Chapter Six: The Voice of Doom

Star Wars + Harry Potter Crossover

A/N: I realize for whatever reason my review responses to Chap 4 never posted. I barely got the chapter posted before FFN started to get spammed again. My apologies. Chap 5 review responses should be in the forum.

Chapter Six: The Voice of Doom

[Note: Since my betas didn't get the reference, there's a good chance many of you won't either. Several of the characters in this chapter are derived from the novel Death Star by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry. This is the last section that bears any resemblance to Lord of Light Dark, but only because I reference the same source material in both.]

The fire whip around them flared as a massive wind struck and then blew it out entirely. Harry blinked in surprise at the demonstration of power—the first he'd seen since he arrived in the larger galaxy. Darth Vader dropped his hand and strode toward Harry and the Princess.

"And so the magician shows his power at last," the dark figure said. The word 'magician' dripped with contempt. "The Emperor considered killing you many times, but he was curious how you managed to replace two thousand clones with your pitiful slaves."

"I told them your mother was offering group rates, so they all went running," Harry snapped back.

Leia turned and stared at Harry, incredulous, while Darth Vader missed a step. "What did you say?"

"I called your mother a whore," Harry said. "Which makes you the son of a whore." Sotto voce, he said to Leia, "Prepare to run."

"You have spelled your own death, arrogant fool," Vader snarled. He grabbed a cylinder from his belt and from its end came a scintillating beam of red energy. Suddenly Vader launched himself into the air like a missile.

"Run!" Harry cried to Leia before trying to capture Vader in a levitation charm. Strangely, his magic had difficulty finding purchase around the dark lord, as if he were shielding somehow. Realizing he had not diverted the man's course sufficiently, Harry had no choice but to Apparate. He appeared next to Leia just outside the still open turbolift.

"Right, that didn't work," he muttered. Ahead of them, Vader somehow landed on his feet and spun about to attack again. Summoning all of his magic, Harry stomped a foot down, screamed, and unleashed the darkest, most destructive magic he knew. Flame in the shape of a dragon exploded from his hands and roared with all the fires of hell.

The effort exhausted him as dark magic always did. As the over bridge erupted in living magical fire, he stumbled backward into the turbolift and would have fallen had Leia not caught him. In a second the door closed and the lift began to drop. "Well, you're certainly brave," she said dryly. "Stupid, but brave."

"And you're short," Harry said. "The hair is growing on me, though."

Leia shook her head, and then suddenly chuckled. It was a tired, exasperated sound. "You are so strange. Was that…was that your family?"

"Yes."

"How did you make them appear?"

"I can summon the souls of the dead."

She shivered. "That sounds like a Sith power."

"It's not. I gained the power of death to defeat a dark lord when I was a teenager." The turbolift suddenly came a stop. "Holiday's over, looks like ... Help me up?"

With a put-upon sigh, she stood and then helped him to his feet once again. He had them cloaked in invisibility just as the doors opened and Stormtroopers rushed in. With a line of sight behind the troopers, Harry was able to Apparate them down the hall.

"Where are we?" he whispered.

Leia looked around even as she kept a firm grip around his waist. "No idea. It doesn't matter, just shut up and walk."

"You're bossy for such a short woman," Harry noted.

"I'm the Princess of Alderaan. Deal with it." He looked down and saw fresh, ragged pain cross her expression at the mention of her home before it morphed once more into the strong-willed young woman who withstood days of torture. For a moment, he regretted being able to see her under the cloak.

They walked, still cloaked in invisibility, as Stormtroopers rushed to and fro. "I can't believe we're doing this," Leia said.

"I can't either," Harry admitted. "We need to find a place to rest and recuperate."

"I saw a sign a few halls back that was advertising a cantina. We're not that far."

"Right."

The two made their way through the corridors, with Harry flagging more and more as they went. "What's wrong?"

"I haven't eaten in three days," Harry said. "Not since you arrived. And I've used a hell of a lot of magic. I'm exhausted magically and physically."

"Can you keep us invisible?"

"The invisibility is separate from my magic," Harry said. "We're almost there—I can smell food."

The cantina was dimly lit and quiet. With Harry's destruction on the over bridge, the entire station was likely on alert, which would explain why the cantina was empty. The two snuck in and took seats at the bar. A blue-skinned woman with tentacles instead of hair stepped behind the bar from a kitchen/store room and looked around. "Rodo, did you see anyone come in?"

From the kitchen behind her emerged a hulking, monstrous figure of a man, easily two feet taller than Harry and twice his width. "Nah," he said in a deceptively soft voice.

Touching on his weakening magic, Harry reached out and scanned the woman's mind briefly. What he saw in her mind gave him hope, and despite the obvious risks, he let the invisibility cloak drop to expose both he and Leia.

The huge man moved with frightening speed as he turned to face the threat and protect his employer. The blue skin woman just stared. "What the hell?"

"We need food," Harry told her honestly. "Both of us. She's been tortured for three days, and a couple of hours ago they made her watch her world die."

Leia had a deer-in-the-headlights look, surprised that Harry exposed them. The blue-skinned woman stared hard at Leia, and a second later her eyes widened. "You're the prisoner Dr. Divini told me about. You're the Senator from Alderaan!"

This time Harry turned to Leia and blinked. "Senator? You're like twelve. Who elects a senator who doesn't even have all her teeth in yet?"

Rodo snorted. Leia glared back. "I'll have you know that I am a senator, and have served for two years. And don't tell me I'm young, you barely look old enough to be in here!"

"Don't let my face fool you. You saw I had a son older than you are," Harry pointed out. "I mean, he was older."

Evidently the exchange was enough for the blue-skinned woman. "Rodo, why don't we close up shop for now? You two, stay put, I'll get you something to eat."

Harry said nothing as the huge, soft-voiced man went to close up the cantina. Beside him, Leia said softly, "I'm sorry about your family."

When he looked at her, he no longer saw the strong, determined senator. He saw a scared, heart-broken young woman. "I'm sorry for your family too," he said. "What are you going to do after we're out of this place?"

"I have friends who are fighting against the Empire," Leia said. "The Alliance to Restore the Republic formed when we realized that the Empire would never restore dignity or peace to the galaxy." As she went on to describe the rebel alliance, Harry saw a new strength fill her—the strength that came from pure conviction. It was this strength, he realized, that saw her through her torture.

Until Alderaan, of course.

The blue girl walked back to the bar carrying two large platters of steaming food. Harry's stomach cramped painfully at the smell of it. He took a few hesitant bites, not because he wasn't hungry, but because he was afraid of what his stomach would do after so long without food. "Why aren't you eating?' the bartender asked.

"It's been three days since I ate, I have to be careful what I put down," Harry said.

Comprehension dawned, and the woman left only to return moments later with a large, steaming cup of soup. It was heavy enough to be filling, but light enough not to make Harry sick. "Thank you!" he breathed as he started to sip the soup directly from the bowl.

"My name is Memah Roothes, and this is my friend Rodo. Can I ask how you escaped?"

Leia nodded to the slurping Harry. "He did it. I'm not sure how, but he has abilities not even the Jedi have. Vader called him a magician."

"Vader?" Roothes asked. "Words spreading all over the station—he was hurt somehow. Tarkin is dead, and Vader is on a shuttle headed for Imperial Centre due to his injuries.

Harry let the bowl fall and stared at her. "Vader's alive?" he asked, astounded. "How can that be? I pumped enough Fiendfyre into that bridge to eat half the station. It's magical, sentient fire. It can burn anything, even diamond!"

"Wait…, that was you?" Memah asked.

"Yeah. Least I got Tarkin."

A sudden wave of lethargy hit Harry as his body began to desperately absorb the nutrients in the soup. He fought it off with just a yawn. "So, any ideas how to get off this station?"

"Right now, the whole place is crazy," Memah said. "One of our regulars is a marine, and last I heard no one knew for sure who was even in command since most of the executive staff was in the over bridge. Supposedly the Emperor has dispatched a grand admiral to the station, but it'll be days before he arrives."

"Sounds like the best time to escape," Leia said.

Rodo shook his head. "The station has massive tractor beams. The one thing everyone has agreed to is that the station is on total lock-down. The only way you could escape is if you disabled the tractor beams."

"And how do we do that?" Leia asked.

"I don't know," Memah admitted. "I'm not allowed access to any sensitive areas of the station."

"Stihl is," Rodo said.

"Who?"

"Nova Stihl," Rodo said. "He's the marine Memah mentioned. Teaches Teras Kasi for new recruits and anyone else who wants to come. Good man, and he almost fainted when Alderaan blew. Says he could feel it. I think he'd help."

Harry admired how decisive Leia was. Having taken the measure of the two, Leia trusted them without hesitation. "If you think he could help, we would appreciate it."

Harry, having absorbed the soup without consequence, began nibbling on the heavier food Memah provided. Leia did the same, perhaps realizing how important keeping her energy up would be. They were just finished when Rodo walked quickly to the accordion folding metal wall that they used to close up the cantina. He opened it partially to allow a single armed marine through. The man did not wear Stormtrooper armour, but rather the black uniforms and large, oddly shaped helmets both had seen occasionally.

"It really is you," he said to the Princess.

"Yes," Leia said, slipping into yet another role—that of the Princess Royal of a lost planet. "We need to get off the station, but I understand the tractor beams have to be disabled first."

"Not to mention we need a ship," Harry added.

Stihl rubbed his chin. "I can get you to the tractor beams, I suppose. We'll have to disguise you somehow."

"We can turn invisible, that won't be a problem," Harry said.

Rather than argue, Nova merely shrugged. "That'll help. As for a ship—you know, it's the strangest thing, but we caught a freighter not an hour ago trying to enter Alderaan. All the escape pods were jettisoned, so it's up for grabs. And since no one's really in charge, it's just kind of sitting in Bay 327. It's an ugly ship, but with no tractor beams it might serve."

Leia stood, and was dwarfed before the marine. "Thank you, Sergeant. I have to ask…why are you helping us?"

"Just a feeling, like you're important," he said with a blush. "Plus, I don't ever want to feel anything like what I felt when they blew up Despayre and Alderaan. It felt like my head was going to explode."

"If we're going to go, sooner would be better," Harry said. To Memah, he said, "Thank you. Words aren't enough, but it's all I have. Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said.

Harry turned to Rodo, who nodded but said nothing, and finally to Stihl. "Leia, are you ready?"

She walked back to Harry's side, wrapped an arm around his waist, and the two disappeared. "Neat trick," Stihl said. "I'm going to walk quickly so I look like I'm on a mission. Try to keep up."

"We will," said Harry's disembodied voice.

The marine seemed to know exactly where he was going, and in the midst of all the scrambling, confused and even terrified Imperials, he strode with purpose and confidence. The hardest part of following was avoiding all the others running around the halls of the station.

Even with turbolifts, it took easily thirty minutes to reach the tractor beams. Though many other posts were abandoned, there were four Stormtroopers guarding the tractor beams—two on either door leading to the long tube that seemed to drop into the core of the station.

So that Sergeant Stihl would not be forced to fire on his own people, Harry let go of Leia, stunned the two nearest, and then Apparated to the far side of the room and did the same, before Apparating back to Leia.

"What the stars was that?" Stihl demanded, wide-eyed.

"Magic," Harry said shortly. "Any idea how to actually deactivate the tractor beams?"

"No idea," Stihl admitted. "I'm not a tech, I'm just a grunt. Wait, we're not alone!"

"Peace, friend," a voice said from nowhere. Harry blinked in surprise as an old man in dusty brown robes appeared from the shadows of one corner. It didn't seem to be disillusionment so much as a very strong notice-me-not charm.

"General Kenobi?" Leia positively beamed. "Is it really you?"

"Yes, child. You must be Leia." The old man stepped to the princess, took her shoulders and held her at a distance. "How you've grown! More like your mother every day."

"So her mum was short too?" Harry asked, curious.

"Quite," Kenobi said with a dry smile. "I am Obi-Wan Kenobi. Who might you be?"

"Harry Potter."

"I've not heard of you before today, I'm afraid," the old man said. "But on this day, your name has become quite a common utterance."

"I've heard of you," the marine, Stihl, said to Kenobi. "You're a Jedi."

"Was," Kenobi said. "I must confess, when we were captured, I rather strongly thought I was going to meet my end at the hands of a former pupil of mine. Imagine my surprise when he was injured by someone else and evacuated off the station." He looked squarely at Harry as he spoke.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Harry said. "I was fairly certain I'd killed him."

"Do not underestimate Darth Vader," Obi-Wan said. He turned to Stihl. "The Force is with you, young man. May I ask why you are helping the princess?"

"It was the right thing to do."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Then let me ask you another question. If I were to invite you to join us, would you?"

The marine scratched his chin again, and finally shook his head. "No, not now. I have friends on this station who also want to get out, and we're working on it. If we tried to go with you, someone would figure it out, and I don't think we'd all make it."

"Fair enough," Obi-Wan said. "May the Force be with you, my friend."

When Stihl was gone, Obi-Wan said, "Princess, we have the information you sent. We do need to leave now, while I have the tractor beams off."

"Hey, quick question, what would happen if that control tower there blew up?" Harry asked.

"The tractor beams for our sector of the station would be out of commission until they fixed it," Obi-Wan said.

"Good." Harry concentrated on the tower and began transfiguring the metal skin to pure TNT. He only knew the spell because he'd read of an Italian Unspeakable who developed it to help build an underground extension of the Italian Ministry.

"My goodness," Obi-Wan whispered. "You're changing the material itself. How are you doing that?"

"Magic," Harry said. "This is going to be loud." With the skin of the control tower now composed of pure, highly unstable explosive, Harry raised his hand and fired a blasting spell at it. The resulting explosion removed the entire structure and caused the floor under their feet to shake violently.

"Ouch," Harry muttered. "Remind me to cover my ears next time."

"That will attract attention," the Jedi said. "We need to be quick. I left the pilot and a young friend there with the ship. I hope they have not fallen into any trouble."

Given Kenobi's own power, Harry opted for a Notice-Me-Not charm on himself and the princess as well. The three moved hurriedly through the halls of the station, completely unnoticed by the thousands of marines and Stormtroopers who were looking for them. Finally, they reached the control room for the bay Kenobi landed in, only to find two droids and two stripped Stormtroopers. Harry noticed these men were not clones, and were significantly younger than those on Despayre.

"R2-D2, you're safe!" Leia said as she rushed to the squat, domed droid.

"Threepio, where are Luke and Captain Solo?" Kenobi said.

"Oh, I'm afraid that they are attempting to rescue the princess," the golden droid said in a prissy, effeminate voice that immediately reminded Harry of Percy Weasley. "They and the Wookiee are in the detention Centre pinned down by heavy fire. I'm afraid Captain Solo has been hurt."

Harry looked at Kenobi. "Do we really need these people?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Fine." Harry disappeared and reappeared a heartbeat later in the middle of a firefight. He shielded himself and squatted down behind one of the doors to the cells. Just ahead he saw a tow-headed boy Leia's age wearing Stormtrooper armour without a helmet. He was firing with decent accuracy. At his feet, flushed and firing with his left hand, was a brown-headed man in his early thirties. And behind him was a Wookiee, firing a crossbow that shot green bolts of energy.

At the end of the one-way hall Harry could see dozens of Stormtroopers and marines all firing in at the hopelessly outgunned men.

"Bloody hell," Harry muttered. Though his magic was still weak, he conjured a stream of water that shot down the hall and soaked all the enemy forces. He followed it up with a bolt of lightning that put every soldier in the command pit on his back.

"Who're you?" the tow-headed boy demanded as he swung his blaster around.

"I'm the one who's going to save your arse," Harry muttered. "Wookiee, gather your friend, please. Kenobi is waiting for us."

The Wookiee said, "I do not take orders from cubs."

"I'm older than I look," Harry snapped back. "If you don't pick him up, we'll leave him behind."

Surprised that Harry could understand him, the Wookiee did as instructed and picked up the red-faced, swearing man. "Alright, gather close," Harry said. "This is really going to suck."

As weak as he was, a four-person apparition made for a rough trip. When they landed, the Wookiee roared his disapproval, the injured man cursed up a storm, and the boy puked all over the floor.

"That's it for me," Harry said a second before his knees buckled and dumped him on the floor. "I'm tapped out again."

"I hope this doesn't become a habit," Leia said as she helped him back to his feet.

With the Wookiee still carrying his friend, the small party ran down the empty corridor to the bay that held the ship. "You came in that?" Leia asked. "My father said you were brave, General, but he never said you were suicidal."

"That's my ship, sweetheart," the man in the Wookiee's arms said.

"Exactly," Leia said.

The ship looked rather like a lop-sided Frisbee with horns and a cancerous protrusion on one side. Still, everyone seemed to think it could fly, so Harry ran with the rest to get on. "Yes, I can fly, Chewie," the captain said. "Just get me to the cockpit."

Harry followed them through a narrow corridor into the protrusion. "Sure hope you got those tractor beams off, or this is going to be a short trip," the captain said.

Kenobi looked over to Harry, who shrugged before slumping into one of the two spare seats. The ship hummed to life and then soared out of the bay door into open space. "Hey, no tractor beam!" the captain said happily. "And…uh-oh."

"Uh-oh what?" Harry said.

"Yeah, there's like four hundred TIE fighters bearing down on us," Han said. "Chewie, punch it. We can't fight those odds. I'll start working on a hyperspace jump."

Kenobi leaned over to Harry. "Is there anything you can do, my friend?"

The ship around them bucked heavily under a blow of enemy fire. "I'm not sure I have anything left," Harry admitted.

"Perhaps I can help you," the Jedi said.

"Yeah, sure, why not?"

"Come, we need space.'

Harry tiredly followed the old Jedi out of the cockpit. They found Luke and the Princess speaking in the main crew area. "What's happening?" Leia asked.

"We're going to try something," Harry said.

At Kenobi's direction, Harry pulled a chair away from a round chess board and sat. "Luke, you should observe this," Kenobi said. Then, a moment of consideration later, he added, "And perhaps you as well, Princess."

"You're not going to hypnotize me and make me dance naked on the table, are you?" Harry asked.

"I'd not planned on it," Obi-Wan said, again with that dry smile. He reminded Harry of a slightly more subdued Dumbledore. "Instead, I am going to give you energy from the Force."

Harry let the old man touch his head, and almost instantly he felt…something. It wasn't magic, per se, but it was powerful. Energy filled his limbs until he felt as if he were tingling. And then, as if percolating through heavy filters, he felt the energy seep into his nearly depleted magical core.

"Wow," he whispered. Now that he knew what to expect, he pulled at the energy desperately, and it came like water flowing down a mountain, filling him up just as fast as he could pull it, until his magical core was nearly filled to capacity. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see that Obi-Wan had backed off and simply watched with a knowing smile.

"Okay, listen. The charm I can use needs a secret keeper outside the ship itself. We can switch the secret-keeper after easily. So stay put a moment, okay?"

Harry cast a body-wide Bubblehead and warming charms on himself and then Apparated outside the ship in the midst of a raging battle. Even so, with fighters darting all around firing at the rapidly retreating ship, he managed to cast the Fidelius charm using himself as the secret-keeper. It took almost five minutes, and by the end of it his other charms had left him gasping and freezing. Even so, he Apparated the thousands of miles the ship had travelled in that five minutes and reappeared in the same spot he left shivering with bone-deep cold.

A speaker beeped, followed a moment later by Captain Solo's voice. "What the hell did you do? All the TIEs just turned around and disappeared."

Harry grinned at Kenobi despite his shivering. "It's an old spell to hide things. This ship can only be seen by those who know it exists. To everyone else, it's not only invisible, it doesn't exist at all."

"Excellent work, young Harry. Welcome to the larger world of the Force, for though I may have opened your mind to it, it was your own power which utilized it."

"General Kenobi?" the princess said. Her voice was as uncertain as anything Harry had ever heard. "Why do I feel like I could fly?"

"Drugs?" Harry hazarded a guess.

Luke snickered, but Ben shook his head. "Because, my dear child, I have opened your mind to the Force as well."

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Author's Note: Once again I just wish to stress just how much I appreciate Teufel1987, JR and Miles for beta reading yet another of my stories. As always, they make everything better.