Hutt Campaign IV

HMS Devastator

Gladiolus's Third Fleet departed Sleheyron with filled fuel tanks and cargo holds containing whatever processed and refined fuel they could not store in their nominal systems, along with every soul freed from slavery willing to join her and fight the Hutts. Many more denied her offer to leave Sleheyron, wishing to claim the volcanic world as their own. They possessed plenty of tibanna gas to refine and new shipments were expected within the next few days. That would help prop up the world's fledgling economy. Gladiolus promised support to those who remained behind, though she could not say when she might leverage ships from her fleet to serve as defense for the newly freed world. Given the strategy for her fleets in the present, it would be difficult to field more than two or three cruisers. And though she trusted her people more and more to fight and win regardless of the numbers or odds, she suspected the Hutts had the power to destroy anything left behind smaller than a full fleet of her own.

Still, they had been provided with communication methods to reach Gladiolus, including a trinket gifted to their hastily elected leader embedded with enough of her magical influence to reach her through any communication blackout a Hutt fleet might impose. The Sleheyron leader could not mask her uncertainty about the trinket, but she accepted it without explicit complaint.

Gladiolus watched the volcanic world shrink to a glowing orange marble as her fleet departed. The monitor before her beeped with messages arriving from the First and Second Fleets. She ignored them until her fleet had safely jumped to lightspeed. Only then did she check the reports. She began with the First Fleet's report, which would illustrate events in southern Hutt Space. Though Admiral Niem placed his name on the report, he failed to provide times and dates from all fleet actions as required. Still, she judged his results as adequate. One convoy ambushed, the slaves liberated and the slaver resources claimed. Not up to the standard she desired from a vaunted First Fleet, but the man had a coward's soul and that was not easily conquered.

She would find him and she would put a fear into him so terrible he would never permit his weakness to stop him from following her orders to the letter ever again.

After that, she reviewed a longer, more thorough report from Admiral Hemmen of the Second Fleet. Though she struggled with trusting him to maintain the fiction she was a Jedi, Gladiolus could not think of another serving her as faithful and loyal as Hemmen, bar Landren naturally. Perhaps those freed by her first assault possessed the radicalism to follow her no matter what, but radicals did not win wars. Victory required a collected mind, one guided by strategy and tactics alike. Past Sith had been consumed by their passions. Inflamed by their power, they failed to perceive the ways their enemy, fellow Sith or Jedi, could destroy them.

Reading his report left Gladiolus pleased with her choice to name Hemmen an admiral. Two sprawling convoys had been ambushed, with about seven thousand liberated from bondage and stores of ammunition, fuel, and foodstuff taken to support the operations of the Second Fleet. She was slightly disappointed by the failure to secure luxury goods and narcotics during both ambushes, but Gladiolus doubted those would be trafficked in significant quantities alongside the slaves that oiled the Hutt economy.

They must all be destroyed. The slavers. The drug sellers. The war profiteers and warmongers. I shall bring about their ruin, and the galaxy shall thank me.

Gladiolus pondered her next move as the vortex of hyperspace filled the singular, narrow viewport overlooking her ready room desk.

Admiral Yumerra paused before she crossed the threshold into Jedi Knight Whae Rynn's ready room. The Jedi stood in the far corner, staring out a narrow plane of transparisteel filed with the vortex of hyperspace. A desk stood almost directly between them, with one large, padded chair on the far side and a trio of smaller chairs on the near side. They all looked to be plasteel, lined with just enough fabric to avoid discomfort.

"Admiral, please take a seat," said Knight Rynn. She glanced over, burning emerald eyes softening slightly. "I would tell you to wait on the good captain, but he's busy handling some issues with repairs on the shield generators. We'll speak without him."

"Of course, ma'am."

Yumerra watched the Jedi as she took a seat. The woman's gaze returned to the viewport as though she were transfixed by the flow beyond. Minutes passed before the Jedi finally turned to the admiral. She crossed to the desk and sat down before saying, "I have some thoughts about our next move. I would like your thoughts on them."

A holographic map of Hutt Space appeared between them. A red dot appeared along the Pabol Sleheyron. Knight Rynn pointed at the dot. "This represents us." Two more dots appeared, one further west and one to the far south. "Those are the other fleets. We could move on to Ilos, an ag-world, and resupply. Perhaps some of the freed people of Sleheyron will decide to move there instead of continuing with us."

"I wouldn't recommend that," Yumerra said. She gestured to the Second Fleet. "We'd be so close to their operations we might betray their position. Not unless you think you could draw a large Hutt fleet into an ambush and crush them between the Second and Third."

"I could," the Jedi said, "but we'd need to meet with Admiral Hemmen before we plan any ambushes using the ships under his command."

Her attention shifted to a point deeper in Hutt Space. "I have two options directly along a hyperlane connecting them to the Y'Toub system: Toydaria and Ylesia."

"Why not return to Keldoonie?" asked the admiral, wary of drawing too near to the Y'Toub system. That was the beating heart of Hutt civilization. "You've had some success there already, and it'd place us along a route into Hutt Space."

"I could, but that is not what I wish to achieve with the Third," the Jedi admitted. "Not after Sleheyron. I wish to draw out the strength hidden in the Y'Toub system. Niem and Hemmen are busy interrupting economic flows into Hutt Space, which will be heightened thanks to our liberation of Sleheyron."

"And how will you defend them?" the admiral asked.

The Jedi sighed. "I hope that Niem or Hemmen will assemble a new fleet from their acquisitions. I've sent messages to both admirals, informing them of my plans and what I require of them."

Admiral Yumerra stared until Knight Rynn began explaining.

"Both have managed to add ships and personnel to their fleet. While I understand the utility of expanding their commands, a new fleet would allow us to strike more places. Perhaps we could control the hyperlane between Kessel and Nal Hutta. Or we could blockade more routes into Hutt Space from other parts of the Outer Rim.

"This new fleet could also provide support for Sleheyron when retaliation is inevitably visited upon them. I am left troubled by the prospect those freed by our actions could be forced back into their servitude solely because we remained too inflexible to ensure the liberty we won for them. After all, what is the purpose of freedom if it's not preserved?"

"You sound like a senator, ma'am."

Knight Rynn's nose wrinkled. "That's beside the point, admiral. Understand a failure to preserve Sleheyron would prove I'm as trustworthy as… well, as the Senate. Few believe in a government unwilling to support those beyond their defined boundaries. We have one, whereas the Republic has stilled. They no longer seek to add more worlds to their number, extending their strength and order throughout the galaxy. Those days have been abandoned, leaving behind a Jedi Order unable to respond to existential threats and a Senate mired in corruption and bureaucratic ineptitude."

"Which explains why you came out here. Why you fight." Admiral Yumerra paused. "Though I do wonder how you came to know Admiral Niem. I never would have suspected a Jedi would know a pirate like him."

Knight Rynn smirked with secret knowledge. "We encountered each other by chance. He had questionable aims for me, but I managed to… convince him that his interests would be served by working with me. Once I decided upon this course of action against the Hutts, he was a natural ally. It helped that he lacked any significant connections with the Hutts."

Admiral Yumerra hummed thoughtfully. "So, why Toydaria or Ylesia? You must have cause to strike those worlds."

"Because of their positions. Yes, it will be daring to strike a world along one of the hyperlanes that passes through the Y'Toub system, but both will have value."

"How so?"

Darth Gladiolus nearly sighed. She knew that the good admiral was digging for details behind the Sith Lord's decisions. The woman faked ignored so that she might learn the full justification for the Sith Lord's actions. She could not fault the albino Twi'lek for questioning her, but she would have preferred for her admiral to accept her decisions without issue.

"I'll begin with the easier world to explain: Ylesia."

"…you believe that one will be easier?"

"Yes. It's a slave colony placed along hyperlanes useful for slipping away and encircling a Hutt fleet. Ulmatra, for example, would be a viable choice along those lines, especially if one focuses on cutting off Hutt Space from external sources. Ylesia can prove of similar utility." She smirked. "After all, one must travel through that system to reach Kessel from this side."

"So why not strike Ulmatra? We're closer to that world."

"I think I will leave that world to Hemmen's fleet. I'll inform him of its utility. Since he has acquired extra ships, he should be able to set aside enough to upset that system. I do not need to liberate it in the fashion I did with Sleheyron; their slave population is minor in comparison."

"Whereas most of Ylesia's population are slaves," Admiral Yumerra concluded.

"Indeed. That was what drew my attention to that world to begin with. It was by Landren's recommendation that I turned aside from that operation and instead pursued the slaver convoy that had you, Admiral."

The albino's cheeks flushed. "I'll thank Landren once he reunites with that."

"I doubt that will happen until we move on Nar Shaddaa."

"So you'll take the moon first?"

"I will. I hope to use my possession of it to force the hands of the Hutts. If not"—and here she sighed, as though she did not look forward to how she would punish the Hutts—"then I will lay siege to Nal Hutta. If the Hutts will not fall in line once beat, then I shall force their hand. Wherever they are, trading in slaves and disrupting the normal lives of the common people, they will feel my wrath."

Admiral Yumerra whistled lowly. "I hope to see the day you bring every Hutt to heel, ma'am. I don't know if the other Jedi would approve, but I'm grateful for all you have done."

Gladiolus's smile strengthened.

"Oh, and what of Toydaria?" her admiral suddenly continued. "That feels like a risky endeavor at this point, Master Jedi."

"It is. But they are also a vassal of the Hutts. The Toydarians benefit from the patronage of the Hutts, and thus by association benefit from their slave trade. If I am to break the Hutts, I must shatter their vassals. Toydaria is important for that reason. Other vassal worlds exist beyond the boundaries of Hutt Space. I have not turned my gaze to them—yet. Their time to face justice shall eventually come to pass."

Admiral Yumerra hummed, considering the proposed worlds for their fleet to strike. Gladiolus watched the albino Twi'lek as she mentally worked through her options and the utility of striking each. Gladiolus sat back and watched, content to permit her admiral to make a decision. When the day came the Sith Lord needed to depart for another battlefield, she wanted to guarantee that Yumerra would manage without direct guidance.

"I believe we should save Toydaria for the beginning of the Y'Toub campaign," the admiral said. "Striking them now would alert the Hutts to our intentions. They could realize from defeating a vassal that you're willing to strike the Y'Toub system."

Gladiolus nodded, a soft, proud smile adorning her face. "Wise judgment, Admiral. If that is to be your final decision, then prepare the fleet to head for Ylesia—"

"But ma'am, we'll be arriving at Ulmatra soon. You do not need to request Hemmen's fleet strike them when we can handle this matter on our own. Perhaps only leave the cleanup to him."

The Sith Lord paused. She considered dismissing Admiral Yumerra's suggestion—that was the admiral's intention—before realizing that it could be prudent to strike a world in the north of Hutt Space once more. That would further spread out Hutt ships deployed to stop her. Ships drawn away from Ylesia and her final, inevitable targets.

"Then give the order, admiral. Once we reach Ulmatra, we're to take control of the system and destroy any slaver operations found. Perhaps we will discover ships willing to join our crusade. There must be those open to destroying the practice of slavery even in Hutt Space."

Admiral Yumerra nodded and rose to her feet. "Understood, ma'am. Should I expect you on the bridge?"

"Right before we arrive."

Admiral Yumerra nodded stiffly and then turned to depart. She paused at the door. Gladiolus watched the admiral hesitate, sensing her uncertainty bubble within Yumerra. She raised an eyebrow, waiting for the albino Twi'lek to turn and speak.

But Yumerra did not speak. She shook her head, her lekku swaying around her neck, and left Gladiolus's ready room. The Sith Lord watched the doors close before turning and meditating.

Sirens blared throughout the Third Fleet after they emerged from lightspeed. Gladiolus swept onto the bridge, already sensing what occurred. Officers shouted at each other, with Admiral Yumerra's voice the loudest of them all: "Evasive maneuvers! Now, now!"

Beyond the viewport sat a fleet of ten war barges. A few matched the Shad'ruu-class vessels she fought during a prior encounter, but most were of unfamiliar classifications. Gladiolus inched up to her admiral, trying to not shock the Twi'lek officer. The woman performed well, given they had dropped into a massing of Hutt warships no doubt bound for Sleheyron.

"Appears we lucked out," said Gladiolus.

Admiral Yumerra turned to her suddenly, eyes blown wide with shock. Her lips parted, but she said nothing.

"I can sense you do not understand my meaning," Gladiolus continued, unable to mask her amusement. "We have caught them as off guard as we are. However, they do not realize we are their enemy. Not yet, anyway."

Yumerra looked away. "I would not be so certain about that, ma'am."

Gladiolus realized what her admiral meant without needing to ask. She watched a war barge spin on an axis, its four ventral turbolasers belching fire. The first two volleys splashed against their shields. Gladiolus frowned; despite their strength, the shields could not hold against continued turbolaser fire.

"Return fire," she commanded. "I want that vessel destroyed first. Once it's gone, move the Devastator forward into its position. Split their formation and command the crew on the Gone Home to activate their interdictor field in the proximity of the enemy. I want to crush them and close the door on any escape."

"Ma'am. Devastator?"

Gladiolus blinked. Had she not…? She snorted, smiled, and told her admiral, "That is the name of my flagship. Of this ship. HMS Devastator."

Admiral Yumerra nodded. She looked a touch uneasy at the reminder of the HMS titling granted to every vessel under Darth Gladiolus's command, but she did not question the chosen name. She merely turned to the command staff and relayed Gladiolus's order, including instructions to program the IFF systems throughout their fleet to register the command flagship as [HMS DEVASTATOR] henceforth.

Gladiolus stared out as turbolasers from four of her ships saturated the shielding of the war barge busy hammering the Devastator. Before her flagship's shields weakened enough to permit a volley through any breach, a precise shot burned through a weakened portion of the war barge's shielding and scored a direct hit on their engines. Unexpectedly, the war barge exploded in a fireball, the reaction pushing back two other Shad'ruu-class war barges. Their move to flank their now lost brethren had failed by chance. Once was torn apart by continued turbolaser fire while the other was struck with a blinding blue ion bolt.

She knelt before the viewport, closed her eyes, and entered her battle meditation. She would guide her fleet to another victory. Their victory here would be important. After all, it would come against a serious foe. Victory here would prepare the Third Fleet for the inevitable conquest of the Y'Toub system.

As the HMS Gone Home shifted into the rear of the Third Fleet's assault against the Hutt fleet gathered at Ulmatra and as the newly christened HMS Devastator pushed forward into the space opened by the first destroyed Hutt ship, the Dearg Due, personal shuttle for Darth Gladiolus, came aboard the HMS Ryloth. Landren settled the shuttle within the flag hangar, disembarked, and joined Admiral Hemmen in the conjoined ready room.

"Where is she now?" asked Admiral Hemmen as he stared at the data pad in his right hand. "Her response to my message was not as enlightening as I hoped."

"Ulmatra. Her fleet jumped that way following their liberation of Sleheyron." Landren sighed. "Speaking of Sleheyron, she will likely ask you to free up a few ships to provide security for the liberated system. We both know they'll be exposed to attack. The Hutts will inevitably send a fleet there to retake control and force those freedmen back into bondage."

Hemmen sighed and set his datapad down. He ran one hand over a lekku while his lips thinned. "That is more brazen than I expected of her. We learned maybe twenty minutes ago that a Hutt fleet massed in the Ulmatra system to reclaim Sleheyron. I had planned to inform Knight Rynn."

Landren smiled. "I should not be surprised if she stumbled upon that fleet before you could draft that message."

"Do you think she will win without reinforcements?"

"I only worry about casualties," said Landren, "and about what she might do to guarantee victory." He sighed. "Worrying about her beast seeding rumors of 'Lady Edelweiss'."

Hemmen asked no questions. He only offered some Corellian whisky, which Landren happily accepted.

Gladiolus sensed three ships on her right flank—Never Again, Valor, and Dauntless—press their advantage against a few war barges struggling to regroup. The enemy had taken four casualties so far: the war barge that had struck her fleet first, daring to eliminate her flagship, its comrades, and the smallest Hutt vessel, which happened to link the weakened center with the right flank, which appeared to be in disarray. The foe had impressed her with how swiftly they formed upon realizing they fought the fleet that liberated Sleheyron from their clutches. She wanted the enemy command to know she had stolen Sleheyron from the Hutts. While they might not know, they would realize the truth. And once that came to pass, they would throw their full strength against her fleet.

This is exactly what we need, here and now, Gladiolus decided. Already my forces have cut their teeth on convoys and limited planetary defenses. But to truly conquer the Hutts, they must face and defeat a proper enemy fleet. Though limited in number, we have found a worthy foe.

The Sith Lord sunk deeper into her battle meditation. She meddled with the crews aboard all Hutt ships on the right flank as they prepared to face her three advancing ships. Through the Force, Gladiolus filled their minds with doubts and fears. Nearly all had realized her fleet was the one that liberated Sleheyron, and that filled their hearts with glee and fear alike. For them, the enemy fleet's arrival at Ulmatra promised no relief would come from other quarters of Hutt Space. But it also promised glory, should they win.

She imposed a fear upon their hearts that any relief had already been destroyed. Gladiolus nearly grinned as she sensed the death of courage and certainty in many hearts. Some remained resolute, but they were a minority, designated for conquest.

As for her three ships on the right flank, Gladiolus poured certainty of victory into their hearts. They would not doubt the legitimacy of their coming victory. The only question in their minds was how long the fighting would last, and how many enemies they would vanquish. Not a heart among them feared death. Many discounted the chance entirely. Though Gladiolus knew it foolish to permit her people to believe themselves invincible, she could not convince herself to undermine that bright, burning feeling in their hearts. She would toughen their hearts and minds should they suffer losses, but otherwise, she would permit them to continue as they were.

Content with the state of the right flank, Gladiolus turned her attention to the core of the enemy formation, comprised of two Shad'ruu-class war barges and five unknown war barges. They had drawn together into a tight ball, shields and firepower overlapping. Her fleet reacted in kind, especially since the Devastator's massive girth allowed the smaller cruisers of her fleet to safely hide behind her flagship while launching missiles and torpedoes at the foe.

Frowning, she urged her crew to press their advantage. Once the Devastator began narrowing the distance between them and the enemy, Gladiolus reached out and suffocated enemy minds and hearts with doubt and uncertainty. Some resisted her power by faint degrees, but most allowed themselves to be drowned in those feelings. She frowned with disappointment when two Hutt war barges transmitted surrenders. The left-hand barge was swiftly destroyed by its fellows, prompting the other to renege on its surrender.

"Admiral," Gladiolus called out. "Have we located the enemy flagship yet?"

"We have, ma'am," her admiral said. Gladiolus glanced over as Yumerra approached. She gestured through the viewport toward the smallest remaining Hutt ship, which had withdrawn three kilometers from the ships firing upon the Devastator and her support ships. "That vessel there. Instructions have come from it."

"Any clue who's aboard?"

"A Kajidier Hutt. We haven't determined their identity yet, but this world is run by their kajidic."

Gladiolus hummed. She had erred, forgetting the clannish nature of the Hutts. In her effort to cull their slave trade and induce chaos within their space, she ignored the simplest means for conquering the Hutts: turn the clans against each other.

Instead, I have created a singular enemy they can band together against with the delusional hope of destroying. Gladiolus clicked her tongue, brows narrowing. A foolish thing to do, but I've dug myself too deep. I needed to learn this lesson, for it will be vital for my conquest of the Republic. For against a fellow Sith, presuming he seizes control of their Senate, I cannot leverage secrets and violence as I have in the past.

"Something amiss, ma'am?"

"Nothing, Admiral Yumerra. I only recalled something I thought of before I began my crusade against the Hutts. A way I could have turned them against each other instead of creating an enemy they can unite against."

"I do not think I would call that 'nothing', ma'am." Gladiolus glanced back at her admiral. "While you originally had a different plan for your crusade against the Hutts, I cannot deny the success of your newly chosen method. I have benefitted from your change in policy. However, I cannot deny that your other plot could have worked—had you taken the time to study the Hutts and their kajidic."

Gladiolus grunted. "You speak true enough." She glanced to her left. Her lips pursed. "Tell me, why have we given up ground on the left flank?"

"Because we're trying to open up the right. Give our ships there a chance at the enemy commander."

Not how I would have approached it, thought Gladiolus. Still, it is not the worst plan. But I should be able to think of better. She gazed upon the unfolding battle, considering how else she might open the desired hole for her aggressive right flank. The central ball had shifted a few hundred meters rightward, aiming to intercept the push.

"Inform the left flank that they are to encircle the enemy. I don't want their holding back to open a channel for the enemy to escape or to halt our push on the right," Gladiolus told Admiral Yumerra. She then gazed across the bridge. "Press forward! Break their formation! If they must flee, then let them return to the surface of Ulmatra!"

No argument met her command. All Gladiolus sensed was a calm resolve to see the enemy brought to heel, their ships opened to capture and restoration. She grinned as the net of her ships and their fire slowly closed around the Hutt foe. She reached out with her battle meditation, seeking to amplify the faltering fears and uncertainties of the foe while bolstering the victorious need to be perfect in her soldiers.

Soon, the fighting here shall be at an end.

Hours later, Gladiolus stood before the Devastator's viewport and gazed upon the six Hutt vessels that survived the fighting, all disabled by ion cannons. The small command barge had been destroyed. Following its destruction, her people discovered evidence the Hutt aboard failed to evacuate. A Hutt had been within her grasp. Annoyingly, the Hutt had not bothered to speak with her, if only to petition for surrender. She would have accepted the call. And had she the chance to speak with the Hutt alone, she would have killed the foul slug.

Six new ships. She had arrived at Ulmatra, expecting little beyond course correction. Yet here she stood, watching as six Hutt vessels were transformed into new vessels for her fleet. It had come at the price of two cruisers. She hated paying any price with her people, but death could not be avoided in war, nor could it be conquered.

There were always casualties in war.

Yet I also stopped a fleet ready to jump for Sleheyron. Gladiolus could not shake her pleasure at surprising a foe and preventing them from striking against her. Perhaps now is the time to send some cruisers back there. Or maybe I should form a Fourth Fleet. They might not be enough to turn back whatever Nal Hutta or Toydaria sends against my Sleheyron, but it could be enough to keep them free until more ships can be freed up to ensure its continued liberty.

She sighed through her nose as she rubbed her chin. Sleheyron. Ulmatra. Ylesia. Ilos Minor. Hollastin. Toydaria. Nal Hutta. Nar Shaddaa. So many worlds to juggle in her mind, and they all existed within a small fraction of Known Space. Gladiolus believed in her capacity to hold more within her mind and balance it all, but she also knew having others to assist in her planning and keep track of everything necessary to achieve victory would be acquired before her final victory—whatever that might look like.

Footsteps approached. Gladiolus recognized the sound of Admiral Yumerra now, accustomed to her admiral's approaching sounds.

"I need you to contact Admiral Hemmen. Inform him that I have need of Landren aboard the Devastator." Gladiolus paused before adding, "Belay that. I'll contact Landren. But do inform your peers of my flagship's name. Also, check in with them. They should be busy with their 'piracy' efforts around the Hollastin and Ilos Minor systems."

"I'll see to that, ma'am, but there was something else I wished to speak with you about."

Gladiolus nodded. "Speak your mind, admiral."

"It's about the assassin who boarded during our time in the Sleheyron system. They had a lightsaber as well, from the report I've received concerning the incident."

So, you wish to know about that Sithling. I almost expected you to ask about him before we reached Ulmatra. Gladiolus hummed. "What about him, admiral? Use your words, please. I don't wish to become a mind reader."

"I wanted to know more about him and why he targeted you."

"I imagine his master was displeased with my effort to dismantle the Hutt slave trade. Odds are said master has contacts amongst the Hutts. Enough complaining from the slugs must have gotten his assassin into motion. A lucky appearance—or more annoyingly, guidance from the Force—brought him to Sleheyron while we were present. He came aboard, attempted to kill me, and fled." Gladiolus turned to face Admiral Yumerra. "Is there anything else I need to tell you about that affair, or will that be enough?"

"That's enough for me, ma'am. But you know people gossip. They've been gossiping louder recently."

Gladiolus grunted. She had ignored the spread of rumors throughout her fleet. She sensed and controlled their hearts in battle through her battle meditation. What did it matter if they had thoughts of their own?

Yet as she considered the issue, she realized that it could pose a threat to her long-term goals. It could undercut her influence and command. Some might come to doubt her where they should perceive her as a savior. They might wonder if she truly was a Jedi, or if she were some pretender using the myth and legacy of the Jedi to use them for her personal aims.

"Keep track of what they say, admiral. If there's anything that threatens our mission in Hutt Space, I must know."

"'Our mission', ma'am?"

"As I said, Admiral. This mission is ours, now. I have made my business of ending the slave trade the business of all within my fleet. I do have other enemies, but they do not need to become enemies of this fleet."

"…will you leave us, then?"

"Perhaps one day. I must see this business in Hutt Space to its inevitable end. But once I have dealt with Nal Hutta, our paths are bound to diverge. For a time, at least."

Grim-faced Admiral Yumerra nodded, turned, and strode away to handle her other duties. Gladiolus waited a time before she too swept from the bridge. She made for her ready room, content in the knowledge that the HoloNet connection she had aboard would easily reach Landren.

She had a task for him. One vital to the future of her plans against the Hutts.

Belbo Marne wrung his four damp hands as he watched a matte black shuttle of unknown classification settle fifteen meters before him. He pursed his wide lips, wondering if he had made an error in agreeing to meet the mysterious 'Lady Edelweiss'. Rumor amongst the gangsters and terrorists he sold weapons to suggested that she acquired equipment and munitions for the "righteous pirates" currently ruining slaver profits throughout Hutt Space and half the Outer Rim. He was pleased with their piracy, for the need for weapons to turn them back proved to be a windfall for him.

There was no reason, in his mind, why he should not do business with the people helping to already enrich him. After all, the finest of profits came from playing both sides.

Best I don't allow anyone to learn about this meeting, though, Belbo thought. The Hutts will place a bounty on my head if they knew I dared sell to their enemy.

He wondered what kind of woman Lady Edelweiss would be. Half the rumors he heard suggested she was more beautiful than the legendary angels of Iegoan moons, while the other suggested she was ruthless and cunning, so terrifying a glimpse of her face would strike one dead. He suspected the truth would lean more toward the latter than the former, though Belbo would be unsurprised if she proved to be a beauty.

The shuttle's boarding ramp descended soundlessly. A moment passed before a tall human woman in a dark cloak disembarked. Her hips swayed with every step down and then forward, drawing Belbo's eyes to follow their pendulum swing. Clipped steps brought her to within two meters of him. She stopped and his gaze shot up to hers.

Fiery eyes, yellow and tumultuous, met his. Belbo swallowed painfully and bowed his head. Something about the woman before him compelled he prostrate before her, worship her, and become a faithful servant in all ways. He could not say what sparked the sudden, strange feeling within him. All he knew was that it burned bright, and he would not shake it soon. Not when it swelled with consuming dominance.

"Welcome, honored Lady Edelweiss!" Belbo squeaked. He swallowed again and his voice smoothed out. "I am Belbo Marne, provider of weapons finest, most ancient, and most devastating."

"So you are as my man described you," Lady Edelweiss drawled. Belbo shivered. "I wonder though, whether or not you will sell to me what I desire."

Belbo froze. Though he still could not shake the worshipful feeling deep within, he had a sense that whatever Lady Edelweiss would request risked shaking his newfound faith in her.

"Then would you have access to atomic weapons? Any device of nuclear fire, capable of irradiating part of a world."

Belbo breathed out. Sweat formed across his wide brow and along the nape of his extended neck. "I… Those are… Well, I might…"

"That is a 'yes or no' question, Belbo Marne."

He shook, lower arms wrapping around his form, before stuttering out, "Yes! I could acquire them!"

"How many?"

"How… many?"

"I require a thousand atomics. Fear not their purpose; none shall know of our… venture."

Belbo blinked, struggling to calculate the damage one thousand atomics could cause. They had not been deployed since some ancient war, so long ago that it predated the present Galactic Republic by thousands of years. Yet based on the number Lady Edelweiss requested, he knew nothing good could come of it.

"What do you plan to use these atomics for?"

"Nothing that concerns you, Belbo."

He nodded, understanding that the woman would not give up her secrets so easily. Why, he suspected Lady Edelweiss was not even her true self. He would bet that the face before him masked a mercurial woman, given to lies and masks. Belbo feared she might also be the Jedi Knight Rynn leading the crusade against the Hutt slave trade.

To think both could be the same woman.

Lady Edelweiss stared intently at Belbo, as though she were trying to peel back the layers of his mind and understand his very being. He flinched from her gaze, looking away. Finally, Belbo was cowed. He knew it. She knew it. Everyone else present—all his people, thankfully—knew it.

She would receive her atomics, regardless of his feelings. He doubted he could even make a profit high enough to vanish into the Outer Rim, never to be seen again.

"I… I will do what I can to help you," Belbo murmured, defeated.

"And I swear I shall protect you from any recriminations," said Lady Edelweiss. Belbo looked up, blinking. "I would be a poor business partner if I allowed my enemies to become your enemies. Let me worry about the ethics, morals, and consequences of what I shall do with the atomics. You only need to worry about retrieving the weapons I desire."

"I… I understand." Belbo bowed. "I will not fail you."

Lady Edelweiss smiled sweetly, yet her eyes gleamed with malicious nature. "I will hold you to your promise, Belbo. Best you not fail me."

And with a sweeping motion, she returned to her shuttle. She scaled the boarding ramp with three swift steps. The ramp rose as she vanished within. Moments later, the shuttle rose from the hangar floor and departed. Belbo was left there, watching the blue exhaust of its sublight engines while wondering why ever he agreed to procure a thousand atomic weapons.

Gladiolus returned to the HMS Devastator, delighted by the agreement struck. She sensed Landren's disturbed thoughts over her decision to acquire a thousand atomic weapons. But they were necessary if she were to punish the Hutts as she desired. They would not be loaded aboard her flagship, for she did not wish to place that risk aboard. She wound find some other means to move them onto the Hutt homeworld for when the time came. Something would need to be done to remove most of the defensive fleets in the Y'Toub system.

I must intensify my attacks across Hutt Space, she thought as her footsteps led her back to her ready room. Ylesia and Toydaria await my wrath, ready to fall to my banner. Niem's fleet based around Hollastin should expand, taking control of Circumtore and placing pressure on Rorak. As for the ships under Hemmen's command, he should be able to spread further throughout northern Hutt Space. If possible, he should divorce those stretches from Nal Hutta. Varl, perhaps? It's not as if the Hutts ever attacked me for using the Godsheart system as a rendezvous.

She began mentally composing a message for her distant admirals. The Third Fleet was formally Gladiolus's now, despite the presence of an admiral. Her initial intention to move from fleet to fleet had been abandoned thanks to everything that occurred concerning the Sleheyron campaign. It would be simpler to remain with the Third Fleet, directing them as necessary. While Admiral Yumerra might look to her for guidance, it was ultimately the Sith Lord who chose their targets. The other fleets had been permitted a degree of autonomy.

I should reward Yumerra. A fleet all her own?

Gladiolus then considered the merits of stripping autonomy from her admirals. She soon decided it would be easier if she provided them with a list of targets within their zone and left them to prosecute war in her name as they saw fit. Yet she feared they might err and leave her exposed—or worse, permit the Hutts a chance to reclaim a world liberated by her Third Fleet.

And so I must act by my own merits. Any trust I might place upon the shoulders of my admirals requires I accept their failures—and that is anathema to me. We must be victorious. We must crush and cull the foe wherever we meet them.

She huffed and stopped that train of thought where it began. Until her false mask as a Jedi was stripped away, Gladiolus needed to school her passions and pretend to be a Jedi. Already she inhabited a world of lies. How long could she maintain that fiction? A little while longer? Forever?

Gladiolus decided it mattered not as she entered her ready room. She read through the admiral reports waiting on her. Though not everything listed could be called a victory, she sensed they made progress toward the ultimate victory of her crusade against the Hutts and their slave trade.

Soon, it shall all fall to me.