The name Nal Hutta meant "Glorious Jewel" in the Hutt tongue. Looking up at it from her vantage point on the Smuggler's moon, it was a common thought the name was undeserving. A toxic mire of bogs that the slugs had terraformed to suit their needs was no jewel. The Hutts, in fact, had left their own homeworld uninhabitable, taken another's world, and changed it until it suited their needs.
Leia thought that was a wonderful summary of the Hutts in general. They were galactic parasites, taking and corrupting what was never theirs. As she looked down onto the brightly-lit city that lay before her, she steeled herself for the task at hand.
One of the ARC troopers behind her, a clone named Steel, spoke up through the mission comm they all shared. "My Lady, recon reports that target is moving in. Heavy escort."
Leia nodded as she checked her own hear. The camo bodysuit she wore had a thick utility belt on it, one that had the various tricks of her trade. It was secure, and she knew that she had everything she needed.
"Fireteam Aurek, get into position across from the palace for fire support. Besh, get into abseil positions." They had already picked out spots on the mission planning. "I'm going to go knock."
"Yes, Lady Sicari." Steel's troops didn't need any further orders from him. It was why Leia liked clones. They did their jobs, and instinctively knew how to do it. Droids had the same effect on her, she found.
As the team started to disperse, Leia moved to the aircar that she had sequestered on the rooftop. She got into the driver's seat, turned on the repulsors, and started to track around the mission zone.
While the Empire was nominally at war with the Hutt Cartels, the truth was in fact more complex. In the Aftermath of the Clone Wars, her father had been forced to make a decision. Consolidation of the New Order, or to stamp out every Confederate holdout. The Empire had taken priority, and many of the Federation had fled to Hutt space. The Hutts were able to use their extensive financial network to keep a steady supply of mercenaries paid, as well as augmenting their troops with state of the art equipment.
That required a lot of credits to keep flowing. While Leia was not particularly interested in politics, she knew that it wasn't just the Hutts who were in this fight. The major powers of the Confederacy were still active, and tonight one of the heads of the Banking Clan, Pors Hill, was there to go over the books with the Hutts.
Hill was a lynchpin. Her father had seen it. He was a shatterpoint in the Force. Leia knew that the ARC team would have been able to do this mission on their own. They were capable, the best troops in the Empire. But Leia found managing the campaign with Admiral Tagge tiring, and she preferred to be on the front lines. Her father had raised a warrior, not a quartermaster.
She parked the aircar on the ledge outside the main segment of the palace. One of the guards raised his rifle. "This is restricted property, lady. Get back in the speeder or-"
Leia didn't have time for this. With one flick of her wrist, of her anger lashing out, she crushed the windpipe of the first guard. The second, she lifted like he was a child's plaything, smashing him against the door of the entrance. Once, twice, three times. Leia did say she would knock.
She keyed open the door from the control panel, and she tapped her earpiece. "Vibroblade is in." She said, and she detached her lightsaber from her belt. "Besh, start your ascent. Aurek, hold fire until my command."
"Yes, ma'am." Steel confirmed, and Leia walked into the entry hall of the palace.
The alarm had been raised, but Leia wasn't going to wait very long. A number of mercenaries were filing in, aiming down their sights at the Lady of the Sith. Leia took stock of the situation. A dozen troops, all armed with blaster rifles, two Gammorreans armed with vibro axes. They had fanned out in a semi-circle around her, preventing her from progressing further.
Her lightsaber sizzled to life with a violent hiss, an angry red blade. Then the blasters came to life. Automatic fire poured from all directions, and Leia went to work.
She leaped from her position, jumping up in a high arc, deflecting the few bolts that tracked her movements. She landed at the edge of the arc of troops, grabbing the closest trooper and using him as a shield. Blaster bolts sizzled into his body as she made her next maneuver.
She let her anger fuel her power, and dashed to the next troop. He fell with a quick slash of her saber, then shoved her hand forth. His body slammed into the trooper behind her. Three down, eleven to go. Each movement of Leia's progress was a strike, each strike leading to another step until she had cut down half their numbers.
The two Gamorreans barreled towards her, raising their axes, the faint hum of the energy fields surrounding the blades filling her. She waited for the first one to strike, dropping back with one leg, and making a strong upper thrust with her saber. The guard squealed, and she waited for the second to try its rudimentary chop. She hissed, as he let it fall just long enough for her to catch the hilt of the axe.
The Gamorrean's eyes bugged for a moment as Leia hissed, her rage fueling her strength. She stabbed the Gamorrean, and tossed his body to the side. Five troopers remained, and Leia simply hissed. "You're not worth my time. Drop your blasters."
They did. Leia let herself smile. While she enjoyed combat, this wasn't particularly difficult. She deactivated her lightsaber, and rushed through the palace. She knew the path to the throne room easily enough. It was a large, open arena, where the Hutts would attend to guests.
It was also the most heavily-guarded. By the time she entered, she saw that the majority of the security forces had already gathered there. There were close to fifty troops, of various races. She spotted two heavy blaster emplacements. While she trusted her powers, she knew there could be more efficient options.
One of the Hutts spoke in its ugly tongue. "The Empire sends an assassin into our midst. You dare strike on a Hutt palace, my palace?"
Leia offered a smile as she surveyed the room. Pors Hill was on the dais the hutts sat on, on the edge of the circular throne room. Two guards stood in front of the tall Muun. "I am Darth Sicari." She said. "Servant to the Emperor." She hoped that Besh was getting into position.
"Sicari," The Hutt laughed. "You intrude on the palace of Arlax. I will hang your body for all of Nar Shadaa to see. Bounty hunters!"
Two figures separated themselves from the pack. One was a Wookie with black fur, while the other was a droid. It held a blaster rifle in each hand, focused on the Sith. Leia recognized both of them. The Wookie was Black Krrsantan, the droid C-21 Highsinger. Both were very good bounty hunters, though Leia knew neither of them was a match for her.
"Yes, my lord?" Highsinger asked, its droid-speech a warbling roll.
"Kill her!"
The two bounty hunters, Highsinger with its twin blasters and Krrsantan his bowcaster, started firing. Leia activated her lightsaber, bringing the crimson blade to deflect the bolts as they rained in. Highsinger's blasters poured in a steady stream of fire, forcing Leia to continually shift her blocks.
Krrsantan's bowcaster hit the floor near her, sending pieces of rubble flying up. She reacted quickly, raising one hand to pull on the rubble that had shaken loose from the floor. Her hand flung forward, sending the metal chunks flying ahead. Krrsantan and Highsinger dodged out of the way, the droid's perfect reflexes in action.
She took advantage of the chaos, going for Krrsantan. The Wookie drew a sword that might have been as tall as Leia. She grinned. "Let's play then, furball." She brought her blade around in a wide swing, and the large alien brought his blade down.
Krrsantan roared something in his tongue that Leia couldn't understand. He went on the offensive, moving with greater speed than Leia would have suspected. She brought her saber down to deflect the heavy sword. The Wookie's massive strength made her falter for a moment, before she reached onto her belt. She grabbed her punch dagger and slammed it into the Wookie's belly.
The furry alien let out a pained roar. It made a swing with one big clawed arm, and Leia took advantage of its desperate strike. She lopped off the Wookie's arm, cutting it off at the elbow. The next strike decapitated the creature, finishing it just as quickly.
She didn't let herself linger on Black Krrsantan. Highsinger started to pour blaster fire in her direction. Leia instead responded with her hate, shaped into the form of lightning. It crackled across the room, blasting the droid and making its servos explode. She hissed in grim satisfaction as she watched the droid start to seize.
She tapped her comm link. "Aurek, you may now open fire. Besh, storm the palace."
Blaster fire started to rain in as Aurek Team's emplaced weapons ripped through the walls of the palace. Besh's explosives sounded from further in the facilities.
Leia knew the fun was just starting. She turned her lightsaber on the Hutts and Pors Hill. First, the mission.