammed into a tree and slid down it. Ahsoka looked at him "Feeling generous?"

Harry grinned "He has purpose later. That reset will start him on the path. Now get this Master person whoa!" Harry leaned away from the lightsaber that hissed on already striking at him. "Hey that isn't nice. See if I rescue you again."

Shaak Ti arrived "Maris!"

Maris Brood glared but killed her saber blade. Harry nodded "Better. Now come on, there are more to rescue." He turned on his heel and walked to the shuttle. Ahsoka followed him shrugging apologetically. Shaak Ti blinked then hustled Maris to their, or her, ship. They followed the shuttle to where it landed again by the CIS fleet, and walked out as the male walked to one of the droid ships. Shaak Ti looked at Ahsoka "Padawan Tano."

Ahsoka glared "I resigned. Thanks for your support."

Shaak Ti closed her eyes and dropped her head. "Your forgiveness Ahsoka Tano. We wronged you."

Ahsoka nodded "Damn straight you did. Now while we wait on Harry, come look at Master Secura. Harry found her and healed her."

Shaak Ti blinked. Ahsoka laughed "Tip of the Zillo beast talon. It's been an interesting week."

They were still talking when Harry walked in and dropped a box in the hold. He went to the pilot's seat and sat "There was another Jedi on this planet. She was killed with a cannon. Nothing left but ashes."

Ahsoka arched a brow and Shaak Ti nodded "Barris Offee."

Ahsoka snorted "Traitorous bitch."

Shaak Ti closed her eyes again for a moment. Maris Brood looked through the cockpit window "Uh, where did the CIS fleet and army go?"

Harry shrugged "No sense leave assets lying around. I shrank them and put them in the box I dropped in the hold. Want me to do that with your ship too?"

Ahsoka nodded, wide eyed "This I have to see."

Harry grinned, walked to the ramp with the women following, and levitated Shaak's ship, then floated it toward them as it shrank. Shaak asked "That was the Force?"

Harry grinned "Magic. You folks barely use it. I can show you some things."

Maris put her hands out and Harry dropped the levitation. She marveled at the small model in her hands. Harry chuckled and answered questions as they returned to orbit, and he shrank fifteen more Lucrehulks and pulled them into the shuttle through the magnetic shielding, along with a pair of rings that went with two single seat fighter types he had found on the ground. The women ended up speechless.

Ahsoka flew them back to the Revenge and followed him to the bridge nearly on autopilot. Chandra arched a brow but got them underway to the next location as she turned over to Harry.

Rage

Maris Brood dueled Harry Potter. They had not expected him to master the light saber in moments. Or seemingly so. Of course, he was an expert in any type of combat with apparently any type of weapon. Including a stick with two handles, and a single edged, tapering blade, which he said was a farm implement. That thing was terrifying.

He was also very easy to talk to. He understood her rage. He also didn't tell her to suppress it. He got her to use it without losing herself to it. The looks Ahsoka was throwing her were perfectly justified. Looks that told her she knew that Maris would be open to an advance by Harry. Pretty obvious in an inch wide band that wouldn't have covered her areola if her nipples weren't hard and they weren't completely crinkled up every time Harry was within a hundred feet of her, or her thoughts drifted to him really. The shorts she was wearing, well she could have left those off. The low heeled imperial boots in mirror polished black worked though. Lifted her butt nicely.

She was taking care of reeducating Le'drang. She dressed her pretty much the same way. The woman's nipples were rock hard around Harry too. She really didn't seem a bad sort and she burned through the material they were studying. Perhaps the second time made it easier? Oh yes, and completely a fully grown thirty four standard year old woman too. And not afraid to show Harry.

Master Ti wasn't saying much, but the spars she had with Harry were breathtaking, her hard nipples after and during told their own story. She had lost the Jedi robes as soon as she stepped on the ship and never put them back on. Her white 'straps' as she called them apparently being plenty. Plenty to lead your eye from those big frim breast to that fat juicy looking mound that pretty much begged to be smashed into again and again. Fuck! "Come on Le'drang, lets spar."

Le'drang grinned "Thought yourself horny again didn't you."

Maris gave her a look and led to the sparring area. He of course worked on something on the computer, issued a constant stream of orders, sparred, practiced with blasters, ate and slept in that order. Oh and paced like a rock lion, killing padds reading them to death. Maris chuckled. Ahsoka might as well be nude in that inch wide band and those shorts. No female on this ship didn't know her intentions. She had also achieved her full adult red like Shaak Ti as well. Harry was even more clueless than normal males. Ahsoka was going to explode.

Oh ho what is this? Master Secura wants a spar. This should be fun. Maris turned to watch.

Harry watched the blue girl stalk, nearly nude, about five four, wide hipped, with a round butt, and a twenty eight F if he was any judge, firm and high mounted, to the center of the cleared space they used for sparring and nodded to her. She moved like a dancer, or a warrior. His eyes widened a bit when she lit two lightsabers. Then he grinned. This could be fun. He lit the light saber he had found that liked him best. It was a bit like wands. Some lightsabers worked better for him than others. This purple one worked great. It just felt good.

Ahsoka walked up to Maris "You want him."

Maris laughed "As do almost all the females on this ship. Including Shaak Ti. And from the look of things Aayla Secura."

"You are a Jedi." Ahsoka offered, a bit belligerently.

Maris laughed "The Order is dead. Killed by its own troops. I follow the ways of the Force but not to the exclusion of all else. Harry says we take the best ideas and techniques, and leave those that don't work."

Ahsoka looked at her "He killed thousands taking this ship."

Maris shrugged "They probably needed killing. From what I can tell most do. Look, we all know what you want. He obviously isn't going to play some kind of game. He obviously isn't going to chase or pressure us either. If you want it take it. The rest of us will do the same. Other than that stand aside, as I won't wait much longer."

Aayla Secura came to locked sabers with Harry. Her eyes were dancing. Harry smiled "Nice, thank you."

Aayla unlocked her two sabers by turning them off, stepped back, and bowed, which Harry returned. She took his hand after he shut off his saber and led him out.

Maris looked at the pouting Ahsoka "Too late."

Rage

Aayla Secura was fully healed. The Jedi Order was dead. She wasn't going to be the one to rebuild it. She might not throw away all her principles but she was ditching celibacy, right now and a thick five centimeters at a time. She was stretched completely smooth and he was stimulating every nerve ending in her birth canal. She had pressed him passed her cervix two, or so drops ago and had another maybe two, possibly three to go. She didn't masturbate a lot, as it was frowned on, but she had before and enough to know her limits. He was well passed those, at least her preference. It was a new preference now. Stuffed completely, nearly painfully full.

Harry smiled and leaned forward and bent his back taking a nipple in his mouth, and then moving to the bottom of the magnificent breast it was on. He leaned back and smiled as she snuggled down. He thrust up and chuckled as her eyes bulged. He put his hands on her hips and held her while he drove a little further then lifted her and dropped his hips. She frowned and he dropped her on himself. She got wide eyed and he chuckled rolled them over, put her feet on his shoulders and pounded her like a framing carpenter from California pounded nails. Hard and fast. With a big hammer.

Rage

Ahsoka Tano walked in his stateroom, looked at Aayla on the bed, started getting mad, found herself scooped up and taken to the bed and stripped. Harry was obviously fresh from the fresher and Aayla was asleep or unconscious. Ashoka went to object put lost her train of thought as he nuzzled into her folds looking in her eyes and she tried to hang onto her sanity as a hissing noise happed.

Rage

Shaak Ti walked in later and smiled as her straps hit the floor and she knee walked up him, held his hard length up and sank onto it. His green eyes opened glowing.

Rage

Maris Brood looked at Harry laying on the bed and Le'drang giggled blushed and shoved her in the bed. "Have fun!" She scampered away locking the door on the way out.

Rage

Later as Harry was doing his pacing, reading, working, writing orders, thing the ladies had a conversation in the lounge of the Captains quarters. Aayla looked around and opened with "So, big."

Maris nodded "Any idea what that tongue thing is? I think one of my eyes is still slightly rolled up in my head?"

Shaak nodded "Wyrm speach. It's in the memory core of the first contact droids. Supposedly no humanoid can speak it. He recited a work by an author from his home world in it while performing cunnilingus on us. Not all the same works either."

Ahsoka "His home planet? Where is that?"

Aayla sighed "A mystery actually. The ships logs say he was picked up in the debris field orbiting a young yellow dwarf that was pre planet formation."

"Picked up? As in just out there floating. He was steaming when they brought him in, or rather cooling the air around him. The fog from him was dropping rather than rising now that I think about it."

"So he survived being in hard vacuum somehow. Harry is a bit of a mystery." Maris looked around at the others who were gaping at her a bit. She shrugged.

Shaak nodded "I am much more concerned with this girl he calls Death. Where did she go?" Ahsoka shrugged helplessly.

Rage

Ahsoka was on the bridge when the alarm sounded and the ship dropped from hyperspace. Harry disappeared, and the ship went into its preprogrammed bombardment. The Force screamed as it welcomed thousands joining it. Harry reappeared in a cargo hold with a hundred Jedi and Padawan gripping a rope and disappeared to the bridge again. He waved at D four, and sat in the command chair. "All ships."

D four stepped close and replied, "All ships."

"All ships welcome to the Black fleet. This is Harry Potter. I have killed those holding you against your will. If you do not wish to continue to serve you may leave as soon as we get the fleet to a suitable world for your species. Thank you. Stand by for instructions."

Aayla walked into the bridge with a pained expression "Was that necessary Harry?" Ahsoka goggled and suppressed the urge to ask her if the two pieces of thread and four blaster cleaning patches she was wearing were necessary.

Harry shrugged "They would not have surrendered. I am not keeping them prisoner so this was better than dropping them in a volcano. Now, want to help me find the codes to these droids?"

Aayla rolled her eyes. "Fine, come on then. Ahsoka you can run the ship?"

Ahsoka nodded and Harry put an arm around Aayla and disappeared. Maris looked at the angry face on Ahsoka and laughed. "Aayla seems freer now somehow."

"More naked too." Ahsoka huffed.

Rage

Ahsoka walked into Harry's stateroom fully expecting to find him having sex with Aayla. Instead she found him sitting up in bed working on a padd and Aayla sitting on a synthleather covered sofa working on another. "What are you doing?"

"Working on the droid control program. I got all the droids and their ships out hunting Jedi and attacking Inquisitor ships." Harry shrugged.

Aayla looked at her, smiled, and went in the other room. Ahsoka stuttered and tried a couple times, and Harry chuckled, put the padd down and drug her to the bed. It got to be a bit of a blur punctuated by having a tree rammed in her. In the best possible way. Several times.

She woke up in the morning and groaned "You didn't have to shove a tree in me!"

Harry laughed "I'm not that big."

Aayla sat up on the other side of him "So you say. Are you all right Ahsoka?"

Ahsoka wriggled "Fine, rearranged or something. It will settle. It did last time."

Aayla laughed "I had the same feeling."

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes "First aren't you a Jedi Master, and isn't this against the code, second erh, I'll think of something."

Aayla smiled "I was dead. OK that's trite, but the truth is the code didn't work and led us to where we were. I think we need to go back to the old code. So that's what I am doing. I think attachments that don't interfere with you doing your duty are fine."

Ahsoka groaned "Maris is going to run in here and leap on our tree again."

Aayla smiled "Shaak too."

Harry snorted "I get some say."

Ahsoka looked at the tent at his waist "Yes apparently, you do."

Aayla slid over him and sat up grunting. Ahsoka fled to the fresher.

Rage

Harry was sitting on the bridge when Shaak Ti came in. He grunted "I am going to have to come up with a uniform. Shaak did you come up here just to torture me?" She was in a collection of white straps that accentuated more than it concealed.

Shaak smiled "Not just." The others laughed. Harry glared, ineffectually. Shaak continued "That's the last of the Jedi and Padawan pairs out on ships with list of locations. I came to see how the droid fleet was doing, and to find out how you are going to deal with ships delivering loads of prisoners to here. We can't stay here forever."

Harry nodded "Did you know the droids and their ships are made by droids? I got the shipyards and droid production facilities running locked wide open. I got the droid scout vessels out looking for worlds on the rim of the galaxy, and slave populations, plus scouting hyperspace corridors.

Some of the droid fleet is cleaning up battlespaces and junk worlds. Did you know there were whole worlds of junk?

It's all droids, so I figure we have about a year until the Empire stumbles on the operation, especially if we keep killing off these dark bastards. By then I think I will have droid production and shipyards set up out past the edge of the galaxy proper, so we will be fine.

We can keep making raids into the inner parts of the galaxy forever then."

Shaak huffed "Dark Acolytes Harry. Yes that will keep the emperor focused."

Harry nodded "Meanwhile, with a little creative fomenting, the Chiss can become a problem for him. The Hutts will always be a problem, and I'm sure there are some other megalomaniacal dark bastards that can be turned on him. If he gets really stroppy and stops killing dark bastards or they stop trying to kill him, well, then I'll take a little trip to Coruscant. Meanwhile somebody needs to go get Yoda and some of these other folks and stand up some kind of shadow government. If I have to go kill the emperor, and his little dark minions, it is going to leave a huge hole in the power structure in this galaxy.

Death is out looking around, but apparently, this Universe doesn't have a mad Titan, it has the dark side of the Force instead. That should have scary music playing when you say it. By itself it sounds, I don't know but not scary, well if you don't sleep with a light on."

Shaak nodded and stored that all away to add to the picture they were building of Harry Potter, the mildly psychotic, powerful, what was the opposite of a megalomaniac?

Rage

It was nearly a year to the day when Palpatine got the report that linked it all together and showed him his attempt to eliminate the Jedi had failed, at least partially. The Jedi however had disappeared. Much more pressing were the attacks on Imperial Inquisitor and weak Imperial fleet units coming from the Hutts. That would have to be dealt with. These criminal organizations and the Mandalorian as well.

The odd Jedi here and there could be dealt with. The plan hadn't worked as intended but it had worked. The Jedi's power was broken.

Rage

Ahsoka waved and her band and shorts disappeared reappearing in the hamper. She walked in the fresher then climbed in the bed. A year of studying the way Harry used the Force and practice and she was starting to get it.

Most of the female Jedi had moved on to different missions and worlds. Only herself, Maris, Shaak and Aayla remained on Revenge. Well of the Force users. The others strolled in the quarters took a ride, got a knight or Padawan, a rebuilt pirate or slaver ship, and buggered off somewhere on some mission or another of the hundreds queued up by Shaak and Aayla. With her, Maris and Le'drang helping.

They had just enough crew permanently aboard to move the ship and go about missions Le'drang was assigned. Le'drang worked hard studying tapes of herself and imperial procedures from her retinal scan locked logs and kept the reporting up. They were Jedi capturing, pirate killing crack inquisitors. On paper anyway.

When Harry wasn't teaching them his version of the Force, they were teaching him theirs, and about this universe as he called it and the Revenge was their training aid. The ship was nearly entirely automated and they had a whole class of Padawans on board learning Harry's method along with the traditional method of the Force under the old code. There were Masters on board teaching them. They weren't permanent parts of the crew though, just using the space really.

They were on a slow progress around the outside rim of the Galaxy surveying worlds and annihilating the dark. Pirates and Slavers drove toward the Galactic core and took their operations with them or died. Of course, up against the Empire fleet and all the people in it trying to make names for themselves they mostly died anyway. It amused Harry no end.

The Empire had found out about the Jedi, the missing droids, and droid ships but had done nothing. Now there were two worlds producing top of the line battle droids and ships twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. Besides agricultural implements, transport systems, medical droids, planetary defense systems, and construction equipment for a world a day. They seeded that world a day with twenty five thousand colonist of one species or another, taken from slave pens, off ships, or worlds somewhere in the galaxy. They added enough droids and material to make it function. A few seeds from a trunk Harry carried and a few young animals. Aside from the nerfs, grazers, cattle and sheep. As Harry said, they used everything but the squeals, If the animals and people made something Harry had some process for it he had written on a padd. Even the light, then steadily heavier industry, and mining operations waste streams were analyzed, separated, captured and stored to be used for something. Reaction mass for non FTL or attitude control engines if nothing else. The only waste from a process, if you wanted to call it that, was fresh water and breathable gasses for one of the hundreds of species that were then moved to where those species were. Even carbon dioxide was saved as most plants used it.

Harry raiding brothels, with troops of the species running the things mortal enemies, or at least a couple known ones even if dead, and the appropriate uniforms, if they were normally used, did more to foment unrest in the galaxy than anything else they did.

They, Shaak, Aayla, Maris and herself had decided they needed a human mate for Harry. Death, who had begun stopping by occasionally to talk to the ladies, had laughed and disappeared. That had been a month ago. Tonight was the night they were telling Harry their plan. The Padawans had some very interesting girls in among their number.

The others came in and got ready, then got in the big bed, Harry appeared last, with a padd in his hand as always. He put the padd down, went to the fresher, picked the padd back up got in bed, issued kisses and sat with his back against the bulkhead. Eventually he looked up in the silence "What?"

Aayla looked at the others and decided to be spokeswoman "You need a mate."

Harry blinked "Another one?"

Maris rolled her eyes "One who can give you children Harry."

Harry blanched "You are all on birth control right?"

Shaak smiled, Harry was humorously uneducated about some things "We are different, incompatible for breeding purposes, species Harry, you can't get us pregnant."

They weren't prepared for the groan and the collapse. Harry laughed "You are all in for such a shock. Magic, Master of Death, basilisk venom and phoenix tears in my blood. If you have ovaries I can get you pregnant. I've had kids that were hatched from eggs." The women gaped at him. He laughed helplessly. "It was a universe where Veela were a little more bird than…never mind. If you haven't been on birth control you are all going to be pregnant. I am overjoyed, I hope you all aren't sorry."

The women sat or lay for a moment, then another, then Ahsoka got up "Uh, I think I'm going to go see the medics, uh, yeah. OK, bye." She turned on her heel and took off.

Harry flopped in the bed and groaned. Maris looked at the others "Think she will realize she is naked soon?"

Ahsoka ran back in the room and glared at them all, as she went to her storage and got a fresh band and shorts "Not one word!"

Harry stood in the medical bay watching the four women as they processed the news. They were all pregnant. He was grinning like an idiot. He couldn't stop. Slowly they all smiled too.

Rage

Ahsoka was talking with Bail Organa on a secure channel, when Bails wife Breha suddenly leaned in and gasped "You're pregnant!"

"Frack! How did you know?" Ahsoka gasped.

Bail backed away.

Harry watched this and started tapping away on his padd. Aayla levered herself up and looked at the padd "Is that wise?"

Harry shrugged "As far as the empire knows it's a ship of the inquisition. I've been answering Le'drangs mail for a year and a half. Well she and I, us really. Plus she is reeducated, we can trot her and some of the crew out if we need to. She is a hero, her ship has fought hundreds of engagements with pirates. Sent the empire the holofeeds and heads to prove it. Worst case I can knock em all dead and we can have more boats."

Aayla crawled in his lap "You devious bastard."

Harry raised an obscuring dome and silencing wards.

Rage

"Cloak yourself in the Force you do. A Sith technique this is."

Harry looked at the house elf that had been introduced as Yoda "Hello Pot. Kettle. Nice to meet you."

Yoda frowned "Joking matter this is not."

Harry shrugged "I am neither Jedi nor Sith."

"No, a Master of something else you are. Not of the Forces of Life."

Harry sighed "Hey it's a force of life. With no life, there is no death. So are we going to be able to work together, or is this going to get all pissy."

Yoda nodded "Work together we will. Like it I am not required to."

Harry shrugged "I grow on people."

"So does fungus." Yoda replied.

Harry laughed "You are a spiteful little elf aren't you?" The others watched as the light saber battle surged back and forth, up and down, and around, the royal hunting lodge on Alderaan.

Harry eventually walked back limping, but Yoda was asleep in a levitation charm. The four women glared at him. "What? Was I supposed to let him win? Near cut my legs off. Bounces like a rubber ball. It's like fighting an animated weed whacker burning nitromethane."

Bail frowned "Weed Whacker?"

Harry waved and a weed whacker skittered around trimming the edges of the lawn and then flew off into the woods where a gout of chips and shreds flew back toward them as a tree became a topiary rearing stallion.

Ahsoka sighed "Yoda is going to kill you when he hears you compared him to that thing."

Rage

"Seven hundred worlds you have." Yoda looked at Harry.

Harry shrugged "Lots out there. Technically some are moons though. Meanwhile it's all self-supporting, and mutually defending, so I don't really feel the need to dive off in the Empire for anything. I'm happy to snatch, or rather let your pairs use my hulls, on their normal intelligence gathering runs, and to snatch Force sensitives. However their main missions are gathering intelligence and freeing slaves. Oh and picking up whatever scrap they can find. Scrap saves us having to mine. Mining is a pain in the ass and so fucking dirty! We only do it where or when we need both the commodity we mine and all the byproducts.

The Empire has decided the Lucrehulk freighters are just freighters and garbage scows. Well after inspecting them hundreds of times. They don't even have control cores and barely any weapons, at least as far as the Empire troops can tell. I make money on both ends, hauling in food and hauling out scrap and compost. Couldn't do it without repulsor lifts. Clearing the gravity wells would be impossible otherwise.

Shaak and Aayla, along with Bail and Mon, did great work on the Mustafar thing, and we still run droid factories and shipyards there, and are sucking that thing dry of metals, and any Jedi or other 'undesirables' the empire brings.

I think we have a few years to close the noose on the Empire. He is chasing the non base form humans out now, and I don't think it will take long before the Chiss rebel. If he wins that he'll turn on the Hutts. We can sit out here and watch him self-destruct."

Yoda nodded "Yes the edge of the galaxy is hard to manage. Always true this is. This course might be best. Transport the other races your ships will?"

Harry nodded "Of course. We have worlds waiting for them."

Garm Bel Ilbis spoke up "These rune arrays are why your weapons are so much more powerful?"

Harry nodded chuckling "And we have water and fuel on the ships, and the ships are more efficient. Your technology is based in magic. It's like it was made for runes. The Lucrehulks aren't really that fast on their own. I do have to thank the Padawans and Knights I trained for activating the rune sets. Everyone has wards augmenting planetary defenses now.

I can't wait to try that rune enhanced Ion cannon."

Yoda paled. He was saved from that discussion when Ahsoka came in and handed Harry one of his sons. Two sons and three daughters so far. "Play with your guns later." She handed him a padd "The Chiss are moving."

Harry sighed "Early. We haven't gotten them really hooked to the eternal empire remnants yet. It could happen on its own though."

Aayla walked in with a baby on each hip followed by a nanny droid "We should send a fleet of recyclers in."

Shaak and Maris followed her with their own children and more nanny droids. Shaak offered "Hospital and evacuation ships too. We could pick up some already trained and disheartened by combat." Harry was already tapping away on the padd.

Mon, Breha Organa and Clynda bel Ilbis came over and picked up babies. Leia toddled along with her adoptive mother as did Luke her brother. Obi Wan Kenobi, Jedi master sighed "So much loss of life."

Harry waved "Not like it wasn't going to happen one way or the other. Believe me I've seen this hundreds of times."

Rage

Harry popped off the nearly black nipple he was sucking pink milk from and blinked "What?"

Death sitting cross legged on the bed laughed as the four women looked at her "Yuuzhan Vong Harry. Killed their galaxy. Want a new home."

Harry sighed "This Universe is going to take a million years."

Death shrugged "Think of all the kids you five will have by then."

Aayla blanched "Birth control I think."

Harry put his head back on Shaak's breast. Maris chuckled "Done talking now."

Ahsoka picked up a padd and turned on the latest intelligence update. "The worlds are expanding to their neighbors. We are two, three systems, deep along the rim of the galaxy."

Maris nodded "The exponential explosive growth Harry projected will start now. Well once these worlds reach their maximum capacity. They are following the plan though and taking all the worlds both up and down, those rogues above and below the plane as well."

Aayla looked at the projections "Still ten thousand years to complete dominance."

Shaak pushed Harry's head away "Stop Harry. To sensitive."

Maris squawked as she was dragged to Harry and Shaak sat up "What are we talking about?"

Aayla smiled "Galactic domination. Death found some race out in intergalactic space she says will be here in-" She turned to Death.

Death shrugged "Fifty years maybe."

Shaak nodded "So we are going to let them have those fifty years or we are going to kill them all now?"

Maris got Harry wrestled down and sat on him astride "Give them the years. You know Yoda will be in here all bitchy if we don't."

Harry scooted up against the head board and flipped Maris to reverse cowgirl "Chiss, Hutt, Hapes, Mandalor, Empire, you'd think the little elf had enough to worry about without bothering me over killing a few here and there."

Ahsoka snorted "A few? You're the Black Death of the galaxy."

Death perked up "Oh hadn't thought of that in years. We can tailor it to dark side users."

Ahsoka paled "Oh hell no! Then Yoda will be in here all "Evil you are becoming Padawan Tano." She imitated his voice and the others fell over laughing.

Harry eventually recovered and finished mauling Maris, or she finished with him "So we just keep letting them fight it out?"

Aayla shrugged "They seem to enjoy themselves. We're taking most of the slaves and those who can't help themselves. The ward stones are keeping the people on our worlds tied to us. They know how to talk to us if they need help."

Shaak nodded "Meanwhile our population of Force Mages grows all the time. They can call us if they need us and the Yuuzhan Vong might pass us by." Everyone looked at her, she rolled her eyes "It could happen."

Harry had one of Maris's horns in his mouth and was laving it with his tongue like it was a nipple. She moaned and squirmed.

Rage

Yoda looked at the virtual galaxy. This holotank had all the data so was the truest representation of the galaxy. The rim and a band of systems four systems deep was colored Red with gold hyperspace lanes. The area the rebellion held was yellow with black hyperspace lanes. Surrounded by grey space with white hyperspace lanes and the areas the Empire controlled was green with silver hyperspace lanes. The areas controlled by the Hapes, Mandalorian, Chiss and Hutts were bright orange with yellow hyperspace lanes and way off in the distance, outside the galaxy was a flashing red cluster of world ships, as they were being called. Yoda shook his head. The Vong. They did not feel the force. He could not reach them and Master Potter would kill them all.

Yoda sighed. He had had high hopes when Master Potter had children, he thought that would stop the killing. It had not. He turned his eyes to the arms of the galaxy where the Potter exploration and colonization had started. In the last two years, they had filled completely with the red and gold and the rogues out of the arms and above or below the plane of the galaxy had joined them.

The Potter hegemony was a pleasant place though. No problems that would require Jedi or even police. Mainly because lawbreakers fell over dead. They were simple laws though. No killing, don't rape, no slavery, don't steal, and your rights end where the other person's nose begins. Other than that, do what you feel, until you fall dead. There was no charity either though. You worked or starved. Every planet with twenty-five thousand beings of whatever species it could support at first, and up to a population of a billion sentient beings. Those beings could form governments as they wished, but the Potter Hegemony laws took precedence. If they didn't interfere with those laws they could do as they wished.

Those worlds colonized other worlds when they got to their population limits. Now a colony a day starting somewhere along with the continuing colonization by Potter himself. There was no Senate or Republic. Potter was a true Tyrant. A benevolent one, but still a tyrant.

Yoda wondered what would happen when Potter ran out of unoccupied or unclaimed bodies in the galaxy. At the exponential rate of expansion, he was seeing now, he would live to see it. For some reason his eye was drawn to the mega freighters plying the hyperspace lanes between the hegemony and the core worlds while he contemplated the future.