The Finale: Part II of III
"Does Hutta always smell so bad?"
"Yes" Vette, Mako and Ka'hirr chimed in unison.
"I see" the Colonel sighed, shaking off the slime that was beginning to cover his boots.
The Imperial Delegation that Vette had assembled consisted not only of Vette, Vector and Arrryyn but Rancor Squad, the elite sniper squad The Black Talons and Vette's two Royal Guardsmen escorts.
The group walked acorss the slimy swamps of Hutta towards the palace of Enjo the Hutt. Enjo's double dealings with the Republic could not be allowed to continue so Vette had come to deal with the problem personally. She and Sahesri had worked hard to cultivate this relationship with Enjo, when Imperial Intelligence had discovered that he had ships escorting Republic convoys, neither of them had been happy about it.
Spotting the palace on the horizon Vette stopped them. "Okay I think this is where we'll split up. Vector and Arrryyn will come with me while the rest of you wait for the signal understood?"
"Sure thing. Invading a Hutt Palace will be fun." Pierce said with a grin.
"Always is" Ka'hirr said and winked at Mako who smirked at her husband.
"My lady, I wish to accompany you." the Colonel said and his fellow Guardsman nodded in agreement.
"I think I'll be okay Colonel. Lord Arrryyn wouldn't let anything happen to me right?"
"Of course my lady" the Wookiee Sith growled.
"Well now that that's settled, you ready Vector?"
"We are ready Your Grace."
Vette inwardly cringed, she would never get used to his way of speaking.
"Let's go."
Xalek looked down at the faces of two dozen young children of various species. The youngest looked to be about 2 years old and the oldest seemed to be around the age of 10.
"This was the cargo the Hutt's ships were escorting?"
"Yes my lord" the Lieutenant said next to him. "I had one of my squad's slicers go through the ship's mainframe and he found a detailed flight log outlining the mission of this ship."
"Interesting" Xalek said walking away from the children. He sensed their connections to the Force, Jedi younglings. That explained why the four Jedi he had killed were aboard.
"So, what should we do with the children my lord?"
Xalek thought for a moment. "I'm not sure. Do nothing for now. I must return to The Victory to consult with the Emperor and get his recomendation."
"So will we just leave the children under guard for now?"
"Yes keep them under guard. I will speak to the Emperor and find out what we will do with them."
"Very good my lord."
"Jedi Younglings?"
"Yes my lord. According to the logs we found in the ship's computer they were transporting them to Ossus, an ancient Jedi world."
"How interesting. Was there anything else in the ship's records?"
"The records were very vague. I don't believe that the Jedi completely trusted those who were transporting these younglings. Perhaps anticipating an attack. "
"Very astute of you to observe that Xalek. How old were the children?"
"There are 24 children between the ages of two years and ten years. All of various species and from what I can sense, varying degrees of connection to the Force."
The Emperor thought for a moment "Ashara made a short trip back to Korriban where she plans on remaining for a while until your Master's wedding. Bring the children to her. They are still young so is there still time to save them from the filthy Jedi doctrines. I will inform Ashara that you on your way so she may prepare for your arrival. I also must speak with Imperial Intelligence and see what we can find out about a possible Jedi prescence on Ossus."
Xalek bowed "I will do that my lord. What orders do you have for me after I leave Korriban?"
Sahesri thought for a moment "How have you have found the crew of The Victory? Are you satisfied with them?"
The Kaleesh nodded "Yes my lord. They have been most helpful."
"Good, how would you like to remain in command of the vessel?"
"I will serve you well my lord Emperor." Xalek replied, smiling in the scary way that the Kaleesh smiled.
"Very good Xalek. Contact me again when you leave Korriban."
"Yes my lord."
Sahesri sighed and picked up a datapad off his desk. He looked over to Augustus' crib and smiled seeing the young infant sleeping peacefully.
Maybe Julius is on Ossus.
He needed to come up with a plan. And when you needed something done unconventionally, Imperial Intelligence was the place to go.
"Enjo, a pleasure to see you! You're looking especially corpulent since I last saw you. Business must be good."
"Ho ho ho! Little girl has big title now! Little girl thinks she is all that!"
Most people didn't know that Vette could speak several languages, Ryll, the twi'lek native language, Galactic Basic and Huttese, the language of the Hutts.
"And you didn't even send a wedding gift! Enjo I thought we were friends!"
"I have many friends little girl. Many friends indeed."
Vette's eyes narrowed. "I'm sure you do."
"Now little girl, what brings you to my palace?"
"Actually Enjo, your many friends bring me here. And now I've brought a friend of my own. Please meet Vector Hyllus, an associate of mine."
"Pleased to meet you, your Eminence." Vector greeted with a bow.
"Now which friends are you interested in little girl? As I said, I have many."
"Our Mistress is interested in your business dealings Lord Enjo, specifically your business dealings with the Republic." Vector said.
The Hutt roared in outrage. "You dare accuse me of treachery!"
"I don't accuse Enjo. We know you were dealing with the Republic. The Empire captured the ship your smugglers were escorting. Now admitting such mistakes would have motivated me to be merciful but now I'm just too annoyed to care."
Vette turned to Arrryyn who had been waiting quietly behind them.
"Arrryyn, I've always wondered something."
"Yes my lady?"
"Can force lightning make a Hutt boil?"
Arrryyn grinned "I do not know my lady. It would be interesting to try though."
"Then by all means Lord Arrryyn, go ahead."
"A nexu is not a pet."
"Oh come on, think of what we could train it to do!"
Casia looked at the nexu kit and cautiously held out her hand to it. The creature sniffed her hand but didn't try to chew it off. A good sign.
Odelio looked up at Casia, his eyes wide "Pleeease can we keep it? It's mother is dead and it won't survive without her."
Jaesa added "Yeah please Casia...then we'll finally have the perfect family unit!"
Casia looked at her adopted son and fiance and had to laugh, even as the second most powerful Sith Lord in the Empire, she was not immune to such everyday problems. Not that she minded though. She wouldn't trade this for anything.
"Oh fine, but if it tries to kill me in my sleep it goes, you understand?"
Jaesa grinned happily and kissed her. "Thank you baby."
Casia just rolled her eyes but smiled as Odelio ran up to her and hugged them both.
The boy had slowly begun to open up to Jaesa and Casia which had propelled their decision to adopt the young orphan. When Arrryyn had first brought him to Dromund Kaas, he was very sullen and withdrawn. But they had worked with him and a precocious, well spoken and intelligent young boy had begun to emerge. Odelio had also had many private conversaions with the Emperor. And Sahesri had found that he and the boy had much in common.
"My mommy and daddy tried to hide me from the Jedi. When a Jedi would come to the garrison, they'd send me to the village to stay with the Wookiees."
"Is that how you learned to speak Shyrriwook?" Sahesri asked the little boy, pouring him some more Nerf Milk.
Odelio nodded taking a sip. "My mommy said that the Jedi were very brave, and that they protected the Republic. But she didn't want me to go away from her, she said she couldn't have any more babies and didn't want to lose me."
"My mommy and daddy wanted the same things for me."
"What happened to them?"
"Well the Jedi tried to come and take me and my siblings but my mommy and daddy didn't want them to. So they fought."
"So they're dead?"
"Yes" Sahesri said slowly "Yes they are."
"Just like mine." the boy considered that for a moment. "Can I ask a question?"
"Of course little one."
"What will happen to me now?"
"Well" Sahesri began "Jaesa and Casia told me they've really enjoyed spending time with you. Would you like to stay with them?"
He thought about that for a moment "I think so."
The female Sith Lords had also been helping their young ward control his powers. As was common with many Force-sensitive children his age he could only access his connection to the Force in times of great emotional stress. But they had been teaching him meditation and breathing excercises and with those he'd been able to do small tasks with the Force such as levitating objects.
But they knew one day, young Odelio would make a powerful Sith.
It turns out Hutts do boil.
As lightning shot from Arrryyn's hands into Enjo the Hutt's body, bubbles begn to form under his skin like a boiling pot. The Hutt roared in pain and his guards rushed towards the Imperials attacking their lord.
Vette pulled a holdout blaster out of her boot and easily dispelled the guards, the ones she didn't shoot down, Vector attacked with his vibroblade.
Outside the throne room, Rancor Squad moved to dispose of Enjo's palace troops. The Black Talons had taken care of the guards outside and now they were making their way towards the throne room.
"MAKO!" Ka'hirr yelled to his wife. "You need to take out those turrets!"
"Right! Going! Someone cover me!"
Ka'hirr turned his blaster cannon on the guards who had tried to pin Mako down, taking them out as Mako ran past them to get to a computer terminal.
After several more minutes of the shoot-out, the turrets turned on the palace guards and shot the rest of them until the floor was littered with bodies. Mako came out from a hallway grinning at her handiwork.
"Nice one Mako" Sarnova said from behind Ka'hirr as she holstered her rifle.
"Yeah," Pierce agreed "Good going."
Mako bowed outlandishly "It's my favorite trick."
"Now Enjo, I wanted this to end differently, I really did. But you've left me no choice." Vette looked at Arrryyn and nodded.
The Wookiee Sith increased the voltage of his lightning and his eyes widened with surprise as the Hutt's body began to expand. It kept expanding and expanding until Arrryyn pushed it too far and the Hutt's body exploded...
...and coated them in Hutt entrails.
Arrryyn growled in annoyance as his chestnut fur was slopped in Hutt slime. He looked at Vette and Vector apologetically.
"I didn't know that would happen." he explained.
Vette winced. "It's ok Arrryyn, at least he's been dealt with. Now we can implement our plan."
"Yes" Vector agreed. "Shall we put in the neccesary calls?" he asked Vette.
The Empress nodded "Yeah, call Enjo's brother and tell him we're willing to make a deal with him which includes him being welcome to all of Enjo's wealth. Once I take a shower, I will be able to go and meet with him myself."
She laughed when she saw Rancor Squad waiting in the doorway.
"What happened to you?" Pierce asked, underneath his helmet he crinkled his nose at the smell.
"An exploding Hutt" Vette said with a grin. "I think I may go make use of the guest quarters to take a shower. You guys can have a break for a while until we go meet with Bo'No the Hutt."
No one ever said the life of the Sith Empress would always be glamourous.