Chapter Six: The Jedi Queen

Star Wars + Harry Potter Crossover

A/N: Chap 5 review responses are in my forums as normal. Thanks for reading.

Chapter Six: The Jedi Queen

To see tractor beam technology in action, put Kyle Katarn in a room full of women.

"Let me see the blade, Harry," Kol demanded.

Harry grinned at his friend, mindful of the still-healing splits in his lips from his trial, and lit the saber.

Kol, Danda and Graagi all made suitable "Whoa!" sounds at the deep violet, almost black color of the blade. "What kind of crystal did you use?" Danda asked.

"Stygium," Harry said. "There was a small clump of Stygium crystals that Kyle found years ago, before he ever met me, and he kept them here with the other crystals that Jedi have found over the years. I just…well, I was drawn to them, you might say. The Force guided me. I built my saber that very day, right in the chamber. Check this out, though!"

Harry deactivated his blade and closed his eyes. A moment later, he was not there anymore.

"Force!" Dande cried. "Where'd he go?"

"Right here," Harry said behind her. She spun around, as did the rest of his friends. "Stygium is used in cloaking technology, and it turns out if you're properly matched to the crystal, it can help your Force-concealing abilities! It's awesome! I even snuck away from Kyle using it!"

It was his second day back from the Great Library ruins, and his first day out of the infirmary. His quick recovery alone was cause for discussion among his peers and their masters, since he evidently recovered a lot faster than most. Of course, Kyle merely said, "That's because you came through it better than most."

"So, when will they clear you to spar with it?" Kol asked.

"I was cleared this morning," Harry said.

Danda stared wide-eyed, while Kol rolled his eyes. "Then let's go test it out. So, did you have any visions?"

They walked toward the salle as they spoke. "I think I saw Grandmaster Luke Skywalker," Harry admitted.

"Yeah, me too," Kol said. Rather than proud, he sounded awed. "Nice to know he's still looking out for me, you know? What did he tell you?"

"I…I was having some strange visions from my homeworld, I think. He told me how Kyle changed my fate, and how I changed his as well. What did you see?"

Kol kicked a rock form he hallway. "I saw forests burning here on Ossus," he said. "Weird, huh? Come on, let's try out that new blade of yours!"

Neither boy pushed too hard in the salle—though Harry felt light and intensely happy to have passed his first Jedi trial, he also felt so physically exhausted he did not even try any acrobatics. Rather, the two boys just went through some basic forms together, dueling lightly to allow Harry to test the weight and momentum of his blade. While lightsaber blades did not have weight per se, the hilts were built with a gyroscopic function to aid in the wielder's attacks.

During one of their duels, Harry said, "Want to see something neat?"

"Sure," Kol said.

Harry thumbed the activation switch one setting higher, and suddenly his blade elongated by four inches.

"Whoa, a dual-phase blade? Can I see?"

Harry deactivated the blade as did Kol before handing the hilt over.

Kol reactivated it and switched between the two settings. "I wanted to do dual-phase, but Master Geffen said I didn't need it." He finally deactivated it and handed it back. "That's a great blade, Harry. It'll do you good."

"Thanks, Kol."

Both boys looked up when Kyle stepped into the salle. "Anakol," the old Jedi said, "your master is in your rooms. Go to him—we're leaving on a mission."

"Really?" Kol bounced up in excitement. He managed a perfunctory bow before running from the room.

"We?" Harry asked.

"Ben asked for help," Kyle said in a serious tone. "Now that you've finished your first trial, you're ready to leave the Academy on missions. We're going to take the Crow to save resources. Now that you've had a few years of studying Galactic tech, you should be able to make some progress studying the ship."

"Yes, Kyle!"

~~Katarn~~

~~Katarn~~

The cabin on the Preening Crow seemed smaller to Harry, somehow. He knew intellectually that it was he who was larger, rather than the space being smaller, but nonetheless emotionally it seemed the ship was smaller.

Once they settled in after leaving Ossus, Kyle taught the ship's systems not just to Harry, but to Anakol as well. Somehow, it did not surprise Harry at all that his friend picked everything up about the ship far faster than he did. Despite his love of swoop racing, Harry only occasionally beat Kol, though at least in their dueling they had become more evenly matched over time. But when it came to piloting, Kol was simply better, and Harry accepted this as just one aspect of his friend's personality.

Kyle told him that the boy came by the skill and instinct naturally. After all, his grandfather survived a dogfight and destroyed a huge, planet-killing battle-station the very first time he sat in a Starfighter, with only a few hours of simulation training.

Still, given his three years of complete emersion in the teachings and technology of the greater galaxy, Harry did find it much easier to follow Kyle's lectures on the ship, and to read the diagrams detailing the ship's structures and engines. He discovered he already knew many of the systems in the cockpit just based on the flight simulator work that all Jedi padawans went through to gain proficiency in the Jedi's preferred fighters—the XJ7 X-Wing starfighter, which was also the primary starfighter of the Alliance. It was an older fighter, but was still considered the work horse of the Alliance. In fact, Harry remembered many hours playing in Kyle's portable simulator back on Earth, never realizing that what he thought was a video game was actually training him to fly.

Eventually, given the fact this was a training mission as much as anything, Kyle occasionally took the Crow out of hyperspace and let both Harry and Kol take turns piloting her, placing her through various maneuvers until both young padawans had a good feel for the craft.

They spent the evenings in transit playing holochess, or watching vids when they weren't training and meditating. Master Geffen meditated a lot, it seemed. When he wasn't meditating, he was telling jokes. Though he did not fight in the Vong war, the other Jedi Master was a padawan during the Galactic Civil war begun by Jacen Solo, and also fought in actions to remove the Despot Daala from her position as Chief of State of the old Alliance. He enjoyed telling stories of the older Jedi, though he always became somber whenever he talked about Jacen Solo, or a former Grandmaster named Kenth whom he admired, despite always shaking his head every time he mentioned the man.

Harry, of course, knew from his reading that Kenth Hamner died at the hands of his own friend, Master Saba Sabatyne, when he defended Daala during that terrible conflict during Luke Skywalker's exile.

During the other man's stories, Kyle, who was a Jedi master and in the middle of everything Geffen described, said nothing. Instead, he sat hunched in his seat stroking his scraggly, iron-grey beard and studying Harry intently.

They arrived at the edge of Imperial Space during their fourth day in transit. Because of the political nature of their trip, Kyle chose to follow the letter of the law and took the Crow to the nearest custom station.

The station just happened to have a star destroyer in dock as well. "Is that one of the Imperial IIIs?" Harry asked in shock.

Anakol rolled his eyes. "Imperial III? That thing is 1200 meters max. Nah, that's a Turbulent-class. Old Admiral Pelleon liked the smaller design, so half the Imperial fleet is made up of those things. Wait, are you…are we heading toward it?"

Indeed, the Crow veered off its approach to the customs station and was now flying toward one of the two large hangars at the stern of the destroyer. Both boys ran from the lounge to the cockpit where Kyle flew and Master Geffen served as co-pilot.

Without looking up at their arrival, Kyle said, "Boys, put on your robes and lightsabers. We're going to have company."

Being inside a small ship, the boys had fallen into the habit of going without their sabers. They both ran to their cabins and drew on their formal padawan robes and hung their sabers to their belts. As they did so, through the tiny port windows in his cabin Harry could see the stars cut off by the brilliant lights of the hangar's interior.

They flew right past a rack of Imperial TIE/D2 Defenders, the latest generation of TIE fighter based off the three-paneled TIE/D that was its name sake. The new fighters had two quadanium steel solar arrays, but the arrays were built in the old Tie/D formation. The fighters were larger with heavier weapons, shields and hyperdrives.

Kol came into his cabin after a brief knock and joined him at studying the intimidating fighters through their port windows. "What I wouldn't give to take one of those out," Kol said with a grin.

"Yeah."

Both looked up at a feeling of tugging in their minds and knew their masters were waiting. They emerged back into the main lounge just the ship landed. Geffen was first out of the sunken cockpit, followed a moment later by Kyle. "Best behavior, boys," Geffen said unnecessarily.

Kyle didn't need to say it—Harry knew he expected it.

Kyle slapped the wall switch and the front ramp began to lower, flooding the interior of the ship with the brilliance of the hangar floodlights. As senior Jedi, Kyle led the way down the ramp with Geffen a step behind to his right, followed by the boys.

Harry swallowed quietly at the sight of a full phalanx of storm troopers in gleaming white armor standing at attention facing them. At their forefront was a tall, thin woman with auburn hair frosted with white, immaculate in her gray uniform with captain's insignia and cap. She bowed sharply at the two Jedi.

"Master Kyle Katarn, Master Bandy Geffen, I am Captain Margot Debloef of His Majesty's Ship Defender. I have been given the honor of escorting you to Bastion."

"Captain," Kyle said with a nod. "We appreciate the offer. I take it then the invitation is for us to remain aboard?"

"That was the Regent's desire, Master Jedi," the captain said without the hint of a smile.

"Give the girl a crown and she suddenly gets bossy," Kyle muttered.

"She is our Empress Regent, Master Jedi," the captain said, a little miffed.

"And I've changed her diaper," Kyle pointed out. "Well, I'm not one to needlessly throw away fuel or food. We'll be glad to accept your offer, Captain."

"Excellent." Harry watched as her shoulders slightly relaxed, and he realized she'd been afraid Kyle might fight or resist. "If you follow me, I'll escort you to the state rooms. Do you wish your padawans housed in separate rooms?"

"No, thank you," Kyle said casually enough. "Traditionally padawans stay with their masters when possible."

"Very well. Would you also do me the honor of joining me for dinner tonight?"

"We'd be delighted," Kyle said with a surprisingly suave smile that seemed to bother the captain as much as the thought of him resisting.

~~Katarn~~

~~Katarn~~

One hour into the formal dinner with the captain, Harry realized with a sense of shock that the woman had a crush on Kyle.

Margot Debloef was one of a new breed of Imperial Officer, rising up through the ranks of a reorganized military under the auspices of a female Jedi warrior as their Empress, and a more enlightened Moff council that brushed away the last misogynistic tendencies of the old Empire. She was well educated, a veteran of the last Civil War and insanely loyal to the Empress Regent, Allana Fel. She was forty-eight years old, never married, a career officer, and she liked sabbacc and Chandrilan brandy, sipping it from a crystal goblet after the dessert was cleared by the ship's protocol droid.

And as the evening progressed, she let her coiled hair down and flirted openly with the old Jedi Master while Geffen politely nibbled at an appertif, and Harry and Kol struggled not to giggle at the sight of an Imperial officer flirting!

Harry, though, was just as astounded at how smoothly Kyle responded to it, feeding the woman's flirtation with anecdotes. Finally the captain said, "Master Katarn, would you like a tour of ship?"

She was speaking only to him, and more surprisingly Kyle said, "That sounds delightful, Captain."

Kyle winked at Geffen as he escorted the captain out of the dining room, while a straight-faced young lieutenant escorted Harry, Kol and Master Geffen back to their stateroom. Once the door closed, Kol started giggling, until Master Geffen cleared his throat and said, "Be mindful of your environment."

They were listening, in other words.

~~Katarn~~

~~Katarn~~

Harry slept alone in the room he and Kyle were assigned to that night, but when he woke the next morning it was to the sound of real water running in the fresher while Kyle trimmed his beard and shaved the edges into a straight, immaculate line.

"Did you sleep, Kyle?" Harry asked.

"Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies," the old man said with what for him was open cheerfulness. "We'll be arriving at Bastion within the hour. Let's get moving."

They took breakfast in the stateroom by themselves, and when they were escorted to the Crow, the captain did not see them off. Rather, a stone-faced executive officer gave them a sharp salute as they walked up the ramp of their ship. Once on board, Master Geffen quietly started looking for listening devices.

Harry and Kol joined at his silent signal, and before they even reached the atmosphere of Bastion, they'd cleaned out five such devices, as well as two tracker beacons.

"Business as normal," Kyle said when the ship was clear. "Listen up, all of you. I found out quite a bit from little miss chatter box. There have been several assassination attempts against the Regent, and the last one may have involved Sith. That's why Ben asked for help. The cadre Allana has put together to be knights is not sufficiently trained to interdict Sith."

"Will we never be free of the Dark Side?" Master Geffen said tiredly.

"Maybe, when we lose the Force entirely, but not before then," Kyle said. He brought the ship down with a sure hand into the capital world of the Empire. Harry looked out over the planet in interest. It had huge clumps of development—buildings scraping the sky itself, with sky-hooks in the distance for easy commutes from the surface to the defense platforms in orbit. However, between the cities were massive open tracts of land that were all cultivated in grids.

"Self-sufficiency," Kyle said with a note of respect. "In the event of a blockade, Bastion can mostly feed itself. Unlike Coruscant."

They flew toward one of the larger clumps of development, with golden towers shining under the light of Bastion's sun. As they flew closer, Harry could make out the details of the largest tower, the golden one that rose from the center of the buildings. It was much broader than the others, with various landing platforms sprouting from its sides like fungal growth, and several hangars large enough to hold a small frigate. This, then, had to be the Imperial Palace.

Kyle flew closer, until the whole ship shuttered abruptly. "Okay, they have us. Shut down the main drives. Let's not give anyone a reason to be nervous."

The tractor beam brought the Preening Crow into one of the smaller platforms toward the top of the structure. As they grew closer, they saw a small party of people waiting for them. Kol grinned and said, "Mom! Dad!"

He couldn't possibly see them, but Harry guessed his friend was able to sense them in the Force. When the ship finally landed and they disembarked, Harry saw that among those waiting were Anakol's parents. Ben Skywalker was dressed in his traditional Jedi robes. His wife, however, was dressed in a strange set of red chest armor and vambraces. The rest of the uniform consisted of black armor weave that was likely just as strong as the plates, but much more flexible.

Harry looked for Ansaki, but didn't find her.

Kyle looked at the armor and snorted. "So instead of Imperial Guards, you're Imperial Knights, now? I'm surprised you don't use Force pikes."

"Spoken like a storm trooper who was rejected for the Imperial Guard cadre," Vestara Khai sneered back.

"Please," Kyle laughed. "I was already working for the Alliance before that even entered my mind." The laughter faded as he looked at the last two members of the greeting party. The woman was simply breathtaking, with long, gently curling golden-red hair and an oval face with warm gray eyes. She stood straight and strong, with a certain ageless quality about her face. In front of her stood a boy of nine or ten years old. Like his mother, he was clothed in purple lined in gold. He had rich black hair and deep, dark blue eyes. Though he was only a few years younger than Harry and Anakol, he stood with calm patience in front of his beautiful mother. This boy was Emperor of one quarter of the galaxy.

"Allana," Kyle said somberly. "You're looking as beautiful as always. How is your mother?"

"Alive, for the moment," the Empress Regent of the Empire, and the next Chume'da of the Hapes Consortium said. She spoke with a warm, inviting contralto voice that thrummed with confidence, control, and subtle yet definite power. "And you, Kyle? I admit I'm surprise to see you still going. You're past your first century, aren't you?"

"Plus a few," Kyle said. He then bowed to the young boy. "Emperor, an honor. We have not met before."

"We have heard of you, though, Master Katarn," the boy said with a regel nod. Unlike his mother's voice, his was the high pitched voice of youth. However, he had the same timbre of control his mum did. "We are grateful you came. This Sith resurgence has proven most vexing."

"I bet it is," Kyle said. Then he winked. "You said that well, Anakin. You're diction coaches are doing excellent work with you."

Harry was surprised to see the boy, Emperor Anakin Solo Fel I, grin suddenly and look up at his mother, who patted his shoulder in approval.

"Empress Regent," Kyle said formally, "may I introduce my padawan, Harry Potter, of Earth."

Harry gave a text-pad perfect bow; the Empress Regent returned a nod. "Vestara told me you had taken another padawan, Kyle. I just wasn't sure I believed it. And this, of course, is our dear cousin Anakol. Anakol and Anakin, that won't be confusing at all, will it?"

"He goes most often by Kol," Ben said helpfully.

"Good," Allana said. "Anakin prefets to go by Nik. That will clear things up immensely. Perhaps, Nik, you would be willing to show your cousin and Padawan Potter around the palace?"

"Of course, mother," Anakin said primly. "By your leave, Master Jedi?" Without waiting for an answer, he left the pad, expecting Harry and Anakin to follow. At their master's urging, they did just that, which allowed the adults to talk in peace.

"So, Nik, how've you been?" Anakol said casually.

"I'm sooooo bored!" the Emperor whined. Suddenly, he no longer sounded like the next leader of the Empire, but like a nine-year-old boy. "They don't let me do anything! Mother even took away my swoop bike!"

"Wow," Harry and Anakol both said. "That's harsh," Kol added.

"It's because that stupid Sith that got into the palace," Anakin said as he led them into the personal residence of the Imperial family. The entry-way of the family's official residence was as large as the entire Jedi academy, and was lined with dozens of beautiful men and women in matching black and silver uniforms.

"They reassigned all the personnel out of our wing, too," Nik was saying as he led them in. "These Human Replica Droids just aren't the same. I mean, they have personalities and are nice, but they just aren't like having friends my own age."

Harry blinked and stared at the line of beautiful people—too beautiful, he quickly saw. The faces were so completely symmetrical he saw that they were just too perfect to be human. Reaching out in the Force, he felt nothing at all, despite the fact that they were looking back at him with obvious curiosity.

Kol and his cousin were still talking a few meters ahead; Harry rushed to catch up. "So, are you studying Jedi arts?" Kol was asking.

The young Emperor nodded. "Yeah, along with everything else. Your mother has been teaching me sabers—she's kind of scary, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Anakol said with a laugh.

"But now that you're here, maybe they'll let me out more," Anakin continued.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

Anakin studied Harry intently with a wisdom beyond his years. "Jedi Masters to guard the Empress Regent, Jedi padawans to guard the young Emperor, and Imperial Knights to guard us all. Surely they have to give me a little freedom now, as long as I have you two to tag along."

Harry felt certain the Fel heir was correct; just as he felt certain he would regret that fact.