Note: Disclaimer in first chapter. Thank you for your comments and reviews. They are always welcome.

Chapter 4

It was official: Chancellor Palpatine was my new mate. Anyone that has the pull to give me random pardons, pay handsome finder's fees for not quite legal works of art or any random artifacts I might know about, and issue a voucher for twenty thousand Republic credits for the public demise of a Sith Lord was just fine in my book. On top of the eight thousand credits for my bounty this morning, I was sitting pretty comfortable by the time I made it back to Teff's to return her speeder.

"You're late," she snapped when I opened the door.

"Unavoidable. This is Jedi we're talking about. You know how they are. Besides, the Chancellor wanted to have a word."

Teff's lekku twitched when I mentioned the last part. "Palpatine? Stang! What did he want?"

I shrugged. "Pat on the back. Job well done. That kind of thing."

"For Kark?" She ran her fingers over her computer keyboard for a moment. "He's not that big of a catch."

Not mentioning Dooku or my involvement with Ventress on Tatooine was done on purpose. The less people that knew about that, the better for my longevity. "Politicians; anything for a good blurb on the HoloNews."

"Uh-huh, it's not like you were involved with taking out Dooku or anything big like that, right?"

I froze for a moment too long. Teff shook her head in disappointment. "Harry, what have I told you about getting involved with the high rollers? The news is already filtered out. Now you'll have to deal with all the vengeance seekers."

With a sigh I leaned on the counter and rubbed at my eyes. "There's a bounty on me."

She nodded. "Seventy-five thousand credits, dead. Private backer, so I can't even tell you who to strangle to get it called off."

"Seventy… I only got twenty for Dooku!"

"Honey, I'd find a hole and dig in somewhere deep. This is going to bring out a lot of the big names. Cad Bane, Aurra Sing; they only consider numbers above forty."

"Dammit." Turning around, I glanced outside the window. The feeling I was being watched was already making the hair on the back of my neck stick up. "Hold on, I thought Sing was in prison."

"Whatever. At least you don't have to worry about being randomly taken out from two kilometers away with a slug thrower. Still, the big names know your reputation, and you'll have every want-to-be in the Underworld wanting to make a name for themselves after you. Expect the worst; in other words don't come back here until they're dead or you are."

~O~

I was disillusioned the entire way back to the Gimlet, and I'd have to live that way until I could at least take out at a bare minimum of the bigger named hunters to warn off the others. Plans were already forming in my head. With my appearance at the Temple and the Senate building, word would get out quick enough to those that were interested. The first thing I would have to do is protect my only way off the planet for the time being.

"Mikki," I said as I came out of the lift. "What's the holdup with the paint job?"

"Special colors, Boss. They had to order some, and it's not paint. Why are you cloaked?"

"There's a bounty on my head… hold on. Blue is a special color?"

"A bounty? And you're here on our new ship? Get out!"

Flipping him off did no good since he couldn't see my hand. "I came back to lay some basic protections around the place. It's still droid work, right?"

He threw a mechanic growl at me. "Yes. Now, will you go?"

I didn't bother answering as I took the lift down, stopping off in my cabin for my bag to change clothes into something more suited for hunting. I didn't like to be weighed down like your typical ARC trooper, but I did have some light armored clothing that would take a shot or two as long as it wasn't dead on.

After double-checking my utility belt I added two thermal detonators, just to be on the safe side and then donned my jacket. Leaving the oak wand, I took the hawthorn as a backup. It was suited more for the darker curses than my holly. If I was going to be hunted down then I wasn't holding back with any lightweight magic. Blood was going to boil, bones were going to explode, and Avada's were going to Kedavra. They were going to know what it was like to screw with Harry Potter.

"Boss? You still here?" Mikki said from the other side of the door.

I opened it and stepped out. "Hold the fort. I'm locking the Gimlet down. Nobody comes in or out until I return or Coruscant explodes, whichever comes first."

"Right. Good luck and all. Try not to die. I'm up for vacation time in a couple of months."

He never took a vacation. Every so often I drop a few credits and treat him to an oil bath and an upgrade or two. That usually kept him off my back for a little while. Hitting the control for the boarding ramp I disillusioned myself again and waited for it to finish dropping, but not before the first blaster bolt had already flown through the opening.

Mikki squealed and ducked into the lift while I hugged the wall and stayed as still as possible. It was movement that gave away the telltale signs of my presence, the almost undetectable shimmering that Palpatine described earlier.

"Did you get him?" I heard from around the right corner of the bay door.

"I don't know. Go check."

"Fark you. You go check."

"I was the one that shot. That means you have to go check."

"Sithspit! I shoot first next time. Cover me."

As soon as I saw his head stick out ever so slightly from around the side I shot my wand hand forward. "Cremare!"

White hot fire came into existence at the center of his chest and expanded in less than a second to encompass his entire body. Whoever it was didn't even have a chance to shriek, shout, or squeal before there was a burned out husk falling to the ground.

"Next!" I yelled.

His partner screamed and all I heard was rapid boot falls leading away from the scene.

"Right then. See you later, Mikki."

"Give'em hell, Boss!"

With the ramp closed I made sure it was locked properly and set a Muggle Repelling Charm on the area. It would keep everyone away, except for, curiously enough, Wookiees. It usually worked very well on sentient creatures of all types. I suppose they were simply too hardheaded to let something bother them like that. There weren't too many Wookiee bounty hunters though, so I didn't worry too much about it. Leaving the dead body at the entrance might scare off the faint of heart, so I didn't bother with moving the evidence.

It was the Underworld. Unless a Tinny was around to witness the act, nobody usually cared one way or the other. There were plenty of ways to die down here that didn't involve someone killing someone else.

It took me thirty minutes of slowly moving down the street to one of the lower end hotels before I moved in and sealed the door behind me. There wasn't anyone around except the guy at the counter and I was through with understating my abilities. It served a purpose at the beginning while I learned my way around the galaxy, but as far as I was concerned, at this point, the more dangerous people thought of me the better. I wanted word to get around that I could go invisible in less than a moment; that I could reach out and touch anyone wherever they were and they'd never know until it was far too late. I wanted them scared, because if they thought that then they were less inclined to even consider crossing me.

That sort of attitude has its ups and downs, as I learned back on Earth after I killed Voldemort by disarming him to death. The witnesses to the battle didn't see it that way. They thought my Expelliarmus was what did the deed, and if I could do that with a Disarming Charm, what could I do with something actually meant to be deadly.

For the following few years criminals would sometimes just throw down their wands when they knew I was there. Then there were the glory seekers that wanted showdowns in the middle of Diagon Alley. It was ridiculous.

The clerk looked oddly at the door as I reappeared no more than a foot away from him.

"Gah!"

"Room for one. Top floor. Name is Potter."

~O~

The temperature in the Underworld stayed pretty consistent. That's why I could sit on top of the building across the street from the room I rented and not be entirely uncomfortable while I snacked on an energy bar waiting for the first of what was sure to be a long line of idiots trying to make a name for themselves.

The screams came three hours later. I wasn't even aware that someone had entered the room, as they must have come in to the building from a different entrance. I'm sure one of the three transfigured Nexu I left in there eventually killed and ate him. They didn't need to be fed; that didn't mean they couldn't go through the motions.

Another hour later and someone was taking pot shots from two buildings over using some high caliber ammo if it was penetrating the transparisteel windows. I sighed and pinpointed the assassin, apparated over and gave him an exfoliation from hell before returning.

A globe shaped assassin droid arrived within minutes which I transfigured into a basketball, or at least I tried to. It exploded along with the thermal detonators it was trying to deliver.

By morning, there was a complete mess on the street below and a large Republic Security presence trying to make sense of the carnage. As I was watching the goings on I felt my comm vibrate lightly. Feeling for the switch, I hit it.

"Hello?"

"Is this pandemonium your doing?"

"Miss Ventress," I said as I smiled. "How good to hear from you."

"As soon as I viewed the charred remains at the spaceport I knew you would be involved."

"Mmm. The word's out that I'm the one that offed Dooku and a bounty has been placed on my head from some friends of his."

I could easily hear her scoff. "Dooku had no friends. He had a master he answered to and General Grievous licking his boots; that is all."

"Wonderful. Any idea who this master is? I'd like to pay him a visit and express my feelings on the matter of the bounty on my head, not to mention putting my boot up his ass."

"Unknown," she answered. "He took great pains in hiding his presence whenever I was present. Though I do know he goes by the name Darth Sidious, and that the Viceroy of the Trade Federation answers to him as well."

"Lovely."

"If you go after him, I want in."

Considering how she felt about Dooku, this didn't take me by surprise. "Issues?"

"The same as before. I have a stake in seeing this Sidious dead."

"I'll comm you as soon as things quiet down here. Most of the idiots have realized that I'm not the quiet, peace loving person I was before the bounty went out. I want to wait around a little longer to see if any intelligent prey show up."

"Noted."

The comm closed after that and I needed to find a fresher or at the very least a dark alley to relieve myself. I'd forgotten the first rule of any stake up: bring an empty Gatorade bottle. However, seeing as PepsiCo's reach wasn't quite this far into the universe, I'd have to make due with an alternative. Apparating to the Jedi Temple, I took advantage of the fresher located in the conference room where I was being held previously. Thankfully, there wasn't anyone else being detained or entertained as the case may be.

When I Apparated back to the rooftop, I took a moment to survey the area and then fished out another energy bar. Before I could even open the package, someone decided to take a pot shot at me.

"Bloody hell," I groaned as I rolled to the side under the protection of the slightly raised wall and felt for damage at my ribs.

A flat slug dropped off my armor and hit the roof. Obviously it didn't penetrate, but it felt as if I'd been kicked by a hippogriff.

The hawthorn wand dropped into my grasp as I heard the whine of a swoop bike approaching. It zoomed by and I held perfectly still until I could get a better look and possibly stop wheezing at the same time.

"Your cloaking tech doesn't work against echo-technology, Potter. Just thought you might want to know."

I chuckled. "Hello Cad. Long time no see."

Rolling to the side, I apparated to the far end of the roof and scrambled to my feet throwing up a shield against the inevitable blaster fire. He didn't disappoint. Two bolts slammed into my shield, dissipating along the edges. Cade Bane stood on the opposite side of the rooftop, dressed in his mid-level weight body armor, dark duster, and an extraordinarily wide-brim hat. Duros possessed blue skin and were only vaguely humanoid. It was the bright red eyes and lack of pupil that made them seem more alien than anything else.

"Don't suppose I can talk you out of this. You've already seen the mess on the street."

"Amateurs. And you know a contract is a contract."

He raised both his blasters and shot again as I apparated once more, this time directly behind him. His boot jets fired and I had the choice between cursing him, or Apparating away from the thermal detonator he just dropped. Though how he did that while his hands were otherwise occupied with the blasters I had no idea.

Across the street, above the hotel I'd been staking out the entire night, I appeared and closed my eyes against the bright explosion. Thermal detonators come in various shapes, sizes, and intensity. I usually chose the small end type, which vaporize an area about five to eight feet in circumference. Everything outside of that blast radius is pretty safe from harm, barring the shock of looking briefly into the sun effect. When I opened my eyes to sight him once more, he'd already disappeared.

The sound of a telltale whoosh gave me a half-second before the fire enveloped me I countered with a Flame Freezing Charm. Spinning around I spotted him no more than twenty feet off the roof blasting me with a flamethrower. Bad move; he should have stuck with his blasters.

"Grigorthia!"

The flame spluttered to a halt and his eyes widened as he saw that I hadn't even been singed in the slightest.

"Heart beating a little fast there, Cad?"

He grabbed at his stomach area. I suppose organs shift places from species to species. His blue skin started darkening.

"What… what did you do?"

Keeping my wand on him I shifted to the side, presenting a thinner target. "It's called the Arrhythmia Curse. At each passing second, your heart is beating faster and faster. Pretty soon capillaries start bursting. Eventually your blood pressure rises so high that nasty things start happening. You have about a minute to tell me where I can find Darth Sidious, if you want it to stop."

Cad Bane reached for his blaster once more. I had to give it to him; he was fast.

"Incatus!"

His body jerked in mid-air and at the same time the boot jets gave out sending him crashing to the ground.

"That's the best the galaxy has to offer in terms of bounty hunters?" Asajj Ventress asked as she stepped out of the access door to the roof. She was unarmed, but I kept her in my field of vision as she closed the distance on Bane.

"He's used to fighting Jedi. I'm no Jedi."

"Where is he?" she said as she pulled a lightsaber off her belt. "Tell me and I'll end your suffering quickly."

Bane coughed and spat up something green.

"He doesn't know and he can't hear you anymore," I explained. "Most of his senses have been overwhelmed."

Ventress looked up at me and lifted an eyebrow, considering me as she did once before. A flash of her blade later and she set it back at its place at her belt. "Your talents continue to intrigue me, Harry Potter."

At least she finally figured out how to pronounce my name.

A Levitation Charm later and I send his corpse to the street below before Apparating Ventress and myself to the Gimlet's command deck, startling Mikki and sending him in a snit until he disappeared down below.

She made herself comfortable on one of the passenger chairs while I shrugged off my jacket and pulled up the padded armor covering my ribs. The entire area was red and I could swear Bane cracked one with the slug he shot at me. A bone knitting charm later and there was significantly less pain than before. The swelling I'd have to deal with naturally. I ran out of bruise ointment years ago.

"What did you just do?"

Looking up at her, I dropped the armor and gingerly leaned against the bulkhead. "Fused the cracked rib. He got off a clean shot while I was up on the roof. I'll be fine by tomorrow morning. Speaking of which, I seriously need some sleep. You're welcome to stay or whatever."

When I picked up my jacket Ventress already wanted my attention again. "One moment. What are your plans concerning Sidious?"

I grimaced at the thought. "I know the Jedi are looking for him. They pulled me in when I dropped off a bounty. That's where all this mess started."

Her brow hardened, which was an unusual sight; most times they just wrinkle. "What did you tell them?"

"That I didn't kill Dooku. They didn't believe me. Neither did Palpatine when he visited. Still wound up with a bright shiny pardon. He offered me a job being a right-hand-in-the-wings-go-to-guy. "

I watched as her eyes drifted away for a moment. "Having the resources of the Republic might make this easier. The Chancellor's office receives daily briefings from the Jedi. You would be in a position to be privy to them. I could move about more freely if I knew where they were positioned…"

Having her sit there and plot out my decisions for me put a scowl on my face. Making me out to be her man in the Senate made me sound like her little gofer boy. Basically, I didn't like her ideas. She wasn't offering me anything but an attitude and a couple of lightsabers to back me up.

"Yeah, that's great and all. Look, I can make you a disguise talisman. Remember the black skin? It's simple stuff. You can go anywhere you want. As long as you don't start going on a killing rampage at the Jedi Temple or something, do whatever you want with my blessing."

She shot me a look and then eased off. "Go to sleep. You'll be more receptive when you aren't in pain."

That's what I wanted to hear.

~O~

Later that afternoon I woke, showered, and donned my armor again before grabbing something to eat out of my stores. I wasn't going to chance food in public any time soon. Dying by poison is one of the ways I prefer not to go out of this universe. After picking up a couple of items from my room I went up to the flight deck and saw Ventress sitting there at the Holoprojector using her datapad and viewing the schematics of some building I didn't recognize.

Mikki was working on something under the pilot's station when he noticed me. "You had a call from the Chancellor's office, Boss."

I nodded and pulled out a stone token with a leather thong running through a hole I made at one time. Ventress followed my movements until I sat and pulled out my Holly wand.

"Disguise talisman. What do you want to look like?"

That seemed to garner her interest. "That appears Dathomirian in origin."

"That's one of the reasons I went there," I explained. "While I wasn't able to perform their style of Force magic, I was able to adapt certain ways they do things to my style. It's a lot easier to sell token magic like this than have people track me down every time they want something done, and I can charge a higher price."

Clicking off her datapad, she tucked it in her belt. "And what are you charging me for this talisman?"

"Consider this a working relationship. It's in my best interest to see that you're not caught out by the Jedi or whoever while we're hunting down Sidious. So, no charge. Besides, if I'm going to take this position with Palpatine then I need to make sure I have eyes in other places."

Ventress slowly blinked, considering my offer. "A partnership of mutual benefit?"

I saw what she did there. Since Dooku's death she has asked me twice about forming some sort of working relationship, definitely to support her vengeance against certain people. I'm more of a live and let live sort of person. Even after all the crap the Malfoy family did to me and mine over the years, I let it go after the Battle of Hogwarts, only so long as they didn't continue screwing with me.

Not that I don't understand vengeance. I'm intimately familiar with it. It was the vengeance that broke my proverbial cherry with the use of the Unforgivables. However, I also realized that it would rule my life if I let it. I learned my lesson, and I've become a little more pragmatic since my arrival in this galaxy. I'll use any means necessary to stay alive – well, barring Horcruxes. I wouldn't know how to stuff a little bit of my soul into things anyway.

"We'll take it one incident at a time, shall we?" I suggested.

A single nod was returned. "Human, dark hair, moderate skin color, and if you would alter my facial features slightly."

Ah yes, the talisman.

Within a couple of minutes I'd charmed the flat stone and passed it over. "It'll only work as long as it's within millimeters of your skin, so I'd suggest wearing it under your clothing or bound to your wrist or something."

Ventress stared at the stone while it hung from the thong. "What is the duration?"

"Uh, permanent, until you take it off. Put it back on to reactivate. I charmed it to be unbreakable, but I've never put something like that to a test against blasters or lightsabers. It should hold; I don't see any reason why it wouldn't."

As she slipped the thong around her head, I conjured a hand mirror and let her review my work. It was brilliant if I do say so myself. She took the mirror and after holding it up, frowned, and then looked at me.

"This isn't too striking?"

I'd widened and enlarged her eyes slightly, gave her more definition in her cheeks and a nice tan. With the dark brown hair she looked like an actress I used to see back home. I often used people I knew, or at least knew of to do these sorts of things. It made the work that much easier if I could visualize an example already in existence.

"Well, I'd definitely change your clothing to something a little less Asajj Ventress, and you might want to consider a different pair of lightsaber hilts. Given that, nobody will recognize you. I can point you toward a slicer here on Coruscant that could work you up some different identification as well. I can't really go around calling you Miss Ventress in public anymore."

"Boss," Mikki interrupted. "The Chancellor? You don't want to get us kicked off Coruscant for not returning the call."

"Oh, right." When I moved forward to click on the holoterminal I stopped before hitting the switch. "Do you want to be here for this?"

"No," Ventress answered. "I have errands to run. Contact me once you have secured your position and I will let you know if I have found any leads on the location of the Trade Federation leader. At the moment, he is the only person that would possibly have knowledge of Sidious's identity."

Once the lift door closed I hit the control that would return Palpatine's call. A young human woman answered almost immediately.

"Supreme Chancellor's office. How may I direct your call?"

"Harry Potter returning the Chancellor's call."

"Hold a moment and I'll see if he's finished with his meeting, Mister Potter."

The image blanked while I thought on what I was doing. I know I was iffy about being Ventress's inside man, but the opportunity to make enough credits to retire to a place like Zeltros was too tempting. I could serve as go between for Palpatine to acquire a few more esoteric items of art, collect those fees, maybe go on a couple of troubleshooting missions for him or whatever he had in mind and then retire. I suppose it would depend on what he wanted done.

I could do intimidation, or making back door deals with people that weren't exactly reputable so Palpatine could keep a squeaky clean reputation. That wasn't an issue. I do those sorts of things on jobs already. He seemed a decent enough sort, but he was still a politician. They pretty much only look out for themselves, of course I did that as well. It's the nature of business.

The holoprojection blinked and was replaced with Palpatine sitting at his desk. "Harry! It's good to see you're still in one piece. My security was notified that there was a bounty put on you, no doubt by disreputable friends of Count Dooku."

"Alive and kicking, Chancellor. Though the same can't be said for fourteen bounty hunters."

Palpatine chuckled and fake coughed into his fist. "Yes, quite. I've seen the security footage. I'm almost tempted to offer you a position in my security detail, but I know that's not where your interest lays."

"I appreciate the thought, Chancellor, but I was more interested in the other position we spoke about."

"Excellent! One moment, Harry." He looked away and I saw someone hand him something from off the holo. "Ah, yes. Good timing. Harry, would you be interested in accompanying me on a trip to Alsakan? There's a refugee relief fundraiser that I've been scheduled to attend to deliver a speech. We would be provided with an opportunity to speak in private along the way."

While attending any sort of political event brought about feelings of nausea, speaking with him on an unofficial level sounded like a good idea. If nothing else I could find out exactly what sort of things would be expected of me if I chose to take the position.

"That sounds good, Chancellor."

He handed something to the person off holo and turned back to me. "Let's take your ship to the escort group above Coruscant. That way you won't be stuck there afterward listening to what I'm sure will be a very dry and dull speech."

Okay, my opinion of the man just rose by an order of magnitude. He knew exactly what to say to keep my interest, but I suppose that was his job. Either way, I wouldn't have my evening totally ruined and I could get off planet for a short while.

"Sounds good, sir."

"I'll have my assistant send you the coordinates and landing codes to the Senate docking bay, so you won't run into any trouble. She'll be alerted when you arrive."

With that he sent the holocom back to the young lady and I took down the relevant information.

"Mikki!"

"On it, Boss."

~O~

The paint job would have to wait for another time. I left a message for Ventress as she had already turned her comm off, and we were in the air within fifteen minutes. Thankfully, there were no attempts on my life or the Gimlet during the flight from the Underworld to the Senate docking bays.

After acquiring our docking codes, Mikki set us down at one of the closest bays to the building itself. It already seemed as if I was receiving preferential treatment. Usually, we'd be relegated to the furthest bay imaginable. Bounty hunters had reputations after all.

I thought of changing clothes to something more businesslike, but the light armor was about as formal as I got. At least it was a uniform brown instead of the hodgepodge of whatever I usually wore. The blaster got left behind. Its presence would only make the guards nervous.

Palpatine was just walking out the doors to the Senate, escorted by his red guards, when I dropped the boarding ramp. He stopped for a moment when he caught sight of the Gimlet, and looked like he was chuckling to himself, before moving on.

"Harry, what a wonderful ship! A Star Courier is it not?"

I nodded in response. "Just bought it out on Tatooine."

Once they made it to the bottom of the ramp, Palpatine finished his brief inspection. "Permission to come aboard, Captain."

I bowed my head slightly in response to his courtesy. "Granted, Chancellor."

He waved his guards away and I closed the ramp behind him as he looked around inside.

"I was thinking of buying one of these for myself," he commented with amusement in his voice.

"Well, I've only had it for a few days, but Mikki likes it – my maintenance and pilot droid."

Once I showed him up to the flight deck, he had a seat and Mikki let me know we'd be underway in a minute. I conjured a tea service, to Palpatine's keen interest, and started pouring.

"I was impressed by your ability to hold your own last night," he began as I handed him his cup and saucer. "Security let me know after breakfast or I would have sent a full squad to assist."

Brushing off the sentiment casually, I sat down, crossing my legs. "I appreciate the thought, Chancellor, but if I can't take care of myself in situations like this then I wouldn't be the kind of person you needed for this position."

"Very true." He looked down at the tea thoughtfully and then up at me. "We all have expectations of the people around us, friends, family, colleagues – it's important to know exactly what place each of them fills in our lives."

With a shrug I set my tea down. "I'm afraid I'm not one to pay attention one way or another."

"Ah, but you do. Perhaps unknowingly; it's perfectly natural. You subconsciously create a hierarchy of these people. Perhaps one friend's opinion takes precedent over another in matters of morality, or you trust the opinion of a work associate in terms of your career rather than a cousin who only is only in your life peripherally."

"I suppose…"

Finishing off the last of his tea, Palpatine set it on the tray and I vanished the entirety back down to the kitchenette area on the lower deck.

"The point I'm making, Harry, is that I take that a step further. A man in my position must have strict organizational skills, or I would end up floundering. In my private residence I even have a physical chart of virtually every important person in my life. I find that being able to stand there and visualize each person, I am able to problem solve much quicker than normal. I do hate to micromanage."

I thought I could see where he was going with this mode of thought. "You find people of like minds and delegate the work to others."

He smiled in assent. "They come up with solutions to my problems and present them. I may alter a few things or even bring others in for more in depth thought on the matter at hand."

Narrowing my eyes, I failed to see where I fit into all of this. "How does having a bounty hunter on staff help you?"

Palpatine paused for a moment. "I think of you more as a problem solver. As I mentioned yesterday afternoon, being the leader of the free galaxy has its downsides. You are able to go places and perform deeds which much more… delicacy than myself."

Sweeping out a hand to the view port he expounded. "Everywhere I go is littered with pomp and circumstance. I see problems, like this current war with the Confederacy, and I come to the solution, but others find my ideas… morally ambiguous."

Ah. I could already see where this was going.

"For instance, at the beginning of this conflict," he explained. "I saw the power and the leadership capability of Count Dooku. Say what you want about the man – he could stir up controversy and direct all the blame to the Republic, just like he's done for the last few years. Considering my faith and my moral obligation to the galaxy at large, you can imagine the difficulty I had in coming to one inescapable conclusion. Dooku had to go."

For effect, I raised a single eyebrow to his problem solving solutions.

"At the time, the viceroy of the Trade Federation, Nute Gunray, would have been left in charge, and the man is no leader, not of a war. Petty squabbling would have taken over amongst the Separatist system leaders, and this war would have fallen apart within a month after it was started."

"I see." I really did see. From what had been broadcast through the HoloNews over the last few days, entire systems were already reverting back to Republic rule. It was still far from over, but taking out Dooku had been a major blow to the Confederacy.

"Do you? Do you truly see, Harry? I gave the assent to my military leaders in their meetings with the Jedi to suggest just this course of action. They wouldn't hear of it, and now hundreds of billions of citizens have paid the price, people I was sworn to protect!"

I was decidedly uncomfortable at that point. I'd felt the exact same sort of outrage years ago. Granted, I wasn't the one that was in charge, but I was the one that had the answer to a deadly problem. Being a little too emo at the time probably had something to do with nobody listening to me until it was too late. In the end people died and my society was put under the rule of a tyrant.

"I really do understand," I admitted.

Palpatine sighed and leaned back rubbing at his forehead. "My apologies, Harry. This war has gone on for far too long and I have lost many friends and colleagues. Sometimes I feel that nobody that hasn't been out on the desolate planets of our galaxy truly understands the pain and suffering that is present. I have. I make it a point to visit as many as I can, but it does no good other than to cement my resolve to do better in the future."

While it wouldn't be my place to comfort him with a pat on the shoulder, I could offer help in this situation. Granted, I'd be milking this for all it was worth. I wasn't in this for altruism after all.

"What is it that you want me to do, Chancellor?"

He put on a grim smile before answering. "To put it as plainly as I am able, I have need of a dagger, Harry, someone I can rely on to implement the harsh choices that have to be made."

Let's say that I wasn't completely surprised, I was more startled that he actually came out and admitted this. "An assassin?"

"What?" he countered. "No. Any killings that have to be performed would need to be militarily sanctioned and performed by the proper authorities. Of course, if your life was threatened in the due course of your duties I wouldn't hesitate to back you on whatever decision you would make in the field."

Palpatine shook his head. "Listen to me, prattling on. You came here to be briefed on your duties and I am filling your head with ideas of government sanctioned killings. The metaphorical dagger I was speaking of, Harry, is hunting down specific people and bringing them to justice, much like what you do as a bounty hunter."

"Oh." Well, that made a little more sense.

"However, you'll be my personal bounty hunter. Of course, you'll have all the support and authority you need in order to carry out your duties. We need to end this war quickly and decisively. I have plans that will be implemented over the course of the next few months that will bring the Confederacy to its knees along with a few other annoyances."