Disclaimer: Disney owns Star Wars, not me. All the characters and places (except for my OC Analise) belong to them.
"aaaa"-talking out loud."aaaa" (bold and italics)-talking through a holo or com. 'aaaaa'-inner thoughts. aaaaa-talking through a Bond. "aaaa" (bold)-another language.
AN: A short chapter before I take off for Thanksgiving. I need to really work out outlining the remaining chapters and since I need to work Black Friday, I might not post again until Saturday.
Thank you to Storm Skye review and yes, poor Anakin and Padme. Looking back on it now it makes a little more sense why during the Clone Wars series he got upset about her spending Clovis seeing as how little time he got to spend with her. From my perspective, the only time they got to spend together was when Anakin was assigned to Padme as a bodyguard or the rare times they thrown together in the midst of some battle or when they were both on Coruscant.
Plus the whole keeping the marriage secret from everyone (and I bet at least Obi-Wan, Yoda, and maybe Ahsoka knew about it) was sure to put a strain on it.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Chapter Thirteen
Jabba's palace was a never-ending party. A dingy nightclub on a dust-bowl planet.
Tatooine was as far from Nal Hutta as Lothal was to Coruscant, but Jabba didn't mind. He relished the freedom being on the hot and dry desert planet gave him. Even as the head of the Hutt families, Jabba would have been under the thumb of the Hutt Council if he had kept the seat of his criminal empire on Nal Hutta. Their chubby fingers would have been in everything of his, even those they had no right to be in.
His Uncle Zero had been his inspiration to pack up and move away from Nal Hutta. Zero who was living the good life on Coruscant; away from the scheming, grasping, greedy Hutts on the council who will crying family loyalty would only be too glad to bump one or two relatives off it meant a higher rank and more power. They might even find enough backstabbing courage to kill him and Rotta.
Rotta...
His precious son...
There were very few beings that Jabba truly cared about. Rotta was one of them. His precious little punky-muffin. Jabba had waited for years to have a child, an heir. His child and heir. From the moment the Huttlet had drawn breath, Rotta had been spoiled and fawned over. The small, squirming bundle of joy, just bight enough to fit in Jabba's arms was heir to a criminal empire that stretched across galaxies and made billions in credits.
The criminal empire of the Hutts was so powerful that even now the Separatists and the Republic were both fighting, knocking on his door to be granted him and the Hutts as allies. Normally Jabba would have gadly ignored the war outside and ordered the council to do the same. After all a war could only mean more profits for the Hutts, but Rotta was gone now.
Jabba would do anything to have Rotta back in his arms. Even offer a deal to the Separatists or Republic of safe passage through Hutt Space, whichever one found Rotta first. Even if the thought of such a deal made him sick.
In front of him danced a beautiful Twi'lek. Not one of those crying slaves who feared him and found his advances too much to bear. He hated it when he was forced to do away with those. No this Twi'lek was smart, a dancer who knew her place. No slave, but just another in a long line of Twi'lek females breed and raised to bring pleasure. Such females attached themselves to the rings of criminal empires for the bounty hunters and smugglers who were citizens of such kingdoms were easy prey for them.
Those females Jabba liked, though a slave once-in-a while was nice too.
The whirring of joints, slowly rusting had him turning his attention and thoughts away from the dancer below. His loyal droid TC-70 was followed by some being Jabba had never seen before, not that it was hard to do. Many drifted in and out of his palace that Jabba never bothered to learn names until they had been there a few times and approched him.
"Jabba, the bounty hunters you sent after your son have returned." Jabba's wide mouth turned into a grin. This party meant to raise his spirits might become a celebration. Already he was looking forward to holding Rotta tight in his arms.
"Send them in at once!" His command acted as some sort of cue. Two more beings appeared from the door, some sort of long and narrow cot being carried between them.
Those nearest the door where they had come in went pale and and gasped. It crashed into the room like a wave. The dancing and music stopped.
The cot reached the mighty Jabba and he was present not with his son. Instead he saw four heads.
The heads of his bounty hunters.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Inside, Palpatine was dancing a jig.
It appeared Ventress, the Dathomirian witch Dooku had snatched up was good for something. The Count was a fool if he thought that Palpatine didn't know that he was grooming Ventress to be a true Sith Apprentice.
It would never happen. Dooku would never be a Sith Master, but he didn't need to know that. Besides for now Palpatine needed Dooku and to a lesser extent Ventress. He would let them live in their fantasy world for a little while longer.
Jabba roared his outrage at them through his droid and Palpatine fought the urge to smirk. The Hutt's plan was see-through. If the bounty hunters had gotten to Rotta first, then his own plan would have failed. Luckily Ventress took them out which meant Palpatine's own plans were still on track.
"The great and powerful Jabba wishes to know why the Republic has yet to send searchers out to find his son."
"Mighty Jabba, rest assured that everything is well in hand. Some of the Republic's best Jedi are even now on their way to find and safely return your son to your arms." The Hutt roared, softer now with the reassurance that the best of the best was even then hunting for his son.
"They had better be if you want the Republic to have safe passage through Jabba's territory."
The hologram faded.
Palpatine plotted.