Shadow of the Force - TheSilverboar - Harry Potter (2024)

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 1

-Harry-

Sighing he stared back at the warmly lit windows of the Potter family ancestral home, the sounds of merriment and cheer echoing across the grounds as he walked through the night. Just today he had turned eighteen but that wasn't the cause of celebration, his birthdays never were with his family. No, the cause of celebration was his younger brother getting his first Hogwarts Letter, the oh so famous 'Boy-Who-Lived' had insisted on a celebration being thrown and their parents had been running around frantically all day to make it happen.

He was used to it though, used to being ignored, passed by as if he was nothing. He had dealt with it from his 'family', from his teachers, his classmates, and every other person he had ever met with a few exceptions. The night Voldemort had attacked, Halloween of Nineteen Eighty one, he had been eight years old and looking after his little brother, who was still one, while their parents went to an Order of the Phoenix meeting. None of them had expected Voldemort to attack that night, had expected Wormtail to betray them, but that was exactly what had happened as the Dark Lord blasted open their front door, striding purposefully through the house. Voldemort had tried to order him to stand aside, had even offered him a place within the Dark Lord's ranks if he gave up his brother, but he had refused. Voldemort had told him how his brother, the child born in September, the month of seven, was the one chosen by prophecy to be the only one with the power to defeat the 'immortal Lord Voldemort' and he had decided that if he was to die it wouldn't be as a coward as he mocked the pale snake like figure, calling the man out on being scared of a child.

Voldemort hadn't appreciated it and had fired a killing curse point blank at his forehead as he screamed in pain, the very walls of the house shaking as he saw the rotating orb of emerald light grinding against his skull, trying to pry out his soul as his magic fought against the foul power along with another force he couldn't recognize. In the end, with a scream that shattered every window in the house, he fired the killing curse back at Voldemort in the form of emerald fire as it burned the Dark Lord's stunned body to ashes while a shadowy wraith flew out and he slipped into the realm of unconsciousness.

When he had awoken he learned that his brother, who's had a scar going over his left eye, had been credited with the destruction of Voldemort as the baby's magical core read higher than normal for an infant and his own showed lower than average scores, something he assumed was due to spending so much magic rebounding the curse. When he had been released from St. Mungos he had expected his parents to be happy that he was awake and out of the three day coma he had been in but they had brushed his recovery aside so they could spoil his brother Marcus. They believed Albus Dumbledore when the man said Marcus was the savior of England and refused to listen to anything else so he kept his silence, knowing that telling them the truth would only bring their anger down upon him.

Instead he had tried to simply gain their favor, their love, in any way he could. He did his best to be a good child before Hogwarts, to always do his chores and help out where he could but the most he ever got was a grunt of appreciation. When he got to Hogwarts he had tried to impress them, and his teachers, by performing amazing feats of magic in his courses but they were brushed off. He fully accepted that no matter what he did he would never be truly loved by his parents in his third year when he managed to cast a fully corporeal Patronus and it was pushed to the side for his brother using accidental magic to turn his father's robes pink.

After that he had continued to strive forward and excel but if was for himself, not his family, as he delved into as many magics as he could, learned the rarest and most esoteric arts he could get his hands on, and even worked on developing new magics.

In his fourth year he was exploring the seventh floor of the castle, trying to blow off some steam after being blown off for a date with a Hufflepuff girl he had a crush on, Nymphadora Tonks, when he ended up discovering a magical room that suited to his needs which he later learned was called the Room of Requirements. Inside the room he found many books of magical arts and knowledge as well as things such as gold, jewels, and weapons.

He had gathered up everything that he could, several multi compartment trunks within the room helping a great deal, as he stored up the items and shrunk the trunks down for storage. When he went home for winter break he left to go to Diagon Alley at his first change and sold the jewels, jewelry, and weapons to the goblins in exchange for galleons which he placed in his own private account only he could access as well as for them to get him a House Elf as well as a License to own one.

The goblins had come through with shining colors as within three days he had an incredibly loyal House Elf named Dobby who helped him train with his magic wherever possible, the little guy fanatically loyal to the him as he treated the elf as an actual living being instead of vermin like the elf's previous owners, the Malfoys, had.

During his sixth year he had performed a ritual he had found in one of the tomes he had gotten from the room of requirement, one that would turn him into an elemental mage, an art that had been lost for centuries which made the journal he found the ritual in priceless. The ritual had entailed creating a runic array and filling a golden bowl in the center with whatever element he planned on having as his 'elemental affinity' but instead of casting a lightning spell into the bowl like he had intended his digital watch had slipped off and was accepted by the ritual as he became a technomancer.

The ritual had given him a brain that could process things faster and more accurately as well as allow him to understand any technology he touched as he learned how to build it, he even gained an eidetic memory and the ability to actively manipulate any technology he saw but he was still training with it as it was a new magical art. During his last year at Hogwarts he had passed every one of his NEWTs with flying colors, getting a perfect score in every one he took and graduating top of his class but his parents had brushed it all aside but as he said, he was used to it.

Walking into a barn that he had converted into a workshop the previous summer he set down his army duffle bag with a sigh and stared at his reflection in the mirror, taking in the person he had turned into. His hair went down to his shoulders in a flowing main, part of it hanging down from his temple in a Scottish braid as his emerald eyes stared out of the mirror, uninhibited by glasses as he had gotten muggle laser eye surgery the pervious summer…his parents had never even noticed. His clothes were simple ripped black jeans over the top of black combat boots and on his chest he wore a black t-shirt with emerald green runic arrays of his own design put onto the fabric with a simple black jacket over the top. On his hand he wore black fingerless gloves with metal studs on the knuckles and metal plates on the back of each hand. And, to top it all off, he wore a knife at his hip and had a pistol in a holster that was sown into his jacket.

Shaking his head he grabbed his army duffle and tied it onto the back of his motorcycle before revving the engine and driving off the property, planning on getting the gold from his private vault, which he had been adding to from his trust vault for years, and then leaving Wizarding England forever.

-Lily Potter-

Frowning the matriarch of the Potter family walked through the upper floors of the family manor as she looked for her eldest son Harry as one of the guests, Sirius, had asked where he was. She had been looking for over half an hour as she tried to find her son and when she did she was going to give the boy a piece of her mind about leaving his brother's celebration like he had. Getting to the end of the hall she opened the door to Harry's room and looked in, almost pulling back out before she noticed a letter with something golden atop it on Harry's desk.

Walking over to the desk she saw that it was a letter addressed to 'Lily Potter' in what she thought was her son's handwriting and atop it was the Heir ring of the Potter family which was still with Harry as only a person who was at least eleven years old could be named the heir if there was another holder candidate alive. Frowning she moved the ring to the side and unfolded the letter, her eyes widening with every word as she read:

Lily Potter,

By the time you are likely to read this letter I will no longer be in Wizard Britain, I won't be in Britain or even this world at all for that matter. I have grown tired and weary of being ignored and pushed to the side for Marcus, for always being passed up no matter what I tried to do. I gave up trying to gain your love or attention years ago and now I can leave you to focus on Marcus, not that you had any problem with that before. While you may have been a poor mother to me you were at least loving to Marcus and I pray that should you have another child you will raise them like you did Marcus instead of like you did me. I have taken the gold that was from my own private vault which I created and filled on my own work over the years along with a couple of heirlooms that are my birthright but have left the Heir's ring and banished myself from House Potter, taking the name Peverell, so that Marcus can take the Lordship. Wouldn't want to give the Boy-Who-Lived or the Lord Potter a Headache when Marcus tried to act as the Heir Potter and magic refute it after all. By the time you reach this portion of the letter I will have gone through the Veil in the Department of Mysteries as I believe it to be a portal to another plane of existence rather than simply a means of execution. If I'm right then I have a chance to actually live a life where I can find happiness and not be forced to live my life always being pushed to the side as second best and if I'm wrong…then at least I won't be ignored anymore.

Goodbye,

Hadrian Peverell

As soon as she read the letter Lily Potter ran downstairs to get James so they could go to the ministry to stop Harry from going through the veil but, like the letter had said, they were too late. Hadrian Peverell no longer existed in their world.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 4

-Luke-

"Thanks Aunt Beru, everything looks great." He said with a smile as he walked up and joined his family at the table, spooning some of his aunt's delicious food onto a plate.

"So Luke," his Uncle asked, talking around a bite of food "how are those droids looking?".

"They've got a lot of mileage on em but I think they'll work out alright." He answered before frowning "But Uncle Owen…I think that those droids might be stolen.".

"What makes you say that?" his Uncle asked with a frown while drinking some water.

"You mean besides the fact that we bought them from the Jawas?" he asked with a raised eyebrow as his Uncle choked on the water and his aunt giggled at the statement.

"Must you channel Harry when I'm drinking?" his Uncle asked him with a frown but he could tell that the man was amused. Harry had come back to visit them a couple times over the past few years and every time he did Harry would fix up everything they had to better than new condition.

"Yes…yes I must." He said with a happy nod "Anyway, I was saying I thought they were stolen because I found an old recording in that R2 unit, it was addressed to someone named Obi-Wan Kenobi…I wonder if he's related to Old Ben.". After a few moments of silence he looked up to see the shocked and, dare he say it, fearful expressions on his Aunt and Uncle's faces. "You…you know who they're talking about…don't you?" he asked them in surprise.

"I met Obi-Wan before yes," his Uncle said hesitantly "but he's dead…been dead for a long time. He died around the same time as your father and was an old friend of his.".

"He knew my father?!" he asked in shock as his Uncle nodded with a frown but quickly changed the subject and refused to return to it, no matter how much he pleaded. "Speaking of the droids though," he said after a few minutes of awkward silence "I think with them you might finally be able to have enough help around here that I can go out on my own.".

"We've been over this before Luke," his Uncle sighed in exasperation "with these new droids I can try to make enough off of this year's crop and hire enough hands so that you can try and enroll in the academy next year.".

"But-" he tried protesting before his Uncle cut him off.

"No Luke, I can't lose you just yet. We need you here.".

Scowling he slammed his napkin onto the table and stormed off downstairs, angry not only that his Uncle wouldn't let him go but that the man wouldn't even let him finish speaking. He had wanted to go to the Pilot Academy in the past but the last time Harry had come the man had offered him a chance to join his crew and he wanted to accept.

The next day he found himself just as frustrated as he was angry the night before, the little R2 unit having wandered off into the dessert to try and find this apparently dead Obi-Wan and now he had to go find the little pain in the neck before his Uncle found out and blew a gasket. "Anything on the scanner?" he asked C3PO as they sped along the dessert.

"Nothing yet sir," the brown nosing droid said "wait…there's something up ahead.".

"Yeah, I see him." He said with a scowl as he pulled the speeder out in front of the little R2 unit as he put a hand out to stop the small droid. "You know," he grunted as he hefted the droid up to place it into the speeder "you might just be more trouble than you're worth.".

C3PO's loud cry of "Sir!" caught his attention as he spun around just in time to be struck across the face with the butt of one of the sand people's riffles, knocking him to the ground in a daze as the creature roared victoriously above him before freezing. Shakily turning in the direction the now scared sand person was looking he saw a figure in a robe swaying over as the sand people began to flee.

"Hello there," the hooded figure said happily once close enough, dropping the hood to reveal Old Ben Kenobi "what are you doing so far out into the dessert?".

"This little droid," he said, recognizing the old man who had helped his Aunt look after him a couple times when he was younger "ran off last night. I think he's searching for his former master.".

"Isn't that interesting," Ben said in surprise "it's not often one sees that level of dedication in a droid. What was this former master's name might I ask?".

"Well I think it might have been a relative of yours actually," he said as he got up with a grimace "a guy named Obi-Wan Kenobi but my Uncle said he died years ago.".

"Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Ben asked in surprise as the old man sat down on the side of the speeder "Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.".

"You knew him?" he asked eagerly, his curiosity picked by the mystery.

"No, Iknowhim. Or I should hope so, he's me after all." Ben said with a smile before leaning closer to inspect the droids "But I don't remember ever owning…wait…R2-D2? C3PO? Is that you?".

"Why yes it is sir but I can't say that I recognize you." C3PO said with a tone of confusion.

"No I doubt you would," Be- Obi-Wan said with a chuckle before pushing up "but come, we can continue this discussion at my home. The Sand People may be easily frightened but they'll soon return, and in greater numbers.".

"Moving sounds like a good idea." he agreed before getting into the driver's seat of the speeder while Obi-Wan climbed in and C3PO sat on the back, clutching tightly to the tailfin as the sped across the dessert.

Getting back to Obi-Wan's home he looked at the old man intrigued "Now, how come you said you didn't expect for the droids to remember you? You were their master weren't you?".

"I wasn't," Obi-Wan denied "your father was. He built C3PO himself as a matter of fact, right here on Tatooine when he was still a small child, using spare parts that were just lying around.".

"That's amazing!" he breathed in awe as the elderly man in front of him chuckled at his expression "Did he build R2 as well? And you never did say why they wouldn't remember you.".

"No," Obi-Wan said with a nostalgic smile "R2 was given to your father as a gift by your mother shortly after they met here on Tatooine when she was stranded. And as for why they wouldn't recognize me…well around the time of the formation of the Empire they both ended up gaining knowledge of a sensitive nature about several important figures in the galaxy and their memories were wiped to ensure they didn't reveal the secret.".

"That would explain it." he said with a nod "But how did you know my father? He was a pilot…right?".

"Yes and no," Obi-Wan answered, standing up with a grunt as the elderly man opened up an old wooden chest "when I met your father he was only nine years old while I was in my early twenties…but your father was already one of the greatest pilots I'd ever met. He entered the Bunta Eve Pod Race and won the prize money that we used to get the part to repair our ship and then later on brought down the blockade and around the planet of Naboo, subsequently destroying a droid army.".

"When he was nine?!" he exclaimed in shock.

"Well to be fair the piloting in the pod race was intentional and he used the abilities that allowed him to become my apprentice to win that," Obi-Wan said, looking up from the trunk with a smirk "as for bringing down the blockade…well that was luck as he accidentally activated a star fighter he was hiding in and wasn't able to find the switch to turn off the auto pilot until after the battle had ended, during which he crashed in the hangar of the main station running the blockade and…well he tried firing the ship's weapon systems at a droid and hit the ships main reactor.".

Staring at the old man in a deadpan expression he said "Nobody's that lucky.", causing Obi-Wan to laugh happily.

"You'll find that your father had a way of making the universe bend to his strange view of the world in his youth," Obi-Wan said happily "it was both a great asset and a great headache for myself as his trainer as well as the others we worked with.".

"Trainer?" he asked confused "In what?".

In was of response Obi-Wan smiled widely and pulled out a metal cylinder from the chest "Ah, here it is." The old man said before flipping a switch as a glowing blue blade shot from the end, causing him to leap back in shock "Your father, like myself, followed the way of the Jedi Knight. This was his lightsaber actually…I'd think he'd want you to have it.".

"M-me?" he asked as he took the sword, holding the blade reverently as it was the only thing he had ever had of his fathers…unless one counted the two droids.

"Well who else?" Obi-Wan asked with a smile "Now come here little one," the old Jedi said to R2 "let's see this message.".

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 5

-Luke-

His mouth set in a firm line he kept his eyes on the horizon, speeding towards Mos Eisley with Obi-Wan, R2-D2, and C3PO with him. He sped away from the life he knew and the burned wreckage of what had been his family's moisture farm, his Aunt and Uncle both dead after being murdered.

He had shown Obi-Wan the message hidden in R2-D2 and received watched the full message from a beautiful woman the aged Jedi Master called Princess Leia who was begging Obi-Wan for aide. The woman had asked Obi-Wan to take the R2 unit to her father on Alderan as it contained secret plans to aid the rebel alliance.

Obi-Wan had asked him to join with the aged Jedi in the mission, to learn the ways of the Jedi Order like his father before him and become the old man's apprentice but he had refused. He explained how he couldn't just abandon his Aunt and Uncle out of the blue and even still, he already had hopes to join the crew of a friend's ship within the next year.

Obi-Wan had been openly disappointed at his answer but accepted it and asked to be taken as far as Mos Eisley. Even still, he was sure he had seen a flash of conflicted relief behind the old man's eyes before they had gotten into his speeder to head back to his farm where Obi-Wan could explain about why the Droid would no longer remain on Tatooine.

On the way they had run into the Jawa tribe that had sold him R2 and C3PO in the first place and found them all dead. They were slaughtered by Imperial Stormtroopers who had taken the time to disguise it as a raid from the Sand People. Realizing that the Jawas would have given up his family in a heartbeat they sped back to the farm only to find it razed, the charred skeletons of his Aunt and Uncle laying in the dirt outside.

He had nearly lost himself to grief at the sight of their charred remains but Obi-Wan had used a force technique to, for a short time, bring them back as force ghosts so he could gain closure.

-Flashback-

He stared at the transparent visages of his beloved Aunt and Uncle, their shades smiling down at him with love filled eyes. "Oh my boy," his Aunt, and the only mother figure he'd ever known, tried to cup his cheek only for her spectral hand to pass through him "my beautiful little boy."

"I'm sorry," he cried as he tried to hold them even as he simply slipped through their ghostly forms "I…I couldn't save you!"

"Enough of that Luke." His Uncle chided, trying to swat his forehead with clear fingers "We died yes, the empire killed us yes, but it wasn't your fault. If anything I'm grateful that you weren't here because then you'd be a skeleton right alongside us."

"But-" he tried to protest as his Aunt kissed his forehead with ghostly lips.

"No Luke," she said softly "we love you, both of us do. You're the son we never had and we couldn't be prouder of you. Mourn us yes but don't let our deaths drag you down or destroy you. Keep our memories alive by living your live to the fullest you can."

"Do what your Aunt says Luke," Uncle Owen said with a proud smile at him "and try to find Harry if you can. Oh, and if the two of you see any Stormtroopers and you know you're not in danger…give em hell!"

"Owen!" Beru chided before turning back towards him just as they started to fade "And Luke, we-" but he never found out what they tried to say as they faded before they finished.

Rising from the ground he whipped away his tears and turned back to Obi-Wan, "Let's go," he said in a choked up voice "there's nothing left for me here."

-End Flashback-

Pulling up in front of a bar called the Mos Eisley Cantina he walked in along with Obi-Wan and the droids. "Hey!" the bartender yelled when they were barely through the door of the smoke filled bar, pointing at the two droids "We don't serve their kind here!"

"Go wait by the speeder." he ordered softly as the golden protocol droid nodded and led the little astro droid back out.

"I'll try to find us transportation off the planet," Obi-Wan whispered to him "try to stay out of trouble."

Ignoring the man's statement, he walked over to the bar and ordered a drink that Harry had mentioned to him before, dutifully ignoring the looks he was getting from the various patrons of the inn. He was just about to take a sip of his drink when a blue alien with two pink bulges under its chin growled at him. He was about to ignore the creature and enjoy his drink when the ugly bastard next to him grabbed his shoulder and yanked him around. "My friend doesn't like you." The disfigured looking being sneered.

"So?" he asked coldly, channeling Harry's habit of mouthing off when in a bad mood before moving to return to his drink.

Before he could actually manage to enjoy some of it the patron yanked him around again "I don't like you either." The alien said with an ugly sneer. When he simply gave a deadpan blink, completely unimpressed the alien growled and jabbed at his chest with a greasy finger "You don't get it do you?" the alien snarled, "We're wanted men! I have the death sentence on twelve systems!"

"Just twelve?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, knowing it would piss the idiot off and, sure enough, the two aliens yelled and tried to attack him only for the blue one to lose an arm while the smaller disfigured looking one lost a head to a glowing blue lightsaber held by Obi-Wan.

"Didn't I tell you to stay out of trouble?" the old man asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"I didn't go looking for it, it decided to find me." He said with an uncaring shrug causing the old man to frown.

"Come, believe I may have found someone who can get us off world." Obi-Wan told him and led him over to a table where they saw another human and a large Wookie.

"So," the man says once they sit down "the name's Han Solo, I'm Captain of the Millennium Falcon. Chewy here tells me that you two are trying to get passage to the Alderan system."

"Yes indeed, assuming it's a fast ship." Obi-Wan said with a nod.

"Assuming? You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?" Han asked them in a mixture of shock and indignation.

"Should I have?" the aged Jedi asked with honest confusion.

At that Han leaned forward with a co*cky smirk and stated "It's the ship that made the Kessler Run in less than twelve Parsecs. It's outrun Imperial Starships and I'm not talking about the local cruisers mind you but the big Corillian ships. Is that fast enough for you old man? What's the cargo anyway?"

"Only passengers." Obi-Wan said with a calm expression "Myself, the boy, two droids…and no questions asked."

"You in some kind of local trouble?" Han asked with a chuckle and he had to resist punching the co*cky captain

"Let's just say we'd like to avoid any…Imperial Entanglements." Obi-Wan said stiffly but he knew that the old man made a mistake judging by the greedy look in the Captain's eyes.

"Well that's the real trick isn't it," Han said leaning back with the smirk of a man who thought they had all the cards "and that's going to cost you something extra. I want ten thousand, all in advanced."

"Ten Thousand?!" he whispered in shock "We might as well buy our own ship for that you two bit hustler!"

"And who'd pilot it kid? You?" Han asked with an amused sneer.

Noticing something out of the corner of his eye he gave the duo in front of him a vicious smirk "I'm not a bad pilot myself but I have a better idea. We'll get him," he pointed to the person he just saw walk in "to take us for free."

"Do you know who that is brat?" Han asked wide eyed "He's-"

"An old friend." He said, cutting off the conman as he pulled the old Jedi up and walked over to the raven haired captain "Hello Harry." He said somewhat stiffly as the captain looked at him in relief.

"Luke!" Harry said, pulling him into a tight brotherly hug "Thank the Force I was worried about you after your Aunt and Uncle activated the Emergency Beacon. I'm guessing since you're here safe that it was just an accident?"

Realizing that his Aunt had likely been trying to tell him that they had called Harry he felt a new tear fall from his eye "They're dead Harry," he whispered as his friend froze, as did the human and the Twi'lek that stood behind his friend "both of them. Murdered by Stormtroopers."

"I'm sorry Luke," Harry said, placing a strong hand on his shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze before turning to the man who was standing behind the group "Galen, when we get back to the ship send a message out to the crew. It's now open season on all Stormtroopers."

"Yes Captain." The man with short cropped hair said with a nod.

"Luke said that you could get us to Alderan." Obi-Wan spoke up hesitantly, staring at the angry man hesitantly.

"Easily," Harry said with a nod "come on. I have a smaller ship docked here in one of the hangars and it can take us up to my main ship." Nodding they followed his friend to a ship that Harry introduced as the Rogue Shadow before climbing aboard and blasting off towards the space above the planet.

-Omake-

-End of Marcus' first year-

Panting he lay on the ground, bloodied and bruised next to his friends Ron and Hermione. They had put together clues throughout the year about how the Philosopher's stone was hidden in the abandoned third floor corridor and were sure about how Voldemort would be going after it. The only thing that had actually surprised him was that it was Quirrell who was aiding Voldemort instead of Snape like his father always said would eventually happen.

"So," the Voldemort possessed Professor Quirrell sneered at them, "this is the best that the vaulted 'Boy-Who-Lived' can do? Pathetic."

"Shut up!" he yelled and fired a reducto at the Dark Wizard only for it to be swatted aside like a fly, exploding against a column while the arrogant bastard simply laughed at him.

"Oh this is rich," Voldemort, hissed at him mirthfully before moving to examine the Mirror of Erised once more, "I wonder how well the real Boy-Who-Lived would have done."

"What are you talking about?!" he spat, his pride wounded by how easily he had been beaten "I am the Boy-Who-Lived!"

"No you're not," Voldemort brushed off his anger with a shrug "your brother was. You were simply given the title because the Headmaster is a senile old fool who didn't recognize that your brother's core readings being below average were due to it being drained from reflecting the killing curse. Thankfully, you and your family saw to his death almost a year ago so that little problem is out of the way already. I really should be thanking you if I'm honest."

That one statement floored him, he wasn't the real Boy-Who-Lived, everything he knew about who he really was, everything he could do, was a lie! "You're lying!" he protested desperately, tears coming from his eyes at the fact that he wasn't the Hero his parents raised him to believe he was.

"I swear on my life and magic that your brother was the one to reflect my killing curse now will you please be silent! It's impossible to think with all your noise." Voldemort said irritably, a pulse of magic verifying the oath as he collapsed, unable to think as his friends stared at him wide eyed.

Voldemort might very well have killed them after getting the stone if his parents and Dumbledore hadn't burst into the room and curb stomped the possessed Death Eater. "Mom." he panted wide eyed "Dad. We were wrong, we were so wrong."

"What do you mean Marcus, wrong about what?" his mom asked his as she clutched him tightly as she had become more much protective of him after Harry had gone through the veil of Death.

"About who I am. I'm not the Boy-Who-Lived." He said as he clutched her shirt.

"Of course you are Marcus," his dad tried to reassure him "just because you didn't win today doesn't mean anything. You're young and-"

"No!" he yelled as he grabbed his dad's shirt "Voldemort he…he told me how Harry was the one to reflect the curse, not me…he swore on his life and magic about it."

Everything went dead silent for a moment before his mother gasped, Dumbledore fainted, and his Dad summed up the entire situation with one word "sh*t."

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 6

-Harry-

"Can this small ship get us all the way to Alderan?" the old man with Luke asked skeptically as the ascended out of the planet's atmosphere.

"No but it's just to get us up to my main ship." He said as he stood back, his second in command Galen Marek piloted the Rogue Shadow away from the planet.

"Main ship?" Luke asked eagerly as he had to subdue a small chuckle. Every time he came back to Tatooine to visit Luke, Owen, and Beru he had refused to tell them what sort of ship he was the captain of to keep them curious as Luke pleading to know had been highly amusing.

"Yes Luke, you can finally know what type of ship it is." He teased.

"How did you get to Tatooine so quickly if I may ask…Harry was it?" the old man questioned, the elderly figure's eyes showing wariness and distrust.

"I was already heading over." He said as he walked over to Oola and wrapped an arm around her waist as she rested her head on his shoulder "I…well I had wanted to invite you, Owen, and Beru to my wedding."

Luke was wide eyed at that piece of news, "Wedding?!" the once farm boy said shocked as he nodded and Oola gave a small giggle before kissing his cheek lovingly.

"Oola and I decided to get married." He admitted as Luke grinned, his friend clearly thrilled at some sort of positive news in the darkness that had suddenly hit Luke's life.

"Congratulations," Luke said sincerely "both of you."

Before he could thank his friend Galen spoke up "Approaching the Citadel Captain." As all eyes turned look out the front of the Rogue Shadow.

"Luke, old man." He said as he stared at the ship he had restored to its full glory "Welcome, to the Citadel. A marauder class corvette that I've personally given enhancements to over the past few years."

"Wow." Luke said wide eyed as the young Skywalker and the older man stared wide eyed at the massive ship.

"Greetings," a new voice spoke up through their communication system "Rogue Shadow One, please give clearance codes to gain access to main hanger."

"Ah, I was wondering when you'd speak up Jarvis." He said cheerfully before looking at the newcomers "Jarvis here is an AI I developed to help with the ship. He's the head of Droid control and keeps an eye on the systems for my ships. If it weren't for him the ship wouldn't be able to run half as well as it does."

"You flatter me sir. Clearance codes please." Jarvis said through the system.

"Entry code 2-2-6-5-8-9-Foxtrot." Galen spoke up as Jarvis processed the code.

"Thank you Sir, welcome back." Jarvis' cheerful voice said after it finished processing the code.

"Good to be back Jarvis." He said with a grin before turning to the still stunned Luke and old man, "Jarvis here is a life saver…and much better than his predecessor Ultron."

"Yes Ultron was rather rude." Oola said, her tone showing she was still upset at the now destroyed AI.

"That he was…and what is your name any way old timer?" he asked the white haired man who shook himself before turning to face them.

"I am Obi-Wan Kenobi." The man said simply and he could see that the old timer still didn't trust him, something Luke clearly noticed as well judging by his friend's irritated expression.

"Harry," the groaning voice of Galen spoke up "I think Jarvis hates us."

"What makes you say that?" Luke asked "He seemed friendly enough to me."

"He sent the Claptraps…didn't he?" Oola asked with a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"The what?" Obi-Wan and Luke asked confused.

"CL4P-TP, also known as Claptrap. It's a robot model that one of my crew members, Dobby, created a few years ago and the damn things are the most annoying robots ever created." He explained, having been less than pleased with the creation Dobby made, the little elf having gained a gift with machines due to being bonded to his magic.

As they disembarked the ship Obi-Wan still didn't look convinced "How bad could it-" the old man began before being cut off.

"Minion!" the little robot said cheerfully as it zoomed up the ramp and began spinning around their legs energetically "You're back. Oh, Oola!" the robot zoomed towards his soon to be wife and started trying to hump her leg. The key word was tried as he grabbed the tiny robot and threw it, the robot shattering when Galen hit it with a blaster a moment later causing the rest of the Claptraps to scream and scatter.

"See what I mean?" he asked, sending a look at a horrified Obi-Wan.

"It had the intelligence level of Jar Jar." The old man said horrified as they exited the ship.

"Captain on deck!" a strong voice called out as he turned to see two hundred members of his crew in black and silver clone trooper armor, saluting him while their leader, Commander Rex, stood at attention in front of the formation.

"At ease men." He ordered as his men took a slightly more relaxed stance.

"Is…is that…" Obi-Wan asked wide eyed and fearful.

"Luke, Obi-Wan, meet the forgotten Squadron…or at least part of it." He said proudly as Captain Rex walked over "While most of the Clone Troopers obeyed the order to begin killing Jedi many refused and turned awol. I've found around a thousand of the clones and they're a part of my crew, still in their prime due to Clones aging much slower than regular humans."

"We stand ready to serve you Captain." Rex said with military poise.

"Very good Commander," he said with a nod "now follow me to the bridge and send an order for all of the Officers to head there as well."

"Yes Captain." Rex nodded before the clone began giving orders on an intercom system.

"Come on," he said to the others as they walked over to a shuttle like area that would take them to the bridge, the Commander joining them after a moment "most of them will probably beat us there."

It took five minutes for the advance shuttle to get us to the bridge but when the doors opened he looked around and saw six of the seven remaining officers and frowned slightly before noticing him in the rafters. "Come on in and I'll introduce you to everyone." He told Luke and Obi-Wan as they walked over to the large table in the middle of the room. "You've already met Galen Marek, my second in Command, Oola, my soon to be wife and head medical officer, and Commander Rex who is in charge of the Clones."

As he spoke the three officers he mentioned walked to their places around the table, nodding to Obi-Wan and Luke as they did so. "Next we have Juno Marek, Galen's wife." He introduced the beautiful woman who stood next to Galen "She's our chief pilot."

"Here we have Dobby," he introduced the ever eager little elf "who invented those damned Claptrap robots. His duty is to oversee overall ship maintenance and cleaning."

"Dobby likes his Claptraps." Dobby protested with a pout as everyone else sent the elf an irritated look.

"Here we have Marris Brood," he gestured to the beautiful Zabrak woman and noticed Luke flush red "who leads the ground troops whenever we visit a planet with hostile natives or wildlife."

"This is Greybok." He moved over to a massive white Wookie who let out a roar with a nod "He keeps up with our engines and make sure they're repaired."

"And these," he got to two human sized robots "are HK-47 and Proxy who serve as guards for the officers. I'd introduce you to our Tactician but he seems to be hiding. Anyway everyone, these are Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi-" he failed to get any farther than they when his tactician in the rafters leapt down with an angry yell, igniting four lightsabers in his mechanical limbs. One lightsaber burned bight blue, one emerald green, and two pitch black and smoking.

"Grievous!" Obi-Wan yelled, the old man leaping back and activating his own lightsaber.

"Stand down!" he yelled, flexing his power with the force to draw the attention of the two apparent enemies. "What the hell is going on here?"

"He is the one who killed me!" his tactician, General Grievous, snarled angrily from within the mechanical shell.

"He fought for the empire!" Obi-Wan yelled, thrusting the lightsaber in the half droid's direction.

"Enough!" he yelled furiously as everyone became silent. Taking a moment to calm himself he used the force to take the lightsabers away from the two "You two can have them back later when I know you won't attack each other." He scolded.

"Um…what's the story here?" Luke asked confused.

"This, Luke, is General Grievous." He explained, "He was loyal to Count Dooku during the Clone Wars but his story is more complicated than that. General Grievous was originally a Kaleesh warlord named Qymaen jai Sheelal. Grievous was born during the Huk War where the insectoid Huk's were trying to conquer the reptilian Kaleesh for slave labor. Grievous' father decided to focus his sons rage by teaching him to use a slug throwing rifle. Grievous at eight years old had forty kills under his belt and by twenty-two he had so many kills he was considered a demigod by his people."

"Once he had matured Grievous had a prophetic dream where he hunted and killed a dangerous beast using a sword. This dream had such an effect that Grievous went into the forest to enact the dream. Once he found the creature, he encountered a Kaleesh woman who had already slain the beast. This woman, Ronderu lij Kummar, would become Grievous partner and his treasured love."

"The pair became known as living incarnations of a Kaleesh story. Both would form a strong bound and teach each other their fighting techniques. This was the first time Grievous learned to use a sword. Their battles an accumulated kills during the Huk war would have both recognized has demigods and saviors of their people."

"During one encounter Ronderu and Grievous were separated and she fell to the Huk's barbed spears. She would meet her end in a watery grave. Grievous was sent into a long spiraling depression. He pleaded with his gods to just see her one more time, though his prayers were never answered. Grievous would take his anger out on the invaders. He went on to expel every Huk from his planet as well as taking several wives and having thirty children though nothing would snap him out of his depression. This was when Grievous left behind his birth name Qymaen jai Sheelal and became General Grievous."

"Once Grievous started to eliminate the Huk worlds in revenge for his partners death the Huk's turned to the Galactic Republic for aid. Once the Republic was on the Huk's side the Kaleesh would face economic hardship from embargo's, Republic sanctions, and hefty fines. Hundreds of thousands of Kaleesh died during this time of poverty. San Hill of the Intergalactic Banking Clan saw an amazing opportunity. He proposed that he could alleviate some of Kaleeshes debts and Grievous would work for him as an enforcer of the Banking Clan. Grievous did not want to work as a thug for the Banking Clan though he longed for battle and wanted to help his people so he agreed. Grievous was not allowed to bring his Kaleesh elite and was given command of the Banking Clan's Battle Droids."

"Grievous was appalled with their performance and demanded smarter droids. Count Dooku commissioned the IG-100 Battle droids and had them programmed them with the skills of 100 swordsman. Grievous again was appalled at their skills and had them programmed according to his own movements and skills. The Banking Clan kept their promise and took over the debt of the Kaleesh and Grievous became an efficient enforcer."

"Through his actions The Banking Clan seized overdue payments on Ord Mantell and received Phult Designing Systems as a subsidiary. Soon Grievous heard of the Huk desecrating a Kaleesh ceremonial ground and the Republic's inaction against this atrocity. Grievous returned to his Kaleesh warriors and abandoned his contract with the Banking Clan to take up arms against the Huk. San Hill was disappointed in this and even considered assassinating the Kaleesh warlord though he feared his reprisal if he survived the attempt. San Hill conspired with Poggle the Lesser of Geonosis, and Darth Sidious to force Grievous into a permanent servant. Grievous and his elites boarded a ship named Martyr and headed for the Huk home world."

"Unknown to the group the Separatists had placed an ion bomb on board. The bomb went off destroying the ship and killing the Kaleesh elites though Grievous' pod was rigged to allow him to escape. The hit into the water did a great deal of damage to Grievous' body but even with all of his limbs destroyed and most of his body damaged Grievous still lived."

"Dooku found him and took him to a private facility, determined to get the fearsome warrior to swear complete loyalty to him but Grievous didn't want to. His cellmate was a Jedi that Dooku had captured and Grievous hated that man more than anything as that Jedi had surrendered and offered his own men in exchange for not being killed. Wanting to kill that Jedi Grievous told Dooku that if they rebuilt his body and let him kill the Jedi then he would swear undying loyalty to Dooku."

"The count agreed to it and had Grievous' machine like body built, with the brain, organs, and eyes from the Kaleeshan's original body placed into it. The count even gave the General his first lightsaber to use to kill the Jedi and, after slaying the coward, Grievous took the man's lightsaber from his corpse. When the General went to give both lightsabers the count told him to keep them both, an important gesture as the lightsaber was an extension of one's self. Over time the General came to see Dooku almost like a father and the reverse was also true."

"But after Obi-Wan here killed his first body Grievous' mind lived on as it had been downloaded into a server and was to be the main system for some battle station the Empire is trying to build. I copied it to my servers and deleted the Empire's copy, building him a new body so that he can get revenge on the empire as it was the Emperor who urged Darth Vader to kill Dooku."

Pausing to take in a breath he looked around to gauge everyone's reactions he noticed Obi-Wan seemed to be wary but looked to be studying the force for what to feel about it and Luke was looking sympathetic, a situation he'd have to ask about later. "So what is the situation Captain?" the General asked him, the man's rasping cough still persisting even with the cloned pieces of what was still organic in Grievous' old body.

"The empire killed Luke's family, they were good friends of mine." He said darkly "We're taking them to Alderan and then…we join the Rebellion. It's time to take the fight directly to the Empire like we've been planning." At his words, Grievous and Greybok let out eager roars while the rest of his crew saluted him. "Juno prepare to enter warp speed," he ordered his pilot "we have a mission to complete."

"Yes sir." One of his few female officers said eagerly, sliding into the pilot seat as punched in the coordinates, "Warp speed ready captain."

"Punch it."

-Omake-

-Tonks-

Sighing the young Metamorphomagus sat in what used to be her room with her parents, the only thing left being a chair as she stared at a photo album she had found while going through her things. She was moving into a small apartment with a few other rookie Aurors now that she had been accepted into the program and her full training was to start in a few days.

Each page of the album showed pictures of her and her friends laughing, smiling, being happy. It served as a positive boost which was something she had sorely needed. A few weeks before, at the end of the Boy-Who-Lived's first year at Hogwarts, Dumbledore had said that Voldemort might be around as a shade and would attempt to get a body to come back. The entire country had taken a darker outlook since then and even her gaining admission into the Auror corps had failed to bring her the joy she had originally felt.

As she thought about her dream job she took a moment to really think about why she had wanted to be an Auror originally but it didn't hit her until she looked at one of the pictures from her first year, showing her and a little black hair Gryffindor, waving cheerfully at the camera. It took her a moment to remember the name of the boy, "H-Harry," it hit her in a flash "Harry Potter." The lost son of the Potter family…the one who had run away to find somewhere he was cared for.

Her fingers flew as she turned through the pages of the Album, looking for more and more pictures of the boy she had somehow forgotten, pausing at each one she found to take them in, the memories of the time she spent with him slowly returning. As she went through the years the pictures of them showed them always being happy together but then, partway through the fourth year…they just stopped. Frowning she looked harder but he never showed up next to her in any more pictures but how could the boy who encouraged her to be an auror in the first place just vanish.

Any time he showed up in a picture after that it was always with him just being in the background, never in the main focus itself. Setting aside the album she rushed over to one of her boxes in the hallway and pulled out her stack of journals, finding the ones from fourth year as she tried to find any one that might explain why they had stopped being friends as he just couldn't remember it. Finally she found some entries that she thought were around the right time and read:

September 27th

Dear Diary,

Harry asked me out earlier today, he was so cute when he got flustered! I've never really thought about him like that, he's always just been one of my closest friends but I decided to give it a shot. We're going to go have dinner at a restaurant in Hogsmede since it was a Hogsmede weekend and we're allowed to go to the village at any point during the day even if the teachers only tell you about their 'pre approved time slots'.

October 12th

Dear Diary,

I just bought a dress for my date with Harry on the twentieth and I can't wait to see his jaw drop when he sees me in it. I also heard that his parents are planning to throw a party for his little brother and my family might end up getting invited.

October 21st

Dear Diary,

I just got back from the party the Potter family threw for Marcus and it was amazing! The food was to die for and the music was awesome! I even got to meet Madame Bones, the head of the DMLE and when she heard about me wanting to be an Auror she said she couldn't wait to look over my application after I take my NEWTs! Nothing could have made yesterday better!

She froze at that passage as she realized that she had blown off someone who was clearly a good friend for a party that she didn't think he had even been invited to. Flipping through she could only find two other passages that mentioned Harry in them.

December 3rd

Dear Diary,

Harry hasn't talked to me in over a month and I don't know why. He hardly talks at all anymore, only answering questions in class and giving blunt answers if anyone talks to him directly. I went to approach him and he…the look he gave me was so cold, his eyes looked as if I'd stabbed him in the back but I don't know why, what did I do?

June 4th

Dear Diary,

I've officially had it with Harry Potter. He hasn't spoken to me once since October and hasn't even bothered to apologize for ignoring me all this time. If he wants to toss away a friend like me fine, then that's his loss. I don't need him, I'm going to be the most amazing Auror England's ever seen!

Dropping the journal back into the box she shakily sealed it all up and apparated to her small one bedroom apartment, her fellow rookies in the other apartments on her hall. Dropping the boxes she collapsed onto her bed and sobbed herself to sleep as she finally remembered one of her closest friends…and realized the mistakes she had made to drive him away.

Throughout her dreams that night she saw flashes of Harry with beautiful women, she saw him fighting in epic battles, commanding armies, being a Hero. When she finally woke up she had new determination within her. The Goblin's had reported that Harry Peverell's soul orb, which all bank members had, hadn't gone dark so he was still alive. She would find Harry, she would bring him home, and she would fix what she broke and hope that maybe he would still want her like he did before.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 7

-Harry-

"Alright, follow me." He told Luke and Obi-Wan "I'll show you to an area you can rest while we make the journey."

"I'm surprised to see Grievous possessing lightsabers," Obi-Wan said carefully as they moved to the officer's lounge "especially ones that I know he didn't have before."

"All the offices have sabers." Oola spoke up, snorting in derision as she pulled out a small dagger sized saber and activated it, showing the black smoky blade, before shutting it back off "I personally use this and a light whip."

"That requires prodigious control over the force." The old man's eyes were searching, probing for answers.

"If you want to ask something then come out and say it old timer." He said, not appreciating the way the old Jedi was acting, "And if you even think of using the force on my crew I will blast you out the airlock."

"How many of your officers can use the Force?" Luke asked curious excitement coursing through his friend and bubbling out in an infectious air.

"Myself, Oola, Galen, and Maris." He listed off "None of the others showed any real aptitude for the force when we checked even if the other officers carry lightsabers."

"Those are Jedi Weapons." Obi-Wan said, clearly unhappy about the situation of non-Jedi carrying the sabers.

"They're weapons." Galen said coldly, his second in command walking with them "The Jedi have no monopoly on death so far as I know."

"Is this how you knew to trust me when we first met?" Luke asked, redirecting the conversation to safer waters "And where did you learn how to use it anyway?"

"Good deduction Luke," he told his friend with a smile "and I'm self-taught, Oola trained under me, Maris' master was one of the surviving Jedi who was killed a few years ago, and Galen…" he trailed off, not sure how to say the situation without making the old man even more suspicious.

"We don't know who trained me." Galen sighed "Harry found me, Juno, and Proxy near the wreckage of my old ship. It had been blasted by something and while Juno and I remembered some things, like each other, most of our memories were gone. Even still though my muscles retained and I was quickly able to pick up the force again."

"I assume you follow the code of the Jedi." The Old man said in a stern voice, sounding irritatingly like an infuriating old Headmaster.

"What's the Jedi Code?" Luke asked, looking lost even as the once farm boy was clearly noting the divides forming in the group.

"There is no emotion, there is Peace. There is no ignorance, there is Knowledge. There is no passion, there is Serenity. There is no chaos, there is Harmony. There is no death, there is The Force." Maris rattled of dispassionately from next to Galen. Obi-Wan seemed comforted by hearing the old code the man had lived by, Luke seemed wary.

"That sounds…" Luke struggled to find the right word to describe the way of the Jedi.

"It's ridiculous." He snorted, ignoring the old man's upset glare "The code we follow, is that." He pointed to a plaque above the door to the officer's lounge.

"Peace is a lie, there is only Passion." Luke read off "Through passion, I gain Strength. Through strength, I gain Power. Through power, I gain Victory. Through victory, my chains are broken, The Force shall free me."

"That is the Sith Code." Obi-Wan said, the man reaching for his lightsaber.

"It used to be." He nodded in calm agreement, unfazed by the man moving to draw a weapon "The Sith of this day and age are obsessed with power through Hatred and Anger, they do not follow this code. We on the other hand recognize the merits of this code. We embrace our emotions, embrace life. We find a cause, whether it be one we struggle against together or fight to overcome alone, and we work to become strong enough to make our goals reality."

"You must not listen to him Luke," Obi-Wan cautioned, "emotions are dangerous. Sadness can lead to anger, anger to hate, hate to suffering, and suffering in the end leads to the dark side."

"We are living beings old timer," he told the man who was raised to be loyal to a brain washing cult "we can't force away our emotions, our feelings, that just makes them fight with even greater ferocity to come out. Peace is important but one can have emotions and be at peace. Ignorance? To some there is the saying Ignorance is Bliss but Knowledge is Power. No one can know everything, ignorance in something isn't a weakness but a chance to learn from another and grow closer to them, strengthening your bonds with your fellow man."

They entered the lounge, Galen, Marris, and Oola sitting a short way away as he spoke to Luke and Obi-Wan, one listening with rapt attention while the other one seemed unable to turn away "Serenity is a wonderful feeling, a wonderful state of being, but without passion life lacks meaning. Passion is what drives us onward, what gives us the motivation and strength to carry on. Harmony is necessary for life but so is Chaos if one's life must not only stay in balance but not stagnate. And Death, death isn't something to be feared, but simply something that comes for all one day. I live my life so that when I die, I can die with a smile on my face and my heart full of the love of those around me."

"But…but the Sith, they give into their emotions and look what they've done to the galaxy!" Obi-Wan was grasping for straws, his world view likely being shaken from the years of guilt and pain at the loss of the order along with his own words now.

"Peace is a lie Obi-Wan," he said softly "you can't force Peace, it has to be chosen and there will always be those who seek war. And as I said, being at peace is important but Passion is what lets us advance as a society and as people. Tell me Obi-Wan, were you overjoyed when you were selected to join the Jedi order?"

"I…I was happy, yes." The old man said cautiously, having not connected what he was saying.

"Did you work hard, eager to earn your place in that order?"

"Of course I did." Obi-Wan said, somewhat affronted.

"And in the end, when your hard work made you a Jedi Knight, did you feel liberated?"

"I can never forget the feeling." The old Jedi admitted "Why are you asking me these things?"

"Your passion for the Jedi Order," he held up a finger "because of that passion you strived to gain strength in the Jedi arts." He raised a second finger "That gave you power over the force and over yourself." A third finger "upon your victory of becoming a Jedi Knight you felt liberated, felt free thanks to the force." His last two fingers went up "The five tenets of my code. Passion, Strength, Power, Victory, and the Force Itself." Obi-Wan's eyes went out of focus, the man lost in his own thoughts as he struggled to counter the arguments that had just been laid out.

"We have some quarters through that door." Galen told the pair, nodded to a door behind Luke and Obi-Wan "you can rest there and in the morning, we'll begin."

"Wait begin?" Luke asked quickly, even as Obi-Wan walked robotically to the quarters to think over what had been said "Begin what?"

"Your training in how to use the force of course." Maris grinned.

-Omake-

-Sirius-

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you," the drunken voice of one Sirius black resounded through the attic of Number Twelve Grimmuald place, rain pouring down outside the window while a bottle of Firewhisky sloshed in his hand "Happy Birthday dear Harry," tears started pouring down the man's face "Happy Birthday to you." Throwing his head back, the Lord of the House of Black took a big draught from the bottle, coughing harshly as the liquid burned his throat, wisps of fire coming from his mouth thanks to the drink.

"Happy birthday kid." Moving to take another swig from the bottle he paused when he caught his reflection in the glass, when he saw the broken man looking back at him. His eyes were red and puffy, bloodshot veins almost permanent on him now, framed by long hair that hung around a sallow face.

Ever since Harry had walked through the veil he had let himself go, estranged himself from the Potter family in general. He had never agreed with the focusing on Marcus, on favoring one child over another. It had reminded him too much of what his parents had done when he was a kid, focusing on Regulus or his cousins more than him as he didn't suit their ideals. It had caused a major fight between him and James when he had made the comparison to try and get them to pay more attention to Harry.

"Marcus needs the training and attention!" James had insisted "Dumbledore says You-Know-Who isn't really gone and that Marcus' power comes from love. We need to make sure Marcus is as loved as possible."

"Love." Sirius spat, remembering those words, before giving a yell and throwing the bottle at the wall in anger, shards of glass flying upon impact "They spoiled Marcus worse than a Malfoy." He had tried pointing out that they didn't have to stop loving Marcus, or treat him any less, but to actually give Harry attention.

"And look where we are now." He gave a drunken chuckle at that, having learned from the potters and Dumbledore about Voldemort's announcement to Marcus about how Harry had been the true boy-who-lived. "They should have paid more attention." He snickered, finding the situation morbidly amusing in his drunken state. He had known about Harry's intelligence and power, of the great things Harry was able to do. He had made sure that several books were put in Harry's path, including the ritual book that gave Harry his 'technomancy'. The one thing he hadn't expected was Harry's plan with the veil.

"The one time I'm as blind as James," he cried "is when he needed me most." He had asked Lily where Harry was that night because he had something special to tell his godson. Now that Harry was graduated and of age, therefore no longer fully dependent on his parents, he had decided to offer Harry a better life. He had gone to Gringotts and had Harry officially declared the heir Black. With Harry graduated James couldn't do anything to make Harry's life harder and Sirius had been looking forward to telling Harry what he had done, something that only Harry could reverse by telling Gringotts within a week of the decision that he didn't want the position or if he himself revoked it as the Lord Black.

"Stay safe Harry," he pleaded to the world, knowing his godson was still alive somewhere thanks to the family magic having not removed him from the position as Heir Black "I beg you," he pleaded to whatever higher power there might be "keep him safe. Let him be happy." That night, through the fog of Firewhisky, his dreams were filled with Harry surrounded by those who cared for him, a family that his beloved godson had made on his own and who would always stand by him.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 8

-Harry-

Standing inside the officer's lounge he looked at the doors to where Luke and the old man were asleep, "Marris, go wake up Luke." He ordered "Galen, get the old man. It's training time." Smirking at him the two nodded, looking forward to ripping the two from the pleasant clutch of sleep. Moments later two yells carried out from the rooms, one old and indignant and the other young and mortified.

"Harry," Oola attempted to chide him but was unable to hide her amusem*nt "you know Luke was crushing on Marris, that was just mean."

"Funny though," he gave an unrepentant shrug "I'm not sure whether Luke is lucky or unlucky that Marris is still as dense as a Jedi about romance." Oola's only response was a roll of her eyes as her fellow officers exited the guests' rooms.

"The old timer said they'd meet us at the training room." Galen chuckled, patting the little white and blue R2 unit's head "This little guy can show them the way." Nodding the four made their way to the large room covered in blast shields, the still tired duo of Luke and Obi-Wan following in a few minutes later under the cheerful guidance of R2-D2.

"Alright," Harry asked, turning to face Luke as the old man eased into a chair "do you have your own lightsaber yet?" nodding proudly Luke pulled out a silver rod and activated it, a wavering blue beam burning into existence. "Turn that thing off now!" he yelled, startling Luke and Obi-Wan as the young farm boy quickly shut off the old weapon.

"W-what's wrong?" Luke stammered out, his young friend having rarely if ever heard him yell.

"That thing clearly hasn't been taken care of." Moving quickly, he took the lightsaber from Luke's hands and walked over to a wall safe "And I'm not going to risk the explosion this thing could cause due to it not being maintained. We'll fix it up later if you still want to use it," placing his hand on a scanner he opened the safe that popped open "for now you'll use one of these." Placing the old lightsaber inside he grabbed one of the several others inside the safe and tossed it to Luke "It's close enough in size to the other one so changing back won't be that big of a problem."

Nodding, still somewhat shaken by the unexpected shout, Luke activated the black beamed lightsaber, this one's blade solid and unwavering as it let out it's smoke like aura. "How's it feel?" Marris asked as Luke got a feel for the powerful weapon "Well balanced?"

"It's perfect." Luke grinned, as giddy as a child at the prospect of the imminent training.

"Wait till you make your own that's truly connected to you," he chuckled "anyway, onto your training. There are several forms of lightsaber combat and I'll be showing you parts from Soresu, a primarily defensive style, and a variation of Vaapad, a highly offensive style. It will be up to you to choose a style to focus on above all or to do as most of us do and follow the universal way."

"The what?" the old man asked, speaking up for the first time. At the mention of Vaapad, something the Jedi had forbidden to use, the man had clearly been displeased but held his tongue for the time, much to his surprise. Confusion was apparently too much for his silence as the befuddled old Jedi spoke up.

"It's a concept from my home world," Harry explained "where there were several forms of unarmed combat. A pair of masters decided that the best form of combat isn't an existing style but for each individual user to make their own style. It has to be tailored to them, designed just for their own build and personality, with pieces taken from all other styles. It has its faults, that being that it isn't a set style a master can train you in and be able to readily gauge your progress and in that way, it is lesser than other styles. At the same time however, it is harder to predict as there are no set motions or techniques for it to learn and counter making the user unpredictable."

Luke was star eyed and eager at that description while Obi-Wan was thoughtful, "An interesting philosophy. I'm partial to my own style but I can see the wisdom in your method." The old man gave him a wry smile "If it weren't for the protests from these old bones I'd rather enjoy challenging you myself to see how it does."

"Just don't push yourself too far old timer," he grinned "Luke still needs you around."

"So, this Vaapad thing," Luke spoke up, turning the lightsaber off as a precaution "why a variation, why not the original?"

"The original Vaapad was known to corrupt those who used it," Obi-Wan educated "it involved a constant and sizeable stream of the force from the user along with the user needing to relish not only winning the fight but the act of fighting itself. It is the most vicious of all lightsaber forms, filled with fury and malice. I'm not sure how you would have adapted it apart from the way of the once Jedi Master Mace Windu who drew upon the rage of the user's opponent."

"All accurate," he nodded, mentally snickering as Luke and Obi-Wan both looked surprised at his agreement "but my adaption is different from that of Master Windu. Both versions of Vaapad known to the Jedi involved malice and rage. For the original they had tried to use the constant rage and malice but control it to keep themselves. Master Windu drew upon the malice of others but that too was dangerous. My way is in part because I do not divide the force into light and dark. The force is neither, it simply is. Much like a lightsaber it is neither good nor evil, it is the user who falls into those categories. I pour raw passion into the connection to the force. I pour righteous anger, a drive to win, a drive to protect, my will to survive. Raw rage is what makes the original Vaapad so corruptive."

"I…will wait and see." Obi-Wan clearly didn't' like the concept but after the argument the night before the man likely didn't want to rush in blindly about things.

"Now that lightsaber is good for training against droids to deflect blasters or to use in an actual fight. For sparring and training we use these." Moving to a stand he grabbed a couple of lightsabers with a royal purple band around the hilt, tossing one to Luke who activated it to find a much duller blade "These will sting and stun but won't cut through anyone."

"Sweet." Luke grinned "Now what do we start wi-Ah!" reacting quickly Luke brought his saber up to black a slash he delivered to the young farm boy.

"Good reflexes." He complimented cheerfully, giving the practice saber a loose spin "We'll be focusing on defense to begin with as keeping you alive is more important at the current moment. Now let's see what you can do on your own." With that he began a flurry of strikes upon the panicking farm boy.

"Arm up!" a yelp was the response.

"Your stance is too wide!" the sound of a practice saber zapping against flesh punctuated his remark.

"Actually try blocking!" on and on in continued as the audience laughed at the sight of a rookie being put through the ropes.

-Omake-

-Marcus-

Harry.

That one name had been on the lips of everyone he knew ever since the fiasco with the mirror and Voldemort revealing the truth. Scowling he looked down at his finger, at the heir's ring of the Potter family which Harry had left behind. "I don't deserve this." He sighed, taking the ring off and placing it on the wardrobe in front of him.

Right now, he was in his brother's old room, looking through it as his parents argued downstairs with others about what should be done with the current situation about Voldemort. There had been a divide growing between what had once been a solid faction under the leadership of Albus Dumbledore. One side still held an unwavering faith in the ancient wizard, seeing him as the best hope for facing the inevitable return of Voldemort.

The other group, of which one Nymphadora Tonks was a member of, was of the opinion that Dumbledore brought their current situation upon them. They knew of his brother's departure and survival, given that the position of Heir black still belonged to him much to Malfoy's displeasure, and were focused on recovering Harry. Tonks had recently gone through her old journals and realized that she had been good friends with Harry for the first few years of Hogwarts but that their friendship had ended partway through. The metamorph had insisted that someone must have memory charmed her to forget something like she had, although she refused to say exactly what the full situation was, but no one could find any traces of any such magic.

"They're all fools." He scowled angrily, before letting it out with a sigh, "And I'm one of the biggest." Dumbledore wasn't the answer, the man's time had long since passed and he was no longer fit to lead the wizarding world. At the same time though the man wasn't some sort of evil mastermind, manipulating things to ruin the life of one person nobody thought important.

"I can see why you left Harry." He let out a strained chuckle, trailing his hands across the spines of his brother's old books. That was true, after his world had been brought crumbling down by Voldemort and his parents spent all their time planning with Dumbledore he had been left alone in the manor, alone with just his thoughts. For hours he had spent remembering his past, remembering what he could of his older brother and he began to see why Harry had left, "We didn't deserve you."

Stopping at one book he glanced at it, the spine feeling different from the rest. Glancing he saw it was a plain leather journal. Unable to resist the siren's call of his curiosity Marcus opened it, flipping through the pages. It was a list of theories, spell concepts, exercise plans, potion recipes. Seeing it all his eyes hardened.

"I may not be prophesied to kill Voldemort." His voice was horse as he closed the journal with a snap "He may very well kill me in the end." Shoving the journal into his pocket he strode back to his own room with renewed purpose "But I'll be damned if I just roll over and take it. If that bastard wants to kill me then he'll have to fight for it." Getting to his room he dropped to the ground and started doing push ups like he saw listed in Harry's workout regiment in the journal.

"One…two…three."

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 9

-Dumbledore-

"Where did I go wrong Nicholas?" the Ancient headmaster asked his old friend and mentor, the two sharing a brandy and trying to enjoy some time together before the Flamell family dies out with its two most renowned members.

"You couldn't have seen this coming Albus," the ancient Alchemist sighed, refilling their glasses "no-one could have. You weren't alone in guessing what the 'power he knows not' could have been." Sighing in acknowledgment Dumbledore sipped his drink, remembering that very instance. Years ago, he and Nicholas had been part of a group of Wizards, dedicated to serving the light and helping their brother members around the world with keeping the Dark at bay. The group had poured over Sibyl's prophecy and decided that given Voldemort's origin and capacity for hate perhaps magic fueled by love would be the counter needed to stop the snake faced monstrosity.

With Voldemort's first fall he had given the groups theory to Lily and James, that the power of prophecy might come from love, to ensure that Marcus had what was needed to stop the Dark Lord one day. To have love, training, and a good heart.

"I just never expected them to neglect young Harry," he sighed, running a hand down his face "I thought better of the both of them." He had intended to aide in Marcus' training in the beginning and had he done so then he might well have noticed how Harry was treated. He would have if one of the other members of his group hadn't had their own Dark Lord problem he needed to help with. By the time that situation had been handled and the Dark Lord put down, for good, Harry had already given up on getting attention and so the situation passed right under his ancient crooked nose.

"How are they handling the news?" Nicholas asked before coughing, the man's body failing him with the loss of the elixir of life.

"Lily and James still have their faith in me but perhaps it is too much faith. They don't seem to acknowledge that what they did was wrong. Sirius has been drowning his sorrows in Firewhisky since young Harry left. Remus has become something of a hermit and is refusing all contact with anyone."

Nicholas sighed, throwing back his drink with a gulp and a shiver, "They held such promise too, I had rather hoped they might one day join our little brotherhood against the Dark."

"We both did Nicholas," refilling his mentor's drink he continued "Tonks has disappointed me more than I could have expected. A few weeks ago, she went to St. Mungos ward for obliviations and said she believed someone had used mind magics to influence her decisions and eventually forget her friendship with young Harry."

"Did they find anything?" Nicholas asked, likely already having guessed the answer.

"Nothing, no sign of any mind magic used against her. These people have found spells over a decade old so ones less than five would have been easy to find. Best I can guess from what I know is that she was blinded by opportunities and her own dreams along with the fact that Harry wasn't willing to forgive and forget. Despite what the healers found though she refuses to accept it and is insisting that I memory charmed her to try and make Harry's life miserable."

"Blaming everyone but herself." Nicholas groaned, far from impressed with the young witch "What about Marcus though? How's he handling all this, not well I assume."

"You would assume wrong actually." Chuckling softly at his old friend's surprise, Dumbledore continued "From what I've seen Marcus has taken all of this in stride. I believe he spent the time since the revelation from Voldemort to do some self-discovery and now seems determined to improve himself. While I know he might not have welcome my aide or advice I was able to sneak a few books of spells and such onto his path that will hopefully help."

"At least part of the next generation has their head on straight." Nicholas raised up a glass "To the next generation, to the hope that they can fix our mistakes and don't ruin the world with their own."

"Here's hoping." He echoed, tapping his glass to his mentor's as they drank, Nicholas unable to hold all of the drink down. "How long do you have left?"

"A year or two at the least," Nicholas coughed, whipping his mouth tiredly "no more than five though before Perenelle and I are off to the next great adventure."

"I will miss you my friend." tears pooled at the corners of his eyes as he gave his friend's should a squeeze, "No matter how long you live, how many times you go through it, the pain of losing a friend never changes."

"We both knew this day would one day come," Nicholas gave a dry laugh "after so many centuries I think it's finally time I should move on, regardless of the stone's loss. What of you, what do you plan to do given what's going on?"

"I…I think I should begin the steps to my retirement." Easing back into a chair he winced as his old bones protested movement "I've been at this game for too long Nicholas, been doing too much. The Wizenagamot, the ICW, Hogwarts, and leading Britain's Light against the Dark for these decades? It's too much to handle anymore. I think I'll give up the political positions and focus on being a Headmaster until this war is over, maybe offer what I can to young Marcus to help his training. After that," he gave a tired smile "Alchemist Dumbledore does have a nice ring to it, I suppose."

"That it does my young friend," Nicholas Flamell chucked and leaned back, eyes closed "that it does."

-Luke-

"I…hate…you…" the once farm boy wheezed in agony, his every muscle protesting so much as breathing as he lay on the cold metal floor of the ships training area, the others chuckling down at his suffering.

"Oh, you wound me." Harry chuckled the raven-haired monster in human form sat down, whipping away the thin layer of sweat upon his brow "Truly you do. Why if your skill with a saber was as viscous as your tongue you might be able to give me a paper cut."

"Ignore them," Marris smirked, causing a flush to appear on his cheeks, thankfully hidden thanks to his exhaustion "you did well for your first time. And the only ones I've seen keep up with Harry in lightsaber combat are Galen and Grievous but those two are just as much monsters in combat as Harry is."

"It's me being a monster that's kept us alive more often than not Marris." Harry pointed out seriously "And it's going to be needed if we're going to war against the empire fully now."

"Do you mean to simply hunt Imperial vessels, their supply lines and smaller outposts?" Old Ben asked the group "Or join the resistance?"

"Depends on what we feel after we meet the resistance." Galen shrugged "If we feel they're just as bad as the empire then we'll-" before he could find out just what the group would do all those in the room collapsed, their knees giving out from underneath them.

"Whatwasthat?" Luke demanded, having felt something even if not to the extent the other force sensitives in the room had.

"A great disturbance in the force." Oola shivered, clutching her arms as if she was freezing as Harry pulled her into an embrace "As if billions of voices were crying out in fear, in desperation, in panic…only to be snuffed out in an instant."

Luke watched as Harry forced himself to his feet and over to an intercom panel "Juno!" the captain barked into it "I want you to pull us out of hyper speed a click before we reach Alderan. I'll be taking the rogue shadow along with a few of the others to the planet from there. I want the forgotten Squadron ready for deployment as a precaution."

"Has there been a development captain?" the voice of Galen's wife asked through the intercom, sounding nervous at the drastic change of plans.

"There was a disturbance in the force, something colossal happened either at Alderan or close enough to it that I'm concerned. If my group and I give the order or lose communication for more than half an hour without a good reason then bring in the Calvary to get us back out. Understood?"

"Sir yes sir." Was the only reply as the orders were relayed through the ship, the sound of troops moving beginning to echo throughout it as the soldiers within prepared for what could very well be the first battle of a war.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 10

-Harry-

Feeling their lift come to a stop he began walking forward, exiting into the main hangar where the forgotten squadron was mobilizing, soldiers rushing about to prepare weapons and ships. "I want everyone armed and ready for this," he ordered the group behind him as they approached the weapons lockers "if you're coming then you're going to be ready to fight and, if need be, kill."

"Kill?" Luke gulped out, the farm boy not sure if he could accept the idea of taking another's life.

"This is war kid," Galen grunted, grabbing a blaster side arm to take "if you plan to be at the forefront you're going to have to take someone's life eventually. Best decide now if you want to stick with us in the thick of combat or do something else with your life."

"The Jedi way is to be a peace keep-" Obi Wan began to lecture before being cut off with a silencing spell.

"Old man, not now." He said seriously as the elderly Jedi panicked at suddenly being unable to talk "You can give me more opportunities to destroy your beliefs later. Right now, we don't need lies, hypocrisy, or anything else that isn't related to the mission. Understand?" when Obi Wan gave a reluctant nod the spell was lifted.

"Alright, Old man, you're coming with me, Galen, and Luke if he chooses to. We'll leave the droids here for now in case it's a trap or a major threat, so the Empire doesn't get their hands on them. Grab a weapon and be ready to move out." Taking a step towards one of the Rogue Shadows he glanced back "And if I have to hear some bullsh*t from you about how Jedi don't use blasters then I'll let you spend the rest of the journey locked in a supply closet where you can't bother me with any more stupid statements, am I clear?"

"Crystal." Was the surly response as the old man and Luke both grabbed blasters from the cage and followed Galen onto the ship.

"Juno," Harry spoke up as he and Galen took the pilots seats and began take off preparations "you hear me?"

"Loud and clear captain," Galen's wife spoke up through the intercom "I have the forgotten Squadron mobilized and ready for a rescue if needed. You get thirty minutes if things go silent, after that we're coming to get you and we'll bring hell with us." Nodding he let Juno and Galen use the private channel to say any 'personal' things they wanted to before the mission as he went to Luke and Obi-Wan who were getting familiar with their new blasters.

"This is a serious mission you two," he said seriously "our lives could be lost if things go wrong. If I give an order then you're both to obey without question, hesitation could cost us everything. Ready?" the two nodded, and in each Harry, saw something different. In Luke he saw the makings of a man who could become a great Hero and soldier. In Obi-Wan Harry saw an old soldier, ready for one last battle to end the fight that should have been nothing more than a memory.

"Ready for light speed captain!" Galen's voice came from the front as he joined his first mate at the controls.

"Punch it." He ordered, the world blurring around them as the Rogue Shadow shot off like a shooting star. "We should arrive at Alderan is fifteen minutes!" he called back to the others "Be ready to move if we have threats present." There were no words spoken as the ship continued on, the atmosphere tense as the only sounds were the mechanical noises of the ship, a passive feed to the Citadel continuously kept up.

"Alright, we're exiting light speed in three…two…one!" he pulled back on the lever as the ship slowed down, "sh*t!" Harry exclaimed, yanking on the controls to avoid crashing headlong into an asteroid, rubble and stone everywhere around them in what should have been the space around Alderan.

"Where's the planet?!" Galen exclaimed as they dodged stones, Luke and Obi-Wan rushing up to see the massive asteroid field that shouldn't have been there.

"We just dodged it." He said grimly as they escaped the dense field, seeing empty space where once had been one of the most peaceful planets in the galaxy "The Planet's been destroyed." A light on the control panel flashed red as the ship shook, their shields taking a blow from an imperial T-Fighter that shot away.

"At least we know the culprits now," Galen snarled, warming up the weapons systems "hang on!" they shot after the small T-fighter, firing blasts at the two-man shuttle ship. "Juno," Galen tried contacting his wife only for static to come back, "Juno! Do you copy?"

"Is something blocking the transmission?" Luke asked confused.

"We need to leave, now!" Obi-Wan said, looking about for whatever could be blocking their communication signals.

"Can't!" Harry grunted, struggling to turn the ship against whatever force held it "They have us in a tractor beam!" giving up on that he rushed to another panel and began putting in commands "Ejecting escape pods, trajectories random," he muttered to himself as he typed away frantically at the computer "deleting all files regarding the movements of the citadel and her crew, all access codes, and initiating the Blackbriar protocol."

"The what?" Luke asked confused as Galen gave a savage grin.

"A series of false files and codes that replace the real ones should they be deleted. As the icing on the cake it unleashes a series of massive digital viruses into the ships system so that when the empire scans the ships systems they'll upload dozens if not hundreds of adapting viruses into their network. They'll manage to delete them all eventually, but it'll slow them down for a bit."

"So, we're going to a base on that moon?" Luke asked, looking over his and Gamlen's shoulders to state out the window.

"Moon?" Harry asked confused "What moon? Alderan never had…a…moon." He turned and saw the massive structure that he recognized. "That's an Imperial battle station," he cursed' I recognize the shape, it's the one they tried using Grievous' mind to operate. Everyone move!" he ushered them out of the co*ckpit as they got closer and closer to the massive battle station, it's hangar doors opening as the tractor beam pulled them in "Hide in here!" he shoved them into a small room and used a notice me not spell on the door before using the terminal in the room to access the security cameras.

The second the ship landed inside the station soldiers were prying at the door to the ship, forcing it open as Stormtroopers flooded inside, blasters aimed and ready to fire at anything that moved. Luke and Obi-Wan were openly confused at the stormtroopers walking past their room without commenting or searching it likely assumed it was a force mind trick as they remained silent. "No sign of any life forms." One Imperial officer said into a communicator "The ship's log does state however that all escape pods were jettisoned before capture. I'll have a team in here to search the ship for any signs of the droids and to check the system for any other information Lord Vader." He saw Obi-Wan stiffen at the name and mentally sighed, of course there had to be a Sith Lord on board the damned station.

"We need to get out of here," he whispered in case their voices carried out past the door "the lost squadron will be here in around forty minutes, but we won't be able to leave with that tractor beam up and running."

"I can deactivate it." Obi-Wan whispered back "Can you take out the guards in the control tower?" Nodding he used the terminal to see where the Stormtroopers were on the vessel. Sneaking out he returned with four unconscious imperial soldiers as the group stripped them of their armor and donned the new disguises, leaving the stunned soldiers locked in the hidden room as they exited the ship and the hangar. Watching Obi-Wan go one way they went another and to the control tower.

-Darth Vader-

"Lord Vader." Turning the Sith Lord saw one of Palpatine's precious officers standing there waiting to report "We've searched the ship top to bottom and found no signs of droids, it's possible they managed to flee in the escape pods. Some of our officers have failed to report back when called so it's possible some members of the ship managed to hide from our scanners and are now on the station. Your orders?"

"Do we have all the files from the ships mainframe?" he asked the officer, curious as to what his old apprentice was up to, the Rogue Shadow being recognizable even after all these years. Upon the Officer's stiff nod, he continued "Then destroy that ship, I don't want them escaping." When the Officer turned to leave he called out "And officer, tell your men to be cautious. If our intruders are who I'm thinking of then they are powerful in the force."

The man, one who lived in the time of the Jedi, paled at that and nodded, rushing off to give the orders. "My old master and my old apprentice," Vader chuckled darkly "the Force is indeed smiling upon me this day."

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 11

-Obi-Wan-

Wincing at the protest from his old bones, Obi-Wan walked through the halls, blaster in hand as if he were a simple Stormtrooper. None of the other clones that he once fought alongside seemed to pay him any mind, not even noticing the lightsaber at his hip. That in itself was more worrying than it was comforting as he had never seen anyone with that degree of control over the force to make people simply not notice something from the distance Harry was from him, or in the way Harry had hid the door they hid behind earlier. "I doubt even Master Yoda could have done that." He muttered softly to himself.

"Trooper BB628!" straightening he saw an Imperial officer walking over, black uniform ironed and crisp, a sneer of smug superiority adorning the man's features, "Your unit was assigned to the hanger bay, why aren't you at your post?"

Not seeing anyone else nearby he reached out with the force and touched the man's mind, "You never saw me," he said calmly as he exerted his influence "you're going to go to the kitchens with any other troopers you come across. The intruders who got aboard the station are planning to poison the food supply."

With that the man's eyes widened in horror as the officer took off running, the echoed yell of "Troopers, with me!" coming faintly down the corridors after a moment.

Smirking, the old Jedi continued heading down to where the power for the tractor beam was coming from "This old bantha isn't out of the game yet." Feeling more confident than he had in years, despite being forced to where this ridiculous armor, he reached the cavernous room where the tractor beam generator was housed. Seeing two troopers on the walkway, and remembering the bizarre yet creative ways that Harry had used the force and his lightsaber training, Obi-Wan decided to try something.

Normally when he used the force, Obi-Wan would use brute force in a force push or something simple, like overriding a single thought or action which he would have to do again if he delayed leaving or if they stayed. Here though he reached out and affected how the two troopers would perceive the world. "There is nothing wrong." He whispered, beads of sweat dotting his forehead as he rewrote their perceptions, something he was learning was far harder to change than thoughts "Should anyone radio to ask you will tell them that the generator is fully functioning and that any problem is coming from elsewhere." Panting from the energy that took to do he snuck around the side of the generator and powered it down, using the lightsaber he had gotten from Harry to cut through the handle, so nobody could power it back up.

"Trooper XS1783," a static riddled voice came through on a communicator held by one of the two troopers he had just influenced "there are intruders aboard the station. They may seek to disable the tractor beam, make sure nothing-" the man was cut off by an explosion "I said not to use that much you imbecile!" the officer yelled over the com "Idiots," came the scathing rebuke before the officer continued "Make sure nothing and no one sabotages that tractor beam, we've just destroyed their ship so that avenue of escape is blocked but there are others they could take advantage of. Don't fail in your task or you shall answer to Lord Vader." Silently Obi-Wan slipped out and began sneaking back to the rendezvous point of the control tower near the hanger, while their ship was gone there was still a whole squadron of backup on their way.

-Leia-

Wincing, the princess of Alderan clutched her head. Battles of wits and words were something she was used to, something she knew how to handle and would have been fine with. But Vader's interrogation probe had been torture. Drugs and truth serums and pain in an unending co*cktail of agony as her vision swam. Shifting between every color and she was sure she could detect the faint taste of purple. She had just enough lucidity to know that she hadn't revealed where the Rebel Base was, or anything about Obi-Wan Kenobi but it was only a matter of time before those sessions became too much and she revealed what Vader wanted to know. One thing she wasn't sure if she had dreamed or if it was real still confused her mind and haunted her memories for what almost happened.

-Flashback-

"I'll be back soon Princess," the raspy mechanical voice of Darth Vader spoke "perhaps you'll more cooperative after an hour of these new sensations." The drugs were still in the early stages of taking effect but at the moment she couldn't even move, her entire body fighting against her. Trying to move her hand made her foot twitch, trying to lift her leg made her head shake.

As Vader began to leave the room her Stormtrooper guard stalked towards her and even with the helmet on and the drugs in her system she could feel the sickening intent from the cloned soldier. The sickeningly lustful chuckle from the trooper made her skin crawl as she tried to force her body to fight back, her vision tinted with a light shade of blue.

When his hands began to trail up her leg towards her chest she wanted to scream, to thrash, to be sick, but the drugs prevented it all. Just before the trooper could begin to fondle her chest he let out an agonized scream as she could hear bone snapping. From the doorway Darth Vader stood, hand outstretched at the trooper. The screams soon turned to strangled gurgles as more and more snapping sounds echoed out from within the armor, blood leaking out from a few points as the trooper went limp. As Vader left, the sound of the corpse echoing as it fell down something long, she could have sworn she heard him say a name, something starting with 'P' but the rest was unintelligible.

-End Flashback-

Eventually her body had once more come under her control, but the swimming colors and sensations had only grown worse. A short time before she had heard panicked orders as the sound of many of the troopers outside her cell rushed off to handle some sort of emergency.

"Aaaaaaargh!" a pained scream roused her from her delirious thoughts as Leia looked up at the door, hearing the sounds of what she assumed was battle and carnage just outside it. Blaster bolts screaming through the air, corpses hitting the ground, and a strange humming noise that she had never heard before. The screams grew louder before, suddenly, they stopped.

"She's in cell 4." Came a voice that didn't sound like Vader, Tarkin, or any of the troopers.

Trying to sit up so she could at least attempt to defend herself Leia watched as the metal door slid up into the ceiling where she saw a tall man removing storm trooper armor, his features showing no resemblance to that of the clone army. "Hey," came a soft voice, "look at me." She tried to follow his finger, but the blurring made her dizzy. "Drink this." A vial of something was put to her lips as she was forced to swallow. The second the liquid hit her stomach she bent over and retched, the scent putrid acidic vomit filling her nostrils as she emptied her stomach. With each heave however, her vision began to clear more and more and by the time she stopped she was able to stand under her own power, admittedly shaky, but still standing.

"What…who are you?" she panted, the man picking her up and over the large puddle of vomit, giving her a chance to see two others outside her cell, one another dark haired stranger and the second a blond who felt oddly familiar that seemed to be entering shock.

"I'm Harry Peverell, Captain of the Citadel," the man who gave her the liquid that made her throw up said, his voice ringing with authority earned through battle "the three of us came here with Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Obi-Wan Kenobi!" she exclaimed, shock and adrenaline helping steady her legs for the moment.

"He's going to meet us at the hangar bay," the man with black hair and green eyes grinned "the cavalry should be here soon to make things interesting."

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 12

-Vader-

Standing still as a statue, Darth Vader stared down at the burning twisted lump of metal that had once been the Rogue Shadow. "The tractor beam is still fully operational Lord Vader." One of the officers reported, snapping to attention while giving the report "There is a rather large commotion currently going on as a Lieutenant is leading a frantic search through the galleys, claiming that the intruders poisoned our food stores."

Frowning behind his mask Vader considered the facts of the situation "Captain," he turned towards the officer, ignoring the fear he can sense rolling from the man in waves "send more men to check the tractor beam generator, it is quite possible that one of the intruders was able to use the force on the clones."

"Right away Lord Vader." the Captain didn't hesitate or bother to question, he would have to remember this officer. "Second Lieutenant Dumas, send two troopers to check the tractor beam generator." The captain ordered from the command station communicator, "Orders from Lord Vader himself." The mad scramble to obey his orders he heard on the other side of the cummionaction before it was cut off was mildly amusing. "Anything else you need Lord Vader?" the Captain asked professionally, showing none of the fear he could feel the man filled with.

"Check on the prison level, it is likely they are here to rescue the Princess." As the Captain once more nodded and moved to obey Vader thought back to their prisoner, remembering the rage he had felt when one of the Stormtroopers had moved to take his pleasure from her. The look of drugged but still heart clenching fear on her face caused the face of his beloved Padme to flash through his mind. She would never have approved of such an act. Without even thinking he had reached out and crushed the body of the trooper, snapping bones and bursting organs before dumping it in the garbage like the trash it was.

"Lord Vader, the prison guards aren't responding." The Captain's report roused him from his thoughts "I've sent a battalion to go and reinforce the containment cells and to capture anyone down there."

Nodding he wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his lightsaber, "I will be going down to the Hangar bay, that's where the intruders will be going. You are to go appraise Tarkin of the situation, ensure he does nothing foolish." Orders delivered he turned and stalked out of the command tower, his fist clenching hard on his lightsaber. Yes, Padme wouldn't have approved of what that Stormtrooper had attempted to do. But then again, Padme wouldn't have approved of much of what he had done in the past twenty years either.

-Harry-

"Captain!" Galen shouted, poking out from behind cover to fire at the Stormtroopers who had flooded into the prison sector "I think it's possible they know we're here!"

"You don't say?" he snarked back, firing his own bolt and attempting to hit the door lock to keep more troopers out. "Luke, how you holding up over there!"

"How the bloody hell do you think I'm holding up?!" Came Luke's far from pleased voice as the once farm boy kept firing randomly over the edge of a control panel, not even looking where the bolts were going. It wasn't likely to hit anything, unless Luke suddenly became far more intuned with the Force than Harry realized, but it was keeping the Stormtroopers on their toes.

"Not good, got it." Getting tired of this he focused his anger and frustration, bringing forth power as electricity began to crackle in his hands. Ignoring the princess' wide eyes stare he leapt from behind cover and blasted forth with the lightning, arcs of pure energy hitting his enemies and bouncing to those around them, Galen quickly coming out to do the same as the Troopers inside the prison fell, their armor melted or shattered.

"Now what?" a shaking Luke asked, pointedly refusing to look in the direction of the dead bodies as they enjoyed the momentary pause to breathe the locked door was giving them. "That's the only door in this place and it-" they all looked up as sparks started flying from the metal, the Stormtroopers on the other side beginning to cut through the door "is about to let in more of these assholes."

"We can't go out then we go down." Galen pointed at a grate, the metal ripping itself from the wall with the merest thought.

"Let's get going." He nodded "I'll go first, then Luke, then you," he turned to Leia and nodded "Galen, you bring up the rear." That said he jumped down the shaft, using the force to cushion his fall as the garbage and sludge was pushed away from his landing. Moments later he heard Luke falling and redirected him with the force so that his friend wouldn't get hurt upon impact. Leia however had jumped down far sooner than he had expected and instead of using the force to guide her fall he ended up catching her in her arms, having only been able to slow it down. Thankfully Galen could handle his own landing as Harry set down a blushing Leia and looked around, his nose wrinkling in disgust at the putrid smells in the pit they found themselves in.

"Joy," Luke grimaced "a garbage compactor. Harry, can you get this door open?" nodding, and stepping over an oddly crushed storm trooper gauntlet that was sticking out of a pile of rubbish he placed his hand on a control panel, focusing his technomancy into the machine. The lights flashed wildly as he overrode the systems before the door opened with a hiss.

"How did you do that?" Leia demanded, her eyes seemingly stuck in a state of wide shock.

"Magic." He grinned as Galen stifles a snicker and Leia seems unamused. The door to the compactor closes behind them easily. "Now come on, we need to get to the hangar bay."

"Should probably change first," Galen scowled and flicked sludge off his remaining Stormtrooper armor "we'll draw a great deal of attention covered in slime." Recognizing that he moved over to a terminal and hacked into a map.

"There's a supply room that way," he pointed "let's go." Inside they found several uniforms of various styles and rank. Quickly he grabbed an officer's uniform "We're on a low level of the station and we'll have to work our way back up to the hangar. Galen, Luke, you two put on armor again. Leia, the only women on this station are secretaries for officers so you'll have to play that part." The princess seemed far from pleased at that but complied, going to a corner to change behind some boxes into the uniform of an imperial secretary while he changed into his officers uniform and Galen and Luke swapped dirty armor pieces for clean ones. "Alright you three," he nodded when everyone had changed "let's move. We only have ten minutes before our extraction is set to arrive."

-Vader-

"Lord Vader!" turning from the Stormtroopers he was giving orders to in preparation for the arrival of the intruders he saw the Captain from before running over "The Tractor beam is down. I have a team down there to repair the damaged pieces and get it back online."

"How long will this take Captain?" he demanded, not wanting this group to slip through his fingers.

"Twenty minutes."

-Remus-

Gone. That one word haunted him like a plague, repeating over and over in his mind as he was forced to accept that Harry, a child he had never done right by, was gone and would likely never come back. James and Lily refused to see what they did wrong, they refuse to see how they betrayed their pack and their status as alphas.

Sirius was lost to the bottle, lost to grief and misery with no one to support him given that Remus, once again, had fled like a coward.

"No more." He hissed, nails digging into the palms of his hand as he sat in his tiny hut, hidden away in the depths of the forests. "I will not be weak anymore." Forcing his aching bones to obey him he sat cross legged and closed his eyes, trying to find the spirit of the wolf within him. The damn thing had given him nothing but pain in the past but no more. Now it would be his salvation, whether it wanted to submit or not.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 14

-Marcus-

Panting slightly, Marcus kept running around the Black Lake, the crisp Saturday morning air filling his lungs as he continued his routine. A few other students were sitting around the lake, working on their assignments for the beginning of the new year or just relaxing for the nice Saturday. Seeing the tree that was his starting point, Marcus put on a bit of extra speed, managing to pass the spot as he finally began to slow down, turning his jog into a walk as he entered the cooldown portion of the routine.

"Augumenti." He gasped, pointing his wand at his face and letting the cool water drench over him. Shaking like a dog, Marcus began toweling off, remembering the discussion he had with Headmaster Dumbledore roughly a week after the term had started.

-Flashback-

"Headmaster." Marcus greeted stiffly as he entered the old man's office, Professor McGonagall departing now that he was dropped off. He wasn't sure what the Old wizard wanted or how to feel about the man.

"Marcus, or would you prefer Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore gestured to the comfortable looking chair in front of the desk, the question genuinely catching Marcus off guard.

"Um…Marcus?" the second year coughed and shook himself, "Marcus is fine."

"Marcus then." Dumbledore nodded, standing up to browse some shelves. "I've noticed your early morning runs." The old man pulled a book down and set it on a table.

"They don't break any rules sir." Marcus straightened his back, feeling slightly defensive as the old man sent him an amused look.

"I'm well aware," Dumbledore chuckled, "and relax, I didn't bring you here to punish you Marcus." Another book joined the pile. "Marcus, when you were an infant I made a grave mistake with how I handled the situation with your family." And so Dumbledore began telling him about an order of Witches and Wizards from around the world who fought against the forces of Dark Witches and Wizards. It had been founded by Helga Hufflepuff if Dumbledore was to be believed and Dumbledore had been inducted into the Order by Nicholas Flamell.

"So…why are you telling me this?" Marcus tilted his head in puzzlement as Dumbledore added a couple more books to the pile on the table.

"Because I'm trying something differently now." Dumbledore pulls down one last book and brings the pile over, "I'm looking for replacements to take my political positions and once Voldemort is gone I'll retire from Hogwarts to devote my time to Alchemic research. I doubt I'm the best to give advice onwhatto do," Dumbledore gave him a piercing look, "but I can give you resources and knowledge. These are some of the books from my private collection you can start with. If you finish those and need more, or want me to give you some extra lessons, just let me know." Dumbledore slid the spell tomes over as Marcus took them in a daze, returning to his dorm as he locked the books up in his trunk, making sure to set his security spells.

"That...wasn't what I expected." Marcus shook himself and went to go start his daily workout.

-End Flashback-

Marcus was halfway back to the castle when he heard the pounding of feet. He had barely gotten the chance to turn towards the sound before he heard a shout, "Stupefy!" throwing himself to the ground, Marcus rolled under the crimson spellfire as the students watching began screaming and panicking.

"Reducto!" Marcus shouted, blasting the ground, "Bombarda!" his second spell sent gravel flying towards his attackers. Coming to his feet, Marcus froze in shock at seeing the distinct red robes of the Aurors. Capitalizing on his shock, the aurors fired again as three stunning spells slammed hard into his chest, sending him flying back as his vision went black.

-Dumbledore-

"Cornelius!" Albus Dumbledore roared, his magic lashing out and blasting open the door to the Minister's office where the Minister and his undersecretary were looking over a report, "You dare?!"

"A-Albus?" Fudge squeaked as Umbridge turned puce, "W-w-what are you doing here?"

"You kidnapped one of my students." Dumbledore's wrath was palpable, his aura burning as the surface of the wooden desk and the wallpaper began to bubble and burn, turning a dead sickly black color.

"Marcus Potter was arrested for the crime of studying Dark Magic." Umbridge sneered.

"I wasn't talking to you bitch." Dumbledore snapped at her as Umbridge gaped in shock before the Headmaster turned back to Fudge, "He committed no crimes Cornelius."

"Look Albus, this is politics." Fudge gulped, "Everyone is in shock and angry at the Potters given what's happened. You should have kept Voldemort being back a secret but it's too late now. Everyone's scared and I need a win to keep office so I can fix this. You don't want to upheave the country worse, now do you?" Fudge tried to sound coaxing.

"Know this Cornelius." Dumbledore rose slowly, his aura fading away as his burning rage turned to cold precise fury "You've officially burnt any bridges you had with me. I…will…bury…you." Turning, he stormed out to go find some competent ministry workers to try and stop this, ignoring the whimpering of Fudge…and the smell of loosened bowels.

-Harry-

"Sir, we have a problem." The voice of Jarvis filled the medical bay as Harry and the rest of the group who were on the Death Star were being checked out.

"What sort of problem Jarvis?" Harry frowned, standing up as Oola continued to run tests on Galen.

"We've been bugged sir." The voice of the AI filled the room as a screen blipped to life to show him the status of the various systems on the Citadel. "It would seem that a tracker was placed upon First Mate Galen upon your exit from the Death Star. The tracking program then jumped from the chip that was placed upon Galen to the shuttle that brought him back to the Citadel and then to our systems. It has already relayed out destination back to its source."

"Damn it!" Galen shot to his feet, ignoring Oola's protests at this action and began pacing.

"I knew it was too easy." Harry grit his teeth, focusing his technopathy as he found the bug and destroyed it. He hadn't thought to check when they first got back, too focused on helping Galen and making sure they were getting away. His technopathy was incredible for helping him with anything technical but if he wasn't focusing, he wouldn't know about technology around him. It was the reason he hadn't sensed Vader's cybernetics or tried to scramble the man's armor, the less he knew about a certain system the harder it was to manipulate him. The more he got a grip on a piece of technology the more he could do. After all the time he spent in it he could likely control the Citadel with just his mind if he needed to, he would have to focus just to do anything with the Death Star and his range would be limited.

"Princess," he turned towards the recently liberated politician, "get to the bridge now! Send a warning to the rebels so they know what's coming. We'll need to either evacuate their base or prepare to fight back when the Death Star shows up looking for a fight."

"R-right." Leia, shaken at knowing they actuallyhadbeen allowed to escape just to kill the rest of the rebels, follows Juno to the bridge.

Seeing Oola force Galen back down, Harry sent a passing thought as an alarm began blaring throughout the Citadel, putting every member of the crew on red alert that they would soon be in a battle. Every gun was being loaded, the fighters being prepared, and the shields checked. "May the Force be with us all."

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 15

-Harry-

Standing firm, gazed at the landing pad of the Yavin Rebel base they had just arrived at, a group waiting to meet them thanks to Princess Leia's call. With him were his officers, Luke, Leia, and Obi-Wan. "I think you'll be excited for soon Galen." Leia smiled at Harry's second in command as well as Juno.

"What are you talking about?" Galen asked with a confused frown, the man still somewhat shaken after the reveal of his forgotten past. Leia just gave a knowing grin as they climbed down the docking ramp, a group hurrying over to meet them.

"Galen?!" an old man who Harry sensed was strong in the force shouted stunned, the wrappings over his eyes implying the man was blind, the rebel running over and pulling Galen and Juno into a bear hug.

"Kota, is that you?" Old Kenobi asked, studying the old blind man.

"Master Kenobi? This is indeed a great day for the resistance!" the blind man shouted with a happy laugh "A Jedi Master as well as the resistance's lost founder all arriving on the same day!"

"Wait what?!" Galen held up his hands as he escaped the bear hug, "I'm what?"

"Galen sadly suffered from Amnesia after the Kamino mission you told me about before." The princess spoke up to Kota, "I was hoping spending time with his old teacher could help his memory return."

"I thought Vader was his teacher." Luke frowned puzzled as Commander Rex met with some of the rebel officers to go over what supplies and munitions were on the Citadel.

"He was the child of two Jedi Knights, Kento and Mallie Marek who'd fled to the Wookie world of Kashyyyk after the rise of the Empire. He was taught some by his father before Vader caught up with them. Vader spent over a decade shaping Galen into a tool before Galen started breaking away, at which point I took up his training. He helped form the resistance in its infancy and even ensured our groups escape when the Emperor and Vader had captured us. I'd thought he was dead at first after that, but he then showed up to help rescue me a couple years later. I'd thought him dead for a second time after Kamino when Bobba Fett rescued the captured Vader. Try not to disappear again kid, I don't think you have another miraculous resurrection ready."

Not sensing any lie, Harry nodded and approached the old man, offering a hand "Any friend of Galen's is good enough for me. I'm Hadrian Peverell, Captain of the Citadel where Galen serves as my second in command."

"We'll have more time to catch up later." Another woman spoke up, approaching their group with her face stiff, "We have to discuss the looming imperial attack you've brought with you."

"You mean from the group that was already hunting you?" Harry rose up, flexing his presence in the force so even those who weren't force sensitive could feel it "After we'd rescued Princess Leia and infected the Imperial Battle Station with hundreds of adaptive viruses?Andsent you notice of the looming attack to provide time to evacuate or prepare? That threat?"

"…Yes…that one." Jedi Kota nodded with a cough although Harry could swear the man held back a snicker at the woman's stunned expression.

"We've been studying the plans you sent ahead." A scientist decided to speak up and break the building tension, "We think we've found an exploitable weakness."

"Excellent." Harry gave a savage grin, "Let's hear the details. My men and I will be happy to lend our aide in the coming fight against the Imperial dogs."

-Marcus-

Waking up, the first thing Marcus was aware of was the extreme pain his body was in having been hit by three simultaneous stunning spells prior to being moved wherever he was. "Comfortable in there?" a mocking voice sneered from his left as Marcus turned, seeing a set of bars, a red robed auror on the other side, "I hope not you little Dark Wizard."

"I'm no Dark Wizard." Marcus groaned, sitting up and glaring back at the Auror despite the pain his body was in.

"Not from what I heard. Got a nice little tip off about you learning Aztec Dark Arts." The man sneered down at him. Hearing those words though, Marcus felt a cold betrayed sting, knowing the only ones that he'd mentioned that book to were Ron and Hermione meaning one of them reported him or they'd talked to others about it. Either way, he'd be having words when he got out of this mess.

"Dawlish!" a new voice snapped as he saw a red-haired woman with a monocle enter the area his cell was in, giving a scowl to the now named Dawlish, "Back to your desk, now."

"Yes, Madame Bones." The auror was quick to nod and scurry away at the woman's obvious displeasure.

"Marcus Potter," the woman turned towards him "I've come to take you for your questioning. If you resist you will be stunned again." Giving a cold glare and a nod, he didn't resist as the woman led him to a small room where he was chained to a chair. "Questioning of Marcus Potter, date September twelfth nineteen ninety-two. Marcus Potter are you aware of the reason you were detained?" the woman, Madame Bones, asked as a dicta-quill transcribed what was being said.

"Only what that Dawlish guy said," Marcus scowled as he answered "that somebody told the Ministry I was learning Dark Magic. Other than that, the only thing I know is that I was attacked on my morning run with no warning by people wearing ministry red."

"Explain that." The questioner frowned at his statement.

"I was doing my morning run when someone launched a stunner at me from behind unannounced. So, I retaliated by launching some reductor curses at the ground and bombarda spells to blast the debris at those attacking me. I was surprised when I saw red Auror robes and so they took advantage of that surprise to hit me with three stunners. The only words they said to me the entire time were the names of the spells used. There was no demand for surrender, no identification, only assault." As he spoke, the woman was writing something down on a separate pad even while the dicta-quill transcribed his answer.

"And for the charges of learning Dark Magic?" Bones asked, eyebrow raised.

"I was reading and taking notes on a theoretical study about trying to modernize Aztec war enchantments. The magic already isn't that Dark to begin with despite what Fudge seems to think but more than that reading theory isn't illegal."

"Do you have any proof?" Bones asked him even as she stood up, the questioning clearly close to being done.

"I'm willing to testify using Veritaserum at my trial." Marcus retorted seriously. He was pissed and would be more than happy to see whoever screwed him over like this get buried.

"Understood. And I will be looking into your claims of how my arurors handled the situation." Bones promised as she led him back to his cell.

-Dumbledore-

Steepling his fingers with a stern gaze, Dumbledore looked across his desk at the young second year Hermione Granger who shifted about nervously in her seat, Minerva sitting beside the student. "Miss Granger," his tone was heavy with disappointment as he spoke which seemed to be physical painful for the girl "I am well aware that you are the one who contacted the Ministry to accuse young Mr. Potter. What I want to know is why?"

"He was breaking the law sir!" the girl protested vehemently, "He was studying Dark Magic!"

"Aztec war enchantments yes?" he shook his head, "Miss Granger, theoretical study is not illegal. And even still, the last couple of Ministers have declared several branches of magic Dark without enough due cause, including ancient societies methods such as the Aztec warriors."

"But the aurors came to arrest him, that means he broke the law!" Miss Granger continued to insist, refusing to accept that she wasn't correct.

"On the orders of Cornelius Fudge who wanted a scapegoat to vilify for the public, all in the aims of boosting his own image. The arrest was illegal, more of a kidnapping, and I fully intend to see Fudge buried for his actions. You however filed accusations against another student on the ministry level in the aim of getting them arrested when they hadn't done anything wrong. Since all you did was send a letter I cannot suspend or expel you however I am having you placed in detention for the next six months. Added to that you will have this added to your record which may way against your chances of becoming Prefect or Head Girl." The girls' expression was so mortified one would think he'd just cursed her.

"That…isn't that too much sir?" Miss Granger squeaked out in horror.

"Young lady, because of your actions an innocent young man is sitting in a Ministry Holding cell awaiting a trial. He was attacked on School grounds and suffered three simultaneous stunners which is a dangerous attack to receive. You're lucky your punishment isn't worse." With that he nodded to Minerva to take the now babbling and sobbing girl back to her dormitory, he still had to try and fix this mess and get young Marcus out of the hole Cornelius wanted to place him in.

-Harry-

Walking through his troops, Harry inspected the fighters as they readied their ships. The plan proposed made sense, blowing up the main core to cause a chain reaction, even if the spot needed would be near impossible to hit thanks to its small size, location, and it being an exhaust port and therefore expelling gas. The best bet would be using the force to direct the proton torpedoes which is why Harry and Galen were suiting up for the upcoming battle as well as Luke and the rest of the Citadel forces. Harry and Galen planned to be the ones to make the shot, Luke would try if needed, while the rest were there to keep the other forces off their back along with the Rebel fighters.

"They're still not happy at you hijacking their plan you know." Turning, Harry saw Leia leaning against a fighter as she studied him, "They don't trust you."

"And I don't trust them." Harry shrugged unrepentant as he helped Luke get his ship loaded "Luckily I care about living more than being petty. I assume you won't be joining us in the air?"

"Believe me, I'd like to." Leia grumbled irritably "But the Rebel leaders won't let me. we're already losing some fighters to protect the evacuation convoy as well as loosing Generals Kota and Kenobi. We need everyone we can get!"

"If it helps you can assist Oola." Harry told her as he walked over to his own fighter, checking it for the upcoming fight, "That and keep those 'Rebel Leaders' from doing anything too stupid."

"Toostupid?" Leia arched an eyebrow at him as he climbed into the co*ckpit of his fighter.

"I can't ask for a miracle and get you to keep them from doinganythingstupid now can I?" Harry laughed as the co*ckpit slid closed "That would be unreasonable!" he was still laughing as he took to the skies.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 16

-Marcus-

Head held high, Marcus walking into the Ministry courtroom, the enchanted chains rattling and clinking around his wrists and ankles. The seats were packed with the Wizenagamot, with reporters, with curious civilians wanting to see what would happen. From what little he could gather form his cell, Cornelius Fudge, he refused to call that man the Minister, had been pushing the press to talk about his 'crimes' and 'dark acts' in the hopes of getting a court case thrown out before it could even come to trial, have him convicted immediately. Given he was being led in for trial it clearly hadn't succeeded. Seeing, and pointedly ignoring, the Fudge and Umbridge, Marcus began looking around. He saw Dumbledore sitting with Amelia Bones, saw his parents holding on to each other nervously, saw Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus sitting together, both of them disheveled with dark bags and sunken faces, but they were there for him.

He didn't have time to observe anything else as an auror, one he recognized as the arse Dawlish, roughly shoved him into a wooden chair, a spell from the auror forcing the chains around it to lash around Marcus' limbs. Seeing this, Fudge stood up "I hereby call to session todays court. Before us stands the accused, Marcus Sirius Potter, for the crimes of studying, learning, and performing dark magic. Representing the prosecution is Lord Yaxley, representing the Defense is Miss Tonks." The last was said with a barely repressed disdainful sneer towards the woman that Marcus recognized as the one cousin Uncle Sirius actually liked.

"Objection!" speak of the devil, or Grimm, Uncle Sirius shot up, his face gaunt but his voice hard and angry "Minister, you shall pay my cousin the respect she deserves and not slander her name again. Andromeda Tonks was reinstated into the Black Family; she has all the rights of a Lady of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. She is also married, as you notably ignored, so even without her Ladyship she should be referred to as Misses. If you dare to insult my kin once more, I shall demand an honor duel, and I promise you that you won't survive it." that threat sent a ripple of shocked whispers around the courtroom. There was no law to prevent anyone from demanding an honor duel with the minister, or a declaring a blood feud, but it wasn't seen as something one did regardless. If it happened, then Uncle Sirius would be the first to issue a duel to the Minister in over three centuries.

"How dare you threaten the Minister!" Umbridge screeched, face turning violet "Aurors! Arrest him and his half breed pet!"

"I demand an honor duel." Uncle Remus' cold voice carried before the aurors could carry our their order or anyone could attempt to belay it, primal eyes boring into a paling Umbridge "To be done immediately lest the house of Lupin declare a blood feud against the House of Umbridge."

"Given that Undersecretary Umbridge did try to have a Lord of a Most Ancient and Noble House thrown from a trial where their vote would count and insulted the head of a minor house it is within the law." Amelia spoke up as she rose, turning to Umbridge who's red skin was now a ghostly white "What will it be Madame Undersecretary? Accept the duel here and now or deal with a blood feud?"

"That…thatthingis a half breed abomination!" Umbridge snarled "It has no rights! Much less the right to declare a blood feud or demand an honor duel against a pureblood such as myself! Guards! Throw him in a cell! He is to be taken to Azkaban later."

"A pureblood?" Dumbledore raised a cold eyebrow "An odd lie to tell Dolores, especially since I taught you at Hogwarts. I'm well aware that your father was Orford Umbridge, the old floor mopper at the Ministry, and that your mother was a muggle who took your squib brother to the non-magical world after your father left her. But if you've claimed to be pureblood and placed that on your records that would be a case of fraud, would it not?" the question was directed at Madame Bones "Why, an investigation would have to be done at once. It wouldn't look good at your own hearing if it also came to light you ran from an honor duel, you'd brought upon yourself."

"F-fine!" Umbridge spat out, attempting to remained composed as Marcus' chair was quickly pulled back to allow room for the two duelists, a tradition that hadn't been used in the Wizenagamot court for decades. She and Uncle Remus took their places and went through the traditional steps before the duel was to begin, "Bombard-" Umbridge began, speaking with a noticeable slow cadence as she worked to carefully enunciate. Her speech was cut off though as a silent curse, one that looked like a piercer, punched through her chest with ease. The only sound is the wet thud as Umbridge's body hits the ground, Marcus deliberately looking away from the sight he was sure he didn't want to see.

"Honor satisfied." Remus rasped out coldly before retaking his seat, the words echoing in the court room. From where he was looking, Marcus could see Fudge and his faction were looking a lot less confident now.

"W-w-well, we should resume this hearing." Fudge squeaked out, Marcus' chair being brought forward as what used to be the Senior Undersecretary was removed from the room and the blood cleaned away. "Mis-…Lady Black, what does the defendant plead?"

"Not Guilty." Mrs. Tonks said, smirking at the Minister's obvious near slip up, complete with nervous glances at Uncle Sirius.

"What evidence do you have for your client?" Yaxley scoffed, the man's smug confidence grating to Marcus' ears, the man clearly was unshaken by the death of Dolores Umbridge, he honestly seemed bored by it.

"The most ironclad evidence actually." Andromeda Tonks' smirk was cold as any Slytherin's as she pulled out a vial "The law and Veritaserum. My client has agreed to voluntarily take Veritaserum to clear his name. Marcus Potter, are you still agreeable to this?"

"I am." Marcus nodded, looking Fudge dead in the eye as he willingly drank the three drops, his vision clouding over as he did so, a feeling of weightlessness overtaking him.

"What is your full name?" his defense asked, testing the serum as was standard.

"Marcus Sirius Potter." He heard his voice answer, feeling like he was listening to a recording.

"What is your date of Birth?"

"September thirtieth, nineteen eighty."

"What year are you in at Hogwarts?"

"I am a Second year Gryffindor."

"Does this test satisfy the Wizenagamot?" he heard his defense ask, hearing a confirmation from Madame Bones. "Marcus Potter, the charges are the study of Dark Magic, did you learn or perform any dark magics?"

"No."

"Objection!" the voice of Yaxley protested, "He might not consider them dark which would affect his answer!"

"Fine then. Marcus Potter, did you study any illegal magics?" Mrs. Tonks rephrased the question.

"No."

"What did you learn that caused these accusations?"

"I was reading a book on theoretical applications for the modernization of Aztec War Enchantments." He responded dully, his head feeling fuzzy from the truth potion.

"He also resisted arrest!" he heard Fudge shout, the man's voice sounding desperate.

"Marcus Potter, did you resist lawful arrest?"

"When I was arrested the first words spoken by the aurors was a spell fired at my back. I responded in self-defense and when I froze in surprise at seeing the red auror robes I was struck with three stunning spells." At those words, those not already in the pocket of Fudge started shouting angrily, knowing the dangers of receiving multiple stunning curses simultaneously.

"No further questions." Mrs. Tonks declared as he felt three drops of liquid hit his tongue as the fuzzy weightless feeling vanished and he could see once again.

"The evidence is clear." Madame Bones declared strongly, her voice silencing the furious shouts from the various Wizenagamot members "I move for an immediate vote so I may more quickly move to questioning my aurors. Such illegal actions, more a kidnapping than an arrest, should not be permitted to happen again."

"Seconded." Dumbledore rose up, Marcus recognizing that the two had come in with a plan that day. The rushed trial, one where Fudge's main supported was killed in a lost honor duel followed by Mrs. Tonks quickly proving every charge false without Yaxley or Fudge getting a chance to lead questions or manipulate things caused a massive vote for him to be found not guilty.

"If that is all, then I declare this session adjourned." Fudge scowled irritably but before he could bang his gavel to end the session, Dumbledore stood back up.

"I move in a vote of No Confidence against Cornelius Fudge for arranging the kidnapping of Marcus Potter, the pressing of False Charges, and betraying the oaths of the Minister." Dumbledore spoke loudly, the man showing his planned intent to make such a declaration when he pulled out his shrunken pensive, projecting a conversation with Fudge where the man had openly stated that the people needed a 'scapegoat' and how he intended Marcus to fill that role. "We need a competent Minster in this time of crisis, one who obeys the law, one who cares more about the people of our country than they do about lining their own pockets with blood money. I move that Minister Fudge be removed from such a position and arrested, as well as move to have Lady Amelia Bones named our new Minister!"

-Vader-

Standing tall, Vader stared out the window of the Death Star's main bridge, seeing the planet of Yavin coming into view as they exited light speed, the Moon with the Rebel Base on the far side of the planet. "Lord Vader." Hearing the voice of the competent officer he'd taken to dealing with, Vader turned to see the man saluting him, "I've news you should be made aware of. I took it upon myself to study the plans the rebels stole and have discovered an exploitable weakness the rebels could make use of."

"Speak Captain." Vader ordered seriously, the man nodding as the salute dropped, the officer now standing at attention.

"The core for the Death Star generates a great deal of energy and requires ventilation to avoid detonating from within and destroying the station. The exhaust ports are a straight shot to the core itself and just big enough for a weapon such as a proton torpedo to be used to cause a chain reaction and destroy the Death Star. A near impossible shot for the best of pilots, especially given that it would be expelling gas, but if the Rebels have force users it becomes quite feasible."

"Did you report this to anyone else?" Vader questioned, curious if Tarkin knew.

"I reported it to Tarkin and recommended a retreat or evacuation. He refused to leave during what he declared to behismoment of triumph, not considering the rebel force users a threat. He has ordered all those here under his command to remain at their posts and threatened anyone who disobeys this order with desertion and treason."

"It is good you've notified me of this Captain." Vader straightened up "I will be helping lead the fighter attack. You will be transferred to one of my ships along with my own personal crew. Should this station blow up it would be best not to waste your talents because Tarkin is a senile fool."

"Yes, Lord Vader." The captain saluted before moving to the Hangar bay, not questioning, not protesting, simply obeying and ensuring Vader was kept informed. A useful officer indeed.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 17

-Harry-

"Alright, this is Gold Leader checking in." Harry called out over the coms, the force using pilots all having their own squadron to keep fighters off them while they made their shots into the exhaust ports.

"Blue leader, standing by." Luke reported in as more of their pilots linked into the communication channel.

"Red leader, ready to blow this sh*t." Galen grinned widely, the pilots cheering eagerly, at least those from the Citadel. The Rebels were much more nervous, less trusting in the squadron leaders they'd been assigned to.

"Alright everyone, stay in contact and be ready." Harry ordered seriously, eyes focused as the massive space station grew closer "Red Leader, Blue Leader, you both have your port targets?"

"Rear Port locked on Gold Leader." Galen confirmed, the Red Squadron already starting to peel off to get to their target.

"And We have the left side one." Luke acknowledged, the kid managing a damn good job at keeping any trepidation out of his voice.

"That leaves the right one for us Gold Squadron." Harry ordered the pilots behind him as he began his descent, the Death Star's trench coming into focus, "Keep 'em off me and do your best to stay alive. I swear if any of you pointlessly throw your lives away then I'm going to find your ghost and kick its ass!"

"Sir yes sir!" the unified voices of the men under his command shouted, all those who have served with him on the Citadel aware of his disdain for pointless Martyrdom for the sake of dying a heroic death. Seeing the Death Star defense systems start to come online, Harry pitched his fighter down as he shot into the trench, dodging blaster fire as they went.

"Red Leader, Blue Leader, have you entered the trench?!" Harry shouted over the comms as he narrowly missed a blast from a defense turret.

"I'm in!" Luke confirmed.

"Almost, got heavy resistance over here!" Galen's voice was irritable as he called up.

"Then time to play the last card Blackbriar Protocol gave us then." Harry grinned as he sent the signal to Jarvis to begin. The final Blackbriar virus had been a rather devious bit of sabotage if he said so himself. It entered the Death Star systems and replaced one of the programs, copying it to blend in and remain undetected until he gave the order to activate, the perfect trojan horse.

"Wait what?!" Luke shouted in confusion as the turrets suddenly started changing targets.

"A rewrite of Friend or Foe Protocols." Harry laughed as he sped up, trying to find the exhaust port as the turrets began shooting the Imperial fighters "But hurry! We probably only have a few minutes before they replace targeting AI's with actual gunners."

"I thought it was just a bunch of storm troopers showing their usual aim." Galen snarked over the radio.

"Even I can't program aim that bad Galen." Harry gave a mock sigh as the pilots in their squadron started to snicker here and there, the sudden change in tides given a surge of confidence to the nervous resistance pilots.

"In the trench Gold Leader." Galen confirmed as Harry and his squad began to fly faster, blasting apart every ship that got in their way.

"I have a shot." Luke called out, "Aiming…" he heard the detonation through the coms but that was all "Damnit! Sorry everyone, I missed, it just impacted on the surface."

"Pull out to try another run if we miss as well." Harry ordered.

"The trench is on fire at the moment and it looks like the vent is being closed up over here." Luke protested, "While my shot didn't blow the core it clearly caused some damage to the station itself."

"Then pull out of the trench and regroup with Galen, help take out any fighters on that end to keep things clear for him. I have my own shot coming up." Harry nodded, changing plans as his targeting computer alerted him that his exhaust port was coming closer. "Gold Squadron, clear the road!" Harry shouted, the pilots under his command rushing ahead in an arrowhead formation, blasters firing in a bright wall of death to give him the opening he needed. Putting away his targeting computer, Harry focused in the force, finding his missile as he fired it, guiding it with his power and infusing the explosives with the force, trying to will it to hit true and hit hard. "It's in! Everyone get clear!" Harry shouted, gritting his teeth as he pulled up sharply, Gold squad peeling away while Galen and Luke made sure their own pilots obeyed.

-Vader-

His fighter had barely landed in the hangar bay of his ship before the crew were closing the hatch, the pilots on the bridge already bringing his ship to hyper speed. The officers and soldiers under his command began having the pilots he'd brought in fighters with him taken out to be checked, the fighters maintained and chained down, and a million other tasks he wanted done, all of them knowing what to do without his direct command. Getting to the bridge of his ship, Vader saw the new Captain he'd moved to his ship standing there as Tarkin was hailing his ship, the old fool's face red as he screamed angrily.

"You traitor! You'll be killed for this! All of you!" Tarkin raved, "You dare flee my battle station during this moment of triumph?! You dare ignore my commands?!"

"Tarkin," Vader's cold synthetic voice cut through the room as he entered, letting the fool see him "I see you are as presumptuous as ever. That station was not yours, it was the Emperor's. Due to your negligence though, it shall fall." Feeling the upcoming sensation in the force he chuckled darkly "Goodbye Tarkin, you won't be missed." The Grand Moff's reply was cut off by the explosion that consumed the moon sized battle station.

"Your orders Lord Vader?" his new Captain asked, the man feeling shock, horror, and unease at the destruction of the Death Star but showing none before his superior officer.

"Contact the Emperor, I shall report Tarkin's failure myself. As well as…another matter, for which you all shall exit the bridge." Vader ordered, his eyes narrowed behind his mask. One of those Rebel pilots, he'd sensed their connection to the force, one so similar to his own. Either his children had survived when the Emperor said Padme had died, or someone took his DNA to attempt to clone him as he had been doing to Galen on Kamino. Either way, this was a dangerous development.

-Obi-Wan-

Sighing, Obi-Wan took a deep pull from his cup as he sat with Kota at the bridge with the pilot droids, the evacuation ship they were in charge of somewhere in the middle of dark space and waiting for word that may never come. "Master Kenobi, where have you been all this time?" Kota asked, finally breaching the topic Obi-Wan knew for some time would come up.

"I've been on Tatooine, looking after the boy you saw with me and Galen, Luke." Obi-Wan refilled their cups, deciding to share more of the situation to get the opinion on another member of the Order.

"The blond boy, right? What's so important about him?" Kota frowned, the blind man taking a drink.

"He's Anakin's son." Obi-Wan's answer had Kota choking and sputtering.

"W-what?!" Kota gaped slack jawed "You're serious?"

"Yes, I was there when he was born. I took him to his family on Tatooine and stayed nearby just in case. Honestly, I thought there was nobody left of the order besides myself and Master Yoda who said he was going away to mediate at a force nexus. I had no idea you were still alive."

"Not just me from what I've heard." Kota gave a wry grin, "I haven't been able to find them, but I've heard rumors of Skywalkers old apprentice Ashoka still out there somewhere. There was also a rumor several years ago about Jaro Tapal's apprentice meeting up with Seeker Junda for some sort of mission. They took out two of the Inquisitors but went off the grid after that. Then there's Galen, and those boys Luke and Harry…we might not be as alone as you think."

"You…you may be right." Obi-Wan sighed as he set aside his drink, looking into Master Kota's dead white eyes, "Kota, there's something I need to talk to you about. Harry, and Galen too…they don't follow the Jedi code and…I'm not sure I can blame them."

"Do they have a different code they follow?" Kota's question was direct enough that Obi-Wan knew what he meant.

"They follow the old Sith code." Obi-Wan read out the code and how they interpreted it, what they told him.

"And you're worried about betraying everything the Jedi stood for." Kota summed up easily.

"I lost Qui-Gon so long ago." Obi-Wan sighed, feeling every year that weight on his body like an iron cloak "And then Anakin…the other masters…the republic. The memory of the order, the hope of seeing it return, that was all I had left."

"Kenobi…they might not be wrong." Kota shook his head, "We need to face facts, we're old men but the Order was stagnating even when we were Younglings. We were blind, we didn't see this betrayal coming, and we drove away so many of our own just because they didn't believe what the council of masters told them to. Not to mention the obscene arrogance the council showed when it came to Anakin and the Prophecy."

"What are you talking about?" Obi-Wan focused on Kota at that, "The Prophecy had to be nurtured if we were to destroy the Sith for good."

"But that's not what the prophecy said." Kota's gaze was locked with his own despite the man's eyes having long since died "The Prophecy said that the Chosen one would bring Balance to the Force."

"What's your point?" Obi-Wan frowned confused, not sure what Kota was getting at.

"Destroying the Light would tip the scales to the Dark. Destroying the Dark would tip the scales to the Light. Neither is balance, for true balance then the Jedi and Sith would need to be equal in strength or the leading faction of the force would likely need to follow something like the Potentium view of the force…or perhaps what this 'Citadel' teaches."

"Do you really think that?" Obi-Wan's voice was so faint he wasn't even sure if he spoke aloud at first. Before Kota could respond though, the signal came in that the Death Star was destroyed and the Resistance was moving out, a rendezvous location being sent with it.

"I think that at the very least, those boys seem to be achieving more than we have." Kota grunted as he got up to go alert the other officers in the evacuation fleet "Some new blood and new thinking might be just what this galaxy needs."

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 18

-Obi-Wan-

Taking a deep breath, Obi-Wan worked to muster up his courage, knowing this went against everything that was planned, against what the council would wish…but he was also starting to think that might be for the best. "Ben…are you alright?" Luke asked concerned, the boy and Leia having come to his quarters on his request once the resistance group from the base and battle met up with the evacuation fleet again.

"No, no I don't think I am." Obi-Wan shook his head, locking his fingers as he forced out a deep breath, "But this needs to be done regardless. There's a secret that's been kept from the both of you, one I feel you deserve to learn regardless of what the others may think…of what I once thought."

"A secret?" Leia looked surprised, the girl likely thinking she was already privy to the secrets of the resistance given her position within it since its inception.

"Yes. In regard to a man I saw as my brother and my best friend, a man I failed. Anakin Skywalker was my apprentice, but he deserved a far better man that I to teach him." Obi-Wan sighed, thinking back to the years in the clone wars where he and Anakin had truly developed their brotherly bond.

"But the records all describe you as the Perfect Jedi Master." Leia protested, agape at his self-deprecating comment.

"And that, young lady, is precisely the problem." Obi-Wan shook his head, "He didn't need the Perfect Jedi to teach him, what he needed was someone more like my Master. The Jedi forbid attachment, forbid many emotions, in truth they forbid a great deal. Anakin grew up as a slave on Tatooine before my master freed him and promised to train him. Sadly, Master Jinn died before this could come to pass and I was named Anakin's teacher instead, but I was far from the best choice. I was still hurt from my master's death, and feeling somewhat betrayed by what had felt like Master Jinn planning to trade me for Anakin. Then I spent years seeing him improve far faster than I ever had. I followed the Jedi master's practices and worked to humble him when he showed more skill than the others."

He watched them both, seeing their firsts clench at his actions, likely wanting to make a comment about the mistakes he was admitting to but keeping silent till they heard more, "I realize now that was a mistake, but it was far from my worst." And so he began telling more, of how he had told Anakin his visions of his mother's passing were simple dreams, of his trying to undercut Anakin when the boy wished to impress Padme, and everything that had occurred before they had truly begun to connect "The one thing I am proud of doing correct was hiding his relationship with Padme." He shook his head, "I knew about it, by the Force I knew for so long, but she made him Happy in a way nobody else I knew truly could and for me that was enough. But in turning that blind eye I also failed to see how dependent he was on her, and how other forces would use that against him. He learned that she was pregnant, and had a vision of her dying in childbirth."

Across from him, he saw Luke begin shaking as Leia did her best to comfort the man she had no clue was her brother "Darth Sidious, the lord of the Sith, had been hiding as the Supreme Chancellor of the Senate for years but, more importantly, had been a friend and advisor to Anakin as well. He played upon that fear, twisted it, and used it to turn Anakin to the Dark Side…to turn him into Darth Vader."

"You…you said Vaderkilledmy father." Luke choked out, eyes wide and brimming with pain.

"I did." Obi-Wan made no effort to deny it, "In part it was because I didn't want to see them as the same man, preferred the thought of it being someone else who had killed the one I'd seen as my brother and merely taken his place. But, more than that, I had sought to hide that truth from you. It was a mistake intend to rectify now."

"Who else knows?" Leia asked, eyes sharp even as she held Luke, "And why have me here for this?"

"The leaders of the resistance all know," Obi-Wan shook his head "Senator Organa knew about it from the day of Anakin's fall and he told the others who all agreed on hiding the truth. But there is one more secret they and I had hidden. Padme gave birth to not one child of Anakin Skywalker, but two. Twins named Luke…and Leia." He felt their shock ripple through the force, Master Kota as well as Hadrian's force sensitive crew members likely feeling it too "You both are the children of the most powerful force user I have ever known, the man I saw as a brother, the man I failed." Getting out from his chair, Obi-Wan forced his knees to listen as he knelt down, forehead pressed to the cold metal floor "I have no intention of failing again, of lying to you again. I beg you, please let me make up for my mistakes. Let me help you master the force, and bring true balance to this galaxy."

-Darth Vader-

Alone in his chambers, Vader frowned, letting himself flow adrift in the force lest his rage affect the ship and its inhabitants. The Emperor had been enraged at the loss of the death star, something Vader had easily foreseen and even felt despite the long distance that separated them. But when Vader had mentioned the rebel pilot who's force signature so closely resembled Vader's own, the Emperor had answered yes, but the connection to the force was blocked, Vader could no longer sense his master or the truth as he was told it was likely a clone and to go ensure that Kamino was completely destroyed so no other Jedi clones could join the rebels. "In your old age, you grow foolish." Vader's scowled, the pain of his faulty prosthetics only further enraging him. Blocking Vader off like that had been akin to lighting a beacon, only drawing attention to the truth of the matter.

"But how." Vader steepled his fingers, remembering back to when he woke up in his black armor, of being told that in his anger he had killed Padme. "But that was a lie." He decided, if she was dead there was no way she could have survived to give birth as he knew a small ship like Obi-Wan's would have lacked the necessary facilities to do that, let alone the fact that Obi-Wan himself would have lacked the knowledge and skill. He was the one who should have died back then, with his wounds it was a miracle that…he…didn't "No." Vader breathed out as he began to realize the truth of the matter. Darth Sidious had told him that he knew of a way to save Padme, to ensure that he could stop his loved ones from dying. Life couldn't come from nowhere, but what if it could have been taken. Had Palpatine stolen Padme's life through the force to keep Anakin alive while the procedure was done?

Shooting to his feet, Vader exited his chambers, those upon his personal ship quickly getting out of his way lest they suffer his wrath. Heading to the lower levels of the ship he entered the hidden workshop he'd sequestered there, one that stole space from surrounding floors to not show up on any maps or blueprints. Darth Vader he may be now, but he had once been Anakin Skywalker, and the proof of that lay before him. A droid unlike any other lay on a worktable, kept secret from even the emperor himself given its materials and capabilities, a droid inspired by the legendary HK-47. "HK-50, engage." Vader ordered his creation as the eyes lit up, the droid silently rising up and ready to serve "You are to track and gather intel." Vader instructed, carefully opening part of his suit and filling a vile with his own blood "There is a pilot among them with the force. I need you to take this sample when you track them, find out if they are my clone…or my child."

"Yes Master." HK-50 nodded "And once I have confirmed their status?"

"Then report back to me." Vader ordered, not sure what he would do if this pilot truly was his…no not his, he had no right to call himself their father; if this pilot wasPadme'schild, "And whatever you do, make sure that the empire, and more importantly it's emperor, learn of neither yourself nor your mission."

"Understood Master." HK-50 grabbed the weapons Vader had built for it before getting into the small escape shuttle he'd built into this laboratory, exiting on its mission. Neither felt the ripple in the force around Vader from this decision.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 19

-Harry-

"So General, you mentioned that you wished to speak with me?" Harry reclined in his chair, resting on the balcony that overlooked his ship's training room where Galen and Old Ben were putting Luke and Leia through their paces in training. Across from him sat the blind Jedi Master Rahm Kota, the man being one of the few alliance leaders who showed him any degree of trust or respect.

"Yes, it's about the High Command." Kota sighed, swirling his own drink slowly, "They're…rather displeased at the moment."

"Do I even want to know why?" Harry sighed, not needing the force to know whatever the answer was would give him a headache.

"You have to understand that the alliance high command were prevalent figures in the galaxy well before the empire rose to power. They saw the emperor rise, saw the Republic fall, and a fair few were even aware of the family ties of those twins down there." Kota nodded to Luke and Leia who were trying different saber types and forms to see what felt natural "Some like Mon Mothma were quite displeased when they learned that Kenobi told them the truth. She would apparently have preferred that they both stay in the dark of Vader being Skywalker as well their sibling relationship."

"She did give off a bit of a 'control freak' vibe." Harry sighed, draining his glass and refilling it, pushing down his disgust at her trying to hide the twin's blood relation, especially when they both thought their whole families were dead.

"But it's not just that. She's gotten used to authority in the rebellion." Kota explained "The Rebel Alliance was founded by Galen. He and his wife got myself, Leia, her foster-father, Mothma, and a man named Garm Bel Iblis together to found it, but things didn't go as planned. Galen was thought to have been killed shortly thereafter rescuing us from the Emperor. I was already too old and more of a field commander than a true leader, Juno much the same. Princess Leia was kept out of High command as much as possible to hide her connection from the Empire, her voice in the Senate while it existed being to crucial to waste. Now not only is Alderan gone and Bail with it but Iblis and Mothma got into a heated argument after it. things were already tense between Iblis and Mothma, but this was the turning point. Iblis left the Rebel Alliance to fight the empire his own way, a portion of our forces going with him meaning Mothma was the only one left from the original high command."

"But then I showed up with the Rebellion founder, miraculously back from the dead and she feels threatened." Harry figured out easily enough, the blind general nodding.

"Exactly. And the tension between her and your Citadel faction isn't exactly hidden. There are many who want to continue following her command while others feel they should follow Galen who founded the Alliance to begin with, or to be more accurate follow you since Galen isyoursecond in command." As Kota spoke, the man began to rummage in his satchel "I'd be ready for that, either for things to calm down, or for someone in the alliance to press the issue." As he spoke, the man placed a small disk down on the table between them "I'm not too fond of Mothma's decisions, she's far too passive. She's a great diplomat but isn't what we need in leading a rebellion like this. This disk has some of the members of the alliance that are either already supporting the Citadel taking charge or I think would be more open to it."

"You'd trust me just like that?" Harry raised a curious eyebrow as he accepted the disk.

"Galen trusts you, Juno trusts you,Master Kenobitrusts you. Plus, you've shown you know what you're doing if the attack on the Death Star was any indication. Not to mention I have my own secret from Mothma." Here the old man gave a smug little smirk "A secret I've kept from as many as I could to avoid the Empire finding out. A few years ago, I found a stormtrooper who defected from the Empire, one that was cloned from my old Padawan student and has access to the force. He goes by the name of X2 and is still learning but his talent is there. If you're going to be training new students, then I'd say we should have all the students we can."

"Well General Kota, welcome to the Citadel." Harry raised his glass in a toast to the man, already trying to figure out how to deal with this new information.

-Vader-

Pacing through his private chamber, Vader planned contingencies and strategies. In the time since the destruction of the Death Star the names of the group who'd destroyed it had been discovered. This 'Captain Peverell' of the ship the Citadel as well as his old apprentice Star Killer and a new force user, one 'Luke Skywalker'. HK-50 had yet to return or report with an answer to his question so all he could do was speculate and theorize.

"Even if this boy is my clone and not my…not Padme's son, it doesn't matter." Vader decided, well aware of the nature of the Sith Order. Well aware of the tradition of the Apprentice's duty to defeat and overthrow their master. It was a system Sidious had flaunted for years even before Anakin, with him having Dooku having his own apprentice, of having various dark acolytes under his command, of him still having the inquisitors, and what he'd done to Vader himself.

The armor pieces weren't an exact match, many of them snagging and pulling on his body. The incessant raspy breath from his helmet often kept him awake so sleep was rare at best. His synthetic skin suffered from constant itching and the sensation of pins and needles. Then there was the fact that the control panel on his chest would sometimes beep for no reason he'd ever been able to discern. He was positive that Sidious had put those defects and limitations in on purpose to hinder him, to try and prevent Vader from being able to succeed him as the Rule of Two demanded. "Not to mention there's no telling if he had something like a kill switch placed into the suit somewhere." Vader mused aloud before shaking his head.

He had served the emperor as Darth Vader for over twenty years. It was time to remove the old man, to take the rule of the Sith for himself. And if it turned out that the old bastard had lied to him, had murdered the woman he loved and lied about her children? Well then that would just make his death all the sweeter. He'd need to find an apprentice of his own now. Not the boy who might be Padme's son though, she would never forgive the notions of how Sith take the mantle being done within those she cared for.

"For now, I should find more aides." Vader went to his mediation pod, wishing to use the force to guide him to members of the Empire that would be useful to take under his command. While he was at it, other resources would be of use. He knew that many Kaminoans had fled their planet during the Imperial occupation. Finding some cloners might give him forces under his control, or even replacement body parts. A good medical team might even make it so he no longer needed this damn armor.

"Captain." He reached out through the force to one of his officers "Contact the Bounty Hunter Bobba Fett, I have a job for him."

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 21

-Han Solo-

Gulping nervously, Han walked alongside Chewie through the halls of what had once been the palace of Jabba the Hutt.Hadbeing the imperative word as the planets new lord had fried each and every Hutt on the planet that hadn't bowed to his new rules. Good news was at least it meant he didn't have a bounty on his head anymore. Bad news was his gut said it would be best to get on the good side of the guy who got rid of Jabba lest the man once known as 'Darth Vader' decide the debt was just 'under new management.

"He's in here." Bobba Fett scoffed, the man eyeing him as if he wanted to blast Han to pieces on principle. Given how often Bobba had been chasing him for the bounty it probably wasn't all that far off as a possibility.

"Very good Captain." The Sith Lord wasn't sitting on a throne like Jabba, or the Emperor was known to. Hell, Han couldn't evenseea throne in the room anymore. The man was at a map table, looking at various reports while finishing with the call from a soldier loyal to him. Standing scarily in the back was a droid that watched his movements with far more intensity than he'd like, and a woman with green that seemed to see through Han.

"Bobba Fett, is there a reason you brought them in here?" Vader didn't even look up from his reports, the clinical disinterest would normally have Han get annoyed or mock the speaker but he was too terrified to do so.

"He said he wanted to speak with you. Business related." Fett shrugged, "He's a smuggler that pissed off Jabba more than once."

"That so?" the man looked up, his eyes a hypnotic swirl of intense yellow and calm blue, "Tell me then smuggler. What business do you have with me?"

"I'm gonna be honest here, I'm looking out for my own skin." Han gulped. He'd been alive before the empire, he'd livedduringthe Clone Wars so he was well aware of what an ex-Jedi, and more specificallythisex-Jedi could be capable of.

"Is that so?" The man who'd once been known as 'The Hero without Fear' studied him, eyes making Han shiver.

"Jabba had a hell of a price on my head. A price that's only gone now that you killed him." Han was trying to remain as honest as he could. He'd heard rumors growing up that Jedi could read minds and he didnotwant to find out that was true the hard way by lying "I figured I'd come and see if you needed anything in my skillset now before you decided any of Jabba's debts passed over."

"And what exactlyisyour skillset?" the self-proclaimed Emperor raised an eyebrow but seemed more curious than bored or dismissive so he'd take the win.

"Like I said, I'm a smuggler. My ship is the Millennium Falcon, it made the Kesler Run in less than twelve Parsecs." Han tried to sound confident without arrogant, a balance he wasn't used to. Pausing, he continued somewhat hesitantly "Also I…think I met your kid." That boy from the Cantina did possess more than a passing similarity to the man before him after all. A man who was suddenly studying Hanmuchmore intently.

"Tell me everything." The command brokered no argument as Han told the little that he knew of the local kid he remembered turning down his deal, and the much more information he had on the captain who the kid had left with. He just hoped this intel would be enough to ensure he didn't have a new bounty on his ass.

-Palpatine-

Hiding his scowl, Palpatine studied the two underlings he'd brought forth before him. The first was the strongest of his hands, Mara Jade. A formidable assassin who'd long coveted the title of his official apprentice. The second was the Grand Inquisitor, the head of his force hunters.

"You called for us, Lord Sidious?" the Pau'an inquisitor asked, kneeling subserviently. The man knew his place, knew he stood no chance of besting Sidious in combat or through the force.

"Yes." Palpatine rose, the force aiding his aging body that had long since been weakened since his fights with Yoda and Windu, "You are both of course aware of the Treason of Darth Vader." It wasn't a question as only a fool wasn't aware at this point.

"You wish for us to end him, Master?" Mara Jade's eyes burned eagerly, the girl having long desired to kill Vader herself.

"In due time." Palpatine smirked as he studied the two, "For now I have other concerns. One of the Rebel factions," and the fact that there were now three of the damn things was both amusing and infuriating "has several force users who may train new disciples. Vader himself will no doubt take an apprentice of his own." Or more, he certainly had. He also saw, to his amusem*nt, that both of those here had their own ideas on why they'd been summoned but were too nervous to risk speaking up lest they upset him.

"I refuse to remain idle and allow a greater threat to grow under my nose. I require both a new apprentice, as well as for the Inquisitors to swell their ranks." Palpatine didn't trust an entire order of fully trained sith not to betray him or fall to infighting overhisEmpire but more trained hands were distinctly needed.

"You two are the strongest as well as my most loyal." Or at least Mara Jade was loyal. He knew the current Grand Inquisitor was a spiteful and ambitious man, which were admittedly traits that would be perfect for a Sith Lord, "I shall take one of you as my apprentice. The other is to lead the Inquisitors in hunting down the force users and other significant members of the enemy factions. I trust I won't have to worry about you trying to do something so foolish as to kill each other either,right?" he made sure his tone carried the implied threat of his words at that, pushing down on both of them with the force as the two gulped and nodded, pale and fearful of his wrath. Good, that was as it should be. And if he had both alive then there was a backup apprentice already prepared. And they could push each other to improve out of desire to take or keep the title of apprentice.

"Good." Palpatine smirked, revealing his yellowed teeth, "Then we shall start with a little…test."

-Luke-

Yawning, Luke stepped out of his room aboard the Citadel, spotting Leia chatting with Marris and Merrin. "Morning." He grumbled, moving over to grab his own cup of coffee, the girls nodding his way.

"Well, you certainly look tired." Leia frowned in concern, the two having grown closer since Ben told them the truth of their family.

"I pulled double duty watching the scanners last night." Luke yawned, still feeling exhausted but unable to get any more sleep "Need to make sure nobody's sneaking up ya know?"

"Fair enough." Leia nodded, "I've been working with Merrin to go over the list her husband Cal gave us."

"List?" Luke glanced at the papers on the table confused, vaguely remembering Ben returning with Merrin and a few others, saying that a couple of them were former Jedi.

"My husband possesses a rare gift." Merrin nodded proudly, "He told me the Jedi referred to it as psychometry. The ability to sense the history of objects or people he touches through the force. I saw him once pick up an instrument he'd never seen before and play a song created by its owner that he had never heard. During his mission when we first met, he discovered a holocron containing a list of force sensitive children, now teenagers I suppose, in the galaxy. While he destroyed the Holocron to keep the Empire from learning its contents, his gift still imparted the knowledge unto him."

"That's incredible." Luke breathed wide eyed before wincing "And sounds like he'd learn a lot of things he'd rather not know." Given Merrin's laugh he hit the nail on the head with that one.

"You would not be wrong." Merrin nodded amused, "Regardless. Now that we have a stronger force it would be wise to start finding these young ones. Both to ensure they are trained to use their gifts and to ensure the Empire does not find them."

"For now, could you take this to the boss?" Marris gave him a grin that turned his ears red as he caught the data pad, she tossed his way "Has the first stops to start finding new blood."

"S-sure Marris." He nodded, hurrying out before he risked putting his foot in his mouth around the pretty Zabrak. Given the snickering he heard as he left, Leia was having fun with the situation.

Following his gut, or the Force hard to be sure, Luke made his way to the training room. Opening the door, he jerked to a stop, gaping at the sight inside. Harry, Galen, and the newcomer Cal Kestis were a whirl of blades as they sparred. Harry and Galen, both preferring to use two sabers, had copied Cal's saber design and Luke was struggling to ever keep track of the three in the mad flurry of practice saber swings.

They were striking, flipping, parrying, dodging, and more. Marris had said that Harry and Galen were monsters before, and this certainly didn't do anything to disprove that. Slowly, Luke expanded his presence in the force to get the three's attention without startling them, not wanting to get accidentally hit by any number of those saber.

"Ah, Luke." Harry nodded as the three stopped their bout "Did you need something?"

"Marris asked me to bring this to you." Luke tossed the data pad that the Captain caught with the Force, "Said it was the list of the first people to find from Cal's list."

"Ah, very good." Harry nodded pleased, "This handles one issue. As for the other, I've been thinking we need a secure base. The old Rebel locations won't work, not since Mothma is still after us. I did have an idea where we could go. A planet that might even bring further allies if we liberate it."

"Oh?" Luke couldn't deny he was exceptionally curious.

"I hear Mandalore is lovely this time of year."

-Marcus-

Panting, Marcus slowed from a jog to a walk, doing a cooldown lap on his exercise while Susan Bones panted beside him. They'd started talking after her aunt got him back to Hogwarts and she'd even been eager to try out his training regimen. The fact that she stuck with it was icing on the cake.

"Good hustle out there you two." Shacklebolt, one of the aurors assigned to guard the castle, gave them a thumbs up, "Looking forward to seeing you two at the academy one day!"

"Thanks Shack!" Susan waved at the large man, clearly knowing him from even before joining Hogwarts, "How much longer are we allowed outside?"

"You have thirty minutes before you both need to head inside." Shacklebolt's expression turned serious. The year had barely begun in earnest before new trouble started. Filch's cat petrified, a threat written in blood on the walls, and someone calling themselves the heir of Slytherin threatening not just the students, but threatening to do even more horrors if the school was closed and students sent away.

The newly seated Minister Bones had rapidly sent for Aurors to guard the school along with Magical creature experts to figure out what the monster attacking students was, Curse breakers to try and find the Chamber of Secrets, and Exorcists to purge what they were positive as yet another Voldemort possession, given Quirrell from last year.

The students were all being encouraged to come forth with any leads or thoughts they might have on the culprit or locations for the Chamber but so far no luck. Marcus himself was positive there was something, the pieces just hadn't clicked into place yet.

For now, though, all he could do was train.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 22

-Marcus-

"co*ckroach Cluster." Marcus spoke firmly to the Gargoyle that stood watch outside Dumbledore's office, the stone construct rising into the stairwell without hesitation. As he got closer he could hear the sounds of heated debate coming from inside. He could hear Dumbledore, Minister Bones, Shacklebolt, along with a few others. Gulping nervously now that he'd be giving his idea in front of so many, Marcus rapped his knuckles against the door, the voices going silent in an instant.

"Enter." Dumbledore's authoritative voice commanded as the door swung open, letting Marcus see the group assembled, "Ah, young Marcus. Come to borrow another tome?" Dumbledore gave him a polite friendly smile even if Marcus could see the stress in the man's eyes.

"Actually, I…uh…I had an idea about the Chamber issue." Marcus admitted, rubbing the back of his head, "You said if anyone had any thoughts to bring them to you?"

"That we did young man." Dumbledore gave him a gentle smile and sent a firm look to the other adults as if warning them not to make any comments, "So what idea do you have for me?"

"And what even gave you this 'idea' in the first place?" one of the experts that got called in asked condescendingly before gulping as Dumbledore gave them a glare.

"I was in the Common room when I overheard some of my classmates theorizing on who the heir is." Marcus figured he might as well explain why he had this idea, "One of them was quite smug about 'any Death Eaters not getting of with the Imperio ruse' now that Minister Bones is in charge." He could see the red haired minister puff up a bit at that.

"And your idea?" Dumbledore urged.

"Well, if this is Salazar Slytherin's chamber it's probably sealed by Parsletongue. Parsletongue is just snake language so can't you just use Imperio on some actual snakes and command them to keep saying 'Open' while going around the school?" You could hear a pin drop in the room as the adults took in his admittedly unorthodox suggestion.

"That…could actually work." One of the creature experts blinked as they considered it, "We'd have to figure out where to look though." Marcus looked up at the various portraits of past Headmasters and Headmistresses that spent most of their time asleep.

"Would any of them know?" He asked pointing to the portraits, many of whom he hadn't seen awake at any point he'd ever visited.

"The portraits?" an auror he vaguely remembered being name Dawlish asked in dismissive incredulity.

"They see things and a lot of people don't both hiding from a portrait." Marcus shrugged as Dumbledore tapped his wand against a bell on his desk, the various portraits all jolting awake from the magic item.

"I hope you have a good reason for waking us up Albus." One of the stuffier looking portraits huffed.

"The Chamber of Secrets has been Opened." Dumbledore didn't waste a moment as the portraits all suddenly straightened up seriously, "Three students, two aurors, and a cat have already been petrified and the 'heir' has threatened much worse should the school be evacuated."

"Mandrake Draught?" a stern older woman asked.

"Being worked on, but it's such an obscure rarely used potion none of the potion shops had a ready-made supply." Dumbledore frowned displeased, "I was hoping one of you might have some clue as to where the Chamber was."

"I remember during Phineas' tenure here there was a student who apparently found Salazar's Scriptorium." A woman spoke up.

"Oh? And where was that Headmistress Fitzgerald?" Dumbledore's eyes bore an eager spark at a potential clue.

"Not far from the Slytherin Common Room, just down the hall from the Slytherin Girl's room." The woman, Headmistress Fitzgerald, answered.

"That's the bathroom where young Myrtle was killed the last time!" another Headmaster spoke up, his portrait looking newer than the others, "I remember students referring to that place as 'Slytherin's Sinks' given a snake engraved onto one of the taps."

"…It can't be that simple." Shacklebolt shook his head baffled.

"It just might be." Dumbledore nodded seriously before turning to Fawkes "Fawkes, please contact Alastor and tell him to go check that area with his eye please." Marcus vaguely remembered having seen the famous auror having been combing over different areas of the massive castle with his magic eye over the past few weeks. The sheer number of secret tunnels and magic in the walls having made that a slow going process.

"For now Marcus, you are to return to your common room." Dumbledore ordered him as Marcus quickly turned to go, hearing the creature experts discussing an order with Minister Bones to put out a 'conscription order on all Roosters in the Hogwarts Region'.

-Palpatine-

Reclining in his throne, Palpatine steepled his fingers, gazing down at the two potential 'apprentices' who knelt before him. "Speak." His single word conveyed every ounce of his authority as the two shuddered from his presence in the force. Good, they should remain fearful of him.

"I obeyed your orders Master," The Grand Inquisitor spoke before Jade could, the redhead sending a hate filled glare at her new rival "I found a group of Imperial Officers planning to defect and join the Traitor Anakin Skywalker." Palpatine smirked in amusem*nt at the man refusing to use Skywalker's Sith name, "I've given orders to have the ships they commanded to be kept under close watch."

"Excellent." He nodded, hiding his amusem*nt at Jade seething, "And you?" he looked to his hand who perked up at getting the chance to show her 'value'.

"I tracked down and killed any member of the 'nobility' who showed any hint of potentially joining the traitor's false empire." Jade smirked as Palpatine nodded, considering the facts.

"You have both done well with this first task." He nodded pleased, "As it stands, I have one more test to determine who shall become my apprentice." He tapped a button on his throne's holo screen as files were sent to the two, "I sent you a list of targets. They are all to be captured alive and functional."

"Function Master?" the two looked confused at what he meant, Palpatine's sinister grin growing wider.

"I have seen several examples proving that force users are more likely to have children strong in the force. More proof of the foolishness of that feeble Jedi order. That list consists of female Jedi who haven't been confirmed dead. They are to be captured and used to 'ensure a new population' of force users for my Inquisitorial legion." Before either of them could respond about such an order, an officer ran panting into the room, Palpatine recognizing him as a member of his intelligence corp.

"Emperor," the man panted, having clearly run here at full speed "one of the rebel factions…they're attacking Mandalore!"

-Harry-

"Forward!" Harry roared, the troops at his back echoing the shout as ships battled overhead. Throughout the capital city, he could hear the sounds of blaster fire and explosions. The moment his siege had begun in earnest the hidden resistance on Mandalore, along with everyone else who saw it as a golden opportunity, had jumped aboard. The Imperial forces were attacked on all sides by seasoned rebels and regular citizens tired of living under the Regime.

Smoke rose from the various crashed star ships that littered the planet, new ones occasionally exploding far overhead. Every time an Imperial ship detonated and began to crash, his men let out a resounding cheer. The fact that the Citadel remained clearly visible overhead as it withstood the fire from the Imperial ships was only further helping the motivation of his troops.

"What are the odds of the Emperor having a stroke trying to figure that out my love?" Oola laughed as she marched into battle right alongside him, her Light-Whip lashing out and slicing through the imperials that kept trying to charge him. The Stormtroopers were far from an impressive force and he had a feeling it was only fear, the Dark Side of the Force, and sheer numbers that kept the Empire in power.

"You know we aren't that lucky Oola." Harry laughed, even as he transfigured a stormtrooper into an explosive barrel that was easily hurled at a fortified wall.

Far ahead, yet another Imperial occupation ship suffered an explosion and began its descent thanks to Dobby. Being able to apparate into those places, with the help of a bubble head charm for oxygen, and then back out was quite useful in these situations. Magic wasn't a known force in this galaxy so there wasn't any sort of ways to counter it. Or at least none that have been developed so far. He wasn't sure if the Force could do anything to counter or protect against spells.

That was something to think about later. For now though, he thrust out his hand, commanding the force into a pure concussive shockwave that tore the gates from their hinges.

"Moff Gideon!" Harry used Sonorous, his voice echoing "Come out and face me! Coward! Murderer! I challenge you for Mandalore!" he'd looked up the customs of the warrior culture of this planet in preparation for this. Didn't want to have any locals or returning Mandalorians trying to have him killed on principle after all.

Cutting the charm, he looked at Oola "Surround the palace with the rest of our forces and make sure he doesn't escape my love."

"Only if you promise to come back to me safe." Oola gave him a hard look before stealing a kiss and taking the troops to follow his orders.

Grinning wildly at getting a kiss from his fiancé, Harry readied his sabers as he made his way through the gate, cutting down every Stormtrooper that charged his way.

The Force guided his steps, the question of each turn answered before he even reached them. Moff Gideon had murdered millions on this planet alone. The Force that resonated here wished for him to die, to pay for his crimes. The force wanted Harry towin.

It was no surprise when he heard the sound of the Darksaber screaming towards him from behind. Moff Gideon wasn't a warrior, he was a politician and a schemer. He kept the Darksaber as a trophy and didn't have the experience to use it the way the legendary blade was meant to be. Especially not against an experienced fighter like Harry.

"A surprise attack?" Harry scoffed, "How very un-Mandalorian." Yet another reason why the locals had been so quick to join his assault.

"I prefer victory over paltry things like 'honor'." Gideon scoffed, "FIRE!" The sound of blasters igniting behind him while Gideon raised stolen Baskar as a shield filled the hall.

"Draconifors!" Harry waved his hand, the rubble littering the hall being transfigured into dragons that swarmed the now screaming stormtroopers, Gideon staring in wide eyed horror.

"W-what are you?" the Moff scrambled back, shakily holding the Darksaber out in between them.

"Me?" Harry smirked as he readied his two black lightsabers "I'm the f*cking Mandalore."

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 23

-Harry-

The sky was clear and beautiful, not a cloud in the sky. The Capital City of Mandalore had been restored to full pristine glory though liberal use of repairing charms, a sight that had shocked all those who weren't in the know of his magic yet, the locals in particular.

After the battle had ended with the Imperial forces, unused to overwhelming force used against them, he'd begun focusing on restoring the planet. Those captive had been put on trial, those dead had been buried, and word was spreading throughout the galaxy about the liberation of Mandalore.

But right now, though, he was focused on something that had been put off for far too long.

His wedding to Oola.

They refused to keep putting it off, not wanting to let this war or the damned Empire control their lives any more than it already did. So here he stood at the Altar, Galen standing beside him as his best man with Luke and Kal as fellow Groomsmen as he waited with baited breath for his fiancé too appear, heart hammering in his chest.

"Relax Captain." Galen smirked as he whispered, "I can see you sweat."

"Really?" Harry worked to try and calm his nerves, "I hadn't noticed."

"Yeah, well you've always been a bit slow on the uptake." Galen chuckled; Harry stopped from whispering back a scathing remark when the music changed.

And then he saw her.

The world stopped existing around him in that moment, everything but the woman walking toward him ceased to matter. Oola's green skin stood out against the white of her wedding gown, silver jewelry adoring her lekku, the twin tendrils resting on her shoulders and sparkling with gemstones. When Oola smiled his way, she seemed to shine brighter than the sun itself.

He continued to focus only on her as she took her place with him at the altar. Her Maid of Honor Juno and the bridesmaids Marris and Merrin taking their places behind her.

Finally, Leia stepped up to the altar in the traditional garb of the Royal Family of Alderan, the position giving her the authority to perform marriages.

"To those gathered here today-"

-Luke-

Smiling, Luke watched as Harry and Oola shared their first dance as man and wife, the wedding ceremony having turned into the wedding party. He just wished Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru could have been here in more than just memory.

"Hey Luke." Leia stepped up beside him as they both watched the newlyweds spin about the dance floor, "Are you doing alright?"

"Yeah, just wishing my…our, Aunt and Uncle could have been here today." Luke gave his sister a sad smile, "They really cared about Harry and I know they'd have loved to get to know you as well."

"From what you've told me of them I'm positive I'd have loved getting to know them as well." Leia smiled as she gave him a hug before her expression turned mischievous "Still, I was rather expecting you to be nervous about your upcoming part."

"…Come again?" Luke felt a cold shiver go down his spine.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Leia gave a mock shocked gaps, "It's apparently a tradition where Harry's from. The Best man and maid of honor, along the Groomsmen and Bridesmaid's, share a dance after the Bride and Groom do. And since two of the three are already married couples, you'll be dancing with…"

"Marris." Luke paled even as his heart started racing. He knew he had a massive crush on the Zabrak that he served with on the Citadel. Or at least it had started as just a simple little crush and he wasn't even sure what it was anymore. Either way, he had no idea how he was supposed to dance with Marris and not embarrass himself.

"See, I knew there was a braincell in there somewhere." Leia laughed, digging her knuckles into his scalp playfully "Deep somewhere admittedly but it's still there!"

"Glad you find this so funny!" He hissed back, escaping her grip as he nervously glanced around.

"Oh, relax Luke, it'll be fine." Leia rolled her eyes, "Trust me on this. I know things." The last part was said with a smug smirk as the song currently playing started to wind down.

"Oh yeah?" Luke gulped, noting Marris approaching since their dance was apparently about to start, "Like what?"

"Oh, I think I'll keep the details to myself for now." Leia smirked, patting Luke on the shoulder, "Knock her dead Luke, you've got this."

Glad that she at least seemed confident that he wouldn't f*ck things up, Luke gulped and approached to meet Marris partway, "Shall we dance?" he asked nervously, hoping he didn't sound as ridiculous as he felt.

"I'd love to." Marris smiled back as she took his hand, a bit of red forming around her ears as they stepped onto the dance floor, Harry and Oola sending him a thumbs up when Marris wasn't looking.

-Malcolm-

"Three Musketeers." Malcolm spoke the password to Dumbledore's Gargoyle, mildly amused that the Headmaster had apparently taken to muggle sweets as of late. It had been two weeks since he last spoke to the Headmaster. Knocking on the aged oak door, he heard the clear but decidedly happy sounding 'enter'. The moment he was inside he was being enveloped in a crushing hug from a sobbing Mrs. Weasley.

"W-what?" Marcus looked wide eyed between the bawling woman and the jubilant headmaster, Mr. Weasley standing at his side wiping away his own happy tears.

"You helped save my Ginny." Mrs. Weasley hugged him tighter, "She…she was…" the woman dissolved into unintelligible wails and just squeezed him tighter.

"Thanks to your suggestions were indeed able to locate the Chamber of Secrets." Dumbledore picked up as Marcus awkwardly returned the hug "We set a few charms down in the Chamber to alert us next time someone went down there, tied to some portkeys I made that would let them get through the school wards. Ginny Weasley was found in the chamber, her mind being affected by a Dark Relic containing part of the soul of Voldemort which attempted to possess her."

"Is she alright?!" Marcus felt sick to his stomach. He might not be on the best terms with Ron right now, but the redhead had been his best friend once, the Weasleys had always been good to him, and Ginny was still an innocent first year.

"She is now. Or will be." Dumbledore assured him quickly, "The aurors who Minister Bones sent in merely stunned Miss Weasley. The Dark Artifact reacted poorly and the shadow of Voldemort from when he was a student ordered the Basilisk to attack the arurors. He wasnotprepared for them to each open a Nab Sack and release close to a hundred roosters into the Chamber of Secrets."

"That got the Basilisk?" he asked dryly as Dumbledore nodded, eyes twinkling amused "I'm told that Voldemort's shade used somehighlycreative swears when that happened. To the point that if he was still a student I'd have been torn between taking points for the profanity or awarding them for the creativity."

"I have a feeling the other teachers wouldn't be as conflicted." Marcus chuckled dryly as Mrs. Weasley started to get control of herself again, even if she was still refusing to break the hug.

"You might be right about that." Dumbledore nodded as he ate a candy, "The Artifact has been taken to the Department of Mysteries to be studied and dealt with; the young Ms. Weasley is being given the best care at St. Mungos to recover from the partial possession; and the Basilisk is now dead."

"Shame about that though." Marcus sighed sadly, "If it was around since the time of the Founders imagine the things it could have seen and told us…if we could understand it."

"And if it wasn't so bloodthirsty." Dumbledore nodded, "Sadly there's a good chance that the creature went mad after all the centuries isolated in the dark and cold like it had been. That said, we've cut off access to that restroom from the rest of the school and will be having historians and curse breakers exploring the Chamber now that we can access it safely." Marcus felt a burning curiosity at that, an eagerness to see what was down there and learn more. His eagerness must have shown as Dumbledore laughed merrily.

"The students who have high enough grades in History of Magic are going to be offered chances to join the teams looking through the chamber." Dumbledore commented, "There's no particular reason I mentioned it of course. Just making conversation."

"Sure." Marcus finally let out a laugh of his own, "I can see why you weren't a Slytherin sir." Dumbledore almost looked affronted at that while Fawkes chirped mocking laughter at the old headmaster.

Tuning out the Headmaster's mocking grumbles about 'impertinent youths' he realized something "Wait, why tell me all this?" he blinked in surprise "I get letting me know that my ideas helped if you wanted to thank me but why all the details?"

At that, Dumbledore slumped in his seat, looking exasperated "Because there's no real point in hiding them. Turns out a nowexauror who was on the team that went into the Chamber thought nobody would figure out it was them if they sold the story and details to the prophet who already had the story printed and written. The Evening edition will have the story as it was shipped out before Amelia could find out and stop it."

"You just can't find good help these days." Marcus laughed, finally letting himself relax.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 24

-Han Solo-

Steeling his nerves, Han flipped the various switches on the dash of the shuttle he was piloting, up ahead he could see a large star destroyer, one that would distinctly only be commanded by someone high up in the regime of 'Palpatine's Empire'. In all honesty having two factions refer to themselves as 'the Empire' and three 'rebel alliances' was starting to get confusion.

"Shuttle, identify yourself!" the barked order came through on the coms, the other ship having noticed them.

"Shuttle Xeta twelve, requesting immediate permission to board." Han did his best to sound exhausted and fearful, "We are the sole survivors from an attack by Anakin Skywalker's forces and have intel regarding their movements. Again, we request immediate permission to board to ensure the intel is secure!"

"Permission granted, head to hanger bay three at once." Han saw part of the Star Destroyer opening up, "Be warned however, this ship is currently commanded by the Grand Inquisitor himself. Should your information prove insufficient he shall deal with you personally for wasting his time."

"U-understood." Han gulped, not needing to hide his genuine trepidation at the thought.

"Good. Proceed to dock." The comm line cut off as Han continued to direct the ship to the hangar bay, pointedly not looking at what stood behind him in the shuttle. Showing the piloting skills that he'd honed thanks to practice and the aide of the Falcon, he landed the shuttle in the ship's hangar, the bay doors sealing shut.

The instant that he wasn't at risk of being spaced, Han flipped a switch on the shuttle, releasing a powerful virus developed by Skywalker to keep the Star Destroyer from sending any further messages. It wouldn't last forever but it bought time for the second part of this venture to do their job.

With a crash, HK-50 punched the shuttle door, sending it flying into a group of Stormtroopers, crushing their bodies under the weight of flying steel.

"OPEN FIRE!" an officer somewhere watching shouted as the stunned Imperial soldiers began to shoot at the gleaming droid, the blaster fire doing nothing to the mechanical menace.

"Pathetic." The sheer derision in the droid's voice was palpable as Skywalker's robotic commando turned to those firing upon it. The robot's left arm shifted, turning from a full mechanical limb to a gatling gun that began to spin, letting loose with a rainbow array of blaster bolts that flew with terrifying aim.

Skywalker had been quite proud of this droid he'd created, having made sure Han knew at least part of what it could do. Given that he was told just to reassure him of his safety given HK-50 was his only backup on this mission, or perhaps he was just the droid's chauffeur, it did change his opinion on his new boss. The man was still scary as anything, but he seemed to have a code and respected efficiency, ensuring those going on missions knew what they needed to not be as worried and risk making things worse.

And with what he now knew, Skywalker had every right to be proud of this droid. Every inch of the thing, from the outer shell to the inner components, was made of pure Baskar. Skywalker had collected the nearly indestructible Mandalorian metal in bits and pieces from the horde that Emperor Palpatine had gathered, careful to avoid notice. The droid wasn't just special because of what metal it was made from though, its offence was just as devastating as its defense.

Slipping out of the shuttle, blaster ready to provide what cover assistance he could to the droid, and planning to letitbe the one to handle the Grand Inquisitor, Han followed behind. The continual barrage of multicolored blaster bolts were fired out in bursts, no target missing their mark. Skywalker had mentioned he spent a full year just developing the targeting software on the droid to ensure it was as accurate as possible given the nature of the gatling gun it was equipped with. Rather than a standard blaster each barrel was outfitted with a 'kyber crystal' that would usually power a light saber. Something he'd been told HK-50 also had. HK-50 was a blood covered one droid army and it was only the rarity of the materials used in the mechanical being's construction that prevented more from being made.

Removing the helmet from a dead Stormtrooper, Han yanked out the helmet's internal radio, listening in as a voice full of authoritative malice ordered more soldiers to ensure the 'prison ward' was secure and the 'bitches stayed under' while the speaker went to deal with the intruders.

"HK-50, they're moving prisoners and given that the one in charge ordered that area reinforced before saying he'd come our way. He also mentioned keeping prisoners 'under'." Han called out to the Droid who paused in their pursuit of the Stormtroopers who had fled.

"Affirmative." The droid nodded in acquiescence as Han wondered just what sort of prisoners would require an order like that. Either way he'd find out, and if the sound of a lightsaber activating down the hall, not to mention the red glow, was any indication it would happen soon. That droid possessed an adaptive combat AI capable of learning and trained daily against Skywalker himself. The man's cheap replacement in the Empire didn't stand a chance.

-Harry-

Letting out a steady breath, Harry sealed the special kiln he'd built shut. Baskar was one of the most useful resources he'd found in this galaxy, but he'd never managed to find enough of the stuff to really study. Now that he was on Mandalore, the only place where said material was found, he'd begun to study its properties for one reason and one reason alone.

Alchemy.

Through use of alchemic ritual, he was able to enhance other metals. He couldn't simply make more of it, not yet at least, as the metal was naturally powerful with its own energy, the same reason gold could not be transmuted without a Philosopher's Stone. What he could do though, was use a kiln of Baskar enchanted to every level he could. The metals prepared in the kiln like furnace would imbue the properties of Baskar to a degree into the metal ingots prepared. They weren't at the same level as the legendary 'Mandalorian Iron' but they were far better than regular steel.

"Harry," hearing the voice of Galen from his com, Harry looked up "you're needed in the war roomnow." The tone of Galen's voice was all Harry needed to know this was an emergency. Twisting with a crack, Harry apparated to the war room on the upper level, his inner circle there now aware of magic and just relieved at his arrival.

"What's the issue?" he demanded as he walked towards Galen.

"We're being hailed…by Anakin Skywalker." Galen gestured to the blinking light indicating that the other caller was waiting to be patched through.

"…Have Obi-Wan, Luke, and Leia brought in but stay out of sight for now." Harry ordered after a moment as Galen nodded and had the three rushed over, the entirety of his inner circle having a portkey to the war room, already briefed on what to do. At his silent nod, Galen flipped a switch as Anakin Skywalker appeared as a hologram, sharing a distinct resemblance to Luke but having a few features he recognized in Leia as well.

"I have to say, I didn't expect this when I woke up this morning." Harry spoke as he noted Anakin studying him as well, "Why have you contacted the Alliance?" he'd had to find a name besides 'Rebel Faction number three' and 'the Alliance' was neutral enough to work for now.

"Because of some information I recently came across after raiding one of Palpatine's Star Destroyers." Anakin's eyes burned with an all-consuming rage, an expression Harry had yet to see from either of the twins, "It would seem Palpatine has begun 'planning for the future' and has given out standing orders to capture every female force user he could find. He intends to let his most loyal have them to breed a new generation of force users raised to be completely loyal to him." Many items in the room began to crack from the outraged waves of power the assembled force users let out at that bit of information.

"He isn't trying to collect male ones too?" Harry forced his rage under control, needing more information before he let it run wild.

"Palpatine is terrified of being overthrown." Anakin scoffed derisively, "Too many force users would all but ensure an eventual coup attempt. The intel gathered states that the collected female force users would allow a population to be bred but not too many at once. Added to that he could keep them unconscious so they couldn't 'fight back'."

"Why tell us?" Oola demanded, his beloved wife clenching her fist tight.

"Because, I know you would be just as disgusted by such a plan as I am." Anakin wore a dark scowl, "Added to that…there were several such prisoners being moved on the ship. The Inquisitor found various women who were too young to know how to use their abilities or were from the original Jedi Order and too out of practice to be prepared for an ambush, even with the aide of the Force. They're still unconscious as I knew those who remembered me would likely attack the moment that they saw me. I've looked into you thoroughly, Captain of the Citadel. I wished to know what neutral location you would be willing to meet for me to turn them over into your care."

"Not going to keep them for yourself?" Kal asked with a wary fear in his eyes.

"They would not work with me willingly, I know that." Anakin answered, suddenly showing a bone shaking grief and tiredness in his eyes, even over hologram "And…I believe it's way Padme would have wanted." The man felt sincere as he said that.

"I will contact you on where to go for this meeting." Harry decided to trust his gut, and the subtle whisper of the Force, nodding to the man "Although I have to ask, you're not going to demand to speak to Luke?" from what he understood Anakin would have no idea that Leia was his child too.

"I…no." Anakin's voice showed pain and want but the man shook his head regardless, "I have no right to call him my son, to try and act like his father. Not anymore. He is Padme's son and her's alone to me. I would not further insult my wife's Memory by risking dragging him into the darkness of my life. I shall await your message on where to meet." With that the message cut off as Harry turned to the three silent figures still staring at where the Hologram had been.

"I believe we require a war council." Harry's voice was gentle as he snapped the four out of their shock, "We need to discuss how to handle this."

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 25

-Palpatine-

Frowning, hood hiding most of his features, Palpatine tapped his long nails repeatedly on the armrest of his throne. The sound being the only one left in the throne room now that cooling corpse at his feet had stopped screaming. Hearing the door finally open, he looked up to see Mara Jade, now his sole surviving apprentice, enter. The woman easily took in his displeasure as it rippled through the Force, as well as the charred body at his feet.

"What is your bidding my master?" She kneeled down before him. He could easily read the thoughts racing through her mind, fears of herself being the cause of his fury. Of wondering where the Grand Inquisitor was. And more.

"The Grand Inquisitor…is dead." Palpatine hissed out, yellowed nails digging into the metal of his throne as he gripped it tight, the force strengthening his body as the metal warped under his grip, "It was myformerApprentice. I can feel it in the Force. Along with him an entire Star Destroyer and the captives the Grand Inquisitor had managed to collect are all gone."

"When do we strike?" Mara Jade's eyes blazed, eager for blood and glory. To prove herself to him.

"You will be leading an assault against the Rebel Forces currently amassed on the Frozen World of Hoth." He shook his head.

"We…you're just going to let Skywalker get away with it?!" Mara Jaded gaped at him incredulously before letting out a strangled sound, eyes widening as he could see her throat closing from the force choke.

"You stupid girl." Palpatine sneered, letting her breathe before she could pass out, "Those prisoners would attack the once Vader on sight. Either he tries to keep them and they'll either attack him or make him a target for the other rebels more than he already was. The other option was he might seek to use them as a bargaining chip. Either way, we would still have to find them. The 'original Rebel Faction', on the other hand, we know exactly where to find. I'd rather minimize the chance of being attacked from behind when we do eventually end the line of Skywalker."

"Yes…Master." Mara Jade gasped out, some indignant rage finally forming in the girl's mind over the loyalty she felt towards him and his empire. Good, a proper Sithneededto hate…so long as they knew their place.

"Then go. Prepare the forces under your command and take Hoth in my name." He ordered the girl, "I must see to who shall oversee the Inquistorius now that its previous Grand was gone." Not to mention he wished to check on improved Death Star's construction, "Prove yourself…and youmightearn your Sith Name."

-Harry-

Steepling his fingers, Harry looked at the various members of his war council he'd gathered, the call from Anakin Skywalker still weighing heavy in the room.

"I…that was him?" Luke looked over at Obi-Wan who knew Anakin the best of everyone assembled at the table.

"Yes and no. That wasn't quite the Anakin I once called brother but neither did that feel like Darth Vader. But a shade torn between the two." Obi-Wan ran a hand through his beard, "I can say that he wasn't lying. Anakin was never able to lie to me."

"So, he wasn't lying about." Marris grunted, "I still don't think I trust him around Lu-everyone." Harry suppressed a smirk at the woman's near slip up. He was rooting for them, and more good news was always welcome.

"I plan to go there to the meeting." Harry spoke bluntly, "Luke, Leia, Obi-Wan. You may come if you wish, or you can join the teams looking for more force sensitives or scattered Mandalorian clans."

"I…would like to go." Obi-Wan decided, "I need to speak with him again."

"I…don't know." Luke admitted nervously, "Part of me wants to meet him, but another part is afraid, you know?"

"If you go, I'll come with you." Marris gave Harry a look, not willing to back down on that point and her presence seemed to reassure Luke.

"I won't be." Leia shook her head as Harry looked her way, "I have found word of survivors of Alderan. People who were off world when it was destroyed." Her gaze hardened, "I yet remain Princess of Alderan. Those aremypeople, and I willnotleave them to wander aimlessly, at risk of being found to the empire."

"Take at least one other inner circle with you." Harry nodded, in approval of the mission as Leia nodded relieved he wasn't protesting with different orders for her.

"I will go with her." Oola spoke up, his wife having an expression on her face that he didn't recognize but didn't think too much about it, he'd have time later.

"I'll go with you." Luke decided before wincing and sending an apologetic glance at Marris who was giving him 'the look' "I mean we." The Zabrak commander nodded satisfied "I think I'll regret it if I run from him on this." Harry nodded as more and more of the council got their orders.

Some, such as Dobby, would be staying on Mandalore to help oversee repairs and be prepared to deal with any counter attacks from the empire.

Others, Kal and his crew, would be heading out to collect more allies scattered throughout the galaxy.

His every gut instinct along with the Force was telling him that things were going to start escalating soon. More battles, more blood, and more death. His people were going to need every advantage they could get.

"If that is all, then I will be going." The raspy voice of Grievous coughed out, the cyborg being the first to rise from the table "I have soldiers to train." the tactical genius had taken well to working with the Mandalorians. He almost felt pity for anyone those soldiers would face.Almost.

Nodding, and seeing the various groups splitting off to go see to their missions, Harry gave Oola one last kiss before she and Leia departed.

"Where are we meeting Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked, the man sounding both fearful and hopeful all at once.

"Ilum." Harry stated as he headed to his ship, those coming with him trailing behind, "The Empire finished their mining operations a few years ago so the place has been largely abandoned ever since."

Obi-Wan let out a little snort, "Anakin would at least know the place well given how often he was forced to go there when he was younger."

"He was? Why?" Luke blinked curiously as they exited the palace, heading for the Citadel.

"Because he kept losing or breaking his sabers and had to constantly get new ones." Obi-Wan sighed, but Harry could hear the fondness in his tone at the memories, "It only got worse when the Clone Wars began."

"My old Master told me a bit about him." Marris spoke up with a frown, "I was still a toddler when Master Ti escaped with me during the Purge, so I don't remember him myself."

"Most of those who were around during the Clone Wars could have told you stories." Obi-Wan sighed, "Anakin was," the old man trailed off, considering the right word "I suppose magnetic is apt. He always seemed to get involved in things, or drew in people's attention. Both the good and the bad. Every Master on the council had a strong opinion on him, whether that was positive or negative."

"How do you think he'll react to us being there?" Luke asked softly as the Citadel began to rise up into the air.

"Vader would be angry. Anakin would be nervous and trying to get closer to you without making it worse while making some absolutely awful Jokes and small talk." Obi-Wan shook his head, "How he reacts…that will answer several questions I have as well."

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 28

-Luke-

Sitting back in the ice cave, Luke silently observed the man who could have been his father had things been different. The man who, maybe, could still become such. He'd seen sparks of it in the man as they talked, little hints of what could be whenever Anakin Skywalker let his guard down. Even if it was only down split seconds before it was hastily slammed back up.

"There's…there's something you should know." Luke came to a decision, something Leia had said she would trust him with when they split up for their separate tasks.

"What is it?" Anakin Skywalker sounded wary, likely noting the change in Luke's tone, the seriousness of what was about to be revealed.

"I'm not Padme Amidala's only child." Luke was careful not to say he was Anakin's only child, not wanting to rock the boat too much, especially with what he was about to reveal "I have a sister. Atwinsister."

"A-another?" Anakin looked ready to collapse on himself, the once jedi and once sith staggering back floored "I- Padme, had another child?" the fact that the man had to force himself to just say Padme was, hopefully, a good sign.

"Leia." Luke pressed onward as the man before him looked close to shattering, likely remembering Leia's imprisonment on the Death Star and everything that had occurred.

"And…she choose to not come to Ilum." the mix of pain and resignation that was in those words, feelings the man was clearly trying to hide, resonated in the Force.

"Actually, she found a lead on survivors of Alderan and went to find them." Luke shook his head, "She said that no matter her heritage, she was still the Princess of Alderan and had a duty to her people."

"Hah!" Anakin barked out a laugh, a bit of mirth and life appearing back in the man's eyes "That's just the kind of thing Padme would have done. Her people needed her, and so she'd let nothing stand in her way." the laughter slowly died down, the echoes from the frigid walls fading away, "I seesomuch of her, in both of you. Her strength, her compassion, everything." Anakin reached out, hesitantly, before seemingly mustering his resolve and placing a tentative hand on Luke's shoulder "She'd be proud of the kind of people you both have become."

Mustering up his own courage, Luke smiled at the man "Thanks da-" before he could finish the word, he was cut off by his communicator blaring.

"Luke, get back to the Citadel now!" Harry's voice was furious.

"Harry, what's happening?" Luke felt a spike of panic at the raw fury in the man's voice.

"I just got word from the ship that Oola and Leia took. They're under attack!"

"What?!" Luke felt his blood run cold even as part of the ice around them cracked, stalagmites of frozen water falling like spears into the lake.

"The Mandalorians I sent with them to Orlais just said that Leia declared war when they found the Alderanians being enslaved, I don't know anything else nowmove!"

"Right!" Luke hastily tucked away the communicator, silently glancing over at Anakin whose face was thunderous.

"Go, save your sister Luke." Anakin's expression turned into a savage grin, "There's a good chance of the Empire sending reinforcements if they got word of what's happening. I'm fairly sure I know from where they'll come so I think I'll go have a little 'fun'."

-Harry-

Glancing over at Luke and Maris as they portkeyed on to the ship already starting to rise from the icy plateau, Harry gave a silent nod. It was taking everything in him to keep focused, hating knowing his wife was in danger and he wasn't anywhere close to help her.

"Dad is going to try and intercept any Empire heading for Orlais." Luke's eyes showed he was just as angry as Harry was, the man no doubt worried about his sister.

"Does he-?" Harry didn't even need to finish the question as Luke nodded, "That'll get bloody."

"Setting course for Orlais." Juno shouted from the helm, "The report from the Valiant says that the Mandalorian forces moving on the city to start liberating slaves."

"This will definitely draw the Empire's attention." Harry frowned as the Citadel rapidly made the jump to hyper speed, shooting towards the planet where Leia and Oola were waging a war.

"Galen just sent word." Juno strode towards them, the ships computer handling navigation at this speed "A Mandalorian Battalion cruiser is being deployed to help secure the planet and liberate any slaves."

"Thank you, Juno." Harry ran a tired hand through his hair, focusing on his connection to Oola through the force, the bond that still remained strong as he felt his wife's emotions. Her righteous fury as she fought, but nothing that would imply she was close to death or that Leia had fallen.

Now that it just had to stay that way.

-Mara Jade-

"Forward you useless dogs!" Mara Jade snarled, crimson lightsaber standing out against the white snows of Hoth, "FORWARD!" the air was filled with the sound of screaming blasters and cracking sheets of ice as the AT-AT Walkers took slow lumbering strides towards the Rebel Base.

Around her throat she could still feel the weight of her Master's force choke, the Emperor having made sure to do it in such a way to bruise her throat even if his fingers never touched her skin. Ever since she'd left her master's presence, the spark of indignation at how he'd treated her had begun to fester and grow. The frigid wind whipped around her as she stalked across the snow, using her crimson saber to strike away any rebel blaster fire sent her way.

Howdarehe?! She felt the Dark Side surging through her veins like napalm, her fury keeping her warm as she thrust her hand out, blowing the barricades inward. The screams of the terrified rebels made a cruel smirk appear on her face, relishing in the fear that was almost palpable in the air.

It still wasn't enough to wash away her outrage at being forced to come to this frostbitten disgrace of a planet. Thes rebels didn't even have any Force Users left! The emperor should have left this to his officers and had her go after the Skywalkers. It was a waste of her power, her abilities, to send her here!

Lashing out with rage, Mara shattered the hangar bay doors, the cold winds of Hoth pouring into the base as the rebels tried to run further into the building, as if that would save them from her.

Feeling the twinge in the Force give warning, Mara scoffed as she raised her saber, deflecting a blaster bolt aimed at her head from behind. An officer had stayed behind while his men ran, firing at her in a vain hope to take her life.

And yet "You," Mara purred as she curled her fingers, the Force pulling the officer to her, the man's limbs splayed outward as the Force kept him in place "show…potential." Her voice was a sensual whisper in the man's ear as she delved into his mind. These worms were already determined to fight the Emperor, the Master who would so easily throw her away?

"I'll just have to put you to better use." Mara smirked as she twisted what she had to in the man's mind. This rebel, his mind so weak and vulnerable to one of her gifts, so easily manipulated. But that was alright, this one and others she would take from this planet, rebels who would 'escape', would do her bidding. Pawns moved in the distance to make sure her 'Master' was right where she wanted him to be.

"The Sith and its throne will be mine." Mara's grin grew wider as the now docile rebel left at her command. She had to find more 'candidates' while culling the arrest after all. And if any of the Emperor's precious stormtroopers saw her, then they would die just as easily.

-Marcus-

"Things are just as tense as last year." Susan sighed in frustration as she, Marcus, and Neville walked to their next classes with an escort. The halls and grounds were being patrolled by the security team Uncle Sirius was heading and even the Forbidden Forest was supposedly on high alert through Hagrid's monsters.

"At least this time the Aurors know exactly who they're supposed to go after." Neville shuddered, likely remembering the terror of their second year, of not being able to be sure who was the culprit behind the attacks. From what he'd heard the Fifth and Seventh year Muggleborns alone had emptied Madame Pomphrey's calming draughts for stress relief given the attacks as well as their O. and N.E. .

At least with Susan's aunt as Minister, the hunt for the escaped Death Eaters was being handled competently. Honestly, if Fudge was still in charge, Marcus wouldn't have been surprised if the idiot had done something like send all the Dementors away from Azkaban to scour the country for the escapees, leaving the prison far less secure.

Reaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Marcus nodded to Uncle Sirius who returned it, heading off to do another patrol once everyone was inside the classroom. Inside, he saw Uncle Remus checking a large wardrobe, several of the girls from the Gryffindor Hufflepuff class group giggling and batting their eyes at his Uncle's back.

Thankfully Uncle Remus pointedly ignored how the younger girls were eyeing him, the man having put on massive quantities of muscle ever since getting dominion over his wolf spirit. Susan was far less ignoring of the face Marcus made at seeing his classmates crushing on his Uncle, the redhead snickering at his reactions.

"Good morning class." Uncle Remus finally finished with whatever he was checking on the wardrobe as he turned around, "Today, we'll be going over a useful little spell that deals with a type of creature the Death Eaters were known for using in the war. Many underestimate the boggart but despite their simple nature, they are not to be underestimated!" hastily pulling out his quill, Marcus started taking notes. This year was certainly going to be interesting.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 30

-Annakin-

Cutting the power to his speeder, Annakin dismounted, his boots crunching in the sand as he gazed at the ruin that had once been the Lars family farm. He'd had the machinery, what few parts could be salvaged, removed and repaired as a new moisture farm was opened. This place, where his mother had been buried and Luke had been raised was kept private, special.

Approaching the graves, Anakin laid flowers on each stone. Flowers were a luxury on a desert planet like this, but he felt that Shmi Skywalker and the Lars family deserved that respect. As he knelt in silent vigil, he felt the small grains of sand carried by the wind slide across his skin, getting caught in his hair. When he was younger, he had loathed sand, hating the coarseness and how it got everywhere. But after twenty years confined to armor, risking death to even feel a breeze across his skin? Now he relished the small sensations, the little feelings no matter how unpleasant he might have once thought them.

"Hey Mom." Anakin's fingers traced the name Shmi Skywalker that was carved into the rock, "I…it's been a long time. I'm sorry that I didn't visit sooner." He couldn't, not when he was Darth Vader. He had refused to defile his mother's resting place with his presence as a Sith Lord.

For now, he remained by their graves. He told Shmi and the Lars family about the changes he was making to Tatooine, told them about Luke and Leia. How proud he was of them, how they were growing into better people than he was.

"You'd have loved them, Mom." He rose to his feet, making sure to clean off any dust or sand from the graves "And I know they'd have loved to have grown up with you in their lives." Halfway back to his speeder, his messenger went off, Lumiya appearing as a projection above it as he secured the device to his vehicle.

"Master," Lumiya's projection nodded "I did as you ordered and started collecting various people who could fill positions of authority on Tatooine."

"Good work Lumiya." He nodded as the speeder took off, zooming across the barren sands as he made his way back to what had once been Jabba's palace, "I will go through them personally upon my return."

"As you say, Master." Even though she bowed respectfully, he could tell she wanted to say something else.

"Speak your mind, Lumiya." Anakin ordered her, rather getting any potential issues aired and dealt with lest they fester.

"I fail to see why you're doing this Master." Lumiya relented, "You rule Tatooine, your rule is prosperous. I don't see why you need others to handle tasks you are seeing to without issue."

"The answer is twofold." He told his apprentice, "First, it is a precaution should the worse come to pass. I would not want to leave Tatooine in chaos should anything happen to me, and it also gives a support network if anything goes wrong when I'm off planet."

"I see." Lumiya calmed down slightly, expression thoughtful as she considered his words. He left it at that for now, not wanting to have her grow paranoid. What he'd said was true but there was another factor, that through the force he could feel a great change was brewing. A choice would have to be made eventually, and he wanted everything secure before he had to make it.

-Obi-Wan-

"You know, Ireallyregret leaving Cere to handle the hospital wing." Obi-Wan sighed as he wrenched his foot from the thick mud of Dagobah, "She's nice and comfortable on Mandalore while we have to trapse through a swamp."

"You know, I really don't remember you whining so much back in the old days." Kota snorted, the force helping the blind general still tell where he was going.

"Please don't refer to it that way, I feel my age enough as it is." Obi-Wan sighed, following the distant signs of flight in the dark swamp "But twenty years of living as a hermit on Tatooine I feel warrant a least alittlewhining. I used to think Anakin was exaggerating when he would go on tangents about how much he hated that place. No, if anything, he was underselling that sand ball of misery. It's a death world that breeds lunatic survivors like Anakin just like how Naboo breeds Sith Lords."

That remark had Kota stagger in place, almost falling face first into the muck "What in blazes are you talking about?" Kota looked at him like he was crazy, "Naboo was a peaceful world, how is that 'a breeding ground of Sith Lords'?"

"Naboo was a planet that not only had a long-standing system of electing literalchildrento be the rulers of their Planetary Government; but they further had a history of assassinating said children with such sufficient frequency that dressing up a group of other children as decoy targets had become standard operating procedure." Obi-Wan ranted at the absurdity he'd never taken the time to really think about during the Clone Wars. Say what you will, but Tatooine didn't leave much for one to do but survive and think.

"The Emperor sadly makes more sense in that context." Kota sighed as they grew closer and closer, the shape of Yoda's home starting to grow clearer, "But let's leave that for now. We have an old friend to visit, and hopefully drag back to society."

"Yes, society that has showers, and fewer swamps." Obi-Wan moved quicker, eager to be out of this place as he reached the door of Yoda's mud and stone hut, knocking on the ramshackle door.

Or he would have, if Yoda's voice hadn't called out before his knuckles ever reached the wood "Know you are there, I do. Come in, old friend, you will."

"I hate it when he does that."

-Palpatine-

Reclining back on his throne, Palpatine observed his 'apprentice' making her way towards his throne room on the security cameras. The stupid girl, to think he wasn't aware of her little scheme with the Rebels. He was well aware of what she would try, especially after he'd finally cultivated beginning of a sliver of hatred in her.

A sith needed to hate, but his pawns had to know their place. Jade would never amount to anything more than a tool, a place holder until he could acquire atrueapprentice.

It was part of why he had been so determined to capture those women. Tobreeda newhumanapprentice, one who could take over the empire…when Palpatine allowed him to. But, for now, he'd let Jade have her moment of 'triumph'. It would make the truth all the more painful for her, and all the sweeter for him.

Waving his hand to have the security feed vanish, he relaxed as the grand doors to his throne room opened, Mara Jade striding in carrying the severed head of Mon Mothma.

"My master, I have returned." Jade knelt before his throne. He could feel the hatred in her, even if her face impressively showed none of it. The seed of hatred he'd planet into her had bloomed in the short time she was away dealing with rebels. But with that blooming hatred, the surge of the dark side, and her paltry 'victory' she had grown overconfident.

"I can see that." He let her believe him fooled, for now. Rising from his throne, and ignoring the cracking of his bones from having remained so still for so long, he drew his lightsaber "You have completed the task set before you, and as such your 'reward' is earned." The blade ignited but held to the side, clearly not being brought forth as a weapon.

"Yes, my master." The woman's eyes gleamed with eager greed as she knelt, the severed head of the rebel 'leader' dropping to the ground with a wet splat.

"Henceforth," his rasping voice echoed in the otherwise empty throne room "you shall be known as Darth…Chrysalis."

"Thank you, my Master." The newly named Darth Chrysalis only felt satisfaction.

"Rise." He gestured dismissively, "You have work to do." She would serve her purpose until the remaining rebels were stamped out. But then, he knew she would play right into her 'true' fate. He did so love irony.

-Marcus-

"Bombarda!" Marcus shouted, flicking his wand at the Death Eater who had aimed their own wand at Susan, the tip glowing sickly green letting him know just what spell they'd been trying to do.

"Good shot Marcus!" Hagrid roared, the Half Giant's face twisted with rage as he worked to shield Marcus and Susan. The School's Groundskeeper grabbed a conjured wolf, throwing it like a bludger at the conjurer as Marcus heard the loud distinct sound of snapping bone.

"How long," Susan ducked under a spell and shot a spell to transfigure the dirt under a group of death eaters into quicksand "until the aurors show up?!"

"I don't know!" he shouted back, transfiguring a bunch of grass around some of the murderers into a swarm of wasps.

"Get down!" Susan shouted, tackling him as a piercing curse sailed over where he'd been, the spell having slipped past Hagrid who responded by hurling his axe at the caster.

The plan had been surprisingly cunning, given the usual examples of Slytherin house he'd had to deal with. He and Susan had been visiting with Hagrid when the school got placed on Lockdown, a group of the Death Eaters having been spotted outside Hogsmede, moving to some other location. Given the potential of it being their base, the majority of the strike force had been sent with the aurors to get the escapees, the rest staying inside the castle to protect the students.

The issue was that Hagrid had to escort him and Susan back to the castle so they would beinsaid protective area, and a different group of the escapees had been waiting in ambush.

"Stop holding back you useless bastards!" an emaciated Death Eater shouted, "Crucio!" Marcus saw a flash of the spell heading his way before Hagrid leapt to intercept it, the half giant's screams carrying across the grounds.

The answering howl of rage from the castle let him know that his Uncle had seen what was going on and waspissed.

-Tonks-

Frowning, Tonks looked around the various assorted Death Eaters restrained and waiting to be moved back to prison. Officially, she was making sure none of them tried to escape into the Forbidden Forest to apparate once past the wards. Those that could still walk after having been set upon by a wrathful Defense teacher.

Unofficially, she was pointedly avoiding looking at Marcus Potter and Susan Bones. The sight of a Gryffindor with black hair and green eyes being so close to a Hufflepuff girl was bringing up some old memories and unpleasant feelings, the Bones girl and Potter boy fretting over Hagrid and each other.

Checking that all the captured Death Eaters were still unconscious for the fifth time, Tonks let her thoughts wander to the ritual she'd found in the Vault. Not wanting to just trust a single old book that had been forgotten in the archives, she'd taken the name and done more research into it, wanting to know how viable it was.

The ritual was apparently something originally designed to forcibly reclaim runaway heirs who hadn't wanted to go through with arranged marriages, using it to forcibly bring them directly to the wedding. The method had fallen out of favor as arranged marriages stopped being quite as common, and as ritual magic itself grew out of favor.

Given the amount of rituals Voldemort was known or rumored to have done, many started viewing ritual magic with the same stigma that Parsletongue received. It would still fit what she needed perfectly, bringing Harry back to her from wherever the Veil had sent him.

The ritual did admittedly have some drawbacks. Along with how it would only work on a person one time before they became immune to that specific ritual, most of the reagents were distinctly rare and the steps more on the complex side.

It would take her at least a year to be able to afford all the reagents, if not longer. But she'd do it, and nothing would get in her way.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 31

-Obi-Wan-

Grimacing at the protests of his old bones, and wondering how in the blazes Yoda was still so damned spry, Obi-Wan managed to settle into the carved wooden seat. The old Grand Master of the Jedi Order humming to himself as he waddled around the small wattle and daub hut to prepare tea for the three of them.

"You seem quite at peace, Master Yoda." Kota remarked, the blind general sipping at the simple drink their old comrade and mentor offered to them, "I'm glad."

"Pleased I am, that made it here safely, you have." Yoda nodded "Little word of the outside world, I get to hear. Only one brief visitor since my exile, I've had."

"There's…been a great deal of change." Obi-Wan sighed, "With us, with the other survivors, the rebels…and Anakin."

"Anakin you say?" Yoda looked up, eyes sharp "Not 'Vader'?"

"No, he is Darth Vader no longer." Obi-Wan shook his head, conviction ringing clearly in his voice, "As I said, there has been a great deal of change." So, with that, he began to talk. Telling Master Yoda of what had occurred ever since he met Luke and the droids in the deserts of Tatooine up to the recent return from Orlais and Illum.

"Hmm, surprising, this is." Yoda tapped a clawed finger on the head of his cane "This outcome, I did not foresee."

"None of us did." Obi-Wan shook his head, "But now we need your guidance, your wisdom."

"Hah, need an old man like me, do you?" Yoda hmphed, "Seems like a new plan, you have already decided. New directions, already taken they are. Fail to see what need there is for me, I do."

"Master Yoda, just because we are trying to grow with these changing times, to take things in a new direction, doesn't mean we want to throw away everything good about the past." Kota shook his head, "You were the Jedi with the longest history with the Order. You have forgotten more secrets of the Force than I'll likely ever know. But more than that, you're our friend. I don't want to leave you here in self-imposed exile, stewing over the ghosts of the past."

Yoda seemed caught off guard by the intensity of the declaration before giving a tired wry smile, "Hmm, shame this old fool, you do. Too lost in old pains, I have been. Go with you, I think I will. Meet this new Mandalore, I am eager to."

"Be prepared for him to tease you." Obi-Wan shook his head with fond amusem*nt, "He's got a sharp tongue and a wry sense of humor."

"Hah, not the first soldier I have ever met, will he be. Not the last time my speech is joked about, will this be." Yoda smirked, hopping down with new life appearing in the short master's eyes "Show this young one that as give as good as I can get, I shall." Yoda's cackle did not make him feel eager about introducing him to the chaos of the Citadel crew.

-Amelia-

Frowning, Amelia went through the report on the results of the Death Eater's attempted assault on Hogwarts and the Potter boy. Of the multitude of Death Eaters that had escaped from Azkaban, all but one had been recaptured and secured in their cells, or a grave, once again. Most of the various Ministry officials saw this as a massive win, feeling that with all but one secured they could relax. After all, if everyone else had been taken down by the group of aurors stationed around Hogwarts, a couple teachers, and two third years then there was surely nothing to worry about?

She didn't share those sentiments.

From the interrogations done on the captured terrorists, she'd learned that the one remaining Death Eater still at large had split off from them all almost immediately after they'd escaped. The group had been discussing what to do and eventually decided their plan to go after Potter. They woke up the next morning to find Barty Crouch Junior gone but, after they failed to get apprehended right away, wrote the man off as a coward.

"He likely went to go and find his master." A tired Dumbledore sighed, tossing his own copy of the report back onto her desk, "I remember him being one of Voldemort's more devoted followers."

"I was afraid you were going to say that." Amelia sighed, having thought the same but truly hoped Dumbledore would have had a different logical idea that made more sense, "So what do we do now?"

"We keep preparing, as we have been." Dumbledore sighed, the man's age showing with how exhausted he appeared, "It's all we can do. Unless someone spots Crouch and tips off the aurors so we can capture him then all we can do is continue to strengthen our defenses and prepare for the unfortunate inevitability of him finding Voldemort and doing all he can to ensure his master's return."

"And of course, we still have that blasted tournament." Amelia grimaced. An international event set up by Fudge prior to his removal, and one heavily prepared and agreed upon bymultipleMinistries meant she couldn't just say no and toss the concept out the window, no matter how much she wanted to. All she could do was push for more precautions than Fudge had. Even if that wasn't nearly as high of a bar as she wished it was.

"Please don't remind me, I'm the one who's school will have to host it." Dumbledore gave her a tired deadpan, "At least the extreme auror patrols aren't occurring during it. With how on edge everything and everyone was it would have been a diplomatic incident waiting to happen."

"Too bad the other countries didn't cancel due to the escape." Amelia sighed wistfully.

"Amelia, when have our liveseverbeen that simple?" Dumbledore's expression had her snort despite the irritation of it all.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 33

-Luke-

"Here's the command room." Luke whispered as the four of them located the thick metal door. They'd been sneaking through the facility, their escort ship having landed outside of the Imperial Outpost, hidden and out of sight.

"Think this is where we'll find the useful information?" Maris asked, her saber tonfa ready to be activated at a moment's notice.

"It has to be." Grievous coughed, "The most secure location is the only one that would have access to all the intelligence in the facility."

"Dobby is ready to f*ck the sh*t up!" the smaller being grinned, holding a blaster ready.

Nodding to the others, Luke used the force to open the door, lifting the latch as Maris rushed in first, spinning her weapons like a graceful angel of death, cutting down the Imperial officers inside the room in an instant.

Moving inside, Luke focused on shutting the metal door as quickly and silently as he could, Maris moving the bodies out of sight while Grievous and Dobby worked to go through the intel systems.

"Troop movements." Grievous coughed, "And a list of the new ships as well as who is captaining them."

"Useful, but nothing groundbreaking." Maris frowned, having moved the bodies as out of sight as was possible in the command room, "That can't be all that's here. This place wouldn't have so many stormtroopers around if that was all that was kept here."

Luke grimaced at that, having not enjoyed the hours they'd spent slowly working to infiltrate the facility. Having to wait to dodge patrols, hide in small out of the way areas, and avoid taking out any of the guards until they got here to the command room. There was no way to know what was where in the facility, or where patrols were at any given time, so they couldn't risk having Dobby 'Apparate' them to where they needed to go. But once they had the intel that they needed, then they could apparate back to the Mandalorian ship and get out quickly.

"Dobby has found the secure files!" Dobby spoke up, the little Officer's fingers flying over the keys, more and more images appearing on screen. Luke recognized the images and schematics of the Death Star he'd helped Harry and the others take down so long ago.

But then more images came. Other designs, other schematics, many marked 'rejected' until a new Death Star, appeared on the screen. The size was significantly larger and with more security on the vents that had led to the super weapon's destruction the last time.

"By the Force." Maris whispered in horror as more and more of the station's statistics got pulled up. Staff numbers, destructive capability, location of creation, and current rate of completion.

"It'll be ready within the year." Luke felt nauseous as Dobby started hastily copying everything on the server about the new Death Star for them to take back to Mandalore.

"We'll have to mobilize our fleet." Grievous coughed, "As well as The Lord of Tatooine's forces." As Grievous and Maris debated who else could be mobilized, Luke glanced at the various security screens, wanting to make sure there weren't any Storm Troopers heading toward the command room.

"Wait, that's the ship!" Luke jerked forward, seeing a camera that seemed to be linked to a Trooper's helmet providing feedback to the command room. On the screen he could see the Stormtroopers setting up artillery canons on the cliff overlooking the Mandalorian ship that had brought their group to the planet.

"Captain!" Maris didn't waste any time as she pulled out her communicator, "Get out of-" the artillery canons opened fire, ripping into the Mandalorian stealth ship. On the screen, he could see explosion after explosion tearing through the metal as the Stormtroopers didn't let up on the barrage.

"Dobby will go try and help!" Dobby twisted as Luke awaited the crack of apparition. Instead, Dobby let out a pained cry, flung back by some unseen force.

"Dobby!" Luke hastily crouched down by his friend, noting the black lines of power crackling along Dobby's skin for a moment before fading.

"Something…something's blocking my magic." Dobby panted, "I can't apparate out."

"They must have been working on countermeasures from all our raids." Maris cursed, "Probably some creation from Sith Alchemy." On the screen, the explosions had stopped as the Stormtroopers outside observed the burning husk of what had once been a Mandalorian Stealth ship.

"We'll have to steal an Empire ship." Luke swore as he readied his lightsaber. Hearing the computer beeping, Luke looked over to see Grievous closing down the documents tied to the Death Star, having copied them into a data chip which he forced into Luke's hand, the information on troop movements being held in Grievous' own.

"Take that and go." Grievous ordered him, "You can easily pass off as an Imperial officer with a uniform. And Maris can wear Stormtrooper armor to hide her nonhuman features."

"What about you?" Luke demanded, hoping the cyborg general had a plan, already stripping out of his current clothes to put on the Imperial officer's uniform Dobby quickly repaired, whatever was stopping them from apparating apparently designed to stop transport magic but not repairing abilities.

"I will draw them away from the hangar." Grievous coughed, "I can fight better without having to worry about protecting you three."

"Two." Dobby sat up, "Dobby cannot pass of as human, so Dobby will go with you. You will need Dobby to get Apparate you away once we're away from here."

"I…we can't…" Luke's eyes widened before Grievous roughly grabbed his shirt.

"You can and you will!" the cyborg shoved him toward the door, "The Alliance needs that intel, you and Maris are the best ones to get it out of here. This isn't up for debate so go! We'll catch up."

"He's right." Maris scowled even as she put on the white ceramic armor, her expression showing she was just as unhappy with this as Luke himself was, "We need to go."

"…" Luke looked them in the eye before turning and hurrying off with Maris, hearing Dobby and Grievous loudly moving the other way.

-Dobby-

"He knew you were lying." Dobby commented as he and Grievous stood over a large mess hall of Imperial soldiers relaxing and having lunch.

"I know." Grievous coughed, "But the others need that information, or the Empire will have a major weapon that will destroy who knows how many planets before its stopped. That information is worth more than my life." The cyborg general glanced down at him, "You can still slip away. Sneak outside and apparate onto whatever ship Luke and Maris fly away on."

"Hmph." Dobby scoffed, "Dobby knows how important this is." And leaving one person to draw the enemy away with no one to watch their back was too likely to fail, "Dobby bets he will kill more Imps than you."

Grievous chuckled, igniting his four lightsabers, "Very well then. Loser buys drinks on the other side?"

"You're on." Dobby leapt down, his dagger sized lightsaber digging into the top of the head of the Imperial soldier he landed on, a blaster in his other hand catching a second Imp in the chest.

Grievous let out a metallic roar as he landed with a boom on a table, four glowing blades lashing out as the closest Imperial soldiers fell to the ground in pieces.

"INTRUDERS!" an officer shouted into a communicator, "Intruders in the mess hall! We need back u-!" his order was cut off to a blaster to the face, Dobby and Grievous tearing through the unprepared Imperial forces even as they heard more charging to their location, likely actually ready for a fight.

-Luke-

"INTRUDERS!" a panicked shout came out of a communicator Luke had swiped, "Intruders in the mess hall! We need back u-!" the voice was cut off by the sound of blaster fire.

"Move!" Luke ordered the nearby stormtroopers that were gaping at the alert that had just been given, "I will secure the hangar, go apprehend the intruders!" the other Imperial soldiers in white armor fled the hangar room, slamming the door shut behind them as Luke and Maris sealed it behind them.

"We need to hurry." Maris hastily had an Imperial shuttle undocked; a device Harry had created confirming there weren't any trackers on it as they boarded the shuttle.

"I know." Luke whispered, his soul aching as they took off, knowing just what Dobby and Grievous were doing. As they got out of the range of the facility's guns, he could see flashes of light from the area were the two had gone. Blaster fire raining inside the building.

Until it suddenly stopped, leaving an oppressive silence as he felt two souls leave this world and become one with the Force.

-Palpatine-

"Sir." The voice of one of his Fleet Admirals approaching him roused Palpatine from his plotting and ruminations, "The Delta Facility was recently attacked. The special unit you had placed there were able to find a Mandalorian Stealth ship which they destroyed. Shortly afterward, two individuals tried fighting their way out of the facility with the information on the latest fleet assignments before being cut down."

"Good." Sheev smirked, knowing this fool before him wasn't able to see the whole story of what was going on, "And who was found?"

"The revived General Grievous and the strange short alien that was seen with Captain Peverell that didn't match any other known records." The admiral stated, "Their remains are being brought here as you ordered with any ranking members of the resistances."

"Leave me." He waved his hand, dismissing the man who hurried to obey the command.

"Pathetic." Sheev scoffed, "All of them." Plans within plans was the true way of the Sith, a way that even his own people seemed unable to comprehend, let alone notice. Ever since he had seen more of what this 'Captain Peverell' and his people could do, he had begun experimenting to find a way to stop certain abilities they possessed. This was the success he needed to stop their infiltrations going forward, or at the very least hamper them. But more than that, Grievous would not be so incompetent as to waste his life on a suicide charge, not with such unimportant information. No, the 'Good General' had brought others on that mission, others that had escaped with the information he'd wanted them to find on his new Death Star."

"And thus, the trap has now been baited." He smirked wider, able to sense the paltry traps his 'apprentice' was currently enacting as well, "But how rewarding will my prey be?"

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 34

-Yoda-

Rain poured down heavily on Mandalore as the once Grand Master of the Jedi order stood beside his old friends. All around him, men and women donned in armor or adorned in robes stood at attention, two ceremonial pyres having been prepared with no bodies to burn.

At the top of the platform with the two pyres, Captain Peverell, the Mandalore and leader of the Alliance, led the funeral eulogy for two of the resistance's officers.

Dobby, a mischievous being who he felt would have made an interesting addition to the Jedi Order back before the empire. At the very least his presence would have certainly made the Council Meetings livelier.

Grievous, a name he had known only of as an enemy during the clone wars but who had given his life to save comrades and to ensure the resistance had the intel to help stop the empire.

Then there was the Captain, providing a demonstration Yoda wished he wasn't receiving on the matter they had debated before. He could feel the grief in the young man, the pain, the sadness, the mourning, and the intense burningrageat what had happened to those he cared about. Yet despite all those emotions that the Jedi Order had seen as taboo, as a path to the dark side, he couldn't sense any darkness within the captain. The captain knew grief, he knew loss, and sadness, and rage and could handle the without being consumed.

But beyond the negative emotions running rampant through the funeral, Yoda could feel determination, an iron will from all those here to make sure their death's weren't in vein. He could feel the love that those who had known them had felt for the two, and even those who hadn't still cared for the people who had helped liberate Mandalore from the Empire. He could feel the twisting knotted tangle of joy and grief as those who mourned remembered the good times of those who were gone, and accepted the pain of this remembrance with open arms.

"And to the living Force I send your spirits!" Harry's voice echoed out over the downpour as he held a torch aloft, the flame burning despite the rain "In our hearts your memory will be carried! Your will is our will! In your name, and all those who have been taken by the Empire, we shall burn the Death Star!" the man touched the two pyres which burst into bright golden flames, Yoda startled by the intensity and color "For Mandalore!"

"HOORAH!" the thousands of Mandalorians in full Baskar armor shouted, slamming their fists against their breastplates, the sound echoing like thunder over the storm, making Yoda jump.

"For the Fallen!" Harry roared as the Mandalorians repeated the action, the thunderous sound echoing out seemingly even louder.

"TO VICTORY!" the final roar and its accompanying response was so loud, and seemingly rippling out through the force, Yoda wondered if even the Emperor felt it on his black throne.

-Harry-

Taking deep breaths to help keep control, Harry continued to reach out through the force, feeling the presence of those he cared for as they all mourned Dobby and Grievous. Beside him, he could sense Oola and Leia, their hands clutching his own.

The recent memories were full of conflict. The joyful experience of the three experimenting with what they now shared mixed with the pain of knowing that their friend's mission had been going wrong at the same time.

"When do we move?" Luke's expression was stone, he and Marris the most determined to strike back at the Empire after the mission.

"Soon." Harry promised, "We need to have our allies readied first. Your father at the very least, as well as any other support we can come across, contacts that would be willing to strike out against the Empire."

"No shortage of those." Galen crossed his arms, "Anyone in mind?"

"The Bounty Hunters maybe?" Cal frowned, "The Jedha Guardians might be willing to provide some aide, and Merrin has been doing her best to gather any surviving Night Sisters that were scattered by the empire." The redhaired Jedi glanced over at his wife who nodded at that.

"I have a feeling that the Emperor himself might be on that station." Harry nodded to the suggestion offered, many in the inner circle seeming surprised by that "He had Vader keeping an eye on the first one, and whoever he has as his new apprentice won't be anywhere near as capable, not to mention this is thesecondtime he's had to make one. He'd likely want to oversee it personally."

"That's a good point." Obi-Wan straightened, "At the very least he'd havesomeonehe trusted with high standing and security clearance there to oversee things if he wasn't doing it himself. A target like that would likely knowwherethe Emperor is."

"Since we know he's rarely in his 'Palace'." Marris scowled, those who had grown up in the Jedi order being bitter about the fact that Palpatine had turned their old temple into his personal palace, defiling it with his twisted presence in reality and in the force.

"Too easy to assassinate him if he was there often enough for people to notice." General Koda scoffed, "He's a paranoid bastard, but unfortunately smarter than any of us would like."

"The plans imply the Death Star isn't operational, but we can't trust that information to be up to date or accurate." Harry brought up the blueprints again, "For all we know it'll be capable of firing the day we arrive."

"Assuming it's even there." Oola frowned, "This all could be faked documents the Empire planned to leak to bait us somewhere."

"But can we really risk that gamble?" Leia countered, "If they're real and we let the Empire finish that abomination then countless lives will be lost."

"I'll go inform father." Luke straightened, "Bobba Fett works for him and will likely know which Bounty Hunters and Mercenaries would be both willing to come and be trustworthy enough to invite."

"Merrin and I will go contact our old allies." Cal nodded as the group began to break up, everyone moving out to contact anyone they could think of who could help, no matter how few or far between they may be.

"Come on Harry." Leia squeezed his hand, "You shouldn't be alone right now."

-Annakin-

"My forces will be there Luke; you have my word." Annakin nodded, able to see the grief in Luke's eyes as the information about both the lost friends and the new Death Star was shared, "And I will have Fett call in his allies. You will not fly alone."

"Thank you…father." Luke nodded as Anakin felt a surge of joy rise up, refusing to be quashed, the feeling persisting even as the call ended and Luke's face vanished from the holo projector.

"Master." Lumiya's voice reached out to him through the force, "There is someone here to see you, a Togruta. I can feel her connection to the Force. Do you wish for me to remove her?"

"No…no, I should have known this was coming." Anakin let out a tired sigh, "I will come and speak to her." Out of the corner of his eye, Anakin was sure he could see the blue ghostly visage of Qui-Gon nodding to him.

-Tonks-

Standing in the stands, Tonks tuned out the screaming drama of the people gathered in the stands, lost in her own thoughts. Down bellow her she could see Marcus Potter being brought out to deal with the Norwegian Ridgeback that had been brought in for him to get past. She heard a few rumors that the Dragon had been hatched by Hagrid a few years before, but she wasn't sure how believable that was.

The dragon wasn't even what even what dominated her thoughts right now, it was the ritual. She had been collecting reagents and ritual components ever since she'd confirmed that the ritual could bring Harry back to her. The issue was that things kept going wrong to the point she was sure someone was working against her, but she didn't have any idea as to who.

'Accidents' kept happening to the tools she was making for the ritual, rendering them useless. Or she'd finally find a store that sold one of the components only for someone else to apparently buy theentirestock of the one component she needed out of nowhere. She was still making progress, but it was slower than she'd like.

A loud shout of "Depulso!" startled her from her thoughts as she glanced down to see Marcus having used the banishing charm on the gravel and slate ground, sending stone flying to block and disrupt a burst of flames, those in the stands not from Hogwarts seemingly stunned at the potency of the spell.

It was something that Marcus apparently had in common with his brother. She remembered Harry had picked up the summoning and banishing charms unnaturally quickly and they were definitely stronger than when most people used the simple spells. Marcus admittedly wasn't as proficient with them as she remembered Harry being with them back in Fourth Year, but he was certainly better than she'd been back then.

The Ridgeback was clearly just as startled as its audience, head reeling back from the power of the charm as Marcus kept running, a few illusions coming from his wand to distract the dragon as Marcus waited for it to be looking away.

"Accio!" the summoning charm, something that shouldn't have worked on the tournament eggs, powered through those spells somehow as the golden creation flew into Marcus Potter's waiting arms.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 35

-Palpatine-

"Fascinating." Sheev muttered to himself as he continued to dissect the small creature's corpse. There was more damage than he'd like, but he'd dealt with worse. The studies he did on Vader's body during its reconstruction being proof enough of that.

This creature showed a potent Midichlorian count, yes but they clearly weren't natural to the body, they'd been acquired later on in life. He'd seen attempts at artificially boosting or obtaining Midichlorians, even organized a few such experiments through the Empire, yet he'd never seen any success such as this where the result was such a seamless integration.

Along with the Midichlorians, he was able to sense something…else, in the corpse. Not with any machine or technology, those failed to pick up anything when he studied and probed the corpse. Scanning DNA and dissecting to study body structure. No, he sensed something else within the Force itself, a power that he'd never sensed before.

Drawing out the blood of the small creature, the corpse having been put in statis to preserve everything, he focused. While his machines could detect nothing apart from a blood type in the crimson liquid, his connection to the force could sense the mysterious power residing within the blood.

He couldn't risk using it on himself, not without knowing the full effects.

"Darth Chrysalis." His voice rung out, both through the air and through the force to his 'apprentice', reminding himself to use the false Sith name he'd given her "Bring me your weakest inquisitor and a stormtrooper with no connection to the Force." This mystery would require experimentation, control groups.

But if it worked then he relished the chance to see what could be done. The power that he could acquire.

"Yes, my Master." He could detect the bitterness in her voice that she thought hidden. It was most amusing how clueless she believed him to be.

With the information of this Battle Station leaked to the Rebel Forces, he'd informed Jade and his most 'trusted' Officers of the imminent attack so they could prepare. Jade had used this opportunity to prepare 'her' rebels as well, intending to use the chaos to assassinate him and Peverel's rebel faction all in one swoop while claiming the throne for herself.

He'd have to decide who he should reward with her body once she failed. He'd have to be very thorough in his decision on who would be the father of his next apprentice.

Or perhaps he should leave it 'up to the force' and merely toss her into a room for the men to have their way with, a force suppression collar would remove any real risk to the crew and they'd likely grow even more loyal to him from the provided entertainment.

"Still, this creature was supposed to have their odd abilities, as does that 'Captain Peverell'." Palpatine focused back on his autopsy "I will need to make sure to have the orders sent to have his body brought to me once he dies." With two samples, ones of different species, he'd be able to more clearly deduce the differences and potentially find the source of their abilities rather than just the vague inclination of 'from the blood'.

With the last of the blood drained he begam removing the bones, knowing that the bones were the source of the production of blood in the body so more clues might be present there as well.

A Sith Lord's work was never done.

-Harry-

Face set in stone, Harry patrolled the Mandalorian shipyard, using his technopathy wherever he sensed it was needed. This would be a major battle, potentially even the final one, Force willing. He couldn't risk leaving anything to chance and was going through every ship one by one to ensure they were up to snuff.

His Officers were doing similar actions with other areas of the Alliance. Contacting allies, coordinating different groups, refining the training of the Mandalorians, and more.

With Anakin they have the aide of the Empire of the Outer Rim helping them. Luke and Leia's father having been systematically removing all the Hutt controlled planets from the grip of the slug like aliens, liberating the planets and even bringing in defectors from Palpatine's Empire who chosen to side with Anakin. Add in Boba Fett's numerous contacts among the Bounty Hunters, the allies Cal's group had made, and those who had simply heard of the Alliance's success and wanted to join in, resulted in a large force ready for war.

Getting to the end of the Shipyard, Harry approached the latest ships the Mandalorians had been building, a pair of battle cruisers that had been started even before the Empire had been driven from the planet. The two battle cruisers were the most heavily armed ships in the fleet, the entire designs having been overhauled and improved upon since his arrival.

And now, to his surprise, they'd apparently been named.

The 'Dobby' and The 'Grievous' stood tall, gleaming and ready for war as Harry stood there, rooted to the spot. The warships, bearing the names of his fallen friends, now stood ready to avenge them.

Giving a soft bitter chuckle, Harry rubbed a bit of dust from his eyes, "Well…I guess you two will be joining me in the fight one last time, won't ya?" Harry shook his head, checking over the ships with even more care than he'd done before.

He intended to do everything in his power to keep Palpatine from taking anyone else away from him.

-Anakin-

Standing at the balcony overlooking the desert of Tatooine, Anakin sighed as he sensed his old apprentice approaching him again. Their first talk had been brief, devolving into an argument where he wasn't sure who started shouting first. After they'd both stormed away he'd been sure he wouldn't see Asoka again…but yet she'd come back.

They'd had a few more talks, and just as many fights, since then and each time they were able to speak for a little bit longer.

"Hello Asoka." He turned to see the woman he'd trained, a far cry from the young Padawan he'd first met back in the days of the clone wars.

"Anakin." She nodded back, neither of them feeling ready to fall back into their old nicknames.

"The Battle is going to start soon." He glanced over to the shipyard where his people were preparing, Bobba Fett organizing the various Bounty Hunters and Mercenaries being brought in and paid for out of Anakin's treasury.

"We always did have the worst sense of timing, didn't we?" Asoka snorted as she leaned against the railing beside him, "Is it true that your kid has R2 with him?"

"And C3PO." Anakin nodded with a wry grin "Honestly, I'm half tempted to suggest they just send R2 to infiltrate the Death Star by himself. He'd probably traumatize the entire Stormtrooper battalion there into surrendering within the hour."

"You're not wrong, and that makes it worse." Asoka sighed at his remark even as he laughed, feeling a bit of weight lift off his shoulders at the familiar interaction.

"Are…are you going to be joining us?" he glanced over at her, the jovial energy fading as he looked at the woman beside him, the orange of her skin matching the orange of the setting suns, "For the battle?"

She clearly picked up on his nervousness asking given the exaggerated eye roll she made sure he saw "Of course I am. I can't leave you alone or you'd just lose another limb."

"I'm not…okay, yeah, that's fair." Anakin started to protest that notion before sighing at the accuracy of that statement.

"Get some rest, we'll have plenty of time to catch up after Palpatine is gone." Asoka pat his shoulder.

"Thanks…Snips." He glanced over as she went stiff before a small smile appeared for a brief moment.

"Yeah, yeah. You too, Skyguy."

-Tonks-

Yawning, Tonks tried not to look as bored as she felt as she stood guard at the second task. The Tournament had been something the various Ministries had been setting up for years, even before Madam Bones had become Minister, but she wasn't sure she could blame Fudge alone for this mess given the other Governments would have had to sign off on it.

An hour spent watching the surface of the lake. No way to see what was going on in the water, no clue as to who was doing well or what. Even the judges couldn't see anything, apparently just relying on who arrives first and the reports from the various mermen in the Black Lake.

The fact that Madam Bone's Niece was apparently the hostage taken for Marcus Potter probably wouldn't do much to help international cooperation going forward. Not with how pathetic the setup for this event was even with Madam Bones and Dumbledore 'supposedly' trying to improve things with Fudge gone.

Using the boring nature of the situation to her advantage, Tonks ran through her checklist of places to look into after the task was done and the massive crowds departed. She'd gotten word of a few shops in Knockturn Alley that supposed could find any reagent the buyers could ask for, for the right price.

They'd always stayed just on the right side of legal, that the Aurors could find anyway, and from what she'd learned by listening in on her coworkers they'd been raided several times with nothing found that broke the law.

Normally shops in Knockturn Alley avoided doing business with Aurors on principle, but with her gifts, anything was possible. And she refused to fail here.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 36

-Harry-

Sitting alone in a room set aside for Meditation, Harry worked to calm his breathing as 'The Citadel' hurtled through space, the rest of the Mandalorian Fleet and their allies moving with him. Slowly rising into the air, Harry closed his eyes to open himself up to the Force. He hoped for a sign, a hint, a clue, anything that might help their forces survive the coming battle and win.

He could feel the beating of his heart pounding like a war drum.

THUMP

He could feel the pressure of his position on his mind, the old idiom 'Heavy is the head that wears the crown' coming to mind.

THUMP

He could feel the lives of every man and woman under his command, the trust they placed in him.

THUMP

He felt…the Force.

Gasping, he opened his eyes to find where he was, was not where he'd been. He floated in the void of space, the presence of the Force wrapping around him, communing with him more directly than it ever had before.

"W-what?" Harry gasped, trying to figure out what was going on.

In response the Force seemed to shift around him, mirages appearing in the void of the Death Star, of his Fleet, and of his people. Finally, he saw a copy of the War Table from back on Mandalore appear.

"You're…trying to help me?" he blinked, having not expected such direct assistance or answers from the usually enigmatic force.

They showed a vision of Palpatine, and he could feel the Force's disdain for the man. For the Sith Lord who perverted the Force as well as the Galaxy. The Force wanted him gone, to stop abusing the powers he had been given. But he could also feel a sense of urgency from the Force.

"What else is there I need to know?" Harry narrowed his eyes as the Force felt like it was 'sighing' for lack of a better word. The war table in front of him distorted, the surface rippling before clearing to show a view of his old world. He staggered back in surprise, but the table moved to always stay in his view as he saw what had happened after he left.

He saw how Voldemort had stated that he, Harry, was the true 'Boy-Who-Lived' and how everyone had taken this.

His parents' continual denials of reality and Dumbledore trying to fix the situation as best he could.

He saw Remus and Sirius breaking down before dragging themselves back out of their slump for Marcus, to help him.

He saw his brother grow from this, trying to become a better person than he'd been, and Harry felt a feeling of pride for the little brother he hadn't thought of in so long.

Then he saw Tonks, and saw her growing fixation on him. The ritual she was trying to prepare, and how the Force had been doing what it could to sabotage her. But in that world, the Force's influence was minimal. Harry had been the first to be born with a true connection, even of others had the start of one, their children liable to be true Force users in the future.

As he continued to watch, the Force pressed that it could not hold of Tonk's efforts forever, and that she would soon finish the Ritual. That the most they could do was delay as long as possible and sabotage a single bit so others could come back with him if they so chose.

He was just seeing a glimpse of his brother entering a maze when he felt a hand on his shoulder, jolting him from the meditation as the void faded around him.

"Harry, are you alright?" Oola and Leia were there, their expressions concerned as he panted, his shirt drenched with sweat from the intense meditation.

"The Force…it spoke to me." He panted, brushing his hair out of his face, "I've never felt it be so direct before." He got to his feet, squeezing their hands "We need to hail the other ships…there's something that everyone needs to know."

-Barty Crouch Jr.-

At the sound of the canon Blast, Marcus Potter took off running into the maze. The kid was fast and fit at the very least, but would only be tiring himself out before meeting the Dark Lord at this rate.

Staying near the front, hidden under an invisibility cloak and Winky's House Elf Magic, Barty waited for the other 'Champions' to enter the Maze. They were so focused on each other and the threats they could see, they weren't prepared for threats that they couldn't.

A vanished bit of hedge letting a group of Acromantula flank Diggory and the Hufflepuff pretty boy had to send up the sparks and be rescued by the Hogwarts elves.

Sealing the path behind him left Krum facing the Sphinx and unable to answer the riddle, once again needing to be saved.

For Delacour he used a few illusions to guide her to be stuck facing Hagrid's 'Skrewts' which her magic and fire did nothing against. The stupid French Bint had to beg for assistance and be saved, leaving only Potter left in the maze.

The boy was good, surprisingly good for his age. It wouldn't matter once the boy reached the cup though. Once he saw Potter reach the clearing with the cup he'd already enchanted, he had Winky apparate them out through the wards, back to his Master.

-Marcus-

With a hard impact, Marcus slammed into the ground, the Tri-Wizard cup flying from his hand as the surprise Portkey ended. Before he could even register where he was or what was going on, a silent body bind curse slammed into him from behind as he toppled over.

"Excellent Barty!" a rasping hissing voice that he was painfully familiar, both from his first year and his nightmares "And not a single spare to get in the way."

"I live to please, my Master." a new figure spoke, stepping into view from behind Marcus, clearly the one who'd cursed him. At the manic man's side was a small Elf, clearly scared but making no effort to run or leave.

"Begin…the ritual." Voldemort, as there was no one else that could be, commanded the figure named 'Barty'.

"Yes," Barty flicked his wand as flame roared to life under a Cauldron "my Master." Marcus struggled against the curse holding him, trying desperately to manage a wandless and wordless countercharm, no matter how futile the effort felt. He was forced to watch as ingredient after ingredient was added to the cauldron, Barty making a ritualistic declaration for each one.

When Barty picked up the small mishappen swaddled lump that Voldemort's voice came from, Marcus prayed it would drown when the creature was dumped into the boiling cauldron, but something inside him knew that whatever that thing was, it was still alive.

"Bone…of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew…your son!" earth split, and stone cracked as a single aged bone was lifted from the earth, catching fire as it fell into the cauldron. When it landed with a splash, the raging boil became even more furious, the steam rising in intricate spirals.

"Flesh, of the Servant, willingly sacrificed! You will revive your Master!" Barty pulled a blade from his cloak as Marcus realized what was about to happen, but thanks to the body bind he couldn't close his eyes or look away. The silver blade gleamed as it swung downward, Barty's pained roar splitting the night as his severed hand landed in the cauldron with a wet splash, the silvery steam turning blood red.

Barty's head snapped towards Marcus, eyes wide with pain and madness "Blood, of the enemy!" Barty stalked toward him, a new clean knife pulled out "Forcibly taken!" the knife stabbed into Marcus' arm as he wanted to scream, his mouth held shut keeping him silent "You will resurrect your foe!" the bright crimson stood out against pristine silver as Barty tapped three drops into the cauldron which began to shake from the fury of the boiling liquid within.

The Cauldron exploded, hot shards of iron going flying as they shattered tombstones and one cut a burning gash into Marcus' cheek, but he was too horrified to care about that. Standing where the Cauldron had been, the grass burnt and dead, stood an unnaturally pale and thin figure. Hairless, without a nose, and cruel red eyes gleaming.

Voldemort had returned.

"Your arm, Bartemius." Voldemort hissed out, uncaring of the blood dripping on his feet, the whimpers of the scared house elf, or Marcus still trying to escape the body bind.

"Of course, my Master." Barty raised up an arm where the Dark Mark was clearly visible.

"Your other arm, Barty." Voldemort chuckled, sounding almost affectionate although Marcus was sure it was just the monster being pleased at the deference "I cannot have one of my most loyal bleeding out, can I?" as he spoke, Voldemort took the bone like wand from Barty's robe and cast a spell, an arm of silver appearing on the stump, shining and rippling with unknown power.

"Master…it is beautiful!" Barty's eyes danced with madness and delight as he took in the sight of his new appendage.

"Yes, I am indeed a generous-" Voldemort's speech was cut off with a loud pop as a House Elf he'd seen around Hogwarts appeared, grabbing Marcus and hastily apparating him away before the stunned Voldemort could stop them.

He was safe, but Voldemort was back. War had returned to Wizarding England.

-Harry-

Striding into the helm of the warship, Harry approached the communication table "Hail the other ships in our fleet. I want everyone to hear this." Harry gave the order to R2 who beeped in surprise but prepared the communication, even as Leia and Oola stood at his side confused.

"To all those who are with us…there is more you should know. A deadline is approaching swiftly, and I will not be here for much longer." Harry felt Oola and Leia stiffen beside him at that declaration "Many of you have seen my abilities, those outside what you know of the Force, some of you even know the details. But now, it is time for you all to learn of them." He began explaining, wanting to cut off any misunderstandings. He explained of his world, of magic, and of what the Force had shown him.

"I will fight against the Emperor and the Empire…but I do not know how much longer I have until I'm taken away." He clenched his fist. He was proud of the growth Marcus had experienced just as he was furious at the thought of what Tonks was doing, but he knew he wouldn't be able to stop it and there was no guarantee that going through the Veil again would let him return to this Galaxy, or if it did that he'd returnwhenhe wished to.

"I say this now, so you will not believe me to have abandoned you, so that you will not wonder where I have gone." Harry sighed, noting that they'd arrive at their destination soon.

"You won't be going alone Harry." Oola grasped his hand in her own.

"We'll be going with you at the very least." Leia nodded in agreement, taking his other hand.

"Where the Mandalore goes, so do the Mandalorians!" the warriors in Baskar on his ship saluted, "FOR MANDALORE!" The roar was echoed by others on the communication, resonating through the force itself as Harry worked to wipe away a tear, touched by the loyalty that they were showing him.

"Worry, you need not." Yoda shook his head, the ancient Jedi master smiling "The Force, with you it will be. A new world joined to it, you go to. A New Order you can build, new planets to explore. See to this world once you go, I will. See to it that it fails, I will not. Learned much from you, I have."

"Sir!" Juno called out from the Helm "We're approaching! Arrival in Five…Four…Three…Two…one!" as they pulled out of light speed, they arrived at the Moons of Endor where the newly constructed Death Star resided.

It was time to end the war.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 37

-Palpatine-

Leaning back in his throne, Sheev Palpatine grinned, his yellow teeth standing out against white skin. His amused chuckles drew the attention of his 'apprentice' who looked over, "Is something amusing, my Master?" she asked, her eagerness in the force helping to mask the hatred he knew to be there.

"Just the amusem*nt at the coming 'show'." He graced her with a true answer "I can feel it in the Force. The Rebel Scum will soon be here." With how he'd prepared those documents they'd stolen; he knew the only 'reasonable' plan they could make would be a stealth mission. One team down on Endor's Moon to disable the shield station while another ship flew into the 'unfinished' Death Star to destroy it from within. Given Captain Peverell's history of stealth missions he was sure that they'd stick to their history, the Force not giving him any indication otherwise.

"Yes, my Master." Dark Chrysalis chuckled, her own amusem*nt at what she thought was a masterful scheme helping her sound genuine "This will indeed be a perfect ruse." She was far from subtle. Before he could respond, he felt a disturbance in the force. He turned to the viewing window just in time to see not a few small ships to be a distraction, or a stealth ship that most would overlook. No, what came out of light speed from the depths of space was a fully armed armada, the fleet of Mandalore, the ships bearing the sigil of he who had once been Vader, and even several Mercenary and Bounty Hunter Vessels.

"What?!" Chrysalis gaped, staggering back in shock at the armada that in truth neither of them had expected. A strike this bold when they wouldn't have known he was here was unprecedented. Slamming his fist on the arm of his throne, Sheev triggered the alarms, having all soldiers moving to battle stations as needed.

"It would seem, the Rebels have decided to be bold." Sheev scowled, "Fools to the end."

-Harry-

"Ground team, move!" Harry's voice roared over the coms, a pair of Anakin's ship peeling off towards the Moon of Endor where the control station for the Death Star's shields sat. With Anakin's apprentices, HK-50, and the others from the lord of Tatooine's forces going with him they'd be able to carve a path into the control bunker once they land nearby.

"Teams, get into position!" Harry's voice continued to carry even as he got into the Rogue Shadow with his entry team. His fleet was being divided into distinct duties for the current battle.

There was the small group that had already been sent down to deal with the control Bunker. It was the smallest, only consisting of two ships, but it had some of Anakin's best.

There was a team who was tasked with shooting down any enemy tie fighters that came out to defend the Death Star. This was the largest group in the fleet, with a few cruisers and all of the fighters they had to dogfight against the enemy forces.

There was a team whose task was to handle any reinforcements the Emperor might have on standby or call in. They couldn't rely on the Emperor not expecting an attack and not having anything prepared. That would be asking to have a Star Destroyer show up from behind to devastate their ranks.

Then there was the final major team. Each ship in this group had at least one force user onboard with the sole task of calling out any devastating attacks from the enemy. He didn't trust that the Death Star wasn't operational, in point of fact he was positive the damn thing could fire its planet destroying canon. So, this team was tasked to focus on the Force, sensing for impending attacks and fire the largest and densest ordinances possible into the beams trajectory to detonate the blast early before it could reach the fleet.

"Hang on!" Juno called out, bringing the Rogue Shadow into the air as they blasted out of the Citadel's hanger as it did a fly by of the Death Star.

"You all have the cord?" Harry demanded, moving to the open back dock an energy barrier keeping the vacuum while letting him see out.

"Yes!" the rest of his strike team all shouted, as he nodded, focusing on the Death Star where they could see a hanger opening to let out tie fighters.

Getting a clear view, Harry twisted, disappearing with a crack only to reappear in the hangar amidst the stunned Stormtroopers. Not given them a moment to get their bearings, Harry channeled magic into a rune inscribed on his armor, the symbol glowing before 'bonding' with the cord his team was holding back on the Rogue Shadow. The rune, acting as both trigger and beacon, sending a signal back to the cord his team was holding, triggering the portkey in the item to bring whoever held it directly to him.

In a flash his strike team appeared around him, the Stormtroopers panic growing. Oola, Leia, Luke, Maris, Anakin, Kal, Merrin, and Galen.

"Tear this hangar apart!" Harry roared, activating the Darksaber, throwing the blade like a buzzsaw as it flew through the air, boomeranging back to his palm through the force after cutting through a Tie Fighter trying to escape, "GIVE NO QUARTER!"

"NO MERCY!" his team roared out, lightsabers active as they tore through the Hangar and those inside, making sure to work quickly before anyone with higher control got word of their arrival and tried venting this hangar.

Leaving the room burning, they moved into the Death Star proper, Harry using his technopathy to download a copy of the map to the 'Throne Room' that was in the blueprints.Thatwas where Palpatine would be.

-Marcus-

Sighing, Marcus sat with his girlfriend Susan and their friend Neville, the three of them currently safe under the Bone's Manor wards. Ever since he'd been saved from the Graveyard, the country had grown more and more afraid. Voldemort had clearly been smart enough to realize his escape meant that word would come out of his revival, so the Dark Lord had apparently taken the same Death Eater who'd revived him, Barty Crouch Junior, and gone to Azkaban via House Elf.

The survivors from the prison, what few were overlooked and thought dead amongst the rubble, had reported Voldemort had appeared and blasted his way into the prison. Some security runes had recorded that Voldemort freed all of his Death Eaters still there and had even gone to every other cell. Each prisoner was offered the chance to serve him, to swear an unbreakable vow to that effect. Those who refused were killed, shot down by Voldemort and his rapidly replenishing army of followers.

By the time Marcus had gotten back to Hogwarts and told them what happened, as well as Amelia scrambling to martial the Aurors back to where Voldemort had been and then trying to track him, it had been too late.

From the corpses that remained and the recording rune it turned out that roughly a fifth of the prisoners had refused to serve Voldemort while the rest had joined. Whether out of belief in Voldemort's ideology or from simple fear he wasn't sure, but Voldemort left with a massive force of trained witches and wizards along with the entirety of Azkaban's Dementors.

"Any word on the Ministry figuring out how he came back?" Neville broke the tense silence, the group spending each day wondering if their families would come home.

"They've had a few years to study that thing from the Chamber incident." Susan scowled "But Auntie won't tell me what exactly it was."

"Then I guess your Aunt will just have to keep kicking his ass till he's too scared to come back again." Marcus gave Susan a shaky grin, "She scares me easily enough."

"Yeah, well you're a pansy." Neville jabbed weakly. It was enough to have them laughing though, any source of humor precious now.

-Voldemort-

"How…interesting." Voldemort mused to himself, now once more back in his safehouse with the Loyal he had freed from Azkaban.

"Did something happen my Lord?" Bellatrix knelt down before him, clearly eager for him to reveal some way for her to attempt to further gain favor.

"I followed a hunch." Voldemort smirked "Your niece might have granted us quite the gift."

"The daughter of a blood traitor?" Bellatrix looked completely baffled at the idea of Nymphadora Tonks being of use in any way besides target practice.

"You are aware of the Potter's elder son I presume?" he leaned back in his throne, steepling his fingers and, when Bellatrix gave a slow nod, continued "Then you are aware thatheis the true one who is Prophesied to be my greatest foe. Theonlyone capable of killing me." And it made sense, he was the greatest wizard in history, it would take a prophecy for anyone to even have a chance at ending his immortal reign.

Bellatrix scowled, showing just what she thought of that notion "He isn't worthy of even being spoken of you in the same breath my lord!"

"I'm quite amused by the whole situation in all honesty." Voldemort silently relished the look of dismay and fear on Bellatrix's face at him disagreeing with her, but he chose to refrain from 'punishing' her…for now "But still, the point stands that prophecy dictates hewouldhave a chance with whatever his mysterious 'power' is."

"A-and my niece?" Bellatrix gulped, treading cautiously around him.

"She is quite fixated on this 'Child of Prophecy'." He answered her, "And managed to uncover quite an old ritual." He turned a book around for Bellatrix to read.

"A…runaway betrothed recovery ritual?" Bellatrix looked utterly flabbergasted as she read what the page entailed, glancing up as if wondering if the pages had turned to the wrong ritual without her noticing.

"My spies informed me of the person hunting for ritual components." He enjoyed her confusion, the fact that she couldn't grasp her own niece's plan amusing "While their face was different their mannerisms matched enough to identify them. So, I went to Diagon under Polyjuice." It was the same way he had gotten his hands on the full prophecy. He preferred to use his true face whenever doing anything important, wanted to inspire fear where he went, but knew at times that stealth was necessary "Her mind was child's play to enter. She is determined to bring the Boy Who Lived back from wherever he disappeared to."

"And you wish for us to stop her?" Bellatrix straightened, a spark appearing in her eyes as she came to a conclusion.

"I wish for you to aid her." Voldemort's laugh was high and cold at Bellatrix stammering in confused shock, "Stop for a moment and trythinkingwoman." He finally snapped at her "If she uses this ritual then he will be brought from wherever he is. If we assist her, then we can be sure of exactlywhenthe ritual will occur."

"We can ambush him!" Bellatrix finally got the idea.

"Exactly." Voldemort nodded to one of his most loyal "He will arrive and be given a choice. Swear an unbreakable oath to forever serve me…or perish."

"It will be done, my lord!" Bellatrix bowed before moving to quickly see it done.

"And Bellatrix," he called out before she could leave "do be subtle about it. It would defeat the purpose if word leaked out or if your niece realized who was assisting her."

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 38

-Harry-

Snarling, Harry wrenched a clawed hand through the air, tearing a sheet of durasteel from the floor to intercept the blaster bolts, a gesture sending the improvised shield flying into the panicking Stormtroopers down the hall.

"Something feels…wrong." Harry shook his head as he felt the Stormtroopers die from the flying metal.

"A trap?" Anakin frowned, the once Sith Lord clearly uncomfortable being back in what were essentially his old stomping grounds.

"It's pretty clear that this whole damned thing was supposed to be a trap." Harry scoffed before shaking himself again, "But no, there's something that feelsunnaturallywrong nearby."

"The blueprints you snagged said that the medical ward is nearby." Leia pulled up the copies he'd sent to everyone as a backup.

"When I…served the Empire, Sidious would regularly use Medical Wards in his primary facilities for conducting experiments." Anakin informed them, "It's possible he made something, an attempt at a new weapon or a new way to strength himself. It would be wise to destroy whatever it is on our way through, just in case." Nodding in agreement, Harry made a right when the Hall split, following his gut, the Force, and Anakin's advice as they reached the disturbingly defensible medical ward, the doors thick enough that lightsabers were needed to cut through and even then, the blades almost weren't long enough.

Stepping through the hole they'd cut through the door; Harry went ramrod still. On an operating table, was Dobby's desecrated corpse. Vials of blood lined the table beside the withered and dry looking husk of what had once been his friend, the only friend he'd brought from his old world. Dobby's eyes were gone, hollow sockets gazing out just as the open torso revealed missing organs.

The machinery around him began to twist and crumple, being crushed under the pressure of his anger as it reverberated through the force.

At the far side of the room, multiple one-way mirrors revealed small sterile rooms. Each one contained an Imperial agent, some wearing the garb of Inquisitors, others Stormtrooper regalia. All of them were mad, eyes bulging unnaturally large as if they were trying to grow two sizes bigger. There was froth at their mouths as the experiments, for what else could they be, were trapped in their cells. Some were frantically cleaning, others punishing themselves, and more were trying to do…something. By each window, he could see a partially empty vial of blood, the number matching the number missing from the machine next to Dobby's corpse.

His roar of righteous fury echoed through the battle station.

-Palpatine-

Palpatine grit his teeth as the wave of pure unbridled fury rippled through the force. It was a rage equal to that of any true Sith Lord, yet he could not feel the distinct nature of the Sith within it.

"Such…rage." Jade gasped as she was staggered by the rage that filled the air, the reason being clear given what he saw on the Stations' security feed. He saw flames consume his experiments, not even leaving ashes behind from their intensity. Even through the screen he swore he could feel heat from those flames, swore that he saw unnatural shapes from within them, felt a rage that was very sith like.

"Such weakness." He sneered as he watched Peverell gently, almost reverently, collect the body of the creature Palpatine had been dissecting as well as the samples inside the medical lab. That compassion made this 'Mandalore' another fool, one easily manipulated.

At the very least, the loss of the labs, while infuriating, was not the end of his research. He still had a few vials secured with him here in the throne room, trusting the failsafe with none but himself.

Before he could work on ordering more Stormtroopers to drive them from the labs, before the fools destroyedeverything,he heard the loud sound of the station's shielding powering down.

"TROOPERS!" Palpatine roared, his patience growing thin "Ready the Station's main gun and begin destroying that fleet!" he'd wanted to wait until the intruders had reached him, to help further break their spirits, but plans would seemingly have to change.

-Boba Fett-

Silently cursing his boss, Boba fired down the entryway to the power station on the moon, taking out another Trooper who fell with a yell. Most of the force they came with were scattered throughout the forest, hunting down the Troopers and disabling the Walkers. It just left himself and the boss' two apprentices to handle the power relay.

Unfortunately, the two seemed determined to drive him insane with their competitive bickering!

"I f*cking swear." He growled, blowing the head off yet another imbecilic trooper who seemed to think they were invincible despite their sh*tty armor "If the two of you don't shut the hell up then the boss is going to havenoapprentices left."

"You know, I may be Skyguy's favorite, but I'm pretty sure Fett over there is just jealous that Anakin likes both of us more than him." The Togruta Tano commented to Lumiya who just scoffed.

"You are delusion on whomyMaster favors the most…but I would agree on you being in higher standing than Fett at the very least."

If anyone asked him about the extra shots that he started putting into each Trooper, then he'd insist it was just caution. Three head shots per Imp was completely reasonable and he refused to hear anything to the contrary.

-Harry-

Face still twisted into a snarl, Harry lashed out with his magic, "BOMBARDA!" he felt no real reason to hide, not when they were so close to the end. The doors to the 'Throne Room' were violently blown open, the doors banging as they landed with a thunderous crash.

"Well, well, if it isn't the fools who think to take my-" Palpatine started to Monologue confidently, Harry didn't intend to let him.

"Confringo!" Harry launched the blasting curse at Palpatine, relying on the shock of unknown abilities to throw the Sith Lord off their game. The wizened monster was able to, barely, deflect the curse with his crimson lightsaber, the spell hitting an Inquisitor who was standing by one of the walls.

Not even pausing, the group having already made their plans on the way, Harry charged toward the throne, Anakin keeping pace with him.

Luke and Maris charged at the second Sith, Palpatine's new apprentice. Oola and Leia moved to handle the Inquisitors on the right side of the throne room, Kal and Merrin those on the left. Galen remained where he was, holding the door from any potential reinforcements.

"Fool." Palpatine cackled, lightning arcing around his fingers as the deformed Sith Lord rose from his throne "If you wanted to have a chance to beating me, it would have takenallof you."

"Difindo!" Harry swung the Dark Saber, channeling the cutting curse through the black blade as Palpatine used the force to dodge, the spell cutting through the bastard's throne with ease. As he stalked forward, explosions started to sound from the lower decks.

"Now, really?" Palpatine shook his head with a mocking laugh "The timing of your little 'coup' is quite pathetic 'Darth Chrysalis'."

"It will not matter when only me and my Inquisitors leave this room alive." The redhead snarled, "Inquisitors, kill them all! Leave none alive but us!"

Outside the massive viewing window behind the now bisected throne, Harry could see the space battle growing more and more frenzied, some signal having apparently been given to everyone on the second Sith's faction as the Rebel against Imperial space battle had become a free for all dog fight.

"Your ego has only grown over the years 'Sheev'." Anakin scoffed "Windu would have beaten you all those years ago if I hadn't saved your life…the biggest mistake of my life." Palpatine's face twisted in rage at the mention of that incident. Lightning flared out from Palpatine's fingers as Harry lashed out with his own Force Lightning, meeting the technique with equal power.

"Such rage." Palpatine seemed almost amused, keeping his lightsaber trained on Anakin even as the lightning continued to pour forth "You should have sworn yourself tomeboy. I could have turned you into a true Sith Lord."

"I've seen how you treat your 'Apprentices'." Harry scoffed, pushing forward even as Anakin helped him with the pincer "I'm not stupid enough to work for a bastard like you." As he spoke, he raised up his free hand "INCENDIO!" the roaring torrent of flame caught Palpatine off guard, the self-Proclaimed emperor's robe catching fire even as the old man had to hastily parry Anakin's powerful overhead strike. Around them, the Inquisitors were rapidly falling, Palpatine and 'Darth Chrysalis' clearly not prepared for this turn of events.

"You know, that's the biggest weakness of your Sith." Harry sent a bone breaker curse at the hand holding Palpatine's lightsaber, the invisible curse hitting as the bones shattered audibly, the sound rapidly drowned out by the Sith Lord's scream of pain.

"And what…is that?" Palpatine snarled, the lightning coming faster and stronger, the Sith Lord using his pain to further fuel his twisted bastardization of the Force.

"You don't help each other." Oola scoffed, her light whip lashing out as she cut off part of Palpatine's left leg below the knee as the old man hastily threw himself to the side, having not noticed Oola and Leia had finished off against their Inquisitors and joined the fight.

"You fear being beaten so you keep your allies weak." Merrin scoffed, her green 'force magic' lashing out to restrain Palpatine.

"You think us helping one another is weakness." Luke joined them, Marris tossing the Sith Apprentice's severed head at Palpatine's feet.

"You won't win." Palpatine snarled, even as he spat at Harry's feet "Without me, this Galaxy will crumble. I am the Galaxy! I am the Empire! I AM THE SITH!"

"No." Harry raised the Darksaber "You're nothing more than a footnote to be forgotten." The blade fell down, the Emperor's head rolling.

-Marcus-

Gritting his teeth, Marcus tried to escape the grip of the Death Eater thug currently pinning him down. Voldemort had taken Hogwarts, overcoming ancient wards and Dumbledore's strength through sheer numbers. After the raid on Azkaban, Voldemort had apparently decided it was worth repeating, going from prison to prison in other countries to recruit their Witches and Wizards until the various nations managed to tighten their security enough to make the 'recruitment method' stop being worth it.

But it still left Voldemort with an army larger than the entire population of Magical England that hadn't sworn to him, each and every one bound by an Unbreakable Vow to forever serve Voldemort with complete loyalty.

The Death Eater horde had poured through Hogsmede in the middle of the night, capturing everyone they could. While part of the force did that, the other half apparently forced their way into the Ministry, capturing who they could, killing who they couldn't.

Marcus had woken up to the sounds of battle outside the castle but in the end, the sheer numbers weren't something those stationed at the school could beat, Voldemort eagerly parading through his captured hostages.

"What are you waiting for, Tom?" Dumbledore sighed, the ancient Headmaster having been stripped of his wand, his face covered with dried blood from his nose having been broken yet again.

"Oh, don't worry old man." Voldemort smirked in amused satisfaction, "Your time will come soon enough. But first, we have a prophecy to wrap up." Marcus saw his parents, currently restrained and held at the wand point of Bellatrix Lestrange, go rigid "Bella, be a dear and leave them to Greyback." Voldemort waved a lazy hand at Marcus' parents "Go collect your niece." Marcus' eyes widened as he saw Tonks, a girl he knew his brother used to be close to before they drifted apart, get drug toward Voldemort. Was she the first one being offered Voldemort's 'grand choice' due to her Black blood?

"What do you want, you bastard?" Tonks glared at the Dark Lord, even as Marcus saw her knees shaking.

"Why, to help you of course." Voldemort's voice wasn't how Marcus had heard it before, not it was gentle, convincing, and Marcus would swear there was an acrid yellow flitting about within the crimson of Voldemort's irises. Even without being directed towards Marcus personally, he could feel himself almost wanting to nod, to agree with whatever the madman was saying. The sheer strength of will, enforced through magic, was utterly terrifying. It was starting to make more and more sense how Voldemort had become such a successful Dark Lord, how he'd amassed so many followers, many fanatically loyal, willing to suffer death or dismemberment with a smile if it was of even the slightest use to their master.

"Help…me?" Tonks seemed confused, that confusion possibly helping Voldemort's words sink in deeper as the pale monster circled Tonks like a shark.

"Of course," Voldemort crooned "you are the one who will ensure the Prophecy gets completed after all. You've been working on that ritual for so long."

"So long." Tonks nodded in a dazed like trance while Marcus wondered what ritual they were talking about, focusing as he forced Voldemort's influence out of his mind.

"And here's your chance to do it!" Voldemort gestured to a cleared space, Bellatrix Lestrange pouring out various ritual components "Don't you want to bring your 'dear Harry' back? He is the only one who has a chance to stop me, prophecy itself says so!" Marcus' eyes widened as he realized why Voldemort had them all captured, not killed. Why they hadn't been given 'the choice' yet? He wanted them to see the only one capable of killing Voldemort, as declared by Prophecy, to either swear to serve Voldemort…or to die.

"Yes…the only…one." Tonks began to carve out a ritual circle, the dazed tone being overcome with a zeal that was reminiscent of Bellatrix herself. All around them, Marcus could see most were resigned to what was going to happen, having gone limp with defeat.

But his gut said there was still something he could do, something hehadto do. It was almost like there was a voice in the back of his mind, wordlessly screaming directions as he felt magic bubbling up within him. The magic, moved through sheer will and without a wand, lashed out at the ritual circle Tonks was carving as it began to glow. One of the runes carved into stone shifted, the stone dropping and cracking, changing the shape of the rune and thus altering the ritual.

As the components in the various bowls were consumed in shining purple flame, Marcus gasped as the air began to thrum with power…and high up in the sky, the air began to distort.