Galactic Wizardry

Chapter 23

Harry watched Aayla bite into her fruit and munch happily on it. The piece must have been particularly juicy. Fresh fruit juice squirted out of the pink fruit and dribbled down her chest and disappeared into the valley between her blue breasts. Harry’s eyes carefully followed it. Off to the side, Shaak Ti opened her eyes after about half an hour of meditation. She opened them just in time to see Harry staring at Aayla’s wet cleavage. The Togruta rolled her eyes and hopped to her feet.

She walked over to her cohorts who were lounging on conjured chairs underneath a conjured canopy that shielded them from the unrelenting Tatooine suns. As she got closer to them, she suddenly passed through an invisible barrier. On the other side, the air was crisp and cool. She sighed in contentment as her hot skin cooled. Next time she would wait until Harry set everything up before she began meditating. Not bothering to ask him for a chair, she rested her shapely bottom on the arm of his chair. “How long has it been?” she asked.

Harry checked his stopwatch. “Twenty-two minutes,” he told her. They only had to wait another few minutes before they saw two small clouds of dust in the distance. As the seconds ticked by, the cloud grew larger and larger until they could clearly see two riders, each on identical speeder bikes. Harry smiled and all three got to their feet. Moments later, Padme and Sabe parked their speeders and dismounted. Each was completely covered in dust. They shook themselves, causing a small cloud to appear.

“Hey!” Aayla cried out as she got a mouthful and coughed.

“Sorry,” Sabe said as she pulled off her helmet. Underneath her helmet, her skin was perfectly clean. The same could be said for her friend, Padme.

“Everything okay?” Harry asked them. They both nodded.

“We set it up just like you said. We would have been back sooner, but those stupid Sand People were perched on one of the rocks and were shooting down at us. We had to take the long way back,” Padme said as they crossed his ward that regulated the air temperature. Once in the cool air, they demanded that he help them out of their bulky suits. He saw that the suit had been slightly damaged in one area.

“You were hit,” he told Padme as he unzipped her and helped her out of her suit.

“Really?” she asked, surprised. “I didn’t feel a thing.”

“Sabe’s undamaged,” Shaak said as she helped her undress.

“You have to be careful in this area. The Mushroom Mesa is infested with Tusken Raiders. The Boonta Eve Classic passes right through the area. Their favorite sport is to try and kill as many Pod Racers as possible,” Harry explained.

“Normally, I wouldn’t travel this area on a bike or in an open-top speeder. It’s too dangerous. With these suits, however, there was very little risk,” he said as he freed Padme from the bulky suit that covered her entire body.

“Why didn’t we just use the ship?” Sabe asked once she was also freed. She pushed Harry back into his chair and sat on his lap. She gave him a quick kiss before wiggling her bottom against his groin and snuggling in.

“Because Jabba’s Sail Barge will be coming through this area tomorrow afternoon, and they’re probably continuously scanning the area while checking for traps. A large ship like the Chimaera would easily set off the alarms. A couple of speeder bikes won’t draw too much attention. They might send someone out to check, but they’ll never discover what we set up,” he told them.

“Are you sure that the Barge will be coming through this area?” Shaak asked.

“Definitely. Jabba’s a creature of habit. Several times a year, he leaves the safety of his palace to enjoy the desert from his Sail Barge. He always goes to the same places on the same exact days every year. Funnily enough, he chose these places because every one of them has a Sarlacc Pit along the route.”

“What does that matter?” Sabe asked from his lap. Harry wrapped an arm around her slim belly and pulled her against him. He kissed her neck and made her giggle.

“He loves feeding his prisoners to the Sarlaccs. Don’t ask me why. He’s just a sadistic slug if I had to guess,” Harry finished.

“So now that everything’s set, we have the rest of the day and night to ourselves … Right?” Sabe purred against him. Harry smiled naughtily.

“Yep. I’ve already set wards around the ship. I’m sure that we’re nice and safe,” he responded and slid his hand up her shirt. She giggled when his fingers tickled her soft belly. Sabe whispered in his ear. Harry’s eyes widened while she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Harry stood up with her in his arms and carried her back onto the ship. Padme looked at them and ran after them. Aayla cleared her throat and quickly followed.

Shaak was too mature for such childish behavior. She didn’t need Harry’s finely tuned body on hers. She didn’t need him kissing and touching and licking …

Shaak got up and scampered after them.

Galactic Wizardry

Aayla was thankful that the armored suit that Harry provided was air-conditioned. If not, she would have been a puddle of melted goo by then. She was perched high on one of the semi-eroded rocks that littered the Mushroom Mesa. Harry had altered the color of the suit with his magic so that it would perfectly match the color of the rock that she was on. She was lying on her side to avoid creating a larger target for someone to see. She lifted her macrobinoculars to her helmet and looked through. As she did, her heart jumped. In the distance, she saw Jabba’s barge floating down the dunes just as Harry said it would. She kept her eyes on it as it got closer and closer. It was time to complete the first step in her part of the plan.

She breathed in and out deeply, using every bit of her Jedi training that she had to keep calm. It wasn’t often that she was alone to complete a mission or even a part of one. Still, she remained calm. Through the green tint that the macrobinoculars provided, she saw the Barge sail by a particular rock that was placed by the Nabooans the previous day. With a rapidly beating heart, she pulled out the remote detonator and pushed the button.

There was a delay between what she was seeing and what she felt and heard. What she saw was the fake rock exploding violently, sending up a massive cloud of smoke, dust, and sand. Shortly after, she felt the minute shockwave and heard the distant crack of the explosion. Through the cloud of smoke and debris, she saw the Barge tilting dangerously to the side and veering off to its left before slamming into what was once one of the rock “mushrooms” that had since been eaten away by natural erosion. Sparks and more dust could be seen before Aayla got a good look at the damage. The side nearest the explosion was severely damaged. Much of the hull was twisted or shredded. She shook her head. Harry said that it would be a small explosion, she snorted with amusement.

To her surprise, she saw a group of Tusken Raiders appear on the rocks above the damaged Barge and begin peppering it with shots from their Slugthrowers. That worked out to her advantage. Quickly putting away her macrobinoculars, she straightened up and lifted a heavy-duty blaster turret into place. The tripod automatically opened up, and she quickly set it back down. The thing was much heavier than it looked, she thought. Flipping the switch, she made sure that it was on before using her Portkey to get out of there before she could be spotted.

She only stumbled slightly when she appeared back on the ship. She pulled off her helmet and set it down, grabbing the turret control module before sitting in the Captain’s seat on the Bridge. After turning it on, she waited a second for it to sync. Once it was connected, she used the controls to zoom in. On the screen, she could easily see the chaos that was occurring … this time in full color. Blaster shots were erupting from the deck of the Barge, aimed high at the Raiders who possessed the high ground. Jabba’s minions were fighting fiercely to protect their crime lord.

Their goal wasn’t to kill Jabba, though they wouldn’t shed a tear if he happened to die during the operation. They just needed to create a big enough distraction. That was the second part of her mission. Using the controls, she took careful aim and fired. A powerful bolt of superheated plasma hit the side of the Barge, punching a hole in the hull and sending sparks flying everywhere. She waited a second for the cooldown before firing again. Then she fired again … and again … and again. With the Raiders firing down on them, Jabba seemed to be in a bit of a mess.

Galactic Wizardry

Alarms were blaring inside Jabba’s Palace. Henchmen were scrambling to gather firepower of any kind. None of them particularly wanted to risk their lives for Jabba, but all were scared of what would happen if they didn’t. Jabba had a sadistic streak a mile wide. To most, a blaster bolt in the chest was a much better way to die than some of the ways that Jabba liked to end things. Ships, speeders, and even a few old hovertanks left the palace in a hurry, all headed in the same direction. Once the last ship had left, four figures appeared out of nowhere. Only Harry and Shaak Ti stayed on their feet. Padme and Sabe squeaked before falling on their butts.

“Porkeying on sand is trickier than doing it on flat, hard ground,” he smirked.

“You could have told us!” Sabe glared as she held out her hand. Harry pulled them to their feet.

“I could have … but I didn’t,” he said as Shaak chuckled. “Aayla seems to have done her job. I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t a single guard left in the place,” he commented. “Anyway, let’s get going.”

All four were covered head to toe in their suits, not only for protection but also to avoid getting identified. The only clue was the shape of the girls’ female bodies. They trotted at a fast pace around back to a certain area of the complex. He tapped on one area of the wall, hearing a metal clang from the durasteel that the former monastery was made of.

“Right here, Shaak. The power cables run just on the other side of the wall,” he told her before going to his area. Two lightsaber blades erupted, one going for the power, while Harry cut out a large hole in the outer shell of the building.

“Done,” Shaak called out and sure enough, the floodlights that were on twenty-four seven suddenly cut off. Harry’s hole took a little bit longer. Finally, he turned off his blade and kicked the cut part of the wall. It fell in with a loud clank.

“Mind the edges,” he warned as he cautiously climbed through. He stood guard as the other three followed him in. “Night Vision on,” he commanded, turning his own on. He could suddenly see fairly well through the darkness. “Keep your blaster pistols at the ready.”

Using his mental map of the palace, Harry led them deep into the underground bunkers. He stopped them, hearing some noise around the corner. He peeked and saw two pig-like creatures snorting and squealing in panic. “Take them out, girls,” he commanded them.

Fighting through their frayed nerves, the girls nodded and took deep breaths. They spun around the corner, using every bit of training that they could remember. They pulled their triggers and fired. As the bodies hit the floor, they all walked over and investigated.

“Clean kill shots,” Shaak said, studying where the Gamorrean guards were hit. “Though, it took several shots,” she said with some criticism, looking at the wall which had multiple burnt pockmarks. The girls blushed underneath their helmets. They were still learning after all.

“I’m sure that you’ll train them up properly,” Harry told Shaak. The Togruta had made it her responsibility as the group elder to train the younger girls. As a Master Jedi, she was used to teaching younglings.

Harry waved his hand at the door of a side room. The door slid open, and Harry looked inside. There wasn’t anything worth taking in there. He used his magic to levitate one of the bodies and dumped it into the room. Shaak used the Force to do the same with the other. After securing the evidence, they continued deeper into the bowels of the complex. Another few minutes passed where they only had to take out one more Gamorrean. They came to a room, and Harry opened the door with his magic.

“From here, we go down,” Harry told them. Shaak nodded, igniting her lightsaber and cutting a hole into the durasteel floor.

“Isn’t there an elevator that we could go down?” Padme asked as they watched Shaak Ti work.

“There is, but the shaft enclosure is very thick and would take a while to cut through. Also, the entrance is on the upper level and is almost exclusively used by Jabba and his majordomo. There are still too many guards up there for us to safely deal with,” Harry explained.

“How do you know so much about this place?” Sabe wondered.

“A guy I know here on Tatooine is in contact with someone that used to work here in the palace. Apparently, he somehow got on Jabba’s bad side. Needless to say, he wasn’t treated nicely. When they dumped his body, they thought he was dead. Luckily for us, his species is very difficult to kill. He needed money to get off the planet, and I wanted the layout of the palace. A match made in heaven,” he told her.

Once Shaak was done, Harry kicked it in, and Shaak used the Force to catch the large piece of metal. She pulled it back up through the hole and set it aside. “What can we expect down there?” she asked him.

“Definitely no guards. Probably automated traps. I’m not sure if they’re running off backup power or not, so keep a lookout,” he said as he reached into his expanded pocket. Harry pulled out a handful of translucent sticks and bent them in half. A crack filled the room just as all of the sticks lit up with a light blue color. Harry tossed them down the hole. They watched as they fell lower and lower until finally, they hit the bottom. Harry whistled appreciatively. “That’s a far drop,” he stated the obvious.

He reached back into his pocket and pulled out a little mechanism that looked like a thick disk. They watched as Harry placed it against the metal ceiling right above the hole. He pulled down half of the disk and a wire appeared connected between the two halves. “Magnetic,” he explained. He attached his half to the front of his suit. “I’ll go first. Shaak, you bring up the rear. Help the girls since they’ve never used a repeller before.” When she nodded, Harry stepped off of the ledge and hung there momentarily. He switched the flashlight on his helmet on and pressed a button on his half of the repeller before slowly lowering down the hole.

His head swiveled from side to side but he didn’t see anything important. The main reason was that he was traveling down a drainage pipe that wasn’t being used anymore. He could smell the stale air that didn’t get any better the lower he went. He looked down just in time to see the floor which was actually a ninety-degree bend in the pipe. When he touched down, he used his comms to tell them that he was safe. He unattached the repeller and pressed a button on it. With that, it went zipping back up the pipe. It took the better part of fifteen minutes before all four were finally in the pipe.

“We follow the pipe until we get to the next bend. Shaak … you may want to take point on this one. As I said, there might be traps, and your Force powers will probably give you the heads up.”

Shaak Ti nodded, thinking it was a good idea. As it turned out, it was a very good idea. There were no traps, but they found a nest of some very nasty hornet-like insects that were tucked away in a darkened fracture of the metal pipe. From what she said, they were quite deadly, especially if attacked by a swarm. After she killed them, he got a good look at them. Seeing that each was two inches long and there were at least a hundred of them, he guessed that they could have been in some serious trouble. The venom in them was acidic enough to damage even their suits. After the excitement was over, they continued onward. Once they reached the bend that Harry was talking about, Shaak Ti cut an exit for them.

This time, the fall was relatively short. Harry was able to apparate down safely and lower the two girls with his magic. Shaak didn’t need the help and jumped down herself. “We’re as low as you can go,” Harry told them. “Watch out for traps,” he warned.

The room that they were in was filled with an alcoholic drink called Claret. There were hundreds of casks of the drink, which just happened to be Jabba’s favorite. Harry didn’t care about the drinks. They were worthless to him. They left the room through the door and made their way down the corridor until they reached a thick, metal vault door. With a bit of magic, Harry was able to open it up. As the door opened, the girls’ eyes widened dramatically as they saw stacks of peggats that reached the high ceiling, mounds of republic credits, and bars of other precious metals. Yes, this would fund their exploits for quite a while, they thought as they walked passed the threshold.

Galactic Wizardry

Bib Fortuna yelled out as sparks hit his face. The last cannon shot had punched directly through the hull and nearly struck Jabba’s hover throne. He was forced to brush the specks of superheated metal off of his bald and lumpy head. The terror and pain were unreal. His ears were beginning to hurt from Jabba’s incessant yelling of orders. He too was barking out commands just as his receiver began to silently buzz in his pocket. Pulling it out, his eyes grew wide as he discovered that someone had tripped the pressure plate sensor in Jabba’s treasury vault. Gulping noisily, he turned to Jabba with shaky hands. Leaning in, he whispered to Jabba what had happened. He heard a deep, booming bellow and was suddenly in the air.

Luckily for him, he hit a patch of very soft sand. Looking up, he concluded that Jabba had slapped him directly out of the breach in the hull. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and gave an audible, “Whew!” He considered himself lucky to escape Jabba’s wrath relatively unscathed. He bent down to collect his fallen receiver.

High above, a Raider pointed his scope directly at the idiot that fell through the hole in the ship. As he zoomed in on his head, he giggled thinking that it looked like a scrotum. He was just about to pull the trigger when suddenly, a new target presented itself. The being bent over to collect something. He instantly moved the crosshair to its big, fat butt and pulled the trigger. He saw the being arch its back and scream in pain, clutching his ruined buttocks. Some of its friends quickly pulled it onto a speeder and took off, leaving the Raiders to cheer and high-five. The Raiders suddenly noticed that Jabba’s crew was leaving in a rush. The Raiders just shrugged and kept firing until they were out of range.

Galactic Wizardry

Harry also received a warning through his pad. He pulled it out and saw through the feed of the camera that he had set up earlier that dozens of speeders were flooding the complex.

“Looks like our time is up!” Harry called out and quickly turned their boxed-up riches into Portkeys and sent them back to the ship. “Time to go!” he called out and watched as all three left with their Portkeys. Once they were gone, he apparated away.

Back on the ship, Harry dropped the wards, and Aayla got them airborne while they stripped out of their suits. Harry saw Padme and Sabe chattering away excitedly after a successful mission in which they helped. Shaak pulled him aside and gave him a quick kiss.

“It was very nice of you to come up with a fairly easy mission in which the girls played an important part,” Shaak smiled at him as they pressed in closer together. Her heart began beating faster as Harry’s hands found her wide hips.

“I wanted to get them some experience while also gaining some confidence. Looks like it worked out pretty well,” he confessed as the two girls continued to chat excitedly. “Besides, we could use Jabba’s money. Building planetwide infrastructure is expensive,” he smirked as he leaned down and kissed Shaak’s exposed cleavage. She softly moaned in pleasure.

“I told you, we’re not building a state of the art nudist colony on Eden,” she rolled her eyes before Harry went back to attacking her chest with his lips.

Galactic Wizardry

After the heist, Jabba was obviously livid and out for blood. Unfortunately, no one knew who had perpetrated such a heinous crime. At least until a certain purple Dug who was out for revenge sold the information to the Hutt. He had been keeping an eye out for Harry’s ship, waiting until the human came back again. When his contacts told him that they had spotted the ship in question leaving the area where the battle with Jabba’s Sail Barge had gone down, then the Dugg knew that the human had something to do with it. Twice the human had destroyed his precious junkyard, and twice he had to rebuild. The coin he earned by selling the information was a good start in recovering the damages wrought by the insufferable human.