Rating:
PG-13
House:
The Dark Arts
Ships:
Ginny Weasley/Harry Potter
Characters:
Harry and Hermione and Ron
Genres:
Crossover Alternate Universe
Era:
The Harry Potter at Hogwarts Years
Spoilers:
Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire Order of the Phoenix Half-Blood Prince
Stats:
Published: 05/24/2006
Updated: 06/04/2007
Words: 91,458
Chapters: 67
Hits: 75,013

Harry Potter and the Dark Lord of the Sith

LunaIsCool

Story Summary:
On Christmas morning in their seventh year, a flying accident causes the Trio to vanish. They reappear in a galaxy far, far away... where a war against the Galactic Empire rages.

Chapter 10

Posted:
07/31/2006
Hits:
1,591


Chapter 10.

Ron sat next to Leia in the command and control center. The screen showed a symbolic representation of the planet Yavin, the Imperial battle station behind it and the fighters heading towards it. General Dodonna stood next to them, silent. Ron could practically feel the tension in the room.

"The future of a galaxy in the hands of two dozen people," someone murmured.

The simple statement made Ron feel like it was the middle of winter again. "Can we hope?" he whispered.

"We must," answered Leia. "Hope is what the Rebellion is made of."

Meanwhile, over a hundred thousand miles away, the pilots were approaching their target.

"All wings report in," ordered Red Leader.

"Red Ten, standing by," the first reply came.

"Red Seven, standing by."

"Red Three, standing by," Biggs called in.

"Red Six, standing by," a fat man named Jek Porkins reported.

"Red Nine, standing by."

"Red Two, standing by," called Wedge.

"Red Eleven, standing by."

"Red Four, standing by," Harry said softly.

"Red Eight, standing by," echoed Hermione.

"Red Five, standing by," Luke finished the roll call.

"Lock S-foils in attack position," Red Leader commanded.

Harry pushed a button on his control board, splitting the wings of the fighter into the shape that gave it its name.

"We're passing through the magnetic field. Hold tight!" the squadron commander warned.

"Look at the size of that thing!" Wedge said in awe.

"Cut the chatter, Red Two," Red Leader castigated him. "Accelerate to attack speed."

Harry did so. The imperial behemoth now covered his whole view. Even without the enormous indentation that formed the dish of its main weapon, it could not be taken for a natural moon at this range. He heard others, who were seeing this for the first time, gasp.

Then the surface of the station erupted with green turbolaser bolts. But the fighters were so nimble that the bright green beams flew through space where fighters were two, three, even five seconds ago. Harry had to put in almost no effort in evading them.

"Red Leader, this is Gold Leader," the commander of the Y-Wing squadron called out.

"I copy, Gold Leader," Harry's commander replied.

"We're starting for the target shaft now," Gold Leader announced.

"We're in position," Red Leader answered. "I'm going to cut across the axis and draw their fire."

The squadrons broke off from each other. Harry's unit prepared to attack the turbolaser batteries on the surface. Wedge dived first.

"Heavy fire, boss!" he yelled. "Twenty-three degrees!"

"I see it," acknowledged Red Leader. "Stay low."

"This is Red Five," Luke reported. "I'm going in."

Harry saw Luke make a run on one of the fire points, hurling red bolts out of his wingtips. Then a huge fireball erupted on the station, and Luke flew right into it.

"Luke, pull up!" Biggs shouted to his friend.

"Luke!" Harry gasped before the Red Five fighter vanished into the explosion it created.

"I got a little a little cooked, but I'm okay," Luke relieved his friends as he emerged from the glowing plasma.

Then Hermione prepared to make her own run. "I'm going in," she called out.

"Red Four, cover Red Eight," Red Leader ordered Harry, who was about to do that anyway. "Check, Red Leader," he answered.

"Harry," Hermione said, "are you detecting all that EM output?"

"Harry looked at his instruments. "Right. Fifteen degrees south," he answered.

"Let's take it out," she suggested. "I think it's a detector."

"Okay," Harry got ready.

Hermione unleashed a barrage from her laser cannons. Only the last bolt impacted and scorched the gleaming metal surface.

"It's got shields!" Hermione realized as she was pulling up.

"Not anymore!" Harry said, and showered it with bolts of his own. The small tower exploded into millions of fragments.

"Nice shot, Red Four," Red Leader congratulated him.

"Squad leaders," a transmission from the base came in, "we've picked up a new group of signals. Enemy fighters heading your way."

"My scope's negative, I don't see a thing!" Luke announced.

"Pick up your visual scanning," urged Red Leader. "Here they come!"

"Hermione, behind you!" Harry called out, veering off to intercept his friend's pursuer.

Hermione was dodging the bolts from the TIE, but couldn't shake the enemy off despite all maneuvers. Harry got behind the TIE, repeating all its twists and turns. Instinctively, he knew when to depress the triggers. Red bots criss-crossed space and converged on the Imperial, who exploded.

"Yes!" Harry cried triumphantly.

Then his own fighter shook. Harry looked and realized that while he followed Hermione's chaser, he picked up an enemy behind him himself.

"I've got one on my tail!" he shouted.

"Coming to get him, Red Four!" this was Porkins, who immediately pulled up from the run he was about to make along with Biggs. He approached Harry in a tight turn and fired. His cannons found their mark.

"Thanks, Red Six," Harry said with relief. "A little longer, and I'd be toast."

"Attention, Red Squadron," the voice of Red Leader was the calmest thing in this sector of space. "Gold Squadron failed its run and was destroyed."

Harry fired his cannons again, blasting an Imperial on Porkins' tail.

"Three groups of three remaining," Red Leader said. "Three attack runs. We're going in first," Red Leader announced and headed for the trench. Red Ten and Nine went with him.

"More fighters approaching," Hermione said.

"Copy, Red Eight," acknowledged Porkins. There were five of them, flying in formation.

Harry fired a spread of bolts, all of which missed. Then he had to dodge the enemy fighters' own fire. He did so, turned around, and blasted one of the two TIEs chasing Red Six. The bolt hit the pylon which attached its wing to the cockpit, and the Imperial spun out of control and crashed into his partner. Moments later, they both became hot gas.

"Good shooting, Red Four," Porkins congratulated him. "I thought I was a goner. This evens up the odds."

"Harry! Turn right!" Hermione demanded.

"What?" he asked, but did as she said nonetheless. A TIE on his tail exploded from Hermione's bolts.

"Good job!" he said, and looked around him. "Hermione, there's one after you."

"I got him," Porkins called, opening fire on the Imperial.

"I'm hit!" Hermione yelled.

Before the enemy could do any more damage, Porkins destroyed it.

"Are you okay?" Harry called out.

"Yeah, it's not bad," she replied, breathing heavily. "My droid will try to repair it."

The last fighter was flying away from the trio, deciding that the odds were against it. He evaded Harry's bolts, flew straight into Porkins' field of fire, and was gone.

"Ugh--" Harry breathed out. "That was close. Where's everyone else?"

"Harry! Hermione!" Luke's voice erupted in their headphones. "Are you all right?"

"We're fine, where's Red Leader?" asked Harry.

"Gone," Luke said. "Biggs and Wedge are gonna make the next attack run with me. If we fail, it's up to you."

"Check, Red Five," Porkins acknowledged. They flew high above the station, while Luke, Wedge and Biggs headed for the surface.

"Harry! Look what's happening!" Hermione cried. "Those three fighters got behind them--they'll destroy them before they reach the target!"

"So what do we do?" Harry wondered.

"I'll get behind the fighters, in the trench. You keep other enemy fighters busy so no one gets behind me."

"Affirmative, Red Eight," Porkins replied.

Hermione veered off, got into the trench and followed the three TIE fighters, the middle one of which was bigger than the others and had unusual angled wings. Harry and Porkins remained at altitude.

"There's two of them, trying to go after your friend," Porkins announced.

"I see them," Harry switched his lasers to half-power and gave a rapid fire spread. Porkins did the same. While none of the bolts hit, the two Imperials had to fly off instead of getting into the trench.

"Let's follow them, Red Six," Harry told Porkins.

The other pilot, concentrating on his flying, did not reply. He turned left, while Harry headed to the right. What neither of them realized was that the TIE pilot on the left, instead of flying away, was circling a nearby tower. Thus, when Porkins made his U-turn, the roles of pursuer and pursued were the reverse of what they were supposed to be.

"He's behind me!" Porkins cried out.

"Hang on," Harry called, abandoning pursuit of his own TIE. I'll get him."

He got behind the enemy fighter, skimming the surface of the station. He caught it in his targeting computer...

Too late. The TIE's bolts might have left their barrels microseconds before Harry's, but they had left. Harry flew through the explosions of two fighters, rather than one.

"No!" he screamed. He was already beginning to consider the pilot, who reminded him of Hagrid because of his size, a friend. And now...

He almost didn't notice his own fighter's alarms ringing out. Looking at his sensors, he realized that the fighter he stopped chasing to try to save Porkins had doubled back and was now chasing him. And he lost his deflectors when he flew through the debris of the enemy and Porkins' fighters.

The TIE's bolt found its mark. Harry suddenly found it very difficult to maneuver, but his reflexes let him compensate. He looked at the instruments.

"I've lost number two engine," he said. "Someone get this fighter off my back."

"Be right there, Red Four," Wedge assured him. Before Harry could respond, the other pilot said in a commanding tone, "Pull up... now!"

Doing so, Harry saw a glimpse of the flash behind him, and Wedge's fighter, flying over him, moments later.

"Thanks, Wedge," he followed the other pilot over the trench. "What happened?"

"I got hit, and Luke told me to pull out," Antilles explained.

"Where are they?" Harry asked.

"There... I see them! But... where's Biggs!"

"Dead," Hermione said. "That strange fighter shot him down. I'm trying to get him before he does the same to Luke."

"Check, Red Eight," Wedge said tensely. "We'll keep fighters off your back. If Luke fails, try to make the shot yourself," he instructed. "I don't know if we can make it down the trench without deflectors."

"Got it, Red Two," Hermione replied, and accelerated even more. She prepared to fire at the strange-looking TIE.

What she didn't plan for was that that TIE had laser cannons that could fire backwards.

She dodged the bolts by flying up and to the left, but she had to do it so quickly that she couldn't judge distance properly. The bottom left wing of her fighter hit the edge of the trench and broke.

The young witch was saved only by the incredible speed she had achieved. The wing, made of an alloy ten times stronger than titanium, snapped like a toothpick. The speed was such that the loss of a wing had hardly any effect on the direction of her flight, and so Hermione avoided crashing into the station. But Harry didn't know that... All he saw was the flash of a small explosion where the wing impacted.

"Hermione!" he cried out in terror. "Are you okay!"

"I'm fine... just lost a wing of my ship," she said. "It's Luke we have to worry about. That strange TIE is on to him."

Harry looked below. The three TIEs were closing in on Luke, who did look to be in trouble.

Suddenly, a new ship appeared below. Harry recognized instantly. Elongated disk, two triangular protrusions in front, a cockpit attached by a tube on the right side. The Millennium Falcon.

The ship's bottom turret opened fire, annihilating one of the regular TIE fighters chasing Luke. The strange-looking Imperial craft veered off and impacted his other escort, which lost control and smashed into the trench. The fighter with angled wings spun away into space.

"You're all clear, kid," Han Solo called out on the open channel. "Now let's blow this thing and go home!"

Luke fired his torpedoed. They came to the end of the trench and... no explosion came. The warheads were in.

"Great shot, kid!" Han's excitement couldn't be contained. "That was one in a million!"

"Wedge," Harry called to the other pilot, "we should go after that weird TIE fighter."

"Sure." Antilles followed him. But Harry realized that they lost time. The pilot of that ship had regained control and was heading away from the planet. Harry got ready to fire, but suddenly pain erupted in his scar. That moment's hesitation was enough. The strange-looking TIE fighter vanished.

"Must have been an experimental model," Wedge said. "They usually don't build them with hyperdrives. Cheer up, Harry," he called him, for the first time, Harry noticed, by name. "We still won."

As if on cue, the Death Star behind them exploded, with nothing but hot gas and metal splinters remaining behind. Six ships headed back to the fourth moon: four X-Wings, one Y-Wing, and a freighter that, Harry had to concede, did not look like piece of junk while it was in space.