ADAS KALLIG

I was being led by my cultists, as they decided to take me to their hideout, to celebrate the return of their long awaited leader.

I didn't really have anything against it, as I already achieved my objective here. I could spare a moment or two to learn about my faithful, who apparently waited for my return for millenia.

I was almost certain that they were descendants of the cult I led during the last time I was on Nar Shaddaa, but it was quite improbable for it to exist after such a long time. I didn't spend a lot of time caring about my cult and I was the leader only because it was the easiest way to steal a sith artifact.

It prevailing for thousands of years was something I had a hard time believing. It didn't change the fact that I planned to enjoy the situation to the fullest. Who wouldn't take pleasure from being adored by people ready to do anything for you?

Well, probably a jedi, but we all know they aren't exactly right in the head.

We were being taken deeper and deeper into the bowels of the city, surroundings becoming progressively poorer and more worn down with every minute. It probably shouldn't surprise me though, as members of the cult are rarely rich. Only in case of non-force ones though. Dark side cults are often exclusive communities.

Our goal was some sort of warehouse, located deeply under the surface. It looked like it would collapse any second, with various holes in the walls and most of the windows broken.

When we entered it, I was greeted by the sight of the huge open space, filled with people. It looked like many of them were living in this building, as it was full of mattresses and various household objects. The center of the building was not a living space though.

It was an empty space, with a huge statue, around 5 meters tall, in the center. It depicted me, with my ancestral mask and arms spread to the sides, as if trying to embrace the world. It was quite majestic, showing both my glory and the hopes of my followers, visible from everywhere in the building.

I was quite pleased with this statue. Definitely in the top Twenty of statues and sculptures devoted to me.

When people inside saw me, things became chaotic for a while, with hundreds of people crying, hugging each other and praising my name.

After everyone calmed down, my cultists began to prepare a feast for me, bringing tables, chairs and as many meals and drinks as they could find. Everything was of the low quality, but expecting more for a cult hiding in the abandoned werehouse would be stupid. The only thing that mattered was their full devotion, I wouldn't demand more from my cult.

After I sat on the makeshift throne they made for me and ate their food, I was approached by the twi'lek girl from earlier.

"My lord, I am blessed to be in your presence. My name is Leila and I was tasked with leading your humble children in your absence. Your wish is my command" she said, falling on one knee and bowing her head. Ah, I missed having people unconditionally worshipping me!

"Raise Leila, my beloved daughter" I said, using my cult leader voice. I knew she would appreciate that. Cultists liked corny lines. " I am happy to see my flock flourishing, spreading my message to all. I am proud of you"
"I am unworthy of such praise my lord!" She exclaimed, tears running down her face. Other cultists, listening to our talk, started crying too, moved to tears by my benevolence. The only one who didn't cry was Raksh, who was more focused on eating presented food, shoving it into his mouth with bare hands.

Huh, I didn't expect so much passion. It was practically brainwashing at this point. Seriously, did Veran and Dray do something after I left them? Weird.

"Nonsense, I can recognize that you are a great leader. Just look how many children follow you" I then thought about something "I am sure my flock grew under your watchful eye. Tell me, what's the number of faithful under your command?" There were hundreds of people in this building, but there were probably more in other places.

" I am just one of many shepherds, my lord. I don't know the exact number but every slave and unfortunate heard about you. We all waited for your return and the end of the Hutt tyranny. We are yours to use as you see fit! Bring us the promised everlasting freedom my Lord!" She shouted, full of passion. The crowd catched on, shouting "everlasting freedom" "everlasting freedom". They were full of determination, ready to overthrow the hutts by force, awaiting my order to do so.

It was very tempting to do just that. I had a better idea though.

Nar Shaddaa was a moon of the hutt homeworld, Nal Hatta. It was also used as a Haven for illegal trade, unrestricted by the republic's policies. These two facts meant that it was probably the most important and valuable place in the entire hutt space. That's why a violent takeover wouldn't work. Hutt wouldn't let a jewel in their crown be ruled by some peasants.

Yes, I could use my power to conquer the moon by force, but it would be meaningless. I would then have to stay on Nar Shaddaa, as it would fall instantly without me being there. It would also stop being so valuable as no one would go there to trade anymore, afraid of angering the hutt. Because of that I would be left with an empty shell, full of starving fanatics and no value.

That's why a subtler touch was needed.

The window opened silently as I lifted it up with force. I entered the building, before helping Leila do the same. After confirming that no one saw us, we started walking through the hallway, walking toward our target.

We were currently infiltrating the palace of Mobba the Hutt, one of the less important cartel members on Nar Shaddaa. The goal was to reach him unnoticed and convince him to help us. Finding him in such a huge complex would be hard for a normal person, as hutts were known for their extravagance and grandiose, fortunately using a force made it quite trivial.

I didn't take Raksh with me, deciding that the sight of a three meter tall monster trying to sneak wouldn't be worth getting noticed by guards. Instead I was accompanied by Leila. She already had experience in stealth thanks to living in the slums and she was more than interested in seeing me in action.

We moved quietly, walking in the direction of Mobba's bedroom. The complex was huge and full of various antics of considerable price, as hutts liked to show their wealth whenever they could, clearly overcompensating for something. Even knowing where to go, it took us several minutes to reach it. We entered the bedroom.

It was dark inside. The only noise I heard in the room was the sound of snoring, most likely coming from our target. We approached the source of the noise, a colossal bed located in the center of the room, and looked at the person sleeping on it.

Mobba was a typical hutt, a huge slug-like body, a green skin and a huge amount of fat. While a trained, fit hutt could be one of the more dangerous warriors in the galaxy, most of them were lazy and greedy, letting themselves become fat and slow. Mobba clearly belonged to the second group, with no visible muscle and huge amounts of fat.

I focused on Mobba, grabbing him with force. He woke in panic, not knowing what was going on. He tried to break my hold over him with desperate movements, but he wasn't strong enough to have a chance. Seeing that his efforts were meaningless, he tried to call the guards. Unfortunately I forced his mouth shut, almost making him bite off his tongue.

He was unable to move or scream, completely on my mercy. He knew that too, as he was looking at me pleadingly, begging me to spare him with his eyes.

"Are we going to kill him my lord?" Asked Leila with barely contained glee. She really wanted to punish the hutt, huh? Mobba was glaring at her, clearly not agreeing with the idea. Fun option, but not a pragmatic one.
"As easy as it would be, he is more useful alive" I replied. I turned to Mobba. "I will let go of you now. Please don't scream or I will twist your neck" I said releasing him from my hold.

He slowly stood up, clearly wary of me. "What do you want?" He asked with a shaky voice. Not surprising, considering he knew I could kill him without any problem.

"I have a proposition for you" I said, smiling innocently "Would you like to become the most powerful hutt in Nar Shaddaa ?"

*****
Next weeks were chaotic, even by the standards of Nar Shaddaa. Every day some hutt would die by some unfortunate accident, whether it was a car crash, falling from a building or drowning in the bath. No one knew what was going on, making every hutt more and more afraid, making them shut themselves in their palaces, ignoring the growing chaos outside.

There was one Hutt who wasn't afraid though. Previously relatively unimportant cartel member, Mobba, brought order to the streets, sending his guards to protect people. He would take over territories of the death hutt, growing in power. After a month he was strong enough that the other hutt could only come to work under him, unable to compete with him. Mobba even gained a seat in a grand hutt council, impressing its members with his ruthlessness and determination.

They were quite puzzled when they found that he was actively working to improve the situation on Nar Shaddaa though. Mobba started with improving the situation of the poorest, renovating the pauper district and improving the working standards. He also started a program of feeing slaves.

The weirdest thing was that it actually made Mobba even more rich. For some reason workers and former slaves became more motivated, giving more profitts to the hutt than before.

It was so bizarre that the other hutt decided to find out if it really was as profitable as it looked. It led to many hutt territories trying these controversial methods, often with great results. It also helped that Mobba was more than happy to lend his own workers, who would start the process of change in other territories.

In no time this new idea spread through the entire hutt space, making hutt rich and happy. It also led to Nar Shaddaa people moving to almost every planet in the hutt space, but it was just an unimportant detail.